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TECHNOLOGY Our Privacy is a Thing of the Past Despite Edward Snowden's Revelations
Our Privacy is a Thing of the Past Despite Edward Snowden's Revelations
"I didn't want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself." — Edward Snowden, in a recent Washington Post interview.
Edward Snowden has been one of 2013's most prominent and most polarizing figures. In his retelling, he's already won his battle against the encroaching surveillance state by simply giving them the chance to choose their future. But in a world where cameras are as common as computer chips, and where machines can learn who you are, what you like, where you go, and how you behave with greater levels of precision each passing year, the real war for privacy is already won by those who demand every citizen expose themselves to the watchful eyes of greater powers. Snowden's document dump may have only shown us what many long suspected — that a world governed by ubiquitous technology is a world where privacy is a thing of the past.
The notion of privacy, as we understand it, is a relatively recent one. For thousands of years, with only a few localized exceptions, humans lived in small bands with few barriers between each other. They ate communally, farmed and hunted communally, ate around a communal campfire, and even squatted over a communal latrine. It was pretty hard not to know what your neighbor was up to, because you saw them every day, often for much of the day. This is the environment Internet pioneer Vint Cerf hearkened back to in a speech at the Federal Trade Commission's Internet of Things workshop last month. His comments — "In a town of 3,000 people, there is no privacy," and more prominently, "privacy may actually be an anomaly " — point out the fundamental flaw in the pro-privacy movement in an era of increasingly communal digital lives.
Think about that. Privacy may actually be an anomaly. The anonymity longtime Internet users took for granted since the early 90s is already fading into history, replaced by persistent online identities that follow us from site to site thanks to the efforts of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) , Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) , and other Internet giants to embed themselves in our daily lives. Over 4.5 billion people click the "Like" button on Facebook each day, and 350 million new photos flow into Facebook's servers daily from roughly 1.2 billion users worldwide.
That's a powerful example of the basic human need for close community, even in an era of global connections. Every Like you click and every photo you upload is you reaching out to your self-selected community of Facebook friends and saying "I'm here and I matter, and this is what I'm thinking about right now." Before the Industrial Revolution, you'd gather around the community well or church or firepit to talk about the same basic things. Most people want to talk about themselves and each other; otherwise Facebook wouldn't have 1.2 billion users sharing on a regular basis.
What profits the watchers?
Facebook updates and Google search histories haven't been the targets of Snowden's acts, but as technology continues to improve, corporate data-collection efforts will increasingly become indistinguishable from the digital dragnet cast across the Internet by the NSA and other surveillance agencies. It's already difficult to tell where Google ends and where the NSA begins, particularly in light of Snowden's revelation that the surveillance agency has actively worked to infiltrate the search giant's servers at a very basic level. Nor should anyone feel particularly reassured when NSA backers claim that no identifying information is collected by the agency's "routine" data-gathering efforts. A Stanford Security Lab research project recently showed that metadata (phone numbers and basic call records) can easily be matched to individuals or businesses, often with simple searches on Facebook and other major sites that retain user information. As we share more of ourselves with the commercial Internet, we wind up sharing ourselves with the surveillance web as well, intentionally or not.
Source: SHARE Conference via Flickr.
What sort of world do we have in store as surveillance becomes truly pervasive? I recently considered the possibility that tomorrow's children simply won't comprehend the notions of privacy that today's anti-surveillance crusaders grew up with, and that by exposing them (and ourselves) to social media at ever-earlier ages, we come to accept a reality in which being watched, watching others, and wanting to give others something to watch or see are all simply a part of our daily lives. When I was growing up, we watched TV. Now we watch each other. Some forms of entertainment ask us to give parts of ourselves in exchange for inexpensive access. TV asked us to give away a part of our creative imaginations. The Internet asks us to give up part, or all, of our private lives.Future battles for privacy probably won't take place over how much data winds up in corporate or government hands, but over what corporations and governments are obligated or allowed to do with that data. Even this more limited battleground may be stacked against privacy crusaders; there's little indication that either big business or the world's surveillance states have any intention of loosening their chokehold on the flow of information.
The truth is that it's becoming easier with each passing year to give up our private lives without really thinking about it, and the real driver of this loss of privacy is not the government, but data-hungry businesses that ask us to trade parts of our lives for free access to information (Google) or entertainment (Facebook). Hardware solutions, like cameras and GPS chips, will keep improving in quality while simultaneously becoming cheaper, and these are not the focal point of today's most advanced surveillance efforts. Rather, it's what happens to the data our hardware creates that determines how much of our lives become part of the surveillance web. The software solutions to this hardware-driven data explosion are becoming dramatically better, and it's data-driven companies like Google and Facebook that are leading its development.
Thinking machines
Machine learning is one way of approaching the classic Big Data problem — how do you make sense of a flood of information, much of which is dreck and noise? Google has used it to train its systems to recognize images on YouTube videos, and also uses it to improve voice recognition accuracy. IBM's (NYSE: IBM ) Watson platform , which was so successful at trivia shows, uses machine learning techniques to answer complex questions and has been put into service as a resource for diagnosticians. If the medical drama House were remade a few years from now, Watson would probably solve the show's major problem within the first sequence, leaving viewers to enjoy 50 minutes of uninterrupted sexual tension and interpersonal sniping without all that fancy hospital talk. Facebook, too, is entering the machine learning field in a big way, as it's recently hired New York University machine-learning guru Yann LeCun to lead an effort to derive meaning and business value from the 350 million photos its users upload every day.
Source: Mike Herbst via Flickr.
Computers that can diagnose problems, identify voices, and analyze images are only some of the works in progress that take the data billions of people willingly create every day and translate it into a form that companies can use to identify and target you. This sort of software is extraordinarily difficult to create at the moment — an advanced form of machine learning called "deep learning " claims fewer than 100 graduate students worldwide, and salaries of $250,000 are not uncommon for these rare gems. But high remuneration and intense demand tend to combine to swell professional ranks, so it's reasonable to expect deep learning experts, and other machine learning pros, to be far more common in a decade than they are today. By that point, such advanced solutions to the Big Data problem are likely to be far more commonplace, too.
Most people have a deep human need to share themselves with a community. With few exceptions, we give away bits of ourselves as the price of entry to the global online community, and most of us do so quite willingly. Society's already determined itself to be OK with this arrangement, which is something privacy advocates like Edward Snowden don't seem to fully appreciate. The data genie is already out of the bottle, so to speak. Instead of trying to cram it back inside, let's ask it instead to keep us safe from those — government and corporations included — that would use it to do us harm.
SOURCE: The Motley Fool
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O limite de uma sequência é um dos tópicos mais antigos de análise matemática, a qual formaliza rigorosamente o conceito de sequência convergente.

De forma intuitiva, supondo que tem-se uma sequência de pontos (por exemplo, um conjunto infinito de pontos numerados utilizando os números naturais) em algum tipo de objeto matemático (por exemplo, os números reais ou um espaço vetorial) que admite o conceito de vizinhança (no sentido de "todos os pontos dentro de uma certa distância de um dado ponto fixo"). Um ponto L é o limite da sequência se para toda a vizinhança que se defina, todos os pontos da sequência (com a possível exceção de um número finito de pontos) estão próximos a L. Isto pode ser interpretado como se houvesse um conjunto de esferas de tamanhos decrescentes até zero, todas centradas em  L, e para qualquer destas esferas, só existiria um número finito de números fora dela.

Definição formal
Para uma sequência de pontos  em um espaço métrico  com função de distância  (como por exemplo, uma sequência de números racionais, números reais, números complexos, pontos em um espaço normado, etc) diz-se que  é o limite da sequência e escreve-se

se, e somente se

ou seja, se, e somente se, para todo número real , existe um número natural  tal que para cada  tem-se , o que equivale a dizer que, para o caso real, dado , existe  tal que .

Uma generalização desta relação, para uma sequência de pontos em um espaço topológico : diz-se que  é um limite desta sequência e escreve-se

se, e somente se, para toda a vizinhança  de  existe um número natural  tal que para cada  tem-se  .

Se uma sequência tem limite, diz-se que a sequência é convergente, e que a sequência converge ao limite.  Caso contrário, a sequência é divergente.

Comentários
A definição significa que eventualmente todos os elementos da sequência aproximam-se tanto como queiramos ao valor limite. A condição que impõe que os elementos encontrem-se arbitrariamente próximos aos elementos subsequentes não implica, em geral, que a sequência tenha um limite (veja sucessão de Cauchy).

É possível, também, que uma sequência em um espaço topológico geral, possa ter vários limites diferentes, mas uma sequência convergente possui um único limite se T é um  espaço de Hausdorff, por exemplo, a reta real (estendida), o plano complexo, seus subconjuntos (R, Q, Z...) e produtos cartesianos (Rn...).

Exemplos
 A sequência (1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, …) de números reais converge ao limite 0;
 A sequência (1, -1, 1, -1, 1, …)  é divergente;
 A sequência (1/2, 1/2 + 1/4, 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8, 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16, …) converge ao limite 1 (este é um exemplo de uma  série infinita);
 Se a é um número real com valor absoluto |a| < 1, então a sequência an possui limite 0;
;
;
.
No caso de uma sequência de números reais  pode-se verificar, a partir da definição, que o seu limite é . De fato, nota-se que, dado ,

e que, além disso,

,

de modo que

desde que . Em outras palavras, dado , existe , tal que:

.

Resultados para o caso de sequências de números reais
Destacam-se os seguintes resultados para limites de sequências:

 Todo limite de uma sequência é um valor único, ou seja, se  tende a um número real  e, também, a um número real , então ;
 Se uma sequência  tende a , então toda subsequência de  convergirá para esse mesmo número ;
 Toda sequência convergente é limitada;
 Toda sequência monótona e limitada converge (disso, segue que se uma subsequência da sequência monótona  converge para , então  é convergente e tem limite );
 Se uma sequência tem um limite positivo, é garantido que todos os termos desta sequência são positivos a partir de um certo índice (resultado análogo vale para o caso de a sequência ter limite negativo);
 Para duas sequências  e  convergentes, com , tem-se , sendo possível substituir qualquer uma das sequências por uma constante qualquer.
 Para sequências  em que  e  têm limite , segue que o limite de  é ;
 Toda sequência que é limitada possui uma subsequência convergente (Teorema de Bolzano-Weierstrass).

Limite superior e limite infeior
Destacam-se os seguintes resultados para limites de sequências:
Se uma subsequência de uma sequência possui como limite um valor , dizemos que  é um ponto de aderência, ou valor de aderência, ou ponto aderente da sequência. O maior desses pontos aderentes é o limite superior () e o menor é o limite inferior ().

Toda sequência limitada  possui um ponto aderente máximo  (o maior limite de uma subsequência) e um ponto aderente mínimo  (o menor limite de uma subsequência), onde:

 Qualquer que seja , existem infinitos índices  tais que  e somente um número finito com ;
 Qualquer que seja , existem infinitos índices  tais que  e somente um número finito com .

Da mesma forma, é garantido que uma sequência limitada  converge para  se, e somente se, os limites superior e inferior são iguais a .

Exemplo
Considerando a sequência nota-se que as únicas subsequências convergentes são da forma  ou , de modo que  e  são os únicos pontos de aderência de . Assim,  e .

Propriedades aritméticas do limite
Dadas duas sequências convergentes  e , onde  e , as sequências  são convergentes, sendo  um número real qualquer. Ainda,

;
. Caso , temos que: ;

, desde que .

Limites infinitos
Quando uma sequência segue uma regularidade de comportamento de tal forma que o termo se torna arbitrariamente grande enquanto aumenta o índice, temos que a sequência diverge para infinito positivo. Quando se torna muito pequeno enquanto aumenta o índice, a sequência diverge para infinito negativo . Formalmente, uma sequência  diverge para  se, dado , existe  tal que  e diverge para  se, dado , existe  tal que .

Os limites infinitos também possuem propriedades aritméticas:
 ;
 Uma sequência  não limitada e monótona tende a  se for não decrescente e tende a  se for não crescente;
;
 se  ou  respectivamente;
 Se  e  é limitada, então , respectivamente;
 Se  e , com  um número positivo, então ;
 Se  e , então ;
 Se  e , então .

Critério de convergência de Cauchy
O critério de convergência de Cauchy auxilia na verificação da convergência de uma sequência, sem fornecer o valor do limite, caso ele exista. Ele afirma que uma sequência de números reais é convergente se, e somente se, qualquer que seja , exista  tal que:

,

o que equivale a afirmar que, dado , existe  tal que, para todo inteiro positivo :

.

Ver também
 Sequência de números reais
 Sequência
 Limite superior e limite inferior
 Teorema de Bolzano-Weierstrass

Sucessões
Análise matemática

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The United States is in the news yet another time for all good reasons. A recently released US report stated, 28% of rise in Indian students studying in the US, which has become a popular study destination.
The report also said that during the same time number of global students raised by 9%.
In accordance with the report, most of the international students pursued their education in California (18212), New York (14690), Texas (17033), Massachusetts (6763) and Illinois (8427).
Among 134,292 overall students, more students are from Indian when compare to other countries such as Europe, Africa, South America, North America, Australia or Pacific Islands.
Simultaneously, out of 134,292 Indian students 73% were registered in master's degree, 79% studied STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) courses, who accounts 26% of total overseas students pursuing STEM courses in the US.
The report also said that 65% all global students from India do their engineering and computer and support services and information sciences courses.
A significant number of Indian students relocate to study in the US, next to China. Indian student's accounts 12% of overall international student populace and over 26% of the STEM student populace in the US.
As per the report, 30% of global students are from China and 12% from India.
Indian student's accounts 47% of overall global students registered in support services and computer and information sciences programs, whereas 27% of them are pursuing engineering.
The report also comprises of new information from Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). According to the information from SEVIS on 7 October, 1.11 million global students, using an F1 visa for academic or M1 visa for visa, were registered at almost 9,000 US schools.
This has marked a 9% rise when compared to October 2013 data. 75% of all global students were from Asia.
China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil are respectively top 10 nations sending their students to study in the US.


Red Twin is living next door to us for 6 months doing some cross-cultural training before she heads to Afghanistan. She's also Children's Ministry Guru and today I sat in on a Bible study she was doing with three primary school aged girls.
the earnestness of the little girls. They came with Bibles and notebooks and diligently wrote down prayer points.
hearing that they wanted to pray for children in India and Mexico – reminds me of Red Twin praying for years at our family devotions for the famine in Somalia.
In other kid-related news, if you've never heard of the Donut Man before, do yourself a favour and check it out. Seriously, most of my emotional engagement with the truths of the gospel as a child came while listening to his tapes in the car. Even as an adult I find them both challenging and moving. Many of us could learn from O-B-E-Y how big theological concepts are practical or from The Lost Sheep how emotive Bible stories are.
It was fun, wasn't it? And now with Galatians 5 sorted, my next task is to become a 'real' adult!
Aah the Donut man. Life without Jesus is like a Donut 'casue there's a hole in the middle of your heart… That's all I can remember about him but it's certainly stuck with me!
I had my first crazy blue twin/red twin moment the other day. Not that either of you will know because red twin doesn't know me and blue twin wasn't there. But I got very confused for about a minute when I saw 'Tamie' but she looked at me blankly and was in pink!
I had a "how not to" kids ministry moment some weeks ago involving a part of scripture with lots of "begetting" and a depiction that I REALLY should not have shown kids without having seen it myself beforehand.


How can holiday car hire appeal more to an ageing travel market?
What can companies do to appeal more to people who are reluctant to hire holiday cars abroad?
How can holiday car hire companies develop a clearer, stronger brand identity?


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Showing posts with label Steve Marriott. Show all posts
The DTs with Steve Marriott Live in Liverpool February 1989
In an exclusive interview with the Musical Times, local blues singer, composer and harmonica player, Simon 'Honeyboy' Hickling, talks about the three years when legendary Small Faces & Humble Pie genius, Steve Marriott, worked with his midland's blues band, the DTs. Three years that preceded Marriott's untimely death by fire. The DTs, comprising of myself, Simon 'Honeyboy' Hickling on harmonica and vocals, Craig Ring on bass, Steve Walwyn on guitar and Chas Chaplin on drums, had been gigging semi-professionally for the last half of the 70s. In the 80s we went professional and gigged all over England. Consequently we found ourselves on the same bill as Steve Marriott and the Packet of Three on a number of occasions. Down on his luck Steve had come back to England from the States and was down on his luck. In America, after the collapse of Humble Pie - which had been even bigger after Frampton had left - with about four or five big albums over there - Marriott's solo career had not got off the ground. He also had a bit of personal trouble and he was in some management deal he couldn't get out of. He told me he hadn't been paid. He said he should have been a millionaire three or four times over but when he came back from the States he didn't even have a guitar - he didn't have anything at all. So he phoned up his old roadie who had a guitar under his bed that Steve had previously given him. So equipped with a guitar, and an invitation from Joe Brown, he did a few gigs with Joe Brown and his band, and then he started using some of Joe Brown's guys and doing a few gigs on his own. And then The Packet of Three was formed. The DTs and Marriott In 1986 we, the DTs, went down to see the Packet of Three and had a drink with Marriot at JBs club in Dudley. This was the first time we got talking to Marriott. We used to headline at JBs ourselves occasionally and sell out as well. We went for a drink, me, Steve Marriott and DT guitarist, Steve Walwyn. We went back to Steve's hotel until about five in the morning. A memorable evening. A session! One night we were all at the old Five Bells in Northampton. It was a big gig, a very large room and we were used to play there once a month. I'd recommended The Packet of Three as a main act, and they were there. We'd all had a drink before hand, and there was much larking around, and in the middle of our set Marriott leapt up on stage and began singing with us. Anyway after that gig, In September 1987 I rang Steve Marriott to see if he would jam with us in Leicester. I said you'll have to come to one of our gigs as a special guest down at the Shearsby Bath Hotel - a big regular gig for Leicester musicians up until about ten years when most local bands played there about once a month. It was arranged for him to do a special guest night, however, he didn't turn up there. In the end we arranged for him to gig with us at the Charlotte in Leicester. He came to the Charlotte. I picked him up at the station. He was out of his tree. He did the gig - he played great. We all went back to the holiday Inn. We were drinking all night. Everyone had a lot of laughs and everyone made a bit of money. He went home on the train. He had just left his wife and gone walkabout, so at this stage he would have been at Safron Walden, in Essex, near where he later died, in another house he had rented. Anyway I didn't hear from him for about a couple of months but apparently he fell out with his band, The Packet of Three - now called The Official Receivers. A brilliant band: bassist Jim Leverton - who had been in Humble Pie at one stage, keysman Micky Weaver, who'd played with everybody including Joe Cocker and Joe Brown, and drummer Richard Newman, son of Sound Incorporated's drummer. Steve Marriott, now without a band, rang me up and said "Do the DTs wanna be my band?" I said, "yeah, if we can do it at weekends and then we can keep our own career going during the rest of the week, so if we just do Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with you, the rest of the week we'll just try and keep our own gigs going 'cause we were busy." That's what we did, and we became Steve Marriott and the DTs. As singer and harmonica player of the DTs, I had no problems stepping to one side to allow Steve Marriot to come in as front man. He asked us to tour with him internationally from February 1988. Personality What was he like? Hugely talented, larger than life. He was a natural pub entertainer. He could have been in any area of show business he wanted to be in. Tell jokes, stories, reminisce, have you in stitches, sing, dance, act. He talked about his past - but with all the alcohol you never knew how much of it was true and how much of it was coloured to make it a better story. If he did exaggerate, he did it to make it funnier. He would have you in fits. And you can't tell any story about Marriott without swearing. Article compiled & edited by Mike Clifford from an interview with Simon Hickling. From MT 27 June 1999
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Labels: England, International, Steve Marriott, The DT's
One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - Alexis Korner and Steve Marriott
Alexis Korner (19 April 1928 — 1 January 1984) was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in bringing together various English blues musicians. Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner was born in Paris to an Austrian Jewish father and a half-Turkish half-Greek mother, and spent his childhood in France, Switzerland and North Africa. He arrived in London in 1940 at the start of World War II. One memory of his youth was listening to a record by black pianist Jimmy Yancey during a German air raid. Korner said, "From then on all I wanted to do was play the blues." After the war, he played piano and guitar (his first guitar was built by friend and author Sydney Hopkins, who wrote Mister God, This Is Anna), and in 1949 joined Chris Barber's Jazz Band where he met blues harmonica player Cyril Davies. They started playing together as a duo, formed the influential London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in 1955, and made their first record together in 1957. Korner made his first official record on Decca Records DFE 6286 in the company of Ken Colyer's Skiffle Group. His talent extended to playing mandolin on one of the tracks of this rare British EP, recorded in London on 28 July 1955. Korner brought many American blues artists, previously unknown in Britain, to perform. In 1961, Korner and Davies formed Blues Incorporated, initially a loose-knit group of musicians with a shared love of electric blues and R&B music. The group included, at various times, such influential musicians as Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond, Danny Thompson and Dick Heckstall-Smith. It also attracted a wider crowd of mostly younger fans, some of whom occasionally performed with the group, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Geoff Bradford, Rod Stewart, John Mayall and Jimmy Page. One story is that the Rolling Stones went to stay at Korner's house late one night, in the early 1960s, after a performance. They entered in the accepted way, by climbing in through the kitchen window, to find Muddy Waters' band sleeping on the kitchen floor. Although Cyril Davies left the group in 1963, Blues Incorporated continued to record, with Korner at the helm, until 1966. However, by that time its originally stellar line-up and crowd of followers had mostly left to start their own bands. "While his one-time acolytes the Rolling Stones and Cream made the front pages of music magazines all over the world, Korner was relegated to the role of 'elder statesman'." Although he himself was a blues purist, Korner criticised better-known British blues musicians during the blues boom of the late 1960s for their blind adherence to Chicago blues, as if the music came in no other form. He liked to surround himself with jazz musicians and often performed with a horn section drawn from a pool that included, among others, saxophone players Art Themen, Mel Collins, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Lol Coxhill, Dick Morrissey, John Surman and trombonist Mike Zwerin. Korner married Roberta, daughter of art critic Robert Melville. He died of lung cancer in London on 1 January 1984 and was survived by a daughter, musician Sappho Gillett Korner, and two sons, guitarist Nicholas (Nico) Korner and sound engineer Damian Korner If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, - "LIKE" ---Bman's Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I'm looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!
Labels: Alexis Korner, England, International, Steve Marriott
Slow Down - Alexis Korner & Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter "Steve" Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English musician, songwriter and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades. Marriott is remembered for his powerful singing voice which belied his small stature, and for his aggressive approach as a guitarist in the mod rock bands- the Small Faces (1965–1969) and Humble Pie (1969–1975 and 1980–1981). Marriott was inducted posthumously into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2012 as a member of the Small Faces.
In Britain, Marriott became a popular, often-photographed mod style icon through his role as lead singer and guitarist with the Small Faces in the mid to late 1960s. Marriott was influenced from an early age by his heroes including Buddy Holly, Booker T & the MG's, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Muddy Waters and Bobby Bland. In later life Marriott became disillusioned with the music industry and turned his back on the big record companies, remaining in relative obscurity. He returned to his music roots playing the pubs and clubs around London and Essex.
Marriott died on 20 April 1991 when a fire, thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his 16th century home in Arkesden, Essex. He posthumously received an Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and was listed in Mojo as one of the top 100 greatest singers of all time.
Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne, named Marriott the fourth greatest singer and Clem Burke of Blondie named him the sixteenth greatest singer and wrote under his name, "greatest rock singer." Paul Stanley of Kiss has said, "He had a great voice" and went on to say, "Steve Marriott was unbelievable". Keith Richards listed Marriott as one of his five favorite artists of all time. Steve Perry, of Journey fame, has claimed that, "One of my favorite vocalists was Steve Marriott." While discussing Kevin DuBrow with Billboard.com, Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo said "If there was anybody that Kevin would say 'I try to sing like,' it would be Steve Marriott."
The Fixer - STEVE MARRIOTT
Anyone who has been reading my report for any period of time knows that I think Steve was one of the best vocalists of current times. Just came across this video... had to share!! It's later in his career but he could still sing!!
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Posted by Bman at 12:44 AM No comments:
Labels: England, Humble Pie, International, Steve Marriott
Slow Down - Alexis Korner and Steve Marriott
Alexis Korner (19 April 1928 — 1 January 1984) was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in bringing together various English blues musicians.
In 1961, Korner and Davies formed Blues Incorporated, initially a loose-knit group of musicians with a shared love of electric blues and R&B music. The group included, at various times, such influential musicians as Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond, Danny Thompson and Dick Heckstall-Smith. It also attracted a wider crowd of mostly younger fans, some of whom occasionally performed with the group, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Geoff Bradford, Rod Stewart, John Mayall and Jimmy Page.
One story is that The Rolling Stones went to stay at Korner's house late one night, in the early 1960s, after a performance. They entered in the accepted way, by climbing in through the kitchen window, to find Muddy Waters' band sleeping on the kitchen floor.
Although Cyril Davies left the group in 1963, Blues Incorporated continued to record, with Korner at the helm, until 1966. However, by that time its originally stellar line-up and crowd of followers had mostly left to start their own bands. "While his one-time acolytes The Rolling Stones and Cream made the front pages of music magazines all over the world, Korner was relegated to the role of 'elder statesman'."
Although he himself was a blues purist, Korner criticised better-known British blues musicians during the blues boom of the late 1960s for their blind adherence to Chicago blues, as if the music came in no other form. He liked to surround himself with jazz musicians and often performed with a horn section drawn from a pool which included, among others, saxophone players Art Themen, Mel Collins, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Lol Coxhill, Dick Morrissey, John Surman and trombonist Mike Zwerin.
Labels: Alexis Korner, Steve Marriott
FIVE LONG YEARS - STEVE MARRIOTT'S PACKET OF THREE
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991), popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades. Marriott is remembered for his powerful singing voice which belied his small stature, and for his aggressive approach as a guitarist in the mod rock bands- the Small Faces (1965–1969) and Humble Pie (1969–1975 and 1980–1981).
In Britain, Marriott became a popular, often-photographed mod style icon through his role as lead singer and guitarist with the Small Faces in the mid to late sixties. Marriott was influenced from an early age by his heroes including Buddy Holly, Booker T & the MG's, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Muddy Waters and Bobby Bland. In later life Marriott became disillusioned with the music industry and turned his back on the big record companies, remaining in relative obscurity. He returned to his music roots playing the pubs and clubs around London and Essex.
Marriott died on 20 April 1991 when a fire, thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his 16th-century home in Arkesden, Essex. He posthumously received an Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and was listed in Mojo as one of the top 100 greatest singers of all time.
Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne, named Marriott the fourth greatest singer and Clem Burke of Blondie named him the sixteenth greatest singer and wrote under his name, "greatest rock singe[r]." Paul Stanley of Kiss has said, "He had a great voice" and went on to say, "Steve Marriott was unbelievable". Keith Richards listed Marriott as one of his five favorite artists of all time.
Labels: Steve Marriott
I Wonder - Humble Pie
Sorry... don't know of a worthwhile version of this with real video but you can see what a change has been made in the interpretation of this song... terrific!
Humble Pie!! This band was so under rated!! The little guy has the big voice and plays both rhythm guitar and harmonica. If you don't have this album "Smokin" you owe it to yourself! The studio track of this song is extended and very clean!
Labels: Clem Clemson, England, Humble Pie, Steve Marriott
Humble Pie with the core unit intact playing Honky Tonk Women. Too bad there isn't more good footage of this great band! This studio album is a must have!
This was Humble Pie's first album after the departure of Peter Frampton, which put singer and co-founder Steve Marriott at its artistic centre. Smokin' is the band's best-selling album.
It includes dramatically slowed down versions of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody", Junior Walker's "Road Runner", and the wah-wah laden slow blues "The Fixer". "You're So Good for Me", which begins as a delicate acoustic number, ultimately mutates into a full-bore gospel music rave-up, an element that would later influence bands like The Black Crowes.
Alexis Korner guests on the track "Old Time Feelin'", Marriott's vocals take a back seat as the main vocals are provided by Greg Ridley and Korner who also plays a Martin Tipple, mandolin-type guitar. Its sound is reminiscent of the song "Alabama '69" on their first album.
Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash guests on "Road Runner 'G' Jam" (the title is a nod to the band's habit of developing songs out of jam sessions), playing Hammond organ, and his backing vocals were over-dubbed on "Hot 'n' Nasty" a slow-burning and then dynamic R&B song, after he strolled in after recording his own sessions next door.
Marriott insisted on producing the album himself for the challenge of creating a compact R&B sound with a high-tech 24-track mixing board. Marriott collapsed with exhaustion in February. New Musical Express (NME) reported at the time: "Following intense recording sessions with Humble Pie, Steve Marriott collapsed with nervous exhaustion and doctors told him to rest".
With this album the group were seen as leaders of the boogie movement in the early 1970s.
Steve Marriott is the voice of the blues for the 70-80's. Regretfully most of his best stuff with Humble Pie is not available on Video. I will repeat, Smokin' is a must have cd!!
Labels: Packett of Three, Steve Marriott
Possibly one of the Best Rock Blues Recordings
Certainly one of my favorites. How can you beat a blues classic sung by possibly one of the best blues voices of the generation and with guitar by Clem Clemson. Although the video is just a collage, and I can't find a terrific substitute, I elected to post this because I believe that it is so significant. Clem Clemson, resident guitar player with Colosseum for a few years was tapped as lead guitar player for this band after their first few albums. Humble Pie was Peter Framptons band and he had asked friend Steve Marriott to leave his own band, Small Faces and join. Steve just has one of the best blues voices of modern times.No need to ramble on about this. Enjoy the tune
Labels: Humble Pie, Steve Marriott

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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"The title stands for the separation from the weight that we carry everyday, from the negative things and people that surround us, as well as the realisation that we're in complete control of our own lives." On the very first release the young post-hardcore band HEARTBOUND from Hamburg, Gemany leaves behind the own musical past and shows 'weightless' shows an extraordinary creative, fresh and captive mix of styles which is about to enthuse as much as it's already doing on stage.
HEARTBOUND came into existence in mid 2014. Guitarist Cenk Akbaba and bassist Kai Vincent Boehnstedt of THE OCEAN IN ME teamed up with singer Stefan 'Johnny Kafonsko' Burckhardt and Guitarist Michael 'Mono' Schmidt of THIS WE ARE, as well as Cenk's old friend David 'Dave' Rohwer (drums). Still under the name THE OCEAN IN ME, they started playing a few first shows. But even though the major part of the songs is written by Cenk, the changes in the line-up also brought a number of ideas and influences into the band, so it was soon decided to risk a whole new start under a new name. HEARTBOUND may be influenced by artists like ARCHITECTS, DREAM ON DREAMER, NOVELISTS and THE COLOR MORALE but that doesn't prevent the band to contrast the typical hardness of the genre with an incredible poppy and positive approach, which is original and electrifying at any time.
Freed from the weight of the past, not to say 'weightless', HEARTBOUND went on full speed right after their foundation and caught attention with first singles and shows, for example with PRO-PAIN and IMMINENCE. That way they were not only able to win Vendetta Booking as partner for the live activities, also Redfield Records from northern Germany, one of the best known labels for modern metal in recent years, was impressed by HEARTBOUND and signed them for the sub-label Redfield Digital, which is especially devoted to the promotion of promising newcomers.
With a powerful team, the first release and a Europe-wide tour that is already starting in May, HEARTBOUND can present themselves to the world with self-confidence and prove that both, the band name and the title of the EP, are more than just the wrapping for a passionate young band.
HEARTBOUND (Germany)
Freed from the weight of the past, not to say 'weightless', HEARTBOUND went on full speed right after their foundation and caught attention with first singles and shows, for example with PRO-PAIN and IMMINENCE.


March 31, 1992, the last Iowa class battleship– the USS Missouri– was officially decommissioned after 48 years of service. It was old, and decommission couldn't have waited much longer, but now the Navy was faced with a dilemma. Without any big guns on their ships, the U.S Navy's ability to provide fire support would be severely limited.
That's where the Zumwalt comes into the picture. It is a multi-role class that was designed for secondary roles of surface warfare and anti-aircraft warfare and originally designed with a primary role of naval gunfire support. While it may not look like your average military battleship– in fact more like a floating concrete slab– it is a cutting edge destroyer packed with state of the art tech.
The USS Zumwalt's main guns. When not in use, the barrell retracts into the housing of the gun.
But the Zumwalt does have a bit of a problem. It, like the subject of my last article(https://thedailyclicks.org/?p=525), has a bit of a cost problem. The ship itself it amazingly expensive and they had to cut the number they would make from 32 to 3. But amazingly, the ship isn't the most surprisingly expensive thing. It's the projectile for its main deck guns. Yes, you heard me right- the thing it shoots that just blows up after one use is too expensive. And even though the navy cut the program by 90%. The guns, tailor-made for the destroyer, will be unable to fire until the Navy chooses a cheaper replacement round.
An artist's impression of the turret firing. Although it may look like three, there are only two turrets. When ready to fire, they retract out of the front casing to rotate. You may notice that there are rectangles all over the bridge. Those are used for stealth to create an uneven surface that deflects radar waves away from the ship.
The round, the long-range attack projectile(LRLAP) is a precision 155 mm shell. It is designed to provide long-range naval gunfire support against shore-based targets. But they cost–get ready– $800,000 or more each! Eight hundred thousand dollars for one shell(about the same price as a Tomahawk cruise missile). A full buy of about 2,000 rounds would be about $1.8-$2 billion. They are amazingly advanced though. Their range is over 190 kilometers(although it's effective range is only 100 kilometers), they're high explosive and they have a built-in GPS. And by the way, guess who developed them? That's right, the exact same company that made my other article's overpriced piece of metal–Lockheed Martin.
An artist's impression of the Zumwalt firing anti-missile missiles.
Overall, the Zumwalt isn't worth the effort. A ship can't provide support to ground troops if it has nothing to shoot. It also has less vertical firing missile silos than any other current Navy destroyer. The only advantage it has is stealth. Despite its size, it has the radar cross-section of a fishing boat. I think the U.S Navy has to bring in one of their older destroyers to take the Zumwalt's place while they figure out if they want to do some real fixing up or just get a new ship.


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A Postscript to the Wealth Sharing Deal
By Mindanao Civil Society Organizations on July 21, 2013 in Press Releases
We, Mindanao civil society groups, sighed with relief when the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) finally signed the Annex on the Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing Agreement last Sunday, July 14, 2013. Some would say it's historic but not as euphoric as the Framework Agreement on the Bangsa-moro (FAB) . Some likened it to giving birth complete with labor pains and all, since after the FAB signing, it took almost nine months of conceiving, reviewing, and even changing the mode of negotiations midstream before it was delivered as one of the crucial consensus agreements in the GPH-MILF peace process .
That momentous midnight should be appreciated in the light of how the two Parties, H.E. Benigno Simeon Aquino III, Chair Murad Ebrahim, their respective panels led by Chair Miriam Ferrer and Chair Mohagher Iqbal, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and their cohorts – rolled up their sleeves to hurdle the process and arrive at a breakthrough.
They deserve to be congratulated as they continue to offer the olive branch.
They deserve to be affirmed not only by our accolades. They deserve the Filipinos' respect when they collectively exude as sincere peacemakers and shine the brightest at the darkest hour of the negotiations; when commitment to the peace writ large mattered most more than their respective interest and agenda – this is indeed, dialogue at its finest. They deserve our standing ovation in delivering for the Bangsamoro people and the country as a whole.
Negotiating for peace, after all, is a product of an incremental process – of standing by on agreed principles, maintaining the climate of trust, and widening the consensus agenda. Hence, the Annex on Wealth Sharing agreement is but one of the milestones to remind us of the cleared path behind us and the rugged road that lies before us while we search for solutions to the Bangsamoro question.
As we hold close to our hearts and ideals the significance of the month of July – in the observance of the Holy Month of Ramadhan, and the upcoming 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Pres. Aquino – we, the Mindanao CSOs and our partner stakeholders and communities, earnestly appeal to all key actors the following :
1. For President PNoy to consistently standby your Social Contract with the Filipino People and translate the specific provision on Peace and Order #14 into reality. (On Peace and Order : 14. From a disjointed, short-sighted Mindanao policy that merely reacts to events and incidents to one that seeks a broadly supported just peace and will redress decades of neglect of the Moro and other peoples of Mindanao).
2. For the incoming 16th Congress to believe in the outcomes of the peace process and deliver for the Bangsamoro :
internalize the urgency of the Bangsamoro Basic Law as a priority legislative agenda;
appreciate that a politically-negotiated settlement will redound to an empowered region which will serve as an impetus for development, positively affecting the surrounding areas of the core territory of the Bangsamoro and beyond;
convince their constituents to build on the ownership of ALL in this transformation happening in Philippine society- at the very heart of Mindanao;
3. For the public to engage in a constant dialogue to understand the essence of self-governance and its positive implications to the over-all nation-building of the country; that it's not about the "other" getting what you have, but it's about living together – sharing responsibility of building stable and resilient communities.
4. For the media to appreciate the primacy of "peace reportage" and mainstream the peace process in the public agenda. That media practitioners should be "agents of an informed public" in the peace process instead of "agents of misinformation".
5. For the GPH and MILF peace panels and the mechanisms in the over-all peace architecture of the Bangsamoro to :
Stay on course and maintain a time-bound peace table. Our direst plea is NOT to allow a "protracted negotiations" mode since this increases vulnerability of the process from negativity and consequently erodes trust and support.
Continue to make the process inclusive and transparent. Only structured opportunities for public participation will ensure a more durable and lasting peace.
Ensure that the bottom lines of civil society and the grassroots will be part of the agenda and consensus agreements of both Parties.
Allow space for the voices of the un/underrepresented sectors within or adjacent to the core territory (i.e. indigenous peoples, women) to be heard and reflected in the upcoming signed agreements and the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The health of a peace negotiations built on trust and consensus on the substantive agenda will always serve as basis of our "sense of urgency" battle cry which goes beyond the deadline issue. As you carry out agreeing on the remaining Annexes on Power-Sharing and Normalization and the final agreement, our two-pronged essential project now is making the Bangsamoro an imperative in the public and policy agenda and encouraging the public to own and extend support to this transformative process.
We, the Mindanao CSOs, guarantee our steadfast commitment in seeing through the process even beyond the final agreement to be reached by both Parties – until the full establishment of the Bangsamoro government.
Thus, we pledge our share of olive branch.
Signed :
Agong Peace Network
Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS)
Lanao Peace Partners
Mindanao Coalition of Development NGOs (MINCODE)
Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW)
Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC)
Peacebuilders Community, Inc
People's Coalition for ARMM Reform and Transformation (People's CART)
gph-milf peace talks
Remaining Steadfast with the Bangsamoro Ideal
Peace Will Reign in the Aftermath


Supermarket aisles are always problematic, especially when you visit for the first time. Even if you already know what to get, you still need to find your way through baby diapers, Asian groceries, toiletries and teabags to find your instant coffee. Some tech-savvy startups have already tapped into this issue here. Clearly, one needs a good map to get to where one wants to be, even in supermarkets.
All maps, in any shape or form, serve the same purpose. Maps should get the users to where they want to go. Bad maps will not only misdirect you (or sometimes they do), but users will have to spend needless time before they finally get to where they need to go. Good maps will take you to the right location via the best and shortest possible path.
This is no different than the issue users face in websites. Most websites are simple, with only a handful of menu items in the top-level navigation. However, user research almost always come across navigation issues due to a poorly structured sitemap. Users often have issues trying to find the Contact Us page, not to mention, sub-level navigation. Career pages usually hide on the bottom of the navigation.
When we design our products, we always put our users first in mind. We take into account who will use the product and our main target audience. Once we define our users, we start to come out the solution based on their characteristics. This framework is called User-centered design (UCD) or User-driven development (UDD).
Let us examine the best way in approaching sitemaps.
In our recent work with Chip Mong website, we try to keep it simple. As we discussed, we try to get the users to where they want to go in the timeliest way.
In the case for the Chip Mong Group Website, we can define the main users for this website as either potential investors or recruitment candidates. Thus, these users visit the website to obtain information about the company and to find contact details. Corporate websites, such as Chip Mong Group's website, have a very specific user spectrum. Unlike other eCommerce websites or entertainment websites, the user of these websites has a very specific goal.
Usually, users don't tend to read the heavy text in the website. However, in our case, we expect that our users are willing to read the information provided as obtaining information is the user's primary objective. Therefore, the website should be ready to tell the story in an effective way.
Chip Mong Group's current website's IA(Information Architecture) is quite simple and straightforward. The page layout is followed with a traditional website style which fits to screen and no scrolling. The user has to jump between pages to pages to navigate the website.
Nowadays, most people use smartphones. Thus scrolling is the trend of web browsing in this generation. That trend has changed user's behavior when they use computers too. One of the great benefits of a long scrolling website is narrative flow.
A good narrative flow offers unique opportunities for storytelling that page by page navigation cannot match. This technique gives the user more control over pacing and keeps them in focus. The continual immersion avoids the detrimental lag between pages.
In short, sitemaps represent the structural hierarchy of the website's information. The same way a user can navigate a well-designed supermarket, finding the toilet paper within three minutes, a website with a strong sitemap will get the business's contact details in a blink of an eye, if that is what the user is searching for.
So here is our suggestion. In the newly proposed sitemap, each top level category has scrollable pages. In the first view of the page show introduction about the page. It is quite similar when we write the article. The article starts with the introduction, allowing the author to iterate the main points.
For example, in regards to the Portfolio category, we want to put an overview of the entire portfolio; each portfolio has a button to link to its detail page. This IA can be applied to each top level category. The same thing applies to the Chip Mong Group CSR page, as users are able to access more information as they need.
The website is also an important avenue for Chip Mong Group to find qualified candidates. As the company scales up, the need for recruiting potential candidates increase. Candidates are able to search jobs instantly as they enter the career page. If they have any doubts, they can read the testimonials of current employees and Life at Chip Mong. Then comes the clincher. Candidates will search for their dream job, and if they cannot find it, submit their CV anyway.
Chip Mong Group has long remained one of the strongest family-owned companies in Cambodia. However, scaling up means they have to upgrade their identity into a more corporate look. The website is a crucial vehicle for this facelift. And with everything else, it starts with the structure.
This is an example of a sitemap that fulfils business objectives. Businesses have to take in mind that as they grow, their objectives may also change. If that's the case, their user's objectives may also change with it. Therefore, the sitemaps needs to adapt to the this changing need to reflect the user's needs and the business's.
A solid sitemap is key to a successful website, as it gives proper respect to the user and the business objectives equally.


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Lyft Facing Another Massive Sexual Assault Lawsuit
By Christopher Coble, Esq. on September 06, 2019
"One in six women will face some form of sexual violence in their lives -- behavior that's unacceptable for our society and on our platform. As a platform committed to providing safe transportation, we hold ourselves to a higher standard by designing products and policies to keep out bad actors, make riders and drivers feel safe, and react quickly if and when an incident does occur."
That sounds like a reassuring enough statement, coming from Lyft's Head of Trust & Safety Mary Winfield, until you wonder why the statement was necessary in the first place. And why is because yet another class action lawsuit has been filed against the ridesharing company alleging rampant sexual assault by its drivers. The suit claims Lyft received nearly 100 complaints of sexual assault in in just one state, California, in just two years, between 2014 and 2016. Winfield acknowledged the alleged behavior "is terrifying and has no place in the Lyft community." And yet.
It's Going to Be a Problem
"Lyft knew from the outset that sexual assault was going to be a problem," said one plaintiff's attorney Stephen Estey, "especially because they have vulnerable passengers who have been drinking." In fact, in six of the alleged incidents described in the lawsuit, women had fallen asleep in the car and awoke to being sexually assaulted, and another was assaulted in their home after being helped to the door.
In one particularly harrowing, 5-hour ordeal, a California woman was picked up from a Halloween party by a crack-smoking driver who proceeded to lock the doors, say "I love you," terminate the ride in the app, and assault her in the back seat before driving her to a beach and raping her. In another, a blind Alabama woman's cane was stolen before she was sexually assaulted.
The lawsuit, filed by 14 women plaintiffs, claims Lyft's response to a "sexual predator crisis" was "appallingly inadequate," and the company continues to allow "culpable drivers who have complaints of rape and sexual assaults lodged against them" to continue driving for the company. The plaintiffs are seeking special, general, and punitive damages.
No Solution
This latest filing is far from the only suit targeting ridesharing apps with sexual assault claims. Lyft was hit with a class action lawsuit earlier this year by a woman who claims a driver helped her into her house while she was unconscious, deactivated her home surveillance system, and raped her. And Uber is facing so many lawsuits claiming sexual impropriety by its drivers that it's almost impossible to keep track of them all.
If you or someone you know has been assaulted by an Uber, Lyft, or other ridesharing app driver, contact the police immediately. Then talk to an experienced assault and battery attorney for help.
Find Assault & Battery Lawyers Near You (FindLaw's Lawyer Directory)
No Disrupting Drunk Driving? New Study Says Uber Has Had No Effect (FindLaw Blotter)
Whiny Babies Uber and Lyft Take Their App and Leave Austin (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
'Pioneer' Prof Sues Lyft for Patent Infringement (FindLaw's Courtside)


U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday that Yemen peace talks are likely in December in Sweden, thanks, he said, to the efforts of United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths. The United States supports the Saudi-led coalition, which is fighting to restore the officially recognized Yemeni government. Houthi rebels are armed, trained and financed by Iran. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports the international community is pushing for peace to halt the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.


With black-and-white photographs, fascinating sidebars, and thoroughly researched details, this book should be essential reading.
If you have any questions about this product by Balzer Bray Harperteen, contact us by completing and submitting the form below. If you are looking for a specif part number, please include it with your message.


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Tag Archives: multifaceted
I have mentioned before that I am a massive rugby fan, and I have also mentioned that I'm not that brilliant at it and have much experience of losing. I also support England, which has left me no choice other than to spend the past ten years alternating between moments of joy and long periods of frustration over what could have been, whilst continually living in the shadow of 'that drop goal' (apologies for non-rugby fans, for whom this will make little sense, but bear with me) and trying to come to terms with our latest loss (although… any New Zealanders reading this? 🙂 ). The team I support have spent the last few seasons living through a similar shadow of former success, and many losses have subsequently ensued. As such, I am very well acquainted with the practice of losing, and in particular the different kinds of loss that can occur (and the emotions inspired thereof). The following list will not be exhaustive, but I'll aim to cover as many as I can.
The most obvious variety of loss has also perhaps the most potential to be depressing; the thrashing. An entirely one sided affair, where all concerned tried their best but simply weren't good enough to even come close to standing up to the opposition, a thrashing can serve as a message saying "People might tell you to try your best, but your best isn't good enough". This is a terribly depressing thought, suggesting that all of one's hard work, effort and training matter for nought in comparison to one's opponents; or, the thrashing can be taken in a positive vein, a sense of "hey, they are just better than us, but we did well and there's no shame in it". Which way one goes really depends on the opposition concerned and one's way of handling failure (refer to my back catalogue for more details) but a good example of the latter course occurred during the Rugby World Cup in 2007 when Portugal, never noted as a great rugby side, lost to the rugby powerhouse that is New Zealand by 108 points to 13. That was a definitive thrashing, but Portugal had nonetheless scored a try against the world's best sides, hot favourites to win the overall competition (although they subsequently didn't) and had played with pride and tenacity. The sight of their side, chests puffed out and eyes flush with emotion, singing the national anthem at the start of that game was a truly heartwarming one.
Subtly distinct from, but similar to, a thrashing is the collapse, the different being whose fault the scale of the loss is. A thrashing is very much won by the winners, but a collapse is caused by the losing party allowing everything that could go wrong to go wrong, performing terribly and letting the result tell the story. The victim of a collapse may be the underdog, may be expected to lose, but certainly should not have done so by quite so spectacular a margin as they do. This generally conjures up less depression than it does anger, frustration and even shame; you know you could and should have done better, but for whatever reason you haven't. No excuses, no blaming the ref, you just failed- and you hate it.
Next in the order of frustration is the one-aspect loss, something generally confined to more multifaceted, and particularly team, occasions. These centre on one individual or aspect of the situation; one's left back failing to mark his man on numerous occasions, for example, or a tennis player's serve letting him down. Again the predominant feeling is one of frustration, this time of having done enough and still not won; in every other aspect of one's performance you might have been good enough to win, but because of one tiny aspect you were let down and it was all for nought. The one-aspect loss is closely related to the 'kitchen sink' loss, such as Spain experienced at the hands of Switzerland at the football world cup two years ago. Spain were clearly the better side in that match, and but for one lucky goal from the Swiss they surely would have won it, but after that Switzerland holed up in their own penalty area and defended for their lives. Spain might have thrown everything they had and then some at the Swiss after that, might have struck shot after shot, but no matter what they did it just didn't come up for them; luck and fate were just against them that day, and for all their effort they still managed to lose. A kitchen sink loss is also characterised by frustration, often made doubly annoying by the fact that the one aspect of one's performance that has let you down has nothing to do with you, but can also summon depression by the seeming irrelevance of all the hard work you did put in. A match you should have won, could have won, often needed to have won, but no matter how much effort you put in fate just didn't want you to win. Doesn't life suck sometimes?
The even loss also records significant frustration levels, particularly due to the nature of the games it often occurs in. An even loss occurs between two closely matched teams or individuals in a close contest, and where portents at the start say it could go either way. Sadly, in most sports a draw is rare, whilst in many it is impossible, and in any case such a situation satisfies nobody; there must be a winner and, unfortunately, a loser. Such a loss is always hard to take, as one knows they are good enough to win (and usually have done so in the past; such occasions are often repeat fixtures against local rivals, meaning the prospect of a year's gloating must also be considered) but that, on the day, it went the other way. On other occasions, a sense of anticlimax may be present; sometimes losses just happen, and do not inspire any great emotion (although the near-neutral loss is a category unto itself), and after a tight game in which you played alright but were fair beaten there's sometimes not too much to get emotional about.
And then, we come to perhaps the strangest form of losing- the happy loss. It's often hard to be comfortable about being happy with a loss, particularly in a tight game decided only by the narrowest of margins and that one could have won. There are some people who will never feel happy about a loss, no matter how good the game or the opposition, constantly striving for the concrete success a victory can show; but for others, there is still comfort to be found in losing. There lies no shame in losing a match against a good, deserving opponent, no shame in losing when you could not possibly have given more, and no shame in doing far, far better than you were expected to. I have talked before on this blog on the value of learning to fail with grace; just as important, in life as in sport and such, is learning how to lose.
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Other Politicky Stuff
OK, I know I talked about politics last time, and no I don't want to start another series on this, but I actually found when writing my last post that I got very rapidly sidetracked when I tried to use voter turnout as a way of demonstrating the fact that everyone hates their politicians, and I thought I might dedicate a post to this particular train of thought as well.
You see, across the world, but predominantly in the developed west where the right to choose our leaders has been around for ages, less and less people are turning out each time to vote. By way of an example, Ronald Reagan famously won a 'landslide' victory when coming to power in 1980- but only actually attracted the vote of 29% of all eligible voters. In some countries, such as Australia, voting is mandatory, but thoughts about introducing such a system elsewhere have frequently met with opposition and claims that it goes against people's democratic right to abstain from doing so (this argument is largely rubbish, but no time for that now).
A lot of reasons have been suggested for this trend, among them a sense of political apathy, laziness, and the idea that we having the right to choose our leaders for so long has meant we no longer find such an idea special or worth exercising. For example, the presidential election in Venezuela – a country that underwent something of a political revolution just over a decade ago and has a history of military dictatorships, corruption and general political chaos – a little while ago saw a voter turnout of nearly 90% (incumbent president Hugo Chavez winning with 54% of the vote to win his fourth term of office in case you were interested) making Reagan look boring by comparison.
However, another, more interesting (hence why I'm talking about it) argument has also been proposed, and one that makes an awful lot of sense. In Britain there are 3 major parties competing for every seat, and perhaps 1 or two others who may be standing in your local area. In the USA, your choice is pretty limited to either Obama or Romney, especially if you're trying to avoid the ire of the rabidly aggressive 'NO VOTE IS A VOTE FOR ROMNEY AND HITLER AND SLAUGHTERING KITTENS' brigade. Basically, the point is that your choice of who to vote for is limited to usually less than 5 people, and given the number of different issues they have views on that mean something to you the chance of any one of them following your precise political philosophy is pretty close to zero.
This has wide reaching implications extending to every corner of democracy, and is indicative of one simple fact; that when the US Declaration of Independence was first drafted some 250 years ago and the founding fathers drew up what would become the template for modern democracy, it was not designed for a state, or indeed a world, as big and multifaceted as ours. That template was founded on the basis of the idea that one vote was all that was needed to keep a government in line and following the will of the masses, but in our modern society (and quite possibly also in the one they were designing for) that is simply not the case. Once in power, a government can do almost what it likes (I said ALMOST) and still be confident that they will get a significant proportion of the country voting for them; not only that, but that their unpopular decisions can often be 'balanced out' by more popular, mass-appeal ones, rather than their every decision being the direct will of the people.
One solution would be to have a system more akin to Greek democracy, where every issue is answered by referendum which the government must obey. However, this presents just as many problems as it answers; referendums are very expensive and time-consuming to set up and perform, and if they became commonplace it could further enhance the existing issue of voter apathy. Only the most actively political would vote in every one, returning the real power to the hands of a relative few who, unlike previously, haven't been voted in. However, perhaps the most pressing issue with this solution is that it rather renders the role of MPs, representatives, senators and even Prime Ministers & Presidents rather pointless. What is the point of our society choosing those who really care about the good of their country, have worked hard to slowly rise up the ranks and giving them a chance to determine how their country is governed, if we are merely going to reduce their role to ones of administrators and form fillers? Despite the problems I mentioned last time out, of all the people we've got to choose from politicians are probably the best people to have governing us (or at least the most reliably OK, even if it's simply because we picked them).
Plus, politics is a tough business, and what is the will of the people is not necessarily always what's best for the country as a whole. Take Greece at the moment; massive protests are (or at least were; I know everyone's still pissed off about it) underway due to the austerity measures imposed by the government, because of the crippling economic suffering that is sure to result. However, the politicians know that such measures are necessary and are refusing to budge on the issue- desperate times call for difficult decisions (OK, I know there were elections that almost entirely centred on this decision that sided with austerity, but shush- you're ruining my argument). To pick another example, President Obama (and several Democrat candidates before him) have met with huge opposition to the idea of introducing a US national healthcare system, basically because Americans hate taxes. Nonetheless, this is something he believes very strongly in, and has finally managed to get through congress; if he wins the elections later this year, we'll see how well he executes.
In short, then, there are far too many issues, too many boxes to balance and ideas to question, for all protesting in a democratic society to take place at the ballot box. Is there a better solution to waving placards in the street and sending strongly worded letters? Do those methods at all work? In all honesty, I don't know- that whole internet petitions get debated in parliament thing the British government recently imported from Switzerland is a nice idea, but, just like more traditional forms of protest, gives those in power no genuine categorical imperative to change anything. If I had a solution, I'd probably be running for government myself (which is one option that definitely works- just don't all try it at once), but as it is I am nothing more than an idle commentator thinking about an imperfect system.
Yeah, I struggle for conclusions sometimes.
Standard | | Tagged 1980, abstention, actively political, administrators, annoyed, austerity, austerity measures, balancing out, ballot, ballot box, Barack Obama, best for the country, big, Britain, categorical imperative, choice, choosing, commonplace, conclusions, congress, corruption, debated in parliament, democracy, democratic right, desperate times, developed west, different issues, difficult decisions, drafted, economic suffering, eligible voters, everyone hates politicians, expensive, form fillers, founding fathers, good of the country, government, Greece, Greek democracy, Hugo Chavez, idle commentator, imperfect system, implications, interesting, internet petitions, landslide, laziness, limited, major parties, mandatory, masses, military dictatorships, Mitt Romney, modern democracy, MPs, multifaceted, National Health Service, national healthcare system, necessary, Obama, one vote, opposition, placards, pointless, political apathy, political chaos, political parties, political philosophy, political revolution, politicians, politics, power, president, presidential election, pressing issue, Prime Minister, protests, referendum, reliably OK, representatives, Romney, Ronald Reagan, run for government, senators, series, sidetracked, special, strongly worded letters, Switzerland, taxes, time-consuming, tough, train of thought, UK, US Declaration of Independence, USA, Venezuela, views, vote, voter apathy, voter turnout, voting, will of the people, world	| 0 comments


Ray-ban Sunglasses Men Wvpsawah Discount Oakley Sunglasses VSc2aZ YJ1uZZ - 文學文藝 - 怡茹※流行網 - Powered by Discuz!
Most of the time people choose to go on a diet it is decidedly to improve one's presentation to the world. This is especially true in a society where the fashion industry stresses thin body types. True, that often health is also a consideration, as it should be. But then there are times when a diet is required to save one's life. Such is the case with type 2 diabetes. The most prescribed diet for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is a low-carb diet. It is not intended to be a weight loss diet in this case. Rather, it is a diet to control blood sugar. The Carb-Counting Diet at the Beginning The carb-counting diet assigns food to three main groups: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.Fitflop NOVY Most doctors want you to see a dietician to learn the ropes. For a diabetic, it is not as easy as it might seem. Your dietician discusses the number of carbs you can have in a day. She might also discuss how to divide carbs up into meals and snacks.
Fairy godmothers do exist armed with needle and cotton to conjure up the dress you may have always dreamed of wearing? All you have to do is to provide the details of the fabric colour and style you would like and with her magic needle you get to walk down the aisle where your prince charming awaits in the gown of your dreams. A good thing by having your wedding dress tailor made is because any alterations to meet the requirements of your comfort level can be done at your own leisure. The seamstress can advise you on certain materials and fabric for your wedding gown.Whiteivory beige are favoured colours for a wedding dress.Fitflop Palma Accessories protrude an air of elegance when worn up against these shades. Neutralpastel colours are so easy to coordinate with the bridesmaids attire. Looking through magazines to gather ideas will keep you updated with all the wedding fashion gossip.
Working with beads can be a really great way for someone interested in arts and crafts to spend their time. Not only can it turn into a passion, but it even turned into a lucrative business opportunity. Bead jewelry designs are used for many things such as decoration for clothing and Yzzocqfm shoes, as well as for, decorative jewelry. There are no limits to the kinds of beads that can be used in bead jewelry designs, from small colorful beads to large beach theme beads.
It had nothing to do with your writing skills, but the desires of your heart. There is a hurting world, out there, even more desperate than our situation may feel. And during the times you have no new words to share, your 'already written seed' is still available to help others that have not yet caught up to where you are spiritually.Fitflop Rock Chic Slide Do you realize when words come to you, faster than you can write them down, that those are as much God's words as the Bible? I only wish you did.Fitflop Rola I wish that you would, finally, truly believe that it is impossible for you to write something inferior ~ when the Spirit is moving.Fitflop Slinky Rokkit God doesn't do anything inferior. God has given you words, to share, that meet people where they are.Fitflop THE SKINNY You have a type of 'gift of healing' amidst a terribly wounded and cruel world.
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UK: ZF confirms plans to manufacture 8-speed auto
At two separate events recently, ZF publicly confirmed rumours that it is developing a new 8-speed automatic transmission, for launch in 2010. This follows the introduction by Mercedes-Benz of its 7-speed W7A-700 in 2003, and more recently the Aisin TL-80SC (=Toyota/Lexus AA80E) 8-speed automatic, which is fitted in the Lexus LS460 [250L] writes Chris Guile, powertrain analyst at CSM Worldwide.
The new ZF '8HP' transmission will, like its 5HP and 6HP predecessors, be used in passenger car applications with longitudinally mounted engines, and rear-wheel or all-wheel drive configurations. It will, therefore, be no surprise to learn that the 1st application for the 8HP will be the new BMW 7-Series [F01], which CSM Worldwide is currently forecasting to launch in late 2008, rather than 2010.
With subsequent applications likely to include several other BMW cars, plus those from the VW/Audi Group and the Ford Group, ZF has ambitious plans for the 8HP, expecting to supply 1.1 million units annually by 2013. However, this may be a best-case scenario, in which GM decides not to follow ZF with an 8-speed, and loses its business with BMW (currently both ZF and GM supply automatics to BMW). This would be great news for ZF, but not so good for BMW, which has been able to play the two suppliers off against each other, in terms of price and technical performance. But even assuming this scenario plays out, ZF will find that it has a new competitor to contend with, in the form of GETRAG, which will by then have been supplying BMW with the 436 (7DCI600) Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) for a couple of years. So, maybe BMW won't be in such a bad position after all.
In the past there has only been limited competition between these two independent transmission suppliers, with ZF concentrating on automatics, and Getrag on the manuals. But the new DCTs will change all of that, with both of the companies trying to get a foothold in this new market where, so far, Volkswagen has had a monopoly with its wet-clutch DQ250 and the Ricardo manufactured DL1300 which is fitted to the Bugatti Veyron [BG824].
As mentioned above, BMW will not be the only customer for the new 8HP, with all consumers of the current 6HP being potential targets. This is particularly true as the 8HP is said to have a similar package size and weight (and possibly even cost) to the 6HP, making them essentially interchangeable. But these transmission changeovers usually only occur at certain times, for a given vehicle, such as a new vehicle launch, a mid life-cycle refresh, or when a new or re-engineered engine is added to the existing line-up. For this reason there is a limit to how quickly ZF could phase out the 6HP, and ramp up volumes of the 8HP. Based on our current assumptions, CSM Worldwide is forecasting that demand for the 8HP will rise to about 900,000 units by 2013, compared to the 1.1 million expected by ZF.
Despite now concentrating on its 1st and 2nd generation 6HP and new 8HP transmissions, it might seem surprising to learn that ZF still manufactures a small number of its old 4-speed 4HP programs, in Germany, for use in the Peugeot 407 [D2], whilst the 5-speed 5HP is still supplied to Porsche, Skoda and Volkswagen. One production line for the 5-speed 5HP has already been shipped to China, where it supplies the Volkswagen Passat/Lingyu [VW451/1]. And in the next few years, CSM also expects to see a 6HP line being transferred from the German Saarbrüken plant to China, as demand falls in Europe in favour of the 8HP.
In terms of technology, the 8HP does away with the Lepelletier design of the current 6HP, opting instead for 4 simple planetary gear-sets, with 5 shifting elements, compared to the 3 gear-sets and 5 shifting elements for the 6HP. By minimising the number of open clutches/brakes to just two, in any gear, ZF believes it has improved the efficiency of the transmission, based on computer simulations. The reason that the open clutches and brakes are important is because they lose energy in the form of friction, to the fluid that surrounds them.
Additional efficiency gains come from the gears themselves, with the 6HP gears having between 96% and 99.5% efficiency, while the 8HP has between 98% and 100% efficiency. This 100% figure is achieved only in 6th gear, which has a direct or 1:1 ratio between input and output. These differences, plus some other contributing design factors, leads ZF to believe that the 8HP will be up to 6% more efficient than the recently launched 2nd generation 6HP. This now puts the automatic squarely up against the manuals and newer DCTs in terms of efficiency, an issue which has been worrying automatic manufacturers for some time.
The ratio spread (the difference between first and top gear) is being increased from 6.04 on the 6HP, to 7.01 on the 8HP. This allows both a higher ratio in first gear, for better launch performance, and a lower top gear ratio, for reduced engine speed when the vehicle is at cruising speeds – this being particularly important for diesel engines. It also enables the steps between gears to be smaller, which results in better acceleration and higher shifting quality.
ZF says that the 8HP is capable of using different types of start-up or launch devices, which suggests that it could replace the torque converter with a clutch, much like it did on the 7-speed concept automatic which was shown in 2003. In addition, ZF also say that it is capable of being used in a mild hybrid configuration, or a full hybrid configuration with the torque converter replaced by a motor, resulting in an identical package size.
So what of the competitors – will they follow ZF to 8 speeds or above? Well, Mercedes-Benz is still carrying out further developments to its 7-speed, having recently launched a new version which combines the transmission and transfer case, for use in its 4 wheel drive '4MATIC' applications. This W7A-700 (and W7X-550 variant) has a ratio spread of 6.0, which Mercedes-Benz will almost certainly want to increase with the next design iteration, possibly with a clutch instead of a torque converter, although time will tell if this is a 7, 8 or even 9-speed.
And as for GM, it has only recently launched its new 6-speed automatics (6L45, 6L50, 6L80, 6L90), so may not have the time to develop an 8 or 9-speed to compete with ZF. Perhaps GM could make better use of its time and investment in developing DCT technology instead.
ZF claims that 8 forward speeds is an optimum, resulting in lower fuel consumption and a higher ratio spread, calculated following extensive simulations of many different configurations. But it also happens to be one more gear than the Mercedes-Benz W7A-700, which is probably its most direct competitor.
One argument that has been used to counter the proliferation of gears is that, in many cases, the drivers of premium cars with 6 or 7 forward gears frequently don't even realise it, so what is the point of giving them more? Well, the usual justification is fuel consumption, and ZF is no exception, but there has to come a point where the efficiency gains of the extra gears is outweighed by the additional gear-set losses. Plus, the drivers of those same vehicles often don't care about the fuel costs, so perhaps this really is about one-upmanship between the brands……
Chris Guile is a Powertrain Analyst with CSM Worldwide.
ZF 8HP Preliminary Specifications
Torque Capacities: Two versions with c.500/550N.m and c.750/800N.m
Configurations: Longitudinal, RWD and AWD (including transaxle)
Weight: c.90kg Gear Ratios:
1st 4.70
2nd 3.13
3rd 2.10
4th 1.67
click table to enlarge
G8 Countries Car Manufacturing Market Summary, Competitive Analysis and Forecast, 2017-2026
Global Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Deals in the Automotive Sector, Q2 2021 - Top Themes - Thematic Research
Automotive 4 Wheel-Drive (4WD) and All-Wheel Drive (AWD) Market and Trend Analysis by Technology, Key Companies and Forecast, 2021-2036
Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd
CSM SpA
GETRAG S.p.A.
CSM Worldwide


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Scientistic materialism is a term used mainly by proponents of creationism and intelligent design to describe scientists who have a materialist worldview. The stance has been attributed to philosopher George Santayana.

History
The "Wedge Document" produced by the Discovery Institute, described materialism as denial of "the proposition that human beings are created in the image of God," and that humans are instead "animals or machines who inhabited a universe ruled by purely impersonal forces and whose behavior and very thoughts were dictated by the unbending forces of biology, chemistry and environment." The document states that materialism leads inevitably to "moral relativism" and denounce its "stifling dominance" in modern culture. By this definition, scientific materialism is linked to the more general version of materialism, which declares that the physical world is the only thing that exists and that nothing supernatural exists.

See also
 Conflict thesis
 Faith and rationality
 Mechanistic materialism
 Relationship between religion and science
 Scientific mythology
 Scientism

References

Materialism
Religion and science


Waterbugs (Freshwater or aquatic macroinvertebrates) are small invertebrates that live in freshwater for all, or part of, their life cycle. These can include juvenile stages of many insects like dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, caddisflies, water beetles and more.
By completing the Waterbug Blitz, we can look at the type and number of bugs found in a waterway, which can tell you how healthy it is.
Exploring your waterway to discover the types of bugs it contains (and hence how healthy it is) is a lot of fun.
These tiny creatures are also a key food source for other freshwater aquatic animals such as native fish, platypus, frogs, birds and lots more.


text:
package io.gravitee.repository.exceptions;

/**
 * @author David BRASSELY (david.brassely at graviteesource.com)
 * @author GraviteeSource Team
 */
public abstract class RepositoryException extends TechnicalException {

    public RepositoryException() {
    }

    public RepositoryException(Throwable cause) {
        super(cause);
    }

    public RepositoryException(String message) {
        super(message);
    }

    public RepositoryException(String message, Throwable cause) {
        super(message, cause);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Below are all homes for sale in Villas At Geist subdivision, located in Mccordsville, Indiana. All active listings are updated twice per hour, every day, with data from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors MLS/BLC. Add any of these Villas At Geist homes to your favorites, sign-up for price reduction alerts and save searches.
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Declaration Assessment Team
The DAT's mandate is to verify whether declarations submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic are accurate and complete, as required under the Chemical Weapons Convention, relevant decisions of the OPCW policy-making organs and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118(2013).
Establishment and composition
The DAT is a multi-disciplinary team composed of experts from the OPCW Technical Secretariat. It was established by the Director-General in April 2014, to engage with relevant authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic on gaps, inconsistencies, and discrepancies identified by the Technical Secretariat in the Syrian initial declaration (2013) of its chemical weapons programme. The DAT regularly reports to the OPCW Member States and other international bodies.
As a result of the DAT's ongoing activities, the Syrian Arab Republic declared or otherwise acknowledged:
one additional chemical weapons production facility;
four additional research and development facilities;
research of five previously undeclared chemical warfare agents;
several thousand previously undeclared chemical munitions;
significant amounts of previously undeclared chemical weapons agents;
consumption of large quantities of chemical warfare agent precursors and munitions in chemical weapons testing activities.
In addition to this, previously undeclared equipment and other items were found by the DAT between 2015 and 2021 and verifiably destroyed. In the regular course of its work, the DAT has also gathered additional information regarding all aspects of Syria's chemical weapons programme.
The DAT's scope of activities is very broad as it covers over four decades of chemical weapons related activities, conducted at dozens of locations in the Syrian Arab Republic. The DAT conducts its work through technical meetings with experts from the Syrian National Authority, visits to chemical weapons related sites, including collection and analysis of samples, interviews with personnel directly or indirectly involved with the Syrian chemical weapons programme, as well as analysis of information gathered by the DAT through its activities (i.e. declarations, documents, audio/video material) or otherwise acquired from other available sources. So far, the DAT has undertaken 25 visits to Syria and has performed various activities to resolve identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies in the Syrian declaration about its chemical weapons programme, including:
holding more than 150 technical meetings;
conducting more than 70 interviews with people involved in the Syrian chemical weapons programme;
conducting more than 40 visits to chemical weapons sites and facilities in Syria;
collecting more than 160 samples;
obtaining more than 100 related documents from the Syrian Arab Republic;
holding regular briefings and submitting reports to the OPCW Member States.
Current state of play and future activities
To date, the DAT has held 24 rounds of consultations with the Syrian Arab Republic, during which 24 issues regarding Syria's declaration were raised. Four issues are now resolved and 20 remain open. In January 2023, after almost two years and numerous unsuccessful attempts to organise the 25th round of consultations between the DAT and Syrian National Authority, the Secretariat deployed a reduced team composed of several members of the DAT to the Syrian Arab Republic to conduct Limited In-Country Activities (LICA). The outcomes of this limited deployment will be reported to Member States in due course.
Number of deployments: 25


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Q: WPF element property binding I'v got two drop down lists. When selectedIndex for both of these is not -1 it should enable a button. How element property binding can be used here ?

A: You need to use a MultiBinding to bind the IsEnabled property of the Button to multiple SelectedIndex properties, and then you need an IMultiValueConverter to convert the numbers to a Boolean. Here is a great example: http://www.developingfor.net/wpf/multibinding-in-wpf.html

A: MultiBindings and MultiValueConverters work well, but my first advice to you would be to use M-V-VM. If you are using M-V-VM then you would simply tie the button enabling to a RelayCommand or to a property on your ViewModel such as IsActionAvaialable. I find that using M-V-VM results in me needing much fewer ValueConverters (just my 2 cents).

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