text:
Wijnbouw in Denemarken vindt voornamelijk plaats in de regio Zuid-Denemarken en Lolland. Vóór 1999 was wijnbouw door het Europees Parlement verboden. Het land is een Europese wijnbouw zone en aangesloten bij de Internationale Organisatie voor Wijnbouw en Wijnbereiding. Hoewel de wijnbouw geweten wordt aan de opwarming van de Aarde is het toch vooral het CCOVI-instituut dat deze tak van landbouw en wijnbereiding hier mogelijk maakt.

Nabij het meertje Skærsø in de buurt van de stad Kolding ligt de Skærsøgaard. Het is een van de weinige grotere commerciële wijngaarden die het land kent. Op ruim 4 hectare - naar het zuiden hellende zandgronden - is het daarmee op dit moment de grootste en sinds 2001 ook de eerste officieel geregistreerde wijngaard. Men maakt er zowel rode-, witte-, mousserende- als dessertwijn. Nationaal en internationaal heeft het al prijzen binnengehaald. Sinds 2007 maakt men er ook eau de vie en versterkte wijn. Er wordt vooral geëxporteerd naar Duitsland.

In 2009 waren er ongeveer 60 wijnproducenten, goed voor 50 hectare met wijnstokken beplant areaal en een productie van zo'n 75.000 flessen per jaar. De Vereniging van Deense Wijnboeren (Deens: Foreningen af Danske Vinavlere) kent honderden leden. Het merendeel zijn hobby-boeren.

Enkele geplante druivensoorten zijn:
Blauwe druiven: Rondo, Regent, Cabernet Cortis en Leon Millot.
Witte druiven: Solaris, Orion en Madeleine Angevine.

Economie van Denemarken
Denemarken


text:
Politico: The Coming Wars (The Balkans)
China is the new geopolitical player in the region
Politico news site publishes an analysis on the volatile region of the Balkans and the significance of the geopolitical area with the powers vying to gain influence. In the piece, entitled "The Coming Wars", author Bruno Macaes explores the frontlines of the future claiming the Balkans is not only the theatre of confrontation between Russia and the West, but China has entered the fray with own geopolitical interests.
It's a typical morning in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia or, as the country will likely soon be known, North Macedonia.
I wake up in the sleeping chambers of a galleon docked in the Vardar River — a nod to European imperialism in this city of architectural marvels — and remove the chair I had propped up against the door the night before. At the reception someone quips: "Do not be fooled. This may look like a hotel, but when the time arrives, we sail down the Vardar and conquer Greece."
Just outside stands the Bridge of Civilizations with its endless statues to all the heroes — real and invented — of Macedonian history. Then the main square with its giant statue of Alexander. And then the hotel where I am meeting Janko Bacev, the president of the small United Macedonia party, the only openly pro-Russian party in the country.
Bacev is fighting against the proposed name change for the country. Together with other small parties, United Macedonia will boycott the referendum scheduled for September 30, but Bacev is ready to do much more. He is close to Aleksandr Dugin, the Russian philosopher and propagandist known for his ties with every reactionary movement in Europe.
Bacev's bodyguard, sitting next to him, tells me that when the party brought Dugin to give a talk in Skopje, the Russian was asked how his countrymen would respond to the suggestion of changing Russia's name. We would kill, he answered.
The name change is important because it opens the way for Macedonia's membership in both NATO and the European Union, overcoming Greece's objections to the use of a toponym it considers its own. The recent agreementbetween the two governments leaves us tantalizingly close to that outcome, provided the voters in the referendum are convinced.
Brussels wants to turn Macedonia into a normal country. Russia also has an interest in the outcome of the referendum. To lose Montenegro — the small Balkan nation joined NATO in 2017 — might be deemed a misfortune. To lose both Montenegro and Macedonia would look like carelessness.
read more at politico.eu
Tags With: BalkanschinaeuGeopoliticsPoliticorussiausa
← FYROM PM Zaev disputes US Defence Secretary Mattis's claims Russia was meddling in name referendum
Amnesty International tries to block referendum on traditional family in Romania →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Bachlorette Blooper
August 9, 2013 by Mercedes
As my husband sat down on the couch beside me, he said, "You have two choices. You can watch voluntarily, or I'll make you watch by putting toothpicks under your eyelids."
Clearly I opted for the voluntary option – under GREAT duress. He turned the station to ABC and Desiree was riding a big, bay draft cross down a path in Antigua. Waiting at the other end was Drew, who hauled himself up onto an almost equally large Paint cross.
I thought, 'Wow, those are some nice looking horses. Shiny, in good condition. Usually when you see people on a tropical island vacation going for a ride, they're on sickly looking old nags.' What I said was, "Wow, those are some nice looking horses. Shiny, in good condition. Usually when you see people on a tropical island vacation going for a ride, they're on sickly looking old nags."
So enthralled with the show, hubby said nothing, so I repeated myself.
*Grunt* (Awesome! He's listening.)
They rode at a lackadaisical walk down to the beach and dismounted. A few seconds later I perked up. "Did I just see that?!"
"Yep," he said.
"That really happened, didn't it?!"
"Yep," he repeated.
So what did the rest of you think when you saw that? Oh, you don't watch reality TV, really? Tsk, tsk. Well, the show had edited out the part where our lovebirds had dismounted. On the beach and getting settled down to have that 'I'm breaking up with you' heart-to-heart talk, for a split second the Paint cross walked into the camera shot, his/her head down sniffing the sand for a blade of grass with the reins dragging on the ground, then another quick edit and the horse was gone.
I live for these TV and movie gaffs It's an opportunity to act incredulous. Like The Mask Of Zorro movie, starring Anthony Hopkins as the aged Zorro. The narration in the background talking about Toronado being a rare, black Andalusian, while a Friesian filled the movie screen. I darn near leapt to my feet, feeling insulted on all fronts that the producers thought they could fool me into mistaking a Friesian for an Andalusian. Pfft! Not even if I was blind, dudes.
For fun, let's list all the TV and movie horse errors that Hollywood has made.
This entry was tagged The Bachlorette, The Mask Of Zorro. Bookmark the permalink.
← How To Start The Engagement Process
Assessing The Youngster →
46 thoughts on "Bachlorette Blooper"
crow131 says:
The Black Stallion movies always cracked me up…for one we have an Arab racing at Aquaduct…with an under aged jockey. Said under age jockey tosses his crop-which would disqualify him as he would not weigh in right. If I had a better memory I could go on and on LOL…..;-)
I will defend the Black Stallion book, however, while not realistic, it did make the race a three way challenge match, not an official Jockey Club event, first horse under the wire, wins, was the only rule.
Out of the West is an independent film made at least 20 years ago that used about four horses for the main horse character, and since it required a wide variety of quality stunts, from grand prix jumping to living inside an apartnment of an Irish tenement, they used some very different horses. But it was a fascinating tale nontheless.
Okay. The incessant need to edit in constant horse whinnying sounds in every scene in a horse show. Drives me nuts.
Quill says:
Putting whinny sounds EVERYWHERE, especially when the horse gapes his mouth open in pain.
Riders cranking on the horse's mouth.
The Black Stallion was an Arab racing in a TB's race….
Zorro, and as you said, the Friesian vs. Andalusian thing.
War Horse – that horse ran full force through several heavy fences of barbed wire, and then got caught hard enough to FLIP HIMSELF and was unharmed.
The Young Black Stallion (I believe) the horses were in the wild and there was an Arab mother and a Friesian stallion. I don't recall those being in the wild?
Horse Whisperer….Grand Slam was a gelding so Dakota could sidle up to him.
Blondemare needed more coffee – movie is DREAMER.
Hey, it's called acting. I wasn't offended by the Friesian in Zorro, that friesian was "acting" the part of an andalusian. I kind of liked that they referred to the horse as an andalusian, because that is the kind of horse that would have been around there. As I recall, Zorro sneaked into the barn and tried to make like the horse and he were one, but the horse took off with him – a funny and more realistic bit. I believe that during the last part of the race in Hidalgo, the rider temporarily lost his saddle, luckily it was back on in the next clip. But my favorite is when Clint Eastwood or Sam Elliot ride into town and see all the bad guys horses tied in front of the saloon. They may be tough, but they are really handy with rake and shovel, not a road apple in sight.
Stacee says:
Ha I love this! I'm always complaining to my husband about these "horsey bloopers." I also told him about the Paint about to step on his reins in The Bachelorette!
I have noticed that the Friesian does seem to be the movie director's horse of choice (but who can blame them really?)
Most horse movies I just roll my eyes through.
In my opinion, some better movies involving horses are : The Man from Snowy River, Bite the Bullet, Ladyhawke (only because the Freisian is OMG beautiful)
There are others but I'm drawing a blank now!
The Silver Brumby.
I've never seen it! I'll have to check it out 🙂
Morganman says:
Goliath was beautiful in "Ladyhawke", and I think it singlehandedly started the craze for Frisians. Who wouldn't want to ride a magnificent charger like Goliath?
Ah, I see. Hadn't thought that the horse was also an actor. LOL!
Myranda says:
YES, The Silver Brumby was incredible!
Mouche says:
I don't have any movie bloopers that I can think of, but I was reading a children's book this morning where the text said "Barbie is trotting on her horse." and that horse was CLEARLY at a canter. Left lead. I hate it when children's books mis-identify things like this. Seems they're always calling the halter a bridle, or refer to a foal at a "colt", even if it's a female. I'm being picky? Maybe, but to me, it would be like showing a picture of a truck and calling it a car.
I see more problems in books as well. I was reading one book and was kind of enjoying it until they referred to a cremello gelding as "albino". I put it down after reading that.
Double cream dilutes were still called albinos when I was a kid, and also in the Flicka books, which I think were reasonably well-informed. Though I have spent my whole life wondering what the Flicka books meant by "golden chestnut" which is the colour of all the "good" horses from the "good" family. There's no indication it means palmino, though that might make sense with the renegade feral double cream dilute stalking the hills and trying to poach the ranch mares. OK, I haven't read this since I was about 12 so may be missing some key plot points 🙂
if they'd understood the genetics, they would have been begging that creme to mount the chestnut mares, higher percentage of palaminos.
If they understood genetics they wouldn't be calling them "albino" either haha.
I am still disgusted how the "Horse Whisperer" started out with a Bay Morgan and somehow it transformed into a Sorrel QH. If Buck was the consultant, why didn't he catch that? The movie was full of BS anyway. The book was better. How about a thread on movies that present really good riding/riders. Bo Derek did a movie featuring a Spanish rider who was absolutely magnificent. Bo was pretty magnificent too, especially where she was riding in the nude 🙂 (although I kept thinking, boy, I bet that itches) , but the male rider was superb. Also, I think that "The Man From Snowy River" features some amazing riding.
"The Derby Stallion" with Zac Effron (I don't really like him, but still), he actually learned to ride for the movie. The scenes where he's having a lesson in the movie are actually filmed while he's having a real-life lesson. War Horse had some pretty good riding (despite all of it's other downfalls, I did love that movie xD).
Snow River was the first movie I felt got it right with horses. Someone paid attention to detail! I get hives from horse hair….I can't even imagine….um, no on the nude riding.
Jenny Rouse says:
The dubbed in whinnying in every movie and TV programme whenever a horse appears drives me nuts. And if you're old enough do you remember TV cowboy programs like Bonanza and The Virginian? Not only were the horses always saddled, ready and waiting, but they went everywhere at a flat out gallop, Dam those horses must have been fit !
silverhorses1 says:
One of the worst (And I won't deny they were fairly bad movies all around!) was the recent Flicka films, where not only was Flicka a black mare rather than a chestnut filly, in Flicka 2 and 3, the 'mustang' miraculously became an arab! Continuity fail – especially since they kept referring to her as a mustang thoughout the films. Those movies also display some of the worst riding I've ever seen. The one with the eventing, I think it's Flicka 3, allows you to see almost every rider land with a resounding *thud* on their horse's back with each jump.
I enjoyed Warhorse, Man From Snowy River and the Silver Brumby were both awesome (woo for Australian horse movies!) and there was some pretty good riding in Lord of the Rings, especially in Fellowship, where Arwen is being chased by the ringwraiths.
I feel like mentioning to film makers that my horse has never, ever, ever whinnied while I was riding him, unless it was to call to his friend across the paddock. He certainly doesn't make the vast array of sounds movie horses seem inclined to!
In Lord of the Rings, all of the extras were riders on their own horses they'd hired from around New Zealand. Most of them were women with some heavy effects makeup to look like men. They were willing to spend that extra money if that's what it took to have good riders on the set. I believe they did what War Horse did for their main riders and sought out actors who could actually ride.
Groggyduck says:
The only actor that I know of who didn't rely heavily on a riding double was Viggo Mortensen. He learned to ride before they shot any of the riding scenes and then turned around and bought the horse that played Brego as there wasn't a home for him once filming wrapped. I'm pretty sure even Sir Ian McKellen used a double – especially for the bareback/bridleless Shadowfax scenes. And all the hobbits had size doubles who were taught enough horse skills to stay out of the rider's way xD
ChestnutMare says:
Speaking of actors who do their own riding, there's a scene in a Star Trek movie, the one that's the cross-over between the original cast and the Next Generation cast, where Captains Kirk and Picard go riding together. I read that the scene was requested because both actors are riders in real life and wanted a scene to ride together.
There is also an episode of Star Trek: TNG where Captain Picard is shown riding on the holideck; he requests an Arabian and tells the holideck "I desire to control the animal myself". They show him tacking up and riding and to my memory it's a rare TV horse scene where everything looks fine and the actor looks comfortable on the horse.
Oh man, that horse of Picard's… I wanna smooch its snooter! What a cutie!
I see to remember them also galloping in the movie (I've only seen it once, but have vivid memory for unexpected horse scenes in non-horsey movies) but I couldn't find a clip of it. In this clip, I like how Kirk moves his horse over close to Picard's, a moment where you can tell that Shatner actually rides, and how Picard's horse makes cranky faces when Kirk's horse gets close. It's kind of like a reverse blooper… I'm sure most of the world wouldn't notice, but if I was the director I would have been like "Cut! Start again! Horse made a cranky face, we're not using that shot!"
Yeah, that horse totally stole the scene there and didn't stay in character.
CitySlicker says:
Not only can Shatner ride – the horse he's riding is his own, and the filming location is his ranch!
regalsin says:
Hidalgo got me banned from going to horse movies with my daughter LOL I kept saying "that's a different horse " I know the last scene someone was talking about. He was supposed to be riding his horse bareback in final shot of race but saddle kept showing up in the odd shot…too funny. Let's not forget the stake that went into horses chest but by god he kept racing , shit my horse get tender feet and he wont go !!
Yeah all through Hidalgo I kept thinking about the teeniest little bump or cut and our horses will come up sore but Hidalgo can get impaled and keep on going! Wow!
Also, it drove me nuts how when they turned the horse loose at the end, he had shoes on (kicked up his heels right at the camera giving a clear flash of shod rear hooves). I'm not sure if that counts as a blooper or not, but you'd think if you were turning a horse to go live wild and free you'd pull off the shoes?
ThatBarnGirl says:
Yes! The first thing I said when that movie ended was, "They expect me to believe he turned his horse loose with its shoes still on?!"
I saw War Horse at Lincoln Center, and the horse wasn't even a horse, but a giant puppet. They clearly believed that they could get away with that without any horse people noticing.
Warhorse was made into a play originally and they used giant puppets as the horses. Maybe that's what you saw?
I am pretty sure that was sarcasm. (Brooklyn, I saw the same "technique" in the Lion King – I'm a bit near-sighted but even I could tell those weren't real lions!)
horsemaid says:
I love the Man From Snowy River but if you watch closely there a couple of places where you can see the outriders during the herding scenes.
I've caught that too!
I love when horses that are supposed to be portrayed as wild horses are immaculately groomed and fully shod. For example in Flicka the horse is obviously shod. Doesn't make it realistic. They could at least edit them out. No matter how bad most horses can be my girlfriend and I still rush out and rent every cheesy horse movie!
DKay says:
I had fun trying to count all the different horses that played the different parts in war horse. Foal, and broodmare was a gelding! Same gelding that was down and tangled in the barbed wire fence–Trainer said of this gelding that he does pathetic best! And the young horse galloping along side the automobile—did you all notice the aged horse mouth full of teeth? And the comming home scene with a gaited horse? All together I think nine horses were used to portray Joey. I really did enjoy the movie!
Hoofhearted says:
In the 1999 film "An Ideal Husband" based on the Oscar Wilde play, the carriage driver drops his reins in the footwell and he's got different shoes on to what were seen earlier on.
The casebook of Sherlock Holmes has a team of 4 horses and a carriage and it sets off with a different arrangement of horses than how they end up when they arrive.
The Horse whisperer has the same horse with a star and a blaze
Black Beauty changes sex twice in the film!
Braveheart has a shed load of horses wearing modern saddlery and including shots of Mel Gibson riding western style!
Heck there's hardly a film produced that doesn't have changes of horses and tack.
I hope they someday make a movie about Sergeant Reckless, bloopers or not. That was one incredible horse. But how many Korean racing thoroughbreds are hanging out in Hollywood?
Not a movie blooper, but the fantasy book series "The Wheel of Time" made me cringe horribly. In the first book, the characters are running from bad guys on horseback. They are galloping over a long series of hills. Not only do they gallop all day, but they slow down to go up the hills, then pick up speed and fly down the other side. (Maybe the author thinks horses have wheels?)
Even worse, at one point, a character doesn't have a sheath for his sword, so he just sticks it under his horse's girth. I'm really, really not sure how the author even pictured that being possible…?
Wh-what?? Please tell me that after sticking his sword through his girth, the saddle falls off and he ends up in the dirt? Because that is a monumentally stupid idea . . . And of course, all horses can gallop all day and all night over hills! They're just like machines! One book that did do a good job of the horses was the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness – the two main horses, Angharrad and Acorn were almost real characters, had personalities, and realistic reactions, even though it wasn't really a horse book. I liked that!


Not so long ago, there was a much-created hype about sector 150 in Noida. From newspapers to radio everywhere we used to hear about this sector being this and being that. Well time has passed by rather quickly and those all hypes can be seen as substantial development now in sector 150 Noida.
Ace Parkway and Ace Golf shire are the two premium luxury real estate projects in Sector 150 Noida. While Ace Golf shire has already been delivered to their patrons, ACE Parkway is undergoing rapid construction.


text:
Gotta be in it to win it: Local councils ignore M2M opportunities
By Ian Scales
via Flickr © Norbert Reimer (CC BY-SA 2.0)
UK local councils aren't as M2M-aware as they could be, claims Vodafone, which has conducted a survey into how (or not) municipal authorities are tapping the opportunities presented by what the UK mobile operator pointedly calls M2M (not IoT).
While both councillors and the people who elect them say they're all in favour of money being spent to use technology to improve public services and trim costs, both sides appear to be less aware of the sorts of things that M2M (using cellular - Vodafone's speciality) can deliver. The survey finds that 67 per cent of urban councillors are simply not aware of M2M and how it can be used. Could it be that the hype around 'IoT' and 'smart cities' - all those billions of devices due in a few years time - has put 'that sort of thing' firmly into the near future in the public's - and the politicians' - minds?
Whatever the case, the survey calculates that potential savings of more than £400 million are currently being missed. The use cases Vodafone identifies (not without ulterior motive, of course) are:
Smart street lighting and smart in-building energy management systems in local government buildings. It reckons these alone could provide savings of £402.3 million.
When Vodafone implemented smart monitoring systems across 200 of its sites, it claims it gave itself an average saving of 29 per cent in energy costs, so it calculates that with UK local authorities spending around £750 million each year on energy costs, they could save close to £190 million per year with an average saving of 25 per cent through the introduction of similar systems.
Further savings could be achieved by smart street lighting - which brightens when it senses people or vehicles are nearby - and which could drive millions more in energy cost reductions.
Politically, there's lots of points to be scored too by making the urban environment more voter-friendly through smart traffic lights, applications to help citizens find parking spaces, get their refuse collected and so on. It says one City Council has started a project with Vodafone to help direct drivers to the council's 10,000 parking bays – some of which remain vacant because people can't find them. That could be a real vote-winner.
Energy & Utilities,
Internet of Things,
Smart Cities,
How AI and connectivity could unlock a new drone age for industry
AI, Analytics & Automation
Elisa and camLine to provide data and AI-driven intelligent manufacturing solutions globally
Telefónica Tech and Geprom strengthen their collaboration at an international level to promote the digital transformation of the Connected Industry
Operators further expanding their revenue streams: GSMA Intelligence report


text:
Q: Enabling C# 9 in .NET 5 Preview 5 raises a compiler error for the new C# 9 feature I followed this answer: How to enable C# 9.0-preview to enable C# 9.
I installed .NET 5 preview 5 which includes the new C# 9.

Microsoft.NETCore.App 5.0.0-preview.5.20278.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]

I try to use C# 9:
public class Person
{
    public string FirstName { get; init; }
    public string LastName { get; init; }
}

with a project setting like:
<LangVersion>9</LangVersion>

but I get a compilation error:

Error    CS1617    Invalid option '9' for /langversion. Use '/langversion:?' to list supported values.

I didn't find 9 in the list when run:
csc -langversion:?

The list is:
default
1
2
3
4
5
6
7.0
7.1
7.2
7.3
8.0 (default)
latestmajor
preview
latest

Then I used as suggested by this answer, but it can't help and also this.
<LangVersion>preview</LangVersion>

But I get a compilation error.

Program.cs(26,40): error CS1014: A get or set accessor expected

What did I miss to do to use C# 9 in .NET 5 preview 5?

A: I enabled C# 9 as described in this answer and @PanagiotisKanavos:
<PropertyGroup>
  <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
  <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
  <LangVersion>Preview</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>

.NET 5 Preview 5 or Preview 6 don't support the init feature and majority of C# 9.
I installed latest SDK bits of development from
https://aka.ms/dotnet/net5/dev/Sdk/dotnet-sdk-win-x64.exe.
Currently preview 8 is available (version 5.0.100-preview.8.20327.5).
I can build projects including init feature in Visual Studio 2019.6.2 (the editor still show red lines, but build success) or using Visual Studio Code (perfect, and IDE sense the new C# 9 syntax).
Most, almost all, features of C# 9 in the blog post are working fine with .NET 5 Preview 8.
Update July 3, 2020
Alternative Solution
For working with .NET 5 Preview 5, install the package Microsoft.Net.Compilers.Toolset, Version 3.8.0-1.20330.5. It support init feature and many c# 9 new features.
Install-Package Microsoft.Net.Compilers.Toolset -Version 3.8.0-1.20330.5 -Source https://dotnet.myget.org/F/roslyn/api/v3/index.json

Update Aug 7, 2020
Visual Studio 2019 version 16.7 is released with support C# 9.
In developer Command Prompt, type the command:
csc -langversion:?

Supported language versions:
default
1
2
3
4
5
6
7.0
7.1
7.2
7.3
8.0 (default)
9.0
latestmajor
preview
latest

You see 9.0 in the list above, and you can define LangVersion as 9.0:
<PropertyGroup>
  <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
  <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
  <LangVersion>9.0</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>

You need not to install Microsoft.Net.Compilers.Toolset v 3.8.0-1.20330.5 because C# 9 is supported.

A: Following Getting Setup With C# 9 Preview:
There are two main things specific to Visual Studio.

*

*Ensure that Visual Studio is updated to the very latest version. I cannot tell you how many times things don't work in Visual Studio, but do work from the command line or Visual Studio Code, and it's because of the version of Visual Studio.

*Secondly, you need to go menu Tools → Options → "Preview Features" and then tick the box that says "Use previews of the .NET Core SDK". I think they added this feature so that you could "play" with the preview SDK's, but not have your everyday work being built by preview features. But you need it ticked for things to work.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Good oral health is not just a luxury for those who can afford dental insurance. Your whole body health is related to the condition of your teeth, gums, and mouth. To improve the health of our low-income residents, the Northern Virginia Dental Society (NVDS) offered volunteer dental services during their annual Mission of Mercy (M.O.M.). Your Burke VA dentist, Dr. McMillan, was privileged to participate at the event on March 11-12, 2017.
What is the Mission of Mercy?
Sponsored by the NVDS, the Mission of Mercy is a two-day event at the Northern Virginia Community College's medical education campus. M.O.M. provides dental care, from routine cleanings and fillings to root canals and oral surgery, to Northern Virginia residents who live at 200 percent or more below the federal poverty line.
Last year around 500 community residents unselfishly volunteered their time for this special event.
Dr. Alex McMillan, along with his dental assistants, Angela Sanchez and Sylvia Perdomo, provided restorative dental treatment at no cost on Saturday, March 11, from 7:00 AM to noon.
Dr. McMillan, along with his dental assistants Angela and Sylvia helping underprivileged residents of Northern Virgina with free dental care.
This year, a record number of 1,003 people received much-needed dental care at the M.O.M. event. The value of the dental care provided was over $717,000.
Dr. McMillan believes in giving people the gift of health and truly cares about the well-being of every member of the Burke community. He has demonstrated his devotion to the people of Northern Virginia by participating in the Mission of Mercy dental clinic for the past 4 years.
Volunteering at the Mission of Mercy event was a very gratifying experience for all of us, and we will be back again to provide services next year.
If you're looking for a dentist that is truly passionate about providing dental care, your search is over. Contact McMillan & Associates online with any questions regarding your dental care or by calling 703-503-9490.
You can find out more about the Mission of Mercy by visiting the Northern Virginia Dental Society website.


The holiday season is here, which means that millions of Americans will find themselves anxiously waiting around baggage claims across the country, praying their bags show up on the conveyer belt.
But you don't have to leave the fate of your belongings purely to chance. Inside Hook reports that the Department of Transportation ranked U.S. airlines by how often they mishandled luggage in its latest Air Travel Consumer Report.
No one lost her luggage.
Each rate was calculated "based on the total number of reports each carrier received from passengers concerning lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered baggage."
Surprisingly, cut-rate airline Spirit came out on top with an average of just 1.84 bungled bags per 1,000 passengers. But if you aren't willing to forgo the experiences of more premium airlines, Delta and JetBlue aren't far behind in the second and third positions, respectively.
This sure as hell won't lead to passengers foregoing luxury for economy, but at least you know that when you fly Spirit, they're probably going to get at least one thing right.


text:
Coin Notes
Notes on cryptocurrencies and blockchains
rakeshsharmak123 September 26, 2018 cryptocurrency news, features
Bitcoin's Pivot From Retail To Wire Transfers For Small Businesses
The promise of bitcoin as a medium for daily transaction may take time. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency has found use as the preferred means for wire transfers at small businesses.
"At this point, there's a strong business case for cryptocurrencies to displace wire transfers because they are outdated and take way too long," says Jared Silver, president of Stephen Silver, a jewelry store located in Silicon Valley. Silver, who had been monitoring cryptocurrencies since 2009, began accepting cryptocurrencies at his store last year. Silver says credit cards are an "expensive substitute" for cryptocurrencies because they incur charges of 3 to 3.5 percent per transaction and take time. "It (cryptocurrency transfer) ends up shaving 48 hours of cash flow time as compared to an international wire transfer," he says.
According to him, sales made using cryptocurrencies have outpaced credit card transactions and account for 20% of total dollar amount processed at his store. (Though it is important to remember here that the dollar amount for a single transaction at a jewelry store is significantly larger in amount as compared to that an average store).
Sonny Singh, chief commercial officer at BitPay, a bitcoin payment service provider, said B2B transactions comprised 30% (or about $300 million) of the $1.3 billion worth of money transfers his company processed last year. This year, he expects that figure to go up to $4 billion. While BitPay has signed up large customers recently (Dish Network and Microsoft being the most notable), a bulk of their business in this category consists of B2B transactions with small- and mid-tier companies.
As Singh explains it, international money transfers for such companies are saddled with unnecessary charges and delays that make them expensive and time-consuming. For example, an average 2% processing fee is tacked onto each transaction. Added to that is the exchange rate risk for currencies and time spent (approximately 3-4 business days) in such transactions. With an average 1% fee charge and transaction times consisting of a single business day, bitcoin offers a more convenient transfer mechanism, says Singh.
There's also the added attraction of investing in bitcoin, an asset that has provided phenomenal returns in the last couple of years. Retailers can choose to retain their bitcoin payments in the original form or convert them into fiat currency. Jared Silver says he retains 5% of all cryptocurrency transactions. "We believe in the long-term vision for cryptocurrencies and hold that as a form of investment," he says.
The Challenges To Using Bitcoin For Retail Payment
But the cryptocurrency presents its own set of challenges for money transfers.
There's the volatility risk. Price swings of 10% in a single day are not uncommon for bitcoin. BitPay says it eliminates the currency risk in a manner similar to the one adopted by most forex companies: through constant trading. It sells bitcoin purchased by customers back to cryptocurrency exchanges. The transaction may be performed near-instantly, eliminating the prospect of fluctuations in bitcoin price affecting its transaction value. Retailers who choose to hold onto or delay exchanging their cryptocurrencies may be affected by the volatility.
There is also the problem of transaction times. As bitcoin exploded into mainstream popularity last year, average confirmation times for transactions on its network multiplied, leading to significant delays in processing them. Depending on the customer's risk profile, the company says that it can disburse funds instantly. In such cases, BitPay does not wait for confirmation times. "We make it (the transaction) so you don't have to (wait for confirmation)," says Singh.
For some customers, such as Silver, delayed confirmation times are not a problem. For example, he says the 35 to 40 minutes delay in bitcoin transaction confirmation times last December was a "non-issue" for him because the store's customers often pick up their products a day or more after paying. "Bitcoin was still significantly more convenient than me waiting three days (for wire transfers) and a pending status period for the transfer," he explains. That said, he still has to wait for a day before payment is released to him using BitPay.
Cryptocurrencies also suffer from a perception problem. "People fear what they don't understand," says Silver. In popular imagination, cryptocurrencies are associated with illicit and illegal activity, such as smuggling drugs. Silver says bitcoin is construed as a "sneaky" form of payment. Criticism from regulatory agencies has made the case worse. "Compliance (in the jewelry industry) is extremely important because responsibility (for the sale) rests on us," he says.
A Medium For Daily Transactions?
There's a certain kind of business that is well-suited to process bitcoin transactions in their current form. Luxury retailers, which process high transaction amounts in single transactions, are a favorite. The nature of their transaction also makes it easy to overcome hurdles that have stymied bitcoin's wider adoption. For example, the jewelry industry has its own KYC/AML regulations. "We made minor adjustments to our existing KYC/AML process to expand it to cover cryptocurrencies," explains Silver.
But the road for bitcoin to become a medium for daily transactions used at stores is potholed with infrastructural bottlenecks.
As the significant delays in confirmation times last year made clear, blockchain networks for various cryptocurrencies are still unable to handle frequent transactions. Initiatives, such as Lightning Network, will help them scale. "Enabling speed of transactions is critical to using cryptocurrencies in a daily environment," says Silver.
His enthusiasm for the use of crypto in business-related transactions apart, Singh discounts the possibility of bitcoin being used to buy a slice of pizza or a cup of coffee anytime soon. "That will take time and it really depends on the country," he says.
The last bit is a reference to the makeup of a country's financial services ecosystem. For example, the United States has high credit card penetration. Infrastructure, in the form of point of sales (PoS) systems, is widespread to enable use of credit cards. But such infrastructure is absent in the case of bitcoin.
Very few stores or large restaurant chains accept bitcoin. "We haven't been targeting the restaurants and McDonalds of the world because of their PoS systems. It's too hard," explains Singh. In contrast, it is relatively easy for retailers with fewer or single stores, like Stephen Silver, to accept bitcoin. Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry processes bitcoin transactions using the BitPay app.
The entry of Square – a credit card processor for small and medium businesses – into processing bitcoin transactions has potential to change the market. "Square really has a chance to change the whole industry. Jack's already said that he wants to do that," says Singh.
Posted in cryptocurrency news, features and tagged bitcoin retail, crypto news, features. Bookmark the permalink.
Education Is Number One Problem For Bitcoin: Rolf Haag From BitPay - Coin Notes	 on November 19, 2018 at 6:16 pm
[…] wire transfers for small businesses using bitcoin. Sonny Singh, chief commercial officer at BitPay, said the Atlanta-based company did wire transfers worth $1.3 billion for small businesses last year. […]
About Coinnotes
Why Did The Price For Ripple's XRP Jump Over The Weekend?
TD Ameritrade Invests In ErisX, A New Crypto Exchange


Mickey Clubhouse Capers Patio Chair has colorful character graphics and is great for indoors or outdoors. Sturdy metal tubular construction. Folds for easy storage. Each chair has a safety locking mechanism. No assembly required.


There's been a lot of talk about "geo-fencing" lately, and its use as a cyber tool that can help keep kids safe, online and off.
In case you are unfamiliar with this technology, a "geo-fence" is a virtual boundary around a real-world location on a map. Geo-fencing technology enables notifications to be sent when geo-fences are crossed, it can also be used to disable certain software or apps within a geo-fenced area.
Here's how a geo-fence works: Say your smart phone-wielding 12-year-old decides to wander five blocks away from home to see a buddy, but you aren't comfortable with your child being that far away from home. Had you enabled his or her phone with software called KidTrack, for example, you could have used its geo-fencing capabilities to alert you if and when your child ventured outside of a pre-determined "zone." This software could have sent you a text letting you know that your child had crossed the geo-fence" you'd set up.
Geo-fencing technology is not particularly new; it's been used for a while for localized mobile marketing and other things. But the ubiquity of mobile devices and applications, continued improvements in mobile location-based services, and enhancements to smart phones in general have made this technology increasingly powerful and popular. Some might even say it's become an important ally in the ongoing effort to keep kids safe online.
Recently, Yik Yak, the new anonymous social messaging app for hyper-local engagement, brought geo-fencing to the awareness of many parents and educators when it took the bold move of geo-fencing almost all middle and high schools in the U.S. This was done in response to a growing bullying problem, mostly by kids who technically shouldn't be using the app (it's rated 17-plus in the Apple App Store) in the first place. Using geo-fences, with the help of Maponics, Yik Yak was able to effectively block the app from working on K-12 school grounds across most of the U.S.
I'll be the first to admit it, parents today need all the help they can get, especially when it comes to keeping track of our kids and their behaviors, virtually and physically. But just like a physical fence can be scaled or circumvented, so can a virtual fence. In other words, unsavory speech and bad behavior is still happening online, it's just happening on the other side of the virtual fence. Just take a moment to read the feed of today's most popular apps and you'll see what I mean.
Most parents who have actually peeked at the "conversation" streams on the "hottest" apps or software that kids are using are usually shocked by the language they see, and a typical knee-jerk reaction is to disable the app. This is understandable because, to borrow sage words found on a recent blog post on the Cyberbullying Research Center's website, "What many adults don't understand, they freak out about. Especially as it relates to teens."
But rather than "shooting the messenger," it's helpful to step back and think of this online speech like graffiti on a real wall, often scrawled or spray painted in the dark of night. It's in kids' nature to push the envelope in spaces where adults are missing. When we should "freak out" and take action is when this speech devolves into actual cruelty or "cyber bullying."
Even a geo-fence can't protect kids from that.
Kids feel that grown-ups aren't particularly well-equipped to help them with cyber bullying, in part because the technology is so central to their social life and the parent's first solution is often to take away the offending technology, making the 'solution' worse than the bullying.
There is also a concern when parents or other adults try to 'fix' bullying is that they step in and essentially debilitate the kid, rather than arming a kid with tools to defend his or herself. This reinforces the sense of victim and lack of agency.
The interesting thing about bullying is research shows that bullying, overall, is actually in decline and traditional (in person) bullying is more prevalent than cyber bullying (Lenhart, 2007; Smith et al., 2008; Wang, Nansel, & Iannotti, 2011).
"Bullying is about power. The research is mixed on the anonymity question because it's hard to feel powerful if no one knows what you did."
So if bullying is about power, what if kids were equipped with skills to "un-empower" bullies?
The nice thing is that standing up to bullies online, especially on anonymous networks, doesn't require brawn, but only words and wit.
If kids learned how to have each other's backs in virtual spaces, using words and wit as their weapons, then it would be as though they had their own personal virtual fences to protect them (and each other) from harm.
While geo-fences are a terrific prevention, they're not a cure.
Ultimately our goal should be to work together in social communities -- digital and physical--to find solutions that will help kids help each other and make bullying so five minutes ago.
Start the ball rolling by asking your own kids how they protect themselves from cruelty online; I'd love to hear what they say! Please share it here.


Don't ask me what kind of music I like. Don't ask me what I'm into. Just ask me who I am, and I'll give you a list of songs and artists and movies and shows and books that built a personality.
I like art to defy category or definition. I like it to be at once funny and awe-inspiring. I want it to overwhelm my senses and drown me. I want a Rococo trash pile, baroque and slimy and deeply affecting.
Cue the record scratch: I'm just really fake. In high school, I used to be so scared that somebody would put me in a box that I'd do everything within my power to evade any definition. I couldn't always tell what I liked or why I liked something, but I'd keep it to myself.
I just needed to know more than everyone else I knew. My friends would name drop an artist and I'd Google them discreetly on my phone and then enter the conversation pretending I knew what I was talking about. I've done it about Crystal Castles and Regina Spektor and Swans and the Strokes and every little indie band that's ever existed. I definitely got away with it every time.
Art has defined everything about me, flattened me out and made me two-dimensional. I have become an imitation of the work that I love. My shadow is impressive enough to make people look at it and like it and talk to it like it's a real person.
To be clear: There was a long period of time when all this meant a whole lot to me. Music taught me how to cry. I've always been so emotionally constipated that the art I exposed myself to was what formed my capacity to feel.
I've always liked when making the art was damaging to the person that made it. Amy Winehouse and Jeff Mangum are my icons not just because they made beautiful things but because their work hurt them so much to make. I get to project myself onto the stuff I was consuming with visible proof that it mattered to somebody that much.
I've romanticized that pain since I was in middle school, and I still don't fully believe they were wrong. I still believe in their purity, but I don't think I'm allowed to take part in it anymore. Being the biggest fan in the room doesn't count as a personality.
It's hard for me to even talk about myself beyond dark, witty platitudes because I don't entirely believe there's a full, rich person behind everything I consumed. Somebody makes a song, and then they get to pretend that their work is an honest imprint of them instead of the strange, specific fantasy projection of themselves that it ends up becoming. That's what I got to turn myself into: The weirdest, most artfully created, confusing version of myself. I consumed a lot of pop culture as a kid and then made a personality out of it.
That personality has become so absurd. I live deep within this long-term obsession with evading definition. I want to eclipse the boundary between high and low. In wiping away what it means to have taste and be cultured now, I want to shatter the notion that there even is such a thing as good taste anymore anyway. I want to investigate the esteemed and the banal and make them both matter. I want to be reminded that my pretentious taste is pointless.
I've consumed endlessly, and now I am the product of that consumption. I want to build myself on more than that.
We should not create anything anymore. We should just create ourselves.


text:
Motorhead – Everything Louder Forever: The Very Best Of Motorhead (2LP Vinyl)
BMG Records (2021)
Brand New ~ Sealed! Definitive 2LP Quality Vinyl Compilation! 22 Awesome Original Tracks, Including "Ace Of Spades", "Bomber", "Overkill", "No Class", "Killed By Death", "Orgasmatron", "Iron Fist" & More!
Motorhead – No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (Vinyl)
Sanctuary / BMG / Bronze Records (1981 / This Pressing 2015)
Brand New — Sealed! Quality 180 Gram Vinyl Reissue Of 1981 Motorhead Live LP! Includes Inner Sleeve & Download Code. One Of The Best Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time!
Nadia Reid – Preservation (Vinyl)
Basin Rock Records (2017)
Brand New — Sealed! European Pressing Of The Sophomore LP By Highly Acclaimed New Zealand Singer / Songwriter, Nadia Reid. Flipback Cover, Includes Download Card. "simply breathtaking" – Record Collector (5 Stars)
Nazareth – Loud 'N' Proud (Vinyl)
Music On Vinyl / Salvo Records (1973 / This Pressing 2012)
Brand New — Sealed! Pressed On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl. Deluxe Gatefold Cover. Produced By Roger Glover Of Deep Purple, This Landmark Nazareth Album Shows The Tougher Side Of These Scottish Hard Rockers.
Neil Finn – Out Of Silence (Vinyl)
Lester Records (2017)
Brand New — Sealed! Vinyl LP With Gatefold Cover. Includes Inner Sleeve With Lyrics. The Fourth Solo Album From New Zealand Singer/Songwriter, Neil Finn, Of Split Enz & Crowded House.
Neil Young – Harvest (Vinyl)
Brand New ~ Sealed! Highly Regarded Remastered Audiophile Reissue On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl. Textured Gatefold Cover Includes 4-Page Fold-Out Insert With Lyrics.
Neil Young – Harvest Moon (2LP Vinyl)
Reprise Records (1992 / This Pressing 2017)
Brand New ~ Sealed! 25th Anniversary Remastered Reissue ~ Beautiful Recording! Deluxe Limited Edition 2LP Set Pressed On 140 Gram Audiophile Vinyl. This Outstanding Double Edition Has A Gatefold Sleeve & Includes Insert With Lyrics. Side 4 Is Etched With Album Cover Art Work!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Barn (Vinyl)
Reprise Records (2021)
Brand New ~ Sealed! Quality 180 Gram Vinyl. Includes Inner Sleeve. 10 New Songs Of Raw, Idiosyncratic Rock & Roll Spirit & Lyrical Beauty ~ A Classic NYCH Collaboration.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Live Rust (2LP Vinyl)
Brand New — Sealed Remastered Reissue Of Fantastic Neil Young Double Live Set On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl. Gatefold Cover With Two Inner Sleeves. Acoustic & Electric — Some Of Young's Finest Material!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Rust Never Sleeps (Vinyl)
Brand New — Sealed Remastered Reissue Of An Absolutely Essential Neil Young LP On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl. Includes Inner Sleeve. Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay…
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen (2LP Vinyl)
Bad Seed Ltd. (2019)
Brand New ~ Sealed! Double Vinyl Pressing On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl Housed In Beautiful Gatefold Cover! Includes Inner Sleeves With Lyrics & Download Code. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Return With 'Ghosteen', The Follow-up To The Acclaimed 2016 Album 'Skeleton Tree'.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against The Pricks (Vinyl)
BMG / Mute Records (1986 / This Pressing 2014)
Brand New ~ Sealed! European Pressing On Quality Vinyl! Includes Inner Sleeve & Download. Features Deep & Dark Reinterpretations Of Songs By Other Artists. "Long Black Veil", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart"…
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Lovely Creatures: The Best Of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 1984 – 2014 (3LP Vinyl)
BMG / Mute Records (2017)
Brand New — Sealed! Triple Vinyl Compilation Pressing On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl Housed In Beautiful Tri-Fold Cover! Featuring 21 Key Tracks Over Three Records, 'Lovely Creatures' Is The Most Comprehensive Overview Of The Recorded Work Of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds To Date.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads (2LP Vinyl)
Brand New ~ Sealed! 2LP Pressing On Quality 180 Gram Vinyl Remastered With Download Code. Features "Where The Wild Roses Grow" With Kylie Minogue & "Henry Lee" With PJ Harvey.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree (Vinyl)
Brand New ~ Sealed! European Pressing On Quality Vinyl! Includes Inner Sleeve & Download Code. Songs From 'Skeleton Tree' Feature In The Film 'One More Time With Feeling', Directed By Andrew Dominik.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Tender Prey (Vinyl)
Brand New ~ Sealed! European Pressing On Quality Vinyl! Includes Inner Sleeve & Download Code. The Critically Acclaimed 'Tender Prey' Features Essential Cave Songs "Deanna" & "The Mercy Seat".
Nina Simone – Pastel Blues (Vinyl)
Philips / Music On Vinyl (1965 / This Pressing 2012)
Brand New — Sealed! Pressed On 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl. This Sought-After Blues Gem Is Re-Released For The First Time On Vinyl Since 1965! Includes "Be My Husband", "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out", "Strange Fruit" & "Sinnerman".
Oasis – (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (2LP Vinyl) 25th Anniversary Edition
Big Brother Records (1995 / This Pressing 2020)
Brand New ~ Sealed! 2LP Set On 180 Gram Vinyl With Tri-Fold Cover, Inner Sleeves & Picture Labels. Much Improved Remastered Reissue. Includes "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back In Anger", "Some Might Say", "Supersonic", "Champagne Supernova" & More!
Oasis – (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (2LP Vinyl) 25th Anniversary Silver Vinyl Limited Edition
Brand New ~ Sealed! 2LP Set On 180 Gram Silver Vinyl With Tri-Fold Cover, Inner Sleeves & Picture Labels. Much Improved Remastered Reissue. Includes "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back In Anger", "Some Might Say", "Supersonic", "Champagne Supernova" & More!
Oasis – Definitely Maybe (2LP Vinyl) 25th Anniversary Edition
Brand New ~ Sealed! Limited Edition On 180 Gram Vinyl. Gatefold Cover Includes Inner Sleeves. Much Improved Remastered Reissue ~ Spread Across Four Sides For Superior Sound Quality. Includes "Live Forever", "Cigarettes & Alcohol", "Supersonic" & More!
Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard Of Ozz (Vinyl) 30th Anniversary Edition
Sony Music / Epic / Legacy Records (1980 / This Pressing 2011)
Brand New ~ Sealed! 30th Anniversary Reissue On 180 Gram Vinyl. Includes Inner Sleeve. Remastered From The Original Analog Tapes. Includes Metal Masterpieces "Crazy Train", "Suicide Solution", "I Don't Know" & "Revelation (Mother Earth)".
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary Of A Madman (Vinyl) 30th Anniversary Edition
Brand New ~ Sealed! 30th Anniversary Reissue On 180 Gram Vinyl. Includes Inner Sleeve. Remastered From The Original Analog Tapes. The Final Album To Feature The Guitar Mastery Of Randy Rhoads.
Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears (2LP Vinyl) 30th Anniversary Special Edition
Brand New ~ Sealed! 30th Anniversary Double Set Reissue On 180 Gram Double Vinyl Set In Gatefold Cover. Includes "Mama, I'm Coming Home", "No More Tears", "I Don't Want To Change The World" & "Road To Nowhere".
Ozzy Osbourne – Ordinary Man (Limited Edition Black, White & Grey Marbled Vinyl)
Epic Records (2020)
Brand New ~ Sealed! Strictly Limited LP On Coloured Vinyl! Includes Inner Sleeve With Lyrics & Download Code With Bonus Track. Record Has Picture Labels. Includes "Straight To Hell", "Ordinary Man", "Under The Graveyard" & "It's A Raid", With Performances By Elton John, Slash, Post Malone & More!


text:
Burden of soil-transmitted helminth infection in pregnant refugees and migrants on the Thailand-Myanmar border: Results from a retrospective cohort.
Brummaier T., Tun NW., Min AM., Gilder ME., Archasuksan L., Proux S., Kiestra D., Charunwatthana P., Utzinger J., Paris DH., Nacher M., Simpson JA., Nosten F., McGready R.
BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. While many STH infections are asymptomatic, vulnerable populations (e.g., pregnant women) face repercussions such as aggravation of maternal anaemia. However, data on prevalence and the effect of STH infections in pregnancy are limited. The aim of this analysis was to describe the burden of STH infections within and between populations of pregnant women from a local refugee camp to a mobile migrant population, and to explore possible associations between STH infection and pregnancy outcomes. METHODOLOGY: This is a retrospective review of records from pregnant refugee and migrant women who attended Shoklo Malaria Research Unit antenatal care (ANC) clinics along the Thailand-Myanmar border between July 2013 and December 2017. Inclusion was based on provision of a stool sample during routine antenatal screening. A semi-quantitative formalin concentration method was employed for examination of faecal samples. The associations between STH mono-infections and maternal anaemia and pregnancy outcomes (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, and small for gestational age) were estimated using regression analysis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Overall, 12,742 pregnant women were included, of whom 2,702 (21.2%) had a confirmed infection with either Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, or a combination of these. The occurrence of STH infections in the refugee population (30.8%; 1,246/4,041) was higher than in the migrant population (16.7%; 1,456/8,701). A. lumbricoides was the predominant STH species in refugees and hookworm in migrants. A. lumbricoides and hookworm infection were associated with maternal anaemia at the first ANC consultation with adjusted odds ratios of 1.37 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.72) and 1.65 (95% CI 1.19-2.24), respectively. Pregnant women with A. lumbricoides infection were less likely to miscarry when compared to women with negative stool samples (adjusted hazard ratio 0.63, 95% CI 0.48-0.84). STH infections were not significantly associated with stillbirth, preterm birth and born too small for gestational age. One in five pregnant women in this cohort had STH infection. Association of STH infection with maternal anaemia, in particular in the event of late ANC enrolment, underlines the importance of early detection and treatment of STH infection. A potential protective effect of A. lumbricoides infection on miscarriage needs confirmation in prospective studies.
10.1371/journal.pntd.0009219
PLoS Negl Trop Dis


I didn't want to wait to tell you about this amazing offer! Over 300 new Clearance Rack items are being added to the Stampin' Up! Online Store at discounts up to 80 percent off retail-only while supplies last! And for the first time ever, stamps are included at up to 40% off!!
Hurry - supplies are limited. You can order on-line by going to http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/jaynestamps/ and clicking on the "Shop Now" button!
Take a gander at some of the great deals we have!


Oster is a company founded by John Oster, headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin in the year 1924. Oster Company was initially established in the garage of John Oster. The first product released by Oster was a motor-driven clipper. The company is into manufacturing of small home appliance and kitchen appliance(like Oster waffle maker or toaster). Oster has been in this business for quite a long time and they have always continued producing quality products and that's the reason the name is gained so much trust from their users. Oster has maintained its reputation over many years and proved it again with the release of its impressive products.
Oster is a company founded by John Oster, headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin in the year 1924. Oster Company was initially established in the garage of John Oster. The first product released by Oster was a motor-driven clipper. Oster Company is a company that manufactures small appliances. Initially, Oster Company used to manufacture hair clippers which are designed to cut men's hair.
Oster (or Sunbeam Oster as it has been known since 1989) has been in business for so long and are known for producing quality products, you can be assured that it is a name you can trust, and you can purchase their products with confidence knowing you will own a durable and reliable product. Sunbeam Oster is the only small appliance company in the United States whose brand names are known worldwide. An Oster waffle maker is known not only for its quality but also for its style.
Oster is in this business for so long and they have always continued producing quality products and that's the reason the name is gained so much trust from their users. Oster oven is one of trusted Kitchen appliances that do wonders in the kitchen for you. These ovens will simply help you cook your food and even helps you in reheating. In this busy lifestyle, this oven will do wonders for you helping you to eat hot and tasty. Oster has maintained its reputation over many years and proved it again with the release best blenders. Oster my blender is a metal driven system and is equipped with stainless steel blades. This product is easy and safe to maintain. Oster blender is more durable, a reliable blender that they have ever owned. This is worth every penny and is a perfect choice to be made. Also take a look at the oster sandwich maker price along with specifications.


After finishing my framework overhaul I'm now back on hybrid rendering and screen space raytracing. My first plan was to just port the old renderer to the new framework but I ended up rewriting all of it instead, finally trying out a few things that has been on my mind for a while.
I've been wanting to try stratified sampling for a long time as a way to reduce noise in the diffuse light. The idea is to sample the hemisphere within a certain set of fixed strata instead of completely random to give a more uniform distribution. The direction within each stratum is still random, so it would still cover the whole hemisphere and converge to the same result, just in a slightly more predictable way. I won't go into more detail, but full explanation is all over the Internet, for instance here.
Let's look at the difference between stratified and uniform sampling. To make a fair comparison there is no lighting in these images, just ambient occlusion and an emissive object.
They may look similar at first, but when zooming in a little one can easily see that the noise in the stratified version is quite different. Less chaotic and more predictable. The light bleeding onto the sphere here is a good example. In the stratified version, the orange pixels are more evenly distributed.
Each pixel shoots one ray towards every light in the direction of direction + perp0*a + perp1*b, where a and b are random numbers from -1 to 1. If the ray is a miss, the light contributes to that pixel's lighting. If it's a hit, I use radiance from the hit point, using a downscaled and reprojected version of the lighting from previous frame.
The key to reducing noise here is that each pixel is getting exactly the same incoming light every frame, so an unshadowed surface will always get the same color. Here is an example using 16 of these area lights.
Importance sampling is another popular method for reducing noise, but that requires a unique distribution of rays per pixel. Since my area lights are fixed in world space that isn't really an option. But, one thing I can change is the quality of each ray. Since this is raymarching, rather than raytracing, lower probability samples (those that deviate a lot from the surface normal) can be of lower quality (smaller step count) without affecting the result very much. This makes a huge difference for performance with very little visual difference. I'm now marching a ray between four and sixteen steps depending on the probability, almost cutting the diffuse lighting time in half.
While I'm at it, the stepping in my raymarching is done in world space, not in screen space like you would typically do for screen space reflections. The reason for this is that each ray is sampled very sparsely with incremental step size. I start with a small step size and increase every iteration in a geometric series. This allows for fine detail near geometry and contact shadows, while still catching larger obstacles further away at a reasonable speed. World space stepping also gives a more consistent (well, as far as screen space methods goes…) result as the camera is moving.
Since lighting in the stratified version is more evenly distributed it is also easier to denoise. I still use a combination of spatial and temporal filters, but I've abandoned the smoothing group id and now using depth and normals again. When blurring, I use a perspective correct depth comparison, meaning that when the depth of two pixels are compared, one is projected onto the plane formed by the other one and the corresponding normal. Doing that is quite expensive, but since the stratified sampling looks good already when blurred with a 4x4 kernel I found it to be worth the effort.


text:
Сесилия Хелена Пейн-Гапошкин (10 май 1900 г. – 7 декември 1979 г.) е британска и американска астрономка и астрофизичка, известна с теорията за химическия състав на звездите, според която те се състоят главно от водород и хелий, която тя излага през 1925 г. в своята докторска дисертация.

Ранен живот
Сесилия Хелена Пейн е едно от трите деца на Ема Леонора Хелена (по баща Перц) и Едуард Джон Пейн, адвокат в Лондон, историк и музикант. Майка ѝ е от пруски произход. Чичовците ѝ са Георг Хайнрих Перц, историк, и Джеймс Джон Гарт Уилкинсон, сведенборгиански писател. Бащата на Сесилия умира, когато тя е на четири години, и майка ѝ отглежда сама децата си.

Тя учи в моминското училище Сейнт Пол. През 1919 г. спечелва стипендия за Нюнхем колидж, в Кеймбриджкия университет, където следва курсове по ботаника, физика и химия. Там тя посещава лекция на Артър Едингтън, който разказва за своята експедиция на Принсипи от 1919 г., в Гвинейския залив, край западното крайбрежие на Африка, където участниците наблюдават пълното слънчево затъмнение, и снимат звезди, близо до слънчевия лимб, за да проверят ефекта на гравитационната леща, предвиден от общата теория на относителността на Айнщайн. Това разпалва нейния интерес към астрономията. За преживяванията си от лекцията тя казва: "Резултатът бе пълна промяна на представата ми за света. Тази представа бе така разклатена, че аз претърпях нещо като нервен срив." Тя завършва образованието си, но не получава диплома, понеже е жена. Кеймбридж не издава дипломи на жени до 1948 г.

Пейн разбира, че единствената възможност за нея в Обединеното кралство е да стане учител. Затова тя започва да търси стипендии, които да ѝ помогнат да се премести в Съединените щати. Тя се запознава с Харлоу Шапли, който открива докторска програма по астрономия в обсерваторията на Харвардския университет, и се премества в Съединените щати през 1923 г. Това става възможно благодарение на стипендия за насърчаване на жени да учат астрономия. Пейн е втората стипендиантка на тази програма, след Аделаида Еймс (1922 г.)

Докторат
Шапли убеждава Пейн да започне докторска дисертация. Така, през 1925 г. тя става първият човек с докторат по астрономия от Радклиф колидж (сега част от Харвард). Темата на дисертацията ѝ е "Звездни атмосфери."  По думите на Ото Струве и Мелта Зеберг това е "без съмнение, най-брилятната докторска дисертация по астрономия писана някога."

Пейн установява зависимост между спектралните класове на звездите с техните температури, която следва от уравнението на Саха. Тя доказва, че голямото изобилие от абсорбционни линии се дължи на различни йонизации, а не на различни изобилия на елементите. Тя открива, че силиций, въглерод, и други метали в слънчевия спектър, имат изобилия, подобни на изобилията, които имат на Земята (в съответствие с приетите в онова време теории, според които звездите имат подобен на Земята химически състав), но водородът и хелият са няколко порядъка по-изобилни, особено водородът (милион пъти по-изобилен на Слънцето, отколкото на Земята.) Така, със своята дисертация тя установява, че водородът е основния съставен елемент на звездите, и съответно на Вселената.

Когато Пейн предава дисертацията си за рецензия, Хенри Норис Ръсел я разубеждава да представи заключението, че Слънцето е съставено главно от водород и хелий, понеже това противоречи на тогавашните общоприети разбирания. В резултат, тя описва откритията си като погрешни. Четири години по-късно, Ръсел разбира, че Пейн е права, след като достига до същия резултат, с други средства. Той признава авторството на Пейн над това откритие в кратката статия, която публикува, но често той е цитиран за откритието, направено първо от Пейн.

Кариера

След като защитава дисертацията си, Пейн изучава ярките звезди, с цел да изучи структурата на Млечния път. По-късно прави обзор на всички звезди, по-ярки от 10 звездна величина. Изследва променливи звезди, като прави над 1 250 000 наблюдения със своите асистенти. По-късно, прилага същите методи при изследване на Магелановите облаци, за които прави над 2 000 000 нови наблюдения на променливи звезди. Използва тези данни, за да определи трекове на звездна еволюция. Публикува резултатите във втората си книга, Ярки звезди (1930 г.) Наблюденията и анализите ѝ, част от които с нейния съпруг Сергей Гапошкин, полагат основата на всички по-нататъшни изследвания в областта на променливите звезди.

Пейн-Гапошкин се занимава с научна работа до края на живота си, като прекарва цялата си научна кариера в Харвард. Първоначално, тя не е на официална позиция като астрономка, а е технически асистент на Шапли от 1927 г. до 1938 г. Обисляла е да напусне Харвард, заради ниския статус и лошата заплата. Шапли полага усилия да подобри позицията ѝ, и през 1938 г. тя получава позиция като астрономка. През 1943 г. е избрана за член на Американската академия за изкуства и науки. Нито един от курсовете, които тя води в Харвард преди 1945 г., не се споменават в каталога от курсове на университета.

Когато Доналд Мензел става директор на обсерваторията на Харвардския колеж през 1954 г., той съдейства за повишаването ѝ, и през 1956 г. тя стана първата жена на пълна професорска позиция Харвардския факултет по изкуства и науки. По-късно тя става ръководител на Астрономическия катедра, с което тя става първата жена, ръководител на катедра в Харвард.

Сред нейните възпитаници са Хелън Сойер Хог, Джоузеф Ашбрук, Франк Дрейк и Поб Ходж, които всички правят значителни приноси в астрономията. Тя ръководи и дисертацията на Франк Камени, който бива уволнен заради хомосексуалността си и става известен защитник на гей правата.

Пейн-Гапошкин се оттегля от активна преподавателска дейност през 1966 г., след което става почетен професор в Харвард. . Тя продължава научната си работа в Смитсонианската астрофизическа обсерватория, и в продължение на 20 години е редактор на журнали и книги в Харвардската обсерватория

Влияние над жени-учени
Според Кас-Симон и Патриция Фарнс, кариерата на Пейн се превръща в повратна точка в историята на Харвардската обсерватория. Макар и под ръководството на Шапли и Шеридан (ментор на Гапошкин, по нейни думи), Харвардската обсерватория да е предлагала на жените, повече отколкото много други институции са правили за времето си, с личности като Уилямина Флеминг, Антониа Мори, Ани Джъмп Кенън, и Хенриета Ливит, именно с кариерата на Пейн-Гапошкин се смята, че жените навлизат в мейнстрийма на астрофизиката.

Следата, която тя оставя в доминираната от мъже област, вдъхновява мнозина. Тя става пример за подражание на астрофизичката Джоан Файнман. Майката и бабата на Файнман се опитват да я разубедят да следва физика, понеже жените не били физически способни да разберат научните понятия. Именно Пейн-Гапошкин вдъхновява Файнман, със своя учебник по астрономия.

Личен живот
Докато е в училище, Пейн замисля и реализира експеримент по ефикасност на молитвата, с изследване на група молещи се и контролна група. По-късно, тя се самоопределя като агностик.

През 1931 г., Пейн стана американска гражданка. На обиколка из Европа през 1933 г., тя се запознава с немския астрофизик от руски произход Сергей Гапошкин в Германия. Тя му помога да получи американска виза и през март 1934 г. те сключват брак в Лексингтън, щата Масачузетс, в близост до Харвардския университет. Раждат им се три деца, Едуард, Катрин и Питър. Тя и нейното семейство са били членове на Унитариаската църква, където тя преподава в неделното училище. била е и активна с квакерите.

По-малкият ѝ брат, Хъмфри Пейн, автор и кинокритик, става директор на Британското училище по археология в Атина.

Библиография
Нейната автобиография "Ръката на бояджийката" излиза от печат към края на живота ѝ, без да бъде издавана. По-късно е препечатана и издадена от Издателството на Кеймбриджкия университет, под заглавието Сесилия Пейн-Гапошкин: автобиография и други спомени (1984 г.).

Нейните научни книги включват:
 Ярки звезди (1930)
 Променливи звезди (1938)
 Променливи звезди и галактичната структура (1954)
 Въведение в астрономията (1956)
 Новите в галактиката (1957)
Известни статии:
 Пейн-Гапошкин, За физическите условия на свръхновите (1936 г.)
 Уипъл и Пейн-Гапошкин, За ярките линии в спектъра на новата в Херкулес
 Пейн-Гапошкин, Некролог на Ани Джъмп Кенън

Отличия
Награди
 Избрана за член на Кралското астрономическо дружество още по време на следването си в Кеймбридж – 1923 г.
 Първи носител на наградата Ани Джъмп Кенън (1934 г.) – първият получател
 Член на Американското философско общество (1936 г.)
 Член на Американската академия за изкуства и науки (1943 г.)
 Почетен професор в Харвардския университет – 1967 г.
 Титуляр на катедра "Хенри Норис Ръсел" в Американското астрономическо дружество – 1976 г.
 Диплома от Радклиф колидж - 1952 г.
 Медал Ритенхаус от Франклинския институт през 1961 г.
 Почетни дипломи от Университета Рутгерс, Уилсън колидж, Смит колидж, Уест колидж, Колби колидж, и Женския медицински колеж в Пенсилвания.
 Астероидът 2039 Пейн-Гапошкин е наречен на нейно име.

Вижте също
 "Сестрите на Слънцето", осми епизод на Космос: Пространство-времева одисея, 2014, американски научно-популярен сериал.

Източници

Литература

 Некролози

Жени учени
Американски астрофизици
Британски астрофизици
Американски астрономи
Английски астрономи
Възпитаници на Кеймбриджкия университет
Възпитаници на Харвардския университет
Преподаватели в Харвардския университет
Американски агностици
Бъкингамшър
Починали в Кеймбридж (Масачузетс)
Починали от рак

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
BlackBerry Bold 9930 Review: An Enterprise Evaluation
RIM's new BlackBerry Bold 9930 from Verizon Wireless has made quite an impression on CIO.com's Al Sacco; he's calling it without a doubt the best BlackBerry ever for businesspeople. But there are a few key areas in which it is lacking. This in-depth, "business-savvy" Bold 9930 review explains.
By Al Sacco
Managing Editor, CIO	 Aug 29, 2011 8:00 am PDT
Earlier this month, Research In Motion (RIM) began shipping a new generation of BlackBerry smartphones running the brand new BlackBerry 7 mobile OS. The most anticipated of these new BlackBerry smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930, is currently available in the United States through Verizon Wireless (9930), Sprint (9930) and T-Mobile (9900). And AT&T said it too will release the Bold 9900, though it hasn't specified exactly when.
RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9930 from Verizon Wireless (Image Credit: Brian Sacco)
I'll come right out and say it: I love the new BlackBerry Bold. I've used many smartphones in my day–in fact, I have access to just about any device I could want. But when it comes right down to it, I'd pick the new Bold over 99 percent of them without even a second thought. (Yeah, I'm talkin' about you, iPhone.)
I know that's a "bold" statement–poor pun shamelessly intended. But it's true. Chances are, you've already read a few Bold 9900/9930 reviews, since the device was officially released a couple of weeks ago. For this review, however, I spent a great deal of time with the device putting it through some rigorous/heavy testing. And my evaluation is aimed strictly at the tech-savvy, business user, or the BlackBerry "power user," if you will.
Here are the details on why I feel so strongly about this device, as well as a few reasons the BlackBerry Bold still isn't as functional as it could be.
BlackBerry Bold 9930 Front and Rear (Image Credit: Brian Sacco)
First up, the good stuff.
FREE CIO BlackBerry Newsletter
Get better use out of your BlackBerry and keep up-to-date on the latest developments. Sign-up »
Why I Love the BlackBerry Bold 9930 Hardware–and You Will Too The best thing about the new BlackBerry Bold 9930 is its form factor. It's simply fantastic. The new Bold is the first "candy bar" style BlackBerry with both a traditional, "physical" QWERTY keyboard and touch screen. The device also features the common BlackBerry Send/End calling keys, Menu and Return/Escape buttons and the BlackBerry trackpad for additional modes of navigation. All of these elements work seamlessly together to provide a wonderful navigation experience. BlackBerry Bold 9930 Sides (Image Credit: Brian Sacco) The keyboard on the new Bold 9930 is without question the best keyboard RIM has ever shipped on a handheld. And it's the best smartphone keyboard I've ever used. If messaging and typing are of the essence to you–and I know they are for many business users–you'll want to consider the Bold 9930 for the keyboard alone. I was a bit skeptical of the new Bold's combined trackpad/touch screen navigation, but have discovered that it works very well. I find myself mostly using the touch screen for scrolling through message lists, selecting and deleting e-mail, zooming in and out in the browser and for other general navigation. If I want a bit more precision to, say, click on a link within some tiny text on a webpage, I can simply jump over to the trackpad, which activates a cursor for a bit more control than just clicking with the larger surface of a thumb or forefinger. I easily and quickly got used to the touchscreen/trackpad navigation combination. After just a week or so, I was hopping back and forth between screen and trackpad, where appropriate, without even thinking about it–a good indicator of a well-designed UI experience. The Bold 9930 is RIM's thinnest BlackBerry ever, and it fits unobtrusively into a pants or shirt pocket. A brushed, real stainless-steel bezel adds both style and durability. The glassy-epoxy battery cover not only looks cool, it's functional as well, since it contains a key component that enables the Bold's Near Field Communications (NFC) support. (I do have a few complaints about the battery cover and NFC, but I'll elaborate in the following section.) And I'd be remiss to not mention the cool, new backlit trackpad, which, along with the backlit keyboard, makes the device easier to use in dark environments.
Anyone who is familiar with the BlackBerry devices of the past few years should immediately see similarities between the new Bold 9930 and RIM's original "Bold" smartphone, the BlackBerry 9000. And that's for good reason. RIM basically took the best design elements of the Bold 9000 and combined them with a touch screen, trackpad, faster processor, a much thinner profile and a vastly improved software experience, to make the Bold 99xx.
BlackBerry Bold 9930 with Bold 9000 (Image Credit: Brian Sacco)
About that processor: The Bold 9930 packs a 1.2GHz, single-core Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, which is significantly more powerful than the 624MHz processors found in the last generation of BlackBerrys. The processor, along with some software enhancements in BlackBerry 7, does speed up the overall UI and navigation experience, but I'm still not thrilled with this processor. (More on why in the next section.)
The new Bold packs more internal storage and RAM than any other BlackBerry, except the brand new Torch devices, with 8GB of built-in storage, expandable up to 40GB via microSD memory cards. It also features 768MB of RAM.
The Bold 9930 packs a pile of different wireless radios, which is definitely a boon for enterprise users. The unit I tested runs on Verizon's 3G CDMA network in the United States (dual-band 800/1900 MHz CDMA/EVDO Rev A), and in my experience, Verizon's network is one of if not the most reliable cellular networks where I live and in the areas in which I travel most frequently.
The Bold 9930 is also a "world phone," meaning it not only supports Verizon CDMA bands, but GSM/UMTS/HSPA bands so it can hop onto other networks, inside and outside of the United States, if necessary–of course, you'll need a SIM card and an active account with another carrier to use its network. (More specifically, the Bold 9930 supports dual-band 2100/900 MHz UMTS/HSPA, with maximum upload speeds of 5.76 Mbps and max downloads speeds of 14.4 Mbps; along with quad-band GSM/EDGE support for the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies.)
Combined with stereo Bluetooth 2.1, and Wi-Fi support (Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n [2.4 GHz]; and dual-band 802.11 a/n [5GHz]), that's an impressive array of radios. And business users who are constantly jumping from Wi-Fi network to Wi-Fi network, and continent to continent, will surely appreciate them all.
BlackBerry Bold 9930 Top and Bottom (Image Credit: Brian Sacco)
The device has standard headset- and micro-USB-ports, which means you don't need any sort of proprietary headphones or charging cords, and I certainly appreciate that.
The Verizon and Sprint versions of the Bold 9930 cost $249.99 along with new, two-year service agreements. And though that may sound a bit pricey for a BlackBerry, it's actually reasonable when you consider the quality of hardware you're getting–and when compared it to the $300 after rebate that T-Mobile is asking for its 9900. The new Bold also comes with a holster, which costs $39.99 on RIM's ShopBlackBerry.com. I'm not really a holster guy, but I know that many business users are. And you really do need some kind of case for the 9930. (More on why coming up shortly.)
Now, onto the new software.
The BlackBerry Bold 9930 and BlackBerry 7 Software: Pros
Overall, RIM's new BlackBerry 7 software feels very much like its BlackBerry 6 software, just running on more capable hardware, which leads to a smoother, more fluid, or "liquid" BlackBerry software experience. While there are some major enhancements, the overall layout and general functionality of BlackBerry 7 is just like BlackBerry 6. Because both versions are so similar, it was very easy to get used to and make the transition to the new 7 OS.
BlackBerry Bold 9930 with BlackBerry 7 OS (Image Credit: Brian Sacco)
The most significant improvement in BlackBerry 7 relates to the overall performance and what RIM has named "Liquid Graphics." Due to the faster processor, a new graphics chip set and some "tighter" code, BlackBerry users will see much less lag on the BlackBerry Bold 9930 than on previous BlackBerry smartphones. Most BlackBerry owners are probably painfully familiar with the dreaded spinning clock icon, which appears when the device is overloaded and can't keep up with all the processes running at a given time. I wish I could say you don't see the clock icon at all on the Bold 9930, but unfortunately, that's not the case. However, the overall BlackBerry 7 navigation experience is much smoother.
The BlackBerry Browser also got some valuable modifications in BlackBerry 7, and it shows. The Webkit-based browser now fully supports HTML 5 video. It's faster and smoother, and simply a better overall Web browsing tool. The Bold 9930's touch screen works seamlessly with the BlackBerry 7 browser, making touch-based scrolling and zooming a pleasure.
Another notable feature in BlackBerry 7: Voice-activated universal search, lets you search just about anything on your device, including messages, contacts, browsing history and various applications, as well as query various online services, without ever having to touch your device. Universal search isn't new to BlackBerry 7, but the voice-activation part is unique to the new OS. In my tests, the voice search function worked quite well.
From a business perspective, the behind-the-scenes BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), which connects BlackBerry smartphones to corporate resources, is just as important as the handheld software. And, as expected, I had no trouble at all connecting my BlackBerry to my corporate BES. It really couldn't be easier to get most BlackBerrys connected BES; for the majority of users, it's as simple as launching the e-mail setup process and then entering in an access code provided by your IT department.
As for preloaded enterprise-oriented software, the Bold comes along with a number of valuable applications, including the full, premium version of the Documents to Go mobile office suite. The last couple of generations of BlackBerry smartphones also shipped with Doc to Go, but they included only the free, limited version that lacked some "advanced" options, such as the ability to create new documents. Docs to Go Premium also includes a full PDF reader, which isn't available in the free version. I'm a big fan of this software, and it's a must-have for all BlackBerry toting businesspeople.
The Bold 9930 also supports RIM's BlackBerry Balance technology, which helps IT secure corporate data on BlackBerrys without putting too many restrictions on users' devices. (Read more on BlackBerry Balance here.)
I know, I know, that's a lot to like–and a lot of information to take in. But that's just the positive stuff about the Bold 9930. Here's the flip side.
Bold 9930 is Almost the Perfect BlackBerry…But Not Quite As stated early on in this evaluation, I really, really like the BlackBerry Bold 9930. And as such, I have many more good things to say about it than I have criticisms. But that's not to say I found it to be perfect, here's why. The number one flaw I currently see in the Bold 9930 is battery life. And unfortunately, that's a very significant flaw, especially for business users who depend on their handhelds to last them at least a full day before needing another charge. In my tests, the Bold 9930 got about 6 hours and 20 minutes of talk time, while in an area with full 3G coverage. BlackBerry Bold 9930 Rear with Battery Cover Removed (Image Credit: Brian Sacco) Well, that's not bad at all, you say? You're right, six hours of talk time is average or better for a modern 3G smartphone. The problem is that the Bold 9930 barely makes it through my work day with moderate to heavy use. For example, if I unplug my fully-charged Bold 9930 at 8 AM, and then use it regularly throughout the day, sending and receiving e-mail and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) messages, occasionally checking Twitter and placing a phone call or two, the Bold will be dead by the time I get home around 5 PM. Again, in comparison to some other devices I use–ahem, Motorola Atrix–this battery life isn't bad at all. However, RIM spoiled me with the BlackBerry Bold 9780, and to a lesser extent, the Torch 9800, which can easily last 10 hours or more of heavy use on a single charge. For me, it's frustrating to have to get used to a device that offers significantly less battery life, especially since BlackBerrys are typically known to have great battery life. RIM could certainly release software updates in the future that improve overall 9930 battery life, but the fact that actual "JM-1" battery pack in the Bold 9930 has a lower capacity (1230mAh) than the Bold 9780 (1550mAh) and the Torch 9800/9810 (1270) is probably the best explanation for this decrease in battery life.
On the upside, the Bold 9930's battery is removable, so you can buy a few extras and stash them in your travel bag, though right now, you'll have to shell out another $35 – $50 each.
My second complaint relates to the Bold 9930's camera. Though all of the newest BlackBerrys, and even a few of the older devices, have 5.0 megapixel digital cameras, some of them have different focus mechanisms. My issue with the Bold 9930 is that it doesn't focus very well on close-up objects, and as a result, it takes photos of notably lower quality than both of RIM's new BlackBerry Torch devices and even the original Torch 9800.
I believe RIM used a different camera lens or at least a different focus mechanism in the Bold 9930, probably due to the fact that the device is so thin, and the end result is that the new Bold doesn't take as high quality images as my old Torch, which is an unfortunate downgrade.
As stated earlier in this post the BlackBerry 7 software experience is vastly improved over the last generation of BlackBerry 6 devices; however, after using the device for a few weeks now and loading up most of usual applications and services, the Bold 9930 still lags just enough that it warrants mentioning. I definitely see the BlackBerry "clock icon" far less often than I did on BlackBerry 6 devices, but it does show occasionally. And I find the Bold takes its time "waking" up sometimes after I haven't touched for a while, leaving me furiously tapping the standby key atop the device or the keyboard until it turns back on.
My final "significant" complaint relates to the BlackBerry application ecosystem as a whole. It simply doesn't stack up to iPhone or Android application ecosystems. This isn't a new problem. And the issue stems from a number of reasons that I won't necessarily elaborate on here, but the bottom line is that both iOS and Android, the BlackBerry platform's two top rivals right now, currently offer a drastically superior application experience to BlackBerry. And businesspeople like apps, too.
I love the Bold 9930, but due to its inferior application selection, I still find myself also carrying an iPhone or Android device. And I really wish I could just carry one smartphone for a change.
I also wish the Bold 9930 packed a dual-core processor, since many comparable high-end smartphones are currently hitting the market with dual-core chips. I should note that I haven't seen extensive lag or any of the other common indicators that the 9930's single-core 1.2GHz processor can't keep up with me. Given that, a dual-core processor may not be necessary in this case. But I still contend that the 9930 may end up feeling a bit outdated in the not-so-distant future, as dual-core processors become the norm instead of the exception to the rule.
BlackBerry Bold 9930 Rear (Image Credit: Brian Sacco)
And though the Bold 9930 does support NFC for short-range wireless communication, Verizon decided to launch the handheld without NFC enabled. Future software updates could, and probably will, enable this feature, but I really hoped to be experimenting with NFC now, especially since RIM touted the features when it first unveiled the new Bold last May.
The Bold 9930's epoxy-glass battery cover looks really nice, but it scratches and scuffs very easily. I carried my case-less Bold 9930 along with a similarly "naked" Motorola Atrix in the same pants pocket for two weeks, and the Bold's battery cover is covered in scratches and scuffs, while the Atrix is fine. (Check out the included image to see for yourself.) If I had been using a case or holster, I probably wouldn't have scratched up the device as much, so I strongly recommend picking up some sort of protective covering for the Bold 9930.
A few more minor complaints: I really wish the 9930 had a second user-programmable convenience key–it only has one. But a number of applications do exist that allow you to assign multiple functions to one convenience key, so the lack of an additional key isn't a huge deal. Also, the volume up/down and mute keys already feel slightly "loose" after using the device for just a few weeks, and that may not bode well for future durability.
Sooooo, to sum that all up…
BlackBerry Bold 9930 Business-Oriented Review: Conclusions
The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is one hell of a business smartphone. You need only look at the lengthy list of things I love about the device, and my relatively short list of complaints, to see that the positive drastically outweighs the negative when it comes to RIM's new Bold 9930, at least from a business user's perspective.
I'm infatuated with the form factor and UI. BlackBerry 7 provides a much better user-experience than any RIM OS has in the past. And the Bold 9930 is actually very good-looking–something I haven't really been able to say about too many BlackBerrys.
Sure, it has its shortcomings, namely the fact that the BlackBerry application ecosystem isn't as robust as some competitors' ecosystems. Battery life isn't what I've come to expect from RIM. The digital camera is lacking. And the Bold really can't compete with rival devices like the iPhone, from a multimedia perspective, due largely to the smaller screen size. But the target Bold 9930 user doesn't much care about all that; the ideal Bold 9930 owner wants, first and foremost, high performance; top of the line messaging components–like a great keyboard and best of breed messaging application; security; and reliability. The rest is just icing on the cake.
If you fit that target Bold 9930 user profile, the 9930 is one of, if not the, best smartphones available to you today.
Will this device draw loyal iPhone or Android users towards RIM and BlackBerry and away from Apple or Google? No, probably not. But it's sure to wow current BlackBerry users, who have stayed with RIM for a reason: BlackBerrys are still the best messaging and enterprise-oriented devices on the market today. The Bold 9930 may also lure former BlackBerry users who recently jumped ship back to BlackBerry–and I believe they'll be satisfied upon return. And again, the device is really good looking, so much so it may scoop up some smartphone users who are still on the fence.
RIM and BlackBerry have been catching a lot of flak from various critics in recent days, but the Bold 9930 is a perfect example of why I still remain a loyal BlackBerry user.
(Still haven't had enough Bold 9930 info? Check out the quick hands-on video below for a live demo.) AS
Hands on with the BlackBerry Bold 9930
Al Sacco covers Mobile and Wireless for CIO.com. Follow Al on Twitter @ASacco. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Al at asacco@cio.com
Al Sacco was a journalist, blogger and editor who covers the fast-paced mobile beat for CIO.com and IDG Enterprise, with a focus on wearable tech, smartphones and tablet PCs. Al managed CIO.com writers and contributors, covered news, and shared insightful expert analysis of key industry happenings. He also wrote a wide variety of tutorials and how-tos to help readers get the most out of their gadgets, and regularly offered up recommendations on software for a number of mobile platforms. Al resides in Boston and is a passionate reader, traveler, beer lover, film buff and Red Sox fan.