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Q: Counterexample for Finding Lebesgue Integrable Function
Prove (or provide a counterexample). There does not exist an integrable function $g$ on $\mathbb{R}^n$ that is

*

*Nonnegative

*Has measure satisfying $m(${$g > 2$}$)\hspace{.2cm} \geq \frac{1}{2}$

*$\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} g = 1$.

In $\mathbb{R}$, a counterexample would be $g(x) = 3 \cdot \mathbb{1}${$x \in [0, 1/3]$}. However, I'm having difficulties visualizing an extension to $n$-dimensions. Or perhaps there is no counterexample?

A: Suppose that $g$ has the required properties. Let $A = \{x\in \mathbb{R^n}: g(x)>2\}$ then $m(A)\geq \frac{1}{2}$. Then $g> 2\cdot \mathbb{1}_A$. What can you say about the integral on the right-hand side?

A: There is no such function.  $\int_{g>2} (g-2)dm \leq 1-2m(g>2) \leq 1-2\frac  1 2 =0$. But $\int_{g>2} (g-2)dm >0$.


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Neighbourhood Plan Review: Plans Made in August 2019
No two Neighbourhood Plans are alike, although many have similar characteristics and address common themes. This post provides a short summary of those Neighbourhood Plans which successfully passed referendum in August 2019, highlighting the elements which make each plan locally specific and unique.
August plans contained lessons in semantics; aspirations for "harmonious living" for those with specialist housing needs; support for rural enterprise through homes on the farm; biodiversity off-setting; and protection of essential local facilities - notably, the public toilet. August saw a plan which previously fell foul of the regulations finally find success; and several 'concise' plans pass referendum - the shortest containing just three policies.
Navigate this post using the links...
Milborne St Andrew
Referendum date: 01 August 2019 | LPA: Malvern Hills District Council
The Broadwas and Cotheridge Neighbourhood Plan (BCNP) covers two parishes served by a single parish council, located in rural Worcestershire.
The BCNP details the types of development which will be acceptable in the countryside, allowing developments such as affordable housing, homes for rural workers, housing of exceptional design, and renewable and low carbon energy projects.
Specific 'key views' of the wider landscape are identified and indicated on a map. The BCNP requires new development to avoid harm to those views.
A detailed policy sets out criteria for the design which specifies the types of materials to be used when building new homes, whereas non-residential development can make use of a wider palette.
Specific local infrastructure projects are identified and prioritised for funding from developer contributions (such as s106 or CIL monies).
Referendum date: 08 August 2019 | LPA: Dorset Council
The Broadwindsor Neighbourhood Plan (BWNP) covers the parishes of Broadwindsor, Seaborough and Burstock.
The semantics used in the plan are clearly explained in the BWNP's introductory text. Namely the difference between "will" and "should". Where the plan's policies say a development will do something, this requirement must be satisfied. Where the policy says a development should do something, it is conceivable that in some exceptional circumstances it may not be possible to fully comply with the requirement. The interpretation of terms such as "will" and "should" in planning policies have been subject to some debate. By explaining how such terms are to be applied in the plan itself removes any ambiguity.
Important local landscape features are identified for protection, such as "open hilltops and dramatic hillforts", "narrow lanes with deep hedgebanks" and "locally distinctive building stones, imbuing distinctive local vernaculars".
The Neighbourhood Plan area enjoys some of the darkest skies in the country. To protect the dark skies, the BWNP ensures light pollution from new development is minimised.
Whilst many Neighbourhood Plans include Local Green Space designations, the BWNP's Local Green Spaces are accompanied by a clear description of the characteristics of each space. This helpfully explains why each space is of local importance. In addition, certain public rights of way and "wildlife corridors" are identified for protection.
The BWNP provides a table of guidance and photographs which together provide a clear description of the areas built character, including settlement pattern and layout, building types, scale and form, materials and architectural details. A thread running through all of these is the rural nature of the settlements, which have developed incrementally over many centuries, slowly evolving to changes in day-to-day living. This is a helpful addition and will help developers to design proposals which complement and reinforce the distinctive local character.
The BWNP makes numerous site allocations for housing and employment development, and sets criteria for the development of each site.
Referendum date: 08 August 2019 | LPA: Wiltshire Council
The Chirton and Conock Neighbourhood Plan (CCNP) contains just three policies. Whilst small in number, the policies tackle some big planning issues.
The first policy sets out a strategy for the housing development, requiring new development to provide 1 and 2 bed homes to meet local needs, and requiring developments of five or more dwellings to provide affordable housing. Self-build homes, energy efficient dwellings, conversion of farm buildings and the development of homes which provide opportunities for work are supported.
The CCNP's second policy explains how the parish council will spend its share of the Community Infrastructure Levy funding it receives from new development to assist with the creation of a new village hall or meeting place, sustainable transport improvements, off-road school parking, and improved recreational facilities.
The third and final policy requires new development to be designed in accordance with the Village Design Statement for the area, and to conserve the sensitive landscape setting and high-quality historic townscape of Chirton and Conock.
Referendum date: 22 August 2019 | LPA: Cornwall Council
Crowan Parish is situated in the west of Cornwall and includes the settlements of Crowan, Leedstown, Nancegollan, Praze-an-Beeble and Townshend.
The Crowan Parish Neighbourhood Plan's (CPNP) design policy requires development proposals to adhere to the Cornwall Council Design Guide and meet the 'BREEAM' sustainability standard. The CPNP encourages development proposals to "create a safe environment for harmonious living".
The theme of "harmonious living" carries throughout the plan, with provision made for those who are vulnerable or with specialist needs. Proposals to build housing which meets the needs of the ageing population are supported.
According to a government report, a lack of public toilets results in certain groups feeling anxious about going out. Some older people, for example, may not readily leave their homes without the reassurance that they will have access to public toilets, which can lead to ill-health, with consequent burdens on the NHS. The CPNP supports proposals for the enhancement of existing, or development of new toilet facilities. The loss of existing toilet facilities will be resisted.
Proposals for development are encouraged not only to include measures to support sustainable transport measures such as electric vehicle charging points, but also to provide facilities for persons with special mobility requirements and impaired vision.
Development proposals that improve or increase education, health and social care provision for parish residents and visitors are supported.
Referendum date: 29 August 2019 | LPA: West Oxfordshire District Council
The Hailey Neighbourhood Plan (HNP) uses a 'criteria-based' policy for the development of infill sites. In other words, proposals for small development within the existing built-up areas of the parish will be approved so long as they satisfy certain criteria and design principles.
Mature trees are protected by the HNP which requires proposals for new development to retain existing trees within sufficient space to allow them to be assets into the future. In addition, the planting of native tree species is encouraged.
The HNP indicates 'buffer zones' around villages within the parish, within which development proposals are required to respect the attractive setting and the separate identities of the various settlements.
The HNP designates a wide variety of open spaces for designation as Local Green Spaces, including recreation grounds, village greens, picnic areas, allotments, copses, woodlands, burial grounds, and rugby pitches.
Referendum date: 29 August 2019 | LPA: Mid Suffolk District Council
The village of Haughley is has good provision of local services and is therefore expected to contribute to meeting the area's growth needs by the emerging Joint Local Plan. the overarching purpose of the Haughley Neighbourhood Plan (HNP) is to ensure such growth will not have a detrimental impact on historic and natural environment assets, infrastructure and the amenity of existing residents in the Neighbourhood Area.
The HNP makes several site allocations for new housing development, which once complete will exceed the housing requirement for the area identified by the emerging Joint Local Plan. The selection of sites was informed by a Site Assessment Report commissioned by the parish.
The HNP includes a number of policies which set out principles and criteria to shape the design of new development and ensure such development is accompanied by infrastructure and affordable housing. In addition, proposals are required to adhere to a separate Masterplanning and Design Guidelines Report which accompanies the HNP.
The Landulph Neighbourhood Plan (LdNP) is another concise plan, containing just four policies (whoever said you need loads of policies?).
Landulph parish is located in south east Cornwall in the 'Cornwall Gateway Community Network Area' area. Cornwall's Local Plan apportions 1,500 dwellings to be delivered in the seven parishes that make up the rural area of Cornwall Gateway CNA - with Landulph's contribution being at least 20 additional homes. Policy 1 sets criteria to ensure this new development respects the parish's character.
Policy 2 seeks to maintain quality of life by reducing on-street parking. Policy 3 manages external lighting to limit light pollution in the night's sky.
Landulph's waterside location creates a unique environment and shapes the parish's heritage. Policy 4 ensures the parish's waterfronts, quays, beaches, slipways and pathways are conserved.
Referendum date: 08 August 2019 | LPA: Maidstone Borough Council
There are three overarching themes in Loose Neighbourhood Plan (LNP) developed from community consultation - 'Access & movement', 'Landscape Protection' and 'Design Quality'.
A range of access and movement issues are identified, and the LNP seeks improvements to the network of footpaths, footways and cycleways throughout the parish.
Protection is given to key views and an area of local landscape value, which are identified on a map. The local landscape is granted additional protection through a series of design principles which new development is expected to fulfil. A number of open spaces are designated as Local Green Spaces for protection from development.
The LNP requires developers to carry out assessments, including ecological surveys and flood surveys, and should influence the design of the scheme.
Principally, developments should be informed by the traditional architectural styles of the parish. In addition, the LNP encourages innovative modern designs where these are sensitive in scale and character.
The LNP includes a 'design checklist' which provides guidance on a range of design themes. Applicants are required to discuss each of the design themes in their Design & Access Statement which accompanies a planning application.
Cornwall's Local Plan apportions the area's housing requirement across its Neighbourhood Areas. Luxulyan's share of the housing requirement is 11 dwellings (to 2030), which the Luxulyan Neighbourhood Plan (LXNP) estimates it will exceed by 100%, delivering 22 dwellings over the plan period.
Affordable homes for discounted sale or rent which meet local needs are supported. Innovative approaches to providing low-cost housing such as self-build, modular off site construction, are encouraged.
The LXNP recognises the importance of providing housing on farms to help existing farms businesses to remain viable and family run, and to provide much-needed affordable accommodation for local people. The development of homes on farms by use of family members, for holiday letting, of for sale or rent to local people, are supported.
To ensure housing meets the needs of older people who may have limited mobility, new homes are encouraged to meet the 'accessible and adaptable' optional technical housing standard, set out in Part M4(2) of the Building Regulations.
To maintain the open character of the landscape setting between Luxulyan village and nearby hamlets, the LNP identifies a 'separation zone'. Development proposals are required to retain the open aspect of this important gap.
The Milborne St Andrew Neighbourhood Plan (MSANP) includes a similar lesson in semantics as the Broadwindsor Neighbourhood Plan, explaining that where a proposal "should" comply with certain policy requirements, if the applicant considers that there are good reasons why their proposal cannot meet the policy requirements, they should explain this as part of their application and show how they have aligned with that policy's intention as far as possible.
The MSANP allocates sufficient land, together with other limited infill and rural conversion, to meet the projected housing need of about 2.8 dwellings per annum over the plan period. Development of unallocated greenfield sites outside the settlement boundary are resisted unless it can be demonstrated that there is a local need for additional housing that will not otherwise be met, or that sites' development would deliver substantial community benefits to justify its release.
Certain forms of housing are prioritised, including starter and shared-ownership affordable homes suitable for single adults, couples and young families; and affordable homes for rent.
The MSANP proposes a community project to establish a Community Land Trust - a not-for-profit community-based organisation run by volunteers for the benefit of the community. The MSANP suggests the Community Land Trust could manage affordable homes constructed in the area.
To identify site allocations, a "Call for Sites" was held, through which landowners were invited to submit land to be considered for inclusion in the MSANP. Suggested sites were visited and assessed by the Neighbourhood Plan Group based on a range of criteria. Landowners of the highest-scoring sites presented their ideas at an open meeting. This assessment of sites informed the allocation of a site for the development of 32 new homes, retail units, workshops, and community buildings including a surgery and pre-school.
The village of Milborne St Andrew lies within the catchment of Poole Harbour, an internationally designated habitat. The MSANP identifies that the impact of increased sewage arising from new development on this protected site needs to be mitigated. To reduce environmental harm, the MSANP suggests 'nitrogen off-setting' - where land is taken out of nitrogen-intensive uses, such as intensive farming.
The Shilton Neighbourhood Plan's (SNP) first policy offers protection to an important community asset - the Rose and Crown pub, both in terms of its community function and its historic significance.
The SNP's design policy sets out locally-specific design criteria to ensure that new development reflects the form and style of the area, makes use of local materials, carefully manages external lighting, and protects key views and the setting of historic buildings.
Open spaces of local significance are granted protection from development through designation as Local Green Spaces. To protect the unique and separate identities of the villages of Shilton and Carterton, development which would result in 'coalescence' (i.e. merging together) is not supported.
The SNP identifies a network of existing green infrastructure assets comprising natural, amenity and public open spaces, and footpaths and bridleways, and identifies opportunities to enhance this network for the benefits of both biodiversity and human connectivity.
An overarching objective of the St Agnes Neighbourhood Plan (StANP) is to support improved access to health care for residents in the Parish and improve provision of facilities for those with disabilities.
To achieve this, the StANP supports the development of affordable homes on 'exception sites' i.e. sites not allocated for housing development. To meets the needs of older people, the plan supports the development of housing which is accessible and adaptable (constructed in accordance with Building Regulations Part M 4(2)).
In addition, the StANP's health and well-being policy offers general support for proposals to develop new, or to expand existing health and well-being facilities within the parish.
The StANP's 'Principle Residence' policy restricts the development of second homes. A planning condition or legal agreement will require that new homes will provide the occupant's main residence.
New development is encouraged to make provision for open space and recreation, with a specific local need for facilities for teenagers identified.
Much of the village of St Agnes and surrounding area is designated as a World Heritage Site (WHS), for the preservation of Cornwall's mining heritage. The StANP requires proposals which would impact on the Cornish Mining WHS to accord with Cornwall Council's WHS Management Plan and WHS Supplementary Planning Document. In addition, the StANP notes that beyond the WHS boundary there are attributes that are regarded as contributing to the setting of the WHS, particularly mine sites, mining settlements and mineworkers' smallholdings. The StANP requires development proposals to assess their impacts on such features and ensure they will be safeguarded.
The StANP recognises that the area's historic features can provide opportunities for the future, and safeguards a former rail route for future use as a footpath and cycleway.
St Agnes is an attractive place for tourists and the StANP seeks to ensure that tourism is sustainable. Developments for tourism must respect the area's landscape, beaches, wildlife, heritage, culture and character. Proposals for new tourist accommodation should be accessible to the widest range of transport modes available in the area and be appropriate in scale and character to their setting and location, and should maintain a range of tourist accommodation types.
Referendum date: 15 August 2019 | LPA: Herefordshire Council
The Welsh Newton and Llanrothal Group Neighbourhood Plan (WNLGNP) has been a long time in the making, with the first submission examined in 2016. The Examiner the first submission Plan did not meet the Basic Conditions as it breached EU obligations relating to the Strategic Environmental Assessment process, and the plan was subsequently withdrawn by the Parish Council. The case of the WNLGNP highlights the challenges which neighbourhood plans can face in meeting the legal requirements.
The WNLGNP's first policy provides an extensive list of detailed criteria to ensure that development proposals protect and enhance local landscape character and preserve key views.
The plan strictly manages the development of agricultural worker's dwellings, ensuring such dwellings are tied to the farm in perpetuity without opportunity to remove this restriction. Such housing and ancillary buildings should use natural materials, such as timber, in order to blend into the surrounding rural environment.
Similarly proposals for home extensions in areas outside the settlement boundary are strictly managed, and only considered acceptable in exceptional circumstances.
The visual impacts of polytunnels are carefully managed. The WNLGNP requires proposals to take into consideration any adverse impact on locally significant landscapes, views and habitats.
Small scale conversion of former agricultural buildings to offices, workshops and other business type uses are supported to enable farm diversification and economic growth in the rural area. In addition, the WNLGNP includes two policies to support the development of renewable energy, including for small scale community-led proposals and for larger schemes, subject to overcoming adverse impacts on the landscape.
Referendum date: 29 August 2019 | LPA: North Hertfordshire District Council
The Wymondley Parish Neighbourhood Plan (WPNP) includes a number of policies to support wildlife and increase biodiversity. The WPNP requires development proposals to be supported by a Biodiversity Action Plan, which includes measures to increase biodiversity, and by a Green Infrastructure plan to connect habitats and allow movement of wildlife around a development.
The WPNP encourages the use of a 'Biodiversity Impact Assessment Calculator' to quantify the biodiversity value of a site and calculate the measures required to offset the development's impacts. For further info, visit the Environment Bank's website.
The WPNP's 'Bats' policy expects bat corridors to be identified, protected and enhanced to support bat populations, and encourages development proposals to be supported by bat surveys. All suitable development is expected to include integrated bat and bird roosting devices within the fabric of the brickwork. On sites where protected species have been identified, proposals should avoid the adverse impacts of external lighting.
The WPNP's flood risk policy is notable as it requires all development within 12m of a watercourse to be supported by a Flood Risk Assessment.
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Stars Who've Died From Coronavirus
Paige Kindlick
Stars Who Have Died From Coronavirus
Fairchild Archive/Penske Media/S
The novel coronavirus has already taken the lives of so many famous faces. Acclaimed chef Floyd Cardoz tragically died as a result of coronavirus. The man behind the popular New York City restaurants Tabla and Bombay Bread Bar passed away at the age of 59. He was first admitted to a New York hospital after returning from a trip to India on March 8, according to a photo posted to his Instagram account. The Mumbai-born chef told his followers that a fever had prompted him to see a doctor, and a further statement on social media from his hospitality group, The Hunger Inc., confirmed the news of his hospitalization March 17. The eclectic chef and winner of the third season of 'Top Chef Masters' made his name with the groundbreaking NYC Tabla restaurant, opened in 1998, as one of the few Indian fine-dining establishments in the city. When the restaurant opened, there was an immediate buzz after it was awarded three stars in the New York Times. Tabla closed in 2010 but remains one of the city's most groundbreaking restaurants to this day, known especially for its bread.
March 25, 2020, 1:09PM
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell died from COVID-19 complications on October 18, 2021. His family announced his death in a statement and said he was fully-vaccinated.
October 18, 2021, 9:59AM
Alber Elbaz
Alber Elbaz — pictured here at The Fashion Awards in London on Dec. 2, 2019 — sadly passed away from COVID-19 at just 59. The designer was known for his work with labels Yves Saint Laurent and Lanvin. "It was with shock and enormous sadness that I heard of Alber's sudden passing. Alber had a richly deserved reputation as one of the industry's brightest and most beloved figures," Richemont chairman Johann Rupert said in a statement.
April 25, 2021, 11:48AM
David Edwards/MediaPunch/IPx
Dawn Wells has sadly passed away from COVID-19 at the age of 82 on December 30. The actress starred as Mary Ann Summers on the series 'Gilligan's Island' from 1964-1967.
December 30, 2020, 3:20PM
MBS/MEGA
Charley Pride has passed away due to coronavirus complications. The music sensation, who was the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, was 86 when he died on December 12.
MoreCelebrity News
'Happy Endings' Star Casey Wilson & Husband David Caspe Welcome Baby No. 3 Via Surrogate
Brad Pitt Rocks Bright Orange Coat Alongside Co-Star George Clooney On Set Of Their New Movie
Kenzo Takada sadly died of coronavirus while in a hospital on Oct. 4. This photo shows him during the launch party of the Kenzo Power Plate in the Kenzo mansion house in Paris.
October 4, 2020, 12:32PM
Nick Cordero
Nick Cordero sadly died after a lengthy battle with complications from COVID-19 on July 5. The Canadian-born star was hospitalized for over 90 days in Los Angeles, and also had to have his right leg amputated. 'God has another angel in heaven now. My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth,' his wife Amanda Kloots posted in her tragic Instagram message that same day. He is also survived by his 1-year-old son Elvis.
Roy Horn
Sipa/Shutterstock
Legendary magician and 'Siegfried & Roy' performer Roy Horn died at the age of 75 on Friday, May 8, just a week after contracting COVID-19. 'Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend,' Siegfried Fischbacher said in a statement obtained by HollywoodLife. 'From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried.'
May 8, 2020, 9:59PM
Fred Da Godson
Fred Da Godson at Fat Joe's 48th birthday party in New York in 2018. Fred died from COVID-19 at the age of 35 in April 2020.
April 23, 2020, 4:14PM
Donald Reed Herring
Elizabeth Warren/Youtube
Senator Elizabeth Warren announced on April 23, 2020 that her eldest brother, Donald Reed Herring, died after a private battle with coronavirus. Herring, a 20-year veteran of the US Air Force, was 86. 'I'm grateful to the nurses and other front-line staff who took care of my brother, but it is hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say 'I love you' one more time. And now there's no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close,' Warren said in a statement to 'The Boston Globe'. 'I will miss my brother.'
John Prine
RMV/Shutterstock
Legendary musician John Prine died of COVID-19 on April 7, 2020. He was 73.
April 7, 2020, 9:50PM
Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger died at the age of 52 after losing his battle with COVID-19. The 'Stacy's Mom' singer was hospitalized in New York earlier this week, and girlfriend noted he was in 'critical condition' and 'had been sedated to facilitate his recovery.' Adam was the father of two daughters Sadie and Claire with his ex-wife Katherine Michel.
Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally died of complications due to coronavirus. The author of 'Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune' and 'Love! Valour! Compassion!' among many other major plays, was a lung cancer survivor with chronic pulmonary disease, and died Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, FL on March 24 at the age of 81.
MOURAD ALLILI MOURAD/SIPA/Shutte
Manu Dibango died on March 24 in France following complications form the novel coronavirus. He was 86. Dibango is remembered as a celebrated saxophonist form Cameroon whose hit 1972 single 'Soul Makossa' made modern African music a presence in Western pop culture.
Nashom Wooden
Mary Altaffer/AP/Shutterstock
Nashom Wooden, whose drag persona was known as Mona Foot, died at the age of 50 of the novel coronavirus. 'I lost my best friend today from the coronavirus: Nashom Wooden,' their friend Mac shared. 'I just want to make sure that everybody out there stays healthy and takes care of each other because the virus is really real. And I'm just so sorry.'
March 26, 2020, 11:20AM
Mark Blum
Carolyn Contino/BEI/Shutterstock
Mark Blum died on March 12 after facing complications from the novel coronavirus. He was an esteemed actor of Broadway, film, and TV, noted for his work in the film 'Desperately Seeking Susan.'
Joe Diffie
Joe Diffie tragically passed away on March 29, at the age of 61. The 'John Deere Green' singer tested positive for COVID-19 just one week prior to his death.
Lee Fierro
Lee Fierro, best know for the role of Mrs. Kintner in the Steven Spielberg classic 'Jaws,' has died of complications from coronavirus, according to 'Variety'. She was 91.


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With Flipboard for iPhone we're introducing Cover Stories — one place to quickly catch up on some of the most interesting news, updates and photos being shared with you right now. The more you interact with your friends and the stories being shared, the smarter Cover Stories gets. You can refine what appears here by adding content to your Flipboard, muting anyone you'd rather not hear from, and connecting to your social networks. Cover Stories will be coming to your iPad in the near future.
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Google reintroduced AdWords on Thursday, tweaking existing features and adding new ones that are intended to assist marketers in promoting products and services just in time for the holidays.
The platform has been redesigned in Material Design, Google's design language used in apps like Google Maps, Photos and Inbox. The company built the platform on top of a new infrastructure, so pages load faster and the design looks cleaner, said Anthony Chavez, director of product management of AdWords at Google.
Custom intent audiences in the new AdWords, rolling out as part of the Google Display Network, are focused on targeting consumers who browse apps or websites for specific items. Google will automatically create an audience of people interested in a specific topic that advertisers can target.
The segments are created through machine learning, based on the data from the advertiser's campaigns, website, YouTube channel and several other signals. Google also will show the advertiser reach and performance estimates for each audience.
AdWords has also added Promotion extensions that serve up special officers for products and services, which act as an extension so advertisers can create them without rewriting or updating the ads. There is no limit to the number of extensions that advertisers can run, and the advertiser defines the promotions.
Promotion extensions work in a similar way to sitelinks, where they surface in search query results. A store might use a promotion extension to show a "25% off" promo code on all Black Friday orders. Advertisers like Torrid and Shoe Carnival, testing the tools, can make these seasonal offers more prominent by selecting one of 12 occasions such as Black Friday or back-to-school.
AdWords also now has a unified audience management and reporting feature that works across search, display and video, among other Google platforms. The shift is intended to help advertisers reach their marketing and advertising objectives, Chavez said.
"What's your objective?" is one of the first things Google asks advertisers when they set up campaigns, he said. Based on those objectives, Google shows the advertiser the most relevant options within the platform to assist them in achieving campaign goals.
The new AdWords also includes an updated Opportunities page within the platform that offers more actionable recommendations, relevant insights, and best practices. Advertisers now have a manager account support feature and the ability to filter by category such as "bids & budgets" or apps and extensions.
WPP's global media and marketing company Mindshare has been testing the Opportunities page to identify recommendations on optimizing campaigns. The opportunities are identified through signals and are personalized to specific accounts, Chavez says.
Ad Variations is another feature added to AdWords. Small changes to ad text such as changing a different call to action often affect performance. Brands may want to see how the term "Happy Holidays" performs when used in text ads. With ad variations, marketers and agencies like Merkle can test this change across thousands of ads in a few clicks. In fact, some advertisers have set up variations for more than 1 million ads in less than a minute, according to Google.
Advertisers get the test results as soon as the campaign can show statistically significant results. When advertisers see that an ad variation does well, they can replace all of the original ads with the new variation.


The city council of St. Charles, Missouri has launched Discover St. Charles, a YouTube channel that delivers department updates to citizens using short video clips. They've also created iPhone and Android apps so that citizens can easily access channel updates from their smartphones.
Un YouTube plus social et des innovations | blog tequilarapido.


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Copyright Act: A balance between user's and creator's needs by Steven Sandor
By Ellen Kartz on March 7, 2018 in Advocacy, Uncategorized
Copyright Act: A balance between user's and creator's needs
But where does the balance lie?
(The following does not necessarily reflect the views of WestWord magazine or the Writers' Guild of Alberta. Please send comments or responses to our WestWord editor at [email protected].)
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Professor vs. writer. Creator vs. educator. Artist vs. student.
The federal government's new Copyright Act in 2012 only widened the gulf between educational institutions and writers when it comes to the issue of who should be compensated for their work, as well as how many times a creator should be paid. Six years later, as parliament's Industry Committee reviews the Act, is the chasm now too large for us to bridge?
Those were some of the issues discussed at last week's University of Alberta's Fair Dealing conference—it allowed a glimpse into the educators' side of the argument when it comes to copyright.
"We must do all we can to protect the fair-dealing provision," was how Kathleen DeLong, Vice Provost and Chief Librarian, Learning Services at the U of A, opened the event.
Many Writers' Guild of Alberta members are registered with Access Copyright, the non-profit organization that collects reproduction-licensing fees from educational institutions across Canada and then redistributes it to its members. As you may have noticed, the amount of your annual Access Copyright cheques has dwindled.
And that's because, in the wake of the educational purposes exception that was part of the Copyright Act, many schools, from elementary to universities, balked at the prospects renewing licences that allow them to reproduce work of Canadian creators represented by Access Copyright.
So, Access Copyright went to the feds and was given license to issue a tariff, though many schools don't see the payment of that tariff as mandatory—and still aren't paying.
A smaller pool of money means lower payouts to creators. Schools argue that Fair Dealing's education exemption gives them licence to reproduce percentages of works (for example, one chapter of a book that's ten chapters or longer, or ten percent of a work, one magazine article per periodical). That's led to lawsuits, more lawsuits and, likely, more lawsuits to come. Access Copyright took York University to Federal Court over its non-payment of the tariff and won. But York is appealing that decision.
Lisa Di Valentino, a Canadian who is now the law and public policy librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said at the U of A conference she was confident York would win the appeal.
"The decision misapplies the Supreme Court's Fair Dealing analysis almost entirely," she said.
Di Valentino said York suffered because it kept poor records of what was copied. She said publishers have complained of declining textbook sales and licences that weren't renewed; but they need to accept that the nature of teaching has changed, that teachers are using the Internet and open-access material.
Just two weeks ago, Ministries of Education from seven provinces, including Alberta, and the three territories, plus school boards in Ontario, launched a suit against Access Copyright, claiming they were charged too much for their reproduction licences, and are looking to have the difference repaid.
So, now, there are two high-profile cases in front of Canadian courts where writers are suing teachers, and vice versa.
Di Valentino said that because Access Copyright offers nothing other than a blanket licence, it needs to take the blame for not providing more custom products to educators.
"They really haven't offered anything that universities would want to have," she said. "Universities were previously paying for things that they did not have to pay for."
Can we make up?
That was a question that arose at the U of A conference. Should the battle between educators and writers have gotten to this point? With the courts now involved, is there any way to walk back to the table and, as suggested by several people at the event, work this out over pizza and beer?
Adrian Sheppard, director of the university's copyright office, said if educational institutions from the pro-Fair Dealing side were to review their policies, they might trudge into the murky legal ground of suggesting they might be wrong.
"If we do a critical analysis of guidelines, are we playing into the hands of Access Copyright?" he wondered.
Di Valentino engaged in discussion with Douglas Hildebrand, director of the University of Alberta Press. Hildebrand said he worried the debate was setting up the Canadian writing community as "the big corporate bogeyman." Writers who are making far less than university professors are painted as greedy.
"We shouldn't necessarily set it up as a great divide," he said. "There is a mutual meeting point."
"The business model is getting a bit stale, and they [Access Copyright] have to offer more," said Di Valentino "There needs to be a better model out there.
"There needs to be a dialogue. We want you to get paid, but there are some things you are not going to get paid for.… Taking it to court provides some guidance, but we'd prefer not to take it to the courts."
She said writers should be working to get better royalty splits from publishers; a move that educators would support.
Degen vs. George
Chris George, CG&A Communications, is working for the Copyright Consortium, which represents all Canadian education ministries except Quebec. He lobbies for the pro-Fair Dealing side, and he urged those at the conference to seek out the MPs on the Industry Committee—including Alberta MPs Matt Jeneroux and Dane Lloyd.
The Industry Committee is reviewing the Copyright Act and may go as far as touring the nation and visiting Switzerland to see how EU law is working. George said the next five to six months are critical in the debate.
He said he hopes the feds find some other ways to support publishers than to change the Fair Dealing provision and bring back the fees and tariffs. "It [the feds] could support publishing industry in volatile times without changing the Copyright Act," he said.
At the same time George was in Edmonton addressing the pro-Fair Dealing crowd, John Degen, president of The Writers' Union of Canada, was in Ottawa meeting with the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
"Any suggestion that the world admires Canada for its 2012 copyright changes is the result, I believe, of a very selective small sampling of opinions — a tiny classroom of like-minded theorists, perhaps," Degen said.
"At The Writers' Union of Canada, we administer and support programs that pay this country's authors to visit schools, collaborate with teachers and present to their students. These programs are so popular and so desperately valued by front-line educators that our funding window for school visits essentially closes as it opens. Having provided that incredible value to our schools, we now find ourselves being sued by their boards and administrations for daring to expect payment for the core of our work, which is the writing itself. There's really nothing to admire about this scenario. It should, and it does, embarrass Canada internationally."
Meanwhile, back in Edmonton, George told his audience the purpose of copyright is to find a balance between users and creators; but it's often defined as winners vs. losers. He said politicians hate the debate, "because it's a no-win situation for MPs."
Jeananne Kirwin, Q.C., author and copyright lawyer, is the former president of the Canadian Authors' Association Alberta branch, said the Supreme Court has ruled that copyright is indeed a balance between the user's needs and the creator's needs.
"But where we disagree [with educators] is where does the balance lie?"
Just as George said it's crucial for fair-dealing supporters to make their cases to the Industry Committee, Kirwin said it's vital for writers to make their voices heard in Ottawa.
"The educational purposes exception is too liberal; it is not good for Canadian writing. What we will see is the loss of Canadian textbooks and more and more Canadian writers to choose a Plan B to pay the bills." As in, not making writing the priority.
George said that after the review of the Act is done, "it will provide fodder for eventual legal action."
So, more lawsuits. More years spent on fighting.
Fair Dealing guidelines from CMEC: copyrightdecisiontool.ca/fdg/default.aspx
Degen's transcript (and video of his presentation):
medium.com/@jkdegen/copyright-not-one-of-canadas-admired-cultural-exports-8a9b96aaa6ca
University of Alberta copyright conference: ualberta.ca/copyright/about-the-copyright-office/news/2018/january/fair-dealing-week-2018—events
Steven Sandor is the editor of Avenue Edmonton and author of seven books, including the YA novel, Stick Pick, released this past autumn by Lorimer. He lives and writes in Edmonton.
WGA PRESENTS: THE CITY OF CALGARY W.O. MITCHELL BOOK PRIZE FINALISTS—READINGS, CELEBRATION AND COMPLIMENTARY TAPAS FROM AIDA'S BISTRO
Bridging Cultures Through Writing
One Response to Copyright Act: A balance between user's and creator's needs by Steven Sandor
David Perlmutter March 9, 2018 at 11:13 am #
I wish these petty squabbles between institutions would not prevent authors from being fairly compensated for their work, regardless of what form the use takes and how much is used freely.


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PlayStation Vue adds to live TV subscriptions for iPad ahead of rumored Apple service
Posted: June 10, 2015 12:51PM
in iPad edited June 2015
Sony on Wednesday launched its PlayStation Vue TV service for the iPad, growing the number of TV subscrition services available for Apple products even as Apple's own rumored service remains in limbo.
The Vue iPad app offers live and on-demand access to shows, movies, and sports. Both shows and channels can be marked as favorites, and tagging a show will keep its most recent content saved in cloud storage for up to 28 days.
A number of limitations exist though, as Vue is currently only available in Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia, and the iPad app requires that users already have a subscription attached to a PlayStation 3 or 4. And while Vue includes access to over 50 channels, some shows and networks are blocked on the iPad due to licensing issues.
Vue first launched in March, and costs between $50 and $70 a month depending on the channel bundle. Its main rival -- Dish's Sling TV -- starts at $20 and is offered across the U.S. and on more platforms, but offers a smaller assortment of default channels.
An Apple subscription TV service has been rumored for some time, and at one point was expected to be teased at Monday's WWDC keynote. An announcement appears to have been delayed, however, because content providers are still at odds with Apple over pricing, rights, and backend technology issues.
The lack of a TV service may also have been one reason for postponing the introduction of a new Apple TV set-top. That device is expected to get Siri voice commands, an App Store, and a touch-based remote.
airnerd	Posts: 664member
I just wish Vue would come to Dallas or Apple TV would launch. I tried Sling for a few months and wasn't impressed. Hulu , playon, and Netflix for me still.


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Q: Duplicate key issue with Spring and Hibernate - assistance needed --Summary (shortened)--
I have a controller that loads a profile object from the corresponding DAO.  It updates some properties, many of them sets, and then calls saveOrUpdate (via save in the DAO) to reattach and update the profile object.  At seemingly random intervals, we get an org.hibernate.exception.ConstraintViolationException, with a root cause: Caused by: java.sql.BatchUpdateException: Duplicate entry '3-56' for key 1.  The stack trace points to the saveOrUpdate method called from the profile update controller.  I can't replicate in my test environment, we only see this in production, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something thread-safety related (which is why I'm posting so much code/configuration info).  Any ideas?
-- Code --
I've tried to provide as much relevant configuration/code as possible - let me know if more is needed:
Here is an excerpt from the offending controller:
public class EditProfileController extends SimpleFormController {

protected ModelAndView onSubmit(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Object command, BindException errors) throws Exception
{
    if(!checkLoggedIn(request))
    {
        return new ModelAndView("redirect:" + invalidRedirect);
    }

    HttpSession session = request.getSession();
    Resource resource = (Resource)session.getAttribute("resource"); //The resource object is stored in session upon login and upon account creation.
    Profile profile = profiles.getProfileByResource(resource);

    if(profile == null)
    {
        profile = new Profile();
        profile.setResource(resource);
    }

    //I use custom editors to populate the sets in the command object with objects based on the selection

    if(profile.getPrimaryRoleSkills() != null && editProfileCommand.getPrimaryRoleSkills() != null)
    {
        profile.getPrimaryRoleSkills().addAll(editProfileCommand.getPrimaryRoleSkills());
        profile.getPrimaryRoleSkills().retainAll(editProfileCommand.getPrimaryRoleSkills());
    }
    else
        profile.setPrimaryRoleSkills(editProfileCommand.getPrimaryRoleSkills());

    profiles.save(profile);  //This is the line that appears in the stack trace
    return new ModelAndView(getSuccessView());
}
//Other methods omitted
}

Abbreviated Profile Class:
public class Profile  implements java.io.Serializable {

private long id;
private Resource resource;
private Set<PrimaryRoleSkill> primaryRoleSkills = new HashSet<PrimaryRoleSkill>(0);

public Profile() {
}
//Other properties trivial or similar to above.  Getters and setters omitted
//toString, equals, and hashCode are all generated by hbm2java
}

NameValuePairs base class (PrimaryRoleSkill extends this without adding anything):
public class NameValuePairs  implements java.io.Serializable {
private long id;
private String name;
private boolean active = true;

public NameValuePairs() {
}
//equals and hashCode generated by hbm2java, getters & setters omitted
}

Here is my DAO base class:
public class DAO {

protected DAO() {
}

public static Session getSession() {
      Session session = (Session) DAO.session.get();
      if (session == null) {
         session = sessionFactory.openSession();
         DAO.session.set(session);
      }
      return session;
}

protected void begin() {
  getSession().beginTransaction();
}

protected void commit() {
  getSession().getTransaction().commit();
}

protected void rollback() {
  try {
  getSession().getTransaction().rollback();
  } catch( HibernateException e ) {
     log.log(Level.WARNING,"Cannot rollback",e);
  }

  try {
     getSession().close();
  } catch( HibernateException e ) {
     log.log(Level.WARNING,"Cannot close",e);
  }
  DAO.session.set(null);
 }

public boolean save(Object object)
{
   try {
        begin();
        getSession().saveOrUpdate(object);
        commit();
        return true;
    }
    catch (HibernateException e) {
        log.log(Level.WARNING,"Cannot save",e);
        rollback();
        return false;
    }
}

private static final ThreadLocal<Session> session = new ThreadLocal<Session>();

private static final SessionFactory sessionFactory = new Configuration()
     .configure().buildSessionFactory();
private static final Logger log = Logger.getAnonymousLogger();

//Non-related methods omitted.
}

Below is the important part of the Profiles DAO:
public class Profiles extends DAO {
public Profile getProfileByResource(Resource resource)
{
    try
    {
        begin();
        Query q = getSession().createQuery("from Profile where resource = :resource");
        q.setLong("resource", resource.getId());
        commit();
        if(q.uniqueResult() == null)
            return null;

        return (Profile) q.uniqueResult();
    }
    catch(HibernateException e)
    {
        rollback();
    }
    return null;
}
//Non-related methods omitted.
}

Relevant Spring configuration:
<bean id="profiles" class="com.xxxx.dao.Profiles" />

<bean id="editProfileController" class="com.xxxx.controllers.EditProfileController">
    <property name="sessionForm" value="false" />
    <property name="commandName" value="editProfileCommand" />
    <property name="commandClass" value="com.xxxx.commands.EditProfileCommand" />

    <property name="profiles" ref="profiles" />

    <property name="formView" value="EditProfile" />
    <property name="successView" value="redirect:/profile" />
    <property name="validator" ref="profileValidator" />
</bean>

hibernate.cfg.xml
<session-factory>
    <property name="connection.driver_class">@driver@</property>
    <property name="connection.url">@connectionurl@</property>
    <property name="connection.username">@dbuser@</property>
    <property name="connection.password">@dbpw@</property>
    <property name="dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLInnoDBDialect</property>
    <property name="dbcp.maxActive">15</property>
    <property name="dbcp.maxIdle">5</property>
    <property name="dbcp.maxWait">120000</property>
    <property name="dbcp.whenExhaustedAction">2</property>
    <property name="dbcp.testOnBorrow">true</property>
    <property name="dbcp.testOnReturn">true</property>
    <property name="dbcp.validationQuery">
        select 1
    </property>
    <property name="dbcp.ps.maxActive">0</property>
    <property name="dbcp.ps.maxIdle">0</property>
    <property name="dbcp.ps.maxWait">-1</property>
    <property name="dbcp.ps.whenExhaustedAction">2</property>

    <!-- Echo all executed SQL to stdout
    <property name="show_sql">true</property>
    -->

    <mapping resource="com/xxxx/entity/Resource.hbm.xml"/>
    <mapping resource="com/xxxx/entity/Authentication.hbm.xml"/>
    <mapping resource="com/xxxx/entity/NameValuePairs.hbm.xml"/>
    <mapping resource="com/xxxx/entity/Profile.hbm.xml"/>
    <mapping resource="com/xxxx/entity/FileData.hbm.xml"/>
 </session-factory>

Excerpt from Profile.hbm.xml:
<hibernate-mapping>
<class name="com.xxxx.entity.Profile" select-before-update="true">
<id name="id" type="long">
        <generator class="foreign">
            <param name="property">resource</param>
        </generator>
</id>

<set name="primaryRoleSkills" cascade="none">
    <key column="profile"/>
    <many-to-many column="primary_role_skill" class="com.xxxx.entity.PrimaryRoleSkill"/>
</set>
</class>
</hibernate-mapping>

Excerpt from NameValuePairs.hbm.xml:
<hibernate-mapping>
<class name="com.xxxx.entity.NameValuePairs" abstract="true">
    <id name="id" type="long">
    <generator class="native" />
</id>
<discriminator column="type" type="string" />
    <property type="string" name="name" length="256">
        <meta attribute="use-in-equals">true</meta>
    </property>
    <property type="boolean" name="active">
        <meta attribute="default-value">true</meta>
    </property>
    <subclass name="com.xxxx.entity.PrimaryRoleSkill" discriminator-value="PrimaryRoleSkill" />
    </class>
</hibernate-mapping>

The application runs on Tomcat 6.0.14, and connects to MySQL version 5.0.89-community, running on Linux.  We are using Hibernate 3.3.2 and Spring Framework 2.5.6.

A: I don't have an immediate answer - it could be a multi-threading condition, or it could be that you're not using the right input data in your test environment to trigger the problem.
If this were my code, I'd start with comparing the equals(), compareTo() and hashCode() implementations with the database definitions - if these methods compare more fields than the database requires for uniqueness, hibernate might consider two objects to be different even if they end up using the same key in the database.
Another approach I'd consider would be to add logging to all places where these objects are saved and retrieved, including stacktraces (obviously with an on/off switch). Or alternatively, when you get the duplicate key error, query the database and log what is already in there. Either way you want to find out where the 'first' record is coming from.

A: After 10 days of being exception-free, I've come to conclude that the solution I discovered has worked.
Short answer: I switched my DAO to use HibernateTemplate, and use Spring AOP to handle transactions.  This involved a lot of rewriting, but it was worth it, as the solution works as intended now.  Also, I was unable to get lazy-loading to work in my JSP views, but this isn't a big deal, as my objects are fairly small (I disabled lazy-loading of properties in my Hibernate configuration)
Explanation: The problem was in the way I was obtaining a Hibernate Session.  With the original implementation, one Hibernate session is created on application startup for each DAO that extended my DAO base class.  This caused two problems.  1) Hibernate sessions are not thread-safe on their own.  This is why everything tested fine with one user on a test instance, but had unusual behavior in production. 2) MySQL likes to shut down a connection after a certain period of time.  Since the sessions were held open continuously, this was causing broken pipes (not reported in OP, I thought this was a separate issue).  With this fix, Spring now manages session creation/closing, Spring AOP handles transaction demarkation, and SpringTemplate even handles much of the Hibernate access.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I have been at a stand still for 2 weeks. Initially I lost 6 pounds the first week but since then nothing is happening. I agained back 2 pounds and I am maintaining that, up and down a pound. Shouldn't I be losing actual fat by now? I've tried to adjust my macros but nothing is working. Any suggestions?


Wash chanterelles and slice into bite-size pieces. Toss with olive oil. Heat pan on med heat and cook mushrooms 6-7 mins each side, letting them lightly brown before tossing to heat the other side. Turn heat to low and add garlic and thyme for 1 more min. Chanterelles take on a chewy and "meaty" texture when ready.
When cooled, mix in with the rest of the ingredients and serve.
Slice veggies julienne-style and wrap in lettuce leaves. Feel free to add as many other veggies as you like!
Mix or prepare as you like and serve.
Squeeze citrus fruits over tomatoes, season, and serve.


At the same time, the level of malicious mailshots has dramatically increased – Kaspersky Lab products prevented 22,890,956 attempts to infect users via emails with malicious attachments in March 2016, twice the number of attempts reported in February 2016.
Since 2012 the level of spam in email traffic has constantly been decreasing. However, the quantity of emails with malicious attachments has increased significantly – in Q1 2016 it was 3.3 times higher than during the same period in 2015.
There was also a growing amount of ransomware reported throughout the quarter. This is often propagated through emails with infected attachments – for example Word documents.
The main actor on this field in Q1 was the ransomware Trojan Locky, which has been actively distributed via emails in different languages and has targeted at least 114 countries.
Locky emails have contained fake information from financial institutions that have deceived users and forced them to open the harmful attachment.
Kaspersky Lab's findings suggest that spam is becoming more popular for fraudsters to target Internet users, because web browsing is becoming safer.
Almost all popular web-browser developers have now implemented security and anti-phishing protection tools, making it harder for cybercriminals to propagate their malware through infected web pages.
In Q1 2016 Kaspersky Lab registered 56.3% of spam in email flow. This is 2.9 percent lower compared to the same period in 2015, when it equaled 59.2%.
The largest amount of spam was sent in January (59.6% in overall email traffic). This is explained by the end of the holiday season, when the flow of normal, non-spam, emails is usually low.
The USA retained its position as the biggest source of spam, sending 12.43% of unwanted emails. The share of the USA in this rating is slightly decreasing in comparison to Q1 2015, when it was 14.5%.
Other large sources of spam included Vietnam (second place with 10.3%) and India (6.16%). This is compared to the same period in 2015, when the second and third places were held by Russia (7.3%) and Ukraine (5.6%). Russia moved to seventh place this quarter with 4.9%.
81.9% of spam emails in Q1 2016 were very small size – up to 2 KB, a 2.8 percentage point increase in comparison to the same quarter in 2015. For spammers, smaller emails are easier to handle in mass mailings.
Germany was the country most targeted by malicious mailshots, with a total share of 18.9% of Kaspersky Lab product users in the country targeted this way. Germany was followed by China (9.43%) and Brazil took third place (7.35%). For the same period in 2015, the top three countries were Great Britain (7.8%), Brazil (7.4%) and the USA (7.2%).
During this quarter fraudsters tried to lure users into opening malicious files, gaining their attention with emails about terrorism, a subject which is always in the news.
To prevent terrorist attacks many countries have strengthened their security measures and this has therefore become a popular topic for spam emails.
Some spam fraudsters tried to convince recipients that the file attached to their spam email contained a new mobile application, which, after installation, could detect an explosive terrorist device.
The email emphasized that the US Department of Defense had discovered this technology and that it was sufficiently simple and accessible. The attachment usually contained an executive file, which was detected as Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Dapato, malware that can steal personal user information, organize DDoS-attacks and install other malicious software.
Well-known Nigerian spammers also used terrorist topics in their emails.
According to the Kaspersky Lab report, the quantity of these emails has increased considerably. These spammers previously preferred to send long emails with a detailed story, and links to news to make it more convincing. However, they are now only sending short messages with no detail, asking the recipients to get in touch.
"Unfortunately we are seeing our previous predictions about the criminalization of spam coming true. Fraudsters are using diverse methods to attract user attention, and to make them drop their guard. Spammers are employing a diversity of languages, social engineering methods, different types of malicious attachments, as well as the partial personalization of email text to look more convincing. The fake messages often imitate notifications from well-known organizations and services. This is raising spam to a new dangerous level," warns Daria Gudkova, Spam Analysis Expert, Kaspersky Lab.
To learn more about spam and phishing operations in Q1 2016, please read blog post at securelist.com.
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Panels, Not Pipelines: Support The Solar XL Project!
Thanks to the Trump administration, the Keystone XL pipeline is back. What's that? You thought it'd already been defeated? Well, it was. And the folks at Bold Nebraska are looking to score a victory this time around with a plan we love called Solar XL. They and their local partners want to build solar panels in its path.
All this got us thinking of an old expression: if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. To us, that just means that if you're in trouble, you ought to stop doing the thing that got you there.
Like a zombie, the Keystone XL pipeline keeps coming back from the dead. This nearly 1200-mile-long pipeline would pump about 830,000 gallons of dirty oil from Canada's "tar sands" to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. This would lock us into another generation of dirty energy production. We all celebrated when President Obama seemingly put an end to that project back in 2015. But then the Trump administration reversed his decision.
President Trump no doubt had his reasons (we wonder if all his administration's connections to the oil and gas industry had anything to do with it, or perhaps it was just because he doesn't believe in climate change?) for resuscitating Keystone XL, but it's up to all of us to make sure all that oil stays where it belongs, in the ground.
Ever since the dawn of the industrial revolution, our strategy of digging ancient fossil fuels and setting them on fire has had a glaring downside, but for many years people were willing to accept sooty skies, polluted rivers, and the like as the price to be paid for electricity, cars, and the other conveniences of modern life. We've made strong efforts over the years to clean up the pollution (ahem, thanks, EPA), but all that extra CO2 in the atmosphere isn't going away.
So now we're in a hole. And, with unassailable evidence that continuing to dig up and burn carbon puts us on a path to an uninhabitable planet, with overwhelming evidence that solar and other renewables are outperforming, and will continue to outperform, the old dirty-fuel economy, we think it's time we stop digging.
Bold Nebraska has been working hard along with a coalition of groups including our friends from 350.org for a long time to make sure the Keystone XL pipeline never gets built. Right now, all eyes are on the state's Public Service Commission, which recently held a formal hearing and results are expected in late November.
There's no such thing as a safe pipeline. And there's no way that we'll ever effectively combat climate change if we keep investing in dirty fuels. Enough with all the digging, already! The fossil fuel era is over. It's time to invest in clean, renewable energy. Whether it's solar panels in Nebraska or turning abandoned coal mines into giant solar arrays, the clean energy future isn't the future, it's already here.
That's a fact that even TransCanada would begrudgingly admit. They recently revealed that they're having trouble drumming up enough customers to make the pipeline viable!
Nonetheless, we have to keep the pressure on. Join us and Bold Nebraska and our friends at 350.org to support Solar XL and let's keep that dirty tar-sands oil in the ground.


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Save and quickly load named combinations of settings that work well in achieving certain results.
User defaults (created by using Preset dropdown "Save As User Default Preset") are shared between Revoice Pro Sessions and running instances of Revoice Pro.
In the New Process window you can choose an existing Preset from Factory Presets, User Presets and Shared Presets (if they have been created). However, you cannot create or modify Presets within this menu. You can only create or modify Presets from the individual Process Control Panels.
When you first create a Process, if you do not change the Preset selection when you run the process, Revoice Pro will use the Factory "Default" Preset. This may or may not give the results you want.
There are some existing Factory Presets that you can use as a starting point, which have self-explanatory names. As you use Presets, they will show up in "Recent Presets".
You can also choose Presets in the Process Control Panel (next section).
Open the Process Control Panel.
Factory Presets can't be modified, but you can load one, and either save it as the User Default Preset, or modify it and save as a new Preset that you can name.
For efficient working, Recent Presets will show the last five selected presets, with the oldest selection at the bottom of the list.
Save As User Default Preset saves the current settings instantly as the User's Default Preset without opening any other window. That setting will be used in all further processing until a different Preset or setting is selected.
You can experiment and create your own settings by changing the sliders in the Process Control Panel for that process. These settings will remain active and be saved for that process only.
To save one of your own settings as a Preset, select Save as User Default Preset and/or Save As Preset in order to reuse it.
Give each setting you create and save as a preset a distinctive and helpful name, for example, as shown below "Closer Time and Pitch" and that name will appear next time you open the User Preset menu list.


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The aim of the hernia repair operation is therefore to close this weakness to prevent this bulge.
Why do you need to repair a hernia?
This is also outlined in the Abdominal Wall Hernias section. Briefly, whenever something from the inside bulges out, there is a risk that it can get trapped outside, potentially "strangulating" it from its blood supply. This is a complication known as "strangulation" of a hernia. Not all hernias are likely to strangulate – a discussion with your surgeon regarding the risks and benefits of the operation should be made on an individual basis.
Repairing of the defect. Once clearly defined, one can decide how to repair of defect. If the defect is small, it can be stitched closed. If it is large, a piece of plastic netting ("mesh") can be placed to cover the hole. The use of a mesh is important in larger hernias as it reinforces the defect and reduces the chance of recurrence.
The time for the surgery depends on the type and complexity of the hernia repair. A simple groin or umbilical hernia can take less than an hour, whilst a complex incisional hernia can take many hours.
Recurrence – The risk of recurrence (the hernia coming back after surgical repair) varies depending on the type of hernia. In general, the larger the hernia, the greater the risk of recurrence. Also, anything which causes straining in the abdomen can increase the risk of recurrence – constipation, prostate problems leading to straining on urination, chronic cough and obesity. These factors should generally be sorted out before the hernia operation to minimise the risk of recurrence. In general, the risk of recurrence should be less than 1 in 20 operations.
Damage to the contents of the hernia – If the hernia contains intestines or other abdominal contents, this may be damaged during the operation. Furthermore, the hernia itself may also cause damage to these structures by "strangulating" it. Sometimes the surgeon needs to remove this part of the bowel because of the damage.
Damage to surrounding structures – This depends on the area of the hernia. For instance, in the groin, the blood vessels supplying the testicles may be damaged.
Injury to the nerve in the groin and chronic pain – Specifically in groin hernia surgery, there is a nerve which supplies a patch of skin in the scrotum or labia. This may be damaged during surgery which may cause chronic pain. Some surgeons routinely cut this nerve to prevent the possibility of long term pain but this will result in a small patch of numbness in the scrotum/labia.
Are there any particular instructions after surgery?
Apart from general advice regarding dressings and wound care after surgery, we recommend that the patient not lift anything heavy for about 6 weeks after the operation. The reason for this is that lifting heavy objects (say, more than 10kg) can cause straining of the abdominal muscles which may potentially cause the hernia to come back.
I am having hernia surgery, do you have any further information regarding this operation?
Yes. We have created an information sheet for our patients undergoing hernia surgery. Do note that this is generic information and may not apply specifically to your circumstance.


text:
Q: Searching for Genetic Programming framework/library I am looking for framework, or library that could enable working with genetic programming (koza's style) not only by using mathematical functions, but also with loops, variable or constant assignment, object creations, or functions calling. I am not sure if there exists such branch of genetic algorithms and if it has a name.
I did my best in looking for informations, though the internet is poor with information on that specific topic.

A: HeuristicLab has a powerful implementation of Genetic Programming. It includes problems such as Symbolic Regression, Symbolic Classification, Time Series, Santa Fe Ant Trail, and there is a tutorial to implement custom problems such as the Lawn Mower (which is similar to the Santa Fe Ant Trail). HeuristicLab is implemented in C# and runs on Windows. It's released under GPL and can be freely downloaded.
The implementation of GP is very flexible and extensible, but also performance optimized using online calculations to avoid array allocation and memory overheads. We do include several benchmark problem instances for symbolic regression and classification. There are also more algorithms available such as Random Forests, Neural Networks, k-NN, SVM (if you're doing regression or classification).


text:
Q: Matplotlib event and replotting I want to be able to create a plot, press one button or another depending on what the plot shows, and then plot the following object. However, I am having some trouble wih it: it seems I can't make it "wait" untill a button is pressed. Also, I am wondering if it would be possible to pass some parameters to the press_event, like a path to save something.
Here is the scheme of the program in case it helps. Thanks a lot in advance!
# event definition
def ontype(event):
    if event.key == '1':
        do stuff 1
        plt.savefig(...)
        plt.clf()
    elif event.key == '2':
        do stuff 2
        plt.savefig(...)
        plt.clf()
    elif event.key == '3':
        do stuff 3
        plt.savefig(...)
        plt.clf()

# main program
...stuff
create figure
plt.show()
plt.gcf().canvas.mpl_connect('key_press_event',ontype)

A: You must call plt.gcf().canvas.mpl_connect('key_press_event',ontype) before plt.show(). In non-interactive mode, the execution waits at plt.show() until the plot-window is closed.
import pylab as plt

# event definition
def ontype(event):
    if event.key == '1':
        print "1"
    elif event.key == '2':
        print "2"
    elif event.key == '3':
        print "3"

# main program
plt.plot([1,6,3,8,7])
plt.gcf().canvas.mpl_connect('key_press_event',ontype)
plt.show()

Alternatively, replace in your sample plt.show() to plt.ion(), which enables interactive mode. But it depends on your specific needs which solution you prefer.
Edit
New example using Tkinter
import random
import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('TkAgg')
from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg
from matplotlib.figure import Figure

try:
    import Tkinter as Tk
except ImportError:
    import tkinter as Tk
import tkMessageBox

class PlotClassifier(Tk.Tk):
    def __init__(self, plot_generator, arguments, classes, classification_callback, *args, **kwargs):
        Tk.Tk.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
        self.title("Plot classifier, working on %i plots" % len(arguments))
        #self.label = Tk.Label(text="Plot classifier, working on %i plots" % len(arguments))
        #self.label.pack(padx=10, pady=10)
        self._plot_generator = plot_generator
        self._arguments = arguments
        self._classes = [str(x) for x in classes]
        self._classification_callback = classification_callback
        self._setup_gui()

    def _setup_gui(self):
        #self.columnconfigure(0, minsize=100, weight=2)
        #self.columnconfigure(1, minsize=500, weight=8)
        f = Figure()
        self._ax = f.add_subplot(111)
        buttons_frame = Tk.Frame(self)
        buttons_frame.pack(side=Tk.TOP, fill=Tk.BOTH, expand=True)
        buttons_class = []
        for i, cls in enumerate(self._classes):
            buttons_class.append(Tk.Button(master=buttons_frame, text=cls,
                                           command=lambda x=i: self.button_classification_callback(self._current_args, x)))
            buttons_class[-1].pack(side=Tk.LEFT)
        button_quit = Tk.Button(master=buttons_frame, text='Quit', command=self.destroy)
        button_quit.pack(side=Tk.RIGHT) #.grid(row=0,column=0)

        self._canvas = FigureCanvasTkAgg(f, master=self)
        self._canvas.get_tk_widget().pack(side=Tk.TOP, fill=Tk.BOTH, expand=1) #.grid(row=0, column=1, rowspan=3) #
        self._canvas.show()

        toolbar = NavigationToolbar2TkAgg( self._canvas, self )
        toolbar.pack(side=Tk.TOP, fill=Tk.BOTH, expand=1) #.grid(row=3, column=1) #
        toolbar.update()

    def button_classification_callback(self, args, class_idx):
        self._classification_callback(args, self._classes[class_idx])
        self.classify_next_plot()

    def classify_next_plot(self):
        try:
            self._current_args = self._arguments.pop(0)
            self._ax.cla()
            self._plot_generator(self._ax, *self._current_args)
            self._canvas.draw()
        except IndexError:
            tkMessageBox.showinfo("Complete!", "All plots were classified")
            self.destroy()

def create_plot(ax, factor):
    ax.plot([(i*factor) % 11 for i in range(100)])

def announce_classification(arguments, class_):
    print arguments, class_

if __name__ == "__main__":
    classes = ["Class %i"%i for i in range(1, 6)]
    arguments_for_plot = [[random.randint(1,10)] for x in range(10)]
    root = PlotClassifier(create_plot, arguments_for_plot, classes, classification_callback=announce_classification)
    root.after(50, root.classify_next_plot)
    root.mainloop()

The class takes as arguments:
 * a callback to create each plot
 * a list of lists of arguments for each plot to generate (might each be an empty list)
 * a list of class-names. For each class, a button is created
 * a callback that is called each time a classification has been performed
Any feedback would be appreciated.
*EDIT 2 *
For your comment, a slightly modified version. For every iteration of the loop, a new window is opened
import random
import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('TkAgg')
from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg
from matplotlib.figure import Figure

try:
    import Tkinter as Tk
except ImportError:
    import tkinter as Tk
import tkMessageBox

class PlotClassifier(Tk.Tk):
    def __init__(self, plot_generator, arguments, classes, *args, **kwargs):
        Tk.Tk.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
        self.title("Plot classifier")
        self._plot_generator = plot_generator
        self._arguments = arguments
        self._classes = [str(x) for x in classes]
        self.class_ = None
        self._setup_gui()

    def _setup_gui(self):
        #self.columnconfigure(0, minsize=100, weight=2)
        #self.columnconfigure(1, minsize=500, weight=8)
        f = Figure()
        self._ax = f.add_subplot(111)
        buttons_frame = Tk.Frame(self)
        buttons_frame.pack(side=Tk.TOP, fill=Tk.X, expand=True)
        buttons_class = []
        for i, cls in enumerate(self._classes):
            buttons_class.append(Tk.Button(master=buttons_frame, text=cls,
                                           command=lambda x=i: self.button_classification_callback(x)))
            buttons_class[-1].pack(side=Tk.LEFT)
        button_quit = Tk.Button(master=buttons_frame, text='Quit', command=self.destroy)
        button_quit.pack(side=Tk.RIGHT) #.grid(row=0,column=0)

        self._canvas = FigureCanvasTkAgg(f, master=self)
        self._canvas.get_tk_widget().pack(side=Tk.TOP, fill=Tk.BOTH, expand=1) #.grid(row=0, column=1, rowspan=3) #
        self._canvas.show()

        toolbar = NavigationToolbar2TkAgg( self._canvas, self )
        toolbar.pack(side=Tk.TOP, fill=Tk.BOTH, expand=1) #.grid(row=3, column=1) #
        toolbar.update()

    def button_classification_callback(self, class_idx):
        self.class_ = self._classes[class_idx]
        self.destroy()

    def classify_plot(self):
        self._ax.cla()
        self._plot_generator(self._ax, *self._arguments)
        self._canvas.draw()
        self.mainloop()
        return self.class_

def create_plot(ax, factor):
    ax.plot([(i*factor) % 11 for i in range(100)])

if __name__ == "__main__":
    classes = ["Class %i"%i for i in range(1, 6)]
    arguments_for_plot = [[random.randint(1,10)] for x in range(10)]
    for args in arguments_for_plot:
        classifier = PlotClassifier(create_plot, args, classes)
        class_ = classifier.classify_plot()
        print args, class_
        if class_ is None:
            break

This helps to fit into your own for-loop, but you still have to give a function to do the plotting after the GUI was created.


Looking to purchase a video game console this upcoming holiday season? You might want to hold off until Black Friday as new information has leaked about both Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 holiday bundles.
Sony is also rumored to be releasing a new PlayStation Move bundle including Killzone 3, Resistance 3, a Sharpshooter controller, one PlayStation Move remote and the PlayStation Eye all for only $150.
Additionally, Microsoft is planning on releasing a dashboard update on Black Friday based on their Silverlight platform. The update will feature increased Kinect functionality, better social media integration (Facebook especially) and the ability to stream TV directly to your Xbox 360 console.
All bundles are rumored to debut on Black Friday.


Native Australian, Feng Shui expert and book author Ven. Jampa Ludrup undertook a complete change of lifestyle when he became a Buddhist monk in 1994, after spending some fifteen years in computer education and writing.
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text:
Download PDF file of "PacNet #86 - Japan's early opportunity to shape Trump's emerging Asia policy"
PacNet #86 – Japan's early opportunity to shape Trump's emerging Asia policy
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has transformed Japanese diplomacy. Under his leadership, Japan has ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement as a strategic instrument to bind like-minded nations, forged new alliances beyond Tokyo's traditional US orbit in South and Southeast Asia, become a military supplier to Asian nations determined to resist Chinese hegemony, reinterpreted constitutional constraints to expand Japan's role as a regional security provider, and reached out to Europe and Russia as extra-regional partners to help bring balance to Asia.
As he prepares to meet US President-elect Donald Trump in New York on Thursday, Abe faces perhaps his most important test: convincing a uniquely skeptical American leader that the US-Japan alliance is central to US interests in Asia — and that rather than walking away from President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia, the new Republican administration should double down on it.
Trump certainly gave Abe grounds to worry during the campaign, questioning the value of the US-Japan alliance, suggesting Japan should acquire nuclear weapons to defend itself, and threatening a new form of protectionism that would jettison not only TPP but the US commitment to the liberal trading order writ large.
Lest we forget, however, it was Obama who originally derided US allies as "free-riders," slashed defense spending in ways that made the US "rebalance" look hollow, failed to reinforce a declared red-line in Syria that emboldened US adversaries farther afield, and allowed China to militarize the South China Sea with impunity.
To secure their support for his candidacy, Obama also made a deal with America's protectionist labor unions during his 2008 campaign that he would push no free trade agreements during his first term in office, only to perform another pivot by becoming a late champion of TPP at the end of his term, when US domestic politics made it too difficult to ratify a final agreement.
Trump can correct these strategic errors on the part of the outgoing US administration and work with the internationalist Republican majority in Congress to strengthen both the US-Japan alliance and the broader US strategic position in East Asia. Obama himself describes Trump as a pragmatist who is not ideological. Abe can make a pragmatic case to Trump that Japan and the United States must work together to countervail Chinese power in Asia, boost both countries' prosperity through balanced economic agreements, and underwrite peace in a more dangerous world.
Senior Trump advisers are China hawks who have argued for a "peace through strength" policy in Asia that properly resources the US strategic posture there. Among them, Peter Navarro and Alexander Gray, writing in Foreign Policy, argue for a policy to "reclaim [America's] geostrategic position in Asia." According to them, Trump will pursue a military buildup, including moving from a 275-ship to a 350-ship Navy, so as to "reassure our allies that the United States remains committed in the long term to its traditional role as guarantor of the liberal order in Asia." This should be music to Japanese ears.
Michael Pillsbury, another key Asia adviser, is a career China hawk whose book The Hundred-Year Marathon convincingly argues that China is pursuing a concerted grand strategy to depose the US as the predominant power in the Asia-Pacific. He argues for a policy to exploit China's vulnerabilities and magnify US advantages — including its alliance network — to preclude that outcome.
Heritage Foundation Vice President James Carafano leads a group of convinced China skeptics at that institution, some of whom are playing a central role on the Trump transition team. These and other Trump advisers have also critiqued Obama's policy of "strategic patience" on North Korea as one that has enabled Pyongyang to conduct four nuclear tests, and develop warheads capable of hitting the US, with impunity.
In short, it is a misreading of Republican politics, and of Trump's victory, to conclude that he will pursue a softer line on Japan's primary strategic rivals, or pursue a US retreat from Asia that leaves allies exposed to predation. Trump and Congressional Republicans seem more likely to counteract the erosion of the US strategic position in East Asia during the Obama years in ways that could shore up, rather than undercut, Japan's security.
Abe's message to Trump
While reinforcing this instinct, Abe can also point out to the president-elect that Japan is a model ally that is not free-riding but assuming greater responsibilities for its own defense. His controversial policy to pursue constitutional revision giving Japan the legal right to defend its US ally in a crisis — and Japan's formation of proto-alliances with countries like India, Vietnam, and the Philippines — reinforce America's own strategic interests in an Asia that is resilient to Chinese domination.
On trade, it was Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders who was the most protectionist candidate in this US election cycle. Trump's case was not for sheer protectionism, but for trade deals that were "smart." He argued that he wanted the US to "win again" in its trade accords, not that the US should stop leading on trade. As a pro-market business executive, he should understand that having government tax imports by raising tariffs only hurts US businesses and consumers.
Americans whose jobs have been hollowed out by manufacturing competition from China and relentless globalization more broadly responded to Trump's call for a "smarter" approach to trade. They responded similarly to Ronald Reagan, who as president combined free-market reforms and support for global trade liberalization with the Plaza Accord and Voluntary Restraint Agreements that prevented a then-surging Japan from enjoying unfair currency and export advantages in the US market.
If Trump can find "smart" ways to enlarge the liberal trading order — including perhaps through a US–Japan bilateral trade agreement if TPP falls by the wayside — that will be very different from the evident dangers of torpedoing the global trading system. This is especially so given China's attempt to fashion trade and economic arrangements that exclude the US, as Beijing is already pledging to do in the wake of Trump's victory by promoting its own version of a free trade area for Asia to fill the gap left by TPP.
Trump's competitive business instincts will not want to hand China such unilateral advantage, which may bring his administration back around to TPP or a similar set of trade and investment accords over time.
It was Congressional Democrats — about 90 percent of them — who opposed giving Obama the negotiating authority to conclude the TPP agreement. Most Congressional Republicans supported giving a president from the other party the power to conclude the Asian trade accord. Republican majorities on Capitol Hill may pull Trump as president back in the direction of using trade policy tools as strategic projections of US influence — a task that would be made easier by a return to robust domestic economic growth after a listless performance since 2008. Polling shows that US public opinion still supports free trade.
As Michael Green of the Center for Strategic and International Studies argues, Abe has close relations with other strong, nationalist leaders — including Narendra Modi in India, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, and Vladimir Putin in Russia. Trump's executive vigor might even suit him more than Obama's cool intellectualism. Trump's ambitions for a rapprochement with Putin may also create a new opening for US-Japan-Russia cooperation to maintain strategic ballast in Asia, although Putin's enduring pretension to empire in Europe may stifle such ambitions.
In short, Abe has an opening to help shape the incoming president's understanding of the US leadership role in Asia and how US allies can be force-multipliers for US interests. Their meeting will be Trump's first test on getting Asia policy right. A world trying to make sense of the incoming US president will be watching closely.
Daniel Twining (dtwining@gmfus.org) is Director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and a former official of the George W. Bush administration. A version of this article previously ran in Nikkei Asian Review.


text:
Q: Child element shifting parent div I've searched quite a bit looking for an explanation as to why this behavior is occurring.
Essentially I've setup 2 columns, each with a nav bar and content area.
CSS
#mainContainer {
    background-color: lightblue;
    width: 100%;
    height: 300px;
}
#leftContainer, #rightContainer {
    border: 1px solid black;
    display: inline-block;
    background-color: red;
    width: 40%;
    height: 100%;
}
#leftBar, #rightBar {
    background-color: purple;
    height: 10%;
}
#leftMain, #rightMain {
    background-color: grey;
    height: 90%;
}

HTML

Whenever I add an element to the nav bar in only one column it shifts the entire column down.
http://jsfiddle.net/qn6rs0q2/3/

            <button>Test</button>

But if I add another element to the other column they line up again.
http://jsfiddle.net/qn6rs0q2/5/

            <button>Test</button>

            <button>Test 2</button>

To clarify, I'm not looking for a solution to fix this behavior. Rather I'm hoping someone can explain the underlying reason behind why it's behaving as it is. Thanks in advance.

A: It happens because the default vertical alignment of inline elements is the baseline. If you set the vertical alignment to top (or middle) for both sides, they line up as you want:
#leftContainer, #rightContainer {
    border: 1px solid black;
    display: inline-block;
    background-color: red;
    width: 40%;
    height: 100%;
    vertical-align:top;
}

jsFiddle example


I didn't quite know what to call this post, so I thought I would name it after my favorite Halloween candy. Anyway, I have made a vow to update more, so here goes!
Of course I had to post on Halloween. Why in the world not? Besides, I finished school early.
Have any of you seen the Hamster on a Piano Eating Popcorn video on Youtube? It's the funniest thing ever. I cracked up. I can't post links on this laptop, but you people should totally check it out!
Alright, I'll update again soon. HAPPY HALLOWEEN......!!
Ohh... I see. That's cool. Oh, I watched the video- the song made me crack up.
Yeah..me, too. My history teacher showed it to me..It made me laugh hysterically.