text:
'A blank page of red and nothing of substance' – pan-dems hit back at CY Leung's Policy Address
Pan-democrat lawmakers were dissatisfied with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's 2016 policy address, lamenting the absence of any mention of missing bookseller Lee Bo.
"This is the policy address, but what is in it?" said Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan who walked out during the speech with his party colleagues. "He did not mention Lee Bo at all, or the security issues or 'One Country, Two Systems'."
Labour Party. Photo: HKFP.
In terms of the policies, Labour Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan described the address as "a blank page of red and nothing of substance."
Lee described it as "completely turning Hong Kong red" with 40 instances of the phrase "Belt and Road". "The whole policy address shows how it complements the Belt and Road Initiative, which is a betrayal of Hong Kong, and an act of kissing ass, all so that he can re-elected," said Lee.
"I feel like I was being cheated into listening to the policy address," Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan said. "It felt more like the policy address of the mayor of Belt and Road. The worst is the scholarship… Increasing the quota of specific places from 10 to 100, to encourage other students to come to Hong Kong to study with taxpayers money."
Her party colleague Sin Chung-kai said that "This is CY Leung's manifesto for running for a second term, using Hong Kong as a tool for re-election [by repeatedly mentioning Belt and Road]. Hong Kong does not only have Belt and Road… This change in focus on Hong Kong's advantages will – in the long run – damage Hong Kong."
"I am disappointed," said IT sector lawmaker Charles Mok. "Other than setting up a lot of funds, it did not show what the future ideals [of tech development] are."
DAB Party. Photo: HKFP.
Differences in the same camp
Meanwhile, members of the pro-Beijing camp also had mixed reactions.
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king said that their party agreed with the 15 years of free education proposal.
"But the government did not respond to some warning signals in the economy, such as the stock fluctuations," she said. "If the policies can be quickly and effectively implemented it would be great, and the executive branch should look into how to do this."
Finance sector lawmaker Ng Leung-sing gave the policy address 85 marks out of 100.
"It's a very good policy address… It's very substantial in terms of content," says Ng. "There are quite a few measures on the macro scale and they're not just empty statements… Like it said in the address, our position as an international financial centre is still sound."
The Liberal Party, however, did not agree the policy address wording.
"The policy address is vague and does not have a lot of good points that we can talk about," said its leader Vincent Fang Kang.
"It talked a lot about Belt and Road, technology – these are totally correct, but these cannot be done in a short time… he ignored the difficulties the people faced," he added.
Charles Mok CY Leung Cyd Ho Lee Cheuk-yan
CY focuses on 'Belt and Road' in fourth Policy Address
Arthur Li says he accepted the appointment of HKU council chairman to avoid 'mob rule' in Hong Kong
China state media CGTN reporter Kong Linlin guilty of slapping UK political activist
Hong Kong police group calls people who vandalised grave 'low lives,' 'cockroaches', 'not human'
US politician to introduce law to suspend sale of crowd control gear to Hong Kong, as UN criticises police use of force
'My guard was down': Hong Kong pro-independence leader Andy Chan attacked in street by masked men
Hong Kong police arrest over 70 in Tuen Mun protest against tear gas smell
Hong Kong police will not rule out ongoing protests as reason behind rise in robberies
The collapse of democracy in Hong Kong is the story of a very British betrayal
As one of the world's most unequal cities, why aren't Hong Kong protesters angry at the rich and powerful?
Video shows Hong Kong democrat Roy Kwong being repeatedly punched and kicked by assailants in Tin Shui Wai
Video: Man passes out during arrest in Prince Edward, as Hong Kong riot police search bus passengers
Hong Kong police intelligence division install private line connecting HQ to a court in China
Hong Kong police defuse two homemade bombs containing 10kg of explosives found at a Wan Chai school
The legacy of Hong Kong's protest movement will be hard to erase
Chris Maden
How the cunning wheeze to evacuate Hong Kongers to N.Ireland probably went down
Stuart Wolfendale
Special Feature: Hong Kong SAR at 18 – One Country; Incompatible Systems
Europe Day: The EU celebrates 25 years in Hong Kong
An objective look at the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance – Part I
Gladys Li
'A blank page of red and nothing of substance' - pan-dems hit back at CY Leung's Policy Address


text:
Соревнования по баскетболу среди женщин на летних Олимпийских играх 1980 года прошли с 20 по 30 июля. В них приняли участие 6 команд по 12 человек. Женский олимпийский баскетбольный турнир проводился во второй раз. Как и четырьмя годами ранее, победу в нем праздновала сборная СССР. Восемь участниц из этой команды стали двукратными олимпийскими чемпионками.

Медалисты

Групповой этап

Финалы

Матч за третье место

Матч за первое место

Итоговая таблица

Бомбардиры

Ссылки
 Архив на сайте ФИБА

Навигация

Баскетбол на Олимпийских играх
1980 год в баскетболе
Баскетбол на летних Олимпийских играх 1980

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The bare facts of substance abuse
The harmful use of alcohol results in 3.3 million deaths each year.
On average, every person in the world aged 15 years or older drinks 6.2 liters of pure alcohol per year. However, less than half of the world's population (38.3%) drinks alcohol; this means that those who do drink consume on average 17 liters of pure alcohol annually.
Other psychoactive substances
It is estimated that 275 million people have used an illicit drug — such as cannabis, amphetamines, opioids, and cocaine — at least once in 2016, which translates into an annual prevalence of illicit drug use of roughly 5.6% of those age 15-64. Cannabis is the most used, with 183 million users.
An estimated 31 million persons have drug use disorders, meaning that their drug use is harmful to the point where they may need treatment.
An estimated 12 million people inject drugs. Injection drug use has been reported in 148 countries, of which 120 report HIV infection among the population of users.
See references for more information.
Adapted from:
World Health Organization. Management of substance abuse. Facts and figures. Internet. Available at http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/en/. Accessed on June 19, 2018.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report 2018. Available at https://www.unodc.org/wdr2018/. Accessed on September 10, 2019.
Cannabis: epidemiology
The bare facts of substance abuse (n.d.) In Pallipedia. Houston: IAHPC. Retrieved from https://pallipedia.org/the-bare-facts-of-substance-abuse/. Accessed on

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to convert data to pdf files and then insert to zip and download it I got from the database binary data that it is actually PDF file
System.Data.OracleClient.OracleDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader();

This reader needs to be read 3 times, because I have 3 pdf files.
while (reader.Read() && !reader.IsDBNull(1))
{
   byte[] BytesData = (byte[])reader["PDF_DATA"];
}

How do I convert the binary data to pdf, and then insert all the files to a ZIP file, and then download it?

A: If the bytes in your database were taken from a PDF file, then they are already in the correct format and don't need any conversion.
You need a ZIP library, something like SharpZipLib, then you can add each file to it as a Stream.
Using SharpZipLib, you could amend your DB read method like so:
        var i = 0;
        using (var zipFile = new ZipFile(""))
        {
            var factory = new ZipEntryFactory();

            while (reader.Read() && !reader.IsDBNull(1))
            {
                byte[] BytesData = (byte[])reader["PDF_DATA"];
                zipFile.Add(new DbFileSource(BytesData), "file-" + i);
                i++;
            }
        }

You will also need to make a basic data source class to make the above code work:
    public class DbFileSource : IStaticDataSource
    {
        public DbFileSource(byte[] bytes)
        {
            _bytes = bytes;
        }

        private readonly byte[] _bytes;

        public Stream GetSource()
        {
            return new MemoryStream(_bytes);
        }
    }

Caveat: I've not tried this yet, but hopefully it's a good starting point for you.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Lessa, Francesca (2022) The Condor Trials: Transnational Repression and Human Rights in South America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 392 pp.
Emad A Ayasreh
Yarmouk University
Read more about this book at yalebooks.yale.edu
This book describes how South American states utilized Operation Condor, a secret repressive network that used torture, kidnapping, and murder, to oppress political and social activists across the region. Lessa discusses the coordination of transnational repression in the region during the 1970s and the efforts that transnational justice seekers made to ensure that the victims of Condor found justice. Whereas most existing literature on justice focuses on an individual country's transitional justice system, Lessa's work went further to analyze cross-border atrocities. She conducted interviews and reviewed archival records and judicial documents. By providing detailed examples of the activities of Condor operatives in the region, Lessa gives insights into the horrific tactics used by the state terror machine to eliminate political and social opposition to those in power. Although the transnational injustices in South America remained a secret for many years, known only to the victims and human rights organizations, they are being revealed as democratic governance has grown and encouraged the open retelling of stories. Lessa finds that transnational justice seekers succeeded in ensuring the prosecution of several individuals who committed transnational atrocities across the region. Transnational crimes are not unique to South America and still occur in many parts of the world. Lessa believes that accountability can ensure justice for the victims in all regions and their families. The Condor trials proved that national courts can prosecute cross-border atrocities through international judicial cooperation. Lessa contributes to the scholarship of justice by revealing previously untold stories of injustice in South America. Unfortunately, much still remains unclear about human rights violations on that continent and in other regions of the world.


text:
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * This file was automatically generated by SWIG (http://www.swig.org).
 * Version 2.0.1
 *
 * Do not make changes to this file unless you know what you are doing--modify
 * the SWIG interface file instead.
 * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

namespace Vixen {

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public class Navigator : MouseEngine {
  private HandleRef swigCPtr;

  internal Navigator(IntPtr cPtr, bool cMemoryOwn) : base(VixenLibPINVOKE.Navigator_SWIGUpcast(cPtr), cMemoryOwn) {
    swigCPtr = new HandleRef(this, cPtr);
  }

  internal static HandleRef getCPtr(Navigator obj) {
    return (obj == null) ? new HandleRef(null, IntPtr.Zero) : obj.swigCPtr;
  }

  ~Navigator() {
    Dispose();
  }

  public override void Dispose() {
    lock(this) {
      if (swigCPtr.Handle != IntPtr.Zero) {
        if (swigCMemOwn) {
          swigCMemOwn = false;
          VixenLibPINVOKE.delete_Navigator(swigCPtr);
        }
        swigCPtr = new HandleRef(null, IntPtr.Zero);
      }
      GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
      base.Dispose();
    }
  }

  public Navigator() : this(VixenLibPINVOKE.new_Navigator(), true) {
  }

  public int GetButtons() {
    int ret = VixenLibPINVOKE.Navigator_GetButtons(swigCPtr);
    return ret;
  }

  public void SetButtons(int mask) {
    VixenLibPINVOKE.Navigator_SetButtons(swigCPtr, mask);
  }

  public float TurnSpeed {
    set {
      VixenLibPINVOKE.Navigator_TurnSpeed_set(swigCPtr, value);
    }
    get {
      float ret = VixenLibPINVOKE.Navigator_TurnSpeed_get(swigCPtr);
      return ret;
    }
  }

}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The new figures, from Rightmove, were the lowest increase ever recorded in the month of March.
However, the first quarter of 2010 showed a 3.7 per cent increase in house prices.
Furthermore, potential first-time buyers are being hindered by lenders cherry-picking only the most credit-worthy customers, leaving many with fewer options to get on to the property ladder.
Stuart Law, chief executive of domestic and foreign property adviser Assetz, said to a smaller increase was to be expected with the change in stamp duty at the end of 2009 combined with the coldest winter in 30 years.
He added: "We are in a confused three months but we fully expect the market to be positive for the year - albeit there are some risks."
Although house price rises have slowed, the continued increase will only encourage people to look for property to rent in the London borough of Merton, or indeed elsewhere in London and the UK.
People looking for property to rent in London and elsewhere in the UK will have taken note of another increase in house prices this month, albeit a smaller increase.


A new study shows that obstacles to smoking cessation and motives for quitting smoking vary with age. The study presented at CHEST 2007, the 73rd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), found that smokers over age 65 reported quitting smoking due to physician pressure and stress due to a major health problem, while smokers under age 65 reported cigarette cost and tobacco odor as reasons for quitting.
"The current common perception among the medical community is that if smokers age 65 and older haven't quit by now, they can't or won't quit -- a perception which may lead physicians to focus less on their older patients' smoking habit," said lead study author Virginia Reichert, NP, Center for Tobacco Control, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Great Neck, New York. "Our results show that older smokers are motivated to quit smoking by very different factors compared with younger smokers. If these factors are addressed, we may see cessation rates improve for both age groups."
Ms. Reichert and colleagues from the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ compared health status and motives and obstacles for quitting smoking between 1,909 smokers under age 65 (younger smokers) and 143 smokers over age 65 (older smokers) who were attending a 6-week comprehensive cessation program. Older smokers were more likely than younger smokers to have a recent hospitalization (23% vs 13%), comorbid cardiac disease (78% vs 38%), cancer (20% vs 7%), and/or chronic obstructive lung disease/asthma (37% vs 23%). Regarding motivation, older smokers cited pressure by their physician and stress of a major health problem as main reasons for quitting. Younger smokers attributed their reasons for quitting to the cost of cigarettes, tobacco odor, and general health concerns.
"If the cost of cigarettes hasn't made the older smoker quit by now, they are not as likely to be affected by the rising costs as much as younger smokers may be," said Ms. Reichert. "On the other hand, younger smokers may not have experienced health effects from their smoking, but they may have felt the impact of the cost of cigarettes/cigars."
Obstacles to smoking cessation also varied by age group. Younger smokers were more likely than older smokers to report concerns of weight gain (30% vs 15%), stress management (59% vs 45%), fear of failure (15% vs 8%), handling social situations (24% vs 7%), and cravings (44% vs 36%) as obstacles to quitting smoking. Furthermore, 54% of older smokers and 69% of younger smokers reported not wanting to give up their first cigarette in the morning as an obstacle to quitting smoking.
Young smokers also believe that trying to quit "cold turkey" is best, when in reality, only 7% of smokers achieve long-term abstinence without professional help.
"To be most effective, treatment plans and education should be relevant to each group's concerns," said Ms. Reichert. She suggests that health-care providers offer weight management programs and stress management strategies as part of the treatment and relapse prevention programs for younger smokers, while older smokers may be more successful with physician encouragement and knowledge of how smoking is influencing their current health conditions.
"Tobacco-related diseases are major causes of death in the United States," said Alvin V. Thomas, Jr., MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. "The more we know about what motivates smokers to quit their habit and what personal obstacles they face in doing so, the more we can tailor smoking cessation programs to fit the individual needs of our patients."
CHEST 2007 is the 73rd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians, held October 20-25 in Chicago, IL. ACCP represents 17,000 members who provide patient care in the areas of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine in the United States and throughout the world. The ACCP's mission is to promote the prevention and treatment of diseases of the chest through leadership, education, research, and communication. For more information about the ACCP, please visit the ACCP Web site at chestnet.


text:
Home » Arts » 'The Ranch' is a conventional red-state sitcom with sporadic flickers of wit
'The Ranch' is a conventional red-state sitcom with sporadic flickers of wit
by Sam Rosenberg April 3, 2016 April 20, 2021
There's a certain artifice about laugh tracks in traditional, multi-camera sitcoms. The laugh track can be an overused, frequently unnecessary aural element on TV that strives to elevate a show's humor but instead becomes too distracting for its own good. CBS's "Mom" and NBC's "The Carmichael Show" are currently some of the only TV comedies with a laugh track that manage to subvert traditional sitcom standards by incorporating socially conscious themes and emotionally involved characters into their plots. Netflix's newest sitcom "The Ranch" has the potential to do the same, but it first needs to learn how to escape the dreadful quality of the laugh track. And then some.
Balancing on a tricky tightrope between ribald comedy and melodrama, "The Ranch" centers around the dysfunctional Bennett family. Considering its conservative undertones, you might expect "The Ranch" to take place somewhere in the South, but the show is surprisingly set in the swing state of Colorado. Regardless, everything about the show screams red state values, from the country-themed opening credits to the good ol' American town backdrop. Ashton Kutcher ("Two and a Half Men") and Danny Masterson ("Men at Work") reunite from their "That '70s Show" glory days as the two dysfunctional Bennett brothers — swaggering Colt and sarcastic Jameson "Rooster," respectively. After six years apart from his stern father Beau (the stellar Sam Elliott, "The Big Lebowski"), Colt returns home to make amends while trying out for the local football team. Colt's endearing mom Maggie (Debra Winger, "Rachel Getting Married") also comes back into the family picture after Colt presumed her and Beau to be separated, but that they are in fact seeing each other again.
While most of "The Ranch" 's humor is crass and childish — there's a recurring pee joke and jab at Ugg boots in the first episode "Back Where I Come From" — there are a few instances of witty dialogue, especially when it involves a cuss word or two. "The Ranch" benefits from allowing its characters to curse, a factor that obviously wouldn't work in the sanitized confines of network and standard cable censorship. Because Netflix is a great platform to showcase TV programs with explicit content, "The Ranch" has the opportunity to be a raunchy family sitcom à la HBO's short-lived "Lucky Louie." Yet it still suffers from the strains of ordinary sitcom tropes, even with sitcom veterans Kutcher and Masterson at the helm of the show's acting and executive producing. They don't make nearly as much of an effort as Elliott, whose charismatic Southern drawl, bushy mustache and strong emotional range are enough to make him stand out. In addition to the show's god-awful laugh track, the comic timing of almost everyone, except Elliott, is way off, with each character spewing rote joke set ups and predictable punchline after punchline. The only hilariously down to earth line in "Back Where I Came From" comes during a nice scene between the Bennetts during a rainstorm in the end of the episode, when Maggie utters, "You know, if someone took a picture of us, you'd never know how fucked up we really were."
Even with the comedic qualities dragging the show down, "The Ranch" could be a mild success if it continues to highlight the faults of its characters and the family tensions that reside underneath the surface. Unlike a lot of Kutcher's previous sitcom characters, his role as Colt feels more mature, with the character occasionally making dumb decisions but also taking responsibility for his actions. Despite being in his 30s and having gone to Florida State University to play as a backup quarterback, Colt isn't back in Colorado just to try out for football, but to regain a trusting bond with Beau. If it weren't for the talent of Kutcher, Masterson, Winger or Elliott, "The Ranch" would also have trouble finding some form of dramatic depth and seriousness.
Like Colt, "The Ranch" still has some growing up to do. But with the right tools and mindset, the show has the ability to come back from its mistakes and find a way to make things right again.
Hear me out: 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' is the Thanksgiving classic we deserve
What 'Poorly Drawn Lines' could mean for web comics-turned-TV shows
The laugh track


text:
MLB players start fund for stadium workers impacted by lockout
John Bazemore/AP
Locked gates are shown at Truist Park home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Atlanta. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has canceled the first two series for each of the 30 teams, cutting each club's schedule from 162 games to likely 156 at most. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Posted at 10:06 AM, Mar 04, 2022
The union representing Major League Baseball players has launched a $1 million fund to help workers impacted by the lockout.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that the league has canceled opening day after the union unanimously rejected the owners' "best and final" offer.
The union says the money will be distributed to stadium workers and others who are facing financial hardship "through no fault of their own."
"There are a lot of people who make our game great. Many aren't seen or heard, but they are vital to the entertainment experience of our games," MLBPA Executive Board leaders Andrew Miller and Max Scherzer said in a statement.
According to the Associated Press, Manfred said the first two series of the season were also canceled which will now see the schedule go from 162 games to likely 156 games, at most.
Players have been locked out of MLB facilities since Dec. 2, when a collective bargaining agreement between players and owners expired. Both sides did not meet until Jan. 13, when owners gave their first offer.
Players and owners have been at odds over several key issues, including luxury tax thresholds for teams with high player salaries, a potential rule that would require teams to spend a certain amount each year on player salaries, arbitration eligibility and potential changes to league revenue sharing among teams.


We have been helping couples find the ideal engagement ring since 1935 and we are thrilled to offer a timeless collection of beautiful diamond engagement rings. This radiant Coast Diamond engagement ring is a stunning symbol of love. Expertly fashioned of striking 14k yellow gold, this lovely diamond engagement ring comes from the Romance collection. Personalize by finding your perfect center stone from our wonderful selection of loose diamonds.


text:
Outsports Male Hero of the Year: Luke Prokop
The first active player under NHL contract to publicly come out shows that being LGBTQ is nothing to run away from.
By Alex Reimer Dec 27, 2021, 2:00pm PST
Share All sharing options for: Outsports Male Hero of the Year: Luke Prokop
Luke Prokop is blazing a trail in professional hockey, playing while publicly out as a gay man.
Shelby Weldon
NHL prospect Luke Prokop may not be in the pros yet, but in a way, that makes his coming out even more impactful. The 19-year-old defenseman publicly came out as gay before his first training camp with the Nashville Predators, unafraid of the impact it could have on his playing career.
That's why Prokop is our Outsports Male Hero of the Year for 2021.
As the first active player under NHL contract to come out, Prokop is a standard-bearer and role model for gay hockey players everywhere. We've written extensively about hockey's atavistic culture, fueled in part by the lack of diversity at elite youth levels.
But in recent years, we've seen young gay hockey players come out in droves, changing the sport in the process.
Every LGBTQ person knows the toll that being closeted can take on your mental health. When you're hiding part of your identity, it can feel like a dark cloud is constantly hovering overhead. That's why it was especially poignant to hear Prokop talk about how coming out improved his performance on the ice. For the first time, he could put on his skates without also carrying a secret.
"I think it's been translating a lot into my summer and my summer training. I've noticed myself being a lot more confident on the ice," Prokop told The Athletic in July. "Being able to truly be who I am. This is the best I've ever felt in the summer and I think a large part of that is due to this process of me coming out.''
❤ pic.twitter.com/7zqT0A2gJj
— luke prokop (@lukeprokop_6) July 19, 2021
Prokop started coming out to family and friends in 2020 before telling Predators management this past June. Every member of the team's front office said they backed Prokop unequivocally. Before the season, he also told three of his teammates on the Calgary Hitmen, who play in the Western Hockey League.
In a new series, Breaking Ice, Prokop says he started questioning his sexuality when he was 14. He was fearful his family wouldn't accept him, never mind his peers and coaches in the hockey world.
But those worries didn't materialize. Prokop experienced widespread support when he made his big announcement in July, even receiving a call from Sir Elton John. One of the more telling reactions came from Predators defenseman Mark Borowiecki, who said he wasn't sure there was space for an out LGBTQ athlete in the NHL while he was growing up.
Borowiecki was glad to be proven wrong.
"To see this sport evolve where a young man feels comfortable enough to do this, I think it's great," he said.
Prokop told the Advocate he had not been called any slurs since he discussed his sexuality publicly.
Prokop isn't afraid that his sexuality will prohibit him from playing in the NHL.
Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images
The warm reception Prokop received wasn't surprising to us, since LGBTQ athletes report deep and widespread acceptance from their teammates. The more high-profile examples we have of athletes being embraced after they come out will only continue to shatter the outdated perception that sports aren't inclusive.
Five months after publicly coming out, Prokop, who stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 216 pounds, is still chasing his NHL dream — and his sexuality isn't an issue. He was traded to another team in the WHL, his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings, prior to the start of the season — another powerful statement, seeing a team trade for a publicly out gay player.
The third-round pick has played well in Edmonton, amassing 14 points as a defenseman in 23 games. If Prokop makes it to the pros, it won't be in spite of his sexuality. As he says, coming out has made it easier for him to be the player he wants to be.
That's a message worth hearing, again and again.
Other Honorees
Tom Daley: The iconic out British diver didn't just win his first gold medal at the Tokyo Games. On the world stage, he talked about the pride he feels as a gay man.
"I feel incredibly proud to say I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion," Daley said in August. "I feel very empowered by that. When I was younger I thought I was never going to be anything or achieve anything because of who I was. To be an Olympic champion now shows that you can achieve anything."
Since coming out in 2013, Daley has been one of the most visible out male athletes in the world. And every year, more athletes join him in revealing their truth. This year, at least 186 out LGBTQ athletes competed in the Olympic Games.
Daley's proud proclamation should only lead to that list growing even larger in the years to come.
Josh Cavallo: The first active professional men's soccer player in Australia's top league broke ground for LGBTQ athletes in his home country when he publicly came out in October. His announcement propelled at least 38 pro soccer players and clubs to congratulate him around the world, reinforcing the notion that out gay athletes shouldn't wallow in fear.
Notably, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was one of those backers, saying he hopes we'll arrive at a time when it's not necessary for LGBTQ athletes to publicly declare their sexuality.
Each time an out athlete like Cavallo makes history, we inch closer towards that goal.


text:
big issues, life, thoughts, university
Don't close that door…
March 30, 2017 March 30, 2017 itsmedammy
So I have been considering some of the reasons that certain groups experience disadvantage. For example, I've talked about daily microagressions in The Everyday Racist, stereotypes in I am not your maid, and privilege in Check your privilege.
Whilst there are definitely many systemic issues and wider societal institutionally ingrained discrepancies. In certain situations, I think it's important for marginalised groups take ownership for acting as catalysts for our own disadvantage. This is not necessarily about allocating blame but about offering an alternate explanation.
As a black woman, time and time again, I am in environments that lack representation. I look around and do not see faces that look like mine. Whilst there is a whole plethora of research that goes into the nuances of why that it is. One of the reasons that I have experienced that have not seen covered in great depth, is that we as disadvantaged people do not facilitate each others success.
I have frequently seen the analogy that success is not like an elevator, it is the stairs. It takes hard work and determination, it rarely gets handed to you. Whilst, I get why referring to success as an elevator is problematic. Bare with me for a second and let me suggest….
If success were an elevator…you need to send it back down to bring other people up
This is a premise that has been instilled in me from a young age. Yet, often I see that when people from marginalised groups (predominantly in race and gender), do actually make it to the top, they then close the door behind them. There seems to be the mentality that once people overcome adversity and reach a certain level, they feel as though they have worked so hard to reach where they are. Therefore, if other people are struggling to reach that level, it's because they are not working hard enough.
For example, in my first year of University I was assigned a mentor in the year above. I would frequently ask her for guidance with essays or general advice, the usual type of thing a mentor is supposed to help their mentee with. And every time I was met with unresponded to messages or simply the undertone of an unwillingness to help. The topic came up with another friend and she told me that's just how my mentor always behaved, she felt that if people wanted to do well then they needed to work hard for themselves.
Then about a year and a half later, the tables turn. I am in a situation where I am ahead and she needs my help with an application for a firm that I have already worked for. And this was a pivotal moment where I had a choice. I could act in the same way this girl had behaved towards me and tell her to help herself. I chose the opposite. And this is not because I am an inherently nice person. Because lord knows I can be really petty sometimes.
It was because I realised the importance of bringing people up with you. There is already a lack of black girls in these fields. Helping a fellow black girl smash these barriers to entry can only ever be a good thing. When I graduate and I'm in my city job trying to fulfil all my dreams – I want to be surrounded by other people like me. It is so important there is representation in all facets of society. Therefore, I have a duty to help as many people as I can.
Whilst intelligence, hard work and all that good stuff is important and contributes to our human capital. We also have a social capital which can either aide or hinder us. This is the area that many people from marginalised groups lack in. For example, this is the equivalent of the "old boys network" where other men from a particular socio-economic and educational background give each other a leg up. What leg up do black people give each other? What leg up do women give each other? We are actually more likely to tear each other down.
I feel as though this issue is one of the main reasons I struggled to be friends with other black girls when I was younger. Growing up in predominantly white area, I was often the only black girl in many situations. My sisters and I were the first black people in each our respective schools at the time. Therefore, it is easy to see why you might become threatened when there is another black girl. It can often feel like there is not enough space for people like you.
For example, at University I used to be really involved in the musical theatre society. And I remember there was another black girl and we didn't really click at first. It always felt like we were being compared or in direct competition with each other. And often we probably were, there is already a lack of diversity in theatre so often we would actually be up against each other. I remember a particular scenario where we both got call backs for the same character and we essentially had this weird sing-off against. We both look back and laugh about this now, because we were able to realise that we could both exist in the same space and be fabulous. And we are now such good friends because of it.
And this is not a particularly new phenomenon. This issue of an unwillingness to help each other out is deeply embedded into history. For example, take this issue of race. During the slave trade, often slave masters would choose a few black slaves to be guards and watch over the other black slaves whilst they worked. These guards were still still slaves but they had some power, they were encouraged to whip other slaves and granted certain advantages. Likewise, light and dark skinned slaves were also segregated to either be the field or house slaves.
Already you can see a hierarchy emerging even within slaves. Whilst I am not arguing these guards should have helped the other slaves – of course, the situation made that inappropriate and self-preservation was important. However, I feel as though many black people still have this slave mentality now. When they become successful and rise through the ranks, it is almost as though they feel that by distancing themselves from other disadvantaged people, there is the hope they will not be treated like them. Just like in the slave trade with the guards, in doing so, they limit the benefits of having diversity as they merely offer a mirrored version of their slave masters.
We are no longer slaves…
This can often lead to them feeling the need to assimilate and mimic the behaviour of the privileged, be it stereotypical Caucasian traits or in the case of women, exhibiting male traits. In itself this is not an issue, as ultimately I do not believe there is a specific "black" or "white" or even "male or "female" personality type, only stereotypes. However, this assimilation does become problematic when it results in marginalised groups who have become successful or are in a position of advancement turning their heads to the problems other marginalised groups face.
I feel as though there can also be a culture of self-hate amongst marginalised groups where they hate themselves for the thing that makes the marginalised e.g. black, woman, etc. Thus, they hate other people who remind them of themselves. This perpetuates a feeling of not wanting to support people like you which further facilitates marginalisation. Whilst, police brutality is a massive issue, a massive amount of black people are also killing black people. We heavily criticise each other which in turn sets the tone for how other people treat us. As Chris Rock said: "Everything white people don't like about black people, black people really don't like about black people,"
As with all these type of posts, this comes with a small caveat. Yes, bring people up with you. But this advice is for a very specific scenario and you need to be strategic with it. It's not for when you're in direct competition with someone at a given time. It's for when you are already ahead, so you have the ability look back and drag others up with you. Helping others should not come at the expense of your own progression. It is so important to be wise as I wrote in talk less, smile more.
For example, when I was still considering whether I wanted to be a solicitor or barrister. I was fortunate enough to secure a mini pupillage and this led to attending an event where I had the amazing opportunity to speak to the awe inspiring Baroness Hale.
I really wanted to absorb all her knowledge and understand how she as a woman had smashed the patriarchy and succeeded in such a male dominated field. And she gave me a whole wealth of advice which all these years later, I still draw upon when making life choices. They help me place myself in the best position for success.
Baroness Hale is clearly already ahead of me, she has no reason to close the door to me. I am not her competitor. Likewise, my mentor was a whole year ahead of me, she had completed those modules and already gotten her grades. We were not academic competitors.
This is not to invalidate the wider issues that due exist in society. But I feel like it is so easy to blame "The System" for all the problems because its an abstract entity far away. But what if you are part of the problem?
It's just me, Dammy, there's space in the elevator for you
Tagged black lives matter, feminism, marginalised, politics, racism, success
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floridavelocipede January 9, 2022 January 9, 2022 Uncategorized
Of course you realize that this means war! Bugs Bunny to Elmer Fudd.
The 2022 legislative session has not even begun and already our fearless solons are signaling that no mercy will be shown, no quarter given, to the shady collection of evildoers that, together, make up the single greatest threat to Florida's health, safety and welfare (not to mention continued GOP dominance).
You know, the elected school board members and county and city commissioners of Florida. A more motley gang of ne'er-do-wells can scarcely be envisioned.
The first shot across the bow of the GOM (Gang Of Mot) was fired on a most unlikely target.
"Are Key West's days as a city numbered? A draft bill…would "transfer all of the city's assets and legitimate liabilities and revenue streams to Monroe County."
This war dispatch from the Florida Keys weekly Newspapers, followed the discovery of a bill that bore the name of no sponsor. But it was apparently introduced in a fit of pique by some lawmaker or lobbyist (no difference really) who was upset because Key West folks are tired of the collective weight of cruise ship-loads of tourists nearly sinking the damned island every damned day,
Old timers know it's not wise to mess with cranky Key West, which has been around longer than the State of Florida. And sure enough in retaliation the Conch Republic dispatched its navy to blockade the Overseas Highway.
(Or at least it will as soon as everybody down there sobers up and somebody remembers where they hid the key to City Hall.)
But never mind that. Lawmakers have much bigger fish to fry than the, um, square mullet that famously wash ashore in the keys.
Start with Gov. Ron DeSantis' Stop WOKE Act, a really clever play on words intended to rile liberals and tickle conservatives (aka real Floridians, aka the GOP base).
Basically the Stop The Wrongs To Our Kids And Employees Act (get it! Cute, huh?) will prevent public schools from teaching anything at all that any parent at all might find at all objectionable. {"Don't tell me you picked red finger-paint by accident, Ms. Socialist Kindergarten Teacher!")
Vows DeSantis. "We won't allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other."
Certainly not. Teaching hate is his job.
Hey, remember when attending school board meetings was like watching paint dry? Not anymore. Not with every right wing nut job in town waiving signs and throwing shade at shell-shocked board members who got their start working PTA bake sales.
And that's just peachy with Republican legislators, who stay awake nights worrying that said RWNJs will finally figure out who is really making education decisions in Florida. (Let's just say they work in a tall phallic-shaped building on top of a hill in Tallahassee and let it go at that.)
Thus to make already tumultuous board meeting even more entertaining, legislation in the Senate would require boards to provide even more time for public comment, live stream their meetings…and oblidge school board members to conduct their meetings while perched over a dunking booth.
(OK, that last provision isn't actually in the bill…yet. But it'll definitely pop up as an amendment
Not to be outdone, our own state Sen. Keith Perry (R-I hate Gainesville worse then death itself) is pushing bills designed to prevent city and county commissioners from doing anything at all in the event of a pandemic.
Not wanting to appear completely dictatorial, Perry is rumored to be carrying a "friendly" amendment around in his pocket that would give commissioners dispensation to wander the streets in plague masks while shouting "Unclean! Unclean!
This from Alachua County spokesperson Mark Sexton: "Where does one even go to obtain medieval plague masks in this day and age? It's not like they sell 'em at Walmart. We'd have to buy them in bulk and put out a Request for Proposals. By that time there will be bodies all over the place, and what a mess that's gonna be."
Which mess of course is not the Legislature's problem. The Legislature's messy problem is making sure DeSantis gets reelected in '22 and then packed off to the D.C. Swamp in '24 instead of In-Trump-We-Trust or, God forbid, that Stetson-wearing Texan Abbott.
Because this session is not about governing. It's about politicking. And the Legislature's game plan was written a long, long time ago.
"The People have abdicated our duties," so wrote the Roman satirical poet Juvenal, "everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses."
Yes Florida. It's time to send in the clowns.
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This article is about the construction toy. For the company, see The Lego Group. For other uses, see Lego (disambiguation).
Logo of Lego since 1998
Ole Kirk Christiansen
Lego (Danish pronunciation: [lɑjˀɡ̊oːˀ]; stylized LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct objects; vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can then be taken apart again, and the pieces used to make other objects.[1][2]
The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Since then a global Lego subculture has developed. Supporting movies, games, competitions, and six Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. As of July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced.[3]
In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as Brand Finance's "world's most powerful brand".[4]
Main articles: History of Lego and Lego timeline
Lego bricks
The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932.[5][6] In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play well". In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys.[7] In 1949 Lego began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based in part on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were patented in the United Kingdom in 1939[8] and released in 1947. Lego modified the design of the Kiddicraft brick after examining a sample that they received from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that Lego purchased.[9] The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate,[10] were a development of the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time.[7]
The Lego Group's motto is det bedste er ikke for godt which means roughly "only the best is the best" (more literally "the best is never too good").[6] This motto, which is still used today, was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly.[6] By 1951 plastic toys accounted for half of the Lego Company's output, even though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy-Times"), visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, felt that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys.[11] Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk.[12]
By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group.[11] It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their locking ability was limited and they were not versatile.[1] In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; however, it took another five years to find the right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer.[9][10] The modern Lego brick design was patented on 28 January 1958.[13]
Lego building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of simple blocks which measure twice the width, height and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards younger children.[11][14]
In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets.[15]
In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station, where astronauts built models to see how they would react in microgravity, as a part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. The results will be shared with schools as part of an educational project.[16][17]
In May 2013, the largest model ever created was displayed in New York and was made of over 5 million bricks; a 1:1 scale model of an X-wing fighter.[18] Other records include a 112-foot (34 m) tower[19] and a 4 km (2.5 mi) railway.[20][21][22]
In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as the "world's most powerful brand."[4][23]
In popular culture
Main article: Lego in popular culture
Lego's popularity is demonstrated by its wide representation and usage in many forms of cultural works, including books, films and art work. It has even been used in the classroom as a teaching tool.[24] In the USA, Lego Education North America is a joint venture between Pitsco, Inc. and the educational division of the Lego Group.[25]
In 1998, Lego bricks were one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York.[26]
A model of Trafalgar Square, London, in Legoland Windsor
Lego pieces of all varieties constitute a universal system. Despite variation in the design and the purposes of individual pieces over the years, each piece remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made in the current time, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers. Six pieces of 2x4 bricks can be combined in 915,103,765 ways.[27]
Each Lego piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that manufacture Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometres.[28]
Dimensions of some standard Lego bricks and plates[29][30]
Primary concept and development work takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Japan which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at these markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, split into three stages. The first stage is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holidays, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based upon the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modeling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These prototypes are presented to the entire project team for comment and for testing by parents and children during the "validation" process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups. Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organisation, for marketing and packaging.[31]
In the early 1960s, Lego made accurately scaled Matchbox sized vehicles like the Citroen DS sedan. These were notable for their completely metal wheels.
Lego Digital Designer is an official piece of Lego software for Mac OS X and Windows which allows users to create their own digital Lego designs.[32] The program once allowed customers to order their custom designs[33] with a service to ship physical models from Digital Designer to consumers; the service ended in 2012.[34]
Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from a strong, resilient plastic known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).[10][28] As of September 2008, Lego engineers use the NX CAD/CAM/CAE PLM software suite to model the elements. The software allows the parts to be optimized by way of mould flow and stress analysis. Prototype moulds are sometimes built before the design is committed to mass production. The ABS plastic is heated to 232 °C (450 °F) until it reaches a dough-like consistency. It is then injected into the moulds at pressures between 25 and 150 tonnes, and takes approximately 15 seconds to cool. The moulds are permitted a tolerance of up to two micrometres, to ensure the bricks remain connected.[31] Human inspectors check the output of the moulds, to eliminate significant variations in color or thickness. According to the Lego Group, about eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required.[35] Lego factories recycle all but about 1 percent of their plastic waste from the manufacturing process. If the plastic cannot be re-used in Lego bricks, it is processed and sold on to industries that can make use of it.[36][37]
A Lego factory in Kladno, Czech Republic, one of several sites in the world where Lego toys are manufactured
Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at a number of locations around the world. Moulding is done in Billund, Denmark; Nyíregyháza, Hungary; and Monterrey, Mexico. Brick decorations and packaging is done at plants in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico and Kladno in the Czech Republic. The Lego Group estimates that in the course of five decades it has produced some 400 billion Lego blocks.[38] Annual production of Lego bricks averages approximately 36 billion per year, or about 1140 elements per second. According to an article in BusinessWeek in 2006, Lego could be considered the world's No. 1 tire manufacturer; the factory produces about 306 million small rubber tires a year.[39] The claim was reiterated in 2012.[40]
In December 2012, the BBC's More or Less radio program asked the Open University's engineering department to determine "how many Lego bricks, stacked one on top of the other, it would take for the weight to destroy the bottom brick?"[41] Using a hydraulic testing machine, the engineering department determined the average maximum force a 2×2 Lego brick can stand is 4,240 newtons; since an average 2×2 Lego brick has a mass of 1.152 grams (0.0406 oz), according to their calculations it would take a stack of 375,000 bricks to cause the bottom brick to collapse, which represents a stack 3,591 metres (11,781 ft) in height.[41]
Private tests have shown several thousand assembly-disassembly cycles before the bricks begin to wear out,[42] although Lego tests show fewer cycles.[43]
Lego set themes
Further information: List of Lego themes
A Lego set released in 2013, "Gold Getaway", based on the Lego Castle theme
Lego sets of the Lego City theme.
Since the 1950s, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including space, robots, pirates, trains, Vikings, castle, dinosaurs, undersea exploration, and wild west. Some of the classic themes that continue to the present day include Lego City (a line of sets depicting city life introduced in 1973) and Lego Technic (a line with more unique pieces; rotating gears introduced in 1977).[44]
Over the years, Lego has licensed themes from numerous cartoon and film franchises and even some from video games. These include Batman, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Minecraft. Although some of the licensed themes, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, had highly successful sales, Lego has expressed a desire to rely more upon their own characters and classic themes, and less upon licensed themes related to movie releases.[45]
For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London Lego released a special Lego Minifigures serie and for the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Lego released a kit with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots Vinicius and Tom.[46]
One of the largest Lego sets commercially produced was a minifig-scaled edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen, it was released in 2007 and contained 5,195 pieces. It was surpassed however by a 5,922-piece Taj Mahal.[47]
Robotics themes
Main articles: Lego Mindstorms, Lego Mindstorms NXT, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, and Lego Mindstorms EV3
Lego has also initiated a robotics line of toys called 'Mindstorms' in 1999, and has continued to expand and update this range ever since. The roots of the product originate from a programmable brick developed at the MIT Media Lab, and the name is taken from a paper by Seymour Papert, a computer scientist and educator who developed the educational theory of constructionism, and whose research was at times funded by the Lego Group.[48]
The programmable Lego brick which is at the heart of these robotics sets has undergone several updates and redesigns, with the latest being called the 'EV3' brick, being sold under the name of Lego Mindstorms EV3. The set includes sensors that detect touch, light, sound and ultrasonic waves, with several others being sold separately, including an RFID reader.[49]
The intelligent brick can be programmed using official software available for Windows and Mac computers, and is downloaded onto the brick via Bluetooth or a USB cable. There are also several unofficial programs and compatible programming languages that have been made to work with the brick, and many books have been written to support this community.[49]
There are several robotics competitions which use the Lego robotics sets. The earliest is Botball, a national U.S. middle- and high-school competition stemming from the MIT 6.270 Lego robotics tournament. Other Lego robotics competitions include Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL) for students ages 6–9, FIRST Lego League (FLL) for students ages 9–16 (age 9–14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico), and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) for high school students. Jr.FLL FLL, and FTC offer real-world engineering challenges to participants. FLL uses Lego-based robots to complete tasks. Jr.FLL participants build models out of Lego elements. FTC uses the NXT Intelligent brick and its pieces along with another building platform called TETRIX. In its 2010 season, there were 16,070 FLL teams in over 55 countries. In its 2010 season, there were 2,147 Jr.FLL teams with 12,882 total student participants in the United States and Canada. The international RoboCup Junior football competition involves extensive use of Lego Mindstorms equipment which is often pushed to its extreme limits.[50]
The capabilities of the Mindstorms range have now been harnessed for use in Iko Creative Prosthetic System, a prosthetic limbs system designed for children. Designs for these Lego prosthetics allow everything from mechanical diggers to laser-firing spaceships to be screwed on to the end of a child's limb. Iko is the work of the Chicago-based Colombian designer Carlos Arturo Torres, and is a modular system that allows children to customise their own prosthetics with the ease of clicking together plastic bricks. Designed with Lego's Future Lab, the Danish toy company's experimental research department, and Cirec, a Colombian foundation for physical rehabilitation, the modular prosthetic incorporates myoelectric sensors that register the activity of the muscle in the stump and send a signal to control movement in the attachment. A processing unit in the body of the prosthetic contains an engine compatible with Lego Mindstorms, the company's robotics line, which lets the wearer build an extensive range of customised, programmable limbs.[51][52]
Clones of Lego
Main article: Lego clone
The definitive shape of the Lego bricks, with the inner tubes, was patented by the Lego Group in 1958.[13][53] Several competitors have attempted to take advantage of Lego's popularity by producing blocks of similar dimensions, and advertising them as being compatible with Lego bricks. In 2002, Lego sued the CoCo Toy Company in Beijing for copyright infringement over its "Coko bricks" product. CoCo was ordered to cease manufacture of the products, publish a formal apology and pay damages.[54] Lego sued the English company Best-Lock Construction Toys in German courts in 2004[55] and 2009;[56] however, the Federal Patent Court of Germany denied Lego trademark protection for the shape of its bricks for the latter case.[57] In 2005, the Lego Company sued Canadian company Mega Bloks for trademark violation, but the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Mega Bloks' rights to sell their product.[58] In 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that the eight-peg design of the original Lego brick "merely performs a technical function [and] cannot be registered as a trademark."[59]
Main article: Lego.com
First launched in 1996, the Lego website has developed over the years, and provides many extra services beyond an online store and a product catalogue. There are also moderated message boards that were founded in 2001. Since then, the message boards received a complete overhaul and the design was neatened and provided many new tools and various improvements on design features from 2001.[60] The site also includes instruction booklets for all Lego sets dating back to 2002.[61]
My Lego Network is a social networking site that involves items, blueprints, ranks, badges which are earned for completing certain tasks, trading and trophies called masterpieces which allow users to progress to go to the next rank. The website has a built in inbox which allows users to send pre written messages to one another. The Lego Network includes automated non-player characters within called "Networkers", who are able to do things which normal users cannot do, sending custom messages, and selling masterpieces and blueprints. The site also has modules which are set up on the user's page that give the user items, or that display picture compositions. Before My Lego Network, there were Lego Club Pages, which essentially held the same purpose, although the design lacked complex interaction.[62]
Main article: Legoland
Merlin Entertainments operates seven Legoland amusement parks, the original in Billund, Denmark, the second in Windsor, England, the third in Günzburg, Germany, the fourth in Carlsbad, California, the fifth in Winter Haven, Florida, the sixth in Nusajaya, Malaysia[63] and the seventh (latest) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[64] On 13 July 2005, the control of 70% of the Legoland parks was sold for $460 million to the Blackstone Group of New York while the remaining 30% is still held by Lego Group.[65] There are also eight Legoland Discovery Centres, two in Germany, four in the United States, one in Japan and one in the United Kingdom. Two Legoland Discovery Centres opened in 2013: one at the Westchester Ridge Hill shopping complex in Yonkers, NY and one at the Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Another has opened at the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 2014.[66]
A Lego store in Canada
Lester mascot at the world's largest Lego store in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom.
Lego operates 125 retail stores (80 in the United States, 13 in the United Kingdom, 11 in Germany, 10 in Canada, 6 in France, 2 in Austria, 1 in Belgium, 1 in Sweden and 1 in Denmark).[67] There are stores at the Downtown Disney shopping complexes at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts as well as in Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The opening of each store is celebrated with weekend-long event in which a Master Model Builder creates, with the help of volunteers—most of whom are children—a larger-than-life Lego statue, which is then displayed at the new store for several weeks.[68]
Main article: Lego Serious Play
Since around 2000, the Lego Group has been promoting "Lego Serious Play", a form of business consultancy fostering creative thinking, in which team members build metaphors of their organizational identities and experiences using Lego bricks. Participants work through imaginary scenarios using visual three-dimensional Lego constructions, imaginatively exploring possibilities in a serious form of play.[69]
Main article: List of Lego video games
Lego branched out into the video game market in 1997, beginning games with Lego Island and Lego Creator. Popular titles include the 1999 game Lego Racers and the 2001 game Lego Racers 2. More recent licensed games include Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman, and many more including the very well-received Lego Marvel Super Heroes game, featuring New York City as the overworld and including Marvel characters from the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and more.[70][71] More recently, Lego has created a game based on The Lego Movie, due to its popularity.[72]
Main article: Lego board games
Lego Games launched in 2009, was a series of Lego-themed board games designed by Cephas Howard and Reiner Knizia[73][74] in which the players usually build the playing board out of Lego bricks and then play with Lego-style players. Examples of the games include "Minotaurus", in which players roll dice to move characters within a brick-build labyrinth, "Creationary", in which players must build something which appears on a card, or "Ramses Pyramid", in which players collect gems and climb up a customizable pyramid. Like many board games, the games use dice. However, in Lego Games, the dice are Lego, with Lego squares with symbols on Lego studs on the dice, surrounded by rubber. The games vary from simple to complex, some are similar to "traditional" board games, while others are completely different.[75]
Films and television
Main articles: List of Lego films and The Lego Movie
For a time, Lego turned down approaches from Hollywood to make a feature-length film based on the toy. However, a number of straight-to-DVD computer animated Bionicle and Hero Factory movies were produced, and Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers was released on DVD in February 2010, a computer-animated film made by Tinseltown Toons.[76]
In June 2013, it was reported that Warner Bros. was developing a feature film adaptation of Lego Ninjago. Brothers Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman were attached to write the adaptation, while Dan Lin and Roy Lee, along with Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were announced as producers.[77] A computer-generated animated series based on Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu began in 2011, and another based on Legends of Chima began in 2013. A television series of Lego City has also been announced.[78]
The Lego Movie, a feature film based on Lego toys, was released by Warner Bros. in February 2014.[79] It featured Chris Pratt in the lead role, with substantial supporting characters voiced by Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie, Will Ferrell and Nick Offerman.[80] A contest was held for contestants to submit designs for vehicles to be used in the film.[81] After the release of The Lego Movie, independent Canadian toy retailers reported issues with shortages of Lego products and cited cancellations of Lego pre-orders without warning[82] as a motive to stock compatible, rival products.[83]
Lego has an ongoing deal with publisher Dorling Kindersley (DK), who are producing a series of illustrated hardback books looking at different aspects of the construction toy. The first was "The Ultimate Lego Book", published in 1999. More recently, in 2009, the same publisher produced The LEGO Book, which was sold within a slipcase along with Standing Small: A celebration of 30 years of the LEGO minifigure, a smaller book focused on the minifigure. In 2012, a revised edition was published. Also in 2009, DK also published books on Lego Star Wars (Lego Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary) and a range of Lego-based sticker books.[84]
Although no longer being published in the United States by Scholastic, books covering events in the Bionicle storyline are written by Greg Farshtey. They are still being published in Europe by AMEET. Bionicle comics, also written by Farshtey, are compiled into graphic novels and were released by Papercutz. This series ended in 2009, after nine years.[85]
There is also the Lego Club and Brickmaster magazine, the latter discontinued in 2011.[86]
Since 1993, LEGOwear Clothes have been produced and marketed by a Danish company called Kabooki under license from Lego Group. The clothes are for boys and girls from 0–12 years old and the partnership also ties in with other Lego products such as 'Ninjago', 'Hero Factory' and the new 'Friends' theme for girls.[87]
1 2 "Lego History-About Us". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "How a Lego Works". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego Fun Facts". Brick Recycler. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
1 2 "Lego Overtakes Ferrari as the World's Most Powerful Brand". Brand Finance. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
↑ Wiencek 1987, p. 16
1 2 3 Lipkowitz 2012
1 2 Wiencek 1987, pp. 45–46
↑ "Improvements in toy building blocks, patent GB529580 of 25 November 1940 by Harry Fisher Page of Kiddicraft". espacenet.com. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
1 2 3 Pickering 1999, p. 15
1 2 3 Wiencek 1987, pp. 46–52
↑ Lauwaert, M. (2008). "Playing outside the box – on LEGO toys and the changing world of construction play". History & Technology, 24(3), 221–237.
1 2 "Lego Celebrates 50 Years of Building". TIME. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
↑ "About Duplo". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "The history of the Lego minifigure". Toys to Remember. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ Banks, Dave (28 April 2011). "Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches Tomorrow With a Special Payload". Wired News. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
↑ Eaton, Kit (29 April 2011). "Space Shuttle Endeavour: Made Of Spare Parts". Fast Company. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
↑ Diaz, Jesus (23 May 2013). "This Incredible Full Scale Lego X-Wing Is the Largest Model In History". Gizmodo. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
↑ Lee, Kevin. "Delaware High School Students Complete World's Tallest LEGO Tower" Inhabitat, 24 August 2013. Accessed: 29 March 2014.
↑ Lofgren, Kristine. "The World's Longest LEGO Railway Stretches Nearly 2.5 Miles Long" Inhabitat, 19 May 2013. Accessed: 29 March 2014.
↑ Lawson, Helen. "Lego fan builds world's longest toy train circuit" Daily Mail, 15 July 2013. Accessed: 29 March 2014.
↑ "Longest Lego Railway", 16 July 2013. Accessed: 29 March 2014.
↑ Dill, Kathryn (19 February 2015), Lego Tops Global Ranking Of The Most Powerful Brands In 2015, Forbes, retrieved 20 February 2015
↑ Chan, Derek. "Lego Educational Resource". Blogger. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
↑ "Lego Education (see footnote)". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego". National Toy Hall of Fame.
↑ Roshanzamir, Ali (10 December 2013). "Matematik-professoren leger med lego-klodser". University of Copenhagen Faculty of Science. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
1 2 Lego Company Profile
↑ "Lego Specifications". Orionrobots.co.uk. 26 February 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
↑ Dimensions Guide (13 December 2010). "Dimensions of a Standard Lego Brick". Dimensionsguide.com. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
1 2 Frances Corbet (September 2008). "Child's Play". Develop 3D. X3DMedia: 25–27. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ "LEGO Digital Designer". LEGO. n.d. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
↑ "Build with Chrome". Google. n.d. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
↑ "What happened to DESIGN byME?". LEGO. n.d. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
↑ "Company Profile An Introduction to the LEGO Group 2010" (PDF). The Lego Group. 2011. p. 8. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
↑ "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lego". Gizmodo.com. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
↑ "How Lego Bricks Work". HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
↑ Cendrowicz, Leo (28 January 2008). "Lego Celebrates 50 Years of Building". TIME. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
↑ "The Making of ... a LEGO". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
↑ "World Record". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
1 2 Alexander, Ruth (3 December 2012). "How tall can a Lego tower get?". BBC News. Retrieved 4 December 2012. The average maximum force the bricks can stand is 4,240N. That's equivalent to a mass of 432 kg (950lbs). If you divide that by the mass of a single brick, which is 1.152g, then you get the grand total of bricks a single piece of Lego could support: 375,000. So, 375,000 bricks towering 3.5 kilometers (2.17 miles) high is what it would take to break a Lego brick.
↑ Mattise, Nathan (24 March 2014). "Lego bricks still last 30,000+ impressions during new and improved test". Ars Technica. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
↑ Godske, Bjørn (29 March 2014). "Robot-test beviser det: Lego kan samles og adskilles over 30.000 gange". Ingeniøren. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
↑ Wiencek 1987, p. 54.
↑ "Lego Mindstorms and Harry Potter Will Continue.". Lego. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
↑ "Mascots Tom and Vinicius debut Lego look for Rio 2016". Rio 2016.
↑ Meno, George (7 June 2008). "Designing General Grievous". brickjournal.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
↑ "Mindstorms History". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
1 2 "About EV3". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "USFIRST.org". USFIRST.org. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
↑ Wainwright, Oliver (22 July 2015). "The Lego prosthetic arm that children can create and hack themselves". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
↑ "IKO Creative Prosthetic System". Core77. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
↑ Austen, Ian (28 January 2005). "Building a Legal Case, Block by Block". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
↑ "News". Ccpit-patent.com.cn. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
↑ "Best Lock Petitions US Patent Office". Mass Live. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
↑ "Lego Deleted as a Trademark". Marken Magazine. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
↑ "Court Ruling". Bundesgerichtshof. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego v. Mega Bloks". Canlii. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Montreal's Mega Brands face off in court with Lego". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego Website". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego instruction manuals". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "My Lego Network". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Legoland". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Now open: Legoland Dubai". Gulfnews.
↑ "Legoland sale to Merlin Entertainment". BBC. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Legoland Discovery Centre". Legolanddiscoverycenter.com. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
↑ "LEGO.com: LEGO Stores Home – All Stores". Stores.lego.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
↑ "Lego Store Grand Openings". Access Winnipeg. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
↑ "Serious Play". Lego. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego Marvel Superheroes Video Game". Marvel. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "History of Lego Video Games". Movie Pilot. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego Movie Videogamw". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ Gilbert, Brett J. (12 July 2009). "LEGO Board Games: Interview with Cephas Howard". BrettSpiel. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
↑ "LEGO Games". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego Games". Board Game Geek. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "LEGO.com LEGO Club : News & Extras". Club.lego.com. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
↑ Siegel, Tatiana (27 June 2013). "Warner Bros. to Bring Lego's 'Ninjago' to Big Screen (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
↑ "Lego City TV". IMBD. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Warner Bros. Sets dates for the Lego Movie". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Will Ferrel and Liam Neeson join Lego animated film". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Lego:The Piece of Resistance Offers Up Two Design Competitions for Fans | Collider | Page 207141". Collider. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
↑ "Lego shortage leaves independent stores with empty shelves". CBC News. 15 December 2014.
↑ "Canadian company Brictek thrives amid Lego shortage". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 December 2014.
↑ "DK Lego Books". DK. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
↑ "Bionicle Graphic Novels". Papercutz. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
↑ "Brickmaster is Ending". Brickset. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
↑ "Kabooki". Lego Wear. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
Bagnall, Brian (2002). Core LEGO Mindstorms. Prentice-Hall PTR. ISBN 0-13-009364-5.
Bagnall, Brian (2007). Maximum LEGO NXT: Building Robots with Java Brains. Variant Press. ISBN 0-9738649-1-5.
Bedford, Allan (2005). The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide. San Francisco: No Starch Press. ISBN 1-59327-054-2.
Clague, Kevin; Agullo, Miguel; Hassing, Lars C. (2003). LEGO Software Power Tools, With LDraw, MLCad, and LPub. ISBN 1-931836-76-0.
Courtney, Tim; Herrera, Ahui; Bliss, Steve (2003). Virtual LEGO: The Official LDraw.org Guide to LDraw Tools for Windows. San Francisco: No Starch Press. ISBN 1-886411-94-8.
McKee, Jacob H (2003). Getting Started with LEGO Trains. San Francisco: No Starch Press. ISBN 1-59327-006-2.
Ferrari, Mario; Ferrari, Giulio; Hempel, Ralph (2001). Building Robots With LEGO Mindstorms: The Ultimate Tool for Mindstorms Maniacs. Syngress Media. ISBN 1-928994-67-9.
Pickering, David (1999). The Ultimate LEGO Book. New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7894-4691-X.
Lipkowitz, Daniel (2012). The LEGO Book. London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4093-7660-6.
Wiencek, Henry (1987). The World of LEGO Toys. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-8109-2362-9.
Pilegaard, Ulrik; Dooley, Mike (2007). Forbidden LEGO. San Francisco: No Starch Press. ISBN 1-59327-137-9.
May, James (2009). James May's Toy Stories. London: Conway. ISBN 978-1-84486-107-1.
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text:
Wyatt Blassingame
a.k.a. Wyatt Rainey Blassingame, W.B. Rainey*
Author Code: AWBL
Born: Feb. 6, 1909 - Demopolis, Alabama, USA
Died: Jan. 9, 1985 - Anna Maria, Florida, uSA
Educated at Samford University, the University of Alabama and New York University, Blassingame graduated in 1952 after a break for World War II, in which he served in the U.S. Navy. He won the bronze star and a Presidential Unit Citation. He was married to Gertrude Olsen in 1936. During the 1930s, Blassingame wrote numerous short stories for magazines such as Terror Tales and Dime Mystery. He was also the author of many juvenile works, including four novels written for the Landmark book series. His works include The Murder Scoop (1935), Love Comes From the Grave (1936), The Corroding Death (1939), His Kingdom for a Horse (1940), For Better, For Worse (1951), Live From the Devil (1959), This Land Is Mine (1960), The Mountain Men (1962), Sacagawea (1967), The Golden Geyser (1974) and Pecos Bill and the Wonderful Clothesline Snake (1978).
AWBL003 Cargo of Death 1947 14 252k
AWBL002 Clothes Makes the Corpse 1941 27 287k
AWBL004 Ghouls of the Green Death 1934 36 352k
AWBL001 The Moon Drips Blood 1940 21 273k


If the "accept" bug we encountered this week taught us anything about Twitter, it showed us who users are most desperate to have follow them back.
As a refresher, yesterday's bug allowed users to tweet, for example, "accept mashable." This would then make the account @mashable automatically follow the user who sent out that tweet. While many users saw that they were suddenly following a few new accounts, certain well-known Twitter users were bombarded with hundreds of new follows.
The new guard of Twitter celebrities as revealed by the bug is pop culture heavy. Although Bill Gates and Barack Obama made the cut, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber scored much higher for follower-happy users. And celeb blogger Perez Hilton ranked as the fifth most popular Twitter account for the exploiters of the "accept" bug.
But the woman who ruled them all was Oprah, who garnered the most attention in the form of forced follows during the bug's short lifespan.
What's also impressive is the number of users who ended up exploiting this bug before Twitter shut it down. Almost 6,000 "accept" tweets were sent that forced another person to follow the tweeting user. Many others discussed the bug after the loophole had closed, but those tweets comprised just 28% of "accept" bug-related tweets.
Many thanks to RowFeeder, a nifty tweet-tracking tool, for the data and graphic.


text:
WATCH: Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley and Jake Owen Play Topgolf
© SIPA USA
Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley and Jake Owen are featured in the latest episode of Topgolf's The Hook. The country star's partnered up in Nashville to play a round of Topgolf together and they were definitely up for the challenge.
RELATED: Jake Owen Unveils New Single, "I Was Jack (You Were Diane)"
The "Heart Break" singer's brother, John Kelley, competed against Owen as well. The game was a charitable effort while the losing player had to make a donation to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
"Everyone thinks I got no game, but they don't realize that Hillary has had twins and all I've done is play golf in this time while Jake is making new records and making money. That's all I've done," Kelley joked.
It was Team Charles against Team Jake for the 2018 Children's Cup with 200 country fans in the room. All proceeds from the event were donated to Vanderbilt.
Watch below to find out who won the Topgolf trophy.
Charles Kelley


Acura's MDX marries a fuel-saving hybrid system with a 257-horsepower V6. When that internal combustion power is combined with the electric motor's power, it makes about 321 horsepower. Oh and it also features lots of seating room with three rows. So does a livable, practical SUV have to be a gas-guzzler?
Overall, the MDX was solid. Why? One word: hybrid.
The styling doesn't exactly stand out on the inside or the outside. The performance isn't overpowering. It isn't filled with huge touch-screen displays and crazy sound systems.
But it's a mid-sized SUV that can get 26 mpg in the city, all while offering three rows of seats and ample cargo room. To put that into perspective, the gas-only version of the MDX is quoted at 19 mpg in the city. It looks like Acura has worked their way around the the main downside to owning an SUV.
If I needed a big SUV, one with three rows of seats, yeah, I'd check out the MDX. The steering is a little soft but that's kind of a point. It's built for the masses—well, the masses who want those extra Acura touches.
Hey, a new car i think is interesting that i didn't know existed until i saw it on GRM! Points to yall!


text:
Q: Calculating the percentage of one columns' values when another column is equal to a specific value df <- data.frame(dive=factor(sample(c("dive1","dive2", "dive3"),20,replace=TRUE)),speed=runif(20))
> df
    dive      speed   Drift
1  dive1 0.80668490    TRUE
2  dive1 0.53349584    FALSE
3  dive2 0.07571784    TRUE
4  dive2 0.39518628    TRUE
5  dive1 0.84557955    TRUE
6  dive1 0.69121443    FALSE
7  dive1 0.38124950    TRUE
8  dive2 0.22536126    FALSE
9  dive1 0.04704750    FALSE
10 dive2 0.93561651    TRUE

Suppose I have a data frame of this form with a third column named "Drift" where the row values are either "TRUE" or "FALSE". How would I go about working out the percentage of rows equal to TRUE when "dive" equals a specific value. I.e. when dive==1 what percentage of the "drift" column is "TRUE"?
Thankyou.

A: You could try:
df$Drift <- c(T,F)
sapply(split(df, df$dive), function(x) sum(x$Drift) / nrow(x) * 100 )
   dive1    dive2    dive3
57.14286 42.85714 50.00000

A: Try
set.seed(1)
df$Drift<-sample(c(T,F),20,replace=T)

sapply(split(df,df$dive),function(x){mean(x$Drift)})

> sapply(split(df,df$dive),function(x){mean(x$Drift)})
    dive1     dive2     dive3
0.0000000 0.7500000 0.2727273

multiple the mean by 100 if you want percentage


Theola DeBose has had a "storied" career, including being a White House appointee under the Obama administration and a successful career as an award-winning journalist with the Washington Post. She also led communications and external relations for the DC Public Charter School Board, which is where she was when I had the privilege of meeting and mentoring her through the Princeton AlumniCorps: Emerging Leaders program!
Come Inside, where Theola shares her personal and professional journey to leadership!


text:
Tag Archives: get up
B3: "Get Up!" Tour 2018
NewsBy robin February 6, 2018
Coming Friday the jazzrockers from B3 will start their Germany tour with their just released album, "Get up! Live at the A-Trane". Check out the dates! 09.02.18 | Bielefelder Jazzclub, Bielefeld14.02.18 | Club Bambule, Göppingen15.02.18 | Kofferfabrik, Fürth (Tickets)16.02.18 | Disharmonie, Schweinfurt (Tickets)22.02.18 | Beavers, Miltenberg (Tickets)23.02.18 | Jazzclub Biberach, Biberach (Tickets)24.02.18 | Kulturschock, Königshofen20.04.18 | Deele Brosen, Kalletal18.05.18…
B3 take you to Colombia with their new music video!
NewsBy robin December 8, 2017
With the new music video for their song "Shir's Dream" B3 take you to the Caribbean. Bandleader and keyboarder Andreas Hommelsheim dedicated the song to his daughter who moved to Colombia and lives her dream. Big thanks again to the team of GoodBY Production!
B3: Two Record Release Shows at A-Trane on Nov 10th & 11th
B3 celebrate the release of their new album, "Get up! Live at the A-Trane", with two concerts at Berlin jazz club A-Trane on November 10th & 11th! It is highly recommended to reserve your tickets as soon as possible! Tel.: 030 / 313 25 50 (A-Trane) Online: www.a-trane.de If you haven't experienced B3 playing at…
New B3 album out on Nov 10th!
NewsBy robin September 29, 2017
Having released two studio albums and having played countless concerts, Fusion quartet B3's first live album, "Get Up! Live at the A-Trane", will be released on Nov 10th. The Berlin-based musicians present themselves in one of Germany's most renowned jazz clubs having a lot of fun playing and combining elements from Jazz, Rock, Funk and…
B3 release new music video!
The Fusion quartet B3 comes up with a brandnew music video for their song "Let The Good Times Flow" being the first track out of ten of their upcoming album "Get Up! Live at the A-Trane" that will be released later this year. Big thanks to GoodBY Production for the great work!


Chikkaness Avenue: #PaBeerTayo this Father's Day!
In almost all occasions, my Tatay has been celebrating it with Pilsen. When I passed the CPA Board Exams, he had a drink with his barkada as he proudly shared my achievement to them. He even cried for my success.
For 127 years, San Miguel Pale Pilsen has witnessed various milestones and occasions in Filipinos' lives - from weddings to graduations, from birthdays to reunions.
This Father's Day, San Miguel Pale Pilsen's latest digital video pays tribute to all the fathers who continue to provide unconditional love and support to their families and children. Just like their beer, they exemplify being orig and totoo.
San Miguel Pale Pilsen's online video "Brown Belt Bag" is a different take from the usual hugot ads on Facebook and YouTube. The video features the feel-good story of a lovable tatay and the brown belt bag that seems to be permanently attached to his waist, whether he be at work, at home or even at formal gatherings. Will tatay part with his beloved brown belt bag, at the request of his son? What is even inside tatay's beloved brown belt bag?
With this video, San Miguel Pale Pilsen hopes to encourage its drinkers to tell their fathers #PaBeerTayo! – to celebrate tatay's special day over a bottle of San Miguel Pale Pilsen.


The fund, announced earlier this year, is the centrepiece of the Coalition's $3.5 billion climate and energy program, which also includes a previously announced $1.4 billion injection for the Snowy Hydro 2.0 expansion and $56 million for the "Battery of the Nation" and Marinus Link projects in Tasmania.
Helga Birgden, Mercer's Global Business Leader for Responsible Investment, says the government's climate package falls well short of what is needed, which is a comprehensive, economy-wide approach to climate change to achieve necessary carbon reductions.
"The Climate Solutions Fund is important for funding carbon offsets but we know that the $2 billion is inadequate in the face of climate change risk," she says. "While large-scale pumped hydro is positive in that it's decarbonising electricity generation, it's avoiding the issue of integrating a carbon price in the market.
There were no major new measures addressing climate change in the Budget, but rivers and waterways will get $100 million towards practical steps to protect them and to promote recycling in the Federal Budget.
"(This) includes funding for environmental protection projects, threatened species, the restoration of coastal land and waterways, and waste recycling," Environment Minister Melissa Price says.
Meanwhile Labor Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has announced a suite of initiatives to combat climate change, including an aim to reduce carbon emissions by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030. Labor plans to have 50% of all new car sales as electric vehicles by 2030 and will introduce greenhouse pollution controls for large emitters.
"Institutional investors, businesses and industry continue to show leadership on climate change but they need government to focus on setting the policy framework and putting a price on carbon to give them the confidence to adapt," Birgden says. "Investors want to work with government to tackle the issue of climate change.
Mercer is releasing its flagship report Investing in a Time of Climate Change –The Sequel next week which allows investors to assess the impact of climate change on investment returns. To ensure financial stability, investors need robust economy-wide policy from government.