The enormously complicated problem of deciding where and how all of society's resources might best be used is usually solved by individuals following their own self-interest in markets largely free of government oversight.
Markets fail when exchanges between willing buyers and sellers are impeded and efficiency is compromised.
Overcoming such market failures is a role for government, but devising a solution that improves upon the status quo may not always be possible.
'Every individual… neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it…he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention'.
By "the invisible hand," Adam Smith refers to the notion that desirable social goals are usually reached by individuals following only their own self-interest. The self-interested interactions among individuals generate prices that coordinate complex economic undertakings, directing each individual's labor and capital to where it is most valued. Thus, public sector controls on economic activity are usually not needed, and such controls often degrade society's ability to produce and distribute goods and services. Smith argued against unnecessary government intervention into or regulation of markets. But Smith also recognized that there are circumstances where markets fail to coordinate economic activity.
When markets fail, there may, indeed, be justification for some market regulation by government. Smith saw an obvious role for the public sector in national defense, provision of a system of justice and investment in public infrastructure, among others. More recently, the folly of unnecessary market regulation and the need to regulate markets that fail has been codified in a series of Presidential Executive Orders that require Federal agencies that propose regulatory actions to back up those actions by stating explicitly what market failure(s) they address. Thus, more than 230 years after Adam Smith wrote about government intervention, his ideas have found direct and practical application.
Agriculture is the textbook example of a sector that, being highly competitive, comprised of many buyers and sellers dealing in transparent markets, should result in an efficient allocation of resources without direct intervention by government. Yet, governments intervene in the agricultural and food sectors in a variety of ways. Commodity programs and food assistance are well-known interventions. Regulations aim to reduce runoff of animal waste into waterways, prevent further draining of wetlands, protect farmworkers from exposure to pesticides, and guard against unfair competition. USDA pays farmers and ranchers to improve water, air, and wildlife habitat quality, to restore wetlands, and to preserve farm and grasslands. Government entities also provide information to improve market efficiency. Science-based nutritional information supports food labels, inspections increase food safety, standards and certification increase consumer confidence in specialty products such as organic foods, and publicly funded research and development sustains growth in agricultural productivity.
Why Are Governments Important in "Free Market" Economies?
1. Externalities, such as water pollution, arise when buyers or sellers are neither charged nor compensated for the economic impacts of their choices on others.
2. Public goods, such as national defense, do not lend themselves to market allocation because it is difficult to exclude individuals from enjoying the good or service once it is produced and because it costs nothing for an additional individual to use.
3. Insufficient information about the characteristics of a good or service may prevent markets from forming even though, with more complete information, consumers would be willing to buy and manufacturers would be willing to sell. For example, whether food is organically grown is not immediately apparent to consumers. Third-party assurances that the information provided on package labels is truthful may be necessary to make markets work.
4. Market power, where a few buyers or sellers are able to exert significant power over prices, can dampen production and exclude some otherwise willing market participants. The following examples illustrate how markets relevant to agriculture might fail, and the corrective steps that governments may take. The examples also reveal that the evidence for failure is often mixed, and the most appropriate policy response for correcting the problem may not be clear cut.
Agriculture is the source of a variety of pollutants—like nutrients, pesticides, sediment, and greenhouse gases—and is routinely identified as the major source of impaired waters in much of the country. If markets allocate resources to their highest and best use, is pollution from agriculture simply an undesirable but unavoidable outcome of doing business? Or is pollution a sign that markets are not operating as expected and resources are not being allocated efficiently?
As long as farmers can discharge agricultural chemicals into waterways without being charged for the costs their actions impose on other water users, the prices of the food they produce (and the chemicals they use) will not reflect full societal costs. And if prices are not accurate indicators of costs, markets cannot allocate resources efficiently. Market prices encourage farmers to produce more crops and more water pollution than if pollution's costs were reflected in those prices. This source of market failure is known as a negative externality.
One solution is for water users who are harmed by pollution to negotiate water quality with farmers. But doing so would be costly and complicated. Take the case of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, a "dead zone" caused by excessive nitrogen coming down the Mississippi River. Simply identifying the numerous farmers in the Mississippi Basin who contribute nitrogen to the Mississippi River would be an enormous task. The large numbers of fishermen, water recreationists, and households affected by excess nitrogen in rivers and streams would make the costs of negotiating an efficient outcome even more onerous.
It is not just the numbers of people involved that make negotiation impractical. Water quality is a public good; individuals may enjoy the benefits without paying the cost (see box, "Why Public Goods Defy Markets"). If one person pays farmers to reduce pollution, it is nearly impossible to exclude other downstream water users from benefiting as well. As long as water users believe that someone else is going to pay to reduce pollution, they have no incentive to pay for it themselves, or even to reveal that they benefit from the improvement. If every water user follows the same logic, water pollution persists.
Governments have approached the pollution problem in two ways. One is to offer conservation program payments to farmers as a substitute for consumer demand. Conservation programs encourage farmers to adopt practices that reduce the loss of sediment or chemicals to the environment. A more coercive approach is to use regulations such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to require farmers to adopt certain practices, or to ban the use of chemicals that are particularly harmful.
In 1999, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that annually, one in three Americans becomes ill from a foodborne disease, one in 700 is hospitalized, and one in 60,000 dies. Many foodborne illnesses are preventable. Some reduction in food contamination can be accomplished with low-tech basic sanitation—hand washing. Cooking deactivates many pathogens. High-tech methods like irradiation can reduce contamination in raw and unprepared foods. And pathogen monitoring and testing can confirm whether procedures have been successful. So why do food recalls and safety concerns continue to make headlines?
There are two possible explanations for the persistence of food-related illnesses. One explanation is that consumers are unwilling to pay higher food prices in return for increased safety. Suppliers have to be compensated for the added cost of labor and capital equipment that would increase safety. If the increase in cost would be passed on to consumers and consumers are unwilling to pay the additional cost, suppliers will stop investing in food safety.
Another possibility is that there is an information gap that is causing the market for food safety to fail. Information problems might choke off any financial incentive to offer consumers safer food. Microbial contamination that causes foodborne illness is difficult for consumers to detect. Contaminated food might look, smell, and taste no different from uncontaminated food.
The information gap means buyers are likely to be wary of sellers' claims. If food suppliers cannot convince consumers that they have gone to the trouble of producing very safe food, their compensation will not cover expenses and there will not be much safety offered to consumers.
Food suppliers have come up with ways to overcome information gaps. Having a well-known brand such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's creates an incentive to ensure that the food supplied to consumers is safe. A brand with a good reputation is a marketing advantage and represents an asset its owner has built through financial commitment. A single foodborne illness linked to the firm could damage the brand and reduce the value of the investment in brand building.
While food suppliers do not make explicit safety claims on retail food labels, safety claims do influence prices further back in the food supply chain. As agricultural commodities are transformed into foods, third-party certifiers are providing validation of quality attributes (including safety practices used in manufacturing plants), reassuring input buyers that a product's attributes are as advertised. In the private sector, firms like SGS and AIB International, as well as many more, offer services to validate safety procedures and bolster market differentiation with respect to food safety.
When food providers produce foods that are treated as undifferentiated commodities, those producers may not have a name brand or the incentive to guard it. Policymakers may thus decide to intervene in the market to enforce an acceptable level of food safety for all consumers. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products. As well as routine inspections of processing plants, it has promulgated rules requiring all meat and poultry establishments to develop and implement written sanitation standard operating procedures and to test for the harmful pathogens E. coli and Listeria. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees food safety for all other foods.
The large question for policy is the extent to which the private sector has overcome information gaps. If branding and third-party certification lead to food safety levels that are above minimum government standards, government intervention cannot be cost effective. But branding and third-party certification are not universal, so consumers' demands for safety may go unmet without government oversight.
Economies of scale lower per unit production costs and thus increase a firm's profit potential. These economies are one of the main factors behind increased consolidation in U.S. agricultural markets. For example, concentration in meat processing has increased dramatically since 1980, and the top four beef packers now account for 81 percent of fed cattle slaughter.
Vertical coordination along the supply chain between producers and processors is another important feature of modern agriculture. Production and marketing contracts have become important tools for vertical coordination that reduce income risks from price and production variability, ensure market access, and provide higher returns for differentiated farm products. The sales of many livestock commodities, sugarbeets, fruit, and processing tomatoes are now handled primarily through contracts. And agricultural contracts are often used in highly concentrated markets having relatively few buyers.
Increased consolidation and coordination, however, call into question whether a market with few buyers and numerous competitive sellers can still operate efficiently. The market system works best when there are many buyers and sellers acting independently and where no single actor or set of actors can influence prices. With only a few buyers, processors may have sufficient market power, individually or cooperatively, to exert downward pressure on the price they pay producers. If that were to happen, the quantity supplied and prices paid to farmers would ultimately be lower than under more competitive conditions. Setting a price lower than would be observed in a competitive market excludes some sellers from the market: they have no outlet for what they could have produced and sold. This "lost" production is a net loss to society.
In theory, buyers can structure contracts to take advantage of market power. A buyer can use long-term contracts to tie up a large share of local supply, discouraging new entrants. Pricing formulas in contracts can be designed to stifle competition among rival buyers. Confidentiality clauses that require farmers to keep contract details secret from other farmers can also be used to suppress competition among rival buyers. Because contractors usually purchase from more than one farmer, this gives them a strong information advantage in negotiations.
Federal laws and regulations can limit firms' exercise of market power. Antitrust laws provide the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice with a wide set of policy options—including civil fines, criminal penalties, and preventive injunctions—to prevent collusion among firms and mergers that are likely to lead to monopoly, and to restrict the use of business practices that are likely to limit competition. Other laws and regulations also aim to facilitate competition. For example, USDA has long had a program to collect, summarize, and disseminate timely market information to facilitate price discovery. The 2002 Farm Act placed limits on the use of confidentiality clauses in livestock and poultry contracts, and the 2008 Farm Act added further requirements for the disclosure of information to producers in such contracts.
What Does Market Failure Mean for Policy?
Market failure occurs when individual decisions guided by self-interest are at odds with an efficient allocation of resources from society's perspective. The examples provided here show how there may be more than one class of market failure affecting a market, such as the case of water pollution that demonstrates failures related to negative externalities and public goods.
Once a market failure has been recognized and described, policy officials still may have a range of approaches to resolving it through government intervention. Common options include prescriptive or prohibitive regulation; tax incentives to change behaviors leading to or exacerbating market failure; subsidies to encourage behavior that eases the effect of market failure; government provision of information that some market participants would not otherwise receive; and government establishment of standards. Ideally, the government's response should be based on the benefits and costs of intervention, and these may indicate that no form of intervention is called for, even when markets fail. For example, to resolve the failure of animal operations to control their runoff of manure nutrients, EPA put in place regulations requiring that the largest farming operations implement nutrient management plans. That these regulations were not extended to all animal operations was based on research indicating that the costs of doing so would not justify the benefits.
Markets work best when goods possess certain characteristics. One is "excludability," where a producer can prevent someone who has not paid for the good from obtaining it. Another is that the good is "rival," where a buyer's purchase will not benefit any other individual. For instance, a farmer can obtain a tractor only by purchasing it from a dealer. And, once he obtains it, he alone enjoys the benefits. Goods with these characteristics are known as private goods. Markets evolve naturally to provide private goods.
Public goods lack one or both of these characteristics. With a public good, a provider cannot exclude someone from obtaining a good even if he or she has not paid a price. For example, a farmer contemplating the sale of improved water quality by establishing vegetative buffers on his or her farm cannot exclude downstream users from benefiting; the downstream users are "free riders." In this situation, the farmer does not have an economic incentive to provide the good.
Furthermore, when a good is nonrival—that is, exclusive ownership is not possible—a buyer's purchase does not reduce the benefits derived by others; the same benefits are available to all. For example, once a TV signal is broadcast over the air, one person viewing it does not diminish his neighbor's ability to also view the signal. The marginal cost of providing the good is essentially zero. Efficient resource use requires that price equals marginal cost, but if marginal cost is zero, price should be zero. No market will arise for a good with a zero price. When a market does exist for a good that is nonrival, such as satellite TV, the market is inefficient.


text:
Q: How to fetch images dynamic from nodejs Api image return to dynamic with req params
I have currently use
app.use('/api/uploads', checkAuth, express.static('uploads/report/', { fallthrough: false }));

I have set dynamic upload path like
request url  = api/uploads/report/abc.png
set automatic path Like
app.use('/api/uploads', checkAuth, (req) => express.static('uploads/'+req.UserData.GroupName+'/report/', { fallthrough: false }));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Maria Forsyth FAA—2017 Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation for contributions to the development of advanced electrolyte materials for electrochemical devices.
Professor Geoffrey Lindeman FAA—(jointly with Professor Visvader) 2017 Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation in recognition of their legacy for cancer research activities in Australia and their ongoing efforts to translate basic discoveries to the clinic.
Professor Jane Visvader FAA—(jointly with Professor Lindeman) 2017 Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation in recognition of their legacy for cancer research activities in Australia and their ongoing efforts to translate basic discoveries to the clinic.
Professor Tony Klein AM FAA—2017 University of Melbourne Award for outstanding and enduring contribution to the University and its scholarly community.
Professor James Angus AO FAA—2017 University of Melbourne Award for outstanding and enduring contribution to the University and its scholarly community.
Professor Marelyn Wintour-Coghlan AO FAA—(jointly with Emeritus Professor John Coghlan AO) 2017 University of Melbourne Award for outstanding and enduring contribution to the University and its scholarly community.
Professor Adrienne Clarke AC FAA FTSE—2017 University of Melbourne Award for outstanding and enduring contribution to the University and its scholarly community.
Recently elected Fellow Professor David Gardner has received a Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Professor Tony Linnane was an internationally recognised biochemist and molecular biologist. He was elected to the Academy in 1972 for his studies on the biogenesis of mitochondria and mitochondrial respiratory enzymes, particularly in yeast, and on the selective effects of antibiotics on intramitochondrial and cytoplasmic protein synthesis.
Professor Linnane received the Lemberg Medal from the Australian Biochemical Society in 1973 and was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1980 and to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 1999. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2000. He served as President of the Australian Biochemical Society, President of the Federation of Asian and Oceanic Biochemical Societies and Treasurer of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Professor Linnane served on many of the Academy's committees, including the National Committee for Biophysics, the National Committee for Biochemistry and the National Committee for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He also served as a member on Sectional Committee 7, then called Biology at the Cellular and Molecular Level. He was Chair of the Victorian Regional Group from 1982 to 1983.
Most recently, Professor Linnane served as Chair of the organising committee for the Theo Murphy Frontiers of Science Symposium on the Microbiome in 2016. Frontiers of Science brings together the very best young Australian scientists in multidisciplinary areas to discuss emerging technologies and identify potential opportunities for future research collaboration.


Watch and find out what tow car ability the all-new Seat Ateca has!
What's new here? Well, everything!
The Ateca is an all-new model, and Seat's first SUV. It's a rival for the Nissan Qashqai, Hyundai Tucson and Škoda Yeti.
Under the skin it's a close relative of the Volkswagen Tiguan, although it's a little shorter than the VW and considerably more a'ffordable.
There's a choice of petrol and diesel engines, with front- and four-wheel-drive versions. We're testing the range-topping 190PS (187bhp) version with the 4Drive 4x4 system and a DSG automatic transmission.
What are we looking for? Well, this is a tow test first and foremost, and with such a powerful turbodiesel engine we're expecting strong acceleration.
Stability at speed when hitched up is also a key quality in a tug. So, let's find out what tow car ability the Seat Ateca has!
The Ateca range comprises a broad choice of engines, from a surprisingly lively 1.0-litre petrol to the 187bhp 2.0-litre diesel tested here.
We think the latter, along with the 148bhp 2.0-litre TDI, are the models that are likely to be of most interest to caravanners.
If you prefer a manual gearbox, you'll have to stick with the less-powerful 2.0-litre engine. The 187bhp version gets the DSG auto only.
A front-wheel-drive version of the 148bhp 2.0-litre TDI is on the way, but from launch both 2.0-litre diesels are four-wheel drive. The 4Drive system uses a Haldex coupling to send power to the wheels that can make best use of it.
The extra weight of the 4x4 hardware makes these the heaviest models, with the healthiest matching ratios. The most powerful Ateca has a kerbweight of 1589kg, giving an 85% match figure of 1351kg.
The legal towing limit is 2100kg, a very high figure for a car of this size and weight. The noseweight limit is 80kg.
To truly understand what tow car skills the Seat has, we matched it to a Swift Expression 586 with a Mass in Running Order of 1325kg.
With 295lb ft of torque, the engine matches the pulling power of the equivalent Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage, and comfortably eclipses the brawniest Nissan Qashqai.
The automatic gearbox changes gear quickly to make the most of that torque, and even in Sport mode the DSG swaps ratios smoothly. At the test track we recorded a swift 30-60mph time of 9.2 seconds.
On the road that translates into confident overtaking and no loss of speed even when pulling a caravan up steep hills. The brawny engine just rolls up its sleeves and gets on with the job.
The Seat Ateca stops as well as it goes. On a dry track, car and caravan stopped from 30mph in just 10 metres.
Even with the brake pedal on the floor the manoeuvre was undramatic, the Ateca pulling up straight with no shunting from the caravan.
The lane-change test can outwit some tow cars, especially SUVs with their relatively high centre of gravity. But the Seat was untroubled by our emergency swerve, gripping securely and with modest lean. Even on our fastest attempts we felt no pushing or shoving from the caravan.
Usually cars that take the lane-change test in their stride make towing on the motorway seem relaxed and easy. For the most part that proved true of the Ateca.
However, once or twice we felt a little side-to-side movement on the motorway when overtaking a high-sided vehicle. The movements were very slight, but noticeable.
A hill-start in the dry ought to be straightforward, towing with such a powerful four-wheel-drive car, and the Ateca performed as expected.
The electronic parking brake held car and caravan still, then released smoothly. The car easily pulled to the top of the gradient with no need to rev the engine hard.
Apart from very slight movements when passing large HGVs, the Ateca didn't put a foot wrong as a tow car.
It's very quick, the brakes are excellent and it handles emergency manoeuvres with aplomb.
Leave your caravan on its pitch and the 187bhp Seat Ateca can really show off.
In a straight line it's more hot hatch than family SUV. It corners well, too, with precise steering and a level of agility most rivals struggle to match.
Drive sensibly and there's plenty of grip, with the Ateca gently pushing wide if the driver misjudges a bend or becomes a little too enthusiastic.
The Seat Drive Profile system allows the driver to choose different modes for the steering, throttle and gearbox.
Turn the knob towards the chequered flag symbol and the car's responses sharpen, plus the steering wheel is weightier. However, there are no adaptive dampers, so the suspension remains the same.
That's a mixed blessing. The firm set-up delivers impressive control at speed, but when you'd rather drive more gently the ride can feel a little too firm for comfort. A little less road noise at speed would also be welcome.
However, firm ride aside, the Seat Ateca feels at home on urban roads. All-round visibility is good, and the relatively compact size helps on busy streets.
The DSG transmission is smooth and affable when edging through heavy traffic, but responsive when the road clears and you want to get a move on.
Despite the rather firm edge to the ride, overall the Ateca is one of the best compact SUVs from the driver's seat.
The Seat Ateca has a driving position that most drivers should find comfortable on long journeys, with enough adjustment of the seat and wheel to suit both tall and short people. The seat is supportive and comfortable.
There are no surprises with the dashboard design, which is neat and ordered, if a little uninspired compared with the sharp exterior styling.
The 8.0-inch colour touchscreen is surrounded by shortcut buttons, which we prefer to wading through on-screen menus.
Build quality is solid enough, but the cabin doesn't match the plush feel of a VW Tiguan's. But, given the Seat's very competitive pricing, it's easy to forgive the car some hard plastics here and there.
There's enough space for adults to travel in comfort in the back of the car, although the big transmission tunnel eats into foot space if you carry three passengers in the back. There are air vents between the front seats to keep those in the back supplied with chilled air.
Boot space is where the Ateca really scores over its key rival, the Nissan Qashqai.
Two-wheel-drive versions have a 510-litre boot, beating the Nissan by a considerable 80 litres. 4Drive models such as our test car have a slightly smaller 485-litre boot.
Levers on either side of the tailgate make lowering the back seats a quick and easy job. Once they are folded, the capacity increases to 1579 litres for 4x4 models. There's a slight slope to the floor with the seats lowered, but that's a very handy load bay for trips to the tip and the like.
Seat has priced the Ateca keenly. The range starts from £17,990, which is £555 less than the cheapest Qashqai.
Our range-topping diesel costs £29,990. That's slightly more than the most expensive Qashqai, but the Nissan's 128bhp engine is nothing like as powerful as the Seat's.
The 2.0 TDI 190PS undercuts the equivalent Tucson (£32,700) and Sportage (£31,900).
It's early days for the Ateca which, together with strong demand, means dealers aren't giving away big discounts. However, What Car?'s Target Price team have found that it's possible to save £745.
Your £29,990 buys a long list of standard equipment. Keyless entry, a wireless phone charger, cruise control, a rear-view camera, dual-zone climate control, rear parking sensors, an 8.0-inch touchscreen sat-nav system, a DAB radio and leather upholstery are standard on Xcellence cars.
In fact, all but the entry-level S-spec models are well equipped, although the engine and transmission combination tested comes only with the range-topping trim.
Safety kit is comprehensive, with driver, driver's knee, passenger, side and curtain airbags, along with stability control, autonomous emergency braking, and Isofix mounting points for rear child seats. The Ateca has a five-star rating from the safety experts at Euro NCAP.
According to the official figures, the Ateca is capable of 53.3mpg on the combined cycle. Compare that with 43.5mpg and 44.8mpg for the equivalent Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.
Towing on a mixed route of A-roads and motorways, we achieved 26.4mpg with the Seat Ateca.
When the time comes to sell, What Car? predicts it will be worth a healthy 48% of the original price after three years.
If you have a budget of around £30,000 for an SUV and you're wondering what tow car to buy, there's no shortage of accomplished cars for you to spend your money on.
The Seat Ateca is one of the best.
The combination of a powerful engine, a slick-shifting gearbox and four-wheel drive makes this a quick and efficient all-weather tow car.
With so much power and torque, the Ateca can easily tow any sensibly matched caravan.
It can handle itself in an emergency, too. Stopping from 30mph required just 10 metres, and the Seat tackled the lane-change test with ease.
Only some slight movements when overtaking large vehicles prevented the Ateca scoring more highly in the towing test.
As a solo drive, the Ateca is one of the sportiest Sport Utility Vehicles of its size. On the right road in the right mood, it's a satisfying car to drive.
But the ride is on the firm side. A more supple approach to bumps around town and less road noise would make the Seat better still.
Inside, the Ateca is one of the most practical cars in this class. The driving position and front seat are comfortable, and there's room for adults in the back.
The boot should cope with most families' caravan holiday luggage, and it's bigger than a Qashqai's.
What's more, the Ateca is better value than most of its rivals. Not only does it undercut them on price, but most trim levels also come packed chock-full of equipment.
Impressive fuel economy and strong predicted resale values make the Seat a sensible buy, too.


This project was a collaboration between Brad Simpson, Todd Vanderlin and myself. We began the project seven days ago when we learned of the competition and developed it from initial ideas to the final foldable posters within the week. Below is a brief description of the process of parsing, sorting, visualizing, and composing the final posters.
The subway data from August 12, 2009 was parsed in openFrameworks and Matlab using custom applications. Statistical analysis was performed in Matlab for subway loading (temporal and geographical including the entire MBTA, individual lines and individual stations), rate of subway activity and associated data. openFrameworks was used to generate the central visualizations for the project. Programs were written to interpret data that was processed into several arrangements to emphasize different trends within the data. Linear charts were used to display the activity of stations on a given line to show the geographic relation of activity throughout the course of the day. Circular 24-hour clocks for individual lines and stations were made in order to see the relative activity throughout the day. Pie charts were used to visualize rush hour commutes on each line, showing the contrast of activity during morning and evening rush hours. Histograms were used to show the breakdown of daily activity in a linear fashion. Layouts were done in Illustrator and visualizations were combined in order to create the five individual MBTA line posters and overall MBTA poster. Individual print posters are 33in x 23 in.


text:
Overtones of violence, neocolonialism and racism
Nature is one of the two top science journals in the world, and it just published this wacky letter:
We take issue with the use of 'supremacy' when referring to quantum computers that can out-calculate even the fastest supercomputers (F. Arute et al. Nature 574, 505–510; 2019). We consider it irresponsible to override the historical context of this descriptor, which risks sustaining divisions in race, gender and class. We call for the community to use 'quantum advantage' instead.
The community claims that quantum supremacy is a technical term with a specified meaning. However, any technical justification for this descriptor could get swamped as it enters the public arena after the intense media coverage of the past few months.
In our view, 'supremacy' has overtones of violence, neocolonialism and racism through its association with 'white supremacy'. Inherently violent language has crept into other branches of science as well — in human and robotic spaceflight, for example, terms such as 'conquest', 'colonization' and 'settlement' evoke the terra nullius arguments of settler colonialism and must be contextualized against ongoing issues of neocolonialism.
Instead, quantum computing should be an open arena and an inspiration for a new generation of scientists.
I don't think this solves anything. Someone could still complain that white men are advantaged over other groups.
If quantum supremacy turns out to be a big fraud, and quantum supremacy is associated with neocolonialism, that maybe that will help credit neo-colonialism?
These sorts of ridiculous complaints have become commonplace now, and I have concluded that most of them are not sincere. They are not really offended by the phrase. They are just trying to exercise some political power.
Lubos Motl also criticizes the Nature letter, and others:
Well, I find it amazing that Nature that used to be a respectable journal is publishing similar lunacy from such despicable and intellectually empty activists these days. ...
Wow. Dr Preskill, aren't you ashamed of being this kind of a hardcore coward? How does it feel to be a pußy of sixteen (OK, 1000 in binary) zeroes? People who are far from being supreme?
I encourage readers from Caltech to spit at Prof Preskill, a spineless collaborationist with pure evil. Maybe he needs to start to drown in saliva to understand that pure evil shouldn't be supported in this way. ...
Let's hope that the NPCs will never open the U.S. Constitution because they would find 3 copies of the word "supremacy" there (two of them are in "national supremacy") and they would start to burn the book immediately.
He is overreacting a bit, but it is outrageous that a leading science journal publishes a social justice warrior demand that we stop using a perfectly good neutral word.
Labels: quantum, science
Craig December 12, 2019 at 8:19 AM
If you are against quantum supremacy, then you should join Antiqua.
CFT December 12, 2019 at 1:30 PM
Quantum supremacy is just a poorly worded cry for more money from deep government pockets. Much more money.
Reasons to be a quantum computing skeptic
New essay contest on unpredictability
Obsessed with quantum understanding
There was a year zero
Leftism is now a job requirement for professors
Aaronson defends quantum supremacy term
The End of the Scientific Culture
Achieving Quantum Wokeness
Reasons to be a climate skeptic
Sick of Quantum Computing's Hype
Applying covariance to white empiricism
Believe this vision of the world religiously

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Good Speakers Make Poor Songs Sound Bad?
I've been using crappy build in 2w speakers on my brothers G4 for....well forever. But recently since my iFire doesn't work I can't use them with my powerbook yet so I hooked them up to my brothers quicksilver. Some songs sound good and other sound horrible. I know the pro speakers aren't the best, but is it possible that they illuminate poorly encoded songs?
I don't seem to remember stuff sounding as bad when I listen to them on my MDR-V600 headphones which I know aren't the best but I thought were supposed to be pretty good.
I can't really find a reason, low bit rate or whatever, but it could be my brothers songs are ripped from a cd burnt with mp3s. Do they just sound bad with bass?
And my las question...if I would get an iSub...would it recognize that I have that hooked up and send only mids and highs to my pro speakers then?
I think the answer is too much treble.
anyway, the speakers go through his computer through USB, and as such are able to decode real 2.1 through the OS, if he turns off the speakers, all he gets is thundering bass from the iSub.
...all I wanted was a good looking pretty good sounding speaker system. Between the iFire adding noise thave I have to send it back and me having to possibly get an iSub to possibly fix the bass problem it is annoying.
So nobody can tell me for sure that the iSub will reduce the lows through my minplug audio out?
Thats what they call THX.. And No.
I guess it makes sense since you normally wouldn't want your subwoofer on if you have headphones plugged in. Didn't even think about it that way. Man that is kinda sucky.
Actually my isub still works with my headphones in....no problem at all. I'm not sure what your question is really. I do know that my isub makes my apple pro speakers sound 10x better.
Any distortion i experienced without isub, is no longer an issue with it. If that's what you mean.
Ok well hopefully it would still work with headphones in. What type of computer do you have? My second question is that the iSub is supposed to make the computer act as a crossover so that the lows go to the iSub and the mids and highs go to the pro speakers.
I just didn't know if the iSub would work with headphones plugged in (to power my Pro Speakers) and if the computer would act as a crossover only sending the mids and highs to the pro speakers (aka analog out).
I have a dual ghz. I'm not sure how it works exactly. My isub plugs into the usb and my pro speakers into the plug right below the headphone jack on the back. If my headphones are in the sub still works, and does take some of the lows out of the headphones..same with the pro speakers.
I'm pretty sure it will do what you want, but i could be wrong. If i plug the headphones in...the pro speakers stop working. When i unplug them, they work with the isub. Either way, unless i unplug the isub from the usb port it works all the time.
I'm right in this case....if you don't believe me. Just put isub into the google search and read a few reviews. It does exactly what i said and the reviews you'll find will say the same.
Ok I guess I should get it then, I just wasn't sure if it still made the computer act like a cross over when you have something in the miniplug, but I guess it does.
Does OS X have a control panel to control it like I hear it did with 9?
Ok now where is the cheapest place to buy it?
It does have controls in system preferences..they show up when you have an isub. They let you raise or lower the sub levels..more or less bass.
I know the pro speakers aren't the best, but is it possible that they illuminate poorly encoded songs?
The better the speakers the better they reproduce the sound data, be it distortion or sound.
THX is basically a set of rules. A quality standard and a seal of approval. Additionally, THX is not limited to audio, but applies to video as well.
Ok I guess I can get one...my next question will be though how you control the iSub's volume. Does it scale with the system volume, because I believe I heard that muting the system doesn't mute the iSub.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean or want, but here's the system preference photo on sub scaling.
as maybe sitting on carpet.
The mute deal....I'm not sure.
So the volume keys can make the iSub quieter or louder, but the mute key doesn't effect the iSub?
That is fine, although I don't see how it makes sense, I thought the mute key was just a toggle for sound being nothing.


The new Sugar Warehouse with a storage capacity of 80,000 tons is located in the sugar terminal of Rumo Logística in the port of Santos. Measuring 200m x 40m and a height of 30m it is considered to be one of the largest of such facilities within the terminal. The galvanized steel trusses have been designed to follow the angle of repose of the mounds of sugar stored within.
Project engineers, Blat paid due consideration to; climate, performance, economics and project deadlines in their decision on the most suitable corrosion protection system for the steelwork for the project.
The project demonstrates perfectly the advantages of galvanized steel for construction of functional buildings. The coastal location of the building justifies the best choice of corrosion protection.
The project partners chose galvanizing to ensure they could deliver the building on time for the client and with favourable economics during the initial construction. Those partners made a commitment to galvanizing at the first design stage and demonstrated that, by doing this, even large structures can be galvanized if the component sizes are matched to the galvanizing kettles. Finally, the project accepted no weakness in corrosion protection. The whole structure is galvanized – including the structural fasteners.


text:
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By Shivani Chandra
Have you heard of Swiggy, Zomato, Ola, Uber, Byjus, Flipkart, etc.? All these companies were startups qualified for unicorn status with a valuation in excess of $1bn. These unicorns are now writing a new chapter in India's startup story. Did you know that our nation is home to 108 unicorns?
This article is all about the top 15 unicorn startups of India:
1. Flipkart
3. Swiggy
5. Oyo Rooms
7. Ola
8. Delhivery
9. PhonePe
10. BigBasket
11. Quikr
12. Udaan
13. BillDesk
14. Ola Electric
15. MakeMyTrip
Flipkart is one of the biggest 'Made In India' online stores selling almost everything from a pen worth Rs. 20 to an air conditioner worth Rs. 45,000 on the internet in India. It was founded by Sachin and Binny Bansal in the year 2007 with a total funding of $7.3bn, and it became a unicorn in 2012. Flipkart's journey from a small book e-retailer to India's largest e-commerce platform is an inspiration to the upcoming generation of startups.
Zomato is known to be the leader in the food tech space in India. It was founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in the year 2008 with a total funding of $775bn. Its headquarters is in Delhi NCR. Zomato delivers food, runs a popular Zomato Gold loyalty program, and even delivers fresh ingredients to restaurants. It has been a unicorn startup since 2015 and is now valued at approximately $2.18 billion.
Swiggy was founded by Nandan Reddy, Rahul Jamini, and Sriharsha Majety in the year 2014 with a total funding of $1.27bn. Yet in less than four years, Swiggy became a part of the much-vaunted league of 'unicorn' startups. Within a year of its launch, it managed to create a buzz in the food delivery space.
Paytm is one of the most ubiquitous startups in India. You can find its payment QR codes at shops, either big or small; it sells everything from movie tickets to gold, and the cashbacks it pioneered have been adopted by the entire industry. It was founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in the year 2010 with a total funding of $2.5bn, and it has been a unicorn since 2015.
Oyo is another startup in India that is fairly ubiquitous. From Delhi to Dalhousie, its hotel boards are visible wherever you go. It was founded by Ritesh Agarwal in the year 2013 with a total funding of $1.7bn. It has been a unicorn startup since 2018. Oyo is the world's 3rd largest hotel chain.
BYJU'S was launched in the year 2008 with a total funding of $819M. It was founded by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, and it entered the unicorn club in 2018. The platform offers a learning app, which was launched in the year 2015, and has learning programs for students in classes IV-XII along with courses to help students to prepare for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, etc.
Ola was launched in the year 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati with a total funding of $3.8bn. It became a unicorn startup in 2014. Ola is the first Indian cab aggregator company that has made easy access to cab services. Instead of buying and renting out their own cars, Ola partners with taxi drivers and owners to provide cab services.
Read also – Top 15 Myths About Periods
Delhivery was launched in the year 2011 by Bhavesh Manglani, Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, and Suraj Saharan with a total funding of $670M. It became a unicorn startup in the year 2019. It is a supply chain service provider that initially started as an offline service provider, but with the expansion of e-commerce, it started providing online services also.
PhonePe was launched in the year 2015 by Burzin Engineer Rahul Chari and Sameer Nigam with total funding of $291M, and within three years, it entered the unicorn club in 2018. It is an Indian e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company headquartered in Bangalore, India.
BigBasket, a leading online grocery store, was launched in the year 2011 by Abhinay Choudhari, Hari Menon, Vipul Parekh, and VS Sudhakar with a total funding of $1.02bn. It became a unicorn startup in the year 2019. It is one of those successful Indian startups that became India's largest supermarket within a few years.
Quikr was launched in the year 2008 by Jiby Thomas and Pranay Chulet with a total funding of $430M, and it entered the unicorn club in the year 2015. It is a Bengaluru-based online classifieds marketplace.
Udaan was launched in the year 2016 by Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta, and Amod Malviya with total funding of $285M, and within such a short time span of two years, it entered the unicorn club in the year 2018. It is a B2B (Business to Business) e-commerce platform designed to solve core trade issues for small, medium, and large businesses all across India.
BillDesk was launched in the year 2000 by Ajay Kaushal with a total funding of $257M. It became a unicorn startup in the year 2018. It was launched to solve the frustrations of most of us when it comes to paying bills. It provides an electronic medium to better organize and manage our payments while escaping some of the pitfalls of traditional bill payment services.
Ola Electric is a product by Ola launched in the year 2018 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati with a total funding of $306M. Within a year, it became a unicorn startup in 2019. The project brought together industry and government to pioneer electric vehicles for public and shared mobility.
MakeMyTrip was launched in the year 2010 by Deep Kalra, Keyur Joshi, and Rajesh Magow with a total funding of $548M, and in the same year, it became a unicorn startup which in itself shows the success of this startup. It provides online travel services, including flight tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, and rail and bus tickets.
The Indian startup ecosystem has never been better. Which is the most inspiring company or product, according to you?
Read also – Top 15 Judgments That Changed India
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At ESCO Home Services, we aim to set ourselves apart from other service providers by providing you with the best combination of services and products possible. Aside from sending the most well trained and qualified professionals to your home, we make sure you get to work with a team that takes the time to listen and understand your needs and provides you solutions that substantially satisfies each one.
Whether it's the standard repair of your air conditioning system, or the complete professional installation or custom lighting for your living room, you can expect to get the highest value for what you pay for with ESCO home services. Not only are our solutions customized to fit your exact requirements, most of them are also very energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and long-lasting.
Serving Salt Lake and its surrounding areas for over 35 years, we take a great interest in the community we serve by helping to make it a better place to live and work in, not just for ourselves, but for future generations. That's what makes it important for us at ESCO Home Services to be able to build long-term relationships with our customers, so that you can rely on us to provide the services that you need quickly, while also trusting us to get the job done right the first time.
At ESCO Home Services, our customers always come first. That is why our professionals are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to make sure your service needs are met at any time. We are able to minimize the amount of inconvenience that malfunctioning utilities cause to your home. We provide solutions for today's and tomorrow's needs, and you can always expect us to promptly respond and provide the services you need.
• We pledge to respect your environment.
• We pledge that you come first at all times.
• We pledge to listen and understand your needs.
• We pledge to build long term relationships based on trust and respect.
• We pledge to provide value pricing.
• We pledge to provide the best products and services available.
• We pledge to provide solutions for today's and tomorrow's needs.
• We pledge to fix it right the first time.
• We pledge to respond at your convenience.
• We pledge customer satisfaction each and every time.
• We pledge to be involved with making our community a better place to live, work and raise our children.
• We pledge to give of ourselves at all times.


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Home » RPF Constable A, B, F and Group E Second Round Merit List 2018-2019 Released; Know How to Check Here
RPF Constable A, B, F and Group E Second Round Merit List 2018-2019 Released; Know How to Check Here
by Mahima
Railway Protection Force (RPF) has announced the RPF Constable Result for Group A, B, F and second round of Group E in online mode. The result has been announced on March 13, 2019, at the official website, constable.rpfonlinereg.org. Candidates who have appeared for the Computer Based Test (CBT) which was held from December 20, 2018, to January 25, 2019, can now download the merit list which is available in the pdf format.
Candidates can check the RPF Constable Result for Group A, B, E, and F, by visiting the official website, constable.rpfonlinereg.org. After visiting the website click on the option of "Candidates Shortlisted for PMT, PET, DV". Now, click on the group for which you have taken the CBT exam. Next, the merit list of RPF Constable is going to be displayed on the page. Press Ctrl+F and write roll number or name. If the name gets highlighted in the screen then, the applicant has cleared the CBT exam.
A total of 38933 Candidates have qualified the PET round in Group A, B, F, and Second round of E. The RPF Constable Recruitment is open for 8619 vacancies. Out of which 4402 are for male and 4216 is for female category candidates. The selection of the candidates is done on the basis of three stages CBT, PET / PMT followed by the Document Verification.
The next round which is Physical Efficiency Test (PET) is qualifying in nature and no marks are going to be awarded in this round. But it is mandatory for the candidates to qualify Physical Test as then only they are eligible for the Document Verification.
In PET, candidates have to do perform physical activities like running, long jump and high jump. Male candidates have to run for 1600 meters in 5 min 45 sec, a long jump of 14 ft and high jump till 4 ft. Female candidates have to run for 800 meters, in 3 min 45 sec, a long jump of 9 ft and a high jump of 3 ft.
As per the performance of the candidates' in RPF Constable CBT and PET which is qualifying in nature, eligible candidates are called for the round of document verification. In this round, candidates have to bring the necessary documents original as well as two sets of self-attested photocopies of the documents on the specified date, time and venue. The documents have to be produced only in English or Hindi. In case a certificate is in some other language then one must present the self-attested translated version of the certificates on the document verification day.
Railway Protection Force also known as the RPF was established for the betterment of the passengers who travel using the Indian railways. it was brought into action in the year 1984 by the Ministry of Indian railways. It is basically a security force for the welfare of passengers, passenger's area and railway property. It has the power to arrest and take other actions against criminals. There are various ongoing recruitment conducted by the RPF is for SI, Constable and Constable Ancillary
For more details about RPF Constable, Subscribe to Aglasem News!
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The upcoming vote on the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General became heated on the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Ma., who is opposed to Sessions' nomination, decided to read a letter from the late Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which was written in opposition to Sessions' nomination to a federal judgeship three decades ago.
McConnell stopped Warren over a Senate rule that bars senators from speaking ill of their colleagues. "The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama. I call the senator to order under the provisions of Rule 19," he said.


In October, 2012, Michael Critchley Sr. was ranked #28 in Politicker NJ's 2012 Power List. Politicker NJ describes the Power List as a listing of the 100 most powerful political players in New Jersey. This is the third year in a row that Mr. Critchley has been included on the list. Mr. Critchley was ranked #29 in 2011 and #10 in 2010.


text:
package processing;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;

import messaging.incoming.IncomingWebsocketMessage;
import messaging.outgoing.BaseOutgoingMessage;
import messaging.outgoing.OutgoingIRCChatMessage;
import messaging.outgoing.OutgoingWebsocketCloseMessage;
import messaging.outgoing.OutgoingWebsocketMessage;

public abstract class WebsocketBase {

	private BlockingQueue<BaseOutgoingMessage>	listOut;
	protected ProcBase							parent;
	protected IncomingWebsocketMessage			wsIn;
	protected ArrayList<WebsocketBase>			wscommands	= new ArrayList<WebsocketBase>();

	public abstract void execute();

	public abstract boolean isMatch();

	protected void sendChatReply(String message) {
		listOut.add(new OutgoingIRCChatMessage(message, parent.channel));
	}

	protected void sendWebsocketCloseReply() {
		listOut.add(new OutgoingWebsocketCloseMessage());
	}

	protected void sendWebsocketReply(String message) {
		listOut.add(new OutgoingWebsocketMessage(message));
	}

	public void setParent(ProcBase parent, BlockingQueue<BaseOutgoingMessage> listOut) {
		this.parent = parent;
		this.listOut = listOut;
	}

	public void setWebsocketMessage(IncomingWebsocketMessage wsIn) {
		this.wsIn = wsIn;
	}

	public boolean validate() {
		return isMatch();
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Catholic Philanthropy
U.S. Charitable Giving in 2020
The latest Giving USA report sheds light on America's generosity during the dark days of 2020. What does this mean for Catholic fundraisers?
The year 2020 was a tumultuous year with a global pandemic, economic instability and racial injustice, which significantly increased demands on the nonprofit sector. Americans responded generously to the increased needs, as a recent report announced that 2020 was the highest year of charitable giving on record, with $471.44 billion donated to charities – a 5.1% increase in giving compared to 2019.
Giving USA 2021: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2020 is a publication of the Giving USA Foundation, researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Published since 1956, Giving USA is the longest running, most comprehensive report on philanthropy in America. The report shares data according to four categories of funding sources and nine categories of nonprofits that receive the funds.
Sources of Giving
Giving from individual donors continues to serve as the greatest source of giving, totaling $324.10 billion in 2020. Giving by individuals increased slightly (2.2%) between 2019 and 2020, compared to the 4.7% increase from 2018 to 2019. The percentage of total giving by individuals has grown in four of the last five years.
"In some ways, 2020 is a story of uneven impact and uneven recovery. Many wealthier households were more insulated from the effects of COVID-19 and the ensuing economic shock, and they may have had greater capacity to give charitably than households and communities that were disproportionately affected and struggled financially," said Amir Pasic, Ph.D., the Eugene R. Tempel Dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Giving by bequest was estimated at $41.19 billion in 2020, an increase of 10.3% since 2019 (9% adjusted for inflation). The combined share of total giving from bequests and individual donors amounted to 78% in 2020. This fact serves as a poignant reminder to nonprofits and their stakeholders that the greatest source for charitable giving remains with individuals, rather than from foundations or corporations.
Giving by corporations was estimated at $16.88 billion in 2020, a 6.1% decline since 2019 attributed to declines in the GDP and in corporate pre-tax profits.
Giving by foundations reached its highest-ever dollar amount in 2020 with an estimated $88.55 billion, representing its largest share of total giving on record at 19% of total giving. This was an increase of 17% since 2019, which has followed a trend of growth in nine of the last 10 years.
This data for grantmaking by independent, community, and operating foundations included $2.37 billion for giving to COVID-19 relief and to racial justice initiatives. In addition, 75% of foundations surveyed increased the share of their grant dollars for unrestricted support in 2020, according to the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Beneficiaries of charitable gifts
"Giving in 2020 amid complex and challenging developments serves as a reminder of the unique way Americans respond to local and national opportunities and needs – in the moment," said Ted Grossnickle, chair of The Giving Institute, and senior consultant and founder of Johnson, Grossnickle + Associates. "It's interesting to note that giving to five of nine categories grew by 9% or more."
At 28% of the total contributions, religion continues to top the list of the nonprofit subsectors for receiving the highest percentage of charitable donations. However, the year-over-year growth from 2019 to 2020 was 1%, or flat when adjusted for inflation.
Giving to religious organizations has been declining over time as a share of total giving. In 2001, the sector accounted for 38% of giving, with 49% in 1991, and 58% in 1981. This is the only sector that has realized a steady decline in its share of giving over the past four decades.
The suspension of many in-person religious activities impacted giving to this sector, with online giving providing some stability by accounting for 17.7% of total giving to religious organizations. According to Blackbaud Institute, online giving to religious organizations increased by 26.9% between 2019 and 2020.
Donations to K-12 schools, higher education and libraries increased by 9% from 2019 to account for 15% of the overall charitable contributions. Prior to 2020, giving to this sector has remained steady at 14% of the total since 2001.
A strong end-of-the-year stock market drove growth in giving to education, as well as gifts for COVID-19 relief and racial justice, including MacKenzie Scott's significant gifts to colleges and universities that serve minority populations. Despite those gifts, overall giving to colleges and universities was relatively flat in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Contributions to human service agencies comprised 14% of total giving, an increase of 9.7% from 2019.
Public Society Benefit
Giving to public-society benefit organizations amounted to 10% of all charitable contributions with a total of $48 billion, an increase of 15.7% since 2019.
Contributions to health-related charities decreased by 3% from 2019 to account for 9% of all donations. COVID-related cancellations of many in-person running and walking events impacted the fundraising efforts for this subsector.
"Human services organizations, which include charities that respond to hunger and basic needs, and public-society benefit organizations, which include United Ways and many organizations that focus on community development and civil rights, experienced strong growth," said Josh Birkholz, vice-chair of Giving USA Foundation and CEO of BWF. "Those are the types of charities that might come to mind first when thinking about giving to meet the needs that arose in 2020. However, nearly every category of charitable organization received gifts for COVID-19 relief and racial justice, which indicates the broad scale of the challenges faced in 2020 – as well as the complexity and responsiveness of the nonprofit sector overall."
Considerations for Catholic Nonprofits
The findings of the Giving USA report provide an opportunity for leaders of Catholic nonprofits to reflect on historical trends in order to forecast the future. Three factors that may require further reflection include:
The declining share of giving to religion.
In the 1980's, giving to religious and faith-based organizations held the majority share of total giving, ranging from 58% to 55% in the decade. In 2020, the percentage of gifts to religion has decreased to 29%, while all 8 of the remaining subsectors have experienced steady growth over the same four decades. This data may represent a shift in demographics (declining populations of congregations) but also a shift in giving behaviors. Whereas many charitable functions were historically coordinated through a local parish or diocese, most of today's Catholic ministries run their operations and fundraising independently of Church institutions.
Organizations that continue to operate through direct support from Church institutions are the most at risk, and should consider a more diversified funding strategy. Many Catholic organizations that had continued to rely on fundraising efforts directly tied to weekend collections from the pews were likely provoked to change their fundraising strategy when the pandemic closed churches.
The rise of online giving.
As Individual donors continue to be the top source for charitable giving, organizations should continue to expand their outreach to a diversified donor base. The power and influence of social media and online giving platforms have become a significant fundraising strategy for many organizations, evidenced by the fact that 13% of the charitable gifts in 2020 were given online, according to the Blackbaud Institute's, 2020 Charitable Giving Report: Using 2020 Data to Transform Your Strategy. The report shared that several subsectors experienced significant growth in online giving between 2019 and 2020, including: human services (45.8%); faith-based (26.9%); health (11.7%); higher education (10.4%); public-society benefit (10%); and K-12 education (8.7%). As a percentage of total fundraising, organizations in the faith-based, animal welfare, human services and K-12 education subsectors are all earning over 10% of their total fundraising dollars through online giving.
Smaller organizations realized greater gains with online giving than large organizations, according to the Blackbaud report, though nonprofit organizations of all sizes experienced an increase in online giving in 2020. The largest gain of 24.9% was realized by mid-sized organizations ($1M-$10M in total fundraising) while small organizations (< $1M in total fundraising) experienced a 22.3% increase since 2019.
The increased impact of foundations.
The most notable change among the sources of charitable giving was through foundations, which accounted for a 17% increase in giving between 2019 and 2020. Many dioceses across the country are establishing Catholic community foundations as they recognize the desire for individual donors to support their local church community through grants and donor-advised funds.
A diversified funding strategy should include the acquisition of grants from Catholic foundations. The search tools available through the Catholic Funding Guide can help organizations identify the funders that support the causes and initiatives that align with the organization's mission. Tips and suggestions for ways to build relationships with a Catholic funder and facilitate the grant application process are available through the Catholic Funding Guide's Knowledge Center.
While 2020 will be most likely remembered for its unprecedented challenges, Americans responded to those demands with increased generosity to make 2020 the highest year of charitable giving on record. This was a much-needed ray of light that overcame the darkness with hope and resilience.
Download infographic from Giving USA
The Best Catholic Fundraising Tips & News
Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly emails sharing our latest Knowledge Center articles and more.
Align with resources that align with you
For more than 35 years, the Catholic Funding Guide has connected thousands of Catholic organizations and institutions with funders such as private foundations, church-based grant programs, foundations sponsored by religious communities, and donor advised funds.


text:
ESCAPEMENT by Jay Lake ★★★ | Kara.Reviews
Review of Escapement by Jay Lake
Escapement
by Jay Lake
Reviewed March 7, 2011 .
It's very rare that I wish I had started a series with the second book instead of the first, but that's what I wish about Jay Lake's Clockworth Earth trilogy. I had some serious reservations about Mainspring . Its sequel, Escapement , might be an interesting example of how to avoid the dreaded "middle book syndrome" that afflicts so many trilogies. Categorically superior, Escapement is the maturation of the fantastic premise Lake began in Mainspring , without the insufferable protagonist and his vague, fuzzy quest from God.
Whereas the narrator of Mainspring followed only Hethor, Escapement follows three characters. Two of them were minor characters in the first book: Emily Childress, the librarian who initially aids Hethor; and Angus al-Wazir, chief petty officer about the ill-fated Bassett. The third, our protagonist, is Paolina Barthes, a young woman of Portuguese descent who has spent her entire life in Praia Nova, a settlement along the Wall populated by the descendents of shipwrecked and outcast sailors. Paolina is provincial in the sense that she knows very little about the outside world. When she builds a unique piece of clockwork that allows her to manipulate reality itself, she sets off in search for England and its "wizards." Suffice it say, she's sorely disappointed.
I like Lake's decision to shift to three perspectives. All three characters are much more interesting than Hethor. Paolina at least seems to have a well-developed sense of the moral implications of what she's doing, and she sets out with a very specific goal in mind. This is preferable to Hethor's, "Well, I guess I'll find the Key Perilous. Or maybe I won't" method of operation. I also got a palpable sense of Paolina's frustration with the misogynistic world order embodied by Praia Nova's fidalgos. Despite Hethor's class-based oppression in the first book, I couldn't sympathize with his hardship, probably because of the golden tablets that kept falling from the sky whenever he needed reassurance. Aside from a brief cameo by an angel at the end of the book, Paolina's experiences notably lack a religious dimension.
This is true of Escapement as a whole, and that pleases me. The central conflict is temporal: Childress finds herself the unexpected representative of one secret society, the avebianco or "white birds," sent as ambassador/sacrificial lamb to the alliance between another secret society, the Silent Order, and the Chinese. These two are collaborating to construct a metaphorical bridge over the Wall. Meanwhile, England has dispatched a team to bore a tunnel through the Wall; Al-Wazir is attached as resident Wall expert and general safety officer.
There is a spiritual component to the conflict. Childress opposes the Golden Bridge project because she recognizes that it will destroy the balance between the two halves of the Earth. Such a bridge would allow the two powerful empires in the Northern Earth to spill into the South, which is still a land of untamed magic. Similarly, Paolina is frightened of her newfound power, especially once she sees what is possible when it falls into the hands of the Silent Order. However, the spiritual component is just that: it's a part of something larger. Mainspring , in which the fate of the world literally depended upon Hethor succeeding, failed because Lake concentrated too much on the big picture. He didn't spend enough time establishing details that would make me care about saving this world. Escapement gives us a much broader look at the politics and philosophies present on this clockwork Earth, which makes the story much richer, and thus better.
We only run into problems again toward the end of the story. While Paolina has more specific goals than Hethor, her disappointment and disillusionment with England and the wider world in general strikes a blow to those goals. She wanders somewhat aimlessly afterward, and as a result, the book itself loses its sense of direction. Perhaps it's true that Paolina's confusion is a realistic and natural response to her experiences. That's all well and good. But fiction can't always be realistic, and Escapement does not sustain the level of drama necessary to keep me engaged throughout the final chapters. There are some more airship battles and some magical translocation and character drama as Paolina tries to decide how to deal with her power. Unfortunately, Lake does not synthesize these disparate dramatic elements into a single, unified plot.
I'm in the strange position of having finished Pinion today, prior to writing this review. So I know how the series ends, and I've already started forming my opinion of it overall—but I don't want to spoil my next review! Escapement is definitely better than Mainspring , and in some ways it made me think I judged the latter too harshly, because I don't see much of a difference in the quality of the writing. My subjective tastes aside, I think it also demonstrates how choices in the scope of a plot and the perspective of the narrator can affect the reader's experience. Mainspring had high stakes but was confined to a narrow perspective that I just didn't like, so I had a hard time liking the book. Escapement branches out a bit even as it tamps down the ambition, resulting in a much more balanced read.
On its own, comparisons cast away for now, Escapement has a strong theme about relationship between self and the orderly world, whether that world is the spiritual or the temporal. Paolina rebels against the world order as she perceives it. She rebels against the men in power, and against her own role as a woman. She does so vehemently:
"If I may ask, why do you travel as a girl? Slim as you are, you could wear trousers and pass for a young man. People would devil you much less if you did so."
"I…" It wasn't as if Paolina didn't understand that to be a possibility. "Men are … men. The venom in the voice surprised her. "I don't want to be one, even for a moment."
(Ellipses and the horrible double negative are both Lake's.) Paolina is staunch and uncompromising in her principles. She abhors when her power results in death and refuses to be kill anyone else to save herself. This is something I admire, and it's this type of convicted characterization that makes Paolina a much better protagonist than Hethor (oh, there I go with the comparison again).
Childress and al-Wazir both experience their own small rebellions. The former assumes the identity of a dead Mask, becoming herself as a Mask, which is a very interesting look at the whole idea of the performance of self. The latter uncomfortably assumes a role in a government-sponsored expedition to the Wall. A petty officer at heart, al-Wazir isn't really sure what to do with himself, so it's not surprising when he finds himself helping the Brass man Boaz instead of pursuing his duty to Dr. Ottweil. In both cases, these characters find themselves making choices to deviate from their previous sensibilities about how the world should be. Watching the consequences unfold from there makes Escapement a fair bit entertaining.
While far from even espying perfection on a clear day, Escapement merits praise and a grudging amount of steampunk love (which is like regular love, only coal-fired and administered by a system of pulleys and gears). So here's something I don't often recommend: don't read the first book. Skip to this one. It's better, and on its own it's even good.
More steampunk Reviews
Babcock, K. (2011, Mar 07). [Review of the book Escapement , by Jay Lake]. Kara.Reviews. https://kara.reviews/escapement/ Chicago/Turabian 17
Babcock, Kara. Review of the book Escapement , by Jay Lake. Kara.Reviews, March 07, 2011, accessed February 01, 2023. https://kara.reviews/escapement/ MLA 8
Babcock, Kara. Review of Escapement , by Jay Lake. Kara.Reviews , 07 Mar 2011, kara.reviews/escapement/


Update (12:53 P.M.): While the video footage has been made private, a near-complete transcript of the speech can be found at Yahoo!.
A whole bevy of celebrities turned out last night for the Elle Women in Hollywood celebration in Beverly Hills, including this under-the-radar indie actress named Jennifer Lansing . . . oh, it's Lawrence?—our bad. Yes, our Vanity Fair cover star stopped by to present honoree Elizabeth Banks—her Hunger Games co-star—with an award. Lawrence was her usual charming, free-wheeling self, beginning the speech with a wonderful line reading of the word "money," as well as a solid joke ("[Banks] has had at least one line in every film since 2001.") The highlight of the speech comes toward the end, though, when Lawrence—after having struggled a bit with the teleprompter, and having mocked said struggles—completely turns on the machine, after it "tells her" that "a lot of really smart people" hailed from Banks's hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.


Many well known artistes performed at the Canterbury Music Hall. Among them, and featured here, was Marie Loftus. Born in Glasgow and billed as the "Hibernian Hebe" during her early career, she was to become a most versatile performer. Described on this poster as "the charming serio-comic and burlesque actress", Marie Loftus also specialised in songs with a moral overtone, such as 'To Err Is Human, To Forgive Is Divine', and frequently appeared as 'principal boy' in pantomime.


Goals are golden when it comes to fitness, for a number of reasons. As well as giving you long-term vision and short-term motivation, they encourage focus and help you get the most from your time. They also help to instil a sense of purpose and allow you to measure progress. Without them it's easy to feel like you're floundering.
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"I didn't make it on to the school hockey team last year.
Now I'm playing for the A team."
Half term saw us running three days of performance training for 11-13 year olds. The focus was on combining the fundamental movements and skills that adolescents young people need and use, both in everyday life and also in sport.
You lot just can't get enough strength training! You asked, we listened and have responded to your requests by adding a new class to the HiPerZone portfolio – STRENGTH CIRCUIT starts next Monday at 7.00pm. Think mini circuits, big compound movement, deadlifts, squats, presses, pulls ups and more. This is a whole body blast session that puts you firmly in control of the amount you're lifting, pressing and pushing but, be warned, there's no time to get comfortable in this class. You will be encouraged to increase your load week on week to ensure maximum progress.
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This copy shows the entry on 20-Apr-2019 at 15:14:54.
Cottage, possibly once two. C17 Local stone cut squared and coursed, exposed timber lintols below; concrete double Roman tiles replacing thatch; brick end and intermediate chimney stacks. 2-storeys, 4 irregular bays. Entrance originally in bay 1, now blocked with narrow window, C20 door in possibly old position bay 3, up 2 steps; small pane wood casement windows of 2 and 3-lights, except to the right of bay 1 where an angled bay window of 3-lights, hollow chamfer mullioned window with old centre casement, stands - possibly an insertion or re-use.


text:
Северин Кафера, познат још и као Северин или пантомимичар Северин, био је један од пајаца и пантомимичара са почетка 20. века.

Биографија
Северин је рођен у Ајачију, на Корзици, 1863. године. Радио је у Марсеју и у позориштима у Паризу. Описиван је као творца комплетног језика геста. Умро је 1930. године.

Референце

Пантомимичари
Рођени 1863.
Умрли 1930.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


There are copious amounts of successful social media sites during this web boom of online innovation. However, the graph above reveals the growth and death of the very first successful social media sites since the beginning of the millennium as well as the newer spontaneous growths of social media sites during our time of growth in interactive telecommunication technology. The graph also reveals a pattern of extreme growth in life and quick deaths for the older social network sites that had launched between the years 2000-2003.


text:
In a first-ever move, Taliban allow Govt.-funded road construction in Paktia
By APW Team 21 October 2020 21
The 12-kilometer-long road being built through the meddling of tribal elders and influential figures is a dream come true for the residents.
GHAZNI: For the first time in Afghanistan's recent past, the Taliban insurgents have allowed the construction of a road in southeastern Paktia province while promising to monitor the asphalting project and ensure its security.
On the other hand, rebels active in neighboring Ghazni don't permit such development projects as they even ravage the already-paved roads and built culverts.
The unprecedented move by the Taliban comes as about four years back, their fighters partially destroyed the Ghazni-Paktika highway on the outskirts of the capital of Ghazni province to prevent Afghan security forces from commuting.
Another highway between the two provinces – which is just a case in point – is also blocked by the insurgents for two years.
The Taliban claim the second highway is open for civilian traffic but drivers grumble that they use unpaved routes which increase their travel time from three to six hours.
Notwithstanding the Taliban's notorious role in destructing infrastructure, the group has pledged to provide security for the road construction project, something unexpected of the insurgents.
Interestingly, the road is being built under the auspices of the World Bank and is being implemented by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
Residents see the 12-kilometer-long road in the Kulalgo area of Zurmat district as a dream finally coming true. The construction of the road has been one of their two ambitious dreams – with the second being a long-lasting peace in the country.
Malakyar Baba Construction Company is executing the road construction project that is supposed to complete in the span of one and half a year. Eng. Shakil, director of the company, told reporters that the 10-meters wide lane costing 340 million AFN would connect two areas – Guldadkhel and Gulkhana – of the district.
Local influential Islamic scholars have taken upon themselves to encourage the Taliban for cooperating in the implementation of welfare projects, urging them to let the war-devastated areas be developed.
Maulavi Saifullah Haqmal called upon the Taliban not to create hurdles for welfare schemes and instead help the public in their implementation.
He said that Zurmat district was deprived of development projects over the past 18 years due to conflicts in the area and now was the time for its development and prosperity, asking the Taliban to oversee construction affairs in the region.
Malak Guldad, a tribal elder of the area, said that the construction process of the local road had started and the Taliban were supervising the project. "The insurgents also don't want the funds allocated for the security of the project."
This is while the group usually demands its share in such projects.
Civil society activists say that the Taliban's support for such initiatives has boosted their trust in peace.
Ekramullah Ekram, a civil society activist, expressed his gratitude to local tribal elders and clerics for convincing the Taliban to let the project be executed in the province.
However, he lamented the irony of the Taliban's policy as in neighboring Ghazni province, they destroyed roads and blew up culverts and bridges. Ekram urged tribal elders and clerics to encourage the insurgent group to permit implementation of construction projects in the whole country, particularly in Ghazni province where the Taliban have extensive influence.
Meanwhile, current affairs analysts say that the Taliban's position had generally softened compared to the past and they hoped the group would gradually support and sanction projects in their regions.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed to OrbandNews that they supported the road construction in the district and would provide security during its implementation, adding that members of the group would also oversee the quality of the construction affairs.
This is a rare move from the Taliban insurgents; they have never supported a development project in none of the country's southern provinces.
The rebel group usually imposes duties on projects being implemented in areas under their writ and even prevents developmental affairs, particularly road constructions in regions under their control.
Nevertheless, Mujahid said they always supported projects that benefitted merely the public and were not used for any military purposes.
However, he said that any company that wanted to implement such projects should first coordinate and solicit permission from the group. "This way we figure out and make sure that the sole aim of the construction is only public services and not military."
This comes as among the latest instances of dynamiting roads and plowing them through tractors at the hands of the Taliban was one in Kandahar. An asphalted road and about 20 culverts were destroyed by the insurgents in Kandahar's Arghistan district a few weeks back.
Moreover, last month it was reported that people in Uruzgan's Chinarto were starving because the Taliban had blocked and mined the road connecting the district to the provincial capital.
Afghan youth engages in feeding families amid hunger crisis APW Teams
No Media Activities in Areas Under Taliban Control
Taliban Silence Media by Killing, Capturing Journalists
'Sanction Pakistan' Trends Globally
Taliban Threaten to Capture Major Cities as Conflict Intensifies Countrywide