text:
Celebrities, pro athletes get coronavirus tests…
Celebrities, professional athletes get coronavirus tests without symptoms, raising concerns of inequality
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, file)
FILE- In this March 10, 2020, file photo, Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant watches during the second half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles. Durant is among the four Brooklyn Nets who have tested positive for the new coronavirus. A backlash roiled across social media Wednesday, March 18, as several celebrities and professional athletes revealed that they had been tested for the coronavirus, even when they didn't have a fever or other tell-tale symptoms. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, file)
PUBLISHED: March 19, 2020 at 5:46 a.m. | UPDATED: March 19, 2020 at 5:51 a.m.
By MICHAEL BIESECKER, MICHELLE R. SMITH and TIM REYNOLDS | The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Celebrities, politicians and professional athletes faced a backlash this week as many revealed that they had been tested for the coronavirus, even when they didn't have a fever or other tell-tale symptoms.
That's fueling a perception that the wealthy and famous have been able to jump to the head of the line to get tested while others have been turned away or met with long delays.
The concerns over preferential treatment underscores a fundamental truth about inequalities baked into the American health care system — those with the financial means can often receive a different level of service.
In this March 17, 2020, file photo a health worker displays the packaged nasopharyngeal swab, which goes about two inches into the nasal cavity, used on patients at a drive-through COVID-19 testing station for University of Washington Medicine patients in Seattle. A backlash roiled across social media Wednesday, March 18, as several celebrities and professional athletes revealed that they had been tested for the coronavirus, even when they didn't have a fever or other tell-tale symptoms. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Asked about the issue Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the well-to-do and well-connected shouldn't get priority for coronavirus tests. But the wealthy former reality star conceded that the rich and famous sometimes get perks.
"Perhaps that's been the story of life," Trump said during a briefing at the White House. "That does happen on occasion. And I've noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly."
On Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets professional basketball team announced the entire team was tested last week upon returning from San Francisco after a game against the Golden State Warriors. The team found a private lab to do the work, and on Tuesday announced that four of its players were positive for the virus, including perennial All-Star Kevin Durant.
Even though public health resources were not used, it raised the ire of many including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who turned to Twitter to voice his objections.
"We wish them a speedy recovery," the mayor wrote. "But, with all due respect, an entire NBA team should NOT get tested for COVID-19 while there are critically ill patients waiting to be tested. Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick."
Like Robin Fraser.
The 30-year-old has fibromyalgia and an autoimmune disorder that put her at high risk for complications if she contracts the virus. She's been running a fever and coughing since last week. Her doctor recommended she get tested at the emergency room, but there she was told there weren't enough tests, so she can't get one.
"That's just not fair," said Fraser, who lives in Victor, New York, near Rochester.
Fraser has seen celebrities and politicians getting tests, and that upsets her.
"Why are they getting in front of the line? People like me, average Joes, we get pushed to the back of the line. Why can Congress get it and we can't?" she asked.
Public frustrations over the difficulties getting tested for the new virus have been building since the first U.S. case was confirmed Jan. 20. Early missteps with test kits developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coupled with strict government criteria about who qualified for screening, have led to widespread reports of people struggling to get tested. Even those who manage to get successfully swabbed often report long delays in getting the results back amid lengthy backlogs at government-run labs.
Seeking to break the logjam, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this month it would allow major private diagnostic lab companies to begin rolling out new COVID-19 tests and relaxed regulations typically required before new tests can be brought to market.
Over the last two weeks, that has led to a surge in testing available from private doctors and labs not bound by CDC's criteria for which patients should be prioritized for testing, such as those with fever and difficulty breathing who have recently traveled to affected countries overseas, or those who have had close contact with someone confirmed to have had the virus.
Quest Diagnostics, a major lab testing company, began providing COVID-19 test on March 9. LabCorp, another major national provider, followed suit on March 13.
In a statement, LabCorp said its COVID-19 test is available on the order of any physician or other authorized healthcare provider anywhere in the United States. The company said it expects to be performing more than 10,000 tests per day by the end of this week, ramping up to 20,000 tests per day by the end of this month.
By comparison, the CDC and other public health labs conducted about 30,000 tests in the eight weeks since the pandemic arrived in the U.S., according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
The NBA suspended its season on March 11 after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus just before a game — eventually canceled — with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma's state epidemiologist confirmed last week that the Jazz, their traveling party and a number of Utah beat writers — 58 people in all — were tested after the cancellation of the game in Oklahoma City once it became known that All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus.
League officials have said that since its players have direct contact with each other and often interact very closely with fans, both physicians who work for teams and public health officials were concerned that they could accelerate the spread of the virus. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said that players getting tested — and in some cases, revealing their positive status — may have ultimately "drawn attention to the critical need for young people to follow CDC recommendations."
Hollywood actor Idris Elba said he didn't have any symptoms when he announced his positive test on Monday, prompting questions and criticism on social media about why he got a test when he was not symptomatic.
On Tuesday, Elba explained further in a follow-up video. He said it was because he learned on Friday that a person he was in contact with had tested positive. He said he was on location, about to start a film. It was not clear what country he was in or where he was tested.
"I was around a lot of people. And quite honestly, my job made me test immediately," said Elba, an Englishman best known for his roles on the HBO series "The Wire" and as a detective on the BBC One series "Luther."
"I had to test anyway, because it meant putting a lot of people at risk if I had been exposed, then the people I would be working with would also be exposed. So, we got a test immediately. We were really lucky to take the test very quickly, because of the shortages of tests."
But Elba's work situation isn't unusual. Businesses across the country are shutting down to prevent employees from exposing themselves to the virus at work. Several cities, including New York, San Francisco and Washington, have ordered bars, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and other businesses to close to slow the virus' spread.
Ali Fedotowsky-Manno, former star of ABC's "The Bachelorette," found herself on the defensive after announcing in a post on Instagram Sunday that she had been tested at a clinic in Los Angeles after she said she had shortness of breath and an X-ray that showed white spots on her lungs, and what she said were "all the symptoms of the virus, except for a fever."
She said she went to a clinic called Mend, which she said was "one of the only places that will do the test if you don't have a fever."
Fedotowsky-Manno said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press that she had seen commentary accusing her of special treatment. She denied the accusation, saying she chose the clinic closest to her house, She checked in under her married name and only heard the clinic would give tests to people without a fever from someone else in the waiting room, after she was already there.
"Nobody knew who I was at that urgent care. I went to urgent care like anybody could," she said.
The CEO of Mend did not return emails seeking comment, but the clinic's website says it charges $195 for a home visit to collect swabs for COVID-19 tests, with Quest then billing a patient's insurance to process the samples.
"We would expect physicians to follow CDC clinical criteria," said Wendy Bost, a spokeswoman for Quest. "Our materials about the test are clear on this point."
The company declined to provide a figure for what it charges for its COVID-19 test.
Fedotowsky-Manno on Wednesday was still waiting for her results, five days after getting tested. She said she understands why people are upset over testing.
"I think it's crazy that everybody can't get tested," she said. "It's absolutely absurd."
Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island, and Reynolds from Miami.


text:
Maybe Brett Kavanaugh Can Save Conservative Supreme Court Justices From Their Judicial Activism
0 0 Thursday, July 19, 2018 Edit this post
© Provided by The Daily Caller, Inc. Kavanaugh Getty Images Chip Somodevilla
By Carl Szabo, The Daily Caller
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's consideration for the bench could pull Supreme Court's conservatives back from their recent lurch into judicial activism. Nowhere else was this judicial activism by Conservative judges more apparent than in last month's 5-4 Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair.
[post_ads]This decision exposed countless small businesses to tax collectors from 46 states. In doing so, the court struck down a key Supreme Court precedent that required a business to be physically present in a state before it can be forced to collect tax there.
Unfortunately, the bad news doesn't stop there.
This decision represented the sudden flip by the court's existing conservative judges, whose ruling rejected their usual conservative foundation.
For years, conservatives have been able to fairly defend conservative judges' decisions. Whenever liberals complained about a conservative justice's "political" decision, conservatives could explain the basis in law. We've lauded these conservative justices as protectors of the court — making decisions based on the merits of what is, not what they think it should be.
Unfortunately, conservatives may find their defense of conservative justices weakened by the court's decision in South Dakota v Wayfair, unless Kavanaugh is able to influence Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch to return to their originalist understanding of the constitution.
In their 5-4 ruling, these otherwise conservative judges issued a ruling that creates new tax burdens and reads more like legislative intent than legal basis.
The now-retired quasi-conservative Justice Kennedy's majority opinion cited a changing economic reality, inaction from Congress, and the need for increased tax collection by states as justification for overturning 50 years of court doctrine.
The other conservative justices — Alito, Thomas, Kennedy and Gorsuch — strangely sided with Ginsberg arguing the court's prior decisions were "unfair." They talk about resolving "unfairness," "disadvantages" and "tax shelters" rather than interpreting the law. This is the type of judicial activism from the bench that these typically conservative judges often decry.
Consider this line from the opinion, "Modern e-commerce does not align analytically with a test that relies on the sort of physical presence defined in [1993]." In essence, these conservative justices are suggesting that the core components of the constitution must be reexamined under modern-day interpretations, an assertion you usually hear from liberal justices.
Previously on this very issue, Justices Kennedy and Thomas recognized and respected the importance of protecting prior decisions. But, last week, both threw Supreme Court precedent to the wind in an effort to ameliorate the cries of tax collectors and create new laws rather than interpret existing ones.
Justice Thomas even went so far as to pen his own opinion suggesting an abandoning of Supreme Court precedent, a move that seemed wholly out of character.
To provide context, since 1900 the Court has reversed itself just 13 times. Reversals, like the ones found in this decision are exceptionally rare. Even rarer is when the Supreme Court has twice previously upheld that same precedent.
It is ironic that liberal Justices Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor are the ones opposing this lawmaking from the bench. In a dissent authored by Chief Justice Roberts, these four Justices rightly put the duty of addressing the internet sales tax issue with Congress — the legislative branch — and not the Court.
The dissent argued "there is nothing unfair about requiring companies that avail themselves of the States' benefits to bear an equal share of the burden of tax collection. Fairness dictates quite the opposite result." The majority opinion, including the input of Ginsberg, used the concept of what they considered "fair" to force businesses to collect more taxes. This was a disturbing rejection of originalism by our usually conservative justices, instead they chose to legislate from the bench.
Following the decision in Wayfair we should worry not only for the small businesses and taxpayers now at the whim of out-of-state tax collectors. We should also worry for the future of the Court as otherwise conservative judges seem willing to throw-off their duty to rule on the law and instead rule on political preference.
Hopefully, Judge Kavanaugh will work with existing conservative justices to find ways to limit their judicial activism. If appointed, he could help return Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch to ruling on the Constitution as it is, not as they want it to be. That is why they were placed on the court in the first place.
Carl Szabo is general counsel for NetChoice, a trade association of eCommerce businesses and online consumers. Szabo is also an adjunct professor of privacy law at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
Politics - U.S. Daily News: Maybe Brett Kavanaugh Can Save Conservative Supreme Court Justices From Their Judicial Activism
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dqSptVn3Yro/W1B74VCNjPI/AAAAAAAA0GI/oHhiEIuGhkI-ZSFNs0h2kKM_VhW7a4xhACLcBGAs/s1600/4.jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dqSptVn3Yro/W1B74VCNjPI/AAAAAAAA0GI/oHhiEIuGhkI-ZSFNs0h2kKM_VhW7a4xhACLcBGAs/s72-c/4.jpg
https://politics.dailynews.us.com/2018/07/maybe-brett-kavanaugh-can-save.html

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Broadway panels are made from high-density 6lb per cubic foot fiberglass, offering nearly five times greater absorption than typical low cost foam alternatives. This means that you get more absorption with less panels, while assuring an even absorption curve throughout the frequency range. The London 10 room kit is available in black, beige or grey fabric or in Absolute White paintable finish.
With Primacoustic, take control of your room.
I installed the Primacoustic London 10 kit in grey this week. It has made a significant positive impact to the acoustics of the room where I record in. I highly recommend it and feel it is a good value.


In the present work, our experience with a new methodology for separation and characterization of carbonate, phosphate and chromate anions is discussed. Since 2014 this laboratory experiment has been applied in undergraduate Chemistry courses in University of Lavras, Brazil, has shown to be satisfactory along Qualitative Inorganic or Analytical courses. In order to understand and to discuss the experiment, concepts involving equilibria of precipitation, acidity and basicity, liquid-liquid extraction, as well as the notions of solubility, phases distribution of solutes, and distribution diagram of the species were explored.
En el presente trabajo, se discute nuestra experiencia con una nueva metodología para la separación y caracterización de aniones carbonato, fosfato y cromato. Desde 2014 este experimento de laboratorio se ha aplicado en los cursos de química de pregrado en la Universidad de Lavras, Brasil, se ha demostrado ser satisfactoria a lo largo de cursos cualitativos inorgánicos y analíticos. Para ayudar a los estudiantes a entender y discutir el experimento, se exploraron conceptos que equilibrios de precipitación, ácido-base, extracción líquido-líquido, así como las nociones de solubilidad, distribución entre fases y el diagrama de distribución de especies.
The chemical analysis has its origin in ancient times. The first known chemical reaction used in the analysis was developed by Caius Plinius Secundus (23-79 A.D.) and was used to detect qualitatively the presence of ferrous sulfate in verdigris (platinum) (Hillis, 1945). In the second half of the 17th century, Robert Boyle studied the application of chemical reactions for the identification of several substances also introducing new analytical chemicals. In the beginning of the 20th century, the work of Theodor Behrens and Fritz Feigl concerning microanalysis introduced new technique in the field (Szabadváry, 1966).
As pointed out by Benedetti-Pichler and co-workers, some chemistry teachers already recognized the superiority of qualitative analysis as a teaching instrument (Benedetti-Pichler et. al., 1957). Since the 60's, the main focus of the qualitative analytical chemistry became teaching activities whose goal was spreading out the chemical knowledge and improving the learning process. In addition, the course would comprise instrumental techniques, ion separation and the investigation of the composition of unknown samples. Such procedure should be responsible for encouraging the student's creativity (Alvim e Andrade, 2006; Senise, 1982; Frank, 1957).
Nowadays, the qualitative analysis lab classes, in many Brazilian universities, comprise separation and identification of cations and anions, by means of individual or group tests. The cations are divided into five groups according to their precipitation reactions and the group reagent. Apart from of group V, the cation analysis comprises some procedure sequences which aim to separate the interfering ions and obtain the desired species, which is then confirmed by means of specific tests (Abreu et al., 2006; Vogel, 1979).
On the other hand, despite the existence of proposals for grouping the anions according to their volatility or silver salt reactions, there is a great difficulty in determining the composition of anionic mixtures due to chemical incompatibility or similarity of these species (Vogel, 1979). Thus, the anion analysis is frequently carried out by means individual tests.
The systematic approach previously described for the five cation groups allows a fruitful discussion between teacher and students concerning some Chemistry fundamentals concepts, as equilibria of precipitation, acidity and basicity, and solubility. The same principle cannot be stated for the individual anion study, which favor memorization instead of learning, limiting the development of students' scientific and investigative sense.
A laboratory investigative activity allows developing some cognitive skills as hypotheses formulation, understanding of variables, careful observation and interpretation of results, enabling the development of knowledge necessary for scientist's formation (Raghubir, 1979). In order to conduct an investigative laboratory the teacher must lead the class to work the chemical knowledge based on macroscopic observation, what can be visualized during the experiment; microscopic interpretation such as scientific theories that explain the studied phenomena; and representational expression, the use of scientific language such as chemical reactions, formulas, graphs and models that represents the phenomena observed (Silva, et. al., 2010; Avila and Matos, 2017). In this sense, our research group developed recently a didactic approach concerning the systematic analysis of the chloride (Cl-), bromide (Br-) and iodide (I-) anions (Souza et al., 2015). Our methodology has been satisfactorily applied in Chemistry undergraduate courses at University of Lavras, in Brazil, since 2014.
In the present work, we report a new laboratory investigative experiment for separation and identification of the carbonate (CO32-), phosphate (PO43-) and chromate (CrO42-) anions. We believe that the proposed experiment can improve the study of anions in undergraduate courses through the discussion of essential topics in chemistry what also contribute to students training. In addition, questions to the students were suggested in order to encourage their active participation in the experimental work.
The experiment is conducted with ammonium or potassium carbonate ((NH4)2CO3 or K2CO3), potassium chromate (K2CrO4), tribasic potassium phosphate (K3PO4), barium nitrate (Ba(NO3)2), barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)2), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 30%(v/v)), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), acetic acid (H3CCOOH), hydrochloric acid (HCl) and isoamyl alcohol (C5H11OH). For acidity measurements, we recommend J Prolab pH indicator strips (with 4 colors). For separations, a centrifuge such as the Q-222TM model (Quimis).
Use a pipette to add 0.5 mL of (NH4)2CO3 (1.0 mol L-1), 0.5 mL of K3PO4 (1.0 mol L-1) and 0.3 mL of K2CrO4 (1.0 mol L-1) to a test tube. To the stirred resulting mixture add 0.2 mL of saturated Ba(OH)2. Add 1.9 mL of Ba(NO3)2 (1.0 mol L-1) and use the centrifuge at 3000 RPM for 3 minutes due to the formation of a precipitate. Discard the supernatant into appropriated residue flask. To the precipitate slowly add approximately 5mL of CH3COOH (3.0 mol L-1) until pH 3 and observe the effervescence. Then use the centrifuge for another 3 minutes at 3000 RPM. Keeps the precipitate in its original tube, at this stage, named "tube A". Place the supernatant into another test tube, named "tube B". Into the tube B slowly add NaOH (3.0 mol L-1) until pH 5. At this point, a white solid is formed. Into tube A, add 1.0 mL of HCl (3.0 mol L-1) until full solubilization of the precipitate. The pH will reach 2 after solubilization. At this point, observe the color change. Then add 1.0 mL of C5H11OH to the test tube. This results in a system with two phases. To such system, add the H2O2 3.0% (v/v) and observe the formation of distinct colors: one in the aqueous phase, another in the organic phase and also another in the interface of the resulting system.
At first, the teacher should ask the students about the possibility of qualitative separate carbonate, phosphate, and chromate anions in an aqueous solution. For teaching aims, the incomplete flowchart depicted in Figure 1 is presented and discussed. On the basis of this flowchart, the first point introduced corresponds to the precipitation equilibrium and solubility.
In 1899 Walther Nernst showed that the equilibrium between an ionic solid and its aqueous solution is governed by a solubility-product constant (Ksp). For the overall equilibrium ABs⇌A++B- , the Ksp corresponds to the [A+][ B-] product. Such product determines a limit to the ionic concentration in aqueous media. Above such limit, the ions present in the solution will interact to form the solid salt, the precipitate. (Butler, 1964). When the salts present the same stoichiometry their solubility can be compared by the Kps value. However, for salts of different stoichiometry, it is necessary to calculate molar solubility to determine the species that will precipitate first.
The Ba(NO3)2 was chosen as precipitating reagent because all studied anions herein form insoluble compounds with Ba2+. The addition of this reagent results in the formation white and yellow precipitates. At this point, we suggest addressing the following questions to the students: What the precipitates were formed, in view of the ions present in solution? Would you be able to write the equations that describe the chemical equilibria involved in the formation of these salts?
These equations are showing in 1,2,3. The Table 1 containing the solubility product constant (Ksp) and solid colors (Skoog et al., 1992) should be presented to students and discussed on the basis of the colors of the chromium ions and salt solubility.
At this point, the discussion is focused in the Kps values that can be used to determine the molar solubility (s) of the salts, that corresponds to the number of moles of a substance that can be dissolved per liter of solution before the solid formation. For BaCO3 and BaCrO4 salts, the charges of the ions are the same (2+ and 2-). Therefore, the teacher should argue that s can be obtained by the square root of Kps (see table) what corresponds to 7,1 x 10-5 mol.L-1 and 1,4 x 10-5 mol.L-1 for BaCO3 and BaCrO4, respectively. For the Ba3(PO4)2 the ion charges are different (2+ and 3-) and the molar solubility is then determined by slightly more complicated equation, what can be promptly discussed with the undergraduate students. For such salt, S=1,3×10-29108=6,5×10-7mol.L-1. The teacher should ask the students what salt precipitates first, on the basis of molar solubility data. After some calculations, the role of the smaller s can be discussed.
The simultaneous CO3 2-, PO4 3- e CrO4 2- anion separation was conducted by addition of CH3COOH to the precipitates. This acid was slowly added until pH 3 (the students should measure the pH). Along the acid addition, an effervescence will be observed. Moreover, part of the initial precipitate will dissolve. As expected, a yellow precipitate will remain in the test tube, since the BaCrO4 is insoluble in dilute acetic acid (Vogel, 1979).
At his point, for teaching aims, carbonate and phosphate speciation diagrams (Figure 2 and 3, respectively) should be discussed. These diagrams represent the molar fraction of each species at different pH. The discussion should be focused on which species would be present in the pH of the solution after acetic acid addition (pH 3).
Figure 3 Phosphate speciation diagrams (Gutz, 2018).
According to Figure 2 when acid is added to a salt of carbonate or to a CO3 2- solution this anion tends to react with the H+ of the acid and form protonated species. At pH values smaller than 6, H2CO3 is produced but quickly decomposes to CO2(g) and H2O. Indeed, the diagram shows that CO2 is the unique compound at pH close to 3. Clearly, the acetic acid addition eliminates all CO3 2- anions from the mixture, what is attested by the effervescence. Simultaneously, Ba3(PO4)2 was solubilized and separated from BaCr2O4.
The Ba3(PO4)2 is soluble in acid media what can be understood on the basis of the phosphate diagram (Figure 3). The acid addition also makes the PO4 3-protonation and at pH values near 3, the dihydrogen phosphate (H2PO4 -) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) soluble species coexist. Thus, the students are encouraged to investigate which species are present in each phase of the solution: the gas, aqueous and solid phase. Furthermore, the teacher should request that students whrite the equation for the decomposition of carbonic acid (4) and the equation related to the Ba3(PO4)2 solubilization (5).
According to the proposed experimental procedure, the supernatant containing the H3PO4 and H2PO4 - should be transferred to the test tube B. The BaCr2O4 will remain in the test tube A. Into tube B, the PO4 3- anion characterization is carried out by slow addition of NaOH until pH 5. In such procedure will be observed the formation of a partially soluble white solid. At this point, the teacher should ask some questions related to the speciation diagram for instance, what is the predominant species at pH 5? Once the predominant species is found, what is the composition of the salt formed? Would you be able to write the equation for the PO4 3- characterization reaction? According to Figure 3, the H3PO4 is deprotonated as the pH of the solution increases. At pH values near 5, the predominant ion is the dihydrogen phosphate (H2PO4 -). Thus, the sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2PO4) will be the obtained salt according to equation 6.
In the presence of dilute mineral acids, such as HCl, the BaCrO4 is fully soluble and a yellow solution of chromate (CrO4 2-) becomes orange-red due to conversion these ions in dichromate ions (Cr2O7 2-) (Vogel,1979). For his particular distribution, the discussion should be slightly more rigorous. The diagram for the Cr (VI) species is depicted in Figure 4. Such diagram should be discussed with the students.
When HCl is added in the BaCrO4, the yellow salt will be fully solubilized giving rise to an orange resulting solution, at pH equals to 2. The chromate speciation diagram in Figure 4 allows a rigorous discussion. The teacher should ask at first, about the predominant ion at this pH. According to the Figure 4 this solution contains several species in equilibrium, that can be discussed based on the Equations 7 and 8 (Kalbus, et al. 1991; Vogel, 1979).
According to the diagram in Figure 4, above pH 8, CrO4 2- predominates and below pH 6 HCrO4 - and Cr2O7 2- are the principal species. The predominant color of the solution depends on the particular ion concentration. The orange color identified after the HCl addition is justified by Cr2O7 2- presence in high concentration. According to the literature, the protonation of the chromate ion (Equation 7) and the dimerization of the HCrO4 - acid (Equation 8), are numerically described by the logβ1 and logKD, that corresponds to 6.09 and 1.77, respectively (Gans, 2000). The dimer contains two chromium atoms and therefore, its concentration is half that of the monomer and therefore, the total chromium concentration corresponds to [CrO4 -2] + [HCrO4 -] + (1/2)[Cr2O7 -2]. The students can be encouraged to construct the speciation diagram depicted in Figure 4 through the demonstration that [Cr] = [(β1 x [H+])-1 + 1][HCrO4 -] + (1/2)KD x [HCrO4 -]2; for which [HCrO4 -] can be evaluated bearing in mind that for the experiment [Cr] = 0.23 molL-1. The students may also be stimulated to demonstrate that [CrO4 -2] = [HCrO4 -] x (β1 x [H+])-1 and that [Cr2O7 -2] = KD x [HCrO4 -]2.
At the end of the discussion concerning the Cr VI speciation diagram, the teacher should ask about the initial pH of the solution. At the beginning of the experiment Ba(OH)2 solution was added in order to alkalize the initial solution containing the CO3 2-, PO4 3- and CrO4 2- anions. The students should explain why this procedure is necessary. As previously discussed, such procedure is necessary since in an acid media the high H+ ions concentration leads to CO3 2- decomposition what decreases the CrO4 2- anion concentration due to Cr2O7 2- formation and causes the protonation of the PO4 3- anion, making the formation of the precipitates impossible (Vogel, 1979).
The final steps in the experimental procedure correspond to the addition of an organic compound and peroxide. The system will acquire another liquid phase. The addition of peroxide will result in a two-phase system with three colors. This part of the experiment serves to motivate the undergraduate students to study and discuss another fundamental chemical aspect such as redox and complexation and also liquid-liquid extraction. For teaching aims, the following explanation can be the object of debate.
When amyl alcohol (C5H11OH) is added to the solution containing Cr2O7 -2 ions, the separation of the solution in two layers takes place. This because amyl alcohol and water are partially miscible liquids. The addition of peroxide results in a three colors solution being blue, the apolar layer (amyl alcohol), orange, the polar layer (water) and the green, the interface as illustrated in Figure 5.
At this stage, the Equations (9), (10) and (11) can be discussed by the teacher.
In a general line, Equation (9) accounts for the chromium pentoxide formation (CrO(O2)2·H2O). This complex is formed by one oxo (O2-) and two peroxo ([O2]2-) ligands. The chromium oxidation state still corresponds to VI. The oxidation-reduction equation that accounts the decomposition of CrO(O2)2·H2O is represented by (10). The teacher should discuss the change in the oxidation state of the chromium and the corresponding green color formed in the interface of the test tube. Finally, the Equation (11) accounts for the coordination of the C5H11OH, solvent employed for CrO(O2)2 extraction and stabilization, what results in the establishment of the blue color in the organic phase. This procedure is know as liquid-liquid extration, and is based on the distinct miscibility of a particular compound (Vogel, 1979).
The teacher can discuss that CrO(O2)2·H2O is soluble in water but highly unstable (quickly decomposes making a Cr3+ ion). To avoid this decomposition, an alternative corresponds to extract this complex by changing the water by an oxygenating organic ligand as illustrated in Figure 6 (Rich, 2007; Buchera et al., 2005). The blue color is the result of the complex formed between CrO(O2)2 and C5H11OH as also shown Figure 6.
The polar phase remains orange due to Cr2O7 2- ions.
There are in literature a discussion concerning the reaction of chromium VI species with peroxide at distinct pH. Is important to mention that such reaction is still discussed (Aiyar, et al. 1990; Lianbo and Lay, 1998; Griend, et al., 2002; Buchera et al., 2005) showing that apparently, simple chemistry combinations can become a rich source of inspiration.
At the end of the experiment, the completed flowchart depicted in Figure 7 should be presented and discussed.
The experiment provided is an interesting approach for teaching qualitative chemistry for undergraduate students, highlighting relevant concepts related to precipitation, chemical equilibrium, solubility, and pH influence in the chemical species (speciation diagrams). Furthermore, the applied methodology encourages the developed of the investigative sense of the undergraduate students since promote the macroscopic observation, microscopic interpretation, and representational expression, essential requirements for scientific training.
The authors thank to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Rede Mineira de Química (RQ-MG) supported by Fundação de Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) by financial support. Department of Chemistry of the Federal University of Lavras for support with laboratory and reagentes.


text:
Home / Bulgaria
Category: Bulgaria
Blockchain Platform Believes It Is the 'Golden Ticket' for Saving the Live Events Industry
BitForex., Blockchain, Bulgaria, Crypto News, Cryptocurrency, Evedo, Events, Gigs, IEO, Middlemen, Technology
A blockchain platform is hoping to tackle inflationary prices in event tickets by uniting attendees and organizers through its specially created platform.
A new blockchain-based platform says it has bold plans to transform the events industry — eliminating middlemen to reduce costs for organizers, promoters, entertainers, suppliers and consumers alike.
Evedo argues that the sector's scalability has been dramatically affected by a "lack of innovation" in the way events are organized. A multitude of platforms are often used to bring concerts and conferences to life, causing unnecessary delays and sometimes resulting in costly mistakes. In addition, the startup says the industry is riddled with middlemen who often charge large fees but "do not add value to the process" — occasionally resulting in "fraud and significant losses."
In its white paper, the company illustrates the real-world consequences that fragmentation in this industry can bring. Ticket prices can soar because of secondary black markets, inefficient systems can mean that tickets are duplicated, payments to top talent can be delayed, and organizers can face an uphill struggle as they look for new venues and sponsors.
Three core values
Evedo says that it prides itself on its three core values of "trust, creativity and empathy," and believes that its infrastructure can help those working behind the scenes on major events achieve creative and exciting results, all while reducing the amount of time and effort they spend on realizing their vision.
Its business-to-business (b2b) marketplace aims to connect organizers with the contractors and sponsors who can get their event off the ground — empowering them with the ability to easily compare fees and reputations so they find the perfect partner. Agreements would be bound by smart contracts, paving the way for automated payments whenever key milestones are reached. A "single point of workflow" would also make it easier for organizers to keep track of how their vendors are progressing in real time, meaning there is less to panic about in the stressful run-up to the big day.
Evedo is available here
In explaining how its infrastructure works, Evedo's white paper adds: "The B2B platform is designed as an effective search engine where the event organizer can find all resources, partners and suppliers by listing the detail regarding their planned event. The event organizer can browse and filter by multiple criteria such as dates, type of event, expected number of attendees, specific technical equipment requirements, logistics, hotels, staff needed on site, advertising and media coverage."
Evedo says that it plans to "fine-tune" this search engine further by collaborating closely with early adopters, responding to their feedback and finding innovative solutions by applying its "deep industry knowledge and experience."
The golden ticket to a slick event
The startup's offering is going to be complemented by a business-to-consumer platform that is designed to weed out the problems associated with buying and selling tickets. Evedo says the goal is to end the "money leeching activities of unwanted ticket bots and scalpers" by ensuring that issuers remain in full control of the number of tickets sold.
Evedo says blockchain technology can help verify transactions more effectively, delivering savings for organizers and attendees alike. The platform also believes that venues would also see their profits rise, as lower ticket prices would result in a greater number of events to cater to rising demand.
"Unlike existing platforms that take commissions that cut into event's bottom lines, we are basing our business model on revenue streams such as advertising. This is what makes it possible for us to sell tickets with 0 percent commission," its white paper adds.
The Bulgarian blockchain venture has an ongoing initial exchange offering via BitForex for EVED tokens, a utility token that is used by the platform's infrastructure. So far, the project has raised the soft cap of the token sale and is hoping to raise $2.5 million to further develop its product.
Learn more about Evedo
Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.
Hodler's Digest, March 11–17: Top Stories, Price Movements, Quotes and FUD of the Week
Bitcoin, Bulgaria, CBOE, Crypto News, Ethereum, SEC, tether, United States
In this week's Hodler's Digest, Jay Clayton may not consider ETH to be a security, but the CBOE is over BTC futures contracts for now.
Top Stories This Week
U.S. District Attorney Charges OneCoin Founders With "Billions" in Alleged Fraud
The founders of international cryptocurrency pyramid scheme OneCoin have been charged by a United States district attorney. Both Konstantin Ignatov and his sister Ruja Ignatova were reportedly arrested on March 6 in Los Angeles after being accused of "wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering offenses" after luring investors into putting billions of dollars into the fraudulent OneCoin cryptocurrency. The crypto organization — established in 2014 and based in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria — works as a marketing network in which members receive commissions for attracting potential buyers to buy into the cryptocurrency, with reportedly over 3 million members globally.
U.S. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton Confirms ETH Is Not a Security
Jay Clayton, the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) chairman, has reportedly confirmed that Ethereum (ETH) and cryptocurrencies similar to it do not qualify as securities. Citing a letter written by Clayton in March, nonprofit crypto research organization Coin Center reported that Clayton has agreed that a digital asset's definition as a security is "not static" and can change over time. While Clayton does not mention ETH directly, he states that he agrees that a digital asset transaction may not represent a security if the purchasers no longer expect a group to carry out entrepreneurial efforts.
Cryptocurrency Community Eyes Tether After Website Dilutes USD Backing Claims
Stablecoin Tether (USDT), which has always claimed to be backed 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, drew scrutiny this week from the crypto community when the description of its holdings on its website was subtly changed. A new update to the site, date unknown, now reads that each tether is backed by its reserves, which, "from time to time, may include other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties, which may include affiliated entities." Tether has previously faced criticism due to their lack of an official audit, although bank documents from the entity last fall had seemingly confirmed the validity of Tether's backing claims.
CBOE Will Not List Bitcoin Futures in March, Cites Need to Assess Crypto Derivatives
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will not add a new Bitcoin (BTC) futures market in March, the firm said this week in a statement. According to the CBOE, the entity is re-evaluating its approach to how it handles trading digital assets, noting that it does not intend to currently list additional BTC future contracts for trading. The contracts that are currently listed will expire in June, and CBOE noted that those futures are still available for trading. The CBOE had launched Bitcoin futures in December 2017, a move closely followed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
U.S. State of Colorado Passes Crypto Exemptions Bill Into Law
Jared S. Polis, the governor of the state of Colorado, has signed the "Colorado Digital Token Act" into law this week. The legislation, which had initially been proposed in January and sponsored at the state Senate level by Republican Jack Tate and Democrat Steve Fenberg, allows for limited exceptions for securities registration and traders, including salesperson licensing requirements for those dealing in digital tokens. According to the language of the bill, a digital token is a digital unit that is secured through a decentralized ledger or database, and can be exchanged for goods or services and transferred without an intermediary.
The crypto markets are slightly up at the end of the week, with Bitcoin trading at around $4,031, Ethereum at $140 and Ripple at $.32. Total market cap is around $139 billion.
The top three altcoin gainers of the week are ZenGold, Ormeus Coin and SounDAC. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Freicoin, Indorse Token and MFIT Coin.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
"With anything that's not financial, chances are there is some internet thing that does what you want, that's just centralized. So it's a bit of a harder pitch."
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder
"I think artists in the music industry on average capture about 11 or 12 percent of the value in the industry and those big record companies are sucking up 70 or so percent. We can replace those record companies with smart contracts on the Ethereum platform."
Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys creator
"I think, again, these markets could regulate themselves if we lived in a world where we allowed that."
Hester M. Peirce, commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
"I think Bitcoin is a technology rather than business opportunities."
Justin Sun, CEO of blockchain developer network Tron
"I think this technology has and is already demonstrating pretty significant promise, but it's demonstrating significant promise in the places where it's consistent with our approach to capital raising in the past."
Jay Clayton, U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) chairman
Prediction of the Week
Bitcoin Price Breakout Scheduled for August, Says Fundstrat's Tom Lee
Thomas Lee, the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, said this week that he thinks that a Bitcoin bull run could return in the next six months, even after his December declaration that he would not give out crypto price predictions. Speaking in an interview this week, Lee noted that traders should look out for the 200-day moving average, adding that if Bitcoin can hold above $4,000 and crosses its 200-day moving average in August, "the outside window is five to six months before Bitcoin starts to look technically like it's back in a bull market."
FUD of the Week
Bloomberg: Key Indicators Show Bitcoin Price Could Be Losing Steam
Bloomberg reported this week that key price movement indicators have shown that Bitcoin could be heading toward another downward move. According to the report, the technical gauges that signal long-term purchasing demand for BTC are deteriorating, which means that buying pressure could increase. Bloomberg notes that the main crypto's Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) indicator — which follows the relations between two moving averages of the price of a security — has been moving downward since mid-February. Mati Greenspan, a senior market analyst at eToro, suggested that people are moving away from Bitcoin to altcoins.
Ledger Discloses Five Reported Vulnerabilities in Two Models of Trezor Hardware Wallets
Major hardware wallets manufacturer Ledger released information this week about five vulnerabilities in its direct competitor Trezor's devices. These were found by Ledger's Attack Lab, which hacks into both its own and others' devices in order to find security weaknesses. According to Ledger, both the Trezor One and Trezor T wallets face problems with the possibility to backdoor the devices with malware, as well as using side-channel attacks to guess the PIN value. Trezor has responded, noting that the vulnerabilities are not critical as they cannot be exploited remotely and all require physical access to the device.
Bitcoin Pioneer Jeff Garzik Subpoenaed in $4 Bln Lawsuit Against Craig Wright
A U.S. District Court has subpoenaed Jeff Garzik, a software engineer and Bitcoin pioneer, in relation to the $4 billion lawsuit against Craig Wright — self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto. The suit, filed last February with the family of computer scientist David Kleiman, alleges that Wright stole up to 1.1 million BTC after Kleiman (rumored to be one of the original BTC developers) passed away. After Kleiman's death in 2014, Wright had contacted the estate with the stated intention of helping to dispose the Bitcoin fortune, with Kleiman's family now claiming that Wright did not return the funds.
Best Cointelegraph Features
The Tipping Point: Kroger, Starbucks May Ignite Retail Crypto
In this dedicated analysis, Cointelegraph looks at how big institutions like Kroger and Starbucks, which have shown an interest in cryptocurrencies, have paved the way for hope that crypto could eventually be integrated more seriously into retail payments.
Textbook Case of Crypto Hype: How Iced Tea Company Went Blockchain and Failed Despite a 289 Percent Stock Rise
During the crypto hype in 2017, a former iced tea company decided to change its name to include the word "blockchain," seeing an immense jump in stock price even though the actual company had little to do in the crypto space. Cointelegraph examines what exactly Long Blockchain Corp. is doing after only recently leaving the beverage business.
US District Attorney Charges OneCoin Founders With 'Billions' in Alleged Fraud
Bulgaria, Crypto News, Cryptocurrencies, Fraud, law, New York, scam, USA
А U.S. District Attorney has charged the founders of a crypto pyramid scheme that involved the marketing of a fraudulent digital currency "OneCoin."
A United States District Attorney has charged the founders of an international cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that involved the marketing of an allegedly fraudulent digital currency called "OneCoin." The announcement was published by the U.S. Attorney Office of the Southern District of New York on March 8.
The founders and leaders of OneCoin, Konstantin Ignatov and his sister Ruja Ignatova, were reportedly arrested on March 6, 2019, in Los Angeles. The siblings were accused of "wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering offenses," wherein they allegedly lured investors to contribute "billions of dollars in the fraudulent cryptocurrency."
OneCoin was established in 2014 and is based in the capital city of Bulgaria, Sofia. The project operates as a marketing network through which members receive commissions for attracting other potential investors to buy cryptocurrency packages. OneCoin purportedly has over three million members worldwide.
When Ignatov was asked when OneCoin members could "cash out" their coins at a meeting with investors in Las Vegas, he said "if you are here to cash out, leave this room now, because you don't understand what this project is about." Commenting on the charges, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:
"As alleged, these defendants created a multibillion-dollar 'cryptocurrency' company based completely on lies and deceit. They promised big returns and minimal risk, but, as alleged, this business was a pyramid scheme based on smoke and mirrors more than zeroes and ones. Investors were victimized while the defendants got rich. Our Office has a history of successfully targeting, arresting, and convicting financial fraudsters, and this case is no different."
The investigation reportedly found that between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2016 OneCoin generated 3.353 billion euros ($3.769 billion) in sales revenue and earned "profits" of 2.232 billion euros ($2.509 billion).
New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. stated that "these defendants [the Ignatovs] executed an old-school pyramid scheme on a new-school platform, compromising the integrity of New York's financial system and defrauding investors out of billions."
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a New York-based operator, Randall Crater, of a purported cryptocurrency payment services firm My Big Coin Pay Inc. (My Big Coin) with wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions. The indictment states that Crater conducted four counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions, as well as misappropriated more than $6 million in investor funds for personal use.
UK Financial Watchdog Warns Against Firm Claiming to be Authorized With FCA
Bitcoin Regulation, Bulgaria, Crypto News, Fraud, Government, scam, United Kingdom
U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority has warned the public against illicit Bulgaria-based Next Coin, which claims to be FCA-authorized.
The British financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has issued a warning against illegal crypto-related firm Next Coin Market, according to an official statement released on March 6.
According to the FCA, Bulgaria-based Next Coin falsely claims to be authorized with the U.K. financial authority to offer cryptocurrency-related services to British residents.
The FCA elaborated that Next Coin was sending users a link to a fake website that gives the impression that the firm is officially authorized by the FCA. However, Next Coin is not registered with the authority, the FCA said, claiming that the firm is involved in criminal activity.
The financial regulator has asked the public to report cases associated with false claims of being authorized with the FCA. In case money was transferred, the authority advises the public to report concerns to U.K's national reporting center for fraud and cyber crime, Action Fraud.
The FCA also emphasized that anyone who deals with an unauthorized firm is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and thus cannot complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the official U.K. Parliament's expert in sorting out financial issues.
Recently, Swiss crypto bank Dukascopy warned customers against forex trading company GCG Asia, which fraudulently claimed to represent the bank's authorized firm.
In early February, the FCA reported that losses from common investment scams — including those crypto-related — amounted totally to more than $255 million in 2018.
Chinese Prosecutors Charge Final Suspects In $2.3 Bln OneCoin Investigation
Bitcoin Scams, Bulgaria, China, Crypto News, EU, Germany, Italy, OneCoin, Ponzi Scheme
The last four suspects in a two year case against alleged pyramid scheme OneCoin have been prosecuted in China's Hunan Province, government-supported local news source the Justice Network reports Wednesday, May 23.
The Zhuzhou Country Procuratorate of the Hunan Province examined 106 people, publicly prosecuted 98, and recovered around 1.7 bln yuan (around $266 mln) from over 20 provinces across China in the course of the case. Those prosecuted have received up to 10,000 – 5 mln yuan in fines (about $1,500 – $782,000) as well as four years or less of prison time.
In 2016, Chinese authorities had already seized over $30 mln dollars during their investigation of the alleged pyramid scheme.
The Justice Network reports that OneCoin organization – "Weika Coin" in China – whose server is located in Copenhagen, Denmark, worked by "constantly induc[ing] new investors to realize imaginary high profits" by "deceptively advocating" the coins' worth and "tempting others to invest huge sums of money into its established website."
The pyramid scheme, or MLM organization, reportedly had 27 fund pool accounts, more than 140 member levels of varying costs, and a total of over 2 mln registered users located in China. In total, the funds involved in the scheme are more than 15 bln yuan (around $2.3 bln), according to the Justice Network.
Last fall, Italy imposed a €2.5 mln fine on OneCoin after the Italian Antitrust and Consumer Protection Authority (AGCM) branded the organization a pyramid or ponzi scheme.
More recently, in January of this year representatives of the Bulgarian law enforcement as well as European Union crime fighting units raided OneCoin's office in Bulgaria at the behest of a German prosecutors office. While documents and servers were seized from the offices and 50 witnesses questioned, no arrests were made at the time.
Back in 2015, Cointelegraph warned readers to stay away from OneCoin, referring to it as likely to be a scam.
Crypto Auctions: Where Do Arrested Bitcoins End Up?
Auction, Banned Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bulgaria, Crypto News, Germany, USA
From their early days, cryptocurrencies have been associated by many with black markets and illicit activities. Bitcoin's feature of allowing direct payments to be made from one party to another without the involvement of financial institutions, has been also utilized as a way to avoid institutional controls and settle illegal transactions.
A recent study of University of Technology Sydney (UTS) found that "approximately one-quarter of Bitcoin users and one-half of Bitcoin transactions are associated with illegal activity"
On the other hand, given that there are almost 28.5 mln Bitcoin wallets that hold more than 0.001 BTC and many users own several wallets – with some inactive – the magnitude of this phenomenon is considerably reduced.
Regardless, it is a fact that some illegal activities are done with cryptocurrencies. While it seems quite simple to seize a fiat account or appropriate cash, the nature of cryptocurrencies makes this process much more complicated. Let's analyze some cases where the government authorities seized cryptocurrency assets due to illegal activities and find out where they end up.
International authorities did not try to underestimate the issue. Europol recently recognized that "three to four bln pounds of criminal money in Europe is being laundered through cryptocurrencies".
Europol's Executive Director Rob Wainwright underlined that:
"Proceeds from criminal activity are being converted into Bitcoins, split into smaller amounts and given to people who are seemingly not associated with the criminals but who are acting as 'money mules'. These money mules then convert the Bitcoins back into hard cash before returning it to the criminals".
In this complicated scenario, international prosecutors reacted by performing some important police operations. One of the most widely known operations was carried out in Oct. 2013 with the closure of Silk Road.
Silk Road was a website that operated as an online black market for selling illegal drugs, and used Bitcoin for settling the deals between site users. After two years of investigation, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested the founder and seized over 170,000 Bitcoins, which, at that time, accounted for about 1.5 percent of all the Bitcoins in circulation.
The closure of Silk Road was not the only activity carried out by international authorities to fight against illicit markets around cryptocurrencies. In Nov. 2014, the police of Hesse, Germany, together with Europol and the FBI, operated against illegal online shops Hydra and Silk Road 2.0, which were also engaged in the sale of drugs.
According to law enforcers, these shops were used by approximately 150,000 people, who each month used to buy drugs worth millions of euros using Bitcoins. This operation resulted in the seizure of of 126 Bitcoin from the owners of the websites.
Bulgarian case
But maybe the most impressive operation rolled out by international authorities has been done on May 19, 2017 by the Bulgarian police with the support of the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC). The joint forces stopped an organized criminal group that was recruiting corrupt customs officers in many European countries, with the purpose to infiltrate a virus in the customs' computerized systems and avoid the payment of taxes.
The offenders choose the Bitcoin as a way of investing the money resulted by their activities, considering them rather difficult to be tracked. As a result of the police investigation, an impressive number of 213,519 Bitcoin has been seized.
Cryptocurrency auctions
The seizing of cryptocurrencies has been increasingly the result of international investigations, with examples of this measure taken in many countries including the US, Germany, Bulgaria and UK. National authorities have started thinking about what to do with the seized coins. The US was one the first countries to approach the issue and started organizing auctions selling the appropriated cryptocurrencies.
The United States Marshals Service (USMS), a federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Justice, auctioned different lots of Bitcoins catched by different state authorities. One of the most recent sale has been held on Jan. 11, 2018 where the USMS auctioned a total of 3,813 Bitcoin in three different lots respectively of A) 2,500; B) 500; C) 813.
Given the value of the Bitcoin at approximately 11,500 USD the closing day of the auction (Jan. 19), the result granted an amount of around $44 mln in revenue to the state. Similarly, in Germany, the authority of the state of Hesse hope to gain millions from the sale of the 126 seized Bitcoins.
What about Bulgaria? According to calculations, the value of the 213,000 seized Bitcoins would be enough to pay off one-fifth of Bulgaria's national debt. At present, the proportion would be a little different as the debt of the country is around $16 bln whereas the value of that pot of bitcoins would be around $2 bln.
However today it's not clear whether or not the authorities really possess these coins. The head of Bulgarian Special Prosecutor's Office, Ivan Geshev, recently said that the Prosecutor's Office and the Interior Ministry had not seized Bitcoins.
More auctions to come
The fight against the misuse of funds for financing black markets and illicit activities has to tie up more its activities towards the use of crypto currencies. Given the extreme rapidity through which cryptocurrencies can be moved between wallets, states, and continents, a stronger collaboration between international authorities would also be necessary to conduct special operations.
Seizing and then auctioning cryptocurrencies, in case of a confirmed illicit use, could be both a strong deterrent for criminal users and, in some instances, a good source of income for state revenues.
Uniformity between the various international authorities on the approach regarding the auctioning procedures could be a desirable development, in order to guarantee a fair and transparent process around the redistribution of the cryptocurrency assets. A rigorous process of identification could also guarantee that the participants are not connected to any illicit activities, and to avoid the process to start over again.
Bulgarian Police Raids OneCoin Offices, 'Ponzi Scheme' Servers Shut Down
Bitcoin Scams, Bulgaria, Crypto News, OneCoin, Police, Ponzi Scheme
OneCoin offices were raided and its servers seized in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Jan. 17 and 18, as yet another step in a series of international raids and court cases against the highly-controversial altcoin. Although the servers were shut down, OneCoin currently remains operational.
The raid took place at the request of the prosecutor's office in Bielefeld, Germany, and was carried out by representatives of the Bulgarian law enforcement as well as European Union crime fighting units. OneCoin's founder, Ruja Ignatova, is Bulgarian-born but has German citizenship.
OneCoin, which promotes itself as a "centralized model [that] protects its members' safety and ensures compliance on AML [anti-money laundering]," does not fit the definition of a cryptocurrency, for it is not decentralized, does not run on open-source software, and does not have a public ledger.
The documents and servers were seized from "One Network Services" EOOD, a Bulgarian company serving as a representative and distributor of OneCoin, as well as 14 other companies. 50 witnesses were questioned during the raid, but no arrests have yet been made.
The company is registered officially in the United Arab Emirates as "OneCoin Ltd.," but according to the Bulgarian police report, the company operates through
"Hundreds of affiliated companies on 4 continents […] [which] are being investigated in England, Ireland, Italy, the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and many other countries."
A OneCoin representative faced charges of fraud in Kazakhstan in May 2017, and in India, police had arrested 23 people in connection with OneCoin's pyramid scheme by July 2017.
More recently, in August 2017, the Italian Antitrust and Consumer Protection Authority (AGCM) branded OneCoin a Ponzi scheme and fined them 2.5 mln euros, the first financial fine on the company.
Cointelegraph has previously denounced OneCoin as a Ponzi scheme, warning readers to stay away from the coin.
Bitcoin Bursary in Bulgarian University
Bitcoin, Bitcoin Adoption, Bulgaria, Cointelegraph, Crypto News, Education, Government
Bitcoin's ascension into the mainstream financial world has done wonders for its value, but its spiritual home still resides in the minds of IT aficionados.
Walk into any development studio and you are bound to find IT staff musing over Blockchain, Bitcoin and all things cryptocurrency related.
With that in mind, Varna University of Management in Bulgaria will become one of the first tertiary education institutions to offer bursaries in Bitcoin.
In 2018, ten software engineering students will be awarded scholarships in Bitcoin – to the value of €1000 per semester. The University will also give their candidates the option of taking the scholarship in either euros or Bitcoin.
While the lucky candidates will land themselves a share of the valuable virtual currency, the University is also working on plans to accept Bitcoin as a payment method for tuition fees.
Prospective software engineering students can also look forward to new modules in cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology, as the University looks to pioneer the way forward in education of Blockchain technology.
The launch of their Bitcoin bursaries is a product of the budding community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts at the University. Weekly seminars covering the world of cryptocurrencies led to the idea of Bitcoin bursaries and innovative courses on Blockchain technology.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, VUM digital marketing manager Omer Ilyasli said the student body is at the cutting edge of Blockchain development.
"At our School of Computer Science, we have number of students who are working on Blockchain technology. We have quite a community here and we host seminars from time to time. The decision to offer Bitcoin scholarship came after a "Introduction to Blockchain Technology" seminar."
The launch of the bursary program is just the tip of the iceberg for the ambitious University. Ilyasli insists that the community could become an educational hub for Blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
"We think pioneers in this field will be hugely rewarded, so we want to be pioneers, both individuals, our organization and our country. That is why we also urged Bulgarian government and local authorities in Varna to turn Varna into a hub. We still did not get an answer from the authorities yet."
With the prospect of a scholarship in the world's most valuable cryptocurrency and courses in Blockchain technology, the University hopes to attract some of the brightest young minds around the world.
The Bulgarian university offers full Bachelors and Masters degrees in business, software and hospitality, as well as an MBA programme.
Hopeful students looking to apply for their inaugural Bitcoin scholarships will have to meet normal entrance requirements, according to Ilyasli.
"The selection process will be done by academic commitee and they will select the students considering their interest in the subject and technology, and extra-curricular activities. But, first of all, all candidates should cover minimum entry requirements, such as high school grades and English-proficiency."
Considering the Bulgarian government's recent acquisition of Bitcoin through a criminal syndicate bust, the country could well be looking into developing the niche, but fast-growing industry.
Bulgaria Seizes Enough Bitcoin to Pay Off 1/5 of National Debt
Bitcoin, Bitcoin Price, Bulgaria, Crypto News, National Debt, Regulation
Following an undercover bust of an underground crime network, Bulgaria has seized enough Bitcoin to settle a fifth of its national debt.
According to ZeroHedge, the Bulgarian crime enforcement agency and the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center caught 23 Bulgarian criminals and confiscated a total of 213,519 Bitcoins – roughly valued at $3.5 bln.
The syndicate had hacked Bulgarian customs computers, effectively allowing them to import goods without paying the prescribed duties. With the help of a few corrupt officials the group installed viruses on customs computers in order to allow remote access.
SELC said the group included five Bulgarian customs officials, while others had ties to former Yugoslavian states.
"The organized criminal group consisted of Bulgarian nationals with connections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Romania, and Serbia" said SELC.
The most intriguing part of this story is the incredible value of Bitcoin and what the Bulgarian government plans to do with it. SELC confirmed that when they seized the wallets, Bitcoin was valued at $2354. It's now well past the $16k.
"As well, found in the Bitcoin wallets of the main suspects was a total of 213,519 Bitcoins. As reference, the value of one Bitcoin is over $2354. The offenders choose Bitcoin's way of investing/saving the money because it's rather difficult to be tracked and followed."
According to National Debt Clock, Bulgaria's national debt is in the region of $16 bln – so they could take a big bite out of that if they use their new Bitcoin fortune.
Bulgarian Banks Block Accounts of Crypto Exchanges
Banks, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Exchanges, Bulgaria, Coinbase, Crypto News, Cryptocurrencies, Localbitcoins
Yesterday afternoon several major banks in Bulgaria terminated accounts held by the country's cryptocurrency exchanges. The banks are also blocking transfers to and from international Bitcoin exchanges. The country's affected exchanges have temporarily suspended their services.
Crypto exchanges that offer crypto to fiat transactions very much rely on traditional fiat banking. But the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency means that it is riskier to transact in, given that transactions are difficult to reverse.
This week in Bulgaria major banks decided to do away with this risk by force. The swift move to block accounts held by Bulgarian crypto exchanges was evidently a coordinated decision made by Bulgaria's top banks.
The move was unrelated to any explicit government decision or regulation. Participating banks appear to be trying to mitigate risk by not transacting in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Who exactly is involved?
According to a post from the administrator of the Bulgarian Bitcoin forum, the banks closed the accounts of all companies whose activities are related to the purchase or sale of Bitcoin. In addition to Fibank, affected companies mentioned the United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) as one of the banks blocking accounts.
In a post in the same thread of the Bitcoin forum, the alleged managing director of an affected company, Neven Dilkov, wrote that though the UBB also blocked their accounts, not all banks in the country are taking this harsh stance:
"I spoke with Societe Generale and Piraeus separately [and] both banks do not have a problem with companies working with cryptocurrencies."
Crypt exchanges affected by this week's crackdown include Cix.bg, Crypto.bg, and Cryptobank.bg. According to their site, the latter is still open for trading but is accepting funds only via ePay.
Plus, in addition to Bitcoin, the exchange as has temporarily suspended trading in Ether due to overloads on the network caused by CryptoKitties.
Bulgarians looking to purchase Bitcoin for fiat can still do so via Coinbase and LocalBitcoins.
Separately, Bulgaria and Bitcoin recently made headlines because of a government raid made back in May. With the recent spike in Bitcoin's price, the 200,000 Bitcoins seized in May in a series of raids made by Bulgarian law enforcement are now worth over $3 bln.
This sum is a six-fold increase from the time of the raids when the entire seizure was worth just $500 mln. It remains unclear what the Bulgarian government is planning to do with the seized funds.


text:
Q: std::thread causes program to abort I have the following code snippet:
#include <thread>
int main(){
    std::thread trial([](){ return 2;});
    //trial.join()
    return 0;
}

From this I get the following output:
terminate called without an active exception
[1]    17963 abort (core dumped)  ./a.out

Now, this doesn't happen when I call .join() after I create the thread. As far as I know, .join() waits until the execution of the thread ends. However, it also seems to prevent abort from happening. Could somebody explain what's going on?

A:
Could somebody explain what's going on?

From the documentation of the destructor of std::thread:

If *this has an associated thread (joinable() == true), std::terminate() is called.

In the example, you failed to join the thread, therefore it is joinable when it is destroyed, therefore the process std::terminate() is called. By default std::terminate() calls std::abort.
If you do join, then after the join, the thread will not be joinable. Therefore std::terminate() will not be called upon the destruction.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Why Are So Many Pro Surfers Going Vegan ?
by sam | Apr 12, 2018
Why Are So Many Pro Surfers Going Vegan?
If you're in the know, you might see a lot of our favourite world tour pro surfer posting more pictures of smoothie bowls and hashtagging the words vegan in their Instagram post. You might not really care or even bother what these pro surfers eat, but over the last few years, there has been a real change in the way we eat especially in the surf world. The big Vegan tag isn't only for hipster and animal rights activists who want to jump on the bandwagon of today's what's a hot topic, are a legitimate lifestyle and diet change that is giving these pros the edge in performance and recovery that's backed up by modern science. So, if you were thinking about improving you airs or working on your rail game maybe the fuel that you eat could have the answer.
The King Vegan Kelly Slater
Kelly Slater the 11-time world champ of surfing has always been known for eating pretty healthy, and if you watch any interview with him talking about food by god he knows a lot about health and nutrition. But more recently on Kelly's social media channels, he has been talking about his adoption of a vegan (plant-based diet) in the videos the 11-time world champion said: "I haven't had milk for probably 20 years now." And for good reason for those of you that follow Kelly he talks out about the ethical problems with drinking milk and eating other dairy products and has always been opposed to eating most animal products and prefers getting his protein from things like chia and plants.
John John
Yep the now 2 time back to back world champ is pretty much living of a plant-based diet and if John John has got enough energy to win world championships then I think it's probably good enough for me and you John John said "I've become increasingly aware of food and its effects on the human body. All signs point to the idea that a plant-based diet is far superior to that of high animal-product intake." When you a pro surfer looking for any edge you can get maybe having that extra energy or less inflammation post surf is allowing John to find that extra gear and win competitions.
Alana has been the pin up girl for Ripcul and with her killer surf style and gorgeous looks who wouldn't want to live Alana life. Being aware of her footprint in the world as well as super conscious about her health and the food she eats Alana has been eating this way for years and know with her hubby jack and their baby they will be living the ultimate vegan surfer family Alana said "One of the reasons I am vegan is because I love animals so much and could never even imagine hurting one."
And if you think about it as surfer we tend to think of ourselves and more InTouch with mother nature than most why have the death of another being on your plate just to eat when its not necessary.
One of surfing most iconic and most loved soul surfers Rob Machado is one surfer you probably love for his laid-back approach to surfing and his love of all the fish shapes in surfboards. But one thing you might not know about Rob is that he's been predominantly a plant-based diet for most of his life rob said "I was raised a vegetarian so I was always aware of environmental issues. There wasn't a whole lot of vegetarians around in the 80s—so we were ahead of the curve in that way." Obviously, rob know better than most the massive effect that animal agriculture has on the environment from ocean dead zones from animal waste to dumping of toxic water quality from runoff farms. As a surfer that's hugely affecting your health on a daily basis. And going plant-based means you eat about 90 or so fewer animals a year so 90 lives saved means that you also don't contribute to the system that is destroying the planet.
A post shared by Rob Machado (@rob_machado) on Jul 10, 2017 at 11:25pm PDT
Jack Freestone
jack being from a classic auzy background was raised on meat and a typical diet a lot of surfers might relate to. Since meeting Alana he has seen the light and become fully fledged plant based not only for potential health benefits but for ethical reasons do.
A post shared by Jack Freestone (@jackfreestone) on Jun 2, 2017 at 11:06am PDT
Tia Blanco
If you follow surfing younger scean or the ISA then you might know of a pretty promising surfer called Tia Blanco she won her 2nd gold medal at the (ISA) International Surfing Association world cup and is set to be heading to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were she will compete in the first Olympic surfing event in history. Tia has been vegetarian since birth but made the change to go vegan because of ethical reasons Tia said "I went vegan for the animals. I love them all and I don't want to eat my friends." She's also has an online YouTube channel were she talks all things vegan and also shows you what she's eating day to day. Tia contributes a lot of her success to a vegan diet obviously making it easy to stay lean and health but also helping her to lose the fat, gain muscle and have loads more energy. Is there anything a vegan diet can't do Tia Also said in an interview with teen vogue "I love animals too much to contribute to … suffering," "From an environmental standpoint, animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction." And Tia we are totally with you. As a surfer doing our part to keep the oceans healthy is massive guardians of the sea and to have a huge affect it only requires that I don't eat animal products then I'm all in with you.
Predator Rapid Flex
Heat Seeker
Spud Stick


text:
Silver Screen Sips: Famous Cocktails and Drinks in Movies
Cocktails are the stars of these films.
By Sahara Borja
Everette +
The actors and actresses aren't the only stars in these movies. Some films put cocktails, mixed drinks, and other alcoholic beverages in the spotlight. From The Big Lebowski's White Russian to Silence of the Lamb's Chianti, we're taking a look of some of the famous beverages that have appeared in blockbusters from Hollywood.Love reminiscing? Check out some of our favorite food moments in film.
The Big Lebowski: White Russian
In the late '90s, The Big Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi, became an instant cult classic. "The Dude," Jeff Bridges' character, was defined by his shaggy sweater, long locks, dark sunglasses, and strong preference for White Russians, a velvety cocktail typically made with a coffee liqueur, milk, and vodka. If he wasn't drinking one, he was carrying one, finishing one, or finding ways to make one in other peoples' houses. Sounds easy enough — try one at home! (Shades optional.)
Recipe: White Russian
The Blues Brothers: Orange Whip
"Three Orange Whips!" declares John Candy's character in the famous film The Blues Brothers, right before the major fund-raising scene. Following its film debut, the cocktail — rum and vodka mixed with cream and orange juice — experienced a huge resurgence in popularity. Hey, if the brothers blue think it's cool, we can't argue with that.
Bonfire of the Vanities: Sidecar
A classy drink for a classy film! In the movie, a character who isn't supposed to drink finds himself at a meeting with Bruce Willis' character, Peter Fallow. In the absence of his wife, who would never let him drink, the man orders a Sidecar. The classic cocktail, which contains cognac, orange liqueur (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or another triple sec), and lemon juice, is still very popular today.
Recipe: Fig Sidecar
Bridget Jones's Diary: Chardonnay
Bridget Jones, that lovable, bright, vulnerable character from the popular books and films that share her name, always had a penchant for liquor. At one point in the first film Jones declares triumphantly that she's going to soothe a broken heart with Chaka Khan and...vodka! Jones's later choice is a crisp white wine — a chardonnay — proving she's a lady after all.
Casablanca: French 75
Three parts signature bite, one part sugar, this drink is bittersweet — just like the ending of the classic film. Named for a French field artillery gun used in World War I, this cocktail is all attitude. Think this is your cocktail of choice? "Here's looking at you, kid!"
Recipe: French 75
Casino Royale: Vodka "Vesper" Martini
You might not engage in international espionage in a suit like 007 or have a martini named after you like Casino Royale's leading lady, but you can share in their sophisticated taste by sipping this drink. Go easy, though; the one-two punch of vodka and gin may leave you feeling "shaken, not stirred."
Recipes: Martini Recipes
Cocktail: The Red Eye
Not a lot of things were cooler than Tom Cruise in the '80s, right? In Cocktail, a young Cruise flipped and flung shot glasses and bottles into the air, impressing women right and left. One drink, however, was more practical than flashy. The "Red Eye," a purported hangover cure-all, is a mix of Lager, tomato juice, and egg. If that's not appetizing, you may just want to stick with coffee.
Groundhog Day: Sweet Vermouth on the Rocks with a Twist
You can enjoy vermouth as an apéritif (an alcoholic drink served with a meal to stimulate appetite), mixed in various cocktails, cooked with fish, or as a meat marinade. Unlike Phil Connors, who had to take his the same way every day, you can try all of vermouth's possibilities. Whether you love it like Rita or hate it like Phil, remember to keep track of how many you've had since you (unlike Phil) can't escape tomorrow's headache.
Recipes: Dishes Using Vermouth
Practical Magic: Midnight Margaritas
After several Midnight Margaritas, you might dance around the house like the wonderfully wacky Owens family witches in Practical Magic. All you need for a night of magic (minus the mayhem) is quality tequila, company, and tunes.
Recipes: Twists On the Classic Margarita
Sex and the City: Cosmopolitans
So many drinks were consumed during Sex and the City's run on TV and the big screen. The long-running show charted the four main characters' experiences trying almost every trend in drink, dining, fashion, and men. Yet one constant remained: the cosmos.
Recipes: Cosmopolitans
Silence of the Lambs: Chianti
There are so many quotable lines from the brilliantly frightening Silence of the Lambs, which starred a brave Jodie Foster alongside genius actor Sir Anthony Hopkins. Anyone who has seen the film recalls the line about "fava beans and a nice Chianti." (Cue the chills.)
Some Like it Hot: Manhattan
Sure, men have cross-dressed in newer movies than Some Like it Hot, but those films don't have mobsters, jazz music, and Marilyn Monroe. This heady mixture can only be matched by the film's standout drink, the Manhattan, with its equally stiff combination of sweet vermouth, whiskey, and bitters. Top it off with a maraschino cherry for the ultimate unisex cocktail.
Recipe: Manhattan
Lost in Translation: Suntory Whiskey
What time is it? "Suntory Whiskey time," declares a mildly depressed Bob Harris (played by Bill Murray) in Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation. Harris spends a few hilarious moments doing a commercial spot for "Suntory Whiskey" during his stay at a quirky Japanese hotel. Sullen and sensitive, the gentleman seeks comfort — in the form of whiskey — at the bar while suffering from a bout of insomnia. Luckily, he meets a girl who also suffers from lack of sleep. Cheers!
Recipe: Drinks and Dishes Using Whiskey
Yes, They Mess Up Too!
Juices and Smoothies That Will Keep You Lean and Green
Justin Bieber is Turning 20! Let the Food Face Tributes Begin...
Will the Day Come When Chipotle Won't Serve Guacamole Anymore?
6 Things You Need to Eat for the Healthiest Hair Ever


Is Fox taking a gamble on another Josh Whendon show? It doesn't seem like much of a gamble. While his previous show Fire fly fizzled it has a huge cult following and enough interest to get a movie made. His Buffy franchise, including the Angel Spin off were hits. He's also made a splash writing comics.
DOLLHOUSE is ready to be a hit.
So lets look at the show. Big corporation wipes peoples minds clean and reprograms them, selling services to people with the cash to pay.
A little like Le Femme Nikita in that our heroine is given a way out of trouble, here it's work for the company that wipes the mind , five years service.
Th premise offers a lot of possibilities for stories, that's good. It is also loaded with recognizable TV actors and actresses.
Eliza Dushku (Buffy, Angel) as Echo. Shes our focus, the hero of the story.
Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica) is FBI Agent Paul Ballard tracking down the dollhouse.
Reed Diamond (Homicide) is the securtiy chief.
Also starring are :Olivia Williams ,Fran Kranz, Harry Lennix and others.
The opening episode has Echo being programmed to help recover a girl taken in a kidnapping. No jusitce, just recovery. It wwas a good opener, it shows the characters and helps establish early on who to root for. There is obvously a lot of back story to unfold but it promises to be interesteing. FBI agent tracking the Dollhouse, Someone track Echo, and willing to kill to do it. The People running the Dollhouse seem a bit ambivalent about doiong the right thing, but the handler for Echo , an ex cop seems conflicted.
I liked it and will watch more. I think this will be great on disc so I can watch it all in just a few sittings uninterpted.
I also applaud Fox for running fewer commercials during the show.
Thanks for visiting my blog Jen! I am WAY excited for Dollhouse…if it weren't for Joss whedon, the premise would seem a little corny, but I'm ready to give it a try!! not that I really have time to get hooked on a new show…hmmmm….


Toutes les contributions de Pragmatic Source, que ce soit sous forme d'articles, de présentations ou de code sous licence libre, sont disponibles dans cette section du site et sur notre Référentiel Open Source (Redmine).
All of our contributions (articles, slideshows, Open Source code) are available in this section and on our Open Source Repository (Redmine).
You are fond of GitHub, the decentralized source control management site?
You are a happy user of Redmine as a project management tool?
But at the same time you are facing a difficult choice: putting your Git code repository on GitHub to benefit from its ergonomic web interface and team cooperation capabilities or putting it on Redmine to interface source control management and ticket tracking?
Then this article is for you! It explains how to automatically synchronize your Git repositories between GitHub and Redmine!
server in bare mode and automatically synchronize its contents (one way only, from the remote repository to the local copy).
Lets suppose I use GitHub to store some of my projects but at the same time I want to have a local repository copy at hand in order for Redmine to link source code revisions and tickets together in the « Activity » tab, like in this example.
Redmine can only index a local Git repository, as opposed to Subversion whose repository can be accessed remotely, it is therefore necessary to maintain a local repository on the Redmine server.
remote: Counting objects: 76, done.
Receiving objects: 100% (76/76), 25.33 KiB, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (31/31), done.
But merging does not work with a bare repository. We have to cheat. We're going to use the following commands, that we will launch automatically using the cron task scheduler.
The server's cron version supports advanced functionalities like the /etc/cron.d/ folder.
# One-way synchronization of a local and remote bare Git repository.
# Repeat this line for each repository.
The local repository will automatically be updated every half hour.
git fetch updates the refs/remotes/origin/master reference without touching the HEAD branch.
git reset refs/remotes/origin/master make the HEAD branch point to the same commit as the remote branch.
You must not commit in the local repository or you'll loose all your changes after the automatic synchronization: the local repository is read-only, for Redmine's use only for example.
Thanks to this system your code base can peacefully coexist on both Redmine and GitHub!
fatal: Could not reset index file to revision 'refs/remotes/origin/master'.
Do we need to run that command or git fetch origin will be fine ?
That's strange, maybe something changed in recent git versions?
I am running git version 1.5.6.5 on my server. I'll make some tests and updated the article if I can.
I'm getting the same issue. Any resolution yet?
It looks like it works if you include the "--soft" option.
in "Redmine can only index a local Git repository, in opposition to Subversion", it should probably say "as opposed to", rather than "in opposition".
The process is simpler when using a recent git version (>=1.6.0). There is no more need to reset if you clone the repository with the mirror option.
Then, you just need to fetch on a regular basis.
Copyright © 2006-2009 Pragmatic Source — Mentions légales — Crédits — Contact .