text:
Q: Why is my EJB3,1 timer running on both server instances? We have a @Singleton EJB that is running a timer with a timeout method created by the following annotation:
@Schedule(hour = "*", minute = "*/5", second = "0")
public void processCodes() {

For a long time it would run only on a single instance of the clustered server, but now it insists on running on both instances, which is causing duplicate work.
We added 'persistent', like so:
@Schedule(hour = "*", minute = "*/5", second = "0", persistent = true)
public void processCodes() {

even though that's supposed to be the default.  It still runs on both servers.  Is there some server setting I should check to make sure the cluster is properly created?
Any suggestions on what to try or where to look next would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Peter

A: By default, the EJB container uses a server-specific database to hold persistent timers.  In a clustered (network deployed) environment, you need to configure the EJB container to use a data source that points to a common database.  The easiest way to do this is to configure the EJB timer service to use a custom data source, but you can also configure the EJB timer service to use a custom scheduler with the custom data source.  There is more information in the Configuring a timer service for network deployment topic in the knowledge center.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
static const std::string BlurMeasurerKey = "BlurMeasurerKey";
static const std::string ComparatorKey = "ComparatorKey";
static const std::string CompImgSummatorKey = "CompareImgSummatorKey";
static const std::string CompBrightnessEqualizerKey = "CompBrightnessEqualizerKey";
static const std::string BinarizerKey = "BinarizerKey";
static const std::string PatchFilterKey = "PatchFilterKey";
static const std::string FilterBinarizerKey = "FilterBinarizerKey";
static const std::string PatchClassifierKey = "PatchClassifierKey";
static const std::string PatchFetcherKey = "PatchFetcherKey";
static const std::string ImageExtenderKey = "ImageExtenderKey";

// used to store not generalized classes
struct CConfig
{
    TAccImageSumMethod accImageSumMethod;
};

class CImageSubprocessorHolder {
public:
    static CImageSubprocessorHolder& GetInstance() {static CImageSubprocessorHolder instance; return instance;};
    void Configure(const std::string& path);

    IImageSubprocessor* SubprocessorForKey(const std::string& key) {return _subprocessors[key];} ;

    IBlurMeasurer* BlurMeasurer() {return (IBlurMeasurer*)_subprocessors[BlurMeasurerKey];};
    IImageComparator* ImageComparator() {return (IImageComparator*)_subprocessors[ComparatorKey];};
    IBinarizer* PatchBinarizer() {return (IBinarizer*)_subprocessors[BinarizerKey];};
    IPatchFilter* PatchFilter() {return (IPatchFilter*)_subprocessors[PatchFilterKey];};
    IPatchClassifier* PatchClassifier() {return (IPatchClassifier*)_subprocessors[PatchClassifierKey];}
    IPatchFetcher* PatchFetcher() {return (IPatchFetcher*)_subprocessors[PatchFetcherKey];}
    IImageExtender* ImageExtender() {return (IImageExtender*)_subprocessors[ImageExtenderKey];}

    CConfig GetConfig() const {return _config;};
private:
    CImageSubprocessorHolder();
    ~CImageSubprocessorHolder();
    CImageSubprocessorHolder(CImageSubprocessorHolder const&) = delete;
    void operator=(CImageSubprocessorHolder const&) = delete;

    void Reset();

    std::map<std::string, IImageSubprocessor*> _subprocessors;
    CConfig _config;
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
First the Blade
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part VII "He's on the Lord's Side"
My father has often been kept at arm's length even by those who are sympathetic to his work. His concept of Christian Reconstruction was all-encompassing, and when added to his postmillennialism made for an antithesis so distinct that few have been willing to associate with more than a few of his positions. His reference to "all areas of life and thought" being brought subject to the Word of God meant just that, and the multiplicity of topics he touched on reflect the scope of his understanding of the needed work of the Kingdom. It is easy for most people to read at least something in his writing and say, "I'm not sure I want to go there." This is, I believe, the very reason why many avoid using him—despite points of agreement, everyone can find something in Rushdoony they do not like. His full-orbed view of the faith was reflected in how he viewed his ministry, a pioneering work of exploring a distinctly Biblical approach for others to pursue. Many were leery of following him in such a bold and expansive Kingdom vision and so were standoffish or used him selectively; in many circles, the reaction was outright hostility.
The most prominent Christian periodical of the late twentieth century was Christianity Today, created by Billy Graham and funded by oilman J. Howard Pew. It began in 1956 as a theologically middle-of-the-road publication and reflected that goal. It was always dominated by a pietistic ethic, a view of the altar call as the essence of the gospel, and a repudiation of long-term Christian activity because of its shortsighted eschatology that saw the rapture as imminent and hence history as nearly over. My father had the ear of J. Howard Pew for a time, but the magazine's editorial staff dug in its heels and refused to publish him.
Opposition in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church
My father retained his denominational affiliation with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) after he stepped down from the pastorate of the Santa Cruz church in 1962 and regularly attended the meetings of its Northern California presbytery, where he gave reports of his activities. He chose to remain under that presbytery when he moved to Southern California to start Chalcedon in 1965 in part, he said, because he felt the Southern California presbytery was compromising on the doctrine of six-day creation. It was uncomfortable with his postmillennialism as well, but it was his view of the Sabbath that particularly angered some in the OPC. My father felt it was to be a day of joy and rest, and not a day constrained by artificial rules felt by some to represent its proper "observance." At an OPC family camp in Idyllwild, California, in August 1960 my father gave a series of talks on Genesis 1–11 as well as a single lecture on the Sabbath. He told a joke that poked fun at pietistic Sabbath observance:
The story I told at Idyllwild horrified some of the pastors who were very strict sabbatarians. I told it deliberately. I was making fun of some of their nonsense. I told about the reprobate English lord who was on a diplomatic mission in Scotland in the 18th century, doing some work for the Crown among the Scots who were under the British crown, but still not fully merged with Parliament, and so on. He found it to be a most dreadful experience, because Scotland was very strictly sabbatarian. He didn't know what to do with himself, because he was used to a very loose and immoral Sabbath. So, he took a stroll outside of the hotel, and to his delight found a Scottish prostitute. So, he took her back to his room and was so delighted that while she was getting herself ready, he started to whistle happily. She came storming out with her clothes, putting them back on as rapidly as possible, and said, "I'll not fornicate with a man who whistles on the Sabbath." (Laughter)
KC: And that irritated a few, huh?
RJR: It irritated a few. I use that as an illustration of the absurdity of so many who go to the law of God and set up their own form of it and pay no attention to the spirit.1
In March of 1968 he spoke at another OPC conference. One of the other speakers was Ed Clowney, who had been President of the OPC Westminster Theological Seminary since 1966. My father expressed his view on the new leader of a generation of OPC pastors:
Clowney is clearly a liberal; he regretted the OPC's middle-class white Protestant look; he spoke of the neutrality of the public schools and refused to condemn them.2
My father's emphasis on Christian Reconstruction, Christian education, economics, postmillennialism, theonomy (on which he frequently spoke before the 1973 publication of Institutes of Biblical Law), and other topics struck many in the OPC as diversions for the church rather than areas for it to reclaim for the Kingdom of God. The reaction of one of its pastors in Portland, Oregon, was not out of the norm. My father recalled this a few years later:
In July, 1967, this writer became the target of a demand for investigation as one teaching false doctrines because of a filmstrip text entitled The Moral Foundations of Money. In that text, unbacked paper money was called a form of counterfeiting, and inflation a form of larceny.3
The pastor believed that to call paper money a form of larceny "seems to be an act of open rebellion against the state and contrary to Scripture which admonishes us to be subject to the ordinance of men, for God's sake."4
My father answered this pastor:
You speak of paper money as a form of hidden tax, which is true. But your point with regard to Romans 13 I do not regard as valid. You yourself I have heard criticize certain actions of civil government as morally wrong, or in various ways wrong. Did you impugn Scripture? Elijah called the seizure of Naboth's vineyard theft and murder; was he impugning God's law? The state has a legitimate authority, but not everything it does is thereby legitimate. As Hodge, in another context than Romans 13, says of all authority, "It extends over all departments (of its domain), but is limited in all; first, by the nature of the relation; and secondly, by the higher authority of God." The work of the ministry must be prophetic, i.e., it must speak for God, and it must therefore deny to the state what belongs to God. The state thus has no right, for example, to usurp education of children. This is a responsibility of the covenant, or parents, not the state. The state has no right to violate God's law, "Thou shalt not steal," and paper money is theft, and what you call a "hidden tax" is actually hidden theft. I cannot hold to the immunity of the state from moral judgment.5
The suggestion of the pastor apparently went no further, but the day he received word of the accusation, my father wrote in his work journal: "My days in the OPC are probably numbered …"6 My father had fought internal battles within the PCUSA for years, but he was a pastor then, and he felt it was his duty to do so. His ministry now was largely outside the OPC and he was disinclined to spend his time in internal conflicts defending himself against those who disapproved of his theology.
In 1969 a new charge was brought against my father, principally led by one pastor in the Southern California OPC presbytery. The objection was that my father was, as an OPC minister, conducting Sunday classes outside a church. The next day, my father called the chief complainant (who had not brought the matter to my father). My father noted:
Talked at length with S. who spoke of the church as "the end" of all Christian activity, to which I answered, "Christ is not the church, state, school, family, or anything else on the human order."7
Months later my father was told this pastor had brought up the issue at his church session meeting. My father asked for them to meet with him and a week later they did so with no resolution.8
The accusations against my father centered around the propriety of the classes he held on Sundays; some felt he was keeping people from churches. One long-time Northern California OPC pastor and friend heard that he was "stealing" church members and repeated this accusation. In reality, few of those who attended my father's classes had ever been in the OPC; most were disillusioned Goldwater conservatives my father was trying to instruct in a theological understanding of cultural and political problems. He was trying to turn them from seeing politics as the solution and educating them in the decline of Christian faith. His answer was not the next election cycle, but long-term Christian Reconstruction. On more than a few occasions, he directed people to OPC churches, both in Southern California and Northern California.
After their meeting produced no resolution, the pastor in question brought the matter to the Southern California presbytery. My father asked for a meeting with its visitation committee. He noted the substance of the meeting in his journal:
Committee kindly, but shared S.'s objection to teaching Bible outside church on Lord's Day. I raised the question of the freedom of the word of God, cited Machen. K. said that some felt, including men at Westminster Seminary, that Machen was in the wrong in starting the Independent Board, that a heresy trial would have been the legal step.9
J. Gresham Machen had been the last great conservative Biblical scholar of Princeton. He opposed the modernism that was evident in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) and founded Westminster Theological Seminary in 1929 as a bastion of orthodoxy. When his objections to the modernist control of the foreign missions board were ignored, Machen formed an independent foreign missions board in 1933. This led to Machen's trial by those who believed all such activity had to be under the church's direct authority. The real issue was not the independent mission board's accountability but its existence, which the PCUSA saw as unacceptable. Machen was found guilty and, along with other Presbyterian members of the independent board, was suspended from preaching. This precipitated the founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian denomination as a theologically "orthodox" alternative to the PCUSA. My father's point was that it was independent mission work that had been the very issue which led to the founding of the OPC itself. This repudiation of Machen's stand was obviously seen by my father as a very noteworthy one for an OPC body.
It was not my father's preference to leave the OPC, but it was becoming clear that more was at stake than the issues of jurisdiction being discussed. His application of Reformed theology was unwelcomed by many, hence there are still many in the OPC who are antagonistic to my father nearly half a century after the jurisdictional issue became moot.
The complainants wanted my father to transfer to the Southern California Presbytery and submit to its ministerial oversight. My father had been through several PCUSA battles where theological differences were the real but unmentioned reasons for conflict; his problems with the PCUSA at Trinity being a notable example. After his meeting with the visitation committee he noted:
If I were to transfer to this Presbytery, I would be tried on Sabbath charges, for denying Sabbath laws. My answer: these men deny the Sabbath laws, e.g., re. debt, etc.10
A few weeks later he noted of those who tried to defend him:
The members of … are being given no hearing by Presbytery; they are forbidden to speak to any pastor; the Visitation Committee will not hear them, and their session refuses to admit their complaint. The grief and suffering of those slandered is great, and I am deeply distressed, troubled, and angry at Presbytery's studied dishonesty. It is more important to eliminate me than to preserve a church. L. E. plainly stated that it is desired by some to require me to transfer and then try me on my beliefs re. the Sabbath.11
The Southern California OPC presbytery coalesced in opposition to my father, but since my father was a member of the Northern California presbytery formal charges had to be made to, and dealt with by, that body. On February 2, 1970, that body met in San Francisco. As no formal charge or complaint had been received by them, it ruled no action was necessary.
My father could see the handwriting on the wall. His views on creationism, fiat money, Biblical law, the necessity of Christian education, postmillennialism, and more had made him a lightning rod of controversy in his own denomination. His ministry was now through Chalcedon and his writing. He knew his opponents would regroup and consume his time and energy to impede a work no longer tied to one denomination. With his name cleared and no charges outstanding, my father withdrew from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by letter on March 4, 1970.
The antagonism of some in the OPC remained for years (though it was by no means universal). Three months after his resignation he was in a Southern California OPC Church to lecture on Biblical law. He noted only one church member was present. The next month that man was rejected as an elder. Later that year an OPC pastor in Virginia who talked to my father was asked by one of the Southern California pastors if my father had said anything which could be used as a charge against him. Four years later, as a favor to Greg Bahnsen, my father met with the Southern California pastor who had initiated the accusations against my father. That pastor still accused my father of being "in principle a deceiver, untrustworthy, a liar, etc. Refused to give ground or evidence."12
Theonomy
Not long after he began classes in Los Angeles, my father began a systematic study of Biblical law. He had promised himself he would do so over twenty years earlier while in seminary and "got clobbered" for broaching the subject. The Institutes of Biblical Law was published in 1973 and immediately gained attention, both positive and negative. It revived the discussion of Biblical law to a church that had largely abandoned any doctrine of objective obedience. Though it has never sold in large numbers, it has had a major impact in defining responses to the decline of Christian ethics. It challenged the subjective spirituality of pietistic Christianity as itself to blame for abandoning the declared will of God. The modern theonomy movement traces its origin to the publication of Institutes.
The thesis of the Institutes was that the Ten Commandments were the "judgments," or principles of the law and the "statutes" of the law (sometimes casually dismissed as the "civil laws") were the case laws, that is, specific examples of how the Ten Commandments were to be applied. Prior to the Institutes, even Reformed theologians leaned heavily on a "law verses grace" dismissal of God's law. In doing so, they professed the moral validity of the law, but conceded the possibility of any fixed application. My father saw the giving of the law of God as itself a grace, a revelation that enabled man to obey. His view did not see a disharmony, but a continuity between the old and new covenants, a view that has been characterized as "law and grace." The Institutes was clearly in the Reformed tradition, as it saw justification as God's gracious gift received by faith, the principal issue of the Reformation. My father never presented Biblical law as a means of justification, but of sanctification, man's obedience, and growth in grace.
It is a sad commentary on the modern church that the primary impact of theonomy has been a debate in the church about whether Christians are bound to obey the God in whom they profess faith. One of his positions for which my father was most viciously attacked was that of homosexuality. His view against homosexuality was certainly in the mainstream of Christian thought, but his reference to it as a capital offense in the context of "law" brought opposition from the emerging homosexual rights lobby and distancing by many churchmen. His position was "politically incorrect" long before that term was coined. Some years later he wryly noted that activists (and sometimes liberal churches) acted as if he had authored the condemnation of homosexuality. "I wrote a book on what the Bible says;" he commented once to me in private, "what did they expect me to say?"
The idea of theonomy found both immediate traction and quick repudiation. In December of 1975 Greg Bahnsen preached his last sermon at the Westwood class before going to Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, where the uproar over his theonomic position resulted in his contract not being renewed. In 1977, while on a trip to Oregon, my father's appearances at Willamette University College of Law were cancelled because of his views on homosexuality and "they also charged me with anti-Semitism."13 The latter charge, and that of Holocaust denial, came from an oft-referenced but seldom read section of Institutes in which my father noted the story of a Polish physician sued after WWII over accusations that, as a prisoner of war, he had performed 17,000 barbaric "experiments" on fellow prisoners. The number of crimes was later reduced to 130, and the doctor, in fact, won his case. My father's point was that exaggerations of evil was still false witness. He noted:
This trial brings to focus the basic insensitivity to truth which too extensively characterize this age. The fact that a doctor under any pressure would perform such operations is itself an ugly fact. If only ten were performed, or even one alone, instead of 130 or 17,000, the crime is real and very serious. Why then the gross exaggeration?...
…the result was a desperately twisted mentality which could only appreciate evil as evil on a massive scale.14
Interestingly enough, the title of that essay in Institutes was "The Lying Tongue."
Despite real opposition, my father's ideas were having an impact. Gary North told my father in 1972 that Dr. Gerhart Niemeyer of Notre Dame had described him as "the most dangerous man in America," but by 1978 John Whitehead would tell him that Charles Rice of Notre Dame Law School "said his jurisprudence course was a combination of Rushdoony and Aquinas."15 In 1975 he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Brainerd Theological Seminary; Grove City College conferred the same degree in 1978.He earned a Ph.D. in Education from Valley Christian University in Fresno, California in 1980.16
Without a doubt my father was willing to take unpopular positions if he felt that he was standing in terms of God's truth. Not too many were willing to associate with him too closely. Christianity Today blacklisted him, refusing even to mention his name. In 1975 Terrill L. Elniff wrote an article for that publication on the influence of Puritan thought which contained multiple footnotes to my father's work. Unknown to the author until he saw the article in print, the editors rewrote the piece removing all references to my father. Even indirect quotes went unattributed. More surprisingly, my father noted with a bit of pain that the same thing had happened with someone for whom he had a great deal of respect:
Read Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian Manifesto, Another book using some of my material, with phone calls for citations, with no mention of me; for most writers, I am useful but unmentionable! Not faith but timidity is the march of too many Christians today, including able men like Francis.17
Testimony as an Expert Witness
One of the remarkable elements of my father's writings is that so few of them are dated, and many of them now seem prescient in describing the inevitable consequences of our culture's humanistic, anti-Christian drift. One such tendency he predicted was the inevitability of a repression directed at Christianity by state controls. As early as 1971 he noted a meeting with a group of men in Houston, Texas, regarding the "defense of Christian schools" from legal attacks by states."18 This was a cause near to his heart as Christian education had been the topic of many of his lectures by the mid-1950s, and the subject of both Intellectual Schizophrenia (1961) and The Messianic Character of American Education (1963). While on a trip to Huntsville, Kentucky, in 1975 he was informed that the "minister instrumental in West Virginia textbook protest had gotten his ideas from reading my books."19 In Virginia the following year Attorney David Gibbs, Jr., told Dad that his Messianic Character had sparked resistance to the state educational code teaching of humanism and asked for his assistance as parents feared legal action for placing their children in Christian schools. Two weeks later at a conference at Notre Dame observing the fiftieth anniversary of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, he spoke on "The State as an Establishment of Religion." He noted David Gibbs circulated 200 copies of his talk and that Ed Murphy "not only teaches Biblical law but is now assigning students to prepare briefs on case law from the Bible alone."20
In October he met Gibbs in Cleveland to discuss the case of Lester Roloff in Texas, an independent Baptist evangelist who ran several homes for delinquent children. He was being ordered by the state to bring them under state jurisdiction but was fighting to keep them independent. A week later my father was in Texas to meet Roloff and tour his facilities.21
The prosecution of Christians for various forms of non-compliance with state demands increased after the Democratic victory in the 1976 general election. The means of suppression included zoning, state licensure, accreditation requirements, teacher certification, and many others. Both state and local courts and jurisdictions were involved. The Jimmy Carter administration seemed to bring in a new level of involvement and encouragement from Washington. A year later, after a Christian school conference in Dayton, Ohio, my father wrote:
A very successful trip, moving and disturbing also. The influence of my books is leading pastors and Christian school leaders who have been readers thereof, or influenced second hand, to resist and face prison, a humbling fact.22
By 1978 my father was spending a good deal of his time on religious liberty cases. At first it was in consultation with attorneys and educating various groups to which he spoke about the threat. My father prioritized these cases and never charged any of the defendants for his travel or time. His first testimony as an expert witness appears to have been in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1978 in a case where the state was trying to make the use of its textbooks mandatory in Christian schools. Several months later he was back in that city where the same prosecuting attorneys were then defending the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools by using his testimony in the previous case.23 The previous fall he wrote "Conflict with the State: A Chalcedon Position Paper," which would prove to be his first of 233 such papers he would write over the next twenty-one years.24 Days later he wrote an affidavit for a Tennessee case after which he testified in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.
My father was allowed as an expert witness for several reasons: he had a Master's degree in education, a seminary degree, and had published books on religion, education, and law. He could therefore address issues of religious liberty and education as an educator, a theologian, and a historian. Acceptance by one court facilitated that of the others, and he was being increasingly relied upon for his testimony. On September 19, 1979, he noted in his journal that he had spent most of the day on the phone with persecuted churches. Some years later historian Otto Scott urged my father to write a full account of his part in these cases, but he never seemed to feel his own life or activities were worthy of such attention. His passing references in his work journals are, largely, all that remain to document his effort in the area, though I do not believe this list is all inclusive.
1-17-80: Lincoln, NE: Testified in case charging delinquency for attendance at a Christian school
3-5-80: Providence, RI: Testified in a Christian school case 11:15 A.M.--3:00P.M. with a 3 minute break
1-19-81: Bismarck, ND: Christian school trial
1-19-82: Raleigh, NC: Trial over school nurseries
4-14-82: Lansing, MI: Christian school trial
5-12-82: Pampa, TX: Trial of Baptist Temple
10-28-82: Charles City, IA
11-15-82: Mobile, AL
12-7-82: Oklahoma City, OK: Little Axe case
1-28-83: Grand Island, NE: Testified in trial of Calvary United Pentecostal Church
2-22-83: Bangor, ME: Testified in federal court. R.J.R. saw marked copies of his Position Papers on the prosecution attorney's table.
4-12-83: Macon, GA: Testified in criminal trial of homeschool parents and called the trial "evil" from the witness stand
6-2-83: Lansing, MI: Testified in case of a church child care facility where the judge said he wondered what child care workers would have said in Bethlehem
1-29-85: Jamestown, ND: Testified in criminal case against homeschoolers "Wind storm, drifting snow, 30 below weather, windchill reading 40–80 below, stopped us at Harney, ND."
9-30-85: Oklahoma City, OK: In court for trial of Living Word Academy. "The judge as usual refused to admit religious liberty as an issue."
8-7-86: Chambersburg, PA: Testified in trial of two street preachers. "All kinds of hearsay evidence against them admitted. No local pastors present or ready to support them openly for fear of offending city authorities."
11-4, 5-86: Boston, MA: Testified in Christian school case
1-7-87: Fort Worth, TX: Testified in homeschool case for attorney Shelby Sharpe.
7-21-87: Augusta, ME: testified in homeschool case
2-22-88: Norfolk, VA: Testified in trial of street preachers
4-12-88: Sacramento, CA:. Testified in trial of Redding Baptist Church
When my father was in the courtroom in Grand Island, Nebraska, waiting to testify, an exchange between two women in the courtroom was overheard and later related to Dad. One woman asked the other, "Whose side is he on, ours or theirs?" The other woman later responded, "He's not on our side. He's on the Lord's side."25
Leeper v. Arlington
The 1987 testimony for Shelby Sharpe in Fort Worth, Texas, in the "Leeper Case" was to prove pivotal. The trials had not abated when Ronald Reagan became president in 1981. In fact, in January 1982, my father was one of several Christian leaders at a White House meeting with Presidential Counsel Ed Meese (later Reagan's Attorney General) and "6–8 Justice Dep't. attorneys" over proposed legislation to ostensibly fight racism.
[Attorney William Bentley] Ball presented legal, constitutional arguments against proposed bill to control racism, including ex post facto element; no comment from any. Three central points of discussion:
The public policy doctrine replaces the First Amendment. Tomorrow, federal gov't. can require women priests, pastors, and homosexual ones, as public policy.
Answer: True, it is within the legitimate power of the federal gov't. if it so chooses. This administration will not so choose.
Why the attack on Christian Schools as racist? IRS Commissioner Jerome Kurtz examined 538 schools in "racist" areas and found only one to discriminate; of higher schools, Bob Jones University prohibits interracial dating and marriage among students. (I added, I am now barred from speaking there). Answer: no comment.
Third, why the undue haste to get it out of the Treasury Committee by Feb.1? Why not submission to the Judiciary Committee? Why not the usual time for hearings, etc. No real comment. They said they would "look at" Ball's substitute bill.
Quip by a newsman: Antichrist is going to delay his coming, because Reagan is already here.
Learned that Reagan had tears in his eyes watching Howard Phillips, Richard Viguerie's TV comments. As in California, he expects loyalty while giving none, and he wants to please his critics.26
The attempt to deny religious liberty and replace it with religious toleration in terms defined by the state seemed to be an unstoppable juggernaut. Christians were facing regulations on multiple fronts.
It was certainly a full-fledged attack on homeschooling in Texas in the 1980s. In 1981 the Texas Education Agency (TEA) unilaterally decided that homeschools did not comply with the Texas compulsory attendance laws. About 150 parents had been prosecuted before attorney Shelby Sharpe convinced a number of families to go on the offensive by filing a class action lawsuit against all 1,063 school districts in Texas for violating the rights of homeschoolers.
The legal question centered on whether the seventy year old Texas statute which allowed a "private school" exemption from the compulsory attendance law included homeschools. Sharpe felt it did and that a large percentage of children at the time were, in fact, taught at home. The term homeschool was new, but the practice, he claimed, had a long tradition. When my father flew to Texas, other expert witnesses had preceded him, but none knew Texas history. Sharpe was able to give my father a quick heads-up on what he was missing—a historical view of education in Texas that included home education.
The first effort of many attorneys when examining their opposition's expert witness is to discredit them. In other trials, my father would be asked to verify that he believed in creation and a young earth in opposition to evolution; the point was to make his opinions appear to be far out of the mainstream and hence easily dismissed. The point was to make the expert witness look foolish, as Clarence Darrow had done to William Jennings Bryan in the Scopes trial. On the stand in Fort Worth, the state's attorney began questioning my father about his knowledge of Texas history. His intent was to show the court this Californian did not know Texas history, thereby negating any help he might give attorney Sharpe's legal position. My father very quickly was politely but firmly chiding the state's attorney for asking questions which evidenced his own incorrect understanding of Texas history. The state's position only lost ground from that point as my father pointed out that many children in Texas had always lived in remote areas with bad roads that made travel impossible in winter and that education at home was a common practice with a long history. He simply destroyed the TEA's position that homeschooling was new to Texas. On April 13, 1987, the judge ruled in favor of the parents, a decision which was binding throughout Texas. The state appealed, but the original ruling was upheld in 1991 at the Court of Appeals and in 1994 by the Texas Supreme Court by a 9–0 decision. Shelby Sharpe credited my father's testimony as the decisive factor, though his own shrewd and brilliant legal understanding and strategy in filing a class action suit had plotted the path to victory.27
Though technically only binding in Texas, other states began to pull back from the prosecutions that had, by that time, been going on for nearly two decades. In most jurisdictions, homeschooling was recognized as legal. My father's last testimony was a deposition he gave for Shelby Sharpe in Sacramento, California, in 1998.
My father traveled extensively for many years, sometimes going out of his way to return home for one night's rest in his own bed and Mother's cooking. He traveled four times to both Australia (twice in 1983, 1986, and 1992) and the United Kingdom (1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991). During the 1991 trip to London he and Otto Scott met with Brian Griffiths, chief policy advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, at 10 Downing Street.
Griffiths said he had been reading me for 20 years and demonstrated a close knowledge of my books, said he was my "son" in his faith.28
While lecturing at Dordt College in Iowa in 1987, he was informed by the college president that Cornelius Van Til had died,
…also that on one occasion that Van Til had told him that I alone understood him clearly and interpreted him accurately.29
When he was not traveling, my father was writing constantly. My mother once chided him for doing menial, time-consuming chores, like watering trees with a garden hose, a waste of his valuable time, she said. His response was that such activity gave him time to think and compose his writing in his head. When he sat down at his desk he would then often write several chapters (always in long hand) at a sitting, often without a cross-out or correction. The chapters went into files of books in progress that grew week by week. It was his phenomenal memory (of years of reading and what he composed in his head) that enabled this work output, along with a strong work ethic. Only occasionally did he express frustration, and then it was usually tempered. One 1991 journal entry reads, "Misc. duties, much mail, some frustration, and somedays much joy, including a little today."30 His mind was clear to the end of his life, though he felt it slip. In the last year of his life he was discussing something and could not recall the author of a textbook he had in high school. "Oh, you will have to excuse me," he said, "my mind is slipping."
His mind was better than most to the end, but his body was failing. About 1990 when he was seventy-four, he was diagnosed with type II diabetes and prostate cancer. That year and the next he went to a Las Vegas pain clinic for week long treatments. He was very active until 1995 when, at seventy-nine, he developed a bad case of shingles. He never regained his full strength after that as was apparent at his eightieth birthday celebration in 1996. Mother had lost most of her eyesight to macular degeneration by 1994 and was in the early stages of dementia by 1996. That summer Dad noted his loss of vitality:
I am losing weight and growing weaker, cancer is taking its toll.31
Yet his summary of 1996 work output recorded 153 speaking engagements, 46 articles for Chalcedon, 186 chapters for seven books, and 223 books read in full.32 A few days later he wrote:
My energy is abating daily…33
Yet he would also write:
When I come to my library, I revive and feel as though I shall live to be a hundred. At other times, I seem near to death. Writing is a joy.34
My circulation is poor, and my feet are usually cold to numb, but, when I am at my desk writing, my circulation improves, and my feet are warm.35
In 1998 and again in 1999 he had cataract surgery. The immediate results were excellent, but did not last because of his diabetes. In 1998 he began to preach seated. His last speaking trip other than by car was to Tampa, Florida, in 1998, and I accompanied him. That year I stepped down as a full-time teacher at Chalcedon Christian School and, at his insistence, was made President of Chalcedon. By that fall I was spending several hours a day caring for him and mother, with a great deal of help from my wife Darlene. By August his journal entries became irregular and he was too weak to make the trip down steps to his library. Writing became difficult because his low blood pressure caused dizziness which interrupted his ability to construct his essays and sermons mentally and then put them to paper. At his last eye appointment in 2000 he could not distinguish the large "E" at the top of the eye chart in one eye. His PSA ballooned to 700. His last speaking engagement beyond Vallecito was that fall at Sacramento Covenant Reformed Church's annual conference. His last journal entry was on November 29, 2000.
When I suggested he was pushing himself too hard to preach on Sundays, he replied with a level of real agitation that if he could not preach there was no reason to go on. His sermons were now extemporaneous, as he could not read his own notes. The Sunday before he died he apologized for not being able to preach. That evening he told me he would not last much longer and asked me to call my sisters. All were able to arrive before he passed away in his easy chair that Thursday, February 8, 2001, at the age of 84. He was buried in his hometown of Kingsburg, California. Mother passed away in 2003.
R. J. Rushdoony work journal, entry of August 14, 1960 and transcript of oral interview by Janet Larson, Kevin Craig, David Chilton, et al. recorded December 17, 1979 and January 20, 1980.
R. J. Rushdoony work journal, entry of March 16, 1968.
R. J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. I (The Craig Press) 1973, p. 539.
ibid., As quoted by R. J. Rushdoony, p. 539.
R. J. Rushdoony work journal, entry of July 15, 1967.
ibid., entry of April 30, 1969.
ibid., entries of September 17 and 24, 1969.
ibid., entry of October 13, 1969.
ibid., entry of November 23, 1969.
ibid., entries of June 15, July 20, October 5, 1970 and February 15, 19Later, beginning in 1977 my father was a member of the Anglican Churches of America for several years.
ibid., entry of November 8, 1977.
R. J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law, pp. 587–588.
R. J. Rushdoony work journal, entries of February 20, 1972 and April 12, 1978.
Valley Christian University conferred this degree for my father's work that was published as The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum (1981). Valley Christian was thereafter forced to shut down because it had no authorization by the state of California to confer degrees, a requirement it was unable to successfully challenge.
R. J. Rushdoony work journal, entry of December 1, 1981.
ibid., entry of May 1, 1971.
ibid., entry of March 26, 1975.
ibid., entries of April 7 and 23, 19Pierce v. Society of Sisters was a 1925 Supreme Court decision which struck down an Oregon law requiring that all grammar school children attend public schools.
ibid., entries of October 13 and 20, 1976.
ibid., entries of June 14, 1978 and January 22, 1979.
ibid., entry of October 9, 19A three-volume anthology of these Position Papers, entitled An Informed Faith is scheduled for release in 2017.
ibid., entries of January 27 and 28, 1983 and February 4, 1983.
ibid., entry of January 26, 1982.
For a discussion on this trial, see the "Law and Liberty Podcast – J. Shelby Sharpe Remembers Rush" at www.chalcedon.edu
R. J. Rushdoony work journal, entry of November 12, 1987.
ibid., entries of April 20, 21, and 23, 1987.
ibid., entry of September 13, 1991.
ibid., entry of June 10, 1996.
ibid., entry of December 31, 1996.
ibid., entry of February 18, 1997.
Topics: Biblical Law, Biography, Christian Reconstruction, Church, The, Dominion, R. J. Rushdoony, Culture , Economics, Education, Eschatology, Reformed Thought
Mark R. Rushdoony
Mark R. Rushdoony graduated from Los Angeles Baptist College (now The Master's College) with a B.A. in history in 1975 and was ordained to the ministry in 1995.
He taught junior and senior high classes in history, Bible, civics and economics at a Christian school in Virginia for three years before joining the staff of Chalcedon in 1978. He was the Director of Chalcedon Christian School for 14 years while teaching full time. He also helped tutor all of his children through high school.
In 1998 he became the President of Chalcedon and Ross House Books, and, more recently another publishing arm, Storehouse Press. Chalcedon and its subsidiaries publish many titles plus CDs, mp3s, and an extensive online archive at www.chalcedon.edu.
He has written scores of articles for Chalcedon's publications, both the Chalcedon Report and Faith for all of Life. He was a contributing author to The Great Christian Revolution (1991). He has spoken at numerous conferences and churches in the U.S. and abroad.
Mark Rushdoony lives in Vallecito, California, his home of 40 years with his wife of 42 years and his youngest son. He has three married children and nine grandchildren.
→ More by Mark R. Rushdoony
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part 1 "I Am Armenian"
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part II "You Are Going to Be a Writer"
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part III "My Days on the Reservation"
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part IV The "Painful Years"
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part V "An Opportunity... Thanks Be to God!" By Mark R. Rushdoony
Rousas John Rushdoony: A Brief History, Part VI "The Lord Will Perfect That Which Concerneth Me"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package org.nexu.outdoors.web.dao.model;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
import org.jongo.marshall.jackson.oid.Id;
import org.nexu.outdoors.web.dao.util.MongoModel;
import org.springframework.security.core.GrantedAuthority;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.UserDetails;

import java.io.File;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.List;

@MongoModel("user")
public class CUser implements UserDetails {

    public enum Authorities implements GrantedAuthority {
        ROLE_ADMIN,
        ROLE_USER;

        public String getAuthority() {
            return this.name();
        }

        public static Collection<GrantedAuthority> fromStr(Collection<String> args) {
            Collection<GrantedAuthority> resCollection = Lists.newArrayList();
            for(String value : args) {
                resCollection.add(Authorities.valueOf(value));
           }
            return resCollection;
        }
    }

    private static final String ID = "_id";
    private static final String EMAIL = "email";
    private static final String CREATION_DATE = "creation_date";
    private static final String ACTIVE = "active";
    private static final String LOCKED = "locked";
    private static final String PASSWORD = "password";
    private static final String PICTURE = "picture";
    private static final String ACTIVITIES = "activities";
    private static final String AUTHORITIES = "authorities";

    @Id
    private final String username;
    private final String email;
    private final Date createdAccount;
    private final boolean active;
    private final boolean locked;
    private final String password;

    private final File picture;

    private final List<String> activities;
    private final Collection<String> authorities;

    @JsonCreator
    public CUser(@JsonProperty(ID) String username, @JsonProperty(EMAIL) String email, @JsonProperty(CREATION_DATE) Date createdAccount,
                 @JsonProperty(ACTIVE) boolean active, @JsonProperty(LOCKED) boolean locked, @JsonProperty(PASSWORD) String password, @JsonProperty(PICTURE) File picture,
                 @JsonProperty(ACTIVITIES) List<String> activities, @JsonProperty(AUTHORITIES) Collection<String> authorities) {
        this.username = username;
        this.email = email;
        this.createdAccount = createdAccount;
        this.active = active;
        this.locked = locked;
        this.password = password;
        this.picture = picture;
        this.activities = activities;
        this.authorities = authorities;
    }

    @JsonProperty(ID)
    public String getUsername() {
        return username;
    }

    @JsonProperty(EMAIL)
    public String getEmail() {
        return email;
    }

    @JsonProperty(CREATION_DATE)
    public Date getCreatedAccount() {
        return createdAccount;
    }

    @JsonProperty(ACTIVE)
    public boolean isActive() {
        return active;
    }

    @JsonProperty(LOCKED)
    public boolean isLocked() {
        return locked;
    }

    @Override
    public Collection<GrantedAuthority> getAuthorities() {
        return Authorities.fromStr(getStrAuthorities());
    }

    @JsonProperty(AUTHORITIES)
    public Collection<String> getStrAuthorities() {
        return authorities;
    }

    @Override
    @JsonProperty(PASSWORD)
    public String getPassword() {
        return password;
    }

    @JsonProperty(PICTURE)
    public File getPicture() {
        return picture;
    }

    @JsonProperty(ACTIVITIES)
    public List<String> getActivities() {
        return activities;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isAccountNonExpired() {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isAccountNonLocked() {
        return !locked;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isCredentialsNonExpired() {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isEnabled() {
        return active;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "CUser{" +
                "username='" + username + '\'' +
                ", email='" + email + '\'' +
                ", createdAccount=" + createdAccount +
                ", active=" + active +
                ", locked=" + locked +
                ", password='" + password + '\'' +
                ", picture=" + picture +
                ", activities=" + activities +
                ", authorities=" + authorities +
                '}';
    }
}


text:
Q: Setting default system-wide environment for Python My company releases part of its product as Python scripts running on an embedded Linux-based system. For our production release, I want to set the environment variable PYTHONOPTIMIZE="1" so that all Python scripts will be run as if the "-OO" switch were specified.
However, the scripts will be running by a user who isn't logged in (for example, some are invoked via the web server and others are started via systemd) so I can't simply set PYTHONOPTIMIZE in, e.g., /etc/profiles.
One solution might be to modify the shebang in each Python script to include the "-OO" switch but this seems a little involved. Is there an obvious way to make Python execute all Python scripts using a default environment that I missed?


text:
# frozen_string_literal: true

if ENV["COVERAGE"]
  require "simplecov"
  SimpleCov.start

  top_location = File.expand_path("../../", __FILE__)
  # track all ruby files under lib
  SimpleCov.track_files("#{top_location}/lib/**/*.rb")

  # use coveralls for on-line code coverage reporting at Travis CI
  if ENV["TRAVIS"]
    require "coveralls"
    SimpleCov.formatter = SimpleCov::Formatter::MultiFormatter.new [
      SimpleCov::Formatter::HTMLFormatter,
      Coveralls::SimpleCov::Formatter
    ]
  end
end

$LOAD_PATH.unshift File.expand_path("../../lib", __FILE__)
require "zombie_killer"

def cleanup(s)
  s.split("\n").reject { |l| l =~ /^\s*$/ }.first =~ /^(\s*)/
  s.gsub(Regexp.new("^#{Regexp.last_match(1)}"), "")[0..-2]
end


Willy+Ale were responsible for directing the first institutional campaign of Grupo Boticário for television. Diego Stavitzki was the Set Producer of this Commercial.
The film "Encontro", that took a two-day shooting in Curitiba, shows in rewind the process of manufacturing of products until they reach the final consumer.
The commercial will be aired in cable and broadcast TV channels and alternative media until the end of 2014, in 60" and 30" versions.


Wow Food Belgium VZW – Waste or wasted?
Wow Food Belgium is a cooking collective who focuses on reducing food waste at a local level. We rent our services to organizations who organize informative weekends, multiple day gatherings or in-house trainings.
Using food surplus is part of a larger picture of giving a positive, creative way of making our world more sustainable. Wow Food Belgium believes in an holistic approach to tackle food waste. Therefore we strive to work together with other organizations and individuals who believe we need to change our habits in order to have a future.
An important part of our mission is to inform people, not only making them aware that there is a problem, but also providing some solutions. Our organization wants to encourage people to reduce food waste in whatever way is meaningful for them.
Wow Food Belgium is aware the impact of CO² has on the global system. Therefore we have a 3 step approach for acquiring the ingredients for our meals.
We have a network of suppliers and locations where we can buy the food that otherwise would go to waste. In case the food surplus cannot cover all our needs for ingredients we look for local alternatives (farmers, local products) first and otherwise buy organic products.
We cook together with your volunteers and give them tips and tricks about how to reduce food waste.
We provide a team to cook for you and provide all the ingredients to cook with for the event.
We provide a team to cook for you, provide all the ingredients to cook with for the event and give a workshop during the event.


Fargo DTC1250e - Double-sided Printer with ISO Magnetic Stripe Encoding, Base Model, USB interface, includes HID Prox, iCLASS, MIFARE/DESFire, and Contact Smart Card Encoder (Omnikey Cardman 5121 and 5125), Three Year Printer Warranty. This part is also known as 050116.
Designed for small-to-medium businesses, the DTC1250e provides maximum efficiency in a sleek, user-friendly design. This printer is virtually maintenance free and prints full-color, plastic ID and technology cards on a budget.
Full Color (YMCKO) Half Panel Refill Ribbon with Cleaning Roller, 350 images on environmentally-friendly ribbon choice. The ribbon is used to print in a variety of colors: yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). The remaining overlay (O) provides an extra layer of protection for the card. This ribbon is used to print text and full color images on one or both sides of the card. Compatible with C50 and DTC1250e. This part is also known as 045029.
The Fargo 50116 is also known as Fargo Electronics	50116	.


As a(n amateur) pianist and a lover of music, I am pleased to introduce you to today's Throwback Thursday book. I think that those interested in art, history, or mechanics will find this an enjoyable read as well.
I think most everyone would agree that a musician playing a piano is an artist. They use their hands to coax beautiful, haunting melodies from that large instrument. Some have composed their own music, while others play what has been written for them to enjoy. 88 keys. Strings and hammers.
But a Steinway. A Steinway piano is a work of art in itself. I think many people don't realize this. Steinway continues to make it's pianos as it has traditionally done for over one hundred years. That is to say, the majority of the process is done by hand. The craftsmen of a Steinway are artists in their own right. Each piano is made in the same traditional way, with the same materials, and yet every piano ends up with a character of it's own.
An auto factory can make several hundred cars in an eight-hour shift. Steinway, which takes nearly a year to finish one piano, can ship ten a day.
Piano follows the creation of Steinway No. K0862 from it's humble beginnings as lumber, to it's finished beauty as a concert grand. The author blends Steinway company history and piano history into the narrative as we follow K0862 through it's creation. We learn about the different workers throughout the factory and their individual contributions that go in to making K0862.
For me, this book was such an interesting read. I've always known how special pianos were, but I had no idea what really was involved in the creation of one. And the history was fascinating.
Piano is truly a love story to the Steinway piano, and the craftsman who create it.
That's the fun part, you don't really need to understand music. It was a great history on the instrument and the company. And each piano truly is a work of art.
I think that when taking lessons the teacher can make all the difference. I loved my first teacher, had her a year and then we moved. The new one my mom found – I really did not like her at all. Lessons were miserable. After a few years I was ready to quit, and I did for a summer. Then my mom found my third teacher, and like magic again I loved to play. My boys take lessons now with a teacher they love, and they are really flourishing. I think music is such an important joy in life!
Thanks for the link! That was great. I am so out of practice, I need to get back into it. But I am in two handbell choirs, which brings music into my life.


Cruise around the islands of Dalmatia, visiting the cities of Split and Dubrovnik as well as the islands of Brac, Hvar, Vis, Korcula & Mljet.
All Elegance cruise ship cabins are based on twin or double beds. The cabins are approximately 10-12 sq metres in size (including the en suite). All bed linen and towels are provided although it is recommended that you bring your own beach towels for use on the decks and beaches. Cabins are either lower deck (in the hull of the ship), usually with a porthole, or above deck (on or above the main deck). There is a large dining salon, which also provides a fully stocked and licensed bar. Meals on board include a continental breakfast in the morning and a three-course meal at lunchtime. The ships all feature a sun deck and provide small tenders (dinghies) which the crew use to ferry people into the bays if you prefer to sit on the beach rather than swim off the boat.


Difficulties of all kinds, including work or family stress, life transitions, obsessive behaviors and mood problems may lead one to seek therapy. Challenges to our mental well-being can be indications of underlying depression as well as physiological imbalances.
Psychotherapy provides a non-judgmental environment in which one can feel connected, supported, and understood, while exploring new approaches and strategies for addressing your concerns. And the multidisciplinary, collaborative nature of Elevate Health provides an uncommon depth of resource for our experienced psychologist and her clients.
All Elevate Health practitioners understand that vibrant health is dependent on the harmony of not only physical, nutritional, and environmental influences, but psychological, spiritual and social factors as well.
Dr. Robb addresses not simply the symptoms, but the whole person using five basic tools to treat emotional and physical distress.
Relationship – The most important healing occurs in the context of the relationship between the patient and the therapist. An objective perspective in an atmosphere of trust, free of judgment is an essential foundation for therapy.
Nutrition – Balancing body chemistry is fundamental to a sense of well being. The best medicine is on the end of a fork.
Insight – Understanding how present feelings and actions relate to past events and relationships often offers valuable understanding of recurrent behaviors.
Collaboration – Working together with multidisciplinary practitioners broadens the investigation of underlying causes of non-optimal health.
By shifting the focus from the psychiatric disorder to the patient, Dr Robb strives to partner with you on your personal journey to peak mental, physical and spiritual wellness.


1998 Subaru Legacy Owners Manual Pd - SPT, DAMD, Prova and others Next to the official Subaru special editions there are also many private tuning companies that put the Imprezas to their limit.. bishko automotive literature 1955 1956 1957 Ford 600 800 Tractor Owners Manual User Guide Operator Book Fuses. The Rover 75 is an executive car that was produced by British car manufacturers Rover Group and later by MG Rover, under the Rover marque. The Rover 75 was available with front-wheel drive in either a saloon or estate body style and latterly, in long-wheelbase form and a rear-wheel drive, V8-engined specification.In 2001, an MG-branded version was launched by MG Rover, called the MG ZT..
Service manuals, repair manuals, owner's manuals for Panasonic Sony JVC Samsung Sharp Pioneer Sanyo Hitachi Philips Kenwood LG Toshiba & others. Autoblog brings you automotive news; expert reviews of cars, trucks, crossovers and SUVs; and pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, find local dealers, calculate loan payments, find. Welcome to P0420.com, the place dedicated to that DTC (diagnostic trouble code) P0420.The P0420 code is a very popular one and that's why there's a site dedicated to that specific trouble code..
More famous vehicles not yet found as Garmin icons: From "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV series- Hazzard County Sheriff car, Daisy Duke's Jeep, Boss Hogg's Cadillac.. Search the world's information, including webpages, images, videos and more. Google has many special features to help you find exactly what you're looking for.. Having aftermarket car stereo problems? Checkout our list of common car stereo problems and possible solutions here. Post questions and find answers..
Note: The following post accompanies Takuan Seiyo's latest piece.Both are being kept "sticky" until tonight. Scroll down for other posts that have appeared since Wednesday. Certain posts at Gates of Vienna, among them those by Takuan Seiyo, tend to attract the attention and comments of people who are preoccupied with the Jews.. The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA once every four years. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018. It was the first World Cup to be held in Eastern Europe, and the 11th time that it had been held in Europe. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it. Vancouver Public Schools forecasts a budget shortfall for 2019-20 of at least $11.44 million. The shortfall is due to the state-legislated cap on local education and operation levies (ESSSB 6362) as well as a recent contract settlement with the Vancouver Education Association and a tentative agreement with the Vancouver Association of Educational Support Professionals..
Portland Community College is celebrating the Native American culture and traditions with its 20th annual powwow at the Sylvania Campus. The "Wacipi" ("They Dance") Traditional Powwow is from noon to 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19, in the gymnasium in the Health Technology Building (HT).. 网易云音乐是一款专注于发现与分享的音乐产品,依托专业音乐人、dj、好友推荐及社交功能,为用户打造全新的音乐生活。.


text:
Identify invasive species
Earthworm is an invasive species.
Many earthworms eat the duff layer on the ground in the hardwood forest, reducing the available composting material on the forest floor.
Don't dump worms in the woods.
Dispose of unwanted bait in the trash.
Earthworms are not regulated in Minnesota. They are monitored on Great Lakes Worm Watch.
How to identify earthworms
There are thousands of species of earthworms across the world. The species found across the Great Lakes region originated from Europe and Asia.
There are no native earthworms in Minnesota.
Adult earthworms are easier to identify than immature earthworms. Adults have a collar-like structure (called a "clitellum") near the front of their bodies.
Earthworms are divided into three main groups by where they live within the soil: leaf litter dwellers, soil dwellers and deep burrowers.
Leaf litter dwellers are reddish-brown, small and usually less than 3 inches long when mature.
Soil dwellers live in the top 20 inches of soil.
They are light gray and sometimes have a pink head and range in size from 1 to 5 inches.
Deep burrowers dwell 6 feet deep but feed on fresh surface litter.
Many earthworms are hermaphroditic but must have two worms cross-fertilize for reproduction.
Some species can reproduce on their own from an unfertilized egg.
Angle worms
Aporrectodea, Octolasion spp.
Angle worms eat the duff layer on the ground in the hardwood forest, reducing the available composting material on the forest floor.
This change can limit native tree regeneration, improving soil habitat for some non-native species like buckthorn.
How to identify angle worms
Soil dwelling, living in the top 15 to 20 inches of soil.
Pink-peach toned with a well-defined raised band (clitellum) lower on the body than jumping worms.
Lifespan varies from annual to a few years, depending on the depth of ground freeze during winter.
Adults are killed by freezing.
Eggs in cocoons deposited in the soil during summer and fall will survive and hatch in the spring.
Jumping worms
Amynthas spp.
Jumping worms live in the leaf litter and the top few inches of soil on the forest floor.
They do not burrow like other worms.
They change the soil texture to appear like coffee grounds, strip the soil of nutrients and can kill plants.
How to identify jumping worms
Jumping worms are surface and shallow-soil dwellers.
They can be 1-1/2 to 8 inches or more in length.
They are similar in size to nightcrawlers or some of the larger angle worms, but their clitellum (collar-like structure) and coloring are different.
The clitellum is located 1/3 down the length of the worm from the head and it is smooth, cloudy-white and constricted.
As their name suggests, these worms may jump noticeably when disturbed.
Most jumping worms in Minnesota are likely annual.
See more on jumping worms.
See plant sale recommendations for reducing jumping worm spread.
Lumbricus terrestris
Nightcrawlers create and maintain a duff-free, mid-summer condition indefinitely in hardwood forests by eating the leaf litter from the previous season.
This prevents a new duff layer from establishing.
How to identify nightcrawlers
Nightcrawlers are deep burrowers but surface to forage for food.
Adults can range from 5 to 8 inches long.
Nightcrawlers have a swollen, collar-like structure (clitellum) that is saddle-shaped and does not go all the way around the worm's body.
Nightcrawlers have a slower life cycle and a longer lifespan than other worm species found in Minnesota.
They generally hibernate below the frost line and lay relatively small numbers of cocoons.
Red wiggler
Red wigglers are used in composting.
Although not currently thought to survive Minnesota winters, they could become a threat to native forests if they are found to survive and escape to native landscapes.
How to identify red wigglers
Surface dwelling.
1 to 5 inches long with a strong red-brown colored backside.
Fresh specimens have yellow bands in the grooves between segments.
This species produces a pungent liquid when roughly handled.
Worms hatch from cocoons and mature in about 30 days.
Each worm has male and female organs, but they mate with each other.
They can produce two cocoons per week and lay them near the soil surface.
Authors: Angela Gupta, Amy Rager and Megan M. Weber, Extension educators
Reviewed in 2019
Aquatic invasive species detector program
Forest Pest First Detector
Identify invasive and non-native species


text:
Q: Problem with losing internet connection in 13.10 I just got ubuntu 13.10. It works just fine, but the internet connection gets interrupted every so often when I try to load a page from any given websites (after being connected for maybe 10 or 15 minutes).
It's searching and then I get an message saying that I have a problem with my internet connection, thus won't open anything.
I have to restart my computer every time to refresh it. The wireless connection shows it's working, so what could be the problem here?

A: May be your lan card is not supporting 100 base connection.
first run this command in your terminal sudo mii-tool type password.
eth0: negotiated 100baseTx-FD flow-control, link ok
You set your eth0 on 10base. Run this command in terminal
sudo mii-tool -F 10baseT-HD
Note :- (This command will set your lan connection 10base) After that your connection will be lost.


Once the diagnostic evaluation is completed, Drs. Zoneraich, Larsen or Kummer will have a consultation with you and your partner in order to review all your results and discuss the possible treatment options. We recognize that there are many variables that may determine what an appropriate treatment plan is. We strongly believe that every case must be approached on an individual level and it is essential for us as your care provider and advocate to understand what your expectations and limitations may be.
Regardless of your diagnosis, you can be assured that Advanced Fertility Care Physicians will provide you with all your feasible alternatives and describe all the benefits and drawbacks of each option. We have a wide range of treatment options available for you and will only recommend those we feel are appropriate to your diagnosis and situation. Our ultimate goal is to help you bring your baby home using the least invasive and least expensive means possible.
This section on treatment options gives you a lot of information on each option. If you already know the treatment that you need, please feel free to jump right to that section with our links to the right.


Operating an upcoming micro-business is a demanding task. The hard reality is; if you don't invest in a large workforce to handle the different aspects of your company, you'll end up responsible for most of the duties.
Well, this may seem like you're in perfect control of your company; but in the end, you'll notice you're missing the balance between work and family.
Many studies have exposed that a large percentage of startup business owners feel they are focusing more on work than on their personal lives. Well, it's easy to get absorbed in your everyday tasks. Sometimes you even think that taking a break will slow your success. On the other hand, failure to achieve a good work/life balance will not only mess your personal life but also affect your physical & psychological health; and eventually, ruin your professional career.
So how do you run your company without compromising your life? Here's a guide.
If you want to ensure you're on top of things, in both your life and business, then you have to use your time wisely. When drafting a work/life schedule, don't forget to concentrate on your off-duty needs. For example, if your household holds a family get-together every week, then make sure you leave time for that.
Also, inform other workers of your plans, and let them know that sometimes you won't be around to handle business matters. Likewise, let your family know specific hours when you're free to be with them and when it's time be at work. This way, you can, without doubt, run your company without compromising the wellness of your family.
Are you using your work hours to the fullest? Or are you wasting most of it?
If you plan to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then come up with a strategy to utilize most of your work hours.
Start by evaluating how you spend your working hours. Do you waste most of it running around in circles with rather useless conversations or focus on getting the actual job done? How much time are you spending on meetings discussing issues that can be quickly addressed using emails or mulled over at tea break?
Making constructive use of the time you have will ensure you don't eat into family time. On top, it will boost your startup's productivity. If there's need to change one or two things in the office—e.g. its layout— to speed things up, then you can get a merchant cash advance.
"All work and No Play" is No-No!
It's normal to fear that setting limits to working hours and staying away from duty when it's time to do so will slow your success. Spending time with your relatives off duty can help you balance between work and life— and in due course lead to better business performance.
Michael Hollis is the founder of First American Merchant.


The Scientific Variables Ontology is designed with the best practices for the Semantic Web in mind. The following is a list of excellent resources that we used to learn about the Semantic Web and Ontologies. We highly recommend them to those interested in learning more!
The Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist: Effective Modeling in RDFS and OWL. Dean Allemang and Jim Hendler, 2011.
Concepts, Ontologies, and Knowledge Representation. Grega Jakus, Veljko Milutinović, Sanida Omerević, Sašo Tomažič, 2013.
The Elements of Knowledge Organization. Richard Smiraglia, 2014.


The Golden Temple Amritsar India is also known as Sri Harimandir Sahib Amritsar. It is the glory and heritage of Sikhs. Everyone irrespective of cast, creed and race come to this holy place and pray. The place is very calm, like ones everybody wills to spend some time at least! The temple is made up of pure gold. The temple is very beautiful, art is amazing! Read this article and learn history, tourist information of Jallianwala Bagh and Golden Temple.
Basically, in earlier times they used to call it the temple of Hari i.e. God which nowadays called Sri Harimandir Sahib or Sri Darbar Sahib. Later on account of its golden coating and beautiful appearance. An innumerable number of people come daily to pay the visit to the temple of Shikhs at Sri Amritsar. Though it is the central religious place of Sikhs, but it is the symbol of human brotherhood where everyone is equal. I love that!
It is said that the fifth Nanak Guru Arjan Sahib had discovered the idea of creating a central place of worship for the Sikhs. And He is the only person to design the architecture of the Sri Harimandir Sahib which is reknowned by the name of Golden temple today. The third Nanak Guru Amardas Sahib chose Amritsar and declared it the to be the holy tank which later was executed by the Guru Ramdas Sahib under supervision of Buddha Baba Ji. The land where the temple is situated, the total site was aquired by the ealier Guru Sahibs. The landlords of native villages made paypendt for the site. The construction work was started in 1570 which was completed in 1577 A.D.
On the top stands the low fluted dome having lotus petal motif in relief at the base inverted lotus at the top which supports the 'Kalash' having a beautiful 'Chhatri' at the end.The Golden Temple Amritsar India (Sri Harmandir Sahib Amritsar) has a unique Sikh architecture. Built at a level lower than the surrounding land level, The Gurudwara teaches the lesson of egalitarianism and humility. The four entrances of this holy shrine from all four directions, signify that people belonging to every walk of life are equally welcome.
As advised by Sri Guru Amar Dass Ji (3rd Sikh Guru), Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji (4th Sikh Guru) started the digging of Amrit Sarovar (Holy Tank) of Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1577 A.D., which was later on brick-lined by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji (5th Sikh Guru) on December 15, 1588 and He also started the construction of Sri Harimandir Sahib. Sri Guru Granth Sahib (scripture of the Sikhs), after its compilation, was first installed at Sri Harimandir Sahib on August 16, 1604, A.D. A devout Sikh, Baba Budha Ji was appointed its first Head Priest.
From there we went to Jallianwala Bagh. Jallianwala Bagh is the garden that belongs to Jalla. The name derived from the owners of that land in Sikh times. This place was uneven, unoccupied irregular shaped, indifferently walled, approximately 225 X 180 meters which were used more as a dumping ground.
It was Sunday, 13th April 1919, the largest religious occasion of Punjab, 'Baisakhi', when 50 British Indian Army soldiers commanded by Brigadier-General Dyer, began shooting without any warning and showed their inhumanity! In the crowd, there were men, women, and children.
According to Civil Dr. Williams DeeMeddy, there were 1526 casualties. But the Indian National Congress quoted more than 1500 casualties with roughly 1000 killed.
As it was the holiday of 'Baisakhi' on 13th April, thousands of people including Hindu, Muslim and Sikhs gathered near Harimandir Sahib in the Jallianwala Bagh garden. The festival is special for Sikhs because their Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth in the year 1699 and so the day was known as the 'Birth of Khalsa' which was celebrated by them. That day also people gathered to celebrate and joined. Many were not even aware of the political meeting there.
When General Dyer ordered the troops to begin the shooting without any warning or order to disperse, they were also ordered to shoot at the most dense sections of the crowd, it was continued to 1650 rounds approx. until it was almost exhausted.
To escape from the direct shooting many jumped into the solitary well and many died at the narrow gates. 120 dead bodies were pulled out of the well after the independence...! I couldn't stop myself crying, how horrible it would have been!
According to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, who personally collected information to raise the issue in Central Legislative Council, over 1000 people were killed. The total estimated crowd was between 15000 to 20000 where Sikhs were large in proportion as it was their occasion.
The Rabindranath Tagore showed protest by renunciation of the British Knighthood which broke out in the country and is exemplified.
The Jallianwala Bagh became a national place of pilgrimage. On 1st August 1920 the Bagh was acquired by the nation at the cost of Rs. 5,60,472 though the construction of the memorial was postponed until Independence. The monument was named Flame of Liberty and was built at the cost of Rs. 9,25,000. It was inaugurated by the first president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 13th April 1961.
Now when the terrorist do spread terror, kill people for whatever reason, how do you feel? Close your eyes, relax eyebrows, touch your heart and then ask yourself... Now think, if you would be in place of those people who went to celebrate the festival as the anniversary of the Khalsa, and all of a sudden the unimaginable incident happened..! Feeling helpless, sorry or angry?
But on 13th April 1919, one Sikh teenager brought up at Khalsa Orphanage, named Udham Singh, who saw all the these happening by his own eyes, took revenge of the killing of those poor people by killing Michel O'Dwyer in Caxton Hall of London. Then? As usual, He was hanged at Pentonville jail of London on 31st July 1940.
Being an intelligent species among the animals, being Humans, is this what we have learned so far? Why do people do these kinds of things? By killing a person one doesn't kill a man / woman, h/she kills a son, a brother, a husband, a father and above all we kill Humanity!
None but we are responsible for the race, cast etc among us! Things that happen around us every now and then give us the proves every single moment. Right?What is that thing that leads us to do so, we have to find out and work on that. Many things are yet to do... We are not civilized as we are not real HUMAN yet.


If you've had a C-section with one or more of your past pregnancies, you may be wondering if a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-section) might be an option for you in the future. But what exactly is a VBAC and how do you know if it's right for you?
A VBAC is just as the name describes: when a woman has a vaginal birth after having a previous C-section or more than one C-section. In some cases, a VBAC might happen spontaneously, like when a woman simply goes into labor and delivers before a surgery can be arranged, but in many other cases, a woman chooses a VBAC on purpose.
Historically, women who had a C-section were required to have a C-section for any subsequent births after the C-section, period. It didn't matter what she wanted, it didn't matter if she was low-risk, and it didn't matter if she couldn't afford the C-section. Doctors believed that the risk of trying to have a vaginal delivery after a C-section was far too great because of the scar tissue from the C-section. If the scar tissue burst, both the woman and the baby could die very quickly.
Now, however, as C-section technology has advanced, the risk of a serious complication like a uterine rupture has drastically decreased and women's health organizations like the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecology support VBACs as a medically safe and advantageous form of delivery for women and babies alike.
Why would a woman choose a VBAC?
A woman might choose to have a VBAC for several reasons: she might simply want to experience having a vaginal birth, she may wish to have a different type of birth for both her and her baby, or she may want to avoid having surgery, along with all of the physical recovery that a C-section brings. A vaginal birth that does not have any complications is also a much more affordable option than a surgical birth.


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Horses are Not Part of the U.S. Food Chain
Source: ABQ Journal. OpEd By Keith Dane, Humane Society of the United States
Keith Dane, Director of Equine Protection, HSUS
New Mexico has long been a place where horses run free in the high desert,
work on ranches, demonstrate their athleticism in the show ring and serve as our
trusted companions. These horses are a source of joy and inspiration and pride.
Now, we are dangerously close to seeing New Mexico become a place where
horses come from all over the United States to be killed for food. That's
nothing to be proud of.
For their part, political and animal welfare leaders in New Mexico have been
vocal against the possibility of horses being slaughtered in their state. Gov.
Susana Martinez stated her opposition. The attorney general warned of the
serious food safety concerns associated with consuming meat from American
horses.
Advocates with Animal Protection New Mexico have voiced their strong
opposition to horse slaughter, and they have worked tirelessly to support the
many humane alternatives that are available in New Mexico for horse owners who are no longer willing or able to care for their animals. Yet, the only guarantee we have to prevent the horrors of horse slaughter from resuming on U.S. soil is for Congress to ban the practice or prohibit the use of federal funds for use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to inspect facilities that slaughter horses.
We have strong New Mexican allies on that front, as well. Sen. Martin Heinrich, and Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujan have signed-on as co-sponsors of the Safeguard American Food Exports Act, federal legislation with strong bipartisan support that would prohibit the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and their export abroad for that purpose.
The American people's abiding love for horses means that the business of inhumanely slaughtering them for their meat will always be greeted with disgust. From the auction to the kill box, the slaughter pipeline is inherently inhumane. When plants previously operated in the U.S., horses suffered severe injuries or death during transport. Inside the slaughterhouse, horses often endured the torture of repeated attempts to render them unconscious.
Aside from the animal welfare concerns, horse slaughter in the U.S. is a non-starter. Take the potentially toxic properties of the meat of American horses. Horses in the U.S. are neither raised nor generally regarded as food-producing animals. Throughout their lives, they consistently receive various drugs, such as Phenylbutazone (i.e. "bute"), which are banned by the Food and Drug Administration from use in food-producing animals because of known dangers to humans.
The Humane Society of the United States and Front Range Equine Rescue filed a legal petition with the New Mexicp Environmental Improvement Board requesting that it adopt a rule that renders all horses that were formerly companion
animals, wild horses or work and sport horses, and any other horses without a proven lifetime medical history, as "unqualified" for use as food for human consumption.
Furthermore, these facilities are far from desirable neighbors. When the last three horse slaughter plants in the U.S. closed, the
communities that had hosted them cheered. These plants had a history of polluting local water supplies, lowering property values and draining local economies. They employed no more than a few dozen people in low-paying, highly
dangerous jobs. The negative image created by these operations caused other businesses to look elsewhere for a place to set up shop.
The overwhelming majority of Americans oppose horse slaughter. New Mexicans are among those leading the chorus. We must urge Congress to pass the SAFE Act and outlaw the practice before the predatory horse slaughter industry starts snatching up our former racehorses, children's lesson horses and ranch horses from all across the country and trucking them into New Mexico to be killed.


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Every year the world unites on 28th April to observe Workers' Memorial Day. In previous years there have been events, vigils and silences to mark the day and to remember all those who have lost their lives due to work.
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plans have changed however, people all over the world are still marking the day and remembering those who have sadly died.
Stop the Pandemic in the Workplace
The theme of this year's day is 'Stop the Pandemic in the Workplace'. There are so many workers now putting themselves on the front line to fight coronavirus that this year's Workers' Memorial Day is more poignant than ever.
Here at Asbestos Justice we are extremely fortunate that we are able to carry on working from the safety of our homes. Today we will be thinking of those who cannot work from home, especially those working in the medical field who may not have the proper personal protective equipment. We are eternally grateful for their hard work in such difficult circumstances.
Remembering those who have lost their fight
We will also be remembering all of our clients who sadly lost their fight with their asbestos disease, including those with mesothelioma. While we think of clients and remember those who have sadly passed away throughout the year, today focuses our minds and reinforces our view that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of all workers.
Virtual events happening worldwide
Whilst we are all staying home to stop the spread, there are virtual events happening today so you can join in with Worker's Memorial Day safely. At 11am today, we took part in a minute's silence to remember the dead and fight for the living. There are also various video calls happening through organisations such as TUC and events in Liverpool are being streamed live on https://www.unionsafety.eu/.
We hope that everyone is able to stay safe and would like to remind you that we are here to offer any advice needed, if you are worried about an asbestos disease.
If you require assistance in pursuing an asbestos compensation claim for mesothelioma or other asbestos disease then please contact us today on our freephone number 0800 038 6767. Alternatively, head over to the 'Contact Us' page, complete the form and we will be in touch.
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Direct mail doesn't have to be a rival to technology and the Internet. Some industries still use direct marketing as a way of bringing in a large number of qualified leads. The return on investment for your direct mail campaigns depends on a number of factors, notes Under30CEO.com. While you can't control all of them, you can control issues with returned and mis-sent mail. Address verification confirms the address you're putting in is valid before it goes into the system. That way, you have the right data available for your needs, instead of scrambling around afterward trying to update your database.
It's often easier to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one, so it's important to keep your current client base happy. It's usually the small things that make a big difference when a customer chooses to stick with you instead of investigating the new, shiny option they have available. Keep their address records updated and their names accurate, track buying patterns so you can offer appropriate incentives, and implement rewards programs to keep them invested in your company as a consumer.
The post office has a standard format for a reason, and that is to get mail to its destination as quickly as possible. Zip code + 4 helps with this process immensely, and making sure the address is exactly as the post office expects it is another way to ensure that your direct mailings go out on time. This is especially important for time-sensitive data, such as sales flyers and coupons.
Data cleansing and audits are necessary for keeping your mailing lists in good order. If you never check your records against an address verification software, how are you going to cut down on the amount of returned mail that you're probably dealing with? Businesses keep their data clean and useful with data cleansing features that double-check records and ensure their accuracy.
You or your employees have the option of looking up each address individually through postal verification services. However, that takes a great deal of time, even when you have a small address database to work through. Address verification software frees up your time, and allows you to look up addresses in the most efficient manner possible, software provider www.QAS.com reports.
Have you ever used address verification software? Share your thoughts in the comments.


Ronaldo could return to United with a huge bid PLUS David De Gea in the deal.
Cristiano Ronaldo shocked the world last week after reports were circling around the internet that he is looking to leave Real Madrid.
He has just signed a contract extension and said he will gladly play at Real Madrid till he is 41 years old.
To those who don't know, Ronaldo is currently being investigated for £13 million tax fraud in Spain.
He is growing extremely frustrated with the issue and will opt to leave Spain if he is charged.
United fans and PSG fans are all excited as both clubs are the most possible destination for Ronaldo if he were to leave.
A return to Manchester would means a reunion with Jose Mourinho as they have work together at Real Madrid in the past.
United will be looking to table a huge bid PLUS David De Gea in order to make a dream return for the Real Madrid forward.
Plus, Alvaro Morata is heavily linked to be on the way to United from Real Madrid as well and probably could convince Ronaldo to join him as well.
Ronaldo is the most prolific goalscorer in the history of Real Madrid and has become a very important figure for both his club and country in recent years.
His numbers and records along with his 4 and upcoming 5th Balon D'Or is something remarkable and tremendous achievement.
Losing him will be a big loss for Real Madrid whether on club trophy achievements or financial success in the future because Ronaldo certainly plays a huge part in it.
Zinedine Zidane was reported to called Ronaldo to convince him from leaving while he is on holiday.
Ronaldo is currently on Confiderations Cup duty with Portugal and has kept his mouth tight shut to the press regarding the tax issue or his desire to leave Real Madrid.
Only after Confiderations Cup will we have more concrete news about the issue.
Mbappe, Lukaku, and Morata were the hot news in recent weeks but now Ronaldo's future seems to top them all and the transfer window is looking very interesting at the moment and as a football fans, nothing is better than this.


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How do you know if your startup is going in the right direction?
How excited are your customers about your product?
Monitoring the financial health of your startup
Asking all the right questions
Tracking metrics to ensure long-term success
Taking your business from a small startup to a successful corporation is no easy feat. It requires a lot of hard work – finding investors, hiring the right talent, and dealing with customers in an increasingly competitive market. But at the end of the day, how do you determine whether your efforts were successful? Fortunately, tracking success doesn't have to be complicated. There are several key metrics that you can use to indicate the health of your company and its prospects for growth.
Customer retention costs, profit margins, burn rates, and other financial metrics help you to not only monitor profit and loss, but also to decide which customers aren't worth your time and to estimate when your funds could run out. Product and online engagement metrics like daily active users, activation rates, and share rates show how much customers like your product compared to those of competitors. But while these data points are a good way of tracking the success of a startup, they can't really fully explain why your business is booming or failing. That makes it harder to solve problems and optimise sales and customer service operations. Overcoming this obstacle requires that managers dig deeper and discover what specific metrics tell you about user behaviour and how that information can be used to improve your business.
The number of annual active users on your app or the number of products sold in a given time period are the metrics most startups should track. This helps managers, as well as investors and partners, to get a macro view of the company's potential. But such data should be much more granular to provide key insights. Ozoda Muminova, a business expert at Kandu, an innovation mentoring company, argues that metrics such as monthly active users (MAU) and average daily active users (DAU) help companies to further understand just how engaged their users really are. For instance, an increase in the DAU metric is a much better indication of users' passion for a product than the simple number of annual active users. And to observe trends in this data, it's important for businesses to track month-on-month growth of active users and compare it to the industry average or their own targets.
Having a lot of active users is clearly a positive sign, but you need them to talk about your product and support its organic growth. Tracking this behaviour is therefore crucial, and it can be done through the share rate metric, which shows the number of shares on social media per user. Finally, Muminova also recommends tracking the customer retention rate, which is the percentage "of customers who have purchased your product, signed up to a service or downloaded your app that come back within a specified period of time". This helps you estimate the number of loyal customers.
Meanwhile, monitoring financial metrics will ensure your business remains profitable and avoids bankruptcy. The first data point you need to track is total revenue, as well as recurring revenue, further divided per customer and per month. Experts from Andreessen Horowitz, a private venture capital firm, suggest that "Investors more highly value companies where the majority of total revenue comes from product revenue", as revenue from services is usually non-recurring. In addition to this, the profit margin is a crucial metric, too, since it reveals whether you can make a healthy profit and how much value customers think you provide.
Naturally, if your product creates a lot of value for customers, they'll be willing to pay more. Also, improving the product with additional features and finding new ways to impress people can help reduce the cost of acquiring and retaining customers. Furthermore, if you want to increase profitability, the average revenue per user metric is a good place to start, but you have to dig deep and discover which products and services yield the most revenue. This will help you to fine-tune the sales process and decrease payback time, a metric that tracks how soon you recoup the costs of acquiring a single customer. Lastly, it's important that managers pay close attention to the burn rate, which basically shows how fast a company will deplete its cash reserves and will be forced to seek more financing.
Collecting data and observing metrics can help you measure the success of your startup and notice problems before they escalate. But solving those problems and understanding why they happened requires a bit of ingenuity from managers and founders. For instance, when the growth of the AreYouInterested dating app began to drastically slow down, its CEO, Cliff Lerner, decided to act. But instead of analysing hundreds of data points, he focused only on three metrics: unique selling proposition (USP), net promoter score (NPS), and user retention. The reason he opted for these was that they could help him answer three critical questions, including whether his product is remarkable, whether people will tell others about it, and whether users will keep returning.
Lerner then conducted a survey that showed that his users didn't share his own view of what's unique about the app. They were also not overly keen on promoting the app to their friends, and this indicated that the stagnating revenue was the result of a bad product, and not an underperforming sales team. Finally, he analysed high-retention users and this led his team to discover that replies to messages were the single most important factor in motivating people to use the app over and over again. With that in mind, his team optimised the app and this increased the number of replies by 400 per cent. Revenue and retention rates were also up, and the company was in a much better position than before.
Tracking key financial and product metrics can help managers to get a clear understanding of where their companies are heading and the problems they're facing. As a result, businesses will be able to react on time and solve issues before they escalate. In addition to this, the sales process can be optimised, ensuring the company is focusing on attracting and retaining customers and improving its product. This will ensure the long-term survival of a startup and its chances of thriving in an increasingly competitive environment.
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