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Home Authors Posts by John Thavis, Catholic News Service
John Thavis, Catholic News Service
L.A. auxiliary bishop resigns after saying he's father of two
John Thavis, Catholic News Service - 4 January 2012, 15:17
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala has resigned after disclosing to superiors that he is the father of two...
Vatican Letter: Pope's 2012 to include synod, trips, canonizations
John Thavis, Catholic News Service - 29 December 2011, 16:07
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — A trip to Latin America, a Synod of Bishops on new evangelization, the start of the Year of Faith,...
Vatican official urges 'real reforms' in Syria
John Thavis, Catholic News Service - 5 December 2011, 17:29
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY -- A Vatican official deplored the growing violence in Syria, and called on political leaders there to enact "real reforms." Archbishop...
Step out of the pope- mobile, please
John Thavis, Catholic News Service - 30 November 2011, 17:31
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI greeted with a smile the news that a German citizen had filed a...
Pope urges world pact on climate change
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI urged international leaders to reach a credible agreement on climate change, keeping in mind the needs...
Pope defends efforts to deal with sex abuse with transparency
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In a speech to U.S. bishops, Pope Benedict XVI defended the church's "honest efforts" to confront the priestly sex...
U.S. priest in Rome is new nuncio to Ireland
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI has named U.S. Msgr. Charles J. Brown, a longtime official of the Congregation for the Doctrine...
Vatican Letter: Pope's critique of global economic system resurfaces in Africa
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — A few minutes after landing in Africa, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a stern warning against the "unconditional surrender to...
Pope to outline church's pastoral direction in Africa
Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI is making his second trip as pope to Africa in mid-November, spending three days in Benin...
Traditionalist says group rejects Vatican doctrinal conditions
John Thavis, Catholic News Service - 3 November 2011, 15:21
Catholic News Service ROME -- The consensus among leaders of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X is that a "doctrinal preamble" presented by the...


Eurofuel - Publications - What future liquid fuels to heat our homes?
Liquid fuels such as oil have an important number of advantages when it comes to heating our homes, particularly in rural and remote areas not connected to the grids. They are easy to transport and ensure an autonomous and reliable supply of energy, which can be managed at the owner's disposal.
How to keep these benefits in the future, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
A wide range of liquid fuels besides oil could facilitate the transition to lower-emission heating with minimal adjustments to the systems. A comprehensive study carried out by the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology in Germany identifies four main options to generate new liquid fuels: Fermentation, liquefaction, synthesis and transesterification or hydrogenation. What do these complicated names mean in practice?
The production of alcohol by fermentation, with the use of yeasts, is known for many thousand years. Sugar, starch or cellulose generated from wood residues is processed to produce various types of hydrocarbons, such as ethanol, ketones, alcohol or methane (biogas).
The thermal or chemical treatment of biomass forms liquid products, in addition to solid and gaseous substances. These liquids can then be processed to create fuels.
Pyrolysis is one of the possible processes, exposing biomass to temperatures between 200 and 1,000 °C in the absence of air, to create pyrolysis oil.
Hydrothermal liquefaction is a process similar to pyrolysis, with biomass exposed to temperatures of 300-400°C in the absence of air, but this time occurring in an aqueous environment. The liquid produced is called hydrothermal liquefaction oil or HTL oil. It is for instance suitable for the processing of algae.
This process consists in producing alkanes, alcohols or esters out of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, which originate from biomass or water and renewable electricity.
In the case of biomass, the "Biomass to Liquid" process involves high-temperature heating of wood, wood residues or agricultural waste, to allow for the generation of "syngas". This syngas is then further processed through several synthesis methods to produce high-quality liquid sources of energy.
The "Power to Liquid" route generates syngas out of carbon dioxide from ambient, atmosphere or industrial sources, as well as hydrogen from water, through electrolysis using renewable electricity. The syngas is then processed into liquid fuels.
Using a catalyst, slightly high temperatures and a liquid environment, the structure of natural oils (such as rapeseed oil) and fats (such as used cooking oils) can be transformed into a substance more suitable for the use as fuels, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). This is the principle of transesterification.
The other process to obtain high-performance vegetable oils is hydrogenation. The oil is processed together with hydrogen through a catalyst at temperatures around 350°C. A second stage in this method, called isomerisation, also involves hydrogen and aims to ensure better cold properties. The result of the whole process is called hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO); it is a high-quality substance which can be admixed to diesel fuel or domestic heating oil with no limitation.
Part 4: New liquid fuels... out of algae?


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University of California, Santa Barbara vs Georgetown University
95% confidence interval: 7.9% to 24.5%.
Switch out University of California, Santa Barbara for a similar school:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Switch out Georgetown University for a similar school:
Yale University vs. Harvard University
Stanford University vs. University of California, Berkeley
University of Southern California vs. University of California, Los Angeles

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Railway Group D 2019 Recruitment: After the announcement of RRB Group D result for Computer-based test, now RRBs will begin the fee refund process 22 march. Indian Railways will now provide the link to submit/modify bank account details for RRB Group D 2018 fee refund process.
However, the link to submit bank account details will be activated on the official website at 6:00 pm 22 march. According to the official notice by railways, the fees would be refunded only for the candidates who have appeared for the RRB Group D CBT examination.
Indian Railway is providing its RRB Group D candidates with another opportunity to correct their bank account details starting from 22 march.


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Rating: 8.5/10 from 303,245 users
Genre: Crime / Drama / Thriller | 2015 | n/A
Elliot is a brilliant introverted young programmer who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and vigilante hacker by night. He also happens to be suffering from a strange condition similar to schizophrenia which he futilely tries to keep under control by regularly taking both legal and illegal drugs and visiting his therapist. When a strange feisty young woman named Darlene and a secretive middle-aged man calling himself Mr. Robot, who claims to be the mysterious leader of an underground hacking group known as F-Society, offer Elliot a chance to take his vigilantism to the next level and help them take down E-Corp, the corrupt multi-national financial company that Elliot works for and likes to call Evil Corp, Elliot finds himself at the crossroads. Mr. Robot, who has personal reasons for wanting to take down E-Corp, also reveals that he already has one ally, an even more mysterious, secretive and highly dangerous shadowy hacking group known only as Dark Army. Meanwhile, Elliot's childhood and only friend, Angela, who blames E-Corp for the death of their parents, tries to take down E-Corp legally by joining their ranks and trying to dig up evidence of their corruption from the inside. A wild card in this scheme becomes Tyrell Wellick, an unhinged psychopathic E-Corp yuppie, originally from Scandinavia, who has a very unusual relationship with his dominant and ambitious wife Joanna. After many twists and turns, Mr. Robot's plan is finally put in motion - with catastrophic (un)intended results. But that's just the end of the beginning of the real story.


If you are looking to hire house and room addition industry professionals in North Hollywood area have a look at Worman Construction: the most suitable choice for house and room addition professional services. In general house and room addition upgrading is steeply-priced, for that reason please do not pay out more than needed. Worman Construction is operated in North Hollywood, Valley Village, Toluca Lake and Van Nuys and locally held. Making the decision what house addition installations and installation of business garages specialist to hire needs to be the primary factor for home owners before starting the task. Perfect locations to be a house owner are North Hollywood, Valley Village, Toluca Lake and Van Nuys. We work to try making the task of house and room addition maintenance as simple and easy as possible. Our small business provides service to the North Hollywood California, Valley Village, Toluca Lake and Van Nuys region.
Worman Construction's top purpose is providing absolute peace of mind to all of our customers. Worman Construction: the best community remodelers and proven North Hollywood, Valley Village, Toluca Lake and Van Nuys remodeling contractors. When home owners choose to renovate the appearance of the house, many start off with house and room addition maintenance. Quite often house addition installations and installation of business garages should be the first parts of a property to get renovated. The full list of every one of Worman Construction's products and services is found on our internet site.
Worman Construction - Remodelers in North Hollywood, California.
To get started, browse the best North Hollywood Remodelers, read reviews, find detailed contractor information on individual Remodelers in North Hollywood and request free project estimates.
Finding accurate service costs before planning a remodeling project is important for keeping the overall project costs down. Are you looking to manage home improvement projects in North Hollywood soon? Find accurate North Hollywood home improvement project management costs right now.
Knowing accurate remodeling costs upfront can help you negotiate more effectively with trade professionals and vendors and gauge whether their projects quotes are fair, as compared to your local market costs to manage home improvement projects in North Hollywood.
We work hard to help you make confident decisions regarding which home products and services to purchase, as well as help you identify trustworthy local North Hollywood home improvement project management contractors. Our goal is to make sure you are able to have quality work completed at a fair price and on time.


text:
var fs = require('fs');
var rdk = require('rdkit');

var parser = require('sdf-parser')

//var result = parser('/Users/guilllaumegodin/Downloads/chembl_18.sdf');
var timestamp = (new Date()).getTime();
var LineInputStream = require('line-input-stream')

var stream = LineInputStream(fs.createReadStream('chembl_18.sdf', {flags:'r'}));
stream.setEncoding('ascii');
stream.setDelimiter('$$$$\n');

stream.on("error", function(err) {
          console.log(err);
          });

stream.on('line', processLine);

stream.on("end", function() {
          // No more data, all line events emitted before this event
          });

stream.on("close", function() {
          // Same as ReadableStream's close event
          });

var smiles = [];

function processLine(line) {

    //console.log(line);
    try {
    var mol= rdk.Molecule.MolBlockToMol(line);
        }

    catch (err) {console.log('err');return;}
    var smile = mol.smilewrite();
    //console.log(chemblid);
    //console.log:);

    mol.delete();

   smiles.push("a");

    if (smiles.length>10000) {
      var date1 = new Date(timestamp);
      var date2 = new Date();
      var timeDiff = Math.abs(date2.getTime() - date1.getTime());
      var diffSec = parseInt(timeDiff / (1000 ));
      var diffMin = parseInt(diffSec/60);
      diffSec = diffSec - (diffMin*60);
      var time = diffMin + "m" + diffSec + "s";
      console.log(" in "+time);
        //console.log(smiles);
        console.log('done');
        process.exit();
    }
}

/*
//var LineByLineReader = require('line-by-line'),
lr = new LineByLineReader('/Users/guilllaumegodin/Downloads/chembl_18.sdf', );

lr.on('error', function (err) {
 console.log(err);
});
var data ="";
var i=0;
var data="";
var tmp = [];

lr.on('line', function (line) {
lr.pause();
data = data + line +"\r\n";
 //  stop molecule identificator $$$$
if(line.indexOf("$$$$") !== -1){
  i++
  for(var j=0;j < tmp.length;j++){
   var dataToInsert="";
   if(tmp.length === j+1){
    dataToInsert = tmp[j] + data;
            //console.log("last tmp",dataToInsert);
      }
        else{
         dataToInsert = tmp[j] + "$$$$\r\n";
           //console.log("tmp",dataToInsert);
      }
    rdkitprocess(dataToInsert);

    }
    tmp = [];
    data = "";
}

else if(line.indexOf("CHEMBL") !== -1){
       tmp.push(data);
       data = "";
}

 if (i===100)  {
       lr.close();
       throw new Error('to many lines for me');
      }

    lr.resume();
   });

lr.on('end', function () {
    // All lines are read, file is closed now.

});

function rdkitprocess(myval){
    var rdk = require('rdkit');

            console.log(i);
            //fs.appendFileSync('message.txt', "i="+i+myval);
   try {
                var mol= rdk.Molecule.MolBlockToMol(myval);
                //var chemblid = mol.getProp('_MolFileInfo');
                var smile = mol.smilewrite();
                //console.log(chemblid);
                //console.log:);
                mol.delete();
            }
   catch (err) {
                console.error(err);
                fs.appendFileSync('error.txt', "i="+i+"\r\n"+JSON.stringify(myval)+"\r\n");

            }
        }*/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Pocono Evangelical Free Church (Pocono EFC) in Tannersville, PA is small enough to know each other by name, yet large enough to include members from all ages and walks of life. Pocono EFC is located on the south side of Big Pocono State Park – aka Camelback Mountain – on 4 ½ wooded acres.
Weekly services are held Sunday mornings at 11 AM with time for fellowship before and after. Visitors will find themselves very welcome, with invitations to join in meals and small group gatherings scheduled throughout the week. You will find a healthy mix of long time and new-comer Christians, all looking to strengthen their faith and discover ways to live it out in their daily lives.
Pocono Evangelical Free Church is part of EFCA – a group of over 1,500 churches across the United States and throughout the world. Evangelical Free Churches believe in the Bible, in God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), God the Holy Spirit, and in salvation from sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
The lead-pastor of the church is Dr. James C. Meyer. Pastor Jim is married to Kathy Meyer and they have 5 grown children who are all married. Pastor Jim and Kathy enjoy being grandparents. Pastor Jim also teaches full time at Cairn University as a faculty member in their Dept. of Counseling and Psychology. He preaches most Sundays at Pocono EFC and focuses on teaching God's Word. He is very active in the small groups of the church and desires to see biblical community built among the congregants.
The Co-pastor of the church is JJ Meyer. Pastor JJ, is married to Rachael and they have two daughters and a son. Pastor JJ leads worship, preaches once a month, and is involved in the small group ministry of the church.
If you want to learn more about how the Bible applies to our everyday lives, how to cultivate your relationship with Jesus, and to spend time with others who have similar interests, we welcome you to join us.


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Q: Equivalent command or single line code like mget command in unix in C# I am trying to FTP multiple files from server (particular directory say /x/) to local directory. I know the names of files which i want to FTP, Is there a way to FTP all the files residing in the particular directory of server in one command like "mget()" command in unix.
Currently i am doing following thing
using (WebClient ftpClient = new WebClient())
{
ftpClient.Credentials = // credentials

ftpClient.DownloadFile("ftp://<ftp ip>//x//y//" + "x0.txt", @"D:\\test\\x\\" + "check" + "_a0.txt");
ftpClient.DownloadFile("ftp://<ftp ip>//x//y//" + "x1.txt", @"D:\\test\\x\\" + "check" + "_a1.txt");
ftpClient.DownloadFile("ftp://<ftp ip>//x//y//" + "x2.txt", @"D:\\test\\x\\" + "check" + "_a2.txt");
}

This makes FTP connection each time it wants to download/ make copy of file to local directory.
Even If i read the directory contents by following command
reqFTP.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectory;
response = reqFTP.GetResponse();
                reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream());
                string line = reader.ReadLine();
                while (line != null)
                {
                    if (line.Contains("xyz"))
                    {
                        result.Append(line);
                        result.Append("\n");

                    }
                    line = reader.ReadLine();
                }

and then download each file individually, it still makes call for each file to FTP to local directory. I am looking for something which can match the pattern like "wildcard" and download all files in one command that matches the pattern or wildcard.
Thanks in advance for all the help.
Thanks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


After the shock of recent events, Andrei shuts himself away in the countryside. A visit from Pierre and a chance encounter with a stranger makes him wonder if his life could still change for the better. Natasha is excited at the prospect of her first grand ball, but worries that no one will invite her to dance. Still unable to find happiness, Pierre tries to build bridges with Helene.
Pierre is held prisoner by the French and faces a new ordeal as the relentless Russian winter sets in. In the shadow of tragedy, Natasha struggles to see a way forward, while Helene grapples with an awkward dilemma of her own. As the war rages on between the Russians and the French, will our Russian heroes ever find peace again?
Chaos takes hold as Napoleon marches into Moscow and the Rostovs rush to leave the city. As they hurry away, Natasha is astonished to learn the identity of one of her travelling companions and finds she at last has a chance to make amends. Sonya, meanwhile, comes under pressure from the countess to make a great sacrifice for her family. Half-mad after his experience of battle, Pierre sets out to end Napoleon's onslaught once and for all, but is taken prisoner. As the harsh winter sets in, he witnesses horrors and acts of kindness that change his view of life forever.
Napoleon outrages the Russian emperor by crossing the border and marching his army towards Moscow. In his path stands Prince Bolkonsky's country estate, but the old prince isn't prepared to let the French through without a fight. Marya is shocked to be placed in terrible danger. Nikolai, meanwhile, is stationed far away from the action, but he gets a chance at glory when he crosses paths with a stranger in distress. Andrei learns of Natasha's betrayal. He cannot forgive her and resolves to take revenge on his rival. When Natasha falls ill and Pierre is left to take care of her, he struggles to keep his feelings in check. Unsure of his place in the world, he chooses to join Andrei on the eve of battle. As the two massive armies gather, Pierre is flung into a fight to the death to save Moscow and Russia.


text:
'Vestige' Reveals How VR Will Revolutionize Documentary Storytelling
Jesse Damiani Contributor
I cover the human side of VR/AR, Blockchain, AI, Startups, & Media.
"Fractured memories within the black abyss."
Aaron Bradbury
Vestige uses VR to communicate grief, loss, and love in ways no other medium can.
Over the past five years, much has been written about VR's capacity as a storytelling medium -- but few experiences make such a resounding argument for these unique capabilities as Vestige.
The documentary brings audiences into the memories of Lisa Elin with her husband Erik, who she unexpectedly lost in 2016. We watch scenes play before us in 3D vignettes over black while Lisa narrates; in actual fact, these audio recordings are from phone calls between Elin and Vestige Director Aaron Bradbury.
The experience was on display last month in Montreal at The New Storytellers 5, an event curated by Phi Centre and Future of StoryTelling, where I sat down with Aaron Bradbury to discuss the creative process behind translating grief through storytelling, the use of invisible interaction, and VR's capacity to create emotional intimacy:
Like any documentary, Bradbury's creative process was framed by his source material. But with Vestige, there wasn't a clear linear narrative in place per se -- and the emerging story only featured one living character. Through recorded phone calls, the whole world of Lisa and Erik's relationship began to develop shape and texture.
"The interview process was around a year-and-a-half of interviewing, and that started 6 months after Erik had died," Bradbury said. "What I got was...this fascinating snapshot of Lisa's grief and how she changed and transformed during [the] two years after his death."
And even though one run of the experience might only log 15-20 minutes at a time, those hours of recordings don't go to waste. When you enter Vestige, you're warned that this is not a "static" experience; your participation impacts how it proceeds. You haven't been given controllers, which means that where you stand and what you look at determine what memories you see next -- even though the experience itself feels seamless.
"People don't realize it during the experience, but it's essentially branching narrative. So there's a number of different stories that are within Vestige," Bradbury said. "It's not actually fully linear, it's subliminal."
This invisible interaction is a more fluid take on a branching narrative than one where users are given active choices (i.e. presented with drop-down or pop-up menus). It allows each experience to stand alone as a complete document, while also giving audiences reason to return to it to deepen their understanding of the couple's story. It also mirrors the way memory doesn't work chronologically -- or even consistently -- a fact Lisa herself was contending with in sharing her story with Bradbury.
"From the very first interview we had, she mentioned that she felt like she was losing Erik...and she wanted someone to guide her back to the memories of Erik," Bradbury said. "She's already lost Erik, but it's the idea of losing the memory of someone, as well, [that] is terrifying."
Vestige was created with Depthkit, whose volumetric capture solution also powered standout VR documentary Zero Days VR, so we actually experience Lisa and her memories in 3D. The result is more than just a unique aesthetic. Form and function align to create something that feels real rather than rendered, as if shot on film rather than produced in a game engine -- yet which still allows us to move about it in physical space.
Still from 'Vestige'
"Using Depthkit for doing the volumetric capturing was something which was very useful to the actual final idea, so that was something where it was very fast and rough, like the look of it...it doesn't look real, but that was to the benefit of the story, because actually memories don't really look that real," Bradbury said. "When she's in her deepest grief moments, her psychological state feels spiky, it feels shattered."
On the set of 'Vestige'
Not only does this stylized reality capture the impressionistic logic of memory, it drives intimacy in its immersive virtual format.
"I always talk about VR as an intimate medium because you're in that place with somebody, and that changes how you feel about them and what they say," Bradbury said. "You have this connection with somebody that is very physical; it's not tangible, you can't actually touch them...but it feels like you can. And I think that's why it's so powerful at telling some of those more emotional stories where people want to reach out and they want to touch somebody; they want to hug someone."
For more reviews from The New Storytellers 5, see:
'The Real Thing' Embodies The Future Of Storytelling Through Space
Fable's 'Wolves in the Walls' Launched Lucy As A Virtual Being -- And The Implications Are Massive
VR Pioneer Jessica Brillhart Proves Immersion Takes Many Forms In 'Beethoven's Fifth' VR Experience
For more insight from the XR artists/storytellers selected by Phi Centre and Future of StoryTelling for NS5, see the panel below:
For more technology and media coverage, follow @JesseDamiani on Twitter.
Jesse Damiani
Jesse is a writer, curator, producer, entrepreneur, and public figure in emerging technology. He is Deputy Director of Emerging Technology at Southern New Hampshire Uni...


AL AMANAH AL KHALIJIA Co.
AL AMANAH AL KHALIJIA General Trading Co Company was established and founded in 1991 By Mr. M. Ismail Alokozai and his Brothers in Kuwait, as textile and General Trading business and later expanded/diversified to Foodstuff wholesale, packaging and retail, with operations in UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Afghanistan.
AL AMANAH AL KHALIJIA General Trading Co has invested and owns subsidiaries in Real Estate, E-Commerce and consumer retails outlets. AL AMANAH Foodstuff wholesale, packaging and retail is the main business managed by Mr M. Ismail and the rest of the management, were we have a distribution network of five star hotels, supermarkets, large catering companies, local groceries and some of the biggest restaurants in Kuwait. Currently we have more than 500 items, that includes different variety of Beverages, Rice, Pulses, Spices, Sugar, Oils, Meats, Frozen and Canned food.
AL AMANAH foodstuff Division was established in 2000 to become a leader in Foodstuff wholesale & retail. it trades in all kind of Foods and specializes in Rice different types of Spices, Cooking Oil, Herbal Tea, Green Tea, Black Tea, Tomato Pastes and Olive Oil.
AL AMANAH AL KHALIJIA CO Kuwait also opened Wholesale, packaging and retail divisions, in only few years the company grew its products line to 500 products from various countries and companies. Our products are marketed and distributed all over Kuwait and some of our clients are Five Star Hotels, large Catering Companies, Restaurants, Supermarkets and local Stores, among them are Kuwait Airways, Jumeirah Hotels, Intercontinental Hotel, Holiday Inn, Maharani Restaurants, Khalid Al Duwaihi Restaurants, Gulfmart, LULU. we have home delivery division to all over Kuwait.
AL AMANAH Textiles was established in 1991 in the state of Kuwait as the first Division in the company and later expanded to UAE and Saudi Arabia. Al Amanah Textiles is now based in Saudi Arabia and operates from there.
AL AMANAH Real Estate was established in 2015 in UAE/Dubai, and handles all Al Amanah Property portfolios.
AL AMANAH Headquarter and foodstuff Division is located in Kuwait.


The Walk to D-Feet MND Brisbane is a major fundraiser for MND Queensland to be able to provide quality support and services to families affected by Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in Queensland.
This year's event is again taking place in the Forest Meadow at Roma Street Parkland. It will be held from 9AM on Sunday 26 May with the walk commencing at 10AM sharp. There will be two distances, a 2KM walk, or a 3KM walk.
Every participant gets a free t-shirt (new design) and there will be awards for the highest fundraising individual and team, best dressed, top dog and more!


I have been shown a certain order that has brought forth much good fruit and is life and health.
Simple but profound that order is: God first, my husband second, next my children and grandchildren, next the church, and then others. Knowing the order and keeping it brings forth clarity and peace in my life.
As I live out the order that has been shown me, the following values go hand in hand with that order. The order gives life to these values.
Respect: A few years ago I saw a man with whom I was in contact when I worked at a certain job. He was asking about me and what I was doing. I told him that I was helping my husband ... that he needed my help. I respect my husband greatly and want to help him in any way I can.
Belinda French of Georgetown writes of eight values that are enriched by the order that guides her. In her kitchen, French keeps a painting of wild turkeys as a reminder of her farm in Tennessee. Inheriting the farm has provided her family with a wealth of new learning opportunities, writes the former schoolteacher.


text:
Anglesey is worst performing part of UK as economy shrinks
Island has lowest GVA per head in the whole country but Gwynedd is one of the fastest growing says the Office of National Statistics
Owen HughesBusiness correspondent
Anglesey from the air
Anglesey has the lowest economic value in the UK, but Gwynedd is one of the fastest growing - according to figures released today.
The lowest Gross Value Added per head in the UK is found on Anglesey, at £11,368, while Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan has the highest at £22,986, according to statistics from the Office for National Statistics.
Gwynedd was the area in Wales with the the biggest growth in GVA between 2012 and 2013, up 7% from £16,711 to £17,899. It was the joint fifth fastest growing area of the UK.
However, Anglesey saw the worth of its economy shrink by 1.5% over the same period.
The island has seen major job losses with the closure of the Welsh Country Foods lamb abattoir and is still struggling to replace the hundreds of well paid jobs that went with the closure of the Anglesey Aluminium smelter in 2009.
Flintshire and Wrexham are the best performing part of North Wales, with a GVA per head of £19,422, with Conwy and Denbighshire having a GVA per head of £14,873.
Wales saw Gross Value Added (GVA) per head of population rise 3.4% between 2012 and 2013, the joint biggest rise with the North West.
However, even the big increase leaves the area last in the UK, with GVA of £16,893.
The UK average is £23,394.
FSB Wales Senior Head of External Affairs Iestyn Davies said: "These latest figures suggest that the economy of Wales is moving in the right direction, with Wales seeing the joint largest growth in GVA of any part of the UK during 2013 at 3.4%
"However, Wales' per capita GVA does remain the lowest in the UK, and while the relatively large percentage increase is welcomed it must be remembered that it comes from relatively low base.
"It must also be said that while these figures provide a valuable snapshot of the economy of Wales a year ago it is clear that we are badly in need of more up-to-date and wide-ranging statistics here in Wales.
"Such statistics are increasingly important as the Welsh Government assumes taxation powers in the years to come."
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Business, William Graham AM, said: "While we welcome improvement wholeheartedly, this is coming from an extremely low base and the rise should be fully expected.
"After over 15 years of successive Labour governments in Wales - and five years of Labour leader Carwyn Jones - our country remains amongst the poorest parts of the UK. That's appalling and communities deserve better.
"Under the Conservative-led UK government, 1.7 million private sector jobs have been created and the UK is the fastest growing economy in the developed world. Today's figures are a direct result of that.
"This is a hugely welcome boost but it is absolutely crucial that Labour ministers in Wales work in tandem with UK colleagues on sustained improvement.
"It is this collaboration - along with Welsh Labour's use of the economic levers at its disposal - that will lift Wales to where it should, and could be, globally."
GVA is a measure of the increase in the value of the economy due to the production of goods and services.
It is measured at current basic prices, which include the effect of inflation, excluding taxes (less subsidies) on products (for example, Value Added Tax). GVA plus taxes (less subsidies) on products is equivalent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2013 Gross Value Added (GVA) per head of population increased in all regions.
The North West and Wales had the largest percentage increases in GVA per head, both at 3.4%. Northern Ireland had the smallest percentage increase at 0.9%.
At the regional level, in 2013 London had the highest GVA per head at £40,215, while Wales had the lowest at £16,893.
At the local area level, in 2013 Inner London West had the highest GVA per head at £135,888, while the Isle of Anglesey had the lowest at £11,368.
The North East shows the least amount of variation in levels of GVA per head within the region in 2013, with a difference of £7,033 between the highest and lowest local areas. London shows the greatest amount of variation, with a difference of £121,157.
Carwyn Jones
RhylDoctor's surgery targeted with anti-vaccination graffiti as patients waited for boostersGraffiti has been daubed on several areas outside the building
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text:
Q: New to Angular - Computed Variables I am moving to Angular from Knockout, and I have a few issues. I'm assuming that I must be doing something a non-angular type of way.
http://jsfiddle.net/LostInDaJungle/BxELP/
I linked to jsfiddle so I didn't have to include my code here
Stack Overflow will not let me post my question without a code block.

Here is a very basic fiddle that outlines two of my major problems...
Problem 1: val1 and val2 are initialized as 3 and 4, and add up to 7 properly. However, if you change either of the values in the text boxes, the new value is treated as a string and I get concatenation instead of addition. Change val1 to 4 and you get 44 when it should be 8. What is the best way around this behaviour?
Problem 2: Calculated fields. I can get a calculated field by using the curly brackets like {{val1 + val2}} and have the calculated fields auto update when the underlying model changes, but this is totally unacceptable. In my full fledged app, we generate a "cost" that is used several times throughout and having to put in the cost calculation each and every time is a pain. Not to mention that when this calculation changes, I now have the unenviable task of finding 15 different places that use the cost calculation and updating them all.
In addition, if I try to put an ng-model="cost" on the input with the curly brackets, then the curly brackets don't work. So nothing jumps out at me as a way to bind cost.
http://jsfiddle.net/LostInDaJungle/QNVwe/
This example is more like the structure I desire. However, unlike a ko.observable, the calculated fields do not update when the values that generate them change. The boilerplate solution everyone has foisted on me is to write a bunch of ng-change handlers... But that is awful. If width changes change the cost and change the payback calculations, etc... It quickly becomes a tangled mess.
Both of these methods fail as far as separating logic from presentation. Method one has my business logic embedded in my HTML. Method two puts a whole bunch of ng-change handlers in my code which isn't that much different from having to write a whole mess of onChange handlers in plain ol' HTML. If I HAVE to do a bunch of ng-change handlers, I would just as soon do an onChange handler in Javascript because I can at least declare them outside of my presentation layer.
Here's a knockout version of the same:
http://jsfiddle.net/LostInDaJungle/eka4S/2/
This is more like what I would expect... Nothing but data-binds on my inputs, all program logic nicely contained within the view model. Also, since my computable is a Javascript function, I don't have to scratch my head about how to ensure my two values are numeric.
So....
Computed variables: Is there a way to watch the underlying variables and update the computed amount automatically? Without having to bury my program logic in my HTML?
Is there a good way to keep my numbers from turning into strings?
Thank you for your help.
FYI, also posted to Google Groups: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/angular/0dfnDTaj8tw

A: I changed your third input to:
<input type="text" value="{{val1 * 1 + val2}}" />

which causes Angular.js to treat the values as numbers, not strings.
Here is the fiddle. I gleaned the answer from here.

A: For a calculated field, add a method to your controller . . .
$scope.cost = function() { return $scope.val1 + $scope.val2 };

and then bind to it directly.  It will know when it needs to recalculate as its constituent values change.
<div>{{cost()}}</div>

A: About problem 1:
You should use input type="number" if possible. That would take care of parsing numbers properly. Even if you have an older browser angular would take care of formatting them as numbers.
About problem 2:
Your answer is good Jason if you just need to show plain text on the screen. However if you would like to bind an input with a model to an arbitrary expression, you need something else.
I wrote a directive you can use to bind an ng-model to any expression you want. Whenever the expression changes the model is set to the new value.
module.directive('boundModel', function() {
  return {
    require: 'ngModel',
    link: function(scope, elem, attrs, ngModel) {
      scope.$watch(attrs.boundModel, function(newValue, oldValue) {
        if(newValue != oldValue) {
          ngModel.$setViewValue(newValue);
          ngModel.$render();
        }
      });
    }
  };
})

You can use it in your templates like this:
<input type="text" ng-model="total" bound-model="value1 + value2">

Or like this:
<input type="text" ng-model="total" bound-model="cost()">

Where cost() is a simple function of the scope like this:
$scope.cost = function() { return $scope.val1 + $scope.val2 };

The good thing is that you keep using a model for your input and you don't have to dinamically update your value attribute, which doesn't work well in angular.

A: Ok,
A few hours later and I think I have my answer.
Using $scope.$watch.
$scope.$watch('(height * width) * 40', function(v) {$scope.cost = v;});

or
$scope.$watch('height + width', function() {$scope.cost = (Number(height) * Number(width)) * 40;});

This auto-updates any computables for watched variables. And it gives me a way to work with these without having to live inside curly brackets.
Also, the computed values can be reused and tracked for cascading updates:
$scope.$watch('height * width', function(v) {$scope.dim = v;});
$scope.$watch('dim * 40', function(v) {$scope.cost = v;});

So if height and/or width change, dim is updated, and since dim has changed, cost is updated.

A: I'm new to AngularJS but I think that $parse could be used:
http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng/service/$parse
This is interesting if you have the expression as a string. You can use a path of properties and that string can be generated dynamically. This works if you don't know the expression at compile time, a lot like eval() but probably a lot faster and maybe more secure(?).
Here's an example:
function Ctrl($scope,$parse) {
  var expression = 'model.val1 + model.val2';//could be dynamically created
  $scope.model = {
    val1: 0,
    val2: 0,
    total: function() {
        return ($parse(expression))($scope);
    }
  };
}

A: u can bind to a function

function CTRL ($scope) {
$scope.val1 = 3;
$scope.val2 = 4;
$scope.sum = function(){
   return ($scope.val1 *1 + $scope.val2 *1);
};

}
it will work the same
the binding expression will work but in much more complex cases we need functions

A: The $watch function that is made available through the $scope variable is best for this job in my opinion.
$scope.$watch(function(scope) { return scope.data.myVar },
              function(newValue, oldValue) {
                  document.getElementById("myElement").innerHTML =
                      "" + newValue + "";
              }
             );

The $watch function takes in a:
value function
& a listener function
The above example is taken from this awesome article: http://tutorials.jenkov.com/angularjs/watch-digest-apply.html
After reading through it, I learnt a lot and was able to implement the solution I was looking for.


text:
Home » Magazine » Issue 09 » Preview – CZ Czechmate
Preview – CZ Czechmate
Dick Jones
Photography by Suzi Nelson
Out of the Box, the CZ Czechmate Is a Race-Ready 9mm
Love them or loathe them, race guns represent the top of the pile when it comes to accuracy, speed, and power. At the 2012 Midway USA Bianchi Cup, I had the opportunity to shoot an Open Division 1911 pistol. My competitive shooting career has encompassed almost every form of shooting, and I've shot a lot of firearms — but none have impressed me more than that 9mm Open gun. I had admired and handled these types of guns before, but actually shooting a gun that's designed specifically to be both fast and accurate with little regard to the eventual cost is memorable to say the least.
Competitive venues typically have various divisions for participants to enter, depending on the type of weapon they're using and how extensively it has been customized. Most of the guns I've used in my life have been mildly modified to tweak their performance. In the case of an Open pistol, just about any modification is allowed; the only limit is how much money you have to spend. In my case, that amount was limited to around three grand, which in this game usually doesn't get you a whole lot. Enter the CZ Czechmate.
Although CZ designed this pistol as an out-of-the-box race gun, it's far from being a one trick pony. The Czechmate is quite a value, coming bundled with various options to allow the owner to configure the pistol in different ways. It arrives with a compensator, but there's also an excellent set of iron sights and a spare barrel. The compensator is designed for high-pressure loads in 9mm cases, duplicating the ballistics of the .38 Super cartridge and bumping the Czechmate into the Major caliber category for USPSA and IPSC competitions. An extra barrel allows the owner to reconfigure it as a regular 9mm for events like Steel Challenge, with a much lower power factor.
Other bonus items in the package include four magazines, three that hold 20 rounds and one that swallows 26 rounds. This alone represents almost $300 of value with the current price of competition magazines. Additional parts include a loader, a spare extractor, an extra slide release, and four replacement slide release pins.
For the rest of this article, subscribe digitally here: RECOIL Issue 9
[SHOT Show 2017] 2 New Faxon SLIM Muzzle Devices
Trijicon MRO: Miniature Rifle Optic
CONCEALMENT #16
RECOIL Issue #24


text:
Home/World/Erdogan says Russian S-400 system 'done deal' after talks with Putin
Erdogan says Russian S-400 system 'done deal' after talks with Putin
"If we sign a deal on an issue, that's a done deal," Erdogan was quoted by news portal Gazete Duvar reported on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said plans to buy the Russian S-400 missile system is a 'done deal' during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Erdogan and Putin held a conference in Moscow on Monday, following the third summit of the two leaders in 2019. In 2018, Putin and Erdogan held seven bilateral meetings and participated in numerous international summits.
The Turkish president underlined that the country won't submit to pressure over the agreement to buy the S-400 missile defense system.
"Those who ask or suggest we backtrack don't know us," Erdogan said referring to the United States government's strong disapproval of the deal.
"If we sign a deal on an issue, that's a done deal. This is our sovereign right, no one can ask us to back down,'' he added.
The delivery of F-35 fighter jet equipment to Turkey was halted by the US last week, in an attempt to make Ankara cancel its S-400 missile defense system purchase deal with Russia.
The US, along with several NATO member countries that are part of the F-35 program, has said Turkey's move to buy the missile defense system would compromise the security of the F 35 aircraft.
They fear the radar on the S-400 missile system will have the ability to spot and track the F-35 fighter jet, making it less able to evade Russian weapons in the future.
Putin mentioned other "promising projects" aimed to deepen defense cooperation with Turkey through "joint development and joint production of high-tech weaponry," Bloomberg reported.
Putin and Erdogan also focused on the war in Syria, where they have supported opposing groups.
"Steps we've taken and will take in Syria are of great importance," Erdogan said, praising the two governments' coordination in the country.
Reuters reported on Monday that Putin said Russia and Turkey will jointly patrol Idlib, Syria's rebel-held province that belongs to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia.
"We are basically entering joint patrolling, at least patrolling from two sides," Putin was quoted as saying.
The Russian President emphasized that the two leaders are continuing to coordinate efforts to stabilize the conflict in Syria.
"We are coordinating efforts to revitalize the Syrian political process, including with a view to forming a constitutional committee as soon as possible," he said.
Having a wide influence in Idlib, the last stronghold of opposition groups who rebelled against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, HTS militia includes the former Syrian al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front.
Moscow and Ankara reached a deal last September that aimed to create a 15 to 20km buffer zone surrounding Idlib province, where Russian and Turkish forces would patrol "radically minded" groups including HTS.
Putin said cooperation between Russia and Turkey in the energy sector has acquired "a truly strategic character". He explained that Russia is the largest supplier of natural gas to Turkey, covering almost half of the country's needs.
"The opening of a new gas pipeline, TurkStream, will significantly increase the supply of Russian gas to Turkish consumers," he added.
"We are implementing major projects that include Akkuyu, a nuclear power plant, that we should launch by 2023 in accordance with the wishes of the Turkish side," Putin added.
Putin also revealed that the trade turnover grew by 15 percent and the general volume of trade has reached $25 billion dollars. Erdogan said the two countries aim to further boost trade volume to around $100 billion.
Source: ipa
Erdogan F-35 NATO Putin Russia S-400 Syria Turkey Turkish US
Murder of mafia-linked man may reveal relations between state and organized criminals – Journalist
At least 15 killed as rebels and Syrian government forces clash ahead of Erdogan's Russian visit


text:
'Riddick' a fun but average action flick
By Alex Guyton
The 'best kept secret' of the School of Theatre, Film and Television
By Amber Soland and Edward Vento 01/28/20 3:21am
Filmmaker, YouTuber and UA alumnus talks personal branding in the online world
By Amber Soland 01/27/20 12:54am
The CATALYST for local art community
By Hannah Togia 12/12/19 10:38pm
The life of Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel) continues in the third installment of the "Riddick" film series as the eponymous hero has to fend off creatures, mercenaries and bounty hunters on an unknown planet.
The first act of the movie, which is minimal and stripped to the bare bones, may very well be the best. Riddick is stranded on a deserted planet with bloodthirsty, wild alien creatures. This part of the planet is a rocky wasteland interrupted by muddy pools, where scorpion-like "mud demons" live. Riddick does not have any tools to his advantage, aside from the signature blackout welding goggles that shield his light-sensitive eyes. He is an action hero devoid of gadgets and guns, and he must tap into his raw survival instincts and fashion weapons out of rocks and bones. This character is equal parts cunning and brutal.
Once Riddick makes his way beyond the wasteland to an outpost station, he activates a distress beacon, and two groups of people descend on the planet. One group consists of bounty hunters who want Riddick's head in a box, the other of mercenaries who need information from him. Unfortunately, all of these supporting characters are plagued by the same fate: They're not particularly memorable.
There is an interesting dynamic at play with the two separate factions bickering; however, many of the characters are one-note.
Worse, though, is that some of them are so bland that it's impossible to allot a single interesting adjective to their personality.
As a character, Riddick is rife with all of the machismo and posturing typically seen in tough-guy protagonists, possibly even more so than usual. He doesn't waste a line when it comes to asserting himself as dominant and in control, but many of these lines are so cringeworthy that they can't help but elicit a chuckle at their absurdity. Diesel's gruff, heavy delivery feels overdone at times, but it's hard to imagine such lines delivered any other way from a rough character like Riddick.
Despite the occasionally boring dialogue, Riddick's physical presence on screen does commands attention, and the film manages to be largely entertaining. After Riddick's pursuers have set up camp on the planet, the second act of the story has Riddick assuming the role of a stalker, setting traps in the darkness and picking the enemy off one by one.
Anyone going into the theater expecting typical action-movie tropes will be pleasantly surprised to find that "Riddick" does have its twists and turns. Of course, those who have kept up with the series won't miss a beat, but those who have not seen previous installments won't be lost, either.
It's not high art, but it's not a regrettable two hours in the slightest: the very definition of a popcorn flick.


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text:
Q: Ошибка is not in list python table[1] = [i - table[1][0]*table[0][table[0].index(i)] for i in table[1]]

Пишет:

ValueError: 1.12 is not in list

Весь код:
table = [[0.75, -0.84, 1.11, 0.66],
        [1.12, -0.14, 0.45, 0.83],
        [0.32, 0.23, -0.48, 0.14]]

def result():
    print('_'*30)
    for i in table:
        print(*i, sep=' | ')

#table.append([float(i) for i in input().split()])
#table.append([float(i) for i in input().split()])
#table.append([float(i) for i in input().split()])

for i in table:
    i.append(round(sum(i), 4))

result()

table[0] = [round(i/table[0][0], 4) for i in table[0]]

result()

table[1] = [(i - (table[1][0]*table[0][table[0].index(i)])) for i in table[1]]

result()


text:
Home › Amidst transfer rumors, Texas WR Xavier Worthy has deleted everything Longhorn related from his Instagram
Amidst transfer rumors, Texas WR Xavier Worthy has deleted everything Longhorn related from his Instagram
by Kossy Derrick Blog on November 26, 2022
Amidst transfer rumors, Texas WR Xavier Worthy has deleted everything Longhorn related from his Instagram.
It appears Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy could enter the NCAA transfer portal sooner rather than later.
Rumors have been circulating over the last few weeks that this could potentially happen, but Worthy added fuel to the fire after Texas' 38-27 over Baylor.
Worthy deleted all Texas-related posts from his Instagram account on Saturday. While this is certainly just speculation, it comes at an interesting time considering the Longhorns still have an outside shot at competing in the Big 12 Championship game this season.
Yet, it doesn't look like Worthy removed much of the Texas-related content from his Twitter page as of writing this up on the afternoon of Nov. 26.
Instagram looks to be the main form of social media that he rid of anything that tied him to the Longhorns following the conclusion of the regular season.
This comes as Worthy is already tied to a ton of rumors and discussion around various media circles and on the message boards that he could enter the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. It now looks like he could be hinting at something with the removal of Texas on Instagram this weekend.
I will say that this is not the first time that Worthy has done this type of thing on social media. So, we can't automatically assume that he is gone and will enter the portal in the next couple of weeks.
But that is mostly just speculation based on all the rumors circulating around Worthy possibly testing the waters in the transfer portal after the window opens on Dec. 5.
Worthy is having a down season with the Longhorns compared to an explosive true freshman campaign that saw him emerge as one of the most potent wideouts in the entire country. He finished up the regular season still with roughly 320 fewer receiving yards than last season, along with three fewer yards per catch, and three fewer touchdowns.
Moreover, if Worthy were to test the waters in the transfer portal entering the 2023 offseason, it wouldn't be the first time that he at least pondered the decision. Worthy was close to entering the portal last offseason, but he ultimately stuck around for another year on the Forty Acres.
Texas even flipped the commitment of Worthy from the Michigan Wolverines during the 2021 offseason. Worthy has at least considered a change in programs in every single offseason he was enrolled at a college in the last couple of years.
After beating Baylor by a score of 38-27 on Black Friday, the Longhorns finished up the regular season with a record of 8-4 (6-3 Big 12). Texas is now waiting for the result of the Kansas-Kansas State game on the night of Nov. 26 to figure out if it will get a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game next weekend against the No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs.


text:
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Animink / Blog (Page 6)
The Big Show Website
The John Boy & Billy show is a syndicated radio show that has been running in markets across the country for over 25 years. Their comedic style and good ol' boy spirited fun has literally entertained generations. Animink has worked with The Big Show since...
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Jeff Pillars is a professional voice actor, perhaps one of the best. Currently he's a cast member of iHeart Media's nationally syndicated "The John Boy & Billy Big Show", writing and performing dozens of characters, including song parodies. However he also provides voices for commercials,...
Protective Solutions Website
Protective Solutions tapped the Charlotte web design studio at Animink to redevelop their website. The existing site was also created by Animink, however it featured dated information, old flash files, and was non-responsive, rendering it difficult to view on mobile devices. Website Design Charlotte – Simple...
Lowe Vintage Website
Lowe Vintage Instrument Company opened their doors in Burlington, NC in 2014, however the owners have been lovers of string instruments long before the idea for the store came up. Father and son Ed & Will Lowe turned a shared passion for music and vintage...
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Lifestyles by Design is a full service exterior design firm, creating breathtaking destinations for commercial and high-end residential locations. Led by Karen Saper, their process is similar in many ways to website development – starting with an inspiration board or style tile, and ultimately presenting...
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Animink, a Charlotte Web Design company, worked in conjunction with Alison South Marketing to produce animated shorts for Queensborough Bank. The animations were designed to promote Queensborough and provide brief information to the viewer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlEfhLdLxNM&feature=youtu.be Creative cartoon animation The first clip was a :10 station ID running in...
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I'm often asked, "How did you get interested in weather?" That's a tough question to answer because my first memories (all the way back to the age of two) involved weather events. It probably started earlier than that though. As an infant, my mom followed the advice of her doctor to give me an hour or two of fresh air every day, even in winter. One cloudy afternoon my mom left me in my stroller, all bundled up of course, on our back deck. As I napped and my mom fixed lunch, the light snow that began to fall went unnoticed. I'm told my mother became aware of the gently falling snow as accumulations approached an inch on me, and my stroller. A curiosity and eventual career in meteorology would follow.
I don't remember the blizzard of 1978, but my parents had no reservations taking me out to experience the record snowfall after the flakes had ended. At our home, roads were closed to vehicles, so hoofing it and snow mobiles were the only way to visit neighbors. That's me wrapped in the blanket, and the beer under my stroller wasn't mine.
Most meteorologists have a love for storms. Let's be honest, we didn't fall in love with the science because of sunny 80 degree days. Usually meteorologists love either hurricanes or winter storms. For me, it was winter storms. A snow day was, and still is magical. There could be nothing better in my eyes that no school and a day filled with playing outside. My dog Dooie didn't mind it either.
New England hasn't seen the wrath of a major hurricane since the mid 1950s, but Gloria in the 1985 and Bob in 1991 left a lasting impression on my developing weather mind. The eye of Bob went right over the small island where my family spent summers. I'm the guy in with the cool fluorescent yellow top to my jacket.
Naturally, the first thing a weather nut does after graduating college is go to work in the world's worst weather. This is me trying to retrieve the precipitation can on the summit of Mount Washington while winds gusted to 120 mph.
There's a funny irony about being a broadcast meteorologist. Most of us get into the business because we love to experience storms. I've gone entire two day storms in the WGME studio with my head in front of a computer and camera for hours, and experienced the storm no more than sticking my head out the door from time to time. These days, I settle for experiencing "after" the storm. I wouldn't trade it for the world tough. When not in the WGME office, I love skiing with the family, hiking, fishing, and gardening. A few things you might not know about me… I love dogs, grow giant pumpkins, and hate white chocolate. It is an honor that the Bangor Daily News has asked me to blog for them, and I look forward to our new partnership in the coming months and years.
Charlie makes up the "Weather Part" of CBS News 13s evening edition. A native New Englander, he grew up enjoying the area's exciting and sometimes wild weather.
Check in with Charlie is a member of the BDN Maine Blog network.


text:
import { dispose, IDisposable } from 'vs/base/common/lifecycle';
import { ICodeEditor } from 'vs/editor/browser/editorBrowser';
import { IContextKey, IContextKeyService, RawContextKey } from 'vs/platform/contextkey/common/contextkey';
import { CompletionModel } from './completionModel';
import { ISelectedSuggestion } from './suggestWidget';

export class SuggestAlternatives {

	static readonly OtherSuggestions = new RawContextKey<boolean>('hasOtherSuggestions', false);

	private readonly _ckOtherSuggestions: IContextKey<boolean>;

	private _index: number = 0;
	private _model: CompletionModel | undefined;
	private _acceptNext: ((selected: ISelectedSuggestion) => any) | undefined;
	private _listener: IDisposable | undefined;
	private _ignore: boolean | undefined;

	constructor(
		private readonly _editor: ICodeEditor,
		@IContextKeyService contextKeyService: IContextKeyService
	) {
		this._ckOtherSuggestions = SuggestAlternatives.OtherSuggestions.bindTo(contextKeyService);
	}

	dispose(): void {
		this.reset();
	}

	reset(): void {
		this._ckOtherSuggestions.reset();
		dispose(this._listener);
		this._model = undefined;
		this._acceptNext = undefined;
		this._ignore = false;
	}

	set({ model, index }: ISelectedSuggestion, acceptNext: (selected: ISelectedSuggestion) => any): void {

		// no suggestions -> nothing to do
		if (model.items.length === 0) {
			this.reset();
			return;
		}

		// no alternative suggestions -> nothing to do
		let nextIndex = SuggestAlternatives._moveIndex(true, model, index);
		if (nextIndex === index) {
			this.reset();
			return;
		}

		this._acceptNext = acceptNext;
		this._model = model;
		this._index = index;
		this._listener = this._editor.onDidChangeCursorPosition(() => {
			if (!this._ignore) {
				this.reset();
			}
		});
		this._ckOtherSuggestions.set(true);
	}

	private static _moveIndex(fwd: boolean, model: CompletionModel, index: number): number {
		let newIndex = index;
		while (true) {
			newIndex = (newIndex + model.items.length + (fwd ? +1 : -1)) % model.items.length;
			if (newIndex === index) {
				break;
			}
			if (!model.items[newIndex].completion.additionalTextEdits) {
				break;
			}
		}
		return newIndex;
	}

	next(): void {
		this._move(true);
	}

	prev(): void {
		this._move(false);
	}

	private _move(fwd: boolean): void {
		if (!this._model) {
			// nothing to reason about
			return;
		}
		try {
			this._ignore = true;
			this._index = SuggestAlternatives._moveIndex(fwd, this._model, this._index);
			this._acceptNext!({ index: this._index, item: this._model.items[this._index], model: this._model });
		} finally {
			this._ignore = false;
		}
	}
}


Ramen, oh how I absolutely adore ramen! I grew up enjoying prepackaged ramen noodles. I was only allowed to have it occasionally, and I always looked forward to being able to have it. Ramen restaurants definitely opened my eyes and made me realize how amazing real ramen could be. I so badly wanted to have a vegan version of ramen, and I believe this recipe does the trick. It comes together surprisingly fast considering that it's ramen, which normally takes a lot of cooking time. Pro tip: wear a shirt you're not too fond of (or an apron), the joyous slurping made a lovely little mess of our shirts.
If you're looking for a salad to have this with, I'd definitely recommend pairing this with my Asian Cabbage Salad! The flavors go so well together.
Cook the ramen noodles according to package instructions.
Drain and set aside. Keep separate from the soup until just before serving.
Heat a large non-stick pot over medium-high heat.
Add 1 Tablespoon of oil and sauté cubed tofu.
Set sautéed tofu aside on a paper towel covered plate.
Add 1 Tablespoon of oil to the pot. Add onions and sliced lotus root (if using) to pot and sauté for 5 minutes until starting to soften.
Add the mushroom and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic and ginger and stir until just fragrant – no more than 30 seconds.
Add chili sauce, vegan oyster sauce (if using), low sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, vegetable broth, water, and baby bok choy.
Bring to a simmer, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Place a serving of noodles in a bowl and then pour the soup over them.
Top with green onions, sesame seeds, and enoki mushrooms.
*Vegan oyster sauce is sold in Asian grocery stores, omit if you can't find it.
**If you find the soup too salty, add 1-2 cups of water.
***For leftovers, be sure to store the noodles and the soup separately.


text:
Series: Body Scanners
Drive-by Scanning: Officials Expand Use and Dose of Radiation for Security Screening
From prisons to borders to the streets of New York, law enforcement officials are using X-ray scanners on people more often and with higher doses of radiation.
by Michael Grabell
Jan. 27, 2012, 9:30 a.m. EST
Risking Health to Secure Airports
We're seeking anyone who has had personal experience with certain X-ray devices. Please see the bottom of the story for information on how you can contribute.
U.S. law enforcement agencies are exposing people to radiation in more settings and in increasing doses to screen for explosives, weapons and drugs. In addition to the controversial airport body scanners, which are now deployed for routine screening, various X-ray devices have proliferated at the border, in prisons and on the streets of New York.
Not only have the machines become more widespread, but some of them expose people to higher doses of radiation. And agencies have pushed the boundaries of acceptable use by X-raying people covertly, according to government documents and interviews.
While airport scanners can show objects on the surface of the body, prisons have begun to use X-rays that can see through the body to detect contraband hidden in cavities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in the process of deploying dozens of drive-through X-ray portals to scan cars and buses at the border with their passengers still inside.
X-ray scanners have been tested at ferry crossings, for visitor entries at the Pentagon and for long-range detection of suicide bombers at special events. And drawing the ire of privacy groups, Customs and the New York Police Department have deployed unmarked X-ray vans that can drive to a location and look inside vehicles for drugs and explosives.
Most federal health regulations for medical X-rays do not apply to security equipment, leaving the decision of when and how to use the scanners almost entirely in the hands of security officials.
Although the 9/11 attacks provided the impetus and prompted the spending to develop such equipment, most of the machines have been deployed only in the last few years. New attacks and ever-tighter security measures have made law enforcement officials more willing to expose the public to X-ray devices that were once taboo.
When the body scanners were introduced in prisons in the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration convened an advisory panel. Several of the outside scientists warned that once the longstanding practice of X-raying humans only for health reasons was ended, it was just a matter of time before the machines would become acceptable in airports, courthouses and schools.
"This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen back when we had the FDA meetings," said Kathleen Kaufman, who as director of Los Angeles County's radiation management program served on the advisory panel.
The FDA has little authority to regulate the use of electronic products emitting radiation. Because security scanners are not classified as medical devices, the agency doesn't approve them for safety before sale. And it can go after only the manufacturers for excessive radiation -- not the users of the machines for deploying them too frequently or in other questionable ways.
Handicapping its power even more, the FDA ultimately went against the advisory panel's recommendation to adopt a federal safety standard for the new security devices. Instead, it followed congressional direction to use industry standards wherever possible and let the scanners fall under voluntary guidelines set by a nonprofit group made up largely of manufacturers and agencies that wanted to use the X-ray machines.
It is difficult to estimate the long-term health risks of low levels of radiation. At higher levels, ionizing radiation -- the energy used in the scanners -- has been shown to damage DNA and mutate genes, potentially leading to cancer. A comprehensive study by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the more radiation a person gets, however little at a time, the greater their lifetime risk of dying from cancer.
The manufacturers counter that their machines emit extremely low levels of radiation, hundreds of times less than a chest X-ray. Humans are constantly exposed to background radiation from radon in the ground and cosmic rays in the atmosphere. In comparison, the radiation from security devices is trivial, they say.
Moreover, the X-ray scanners have produced a number of success stories, intercepting immigrant smugglers, unearthing tons of cocaine and other drugs, preventing contraband in jails and adding a layer of protection to the nation's transportation system, according to the agencies that use them.
But the rapid expansion raises serious questions about whether the United States is sacrificing safety in the name of security.
"Because of the wide proliferation of these things, we don't know who's using them and how frequently," said Peter Rez, an Arizona State University physicist who has criticized the use of the machines. "It's not that the radiation from these machines is very high. It's 'Does the benefit outweigh the risk?'"
X-rays on Wheels
One of the first technologies after 9/11 that would expose humans to X-rays was the Z Backscatter Van -- essentially a x-ray scanner on a truck -- made by American Science & Engineering.
The device, which was deployed by the military to detect car bombs in war zones, uses X-rays that are designed to find organic materials such as drugs and explosives. The rays scatter back to a detector rather passing through an object as in a medical X-ray. The van can scan while driving alongside a line of vehicles or while parked as they pass by.
According to a company presentation obtained by a civil liberties group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a backscatter van delivers a radiation dose about twice that of an airport body scanner.
Soldiers serving in Iraq nicknamed the vans "white devils." Customs officers call them "ice cream trucks."
Customs and Border Protection has purchased 75 backscatter vans for use at border crossings, ports, Border Patrol checkpoints and even the Super Bowl, according to agency records. Customs spokeswoman Jenny Burke said passengers must exit the vehicle before the scan.
While the Transportation Security Administration hasn't bought them, it tested them at a Delaware ferry crossing in 2004 and at a Long Island ferry crossing in 2009, spokesman Greg Soule said. In the first test, passengers weren't in the vehicles. But in the second test, passengers remained in the vehicles but could opt out, he said. Another TSA test in 2009 was conducted in northern New Jersey on empty commuter train cars in a rail yard.
The X-ray vans have also shown up on American streets. In 2010, Homeland Security officials conducted an exercise scanning tractor-trailers on Interstate 20. And the New York Police Department uses the vans.
The NYPD has declined to release details about the use of the machines.
ABC News reporters Richard Esposito and Ted Gerstein provide one of the few accounts of the backscatter van in a book they wrote chronicling a year inside NYPD's bomb squad. Describing the security ahead of President Bush's motorcade to the 2004 Republican convention, they wrote that every vehicle entering the street in front of the hotel was ordered to drive between two unmarked white vans, which X-rayed each vehicle for bombs.
Such covert use of radiation, if done without informed consent, would violate the industry standard.
"The institution operating the system shall inform each person being screened that the system emits radiation," the standard states. It also requires that people be told the radiation dose and that there be a visible indicator when X-rays are emitted.
Joe Reiss, AS&E's vice president of marketing, said although the vans are designed for covert use, the vans comply with the standard because they have two lights that flash when a scan is in progress.
Kevin Barry, an NYPD bomb squad detective who retired in 2002, said that when he was there, the police ensured that the area was clear of people any time they used X-ray equipment and that officers wore film badges to monitor radiation exposure.
"They're very cognizant of the fact that if there's a radiation issue that they have to monitor the health issue," he said.
But even if a violation were discovered, there is little the FDA can do because the standard is voluntary and not a federal regulation.
The FDA, which said it doesn't regulate the "use" of security scanners emitting radiation, referred questions to New York State, which also said it does not regulate the scanners and referred questions to the New York City Department of Health, which also said it does not regulate the devices.
Drive-through Scanners
Customs and Border Protection is also installing 35 drive-through X-ray portals purchased with economic stimulus money, according to a company report posted on the government's stimulus website, Recovery.gov.
A test system was installed at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego in 2008 and portals will soon be deployed in El Paso and Laredo, Texas, and elsewhere on the Southwest border, according to contract documents obtained by the privacy group EPIC.
The portals, made by AS&E, can scan cars and buses from the top and sides as their drivers pass through at 3 mph.
The scanners' X-rays have to penetrate metal and glass. But according to Customs and the company, the radiation dose is equivalent to an airport body scan.
The dose is low because Customs officers do not need as high a resolution to see bulk explosives or drugs as a TSA screener would need to see a tiny detonator or a razor blade, said Rez, the Arizona State physicist. He estimated the dose by analyzing the images with a computer program.
The company says the portal is safe for everyday use. But Burke, the Customs spokeswoman, said it won't be used on every driver crossing the border -- only those who raise suspicion and require additional inspection. Passengers will be allowed to opt out and have a Customs officer drive it through the portal for them.
Ginger McCall, director of EPIC's Open Government program, is skeptical.
"You know what else started out as a secondary screening mechanism?" she asked. "Airport backscatter machines. The TSA said 'don't worry' to the American public. 'These are only going to be used as secondary screening devices.' And look how that turned out."
"Intelligent Pedestrian Surveillance"
There are now about 250 X-ray body scanners in airports nationwide. But government agencies are exploring additional uses for the technology.
In 2010, the military brought two TSA body scanners to the Pentagon visitors' entrance, where they were tested by Defense Department staff. But plans were put on hold pending TSA testing of new privacy software that wouldn't show an image of a person's body.
"There's now technology which makes it look like a cartoon figure," said Chris Layman, spokesman for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. "We wanted to make sure that if we did this, all the privacy concerns are taken care of."
The Department of Homeland Security has funded research for walk-through X-ray body scanners that could be used at special events, and for long-range X-ray scanners to detect suicide bombers in crowds, according to documents obtained by EPIC.
Using similar backscatter technology, the walk-through scanner would speed up checks that now require people to stand with their hands over their heads while scanned. In tests of the long-distance scanner, according to contract documents, officials wanted to see whether it could identify people with metal and dense plastic from up to 30 feet away.
"Customers need a greater capability than what is currently available for detecting IEDs on people," Homeland Security officials wrote in a statement of work for a technology dubbed the "Intelligent Pedestrian Surveillance Platform." "This is especially relevant at high-volume public areas and entrances to important infrastructure."
The radiation dose for such a scanner was listed in 2006 as 10 times higher than that of an airport scanner.
Intelligence released last summer that terrorist groups are considering implanting bombs in their bodies has raised concerns that the TSA would one day deploy X-ray scanners that can see into the body. In the past, the agency has declined to say whether it had ever considered the technology, known as "transmission X-rays."
But other Homeland Security documents, also obtained by EPIC and provided to ProPublica, show that in 2010, Homeland Security's science and technology division entered into an agreement with the FDA to test such technology.
"Transmission X-ray devices are being considered by DHS for passenger screening," the statement of work says. "The proposed use of transmission methods for routine passenger screening may have significant health & safety implications and requires special study and evaluation."
John Verrico, a spokesman for the department's science and technology division, said the proposed tests never went forward and the discussion of transmission X-rays was ultimately removed from the final statement of work.
"Transmission X-ray systems have not been tested," he said in an email. "Personnel have viewed vendors' demonstrations at their locations to evaluate the maturity of the equipment and the state of the technology."
"Treating People Like Luggage"
Such machines, however, were introduced in prisons in 2011.
A transmission X-ray body scanner, the RadPRO SecurPASS, is sold by Virtual Imaging, a Florida subsidiary of Canon USA. In the last year, it has been installed at the Cook County Jail in Chicago; several jails in Florida and Alabama; and the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, a temporary detention center for inmates being transported across the country.
The dose has two settings. The standard setting delivers a radiation dose about 10 times higher than that of an airport body scanner. But to produce a better image, the operator has the ability to switch to a higher exposure, said Kris Kessler, creative marketing manager for Virtual Imaging.
That dose is still a fraction of the radiation received in a chest X-ray or cross-country flight. But it's more than 50 times higher than that of an airport scanner.
Even with the standard setting, the quality of the image produced by the SecurPASS is so good that people don't have to take off their jackets or shoes, as they do before going through the airport scanners, Kessler said.
"It's almost like we're treating people like luggage," he said.
The device has already made some interesting finds. One inmate was found to have swallowed 10 pouches of heroin, Steve Patterson, then the Cook County Sheriff's Office spokesman, told ProPublica last year. Another inmate, he said, was found to have kidney stones.
Jails use the SecurPASS mostly on prisoners as they leave and come back from work detail, Kessler said. But some facilities are considering using it on employees as well, he added, to prevent them from bringing in contraband.
Dennis Wolfe, Virtual Imaging's national sales manager for security products, said he has had conversations with the TSA and that a test lasting several months was overseen by Homeland Security science and technology staff in 2010 and 2011. The department denied that.
The device, which was initially used to prevent theft in diamond mines, has already been used at London's Heathrow Airport to scan suspected drug mules. (Customs officials in the United States and other countries can, with a traveler's consent, order a medical X-ray, which would deliver a higher radiation dose.)
For now, however, Virtual Imaging is focusing on corrections facilities.
Chris Burke, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said the system is running a pilot test of various scanners but has not made a decision.
Still, Wolfe said he expects many federal prisons and larger jail systems to be using the SecurPASS in the next few years. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist," he said. "If somebody's hiding something up their butt, which technology are you going to use?"
The rapid growth of X-ray scanning for security and the limited authority granted to regulators make it difficult to keep track of the equipment.
Two airport body scanners, for example, were recently auctioned off by the General Services Administration. A new scanner typically sells for $170,000. But these scanners, which had been in storage, were sold for a total of $600.
Under FDA regulations, sellers would normally be required to keep records of who purchases their X-ray products. But because the FDA never adopted a mandatory safety standard for the airport body scanners, this rule does not apply.
To help determine the extent of the use of these devices, we're seeking stories from those who have had personal experience. Please share your stories in a private email to [email protected].
We are especially interested in the following:
Have you seen the NYPD backscatter vans? If so, where and how were they being used?
Have you gone through a Z Portal at the border? What was your experience?
If your car was scanned by a backscatter van by Customs or Border Patrol, were you asked to get out of the car or did you remain inside?
If you work in a prison or jail with an X-ray body scanner, how are they used?
Have you seen these technologies anywhere we didn't mention in the story?
Do you know of other security X-ray products that are being used or developed?
Any information is appreciated.
Michael Grabell
Michael Grabell writes about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. In 2018, he was part of a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for public service for their coverage of President Trump's family separation policy.
@MichaelGrabell


Abstract: This is one study done by a small group of researchers to compare measurements of Collective Efficacy (CE) across three different educational systems in three separate states. Using data collected from an approved CE survey tool this study advances current knowledge using statistical analysis. The CE surveys were completed at a public school in Colorado; a public school in Montana; a parochial school in Montana; and two Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools in the Western Great Plains. Data was collected from certified and non-certified teachers to answer research questions that compared the differences in mean collective efficacy from the different school system types. The study also analyzed school type (Native American vs. Non- Native American populations) collective efficacy comparisons.
Reference: Erickson, L., Murray, T. L., Seger, C. M., & Small, I. (2015). Improving achievement in schools through an examination of school types. The Researcher, 27(2), 1-6.
Abstract: With the publication of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), science education has been ushered into a new era. However, it is currently unclear how prepared elementary educators are for the NGSS framework. This study sought to establish measures for assessing inservice educators' self-reported understanding of the new framework and readiness to implement the ideas in their science instruction. Designing and validating an instrument to assess these constructs followed procedures established in the literature including item development based on literature, an expert review, a pilot study, and finally a validation study. The results of the study are two valid and reliable instruments that could be used in similar contexts to measure elementary educators' understanding of or readiness to implement the new framework for science education. The unique factor structure of the two scales suggests important differences between understanding and readiness. These differences should inform professional development efforts.
Reference: Nollmeyer, G. E., & Bangert, A. (2015). Assessing K-5 elementary teachers understanding and readiness to teach the new framework for science education. The Researcher, 27(2), 7-13.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to describe the leadership traits of successful women university presidents. Through interviews conducted with 4 women who lead research intensive universities, this narrative study identified several themes related to leadership success. The findings inform leadership learning for all women working in education.
Reference: Reis Carlson, T. (2015). Leadership traits of successful women university presidents. The Researcher, 27(2), 14-19.
Abstract: This study examined four prospective mathematics teachers thinking while creating and analyzing mathematical arguments. The data was examined through Toulmin's (1958) argumentation scheme to understand how participants created their arguments. Findings suggest several areas in which they could strengthen their arguments.
Reference: Rice, L. (2015). Prospective secondary mathematics teachers' thinking in arguing: Applying Toulmin's scheme to four cases. The Researcher, 27(2), 20-24.
Abstract: Graduate students (n = 52) were asked about their perceptions of student loan debt in an online survey. Results indicated a significant correlation between worrying about debt and soliciting advice. These findings point to the importance of providing guidance for students considering loans.
Reference: Weatherford, J. S., & McKim, C. H. (2015). Graduate student perceptions of educational debt. The Researcher, 27(2), 25-33.
Abstract: This paper describes a study involving drawings and diagrams and their relatedness to higher achievement scores within a college level course for prospective teachers. A comparison of exam scores between two groups showed that course participants who constructed drawings and/or diagrams scored higher than participants who constructed definition pages.
Reference: Laaman, L., & Jay, J. (2015). Student constructed visuals to enhance learning. The Researcher, 27(2), 34-37.
Abstract: This manuscript includes an investigation of graduate student mentoring for the purpose of facilitating successful mentoring relationships. The authors review the literature, and use student development theory to operationalize terms. Alternative mentoring models are suggested in meeting student needs at different developmental stages and considering the intersections of their identity.
Reference: Downs, L., & Windchief, S. (2015). Clone, critic, or peer: Mentoring, developmental positioning and potential. The Researcher, 27(2), 38-44.
Abstract: Educators in higher education recognize the importance of metacognitive skills, but they are unclear about how to teach in a way that supports metacognitive development. The following article offers some basic principles of best practices to help teachers integrate critical reflection into an existing content-based course.
Reference: Ratto-Parks, A. (2015). Best practices for building a critical reflective curriculum to foster metacognitive growth in the higher education classroom. The Researcher, 27(2), 45-48.
Abstract: A partnership between a school of education, a school district, and a robotics learning company are formed to provide enrichment robotics classes for elementary students with the intent of improving attitudes toward and knowledge of STEM subjects of both elementary students and preservice elementary school teachers.
Reference: Tuft, E. (2015). Increasing prospective teachers' and elementary students' STEM knowledge through and enrichment robotics program. The Researcher, 27(2), 49-53.
Reference: Zost, G. C., & Zost, L. A. (2015). Student-selected performance rubrics: An option for increased academic rigor. The Researcher, 27(2), 54-60.


Like a pirate's treasure marked with an X on a deserted island, rental car deals and discounts seem like a made-up subplot from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island." But unlike that chest of rubies, pearls, and gold coins, deals for car rentals are very real. They exist and they're there for the taking. All you have to do is reach.
We may not have Blackbeard's buried treasure to offer you today, but we do have an awesome jewel of sorts to bestow upon you. As part of our All-American series, we've put together a lengthy list of rental car hacks to help you get a leg-up next time you're renting a vehicle. Follow along. Take notes. You're going to want to remember this one.
Trust us, the discounts are out there. If you're in a corporate job, check with the higher-ups, because a lot of corporate companies are entitled to massive discounts with certain rental car companies.
If you haven't quite joined the rat race yet because you're still studying for mid-terms, don't worry. Plenty of companies offer awesome discounts and perks for students.
We know all you need is one car to get around, but that doesn't mean you can't book as many as you please. Hold the reservations until the last minute and then go with the one whose rates dropped the most. No, this is not a joke. You can book as many as you please and ditch the most expensive ones at the last minute. And unlike many airline companies, most rental car companies won't charge you an out-of-this-world cancellation fee. But for the ones that do charge a cancellation fee, there's a way to get around it. Select the "pay at counter" option when you reserve a car and all cancellation fees will go out the window.
It's so simple. You land at the airport, deplane, collect your bags from baggage claim, and make your way to the nearby rental car counter. You get your car and you're on your way.
Even though you're giddy about getting behind the wheel and embarking on this new adventure, your wallet is lighter. Why? Because those super convenient rental counters like to throw extra surcharges at you.
One way to avoid these is to get your car from a place that's not at the airport—or better yet, reserve through an on-line agency like CarRentals. Trust us, booking online or taking a short taxi ride to an off-site locale will be much cheaper than a $100-plus extra fee.
One thing to keep in mind: Some of these off-site businesses are connected to the airport by name and apply the same charges. With a phone call or two you'll be able to find the ones that aren't "airport" affiliated.
As a final tip, save yourself loads of time by booking ahead of landing so you can get in the car and go as soon as you arrive.
You probably trust your own driving skills, because if you didn't, you wouldn't have gotten a license. And since your confidence is that of a Formula 1 driver, there's no need to get the rental car insurance, right? Not quite. Just place a quick phone call to your own car insurance company and they'll likely tell you that under your current plan you're covered while behind the wheel of a rented, 4-door sedan.
You've made a standard reservation: a simple, small hatchback. Then you discover upon arrival that the rental car company has added on every bell and whistle. Don't feel pressured into getting unnecessary accessories like a sunroof or a car with a V8. Unless, of course, you want all the fancy stuff, then by all means splurge.
When you get your car, be sure to do a thorough inspection of every nick, dent, scratch, and so forth. Make the rental agent aware of such existing travesties. In fact, take pictures of said damage so you don't get stuck with the repair bill upon returning the vehicle. That's like being accused and paying for a crime you didn't commit.
Rental companies routinely get people to fall for their gas deals. Hey, we admit they sound pretty good. After all, you need gas to drive the car, but going the easy way may cost you in the end.
Prepaid gas options may sound fast and convenient, but will blow a hole through your pocket faster than a blow torch. How? Because even though you may return with only half of a tank gone, you'll still be charged for a full tank. Fill it up at a gas station. And do not return it with anything less than a full tank to avoid surcharges.
We hope these car rental tips and tricks help save a bit of money and stress next time you're driving away in a rental car. Nothing makes us happier than helping customers like you stay flush with cash and headache-free.
• Booking weekend rates instead of weekday rates tend to be cheaper.
• Renting for two weeks? Check to see if it's cheaper to pay the weekly rate twice (returning the car in between).
• If you're using the car for at least five days, check to see if a weekly rate is cheaper.
• Traveling with a child? Bring your own car seat.
• Bring your own GPS.
• Prepaying in advance can lead to discounts, as can booking early.
• Remember, whoever the driver is needs to have a credit card with their name on it.
Want to know the know most popular places to rent a car in America? These are the top favorites!
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