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Rome's Subway Expansion Reveals Artifacts From The Ancient Past
By msmash from Slashdot's blast-from-the-past department:
All roads may lead to Rome, but once you get there, good luck taking the subway. The sprawling metropolis is expanding its mass transit system -- a sluggish process made even slower as workers keep running into buried ancient ruins. From a report: "I found some gold rings. I found glasswork laminated in gold depicting a Roman god, some amphoras," says Gilberto Pagani, a bulldozer operator at the Amba Aradam metro stop, currently under construction not far from the Colosseum. Pagani is part of an archaeological team at the site, a certified archaeological construction worker trained to excavate, preserve and build in cities like Rome, with thousands of years of civilization buried beneath the surface. The presence of ancient artifacts underground is a daunting challenge for urban developers. For archaeologists, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. "I think it's the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me, professionally speaking," says Simona Morretta, the state archaeologist in charge of the Amba Aradam site. "Because you never get the chance in a regular excavation to dig so deep. That's how we've found architectural complexes as important as this."
Some Colleges Cautiously Embrace Wikipedia
By msmash from Slashdot's synergies-emerge department:
Megan Zahneis, writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education: Academics have traditionally distrusted Wikipedia, citing the inaccuracies that arise from its communally edited design and lamenting students' tendency to sometimes plagiarize assignments from it. Now, LiAnna Davis, director of programs for Wikipedia's higher-education-focused nonprofit arm Wiki Education, said, higher education and Wikipedia don't seem like such strange bedfellows. At conferences these days, "everyone's like, 'Oh, Wikipedia, of course you guys are here.'" "I think it's a recognition that Wikipedia is embedded within the fabric of learning now," she said. One initiative Davis oversees at Wiki Education aims to forge stronger bonds between Wikipedia and higher education. The Visiting Scholars program, which began in 2015, pairs academics at colleges with experienced Wikipedia editors. Institutions provide the editors with access to academic journals, research databases, and digital collections, which the editors use to write and expand Wikipedia articles on topics of mutual interest. A dozen institutions, including Rutgers University, Brown University, and the University of Pittsburgh, are participating.
Slashdot Asks: Do You Need To Properly Eject a USB Drive Before Yanking it Out?
By msmash from Slashdot's lets-settle-it department:
In a story earlier this week, Popular Science magazine explored an age-old topic: Do people need to safely eject a USB stick before they pull it from their computer? The magazine's take on it -- which is, as soon any ongoing transfer of files is complete, it is safe to yank out the flash drive -- has unsurprisingly stirred a debate. Here's what the magazine wrote: But do you really need to eject a thumb drive the right way? Probably not. Just wait for it to finish copying your data, give it a few seconds, then yank. To be on the cautious side, be more conservative with external hard drives, especially the old ones that actually spin. That's not the official procedure, nor the most conservative approach. And in a worst-case scenario, you risk corrupting a file or -- even more unlikely -- the entire storage device. To justify its rationale, the magazine has cited a number of computer science professors. In the same story, however, a director of product marketing at SanDisk made a case for why people should probably safely eject the device. He said, "Failure to safely eject the drive may potentially damage the data due to processes happening in the system background that are unseen to the user." John Gruber of DaringFireball (where we originally spotted the story), makes a case for why users should safely eject the device before pulling it out: This is terrible advice. It's akin to saying you probably don't need to wear a seat belt because it's unlikely anything bad will happen. Imagine a few dozen people saying they drive without a seat belt every day and nothing's ever gone wrong, so it must be OK. (The breakdown in this analogy is that with seat belts, you know instantly when you need to be wearing one. With USB drives, you might not discover for months or years that you've got a corrupt file that was only partially written to disk when you yanked the drive.) I see a bunch of "just pull out the drive and not worry about it" Mac users on Twitter celebrating this article, and I don't get it. On the Mac you have to do something on screen when you eject a drive. Either you properly eject it before unplugging the drive -- one click in the Finder sidebar -- or you need to dismiss the alert you'll get about having removed a drive that wasn't properly ejected. Why not take the course of action that guarantees data integrity? What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the answer varies across different file systems and operating systems?
Bot Tweeted Names And Photos Of Venmo Users Who Bought Drugs
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's for-the-lolz department:
Since Venmo's transactions are "public" by default and broadcast on Venmo's API, a Python programmer decided to publicize a few of them, reports the Mercury News:
The creator of the bot named "Who's buying drugs on Venmo" under the Twitter handle @venmodrugs says he wanted users to consider their privacy settings before using Venmo. The bot finds Venmo transactions that include words such as heroin, marijuana, cocaine, meth, speed or emojis that denote drugs and tweets the transaction with the names of the sender and receiver and the sender's photo, if there is one... "I wanted to demonstrate how much data Venmo was making publicly available with their open API and their public by default settings and encourage people to consider their privacy settings," Joel Guerra, the creator of the bot, told Motherboard, a technology news outlet run by Vice.
He shut the bot after 24 hours, according to a Medium essay titled "Why I blasted your 'drug' deals on Twitter":
I chose drugs, sex and alcohol keywords as the trigger for the bot because because they were funny and shocking. I removed the last names of users because I didn't want to actually contribute to the problem of lack of privacy... I braced myself for backlash but the response was overwhelmingly positive. People understood my point and I had sparked a lot of discussion about online privacy and the need for users to do a better job of understanding the terms of software they were using -- and a lot of discussion about how companies need to do a better job of informing customers how their data was being used...
< article continued at Slashdot's for-the-lolz department >
Ask Slashdot: Should I Ditch PHP?
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's hypertext-pre-processing department:
Long-time Slashdot reader Qbertino does PHP for a living, but says he's growing "increasingly frustrated with the ignorant and clueless in the vincinity of PHP."
Crappy code and baaaaad application setups is one thing, but people refusing to fix them or simply not even understanding the broader implications of bad applications or attempting SEO with gadgets while refusing to fix 3.5 MB-per-pagecall are just minor tidbits in a history of increasingly unnerving run-ins with knuckledragers in the "web agency" camp...
Will I leave the larger part of this backwards stuff behind if I move to another server-side programming language such as Java or Kotlin for professional work in the broader web area? Do I have a chance to do quality work on quality projects using PHP, or are those slim compare to other programming languages? In short, should I ditch PHP?
"I think .NET is a much cleaner language to work in with Microsoft's excellent Visual Studio IDE and debugger," argues Slashdot reader Agret , adding "there are many large projects in my city hiring .NET developers and being a strongly typed language the code quality is generally better than PHP."
But what's been your experience? And would a frustrated developer find more quality projects by ditching PHP?
'The Cashless Society is a Con -- and Big Finance is Behind It'
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's moving-your-money-around department:
An anonymous reader quotes this opinion piece by former derivatives broker Brett Scott:
Banks are closing ATMs and branches in an attempt to 'nudge' users towards digital services -- and it's all for their own benefit... I recently got a letter from my bank telling me that they are shutting down local branches because "customers are turning to digital", and they are thus "responding to changing customer preferences". I am one of the customers they are referring to, but I never asked them to shut down the branches... I am much more likely to "choose" a digital option if the banks deliberately make it harder for me to choose a non-digital option. In behavioural economics this is referred to as "nudging". If a powerful institution wants to make people choose a certain thing, the best strategy is to make it difficult to choose the alternative...
Digital systems may be "convenient", but they often come with central points of failure. Cash, on the other hand, does not crash. It does not rely on external data centres, and is not subject to remote control or remote monitoring. The cash system allows for an unmonitored "off the grid" space. This is also the reason why financial institutions and financial technology companies want to get rid of it. Cash transactions are outside the net that such institutions cast to harvest fees and data.
A cashless society brings dangers. People without bank accounts will find themselves further marginalised, disenfranchised from the cash infrastructure that previously supported them. There are also poorly understood psychological implications about cash encouraging self-control while paying by card or a mobile phone can encourage spending. And a cashless society has major surveillance implications.
While a cashless society might make it cheaper to run a bank, "A cashless society is not in your interest..." argues the author.
< article continued at Slashdot's moving-your-money-around department >
Uber Bans Driver Who Secretly Livestreamed Hundreds of Passengers
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's you'll-never-ride-alone department:
Lauren Weinstein tipped us off to this story from Mashable:
Hundreds of Uber and Lyft rides have been broadcast live on Twitch by driver Jason Gargac this year, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Saturday, all of them without the passengers' permission. Gargac, who goes by the name JustSmurf on Twitch, regularly records the interior of his car while working for Uber and Lyft with a camera in the front of the car, allowing viewers to see the faces of his passengers, illuminated by his (usually) purple lights, and hear everything they say. At no point does Gargac make passengers aware that they are being filmed or livestreamed.
Due to Missouri's "one-party consent" law, in which only one party needs to agree to be recorded for it to be legal (in this case, Gargac is the consenting one), what Gargac is doing is perfectly legal. That doesn't mean it's not 100 percent creepy. Sometimes, to confirm who they are for their driver, the passengers say their full names. Not only that, Gargac has another video that shows the view out the front of his car so that people can see where he's driving, giving away the locations of some passengers' homes.
All the while, viewers on Twitch are commenting about things like the quality of neighborhoods, what the passengers are talking about, and of course, women's looks. Gargac himself is openly judgmental about the women he picks up, commenting to his viewers about their appearances before they get in his car and making remarks after he drops them off. He also regularly talks about wanting to get more "content," meaning interesting people, and is open about the fact that he doesn't want passengers to know they are on camera.
"I feel violated. I'm embarrassed," one passenger told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We got in an Uber at 2 a.m. to be safe, and then I find out that because of that, everything I said in that car is online and people are watching me. It makes me sick."
< article continued at Slashdot's you'll-never-ride-alone department >
NetBSD 8.0 Released
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's dot-0-releases department:
Slashdot reader fisted quotes NetBSD.org: The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 8.0, the sixteenth major release of the NetBSD operating system. This release brings stability improvements, hundreds of bug fixes, and many new features. Some highlights of the NetBSD 8.0 release are:
— USB stack rework, USB3 support added.
— In-kernel audio mixer (audio_system(9)).
— Reproducible builds
— PaX MPROTECT (W^X) memory protection enforced by default
— PaX ASLR enabled by default
— Position independent executables by default[...] NetBSD is free. All of the code is under non-restrictive licenses, and may be used without paying royalties to anyone.
New Trailers Debuted at Comic-Con Include Aquaman, Shazam, and The Simpsons
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's cinematic-universes department:
Today Comic-Con attendees were treated to new trailers and previews for a slew of upcoming geek-friendly movies. An anonymous reader writes:
Besides footage from Wonder Woman 1984, there were also trailers for DC's Aquaman movie, plus a new DC superhero franchise with a lighter tone, Shazam. (And there was also a very apocalyptic preview of Godzilla: King of the Monsters.)
Numerous celebrities were on-hand to tout their upcoming films. Johnny Depp introduced the trailer for Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald -- in character -- while Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson introduced the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's Glass. Jamie Lee Curtis even plugged her return to the Halloween franchise 40 years after the original, revealing that her character has been waiting all these decades to kill Michael Myers after his release from prison.
TV Guide has collected most of the trailers for TV shows, including season 11 of Doctor Who, the revival of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and new seasons of Marvel's Iron Fist and Fear the Walking Dead. There was apparently also a trailer for Marvel's mutant series The Gifted -- and a preview for the 30th season of The Simpsons featuring this Halloween's "Treehouse of Horror XXIX", which includes a parody of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Cell Phone Radiation May Affect Memory Performance In Adolescents, Study Finds
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's thinks-like-teen-spirit department:
dryriver quotes Science Daily:
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields may have adverse effects on the development of memory performance of specific brain regions exposed during mobile phone use. These are the findings of a study involving nearly 700 adolescents in Switzerland. The investigation, led by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, will be published on Monday, 23 July 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The study to be published found that cumulative RF-EMF brain exposure from mobile phone use over one year may have a negative effect on the development of figural memory performance in adolescents, confirming prior results published in 2015.
Figural memory is mainly located in the right brain hemisphere, and association with RF-EMF was more pronounced in adolescents using the mobile phone on the right side of the head. 'This may suggest that indeed RF-EMF absorbed by the brain is responsible for the observed associations.' said Martin Röösli, Head of Environmental Exposures and Health at Swiss TPH.
A Fifth Undocumented Cisco Backdoor Has Been Discovered
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's oh-Cisco department:
Cisco released 25 security updates Wednesday, including a critical patch removing an undocumented password for "root" accounts of Cisco Policy Suite (sold to ISPs and large corporate clients). "The vulnerability received a rare severity score of 9.8 out of a maximum of 10 on the CVSSv3 scale," reports Bleeping Computer.
An anonymous reader quotes Tom's Hardware:
Over the past few months, not one, not two, but five different backdoors joined the list of security flaws in Cisco routers.... In March, a hardcoded account with the username "cisco" was revealed. The backdoor would have allowed attackers to access over 8.5 million Cisco routers and switches remotely. That same month, another hardcoded password was found for Cisco's Prime Collaboration Provisioning software, which is used for remote installation of Cisco's video and voice products. Later this May, Cisco found another undocumented backdoor account in Cisco's Digital Network Architecture Center, used by enterprises for the provisioning of devices across a network. In June, yet another backdoor account was found in Cisco's Wide Area Application Services, a software tool for Wide Area Network traffic optimization...
Whether or not the backdoor accounts were created in error, Cisco will need to put an end to them before this lack of care for security starts to affect its business.
The Tech Industry's War On Kids
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's achievement-unlocked department:
Long-time Slashdot reader RoccamOccam summarizes an article now circulating on the web sites of several schools:
Child and adolescent psychologist Richard Freed writes, "...parents have no idea that lurking behind their kids' screens and phones are a multitude of psychologists, neuroscientists, and social science experts who use their knowledge of psychological vulnerabilities to devise products that capture kids' attention for the sake of industry profit. What these parents and most of the world have yet to grasp is that psychology—a discipline that we associate with healing—is now being used as a weapon against children."
Stanford psychology researcher B.J. Fogg, has developed the "Fogg Behavior Model", which he claims is a well-tested method to change behavior and, in its simplified form, involves three primary factors: motivation, ability, and triggers. Describing how his formula is effective at getting people to use a social network, the psychologist says in an academic paper that a key motivator is users' desire for "social acceptance," although he says an even more powerful motivator is the desire "to avoid being socially rejected."
Ramsay Brown, the founder of Dopamine Labs, says in a KQED Science article, "We have now developed a rigorous technology of the human mind, and that is both exciting and terrifying. We have the ability to twiddle some knobs in a machine learning dashboard we build, and around the world hundreds of thousands of people are going to quietly change their behavior in ways that, unbeknownst to them, feel second-nature but are really by design."
Lawmakers Call On Amazon and Google To Reconsider Ban On Domain Fronting
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's cloud-considerations department:
An anonymous reader quotes CyberScoop: Amazon and Google face sharp questions from a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators over the tech giants' decisions to ban domain fronting, a technique used to circumvent censorship and surveillance around the world. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a letter on Tuesday to Google CEO Larry Page and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos over decisions by both companies in April to ban domain fronting. Amazon then warned the developers of encrypted messaging app Signal that the organization would be banned from Amazon's cloud services if the service didn't stop using Amazon's cloud as cover. "We respectfully urge you to reconsider your decision to prohibit domain fronting given the harm it will do to global internet freedom and the risk it will impose upon human rights activists, journalists, and others who rely on the internet freedom tools," the senators wrote.
LambdaMOO, MUDs, and 'When the Internet Was Young'
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's go-south,-go-west department:
Slashdot reader travers_r shares "a peek into the early days of internet culture and multiplayer gaming." (Apparently this MOO has been running continuously for 28 years.) "From the looks of it, squatters run it now..."
LambdaMOO was different from the earliest MUDs, which were Tolkienesque fantasies -- hack-and-slash games for Dungeons & Dragons types with computer access, mostly college students. LambdaMOO was one of the first social MUDs, where people convened largely to play-act society, and what might have been "one of the first MUDs to be run by an adult," [co-creator Pavel] Curtis believes... Everybody comes through the Coat Closet the first time they visit LambdaMOO, entering the Living Room through a curtain of clothes, like children into Narnia. In between the textual rooms and objects they explore, there's a faster-moving flow of words, the coursing real-time chatter of LambdaMOO's other users. This is a Multi-User Domain: a chatroom and a world at once, a place where telling takes the place of being...
[I]t's nearly impossible to describe to a modern computer user what that means, because although MUDs once made up 10 percent of internet traffic, their dominance was obliterated by the arrival of the visual, hyperlinked, page-based Web. To anyone weaned on images and clicked connections, every explanation sounds batty: A MUD is a text-based virtual reality. A MUD is a chatroom built by talking. A MUD is Dungeons & Dragons all around the world. A MUD is a map made of words. The science fiction writer Philip K. Dick once defined reality as "that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away," and in that sense a MUD is a real place. But a MUD is also nothing more than a window of text, scrolling along as users describe and inhabit a place from words.
< article continued at Slashdot's go-south,-go-west department >
Bing Now Provides Exact Snippets of Code for Developers' Queries
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's something-went-Bing department:
"Bing has launched a new intelligent search feature which provides the exact piece of code a developer is looking for," writes Search Engine Journal. An anonymous reader quotes their report:
The code snippet will appear right on the search results page itself, which means users will not have to skim through long threads and articles to find the one thing they're looking for. Bing calls this new feature a "Code Sample Answer" and says it's designed to help save developers' time. "Many of us are developers too, and we thought: what if Bing were intelligent enough to do this for us? What if it could save users' time by automatically finding the exact piece of code containing the answer to the question? That is how Code Sample Answer was born..."
A Code Sample Answer will trigger only when Bing intelligently detects the coding intent with high confidence. "To achieve this level of precision for query intent detection, Bing's natural language processing pipelines for developers leverages patterns found in training data from developer queries collected over the years containing commonly used terms and text structure typical for coding queries. The system also leverages a multitude of click signals to improve the precision even further"... [I]t also covers other tools used by developers. For example, a Code Sample Answer can be triggered when searching for git commands and their syntax.
Bing extracts "the best matched code samples from popular, authoritative and well moderated sites like Stackoverflow, Github, W3Schools, MSDN, Tutorialpoints, etc. taking into account such aspects as fidelity of API and programming language match, counts of up/down-votes, completeness of the solution and more."
< article continued at Slashdot's something-went-Bing department >
State Senator Wants A Law Forcing Bots To Admit They're Not Human
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's Turing-tests department:
An anonymous reader writes:
Several commentators are calling for a law that requires bots to admit they are not human. There is a bill in California that would do just that. A new paper argues that these laws may look Constitutional but actually raise First Amendment issues.
Bots are easy to make and widely employed, and social media companies are under no legal obligation to get rid of them. A law that discourages their use could help, but experts aren't sure how the one [state senator Robert] Hertzberg is trying to push through, in California, might work. For starters, would bots be forced to identify themselves in every Facebook post? In their Instagram bios? In their Twitter handles? The measure, SB-1001, a version of which has already left the senate floor and is working its way through the state's Assembly, also doesn't mandate that tech companies enforce the regulation. And it's unclear how a bill that is specific only to California would apply to a global internet...
All parties agree that the bill illustrates the difficulty that lawmakers have in crafting legislation that effectively addresses the problems constituents confront online. As the pace of technological development has raced ahead of government, the laws that exist on the books -- not to mention some lawmakers' understandings of technology -- have remained comparatively stagnant.
The Times seems to question whether the law should be targeted at the creators of bots instead of the platforms that host them, pointing out that tech companies like Twitter "have the power to change dynamics on their platforms directly and at the scale that those problems require."
Ecuador Will Be Handing Assange Over To UK Authorities 'In Coming Weeks Or Days': RT
By BeauHD from Slashdot's hot-potato department:
Ecuador is planning to hand over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to UK authorities in the "coming weeks or even days," RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said, citing her own sources. Simonyan reported the news in a recent tweet, which was reposted by WikiLeaks. Slashdot reader Okian Warrior first shared the news. Daily Express reports: Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan is said to be involved in the diplomatic effort, which has come weeks ahead of a visit by new Ecuadorian president, Lenin Moreno, who called Mr Assange an "inherited problem." He also referred to the exiled WikiLeaks founder as a "stone in the shoe." Sources close to Assange claim he was not aware of the talks, but believe America is piling "significant pressure" on Ecuador to give him up, according to the Sunday Times. The sources claim that America has threatened to block a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if he is not removed from the embassy, based in Knightsbridge, west London.
Hello Games Received Death Threats Over 'No Man's Sky'
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's very-unsatisfied-customers department:
The Guardian revisits the disastrous 2016 launch of the massive open-universe videogame No Man's Sky, in a new interview with company director Sean Murray:
"I've never liked talking to the press. I didn't enjoy it when I had to do it, and when I did it, I was naive and overly excited about my game. There are a lot of things around launch that I regret, or that I would do differently." He is reluctant to relive the particulars of what happened in the weeks and months following No Man's Sky's release in August 2016 ("I find it really personal, and I don't have any advice for dealing with it," he says), but it involved death threats, bomb threats sent to the studio and harassment of people who worked at Hello Games on a frightening scale. They were in regular contact with Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan police... "I remember getting a death threat about the fact that there were butterflies in our original trailer, and you could see them as you walked past them, but there weren't any butterflies in the launch game. I remember thinking to myself: 'Maybe when you're sending a death threat about butterflies in a game, you might be the bad guy....'"
Despite the controversy, No Man's Sky sold extremely well, and plenty of its players have stuck by it. A year after release, when Hello Games released the Atlas Rises update, about a million people showed up to play, and the average playtime was 45 hours.... It is still recognisable as the lonely, abstractly beautiful space-exploration game I played in 2016, but three big updates have added a lot more. It is now definitely a better game, with much more to do and a clearer structure... Now you can also construct bases, drive around in vehicles and -- as of next week -- invite other players to explore with you, in groups of four. You can crew a freighter together, or colonise a planet with ever-expanding constructions.
< article continued at Slashdot's very-unsatisfied-customers department >
Is Python the Future of Programming?
By EditorDavid from Slashdot's dominant-languages department:
The Economist argues that Guido Van Rossum resembled the reluctant Messiah in Monty Python's Life of Brian. An anonymous reader quotes their report:
"I certainly didn't set out to create a language that was intended for mass consumption," he explains. But in the past 12 months Google users in America have searched for Python more often than for Kim Kardashian, a reality-TV star. The rate of queries has trebled since 2010, while inquiries after other programming languages have been flat or declining. The language's popularity has grown not merely among professional developers -- nearly 40% of whom use it, with a further 25% wishing to do so, according to Stack Overflow, a programming forum -- but also with ordinary folk. Codecademy, a website that has taught 45 million novices how to use various languages, says that by far the biggest increase in demand is from those wishing to learn Python. It is thus bringing coding to the fingertips of those once baffled by the subject. Pythonistas, as aficionados are known, have helped by adding more than 145,000 packages to the Cheese Shop, covering everything from astronomy to game development....
Python was already the most popular introductory language at American universities in 2014, but the teaching of it is generally limited to those studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A more radical proposal is to catch 'em young by offering computer science to all, and in primary schools. Hadi Partovi, the boss of Code.org, a charity, notes that 40% of American schools now offer such lessons, up from 10% in 2013. Around two-thirds of 10- to 12-year-olds have an account on Code.org's website. Perhaps unnerved by a future filled with automated jobs, 90% of American parents want their children to study computer science.
"The CIA has employed Python for hacking, Pixar for producing films, Google for crawling web pages and Spotify for recommending songs," notes the Economist.
< article continued at Slashdot's dominant-languages department >
Equador Will Be Handing Assange Over To UK Authorities 'In Coming Weeks Or Days': RT


Brighter Visions is a school-based, partial hospitalization program for children, ages 6 – 12 who are experiencing behavior problems at school, home, and in the community. Brighter Visions combines education and behavioral health treatment. Teachers, aides, and mental health therapists work together to maintain the child within the school, community, and home. A staff psychiatrist is available for on-site services for children and families and consultation with staff members. Family members are important to the comprehensive treatment each student receives.
The purpose of Brighter Visions is to provide an intensive day treatment/education program that can assist students in learning skills that will enable them to be re-integrated within the school setting and to handle difficult situations in their natural environment.
The therapy component is provided by the Human Services Center while the educational component is provided by the New Castle Area School District. A combination of education and therapy occur during the 6-hour day. Therapeutic activities address issues such as social skills, coping skills, anger management skills, and conflict resolution skills. The educational activities are addressed through the child's IEP (Individualized Education Program) and/or Home School District.
The goal of the program is to assist the child in developing the necessary skills to meet with success in his/her home, school, and community. One of the important outcomes of Brighter Visions is that the child's behavior is such that he/she can return to his/her assigned classroom. Participation in a day treatment program enables the child to remain in this home community and to avoid the disruptions of a psychiatric hospitalization or alternate educational placements. Each student's length of stay in the program is determined by his/her success in meeting the treatment goals to return to a more normalizing education setting. A transition component allows the child to be gradually re-integrated with his peers.
Brighter Visions staff members are comprised of behavioral health care professionals, including a board-certified psychiatrist. Educational personnel are provided by the New Castle School District.


text:
Delta reports operating performance for November 2018
Dec 4, 2018 9:00am
Delta Air Lines today reported operating performance for November 2018. The company carried 15.5 million customers across its broad global network, a record for the month of November.
For the December quarter, Delta expects to generate earnings per share at the high-end of the company's $1.10 - $1.30 guidance range. The company expects approximately 7.5% top-line growth (excluding third party refinery sales) on an approximately 3.5% year over year increase in unit revenue. When combined with the benefits from the recent moderation in fuel prices and solid non-fuel cost control, the company is on track to expand pre-tax margins in the December quarter.
Monthly highlights include:
Ranking as the No. 1 U.S. airline by the corporate travel community in the Business Travel News Airline Survey for a historic eighth consecutive year, sweeping all 10 categories
Increasing A330-900neo order book to 35 from 25 and deferring 10 A350-900 orders, addressing Delta's near-to-medium-term widebody needs and reinforcing our commitment to fuel and economic efficiency while remaining capital disciplined
Carrying over 2.4 million customers on nearly 23,000 flights with a completion factor of 99.77 percent during the Thanksgiving holiday period; Sunday marked the busiest day of the period, flying 658,000 people, an all-time record for the month of November
Unveiling the first biometric terminal in United States at the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal (Terminal F) in Atlanta, allowing customers to use facial recognition technology from curb to gate and empowering employees to have more time for meaningful interactions with customers
The company's operating performance is detailed in the table below.
Delta Air Lines serves more than 180 million customers each year. In 2018, Delta was named to Fortune's top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the seventh time in eight years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented eight consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 302 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, São Paulo, Seattle, Seoul, and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub and Facebook.com/delta.
Statements in this investor update that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the cost of aircraft fuel; the impact of fuel hedging activity including rebalancing our hedge portfolio, recording mark-to-market adjustments or posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts; the availability of aircraft fuel; the performance of our significant investments in airlines in other parts of the world; the possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; breaches or security lapses in our information technology systems; disruptions in our information technology infrastructure; our dependence on technology in our operations; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements could have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third party regional carriers; failure or inability of insurance to cover a significant liability at Monroe's Trainer refinery; the impact of environmental regulation on the Trainer refinery, including costs related to renewable fuel standard regulations; our ability to retain senior management and key employees; damage to our reputation and brand if we are exposed to significant adverse publicity through social media; the effects of terrorist attacks or geopolitical conflict; competitive conditions in the airline industry; interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports at which we operate; the effects of extensive government regulation on our business; the sensitivity of the airline industry to prolonged periods of stagnant or weak economic conditions; uncertainty in economic conditions and regulatory environment in the United Kingdom related to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union; and the effects of the rapid spread of contagious illnesses.
Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and our 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2018. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of December 4, 2018, and which we have no current intention to update.
Non-GAAP Reconciliations
Delta sometimes uses information ("non-GAAP financial measures") that is derived from the Consolidated Financial Statements, but that is not presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP"). Under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, non-GAAP financial measures may be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results.
We do not reconcile forward looking non-GAAP financial measures because mark-to-market ("MTM") adjustments and settlements will not be known until the end of the period and could be significant.
Operational Performance
Article | Financial
Delta Air Lines to Present at the Cowen Global Transportation & Sustainable Mobility Conference
Sep 2, 2021 8:30am
Delta Air Lines announces webcast of September Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Sep 29, 2021 8:30am
Delta Air Lines announces webcast of June quarter 2021 financial results
Jun 30, 2021 8:30am
Delta Air Lines announces December quarter and full year 2021 financial results

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text:
2,000 DAI Leaders Descend on Hottest State, Congressional Races in Texas
On a Sunday October evening, two thousand leaders and parishioners from Dallas Area Interfaith institutions assembled at the Christian Chapel Temple of Faith to challenge candidates from the Texas Tribune's 2018 Hotlist, including Texas House Districts 105, 107, 114, and 115, and US Congressional District 32. Republican and Democratic candidates for Coppell, Richardson, and Dallas Independent School District School Board positions also participated.
At the assembly, DAI leaders publicly challenged each candidate to, if elected, commit to working with them on immigration, job training, expansion of healthcare, payday lending, and public education. All participating candidates, including local Republican candidates, publicly committed to partner with DAI leaders in supporting and / or crafting policy in these areas. One journalist reported that "in a city that's sharply segregated by race and class, the forum was a rare example of cohesive pluralism."
The assembly and Get Out The Vote actions are the culmination of a two-year campaign on behalf of the families and communities of Dallas. Less than a year ago, DAI leaders successfully negotiated with Police officers of the cities of Dallas, Farmers Branch, and Carrollton to accept Catholic Parishes ID's as a form of identification. For immigrant families, having a photo ID could help prevent deportation. Since then, the parish ID strategy spread to the East Coast through DAI's sister organization in Baltimore, BUILD. Leaders from BUILD testified at the October 14th assembly that Baltimore police officers have committed to accepting the IDs as a valid form of identification.
Since then, leaders have pushed forward with parish-based Get Out The Vote walks across the Dallas area, so far knocking on hundreds of doors and contacting thousands of voters by phone. DAI has also partnered with the business community to encourage voters to participate in the midterm elections through a downtown press conference.
DAI Accountability Voter Forum [video]
Texas' Minority GOP Voters: Republican Allies Have Vanished, McClatchy
Why Dallas Republicans Skipped an Interfaith Forum, Rewire.News
Archdiocese of Baltimore Will Offer 'Parish ID' to Immigrants and Others Who Have Trouble Obtaining Legal ID, Washington Post
To Help Immigrants Feel Safer Around Police, Some Churches Start Issuing IDs, NPR
Texas 2018 Hotlist: The Most Competitive Races in Texas' Midterm Election, Texas Tribune
From Levi's to Southwest Airlines to Walmart, Business Tries to Turn Out The Vote, Dallas Morning News
DAI & Business Community Work Together to Boost Voter Turnout
Posted by Dallas Area Interfaith · September 28, 2018 7:23 AM
On Wednesday, several groups are planning a news conference in downtown Dallas to continue pushing for higher turnout. They also plan to encourage candidates to speak at public forums.
"Unless people feel connected to the issues affecting them, they're not likely to vote," said Josephine Lopez Paul, lead organizer for Dallas Area Interfaith, a coalition of congregations, schools and nonprofits.
As residents learn about issues and candidates, they'll be drawn into the process. And institutions can have a bigger impact.
"If their business and church and school are saying the same thing — go vote — then we'll see a rise in voting," Paul said.
DAI Parish ID Effort Featured in HBO Special
In response to undocumented families expressing fear about reporting crimes -- even when they themselves are victims -- because of an inability demonstrate who they are, Dallas Area Interfaith and the Dallas Catholic Diocese worked together to create a solution.
Last year, 1,500 leaders stood with Bishop Edward Burns to invite three police department chiefs to allow their officers to accept parish identification cards, in order to help build trust between the community and the police. Police department chiefs from Carrollton, Farmers Branch and Dallas agreed.
This year, parishes in the Dallas Catholic Diocese have issued tens of thousands of parish identification cards to parishioners, who now feel more confident in relating to the police. HBO covers this story in a special segment:
Catholic Church is Now Issuing Undocumented Immigrants ID Cards, HBO
Immigration Reform Failure 400 Years in the Making
Posted by Josephine Paul · June 05, 2018 7:01 AM
We've been here before. America has had a love-hate relationship with its Mexican population for centuries. Whether it is not being able to find a permanent solution to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), separating immigrant children from their parents or casting undocumented persons as criminals and rapists, these vile expressions of hatred against Mexicans have existed for centuries.
America loves to vilify and dehumanize Mexicans, despite our historic contributions to the U.S. economy. Traditionally, when the economy is flourishing and needs low-wage laborers, we're the go-to help. But when the economy is in decline, we become the targets for everything that is wrong with our country. In the current political climate, we're "the other," to be feared as the reason America is no longer great. But we have long been a part of the fabric of America.
America Loves to Vilify and Dehumanize Mexicans, Despite Their Historic Contributions to US, The Hill
Catholic Press Explores Parish ID Strategy in Dallas
Posted by DallasAreaInterfaith · May 15, 2018 6:56 PM
It has been a year since Texas passed SB4, a measure that requires police and county sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The measure also grants local law enforcement the right to question the immigration status of anyone they arrest….
Father Forge, leaders of the Dallas Area Interfaith and more than 1,000 others met with law enforcement officials from Dallas and neighboring communities Carrollton and Farmers Branch, last November to see what could be done to quell fears. The problem, according to law enforcement, comes when individuals pulled over for traffic violations cannot identify themselves.
"They want to know who they're talking to," Father Forge said of police. "Well, we already issue our volunteers with ID cards, so we jumped on that…."
Church in Texas Issues IDs to Help the Undocumented Navigate Police Encounters, America Magazine [pdf]
Why Some Parishes are Offering IDs to Undocumented Texas, Catholic News Agency
North Texas Police Verify Acceptance of Parish Identification Cards
Posted by DallasAreaInterfaith · May 08, 2018 12:39 PM
Nearly 300 parishioners of San Juan Diego Catholic Church [photo above] lined up by 8am on a Saturday morning to apply for a church-issued identification cards offered through the Catholic Diocese. Within five hours, 500 applications were filed and 300 cards issued that day.
Building on a groundbreaking accord between Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) and the Police Departments of Dallas, Carrollton and Farmers Branch — in which the police agreed to accept parish identification cards as alternative ID — upwards of 1,100 parish ID cards have been issued. With some parishes requiring active membership from applicants for at least six months before issuing the card, the wait list of submitted applications has, so far, exceeded 2,200 applicants and is expected to grow.
This joint effort with the Catholic Diocese is bringing immigrants out of the shadows and into fuller participation in congregational life. At San Diego Diego Catholic alone, 1,000 applicants were newly registered as members of their parish, even after years of regular church attendance. Teams of leaders identified by DAI, and trained (in Spanish) through a collaborative effort with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), help keep the cost of the cards affordable for families.
Without an ID, said one parishioner, "we are scared of what could happen if we are stopped by the police." With parish ID, families are feeling a greater sense of belonging and confidence in dealing with law enforcement.
Said DAI leader, Adriana Godinez, "For us, this is a really important document. We cannot take it lightly. It's something that person is going to show to an officer."
In training sessions recently held, police departments have committed to training their officers to recognize these cards as alternative identification. Dallas County Community College has also committed to accepting the IDs, for purposes of enrolling in GED, US Citizenship and English-language classes.
According to one applicant, Antonio Coahila, "It's a bit of a relief. It's like you finally have an identity."
Why Some Parishes are Offering IDs to Undocumented Texas, Catholic News Agency [pdf]
North Texas Officers Accepting Church Issued ID Cards, NBC-DFW [pdf] [video]
Dallas-Area Immigrants Apply for Catholic Church-Issued IDs to Ease Deportation Fears, Dallas Morning News [pdf]
DAI & Catholic Diocese of Dallas Stand with Family and Stop Deportation
When Fr. Daza of Nuestra Señora del Pilar Catholic Church heard that his parishioner, Adolfo Mejia, was in deportation proceedings, he immediately picked up the phone and called Dallas Area Interfaith.
"It's the children who suffer," he says.
With family unity and the livelihood of six US-born children at stake, Dallas Area Interfaith and the Catholic Diocese of Dallas stepped in to stand with the Mejia family after the father, Adolfo Mejia, was deported in March.
"This is not a time for isolation," said Socorro Perales, an organizer with Dallas Area Interfaith, who went to immigration court with the mother. "This is a time to build relationships."
[In photo: Catholic Bishop Greg Kelly stands with Lucia Mejia and her family outside the Earle Cabell Federal Court Building before a court hearing for Adolfo Mejia. Photo Credit: Jeffrey McWhorter / Dallas Morning News]
US Citizen Kids Face the Deportation of Their Immigrant Parents, Dallas Morning News [pdf]
Deportación de Padres Traumatiza a Niños, Dallas Al Día
DAI, Catholic Parish ID Effort Launches in North Texas, Protecting Families and Rebuilding Churches
Posted by DallasAreaInterfaith · April 10, 2018 2:48 PM
Building on a groundbreaking accord between Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) and the Police Departments of Dallas, Carrollton and Farmers Branch -- in which the police agreed to accept parish identification cards as alternative ID -- upwards of 800 parish ID cards have been issued since the campaign was launched in March 2018. With some parishes requiring active membership from applicants for at least six months before issuing the card, the waiting list of submitted applications has, so far, exceeded 2,000 applicants and is expected to grow.
The joint effort with the Catholic Diocese is bringing immigrants out of the shadows and into fuller participation in congregational life. 700 applicants were newly registered as members of their parish, even after years of regular church attendance. Teams of leaders identified by DAI, and trained (in Spanish) through a collaborative effort with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), are helping keep the cost of the parish IDs affordable for families.
Without an ID, said one parishioner, "we are scared of what could happen if we are stopped by the police." With parish ID, families are feeling a greater sense of belonging and confidence in dealing with law enforcement.
In training sessions held this month, police departments have committed to training their officers to recognize these cards as alternative identification.
[Photo Credit: Telemundo 39]
Crean Identificación Para Ayudar a Inmigrantes en el Metroplex, Telemundo 39 [pdf]
Message from Chief of Farmers Branch Police Department
Success Stories Like This One Show How Dallas Can Help End Poverty
Adriana, a single mother of two, is a Skill Quest participant. Before the program, she earned $600 a month cleaning homes, and the thought of going to school was a dream. Now when she finishes her radiology degree next year, she will be placed in a job in Dallas earning $50,000 to start.
Stories like Adriana's are possible because of the public investment made in providing the wrap-around services for her to attend college. So that things such as rent, child care, and navigating college as a first-generation student do not create barriers that keep our future skilled workforce from graduating and meeting the job demand in our city.
So why does a city like Dallas need Adriana? The answer: Adriana represents the future of Texas. She is a young, uneducated single mother and lives below the federal poverty line. She also serves an economic opportunity for our city.
Success Stories Like This One Show How Dallas Can Help Residents Pull Themselves Out of Poverty, Dallas Morning News [pdf]
DAI Engages Candidates in Republican & Democratic Primaries
In a well-attended nonpartisan accountability assembly north of Dallas, DAI engaged primary candidates in competitive districts, including Congressional District 32, House Districts 102 and 114, and Senate District 2.
Leaders from Richardson, Garland and North Dallas engaged congressional primary candidates around active support for DACA and comprehensive immigration reform, protection of newly finalized Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) auto title and payday lending rules, and federal investments in local job training program Skill QUEST.
From state primary candidates, leaders secured pledges around local control of payday lending ordinances, restoration of state funding to public schools and increased funding for workforce development (Adult Career Education Fund) from $4.5 Million to its original $10 Million.
Clergy and lay leaders of Dallas Area Interfaith are building and strengthening their constituencies in the suburbs so that elected officials better represent their families.


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Free online HEIC converter to help you convert HEIC to JPG in bulk. This article will show you how to convert HEIC to JPG with a free online HEIC converter.
After updating to the latest iOS 11, you may notice that Apple adopts a new way to store photos. All iPhone photos captured by the Camera Roll will be saved in HEIC format. Many of you actually are unfamiliar with this format, and wonder what is HEIC and the benefits of using HEIC format.
HEIC (Efficient Image File Format) is a new advanced format developed by MPEG. Compared to the most-commonly used JPG, HEIC shows very obvious advantage. Photos in HEIC format ensure higher qualities and smaller file sizes.
You can view HEIC photos on your iPhone and iPad in iOS 11 without any problem. But so far, Windows and many other popular applications and software still don't support HEIC format and that makes iPhone HEIC photos cannot be properly opened with the built-in picture viewer. It's meaningless, even if you backup iPhone photos to PC.
Now a free online HEIC converter comes to help you convert HEIC to JPG in bulk in no time. Let's see how this online HEIC converter works.
IOTransfer free online HEIC converter is easy to use. Simply drag and drop HEIC photos, and it will convert HEIC to JPG in bulk automatically. At the same time, you are able to save all the converted JPG photos to your PC or iPhone with 1 click.
Here is how to convert HEIC to JPG in bulk with free online HEIC converter.
Step 1. Go to HEIC to JPG Converter Online page as shown in the below.
Step 2. Upload or drag and drop HEIC photo files to begin the conversion.
You may be tired of uploading HEIC photos one by one. This free online HEIC to JPG converter allows you to upload and convert HEIC to JPG in bulk. You can upload up to 50 HEIC photos.
Step 3. Upload multiple HEIC photo files you want to convert to JPG format, they will be converted to JPG automatically. Click "Save All" button to save all the converted JPG photo files to your computer.
Now, you have successfully converted iPhone HEIC photos to JPG with this online HEIC converter.
In this guide, we have introduced you an online free converter, and you can make full use of it to easily and quickly convert HEIC photos to JPG in bulk. If you want to transfer or backup HEIC photos, try IOTransfer to copy HEIC photos between iPhone and computer without limitation.


text:
Husum Castle
©StA Husum
"The city is near the North Sea, on one side the vast meadows of the marshland stretch out, on the other there were still fairly large heaths in my youth, some of which have now been reclaimed. [...] The city still had a rather ancient character, many houses still with stepped gables, as the old St. Jürgenstift still stands in this way. In the old ducal castle, which lies close to the town, the great knight's hall was full of life-size images of princes, knights and noblewomen. All of this had an impact on me", wrote Theodor Storm in 1873 to the Austrian writer Ada Christen about his native town Husum (letter of March 2, 1873). And in the same year Storm once again mentioned the Knights' Hall of Husum castle in an autobiographical sketch as one of the places where he received "strong impressions" as a child (letter of August 13/21, 1873 to the Austrian literary critic Emil Kuh).
The "Schloss vor Husum", as it has been known since the 19th century, was built by Duke Adolf of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf in 1577–1582 north of the city; today it is an 'exclave' of the district of North Friesland enclosed by the urban area.
The palace, built in the style of the Dutch Renaissance, was originally the base of the ducal administration and jurisdiction, but in the 17th century it became the seat of the Gottorf widow duchies and expanded accordingly. Furthermore, the office of Husum was administered here.
The castle had belonged to the Danish kings since 1721, after the Gottorf family had been thrown out of the Duchy of Schleswig, to which the office of Husum belonged, as a result of the Northern War.
In the first half of the 18th century the building and its ducal furnishings fell into disrepair. Due to a far-reaching renovation in 1751/52 in line with baroque design principles, the castle lost its renaissance character, but its continued existence was ultimately secured. Much of the decor was sold. After the renovation work, Husum castle contained the royal state rooms as well as the official administration and the apartment of the bailiff. After the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein was formed from the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in 1867, it housed the administration of the newly created Husum district, the district court (since 1873) and the apartment of the district administrators. In 1919 the district acquired the castle from the Prussian state. Until 1972 the castle was the administrative center of the district of North Friesland, created in 1970 by merging the districts of Südtondern, Husum and Eiderstedt.
In the following years, the Husum Castle, which had been structurally altered again and again since the end of the 18th century, was rebuilt to the state of 1751/52. The main building, the former "Corps de Logis", has been used for museum purposes in most of its parts since 1977.
Text by Holger Borzikowsky (1947–2015)
Translation by Bjarne Albertsen


text:
Mattsletters
My name is Matt Winick and I like to study history and social justice. Also I enjoy writing letters to people ranging from celebrities through public officials including judges who I find inspiring to me or how I believe that they make a great difference.
State Representative Andy McKean from Iowa's 58th district
State Representative Andy McKean
c/o Iowa State House of Representatives
Iowa State Capitol
1007 East Grand Avenue
Dear State Representative McKean,
My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in learning history including social justice. In these subjects, I like to learn the need to make civil rights stronger to reduce discrimination, protecting the environment from pollution, and many others. State Representative McKean, the main reason I'm writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work as current Member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 58th district, your role as a moderate Republican to leaving the GOP, and your advocacy to be very inspiring to me.
When you were a moderate Republican, I truly appreciate on how you were a strong supporter of civil rights by advocating for people with disabilities' rights, supporting funds for women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy, and working with other members of the Iowa House of Representatives from both political parties to expand on laws to combat against hate-crime to help protect minorities including people who are different. On the economy, I like on how you support expanding on job training programs to help train youth including workers to develop work-skills to help prepare for the work-force and advocate for the need to raise the minimum wage to help minimum wage workers to afford to live. Funding renewable energy resources to help reduce addiction to oil with gas, encouraging businesses including industries to use energy-efficient products to help reduce high energy cost while reduce pollution, and pushing for funds to help expand on city services to help clean parks including water resources to make them safe for people is common sense to protect the environment. To improve education, I like on how you support funds to improve special education to help assist students with disabilities get the accommodations they need to learn, push for more after school programs to provide students with help on their assignments from tutors, and implement literacy programs to help students including adults develop literacy skills or improve on comprehension. On farmer's rights, I like on how you support legislation to help protect farmers from fraud or abuse by agriculture companies. Another thing In 2019, I was proud on how you had the courage to give a speech about how the GOP got too extreme and how president elect Trump is pushing for controversial ideas and leave the party. After you left the GOP and joined the Democrats I like on how you are a continuous strong supporter of civil rights, support environmental protection, and many others. As a current Democrat is how you are a continuous strong supporter of civil rights, support environmental protection, and many others.
State Representative McKean, I have autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different advance subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of civil rights including people with disabilities' rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability. Also on Youtube I enjoyed watching you give a speech about why you left the GOP and explained how the GOP and President Trump are becoming controversial. Your current role as Member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 58th district gives me motivation to continue to learn history including social justice. My future goal is to someday work in these areas to help emphasize the need to make civil rights stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, and many others.
I strongly believe that you are making a great difference. I'm proud on how you had the courage to speak up against the GOP and President Trump as a moderate Republican and to switch parties. I know that it is difficult but I'm very proud on how you have good principles. Also I like on how you are working hard to continue to support civil rights, protect the environment, and many other common sense ideas. You inspire me to work hard on my disability, learn about your work, and continue to learn history including social justice. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to support common sense ideas, and inspiring me. please continue to advocate for common sense ideas.
Matt Winick
Posted by Matt Michigander at 2:00 AM
Jacob W.
Matt Michigander
74th Attorney General Peter F. Neronha of Rhode Is...
Congressman Charlie Crist (Member of Member of the...
23rd President Garnett S. Stokes of University of ...
8th King County Executive Dow Constantine of Washi...
Honorable Malia M. Cohen from San Francisco, Calif...
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Ms. Connie Francis singer
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67th Attorney General Letitia "Tish" James of New ...
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Ms. Michelle Yeoh Actress
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Ms. Jane Seymour Actress
Tom Hiddleston Actor


text:
Q: How can I prove $\gcd(10^{a-1}+10^{a-2}+\cdots+1, 10^{b-1}+10^{b-2}+\cdots+1)=10^{\gcd(a,b)-1}+10^{\gcd(a,b)-2}+\cdots+1$? I was solving $\gcd$ algorithm problem.
The problem was to get a $\gcd$ from two special numbers.
Followings are conditions.
1) User can input number $a$ and $b$
(maximum ciphers of a,b is 19. so type is must be unsinged long long
2) Two special numbers made by repetition of "1" as much as a,b.
ex) $a=4$, $b=3$ -> special number : 1111, 111
3) Finally, have to get a $\gcd$ of those two special numbers.
But I found specific relation between them.
Let special numbers by $a$, $b$ call $s_a$, $s_b$. then we can preset $s_a$, $s_b$ like below:
$$s_a=10^{a-1}+10^{a-2}+\dots+10^0\quad
\text{and}
\quad s_b=10^{b-1}+10^{b-2}+\dots+10^0.$$
From this, my foundation is below.
$$\gcd(s_a,s_b) = 10^{\gcd(a,b)-1}+10^{\gcd(a,b)-2}+\dots+10^0$$
but I can't prove why it works. Can you prove about this?
Sorry for my poor English. I'm korean..

A: Notice that for any positive integer $n$,
$$(10-1)(10^{n-1}+10^{n-2}+\cdots+1)=10^n-1$$
and therefore the problem is equivalent to
$$\gcd(10^{a}-1, 10^{b}-1)=10^{\gcd(a,b)}-1.$$
Moreover, if $a\geq b$ and $a=qb+r$ with $q\geq 1$, $0\leq r<b$, then
$$\begin{align}
\gcd(10^{a}-1, 10^{b}-1)&=\gcd(10^{qb+r}-10^r+10^r-1, 10^{b}-1)\\&=\gcd(10^r(10^{qb}-1)+10^r-1, 10^{b}-1)\\&=\gcd(10^r-1, 10^{b}-1)
\end{align}$$
where in the last step we used the fact that $10^{b}-1$ divides $10^{qb}-1$. Now recall that the Euclid's algorithm computes the greatest common divisor.
Can you take it from here?
A more general statement holds: for $n\geq 2$ and $a,b\geq 1$,
$$\gcd(n^{a}-1, n^{b}-1)=n^{\gcd(a,b)}-1.$$
see Prove that $\gcd(a^n - 1, a^m - 1) = a^{\gcd(n, m)} - 1$ .

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur had extraordinary powers in battle, but its enchanted scabbard was far more important than the blade: no weapons could harm its bearer, whom it made invulnerable.
Early in King Arthur's reign his evil half-sister, the witch Morgana Le Fay, stole the priceless scabbard and pretended to have lost it. In Knight for a Day it reappears almost thirty years later in the hands of her villainous son: the traitor Sir Mordred. Because of it people think he's invincible and will win, and so his rebellion gains opportunistic supporters and becomes a big threat.
King Arthur makes Henry an honorary Knight of the Round Table so he will be eligible to embark on a perilous quest to recover the precious scabbard, in accordance with Merlin's prediction. Each of his birthday presents can help Henry in his task, but above all he needs to be resourceful, cunning and brave if he is to succeed. Merlin instructs him how to invoke the magic at a precise place and time to return home to his family and friends.


Botswana Diamonds has started drilling at the Ontevreden kimberlite pipe, which is part of the company's Vutomi Joint Venture in South Africa and which contains significant quantities of G10 and G9 garnets.
"We are pleased to announce the commencement of drilling at the Ontevreden kimberlite pipe. We know that the pipe contains significant quantities of G10 and G9 garnets, which are high-quality diamond indicator minerals frequently found in high-grade kimberlite pipes. The drilling is to discover diamonds," Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling commented in a statement released on Tuesday.
Following the discovery of a kimberlite pipe at Ontevreden in July 2017, work was undertaken to ascertain the potential for the pipe to be diamondiferous.
Results from ground samples taken from the pipe were analysed and produced abundant G9, G10, and complementary eclogitic garnets in a mix typically associated with high-grade kimberlites.
Rock geochemistry undertaken by the Council for Geosciences categorised Ontevreden as a Group 2 kimberlite. Detailed ground geophysics have also been undertaken and this identified a minimum surface pipe surface area of 100 m x 70 m.
The drilling operations will confirm the size, provide an understanding of the internal geology and enough samples to enable both petrography and micro diamond analyses, the company explained.


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"Atos partners with Australia Post to empower the 'Post of the Future' "
Dallas, 11 May 2016
Australia Post has signed new agreement with Atos to further increase operational efficiencies of its postal operations
Atos, an international leader in digital services, today announced that it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Australia Post to support its efforts to expand the automation capabilities of its letters business. With this new agreement, Atos will extend the reach of its already deployed Open Recognition System, to support the reform of Australia Post's letters business by providing greater operational efficiencies.
"Growing demand for digital methods of communication, resulting in changing consumer and business behavior, along with declining mail volumes are critical factors driving the reform of our letters business. Our focus is on making the necessary changes to our letters business to ensure that we can continue to deliver a world class service," said Andrew Howlett, General Manager Postal Services for Australia Post. "To this end, we have extended our partnership with Atos to further leverage its automated postal solutions and help us obtain greater operational efficiencies in this changing environment."
Atos successfully rolled out its first Open Recognition System at Australia Post in 2008 for the identification of small letters, and further extended the program for parcels in 2014. The Atos solution offers postal operators the flexibility to plug-and-play, and establishes a platform for continuous improvement without reliance on a single vendor.
For Australia Post's parcel operations, Atos' Open Recognition System processes images from multi-product and large parcel sorters deployed at the Melbourne and Sydney parcel facilities. Through the use of Atos' solution, Australia Post's parcel processing capacity at these facilities has more than doubled.
Now, with the new agreement, Atos will utilize the latest automation technologies to improve the recognition performance for small and large letters, while also adding new capabilities to support the next generation of mail processing equipment.
"Since 2008, Australia Post has led the world in deploying vendor-independent systems allowing them to be more agile in this changing environment," said Shahrom Kiani, General Manager for Atos Postal Solutions. "This investment has uniquely positioned Australia Post to enjoy the benefits of operational excellence as well as equipped them to more aptly address the challenges of the digital world. We are proud that they have selected Atos as their continued technology partner in this critical transformation effort."
About Atos
Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is a leader in digital services with pro forma annual revenue of circa € 12 billion and circa 100,000 employees in 72 countries. Serving a global client base, the Group provides Consulting & Systems Integration services, Managed Services & BPO, Cloud operations, Big Data & Cyber-security solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry. With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, the Group works with clients across different business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications, and Transportation.
Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations to create their firm of the future. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and is listed on the Euronext Paris market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline.
For more information, visit: atos.net.
Kim Testa
kim.testa@atos.net
"Atos partners with Australia Post to empower the 'Post of the Future' "


Summer has arrived in the Algarve too and I am happy to forward to you the AMIGOS da Música NEWSFLASH and INVITATION with interesting information on the new Concert Season, the Amigos Annual General Meeting and a Special Summer Invitation.
I wish you a pleasant and relaxed summer and look forward to seeing you at Os Agostos for another great concert season starting on the11th/13th September.
festivals abound, making decisions difficult and timely planning necessary.
for the 2018/19 season for your agendas in good time.
on Tuesday, September 11th and 13th, 2018.
take note of the date and note, this is for active Amigos only !
1999. They will sing and play for us and join us for the evening.
Price per person: €35.00 and you can bring family or friends.
time to time. Let me also thank you for your faithful allegiance and continued friendship.
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