The war against the motorist continues with the rolling out of two new types of speed camera across large areas of the country. You may recall a year or so ago press articles proclaiming the end of the speed camera. In some areas such as Wiltshire traffic enforcement cameras could be seen covered up and out of service.
Unfortunately predictions of the speed cameras demise were premature.
The first new traffic enforcement camera to be used is the Truvelo D Cam camera. This is far smaller and much less visible than the older generation speed cameras. The real problem for the motorist is that it does not flash soyou have no idea youve been photographed. The device does not need film and so can never run out. This means that it will never be out of service, massively increasing the cameras ability to catch the errant motorist.
The second device which has many of the above characteristics is the ZenGrab Lane Watch Mk2. This even has the ability to catch motorcycles and is designed to enforce a whole range of motoring offences, not just speeding. Drive carefully.


I'am trying to Deserialize data from a file in Binary format with the SerializationUtility.DeserializeValue method.
But I have an issue when I try to load the data InvalidOperationException: Invalid binary data stream: could not parse peeked BinaryEntryType byte '189' into a known entry type. For information, when I'am using the JSON format it works very well.
I'm building a save system on top of the Odin Serialization, so if you are interested I can submit issues like that when I encouter Binary or Json serialization problems.
I made a small repro case: https://pastebin.com/Wni5a6Fu You need to add the "TestSerialization" behaviour to an empty GameObject in an empty scene.
In the TestSerialization class you can set the format to use (JSON or Binary). And for saving time, I logged the path to the generated file.
Don't believe this is a problem with the serializer, but instead a problem with how you are writing and reading the data from the file. Because Serializing and deserializing that data works fine for me.
You might also want to take a look in SerializationUtility.cs, those are just handy utilities to quickly serialize something in a single line of code, but behind the scenes they also just use stream, so you can possible simplify what's happening if you want. But try that example first.
You are right, with your code it's working great, my bad. I will take a look at SerializationUtility.cs. Thanks!


text:
//
#include <functional>

// here goes PETSc headers
#include <petscmat.h>

// here goes headers from our PetIBM
#include <petibm/mesh.h>
#include <petibm/type.h>

namespace petibm
{
namespace operators
{
/** \brief STL vector holding MatStencil. */
typedef std::vector<MatStencil> StencilVec;

/** \brief a function type for functions returning neighbors' stencils. */
typedef std::function<StencilVec(const PetscInt &, const PetscInt &,
                                 const PetscInt &)>
    GetNeighborFunc;

/** \brief a function type for functions computing matrix entries' values. */
typedef std::function<type::RealVec1D(const PetscInt &, const PetscInt &,
                                      const PetscInt &)>
    Kernel;

// implementation of petibm::operators::createGradient
PetscErrorCode createGradient(const type::Mesh &mesh, Mat &G,
                              const PetscBool &normalize)
{
    PetscFunctionBeginUser;

    PetscErrorCode ierr;

    std::vector<GetNeighborFunc> getNeighbor(3);

    std::vector<Kernel> kernel(3);

    // set up the function used to get the IDs of neighbors
    getNeighbor[0] = [](const PetscInt &i, const PetscInt &j,
                        const PetscInt &k) -> std::vector<MatStencil> {
        return {{k, j, i, 0}, {k, j, i + 1, 0}};
    };

    getNeighbor[1] = [](const PetscInt &i, const PetscInt &j,
                        const PetscInt &k) -> std::vector<MatStencil> {
        return {{k, j, i, 0}, {k, j + 1, i, 0}};
    };

    getNeighbor[2] = [](const PetscInt &i, const PetscInt &j,
                        const PetscInt &k) -> std::vector<MatStencil> {
        return {{k, j, i, 0}, {k + 1, j, i, 0}};
    };

    // set up the kernel that calculates the entry values
    if (normalize)
        kernel[0] = kernel[1] = kernel[2] = std::bind([]() -> type::RealVec1D {
            return {-1.0, 1.0};
        });
    else
    {
        kernel[0] = [&mesh](const PetscInt &i, const PetscInt &j,
                            const PetscInt &k) -> type::RealVec1D {
            PetscReal v = 1.0 / mesh->dL[0][0][i];
            return {-v, v};
        };

        kernel[1] = [&mesh](const PetscInt &i, const PetscInt &j,
                            const PetscInt &k) -> type::RealVec1D {
            PetscReal v = 1.0 / mesh->dL[1][1][j];
            return {-v, v};
        };

        kernel[2] = [&mesh](const PetscInt &i, const PetscInt &j,
                            const PetscInt &k) -> type::RealVec1D {
            PetscReal v = 1.0 / mesh->dL[2][2][k];
            return {-v, v};
        };
    }

    // create matrix
    ierr = MatCreate(mesh->comm, &G); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatSetSizes(G, mesh->UNLocal, mesh->pNLocal, PETSC_DETERMINE,
                       PETSC_DETERMINE); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatSetFromOptions(G); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatSeqAIJSetPreallocation(G, 2, nullptr); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatMPIAIJSetPreallocation(G, 2, nullptr, 1, nullptr); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatSetUp(G); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatSetOption(G, MAT_KEEP_NONZERO_PATTERN, PETSC_FALSE);
    CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatSetOption(G, MAT_IGNORE_ZERO_ENTRIES, PETSC_TRUE); CHKERRQ(ierr);

    // set values to matrix
    for (PetscInt field = 0; field < mesh->dim; ++field)
        for (PetscInt k = mesh->bg[field][2]; k < mesh->ed[field][2]; ++k)
            for (PetscInt j = mesh->bg[field][1]; j < mesh->ed[field][1]; ++j)
                for (PetscInt i = mesh->bg[field][0]; i < mesh->ed[field][0];
                     ++i)
                {
                    PetscInt rId, cId;

                    StencilVec loc = getNeighbor[field](i, j, k);

                    type::RealVec1D values = kernel[field](i, j, k);

                    // get packed index of this velocity point
                    ierr = mesh->getPackedGlobalIndex(field, loc[0], rId);
                    CHKERRQ(ierr);

                    // loop through columns
                    for (PetscInt n = 0; n < 2; ++n)
                    {
                        ierr = mesh->getPackedGlobalIndex(3, loc[n], cId);
                        CHKERRQ(ierr);

                        ierr =
                            MatSetValue(G, rId, cId, values[n], INSERT_VALUES);
                        CHKERRQ(ierr);
                    }
                }

    // assemble matrix
    ierr = MatAssemblyBegin(G, MAT_FINAL_ASSEMBLY); CHKERRQ(ierr);
    ierr = MatAssemblyEnd(G, MAT_FINAL_ASSEMBLY); CHKERRQ(ierr);

    PetscFunctionReturn(0);
}  // createGradient

}  // end of namespace operators
}  // end of namespace petibm

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Tesla's massive lithium-ion battery storage facility, which was designed to feed South Australia's unstable power grid, is already proving itself by responding to power outages within milliseconds.
The system—the largest of its kind on planet Earth—was tested twice just this month. According to CleanTechnica, on Dec. 14, the Loy Yang coal power plant in the neighboring state of Victoria suddenly went offline. Remarkably, the Hornsdale Power Reserve battery system (the Tesla system's official name) kicked in within 140 milliseconds and injected 100 megawatts of power into the grid.
Two weeks later, another unit of the Loy Yang plant unexpectedly went offline. Tesla battery's also responded within milliseconds to send 16 megawatts to the grid.
"That's a record and the national operators were shocked at how quickly and efficiently the battery was able to deliver this type of energy into the market," State energy minister Tom Koutsantonis commented after the Dec. 14 outage. "Until now, if we got a call to turn on our emergency generators it would take us 10 to 15 minutes to get them fired up and operating which is a record time compared to other generators."
The 100-megawatt Powerpack system, which charges using renewable energy from Neoen's Hornsdale wind farm near Jamestown, is designed to hold enough power for 8,000 homes for 24 hours, or more than 30,000 houses for an hour during a blackout.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk famously made, and won, a bet that his company could build the battery within "100 days from contract signature or it is free." The giant battery officially switched on in early December.


I haven't worn any jewellery for months, but Justin picked out a pair of earings for me to wear today, so I did. I wore them as I ripped up the carpet on my back deck–I finally got tired of looking at it. Even with the chipped paint, it's still an improvement. My hands took a beating. I have a blister on my thumb to match the dozens on my feet and the calouses on my left finger tips. Sounds like I'm in hard shape, but it's barely noticeable, I hope. It felt good to take care of things around the house. This summer has been busy. I started off like fireworks on the July weekend, painting the outside of my fence, my front porch, and keeping the dandelions in check. But the days got away from me. My lawn is full of weeds and the bushes in front are in need of shaping. I trimmed them a bit yesterday, but my sheers are quite dull, so it's a hack job at best.
Does it really matter? Brian's Mom is back in ICU. She has a blood clot in her neck and they don't really know what's going on with her. She may need surgery again. What can I do but pray and hope for the best? Maybe I should have went to church today so I'd be a little closer to God's ear, if that's possible. It's depressing really, seeing a family in so much pain and so absorbed in worry about someone they love so much. Really adds perspective to your day.
Friday night on the way to Mom's house Korey asked me how the bones come out of a body when someone dies. I told him they don't, the skin melts away over time and leaves the bones behind.
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 at 9:49 pm	and posted in Just thinking, Motherly Love.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


text:
Q: Iterate pyarrow._flight.FlightStreamReader How do I iterate through a reader, assuming its a pyarrow._flight.FlightStreamReader object.
Which can be obtained from
reader = client.do_get(flight_info.endpoints[0].ticket, options)

Entire example.py script came from https://github.com/dremio-hub/arrow-flight-client-examples/blob/main/python/example.py
Currently I try reader.read_pandas() so that it will generate a dataframe for the entire Dremio results.  Unfortunately, if the query has over 50 million rows or so, it may not fit to the dataframe/or may not have enough memory for it, and my process just gets killed.  How do I iterate through the reader object and just get chunks so I can maybe generate dataframe per chunk.
When I use
for chunk in reader.read_chunk():
    print(chunk.to_pandas())

for the first chunk, it will convert/extract only 3968 rows from the results and put it in a dataframe, but for the second chunk its a None object.  My example really has a millions rows.
In short how can I iterate through the reader per specified chunk size?  And is it possible to print these chunks per rows without converting it to a dataframe?

A: I wrote the following and it works great
while True:
 try:
  batch, buf = reader.read_chunk()
  yield batch
 except StopIteration:
  break

The cunsumer function doing the batch.to_pandas()
The missing part is how to configure the chunk size

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Administrative Services job search
278-HRA-1219-VC
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
SECAmb Headquarters
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) has a vision to 'support our staff to provide a caring, high quality and efficient urgent and emergency care service to our communities'.
Our 3,800 staff provide services to 4.7m people across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and North East Hampshire. We handle over 1 million calls to 999 and 1 million calls to NHS 111 every year.
Contract type: 6-month fixed-term contract
Salary: Band 6, £30,401 - £37,267
Base location: Crawley HQ
Travel Requirement: Regional travel required throughout Surrey, Sussex and Kent, and Ashford 111 on a daily basis
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is part of the National Health Service (NHS). As one of the first Ambulance Services to gain Foundation Trust status, we continually strive to be recognised as a centre of excellence and employer of choice through innovative and dynamic thinking and working. We respond to 999 calls from the public and urgent calls from healthcare professionals.
We have an opportunity for an enthusiastic, committed and professional HR generalist, with excellent employee relations and organisational change experience gained in a fast paced and challenging environment. Reporting to the HR Business Partner, the HR Advisor will provide sound HR advice and guidance to managers, including the Trust's HR policies and procedures - disciplinary/capability, grievance, absence management, flexible working, and will advise on NHS terms and conditions of service.
This demanding yet rewarding opportunity will test your knowledge of employment law and best practice, whilst giving you the autonomy to further develop your career. The post-holders will take ownership of a varied caseload, support organisational change and will need to have good time management and prioritisation skills. Ideally fully CIPD qualified, you will thrive on delivering a professional, customer-focused HR service that supports the Trust's vision and values.
The successful applicant will be required to travel to Ashford 111 on a daily basis and will need to travel regionally to locations across Surrey, Sussex and Kent, therefore a full driving licence is essential.
For additional information please contact: Dipak Mistry, HR Business Partner
Interview date: TBC
Interview location: Ashford 111 or Crawley HQ
The Trust is committed to equality of opportunity of all staff. We welcome applications from individuals regardless of age, any disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, The Trust aspires to reflect the diversity of our community in our workforce and guarantees an interview to candidates with disability who meet the essential criteria specified. We particularly encourage applications from black, Asian, ethnic minority, and disabled applicants and those from other under-represented groups.
When completing the application please use your passport name and please ensure you include email addresses and contact numbers for your referees to avoid delay in the recruitment process.
If you have previously applied for this role and was deemed not appointable at any stage of the recruitment process, you cannot normally apply for the same or similar role for a minimum of six months from the date of application. This is to allow time for the candidate to receive feedback and undergo the appropriate development.
Should you require an application form in an alternative format off line, please contact recruitment@secamb.nhs.uk stating the vacancy reference number and we will be happy to provide this.
When completing the reference section, please include details to cover the last 3 years history.
Due to the high volume of applications at SECAmb, we regret that we will only be able to contact those applicants who are shortlisted for interview. If you have not heard from us within 10 working days of the closing date, then please assume you have not been shortlisted for interview on this particular occasion.
Please be aware that the trust reserves the right to close this vacancy early if sufficient applicants are received.
Follow our recruitment on Twitter @SECambRecruit and check out our Facebook page - SECAmb Recruitment
HR Advisor Job Description
Employee information privacy notice
Dipak Mistry
List jobs with South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust in Administrative Services or all sectors

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The settlement would have been destroyed but for the presence of the U.S. Sloop of War "Decatur". Anchored off this point, she fired a volley at the attackers, frightening them into hasty retreat.
This marker can also be identified by its HM code. You can use the hashtag #HMWF7 in tweets, and any other place where you might refer to this marker, including when searching on this site.


Published 04/22/2019 10:46:15 am at 04/22/2019 10:46:15 am in Dark Granite Kitchen.
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By Brent Sheets, Site Editor of SearchVB.com.
By now, unless you've been living under a rock in Mongolia, you've probably heard about a new programming language, called C# (pronounced: C Sharp). C# is a simple, object oriented language attempting to merge the ease of Visual Basic with the power of C++.
Whether Microsoft can garner crucial developer interest for its new language remains to be seen, but if you're curious about C#, keep reading for a free way to learn more.
The first book I've seen on this subject is by Christoph Wille, called Presenting C# (published by Sams Publishing). The first three chapters are currently published online on informIT. Every other week, informIT will publish three additional chapters of the book. You can whet your appetite with the excerpt below that delves into the NGWS runtime environment.
You are provided with a runtime environment by NGWS, the NGWS runtime. This runtime manages the execution of code, and it provides services that make programming easier. As long as the compiler that you use supports this runtime, you will benefit from this managed execution environment.
For the NGWS runtime to provide all these benefits, the compiler must emit metadata along with the managed code. The metadata describes the types in your code, and is stored along with your code (in the same PE- portable executable-file).
As you can see from the many cross-language features, he NGWS runtime is mainly about tight integration across multiple different programming languages. This support goes as far as allowing you to derive a C# class from a Visual Basic object (given that certain prerequisites that I'll discuss later are met).
One feature that C# programmers will like is that they don't have to worry about memory management-namely the all-famous memory leaks. The NGWS runtime provides the memory management, and the garbage collector releases the objects or variables when their lifetimes are over-when they are no longer referenced. I really like this feature because memory management in COM was my personal bane.
There are even bonuses when deploying a managed application or component. Because managed applications contain metadata, the NGWS runtime can use this information to ensure that your application has the specified versions of everything it needs. The net result is that your code is less likely to break because some dependency is not met. Another advantage of the metadata approach is that type information resides in the same file where the code resides-no more problems with the Registry!
To read the first three chapters of Christoph Wille's book Presenting C#, click over to InformIT.com. Registration is required on InformIT, but it's free.


Bowling fever is a bowling simulation game for iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone. It features realistic 3D real time graphics coupled with a stunning physics engine.
It includes 4 minigames that you can unlock for more fun! Every time you earn score, you accumulate points to unlock new content like new balls or new minigames.


Low listing prices, reasonable interest rates, and an abundant variety of homes to choose from are among a few of the reasons now is the perfect time for buyers to make a move in today's real estate market. Current market trends and other factors have made conditions even more favorable for first-time homebuyers. Though becoming a homeowner comes with huge responsibilities and financial commitments, first-time home buyers should take advantage of the market over flowing with opportunities. The following tips will help ease the mind when considering the smart purchase of your first Jersey Shore home.
1. Become familiar with the new first-time home buyer federal tax credit.
People who are considering the purchase of their first home, or have not been home owners for at least the past three years can gain great benefits from the first-time homebuyer tax credit. In February 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was put in to effect, offering many new opportunities that lend a helping hand to everyone struggling in today's times. The new legislation includes everything from home improvement tax credits to the popular first-time homebuyer tax credit. According to FederalHousingTaxCredit.com, qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009 will receive a tax credit of up to $8,000. Unlike past tax credits from 2008, the money received does not have to be repaid, unless the homebuyer sells the property with in three years.
2. Determine what is reasonably affordable.
Prior to beginning the hunt for the perfect home, it is important to find an affordable price range. Many factors such as money available for a down payment, eligibility for a loan, and monthly mortgage payments, all play a role in determining what the buyer can comfortably afford. Total monthly mortgage payments should be, on average, approximately 30 percent of one's gross monthly income. Affordability or loan calculators found on the internet can give a good idea of what is affordable. Before seriously inquiring the purchase of your first Jersey Shore home it is important to have a consultation with a knowledgeable financial advisor.
Once an affordable price range is determined, it is time to decide where you want to live and what you are looking for in a home. Whether staying with in the same general area, or looking for a new location, it is crucial to do a fair amount of research on the area and its demographics. For example crime rates, school districts, shopping, medical facilities, and travel, are all important factors have to be considered since they could affect your everyday life. It is also essential to know what you are looking for in a home. Separate lists of essential needs and wants should be carefully thought out towards the beginning of the home search. The list of basic needs should include things such as minimum square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, location, and price. The want list should be compiled of things that would be nice to have, such as pools, big yards, and gated communities.
Finding and purchasing a home is a complicated, overwhelming experience, which should be nothing but exciting. Working with an experienced real estate agent can make the process run smoothly and be more successful. The chances of finding the perfect Jersey Shore home are significantly increased when put in to the hands of the right real estate professional.
Learn more about how we can help you purchase a home by visiting PatrickParkerRealty.com or give us a call for more personal service.


A new venture capital firm has entered the agriculture technology market to invest in startups at Series A and Series B stage. St Louis-based Lewis & Clark Ventures this week held a $20 million first close on its first agtech fund, which is targeting $45 million in total, according to SEC filings.
Lewis & Clark Ventures was founded in 2015 by venture capital veteran Tom Hillman who sold his stake in Answers.com during its $1 billion acquisition by Apax Partners. It launched with a $104 million general fund focused on agricultural technology, enterprise software, healthcare technology and financial technology, but raised the agtech fund after receiving investor interest for a dedicated agtech fund, according to Scott Bernstein, vice president.
The fund will invest between $3 million and $7 million in each deal, and the company recently brought on three plant science PhDs to work on the fund. They include Ralph Quatrano who, among other appointments, was research manager in Central Research and Development at DuPont and a consultant for Monsanto. Also joining as venture partner is David Russell who was lead on Monsanto's Biotechnology Prospecting Team from 2007 to 2016, and Larry Page, who joined from PierianDx, a start-up specializing in clinical bioinformatics, as an associate.
The Lewis & Clark Plant Sciences Fund will focus on precision ag technologies, plant genomics, soil and crop technology, biomaterials and "anything related to food sustainability, irrigation, and water solutions," said Bernstein.
While the firm would not disclose the investor line-up of the agtech fund, it said the majority of its LPs across both funds were local to St Louis where Hillman has a strong track record in venture capital and private equity investing.
Lewis & Clark Ventures joins a growing ecosystem of agtech startups and investors in St Louis where this week the Ag Innovation Showcase is taking place at the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center.


text:
Tag Archives: Philip Kerr
Night Life Penultimate Best Novel Nom
So here we go with another historical crime novel – David C. Taylor's Night Life. It's his debut novel and it garnered an Edgar nomination for Mystery Writers of America Best Novel. Well-done, Taylor!
It's 1954, and the cold war is in the deep freeze. Michael Cassidy's a New York City detective, smart, sometimes violent but only with a good reason, who has odd dreams that sometimes come true. Cassidy and his partner Tony Orso are called to investigate the torture and murder of Alex Ingram, who coincidentally was a dancer in a show that Tom Cassidy, his father, is producing. Cassidy discovers a half-dollar coin in a buff envelope taped inside Ingram's locker at the theater.
Things spiral from there, with an ever-widening scope of investigation, a growing body count, and plenty of interest from the FBI, CIA, and even Senator Joseph McCarthy, who finds a communist everywhere he looks. He may be an obsessive nut job, but that doesn't mean that there aren't real communist spies hard at work right here in NYC. It turns out that Ingram was a KGB sleeper agent with a sideline in blackmail.
On the personal front, Cassidy's expecting retaliation from Franklin, a vice cop-slash-pimp. Cassidy not only interrupted Franklin mid-assault on a hooker, but threw him out a window. And he's distracted by a new resident of his apartment building, a comely young woman who's a welder working for an artist, bringing his metal sculptures to life. (She wields a pretty mean baseball bat, too, rescuing Cassidy when Franklin's buddies give him a beating in the apartment hallway.) He's close to his brother, Brian and sister, Leah, but not so close to his father, Tom. His mother killed herself, more or less accidentally, taking an overdose of pills when she thought Tom would be coming home and would rescue her, thus bringing them closer together. Unfortunately, Tom is essentially selfish, decided not to keep his promise, and teenage Michael discovered his mother's cold body.
More about Cassidy's father. More problems there. He was born in Russia – Tomas Kasnavietski – emigrating to the US at age 15. A staunch believer in the American dream, he's surprised and dismayed to find that in 1954 America, Tom Cassidy's about to be deported back to Russia. His faith in his son and his friends to rescue him is unshaken. Unfortunately, the friend is "Uncle Frank," a mobster who wants a favor from Cassidy.
Fortunately, Cassidy's a good detective, a smart negotiator and a good bluffer, with a stalwart partner and chutzpah to spare. Still, it could have all gone sideways if it were not for his prophetic dreams… at the moment when the bad guys are about to ambush him, Cassidy recognizes the location and the sinking sense of dread from a recurrent dream. It gives him the warning he needs to be the one left standing.
I'm very impressed with author David Taylor. Night Life is tightly plotted, the coincidences not all that unlikely, the motivations for all clear and character-driven, and the integration of historical figures critical to the story, not distracting add-ons. I understand that this is the first in a series featuring Det. Michael Cassidy, and I'll be right there to read more in the future. (In fact, book #2, Night Work, launched earlier this month.)
How does Night Life stack up to the other nominees? Very, very well. It's eminently readable, like The Strangler Vine. It's got excellent pacing and similar switches in POV to keep up the suspense, as with Life or Death. It's got that paranormal aspect to it, as does Let Me Die in His Footsteps. And it incorporates real-life historical figures, as does The Lady From Zagreb. In fact, considering the whole package, I'm going to give Taylor's debut mystery the top spot. I may have reviewer's regret when I review and rank the final nominee, Canary, and make some changes. But time is running out, as the Edgars will be awarded Thursday!
Literary Lunchbox Edgar Ranking: Best Novel
Night Life by David C. Taylor
Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter
The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr
Tagged Best Novel, David C. Taylor, Edgar Mystery writers of America, Lori Roy, Michael Robotham, MJ Carter, Night Life, Philip Kerr, Review
Kerr Again Nominated for Best Novel
Shades of 2012! Philip Kerr is up again for an MWA Edgar Award for Best Novel for a Bernie Gunther historical crime novel. This year's entry is The Lady from Zagreb. In 2012, it was Field Gray. He didn't win in 2012 – the award went to Mo Hayder's Gone, which I adored – and I had ranked Field Gray fourth on my list. Click here to read that review.
If you've clicked, you know that I struggled mightily with that book. This one has many of the same issues, but I went into it bound and determined to give it a good shot. It's set mostly in 1942/43, although the book opens in 1956 with Bernie in a movie theater, watching a film featuring the lovely Dalia Dresner. This leads him in a reverie, remembering his time together with the movie star.
How did Bernie Gunther, the reluctant Nazi, get hooked up with Dalia Dresner, who was even more fantastic than Hedy Lamarr? It's a long story. Very long, given the side trips that Bernie has to traverse to tell it.
Here's a quick overview: Bernie is tapped to give a speech at an international police conference at the Villa Minoux. Attorney Heinrich Heckholz wants Bernie to to snoop around while he's there, to find some evidence he needs to help Lilly Minoux, who used to own the house, get it back (complicated story). Bernie's game. He finds tons of info, but nothing helpful to Minoux. When he goes to report, he finds Heckholz is beaten to death with a bust of Hitler in his office. This is treated as black humor.
Fast forward a year. Joseph Goebbels asks Bernie to help movie star Dalia Dresner locate her estranged father. Goebbels, who is in charge of the German Film Industry, has it bad for Dalia. Dalia's married, uninterested in Goebbels romantically, but willing to let him help her. Sure enough, Bernie is besotted by Dalia and would do almost anything to help her, include traveling to Yugoslavia to find her father. We get the hint that he might not be the nicest guy. In exchange for a great car to drive to Yugoslavia in, Bernie also runs an errand for General Schallenberg.
Along the way, Bernie witnesses some horrific cruelties, mass murders that makes the concentration camp gas chambers look humane. He finds Dalia's dad, and the man is a monster. He gets kidnapped and almost tortured by American spies, but gets saved by the Gestapo, who also want to murder him. Fortunately, they want to get him drunk and throw him off a cliff, and thanks to the highly flammable nature of the drink and the bad guy's naiveté regarding a final cigarette, Bernie prevails.
Back in Germany, he and Goebbels agree to lie to Dalia. But of course Daddy dearest comes looking for her, and when he does, he gets a big surprise. As does Bernie. Being endowed with great insight, Bernie deduces the truth. He figures out a way to save the day, but it requires him to give up Dalia, the love of his life, or at least, his loins.
As I noted in 2012, Kerr has a wonderful way with words. His convoluted plot, if presented in a straightforward manner, would be dark, depressing, dour… Fortunately, he has given Bernie a wry sense of humor and the dialogue is often surprisingly breezy. And as I also admitted, I am not a very good historian. I do poorly when it comes to the yellow pie slices in Trivial Pursuit. So I am always distracted by trying to figure out which characters are real and which are not, and if the real ones were really like that, or if Kerr is taking liberties. I'm pretty sure nobody talked like Kerr makes them talk. Anyway, the author's note at the end is very helpful in clearing up details like that.
What did I think this time around? I definitely liked it way more than Field Gray. I like the Bernie Gunther character and the plot was much more constrained (although still filled with what-the-heck? moments). And there's a final twist that I definitely did not see coming, so props to Kerr for that.
Comparatively speaking, I definitely preferred Lori Roy's novel Let Me Die in His Footsteps, which has an equally surprising plot twist but is much more character-driven. Does Lady have an edge over Life or Death? Not quite, the stakes are much higher for Audie Palmer. You never really think that Bernie's in any danger, and you don't really care about any of the other characters. And I really was surprised by how much I liked The Strangler Vine. So here it goes to the #4 spot, where Kerr was last time.
Note – not sure what is up with the sheer number of not-set-in-the-present nominees. So far only Life or Death has been set in present day, the other three are all historical!
Tagged Best Novel, Edgar, MWA, mystery writers of america, Philip Kerr, The lady from Zagreb
Pondering the international flavor of this year's Edgar nominees
Of the authors who have books nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Novel, only one's American: Ace Atkins. Mo Hayder is British, Keigo Higashino is Japanese, Anne Holt is Norwegian, and Philip Kerr is British. Hmm. It got me thinking – is this an unusual year, or is there usually such an international flavor?
Let's check it out. I visited the MWA Edgar website, which has an awesome, searchable database. Seriously, check it out here. Want to know if your favorite author ever won an Edgar? Want to know who won every year for the last ten years so you can make a library run? Whatever you want to know, it's there.
From 2003 to 2011, there were 48 books and 44 authors nominated for a Best Novel Edgar. Michael Connelly, Ken Bruen, Laura Lippman and John Hart were all nominated twice – and John Hart won in both years! Connelly, Bruen, and Lippman did not receive the award either time they were nominated in the last ten years.
Of the 44 nominees, 29 (or 2/3) are American. The other 1/3 are not. Of these: 4 are British. 4 are Irish. 3 are Scottish. 1 is Japanese. 1 is Norwegian. 1 is Swedish. 1 is South African.
So – yay! I'm not nuts. This year's MWA nominees for Best Novel are definitely skewed towards the international.
But how does a book get nominated, anyway? The work must be submitted for consideration, and to be considered, it must have been published in the United States for the first time during the year previous (so 2012 submissions must have been published in 2011). Publishers must have met the MWA criteria. For Best Novel, publication must have been in hard copy. Publishers are expected to submit the works, but authors or agents may do so.
And from here, it's a big blur. The MWA website is weak in this regard, it appears that either how the works are judged is considered common knowledge or it is considered proprietary. I do know that many people read the submissions and there is an ongoing process to winnow it down to the top six and then the ultimate winner. There's no nomination committee and then voting – it's all done by the same people.
Here's a blog post from last year from Bruce Hollingdrake at The Bookshop Blog. It's pretty helpful.
Posted in Commentary
Tagged Ace Atkins, Anne Holt, Best Novel, Edgars, International, Interntional nominees, judging, Keigo Higashino, Mo Hayder, MWA, Philip Kerr, trend


It always pays to be nice to your trainer – it really does. He or she may be your first referee in your first aged care job. Some students think if your trainer gives out her number to the class then he/she will give a glowing reference – WRONG! When employers do ring for a referee they always ask the following questions: Was the student punctual? Was the student trustworthy? Was the student absent on many occasions? I recently had an employer ring me about a student who had been absent a lot and was difficult during placement time. Not wanting to spoil her chances I gave positive answers to the some of the questions above but negative answers to others. All were truthful. By the end of the conversation, they indicated she was going to get the job as she had interviewed well and was suitable for their facility. I was chuffed however, I received no thank you from her later on - I don't expect one from any students but in her case I did, as her placement was a painful process for me as a trainer. The moral of this story is: – Do not take it as a given your referee will give you a glowing reference - Do text or ring before to check you will get a reference - If you get the job be appreciative and at least text a thank you to any referees Read this blog http://www.dptraining.com.au/blog/what-i-wish-you-knew-a-trainers-view written last year but relevant to this topic – What your trainer wish you knew.


With the recent changes to UAO, you can now opt-in to email notifications for the Accounts you are working with! These settings are User-specific and will not affect other Users associated with that account.
1. To opt-in or out of email notifications for an account, you must first have access to that account. Use your Account Switcher to switch and log into the account you would like to manage email notifications for.
2. From here, click the Avatar at the top and then Account Settings.
3. Navigate to the Settings tab.
4. From the Notifications tab, select the email notifications you would like to receive and click Submit to save your changes. This will only affect the email notifications that you receive as these notifications are User-specific. If a colleague has access to the same account, they can set their notifications differently and it will not affect the settings you have selected.
1. To opt-out of all system notifications, navigate to the User Settings tab by clicking your Avatar at the top.
2. Navigate to the Email tab.
3. Select the checkbox next to "Unsubscribe from all system notification emails". This will override any email notification settings you have set for any of your accounts.


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ET Intelligence Group: ONGC and Oil India might move beyond their sluggish trading ranges after a year because of the significant increase in oil subsidy provisions in the FY20 interim budget.
State-owned upstream companies are trading at less than seven times their one-year forward earnings and figure among the cheapest exploration and production companies globally due to uncertainties over subsidies.
New Delhi has increased the oil subsidy provision by 62 per cent to Rs 33,700 crore for FY20, in line with Street estimates. The budget provisions indicate that the government could manage the burden if crude oil remained in the range of $60-65 per barrel and it need not pass the incremental costs on to state-owned oil explorers.
The disbursement of oil subsidy is computed based on a cash basis. This means subsidy for the fourth-quarter of any fiscal year is rolled over for the next fiscal year. For instance, in order to compute the actual payment of oil subsidy, under-recoveries of the fourth-quarter of FY18 and nine-months of FY19 are considered. The under-recoveries on LPG and Kerosene for the current fiscal are likely to be Rs 40,500 crore, while the budget provision was only Rs 20,700 crore. So, for this year rolled over subsidy burden will be Rs 19,700 crore.
The higher provision of oil subsidy for FY20 would translate into a smaller shortfall for the Centre. Hence, there is a low probability of passing the subsidy burden on to the upstream companies. The government raised the budget provision for LPG subsidy under Direct Benefit Transfer to Rs 29,500 crore from Rs 16,500 crore. This too indicated that it was intended to manage DBT on LPG directly without putting the incremental burden on PSU oil companies.
The stock prices of ONGC and Oil India mean that the Street is pricing net realization of less than $45 per barrel, while international crude prices are hovering around $62. CLSA in a note said that fears of a large subsidy burden pulled down ONGC and OIL's stock to levels that they are pricing in post-subsidy realisation of $44/47 per barrel.
"A $55/bbl post-subsidy realisation scenario will imply bearcase fair values of Rs 201 and Rs 255 per share for ONGC and Oil India, an upside of 41 per cent and 49 per cent from the current levels, respectively," the CLSA note further added. Similarly, Kotak Institutional Equities raised the EPS estimate of ONGC and Oil India by 15-28 per cent and reiterated 'buy' rating with fair values of Rs 210 and Rs 235 for ONGC and Oil India, respectively.


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The trip to Vienna was the third stage of a ten-day tour that took me, in June 2015, to visit first Berlin and then Prague. And it is precisely from the Czech capital that together with my travel partner, we moved for two and a half days to visit Vienna. This goal was strongly desired by me even if my friend didn't believe it could be done so easily. In reality, the idea for this trip was given to me by a girl I followed on a social network. She repeatedly traveled between Prague and Vienna by train, I contacted her and asked for some tips about that type of itinerary so I could better organize my plan.
Vienna was another city that had intrigued me after seeing a movie and it's not the first time that I have visited a place suggested by the magic of cinema. The fact is that after watching "The Third Man", I had an incredible desire to go and see the Austrian capital, to understand what was left of what I had seen in a movie which had a unique atmosphere. In reality, the visit seemed like a tour of the locations of the movie because I had found the most important ones on Google Maps and it was from those that I wanted to start visiting the city.
We left Prague station at around 8:30 AM and the journey would take 4 hours. Traveling by train, even if longer, is still more practical; you could arrive at the station just before the train left and normally the destination is always in the city center. Of the whole trip I only remember when we stopped at Brno station and then a long time spent chatting with a girl from another continent who wanted to have a relationship with me at all costs! We arrived in Vienna shortly after 1 PM and once I got off the train I couldn't help but be amazed by the station's design. An ultramodern terminal, where the track cover was not only futuristic but also gave a sense of "muscular". Inside, colorful monitors gave all the necessary information. But what struck me most was the level below the tracks; practically a huge mall with a modern design. Although it seemed to be in a shopping center, the terminal was structured in such a way as to be able to find the platforms very easily.
We took the metro and in a few stops we arrived in Stephanplatz, our hotel was nearby and we found it immediately. The first pleasant surprise I had immediately after entering the room, it overlooked Neuer Markt, a square that appeared in the film "The Third Man".
Also in Wien there was the Vapiano restaurant chain I mentioned in my post on Berlin, after check-in, at 2 PM we immediately headed there for lunch with a good plate of spaghetti.
We returned to Stephanplatz around 4 PM and we mingled with the many people who populated the center at that time. I immediately liked the place, both from the urban point of view, a very large square with a slight curve, and for the elegance of the buildings and shops. In general, I noticed that the inhabitants of Vienna were very elegant, both women and men. This detail made the girls look even more beautiful, in Prague they were beautiful without make-up, in Vienna let's say they were valued thanks to their style.
We immediately headed to the Cathedral, this gothic building had a tower separated from the main structure and the large part of the square overlooked the side of the building. However, when we arrived in front of the facade, I noticed that even that part of the street was large enough to be able to admire the building in its entirety. Moreover, right at the source of the facade there was another street and looking at the cathedral from there, it gave the possibility to play with depth, this was very useful for photos as well as giving a 3D effect. We walked several blocks and then returned to the starting point and I was very pleased to photograph both the beautiful buildings and the beautiful women I passed. With my friend we also stopped a bit near a large statue, or "The Plague Column" (Wiener Pestsäule) not only very characteristic for its shape but also thanks to the steps at its base which were used as a seat for many beautiful tourists. I understood that Vienna would distract me with its "beauties" so I tried to concentrate on the monuments and itineraries I had planned.
The next place we stopped was Michaelerplatz, a square and semicircle that had a sort of rectangular basin in the center. It consisted of ancient walls, placed below the road and surrounded by walls. The view on the finds was easy to access and had a nice effect thanks to the beautiful building in the background. Just a few steps from there, there was Josefplatz, where we got there with a five-minute walk. This square was not of particular importance in itself but it was important to me. In fact, there was the famous building with the statue of 4 women who supported the partition with their heads. A famous scene from "The Third Man" was set there or at least it was a scene that struck me a lot. I was happy to be able to visit a place of the cinema that was real, and moreover it was preserved in the same way even after half a century. I wanted to have a photo taken that had the same shot that featured Joseph Cotten; that is me in profile while looking over the entrance door of the building. Unfortunately, even though the square and the building were still the same as they were seen in the film, the "progress" had brought vehicles that at that moment were parked in such a way as to ruin the image I wanted. Together with my friend we decided to go on and return in the evening hoping that the entrance door would be free from cars.
Wandering through the streets of Vienna, I noticed that there were also some modern buildings in steel and glass, however this type of construction was a minority. The presence of tourist carriages, on the other hand, increased the classic beauty of the city, if it were not for the presence of today's horrible cars, in some moments it really seemed to have gone back in time. Everything was going well and it was time to go and visit another place linked to "The Third Man". This time it was the door where, with an excellent scenic cut, appears for the first time the character played by Orson Welles. That image of him with a mocking smile has always fascinated me and when I saw that the place really existed and it wasn't a set, I immediately put it on the list of things to see. I remembered exactly the area where the door was or at least this was what I believed. I remembered that the street was geographically to the right of Rathausplatz and I started searching using Google Maps. Just at that moment I noticed that I had never marked the address of the place but had only found it, many times, on the map. Despite this I was confident in myself, so I headed with my travel companion to the streets that were in front of the Rathaus. The route in question was in a gap between two roads, easily recognizable, however after about twenty minutes of searching I couldn't find the place, unfortunately my friend could not be of help. At one point I found a very similar place but we arrived in front of a staircase that I didn't know existed. For the sake of it, only I climbed it, avoiding the effort of my friend, but once I got to the top I noticed that there was no trace of the block I was looking for. At that moment my friend began to have pain in his knee and I, giving up the "mission", proposed to return to the Rathaus park where we could rest on a bench. So we did but inside me I still wanted to find that place. Suddenly I don't know how, I had a vision of where the road might be located. I had by now checked entire blocks so by exclusion it had to still be there but slightly to the north. I immediately opened Google Maps and after a few seconds I found the place! With the happiness of a child, I announced it to my friend and after the rest necessary to make him recover from the pain we set off. When we got there after a few minutes, I laughed at myself and was happy to have achieved the goal. The door number 8 was located above Schreyvogelgasse, in a street called Mölker Steig. The area was well maintained and right next to the building with number 8 there was a nice restaurant with outdoor tables. I believe that precisely by virtue of the film, the area has been redeveloped; the road made of cobblestones and also the wall that overlooked the road below, everything was perfect and I think original. Obviously once there I took many photos trying to take one next to the door in the hope of reproducing the same mocking expression that Orson Welles had. I don't think I succeeded but I was happy anyway, the tour in Vienna was turning into "The Third Man" tour.
After leaving that place hardly found, we headed back to the Rathausplatz where we arrived in ten minutes. The City Hall building, built in a Neo-Gothic style, was imposing and majestic, with a clock tower that soared higher than the others. When I saw it, it was decorated with long Austrian flags that hung vertically from above to cover an entire floor. That white and red color broke sharply with the yellow of the Rathaus, giving a very personal connotation to a building that was already beautiful in itself. The large square in front gave the opportunity to admire it in its entirety, as I like it, in fact I spent a pleasant moment both walking in front of the structure and photographing it. However, the infinite width of the Rathaus did not allow me to photograph it as I wanted and to tell the truth I have never been fully satisfied with the images I took of that beautiful structure.
When we left, on the road to our next destination, I noticed another building that had an entrance very similar to that of the one seen in Josefplatz. This even saw four couples of women who supported a large balcony on their heads, below which there were three entrance doors. I don't know if the work was by the same architect but in any case it was very beautiful and original. Just a few steps from there was the Parliament Building, this instead was built in a Neo-Classical style, a clear homage to the great Greek Temples. All white and with decorated columns, it had a very large statue of the goddess Athena in the lower part of the building. I particularly like this type of structure, in fact we spent a lot of time in that area both to take pictures and to stay in that kind of environment that inspires me a lot.
The tour that day included visits that were definitely close to each other and right in front of the Parliament, there was the Volkgarten, a huge park. From there, walking in the green, we arrived at the other park, L'Heldenplaz which ended on Hofburg Wien. This was an imperial palace in the shape of a semicircle, which was also impressive despite looking at it from a distance. That large green lawn was full of people playing football, reading or simply resting on the grass. After taking some photos, we too sat on the grass and there my friend had an original idea. Given the large lawn, he proposed to take pictures of us imitating the famous pose that Michel Platini used to do after he scored a goal. In turn, first he and then I lay down on our side resting our hand on our head, it was a lot of fun and in fact it was at the same time a way to rest after the many kilometers we had covered that day. The afternoon was almost at the end but we had one last mission before going to dinner, to return to Josefplatz. We got there right away, only my idea of taking pictures with Joseph Cotten's pose didn't go the way I wanted. Even though we returned after many hours, there was still a vehicle, in this case a blue motorcycle, which spoiled my view. Thanks to the patience of my friend I took the same photos but not with the desired result.
Vienna also featured nightly entertainment and that night after dinner we went to an adult entertainment club called Golden Times. In reality, due to a wrong GPS fix, we lost some time to find it but in the end we arrived in front of the place in a reasonable time. Once inside, after wearing the typical outfit of places like that, that was, slippers and a bathrobe, we set out in search of our partner. The club was very nice, with lots of elongated sofas and lots of tables where we could sit and start conversations. Personally, beyond everything, I liked the outdoor pool so much, even if I didn't take a bath, I liked to go out from time to time and soak my feet in the hot water. That night, after a long intimate conversation with a brunette girl whose appearance I vaguely remember, we ended the night together in a room wrapped in soft lighting. Everything happened with the utmost respect but without long and unnecessary formalities, life is short so downtime must be cut, that's why I love clubs like the Golden Times.
The Plague Column
Michaelerplatz
The door in Josefplatz
Josefplatz
The place where first appeared Orson Wells in "The Third Man"
Trying to do Orson Welles face expression
The Rathaus
Parliament Building
Me under Athena Staue
Like Michel Platini
Trying to impersonate Joseph Cotten
The second day in Vienna started in the late morning, in fact it was 11 AM when we had breakfast. Moreover, that was the only full day that we could take advantage of in the Austrian capital. Precisely for this reason the list of things to see was long but nevertheless not prohibitive. The first place to visit that day was the Donauturm, a lookout tower, this was one of the two buildings we wanted to visit which was located just outside the center. To get there we took the metro but the tower didn't have a dedicated stop. This apparently seemed a bad thing, however the building was located inside the Donaupark, a really large green park. From the stop we practically entered the park and arrived at the tower walking through the greenery. Moreover, this gave us the opportunity to admire the tower from afar, appreciating it from all possible perspectives. The observation tower was about 250 meters high, lower than the one we visited in Berlin, however in proportion to the height, the platform was higher. This was an aesthetic detail but in fact the viewing platform of the Berlin tower remained higher. Both the park and the tower were not very populated that day, without queuing up and in a few minutes we reached the top of the Donauturm. The panoramic terrace had medium protections, I mean that there was a wall just over a meter high above which iron grids were installed. It was a type of protection that gave the possibility both to look clearly and to photograph without filters such as glass or plexiglas. The view from up there was certainly impressive, the tower was surrounded by greenery and on the one hand this continuity was only broken by a series of new skyscrapers. From another side an area full of villas was immersed in a strip of green land between the river sides, they certainly had a more harmonious and characteristic view. The other side, on the other hand, overlooked Wien, the view was a bit "squashed", probably because the distance-height did not have the right proportions. At that moment, moreover, the part of the city wasn't sharp so it made the situation worse. However, it was easy to distinguish buildings such as the Cathedral or the Rathaus plus some new area of skyscrapers that I did not know. Also for this tower, I think the same thing I said for Berlin, I'm of the opinion that when the view is not formed by other and mammoth buildings, the effect is not particularly exciting. The real peculiarity of that tower, on the other hand, was the fact that on one level there was a revolving restaurant. This was a discovery we made there, after we sat down to enjoy a Sacher Torte, the movement was imperceptible but in the end looking out the window, the view changed in appearance.
Moving lunch for a few hours, we headed to the Prater, the famous playground of the city, and I immediately had another pleasant surprise. Just shortly after I entered, it appeared in front of me a Ferris wheel named "Wiener Riesenrad", only this looked like the one featured in the movie that I no longer mention. The cabins and the design were those, obviously I don't know if they were the original ones or replicas that kept the same style. By the time we arrived, the wheel cabins were hosting a private event so we couldn't go up. We decided to reschedule that visit for the end of the day and limit ourselves to visiting the Prater. This playground was very colorful, the structures were all low and the style was what can be found today in large clothing outlets. Inside there were many types of entertainment, the most popular rides but also some with a water theme, there was another more modern Ferris wheel with outdoor cabins. Just adjacent to Prater was a newly designed university campus with buildings still under construction. One of these was the building designed by Zaha Hadid, whom I knew and wanted to go and see. This was one of the visits not connected with Carol Reed's film and I was very surprising for the beauty of the whole area. In addition to the building that saw two blocks, one gray and one black that practically intersected in an impossible design, all around was a series of modern and colorful buildings. After taking photos with Zaha Hadid's work, which was still covered by some scaffolding, we headed to an area that attracted me even more. Right there, in fact, a large green lawn with a metal sphere placed on a raised floor, divided two beautiful structures. On one side a building with a "zebra" design and on the other a sort of box with a color that, starting from the orange at the bottom, faded to yellow at the top. The design was completed with vertically placed wooden installations. It was an incredible glance, I was ecstatic like every time I see a place that reminds me of a dreamlike atmosphere like in the world of Oz. I ended up taking more photos with the yellow-orange building than with the rest and driven by that positive mood, I returned to the Prater with my friend. In the large circular square we ate a huge sandwich with sausage and mayonnaise, we were a little late but that didn't bother us. Before saying goodbye to the Prater, I took some special photos with a life-size statue of Marilyn Monroe that was outside a cinema.
There was a panoramic place with which I identified Vienna, it was a view from a hill that overlooked an immensely large sumptuous palace. That palace was Schönbrunn Palace, an imperial palace built in the early eighteenth century. This was the other place in Wien that was not connected with the movie and that I had studied before leaving. More than anything else, my studies focused on how to get there as it was slightly out of town. We actually got there from the Prater in about 45 minutes and got off at a metro stop that was right near the entrance to the building. I had been to Versailles so I already knew what kind of place I was going to visit and I must say that this castle immediately showed itself in a big way. Two high columns were divided by the entrance gate beyond which there was a huge courtyard. The yellow castle stood out beyond the courtyard, from the entrance we could not perceive its true grandeur because the area was very large. There were several green areas and statues and I took dozens of photos before even arriving in front of the entrance. I noticed the grandeur right in front of the double staircase, which allowed us to reach the first floor where a balcony covered the various doors below. I took many photos of them that makes understand the proportions, it's unusual to see how small am I compared to the context of the stairs and the balcony. I was there to see the famous hill of which there was no trace in that sector, then turning around the building it opened up a new scenario. Suddenly we were inside a maniacally cared green park. The hedges, the grass and the flowers seemed unreal as they were perfect, a backdrop of beautiful colors. Right there we saw the famous hill, it was not very high but certainly far away and just below it there was another structure that I didn't know. Walking in the midst of that splendor we arrived under the structure that I discovered to be the fountain of Neptune, even here, we are talking about immense proportions. Considering that there were no other structures around to make understand the size, however the "giant" effect was perceived. At that point it was no longer possible to see the hill that to reach it had to "circumnavigate" one of the sides of the fountain. After we did it, we set out to climb to the top on what was a "mini hike". Once we got to the top, we discovered that just below the structure, which was called "Gloriette Schloss", there was an artificial lake that could not be seen from below. That place was perhaps the best point of view, the castle below could be seen perfectly and beyond it the urbanized periphery. After going around the lake we arrived under the Gloriette, it was like a conquest because in the end it took time and effort. Despite this, however, it was rewarded with unique scenarios which was what I wanted to see. Also at my friend's suggestion, we took pictures of us trying to imitate Rocky's pose after he climbed the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After playing with the photos, we began the descent, a type of walk that most of the time is hard as the climb. We arrived in the "valley" which was almost 6 PM and headed back to the Prater. The old Riesenrad was there waiting for us, personally I didn't expect great things, I liked the idea of visiting a place where had been shot an important scene of an iconic movie. To my surprise, the view from above the Ferris wheel was truly original. Not only we saw the details of the colorful Prater but also the view over the city was more interesting.
The position of the Riesenrad was more in the city center than the Donauturm, giving more satisfaction. Above all, there was a corner from where we could see the classic red roofs of Viennese houses, in the background a series of skyscrapers and to the left of them a little further in the distance the Donauturm. It was certainly a more exciting experience than that of the morning, despite the fact that we were at a much lower height on the wheel. These are the surprises I appreciate most when I travel, the low expectations of certain places that turn out to be a thousand times more beautiful than I thought.
That night we were going to visit a quieter place, named Club Passage, a very popular disco in the city center. This club was a normal nightclub which from what I understood was also exclusive. Surely the place was original, the Club Passage in fact was built in what was an old metro stop now in disuse. The unique thing was the entrance, which was was the metro stop! If it weren't for the presence of security, you didn't understand what people could do outside that area at that time of the night. The interior design retained the base of what used to be the metro but enriched with lights, bars and tables. However the place was chic, whoever conceived it had done a good job. Essentially there was only one room but there were many corners with sofas and tables that gave enough privacy. Unfortunately, both there and before arriving at the club, I realized that there was a certain snobbery in the Viennese girls. On the road, in fact, we had met several girls to whom we asked where the club was; we are still waiting for them to answer us. Even within the club, people were divided into groups and rarely interacted with each other. The club was not full, probably because it was a midweek but in general the atmosphere wasn't the one I like. Let's say it was the exact opposite of what I described in the Berlin post talking about the Matrix Club.
The Riesenrad inside the Prater
Zaha Hadid's building
Schönbrunn Palace entrance
Fountain of Neptune
Gloriette Schloss
View from the Riesenrad
The third day in Vienna was also that of departure, being a train journey that took place at lunchtime, this left us room to take advantage of the morning by going to make the last visit. To tell the truth, we woke up around 9 AM but confident in ourselves we weren't afraid of failing in our plan which took us to visit the Belvedere and then be at the station just before 1 PM. The Belvedere Castle is a former princely residence built in the eighteenth century. It consists of two opposing buildings (called upper and lower probably due to the difference in height on which they stand) which are divided by french gardens. Today the Belvedere houses one of the largest art galleries within its rooms. Mainly our purpose dictated by the tight times, was to see the famous "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt but personally I was sure, as always happens in this kind of places, that I would find other works worthy of inspiration.
At 10:30 AM we were in front of the Belvedere entrance. It was majestic with three high central doors which could be accessed from a staircase or from side ramps. Also flawless from an aesthetic point of view with a perfectly maintained sand-colored facade, it overlooked an immense garden with an artificial lake in the center. In reality, for my taste, it had a little too much concrete right in the area in front of the entrance but nevertheless that was only the outside of the building. The real beauty, however, was the part of the internal garden, which to define it in this way was an understatement. In fact, the french garden was so large that it gave the impression of being inside a large park. Moreover, at the bottom of the gardens stood the lower Belvedere palace, probably less beautiful than the upper one but certainly a remarkable work. Despite having little time, we spent at least fifteen minutes taking pictures outside as the view was beautiful, immediately after we entered for the specific destination. To get to "The Kiss" room we crossed parts where the view was dominated by marble and decorations, then we found ourselves in front of Klimt's masterpiece. The painting was hanging rather high, it was neither large nor small, a medium size and it was on a wall with a black background. In this way the predominance of the yellow of the work was more evident. Unfortunately, as often happens in these cases, there was a group in the room to which the guide explained the details of the work. For this reason we could not see the painting very close but I took advantage of the people to take pictures (which was forbidden) hiding among them. The painting was certainly beautiful but I believe that to fully appreciate art you need to be in intimacy, even if you look at a painting, when you are alone with the work, you create a sort of complicity as if it were alive and not a object. Inside the room there were other works by Klimt that I didn't know but that I recognized for his style. After admiring the other paintings, we went to another very original room. This oval place had about ten faces exposed in the shape of a circle, they were placed on narrow and long stands about one meter and sixty centimeters high. These faces were funny as long as they almost all depicted the "elongated" facial expression. Lips tightened, eyes closed with wrinkled forehead up. It was a comic expression but in the noble sense of the word, yet it was funny and led me to do what good manners forbade me to do. I stood next to one of the faces and tried to imitate the same expression while my friend photographed me. Since it was a long practice made up of many tests, I lost some time and this led to an original event. Right there there was a girl of about ten who, seeing me as an "adult" doing those things, she felt free to do the same. In fact, I was happy to have been an inspiration and my friend was able to capture a frame where both the girl and I imitate the expression.
We exited the upper Belvedere after about half an hour and headed down through the gardens. Halfway, right next to a fountain, we found another original installation. A classic frame with a mirror inside, was placed on the ground and perfectly reflected the entire building from the high Belvedere. The moment you approached it, you found yourself projected into the picture, it was a beautiful effect that gave multiple photographic ideas because the picture changed every moment that someone passed by. It was a very fun moment and it would have been very nice to stop a little longer and create different images with people standing in front of the mirror. We continued to go down calmly enjoying those gardens that I was trying to immortalize in my photos in the best possible way. In the lower part we found ourselves in front of an immense fountain that was hidden by the difference in height. We spent the last moments at the Belvedere enjoying the view from the lower part which had its charm in the same way as the view from the upper part; I can't say which was the most beautiful. The visit lasted just over an hour and the last unexpected thing we saw after leaving the museum was a memorial in honor of the World War II. A series of columns placed in a semicircle with a tall statue of a soldier. That was our farewell to Vienna, after that we took the subway which in a short time brought us to the train station.
The visit to Vienna was a beautiful experience from many points of view. As I have already said, it was a destination wedged in the middle of visiting two other cities, an idea that seemed impossible. Not only I explored Wien starting from the places seen in a noir movie from over half a century ago, but I also discovered a place that was much more beautiful than what I expected. Elegance, style, cleanliness, Vienna was perfect and the monuments not only reflected all this but also had a royal and very scenic beauty. This city had a feminine charm for me, like those elegant and well-groomed girls I met in the streets. It's precisely the personality of the female gender that struck me deeply. The fine and composed beauty in addition to the snobbish attitude intrigued me a lot. I would have liked to know that type of girl in an intimate way and in a certain sense "wean them", introduce them to a wild side which I think is pure science fiction for them. Without a doubt, this, in addition to all the other beauties in Vienna, inspires me to return. If in 2015 I saw the places of "The Third Man", in the next one I will try to explore the "intimate" side of this beautiful city. A "deeper" visit from all points of view.
Upper Belvedere
"The Kiss" I retouched the pic in order to remove a person head on the left side of the painting
I always impersonate all the things I like
The greatest mirror selfie
Lower Belvedere


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PMN Hockey
Capitals win Metropolitan, beat Canadiens 2-1; Montreal's playoff chances hurt
Ian Quillen
Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov (9), of Russia, tries to take the puck from Montreal Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete (53) during the first period of their NHL hockey game in Washington, Thursday, April 4, 2019. Photo by Susan Walsh /AP
WASHINGTON — The playoff fate of the Montreal Canadiens is out of their hands — for now.
Carey Price made 29 saves as Montreal fell to the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals 2-1 on Thursday night as the Canadiens post-season hopes dwindle with one regular-season game to go. The Capitals, meanwhile, clinched the Metropolitan Division title.
Despite beating other division leaders in their last two games, Montreal entered Thursday behind Columbus for the second and final wild card due to the regulation/overtime wins tiebreaker.
Even on points, the Blue Jackets now have a game in hand, while the Carolina Hurricanes clinched at least the top wild card with their win over New Jersey.
Shea Weber scored for the Canadiens (43-30-8), who will be eliminated if the Blue Jackets win on Friday at the New York Rangers. The Habs host the rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
"Hopefully we're still alive after tomorrow night and give ourselves a chance to stay in the race," said Montreal coach Claude Julien. "I don't sweat too much over things I can't control. So we'll wait and see."
Nic Dowd put Washington ahead for good early in the second period, Braden Holtby made 33 stops and Washington secured its fourth straight division title. Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals.
After sealing its fifth playoff appearance and 11th in 12 seasons last week, Washington enters the post-season having won five of six. The Capitals have allowed only one goal in three of those victories, and on Thursday did so against a team desperate to boost its own post-season chances.
"I think we did the right things at the right time," Holtby said. "If we were under duress in our end, at least someone came up with a big play, flip it out or something. Live to fight another day. At the blue lines we were a lot better, a lot like we need to be in the playoffs and I thought the guys had a high-level commitment to winning."
The Capitals' goals resulted directly from turnovers by the Canadiens.
Eller opened the scoring late in the first from from directly in front of net, after Carl Hagelin won the puck deep off a Canadiens player behind the goal line and fed Brett Connolly, who provided the final pass.
Weber tied it on the power play less than a minute later, but the Dowd put the Caps in front again less than three minutes after the first intermission, this time after Andre Burakovsky forced a giveaway.
For Dowd, who was not a part of the Capitals' championship run last year, it was another important goal after also scoring the winner in their playoff-clinching win at Carolina.
"I guess I don't think about it as those two individual things, but as a whole this season's been great," said Dowd, who spent his three previous NHL seasons with Los Angeles and Vancouver. "Obviously a great group of guys, and I've learned a lot coming to a new organization. It's a real privilege to be a part of it, and I'm excited for playoffs."
NOTES: The Capitals have won four consecutive division championships once before in franchise history, capturing the Southeast Division crown between the 2007-08 and 2010-11 seasons. . Weber is now one goal shy of his 100th on the power play in his career. . Washington avoided its first consecutive losses in regulation since dropping four in a row in January. . Montreal's Phillip Danault picked up his 41st assist, moving within two of Max Domi for the team lead.
Canadiens: Host Toronto on Saturday.
Capitals: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday.
More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP–Sports


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InnoEnergy Community in Stockholm: Speaker Series with CorPower
On the chessboard of sustainable energy, wave energy is a new and closely observed piece. All over the globe there are plenty of new companies ready to tackle the market of "blue" renewable production. Offshore wind turbines, wave and tide generator producers and investors are pushing the boundaries to make their products marketable.
Wave energy is green, fairly constant and predictable, and has a lot of potential in coastal regions.
CorPower is a promising "made in InnoEnergy" start-up, which for the past seven years has worked on developing a completely new product - a buoy powered by ocean movement - and is now in a crucial test phase for its technology. Partners and investors like Iberdrola, one of the most influential energy producers in Europe, have shown increasing interest with continuous investments in this innovative project. CorPower started small in 2009, but grew quickly and has now over 20 employees. The experience and commitment of Stig Lundbäck, inventor of the Dynamic Adaptive Piston Pump Technology in 1984, was fundamental for the kick-off. The aim was to create a highly efficient wave converter, which was possible thanks to the studies carried out by the NTNU Ph.D. Jørgen Hals Todalshaug who invented a novel phase control technology assembled in the buoy.
A dynamic team from CorPower was the guest of our Speaker Series, where they introduced the "Resonant Wave Energy Converter". Such a share of knowledge gave the attendees a technical and deep insight of the converter that is nested into a balloon shaped shell. The prototype weighs over three tons and is filled with a variety of components, but the core component is undoubtedly the linear-to-rotational phase synchronizing converter. This converter is a true melting pot of different branches of engineering: mechanics, fluid dynamics, electrical conversion, control, communication… all of these skills are combined in a single floating object, moored to the seabed. Energy converters have been around soon after the discovery of electricity. However, a phase synchronizing one, was a complete novelty. Converting energy is in fact the ultimate purpose of the buoy, but in order to achieve this in an efficient manner, the credit has to be given to the control system, which drives the system oscillation in phase with the wave's movement, creating a resonance. On the mechanical side, the linear to rotational motion is obtained by a patented cascade gear box, coupled with a dual system of high inertia flywheels to smoothen the output power. The efficiency of the buoy is increased by the WaveSpring technology that amplifies the linear movement.
CorPower now finds itself in a determinant moment, a crossroads that may lead toward a successful future. After years of testing the buoy in special pools, the time of real operation testing has finally arrived, thanks to the collaboration and the support of Wave Energy Scotland, which sees commercial potential in the technology. The prototype has been installed out of the shores of the United Kingdom in the first half of 2016, and will be tested for six months.
A single unit at the final commercial stage is rated at 250 kW power output. Initially, it is meant to supply an isolated community that is hard to be electrified through long and costly infrastructure. However, when the technology will be able to compete with other sources, the system will be scaled combining more units and creating a proper wave farm that supplies power to the land.
CorPower Ocean is a startup, driven by a close-knit team of 20 young and motivated people, working constantly, step by step, result after result. Some of them left old-fashioned jobs, embracing the uncertainty and dynamism of being part of a small and innovative company. The energy sector has for a long time been a "big boys only" table. Now, many challengers are trying to get their ticket to sit down at that table. CorPower is one of them, playing the game towards a more sustainable future, expanding the horizons of renewable energy, bringing to the market a brand-new and challenging product. Only time will tell us whether they are right. But for now, we see a committed group, hungry to make this technology competitive. And we wish them good luck.
Written by the InnoEnergy Community Post
"Together We Can Make a Change" – InnoEnergy Community @ EYE 2016
Oct 20 CommUnity Post — Events
Through the eyes of Giulio D'Ambrosio and Elias De Keyser
Oct 14 CommUnity Post — Entrepreneurship
John F Kennedylaan 2
community@innoenergy.com
InnoEnergy website


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Shirley Chisholm Biography
Shirley Chisholm, profile of the African American woman who was candidate for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.
Shirley St. Hill Chisholm was born on November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York to Charles and Ruby St. Hill. Her father was from British Guiana and her mother was from Barbados. In 1927, Shirley was sent to Barbados to live with her maternal grandmother. She received a good education from the British school system, which she later credited with providing her with a strong academic background.
In 1934, she rejoined her parents in New York. Shirley excelled in academics at Girls High School in Brooklyn from which she graduated in 1942. After graduation she enrolled in Brooklyn College where she majored in sociology. Shirley encountered racism at Brooklyn College and fought against it. When the black students at Brooklyn College were denied admittance to a social club, Shirley formed an alternative one. She graduated in 1946 with honors. During this time, it was difficult for black college graduates to obtain employment commensurate to their education. After being rejected by many companies, she obtained a job at the Mt. Calvary Childcare Center in Harlem.
In 1949, she married Conrad Chisholm, a Jamaican who worked as a private investigator. Shirley and her husband participated in local politics, helping form the Bedford-Stuyvesant political League. In addition to participating in politics, Chisholm worked in the field of day care until 1959. In 1960, she started the Unity Democratic Club. The Unity Club was instrumental in mobilizing black and Hispanic voters.
In 1964 Chisholm ran for a state assembly seat. She won and served in the New York General Assembly from 1964 to 1968. During her tenure in the legislature, she proposed a bill to provide state aid to day-care centers and voted to increase funding for schools on a per-pupil basis. In 1968, After finishing her term in the legislature, Chisholm campaigned to represent New York's Twelfth Congressional District. Her campaign slogan was "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed." She won the election and became the first African American woman elected to Congress.
During her first term in Congress, Chisholm hired an all-female staff and spoke out for civil rights, women's rights, the poor and against the Vietnam War. In 1970, she was elected to a second term. She was a sought-after public speaker and cofounder of the National Organization for Women (NOW). She remarked that, "Women in this country must become revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional roles and stereotypes."
On January 25, 1972, Chisholm announced her candidacy for president. She stood before the cameras and in the beginning of her speech she said,
"I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States. I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or special interests. I am the candidate of the people."
The 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami was the first major convention in which any woman was considered for the presidential nomination. Although she did not win the nomination, she received 151 of the delegates' votes. She continued to serve in the House of Representatives until 1982. She retired from politics after her last term in office. She has received many honorary degrees, and her awards include Alumna of the Year, Brooklyn College; Key Woman of the Year; Outstanding Work in the Field of Child Welfare; and Woman of Achievement. Shirley Chisholm passed away on January 1, 2005.
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London Irish St Patrick's Party - History of the event
The London Irish St Patrick's Party will take place on 28th March 2015 when Irish take on Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership. The Falcons are one of only a handful of teams that are yet to experience this fixture.
Some 20,000 rugby supporters will descend on Reading for one of the biggest rugby fixtures in the annual sporting calendar.
The St Patrick's Party has always been a favourite amongst supporters of our great Club. The first one to be played at Madejski Stadium was on 17th March 2001 and attracted 12,500 supporters as Irish prevailed 13-10 against Northampton Saints.
It has since gone on to establish itself as a standalone fixture in the rugby diary and is attended by supporters all over Britain and Ireland.
In 2002 the Exiles hosted Bristol Shoguns and came away with a 24-13 victory on the 16th March.
2003 saw the visit of local rivals Harlequins to Madejski Stadium. Irish could do little to thwart the visitors as Quins were victorious 6-16 in front of a crowd in excess of 18,500.
Bath, a club who have twice been involved in this fixture over the years, spoilt the party in 2004 with a one point victory in front of over 20,000 supporters. Paul Sackey crossed for the Irish try but it was Chris Malone, who would become a future London Irish player, who kicked 11 points to add to a try apiece for Duncan Bell and Lee Mears that proved decisive.
Another West Country side, this time the Cherry and Whites from Gloucester edged the on field contest by a point, claiming a 12-13 victory in 2005. Marcel Garvey scoring the match winning try.
Irish suffered a third defeat in a row when a Sale Sharks team including the likes of Charlie Hodgson, Jason Robinson and Sebastian Chabel stormed the Mad Stad and came away with a 21-29 win in front of a crowd just shy of 20,000.
The 18th March 2007 saw the Exiles losing streak to come to an end in front of a then Premiership record crowd of 22, 648 supporters. Brian Smith's side won 16-13 but the game will long be remembered for Argentine Flanker Juan Leguizamon butchering a try with his showboating dive before the try line.
The now Coventry based Wasps had their revenge the following year when they were victorious 22-16 through an inspired Dave Walder performance. The former Newcastle player landed five penalties and a conversion for a vital 17-point haul.
A young Tom Homer produced a man of the match performance in 2009 to move Irish up to third in the table. An excellent kicking display from Homer and a late penalty try ensured that the home Supporters' St. Patrick's Party celebrations extended well into the weekend.
2010 witnessed the most emphatic St Patrick's Party performance from the home side as Irish saw off the Sale Sharks 38-0.
Exeter Chiefs, experiencing life in the Premiership for the first time visited Madejski Stadium in 2011. Delon Armitage took only 40 seconds to score the opening try as London Irish boosted their hopes of reaching the Aviva Premiership Rugby play-offs by beating Exeter 39-17.
The Leicester Tigers played in their first St Patrick's Party fixture in 2012 coming from 32-31 behind with less than two minutes on the clock to secure a 32-41 win to the dissatisfaction of the 21,000 crowd.
19,523 people watched the Exiles beat Worcester by 26 points to 6 in freezing conditions in 2013 and Bath spoilt the party, yet again, last year with a 23-44 win in front of 22,500 screaming supporters.
To purchase tickets please call 0118 968 1016 or click here