text:
The Royal Marsden, Fulham Road, London, SW3 6JJ
Getting Help and Assistance
Getting To (Outpatients)
Outside Access (Wallace Wing Entrance - Accessible Entrance)
Outside Access (Marsden Wing Entrance - Main Entrance)
Lift (Wallace Wing)
Other Floors (Wallace Wing - Main Stairs)
Entrance (Outpatients)
Reception (Outpatients)
Level Change (Inside Access)
Level Change (Rooms A to D)
Consultation / Treatment Room (Consultation Room P)
Consultation / Treatment Room (Consultation Room F)
Consultation / Treatment Room (Oral Surgery Room)
Accessible Toilet(s) (Wallace Wing First Floor Outpatients - Left Hand Transfer)
Standard Toilet(s) (Wallace Wing First Floor - Outpatients)
Related Access Guides
You are on Getting To The Hospital. Skip to the next section.
By Road View
The hospital and the Marsden Wing entrance are located on the A308 Fulham Road. The accessible entrance, via the Wallace Wing, and the Rapid Diagnostic and Assessment Centre are off Dovehouse Street, which is the turning to the right of the main building.
There is no parking for patients or visitors on the hospital site. There are some Blue Badge bays in Dovehouse Street and Dudmaston Mews, which are limited to 4 hours on weekdays. The surrounding streets are in a resident parking zone and parking for non-residents is very limited.
By Bus View
Bus routes 14, 211, 345 and 414 travel along Fulham Road and have stops near to the hospital. Other routes stop nearby. All London buses are accessible to wheelchair users by motorised boarding ramp and have a designated area for wheelchair users.
By Train View
The nearest railway station is London Victoria. There are staff to assist with manual boarding ramps between the train and the platform at this station. There is level access between the platform and the street. Bus services connect with this station and there is also a taxi rank.
By Underground View
The Nearest Underground Station is South Kensington (District, Circle and Piccadilly lines). There is no step free access from the platform to the street at this station. The station is approximately a 7 minute walk from the hospital. The nearest underground stations with step-free access are Victoria (Victoria Line only) and Earls Court (District Line).
Useful Links View
The TFL Journey Planner tool allows users to plan suitable transport options, including specifying access requirements such as step free, minimum changes or maximum walking times.
To view the web page described above click here (opens in new tab).
TFL's Transport Accessibility website includes links to useful information such as maps and guides in different formats and up to date information on temporary lift and escalator closures.
You are on Getting Help and Assistance. Skip to the next section.
There is a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at the hospital.
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is located on the ground floor of the Chelsea Wing.
The telephone number for the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is 0800 783 7176.
The email address for the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is patientcentre@rmh.nhs.uk.
There are volunteers available for help and assistance at the hospital.
Volunteers can be found at the Wallace Wing and Marsden Wing entrances.
Volunteers do receive disability awareness / equality training.
Hospital staff do receive disability awareness / equality training.
The alternative formats documents can be provided in include; Braille on request, large print on request, different languages on request and audio on request.
There is not an assistance dog toilet or toileting area on the hospital site.
Water bowls for assistance dogs are available.
BSL interpreters can be provided on request.
Language interpreters can be provided on request.
A mobility scooter charging point is not available at the hospital.
Mobility aids are available to help patients move around and include; wheelchairs.
To obtain mobility aids please contact the Portering Service, through any of the service receptions.
The Royal Marsden Help Centre includes details of the PALS service and The Royal Marsden Macmillan Hotline Service. There are also links to patient guides and booklets which can be downloaded. The Royal Marsden Macmillan Hotline Service provides specialist advice and support to all Royal Marsden patients, their carers and hospital and community based doctors and nurses caring for Royal Marsden patients. The support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 020 8915 6899. Email contact details are also available for those who are not able to use the telephone service. Please see the website for further details.
Additional hospital services link (new tab) - click here.
The Royal Marsden Macmillan Hotline link (new tab) - click here.
You are on Public Parking. Skip to the next section.
On Street Blue Badge Parking View
There is a/are clearly signed and/or marked on street Blue Badge parking bay(s) available.
The on street Blue Badge parking bay(s) is/are located on Dovehouse Street and Dudmaston Mews, off Dovehouse Street.
The dimensions of the on street Blue Badge parking bay(s) surveyed are 185cm x 500cm (6ft 1in x 16ft 5in).
The dimensions of the on street Blue Badge parking bays vary in size.
There are not parking charges for the on street Blue Badge parking bay(s).
Payment signs are provided.
Payment signs are clearly presented.
Payment term signs do make it clear if parking charges apply to Blue Badge holders.
Parking is free for Blue Badge holders.
Free parking for Blue Badge holders is for 4 hours Monday to Friday. At weekends there is no maximum length of time. only.
On Street Standard Parking View
Standard on street parking is available.
Public Car Park View
There is not a car park for public use within approximately 200m (219yd).
Drop-off Point View
There is not a designated drop-off point.
There are 3 Blue Badge bays on Dovehouse Street and
5 bays in Dudmaston Mews.
There are a small number of standard pay and display bays at weekends only in Dudmaston Mews and South Parade.
Other parking in the area is restricted to resident permit holders only, Monday to Friday from 8.30 - 18.30.
Please check signs for details.
You are on Getting To (Outpatients). Skip to the next section.
Outpatients is/are located on the first floor of the Wallace Wing.
To see the hospital map please click here (opens new tab).
Access to Outpatients is via the Wallace Wing entrance.
Enter via the Wallace Wing entrance, proceed past the reception and turn left to the lift. Take the lift to the first floor. On exiting the lift, turn right and continue along the corridor. Outpatients is located ahead.
There is step free access to Outpatients.
Outpatients is approximately 28m from the Wallace Wing lift.
There is a/are manual, heavy, double door(s) between the Wallace Wing entrance and the department/service.
Wayfinding signage is provided.
There is some flooring in corridors which is shiny and could cause issues with glare or look slippery to some people.
There is some flooring in corridors which includes patterns or colours which could be confusing or look like steps or holes to some people.
You are on Outside Access (Wallace Wing Entrance - Accessible Entrance). Skip to the next section.
Entrance Details View
This information is for the entrance located on Dovehouse Street.
The entrance area/door is clearly signed.
There is step free access at this entrance.
There is a canopy or recess which provides weather protection at this entrance.
The entrance door(s) does not/do not contrast visually with its immediate surroundings.
Standard manual wheelchairs are available for people to borrow at this entrance.
The main door(s) open(s) automatically (towards you).
The automatic door(s) is/are push pad activated.
The door(s) is/are double width.
The width of the door opening is 130cm.
There is a second set of doors.
The door(s) open(s) automatically (towards you).
Access out of the standard hours is granted by using the intercom.
There are also revolving outer doors, 105cm wide which open into the same lobby before the second set of doors.
The wheelchairs are usually located in the lobby after the first set of doors.
You are on Outside Access (Marsden Wing Entrance - Main Entrance). Skip to the next section.
This information is for the entrance located on Fulham Road.
There is stepped access at this entrance.
There is not a canopy or recess which provides weather protection at this entrance.
The entrance door(s) does/do contrast visually with its immediate surroundings.
There is not a bell/buzzer.
There is an intercom.
The height of the intercom is 117cm (3ft 10in).
There is not a hand sanitiser.
There is not a door release button when exiting.
The main door(s) open(s) by revolving.
The door(s) is/are heavy.
Step Details View
The step(s) is/are located in front of the entrance.
There is/are 14 step(s).
The step(s) is/are clearly marked.
The step(s) is/are medium height (11cm - 17cm).
There is a/are handrail(s) at the step(s).
The handrail(s) is/are on both sides going up the step(s).
MB - Added new stairs and entrance photos.
You are on Lift (Wallace Wing). Skip to the next section.
The lift is located to the left of the waiting area from the Wallace Wing entrance.
Signs indicating the location of this lift are not clearly visible from the entrance.
The lift is approximately 8m (8yd 2ft) from the Wallace Wing entrance.
The lift is a standard lift.
The floors which are accessible by this lift are -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.
Clear signs indicating the facilities on each floor are provided on lift lobby landings.
There is a clear level manoeuvring space of 150cm × 150cm in front of the lift.
Lift doors do contrast visually with lift lobby walls.
The external controls for the lift are within 90cm - 110cm from the floor.
The colour contrast between the external lift controls and the control plate is good.
The colour contrast between the external lift control plate and the wall is good.
The clear door width is 95cm (3ft 1in).
The dimensions of the lift are 110cm x 200cm (3ft 7in x 6ft 7in).
There are not separate entry and exit doors in the lift.
There is a list of floor services available within the lift.
The lift does have a visual floor indicator.
The lift does have an audible announcer.
The internal controls for the lift are within 90cm - 120cm from the floor.
There is a hearing loop system.
The lift does have tactile markings.
The lighting level in the lift is low.
MB - Added inside lift photo.
You are on Other Floors (Wallace Wing - Main Stairs). Skip to the next section.
Stairs View
Signs indicating the location of the stairs are clearly visible from the entrance.
The floors which are accessible by stairs are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.
There are 15+ steps between floors.
The height of the step(s) is/are between the recommended 15cm and 18cm.
The going of the step(s) is/are not between the recommended 30cm and 45cm.
The steps are clearly marked.
The steps do have handrails.
The steps have a handrail on both sides.
Handrails are not at the recommended height (90cm-100cm).
Handrails do cover the flight of stairs throughout its length.
Handrails are easy to grip.
Handrails do extend horizontally beyond the first and last steps.
There is a landing.
Clear signs indicating the facilities on each floor of the building are provided on landings.
The lighting levels are good.
These stairs are after the first ramp or steps up from the Wallace Wing entrance.
You are on Opening Times. Skip to the next section.
Monday 08:30 - 17:00.
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00.
Wednesday 08:30 - 17:00.
Thursday 08:30 - 17:00.
Friday 08:30 - 17:00.
Saturday Closed.
Sunday Closed.
You are on Entrance (Outpatients). Skip to the next section.
This information is for the entrance located on the first floor of the Wallace Wing.
The entrance area/door is not clearly signed with the name of the service/department.
There is not an intercom.
There is a hand sanitiser.
The height of the hand sanitiser is 121cm (3ft 12in).
The main door(s) open(s) towards you (pull).
The door(s) is/are permanently held open.
The door(s) open(s) towards you (pull).
You are on Reception (Outpatients). Skip to the next section.
Reception View
The reception point is located on the first floor of the Wallace Wing.
The reception point is approximately 30m (32yd 2ft) from the Wallace Wing lift.
Clear signage for the reception area/desk is visible from the entrance.
There is step free access to the reception point, via lift.
There is a clear unobstructed route to the reception point.
There are windows, glazed screens or mirrors behind the reception point which could adversely affect the ability of someone to lip read.
The reception counter is not placed in front of a background which is patterned.
The lighting levels at the reception point are good.
The height of the reception counter is high (110cm+).
There is sufficient space to write or sign documents on the counter.
There is a low section of the counter (76cm or below) available.
There is sufficient space to write or sign documents on the low section of the counter.
The counter is staffed.
There is a hearing assistance system.
The type of system is a portable loop.
The hearing assistance system is signed.
Staff are trained to use the hearing system.
Signs and universally accepted symbols or pictograms, indicating lifts, stairs, WCs, circulation routes and other parts of the building are provided in the reception area.
Reception Waiting Area View
There is a waiting area close to the reception point.
Access to the waiting area is unobstructed.
The type of flooring is vinyl/laminate.
There is sufficient space for a wheelchair user to use the waiting area.
There is a mixture of seating with and without armrests.
No tables are permanently fixed.
The waiting room / area does not have background music playing.
There is a flashing fire alarm beacon within the waiting room / area.
There is not a television.
Vending machines are not available.
A water dispenser is available.
There is not a play area or toys/books for a child to play with.
There is space for an assistance dog to rest within the seating area.
Lighting levels are good.
Additional seating may be available in adjacent areas. However, this seating is limited at peak times.
You are on Inside Access. Skip to the next section.
There is not level access once inside.
There is not a hearing assistance system.
This venue does not play background music.
Wayfinding signage is available.
Tactile signage is available.
Some pictorial signage is available.
The type of flooring in walkways and corridors is vinyl/laminate.
The lighting levels are varied.
You are on Level Change (Inside Access). Skip to the next section.
There is a ramp/slope to access this area/service.
The ramp/slope is located straight ahead on entering Main Outpatients.
The ramp/slope is steep.
The ramp/slope is permanent.
There is a level landing at the top of the ramp/slope.
There is a/are handrail(s) at the ramp.
The handrail(s) is/are on both sides.
The lighting levels at the ramp/slope are medium.
You are on Level Change (Rooms A to D). Skip to the next section.
The ramp/slope is located to the left of reception.
There is not a level landing at the top of the ramp/slope.
There is not a/are not handrail(s) at the ramp.
The width of the ramp/slope is 141cm (4ft 8in).
You are on Consultation / Treatment Room (Consultation Room P). Skip to the next section.
There is / are 24 consultation / treatment room(s) available.
The name / number of the room surveyed was; Room P Head And Neck.
There is level access to the consultation / treatment room.
There is a/are door(s) into the consultation / treatment room.
The door(s) open(s) away from you (push).
The door(s) is/are single width.
The width of the door opening is 88cm (2ft 11in).
There is not room for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre.
There is a bed / couch.
The bed / couch is adjustable.
There is not sufficient space next to the bed/couch for a mobile hoist to operate.
There is a chair.
No chairs are permanently fixed.
The chair(s) is not/are not adjustable.
There are some chairs with armrests available.
The room does not have background music playing.
There is a flashing fire alarm beacon within the room.
Lighting levels are bright.
You are on Consultation / Treatment Room (Consultation Room F). Skip to the next section.
The name / number of the room surveyed was; Room F.
There is room for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre.
You are on Consultation / Treatment Room (Oral Surgery Room). Skip to the next section.
There is / are 2 consultation / treatment room(s) available.
The name / number of the room surveyed was; Oral Surgery Room 1.
There is not a chair.
You are on Peak Times. Skip to the next section.
Please note - Public areas may become crowded during peak times.
You are on Accessible Toilet(s) (Wallace Wing First Floor Outpatients - Left Hand Transfer). Skip to the next section.
Location and Access View
This accessible toilet is located to the right after the ramp from the Outpatients waiting area towards Granard House.
This accessible toilet is approximately 20m (21yd 2ft) from the Wallace Wing Lift.
There is ramped/sloped access to the accessible toilet.
This is a shared toilet.
A key is not required for the accessible toilet.
There is tactile, pictorial, written text and dementia friendly signage on or near the toilet door.
The contrast between the external door and wall is good.
The door opens outwards.
The door is light.
The door is locked by a twist lock.
The width of the accessible toilet opening is 80cm (2ft 7in).
The contrast between the internal door and wall is good.
The door has a horizontal grab rail.
The contrast between the horizontal grab rail and internal door is good.
Toilet Features View
The dimensions of the accessible toilet are 150cm x 350cm (4ft 11in x 11ft 6in).
The accessible toilet does have an unobstructed minimum turning space of 150cm x 150cm.
There is a lateral transfer space.
As you face the toilet pan the transfer space is on the left.
The lateral transfer space is 78cm (2ft 7in).
The transfer space is obstructed by a female sanitary bin.
There is a flush, however it is not on the transfer side.
There is a spatula type lever flush.
There is a dropdown rail on the transfer side.
The contrast between the dropdown rail(s) and wall is good.
There is a/are wall-mounted grab rail(s) available.
As you face the toilet the wall-mounted grab rail(s) is/are on the right.
There is not a vertical wall-mounted grab rail on the transfer side.
There is a horizontal wall-mounted grab rail on the opposite side of the seat to the transfer space.
The contrast between the wall-mounted grab rail(s) and wall is good.
The contrast between the walls and floor is good.
There is an emergency alarm.
The emergency pull cord alarm was out of reach (higher than 10cm (4") from floor) when surveyed.
There is not a red flashing fire alarm beacon within the toilet.
Disposal facilities are available in the toilet.
There is a/are female sanitary and pedal bin disposal units.
There is a/are coat hook(s).
The height of the coat hook is 180cm from the floor.
Additional Fixtures View
There is a mirror.
The mirror is placed at a lower level or at an angle for ease of use.
There is not a colostomy bag shelf next to the toilet.
The toilet has a backrest.
The height of the toilet seat above floor level is 48cm (1ft 7in).
The toilet seat colour contrast is good.
There is a toilet roll holder.
The toilet roll holder can be reached from seated on the toilet.
The toilet roll holder is not placed higher than 100cm (3ft 3in).
The contrast between the toilet roll holder and the wall is poor.
The wash basin and tap(s) can be reached from seated on the toilet.
The wash basin is not placed higher than 74cm (2ft 5in).
There are vertical wall-mounted grab rails on both sides of the wash basin.
The contrast between the wash basin wall-mounted grab rail(s) and wall is good.
The wash basin tap type is lever mixer.
There is a wall fixed soap dispenser.
The soap dispenser can be reached from seated on the toilet.
The height of the soap dispenser is 90cm.
There is not a towel dispenser.
There is a hand dryer.
The hand dryer is not placed higher than 100cm (3ft 3in).
The contrast between the hand dryer and the wall is fair.
Baby Changing Facilities View
Baby changing facilities are located within the accessible toilet.
There is a flip down baby change table available.
The height of the baby change table is 98cm.
You are on Standard Toilet(s) (Wallace Wing First Floor - Outpatients). Skip to the next section.
Availability and Location of Standard Toilets View
Standard toilet facilities are available.
Access to Standard Female and Male Toilet(s) View
The female and male toilet facilities that were surveyed are located on the right after the ramp after the Wallace Wing lift on the first floor.
The female and male toilets are approximately 15m (16yd 1ft) from the Wallace Wing lift.
Inside the venue, there is not level access to the female and male toilets.
An ambulant toilet with wall mounted grab rails is available.
You are on Related Access Guides. Skip to the next section.
To view other access guides that are related to this one please use the links below.
The Royal Marsden Main Building link (new tab) - click here.


ABOUT a decade back, Bali Brahmbhatt had a good run with his Hindi rap. The "Amma dekh, tera munda bigra jaye" singer from Nairobi was expected to go places but the script went wrong somewhere on the way. The man who lent his voice to many films and also cut 14 albums disappeared for all practical purposes.
Well, these things do happen in cinebiz. What matters is that he is now back with a new album, which shows that he has not really dated during this hibernation.
He presents a medley of songs which make an eclectic mix and may help him relive his old glorious days. What has helped him in this venture is the fact that he can speak Hindi, English, Gujarati and Punjabi like a native. Here, most of the songs are in the first two languages and fairly hummable. You can notice traces of rap, bhangra and garba in the music composed by Manish Sinha and Brahmbhatt himself.
The Hindi lyrics are by Ravi Chopra and the English ones by Clyde Paiva.
The title song is there in both languages. It also happens to have a "trance mix", making it three versions in all.
Similarly, Tum yaad aate ho and Kuchh baat hai become Baby I just think of you and Something when they are sung in English.
Kenya-born Brahmbhatt is a consummate stage performer who has vowed audiences from the Far East to the West. Nearly all the songs included in the album seem to be tailored to suit the tastes of live audiences.
THERE are some instances of films having not one but two music directors. This one goes a step further. There are as many as three music directors. No, they are not collaborating like Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. They have contributed different songs to the film. Add to that two remix songs by Eric Pillai, and you have four names to contend with.
The single-song director is Pritam with Hai Ishq ye kya ek khata sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and K.K.
Twice as many – that mean two – have been contributed by Mithoon. These are Tere bin sung by Atif Aslam and the title number rendered by KK and Dominique Cerejo.
The top scorer is Vivek Philip with the honour of contributing full three songs: Zindgai hosh mein (KK and Zubeen Garg), Ashq bhi (Sunidhi Chauhan and KK) and Dheemey dheemey (Sunidhi Chauhan and KK).
Whatever may be your general opinion about this trend you cannot accuse the film of being short on variety. Variation adds flavour to the score. Dheemey dheemey is made superior by the voice of Sunidhi Chauhan.


The paper focuses on the current property-led regeneration of urban villages in China. Special attention is given to the income redistribution as well as to the transformation of social space.
Urban villages in China are commonly defined as those rural settlements which are deprived of arable land and are located in urban built-up area. Although often associated with bad environment, overcrowding and social problems, they are in no sense traditional slums. Conversely, they show a significant economic vitality because of low actual ground rent which provides new arrivals an access to the necessary socio-economic resources. However, these areas are being transformed by a government-led redevelopment. These flagship development projects were used vigorously to supplant the imagery of obsolete self-built housing and low-income residents which, they were assumed, would inhabit inward investment with the imagery of luxurious gated communities and middle-class. It is obvious that the redevelopment has caused socio-economic restructuring in the area. Is this helpful to create a liveable city? On the basis of a Guangzhou case, the author argues that the redevelopment strategy has caused an income inequality, rather than reduce it, which makes the area far from livableness.


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text:
Sex offender registry still not finished
by Len Lazarick | Jan 19, 2011 | News | 1 |
By Abby Rogers
Abby@MarylandReporter.com
Despite all of the work done last session to update Maryland's sex offender registry, the state still isn't meeting all of the federal standards and may lose some federal funds, a Senate committee was told Tuesday.
The state is over and above federal standards with some of its sex offender registry standards — such as the physical description, address, employment, and vehicle information of offenders — David Wolinski of the state's Criminal Justice Information System told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. But it falls short on registering juveniles.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 mandates juvenile offenders aged 14 years or older be listed for their lifetimes. This can be downgraded to 25 years in some circumstances.
Photo by Mike, Txspiked on Flickr.
"They didn't find us substantially in compliance in the one item, and that single item only," Wolinski told the committee.
If Maryland is not compliant with this part of federal law by June 30 of this year, the state will lose 10% of its Byrne grant funding in the next fiscal year, which translates to about $2 million. The federal grant funds various law enforcement programs.
No bill has been proposed yet to correct the situation. Legislative analysts for the department have not put one forward because they did not know they were out of compliance until after submitting the legislative agenda to Gov. Martin O'Malley.
"We did everything we can," Wolinski said.
There was also some discussion at the meeting about how to describe an offender's crimes on the Department of Public Safety's website. Wolinski said the department is working on creating a plain-language list of crimes to put on the site.
Democrat Sen. James Brochin of Baltimore County said he could not understand what the department needs to "figure out."
"If they've been convicted and it's consistent with the statement of charges, why can't you just put the statement of charges there of what they've been convicted of?" he asked.
Wolinski said it isn't quite that simple. He has to consult with attorneys and victims' advocates, among others. Plus, there are about 60 to 70 people entering sex offender registrations into the system, and not all of them have a uniform method of capturing charge information that would be both informative and sensitive to the victim.
People who live next door to sex offenders want to know what they did because they have children, Brochin countered.
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Keith_Richard_Radford_Jr	on March 10, 2011 at 7:36 pm
background checks make idiots rich with worthless info because people change from day to day
I remember living behind a church were Brian Lamb, and a bunch of these Cspan guys used too have a wood shop. At that place of residence my mom thought I needed an exorcist, after playing in the mud the way very young children will sometimes with my uncle who mixed a glass of this red clay in water and told me it was chocolate milk.
After drinking it as he would force me to do thing all the time like the time he made me cut off the limb I was sitting on and the device came out of my shoulder being more powerful and in control I broke out with ring worm all over my body and my mom told me it was writing that could not be understood so she had priests come in from the church.
I guess my Dad did not know that one of the people at the church was in line for being my new dad but that was not in the cards because I guess he felt I was in need of discipline after an accident in the wood shop. I had been check out on the band saw by my grandfather who was a millwright in Arkansas and to do some jobs the blade shield had to be removed. Some kids came in and wanted to use the saw, then got mad that I wanted to warn them to put the guard on and they told me they owned it all and I was not to tell them anything, and after this head strong kid cut his thumb off the other kids said they would tell their fathers it was all my fault, but it was not.
I had a fever of well over a hundred and I was a bloody mess with the infection. The priests came in with outer guys and one had a camera. The priests would throw me across the room well the other snapped a picture. I would fall on furniture and the floor and they would tell me get on the bed, don't get off the bed very loud and when I would crawl back on the bed they would pick me up and throw me over and over again well the other priest would snap another picture and this went on till one guy said we have enough picture and they left me in the blood, mud, and bedding, then my aunt came in with some save that was for ring worm.
She spread the save and kidded me about dying when the rings got to my heart. After getting well I went back to the wood shop and the guys had made me a special shield and gave me my sword which were both made of wood and I had to fight one of the guys in my shorts because I did not want to remove them and the other guy was naked (he know who he is). I was still not up too speed and lost the battle. They then called me the bad guy and this group was supposed to be my gate keeper or something like that appointed by the priests. My Dad did not like them much also but that did not matter much because someone at the church was going to be my new dad till he said no, my mom cried allot, my dad was gone, I healed up, but I still have a case.
Please know that there is nothing any of you can do to make what you and the rest of the ones involved can do to make this my fault. See at the time I was about seven years old. Since then the church has made an effort to kill me, to the extent of trying to pass laws to kill sex offenders.
Come on, keep it up, keep pushing laws that you as a group of very said individuals know have no value. Take me too court so I can own a network. I have met with your staff members in private since along with military personal and others.
Now lets note when this happened I was only a small child being thrown around a room like a rag doll by people that started all this clear back in the late fifty's and the steering by very bad people that think abusing kids to make laws to stop abuse, Ha! these laws are bogus and the fact that they can not kill gays anymore does not justify the use of laws too kill someone set up by them to create some worthless set of laws by a fusion of church and state is wrong and realty designed by them to harm us all.
My case was pragmatic but more than that I know what was done and who was involved making vendetta laws that really have no bases in truth, and are based in lies.
Keith Richard Radford Jr
PSS don't be cowards, let me know you received this e-mail through a response.
It's time to communicate

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Using enums from a class (C++) I'm using a library that has classes with a number of enums. Here's an example
class TGNumberFormat
{
  public:
  // ...
  enum EAttribute {   kNEAAnyNumber
    kNEANonNegative
    kNEAPositive
  };
  enum ELimit {   kNELNoLimits
    kNELLimitMin
    kNELLimitMax
    kNELLimitMinMax
  };
  enum EStepSize {   kNSSSmall
    kNSSMedium
    kNSSLarge
    kNSSHuge
  };
  // etc...
};

In the code I have to refer to these as TGNumberFormat::kNEAAnyNumber for example. I'm writing a GUI that uses these values very often and the code is getting ugly. Is there some way I can import these enums and just type kNEAAnyNumber? I don't really expect any of these names to overlap. I've tried various ways of using the using keyword and none will compile.

A: If you are using these constants all over in your code, it might be beneficial to create your own header that redefines the values in a namespace.  You can then using that namespace.  You don't need to redefine all of the values, just the names of the enumerators.  For example,
namespace TGEnumerators
{
    static EAttribute const kNEAAnyNumber(TGNumberFormat::kNEAAnyNumber);
    // etc.
}

Alternatively, you can typedef TGNumberFormat to a shorter name in the functions or source files where you use it frequently.  For example,
typedef TGNumberFormat NF;
NF::EAttribute attribute = NF::kNEAAnyNumber;

I'd argue that the latter approach is superior, and if used judiciously at block scope, is a fine practice.  However, for use across a file, I think it'd be preferable to use the full names of the enumerators, for clarity.

A: If your using c++11 you can use the keyword auto to deduce the type:
//the compiler will see auto and know to use: TGNumberFormat::EAttribute
auto attribute = TGNumberFormat::kNEAAnyNumber;

compiled with: g++ -std=c++0x -o main main.cpp

If you're not using c++11, consider using typedefs as mentioned by @James McNellis
using macros are not recommended because they won't obey the rules of scope-- typedefs will.

A: One other way that's possible but involves a bit more work up front is to define a batch of consts that you then use instead:
e.g.
const TGNumberFormat::EAttribute AnyNumber = TGNumberFormat::kNEAAnyNumber;
const TGNumberFormat::EAttribute NonNegative = TGNumberFormat::kNEANonNegative;
...

attribute = AnyNumber;

A: Two solutions:

*

*Live with it.

*#define AnyNumber TGNumberFormat::kNEAAnyNumber
*Runs for cover...*

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Dawn Angeliqué Richard (born August 5, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter. She started her career after auditioning for Making the Band 3 in 2004. During this time, Richard became a member of girl band Danity Kane, from 2005 to 2009, and reformed the group with 3 of the original 5 members in late 2013. In 2009, Richard joined the duo Dirty Money with fellow singer-songwriter Kalenna Harper, and label boss Sean "Diddy" Combs to form Diddy – Dirty Money. With the group, they released the highly successful album Last Train to Paris, as well as two additional mixtapes before their disbandment in 2012.

In 2011, following her departure from Bad Boy Records, Richard began her career as a solo artist, performing first as DΔWN, more recently as DAWN. Her debut album Goldenheart was released on January 15, 2013, by Our Dawn Entertainment; it received universal acclaim from music critics. In 2015 Richard's second album Blackheart peaked at number two on Billboard's
Dance/Electronic charts. On November 18, 2016, Richard released the final installation to her album trilogy, Redemption. In April 2021, Richard released her sixth studio album Second Line through Merge Records and Entertainment One, to critical acclaim. She also played the main role in the erotic action thriller "Kinky."

Early life
Richard is of Louisiana Creole and Haitian descent and was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has one brother. She later moved to Baltimore, Maryland due to being displaced following Hurricane Katrina. Music has played an influential part in her life since early childhood. Her father is Frank Richard, former lead singer and percussionist of the popular funk/soul band Chocolate Milk. Her mother owned a dancing school where Richard spent much of her childhood developing her choreography and singing skills, but currently works at a school in Baltimore, Maryland.

Early in her teens, Richard began performing with a local New Orleans group called "Realiti". Discovered as a solo artist by Kemic A. Smothers at a 2004 live performance at Tipitina's Uptown in New Orleans, Richard was soon signed under the name "Dawn Angelique" to an exclusive recording contract/development deal with Octarve Anderson, Jr. and his Atlanta independent record label, Yeah! Brother Records. Recording in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New Orleans, Richard and Yeah! Brother records, along with platinum awarded production team The NexMen, Rochad Holiday and Curtis "Sauce" Wilson, crafted a studio solo album called Been a While, featuring the single "So What" which was co-produced by Ne-Yo. Yeah! Brother Records and its New Orleans management company, Scratch Entertainment, headed by Kemic A. Smothers, Esq., agreed after negotiations with Sean "Diddy" Combs of Bad Boy Records, to postpone release of the album while arranging an immediate release from her exclusive recording contract with Yeah! Brother Records.  Although it had no releases and did not chart, the studio album Been a While was still good enough to secure her a spot as the opening act for Anthony Hamilton in Tallahassee, Florida. During the recording of the album, she focused on touring and live performances, dance, and becoming an NBA cheerleader for the New Orleans Hornets while attending the University of New Orleans.

Career

2005–2009: Making the Band 3 and Danity Kane

Richard's "big break" came in 2005 when she auditioned for the MTV show Making the Band 3 in Orlando, where she was chosen to compete for a spot in Combs' future girl group. After the negotiated release from her contract with Yeah! Brother Records, she elevated her career by signing with Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment. She beat out numerous contestants to secure herself a spot, along with Aubrey O'Day, Aundrea Fimbres, Wanita Woodgett (now known as "D. Woods"), and Shannon Bex.

The newly formed group became Danity Kane. The idea for the name came from one of Richard's drawings. An avid fan of manga, while Danity Kane was in the studio, Richard drew a female superhero which caught the attention of Combs. When asked what the character's name was, she replied, "Danity Kane". To Combs, this represented the girls of Making the Band 3. He then decided that it should be the name of the group. The name and story were first introduced during Danity Kane's Total Request Live appearance on June 14, 2006.

Richard has also remixed a song with London-based artist Cherri V, titled "Fast Car". The song has since become one of the most listened to songs on Cherri V's MySpace page.

Early in 2008, a song called "Phase" was leaked onto the Internet and featured Lil Wayne. Although it was buzzed as a Danity Kane track, only Richard's voice was featured on the song, which caused speculation that it was a solo demo. In July 2008, two new tracks were released onto the internet, one called "Rush Love" which featured Flo Rida, and another called "Strobe Light", written by Mary Brown and produced by Chad Beatz (Tastemaker Music). It is still unknown if this was part of a future solo endeavor.

During an MTV News break, it was stated that Richard was working on an untitled comic book. Richard also said in an interview that she would be releasing a soundtrack for the Danity Kane comic book, to be released in March 2009. Included would be the leaked track "Falls Away".

On January 27, 2009, Richard confirmed to MTV News in an interview that Danity Kane had completely split up. In the same interview, she said that she still considered herself a member of Danity Kane (along with Aundrea Fimbres), and had hopes that each girl would be willing to work as a group again.

On the April 16, 2009, episode of Making the Band, Combs revealed that he had released O'Day and Woods, along with Bex, from their contracts, and would be releasing Fimbres as well. He told Richard that she would stay on the label and that if there were any future plans for a new Danity Kane, she would be the only returning member. However, on the April 23, 2009, finale of the series, Combs stated that all five original members would be returning if he ever decides to reunite the group.

2009–2011: Diddy-Dirty Money and The Prelude to a Tell Tale Heart

In 2009, Richard began working with Bad Boy Records, writing for artist Cassie and Combs himself. Soon after Danity Kane's breakup, Richard was featured in a commercial for the opposition of California's Prop 8. Richard became a member of the Diddy-Dirty Money collective, which includes Combs and singer-songwriter Kalenna Harper. She featured in Keri Hilson's video for "The Way You Love Me" as "Money". She is the first member of Danity Kane to have released professional music under a major label after their split, with the Dirty Money album.

During 2010, Richard started putting the finishing touches on her mixtape, The Prelude to A Tell Tale Heart. Before the full mix-tape release Richard released a few songs, including "Me Myself & Y", which she released as a promotional single on globalgrind.com. Others are "These Tears", a heavy ballad, and "Let Love In", another ballad with heavy vocal harmonies. The mixtape The Prelude to A Tell Tale Heart (alternate title: #ATellTaleHeart) was released on February 7, 2011, on her official website. It contains 15 tracks. It was called "the prelude to..." because there will also be an official debut studio album by Dawn Richard entitled A-Tell Tale Heart, which she has been working on for three years. She worked with Trendsetter (the producer) on a few tracks for that album.

On June 19, 2011, a buzz track entitled "Stuck on Mad" was released to the public. followed by a release of a remix to Frank Ocean's "Novacane". The remix, which was co-written by songwriter Intyce, hit the internet on June 21, 2011, and reached over 5,000 downloads within a few hours.

2012–2013: Armor On and GoldenHeart
Dawn released the visual for her first promotional single "SMFU (Save Me From U)" on 106 & Park in January 2012. Other promotional singles such as "Fly, Change, and Black Lipstick" came after. She quickly followed with a leading single titled "Bombs". The video has been compared to Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)" and Nicki Minaj's "Massive Attack". The video shows heavy choreography in a desert. After the success of "Bombs", Richard's next official single from Armor On was released: "Automatic", the most urban track from the EP. The video was released on June 18 and premiered on 106 & Park. The following music video was filmed in July 2012. Richard released three video trailers on YouTube for her singles "Faith" and "Wild N'Young", which were meshed into one music video released on August 29, 2012, as the final release from Armor On.

Richard announced that her major solo debut project will be a trilogy of albums entitled Goldenheart, BlackHeart, and RedemptionHeart. GoldenHeart was expected to be released on October 16, 2012. "SMFU (Save Me from U)" was released on the internet on October 31, 2011, and will on the first album. The video premiered on 106 & Park on January 5, 2012. Druski is the main producer on this entire project.

Richard is going for a progressive R&B sound.

In celebration of her one million Twitter followers, Richard introduced the set-up for her album GoldenHeart on July 17, 2012, with a track entitled "Pretty Wicked Things". "It's the story of the beautiful things in life that get ruined by the wicked," explained Richard. It was produced and co-written by Armor On collaborator Druski, and is available on iTunes.

Goldenheart was released on January 15, 2013, in stores and through online retailers. Originally intended for release in October 2012, Richard delayed the release after signing a distribution deal with independent company Altavoz Distribution, which would release physical copies to retailers, and provide a wider marketing reach. The album's lead single, "'86", was released as a digital download on September 26.

Goldenheart was released in the United States on January 15, 2013. Richard released the album independently, as she felt record labels were "taking a bit longer than we want". It debuted at number 137 on the Billboard 200, number 2 on the Top Heatseekers Albums, and number 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album also reached the top of the iTunes Store's R&B chart, which prompted music retailer f.y.e. to preemptively release its physical CD.

Goldenheart received universal acclaim from music critics, who hailed Richard as one of the best new acts in pop and R&B.

2013–2015: DK3 and Blackheart
Richard was scheduled to release the second installment in her album trilogy, BlackHeart, in October 2013, but announced that the album would be released after the Danity Kane project.  On New Year's Day of 2014, the unreleased music video for "Riot/Northern Lights" was leaked online. The video was originally shelved in May 2013 after Richard and producer Drew Scott parted ways. The video received positive reviews as it continued where the "86" music video left off.

During the 2013 MTV VMAs pre-show, the four remaining members of Danity Kane announced that they were reuniting and returning on their own terms, without Diddy. Original group member D. Woods did not take part in the reunion. The group's first official reunion single, "Lemonade", was released on the Internet via SoundCloud. The single was produced by the Stereotypes, and features rapper Tyga over a production sampled from "Grindin'", the 2002 hit song by Clipse.

On May 16, 2014, the first night of their #DKNoFilter Tour after performing several songs with Danity Kane, Fimbres announced that she would be leaving the group at the end of their tour, and that O'Day, Bex, and Richard would be continuing on as a trio.

On August 4, 2014, while in a Los Angeles recording studio, a fight ensued in which Richard allegedly punched O'Day. After days of speculation, O'Day and Bex released a public statement announcing the group's second disbandment. Despite the group's break-up, their third album, DK3, was released on October 27, 2014.

On October 29, 2014, two days after DK3s release, Richard debuted the music video for her lead single "Blow" to Vevo. Along with the video, she announced the new release date for her second album Blackheart, January 15, 2015. "With the help of my long time creative/business partner, Kyle Cabrol, I was able to create something we are proud of," said Dawn. "This project is very special to me. We set out to redefine the term 'independent' and really push the limits on what could be done. We are just two people but we act as a label that has an entire staff. Both of us are extremely excited to share this art with the hearts."

2015–present: Redemption, New Breed, Second Line

On September 28, 2015, Richard debuted "Dance",  the first single from The Red Era. About the single she said: "I wanted to create a vibrant atmosphere, The Red Era is about moving on, redeeming yourself, and finding redemption. The official music video premiered on October 5, 2015, mashed with "Billie Jean" from Blackheart.

On January 29, 2016  "Not Above That" was released through UK label Local Action. On March 12, 2016, Dawn started her Redemption Live show tour and performed the first ever YouTube live 360 performance.

On August 10, 2016, Richard made a cameo appearance on Season 2 of the TV series Rosewood with Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Dennis.

On September 15, 2016, Richard began filming the lead role, Joyce, in the 2017 movie Kinky, written by Jean-Claude Lamarre and starring Robert Ri'chard, Gary Dourdan and Vivica A. Fox.

On November 10, 2016 Redemption, Richard's fourth album, was made available to stream exclusively on NPR one week ahead of its release. The album was officially released on November 18, 2016.

Richard provided guest vocals on the song "Cool Your Heart" from Dirty Projectors' self-titled album, which was released February 21, 2017.

On January 25, 2019, Richard released her 5th solo album, New Breed. In September 2020 according to Deadline Hollywood, Richard joined the cast of the Indie thriller Issac alongside Dove Cameron and RJ Mitte.

On April 30, 2021, Richard released her sixth solo album, Second Line: An Electro Revival. The album received generally favorable reviews. Mark Richardson wrote for the Wall Street Journal that the album "just might be her best", and in Paste Max Freedman wrote that "Richard largely makes up for her retreading with some of her sharpest hooks to date."

Personal life

Richard has been vegan since 2013. She posed naked for one PETA ad campaign promoting the lifestyle, and appeared in another protesting the use of leather.

Relationships
Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie J. Klang were featured on the second season of Making the Band 4. The series showed the two groups doing performances and living together, and the relationships between members of the bands. The series showed Richard's relationship with Day26's Qwanell Mosley grow, and the two entering into a romantic relationship. The two broke up after a five-year relationship. Richard said it was Mosley's infidelity that broke them up in a radio interview for Sway in the Morning.

Other ventures

Fashion
In 2013 Richard partnered with Coco & Breezy to release her own line of sunglasses to accompany her debut album. In 2014 she launched a capsule collection of women's shoes via Lust for Life, and a new addition of shades to accompany the Blackheart album release. In 2016 Richard released a limited edition sterling silver and red USB necklace to accompany the trilogy finale REDEMPTION.

Adult Swim
Richard began working with Adult Swim during summer 2016 as a content creator, recording several Adult Swim singles. In July 2020 she announced a partnership with Adult Swim as a creative consultant, seeking out black animators and artists to create content for the channel.

Discography

Studio albums
 Been a While (2005)
 Goldenheart (2013)
 Blackheart (2015)
 Redemption (2016)
 New Breed (2019)
 Second Line (2021)

Filmography

References

External links

 Official website

1983 births
Living people
21st-century American women singers
African-American female dancers
20th-century African-American women singers
American cheerleaders
American women pop singers
American people of Haitian descent
Dancers from Louisiana
National Basketball Association cheerleaders
Danity Kane members
Louisiana Creole people
Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans
Singing talent show winners
Singers from Louisiana
21st-century American singers
Merge Records artists
21st-century African-American women singers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Packt Publishing recently invited me to review the recently released video HTML5 Game Development by Makzan (http://makzan.net/). I hesitated initially to accept this offer because I've typically preferred reading text (books, blogs, and articles) over watching videos and podcasts for learning new technical concepts. However, after viewing the HTML5 Game Development video, I'm glad that I accepted that offer.
The HTML5 Game Development video, once downloaded, can be viewed in a web browser via the Packt Video player. The next screen snapshot demonstrates this for the first section of the video.
The HTML5 Game Development video is a series of short video clips ranging from a little shorter than 2 minutes to a little longer than 4 minutes each. These videos are categorized by "section" (sections are referenced as "chapters" in navigation buttons) and the next screen snapshot shows the first, second, and last (eighth) sections. The one in the middle (Section 1 in this case) is the Section whose video snippets would be viewed when the "Browse Videos" button is clicked.
When a Section (or Chapter) is selected, multiple short videos are made available. An example of this is shown in the next screen snapshot. Click on "Watch Video" allows one to start watching the specific video.
I have taken the time in this post to depict this presentation of the short video snippets because there are some advantages to the HTML5 Game Development video being available in this format. The short videos allow easily digestible amounts of information to be seen in just a few minutes. Objectives for each video snippet are outlined before the video snippet and then are addressed in the video snippet. With such short video snippets available and with clear objectives outlined before each video, it is easy to pick and choose which portions to watch more than once. An effective way of viewing this overall video might be to first watch the video snippets once through and then return to those of most interest are those that need to be seen again.
The overall video length is advertised as just under 2 hours. This is divided into eight chapters/sections ranging from 12+ minutes each to 17+ minutes each. With each chapter/section having 5 videos, these videos range from 1 minute to 4 minutes each. The Packt HTML5 Game Development Video Table of Contents outlines the eight chapters/sections, the five videos per chapter/section, and the total duration of each chapter/section. The O'Reilly page for this video breaks down each of the five videos in each of the eight chapters/sections by their individual durations (to minutes granularity).
HTML5 Game Development depicts application of several interesting products. Its use of Sublime Text makes it easy to read the code thanks to color coded syntax on a dark background, line numbers, code completion, and keyword matching capabilities. The video also uses Sloppy and the iOS Simulator to help demonstrate adjusting the developed games to run on mobile devices. The video also demonstrates using free tools available online to secure fonts and make them presentable on the web. Another example is the video's demonstration of using Zoë to covert Flash animation to sprite sheets (.png and .json files) and then applying those with EaselJS Sprite Sheet Animations.
The videos demonstrate quite a bit in the two hours. The narration is quick and the code editing in Sublime Text is quick thanks to significant copying-and-pasting that occurs in synchronization with the narration. I enjoyed the relatively fast pace because I didn't have a chance to lose interest or get bored. However, I was glad that I had used HTML5 technologies previously because a lot of content was covered so rapidly. For viewers with less experience with these technologies, the short videos provide the opportunity to easily re-watch parts that need more than one viewing and possibly mix viewing of those parts with reading other more introductory resources.
There are a few things to note to get the most out of "HTML5 Game Development." Although video 6.2 is called "Applying Gravity to the Hero", it actually talks about running hero and moving camera instead of falling hero. On the other hand, video 6.3 is called "Making the Hero Run" but talks about making the hero stop falling on the platform rather than falling through it. These videos, at least in my download, were switched in order.
To see full screen (which is particularly important with the code editing video), click on the square to the right of the video progress bar and volume control when mouse cursor is over video in the Packt Video Player.
The audio in HTML5 Game Development is clear and the woman narrating the video speaks in a clear manner and enunciates well (and I liked the accent).
The Preface further reinforces the point that this book is not for beginners when talking about the book's objective: "Whether you are an intermediate- or advanced-level Backbone.js developer, this book will guide you through the best practices and patterns to handle different issues with each Backbone component."
The initial chapter of Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices introduces the basics of Backbone.js and provides short descriptions of Backbone.Model, Backbone.View, Backbone.Collection, Backbone.Router, and Backbone.Events. The first chapter introduces the Underscore.js utility and mentions that "Backbone.js has a hard dependency on Underscore.js." The author also mentions Lo-Dash as an Underscore.js alternative. The core coverage of this initial chapter is on reusing code by extending (with and without a base class) and using mixins.
The second chapter also introduces Marionette.js, which it describes as "a composite application library for Backbone.js." The focus is on Marionette's ItemView, CollectionView, and CompositeView.
Chapter 2 moves finishes with coverage of backbone.layoutmanager as an alternative to Marionette RegionManager.
Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices's third chapter discusses working with Backbone models. The chapter begins by outlining the basics of Backbone models and how to use Backbone models with an emphasis on CRUD (create/read/update/delete) operations. Model validation is covered next with examples of using direct Backbone model validation as well as using Backbone.Validation. Chapter 2 covers serialization of Backbone models and using Backbone-relational.js for relational data work with Backbone.
Chapter 4 of Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices defines a Backbone collection as "an ordered set of models" that includes "functionality to add, remove, sort, and filter models, and save to or fetch data from the server." The chapter includes a brief overview of Backbone collections before moving onto describing how to perform database-related operations on a Backbone collection. Sorting and filtering of Backbone collections are also covered in the fourth chapter.
The fifth chapter in Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices describes a Backbone router as a mechanism that matches a "URL fragment" to an invoked method. The chapter provides an overview of Backbone routers and routing before moving onto coverage of "best practices for working with routers." In the course of this discussion, the author references Marionette.AppRouter and Marionette.Controller. Sub-routing is described in Chapter 5 and the extension backbone.subroute is specifically referenced.
Chapter 6 of Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practies covers "custom events, Backbone.sync() method and Backbone.LocalStorage." The portion of the chapter on events begins with a definition of events from the Backbone.Events API page. This section demonstrates how easy it is to create custom events in Backbone, contrasts use of Events to use of Callbacks, and provides a case study describing use of events. The section of Chapter 6 on Backbone.LocalStorage discusses and demonstrates use of Backbone.localStorage Adapter before mention an alternative called Backbone.dualStorage.
As its title suggests, Chapter 7 of Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices discusses issues related to application structure, optimization, and deployment of Backbone-based applications. The author proposes an application directory structure which "is not something that will work universally for every application," but "lots of developers use it for their projects without any issues."
One of Chapter 7's main themes is Asynchronous Model Definition and using Require.js to add AMD support to a Backbone application.
Appendix A includes the author's recommendations for three books on Backbone.js along with recommended online tutorials and blog posts on Backbone.js. This appendix also includes references to additional resources on testing Backbone-based applications with QUnit and SinonJS as well as references to more Backbone plugins and tutorials.
Although two chapters earlier in Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices discuss AMD and Require.js briefly, both chapters reference Appendix C for additional details. The example in this appendix is built on top of requirejs-tpl.
My most important observation is that the implication of Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices's title and the explicit statements in its Preface that the book is targeted at intermediate Backbone developers should not be taken lightly. Although the book does provide some brief introductory material on most of the subjects it covers, at least some familiarity with the basics of a Backbone.js-based application would be extremely beneficial in realizing the full value of reading this book.
There are not many images or screen snapshots in this book, but these are not particularly important to the content.
Even in the PDF version of Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices that I reviewed, the code listings are black text on white background with no color syntax. Most of the code listings are short enough to mitigate the issue, but color-coded syntax would be easier to read.
Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practices is written with the intent to discuss issues that the author believes developers frequently run into when developing Backbone-based applications.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito provides a general introduction to test-driven development (TDD) before looking at application of Mockito to implement test doubles as part of test-driven development. Test-Driven Development with Mockito is written by Sujoy Acharya, is published by Packt Publishing with a publication date of November 2013, and has about 150 substantive pages of substantive content divided into 9 chapters and 2 appendices. The subtitle of Test-Driven Development with Mockito is "Learn how to apply Test-Driven Development and the Mockito framework in real life projects, using realistic, hands-on examples."
Test-Driven Development with Mockito's Preface opens with a very brief description of test-driven development and how Mockito plays a role in test-driven development. The preface summarizes each chapter and appendix before recommending what a reader of that book should use while reading the book: J2SE 5, the Eclipse IDE (Kepler 4.3 recommended), and Mockito.
This book is for developers who want to develop software according to Test Driven Development using Mockito and to leverage various Mockito features. Developers don't need prior knowledge of TDD, Mockito, or JUnit. It is ideal for developers who have some experience in Java application development as well as some basic knowledge of unit testing, but it covers the basic fundamentals of TDD and JUnit testing to get you acquainted with these concepts before you use them.
As the Preface stated, Test-Driven Development with Mockito does cover "basic fundamentals of TDD" and begins this in the first chapter. This chapter starts out at a very basic level, defining a test in Java development and listing some "available code-driven unit-testing frameworks for Java." In this chapter, we learn that JUnit 4.0 will be used in examples in the book. An example is then presented using Eclipse and JUnit in which the test class is written before the production class. This transitions into more details on the historical background of TDD and lists benefits of TDD.
Chapter 1 continues by looking into how TDD fits into overall software development and how refactoring plays a role in test-driven development. In many ways this first chapter is what you'd expect from a book on test-driven development. The code-based examples of test-driven development do a nice job of illustrating basic techniques and advantages associated with test-driven development. However, there seemed to be some things that seemed a bit out of place in this chapter. In particular, the chapter's extremely brief coverage of "Object-function programming languages such as Scala and Groovy" seemed irrelevant to the rest of the chapter and added little value. As with most books on TDD, this chapter of this book had a paragraph that seemed a bit preachy.
The second chapter of Test-Driven Development with Mockito, as its name implies, focuses on refactoring. The chapter begins by reviewing benefits of refactoring and then discusses "trigger points for refactoring" and when not to refactor. Some relatively lengthy code listings are provided to show some code in desperate need of refactoring with text explaining issues with the code and possible ways to refactor that code. This section of the book also introduces the Eclipse plugin CodePro Analytix.
The second chapter moves onto coverage of code smells. Duplicate code with switch statements is shown as a code smell and there is discussion and more code listings on how to refactor this using the strategy pattern and polymorphic behavior. Other code smells that are covered in this chapter along with potential remedies include duplicate code, comments, long methods, long method parameter lists, large classes, dead code, and overengineering.
This second chapter is a reasonable introduction to code smells and how to use refactoring and other techniques to deal with them. This chapter mentions common object-oriented and software development principles such as YAGNI, DRY, open-closed principle, and strategy pattern. A single chapter of a book cannot compete with an entire seminal treatment of a subject, but this chapter does provide a good illustration of how refactoring fits into TDD.
The third chapter of Test-Driven Development with Mockito begins with a bold statement, "Test-Driven Development (TDD) is the new way of programming." The chapter then outlines the simple steps that are taken to implement TDD and is the first chapter in the book to really dive into TDD. The chapter concludes with a lengthy example including code listings and Eclipse screen snapshots to demonstrate JUnit and TDD in practice.
Chapter 4 of Test-Driven Development with Mockito compares and contrasts TDD's two "common" styles: Outside-In and Inside-Out. The chapter provides details regarding the outside-in approach before listing advantages and disadvantages of that outside-in approach. The same is then done for inside-out, though the coverage is much shorter than for outside-in.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito's fifth chapter covers test doubles. The chapter very briefly discusses why test doubles are useful (I don't think this part is particularly strong) before categorizing the types of test doubles (dummy, stub, mock, and fake). The coverage of these types of test doubles is much better than the general introduction to test doubles and provides nice code examples and discussion on each and how they are different.
Chapter 6 of Test-Driven Development with Mockito is the book's first significant look at Mockito (although Mockito was mentioned in Chapter 5 for the example of the mock category of test double). The chapter begins with an overview of Mockito and explains Mockito's primary roles in test-driven development: "Mockito plays a key role to mock out external dependencies" and helps achieve the desired "qualities of unit testing."
Chapter 6 continues by demonstrating adding Mockito to Eclipse. There are numerous screen snapshots of Mockito being used within Eclipse (these are in color in the electronic edition of the book). The chapter introduces key annotations and functionality provided by Mockito and demonstrates using Mockito to address things commonly tested using mocks. A reader of this book who's primary interest in the book is learning Mockito would find this to be one of his or her favorite chapters of the book.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito's seventh chapter begins with a brief discussion of classical TDD versus mockist TDD. The chapter is then introduced with the statement that it will "use Mockist TDD style to mock external dependencies and explore Test-Driven Development." The entire chapter is then devoted to a fairly realistic example of building an "online portal for the aspiring game developers" with test-driven development techniques and using Mockito to mock out the external interfaces.
Chapter 8 of Test-Driven Development with Mockito opens with reference to Robert Martin's "three important characteristics of a bad design": rigidity, fragility, and immobility. The chapter then covers "higher level design guidelines" of modularity, high cohesion, and low coupling and "lower level design principles" of Open/Closed Principle, Dependency Inversion Principle, Integration Segregation Principle, Single Responsibility Principle, Liskov Substitution Principle, and the Law of Demeter.
The next section of Chapter 8 discusses design patterns. The section provides an overview of what design patterns are, how they are categorized, and provides a couple of examples of applying design patterns.
The ninth chapter of Test-Driven Development with Mockito discusses what constitutes legacy code and then emphasizes: "Any code with no unit test is legacy code." Chapter 9 looks at some common less-than-testable features of legacy code and how to refactor that code for greater testability. The chapter then moves onto how Mockito can make it easier to refactor code to be more testable.
Appendix A covers Eclipse IDE and JUnit 4 unit testing framework. It discusses using keyboard shortcuts in Eclipse (including "The mother of all shortcuts is Ctrl + Shift + L" to see all shortcuts) and emphasizes those shortcuts useful in refactoring and TDD. There are some nice color screen snapshots showing shortcuts applied in this section. Appendix A's coverage of JUnit begins with the statement, "Inheritance in Java is not a smart thing to implement" to explain advantages of JUnit 4.x (which supports annotations) over earlier versions which required inheritance. Appendix A's coverage of JUnit covers fundamentals of JUnit and demonstrates using Eclipse shortcuts in JUnit unit test development.
Appendix B discusses continuous integration (CI) in general before covering Jenkins as a particular continuous integration tool. The author begins continuous integration coverage with the statement, "In a good software development team, we'd find TDD as well as CI." There are numerous color screen snapshots depicting configuration of Jenkins. Appendix B also discusses the "Agile development methodologies Scrum and Kanban." After briefly discussing Agile in general and providing a reference to the Agile Manifesto, Appendix B focuses on Scrum and Kanban specifically.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito attempts to cover numerous topics within its roughly 150 pages.
The title nicely captures two of the most significant topics of the book: Test-Driven Development and Mockito. It is important to note that this book is on both subjects, among others, and is not exclusively a book on test-driven development or exclusively a book on Mockito.
Topics related (in some cases less tightly than others) to test-driven development that are covered in this book include refactoring, object-oriented design practices and principles, and agile methodologies.
The advantage of this coverage of a wide set of somewhat related topics is that a developer new to test-driven development can get an introduction to a wide variety of related topics. The disadvantage of this approach is that there is less depth on any one subject that books more tightly focused might have. To this point, note how long each of the books listed below is in terms of the single topic each book covers. Each of these books is lengthier on a single topic than Test-Driven Development with Mockito is for all of the topics. Test-Driven Development with Mockito allows a reader to get a taste of each of these topics and how they fit together in a single book, but thorough coverage of the topics would need to be gained by moving onto these specifically focused books.
Martin Fowler's Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code has over 450 pages devoted to refactoring.
Kent Beck's Test-Driven Development: By Example has well over 200 pages.
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software has over 400 pages.
Robert Martin's Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship is over 450 pages in length.
Tomasz Kaczanowski's Practical Unit Testing with JUnit and Mockito has over 400 pages.
Lasse Koskela's Effective Unit Testing: A Guide for Java Developers has almost 250 pages.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito has several nice images. I especially like the screen snapshots that depict Eclise refactoring keyboard shortcuts and the screen snapshots that depict Jenkins configuration. An advantage of my reviewing the PDF provided by Packt Publishing is that these images are in full color.
The code listings are useful in illustrating the points being made, but the lack of color syntax (even in the electronic PDF version) make it more difficult to read the code quickly and easily. I have become spoiled by my IDE (and even my vim!) and online code listings featuring color syntax. Reading code without color syntax reminds me of the "old days," but the nostalgia is not worth the extra effort required to read the code.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito has some typos in it and also has some awkward and incomplete sentences. However, none of these were significant enough to prevent me from picking up the concept being covered.
Although the flow of topics covered in Test-Driven Development with Mockito generally made sense, there were some aspects of the arrangement of the various concepts that were a bit awkward. In particular, there were a couple concepts that were presented in almost a "side note" manner at first and were not very clearly explained, but then were much more clearly explained in the later sections that focused on that topic.
As is the case with just about every TDD-related book I have read, Test-Driven Development with Mockito is a highly opinionated book. Although I generally agreed with most of the opinions, I felt some of the stated opinions were backed up better than others and some I don't feel quite as strongly about or think are quite as certain as the author does. That being stated, I do like to see opinions expressed and I generally agreed with them in principle. The more focused books I mentioned in an earlier bullet would be useful for the reader of Test-Driven Development with Mockito who wanted to better understand the "why" behind some of the opinions expressed in this book.
Test-Driven Development with Mockito will be most beneficial to readers who have little to no familiarity with the numerous concepts introduced in the book (test-driven development, refactoring, object design, JUnit, Mockito, etc.). The book provides an overview of each of these and how they are used together. Developers who have read other books on these subjects may not find the introductory information in Test-Driven Development with Mockito as useful or as new to them. Developers wanting in-depth coverage of a topic might prefer a book focused on that particular topic. The book is most useful for those using the Eclipse IDE, but many of the sections are useful for developers who don't use Eclipse.
There are multiple reasons one might want to use custom serialization instead of relying on Java's default serialization. One of the most common reasons is for performance improvements, but another reason for writing custom serialization is when the default serialization mechanism is unsupported. Specifically, as will be demonstrated in this post, custom serialization can be used to allow a larger object to be serialized even when attributes of that object are not themselves directly serializable.
The next code listing shows a simple class for serializing a given class to a file of the provided name and for deserializing an object from that same file. I will be using it in this post to demonstrate serialization.
* Serialize the provided object to the file of the provided name.
*     implementation as that is used by this method for writing our status.
* @param fileName Name of file to which object is to be serialized.
* @throws IllegalArgumentException Thrown if either provided parameter is null.
* @param <T> Type of object to be deserialized.
* @param fileToDeserialize Name of file from which object is to be deserialized.
*    this method's status output.
*    provided class; may be null if something goes wrong with deserialization.
The next code listing illustrates use of the SerializationDemonstrator class to serialize and deserialize a standard Java string (which is Serializable). A screen snapshot follows the code listing and shows the output (in NetBeans) of running that String through the serialize and deserialize methods of the SerializationDemonstrator class.
The next two code listings are for the class Person.java and a class that it has as an attribute type (CityState.java). Although Person implements Serializable, the CityAndState class does not.
* Simple class storing city and state names that is NOT Serializable.
The next code listing demonstrates running SerializationDemonstrator on the serializable Person class with a non-serializable CityState. The code listing is followed by a screen snapshot of the output in NetBeans.
In this case, the CityState class is my own class and I could make it Serializable. However, supposing that this class was part of a third-party framework or library and I was not able to change the class itself, I can change Person to use custom serialization and deserialization and work with CityState properly. This is shown in the next code listing for the class SerializablePerson that is adapted from Person.
* @param out Target to which this instance is written.
* @throws IOException Thrown if exception occurs during serialization.
* Deserialize this instance from input stream.
* @param in Input Stream from which this instance is to be deserialized.
* @throws IOException Thrown if error occurs in deserialization.
* @throws ClassNotFoundException Thrown if expected class is not found.
The above code listing shows that SerializablePerson has custom writeObject and readObject methods to support custom serialization/deserialization that handle its attribute of unserializable type CityState appropriately. A snippet of code for running this class through the SerializationDemonstrator and the successful output of doing so are shown next.
The approach depicted above will allow non-serializable types to be used as attributes of serializable classes without the need to make those fields transient. However, if the CityState instance shown earlier needs to be used in multiple serializable classes, it might be better to decorate the CityState class with a serializable decorator and then used that serialized decorator class in classes needing to be serialized. The next code listing shows SerializableCityState which decorates CityState with a serialized version.
* decorates the non-Serializable CityState class and adds Serializability.
This serializable decorator can be used in the Person class directly and that enclosing Person can use default serialization because its fields are all serializable. This is shown in the next code listing for Person2 adapted from Person.
This code can be executed as shown in the next code listing, which is followed by its output as seen in the NetBeans output window.
Custom serialization can be used to allow a class with attributes of nonserializable types to be serialized without making those attributes of nonserializable type transient. This is a useful technique when serializable classes need to use attributes of types that are not serializable and that cannot be changed.
ObjectStreamClass can be a useful class to analyze the serialization characteristics of a serialized class loaded in the JVM. This post looks at some of the information this class provides about a loaded serialized class.
ObjectStreamClass provides two static methods for lookup of a class: lookup(class) and lookupAny(Class). The first, lookup(Class), will only return an instance of ObjectStreamClass when the provided class is serializable and returns null if the provided class is not serializable. The second, lookupAny(Class) returns an instance of ObjectStreamClass for the provided class regardless of whether it's serializable or not.
Once an instance of ObjectStreamClass is provided via the static "lookup" methods, that instance can be queried for class name, for serial version UID, and for serializable fields.
To demonstrate use of ObjectStreamClass, I first list the code listings for two simple classes that will be part of the demonstration. One class, Person, is Serializable, but has a transient field. The other class, UnserializablePerson, is nearly identical, but it is not Serializable.
* Person class intended for demonstration of ObjectStreamClass.
With two classes in place to run use in conjunction with ObjectStreamClass, it's now time to look at a simple demonstration application that shows use of ObjectStreamClass.
* Demonstrates use of ObjectStreamDemo.
* indicated by the provided instance of ObjectStreamClass.
* Main function that demonstrates use of ObjectStreamDemo.
* @param arguments Command line arguments; none expected.
//            case of a class that is not serializable.
The comments in the source code above indicate what is being demonstrated. The output from running this class is shown in the next screen snapshot.
When the output shown above is correlated with the code before it, we can make several observations related to ObjectStreamClass. These include the fact that the transient field of a serializable class is not returned as one of the serializable fields. We also see that ObjectStreamClass.lookup(Class) method returns null if the class provided to it is not serializable. ObjectStreamClass.lookupAny(Class) returns an instance of ObjectStreamClass for classes that are not serializable, but only the class's name is available in that case.
The code above showed a Serial Version UID for Person.java of 1940442894442614965. When serialver is run on the command line, the same Serial Version UID is generated and displayed.
What's nice about the ability to programatically calculate the same Serial Version UID as would be calculated by the serialver tool that comes with the Oracle JDK is that one could explicitly add the same Serial Version UID to generated code as would be implicitly added anyway. Any JVM-friendly script or tool (such as one written in Groovy) that needs to know the implicit Serial Version UID of a class could use ObjectStreamClass to obtain that Serial Version UID.


Predictably Alex (note to self: spelt with an X not a C) Salmond is the clear leader in the battle for the SNP leadership.
"Sampling of party support shows that Mr Salmond, who led the party for 10 years up to 2000, has now snatched the mantle of favourite from Ms Cunningham.
The Scotland on Sunday newspaper said it contacted 67 of the SNP's 200 branch conveners, of whom 21 said they had not yet decided who to support.
But of the remaining 46, 39 voiced a preference for Mr Salmond.
The Sunday Times said that out of 46 party branches it contacted, 29 backed Mr Salmond and only five said their members would back Ms Cunningham."
Meanwhile an excellent article appeared in the Sunday Herald (by Douglas Fraser) illuminating the background to the 'return of the king'. And, as suspected, it was Cunningham's disastrous Question Time appearance that proved her downfall.
"Salmond reckons at least 250 people contacted him by letter, e-mail and text message, not including the phone calls. One prominent party member flew to London to plead with him to return, on the strength of Cunningham's Question Time performance. Although Nicola Sturgeon's leadership campaign had the most momentum and Salmond's backing, few believed she could muster enough support in the party to defeat her older pal Cunningham.
It's all positively Shakespearian in SNP land. A fascinating mix of Julius Caesar and Macbeth.
As ever, his pitch is clearly coded. When he says he intends to be not only party leader but to replace Jack McConnell as First Minister, this can be translated as "do you seriously think Roseanna is a credible government leader?". He rejects the notion that the party has become "difficult, truculent and even impossible to lead", by which he really means he is possibly the only one capable of holding it together.
Also in the Herald both Mike Russell and Alex Salmond put forward their manifesto for leadership. Mike is his usual sleekit right-wing self. Since he was cast from the Scottish parliamentary paradise and was instead cursed to walk the earth with mortals he has learned that people don't like paying taxes and like enterprise to be encouraged etc etc ad nauseam. Alex meanwhile is more skilful, coming up with a 'big idea' of a citizen's pension.
But they all must know that the competition is over. Russell is just setting out his stall to boost his wing of the party for the future in the remote off chance that Alex doesn't lead them to the promised land.
The deputy leadership competition is the only one with any interest in it for the uncommitted outsider.


Those of you who know me will know that I do have an association with Annabel Karmel.
My number one daughter Biba (the bunny collector) is on the cover of her Spring Bookazine and she is also on the packaging of her Chicken Noodle World Foods dish (available in Sainsbury's and Waitrose).
However all that aside I would like to share with you her new Make it Easy baby pasta range. You all know that my kids aren't babies anymore but they love her organic alphabet shapes.
Mine are a particularly fussy bunch and would never eat a vegetable if they had any idea that they were eating it!
I make up a big batch of hidden veg sauce and add the alphabet pasta. It is such good quality that it doesn't go sloppy and they love it with meatballs, sausages - or even on toast. I freeze my sauce in batches and it makes a super quick but nutritious meal that is ready in less than 10 mins. Perfect if you are in a rush - as we always seem to be. This week I even managed to get some broccoli past them.
Biba - "This sauce is delicious mum"
Me - "You are eating broccoli!"


text:
Q: Brute force loop, figuring out a rotation matrix I'm trying to brute force a rotation matrix by using a loop. Basically I have a bunch of points (6 to be exact) in two different coordinate systems, and I want to try a bunch of rotation matrices with different values for euler angles in order to find a match between the points. My BIG problem though is there is also a translation involved in this coordinate transformation. That is the part that is kind of getting me stuck. Here is my attempt
%Point 1 (Between two front teeth)
Vector_Endo1 = [-8.9329*voxTommConversion;8.5058*voxTommConversion;117.7193*voxTommConversion];
voxPoint1 = [418.7801;41.3845;231.3922];

%Point 2 (Mid-left skull, portruding bone on bottom)
Vector_Endo2 = [-11.2102*voxTommConversion;112.4456*voxTommConversion;61.3865*voxTommConversion];
voxPoint2 = [444;275.3698;99.7672];

%Point 3 (Cavity on top, front, middle, right of head, pointed section)
Vector_Endo3 = [140.0249*voxTommConversion;95.0548*voxTommConversion;148.9631*voxTommConversion];
voxPoint3 = [79.6156;255.4725;259.3405];

%Point 4 (Between two molars on left side)
Vector_Endo4 = [-9.4742*voxTommConversion;42.4474*voxTommConversion;87.0998*voxTommConversion];
voxPoint4 = [428.7617;118.7252;158.994];

%Point 5 (Left large stub inside of head)
Vector_Endo5 = [42.2453*voxTommConversion;85.6763*voxTommConversion;105.5044*voxTommConversion];
voxPoint5 = [309.3354;221.2764;187.5172];

%Point 6 (Thin portruding point underneath right side of skull)
Vector_Endo6 = [1.3304*voxTommConversion;101.7924*voxTommConversion;157.7978*voxTommConversion];
voxPoint6 = [390.7929;259.3982;311.4098];

allPoints=[Vector_Endo1,Vector_Endo2,Vector_Endo3,Vector_Endo4,Vector_Endo5,Vector_Endo6];

%testVector is used to compare difference between computed offset and real offset
for Rx=0:pi/180:2*pi,
    for Ry=0:pi/180:2*pi,
        for Rz=0:pi/180:2*pi,
            for points = 1:length(allPoints)
                testVector=euler2rotmat(Rx,Ry,Rz)*allPoints(:,points);
                allTestVectors(:,i)=testVector;

I think that should give me all the rotation matrices I would ever need (to a certain approximation). I was going to proceed by making some code that finds the rotation matrix that gives THE SMALLEST magnitude different between my test vector and the real points (allPointsVox)....which should be achieved after the rotation matrix. The only problem is that there is an intermediate step of translation between what I have and determining that value.
Any ideas on how to find an approximate translation value between the coordinate systems? I was thinking of averaging over all values to get an average translation but I'm not sure how to go about doing that.
Any other tips are much appreciated, thanks!

A: You can subtract the centroid of the point colouds from each set, thus eliminating the translation effect.


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AskMen Presents The Top 29 Cities of 2010
AskMen Editors
No. 20: Istanbul, Turkey
Designated a European Capital of Culture in 2010, Istanbul is bursting at the seams with events and debuts this year. A revival of authentic Ottoman cuisine is bringing renewed attention to Asitane and Karakol, two restaurants where you can eat dishes once served to the sultan at Topkapi Palace. Sip a martini at the Orient Bar when the historic Pera Palas Hotel, which once serviced travelers on the Orient Express, reopens in April after an extensive renovation.
No. 19: Beirut, Lebanon
Beirut has long been one of the most sophisticated cities in the Middle East, and its star is rising again after a tough past few years. This is one of the few places on earth where you can drive from a ski hill (Cedars, a four-hour drive from the city) to the beach for an afternoon of surfing.
No. 18: Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon has the benefit of still being somewhat off the map of major European cities, which means there's more room for us to enjoy the city's nightlife and gorgeous beaches. We head to Lux on the harbor-front for late-night partying, and we wish we had a standing reservation at 100 Maneiras for dinner.
No. 17: Berlin, Germany
Berlin is one of the most accessible party cities in Europe, and living there is still quite affordable. Never has a landlocked city been so geared toward the aquatic: sailing, motorboating, canoeing, and kayaking take place along the 125-mile network of rivers, estuaries and canals that crisscross the city.
No. 16: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sao Paulo's going to be the second-best place to watch the World Cup this year (second only to seeing it live in South Africa), and the best place to do so is over an ice-cold Brazilian beer at one of the city's classic botecos, or neighborhood bars. This is where the practice of setting up TVs on the street so outdoor drinkers can watch the game has been elevated to an art.
No. 15: Barcelona, Spain
From the beach to the dance floor, Barcelona knows how to party. 2010 will see a host of cultural events; art is high on the agenda, with the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in April, the Mecal Barcelona International Short Film Festival in May and the Murals exhibition at the Joan Miró Foundation running until June. Barcelona's sporting schedule, meanwhile, revolves around the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
No. 14: Tel Aviv, Israel
The nightlife capital of Israel also boasts a boardwalk that must have more beautiful women per square foot than any place we've ever seen. 2010 is going to be a big year for Tel Aviv's live music scene: Local pop superstars Machina will be holding a series of comeback concerts in Hayarkon Park, and the summer will see concerts from pop legends Elton John, Rod Stewart and Metallica, among a number of others.
No. 13: Hong Kong
Hong Kong's nocturnal offerings are eclectic even by global standards. Dress to kill and start in Soho, where the new club Bourbon offers 38 bottles of the spirit alongside Southern American cuisine. Red Soho is owned by the gym upstairs, and the eye candy beats the cocktails hands down, while below, on Wyndam, newbies W52 and Silver compete with more established bars like Dragon I, Azure and Wagyu, whose crowd regularly spills out onto the street.
No. 12: Los Angeles, U.S.
"L.A.: Come on vacation. Leave on probation." So warns James Ellroy, the city's reigning king of noir (both films and novels), and you don't dare doubt him. In L.A., what's in one minute can be out the next, but scenesters will always find TMZ-worthy goings-on at Les Deux, Hyde, Villa, Bar Marmont and the Roof Bar at the Downtown Standard Hotel. 2010 sees a surge of newer establishments, too, such as Drai's Hollywood, Soho House and Industry (only L.A. would think of an in-club burger bar).
No. 11: Paris, France
Paris is a city with very few dark corners; there seem to be good restaurants, cozy bars and raucous nightclubs scattered liberally throughout almost every neighborhood. The best way to cruise around town is by Velib, the public bike program, although you'll soon be able to drive an electric car as part of the expanded public transport system.
The top 10 cities are up next...
Exotic Destinations
4 Unexpected Cities On Our Top 29 List
Where You Should Take Her On Vacation (Hint: Not The Beach)


In order to preserve the legacy of Guru Dutt's classic films, Vidhu Vinod Chopra recently released the screenplays of three films in book form – Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Chaudhvin Ka Chand and Kaagaz Ke Phool.
For the launch event, Chopra hosted other film-makers who have been influenced by Dutt's work for a panel discussion. Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee attended the event, fondly discussing Dutt's cinema and analysing his style and cinematic technique.
This isn't the first time that the PK producer has published film scripts for public consumption. Chopra had released the screenplays of Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots after their releases to help students of cinema.


Fortnite has become one of gaming's biggest phenomenons, with 40 million players players playing each month and making $1.2 billion in the process.
After many requests and much patience from the gaming community, Sony has decided to put aside its restricting policies and has allowed cross-platforming. This means that the PlayStation 4 with its competing consoles, the Xbox One from Microsoft, the Nintendo Switch, Windows, iOS and for mobile phones.
The first game to receive this feature will be the new phenomenon that has recently taken the gaming world by storm, the online video game Fortnite.
At first cross-platforming was only available for gamers that played Fortnite on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows and iOS and mobile phones. Through an analysis of their business mechanics, Sony still plans to ensure that the PlayStation experience for its users remains intact today as it opens up its platform to other gamers with other consoles.
For 24 years, PlayStation has advertised that its console is for the players. The console has strived to provide a unique experience unlike any that from other consoles. But now, despite competition on the business side from the consoles, Sony now sees that cross-platforming is quickly becoming part of the future.
So far, Sony's decision to allow cross-platforming with other consoles has been well received by the gaming community.
Bethesda, one of the gaming studios that has pressured Sony to allow cross-platforming, has praised Sony for bringing cross-platforming to the PlayStation.
Also, gamers themselves have praised Sony's new stance on cross-platforming, as they see it as a way to bring the gaming community closer together.
Sony also plans to bring cross-platforming to select third-party content in the near future.