text:
Q: Jmeter: How to create an array in bean shell post processor and make it available in other thread groups? Does anyone knows how to create an array in bean shell post processor and make it available in other thread groups?
I've been searching for a while and i'm not managing to solve this.
Thanks

A: There is no need to do it through writing and reading files. Beanshell extension mechanism is smart enough to handle it without interim 3rd party entities.
Short answer: bsh.shared namespace
Long answer:
assuming following Test Plan Structure:
Thread Group 1
    Beanshell Sampler 1
Thread Group 2
    Beahshell Sampler 2

Put following Beanshell code to Beanshell Sampler 1
Map map = new HashMap();
map.put("somekey","somevalue");
bsh.shared.my_cool_map = map;

And the following to Beanshell Sampler 2
Map map = bsh.shared.my_cool_map;
log.info(map.get("somekey"));

Run it and look into jmeter.log file. You should see something like
2014/01/04 10:32:09 INFO  - jmeter.util.BeanShellTestElement: somevalue

Voila.
References:

*

*Sharing variables (from JMeter Best Practices)

*How to use BeanShell: JMeter's favorite built-in component guide

A: Following some advice, here's how i did it:
The HTTP request has a Regular Expressions Extractor to extract the XPTO variable from the request. Then, a BeanShell PostProcessor saves data to a CSV file:
String xpto_str = vars.get("XPTO");
log.info("Variable is: " + xpto_str);

f = new FileOutputStream("/tmp/xptos.csv", true);
p = new PrintStream(f);
this.interpreter.setOut(p);
print(xpto_str + ",");
f.close();

Then, in second thread group, i added a CSV Data Set Config, in which i read the variable from the file. This is really easy, just read the guide (http://jmeter.apache.org/usermanual/component_reference.html#CSV_Data_Set_Config).
Thanks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
typedef void (^RequestProductsCompletionHandler)(BOOL success, NSArray * products);
typedef void (^RequestPurchaseCompletionHandler)(BOOL success, NSError *error);

@interface TRKTPurchase : NSObject <SKProductsRequestDelegate, SKPaymentTransactionObserver>

-(id)initWithProductsIdentifiers:(NSSet *)identifiers;

@property (strong, nonatomic) RequestProductsCompletionHandler productsRequestHandler;
@property (strong, nonatomic) RequestPurchaseCompletionHandler purchaseRequestHandler;
@property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *productList;
@property (strong, nonatomic) SKProduct *skProduct;
@property (strong, nonatomic) SKPayment *skPayment;
@property (strong, nonatomic) SKProductsRequest *skProductsRequest;
@property (strong, nonatomic) SKRequest *skRequest;
@property (strong, nonatomic) NSSet *productIdentifiers;

- (BOOL) canMakePayments;
- (void) receiveListOfProducts:(RequestProductsCompletionHandler)completionHandler;
- (void) purchaseProduct:(SKProduct *)product completation:(RequestPurchaseCompletionHandler)completionHandler;

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Offline and Online syncing with Web applications in HTML5? I have a basic web application below that has a sqlite storage measure implemented into it.
I would like it to be able to update my mysql server anytime it is connected, and store values to push to the database after it has lost connection. I would like it to be able to
use a timestamp comparison as a safety measure, just in case values on the server differ, we can to a stamp check to see if what it is trying to alter IS the most current values.
(this will be run from multiple computers, so will need SOME kind of failsafe).
I believe that this transaction WILL only need to be one way though, the values just need to update the server, values will not need to be passed back to the application, so we could technically destroy the database upon a real completion, or possibly perform a rollback if it breaks somewhere. Is this a doable thing, or am I really asking to much here?
Here's a very basic app I'd like to use as a model.
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <title>Golf score keeper</title>

    <form method="get" id="score_form">

    Hole 1
    <input type="number" min="1" value="4" id="hole1" name="hole1" size="2" step="1" />

    Hole 2
    <input type="number" min="1" value="4" id="hole1" name="hole2" size="2" step="1" />

    <input type="email" id="email" placeholder="Enter your email address" size="40"/>

    <input type="submit" value="Upload Score" />

    </form>

Previous Scores

      <form id="filter_previous_scores_form">
    <input type="email" placeholder="Filter scores by email" size="40" id="filter_by_email" />

    <input type="submit" value="Filter" />
      </form>

A: You shoulg take a look at Ajax in a setInterval loop.

A: you can apply the logic of set interval when you found navigator.online=true then you can call ajax.


Lionel Messi will have the chance to cement his legacy as one of football's all-time greats when he lines up in the FIFA World Cup final.
The Argentina and Barcelona superstar has long been regarded by many as the best player on the planet, having helped the Catalan club to a plethora of honours.
Messi's honour roll at Barca, which includes six La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League crowns and two FIFA Club World Cups, makes for impressive viewing, but statistics alone barely do justice to a player boasting rare ability.
A hugely accomplished dribbler, passer and finisher, the diminutive 27-year-old set a record for goals in a calendar year in 2012, netting 91 times to break the previous record set by Gerd Muller.
However, the one slight on his illustrious career to date comes in the form of accusations that he has yet to deliver the goods at international level.
Messi was publicly criticised at the last World Cup in 2010 for failing to score as Argentina crashed out of the tournament with a 4-0 quarter-final defeat to Germany.
The Rosario-born attacker has somewhat atoned for previous disappointments at this competition, claiming multiple man-of-the-match awards during Argentina's progression to the final.
He now has the opportunity to secure his place alongside legends such as Pele and compatriot Diego Maradona, by lighting up the Maracana showpiece.
Argentina have hardly been scintillating in Brazil thus far, but their lack of fluidity has in some ways highlighted the brilliance of Messi.
A wonderful solo goal ultimately proved pivotal as Alejandro Sabella's men recorded an unconvincing 2-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Group F opener.
Messi then provided a stunning match-winning strike in the dying seconds to see off Iran, before shining again in a 3-2 triumph over Nigeria, a glorious free-kick bringing one of two further goals.
Yet for all his excellence in the group stages, Messi has been kept in check in the knockout rounds, his talent overshadowed by a number of the other players bidding to steal the show at football's grandest event.
Germany's Thomas Muller has claimed five goals to Messi's four and is among those to have arguably shone brighter during the latter stages, while the race for the Golden Boot is still headed by Colombia star James Rodriguez, who delivered a particularly impressive display in his side's last-16 triumph over Uruguay.
Muller and his team-mates provided the undoubted shock of the tournament with a 7-1 drubbing of hosts Brazil in the last four, a result that would seem to place even greater pressure on Messi ahead of a game that could ultimately define his career.
For many in Argentina, Messi will never be held in the same regard as Maradona, a truly inspirational figure pivotal to the country's 1986 World Cup triumph that was sealed with a 3-2 final win over Germany.
Yet if Messi can replicate the achievements of Argentina's largest football icon, then his status as one of the greatest ever will be all but sealed.


Summer camp is a place for kids to try out fun outdoorsy stuff, make arts and crafts (got lanyards?) and maybe learn a funny song or two. It's also a place to meet other kids like them.
But what if there aren't many kids like them? At The Painted Turtle camp, kids who have had kidney transplants or are diagnosed with hemophilia, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, juvenile arthritis, IBD, cystic fibrosis and 70 other medical conditions find their true peers.
"A friend who has the same scars or takes the same meds is a really powerful connection for a kid," says April Uyehara, Painted Turtle director of camp programs and initiatives.
Separate camps are held for each condition so that all aspects of the program can be tailored to the needs of the campers, who often can't attend other camps. For kids with kidney disease, the menu fits their dietary requirements and special programming is planned during the hours they spend in dialysis. For kids with disambiguation (little people), "we just put stepstools all around camp," says Uyehara, so things are within reach. Staff includes dedicated medical specialists who have experience with each condition.
All of this adaptation is designed to give children a camp experience that is – at its heart – very traditional. Campers enjoy morning horseback rides and evening campfires, and live in cabins with other kids. They canoe, swim and make art. "When kids come to camp, they have a very normal childhood experience," Uyehara says.
The Painted Turtle helps kids build self-esteem and learn that they aren't always limited by their illness. "Kids really discover different layers of themselves they may not have known before," says Uyehara.
Weeklong sessions for ages 7-16 are offered throughout the summer, and family weekend programs in the fall, winter and spring. Amazingly, these camps are offered free of charge. Learn more at www.thepaintedturtle.org.


text:
Knead some baking inspiration? We've got you covered
Molly McHugh-Johnson
Contributor, The Keyword
Baking is intimidating. With all its numbers and measurements and exactness, it can be an unforgiving pursuit. And while I know these efforts end in a delicious treat, I've always remained wary of any activities that can be described as "chemistry."
But within the past few weeks of increased time spent at home, I've found myself searching the back of the pantry for flour and collecting my half-full bags of sugar. Turns out, I'm not alone: We took a look at Google Trends and found that Search interest in Bread has reached an all-time high in the U.S.
Obviously, though, there are many types of bread, so I considered my options. Search interest in Banana Bread reached an all-time high this month in the U.S, as did searches for "focaccia recipe." The latter of the two happens to be trending on YouTube as well: All things sourdough—from starters to common mistakes—are currently enjoying the spotlight.
If that doesn't inspire you to break out the measuring cups, check out this list of the most-searched bread recipes from Google Trends over the past month in the U.S.
Sourdough recipe
Beer bread recipe
French bread recipe
Garlic bread recipe
As a first time bread baker, I decided that it would be best to choose a recipe based on a different description: easy. Coincidentally (or not) enough, over the past year, search interest in "easy recipes" was highest the week of March 29 in the U.S. The instructions for no-yeast bread (searches for "yeastless bread" recipes increased more than 4,600 percent this month) seemed simple enough. Less than an hour later, I had an imperfectly shaped, but still delicious loaf of bread.
And what goes better with bread (or rather, toasted bread) than coffee? Search interest in "whipped coffee recipe"—which is usually served cold and looks like a dreamy, marshmallow-like cloud—reached an all-time high in the U.S. In fact, "how to make whipped coffee" increased more than 4,200 percent this month. Here are the top regions searching for "whipped coffee" over the past month.
I'll report back when I come down from the combo caffeine-sugar rush. (Take a look at the recipe and...I think you'll understand.)
13 tips to help you read more books this year
By Molly McHugh-Johnson
How the Google Books team moved 90,000 books across a continent
Google Books solved a challenging logistical journey shipping books from the National Library of Israel to Munich by sea freight.
By Ari Marini
5 ways to bring in the Year of the Rabbit with Google
Happy Lunar New Year! Here's how you can use Google products to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit or Year of the Cat.
By Carol Luong
22 products and features we launched in 2022
8 things we launched in 2022 to support your health
By Iz Conroy
Cozy up with a good book for $0 this holiday season
By Eben Carle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal return to Israel with a new dance work by Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. A cast of 50 dancers will perform the tempestuous narrative ballet Vendetta – Storie di Mafia. Performances will take place at the Israeli Opera from February 27 – March 1, 2019.
The ballet invites the viewer into the thrilling and dangerous world of the Mafia, with the focus on a woman: Rosalia Carbone, darling daughter of Godfather Don Carbone. In contrast to more traditional narratives, Rosalia is seen in her ascension to power within the violent, passionate world of the Mafia. In a video interview, choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa explained that she chose to set the story in the late 50s, beginning of the 60s, not only for the fashions of the time, but primarily because this was an era when women were beginning to emerge from their gender-prescribed roles and take charge.
The narrative focuses on three Mafia clans in Chicago – the Carbone, Trassi, and Bartoni families. Rosalia Carbone falls in love with Stefano Bartoni, and the two marry. On the day of the wedding, there is discord between the families when Don Carbone turns down a request made by the groom's family. According to tradition, no Sicilian can refuse to grant a favor on the day of his daughter's wedding. Enraged, Alessio Bartoni, the groom's younger brother, kills one of the Carbone sons, thus launching a long-lasting vendetta between the two families.
When the Carbones travel to Las Vegas to make a deal with a casino manager, the Bartonis follow. The action escalates, and in the tumult, Don Carbone is shot. Angry because her brothers were not able to protect their father, Rosalia decides to take charge.
Choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa trained at the Royal Ballet School of Flanders in Belgium. Following a 12-year dance career, including seven years as a soloist at Scapino Ballet, in 2003 she decided to focus solely on choreography. She has created works for over 40 companies worldwide, including: NYC Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Compañia Nacional de Danza, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Ballet Nacional Chileno, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba and The Washington Ballet, among other companies.
Her work has been recognized with many honors. Broken Wings, created for the ENB (English National Ballet) was chosen as one of 2016's best premieres by Dance Magazine Europe, The Arts Desk, The Guardian and others, as well as being nominated for a Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. Her first full-length ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire won the Best Classical Choreography award from Critics' Circle National Dance Awards and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2012.
Wednesday, February 27th at 20:00; Thursday, February 28th at 20:00; Friday, March 1st at 13:00.
Ticket prices range from 190 – 370 NIS and may be ordered online from the Israeli Opera.


text:
New Jersey to Woodstock is a compilation album by American singer Kathy McCord, released in 2010. It contains the album Kathy McCord released on CTI Records in 1970, the single "I'll Give My Heart To You"/"I'll Never Be Alone Again" released on Rainy Day Records in 1968, as well as 16 previously unreleased songs, recorded by the artist in 1972–1979. The album was reproduced under the label Big Beat Records. McCord's signature mix of soul, folk rock, and psychedelic rock is on full display in this compilation.

Track listing

Personnel

CD 1 (tracks 1-10)
Kathy McCord – vocals
Hubert Laws – flute
Paul Harris – piano, organ
John Hall – guitar
Harvey Brooks – bass
Willis Kelly – drums
Ed Shaughnessy – drums, tabla
Don Sebesky – string and brass arrangements

Release history

References

2010 compilation albums
Kathy McCord albums

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Stittgen Fine Jewelry's Master Goldsmith, Karin Bunzeit was the winner in the Diamond Category of this year's Excellence in Design Competition held in Toronto.
We congratulate Karin on her accomplishment, and are proud of the recognition of her talents from her peers, industry leaders and clients. Stittgen Fine Jewelry welcomes you to see the stunning pieces from Karin at our West Vancouver jewelery store, and perhaps discuss an award-winning piece of your own.


If you regularly jet set around the country for work you will know how difficult it can be to keep your diet on track. Plane food, airports, hotels and conferences just some of the locations which can make finding fresh, nutritious and carb controlled foods very difficult. So if you regularly spend a few days each week on planes and away from home, here are the simple ways to ensure your diet does not become the victim.
This may mean getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure you pack yourself a nutritious protein rich breakfast or being strong and saying no to the high fat pastry or banana bread offered on the first flight out in the morning but whatever you need to do to start the day right nutritionally do it. Failing to start the day with a filling breakfast option will leave you feeling unsatisfied and hungry for much of the day and is often the reason we are caught out overdoing the milk coffee, pastries and muffins during the day. Good breakie options when travelling include a homemade breakie wrap, tub of Greek yoghurt, breakfast smoothie or eggs enjoyed in the airport lounge or once you arrive at your event or hotel.
Most people eat the processed snacks on offer during domestic flights because they are hungry and there is nothing else. Imagine how many extra carbs, sugars and calories you are consuming over the course of the year this way. The solution here is simple - get into the habit of always packing a protein rich snack in your briefcase or handbag - cheese and crackers, nut bars and roasted broadbeans all travel well, are filling and will help you to say no to the poor quality snacks found in transit.
One of the major areas of your nutrition that comes undone when travelling is a lack of fresh foods - salads and vegetables that are hard to find when you are flying or visiting hotels. A simple trick to make sure that you get your leafy greens every day is to get into the habit of ordering a takeaway salad from your hotel each time you are away. Not only does this ensure that you have a nutritious lunch option, but it will also help to stop you finding yourself starving at an airport food court late in the day being tempted by pies, fast food and crappy snack food.
Visit an airport at any time of the day or night and people will be eating whether it is a meal time or not. When travelling this often means that you will eat extra meals through the day. Keep strict with your regime and try and only eat at meal times. This will ensure you are actually hungry for proper meals and will help make the decision of whether to eat or not much easier.
It is hard to find calorie controlled, healthy foods away from the home - food courts, airports, hotels and restaurants are filled with high calorie food choices which will result in weight gain when they are consumed too regularly. If you are a regular traveler, remember that every town and city has a supermarket. These can be the easiest and cheapest way to stock up on healthy food supplies no matter where you are. Tuna, crackers, soups and salads can be found anywhere and easily eaten so there are no excuses as to why you went through drive through again when you could have easily bought a salad and a tin of tuna for $7-8 and enjoyed a low calorie, protein rich, healthy lunch instead.


Search engines quickly acknowledge fresh and unique text, images and video content that are added to your website and blogs. Companies are increasingly using blogs to increase brand awareness.
Do you need help in creating new content for your corporate blog? Are you facing problems handling the comment moderation for your blogs? aMarketForce can help you overcome these issues.
aMarketForce's blogging services support clients in asserting their company brand and online presence. Blogging is an efficient way of gathering prospects and customer feedback, steering the direction of discussion and increasing SEO effectiveness.
aMarketForce's blogging team analyzes the content promotion and blogging practices followed by our clients' competitors and designs an efficient and measurable blogging strategy. We help our clients create and customize corporate and free blogs on WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger and other major blogging platforms.
aMarketForce then helps clients in creating SEO-friendly content for blogs and articles. These blogs are actively promoted on online social networks and communities. Comments by blog readers are moderated by our blogging team. aMarketForce closely monitors industry and competitive trends and generates a monthly blog activities report.
Contact us to learn more about our corporate blog management services and other digital marketing services. Request a Quote for social blogging services.


This is the temple makesfootage for examplenow deceasedMarijuana, medical, diseases, Cancer, Alzheimer's, glaucoma, arthritis, chronic pain, tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabinoids.Criminalization of marijuana, a substance that has directly caused zero recorded deaths, needs to end post haste, so that the potential use of it can be evaluated in making people feel better in certain circumstances.Discuss.
I need a response for these 2 discussions its basically what\'s your insight. this is the temple makesfootage for examplenow deceasedMarijuana, medical, diseases, Cancer, Alzheimer's, glaucoma, arthritis, chronic pain, tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabinoids.Criminalization of marijuana, a substance that has directly caused zero recorded deaths, needs to end post haste, so that the potential use of it can be evaluated in making people feel better in certain circumstances.


Why invest in Amsterdam City?
Amsterdam's population is growing. Most of the 10,000 new inhabitants per year are students and highly trained professionals starting their careers. There is a substantial shortage of good quality yet affordable housing for this group.
This is why Amsterdam is building more than 10,000 residential units yearly. The focus of new developments is geared toward the Ring of residential districts surrounding the popular heart of the city. In the West, Northwest, South and East, new and exciting housing projects are under construction. More will follow. The often very imaginative projects are helping to upgrade the Ring districts and make them more attractive to the young and bright.
innovation, creativity and broadmindedness keeps attracting young professionals. Amsterdam is a compact city, on a human scale: walk-able, bike-able and wide open to meeting people in public spaces, art centres and pubs. These qualities make the city highly successful and appealing to investors from all continents.
The steady influx of young and talented arrivals to Amsterdam has created a problem for the city. There is a substantial shortage in affordable housing for rent, especially in the middle ranges (rents of 700 - 1,000 euro per month). However, this problem creates interesting opportunities for investors in profitable residential real estate.
Amsterdam is accelerating the development and construction of quality apartments in the middle ranges. Investors in residential real estate with an eye for solid investment opportunities are actively invited to participate. Numerous projects are being developed, designed and built, from small-scale developments to grand new projects. Some 10,000 residential units are to be added yearly.
Amsterdam's 'Ring zone' - the districts directly surrounding the historic heart of the city - contains the most interesting investment propositions. Here are most of the new projects, offering the best prospects of solid revenue and increased resale value. This zone is easily accessible, offers excellent infrastructure and is less than 10 minutes away from downtown Amsterdam.
In recent years, Amsterdam has prudently invested in infrastructure, cultural facilities and public spaces. A host of renovated parks, museums, waterfronts and a new subway line have improved the quality of urban life and increased the appeal of the city to companies and institutions. Prudent government has contributed to make the city even more attractive to young professionals, urban families and to investors with a vision.
As Amsterdam continues to grow, there is a substantial housing shortage in the middle and upper segments of the rental market. Traditional investors are incapable of filling the gap between supply and demand.
Amsterdam combines excellent accessibility with sophisticated local infrastructure. The City is investing heavily in further improvement of infrastructure.
Property prices are still modest, though steadily rising. Return on investments in residential real estate is solid, at low risk.
Amsterdam offers attractive projects in a wide range - from small-scale developments to grand new projects. This is a good time for investors to enter the Amsterdam real estate market.


This sunday Christie's had a special auction celebrating the anniversary of the uber famous Rolex Daytona.
They collected 50 prime examples ranging from early models and Paul Newman dials to modern contemporary exotics such as the Daytona beach.
Sale prices all hit the sky and set many records for Rolex and the Daytona model.
I don't know if this is good or bad for the market.. I guess we will see but one thing is for sure: whoever sits on a vintage mint Daytona will ask a crazy price!
50 Rolex Daytonas sold for over $13,000,000 bringing the average price to $264000! And most of them stainless steel!


text:
Q: How can I reproduce the query plan and actual running time of a past query in Postgres? There's a query that every now and then takes about 20 seconds to complete, whereas most often it takes only 2 second to complete.
If I use EXPLAIN, I can't reproduce a query that takes 20 second.
Is there a way I can find out why the query has taken that long in those particular instances?


*Dunlap Assisted Living has been recognized by the American Health Care Association with 2018 Bronze Award.
Words cannot express how wonderful the entire staff is. From the dietary, housekeeping, laundry, aides and nurses, you are so caring and thoughtful of your residents. Jerry thought highly of all of you.


text:
Tags: Coronavirus | us | moderna | half dose | coronavirus | vaccine
US Eyes Half Doses of Moderna Vaccine to Speed Rollout
Michelle Chester (R), DNP, director, employee health services, Northwell shows the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital in New York City, December 21, 2020. (Eduardo MUNOZ ALVAREZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Brendan Pierson Monday, 04 January 2021 06:50 AM
The U.S. government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in order to speed vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday.
Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine program, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that officials were in talks with Moderna and the Food and Drug Administration about the idea. Moderna's vaccine requires two injections.
"We know that for the Moderna vaccine, giving half of the dose to people between the ages of 18 and 55, two doses, half the dose, which means exactly achieving the objective of immunizing double the number of people with the doses we have," Slaoui said.
"We know it induces identical immune response" to the full dose, he added.
Moderna and the FDA could not immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 4,225,756 first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 13,071,925 doses.
The U.S. has also approved a vaccine from Pfizer, which like Moderna's requires two shots. Vaccinations have fallen far short of early targets, as officials had hoped to have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the 2020.
Slaoui said he was optimistic vaccinations would continue to accelerate. He rejected the suggestion that officials should prioritize giving more people a single shot, rather than holding back doses for the second shot, saying that cutting Moderna vaccine doses in half was "a more responsible approach that would be based on facts and data."
Slaoui said it would likely not be known until late spring whether vaccinated people can still spread the disease to others.
© 2022 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
The U.S. government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in order to speed vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed...
us, moderna, half dose, coronavirus, vaccine
Monday, 04 January 2021 06:50 AM


Detailed information for Amtrak's station stop in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Free short-term parking is available at the Olver Transit Center.
The Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) and Greyhound provide service to (and from) the Olver Transit Center.
Click on the link below to view the options for travel to (and from) the transit center.
Note | this link will take you to the transit information on Google Maps. You will need to select the appropriate departure time/date on the site. You may also wish to change the starting point or destination.


text:
Home Entertainment A Sudanese model was told to bleach her dark skin so she...
A Sudanese model was told to bleach her dark skin so she came up with this powerful response
Aina Najihah
In 2016, Nyakim Gatwech was asked by a Uber driver if she would bleach her skin for US $10,000. "I was [asked by] my Uber driver the other day, he said, 'Don't take this offensive but if you were given 10 thousand dollars would you bleach your skin for that amount?'" Nyakim wrote on her Instagram.
Stunned with the unexpected yet offensive question, she could only laugh at the racist question. The Uber driver then replied to her laugh, "So that's a no" to which she said why would she bleach her God-given beautiful skin. Her reply apparently did not satisfy the driver who later mocked her opinion. "So you look at it as a blessing?" said the driver.
Unfortunately, Nyakim said the incident was not her first time being asked such question ever since she moved to the US.
She has been receiving similar statements before that
Nyakim Gatwech is an aspiring model from South Sudanese
Nyakim believes that people should not be discriminated for their skin colour, race and the language they choose to speak. The same thing has been happening in the fashion industry for many decades as well.
Since she is a model, she now advocates the diversity in the industry through social media platforms.
"My chocolate is elegant. So is what I represent… A nation of warriors," wrote her in one of her Instagram post
Nyakim also use her influence to promote rights for black people, an act which gives her the title 'Queen of the Dark' which she happily accepts
"Black is bold, black is beautiful, black is gold… Don't let American standards damage your African soul"
Nyakim said, "You are beyond beautiful and the love I have for you is unconditional because you are me"
"Let's show the world how beautiful and intelligent we are apart from just being dark skinned"
This gorgeous model has more than 320,000 followers on her Instagram alone
Nyakim's efforts to combat racism and embrace beauty in all forms have received positive response from people all over the world. She said that she will continue to promote love and diversity in the future while embracing her own unique beauty.
She is totally right. Beauty comes in all sorts of form and she really looks amazing in her fashion campaigns. We hope that her efforts can help shed the light on this issue and further educate many people that offensive remarks and actions are not acceptable. We wish her all the best and success in her modelling career!
Photo credits: Instagram | @queennyakimofficial
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This Instagram page is dedicated to good-looking men who read and people can't get enough of it
Everyone in the stadium thought she was about to flash a penalty card and broke into laughter when they saw what she did instead
Keanu Reeves is gaining more admiration for his considerate behavior towards women, praised for respecting private space
− 1 = five
Aspiring musician Kate Stone creates stunning music with unique musical instrument...
Youngest contestant on "America's Got Talent", 5-year-old Sophie Fatu impresses everyone...


text:
require 'test_helper'
class UserTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
  def setup
    activate_authlogic
    controller.session[:session_id] = "FakeSessionID"
    controller.cookies[:PDS_HANDLE] = { :value => VALID_PDS_HANDLE_FOR_NYU }
    Institutions.send(:instance_variable_set, :@loadpaths, nil)
    Institutions.send(:instance_variable_set, :@institutions, nil)
  end

  test "username=" do
    ba36 = User.find(1)
    token1 = ba36.persistence_token
    ba36.username=("ba36")
    token2 = ba36.persistence_token
    assert_equal(token1, token2)
    ba36.username=("ba37")
    token2 = ba36.persistence_token
    assert_not_equal(token1, token2)
  end

  test "user_attributes" do
    user = User.new
    user.user_attributes= {:test_attribute1 => "value1", :test_attribute2 => "value2"}
    assert_equal("value1", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute1])
    assert_equal("value2", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute2])
    user.user_attributes= {:test_attribute3 => "value3", :test_attribute4 => "value4"}
    assert_equal("value1", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute1])
    assert_equal("value2", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute2])
    assert_equal("value3", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute3])
    assert_equal("value4", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute4])
    user.user_attributes= {:test_attribute3 => "value3.1", :test_attribute4 => "value4.1"}
    assert_equal("value1", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute1])
    assert_equal("value2", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute2])
    assert_equal("value3.1", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute3])
    assert_equal("value4.1", user.user_attributes[:test_attribute4])
  end

  test "primary_institution" do
    Institutions.loadpaths<< "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/support/config"
    user = User.new
    assert_nothing_raised ArgumentError do
      user.primary_institution= "NYU"
    end
    assert_equal(Institutions.institutions[:NYU], user.primary_institution)
  end

  test "primary_institution no institutions" do
    user = User.new
    assert_nothing_raised do
      user.primary_institution= "NYU"
    end
    assert_equal(nil, user.primary_institution)
  end

  test "primary_institution= nil" do
    user = User.new
    assert_nothing_raised do
      user.primary_institution= "NYU"
    end
  end

  test "institutions" do
    Institutions.loadpaths<< "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/support/config"
    user = User.new
    assert_raise ArgumentError do
      user.institutions= "NYU"
    end
    user.institutions= ["NYU"]
    assert_not_nil(user.institutions)
    assert_equal([Institutions.institutions[:NYU]], user.institutions)
  end

  test "institutions not set" do
    user = User.new
    user.institutions= ["NYU"]
    assert_nil(user.institutions)
  end

  test "expired?" do
    user = User.new
    user.expiration_date = 1.week.ago
    user.refreshed_at = 1.week.ago - 1.second
    assert(user.expired?)
    user.expiration_date = 1.week.ago
    user.refreshed_at = 1.week.ago + 1.second
    assert(!user.expired?)
  end
end


Today at Infosecurity Europe 2017, High-Tech Bridge, a leading provider of web and mobile application security testing services and a "Gartner Cool Vendor 2017", released a summary report on application security trends for the first two quarters of 2017.
The term "Bug Bounty fatigue" was initially introduced by High-Tech Bridge a year ago at Infosecurity Europe 2016. The trend progresses: 9/10 web applications in the scope of a private or public bug bounty program, running for a year or longer, contained at least two high-risk vulnerabilities undetected by the crowd security testing.
Such vulnerabilities usually require a thorough understanding of web application structure, architecture and business logic. Security researchers from crowd security testing platforms are paid by result and only if they report their discovery before others. Unsurprisingly, the researchers adapt their testing targets and methodologies, giving preference to newcomers who have just launched a bounty program, looking for the flaws that do not require a lot of time to detect.
A recent partnership of Qualys and BugCrowd will likely reduce such "easy-cash bounties", motivating many researchers to get a risk-free full time job in the industry. Google's Project Zero Prize, ended without a single valid submission, is a good example that no researchers are motivated to spend endless nights on complicated vulnerabilities and exploitation techniques, without a solid assurance of payment.
83% of mobile apps within banking, financial and retail sectors have a mobile backend (web services and APIs) that is vulnerable to at least one high-risk security vulnerability. Most popular vulnerabilities are insufficient, or missing, authorization when accessing sensitive data or data belonging to other users.
Various injections, mainly represented by SQL and XML injections, are also quite common, aggravated by a frequently missing WAF on the mobile backend.
Over 95% of vulnerabilities residing in mobile application code are not easily exploitable and do not pose a major risk. The most popular flaw in mobile applications within banking, financial and retail sectors is insecure, or cleartext storage of sensitive or authentication data on a mobile device.
The second most popular flaw consists of insecure, or otherwise unreliable, components used in the application code putting mobile phone privacy at risk. The third is insecure communication with a mobile backend (APIs and Web Services), allowing to intercept sensitive data or to conduct MITM attacks.
All these vulnerabilities usually require another malicious application already installed on a device, and/or an attacker in the same network segment as the victim, and thus are hardly exploitable in the wild.
98% of web interfaces and administrative panels of various IoT devices had fundamental security problems. Among them: hardcoded and unmodifiable admin credentials, outdated software (e.g. web server) without any means to update it "from the box", lack of HTTP traffic encryption, various critical vulnerabilities in the interface, including RCE (Remote Command Execution) in the login interface directly.
Manufacturers who build IoT objects still do not understand that cybersecurity of their products becomes even more vital than manufacturing quality standards, and puts their customers at enormous risk.
2/3 companies that leverage a DevSecOps approach to application development, had at least one high or critical risk vulnerability in their external web applications due to lack of internal coordination, human negligence or a business reason. For example, a highly secure web application can be located on a domain with a file upload form, or a recent database backup, in a predictable location.
This is especially valid for agile development, when many different people from different locations make changes simultaneously to application code. The bigger the organization is, the more complicated is to prevent such incidents, as numerous data and process owners change their decisions and requirements much faster than IT has time to properly adopt them, following internal processes.
Globally, these three OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities may easily pass the 80% bar. However, in banking, financial, insurance and e-commerce sectors, they represent just 50.9% of flaws.
Thorough and mature security testing, greater security awareness, compliance and regulatory requirements in these industries can probably explain this disparity.
Despite the overwhelming popularity, 53% of simple flaws from OWASP Top Ten, such as XSS, are no longer detectable by vulnerability scanners and other fully automated solutions.
Such vulnerabilities more and more frequently require a complicated chain of exploitation that is only performable by a human. For example, many [at a first glace] simple XSS flaws require a valid client ID or Google's reCAPTCHA, or is only reproducible with a long set of other valid HTTP parameters. Moreover, complicated authentication systems (e.g. using 2FA and session expiration in case of abnormal behavior) preclude vulnerability scanners from testing the authenticated part of the applications.
Therefore, full automation in vulnerability detection for modern web applications becomes highly challenging.
Statistics from High-Tech Bridge's free online Web Server Security test show that a Content Security Policy (CSP), various security-related HTTP headers and other options of web server security hardening are currently fully implemented only on 2.4% of global web servers.
Even though almost all social networks have implemented the above-mentioned measures, there is low overall awareness that many vectors of XSS and CSRF attacks can be effectively mitigated on a web server.
Only 22% of SQL injections in web applications protected by a commercial WAF were fully exploitable (i.e. allowing to extract sensitive data from the database). However, 58% of these vulnerabilities were partially exploitable (e.g. show SQL server version or user) using different WAF bypass techniques.
Meanwhile, in 88.7% of cases, various types of complicated improper access control, chained vulnerabilities and flawed application business logic were not detected, and thus remained unremediated by WAFs.
In June 2017, High-Tech Bridge's free SSL/TLS server test has reached over 2.2 million unique tests (not counting API usage, repetitive tests and subdomain analysis). 64.4% of all tested web servers received an "A" grade and 47.5% have TLS configuration compliant with PCI DSS requirements.
However, this represents just a 0.2% and 0.1% growth respectively in the last six months. The top countries hosting web servers with the most secure HTTPS configuration are still the USA, Germany, France, Netherlands and UK.


text:
Q: Ios Development: How often should an app check user is still logged in? Im nearly finished developing my first Swift application in Xcode. I'm using firebase. My question is, should I be checking the user is still logged in when segueing to every view controller?
I currently check in the viewdidload() method on only two of the tab view controllers.
Do I have to do this on every page?
I'm using the below code to check user is logged in an segue to the main screen if they're not:
FIRAuth.auth()!.addStateDidChangeListener() { auth, user in
        // 2
        if user != nil {
            // 3
             self.performSegue(withIdentifier: "fromListToHome", sender: self)
        }
    }
}

A: Its always smart to keep a global instance of a User class where you store all the details, in this case static let shared_Instance = user_Global()
class user_Global {

var refresh_Delegate : user_Data_Refresh?

static let shared_Instance = user_Global()

var is_Authenticated : Bool = false{

    didSet{

        refresh_Delegate?.refresh_User_State()

    }
  }

}

Conform those viewControllers that are dependent on users Auth state to user_Data_Refresh protocol, and check the user_Global.shared_Instance.is_Authenticated bool value
// FIREBASE User Refresh protocol.....

protocol user_Data_Refresh : class {

  func refresh_User_State()

}

Function to check auth state...
func isUserSignedIn(completion_Block : @escaping (_ user_State : Bool?) -> Void){

    Auth.auth().addStateDidChangeListener({ (auth, user) in

        if user != nil{

            print("The user is Authenticated")
            user_Global.shared_Instance.is_Authenticated = true
            completion_Block(true)
            return

        }else{

            print("The user is not Authenticated")
            user_Global.shared_Instance.is_Authenticated = false
            completion_Block(false)
            return

        }

    })
}

Call this function in your appDelegate to get this thread running in your network link...

A: Basically you check at the start of the app
However when the user makes a call and it fails (reason: Unauthorized) then you handle this by logging him out.
Hope this helps!

A: Firebase Authentication checks the validity of the user:

*

*When you call signIn... or reauthenticate....

*When the app is restarted and the user was previously signed in.

*Every hour after one of these, to see if the status has changed.

Whether you need to check in every view controller, depends on the actions on that view controller. But if what you display depends on whether the user is signed in, then you indeed need to attach a listener in that view controller. This is easiest if you put the code in a class that you then share between those view controllers.


A high-protein diet encourages the growth of new tissue, including muscle tissue, and speeds wound healing. The RDA for proteins is 63 g for a man, 64 g for a woman. NOTE: The proteins in foods marked with an asterisk (*) are limited in some essential amino acids.


text:
Role of lay people was already an issue during the 11th century
The Gregorian Reform is key to understanding the relationship between clergy and lay people in the Church today
Abbot engaged in simony during the 12th century. Decretum. Douai - BM - ms. 0590, f. 059v. !Author: Gratianus Bibliothèque municipale de Douai/CC/Wikimedia/BM de Douai
By Julien Tranié | France
Published Nov. 22, 2018.
Similarity does not make two things the same. But having said that, the Gregorian Reform offers several keys for understanding and dealing with the current crisis the Church is experiencing.
This key period in the Church's 2000-year history is in fact encompassed much more than the pontificate of Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085).
In an interview with the German monthly, Vatican Magazin, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, one of the four cardinals who signed the dubia challenging Pope Francis' conclusions on the family, has recently written that the present situation in the Church is "comparable to that of the 11th and 12th centuries."
He explains that ecclesiastical power was then held by a small group of rich and powerful lay people, who allowed dissolute morals to spread among the clergy, making it difficult for the Church to genuinely preach the Gospel.
Breaking up lay power
In effect, there were two practices that greatly impacted on the Church's power, namely simony and nicolaism, which were both prohibited during the reign of Pope Leo IX (1049-1054).
Simony refers to being able to purchase ecclesiastical offices or sacraments while nicolaism refers to the marriage or concubinage of priests, which was authorized outside of major orders for the whole first part of the Middle Ages.
These two practices ultimately led to the concentration of great power in the hands of lay people. On one side, priests marrying led to the birth of heirs, who later claimed their inheritance from the property of their father.
On the other, simony enabled wealthy families to purchase a certain number of high ecclesiastical offices and thus exert a form of influence over the Church.
"The issue of the role of lay people in the Church is in fact the common denominator of the 11th and 21st centuries," said medieval history professor, Valérie Theis.
This is because, although the Church banned clerical marriage, it was done primarily to eliminate lay people from positions of power in the Church rather than over moral concerns.
The suppression of nicolaism and Pope Gregory's decision to apply this decision strictly also took time to be implemented and led to strong resistance.
"In Paris, the clergy declared that the pope's orders were absurd and that people could not comply," said Theis, confirming that the Gregorian Reform was a genuine and painful revolution.
A Church that appreciated how to change
Are we now experiencing a Gregorian Counter-Reform in the pontificate of Pope Francis?
"It is true that, in speaking of clericalism as an evil in the Church, the pope is challenging a form of rule that has been imposed in the Church for a thousand years, in other words, as an institution directed by clergy," Theis argues.
But going beyond this comparison Theis also highlights a common characteristic of the medieval Church that could positively inspire the pope, namely adaptability.
In effect, said Theis, the Gregorian Reform illustrates the Church's great suppleness in understanding how to maintain its influence.
"During the Middle Ages, the Church never stopped reinventing itself and changing the rules to adapt to social reality," she said.
"That is the thing that has always given it strength, but what seems to be somewhat lacking today," Theis concluded.
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The Masner Express will take you to the Hexensee refuge at 2,580 m asl to experience a magical sunrise. Afterwards sumptuous breakfast and then you can head straight out onto the slopes or take the Masner Express back to Lazid and the gondola down to the valley.
Min. 5 people, departure: varies according to season, participation fee: 75.00 Euros for adults, 60.00 for children (depending on the age). Reservation needed: phone +43 5476 6203-0 or at the Komperdell valley station.


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text:
Chengdu Introduction
Chengdu Chengdu Introduction
Travel in Chengdu
Chengdu Travel Guide
Chengdu Attractions
Chengdu Food & Restaurants
Chengdu Weather & Climate
Chengdu Travel Tips
Chengdu Photo Gallery
Chengdu Maps
Popular China Tours from Chengdu
Chengdu Jiuzhaigou Tour
Chengdu Lhasa Tour
Chengdu Xian Tour
Chengdu Lijiang Lugu Lake Tour
Chengdu Wolong Mt.Siguniang Tour
Chengdu Mt. Siguniang, Danba Xinduqiao Tour
Chengdu Hailuogou Tour
Hot China City Tours
Lhasa Tours
China Themed Tours
China Disabled Tours
China Eco & Ethnic Tours
China Food Tours
China Educational Student Tours
China Honeymoon Tours
China Tours for Seniors
As the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu is renowned for its fertile land and agricultural wealth in history, making it holding many titles like "Land of Abundance", "City of Brocade" and "City of Hibiscus". In modern days, Chengdu has developed into a metropolis in West China with a population of 16 million, which live in its 5 urban districts, 7 sub-urban districts and 8 counties. For most travelers, Chengdu is now more attractive and famous as the hometown of pandas and UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
Chengdu boasts a longstanding history and civilization. In the past 2000 years, the city has never changed its name and location, which is rarely seen in China. Archeological finds showed that 3000 years ago the native began to live and work on the land of Chengdu area, they created a magnificent civilization according to the discoveries at Jinsha Site ruin, which has been regarded as one of the most important archeological discoveries in the early 21st century in China. If going 45km north of the city, you will see another earlier ruin of ancient cultural remains - Sanxingdui, which dates back nearly 5000 years.
Being one of the most livable mega-cities in China, Chengdu is acknowledged as a "slow-paced" and "laid-back" city. The hot-spicy cuisine, wide-spread Mahjong playing and traditional teahouse culture have become the integrated part of locals' lifestyle.
From Chengdu, you can easily head for those famous must-see attractions in the neighboring areas, including Giant Panda Bases at Bigfengxia and Wolong, picturesque Jiuzhaigou/Huanglong, Taoist Qingcheng Mount and ancient Dujiangyan Irrigation Project used for more than 2,200 years (World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO), the Buddhist mountains of Emeishan and Leshan (World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO), etc.
Where is Chengdu
Centrally located in Sichuan province, Chengdu stands its strategic position on the western edge of Sichuan Basin. It is also a gateway to Tibet and rest parts of the province, serving as the transportation hub in the region. Chengdu covers an area of 14,335 km2 with longitude 102°54′~104°53′ E, latitude 30°05~31°26′ N.
How to get to Chengdu
Chengdu has the busiest international airport (IATA: CTU, ICAO: ZUUU) in West China, with a number of international flights connecting South-eastern Asia, Europe and North America. Besides, Chengdu airport has the most daily flights with Lhasa Airport of Tibet. Travelers can also choose to take high speed or conventional train to Chengdu from all the major cities in the country, especially those closer ones like Chongqing, Xian, Kunming and Guiyang.
Top things to do on Chengdu tours
See giant pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Chengdu is considered as the hometown of pandas. Almost all the tourists would like to see those adorable creatures here during their stay in the city. There are a few options for you to select. The research base is located on the outskirt of the city, which is very convenient for travelers to take a half-day trip. Besides watching the pandas in the enclosures, you can also visit the Giant Panda Museum and Panda Cinema to watch the documentary. It will be an educational journey for you to fully explore the world of giant pandas. If arriving at the right time (July – December), you may possibly see the new-born cubs at the nursery house of the center. If you have more time in Chengdu, you can go further to Dujiangyan Panda Base and Wolong Nature Reserve to see the pandas in semi-wildness, even join a panda keeper program as a volunteer.
Discover the mysteries of ancient cultural ruins
Chengdu area was the site of ancient Shu Kingdom 3000-5000 years ago. The archeological finds at Sanxingdui and Jinsha Site were considered as the most valuable evidences to reveal the past glory of the ancient civilization. There have still been many unraveled mysteries after Sanxingdui was first discovered in 1929: where/when did the civilization originate? What were those bronze human figures used for? The design and appearance don't look like traditional Chinese style, where did it come from? It is quite surprising that the archeologists didn't find utensils for daily use here, only those wares of bronze, gold and jade for the worshipping ceremony. Even about 5000 pieces of sea shells from Indian Ocean have been found here. A visit to the museums may arouse your curiosity about ancient Chinese history and its link with other civilizations.
Taste the authentic Sichuan cuisine along the street, possibly have a cooking class
Chengdu was granted the title of "City of Gastronomy" by UNESCO in 2010. As one important birthplace of Sichuan cuisine, Chengdu will definitely offer you a mouthwatering feast no matter where you go in every corner of the city. The most popular dishes here include Sichuan Hotpot, Kung Pao Chicken, Ma Po Tofu, Sichuan-style Boiled Fish, Fried Dried Green Beans, Twice Cooked Pork, Shredded Pork with Garlic Sause, etc, as well as the snacks like Dandan Noodle, Longchaoshou Wonton, Zhong Dumplings, etc. You may go to Jinli Old Street, Kuan-zhai Alley, Chunxi Road, Hongpailou Commercial Street, etc.
If you love cooking, then taking a cooking class at Sichuan Cuisine Museum is a good option during your trip in Chengdu. Besides visiting the museum to learn about the knowledge of Sichuan cuisine, you will have a chance to prepare 3-4 courses of authentic Sichuan-style dishes under the guidance of a chef here.
>> Recommended China food tours to Chegndu and learn to cook at Sichuan Cuisine Museum:
4-day Chengdu Foodie Tour
15-day China Cooking & Foodie Tour
10-day Taste of China Top Cuisines
Cultural immersion experience in Chengdu
Many people agree that Chengdu is a bit different from other huge cities in China, which is less stressful and slow-paced. Locals lead a leisurely lifestyle. Travelers can feel the unique atmosphere at the parks and local tea houses. Why not sip tea at the local teahouse in People's Park like locals? You can even join them to play Mahjong - the most popular pastime of Chengduers. The old Chinese games will bring you a lot of fun. You may also walk into a local market or along the old streets of Chengdu: Jinli Street, Kuan-zhai Alley to see, smell, taste, hear and feel the different facets of the city.
Watch the face-changing show of Sichuan Opera
While in Chengdu, it is a special experience to walk into a theater at night to enjoy a show of Sichuan Opera, which has been inscribed on the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Face changing (bian lian) skill in Sichuan opera is one amazing feat. The performer can change his masks in the show at an extremely fast speed so that you can't see how he could do it. It is used to reveal the changes of the characters' thoughts and feelings in the drama, that is, to depict invisible and insensible emotions and psychological states with visible and sensible facial makeup. Besides, you will also enjoy other brilliant performances like acrobatics, shadow puppet, comedy, etc. The show played at Shufeng Yayun Theater is highly recommended when you are in Chengdu.
Join a panda keeper program to work as a volunteer
If you are a family with teen children, you are recommended to join a panda keeper program to work as volunteer (Age: 12-65) at a panda base, either in Dujiangyan or Wolong. During the program, you will do the work like cleaning panda enclosures and bamboo leaves, feeding the pandas and making panda cakes, etc. It will be a fun and educational experience if you want to have an in-depth knowledge of the lovely creature. At Wolong Nature Reserve, you will even have a chance to walk in the natural habitat of giant pandas.
Chengdu trip to Leshan Giant Buddha
160km south of Chengdu city, Leshan is renowned for the 71-meter-high stone Buddha (actually Maitreya) statue, carved out of a cliff face of red sandstone on Qifeng Peak of Lingyun Mountain at the confluence of the Min River, Qingyi River and Dadu River. Built between 713 and 803 AD, the Giant Buddha is the largest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world and by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. In 1996, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the Mount Emei Scenic Area. To get a close-up view of the Buddha, visitors can walk on a narrow and steep pedestrian pathway constructed around the statue to see the huge body of the stone Buddha through multiple perspectives. To get a more panoramic view, you can also take the tourist boat to appreciate the Giant Buddha from a short distance on river.
Side trip to Dujiangyan Irrigation Project and Mount Qingcheng
As one of China's most successful irrigation systems, Dujiangyan project was originally constructed around 256BC by the State of Qin for the purpose of irrigation and flood control. The system and nearby Mount Qingcheng, an early centre of Daoism, were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. The construction of the water project harnessed the Min river by using a new method of channeling and dividing the water rather than simply damming it. The water management scheme is still in use today to irrigate over 5,300 km2 (2,000 sq mi) of land in the region. The nearby Mt. Qingcheng is a sacred mountain for Daoists. The eleven important Taoist temples on the mountain reflect the traditional architecture of western Sichuan. It would be a very nice walk to explore the natural scenery together with the Daoist temples hidden in the mountain.
Travel beyond Chengdu, Extension to nearby spots:
Mount Emei
210km southwest of Chengdu, Mount Emei is one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China and now home to approximately 30 Buddhist temples. It is worth one night stay here to enjoy the spectacular view of nature and experience the Buddhist culture of China. You may also choose to stay at a hot spring hotel at the foot of mountain for relaxation. Mt. Emei can be a great summer resort with cool fresh air, while a special winter destination with incredible white snowy sceneries.
Jiuzhaigou
As arguably one of the most beautiful places in China, Jiuzhaigou is a must-see paradise on our planet. Badly hit by a 7-magnitude earthquake on August 8, 2017, Jiuzhaigou National Reserve and neighboring Huanglong Nature Reserve were both damaged, and closed afterwards. In late September of 2019, the parks were open to the tourists again. It was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997. The whole scenic area is covered by virgin mixed forests, which take on attractive yellow, orange and red hues in the autumn, making that season a popular one for visitors. Some Europeans would say it is a bit like the Alpine sceneries of Chinese version. This is partly true. The luxuriant forest, stunning waterfalls, snow peaks and emerald-colored lakes compose an amazing picture of nature. What is more, in history here was the habitat of Tibtan and Qiang ethnic groups. Even right now, you can see many local Tibetans living in their traditional architectural style houses within the range of the nature reserve.
144-Hour Visa-Exemption Transit Policy
From January 1, 2019, the 144 hour visa-free policy has been implemented in Chengdu. The eligible travelers from 53 countries can be granted transit visa exemption at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, they are also allowed to visit the other 11 cities in Sichuan province: Leshan, Deyang, Suining, Meishan, Ya'an, Ziyang, Neijiang, Zigong, Longzhou and Yibin during the 6-day period.
Good Times to Visit Chengdu
Chengdu can be an all-year-round destination for travelers. Roughly speaking, March to June and September to November have the relatively mild temperature good for sightseeing. July and August are the hottest months in a year, and all the famous places of interest are usually packed with Chinese tourists due to the summer holiday of schools. In winter, there are much less tourists, the temperature in the city mostly ranges between 3°C and 11°C. But it will be much colder in the mountainous areas. While if you want to see the snowy sceneries of Jiuzhaigou or Mt. Emei and go to the ski resorts near Chengdu, then please come in winter.
You might have tried the localized Szechwan cuisine at home. Once you are in Chengdu, you will be shocked by its varieties and difference here compared to those you have tried before. Simply go to the food streets to start your culinary adventure in this town, Chengdu will always bring you good surprises. Please note that authentic Sichuan cuisine is known for the spicy-hot flavor. If you don't like chili or pepper, there are also many delicious snacks available to satisfy your mouth, mind and stomach.
The acclaimed food streets or places of Chengdu include Jinli Old Street, Kuai-zhai Alley, Yulin neighborhood, Chunxi Pedestrian Road, Hongpailou Commercial Street, etc. Bon Appetite!
Chengdu Nightlife
As to the travelers, you may watch the Sichuan Opera show in the theater or sip some green tea at a traditional teahouse in the evening of Chengdu. Being a metropolis in West China, Chengdu is never short of exciting venues for fun and party at night, catering to the needs of mixed crowds of locals and foreigners.
Lan Kwai Fong Chengdu is a club and bar district, you may consider a visit. Others include the Beer Nest, the Shamrock, Jellyfish, and the Muse.
Shopping in Chengdu
Thanks to the long-standing history of Chengdu, ancient artisans left so many exquisite handicrafts behind. Shu brocade, Shu embroidery, Qingcheng Silk carpet, lacquer ware and bamboo-woven ware. If you like to collect some quality souvenirs in memory of your trip to Chengdu and China, these handicrafts can embody the high-level craftsmanship of Chengdu.
There are tons of great shopping places in Chengdu. The top ones are Chunxi Pedestrian Road, Jinli Old Street, Kuan-zhai Alley, New Century Global Center, and Chengdu International Finance Square (Chengdu IFS), etc.
Recommended Chengdu Tours
Classic Chengdu Tour with Mt. Emei
Chengdu Tour for Seniors
Chengdu Food Tour
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In the early 20th century, a modernized Japan sought to acquire hegemony in East Asia, battling and defeating the Russian military forces.
External historical references of Messiah's existence. This article goes into greater detail and analysis of the scholarly facts.


text:
MOCA North Miami
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Welcome to the Crystal Vision videos page where you can find our recent videos.
If you're thinking of buying a Crystal Vision product, these video demos will show you exactly what you can achieve, including walking you through each of the controls on our PC software.
This three minute video, courtesy of our Spanish distributor Moncada, features Crystal Vision's Head of Sales Stewart McGhie introducing the MARBLE-V1 media processor and its software apps for converting between SDI and video over IP (SMPTE ST 2022 and ST 2110). Filmed in Madrid at the BIT exhibition in May 2018 and includes Spanish subtitles.
SMPTE meeting video: Which standard should you use to pass media content over an IP system?
What does a good up converter look like? Crystal Vision's up conversion comparison video clearly shows the difference in output quality between its Up-Down 3G and a lower cost alternative. Download the minute-long video to see the difference for yourself, and you'll then understand why Up-Down 3G is the up/down/cross converter that broadcasters standardise on.


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Funder Myths & Realities
Download "Funder Myths and Realities" (PDF)
Funder Myths and Realities
Case Making Tool
This tool presents out-of-date or disproven assumptions about the nonprofit workforce that some funders continue to believe and/or promote. These implicit assumptions, while often accepted widely, impair the ability of foundations to invest in their grantee workforce. In order to begin talent-investing, you may need to engage in dialogue with your colleagues to surface these myths and to help them recognize the usefulness of some alternative frameworks. This tool will help you turn these obstacles into opportunities. Based on what Fund the People has learned in the field, we summarize a set of myths. With each, we offer a brief counter-narrative – what we believe to be reality – along with resources for further learning. We hope Funder Myths vs. Reality will prove provocative and help you and your colleagues explore new beliefs and behaviors about nonprofit talent.
Many of the people who lead funding institutions continue to hold out-of-date, disproven, or counter-productive assumptions about the nonprofit workforce. These beliefs, like the idea of people as overhead, actually impair the ability of funders to reach their program goals and achieve their missions. A sustained internal dialogue among trustees, executives, and/or program staff can help the team to recognize the myths for what they are, and acknowledge the value of nonprofit professionals in grantee organizations and in the wider society. This new attitude helps to clarify why it is sensible to invest in the people in and around grantee organizations.
This tool will help you turn these obstacles into opportunities. Based on what we've heard in the field, we summarized a set of myths. With each, we offer a brief counter-narrative, along with resources for those who wish to learn more. We hope this will prove provocative and help you and your colleagues to explore new beliefs that can lead to new practices and behaviors.
To further the conversation, you may find it useful to distribute the following pages, copy and paste the text into your own internal writing, or circulate a few of the suggested readings.
You may wish to use Talking Talent for Funders, which can help you start an internal conversation at your foundation about how your colleagues perceive the value of investing in grantee talent.
Once attitudes begin to change, the inevitable question is "What do we do now?" Our How-To Guides are available for guidance in answering this important question.
1. Myth: "Talent-development doesn't appear to be a need. We don't hear about it from our grantees."
Reality: In many diverse and divergent organizations across the nonprofit sector, there is extensive and urgent need for increased investment in individual staff and in the people-systems that support the whole team.
Research from across the field finds that:
50% of executive directors would prefer funding for talent management capacity, but only 7% of them are able to secure it
73% of nonprofit executives feel they do not have the resources they need to develop their own leadership, and they say this is one of the top three challenges they face that their funders don't understand
90% of emerging leaders cite burnout as a reason they would leave the sector, and 82% cite low salaries
77% of prospective grantees to one major foundation said they spend 1% or less on professional development
For more data presented in a visual manner, see The Investment Deficit: By the Numbers.
The fact that the need for talent-investment is not surfaced by grantees in conversations with their funders does not mean the issue is irrelevant to nonprofits.
Grantees may be reluctant to discuss their staff compensation or development needs precisely because funders rarely seem interested in these matters.
It may be a point of vulnerability, and nonprofits may fear that sharing their talent issues will cause them to lose funding, rather than gaining new forms of support.
The nonprofit leaders with whom funders generally talk and negotiate grants (such as executive directors and board members) may not be best positioned to fully understand or articulate the talent-investment needs in their organizations, while the mid-level managers, emerging leaders, and line staff may know the issue intimately.
You may not hear from current or prospective grantees about their talent-investment needs because you offer few incentives to discuss the issue, or have created disincentives (perceived or real) for grantees to explicitly discuss this need with you. These disincentives may come in the form of language, practices, paperwork or more subtle signals that seem to classify staff development as a taboo or frowned-upon topic.
It may take proactive effort on your part to create the trust, safe space, and positive incentives for grantees to share their talent-investment needs. You may need to intentionally learn from grantees through conversations, surveys, site visits, proposal and reporting questions, etc. As you do this, try to go beyond the top-tier of leadership (in a respectful and appropriate manner) to gauge the needs of the whole team. Remember this is not meant for punitive purposes, or for judging the worthiness of an organization, but rather to better understand how best to support the effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the people who compose your current and prospective grantees. We recommend several of our Toolkit resources to guide you through this process.
Guide To Investing in Grantee Talent provides in-depth, step-by-step suggestions for strategizing and structuring talent-investments (note: there is a fee associated with this item).
Talking Talent Between Funders & Nonprofits offers framing and questions for conversations between you and your grantees to help you understand their talent strengths and challenges, and how you could help them build on their strengths to meet the challenges.
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has designed a series of specific application questions that elicit information from nonprofit applicants about how they invest (or do not invest) in their staff. They found that 77% of prospective grantees spent 1% or less on professional development. To learn more, download our free Weinberg Foundation field story.
See Investment Deficit By the Numbers for more statistics on the dearth of support for the nonprofit workforce.
2. Myth: "There is no way to prove that investing in nonprofit talent improves nonprofit program or outcomes. So, therefore, we cannot or will not invest in nonprofit talent."
Reality: Business literature shows statistically significant gains in performance, profit, stock value, and firm longevity for every percentage increase in investment that businesses make in their employees.
Although there is not the same level of research in the nonprofit sector, recent evaluations of funding efforts by the Barr Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Durfee Foundation, Haas Jr. Fund, Irvine Foundation, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, and Rasmuson Foundation show that investments in grantee talent yield significant value for communities, nonprofits, and the funders themselves.
Diverse types of foundations, from various parts of the country, that fund in different issue-areas, have evaluated talent investments and found great value. To give you a better sense of the impact that investing in nonprofit talent has had on nonprofits in a variety of fields, here are highlights from the assessments done by two foundations.
Key findings from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund report Five-Year Evaluation of the Flexible Leadership Awards:
Flexible Leadership Award grantees were highly successful in meeting their mission-advancing goals and leadership development goals. Grantees that saw the highest gains in leadership development also saw the highest gains in mission advancement. Much of their success can be reasonably attributed to their participation in the Flexible Leadership Awards program.
Participating grantees targeted their FLA grants at the organization-wide level (39%), the senior team (29%) and the board of directors (15%) which has helped to clarify role issues and build a deeper bench of leadership across the grantee organizations.
FLA grantees described coaching – including for the Executive Director; for senior teams (both as a group and for individual members); for mid-level program managers; and various combinations of all these – as particularly powerful in improving their effectiveness.
Key findings from the Blue Shield of California Foundation report "Preparing the Next Generation of Health Center Leaders."
The Clinic Leadership Institute Emerging Leaders Program participants demonstrate greater knowledge, confidence and skills in areas that are vital to strong health center leadership and closely aligned with the program curriculum.
Among the first five cohorts of the program, more than three-quarters of alumni (77%) have assumed more senior roles since beginning the Program.
CEOs and stakeholders believe that the Program has had a considerable impact on networking above and beyond individual alumni, having cultivated a strong web of connections between organizations that permeates the field statewide.
CEOs and other stakeholders in the field indicate that the Program has helped contribute to a more robust, resilient community health centers field in California.
These and additional evaluations of foundation investments in grantee talent may be found in the Toolkit's Resource Listings section.
3. Myth: "It's most effective to spend funds on program work, not overhead. And staff development is overhead. We don't support that – let other funders take care of it."
Reality: Nonprofit people are nonprofit programs. The programs you fund are only as good as the people who envision, develop, oversee, lead, implement and sustain them day after day, year after year.
There is no educational program without educators. No social service without social workers. No health service without health workers. No arts program without artists and artistic directors. No youth engagement without youth workers. No policy advocacy without advocates. No community organizing without organizers.
Investing in grantees' staff is a smart investment in ensuring high-quality nonprofit programs. The costs of a high-performing staff are essential to high-performing organizations and programs. Staff costs are not "indirect" costs, but have a direct impact on the value of programs – even if the staff are administrative or managerial. Staff investment costs cut across all the "columns" of nonprofit finances (program, fundraising, and administration).
The Pierce Family Foundation works to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations that are helping to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. Through general operating grants and innovative support programs, the Foundation invests in keeping organizations strong so that programs can thrive. To learn more about their approach, click here.
If you are a funder investing in talent or interested in getting started, it may help to consider the full range of choices you have in investment areas, levels and structures. We encourage you to think about all your options at the individual, organizational and ecosystem level. To learn more, see our Menu of Talent-Investing Opportunities.
4. Myth: "Talent development will never be a priority for our Board, president, and/or donors, so we can't make it a priority."
Reality: Many funders assume that talent investments will not be of interest to their supervisors, boards or donors.
Some don't even raise the issue even if they think it's important. And there's often an additional line they use to describe their potential investors: "They're business people and just won't get it." The irony is that many of the biggest supporters of talent- investment in the funding world have become supporters because of their business experience.
A growing number of foundations are making talent development a major priority in their grantmaking. For example, the Durfee Foundation's "focus is on extraordinary people who make things happen." They are investing in nonprofit executive directors and higher level managers to build and strengthen nonprofits and communities." You can learn more about their programs here.
The Bush Foundation "invests in great ideas and the people who power them" in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share that geography. They work to inspire and support creative problem-solving—within and across sectors—to make the region better for everyone. They invest in people and organizations working on any issue that is im- portant in their communities, primarily through their Community Innovation and Leadership programs. They are awarded through competitive grant and fellowship processes open to all eligible people and organizations in the region. Learn more about their work here.
5. Myth: "If we invest in a nonprofit leader who subsequently leaves the organization, we've wasted the investment and failed to help the organization."
Reality: Are organizations better off if they don't invest in employees, and staff with low morale and high burnout stay in place?
Or better if they invest in employees, and staff who have high morale and high performance that end up moving on to lead elsewhere?
While nonprofit professionals are the bedrock of organizational performance, people come and go from nonprofits. It is both natural and healthy. In fact, much has been written recently about the "war for talent", and how talent is moving in and out of jobs at a more rapid pace in today's economy. This applies to nonprofits as well as business. The old 'company man' social contract between employers and employees is no longer applicable in the labor market. So we should no longer pretend it applies in nonprofits. In fact, the head of Linked-In, Reid Hoffman, suggests we need a new social contract between organizations and their employees that explicitly acknowledges that people will likely leave in three to five years, and then work to ensure that the employer gets the most out of employees, and that employees gain marketable new skills and experience from the employer.
The more an organization is able to support its team members, the more it is able to recruit and retain excellence, build high performance, move underperformers out, and enable staff alumni to lead in other institutions.
Secrets of the Super Bosses by Sydney Finkelstein, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2016
The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age by Reid Hoffman (founder of Linked-In) and colleagues, July 2014 (Note: You can see a visual summary or download the first chapter for free on the website we've provided)
Can Nonprofits Compete in the War for Talent? by Linda Novick O'Keefe, The Huffington Post, January 2015
About Fund the People
Fund the People is the national campaign to maximize investment in the nonprofit workforce. To achieve this goal, we make the case, equip for action, and build a movement to change the attitudes and behaviors of funders, fundraising nonprofits, and the intermediaries that support them. There is a long-standing, sector-wide deficit of investment in the nonprofit workforce. Nonprofit professionals work in environments typified by high burnout and stretched resources. So there is a real demand for equitable salaries and benefits, more and better professional development, improved human resources functions, and healthy organizational culture. Together, we can address these challenges by reshaping existing resources to prioritize nonprofit people as the central asset of nonprofit performance. Now more than ever, we can ensure that America's civic leadership is diverse, well-supported, high-performing, and sustainable for the long haul. Launched in 2014 and headquartered in Beacon, NY, Fund the People (originally known as Talent Philanthropy Project) is a project of Community Partners. Our work is informed by an Advisory Council of diverse leaders and a team of skilled staff and consultants, and is supported by a coalition of regional and national foundations.
To learn more about Fund the People visit: fundthepeople.org
Fund the People is appreciative of the following individuals for reviewing, editing, and providing helpful input on content throughout the Fund the People Toolkit: Jessica Bearman, Yolanda Caldera- Durant, Biz Gormley, Rebecca Schumer, Mark Sedway, and Rusty Stahl. We're also grateful to the following Fund the People Advisory Council members who provided informative feedback and guidance on the Toolkit: Caroline Altman-Smith, Kelly Brown, Cynthia Chavez, Gali Cooks, Amber Cruz-Mohring, Ann Goggins- Gregory, Lupita Gonzalez, Sonia Ospina, Pratichi Shah, James Shepard, and Sean Thomas-Breitfeld.
Financial support for Fund the People's Toolkit has been generously provided by American Express, Annie E. Casey Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Durfee Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.


One of the key points that I've found from my own experience and from looking through the literature about how pregnancy loss and infant death are handled, is that providers (and well-meaning others) have an instinct to rapidly say "Don't worry, you can have another". The message they're trying to convey is "There's nothing wrong with you, this wasn't your fault". They are trying to be reassuring and provide hope.
But the message a bereaved parent hears is "This is nothing to be upset about, your pregnancy/infant/child wasn't that important anyhow, the precious creature most important to you in the entire universe doesn't even matter at all". This message is wounding and bewildering. When it comes to parental bereavement, the age of a child is completely irrelevant.
In due time, it is necessary to address any impact on future reproductive health. But a reflexive "you can have another" is woefully unempathetic and inadequate.
"Video clips of ultrasounds meant so much to me and I would have like a recording of my daughter's heartbeat if they could have given me one. At the time I didn't know it those would be my only memories of her. I appreciated when my doctors were honest but sensitive." -mother of Caroline, carried to term after a Trisomy 13diagnosis, who lived for 58 days.


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"There's no greater gift than thinking that you had some impact on the world, for the better."
SoftBank in its corner, FirstCry comes of age
After a $400 million investment from SoftBank in early 2019, FirstCry is changing gears—gone is its slow and steady ethos, now it's about growth at all costs
Vandana, 3 Oct 2019
Earlier this year, FirstCry squared off against Reliance in a bid for UK-based Mothercare's Indian franchises
This is a marked change in approach from FirstCry, which has traditionally been frugal
But with SoftBank pumping in $400 million this year, FirstCry is looking to expand aggressively both within India and overseas
With money in abundance, FirstCry is looking to go from 400 to 1,200 stores offline, while also aggressively pursuing acquisitions
At the start of this year, a David versus Goliath battle took place for the franchisee rights of Mothercare, the UK-headquartered baby and maternity chain. On one side was India's largest conglomerate, Reliance Industries. In the opposite corner stood FirstCry, the baby care and children's product retailer.
Goliath won.
Reliance's victory wasn't surprising in the least. FirstCry's involvement absolutely was. Historically, the Pune-based company has chosen the road less travelled in e-commerce. Even as others in the e-commerce game prioritised growth at all costs, FirstCry took things slow and steady. "Frugality is a part of our business," says Supam Maheshwari, the company's co-founder and CEO, matter-of-factly.
So FirstCry stayed out of the limelight, building the baby and kids category brick by brick, working towards profitability. Indeed, in the year ended March 2018, the company's losses narrowed by a massive 86%— to Rs 55 crore ($7.71 million), down from Rs 393 crore ($55.2 million) in the previous fiscal. Its revenues in the same period grew 48% to Rs 355 crore ($49.7 million).
But after ten years spent taking baby steps forward, the bid for the Mothercare rights was emblematic of a startup that believes it has come of age. There is a spring in FirstCry's step—one that coincides with the backing of the granddaddy of VC firms, SoftBank. In January, the Japanese behemoth invested $400 million for a 42% stake in the company, making FirstCry among its largest bets in India. The round valued the baby and kids retailer at $850 million, a significant mark-up from its previous round in 2016 where it was valued at $350 million.
SoftBank understands the potential. With over 25 million children born in India annually, the opportunity is huge. According to publicly available reports, the potential across products and services in the mother and childcare space in India is estimated to be worth $74 billion by 2020. Naiyya Saggi, founder of pregnancy and parenting platform Babychakra, says less than 2% of the market is organised. FirstCry is looking to both grow and corner this market.
"When it comes to kids, everybody wants the best and nothing less. Today, if you look around, disposable incomes have gone up. The percentage of working women has increased, and a lot of purchasing decisions today are being taken by women. This gels perfectly with kids retail, where purchase drivers are mostly working moms," says Abhishek Singhal, founder and CEO of Inroadz, a B2B marketplace connecting global brands in the baby and kids space to distributors.
Opportunity and execution, however, are far removed in this space. Over the years, many have struggled. Some—like Accel Partners-funded Babyoye—have given up the ghost altogether. Against this backdrop, FirstCry has built a solid omni-channel retail platform, creating a brand that resonates with the new generation of Indian mothers.
baby and kids retail
Mahindra retail
Me n Moms
Momspresso
Toonz Retail
Vandana is based in Delhi. She covers vertically focussed startups in consumer internet space and also writes on travel tech and smartphones for The Ken. She has spent 13 years in journalism covering a wide range of subjects- equity markets, mutual funds to education and skilling, working at organisations such as Business Standard, CNBC TV18 and The Week in the past.


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Q: Why Humans can't carry themselves? I have been lately questioning why if someone carries you can't carry him at the same time. basically, I don't really know if it's possible at least physically and not limited by humans abilities. What I can tell by intuitive that they can't because humans can't carry themselves so they can't carry themselves and some extra mass but, this is not a proof and am not sure about anything yet.
My questions are:
1- Can a human carry himself theoretically? you can suppose that a human hand are so powerful?
2- Can you provide such an intuitive explanation?
3- Can you provide such a mathematical-physical proof for your answer?

A: This comes down to the difference between internal and external forces on a body.
A system can only accelerate (i.e. being lifted), when there are external forces on a body. This is essentially Newton's second law of motion. If you carry yourself, this is an internal force, which won't lift you.
You can also look at it using Newton's third law. So, you try to lift yourself with your arm, pulling you up from your ass. At the same time, your ass exerts an equal and opposite force on your hand. So your body is pulling you down. Also in the ISS in the absence of gravitational forces, this is not possible.


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Health workers in further action over workloads
Members of the services union ver.di have taken strike action in three hospitals as part of the union's campaign to tackle excessive workloads in the sector. The targeted hospitals in Düsseldorf, Ottweiler in Saarland and Dachau, near Munich are respectively public, non-profit and private and ver.di says that none of the three employers has been willing to discuss a collective agreement to reduce workloads. In the meantime, health workers across Germany will be supporting the union's campaign to set limits on workloads and try to reduce the pressure on workers to skip their breaks, to be called out on their free days or build up large amounts of overtime.
Read more at
ver.di (DE)
epsucob:
2017 October epsucob@NEWS 19
2018 July epsucob@NEWS 14
Health workers in series of actions over pay and workloads
University Medical Centre (UMC) workers across the country have been taking action to highlight their concerns about workloads and to put pressure on the employers to restart negotiations that have been stalled since the end of May. Members of the FNV and NU'91 trade unions have been involved in short work stoppages, demonstrations and working to rule in Groningen, Utrecht, Maastricht, Leiden and other cities. The unions are calling for a decent pay rise, urgent action to reduce excessive workloads and to recruit more young workers. The UMC collective agreement covers around 60000 workers.
FNV (NL)
NU'91 (NL)
2018 February epsucob@NEWS 03
Unions prepare for further action over health and social care pay claim
After a march in Vienna on 24 January and a day of action on 30 January, the vida and GPA-djp trade unions warn of further action to support their negotiations covering 100000 workers in the private health and social care sector. The employers increased their original pay offer from 2.1% to 2.25% but the unions say that this completely fails to recognise the new tasks and responsibilities faced by many in the sector. The unions are also calling for a cut in working time. The fifth round of bargaining is due on 12 February and the unions have already indicated widespread support among their members for more action to put pressure on employers.
vida (DE)
GPA-djp (DE)
2018 August epsucob@NEWS 16
Ambulance workers plan further action
The FNV union is planning a new round of actions in the ambulance sector as it continues its long-running campaign to improve pay and conditions and address excessive workloads. The union has called on the employers to negotiate a plan with concrete measures including a commitment to a specific deadline to deal with staff shortages; reducing overtime and additional work; complying with the collective agreement in relation to breaks and the reduction of external hiring and subcontracting; and an agreement to increase salaries in line with other parts of the health sector.


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