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Pappas Airgun/Rimfire Front Rest — Artistry in Aluminum
Our friend and product tester Joe Friedrich is the proud owner of a spectacular front rest from James Pappas. This rest is used for both air rifle and rimfire benchrest matches. The fancy Pappas front rest is a shortened, front-support-only version of the Pappas one-piece rest, which is popular with rimfire benchresters. Pappas engineered this rest to comply with air rifle benchrest rules which do not allow use of integrated (one-piece) front and rear rests. The end result was a 30.8-lb masterpiece of machining.
The workmanship on this Pappas front rest is astounding. Accurately described as a "work of art" by Joe Friedrich, this rest, crafted of aircraft-grade aluminum, sets new standards for "Benchrest BLING". It looks like it should be on display in an art museum. Nearly all components of this rest, including the adjustment controls, have been polished to a mirror finish.
Convenient Rear Windage and Elevation Controls
The Pappas front rest features separate fine-tuning controls for windage and elevation, plus a central gross-elevation control. Normally, once the rest is centered-up on the target, you can make all needed elevation and windage adjustments with the rear (fine-adjustment) controls. In the video below, Joe explains how the controls work as he practices with his modified Theoben Rapid MFR air rifle. Joe hopes to use this new Pappas rest in the upcoming Air Rifle Benchrest Worlds to be held in South Carolina this summer. (Note: In the last minute of the video, the back-lighting was so intensely bright that we lost detail in the foreground. We apologize for that flaw, but you can still hear the audio.)
Price for this Masterpiece? Don't Ask…
If you are interested in getting a similar rest, visit PappasRimfireProducts.com, or call James Pappas directly at (817) 735-9883. Be forewarned — James said "If you need to ask about the price, you probably can't afford it." This is truly the "Rolls-Royce" of front rests, and it will be priced accordingly.
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Share this Story: Medical fees reduced for Alberta specialists as province looks to control doctors' pay
Medical fees reduced for Alberta specialists as province looks to control doctors' pay
Alberta radiologists and ophthalmologists will see a handful of their fees reduced this fall as the province pushes ahead to reform the compensation system.
Aug 22, 2016 • August 22, 2016 • 5 minute read • Join the conversation
X-Ray technologist Charlene Kozak (left) operates a Fluoroscopy machine in the December 2005 file photo. Larry Wong/Edmonton Journal Photo by Larry Wong /Edmonton Journal
Alberta radiologists and ophthalmologists will see a handful of their medical fees reduced starting this fall as the province pushes ahead to reform the physician compensation system.
The decision to reduce fees for cataract extractions, eye injections and fluoroscopies was one of the first major accomplishments of a joint physician-government committee, which now hopes to use the same process for a wider review of payments.
Medical fees reduced for Alberta specialists as province looks to control doctors' pay Back to video
"The value of this decision, even though it affected a small number of fees, is that it demonstrated the process can work," said Dr. Carl Nohr, president of the Alberta Medical Association, which represents doctors.
"This is a unique structure in Canada where we can have a discussion about what the value of a fee code can be. We can agree or disagree with Alberta Health, but at the end of the day, a decision is made so we don't end up in gridlock."
The Physician Compensation Committee was established in 2013 as part of an agreement that ended a long, bitter pay dispute between doctors and the Progressive Conservative government of the day.
The AMA and Alberta Health each hold one vote on the committee, while a third vote is cast by an independent chairperson.
Among its duties, the committee has responsibility for reviewing the province's fee-for-service arrangement, in which physicians bill the government a pre-determined sum for performing a specific service.
Alberta currently has about 3,200 fee codes, many of which have not been updated in a decade or more.
The committee was put into action after then-health minister Fred Horne and others suggested some medical procedures, including cataract surgery, had become "overpriced" in recent years because new technology had made them easier to perform.
A laborious and complicated process of evaluation followed, in which the committee scanned the codes for outliers and assessed procedures on their difficulty, intensity and education requirements.
Nohr said the committee also spent considerable time looking at physician costs, since most fees include funding to cover a doctor's overhead such as staff, equipment and office expenses.
Eventually, the process selected 11 codes for a wider review, four of which were reduced in value.
Included were two fees often used by ophthalmologists: cataract removals and intravitreal (eye) injections.
The initial decision of the committee called for the cataract fee to be reduced nearly in half to $245 from $482. However, following further discussion, ophthalmologists convinced the committee to move the price to $408, a 15-per cent drop from the original fee.
"The technology has improved in cataract extraction," said Jim Huston, the AMA's assistant executive director for health economics.
"The time is reduced, the complexity. It was a different procedure 10 years ago."
Asked why the committee decided to soften its initial reduction of the fee, Nohr said it was likely a result of getting better information on overhead costs and other factors.
However, he also said it was possible the committee was worried such a big drop in the fee might send some specialists to other jurisdictions, increasing waiting times for patients.
The fee for the eye injection fell 25 per cent to $111.
In the area of radiology, the committee decided to reduce the fee for a fluoroscopy, a kind of living X-ray that helps guide a needle to a precise point in the body.
That fee was eventually dropped 22 per cent to $195 from $250, still more than the committee's initial valuation of $171.
In its final decision, the committee wrote that it did not agree with the radiologists' stance that two staff members, such as a technologist and nurse, were needed for every procedure to assist the doctor.
Dr. Rob Davies, president of the Alberta Society of Radiologists, said his organization hopes to eventually change the committee's mind.
"We do have some unresolved issues with their methodology that we are continuing to pursue," said Davies, who is also medical director for Canada Diagnostic Centres, which operates 16 clinics in Edmonton and Calgary.
The company provides a variety of diagnostic tests for Alberta Health Services, including ultrasounds, X-rays and mammographies, and also has a private MRI and CT scanner in Calgary for paying clients.
Statistics show ophthalmologists and radiologists receive some of the highest gross payments among Alberta doctors. But Davies said those figures fail to recognize such specialists also have some of the highest overhead costs.
He said the reduction in the fluoroscopy code means the vast majority of each fee will go to pay staff expenses. If two staff continue to be used, then the radiologist may operate at a loss for each procedure, he said.
'These practices will need to carefully consider how to maintain the safety, quality and service levels required with less funding, while still making sure patients have access."
Davies said more than 100,000 fluoroscopies are performed in Alberta every year, which means they represent a substantial portion of a typical radiology practice.
He said efforts to reduce medical costs should focus not on reducing individual fees, but on how certain procedures are used. For example, there is some evidence certain diagnostic tests are being prescribed too often by family doctors for patients with lower back pain.
The fee reductions will implemented over six months, with the first phase beginning Oct. 1.
Nohr said it's unclear how much money might be saved, but the AMA's deal with the province requires savings be reinvested into some area of doctor compensation.
He agreed with Davies that more work has to be done to better understand physician overhead costs. Still, he said the fee evaluation was successful enough that the committee plans to use it for a wider review of fee codes in the province.
"The amount we have learned through this process has been almost immeasurable and how we apply that knowledge is really the test for all of us," Huston said.
Health Minister Sarah Hoffman has listed hospitals, doctor compensation and prescription drugs as the three major areas where the province needs to "bend the cost curve" on rising health expenses.
The minister could not be reached for comment, but a spokeswoman for Alberta Health issued a statement.
"Physician compensation is one of the main cost drivers in Alberta's health system so this is encouraging, but there is more to do," the statement from Carolyn Ziegler said. "The Physician Compensation Committee has played an important role in this recent progress, but right now the ministry is focused on negotiations with AMA."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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So sign up your friends.
I want to go, how do I convince people to let me attend?
First off, everyone is welcome. You don't need to be a part of any of our organizing association to attend. We just want people to live better lives in condominiums. Secondly, here are letters for why people should attend. Feel free to use them to attract board members, your boss, your neighbours and anyone else you can think of.
Yes. Yes please! We want guests to come to the show! Look at how many of these sentences end in exclamation marks! That just proves how enthusiastic we are about getting people to attend!
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No. You can't share, borrow, trade or otherwise "spread around" a pass. A pass is for you. Janey will need to get her own.
I am attending only on Friday, but I really want to see the Keynote speaker is it okay?
No. Your name badge is even a different colour. You will need to purchase registration for both days.
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ACR 16 is an educational opportunity for anyone that lives in a condo or works for condominium owners, and prospective condominium owners. You don't need to be on a board. You don't need to have a sense of civic pride. You don't need to be a professional or have a degree or be super on the ups with Bill 9. We want everyone to live in a better community. The community that is closest to home for every condominium dweller is their condominium corporation, the so called 4th level of government. If we can get that set out and working properly, maybe we've got a chance to get the rest sorted out.
What can I do at ACR 16?
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How do I Choose the "Right" Medical Cannabis?
The first place to start is with a doctor trained in doing medical cannabis evaluations. During your evaluation be sure to ask what kinds of cannabis might be most useful to treating your medical condition.
Be mindful that, like all medications, cannabis impacts everyone differently. While there are no formal dosing studies currently available in the USA to advise on the specific amounts of cannabis to use, physicians in our network of affiliates suggest that patients start with a lower dose or a smaller amount of cannabis to see what, if any, side effects are encountered. Remember, cannabis is not toxic, so even if you have an unwanted side effect, it won't cause harm.
THC is the main psychoactive component of the marijuana plant. In other words, THC is the primary agent responsible for creating the "high" feeling associated with marijuana use.
This compound works by imitating the effects of anandamide, a neurotransmitter produced naturally by the human body to help modulate sleeping and eating habits, as well as the perception of pain.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/nbcuniversal-aims-to-merge-tv-and-digital-ad-buying-with-new-tech-11578441600
NBCUniversal Aims to Merge TV and Digital Ad Buying With New Tech
More than 300 engineering and platform employees are working on building an all-in-one ad system
NBCUniversal's One Platform will combine existing and new tools for advertisers to plan, schedule, optimize and measure video ad campaigns. Photo: Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press
Sahil Patel
BiographySahil Patel
@sizpatel
sahil.patel@wsj.com
Jan. 7, 2020 7:00 pm ET
Comcast Corp. -owned NBCUniversal says it is accelerating efforts to create a single ad technology and sales infrastructure for marketers to run media plans across its TV and digital properties, and across local, national and global markets.
The efforts center on One Platform, which will combine existing and new tools for advertisers to plan, schedule, optimize and measure video ad campaigns. Previously, NBCUniversal had separate tools for traditional linear TV and digital advertising, which forced it and its advertisers to combine orders manually.
For decades, TV networks relied on broad demographics such as age and gender to sell ads. Now they are trying to update how they sell ads to better compete with digital media, which allows marketers to use data to find specific audiences such as people in the market for a new car.
TV powers including AT&T Inc. -owned Xandr and ViacomCBS Inc. are racing to deliver capabilities to sell audience-based video advertising across TV and digital viewing, which also will be an option on One Platform, said NBCUniversal, which already sells some TV and digital ads in an audience-based fashion.
"The idea of demo-based buying started in 1962," said Mark Marshall, president of advertising sales and client partnerships for NBCUniversal. "To say that we are still transacting TV in the same way today seems crazy."
A large part of the TV advertising industry remains locked into buying based on delivered impressions against age and sex demographics, said Catherine Warburton, chief investment officer at MDC Partners Inc.-owned ad agency Assembly. "That is how agencies are compensated for TV buying," she said.
But advertisers have been clamoring for data-driven ad targeting from TV companies, especially as viewers gravitate toward digital platforms where the advertising technology should make it easier to target precise audiences, Ms. Warburton said.
"It is an advantage of this new world of streaming videos on TVs: Finally our TV ads can be delivered to the right person rather than purchasing a broad age demo," Ms. Warburton said.
NBCUniversal began merging its TV and digital tools two years ago with CFlight, a measurement framework it developed to better analyze video ad performance across TV and other video distribution platforms.
A version of One Platform will be ready by this year's TV upfronts, when TV programmers take orders for the bulk of their ad inventory for the approaching TV season. It will include the ability for advertisers to create a single plan across TV and digital, target ads based on different audiences and optimize campaigns for reach and frequency across different programs and platforms.
As part of One Platform, NBCUniversal will expand the rollout of a cross-platform scheduling product it developed with Comcast's FreeWheel, said Krishan Bhatia, executive vice president of business operations and strategy for NBCUniversal.
A single measurement dashboard will be available for the 2020 broadcast season.
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NBCUniversal expects it will take at least three years to fully build One Platform. More than 300 ad sales engineering and platform employees are working on the technology, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ad inventory accessible through One Platform will include NBCUniversal's broadcast and cable networks, its websites and mobile apps, its coming streaming service Peacock and a news streaming service NBC News is developing with European pay-TV giant Sky, which Comcast acquired last year.
Ad inventory for NBCUniversal programming on third-party platforms such as Hulu and YouTube will also be available through One Platform.
Ad deals with Sky around the world, local advertising through Comcast's own ad business and ad space next to syndicated content are also planned.
Over time, every NBCUniversal video ad deal—from automated buys to purchases hammered out by negotiators on each side of the table—will flow through One Platform, said Mr. Bhatia.
"It is meant to be all-encompassing. It is just a matter of which components get built first," he said.
NBCUniversal will announce a new global ad sales infrastructure in a few weeks as part of the One Platform rollout, the company said.
Write to Sahil Patel at Sahil.Patel@wsj.com
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NBCUniversal has more than 300 employees working on "all-encompassing" tech platform for TV and digital ad capabilities


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Duane Stabler
Castle Garden,
the Gateway to Ellis Island
Before Ellis Island Immigrant Center was in operation, most immigrants to America came through the processing center at Castle Garden, located at the southern tip of Manhattan, now known as Battery Park.
Castle Garden was built from 1808 to 1811 as a fort during the war with England and was called Castle Clinton. It was ceded to New York City in 1829 and leased as an amusement park. By 1839 it had become a fashionable concert hall but by 1855 New York decided to turn it into a receiving station for immigrants. From 1855 to 1890, more than eight million people were processed at Castle Garden and admitted to the United States.
By 1890 the New York legislature recognized that Castle Garden could no longer keep up with the immigration needs. The federal government made the decision to take immigration out of the hands of the states and make immigration the responsibility of federal authorities. Ellis Island was selected as the first federal immigration location.
Ellis Island had been the site of Fort Gibson and later was a navel magazine, but it was considered an ideal location for the future immigrant receiving center and an immigrant hospital. This first station of its kind opened in 1892 but was destroyed by a fire in 1897. Sadly, the records from the previous immigrant center had been moved to the new Ellis Island Station and were destroyed in the 1897 fire. The second station was built and opened in 1900.
From 1892 to 1954 approximately 12 million immigrants arrived and were processed through the facility. There were fluctuations in the number of arrivals due to several global affairs, namely: World War I and the tightening of immigration regulations, but immigrants continued to arrive.
Immigrants who could afford first or second-class tickets aboard the big ocean liners from Europe were briefly inspected on ship and were allowed, in most cases, to pass directly into the United States. Only the poor were required to undergo inspection at Ellis Island.
Steerage passengers, those who could only afford what is commonly called, "third-class," and traveled in the lower levels of the ship made up the largest number of newcomers to America.
Some passengers were often required to wait for hours before they could leave the ship to board a barge that would take them to the pier. Then again, they faced lengthy waits before stepping onto the pier and then walking the 50 feet to the building's entrance. The immigrants also had to carry whatever possessions they brought from their homeland. This added to the struggles of gaining entry to the United States.
These immigrants did not always receive a warm or even humane welcome. They were closely examined for health conditions and there were cases when children were rejected but their parents were accepted. Those who were rejected were required to return to the port where they started their two-week journey. However, if one of those who was rejected was a child, that child needed to return along with a parent even if the parent had been accepted. This often added to the stress as families were split up when some gained entry and others were refused.
Pinkeye (Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, which covers the white part of the eyeball. It may be a viral infection. It is an especially contagious virus.) was a common disease that was frequently contracted when traveling and was sufficient reason to reject the immigrant. However, pinkeye was but one of many illnesses that prohibited entry into the United States. In some cases, psychiatrists would question some immigrants seeking to determine psychological conditions. In other cases, it was discovered that criminals had been allowed to board the ship and they too were rejected and refused entry.
The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital was established as a separate facility and was open from 1902 until 1951 and treated over 275,000 patients. Approximately 4,000 fatalities and 350 babies were born there. The facility is still standing but has been off limits to the public since its closing in 1954 except for limited special arrangements made through the Save Ellis Island Foundation
After 1924, Ellis Island was primarily a detention center. During both World War I and World War II its facilities were also used by the United States military to detain prisoners of war.
After its closure, Ellis Island Immigration Station languished for several years but a partially reopening occurred in 1976. The renovations in the main building and adjacent structures were completed in 1990.
I have never seen real photo postcards of either facility but have acquired a few lithograph cards. There are real photos of these locations; many can be found in published books and on-line.
From Manhattan one can reach Ellis Island via Battery Park. I recall obtaining ferry tickets at the former Castle Garden facility. It is still the gateway to Ellis Island.
Duane Stabler is retired from a career in engineering. Like many postcard collectors, Duane is also interested in genealogy and has successfully published in that field of endeavor. In addition he edited the Twin City Postcard Club newsletter for eleven years. Duane and his wife live near Dallas, Texas.
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Despite numerous stories of family names being changed at the whim of Ellis Island inspectors, most such alterations were actually done by the immigrants themselves in hopes of assimilating more easily. The changes that were made at Ellis Island resulted from overworked employees mishearing pronunciations or misreading documents.
Reply to Bob Kozak
Yes, that's certainly true Bob, I think they were over-worked and swamped. Sometimes the accents made it difficult but we need to remember that names needed to be anglicized so that characters with the umlaut (two dots over the a as an example) would become ae. That made the name work when the English didn't have such character in them. In the early days, contagious disease like pink eye would spread onboard and that too was a big problem. Everything for record keeping was manual and that had to make the job hard. I think they did a good job… Read more »


6/06/2013 · los helados de coco , bolis o hielitos ,. un rico y refrescante antojo para estos dias de intenso calor , refrescate con algo rico sabroso y nutritivo . preparalos para tu familia y disfruten... 2 Coconut – cocos frios, cremitas de coco, bolis de coco Much of what you see as Street food along the Gulf in villages like Chuburna and Progreso will be coconut based, as this is the traditional means of earning primary or secondary income for many local families.
The three main ingredients in these treats is processed in a blender to make a vitamin-packed, thirst-quenching delight. The strawberry seeds can be strained out before freezing, if desired, or the whole mixture can be left "rough;" the result, in any case, is nutritious, full of fiber, and eye-opening delicious.


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Bill Gates and Warren Buffett spend billions to control minority populations
By Nancy Flanders | January 25, 2019 , 09:57am
Two of the wealthiest men in the world choose to spend their money on controlling the number of people of color born into the world. Good friends (and considered the most charitable American billionaires) Bill Gates and Warren Buffett could afford to help millions out of poverty; instead, they focus their efforts and considerable wealth on preventing the births of children whom Planned Parenthood's founder Margaret Sanger would have considered "unfit." And their efforts expand abroad as well.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private philanthropic foundation in the world and has dedicated itself to funding reproductive control in poor countries where citizens are in need of water, food, and access to basic health care. The foundation supports organizations that focus on encouraging abortion among minorities and disadvantaged women. While the Gates family also uses the foundation to provide educational scholarships and fight malaria, Bill Gates has not hesitated to admit population control is his goal. Gates has stated publicly that his father was very involved with Planned Parenthood. He stated in an interview with Bill Moyers, "When I was growing up, my parents were … involved in various volunteer things. My dad was head of Planned Parenthood. And it was very controversial to be involved with that."
The Gates Foundation states that "less than 20 percent of women in Sub-Saharan Africa" use modern contraceptives, a statistic of great concern to the Gateses. In 2018, Gates announced that he and his wife are planning to donate an astounding $18 million dollars to family planning programs through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a group linked to forced sterilizations and abortions in China. What they fail to realize, however, is that the number of women using birth control in Africa is low because these women don't want birth control in the first place.
READ: According to the UN, Planned Parenthood is about population control
Obianuju Ekeocha is the founder of Culture of Life Africa and is an advocate for women and their children both born and preborn in Africa. She is extremely vocal about her abhorrence for the push to expand birth control and abortion in African countries. In her book, Target Africa, she wrote:
"Africans by and large believe that sex is sacred, that human life is precious from womb to tomb, that children are blessings, that motherhood is desirable, and that marriage between man and woman is life-generating. These are the basic family values that our parents and grandparents transmitted to us. They are embedded in our customs, enshrined in our laws, and even encoded in our native languages. To take them away from us amounts to invasion, occupation, annexation, and colonization of our people." [29]
Over the years, the Gates Foundation has donated millions to abortion organizations including Planned Parenthood and Marie Stopes International – all the while claiming that they do not financially support abortion. Since its creation in 2000, the Gates Foundation has donated $78.5 million to Planned Parenthood. In one year alone, the group gave $46.1 million to Marie Stopes.
According to the group Protecting Black Life, 79 percent of Planned Parenthood's surgical abortion facilities are located within walking distances of neighborhoods primarily comprised of people of color, causing justifiable suspicion (especially given Planned Parenthood's history) which populations Planned Parenthood — and by association, the Gates Foundation — are trying to control.
As for Marie Stopes, the group was recently banned from advertising or committing abortions in Kenya and Niger. While abortion is legal in those countries in cases where the mother's health is endangered (which is actually never necessary), Marie Stopes was caught committing illegal abortions, possibly for the last 15 years in Kenya. And the Gates Foundation was right there supporting the organization and therefore funding the illegal deaths of African children.
According to NewsBusters, Buffett, former Berkshire Hathaway Chairman & CEO, has donated enough money to pro-abortion groups to abort the entire population of Chicago. From just 2001 to 2012, his foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation, gave more than $1.2 billion to pro-abortion, pro-population control groups.
Buffett's dedication to population control goes back decades, as his wife devoted her life to it. And his daughter Susie once said Buffett "has always believed [population control] was the biggest and most important issue." In fact, back before Roe v. Wade, abortion was only legal in California so Buffett sponsored the Ecumenical Fellowship – a so-called "church" that would arrange the abortions for women from other states and plan their travel arrangements. Eventually, the Ecumenical Fellowship merged with the Los Angeles chapter of Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood is actually the group to benefit the most from Buffet's misguided generosity, receiving over $289 million from Buffett's organization named for his late wife. In just one year he bestowed $70 million on the abortion business. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood has been caught accepting donations to specifically abort Black children – and one phone representative was "excited" about it. Planned Parenthood strategically designates funds for minority abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, African American women are 4.8 times more likely to have an abortion than white women, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times more likely. In New York City, Planned Parenthood aborts more African American children each year than are born. Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, envisioned a future with fewer impoverished populations, and continues today to place its abortion facilities in neighborhoods with heavy minority populations.
"When you look at Margaret Sanger and all the people who follow eugenics and all that stuff — it was all about cleansing," celebrity Nick Cannon explained of his distrust for Planned Parenthood. "It was all about, Margaret Sanger said she wanted to exterminate the negro race and that she was gonna use her organization that she founded to do so."
READ: Westerners like Prince William push population control in Africa, but at what cost?
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation also gives millions to Marie Stopes, which has been caught illegally aborting African children. In 2015, Buffett's foundation gave Marie Stopes International more than $52 million.
Then there's the Gates and Buffett connection. In 2006, Buffet made a pledge of $31 billion over the course of his life to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is focused on controlling the population of Africa.
While Africans are asking for clean water and access to education, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are giving them birth control and abortion. And while minorities in the United States are working for equality, Gates and Buffett are helping to ensure easy access to abortion, which has been devastating to the African-American population. Whether they care to admit it or not, they are personally funding the deaths of millions of people of color.


In UK & Ireland membership is open to anyone who has been baptised in the name of the Holy Trinity and supports the Mothers' Union aims and objectives. Our members are not all mothers, or even all women. They are single, married, parents, grandparents, or young adults just beginning to express their social conscience. Mothers' Union provides, for all four million members, a network through which they can serve Christ in their own community - through prayer, financial support and actively working at the grassroots level in programmes that meet local needs. For more information about the aims and objectives of the Mother's Union click on the logo.
The church choir under the direction of Mari Jones and accompanied by Pat and Margaret, the church organists, is a group of men and women who love to sing.
Rehearsal night is a Thursday at 7pm in St Peter's Church and new members are always welcome.


Danish labour market pension fund PenSam has hired Claus Jørgensen away from its competitor PKA to become its new CIO.
He is currently deputy executive director and head of equities at PKA, and has worked at the fund for more than 15 years.
Jørgensen is to start his new job at PenSam on 1 October.
PenSam said that at PKA Jørgensen had contributed to the development of the whole investment department, among other things.
A spokeswoman for PKA said the company was currently looking for a replacement for Jørgensen.
PenSam has around DKK105bn (€14.1bn) in assets while PKA manages around DKK250bn.


Enjoy the authentic flavors of Asia with ease and in your own kitchen.
Asian Cooking Made Easy features over 40 delicious recipes from the kitchens of China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Use this Asian cookbook to treat yourself to the authentic tastes and sensations of Asian food, from delightful starters such as Crabmeat Omelet to tasty seafood and noodle recipes including Fish Steaks in Fragrant Coconut Gravy and Singapore Hokkien Mee. Taste the subtle blends and rich flavors of Asian cuisine with this handy cookbook. Featuring easy, clear recipes and step-by-step photographs, along with a glossary of ingredients, Asian Cooking Made Easy will help ensure fantastic results every time!
This book of Asian recipes includes instructions for: basic recipes, salads, appetizers, soups, noodles, rice, poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, and desserts. Inside, you'll be treated to 53 recipes of authentic favorites from all over the Asian continent. Also included in this book are unit conversion tables, dual measurements, over 50 detailed photos, and an overview of basic Asian ingredients needed to create these delicious Asian favorites. Enjoy!


West Virginia has always been a peculiar state in the eyes of outsiders. Here are fifteen things people who aren't mountaineers just don't seem to understand.
2. And most southern of the northern states.
13. Or why this isn't just a song to us. It's everything.


Saturday October 4th is the big day in Connecticut for the National Solar Home Tour!
Click on the llnk below to get more info and please tell your neighbors and friends about this exciting solar event!
Vaporware is technology that is hyped but never released. This happens in the renewable press much too often. Writers announce a really cool project in the research stage and gush about how much it will change the world.
You can always spot Vaporware using this time honed and simple method; the press crows about a game changing technology that's going to change the world, the company, University or research institution, says they will have it on the market, in 3 years. Go to their website and they are looking for investors. Wait 3 years and after not hearing much and not seeing ANY product emerge, check out their website. It will either be gone or they are still looking for investors. Wait a couple more years and still nothing.
Ten years ago the renewable energy press was crowing about an amazing battery technology that could be charged over and over again thousands of times, was touted as incredibly inexpensive and could be recharged in minutes. The company said they were only 3 years away from getting it on the market. After 3 years, silence, 5 years, silence and finally they were gone.
Same thing happened a few years ago with the MIT fiasco. Scientists at MIT released a statement they had figured out how to produce hydrogen from water really cheap. The press was all over it, the greatest breakthrough, going to change the world, cheap energy, AND they would have it on the market in 3 years. Three years later, nothing. I looked into it about a year ago and found out they had realized the technology was not viable for production.
I have been on both sides of the fence. Was involved with a project that got publicized earlier than we wanted and found out in the middle, it was not ready for mass production. That was a tough lesson.
A few years ago I helped develop a product very quietly. Showed a lot of promise, yet needed more time. It is still, very quietly, in development.
A little hint; if you cannot get your research project out of the lab and into production in a year, DO NOT go to press. You and your project are not ready. The world has seen enough vapor and hazy 3 year empty promises.
Sofias Plaza, located on 122 Prospect Hill Rd. in East Windsor, has gone big with solar. I snapped some photo's of their mini solar farm and roof panels in the back of the plaza. I have been in touch with their management to get additional info on their system.
I commend the management of Sofias for their clear commitment to renewable energy and showing how solar in CT works for business.
What is the Best Renewable Energy System for CT?
It depends on where you are. Some sites get plenty of wind, for example on the shore or in the hills, others get very little. Some houses are out in the open with few trees and can take advantage of solar. Others have lots of trees with very little wind. In the cases where you have very little wind or sun, you will want to look at geothermal which utilizes the consistent temperature of the ground to heat or cool your home. Folks who live on the shore of a river or a stream, should take advantage of something called Microhydro, which is basically a scaled down hydro-electric system. >>Click Here for more on Microhydro.
You do not have to depend on one technology either. Plenty of people are taking advantage of solar and augmenting with wind. Others will build a combination of solar electric for power and solar thermal for hot water. Both technologies are efficient enough to be used year round even in the Winter.
Of course you do not have to build a system that runs your entire house. You can build something that reduces your dependence on the utility or oil co and take advantage of tax breaks to build on a scale that meets your budget. Either way you will be saving green. Many people will build a solar, geothermal or wind system that cuts their utility by a certain percentage, thus locking in a price and or insuring against rate hikes.
Exotic Car makers claim to make the world's most advanced auto mobile's . They build beautiful cars using the very latest technology and charge an ultra premium for the privilege of owning such an exotic. There is one problem with this; they rely on piston engines that are anything but the very latest and most advanced power plants.
If you are going to spend six figures or more for a car, why would you want a beautiful design with an in efficient piston engine? Why not a turbine that generates electricity for a powerful electric motor? The electric motor would power the wheels, offering the range and flexibility of a hybrid BUT with the smooth reliability and bragging rights of a turbine. Turbines can also run on any fuel.
You could take the turbine/electric design one step further by adding electric motors to each of the four wheels, giving the driver the ultimate balance of power and control, in all weather conditions.
Why not put in a rotary engine? Rotary engines don't have to change direction thousands of times a minute and can run on any fuel.
Why not offer a pure electric with the very best battery pack, speed, range and safety? If Tesla can offer an electric car that has a 265 mile range for five figures, can you imagine what six figures could buy?
Ferrari, Lamborghini and other exotic manufacturers, are fooling themselves if they continue to put these dated and inefficient piston engines in their cars, while claiming to give their customers the very best money can buy. The very best money can buy, offers technology that is far better.
Fortunately for those of us in the 99%, there are a lot of options to get a great car that is easy on both the environment and the wallet. For more info, check out the Auto section.
CL&P unveiled a plan to increase the flat monthly fee by a whopping sixty percent! The news is not going over well, with protests from both Governor Malloy and Senator Richard Blumenthal, each have urged regulators to reject the proposal.
The 60% increase would harm efforts of CT residents to conserve or install renewable energy, as they would be forced to pay the hiked flat rate, regardless of how much power they actually use.
Such an increase in the flat rate is obviously an outright attempt by CL&P to thwart renewable energy and conservation efforts in CT.
What can you do about this outrageous proposal? Fire CL&P ASAP. Go to the, " For The House" section and see all the options available to switch to renewable energy.
See for yourself just how easy and beneficial it is to take control of your financial future , exercise your free market power of choice and make your own electricity.


Back in January, a spike in interest regarding Earth's magnetic field – and whether it's about to flip or not – occurred. Despite a significant weakening of its magnetic field strength in recent decades, there's no indication that it's "about" to flip, and even if it did, the consequences of a geomagnetic reversal would likely not be as apocalyptic as some may claim.
Saying that, there's plenty about the planet's magnetic field that we know fairly little about, including its weak spot, the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), which extends from Zimbabwe to Chile. Fortunately, a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters shines some light on that with a tale that extends back, rather appropriately, to the Iron Age.
The team's beautifully written study describes the SAA and the region as the origin of the recent decay and "apparent collapse" of Earth's magnetic field. They then emphasize that we know very little about this depression's history thanks to a paucity of data, the likes of which are normally preserved in magnetic mineral-rich volcanic matter.
Upon cooling below a temperature known as the Curie Point, these minerals record the characteristics of Earth's magnetic field at that exact point in time. This is how we know that, for example, the last time a complete geomagnetic reversal took place was 781,000 years ago.
Still, there's a lot missing from the story, and the SAA is especially enigmatic – as are the underlying mechanisms within Earth's iron-rich outer core that drive geomagnetic reversals in the first place. As there aren't any solid ancient geomagnetic records in southern Africa before 1000 CE, the recent history of the SAA is one big blank spot.
Ingeniously, the team – coordinated by the University of Rochester – decided to look to archaeology, not merely geology, in order to find this missing piece of the puzzle.
Sifting through burnt grain bins, huts, and cattle enclosures from Early to Late Iron Age locales in northern South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, the team found clay artifacts containing small particles of magnetite and hematite, both of which preserve the Earth's magnetic field features upon cooling.
They were found in villages that, a millennium ago, were partly and ritualistically burned down in response to periods of prolonged drought. These fires heated the minerals up above the Curie Point; as they cooled, they took a snapshot of the Earth's magnetic field as it was around 1,000 years ago.
Using these, the team reconstructed the planet's magnetic field as it looked back then, and found out that its waning condition today isn't so special after all.
In fact, as described in the paper, between 1225 and 1550 CE it featured profound directional changes "accompanied by intensity values that are lower than the present-day regional low". Similarly, dramatic changes were also occurring around the 5th and 8th centuries too, all of which are referred to as "archaeomagnetic jerks".
This all suggests the SAA isn't unique to the here and now, but is a recurring feature that's representative of whatever's going on down below. Perhaps not coincidentally, below this exact spot, on the outer core-mantle boundary, a geologically venerable anomaly known as the African Large Low Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP) exists.
This continental-sized, curiously warm, dense blob – one of two known thermochemical piles – is deeply mysterious, but the team speculates that its relatively high density may play a mischievous role here. By sitting on the liquid outer core, it may compress it.
With such an obstruction, "something analogous to an eddy in a stream might form," in the flow of circulating iron, co-author John Tarduno, a professor of geophysics at the University of Rochester, told IFLScience.
Ultimately, this changing in the underlying churning would trigger chaotic periods of magnetic field generation, recorded as archaeomagnetic jerks.
Before you ask, no: this paper doesn't forecast an imminent flip of the magnetic poles, but as an insight into its past and future, it's invaluable.
"The African LLSVP is very old, tens of millions to perhaps more than 100 million years old. Because flow within the solid mantle is so slow, it will be present far into the future," Tarduno added.
Previous articleAre Earth's Magnetic Poles About To Flip, And What Will Happen When They Do?


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Oh oh ik heb zorgen is een Nederlandstalig liedje van de Belgische zanger Louis Neefs uit 1967.

Hoewel het liedje niet als single verscheen, behoort het tot de bekendste werken in zijn oeuvre. Het was tevens het nummer waarmee hij België vertegenwoordigde op het Eurovisiesongfestival 1967 in de Oostenrijkse hoofdstad Wenen. Daar werd hij uiteindelijk zevende, met acht punten. Het was de eerste van twee keer dat Neefs België vertegenwoordigde op het Eurovisiesongfestival. Ook in 1969 werd hij zevende, met Jennifer Jennings.

Het nummer verscheen voor het eerst op het album Zang bij Jacques Raymond & Louis Neefs.

Resultaat

Meewerkende artiesten
 Louis Neefs (zang)
 Francis Bay (orkestleider)

Single uit 1967
Nummer van Louis Neefs
Lied op het Eurovisiesongfestival 1967
Belgisch lied op het Eurovisiesongfestival

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This years Yeovilton Air Day had the usual varied assortment of aircraft both in the static display. With the formation of the Joint Harrier Force this year will see the withdrawal of the Sea Harrier. Enjoy the pictures.
Copyright of all pictures in this gallery belong to D Lamb, and B Westall.


A natural formulation, free from Sodium Lauryl & Laureth Sulphate. Made thicker to use less, without compromising the ability to clean and foam to give the lathery feel. Organic oils of Olive oil, Vitamin E to soothe and protect the scalp & generous amounts of Organic Argan Oil from Morocco to keep your hair strong and healthy. Infused with organic Lavender & Geranium essential oils.


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Filta signs deal to become exclusive UK distributor for Goslyn
Filta Group Holdings Acquires WatBio for £7m
Acquisition of Watbio Holdings Ltd
The information contained within this announcement (the " Announcement ") is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this Announcement via Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
("Filta" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Acquisition of Watbio Holdings Limited
Placing of new Ordinary Shares to raise £3 million
Filta Group Holdings plc (AIM: FLTA), a provider of fryer management and other services to commercial kitchens, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Watbio Holdings Limited (" Watbio"), which provides grease and drain management solutions to commercial kitchens across the UK, for a consideration of £6.9 million (the "Acquisition"), subject to adjustment for working capital movements of up to a maximum of a further £1.2 million. The consideration will be payable in two principal tranches followed by a final payment to take account of any increase in the working capital between 30 September 2018 and the date of completion and will be satisfied as to £0.8 million by the issue of 400,000 new Ordinary Shares in Filta to the vendors ("Consideration Shares") and by the payment of up to £7.3 million in cash.
The cash element of the consideration is being satisfied from the proceeds of an issue of new ordinary shares to raise £3.0 million, from a new £4.0 million 5-year term loan facility and from the Group's existing bank and cash in hand. To this end, the Company also announces that it has completed a conditional placing with new and existing institutional investors to raise gross proceeds of £3.0 million (the "Placing"), through the issuance of 1,500,000 new ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of the Company ("Placing Shares") at a price of 200 pence per Placing Share ("Placing Price"). The Placing Price represents a premium of 8.1 percent to the closing price of 185 pence per ordinary share on 18 December 2018.
The first tranche of the consideration of £4.4 million will be satisfied as to £3.85 million in cash and £0.55 million by the issue, at the Placing Price, of 275,000 Consideration Shares, and the second tranche, due by 31 December 2018, of £2.5 million will be satisfied as to £2.25 million in cash and £0.25 million by the issue of 125,000 Consideration Shares. A final payment of up to a maximum of £1.2 million in cash, representing working capital adjustments, will be due 35 days following completion.
Completion of the Acquisition is conditional on the admission of the Placing Shares to trading, which is expected to occur on or around 20 December 2018.
Background to and strategic rationale for the Acquisition
The Directors believe that the Acquisition:
Delivers a high-margin, repeat-revenue business, with scope for significant margin improvement;
Creates the leading national provider of grease management and drainage services in the UK;
Strengthens and diversifies the Group's relationships with national, blue-chip customers; and
Expands the Group's service delivery market, with increased scope for cross-selling FiltaSeal.
The Group is targeting annual operational synergies in the order of £0.9 million once fully implemented and expects the Acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership.
Current Trading
Trading remains in line with market expectations with all of fryer management, FiltaSeal and FiltaGMG revenues continuing to grow and with a strong pipeline of potential franchisees expected to be signed in the current year or during the first quarter of 2019.
About Watbio
Formed in 2014 through the merger of Watling Hope and Environmental Biotech, Watbio provides the following services nationally:
Fat, Oil and Grease ("FOG") Control and Management – installation and maintenance services to control FOG in drainage lines
Wastewater Pumping and Treatment – Installation, maintenance and compliance services for wastewater treatment plants, pumps, pumping systems and oil interceptors
Drainage Services – Full suite of drainage services
Watbio operates from its head office in Maldon, Essex, and a further 10 regional office and warehouse locations, including Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Plymouth and Stratford-upon-Avon. Watbio employs approximately 90 staff and operates through its fleet of c. 70 vans, providing services to over 860 customers, including major fast food, pub and coffee chains.
In the year ended 30 September 2018, Watbio's audited accounts reflect an Adjusted EBITDA1 of £1.13 million and profit before tax of £0.8 million on revenues of £10.3 million and, as at 30 September 2018, had gross assets of £3.1 million. The Directors deem Watbio to have low capital intensity, with annual capital expenditures averaging less than £0.1 million over the last three years.
1 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and excluding costs (payments to the former shareholders) which are not expected to continue following the Acquisition
Consideration Shares
250,000 of the Consideration Shares are being issued, at the Placing Price, on completion to Edward Palin, Managing Director of Watbio and are locked in for a period of 24 months. Mr Palin is entering into a new service contract as part of the Acquisition and will remain with the combined business going forward.
The remaining 150,000 Consideration Shares will be issued at the Placing Price to other vendors of Watbio and are subject to orderly market provisions for 2 years.
The Placing
The Company has raised gross proceeds of £3.0 million, approximately £2.9 million net of expenses ("Net Proceeds"), from the issue of the Placing Shares at the Placing Price through Cenkos Securities plc pursuant to a conditional agreement dated 19 December 2018. The Placing is not conditional upon completion of the Acquisition, and is neither underwritten nor subject to shareholder approval.
The Net Proceeds of the Placing, and the new loan facility, will be used to satisfy the funding requirements in relation to the Acquisition, and the Directors expect average net debt to EBITDA ratio for the Enlarged Group to remain below 1.0x following the acquisition.
The following substantial Shareholder (being a Shareholder holding 10 per cent. or more of the Company's Ordinary Shares as at 18 December 2018, being the latest practicable date prior to the date of this announcement) is participating in the Placing as described below:
Gresham House Asset Management Limited
Number of Existing Ordinary Shares
Percentage of Existing Ordinary Shares
Amount subscribed
Number of Placing Shares
Number of Ordinary Shares held including the Placing Shares
Percentage of enlarged share capital*
3,129,000 11.53% £970,000 485,000 3,614,000 12.44%
*following Admission of the Placing and all the Consideration Shares
The participation by the Shareholder referred to above in the Placing is classified as a related party transaction for the purposes of the AIM Rules by virtue of such Shareholder being a 'substantial shareholder' (as defined in the AIM Rules for Companies) in the Company. The Directors, having consulted with Cenkos, the Company's Nominated Adviser, consider that the terms of the transaction, namely the participation by Gresham House Asset Management Limited in the Placing, are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's Shareholders are concerned.
Total Voting Rights
Application has been made for 1,500,000 Placing Shares and 275,000 Consideration Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, and it is expected that admission will occur at 8.00 a.m. on or around 20 December 2018. Following admission of the Placing Shares and Consideration Shares, the Company's issued ordinary share capital will comprise 28,918,630 ordinary shares, none of which are held in treasury.
Therefore, the total number of ordinary shares with voting rights in the Company will be 28,918,630, which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
A further application for admission to trading on AIM will be made for the remaining 125,000 Consideration Shares in advance of their issue, which will be on or before 31 December 2018.


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Q: Pyspark logging with log4j conversionpattern not working I am having a problem with logging in spark (pyspark) when changing the format of logs using log4j. I have edited the ConversionPattern in log4j.properties, but it is not working properly. When writing logs, log4j will only use the first letter of the pattern I am trying to use.  As an example, I cannot use %replace, because it only picks up on %r, and then will output 'eplace' after the output of %r.  What am I doing wrong?  Here is the current output I am getting:
2016-06-20 10:06:59,095 hostname="" client_ip="127.0.0.1" service_name="" event_type="" event_status="" event_severity="INFO{WARN=medium,DEBUG=info,ERROR=high,TRACE=info,INFO=info,FATAL=critical}" event_description="[INFO] Spark - Slf4jLogger: Slf4jLogger started

As you can see, after event_severity, it does not replace the level like it is suppossed to.
Below is my log4j.properties file.  I am running python 2.7 and spark 1.6.1 on centos 7.
\# Set everything to be logged to the console
log4j.rootCategory=INFO, console
log4j.appender.console=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.console.target=System.err
log4j.appender.console.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.console.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{ISO8601} hostname="" client_ip="127.0.0.1" service_name="" event_type="" event_status="" event_severity="%p{WARN=medium,DEBUG=info,ERROR=high,TRACE=info,INFO=info,FATAL=critical}" event_description="[%p] Spark - %c{1}: %m%n

\# Settings to quiet third party logs that are too verbose
log4j.logger.org.spark-project.jetty=WARN
log4j.logger.org.spark-project.jetty.util.component.AbstractLifeCycle=ERROR
log4j.logger.org.apache.spark.repl.SparkIMain$exprTyper=INFO
log4j.logger.org.apache.spark.repl.SparkILoop$SparkILoopInterpreter=INFO
log4j.logger.org.apache.parquet=ERROR
log4j.logger.parquet=ERROR

\# SPARK-9183: Settings to avoid annoying messages when looking up nonexistent UDFs in SparkSQL with Hive support
log4j.logger.org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.RetryingHMSHandler=FATAL
log4j.logger.org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.FunctionRegistry=ERROR

I have tried using EnhancedPatternLayout, but it didn't seem to do anything.

A: Have you tried with Log4j 2? Log4j 2 is actively maintained, while Log4j 1.x is End Of Life.
There is an adapter module log4j-1.2-api that you can add to the classpath that delegates application calls to the Log4j 1.2 API to the Log4j 2 implementation. If the application relies on Log4j 1.2 internals the adapter may not be enough.
Recently work has started in Log4j 2 to support configuration files in the Log4j 1.2 format.
Separately all projects are encouraged to migrate to Log4j 2 since Log4j 1.2 is broken in Java 9.
It seems that Spark migration to Log4j 2 is in progress.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Interview and Giveaway with Victoria Danann
What inspired you to become an author?
I was reading PNR for recreation and thought, "I can do this better."
Do you have a specific writing style?
The title was determined by the plot. I can't tell you how because it would give too much away, but I can tell you the book centers around the character of Sir Engel Beowulf Storm, a.k.a. Storm.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
My books are always peppered with both social commentary disguised as entertaining reading and metaphysics. Occasionally I've seen the books in my saga called fun "beach reads", which makes me laugh. Yes. They can be funny. Some people see that and nothing more. The books can only mirror the depth of the reader.
What is your current "work in progress" or upcoming projects?
Book #6, A Tale of Two Kingdoms, will release on December 8th and is THE one many of the Black Swan readers have been begging for. The fae and elves of Loti Dimension have been at war for two thousand years even though the current environment is more "cold" war. The Lady Laiken, as an outsider, has undertaken a search for answers as to what started it all. The saga returns to pure romance as we follow the quest of fated lovers, progeny of the two royal houses, for a happy ever after.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
The saga is based on the idea of multiple realities existing within the same physical space, but unknown to each other because of variants in vibration. This is an idea that is becoming more science and less science fiction all the time. The premise of the saga is that there are multiple versions of ourselves existing simultaneously in these other dimensions that are similar but not identical to our own, alternate, not parallel.
I was toying with the idea of being psychically connected to these other versions of ourselves in dreams. I have dreams in which I find myself in an unknown environment, interacting with people I have never seen, yet the dream has the distinct quality of feeling real. I began to wonder if I'm experiencing a glimpse of the lives of some of the other versions of me. That is how Gathering Storm was born.
I do all my graphics: covers, ads, website, and book trailers when I do them.
1.) Never take "creative writing". Don't let someone who is not a creative try to convince you that creativity can be taught or that there are rules associated with it. Those two things are as diametrically opposed as matter and antimatter. They cannot both exist in the same dimension at the same time. 2.) If you're not lazy, publish your own work. Keep the control and the money.
Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this book?
Yes. In fact there is a playlist that dovetails the action sequence in the book. It's published on my blog at http://victoriadanann.me/2013/09/19/music-from-gathering-storm/
Paranormal Romance Fans for Life
www.paranormalromancefanforlife.blogspot.com
Quill or Pill
www.quillorpill.blogspot.com
Dalene's Book Reviews
http://dalenesbookreviews.blogspot.com/
The Seraphine Muse
http://kasonndraleigh.blogspot.com
Romance Book Junkies
http://www.romancebookjunkies.com
Diane's Book Blog
http://dianelynchbookreviews.blogspot.com/
The Simple Things in Life
Https://pwrspot.blogspot.com/
http://authorleahdw.blogspot.com/
http://totaleclipsereviews.blogspot.com
www.roxannesrealm.blogspot.com
Butterfly-o-Meter Books
http://butterfly-o-meter.com/
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
www.creativelygreen.blogspot.com
All I Want and More –
http://alliwantandmorebooks.wordpress.com/
Books & Tales:
http://www.booksandtales.blogspot.co.uk/
October 10 Interview
Romance with Flavor
www.romancewithflavor.com
October 16th - Interview
Bitten By Love Reviews
www.bittenbylovereviews.com
Pembroke Sinclair.
www.pembrokesinclair.blogspot.com
The Order of the Black Swan
Book Five
Victoria Danann
Publisher: 7th House
Word Count: 85k
Cover Artist: Victoria Danann
The fifth installment in the Black Swan serial saga. READING IN ORDER STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. That's why we have a try-before-you-buy-program. The first book in the saga, My Familiar Stranger, is PermaFREE everywhere.
THE NEWSLETTER: Z Team, a.k.a Zed Company, is transferred to Jefferson Unit, which is being temporarily retired as an active hunter facility and converted to a research / training institution. Sol takes his first vacation – ever – leaving Glen in charge with Storm supervising. Rosie is proving to be an extraordinary little girl and Deliverance is in BIG trouble with her mother.
THE SURPRISES: Storm is really not himself. Former members of B Team must reunite to preserve his image and reputation. No one could have prepared for the surprises Rosie delivers.
THE ADVENTURE: The Ralengclan send a second wave assassination team to Jefferson Unit at the worst possible time, when it's been left defended by only Z Team, Glen, the Lady Laiken and the trainees.
If you're looking for something new and different in PNR, you've come to the right place.
I write unapologetic romances with uniquely fresh perspectives on paranormal creatures, characters, and themes. Add a dash of scifi and a flourish of fantasy to enough humor to make you laugh out loud and enough steam to make you squirm in your chair. My heroines are independent femmes with flaws and minds of their own whether they are aliens, witches, demonologists, psychics, or past life therapists. My heroes are hot and hunky, but they also have brains, character, and good manners - usually - whether they be elves, demons, berserkers, werewolves, or vampires.
My first book, My Familiar Stranger, was nominated for Best Paranormal Romance of 2012 by the Reviewers' Choice and Readers' Choice Awards. Each of my books has remained on the Amazon best seller list in category every day since release. All four also earned the Night Owl Reviews TOP PICK award and have remained on the Amazon Best Sellers list every day since release.
My work has been compared to J R Ward, Karen Marie Moning, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Lara Adrian. For example:
"I do see shades of Lara Adrian's Breed books and shades of J R Wards Black Dagger books, but this story is unique enough that it stands out all on its own and can stand up along side those other books and I think given time will elbow them out of the way with the rich story telling and deep emotional core that makes you want to know more." - Kerry, Musings of a Bookworm
The Order of the Black Swan is a series that is also a serial saga. Each book is an episodic installment in an ongoing story. Join me for the adventure.
WEBSITE: http://www.VictoriaDanann.com
BLOG: http://VictoriaDanann.me
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/vdanann
TWITTER: @vdanann
Labels: Interview and Giveaway with Victoria Danann
THis is such a great series. It would be interesting to see you work in another genre.
Stormy Vixen said...
Thanks for sharing the great interview and the giveaway. Great series. Looking forward to reading The Gathering Storm. evamillien at gmail dot com


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Tyndale Archers
Tockington 200
About Tournaments
About Archery
Field Archery
Clout Archery
Horseback Archery
Flight Archery
Papingo Archery
Types of Bow
Haps & Mishaps
UK Records
Have-a-Go
Useful References
Governing Bodies & Societies
Tournament Links
Dunster Week
GAS Clout
....Doesn't usually take place in a field!
Field archers shoot in a woodland setting or over hilly terrain or even quarries on rare occasions. If Target archery can be likened to the practice that was required of medieval war archers, then Field archery is akin to the practice required of bow hunters since Neolithic times.
Field archery today is, in effect, hunting with a bow. The quarry is not a deer or a hare but a substitute target set in a 'field' environment. These targets can be of the concentric ring variety or 2D representations/pictures of animals or even 3D replicas of animals. Shooting is often made more difficult by having to shoot up or downhill, by having to shoot 'around' a tree or an obstacle (so that you cannot shoot in the upright T-form as you would in Target archery) and by having to shoot across varying light - from full sun to shade or from shade to full sun. It is important to note that no live animals are harmed in field archery!
As in Target archery there are many rounds which can be shot but, unlike Target archery, the distances can vary from one shot to the next. A typical field round will involve shooting at anything from 14 to 40 targets, one after the other. The archer starts from the first 'peg', shoots at the target and then walks on to the next peg and the next target. Depending on the round, the distance to the target may be marked or it may not and can be anything from 20yds to 80yds. As often as not the distances are not marked and the Field archer has to rely on judgement and instinct for each shot. In some rounds there are several pegs at each target and the archer misses with their first arrow they move slightly closer and take a second shot. If they miss again, they move even closer to take a third and final shot. Although in theory moving closer should make it easier, the fact that the distance has changed alters the shot!
Obviously, Field archery requires a lot more physical effort than Target archery, as sometimes the terrain can be somewhat challenging, although an experienced field archer will in theory shoot a lot less arrows. Scoring isn't as straightforward as in Target archery and very much depends on the round being shot. There are classes for all bow types, as well as age and gender.
Archery GB has a Field Archery section, as does World Archery. In the UK there are several organisations including:
National Field Archery Society
English Field Archery Association
Welsh Field Archery Association
3D Field Archery in Austria
3D field archery is massive in Austria and in 2013, after a trip to Wye Valley Archers fuelled their interest, Tim and Mandy Cale of Tyndale Archers took a trip to see for themselves. They enjoyed it so much they went back the next year and took their son to make it a fun family holiday. You can watch a five-minute clip of their adventure here or click on the button to read the article Mandy submitted to Archery UK magazine for publication:
Archery in Austria 2013 full article
enquiries@tyndalearchers.co.uk


Hack Job was my first build. It was a Beetleweight and competed at one event-the 2016 Penn College SWORD Fall Brawl. It did pretty horrible; it managed to survive the first round of 3-way matches, then was heavily damaged by Don Doefler's Circuit Breaker (horizontal bar spinner), which moved on to win the tournament. Hack Job was too heavily damaged to compete in the rumble and the frame was gutted (most of the internals were destroyed, as well).
This was my entry for the following Spring's PCT SWORDfights: Revenge of the Wedge. It did somewhat better than its predecessors, surviving through the 3-way matches. However, it did not accumulate enough points to move on into the single-elimination bracket. It competed in the rumble and that's where it took the brunt of the damage and was rendered incapacitated after the first minute or so.
Next up will be Hack Job 3.0. I need to come up with some CAD renders so I can get parts machined, as well as a more powerful vertical spinner (probably single-toothed). I can't wait to see what the future brings for irl bots-hopefully, I can start working on a larger weight class bot someday.


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Q: Set pixel value of 16 bit grayscale QImage I have an 16 bit image of width ("imagewidth") and height ("imageheight"). The data is currently stored in an unsigned short int array of length ("imagewidth"*"imageheight")
I want to create an 16 bit grayscale QImage (using Qt 5.14) from my dataset which is called "data".
This is the code that I am using:
QImage image = Qimage(imagewidth,imageheight,QImage::Format_Grayscale16);

for(int i=0;i<imagewidth;i++)
{
   for(int j=0;j<imageheight;j++)
   {

    uint pixelval = data[i+j*imagewidth];
    QRgb color = qRgb(pixelval, pixelval, pixelval);
    image.setPixel(i,j, color);

   }
}

The code is working and I am getting an image but I only get values in increments of 255... So 0, 255, ...
How I can set the actual pixel value for each pixel from 0 to 65535 ?

A: QRgba64 is the right choice for 16 bit (per component) colors.
Another option is to retrieve color with QImage::pixelColor() (and setting with QImage::setPixelColor()) which should be more or less depth agnostic.
Function qRgb() is a bad choice because it deals with 8 bit (per component) colors by intention.
From Qt doc.:

QRgb QColor::qRgb(int r, int g, int b)
Returns the ARGB quadruplet (255, r, g, b).

The value 255 for alpha gives a first hint but inspecting the result type QRgb makes this obvious:

typedef QColor::QRgb
An ARGB quadruplet on the format #AARRGGBB, equivalent to an unsigned int.

A look into source code on woboq.org supports this:
inline Q_DECL_CONSTEXPR QRgb qRgb(int r, int g, int b)// set RGB value
{ return (0xffu << 24) | ((r & 0xffu) << 16) | ((g & 0xffu) << 8) | (b & 0xffu); }

A small sample to illustrate this:
#include <QtWidgets>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  qDebug() << "Qt Version:" << QT_VERSION_STR;
  qDebug() << "qRgb(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12):"
    << hex << qRgb(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12);
  qDebug() << "QColor(qRgb(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12)):"
    << QColor(qRgb(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12));
  qDebug() << "QColor().fromRgba64(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12):"
    << QColor().fromRgba64(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12);
  // done
  return 0;
}

Output:
Qt Version: 5.11.2
qRgb(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12): ff000000
QColor(qRgb(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12)): QColor(ARGB 1, 0, 0, 0)
QColor().fromRgba64(1 << 12, 1 << 12, 1 << 12): QColor(ARGB 1, 0.062501, 0.062501, 0.062501)

An alternative to using QColor and companions is to write the data values directly into image:
QImage image = Qimage(imagewidth, imageheight, QImage::Format_Grayscale16);
for (int j = 0; j < imageheight; ++j) {
  quint16 *dst = (quint16*)(image.bits() + j * image.bytesPerLine());
  for (int i = 0; i < imagewidth; ++i) {
    dst[i] = data[i + j * imagewidth];
  }
}

This is surely faster and more accurate than converting data value to a color which is converted to a gray level again.
Please note, that I swapped the loops for rows and columns. Processing consecutive bytes in source (data) and destination (dst) will improve cache locality and pay off in speed.

Images with 16 bit depth are rather new in Qt at the time of writing.
New color formats with 16 bit depth per component were added in Qt 5.12:

*

*QImage::Format_RGBX64 = 25
The image is stored using a 64-bit halfword-ordered RGB(x) format (16-16-16-16). This is the same as the Format_RGBX64 except alpha must always be 65535. (added in Qt 5.12)

*QImage::Format_RGBA64 = 26
The image is stored using a 64-bit halfword-ordered RGBA format (16-16-16-16). (added in Qt 5.12)

*QImage::Format_RGBA64_Premultiplied = 27
The image is stored using a premultiplied 64-bit halfword-ordered RGBA format (16-16-16-16). (added in Qt 5.12)

The grayscale with 16 bit depth was added in Qt 5.13:

*

*QImage::Format_Grayscale16 = 28
The image is stored using an 16-bit grayscale format. (added in Qt 5.13)

(Doc. copied from enum QImage::Format)
To fiddle a bit with this, I made a sample application for conversion of 16 bit-per-component RGB image to 16 bit grayscale.
testQImageGray16.cc:
#include <QtWidgets>

QImage imageToGray16(const QImage &qImg)
{
  QImage qImgGray(qImg.width(), qImg.height(), QImage::Format_Grayscale16);
  for (int y = 0; y < qImg.height(); ++y) {
    for (int x = 0; x < qImg.width(); ++x) {
      qImgGray.setPixelColor(x, y, qImg.pixelColor(x, y));
    }
  }
  return qImgGray;
}

class Canvas: public QWidget {
  private:
    QImage _qImg;
  public:
    std::function<void(QPoint)> sigMouseMove;

  public:
    Canvas(QWidget *pQParent = nullptr):
      QWidget(pQParent)
    {
      setMouseTracking(true);
    }
    Canvas(const QImage &qImg, QWidget *pQParent = nullptr):
      QWidget(pQParent), _qImg(qImg)
    {
      setMouseTracking(true);
    }
    virtual ~Canvas() = default;
    Canvas(const Canvas&) = delete;
    Canvas& operator=(const Canvas&) = delete;

  public:
    virtual QSize sizeHint() const { return _qImg.size(); }
    const QImage& image() const { return _qImg; }
    void setImage(const QImage &qImg) { _qImg = qImg; update(); }
  protected:
    virtual void paintEvent(QPaintEvent *pQEvent) override;
    virtual void mouseMoveEvent(QMouseEvent *pQEvent) override;
};

void Canvas::paintEvent(QPaintEvent *pQEvent)
{
  QWidget::paintEvent(pQEvent);
  QPainter qPainter(this);
  qPainter.drawImage(0, 0, _qImg);
}

void Canvas::mouseMoveEvent(QMouseEvent *pQEvent)
{
  if (sigMouseMove) sigMouseMove(pQEvent->pos());
}

QString getInfo(const QImage &qImg)
{
  QString qStr;
  QDebug(&qStr) << "Image Info:\n" << qImg;
  for (int i = 0, len = qStr.length(); i < qStr.length(); ++i) {
    if (qStr[i] == ',' && i + 1 < len && qStr[i + 1] != ' ') qStr[i] = '\n';
  }
  return qStr;
}

QString getPixelInfo(const QImage &qImg, QPoint pos)
{
  if (!QRect(QPoint(0, 0), qImg.size()).contains(pos)) return QString();
  const int bytes = (qImg.depth() + 7) / 8; assert(bytes > 0);
  const QByteArray data(
    (const char*)(qImg.bits()
      + pos.y() * qImg.bytesPerLine()
      + (pos.x() * qImg.depth() + 7) / 8),
    bytes);
  QString qStr;
  QDebug(&qStr) << pos << ":" << qImg.pixelColor(pos)
    << "raw:" << QString("#") + data.toHex();
  return qStr;
}

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  qDebug() << "Qt Version:" << QT_VERSION_STR;
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  // load sample data
  const QImage qImgRGB16("pnggrad16rgb.png"/*, QImage::Format_RGBX64*/);
  // setup GUI
  QWidget winMain;
  QGridLayout qGrid;
  int col = 0, row = 0;
  QLabel qLblRGBInfo(getInfo(qImgRGB16));
  qGrid.addWidget(&qLblRGBInfo, row++, col);
  Canvas qCanvasRGB(qImgRGB16);
  qGrid.addWidget(&qCanvasRGB, row++, col);
  QLabel qLblRGB;
  qGrid.addWidget(&qLblRGB, row++, col);
  row = 0; ++col;
  Canvas qCanvasGray(qImgRGB16.convertToFormat(QImage::Format_Grayscale16));
  QLabel qLblGrayInfo;
  qGrid.addWidget(&qLblGrayInfo, row++, col);
  qGrid.addWidget(&qCanvasGray, row++, col);
  QLabel qLblGray;
  qGrid.addWidget(&qLblGray, row++, col);
  QHBoxLayout qHBoxQImageConvert;
  QButtonGroup qBtnGrpQImageConvert;
  QRadioButton qTglQImageConvertBuiltIn("Use QImage::convertToFormat()");
  qBtnGrpQImageConvert.addButton(&qTglQImageConvertBuiltIn);
  qTglQImageConvertBuiltIn.setChecked(true);
  qHBoxQImageConvert.addWidget(&qTglQImageConvertBuiltIn);
  QRadioButton qTglQImageConvertCustom("Use imageToGray16()");
  qBtnGrpQImageConvert.addButton(&qTglQImageConvertCustom);
  qHBoxQImageConvert.addWidget(&qTglQImageConvertCustom);
  qGrid.addLayout(&qHBoxQImageConvert, row++, col);
  winMain.setLayout(&qGrid);
  winMain.show();
  // install signal handlers
  auto updatePixelInfo = [&](QPoint pos)
  {
    qLblRGB.setText (getPixelInfo(qCanvasRGB.image(), pos));
    qLblGray.setText(getPixelInfo(qCanvasGray.image(), pos));
  };
  qCanvasRGB.sigMouseMove = updatePixelInfo;
  qCanvasGray.sigMouseMove = updatePixelInfo;
  auto updateGrayImage = [&](bool customConvert)
  {
    qCanvasGray.setImage(customConvert
      ? qImgRGB16.convertToFormat(QImage::Format_Grayscale16)
      : imageToGray16(qImgRGB16));
    qLblGrayInfo.setText(getInfo(qCanvasGray.image()));
    qLblGray.setText(QString());
  };
  QObject::connect(&qTglQImageConvertBuiltIn, &QRadioButton::toggled,
    [&](bool checked) { if (checked) updateGrayImage(false); });
  QObject::connect(&qTglQImageConvertCustom, &QRadioButton::toggled,
    [&](bool checked) { if (checked) updateGrayImage(true); });
  // runtime loop
  updateGrayImage(false);
  return app.exec();
}

and a build-script for CMake CMakeLists.txt:
project(QImageGray16)

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10.0)

set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY USE_FOLDERS ON)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)

find_package(Qt5Widgets CONFIG REQUIRED)

include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}")

add_executable(testQImageGray16
  testQImageGray16.cc)

target_link_libraries(testQImageGray16
  Qt5::Widgets)

# define QT_NO_KEYWORDS to prevent confusion between of Qt signal-slots and
# other signal-slot APIs
target_compile_definitions(testQImageGray16 PUBLIC QT_NO_KEYWORDS)

I downloaded a sample image pnggrad16rgb.png from www.fnordware.com/superpng/samples.html. (Other sample images can be found on The "official" test-suite for PNG.)
After building and running in VS2017, I got the following snapshot:

When mouse is moved over the displayed images, the bottom label shows the current position in image and the respective pixel as QColor and raw hex-values.
Out of curiosity, I implemented the approach of OP with two nested loops (fixing the qRgb() issue):
QImage imageToGray16(const QImage &qImg)
{
  QImage qImgGray(qImg.width(), qImg.height(), QImage::Format_Grayscale16);
  for (int y = 0; y < qImg.height(); ++y) {
    for (int x = 0; x < qImg.width(); ++x) {
      qImgGray.setPixelColor(x, y, qImg.pixelColor(x, y));
    }
  }
  return qImgGray;
}

to compare the result with the QImage::convertToFormat() which I found in the Qt doc.

QImage QImage::convertToFormat(QImage::Format format, Qt::ImageConversionFlags flags = Qt::AutoColor) const &
QImage QImage::convertToFormat(QImage::Format format, Qt::ImageConversionFlags flags = Qt::AutoColor) &&
Returns a copy of the image in the given format.
The specified image conversion flags control how the image data is handled during the conversion process.

That's interesting:
There is no visible difference. Though, this might not be a surprise considering that the display may reduce color depth to 8 or 10 (beside of the fact that humans are probably not able to differentiate 216 shades of gray nor 2163 RGB values.
However wiping over the images, I realized that with QImage::convertToFormat(), the first and second byte of each pixel were always identical (e.g. b2b2), which is not the case when custom conversion with imageToGray16() is used.
I didn't dig deeper but it could be worth a further investigation which of these methods is actually more accurate.

A: @Scheff, thanks for the input ! I am now using the following code:
Qimage = QImage(imagewidth,imageheight,QImage::Format_Grayscale16);

    for (int j = 0; j < imageheight; ++j)
    {
       quint16 *dst =  reinterpret_cast<quint16*>(Qimage.bits() + j * Qimage.bytesPerLine());

       for (int i = 0; i < imagewidth; ++i)
       {

            unsigned short pixelval =  static_cast<unsigned short>(image[i + j * imagewidth]);

            dst[i] = pixelval;

       }

    }