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The 2016 Christmas Eve Interview with Hysterical Games' Rob Alderman
Published: Saturday, 24 December 2016 06:00
The Orcs in the Webbe Christmas Eve Interview
An Interview by Craig Andrews
with Rob Alderman of Hysterical Games
A return to form with the Christmas Eve interview this year as Rob Alderman, the man behind Hysterical Games, sits down for his first OITW grilling...
Q: For anyone not in the know, what is Panzerfäuste and who is Hysterical Games?
In 1998, Steve Blease and his company, Wessex Games, released Panzerfäuste – a Historo-Fantasy wargame set in his fantasy world 'The Land', a place where, in Panzerfäuste, Orcs, Dwarves, Gnomes and more have developed beyond most fantasy settings of swords and sorcery, but now use machine guns, bolt action rifles and armoured war-beasts (tanks!) to name but a few.
In 2014, I decided that it would be ace to re-launch this game with a new company on the crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter, with a new range of figures, updated rules, expanded background and all new artwork. Essentially, I wanted to meet the full potential of Steve's fantastic idea and throw it onto the modern scene of miniature wargaming using up to date manufacturing technology and methods.
Q: Why did you decide to relaunch Panzerfäuste, what made you choose it over any other system?
I have been a fan of Historo-Fantasy wargaming since I first found out about Flintloque as a wee 8 year old in a toy shop in Banbury, North Oxfordshire. They had a rack full of the stuff, and I parted with my pocket money and took home a set of Orc Camp Followers. At the Wargaming club I used to attend in Abingdon, we used to play a lot of Flintloque, but also Panzerfäuste. So they've always been on my mind!
At the time I decided I wanted my own slice of the pie, Flintloque was (and still is) very active, whereas Panzerfäuste was on hiatus for one reason or another, and I simply saw potential in it – so decided it was Panzerfäuste I would try to 'resurrect'.
Q: What made you go for digital modelling over traditional sculpting?
Digital modelling allows for a lot of changes in the process that would be difficult when using traditional sculpting methods. It was so important for us to get those details just right that we felt like it really was the best way to achieve that moving forwards.
It's also a statement about moving this particular sub-genre forwards. We wanted to align Panzerfäuste with other contemporary miniature games in terms of how it is designed and manufactured. This is also why we are favouring resin casting over metal, though we are starting to move some pieces into metal after a lot of consumer feedback!
We've worked with a few 3D artists, but we seemed to have settled on the fantastic hands and mind of Heriberto Valle Martinez, whom you interviewed a few days ago! He's a lovely bloke.
Q: In the next edition of Panzerfäuste what are the major changes and or revisions in the rules of the game over the previous editions?
Much of Panzerfäuste Skirmish is remaining the same, however, we will also be including rules for using the new races we have released since then (Deathless and Skogtrolls) as well as new unit types, such as the Brutes, Cavalry and the Armoured War Beasts!
Steve has also been working hard on expanding the background and, whereas the original rulebook was fairly generic in terms of timeline, our new Rulebook will focus on the earlier periods of the Great Dwarven War. This will give us a great point to build from in terms of future releases and expansions.
Q: Will there be one book for Panzerfäuste, or will there be several books released for the new edition? i.e. is there a rulebook, one or more background books and/or any army books? Or will it be one volume?
The aim is to release a Main rulebook for each of the games, Panzerfäuste Skirmish and Panzerfäuste Mass Battle, then future Campaign books will contain rules for both game systems, as well as background. We've started getting concepts together for the next campaign book, Operation Mountain King. It keeps getting pushed back, as we're still developing the first rulebooks!
Q: Will the two Panzerfäuste games be released as rulebooks only or as a boxed sets? And will those rulebooks be available digitally?
Rulebooks only to start with, so far everything we have published is available digitally from Wargame Vault and I would imagine that will be exactly the same moving forwards.
That said, we have made a Starter Pack available, 'Panzerfäuste Unarmoured' which is available from our webstore. This contains the quick start rules for the Skirmish game, as well as some Orcs, some Dwarves and some Dice to start playing the game with.
If we do make 'Starter Boxes', we might have to explore options in hard plastic. It's something I've been looking into for a long time, but it's a big old end goal with huge upfront costs!
Q: Are there any new Nations or Races in these new editions?
Yes, the Deathless are a new faction entirely! A combination of Eastern European demons from their mythology (Likho, Khort and Rusalka) and undead hordes, they are a separatist faction inspired by the Russian Civil War. There are also the Skogtroll (Forest Trolls), who are the 'Norwegians' of Panzerfäuste and were actually announced in a previous year's OITW Calendar... (You can read Steve Blease's original article featuring the Skogtroll here on OITW - Craig, Editor)
That's not even adding the various Brutes, such as the Ghul for the Gnomes – inspired by Algerian Goumiers – they will also feature heavily in the Great Desert War campaign further down the line.
The updated Ghul Brute Render by Heriberto Valle Martinez
We also expect to introduce new races in the future, as the campaign develops into new territories.
Q: What other releases can we look forward to in 2017?
Well, we really hope to announce our second Kickstarter project, Operation: Mountain King – which will introduce the Dark Elves and the Vuoritroll (Mountain Trolls). It will be inspired by the Russian Invasion of Finland in 1940.
Mountain Troll Concept Art
Hysterical Games will also (hopefully!) publish a new expansion for S.P.Q.oRc – which will introduce a new race of Noman Auxillia, Siege Weapons, Magic, Musicians and Standard bearers as well as some special characters and perhaps a couple of scenarios to use them in. The story will follow a few characters (Issvace, Mandii, Tvacii and Cheesy) we released earlier this year which were sculpted by the very talented "Dagenham" Dave Toone.
Q: You've recently released a new version of Wessex Games PZF 'spin-off' Futbowel? What prompted that decision and how has it been received? What plans do you have for it?
Well it's a one off piece that was inspired by a crazy idea I had for a piece of artwork around this time last year. One of our artists, Gregor, pulled it out of the bag so that we could say Merry Christmas to all of our supporters. Steve and I decided it would be super cool to make a fun set of miniatures with some Beer and Pretzel rules based on the original Wessex Games Futbowel rules.
It's been received really well! We're looking forward to seeing people have fun with it.
As for future plans, we don't really have any yet, but if enough people ask us to expand it, I'm sure we will.
Q: Will the release of Panzerfäuste and Futbowel herald the release of any other of Wessex Games' titles under Hysterical Games banner?
We certainly hope so. We've actually been slow burning a few projects in the background that we can't talk about just yet! With S.P.Q.oRc and Panzerfäuste both bubbling away, I think adding another project right now would be mad. But saying that we have re-mastered some figures that Wessex Games had made by Bob Olley a few years ago. That's all I'll say for now!
Q: The rules devolopment doesn't seem to have been as focused as the miniatures side of things? Why is that?
It's the nature of a Kickstarter project and actually very common. Rules require significant development, layouts and editing. No heels being dragged here. I've just finalised all the rules for the Orcs, Gnomes, Deathless and Dwarves in Mass Battle. I'll be working on the Troglodytes over the Christmas period and handing them over to Ian Hill to pop them into the rulebook. Steve's promised to wrestle with the Skirmish rulebook over the Christmas period too.
However, we are doing our best to try and satiate people's appetite for games of Panzerfäuste! We've actually released Quick-Start rules and playtest rules on our Wargame Vault page, as well as a host of content on this very website that gamers have access to (with loads more classic Panzerfäuste content coming in January - Craig, Editor). Just as we do not yet have a complete range of figures, we do not have a complete set of rules ready to release. It will come with time, and when it does come, it will be worth it!
Q: Can you tell us what's happening with The Quartely magazine? The first two issues seemed to be a great success and many are waiting for another edition to get more material to read about The Land. What can we expect in terms of releases next year?
Mainly, we are waiting for me to write an article for it! It will come, but the name has changed to G2 as we recognised that setting a quarterly magazine when we may not be able to hit that target was an accident waiting to happen!
We expect it to be more regular once the Rulebooks are finalised and out in the public.
(Panzerfäuste G2 Issues One and Two are both available over on Wargame Vault right now! - Craig, Editor)
Q: Finally can you tell us the release dates for Panzerfäuste Skirmish and Panzerfäuste Mass Battle?
Due to the risk of potentially missing a deadline, there is no set date for the release of these, but we will start shipping Kickstarter backers their copies before we start to sell them!
We are hoping for a Salute release, but we aren't going to bank on that.
Orcs in the Webbe woud like to thank Rob for his time in answering these questions and looks forward to a cracking year full of Panzerfäuste in 2017!!!
An Orcs in the Webbe Original! This scenario was written exclusively for Orcs in the Webbe and was first published on the 21st December 2016 as part of it's 2016 Advent Calendar.
Rob Alderman
Futbowel
S.P.Q.o.R.c.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Malaysian ringgit at the mercy of US monetary policy
Paul Golden
Dollar (USD) Oil
The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Photo: Shutterstock
For traders News Forex Malaysian ringgit at the mercy of US monetary policy
Most nations have experienced turmoil since the early months of 2020. But in Malaysia, this has been exacerbated by political divisions as wide as the 400 or so miles separating the two regions that form this Southeast Asian country.
At the conclusion of their latest consultation with Malaysia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board referred to Malaysia's well-coordinated policy response to coronavirus. However, they also highlighted the potential for domestic policy uncertainty to dampen business confidence and investment.
The resignation of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin in August was merely the culmination of a period during which a ruling coalition cobbled together from across the political spectrum fell apart amid claims of poor governance.
A new way of thinking needed
This sentiment was summed up in a single sentence in the July 2021 report Exit and Rebuild: a need for a focused strategy from Malaysian think tank IMAN Research – "we need a new way of thinking on public policy".
As Capital.com reported, the rapid appointment for Muhyiddin's replacement gave the ringgit a small uplift after it hit a one-year low of 4.24 to the US dollar following his resignation.
Saizi Xiao research fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research - Photo: MIER
This cautious positivity has been maintained according to Saizi Xiao, a research fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER). "Between January and August the ringgit depreciated more than 5% against USD," she says.
"However, since the government lifted the restriction on interstate travel it has climbed approximately 2% due to the rebound in the economy and improved Covid-19 management."
Political instability affected the MYR
Jeffrey Halley, Asia-Pacific senior market analyst at Oanda agrees that political instability has been a headwind for the ringgit in 2021, but reckons its impact has been felt more acutely in equity and bond markets than foreign exchange ones and describes the double-dip virus induced recession and stronger US dollar as more telling factors.
Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah - Photo: Shutterstock
He credits the Malaysian king for easing the political crisis, suggesting that he "knocked heads together in parliament and told MPs (members of parliament) to do their job for the country instead of chasing their own selfish agendas."
Despite the political turmoil during the early parts of 2021, the USD/MYR has moved in line with US Dollar Index and JP Morgan's Asian Dollar Index, suggesting the ringgit's weakness against the greenback is more of a result of a strengthening US dollar from higher rates expectations.
MYR up against Asean FX
That is the view of Mingze Wu, FX trader at StoneX's global payments division, who notes that the ringgit has also not moved significantly from its neighbours Singapore dollar and Indonesian rupiah and even has strengthened against Thai baht on a year-to-date basis.
Stronger commodity prices and the strength of the US dollar are beneficial to the Malaysian government's current account, which is largely funded by revenue from Petronas.
This allowed the government to announce the largest budget (in ringgit terms) in recent history, supported by a bipartisan deal with the main opposition coalition which means parliament cannot be dissolved before the end of July 2022.
Despite this budgetary largesse, the fiscal deficit is expected to shrink from 6.5 to 6% of gross domestic product and revenue is expected to increase even as the federal government provides additional tax reliefs to individuals and businesses. On top of tax relief, the government is expanding financial support programmes for house purchases and microloans for businesses.
Government takes an expansionary approach
All these expansionary policies will help to push Malaysian assets higher and increase economic activities, says Wu.
"The fall in the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index [following the publication of the budget] could be a reflection of market participants not convinced of the feasibility of the federal government's plan, or simply a function of funds choosing to exit higher risk Asian markets and re-entering the US to partake in yet another stupendous bull run in S&P and DJIA," he says.
"Nonetheless, if the Malaysian government manages to hit its budget targets the net impact on the economy will undoubtedly be bullish in the long run," adds Wu.
As noted above, the fiscal 2022 budget prompted a 31 point fall on the Malaysian bourse as investors evaluated the government's proposals - which include the implementation of a special one-off tax on companies that report annual taxable income of more than MYR100m.
Big spending budget
"Banks and large plantation companies appear to be the most significant targets of this prosperity tax," says MIER's Xiao. "However, I think this negative reaction might be cushioned by the economic recovery and increases in commodity prices."
According to Halley, currency markets were largely unmoved by the measures announced.
"Although the big-spending budget will deteriorate state financials and thus be a negative for the MYR, the currency has found new vigour as a recovery play as it emerges from the depths of the delta variant wave," he says. "More importantly, the huge run-up in commodity prices - notably oil and gas, but also palm oil - has created a positive inflow into the current account."
Halley reckons both Malaysia and Indonesia should continue benefitting from this state of play into the first quarter of next year.
UOB Malaysia senior economist Julia Goh - Photo: UOB Malaysia
Malaysia looks to deepen FX markets
The IMF executive board also referenced the country's continued efforts to deepen domestic FX markets through the expanded availability of hedging instruments and other initiatives and encouraged the authorities to continue allowing the exchange rate to cushion shocks to the economy.
With crude oil prices at a seven year high and Covid cases having fallen by almost 80% since late August, Xiao expects the MYR/USD to strengthen towards 4.1% over the remainder of 2021.
Julia Goh, senior economist UOB Malaysia, is more circumspect though, despite acknowledging that high oil prices may start to be a tailwind for the Malaysian ringgit and offset some of the depreciation pressure brought about by the US Federal Reserve's monetary normalisation process.
"Together with the reopening of the Malaysian economy gaining pace, downside risks to the MYR are reduced," she says. "As such, while we continue to expect MYR weakness we have lowered our USD/MYR forecasts to 4.18 in 4Q21 (fourth quarter of 2021), 4.20 in 1Q22, 4.23 in 2Q22 and 4.25 in 3Q22."
2013 to 2021 crude oil price chart - Credit: Capital.com
US policy critical to MYR
In addition to electronics, the ringgit is favourably linked to demand for crude oil and palm oil. But Halley reckons the commodity boom will only provide a limited amount of support to the ringgit.
While accepting that the reopening of international borders is a supportive factor, he agrees that the ringgit - and the other ASEAN currencies, which he suggests are often viewed in isolation rather than as a group - are highly sensitive to the direction of US monetary policy.
"With interest rates at record lows, any indication of a tightening stance by the Federal Reserve will be a heavy weight to bear for the MYR and regional currencies as a whole," adds Halley. "If expectations on US monetary policy lead to higher US yields and a stronger dollar, the MYR will certainly fall with USD/MYR potentially testing 4.25 into the year-end."
The boom in commodity prices should support the ringgit against sharp declines as exporters will always be looking out for levels to hedge or convert their US dollars. However, Wu agrees that the broad trend is still at the mercy of the US dollar's direction and that will be the bigger determinant of where the exchange rates end up by the end of the year.
Read more: Fixed not floating: Asian currencies remain tightly controlled
Capital.com Malaysian ringgit at the mercy of US monetary policy


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text:
European Commission steps up legal case against Poland
Poland is now closer than ever to having to face the European Court of Justice over its controversial law forcing Supreme Court judges to early retirement. On August 14 the European Commission announced that it has sent a 'reasoned opinion' to Poland, giving Warsaw one month to comply or risk being hauled before the EU's top court.
"Over a period of two years, the Polish authorities have adopted more than 13 laws affecting the entire structure of the justice system in Poland, impacting the Constitutional Tribunal, Supreme Court, ordinary courts, National Council for the Judiciary, prosecution service and National School of Judiciary," reads the Commission's statement. "The common pattern is that the executive and legislative branches have been systematically enabled to politically interfere in the composition, powers, administration and functioning of the judicial branch."
The European Commission said that after carrying out a "thorough analysis" of Warsaw's response, it had now decided to begin the second step of legal action against Poland.
"The response of the Polish authorities does not alleviate the Commission's legal concerns," announce the EC, adding "the European Commission maintains its position that the Polish law on the Supreme Court is incompatible with EU law as it undermines the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges."
Poland could face huge fines if the EU's top court rules against it.
The controversial retirement law came into effect last month and lowers the pension age of judges from 70 to 65.
The law has an impact on 27 of the Supreme Court's sitting 73 judges including chief justice Małgorzata Gersdorf, who has refused to step down, claiming that the is little less than a "purge" that breaches her constitutionally-guaranteed six-year term, which does not end until 2020.
In December last year the European Union triggered Article 7 proceedings against Poland over what it called "systemic threats" to the rule of law. This could eventually lead to Warsaw's EU voting rights being suspended.
In response, the Polish government has accused the EU of acting "politically" and vowed to fight any court case.
TagsPoland European Commission Poland-EU Poland Justice System Poland Supreme Court Małgorzata Gersdorf
Kosovo president suggests redrawn borders offer way out of impasse
EBA calls for second-level pension scheme in Ukraine


Many of the constraints on development of the U.S. Virgin Islands are structural. They present systemic risks that must be reduced or eliminated.
Long-term sustainability, insulation from disruptive events, whether man made or natural, and the need for control over our economic future require that the Caribbean region and the Virgin Islands, specifically, do more to diversify its economic base.


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Q: Prepositional phrases as pseudo-nouns I've been searching about the usage of prepositional phrase as a pseudo-noun, and I've found that when it's used as a subject, the frequency of the usage is like locational meaning > temporal meaning > the others(so rare). However, I can't really see the coherence in other usage, as an object to verbs or prepositions.
I think the usage as an object to verbs is just like that as subjects, and that as an object to prepositions is more complicated and collocational problem. Can you enlighten me...?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


AccuVein Inc., the global leader in vein visualization, announced today that domestic sales grew over 40% year over year. This sales growth was achieved through a combination of new customers who have embraced the Company's innovative AV400 vein visualization technology and existing customers who are ordering additional devices.
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Rowll is a physics based puzzle game where you must give a hand to a helpless mom owl to get to her babies. The game is controlled by tilting the device. Later on you can also use platforms with touch controls.


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E.V. Lazareva, S.A. Ostroumov. Accelerated Decrease in Surfactant Concentration in the Water of a Microcosm in the Presence of Plants: Innovations for Phytotechnology http://www.scribd.com/doc/60795487/; http://ru.scribd.com/doc/60795487
Sergei Ostroumov
http://ru.scribd.com/doc/60795487 http://www.scribd.com/doc/60795487/ ; E.V. Lazareva, S.A. Ostroumov. Accelerated Decrease in Surfactant Concentration in the Water of a Microcosm in the Presence of Plants: Innovations for Phytotechnology. - Doklady Biological Sciences, 2009, Vol. 425, pp. 180–182. ISSN 0012-4966, © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2009. Original Russian Text © E.V. Lazareva, S.A. Ostroumov, 2009, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2009, Vol. 425, No. 6, pp. 843–845. Abstract: In this study, the authors demonstrated that, in the presence of macrophytes (the species OST-1), the initial sharp decrease in water surface tension caused by addition of the surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate was followed by gradual restoration of surface tension. This experiment is the first experimental evidence that proves that the macrophyte promotes a decrease in the surfactant concentration in water. This contributed to the basis for phytotechnologies to purify and remediate aquatic environment polluted with surfactants and detergents. Key words: detergents, anionic, synthetic, surfactant, phytoremediation, phytotechnology, water treatment, ecotechnology, water quality, pollution control, contamication, decontamination, preventing, environmental, science, chemistry, protection, safety, self-purification
SaveSave E.V. Lazareva, S.A. Ostroumov. Accelerated Decreas... For Later
205 views1 page
5.Legendary discoveries. new Measures against eutrophication: A new solution to the problem of eutrophication. S.A.Ostroumov (M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow).http://www.scribd.com/doc/61241602
S.A. Ostroumov, G.M. Kolesov, The Aquatic Macrophyte Ceratophyllum demersum Immobilizes Au Nanoparticles after Their Addition to Water. - Doklady Biological Sciences, 2010, Vol. 431, pp. 124–127. http://www.scribd.com/doc/41165833
Ostroumov S. A. Biological filtering and ecological machinery for self-purification and bioremediation in aquatic ecosystems: towards a holistic view.Improving water quality, sustainability, environment safety. - Rivista di Biologia.1998Rivista2. The text starts on page 2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/42830557/
E. A. Solomonova, S. A. Ostroumov. Tolerance of an Aquatic Macrophyte Potamogeton crispus L. to Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate. - Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin, 2007, Vol. 62, No. 4, p. 176–179. DOI: 10.3103/S0096392507040074; http://www.scribd.com/doc/45556848
S. A. Ostroumov. On the Multifunctional Role of the Biota in the Self-Purification of Aquatic Ecosystems. http://www.scribd.com/doc/45572968;-Russian Journal of Ecology. DOI: 10.1007/s11184-005-0095-x;
Citation.works.s.a.ostroumov.in.International.scientific.literature.with.Covers.CITATION OF WORKS BY DR. S.A. OSTROUMOV IN INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE (EXAMPLES), WITH COVERS OF JOURNALS.http://www.scribd.com/doc/63905840
Vorozhun I. M., S. A. Ostroumov. On studying the hazards of pollution of the biosphere: effects of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) on planktonic filter-feeders. - Doklady Biological Sciences, 2009, Vol. 425, pp. 133–134. DOI: 10.1134/S0012496609020136; [key words: zooplankton, Daphnia magna, detergent, SDS] http://www.scribd.com/doc/45914806. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/45914806/
Ostroumov S.A. Inhibitory analysis of top-down control: new keys to studying eutrophication, algal blooms, and water self-purification. - Hydrobiologia. 2002. vol. 469, pages 117-129; [ key words: Improving water quality, sustainability, environment safety] http://www.scribd.com/doc/52598579
All About Scientific Results and Activities of Dr Sergei A. Ostroumov http://www.scribd.com/doc/99555491/
Citation of. On the Multifunctional Role of the Biota in the Self-purification of Aquatic Ecosystems. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/143319145/
List.of.Most.cited.publications by Dr S.A.Ostroumov http://www.scribd.com/doc/58228788/
Main.Discoveries. 2. Экология, биология: Новый вклад. Инновации. Открытие новых фактов. Новые концепции. Кратко суммированы инновации, содержащиеся в публикациях доктора биологических наук. http://www.scribd.com/doc/59437439
Citation. Book. S.A.Ostroumov. Biological Effects of Surfactants. environmental toxicology, detergents, surface active substances. Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Brazil, Indonesia, et al. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/122751766
Inhibition of Mussel Suspension Feeding by Surfactants of Three Classes. S.A.Ostroumov (С.А.Остроумов), J.Widdows.New hazards of pollution to marine life, aquaculture
17 KEY DISCOVERIES,INNOVATIONS. Scientific questions that were answered.EXAMPLES.DISCOVERIES in ecology,environmental sciences,biology in20th and 21st centuries(PreviousTitle:8 Key Discoveries)
Abstract of book.Biological Effects of Surfactants. Author Dr.S.A.Ostroumov, Moscow University (Ecotoxicology of Detergents, New Methods, Bioassay, Hazard Assessment) http://www.scribd.com/doc/73758855
The Role of Biodetritus in Accumulation of Elements in Aquatic Ecosystems. S. A. Ostroumov (С.А.Остроумов), G. M. Kolesov. Contemporary Problems of Ecology. Full text online free: http://ru.scribd.com/doc/114001532/
16 reviews. World Catalog. Reviews of Articles on ecology, environmental sciences, water sciences, biology. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/225906640/
Ostroumov S.A. Some aspects of water filtering activity of filter-feeders. HYDROBIOLOGIA, 2005, 542: 275-286. http://www.scribd.com/doc/104742238/Ostroumov-S-A-Some-aspects-of-water-filtering-activity-of-filter-feeders-HYDROBIOLOGIA-2005-542-275-286; http://www.scribd.com/doc/104742238
Ostroumov S.A., Widdows J. Inhibition of mussel suspension feeding by surfactants of three classes. HYDROBIOLOGIA, 2006, 556: 381-386. http://www.scribd.com/doc/104742811/Ostroumov-S-A-Widdows-J-Inhibition-of-mussel-suspension-feeding-by-surfactants-of-three-classes-HYDROBIOLOGIA-2006-556-381-386. http://www.scribd.com/doc/104742811
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ISSN 0012-4966, Doklady Biological Sciences, 2009, Vol. 425, pp. 180182. Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2009.
. Original Russian Text E.V. Lazareva, S.A. Ostroumov, 2009, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2009, Vol. 425, No. 6, pp. 843845.
Accelerated Decrease in Surfactant Concentration in the Water of a Microcosm in the Presence of Plants: Innovations for Phytotechnology
E. V. Lazareva and S. A. Ostroumov
Presented by Academician G.V. Dobrovolsky September 26, 2008 Received October 1, 2008
Surfactants are an important group of membranotropic pollutants [1, 2]. Higher plants, including aquatic ones, form the basis for phytotechnologies used to purify and remediate natural environment polluted with various agents [3]. Aquatic plants (macrophytes) can serve as water-purifying factors; they constitute an important component of the natural system of water purication, which had been analyzed in [1, 2] and other studies. We previously determined the parameters of allowable long-term exposure to the surfactant sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) of several aquatic plant species, including the macrophyte OST1, which is viewed as the basis for phytotechnology of purication of waters containing this alkyl sulphate. At the beginning, evidence had to be obtained that changes in water chemical composition and a decrease in the pollutant concentration actually occurred in the presence of the macrophyte. Measurement of the water surface tension makes it possible to trace the fate of a surfactant added into water. The working hypothesis was that the macrophyte promotes a decrease in the surfactant concentration in water, and the following events occur after the addition of surfactant into experimental microcosms. First, surfactant causes an immediate decrease in water surface tension. The subsequent decrease in the concentration of the added surfactant leads to a gradual restoration of the normal surface tension (the surface tension reduced by the surfactant is restored to the level typical of pure water). Thus, with decreasing concentration of the added surfactant, the surface tension should grow up gradually to the level characteristic of pure water. In this study, we veried the hypothesis that, in the presence of macrophytes, the initial sharp decrease in
water surface tension caused by addition of the surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate was followed by gradual restoration of surface tension. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used the macrophytes that proved suitable in previous experiments and displayed a high viability and resistance to surfactants (these plants will be described in detail elsewhere). Plastic asks 1.5 l in volume each containing 1 l of settled tap water were used. In each of asks 2, 3, 4, and 4A, 3 ml of a 2-g/l SDS solution was added. Thus, 6 mg of SDS solution was added to each ask. (SDS added at a lower concentration (0.4 mg/l) caused no noticeable changes because of the detection limit of the method). The temperature at the beginning of the experiment was 23C. Live phytomass of the macrophyte OST1 (3 g of wet biomass) was added into the asks 4 and 4A along with SDS. The ask 5 contained OST1 phytomass but no SDS was added. The asks were kept at room temperature and were periodically illuminated with daylight lamps (8 h per day). After a certain time, water from the asks was sampled to measure the surface tension by Wilhelmys method (the method of plate detachment [4]). This method is widely used to determine the surface tension of water containing various impurities [4]. Table 1 shows the results of these measurements after different periods of exposure (up to 646 h). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Our measurements demonstrated that the surface tension of water in the microcosm with the OST1 macrophyte restored to the level close to that of pure water within less than three days. As soon as after 46-h incubation of the system containing plant phytomass, the surface tension increased signicantly and reached that of distilled water, whereas in the control asks (without plant phyto-
Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991 Russia
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Who cited. Citation of publications of Dr. S. A. Ostroumov, Fulbright Award winner. In: Italy, Spain, Finland, U.K., Mexico, Portugal, U.S.A., China, France, Australia, Greece etc. ecology, environmental, science, protection, toxicity, water. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/225204283/
List Links. Researchgate. Enviro.sci., ecology, water, Links, web-sites, 16 p. blog posts, links, environmental science, ecology, biology, water, http://ru.scribd.com/doc/222390465/
FAQ(in Short)on the Innovative Paper. S.A.Ostroumov.On the Biotic Self Purification of Aquatic Ecosystems. Elements of the Theory. DokladyBiological Sci. http://www.scribd.com/doc/114293323
Citation. Biological Filtering and Ecological Machinery for Self-purification and Bioremediation in Aquatic Ecosystems. Towards a Holistic View. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/122759809/
29 Top Environmental Science Papers. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/169990295/; Format of the References in the list: Without URL.
Ukraine. Institute of Hydrobiology, Citation of: Okhrana Zhivotnogo Mira. Problemy i Perspectivy.
Useful Innovations in Environmental Science: concise annotations; references to full texts online free; http://ru.scribd.com/doc/133773773
Ukraine. Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Citation of the book. Telitchenko М., S.A.Ostroumov [С. А. Остроумов] . 1990 Vvedeniye v problemy biokhimicheskoy ekologii.http://ru.scribd.com/doc/133986938
Environmental Science. Lots of Blog Posts. September 5 - September 20, 2013. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/169684669
Environmental Science Innovations, new steps. References (English, Russian), comments. 12 pages, some key words in English, French, Russian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic. http://ru.scribd.com/doc/219797491/
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This thriving and expanding organisation, own one of the largest fleets of LED, multitouch and interactive audio visual technology available for hire, within the events and exhibition industry. They ensure that events that they supply these innovative technological solutions for are memorable and spectacular.
They require an Audio Visual (AV) Technician with experience of working within the fast paced Events and Exhibitions Sector to travel around the UK and Europe setting up a wide variety of shows.
If you are passionate about providing exceptional customer service within the live events sector and using the latest Audio Visual products this role could be your next career move and prospects are excellent. Knowledge of LED products, seamless video walls and IT are essential, as is a driving licence as the job involves driving the company van to events around the UK.
You will be meeting clients and need to be confident and presentable with good communication skills and a positive attitude. In addition you must be able to use your own initiative and technological AV installation skills to ensure that the show goes on!


text:
package org.olat.connectors.rest.security;

import static org.olat.system.security.AuthenticationConstants.AUTHENTICATION_PROVIDER_OLAT;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.ws.rs.GET;
import javax.ws.rs.Path;
import javax.ws.rs.PathParam;
import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
import javax.ws.rs.QueryParam;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Context;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Response.Status;

import org.olat.data.basesecurity.Identity;
import org.olat.lms.security.authentication.AuthenticationService;
import org.olat.lms.security.authentication.AuthenticationService.Provider;
import org.olat.presentation.framework.core.UserRequest;
import org.olat.presentation.security.authentication.AuthHelper;
import org.olat.system.spring.CoreSpringFactory;

/**
 * Description:

 * Authenticate against OLAT Provider
 *

 * Initial Date: 7 apr. 2010

 *
 * @author srosse, stephane.rosse@frentix.com
 */
@Path("auth")
public class Authentication {

    private static final String VERSION = "1.0";

    /**
     * Retrieves the version of the User Authentication Web Service
     *
     * @response.representation.200.mediaType text/plain
     * @response.representation.200.doc The version of this specific Web Service
     * @response.representation.200.example 1.0
     * @return
     */
    @GET
    @Path("version")
    @Produces(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)
    public Response getVersion() {
        return Response.ok(VERSION).build();
    }

    /**
     * Authenticates against OLAT Provider and provides a security token if authentication is successful. The security token is returned as a header named X-OLAT-TOKEN.
     * Given that the password is sent in clear text and not encrypted, it is not advisable to use this service over a none secure connection (https).
     *
     * @response.representation.200.mediaType text/plain, application/xml
     * @response.representation.200.doc Say hello to the authenticated user, and give it a security token
     * @response.representation.200.example <hello>Hello john</hello>
     * @response.representation.401.doc The authentication has failed
     * @response.representation.404.doc The identity not found
     * @param username
     *            The username
     * @param password
     *            The password (the password is in clear text, not encrypted)
     * @param httpRequest
     *            The HTTP request
     * @return
     */
    @GET
    @Path("{username}")
    @Produces({ MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN, MediaType.APPLICATION_XML })
    public Response login(@PathParam("username") final String username, @QueryParam("password") final String password, @Context final HttpServletRequest httpRequest) {

        final UserRequest ureq = RestSecurityHelper.getUserRequest(httpRequest);
        AuthenticationService authenticationService = (AuthenticationService) CoreSpringFactory.getBean(AuthenticationService.class);
        final Identity identity = authenticationService.authenticate(username, password, Provider.OLAT);
        if (identity == null) {
            return Response.serverError().status(Status.UNAUTHORIZED).build();
        }

        final int loginStatus = AuthHelper.doHeadlessLogin(identity, AUTHENTICATION_PROVIDER_OLAT, ureq);
        if (loginStatus == AuthHelper.LOGIN_OK) {
            // Forge a new security token
            final RestSecurityBean securityBean = (RestSecurityBean) CoreSpringFactory.getBean(RestSecurityBean.class);
            final String token = securityBean.generateToken(identity);
            return Response.ok("<hello identityKey=\"" + identity.getKey() + "\">Hello " + username + "</hello>", MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
                    .header(RestSecurityHelper.SEC_TOKEN, token).build();
        }
        return Response.serverError().status(Status.UNAUTHORIZED).build();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


On November 29, 2017, the Solicitor General filed a brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") reversing the agency's position and arguing that SEC administrative law judges ("ALJs") have been unconstitutionally appointed to their posts. The Solicitor General's brief was filed in response to Raymond Lucia's petition for a writ of certiorari after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the appointment of SEC ALJs (detailed here). The Solicitor General also raised questions regarding the validity of statutory restrictions that protect SEC ALJs from removal. The SEC did not sign the Solicitor General's brief; however, the Commission quickly took action to attempt to cure its potentially unconstitutional appointments through an order issued on November 30, 2017 that ratified the prior appointment of its current ALJs.
As detailed in a prior alert, the D.C. Circuit and Tenth Circuit have split on the question of whether SEC administrative law judges are "inferior officers" subject to the requirements of the Constitution's Appointments Clause, which would require that SEC ALJs be appointed by either the President, the courts, or the SEC Commissioners. Parties in both cases are seeking Supreme Court review of the decisions creating the split.
In these cases, the SEC had maintained that its ALJs were not "officers" within the meaning of the Appointments Clause and, therefore, not subject to its requirements. The Solicitor General's filing, however, makes clear that it now stands beside the SEC's opponents, and it urges the Supreme Court to accept the case and hold that SEC ALJs are in fact officers. In articulating this new position, the Solicitor General cites "further consideration" of the matter as well as "the implications for the exercise of executive power under Article II" had the agency stayed the course.
For cases where the ALJ has not issued an initial decision, the ALJ must "[r]econsider the record" and allow parties until January 5, 2018 to "submit any new evidence the parties deem relevant to the [ALJ's] reexamination of the record." Upon such reconsideration, the ALJ may decide to "ratify or revise" any prior actions taken by the ALJ in the proceeding. By February 16, 2018, the ALJ is expected to issue an order stating that the ALJ has complied with the reconsideration ordered by the SEC and set forth its determination regarding ratification.
For cases pending before the SEC in which an ALJ has already made an initial decision, the SEC has ordered these matters to be remanded back to the same ALJ who made the initial decision for the same reconsideration process.
The SEC's attempted ALJ hiring-process fix does not address the more complicated issue of its ALJs' removal. Although that issue was not briefed in the Lucia v. SEC case and Lucia has disclaimed any need to address the issue, the Solicitor General has invited the Supreme Court to address the constitutionality of existing statutory restrictions on the removal of SEC ALJs from office. Citing concerns over "separation-of-powers principles," the Solicitor General suggests that ALJs, as officers, are too insulated from the President's authority because they enjoy two, and potentially three, levels of removal protections.
It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will grant certiorari, in which case it would need to appoint an amicus curiae to argue the side formerly occupied by the SEC. While the SEC is not the first agency to grapple with curing an Appointments Clause problem, it is unclear whether the ratification process set forth in its November 30 order will adequately address any constitutional error—assuming the Court ultimately agrees one occurred. Even if the SEC's ratification process passes muster, the SEC Order applies to matters pending before the agency, not those that have been fully adjudicated or are already before a court. Furthermore, the SEC's ratification process only addresses the hiring, and not the firing, of ALJs. The Solicitor General's filing sets the stage for the lingering question of whether the restrictions on ALJs' removal are permissible, which may or may not be addressed by the Supreme Court if it takes the case, or left to be litigated in the lower courts in the first instance. The resolution of these issues may very well implicate ALJs and administrative proceedings across many federal agencies, and not just the SEC.
 Brief for Respondent ("Resp't Br.") at 9-10, Lucia v. SEC, No. 17-130 (filed Nov. 29, 2017), available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-130/21998/20171129155714442_17-130%20Lucia.pdf.
 See U.S. CONST. art. II, § 2, cl. 2.
 SEC Order at 1, available at: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/opinions/2017/33-10440.pdf.
 Furthermore, the SEC's order lifted the stays that had been imposed by the agency on any cases which might have been appealed to the Tenth Circuit following the Bandimere v. SEC decision (described in more detail here).
 Resp't Br. at 19-20; see 5 U.S.C. § 7521(a) (providing that SEC ALJs may be removed by the SEC "only for good cause established and determined by the Merit Systems Protection Board"); 5 U.S.C. § 1202(d) (providing that members of the Merit Systems Protection Board "may be removed by the President only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.").
This post comes to us from Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP. It is based on the firm's memorandum, "White Collar Update: Solicitor General Sides with Opponents, Agrees SEC Administrative Law Judges are Unconstitutionally Appointed," dated December 5, 2017, and available here.


text:
This Is What I Hear – Former Bundesliga Coach On Attitude Of Everton Target Joshua Zirkzee
Liverpool Held Talks For Defender But Failed To Progress Interest
Liverpool held talks with Ozan Kabak's representatives in November, however they have not progressed their interest and the defender is expected to move elsewhere, according to The Athletic.
The 20-year-old centre-back has been heavily linked with a move away from the German club in the ongoing transfer window.
Kabak has been constantly linked with a move to Liverpool and the Reds have shown interest in signing the defender.
It has been claimed that Liverpool reached out to Kabak's intermediaries in November and initial discussions over a potential move to Anfield did take place.
But those negotiations did not go beyond initial talks and Liverpool opted not to pursue a deal to take Kabak to Merseyside in the winter transfer window.
The Reds are believed to be keeping their powder dry for the summer and are not likely to sign anyone in January despite their well-documented injury problems, which have forced them to play two midfielders in central defence.
Kabak is still expected to leave Schalke, but is not expected to join Liverpool.
AC Milan are also interested in the player but have termed Schalke's €25m asking price excessive.
Liverpool have also shot down speculation of their interest in Lille's Sven Botman and stressed that they are not looking at the defender.
Pep Guardiola Clear On Transfer Plans Morgan Sanson Prepared To Move To Aston Villa Celtic Star Out On Loan Shrugs Off Club Boss Expressing Desire To Sign Him Daniel Farke Clear On Future Of Arsenal Target Emiliano Buendia


Forty Fingers is my second two-piano composition for four pianists. (The first is called The Eight Hand Way.) While such an ensemble might seem too much of a good thing, there are some very beautiful and subtle textures and gestures that can emanate from registral selections from the entire range of the piano and stereophonically from right and left (on stage).
Forty Fingers tries to capture these delightful passages of piano-sound by being structured so that every combination of the four players (from one to four) contributes to from one to four strands of sound. So for instance, there is a section where all four pianists play the same strand; another section is scored for three pianists playing two strands, with two pianists playing one strand, and the other playing the second; a section where only one pianist plays (one strand); etc. There are 53 ways this can happen and each occurs once in the piece. The strands can be harmonic, melodic, gestural, heterophonic, single pitched, dense, sparse, and so forth.
The piece is completely derived from one class of six-tone chord, called "B" in music theory—also found in jazz harmony. One of the chords in this class is (C D D# E F G)--all the others are transpositions. I find this chord-type very beautiful, especially in wide spacings; and although I do not have synesthesia, I somehow associated it with a rich and dark green color. Forty Fingers was written in the early months of 2013 and finished when the trees and grass turned green again.


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
       xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">
    <context:component-scan base-package="cartoongrabber"/>

    <bean id="renderService" class="cartoongrabber.tools.TemplateEngine"/>

    <bean id="htmlCollection" class="cartoongrabber.backend.HtmlCollection">
        <constructor-arg ref="persistenceService" />
        <constructor-arg ref="renderService" />
    </bean>

    <bean id="persistenceService" class="cartoongrabber.tools.FileSystemPersistenceImpl"/>
    <bean class="cartoongrabber.tools.PropertyFileRepository" init-method="loadRepoFromFile"/>

</beans>


How many pee-sticks have you bought? Ever?
I have PCOS, so being late is the story of my life. I've been peeing on those pregnancy sticks for more than a decade now, long before I started TTC.
And I would really love to know: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE PEE STICK MANUFACTURERS?!?!?!
I mean, I remember the first stick I peed on. It was just that – a stick. A thick paper strip. You grab one end of it, dip the other in urine, and then wait. A bit gross but boy were they cheap!
And now? They are packed in all this plastic (talk about green house gas and environment protection), they have digital screens, some of them even tell you how far along you are. Next thing you know they'll be making coffee while you wait for the results to develop.
It's about $15 for each test. And one test is often not enough. And one cycle is almost never enough. I mean, seriously – can we go back to pee sticks that are just that – sticks?


The art gallery is about to undergo major refurbishment, and will be closed for two years. As the building has recently been emptied in preparation for this, an open day invited us to draw on its empty walls. An accompanying yarn bomb event (more here and here) saw the gallery frontage and nearby parts of Exhibition Square decorated with colour.
On the railings of King's Manor, knitted hearts.
Particularly impressed by the pigeons. This is a proper 'sense of place'. Sitting in Exhibition Square towards the end of the afternoon I've noticed how many pigeons congregate here, one afternoon watched their courtship routines. Flying rats? Not quite. Some pigeons have won medals, and they're actually extremely intelligent. Which is perhaps why they hang around the art gallery so much.
The knitted pigeon on the left is, I believe, the famous 'Peckasso'. Featured in the publicity for this event.
Really nice to see inside our art gallery before its long closure, but this associated event in the square outside was to me the highlight.


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Home \ TOP GEAR \ A pricey Ferrari read
A pricey Ferrari read
Art book publisher Taschen of Cologne, Germany, has produced what is likely the most expensive automobile tome ever. The first 250 Art Edition copies of "Ferrari," by journalist Pino Allievi (of the 1,947 copies, representing the year the automaker was founded), chronicles the marque's history and includes hundreds of rare photos gleaned from Ferrari's archives as well as private collections. The first-edition books also bear the signatures of founder Enzo Ferrari's grandson, Piero, Ferrari Chairman John Elkann, and the late Sergio Marchionne, who headed up Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and who was also Ferrari's CEO. The 514-page book sells for $5,840, including a unique case that resembles the cylinder heads of a V-12 Ferrari engine (in half scale). The 250 Art Edition books that include a bookstand resembling exhaust headers cost a jaw-dropping $29,200 each. Order yours at www.taschen.com.
TOP GEAR | August 6, 2018 1:08 pm
Keeping it cool while on the go
As the car turns


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US economy races ahead of UK despite Federal Reserve crushing Americans with rate hikes
The US economy is growing much faster than expected despite the Federal Reserve piling pressure on Americans with aggressive interest rate hikes to tame inflation, official figures out today show. Stateside gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 2.9 per cent over the three months to December, better than the 2.6 per cent growth pencilled in by [...]
Bank of England expected to raise interest rates by 50 points to post financial crisis high of four per cent
The Bank of England is set to hike interest rates 50 basis points to four per cent next week, jacking them up to the highest level since the financial crisis, markets expect. City traders reckon its governor Andrew Bailey will lift borrowing costs for the tenth time in a row, something the UK central bank [...]
Recession risks ramp up as UK economy goes 'from bad to worse'
The risk of a recession striking the UK is gathering pace experts warned today as still extremely high inflation and collapsing confidence has resulted in the economy going from "bad to worse". Swelling costs squeezing margins are forcing businesses to cut back production, while higher prices are eroding consumers' incomes, knocking spending. Those two factors [...]
FTSE 100 close: Barclays, HSBC and Easyjet shine on otherwise poor day in London
London's FTSE 100 today gave up morning gains to finish lower before stronger-than-expected retail earnings provided a balm against recession fears. The capital's premier index fell 0.22 per cent to 7,740.34 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, slid 0.38 per cent to [...]
UK's wealth gap: Cost of living crisis boosts income of richest Brits by £1k but leaves poorest £600 a year worse off
The disparity between Britain's richest and Britain's poorest earners has grown as a result of the cost of living crisis and a freezing in the income tax threshold, figures have revealed. The richest Brits have managed to increase their household disposable income by just over £1,000 in the last year, while the poorest are on [...]
Inflation: UK producer prices slow as petrol prices drop below 150p
The ONS has published the latest PPI update, revealing that rising input prices slowed last month amid easing petrol prices.
FTSE 100 close: Shell and BP drag London index below European rivals
London's FTSE 100 was left behind by its European rivals today after it was driven lower by big oil megacaps taking a tumble and recession concerns returning to bite. The capital's premier index fell 0.35 per cent to 7,757.37 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of [...]
House sales set to tumble this year on recession jitters, experts warn
House sales are set to tumble due to owners waiting until the recession passes to cash in on their homes, estate agents have predicted today. Homeowners are expected to adopt a wait and see approach during the first six months of 2023 for fear they will have to sell their property at a lower-than-demanded price. [...]
Will the global economy avoid a recession? Some people think so
The global economy will narrowly avoid a recession this year due to China dismantling its zero Covid policy, forecasters have predicted today. A boost from the world's second biggest economy re-entering the global community is set to power world GDP 1.9 per cent this year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Beijing's surprise scrapping of [...]
UK economy stumbles behind Euro peers as risk of recession gathers pace
The UK economy is falling further behind its international rivals and experts, according to a closely watched survey. The survey by economists has revealed Britain's services industry, which generates about £2 in every £3 in the country, is shrinking at the fastest pace in two years. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and [...]


NaturaBrasil received Excellence in Sustainability at the 2018 Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Beauty Awards.
The award recognizes beauty brands who seek to reduce their environmental impact. Criteria, based on sustainability principles promoted by The Natural Step network of non-profits, includes how a brand reduces its use of fossil fuels; reduces the introduction of non-biodegradable materials to the environment; reduces the loss or damage to natural resources; and demonstrated consideration for the needs and rights of people within the company, supply chain and local communities.
The 24th annual CEW Beauty Awards luncheon was held May 18, 2018 in New York City.


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Crypto Networks & Web3
"Fantasy Hollywood" — Crypto and Community-Owned Characters
Cuy Sheffield
Contents : The Evolution of The Passion Economy
Every day we consume popular entertainment centered on characters. A collection of successful characters can become the foundation for a franchise — e.g. Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter — that can span decades, and be incorporated into successful products across platforms and media types.
But today, most successful characters exist as intellectual property owned by a single corporation. This means that fans don't have any governance, let alone direct ownership, of these characters, limiting them to being only passive consumers of the products and narratives that the corporation decides to create. Even if fans buy public equity in the companies to show support or alignment, it's difficult to make a targeted bet on the success of a single individual character or franchise, since many corporations are large, diversified, vertically integrated businesses that own and operate many product lines. Shareholder voting wasn't and won't likely ever be designed for fans and investors to choose which actor should play their favorite character in the next movie in a series, or to help make other such impactful decisions.
Sounds crazy to ask for this, some might argue, but the most passionate fans have already been forming online communities, organizing campaigns, and even publishing their own fanfiction online. Instead of dismissing these communities, character IP holders could bring them into the creative process, providing an outlet to test and expand ideas in ways that would have been extraordinarily difficult to manage at scale with legacy tools and technologies.
Today, crypto technologies like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) enable a new model of character development and ownership that could not only unbundle creative media, but also lower the barrier to entry for online communities to bring new characters into the world. It could also lead to characters that are more fully representative of the communities that support them.
Opening the closed loop of 'character governance'
There's already a broader cultural shift happening in corporations and beyond — just look at the rise of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing, or activist investing, or fan communities for all kinds of creators. What these many different flavors of participation have in common is stakeholders or communities seeking new ways to organize and invest both time and money into supporting people and causes that appeal to them.
We are on the cusp of the same thing happening with intellectual property around cultural characters.
Early in my career at e-commerce payment and advertising platform TrialPay (acquired by Visa), I worked with some of the most successful free-to-play game developers to help them grow and monetize their virtual economies. One game in particular provided an early case study on the power of giving fans the feeling of "single player" control of a popular character from their mobile phone. It was Kim Kardashian: Hollywood (launched by Glu Mobile in 2014), a simple choose-your-own-adventure-style game where players pretend they are a Kardashian, and make decisions on avatar outfits, fictitious film shoots, and appearances.
While the game became a major hit, the currency of the game — and all the outputs of countless choices and decisions made by fans — were confined to a closed-loop world: These early gaming experiences demonstrated the promise of simulated governance through an existing popular "character" that they could each individually enjoy, but they never provided the opportunity to work together with a community in a more meaningfully creative way.
What if, instead, fans could have introduced a new character into the real world, with anyone having the opportunity to participate in the fun, and financial upside, of its success?
DAOs and the economic incentive of tokens
Enter DAOs. These decentralized autonomous organizations give creative people around the world a mechanism to form communities, and new characters, with real money — much like fantasy sports appeals to sports fans' latent desire for team ownership (and potentially financial gain).
There is a market for a decentralized version of a "fantasy Hollywood," too — it just hasn't been met yet.
How would DAOs make this happen? Simply put, DAOs are networks that are run by smart contracts, or self-executing code on a blockchain, that can make commitments for certain rights and responsibilities if you're a member of that decentralized organization — with minimal or no active supervision by a central figure. Anyone in the world with a mobile phone and an internet connection can become a participant in such a network, and the network may issue tokens to participants according to their contributions (or based on any other factors that the creators of the protocol decide). These tokens can confer certain voting or governance rights, and the tokens may rise in value (not just monetary) if growing numbers of people wish to participate in the network. Because of the economic incentive of the token itself, it's in the interests of participants to maximize the utility of the network, including by using their "stake" to make good collective decisions on the ongoing operation.
The first iteration of successful DAOs have largely been formed around financial protocols, such as enabling a community of token holders to govern decentralized lending and borrowing by proposing and voting on specific changes to a protocol. While this structure has enabled the growth and operation of new protocols in the decentralized finance, or DeFi, ecosystem, most mainstream consumers don't have the requisite financial knowledge or interest to weigh in on specific governance decisions like collateralization ratios.
But the concept of DAOs is useful more broadly, and can also be applied to other use cases where there is a network of people with shared incentives and common interests. The next iteration of DAOs is therefore emerging around creative communities, to enable crowdsourced creativity and coordination (aka "creator DAOs" and similar).
But communities can form around characters, not just creators, and those communities can collaborate and bootstrap these characters toward a mainstream audience.
Building communities around characters
Today there are at least two paths by which communities can form around characters, innovate on their IP, establish digital identities around them, and financially benefit from a character's market success. More paths are certain to emerge in coming years, but I'll use current examples to illustrate each of the models.
CryptoPunks demonstrates one path where the developer, Larva Labs, created the art for 10,000 characters that each exist as an NFT with unique attributes. A decentralized community of collectors developed around the CryptoPunk NFTs, with their own cultural behaviors and norms, such as using a punk as a profile picture across social media platforms. Though CryptoPunks were originally released for free back in 2017, the community bootstrapped the project to more than $680 million in lifetime sales (with the rarest individual punks selling for more than $7 million).
Rather than just passively holding punks, though, collectors have also begun to collaborate with each other to create stories inspired by the CryptoPunk character art and bring their punks "to life." The NFT art functions as a digital LEGO-like building block, or a sort of creative stem cell — either way, providing the basis for fertile imaginations to develop in all sorts of directions and ways. For instance, a group of collectors created a PUNKS Comic featuring 16 punks, complete with backstories and narrative arcs that will create complete character identities for these punks.
Such community initiatives are completely independent from the original developers behind CryptoPunks, however. The community creates brand new art using the original punks only as inspiration as they expand into new forms beyond the creative control and oversight of Larva Labs. These new punk-inspired stories can themselves become new NFTs that community members can monetize and sell as fan art without the need for licensing agreements. When it comes to fanfiction for traditional, corporate-owned characters, fan creativity may increase value and exposure for these characters, but it doesn't allow said fans to participate in that upside. With PUNKS Comic, however, fans already have ownership in the core CryptoPunk NFTs. Therefore, the success of their punk-based characters and stories drives more awareness and demand for the underlying, original punks — benefitting the PUNKS Comic creators, original developers, and the broader punks community.
Link to tweet
Another path to community-owned characters starts with a specific character that already comes with a backstory and identity that inspires the creation of NFTs, but then enables a community of collectors to participate in its evolution. One example of this is Aku, a young, Black astronaut character created by former major league baseball player (and self-taught artist) Micah Johnson.
Johnson had overheard his nephew ask his mother whether astronauts could be Black. This inspired him to start painting his nephew in an astronaut helmet — given the lack of other role models and narrative characters out there like this already — to encourage and build confidence that he could achieve this dream. Johnson then created the new NFT-based character of a Black boy wearing an astronaut helmet.
When I came across Johnson's work, and interacted with the community around it, I was struck by the potential that hundreds of millions of internet users — instead of private institutions — could determine the value of an artwork, and also easily own a token representing it. Furthermore, they could use this token, representing their membership in this community, to establish a digital cultural identity.
This is significant for artists like Johnson, and all artists building a community or who have fans. Black culture and forms of creative expression across music, literature, and visual arts have thrived and driven mainstream global culture for generations, but historically, it has been difficult for Black artists and creatives to capture, let alone own, even part of the value that they produce through that culture. Seeing the power of a talented Black artist selling an NFT representing an inspirational Black character to a predominantly Black collector base felt like the early innings of a new movement, a Black digital renaissance, as I've written about before.
Link to "I am ____." by Micah Johnson
Just a couple months ago, Johnson announced that he would be unveiling Aku's story one chapter at a time by creating ten short-form, animated video chapters of limited edition NFTs that feature Aku interacting with different people and places. Not only did Aku NFTs drive more than $2 million in sales through the first two chapters, the NFTs have a passionate community of supporters who want to see Aku succeed as a positive representation for Black kids and symbol of Black economic empowerment. Through the ownership of these NFTs, early Aku collectors financially benefit from the success of Aku, which could in turn increase the demand and value of Aku digital memorabilia.
The potential for community-owned and -operated character IP has traditional media resonances, too: Johnson not only worked with a 3D sculptor to create a physical representation of Aku, but it is also apparently the first NFT to be optioned for film and TV.
"Skin in the character": The business case for community-owned character IP
In both of the pathways outlined above — whether by creating or extending character stories — NFTs serve as a powerful tool for an artist to test market demand for early representations of their characters. In a sense, it's an audition, or minimal viable product (MVP), pre- "character-market fit" for their creative vision — in which the early collectors of the NFT are indicators that the style, attributes, and messaging of the art could appeal to a broader audience.
Unlike traditional focus groups, however, where there is no skin in the game, this model provides a stronger signal to the artist, and to other collectors. If there is enough market demand for that character — enough that individuals are willing to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to collect those NFTs — then the creator knows that there is "skin in the character," much like having skin in the game.
Once the NFTs can sustain a community of passionate early collectors who have skin in the character, the challenge then becomes how to grow that community, evolve the character, and distribute it to a broad audience across mainstream media platforms. In fact, I believe this model could benefit large corporations as well, since under the current system it's difficult to coordinate and execute on creative collaborations among multiple characters owned by different corporations that view each other as direct competitors. Even when there's significant overlap in the fanbases of two characters owned by two separate companies, it's challenging if not impossible to structure these collaborations. Sure, there can be crossovers (as DC and Marvel occasionally did), but it's hard to do in a way that also provides enough upside for the corporations while minimizing potential competitive issues on the products they own. NFTs and DAOs offer a path forward.
But first, what are the differences with this new way of doing creative work?
In talking to artists like Micah, his model of decentralized storytelling creates a "choose your own adventure" approach where community members could suggest many different stories or experiences for their character. But how would that work? The communities could distribute governance tokens to the holders of character NFTs, which in turn can be used to vote on key creative decisions. Such collaborative relationships between creator and community are already happening and will only increase as participants explore the possibilities, both creative (including governance) and financial.
Isn't this just another version of crowdsourcing — the worst way to create quality character IP — and wouldn't it downplay the creator's vision? No, because the new, crypto-native emphasis on aligned network incentives makes all the difference: It actually creates a vast field of new models in which the creator becomes more of a community leader, of a decentralized community of fans. We could soon start to see community members together open public requests for proposals (RFPs) from artists and agencies for specific digital content types built around a character, just like people already do (and have done for decades) for developing software in open source projects.
The rise of character DAOs
But the technology is also here to enable so much more. Here's one model, completely possible given current technology:
A community member drafts a brief for a short film or animated series. Token holders — community members who have obtained either NFTs or fungible "social tokens" that give multiple holders equal governing weight — could vote to approve the brief, and allocate an initial budget for it.
Production companies could then respond to it, creating a trailer with their vision of how they would bring the brief to life. The community reviews all of the trailers submitted and votes with their tokens on which one to fund.
The founding artist functions as creative director working for the token holders to help manage the RFP process, and then works closely with the winning company to execute on the series.
Funds used by collectors to purchase the initial NFTs as well as ongoing drops could be reinvested into a community treasury, which could then be used to crowdfund additional digital content around that NFT character, to increase brand awareness and grow the community around it.
This may sound far off, but it's not. Consider how eagerly artists of all kinds are already exploring NFTs and other new ways to engage with fan communities. The interoperability of crypto just allows for the innovations and ideas to build on top of one another at a rapid pace.
What are the benefits of such a model? Here are a few:
Faster creative iteration. By owning the character — but outsourcing the creative execution of series, movies, or video games that feature it — communities could potentially create new global franchises, and at a more rapid rate than singular corporations can. Instead of executing on one content activation at a time focused on a single market, a "character DAO" could fund multiple shows, films, video games, and merchandise (both physical and digital) that are executed by independent teams focused on different markets — all at the same time. Small, modular communities enable more experimentation, and crypto aligns all the incentives.
Streamlined collaboration. As multiple, independent, creative DAOs emerge around different characters, there will be an overlap in ownership between them. But that's not a bug, it's a feature: Such overlaps create opportunities for collaboration among characters across DAOs, for example by creating digital content that incorporates both characters, enabling them to drive distribution across different communities and create shared audiences (and brand ambassadors) without competitive concerns.
Aligned incentives among DAOs. Community members would be incentivized to support collaboration as customers, and promote it as ambassadors of the brand. Each successful media activation would then convert a new audience into community members who also want to get involved, helping to own and govern the character they just saw in that movie they loved.
Better cultural representation. Beyond creating characters with positive representations of distinct cultures (ethnic and religious minorities, for instance), such models democratize the kinds of stories that are told. Instead of trying to find existing characters, parents with similar values can now actually collaborate and pool together creative and financial resources to create their own characters, aligned to their values for their kids.
Value capture and revenue growth. This is not just a feel-good enterprise — there's real market-making potential here. As the global community and audience grows, and demand for governance tokens and NFTs increases, it could drive additional revenue that can be used to fund even more stories and media around character(s).
The governance questions
Of course, it's not all fun and games, either — DAOs, after all, are not just an abstract crypto concept, but systems of people. And while they create new models for human coordination around shared principles or goals, they also present new challenges for effective governance, day-to-day execution, and scaling. Some of these include answering the following questions, which will require significant experimentation, but I share some thoughts below:
What types of decisions should DAOs be optimized around? If communities need to vote on every little detail of a character, the experience will be less interesting, less efficient, and would likely have lower participation. If the decisions that are voted on are too high-level, though, community members may not feel like they have enough control and ownership.
Who will manage day-to-day administrative and community management functions? I'd argue that DAOs are more effective as a "creative board," voting on key high-level strategy decisions and roles while outsourcing product management and creative development to third parties through RFPs.
How will DAOs maintain quality control around the IP? Major character franchises have strict rules around what the characters can and can't do or say, to establish consistency, identity, and, yes, quality too. Communities will need to establish their own guidelines or principles for their characters that members can use to evaluate new proposals. Ultimately, if communities pursue many different activations of the character across different forms of media at once, some of these will be more successful and better experiences than others. The key here is that all these experiments can happen in a way that they cannot within corporations.
How will DAOs convert revenue generated from character IP off-chain back into the on-chain treasury? The sale of NFTs enables an easy way to fund an on-chain treasury that can be managed by token holders. But DAOs may need third-party administrators that can provide payments and contract services at the direction of the DAO to bridge off-chain (e.g., real world) and on-chain revenue, expenses, and treasury management.
The costs and barriers of bringing a new character into the world, testing to see if it resonates with a specific audience, and bootstrapping various forms of media and stories built around that character are dramatically declining — thanks to crypto, as new tools like NFTs and DAOs emerge.
Not only will individual artists have an enormous opportunity to build communities around their work, consumers will be able to move from passive to active participants — storytellers alongside the artists that they support — and previously left-out stakeholders, like parents, underrepresented creators/consumers, and others can find new avenues and voice.
Thanks to Chris Lyons and Micah Johnson for conversations that inspired these ideas. The views here are my own and not representative of my employer.
Cuy Sheffield is the head of crypto at Visa, where he leads the global crypto product team.
Technology, innovation, and the future, as told by those building it.
Views expressed in "posts" (including articles, podcasts, videos, and social media) are those of the individuals quoted therein and are not necessarily the views of AH Capital Management, L.L.C. ("a16z") or its respective affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
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Orrin Hergott was placed on the 30-day IR today, a move I hate had to happen, but one that doesn't come as a complete shock. Orrin was injured on Nov. 21 and tried to come back in early Dec. before suffering a relapse. His last game played was Dec. 13, so his stint on the IR will be retroactive to the 13th.
You'll see a new face in a Snakes sweater tonight. Welcome to Mark Thorburn, who was signed to a three-game contract. Mark was here last night, underwent a physical and will see action tonight. The 6-2, 210 pounder played 4 years at the University of Windsor. He was in camp at Ft. Worth (CHL) but couldn't earn a spot.
Mark's last name might sound familiar. His brother Chris played 4 seasons with the Thrashers and is now with Winnipeg.
Biff McNally is still on board, though the end of the holiday season may mark the end of Biff's tenure with the team. He'll play this weekend, but Jerome thinks that the end of his holiday leave may put Biff back on duty full-time with Uncle Sam. He has to get permission from his superiors to play with the Snakes, whether full-time or part-time. The main sticking points are practice and travel, which Biff has been able to manage well up to this point.
However long Biff is a Snake, he was a welcome addition to the team and handled this role very well. We'll hopefully get to see Biff in action on Legends Weekend at the end of January, along with fellow soldier Snake, Ken Porter.
Lot of news for one day, isn't it?