I am giving a short R course next year, so I am going to make a series of blog posts to help get my thoughts and example code in order. The aim is to introduce people with little or no experience of R to the language with self contained examples. The order of the posts are not going to reflect any order in the course, just what I feel like doing at the time.
This first post is going to deal with splitting and plotting data. It is a common occurrence to have data in such a form that you want to split the data in one column based on the data in another column. Maybe you want to split an experimental result by age or gender for example. Perhaps you want to see if there is a difference in the distribution of results in males and females. The example code below goes through one such hypothetical example.
The figure shows the output you should get from running the code. Essentially the example is designed to illustrate the split function and the ~ (tilde) character.
Now we have a list, and we can operate on each element of the list using the apply functions, such as lapply.
There are lots off different apply functions, a good introduction is here.
The other main way of splitting is using the ~ (tilde) operation. In my head I always read this as 'given', such as plot(A ~ B) is "plot A given B". This is an example of the formula notation in R, but here we are using it very simply. It essentially does the same thing as split.
Note: You actually need to do plot(A ~ factor(B)) if B isn't already a factor.
Lots of functions support the function call, such as t.test in the example, for others you can use the lapply and split version, such as for density in the example.
I also mention the aggregate function, which essentially is the same as lapply and split but seems slower on large datasets.
To leave a comment for the author, please follow the link and comment on their blog: compBiomeBlog.


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LuaJIT binding to libtsm

tsm provides a fairly complete terminal emulation library.  There are two parts.
* Screen - this is the basic grid which represents what would actually be displayed
on a physical display.  libtsm doesn't actually perform any rendering operations, but
it does put characters in cells of this virtual screen, leaving the rendering to some other module.

* Terminal - This module takes keyboard and other input, which can contain terminal'
control sequences, and turns them into operations on the screen.  It essentially acts
as a state machine, accumulating keyboard input until something interesting needs to
happen to the associated screen.

You can use this binding in two different ways.  At the very least, you can use
it as if you were programming in C, with a few enhancements.

```lua
local tsm = require("lj2tsm.tsm_ffi")

-- create a screen context
local handle = ffi.new("struct tsm_screen*[1]")
local logger = nil;
local log_data = nil;
local res = tsm.tsm_screen_new(handle, logger, log_data);

handle = handle[0];
ffi.gc(handle, tsm.tsm_screen_unref);

-- now go ahead and use the handle to perform other
-- functions
-- change the size of the screen
local res = tsm.tsm_screen_resize(handle, 120, 32);
```

Programming this way would be fairly familiar to someone already
using libtsm, or C programmers in general.  Lua has a lot more to offer
in terms of convenience though.  The better way of doing things would be
to use the convenient TSMScreen wrapper:

```lua
local TSMScreen = require("lj2tsm.TSMScreen")

local screen = TSMScreen();
screen:size(120,24);
print("Size(120, 24): ", screen:size())
```

In this case, an instance of a screen is created, using whatever defaults are
appropriate.  The properties on the screen are also treated using simple
combined property set/get, such as the screen() function.  If you pass in
parameters, it will assume you want to set the values.  If you don't pass in
any parameters, it will assume you want to read the current value of the
property.

The screen by itself maintains a grid of cells.  Each cell contains a single
character, and attributes (color, underlining, whatever).  The screen maintains a
cursor, and a size configurable 'history' buffer.  The screen can be scrolled, cleared, and the like.  The cursor position can be moved to explicitly, and
characters written into the screen will automatically update the cursor location.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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The winners and losers of summer 2014
Marvel soared while Adam Sandler floundered. Simon takes a closer look at the winners and losers of 2014's summer blockbuster season...
By Simon Brew | August 14, 2014 |
As another summer blockbuster season comes to an end, here's our annual reflection on what worked, what didn't, and who was left with egg on their face.
It's been a surprisingly strong summer season, in truth. Sure, there've been a few misses here and there, but we've found much to enjoy in many of the season's big releases, both in terms of widescreen spectacle and thought-provoking ideas.
So as the summer of 2014 winds to a close, here's what we took out of it…
Taking its usual place in the 'winners' section of articles like these is Marvel Studios, which opened and closed summer blockbuster movie season this year with considerable style.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier garnered strong reviews, and comfortably outperformed its predecessor at the box office. The gamble on the Russo brothers to direct the film was also comfortably won.
Then, of course, there's James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy film, where Marvel gambled on the property, the filmmaker, and the release date unusually scheduling a huge blockbuster for the start of August. A far higher than expected opening weekend came off the back of ecstatic reviews, and the Marvel cinematic universe remains the unstoppable force in modern day blockbuster cinema. Joss Whedon's Avengers sequel is up next, and that's not going to break Marvel's winning streak. And right now, who would bet against Ant-Men either?
The X-Men
Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days Of Future Past finally saw an X-Men movie topple the numbers of the least liked film in the series, Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand. Furthermore, the new X-Men film, which blended the old cast with the new, also outperformed every other comic book movie this year at the box office. It feels like a big commercial breakthrough for Fox, which previously hadn't seen an X-Men movie break the $500m ceiling at the worldwide box office.
The studio already has its two next X-Men movies lined up – X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, the next Wolverine movie in 2017 – and plans are afoot for further spin-offs, including a Gambit film. Whether Fox knits this world together with the Fantastic Four longer term remains to be seen, but in a summer that's seen Sony stumble over its handling of a Marvel property, Fox appears to have found form at the right time.
Michael Bay delivered a new Transformers film, critics delivered reviews that ripped the film to shreds, audiences didn't care and have thus far powered the movie to over $1bn at the global box office. Transformers: Age Of Extinction is the biggest movie of the year, and by the end of its run, will be the biggest of the Transformers movies too.
The only mild fly in the ointment is a decline in the American audience. But the film has been a huge hit in China in particular, and Michael Bay continues to deliver blockbuster after blockbuster. There's no studio in town that wouldn't give him $200m to make a tentpole picture. Transformers is also one of the most consistently massive franchises on the planet.
Then Bay struck gold again with his controversial rebooting of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Opening to $65m in the US, Paramount has already ordered a sequel, which Bay will again oversee.
It's suggested that Bay won't be directing Transformers 5 himself, instead moving onto a film about elephant poaching (rumoured title: Dumboooooooom). But it doesn't really matter what he does next right now. Off the back of this summer, Michael Bay is the movie director – and producer (for his Platinum Dunes outfit was also involved in another hit, The Purge: Anarchy) – that Hollywood studios desperately want to work with.
Lower budget R-rated comedies
You might not be able to get an R-rated blockbuster through the studio system any more, but there's no trouble with comedies. Summer 2014 has Bad Neighbours (Neighbors in the US), 22 Jump Street, Tammy and Sex Tape amongst its releases. Two of those delivered in considerable box office style.
Seth Rogen has admitted that he needed to bring down the budget of Bad Neighbours to get an R-rated cut of the film, but the upshot of that was that a movie that cost under $20m to make has turned in a huge profit. In a summer where Universal barely had a franchise picture, it was one of several hits for the studio. Its $258m worldwide take includes just under $150m in America, which is said to have bitten off a part of The Amazing Spider-Man 2's audience.
22 Jump Street, which sported the best end credits sequence we've seen in a long, long time, did even better. Living up to its impressive predecessor, the movie is closing in on $300m worldwide, off a relatively modest $50m production budget. In the UK, meanwhile, The Inbetweeners 2 has already enjoyed the best single day opening of the year.
Not every R-rated comedy has hit big. Sex Tape and Tammy both performed below expectations (and we're coming to the new films from Adam Sandler and Seth MacFarlane shortly). Yet the lower cost of an R-rated comedy brings with it lower exposure for studios, and for the next few years at least, you can expect prime time movie schedules to be stuffed with them.
Comedies based on British TV shows
A very British entry, this. Two films derived from comedy TV shows got very different receptions from critics, but both went on to do staggering business, albeit only the UK thus far.
Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie firstly. It was perhaps Mark Kermode who came up with the most damning criticism of the film, arguing "I just looked at it". Yet the film has banked over £13m in the UK off a modest budget, outgrossing many higher-profile releases as it's done so. At least one sequel is on the way, and a 2015 arena tour has already been announced.
The aforementioned The Inbetweeners 2 has done ever better though, and considering the near-£50m haul of the first film, that's a staggering achievement. It may not yet toppled that, but it's had the biggest opening of the year in the UK, and has amassed – ready for this? – £12.5m after five days. There are apparently no plans for The Inbetweeners 3. But we bet writer-directors Iain Morris and Damon Beesley have been asked about it a lot this week.
Earlier this year, Scarlett Johansson earned critical plaudits for the unnerving Under The Skin. Heading into summer blockbuster season, she had two films lined up: a reprising of Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and a lead role to herself in Lucy. It would be fair to say that both brought home the bacon.
Lucy is the particularly impressive achievement here. At a point where studios are still muttering about whether to cast a woman as the lead in major superhero film, director Luc Besson just got on with it, and was rewarded with a $43m opening weekend in the US alone. The $40m budgeted picture is just about to cross $100m in the US alone, and it's in the process of starting its non-US run now. The film's overall total should cross $200m by the time it's done.
Johansson is a bona fide movie star now – if she wasn't before – and one with a broad taste and a willingness to take on challenging roles. This year, she has very much got her just reward. Let's hope Hollywood takes notice.
Young Adult Adaptations
Hollywood's growing trend is taking novels aimed at 'young adults' (as we apparently have to call young adults now) and turning them into four part series. As such, Divergent kicked off another one, relatively successfully, back in March.
But the big breakthrough was The Fault In Our Stars, which gave Shailene Woodley a second well-deserved hit movie. Arguably the breakout surprise of the season, it proved you can tap into a younger audience and still find intelligent things to say to them. The film has done a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office.
Next to go for the young adult audience? This autumn's The Maze Runner. If that works, expect sequels…
CG Creatures
Two of the biggest, and most acclaimed blockbusters of 2014 were both dominated by CG creations. Gareth Edwards' cerebral rebooting of Godzilla outperformed expectations, and a sequel has been ordered. Mind you, it has to take its place in the queue, as Edwards has been lured to direct a Star Wars spin-off movie.
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, meanwhile, was just as intelligent and perhaps even more technically impressive. It felt there was no compromise made in the shooting of the film, with director Matt Reeves finding interesting angles, tense sequences and moments of real pathos, often with a technologically aided creation at the heart of his frame.
Both Godzilla and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes are getting (further) sequels, but the hope here is that special effects and intelligent filmmaking in modern blockbusters can continue to work hand in hand. There's proof here after all that it can work, and still bring home box office gold.
It wasn't just the commercial performance of sequels that delivered once again for Hollywood: there was an argument that the sequels themselves are getting better.
Certainly, there's a case to say that Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Purge: Anarchy, How To Train Your Dragon 2, The Inbetweeners 2 and 22 Jump Street either lived up to, or exceeded, their predecessors. In fact, only Rio 2 stands out as a sequel that didn't at least have a touch of ambition about it.
Predictably, many of 2014's successful films will have new chapters in 2016. But if we are stuck with sequels, we'd far rather have good ones…
In a summer where the few remaining movie stars on the planet floundered at the box office a little, Angelina Jolie broke through.
Maleficent sold heavily off the back of her starring performance, which in truth made the film. As a result of that, the film was one of the biggest standalone movies (sort of, accepting its links to Sleeping Beauty) of the year, grossing over $730m worldwide – that's more than The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, for a start.
There's sequel talk, as you might expect, but Maleficent, for now, is a gamble that worked a treat for Disney. Interesting that the two films sold off the back of female leads this summer both hit big…
Sony's Spider-Man universe
Two steps forward, two steps back. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 earned slightly better reviews than its predecessor, and cleared $700m at the global box office. But, as has been lengthily discussed, the Spider-Man series is not a franchise experiencing growth. At a point where every big budget superhero sequel seems to make more cash than the last, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the exception to the rule. Sony would have been looking for at least another $100-150m with this one, and it didn't get it. The tail of Captain America: The Winter Soldier did not help it there.
Yet $708m is still a decent amount of money to build a series off the back of, and Sony has been moving to put a Spider-Man movie universe into place. Thus far, it has Sinister Six for 2016, a reportedly female-led spin-off in 2017, and the delayed The Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2018. More spin-offs, including Venom, are planned.
Sony is at a turning point here though, and if Sinister Six doesn't take off in 2016, then it's got some serious retooling to do. As it stands, at best, it's trodden water with Spider-Man this year, at a point it needs to be building momentum. It's not as if the competition isn't fierce…
In the midst of one of the driest summers for good, family blockbuster movies, DreamWorks Animation continued to hit problems. How To Train Your Dragon 2 was the best family movie of the summer, and the sequel to what many regard as DreamWorks' best film. However, its box office total of $487m worldwide is being regarded as a disappointment in some quarters, with it being used as further evidence that DreamWorks Animation has lost its magic box office touch.
Certainly the studio isn't having the easiest of times. Recent releases such as Mr Peabody & Sherman ($262m at the box office worldwide), Turbo ($282m) and Rise Of The Guardians ($306m) were said to have underperformed, and of its recent schedule, only The Croods has really broken through (grabbing $587m worldwide).
The problem with How To Train Your Dragon 2 is one of expectation. That $487m gross is still a little behind the $494m banked by its predecessor (which it will beat), but it's still a good $100-200m shy of where the film was expected to land. This isn't a similar case to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 either. Reviews of How To Train Your Dragon 2 were rightly strong, but the film just hasn't lifted to quite the level DreamWorks wanted, and perhaps needed.
The longer term concern will be that How To Train Your Dragon 3 is already well into production, and a centrepiece of the studio's 2016 schedule.
You know there's a problem when you're a big movie star in one of the best reviewed blockbusters of the summer, and the film still underperforms. Furthermore, people haven't been shy at pointing the finger at the man who headlined the project as the reason for the comparably low box office performance.
For the second summer running, Tom Cruise starred in a standalone sci-fi movie. We always quite liked Oblivion, but this year's Edge Of Tomorrow was something really special. Cruise was great, Emily Blunt even better, and director Doug Liman got a real handle on the mix of humanity and sci-fi threat.
Unfortunately, Edge Of Tomorrow – whilst moderately successful – stumbled a little at the box office. It's not necessarily fair to land that all at Cruise's feet, either. Edge Of Tomorrow was a very expensive non-franchise film that landed in the midst of a sequel-saturated summer, and was always facing an uphill struggle. What's more, outside of America, Cruise still clearly sells tickets. It's his US audience that's mainly leaving him alone.
Edge Of Tomorrow has cobbled together $363m worldwide, so it's no flop, and it's not going to make anybody poor. The fear is that it won't encourage a studio to back an interesting, standalone sci-fi movie at this scale anytime soon. We hope we're proven wrong there.
On the upside for Warner Bros, Clint Eastwood directed films tend to come in for a low price, generally under budget, and with the minimum of fuss. On the downside for Warner Bros, Clint Eastwood directed movies haven't been too interesting for a while now.
When Jersey Boys was first mooted for the big screen, it was Iron Man helmer Jon Favreau who was in charge. Eastwood was a fairly late in the day replacement for Favreau, but any hope Warner Bros had of enjoying a Les Miserables/Chicago/Mamma Mia-sized musical crossover hit would have been extinguished when it saw the first cut. Eastwood didn't seem that interested in making that film at all. And whilst his Jersey Boys was decent, a film to spark a summer audience into life it was not. It silently sank at the box office, taking under $60m worldwide. Profitable, certainly, but only just.
Adam Sandler and Seth MacFarlane
Two of the highest profile comedies going into the summer season were Blended and A Million Ways To Die In The West. Big things were expected of both of them.
Accepting that Adam Sandler's critical stock has never been lower, he's still proven a box office draw with crap like Grown Ups 2 (which notably beat Pacific Rim at the US box office). His reteaming with Drew Barrymore for the third time, in Blended, looked like a positive step. But whilst it wasn't Sandler's worst of recent times, Blended still won itself few friends amongst critics. More surprisingly, it won itself few friends amongst the audience too.
Blended crawled its way to $121m worldwide, but interestingly, it was Sandler's US audience that mainly left him alone. Blended didn't break $50m in the States. Nor did the much-vaunted A Million Ways To Die In The West, Seth MacFarlane's follow-up film from the huge hit that was Ted. It made $85m worldwide, but again, it didn't break $50m in the States. Comedy that goes through similar routines doesn't always strike gold, it seems. MacFarlane is heading back to the safer waters of Ted 2 next.
Summer Horror
A surprise, this. Last year, horror movie season seemed to switch from October to summer, with The Conjuring in particular proving to be a successful and hugely profitable movie for Warner Bros. This year, more horror films have staked out a traditional October slot, but the ones that ventured into summer season never really made the impact they perhaps deserved.
Sony in particular had confidence in Scott Derrickson's Deliver Us From Evil, moving it forward to an early July release. The film picked up decent reviews too, but scheduling it against Transformers: Age Of Extinction did not prove to be wise counter-programming. Deliver Us From Evil did okay, but there's a suspicion it could have done even better in a less crowded release window.
Likewise, the perfectly fine Oculus also arguably suffered as a result of scheduling. The film was well liked, but an April release saw it fighting Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the US. It would be fair to say that Captain America won.
In both cases, the films in question didn't appear to be the core of the problem. Rather than pitting them against major blockbusters didn't appear to be the best way to sell them.
Overall thoughts? It's been quite a good summer for movies, with more and more blockbusters having something to say, and one or two them exceeding our expectations by no short distance. It certainly throws down the gauntlet for summer 2015…
Locked Down Review: Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor Pioneer the COVID Rom-Com
Outside the Wire Review: Anthony Mackie Takes on Military Sci-Fi, Netflix Style
By Don Kaye
Tarung Sarung: The Karate Kid of Jakarta
By Gene Ching
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Tags: Adam SandlerAge Of ExtinctionBad NeighboursCaptain America: The Winter SoldierDeliver Us from EvilDivergentDreamWorksEdge of TomorrowGodzillaGuardians Of The GalaxyHow to Train Your DragonMaleficentMarvelMichael BayOculusThe Amazing Spider-Man 2Tom CruiseTransformersX-Men: Days of Future Past
Simon Brew	| @SimonBrew
Editor, author, writer, broadcaster, Costner fanatic. Now runs Film Stories Magazine.
Read more from Simon Brew
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Sorry, but your iPhone 12 won't come with EarPods
No earbuds for you!
penguenstok/iStock Unreleased/Getty Images
For the first time since the original iPhone was launched in 2007, the device won't come with any headphones in the box. As rumors suggested, it looks like Apple has finally decided to not include the accessory with its new iPhone 12 — following a similar move from September, when the company announced it would ship the latest Apple Watch without the USB power adapter. Apple's framing this as a sustainability effort, citing that many of its customers already have these accessories and don't need them when upgrading to a new iPhone or Watch.
Going green(er) — According to Lisa Jack, Apple's VP of environment, policy, and social initiatives, that the company's goal is to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030 — this means making changes everywhere from its manufacturing supply chain to all product life cycles.
"We look for ways to cut waste and use less material," she said, noting that people who are invested in the Apple ecosystem already have over 700 million Lightning headphones between them. "Many customers have moved to a wireless experience, with AirPods, Beats, or other wireless headphones. There are also over 2 billion Apple power adapters out in the world, and that's not counting the billions of third-party adapters."
As a result, Jack said at Apple's iPhone 12 virtual event the company is "removing these items from the iPhone box, which reduces carbon emissions and avoids the mining and use of precious materials." She added that, with the power adapter and EarPods not being included, Apple can make iPhone boxes smaller and lighter. "Taken all together," she said, "the changes we made for iPhone 12 cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually. It's like removing 450,000 cars from the road per year."
Everyone wins? — While there's no doubt Apple's latest green initiative will be great for the planet, let's not forget it'll also benefit its own pockets — since it won't have to spend money manufacturing these accessories. It also means customers who don't have an audio headset or a charger will have to buy one from Apple or a third-party, which isn't particularly the best when most iPhones are already quite expensive for most people.


Item: Twin Horizontal Rail Flying Bucket On Jamieson Equipment Co., Inc.
• Operates on straight or curved rails.
• Double clamshell hydraulic discharge gate, perfect for dry-cast concrete.
• Proven design, many existing applications.


Equipped with one battery and an extra battery for your convenience.
The light is a bit large to sit on a dollhouse table, for it's delightful and calming in a corner setting. Our dolls love to sit around it!


OPPO recently unveiled a prototype 5G version of its premium smartphone, the Find X. Apart from this, the Chinese mobile maker has also revealed its plan to develop a new 5G ecosystem, teasing that the Find X 5G is just one of the many other 5G devices that they will launch to public this year.
The Find X 5G prototype sports a Snapdragon 855, and X50 5G modem to support outstanding performance. Together with Qualcomm and Keysight Technologies Inc., OPPO successfully demonstrated the device's 5G data connectivity, and applications including browsing, online video replay, and video call.
Moreover, the company expressed that they are confident that OPPO will be one of the first tech giants to release commercial 5G smartphones in 2019.
OPPO also explained that in building a 5G ecosystem, they will strengthen its partnership with Qualcomm, network infrastructure manufacturers, telecom service providers, and other supply chain partners.


text:
Posted in: Android, Hands-on, Misc gadgets, Mobile Accessories, Smartwatches
Samsung Galaxy Gear review
October 9th, 2013, 06:31	 by Johnny 89 comments
The smartwatch is a relatively new market niche, but seeing the interest it has been getting lately, it will certainly expand quite rapidly in the next few years. And Samsung, being one of the world leaders in smart tech, certainly wants to be a part of that expansion. The Galaxy Gear smartwatch is built around the idea of being an extension of your smartphone and not the sole star of the show. Currently, as of its launch, the Galaxy Gear only supports the Galaxy Note 3 and 10.1, which is limiting its reach quite severely, but Samsung promises to add more devices to the list in the next few months.
Instead of going all sci-fi with the Galaxy Gear, Samsung decided to take the logical path. The smartwatch can help you unlock your smartphone, acts as a fitness accessory, snap a photo or two and mainly, aid you in those cases when your phablet is out of reach or the circumstances just don't allow you to operate it.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear utilizes a 1.63″ Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels. While modest by smartphone standards those specs are actually very impressive for a smartwatch. In comparison, the Sony SmartWatch 2′s 1.6″ display has a resolution of 220 x 176 pixels.
The Super AMOLED display means the black pixels aren't actually lit. This means improved battery life on a dark user interface as well as vibrant and saturated colors. The display is surrounded by a metal frame. You also get to pick between four backgrounds for the screen, but the default black one is the one working best in our opinion.
What makes the Samsung Galaxy Gear tick is an 800MHz custom-built single-core Exynos processor and 512MB of RAM. Things seem to be running smoothly on the unit we received for this review, which is a good sign, given our encounter with the slightly sluggish pre-release Gear we saw at IFA 2013.
The actual watch
The build quality of the Samsung Galaxy Gear isn't too shabby, although it's not a jewel-grade body as on some high-end wristwatches. It carries more of a geeky appeal, but then again, that's probably good for a smartwatch.
The plastic band is full of trickery and is probably as important as the watch itself. For one it holds the 1.9MP camera with a BSI sensor, which protrudes slightly, but not so much so that it's awkward or uncomfortable.
Moving on to the actual strap, which holds the Galaxy Gear speaker (the microphone is on the plastic bit under the display). It allows you to conduct hands-free calls directly from the Gear.
On the right edge, there's a power button for waking and putting the Gear to sleep. Additionally, there's an "auto on" function, which uses the gyro and automatically switches the screen on when you turn your wrist towards your face. It works like a charm from what our experience showed.
In the box of the Samsung Galaxy Gear there's a microUSB A/C adapter along with a charging dock, which encapsulates the smartwatch. It's not the most comfortable accessory to attach and we would've liked if the watch itself had a microUSB connector but we guess opting for an external connector was an engineering must. The upside of this is that the dock lets the Galaxy Gear stand on its side and it rotates the screen so it acts as a night or desk clock.
Samsung Galaxy Gear packaging and charger
The strap is adjustable so you can fit the Galaxy Gear on pretty much every wrist there is. However the non-adjustable side of the watch is the main body, on which the touchscreen is mounted. We tested the watch on just about every person here at HQ and the results were mixed. The majority of the crew loved the way the watch fits while some disliked it for being narrower at the base and growing wider at the top.
But it holds true for every watch out there – smart or otherwise – there's no single one that fits every taste or preference. And we'd say Samsung has done a good job of making its Galaxy Gear a nice all-round gadget.
Samsung Galaxy Gear on hand
The main screen of the Samsung Galaxy Gear is, of course, the clock face. As much as 10 different styles are available at launch including dual clocks and clocks with weather info widgets. Samsung has also promised to release an app to let you design your own, unique clock face, so the options will virtually be countless.
The welcoming screen
We've made a video showing off the Galaxy Gear, check it out below.
Once at square one – the clock face – a swipe up will open the camera, while a swipe down will bring the dialer. A universal gesture for back has been set up too – wherever you are in the Galaxy Gear's menus a swipe down will return you to the clock.
The Galaxy Gear enables you to start calls, check call logs and even read SMS texts. MMS is also supported, but only the title is displayed with a shortcut to view the multimedia message in its entirety to your big Note.
Dialer and call log
Swiping to the left and right of the clock reveals the various tiles that lie in the menu. From here you can access the notifications, settings menu, app drawer (dubbed Apps), S Voice, S Memo, Pedometer, etc. The menu loops over so you can scroll either way.
Some of the apps
The Pedometer is a nice app that utilizes the motion sensors in the Galaxy Gear. It can communicate with S Health (the fitness app for top tier Galaxies), track your steps and set goals for you (for example "reach 1000 steps").
You can also begin a course through the built-in S trainer app. It can track your movement and depending on your course tell you if you're moving slow or fast (read: good). There are four courses – Beginner, Intermediate, Intensive and Quick.
Using the Gear as a training accessory
The settings menu on the Galaxy Gear includes options for the clock, the sound mode, volume, ringtone, etc., Bluetooth and Privacy lock, which features an unlock pattern. There are actually more settings available, but you will need to use your Galaxy Note to adjust those.
The settings menu
Aside from the run of the mill adjustment of brightness there's also an outdoor mode, which brightens the colors so that they pop out more in bright conditions. You can also choose a different color background but this being an AMOLED unit, you'd be taking a swing at battery life.
Adjusting brightness, outdoor mode
The app drawer combines all apps in a grid of 2×2 for easier selection. All your downloaded apps will also show up here.
App drawer
S Voice is here and it's basically a trimmed down (visually) version of the dedicated app on phones. Ours wasn't working very well, though, and often took too long to connect. It was able to execute commands and answer the usual array of questions – "What time is it", "Create an appointment", but it was barely worth the trouble.
Audio notes are also supported. They are automatically uploaded to your Note (or other Samsung device when those get supported). Once that's done, the smartwatch gives you the transcript of your note. It worked pretty well as long as you are in a quiet environment (if there's another person talking the feature is basically useless) and comes in really handy.
There's a weather app courtesy of AccuWeather. It gives the maximum and minimum temperature for the area you've selected and has a more detailed forecast available if you tap over it.
S Voice and weather
The Galaxy Gear comes with its own gallery that gives you a 2×2 grid of thumbnails and you top on any of them to check out a single photo – pinch zooming is naturally supported as well. Videos, taken with the Galaxy Gear, can also be viewed.
Should the storage begin to fill up the Gear warns that it will auto-delete images and videos so you better enable that auto-upload feature. That one makes the Gear automatically upload any photo or video it captures to its companion device.
In spite of the Samsung Galaxy Gear's innards, it's really intended to be as a companion device for the Galaxy Note 3 or Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition), and not a standalone gizmo. Since Samsung wants you to use the Galaxy Gear in tandem with the Galaxy Note 3, there's a dedicated app that helps you configure the smartwatch from the phablet (or tablet).
The app, dubbed Gear manager, connects to your Galaxy Gear and gives you options to rename it, update it, change clock styles and much more.
Gear Manager app on the Galaxy Note 3
The app lets you locate your phone with the Gear watch and vice versa – it makes the other one ring (you do need to be in Bluetooth range of course).
It also lets you install apps on the Gear – Samsung says the smartwatch has more than 70 different apps at launch including Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Path, RunKeeper, MyFitnessPal, TripIt, Line, Vivino, eBay, Pocket, Banjo and Atooma. There's also the My apps section that lets you personalize the installed apps on the Galaxy Gear. For instance you can enable and disable S Voice and see what commands are availabale.
My Apps, Find my Gear
A cool option is to disable the lockscreen password/pattern on your Note, when the Galaxy Gear is nearby. If you are within two-three meters you can unlock the Note with a simple slide. Move further away and the pass-protection kicks back in.
You can choose which apps get to notify you by ticking their respected boxes. For instance if you want to stop Hangouts from bothering you on your Gear, you can. You can also enable apps that have been disabled by default.
Settings, notifications, auto lock
Safety assistance is a nice little security app. You can choose an emergency contact and by tapping the power button on the Galaxy Gear three times the smartwatch will take a picture send it with the location attached to your desired emergency contact.
Safety assistance feature
A lot of apps (by smartwatch standards anyway) have already made their way over to the Gear manager app. Pocket is here, Runtastic, Evernote, Path, eBay and a bunch of apps for styling the clock screen.
There's a 1.9 MP backside-illuminated camera on board. It can capture photos as well as 15-second-long 720p videos, which are saved on the 4GB on-board memory. As we said, any shot you take with it can be uploaded to the smartphone or tablet if or when paired. This way you can browse all your images on the large screen of your companion device, no matter what you used for capturing them.
There are two image sizes to choose from – 1280 x 960 (4:3) and 1392×1392 (1:1). You can choose either normal focus or macro and there's Sound and Shot, which saves an image along with background sound. You can opt for a signature on your photos – it says Galaxy Gear by default.
Images are nothing to write home about as you'd expect from the aforementioned resolution. Still they're not all bad for their size and the sheer thrill of telling people they came from your watch might make you take more than the occasional shot with the Galaxy Gear.
Samsung Galaxy Gear camera samples
We also shot a 15 second 720p video with the Samsung Galaxy Gear. Check it out below.
We liked the Samsung Galaxy Gear. It's a breath of fresh air in a world too obsessed with smartphone cores and screen pixels. Though a little late to the party organized by Sony and Pebble, the Samsung Galaxy Gear offers quite enough to make a name for itself. It can double as a fitness accessory, be the calls-taking sidekick to a Galaxy Note, or your picture and video-snapping always-on accessory.
The developer support is quite promising at launch and the Galaxy Gear has more than enough apps to be relevant in its field. What isn't all that certain is whether the Samsung smartwatch will catch on with users and continue to attract as much developer interest. Mainly because it's compatibility with only two devices one of which is yet to hit the shelves severely limits its reach. Samsung will be making it compatible with some of its other smartphones partially taking care of this issue, but it appears non-Galaxy handsets and tablets will never be welcome to that party.
The price isn't right either – at around $300, the Gear is way more expensive than any of its competitors. A strong case can be made that it also delivers way more in terms of functionality, but the fact is few people are willing to spend that much on a smartwatch – after all that's enough money to get a very decent smartphone. And if you decide on moving away from your Galaxy device to another brand, the investment goes to waste.
Finally, there's the battery endurance, which is better suited to a smartphone than a watch. We understand the limitations of current technology and that design is very important here, but the fact remains that having another gadget to charge every night is less than ideal. Because of those things, we expect the Galaxy Gear to remain a niche device that geeks will buy (and probably love), but few other will consider. The first Samsung smartwatch hints at the immense potential of this type of wearable devices and certainly packs a lot of innovative ideas, but doesn't quite strike us as a must-have device.
Of course, a more aggressive pricing in the holiday season and a strong PR campaign might get the Galaxy Gear on many wrists, which in turn will convince developers to work on it and improve it and the wheel might start to turn. Your move, Samsung!


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Home › Thoughts and Perspectives › Celebrating Amanda Marshall and the music we can love to love.
Celebrating Amanda Marshall and the music we can love to love.
By Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda on August 5, 2015 • ( 32 )
Amanda Marshall is a singer based in Canada. In this blog, I look at how and why her music is really neat and special. Most importantly, her music is very feminist and free of so many of the problems we see in our contemporary music.
Amanda Marshall has been my favorite singer since the mid 1990s. Her band, her voice, and her songs are perfect and very unique. The "live" versions (many are available on YouTube, many of these are linked on the unofficial Facebook fan page) are very different than the CD versions in most cases. All are of outstanding quality.
Before going further, take 6 minutes. Relax. Close your eyes. And please listen to this:
I am the Amanda Marshall fan! She is one of just a few singers who I would love getting to visit with. 🙂 I have every song she has recorded on both of my computers, on my iPhone, and of course, on all of my backup systems. Once a long time ago–sometime in the late 1990s–I got word that she was going to be on some radio station somewhere far away but it was going to stream live on the Internet, and my parents let me stay up late (past midnight for a 4th/5th grader is a big deal!) to hear her.
While in Canada her music has generally ranked very highly, her music hasn't been given the same opportunity in the United States or elsewhere.
I have never figured out why she isn't an everyday house-hold name. She certainly deserves to be one more than many who are house-hold names.
One thing that makes her a really special musician is that all of the songs on her major CDs are 100% original to her. Many of them she wrote or co-wrote. The others songs were written for her by friends. She never sings "her version" of already-popular songs.
Her songs all tell some kind of story or life lesson; discuss feelings (not looks); have some kind of special, positive message; and/or communicate that any kind of relationship must be about mutual, consensual love. The positive messages in these songs is communicated without being over the top or even that obvious (except for Believe in You). Its regular, adult contemporary music that goes against the usual beat. Many of her songs are autobiographical in full or in part. AND unlike so much music that perpetuates the Culture of Rape, Marshall's music never does that. Additionally, her music frequently uses gender neutral pronouns.
It was just last night that I went through all of her music song-by-song, line-by-line to look for any potential problems. Now, I like her more than ever before. Music that sounds great, is unique, and is free of racism, sexism, heterosexism, cisgender sexism, classism, imperialism, etc. What more can we ask for!
Below, is a list of her songs with the lyrics linked. A brief excerpt, summary, and/or comments are provided for some of the ones I really, really like. On the right you'll see the album cover. Clicking on the image will take you to the Amazon page to buy a copy! If you want to start with her music, I would recommend her 1999 album as the prefect starting point. Or pull up YouTube!
Amanda Marshall (1995):
Birmingham – about a woman who escapes from her abusive husband – and, in the words of Marshall, about respect at its core
Beautiful Goodbye – the instrumentals are really outstanding on this one
Sitting On Top Of The World
And everybody's got an opinion 'bout how this should be
Last Exit To Eden – an especially unique sound
Trust Me (This Is Love)
I'm here for you baby
There's nothing I want more
Our day is coming
And we'll reach that peaceful shore
Tuesday's Child (1999)
Believe In You – a unique song of inspiration for anyone
Love Lift Me
And when it's all said and done
It's just the same for everyone
Your busy making your plans
Why Don't You Love Me?
Too Little, Too Late
If I Didn't Have You
Ride – another inspirational/love song
I'll be your ride
We'll get a, running start
and we'll take to the skies, baby
Keep your hands on the wheel, and your eyes on the prize
and ride
Right Here All Along
Shades Of Grey – linked above – the difficulties of having interracial parents and her grandmother's negative reaction
You can't change a stubborn mind
You can't see the world if your eyes are blind
What does it matter anyway
In our darkest hour we're all just shades of grey
Give Up Giving In
I'm a tough tough game that no one can master
I'm a tall tall tale no one believes
I'm a long dark night with no morning after
You get the best of me
Never Said Goodbye
Everybody's Got a Story (2001)
Everybody's Got A Story – a great song about accepting people without any judgment
Everybody's got a story that would break your heart
The Voice Inside – about not following "rules," making mistakes, and letting life happen
The Gypsy – about being patient and enjoying life
It is not the destination it's the journey
Colleen (I Saw Him First) – the struggles between two friends as they figure out life and guys
Double Agent – absolutely love this one about navigating the world as being Black while looking White
I'm a double agent on my momma's side
The shit I hear you say just blows my mind
Every time, recognize
Though who I am to you is not a lie
I don't have to volunteer and say
That I was born a particular way
I got not uniform, I'm camouflaged in any light
Obviously you can't tell
Red Magic Marker – a final declaration of love but with an understanding that it may not be reciprocated
Sunday Morning After – one of my least personal favorites, but explores the questions that follow an unexpected adventurous night
Love Is My Witness – something of an attempt to define and explore the meaning of love
Dizzy – the wild adventures of love
Brand New Beau – discovering that the person loved is gay
Marry Me – an extended marriage proposal and declaration of love without the need for any outside approval
Inside The Tornado – an acapella song about the craziness of life
Other songs:
Until We Fall In – a really interesting song about experience, perspective, and point of view
Every soldier in the war's got God on his side
Cross My Heart – a really neat song about two people who fall in love really young, get married, and one of them is unhappy being in a small town
But she wants to fly
So he gives her the wings
And tells her goodbye
Please let me know what you think. Have you heard of her before?
It would be great if Amanda Marshall got the attention she deserves. I also hope she has more CDs come out as rumored.
Thank you, dear readers, as always.
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Tags: culture, gender, music, politics, rhetoric
Tim W Callaway
Thank you so very much for this. Here in Canada, Amanda is often referred to as "the little lady with the great big voice" and she is indeed, one of our finest musical treasures. I wish I was at liberty to comment on what I've heard via industry-insiders as to why it's been such a long time since her last album. Here's hoping her next one is sooner rather than later. And I hope I'm not "…too old to believe in, promises."
Thank YOU, and thank you for reading and commenting. She has an incredible voice, great songs, etc., etc., etc.! 🙂 It's sad that sometimes the best aren't allowed to just shine. I really, really hope she's able to make more albums. 🙂
I agree 100% with your comments, Andrew. It is a shame that she has been prevented from recording more of her amazing music. We last saw her play at Windsor Casino 4 or 5 years ago and she was just as good as the first time we saw her play a show at the Western Fair, outdoors in the rain. Her music is powerful, important and needs to be heard. Thanks for this blog post.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. She does have the best voice ever. I would love to see her sing live!
Bill Marantz
I'm 80 years old and agree with you. Amanda is a fellow Virgo, and IMHO that's her problem. She finds it impossible to just go along & get along. Fortunately there are people like you in her corner who appreciate her true worth. I hope she reads this blog. Bless you.
Hey there, thanks so much for your comment. I really hope she is able to have some more CDs! 🙂
I am by no means a young person. The only song I ever heard Amanda Marshall sing was "Ride" and that was because my son, who is now 36 years old, was listening to it back in the late 90's.. I never went on you tube before the Year Of Our Lord, 2015. Yeh… I'm up with the times. Anyway, I remembered "Ride" and wanted to see if it was on there. Well it was, along with a lot of other song I never new she wrote and sang. Needless to say, I bought them all. I don't know why her songs were never played in America. She could very easily have been a "Superstar". I started to read about her and that's how I ended up here. I was in a few bands back in the 60's and I never lost my love of music. Amanda's voice just revitalized what has always been in my heart. The love of "song". Thanks Andrew for letting me comment.
arxsyn
When her first album came out I was still in grade school. I remember a period when Canadian radio was literally flooded with songs by female singer songwriters like Amanda, Alanis, Sarah M. (Lilith Fair), Jewel, Chantal K., Paula Cole, Tori A., Sheryl Crow… There was a lot of alternative rock music. They were in constant rotation.
I was probably too young to appreciate commercial radio back then. I remember feeling extremely bored to death in the summer break and fiddling the with the radio dial a lot hoping to listen to more "fresh", fun tunes without much success.
Now that I am an adult and very much interested in music, revisiting music of that era is a totally different experience, with a hint of nostalgia too.
I got into Amanda when I discovered that I could sing her songs. As a petite myself, I find her big, unapologetic voice inspiring. I also admire her fierce leonine mane of golden curls. My favourite song of hers is "Shades of Grey" revealing her surprising biracial heritage and her thoughts on interracial love. "Birmingham" is a close second.
Thanks do much for sharing these great thoughts and experiences!
Thank you, i miss her but i'm very happy to know her more and more in her music, in her text.
BONJOUR from a french little island in the south pacific.
God bless you and Amanda.
Come Back Amanda!
November 8, 2016 • 10:29 pm
She's so underappreciated and so missed!
Zeke Woollett
I keep hearing rumors of a new album that she has been working on, and possible concerts – any truth to this? I hope that wherever she is and whatever she is doing – she's doing well.
I don't know! 😦 I'd love for her to do more!
Art Mosher
I too have a mane. Mostly grey ! And I LOVE Amanda Marshall ! When she hits my system I am in heaven !! Few singers have had that effect on me. I'm hoping to be buried with her; CD/MP3/FLAC that is !! She is played wider than you might think, I hear her often on Stingray/Shaw, Sirius Sat Radio and pure Internet Radio, particularly Radio Swiss Pop. The latter plays selections voted world wide as favourites; so this is quite impressive. I dont know the whole story of her dearth of new public material, but would love to hear. Email me. I gather its all some sort of legal hassle; in which case I hope her adversaries soon accept her musical talent contribution as more important than their control or money. Looks to me like she's not budging.
Apparently, she's having some concerts this summer! 🙂
PS – thanks for your comment!
Anthony DC
I have been a big Amanda fan since her early days. Is there going to be any new material from her for the near future
I don't know anything. I do know she's done several concerts this year — youtube has videos of many of these.
Isn't the dispute with her record company over? I'm not sure but it seems to me that it's been over 20 years since she released a new cd.
That's what I've heard. The last CD came out in 2003 ("Intermission: The Singles Collection") – it has one or two new songs but that's it.
Anripol
Flaccing my CDs I came across her 1995 CD bought in the Netherlands and played by Frits Spits in the Avondspits radio show a lot. Beautiful Goodbye is out of this galaxy… Will be looking for the other CDs coming days.
Hi Dr. Andrew
I found an article on Amanda. She performed at the CityFolk festival in Ottawa in September this year.
Check this link: http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/local-reviews/cityfolk-review-amanda-marshall-broken-social-scene-make-triumphant-return
If only I were closer. Would be amazing to hear her live sometime!
Bryan and kristina💜
We LOVE AMANDA MARSHALL….ITS MY WOMAN'S FAVOURITE ..I MEAN SHE IS MY WOMANS AND ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SONGWRITERSCAND SINGERS TOO..AND A VERY COURAGEOUS AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AS WELL. IM BRYAN..MY WOMAN HAS A HISTORY OF MUSICAL CAREERS TOO. WELL…HER NAME IS KRISTINA K. KAVALAK. THNX!! XO 💜💜💜
More than 20 years ago Amanda's debut album was one of my favorite albums at the time and i still love hearing it. All the tracks were great not just the singles. And it chartered pretty high down here in Australia. But after that i didn't hear anything other than the TIN CUP soundtrack song. I always wanted to hear more but never really heard anything else after that. The other day i pulled out the CD played it and still love it. I did a search on YouTube and found a great concert she did in Ottawa in 2017 WOW! it's great. I hope Amanda keeps doing more great stuff, I'd love the chance to see her tour Australia one day. Does anyone know much about her life? Is she married? or have family? I can't see anything on Wikipedia about her life? Just curious!
Oh and Happy Birthday too soon Amanda! Cheers Glenn. xxx
Here's a link to the YouTube concert if any one would like to view it.
Love Amanda! I think she should be as big as Pink, Beyonce or any other female preformer. It's a crime she isn't!
Wendy Adams
Amanda is the BEST. I live in the US, not a lot of my friends had heard,of her but everytime I play her music for someone who,doesnt know her, they LOVE it! I wish she would tour the US, put out a new album and have some social media where we could at least hear from her every once in a while.
Becky Joseph
I just discovered Amanda 's music. She is amazing. I could listen to her all day. Why is she not a superstar?
Nam nasao
Hey I love Amanda, I have known her since the 90s, she has had many difficult periods in her life, and today, I am happy to see her back in shape and …. satisfied (I hope).
The only thing that I regret with her is that she will not be able to renew herself, no more recording since the early 2000s, is it because of her breach of contract with her ( old record company), I don't know, but I also hope that she will not live only on her past, because as superb were her songs and musical arrangements at the time, I find it surprising that we have more new songs for 17 years now!
Secret Societies of Double Agents: Music, Life, and Teaching | Andrew Joseph Pegoda, A.B.D.
"Just making fun of the political system" (and other waiting room observations) – Andrew Joseph Pegoda, A.B.D.
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United States Constitutional Amendments: 28-37


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I Am Independent - Beyond Mainstream: 7 Women Film Directors
Sung Moon
Propaganda, 2021. Hardcover, 348pp., 5 x 7.5 inches
"I am pretty certain that none of these seven women were even aware that their work would be reckoned a landmark. However, from the current perspective, they experimented with new cinematic formats… They did not fear discussing taboos and controversies. They empathized with the marginalized. By doing so, they laid the groundwork for important moments in film history." The eye-opening speculation by Sung Moon, programmer of the JEONJU International Film Festival in South Korea, in her foreword frames this book's focus on the films made by Cecilia Mangini, Han Okhi, Albertina Carri, Barbara Loden, Cheryle Dunye, Anna Karina, and Forough Farrokhzad
Agnes Varda: Interviews
T. Jefferson Kline (ed.)
Sculpting in Time
Andrey Tarkovsky
Yasufumi Nakamori
Derek Jarman


Main goal of this paper was to analyse maize production on Family farm Kate Nemet in a five-year period (2012 – 2016) and to establish the impact of weather conditions and applied growth technologies on maize yield, as well as to determine other indicators of grain quality (hectolitre weight, grain moisture and additives). The following hybrids were planted during the observed period: Pioneer, Agricultural Institute Osijek, KWS, Syngenta and Dekalb. Pioneer was the most represented hybrid on arable land with 52 ha of total production. During the observed period, weather conditions were diverse. Every observed year was warmer in relation to the multi-annual average, but with different rainfall distribution. In 2012, the recorded amount of rainfall during maize growing season was exceptionally low, and the average temperatures were significantly higher than the multi-annual average. The most optimal amount and distribution of rainfall was recorded in 2016 when maize yield on Family farm Kate Nemet was also the highest. High maize yields were achieved during the observed period and the average yield on the family farm was 9,7 t/ha. The lowest maize yield was achieved in 2012 (7,33 t/ha), which was caused by higher air temperature and a low amount and poor distribution of rainfall, particularly during the filling and forming of maize kernels. The highest maize yield was achieved in 2016 (13,39 t/ha), primarily due to better weather conditions, but also because of higher quality fertilization in regard to previous years. Hectolitre weight ranged between 69,9 kg/hl (in 2012) and 79,1 kg/hl (in 2016) and was within optimal acceptability limits for maize.


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Stephen is a Partner and Head of our Dispute Resolution Department. Stephen qualified as a solicitor in 1986 and became a Partner in 1997.
Acting for a tenant of a warehouse seeking to renew its lease which was opposed by the landlord on the grounds of redevelopment.
Acting for a national firm of estate agents dealing with Section 25, Section 26 and Section 27 Notices under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 in respect of its property portfolio.
Acting for clients where a right of way has been blocked by neighbours and court proceedings are on foot to remove the said obstructions and obtain damages.
Acting for clients in respect of land where the buyer has refused to complete the purchase due to alleged non-disclosure of material facts and a notice to complete has been served to forfeit the buyer's deposit.
Acting for a group of leaseholders seeking to extend their leases and take over the right to manage the block of flats (Leasehold Reform (and Urban Development) Act 1993).
Legal 500 UK 2018-19 Recommended Lawyer - "very detailed approach to transactions and ability to deliver the correct results every time, in the required timeframe"
Legal 500 UK 2017 Recommended Lawyer - "an excellent track record in resolving complex cases"
Legal 500 UK 2016 Recommended Lawyer - "knowledgeable and efficient"
Legal 500 UK 2015 Recommended Lawyer - "ability to grasp the key issues in complex cases"
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I have approached Stephen on three occasions for advice and each time have been given what I needed in a polite and friendly yet professional way. It was much appreciated to be able to get answers to issues so quickly and efficiently.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Stephen Eccles and Pinney Talfourd Solicitors."
"I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your help with my case. Without your guidance and knowledge I would not have won my case. For which I am very grateful and would not hesitate to highly recommend your services to anyone who needs a solicitor."


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package io.fabric8.mq.controller.camel;

import org.apache.camel.component.jms.JmsBinding;
import org.apache.camel.component.jms.JmsMessage;
import org.apache.camel.component.jms.JmsMessageHelper;
import org.apache.camel.util.ObjectHelper;

import javax.jms.Message;

public class ControllerJmsMessage extends JmsMessage {

    private MessageRouter messageRouter;

    public ControllerJmsMessage(MessageRouter messageRouter, Message jmsMessage, JmsBinding binding) {
        super(jmsMessage, binding);
        this.messageRouter = messageRouter;
    }

    public MessageRouter getMessageRouter() {
        return messageRouter;
    }

    public void setMessageRouter(MessageRouter messageRouter) {
        this.messageRouter = messageRouter;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        if (getJmsMessage() != null) {
            return "BrokerJmsMessage[JMSMessageID: " + JmsMessageHelper.getJMSMessageID(getJmsMessage());
        } else {
            return "BrokerJmsMessage@" + ObjectHelper.getIdentityHashCode(this);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void copyFrom(org.apache.camel.Message that) {
        super.copyFrom(that);
        if (that instanceof JmsMessage) {
            JmsMessage thatJmsMessage = (JmsMessage) that;
            if (getJmsMessage() == null) {
                setJmsMessage(thatJmsMessage.getJmsMessage());
            }
        }
        if (that instanceof ControllerJmsMessage) {
            ControllerJmsMessage thatControllerJmsMessage = (ControllerJmsMessage) that;
            if (getMessageRouter() == null) {
                setMessageRouter(thatControllerJmsMessage.getMessageRouter());
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public ControllerJmsMessage newInstance() {
        return new ControllerJmsMessage(null, null, getBinding());
    }
}


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Exploring Cannabis Funding Around the World — Oceania
7.3 min readPublished On: March 10th, 2021By News Team
HCN Investigates – Oceania, which comprises Australia, New Zealand, and the surrounding islands, is expected to embrace both medical and recreational cannabis in the near future. According to cannabis analytics firm Prohibition Partners, the Oceanian cannabis market may reach $1.55 billion by 2024. Even at this size, the cannabis market in Oceania would remain one of the world's smallest, but investors are still keen to capitalize on emerging medical and recreational markets in Australia, New Zealand, and beyond.
(Image: Auckland, New Zealand skyline by Partha Narasimhan)
Current status of the Oceanian cannabis industry
Medical marijuana is available throughout Australia and New Zealand with the other parts of Oceania, including Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia, having less favorable stances toward cannabis. Each Australian state and territory has its own medical cannabis laws, and recently, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which contains Canberra, this nation's capital, legalized recreational marijuana use for adults over the age of 18.
New Zealand legalized medical marijuana in 2019, and this island nation to the east of Australia took a vote on country-wide recreational marijuana in September. While this public referendum did not pass, future referendums are expected to succeed. Notably, New Zealand's failed recreational cannabis legislation featured social equity measures intended to increase the Maori voice in this nation's cannabis industry.
While legislators in Australia continue to push for recreational cannabis legislation and federal medical marijuana reform, it is unclear when these efforts will bear fruit. In the meantime, Australian cannabis producers are focusing heavily on state-specific and territory-specific markets in the hope that widespread popularity across the continent will spur desired evolutions within the industry.
The cannabis industry is growing at a slower pace outside of Australia and New Zealand. Melanesia, which includes New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and a variety of other small island territories and countries, generally observes cannabis prohibition. Illicit cannabis production is common throughout Polynesia, which includes Tahiti and numerous other tourist destinations, but despite the efforts of local politicians, cannabis remains illegal in this subregion.
In Micronesia, however, the story is slightly different. This portion of Oceania is home to Guam, a US territory home to nearly 170,000 people that benefits from the mainland's stances on cannabis. Guam legalized recreational cannabis in April of 2019, but this chronically mismanaged island territory has failed to properly regulate the sale of legal weed. While it's legal to grow and smoke cannabis in Guam, it isn't yet legal to buy or sell recreational marijuana.
Guam aside, the primary focuses of cannabis investment in Oceania are Australia and New Zealand. Together, these two nations are home to nearly 30 million people, making their potential market size nearly the same as Canada's. Like most countries in the West, both Australia and New Zealand are home to populations with reasonably progressive positions on cannabis, making them ripe targets for international investment.
Cultural trends that emerge in Oceania influence Chinese culture and the cultures of other major Asian nations, so some cannabis entrepreneurs and investors in the Australian and Kiwi spaces hope to use Oceania as a stepping stone to larger Asian markets. Only time will tell if this strategy will prove effective, but while we wait, the cannabis economy in Australia and New Zealand is off to a good start.
(Images: Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbor, April Pethybridge/Unsplash)
Major national players in Oceanian cannabis
Despite the notable recent setback posed by New Zealand's failed recreational cannabis referendum, optimism within the Oceanian cannabis industry remains high, and a few major players have risen to the top as the leaders of the Australian and Kiwi cannabis markets:
Rua Bioscience Ltd.
As one of New Zealand's few native cannabis companies, Rua Bioscience caters to the Kiwi medical marijuana market. Even before the failed national referendum on recreational cannabis, Rua Bioscience co-founder Manu Caddie indicated that recreational products aren't "something our company is interested in."
Instead, Rua Bioscience will remain one of the nation's only medical marijuana producers as an integral part of a "medical cannabis industry association with about 30 members including labs and consultants, importers, manufacturers and cultivators." Rua Bioscience raised $20 million NZD in an October IPO, and this company is now worth approximately $36 million NZD.
Cann Group Limited
Founded in 2014, Cann Group is one of Australia's oldest cannabis companies, and it is publicly traded with significant international investment. In October, however, Cann Group lost one of its largest investors when Canadian Aurora Cannabis sold its entire 11.84% stake. Aurora cited significant impairment losses as its reason for exiting, but Cann Group has indicated that its operations remain unaffected.
Publicly traded Althea is one of Australia's largest medical cannabis providers. Althea largely attributes its impressive success to its recently launched Althea Concierge service, which allows patients to purchase medical marijuana products online that are delivered directly to their doors. In the era of COVID-19, this service caters to both fears of retail shopping and the increased rate of psychological conditions for which cannabis is marketed.
Zelira Therapeutics
Zelira therapeutics, formerly known as Zelda therapeutics, takes a more pharmaceutical approach to the Australian cannabis market, and it announced its entry into the American CBD market in 2020. Keeping in line with this company's indication-specific product offerings, Zelira recently launched HOPE, a line of autism-targeted cannabis products.
Helius Therapeutics
Based in Auckland, Helius Therapeutics is another member of the handful of companies that have received cannabis cultivation authorization from the New Zealand government. Undeterred by his nation's recent rejection of recreational marijuana legislation, Helius co-founder Paul Manning recently stated that the "country's nascent medicinal cannabis industry will continue to grow in importance – both in public health and economic terms."
How is the Oceanian cannabis industry funded?
In Australia and New Zealand, the region's aspiring cannabis companies have received investments from a variety of different sources. For further insight into the funding vehicles used in the Oceanian cannabis industry, we'll continue to rely on insider information from Rua's Manu Caddie.
Stock sales
A variety of Australian and Kiwi cannabis companies have listed IPOs, and in many cases, these offerings have been significantly oversubscribed. Investors from around the world are keen to capitalize on the opportunities opening up in Australia and especially New Zealand, which Manu tells us has a "population of similar size to Colorado, so that $2 billion recreational market is sometimes used as a comparator."
While this may not be the case for any other cannabis companies in Australia or New Zealand, Manu relates that his company has experienced significant success with both local and national crowdfunding campaigns. He says that Rua "raised $1.5m in three days and then another $500,000 in six minutes when we opened up to the rest of the country online," causing the crowdfunding platform to crash three times. Rua's $2 million NZD cap was exceeded by over $3 million NZD with this initial national campaign.
As in most other regions, angel or private investors play a significant role within the Oceanian cannabis economy. Manu indicates that Rua attracted the interest of the owner of a "large horticultural producer" early on, and large, individual investors have also played a role in the development of Helius Therapeutics and other Oceanian cannabis companies.
Manu tells us that Rua has attracted investments from a "consortium of high net worth individuals" organized in an operational framework similar to that of a family office. The increased rate at which family offices are investing in cannabis companies around the world indicates that this trend is not limited to Rua Bioscience.
Ethical pension funds
At least in the case of Rua Bioscience, ethical pension funds are starting to take an interest in the New Zealand medical cannabis industry. Focusing on socially positive and environmentally sustainable targets of investments, ethical pension funds have recently gained traction throughout Commonwealth countries as alternatives to standard, state-issued pensions.
Operating revenue
While the cannabis industries in Australia and New Zealand are still relatively small, the number of Oceania residents gaining access to medical cannabis increases every day, and the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canberra has boosted the industry even further. By exporting products to the American, European, and Canadian markets, Australian cannabis producers gain access to additional sources of operating revenue, and despite the rejection of recreational legalization, positive sentiment toward medical marijuana in New Zealand continues to grow, driving sales and boosting operating revenue.
Author – HCN Investigates: Samuel Popejoy, HCN Business Correspondent
All Rights Reserved, Not to be reprinted or reused without express permission. Copyright: Highly Capitalized 2021
(Main Image Miltiadis Fragkidis/Unsplash)
BESO Wellness Launches CBD-Powered Line of Topical Therapeutics Used to Manage Pain by NBA, NFL, MMA Athletes and VIPs
LOS ANGELES - Created by massage therapist and former NBA wife, Megan Blackwell, whose celebrity clientele includes some of the most active professional athletes on the sports scene and celebrities in the entertainment industry suffering ...


text:
Jiří Starosta (1923/1924 – 15. února 2012) byl český fotbalový záložník, který se později proslavil jako trenér.

Trenérská kariéra
Na konci 50. let 20. století se ujal etiopské fotbalové reprezentace, s níž vybojoval bronzové medaile na Africkém poháru národů 1959. Turnaje se však účastnila pouze tři mužstva, Etiopané prohráli obě svá utkání a nevstřelili ani branku. V 60. letech trénoval fotbalovou reprezentaci Kuby.

Největšího úspěchu dosáhl se Súdánem, který hostil Africký pohár národů 1970 a pod Starostovým vedením v turnaji zvítězil. Podle jiného zdroje (rsssf.com) vedl Starosta mužstvo během roku 1969 v africké kvalifikaci na Mistrovství světa ve fotbale 1970 a před mistrovstvím Afriky měl být nahrazen súdánským trenérem (Abdel-Fattah Hamad Abu-Zeid).

Po návratu do vlasti se věnoval teoretické práci ve fotbalovém svazu, vedl Ústřední trenérskou radu a Komisi vrcholového fotbalu.

Ve středu 7. září 1977 vedl společně s Jozefem Venglošem i československou fotbalovou reprezentaci. V zápase proti Turecku (výhra 1:0, branku vstřelil Miroslav Gajdůšek) zastoupil zdravotně indisponovaného Václava Ježka. V tomto utkání nastoupili tři hráči, pro které to byl jediný reprezentační start – kanonýr Lokomotívy Košice Ladislav Józsa, trenčínský Alexander Kovács a brankář Slavie František Zlámal.

V nejvyšší soutěži stál na lavičce Vítkovic ve dvou posledních zápasech ročníku 1983/84.

Hráčská kariéra
V československé lize hrál za Vítkovické železárny, vstřelil čtyři prvoligové branky.

Reprezentace
Jednou nastoupil za B-mužstvo Československa, aniž by skóroval. Toto utkání se hrálo v neděli 22. října 1950 v Brně (stadion Sokola GZ Královo Pole) proti B-mužstvu Polska (prohra 1:3).

Prvoligová bilance

Odkazy

Reference

Literatura
 Luboš Jeřábek: Československý fotbal v číslech a faktech − Olympia 1991
 Jindřich Horák, Lubomír Král: Encyklopedie našeho fotbalu − Libri 1997
 Radovan Jelínek, Miloslav Jenšík a kol.: Atlas českého fotbalu − Radovan Jelínek 2006

Externí odkazy
 Zemřel trenér Jiří Starosta, fotbalový mistr Afriky, isport.blesk.cz [cit. 2012-02-15, autor ČTK]

Českoslovenští fotbalisté
Čeští fotbalisté
Fotbaloví záložníci
Fotbalisté FC Vítkovice
Českoslovenští fotbaloví trenéři
Čeští fotbaloví trenéři
Trenéři československé fotbalové reprezentace
Čeští trenéři zahraničních fotbalových reprezentací
Trenéři etiopské fotbalové reprezentace
Trenéři kubánské fotbalové reprezentace
Trenéři súdánské fotbalové reprezentace
Českoslovenští sportovní funkcionáři
Čeští sportovní funkcionáři
Osoby s nejistým datem narození
Neznámé místo narození
Úmrtí 15. února
Úmrtí v roce 2012
Muži

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
North Korea War Alert Update
Posted: Oct 31, 2012 12:01 AM
Katie Pavlich
Kurt Schlichter
A Biden Intervention in Ukraine Will Expose American Weakness
North Korea: Update and comment. Over the weekend NightWatch checked North Korean diplomatic activity to determine the extent of the semi-state of war alert. Three foreign delegations arrived in Pyongyang on 26 October and were greeted by high level North Korean officials.
The alert began in the early morning of the 26th. The delegations arrived during the day. That information directly indicates that the alert is partial, not in support of national war preparations, and indirectly indicates that international flight activity at Sunan international airport is normal.
Those inferences signify that the alert is at least a precaution against a surprise attack during the Allied exercise. It still also might be related to leadership stability issues. It does not suggest a provocation against South Korea is in the works.
In addition to the above, Kim Jong-un attended three public events at Kim Il-sung Military University. First reported was the unveiling of statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Chong-il at the university, where "Marshal" Kim took a military parade and salute by the students. Next was a soccer match between the army team, April 25 (April 25 is the KPA anniversary date), and the Sonbong sports club. In the evening Kim attended a band concert in honor of Kim Il-sung Military University's 60th anniversary on the 29th. His wife accompanied him to the soccer match and the concert.
Interestingly, Kim's father never permitted the North Korean media to date reports of his public appearances, apparently as a security precaution. Kim Jong-un's appearances usually are dated. The young Kim appears to be trying to ease some of the austerity of the regime's practices, but with only limited success.
Generally, leadership activities look normal in the North.
South Korea-North Korea: Some 40 members of a South Korean civic group launched tens of thousands of leaflets denouncing the North Korean regime across the border between the two countries on 29 October, causing brief scuffles between group members and residents in the border town of Paju.
Comment: The North's alert posture appears more aimed at the Allied exercise in progress than at the leaflet launches. Nevertheless, the South Korean activists are almost daring the North to act on its threat to retaliate against their launch sites with artillery fire.
South Korean authorities almost certainly know about the leaflet launches but have only stopped one. North Korean authorities with some justification will assume the South is at least in complicity with the launches, which appear to be using the Allied exercise as a window of opportunity for sending the anti-Kim regime leaflets across the Demilitarized Zone.
Iran-Sudan: According to the Iranian news service, which quoted the navy public relations office, a small navy task group composed of the support ship Khark and the corvette Shahid Naqdi docked at Port Sudan. The press statements indicated the ships were sent with the aim of carrying the message of peace and friendship for the neighboring countries and ensuring security for transportation and shipping against the "horrifying phenomenon of sea terrorism" [piracy], and it has docked in Port Sudan.
While in Port Sudan, the commanders and officials of the fleet are to hold meetings with Sudanese navy commanders.
Comment: Port Sudan also is the port that Iran uses to provide weapons to Hamas in Gaza via Egypt.
Sudan-Israel-Iran: The Sunday Times of London carried a reasonably detailed account of the Israeli attack on the arms factory at Yarmouk, Sudan on 24 October. According to this account, the attack served multiple purposes, one of which was to show Iran a fraction of Israel's reach. Several Brilliant Readers confirmed that the distance to Yarmouk matched the distance to Tehran, depending on the flight path and that this was a rehearsal for an attack against Iran.
According to The Times, Israel attacked Yarmouk because Iranian technicians were building there Shahab intermediate range ballistic missiles (aka the Iranian variant of the North Korean NoDong), which are capable of reaching Israel from Sudan. That threat presumably has been reduced, if not eliminated.
The Times is the only source of the details of the attack and its motives. The irreducible elements of this attack are the reach of the Israeli air force; the fact of an attack on Yarmouk and the message this action sends in the region. The downside of the report is that in publicizing it as a rehearsal, as opposed to leaving its ultimate purposes ambiguous, Israel ends up producing a publicity stunt, relative to Iran.
On balance,it looks as if the Israelis want Iranian leaders to think of this as a rehearsal, as a propaganda ploy. Israeli leaders tend not to brag about rehearsals so as not to tip off the target.
Syria: Update. On 29 October whatever remained of the ceasefire evaporated in increased and inconclusive fighting by both side.
Comment: No cessation of attacks by either side occurred on any day of the so-called ceasefire. Some accounts claim fighting was reduced on Friday.
End of NightWatch for 29 October.
NightWatch is brought to you by Kforce Government Solutions, Inc. (KGS), a leader in government problem-solving, Data Confidence® and intelligence. Views and opinions expressed in NightWatch are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of KGS, its management, or affiliates.
www.kforcegov.com
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www.afcea.org
A New Poll Shows a GOP Governor 'Underwater' on Handling COVID-19
Madeline Leesman


Provide clients with all components of the VMMC service package, in accordance with national, World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) recommendations.
Provide VMMC services that are compliant with PEPFAR policies.
WHO recommends that all clients receiving VMMC service receive a comprehensive package of services to support HIV/STI prevention or care and safe recovery [See WHO Manual for Male Circumcision Under Local Anaesthesia, 1st edition and PEPFAR Technical Considerations for COP/ROP 2016]. The "minimum package of services" (see Figure 6.1 by downloading the chapter PDF below)—which should be available to all VMMC clients at all sites—includes: 1) optional HIV testing and counseling services for all male clients and, where possible, their partners; 2) active referral of clients determined to be HIV-positive to HIV care and treatment programs, including determination of successful linkage 3) age-appropriate sexual risk reduction counseling, including recommendations for abstinence during wound healing; pre-procedure clinical screening (focused physical exam and medical history) to detect sexually transmitted infections (STI) and contraindications to circumcision; 4) screening and treatment of STIs; 5) circumcision by a medical method approved by WHO; 6) post-procedure follow-up, including systematic assessment of adverse events and, 7) provision and promotion of correct and consistent use of condoms, preferably both male and female condoms.
To ensure high quality VMMC services, the VMMC team in general and providers in particular must be competent in assessing clients for VMMC eligibility including evaluation of clients for tetanus immunity or vaccination against tetanus in countries where it is appropriate [See WHO Guidelines on Tetanus and VMMC July 2015 and September 2016] use of at least one WHO-approved VMMC method; anesthetic dosing (by use of weight based dosing anesthetic charts or calculation of an appropriate minimum dose) and adequate infection control practices [See Chapter 9]. This chapter describes the WHO comprehensive package of services including what providers need to consider as they attend to VMMC clients from client screening, through the procedure, recovery and follow up.
2015 PEPFAR Reporting Protocol for VMMC Client Death and Notifiable Adverse Events: Can be obtained by contacting in-country USAID Mission staff.


I've been in the online space for awhile and have seen my fair share of different iterations on online advertising: display, search, email; CPM, CPA, CPC; pop-ups, pop-unders; superstitials, interstitials; pre-rolls, mid-rolls, post-rolls; agencies, networks; widgets, sponsorships; takeovers, floaters and more. What has struck me now that I am running a non-traditional ad network is that online display advertising has not really changed in many years. Buyers attempt to find the highest justifiable volume of acceptable inventory to bill against, creatives continue to work to CTR standards set by mortgage ads, and publishers pimp their remnant to scores of networks (including ours). Maybe the recession will be the driver to kill this play-it-safe beast of a format. The fact is that only one third of online advertising is focused on brand-building; yet the display industry continues to pander to Madison Avenue mores. Online display advertising will continue to feel the crunch if it attempts to justify itself against the "tv metrics online" ROI approach of the late nineties – maybe it ought to simply die off and come back as search did post-AltaVista/Excite.
Lack of standards - there has been a lack of standards for - as well as a proliferation of - measurement tools for display ads. Hence, display ads are treated like ad budget detritus; they don't get meaningful pieces of large branded advertisers in segments like CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods). Remember that in 60 years of television, only five metrics have emerged to define the ad business, yet in only 13 years of online advertising, 13 types of performance metrics have sprung up like weeds.
Volume is increasing, eCPMs are shrinking - yet in this economy 80% of all display ads are indirectly served thru ad networks and the value of those ads is cut in half. At some point, there will be an asymptotic point where eCPM levels settle - at the lowest point ever and continue to be meaningless pieces of overall ad budgets. So, when do we get to the inevitable question around how to add real value to online display ads?
Take off the dunce cap – click-through rates are still primarily used to measure performance, yet we are all looking for more meaningful measures. A bunch of widget companies enable engagement tracking in addition to larger players like Microsoft's Atlas division. Atlas even measures the downstream impact of display impressions on search CTR and conversion to sale. Or maybe the solution is to apply measurements like television's QRatio, or to apply performance marketing capabilities inside display ads. Whatever it is, all of us denizens of the online world should adopt a standard. Although search marketing is incredibly easy to measure methinks that brand advertising needs to push for clear measures and value. Performance marketing is different than brand advertising.
Performance marketing is clearly a measurable return. When you have intent mapped to advertising, abrah cadabrah, you can manage your return on ad spend. Yet with only 7% of the $300 billion US media business being spent online yet 17% of all media consumed is online, its time to upgrade display advertising. The display ad is dead. Long live the display ad.


Shields CL, Kaliki S, Kim HJ, Al-Dahmash S, Shah SU, Lally SE, et al. Interferon for ocular surface squamous neoplasia in 81 cases: outcomes based on the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification. Cornea. 2013;32:248–56.
Meel R, Dhiman R, Vanathi M, Pushker N, Tandon R, Devi S. Clinicodemographic profile and treatment outcome in patients of ocular surface squamous neoplasia. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2017;65:936–41.
Amin MB, Greene FL, Edge SB, Crompton CC, Gershenwald JE, Brookland RK, et al. The eighth edition AJCC cancer staging manual: continuing to build a bridge from a population-based to a more "personalized" approach to cancer staging. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017;67:93–9.


100% refunded if you cancel 1 month before the workshop date. No refund past that date.
You find yourself in a Japanese tea house with an adjoining garden. The serenity gradually gives way to excitement as the moment draws near when a lovely Maiko, an apprentice Geisha, will arrive. Gracing us with her beauty, we spring into action as pro photographers in our very own studio—capture the elegance and charm of a Maiko.
You will learn how to set up lighting and work with natural light in a traditional environment that presents various challenges as well as benefits for a photoshoot. You will also be coached on posing your subject, a lovely Maiko, in order to convey emotion and express a narrative beyond mere portraiture.
We meet at the side entrance of the Kyoto National Museum where we will be able to use their traditional tea house called 'Tan-an.' The house is surrounded by a pristine Japanese style garden, transporting us to another time in history. The setting serves as an ideal photo studio, suiting our model and inspiring our eye.
Meeting a geisha one-on-one was a surreal experience. Having Axel as our guide/translator and photographic guru was awesome. The time we spent with Hinayu discussing her life and photographing her was a once in a lifetime experience. We try to do a photo tour whenever we visit a new city, and highly recommend this workshop if you have an afternoon to spare in Kyoto.
My review is divided. It was an amazing experience to meet a Maiko, to spend time talking to her and getting to know her, and to be able to photograph her. However, I was disappointed that, although the workshop advertises the use of studio lighting, these were not used or available. The only light available was a small LED light which created many shadows on the subject. I do have to thank the organizers for purchasing a red umbrella which we used for some wonderful photos.
Thank you very much for your honest and direct review. We greatly appreciate such feedback as it helps us improve our service. We also take any dissatisfaction very seriously and will strive to improve this aspect of our workshop. In this case, we (the management, Lukasz & Axel) feel that we let down both yourself and the instructor who was leading the workshop on that day. Perhaps due to overconfidence in the instructor's skill, it seems we did not provide the instructor with enough training on how to use the gear/lighting at hand to ensure fantastic results. Though we do not provide large studio lights, the provided LEDs, reflectors, and diffusers can achieve a beautiful result. However, the instructor simply did not utilize the provided equipment or the available natural light to their fullest extent. To remedy this, we are now in the process of ensuring that he is fully trained on all aspects of this workshop thanks to your invaluable feedback. We take full responsibility for the shortcomings on this workshop and will be strive to provide a complete photographic experience at all times.
We will pick you up at your hotel or other location of your preference.


So here we go, who you think is the best strategist ever in Chinese history? Jiang Ziya? Zhuge Liang? Yue Yi? Zhang Liang? Han Xin? or even Xiahou Mao?
Zhuge Liang. No reason except he had a cool fan.
I'm moving this to World History.
The problem with Jiang Ziya and Zhuge Liang is that they've been deified to the extent that it's hard to tell what they actually accomplished as strategists.
I'm rather fond of Taigong Wang (Jiang Ziya) and Zhang Liang myself... Zhang Liang's own personal background is rather interesting, if what the shiji described is actually true.
Where would Sunzi and the Bingfa stand?
My vote will have to go to the original, and in my opinion the best one: Sun Tzu.
Either Sun Tzu or Zhuge Liang it is hard to chose I like both of there books.
"A single death is a tragedy;A million deaths is a statistic."
No doubt about it. The answer is Sun Tzu. After all his guide to war is still a manual read today and contains basic and practical military logic.
Location: Watch as I rule the skies.


Hollywood Video, Video Tapes & Discs - Renting & Leasing, listed under "Video Tapes & Discs - Renting & Leasing" category, is located at 1500 El Paseo De Saratoga San Jose CA, 95130 and can be reached by 4083787741 phone number. Hollywood Video has currently 0 reviews.
Browse all Video Tapes & Discs - Renting & Leasing in San Jose CA. Discover census data for San Jose, CA.


text:
Posted on Last updated: February 22, 2022 Categories Travel, Travel News
By: Author Kyle Hulme
Hawaiian Islands Remove Several Covid Entry Requirements
Two of the most popular islands for travelers in Hawaii have recently removed several of their long-standing Covid-19 related restrictions, making a visit to the famous islands even more appealing for travelers. The decision to do so follows a general pattern across the United States and the wider world, with several of the country's states now having eased Covid-19 restrictions as the country as a whole pivots towards living with the virus.
However, whilst some restrictions are set to be eased in the coming weeks, others are set to remain for a while longer – despite moves to the contrary across the US mainland. Here's a close look at which restrictions are set to be lifted in Hawaii, which of the state's islands the moves are set to affect, and what the other restrictions are that travelers heading to Hawaii should be aware of.
Hawaiian Islands Remove Restrictions – Information For Travelers
Following a drop in the number of cases of Covid-19 across the island, Maui is set to lift some of the Covid-19 related restrictions that it once implemented to halt the spread of the virus. Known as The Valley Isle, Maui is the second largest of Hawaii's Islands, typically attracting in excess of a million travelers in a normal year – and it could be set to attract more as restrictions continue to be lifted.
In effect from today, travelers to the island will no longer have to provide proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test result in order to gain access to establishments such as indoor restaurants and bars, fitness centers and gyms. This restriction has been in place on the island since September, and its removal is sure to be welcomed by both Hawaiian locals and foreign travelers alike.
Maui had also recently made headlines by revealing that it would no longer be requiring travelers to have taken the booster vaccine in order to enter, backtracking on recent, controversial comments that suggested this would be a requirement and making the idea of visiting the tourist hotspots of Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe much easier more appealing to travelers.
Also getting in on the act of easing restrictions is the island of Oahu. Like Maui, Oahu is set to ease restrictions by removing its "Safe Access Oahu" program from March 6th. The move will see visitors to Oahu no longer needing to show proof of vaccination or a negative test before entering restaurants, bars, and gyms, allowing such businesses to operate in the same manner that they did prior to the pandemic.
However, whilst these moves may be in line with similar moves by other US states, one restricn that hasn't yet been lifted is the indoor mask mandate – meaning travelers will need to pack plenty in their suitcase. Hawaii is the last of the US states to have the indoor mask mandate still in effect, with the state's emergency proclamation in effect until March 25th, though Hawaii's Governor has the power to end it at any time.
Several of the US's most popular states have removed their mask mandate in previous weeks. California removed their mask mandate for vaccinated travelers on February 15th, coming after New York removed their requirements on February 10th. Nevada and Washington have also scrapped their mask mandates whilst other states, such as Connecticut and Oregon, will be removing it in the near future. Hawaii though, it seems, will have to wait.
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bars and restaurantscovid restrictionsHawaii
U.S. Travelers Will Require Authorization Traveling To Europe Starting In 2023
The UK Removes All Internal Restrictions Including Masks


text:
namespace sf
{
namespace priv
{
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// \brief Android implementation of joysticks
///
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
class JoystickImpl
{
public :

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Perform the global initialization of the joystick module
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    static void initialize();

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Perform the global cleanup of the joystick module
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    static void cleanup();

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Check if a joystick is currently connected
    ///
    /// \param index Index of the joystick to check
    ///
    /// \return True if the joystick is connected, false otherwise
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    static bool isConnected(unsigned int index);

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Open the joystick
    ///
    /// \param index Index assigned to the joystick
    ///
    /// \return True on success, false on failure
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    bool open(unsigned int index);

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Close the joystick
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    void close();

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Get the joystick capabilities
    ///
    /// \return Joystick capabilities
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    JoystickCaps getCapabilities() const;

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Get the joystick identification
    ///
    /// \return Joystick identification
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    Joystick::Identification getIdentification() const;

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    /// \brief Update the joystick and get its new state
    ///
    /// \return Joystick state
    ///
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    JoystickState update();

private :

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // Member data
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    int m_index;                               ///< Index of the joystick
    Joystick::Identification m_identification; ///< Joystick identification
};

} // namespace priv

} // namespace sf

#endif // SFML_JOYSTICKIMPLANDROID_HPP