text:
March 12, 2019 Jed Ryan
"Naked Boys Reading": Because Reading Makes You Intelligent… and Intelligence is Sexy!
The first question you may ask when you hear about a show named "Naked Boys Reading" is "Are the guys really naked?" The answer to that one is a definitive "Yes!"
The next question is, "How can I see it?" Well, first buy a ticket! But if you are reading this article in the United States, you'll also need a passport: Naked Boys Reading is currently only a thing in London, England and in Toronto and Ottawa in Canada. The man behind Naked Boys Reading is Ottawa native Rick Telfer, a multi-hyphenate (journalist-activist-nonprofit manager-researcher) who is very involved in Ottawa's vibrant burlesque and theater communities. Telfer is also a burlesque artist, performing under the stage name "Tricky Ricky", and occasionally reading in his own show as well. Naked Boys Reading features a rotating cast of readers each month, featuring a varied cast of all sexual orientations, ethnicities, ages, and body types. Each month features a different theme, with a Special Guest Curator who selects the readings for the cast.
Telfer admits that the selling point of nude men reading books on stage may initially attract the attention of potential audience members, but that there's much more to the show than the promise of skin. For Telfer, it's about bringing communities together. He tells me: "Some may call the show 'lowbrow art'– a 'lower' kind of art form. I've heard it described that way before. But for me, it's also kind of a 'gateway drug' (Laughs) in the sense that it really lures people in and then introduces them to the power of live performance on a stage– especially because it's such an intimate setting. Our show is not a play or a musical, but there are parallels. You have a person on stage telling a story, but also using emotions to convey a reading– in a very vulnerable. way. I think that it gets people interested in the performing arts. The people who come to our show may not necessarily be regular theater-going people, but it's an opportunity for them to see something like that. It opens up their eyes and their horizons to other forms of performing art. That's why we always say at the end of the show, 'Thank you for coming. Thank you for supporting the performing arts on a local level. Be sure to check out other kinds of performing arts– because if you like this, you may like that too.' We're anchored in that tradition."
In anticipation of the upcoming Naked Boys Reading show on March 18th, Telfer took the time to speak to me about the history and future of the show, what makes a naked reader, and why so many people are still afraid of seeing a penis on stage…
JR: Hi, Rick! Thank you for speaking with me! So, how did the idea for a Naked Boys Reading chapter in Ottawa get started?
RT: Naked Boys Reading itself was started in 2012 by Justin Hunt and Alex Karotsch. Now, my understanding is that Justin is from New York but moved to London, England to pursue academic endeavors in the area of theater. While he was there, I believe the other fellow Alex started up Naked Boys Reading around 2012. They had a presence online. I had not heard of it, but in 2016, the local queer community theater group in Ottawa, Toto too Theatre Company, put on a production of Naked Boys Singing. You may be familiar with that show. It originated in New York and ran off Broadway for something like 13 years.
JR: Yes, it's still running!
RT: Yes! So, we did a little community theater production of it. It was a two week run, and it was very popular. It nearly sold out every night. I auditioned to be in the show, and I got cast in the lineup– which was a fairly easy feat because they needed, I think, seven or eight guys to do the show. And they only got seven or eight at the audition! (Both laugh.) They said, "We'd love to have you." And I said, "Cool!" I started to just Google "Naked Boys Singing" to learn more about the history of the show. And of course, Googling "Naked Boys Singing", I stumbled upon "Naked Boys Reading". And I thought, what the hell is this? Is this something related to Naked Boys Singing? It wasn't! Interestingly enough, I didn't know if Justin and Alex' inspiration came from Naked Boys Singing at all, or even if they knew about that show. I wouldn't be surprised if they had, given their background in theater and the fact that Justin was based in New York at one point in time. But in fact, Naked Boys Reading got its inspiration from Naked GIRLS Reading, which originated in Chicago! It goes back even further. I don't know exactly what year it goes back to, but it was some female burlesque performers in Chicago who started up Naked Girls Reading. My link to Naked Boys Reading was because of my research into the show Naked Boys Singing. So, I just sort of arrived at it. Anyway, I have always enjoyed being an event planner and organizer. Most of my other planning and organizing was in politics and activism over the years… but I've always enjoyed theater, especially musical theater, and things like that. So when I'd seen Naked Boys Reading after Google, I decided, "You know what? That's a really cool thing. I'm going to put a pin in that and circle back to that." (Laughs)
Naked Boys Singing wrapped up, and a few months later I contacted Justin in the UK by email through their websites. It was hard to pin him down. He's a very busy guy, so it actually took almost a year before I got to say, "OK, you know what? Like, dude, this is getting ridiculous! We really want to launch Naked Boys Reading in Ottawa and I just need to know the basic nuts and bolts of how you do it, and what sort of branding you would require: you know, sort of permission from you and so on, because I don't want to just launch it without your blessing." I also didn't want any legal trouble. (Laughs) It turns out we had a nice informal Skype chat. We hit it off very quickly, personality wise. I think his brain is kind of speedy like mine! And so it was a very quick, probably a 15 minute Skype chat, at which point I had everything I needed. Now of course, there were various little e-mail follow-ups, questions, and things. And, you know, I just wanted to know things like: What works on stage? How long does the reader read for? Who hosts? Et cetera… So he said, "This is how we do it. It's not some big enterprise. It's just a thing we do for a hobby!" But they did appreciate out asking for permission to use the name and the branding and so forth. In fact, Naked Boys Reading already existed in Toronto, but in a very simple, basic way. In Toronto, there's a bookstore on Church Street called Glad Day. It's a very famous, well-known bookstore for queers in Toronto that has been around forever. It had moved to a new location a few years ago with a bar and a coffee shop… and books of course! And so this fellow, Michael, started to do Naked Boys Reading in that venue. But it wasn't really a venue. It was a hangout within that bookstore. It didn't have the sort of theater production values that we put into it in Ottawa. Justin had told us: "Finesse it. Do it however you want. These are the basic parameters. This is what has worked for us, and you know, you're going to have to decide what works for you and your context." Of course in London, England, and in Toronto, Naked Boys Reading is pretty much run entirely by gay men and their audiences are pretty much entirely gay men. And I said, well, Ottawa is not that big. So I don't think I could make this show such a success if it was just all gay men in the cast and crew ,and all gay men in the audience.
JR: Why?
RT: For a couple of reasons. One, our population is smaller. Two, it's a much more diffuse, sort of scattered community. In Ottawa, there's no real central "village". We all pretend that a part of Bank Street is our "village", but it's kind of ridiculous. It's really not. It's just an intersection where historically there used to be a clustering of gay bars and bath houses in that area. But they're pretty much all gone, with the exception of one. We don't even have a single bar that everybody really goes to anymore. It's become more sort of segmented and siloed. There's a bar for older gentleman who are essentially Leather daddies and Bears. And then, there's really nothing for anybody else except for occasional monthly dance parties that shift venues from time to time. So, all that was sort of the context in which we are operating. Adding to that is that Ottawa is… I don't like using the word, but it's a "conservative" city. In terms of its political culture, it's a very liberal city. Ottawa is per capita the most educated city in all of Canada. It is the seat of our government, and we have two universities and two colleges, and so on. So really not a big surprise there. But it is a "reserved" city. The idea of nudity on stage isn't exactly shocking to people, but they would probably shy away from it. So I thought a lot about that, and decided, "You know what we're going to do? We're going to build a Naked Boys Reading show that is much more mixed in terms of the cast and crew and in terms of the audience that's going to make this a success!"
JR: Damn!
RT: I decided to use LIVE! on Elgin because that is the same venue where we ran Naked Boys Singing. The owner of that bar, Lawrence, is himself a gay man and he is a theater guy too. He started that bar around 2014. There are no pool tables, there are no TVs, and it's not a sports bar-type environment. It is a performing space environment. And he recognized that what Ottawa had were a number of bigger stages for a community theater and small band shows and things like that. But he wanted to create a space that was small or medium, so that people who are just getting their start or people who want to try new things had a venue for that too. I approached Lawrence and said, "This is the idea I have. What do you think?" And he said, "Sure! Let's give that a try". It's a very good arrangement there. We keep 100% of our ticket sales. They sell booze at the bar and they keep all the revenue from that. The very first show we did was in July 2017, and as I said, I wanted it to be marketed more to a mixed crowd. As somebody who had dabbled in burlesque as a hobby, I had a pretty good network in the local burlesque scene, which is quite vibrant in Ottawa– and it's mostly women. And so I invited Rhapsody Blue. I invited her to be the curator for the very first show, because I knew she would have the right sort of perspective. I already knew she was one of the best burlesque performance in Ottawa and probably in all of Canada… but what I didn't know at the time was that she also had a degree in literature. Anyway, in July of 2017, we did the very first show. I invited everybody from the burlesque and local community theater scenes that I knew. Rhapsody was curating the readings, but then I was thinking, well, I need a host. I thought, maybe I'll just get a local drag queen to host, cause that's what they do in London. And I thought more about that and I concluded: First of all, I'm not really sure I know any drag queens well enough to be able to sense whether they would be good host for this show. It's entirely possible that person exists. I just have never been that immersed in local drag culture. Secondly, I do want to have a broader audience, and I want to be able to draw from the burlesque scene in particular. So I contacted Rhapsody again and said: Not only would I like you to curate it, but would you be interested in hosting the show? And she replied, "I would be absolutely delighted." It felt as though SHE was almost asking ME, as if she was waiting for me to ask her. The very first theme was called "Wet". She selected a bunch of readings that were related to the concept of being wet, or water. So, we had some really fun and interesting readings. It was a bit of an abstract, broad concept– but it went over very well. She hosted brilliantly. At first, I thought it was going to be a flop. Advance ticket sales were only about a third of the capacity of the venue. I know that the venue could hold between 60 and 70 people in the audience, and we'd only sold about two dozen tickets. But then, there was a huge line at the door! We ended up selling out or coming close to it that night. That was July, 2017. Ottawa pride is in August every year. We call it "Capitol Pride". That sold out. I thought, let's do it again. And then I thought, we'll give September to try and we'll do the theme of "Back to School". Why not? And, again, it sold out. October was a Halloween show with the readers wearing nothing but makeup. It sold out. For November, the theme was "Love and War". That sold out too. And then December rolled around, and December was a near bust! Very few people showed up for the December show. It was very small. I thought we had run our course. Everyone said, "Don't worry about it. You know, winter is hard in Ottawa, and January will probably suck too. So I thought, "Well, let me try it again." And so I tried January, and it sold out, and it sold out in February, and it sold out in March… (Laughs) So, it became a thing. We're going on Year Two as of July of this year. Just about every show has since sold out in advance, or came very close to it. So it's been quite a phenomenon.
I originally thought I'd never get more than a handful of guys to be readers. How was I going to keep it interesting if it's always the same guys? But people just started coming out of the woodwork. I really struggled to get seven or eight guys the very first show, and that was including myself and my partner Cameron in the mix. But people just started coming to me and saying, "Yeah, I want to do this!" and now we have a roster of over 60 guys who are always on deck waiting for another chance to read. The strategy of making sure it was a broad audience and a diverse cast and crew has really worked, and it's built an interesting community that cuts across gender and sexuality lines. It's been fun! I actually do like hosting, but only if that's my only job. I've enjoyed standing back and watching the show unfold, but you know how it is: If you produce a show, by the time you get to the venue, the show should be pretty much be produced upon your arrival! You oversee, set up, and take down of course… but in terms of the actual show coming together, after you've done it a few times and people know the drill, basically everybody shows up and does their thing, and I get to sit back and enjoy the show. I also observe it and interact with the audience, and talk to them, and figure out what they liked and didn't like, and tweak it accordingly. After every show, I also send out a little survey to anybody who purchased the tickets online. It takes probably 60 to 90 seconds to complete. I ask, "What did you think?" I ask them their opinion on the duration and the content of the readings. I ask if any particular reader really stood out. I ask if there was anything about the venue they didn't like. About 25% of the people who bought the tickets through the online system usually reply. It gives me a really good sense of what worked and what didn't, and it enables me to provide feedback to the readers, the curators, the host, and to the venue. So, we just continually improved and modified it.
JR: Wow! That's great that you have so many guys who want to be readers. I was going to ask if it was hard to find naked readers, but it looks like the naked readers found you.
RT: It wasn't hard to find the first seven or eight guys. I imagined it to be difficult beyond that. The first seven or eight guide guys I initially enlisted– and again, two of them were me and Cam– were people that I knew from the burlesque scene. They were guys who are already used to be mostly naked on stage, and probably always wanted to be naked completely on stage, frankly! (Laughs) The others were guys who had appeared with me in Naked Boys Singing, who worked from the burlesque scene. So I worked it from those two areas, and that was pretty easy. After that, I really didn't have to actively recruit. People came to me and said, "That was awesome. I want to try that!" They come from all different walks of life. You know, at some point I would be interested in digging a little deeper into their psyches to figure out what the common thread is between them all. We have guys who identify as exclusively heterosexual, guys who identify as exclusively homosexual, and then a whole array of guys in between who walk the Kinsey scale, so to speak. So, isn't strictly a sexuality thing. We have guys who are super-confident in their body and love to show it off. We have guys who have a major body issues, and who have struggled with eating disorders and such who have participated. So again, the common thread doesn't seem to be sexual orientation, or confidence in one's own body image. It's quite possible there isn't a common thread at all. It's possible that people do it for different reasons. But I do think there are some underlying reasons why people do it. Or, it may be the case that the common thread isn't INITIALLY doing it, but rather that the common thread emerges AFTER they'd done it the first time, because they sort of realize the enjoyment of doing it and the sort of benefits of doing it, and that's what binds them all together… if that makes any sense.
JR: It does! I get it. A few of the guys that I spoke with had said that they were nervous at first. They didn't think that they could do something like this, or they didn't know how they would feel about it, or didn't know how the audience would react. But then afterwards, the words that I heard were usually "liberating" and…
RT: "Empowering"?
JR: Yes, "empowering"!
RT: I can honestly say that some 60 to 70 guys later, I've never had a single one say that they regretted doing it, or that they hated it, or that it was a bad experience for them. None of them have ever had that. Even the ones who had declined to return– and there's only been a couple of them–had said that it was because it was a bad experience. In fact, everyone has said that it's been a positive experience.
JR: Wow! So, how has the response been from the audience so far?
RT: Before every show, we ask the audience who has never been to the show before. And on any given day, on average, about half the audience has been there before, and half of the audience hasn't. It changes. Sometimes it's 80-20. Sometimes it's 60-40. But I would say on average, roughly speaking and judging from a show of hands, it seems that about either half or just under half of the audience tends to be people who've never been before. So that suggests to me is that the other half of the people are loyal, returning audience members. I do ask them, of course, what they like about the show. The survey can't always tell you exactly why they are there. Clearly, if you're coming to see a show called Naked Boys Reading, it's self-evident that you're there either for the naked men, or for the books, or both. But why do they keep coming back? I think for the most part there are some common reasons why people come back to the show. Somebody had written a story about Naked Boys Reading and their reflection on participating in it. And they said that people aren't there because they're necessarily looking for hot bods– whatever definition that might be– but they're there because the sexiness arises from the confidence, vulnerability, and courage of the people getting on stage. It sort of like the appreciation we have for anybody who can get in front of a crowd and be charismatic, or who can perform in wild and crazy ways, right? We just find them attractive. If you were walking down the street and you were just passing by somebody, you might not really give him a second look.They might not be your cup of tea or the thing that turns your crank. But, when you see him completely naked on a stage, doing a reading in a dramatic or charismatic way, suddenly, they're so sexy! I think that's why people return. I think that's what they're into. But also, people are really just into the books and the literature. The mainstream media, student press, and arts magazines have contacted me and they always want to know about the nudity. It's almost always their first line of questioning. The nudity is the hook. I always think that's funny. Yeah, the nudity is kind of cool. It's unique, it's novel… but this is a literary salon. We read literature. Fiction and nonfiction. Funny and sad. We take you on a ride. I don't think people are necessarily expecting that upon first arrival, but when they get that, it's an experience they haven't really had before. I mean, who ever previously has attended a literary salon? I'm an academic and somebody who enjoys traveling and culture and things. And I had never really heard of a literary salon beyond the historical ones in France (Laughs): the old Enlightenment tradition and the early modern French novelists hanging out, smoking cigarettes, running ideas past each other, and reading passages and things! A literary salon in a contemporary setting? I had no idea that that was anything that anybody ever did! When I decided to launch the show, I thought, it's going to be all about the nudity. But I think that actually for most people, what they love isn't the nudity– but rather the vulnerability, the courage, and the confidence that they see in the readers– which is sort of derivative of the nudity. And then, the thing that brings them back over and over again is legitimate, genuine interest in the readings: enlightening themselves, expanding their horizons and their minds, and introducing them to books. We've had this effect of getting people interested in all kinds of things that we read. People often ask afterwards, "Can I get the title of that book?" And we're only reading a few pages– like, two to three pages from a novel. Very often it's sufficient to get people interested in buying that novel. So, I think those are the reasons why people return. It's not because a flaccid penis is really all that interesting. (Laughs) I don't think anybody could believe that a series of flaccid penises over a two hour period is sufficient reason for anybody to return over and over and over again.
JR: Oh no? (Laughs)
RT: I mean, there may be a couple and that's okay. (Laughs) I think for the majority of people, that's not why they come back. That's why I call the show "the ultimate dick trick"… because we lure them in. (Laughs) We put those little worms on a hook and bait people into the venue with a penis– and then they get hooked on the actual performance dimension, and the vulnerability dimension, and the literary dimension to it. I think that those are the reasons why people keep coming back!
JR: What was the most unusual reaction, whether good or bad, that you ever got from an audience member? Was there any moment which was particularly memorable?
RT: Hmmm… I can't pinpoint any one thing. I'll say some things that have been surprising. I've seen the audience reduced to tears because of some really emotional reading: something that really moved people on a personal level. I've seen a guy at one of the very first show up with his cell phone and trying to sneak pictures of the readers…
JR: Not surprising!
RT: I put measures in place to stop that! (Laughs) I've had someone write about the show in a local community newspaper who hadn't even attended it– but had a strong opinion about it: that it was a pointless, silly thing for people to be exposing their "manhood" onstage while reading books. That it was "ridiculous". And they hadn't even come!
JR: Well, O- K then! (Laughs)
RT: Yeah! And I responded to that. It was a publicly distributed opinion piece by a young student journalist in a local community production paper produced over the university, I believe. I didn't go too hard on them, but I said that I was also a freelance writer and journalist, and Rule Number One is that before you have an opinion about something, at least check it out. It was pretty strange to me. So, yeah, that was a bit weird. Oddly, it was pretensive to reduce the whole show to "penis" (Laughs)… but I think in some ways it really reflects wider cultural norms and stigma taboos about male nudity. Another reaction I've had, again, from people who had never come to the show: I'll ask them, "Why don't you come and see the show?" They'll say, "I don't know. I have questions." I say, "What's your question?" and they ask, "Is it sleazy?" Again, I'm surprised. Maybe it's surprising that I'm surprised. But I want to ask them, "What gave you that impression? It's not a porn show!" Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that's not what this is. (Laughs) It's not a peep show. Why don't you just come and see it for yourself, and make your decision? The show can't be reduced completely to being a literary salon where people get up and read. It can't simply be reduced to naked guys. It's something bigger than those two things. When you combine those things, the intersection is something much more than just naked guys or just people reading. It's odd to me. What we're really talking about is male genitalia. We do see men bodies, right? We see them shirtless and we see a lot of men's bums these days in movies and things. We see male genitals a bit more often nowadays, with Netflix and the rest pushing the envelope a little bit. But it's still from a distance, kind of fuzzy, and you can screen cap it and zoom in all you want. You're never really going to be satisfied! But it tells us a lot. It tells us a lot about the fear of the phallus, but also about the stigmatization of it. It's just odd when you think about it because– well, I'm not sure about lesbians, but doesn't everyone else love dick? (Both laugh.) I don't really get the apprehension– and I include straight men in that because they may not love other men's dicks, but they love their own! The vast majority of people love dick… and so why not? Why not enjoy it and celebrate it, without it becoming some kind of competition or some kind of measuring contest, or something that's associated with toxic masculinity. Why don't we demystify this organ and have fun with it for what it is? Why is it regarded as something that needs to be censored, or thought of is dirty, or something that should only be seen in the dark? So, those have been interesting reactions. But I find, as I say, that it's usually people reacting in a way that speaks to their lack of actual witnessing or engagement with the show. I don't think I've ever had anybody say in any strong terms that they were never coming back after they'd seen the show. Surely there have been people who came once and it wasn't their cup of tea. But I think those people were sort of curious about the nudity aspect, but literature really isn't their thing. And at the end of the day, they show is fundamentally more about literature then it is about penis.
JR: Oh, I get it! While we are on the subject of literature: In this day and age, reading books has changed. The whole process has transformed from the fact that we moved from reading a physical book to reading an e-book on a phone or notebook, or listening to an audiobook. Do you think that the physical, paper book is going to make a comeback, or is it a thing of the past?
RT: I have my own personal opinions about what I like. Personally, I read physical printed paper books, and I also have an e-book reader that I use. I still prefer the kinesthetic aspect of a book. I like the way books feel. I like the way they smell. I like the temptation of turning the page. There is something about a book, right? But also, for the purpose of traveling, it's a pain in the ass– especially for a bibliophile like me– to carry that many books in your luggage. So having an e-book reader means that I can still read, but on a different medium. I find that this show sort of lends support to the idea that humans prefer reading from books. The reason I say that is because given the option of reading from a tablet, reading from a printout, or reading from a bound book, the readers nearly always prefer an actual book. Audiences come to the table and they say, "Do you have that book? I want to hold it and I want to look at it." There's something tangible about it. Also, sometimes you want to go back to your books, even if it's just for a particular passage or a particular quote. I hold onto books that I've had, in some cases books I've had for 20 years– because that novel moves me in some way. For example, I've got books on my shelf, and the only reason they're on my shelf is to remind me that I read that book and how it made me feel; not necessarily because I'll ever read it again! It's a sentimental value in a very real way. It evokes feelings and memories and helps you to remember different points in your life. They are memories and little bundles of emotion. You don't get that from a non-tangible electronic data file. Once you've read that e-book, it disappears into the ecos and you never think about it again– or you don't think about it in the same way, I should say.
JR: Agreed! There's just something about holding the book in your hands and turning the pages. I still believe in the printed book as well. And it's also worth mentioning that a lot of the books that were read at the last Naked Boys Reading show that I went to were probably only available at this point in the original paper format. So, if people were really moved by it and want to read it, that will really make them seek out that book. Yep! So… what's the next event coming up?
RT: Our next show is "Naked Bears Reading: Out of Hibernation". The readings are going to be relatable to the theme of hibernation, but the concept also speaks to the lineup of readers that are going to be in the show. So in some ways, we're shifting the focus away from the readings and more on the men who are reading in the show: specifically, their bodies and their body types. We're celebrating those body types. Every single one of those guys getting on stage are hot in their own ways and in different people's eyes. We want to showcase that. We have always had that philosophy at the root of his show, but for the first time we're rolling on a theme that is really putting a spotlight on them. I feel confident about that because I feel established as a show that celebrates body positivity and diversity and representation on the stage. I think if we had started with a focus on the bodies and the body types, I think it would have seemed like a gimmick. At this stage in the game, I feel like it really a true reflection of what the show in all about in the philosophy that underlies it. So, that's something that we're doing. Inevitably, you know, people always have suggestions for me. I truly, genuinely welcome suggestions. It's cute because I've often already thought of those things (Laughs), but also get suggestions that I HADN'T thought of yet: I'm like, "That's a great idea!". So I love getting suggestions, but inevitably after the Naked Bears Reading, the next thing I get from people is, "Well then you could do a Naked Twinks Reading, and then you can do a Naked Otters Reading, and then you could do a Naked Daddies Reading"!… and then I said, "OK!" Obviously, I thought of it, but I don't want that to be a gimmick. I don't want the show to be focused entirely on bodies and body types. But it's something to throw in, to add a little bit of spice every now and then. And it does excite people. Early indication in terms of expressions of interest in the next show suggest to me that this is going to be very successful. I have never had so many people respond to a Facebook event so quickly and responded so many weeks in advance of the show! A local burlesque performer who has on one or two occasions stood in for Rhapsody literally wrote on our Facebook wall, "Fire Rhapsody! I want to host the show!" (Laughs) They're very good friends, so he can get away with that. I was on the airplane coming to Toronto yesterday for work very early in the morning, and the woman sitting beside me– a lovely woman around my age– said, "Oh, you know, I just wanted to chat." And I'm a chatty person, even though I prefer to sleep. But she seemed lovely. She asked, "What do you do in your spare time?" I said, "I run a show called 'Naked Boys Reading'". And then I got into the fact that the next one was actually "Naked BEARS Reading". Her face lit up and she said, "I've never heard of that show! My partner is a big hairy guy. I might have to come!" So that to me was a really interesting little consumer study. It was interesting because I wasn't even really thinking about the appeal of the show to a woman who is in a heterosexual relationship with a man who body type fits in the category of "Bear". We normally think of Bears as a gay thing, as a part of gay subculture, but there are straight Bears too. And there are women and men who loved them and who really appreciate their body type. She was indicative of that and I thought to myself, "You know what? We might have a very winning show here!" (Laughs).
JR: I don't doubt it! (Laughs)
RT: So, I think we'll play a bit more with the themes and how those relate to the actual men doing the readings. It won't become then new formula, but it will be something to roll out once in a while when we want to add a little twist. It's a bit of a luxury to live in a very, very big city like Toronto or London, England, where you can pretty much rely on a sufficiently sized audience to put the show on every month or whatever. But in Ottawa, we have to be a bit more creative in terms of drawing and maintaining a loyal audience. So out of necessity, we had to appeal beyond just gay men. The serendipitous outcome of that is a bridging of the art worlds, and making new friends, and having so much fun together, and learning from one another, and realizing that we're not so different.
JR: Ain't it the truth! So, one last question: There was controversy about the London "Naked Boys Reading" Facebook page being targeted. What happened with that?
RT: Yeah! Naked Boys Reading in London, and in Ottawa, and elsewhere — in Facebook in particular, but also sometimes on Instagram– has experienced censorship by those social media giants. In the case of the original Naked Boys Reading in London, they went to promote their show one day and their Facebook page was deleted– completely deleted, without warning. They contacted Facebook to try and figure out what was going on. It was mostly a futile effort. Considering the show has been around since 2012 and the Facebook presence a only a little bit shorter than that, it came as a big surprise. Why now? What's going on? I think anybody who's in the world of adult entertainment– whether you want to call that soft, or hard, or adult entertainment, or PG-13, or burlesque, or whatever– I think we've all been experiencing increasing censorship on Facebook in particular. It won't come as any surprise to people, but that's happening. You still can't have a woman with a nipple exposed on Facebook, except for a few exceptions that Facebook has rules about. It's just that the lines are not very clear. The so-called community standards of Facebook are actually quite general, and open-ended, and open to interpretation. It's also not clear that the censorship that occurs from time to time is actually being done by the software itself through some sort of algorithm, or if a human is making the decision– making it very unclear as to what's happening. It has happened to us. We had our Facebook page banned. Not deleted, but suspended and taken off from public view. My suspicion is that there was a campaign by some hateful people to try to get rid of our page. But I was successful in reaching Facebook and explaining the show, and they reinstated our page. The other frustration is that I've spend $20 or $30 every month to promote each events as a sponsored event. That shows up in people's feeds, and for the first 20 shows or so, it really hasn't been a problem. They always approved those ads. We do make an effort to observe those community standards. We're not trying to push the envelope. We're trying to work within them. There've been a few times where they said they wouldn't approve an ad. And I revisited it and said, okay, I can see why it doesn't fit community stands. I don't agree with this interpretation, but I can see why it's reasonable to conclude that we did "cross the line". What I noticed in the last few months is that the ads have been getting rejected outright or had been rejected after they've already been approved and running for some time. And then they're suddenly disapproved. And then I have to have very lengthy back-and-forths. Again, it's not always clear if it's a human or a computer that I'm talking to. And then we had an ad approved by Facebook, and then at the midpoint for whatever reason, all of a sudden you've gotten a notice: "We've re-looked at it, and now we're not approving it." So I had to have a very lengthy back and forth, and eventually human brains properly assessed it and they reinstated the ad. Then this month, I advertise "Naked Bears Reading", and it was rejected immediately. I replied and said, very nicely, that we've been doing this show now almost two years. It's been about two dozen shows. Ninety percent of the time there had been no issue. We have made every effort to operate within the community standards that Facebook has laid out. Could you please revisit this ad?… and, you know, this is getting kind of ridiculous! They re-examined it. They approved it. So that was only one appeal. But last month I must have written to them literally six times, and they just kept coming back with a boiler plate reply. So then I tried to engage with Facebook via Twitter and other venues. I don't know if that had an impact, but it resolves after I took that option. "Pink News" did a story about what happened to the Facebook page in London, UK. So, yeah, so it does seem to me that Facebook is censoring with greater frequency. It also seems to me that it's probably driven by software and algorithms. I think it's a real problem in terms of queer culture in particular. It's not that we're all hedonist, sex starved people. The problem is the association with the human body with those things. It's that culture and so-called "mainstream" society looks at the human form as something to hide and to be ashamed of. I'm not one of those people who believes that the human form should be absolutely visible in every imaginable way on a social media platform like Facebook. I don't think pornography has a place on Facebook. I think a space could be potentially carved out for us that is accessible– only to adults and things like that. But then you get into the dicey issue of defining who's an adult and what kind of porn is acceptable! I think that stuff that's pornographic or truly "adult entertainment" can be defined. I do think there are other avenues for those things. I don't think Facebook would necessarily one of them. But I think things like modeling, things like life drawing, things like burlesque, and things like Naked Boys Reading absolutely have a place on Facebook, which is dominated by adults. The justification that Facebook offers for its community standards and for rejecting our ads is strange to me, because the initial reason they always give you is "We didn't approve it because it's the kind of thing that might offend some people." I'm probably paraphrasing slightly, but what struck me was this idea that we need to censor this because SOME people might be offended? Well, the important question is "Which people? Are they reasonable people or are they religious zealots?" I don't think we should establish community standards according to some lowest common denominator of a conservative worldview. I think that ultimately what Facebook is doing, when it's worrying about some people being offended, is potentially capitulating to groups like the Christian right. Why do we accept those standards as the common denominator? Fuck that. The beauty of queer culture is that it invites the mainstream to rethink about the human form and expressing sexuality, and to move beyond the pre -established categories of thought about the human form and sexuality. That's something that should be encouraged and celebrated, not censored because some wingnut is afraid of seeing a penis!
JR: (Laughs) Well said! So… anything else you want to tell everyone. Besides, of course, to get your tickets for "Naked Bears Reading" this month?
RT: Yes! Tell the queer community in New York. City to get its shit together and launch Naked Boys Reading there!
JR: (Laughs) That's our next conversation! Until then, thanks for speaking with me!
Naked Boys Reading is a monthly event at LIVE! on Elgin, 220 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K2P 1L7. The next Naked Boys Reading will be Naked Bears Reading on Monday, March 18th, at 8PM. You can buy tickets here.
(Photos by Zac Emery of Handsome Zac Photography. Photo #7 by Andrew Meade.)
Previous "THE INHERITANCE OF SHAME": Playhouse Creatures Bring True Story of Conversion Therapy to NYC Stage.
Next A SUPERSTAR'S PRE-BLONDE AMBITION: Madonna and the Breakfast Club


text:
When Research Interests Overlap and Intersect
Lucy Bales '18
As an economics and political science double-major, Lucy Bales '18 is "especially interested in the potential policy applications of economic theory." She took Economics of Crime with Logan Lee, assistant professor of economics, and Law and Economics with Brad Graham, associate professor of economics.
"Both of these classes gave me a chance to explore areas of economics that are also focused on policy analysis," she says. "In both seminars we used economic theory and modeling techniques to study human behavior and the effectiveness of certain policies."
In Economics of Crime, she conducted research on the impact of U.S. troops on levels of global terrorism. "I tried to predict the number of U.S. troops abroad using American election cycles in order to determine whether U.S. troops actually deter terrorist activity," she says. "Unfortunately, this modeling technique ended up being unsuccessful."
Although her results were not the most reliable, "this was a really fun and interesting project because it allowed me to explore a hotly debated topic in political science using an interesting econometric technique," she says.
In her Law and Economics seminar, Bales studied whether the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) functions efficiently as a proxy legal body for the international community. She examined what determines whether a permanent member on the council uses its veto power.
She created two different models. "I modeled a 2-player game that demonstrated that states are always incentivized to vote in their own interests, not in the interests of the collective as we would hope. I ran an empirical model using data from every resolution that has been vetoed by the UNSC since 1945. This was really interesting, because as I was compiling the data, Russia vetoed another resolution regarding the conflict in Syria. I was able to incorporate that veto into my research, so I was really able to see how my project was playing out in real life!"
Bales says, "The best part of both seminars was definitely the ability to conduct independent research on a subject I wanted. With this flexibility, I was able to tailor my research to write 2 papers that applied economic modeling frameworks to questions that I had been wondering about in my political science major."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is books I loved but will never re-read.
That's it for my list of books I loved but will never re-read, whether it's because they're too long or I think I wouldn't like them as much if I read them again. I still consider all of these books to be good; I just don't think it's likely that I'll ever re-read them. What's one book you loved but will never re-read?


text:
Activities/Proposals/Digital rights video archive
From Wikimedia UK
< Activities | Proposals(Redirected from Initiatives/Proposals/Digital rights video archive)
Producing a series of video interviews with the key figures in digital rights battles, such as ID Cards, the Crypto Wars and DRM.
4 Volunteering
5 Discussion
Outline[edit | edit source]
Volunteers will produce a series of short (10-15 minutes) interview-based films to document the key arguments and outcomes of digital rights battles fought in the UK and Europe.
We would structure the series to capture the wide range of civil and consumer rights issues that intersect with digital technology. Appropriate topics would include, for example, the intellectual property rights in the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Crypto Wars, RIPA, ID Cards, anti-circumvention provisions, copyright term extension and data retention directives.
We estimate a three-day production schedule per video, which includes arranging and conducting the interviews as well as post-production editing and quality control. Open Rights Group's core staff will connect volunteers with appropriate interview targets and ensure high standards in production values.
The key to ensuring these videos' utility will be securing the most relevant and exciting speakers, and then presenting their words in a viewer-friendly format.
Benefits[edit | edit source]
The primary outcome will be a series of videos, made available for reuse and remix, that document how and why digital rights debates have emerged as the civil rights battlegrounds of the information age.
These arguments and outcomes are currently not easily available because they have never received systematic documentary review. These videos will be an invaluable resource to current and future generations of academics and activists in order for them to learn about the key decisions and figures.
ORG is in a unique position to document and promote this work, being highly connected with the individuals involved in these battles, having volunteers and management capabilities and also a high level of contact with academic and activist viewers and re-users.
Requirements[edit | edit source]
Ideally, we would spend a total of £2,000 on producing a series of ten videos. We have budgeted a need of £200 per video, which includes travel (£75) and subsistence (£15/day) expenses for volunteers, in addition to video consumables £25/day.
However, depending on the funders' allocation of budget, we would be happy to discuss reducing or scaling up the project as appropriate. We would not envisage producing more than 15 videos however. A smaller series of videos would still be an excellent resource provided the most important subjects were selected for inclusion.
Volunteering[edit | edit source]
Open Rights Group has an existing volunteer-base and volunteer management capacity that would be relied upon to produce these videos.
If you're interested in helping out with this proposal, please sign below with *~~~
Discussion[edit | edit source]
Retrieved from "https://wikimedia.org.uk/w/index.php?title=Activities/Proposals/Digital_rights_video_archive&oldid=10413"
Declare Gift Aid
Borrow equipment
Cultural partnerships
Expert outreach
Unless otherwise stated, text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply. Wikimedia UK is a Charitable Company registered in England and Wales.
Registered Company No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Scottish Charity number SC048644. Registered Office: 5-11 Lavington Street, London SE1 0NZ
About Wikimedia UK


text:
TechNewsWorld > Reviews |
Kindle for PC: A Good Preview for E-Reader Fence-Sitters
By Renay San Miguel
Nov 10, 2009 12:29 PM PT
The scales of justice definitely don't tip in grayscale's favor when it comes to the overall e-reader device experience for consumers. Whether it's an Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader or Barnes & Noble Nook, 16-level grayscale means nothing more than a digital version of the weather in Seattle between November and April: different shades of gray.
I realize that for the most part we're talking about black words on a white "page," and having test-driven all but the Nook, I'm well aware of the advantages of storing the equivalent of a home library in an 8-inch long, 10-ounce tablet. Wireless downloads and the ability to digitally bookmark/annotate for study uses also weigh in on the plus side for e-readers. But these devices are also going up against hundreds of years of reading habits, and anything that gets in the way of tactile and optical book-shopping pleasures is a considerable obstacle. The current inability to transfer a lot of color to e-ink is a hindrance for a lot of people who still judge books by their covers.
Which is why the Kindle for PC from Amazon is a small step forward for consumers who are still wondering whether to make that giant leap from physical to digital books. The free 5.17MB download, available Tuesday from the online retailer, is a gentler introduction to Amazon's e-book strategy for those who are more comfortable reading for long periods of time on their laptop or desktop computers. Thanks to your computer's processing power, it brings color back into the mix -- albeit in a more limited way than I would prefer. With apologies to Cormac McCarthy, the real potential for Kindle for PC lies down The Road.
You can now download Kindle for PC to computers running XP, Vista and Windows 7 (a Mac version is coming). The new Microsoft OS, of course, enables touchscreen/multi-touch interactivity, so if you have an HP Touchsmart or similar machine, you can zoom in and out of the text with your fingers. An Amazon press release promises finger-powered page-turning in a future Windows 7 release. (Hopefully, people will get used to the fact that they won't have to lick their fingers before flicking.)
It's an aptly-named app; Kindle for PC truly gives you the e-reader format on your desktop/laptop with only slight variations. A quick download from Amazon.com sets up an easy-to-navigate Home page for you and automatically archives any previous Kindle purchases. I checked in and sure enough, there was my copy of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers that I had purchased when I reviewed the Kindle 2 for a TV station earlier this year. The only other links and buttons you'll see are for the Kindle Store, Menu, and a Sort By function (choose from author or title.)
Superfreakonomics showed up instantly on my Home page -- once Amazon took it off "pending" status in my Manage My Kindle page. This may have been a local network issue or Amazon may have been busy with people checking out Kindle for PC, but it only happened once. All other downloads were lightning-quick. But sorry, no newspapers, magazines or blogs. Then again, it's your PC. Isn't your favorite short-attention-span reading already bookmarked or RSSed somewhere on your machine?
Periodicals aside, I get that Amazon wants to approximate the Kindle experience as much as possible, since you have that ability to sync purchases if you also own the e-reader device; you can begin a book on a plane trip using the Kindle and then finish it at home on your desktop. But on the PC, you have wasted gray space on either side of the "page." I know the idea is to simulate reading on a Kindle. I guess I was simply hoping for something that took advantage of a bigger, wider desktop screen.
If you don't have touchscreen functions, you can only increase the text size using the "Aa" font button. You can bookmark pages, but there's no annotation with Kindle for PC. Still, these 49-year-old eyes would rather use Kindle for PC on my HP Mini netbook than on the Kindle for iPhone app. I need all the font size and digital dog-earing I can handle.
The Wide World of Color
Amazon has big plans -- and revenue possibilities -- for the Kindle on school and university campuses around the world; imagine a year's worth of textbooks and study guides sliding easily into a backpack. But it needs color functionality to paint that profitable picture, and Kindle for PC shows what might be coming soon for Amazon if it can get its technological ducks in a row.
I was a big "Bloom County" fan in my 20-something years, and I was grinning like a goofy Berke Breathed comic-strip creation when I downloaded Opus: 25 Years of his Sunday Best in all its full-color glory. A digital photography book sample also came through with color photos intact, although a sample of a how-to on cupcake decorations was curiously in black-and-white. The cupcakes still looked yummy, but the capricious nature of what gets downloaded in color and what doesn't on Kindle for PC isn't all that appetizing.
The book covers are also available in color, and I think that's important for those who take the cover art and design into account when making a purchase -- or determining if they want to leave their 20th century book-reading ways behind and venture into the realm of digital reading. Kindle for PC serves as a helpful bridge for those folks, and a slightly more colorful one at that.
For that reason -- the baby step toward more use of color -- I would recommend Kindle for PC, especially for the fence-sitters who see the holiday season coming and are wondering if they should drop hints about an e-reader on Santa's "nice" list. The format will get you used to viewing books on the dedicated device, and more colorful pages will prepare you for anything Amazon or other e-reader manufacturers may have up their sleeves for Christmases yet to come.
Reprints More by Renay San Miguel


The Coron Air SPIN has been designed to deliver performance protection all day long. Taking POC's whole-helmet approach to design and construction to deliver superior levels of comfort, fit and performance, the Coron Air SPIN features optimized ventilation channels to ensure airflow is maximized at both low and high speeds, making it ideal for all-day use, especially during transfers between Enduro stages.
Other features developed as part of our whole-helmet approach include SPIN (Shearing Pad INside) our patent-pending silicone pad technology system; removeable cheek pads for extra protection on the way down and increased ventilation when riding between Enduro race stages.
The helmet's specially formed ear chambers are designed to minimize the negative effect on balance and hearing associated with wearing a full-face helmet. A fiber glass shell and a multi-impact EPP liner provide high impact performance, durability and low weight.
Developed in collaboration with POC Team athletes Martin Söderström and Robin Wallner, the Coron Air SPIN provides protection trusted by the professionals.
Break Away visor designed to break off in the case of an impact to protect the rider's neck.
All internal padding can be removed for washing.
Precision and seemless fit with new Ora mountain bike goggle.
Ventilation channels have been optimized for performance at low and high speeds; ideal for both race and transfer stages in Enduro.
To minimise crash forces transfered to the head and increase rider protection, the peak will break away in the event of a crash.


text:
Prelude.12: The Manifesto Recap
Oct 05, 2012 by Jeremy M. Barker in Festivals
Miguel Gutierrez and Andrew Champlin
Apologies for failing to get my reaction to Wednesday night's program of manifestos which opened Prelude.12 together in a more timely manner, but in some ways it seems appropriate. Not to be shady, but failure was on my mind after Wednesday's Manifesto onslaught, where a grab-bag of writers, directors, choreographers, and performers came together to deliver various states of various address (and for some, in various states of undress). Which is hardly to say that the participants failed to inspire, invigorate, or provoke–instead, in an evening which happily had incongruity in its blood (a mix of lectures and performances, commissions and presentations of previously existing pieces), the theme of failure was invoked with intriguing consistency.
Leah Nanako Winkler gave a calmly delivered, but in many ways scathing in content, account of her transition from the undergraduate bubble of a theatre department to the harsh realities (and harsher silences) of self-producing in the downtown scene with her manifesto, "WORK HARD PLAY HARDER." Although her tale began with her receiving a scholarship to allow her to attend theatre college (which her father described as "like someone giving you two, brand new cars every year for the next four years"), far from an uplifting boot-straps fable, Nanako Winklers's chronicle quickly became an incisive interrogation into the invisible privilege which undergirds many downtown success stories. This included recounting when a theatre collective she had created with her friends fell apart "emotionally and financially," but far from that being some kind of disquieting coda to shrug off, it was really only a jumping-off point for Nanako Winkler to think on failure: "I have failed countlessly. I was born into failure, and I chose to pursue a profession that was kind of failing as a whole."
Here, failure wasn't a regrettable aberration, but an integral part of the ecology of performance and performing. This was echoed even in Maria Striar's own warmly scrappy take on the Manifesto, "Leave Me to My Own Devices and I Come Up With Names Like Clubbed Thumb," as her own performed hesitance ("Yeah, sure. I have beliefs. Strong beliefs! …about theatre.") wasn't left to its own devices for long as a chorus leapt from the crowd to accompany Striar's increasingly confident decrees. And yet, even as Striar qualified her outlook as "slightly delusional" (albeit "no more than individual recycling"), her chorus (only somewhat) tongue-in-cheekily droned, "This is how ideals die." Striar herself even beguilingly (though hardly in defeat) admitted, "Theatre always fails, somehow."
Tina Satter's (accompanied by the terrifyingly talented Half Straddle ensemble) heartfelt riff on Aristotle, "Schmoetics," seemed to in part answer how theatre could always seem to fail "somehow" in recounting when an artistic director asked what she was trying to do with her work: "I'm trying to stage the impossible." Satter stood by the possibly cringe-inducing earnestness of this lofty goal, which has built into it the acceptance that in never quite capturing the impossible, all her performances could be understood as variations on a failed theme.
Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People closed out the evening with a piece for two performers, "The Problem With Dancing," here rendered trans-coastally as Gutierrez Skyped in from San Francisco to accompany performer Andrew Champlin at the Martin Segal Center. Delivered in breathless synchronized rushes, Gutierrez and Champlin listed all of the "problems," with dancing, among them:
It doesn't sell
It doesn't last
It doesn't mean anything"
"It doesn't cure cancer
It doesn't cure AIDS"
"It doesn't stop riots
It doesn't start riots"
And on and on, as each deep breathe prefaced another litany of ultimately what could be understood as a catalogue of dance as a medium's failures.
In his 2011 work The Queer Art of Failure, theorist J. Jack Halberstam turns a sharp but generous gaze on failure, as an affect, as an enterprise, and on a way of life, particularly for those subjects for whom "success" (in all of its heteronormative, middle class, wealth-accumulating valences) has never been particularly desirable, or more importantly, attainable. Halberstam writes that failing is something that queers (which in his definition extends to "nonnormative logics and organizations of community, sexual identity, embodiment, and activity in space and time," In a Queer Time and Place) do and "have always done exceptionally well." Here, Halberstam embraces failure as a queer condition not to be avoided at all costs, but embraced, and perhaps even celebrated asking, "What kind of rewards can failure offer us?"
The performances in which the recurring invocations of failure were couched on Wednesday night seemed to in part answer this question. Just as Gutierrez and Champlin, out of breath from their ever-mounting list of charges against dance's inefficacy, seemed to have built an insurmountable archive of reasons to never dance again, the slick, descending synths of Robyn's "With Every Heartbeat" pumped through the speakers, and both performers stripped down to skimpy canvas aprons (which were quickly rendered superfluous) as they literally leapt into a joyously balls-out (again, literally) staggered pas de deux. At one point, in light of their physical separation, each performer grabbed a partner (Gutierrez's conveniently waiting off-screen, Champlin going for Gutierrez's manager) to take a break from the choreography for a sloppy, make-out session. In spire of being inundated with all of dancing's failures, the dance nonetheless offered its own incredibly compelling rewards.
Leah Nanako Winkler's conclusion actually in many ways illuminated this, proclaiming (as members of the Everywhere Theatre Company joined her from the audience, inhaling and exhaling in unison), "What we have is a chance within this failure–a chance to be fearless"–to write, speak, create, and dance not only courageously, but also unceasingly. Halberstam writes (with great sympathy and resonance to those working in the arts ) "We are all used to having our dreams crushed, our hopes smashed, our illusions shattered, but what comes after hope?" With a queerly practiced (or performed) failure comes with it a new kind of optimism, one that does not rely on "positive thinking as an explanatory engine for social order, nor one that insists upon the bright side at all costs." Instead, we are left with the sense of an outlook which, "produces shade and light in equal measure, and knows that the meaning of one always depends on the meaning of the other."
Referencing her father's explanation of her scholarship, Nanako Winkler advised those present to "Crash the new car. Crash it, and burn it, and make it explode." One of the senses I took away from Manifestos 2012 is that perhaps contemporary performance, and the new forms it will take, will not move forward in spite of failure, of dying ideals, or of attempting to stage the impossible, but more accurately, because of it. Or, in Beckett's words, "Fail again. Fail better."
Tagged with: leah nanako winkler, manifestos, miguel guttierez, Prelude Festival, prelude12, tina satter
About the author Jeremy M. Barker
0 thoughts on "Prelude.12: The Manifesto Recap"
Pingback: Manifesto Write-Ups in Culturebot, Contemporary Performance « this is leah winklers website
Trackback: Manifesto Write-Ups in Culturebot, Contemporary Performance « this is leah winklers website


text:
Q: Does this method that changes an instance variable belong in my Rails controller or model? I have a basic "best practice" question about controllers and instance variables.
Say you have an instance variable in anew or update action in a controller, is it ok to modify that instance variable via a private method in the controller?  Or should the method exist in the model?
e.g. in this example below, I need to loop through the attributes of an instance variable, and add or remove something.  For example, if I am using nested attributes 3 layers deep and have to remove certain attributes, change them and then add them back in.  I know this may seem strange, but assume it is necessary.
def new
  @some_thing = SomeThing.new(:some_params)
  do_something_to_inst_var # method call
  @some_thing.save
end

private

def do_something_to_inst_var
  @some_thing.addresses.each do |address|
    # modify it in some  way
  end
end

Or is this bad practice?  Should this be a method in the model and should be called like:
@some_thing.do_something_to_inst_var

OR
should we explicitly pass the instance variable to the method like:
def new
  @some_thing = SomeThing.new(:some_params)
  do_something_to_inst_var(@some_thing) # method call
  @some_thing.save
end

private

def do_something_to_inst_var(some_thing)
  some_thing.addresses.each do |addresses|
    # modify it in some way
  end
end

I'm looking for some clarity here, with an example if possible.  I'm still learning and trying to improve and I didn't find an answer by searching.

A: Rails applications should have "thin controllers" and "fat models" for a couple of reasons:

*

*Each object should handle only its own responsibilities. A controller should just be about connecting the web, the the model and the view, which thanks to Rails doesn't take much code. If a controller method refers repeatedly to methods of the same model, it's incorrectly taking on model responsibilities; we say that it's not cohesive or that it has "Feature Envy". It is more likely that if the model changes the controller will have to change in parallel.

*It's easier to test models than to test controllers.
Fix it by writing a method in the model that does the model-specific work and call it in the controller (your second option). (Eventually your model will get too fat and you'll have to break it up too, but that's another story.) For example:
class SomeThingsController
  def new
    @some_thing = SomeThing.new(:some_params)
    @some_thing.do_something # method call
    @some_thing.save
  end
end

class SomeThing
  def do_something
    addresses.each do |address|
      # modify it in some  way
    end
  end
end

Regarding instance variables.

*

*Define them only if necessary. Presumably the one in your example is needed for the view.

*Assuming an instance variable is justified at all, there's no reason not to refer to it in private methods of the class that contains it. That's what they're for. So your first option (referring directly to the instance variable) is a bit better than your third option (passing it in). But, as discussed above, extracting a model method is better than both of the other two options.

A: In my opinion Modifying @instance_vars from private method is okay if your controller is just 100 lines long.
Imagine a scenario where there are 500 LOC in your controller and after a struggle of a couple of hours you found out that the @intance_var is being modified by some private method.

Helpful tips:

*

*create small private methods with single responsibility

*put ! at the end of method_name! indicating that it modifies something. Specially this is helpful when you see my_private_method!, ! makes you realize that its modifying something.

*lets not put code in controller that do not belong here.

A: There is one more option:
In Controller:
def new
  @some_thing = SomeThing.new(:some_params)
  @some_thing_modified = @some_thing.modify_somehow(params)
  @some_thing_modified.save
end

In SomeThing Model:
def modify_somehow(params)
  result = self.clone
  # ... modify result ...
  return result
end

Because modify_somehow is now pure function (assuming you don't do anything in ... modify result ... part, that makes it impure), what you gain here is Referential transparency. Main benefit of referential transparency is that you can determine what function/method invocation will do, only by looking at its arguments, and get result of its work only via return value, and not via side effects. This makes your code more predictable, which in turn makes it easier to understand and debug.
There are of course disadvantages: Because you create new object this option can be less performant, it's also more verbose than its alternatives.
Functional programming concepts, like referential transparency, are not very popular in Rails community (probably because of how OO-centric Ruby is). But referential transparency is there if you want it, with its pros and cons.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Fly Farm Blues
Ltd 7"
£5.99 + shipping
TMR013
Format Info
"Fly Farm Blues" is released on a special limited one-sided 7" by Third Man Records.
"Fly Farm Blues" is a song written on the spot by Jack White at the request of film director Davis Guggenheim while filming the impressive new guitar documentary 'It Might Get Loud'. The film features in-depth looks at Mr. White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page's relationships with the six-stringed instrument. Jack recorded the song immediately to two-track, all while being filmed for the documentary in the attic of the Fly Farm. Some astute viewers may recognize this attic room as the same used by Jim Jarmusch in his video for the Raconteurs' "Steady As She Goes".
Jack WhiteBlunderbuss
Jack WhiteConnected By Love / Respect Commander
Jack WhiteLazaretto
Dan SartainBohemian Grove / Atheist Funeral
BeckI Just Started Hating Some People Today / Blue Randy
GoatRequiem


text:
How our members stood up for access to abortion care during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have endangered everyone's health. But in almost all European countries, women have been particularly affected by a significant restriction in access to sexual and reproductive health care, and abortion care in particular.
Health, rights and well-being - new tool for HIV and SRH care for young people
Our new programming guide aims to support young people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia who are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and are facing widespread stigma, discrimination and violence.
Photo Gallery: Rising HIV numbers and funding cutbacks - Macedonia at the crossroads
This article was written in September 2017. Since then, thanks to the work of NGOs including our member HERA, Macedonia's government has committed to providing long-term funding for all HIV programmes for marginalised people. Although HIV prevalence is low in ...


text:
Cleveland's Medical Mart & Convention Center Opening Early, Under Budget
Great news for the city of Cleveland. Its long-awaited$465 million Medical Mart & Convention Center will open early and under budged.
Adrian Maties
Apr 01, 2013
Great news for the city of Cleveland. Its long-awaited $465 million Medical Mart & Convention Center will open early and under budget. City officials made the announcement on Wednesday, March 27, according to The Plain Dealer newspaper.
The 1 million-square-foot complex is located at St. Clair Avenue and Ontario Street, in the city's downtown. It will feature a four-story, 235,000-square-foot Medical Mart facility attached below grade to a convention center with 230,000 square feet of Class A exhibit space. Also included are approximately 90,000 square feet of high-tech, flexible meeting rooms; a 32,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom that will be the largest venue in the city; and an 11,000-square-foot Junior Ballroom.
With the convention center built underground, the project allows for more than seven acres of green space. The complex is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. It is anchored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Philips Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Johnson Controls, the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals.
Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. teamed up with Cuyahoga County to create the combined medical mart and convention center. Seattle-based LMN Architects designed the project, while the Cleveland office of Turner Construction Co. is the design-build contractor.
The Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center is the largest project in downtown Cleveland history and the only facility in the world targeted specifically to the medical and healthcare industries. The project was started in January 2011 and is now more than 90 percent complete. It was initially scheduled to open July 19 but is now expected to be completed June 1.
Last week, Forbes Magazine recognized Cleveland as one of 15 U.S. cities with emerging downtowns. The Medical Mart & Convention Center was among the important developments that helped the city make the list. Another Ohio city, Cincinnati, was also among Forbes' top 15.
Photo credit: www.clevelandmedicalmart.com
NRP Group Breaks Ground on Cleveland Affordable Housing Project
Northeast Ohio Portfolio Scores $67M Refi


Fans of the New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series won't want to miss this all-new story set in the dangerous and thrilling world of dragons! Before the brightest night, the NightWings were plotting . . . Deathbringer is ready to be the next assassin for the NightWings. If he can just convince them to send him along on one mission with his mother, Quickstrike, he'll prove that he can help the NightWings decide who wins the war between the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia. But when their mission takes an unexpected turn, Deathbringer has a terrible choice to make . . . one that will change his path forever, and perhaps alter the course of the entire war . . . Discover the New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series with this ebook exclusive origin story! Author Tui T. Sutherland soars further into the world of Pyrrhia's dragons than ever before! In these brand-new short stories, fans will meet old friends and new ones, uncover shocking secrets, and learn more about the terrible challenges that will test all dragonkind!
Assassin (Wings of Fire: Winglets #2) 4.5 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 25 reviews.
...not only did I find it ridiculously short (shorter than the other winglets) it didn't have enough light to balance the darkness. I mean the book's about a four-year-old who's on a mission with his mom to kill the general of an army. There's no friendship or romance, barely any family or tribal interaction (except for when he has to kill his tribemate), and Deathbringer has little character development. I thought this winglet was going to show Deathbringer's journey from assassin to bodyguard, but instead it just showed him doing his job and getting over his hesitation to kill.
I can Lend you this book if you type down your contact information, because this is a fantastic book on Deathbringer and even preludes a little on Moonwatcher's mother (just a smidgen). Also it shows there is more to Deathbringer than his normal arrogant facade. Hope you enjoy!
I think that this is a really amazing book and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy and dragons. It is a very nice piece of back story plot and helps explain a lot about certain charters in the core series. This is overall a very good book.
A nice little $1 book with a lot of entertainment!
I find the sample interesting and fun. It has already given me a different point of view of him, first I thought he was just some crazy assassin, but now ...!
Hi Im Melon the RainWing. I CANT WAIT TO READ THIS NOOOOOK BBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKK!!!! Call me :) I join here! Me also known as RainDragon357 on schoolastic. Buy!
Catie was cold. Very cold. Catie was also bored. Bored out of her brains. She had been hiding in the attic all day. Alex would scream from now to now but other than that it was quiet. Finally Dad came in."Get into the closet! Now." Yelled Dad. Then i realized the inspecters were coming. "Open up!"yelled a vice from outide!
I know it hasnt come out yet but im sure wings of fire fans ( like me) will really love it and i just cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


text:
Ha collaborato soprattutto con Walt Disney.

Biografia
Fu uno dei maggiori animatori Disney: ha animato L'apprendista stregone in Fantasia e fu animatore anche in Cenerentola, Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie (ha animato Bianconiglio) e Biancaneve e i sette nani.

Era molto famoso all'interno degli Studios Disney per i suoi disegni di donne nude.

Ha avuto due figlie che gli hanno dato tre nipoti.

Nel 1946 lasciò la Disney e andò a lavorare con Walter Lantz e solo nel 1948 tornò alla Disney.

Nel 1952, Fred Moore stava animando i bimbi sperduti de "Le avventure di Peter Pan" ma il 22 novembre ebbe un incidente stradale con sua moglie Virginia e il giorno dopo morì di emorragia cerebrale.

Collegamenti esterni

Morti per incidente stradale

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't.) Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She assumes it was a terrible accident - but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove one happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?
This is Book 1 in the Murder Most Unladylike Mystery Series. See all Murder Most Unladylike Mystery books here.
Set in the 1930s, at Deepdean Boarding School for Girls, Daisy and Hazel have set up the 'Wells and Wong Detective Society'. And when Hazel finds Miss Bell's dead body in the gym, the girls have a real case on their hands! Whilst Daisy puts herself in charge and races ahead to conclusions, it is Hazel who records events and piece-by-piece unravels the mystery which deepens as the story goes on.
This book will keep you guessing to the very end but.... whodunnit???
This book this book is very good and I would recommend it to people with strong will who are 7+. It is about the murder of Miss Bell the science teacher. I especially like the part where the murderer goes after Daisy and Hazel after find out they are into them. My favourite bit however is when they are finding out the teachers secrets.
I would give this book more than five stars because the series that it's from is probably my favourite series that I've read. The storyline was great and the author made it very hard to guess who had committed the murder.
This book is set in a boarding school for girls and the two main characters, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells, have just started the Wells and Wong detective society. There isn't much to investigate until Hazel discovers the dead body of the science mistress in he gym.
When she returns with help however the body has disappeared and nobody except Daisy believes her.
The two girls decide to find the murderer on their own, since no one else seems interested in why Miss Bell has suddenly disappeared.
Little by little they confirm alibis and discover evidence but will the murderer try to stop them?
If you like classical mysteries than this is the book for you. I also liked the way Hazel and Daisy's friendship was described.
This is a absolutely awesome read. With clues at every corner and you luckily don't find the culprit until the end! Definitely one of the best books I have ever read!
Hazel is new to her English boarding school compared to the other girls. She fell into a friendship with Daisy after her initiation test of sorts.
Only now solid friends, she found a dead body of their science teacher Miss Bell and the pair set about investigating just what has happened to their teacher, who murdered her?
Daisy thinks of herself as the better of the pair for a start as she makes herself detective until Hazel as her secretary makes a lot more discoveries that are truer than Daisy's. I liked that the book is written as their case notebook and the story was so full of twists and turns it kept you on your toes for sure.
I really liked how the inspector who came was impressed and believed them finding out the murderer. We also see the contrast in the two best friends as Hazel isn't a British 'Rose' like Daisy is and faces a prejudice at times true to the time period of the 1930's.
I really liked this book because I've already read one of the other books in the series (Jolly Foul Play).
I liked that sometimes when they thought they'd solved it, someone gave them proof that it wasn't them, so they had to find more clues to find the person who actually did it.
I saw this book in a bookshop, read the first few pages and loved it (and had to buy it). I would definitely recommend it to people who like solving puzzles and mysteries because who you thought was the murderer kept changing. The book is set in a boarding school in the 1930s and is written from the viewpoint of Hazel Wong, who is one of the main characters. The other main character is Daisy Wells. My favourite character is Daisy because I like her positivity.
I first read this book when I was 7 (I have read it several times since!), I would recommend it for 9 years and above. This book isn't for those who are easily scared!
The book was so exciting and adventurous. My favourite character was Hazel Wong because Daisy was a bit bossy. I loved the adventure and mystery and it was so much fun to read. I loved it so much I got my own notebook and tried to work out the clues. The ending was so shocking.
I really like the Murder most unladylike books, this is the second one I've read.
I like that it's set in a boarding school and that Hazel and Daisy have set up their own detective agency. I really want to read the other books in the series because I like unravelling the mystery.
I think that girls ages 10 and up might like these books.
This book is so good! I got the murder most unladylike series for Christmas and I love it it is about two girls who are best friends called Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong. My favourite parts where when Hazel found miss Bell dead on the gym floor and when Hazel and Daisy solve the case. I like how it is like it's Hazels account of the murder case because it gets you into the book more. I did not want to put this book down and I would recommend to people who like murder mystery books and are looking for something new. age 10 plus.
I really liked this. Boarding school stories can feel very claustrophobic to me, with the focus so strongly on female relationships, but having a murder to investigate is far more interesting. I really enjoyed reading from Hazel's perspective - she's so astute about her friend Daisy's faults and gifts and she doesn't stand for any nonsense in the end. I *love* a book where the main character grows and adapts, and Hazel does it beautifully.
The case is full of twists and turns and false trails, I really think it'll get new mystery readers on the road to thinking about their own assumptions whilst still being meaty enough for the seasoned sleuth to enjoy. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Recommended for Y5-6.
I had been wanting to read this book for ages and I was delighted to be able to borrow it from a friend.


Decades of medical excellence and first-rate professionalism have fuelled the broad popularity for which Schneider Children's is recognized today. Alongside this significant achievement, the medical center faces the downside of its success: daily and unrelenting pressure to respond to the huge and ever-increasing demand for its services. The volume of patients has long surpassed even the most optimistic of projections. This has led to undesirable, lengthy waiting lists, and escalating, perennial overload in every department and clinic.
Issues such as quality of care, risk management and hospitalization conditions have become of enormous and ongoing concern. The addition of a new hospital extension is no longer a dream, but a crucial and pressing reality so that facilities can be expanded and upgraded on all fronts and to adequately respond to the needs of all children.
The new 7-floor Southern Wing will comprise 36,500 sq m of which 3,000 sq m will be assigned to service-oriented objectives such as an auditorium, and will be outfitted with state-of-the-art technologies and the most advanced equipment available today.
The modern infrastructure will incorporate two major construction approaches: Green standards (sustainable building) features will be employed such as efficient deployment of energy, water and other resources, with reduced waste and pollution. Adjustments will also be made to conform to regulations issued by the Home Front Command with regards to security and the possibility of non-conventional warfare.
The two buildings will be connected via bridges between floors and basement floors.
Estimated costs for the construction of the new hospital extension at Schneider Children's are $120 million.
Naming opportunity for the Southern Wing: $30 million.
The Southern Wing adjacent to Schneider Children's will bear the name of the donor/s.
Appropriate signage, in keeping with the standards of Schneider Children's, will be erected.
A dedication ceremony will be held with the participation of the donor/s and senior Schneider Children's and Clalit Health Services personnel.


As a new hire, you will most likely begin your career at Strategic Decisions Group as a consultant or associate consultant, based on your professional experience and area of graduate study. In addition, our business analyst track offers a limited number of bachelor's degree holders an opportunity to participate in projects for two to three years before seeking graduate degrees or moving into industry.
No matter what your position, you'll thrive, learn and grow in a supportive environment that values diversity, collaboration and personal-professional balance. At SDG, you will work with clients, not simply for them, and be trusted to rely on your own insights, judgment, and skills—rather than on rigid mandates—to guide work decisions and actions.
Through our business analyst program, bachelor's degree holders with superior analytic and communication skills are hired to participate in client projects for two to three years before pursuing graduate study or moving into industry.
Write and deliver presentations to clients.
Associate consultants (ACs) usually have advanced degrees in business or engineering and contribute to a varied mix of intellectually challenging projects. With experience, an AC has the potential to develop into a fully autonomous consultant on our staff.
Most SDG consultants have MBAs or PhDs, along with relevant business or industry experience. Consultants enjoy considerable control and flexibility in mapping their first years at the company and in gaining experience across a wide range of projects.
Senior consultants typically have MBAs or PhDs and significant business or consulting experience. An experienced hire usually joins the firm as a senior consultant; in limited instances he or she may be brought on as a senior engagement manager (a pre-partner position) or, less commonly, as a partner.


Ashwin is the Product Director for Revenue Assurance at Subex. During his decade at Subex he has worked in engineering, sales and consulting, resulting in a well-rounded understanding of RAFM products and services.
Ashwin is also a member of the RAG Steering Committee, representing the interests of major sponsor Subex and the vendor community more generally.
Prior to joining Subex, Ashwin studied for his degree in Computer Science Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology.


text:
A cúria diocesana ou mitra diocesana (fazendo uma alusão à mitra, insígnia de jurisdição e governo próprio do bispo) é um organismo administrativo que cada diocese e eparquia na Igreja Católica possui. É composta pelas principais autoridades da diocese. Quando se trata de uma arquidiocese, recebe os nomes de cúria arquidiocesana ou mitra arquidiocesana

Descrição
Os funcionários da cúria auxiliam o bispo diocesano no governo da Igreja particular. A cúria inclui o vigário-geral, que, normalmente, é também o moderador da cúria; vigários episcopais se eles existem na diocese; o chanceler da cúria; vice-reitores; notários; um diretor financeiro; e um conselho financeiro. O bispo pode, também, adicionar outros funcionários de sua escolha.

Igreja Católica


text:
The PC market is reviving, and so is Intel
The world's biggest chipmaker ended 2014 on solid footing thanks in part to its reinvigorated PC business. However, Intel's mobile division remains a huge drag.
Ben Fox Rubin
Jan. 15, 2015 2:04 p.m. PT
Ben Fox Rubin Former senior reporter
Ben Fox Rubin was a senior reporter for CNET News in Manhattan, reporting on Amazon, e-commerce and mobile payments. He previously worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and got his start at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Intel's earnings today suggest some life left in the PC business. Sarah Tew/CNET
The personal computer isn't back -- not yet anyway -- but it's not dead either.
The changed fortunes of the once downtrodden PC could be seen front and center in Intel's latest earnings report, issued Thursday. The company wrapped up a solid 2014 by announcing its first full year of revenue growth since 2011 and another quarter of better-than-expected profit, driven in part by rebounding PC revenue.
The results sync up with research firm Gartner's assessment that the desktop and laptop market is now experiencing "slow but consistent improvement," following more than two years of declining sales as users flocked to smartphones and tablets. The change can be attributed to a handful of factors, including Microsoft stopping technical support of its Windows XP operating system last year, forcing users to upgrade to newer devices, as well as the rise of hybrid tablet-laptop computers, dubbed "2-in-1" devices.
Intel, whose chips power most PCs, is a big beneficiary of this change. In 2012 and 2013, the Santa Clara., Calif.-based company posted lower overall sales. However, as more businesses and consumers have been upgrading their computers, Intel in 2014 snapped that downward slide, saying revenue rose 6 percent, to $55.9 billion.
"I'm feeling pretty good about where we are in the PC market," CEO Brian Krzanich said during a call with analysts Thursday, referring to devices coming out with new technologies and slimmer designs.
Intel's fourth-quarter revenue was also up 6 percent, to $14.7 billion, and net income rose 39 percent, to $3.7 billion, from a year earlier. Its per-share earnings of 74 cents handily topped Wall Street's expectations by 8 cents a share.
The chipmaker isn't out of the woods yet. Its shares were down about 1 percent in after-hours trading because it forecast slightly lighter-than-expected revenues in 2015, suggesting uncertainty over whether consumers will keep buying new PCs.
Still, plenty of other companies are gaining from the latest PC trend, from Apple posting blockbuster Mac sales to Lenovo managing double-digit shipment growth last year, according to Gartner and IDC. Intel, whose future is tied to the PC perhaps more than any other firm, hopes to continue this march upward with the release this month of its long-awaited fifth-generation Core i-series processors and its RealSense 3D camera technology being integrated into more computers. Microsoft's release of Windows 10 later this year could also help boost sales.
Intel booth tour at CES 2015 (pictures)
As the laptop and desktop market shows signs of revival, many PC makers used the Consumer Electronics Show this month to show off laptops that are lighter and more powerful, with longer battery life, including the 1.7-pound Lenovo LaVie and the Dell XPS 13, with an aesthetically pleasing thin display frame.
Intel said Thursday that its fourth-quarter PC sales rose 3 percent from a year earlier to $8.9 billion, as it sold more PC chips but at slightly lower prices, and data center revenue rose 25 percent, to $4.1 billion, helped by the rising demand of Intel chips in cloud-computing servers.
But while Intel's PC and data center business enjoyed a strong 2014 -- helping drive the company's stock up about 40 percent last year -- the chipmaker has been losing billions of dollars trying to build up a mobile-chips business. In November, Intel said it would combine the struggling mobile chips group with the PC division to try bolstering mobile sales.
The mobile division's numbers were just as bleak in the latest quarter, with revenue going negative -- a rarity for any income statement -- because of Intel paying subsidies to customers to take its mobile chips. Revenue was negative $6 million on a $1.1 billion loss. Total losses for the year were $4.2 billion. The company has said it will significantly reduce its mobile losses in 2015.
Lighter laptops, longer-lasting batteries for computers at CES 2015
Intel tech brings us closer to the world of 'Minority Report'
Intel's diversity goals face many challenges
Intel tops Q3 expectations despite a $1B loss in mobile biz
Separately, CEO Krzanich last week made waves in the tech world at CES by unveiling Intel's new $300 million diversity initiative, with the company looking to boost the number of women and underrepresented minorities in the industry.
Krzanich this week attended a conference hosted by the civil rights nonprofit Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, where he told the crowd the initiative would include reviewing the diversity statistics of Intel and its suppliers, as well as increasing the diversity of Intel's board in the future. Portions of the $300 million, Krzanich said, would go to scholarships and K-12 programs, and to boosting diverse hiring practices and funding startups led by minority entrepreneurs.
Jesse Jackson, who founded Rainbow/PUSH and interviewed Krzanich at the event, called the effort "a breakthrough in leadership."