text:
I joined soup.io when it was first introduced last year. Haven't used my account, but keep finding others who are doing good stuff with theirs. The ambiance is refreshingly Mitteleuropa and iconoclastic.
Hair in my soup has a been a favorite for a while now. I just added pogus'ka to my Bloglines aggregation.
These come from its current posts:
I collect book recommendations from friends, blogs, and reviews. They end up in my librarything catalog marked toberead. I add another tag for the ones I can borrow locally and mark ones that I can mooch on Bookmooch. Naturally, quite a few have no interest when I finally get around to them, or turn out to have been misrepresented to me.
And then there are the books that catch my eye in the best-of-the-year lists. I've learned to restrain myself with them. Too often I feel I ought to read rather than want to read them and, when brought to hand, disappoint. That said, Ralph Luker writes that history books dominate both the NY Times nonfiction list and the TLS list this year, so maybe, for a change, I'll find fewer ought-to's and more want-to's.
Here are the best-of lists I've found so far.
- Guardian: Season's readings
- Times (UK): The Times Books Christmas Special
- TLS: TLS Books of the Year 2008
- ALA YA:Best Books for Young Adults 2008
- NY Times: 100 Notable Books of 2008
- NY Times: Notable Children's Books of 2008
- Telegraph (UK):Chistmas books
- Telegraph (UK):Christmas books: history
- NY Times blog post: Picking the Notable Books of the Year
{Source: Guardian. Caption: Detail from the Madonna Della Rondine by Carlo Crivelli. Image: The Art Archive}
{Source: Telegraph. Caption: Christmas past: Anothy Fletcher's 'Growing up in England' is highly recommended}
I watch the tube while I do my thirty-minute jog each day. Months past it would be bike races on dvd or video, occasionally a cricket test match, sometimes golf. It's not all sports. I ran through all the first series of Zatôichi at one point and have made an eBay purchase of the whole Pallisers series. Mostly I buy second hand, but I've bought some dvds on sale new and sometimes rent.
My current exercise distraction is the full series of Planet Earth dvds. I bought a used set of the BBC version narrated by Richard Attenborough at a ridiculous price on eBay. As others have observed, there's lots of icky insectile stuff, lots of dominance competition and territory protecting, parched deserts, frozen tundra, and the like which can be off-putting when absorbed just before dinner, my usual time on the treadmill. But not off-putting enough to detract from the magnificent whole of this amazing adventure.
I recently viewed the program on grass plains which featured a segment on the Kiang, Tibet's wild asses. This you can view for yourself on Youtube (2 min, 35 sec):
One of the more unsettling segments is one about two large communities of chimpanzees which occupy neighboring territory. Quite recently I read a book about the behavior of human hunter-gathering societies. The chimps and humans behave with startlingly similar tactics: not just defending territory by warning off potential invaders -- as do many species -- but sending out warrior patrols for organized attacks within the territory controlled by a competing group.
The segment shows a chimp patrol moving silently up to the border and then stealthily into the territory of their neighbors. They initiate a surprise attack on the community, cooperate in killing one member of it, and then -- unpleasantly -- cannibalize him. Having done this they return home. It can't be known exactly what they achieve by this. They don't attempt to rule their neighbors as a conquered people and the attack is likely to fit into a complicated pattern by which they demonstrate their power, hone their ability to cooperate with each other, develop specialized roles for carrying out responsibilities, and keep up their hunting and fighting skills.
I couldn't find a Youtube of this segment, but there's one showing a wildlife cameraman discussing a similar attack by chimps on a group of monkeys (4 min). There are some shots from the same segment in this Discovery Channel video, but not ones of the patrol in action.
More on Kiang:
More on Chimps:
Chimp Warfare and Predators
Planet Earth part two - press pack
In the Ngogo forest in Uganda Planet Earth captures a natural history first when the largest chimpanzee group in the world – 150 strong – defends its territory from neighbouring chimp groups. On one patrol a youngster from a rival group is killed and eaten.
From Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, On Friendship (1841):
I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts? I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely and the noble-minded, as from time to time they pass my gate. Who hears me, who understands me, becomes mine, — a possession for all time. Nor is Nature so poor but she gives me this joy several times, and thus we weave social threads of our own, a new web of relations ; and, as many thoughts in succession substantiate themselves, we shall by and by stand in a new world of our own creation, and no longer strangers and pilgrims in a traditionary globe. My friends have come to me unsought. The great God gave them to me. By oldest right, by the divine affinity of virtue with itself, I find them, or rather not I, but the Deity in me and in them derides and cancels the thick walls of individual character, relation, age, sex, circumstance, at which he usually connives, and now makes many one. High thanks I owe you, excellent lovers, who carry out the world for me to new and noble depths, and enlarge the meaning of all my thoughts.
Images from the Library of Congress; click to view full size.
Labels: Emerson
dumb cits?
The newspapers are giving coverage to a civics survey that purports to show, as one commentator says, that most Americans are too ignorant to vote. The research is by a group called the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which (surprise!) has an agenda. The organization celebrates free markets, civil society, the American Experience, and the achievement of national security. It aims to "further in successive generations of college youth a better understanding of the values and institutions that sustain a free and humane society." And in "educating for liberty" it hopes
to identify the best and the brightest college students and to nurture in these future leaders the American ideal of ordered liberty. To accomplish this goal, ISI seeks to enhance the rising generation's knowledge of our nation's founding principles — limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility, the rule of law, market economy, and moral norms.
It's also no surprise that news coverage focuses on the ISI's press release (pdf) and gives little or no context. I didn't find any articles that gave useful background info on ISI or its aims. This is discouraging. Biased research is unavoidable, of course, but (I believe) reporters should help readers understand how it might have entered into survey summary that comes their way via eye-catching press release. Unlike (admittedly harassed and dead-line besieged) reporters, Bloggers do often give background about and criticize what they consider to be biased surveys, and (often-enough) their own argument-skewing biases are both obvious and discountable. (A recent example: New EDF poll statistically invalid due to biased questions, posted on Scholars and Rogues, November 14, 2008, by Brian Angliss.)
Given the time constraints on reporters, wouldn't it be nice to have an online database of research reports like the consumer databases of organizations such as Consumers Checkbook or the myth-busting of the Urban Legends Reference Pages? I searched, but couldn't locate anything of that nature. (Again, I'm not trying to maintain that such organizations are themselves free of bias, but accounting for bias in them is not difficult and, since they are numerous, comparisons are possible.)
At the very least, it would be nice if some reporters, anyway, would give urls for the organizations that carry out studies they report, for the survey methodologies, and for the survey questionnaires themselves.
It's not too hard to find the ISI home page. Go there and you'll find the release of course (pdf, as I said) and a full page on the survey itself, along with the questionnaire, which you can take on the spot.
You'll see the bias without difficulty. The questions focus on the organization's agenda and carry a strong flavor of Adam Smith and the US Founding Fathers. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, so long as it's obvious (as it is). Although it needs to be taken into account, I wouldn't say the bias invalidates conclusions that are being drawn from the published results, although it's a bit excessive to say that Americans are too ignorant to vote.
You probably realize there's nothing new in complaints about the low level of civic knowledge in democracies. Still, the results of this survey seem to suggest things are worse than they were. The student reporters for a collegiate paper give some reasons: academic curricula have broadened. There's much less emphasis on what used to be core subjects, like American History, Political Economy, and civics in general. And, you have to ask yourself, (a) is this wrong, (b) is the survey respondents' ignorance a real danger to the US, and (c) are things truly worse than they used to be? In giving my answers to these questions I acknowledge that as a student of history and enthusiast of the Enlightenment & 18th c. history, I'm myself biased.
If you put your quiz score in the comments and I'll tell you mine. OK? (If you're not in the target audience for the survey -- US cits -- you're off the hook of course, but responses welcome all the same.)
I've been particularly concerned about the shortcomings of news reports on survey results since the first appearance of the NEA wolf-crying on the decline in recreational reading in America.
Here are some links on this topic.
Literary Reading in Dramatic Decline, According to National Endowment for the Arts Survey
A brilliant critique of the NEA Reading report
More Responses to NEA Reading Report
Labels: news, politics, research
Joost off-season, Lance in training
I haven't done a Joost post for a while. You'll recall that he won this year's Three Days of De Panne and the Tour of Luxembourg last spring. Since then he's been injured a couple of times. He recovered after the first crash and, at the end of August, took a good second place in the Dutch time trial championship race. Since the second crash, in October at the Tour of Poland, he has mainly devoted himself to helping other team members achieve their best. Rabobank itself hasn't done all that well. Óscar Freire, Denis Menchov, and Juan Antonio Flecha have come close but haven't achieved podium finishes in major races lately. He ended his season a bit earlier than usual to work on recovering from the second crash. Since then he has renewed his contract with the team for a couple more years and has moved from his home in Belgium back to a city in eastern Netherlands close to his birthplace. He says he's happy to be back in his home country in the Tukkerland province.
Joost came to mind when I read yet one more piece on Lance's comeback in Pez this morning. Pez was able to place a reporter in a support vehicle that followed LA on a training ride in the countryside near Austin. The article helped me remember why I'm not fond of the man. He lives in a gated estate, trains with only one fellow cyclist, has the support vehicle with him all the time, and, in general, seems to use his wealth to make things as close to perfect for himself as he can. It's the celebrity culture I dislike. That and the aloofness that he used to keep from other professional cyclists. I can't imagine him palling with Joost at any time in his career. All the same, his devotion to cancer projects and healthy living is wholly admirable. One shot of him reminds me of another reason I temper my dislike: he looks a lot like my friend Joel.
Here's a video (to which the Pez article points) on Lance and one of his cars:
Here's a little Joost gallery. Click images to view full size.
In the recent Tour of Mexico:
At Three Days of De Panne
Map showing Hengelo near Enschede.
Tukkerland seems to be a relatively rural area in which there's an annual youth festival:
Labels: cycling, Joost, racing
quest for meaning
Saw this Banksy this morning and searched til I came up with the companion that follows.
The artist has a web site - or at least one that seems to be authentic. And a manifesto.
Quite a few bloggers proliferate Banksy as I've just done. Some collect other interesting images.
Such as this.
Sources: http://web.soup.io/, http://ffffound.com/, Michaela on MySpace, http://pixdaus.com/, http://pixdaus.com/
Labels: art, politics
the way one buys one's horses—and one's husbands
Are the novels of Anthony Trollope an acquired taste? I suppose he seems wordy and I suppose it can seem tedious that he so often explains what he's telling you while he tells it. But his command of language, his power of description, and his feeling for human interaction are so wonderful. The apparent (and I think real) ease with which he writes; the fluidity of his line, his paragraph, his chapter; all these are masterful. It may be eccentric to appreciate his restraint, but I am truly fond of authors such as he who bend over backwards to avoid sensationalism. He's particularly fine when read late evenings, before bedtime, or during periods of sleeplessness -- a calming influence, full of gentle humor and possessing a pleasant way of letting his characters reveal themselves while conversing - actually holding extended conversations in which they listen, react, interrogate, persuade; pretty much always in full sentences; pretty much always with a transparent clarity.
Over lunch I read two chapters of Phineas Finn that stand on their own and that could be a good introduction to the author's skill and freedom of expression.
They are CHAPTER X, Violet Effingham and CHAPTER XI, Lord Chiltern.
I recommend them.
learning and doing
When I was young it was easy to find out how use hand tools. During World War II the military produced basic guides for servicemen that explained all. Right after the war they were available at little cost. The ones that came into our house had been published by the Navy. I still remember using one of these manuals to learn exactly how to splice electrical wires together. It helped that I liked to learn about things from books. There were quite a few skills that had greater fascination for me on paper than in real life. Fly fishing for example. I learned the subject from books and even acquired the equipment, but never got into the sport at all. Archery too.
And cartooning. I devoured comic books and was interested in drawing cartoons, but not interested enough to get beyond reading about how it's done.
Here is one old military how-to pamphlet which didn't come my way back then. It showed up in a blog post I read this morning.
It was scanned and posted online by the Animation Archive of the International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood, which has the nice logo at right. About themselves, they say: "The Animation Archive is a project of International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. We are building a museum, library and digital archive for the benefit of animation professionals, cartoonists, designers, students and the general public. Our database of images, biographic info and films contains thousands of entries- animated cartoons, artwork, and filmographies. Contributions and volunteers are needed to make the dream a reality."
If you do a bit of searching on the topic, you'll come up with this near relative from the same time period:
And now for something completely different- Pocket Cartoon Course!
nothing but the links
Saturday morning gleanings
1. From hair in my soup:
{Click image to view full size}
" I don't know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. " — Bill Cosby
2. From BigPicture at Boston.com:
Peering into the micro world
A team of University of Michigan researchers has recently created a set of electron microscope images of carbon nanotube structures depicting images of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. John Hart, leader of the research team says it wasn't a political statement, but an attempt to draw attention to what is possible these days with nanotechnology, and imaging at the very small scale. I'll take him up on this invitation and share with you some other images of very tiny things in our world. For visualizing the scale, most measurements below are in microns - one micron is a millionth of a meter - human hair is approximately 100 microns thick. (32 photos total)
Squid Suckers, winner of Honorable Mention in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Awards. Loligo pealei squids have eight arms and two tentacles, all of which are coated with suction-cups, lined with fangs composed of chitin. These tiny suckers, whose diameters are around 400 microns, ultimately allow the half-meter-long squid to get a solid grip on its environment. (Courtesy of Jessica D. Schiffman and Caroline L. Schauer; Drexel University).Click image to view full size
Winner of an Honorable Mention in Illustration in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Awards, this is a rendered 3D image of a melanoma cell using data obtained using ion abrasion scanning electron microscopy, a novel approach for imaging mammalian cells at nanometer resolution. (Donald Bliss and Sriram Subramaniam; National Library of Medicine, NIH). Click image to view full size
3. Community Grid. Emily Chang says: Donate the time your computer is turned on, but is idle, to projects that benefit humanity with this secure software that does it all for free. Once you install the software, you will be participating in World Community Grid. No other action must be taken. World Community Grid's mission is to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. Their work is built on the belief that technological innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can change our world for the better.
World Community Grid's mission is to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. Our work is built on the belief that technological innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can change our world for the better. Our success depends on individuals - like you - collectively contributing their unused computer time to this not-for-profit endeavor.
Donate the time your computer is turned on, but is idle, to projects that benefit humanity! We provide the secure software that does it all for free, and you become part of a community that is helping to change the world. Once you install the software, you will be participating in World Community Grid. No other action must be taken; it's that simple!
Active Research
World Community Grid Overview
4. From the New York Times. Children's Books Fall Special Issue:
5. From Pexdaus and entitled "Real Bambi and Thumper."
6. From our favorite local puppet theater:
A Presidential Bloodbath
another fine mess - and what to do about it
I haven't linked to articles by Steven Pearlstein in a while. That's certainly not because they aren't worth reading. Here's a compilation of excerpts from the last four of them.
Toward a New International Capitalism, by Steven Pearlstein, Friday, November 14, 2008; Page D01
There is also no denying that American-style capitalism has been undermined by its own success. In its present incarnation, it rewards manipulation over innovation and speculation over genuine value creation, resulting in massive misallocations of capital and the accumulation of unheard-of wealth in the hands of money managers and top corporate executives who are more lucky than they are skilled. No longer is it the entrepreneurial capitalism of Google and Amazon and Nucor Steel that animates the American imagination -- it is the financial capitalism of Enron and Drexel Burnham Lambert, of Goldman Sachs and the Blackstone Group, of publicly traded real estate investment trusts and multibillion-dollar hedge funds. Here in the United States, they have sucked up a disproportionate share of talent and capital, distorted compensation systems, and helped to perpetuate the false notion that companies exist solely to enrich their investors and investment bankers. And now, through the marvels of global financial markets, they have spread their toxic culture and products to economies across the globe.
As they arrive in Washington, the challenge for global leaders is to find a way to tame a financial system that has not only corrupted American-style capitalism but also brought unwelcome instability to the global economy. The flaw in the old "Washington consensus" is that an unfettered flow of investment capital, particularly among countries with different currencies, is not the idea. While product and labor markets work remarkably well when they are left open and lightly-regulated, experience has now demonstrated that a different approach needs to be taken toward financial markets, which suffer from imperfect information, an abundance of moral hazard, and a tendency toward herd behavior and speculative excess.
Creating a new architecture and regulatory framework for the global financial system is complicated and wonky and won't win anyone the next election. After the Asian financial crisis in 1998, there was a lot of brave talk about updating the old Bretton Woods institutions, but petty politics and an improving economy got in the way, and nothing was ever done. Perhaps this time, the prospect of another global depression will focus the minds of world leaders and lead them to create a new model of capitalism that everyone can live with.
Pressure Is on for Obama, but This Rescue Relies on All of Us, November 12, 2008
There is extraordinary pressure on Barack Obama -- from the public, the news media, Congress and even from other world leaders -- to move quickly and decisively "fix" the U.S. economy.
Most economists agree that government now has an urgent role to play in managing that adjustment, preventing markets from spinning out of control and turning what is a necessary recession into a prolonged depression. And most Americans want government to take steps to see that the pain of that adjustment is shared somewhat fairly and equitably, and ensure that the poor and vulnerable are protected.
But as Obama is quickly discovering, there is little consensus on what a fair and equitable adjustment looks like.
There is little in Obama's campaign platform, and his oft-stated promise to "restore the middle class," to suggest how he will answer these questions or where he will draw the lines. But it won't be long before he is forced to acknowledge that even the federal government, with its unmatched capacity to borrow and spend huge sums, cannot rescue every important industry, save or replace every job, prevent every foreclosure and restore every budget cut. The sooner he levels with us about those limits and the extent of shared sacrifice that will be necessary, the sooner the new president will be able to establish confidence in his leadership and restore faith in our economic future.
Obama's Hurdles Down the Track, November 7, 2008
Obama needs to avoid the instinct to try to undo the past or refight the same pitched battles among interest groups and ideologues that have stymied action for much of the past decade. The current crisis offers a rare opportunity to reframe the questions, challenge old assumptions and bring a new vocabulary to the economic conversation.
Obama now has a golden opportunity to reframe the stale debate over taxes and spending. Offering another round of tax rebates would only be an invitation to compound past mistakes. It was overspending by households that largely got us into this mess, and the only way we are going to get out of it is by having households live within their means.
Much better to take the same borrowed money and invest it in public goods -- not just roads and bridges, but things like public transit, basic scientific research, a modern air-traffic-control system, expansion of state college and university systems and a big push on early childhood education.
Any careful review of what went wrong in financial markets would quickly reveal that the problem wasn't primarily that regulators had too little authority but rather that they had neither the resources nor the political backing to use it. The goal needs to be better regulation, not more.
Hank Paulson's $125 Billion Mistake, October 31, 2008
It was only a few weeks ago that most right-thinking economists and left-leaning bloggers were jumping on Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for his plan to jump-start the markets in asset-backed securities by having the government buy them up at auction. Much better, they argued, to use the $700 billion to "recapitalize" the banking system, just as Gordon Brown was doing in Britain. Even the Federal Reserve thought that a better idea. So Paulson changed course, called in the nine biggest banks and "forced" them as a group to accept $125 billon in new capital. The critics patted themselves on the back for having been right all along.
Now, many of the same people are shocked -- shocked! -- to discover that the banks aren't using the money to make new loans to households and businesses, as they had assumed, but are using it to maintain dividend payments to shareholders, pay this year's bonuses to executives and traders, or squirrel it away for future acquisitions.
Perhaps the worst part of this misguided effort to recapitalize the banking system is that it has prompted other industries to line up for similar sweetheart deals. Automakers, insurers, auto finance companies and local governments are already besieging the Treasury, and you can be sure that others are refining their pitch. One can only hope that the terms of future deals will be sufficiently onerous that going to the Treasury will be become a last resort, not a first instinct, for industries in trouble.
the power of language
Making fun of other people's colloquialisms is mean. Does anyone ever intend cliché, malaprop, or useless filler-word? Our conversation is rarely reasoned discourse. We give, we take, rapidly, with little forethought, making our contributions to the collective task of conversation.
Writers risk offending potential readers when they call attention to verbal gaffes. Some stigmatize, making fun at the expense of supposed transgressors; think of those who denigrate Palin's "nucular." Other, better ones know about the unselfconscious tuning of expression to occasion (as Steven Pinker with nucular).
A book called Damp Squid receives attention for its top ten most annoying phrases. It's compiled from an Oxford database on language use and thus quite possibly an example of the empty elitist ironic wit that seems to be a chronic disability of highly educated English skeptics. But the database is the scholarly tool used by the Oxford dictionary folks, so the book is unlikely to be snide and maybe not even unconsciously contemptuous. Still, as the title lets on, it's quite British. The top ten list itself, which is being picked up by news sites and blogs, contains few personal irritants. I'd like to see a list that contains the indeed habit of some British academics or all those upside-down posh adverbs, now blessedly fallen from favor: frightfully foremost among them. (The phrase "a Jew, of course, but a frightfully decent one" appeared only once in an early printing of an Agatha Christie novel of 1932, excised in later editions.)
So maybe Damp Squid is worth a read.
I can more definitely recommend a brief exploration of explanations contrived to support mangled clichés that came up when I searched damp squid. A couple of years ago a Times (UK) columnist told readers 'For years I really believed there was such a thing as a "damp squid" ' and went on to celebrate some creative etymologies. Some excerpts:
THE OTHER DAY MY ELDERLY country neighbour asked for a bit of help to get his new washing machine into the kitchen. That generation never use "it", always, "he" or "she", so I wasn't surprised to hear the washing machine called "he", but I was surprised by what followed: "My old washing machine, he's given up the goat," he said, in a broad Gloucestershire accent.
"The goat?" I replied. "Are you sure?" "Oh, yes," said my neighbour, "ain't you never heard that expression before, given up the goat?" "Well, not exactly . . . where does it come from?" "Ah well," said my neighbour, "in the old days, when folks didn't have much, and mainly worked the land, a man would set store by his animals, especially his goat, and when he come to die, he would bequeath that goat to his heirs, and that is why we say, 'he's given up the goat'."
I am thrilled with this and from now on there will be no more ghosts, only goats. I began to think of other examples of fake etymology, all with their entirely persuasive explanations, a tribute to the exuberance and flexibility of language.
An Italian friend of mine, who learnt her English in America, calls her mobile her "self-phone". Presumably she has heard it called a cell phone, but never seen the words written down — and it is a phone you use yourself . . .
I laboured long into adult life really believing that there was such a thing as a "damp squid", which of course there is, and when things go wrong they do feel very like a damp squid to me, sort of squidgy and suckery and slippery and misshapen. Is a faulty firework really a better description of disappointment?
My father was in Ypres (pronounced Wipers) during the First World War, and like many of his generation, came back with bits of French. Ça ne fait rien turned into San Fairy Ann, meaning Stuff You, and then a new character emerged in Lancashire-speak, known as Fairy Ann; a got-up creature, no better than she should be, who couldn't give a damn. "San Fairy Ann to you" morphed into: "Who does she think she is? Fairy Ann?"
In closing the brief piece the author invited readers to send in examples of other ways in which "English has been good at borrowings and refits, and ways of making sense; even of its mistakes."
The gave some of the response in a follow-up: 'Communicating with the dead is risky, especially on constipated ground' which says:
Communicating with the dead is obviously a risky business, especially as they might be buried in constipated ground or, as the Countess of Harewood kindly suggested, have too hastily signed over their Power of Eternity.
One husband told me that his wife likes to say: "'If my mother were alive now, she'd turn in her grave." I know that's not quite a fake etymology, but I include it, along with "my words fell on stony ears". This must be close to bear-faced cheek, which might be a relative of the moveable beast, as in "Easter is a moveable beast — it all depends on when the hens start laying".
I feel very sorry for the child who nearly choked on his biblical cord, and for the gentleman who feels "out on a limbo". I think we have all felt out on a limbo sometimes, perhaps especially the lady who "has a milestone round her neck".
Of Bibliophilia and Biblioclasm, by Theodore Dalyrmple, contains this insight:
The internet is both wonderful and terrible. For instance, it enables patients to learn a lot about their own diseases, and if they are discriminating, sometimes even to save their own lives. But medical information, or opinion, on the internet has probably already killed far more people than it has saved: the fact that Thabo Mbeki, the recently deposed President of South Africa, found a site on the internet while browsing that convinced him that AIDS was not caused by a virus, and that therefore treatment of HIV with drugs was harmful, resulted in untold premature loss of life that it will take many years for the internet to balance by lives it has saved.
a footnote
I've done lots of research on a thesis I'm writing, so much that it surprises me when I find something new and unexpected. This sentence fragment appears in a letter from the 17th-century mathematician who's the subject of the research: "Afterwards the warrs here breaking out I went 7 years to sea, most of it in the Venetian service against the Turk, wherein my hazard was almost as various as those of Dr Johnson sett out in his Sermon in print..." Curious about the sermon, I searched the printed publications of the mid-seventeenth century to see whether I couldn't locate this Dr. Johnson. Happily, this afternoon I found a book of 1664 by a William Johnson, Dr. of Divinity, called Deus nobiscum a sermon preached upon a great deliverance at sea: with the narrative of the dangers and deliverances, which seems to be the right one. Its text is in the Early English Books database and that's behind a paywall. Luckily, it has also been excerpted in a free and public source: A history of shipwrecks, and disasters at sea, from the most authentic sources (1833). This book, digitized by the University of Toronto, gives a brief summary with the text:
Dr. Johnson's deliverance, 1648.
THE narrator of the following shipwreck, as well as the sufferer, was Dr. William Johnson, a chaplain to Charles II. He embarked at Harwich, in the ship William and John, under the command of Daniel Morgan, on the twenty-ninth of September, 1648. The ship belonged to merchants of Ipswich. The writer does not say whither the William and John was bound, but it seems probable it was to some part of Norway, as that was the destination of the vessel in company, which took them up from the boat.
The narrative tells how the ship went down in the North Sea having burst some planking below water level, how a passing ship effected a dangerous rescue under high winds, how that ship then struck submerged rocks and split in two against a small isle off the coast of Norway, how Norwegians rescued the survivors after many harrowing hours of exposure on the rock, and how -- on making his way back to England, divested of his money and all his writings -- he endured other mishaps. Throughout he's careful to report only what he himself experienced and could understand. While honoring the many who selflessly provided help, he's also charitable toward those behavior was ignoble, selfish, mean, and despicable.
He was never well-known and authored no other books. An old book gives some biographic details in describing Warboys, the place where he spent his final years: "William Johnson, D. D. Rector of this towne, was author of & book intituled 'Deus Nobiscum, or a Sermon preached upon a great Deliverance at Sea, 1648; with a Narrative annexed,' &c. wherein it is said, that 'he was twice shipwrackt, and that he lived four days without any sustenance, and lay two nights and two days upon a rock in the deep several times, all hope of life being taken away.' — The said Dr. Win. Johnson had been (Fellow) of Queen's College, Chaplain and Sub Almoner to King Charles the Second, and the most witty and pious man living: he died Archdeacon of Huntingdon, March, l666-7, and was buried at Westminster, aet. fifty-four."
From its subject and date of publication, Johnson's book seems likely to be the one to which my man referred. The likelihood is strengthened by his dedication of the work to "My much esteemed Friend CHARLES SCARBURGH, Doctor of Physick, at his House in Black-Friers London." This Scarburgh appears in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and has his own wikipedia entry. As a physician to King Charles II, he would have been an associate of Johnson in his position as chaplain. One of the founding members of the Royal Society, Scarburgh was also an associate of Seth Ward who later nominated my man to be a Fellow. It's a strong likelihood they knew one another.
There are probably some other connections to be unearthed as well. For example, both Scarburgh and my man were bibliophiles and students of mathematics. Scarburgh left a large math library which probably contained works authored by my man or shepherded by him through the press. Though there aren't any surviving letters between them, they corresponded with some of the same men. It's unlikely that I'll be able to find a direct link between my man and Johnson, but these indirect ones are suggestive.
{Charles Scarburgh. Source: www.scarboroughgenealogy.com/}
{Warboys Parish Church. Source: www.fowl.org.uk/historyl2/}
{A shipwreck. Source: membres.lycos.fr/manchicourt/Willaerts/}
{Norwegian Coast. Source: gallery.photo.net/}
GoodGuide
an astonishing act of will
six-word memoirs
Meraki, Mesh, WiMAX, and White Space
Sinowal
labor relations, 1910


The airline has scheduled a press conference.
Irish Ryanair March 26, will hold a press conference in Kharkiv, where you can announce the launch of flights from the local airport.
At the event on the part of the public sector will act as head of sales and marketing in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans Olga Pavlenko and CEO of the management of the airport "Kharkov" company "new systems AM" Vladimir Vasilchenko.
In the case of the announcement of the opening of the flight Kharkov will become the third Ukrainian city in the route network of Ryanair.
Now the Irish low-cost airline flying from Kiev Borispol airport and the city.
Currently the largest budget airline in Kharkiv is Wizz Air. The airline operates from the city flights to Vienna, Dortmund, Gdansk, Katowice, Krakow and Wroclaw.


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School Spotlight: Martinsburg High | Gridiron Football
HomeUncategorizedSchool Spotlight: Martinsburg High
School Spotlight: Martinsburg High
September 5, 2022 William Lamphier Uncategorized 0
Martinsburg High School – located in Martinsburg, West Virginia – plays at the highest level in the state at AAA and is ranked the #1 team in the division (according to MaxPreps). The Bulldogs are home to some players who have gone to play in the NFL, including wide reciever Juwan Green and cornerback Fulton Walker, who was the first player to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the superbowl. This week, I had the pleasure to talk with Martinsburg head coach Britt Sherman to talk about the team. I asked him how he got interested in being a coach, to how the team looks after starting 2-0, to who some of his top players are.
Coach Sherman told me what I thought was a unique journey of becoming Martinsburg's head coach. "Well, I was actually a pre-med major, and when my advisor looked at my transcript from college, all the choice classes were coaching education classes. So she sat me down and asked me what route I want to go… So I was interested in [coaching] before I knew I was interested in it, and my former head coach asked me to come on and also start teaching, because there was a big shortage in Berkeley County (where I had graduated from and where Martinsburg is), where a lot of teachers were leaving. So I was able to start as a teacher and coach around 2004."
"[This job is] all about the kids. It's not something you do for ego or glory [or money]. It's something you do to help kids. More than anything, our youth today needs to be involved in something bigger than themselves, to understand how to work on the team. That's my major [coaching philosophy] – to help these kids become the best human they can be. Additionally, I would say [the most important value to instill] would be the golden rule, do to others as they would do to you, and to be a great teammate."
Team-building is as important as ever in today's game. With that, I asked how Coach Sherman tries to build that for his team. "We do a lot of different things [to create team-building], but I think the best things that we do is we have team dinner together on Thursday nights, the day before the game. We do character development right before that team dinner, and we talk about something different each week. This past week was the cancer awareness game, so we talked about cancer and how it's affected all of our lives."
As much as team-building is important to a team, it is just as important to develop leaders and how to spot them in a team. Coach Sherman said, "Being a great student as well as a great athlete" is what he looks for in team leadership. "We have a lot of guys right now that are doing that. Additionally, we also do some community service – we've done rescue missions, serving food, stuff like that. So when I ask who wants to go this month, guys that are willing to do that and do selfless acts of service are things that I look for in leaders."
The team might be 2-0 to start the season, but that doesn't mean there is no problems Coach Sherman has to work through. "We lost the Gatorade Player of the Year last year in our starting wide reciever, lost another All-State player at tight end, and lost our three interior lineman on offense. We lost some key pieces, but brought back a good core of guys that are extremely talented. Playing the first two games, we've played well. Last week, we broke a school record of yards in a game [with 696 total yards]. So we're extremely talented, but also made some mental mistakes that we need to clean up because we have an extremely hard schedule coming up."
"We need to work more on discipline. We fumbled the football, gave away a touchdown, blew coverage to give away a touchdown last week. Just those self-discipline type things, and some penalties… bone-headed penalties and stuff like that we really have to clean up. The first thing to do [to overcome this problem] is to make practice harder, make practices more like games. Then go over certain situations; if you don't coach it, you can't assume they're gonna be able to do it. So we defintiely have to start coaching more of their situations."
Some players who have been performing well so far this season – and who Coach Sherman thinks will continue to do so – include Cam Shallis, Murphy Clement, and Ezra Bagent. Clement and Bagent are both quarterbacks, with Clement being the type to surprise you with his rushing ability and Bagent being the main passer. Shallis is the inside linebacker for the team, with him being described as the "quarterback of the defense."
Britt Sherman
Cam Shallis
Ezra Bagent
Fulton Walker
Juwan Green
Martinsburg HS
Murphy Clement
West Virgina
William Lamphier
Gridiron Top 300: Hunter Clegg
October 24, 2022 Lucas Berger 0
DITR: Nick Osborne
July 18, 2022 Andy Bryson 0
School Spotlight: St Edmund High
April 6, 2022 Andy Bryson 0

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Salman Khan begins his shoot for 'Bharat' days after being released on bail
Just a few days after Salman Khan was released on bail from Jodhpur Central Jail, he started shooting for his next movie 'Bharat' on 16th April 2018. The movie currently being shot in Mumbai has been directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and is the official adaptation of the South Korean film 'Ode to My Father'.
Bollywood heart throb Priyanka Chopra will be starring opposite to Salman in this movie. Priyanka in a press statement said "I am very excited to begin shooting for the film with Salman and Ali again after a long time. I have been able to learn a lot from both of them during our previous collaborations and I am pretty much excited to see what this new movie has to offer. Thank you for all your support and I will see you at the movies."
Monsoon Session of Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) From July 26
Staff Reporter GUWAHATI: The Monsoon Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) that was scheduled to start from July 18 has been deferred. Now the...
Alleged malpractices using 'Aadhaar' in States & UTs for distribution of food grains
New Delhi: In a startling incident, some complaints/reports of malpractices involving use of Aadhaar during the distribution of subsidized foodgrains in...
At least 105 marooned people in Hailakandi Rescued by SDRF & Fire Services
Hailakandi: At least 105 marooned people from Porbogal and other areas in Hailakandi District were rescued by the SDRF and Fire & Emergency personnel on...
Partial Lunar Eclipse to occur tonight at 1:31 AM
Guwahati: A partial eclipse of the Moon will occur tonight and it will be visible in India. It begins at 1:31 am. The maximum partial eclipse will occur...
Border Security Force Troops rescued flood affected people near Assam-Bengal Border
Guwahati: The troops of Guwahati Frontier of Border Security Force (BSF) on 15th July 2019, in different a generosity, rescued 11 people of border...
Assam Floods: Centre releases Rs 251 crore as grant-in-aid for Flood Relief Fund
Guwahati: The Central Government on Tuesday released an amount of Rs 251 crore as a grant-in-aid to State Government towards Central Share of SDRF...
55 year old lady and grandson murdered in cold blood by a gang in Bokajan
Bokajan: In a sensational incident, a 55 year old lady and her grandson have been murdered in cold blood at her residence in Sarhiajan Guwahatia Bosti...
Heavy to very heavy rainfall to paralyze normal life in entire NE within next 5 days: IMD
Guwahati: As according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, rain/thundershowers observed at most places over Sub-Himalayan regions...
Inundated National Highway 37, Kaliabor SDO sounds alert, Vehicles movement restricted
Kaliabor: The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) on Monday in a circular notified that due to the inundation of the National Highway 37 at several places near...
Prime Minister Modi calls Sonowal; takes stock of State Flood Situation
Guwahati: As the major parts of the state are reeling under flood, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today telephoned Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and...
Water Logging in Guwahati: Fancy and Uzan Bazaar Under Water after Rise in Water Level
Guwahati: With the advent of monsoon, the heavy rains in the state have swelled up to the mighty Brahmaputra to a point where it has even crossed the...
Stokes' "Bat of God" episode: England should have been given five runs instead of six?
London: Finally at the end, England Team has crowned the world champions for the 1st time in men's cricket history after they beat New Zealand in...
Airport parking mafia raaj: The tale of common man's agony at LGBI Airport
Cambridge Analytica Scandal: The largest known data leak in Facebook history


Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins and Keith Dunn sit down, dusted, in front of the Babylon 5 third season episode, 'Dust to Dust', and spout our usual nonsense!
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5: Dust to Dust.
Wikipedia: Dust to Dust (Babylon 5).
Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins and Keith Dunn sit down, rejuvenated, in front of the 2007 Doctor Who story, The Lazarus Experiment, and spout our usual nonsense!
BBC: Doctor Who – The Lazarus Experiment.
Wikipedia: Doctor Who – The Lazarus Experiment.


Sparkling lights illuminate the Southeast Botanical Gardens -- a living museum filled with brilliant blooms of tropical flowers and lush greenery -- every evening until March, 31 2019.
With the lights enhancing the already beautiful natural features of the gardens, the Southeast Botanical Gardens illumination has a different feeling from similar events taking place at hotels and shopping malls around the island, making it well worth a visit.
In addition, a special Christmas dinner buffet will be offered Saturday, Dec. 22, to Tuesday, Dec. 25.


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Jan 10 Mirage Community: A Definition & Explanation
This article was co-written by Carrie Melissa Jones and Charles Vogl and originally posted on LinkedIn. You can also find a modified version on CMS Wire.
Hundreds of brands, from Glossier to Starbucks and Walmart to LinkedIn, built transformative and supportive communities in cities around the world from soup to nuts in 2018. If only that were true.
In our work and the work of those before us (Muniz, Albert, and O'Guinn, 2001), a "brand community" is, first, a community that is, second, inspired, created, or influenced by a brand. In this context, a brand means any identifiable organization. This can include a for-profit, non-profit, political or otherwise driven organization.
An authentic brand community includes all of these elements:
Members who share a mutual concern for one another's welfare.
Members who share an identity founded in values (at least one value).
Members who participate in shared experiences reflecting the shared values.
Successful brand communities serve both members and organizational goals. Consider Salesforce's "Trailblazer's Community" for users, Harley Davidson's "Harley Owners Group" for riders, and Lady Gaga's "Little Monsters" community of fans. Each organization has invested in tying stakeholders (customers and staff) together, which grows all three of the above elements. It is no surprise then that both members and the organization get value, even if it always takes years to see that value.
Typically, specific infrastructure must be in place to both build and support authentic brand community elements. How to create that infrastructure is a deeper conversation for another time.
Hard to build what you can't identify
Marketing departments and C-suites continue to use the term, "community," to label wide-ranging organizational investments, including neighborhood events, charity partnerships, online forums, and even simple email lists. But a closer look reveals that most (and sometimes all) of the community-building measures are superficial (even irrelevant) for real community. Too many companies use the term haphazardly and sometimes carelessly. To avoid shaming, we're not listing them here.
Brands often use "community" as a catch-all label to describe an audience or group of returning customers. There is nothing wrong with audiences or customer groups. They just don't constitute a community without additional and appropriate investments. In fact, the term community has been used by brands to refer to so many ideas over the past 20 years that the word has lost whatever meaning it once had -- a loss for the organizations as well as the individuals within these so-called communities. In 2018, the unhelpful misuses have become more widespread than ever.
When we ask individuals inside organizations how they define community and how they themselves understand its importance for their roles, most are hard-pressed to define the term for their work. Often the best they can conjure is: "Community is good for people." That's hollow at best and meaningless at worst.
When we look closely at so-called communities, all too often we find what we call Mirage Community. A mirage community may look like a community to outsiders and the untrained. But those who are close to it can easily see that it is not the real thing. Mirage communities miss fundamental infrastructure and deliver none of a community's powerful outcomes for members or organizations.
Mirage Community
A Mirage Community is defined as a group that aspires to form community, and may even call itself a community, but lacks fundamental elements that constitute a community. Mirage communities fail to deliver positive community and organizational results.
Note that there is nothing wrong with groups that fall outside the definition of community. Most of us are involved with lots of groups. An advocacy campaign (say advocating for clean Oakland streets) may never build a community, but as a group, it can serve a rich and powerful role for Oakland. The danger comes when we can no longer distinguish between groups and communities and we expect more from a group than it can ever deliver. Or we fail to invest in a group to grow a community (say an Oakland streets cleanup community) and then despair at the failure.
A social media campaign like the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS serves a deep need to grow a conversation about a disease and raise research money. It does not knit its participants into a community where members care for one another. Growing a conversation and fundraising nevertheless can prove a satisfying outcome with tangible impact.
We must recognize Mirage Communities to create clarity for what to build for organizations, where to invest effectively, and how to remain honest in our intentions. Real communities take more and often different investments than mirage communities.
Identifying mirage communities and building authentic communities that serve organizations and members is the topic of our forthcoming book to be released by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in 2020. You can find out more about our work and stay updated about the book on our websites: www.gathercommunityconsulting.com | www.charlesvogl.com.
Muniz, Jr., A., & O'Guinn, T. (2001). Brand Community. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(4), 412-432. doi:10.1086/319618
mirage community, strategy
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Jan 24 9 Community Book Recommendations
Dec 18 An Interactive Discussion on the Future of Community Design and Leadership


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Home / Walijua hili / 4 Best Movie Streaming Services 2018
4 Best Movie Streaming Services 2018
There are many movie streaming services for those who want to save a little money or watch movies from the comfort of their own homes. Some of these are free online streaming services, other streaming sites charge a monthly fee.
1]Netflix
Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) is the world's largest online movie rental service, offering more than 7 million subscribers access to 90,000 DVD titles plus a growing library of over 5,000 full-length movies and television episodes that are available for instant watching on their PCs. The company's appeal and success are built on providing the most expansive selection of DVDs, an easy way to choose movies and fast, free delivery. Netflix has been named the #1 rated Web site for customer satisfaction for five consecutive periods, according to a semi-annual survey by ForeSee Results and FGI Research in the spring of 2005, the winter and spring of 2006 and the winter and spring of 2007.
2]YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.
3]HBO
HBO Go is a TV Everywhere service offered by the American premium cable network HBO. It allows HBO subscribers to stream video on demand selections of HBO content, including current and past series
4]Showtime
Showtime is an American premium cable and satellite television network that serves as the flagship service of the Showtime Networks subsidiary of CBS Corporation, which also owns sister services The Movie Channel and Flix. Showtime's programming primarily includes theatrically released motion pictures and original television series, along with boxing and mixed martial arts matches, occasional stand-up comedy specials and made-for-TV movies. The Showtime brand is used by a number of channels and platforms around the world, but primarily refers to the group of eight multiplex channels in the United States. As of February 2015, Showtime's programming is available to approximately 27.7 mil
Walijua hili


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TRIGEMINAL TREATMENT
Treatment of Neuralgia
The trigeminal nerve is a cranial nerve, which is responsible for innervating the face, tongue, something from the ear, and the eye. The nerve leaves the brainstem and after crossing the skull on the inside reaches the Gasser ganglion, from where it will be divided into three branches or nerves: mandibular, maxillary and ophthalmic. These three nerves will take care of the sensory and motor part of certain parts of those previously mentioned. Although not acting alone since the facial nerve, is also very involved in the innervation of facial structures.
According to the International Headache Society (IHS) trigeminal neuralgia can have three origins: derived from a viral infection by the Varicella-Zoster virus or a structural anomaly of the nerve itself (eg by a multiple sclerosis plaque), in which case it would be called neuralgia secondary to the cause that produces it, or in the third case when there is no apparent cause, called idiopathic.
The term Classical Neuralgia is reserved for those patients in whom there is compression of the trigeminal nerve at the vascular level, this lesion being located by resonance and treated surgically.
Symptomatology
Regarding the symptomatology of the patient with Neuralgia, the fundamental characteristics that the patient must present are:
The pain lasts from a fraction of a second to two minutes
The intensity of the pain is severe.
The pain is similar to an electric shock, a shot, a stab or very sharp quality
The pain appears by innocuous stimuli, which usually do not cause pain and within the distribution of the affected nerve.
As it is deduced by the previous lines, the normal thing is to have affected one branch of the trigeminal while the others do not present symptomatology. On rare occasions, or when the patient has been without treatment for a long time, or with ineffective treatments, the attacks may last more than 2 minutes. And finally, the patient can provoke attacks because he knows the proper maneuver to reproduce it.
Physiotherapy treatment.
As we have said before, there is a type of neuralgia, caused by the structural compression of the nerve, in addition there are several pharmacological treatments that have a very high effectiveness in the treatment of this pathology.
But what can physiotherapy do in trigeminal neuralgia? Any pathology that generates associated painful symptoms and prolonged over time, generates a series of changes at the central level in what we will call the centers in charge of pain processing. One of those changes that are generated are called central sensitization, and assume that our brain becomes a loudspeaker, which amplifies everything that arrives in the form of a nociceptive impulse that will be the one that after processing it in the brain becomes a stimulus painful.
In general, this sensitization situation also occurs in the peripheral tissues, in this case in the cervical and facial musculature, so that it is easier for any stimulus to trigger pain. Physiotherapy using different techniques such as mobilization of peripheral nervous tissue, in this case the trigeminal mandibular nerve, dry puncture on the facial and cervical musculature or mobilization of the mandibular complex has been shown to be effective in the treatment of these pathologies.
Finally, associated with pain permanently or prolonged, there is a loss of mandibular motor control, which through a program of exercises that are learned in clinic for the daily realization at home, we get to restore ..
Mandibular Treatment
Treatment of mandibular alterations that occur with pain or difficulty in movement (inability to open the mouth).
Manual therapy on the cranio-cervico-mandibular complex that returns a normal movement to the area to try to reduce the pain and restore the correct functioning.
Cervical Column Treatment
Treatments of the cervical spine, which in general is related to most of the painful processes of the head, mouth and neck.
Physiotherapy in Maxillofacial Surgery
Pre and post-surgical treatments in maxillofacial surgery, which helps us to reduce the deadlines and the consequences of the intervention.
Treatment of Headaches and Migraines
Specific treatment of headaches and migraines, based on a correct diagnosis based on the current clinical guidelines of the International Headache Society.
Check the current availability of the Clinic and book your appointment.


Incentivit is a a powerful and affordable referral software that helps online and offline businesses acquire new customers using referral marketing.
I was tasked with redesigning existing UI. The previous UI was inefficient, lacked intuitiveness, and its navigation was confused.
I created an onboarding flow to help simplify the user registration process. This onboarding helps users to design and create their first referral program.


France just won the soccer World Cup. It happened last 20 years ago.
The World Cup was launched in 1930 and every four years (except during WWII) national soccer teams throughout the world compete for the champion's prize. Of the 23 FIFA World Cups held over the years, nine countries experienced the glory of winning. Only two times did the same country win twice in a row.
What makes a winning team?
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor at Harvard Business School, researched the question and wrote about it in her book, Confidence: How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin & End.
Moss Kanter's determines that winning stems from confidence and leaders deliver confidence. Learn how and apply her insights to your company or organization.
Moss Kanter also describes losing as a process and mindset: blaming and making excuses.
What processes do you have in place to learn from winning?
How do you share this knowledge?
Confidence-building is the leader's job.
What three resources does your team need most now?
Confidence builds on past experiences and reactions to those experiences.
Moss-Kanter refers to events occurring during the performance AND backstage. On the field AND in the locker room. In front of the client AND in the conference room.
How do your actions "during practice times" contribute to your team's confidence "in the limelight"?
For example, what are the impact of gossip, ridicule, selective information, and pleasing in your organization?
What impact does expressing or suppressing emotions have on your team?
Winners face facts and address problems.
How can you step back and gain a fresh perspective?
Winners really do work harder. They track the specifics of their progress.
Moss-Kanter spoke of the boring part of winning: tracking the numbers and being disciplined. It also helps everyone be on the same page and data reveals what needs to improve right now.
On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), how relevant are your metrics? How much do you rely on your KPI's for decision-making?
What do metrics conjure up in your culture: blame or learning? What will you do about that?
Can there be Winners without Losers?
In the World Cup only one team receives the championship cup.
And yet, no one can categorize Croatia as "Losers" in the 2018. Their president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic set the example in recognizing great sportsmanship in the competition and in her own team. She embraced the championship cup holders as warmly as she embraced her own team. Following suit, the French president Emmanuel Macron also embraced each of the Croatian athletes.
Such a HUG. Even Mbappe is surprised at her warm congratulations. Photo from La Parisienne.
Celebration rain or shine. Photo from La Parisienne.
The world witnessed a moment of connection as rain-soaked heads of states hugged sweat-soaked athletes, regardless of whether they held the prized cup or not.
Grabar-Kitarovic's honorable stance at the award ceremony changed the way the French public views the Croatian team.
There is one world cup winner. AND, there are no loser. Everyone stands tall after the match.
What power-struggle in your life can we transform into a no-lose situation? Contact me to implement such a transition.


Here is the coolest thing about cryptocurrencies; they usually do not physically exist everywhere, not even on a hard drive. When you examine a specific address for a wallet featuring a cryptocurrency, there is absolutely no digital information held in it, like in exactly the same way a bank could hold dollars in a bank account. It truly is simply a representation of worth, but there is no actual tangible type of that worth. Cryptocurrency wallets may not be seized or immobilized or audited by the banks and the law. They would not have spending limits and withdrawal constraints enforced on them. No one but the person who owns the crypto wallet can decide how their riches will be managed. Mining cryptocurrencies is how new coins are placed into circulation. Because there's no government control and crypto coins are digital, they cannot be printed or minted to make more. The mining process is what creates more of the coin. It may be useful to think of the mining as joining a lottery group, the pros and cons are the same. Mining crypto coins means you'll get to keep the full rewards of your efforts, but this reduces your likelihood of being successful. Instead, joining a pool means that, overall, members will have a much greater chance of solving a block, but the benefit will be split between all members of the pool, according to the number of "shares" won.
If you are considering going it alone, it's worth noting the applications settings for solo mining can be more complex than with a swimming pool, and beginners would be probably better take the latter course. This alternative also creates a stable flow of revenue, even if each payment is small compared to fully block the benefit. In the case of the fully-functioning cryptocurrency, it may perhaps be dealt like a thing. Supporters of cryptocurrencies proclaim that sort of digital cash is not governed by way of a central bank system and is not therefore subject to the whims of its inflation. Because there are a minimal amount of items, this cashis value is founded on market forces, enabling owners to industry over cryptocurrency trades. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, LiteCoin, Ether, YOCoin, and many others happen to be designed as a non-fiat currency. In other words, its backers claim that there's "real" value, even through there is absolutely no physical representation of that value. The value climbs due to computing power, that's, is the only way to create new coins distributed by allocating CPU electricity via computer programs called miners. Miners create a block after a period of time that is worth an ever declining amount of currency or some kind of benefit to be able to ensure the shortfall. Each coin includes many smaller components. For Bitcoin, each component is called a satoshi. Operations that take place during mining are exactly to authenticate other trades, such that both creates and authenticates itself, a simple and elegant solution, which will be one of the appealing aspects of the coin. Once created, each Bitcoin (or 100 million satoshis) exists as a cipher, which is part of the block that gave rise to it. The blockchain is where the public record of all trades resides.
The fact that there's little evidence of any growth in the use of virtual money as a currency may be the reason there are minimal efforts to control it. The reason for this could be just that the marketplace is too small for cryptocurrencies to justify any regulatory attempt. It really is also possible the regulators just don't comprehend the technology and its implications, expecting any developments to act. The wonder of the cryptocurrencies is the fact that scam was proved an impossibility: because of the dynamics of the method where it is transacted. All transactions over a crypto currency blockchain are permanent. Once you're paid, you get paid. This is simply not something temporary where your visitors can dispute or demand a concessions, or employ dishonest sleight of hand. In practice, most investors could be wise to use a transaction processor, because of the permanent dynamics of crypto currency transactions, you should be sure that safety is difficult. With any type of crypto currency whether it be a bitcoin, ether, litecoin, or any of the numerous additional altcoins, thieves and hackers may potentially get access to your private tips and therefore grab your cash. Unfortunately, you most likely can never have it back. It is quite crucial for you yourself to embrace some great safe and secure methods when dealing with any cryptocurrency. Doing this can protect you from most of these bad functions. When searching on the internet forWhere Can I Buy Peercoin, there are many things to ponder.
Click here to visit our home page and learn more about Where Can I Buy Peercoin. This mining action validates and records the transactions across the whole network. So if you are trying to do something illegal, it's not a good idea because everything is recorded in the public register for the rest of the world to see forever. Since among the earliest forms of earning money is in money lending, it really is a fact that you can do this with cryptocurrency. Most of the lending websites now focus on Bitcoin, some of those websites you might be needed fill in a captcha after a specific time period and are rewarded with a bit of coins for seeing them. It is possible to visit the www.cryptofunds.co web site to locate some lists of of these websites to tap into the currency of your choice. Unlike forex, stocks and options, etc., altcoin marketplaces have quite different dynamics. New ones are constantly popping up which means they do not have a lot of market data and historical view for you to backtest against. Most altcoins have fairly inferior liquidity as well and it is hard to produce a fair investment strategy. Just a fraction of bitcoins issued so far are available on the exchange markets. Bitcoin markets are competitive, which suggests the price a bitcoin will rise or fall depending on supply and demand. A lot of people hoard them for long term savings and investment. This restricts the amount of bitcoins that are really circulating in the exchanges. Additionally, new bitcoins will continue to be issued for decades to come. So, even the most diligent buyer could not buy all present bitcoins. This scenario is just not to imply that markets will not be exposed to price manipulation, yet there is certainly no need for large sums of cash to transfer market prices up or down. The merest occasions in the world market can affect the price of Bitcoin, This can make Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency volatile. Bitcoin is the main cryptocurrency of the internet: a digital money standard by which all other coins are compared to. Cryptocurrencies are distributed, worldwide, and decentralized. Unlike conventional fiat currencies, there's no governments, banks, or any other regulatory agencies. Therefore, it really is more immune to wild inflation and tainted banks. The benefits of using cryptocurrencies as your method of transacting money online outweigh the protection and privacy risks. Security and seclusion can easily be reached by simply being intelligent, and following some basic guidelines. You'dn't set your entire bank ledger online for the word to see, but my nature, your cryptocurrency ledger is publicized. This can be secured by removing any identity of possession from your wallets and therefore keeping you anonymous. If you are looking for Where Can I Buy Peercoin, look no further than Bitcoin.
The physical Internet backbone that carries information between different nodes of the network is currently the work of several companies called Internet service providers (ISPs), including companies that provide long-distance pipelines, sometimes at the international level, regional local conduit, which ultimately links in households and businesses. The physical connection to the Internet can only occur through one of these ISPs, players like degree 3, Cogent, and IBM AT&T. Each ISP operates its own network. Internet service providers Exchange IXPs, owned or private companies, and sometimes by Governments, make for each of these networks to be interconnected or to move messages across the network. Many ISPs have arrangements with providers of physical Internet backbone providers to offer Internet service over their networks for "last mile"-consumers and companies who want to get Internet connectivity. Internet protocols, followed by everyone in the network makes it possible for the info to flow without interruption, in the right place at the right time.
While none of these organizations "possesses" the Internet collectively these companies determine how it works, and recognized rules and standards that everyone stays. Contracts and legal framework that underlies all that's happening to discover how things work and what happens if something goes wrong. To get a domain name, for instance, one needs permission from a Registrar, which includes a contract with ICANN. To connect to the Internet, your ISP must be physical contracts with providers of Internet backbone services, and suppliers have contracts with IXPs from the Internet backbone to attach to and with her. Concern over security dilemmas? A working group is formed to focus on the problem and the alternative developed and deployed is in the interest of most parties. If the Internet is down, you have someone to phone to get it mended. If the problem is from your ISP, they in turn have contracts in position and service level agreements, which regulate the manner in which these issues are solved.
The benefit of cryptocurrency is that it uses blockchain technology. The network of nodes the make up the blockchain is not regulated by any centralized firm. No one can tell the miners to update, speed up, slow down, stop or do anything. And that's something that as a dedicated promoter badge of honor, and is identical to the way the Internet functions. But as you comprehend now, public Internet governance, normalities and rules that regulate how it works current built-in difficulties to the user. Blockchain technology has none of that. Ethereum is an unbelievable cryptocurrency platform, however, if growth is too quickly, there may be some problems. If the platform is adopted quickly, Ethereum requests could grow drastically, and at a rate that exceeds the rate with which the miners can create new coins. Under such a scenario, the whole platform of Ethereum could become destabilized due to the increasing costs of running distributed applications. In turn, this could dampen interest Ethereum platform and ether. Instability of demand for ether can result in an adverse change in the economic parameters of an Ethereum based business that could result in business being unable to continue to manage or to cease operation. For most users of cryptocurrencies it isn't necessary to comprehend how the process works in and of itself, but it is essentially crucial that you comprehend that there is a process of mining to create virtual currency. Unlike monies as we know them today where Governments and banks can simply select to print endless numbers (I 'm not saying they are doing thus, just one point), cryptocurrencies to be managed by users using a mining program, which solves the sophisticated algorithms to release blocks of monies that can enter into circulation. A lot of people would rather use a currency deflation, notably individuals who want to save. Despite the criticism and disbelief, a cryptocurrency coin may be better suited for some applications than others. Fiscal privacy, for instance, is excellent for political activists, but more debatable as it pertains to political campaign funding. We need a secure cryptocurrency for use in commerce; If you are living pay check to pay check, it would take place included in your wealth, with the remainder reserved for other currencies. You have probably seen this many times where you typically distribute the nice word about crypto. "It is not volatile? What goes on if the price failures? " to date, several POS systems provides free conversion of fiat, improving some concern, but before volatility cryptocurrencies is resolved, most of the people is going to be reluctant to put up any. We need to find a way to struggle the volatility that's inherent in cryptocurrencies.


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What Are the Wages for a Truck Driver Dispatcher?
By: Andrew Latham
How Much Should a Carpenter Be Paid?
Truck driver dispatchers create and manage schedules for service vehicles used for the transportation of goods. This involves keeping accurate records of the logs they receive from drivers, as well as monitoring and controlling their performance. According to a report by the Department of Labor, dispatchers usually have a high school degree education and learn the skills they need on the job. Therefore, the wages of a truck driver dispatcher will usually vary depending on the industry, geographic location and seniority instead of being based on a worker's particular education level.
According to a 2010 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for a dispatcher not working for the police was $34,560. This figure is based on a $16.62 hourly wage and full-time employment of 2,080 hours a year. However, the mean hourly wage for a dispatcher, according to the same report, was $18 an hour.
A May 2010 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the wages of a dispatcher ranged from $21,030 a year for the 10th percentile to $28.18 for the 90th percentile. The bottom 25th percentile earned $26,690 and the 75th percentile $45,430. According to the same survey, there were an estimated 180,540 dispatchers employed in the United States.
Wages by Industry
The non-governmental industries that account for the highest levels of employment for truck dispatchers are general freight trucking, with 24,040 job positions, and building equipment contractors, with 10,580 jobs, according to a 2010 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The same survey reported the top paying industries for truck dispatchers were the scientific research and development services, which paid a mean hourly wage of $28.07, and the natural gas distribution sector, which paid an hourly mean wage of $27.07.
The states which offer the highest wages for dispatchers are Delaware, Connecticut and Wyoming, according to a 2010 report by the Department of Labor. Delaware businesses paid in 2010 an hourly mean wage of $20,68. Companies in Connecticut paid an average of $20.64 an hour and Wyoming averaged $20.32 an hour. The same survey reported the states with the highest levels of employment were California and Texas, although the state with the highest concentration of dispatchers was Louisiana, with 2.53 dispatcher positions for every thousand jobs.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook Dispatchers
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Dispatchers
O NET Online: Summary Report for Dispatchers
Andrew Latham has worked as a professional copywriter since 2005 and is the owner of LanguageVox, a Spanish and English language services provider. His work has been published in "Property News" and on the San Francisco Chronicle's website, SFGate. Latham holds a Bachelor of Science in English and a diploma in linguistics from Open University.


TrustCubes has entered into a strategic partnership with UK based Trustify as the exclusive distributor of TrustCubes PKI products, including all SSL+LEI Certificates. As part of the new relationship, Trustify will manage TrustCubes customer renewals and partner accounts. Trustify have a long, sucessful history and the TrustCubes executive team is excited to partner with a cyber security specialist that will maximise the market reach for the TrustCubes SSL+LEI product, as well as provide industry leading customer service to TrustCubes customers. TrustCubes continues to innovate digital identity products for its customers and partners through the numerous global technical alliances.
Get Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) in just minutes for your customer's organisations. TrustCubes is the first SSL Provider to issue SSL Certs containing LEIs – offer SSL Certificates that contain validated and verifiable corporate identity. Available exclusively through Trustify.
As a TrustCubes partner, you can offer Legal Entity Identifiers to your customers without the need to be an accredited Local Operating Unit (LOU) with all the requisite legal agreements, liability and stringent audits.
Our signing solutions alllow enterprises to review and sign documents quickly, easily & securely. We offer eIDAS-compliant Qualified Signatures for cross-border legal recognition making the incorporation of legally binding e-signatures into business workflows easy.
TrustCubes is the authorised European partner for several cybersecurity vendors. Our team has been shaping the Certificate Authority and SSL world for over 15 years and includes founders and previous executives of GeoTrust, GlobalSign, Comodo and more. We use our customer first philosophy and years of experience to automate the SSL application process and give you the best means of buying industry-leading website security products for your customers.
TrustCubes is a European cybersecurity solutions provider. Our solution Cubes include SSL/PKI, Legal Entity Identifiers, Digital & Electronic Signing, & Identity Management. We believe the future for cybersecurity lies within solution automation, interoperability and service. We use our deep relationships with our global technology partners to deliver the best automated technologies through our Partner network.


text:
package com.junerver.testo2oapp.utils;
import android.app.Activity ;

import java.util.ArrayList ;
import java.util .List;

/**
 * Created by Junerver on 2015/6/30.
 * Use to finish All Activity.
 */
public class ActivityCollector {
    public static List<Activity> activities =new ArrayList<Activity> ();

    public static void addActivity(Activity activity ) {
        activities. add(activity) ;
    }
    public static void removeActivity(Activity activity ) {
        activities. remove(activity) ;
    }
    public static void finishAll(){
        for ( Activity activity: activities){
            if ( !activity. isFinishing()){
                activity. finish();
            }
        }
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Fund LittlePod's vanilla grower in Indonesia. A unique opportunity to fund vanilla production.
LittlePod is a vibrant and highly successful small company based in Devon. LittlePod brought to market the very first vanilla paste in a tube. They supply their products to Fortnum & Mason and Whole Foods.
You may not know it but vanilla prices have almost doubled in the last 3 years. Made Setiawan is setting up his own plantation in Indonesia. Janet Sawyer, LittlePod's founder has a proposal for you. She would like your help to buy some vines for him. Made has big plans: he wants to export to the UK and Europe. LittlePod can help him achieve this and hopes that you would like to help too.
LittlePod Vanilla Grower successfully raised £3,000 to fund the production of 300 tubes 728 days ago. Check back soon for more offers.
Janet says "Over the last year I have been introducing LittlePodders to our friend and vanilla farmer, Made Setiawan. Made has been working on a programme to clear ground in Indonesian Borneo with the Katingan Project. In one year Made has had great success in finding crops that can help to clear the ground and show how it is not necessary to slash and burn during crop rotations."
Delicious paste has been specially formulated from a blend of pods, seeds and extracts.
At LittlePod we would love to source our raw materials from dedicated farmers. 1 tube is equivalent to 20 pods, seeds and all.
With Made's project we hope to ensure a reliable supply of good quality vanilla. This includes crop rotation and natural soil replenishment.
This is good for the land and for local people, and it can give you a good return too!
Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extractives including Vanilla Seeds, Alcohol (17%), Sugar, Thickener (Xanthan Gum).
(1) Use in all home-baking and desserts. (2) Try in our Double Vanilla Biscuits recipe.
Kosher, gluten free, free from nuts.


I know, I've been bad about updating for the last few weeks. I have this awesome week where I do three whole posts, and then I disappear for the better part of a month. I'm a bad bad man. What was I doing? Who are you, my mom? Oh… well, sorry mom.
Long story short, I've been working on version 2.0 of WordKeeperAlpha. No, this won't be WordKeeperBeta. I have no intention of securing a new domain name just to keep things straight. Also, I won't ever be able to get the wordkeeper.com domain. Yeah, I have all of three users, including myself, but there are several things that needed to be fixed, and a few I wanted to add.
On top of the bug fixes and feature additions, I'm completely redesigning the UI using Twitter Bootstrap. I think I might just be in love with that framework. Seriously, go and check out WordKeeperAlpha.com/NewHome.aspx and see the difference. Its going to be a few months yet before I role out the new site (probobly not until the New Year, since I've got a job now and can only work on it a couple hours a night) but progress continues.
What does this mean for my writing and Impervious? Eh, its slowing down a little, but not too much since I've been so bad about writing recently. I am still going to take November off from all my other hobbies and pursuits and do National Novel Writing Month. I'll be doing my best to keep my blog, Twitter and Facebook updated with my progress there. I'll most likely be working on the third Book in the Iron Principles series, which will be a lot of fun. I'm going to be doing plotting in October, along with enough writing on Edge of December to carry me into December (shut up). Speaking of which, I should get back to that. I've a chapter to finish cleaning up. I hope you're reading! Enjoy!


text:
Best Visual Artist: Katie Green
Captured by Neil Zeller
Katie Green is one of Calgary's most accomplished contemporary visual artists exploring a multifaceted approach to her work. She creates intricate watercolours on paper, she makes large-scale mural installations, and she is a mask/puppet fabricator. Born and raised in Calgary and graduating with distinction from the University of Calgary's BFA Program, Katie's has taken her work out of the studio and into the public executing murals in Canada, the United States, India, Taiwan, and Germany. Much of Katie's work is collaborative, with community participation integral to its creation. By working in public, Katie's murals alter the physical, emotional, and imagined landscape of a specific community. Through this work, she demonstrates a deeper understanding of how artistic practice integrates into spaces where there is a shared viewership.
Today, Katie Green continues to focus on a combination of drawings, masks, murals and paintings. Her mural work in particular can be seen in a number of different locations including, cSPACE King Edward, The Calgary Drop-In and Rehabilitation Centre, on 10ave and 12street SW for the Beltline Urban Mural Project, the Bowness Public Library, and the University of Calgary's Art Department. Since 2017 Katie has been working with the locally and internationally renowned Old Trout Puppet Workshop as a puppet fabricator. Katie has participated in multiple residencies including the Santa Fe Art Institute and the Vermont Studio Centre. In 2013 she participated in a 21-day residency titled The Peel Project where her and five other artists canoed the peel river in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. To view more of Katie's work you can check out her official website and Instagram. Stay tuned for her next big installation along the East Village riverwalk this summer!
FIRST RUNNER UP: MANDY STOBO
SECOND RUNNER UP: BRIANNA STRONG