text:
Posted by Emma Goddard on
The creators of "The Shepherd of the Stars" discuss the process of making a film and the inspiration behind their career path in animation.
As children, some of the first forms of media we come into contact with are cartoon shows and animated movies. Characters like Arthur might teach our youth important life lessons about facing their fears, while Daniel Tiger helps kids work through their emotions and understanding of what to do in times of anger or sadness. Yet even as we grow out of the ABCs and the "learning to share" phase of our lives, animation often remains a light in the chaos that becomes our adolescent and adult worlds. Whether the content is purposely made to appeal to a younger crowd, created with a mature audience in mind, or made to be enjoyed by both, animation hasn't slowed down and likely won't anytime soon.
For the team behind "The Shepherd of the Stars," animation, as it did with many of us, presented itself during formative years. Yet excitement of creating stories through this special art form stuck with "The Shepherd of the Stars" filmmakers Céline Bernard, Héloïse Berthelier, Marion Robert, and Adrien Maggiacomo so much so that their love for it carried over to their academic studies.
"I was looking for a way to express myself and transmit something," Bernard says. "Film and books are the best way to do that, but I'm not a good writer. I was passionate about drawing but living only with that would have been complicated, so I decided to go to 3D [modeling] school. It taught me how to do film (CGI) and animation and confirmed that doing movies is the best thing [for me]."
Sharing the same admiration for this method of storytelling, Robert was inspired to pursue animation as a career choice by watching student films on display during a career fair. Likewise, fellow creative partner Berthelier says she remembers being in awe of the worlds and creatures in "The Lord of the Rings" for the first time and how much this impacted her when she was a child.
Bernard, Berthelier and Robert decided to take on 3-D animation at school, along with their classmate Maggiacomo, where they learned to hone in on the various forms of this craft to become animators of their own stories.
It was during their second year that they were tasked to make an animated short. They quickly assembled as a team of four, realizing that they all shared a similar style and vision for the aesthetic they wanted for their film. From there, they had to come up with the story, which proved to be quite difficult initially, as they were unable to convince their teachers of the various concepts they brainstormed together at the onset. Ultimately, however, they found that they wanted to illustrate their story behind the creation of the stars, using the style of a children's fairytale to relay the themes of love, friendship, legacy and life after death.
After landing on this concept, Bernard, Berthelier and Robert explain that they began their project with a storyboard, a process used by many animators in which the film's illustrations, digitally or sketched by hand (though the latter is less common), are organized in sequence to get a better sense of the overall picture — "previsualization." Following this, they used an animatic to help dictate the look and feel of their animation.
"We took our designs and animated them a little, especially the cam movement," they explain. "It permitted [us] to predict the time and the rhythm of the movie."
After this, the group went to work polishing their characters, the sun for instance, to accurately represent their idea. Part of this work to evoke certain emotions from the audience, especially in a film with no dialogue, included the strategic use of color in their animation.
"[The sun] represents a divinity and of course the star itself," the filmmakers say. "So we designed him [in circular] and soft shapes with warm colors. All of these elements indicate to the audience that it's an important character, a nice and friendly one. Also, as in a live action film, the emotions of characters will influence the colors of the background. To generalize, when they are happy there will be bright and warm colors on the screen, and when they are sad, colors will turn darker. That is also something that will help the spectator to understand the mood."
Additionally, Robert explains that they paid important attention to detail when it came to animating the characters' facial expressions and body language.
"Be open minded because this will expand your creativity and your art will touch people. This is the main objective."
"Acting is really important because it will make the spectator understand the personality of the characters," Robert says. "For example, to show that the [shepherd's] dog is really a friendly and healthy companion, I made him run or walk happily. But the shepherd is more calm and quiet so his way of moving, and his facial looks, will be more soft and wise. And last, but not least, the music accentuates emotions a lot, which is so important in this kind of movie."
From drawing out the storyboard, to developing the characters, working on designs, color script and light script, and not to mention reworking the story multiple times, the production of "The Shepherd of the Stars" took about nine months overall. Though they are still students only dipping their toes into the world of film, in the end, they were able to create a stunning, six-minute animated short.
Through their education however, they've already acquired numerous skills to carry them through their journey into 2D, 3D and CGI and cite the exciting mix of these forms of animation surfacing in recent years, as they have with movies like "Kubo and the Two Strings" and "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." Bernard mentions how encouraged she is by this, noting that film is always evolving in technological, graphic and creative representation. While she says it's just the beginning, she, like her peers, have learned a lot about this work in the early stages of their career so far.
"I would say that one of the most important things is to be curious of everything," Berthelier adds. "Be open minded because this will expand your creativity and your art will touch people. This is the main objective."
Likewise, Bernard and Robert acknowledge that hard work leads to success and that having a close-knit and equally hardworking team to support you will only help to push you along as you work on achieving your dreams.
The Shepherd of the Stars
A shepherd and his dog travel by foot each day to blow in a magic horn and light the sky.
Q&A: Evolving 360° Storytelling


Who will become the winning techpreneur in 2018?
Pitch and Award Ceremony of EBV IoT Hero at WT Conference Europe in Munich on 30 January.
EBV Elektronik, an Avnet (NYSE:AVT) company, was founded in 1969 and is the leading specialist in European semiconductor distribution. EBV maintains its successful strategy of personal commitment to customers and excellent services. 230 Technical Sales Specialists provide a strong focus on a selected group of long-term manufacturing partners. 110 continuously trained Application Specialists offer extensive application know-how and design expertise. With the EBVchips Program, EBV, together with its customers, defines and develops new semiconductor products. Targeted customers in selected growth markets will be supported by the Vertical Sales Segments. Warehouse operations, complete logistics solutions and value-added services such as programming, taping & reeling and laser marking are fulfilled by Avnet Logistics, EBV's logistical backbone and Europe's largest service centre. EBV operates from 64 offices in 29 countries throughout EMEA (Europe – Middle East – Africa).


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Ninjas have been in the news here at LinkedIn recently. What better way to continue the trend than to offer up tips for those looking to master the hidden arts of Recruiter?
Avoid Non Competes – You know that DownTheStreetCo hires great people with the specific experience you need. However, there may be legal obstacles to directly approaching their employees. Instead, target employees who used to work at the company. Enter DownTheStreetCo into the Company field in the search box, choose Past not current, and then run your search. Next, use Years at Company to select only those who have been away from that company for at least 1 year (or longer, as appropriate).
Avoid Job Hoppers – Since Recruiter lets you reach out to potential candidates with the right job experience, why pick someone who will only stick around a short while? Use the Years at Company filter to avoid those who have been with their current organization for less than a year.
Find Consultants – Conversely, short term employment is exactly what you may seek in a Consultant. Combine Years at Company: Less than 1 Year with Interested In: Consultants/Contractors to quickly narrow your search.
Level Setting – Many recruiters use the Job Title field to level set their candidate pool. Let's say you're hiring a VP. What you may really mean by this is "I will take a Director from a large company, but otherwise they had better be a VP already." Our Company Size and Fortune filters will help you build your pipeline to include the right individuals. First perform a search for Director-level profiles and set your Fortune or Company Size filters based on the cutoff you feel is right for "large enough". Place your preferred candidates on the Clipboard, then repeat the search with VPs at smaller companies .
Timing is Everything –Use the combination of Years at Company and Years in Position to reach people who may be ready to entertain a switch. For instance, combine Years in Position: 1 to 2 Years with Years at Company: at least 3 years to find people who have grown into their new roles and may be ready to think about their next opportunity.
Go Beavers/Badgers/Banana Slugs – Sometimes the talent you need is just not available locally. Who better to ask to return to town than alumni of local schools? Start by searching major regions closest to the job and work your way outwards.
With these tricks up your sleeve, your Dojo will be full in no time!


text:
Stream The National's "High Violet"
The National's thoroughly excellent High Violet is now streaming on the New York Times' Web site, which also carries a gushing five-(web)-page spread on the slow-burning Brooklyn band. Has the Old Grey Lady ever done a full album stream premiere, much less one with this much cachet and anticipation attached? Either way, it's impressive, and couldn't have happened to a more deserving band. (Update: They're on the front page of NYTimes.com. Wow.)
One notable portion of the interview:
With 'Lemonworld,' " Matt said afterward, "we tried so hard and it always seemed to fail as a rock song. It lost the charm of the ugly little demo. Now it's the ugliest, worst-mixed, least-polished song on the record, and it took the longest to get there."
I agree — it's definitely the record's low point, if only because the title recalls the much more inspiring "The Geese of Beverly Road," its glimmering world and its big slice of lemon.
The National: All Posts
6:41 am⋅April 23, 2010
2010, The National

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Muerte suspendida is a 2015 Venezuelan action film directed by Óscar Rivas Gamboa.

Plot
Bernardino Correia, a Portuguese owner of several service stations, is kidnapped by three individuals who are sent by Orozco, an ambitious and ruthless Colombian boss.

Production
Criminal investigator Óscar Pérez approached director Óscar Rivas about creating a movie to improve values among those in Venezuela's law enforcement agencies. Pérez stated that he accepted the role because he believed in justice for Venezuela and that he wanted "people to fall in love with police work in Venezuela and to feel proud".

Reception
In 2015, Muerte suspendida was released to the public, with Pérez serving as a protagonist, CICPC agent Efraín Robles, while also co-producing the film with information and equipment provided by CICPC. After Muerte suspendida became Venezuela's second-highest-grossing movie in 2015, a second movie was going to be created, though there were not enough resources in the country.

References

External links

2015 films
2015 action films
Venezuelan action films
2010s Spanish-language films

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Home Fashion Do you Know what that little pocket on our jeans is for?
Do you Know what that little pocket on our jeans is for?
In life and in the world of fashion precisely, there are few things that remain a mystery to us, and we never bother to find out. For some of us who are curious minds, it's good to know the truth. One of this things is the small pocket in our jeans.
We've all learnt the significance of a particular piece of clothing that has had people baffled for generations. Well at least some of us are.
We all know that little pocket on our jeans? The one that doesn't really function as a pocket due to its tiny size, that sits inside an actual pocket which does actually function as anything.
Thanks to someone who was particularly curious on forum who couldn't live in a world where that pocket's function wasn't known have gone and discovered its use.
The small little pocket inside a pocket is actually for watches, designed for cowboys in the 1800s. But since we are in 2018 and we are, for the most part, not cowboys, these pockets have taken on new guises.
So if you're reading this, congratulations! you now know why you have those small pockets in your jeans.
Next articleWhen The TRUTH Becomes a Two Aged Sword, What Do You Do?


text:
Game 6 Rain Out Frustrates Fans
Modified Oct 25, 2009
Last night's postponement of the Yankees' and Angels' ALCS Game 6 may have seemed appropriate, given the deluge, but fans who showed up at Yankee Stadium were fuming. A woman who drove five hours hoping to see the Yankees clinch things told the Daily News, "This is ridiculous. They can play in this weather. I wouldn't be so angry if I didn't have to work Monday morning, but if the game goes late tomorrow I still have to drive home."
And five hours is nothing compared to the family from El Paso, Texas that drove to stadium—the News says, "The Ortiz family couldn't stay for tonight's makeup game because the dad has to be back at work tomorrow morning." The game was called two hours before the 8:20 p.m. start time; one man griped, "Of course, they still make us pay for parking. Do I get my $30 back? Nah, of course not."
As for the Yankees themselves, they were calm. Mariano Rivera said, "It's one day off, that's it. We have been through this. We have to wait. I was ready to play [last night] and will be ready [tonight]," and Mark Teixeira said, "We've had so many days off this entire postseason. A short series the first series , waiting around, then travel days. You just kinda get used to it." Nick Swisher remarked about the $1.5 billion structure, "The man upstairs didn't think it was time for us to play. We were ready to play, but rain happens and we don't have a roof."
alcs
rainout


There's nothing more relaxing than settling down onto the couch with your loved ones and a glass of wine, ready to fire up a classic movie, or maybe something independent and obscure that rocked the Oscars this year. What you may not know is that there are plenty of theaters in Seattle that offer that exact same experience! Sure, you can't wear your cozy bunny slippers (or can you?!), but you do get travel back into a bygone era of vintage charm and luxury at the cinema. Explore these independent movie theaters during your next trip to the Emerald City – any one of them is the perfect place to catch an indie thriller, 1940's romance, or the latest and greatest Star Wars installment!
In the heart of Belltown you'll find the Big Picture Theater, built on a promise of luxury and decadence. Enjoy the film, and let them take care of the rest. Waiters will deliver martinis to you in your Tempur-Pedic seats, as well as Champagne buckets full of popcorn and martini glasses full of Raisinettes. If that doesn't scream luxury, what does?
If you're looking for something a little more historical, head north to Queen Anne where you'll find the famous Cinerama. Like many great Seattle icons, Cinerama is the result of the 1962 World's Fair. Since then it has been a favorite choice of all Seattle moviegoers, as a well-known destination for cult classics and film festivals. There's always something going on at Cinerama! And a recent renovation means you can enjoy dinner and even adult beverages in the plush, comfortable chairs.
Another one of our favorite independent movie theaters in Seattle is The Grand Illusion Cinema, tucked away in the University District. In 1968 a dentist's office was converted into the current Grand Illusion, making it one of the longest-running movie theaters in the Puget Sound! Enjoy the beautiful speakeasy-like atmosphere, where they play almost exclusively independent films.
The best way to turn dinner and a movie into one single stop: Central Cinema! Located just a little east of Belltown, the Central Cinema is the perfect date night. Enjoy second-run films and a full menu at every show. Tons of local PNW craft beer is available to sip as well. Feeling feisty? They have events called Hecklevision, where it's highly encouraged to question some of your favorite characters on the big screen! I mean, how many times have you muttered "no, don't go down in that basement alone!" to your television at home?
Seattle is an amazing epicenter of art and creativity, and Seattleites tend to flock to it. There are some amazing places to check out independent movies, but we tend to think that the theaters themselves tell just as much of a story as any film playing on the screen. During your next Emerald City vacation, check out these awesome independent movie theaters in Seattle! And don't forget to book a Belltown or Urban Neighborhood rental right here on here on our website: www.SeatoSkyRentals.com.


text:
package cc.xiaoquer.jira.excel;

/**
 * Created by Nicholas on 2017/9/22.
 */
public class ExcelUtils {

    public static final short EXCEL_COLUMN_WIDTH_FACTOR = 256;
    public static final int UNIT_OFFSET_LENGTH = 7;
    public static final int[] UNIT_OFFSET_MAP = new int[] { 0, 36, 73, 109, 146, 182, 219 };

    /**
     * pixel units to excel width units(units of 1/256th of a character width)
     * @param pxs
     * @return
     */
    public static short pixel2WidthUnits(int pxs) {
        short widthUnits = (short) (EXCEL_COLUMN_WIDTH_FACTOR * (pxs / UNIT_OFFSET_LENGTH));

        widthUnits += UNIT_OFFSET_MAP[(pxs % UNIT_OFFSET_LENGTH)];

        return widthUnits;
    }

    /**
     * excel width units(units of 1/256th of a character width) to pixel units
     * @param widthUnits
     * @return
     */
    public static int widthUnits2Pixel(short widthUnits) {
        int pixels = (widthUnits / EXCEL_COLUMN_WIDTH_FACTOR) * UNIT_OFFSET_LENGTH;

        int offsetWidthUnits = widthUnits % EXCEL_COLUMN_WIDTH_FACTOR;
        pixels += Math.round((float) offsetWidthUnits / ((float) EXCEL_COLUMN_WIDTH_FACTOR / UNIT_OFFSET_LENGTH));

        return pixels;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Excellent audio quality, call us for a test of the bridge !
Toll free conference calls have been around a long time. But Toll Free Bucket of Minutes Conference Call Plan is different because it is a flat rate plan, this permits you to more easily predict monthly conference calls costs.
The Toll Free Bucket Conference Call Plan offers up to 150 participants on a call at one time.


text:
Q: appending  to keywords in rails Basically, there are some keywords that i want to pick out and assign a link to them dynamically.
How should i go about in doing this?
Let's say i have something like this;

ruby, rails, php, python, django and sinatra

and i would like to assign links to keywords like ruby and python, so the end results should look like this;

ruby, rails, php, python, django and sinatra

Any help or suggestion would be much appreciated!

A: One way of doing it, assuming you only want to link whole words:
html = "
ruby, rails, php, python, django and sinatra
"

word_links = { "ruby"   => "http://www.ruby-lang.org",
               "python" => "http://www.python.org" }

html.gsub(/\w+/) do |word|
  word_links[word] ? "#{word}" : word
end

If the text you are operating on is rather large, but the list of words you want to link is pretty small, this may be optimized a little by doing substitution on matching words only:
html.gsub(/\b(#{word_links.keys.join('|')})\b/,
          "#{$1}")

Just make sure you don't have any keywords that can appear inside an opening tag (like inside an attribute value for example, which would break completely with this solution.) For a truly robust solution you will have to use a proper HTML parser and just replace content text.

A: If you want to do it on the server side before the content is rendered to the browser then you can do it like
str = "
ruby, rails, php, python, django and sinatra scruby rubysd 12ruby'; ruby
"

link_hash = {'ruby' => "ruby", 'python' => "python" }

link_hash.each_pair do |key, value|
  str = str.gsub(/\b#{key}\b/, value)
end

str #=> "
ruby, rails, php, python, django and sinatra scruby rubysd 12ruby'; ruby
"

A: Simply use text replacement? Replace "ruby" with "ruby", and done.
See the String.replace in the javascript reference .

A: If you wanted to be particularly fancy, I think you could use an after filter:
class MyController < ApplicationController
  after_filter :link_stuff

  protected

  def link_stuff
    # You'd want to do this more carefully, so as to only get "ruby"s in text,
    # not in tags etc.
    response.body.gsub(/ruby/, "ruby")
  end
end

A: You can do like this
first get the values as an array (or list)
Ex: ruby
    php
    python etc..
send this array to a helper
def link_builder(arr)
   html_string = ""
for element in arr
 check whether your word needs a wrapper. you might want to do a table check

 if warpper_needed?

    html_string = html_string + elment
 else
    html_string = html_string +
element

 end

end
html_string
end
Hope you got the idea, (this might not work as it is)
cheers,
sameera

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We offer both new and reconditioned pallets. Custom designed standard wood, heat-treated, plastic, corrugated, honeycomb and/or paper combinations. We also have pallets that are available for certified overseas shipment to meet all requirements (heat treated, sprayed, etc).


text:
Тодор (Тоде) Димков Ношпал () е политик от Социалистическа република Македония.

Биография
Тодор Ношпал е роден в град Прилеп. Начело е на местното Соколско дружество. Делегат е на Първото заседание на АСНОМ. След Втората световна война участва в първото и второто правителство на Лазар Колишевски като министър на търговията и снабдяването и министър на строежите (до 1947) и министър на местния транспорт. Народен представител е в събранието на СРМ. Синът му Александър Ношпал е виден инженер в Република Македония.

Бележки

Министри на Социалистическа република Македония
Делегати на Първото заседание на АСНОМ
Депутати в Събранието на СРМ
Родени в Прилеп
Делегати на Второто заседание на АСНОМ


text:
New highly detailed ecological land units map of the world published
Esri and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recently announced the development of the highest spatial resolution ecological land units (ELUs) map of the world ever produced.
According to the press release "the Global ELUs map portrays a systematic division and classification of ecological and physiographic information about land surface features. The work was commissioned by the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), and published in print by the Association of American Geographers (AAG)."
"This map provides, for the first time, a web-based, GIS-ready, global ecophysiographic data product for land managers, scientists, conservationists, planners, and the public to use for global and regional scale landscape analysis and accounting," said Roger Sayre from the USGS. "The Global ELU map advances an objective, repeatable, 'big data' approach to the synthesis and classification of important earth surface data layers into distinct and ecologically meaningful land units."


Try these spicy chicken burgers with a definite twist tonight. Combine the tastes of the Orient (fresh root ginger, kaffir lime leaves and coriander) with avocado (fast becoming the UK's most fashionable vegetable) and chilli, as well as sweet chilli sauce, for an added kick. Experiment with shapes for the mixture before frying (if you're feeling adventurous and have time to spare). Enjoy hot at dinner time, or make extra for a cold, lunchtime portion the next day; swerve your lunchboxes in an exotic direction. They really are as tasty as you expect, just be sure to get the refrigeration, frying and oven cooking times just right. You don't need to spend hours in the kitchen, but make sure you leave long enough to give each step the time it needs.
1. Finely chop the chicken breasts and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the chilli, spring onions, ginger, lime zest and lime leaves. Give everything a good mix and stir through the egg and half the coriander. Season well.
2. Heat the oven to 180C fan, gas 6. Shape the chicken mix into 8 burgers and put on a lined baking tray. Set aside in the fridge for 10 minutes before gently flouring. Fry on both sides until browned, then put them in the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
3. For the salad, put the avocado, lime juice, olive oil and remaining coriander in a bowl, mix and season to taste. Serve the burgers with the avocado salad and some sweet chilli sauce.


The April Acuitus commercial property auction raised £28m from the sale of 79% of the lots offered as buyers looked beyond the political deadlock surrounding the UK's exit from the EU.
Auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: "Investors are drawn to commercial property predominantly for the sustained strength of its income return, and what we saw today was confidence in the sector to go on delivering that regardless of the short-term political situation.
The restaurant and leisure sector continues to be the object of sustained investor demand. A restaurant in Newbury let to Côte Restaurants until 2034 at a current rent of £92,500 sold for £1.52m at a yield of 5.62%. A 2,564 sq ft KFC drive-thru on Hernston Retail Park in Bridgend which currently produces annual income of £66,300 and is let for another five years sold for £1.01m at a yield 6.21% representing a capital value of £280 per sq ft.
In the office sector, 60 Abbeygate Street in Bury St Edmunds – a 4,632 sq ft building with parking let until 2025 at a current rent of £80,000 – sold for £1.3m at a yield of 5.81%.
Industrial assets also continue to be the focus for many investors. With a lease expiring next year, a 10,042 sq ft unit at Willowbridge Way in Castleford producing current annual income of £44,000 sold for £780,000 at a yield of 5.35%.
The highest price achieved in the room was for a 23,000 sq ft retail unit on Park Road, Liverpool which sold for £2.95m at a yield of 5.75% – after attracting 97 bids. The current tenant is B&M Retail which is paying rent of £180,500 on a lease which expires at the end of this year.
The Imperial War Museum film archive facility in Cambridgeshire was the subject of huge interest ahead of the sale from a wide range of high net-worth investors, and comprises 11 storage units on a 12-acre site. It is let to The Trustees of The Imperial War Museum until November 2060 with annual breaks from next year at a current annual rent of £37,696. Guided at £250,000, the lot eventually sold for £630,000 at a yield of 5.69%.
Richard Auterac commented: "There were many positives to take from this sale for the market as a whole not just the auctions sector.
The next Acuitus auction will take place on May 23rd at the The Montcalm Hotel, 2 Wallenberg Place, Marble Arch, London W1H 2TN.


text:
West Point Band plans livestream to mark bicentennial
Jun 8, 2017 at 11:41 AM Jun 8, 2017 at 11:42 AM
WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — The West Point Band is celebrating 200 years of service to the Army with a livestream performance from the U.S. Military Academy's Eisenhower Hall Theatre.
The bicentennial concert is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday. It will be streamed at www.westpointband.com
The group is the Army's oldest active duty band, founded at the U.S. Military Academy in 1817. It traces its lineage to fifers and drummers who were part of Continental Army units at West Point during the American Revolution.
It plays at more than 1,600 events annually, including military and patriotic ceremonies, parades, sporting events, public concerts and special events.


text:
KAMAN CORP filed this Form DEF 14A on 03/03/2017
The 2016 target performance award opportunity for each Named Executive Officer was as follows:
Named Executive Officer
2016 Target Award
Opportunity Expressed as %
of Actual Base Salary
Neal J. Keating
Robert D. Starr
Gregory L. Steiner
Steven J. Smidler
Ronald M. Galla
Shawn G. Lisle
For 2016, the Committee adopted different performance measures, performance measure weightings and performance goals for corporate participants (i.e., those officers who did not work primarily for one of our two business segments) and business segment participants (i.e., those officers who did work primarily for one of our two business segments). Messrs. Keating, Starr, Galla and Lisle were corporate participants and Messrs. Steiner and Smidler were business segment participants. The performance measures, performance measure weightings and performance goals for each are discussed in more detail below, together with the level of achievement or satisfaction of each performance goal and the resulting annual incentive award payout for each of our Named Executive Officers.
For purposes of determining the level of achievement or satisfaction of the performance measures for the Company and each of its business segments, the Committee approved certain specified modifications to the calculation of each performance measure that were applicable to all participants. Such modifications included, among others, the exclusion or inclusion of the following: changes to generally accepted accounting principles, including the cumulative effects of accounting changes (such as changes in revenue recognition and lease accounting rules) and the effects of tax law changes; exchange rate effects for non-U.S. dollar denominated operating earnings; the impact of discontinued business units and any loss from discontinued business units; the dilutive effect on earnings per share that arises as a result of any additional shares used in the calculation of diluted earnings per share as a result of any outstanding convertible debt securities and any related bond hedge and warrant transactions; any change in outstanding shares of Common Stock by reason of any stock dividend or split, stock repurchase, reorganization, recapitalization, merger, consolidation, spin-off, combination, or exchange of shares or other similar corporate change, or any distributions to common stock shareholders other than regular cash dividends; unplanned special charges and costs in respect of investments, charges or costs associated with acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, realignments, consolidations or closures of the Company, its subsidiaries, affiliates or any of their respective divisions or any joint ventures; unplanned special charges and costs in respect of pension curtailment adjustments attributable to pension expense charged to Company contracts with the U.S. Government, which could result in an amount due to (or from) the U.S. Government depending on whether the Kaman Corporation Employees' Pension Plan (the "Pension Plan") is in a surplus (or deficit) position, as determined under U.S. Cost Accounting Standard 413, following the freeze of future benefit accruals under the Pension Plan; and unplanned special charges and costs associated with legacy environmental activities. The Committee, however, retained the ability to eliminate or reduce the amount of any award that would otherwise be payable as a result of the foregoing adjustments or to further adjust any award due to special circumstances as permitted under the 2013 Management Incentive Plan, under which the annual incentive awards were granted.
Corporate Named Executive Officers. The 2016 annual cash incentive awards for Messrs. Keating, Starr, Galla and Lisle were determined by comparing the Company's degree of achievement with respect to the following performance factors, as compared against the benchmark indicated:
Performance Measure
Actual return on investment
Russell 2000 index for 2011 - 2015
Growth in earnings per share
(fully diluted)
Actual earnings per share
2016 business plan
performance goal
We use a five-year period for the Russell 2000 index benchmarks primarily because many of the Company's military and commercial aerospace programs are longer-term in nature, the time period between sales efforts and actual revenues can be very long, and revenues are often not evenly spread from year to year. Further, because the Russell 2000 index includes companies in a variety of industries that may experience different business cycles, the Committee determined that averaging the performance of these companies over a longer period of time provides a better comparison than just one year. We cannot include the last completed fiscal year in the analysis because sufficient data for the companies comprising the Russell 2000 index generally is not available until the May time-frame of the following year and the Committee determines annual incentive compensation award


Maxine Waters knew she was on live TV during her special hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday. So, the 80-year-old Chairman of the House Finance Committee made sure she gave the powerful, big, bad CEO's of banks a real beating. Waters demanded to know what these horrible men were going to do about all the poor young Americans in debt by student loans. That's when she got laughed right off Capitol Hill. You'll love this.
In all fairness to these CEO's, they had every right to pile on the Congresswoman at this time. To their credit, they showed restraint. You'll know why when you hear their answers.
"We stopped making student loans in 2007 or so," Mr. Monihan responded.
With sarcasm in her voice, Waters said, "So you don't do it anymore?" She then immediately moved on to the next banker. Come hell or high water, Auntie Maxine would get her man and bring him to justice.
"Mr. Corbyn?" asked Maxine. You could feel the tension in the room.
"When the government took over student lending in 2010, we stopped doing all student lending," he replied.
You could feel the chamber want to erupt in laughter. You see, back in 2010, Barack Obama federalized the student loan program. Maxine, as head of the Finance Committee, should know that. In the very least, Wacky Waters was being indignant toward the CEO's over student loan debt, but in essence, it was her own party who is responsible.
In 2010, President Obama effectively nationalized student lending by cutting banks — which had been offering government-backed loans to students — out of the equation and having the government make the loans itself.
Too bad House inquisition by "Maximum Maxine" Waters isn't in prime time. She is most obvious example of someone who is in "WATERS" over her head, revealing she knew nothing about student loans, banking, or finance. Thanks, Dems for putting forth your best foot–in the mouth!
This is what happens when there are no term limits and you have a Democratic Party that has fooled many African-Americans in the ghetto that the only party looking out for them is the party of Auntie Maxine. She thinks she can fake it before she makes it, the only problem is she is 80-years-old and isn't even trying to do her job right. Well, she better get used to being the laughing stock of Capitol Hill.


text:
The magnetic properties of an iron nitride thin film obtained by ion implantation have been investigated. N2+ ions were implanted in a pristine iron layer epitaxially grown on ZnSe/GaAs (001). X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the formation of body-centered tetragonal N-martensite whose c-axis is perpendicular to the thin film plane and c-parameter is close to that of alpha' Fe8N. Magnetic measurements disclosed a weak perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) whose energy density KPMA was assessed to about 105 J/m3. A sharp decline of the in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) was also observed, in comparison with the body-centered cubic iron. The origin of the PMA is attributed to the MCA of N-martensite and/or stress-induced anisotropy. As a result of the PMA, weak magnetic stripe domains with a period of about 130nm aligned along the last saturating magnetic field direction were observed at remanence by magnetic force microscopy. The application of an increasing in-plane magnetic field transverse to the stripes Htrans highlighted a threshold value above which these magnetic domains irreversibly rotated. Interestingly, below this threshold, the stripes do not rotate, leading to a zero remanent magnetization along the direction of the applied field. The interest of this system for magnetization dynamics is discussed.
Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in Fe–N Thin Films: Threshold Field for Irreversible Magnetic Stripe Domain Rotation
Garnier, L. C.;Eddrief, M.;FIN, Samuele;BISERO, Diego;Fortuna, F.;Etgens, V. H.;Marangolo, M.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S2010324716400142
Garnier, L. C.; Eddrief, M.; Fin, Samuele; Bisero, Diego; Fortuna, F.; Etgens, V. H.; Marangolo, M.
Reprint Garnier SPIN.pdf
Descrizione: Articolo


Art is aided by a renewed importance to the world itself. Arriving at many of the same conclusions as Assassin's Creed: Origins, Far Cry 5 finally ditches the tower-climbing formula Ubisoft once held dear, and it's a hundred times better for it.Rather than dumping icons scattershot across the map, you'll instead set off in search of information. A townsperson might tell you about a mechanic who fled the area, leaving behind a tooled-up car in a nearby garage. Another might have word of a local celebrity holed up in a hotel down the street, or a cache of weapons in the back room of a diner, or assign you to kill a marauding bear in the adjacent hills. A map lying half-discarded on a chair might tell you of a nearby farm, while glancing at signs on the side of the road will alert you to lucrative hunting grounds or fishing spots.It's so damn refreshing. As with Origins, I found myself engaging with Far Cry 5's side-content far more often than I did in 3 and 4. Flying my helicopter towards the next mission I might spot a cabin peaking out from the treetops, then swoop down to check it out. Chances are it held more of the same weapons and medkits and so on that I already had stocked, but there was always the possibility of a bizarre mission—maybe investigating aliens, a haunted house, or a berserk moose. IDG / Hayden DingmanFailing that, each building was still dressed up with such care, so unique, that I never really felt cheated. The reward might be as simple as "Wow, whoever lived here really liked baseball," and that was okay with me. It's very reminiscent of the modern Fallout titles in that respect, and very different from Ubisoft circa 2007 to 2016.Turning a blind eyeAnyway, that's the biggest change. The rest is bog-standard Far Cry. You play as a rookie cop who everyone simply calls "Rookie," a blank-slate of a character with no voice or personality—a step backward from Far Cry 4 in my opinion. In any case, you tag along with your boss (the local sheriff), a US Marshall, and two other deputies on a mission to arrest Joseph Seed, leader of a local cult called the Project at Eden's Gate.These "Peggies," as the locals call them, are heavily armed and essentially a riff on the Branch Davidians, but large and powerful enough to basically take over the whole of Montana. Needless to say, Joseph's arrest doesn't go as planned. You're stranded in Montana and shortly thereafter are co-opted to spearhead a resistance movement. IDG / Hayden DingmanMontana is split into five regions: one small tutorial area, another small island where Joseph's headquartered, and then three enormous sections led by Joseph's lieutenants/"family." John rules the farmlands to the west, Jacob the Whitehall Mountains to the north, and Faith the Henbane River to the east. Much like Ghost Recon: Wildlands, you can take on these regions in any order. Your only goal is to build up "Resistance Points" in each, which you do by attacking outposts, blowing up trucks, rescuing civilians, and doing more formalized story missions. Once you've got enough, you take the fight to the lieutenants and then, eventually, Joseph himself.It's a more free-form structure maybe, but the component parts are still standard Far Cry.The story completely falls apart though. I mean, let's just ignore the major plot holes, like the fact you have ready access to both planes and helicopters, are told that the nearest city is around two hours driving which means maybe 30 minutes flying, and yet instead of leaving to summon the National Guard you decide the better option is a small-scale guerrilla war.Yeah, let's just ignore that. IDG / Hayden DingmanRegardless, the open-ended structure leads to pacing issues, as well as a persistent feeling of deja vu. Far Cry 5 seems to have had trouble navigating the fact the player could learn any of its second act plot points in any order. As a result it's constantly reiterating information you've already learned, doubling back on itself to make sure you're keeping up with a story that's really not all that complicated.The overarching story of each region also hits the same few plot points. Far Cry 5 has a recurring bit where you're captured and then somehow escape at the last minute—a conceit that's hard to believe the first time it happens, and downright miraculous the seventh time. At some point, when you've killed hundreds upon hundreds of cultists singlehandedly, you have to wonder why one of them didn't just put a bullet in your brain and have done with it instead of monologuing to you for minutes on end. There are also two different forms of mind control/hypnosis in this game, if you can believe it, each used for pretty much the same purpose but by a different lieutenant.But more importantly, Far Cry 5 is the most tonally inconsistent in the series. One companion told me about a cultist who chopped the toes off parents and fed them to starving children. Another yelled "Skullfucked!" when I shot an enemy in the head. A third is a tamed mountain lion named Peaches. That pretty much summarizes the range of nonsense on display here. It vacillates wildly between ultra-serious morality tale and farce. There are multiple graphic torture scenes to endure, here. There's also a mission called "Lord of the Wings," where you guide your wingsuit through a canyon that's on fire. IDG / Hayden DingmanWhich brings me back to my initial point: Far Cry 5's been dragged into all sorts of discussions it clearly didn't intend to fall afoul of, chief among them being its use of America as a setting in an era where real-world America is more politically divided than ever. Ubisoft's explanation has so far amounted to (paraphrasing) "We're not trying to make any sort of political statement."To throw a quote right back, though: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Far Cry 5 looks like real-world Montana, but it sure doesn't feel like real-world Montana. It can't. It isn't an accurate representation of the current social landscape, because none of our modern worries are reflected. There's no discussion of wealth inequality, barely a passing reference to gun control (and often only in the context of "Liberals trying to take our guns").And religion? Fascism? White supremacy? Police brutality? All neatly side-stepped—yes, in a game where you, a police officer, shoot and kill hundreds of eugenics-loving religious people.Bottom lineThat may not bother you, and if so, fine. Far Cry 5 is, as I said, a mechanically excellent Far Cry game. I largely enjoyed my time with it, in a mindless way. But it does raise questions of what responsibility developers have to real-world settings, if any. It also raises, as I said, questions about how long developers can get away with this "Our statement is that there's no statement" mindset. IDG / Hayden DingmanFor my part, I'd rather a game try than not. From BioShock: Infinite toSpec Ops: The Line, there are plenty of games that don't completely get their message across, but at least distinguish themselves in the attempt.And I bet that version of Far Cry 5 existed, at some point—even if only in some writer's imagination. Much as Ubisoft might maintain the American setting was completely innocent, I've no doubt someone at some point chose it because they wanted to say something important about our society, be it politics or religion or what-have-you. I weep for that version of Far Cry 5, before "business realities" got in the way, because I bet it would've been an interesting ride.What remains is just your standard blockbuster fare, empty and ultimately forgettable. That's a fine backdrop for traditional Far Cry shenanigans (and there are many) but it certainly doesn't live up to its potential.


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Contents 2016
Ahead of the pack
From publishers to soap-makers, royals to the church, we present the front-runners who will be powering the world in 2016 and beyond.
The world's governments would be lost without interpreters. Meet the old hands at the UN headquarters and the students who will help us understand one another in the years ahead. Without these guys, nothing gets done.
From laser technology and missile deployment to regional rivalry, these are the military developments set to shape how nations make foreign policy over the coming year.
What's the big idea?
At these global institutions it's the thought that counts. We've been to London, Nairobi, Madrid, Hong Kong and Washington to meet the researchers and academics that fill think-tanks with ideas and policies to direct those that wield the power.
Reportage: Captains of industry
Despite the economic and refugee crises crashing onto Greece's shores, there is one line of work keeping the country afloat. We drop anchor at the maritime school and naval academy educating those who will be serving the country for years to come by signing up to a life at sea.
Reportage: Fabric of society
The textile-and-clothing industry has always been integral to Europe's economy. Despite Asia's recent dominance, German looms and presses are still whirring away as tried-and-tested companies are brought back into the fold.
Too many residential towers play by the rules. We are granted rare access to Torres Blancas, a fantastical expression of 1960s modernism that remains as current and desirable as ever.
Air mettle
In the commercial battle for our skies, Airbus has planted its European standard firmly in Boeing's US soil. But with new players entering the passenger-jet game, the old duopoly is facing ever more crowded skies.
Our editor in chief is no stranger to airports and so knows the appeal of landing close to the heart of the action as opposed to being stranded out in the sticks. Will 2016's city-planners get on board?
Hop on board
Grand transit projects add sheen to a city government's reputation but cheaper, less disruptive ways to keep things moving are on the rise. Don't be surprised to see tiny buses on your town's streets soon.
Honda's Super Cub scooter is about to enter a petrol-free future in the form of its successor, the EV-Cub. The original 1958 curves are still there, with the addition of all the requirements of affordable green transport.
From fashion brands in Budapest to Tokyo's sport scene, we check out the places with markets worth monitoring in 2016.
Bigger isn't always better, as these petite but perfectly formed shared spaces prove. From a restaurant-cum-shop in Tokyo to a set-up in São Paulo that serves everything from cocktails to culture, we size up the tiny trailblazers that will be forging a path in 2016.
An Italian company has taken inspiration from nature to design a graceful outdoor gym. The collaboration, using specially developed materials, is robust enough to survive in public spaces but beautiful enough to avoid ruining them.
Fertile markets
Rural depopulation is the flipside of the urban success story but there are ways to make sure it doesn't leave city-dwellers bereft of fresh produce or their age-old connection to the soil. Here are three firms ploughing their own furrows to get the countryside growing again.
Roman roads that still lead the way, the future of the EU, the sheer pleasure of swinging an axe and a few more subjects to fire up your imagination and get you talking in 2016.
See no evil, hear no evil and you know the rest – what we're trying to get at is that the advent of the Year of the Monkey is a very positive development. Peel a banana, grab a friend to groom and find out why.
Portrait of a nation
The island state is not used to letting people do anything they want and that means it's been stuck with a moribund arts scene. But the new National Gallery aims to change perceptions of the country at home and abroad. Here's how.
Reel deal
A slice of fairytale magic could be yours for €50,000 for a 30-second commercial or a cool €200m for a blockbuster – but where is the heart of animation in 2016? From paintbrushes to computer screens, we profile a superpower and the pretenders waiting in the wings.
In the US, Germany, the UK, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China, a renewed interest in the printed word means more books are being dusted off and fewer e-readers are being turned on. Is this a new chapter?
Part with the furniture
Chairs, tables and ceramics are, first and foremost, made to be used. But buy the right pieces and 2016 could be the year that you make a profit on your Prouvé and earn from your Eames; here's how to go from home to auction house.
Many cities need more housing schemes but fall short of making them characterful and interesting. We visit a Swiss development that has built-in charm and diversity.
Southern Belle
Megan Billings reporting from Church Hill: The heart of the old American South is being revitalised by community funding and innovators looking for a new challenge.
Cleaning up its act
The traditionally working-class neighbourhood of Jalan Besar is emerging as a hotbed of creativity, cafés, architecture practices, galleries and studios. What's more, the sophistication of the area's offering is growing by the day.
Calm oasis
Many Sydneysiders – young families as well as up-and-coming creatives – are breathing new life into this idyllic community on the Lower North Shore.
Tools gold
Big-box retail and out-of-town stores are struggling in the DIY sector. This is the chance for a revival of small inner-city hardware hubs where knowledge and service rule the day. In Italy they have a model to copy.
Key to a happy home
There's something wrong with the homes being erected around the globe: they are all about a chilly display of wealth, not creating a place that makes you feel safe. It's time to campaign for a new healthy architecture.
Future of transport: Airbus / Mobile
Tristan McAllister
Rob Culpepper
On the day we visit Airbus's new assembly line in Mobile, Alabama, there are three jets on the factory floor in their final stages of production. "The first one is for Jetblue," says Dr Ulrich Weber as he gestures towards the tail section of an A321 that has just had its wings attached. Behind him two more A321s, bound for American Airlines, await the fitting of their noses.
As vice-president and general manager of the assembly line, German-born Weber is charged with making sure everything comes together with precision and punctuality in this new $600m (€565m) facility. It was launched in September 2015 but is already a hive of activity.
To understand why the European aircraft manufacturer has put down roots in US soil – essentially in its rival Boeing's backyard – it is crucial to look at the broader commercial hinterland. There is a turf war taking place on the tarmac of some of the world's biggest airports. Many terminal stands where fleets of Boeing 767s once rested now host Airbus A321s, waiting to carry passengers on transcontinental journeys. In the US, American Airlines has retired much of its wide-body 767 fleet and now flies the narrower A321 across the country; in 2014 Jetblue began flying A321s too.
New technology and design enhancements mean smaller jets can now fly further and airlines don't need big aircraft to make the longer hauls. Instead they are opting for smaller planes that are easier to fill with passengers. The result is a single-aisle-jet market that is booming and set to grow still further. Both Airbus and Boeing offer bullish estimates of how many jets the world will need in the next 20 years. Airbus's forecast puts demand for planes of the A320 type at about 23,000 by 2034. The maker estimates the value of the global single-aisle-jet market to be worth more than $2trn (€1.9trn) over that period.
A320, nose cone pending
Repairs in progress
Airbus A320 on the assembly line
A320 wing
Dr Ulrich Weber
Airbus engineering centre in Mobile
Airbus says the increased capacity at plants in Mobile, Tianjin in China and the long-established factories in Europe will allow it to roll out 60 units of this jet type per month come 2019. Boeing says it will increase the per-month output of its 737 family to 52 by 2018. Clearly the race is on. Both manufacturers sell the majority of their products overseas, which means they are always on the hunt for anything that will give them an advantage outside of their home markets. Airbus is currently winning the battle to build offshore production outposts.
"The sun never sets on Airbus manufacturing," says Barry Eccleston, president of Airbus Americas. "Internationalisation and a global industrial footprint are part of our strategy."
Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of analysis at aviation consultancy Teal Group, believes this philosophy is about more than lowering costs. "These operations exist for other reasons: organic currency hedging, in case the euro gets strong; leveraging against European trade unions and politicians supporting them; and helping to establish a presence, which is good for cultivating political support – always useful when pursuing defence contracts."
The single-aisle-jet market is gathering momentum. On a September 2015 visit to the US, Chinese president Xi Jinping visited Boeing's production site near Seattle. There he announced a partnership between the US maker and aerospace companies in China that included a facility for finishing 737s bound for Chinese customers. It was a clear sign that Boeing has decided it too needs to mark its territory overseas.
Add to that the November 2015 initial preview of China's new Comac C919 and the indications are that the Chinese are out to unseat the old duopoly by building a competitor to the A320 and 737 families. The C919 has yet to take its first test flight but aerospace leaders are looking on in anticipation.
However, while the global race intensifies there's really only one goal that matters back in Mobile: the quest to get it right and get it done on time. "What I really like here is the pragmatism," says Weber of his aim to have the Mobile plant and its technicians rolling out four planes a month by 2017. "If we want to get something done, we do everything to achieve it in a short period of time."
Notes: Project new aircraft deliveries from all makers until 2034
Very large aeroplanes: 1,550
Twin-aisle aeroplanes: 8,108
Single-aisle aeroplanes: 22,927
Notes: Watch the skies
1. Mitsuibishi Regional Jet (MRK)
Japan's first commercial aeroplane in nearly 50 years, the MRJ is nothing radical but Japanese engineering rarely disappoints. A recent flight-test programme is proof it's progressing well.
flythemrj.com
2. Bombardier C Series
The CS100 and CS300 are the Canadian maker's first attempt to compete with the smaller end of the 737 and A320 lines. The jet should make its first flight in 2016 with Swiss International Air Lines.
bombardier.com
3. Comac C919
The jet's range and passenger capacity could make China a force in the single-aisle market but it will be some time before the plane completes flight tests.
comac.cc


Distance 2.5 miles (4.0 km).
Grid reference SW782183 to SW804202.
Park your car at any of the car parks in Coverack - we used the charity car park and paid into the honesty box as requested. Our route followed Walk 19 in Book 1 of the 'Classic Walks Cornwall' Series. Cross the road carefully and bear left along a tarmac road. Keeping the sea to your right, head northeast along the road to its end. Now about 10 minutes into your walk take the wider unmade track seaward. Bear right as indicated by the Coastal Footpath marker post. Cross a stile and continue heading towards the shore. Pause awhile to look back across the bay to Chynhalls Point and on to Pedn-myin. Several streams cross the path making it muddy in places.
Proceed through the leafy corridor crossing a stream and stile. Where the path splits shortly, take the seaward route and climb away from the beach. Negotiate another stile and drop down to the level area (raised beach) between Pedn-myin and Lowland Point. The prominent rocks ahead right are Great Wra. You should now be about half an hour into your walk. Use well placed stepping stones along here to get you through the boggy areas. As you near Lowland Point itself take care near the low cliff edge. The NT sign at Lowland Point grid reference SW800194, is reached just on the hour mark.
Walk due north now on the pebble strewn path, the quarry buildings at the Dean (Gabbro) Quarry now filling your view. Take time to read the large white notice warning about blasting times at the Quarry. If the red flag is flying or the hooter sounding then blasting is imminent - TAKE CARE. The jagged looking rocks about a mile off shore are the infamous Manacles Rocks (Mên Eglos - Church Rocks). If you wish to return to your car, take the footpath up through Treglohan to meet the road before heading back to Coverack through Trevalsoe and Boscarnon. Otherwise you can continue north along the coastal footpath passing the jetty, Dean Point and on to Porthoustock just over a mile away.


With the Green Bay Packers victory in Super Bowl XLV earlier this year, the team and Jostens have made some pretty cool commemorative rings available for fans, season ticket holders and shareholders. These are all available from the Packers Pro Shop.
I thought it would also be interesting to show couple of other rings made available by different companies that might be a bit more affordable for some fans.
There are actually dozens of styles of Packers rings available out there, but I'm only interested in the class ring style. If you know of any more, please let me know.


Aussie Godma gave me the best ever birthday treat: a surprise visit back! It's been a friendship that spans decades and firmly cemented with lots of shopping, cooking lessons - she makes the best chilli crabs - and sleepovers. She now calls Sydney home, where we first bonded over our first factory outlet discovery, and each time she makes a much anticipated trip back, we just hang out like old times.
Who else is crazy enough to think of playing Jenga at Miam Miam but Aussie Godma? Bubs was giggling non stop each time he gingerly removed a block. Since that he was the youngest, he was given the privilege of using both hands to play.
Hubs took Bubs to Toys r Us so us gals could catch up on our shopping. We watched Avengers 2 last week so Bubs was reenacting the Hulk vs Iron Man scene.
While this H&M watercolour tiled pencil skirt with gold zippered pockets got Aussie Godma's seal of approval and made its way home with me. If you're purchasing from H&M, don't forget that donating a bag of old clothes/fabric entitles you to a single use only 15% discount card.
We made our way to ack jiap (duck noodles) at Kimberly Street for dinner and yes, I kid you not, the humble hawker stall actually installed a point of sale machine to charge GST. That didn't deter the crowds though, before the seller arrived, there was a long time of people waiting to place their order.
Besties bonding over a mutual love of char koay teow.


text:
Q: How to delete custom fields permanently through metadata api I'm trying to delete custom fields and create new fields on the upload of a csv file with the header names of the csv but the fields are not getting permanently deleted and i have to erase them manually.Is there any way that i can delete the fields permanently programmatically using Apex??
i just mentioned the piece of code I am using to delete fields and i get the fields by using schema methods.
MetadataPort service = new MetadataService.MetadataPort();
service.SessionHeader = new MetadataService.SessionHeader_element();
service.SessionHeader.sessionId = UserInfo.getSessionId();
String[] newStringDeletedFields = new String[] { stringDeletedFields[k] };
List<MetadataService.DeleteResult> results =
    service.deleteMetadata('CustomField', newStringDeletedFields);


As a long-promised feature of the digital age, artificial intelligence is finally making real strides into many aspects of mainstream security. From personal computing systems to vast online casino networks, this is a development long promised. Offering considerable advantages over traditional methods, these specially-designed systems will indisputably become a pronounced form of protection going forward, but how do they work, and what exactly makes them special?
While understanding the coding basics behind this technology requires a degree's worth of knowledge, the concepts behind these systems are quite simple. Artificial intelligence security technology works to recognize patterns in attacks and security flaws, and then either implements steps to mitigate these flaws, or hands off relevant information to human security staff.
"081111-bbc-ddos-attack" (CC BY 2.0) by pingdom One of the more common types of attacks which are seen today are DDoS attacks. This is the effective flooding of a server with bogus connections, taking up all possible bandwidth and processor power in order to prevent service to legitimate users. A security system as led by artificial intelligence could work by taking account of large spikes of traffic and comparing it against standard levels of use.
From here, it could run a system to cancel incomplete connections or block a range of addresses if they were found to come from a central source. From streaming sites to online casinos, high-traffic services that must provide consistent and reliable connectivity can make a great deal of use of AI protection.
A similar example of implementation can be seen with how we already deal with issues of phishing scams. Most commonly, these come in the form of mass emails which attempt to trick a small number of users by sheer volume and taking advantage of the few most unlucky or computer illiterate.
Artificial intelligence could work to identify common phrases in these emails, cross-referencing them with user reports of scams. Following this action, the AI could automatically delete the messages, block the addresses where they originated and spread information of that particular scam into the wider internet.
"System Lock" (CC BY 2.0) by Yu. Samoilov With all this potential, it is little surprise that many of the biggest industries on the web are looking to expand their protection into this new era. As previously mentioned, online casinos are a perfect example of this, as most of their users are paying with visa in an online casino, they stay safe by utilizing whatever cutting-edge technology they can. From accreditation to high-level SSL encryption, these stand as some of the most likely to lead the way to mass adoption.
It's important to note that while the actions which are performed by AI are possible through human means, the primary advantage here comes from the reliability and efficiency of digital systems. Without the need for direct human input, the constant threat of human error on a case-by-case basis is mitigated, though this will naturally mean a high level of QA testing of the AI itself.
Efficiency on this front is born through the ability of AI to operate far faster and at a far lower cost than even a team of highly trained security specialists. This doesn't remove the need of these specialists completely, as they will still be needed to oversee the program and make high-level decisions, but the digital processing means that experts can focus more on the things that matter, leaving the grunt-work to the machines.
Again turning to the online casino example, consider how many websites receive thousands or even millions of clicks a day. Sorting through all of this data for such a wide range of slots and other casino games would not realistically be possible for humans. Allowing AI to understand the basic rules and point out breaks in the patterns, however, make this not only possible but also routine and reliable.
After making significant strides recently, expect AI security to soon become commonplace for professional and personal use. While not impervious, this does at least mean a greater level of internet security all-around, making it a valuable addition to an age of growing digital dangers.
The post Artificial Intelligence Makes its Way to Front-line Security appeared first on .
This entry was posted in AI, Leaks, Network Security, Online security on April 18, 2019 by Julia Sowells.
Do you live in a "smart" home? If you look around and see interactive speakers, IP cameras, and other internet-connected devices like thermostats and appliances, you are now one of the millions of people who live with so-called "smart" devices. They bring convenience and comfort into our lives, but they also bring greater risks, by giving cybercrooks new opportunities to access our information, and even launch attacks.
You may remember a couple of years ago when thousands of infected devices were used to take down the websites of internet giants like Twitter and Netflix by overwhelming them with traffic. The owners of those devices were regular consumers, who had no idea that their IP cameras and DVRs had been compromised. You may also have heard stories of people who were eavesdropped on via their baby monitors, digital assistants, and webcams when their private networks were breached.
Unfortunately, these are not rare cases. In recent months, the "Internet of Things" (IoT) has been used repeatedly to spy on businesses, launch attacks, or even deliver cryptojacking malware or ransomware.
Still, given the benefits we get from these devices, they are probably here to stay. We just need to acknowledge that today's "smart" devices can be a little "dumb" when it comes to security. Many lack built-in security protections, and consumers are still learning about the risks they can pose. This is particularly concerning since the market for smart devices is large and growing. There are currently 7 billion IoT devices being used worldwide, and that number is expected to grow to 22 billion by 2025.
Cybercrooks have already taken note of these opportunities since malware attacks on smart devices have escalated rapidly. In fact, McAfee reported that malware directed at IoT devices was up 73%in the third quarter of 2018 alone.
So, whether you have one IoT device, or many, it's worth learning how to use them safely.
Research before you buy—Although most IoT devices don't have built-in protection, some are safer than others. Look for devices that make it easy to disable unnecessary features, update software, or change default passwords. If you already have an older device that lacks many of these features, consider upgrading it.
Safeguard your devices—Before you connect a new IoT device to your home network — allowing it to potentially connect with other data-rich devices, like smartphones and computers— change the default username and password to something strong, and unique. Hackers often know the default settings and share them online.Then, turn off any manufacturer settings that do not benefit you, like remote access. This is a feature some manufacturers use to monitor their products, but it could also be used by cybercrooks to access your system. Finally, make sure that your device software is up-to-date by checking the manufacturer's website. This ensures that you are protected from any known vulnerabilities.
Secure your network—Your router is the central hub that connects all of the devices in your home, so you need to make sure that it's secure. If you haven't already, change the default password and name of your router. Make sure your network name does not give away your address, so hackers can't locate it. Then check that your router is using an encryption method, like WPA2, which will keep your communications secure. Consider setting up a "guest network" for your IoT devices. This is a second network on your router that allows you to keep your computers and smartphones separate from IoT devices. So, if a device is compromised, a hacker still cannot get to all the valuable information that is saved on your computers. Check your router's manual for instructions on how to set up a guest network. You may also want to consider investing in an advanced internet router that has built-in protection and can secure and monitor any device that connects to your network.
Install comprehensive security software –Finally, use comprehensive security software that can safeguard all your devices and data from known vulnerabilities and emerging threats.
The post How To Secure Your Smart Home appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
This entry was posted in Consumer Threat Notices, cybersafety, Cybersecurity, data protection, Internet of Things, IoT, Network Security, ransomware on March 6, 2019 by Gary Davis.
The post What MWC 2019 Shows Us About the Future of Connectivity appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
This entry was posted in Advanced Threat Research, Consumer Threat Notices, Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, IoT, Mobile Security, Network Security, Quarterly Threats Report on February 28, 2019 by Gary Davis.
The post McAfee Partners With Telefónica To Help Secure Consumers Worldwide appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
This entry was posted in Consumer, Cybersecurity, data protection, McAfee partners, Mobile Security, Network Security on February 27, 2019 by Terry Hicks.
The post Kicking Off MWC 2019 with Insights on Mobile Security and Growing Partnerships appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
This entry was posted in Consumer, Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, IoT, McAfee partners, Mobile Security, Network Security on February 25, 2019 by McAfee.
These days, it's rare to walk into a home that doesn't have a smart device in use. From voice assistants, smart TVs, tablets, and more, these devices have greatly enhanced our way of life through intelligent connectivity. Intelligent connectivity is defined by the highly contextualized and personal experiences offered by the smart devices we utilize on a daily basis. However, as manufacturers continue to push out the latest technology to stay ahead of their competitors, device security isn't always top-of-mind. As a result, the level of confidence consumers have in their devices is reduced. At McAfee, we understand that the notion of digital trust is imperative to the future of security as we adopt technologies shaped by the likes of 5G networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data. And as we head into Mobile World Congress 2019 (MWC), one can't help but wonder, how will these advancements shape the future of mobile connectivity?
Almost every new device is built to connect, and as our 2019 Threats Predictions Report showed us, our dependence on technology is ubiquitous. Take your smartphone, for example. Everywhere you go, this minicomputer allows you to chat with your friends online, send emails, and look up new information with just the press of a button. Only upping the ante, 5G is set to roll out across the nation, bringing greater speed to handheld devices with more data and lower latency. These benefits will set the stage for more IoT devices, such as your smart refrigerator or smart plug, to connect to the network as well. The ability to control the temperature of your refrigerator from your smartphone is a pretty cool capability. But what happens if your smartphone gets hacked and a cybercriminal remotely disables your refrigerator? You may be left with a bigger problem than some spoiled food.
With all of your smart devices on the same 5G network, malicious actors can gain full access to the data that lives in your smart home technology through just your mobile phone. The increase in devices on the 5G network also increases the risk of Distributed Denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks. These attacks are caused by cybercriminals flooding a network with so much traffic that it can't operate or communicate as it normally would. And with more IoT devices operating on the 5G network, the consequences of such a cyberattack could be truly crippling. So, how can we continue to trust the devices we use on a daily basis despite the cybersecurity risks caused by greater connectivity?
Digital trust, or the level of confidence consumers have in their technology and mobile devices, is extremely delicate. And as our experiences with our devices become more and more personalized thanks to intelligent connectivity, it's important to realize that it can't be intelligent if there is no trust. That's why consumers should embrace advancements in mobile technology but remember to keep cybersecurity practices at the forefront.
Whether you're headed out to Barcelona for MWC 2019 or watching from afar, we here at McAfee are committed to helping you take the necessary precautions required in order to connect with confidence in a world where everything is built to connect.
The post MWC 2019: The Key to Establishing Digital Trust with Intelligent Connectivity appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
This entry was posted in Consumer Threat Notices, Cybersecurity, data protection, Internet of Things, Mobile Security, Network Security on February 19, 2019 by Gary Davis.


Youthful Reflections is Nashville's premier facial plastic surgery center. We have compiled this library of before and after surgery photos to show our procedure results. All of these clients have given us permission to use their before and after procedure photos. Exact cosmetic results may vary because every patient has their own unique circumstances.
Click on images below for full case studies and more before and after pictures of each of our patients.


Sunlight through an ornate archway leading off the Place du Palais. This narrow street will take you to the Cathedral.
Monaco is everything and anything you want it to be. Buzz, glamour, shopping - or peace on le rocher. We are not far from the Oceanographic Museum and the Saint Martin's Gardens, looking towards Cap Martin and beyond that - to Italy.
Far from the glamour of the yachts in Port Hercule and tucked away in a tiny side street on le rocher is the Museum of Old Monaco or the 'Müseu d'u Veyu Mùnegu' as it is known in Monegasque.
The National Committee of Monegasque Traditions was founded in 1924, and in a tiny space of only 145 m2 - spread over three levels - you can discover Monaco as it once was. In all, 15,000 items are on display.
The Museum of Old Monaco was opened in 1974 by Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. It is open to the public every Wednesday and Friday from 10.00h to 17.00h.
Click HERE to see four pages of the wonders you'll find inside.
It's fun wandering Port Hercule, peering in portholes and looking at reflections in the paintwork.
Come back tomorrow and see the entire boat and I'll tell you about her.
Sitting in the sunshine outside the Café de Paris on Casino Square, has to be one of the many pleasures to be found in Monte Carlo.
If you get fed up with 'people watching' - and you won't! - you can always admire the glorious Casino building alongside.
Too many reflections in the glass I know, but I couldn't resist snapping the nun admiring the lilies. This shop in Avenue des Beaux Arts always has stunning flower displays.
Surrounded by somewhat larger boats, there's a lesson going on in the middle of Port Hercule.
Isn't this flower just beautiful? It's in the Casino Gardens and is called Dombeya x cayeuxii which originates from South Africa. The genus 'dombeya' is named after Joseph Dombey an 18th-century French botanist, doctor, and explorer.
There are many beautiful shrubs and trees in the Casino Gardens and it's always worth a stroll to see what is in flower.
The model and the photographer were yesterday and today - drum roll...a lady in a fur coat joins the scene. Slightly out of focus but then ladies in fur coats tend to swish.
I don't need to tell you my feelings about the wearing of fur but if you photograph Monaco you will see fur coats from time to time - so please don't shout at me. I'm simply the messenger.
Once again we are at the entrance of the beautiful Hôtel Hermitage.
It's been such a long cold and wet winter. Yes I know it's colder and wetter elsewhere in the world but this winter has been most untypical in Monaco and the south of France. Here is Port Hercule yesterday where, at last, the sun is shining.
For more photographs of Monaco - in fact the same shot as this - take a look at Peter's Paris. Peter was here recently and the weather was horrible but it didn't stop him taking some super photos of the Principality, including a visit to the Oceanographic Museum. Do click on the link.
The golden goat atop the Château de la Chevre d'or. I've never noticed this sculpture before so perhaps he's new? He looks rather pristine, doesn't he?
Look up. It's surprising what you find in Eze village.
Served on a slate platter - in the square glass pot are tiny concoctions of roquefort and bread - yet they were quite sweet - with honey, perhaps? In the base of the glass pot - several different olives that were fabulous.
In the centre - a confection made of snails. And in the tiny pots, a fishy mousse base covered in fish eggs. Excellent.
And now - drum roll - the Chef: Axel Wagner. Before joining Château Eza as Chef de Cuisine in spring 2007, Axel Wagner, from Germany, was the Executive Chef of the three-star Michelin restaurant of renowned French chef Georges Blanc in Vonnas.
Tomorrow: the Menu du Prince.
So here we are, sipping our champagne in the Lalique glasses and looking down on the bay of Eze. Bono has a house down there, on the area of land between the railway and the sea - and just along is the one belonging to The Edge. The Bay of U2, one could say.
Tomorrow: the tasty morsels we ate with our champers.
The Oceanographic Museum for Eric Tenin and Paris Daily Photo!
Eric is an impossible act to follow but I hope you like this photo of the Oceanographic Museum on le rocher.
And do visit Paris Daily Photo - you'll see Eric's brand spanking new fabulous look to his blog.
Dave from Tamarindo Daily Photo will be as surprised as I was to see this champagne glass. Dave and his wife, Julie, spent part of their honeymoon on the Riviera - along with mother-in-law, Glenda (yes, some people take their mothers-in-law on their honeymoon!) They had lunch at the other Eze restaurant, the Chèvre d'Or where the champagne glasses look incredibly similar to this one - except this glass seems to depict an angel, the one at the Chèvre d'Or unsurpringly features a goat! Click here to see the goat.
Both glasses are made by Lalique and can be bought from the shop in the village at no small expense. We were offered pink or white champagne and chose white - it was to die for - and from then on I didn't notice what was depicted in the base of the glass!
One of the best things to do in Monaco is wander amongst the yachts and dream. How about this beautiful sailing yacht, the Xarifa.
She was designed by J.M.Soper and built in 1927 by JS White & Co. in Cowes for Franklin Morse Singer a well known American yachtsman, and one of the many sons of Isaac Singer, the multi-millionaire king of the sewing machine. The yacht was considered one of the more elegant and rich of the time. In 1951 Xarifa was bought by the famous German scientist and voyager Hans Hass. The ship took many voyages around the world most specifically in the Pacific and Indian oceans and was well-known in the world of oceanographic and scientific research. In 1960 she was purchased by Italian multimillionaire, Carlo Traglio who kept her based in Monaco, where she is always greatly admired. In 1970, the owner provided Xarifa with an extensive restoration.
And if you wanted to buy her, well you'd need a spare 3 millions euros. Click on the link to read more.
There's a stunningly beautiful restaurant at the foot of the medieval village of Eze on the Moyenne Corniche. It's called Le Mas Provençal and normally has massive flower arrangements hanging from the ceiling, fixed to walls - it's like walking into a jungle of flowers and tropical vegetation, but this is winter and the restaurant doesn't open until the end of the month.
Hanging outside on a wrought-iron door was this fun arrangement of butterflies and bent spoons. Do click on the link - it's a truly beautiful restaurant, probably one of the loveliest on the Côte d'Azur. If you go, take your camera!


For all the mommies who have joined me on the Fit Working Mom 4 Week program, this will be the eating plan. Please choose any of the items on the list for breakfast, snack time, lunch, dinner and desert is optional.
I will add another eating plan with some recipes soon so keep an eye on the blog.
Start green tea by first dipping dipping tea bag for 1 minute per serving use one teabag for the day, the following week dip tea bag for two minutes, week 3 dip teabag for 3 minutes. By week 4 you should be able to use one tea bag per cup and leave for 5 minutes before drinking.


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lapack

Functions/Subroutines

dsterf.f File Reference

Functions/Subroutines

subroutine 	dsterf (N, D, E, INFO)

 	DSTERF  More...

Function/Subroutine Documentation

          subroutine dsterf
          (
          integer
          N,

          double precision, dimension( * )
          D,

          double precision, dimension( * )
          E,

          integer
          INFO

          )

DSTERF

 Download DSTERF + dependencies

 [TGZ]

 [ZIP]

 [TXT]

Purpose:

 DSTERF computes all eigenvalues of a symmetric tridiagonal matrix
 using the Pal-Walker-Kahan variant of the QL or QR algorithm.

Parameters

[in]	N
          N is INTEGER
          The order of the matrix.  N >= 0.

[in,out]	D
          D is DOUBLE PRECISION array, dimension (N)
          On entry, the n diagonal elements of the tridiagonal matrix.
          On exit, if INFO = 0, the eigenvalues in ascending order.

[in,out]	E
          E is DOUBLE PRECISION array, dimension (N-1)
          On entry, the (n-1) subdiagonal elements of the tridiagonal
          matrix.
          On exit, E has been destroyed.

[out]	INFO
          INFO is INTEGER
          = 0:  successful exit
          < 0:  if INFO = -i, the i-th argument had an illegal value
          > 0:  the algorithm failed to find all of the eigenvalues in
                a total of 30*N iterations; if INFO = i, then i
                elements of E have not converged to zero.

Author

Univ. of Tennessee

Univ. of California Berkeley

Univ. of Colorado Denver

NAG Ltd.

Date

November 2011

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text:
Home > Persecution > Accounts of Persecution
Two Dafa Practitioners from Qionglai City, Sichuan Province Murdered in a Span of Sixteen Days
Liao Zhaoqi, a 57-year-old Dafa practitioner and Director of Qionglai Health Care Clinic, was tortured to death at around 10 p.m. on October 3, 2002. Those responsible for her death are Dayi Rehabilitation Center Chief Zhang and Criminal Police Team Leader Zhou Wencai.
At 4 a.m. on September 25th, Liao Zhaoqi was illegally arrested from her relative's home and detained at the Rehabilitation Center of Dayi County, Sichuan Province. The Police Team Leader Zhou Wencai viciously beat and kicked her, leaving a large bruise across her face. Zhou also handcuffed her hands behind her back and chained her to the cell floor for 36 hours, denying her the use of the restroom, sleep, water and food. To protest this persecution, Liao Zhaoqi began a hunger strike. She was then tied down and force-fed. At around noon on October 3rd, eight days into her hunger strike, Liao Zhaoqi was force-fed by Center Chief Zhang and some other policemen. They handcuffed her spread-eagled to an iron fence. Zhang not only instructed others to beat her, but also did it himself. He grabbed Liao's hair and fiercely yanked her head between the closely spaced iron bars. Even though they couldn't force anything into her mouth at around noon, they continued trying in the afternoon. At around 5:30 p.m., Center Chief Zhao yelled for hot pepper powder, salt and something metal to pry open Liao's mouth. Several people continued to torture her. Some female drug addicts who witnessed the torture began to cry. One of them said, "This is too cruel! I have never seen such cruel people!"
After a long time, someone cried in low voice, "She's fainted!" Liao lost consciousness after being brutally tortured for two or three hours, which started at 5:30 p.m. A female drug addict who was involved in the force-feeding told people later that Liao woke up when she was sent to hospital, but was beaten again before she died. The policemen lied to the drug addicts, telling them that Liao had been released and that her family had taken her back home. However, several people witnessed the whole incident, including her death. Their names have been omitted so that they can serve as witnesses in the future.
Thus, the Center Chief Zhang and criminals under his command killed a kind elderly woman.
After Xue Yuzhen was tortured to death by the Qionglai local police on September 17th, another Dafa practitioner in his 60s, Deng, who worked at the Trade Union of Qionglai, was also severely tortured after being arrested from his home at around 9 p.m. on September 16th. He was later held at the Qionglai Detention Center. His current situation is unknown. According to the residents around Linqiong Police Station, Dafa practitioners are constantly tortured . Dafa practitioners Gu Zhiguang and Deng Zhong, who had been arrested at Dayi, were also tortured for an extended period at Qionglai. Nobody knows if they are still alive.
Qionglai Public Security Bureau continues to capture more and more Dafa practitioners with despicable means. They have offered a reward for capturing Dafa practitioners who have been forced to become homeless.
Kind people who simply practice Falun Gong and strive to improve morality are being subjected to cruel and bloody persecution. The law of heaven will surely punish the murderers.
Category: Accounts of Persecution
"Daqing City Falun Dafa Practitioners Conduct Themselves in an Open and Upright Manner While Illegally Put on Trial"
"Sydney Practitioner Writes to Prime Minister John Howard of Australia"


Cape Town - Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has urged his players to maintain their performance level when they travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Saturday.
The Saints have endured a few disappointing results of late, drawing against Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove before a 1-0 defeat at home against Burnley.
However, Pellegrino has been satisfied with the performances nonetheless and believes his charges will start finding better results if they keep it up.
"I'd like to continue how we're performing in recent games," he said, according to the Daily Echo.
"In 25 minutes against Burnley we played well but I know it will be difficult and tough - we are playing a good side.
"But maybe we'll feel comfortable because I imagine Liverpool will attack and we are a team that feels comfortable when we have the ball.
"I imagine it will be an up and down game. Liverpool are good in the counter-attack but I'd imagine it's a good possibility to see how we are."


At a time when the world is facing a series of challenges, co-operatives can position themselves as builders of sustainability, delegates at the International Co-operative Alliance Global Conference heard. The event, taking place in Cape Town featured a plenary session on sustainability focused on a scan undertaken by the ICA, in collaboration with worker co-operative Sustainability Solution Group.
To read more about the sustainability scan go to http://www.thenews.coop/node/13406.


eBay sellers from around the world are organizing and joining local meetup groups.
John Hall from ANACS shares the best practices for shipping coins. eBay sellers can learn from this.
Your social media bio is one of the most important elements of your public image. In order to have a good social media bio, you have to be brief, interesting and informative.


text:
Issues: LGBTQ Equality, Litigation, Workplace Justice
Dr. Rachel Tudor, Transgender Woman Professor, Is Still Fighting for Justice in her Sex Discrimination Case – Here's How We're Fighting Back with Her
VICTORY: On September 13, 2021, the Tenth Circuit delivered a tremendous win for Dr. Rachel Tudor, ordering the district court to reinstate her to a tenure position at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and correctly recalculate her front pay damages award. As NWLC's amicus brief argued, the Tenth Circuit found that the district court improperly concluded reinstatement would not be possible due to alleged hostility between Dr. Tudor and Southeastern. Instead, because of the legal presumption in favor of reinstatement and the particularly low risk of extreme hostility between the parties here, the court reversed and ordered that Dr. Tudor be reinstated at the university with tenure. The Tenth Circuit also agreed with NWLC's amicus brief on the issue of Dr. Tudor's front pay determination, finding that the amount the district court used to calculate her compensation rate was "verifiably incorrect" and ordering the court to recalculate. On remand, the lower court will be required to award Dr. Tudor monetary damages using the correct annual compensation figures calculated from the time that she would have been granted tenure when she first applied in 2009-10 until the time of her reinstatement. While Dr. Tudor also challenged the district court's application of Title VII's damages cap, which reduced her jury award, the Tenth Circuit disagreed on that point, and affirmed the jury award for backpay and compensatory damages.
The Tenth Circuit also rejected Southeastern's cross-appeal in its entirety, heavily citing the Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which overruled previous 10th Circuit precedent and held that discrimination against transgender employees is sex discrimination under Title VII. In sum, the Tenth Circuit granted the relief that NWLC and the group of amici requested in our brief, ensuring that Dr. Tudor will be reinstated to her job with tenure and compensated to be made whole and, this should also help deter employers from future discriminatory conduct.
Congratulations to Dr. Tudor, to our private law firm counsel, Erica Lai, who argued for NWLC and amici during the Tenth Circuit argument, Danielle Morello, and the rest of the Cohen & Gresser LLP team who represented NWLC and amici, and to Dr. Tudor's attorney.
Just about one year ago, we told you why we were grateful for Dr. Rachel Tudor and celebrated her jury win in her discrimination case. Today, we recognize how she has remained resolute in her fight. The National Women's Law Center along with 31 additional organizations are formally supporting her case through an amici brief filed with the Tenth Circuit, along with our law firm partner, Cohen & Gresser, LLP. After Dr. Tudor won at trial in November 2017, the federal district court still refused to allow her to return to a tenure-track position at her previous job or provide her with appropriate front-pay for lost earnings. As she appeals this decision, NWLC is in solidarity with Dr. Tudor and submits this brief to emphasize that workers who fight back when faced with sex discrimination must receive a just and appropriate remedy.
To recap: Dr. Tudor is a 54-year old Native American woman who is transgender and who worked as a tenure-track professor of English at Southeastern Oklahoma State University between 2004 and 2011. In 2007, she informed Southeastern that she would be transitioning and that her gender identity was female. Following this, she was denied tenure and terminated even though her own students and the English Department supported her tenure application. After fighting her case in the courts, she won her jury trial on November 20, 2017. Although the jury awarded her $1,165,000, the court both lowered this amount to $300,000 and then awarded her only front-pay wages in an amount of $60,040.77. This front-pay figure was calculated without the court undertaking any meaningful analysis as to her ability to return to a tenure job in English at Southeastern as she wanted, or what amount would make up for her lost future earnings.
Remarkably, the federal district court claimed that it was not feasible to reinstate Dr. Tudor to her previous position because of alleged hostility between the parties and Southeastern's unsubstantiated assertion that she was not qualified for tenure. However, Dr. Tudor is ready and willing to return to this position, particularly given the lack of available tenure and tenure-track English department positions around the country. Also, courts have made clear that employers may not cite litigation-related hostility as a reason to refuse someone a job. Finally, as the jury found, Dr. Tudor was only denied tenure because of sex discrimination.
The fight for justice for Dr. Tudor is far from over.
As noted above, the National Women's Law Center is filing an amici brief, arguing that the Tenth Circuit should require the federal district court to reassess the remedies awarded to Dr. Tudor, and either (1) reinstate Dr. Tudor to her tenure position at Southeastern or (2) otherwise make her whole by awarding her significant front pay until she obtains another tenure-track position in English at another comparable academic institution.
Since leaving her position, Dr. Tudor has applied to hundreds of comparable positions around the nation and she has not received a single interview for a tenure-track job. Any individual who challenges discrimination in court risks retaliation or difficulty in finding work, but the odds are particularly steep for Dr. Tudor, both because of the discrimination she would face as an older, transgender, Native American woman, and because of the particular difficulties posed by the academic job market, and specifically in fields such as English where there are very few openings across the country.
Further, in the time it has taken this case to wind its way through the courts, Southeastern has significantly reformed its own policies and procedures with regard to transgender employees. Dr. Tudor herself attests she felt welcomed, respected, and safe during a recent presentation she gave on campus at the invitation of a professional organization. Notably, many of the individuals involved in this discrimination against her are no longer affiliated with the institution. Also, her own department and students supported her during her tenure application and continue to support her return. Ultimately, the federal court should be listening to Dr. Tudor and her desired outcome following this case that she won before a jury trial, instead of discounting her lived experiences.
The legal issues at stake in this matter are important to all employees facing workplace discrimination, but they are particularly important for trans and Native women, two groups who have faced historically high rates of unemployment and discrimination. What's more, the federal government is seeking to further roll back civil rights protections for trans and gender non-conforming people. Employees who challenge discrimination should be made whole – not further punished by the legal system for bringing their claims. Dr. Tudor, we are with you and will continue to fight for you.
Sunu P. Chandy
Legal Director
Sarah David Heydemann
Former Senior Counsel for Education and Workplace Justice
Got the Sniffles? Administration Moves Closer to Ensuring You've Still Got a Job
Legislating Hate and Ignorance Hurts All in North Carolina
We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For: West Virginia's Women Know What They Are Worth
12 Things New Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Can Do to Promote Gender Equity