text:
Golden State Warriors Salary Archive – 2017/18
Stephen Curry $34,682,550
Kevin Durant $25,000,000
Klay Thompson $17,826,150
Draymond Green $16,400,000
Andre Iguodala $14,814,815
Shaun Livingston $7,692,308
Nick Young $5,192,000
Zaza Pachulia $3,477,600
David West $1,471,382
JaVale McGee $1,471,382
Omri Casspi (waived) $1,471,382
Kevon Looney $1,471,382
Damian Jones $1,312,611
Pat McCaw $1,312,611
Jason Thompson (stretched) $945,126
Jordan Bell $815,615
Quinn Cook $14,832
2017-18 Team-By-Team Salary Summary
Quick: Currently over the cap and tax threshold.
Salary Cap: $99,093,000
Luxury Tax Threshold: $119,266,000
Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception: $0 (Nick Young)
Roster Count: 15 guaranteed, one two-way
Depth Chart*
PG: Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston, Quinn Cook
SG: Klay Thompson, Nick Young, Pat McCaw (injured)
SF: Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala
PF: Draymond Green, David West, Chris Boucher (two-way)
C: JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney, Jordan Bell, Zaza Pachulia, Damian Jones
*Note: Teams often adjust their depth chart throughout the season, sometimes game by game.
G-League Affiliate: Santa Cruz Warriors (general manager Kent Lacob, Coach Aaron Miles)
Two-Way Contracts: Chris Boucher (two-year)
Two-Way Daily Rate in NBA/G-League: $4,608/$528
Head Coach: Steve Kerr (five-year, $25 million contract starting for 2014/15 season).
Assistants: Mike Brown, Ron Adams, Jarron Collins, Bruce Fraser (assistant coach/player development), Willie Green (assistant coach/player development), Chris DeMarco (assistant coach/player development)
Trainer: Drew Yoder (head athletic trainer), Chelsea Lane (head of physical performance and sports medicine), Roger Sancho (assistant trainer)
Basketball Executives
Bob Myers — president of basketball operations/general manager
Kirk Lacob — vice president of GSW Sports Ventures/assistant general manager
Larry Harris — assistant general manager/director of player personnel
David Kelly — general counsel and vice president, basketball management and strategy
Pick Swaps
2018 — Owe second-rounder to Denver Nuggets (Andre Iguodala).
2019 — Owed second-rounder (top-55 protected, unprotected in 2020) from Dallas Mavericks (Andrew Bogut). Warriors have option in 2019 to delay conveyance to 2020.
2019 — Owe second-rounder to Dallas Mavericks (Andrew Bogut), Mavericks can delay pick to 2020.
Cash Paid ($5.1 million max): $0
Cash Received ($5.1 million max): $0
6/22/17 — Traded $3.5 million to Chicago Bulls for the rights to Jordan Bell (38th)
6/30/17 — Kevin Durant opted out of his contract.
7/6/17 — Signed Nick Young to an estimated one-year, $5.2 million contract.
7/6/17 — Signed Stephen Curry to a five-year, $201,158,790 contract.
7/6/17 — Signed Kevin Durant to a two-year, $51,250,000 contract (player option on second season).
7/6/17 — Signed David West to a one-year, $2,328,652 contract.
7/6/17 — Signed Shaun Livingston to a three-year, partially-guaranteed $24 million contract.
7/6/17 — Signed Jordan Bell (2017-38th) to a two-year, $2,193,857 contract.
7/8/17 — Signed Zaza Pachulia to a one-year, $3,477,600 contract.
7/11/17 — Signed Andre Iguodala to a three-year, $48 million contract.
7/12/17 — Signed Omri Casspi to a one-year, $2,06,470 contract.
7/14/17 — Signed Chris Boucher to a two-way contract.
7/27/17 — Signed JaVale McGee to a one-year, $2,116,955 contract.
8/14/17 — Signed Antonius Cleveland to a non-guaranteed one-year, $815,615 summer contract with exhibits nine and 10.
8/14/17 — Signed Georges Niang to a non-guaranteed one-year, $1,312,611 summer contract (with exhibits nine and 10).
8/29/17 — Signed Michael Gbinije to a non-guaranteed one-year, $1,312,611 summer contract (with exhibits nine and 10).
9/21/17 — Signed Alex Hamilton to a non-guaranteed one-year, $815,615 summer contract.
10/13/17 — Signed Trevor Thompson to a non-guaranteed one-year, $815,615 summer contract with exhibit nine.
10/17/17 — Signed Quinn Cook to a one-year, two-way contract.
10/30/17 — Picked up team option on Damian Jones.
10/31/17 — Declined team option on Kevon Looney.
1/15/18 — No-trade restriction lifted on Stephen Curry.
4/10/18 — Ended the two-way contract with Quinn Cook, signing him to a two-year, $1,559,783 contract.
Waived Players: Antonius Cleveland, Alex Hamilton, Michael Gbinije, Georges Niang, Trevor Thompson, Omri Casspi
Traded Players: None
Expired 10-Day Contracts: None
Unsigned Draft Picks
First-rounders: None
Second-rounders: Mladen Sekularac (2002-55th)
Arena: Oracle Arena
Free Agents (with Cap Holds)
Non-Bird: Matt Barnes ($1,471,382)
Non-Guaranteed Salaries
No-Trade: Stephen Curry (signing restriction until 7/6/18)
Trade Kickers
Stephen Curry — 15 percent
Kevin Durant — 15 percent
Note: Players can waive their trade bonuses.
Salary and team data change quite often. If you notice a discrepancy, please notify Basketball Insiders Senior Writer Eric Pincus.
(Updated on 5/7/18)


text:
Huobi Global, a well-known cryptocurrency trading platform, pointed out that in response to the regulatory policy requirements of various governments, it has decided to delist 7 cryptographic tokens focusing on privacy and anonymous transactions, including Monero (XMR), on September 19. currency.
"In order to fully protect the security of user assets, Huobi Global strictly abides by the compliance and regulatory policies of various countries around the world," the exchange said in a statement issued on September 12.
To this end, Huobi Global has suspended the spot and futures trading of 7 privacy coins on September 6, these cryptocurrencies are: Dash (DASH), Decred (DCR), Firo (FIRO), Monero (XMR), Verge (XVG), Zcash (ZEC) and Horizen (ZEN).
Huobi Global also pointed out that the seven privacy coins are expected to be officially delisted at 4:00 p.m. Taiwan time on September 19, and the recharge service has been stopped on September 12, but withdrawals are still possible.
Huobi Global said the move "complies with the latest financial regulations". Since privacy coins are difficult to trace and have money laundering concerns, they have fallen into the scope of violations of the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines for preventing money laundering.
In recent years, the cryptocurrency industry has become increasingly unfriendly to privacy-focused cryptocurrency projects. Due to regulatory pressure, many exchanges around the world have chosen to delist Monero, Dash, Zcash and other anonymous coins.
Analysts at cryptocurrency research firm MICA Research have previously explained:
At present, the market liquidity is still dominated by centralized exchanges. Since hidden coins will greatly increase the legal compliance cost of exchanges, cryptocurrency exchanges are usually reluctant to list privacy coins, because it is a big hassle to verify user transactions. .
Terra synthetic asset protocol Mirror Protocol is under attack! Estimated loss of $2 million

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Geoff Keighley Says This Year's E3 Lineup May be the Best Ever
By Ben Lamoreux June 9, 2016
We're just a few days away now from E3 2016, which means new game announcements, trailers, and more. Some fear that E3 won't be nearly as big of a spectacle as in previous years, as companies like EA, Disney, and Wargaming are all skipping the conference.
According to industry veteran Geoff Keighley (who will host YouTube's E3 coverage), this won't be the case. In a series of tweets, Keighley expressed extreme excitement for next week's festivities. Keighley has been covering E3 for 22 years, and he claims that this year's show features "perhaps the best lineup we've ever had." You can read his full thoughts below.
"Excited by all the amazing friends and developers who will be popping by on Monday's E3 show. Can't wait to share more…big surprises. I genuinely get excited this time of year. Next Monday will be a great day for our industry. World class content is coming.
"Looking over our show rundown tonight, we have perhaps the best lineup we've ever had. 12 hours of amazing news and wall-to-wall games. The @youtube E3 team is killing it. The best developers. The top YouTubers. United to celebrate the best entertainment medium in the world.
"It's going to be such a big day. A marathon. Bringing together generations of gamers and very special guests to celebrate this art form. Ya'll aren't ready for what is about to happen. I've been to all 22 E3s. 22! I promise you our E3 team has worked as hard as ever to bring you the best possible show. The biggest games. The biggest names. The moments.
"So join us Monday on @youtube I couldn't ask for a better partner. The scale of what we are doing is massive. Multiple stages. Big names. We will bring pop culture and gaming together in a big way next Monday. That's the POINT. Let's GROW gaming together. Tell your friends. Thank you for trusting me to bring you E3. I don't take the responsibility lightly. We will work as hard as we can to make this YOUR day."
— Geoff Keighley
Source: Geoff Keighley


In ArcGIS Pro we have an issue where connecting to the database takes ages and sometimes doesn't work at all. We're using an ArcSDE 10.3.1 SQL Server database. It works fine in ArcCatalog/ArcMap etc.
I haven't noticed any issues/differences between ArcGIS Pro and ArcCatalog connecting to SQL Server, at least not yet.
Is it just connecting to browse data or is the data access slow once loaded in ArcGIS Pro?
Are ArcGIS Pro and ArcCatalog installed on the same machine?
What kinds of numbers are you seeing, specifically?
Roughly how many tables are in the SQL Server database?


SEOs debate ranking metrics over and over, but if there's one thing for sure, it's that Google no longer works the same way it used to.
The fundamental shift in the past couple of years has been more emphasis on what could be characterized as engagement factors.
I became convinced that Panda is really the public face of a much deeper switch towards user engagement. While the Panda score is sitewide the engagement "penalty" or weighting effect on also occurs at the individual page. The pages or content areas that were hurt less by Panda seem to be the ones that were not also being hurt by the engagement issue.
Inbound links to a page still count, as inbound links are engagement factors. How about a keyword in the title tag? On-page text? They are certainly basic requirements, but of low importance when it comes to determining ranking. This is because the web is not short of content, so there will always likely to be on-topic content to serve against a query. Rather, Google refines in order to deliver the most relevant content.
Google does so by checking a range of metrics to see what people really think about the content Google is serving, and the oldest form of this check is an inbound link, which is a form of vote by users. Engagement metrics are just a logical extension of the same idea.
Brands appear to have an advantage, not because they fit into an arbitrary category marked "brand," but because of signals that define them as being more relevant i.e. a brand keyword search likely results in a high number of click-thrus, and few click-backs. This factor, when combined with other metrics, such as their name in the backlink, helps define relevance.
Social signals are also playing a part, and likely measured in the same way as brands. If enough people talk about something, associate terms with it, and point to it, and users don't click-back in sufficient number, then it's plausible that activity results in higher relevance scores.
We don't know for sure, of course. We can only speculate based on limited blackbox testing which will always be incomplete. However, even if some SEOs don't accept the ranking boost that comes from engagement metrics, there's still a sound business reason to pay attention to the main difference between brand and non-brand sites.
Typically, internet marketers place a lot of emphasis, and spend, on getting a new visitor to a site. They may also place emphasis on converting the buyer, using conversion optimization and other persuasion techniques.
But how much effort are they investing to ensure the visitor comes back?
Some may say ensuring the visitor comes back isn't SEO, but in a post-Panda environment, SEO is about a lot more than the first click. As you build up brand searches, bookmarking, and word-of-mouth metrics, you'll likely create the type of signals Google favours.
Focusing on the returning visitor also makes sense from a business point of view. Selling to existing customers - whether you're selling a physical thing or a point of view - is cheaper than selling to a new customer.
So, customer loyalty pays off on a number of levels.
One obvious technique, if you're selling products, is to use loyalty programs. Offer points, discounts and other monetary rewards. One drawback of this approach is is that giving rewards and pricing discounts is essentially purchasing loyalty. Customers will only be "loyal" so long as they think they're getting a bargain, so this approach works best if you're in a position to be price competitive. Contrast this with the deeper loyalty that can be achieved through an emotional loyalty to a brand, by the likes of Apple, Google and Coke.
Fostering deeper loyalty, then, is about finding out what really matters to people, hopefully something other than price.
Take a look at Zappos. What makes customers loyal to Zappos? Customers may get better prices elsewhere, but Zappos is mostly about service. Zappos is about ease of use. Zappos is about lowering the risk of purchase by offering free returns. Zappos have identified and provided what their market really wants - high service levels and reasonable pricing - so people keep coming back.
Does anyone think the engagement metrics of Zappos would be overlooked by Google? If Zappos were not seen as relevant by Google, then there would be something badly wrong - with Google. Zappos have high brand awareness in the shoe sector, built on solving a genuine problem for visitors. They offer high service levels, which keeps people coming back, and keeps customers talking about them.
Sure, they're a well-funded, outlier internet success, but the metrics will still apply to all verticals. The brands who engage customers the most, and continue to do so, are, by definition, most relevant.
That strategy syncs with Seth Godin's Purple Cow notion of "being remarkable" i.e do something different - good different - so people remark upon it. These days, and in the context of SEO, that translates into social media mentions and links, and brand searches, all of which will help keep the Google Gods smiling, too.
Gamification has got a lot of press in the last few years as a means of fostering higher levels of engagement and return visits.
People have natural desires to be competitive, to achieve, to gain status, closure and feel altruistic. Incorporating game features helps fulfil these desires.
And games aren't just for kids. According to The Gamification Revolution, by Zichermann and Linder - a great read on gamification strategy, BTW - the average "gamer" in the US is a 43 year old female. Gaming is one of the few channels where levels of attention are increasing. Contrast this with content-based advertising, which is often rendered invisible by repetition.
This is not to say everything must be turned into a game. Rather, pay attention to the desires that games fulfil, and try to incorporate those aspects into your site, where appropriate. Central to the idea of gamification is orienting around the deep desires of a visitor for some form of reward and status.
The user may want to buy product X, but if they can feel a sense of achievement in doing so, they'll be engaging at a deeper level, which could then lead to brand loyalty.
eBay, a pure web e-commerce play dealing in stuff, have a "chief engagement officer", someone who's job it is to tweak eBay so it becomes more-gamelike. This, in turn, drives customer engagement and loyalty. If your selling history becomes a marker of achievement and status, then how likely are you to start anew at the competition?
This is one of the reasons eBay has remained so entrenched.
Gamification, in terms of the web, is relatively new. It didn't even appear in Google Trends until 2010. But it's not just some buzzword, it has practical application, and it can help improve ranking by boosting engagement metrics through loyalty and referrals. Loyalty marketing guru Fredrick Reichheld has claimed a strong link between customer loyalty marketing and customer referral.
Google fosters return visits and loyalty by giving the user what they want, and they use a lot of testing to ensure that happens. Websites that focus on keywords, but don't give the user what they want, either due to a lack of focus, lack of depth, or by using deliberate bait-and-switch, are going against Google's defining principles and will likely ultimately lose the SEO game.
The focus on the needs and desires of the user, both before their first click, to their return visits, should be stronger than ever.
According to Microsoft research, the average new visitor gives your site 10 seconds or less. Personally, I think ten seconds sounds somewhat generous! If a visitor makes it past 30 seconds, you're lucky to get two minutes of their attention, in total. What does this do to your engagement metrics if Google is counting click backs, and clicks to other pages in the same domain?
And these metrics are even worse for mobile.
There's been a lot of diversification in terms of platforms, and many users are stuck in gamified silo environments, like Facebook, so it's getting harder and harder to attract people out of their comfort zone and to your brand.
So it's no longer just about building brand, we also need to think about more ways to foster ongoing engagement and attention. We've seen that people are spending a lot of attention on games. In so doing, they have been conditioned to expect heightened rewards, stimulation and feedback as a reward for that attention.
Do you reward visitors for their attention?
If not, think about ways you can build reward and status for visitors into your site.
Sites like 99 Designs use a game to solicit engagement from suppliers as a point of differentiation for buyers. Challenges, such as "win the design" competition, delivers dozens of solutions at no extra cost to the user. The winners also receive a form of status, which is also a form of "payment" for their efforts. We could argue that this type of gamification is weighed heavily against the supplier, but there's no doubting the heightened level of engagement and attraction for the buyer. Not only do they get multiple web design ideas for the price of one, they get to be the judge in a design version of the X-Factor.
Hopefully, this article has provided some food for thought. If we were going to measure success of loyalty and engagement campaigns, we might look at recency i.e. how long ago did the users last visit, frequency i.e. how often do they visit in a period of time, and duration i.e. when do they come, and how long do they stay. We could then map these metrics back against rankings, and look for patterns.
But even if we're overestimating the effect of engagement on rankings, it still makes good sense from a business point of view. It costs a lot to get the first visit, but a whole lot less to keep happy visitors coming back, particularly on brand searches.
Think about ways to reward visitors for doing so.
I agree with you. I believe there is been a major shift in how Google values, weights and judges websites.
User interaction is extremely important. Panda is only one portion of their algorithm. I believe this new change the we are seeing in the last 18 months is a complete overhaul of their algorithm. I believe they've been working on this for at least five years.
I think it's far more complex than people understand. I suspect they have segregated industries, website styles (forums versus blogs) and maybe some other segments. I believe they apply different formulas for different situations.
Returning visitors can be a valuable metric when you're selling books. However when you're selling automobile insurance, it's unlikely you're going to get many returning visitors. So I believe the use another set of metrics for that industry.
Unfortunately, many people in our industry are focused on trying to figure out what Google has done, and how they can benefit from it. In my opinion this is futile. I believe their system is so complex, we and the outside can never figure it out. I also think that we have not seen the entire system. I think they're rolling it out in pieces even in 2013. It may take them two more years to fully implement this system.
Returning visitors can be a valuable metric when you're selling books. However when you're selling automobile insurance, it's unlikely you're going to get many returning visitors.
Having an ongoing relationship is an easy way to drive ongoing usage data. Don't people have the opportunity to login to pay their bills each month / quarter / year? I know my bank (which also offers insurance) invites me to sign in to pay the bills, sign in to download statements, sign in to download updated insurance cards, sign in to update mileage driven, etc.
Further, some of the biggest brands in insurance drive curiosity clicks & brand awareness with outsized ad budgets. I believe Geico spends nearly $1 billion a year on marketing & Warren Buffet mentioned 75% of their quotes come from the internet. It's pretty clear that marketing campaign is thus driving plenty of usage data.
many people in our industry are focused on trying to figure out what Google has done, and how they can benefit from it. In my opinion this is futile. I believe their system is so complex, we and the outside can never figure it out.
Understanding biases and risk factors and so on has value. And even if you can't get at the precise impacts of every little thing, there is still value in seeing the trends to project the future and try to stay out in front of some algorithmic issues.
Links were the primary basis of ranking (and to a large degree still are), but if Google wanted to analyze how a site is "better" by using end user data (see here to see how they are collecting it) then surely folding that data into the pot would be a large chunk of their analysis of what is "better."
I believe their strategy of analysis favors that which is already well known, which means that larger sites & businesses that can afford branding campaigns win, while smaller sites that can't generally/typically end up on the losing side. This shift is well reflected in this past half-year of updates, where the top 10 sites grew exposure by about 20% (off a huge base), while result diversity dropped by over 10%.
On a...cough...unrelated note, did you listen to Google's quarterly conference call where Nikesh Aurora spoke of Google's strategic move UP the funnel? Google's focus on brand in organic mirrors the goal of their ads in working with larger companies for broader ad campaigns.
By monitoring multiple analytics carefully, we can learn from the user experience and refine the website.
Funny you should mention analytics as the way forward. Not that I think it is wrong, but rather because Google is now hiding so much data. Between keyword (not provided), their (secured search) obfuscation & making some mobile visits look like direct visitors, Google is no longer sending keyword referral data for something like 60% to 65% of organic search visits. And this is *before* one accounts for some of the other recent treats Google has done with things like the local carousel, where there is a 2-click process where unbranded searches are hidden by the 2-click process.
So even if one *really* cares about web analytics & improving user experience, Google inserts itself as "roadblock cafe" on that front UNLESS you pay for the data via AdWords, in which case the data flows like wine.
This news & general trend certainly isn't encouraging for SEOs. A strict-sided definition of SEO is someone who manipulates search engine rankings via a handful of techniques and/or tricks. More and more these techniques seem to be plugged up for more holistic website metrics like user engagement (something a strict SEO doesn't have much business in).
It seems discouraging that more and more the algorithms soak up previously traveled optimization roads to favor ones like user engagement that cannot be gamed all that much. Is there a time when we turn in our hats and just become general marketers? Or has REAL SEO gone underground.... http://www.johnon.com/694/seo-kickbacks.html. The market certainly seems at a point where its going to stratify pretty heavily. The SEO nincompoops (which may include me) certainly don't see clear path outta this one.
A strict-sided definition of SEO is someone who manipulates search engine rankings via a handful of techniques and/or tricks.
I think one has to view SEO as constantly changing if one is to evolve with the relevancy algorithms.
To a crop of folks who started in the 1990's, so much of everything SEO was about what you did on-page.
The point I am trying to make here...is there will always be some folks who say whatever is new is crap or unneeded or spam or some other such. I certainly wasn't "long" on social media, but in spite of that I still must face how it impacts the ecosystem.
favor ones like user engagement that cannot be gamed all that much.
All metrics can be gamed, as people are far more influenced than they like to believe.
I am not endorsing the ways of Bernays, but read this, then read this: "Bernays's seamless transition from hawking products to psychological warfare was most glaringly evident in his work for United Fruit, the colossus of the banana market and Guatemala's largest landlord in the early 1950's. ... when Jacobo Arbenz Guzman became Guatemalan President in 1951 and started to confiscate the company's massive landholdings, Bernays helped forge a network of intelligence agents in Central America expressly to discredit the regime. He circulated unflattering information to influential American newspapers, stigmatizing Arbenz with the Communist label and softening up public opinion for the eventual C.I.A.-sponsored overthrow of the reform-minded Government."
He had a government overthrown to increase his client's profits, plunging the country into a 36-year civil war!
Adam Curtis directed a great DVD documentary named The Century of The Self. He's a journalist who really gets how power structures work: "So much of the language that surrounds us - from things like economics, management theory and the algorithms built into computer systems - appears to be objective and neutral. But in fact it is loaded with powerful, and very debatable, political assumptions about how society should work, and what human beings are really like. But it is very difficult to show this to people."
Is there a time when we turn in our hats and just become general marketers?
Certainly many folks are heading in this direction.
The market certainly seems at a point where its going to stratify pretty heavily.
Most people want everything for free, no matter how valuable it is. True story here...today a publicly traded company worth over $30 billion wanted access to our site for their team, but told me that they felt $300 was a big risk and I should give them a free trial.
But what does SEO evolve into? Seems to me its just evolving into competitive webmastering.
...the copywriting people will tell you it is copywriting, the content marketing people will tell you it is content marketing, the social media people will tell you it is social media, and the SEOs will still call it SEO.
"A strict-sided definition of SEO is someone who manipulates search engine rankings via a handful of techniques and/or tricks."
I don't agree. Gaming the search engines ar black hat SEO techniques to rank a page just for the sake of ranking it.
Webmarketing is getting more mature and it takes a wholistic approach to succeed and SEO is just part of the game.
That's great and all, but I'd say valuable engaging content, attractive illustrations, images, videos, social media, press relations, analyzing results = all sounds like general marketing.
The only part of SEO that you could include in that is some proper linking and a decent title? Its like 90% good marketing 10% SEO.
Ultimately how one frames it in their mind doesn't matter too much, so long as one adds the therefore or "what next" piece to it. Either frame of mind works just fine as long as one is willing to keep evolving with the ecosystem.
Generally speaking, in most cases people who define themselves by a category typically have an expansive view of that category, as it is the lens through which they view themselves and the broader world. Those outside a category often tend to slag off a term and try to constrain its meaning, such that they can sell a parallel service while claiming it is somehow different (this is what many of the "death of SEO" crowd do).
Engagement is likely a signal Google examines. If that is the case, then engagement optimisation is SEO as much as on-page optimization, or any other signal, is SEO.
It doesn't really matter what labels we apply, the measure of success is higher ranking and increased, relevant traffic. SEO without ranking improvement, or more relevant traffic, is worthless, so if "marketing" helps achieve ranking improvement, then an SEO would be foolish to ignore marketing.
I guess I'm trying to describe the trend that a search engine optimized site is more of a side effect of good marketing these days, which leaves the idea of hiring an SEO guy out of the picture pretty much. It is very hard to brute your way into good rankings (which was the textbook SEOs forte of the past). You can just skip all the search engine optimization nonsense and just go your own way - search engines are better and better about figuring things out on their own anyways. Is that fair to say?
The scope of a field broadening out doesn't make that field suddenly irrelevant.
While some well known sites can do well without much SEO consideration, they could still have large technical issues which if fixed would cause a large increase in rankings and search traffic.
Even in terms of content creation and promotion, understanding hooks to put into it & the linking opportunities around it is still quite valuable.
In the past SEO could have acted as the entirety of a marketing strategy without doing much in the way of offline marketing, without doing much advertising & without understanding much beyond the search channel itself. There are still some cases where that is true, however they become scarcer by the day.
In some cases SEO can still be half or more of a site's marketing strategy, but the more other pieces there are mixed in there the less the overall risk of large step function declines in rank & traffic.


Hello! I'm Michael Perce, a Designer with a wide array of skills including Game Design, Level Design, and Systems Design! I'm currently pursuing a BA in Interactive Entertainment at the University of Southern California. Enjoy your time viewing a collection of my best work to date!
I have been creating games since I was 8 years old. Please click the image above for a showcase of some of my best design projects.
One aspect that I enjoy in my free time is 3D modeling and animation. Click the image above to see a showcase of some of my best work.
I enjoy creation in all its' many forms, one of which is narrative. Click the above image to see examples of some of my narrative work.


text:
Herhold: Stealing the compassion of a stranger
OpinionCommentary
Image from the surveillance video
By Scott Herhold | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 29, 2013 at 2:27 am | UPDATED: August 12, 2016 at 3:52 pm
As she prepared for her second child, Karen Schatmeier knew she was going to have a difficult pregnancy. She suffers from a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum, or HG, an extraordinarily severe form of morning sickness.
When she had her first child, now a 19-month old toddler, Karen lost 15 pounds initially. At 11 weeks in this pregnancy, she has lost 12 pounds. The 36-year-old teacher is frequently on the couch taking fluids through an IV, which makes it tough to give her daughter quality time.
All that made the package she was expecting from the stranger in Texas something special. Karen's mother belongs to a group called Beyond Morning Sickness, and had put out the word that her daughter needed help, particularly in how to deal with a toddler during her sickness.
The Texas good Samaritan, who had suffered from HG three times herself, assembled a care package for Karen, whom she had never met. Inside were a blanket, a card, a poem and three books — two on HG and one for a toddler with a sick mother.
The records show the package arrived at Karen's Blossom Valley home on the afternoon of Saturday, June 22. As it happened, she and her husband weren't home. They had taken their daughter, Nina, for a weekend at Pismo Beach, a badly needed tonic.
No package
When the Schatmeiers got home Sunday, the package wasn't there. After Karen's mother asked whether it had arrived, Karen and her husband went through about 26 hours of footage from their surveillance camera, which was aimed at the front porch as an anti-crime precaution.
The surveillance tape, which you can see at www.mercurynews.com/scott-herhold, shows a late 90s silver Honda with a spoiler and sunroof pulling past their house about 3 p.m. Sunday. Out jumps a buxom woman in tight sports attire. She walks straight up to the porch and grabs the package before running back to the car.
"I had started to assume it was our mistake," Karen recalled. "Then we saw her in plain sight walk up to our porch. She knew it was there. It was shocking. I felt like my heart dropped."
This kind of thing happens too often in San Jose. A year or so ago, a similar theft occurred in my neighborhood. A fuzzy surveillance tape also caught a dark-haired woman in sports gear grabbing a package from a porch. I don't think they are the same.
A galling theft
I asked Karen why this theft galled her. After all, it is not really a matter of the money. The thief must have been upset at the haul. There was nothing easily marketable inside. The package meant most to someone with HG.
"This is just an example of good versus evil," Karen told me. "Here this woman out of the goodness of her heart made this gesture. It was taken away by someone who I'm sure thought there was a luxury item inside. It was really unfortunate that her gift was taken away."
Yes, there are the standard lessons from a story like this: If you see something suspicious in your neighborhood, take down a license number. Keep a pencil handy.
Another lesson: Don't assume that a theft is just a matter of money. Sometimes what's stolen is more valuable than a flat-screen TV. It's the compassion of a stranger.
Contact Scott Herhold at 408-275-0917 or sherhold@mercurynews.com. Twitter.com/scottherhold.
Scott Herhold
Scott Herhold is a former San Jose metro columnist.
Editorial: Smog-check trucks on California roads, just like cars
Pass a test or get off the road. The state's air quality and the health of our residents are at stake.
Letter: Tip sheet helps immigrant families cope with fears
The Child Parent Institute in Santa Rosa has created an informative tip sheet in English and Spanish to help families.
Letter: State retirement savings ideal for small businesses
Our small business was among the first to join the CalSavers pilot program, and I'm extremely impressed.
Letter: Put a train or freeway from San Jose to Interstate 5 on ranch
Solve many traffic and affordable housing issues in our Bay Area cities in one fell swoop.


text:
March 12, 2018 by Football Paradise Staff Reporter
Sergio Aguero is set to miss Manchester City's Premier League trip to relegation-threatened Stoke on Monday after sustaining a knee injury in training.
Aguero announced on his official Twitter feed that he expected to be out for up to two weeks with the injury, meaning he could be back for the trip to Everton at the end of this month.
Aguero wrote: "During yesterday's training I had a discomfort on my left knee. The club's doctors told me I'll be back with the team in approximately two weeks. Now it's time for a full recovery!"
During yesterday's training I had a discomfort on my left knee. The club's doctors told me I'll be back with the team in approximately two weeks. Now it's time for a full recovery!
— Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) March 11, 2018
Aguero is City's top scorer this season with 30 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions.
City's only other out-and-out senior striker Gabriel Jesus returned to action in late February after suffering knee ligament damage against Crystal Palace on New Year's Eve.
If Aguero's two-week timetable for a return proves correct, the Stoke match will be the only one he misses as City are not due to be in action again until March 31 against Everton, having been knocked out of the FA Cup.
However, Aguero could now miss Argentina's friendly against Italy – due to be played at City's Etihad Stadium – on March 23, and the match against Spain four days later.
Tags: Aguero, composite, Football, Man City, Soccer, Sport, story, UK
New Derby boss Phillip Cocu determined to be his own man
Nuno hails impact of China trip on Wolves' profile


text:
Post-Grad Music Reviews
Music Reviews from an overanalyzing junkie. Submissions for LPs and EPs are open! amcnal817@gmail.com
Tom Petty Beat the System Without Even Trying
Ask people to name the biggest classic rock bands – what do they usually say? The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Stones, the Eagles, Springsteen.
Ask people to name their favorite classic rock bands. Here's mine: The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Dylan.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers isn't usually a name that comes up under either list, yet we all love him, and he's had one of the longest and most successful careers of anyone from the classic rock era. So, why is that? There's one simple reason, and it's the reason why he's still famous today. Just a few weeks ago, news came out that Petty had settled a case out of court with singer Sam Smith over his now-award-winning song "Stay With Me." Smith's song follows the same melody as Petty's 1989 song "I Won't Back Down." The fact that it was settled and that neither party was the one to break the news reinforces Petty's later comment that it was pure coincidence. But coincidence or not (and I think it was), this is the third time this has happened.
Musicians getting sued over stealing riffs and melodies has always happened. Robin Thicke and Pharrell are currently fighting a losing battle with the Gaye family estate over "Blurred Lines." The Rolling Stones probably make more in royalties from "Bittersweet Symphony" than the Verve ever will. Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" was allegedly ripped off from Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly," which was in turn alleged to be a ripoff of Cat Stevens' "Foreigner Suite." It's always happening.
But this is now the third time in 13 years that Petty has been able to hold up a yellow card and call someone out for ripping him off.
In 2001, a little band called The Strokes released a little song called "Last Nite." You may have heard it. The song almost single-handedly opened an indie revolution that had been laying dormant, unleashing the likes of the White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, the already veteran Modest Mouse, and many more, in a short span. But it didn't take long for people to realize that the opening riff to the song sounded an awful like the Heartbreakers' first single, "American Girl." Petty never sued or made any deal of it. But the Strokes still admitted that the riff was stolen. In 2006, Petty said of the steal, "…there was an interview that took place with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.' It doesn't bother me." Petty even invited the Strokes to open on a tour that year.
Also in 2006, there was a little song called "Dani California" by a little band called the Red Hot Chili Peppers. You may be familiar with that one too, it's the one where they made a video honoring a whole bunch of musicians who are far better than them. It wasn't their first single, far from it (it was #30), they were and are one of the most established names in rock. But they, too, were accused of a Petty ripoff. The rhythm of the song matches that of Petty's classic 1993 single "Mary Jane's Last Dance." Being the Chili Peppers, they feverishly denied it and claimed to be an original band capable of original ideas, even though the lyrics of the two songs are also pretty similar. Still, Petty didn't sue or take any action.
Perhaps because this is getting repetitive, or perhaps because the song is just a little too close, but Petty's publicists did get involved with "Stay With Me," although the original low-laying settlement gives the vibe that Petty and Lynne had little interest in it and just saw it as a happy accident. The result, as you likely saw last week, is that Petty and ELO's Jeff Lynne now share songwriting credits with Smith, Jimmy Napier and William Phillips. The song's shelf-worth number of Grammy wins has continued to make this a notable story, too.
So why does this keep happening to Petty? It could just lie in the fact that Tom Petty is great and that nearly all of his big hits are excellent songs that never really get old. But that's only the surface of it. 1976 saw the release of "Ramones," "Boston," "Station to Station," and "the Runaways." The Beatles were six years gone, Bob Dylan was beginning to show he wasn't perfect, and Led Zeppelin was closing down. The Beatles the first band to prove that the album format could succeed, even with albums filled with original music. After that, nearly every band tried to rebel against music by creating an identity that was purely their own. The Ramones invented power chords, KISS and Alice Cooper wore make-up, Led Zeppelin were sloppy, AC/DC were tight, Black Sabbath sang about robots and suicide, and bands like Queen, Blondie and Fleetwood Mac all had their own, distinct sounds.
Petty, and the Heartbreakers, rebelled against that by not really doing anything original at all. Their music has never been showy, never grandiose, never Earth-shattering, and that's what makes it so good. Classic rock can be exhausting, when "Freebird" gets followed up with "Iron Man" and "Dazed and Confused." But when "American Girl," or "Free Fallin'" comes on, it's a sigh of relief. The Heartbreakers were one of the most successful classic rock bands that never tried too hard. Their songs are simple, just straightforward rock songs that could easily be by anyone, if you couldn't immediately tell they were by Petty. Petty was a trailblazer in repetition. I don't listen to much rock radio these days, I imagine it's just filled with Nickelback and Stone Sour, but in a weird way, they have Petty to thank. the Heartbreakers often wrote rhythms that weren't straightforward, but still simple – and have been copied. Petty was one of the first to know that rock music could just be what it is, as long as it's catchy and memorable. And that's why he's now swimming in money and publicity. Petty rode a middle road – making music that was neither too sloppy or offensive to turn off a traditional crowd, but not dull enough to turn off new rock purists, either. And he's still going, playing it. In short, Petty was one of many to help put the system of rock in place, but was one of the only who realized he could rig it, too.
the Heartbreakers released an album last year, "Hypnotic Eye." It has an average of 77 on Metacritic and was the band's first ever #1 album. This blog started but never finished a review, as I never found anything to say that wasn't already being said. It was a great album, it was what they do best – straightforward rock. They're still going, 39 years after their debut. They've essentially outlived the Strokes and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have both been flirting with irrelevancy for years now. And Sam Smith's questionable reviews from the get-go might prove tough for the future, even with the Grammy sweep. In 1976, rock music was finally fully forming, it was finally done being molded by Paul McCartney, Muddy Waters, Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury, and countless others. Petty was one of the only ones that picked a safe stance (you could argue that AC/DC did too). He's still playing sold-out shows, and is one of the few holdovers from the classic rock era: Springsteen, McCartney, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are still going strong, but that's about it. My advice to young musicians is to always take the road less taken; but Petty didn't, and he's made an entire career out of it, to the point where he's constantly being ripped off. We might eventually phase out the more showy classic rock, but we'll never lose Petty. Keep going, Tom, you've earned it.
-By Andrew McNally
Post-Grad Music Reviews is run by Andrew McNally. Comments can be left below, questions and angry responses are welcomed at amcnal817@gmail.com
February 10, 2015 by Andrew McNally	Categories: Opinion	| Tags: AC/DC, American Girl, Dani California, Free Fallin', Hypnotic Eye, I Won't Back Down, Jeff Lynne, Last Nite, Mary Jane's Last Dance, Sam Smith, Stay With Me, the Heartbreakers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Strokes, Tom Petty, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | Leave a comment
← A few words on Marilyn Manson's "The Pale Emperor"
Fade In: Beck →
Categories Select Category "A" Or Higher: Best New Albums (4) Alternative (115) Comedy (10) Country (4) Electronica (14) Emo (23) Fade In Playlists (3) Folk (27) Hip-Hop/Rap (31) Indie (66) Lo-fi (10) Metal (12) Opinion (12) Pop (36) Punk (52) Rock (131) Uncategorized (44)
100 Albums & 50 Songs I Loved in 2020
Grimes – "Miss Anthropocene"
75 Albums I Loved in 2019
Top 100 Albums of 2018
My Favorite Albums of 2017
Archives Select Month December 2020 February 2020 January 2020 January 2019 February 2018 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013
††† - "†††"
U2 - "Songs of Innocence"
Kyle Kinane - ""I Liked His Old Stuff Better""


There are tons of things you must learn about wine so that you know you're serving and storing it correctly. Don't just pick a bottle and guess about how to store it. Make sure that you know all of the in depth facts that can help you select the perfect bottle and store it for optimal taste. Look no further than this article for useful information.
Seafood goes great with Pinot Grigio. The wine can really help to bring out the flavor of the food. Besides Pinot Grigio, many other white wines complement seafood well. Seafood and a good bottle of white wine make for a perfect classy meal.
Don't let others decide which wines you should try. Try new types of wine whenever you have the chance, and ask about wines your really enjoy. This will only make you waste your money on something that will sit on your shelf.
Have you ever spilled wine on your clothes? If so, find a bottle of Windex. Windex attacks and eradicates wine stains right away, and does a much better job than using soap and water. Use Windex right away or you will have a hard time removing the stain completely.
Not all wines age well; make plans for this when you put wine up for long periods of time. Do some reading on the wine that you purchase and how long it can be stored. Bordeaux is a wine that is meant to be aged, and doing so can really add to the flavor.
The largest difference between red and white wines is the type and color of grape. Red wine is made of purple grapes that have a fuller body. For a more delicate wine, opt for one of the many white wines made from green grapes. This is only where the differences begin, but it is the foundation of the two most popular wines.
When armed with great information, it is not necessary to know absolutely every fact about wine. This piece has mentioned a few key points in the area of wine selection, tasting, pairing and storing. Now you can trust your own judgement as you select, sip and serve wines to yourself and friends.


I went to El Salvador in April with VSOM for a missions trip. I had expected to be going there to change lives, but it ended up changing me. I cannot fully express the ways in which God met me there, but He did. 10 days in El Salvador and my heart was completely won!
I got baptized in El Salvador on April 23rd.
Marisol! Love this girl! God-blessed friendship! She's gonna shake nations!
Marcella & Sara – Incredible young women of God! World-changers! So blessed to connect with them!
This was an incredibly blessed two weeks…and truly never-the-same!


Cheap Movers Philly helps you find cheap rates on in-town and cross country moving companies! Moving is one of the most stressful activities for a homeowner or tenant who is pressed for time or ill-prepared. It can also be a straightforward task that is accomplished with minimal inconvenience. The difference between traumatic and painless is usually a matter of which company you select to move your possessions. Hiring a professional, full-service moving company, can make all the difference.
Consider how much time a well-organized moving company saves, especially when you're up against a deadline. That time saved will translate into lower costs. As important as reducing expenses is the peace of mind you get by selecting a moving company with a solid reputation. We screen movers to make sure they are licensed and insured before helping you move!
No matter where you call home, it's our goal to help you find the best residential movers in Philadelphia!
Seasoned moving companies know that apartment and condo move outs sometimes include unique requirements that need to be addressed before the move date. Many apartment complexes require a moving company to have an insurance certificate available or registered with their office before the move takes place. If you are moving to or from a building which requires the use of a freight elevator, you or the moving company may need to reserve use of the elevator. These and other possible requirements need to be addressed when planning your move, but they're no problem when you hire a licensed mover through Cheap Movers Philadelphia!
Household moving typically involves several rooms and a much greater need for organization than an apartment move does. An experienced local mover goes through each room with you and identifies any areas of concern. For example, are there unique or large items that will require extra personnel or equipment (i.e., appliances or pianos)? Planning with an experienced moving partner is paramount to a safe and successful house move.
Packing & Unpacking: With this service, the moving crews comes to your house before the move date and safely packs all your belongings. You can also request help unboxing your things post-move.
Short Distance Moves: Get same day service from a local moving company for in-town and across town moves.
Long Distance Moves: If you're moving your household across the country, it helps to hire a professional transportation service.
Storage: Locate inexpensive storage for your belongings, so you don't have to stress about where to put your things between homes. Moving is also an excellent time to put non-essentials in storage, like that extra set of dishes, family heirlooms, and Christmas decorations.
Your moving company should also offer various pricing structures, so that you may select the one that is most economical for you. These options may include an all-inclusive full–service price, an hourly rate for local moves, and flat rates for long distance moves.
Regardless of how much you are moving or where you are moving to, an experienced moving company that offers services tailored to your specific needs is always your best option. Proper planning and effective communication, in advance and during the move, will save time and reduce stress. To plan your move, call Cheap Movers Philadelphia now!


text:
Home > Pakistan > Faculty of Health Sciences > Medical College > Surgery > Cardiothoracic > 91
Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Giant retrocardiac foregut duplication cyst presenting with left atrial compression and palpitations
Abdus Salam, Aga Khan University
Mujtaba Mubashir, Aga Khan University
Hadika Mubashir, Aga Khan University
Saulat Fatimi, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
A 35-year-old man presented with a 3-month history of palpitations and shortness of breath. An ECG showed premature atrial contractions and episodes of supraventricular tachycardia. A subsequent echocardiogram showed a retrocardiac cystic mass that was compressing the left atrium. A CT scan confirmed these findings by showing a large left-sided posterior mediastinal cyst compressing the left atrium and pulmonary veins. The cyst was successfully excised from the retrocardiac position via left thoracotomy after which there was complete resolution of the palpitations. Histopathology showed it to be a mediastinal cyst, most likely a foregut duplication of the enterogenic variant. This is an extremely unusual case of foregut duplication cyst presenting with compression of the left atrium and pulmonary veins leading to atrial arrhythmias
BMJ Case Reports
Salam, A., Mubashir, M., Mubashir, H., Fatimi, S. (2017). Giant retrocardiac foregut duplication cyst presenting with left atrial compression and palpitations. BMJ Case Reports, 222427.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_surg_cardiothoracic/91


text:
package com.jcabi.github;

import com.jcabi.aspects.Immutable;
import com.jcabi.aspects.Loggable;
import com.jcabi.http.Request;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.json.JsonObject;
import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
import lombok.EqualsAndHashCode;

/**
 * Github commit.
 *
 * @author Yegor Bugayenko (yegor@tpc2.com)
 * @version $Id$
 * @since 0.3
 */
@Immutable
@Loggable(Loggable.DEBUG)
@EqualsAndHashCode(of = { "request", "owner", "hash" })
final class RtCommit implements Commit {

    /**
     * RESTful request.
     */
    private final transient Request request;

    /**
     * Repo we're in.
     */
    private final transient Repo owner;

    /**
     * Commit SHA hash.
     */
    private final transient String hash;

    /**
     * Public ctor.
     * @param req RESTful request
     * @param repo Owner of this comment
     * @param sha Number of the get
     */
    RtCommit(final Request req, final Repo repo, final String sha) {
        final Coordinates coords = repo.coordinates();
        this.request = req.uri()
            .path("/repos")
            .path(coords.user())
            .path(coords.repo())
            .path("/git")
            .path("/commits")
            .path(sha)
            .back();
        this.owner = repo;
        this.hash = sha;
    }

    @Override
    @NotNull(message = "toString is never NULL")
    public String toString() {
        return this.request.uri().get().toString();
    }

    @Override
    @NotNull(message = "repository can't be NULL")
    public Repo repo() {
        return this.owner;
    }

    @Override
    @NotNull(message = "sha can't be NULL")
    public String sha() {
        return this.hash;
    }

    @Override
    @NotNull(message = "JSON can't be NULL")
    public JsonObject json() throws IOException {
        return new RtJson(this.request).fetch();
    }

    @Override
    public int compareTo(
        @NotNull(message = "Commit can't be NULL") final Commit commit
    ) {
        return this.sha().compareTo(commit.sha());
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Am scris pentru Revista 22 un scurt comentariu despre semnificația summitului de la Varșovia.
Ultima staţie a turneului european al preşedintelui Obama a fost Varşovia, unde a participat la o reuniune la nivel înalt cu şefii de state din Europa Centrală şi de Est, mai puţin România şi Serbia. Aici, Obama a semnat o serie de acorduri care consolidează relaţiile dintre SUA şi Polonia. S-a urmărit în principal creşterea interoperabilităţii forţelor aeriene poloneze cu cele americane prin antrenamente şi aplicaţii comune, dar totodată şi demonstrarea seriozităţii angajamentului american faţă de această parte a Europei. În acest sens, atitudinea americană diferă esenţial de cea a altor aliaţi europeni – Franţa a preferat să vândă Rusiei patru nave de desant din clasa Mistral, spre iritarea ţărilor baltice şi a Poloniei.
At the behest of my good friend and colleague, Octavian Manea, I am very pleased to re-publish on this blog his posting from Politică Externă. I hope you will find this post as useful and insightful as I did.
On October 8th, the Center for European Policy Analysis (a DC think tank dedicated to the study of geopolitical trends in Central Europe) launched a timely sensitive report on the topic of the Hingepoint Allies: Bolstering U.S. Alliances with Exposed States in Central Europe, East Asia and the Middle East. The authors – A. Wess Mitchell, Jakub Grygiel and Robert Kron – highlighted the strategic commonalities and the linkages facing small and mid-sized U.S. allies at global faultlines in Central Europe, East Asia and Middle East. The ongoing shifts in the regional power balances and the strategic choices made by local actors in these new settings point out to a possible medium term trend: "the subtle but steady unraveling of U.S.-centered security orders at three of the world's historically most strategically-vital regions".
A group of Central and Eastern European intellectuals and former chiefs of state have published on July 16 an open letter to the President of the United States of America, voicing their concerns regarding the current state of relations between the countries of this region and the United States. The letter comes after the US-Russia summit and is signed by Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa, Emil Constantinescu, Valdas Adamkus, Martin Butora, Matyas Eorsi, Alexandr Vondra and other important figures who have played a part in the recent history of Central and Eastern Europe. In the letter they emphasize the role played by the United States in Central Europe's (CEE) transition from authoritarianism to democracy, remind Washington of the contribution made by the countries of this region to the American war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, while deploring the fact that the CEE is no longer a priority for US foreign policy. The letter criticizes the new "realist" foreign policy of the Obama Administration concerning Europe and Russia, with the shadow of Yalta looming large in the minds of the signatories.


VMUG: It's official – VMUG UserCon 2019 on March 19 in Sydney!
This one-day event is free for all VMUG members. Time to register and get ready for the VMUG UserCon 2019!
VMware vForum 2018 is coming to Sydney!
For those IT professionals who are based in Sydney or are planning to travel to this stunning city shortly, it is good to know that VMware vForum 2018 will be held here at Luna Park, Milsons Point on the 17th and 18th of October, 2018.
Even if the event takes two days, this time it is completely free for all participants. The main focus will be on Data Centre, Cloud, Workforce Transformation, and Security. A detailed agenda is available here.
For the technology geeks it is good to know the availability of Hands-On Labs, including the expert-led workshops, as well as generous discounts for the On Demand courses, VMware Learning Zone Premium subscription, and the VCP/VCAP certification exams.
Also, vBrownBag crew will host TechTalks at the event – a unique experience that shouldn't be missed.
Considering the number of announcements at VMworld 2018 US, vForum 2018 is an essential place to be next week!
For those of you who are based in Sydney or Melbourne, VMware User Group organises the most prominent annual community event this week – VMUG UserCon 2018. I've been participating in VMUG UserCon in Sydney for a few years, and it was always above my expectations meeting technology experts and raising startups, and socialise with the peers.
According to the event's agenda, this year the primary focus is going be on the solutions to build a hybrid VMware Cloud on AWS, provide automation and analysis for virtual machines and containerised workloads, secure environment with VMware NSX and more.
In addition to local VMUG leaders and stars, there will be industry pioneers like Bruce Davie (NSX) and Cormac Hogan (Storage and Availability). So if you would like to learn about modern trends in the virtual space, have some questions for VMware or the event sponsors, or just want to mingle with the crowd – the registration is still open here and here.
Another news I would like to share with you is related to hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). VMware is planning to hold a virtual event called 'Deploy, Manage and Scale vSAN and HCI with vRealize Operations' on March 21 and 22, 10 am PDT. The first webinar will be focused on business needs to accelerate HCI adoption, whereas the second one is promised to be a technical deep dive into the components that comprise the HCI architecture. Looks like a fascinating subject to explore to me!
Happy New Year to everyone!!! 2017 was definitely full of disruptions from VMware, and the folks in Palo Alto keep the wheels of innovation fast turning.
Saying that it is always a good idea to look at what is happening behind the curtains, meet with the experts and peers, and plan for the next technology upgrade. This is where VMUG UserCon can be of great use!
This year VMUG UserCon is promised to be more about deep-dive learning and hands-on training. Woo-hoo!!!
The primary focus is on modernising data centres and integrating with the public cloud, expanding into the digital workspace with Workspace ONE, and transforming security with solutions like NSX and vSphere.
The event is going to be held in the heart of Sydney CBD at The Westin Sydney.


Kristeen Pemberton asked the TAP Blossom Hill Store to help with construction of this Memorial/Donor Tree that was designed to memorialize members of the First United Methodist Church and recognize members for their donations. The tree is painted on the wall, and clear acrylic clouds are mounted on the wall using ½" diameter TAP stainless steel standoffs. Leaves with laser engraved names, of the people being memorialized and the donors, are mounted on the clouds using clear acrylic ½" cubes for depth. The project was co-coordinated by Kristeen Pemberton, Patty Meeko, and Susan Hartt.


text:
OroDashboardBundle
==================

This bundle allows you to manage dashboards for your application created using ORO Platform.
Dashboard is an entity with user owner. Dashboard view page contains a set of blocks (widgets) with important or useful
information for your users. User with permissions can add any available widget to dashboard.

Developer also can configure what widgets are available using configuration files.

Dashboard configuration
-----------------------
```yaml
dashboards:
    # Configuration of widgets
    widgets:                                                 # widget declaration section
        quick_launchpad:                                     # widget name
            icon:       icon.png                             # widget icon shown on widget add dialog
            description: Text                                # description of widget
            acl:        acl_resource                         # acl resource of dashboard
            route:      oro_dashboard_itemized_widget        # widget route
            route_parameters: { bundle: OroDashboardBundle, name: quickLaunchpad } # additional route parameters
            isNew: true                                      # show or not "New" label next to the title

    # Configuration of dashboards
    dashboards:                                              # dashboard configuration section
        main:                                                # dashboard name
            twig: OroDashboardBundle:Index:default.html.twig # dashboard template (used by default)
```
To view all configuration options you can launch `config:dump-reference` command:
```bash
php app/console config:dump-reference OroDashboardBundle
```

How to add new dashboard
------------------------

To add new dashboard you need to create new data migration:

```php
<?php

namespace Oro\Bundle\DashboardBundle\Migrations\Data\ORM;

use Doctrine\Common\Persistence\ObjectManager;
use Doctrine\Common\DataFixtures\DependentFixtureInterface;

class LoadDashboardData extends AbstractDashboardFixture implements DependentFixtureInterface
{
    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function getDependencies()
    {
        // we need admin user as a dashboard owner
        return ['Oro\Bundle\UserBundle\Migrations\Data\ORM\LoadAdminUserData'];
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function load(ObjectManager $manager)
    {
        // create new dashboard
        $dashboard = $this->createAdminDashboardModel(
            $manager,      // pass ObjectManager
            'new_dashoard' // dashboard name
        );

        // to update existing one
        $dashboard = $this->findAdminDashboardModel(
            $manager,      // pass ObjectManager
            'existing_one' // dashboard name
        );

        $dashboard
            // if user doesn't have active dashboard this one will be used
            ->setIsDefault(true)

            // dashboard label
            ->setLabel(
                $this->container->get('translator')->trans('oro.dashboard.title.main')
            )

            // add widgets one by one
            ->addWidget(
                $this->createWidgetModel(
                    'quick_launchpad',  // widget name from yml configuration
                    [
                        0, // column, starting from left
                        10 // position, starting from top
                    ]
                )
            );

        $manager->flush();
    }
}

```

How to make a dashboard a first page of your application
--------------------------------------------------------

Make the following changes in `app/config/routing.yml`:
```yaml
oro_default:
    pattern:  /
    defaults:
        _controller: OroDashboardBundle:Dashboard:view
```

How to add new widget
---------------------

In this example lets create a grid widget. First you need to create a grid. Use `datagrids.yml` of your bundle to do this. For example lets create `dashboard-recent-calls-grid` grid:
```yaml
datagrids:
    dashboard-recent-calls-grid:
        options:
            entityHint: call
        source:
            type: orm
            acl_resource: oro_call_view
            query:
                select:
                    - call.id
                    - call.subject
                    - call.phoneNumber as phone
                    - call.callDateTime as dateTime
                    - directionType.name as callDirection
                from:
                    - { table: %oro_call.call.entity.class%, alias: call }
                join:
                    left:
                        - { join: call.direction, alias: directionType }
                    inner:
                        - { join: call.owner, alias: ownerUser }
                where:
                    and:
                      - ownerUser.id = @oro_security.security_facade->getLoggedUserId
        columns:
            callDirection:
                type: twig
                label: ~
                frontend_type: html
                template: OroCallBundle:Datagrid:Column/direction.html.twig
            dateTime:
                label: orocrm.call.datagrid.date_time
                frontend_type: datetime
            subject:
                type: twig
                label: orocrm.call.subject.label
                frontend_type: html
                template: OroCallBundle:Datagrid:Column/subject.html.twig
            phone:
                label: orocrm.call.phone_number.label
        sorters:
            columns:
                dateTime:
                    data_name: call.callDateTime
            default:
                dateTime: DESC
        options:
            toolbarOptions:
                hide: true
                pageSize:
                    items: [10]
                    default_per_page: 10
```

Next you need to create a TWIG template renders your grid. This template should be located `Resources/views/Dashboard` directory in of your bundle. For example lets create `recentCalls.html.twig`:
```twig
{% extends 'OroDashboardBundle:Dashboard:widget.html.twig' %}
{% import 'OroDataGridBundle::macros.html.twig' as dataGrid %}

{% block content %}
    {{ dataGrid.renderGrid('dashboard-recent-calls-grid') }}
    <script type="text/javascript">
        require(['orocrm/call/info-opener']);
    </script>
{% endblock %}

{% block actions %}
    {% set actions = [{
        'url': path('oro_call_index'),
        'type': 'link',
        'label': 'orocrm.dashboard.recent_calls.view_all'|trans
    }] %}

    {{ parent() }}
{% endblock %}
```

After that you need to register your widget and add it on the appropriate dashboard. Use `dashboards.yml` of your bundle to do this. For example:
```yaml
dashboards:
    widgets:
        recent_calls:                               # register a widget
            label:      orocrm.dashboard.recent_calls.title
            route:      oro_dashboard_widget        # you can use existing controller to render your TWIG template
            route_parameters: { bundle: OroCallBundle, name: recentCalls }   # just specify a bundle and a TWIG template name
            acl:        oro_call_view
```

Also there are some additional TWIG templates for mostly used widgets, for example `tabbed`, `itemized` (a widget contains some items, for example links), `chart` and others.
You can find them in `OroDashboardBundle/Resources/views/Dashboard` directory.

Widget configuration
---------------------

Each widget can have own configuration. Configuration values stores for each widget instance on dashboard.

To add configuration, the widget configuration should contain 'configuration' block, there should be list of available configuration values. For example:

```yaml
dashboards:
    widgets:
        my_test_chart:
  ...
            configuration:
                testValue:                       # field name
                    type: text                   # field type
                    options:                     # field options
                       label: acme.test.label    # field label
                    show_on_widget: true         # if true - value of config parameter will be shown at the bottom of widget. By default - false
```
If developer wants to add some config value to all widgets, he can use 'widgets_configuration' block of dashboards.yml file. For example:

```yaml
dashboards:
    widgets_configuration:
        globalConfigParameter:
            type: text
            options:
               label: acme.globalConfigParameter.label
```

Grid widget configuration
-------------------------

There is special route "oro_dashboard_grid" for rendering grids allowing to set grid specific options.

This action also allows you to configure shown view for grid.

### dashboards.yml

``` yml
    accounts_grid:
        label: Accounts grid
        route: oro_dashboard_grid # using this route configuration for selection of grid view will be added automatically
        route_parameters:
            widget: accounts_grid
            gridName: accounts-grid
            renderParams:
                routerEnabled: true # enable storing grid state in url
                enableFilters: true # enable showing filters (default: false)
                enableViews: true # enable showing views (default: enableFilters)
```


Require any help in your Project?
ProTreX welcomes all Engineering students to the World of Innovation and Creativity.
One more advantage of learning with protrex.in is project guidance. We know when a student comes for a final year project, we are fully aware of the significance of their requirement. We ensure that we offer guidance that is in the best interest of the student, given their college and academic background. Though selecting a project out of thousands of possible choices is not a easy task for the students themselves, over the years we have developed know how and systems that can make the process easier.
We guide the students through every aspect of their project work, starting with the selection of a project to the final presentation and even documentation. In the duration of the project work we provide assistance with presentations, support documents and tools wherever required. Simply said we ensure that the final year project is a enriching learning experience. Confidence comes from knowledge and we see to it that the student has ample knowledge of the project and hence the confidence to take on any questions about their project work.
Over all these years we have realized that different departments have different requirements, hence our project training and project guidance is designed depending on the department. A final year project for ECE is designed to include communication technologies like Zigbee, GPS, GSM, IOT and similar technologies, whereas a final year project for IEEE will deal primarily in distribution systems, machines, unconventional energy resources etc.
Most of our project ideas for final year projects are taken from journals and publications of international reputation like the IEEE. We take ideas from IEEE and develop them into student projects where the students can learn as much as possible given one project. Lot of our final year project ideas are also extension of the work already done in IEEE papers. This makes final year BE project even more exciting and rewarding, for the students.


text:
Le raz Blanchard désigne le passage où sévit l'un des courants de marée les plus puissants d'Europe, situé entre le cap de la Hague (à la pointe nord-ouest de la presqu'île du Cotentin) et l'île anglo-normande d'Aurigny, à l'entrée nord du passage de la Déroute (). Il marque l'extrémité septentrionale du golfe normanno-breton. La vitesse du courant peut avoisiner  () lors des grandes marées d'équinoxe.

Hydronymie
Un raz en français (cf. raz-de-marée) est un terme issu du normand qui désigne un courant rapide. Il procède de vieux norrois rás qui veut dire « courant d'eau, course ».

Localisation et description
La limite nord du raz se situe entre  (environ
) au-dessus de la ligne joignant le phare de Mannez édifié sur la pointe Quénard à Aurigny et le phare de la Hague sur le rocher du Gros du Raz (mais la zone agitée se prolonge par grand coefficient de marée jusqu'à  —  — au nord de ce phare), et s'étend vers l'est jusqu'à la bouée Basse Bréfort proche du port d'Omonville-la-Rogue. Au sud, la limite est moins nette, elle atteint une ligne passant par le banc de la Schôle, situé à mi-chemin entre le cap de la Hague et la pointe nord-est de Guernesey, et le cap de Flamanville.

Au milieu du passage, le courant de flot porte au nord-est, et au nord près de la côte française. Son maximum survient aux environs de l'heure de la pleine mer de Cherbourg, tandis que le maximum du jusant, portant au sud-ouest, a lieu vers l'heure de la basse mer de Cherbourg. La renverse se situe vers les heures de mi-marée « Cherbourg » dans les deux sens. Le plus fort du courant est à la bouée La Foraine située environ  () au sud-ouest du phare de la Hague. La vitesse maximum du flot en cet endroit varie de 6 à près de  (soit de ) selon le coefficient de marée, celle du jusant de  ().

Lorsque le vent (plus exactement, les vagues créées par celui-ci) et le courant sont opposés, la mer devient particulièrement agitée ; les creux peuvent atteindre de  à plus de , avec des longueurs entre crêtes inférieures à . Elle déferle violemment, rendant les conditions de navigation difficiles, voire dangereuses, pour les bateaux de faible tonnage. Au contraire, lorsque le vent et le courant sont de même sens, la mer s'aplanit et devient maniable, du moins si le coefficient de marée n'est pas trop fort. De plus, les inégalités du fond rocheux créent des remous et des « marmites » susceptibles d'aggraver l'état de la mer même par bonnes conditions, de sorte que franchir le raz Blanchard s'avère délicat dans « bien plus de la moitié du temps » selon une expression locale.

Ainsi un vent de secteur nord-est (vent d'amont) opposé au courant de flot, et même nord-ouest travers au courant, lève une mer difficile dès la force 4 Beaufort, tandis qu'un vent de sud-ouest de force 7 Beaufort ne lève habituellement que peu de vagues déferlantes pendant la même phase de flot (mais une mer dure dès 5 Beaufort au jusant). Par vent de terre plein est jusqu'à force 7 Beaufort, il n'y a pas de mer à raser la côte française et le passage contre le jusant est possible en mortes-eaux pour un voilier de course de  (environ ), mais redevient scabreux dès  () au large.

Par mauvaises conditions, l'écume abondante est chassée par le vent et rend la visibilité très médiocre, inférieure à quelques encablures. Il se dit que le nom « Blanchard » viendrait de ce que la mer est parfois toute blanche à cause de cette écume et des vagues déferlantes.

Par calme plat, la mer peut tout de même déferler si la houle et le courant sont opposés, notamment sur les hauts fonds tels le banc de la Schôle ou aux abords de la baie Longis sur la côte sud-est d'Aurigny. On entend très bien le grondement du déferlement par temps brumeux, qui conduit mieux le son, à plus de  ().

Hydrographie et navigation
La violence du courant dans le raz tient à plusieurs facteurs. D'une part il s'agit d'un passage resserré entre la Manche au nord et le golfe dit de Saint-Malo au sud, sur des petits fonds de moins de  : il n'y a que  nautiques () de la pointe Quénard à Aurigny au cap de la Hague ; d'autre part les différences d'heure et de hauteur des pleines mers entre des endroits assez proches créent une pente de l'eau qui est responsable de la vitesse d'écoulement. Ainsi la pleine mer est plus haute et plus tôt à Carteret qu'au cap de la Hague (en moyenne  et  de décalage sur une distance de , soit ) et qu'à Cherbourg (pleine mer une demi-heure plus tard qu'à la Hague et plus basse de , sur , soit ). La force du courant, variant beaucoup avec le coefficient de marée, implique d'en tenir le plus grand compte pour la navigation même par beau temps.
Dans la plupart des cas, à bord d'un voilier, il faut prendre le raz « à l'heure » si on ne veut pas se mettre en retard, voire en danger. Par exemple, un horaire classique consiste à quitter Cherbourg une heure avant la pleine mer et se tenir à la côte pour profiter du contre-courant afin se présenter à  () au nord du phare de la Hague autour de la renverse, et de là continuer sur la même route vers la côte nord d'Aurigny ou piquer sud-ouest pour aller à Guernesey.

Ces éléments font du raz un passage à la fois redoutable et fascinant, qui nécessite un bateau et un équipage préparés en conséquence. Les cartes marines anglaises signalent des , et les instructions nautiques françaises parlent « lorsque le courant porte au vent, d'une mer très creuse et déferlante qu'il n'est jamais sans danger de vouloir traverser » indiquant par là que la simple intention d'y aller est en elle-même une transgression.

Selon Élisée Reclus, le raz Blanchard est .

Le « raz » est en fait l'aîné d'une famille nombreuse anglo-normande. Citons en priorité le Swinge (passage au Singe) étroit, mal pavé et tumultueux, entre Aurigny et Burhou au nord-ouest, puis le Petit Russel (Little Roussel) entre Guernesey et  Herm, ainsi que le Gouliot entre Sercq et Brecqhou. À la pointe nord-est du Cotentin, le raz de Barfleur possède aussi une longue liste de naufrages. Plus britannique mais considéré comme encore plus destructeur est le raz de Portland Bill sévissant à la pointe sud de l'île de Portland, qui ferme à l'ouest la baie de Weymouth sur la côte sud anglaise.

La « haize du Raz » désigne le passage intérieur entre le rocher du Gros du Raz portant le phare de la Hague et les écueils qui débordent la côte. Le courant y est réduit de moitié, et décalé en horaire par rapport à celui du raz, la mer moins dure par vent d'amont ou de nord-ouest. Cependant sa faible largeur ( au plus étroit de la passe), son peu de profondeur ( avec les hauts fonds), et surtout le caractère traversier du courant aux approches nord et sud, le réservent aux locaux par temps convenable.

Énergie et environnement
Le site présentant un courant exceptionnel, il fait l'objet de différents projets d'implantation d'hydroliennes.

Dans le cadre du développement des énergies renouvelables, la liaison sous-marine FAB Link à haute tension est en projet entre Menuel et l'Angleterre. L'atterrage se ferait à Siouville-Hague. Le projet est cependant suspendu en raison du retrait du Royaume-Uni de l'Union européenne.

L'usine de la Hague et le centre de stockage de la Manche rejettent dans le raz, à 5 kilomètres de la côte, de l'eau faiblement radioactive.

Notes et références

 La vidéo montre le côté nord de la passe d'entrée du port de Goury avec au fond l'île d'Aurigny.
 Le chanteur Alain Souchon mentionne le raz Blanchard dans la chanson "J'aimais mieux quand c'était toi" sur l'album La vie Théodore.

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Convention internationale OSPAR
 Golfe de Saint-Malo
 Liste des installations à courant continu haute tension
 Raz de Barfleur
 Passage de la Déroute
 Raz de Sein
 Passage du Fromveur

Liens externes
Énergies marines renouvelables, sur Université de Caen-Normandie

Géographie de la Normandie
Géographie d'Aurigny
Géographie de la Manche (mer)
Courant de marée
Énergie marine en France
Énergie marine au Royaume-Uni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package codelab.fit.com.wear101;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.RemoteInput;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class VoiceCommandActivity extends Activity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_voice_command);

        final CharSequence dictatedString = getMessageText();
        final TextView textView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text_vew);

        textView.setText(dictatedString);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.voice_command, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
        // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
        // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
        int id = item.getItemId();
        if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
            return true;
        }
        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

    /**
     * Obtain the intent that started this activity by calling
     * Activity.getIntent() and pass it into this method to
     * get the associated voice input string.
     */

    private CharSequence getMessageText() {
        final Intent intent = getIntent();
        final Bundle remoteInput = RemoteInput.getResultsFromIntent(intent);

        if (remoteInput != null) {
            return remoteInput.getCharSequence(EXTRA_VOICE_REPLY);
        }

        return "Uhh? Say what?";
    }

    private final String EXTRA_VOICE_REPLY = "extra_voice_reply";
}