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Arturo Herrera, 'Get it Right (Green)', 2015.
In the Studio with Arturo Herrera
Arturo Herrera was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1959, and lives and works in New York and Berlin, Germany. His practice involves taking familiar imagery, often sourced from popular culture, and deconstructing it, only to recombine it with references from modernist abstraction and surrealism. These fragments, reconfigured by the artist through densely layered cut, painted and printed paper, result in rich and abstract hybrids. Well-known cartoon motifs such as castles are meticulously dissected to the point where they become barely recognisable. We asked him about his work, 'Get it Right (Green)', and his current projects.
The relationship between a modernist ideal and the source from which is taken creates an immediate point of entry for the viewer. The uprooted, reworked shape proposes an uncanny familiarity with multiple readings.
Arturo Herrera at Ikon Gallery, 2007.
Your donation to Ikon gallery for its auction was 'Get it Right (Green)', a work of acrylic on canvas. Can you tell us about your relationship with Ikon?
I was invited by Nigel Prince to do an exhibition at IKON. From beginning to end I have nothing but praise for Nigel, Jonathan and the rest of the staff. It is an amazingly professional institution with an incredible history. I was proud to be part of the 2007 exhibition programming. To this day I am still in contact with Nigel and Jonathan. That happens rarely with other institutions.
Where did the inspiration for the design come from?
The piece Get It Right from 2005 is based on my practice where fragments from popular culture – in this case a character from a coloring book – is abstracted to become a different entity. The relationship between a modernist ideal and the source from which is taken creates an immediate point of entry for the viewer. The uprooted, reworked shape proposes an uncanny familiarity with multiple readings.
How does a piece of your work come to its final state, complete and ready for exhibition? Can you talk us through the thought process?
An initial attraction to a fragment from any source of printed matter such as illustrations, newspapers, advertisements, comics and posters will trigger an idea towards further simplification to complicate the reading and create a dialogue with its initial set of references. How far can I take a fragment so I can make a work of art and give it another meaning?
How much does each work of yours follow on from the last? Do you consider them a series, or is each unique and separate?
Series are very important for me as they bring together works in surprising combinations. The associative linking allows for a more complex connection among works. Get It Right belongs to a group of monochromatic painted cut-paper collages where the shapes recall early modern attempts at biomorphic abstraction. Dissected from their original sources the forms play with a fragmented language which is never direct inviting the viewer to a non linear narrative.
An initial attraction to a fragment from any source of printed matter such as illustrations, newspapers, advertisements, comics and posters will trigger an idea towards further simplification to complicate the reading and create a dialogue with its initial set of references.
What is your favourite medium/material to work with?
I have been working with paper for almost two decades already. Collage is a relatively recent practice created only at the beginning of the 20th century. The potential of collage and paper in the art world continues to be further explored today by so many artists and the results are truly amazing.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am now working directly on canvas with acrylic and oil painting. By layering and combining different materials I want to see what else collage can be. It is an exciting time and I am looking forward to what that will bring.


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chocolate, eating, food, hl, reviews, travel
Chocolate 2007 – London
Sat 21 Jul, 2007 Duncan	9 Comments
[This is the first article about travel. Others: London/UK, Paris.]
I was in the mood for cocoa bean product. I set off with a sheaf of addresses under my arm. Chocolate from here to eternity. Well, Melbourne to London, Paris and Lyon, more like. I knew there would be ups and downs; disappointments and cries of delight. I wasn't sure where (or if) I would find satisfaction.
This is the first instalment of my Chocolate 2007. What I ate in London. It wasn't all from London, but it was all English. Well, it was all sold by English producers.
Later instalments will cover other places, and I'll add links to those articles.
I do not pretend to have the experience and vocabulary to adequately analyse the flavour profiles of chocolates. Nonetheless, I have a good nose, eat a hell of a lot of chocolate, and endeavour to describe things in a way which gives some idea of why I like or dislike a product.
Hotel Chocolat | Prestat | Charbonnel & Walker | Montezuma's | L'Artisan du Chocolat
Last time I lived in London, people seemed to talk about Leonidas and Godiva at the luxury end, Charbonnel & Walker and Prestat too, and Thorntons as some sort of non-supermarket mid-range special thing. By 'people' I mean 'the general populace'. There might have been other purveyors. Indeed, The Chocolate Society has been around for over fifteen years. At that time, Charbonnel & Walker and Prestat were both beyond my means, while Thorntons was officially banned from my household because of the very sweet, gritty nature of many of its products. I don't consider British Cadbury to be chocolate in any meaningful sense (indeed, I'd rather eat my toenails), so I'll leave that there.
My London friends live, in 2007, around the corner from a new purveyor. Hotel Chocolat. Although I trust my friends' taste implicitly, my eating-Britain track record meant that I ventured into this 'Hotel' with scepticism. Unfounded scepticism, for Hotel Chocolat really is quite impressive as a chocolate retailer. Hotel Chocolat is a retail brand associated with both a long-standing mail-order product, The Chocolate Tasting Club, and now a surprising number of shopfronts. There is a certain British tackiness to having a producer of good chocolate in a so-common-in-Britain chain format, and their very skillful marketing adds to this big-business impression (a number of British foodbloggers received tasting samples in the mail at Easter, for instance. And I'm jealous).
Source: Hotel Chocolat
The brand is clearly pitched at a broad, self-indulgent market, as the products range from fairly gimmicky through to seriously well thought out blocks of single estate chocolate (GBP 4.25/75g). There are lots of pralines (bonbons), numerous coloured and flavoured blocks, and a rather dizzying range of simpler blocks of chocolates (GBP 2.90/100g). The prices are within typical ranges for this sort of retailer.
With such an ambitious range there is a reasonable danger that the focus on quality is lost, even with a large producer. Consider that the single estate 'Purist' range alone contains thirteen different bars, four of which are flavoured. Indeed, I've read that some of Hotel Chocolat's products are sourced from other European producers, including the German company Coppeneur, so there is even more scope for variability in product.
With the exception of a truffle with gritty couverture, I was quite happy with what I tried: three standard bars (Venezuela 43%, 72% and Ginger, Ebony (72%) and Orange) and a number of the pralines. All of these were good for their price bracket. Not exceptional, but clearly better than the mostly mundane 'luxury' products of many major chocolate manufacturers (Lindt, Nestlé, etc). Perhaps a little overpriced in comparison to the excellent Belgian brands Dolfin and Café Tasse which are generally around the EUR 3.00 mark for 70-85g. Hotel Chocolat is probably pitched below the main consumer focus of those two brands.
I also tried one 'Purist' bar — the Milk 62%. Many people regard this as an impossibility when I first tell them: how do you make a milk chocolate with 62% cocoa solids? You reduce the sugar content. This block had min. 19% milk solids. It was bitter but with a touch of creaminess — an unfamiliar combination in block form, perhaps more familiar if presented as a truffle. It's made from a Trinitario bean grown on volcanic soil in St Lucia. I would assume that the soil is in part responsible for the rather unusual flavour profile of this chocolate, with a dry and initially cold profile, gradually bringing out black tea leaves, cocoa and a touch of orange perhaps. Not really something I need to revisit. And especially at the price.
Despite my feeling of commercial overreach and slight overpricing, I would welcome it if something like Hotel Chocolat made a foray into Australia. As it stands, Australia is suffering from a gaping hole in the middle of the chocolate market. More about that in a later article in this series. (I'll add the link to that when it appears on the site.)
Charbonnel & Walker, Prestat
Two long-standing chocolate purveyors in London are Charbonnel & Walker (henceforth 'Ch&W') and Prestat. Both present their wares in attractive packaging reminiscent of decades long past and vie for a monied, snobbish market. The brands were a surprise component of the redesigned David Jones foodhalls in Melbourne and Sydney a few years ago, with that retailer's own bonus markup to make the prices even more unrealistic.
Located in the Piccadilly Arcade, a stone's throw from HRH Prince Charles's digs at Clarence House, Prestat has a small old-fashioned arcade shop. The selection of loose chocolates was more modest than I expected. An attempt at conversation with the sales assistant wasn't a failure, but any enlightenment about brand differentiation (interested tourist wanting to know how Prestat and Ch&W differ) was not forthcoming, as the Prestat assistant claimed never to have tried any of Ch&W's wares. These little revelations (whether as truth or marketing rubbish) just piss me off. Little better than a sports coach who doesn't know anything about another team's players, claims of ignorance of a close competitor's product smack of mediocrity.
I permitted the assistant to guide me to a handful of chocolates — three 'customer favourites'. Double mint: very dark mint-flavoured couverture with a firm mint fondant with pasty mouthfeel. Coffee mint: firm fondant, milky coffee flavour. Banoffee: Sweeeeeet. Banana and caramel. Kiddiefood. Violet cream: quite firm (not hard) fondant, somewhat violetty.
No reason to return. Old-fashioned is good, but why pay the price for too-firm, pasty fondant?
Onwards to Charbonnel & Walker, whose main shop is also in an arcade, the Royal Arcade, in Mayfair (a little northwest of Prestat, in other words). Ch&W have a somewhat more modern-refined air than Prestat, but the packaging is designed to evoke a similar era. They have a wider range of boxed and loose chocolates and associated products. The sales assistant was charming, but largely unknowledgable about anything beyond Ch&W's product. She freely volunteered that she had no knowledge of chocolate until 'just recently' when she joined the company. Marvellous. I had nothing against her, but certainly wonder about a company at this level which doesn't train its staff to converse intelligently about the basics of chocolate (and I wasn't being demanding). I found I wasn't interested enough in Ch&W's range to warrant a purchase beyond a violet cream. The fondant was rather firm and the violet clean. Slightly more incentive to return to Ch&W than to Prestat, but the feeling of snob-value pricing is too great.
A relatively new kid on the chocolate block, Montezuma's has a shop in the new buildings at the western end of Old Spitalfields Market, near Liverpool Street Station. It appears to be pitched as a 'fresh young thing' with a touch of cheeky hipness and a definite philosophy, as reflected in the text on their website. The firm is based in West Sussex.
A small range of pralines sports exciting-sounding flavours and cute names (Scurvy, Irish Tipple, Fitzroy). Montezuma's chocolate bars are also novel: peppermint and vanilla, nutmeg, and more.
Staff were young and friendly, but I didn't get the feeling that there'd be any intelligent choco-talk. I might be doing them an injustice.
The chocolates were, broadly, enjoyable. The truffle centres were sometimes clearly and cleanly flavoured, though the vanilla one in particular seemed underendowed. Scurvy is stunningly fruity and perfumed, and reminded me clearly of a Fry's Five Centre Bar (for those who know/knew them). Two of the bars I tried were good: Orange and Geranium (73% cocoa solids) was brightly floral (a little heavy at first), while the Milk Chocolate: The Dark Side (54%, organic) showed warm cocoa notes, with strong hints of chocolate ice-cream and cake. Nice melt and good thick mouthfeel. Alas, one bar really disappointed: Strawberry and Sweet Paprika was distinctly anodyne. A fruity sweetness and the occasional minute piece of strawberry were the sole non-chocolate elements of this bar. The sweet paprika was indiscernible by four tasters. I can't understand how a manufacturer can produce such a dud next to a range of good stuff. Nonetheless, at GBP 1.85-2.20/100g for the bars, the best items in the range are very well priced. The truffles are about GBP 3.00/100g which is also good, though I'd need to try more of the range to be convinced of the value. Choose carefully and you'll be happy.
L'Artisan du Chocolat
Getting serious now. L'Artisan du Chocolat is probably the UK's most prominent serious quality chocolate brand at present. They make their own couverture and have a strong reputation for very fine pralines and other products.
Notwithstanding the seven-year-old child nagging his mama to buy 'another' bag of Tasties at GBP 5.50 for 150g (what the rest of the world would call Smarties, though that is, of course, a trademark of Nestlé), the shop in Lower Sloane Street wasn't as dauntingly exclusive as I had feared, and the aroma and display of chocolates was seductive. The pralines take the (increasingly common) form of uniform filled rectangles with an identifying pattern on the upper surface, and cost between GBP 5 and 10 per 100g, depending on how you buy them.
The pralines (all from the 'Couture' range) were rather variable, though clearly all of a much more impressive standard than any of the previously mentioned producers and with a lovely ganache. Still, it was odd that my sample ranged from the bold and fruity Rose, clearly evoking Turkish Delight rosiness, to the almost absent Lavender. In between were Moroccan Mint (mild and hard to characterise), Violet (so delicate as to disappoint), Madong (smoky and interesting), Green Cardamom (delightful), Tobacco (intriguingly hot and fruity, reminiscent of chewing tobacco).
Another product, the Liquid Salted Caramels, has received a good deal of praise in Britain. They were good, but by no means earth-shatteringly amazing. I think the novelty of a chocolate ball with a runny caramel centre perhaps seduces people too readily.
If I had the ready cash, I would make L'Artisan du Chocolat one of my regular haunts — by choosing the successful varieties for my palate I could happily grow squidgy on this producer's diverse range of yummies.
Alas, I arrived on the wrong day to sample Paul A Young's wares in Camden Passage. The shop was closed. Very sad, as I'd been building up to this final tasting before moving on to Paris. C'est la vie and all that. There will, I hope, be another opportunity.
– DM
books, food, travel
A new bookshop for foodlovers: Badiane of Lyon (FR)
Tue 03 Jul, 2007 Duncan	4 Comments
In this world of the online bookselling behemoth Amazon (in its seven personalities), it's always nice to find an independent bookshop catering to one's specialist area of interest. There is a handful of bookshops specialising in gastronomy and oenology, but they are often unknown to many potential customers. Few large countries seem to be able to support more than one real specialist and the advantage that chain retailers have in publisher discounts and freight contracts means that business for any specialist is hard.
Imagine my joy when I found a new gastronomic bookshop — and purely by chance. As the rain poured down on me on Place Bellecour in the French city of Lyon, I frantically looked around for somewhere to take shelter and spied a bookshop bearing the words 'la librairie de toutes les cuisines' (the bookshop for all cuisines).
Opened early in 2007, the bookshop Badiane — 'la librairie de toutes les cuisines' includes a fairly large, attractive retail area, a children's area, a kitchen and small gallery. Badiane stocks new books, mostly in French, and the owners, Marianne Vellieux and Catherine Guérin, schedule regular food events and cookery classes. There's also an online catalogue. They told me that they plan to offer English-language courses to cater to the tourist market — a great idea, as Lyon is well known as a gastronomic destination in France (and is a very attractive city too, even though all the Parisians I know asked me 'So, why do you want to go to Lyon?').

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Geçitli () is a village in the Gerger District, Adıyaman Province, Turkey. The village is populated by Kurds of the Cikan tribe and had a population of 226 in 2021.

The hamlets of Bağlar, Bulutlu, Kıllık and Komşular are attached to the village.

References

Villages in Gerger District
Kurdish settlements in Adıyaman Province

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Hey folks! Next week my wife and I have a scan booked. Our first scan. Our first chance to check if all is going well. If it isn't, what happens then is a whole different ball game to the one I want to talk about. And hope for.
A random scan, I assure you.
If the scan shows all is going well that also means we'll get to see something equating to OUR child, OUR baby. Wow. If that happens – if we are so lucky – just, wow. We are further forward than we were last time. This is great. But neither of us is allowing ourselves to get excited. And we won't until 12 and/or 19 weeks. But this scan, at 8, should help massively – or at least provide some clarity on how to think.
Back to Reality is quite possibly the finest Red Dwarf episode ever.
I can't imagine either way to be honest. One way filled with such joy and wonder – a chance to really get excited and start talking about the next few months and years. The other way? Let's cross that bridge if we need to. We will, of course. Whatever happens we're in it together and will work through it as such. I just hope. I really do. Hope. Such a good word. It does always remind me of that Red Dwarf episode though.
This family will be thinking about you guys. Hope all goes amazing for you guys.


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Top 10 Best Indie Movies on Netflix 2018
2019-03-18 21:28:32 Posted by Amanda
Summary: Do you love watching indie movies? Here are top 10 best indie movies on Netflix. Here we also introduce the DVD ripper tool for you to rip Netflix DVDs of indie movies.
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It's no secret that Hollywood puts out some of the biggest movies each and every year but they're not the only game in town. In recent years we've seen a massive surge in excellent indie movies that can give even Hollywood's blockbusters a run for their money. If you're not in the habit of watching these types of movies in theaters you may want to give them a try on Netflix. With that in mind, today we're going to take a look at the absolute best indie movies on Netflix as of 2018.
Part 1: Top 10 Best Indie Movies on Netflix 2018
Wondering why Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was missing from Infinity War? Turns out he was playing detective in Wyoming the whole time. Okay, that's probably not the reason but Renner does star in this indie movie that follows his character Cory Lambert as he's investigating the murder of a woman. Interestingly enough, the other main lead is Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) who plays an FBI agent here so this is quite an interesting reunion for the two Avengers.
Judging by its 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes you would be inclined to think that AWOL is one of the best indie movies on Netflix. You definitely wouldn't be wrong in thinking that even though not all viewers agree. Regardless of the score, this movie does have an intriguing premise. AWOL is about a young woman that falls in love with another girl just as she's about to join the army, which eventually ends up derailing her plans.
This Quentin Tarantino classic is widely regarded as one of the best indie movies on Netflix Instant, and with good reason. Reservoir Dogs launched way back in 1992 and was the debut project of the infamous director. Even back then, however, the young Tarantino was able to pull big stars to his project, including Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, and Chris Penn. Tarantino himself also starred in the movie.
This emotional movie about a pair of young lovers on the run will melt your heart with its beautiful story. Despite being a passion project, this indie movie features major actors like Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and Bill Murray, among others. What's interesting about Moonrise Kingdom is that all these great actors feel like secondary characters because the young lovers steal the show time and time again.
This is by far one of the best indie movies on Netflix for anyone who loves horror films. The Babadook centers around a fairytale book that features the titular monster Mister Babadook as its protagonist. Unfortunately for the main characters, the monster turns out to be real and begins to torment its readers. A fairly simple premise inspired by childhood fears that turned out to be a great movie thanks to the flawless execution of everyone involved.
Nowadays James Gunn is well known for directing the Guardians of the Galaxy movies but his fascination for superheroes goes way back. Gunn was also responsible for the rather obscure Super, a very unusual superhero movies that doesn't follow the usual clichés of the genre. Part comedy, part gritty drama, Super is one of best indie movies on Netflix about superheroes.
This movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, and Jared Let won three Oscars so you know before even going in that it's probably going to be great. Dallas Buyers Club certainly doesn't disappoint as it tells a powerful story that takes place in the 80's during the AIDS crisis. Many believed the disease was being spread exclusively by the LGBTQ community but this indie movie gives us a better look at what was really happening at the time.
Some of the best indie movies on Netflix Instant managed to become overnight sensations despite having a very limited budget. Moon is one of these movies and certainly deserves all the praise it got over the years. The movie takes place pretty much entirely on a claustrophobic moon base and follows an astronaut whose mental state is slowly deteriorating after three years of isolation.
With a budget of less than half a million USD and only a handful of actors, this indie movie manages to be a lot better than it had any right to be. This is the story of a group of people that unwillingly take part in a brutal social experiment which sees them trapped in a gigantic cube. Of course, this isn't a regular cube as it contains a veritable labyrinth of seemingly identical rooms, with the twist being that each room hides a brutal and deadly trap.
This film is definitely not for everyone, but if you can stomach it, Trainspotting is undoubtedly one of the best indie movies on Netflix of all time. The movie stars a young Ewan McGregor as Mark Renton, a drug addict who's trying and repeatedly failing to clean up his act. Part of the problem is that all of Renton's friends are just as addicted as he is, if not more, which makes things even harder than they already were.
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Opinion | White America's Age-Old, Misguided Obsession With Civility - The New York Times
"Recent disruptive protests — from diners at Mexican restaurants in the capital calling the White House adviser Stephen Miller a fascist to protesters in Pittsburgh blocking rush-hour traffic after a police shooting of an unarmed teen — have provoked bipartisan alarm. CNN commentator David Gergen, adviser to every president from Nixon through Clinton, compared the anti-Trump resistance unfavorably to 1960s protests, saying, "The antiwar movement in Vietnam, the civil rights movement in the '60s and early '70s, both of those were more civil in tone — even the antiwar movement was more civil in tone, but certainly the civil rights movement, among the people who were protesting."
But those who say that the civil rights movement prevailed because of civil dialogue misunderstand protest and political change.
As a candidate in 2016, Donald Trump used his own lack of civility to win the election.Photo by: Damon Winter/The New York TimesThis misunderstanding is widespread. Democratic leaders have lashed out at an epidemic of uncivil behavior in their own ranks. In a tweet, the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, denounced both "Trump's daily lack of civility" and angry liberal responses "that are predictable but unacceptable." Senator Charles Schumer described the "harassment of political opponents" as "not American." His alternative: polite debate. "If you disagree with someone or something, stand up, make your voice heard, explain why you think they're wrong, and why you're right." Democrat Cory A. Booker joined the chorus. "We've got to get to a point in our country where we can talk to each other, where we are all seeking a more beloved community. And some of those tactics that people are advocating for, to me, don't reflect that spirit."
The theme: We need a little more love, a little more King, a dollop of Gandhi. Be polite, be civil, present arguments thoughtfully and reasonably. Appeal to people's better angels. Take the moral high ground above Trump and his supporters' low road. Above all, don't disrupt.
This sugarcoating of protest has a long history. During the last major skirmish in the civility wars two decades ago, when President Bill Clinton held a national conversation about race to dampen tempers about welfare reform, affirmative action, and a controversial crime bill, the Yale law professor Stephen Carter argued that civil rights protesters were "loving" and "civil in their dissent against a system willing and ready to destroy them." King, argued Carter, "understood that uncivil dialogue serves no democratic function."
But in fact, civil rights leaders, while they did believe in the power of nonviolence, knew that their success depended on disruption and coercion as much — sometimes more — than on dialogue and persuasion. They knew that the vast majority of whites who were indifferent or openly hostile to the demands of civil rights would not be moved by appeals to the American creed or to bromides about liberty and justice for all. Polite words would not change their behavior.
For King and his allies, the key moment was spring 1963, a contentious season when polite discourse gave way to what many called the "Negro Revolt." That year, the threat of disruption loomed large. King led a mass demonstration in Birmingham, Ala., deliberately planned to provoke police violence. After the infamous police commissioner Bull Connor sicced police dogs on schoolchildren and arrested hundreds, including King, angry black protesters looted Birmingham's downtown shopping district. Protesters against workplace discrimination in Philadelphia and New York deployed increasingly disruptive tactics, including blockading construction sites, chaining themselves to cranes, and clashing with law enforcement officials. Police forces around the United States began girding for what they feared was an impending race war.
Whites both North and South, moderate and conservative, continued to denounce advocates of civil rights as "un-American" and destructive throughout the 1960s. Agonized moderates argued that mass protest was counterproductive. It would alienate potential white allies and set the goal of racial equality back years, if not decades. Conservatives more harshly criticized the movement. National Review charged "King and his associates" with "deliberately undermining the foundations of internal order in this country. With their rabble-rousing demagogy, they have been cracking the 'cake of custom' that holds us together." By 1966, more than two-thirds of Americans disapproved of King.
King aimed some of his harshest words toward advocates of civility, whose concerns aligned with the hand-wringing of many of today's politicians and pundits. From his Birmingham jail cell, King wrote: "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'." King knew that whites' insistence on civility usually stymied civil rights.
Those methods of direct action — disruptive and threatening — spurred the Kennedy administration to move decisively. On June 11, the president addressed the nation on the "fires of frustration and discord that are burning in every city, North and South, where legal remedies are not at hand." Kennedy, like today's advocates of civility, was skeptical of "passionate movements." He criticized "demonstrations, parades and protests which create tensions and threaten violence and threaten lives,' and argued, "it is better to settle these matters in the courts than on the streets." But he also had to put out those fires. He tasked his staff with drafting what could eventually become the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dialogue was necessary but far from sufficient for passage of civil rights laws. Disruption catalyzed change.
That history is a reminder that civility is in the eye of the beholder. And when the beholder wants to maintain an unequal status quo, it's easy to accuse picketers, protesters, and preachers alike of incivility, as much because of their message as their methods. For those upset by disruptive protests, the history of civil rights offers an unsettling reminder that the path to change is seldom polite."
Opinion | White America's Age-Old, Misguided Obsession With Civility - The New York Times: ""
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The best medical interior designer in Los Angeles!
The best medical interior designer in Los Angeles! I refer LA Healthcare Design to all our clients and everyone loves their team.
My staff and I are so thrilled working with LA Healthcare Design for our new medical office. We recently moved to Los Angeles area and decided to hire an interior designer (which specialize in healthcare design and medical design) to help us with our new location. I am so glad we decided on LA Healthcare Design. Mitra and her team were extremely helpful and professional. I loved the way that our needs were listened to and executed. The entire experience felt easy and the most amazing part is that we finished on time for our opening day. We really recommend LA Healthcare Design to anyone who is looking for a great healthcare interior designer.
I strongly recommend to work with her from the start of your business.
Mitra helped me gather and organize my thoughts for the final polish of my dental office. She was very helpful on guiding me towards picking right blend of colors from the door frames to accent walls and furniture. She took all the dimensions closely into consideration. I was really amazed by her expertise. I strongly recommend to work with her from the start of your business. LA Healthcare Design is a group of skillful efficient designers who work closely under Mitra Pakdaman. They are simply the best.
I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Mitra through IIDA. She's thorough, resourceful, and very professional. She offered me great advice about the interior design industry. I can't recommend her enough. Anyone would be lucky to have her on their team.
LA Healthcare Design created an experience with beautiful design for our office. We did renovation for medical space and we are so impress by the service and the result of the job. Mitra is very professional and truly care about her clients and quality of work that she offers. Appreciate it.
Superb designer and I highly recommend working with her!
Mitra is a superb designer and I highly recommend working with her! She has impeccable taste and did an excellent job of incorporating my ideas and requests into a beautiful design. Mitra takes the time to get to know you to ensure that she can create a space that is beautiful and tailored to you on a personal level and your ultimate objectives. She does not force her ideas on you and is always open to creating new ideas or suggestions, if necessary. She is also very fun and pleasant to work. She has a very positive attitude and it positively spills over into her work and suggestions! She is also very responsive and works quickly and efficiently. She has been a blessing to me!
Met all of our expectations and was a joy to work it.
Have you ever been to a restaurant and thought wow this place just gets it! That's honestly the experience I had working with Mitra in designing our facility. She has met all of our expectations and was a joy to work it.
LA Healthcare Design is a top medical office space interior designer in Los Angeles. They provide great service and exceptional work with competitive rates. They handled our project in a professional manner, made our medical space look and feel functional, ergonomic, and safe. Our clients love our new office space interior design. We highly recommend this firm for anyone who wants to build-out or remodel a new office space, medical office space, and dental office space.
I used this team to help design my dental office. I love the results. My office looks sleek and up to date. Overall great experience and I actually saved money by using them. I'm now asking them to do my home!
I have been very pleased with the work of LA Healthcare Design. Mitra and her team helped us from the beginning stages of our construction process to bring our vision to life. They helped to pick out finishes, paint colors, furniture and artwork that seamlessly matches our branding. They have been a joy to work with- always available by phone or email and very dependable. In addition, LA Healthcare Design has really helped us stay within budget during this process. We are excited to see the finished product!
I've worked with LA healthcare Design on a number of projects and they have always come out stunning! Great photo realistic renderings / virtual walk throughs were a huge help in finalizing the design and Mitra and the whole staff is always a pleasure to work with.
Very professional and creative team, we work with them and refer them to our clients.
We have hired LA Healthcare Design for our plastic surgeon office and surgery center. From the start to finish, it was a fantastic experience with them. LA Healthcare Design has a very high level of concierge service, amazing design and they helped us all the way to the end of the project. We are absolutely pleased with the design team, process and the end result. We are receiving so many complements which is super exciting to see what this design firm was able to create for us. We truly recommend them.
Mitra and her team are caring professionals that consider not just the space, but the feeling and how the space communicates to both the patients and the staff. LA Healthcare designs spaces that are functional and pleasing and I have had the privilege of working with them on several projects, all of which are amazing and leave a lasting, positive impact on anyone that enters them.
Mitra was super helpful. I was redoing my office and overwhelmed with options and decisions. Mitra organized the whole project for me and broke it down into manageable parts so I could envision exactly what I wanted. I have a top floor office in Santa Monica with gorgeous views of the mountains. Her advice helped maximize my perceived credibility as a clinician and relax my clients in a great environment. Thank you!
Mitra and her team designed and implemented the design throughout my built out. She had a vision the minute she walked into the space, a week later she presented me with a 3D rendering of the proposed spaces. Her team was ready to answer any questions that the contractor had. At the end magnificent dental office that I am in love with and love coming to work everyday. I have gotten so many complements. I can't thank you enough Mitra. I appropriate your talent.
LA Healthcare Design is best office and medical office interior designer in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. They did a great job of my office interior design. I also have referred many of my friends and clients to this firm for interior design of medical office space, dental office space, office space, and they all have been happy with the final outcome. Mitra, the owner/president, is a caring, competent, and artistic designer and treats each project like her own office space. Go with LA Healthcare Design with confidence.
LA Healthcare Design is an expert medical and healthcare interior designer. They truly and passionately care about their clients needs . We had an excellent experience with them from the beginning to the end of the project for our medical office and surgical center interior design and space planning. We truly recommend them.
Very passionate about what they do. Professional and courteous service all the way through. They have amazing ideas and suggestions to help spruce up any type of location whether if its for medical office or personal space. Mitra and her team are one of the best that I have encountered. Theyre not satisfied with their work until the customer is first and thats their priority which is the epitome for customer service.
I used this team to help design my dental office. I love the results. My office looks sleek and up to date. I get compliments everyday and my patients have been impressed as well. Overall great experience and I actually saved money by using them. I'm now asking them to do my home! Keep up the great work.
Schedule a FREE Consultation with LA Healthcare Design today.


You have just established (or maybe in the process of establishing) a company. It takes a lot of passion and commitment to start a business. Now, since your business exists, you have to look at the core activities and the general management of your business. An organization requires several departments (or processes) in order to function. But wait. Do you have experience in all fields? If you made a no-no gesture, then you need experts to help you achieve your goals. This article contains 5 accounting tips for small business with respect to accountants.
Among all departments, accounting is one of the most complicated and complex departments. Handles all tax documentation, accounting, accounting records, financial statements, audit reports, etc. You have to be on top of the accounting tasks, as it handles your monetary funds. The more the money funds, the stronger the business will be. But, since accounting is not your area of expertise, you should consider hiring an accountant.
Accountants in are professional experts who can handle all your finances and tax matters in an effective manner. They help you out with financial statements, bookkeeping, journal entries, and tax or audit reports. It accesses all your cash inflows and outflows and will guide you in relation to future operations.
Certified accountants act as business representatives in front of the IRS. The IRS audits all tax matters, so you need professional accountants to help you with these audits. They are professional experts and have gained extensive experience in the field. Your expert advice and advice for your business can help in establishing your business. They save you time by evaluating the health of your cash flows while you can concentrate on your business activities.
If you do not set your goals and objectives, you will not be able to track your progress and performance. With accounting goals and objectives, it will be easier for you to measure where you are standing. You will be able to see your level of business and analyze the performance of your competitors.
An accountant can help you in setting goals for your business. Accountants prescribe specific objectives for accounts receivable and account payable, along with other metrics for your business. They will make sure that the objectives go according to the vision of your company, the mission, and the bottom line. Likewise, they could keep track of objectives with commercial activities.
An accounting report determines the progress of the company in financial and monetary terms. The report has a detailed progress of the business. If you hire an accountant, they will prepare your complete accounting report on a monthly basis.
These monthly reports will determine how well your business is doing in the accounting sector. Be sure to close your books in the deadlines and recheck them. They make an analysis of the loss status for the amount of cash to be received and paid. The monthly accounting statistics prepared to give a clear idea about the performance.
Cloud technology protects your accounting data and allows you to access and manage your information from anywhere at any time. Accountants recommend using this technology for financial data management. If technology is not used, you will be left behind in the race. Cloud technology is very easy to use.
In addition to its ease of use, it has increased productivity, has access 24/7, and has better convenience and many more things that you can enjoy. There are numerous accounting systems that offer cloud technology. Your accountant will help you choose the right system. They would consider the nature of their business, invoices, payroll and some other criteria to select the system.
Accountants are responsible for doing tax planning. The basic objective of tax planning is to present your finances and funds in such a way that you get to pay the lowest amount of taxes. Tactile meters handle this planning process. Their experience in the various sectors makes them experts in the management of planning accordingly.
The reduction of income: The amount to be paid is adjusted from your adjusted gross income (AGI). The higher your income, the higher your adjusted gross incomes that will make you pay more taxes. Therefore, to reduce AGI, accountants contribute an amount to the retirement account and make some more adjustments.
The increase of deductions: You can increase your deductions with the help of detailing health-related expenses, property taxes, tax preparation fees, or investment costs. Once you have broken them down, you should compare them with the standard deductive and choose the value that is higher.
Use of Incentives: The third tactic is the use of tax incentives that can knock down your taxes. Your accountant can help you with this option.
It is necessary to maintain your business and independent personal account. This is because your professional and personal life are two different phenomena. Therefore, both have different expenses of different nature. If you do not keep separate bank accounts, you can probably end up losing cash for your company expenses.
Things get complicated when you open an account for personal and business use. By keeping a separate account, you will save hours of work and track your business expense easily. It is also recommended by accountants to maintain personal and business accounts independently to avoid complications.
Accountants offer honest and efficient accounting advice and help for your small business. They are specialized and professional experts. You should consider hiring accountants for a commercial operation without problems.
We hope you will like these 5 accounting tips for small business with respect to accountants. We want your comments and suggestions to improve our ideas. Have a great day!


text:
Q: How to read from text file and show it as a dropdown (select) in html I have a text file stored in my local which contains the list of usernames that i want to show as a drop down in html page. I need to know how to go about doing this also any piece of code or push in the right direction would be appreciated? P.S I am very new to coding !!
I have already tried loading text files to display as html using the below code
var openFile = function(event) {
var input = event.target;
var reader = new FileReader();
reader.onload = function(){
  var text = reader.result;
  var node = document.getElementById('output');
  node.innerText = text;
  console.log(reader.result.substring(0, 200));
};
reader.readAsText(input.files[0]);
};

But this does not serve my purpose.
I would like a dropdown the options of which are populated from a text file.

A: You didn't provide the text file structure. So I don't know how is it. But according to your information, the simplest solution is to use,
HttpRequest
You can read about that here also.
function readFile(fileName)
{
    var node = document.getElementById('output');

    var xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhttp.open("GET", fileName, true);
    xhttp.onreadystatechange = function ()
    {
        if(xhttp.readyState === 4)
        {
            if(xhttp.status === 200 || xhttp.status == 0)
            {
                var text = xhttp.responseText;
                node.innerText = text;
            }
        }
    }

    xhttp.send();
}

And specify file:// in your filename when using an absolute path,
readFile("file:///Drive/and/your/path/to/file.ext");

This is to give you an idea. Hope this helps you.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Paradise Lost: Australian Bushfire Crisis
Whilst the start of 2020 has been all about resolutions, clean eating and quality family time for many, residents across all states of Australia have endured loss, displacement and evacuation. The sense of overwhelming helplessness is difficult to suppress as we watch from the safety of our phone screens with anguish and despair. The scale of disaster is incomprehensible. Right now, the images filling our news feeds look like scenes from an apocalyptic horror movie documenting the end of the world.
Australia is ablaze and there is no end in sight. As Summer arrives on this vast and isolated continent, I have been watching with wide eyes and a broken heart the country I was once lucky enough to call home burn.
With nowhere to flee, the koala population has been decimated. A koala in a fire climbs to the top of a tree and curls up into a little ball. If the fire intensifies and continues to reach the top; the koala will burn alive. Even if the fire does not reach the tree canopy, they can overheat and fall to the ground.
The fires have affected many I know and love. People are losing their homes, animals are dying and firefighters are being worked to the bone. This is an emergency. Global warming is all we should be talking about right now. It's happening, it's real and we are all guilty.
I used to feel like I was doing something; I don't own a car and frequently use public transport, I have cut meat out of my diet, I share posts to highlight the damage we as human beings are causing Mother Earth and I regularly donate to charity. However, today this doesn't quite seem enough and I similar to the majority feel totally helpless.
Like many during the past few months, I have featured stories on my grid, in the hope of spreading awareness and to use this platform for the greater good. Yet the Australian Government don't appear to be listening as the population of a nation voice their concerns and the fires continue to spread out of control.
This is why Australia, previously uninhabited by modern citizens thrived. The First Nations People, who lived in harmony with the land did not just survive, they flourished for 65,000 years, that is until European settlers arrived. The ancient bush which has taken millions of years to form once provided their food, their livelihood, their medicine and their home, yet now it is gone. Perhaps forever? It's hard to comprehend how the diversity of this habitat will recover and many scientists fear that certain species in this region may now be permanently extinct due to the widespread damage caused.
The Australian Government must step up and implement sustainable Indigenous land management and green light necessary climate action. Aboriginal communities have been fire-farming for more than 50,000 years, their knowledge of this sacred land ensured traditional methods where actively managed and the burning of native grasses (passed from generation to generation) was both effective and safe.
The current fires will shape the future of Australia. We simply cannot let the greed of a minority continue to cause such devastation. Yet amongst the staggering loss of land and life, there are stories of hope, community and strength.
2020… A new year, a new decade and a time to spark change and unite as a global community and fight for our planet. As citizens of this earth we are all accountable; whether we use our voice, our platform, our funds or our time, every little gesture makes a difference. It's hard not to feel helpless in the wake of such destruction, yet united by the power of hope and guided by compassion and resilience, it is our shared responsibility to take action and educate ourselves on climate change as we face the question "what happens next?"
Thank you to the heroic firefighters and volunteers on the front line who continue to risk their lives in these extreme and unprecedented fires.
Wishing my friends near and far, safety and love.
No donation is too small to make a difference. If you are able, please support the firefighters, medics, volunteers, affected communities and wildlife.
@cfavic for the Victorian Bushfires
@nswrfs for the NSW Bushfires
@redcrossau for relief and recovery
@salvosau for medium and long term disaster relief
@foodbanksaus for those in need of emergency food
@wireswildliferescue to help the countless injured animals
Photo credit: @dale_appleton
Travel Photography: A Return Ticket To A Moment Otherwise Gone
Getting Lost in the Blue of Quintana Roo
A Detour To Rock Bottom
Current turnaround is 7-10 days from order to dispatch.
If you have an enquiry please do not hesitate to get in touch. Thank you!
The Token Hunter 2020


what's needed of science and industry?
SOLAR POWER SEEMS POISED FOR A BREAKTHROUGH. Over the past four years, prices for solar panels declined 75 percent. The consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. projects that the cost of commercial systems (panels, electronics, connections, and installation) will decline an additional 40 percent by 2015 and another 30 percent by 2020. In fact, it argues that solar power will be competitive even without government subsidies. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency projects that renewable energy will become the second largest source of electrical power by 2015 and approach coal-fired production by 2035. It expects solar to grow faster than any other type of renewable power.
Solar also isn't just about creating electricity. Nature's solar conversion system, photosynthesis, converts sunlight to fuel. In the case of plants, fuel comes in the form of sugars. Researchers believe they can use similar reactions to split water into hydrogen fuel -- low carbon emissions hydrogen, and then use the hydrogen to make liquid carbon-based fuels as needed -- for things that cannot be readily electrified, like airplanes and ships. Yet they still face major gaps in our understanding of photosynthesis.
Recently, four experts discussed how to move solar technology from the lab to commercial reality.
Harry A. Atwater, Jr. – Director of the DOE Energy Frontier Research Center on Light-Material Interactions in Solar Energy Conversion. He also heads the Resnick Institute for Science, Energy and Sustainability, California Institute of Technology's largest endowed energy research program, and is a member of Caltech's Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI).
Nathan S. Lewis – Principal investigator of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Innovation Hub in Fuels from Sunlight at Caltech, and member of KNI. He is a pioneer in artificial photosynthesis, studying how light causes electron transfer reactions as well as novel uses of conducting organic materials and composites.
Albert Polman – Director of the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter's Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is a pioneer in applying nanophotonics, the control of light at the nanoscale, to improve the efficiency of solar cells.
Michael Wasielewski – Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, and director of the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center. His research focuses on light-driven charge transfer and transport in molecules and materials, natural and artificial photosynthesis, and nanoscale materials for solar energy conversion.
The following is an edited conversation led and moderated by Dr. Atwater.
Solar cells: are we moving closer to braoder commercialization?
HARRY ATWATER: Let's start with photosynthesis. It is not about generating electricity, but about producing fuel that we can store and use later, right?
NATHAN LEWIS: Yes. There is a gap as big as the Grand Canyon in the low-carbon power environment: How do you store and transport energy for applications that can't be electrified, like aircraft and ships?
We can make electricity from solar power, then convert it into hydrogen fuel by splitting water, but that makes no sense. It's not very efficient. It would make better sense to make the fuel up front, with a specialized photosynthetic solar system, and get your electrical product from another set of photovoltaics.
ATWATER: Photosynthesis is an extremely robust process that plants have used for billions of years. But can we make it efficient enough for commercial fuel production?
MICHAEL WASIELEWSKI: Photosynthesis provides a good working model for solar energy conversion. We've all heard it is only 1 to 2 percent efficient at converting sunlight to sugars, which plants use as fuel. But those calculations are based on the overall process, both light capture and a long series of biochemical reactions to make the sugars. And if you look at the business end of photosynthesis, light capture is nearly 100 percent efficient, and its follow-up conversion to stored charges approaches 40 percent. The initially stored charges provide the energy to drive the subsequent biochemistry to make sugars.
Now it is true that photosynthesis uses proteins and other organic molecules that are not sturdy, but they provide good working models for how we can convert and store solar energy. We can really think of research in photosynthesis as biomimetic or bioinspired. We've done a lot of work on the biomimetic side, where we try to use some of the natural components of photosynthesis to assemble solar energy conversion systems. But as we learn more, we are inspired to ask, "What can we learn from this process that we can apply to more robust materials?" Recent research focuses on using this "bioinspiration" to design and build systems that work like natural photosynthesis, but are made of far more robust materials.
To realize its commercial potential, researchers must continue improving solar efficiency and reduce costs. For conventional photovoltaics, which convert sunlight to electricity, challenges remain. Commercial panels are rarely more than 20 percent efficient and while some experimental systems achieve 44 percent efficiency, they are not economical enough to manufacture reliably. Moreover, to reach solar's true potential, ways are needed to store solar energy for use at night.
LEWIS: I agree, and I'd like to make a few points. I like to think of solar energy as an inevitable technology. After all, electric motors are 85 percent efficient and combustion engines are at best 30 percent efficient, so we are going to electrify wherever we can.
If we look at the overall energy efficiency of photosynthesis, it's only 1 or 2 percent. But that's not how we should think about it. Just because birds have feathers doesn't mean that airplanes should. Airplanes are bigger and faster than birds. We want to apply physics, chemistry, engineering, and nanoscience, and achieve the same degree of improvements with solar energy.
ATWATER: Lately, we've seen remarkable improvements in the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, which turn sunlight into electricity. Are we getting close to broad commercialization?
ALBERT POLMAN: Today you can buy 20 percent efficient solar panels and it's not a stretch to imagine that will rise to 30 percent. If you wanted to put all those cells in one spot to supply all the world's power needs, it would take up quite a large area. But in the real world, we would distribute them all over the globe -- some on the roofs of homes, schools, and office buildings; others in solar farms. We are getting to the point where we can do something like this at a very large scale.
ATWATER: Photovoltaic cells also face an energy storage problem. Hawaii, for example, already generates about 30 percent of its power from solar, and cannot generate more because it has to run central oil-fired power plants for electricity at night. What do we do?
LEWIS: This is a big problem. In the 2009 report, America's Energy Future, the National Academy of Science projected that we could get 10 percent of our total electrical energy from non-hydropowered renewables by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030. But to get above 20 percent, we will need to develop entirely new ways to store and distribute electricity. To do that, we need to pursue two approaches. First, we need to boost efficiency so we get more power for a given area. Second, we need to really scale up manufacturing to make this technology cheap. Right now, making solar cells is like making other highly engineered technologies, such as silicon chips. What we need are technologies that let us churn it out inexpensively, like newspaper or bubble wrap.
ATWATER: When solar cells were originally conceived, they didn't incorporate what we would call nanotechnology. What can nanotechnology do for photovoltaic and photosynthetic systems?
POLMAN: Nanotechnology can take us in two directions. First, by making structures smaller, we reduce the amount of precious materials needed to make solar cells without sacrificing efficiency. Less material consumption makes them cheaper. And we can use nanotechnology to crank up solar conversion efficiencies to levels we once might have thought were impossible to reach.
WASIELEWSKI: One area where nanotechnology has made great strides is the use of self-assembling molecules and materials to build efficient structures for high-volume, low-cost production. Let me give you an example. Having highly ordered materials in photovoltaic cells improves performance. Yet many cutting edge nanophotonic materials are poorly ordered. It is well known that flat molecules will stack in specific ways, similar to the way north and south poles on magnets will cause them to attract and repel in certain ways. We are developing ways to make those flat nanophotonic molecules align like coins in a stack. By taking advantage of these nanoscale molecular properties, we hope to apply self-assembling molecules to a substrate in ways that they form ordered structures for photovoltaic cells without expensive processing.
ATWATER: Mike [Wasielewski] talked about using nanotechnology to build structures from the bottom up, starting with individual molecules. Albert, what about working from the top down?
POLMAN: One of my interests is soft printing, using something like a rubber stamp to print a solar cell's nanoscale patterns on a plastic substrate. In the last couple of years, several companies have come with processes that print nanostructures on 1-meter-wide sheets of plastics, similar to how we print newspapers.
I did some quick calculations with my class recently. We asked what it would take to print enough solar cells to cover the total energy needs of the earth in 10 years. You could do it with just one factory if you could print solar panels as fast as we print newspapers.
LEWIS: That's a pretty big newspaper, and many technical issues remain. It's like printing LCD display panels, and it requires tight tolerances and perfect alignment, which is difficult to achieve now even at low speeds.
ATWATER: We've talked about using everything from conventional semiconductors to organic molecules for solar technologies. Do we have all the materials we need for photovoltaic and artificial solar fuel cells?
WASIELEWSKI: We don't. All the avenues have certainly not been explored. This is especially true of hybrid materials, combinations of inorganic and organic materials. This is, in part, a function of how we do research. In the past, the materials community was more segmented in terms of its research interests, so one researcher would specialize in inorganic materials and another in organics. We're just beginning to get out of those niches and explore a wider variety of hybrid materials. We need to learn how to do this rapidly and not get trapped in intellectual cul-de-sacs.
ATWATER: The rule of thumb is that it takes 15 years to develop materials the old way. How do we accelerate the rate of progress?
WASIELEWSKI: Right. We need to engage with manufacturers and end-users of the technology as soon as possible, rather than spend years doing lab demonstrations before anyone talks with industry. We need to take advantage of manufacturers' expertise in how things are really done. On our part, we need to let them know about promising materials sooner, so they start to think about commercialization pathways earlier in the process.
ATWATER: Are there other things we can do to speed progress?
LEWIS: There is some clear consensus on critical needs. For example, we need inexpensive, abundant catalysts to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which we can store and use for fuel. When we split water, we currently catalyze the reaction with iridium or platinum, but these elements are too scarce and expensive. Nature knows how to do this, fixing water and carbon dioxide into sugars for fuel. Manganese gets us part way there, but we still have a long way to go.
WASIELEWSKI: We also need more people. We need to fully engage young people, who have shown a lot of interest in the solar energy field, and find ways to sustain that interest. This has been a real problem in past decades because of the field's up and down funding. Let's face it: to sustain interest, people have to be sure they are going to find jobs and have a career. If we turn funding on and off, we're not going to attract the best and brightest to solve problems at the speed at which we need to do this.
LEWIS: Another thing we can do is to embrace combinatorial research. This is not going to replace directed scientific research, but it does give us a way to rapidly create and screen lots of chemical compounds for photovoltaic activity.
ATWATER: How does it work?
LEWIS: We prepare batches of mixed compounds by a variety of means, apply them to an array of LCD-derived pixels, light up the pixels, and measure the electrical current generated on each pixel. Instead of synthesizing one compound per month, we can use this method to test thousands of randomly synthesized compounds per day, then take a closer look at the best performers. We can also build an enormous database from the experiments, and try to validate structure-performance relationships in ways we never could do before. This could create a very powerful link between data and theory.
ATWATER: Albert, you're investigating nanoscale phenomena. Are there things we can do to move forward there?
POLMAN: Using nanostructured materials to make solar cells is only about 10 years old. We're interested in the nanoscale confinement of light, how we can catch light in more efficient ways to split water. I work more on the physics side, but there is a separation between what I do and the chemistry needed to make this work. To make things happen faster, we need to have the disciplines talk to one another more than in the past.
"[T]o commercialize solar technologies, we must get past the valley of death – that big gap between demonstrating a technology and finding someone to invest $100 million for large-scale manufacturing." – Harry A. Atwater, Jr.
ATWATER: I want to go back to something Mike said a few minutes ago, about making our research more sustainable to attract the best young researchers. Are there things you can do in your labs to make this happen?
WASIELEWSKI: One thing we do is set aside some resources to promote collaborative and cooperative research in a global setting. We find that when people working in our lab spend time in other labs, they get a better appreciation of the types of science and style of research that other workers do, and they can bring that back to us. The reverse is also true, so that this type of back and forth is essential to developing research rapport across disciplines, and we should try to find new ways to do more. We should make it part of the graduate student educational process, so we ultimately wind up with young people who feel that collaboration and cooperation is the normal way of doing business, instead of narrowly segmenting their research.
Everything takes resources, but this involves relatively modest costs. An additional add-on for graduate cooperative work would pay very great dividends in making sure everyone is taking advantage of all the different types of science in our community.
LEWIS: We're working with the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement, which sponsors solar electricity and solar fuel research. It solicits proposals from about 30 researchers who just got tenure – often work that does not fit neatly into federal funding goals – and partners them with more experienced faculty. Every year, the group convenes a workshop, where they present their ideas and compete for additional funding from federal agencies as well as private foundations. The idea is to leverage new ideas using more of a risk-reward approach.
ATWATER: I agree, we need new modalities. At Caltech, for example, the Resnick Institute endows energy science fellowships for graduate students who develop proposals that have two or more faculty as advisors and mentors. The students get really synthetic ideas in ways that they wouldn't get in working for a single professor alone.
Now, I want to move onto questions about industry support. For several years, private investors made a significant commitment to photovoltaics, but the sharp decline in solar cell prices has disrupted many businesses and now they are leaving the field. How do we bounce back?
POLMAN: I'm in Europe and we're not having such a bad time with research funding, although budgets are declining right now. Among the political parties here, we see a lot of interest in energy research. When it comes to taking the next steps after research, this is a very difficult question to answer.
WASIELEWSKI: That's why in the US our relationship with the corporate world has to become a lot better. The economy drives everything and politics go hand-in-hand with that. If we can convince industry this will be a profit center 20 or 30 years down the line, they will help us convince everyone who needs to be convinced. Right now in the United States, though, natural gas is the 800-pound gorilla in room because fracking has made it so available and cheap. But in terms of reducing carbon emissions, it gets us only half the distance. It is a near-term solution, but we need solar to move forward.
LEWIS: There are also energy gaps we have to bridge. We need to find a way to decarbonize the 40 percent of transportation that can't be plugged in, like ships, trucks, and airplanes. We could do that with hydrogen, but it will require energy storage.
ATWATER: We've got people like Bill Gates at our back and young people at our doors. The Presidential election may have clarified the potential for near-term future R&D funding. Still, to commercialize solar technologies, we must get past the valley of death – that big gap between demonstrating a technology and finding someone to invest $100 million for large-scale manufacturing. This is not like software, where all you need is a few programmers and some cases of Diet Coke. You need a lot of investment to get these products off the ground.
LEWIS: There has to be a "there" there. What I mean is, if there is a market that is compelling and big enough, investors will come. If there is a market, you have to believe that the system will work.
ATWATER: Is there a role science could play in helping us get there?
WASIELEWSKI: Look at how the physics community managed to attract funding for some of its very large-scale machines over the years. It's about communication. They get together and decide what they need to pursue their goals. Then they go to the government with one voice and convince it that this is worthwhile. We need to do the same thing. We need to get together and decide on, say, three directions that are compelling and we need to scale beyond the norm. If we can get two or three resourceful investors or corporations to also back us, we may get past valley of death.
ATWATER: You think we need support from industry?
WASIELEWSKI: Private enterprise has a big voice in influencing government policy. If the government sees a major corporation taking a risk, then it will be more comfortable going in that direction.
ATWATER: So from a purely scientific viewpoint, what are the compelling questions we need to address? Do we fully understand the key scientific concepts, or are there gaps?
WASIELEWSKI: We know a lot about how light creates an electrical charge. On the photosynthetic end, we don't understand enough about water splitting and oxidative reduction of carbon dioxide.
We also need to understand not just nanostructures in photosynthesis, but also what happens with those structures at the atomic scale in real time as catalytic processes happen – what intermediates are formed, what they do. Getting relatively high-quality structure and function data at the appropriate time scale is where the core of understanding is.
POLMAN: In photovoltaics, we believe that if we can better understand and control the thermodynamics of photovoltaic conversion, we can gain a lot in efficiency. We also need to better understand how light interacts with materials at the nanoscale.
LEWIS: There is certainly science we don't have under control. After 100 years, we still cannot break water into oxygen and hydrogen in acid without a platinum catalyst. This is an embarrassment to chemistry. Another example is our inability to build molecules that carry out a combination of tasks. Our best catalyst is platinum, and our best light absorber is silicon. But if you try to combine them, instead of creating an efficient system, you screw both of them up. Also, we have to learn to control things at large scales. It is one thing to make one nanowire by self-assembly, and another to make the same nanowire one millimeter long and point it at the sun.


Normani and 6LACK played "Waves" on Jimmy Fallon's show on Wednesday.
Watch the music video for Normani and 6LACK's song "Waves."
KEY! shared the music video to his "Love On Ice" remix on Tuesday.
Two new tracks from East Atlanta crooner 6LACK.
Listen to Normani and 6LACK's new single "Waves."
6LACK and J. Cole offer a new East Atlanta Love Letter visual.
6LACK's latest features J. Cole, Future, Offset & Khalid.
6lack's new album, East Atlanta Love Letter, will be released on September 14.
6LACK announced the tour dates with support from Tierra Whack, Summer Walker, THEY, and Boogie.
Watch The music video for 6LACK's latest solo single "Switch."


Then I got scared thinking why am I bleeding then. The nurse ordered some blood work to be done and an ultrasound. Blood work came back with positive hcg levels but they were pretty low. Doctor said with when my last cycle was I would be about 6 weeks pregnant at the time of the visit. My hcg levels were only measuring as if I had just conceived. The ultrasound tech came in and started the scan, immediately not finding a heartbeat. I didn't know at the time that the baby would even have a heartbeat so early. When the doctor told me that what I was passing was fetal tissue, I was devastated. I had just got the most exciting news and the most heartbreaking news all within an hour of each other. At that time I knew I would try later on in life to have a child. I didn't know then how difficult that would be.
Reading ur last pregnancy story is like reading my own. I had that bowel movement sensation. And when I stood up from using the bathroom my water broke. 30 min later at the hospital our precious Shalom Nevaeh was already being born. I was 16 weeks…..I am so sorry for your losses…. It's not an easy road…..
I am so sorry for your loss. I had never known this kind of thing happen to so many families until it happened to my own. I am glad to know we can ban together and fight for our little ones. May I ask if you have went on to have more children or if you have considered the surgeries in order to have babies?
I had no idea either this happens to so many people. This was my 4 pregnancy. I had 2 healthy pregnancies/deliveries. 3rd pregnancy was in January of this yr ended at 6 weeks miscarriage. Then 4 months later I was pregnant again. Ended at 16 weeks. I am waiting on a call back from my obgyn for a refferal to a matenal fetal medicine doctor. My obgyn couldn't tell me what happened. So that is why I wud like to talk with a mfm Dr to see what be thinks happened. I wud definitely consider a cerclage if it wud help. Right now I want to.focus on my body healing before thinking About getting pregnant again.
I will pray for you. I hope the doctor can give you some answers. Keep your chin up and just know that we are all here to support and encourage one another in these hard times.
I'm so sorry for all of our losses. I too never realized how many people have been in similar situations. It's so heartbreaking and unfair, i can't rationalize how any higher being would allow such. Innocent, otherwise healthy babies forced into a world they aren't given a chance to survive in. Oddly enough, this website is providing some comfort as I struggle to move forward feeling so alone. It seems as the rest of my world has no idea what I am going through. I delivered my son on Jan 2, 2016, at 21 weeks. A short cervix was the cause and we went from hopeful to helpless within 15 days of learning. For all of the things I can and have done in life, this is the first time that i have felt entirely out of control and entirely cheated. I was cheated, he was cheated, my wife, and our families were cheated.
What are the updates on you two?


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Posted on October 2, 2017 October 2, 2017 Shootings
Run, hide, fight: how to survive an active shooter situation
Who is Stephen Paddock? Police say suspect responsible for deadliest shooting in US history
via Fox2 News:
At least 50 people were killed late Sunday night in a mass shooting during a concert on the Las Vegas Strip. Here's what we know about Stephen Paddock, the man police identified as the shooter:
Paddock, 64, is from Mesquite, Nevada, authorities said. Police stormed his hotel room from which they believe he fired the shots on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. They say he had over 10 rifles when police found his body. The believe he killed himself prior to entry. He checked into the hotel on September 28th.
Paddock was apparently targeting a crowd of 30,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival below. Police believe he killed himself prior to entry into the hotel room.
Police are also at his home in Mesquite, Nevada. They are methodically investigating the property. The Mesquite Police Department had no prior contact with him, according to spokesman Quinn Averett, nor had there been any calls to Paddock's home in Mesquite, which is about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Officials did not know how long he had been living in the area.
This mass-shooting is not yet considered an act of terrorism. Police are looking into a motive for the shooting before they can call it an act of terror.
So far, the massacre has no known link to overseas terrorism or terror groups, a US official with knowledge of the case said.
And a woman described as a "person of interest" after the attack is not believed to be involved in the shooting, police said in a statement.
"Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. "LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip."
"He was not on law enforcement radar as someone you really had to watch for," @jeffpeguescbs reports on the shooting suspect pic.twitter.com/AWTkRYGXVn
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017
The suspect:
• Police have identified the shooter as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man. He was earlier described as a "local resident."
• Officers said they engaged the suspect at the Mandalay Bay hotel, and he was killed.
• Police do not believe there are additional shooters.
Casualties:
• Police report there are now at least 50 dead and some 200 injured, making this the deadliest shooting in modern US history. The 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, was previously the deadliest, with 49 killed.
• Two off-duty Las Vegas police officers were killed in the shooting, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference.
• Two other officers responding to the scene were wounded, the sheriff said. One of them is in critical condition.
Investigation:
• Police said they are confident they have located Marilou Danley, who was traveling with the suspect. She had been sought for questioning in connection with the shooting. She is not named as a suspect.
• Police also said they have located two vehicles they were searching for: a Hyundai Tucson Nevada with a Nevada plate, and a Chrysler Pacifica Touring with a Nevada plate.
• Police are urging patience: "I think it's very important that you understand this investigation is going to be long and contracted before we get to the bottom of everything associated with it," Sheriff Lombardo said.
How shooting unfolded:
• Just after 10 p.m. Sunday local time (1 a.m. ET Monday) the Route 91 Harvest Festival — a country music concert — was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, witnesses said.
• Police said the gunman fired on the crowd of about 30,000 people from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, several hundred feet southwest of the concert grounds.
• Country music singer Jason Aldean was performing when the gunshots began, according to eyewitness cell phone video.
• "The gunshots lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. It didn't stop," said eyewitness Rachel de Kerf.
• President Trump tweeted, "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!"
• Las Vegas Airport diverts two dozen flights due to the shooting. Travelers are being urged to check with their airlines for flight status.
• Performer Jason Aldean released a statement that said: "Tonight has been beyond horrific." On Instagram, Aldean said that he and his crew were safe.
After a deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, local security experts are sharing advice on how to survive an active shooter situation.
A gunman opened fire on a crowd on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night, killing at least 58 and injuring hundreds more.
The best advice from law enforcement in an active shooter situation: run, hide, or fight.
If possible, experts say the best way is to run away from the threat. Always try to escape and evacuate, even if others are insisting on staying.
However, in certain situations it may be better to remain in place and try to avoid detection.
The last option, though the least preferable, is to fight the shooter with whatever means necessary.
In August, the Virginia Beach Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit provided it's Active Threat Citizen Defense in a public setting for the first time.
Master Police Officer David Nieves talked to News 3 after the training about surviving an active threat situation.
"You've got three choices. You either need to run, hide or fight. You just need to keep your head about yourself and understand that you only have a few seconds to understand what you're going to do. You better have a plan before you need that plan because there are no seconds, you aren't going to have time to make a plan," he explained.
Experts say it's also important to remain aware of your surroundings when in public.
"Things can happen anywhere. We don't want [people] to have the mindset that it will never happen here. It will never happen to me. If you have that mindset then you've already lost," MPO Nieves stated.
Police are searching for a woman named Marilou Danley who was traveling with the suspect, Lombardo said. He described Danley as an Asian woman, 4 ft 11 inches tall and 111 pounds. "We have not located her at this time and we are interested in talking to her," he said.
Class teaches how to survive an active shooting situation
Mass casualty drill takes place in Norfolk in preparation for the worst
In an active shooter situation, don't just stand there…
This is how the FBI says civilians should react in an active shooter situation
via Latest updates: 58 killed, 515 hurt in Las Vegas Strip massacre — WTKR.com
las vegas law Legal shootings
← Witness: Man Was Forced to Participate in 3 Slayings to 'Dirty His Hands' — TIME
Police cloned a Michigan murder victim's fingerprint that unlocked his phone — Quartz →


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Birmingham, The Night Owl
17-18 Lower Trinity Street, Birmingham, B9 4AT
Based on Lower Trinity Street in Digbeth, The Night Owl is the perfect club for any fan of music from days gone by. Taking its name from the Northern Soul song of the same name by Bobby Paris, The Night Owl was the first ever purpose built Northern Soul and Motown club, opening its doors in 2015.
Since its opening , The Night Owl has gone from strength the strength, expanding its music genres to include much loved retro genres spanning decades (as well as record collections!) Soul is and always will be at The Night Owl's core, but music fans can expect Motown, ska, funk, disco, garage, psychedelia, rock and roll, Britpop, indie and more coming from tribute and live bands and respectful Birmingham DJs every week, both in the day and night.
Assistance dogs welcome.