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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Paid Family Leave and Paid Sick Leave Laws: What Employers Need to Know
By: Rachel D. Gebaide & Morey Raiskin
President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which includes the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
This article includes the key points in the final versions of these leave laws, which are materially different from last weekend's bill.
Employers have 15 days, or until April 2, 2020, to update their FMLA and sick leave policies to comply with these new mandates.
Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act
The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (the "Act") expands the FMLA to add one (1) new qualifying reason for leave related to the coronavirus and to provide partial paid leave for such leave (the "coronavirus-FMLA leave"). Coronavirus-FMLA leave may be taken beginning on the date the Act takes effect (which shall be no later than 15 days after the date of enactment) and ending on December 31, 2020.
The Act applies to all employers with fewer than 500 employees.
An employee is eligible for coronavirus-FMLA leave if the employee has been employed for at least 30 calendar days by the employer from which the employee is requesting the leave.
What Qualifies for Coronavirus-FMLA leave?
The scope of employees who qualify for coronavirus-FMLA leave is much smaller than the original version of the bill. Now, the only qualifying reason for paid coronavirus-FMLA leave is if the employee is unable to work (or telework) because the employee needs to care for the employee's son or daughter under 18 years of age if the son or daughter's school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency declared by a federal, state, or local authority. In that event, the employee may take up to 12 weeks of coronavirus-FMLA leave.
Is Coronavirus-FMLA leave A Paid Leave?
Yes and no. Employers must pay employees for a portion of coronavirus-FMLA leave as follows:
The first 10 days of coronavirus-FMLA leave may consist of unpaid leave. Employees may elect to substitute accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave for the unpaid leave.
After the first 10 days of coronavirus-FMLA leave:
Employers shall provide paid coronavirus-FMLA leave at no less than two-thirds (2/3) of an employee's regular rate of pay based on the number of hours the employee would otherwise be normally scheduled to work or, for variable hour employees, based on a formula provided in the Act; and
The paid leave is capped at $200/day and $10,000 in the aggregate, per employee.
Other Significant Considerations:
If an employee foresees the need for coronavirus-FMLA leave, the employee shall provide the employer with such notice if practicable.
The Secretary of Labor has the authority to issue regulations to:
Exclude certain healthcare providers and emergency responders from the definition of "eligible employee" under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act; and
Exempt small business with fewer than 50 employees when the imposition of such requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.
Employers with fewer than 25 employees may be excused from restoring an employee who has taken coronavirus-FMLA leave to the employee's positon or to an equivalent position upon certain conditions.
An employer of an employee who is a healthcare provider or an emergency responder may elect to exclude such employee from the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.
Coronavirus-FMLA leave runs concurrent with traditional FMLA leave. Coronavirus-FMLA leave is not 12 weeks in addition to the 12 weeks (or 26 weeks) of leave provided under traditional FMLA.
An employee may not bring a civil action against an employer because of the employer's alleged violation of the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act. The Secretary of Labor may enforce the law against employers through administrative and/or civil actions.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (the "Act") requires all employers to provide paid sick time ("Emergency Paid Sick Leave") to each of its employees.
The Act will take effect no later than 15 days after its enactment and will expire on December 31, 2020.
When Must an Employer Provide Emergency Paid Sick Leave?
Employers must provide paid sick time to an employee who is unable to work (or telework) because:
The employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19.
The employee has been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19 or has been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
The employee is caring for the employee's son or daughter if the son or daughter's school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions.
The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.
Note: An employer of an employee who is a healthcare provider or an emergency responder may elect not to provide paid sick leave to such employee pursuant to the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
How Much Emergency Paid Sick Leave Must an Employer Provide?
Emergency paid sick leave is calculated as follows:
Full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours.
Part-time employees are entitled to the average number of hours worked over a two-week period.
Note: the Act does not identify which two-week period the employer must use to calculate part-time emergency paid sick leave. The Department of Labor is tasked with issuing guidelines within 15 days after enactment.
An employee using emergency paid sick leave under the Act pursuant to (a), (b) and (c) above must be paid at the employee's regular rate of pay; however, sick leave is capped at $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate.
An employee using emergency paid sick leave under the Act pursuant to (d), (e) and (f) above must be paid at no less than two-thirds (2/3) the employee's regular rate of pay; however, sick leave is capped at $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate.
Emergency paid sick leave shall be available immediately regardless of how long the employee has been employed by the employer.
Employees may but are not required to use emergency paid sick leave under the Act before using any other paid leave benefits provided by the employer.
Emergency paid sick leave under the Act does not carry over from year to year and is not paid out upon the employee's termination from employment for any reason.
The Secretary of Labor will issue a model notice regarding employee rights under the Act within seven (7) days after enactment. Employers must post the notice in a conspicuous place where notices to employees are customarily posted.
Employers may not take an adverse action against an employee who takes leave under the Act or who files a complaint relating to the Act.
Enforcement: Employers who violate the Act shall be considered to have failed to minimum wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and are subject to the same penalties.
Final Note About H.R. 6201:
In addition to other provisions to help the nation's workers and their families, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides tax credits relating to the requirements that employers provide paid coronavirus-FMLA leave and emergency paid sick leave. Employers should consult with their tax advisors about this credit.
Lowndes will provide updates on other coronavirus-related employment legislation that may be enacted in the coming weeks and months.
For up-to-date news please follow our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response Team page.
Rachel D. Gebaide — Shareholder
Rachel D. Gebaide is a member of the firm's Executive Committee and chair of the Labor and Employment Law Group. She is an experienced employment litigator and adviser, counseling companies in the management of their human resources issues.
Rachel regularly represents employers in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies in defending against claims involving allegations of employment discrimination and violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and other employment laws. She also defends discrimination claims arising under the Fair Housing Act.
In addition to her litigation practice, Rachel drafts and reviews employee handbooks, employment agreements, non-competition agreements, separation agreements, and other personnel documents. She regularly advises clients regarding workplace issues and compliance with the FMLA, FLSA, WARN Act, the Affordable Care Act, and other employment laws. Rachel also has extensive experience in conducting independent investigations.
A frequent speaker, Rachel often writes articles on developing issues in labor and employment law for client-focused publications, legal industry news outlets, and the firm's employment law blog.
Rachel is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. She is also a member of the Orange County Bar Association, having served as Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Committee. Rachel is active in the Litigation and Employment Law Group of Meritas, a global alliance of independent law firms.
She also serves as Executive Vice President of Congregation Ohev Shalom and Vice President, Legal of TOP Jewish Foundation.
Morey Raiskin — Of Counsel
A Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator, Morey Raiskin works in the firm's Labor & Employment Group.
Over the past 38 years, Morey has represented management of both large and small employers. He has successfully litigated cases in state and federal courts and represented clients in administrative proceedings involving the EEOC, DOL and FCHR. Morey also serves as an advisor to his clients, counseling them on virtually any workplace issue they may confront.
Morey develops non-compete and employment agreements, personnel policies, employment application forms, employee handbooks, and counsels clients on wage and hour, discrimination, WARN Act planning and union avoidance strategies. He litigates these same issues in state and federal courts or in administrative proceedings before the EEOC, U.S. Department of Labor or the Florida Commission on Human Relations.
Morey began practicing law in Las Vegas, Nevada, before moving to Orlando in 1984. In 1986, he accepted an in-house opportunity with a diversified publisher, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, eventually becoming Lead Labor and Employment Counsel and Administrative Vice President of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sea World. In 1990, Morey returned to private practice and has served in a myriad of roles, including as a shareholder and chair of the Labor and Employment Law Group at Lowndes from 1990—2012.


Chromecast is the missing link of modern media streaming. It looks like a gadget you'd expect to find on Dr. Spock's nightstand and it allows you to watch your favorite shows on any HDTV without giving you Type 2 Diabetes. All you have to do is plug it into the HDMI port of a TV, then use a simple mobile app to send movies, videos and music from your phone, tablet or computer. Also, Chromecast gladly works with every device you pair it up with, regardless of model and brand, therefore it is a serious contestant for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.


The low-maintenance Street Banner systems from Vispronet® are the classics among street-pole banners and can be used on both electric utility and lamp poles (Ø 60-250 mm) as well as walls. For double or triple the advertising effect, the systems can be also attached on two or three sides of the pole. Street Banner Basic is designed for indoor and or outdoor use - with max. wind force 5 - 6 Bft (30- 45 km /h). For advertising in areas with stronger wind force 9 - 10 Bft (75 - 100 km / h) we recommend the use of robust Street Banner Select.
Street Banner from Vispronet® make your advertising outdoors very visible. They are easy to mount on a pole, lantern or pillar. In online offers you can often find the term lantern banner when looking to buy street banners.
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Most street banners are used on poles at the side of busy streets and squares. Vispronet® recommends a street banner with double-sided printing which is legible from all directions. This way your advertising message can be seen well from all sides. Simply select the street banner with "double-sided" print.
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If you would like to have banners printed for your advertising purposes, you should think about the right format in advance. Street advertising must draw the eye directly in order for it to be effective. Otherwise, your well thought-out concept can simply fade in the street's daily traffic.
At Vispronet® you can buy your custom Street Banner at your discretion. Available in practical portrait format they can be printed in different sizes between 50 x 125 cm and 70 x 250 cm. We also gladly print your banners in custom size. The available maximum dimensions always refer to the individual product.
Buy Street Banners - what should you look for before printing?
Use the largest possible, widely readable font which stands out well in colour from the background.
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It can be accessed free of chargestron> in the shop and offers you support in the design of your Street Banner. If you have already completed your motif and text, you can simply place the file on the specified printing surface and continue the ordering process. Pay attention to proportions and distance to the banner edge and leave enough space for the mounting.
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We would like to offer the right street banner for every need and therefore give you the opportunity to choose between two different types - single or double-sided printed street banners. Double-sided banners are especially recommended for free-hanging types on street lamps or flagpole. This way your advertising message is clearly visible and readable from every direction.
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In addition to the eye-catching street banners, you can also present other attractive advertising materials on streets and fences. How about a printed banner presenting your advertisement over bright street? The continuously printed banner complements our street banner selection and can be quickly and easily attached to facades and fences. The banners are prewashed, ready to use and will not bleed after the first rain. Just try it.


Stylishly calming interiors blend harmoniously with contemplatively quiet and gracefully uncluttered outside areas that form an ideal base for reclining in privacy.
Nestled amongst olive trees, vineyards, pines and lush mountain greenery, Lime is a snug, cozy cottage neighboring Lemon and Ginger- a perfect retreat for those wishing to get away from the rigors of everyday life. With its high beamed ceilings and its all white dressed areas, it offers a light, airy and relaxing atmosphere that is mirrored in the lovely outdoor space. Set into two levels, the ground floor shares an open plan extra comfortable living and dining area, a fully equipped modern kitchen, as well as two ensuite cushy bedrooms- a double and a master one. The first floor comprises of a double bedroom with an ensuite bathroom, boasting bracing views over the gently rolling countryside. Stylishly calming interiors blend harmoniously with contemplatively quiet and gracefully uncluttered outside areas that form an ideal base for reclining in privacy. The balconies, terraces, the central courtyard and the lawn garden along with the cute plunge pool draw guests out-of- doors to enjoy the tranquility of the rural setting, pampering themselves in the fresh air.
Ground floor: Living room, Study room and Open plan kitchen.
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It was the close friendships that Kohl built up with other world leaders that helped him persuade both anti-communist Western allies and the leaders of the collapsing Soviet Union that a strong, united Germany could live at peace with its neighbors.
"The world has benefited from his vision and efforts. His legacy will live on," he said in a statement.
Famed for his massive girth on a 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) frame, Kohl still moved nimbly in domestic politics and among rivals in his conservative Christian Democratic Union, holding power for 16 years until his defeat by center-left rival Gerhard Schroeder in 1998.
That was followed by the eruption of a party financing scandal which threatened to tarnish his legacy.
Kohl's legacy includes the common euro currency — now used by 19 nations — that bound Europe more closely together than ever before. Kohl lobbied heavily for the euro, introduced in 1999, as a pillar of peace — and when it hit trouble more than a decade later, he insisted there was no alternative but for Germany to help out debt-strapped countries like Greece.
Kohl served longer than Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first post-World War II chancellor and his political idol. Only Otto von Bismarck, who first unified Germany in the 1870s, was chancellor longer, for 19 years.
"Voters do not like Kohl, but they trust him," Rita Suessmuth, a former speaker of parliament, once said.
Often harsh and thin-skinned, Kohl also could display a quick wit and jovial earthiness. He ate pasta with Clinton and took saunas with Russia's Boris Yeltsin.
Still, the "blooming landscapes" that Kohl promised East German voters during reunification were slow to come after the collapse of its communist economy, and massive aid to the east pushed up German government debt. He also drew criticism for failing to embark on economic reforms.
Born on April 3, 1930, in Ludwigshafen, a western industrial city on the Rhine, Kohl joined the Hitler Youth but missed serving in the Nazi army. As a 15-year-old, he was about to be pressed into service in a German anti-aircraft gun unit when World War II ended. His oldest brother, Walter, was killed in action a few months earlier.
Kohl was reluctant to view united Germany as a major power because of its Nazi past. Still, he slowly edged his country toward greater responsibilities in the 1990s, as Germany sent troops for U.N. humanitarian missions in Cambodia, Somalia and elsewhere, and deployed peacekeepers to Bosnia.
He pursued reconciliation with Germany's eastern neighbors, though some critics said he moved too slowly after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
"It was real luck that at that difficult time leading nations were headed by statesmen with a sense of responsibility, adamant about defending the interests of their countries but also able to consider the interests of others, able to overcome the barrier of prevailing suspicion about partnership and mutual trust," Gorbachev said Friday in a statement released by his foundation.
Kohl's earlier bridge-building with the U.S. also paid off. The stationing of U.S. Pershing II missiles in Germany starting in 1983, despite huge domestic protests, had established trust in Washington that was crucial to creating a single German state.
He praised former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for her honesty, even as he recalled a confrontation with her just days after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"I cited a 1970s-era NATO statement and said that NATO supported reunification. … Thatcher stamped her feet in anger and screamed at me, 'That's how you see it! That's how you see it!'" he wrote.
Another gesture of friendship and reconciliation the following year turned into a public relations fiasco. Kohl's trip with then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan to a war cemetery in Bitburg where SS troops were buried alongside ordinary German soldiers generated international indignation.
Kohl's relationship with Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, also had to overcome early turbulence. In a 1986 interview, Kohl was quoted as comparing Gorbachev's public relations skills with those of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The Soviet Union protested.
Elation over German reunification ebbed amid the harsh realities of its cost and the difficulties of integrating east and west, but Kohl's coalition squeaked by again in 1994. Yet high unemployment and Germans' yearning for change gradually sapped his authority, provoking a humiliating loss to Schroeder's center-left Social Democrats in 1998.
The following year, Kohl plunged his party into crisis when he admitted accepting undeclared — and therefore illegal — donations during his time as chancellor. Kohl refused to identify the donors.
When Bonn prosecutors launched an investigation into possible breach-of-trust charges in January 2000, Kohl was pressured to give up his party's symbolic honorary chairmanship — notably by Merkel, a longtime Kohl protegee who served for seven years in his Cabinet and followed him into the chancellery in 2005.
In a 2001 deal with Bonn prosecutors, the probe was dropped in exchange for a 300,000-mark fine (about $140,000 at the time) — giving Kohl the legal stamp of innocence. That was a common German practice but judicial investigations into other figures in the murky financing scandal continued.
Kohl's estrangement from his party lasted until 2002, when its new leaders invited him to speak at a convention as they sought to regain power.
The former chancellor was married for 41 years to Hannelore Renner, an interpreter of English and French who stood firmly but discreetly by his side. They had two sons, Peter and Walter.
Though slowed by illness in his later years, Kohl still made occasional eye-catching interventions on the political stage. As Merkel struggled to convince center-right lawmakers in 2011 of the wisdom of having Germany finance further bailouts of other eurozone nations, Kohl weighed in firmly.
"There must be no question for us that we in the European Union and the eurozone stand by Greece in solidarity," he declared.
He also appeared to question Merkel's approach at a time when conservatives were unsettled by her decision to speed up Germany's exit from nuclear energy and by Germany's abstention in a U.N. vote on a no-fly zone over Libya.
"I ask myself where Germany stands today and where it wants to go," he said.
Despite their differences, Merkel made clear Friday that Kohl had touched her life deeply when he helped forge a united Germany.
Associated Press writers Frank Jordans and David Rising contributed to this report.


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Details of Obama's Planned Immigration Changes
By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 03:21:35 PM EST
Tags: immigration reform (all tags)
The New York Times has details of Obama's planned executive action on immigration. It will:
....protect up to five million undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation and provide many of them with work permits...
...One key piece of the order, officials said, will allow many parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents to obtain legal work documents and no longer worry about being discovered, separated from their families and sent away.
It's the right thing to do. More details below: [More...]
Mr. Obama's actions will also expand opportunities for immigrants who have high-tech skills, shift extra security resources to the nation's southern border, revamp a controversial immigration enforcement program called Secure Communities, and provide clearer guidance to the agencies that enforce immigration laws about who should be a low priority for deportation, especially those with strong family ties and no serious criminal history.
Those who will not be affected: "Convicted criminals, foreigners who pose national security risks and recent border crossers."
< Mexico Arrests Another Son of Ismael Zambada-Garcia | Thursday Open Thread >
Details of Obama's Planned Immigration Changes | 13 comments (13 topical)
I agree with you, Jeralyn. (5.00 / 3) (#6)
by Angel on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 09:25:52 AM EST
It's the right thing to do. For those who will be allowed to stay, what a relief it should be to not have to live your life in fear.
"work permits" (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by thomas rogan on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 10:21:12 AM EST
Are these work permits for a set amount of time? Are they actual green cards with a path to citizenship (thus, yet another amnesty)? Do you have to have an actual job to get a work permit? How will giving five million work permits to people who are already here eliminate the need for border security, unless you plan to give an infinite number of work permits to anyone who crosses the border? Are people with work permits eligible for Medicaid, Section eight, and obamacare?
I Am Positive Google... (none / 0) (#8)
by ScottW714 on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 03:13:06 PM EST
...can answer your questions.
5 million neighbors... (none / 0) (#1)
by kdog on Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 05:36:21 PM EST
breathing easier is certainly most welcome...not to keen on the resources on the border stuff, but bones must be thrown to the rabid.
Secure Communities was such an abused disaster it should be killed, not reformed.
Maybe one too many bones for an executive order, but 5,000,000 people is nothing to sneeze at.
Even tho the Statue of Liberty (none / 0) (#2)
by christinep on Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 07:44:29 PM EST
initially welcomed to the Atlantic shores, my heart feels that she will surely smile with the issuance of the anticipated Executive Orders providing such long-sought Immigration relief. My immigrant forefathers/mothers would nod in approval from above ... because this expansive, unafraid, welcome face is what the American vision is and should be.
I await the Presidential issuance with awakened hope for us all.
Given the 2014 vote (none / 0) (#3)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 08:37:29 AM EST
Obama needs a new electorate.
Yeah... (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by kdog on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 08:51:18 AM EST
such as all the lefties who didn't bother to come out to vote for a Brand D that acts Republican...this is a good start to possibly get them engaged again, well except for the increased border security nonsense part of the proposed action.
I mean how much border security do we need to waste money on to satisfy the right? Obama has already ramped it up to unprecedented levels, and now is promising more. We got drones up on the border for god's sake, enough is enough already.
I voiced something like that on Facebook too (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by Militarytracy on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 03:59:11 PM EST
And I said that maybe those who voted for the Conservatives need to deal with what they voted for until it made them puke. My Conservative cousin said I was giving my Dem buddies a pass. What are Dems supposed to do? Spend their entire lives trying to prevent crazy people from experiencing the full consequences of their actions? It just makes them crazier, like we are keeping something really terrific from them. I'm fine letting them have it anymore, glut yourselves on the garbage.
Alabama wants Bentley even though their kids can't afford to go to college now and hospitals are broken? Glut yourselves...till you puke.
I tell (5.00 / 3) (#12)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Nov 15, 2014 at 10:02:26 AM EST
people here in GA the same thing. You voted for all this and now you expect someone to swoop in and save you from what you have done yourself? When you vote for crazy people you are going to get crazy. If you don't want crazy don't vote for them.
That's why they stayed home (none / 0) (#10)
Voting for the smaller bowl of $hit was self defeating.
Haha (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by Ga6thDem on Fri Nov 14, 2014 at 09:11:03 AM EST
I knew the GOP was going to say this kind of thing thinking that they have a huge mandate for far right policy. For 20 years they've been making the same exact mistake.
Speaking of 2014... (none / 0) (#9)
If only Republicans had some way to legislate immigration reform...
All of this could be avoided, no ?
Site violator (none / 0) (#14)
by fishcamp on Mon Nov 17, 2014 at 04:59:21 AM EST

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We've seen plenty of pictures of the 2013 Shelby GT500, but until now we haven't seen the car in action. Thankfully Ford has released a new video of the new 650 horsepower GT500 on on the racetrack, giving us our first opportunity to see and hear the car on the road. The video also shows Tanner Foust doing a hot lap in the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible at Virginia International Raceway, and, of course, the drifter/rally driver/Top Gear USA host manages to get the Shelby a little sideways at one point.
This entry was written by by MustangsDaily (Mustangs Daily) and posted here on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 3:13 pm and is filed under 2013 shelby gt500, GT500, shelby, shelby gt500, Videos. This article was not written by us, rather gathered using RSS feeds listed here. We take no credit for this article. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


text:
The First Lady's touching commencement address about … the First Lady
Jazz ShawPosted at 3:21 pm on May 12, 2015
I don't normally write much about the First Lady here at Hot Air. It's not that I particularly like or dislike Michelle Obama, but rather that there isn't much news about her which needs to occupy a discussion of American politics, government or policy. (That's by design, by the way.) Sure, I've had my disagreements about some of her signature personal issues involving diet and gardening, but that's really small potatoes (pun intended) in the larger scheme of things. Mostly, what happens in the East Wing stays in the East Wing.
But Ms. Obama stepped out of those comfy confines recently to give the commencement address to the graduating class at Tuskegee University and it was… interesting, to say the least. Your typical commencement address tends to contain some platitudes about the state of the world that the graduates will be entering, some bits of advice nobody can remember after the kegger to follow and perhaps a few bits of personal reflection. Michelle Obama, however, took it in a different direction. Our friend Andrew Malcolm at Investors.com explains.
While hubby played golf this Mother's Day weekend, Mrs. Obama went to Alabama's Tuskegee University's. Her 3,700 words began in standard form, but quickly became a detailed recounting of American racism including the famed Tuskegee airmen who overcame it seven decades ago.
Then, her address took a turn we've become accustomed to expect more from her husband: The celebration of 500 hard-won graduations became instead a speech more about her. To hear the first lady tell it, this has been a pretty rough time for her, living in the White House rent-free with her mother. Many sleepless nights. Taking numerous globe-girdling trips to five-star suites costing taxpayers in excess of $44 million.
"As potentially the first African American First Lady, I was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations; conversations sometimes rooted in the fears and mis-perceptions of others. Was I too loud, or too angry, or too emasculating? Or was I too soft, too much of a mom, not enough of a career woman?
"Then there was the first time I was on a magazine cover — it was a cartoon drawing of me with a huge afro and machine gun. Now, yeah, it was satire, but if I'm really being honest, it knocked me back a bit. It made me wonder, just how are people seeing me.
She said that it all really got to her. "I had the peace of mind of knowing that all of the chatter, the name calling, the doubting — all of it was just noise. It did not define me. It didn't change who I was. And most importantly, it couldn't hold me back."
I'm sorry… but held you back from what? I've had this conversation far too many times when it comes to First Ladies, both Republican and Democrat, and it always boils down to the same thing. You can review the Constitution and the various federal laws of the land over and over, as much as you like, and the official duties of the First Lady (or, ahem… First Gentleman) are precisely zero, zip, zilch, nada. Anything the First Lady decides to do is entirely up to her. If she wants to sit around in the official residence all day, every day, wearing sweat pants, eating Junior Mints and watching Dr. Phil, there's really not a person on Earth who can gainsay her choices with the possible exception of her husband. (And good luck with that, buddy.)
Nobody likes hearing or reading bad things about themselves… I get that. But what perceived failure was Michelle Obama worrying about all this time? Did she fret over the possibility that she would be viewed as having a failed tenure as First Lady? I don't even know what that means. It's possible that we've reached the point where everyone is taking far too seriously the nonsense of Hillary Clinton supporters when they talk about her "experience" as First Lady in her run for the White House. It's not experience. It's not a job. You can't possibly fail at it. So relax, enjoy, and break out the Junior Mints. Trust me… they're yummy.
Tags: college commencement First Lady Michelle Obama White House


Low traditionally shaped bridal tiara with marquisse set diamantes, pearls and crystals on hand wired stems. This style is also available without pearl upon request.
Model wears AR443 Bridal Tiara in Silver with Ivory Pearls & Clear Crystals. Shown with ARE001 drop earrings.


Hi, I'm Sheelagh Van Enk - Holland. It's kind of funny, my surname name is Holland and I managed to marry a Dutch man. I'm from Newcastle in Galway City. I've been working in retail for the last 12 years and about a year ago I decided to set up my own shop in Salthill and at the moment I'm in the process of moving my business into Galway City. Exciting times ahead! I love Galway because it has so much to offer, it has loads of culture, one is never bored, the city buzzes, it's a young city and there is something here for everybody!


The highest mountains are not usually probably the most voluminous. A number of tour firms supply day trips to the good dormant volcano's crater – a 1,000-foot deep bowl complete with a small freshwater lake. This course is an introduction to mountain environments, peoples and modern issues by means of interdisciplinary research.
However what mountain climber actually lets the mountain discourage them from the climb? Mountain folks. By contrast, the heavier frames of mountain bikes house suspension programs which are constructed to withstand the body-jarring shocks of rough terrains.


text:
Q: Execute multiple commands at the same time Hey so I was wondering how can I make it so that in my sh script two commands execute at the same time without waiting for one another to finish. As an example I'd like zmap to run and a listener.pl
How could I do this? I know doing this will run zmap then after zmap is over it will run the 2nd command
but I need both to be executed at the same time.
#/bin/sh
zmap
perl listener.pl

A: Run the jobs in the background by appending & to each command.
#/bin/sh
zmap &
perl listener.pl &
wait

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


History Culture Night, an inheritance of a night view: Nagaoka Hanabi (Fireworks) Festival - What is popular in Japan right now!?
Nagaoka Fireworks Festival in Niigata prefecture was qualified as an Inheritance of a Night View. Nagaoka festival started as a war damage revival festival, following the air raids that happened on August 1st, 1945. The festival is held from the 1st of August and runs until the 3rd of August each year.
In total, roughly 20,000 fireworks are set off during the two night firework display! Over 1 million people come to this fireworks festival each year!
Here are some awesome HD videos of Nagaoka Fireworks.


text:
Chou Huey-ying (; born 20 January 1955) is a Taiwanese politician served on the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council from 1989 to 1999, when she took a seat on the Legislative Yuan, representing Taipei County until 2002. She studied foreign languages at Tunghai University.

References

1955 births
Living people
21st-century Taiwanese women politicians
Tunghai University alumni
New Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan
Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan
Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan
20th-century Taiwanese women politicians

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
How Disney+ and AppleTV+ are changing the OTT landscape
November 12, 2019 | By Todd Krizelman, CEO – MediaRadar @ToddKrizelman
It's a big month for streaming. The launch of Apple TV+ and Disney+ are finally upon us. So it's a good time for an update on the state of the streaming wars.
In this strange new world, tech companies like Apple are investing in content, and media companies like Disney are investing in technology. So how does? all this effort stack up? A closer look at the content and ad spend of these new OTT major players provides some insight into the future of streaming.
Content spending among new OTT services
At launch, Disney+ unsurprisingly boasts a sizable catalog of Disney-owned content. The company has also announced that $2.5 billion will be allocated to producing more original content for the platform over the next 5 years.
Conversely, Apple has opted for a small but mighty catalog. At launch AppleTV+ was armed with considerable "star power" to entice subscribers. The platform will host entirely original content exclusively available to AppleTV+ subscribers. And pre-launch advertisements reveal some of the biggest names in acting and directing.
Although these two major players bring promising new content to the OTT lineup, they will have to continuously find ways to retain value in the eyes of consumers.
Monthly subscriptions to the top seven streaming platforms will collectively cost $61. Consumers will more realistically pick and choose the platforms they actually want to pay for. These leaves companies pitching both price point and content.
Clearly, these numbers indicate that Disney and Apple are attempting to join the royalty of OTT, made up of existing streamers like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, which all have their own originally produced hits. With the launch of HBO Max in 2020, AT&T's WarnerMedia may join the club soon.
With content creation underway and platforms officially launched, OTT services can now shift focus to conveying value to win the favor of consumers, who have more options than ever before. And that is where marketing and advertising come in. What does advertising an OTT option in an already crowded space look like?
Apple and Disney spend big ahead of streaming launch
For now, let's look at the two headline makers: AppleTV+ and Disney+.
Here at MediaRadar, we found that both platforms only started running ads in late August. AppleTV+ quickly overtook not only Disney+'s ad spend, but the entire streaming space. In the month of September, AppleTV+ was the top ad spender out of all streaming platforms. This includes established players like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
To date, Apple TV+ has outspent Disney+ five times over on paid media. What's more, AppleTV+ has not slowed their efforts now that the platform has launched. Ten days into November, AppleTV+ is on pace to once again be the top ad buyer out of all the streaming platforms this month.
The two companies differ in strategy, as well. Disney has promoted its new streaming platform as a whole, using clips from owned content to pitch the breadth of the platform. While Apple has been promoting its original content in stand-alone spots. So far, it has focused ad spend around eight shows in particular.
AppleTV+ may be outspending Disney+ on paid media. However, that does not mean Disney's marketing push has been insignificant in any way. In fact, Disney has been orchestrating a massive marketing push using all of their various channels.
This push includes everything from on-air endorsements from Tom Bergeron (host of "Dancing With the Stars" on the Disney owned ABC network), to billboard and bus ads around Disney's theme parks, to QR codes on lanyards worn by Disney's 7,000+ retail workers at various Disney store locations. In one of the more interesting moves, Disney posted a video on YouTube titled "Basically Everything Coming to Disney+", using snippets of movies available on the platform. The video was over 3 hours long.
On top of this, Disney has rolled out packaged deal after packaged deal thanks to its extensive holdings and powerful partnerships. For example: Verizon announced a year of free Disney+ for both new and existing customers, and more impressively Disney announced a $12.99 bundle with Disney+, ESPN and Hulu (both of which are majority-owned and controlled by house mouse). Visa card holders who have a Disney branded credit card can even lock in a discounted price for 2 or 3 years. Apple, for its part, is including a year subscription to Apple TV+ with the purchase of any Apple product.
Apple is almost on the defensive in this new world, playing as a tech company against media giants like Disney. No one says the best movies come from Apple today. They have a real deficiency in terms of changing perception that they are a place where you should go to watch your content.
In a bid to make that case, Apple has spent $20 million advertising its two biggest shows ahead of the launch.
In contrast, Disney's robust offerings, combined with constant messaging across Disney properties, may immediately drive Disney+ to the top. "Think of Disney like a giant pinball machine, with content and initiatives pinging between divisions in an effort to drive up the ultimate score," Gene Del Vecchio, a marketing professor at USC, told The New York Times.
With all this activity from the new platforms, and platforms like HBO Max and Peacock yet to join the fray, the streaming wars are heating up. It will certainly be interesting to watch how these companies market themselves as they fight for subscribers who will have many providers to choose from.
OTT, streaming video, SVOD


The Following is excerpted from Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World, published by North Atlantic Books.
If we're to share the value of land, it's certainly not necessary to abolish the exclusive use of land. On the contrary, the forcible seizing of land from individuals by government without just compensation deserves to be called tyranny. The fundamental thing we need to abolish is the mechanism by which people unfairly profit from land.
The solution is so simple that it's most often overlooked: Property owners merely need to pay the communities from which they receive benefits through their exclusive use of land the exact market value of the benefits that they receive.
Historically, there have been periods when people shared the value of land with their local communities due to the economic policies of the time. Too often, however, these economic policies didn't go far enough, and the resulting wealth wasn't always shared in ways that remedied poverty and decreased wealth inequality. One of the more modern examples is Hong Kong, a former British Crown colony in Southeast Asia. Since the end of the Second World War, Hong Kong has experienced an economic boom on a meteoric scale; within just a few decades, this small, relatively unknown city became one of the world's dominant centers of high finance. Since all land was considered to belong to the British Crown, the British colonial government leased land to private entities. These leaseholds have allowed Hong Kong to collect a certain amount of land value and have also allowed the government to maintain relatively low tax rates.
Although it's often cited as a model of laissez-faire economic growth due to its low income and corporate tax rates, its minimal interference in economic affairs, and its lack of sovereign debt, Hong Kong practiced, in effect, a form of conventional capitalism while simply preventing—at least to a small extent—its residents from profiting too much from land. Yet even though Hong Kong's leasehold model represents a step in the right direction, it remains flawed since land-value assessments are not updated annually to reflect the current market value of land; leasehold revenues therefore bear little relationship to yearly increases in land values. On the other hand, because Hong Kong is a relatively small island of prosperity, it has also had to deal with massive immigration from main land China, and because Hong Kong's land values were not widely shared with all Hong Kong residents, this influx created massive poverty problems in Hong Kong as well. We can only imagine what kind of prosperity Hong Kong might achieve for all its residents if it were to fully share the value of its land.
In other examples, today every resident of Alaska receives a relatively modest Basic Income from the value of oil. Norway does something similar, though on a much bigger scale, with its Government Pension Fund Global, a fund entirely financed through revenues from Norway's petroleum sector and currently the largest pension fund in the world. The island of Taiwan was able to achieve rapid economic success without causing severe wealth inequality once it implemented land-reform policies. Central California's transformation from dust bowl to breadbasket of America in the late 1800s is another example of natural wealth shared for public benefit: The State of California constructed vast irrigation infrastructures financed entirely through the taxation of resulting land-value increases. Whenever society chooses to safeguard nature for the benefit of current and future generations, the wealth that becomes available to society is immense: Every time the value of land is shared, the economy balances, nature is conserved, land speculation is inhibited, and society becomes more prosperous overall.
Of course, governments could financially compensate existing property owners with government bonds: Fred E. Foldvary—the aforementioned economist who correctly timed the 2008 recession in 1997—recommends this approach. To implement a compensation plan would require a large-scale, societal transformation, however: All levels of government and society would have to work together to accomplish such a monumental undertaking. While it's certainly possible, such a transformation is unlikely given society's current lack of awareness regarding the underlying economic realities that drive our choices and behaviors. What other options might we have at our disposal in order to create social change? We demonstrate a deep understanding of the process of social change when we realize that it isn't an idea alone that matters, but the practice of it, no matter how small the implementation of our idea may be at first. In other words, we are called to implement new models of land stewardship that render our existing model of land ownership obsolete.
We'll look at land-use rights in greater detail in later chapters. But before we do that, let's take a closer look at our current tax system, because taxes, as we shall see, profoundly influence the way we interact with one another. Currently, people pay very little for the benefits they receive through their possession of land to the communities that provide these benefits. And so, to pay for public works, governments are forced to tax the production and consumption activities of their citizens instead.
Since tax systems create behavioral incentives for billions of people worldwide, and since our economies by and large currently tend to incentivize the unequal sharing of land, we can effectively remedy a whole plethora of economic, social, and ecological issues by sharing the value of land. Once we do, we can effectively change how billions of people behave economically, socially, and ecologically. If this conclusion is indeed true, we can potentially make the greatest difference for our planet and for humanity by focusing our efforts on eliminating tax systems and encouraging people to share nature's gifts instead.
Teaser image by Michael Spiller, courtesy of Creative Commons license.
Martin Adams is a social innovator, systems thinker, and community organizer. As a child, it pained him to see most people struggling while a few were living in opulence. This inspired in him a lifelong quest to create a fair and sustainable world in collaboration with others. As a young adult, groomed for a career in finance, he walked right past Wall Street and chose instead to dedicate his life to community development. Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World is the fruit of his years of research and stands as an appeal to change makers worldwide.


The client approached us with a startup idea intended to defeat the food service issues in the small towns.
Does your store is impacted by online grocery delivery apps like Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Google express etc?
There is not a living soul in the world that doesn't enjoy a decent hot meal.
In America alone, there are more than 172,000 global courier and delivery services raking the business of $86 billion annually.
How Much Does It Cost To Create A Ride Sharing App like Grab, Uber, Lyft?
Ride sharing taxi service has many small differences from normal taxi service but all those differences occur due to the one main reason.
You had a brilliant idea to start a towing business, congratulations.
If you are looking for a new idea of a startup, a very good option is to start a car rental business.
To bring your wishes to life and make them a feasible goal you need proper planning.
Airport shuttle service is a very lucrative business startup.
The first step to start a successful passenger transport business is to make and execute a foolproof plan of action.


2017 has brought some exciting new changes with our installations! TEG is now installing LED light bulbs and fixtures as part of our Energy Efficiency for Affordable Housing program. Check out the infographic for more details on how LEDs can save you and your tenants even more money.


text:
[Video] Marketing Academy Secrets #22 : How to Use Landing Pages to Convert Visitors to Leads
By Seth Price
About Inbound Marketing
In Ep. 22 of Marketing Academy Secrets, we'll talk about how to create a landing page that converts visitors to your real estate website into leads.
What Are Landing Pages?
Most people assume, "If I'm going to have advertising or I'm going to send an email out, why can't I send them to my home page?" The challenge with the home page is that there's often a disconnect with the messaging. If you send out an email about The Best New Houses in Your Market, sending visitors to the home page isn't giving them the content that was promised.
Why Are Landing Pages Important?
What landing pages allow you to do is speak to specific audiences. So you might make a landing page for a specific neighborhood or a specific type of buyer — whether that be a first-time home buyer, a vacation home buys, or a second home buyer.
Those alone are three different communications that you want to make sure aren't distracting for different audiences.
If I'm looking for a second home, for example, I don't really need to know how to get a mortgage, because I've already done that numerous times – that's content you would gear toward a first-time buyer. So, you really want to use different language on each landing page.
How Do I Use Landing Pages?
I like to use some landing pages to convert visitors to leads. What you do that with is either called an exchange, or a bribe, or a promise. You're going to give them something of value in exchange for permission to contact them.
So, what you're trying to do is have a lead capture form that's going to ask for their name and email. Remember, if you ask for too many things, that may cause some people to be cautious about giving that information to you.
You're going to promise to deliver something and you really need to deliver something of value. So that might be a housing evaluation, a home report, a pricing report, an ebook, a guide, neighborhood insight, some videos on how to best sell your house, how to sell your house by yourself.
All of those are just examples of things you could offer to someone. Remember to align that offer with the specific type of audience that you're trying to attract.
What Makes a Good Landing Page?
The first thing is the headline. That's really the thing that's going to grab their attention when they land on that page, because you really have about 3 seconds. Your lead came from some other link, email, or Google search and landed on this page. Your headline is going to tell them whether they're in the right spot.
Then you want some very concise and very compelling copy. What are they going to get by staying on this page?
Next, a really strong image. It can be a beautiful image, it can be a small graphic, but it has to relate to the reason why they landed there and, general, from where they came and what the promise was.
Finally, you want to have a call-to-action and a lead capture. The lead capture is really that ability to ask for some personal information and what you're really asking for is permission – permission to contact them in some way, give them the information, and continue to contact them. You've gotta build trust to do that. So, make sure that your all of your copy isn't too salesy. But, you do have to make your offer compelling, because otherwise they aren't going to fill out their information.
How Do I Drive Traffic to My Landing Page?
There are three ways to deal with driving traffic. One is paid advertising: Google, Bing, or Facebook advertising. The next is SEO, which is really search: creating content and information that gets discovered via the search engines that drives folks to your site. The last way is your email list – we'll assume you have one. If you don't, I suggest that you start building one because that's readily-made permission with your potential clients to contact them on a regular basis. Then what you can do is message them in a way that shows the value of what you're offering and drives them to particular landing pages.
Where Do I Get Started?
I would look at a couple of services out there that are really easy to use, very inexpensive, and allow you to create landing pages on the fly. One of them is LeadPages.Net – a really simple service that integrates with your WordPress or any other type of site. You can generate a landing page using the templates that they have. It'll connect to your email service or CRM and allow you to capture those leads and funnel them into the tool you already use.
The other one is Unbounce.com, another really fantastic tool. It has a few more bells and whistles in the form of A/B testing, so you can try two different versions of a landing page and see which one converts better.
Get started today; it's a really simple process and it will help you increase the conversion of visitors to leads so you can get more business.
If you want to learn more about online marketing for real estate, visit placester.com/marketing. There, you can sign up for our emails that will show you all of the tips and tricks on how to be a better marketer. We create lots of infographics, ebooks, and guides on everything from SEO to landing page generation, website design, you name it. We're really trying to dive in and provide great value. Thanks for watching.
The Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Lead Generation
9 Effortless Ways to Use Linkedin to Generate Real Estate Leads
The 10 Best Video Recording Apps for Real Estate Agents
Real Estate Brand Positioning with Kim Spears


text:
Q: Using sed to replace a word of a line on basis of finding that line on first two words of that line in a file After going through and trying numerous articles regarding unix sed cmd and regular expressions online,i still not able to achieve what i wanted. Please help me to achieve this.
I have a file Gemfile,in this i want to find a line on basis of first two words and replace another word on that line.How can i achieve this in ubuntu with sed cmd.
My Gemfile is like this:-
gem 'retryable'
gem 'roo'
gem 'autoprefixer-rails', '8.6.5'
gem 'music', branch:'mae-45124', git: vhl_repo('mymusic')
gem 'aws-sdk', '~> 3.0'

In this file i want to first search a line using first two words i.e. gem 'retryable'
gem 'roo'
gem 'autoprefixer-rails', '8.6.5'
gem 'music', branch:'mae-45124', git: vhl_repo('music')
gem 'aws-sdk', '~> 3.0' and then replace the value of branch given i.e. for eg in this case 'mae-45124'
I have tried using this cmd bu this is giving this error ->
sed -i -e "/^gem \'music\'.*/s/mae-45124/mae-44444" Gemfile

Error coming is :-
sed: -e expression #1, char 34: unterminated `s' command

I want to change this line from:-
gem 'music', branch:'mae-45124', git: vhl_repo('music')
to
gem 'music', branch:'mae-44444', git: vhl_repo('music')
Please tell me how can i achieve this.
Any help will be appreciated.Thanks in advance.

A: This will work:
 sed -ir "/^gem 'music'.*/s/mae-45124/mae-44444/" Gemfile

You don't need to escape ' since you are using " around them.
In some situation you might need to escape -.
And your own solution don't have the last '/', which is to finish the s command.


text:
Best-buys
Best B&O speakers 2021: portable, hi-fi and wireless
By What Hi-Fi? published 9 February 21
The cream of Bang & Olufsen's crop
Included in this guide:
Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)
Best B&O speakers Buying Guide: Welcome to What Hi-Fi?'s round-up of the best B&O speakers you can buy in 2021.
Bang & Olufsen may be almost a centenarian in the hi-fi industry (2020 marked its 95th birthday), but the celebrated Danish brand is showing no signs of slowing down, continuing to wow us year in and year out with its edgy designs and meticulous quality control. It's best known for its premium speakers, some of which will set you back the price of a small car.
Yet to win the lottery? You'll be pleased to hear that B&O has poured its engineering excellence into the audio equivalent of a diffusion line. The B&O Play (formerly BeoPlay) speaker range – aimed at a younger, style-conscious audience – is more affordable and includes portable Bluetooth speakers that aren't afraid of the great outdoors, as you'll see below.
(There are B&O Play headphones too.)
That said, B&O has been known to choose style over substance on occasion, so it's important to pick wisely. To help you avoid a dud, we've curated this list of the best B&O speakers we've tested – from budget, picnic-friendly portables to pairs of truly epic, high-end floorstanding speakers. Let's hear them out.
(Image credit: Bang & Olufsen)
1. B&O Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)
The weightiest and most refined little speaker we've heard in a while.
Dimensions: 4.6 x 13.3 x 13.3cm (HxWxD)
Features: Alexa voice control, aptX Adaptive Bluetooth 5.1
Connections: USB-C for charging
View at Peter Tyson
View at John Lewis
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See all prices (14 found)
+Expansive sound, weighty bass+Competent Alexa integration+Stunning build and finish
-Nothing at this level
The B&O Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) wireless speaker is the company's second most affordable model in its line-up, and also the world's first Bluetooth-only Alexa smart speaker.
It's about the size of a large floury bap, and feels typically high end. It's a little more svelte than its predecessor, with bigger, more clearly labelled buttons making it easier to control. It's also water- and dust-proof to IP67, meaning it should survive being placed in water up to one metre deep for 30 minutes. And battery? A reasonable 18 hours at normal listening volume, or up to 48 hours at a more conservative level.
To use Alexa, you'll need to Bluetooth it to your phone, which is connected to wi-fi. Which is pretty straightforward to set up.
Sonically, it's accomplished and smooth. B&O has managed to capture its trademark sonic profile in this small a form factor, which is no mean feat. A great device for listening at home or on the move.
Read the full B&O Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) review
2. B&O BeoPlay A1
Dinky yet detailed portable Bluetooth speaker.
Dimensions: 4.8. x 13.4 x 4.8cm (HxWxD)
Power: 2x30W Class D for woofer and tweeter
Features: Bluetooth V4.2, Stereo pairing
Connections: 3.5mm line-in, USB-C for charging
+Solid, weighty sound+Gorgeous design+Generous battery life
-Sound lacks sparkle and rhythm
Given that B&O is best known for its high-end audio products, you might suspect that a few corners have been cut to create this pocketable speaker. Thankfully, that's not the case – it's elegantly-crafted from aluminium and leather.
Sound quality is spot on: soulful and solid, with impressive midrange clarity that will flood the room. Battery life is no less impressive: 2.5 hours charging returns 24 hours of playback. There's no NFC support, but the A1 does rock aptX Bluetooth connectivity.
If size matters, this scaled-down speaker is the equivalent of drinking champagne on a beer budget.
Read the full B&O BeoPlay A1 review
(Image credit: B&O)
3. B&O BeoLab 50
Beautifully-engineered works of audio art
Dimensions: 103.6 x 28.5 x 45.5cm (HxWxD)
Power: 7x ICEpower 300W amplifiers
Features: Wireless Power Link (24bit/48kHz, WiSA (24bit/96kHz)
Connections: 1x USB Audio (24bit/192kHz), 1x optical
+Flexibility+Composure at high volumes+Bass power and reach
-Lack a degree of transparency-Could be more rhythmic
They might cost a small fortune, but these swanky floorstanders are dripping with premium materials and cutting-edge technology. Each speaker has seven drivers, each with a dedicated 300W power amplifier, which adds up to effortless dynamic shifts, agile bass and a thrilling level of detail.
The control app, which is bespoke to the BeoLab 50, helps you keep a firm grip on all that power (2100W per channel) as you blast out some Hans Zimmer. Could they sound a little more rhythmic? Yes, but If you're looking for a stellar system without too many extra boxes, B&O's deluxe floorstanders sound as good as they look.
Read the full B&O BeoLab 50 review
4. B&O BeoSound 1
Fancy wireless speaker with features galore.
Dimensions: 32.7 x 16.2 x 16.2cm (HxWxD)
Power: 1x40W Class D full range, 1x20W Class D for woofer
Features: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth V4.1, DNLA, Google Assistant
Connections: 1 x Ethernet
+Powerful and loud+Smooth presentation+Plenty of features
-Rivals offer greater subtlety-Fiddly set up-Expensive
Once again, B&O's designers have come up with a striking, space-age design that reimagines the speaker as some sort of small sculpture. The tip of the cone, which appears to be floating, doubles as the volume dial with touch-sensitive controls.
The unusual shape offers excellent 360-degree sound dispersion and is laden with features. The latest version of the Beosound 1 supports hi-res streaming up to 24-bit/192kHz and has Google Assistant voice smarts built-in.
Musically, it's not as dynamic as some rivals (the Naim Mu-so 2, say) but if you want an all-in-one streaming hi-fi that makes a visual impact, the cone-shaped BeoSound 1 is on point.
Read the full B&O BeoSound 1 review
Today's best Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd gen), BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY A1, B&O Beolab 50 and Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 1 deals
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd gen)
Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 1
These are the best wireless speakers around
Save some money with the best wireless speaker deals


IRTBA will be the successful leader and advocate for stimulating increased funding at all levels for the transportation design and construction industry in Illinois.
IRTBA will be its members' indispensable resource for networking, training, education, and business services.
IRTBA will be the recognized authoritative public voice and credible information source for the transportation design and construction industry in Illinois.
IRTBA will play an active role in addressing diversity within the industry.
IRTBA will be a leader in establishing and implementing sensible and innovative environmental practices.
Achieving these goals doesn't happen overnight - it takes years. However, they can be achieved with continuous commitment, partnering advocacy efforts, determination, and focus.


text:
package org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.fitting;

import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;

import org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.exception.ZeroException;
import org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.exception.OutOfRangeException;
import org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.analysis.ParametricUnivariateFunction;
import org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.fitting.leastsquares.LeastSquaresBuilder;
import org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.fitting.leastsquares.LeastSquaresProblem;
import org.apache.commons.math4.legacy.linear.DiagonalMatrix;

/**
 * Fits points to a user-defined {@link ParametricUnivariateFunction function}.
 *
 * @since 3.4
 */
public class SimpleCurveFitter extends AbstractCurveFitter {
    /** Function to fit. */
    private final ParametricUnivariateFunction function;
    /** Initial guess for the parameters. */
    private final double[] initialGuess;
    /** Parameter guesser. */
    private final ParameterGuesser guesser;
    /** Maximum number of iterations of the optimization algorithm. */
    private final int maxIter;

    /**
     * Constructor used by the factory methods.
     *
     * @param function Function to fit.
     * @param initialGuess Initial guess. Cannot be {@code null}. Its length must
     * be consistent with the number of parameters of the {@code function} to fit.
     * @param guesser Method for providing an initial guess (if {@code initialGuess}
     * is {@code null}).
     * @param maxIter Maximum number of iterations of the optimization algorithm.
     */
    protected SimpleCurveFitter(ParametricUnivariateFunction function,
                                double[] initialGuess,
                                ParameterGuesser guesser,
                                int maxIter) {
        this.function = function;
        this.initialGuess = initialGuess;
        this.guesser = guesser;
        this.maxIter = maxIter;
    }

    /**
     * Creates a curve fitter.
     * The maximum number of iterations of the optimization algorithm is set
     * to {@link Integer#MAX_VALUE}.
     *
     * @param f Function to fit.
     * @param start Initial guess for the parameters.  Cannot be {@code null}.
     * Its length must be consistent with the number of parameters of the
     * function to fit.
     * @return a curve fitter.
     *
     * @see #withStartPoint(double[])
     * @see #withMaxIterations(int)
     */
    public static SimpleCurveFitter create(ParametricUnivariateFunction f,
                                           double[] start) {
        return new SimpleCurveFitter(f, start, null, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
    }

    /**
     * Creates a curve fitter.
     * The maximum number of iterations of the optimization algorithm is set
     * to {@link Integer#MAX_VALUE}.
     *
     * @param f Function to fit.
     * @param guesser Method for providing an initial guess.
     * @return a curve fitter.
     *
     * @see #withStartPoint(double[])
     * @see #withMaxIterations(int)
     */
    public static SimpleCurveFitter create(ParametricUnivariateFunction f,
                                           ParameterGuesser guesser) {
        return new SimpleCurveFitter(f, null, guesser, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
    }

    /**
     * Configure the start point (initial guess).
     * @param newStart new start point (initial guess)
     * @return a new instance.
     */
    public SimpleCurveFitter withStartPoint(double[] newStart) {
        return new SimpleCurveFitter(function,
                                     newStart.clone(),
                                     null,
                                     maxIter);
    }

    /**
     * Configure the maximum number of iterations.
     * @param newMaxIter maximum number of iterations
     * @return a new instance.
     */
    public SimpleCurveFitter withMaxIterations(int newMaxIter) {
        return new SimpleCurveFitter(function,
                                     initialGuess,
                                     guesser,
                                     newMaxIter);
    }

    /** {@inheritDoc} */
    @Override
    protected LeastSquaresProblem getProblem(Collection<WeightedObservedPoint> observations) {
        // Prepare least-squares problem.
        final int len = observations.size();
        final double[] target  = new double[len];
        final double[] weights = new double[len];

        int count = 0;
        for (WeightedObservedPoint obs : observations) {
            target[count]  = obs.getY();
            weights[count] = obs.getWeight();
            ++count;
        }

        final AbstractCurveFitter.TheoreticalValuesFunction model
            = new AbstractCurveFitter.TheoreticalValuesFunction(function,
                                                                observations);

        final double[] startPoint = initialGuess != null ?
            initialGuess :
            // Compute estimation.
            guesser.guess(observations);

        // Create an optimizer for fitting the curve to the observed points.
        return new LeastSquaresBuilder().
                maxEvaluations(Integer.MAX_VALUE).
                maxIterations(maxIter).
                start(startPoint).
                target(target).
                weight(new DiagonalMatrix(weights)).
                model(model.getModelFunction(), model.getModelFunctionJacobian()).
                build();
    }

    /**
     * Guesses the parameters.
     */
    public abstract static class ParameterGuesser {
        /** Comparator. */
        private static final Comparator<WeightedObservedPoint> CMP = new Comparator<WeightedObservedPoint>() {
                /** {@inheritDoc} */
                @Override
                public int compare(WeightedObservedPoint p1,
                                   WeightedObservedPoint p2) {
                    if (p1 == null && p2 == null) {
                        return 0;
                    }
                    if (p1 == null) {
                        return -1;
                    }
                    if (p2 == null) {
                        return 1;
                    }
                    int comp = Double.compare(p1.getX(), p2.getX());
                    if (comp != 0) {
                        return comp;
                    }
                    comp = Double.compare(p1.getY(), p2.getY());
                    if (comp != 0) {
                        return comp;
                    }
                    return Double.compare(p1.getWeight(), p2.getWeight());
                }
            };

        /**
         * Computes an estimation of the parameters.
         *
         * @param obs Observations.
         * @return the guessed parameters.
         */
        public abstract double[] guess(Collection<WeightedObservedPoint> obs);

        /**
         * Sort the observations.
         *
         * @param unsorted Input observations.
         * @return the input observations, sorted.
         */
        protected List<WeightedObservedPoint> sortObservations(Collection<WeightedObservedPoint> unsorted) {
            final List<WeightedObservedPoint> observations = new ArrayList<>(unsorted);
            Collections.sort(observations, CMP);
            return observations;
        }

        /**
         * Finds index of point in specified points with the largest Y.
         *
         * @param points Points to search.
         * @return the index in specified points array.
         */
        protected int findMaxY(WeightedObservedPoint[] points) {
            int maxYIdx = 0;
            for (int i = 1; i < points.length; i++) {
                if (points[i].getY() > points[maxYIdx].getY()) {
                    maxYIdx = i;
                }
            }
            return maxYIdx;
        }

        /**
         * Interpolates using the specified points to determine X at the
         * specified Y.
         *
         * @param points Points to use for interpolation.
         * @param startIdx Index within points from which to start the search for
         * interpolation bounds points.
         * @param idxStep Index step for searching interpolation bounds points.
         * @param y Y value for which X should be determined.
         * @return the value of X for the specified Y.
         * @throws ZeroException if {@code idxStep} is 0.
         * @throws OutOfRangeException if specified {@code y} is not within the
         * range of the specified {@code points}.
         */
        protected double interpolateXAtY(WeightedObservedPoint[] points,
                                         int startIdx,
                                         int idxStep,
                                         double y) {
            if (idxStep == 0) {
                throw new ZeroException();
            }
            final WeightedObservedPoint[] twoPoints
                = getInterpolationPointsForY(points, startIdx, idxStep, y);
            final WeightedObservedPoint p1 = twoPoints[0];
            final WeightedObservedPoint p2 = twoPoints[1];
            if (p1.getY() == y) {
                return p1.getX();
            }
            if (p2.getY() == y) {
                return p2.getX();
            }
            return p1.getX() + (((y - p1.getY()) * (p2.getX() - p1.getX())) /
                                (p2.getY() - p1.getY()));
        }

        /**
         * Gets the two bounding interpolation points from the specified points
         * suitable for determining X at the specified Y.
         *
         * @param points Points to use for interpolation.
         * @param startIdx Index within points from which to start search for
         * interpolation bounds points.
         * @param idxStep Index step for search for interpolation bounds points.
         * @param y Y value for which X should be determined.
         * @return the array containing two points suitable for determining X at
         * the specified Y.
         * @throws ZeroException if {@code idxStep} is 0.
         * @throws OutOfRangeException if specified {@code y} is not within the
         * range of the specified {@code points}.
         */
        private WeightedObservedPoint[] getInterpolationPointsForY(WeightedObservedPoint[] points,
                                                                   int startIdx,
                                                                   int idxStep,
                                                                   double y) {
            if (idxStep == 0) {
                throw new ZeroException();
            }
            for (int i = startIdx;
                 idxStep < 0 ? i + idxStep >= 0 : i + idxStep < points.length;
                 i += idxStep) {
                final WeightedObservedPoint p1 = points[i];
                final WeightedObservedPoint p2 = points[i + idxStep];
                if (isBetween(y, p1.getY(), p2.getY())) {
                    if (idxStep < 0) {
                        return new WeightedObservedPoint[] { p2, p1 };
                    } else {
                        return new WeightedObservedPoint[] { p1, p2 };
                    }
                }
            }

            // Boundaries are replaced by dummy values because the raised
            // exception is caught and the message never displayed.
            // TODO: Exceptions should not be used for flow control.
            throw new OutOfRangeException(y,
                                          Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY,
                                          Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY);
        }

        /**
         * Determines whether a value is between two other values.
         *
         * @param value Value to test whether it is between {@code boundary1}
         * and {@code boundary2}.
         * @param boundary1 One end of the range.
         * @param boundary2 Other end of the range.
         * @return {@code true} if {@code value} is between {@code boundary1} and
         * {@code boundary2} (inclusive), {@code false} otherwise.
         */
        private boolean isBetween(double value,
                                  double boundary1,
                                  double boundary2) {
            return (value >= boundary1 && value <= boundary2) ||
                (value >= boundary2 && value <= boundary1);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Michael Lewis Explains the Unlikely Bromance That Shaped the Way You Manage Money
By: Penelope Wang
Penelope Wang
Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Millionaire?
How Your Phone Is Costing You (Even More) Money
4 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Save and Invest Like a Millionaire
How to Invest Your Way to $1 Million
Retire With Money: Take Care in Picking an Advisor
Published: Dec 06, 2016 8 min read
https://money.com/michael-lewis-amos-tversky-daniel-kahneman/
Money is not a client of any investment adviser featured on this page. The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Money does not offer advisory services.
Most people know Michael Lewis as the author behind such best-sellers as Moneyball, The Blind Side, and The Big Short, which focus on Wall Street or sports, or a combination of both. His latest, The Undoing Project, takes his storytelling in a different direction by focusing on two brilliant Israeli psychologists whose collaborative research into the quirky and irrational way our minds work radically changed economics and finance.
These two psychologists, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, were outsiders, very much in the mold of other Lewis underdog characters. But it was the power of their ideas and personalities, rather than a financial collapse or game win-loss records, that ultimately won over academic and industry critics.
Tversky passed away in 1996, but Kahneman went on to win a Nobel Prize in economic science in 2002. (If Tversky had lived, he would undoubtedly have shared the prize.) Kahneman continues to write and do research—his book, "Thinking Fast and Slow," published in 2011, went on to become a best seller. Here's what Lewis had to say about these unlikely academic pioneers.
Q: What can the average investor expect to learn from behavioral finance?
A: The broad lesson is you've got to get very good at watching yourself when making financial decisions. Your mind will mislead you. Tversky and Kahneman's most well-known insight was identifying what's called loss aversion. We care more about avoiding a loss than locking in a gain. They also identified the mental bias of representativiness—people look for characteristics that they think signal the qualities they're looking for. For example, most CEOs are 6'2" white men. Is it because these people are really the best CEOs, or does being a tall white man give you an advantage at getting those jobs?
There are many other ways our minds create cognitive illusions. You're susceptible to thinking what happened the last time will happen again. You're susceptible to remembering winners and not losers. Our reluctance to part with stocks that are down, all that stuff. Some of the most interesting ideas were these throw-away thoughts, like Danny's idea they played with for a while—how people making decisions aren't actually trying to maximize their returns, but minimize regret. I see it all that time in people's decisions.
Q: And how can we guard against these mental errors?
A: It's not easy. We should all approach the market like card counters at a blackjack table, but we don't. Both Danny and Amos became increasingly fatalistic about people's ability to check themselves. It's like when you see an optical illusion—even when someone points it out to you—you still see the optical illusion. That makes it hard to ignore.
But they were helpful in showing how you should approach decisions. They encouraged people to detach from yourself, to slow things down, and to create checks. Those ideas were put into practice back in the '80s, when Delta Airlines asked Amos for help with a series of embarrassing mistakes—pilots were landing at the wrong airport. The problems were traced back to the pilots. Amos pointed out, you've got an autocrat in the cockpit who's making decisions based on his own instincts, and no one is encouraged to question him. The solution was to train others in the cockpit share decision-making and question the pilot. The changes eliminated those mistakes.
Q: Does that mean we should rely on investing experts to guide our decisions?
A: It can, but I would say as a good rule, the more confident a financial advisor sounds, the more wary you should be. What you want is someone who is willing to explain to you that no one knows, that they're operating in a volatile environment, with a lot of randomness to it.
If someone is telling you something like growth stocks are sure winners, you've got a really big problem. One of the great cons for bucket shop brokers is to send out recommendations on a stock—half are told sell and half to buy. If it goes up, call the folks you told to buy and say look I was right. They do that out a few more times, and you've got a handful people who were told the right thing three or four times in a row and they think you're a magician.
The unknowability of elections, the price of stocks, the future performance of a professional athlete—these sorts of things are probabilistic matters at best and should be spoken of in those terms. Tversky and Kahneman are the kings of explaining why people don't think probabilistically and the mind resists thinking the way it should it to solve the problems it faces.
Q: Will a Trump presidency make it easier or harder for investors to make good decisions?
A: There's been really important work done to improve investor protections through behavioral research, including the design of choice architecture, such as 401(k) auto-enrollment. And the role of the Consumer Financial Protection Board to protect investors has been vital. It's really disturbing to me that, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, we might roll back consumer financial protection under a new administration. It's incredible to me to see a so-called populist movement floating these kinds of policy proposals and the people being hired, who have spoken against investor protections.
One way to tell the story of the financial crisis is as a result of bad incentives. Part of what Dodd-Frank was trying to do in a breathtakingly complicated way is to address some of those incentives. And amazingly, the financial sector wants to restore those bad incentives, such as allowing proprietary trading again. Once again, a heads I win and tails you lose proposition. The financial sector responds to incentives, and if you create an incentive to create a financial crisis, they'll do it quickly and very efficiently.
I think we have real problem with anger already in this country—with the sense that there are people on the inside who gain all the advantages, and those on the outside who don't. If you take away the remaining barriers that prevent elites on the inside from exploiting people on the outside, you're going to create more anger. I didn't think I'd ever have material about finance in my lifetime again that would be worthy of a book. I have a feeling the Trump administration is going to create it very quickly.
Best Pet Insurance Companies of January 2023 2
Drivers May Soon Get More Money Back From Car Insurance Companies 3
Non-Fungible Frenzy: Why NFTs Are Suddenly Everywhere 4


text:
Mira Torvinen-Määttä,
On Thursday we met at the Pražského povstání metro station. We went to VŠKK which is a private university of applied sciences specialising in media.
VŠKK, private university of applied sciences specialising in media.
We had a tour there and then students continued working with the architecture photography project. Task was post production of the photos taken on Wednesday and preparing the presentation for Friday. While students were working in the class room, teachers went to a café to have discussions. Lenka told lots of interesting stories about life in Prague, for example how her shoe was stolen.
After students had finished their project, we went to have a fast food lunch. After that we had a visit to the Czech Television, which is a public service broadcaster in the Czech Republic. The main source of its income are television licence fees, so it is financed by Czech citizen. It also gets money by selling books, dvds etc. Part of the money comes by selling programmes and some income also from advertisements. Its biggest competitor is TV Nova which gets its money from advertisements. Since Czech Television is public, they produce programmes for every kind of people. For example they have programmes translated to sign language for deaf people. We had a tour in the building and studios. At the end of the tour we had the opportunity to test the sets and props.
We visited at the actual shooting of a children TV series.
When the official programme ended, I went to buy some art supplies with six students. We had found a nice shop full of pens, brushes, sketchpads and other stuff and now we had time to go there. What a heaven it was!
Students buying illustrator´s tools.
Every one of us were shopping something and it took a while to get out of there. Some of us continued our journey to the christmas market in Náměstí Míru. I bought big gingerbreads and enjoyed the atmosphere: lights, crowds of people, nice handicrafts and the smell of hot wine.
Christmas market at Namesti Miru.
Friday was the day of presentations. At first students presented the cultural landmarks of their home countries in national teams. They had prepared the presentations before the workshop in Prague. We got lots of information about significant cultural landmarks, like Heroe's Square in Hungary or Suomenlinna in Finland.
Iida shows Raahe´s location at the Suomenlinna presentation.
Right after presentations of cultural landmarks the students had presentations of architecture photos taken in international teams. Prague was the perfect place for such a workshop, although the weather is not the best for photography in November. All the buildings represented different architectural styles, from small wooden orthodox church to the dancing house, whose style is known as deconstructivism. One of the buildings was Kovarova Villa, which is a cubistic house. Czech Republic and especially Prague is the only place where cubism was really applied to architecture.
Then we got certificates, and we had to say goodbye to everyone. I headed to the Museum Kampa with Pekka. The museum building and its surroundings were beautiful. There were many art exhibitions, including a large collection of František Kupka works, and quiet atmosphere. Our last evening included tasting chlebíčky, the traditional Czech snack, spending the rest of the Czech crowns, and some tram driving in the suburbs.
You always have space for another chlebíčky, the traditional Czech snack.


text:
Q: Any two events that are independent implies that the time between them are independent
Theorem: By the Strong Markov Property, for a stopping time T and a Markov chain at state $X_{T_{n}} = y$, the state $X_{T_{n}+k}$ for $k\geqslant 0$ is independent of $X_{T_{n}}$ or $X_{T_{n}+k}$ is equivalent to the Markov chain with initial state $y$.

Clearly, the above theorem implies that any two or more states are independent to one another.
But how can I understand that the time between the occurrence of any two or more states are, thus, independent?


text:
Q: iPhone removeFromSuperview troubles I am using a tab bar with a button that calls the current view and does a flip animation to reload it. Once it reloads it performs some operations that alter the view slightly from the last time it was visible.
While the view is flipping, you are able to see the previous view below it.
When I use:
[menuView removeFromSuperview];

the view flips the superview is black underneath like I want but the:
-(void)viewDidLoad

does not fire. My new flipped view is unchanged.
What I want is for the back to be black while the view is flipping and the viewDidLoad to fire.
Any help?

A: I am surprised viewDidLoad was called more than once either way. Have you tried putting the code to update the view in viewWillAppear instead?