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June 10, 2019 Series Three Stories
#20 Igniting opportunities for Refugees
In Australia it's hard for newly arrived refugees to find a new job. In 2011, Settlement Services International found a way for refugees to create businesses for themselves – by using the marketplace as a change maker.
Syriana Cuisine: you can order with them at syrianacuisine.com.au
Click on the play button above to stream it here. Or listen to the episode on Podcast One, Stitcher or Apple iTunes via these links. Or find by searching "ChangeMakers" on your podcast app.
Or use a Podcast app with our RSS feed. Broadcast 11 June 2019 as part of our third series.
Full Transcript for Episode 20 -Igniting Opportunities for Refugees
ED: It was my first um trip on the plane. It was very exciting but very sad because um I felt that I'm going nowhere. Like I don't know where I'm going. I'm going to X.
Ed Yousef talking with host Amanda Tattersall
HOST: That was Ed Yousef. When he was 17 he and his family fled the war in Syria and came to Australia away from the escalating war. They faced many challenges. Ed's eldest brother was 29, he spoke good English and became responsible for supporting his family. He had been working for an oil company in Syria.
ED: It was hard at the beginning. Especially that coming from a different system.
HOST: It took his brother a year to find stable work.
ED: So what did you guys do between? Just looking for any job. Looking looking looking.
Amanda: So did he take on other work. Sort of casual work.
Ed: No.
HOST: It was a stressful time for Ed's brother.
Ed: He had worked before and now he's in a different country with no work and he's like in his thirties.
Ed: It was hard for him to um to just accept the fact that he's not working.
HOST: Years later, after finishing a medical science degree at the University of New South Wales, Ed faced the same difficulty getting a job. While those graduating around him were able to rely on informal networks like friends and family to crack into the industry, Ed remained an outsider.
ED: I was applying. Yeah but most of the time I got rejected especially when I applied to the pathology sector. They need someone with experience which I don't have. But how I can get and that was like the puzzle.
HOST: Today … on ChangeMakers we are in Sydney, Australia. If the government isn't providing the right kind of help for refugees to find a job, can there be a different way? Today we are looking at the evolution of a remarkable market-based initiative that helps refugees create their own jobs. Let's go.
HOST: I'm Amanda Tattersall, welcome to ChangeMakers, the podcast telling stories about people changing the world.
And you can sign up to our email list at changemakerspodcast.org.
JOHN HOWARD: We have a proud record of welcoming people from 140 different nations, but we will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.
HOST: That was former Australian prime minister John Howard speaking in 2001. This speech marked a sharp, conservative shift in government policy and national attitude towards refugees.
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence.
Typically, Australia resettles about 14,000 refugees per year. But there are currently 68.5 million people waiting for resettlement to a safer place.
VIOLET: Some people have lived in camps in substandard conditions for many many years. Children have not been able to go to school or to learn at all.
HOST: Ed's family were lucky. They could easily have joined the 68 million people displaced globally, living in a refugee camp somewhere.
ED: I came to Australia in 2013. Before that I was a young guy who's been year 11 in Damascus …
HOST: But after the Arab Uprising in 2011, Syria descended into a civil war. The fighting was first in regional cities like Aleppo, but soon enough the conflict arrived in the capital Damascus.
ED: One day I was approaching the school gate and the the ground shake as an earthquake and as I approached the gate closer and closer another shaking so it was two consecutive bombings at one area and when I went back home I realized that my neighbour who was taking care of me when I was a child died in that bombing.
HOST: And it didn't stop.
ED: So lots of missiles lots of bombings and not having like the chance to have a good education.
HOST: At the time, Ed had family in Australia. His sister had married an Australian in 2009 and moved across in 2010. Ed's mother had moved there in 2012.
ED: There was a bombing in Damascus that changed all the equation. And um then we asked mum to stay in Australia and if she can take us that'd be great. If she can't that's it. Don't come back.
HOST: There was a good chance Ed would never see his mother and sister again. But luckily, Ed and the other members of the family managed to hastily arrange for family reunification visas to Australia.
It was a shocking, fortunate, strange transition to move from a war zone to outer-suburban Sydney.
ED: It's very quiet here. Like very very quiet, like the first couple of days we started making jokes about like oh there is no bombings. How come? Yeah. And um yeah. Like every day I would wake up on the like birds noises and bird sounds. So it was it was good.
HOST: Nevertheless, leaving your home and starting a new life in a foreign country can take a while.
ED: Everything is is he is available like electricity water air conditioned rooms. Um but I did miss my friends. I did miss my family back there. And it was going from like a place for full of um noises chaos and a very strong social life I must say even during war it was very strong social life. Um to a place with everything available but social life is not as strong as in Syria. Um for example shops close at 5:00 p.m. and then like life is dead till the next day.
HOST: Language was a real barrier.
ED: On the first day we went to the shopping. I couldn't speak any English word. I was like what's happening. Like I just came two days ago speaking fully Arabic and now I can speak English but I can't say to the guy Oh can I purchase this or can I buy this. Or how much is that. So mom was doing all that. So it was quite shocking for me.
HOST: Remarkably, rather than be demoralised by the challenges, Ed used them as motivation.
ED: It can kind of like gave me the motivation to start something to to use those resources. I would make use of um the quietness. So I don't just um sit around and do nothing. So because there is electricity I could use my laptop I can do some study I can do some reading. Because I was seven late 17 um that time. My main concern was just to learn the language so I can interact with others. And be more confident.
HOST: Ed began by studying at an Intensive English centre in Blacktown. But then his integration into the country suffered a setback.
ED: I was encouraged to do the HSC again and yeah it was, it was like that moment. It was very hard especially that um I had to do year eleven again due to the Australian HSC system.
HOST: No matter where you are from in the world, the idea of having to repeat a grade is universally frustrating!
And for Ed, he wasn't being held back for mucking around, he had been very busy fleeing a war zone! Nevertheless he dutifully enrolled at Leola High in Mount Druitt and completed his HSC.
ED: It was a good experience because I made so many friends at year 11. My English improved a lot. And um I also learned so many things about the subjects that I already studied. So it was it was good. And also I kind of like interacted with the teacher by um telling him about let's say my physics class in Syria and the difference here so he could like engage and interact with me in such a way that makes things easier for me.
HOST: He made friends with his neighbours – including – a nun, who introduced him to the Australian way of life.
ED: We had a Barbie every now and then. Yeah.
Amanda: You had a barbie. I love it.
HOST: His neighbours schooled him in the peculiar art of the Aussie idiom.
ED: Some phrases sounded weird at the beginning for me. Like a.. Raining cats and dogs I was like it's raining rain. Normal rain. And she said to me No no no, Ed. Cats and dogs means heavy rain. So yeah that's that's one of the ways like, one of the ways I was taught.
HOST: When Ed finished his HSC, he believed his limited English language skills would make it difficult for him to pursue his first goal – studying dentistry, because of all the medical exams and interviews.
ED: Those are kind of like a I wouldn't say barriers but like steps that I have to do.
HOST: So instead, Ed enrolled in a medical science undergraduate degree at UNSW. And can I just remind you – Ed had almost no English two years earlier.
While Ed was studying at high school, he had been volunteering at an organisation called SydWest Multicultural Services as part of a year 11 program.
ED: I tutor young students maths and science and some English. I decided to help to help out as much as I can so that I can um first put something on my resume. And second just so it's good to help others and engage rather than just um sitting at home doing homework.
HOST: After graduating from university he struggled to find work. He had no connections.
Well, not none. There was the place he'd volunteered. So he went back to SydWest Multicultural Services. He helped out again and scored his first part time job.
The CEO saw his talent and approached him about a program that might help.
ED: It's called the Ignite but they are more specialized into um starting up a business.
HOST:Ignite. Remember that. We'll come back to it in a little bit.
HOST: Struggling to find work is a common experience for refugees in Australia. But Ed and his family arrived at a particularly difficult time. The then Immigration Minister Peter Dutton had decided to seek political advantage by ramping up anti-refugee rhetoric.
PETER DUTTON: Well for many people, they won't be literate or numerate in their own language, let alone English. These people will be taking Australian jobs, there's no question about that. And for many of them that would be unemployed they would be languishing in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it there would be a huge cost.
HOST: Despite the inflammatory rhetoric, Australia has consistently provided support for refugees who arrive by plane. This process is called settlement and in New South Wales the primary organisation which does this work is called Settlement Services International (SSI).
VIOLET: Australia has a very sophisticated settlement program. Probably the best in the world. Probably you say I'm biased you being in this environment.
HOST: That's Violet Roumeliotis, the CEO of Settlement Services International (which is also known as SSI). She has been working on the settlement of refugees in Australia for several years.
She says that the negative political debate in Australia is what motivated her to start working with refugees.
VIOLET: There was a environment of great fear in the community and the most vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers were being vilified and I felt that it was so horrible that a Western country, such a rich country like Australia, would allow that that our leaders would use the most vulnerable in our community the most voiceless as political football. To me it was so anathema. I felt that I had to do something.
HOST: So when a person lands in Australia, SSI provides all the basic help they need. They will be picked up from the airport, provided with initial rental support and then longer term accommodation. The person then receives a bunch of direct support – anything from health care, trauma counselling, legal advice, help getting their kids to school, job services and english language tuition. People are also linked to cultural groups and faith groups in the local area.
VIOLET: There's a range of different plans set up for each individual family member whether it's a baby an older member of the family that is really a bespoke sort approach a case management approach, again one of the key things is employment.
HOST: Finding a job isn't easy.
VIOLET: What are some of the obstacles that sit in their way. The key obstacle is English language. I think other challenges around understanding you know how things operate in Australia you know simple things such as How do you do. How do you sort of meet people like some of the great stories younger people teenagers say. How do I meet young people. How do I dress. Where do I go and meet people you know. How do you. In workplaces How do you socialize. What are the things the unsaid things that I need to know so I can fit in and get a sense of belonging. A lot of people really do want to link in to broader sort of mainstream groupings as well. They don't want to just stay with their own communities. That is a really hard thing to do if you don't speak English well or you don't have the confidence to do it. And of course if you're somebody who looks different and sounds different it's not that easy to do.
HOST: It's also hard to get your overseas skills and qualifications recognised in Australia. Bob McCottor is a business owner from Hurstville in Sydney, who volunteers with SSI, to help out refugees.
BOB: You come to Australia as a refugee. You've either got no qualifications formally or the ones you have you can't prove you've got or are not recognised. Your English is very poor if not non-existent. You've got no local experience and no local contacts other than perhaps outside your own community. That makes you a pretty hot prospect to be an employee. Doesn't it?
HOST: Violet has first-hand experience working with refugees in these exact situations.
VIOLET: There are so many people who would sit on the other side of the desk and it would come in and would you would look at their qualifications and they were skilled people who had either white collar they were working for many many years in the industry in the country of origin or they were tilers who had no qualifications but had done amazing work for many years. So there were people of great talent however they were not able to get through the front door of any workplace in Australia. Many of them would, would be on income support, thankfully we have we have a welfare state and in a country like Australia and they would be able to support themselves. But you know I mean that that income support is below the poverty line. They can't live on it with much dignity. But it would be this vicious cycle of being sent to apply for different jobs and interviews and you know this endless sort of array of rejections.
HOST: It was a process that benefited noone.
VIOLET: You would look at their face and their eyes and there was this absolute sadness and demoralization because they were they felt absolutely worthless and their stories. So it was like this faceless person.
HOST: And remember, refugees are not simply migrants.
VIOLET: They are people who have come with trauma and they're people who've come from war torn and very difficult situations and given time they will find work.
HOST: Employment is important, but for people who have escaped persecution, there is every chance it will take time.
HOST: While refugees come with a desire to work, finding a job isn't easy. There is something missing in the Australian employment space that saw too many people fall through the cracks.
VIOLET: There is a challenge for us as a country when people come who are highly educated and have experience in the country of origin and us translating that here and not losing not losing that.
HOST: She began to wonder if there could be another way for refugees to help themselves find work and be self-sufficient?
HOST: Then, in 2011, she heard a TED talk by Ernesto Sirroli.
ERNESTO SIRROLI: I decided when I was 27-years-old to only respond to people and I invented a system called enterprise facilitation where you never initiate anything, you never motivate anybody, but you become a servant of the local passion, the servant of local people who have the dream to become a better person.
HOST: Ernesto Sirroli had experienced too much self-proclaimed' expertise from working in the international aid sector.
He wanted to move away from NGO centred social interventions, and instead created a program where experts advised and assisted local entrepreneurs to create their own businesses.
ERNESTO SIRROLI: There's a new generation of entrepreneurs who are dying of solitude. What we do is become friends and we find out what that person wants to do. And then we help them to go and find the knowledge because nobody in the world can go and succeed alone.
HOST: The idea of entrepreneurship resonated with Violet.
VIOLET: Why is entrepreneurship more alluring and interesting proposition. Because it's self-driven, you're allowing people to be to drive their own passion in their own way.
HOST: It didn't just connect with her values, it touched her own family's migrant experience.
VIOLET: My parent's story really Greek immigrants arrived in 1950s aspirations for a better life and grew up in western Sydney and I saw them building community building a business and building a new life.
HOST: Violet hadn't thought of her family as entrepreneurs, but the talk made her rethink this.
VIOLET: I thought about my parents and their siblings and all my cousins and there's a lot of them 14 first cousins. And every single one runs a business. Even my husband runs a business. The migrant story is all about that. That's been their salvation.
HOST: Migration and entrepreneurship share things in common. An entrepreneur has the capacity to envision something new and make it happen. It takes a lot of imagination and courage to do that. Just as it does to leave your home and start a new life.
VIOLET: There are people who were running businesses in the country of origin. They were enterprising they had to survive. They don't have a welfare state propping them up.
HOST: Violet, showing a fair degree of entrepreneurial zeal herself, didn't hesitate.
She invited Ernesto to speak with the SSI board about his program and he won them over. The board gave Violet three years to run an enterprise program to cater first and foremost to refugees.
HOST: The good news was that SSI had a way forward. But in some ways, what were they thinking! Setting up a business is incredibly hard.
BOB: 50 percent of businesses in Australia fail in the first year. 80 percent after five years. So and this is Australian born people. So imagine the odds if you're coming from a totally different culture.
HOST: Thinking through how this could be done made the SSI team worry about how Ernesto's program could be adapted for refugees.
VIOLET: How would you work with people who don't speak English. How would facilitators actually work with a third person in the room. How would that dynamic change. That's a big thing because the facilitator working with the with the entrepreneur building that trust that relationship is critical.
HOST: Violet realised that the model needed to be more flexible if it was to work for refugees. To make this entrepreneurship program work, it had to be… um … entrepreneurial.
VIOLET: If we don't have a lens that is disruptive and that is enterprising and entrepreneurial No we wouldn't get anywhere.
HOST: It was their willingness to be be creative in the face of this challenge that saw the Ignite program come to life.
HOST: The Ignite model built upon Ernesto's idea of collective entrepreneurship.
Hopeful, would-be refugee entrepreneurs come in with a business idea where they are supported by facilitators, industry experts and a Resource Team made up of volunteers who can share their business knowledge and skills.
In order to get the program running, Violet needed help.
VIOLET: I thought to myself I need to find somebody who really gets this and somebody who is going to be live and breathe it.
HOST: Violet turned to her old friend and former colleague, Dina Petrakis.
VIOLET: She's this extraordinary woman who never gives up. And is the best storyteller I have ever met. She put her heart and soul into into Ignite and she is Ignite.
HOST: Dina wrote the training packages and identified a support system that allowed refugees to thrive.
To bring to life the idea of collective entrepreneurship she needed a team of people who could provide day to day support for the refugees who would become entrepreneurs. She recruited a team of facilitators. Among them was Natalia Ballotin-Hall.
NATALIA: I'm originally from Brazil and I've been in Australia for the past seven years. When I first joined SSI I actually started as a marketing volunteer helping I was a member of their resource team. It was very fulfilling and it made me realise that I really wanted to have a more of a hands on job as opposed to just behind the scenes.
When there was an opportunity to become a facilitator I applied for the job and got the job.
HOST: Being a migrant herself, Natalia could relate to some of the challenges the refugees faced.
NATALIA: I know the struggles of moving and you know having to settle in a new country. And sometimes their CV don't look appealing enough for them to be even invited to an interview in the first place. Starting their business it's their way out of unemployment.
HOST: The facilitators help translate the complicated world of business so refugees can apply them to their plans.
NATALIA: That's what makes I think this program so unique because we take our time. We work on one on one and we customize our service to each a specific business and individual.
HOST: And Natalia knows about the power of one-to-one support because that's how she came to be working with Ed Yousef.
HOST: Ever since Ed moved to Australia, he had tried to educate people about his home, Syria. Then one day, that gave him an idea.
ED: I didn't see much of like many many Syrian um places like Syrian places or Syrian food places in Sydney. So I wanted to take the opportunity and try to present the Syrian food to the Australian community.
Ed: So it's not just the place of war. It's also a place of delicious food.
HOST: At that point, Ed knew nothing about starting a business. So how could he possibly make this idea a reality?
It was back at SydWest that he was given a business card with the details of the Ignite program. He called them up and drove in to Parramatta from Mount Druitt for his first meeting.
ED: The first meeting I was I was sweating a stressed because I'm going to a strange place in Parramatta and because of the parking and the traffic and mum keep telling me Oh you're late. Yeah. So it was um it was um stressful. But after we were introduced to Natalia it was like very um she was very welcoming. We brought some samples and also uh food safety certificates so she was she is she impressed.
HOST: It was clear Ed and his mum could cook. What they needed help with was to turn this skill into a business.
ED: Because um I'm from medical science background I was like I knew nothing about um like marketing financial aspects um and um like anything related to business and how to run a business. But on the first meeting Natalia provide gave us a she drew on the whiteboard a flowchart um explaining everything.
HOST: One meeting turned to many. Soon Ed and Natalia were coming together every 3 or 4 weeks to discuss his food business. Natalia guided Ed through the process, step by step.
ED: It was at at my own pace so they didn't want to push me like hard.
HOST: Through the process Ed found his voice. The marketing campaign for the business talked about his refugee story.
ED: Some people may consider um refugees as a burden and we've seen that a lot on media. But the reality is a refugee is a person who had to do that forcefully he didn't choose to.
HOST: Ed's business created a bridge between his Syrian culture and his new Australian home.
ED: Me my brother. And my sister sometimes we all used mom's recipes and um um we we went from there just starting with Mom's recipes. Um because she makes good food and we we started the business. We started making food instead of for four people. We started making food for 86 at the beginning up to 200 people at at one night.
HOST: There was something very important in how Ignite did it's work. While Ed says the program guided him through the process, Natalia firmly places the onus upon the refugees to drive their business ideas.
NATALIA: We do not motivate and we do not give any idea. That's not how we work. it needs to come from you. We don't care about what you want to do it but it needs to come from you because we know having a business is not easy. They need to be passionate about it because we do believe that if you are passionate about your business you're going to make it through. you're going to work the extra hour you're going to work until late on weekends you're going to go above and beyond to make it happen.
HOST: When Natalia explained this to me it reminded me of a famous saying from community organising. It's called the iron rule – 'don't do for others what they can do for themselves.' Successful entrepreneurship requires incredible drive. While support is necessary the engine room needs to come for the person themself – from the business owner.
HOST: A powerful relationship between a facilitator and a refugee was the starting point of the Ignite program, but those working at SSI also asked themselves – is that enough?
Could there be a way to harness the strengths of the broader Australian Corporate community and find ways for them to support the program?
BOB: If you're looking to give back to a community not for profit or whatever you sit there and you think well what could I do. How do I get the best contribution from my skills.
HOST: Current or retired business people could be incredibly helpful if they could be enlisted as partners.
BOB:The real experience that I can bring to the table is business expertise in quite a lot of different types of areas.
HOST: There are plenty of people in corporate Australia worried about how we treat refugees. And some of them have applied their entrepreneurial zeal to the question – how can they make a difference.
That's what Bob did. After contacting a few different organisations with the hope of giving something back, Bob, an engineer from Hurstville, joined the Ignite program as one of their volunteer support team mentors.
BOB: I'm old enough to have a quite extensive network of people that you can call on for a favour if you need them.
HOST: Many of the refugees he worked with didn't know the intricacies of how business was conducted in Australia. That included laws, taxes, insurance, but it also included cultural norms.
BOB: Concepts of how business is conducted are very much framed by your life experience.
NATALIA: In some countries you literally shake hands and the deal is done but it sometimes is very hard for us to explain to our clients that in Australia for them to start that same business a lot of thing needs to be done. They almost think that you're trying to stop them from doing it. So you need to explain No this is the Australian regulation you need to follow that.
BOB: Ignite does provide a safe way for people to move into a business without jumping off the cliff and risking their entire life saving and their health in some cases. But by providing them with this sort of framework that they can be successful.
HOST: Ignite not only creates new businesses, it changes people.
BOB: Amanda: So I'm wondering how has been part of this program changed you. or impacted on you.
Bob: Every culture you work with um you you get a different insight. I know almost nothing about Africa but we have participants from Sierra Leone and Nigeria. I've never been to the Middle East so it's been a real privilege to interact.
HOST: It's also given him a different understanding of purpose of setting up a business.
BOB: What's the standout lesson from what you've learned at being a part of this project. That ironically success in conventional business terms needs to be reframed. If someone can not be reliant on welfare or less reliant they can follow a passion and a vision that might not turn them into BHP or anything like that but uh allows them to provide for their family. That's a great success.
HOST: Ignite was always an ambitious idea. But despite all the odds being against them, the program has enjoyed incredible success.
NATALIA: We've got over 500 clients that have received support since program's inception in 2013 of these 130 small business established to date. Over 60 percent of the entrepreneurs have generated enough income to be economically independent.
HOST: And not shy to use the entrepreneurial spirit which the program champions, Violet ensured Ignite was self-funded.
VIOLET: We were lucky because we are large and we are able to put a lot of our own funds to make this happen. It's all self funded by SSI. We run like a social business and any efficiencies we reinvest back in.
HOST: For Ed, being an entrepreneur helped him find a place in Australian society.
ED: The program didn't just provide me with the business starting steps. It also provided me with um connections with um new ideas and with self realization that um the environment here is welcoming that people are supportive.
HOST: Ed's food is a place for breaking bread and building new relationships.
Amanda: And so if people wanted to eat your delicious food where would they go.
Ed: They can visit our Web site SyrianaCuisine.com.au.
HOST: Connecting with the corporate world has been an important part of Violet's vision for Ignite. Not only does Violet believe that the corporate world has a responsibility to build community, but to do so actually benefits them.
VIOLET: They need talent and they need to employ people and they need diverse workplaces and we know from research that diverse workplaces are more productive workplaces economically and socially and culturally.
HOST: It's a philosophy that has the power to make long-lasting change.
VIOLET: It's not just about profit there needs to be some sort of engagement with social outcomes and toward contributing towards something more than just the bottom line.
HOST: In fact, Violet already has seen success in empowering the corporate world to invest in supporting refugees.
VIOLET: We we run a program with Alliance insurance that has employed people in a cadet-like program and that's worked very well.
Violet: They won a human rights medal because of that program. What's significant is that you can contribute economically and be competitive and not lose your heart that you know you don't have to compromise those ideals. You can be competitive and you can still be a human.
HOST: It's a philosophy that won Violet Telstra's Business Woman of the Year Award in 2017.
But Violet's ambition for Ignite goes beyond assisting the individual. She believes it may change the way society thinks about refugees.
VIOLET: I really do think that programs like this can change the debate because it's evidence based.
Violet: if you could fund more enterprise facilitators on the ground and you get more businesses up and running it does. It could make a big impact on the budget.
HOST: It's such a creative way at coming at such a difficult debate in Australia. The political parties are stuck talking about refugee issues, so instead, this community has gone to the market to make new opportunities possible.
VIOLET: A little program that was initiated out of the love of people that run SSI who know that refugees are more than a visa type.


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The Knights of the Auto Order Proudly Present: The Auto Body Estimate: Vol. II, #56, February 2004
Last weekend we attended Dave P.'s housewarming party. The fancy spread included great looking sushi rolls, complete with rice and the traditional seaweed wrapping. It turned out that what looked like cucumber inside them was in fact dill pickle, and what looked like salmon was indeed fried Spam. The flavor was unique, but the taste was questionable... (what can you expect from a guy who owns every Auto Body Experience and Crops recording ever made?) While that might not have been my favorite sushi ever, I do have a favorite kind of spam; I love receiving emails like the following:
"I am Mr. Benjamin Dover, a member of a special committee C.R.P. (Contract Review Panel) setup by the present civilian government of Turdandistan. We are saddled with the task of auditing the account of government parastatals and ministries for the past 10 years. In the course of our work in the committee we discovered this funds which resulted from gross invaluation of contracts..."
For those lucky few of you who've never seen anything like this, snopes.com refers to this as the Nigerian Scam, where "A wealthy foreigner needs your help moving millions of dollars from his homeland to yours and will reward you with a hefty percentage of this fortune if you agree to assist him." While I have nothing but sympathy for the victims of these rackets (it's happened to family of friends), it is a bit exciting to know that the contact phone number provided in such an email could connect me to a real-life con artist. I'm tempted to call and just shoot the breeze about whether they've ever pulled off scams like those in the movies "The Grifters" or "The Sting". But I suppose my romantic idea of what a con man's day is like probably doesn't coincide very accurately with real life, any more than do my romantic ideas of the life of an inventor ("It's a pocket business card shredder - perfect for boring cocktail parties!").
But I should stop gabbing and return to the topics at hand. In addition to having many copies of three Auto Body Experience CDs in my basement, I now have many products by our 1980s band, The Crops (two CDs and a DVD!) as well. And I just want to give them to you, along with the sum of $25,500,000.00 (Twenty-five million, five hundred thousand) in Canuckistanian currency, and I will do so just as soon as some paperwork delays are resolved. (Imagine some time-passing segue music here). Well, it seems that a few local officials may need to be bribed, but it's really a small bribe compared to the huge sums I wish to send you - it works out to roughly $12 per CD, $14 per DVD and $2 shipping per order. Like so many things in life, at some point you just have to ask yourself the "Dirty Harry" question: "Do I feel lucky?"
Friday the thirteenth is a day of dubious significance, and not just because it's the title of the horror film featuring the slicecapades of Jason the hockey enthusiast. The number 13 itself has enough baggage from the world of superstition - there's no thirteenth floor in tall buildings, hotels and hospitals avoid naming rooms with this number, and schools refusing to teach multiplication tables past twelve are just a few examples. Add to this Friday, clearly the worst day of the week to expect any quality work to be done by any American, and a bad day for anyone in New Ulm Minnesota who doesn't like to eat fish. The origins of Friday having a bad rap may be traced in the bible – it was the day that Jesus was crucified and Eve was said to have tasted the forbidden fruit. Friday the thirteenth lore may be traced here too as Judas was the thirteenth guest at the last supper, and he sort of got busted there, then things went bad for his boss.
There are those, however, who believe that Friday the 13th is a lucky day. Okay, I can't name anyone other than myself, but I'd like to believe this because I was born on Friday the thirteenth. (My dad says he was too, but that was a long time ago, and since my lyric forgetting-memory is the product of the same gene pool, we're not putting a lot of stock in his recollections…). In order to test the pros and cons of this special day, I challenge you to come down and witness our upcoming gig at Lee's Liquor Lounge on Friday, February 13th. We hope Max (our woodwind representative) will be there, although as of this writing his wife Laura should have already given birth to their first child, and has not, so it's anyone's guess where Max will be. While we know keyboardist Trey can't be there (he'll be attending a seminar in Nigeria on how to win big in office football pools), we hope Greg H. Smith (a friend of mine from Brainerd High School) will actually show up and play in his place, and hope our trusty percussionist Kent will remember where to sing some of Trey's vocal parts. We hope you'll enjoy some of our new tunes, many of which we've never played in front of anyone but Gizmo and guest dog Bailey (who's deaf, and, untroubled by the crashing cymbals and other din will rest her chin on Tom's Akita -scented knee while he plays bass in rehearsal). If all goes well at this, of all gigs, I'd say I have some impressive support of my lucky day theory.
Best wishes, Scott Yoho, Grand Pooh Bah, Knights of The Auto Order
Return the Estimate Index...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Sam Levin
Romney votes in Colorado might count for Obama? RNC, officials on computer glitch
Sam Levin | November 2, 2012 | 2:22pm
The Republican National Committee has sent a letter to six states, including Colorado, warning of "voting machine errors" that could cause a vote intended for Mitt Romney to go to Barack Obama. But according to several Colorado election officials, there's no reason to be concerned -- and they don't believe any votes have gone to the wrong candidate.
Late yesterday afternoon, the RNC sent Colorado reporters a press release highlighting its requests to correct voting machine irregularities in six states. Officials were calling for immediate action regarding "voting machines populating a vote for Barack Obama when the voter desired to cast a ballot for Mitt Romney," the press release said.
The attached letter, from John Phillippe, chief counsel, for the RNC, is addressed to Colorado's Republican Secretary of State, Scott Gessler, as well as officials from Nevada, Ohio, Kansas, North Carolina and Missouri.
It says in part:
I write regarding the media and citizen reports of voting machine errors taking place in your states. I understand that, in a significant number of cases, voting machines in your states have populated a vote for Barack Obama when a voter cast his or her ballot for Mitt Romney. I further understand that the causes of this problem are varied, and include miscalibration and hyper-sensitivity of the machines.
The letter, on view below, calls for officials to re-calibrate all voting machines on the morning of election day or the day before, and also requests they make arrangements for additional technicians in the case of increased problems with calibration. The letter also asks that officials prominently post signs reminding voters to double-check that the machines are properly recording their submissions.
An RNC spokesman says the main concern in Colorado stems from a Grand Junction Daily Sentinel piece from last Tuesday in which a voter complained that the machine was recording his vote incorrectly.
The RNC official tells us that this article is the primary source regarding Colorado problems. The issue is considered to be ongoing.
However, Sheila Reiner, the clerk and recorder for Mesa County, where this issue took place, says the situation is much ado about nothing. She adds that she remains very confident in the technology. Additionally, she says that every voter has been able to correctly vote for their candidate of choice.
"There was one instance with a voter not being happy with the way the touch screen responded to his finger," says Reiner, referring to the case covered by the Daily Sentinel.
Continue for more on the case in Mesa County and response from Scott Gessler's office. Reiner explains that there was a problem with that single machine's calibration -- meaning how the screen responds to touch. Three others had successfully cast their ballots before this individual on the first day of early voting.
Once the voter complained about the problem, an election judge gave it a look and staffers had a technician check it out and re-calibrate the machine. It appeared functional after that recalibration, but to be safe, they stopped using the machine anyway.
That voter then cast a paper ballot.
Reiner says that since then, her team has only fielded one other complaint of this nature; it came from one man who was having an issue with a touch screen because his finger was too large. In that case, officials give out a stylus -- a small, pencil-like tool used for screens.
She emphasizes that throughout the voting process, there are several steps in which the voter can clearly see how the machine is recording his or her vote.
"Our equipment gives three opportunities to verify that it is recording correctly," she explains, noting that there's several verification points before the ballot is actually cast and made official.
In response to the RNC request, Reiner says she has already re-calibrated the machines, and will do so again prior to election day. That, she says, is her office's standard procedure.
"I'm not worried," she says. "I have a total confidence."
Rich Coolidge, a spokesman for Gessler, tells us, "If the secretary sees direct evidence that a machine is vulnerable, he's going to act immediately."
He says the Secretary of State's office has not heard any other concerns of this nature other than the Mesa County case, which appears to have been properly handled.
Coolidge makes a similar point as Reiner -- that voters can verify that their ballot was correctly cast. "You can go back and review...and make sure it was recorded accurately."
Continue for the full letter. Here's the full letter from the RNC to officials in six states, including Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler.
RNC Letter Regarding Voting Machine Errors
More from our Politics archive: "Republicans ahead of Dems in Colorado early voting, Obama surrogates still confident"
Follow Sam Levin on Twitter at @SamTLevin. E-mail the author at Sam.Levin@Westword.com.


We are about to close out the month of January, almost a month after the historic flooding took place in the Greater St. Louis region, and several property owners are still picking up the pieces and cleaning up their homes after the flood caused so much damage. Sadly, many of these homeowners weren't just affected by floodwater damage. They had also experienced sewer backups, sump pump overflows, and river flooding with several experiencing these issues at the same time. Some homes were flooded first by sewer water and then by river flooding, making the situation trickier to handle.
The flooding that took place in St. Louis this past month was nothing short of historic. As you probably know, the rising waters caused rivers everywhere to flood over plains, roads, and many homes and businesses. Stretches of major highways were also affected, and some were even completely shut down for days.
Previously, we discussed the second step to take in preparing for an emergency in your building, which is gathering a list of critical equipment and materials that can be used, saved, or safely contained during an emergency.
In our previous blog, we talked about the first step to take to prepare for an emergency in your building, which is creating an emergency contact and vendor list and making it easily available to those who need it.
When an emergency happens in your building, you want to make sure that you're ready, no matter what. Protecting both the safety of those inside as well as the bottom line requires upfront planning and a few simple steps.
Every company or business needs a disaster plan in place, but those with high-foot traffic like hotels need extra care and attention. While hotel managers are busy promoting their property, managing budgets, organizing accommodation, and much more, it is important to take the time out to ensure that there is a strong disaster plan in place in case of emergencies.
When we conduct building walk-throughs for our pre-disaster PREP plans, we often find that an important element has been left out of the pre-disaster planning process – the company's IT infrastructure.
September has been observed as National Preparedness Month since 2004 as part of a government effort to increase the nation's readiness in the case of emergencies. Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this year's theme is "Don't Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today." The purpose behind this awareness event is to remind everyone to renew their commitment to readiness for the good of the entire community.
Disasters like pipe bursts, flooding, fires, or other natural disasters can strike a business at any time. That's why it's important to be prepared before they happen.


text:
Just over two weeks after the climax of the most unusual Olympic Games in modern history, the Paralympic Games have begun. The Opening Ceremony on Tuesday 24 August at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo was a vibrant and colourful show, spectacularly setting the scene for 12 days of competitive action.
The Paralympic Games rightly encourage celebration of their athletes and their sporting achievement as much as the Olympic Games. Many Paralympians have overcome significant obstacles and have committed their life to podium glory much like Olympians. However, in many markets, perception often relegates the Paralympic Games well below their Olympic sibling.
Changing this public perception is vital and Channel 4, the UK broadcaster for the event that has over 1,300 scheduled broadcast hours, has wasted no time in drumming up support and anticipation for this year's instalment.
Paralympic Games viewing figures have been growing quickly since 2004, doubling in number, but with challenges to UK viewership this year, mainly due to the time difference with Tokyo, maintaining this momentum is more important than ever.
Previously, Channel 4's "Meet the Superhumans" London 2012 campaign was widely acknowledged as a key driver behind the domestic record viewing figures and impressive ticket sales. However, since then, the narrative has changed. Paralympians have spoken out via the International Disability Alliance, voicing their dislike for being branded "special" or "superheroes".
In response, Channel 4 has repositioned its messaging with a new campaign, "It's Rude Not to Stare", which aims to highlight the inspiring stories in Para sports and showcase the similarities as well as differences between Olympic sports and Para sports in an empowering manner.
Lynsey Atkin, Executive Creative Director at 4Creative, Channel 4's in-house creative agency, explains:
"We spotted an opportunity to present Paralympians in a way they hadn't been shown before – by pointing a camera at the realities of their lives and, as with any elite athlete, the sacrifices they make in pursuit of greatness.
"The campaign challenges social norms. We are taught from a young age that social etiquette dictates that we don't pay attention to people's disabilities, that we don't draw attention to them. But the reality is that these athletes are representing the nation, and they need our support, and attention, to perform at their best."
Bold, eye-catching neon posters have appeared throughout the country on billboards, on bus stops and in magazines, with slogans including "Like the Olympic 800m, But Faster" and "Sub 2hr Marathons? We do those sitting down."
Channel 4 is committed to this message in practice as well as in communication. With 17.5 hours of the Games being broadcast each day, it is clear that it is not just the posters that will be impossible to ignore.
This creative head-on style of tackling social discourse tells us that, in the context of an elite sporting event, don't treat them differently. Do stare.
For a socially challenging and bold communications strategy, 4Creative is JTA Communicator of the Week.
Photo: 4Creative


text:
Q: How to disable vanilla php on Laravel 4.2 I have a custom laravel folder structure and I follow this Option2
and this is my folder right now.

but when I try to create a test.php on root and try to visit it on URL, I can visit it. How to disable random PHP to avoid from hackers ? cause my site got down cause someone upload a php script.

A: There is no such thing as "vanilla" php. index.php is simply php, and to disable it would disable that as well. Also: If you could find a way to disable everything but index.php, they could simply just overwrite index.php and execute their code.
If you want to protect against hackers, look for the exploits (Where they're getting in), and patch/fix them. If you're using custom plugins, make sure they're up to date. You can also look into scripts like this that will scan files for hacks.
You can also harden PHP by disabling functionality commonly used by hackers (Be careful as this may break existing functionality of your site).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Howard I. Scher is the Chief of the Genitourinary Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He has a depth of experience in clinical trials for novel types of cancer treatment.

Early life and education
Scher earned his BS from Bates College and his MD from New York University School of Medicine before doing his residency at Bellevue Hospital.
He married Deborah Ann Lafer in 1989.

Career
Scher has been an investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center since 1992 and Professor of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. His areas of research include PI3K, the androgen receptor, HSP90, and immunotherapy.

Scher is on the board of directors at Asterias, a biotechnology company.

Scher was awarded American Association for Cancer Research's 2015 Team Science Award along with Michael E. Jung and Charles Sawyers for their work in the development of enzalutamide. He has also collaborated with Brett Carver and Neal Rosen, both also at MSKCC, on experimental cancer therapeutics for androgen-resistance prostate cancer.

Scher has published over 500 scholarly works.

References

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American oncologists
Bates College alumni
New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: How to build a generic function in Python to Insert and update records? I wanted to build a generic function in Python to Insert a record into table A from table B if the record does not exists in table A else update with the data if the primary key is identified. I am not able to get the result with the below code:
def insert_update_record(table_A, table_B):
    insert_query = "INSERT INTO {} SELECT * FROM {} WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM {} WHERE {}.id = {}.id)".format(table_A, table_B, table_A, table_B, table_A)
    update_query = "UPDATE {} SET {} = {} FROM {} WHERE {}.id = {}.id".format(table_A, table_A, table_B, table_A, table_B, table_A)

    cur.execute(insert_query)
    cur.execute(update_query)
    conn.commit()

A: Python uses c.execute(q) function to update a record from a table where c is cursor and q is the update query to be executed.
Syntax:
# execute SQL query using execute() method.
cursor.execute(sql)
cursor.commit()
# get the record count updated
print(mycursor.rowcount, "record (s) affected")

A: First, I should say SELECT 1 in your insert_query is not ok and you probably need to change it to something like this:
insert_query = "INSERT INTO {} SELECT * FROM {} WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM {} WHERE {}.id = {}.id) LIMIT 1".format(table_A, table_B, table_A, table_B, table_A)

But what you want to implement is a concept called Upsert in database concepts and I do it for you using INSERT ON CONFLICT statement like below:
import psycopg2

def connect():
    try:
        conn = psycopg2.connect(database ="name_of_your_database",
                            user = "user_of_this_database",
                            password = "password_forthis_user",
                            host = "localhost",
                            port = "5432")

        cur = conn.cursor()

    except (Exception, psycopg2.DatabaseError) as error:
        print ("Error while creating PostgreSQL table", error)

    return conn, cur

def insert_update_record(table_A, table_B):
    conn, cur = connect()
    upsert_query="""
INSERT INTO {}
SELECT * FROM {} LIMIT 1
ON CONFLICT (id)
DO
   UPDATE SET field_name = EXCLUDED.field_name || ';' || {}.field_name;
""".format(table_A, table_B, table_B)

    cur.execute(upsert_query)
    conn.commit()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    insert_update_record("table_name_1", "table_name_2")

Reference:
To learn more about this concept in Postgres or other databases you can tour the below links:
Psycopg2: how to insert and update on conflict using psycopg2 with python? [stackoverflow]
Insert, on duplicate update in PostgreSQL? [stackoverflow]
PostgreSQL Upsert Using INSERT ON CONFLICT statement [POSTGRESQL TUTORIAL]
How to UPSERT (MERGE, INSERT ... ON DUPLICATE UPDATE) in PostgreSQL? [stackoverflow]
Idiomatic way to implement UPSERT in PostgreSQL [dba-stackexchange]


Your freezer is one of the most important appliances in your home, if not the most important, and if it breaks down you might be wasting a lot of money in spoiled food. This is why you need a fast and reliable service to get your freezer working as quickly as possible. Here at 0800 Repair, we have been carrying out freezer repairs for many years so we know what to do when you need our help.
We are experts in Beko freezer repairs so when you need someone to fix your freezer you know where to turn. We understand that you want the problem solving as quickly as possible and this requires a service that you can rely on to deal with the problem. Here at 0800 Repair we will ensure that everything possible is done to fix your freezer.
This is done by utilising the expert engineers on our books who are based in many different cities and towns around the UK. So when you need their help, we can arrange for one of the engineers local to you to come and make the necessary Beko repairs on your freezer. They will arrive at your home at a time that suits you with a range of the most common freezer parts which means they can make the necessary repairs at your home and usually within half an hour.
If our engineer does not have the necessary part with him, then he will arrange to get it as soon as possible but many freezer problems can be fixed there and then. Our customer service is important to us so anything we can do to make the repairing process easier will be done.


text:
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Home » Fi liquidating trust
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The Liquidating Trust provides Tax Worksheets for Beneficiaries for each of the states in which the Trust files an income tax return via postings on the Trust's website at: The Worksheets reflect the income and deductions that the Trust determines should be allocated to each state in which it files an income tax return. Each Unitholder should seek advice from its own tax advisor as to which state income tax returns, if any, it is required to file as a result of owning Units or otherwise and its share of Trust income and deductions, if any, that must be reported on any such state income tax return.The Liquidating Trust did not directly own any stock of any foreign corporation.The Liquidating Trust files income tax returns in those states in which it determines it has a filing obligation.Maximizing recovery is the primary goal of every liquidating trustee. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas then confirmed the plan and the Court established the PR Liquidating Trust with Milo Segner as liquidating trustee. In May, 2010, 93 percent of investors approved a liquidation plan for Provident Royalties, LLC.
David was formerly the Executive Managing Director of Goldin Associates, a leading US restructuring advisory firm. He was promoted to chief operating officer in 2007. Molinaro was a member of the Bear Stearns' Management and Compensation Committee from 1998 through 2008. from the Syracuse University College of Law where he is a member of the Board of Advisors and its Executive Committee. The Trust maintains a website at where Unitholders may obtain information concerning the Trust. The Trust continues to pursue strategies to maximize the recoveries of the Mortgage Asset portfolio for the benefit of the Unitholders.
CAP RE of Vermont, LLC ("Cap Re" ) is a capt ive insurance company incorporated and licensed under the laws of the State of Vermont.
Cap Re, which is taxed as a C corporation, was owned by GMAC Mortgage, LLC and is now owned by the Liquidating Trust.
He is the founder of North Country Capital, an investment and advisory firm where he currently serves as President. Doheny served as a Managing Director and helped lead the Distressed Products Group of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Prior to Deutsche Bank, he was a bankruptcy attorney in the corporate reorganization groups of Orrick and Kelley Drye. Doheny currently serves on the boards of YRC Worldwide Inc, Affinity Gaming, Arcapita Inc (RA Holdings) and Eastman Kodak Inc. After his time at Price Waterhouse, he served as a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting. Weber has served on the Contra Costa Civil Grand Jury, performed occasional independent consulting projects and assumed board/trustee positions. Weber currently serves on Board of Directors of winery Truett Hurst, Inc., and chairs the audit committee.
Previously, he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Special Situations Trading at HSBC Securities, where he headed up credit research. Doheny was a portfolio manager at Fintech Advisory Inc., a hedge fund focusing on undervalued securities and turnarounds in the U. He received a BA from Allegheny College and a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School. The Res Cap Liquidating Trust was established in December 2013 under the Second Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Residential Capital, LLC, et al.
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text:
Walz: $447M in state borrowing needed for higher education
Published 10:40 pm Monday, January 13, 2020
By Minnesota Public Radio
Gov. Tim Walz speaks about potential bonding bill projects at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development in October. The University of Minnesota would receive $224 million in state bonding money in a proposal Walz released Monday. - Tim Pugmire/MPR News
By Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio News
DFL Gov. Tim Walz on Monday announced $447 million in proposed borrowing for projects on college campuses throughout the state.
Walz made the announcement at Anoka-Ramsey Community College as part of a series of presentations highlighting the major areas of his bonding proposal, which is expected to reach about $2 billion. A final announcement on public safety-related projects is expected Wednesday.
Republicans have already criticized the governor's proposal for being too big.
Walz said during a news conference Monday that investments are needed to build, repair and upgrade higher education facilities so the state doesn't fall behind.
"If we neglect the workforce that we have, if we neglect looking towards the future, the entire state will suffer economically. We'll suffer culturally, and on an individual basis. Not providing those opportunities for folks to live their fullest potential is simply not the way Minnesotans go," he said.
Anoka-Ramsey would be in line for $16 million for construction of nursing and business classrooms. The University of Minnesota would get $224 million, including $29 million for the University of Minnesota to replace the child development building that Walz visited last fall.
Snowmobile stolen and other reports
'Social media did amazing things for Harvey'
Minnesota Senate GOP lays out priorities for 2020 session


text:
Forest Service Interim Chief Discusses Changes To Handling Firefighting And Department Culture
Cody Drabble
Monday, May 7, 2018 | Sacramento, CA | Permalink
Vicki Christiansen, interim chief of the U.S. Forest Service, joins Insight during Wildfire Awareness Week.
Cody Drabble / Capital Public Radio
Vicki Christiansen was selected by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to serve as the interim chief of the U.S. Forest Service in March 2018.
She's in California for Wildfire Awareness Week to talk about changes to how Congress funds the agency's firefighting operations.
Christiansen has also been tasked with addressing harassment and retaliation of female employees in the agency.
Former Insight Producer and On-Air Director
Cody Drabble learned to love public radio growing up in San Francisco with KQED on every morning during breakfast. In addition to producing and directing the live broadcast of Insight each morning, he also fills in as guest host for Beth Ruyak. Read Full Bio
Follow The Money: Are Changes Coming For California's School Funding Law?
House Impeachment Managers Deliver Articles To The Senate


Sony's latest release schedule (which usually comes in on Fridays) shows that Babs' latest album is due to drop at Australian retail this Friday!
Any more news about leona lewis new cd?
Amended. According to the latest UMA release schedule, it's now due in October.
Just ;letting you know that you have got listed twice the soundtrack CD to – Pitch Perfect.
1 in October and the other in November, 2012.
HERE is one for the Delta Goodrem Fans.
From Friday 19th October, 2012 – SONY Music Australia will be releasing on Limited Edition Physical CD Single the brand new Delta Single.
You can NOW pre-order the Single from Sanity and JB HI-FI websites.
The Far East Movement release still hasn't come up on Universal's internal system at this stage, so we haven't the foggiest, sorry!
According to Universal's release schedule this week, Ellie's album is still due on October 12.
Do you know what extra songs are on the Far East Movement Dirty Bass Deluxe Repack?
Also iTunes has Ellie Goilding's Halcyon as Oct 5 (tomorrow) is this right?
We spoke to a Sony representative last week and they had nothing scheduled for Leona at this stage.
Still nothing on Leona Lewis?
Looks like I will import it.
Looking forward to "Armageddon" – this is Guy Sebastian's finest work to date!


As I thought about making this chart, I stopped. 'I'm not making it' I thought. The kids will make it. If I want my students to really own this thinking and work, they need to own it. So I sat them down and told them about my idea. I even showed them a picture of the poster in Kristine's room I'd snapped on my phone. "We can make our own!"
And we did. After explaining the three sizes of problems (glitch, bummer, disaster) - they each picked a problem size to split into three groups and got to work. I walked around coaching into each group and within about twenty minutes, we gathered back on the carpet to assemble our chart.
I'm immensely proud of their work. Mainly because it's their work.
At the end of the day, outside for an extra recess, one of my friends who tends to get very upset very easily, came over crying. This is quite typical of him. But something different happened... before he started to tell me about what happened, he said, "It's a glitch... maybe a bummer, I can fix it." And with that, he walked away and fixed his own problem.


A photographer has captured a wonderful explosion of colours, resulting from explosion of light bulbs filled with colourful materials. Nobody had imagined or done this before.
A photographer Jon Smith, native of Indiana, presents a series of colourful explosion photographs. To give colourful touch to the photos he filled the bulbs with some colourful materials like liquid paint, candy, caps, sand, flowers and beads. Afterwards, he exploded these bulbs in front of the camera to acquire lovely pattern of blended colours.
To make this idea of exploding colours within bulbs workable it took him two years, he combined ideas from science and art of photography together to achieve this task. After these efforts, photographer adopted a method in which he placed the bulb facing towards the lens of the camera and hit it with an air gun. Ultra fast flash assisted camera captured the exact time of occurrence of explosion and beautiful patterns.


To be able to participate in the Horizon 2020 programme outside the SME instrument, it is necessary to create consortiums of 3 or more companies. Therefore, Finanzas & I+D+i offers our consortium management and partner search service.
The companies that wish to participate have two options for the creation of the consortium.
Start a new partner search: The Company that wishes to participate in a specific project can initiate a search for partners to join the consortium. Finanzas & I+D+i analyses the company's profile and potential and manages the search for participating partners according to the technological profile, the synergy between companies, their experience, the geographical area and the type of organisation.
Join an existing partner search: to respond to a call, when there is interest in a particular topic, it is also possible to join an active search for partners initiated by another company or a consortium. Thus, in accordance with the said criteria, Finanzas & I+D+i arrange and make your company's potential available to other companies participating in order to submit a joint proposal.


text:
package pl.zankowski.iextrading4j.hist.samples;

import org.pcap4j.core.NotOpenException;
import org.pcap4j.core.PacketListener;
import org.pcap4j.core.PcapHandle;
import org.pcap4j.core.PcapNativeException;
import org.pcap4j.core.Pcaps;
import org.pcap4j.packet.Packet;
import pl.zankowski.iextrading4j.hist.api.message.IEXMessage;
import pl.zankowski.iextrading4j.hist.api.message.IEXSegment;
import pl.zankowski.iextrading4j.hist.deep.IEXDEEPMessageBlock;

import java.util.List;

public class DEEPSample {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws PcapNativeException, InterruptedException, NotOpenException {
        final DEEPSample deepSample = new DEEPSample();
        deepSample.readDEEPsample();
    }

    private void readDEEPsample() throws PcapNativeException, InterruptedException, NotOpenException {
        final PcapHandle handle = Pcaps.openOffline("path_to_pcap", PcapHandle.TimestampPrecision.MICRO);

        handle.loop(-1, new PacketListener() {
            @Override
            public void gotPacket(final Packet packet) {
                final byte[] data = packet.getPayload().getPayload().getPayload().getRawData();
                final IEXSegment block = IEXDEEPMessageBlock.createIEXSegment(data);
                System.out.println(block);
            }
        });

        handle.close();
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


In the present study we propose that the structure of informal power in organisations can be conceptualised following a similar methodology that is used to set up formal organisational designs. We establish adherence intention and communication intention as psychological dimensions of informal power that correspond to the formal chains of command and communication. Based on these dimensions, we develop a socio-psychological model of informal power in organisations. In a pre-test with 104 students, we develop scales for measuring the constructs of the model. We test the predicted relationships based on a survey of 309 employees from the administrative domains of different organizations.


The current UFC bantamweight kingpin, Dillashaw (16-3 MMA), weighed in at a remarkable 124.6 pounds for his highly anticipated super fight with Cejudo.
That fight will take place later this evening at UFC Brooklyn, which airs live on ESPN+.
Minutes after making weight for a bout that will serve as his flyweight debut, TJ Dillashaw shared the following NSFW video on his official Instagram page.
TJ Dillashaw will enter tonight's flyweight title fight on a four-fight win streak, his latest being a first-round TKO victory over former teammate turned bitter rival Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227 this past August.
"Killashaw" has not tasted defeat since January of 2016, when he suffered a controversial split-decision setback to Dominick Cruz.
Meanwhile, Henry Cejudo was also last seen in action at UFC 227. That evening in Los Angeles the former Olympic Gold Medalist scored a split-decision win over longtime flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson.
Who do you think will emerge victorious when TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo square off for the promotions flyweight title tonight in Brooklyn? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!


Apartment Laz H-716 offers accommodation in Cannes. The apartment is 2.9 km from Palais des Festivals de Cannes. Free WiFi is provided throughout the property.
The kitchen features a dishwasher and a microwave. A TV is featured.
Fort Royal is 6 km from Apartment Laz H-716, while Lérins Abbey is 7 km away. The nearest airport is Côte d'Azur Airport, 22 km from the property.
A security deposit of 250 EUR for incidentals needs to be paid at arrival. This deposit will be returned within 3 weeks after check-out, minus any deductions for energy consumption and any damage caused to the accommodation.
Consumption costs are included in the room rate. Please note that the full amount of the reservation is due before arrival. NOVASOL will send a confirmation with detailed payment information. After full payment is taken, the property's details, including the address and where to collect keys, will be emailed to you. A security deposit of EUR 25000 is required upon arrival for incidentals. This deposit is fully refundable upon check-out and subject to a damage inspection of the accommodation.


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The third wave of the coronavirus returns the Alicante-Elche airport to the times of confinement
The third wave of covid returns Alicante airport to the times of the March lockdown
ALEX DOMÍNGUEZ
The covid third wave has once again plunged air traffic into the Alicante-Elche airport that, in addition, suffers the consequences of tightening of anticovid measures in Europe and, above all, in Great Britain from where there are no longer daily flights to the Costa Blanca. The Government has also extended, in principle until February 2, the limitation to the entry of conventional tourists to the province – only residents and with negative PCR can arrive -, which means a new hack for hotels that stay open, some empty of tourists on certain days of the week.
The terminal offers from this week scenes typical of the March lockdown. This Wednesday there were only scheduled six flights with London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid (2). And all, despite the fact that connections had been reactivated in mid-December, as restrictions on mobility were eased. The airport has also had to reorganize its operations due to the circumstances, due to the lack of passengers. There is only one filter for the control of travelers who access the departure lounges, and many commercial establishments remain closed due to the lack of potential customers only two months (March), one year after the start of the confinement that it would suddenly end the 2020 tourist season, despite the slight recovery during the summer.
The tourist crisis derived from the covid does not give a day of truce, and the hoteliers of the Costa Blanca who work with the British market received, on the other hand, a new blow, when the company informed them Jet2.com, which postpones his return to Alicante-Elche airport until March 25, due to travel restrictions in the United Kingdom. In principle, the objective of the airline was to have returned in mid-February. A lethal decision for hotels, as the company is tied to the wholesaler Jetholidays, which, until the outbreak of the COVID crisis, moved 1.4 million tourists a year between the Costa Blanca and Belfast, Birmingham, Edimburgo, East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds- Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle y Londres-Stansted.
Regardless of the impact on other tourism subsectors, the British make 6.3 million hotel nights per year, being the first market after the Netherlands, with 950,000 overnight stays per year, whose citizens are also confined, France and Italy ( 790,000), Nordic countries (665,000) and Germany (514,000), according to data from Turisme. The English represent half of the entire tourist market (Spanish and foreigners), and 75% of the foreign, although with a medium / low economic profile, but by forming a group of about three million tourists they are profitable, although the English who choose the Costa Blanca do not have the purchasing power of foreigners who, for example, travel to Barcelona, Madrid or Seville. On the other hand, Aena made public yesterday the final balance of passenger traffic at the airport in 2020. December closed with 126,143 passengers, 85% less. Monthly tonic of a horrible year in which only 3,739,499 passengers have passed through the terminal, for the 15 million in 2019. The Altet falls one place, to sixth in Spain, surpassed by Gran Canaria.
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Bridgewater- Frank J. Mullen, Jr., 86, died peacefully at RWJ in Somerset on Thursday, March 28, 2019. He was born in Brooklyn, NY to the late Frank, Sr. and Rita Mullen and was raised in Connecticut; he then resided in Somerset County for over 40 years. Frank was employed for AT&T in Bedminster retiring after 35 years. After AT&T, his true passion was his career as a professional Santa for New York City malls and local malls. In his spare time, Frank enjoyed skiing, sailing and golfing.
He is predeceased by his daughters, Patti Palazzi, Laurie Mullen and grandson, Jonathan Lober.
Frank is survived by his loving wife of 35 years, Donna Corrice; children, Donna Lober and husband, Jerry, Brian Mullen and wife, Soon, and Kevin Mullen; 9 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.
Visiting hours will be held from 7-9PM, Monday, April 1, 2019 at the Bridgewater Funeral Home, 707 East Main Street, Bridgewater, NJ 08807. Funeral services will be 10AM, Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the funeral home. Entombment will follow at Somerset Hills Memorial Park.
I am sorry but I will not be able to attend this evening. My deepest condolences to the entire Mullen Family. We have lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and Frank was always Mr. Claus or Mr. Halloween to my kids. God bless you all!
TABLE BASKET was sent by ROBERT A. HENDERSON FAMILY.
THANKS FRANK FOR SHOWING ME HOW TO SWIM SHALL BE IN MY MEMORY FOREVER. REST IN PEACE PAL WITH LOVING KINDNESS CAROLE, BOB, AND FAMILY.


I have a small subdivided parcel with building included on my family farm for rent, starting at $265L per week for a 150 Prim allowance, or $300L per week if you would like us to furnish it for you. This is good for single avatars, avatars transitioning between homes, or single couples. We are renting out this parcel to help pay tier and offer some of our unused space. We are a breedable and child friendly family, residing on a quiet, moderate rated sim. INCLUDED: - Security system - Full privacy subdivided parcel with fence - Dance post - 2 story building with rooftop patio - Freedom to use our yard & farm space (That is also subdivided from the other parcels!) - Private functional theater room (stocked with movies!) RULES: - Adult stuff should happen in the privacy of your own parcel and they must abide by terms of service - Please be courteous of your prim limit CONTACT: Please use my contact form here, my IM's get capped and notecards often get eaten. I am DJxPurity Resident in world.
Hi there! I'm looking for something such as a security orb or something of that sort that I can program to open and close my business between certain hours of the day automatically, but I just cannot find it anywhere! Opening and closing it myself with a security orb is not an option for me atm. I know they exist, they had them on a sim I've visited, but the people who owned it spoke russian so asking them failed (and so did the translator). I am not good with scripting so I can't make anything, but any marketplace suggestions or offers would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks!
You're awesome, thanks! Works just fine. steph Arnott wrote: reduce the floats to siut 0.1 is 90% tranparent. Doubt you even notice 99% any way. Any how thats the correct script. Upto you. ADDED, change it to 0.05 see how that looks.
I am looking for a simple code that changes a prim between 0% transparency and 99% transparency using a chat command like /5 0 for not transparent and /5 99 for 99% transparency. I have searched high and low on the lsl library and it keeps bringing me to complicated scripts that I don't need or SetAlpha scripts. I don't want to have to change the transparency in the texture menu, it needs to be script based for my idea to work. The thing is, I'm not looking for SetAlpha codes, because I don't want my prim to go 100% transparent because it'll ruin the concept of my idea. And that's literally all I want the script to do is change between those two transparency percentages on chat command. Can someone help me out on this? Thanks.


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Q: Words for movie/book/etc series with more than four items? As discussed in this other english.SE post, dilogy/duology/etc. can be used to describe a series of two items, and trilogy and tetralogy exist for three- and four-item series, but I couldn't find any words for series with more than four items.
Specifically, I'd like to see words for up to eight-length series. (The thought came about when trying to find a word other than saga/series/etc. to describe the Harry Potter book and movie series.)

A: How about just continuing the series?
Trilogy, tetralogy, pentalogy, hexalogy, heptalogy, octalogy, etc.


(CNN) — An Argentine navy submarine that's been missing for nearly a week may soon run out of oxygen if it hasn't surfaced, the country's navy says — a scenario giving urgency to a multinational search for the vessel and its 44-member crew.
The navy lost contact with the ARA San Juan submarine on November 15, shortly after the vessel's captain reported a failure in the battery system while the sub was submerged off Argentina's South Atlantic coast, the military has said.
"The search area is two times the size of Buenos Aires," Balbi said.
Under normal circumstances, the vessel has sufficient fuel, water, oil and oxygen to operate for weeks without external help, Balbi said, and the vessel could "snorkel" — or raise a tube to the surface — "to charge batteries and draw fresh air for the crew." The oxygen situation could be helped, even if the vessel bobs adrift on the surface with the hatch open.
But if the sub doesn't surface, oxygen might last only seven days, Balbi said. The vessel was submerged when the navy last made contact with it, and Tuesday marks the sixth full day of its disappearance.
The submarine was traveling from a base in far southern Tierra del Fuego archipelago to its home base in Mar del Plata, a city hundreds of miles to the northeast, when the navy lost contact with it last week.
Shortly before the navy lost contact with the sub, the captain reported it had experienced a "short circuit," Argentine navy spokesman Gabriel Galeazzi said.
The San Juan is a German-built, 65-meter long (213-foot) TR-1700 submarine, powered by one electric and four diesel engines.
Approximations of oxygen in the vessel are complicated, said William Craig Reed, a former US Navy diver and submariner. "It's dependent upon the last time they actually recharged their batteries, how long ago they refreshed the air, what's inside the submarine," Reed said.
For instance, noises that had been detected Monday initially were thought to be a possible distress signal from the crew. But later analysis determined the noises were not from the missing vessel, but instead might have been from the ocean or marine life, Balbi said.
The navy on Saturday reported seven communication attempts that were initially believed to originate from the San Juan. But officials later said those calls had not come from the missing sub.
Officials said Tuesday that search teams overnight spotted an inflated dinghy and white emergency flares. But the raft is a different model than what would be carried on the San Juan, and a white flare is not typically used by the crew. No other missing vessels have been reported in the area, Balbi said.


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Frances Marcellin – Freelance Journalist
Independent feature article
Offshore shipbuilders turn to cruise to stay afloat in the downturn (Ship Technology)
Specialist shipbuilders are feeling the squeeze from the offshore industry's downturn, with low oil prices resulting in stalled projects and cancelled orders. This has prompted some companies to expand into the cruise sector. But what are they offering the cruise industry and can they successfully make the transition? Frances Marcellin reports.
As the offshore shipbuilding industry continues to deal with a depressed market, caused by falling oil prices and overcapacity, mainly due to vessel construction in Asia, offshore shipbuilding companies are fighting for survival.
The last decade has demanded many shifts in strategy, starting with the fallout from the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008 where a severe drop in oil prices led to a major decrease in offshore vessel orders. While many companies were able to continue operating as oil prices recovered, the oil price drop in 2014 has been far more challenging to overcome, resulting in idle ships and thousands of job cuts.
An OECD report notes that in 2015 7,300 jobs were lost in Norwegian shipping companies alone, and, according to Clarksons Research, the global orderbook shrank by 25% in 2016.
VARD's development plans for diversification
With a decrease in fresh orders, many offshore shipbuilding companies are using their expertise to break into other sectors, such as the thriving cruise industry. With a core market in offshore support and subsea vessels, specialised vessels for the offshore oil and gas industry, VARD started to develop products for the cruise industry back in 2015.
In February last year the company publicly announced its new diversification strategy in the areas of adventure (luxury cruise expedition vessels for polar and exotic environments), energy (specialised vessels for oil and gas, and emerging offshore energy industries), seafood (vessels for the fisheries and aquaculture industries) and security (vessels for securing and monitoring the seas).
"The need to diversify arose from the downturn in our core market for offshore vessels," explains Holger Dilling, executive vice president for investor relations and business development asia at VARD, which designs and builds specialists vessels across nine shipbuilding locations in Norway, Romania, Brazil and Vietnam. "Exploration cruise vessels are a market niche that is currently experiencing a boom, which fits well with VARD's experience and capabilities to design and build technologically advanced, high-end, highly customised ships, in the size class approximately between 100 and 200 meters."
VARD's diversification strategy can so far be called a success, because despite a lack of new orders from the offshore industry, VARD's order intake for 2016 was the highest in three years. At the end of the year, VARD's order book contained twelve more vessels than the previous year and, overall, was worth NOK 12.65 billion instead of NOK 10.23 billion.
Holger Dilling, executive vice president for investor relations and business development asia at VARD
Adventurous passengers drive shipbuilding demand
Dilling explains that VARD's new orders included six firm contracts for the design and construction of exploration cruise vessels. These include four from French luxury cruise company Ponant (announced in March 2016) and two from TUI / Hapag-Lloyd Cruises (announced in May 2016) – and in January 2017 a letter of intent for a seventh expedition cruise vessel for another international cruise company was secured.
With expedition itineraries thriving in the cruise industry – from Alaska to Antarctica and the the Arctic – demand for both basic and luxurious vessels to navigate far-flung waters has continued to increase over the last few years.
"Travelling by ship can be the best mode of transport to reach some of the more intimate and adventurous destinations, such as Antarctica, Myanmar, and the Arctic – and cruise lines are using this fact to tap into new audiences," says Adam Coulter, UK managing editor of Cruise Critic, the world's largest online cruise resource.
Each of the ice-class expedition ships for Ponant are 131m long, can accommodate 180 passengers in 92 cabins, and include a range of luxury facilities. Currently with five ships, this will almost double Ponant's fleet when they are delivered by 2019.
The vessels for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises are designed for cruises in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as tropical destinations such as the Amazon. They are 138m long, can accommodate 240 passengers and include a water sports marina, modern spa and fitness areas.
"This project is fully in line with our diversification strategy to enter the expedition cruise market, realising synergies and increased cooperation with our majority owner Fincantieri," says Roy Reite, CEO and executive director of VARD.
Ulstein sails into exploring, cruising and patrolling
Renowned for its X-Bow hull design, which eliminates slamming from head seas and improves on-board comfort, Ulstein is another offshore shipbuilding expert, which is diversifying into the cruise ship industry, among other areas.
"Based on our nearly 100 years of maritime experience, with experience gained in particular from offshore vessels in recent decades, Ulstein Group wishes to expand into new segments where we have not yet made our mark, such as exploring, cruising and patrolling," says Tore Ulstein, deputy CEO of Ulstein Group, who adds that there is a growing desire to explore and cruise the seas.
"Exploring, cruising and patrolling are three different segments which can all be developed on the basis of our offshore experience," he adds. "They all belong to the same design family and can share cross-conceptual graphical elements such as vertical windows on parts of the bridge, accumulation and storage of renewable energy, and alternative materials."
Read the rest of the article on Ship Technology.
Fran Marcellin July 19, 2017 March 27, 2018 Design, Innovation, Ship Technology, ShipTech, Transport
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Hi! I'm Fran, a British freelance journalist living in France, writing about property, tech, arts, travel and cruise.
You can find my articles in all kinds of different publications, from industry titles to consumer magazines, including: The Telegraph, CNN Travel, New Scientist, Woman & Home and ZDNet.
If you have a story to tell or you're an editor who needs an experienced and reliable freelance journalist to deliver a brief, then don't hestiate to get in touch.
'How cruising brought me back after Simon Cowell dropped me' (The Telegraph) November 26, 2019
Talking TED: Ellen Agler on eradicating disease (Overture magazine) November 12, 2019
Brexit, trade wars: So how are France's tech reforms holding up? (ZDNet) September 30, 2019
How did the first mother in space become godmother to a cruise ship? (The Telegraph) November 21, 2018
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CURTIS WATERS ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM
Waters has also dropped the music video for his latest single, Freckles.
Image: Dominique Brown
After going viral earlier this year with his single Stunnin, Curtis Waters has announced his debut album, Pity Party. The announcement is accompanied by the music video for his latest track, Freckles.
On his first full-length release, Pity Party will feature Waters' previously released singles Stunnin Feat. Harm Franklin, SYSTEM, The Feelings Tend To Stay The Same and Freckles. The body of work will feature eight new songs, rounding out the twelve-track record.
Co-directed by Waters and Logan Fields, the visual for Freckles sees the singer take his music universally. Scenes show Waters making his way through the stars, crossing galaxies and landing on a colourful planet where he encounters an other worldly being.
Waters rose to fame with his debut single Stunnin. The viral track has garnered over 300 million global streams, averaging 4 million streams daily. The song became popular on social media platform Tik Tok, where it is featured in over 533K user-generated videos.
Pre-order and pre-save Pity Party now! Watch the music video for Freckles below.


Hydroboost Systems - EricTheCarGuy- Stay Dirty!
Some vehicles don't use a vacuum assist for the brakes. This might be due to space considerations or because the engine being used does not produce a lot of vacuum, such as with a diesel engine. These systems often use hydraulic pressure from the power steering system to assist with brake application. If you have difficult power steering or have a hard time applying the brakes, you might have an issue with your hydroboost unit. Don't forget to inspect the lines as well as the power steering pump for failures. Here's a video on the replacement of a hydroboost unit in a GM van.


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U.S. Ethanol Heading to China
Clint Thompson May 25, 2020 Trade
U.S. and China in the Phase One trade deal.
According to three ethanol-industry sources and shipping data, a rare U.S. ethanol shipment will arrive in China very soon. Reuters says that may be the first ethanol shipment to hit China since the two countries struck a trade deal earlier this year.
China recently waived some additional tariffs on almost 700 American products, including ethanol, to support more purchases of U.S. farm goods to help meet its obligations in the Phase One trade deal. Since China made the move, the ethanol industry has been watching for signs of renewed trade in the biofuel. Tariffs on U.S. fuel ethanol were as high as 70% after Beijing upped some retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports in the back-and-forth trade dispute with Washington, D.C.
A slump in fuel demand brought on by COVID-19 led to an oversupply of ethanol that caused prices to bottom out, forcing producers to slash their production amounts. One of the three sources to tell Reuters about the shipment says the vessel was carrying ethanol that originated in the United States and had been resold to China, likely from a seller in Saudi Arabia. A trader based in China tells Reuters that, "People are looking to import fuel ethanol from overseas as prices in northeastern China have risen in the past few days."
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)


Common backyard birds in North America that will use birdhouses are wrens, chickadees, titmice, and bluebirds; and other types of birds can also be attracted to birdhouses, according to National Wildlife. If you're a nature-loving 50+, retiree or senior with time on your hands, put up a birdhouse so you can admire your outdoor feathered friends at leisure.
Early spring is a good time to install backyard birdhouses because the birds are more actively looking for nesting sites, but it can take a couple of years for birds to find the house. Regardless of what time of year you want to put your birdhouse up, you should first consider what type of birds you want to attract.
Bluebirds & Swallows - are larger in size than chickadees and wrens, so they require a slightly bigger birdhouse (5.5" x 5.5", by 10" tall), earth-tone in colour. Swallows like to be near water, and both Swallows and Bluebird birdhouses should be placed on a post that faces east onto or near an open field where they can find the type of food they like. The entry hole for a Bluebird bird house should be maximum 1.5" in diameter for Eastern Bluebirds, and 1.8" in diameter for Mountain and Western Bluebirds.
Wrens - These smaller birds like to have their 4" x 4" by 8" tall, earth-tone colour birdhouse hanging from a small tree in your yard or on a post, approximately 5-10' above the ground. Carolina Wrens prefer their birdhouse to be hidden in natural habitat.
Chickadees and Titmice - Like an earth-tone birdhouse 4" x 4" or 5" x 5", and 8" tall, placed 4-8' above ground in an area with dense natural habitat, such as a grove of trees or shrubs.
Woodpeckers - Prefer tree cavities, but like birdhouses in natural colours that are placed between 8-20' above ground on a mature tree trunk in a wooded area, with 4" of wood shavings on the floor. Different dimensions and sizes of entry holes vary depending on the type of woodpecker, from the small Downy Woodpecker (4" x 4" by 10" tall; hole 1.25" diameter, 6-8 " above the birdhouse floor), to the large Northern Flicker Woodpecker (7" x 7" by 18" tall; hole 2.5" diameter, 14" above the bird house floor).