There was a time when I would rather take a 2×4 full of rusty nails and jam it through my neck sideways than try and use Cinelerra, but the more obstinately I mercilessly force myself to keep using it, the cooler the stuff I am able to do. Now, don't confuse that with me having delusions of talent. It's just that I can find the cooler features of the program.
For what that's worth, take a gander at the video, and see if you get the joke. Have a good one.
Mobile Linux: The Best Choice for Smartphones?
Explain to me the draw people have to technology. Lacking psychology credentials (other than psychosis), I would be unqualified to expound in great detail. That said, there are a few things that I have noticed about people and their attitudes towards computers and other types of electronics. Based on these attitudes and some current trends, I wanted to provide a type of forecast. Where are things going with regards to electronics and the embedded operating systems that run them?
To start off, let's consider the concept of convergence. To put this simply, people love combining functionality of stuff. Take cars for example. Take me from point A to point B. Primary function: transportation. Well, except if it's 132 degrees outside, then it's too hot. Put me an air conditioner in there. OK, now we have a duality of purpose: transportation and comfort. Oh, wait. If I am driving from Barrow, Alaska to Punta Arenas, Chile, I will get very, very bored. So, could we throw me a radio into my car, too? My kids will get bored with my music, so give them a DVD player for the back. And let's have GPS, and a radar detector. All of a sudden, we have convergence of several different technologies into one product. People like to combine things.
Next point, we'll consider a couple of different types of computer users. As an example of the first type, we'll make up someone called Michael. He likes to play it a little safe, stay in his comfort zone. His philosophy is to go with whatever you know. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. He doesn't like to waste time trying to figure things out. Our fast-paced (and gaining momentum) society encourages users like Michael. Take the tools that you know, and get productive right now.
For my second type of user, we'll make up someone called Duran. He doesn't like to be restricted with his options. He likes to be free to choose and do what he wants. He doesn't mind tinkering with hardware or software to get it working the way that fits his needs. He doesn't mind taking some time to learn about how things work. After all, this does give experience in the future.
Michael was likely raised using Windows, just because of sheer statistics and probability. This means that he will want to continue using Windows and would likely be hesitant to change, because Windows fulfills his current needs. His first reaction to Linux will be to reject it on account of its reputation of being hard to use. Besides, it's different, and that means a learning curve. Michael is not interested. What he has and does works for him already, why change?
Duran, on the other hand, doesn't care about learning new things. As soon as he hears that there's a free operating system called Linux that may just do what he needs it to, he immediately looks into it. After a bit he gets it up and running. After a month or two, he finds that he can make it do everything he needs it to. He may have to work with it a bit, but he is all good with hands-on. He begins using Linux exclusively.
What has happened, now? Let's consider it for a second. Michael doesn't even know all that Linux has to offer, because he doesn't have enough experience with it. He still prefers his comfort zone, and is resistant to change. He continues doing what works for him, and paying a healthy amount for these privileges. Windows isn't free.
Now if we think about it, Duran now has the benefits of both situations, without the drawbacks of the first. Remember, the first type of person likes a comfort zone, likes to go with what you know, and just get productive. This is Michael. Duran now has a comfort zone in Linux and knows how to be productive with it. He gets the benefits of Michael's situation without the restrictions. He also gets the benefits of being able to set things up however he wants because of the options available to him. Duran grows and learns and becomes more productive as Michael stays the same, a slave to his resistence to change.
For a long time, Linux has definitely been too hard for a regular computer user. You know the type, they check email and surf the Internet. Why spend 3 months learning a new operating system just to do that? For most of its life, Linux has been for the hard-core techies only. This is not the case anymore. Read the latest reviews of Ubuntu, Fedora, or OpenSUSE. They are more point-and-click than they have ever been. Linux is now moving over into the realm of Michael. More and more things just work, less and less time figuring out how to get stuff working. Applications are getting much easier to use (OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird). Just install and begin working. In many cases, LiveCDs even allow us to omit the installation, giving us the power to be immediately productive.
We have the principle of convergence, the concept of going with what works, and the concept of freedom of choice.
What happens when a company needs a software application? They have two choices: develop it in-house, or buy something pre-packaged.
In-house development means that the company has to allocate time and financial resources to develop and test the software. Most of the time, reasons for in-house development stem from a desire to customize it to the exact needs of the company. However, it becomes very expensive in terms of time and money. In the end, the in-house application may or may not be of the same commercial quality as the pre-packaged solution. Likely, it isn't (possible, but usually isn't).
The problem with propietary, off-the-shelf software is that it's much less customizable to the company's needs. They have to wait on the vendor for security updates. They don't have access to the code to change things around as they wish.
The choice then becomes one of two things: Spend a lot of time and money to develop a decent in-house customizable solution, or purchase a well-developed commercial solution immediately but is not nearly as customizable?
Let's complicate this situation. The software will be embedded to power an electronic device, such as a mobile phone.
This is the situation that many mobile carriers find themselves in right now. Verizon has usually just flashed their own OS onto the phones sold to their customers. They spent a bunch of time and money to develop a mediocre operating system that fills the need. Decent, easy enough to use, but charge a bunch for extra features.
Cellular providers like Verizon need an embedded operating system. So far, the pre-packaged solutions haven't really been up to snuff for many users, especially the technology-savvy. In-house solutions have been lacking, as well. And remember the convergence concept? Customers are now demanding ever more functionality from their cell phones that is currently not possible for many cellular carriers. The current Michaels are fine with what there is. The Durans, however, are going crazy.
These companies need something that already exists, that is tested, proven, and covers the basics. They need something that won't cost them precious time and money to develop, and will end up being better than what they'd end up delivering anyway. They need something that they can take and modify to fit their needs, and embed it into their phones. Then, they don't have to gouge the customers for the cost of the development for the OS, and can sell phones that have more functionality for less money. They should also leave the OS open for developers. This will allow people to fill their own demand, as has occurred with Linux as it stands. Then, the Michaels and the Durans will both be happy.
Michael can take it standard as it comes and just use it as it is.
Duran can get into it, install and remove ringtones and wallpapers. He can install and remove software as he wishes.
Verizon's entrance into the LiMo Foundation is only one thing they've done. How about their Any App, Any Device initiative? Essentially, anyone can develop any hardware and have it certified by Verizon. How does Verizon accomplish the Any App part? By using Linux. The LiMo foundation gives them this.
And how would they make this possible? How about the C Block of the 700MHz spectrum that Verizon won? Combine all this, and we are going to see some sick hardware and software spew forth onto the scene. Convergence, remember? Maybe we'll finally have videophones?
Virtual Reality Enemy Territory LAN Party over the C Block of the 700MHz spectrum of Verizon's network, anyone?
Think Verizon's the only one who knows all this? AT&T walked away with a chunk of the 700MHz spectrum, too. You think the current 3G networks are cool? Verizon and AT&T are both developing 4G networks.
Forget about whether open source is going to happen, or whether Linux will appear on more than just PCs. It's already happening. Looks like it might be a good time for those who dig open source stuff to consider Verizon, or any other carriers supporting Android or LiMo.
Forget about whether open source is going to happen, or whether Linux will appear on more than just PCs. It's already happening, and fast.
Looks like it might be a good time for those who dig open source stuff to consider Verizon, or any other carriers supporting Android or LiMo.
And if you are already using Verizon, I have a free 53-page ebook available on how to get the very most out of being their customer. This ebook makes Verizon's current phone OS feel like it's already open source. Plus, it can save you over $300 in accessories and other stuff.
How long until we have an open-source main-stream gaming console designed for Linux? I was looking at a 1080p PS3 game the other day. Power something like that with Linux.
What about computers in vehicles? We currently have GPS systems. What about throwing Linux on there? Put a Media center in it (mythtv?) along with some open source GPS software. If people want to make it even better, let them. Then, let everyone else have the software updates free.
Even more, how long until we can make an Any App, Any Device appliance that certifies with Verizon that does ALL of the above?
Proprietary OSes cannot keep up with the demand for diversity. People want too many different things right now. And when the proprietary OSes can deliver something, security and stability are the first things to go, as we have seen with what comes out of Redmond.
Open Source can keep up because there are unlimited amounts of people who can work on it. If someone wants something bad enough that isn't currently provided, they can write it themselves if it's an open platform.
Gates and MS have been going almost 30 years. Linux has been in development just more than half that, and it's good enough to be displacing hundreds of thousands of MS desktops. When Linux has in production for 30 years, we'll compare it to how much Windows developed in 30 years.
Can proprietary work with mobile phones? Obviously.
Will further progress be made faster by everyone working together? Absolutely no doubt. The costs of the initial development of the OS drop drastically. Customers get what they want, making it easier to add whatever they want (which they will, anyway). Michael gets something that's easy to use, and Duran gets something that he can hack to his heart's content.
Blow me off if I'm totally crazy. But honestly, we have seen Mobile Linux predictions before.
People want something that will just work for them and do what they expect. Other people want options and configurability. Linux is very rapidly approaching the ability to provide both of these. People also want to have their PDA, phone, MP3 player, and GPS all on one device. Linux has the potential for doing all of this. And people are in love with mobile phones. Linux on mobile phones is what will make all of this work. So there's my prediction, and where it comes from.
(03:11:37 PM) My Friend: blogged.
(03:14:32 PM) Scott: Just read the whole thing, man… that is all too cool.
(03:15:10 PM) My Friend: Linux is like marriage….
(03:19:41 PM) Scott: Windows is like being chained to a wild boar with barbed wire by the nut sack.
Let's face it, Linux is better than Windows.
Actually, rather than open that can of worms, I would like to supply just one of the tons of reasons that I believe many system administrators would prefer Linux.
When you are trying to troubleshoot a problem, information about that problem is invaluable. Take, for example, the logging capabilities of the proprietary alternative.
Hmm… "The previous system shutdown at 4:49:45 AM on 8/11/2007 was unexpected." Congratulations, thank you for that insightful bit of noteworthy and informative enlightenment. I had no idea that the shutdown was unexpected, even though that is PRECISELY why I am sitting in front of the computer to begin with.
In other words, the "Event Log" on Win32 platforms is technically correct, but absolutely useless.
In Linux, I can go to any one or more of several different logs, and I can even create my own should I so choose. We have /var/log/messages as the main system log. There are also others, like the mail log, the apache log, the php log, and the database log. Should I write a script that has custom output messages, I can send them to any other output file I wish by using the ">" symbol and redirecting the output to that file.
Without helpful and informative logs, I would likely not have been able to solve issues such as this that cropped up last September.
Helpful, detailed, descriptive, informative debugging and error logs: yet another reason to use Linux.
Heh, did you hear about how Vista was attacked by a 13-year-old virus?!
That would have to qualify as another spectacular reason to choose Linux over proprietary systems. You're less likely to get viruses.
Eyecandy is one of my favorite things. Ask Steve or Jason. I love for stuff to look just really slick. So I'm going through this Thunderbird article called "10 must-have Thunderbird Addons (+ 25 more) because I also like wicked-sick plugins with all the coolest stuff because I get extremely bored very quickly. After getting all the totally rocking extensions, I came back to the sexiness of the whole thing. If I could make my Thunderbird look like the Viper that I've always wanted, I'd be totally set. Pulling up the theme page on mozilla.org, lots and lots of themes jumped out at me. Granted, not all of them are compatible with Thunderbird 2.0, which is what I'm using. Nevertheless, I decided to download the most popular themes that are compatible with T-Bird 2 and give 'em a spin on my desktop here.
After a few moments, it became apparent to me that I could just as easily rush through it and quickly pick something on an impulse that appealed to me and call 'er good. On the other hand, the possibility existed that we could go through them one by one, make a little spreadsheet with some criteria on it, and grade them on the things that are important to me, in the way that I perceive them. Because it is so subjective and highly personalized, it would come as a surprise to me if this information were useful to anyone but me. Nevertheless, the possibility that one person may find it useful and beneficial is enough for me to pour my heart out. Thus, I leave it in your hands to be exceedingly thankful for my generosity.
edges/borders – The borders of the widgets cannot just end. They must have a proper border. This is how the eye knows where the widget ends. Otherwise, it looks like an unfinished paint project. You must have a proper border for it so that it can be properly placed and balanced by the eye. It cannot look sloppy. * claps hands twice * Please, people, sit up straight in your chairs. The weight for this one is 4.
thumb scroller – Drives me to drink how these people think that they can design a spectacular theme and then get away with a stupid-looking thumb scroller! Please. That is one of the most used parts of the theme. Everyone always scrolls everything. That's one of the most known laws of the Universe. Thusly, the thumb scroller must look good. Preferrably rounded edges, but at least look clean and crisp. The weight for this one is 6.
crisp – 'Sloppy' will not cut it around here, people. You must be on the ball. Er… It just makes me a little twitchy when things aren't neat and clean placed properly precisely where they go. They should also look like they fit there, not like they were jammed into that spot. The visual mass needs to be spread around properly and carefully and precisely. Don't just vomit on some Saran Wrap and be all Emo and think you have a cool eclectic theme. Do it properly and neatly and cleanly. The weight for this one is 6.
professional – When at work, it may be nice to use a theme that would impress a guy who owns three private jets, a yacht in the Andes, and 20 Jamaican snow mobiles. Er… it would be nice to appeal to a professional businessperson. Like some dude who owns his own corporation and has like 14 NFL rings on all his fingers and stuff. If you can make that guy double-take on your Thunderbird theme, you are officially "with it." It has to look organized with no extreme coloration. Professional people do not need any further explanation and will already know precisely what I mean, because that's part of who they are; they just get this type of thing. The weight for this one is 8.
highlight/selection – Another quite serious mistake people make is that their whole theme rules, except the hightlight looks like a piece of masking tape pulled off a used bandaid. Come ON. If you make enough effort for the rest of the theme to look nice, please understand that the highlight is one of the most viewed parts of your theme. When you click on something, it highlights. When you roll over something, it highlights. Your eyes usually follow your mouse around the screen, and because that's the thing that does the rolling over and clicking, your eyes are looking at the highlights a large part of the time. See how that works? The highlights must look nice, polished, and slick. The weight for this one is 7.
use of color – Whether it is monochromatic, triadic, or synchronous, the colors must jive well together. Of course for me, the interpretation thereof is done by my very own eyeballs. Thus, the grade on this one will be what I think about how the creator used color with their theme. The weight for this one is 7.
The score for each category will be multiplied by the weight for that category. Each of these values will then be added all together for a total overall "Weighted Score." With all of this deeply explanatory psychological underlying subliminally entrenched childhood tragedy now thoroughly worked out of my system, it may very well be possible to jump right into the cool stuff. With that, here we go.
All in all, these top 10 themes all have their strengths. Some of them have some more obvious flaws than others, but overall, they provide a collection of 10 great themes to have. Again, this evaluation was made solely according to my tastes. Take a look at the link to the themes I provided above. There are quite a bit more than the ones I covered here, but these are the 10 best according to my criteria, grading, and weights. Hopefully, this has been a somewhat insightful demonstration of a perfect way to waste 3 hours of your day.
I took down the post that was giving everyone heartburn, ulcers, and all other forms of negative karma. I'll be honest, I did it for the reaction. I did save the comments before I deleted it, though, so that I could learn from the helpful suggestions of those not willing to stoop to my level. I'd go more into my compartmentalization issues, and how it's a lot like multiple personality disorder, but seriously, I doubt I could make it make sense. Anyway, I'm gonna try and keep it a little more mainstream from now on and steer clear of the extremely negative posts. To be completely honest, that particular post was mainly for my own benefit. I am still annoyed that I am unable to browse to a remote machine to save a graphic out from the GIMP. I don't want to use Krita. I will look into it, but I like the GIMP and I want to be able to do it there. I know that Gnome can browse to remote filesystems. That was not the complaint. My beef was solely that the GIMP cannot (at very least by default) do what I want it to. If so, point me to the documentation, tutorial, or howto that demonstrates how to do this. If not, well, then I'm right and it still annoys the crap out of me. I promise to have a post up very soon that will make us all friends again. As a matter of fact, it's more like an extended tutorial. Alrighty, then, we'll chat later.
I leave it open all day, looking just like that. This way, when the Windows users walk by and see it and ask what it is, I get some small satisfaction (that I totally shouldn't get) from telling them that it doesn't run on Windows, and that this means that they can't install it. What brings an eventual grin to my face is the immediate look of confusion that appears on their face because they have absolutely no idea what I just said.
So here's my take on beryl. When people ask me whether I think Linux is ready for the desktop, I whip out beryl. Now, just because it can flash and dance does not mean that it is necessarily ready for the desktop. However, if the community feels that something like beryl is practical to develop, the rest of the desktop requirements must be fairly well met. Which, of course, I can tell you that they are.
What is even more incredible is that Mac has had animated desktops for a few years now, and Linux does stuff with beryl that will send you into seizures (good ones, of course!). Both of them are far superior to their common competitor. And that competitor is having trouble keeping up with the features. IE 7 just got tabs, for example, which of course have been available in Firefox for a long time. Vista has its new Aero effects, yes. However, they are mainly available only in the enterprise/professional versions? How does that make sense? The enthusiast is the one who will be interested in that stuff. Which means the HOME users. At work, people are expected to work, and not play with accelerated desktops. CEOs won't give a rat about Aero, other than hating it because people are not able to work, but are distracted with all the eyecandy (I use the word "all" kind of tongue-in-cheek, as it doesn't hold a candle to beryl).
Nice. Give it to the people who don't care, and take it from the people who do.
Whatever, I am absolutely digging my beryl install on my openSUSE 10.2 laptop. If you haven't had a chance, head over to youtube or something and check out some of the beryl demos.
Can I just tell you how much I hate school?
I got a new '04 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. I'll have to post pictures some day.
Some while back, our company was looking at getting a new mail server. At first, we were considering the open-source version of Zimbra that runs on Linux. Well, after a licensing fiasco with them, we decided to use Exchange. I just about quit. We got this hugely beefy system to run it on. 4gb RAM, ~400GB RAID5 (after raid there's that much), dual xeon procs, not sure the speed.
Actually, I DID get that error from the Exchange server. No resources available to send my text-only email of 2 sentences in size on such a massively overpowered machine. Maybe it's because it only has half the resources that Exchange requires? Never got anything remotely like that from the Zimbra install on the Linux box. But hey, we HAVE to have the calendar and shared contacts, otherwise we may end up as PHB's.
Ya'll have a spectacular weekend. openSUSE Linux 10.2 all the way.
Every once in awhile, something surprises me. Take Friday night, for example. I knocked the 1-Liter bottle of Coke over and emptied half of it into my keyboard, then got it all over the wall behind me, then all over the underside of my desk, all over my monitor, and all over about 40 square feet of carpet, all within about 12 seconds. I was surprised that none got on my laptop.
Saturday, however, was not a day of much surprise in my life. I woke up and set up three domains with Drupal installations which went exactly as planned. I ate some lunch, and drove from Eagle Mountain to Logan, which trip was totally uneventful. My brother and I presented our father with a new AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ machine that we got him for his birthday. He was excited and surprised, which came as no surprise.
I fired the machine up, yawning in boredom at the new look (as interesting as watching paint peel when I have compiz/beryl on my Linux laptop with all the transparencies and stacking and burning effects). After waiting about 20 minutes for the machine to get to the desktop (if it comes installed, what the hell am I waiting for?), it assaulted me with virus definition updates, windows updates, the welcome screen, and a migration wizard. After freeing up about 200 Meg of RAM by closing all these windows, I decided to go ahead with the Easy Transfer window. I wanted to tranfer all of the files, data, settings, email, etc., from the old machine to the new one. It prompted me how I wanted to do the transfer and if I was on the old computer or the new one, and if I had the Easy Transfer app installed on the other computer, which I did not.
No problem, it gave me the choice of putting the Easy Transfer app onto a USB stick and putting it on the old machine, which was on the same network as the one. Getting it over onto the old box and running it was fairly painless. After about 25 minutes it just gave me this error, "Easy Transfer Failed: permission denied". Permission to what? From where? What were we trying to do? Which program was denied the permission? On which computer? Regular old questions such as these which are very easily answerable on a Linux system were apparently not even considered by the Windows developers. They were probably all like, "Dude, you can't even fix it, anyway, so why do you even care what went wrong?" Seriously, that is a great point.
I tried it twice, each with the same result. Yes, I had all usernames and passwords typed in correctly (yes, caps-lock was off). Obviously I had erred as an operator (You should see this great PEBKAC shirt that I have. I wore it to work on Friday). Fine. HOW!?! Give me something useful so I can make it work as it should on its own anyway.
So I hopped on the new box and logged into my dad's account. It had gotten at least some of the data transferred because all of the files littering the old computer's desktop now showed on the new computer's desktop.
Verify the switch I am using, huh? Nice. Oh, and apparently, OE doesn't even come with the OS anymore. All I had was some time-limited trial of the latest Office that would expire in June. Which means that I had to try and work with Outlook. Fine.
When I did finally find the actual executable for Outlook so I could run it directly (as according to this error that came up, basic things such as SHORTCUTS don't work properly), again, an onslaught of prompt boxes appeared. They were warning me that this was a time-limited trial and that I had to put in some registration key and that I had to agree to the EULA, and if I wanted Outlook to be my default mail client, and if I wanted to check for and install updates. After mopping up the screen, yet again, of the plethora of windows, I went to try and import the Outlook Express accounts, messages, and contacts.
You would think that since the same company wrote both programs, and that since both programs have similar functionality, and that one is supposedly the EXPRESS version of the other one, that it JUST MIGHT be able to perform such an import. You would think.
Unknown error. Reinstall. Yep, no surprise. Exactly what I expected from M$.
After screwing around with that for another 15 minutes only to get the same error no matter what, I had a thought: "Why not use Thunderbird? It does the trick on Linux!" So I grabbed the Thunderbird installer, threw it on there, and ran it. It installed just as I expected it to. Before it was completely finished with the installation, it asked me if I wanted to import accounts, messages, and address book from Outlook Express accounts. I sat there and stared for a moment, until I realized that, of course Thunderbird would do this. It is open-source and designed to work. No surprise there.
Before I had even run it the first time, it had already done everything I wanted it to do.
Let's see here, to transfer personal settings and data from one Linux box to another one… what would I do? Copy the /home folder over from the old Linux machine to the new one. The end.
This is reminiscent of an experience I had awhile back where my co-worker needed Linux to fix a broken Windows box.
This provides the perfect transition into my next point.
It used to be that you wouldn't really see articles like this one, called "Microsoft is Dead." He has a point. When was the last time you heard about some ruthless, hostile takeover by Microsoft like back in the good old days when they'd do anything to destroy the competition? They've had their day, and Vista is their first debilitating (albeit self-inflicted) blow. Nothing like a monopolistic company whose arrogance and complacency causes them to kneecap themselves.
Your best bet is to just forget about Vista and try out openSUSE or some Linux distribution for your desktop and server needs. Yes, Linux has gotten much better over the past few years. Remember that it's advancement is accelerating more and more while Windows' has all but flat-lined.
Surprise! Linux marches on. 145 mph 18″ from my face.
This was inevitable. It would have happened sooner or later. I'm sure that everyone has heard by now about Dell's support of Linux. They will start selling PCs preloaded with Linux in the near future. What's interesting is that everyone is all shocked. For a few years, now, Linux has been building momentum. Once Microsoft did its thing with Novell, that was kind of the beginning of a new era for Linux. To me, it felt more like Microsoft was basically just saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." They seemingly figured that in the long run, it would be more cost-effective to partnership with Novell around Linux than it would be to continue a losing battle fighting against it. They changed from the "Linux is a cancer" mind-set to a co-operative strategy.
It still feels to me like they're saying, "If Linux is going to encroach on our territory, we will control the one with the largest market share." But Novell does not have the largest market share of Linux installs. That is correct. They don't. YET. With Microsoft at their back, Novell will eventually enjoy a nice pass to the head of the line of enterprise Linux distributions. By then, Microsoft will have established an influence over the development of that distro. And, of course, they come out on top. Again.
All that aside, another side effect of the M$/Novell thing is that way many more people are going to be using Linux in general. More people will be hearing of it and will start using it. This has already started happening. This is evidenced by the survey that Dell put out recently. They wanted to take the community's pulse with regards to pre-installing Linux on the PCs they sell.
What distro do you think they will put on these home and business desktops? I am betting that it will be SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. It is a solid system that is very easy to use. Throw an eyeball at a blog post I did on SLED 10 a while back. They really tied it down and made it a solid desktop. In my experience, it is the only logical choice. It does all the regular stuff: email, word processing, spreadsheets, web browsing, or instant messaging. It is cheaper than Windows. It offers a full productivity suite in OpenOffice.org 2. It doesn't even need antivirus software. Best of all, it integrates into an existing Windows-centric network. Which means compatibility with Exchange.
This is another feather in the cap of the future stability and growth of Linux. What's more, even if you don't think Linux is quite up to par now, it is only getting better. Things are only looking up. This is one of the reasons that I have put together a free Intro to Linux course. It is for people who want to get started using Linux, but may not know how. The course is available from my blog. If you want to enroll, please feel free. For people you know who are interested, have them take a look.
Anyway, with the M$/Novell agreement, and now Dell making this new change, expect Linux to become more widespread (this does not mean that this is the year Linux takes out Windows). Expect other companies to make similar changes. It will happen.
My friend Jason, his brother Ryan, and our friend Mac all went to the Salt Flats the other weekend and I shot some video of them doing some SICK spinouts, burnouts, and other stunts in their Mustang GTs (Ryan's Mustang is mid-90's, and Jason's is a brand new 2007). What a couple of sick puppies. Well, so Jason took the footage and mixed it all together and posted it up on Google Videos. Blow my eyes out.
By the way, in some of those shots, they are going by me at 140 mph about 18 inches from my face. Yes, they are. I was there. I know that because when I watch the video, I can hear my voice.
OK, so Christmas was great and everything. Presents and family, and honey-roasted ham… we spilled no fewer than 3 drinks on the dining-room floor that I personally mopped this very morning. No idea how many were spilled on the carpet. Much fun was had by all.
I also wanted to talk about RSS. This, to me, is the single greatest means of transmitting useful information that there is besides email. And maybe instant messenger.
Really briefly, RSS means "Really Simple Syndication". It's like a channel to which people can subscribe to receive the latest content on a given website. It is great for news, blogs, forum threads, or anything else that may be time-sensitive. You simply copy the URL of the RSS feed and paste it into an aggregator. This program then downloads and parses all of the RSS feeds to which you are subscribed. It may then give you ways to manage the articles, search through them, or whatever else. In any case, RSS is the man.
RSS feeds initially hit my scene around July of 2004. The first aggregator on my machine was RSSOwl. It had lots of great features but it seemed like it crashed a lot.
Akregator was the next RSS reader installed for trial. It seemed usable enough. There were a couple of bugs, which I reported, but overall, it was very usable. It fared much better than RSSOwl, but couldn't filter things very well. What it does offer is the ability to search through the feeds, but does not allow one to save the searches for availability later. That annoys the snot out of me. It also does not allow direct filtration. Again, I need a box of Kleenexes. Overall, Akregator does seem quite a bit snappier and more responsive. It does all of the basics really well. It definitely misses some of the essentials, such as filters and saved searches.
I then learned that Thunderbird could aggregate RSS feeds, and would let me filter them into different folders, too. Ever since ths fact was discovered, my RSS feeds have been aggregated by nothing else. Thunderbird allows for import and export of the feeds in an OPML file (which most aggregators do now). Mostly, I appreciate it and use it because of its rule-based filters and its stability. Two huge beefs I have with Thunderbird: 1) It is slower than mold growing uphill in Winter. As we already know, waiting gives me cancer. And 2) When I have "Unread" selected in the filter bar at the top, and I go into a given folder containing feeds, it doesn't only show the Unread news articles. It shows them all. Sometimes, I have to click around on different folders and come back to even show any at all, when I know darn well it's full of them.
Thunderbird is agonizingly slow as an aggregator, and has some funky bugs that really shouldn't be there. However, I do greatly like the filters.
I have also taken a look at Liferea. It has some excessively cool filtration, searching, and the ability to save searches as virtual folders. It is quite a bit more responsive than Thunderbird, but not quite as much so as Akregator. It is also quite unstable on a 64-bit machine, and crashed 4 times just tonight. Overall, I think it has the most of the features that I personally am looking for.
RSSOwl found its way onto my machine again, tonight. It seemed like it would be a good idea to see how far it had come in the last couple of years. To be honest, the stability had improved quite dramatically. RSSOwl had redeemed itself and had made quite a positive impression.
Unable to make up my mind, it was time for the old comparison spreadsheet trick. The first task was to come up with some criteria that were important to me personally. Next, a weight was given to the importance (to me) of each criterion. Having done that, I listed all of the aggregators that were to be tested.
We had a bullet-proof system (or something) for selecting the best aggregator.
Below is a graph with the results of my evaluations of each of the aggregators. In the first column is each of the criteria. In the next column is how important that particular criterion is to me personally. Then there are the individual aggregator columns. In the left column is my grade for that aggregator. In the right column is my grade multiplied by the weight. At the bottom of each column is the total score for each aggregator. The image links to a spreadsheet that you can download. If you want, you can adjust the importance of each criterion to see which aggregator may fit your needs the best.
I also checked to see how long it would take to start up. I instructed each aggregator to download all feeds upon startup. The startup times listed below thus include the time to start the application and download all RSS feeds.
As it appears that Liferea is my favorite RSS aggregator in terms of functionality, it is way too unstable for a 64-bit machine. Second most interesting to me is Thunderbird, which I have been using for about a year and a half. RSSOwl and Akregator are fine, but lack some necessary functionality, though they are both stabler and more responsive than Liferea and Thunderbird.
One of my very biggest problems is that I have about 150 RSS feeds to sort through. That is quite a bit of information overload. Hence the need for good saved searches or virtual folders.
Now for the big question: What slick little tips and tricks does anyone have to manage your RSS feeds, search through them, sort them, or otherwise optimize your experience? Any thoughts on managing the information overload?
I'm hoping that someday, someone will come out with Bayesian filtering for topics. That would be very helpful for me. In the meantime, please share your pointers.


We pretty much all agree in today's world that the early years from 0 to 6 are the most important foundation years for a human being. What you do or do not do charts the life that the child will become and be in the future. In other words, as some of us would say 'The foundation is key'!
Now we do know that food and oxygen are essential for the child's body to grow and function right, so is shelter, and we also provide clothing etc, etc. It is important to note that as much as these physical needs are important there is much more that the child needs to grow and become their very best.
Nurture has a psychological aspect to it as well and that is what I want to focus on today, not nurture in totality but how we do this to produce the joyful learner that Maria Montessori spent her life work developing in the Montessori method.
One of the first things that helps this process is to realise that the child is constructing the new man, evolving into what he will become in the future. This process is not to be done unto the child, it is what the child will do for himself. This is why Montessori expects us to respect the child.
A child cannot construct himself right without this attitude of truly respecting the child being in place.
We do not respect the child when we insist that we know how, when and what he needs to learn. We do not respect the child when we chart his everyday of learning with lessons and rotas with continued rote learning facts that lead to fact learning with no understanding.
We do not respect the child when we continue to bombard them with tests and examinations that show off what they have memorized. As an observant Early Years educator, surely we should know how each child in our care has progressed from the beginning of the term till the end. As an engaged parent surely you can see the changes and development your child has attained, from the new words he uses and the way he is able to explain how the sun dries up the water which forms clouds in the sky and then drops down as rain etc, etc… Do you need a report card culled from an examination or test to tell you that your 3 year old is making progress? Carry out an assessment if need be to fulfill state expectations if need be but we really should not be putting the burden of our adult driven expectations on the child!
So if the child is self-constructing, how can we help?
Please let them learn how to do things themselves, they want to and find our interference in helping them get dressed, go to the toilet, brush their teeth, etc, etc dehumanizing! This may seem extreme to some of us, but really if you stop to think about it, it may make sense to you if you look at it from the child's point of view. Let's consider getting dressed: you pick out the clothes, the child has no choice, you then proceed to take whatever clothing is on to replace it, the child wants to help by trying to undo the buttons or zip, but you remove his hand and do it, lifting up his hands and feet, even that bit you want to do for him. He is not a doll, a lifeless being, he is alive can move wants to move and use his limbs and fingers just has you do. If you deny the child the satisfaction of doing things and succeeding you are silently killing a bit of his soul, in Maria Montessori's words he is losing a bit of himself.
Provide opportunities for the child to move. Movement is key, without movement the brain does not function correctly. I know a child who was stuck in a high chair for over 12 hours of her day. Just sitting and eating and watching the television from this chair all day. She was 18 months at this time. At four the damage was already visible, she could not follow simply instructions. If you asked her to go and get the pencil from the table. The child would move from one point to the other going in circles several times before arriving at the table to pick up the pencil. Then the journey back to you would be more or less the same thing. At 19 years the young adult is still in trouble, quite intelligent in herself but she cannot navigate her way successfully at work, or take on basic official duties for that matter, because of this basic problem, the brain has failed to figure out movement logically! Yet we think it is alright to insist that our playgroup and nursery school children stay in the classroom all day with no recess time outside to just be. I love real Montessori classrooms, because the child can move around a lot if the child so wishes. The child needs movement, it helps build intelligence.
Let the child think, make choices, we are not talking about big gigantic choices here, but even simple things like an orange or mango, the white or blue shirt for church on Sunday. Freedom of choice in the Montessori classroom for example is key. It is freedom within limits. There must be limits, there are boundaries, we are not permissive we are simply nurturing the child to construct himself. Providing the needed tools every step of the way to reach the goal the child has been born to achieve.
To nurture the child takes a lot of thought, we need to continue to learn and relearn as the old ways really do not work to bring out the best in our children. The best is what we want isn't it? As we mold the next generations of Nigerians and children of our world let's nurture joyful learners for our world.


Home / Swedish Gift Tile "Scandinavian House Rules"
Swedish Gift Tile "Scandinavian House Rules"
The timeless Scandinavian House Rules featured on a 6x6" tile: "If you sleep on it, make it up. If you wear it, hang it up. If you eat off it, clean it up. If you turn it on, turn it off. If it is none of your concern, Keep it that way. If it rings, answers it. If it cries, love it."
Scandinavian House Rules: "If you turn it on, turn it off. If you open it, close it. If you move it, put it back. If you borrow it, return it. If you break it, repair it .If you make a mess, clean it up. If it is none of your concern, keep it that way."


How much longer must Cambridge's beautiful 1930s Art-Deco cinema sit empty for?
Calls have been made for an empty former 1930s cinema and bingo hall in Cambridge to be brought back into community use.
The former Gala bingo hall and cinema in Hobson Street has been standing empty for years after plans to turn it into a nightclub were thrown out.
The Art-Deco building is next to the original location of Hobson's Stables - where the term 'Hobson's Choice' originated.
At the last meeting of the west central area committee of Cambridge City Council residents of the city centre asked if the authority had the power to bring the building "back into use" for the community.
The building is in a "cumulative impact zone" and previous attempts to get permission to turn it into a venue have failed.
Plans to convert the hall into a Jools Holland-inspired jazz club fell flat after licensing chiefs refused to let the nightspot open beyond 12.30am.
Entertainment mogul Steve Thomas blamed the collapse of the £2.5 million 'Jam House' plan on Cambridge University colleges which have accommodation nearby and objected to later trading hours, as the News reported.
Police said the venue would attract extra drinkers to the area and describe Hobson Street as a tight pinch point area which could turn chaotic at closing time.
Now Cllr Kevin Blencowe, the city council's planning policy lead, is urging the owners to bring more plans to the table for its future.
The building was originally built in 1936 as a cinema before closing in 1972 when the interior was altered to become a bingo hall. Gala Bingo closed in 2009 to the anger of gamblers, as the news reported.
The property was let in 2011 to a leisure company which was refused a late night licence for a live music venue. Anarchist squatters also took over the building for a short time before being evicted.
The new landlord took back possession and instructed Cambridge based retail and leisure specialists, MP Real Estate, and Foxton based developer, Endurance Estates, to explore options for the building.
It boasts a ground, basement, first, mezzanine and second floors of about 16,813 sq ft (1,562 sq m) in size.
In 2013, the building was up for a rent of £195,000 per year.
Metal shutters are bolted to the building's entrance.
Endurance Estates says on its website it has been "lobbying the council" to improve the area.
A spokeswoman added there are currently no plans in place for the building.


text:
Ecumenical Ecclesiology
Unity, Diversity and Otherness in a Fragmented World
Thiessen, Gesa Elsbeth, T & T Clark International, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-5676-1834-4
Archive for tag: Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Archive pour tag : Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World: A Christian Perspective
At a conference with the theme "Promoting Peace Together" held in Geneva on 21 May, religious leaders focused on two historic documents related to peace-making. The first, "Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together," was jointly signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi in February. The second, "Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World: A Christian Perspective," jointly prepared by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Council of Churches (WCC), was officially launched at the conference.
Anne Glynn-Mackoul, moderator of the opening session and a WCC Executive Committee member who represents the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (USA), expressed her appreciation for those gathered who are inspired by a common vision to promote peace together. "Today we will explore together two documents which affirm, each with compelling fervor, the possibility of peace," she said.
The two documents, Glynn-Mackoul added, "help us, each in its own way, to think of religions not as fortresses to be defended but as wellsprings for the flourishing of all life."
Posted: May 21, 2019	• Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=10825
Categories: Documents, WCC News • In this article: Al-Azhar, dialogue, interfaith, peace, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, WCC Transmis : 21 mai 2019	• Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=10825
Catégorie : Documents, WCC News • Dans cet article : Al-Azhar, dialogue, interfaith, peace, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, WCC
Pope names new head of Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Pope Francis appoints 66-year-old Spanish Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot as the new President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot succeeds the late Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who died in July 2018, as the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He has been serving as Secretary of the Vatican dicastery. Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot was born in Seville on 17 June 1952. A Combonian Missionary of the Heart of Jesus, he was ordained priest on 20 September 1980. He was a missionary in Egypt and Sudan until 2002. He obtained a degree in Arabic and Islamic studies at the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome in 1982, and a doctorate in dogmatic theology at the University of Granada in 2000. From 1989 he was professor of Islamology, first in Khartoum, then in Cairo. Later he taught at PISAI, where he held the office of Dean until 2012. He has presided over various meetings of inter-religious dialogue.
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: Miguel Ayuso Guixot, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican Transmis : 25 mai 2019	• Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=10549
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : Miguel Ayuso Guixot, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican
Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity
The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) have released a joint document, "Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond." Its purpose is to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The document offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by COVID-19 but also by many other wounds.
The publication is also designed to be useful to practitioners of other religions, who have already responded to COVID-19 with similar thoughts based on their own traditions.
The document recognizes the current context of the pandemic as a time for discovering new forms of solidarity for rethinking the post-COVID-19 world. Comprised of five sections, the document reflects on the nature of a solidarity sustained by hope and offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity, a few key principles and a set of recommendations on how reflection on solidarity can be translated into concrete and credible action.
Posted: August 27, 2020	• Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=10818
Categories: Documents, WCC News • In this article: interfaith, justice, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, solidarity, WCC Transmis : 27 aoüt 2020	• Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=10818
Catégorie : Documents, WCC News • Dans cet article : interfaith, justice, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, solidarity, WCC
URL: http://ecumenism.net/tag/pcird/page/2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Comics have long been a place readers could find excess violence, but not everyone is as prolific in their killing as the Punisher. Wolverine may be the best he is at what he does, but even when he bears those claws, he hasn't taken apart more people than some of the publisher's greatest villains.
Since Marvel and DC began publishing books, villains have crossed the line by killing numerous civilians, heroes, or other villains. It's what makes the bad guy... well, bad. That line has been crossed so much in recent years, that the body count has become somewhat uncountable.
When someone comes along and smites a whole planet, they put the average serial killer to shame. What's a few lives here and there when one character can destroy billions in one fell swoop?
These villains have killed indiscriminately in the thousands, millions, and sometimes even billions. On occasion, the numbers are so high that it's impossible to give them a complete tally.
There's a reason why so many of these villains are feared by heroes and fans alike, and it's because they've been able to wreak unparalleled destruction since their creation.


SUMMARY: This individual provides support for SAC's in the establishment of best in class project management operations that lead to successful execution of customer programs and projects throughout the US. The position is focused on supporting the development of long term, recurring work with customers, executing it profitably, and developing the people, project management processes, project management career evolution, ensuring an outstanding result for SAC and the customer.
Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure continuity of messaging and alignment on objectives.
Foster relationships and interfaces between SAC team, SAC suppliers and customer to ensure high-performance delivery and timely resolution of issues.
Manage customer relationship at a strategic and tactical level including managing expectations on delivery capabilities and timing of projects.
Lead customer-specific and internal governance meetings managing project portfolio and resolution of issues.
Establish operational processes / process improvement plans to align with customer's process and tools.
Support the development of organizational structure, people and teams.
Ensure division and projects are executed with strict project controls.
We build an intelligent, connected world through the unparalleled execution of services and delivery of solutions to the telecommunications industry.
Safety: Make a personal commitment to safety every day.
Quality: Produce high quality work product.
Speed: Execute with a sense of urgency and speed.
Professionalism: Display a professional attitude in conduct with customers, vendors and teammates.
Customer Service: Understand our customers' needs and deliver for them.
Teamwork: Foster teamwork and be a great member of the team.
Communication: Create and welcome open and honest communication.
Good Decisions: Make sound, smart decisions and welcome input from others.
Financial Acumen: Understand how our work impacts customers' and our company's bottom-line.
World View: Understand how our work builds an intelligent, connected world.
Hire and Develop Great People: We hire talented people to share our mission, values, and core competences and we are committed to developing the best people in our business.
Say It: We commit to action with our customers, suppliers, shareholders and team members; and lead with conviction and courage.
Own It: We execute with intention, urgency, and rigor and embrace personal accountability for our commitments.
Make it Better: We improve every day in every facet of our mission and business, and seek to be world-class in all that we do.
Expect Amazing: When we combine great people with the ability to say it, own it, and make it better, we expect to amaze our customers, suppliers, shareholders and team members as we deliver services and solutions.


Crespo, J., Aira, J. R., Vázquez, C., and Guaita, M. (2017). "Comparative analysis of the elastic constants measured via conventional, ultrasound, and 3-D digital image correlation methods in Eucalyptus globulus," BioRes. 12(2), 3728-3743.
The design of engineering high value-added products and timber structures analysis requires reliable elastic characteristics related to a theoretical model that describes the elastic behavior of wood material. The present research focuses on determining the elastic constants of Eucalyptus globulus Labill., which allow their implementation as input parameters in any numerical model. The great potential of this species for novel structural applications was considered due to its superior mechanical properties. Two different testing methods were applied to the same specimens to directly compare the results. These two tests were conventional mechanical compression and a non-destructive ultrasound procedure. In addition, two different strain measurement techniques were contrasted in the performance of the mechanical tests, namely the conventional strain gauges that give local measurements, and the 3-D full-field optical system based on the principles of digital image correlation. The elastic values obtained via ultrasound are higher than those coming from mechanical testing using conventional gauges. Conventional gauges lead to underestimated values in comparison to the results from full-field strain measurements. Eucalyptus globulus shows greater longitudinal and transversal stiffness than the average values for other hardwoods, which verifies the good structural possibilities of this species.
Plantations of white eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus Labill.) cover a large area within the southern European Atlantic climate. In Spain, in the Galicia region, and Portugal they form a coastal strip containing the most productive forests in Europe. The total area covered by white eucalyptus is gradually increasing and now spans across 383,000 hectares in Galicia, according to data from the Third National Forestry Inventory (IFN III 2007). Eucalyptus wood is mainly used for power generation and as a source of fiber for the cellulose industry. Nevertheless, several studies in recent years have shown its great potential for the development of high added-value processed products (e.g. Lara-Bocanegra et al. 2017).
The advantages of its fast growth cycle, high mechanical strength, and high structural stiffness of eucalyptus wood make it a very competitive structural material, and of recent research interest. For example, the FAIR CT 98-9579 (2001) project studied some of the properties of eucalyptus wood from Galician trees aged from 23 years to 35 years. The mean values that corresponded to several physical-mechanical properties were obtained, including density (760 kg/m3), longitudinal elasticity modulus (20580 N/mm2), bending strength (130 N/mm2), and compression strength parallel to the grain (71 N/mm2), all of which indicate superior structural possibilities of this species. The structural classification of Spanish E. globulus (Labill.) was performed by the CIFOR-INIA laboratory according to the guidelines of the EN 384 (2004) (Fernández-Golfín et al. 2007). The standard UNE 56546 (2013) sets an MEF (Hardwood structural timber) visual quality that corresponds to the D40 strength class according to EN 1912 (2013).
When considering engineering applications, macroscopic material models are essential for numerical structural analyses through the finite element (FE) method (Schmidt and Kaliske 2009). The engineering parameters defining these models are the elastic constants that must accurately reflect the wood behavior described as linear-elastic in the small strain regime (Gibson and Ashby 2001). Although wood is an anisotropic material, it is usually simplified in mechanical analysis as orthotropic with three planes of symmetry that is defined by three main directions: longitudinal (L), radial (R), and tangential (T). These material assumptions have been consistently established in previous studies (Mascia 2003; Mascia and Lahr 2006). The characterization of the linear elastic orthotropic behavior of clear wood requires the determination of 12 elastic constants that form the stiffness matrix. The stiffness matrix consists of 3 longitudinal elasticity moduli (EL, ER, ET), 3 shear elasticity moduli (GLR, GLT, GRT), and 6 Poisson's ratios (υLR, υRL, υLT, υTL, υRT, and υTR). These parameters can be reduced to 9 independent values when symmetry conditions in the stiffness matrix are applied; therefore, its determination becomes fundamental work.
Conventionally, this set of material parameters is experimentally determined by performing mechanical tests in which both the loading and specimen geometry are typically oriented along the material directions (Sliker et al. 1994; Aira et al. 2014). However, there is currently an increasing use of non-destructive techniques to this end, including methods like ultrasound (Gonςalves et al. 2001, 2011a, 2011b, 2014; Hering et al. 2012). Additionally, the strain measuring devices are also improving. This initiates an emerging tendency to use optical methods that provide full-field results. Optical methods also allow for inhomogeneous assumptions of the stress/strain states across the specimen, which are characteristic of materials with such complex heterogeneities, such as wood (Avril et al. 2008; Dahl and Malo 2009; Majano-Majano et al. 2012; Xavier et al. 2012). These methods also have the advantage of having no physical contact with the specimen, thereby avoiding any possible mechanical influence.
The present study focuses on determining the elastic constants of E. globulus, which define its behavior to allow its implementation in any numerical model. The two different methodologies used for this purpose to compare the results were ultrasound wave propagation and mechanical compression testing. Additionally, two different techniques have also been compared for the strain measurements during the performance of the mechanical tests: conventional, simple, and double gauges, and the 3-D stereovision optical system, based on the principles of digital image correlation (DIC).
The raw material consisted of 20 high visual-quality boards made of E. globulus (Labill.) from Galicia. The boards followed a MEF visual grade according to UNE 56546, corresponding to a D40 strength class. These boards had nominal dimensions of 20 mm x 80 mm x 3000 mm, and did not present major defects like knots or noticeable twists or bow deformations.
Prior to the specimen's preparation, these boards were conditioned in a conditioning chamber at a temperature of 20 ºC ± 2 ºC and 65% ± 5% relative humidity, according to the ISO 3129 (2012). It resulted in an average moisture content of 10.8%.
Six small prismatic specimens were cut from each board following the orientations represented in Fig. 1, which resulted in a total of 120 specimens. Three of these specimens were oriented following the main orthotropic directions: longitudinal (L), radial (R), and tangential (T) (specimens 1, 2, and 3, respectively). The other three specimens were oriented 45º to the LR (longitudinal-radial), LT (longitudinal-tangential), and RT (radial-tangential) planes (specimens 4, 5, and 6, respectively). The same specimens were first tested via ultrasound and afterwards by mechanical compression, which measured the strains by gauges to obtain a direct comparison of the results.
Following the ultrasound and mechanical procedures, the dimensions and elastic constants evaluated from each of the 6 specimen types are compiled in Table 1.
For optical measurement analysis, 10 of the total 20 boards were used to produce another set of specimens with the same dimensions as specified in Table 1.
To perform the ultrasound tests, an Olympus Epoch 600 (Hamburg, Germany) portable device was used (Fig. 2). This was equipped with longitudinal and transversal Panametrics-NDT Olympus plane transducers, both with 1.0 MHz nominal frequency and a 15-mm external diameter. The longitudinal transducers emitted a single longitudinal wave, which propagated and polarized directionally towards emission (between the two transducers). The transversal transducers released a longitudinal wave that propagated and polarized directionally towards emission together with another transversal wave that propagated directionally towards emission and polarized in the perpendicular direction.
To improve the coupling as much as possible, pure starch glucose was used as the couplant gel between the transducers and the specimens to help keep constant pressure throughout measuring (Gonçalves et al. 2011a).
Although signal attenuation is reduced within the wood of small specimens, previous studies have shown that to approach the hypothesis of wave propagation in an infinite medium, the distance between the transducers must be greater than the wavelength (λ). Therefore, specimens that were longer than 3 λ to 5 λ were suitable (Bucur 2006; Trinca and Gonçalves 2009). In the present study, the distance between transducers was greater than 7 λ for all of the specimens and measurement directions (Table 1).
The elastic constants were obtained following the procedure described by Gonçalves et al. (2011b) and applied also by Vázquez et al. (2015). When waves propagate within a three dimensional body it is necessary to calculate all of the elements of the stiffness matrix [C] (Eq. 1). The reason for this is because the rest of the elastic properties of the body affect wave propagation along one direction. Ozyhar et al. (2013) concluded that obtaining the stiffness matrix when taking into account only the terms along the main diagonal of the matrix led to an over-estimation of the longitudinal and transversal elastic moduli.
The terms of the main diagonal of [C] were determined by using both longitudinal and transversal waves, placing the transducers at different positions respecting the axes of the material, and applying Christoffel's tensor equations, which relate the elasticity theory and wave propagation theory (Bucur 2006). These test configurations, and the corresponding mathematical expressions (Eqs. 2 to 7), are summarized in Table 2 (Gonçalves et al. 2014).
In Eqs. 2-7 (Table 2), ρ denoted the material density (kg/m3) and V the wave velocity (m/s), which was derived from the duration of the wave propagation and the length of the specimen in each test. The first subscript of the latter corresponded to the direction of propagation and the second with the direction of polarization. Therefore, VLL, VRR, and VTT, were the velocities of the longitudinal waves measured in the three axial directions. Furthermore, VRT, VTR, VLT, VTL, VLR, and VRL, were the velocities of the transversal waves measured in the axial directions with polarization along the perpendicular axes.
The off-diagonal terms of the matrix [C] were determined from the expressions below (Eqs. 8 to 10), derived from Christoffel's tensor. Transversal transducers were used in these cases, emitting quasi-transverse waves measured with a 45º angular displacement within the corresponding orthotropic plane (LR, LT, or RT), and polarizing in such plane. According to Bucur and Archer (1984), 45º angles led to the smallest relative error.
where, n2 = cos 45, n3 = sin 45, n1 = 0 taking α in relation to axis 2 (plane 23 = RT).
In equations 8, 9, and 10, Vα corresponded to the wave velocity propagating in α direction. Thereby, VQLR, VQLT, and VQRT denoted the velocity of a quasi-transversal wave propagating in a direction of 45º to the orthotropic axes of the corresponding plane (LR, LT, or RT). Once all of the stiffness matrix terms were obtained, the compliance matrix [S] was determined by directly calculating its inverse, [C]-1 = [S] (Eq. 11).
The 12 elastic constants can be calculated from the compliance matrix [S] terms. The Young's modulus, EL, ER, and ET were in the longitudinal, radial, and tangential directions, respectively. The shear modulus, GRT, GLT, and GLR were in the radial-tangential, longitudinal-tangential, and longitudinal-radial planes, respectively. The Poisson's ratios were υLR, υLT, υRT, υRL, υTL, and υTR for each of the planes.
This portion of the research was performed at the Laboratory of Engineering Timber Structures (PEMADE) in the University of Santiago de Compostela.
The small clear specimens used in the ultrasound study were also subjected to mechanical compression testing. The upper plate of the testing equipment was coupled to a loading cell of 50 kN, while the lower plate was fixed to a stationary metal frame so that both plates remained horizontal and parallel during the entire test (Fig. 3).
In the first batch of tests, the strains were measured by placing strain gauges directly onto the same specimens used previously for ultrasound testing (Fig. 3). The gauges responded to simple C2A-13-125LW-350 type with an effective length of 3.18 mm and an effective width of 1.78 mm. The gauges also responded to double rosettes C2A-13-125LT-350 type, each with an effective length of 3.18 mm, an effective width of 3.81 mm, and a sufficient sensitivity to measure deformation greater than 1·10-6 m/m. A cyanoacrylate adhesive with less longitudinal stiffness than the wood material was used to prevent restrictions on the specimen deformation by receiving the external load. This adhesive also showed high transversal stiffness so that the deformation of the strain gauge was not dampened by the thickness of the adhesive (Aira et al. 2014).
Six different mechanical tests were performed: compression parallel to the grain and applying the load along the longitudinal direction (Fig. 3a); compression perpendicular to the grain with the load in the radial and tangential directions (Fig. 3b); and oblique compression by applying the load at an angle of 45º to the three grain directions, respectively (Fig. 3c). In each of these tests, the gauges were placed onto the specimen according to different arrangements, in or out, of the axes depending on the elastic constant, determined according to Fig. 4.
Additionally, more compression tests were performed using a 3-D optical system for the strain measurements, ARAMIS® 3D (GOM, Braunschweig, Germany) (Fig. 5). This system applies the principles of digital image correlation (DIC) and possess clear advantages in comparison with the use of strain gauges like the obtainment of full-field measurements and not solely directionally, which is crucial for a non-homogeneous material. Full-field measurements are also advantageous for connecting the results with any macro-scale model. This technique also has the interest of being non-intrusive and requires simple specimen preparation (speckle pattern). In this study, the speckle pattern was performed via the application of a thin coating of white aerosol spray paint onto the specimen faces, followed by a spot distribution of black paint (Fig. 5).
In the DIC method, the displacement field was measured by analyzing the geometrical deformation of the images of the surface of interest. The images were recorded before and after deformation by two CCD cameras (5 Megapixels resolution) (GOM, Braunschweig, Germany). For this purpose, the initial undeformed image was mapped by the correlation of windows (facets) formed by a group of pixels, within which an independent measurement of the displacement was calculated.
A stereovision angle of 25º was set-up between the two cameras before calibration. A 35-mm lens and a reference field of view of 65 mm x 55 mm were selected. The base distance between cameras was set to 110 mm, which corresponded to a working distance of 340 mm. The depth of field was adjusted to 46 mm to image each pair of orthogonal adjacent faces of the prismatic specimen (Fig. 5).
For parameter measurements, a facet size of 15 pixels x 15 pixels was chosen as the region of interest for the size and the quality of the pattern. The facet step was set to 13 pixels x 13 pixels, which allowed for an overlapping of 2 pixels in order to enhance the spatial resolution. The in-plane displacements were then numerically differentiated to determine the strain field needed for the material characterization problem, on a base computation size of 5 subsets.
Every test was kept in the elastic range, which avoided failure to derive from the same specimen all of the possible elastic constants. For each loading direction, the specimens were placed on the testing machine in such a way that the deformation field at two adjacent faces could be measured simultaneously. During the tests, the cameras were triggered every second, while also logging the analogue signal readings of displacement and force from the loading machine during deformation of the specimen. They recorded synchronized stereo images of the patterned surface of these different loading stages. These were processed afterwards and the vertical and horizontal strains on the two visible faces of the specimens were obtained.
The stereovision measurements were performed at the Laboratory of Structures in the ETS Architecture, Technical University of Madrid.
From the ultrasound tests in hardwoods, an ultrasound wave propagating longitudinally followed the direction of the vessels (functioning as conductors) and the fibers (functioning as supports). The length-diameter ratio in these structures was high and they functioned as pipes adding continuity to the material, which favored an increase of the wave propagation velocity in this direction. Radially, the wave met the wood rays, which favored material continuity in this direction. On the contrary, there were no anatomical structures in the tangential direction, which favored the wave propagation that led to lower velocities than in the radial and longitudinal directions. Table 3 shows the wave propagation velocities for the different directions which, as they depend on the anatomy of the wood itself, must fulfill the following ratios: V11 > V22 > V33 (5350 > 1992 > 1341, respectively) and V66 > V55 > V44 (1432 > 1082 > 786, respectively).
Table 4 shows the stiffness matrix coefficients [C] that were obtained. Its validation is undertaken by considering the theoretical bases of the acoustic behavior and the mechanical properties of the wood. In this way, the resulting values must fulfill the next relations: C11 > C22 > C33 (23832 > 3375 > 1622, respectively), C66 > C55 > C44 (1756 > 969 > 533, respectively), and C12 > C13 > C23 (2221 > 1468 > 1190, respectively).
From the stereovision measurements performed during the mechanical tests, 3-D coordinates were determined for each pair of images and then converted to relative displacements and strains. The 3-D device allowed the determination of the strains of two specimen faces simultaneously (Fig. 6).
According to the defined procedure, the averaged values of the working area data were evaluated. Figure 7 shows an example of the longitudinal strains values in each of the three main directions, distributed in the specimen face when the load was applied parallel to the grain.
In the same way, Fig. 8 represents an example of the three strain distributions when the load was applied along the radial direction.
The tangential and longitudinal strain distributions when the load was applied following the tangential direction are shown in Fig. 9.
Figure 10 shows an example of the horizontal and vertical strain distributions that resulted from an oblique compression test along the shear plane LR, using specimens with a slope of the grain of 45º. Due to the restrictions of the small specimen dimensions, it was not possible to test along the other two shear planes.
Table 5 summarized the mean values and variation coefficients for the elastic constants obtained by ultrasound and mechanical tests. These values are also compared to those reported by Guitard (1987) for hardwoods with a medium density of 650 kg/m3. In the present study, the average density of the eucalyptus specimens was 854 kg/m3 with a variation coefficient of 14.90%. This value is similar to that stated at UNE 56546 (2013).
As can be seen, the elastic moduli of E. globulus were slightly higher than the references due to the higher density and subsequently greater stiffness (Guitard 1987). In contrast, the Poisson's ratios were close to the reference values. Overall, the results were consistent and presented the usual variation coefficients in wood.
When the values obtained from ultrasound and mechanical tests were compared using strain gauges, it can be noted that the longitudinal elasticity moduli determined by the ultrasound were slightly higher than those resulting from the mechanical procedure. The greatest differences were found in the radial direction, especially in the tangential direction with lower values from the mechanical test using gauges. This may have been due to the influence of the curvature of the growth rings, which would have made the wood behave less like a theoretical orthotropic material. This may have affected the mechanical test measurements (Gonçalves et al. 2011b). Moreover, it can be observed that ET obtained by ultrasound was similar to the reference value. This indicated that the measurement from the mechanical testing was influenced by the excessive closeness of the strain gauges to the compression plates, as the specimen dimensions were very small for this type of test.
With respect to the values obtained from the stereovision measurements by ARAMIS®, all of the longitudinal moduli were higher than those that resulted from the mechanical gauge readings, but not as high as the values obtained by ultrasound (excluding EL). Stereovision technique also provided the highest value of the only shear moduli measured, GLR. Accordingly, the values of the elastic constants from local gauges measurements were usually underestimated in comparison to the results obtained from full-field strain measurements, which provided more realistic values.
Regarding CoV values, It seems to be significantly higher for mechanical measurements with gauges except for ET.
In spite of the fact that ultrasound and mechanical methods are valid means of obtaining the material stiffness matrix, authors such as Preziosa (1982), Bucur (2006), and Gonçalves et al. (2001, 2011b, 2014) state that they expect the values resulting from ultrasound tests to be slightly higher. This is because static tests follow an isothermic process in which the energy within the material does not vary, while dynamic tests follow an adiabatic process in which the energy within the material increases. To analyze whether there is a tendency that indicated that values obtained using ultrasound were regularly and proportionally higher than those obtained using mechanical tests using strain gauges, Table 6 shows the average ratio between both values for each specimen.
A proportional relation can be seen between the elasticity moduli obtained using both methodologies. Therefore, the values obtained using ultrasound were approximately 25% higher in the longitudinal direction, approximately 50% higher radially, and approximately 75% higher tangentially, than those obtained using mechanical tests. The numerical difference variation coefficients fell within the usual values for wood.
The Poisson's ratios obtained from every methodology were very similar to each other without much significant statistical difference. Measurements of υRL using the mechanical tests were less precise than ultrasound, due to very low strain values.
Table 7 shows the usual relations between elasticity moduli given by Guitard (1987) together with the experimental values obtained from the present research. The difference between the longitudinal elasticity modulus in the grain direction and the radial and tangential moduli was greater than the average for hardwoods. In general, the ratios obtained by ultrasound were found to be closer to the reference values than those obtained by the mechanical tests.
Table 8 shows the experimental values of these relations together with the reference values for hardwoods (Bodig and Jayne 1982).
Ultrasound tests perfectly verified the symmetrical ratios because the calculation method itself assumed a priori theoretical orthotropy for the material (C12 = C21, C13 = C31, and C23 = C32). In the mechanical tests using strain gauges, it was only possible to compare the values obtained in the longitudinal and radial directions, with a very small difference between them (2.01 ≈ 2.35), close to the value determined by ultrasound (2.11). Almost symmetrical ratios were also observed in the longitudinal and radial directions from the stereovision measurements asserting the suitability of this procedure. The longitudinal and tangential directions differed in a greater extent. Overall, the ratios obtained by all of the methodologies fell within normal values for hardwoods.
The elastic values of Eucalyptus globulus (Labill.) obtained by ultrasound measurements were higher than those coming from mechanical testing using conventional gauges and the same specimens for both cases. The most noticeable difference between them was found for the longitudinal elasticity moduli.
All of the elasticity moduli obtained from stereovision measurements were higher than those that resulted from using conventional gauges. This may lead to the conclusion that local measurements usually provide underestimated values, in comparison to the results from the full-field strain measurements crucial for a non-homogeneous material.
The ratios between the different elastic constants fell within the normal reference values for other hardwoods. The results determined by ultrasound were the closest ones, being valid the orthotropic assumptions of the general elastic model.
Longitudinal and transversal elasticity moduli indicated that globulus (Labill.) had higher stiffness than that of other hardwoods, making this species of great potential for the development of high added-value products for structural applications. Therefore, the determined elastic constants could be implemented as input parameters in any numerical model.
The results presented were developed within the research project: "Analysis of the stress relaxation in curved members and new joints solutions for timber gridshells made out of Eucalyptus globulus," BIA2015-64491-P, co-funded by the State Program for the promotion of Scientific and Technical Research of Excellence (2015 call), of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF).
EN 1912 (2013). "Structural timber- Strength classes- Assignment of visual grades and species," European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium.
EN 338 (2010). "Structural timber. Strength classes," European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium.
EN 384 (2004). "Structural timber. Determination of characteristic values of mechanical properties and density," European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium.
FAIR CT 98-9579 (2001). RTD of Sawmilling Systems Suitable for European Eucalyptus globulus Affected by Growing Stresses, CIS-Madera.
Fernández-Golfín, J. I., Díez, R., Hermoso, E., Baso, C., Casas, J. M., and González, O. (2007). "Caracterización de la madera de Eucalyptus globulus para uso estructural," Boletín del CIDEU 4: 91-100.
Gibson, L. J., and Ashby, M. F. (2001). Cellular Solids- Structure and Properties, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Gonςalves, J. C., Valle, A. T., and Costa, A. F. (2001). "Estimativas das constantes elásticas da madeira por meio de ondas ultrassonoras (The use of ultrasonic method for estimating wood elastic constants)," Revista Cerne 7(2), 81-92.
Gonςalves, R., Trinca, A. J., and Guilherme, D. (2011b). "Comparison of elastic constants of wood determined by ultrasonic wave propagation and static compression testing," Wood and Fiber Science 43(1), 64-75.
Guitard, D. (1987). Mécanique du Matériau Bois et Composites, Cépadues-Editions, Toulouse, France.
Hering, S., Keunecke, D., and Niemz, P. (2012). "Moisture-dependent orthotropic elasticity of beech wood," Wood Science and Technology 46(5), 927-938.
IFN III (2007). "Third National Forestry Inventory," Ministry of Agriculture, Feeding, and Environment of Spain, Madrid, Spain.
ISO 3129 (2012). "Sampling methods and general requirements for physical and mechanical testing of small clear wood specimens," International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.
ISO 13061 (2014). "Physical and mechanical properties of wood, test methods for small clear specimens, and determination of strength in compression perpendicular to grain," International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Lara-Bocanegra, A. J., Majano-Majano, A., Crespo, J., and Guaita, M. (2017). "Finger-jointed Eucalyptus globulus with 1C-PUR adhesive for high performance engineered laminated products," Construction and Building Materials 135, 529-537.
Mascia, N. T. (2003). "Concerning the elastic orthotropic model applied to wood elastic properties," Maderas: Ciencia y Tecnología 5(1), 3-19.
Preziosa, C. (1982). Method for Determining Elastic Constants of Wood by Use of Ultrasound, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Orleans, Orleans, France.
Sliker, A., Yu, Y., Weigel, T., and Zangh, W. (1994). "Orthotropic elastic constants for eastern hardwood species," Wood and Fiber Science 26(1), 107-121.
UNE 56546 (2013). "Clasificación visual de la madera aserrada para uso estructural, Madera de frondosas (Visual grading for structural sawn timber. Hardwood timber)," Madera y Corcho, Spain.
Article submitted: October 31, 2016; Peer review completed: December 29, 2016; Revised version received and accepted: March 29, 2017; Published: April 4, 2017.


text:
Q: How to structure objects so this subquery works I have a custom object that looks like this
MyObject__c
-- Company__c (ref to Account)
-- ParentCompany__c (ref to Account)
-- CompanyType__c (picklist: Parent/Child)
-- (a lot more data and demographics fields)

What I need to do is write a SOQL query that takes an Account Id which can be either a parent or child account Id, but it needs to return the CompanyType__c = 'Parent' MyObject__c record.
This is a new Salesforce implementation, so I have a certain amount of control over the objects. I can edit or change the relationships up in a way to support this action if needed.
I also have control over the Apex. This MyOject__c table gets populated by a nightly scheduled batchable. I could do something with that.
More Info
If the input account id represents a parent company, then this works WHERE CompanyType__c = 'Parent' AND Company__c = :acctId. However, if the Account Id is that of a child account, I still need to get the MyObject__c record for it's parent. And I haven't been able to come up with a subquery that works.
Here's a bit more about the config. Account also has a custom field:
-- Id
-- CorporateParent__c (ref to Account)

There is a 1-to-many relationship from Account to MyObject__c. Also:

*

*If an Account is the corporate parent, then CorporateParent__c is null.

*For a given MyObject__c, if CompanyType__c = 'Child', then MyObject__c.Company__r.CorporateParent__c == MyObject__c.ParentCompany__c.

*MyObject__c differs from Account in that if it is a 'Parent' record then both Company__c and ParentCompany__c have the same account Id.

If this were SQL query, either of these 2 queries would work:
SELECT Id, Name, etc
FROM MyObject__c
WHERE CompanyType__c = 'Parent'
  AND (
    Company__c = :acctId
    OR Company__c = (
      SELECT TOP(1) Parent__c
      FROM MyObject__c
      WHERE Company__c = :acctId
    )
  )

Or:
SELECT Id, Name, etc
FROM MyObject__c
WHERE CompanyType__c = 'Parent'
  AND (
    Company__c = :acctId
    OR Company__c = (
      SELECT CorporateParent__c
      FROM Account
      WHERE Id = :acctId
    )
  )

But I cannot seem to get the relationships correct, or the queries. I've seen the error "sObject type 'some-field' is not supported. If you are attempting to use a custom object, be sure to append the '__c' after the entity name." so many times. I've tried using IN instead of =. When I try the subquery on Account, it says the data has to be related. When I try the subquery on MyObject__c, it says it has to be on a relationship. I don't know what to try next.

A: If I understood your schema correctly then below one should work as expected but it will count as 2 SOQL quesries against the governor limits.
Id actId = '0012x000006YkUbAAK';

MyObject__c[] objlist = [SELECT Id, Name
                         FROM MyObject__c
                         WHERE Company__c =: actId
                         OR Company__c =: [SELECT CorporateParent__c
                                           FROM Account
                                           WHERE Id =:actId ].CorporateParent__c];

Let me know if this helps.

A: Use multiple SObjectTypes in the query
SELECT
   m.Name, a.Name, ac.Name
FROM
   MyObject__c m,
   MyObject__c.Company__r a,
   MyObject__c.Company__r.CorporateParent__r ac
WHERE
   m.Company__c = :acctId
   OR a.CorporateParent__c = :acctId

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In the winter of 2008, Stillwater Media Group was formed with one idea in mind. To create a highly effective agency that could deliver reliable solutions for marketing managers for long term partnerships and exclusivity. We have labored for the better part of a decade and while it is always an honor to be recognized as a leader in the industry, we hold the loyalty of our clientele as our greatest achievement.
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text:
import { log as plog } from "pmodule/tracker";
import { log as nlog } from "nmodule/tracker";
import p from "pmodule";
import n from "nmodule";

it("should be able to override side effects", function() {
	expect(p).toBe("def");
	expect(n).toBe("def");
	expect(plog).toEqual(["a.js", "b.js", "c.js", "index.js"]);
	expect(nlog).toEqual(["index.js"]);
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I took this peaceful golden sunset photo 6 days before posting this page.
A nice fit for the golden years of retirement.
If you take careful notice, you can see the sun in this photo. It's setting right on the ridge, in the middle of the middle clump of trees.
This pastor retirement poem can be used as a tribute for the pastor.
It may be a good fit for an elderly pastor, missionary, or church worker.
It may be especially appropriate for a retiring or retired pastor.
Time to use your talent pool.
Working the vineyard, helping the lowly.
Scorches the grass, the tree leaves wilt.
Done your best to the hilt.
Is soon coming. It's Jesus.
The hard work, the toil, the grime.
He refreshes you. He's your Savior.
Now you're thankful for the shade.
Because inside you have the Light.
Yours is the gentle peaceful flame.
Here's another poem, The Very Best Pastor Appreciation.
You might be thinking that to say "the Very Best" is a bit arrogant. This poem might surprise you.
It surprised me too. I was blessed to have this inspiration.
May it inspire and encourage you and others.


Guide to Ripley, Surrey ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.
RIPLEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Send, union of Guildford, Second division of the hundred of Woking, W. division of Surrey, 6 miles (N. E.) from Guildford. There is a place of worship for Baptists.
↑ Hearth Tax Online - free.
↑ John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870).
This page was last modified on 9 November 2018, at 16:37.


text:
U.S. House Committee Approve Big Tech Report
@charlotteahenry
Apr 15th, 2021 12:32 PM EDT | Link
The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee formally approved a report that accuses big tech companies, including Apple, of either buying or crushing smaller rivals, Reuters reported. The extensive document offers various options for changing antitrust law.
The more than 400-page staff report will become an official committee report, and the blueprint for legislation to rein in the market power of the likes of Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Facebook (FB.O). The report was approved by a 24-17 vote that split along party lines. The companies have denied any wrongdoing. The report first released in October – the first such congressional review of the tech industry – suggested extensive changes to antitrust law and described dozens of instances where it said the companies had misused their power.
Check It Out: U.S. House Committee Approve Big Tech Report
Adding Car to HomeKit for In-App Controls and Automation
Adobe Releases Global Emoji Diversity & Inclusion Report
One thought on "U.S. House Committee Approve Big Tech Report"
W. Abdullah Brooks, MD says:
April 15, 2021 at 1:10 EDT PM
Of all the big tech problems to focus on, the US Congress, bless their hearts, have chosen to address a threat the least related to national security, and the serial appropriation of user data without verifiable informed consent or compensation and those data being subsequently and repeatedly leaked to bad guys, including state actors, hell-bent upon wreaking havoc, when not crippling the nation's infrastructure or interfering with governance and the peaceful transfer of power.
To be sure, antitrust and other anti-competitive behaviour and the hobbling of the independent emergence of novel technologies and solutions are serious threats to innovation, and thus indirectly to national security, but given the repeated revelations involving compromised data, both private and public, one would think that legislators would apply evidence-based prioritisation in problem solving.
That assumes, of course, that elected legislators intend to solve problems, rather than to proliferate and propagate them; and there is that bit of folk wisdom about the word 'ass-u-me'.


text:
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By Erin Tierney
The Creswell Chronicle
Appointees, stipends, other biz discussed
Budget appointments, council stipends and a housing survey were among the items discussed at this week's Creswell City Council meeting.
In the Mayor's Report, Creswell Mayor Richard Zettervall announced that the Creswell Budget Committee appointments were made. Mayor Zettervall appointed Dave Stram; Councilor Misty Inman appointed Robert Jackson; Councilor Kevin Prociw appointed Clark Kent; and Councilor Judy Drago appointed Shaymond Nickelson. These are three year appointments. The terms on the Budget Committee expire in 2021.
In other business, city council also voted to amend the stipend policy to nix a wait period and a sunset clause on the document at Monday's meeting.
A stipend is a predetermined amount of money that is provided periodically to help offset expenses, and can be used as an enticement to volunteers, the stipend policy reads.
The current stipend policy requires all newly elected officials to wait three months to be eligible for the stipend, but council noted in January that the wording of the policy created several questions.
Some of the questions raised regarding the stipend wait period were if a re-elected councilor is considered to be "newly elected" and if a councilor that takes on the duties as mayor or council president should be subject to the three-month wait period.
Council agreed the wait period should be removed as it seems arbitrary and open to various interpretations, and voted unanimously to remove the eligibility period.
Council also discussed the sunset clause, which provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law. They noted that the stipends seem to be working well and are generally accepted by the community, so there is no need for the sunset clause.
The mayor receives a stipend of $150 per month, the council president $100 per month and the rest of the councilors $75 per month. Additionally, stipends also include a $75 technology stipend to offset the costs of maintaining home internet access via computer, phone or tablet.
CODE ENFORCEMENT, OTHER BIZ
There has been some work done at the charred Whistle Stop building at 213 S. Mill St. as the the damage from the November 2017 fire rendered the building a complete loss and a safety hazard.
Code Enforcement Officer Shelley Humble noted in her report that that in the month of January, the remaining interior walls on the second story were removed, the exterior south, north and east walls were removed and the debris continues to get cleaned up.
In other code business, the monthly report stated that there are currently three abandoned or foreclosed homes in Creswell, including 101 W. D St., 785 S. 2nd St. and 143 N. Front St.
As far as permits issued, in January there were six structural, plumbing and mechanical building permits issued; two construction permits issued; 12 electrical permits issued; one sign permit issued; and three fence permits issued. There were no permits issued for special event, new single family dwellings; new garages; shops or storage or commercial buildings.
A year-to-date (YTD) permit tally notes that there have been a total of 79 building permits issued; a total of 18 construction permits issued; a total of 45 electrical permits issued; one sign permit; six fence permits; four special event permits; and a total of 10 new single family dwelling permits issued. No YTD garage, shops, storage or commercial building have been issued.
City staff has been working with the LCSO to implement a secure Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS) portal through Lane County that will allow court staff the ability to run the court's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records. Currently LCSO runs DMV records for driving infractions that are being seen in Municipal Court.
City Recorder Roberta Tharp said that staff is ready to begin Security Awareness Training and LEDS certification, and a policy needs to be put in place in order to do so. Council voted unanimously okayed the policy.
The next city council meeting will be a work session on Monday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m. at City Hall. The public is encouraged to attend.