text:
Q: How to configure DNS load balancing (round robin) for 2 apache2 web servers on local (home network) using bind9 docker container? to start - I am still looking around on site investigating answers that look like they may allow me to find solution to my problem, posting here definitely isn't my first stop to find a solution I have been trying things for a while today. Also - thank you for reading.
I am working on an assignment for class where the object is to run a bind9 docker container as a DNS Load balancer to balance requests between two web servers using the round-robin method. So basically if I put in a request to the web server's domain name it will go to one web server's IP address, then the next request will go to next web server's IP address. I apologize if my terminology is a bit off, I'm still learning this stuff, but hopefully I've gotten the point across. I have been trying to use 2 Ubuntu 16.04 VMs for this, one with an httpd container running and one with httpd container and bind9 container running. I am able to get the web servers running, I'm able to connect to them using the host IP, and I'm also able to get the bind9 container running.
The part I'm really having trouble with is actually getting the bind9 DNS container to take me to the web server(s) if I enter the domain name into the browser.
Here is the command I used to start the bind9 container:
docker run -d --name=bind --dns=127.0.0.1 --publish=192.168.0.45:53:53/udp --publish=192.168.0.45:10000:10000 --volume=/srv/docker/bind:/data --env='ROOT_PASSWORD=SecretPassword' sameersbn/bind:latest
And the web servers are pretty straightforward I just bind the directory with my index.html file to /usr/local/apache2/htdocs and publish it to port 80 of host from port 80 of container.
All this has to be is a really simple setup on my local network so I don't need to register a domain name, I don't need mail servers or anything, ALL I NEED TO DO, is be able to use 'dig' to query the DNS server for the load balanced hostname, and have it resolve to the two different IP addresses of the web servers. Thank you for any guidance on this I would really appreciate a bit of help, I've looked at a ton of resources and I just don't know what's going wrong.
After I start the DNS server (bind9 container), I can use the command 'host google.com 172.x.x.x' and it returns the right info, 172.x.x.x is the IP of the docker container I guess, because my local network is 192.168.0.1/24. When I try to do the same command with the IP of the docker host, it says REFUSED. I tried editing ACL's, using webmin to add zones and address records, and I just couldn't get it working. I'll stop writing now hopefully I've given enough info, thank you for reading.

A: You didn't describe what 172.x.x.x is all about.
It's unclear why it would be relevant at all.
Please post dig output.
The host command is nice enough,
but seeing additional details will aid your debugging efforts.
You are shooting for output that resembles this:
$  dig +nottl a yahoo.com @8.8.8.8

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> +nottl a yahoo.com @8.8.8.8
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 50455
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 6, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;yahoo.com.     IN  A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
yahoo.com.      IN  A   74.6.143.25
yahoo.com.      IN  A   74.6.231.20
yahoo.com.      IN  A   74.6.231.21
yahoo.com.      IN  A   98.137.11.163
yahoo.com.      IN  A   98.137.11.164
yahoo.com.      IN  A   74.6.143.26

;; Query time: 62 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)

There are two things you want to see working.
(1.)
Shell into the container and do a local dig query
to obtain an answer from the local BIND server.
We want to verify we can get a good answer in the "easy" case.
Mess with the daemon's config until the answer looks sensible.
Also, use netstat -an and/or lsof -i:53
to verify the daemon issued a bind() for 0.0.0.0
or similarly appropriate address.
(2.)
From the client of interest, send a dig query @192.168.0.45.
If this fails, it's a network routing thing.
While you're at it, verify that curl (or telnet)
can hit TCP port 10000.
You will find it convenient to use curl -i
so you'll see the headers sent back by the webserver.

There's a slightly fine point here.
You configured UDP 53, which is kind of good enough.
But it's certainly not correct.
DNS requires connectivity on TCP port 53, as well.
Sometimes DNS answers are too big to fit within
a single (unfragmented) UDP packet.
Especially within a signed DNSSEC zone.
When that happens, the nameserver sends a response marked "truncated",
and client is expected to retry on TCP port 53.
You may find that telnet 192.168.0.45 53 is a convenient way
to verify connectivity.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Scott Cam snaps at Tess and Luke: 'Finish the bloody house'
After 13 weeks of whingeing from contestants, The Block's Scott Cam has finally had enough, laying down the law in the latest episode.
Scott Cam snaps at Tess and Luke: 'Finish the bloody house' (The Block)
The Block's Scott Cam has finally had enough, laying down the law.
Scott Cam doesn't have much patience for their complaints.Source:Channel 9
Tempers are fraying on The Block after 13 long weeks of gruelling renovations – and not just among the contestants.
Block host Scott Cam had a tense showdown with perennial underdogs Tess and Luke during Tuesday's episode when the pair tried to complain that rival team Mitch and Mark's sudden budget woes were somehow unfair to them.
Cam's blunt message? "Finish the bloody house."
RELATED: Tess and Luke go rogue, slamming The Block
RELATED: Scott Cam gets brutally honest about The Block's cash woes
Earlier this week, frontrunners Mitch and Mark were stunned to discover that, due to some unexpectedly large bills, they'd burned through all their remaining money and were almost $10,000 in the red.
Since then, the pair have been scrambling to figure out how to finish – much to the delight of several other teams.
Cam dropped by Tess and Luke's house in Tuesday's episode, a familiar scene during this series as he'd deliver the couple frequent budget lectures.
Tess still thinks the situation's unfair.Source:Channel 9
Cam wrangles with Tess and Luke.Source:Channel 9
This time, they wanted to give him the grilling.
The Cairns couple wanted to know why Mitch and Mark had been allowed to get themselves several thousand dollars into debt before trades had to be pulled, while they'd been forced to send their teams packing before their money had even run out.
To them, it's a double standard – one that meant Mitch and Mark essentially squeezed more out of their limited budget. "How's that fair on everyone else?" asked Luke.
Cam assured the duo that Mitch and Mark weren't receiving special treatment as they would have to sell items they bought for their home just to recoup the money they owed.
Tess was unconvinced.
Tess and Luke think Mitch and Mark have had special treatment.Source:Channel 9
"They've been able to do all these amazing things like put speakers in the ceilings whereas we've reeled it in big time. If we weren't keeping track of our invoices, we could've won other rooms too," she argued.
Cam informed the couple Mitch and Mark's issues were relatively recent: "They weren't going into the red four weeks ago when you guys were. And you're now in a better position than them. At the end of the day, we did you a favour," he tells them.
It fell on deaf ears – and when Luke complained that he and Tess were still unable to finish their home, Cam lost patience.
"Mate, you're a carpenter; come on. Don't put that on me. Finish the bloody house! Don't talk to me about carpentry when you're a carpenter. Please!" he said, storming out of the house.
"I'm only one … I need another three, Scotty. Can I go into the red?" quipped Luke.
Mark's blaming himself for the budget blowout.Source:Channel 9
Later in the episode, Mark seemed to be doing it tough over his and Mitch's budget mismanagement. He'd been going through the difficult process of negotiating big reductions on his trades' invoices, and it was taking a toll.
"I feel like I've dropped the ball on my job, and that's put us in a position where we probably won't be able to finish. Feels like I've let people down," he told the cameras, tears welling. "I feel pretty bad about it."
The Block airs 7.30pm Monday to Wednesdays and 7pm Sundays on Nine.
SAG Awards red carpet 2020: Best, worst dressed celebrities

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The national average price of diesel is still 9.8 cents more than it was a year ago, when the price was $2.972, DOE said after its March 18 survey of fueling stations.
The decrease was the first drop in price after four weeks of consecutive increases in the average weekly diesel price, totaling 11.3 cents. But average prices for diesel, trucking's main fuel, did not decline in every region. Prices rose the most in New England, up 1.7 cents to $3.200 per gallon.
Diesel prices dropped the most in the Midwest region, falling 1.9 cents to $2.992 per gallon.
The price of gasoline went up 7.7 cents, to $2.548 per gallon. Still, gasoline is 5 cents cheaper than it was a year ago.
Oil closed above $60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on March 20, after flirting with the mark for days. The close came after reports of the biggest withdrawal of crude in U.S. storage tanks since July, signaling tightening supplies, according to Bloomberg News. Thus, the diesel price respite may be short-lived.
The factors pushing costs higher are OPEC production cuts, supply disruptions in Iran and Venezuela, and ongoing fears over the course of U.S.-China trade negotiations, Bloomberg said.
Shrinking crude oil inventories are surprising, but not too much given the vitality of U.S. oil exports, said Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. At the same time that the U.S. is exporting some oil and gasoline, imports are slowing because of OPEC cuts and Venezuelan problems.
"Crude should be building (in inventories) but we have strong exports," Cinquegrana told Transport Topics.
Spring, which started March 20, usually sees gasoline and diesel prices creep upward, as motorists increase driving activity, Cinquegrana said. But even with the lower crude oil and distillate inventories, Cinquegrana said he doesn't see gasoline prices going too high in 2019.
Cinquegrana projects gasoline peaking at $2.80 per gallon, he said, and averaging at $2.55 for the year.
A wild card could be the lower U.S. inventories for distillates, from which diesel is made. Cinquegrana said distillate stocks are below the five-year average. But the inventories also seem stable: The DOE's Energy Information Administration reported that distillate stocks stood at 136.4 million barrels on March 9, up 3.3 million barrels from a year before.
Despite prospect of the increasing oil and diesel prices, not all trucking companies engage in hedging, or buying long-term supplies low. Instead, companies such as Celadon Group Inc. look to get deals from trucking fuel stations.
Celadon, based in Indianapolis, has about 3,200 trucks. Fleets are divided into groups of between 40 to 50, and assigned a fleet manager, Schmidt said.
A third-party operation measures the trucks' fuel levels at departure, according to Matthew Douglass, Celadon vice president of planning and optimization.
Celadon truck drivers are expected to head to certain fuel stations when they need to refuel, but they are given leeway if weather or other conditions force a refueling somewhere without a discount. The truck driver in such a situation has to notify management.
Douglass said other techniques the company uses to achieve fuel efficiency are the use of sideskirts to cut down on wind resistance, and the use of auxiliary power units to heat and cool the cabs.
Overall, the company strives to cut down on idling, a major cost of trucking.
Celadon Group ranks No. 35 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of largest for-hire carriers in North America.


My mother always told me not to play with fire, but when we are talking about long, luscious, and curly eyelashes, then I think our mothers would approve. One day i was using a hair straightener to curl my hair. While it was curling I thought to myself "wouldn't it be great if my eyelashes could curl the same". With that wacky thought comes a wacky do-it-yourself idea. I went to find a regular lighter, and I took my eyelash curler and lit the top clasp (only) portion of the eyelash curler.
I only held it under the eyelash curler for about 3 seconds. After that wait about 30-60 seconds before you slowly apply it to your eyelashes. If you feel that it is still too hot then wait a couple seconds more. The trick is to not let it cool all the way. It should feel warm but not extremely hot to the point where you cannot tolerate it.
Voila! I now give you super curly eyelashes. You will notice a stronger and longer hold as well as a more defined curl of your lashes. Apply your favorite mascara and enjoy!
Next Post Happy Birthday Blog!


text:
Colombian Journal of Anestesiology
Rev. colomb. anestesiol. vol.50 no.2 Bogotá Jan./June 2022 Epub May 20, 2022
https://doi.org/10.5554/22562087.e999
Use of MeNTS, Frailty and Symptom Scales for selecting surgical patients during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: A retrospective study
Luis Alberto Tafur-Betancourta c *
Adriana Sofía Rosero-Cundarb
Sergio Andrés Remolina-Granadosd
Marcela Arévaloe f
María del Mar Millán Ge g
Eduardo Lema-Flórezh
Andrés Zorrilla-Vacah
Víctor Hernán Ruiz-Holguínb
Catalina Ceballosb
Jaime Quintero-Sotod
a Plataforma de seguridad Seganest. Cali, Colombia.
b Clínica DESA. Cali, Colombia.
c Instituto para Niños Ciegos y Sordos. Cali, Colombia.
d Consorcio Nueva Clínica Rafael Uribe Uribe. Cali, Colombia.
e Universidad Libre. Cali, Colombia.
f Universidad Surcolombiana. Cali, Colombia.
g Universidad Militar Nueva Granada. Bogotá, Colombia.
h Universidad del Valle. Cali, Colombia.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to the cancellation of non-emergent surgeries in order to optimize the use of resources. Once the elective medical services are restored, a technical and ethical strategy becomes critical to select candidate patients for elective surgery.
To describe the results from the implementation of MeNTS (Medically Necessary Time-sensitive Procedures), FI-CGA, and survey on COVID-19 symptoms Scales, as methods for the selection of patients who were candidates for elective surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in a third level institution in Cali, Colombia.
The databases of the results on the administration of MeNTS, frailty index (FI-CGA) and COVID 19 symptoms scales in patients who were candidates for elective surgery in a third level clinic in Cali city, between March 1st and August 31st, 2020 were reviewed.
A total of 1,044 patients were included, of which 647 (62.0 %) were females, with a median age of52 years (interquartile range [IQR] 38-62). 98 % of the patients were asymptomatic, the overall median score for MeNTS was 48 (IQR 44-52) and the average for FI-CGA was 0.0 (standard deviation 0.1).
MeNTS, FI-CGA and the Symptoms Survey are easily accessible scales amidst the pandemic and are helpful to select patients with intermediate and low risk of perioperative morbidity in elective surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Further studies are required to confirm these findings and to clarify the potential of these tools in the selection of patients that meet the high-risk criteria.
Keywords: Outpatient surgical procedures; Risk behavior; SARS-COV-2 infection; Risk scales; Anesthesiology
La pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 ha ocasionado la suspensión de cirugías no urgentes con el fin de optimizar los recursos. Una vez los servicios médicos electivos son restablecidos, es fundamental disponer de una estrategia técnica y ética para la selección de los pacientes candidatos a cirugía electiva.
Describir los resultados observados durante la implementación de las escalas MeNTS (Medically Necessary Time-sensitive Procedures), IF-VIG y Encuesta de síntomas para COVID-19, como métodos de selección de pacientes candidatos a cirugía electiva durante la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 en una institución de nivel tres en la ciudad de Cali, Colombia.
Se revisaron las bases de datos de los resultados de la aplicación de escalas de MeNTS, índice de fragilidad (IF-VIG) y los síntomas para COVID 19, en pacientes candidatos a cirugía electiva en una clínica de tercer nivel en la ciudad de Cali, entre marzo 1 y agosto 31 del 2020.
En total 1.044 pacientes fueron incluidos, de los cuales 647 (62,0 %) fueron mujeres con una mediana de edad de 52 años (rango intercuartil [RIC] 38-62). El 98 % de los pacientes estuvieron asintomáticos, la mediana general de la puntuación total de MeNTS fue 48 (RIC 44-52) y el promedio para IF-VIG fue de 0,0 (desviación estándar 0,1).
MeNTS, IF-VIG y Encuesta de síntomas, son escalas fácilmente accesibles durante tiempos de pandemia y son de utilidad para seleccionar pacientes de riesgo intermedio y bajo de morbilidad perioperatoria en cirugía electiva durante la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2. Se requieren futuros estudios para confirmar estos hallazgos y para clarificar su potencial en la selección de pacientes con criterios que los definan como de riesgo alto.
Palabras clave: Procedimientos quirúrgicos ambulatorios; Comportamiento del riesgo; Infección por SARS-COV-2; Escalas de riesgo; Anestesiología
What do we know about this issue?
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to the cancellation of non-emergent surgeries in order to optimize the use of resources. Once the elective medical services are restored, it becomes critical to have a technical and ethical strategy to select candidate patients for elective surgery.
Therefore, there is a need to consider factors that were previously disregarded, such as the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in non-infected patients who will undergo an elective surgical procedure.
What new contributions are made by this study?
The administration of the MeNTS scale, FI-CGA and the Symptoms Survey are easy to access methods amidst the pandemic and are helpful to select patients with an intermediate and low risk of perioperative morbidity in elective surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the number of non-emergent surgeries was drastically reduced, due to the need to reallocate healthcare resources to meet massive needs. 1. Moreover, the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection has further intensified the health crisis worldwide 2. In Colombia, the so called COVID-19 disease, has concentrated in the more densely populated areas. In Valle del Cauca, the mortality rate has been one of the highest in the country, reaching levels as high as 6.38 % and 4.44 %, in cities such as Buenaventura and Cali, respectively 3. This situation lead to the cancellation of elective surgical procedures in most hospitals, for fear of increasing both morbidity and mortality 4.
In order to make the decision to restore elective medical services, it is essential to define the optimal moment to select patients and move forward to reopen this service. Therefore, it is necessary to consider factors previously disregarded 5,6,such as the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in non-infected patients that will undergo an elective surgery 6.
The recommendations based on the best available evidence to date establish the guiding principles for the resumption of elective surgeries as a strategy to mitigate the impact of the restrictive measures 7. One of those principles focuses on patient selection, in cases where time may be critical (Figure 1). Moreover, the American College of Surgery (ACS) approved a system to prioritize surgeries called MeNTS (Medically Necessary Time Sensitive procedures), to select the time-sensitive elective procedures 1. In addition to this tool which identifies the patient at low risk of infection, low requirement of hospital resources and low risk medical condition, it is critical to assess the level of vulnerability in an increasingly aging population.
SOURCE: Authors.
FIGURE 1 Steps established by the Joint Statement for resumption of outpatient procedures.
In Colombia, between 1995 and 2000 the population over 60 years old increased in proportion and has been maintained over the following decades 8. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the elderly have been particularly vulnerable 9. Jhonatan et al., studied the impact of frailty on the survival of the elderly with COVID-19, and found that it was associated with both early death and longer hospital stay 10. The most widely used tool to quantify frailty is the fragility index comprehensive geriatric assessment tool (FI-CGA). According to this scale, scores below 0.2 are associated with a 0 % mortality at 12 months, while a FI-CGA of 0.64 is associated with a 100% mortality at 12 months 11.
Designing scales such as MeNTS and Frailty is a key strategy for an ethical and technical selection of elective patients who are in the waiting list to undergo surgery. Currently these are the only tools available to make a decision, since the term elective is not a synonym of optional in these surgeries; hence, some institutions have used these tools as a strategy to resume their activities.
Another indispensable variable when selecting patients for elective procedures is the likelihood of having COVID-19. It has been observed that COVID-19 symptoms are similar to those of flu; however, a combination of the most predictive symptoms could help to guide the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 12. Based on the WHO recommendations, the Ministry of Health has standardized the case definition for SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19 infection. Such definition, pursuant to epidemiological and clinical criteria, establishes three types of cases: suspicious, probable and confirmed.
The objective of this study is to describe the results of the implementation of the MeNTS, FI-CGA and the COVID-19 Symptoms Survey Scales, as selection methods of patients who are candidates for elective surgery amidst the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Design and study population
This retrospective study was designed using the medical registry of patients candidates for elective surgery in a third level clinic in Cali, during the COVID-19 pandemic, between March 1st and August 31st, 2020. The elective cases were defined as those in which a reasonable delay could be acceptable; the procedures that were not an emergency, but were time-critical, were fast-tracked and were not included in this initiative. The study was endorsed by the ethics committee of the institutions involved, pursuant to Minutes INV-01-2021 and each participant gave his/her informed consent.
The patients included were between 18 and 70 years old, candidates to elective surgery who met the cut-off points of the scales selected (MeNTS, FI-CGA and Symptoms Survey) for assessment, and had a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test prior to surgery.
The patients excluded were: pregnant women, patients who refused surgery, and those who while waiting for the surgical procedure, became infected with COVID-19 - confirmed with a molecular RT-PCR test -and those who failed to submit the results of the COVID-19 RT-PCR before surgery.
The databases with the results of the scores were reviewed to prioritize surgeries: MeNTS, FI-CGA and symptoms Survey, and these were uploaded into the MyChecktime® software (a program developed for enhanced operating room safety) 13.
The cut-off points for the assessment scales were taken from the current recommendations for each scale.
MeNTS Scale
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) suggests that patients should undergo ambulatory surgery during the pandemic with a score below 57 points 7; other organizations such as the Spanish Association of Surgeons recommends a score of 60 points, which is accepted by the Colombian Association of Surgeons 5. The MeNTS score is estimated in each case based on 21 different items, including procedure factors, disease factors, and factors particular to the patient; the scores range from 21 to 105. Low scores suggest a higher priority, less use of resources and lower risk for the patient 8. The cut-off point used by the institution was less than 60 points.
Frailty Index
Before the pandemic, Jordi Amblàs-Novellas et al. documented that scores below 0.2 were associated with a 0% mortality at 12 months, and a FI-CGA of 0.64 was associated with a 100% mortality at 12 months. In order to avoid adding a risk factor, the cut-off point for patients undergoing surgery in this institution was 0.2 11.
Probability of COVID-19 based on symptoms
Based on a survey, the institution considered the asymptomatic patients; i.e., patients with no clinical or epidemiological criteria according to WHO, to define a suspicious, probable or confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2.
Administration of the assessment scales: MeNTS, FI-CGA and SARS-CoV-2 -associated Symptoms Survey
At the institution, the surgeon and the anesthesiologist together, via teleconsultation, administered the MeNTS, FI-CGA and SARS-CoV-2 - related symptoms survey. This information was used to populate the repository of surveys or databases. The patients programmed by the institution were those who met the cut-off points in the assessment scales.
Additionally, the patients who met the cut-off points underwent a molecular PCR test prior to the procedure. All patients who were candidates for elective surgery, had a teleconsultation to assess whether they presented clinical or epidemiological criteria for SARS-CoV-2 suspicion.
The data for the statistical analysis were obtained from the information exported from the database of the MyChecktime® software to an Excel spreadsheet. The continuous variables are expressed as average, standard deviation or median and interquartile range, based on the assumption of a normal distribution of the data. The categorical variables were described with frequencies and proportions. The data analysis used the statistical software Stata 14 (StataCorp, College Station, TX).
Between March 1st and August 31st, 2020, from a database of 1,800 patients waiting for ambulatory surgery, the institution selected 1,044 patients less than 70 years old and administered the surgical prioritization scales (MeNTS, FI-CGA and COVID Symptoms) via teleconsultation. The median age was 52 years (IQR 38-62), of which 647 (62.0 %) were females and 397 (38.0 %) were males. The medical specialties most frequently waiting for surgery were urology, 151 (14.5 %); orthopedics, 132 (12.6 %); gastroenterology, 116 (11.1 %); dermatology, 107 (10,2 %); general surgery, 100 (9.6 %) and gynecology, 95 (9.1 %). The median probability of symptoms for COVID-19 was 15 (IQR 1515), the overall median of the total MeNTS score was 48 (IQR 44-52) and the average for FI-CGA was 0.0 (SD 0.1) (Tables 1 & 2).
TABLE 1 Outpatients (by gender and specialty) who were administered the MeNTS, FI-CGA and Symptoms Scales.
n = 1,044 (%)
Age (years)** 52 (38-62)
Male 397 (38.0)
Female 647 (62.0)
Medical specialty*
Urology 151 (14.5)
Orthopedics and traumatology 132 (12.6)
Gastroenterology and endoscopy 116 (11.1)
Dermatology 107 (10.2)
General surgery 100 (9.6)
Gynecology and obstetrics 95 (9.1)
ENT 70 (6.7)
Gynecology 59 (5.7)
Maxillofacial surgery 47 (4.5)
Plastic surgery 39 (3.7)
Plastic and reconstructive surgery 29 (2.8)
Other 99 (9.5)
*Average.
** Median (IQR).
TABLE 2 Outpatients who were administered the MeNTS, FI-CGA and Symptoms Scales.
Selection Scales
Symptoms for COVID-19
Asymptomatic 1,023 (98.0)*
MeNTS Score 48 (44-52)**
< = 60 1,015 (97.2)
> 60 29 (2.8)*
FI-CGA 0 (0.1)*
< = 0.2 1,021 (97.8)*
> 0.2 23 (2.2)*
Of the 1,044 patients programmed for elective surgery, the institution selected 992 who met the cut-off points. However, the molecular RT-PCR test for COVID-19 was only available for 343 of these patients, with 16 patients who tested positive and 327 negative. During the selection process, 579 individuals were lost due to the non-availability of molecular RT-PCR tests during the peak of the pandemic (Figure 2). With regards to the analysis of central trend measurements of the 327 patients with negative PCR, the median age was 51 years (IQR 38-61), of which 207 (63.3 %) were females and 120 (36.7 %) were males. The most common surgical procedures were in the following specialties: OB/ GYN, 91 (28 %); orthopedics, 64 (19.6 %) and urology, 49 (15.0 %). Ambulatory procedures were classified based on the surgical risk: 40 (12.2 %) were high risk (for instance, joint replacements); 108 (33 %) intermediate risk (for instance intra-abdominal surgeries) and 155 (47.4 %) low risk (for example, herniorrhaphies); only 23 (7 %) were classified as very low risk (for example, endoscopic procedures) (Table 3).
FIGURE 2 Patient selection flowchart.
TABLE 3 Patients with negative PCR who met the cut-off points of MeNTS < 60, FI-CGA < 0.2 and asymptomatic.
n=327(%)
OB/GYN 91 (28)
Orthopedics 64 (19.6)
Urology 49 (15.0)
Plastic surgery 47 (14.4)
General surgery 46 (14.1)
Others 29 (8.9)
Surgical Risk
Very low risk 24 (7.3)
Low risk 155 (47.4)
Intermediate risk 108 (33.0)
High risk 40 (12.2)
Home 243 (74.3)
Hospitalization 82 (25.1)
ICU 1 (0.3)
Hospital Stay (days)**
Hospitalization 1 (1-2)
ICU 2
COVID-19 symptoms two weeks POP* 0 (0.0)
Discharge status two weeks POP*
Alive 326 (99.7)
Death 0(0.0)
*POP: postoperative.
After surgery, one patient (0.3 %) was transferred to the ICU because of unstable angina and ventricular tachycardia, although acute myocardial infarction and pulmonary thromboembolism were ruled out; 82 (25.1 %) patients were hospitalized for postoperative management and 243 (74.3 %), were discharged. The median hospital stay was 1 day (IQR 1-2). During teleconsultation follow-up, according to the clinical records, there were no recorded COVID-19-associated complications or deaths two weeks after surgery (Table 3).
In terms of hospitalization, 7 patients were hospitalized for more than 2 days, with assessment scales within the cut-off points established and due to complications unrelated with COVID-19 (Table 4).
TABLE 4 Characteristics of patients with a hospital stay longer than two days.
Hospital Stay**
MeNTS
FI-CGA
Orthopedics Orthopedic replacement revision 59 3 50 0,04 Elevated nitrogen compounds
Orthopedics Total knee replacement 50 3 49 0 Transfusion range anemia
OB/GYN Total abdominal hysterectomy 43 7 45 0 Rectal injury
OB/GYN Laparoscopic hysterectomy 42 4 53 0 ICU-SVT
Urology Prostatectomy 66 6 54 0 Urinary retention
Urology Nephrolithotomy 48 15 50 0 SSI
Urology Prostatectomy 59 4 54 0 Antibiotic management
*Years; **days; ICU: intensive care unit; SVT: supraventricular tachycardia; SSI: surgical site infection; MeNTS: Medically Necessary Time Sensitive procedures; FI-CGA: frailty index.
To conduct the surgical procedures, the institution engaged 200 workers including specialists, GPs, nursing staff and general services (housekeeping). By shift, approximately 45 people entered the surgical area in the morning, 45 in the afternoon and 10 in the evening. Over the study period and according to the information provided, only one case of COVID-19 was reported among the healthcare staff working in the ORs, but no epidemiological link was identified with the surgical microsystem.
The scoring systems for surgical prioritization such as those used in this study (MeNTS, FI-CGA and Symptoms) contribute with useful information for the selection of intermediate and low risk patients who are candidates for safe elective surgery in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic 8,14.
The negative health impact of adjourning medical-surgical procedures, in addition to the fact that the situation with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will not be resolved in the medium term, requires the resumption of care of patients that need procedures initially classified as elective and which were adjourned on the basis of increased morbidity and mortality risks 15. Therefore, it is critical to identify variables that provide information and facilitate the selection of procedures that can be performed safely 16,17. One of the pillars in this process is the identification of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, in whom the procedure must be deferred. Several algorithms have been considered which involve serial diagnostic testing (RT-PCR or detection of immunoglobulins) in addition to imaging studies, whether or not associated with predictive scales 18, which have not clearly shown a genuine impact.
The strategy assessed in this study is easy to administer and to reproduce in different institutions and allows for the identification of the lowest risk scenario for the surgical patient, taking into consideration the comorbidities, the procedure to be performed and the complexity involved; this is achieved through testing to identify pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Though there is limited information available on the impact of these strategies, they have proven to be effective in minimizing the risk of complications 18. In the Mayo Clinic, in an effort to reopen surgical procedures, the service of anesthesiology and neurosurgery adopted a similar system to that herein described, which consisted in conducting an epidemiological assessment of patients (Survey to identify clinical variables suggestive of COVID-19 in addition to exposure events) associated with diagnostic testing (RT-PCR) prior to surgery. Patients with negative results were programmed and the other patients were deferred until the isolation periods were completed or until viral infection was ruled out (except for emergent procedures). 103 patients were included and the assessment of the effects of this system in terms of infectious events and mortality; there were no documented cases of COVID-19-associated infection or postoperative deaths 19. Notwithstanding the various proposals, the evidence on approaches for selecting patients is limited, but it is necessary in the surgical environment.
The specific characteristics of the population insured, the number of COVID-19 cases at the time of the study, the geographical area and the risk of the procedures conducted, are all variables to keep in mind when determining the relevance of the strategy. This study was conducted in a population with a level of vulnerability above the national average, due to characteristics such as aging index, aging and old-age dependency (20, 167 and 32, respectively), far above the national average (7, 27 and 11 for 2019) 20.
In addition to the risk associated with age-related vulnerability 21, it is important to highlight that the procedures con-ducted have a complexity risk consistent with the level of care; in other words, the risk of the surgical procedures conducted during the study period was classified as intermediate and high risk, 33 % and 12 %, respectively.
Besides considering age and the risk of the procedures, another key factor to provide care to these patients during the pandemic was being able to ensure a short hospital stay to avoid increasing contagion and morbidity and mortality of the surgical population. In terms of length of hospital stay, this study showed that the percentage of postoperative hospitalization beyond 2 days was low and the follow-up after discharge did not report any deaths or potential SARS-CoV-2 infections.
One of the limitations of this study however, is that the results can only be extrapolated to intermediate risk populations and not to patients with a higher morbidity burden. This suggests the need to introduce a progressive change in the designated cut-off points in order to involve a larger number of patients with different characteristics to assess outcomes. Moreover, the strategy herein described is not infallible, since notwithstanding the control points established (care recommendations, use of diagnostic tests and implementation of the risk and detection scales), it is only possible to prevent OR admission to patients during the incubation period of COVID-19, but this will not prevent the infection; this is a potential risk to be considered by the entire healthcare team and by all patients. In order to improve effectiveness, the turnaround time of the results of the diagnostic tests should be quick, and this was an issue in the institution during the implementation of the strategy, because the laboratory was overwhelmed with the increasing demand for tests. Currently, in the case of institutions unable to provide adequate turnaround times for molecular tests, diagnostic antigen detection tests should be implemented, provided these have been validated in the country 22.
Instruments such as MeNTS, FI-CGA and Symptoms Survey are easily accessible during the pandemic and may be used to select patients with intermediate and low risk of perioperative morbidity undergoing elective surgery amidst the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Further studies are required to confirm these findings and to determine whether widening the selection ranges may help to identify the actual potential of the strategy of administering scales for the selection of patients exhibiting high risk criteria for perioperative morbidity amidst the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
ETHICAL DISCLOSURES
Ethics committee approval
This study was approved by the Instituto para Niños Ciegos y Sordos del Valle del Cauca Ethics Committee, in a meeting held on February 1st, 2021, as recorded in act number INV-2021-001.
Protection of human and animal subjects
The authors declare that no experiments were performed on humans or animals for this study. The authors declare that the procedures followed were in accordance with the regulations of the relevant clinical research ethics committee and with those of the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki).
Confidentiality of data
The authors declare that they have followed the protocols of their work center on the publication of patient data.
Right to privacy and informed consent
The authors declare that no patient data appear in this article.
The authors have obtained the written informed consent of the patients or subjects mentioned in the article. The corresponding author is in possession of this document.
Contributions by the authors
LATB: Design of the initial idea, planning of the study, data collection supervision, interpretation of the results and follow-up of the initial draft of the manuscript and approval thereof.
ASRC and ELF: Study planning, data collection supervision, interpretation of the results, development of the theoretical foundations for the initial manuscript.
SARG: Data collection supervision, interpretation of the results and data analysis.
MA and AZV: Search of information, construction and development of the initial manuscript, interpretation of the results.
MMMG: Drafting of the final manuscript, editing and development of schematics. Web platform format development.
VHRH: Collection and organization of the data required. Follow-up of cases and organization of medical records.
CC: Supervision of data collection, interpretation of the results.
JQS: Design of the initial concept. Data collection supervision, interpretation of the results.
To the following organizations: Seguridad Médica Seganest SAS and Clínica Visual y Auditiva/Instituto para Niños Ciegos y Sordos (Cali).
1. Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:727-33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001017. [ Links ]
2. García-Perdomo HA, Beas-Sandoval LR. Teaching in academic and surgical programs in times of COVID-19 [La enseñanza en los programas académicos y quirúrgicos en tiempos de COVID-19]. Revista Mexicana de Urología. 2020;80(2):1-3. doi: https://doi.org/10.48193/rmu.v80i2.622. [ Links ]
3. Barrios A, Prieto R, Torregrosa L, Álvarez C, Hernández JD, González LG, et al. Volver a empezar: cirugía electiva durante la pandemia del SARS-CoV2. Recomendaciones desde la Asociación Colombiana de Cirugía. Rev Colomb Cir. 2020;25(2):302-21. doi: https://doi.org/10.30944/20117582.656. [ Links ]
4. Doglietto F, Vezzoli M, Gheza F, Lussardi GL, Domenicucci M, Vecchiarelli L, et al. Factors associated with surgical mortality and complications among patients with and without coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy. JAMA Surg. 2020;155(8):1-14. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2020.2713. [ Links ]
5. Rosenbaum L. Facing Covid-19 in Italy. Ethics, logistics, and therapeutics on the epidemic's front line. N Engl J Med . 2020;382(20):1873-5. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2005492. [ Links ]
6. Prachand VN, Milner R, Angelos P, Posner MC, Fung JJ, Agrawal N, et al. Medically necessary, time-sensitive procedures: Scoring system to ethically and efficiently manage resource scarcity and provider risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Am Coll Surg. 2020;231(2):281-8. doi: https://doi.or-g/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.04.011. [ Links ]
7. Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social. Envejecimiento demográfico en Colombia 1951-2020. Dinámica demográfica y tendencias poblacionales. Bogotá: Ministerio de Salud y Protección social; 2013. [ Links ]
8. Hewitt J, Carter B, Vilches-Moraga A, Quinn TJ, Braude P, et al. The effect of frailty on survival in patients with COVID-19 (COPE): a multicentre, European, observational cohort study. Lancet Public Health. 2020;5(8): e444-51. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30146-8. [ Links ]
9. Amblàs-novellas J, Carles J, Molist N, Oller R. Índice frágil-VIG: diseño y evaluación de un índice de fragilidad basado en la valoración integral geriátrica. Rev. Esp. Geriatr Gerontol. 2017;52(3):119-27. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regg.2016.09.003. [ Links ]
10. Menni C, Valdés AM, Freidin MB, Sudre CH, Nguyen LH, Drew DA, et al. Real-time tracking of self-reported symptoms to predict potential COVID-19. Nat Med. 2020;26:1037-40. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0916-2. [ Links ]
11. Francis N, Dort J, Cho E, Feldman L, Keller D, Lim R, et al. SAGES and EAES recommendations for minimally invasive surgery during COVID-19 pandemic. Surg Endosc. 2020;34:2327-31. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1007/s00464-020-07565-w. [ Links ]
12. Tafur Betancourt LA, Zorrilla-Vaca A, Vallejos-Medina LP, Chilatra-Fonseca JM, Angarita-Navarro EC, Martínez-Gaviria M et al. Desarrollo del software MyCheckTime® para seguridad perioperatoria con base en la metodología Lean de Toyota. Colombian Journal of Anesthesiology. 2020;48(1):12-9. doi: http://www.doi.org/doi.org/10.1097/cj9.0000000000000148. [ Links ]
13. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Non-emergent, elective medical services, and treatment recommendations [internet]. 2020 [citado: 2020 nov. 15]. Disponible en: Disponible en: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-non-emergent-elective-medical-recommendations.pdf . [ Links ]
14. Stahel PF. How to risk-stratify elective surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic? Patient Saf Surg. 2020;14:8. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1186/s13037-020-00235-9. [ Links ]
15. Royal College of Surgeons of England. Clinical guide to surgical prioritisation during the coronavirus pandemic [internet]. 2020 [citado 2020 nov. 15]. Disponible en: Disponible en: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/coronavirus/surgical-prioritisation-guidance/ . [ Links ]
16. Mayol J, Fernández Pérez C. Elective surgery after the pandemic: waves beyond the horizon. Br J Surg. 2020;107(9):1091-3. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1002/bjs.11688. [ Links ]
17. Biase G De, Freeman W, Elder B, Nottmeier E, Smith N, Jerreld D, et al. Path to reopening surgery in the COVID-19 pandemic: Neurosurgery experience. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2020;4(5):557-64. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2020.06.003. [ Links ]
18. Informe de gestión Nueva EPS. Colombia 2019 [internet]. [citado 2020 nov. 5]. Disponible en: Disponible en: https://nuevaeps.com.co/sites/default/files/inline-files/lNFORME%20RENDICION%20DE%20CUENTAS%202019.pdf . [ Links ]
19. COVID-19 en Colombia: Reporte diario de casos [internet]. 2020 [citado 2020 oct 28]. Disponible en: Disponible en: https://www.ins.gov.co/Noticias/Paginas/Coronavirus.aspx . [ Links ]
20. Aggarwal R, Mytton OT, Greaves F, Vincent C. Technology as applied to patient safety: an overview. Qual Saf Health Care. 2010;19(Suppl 2). doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2010.040501. [ Links ]
21. COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) [internet] [citado: 2020 oct. 27]. Disponible en: Disponible en: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd-40299423467b48e9ecf6 . [ Links ]
22. Bates DW, Gawande AA. Improving safety with information technology. N Engl J Med . 2003;348(25):2526-34. doi: http://www.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa020847. [ Links ]
Assistance to the study None declared.
Financial support and sponsorship None declared.
Disclosures No conflict of interests to declare.
Presentations None declared.
How to cite this article: Tafur Betancourt LA, Rosero Cundar AS, Remolina Granados SA, Arévalo M, Millán G. M del M, Lema Flórez E, et al. Use of MeNTS, Frailty and Symptom Scales for selecting surgical patients during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: A retrospective study Colombian Journal of Anesthesiology. 2022;50:e999.
Received: February 06, 2021; Accepted: April 19, 2021; other: September 02, 2021
Correspondence: Calle 5B2 # 37a - 50. Cali, Colombia.
*E-mail:luis.tafur@seganest.com
Cra. 15a No. 120-74
Teléfono: (57-1) 6196077 Ext. 4111
revcolanest@scare.org.co


text:
Q: WPF Stop BackgroundWorker from main thread i have a BackgroundWorker that execute work in the background. the work is run some .exe application in command prompt and wait for output for display. sometimes the .exe app is stack or takes a lot of time. i want to stop the worker after one minute in case it is still running.
the issue is that i have a progress bar  that runs in the main thread for 1 minute. i want to stop the worker when the progress bar is full (after 1 minute) from the main thread (UI). here is my code:
    private void btnTest_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {

        wTest = new BackgroundWorker();
        wTest .DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(wTest _DoWork);
        wTest .RunWorkerCompleted += wTest _RunWorkerCompleted;
        wTest .WorkerReportsProgress = true;
        wTest .WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
        wTest .RunWorkerAsync();

        while (pbTest.Value < 91)
        {
            if (!wTest.CancellationPending)
            {
                pbTest.Value = (pbTest.Value + 100/60);
                Thread.Sleep(1000);
            }
            Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke(DispatcherPriority.Background,
                                       new ThreadStart(delegate { }));
        }
    }

    void wTest_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
    {
        //call .exe application and wait for output
    }

how can i do it?

A: If you are using .net 4.5, you can use the Task class and the associated CancellationTokeSource and CancellationToken classes. Note that tasks support reporting progress through the IProgress interface. Stephen Cleary has a good example on this.
If the work you were doing does not provide an asynchronous interface you can use Task.Run to execute it and pass a CancellationToken to monitor for cancellation. As you are doing the work you need to monitor the token for cancellation. One way to do this is to call ThrowIfCancellationRequested which will throw a OperationCancelledException if Cancel has been called on the CancellationTokenSource. CancellationTokenSource also supports cancellation after a certain time, which will be handy for your scenario.
private CancellationTokenSource cts;

private void btnTest_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    if(cts == null)
    {
        cts = new CancellationTokenSource(new TimeSpan(0, 0, 60)); // cancel after 60 seconds
    }

    await Task.Run( () => Work(), cts.Token);

    cts = null;
}

void Work(CancellationToken token)
{
   // do work
  token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
  // do work
}

A: You will need to do two things to enable work cancellation of your BackgroundWorker. First, you will need to check for the BackgroundWorker.CancellationPending property in your DoWork handler method:
private void wTest_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
    //call .exe application and wait for output
    if (worker.CancellationPending)
    {
        e.Cancel = true;
    }
}

Then, when you want to cancel the work, you should call this on your BackgroundWorker:
backgroundWorker.CancelAsync();

However, as you are not using the BackgroundWorker as it was meant to be used, I don't think that this will work for you. If you are waiting for the third party application to start, then you won't be able to set the e.Cancel property to true.
To be honest, I can't quite understand why you would use a BackgroundWorker just to start a process anyway. The Process.Start method takes no time to complete as it doesn't wait for any response. In my opinion, you'd be better off monitoring the Process.Exited event and calling the Process.Kill method instead.

A: What you need to do is have your DoWork delegate check for e.Cancel (in DoWorkEventArgs) property bring set to true. If DoWork is blocking, like waiting for StandardOutput, then that simply wont be possible.
Another approach would be to pass Process.WaitForExit an int stating how long it should wait for output:
process.WaitForExit(60000);


Add some massive front-end style with a Putco Dodge Magnum Stainless Steel Punch Grille. Durability and lasting appeal are ensured by the heavy-gauge, stainless steel construction used on these grilles. Using an innovative clamp-on design, Punch Grilles easily fit over your original factory grille. Not only that, but this mounting system is completely hidden from view, meaning no fasteners or bolt-heads to diminish the highly polished, mirror-like shine. Using the included hex-key tool, installation is quick and easy. Since there is no drilling or cutting, you'll spend less time installing and more time showing off your flashy new style upgrade.


Ukraine's National Communications Regulation Commission (NCRC) has confirmed that it has cancelled a 3G mobile network operating licence auction which had been scheduled for 30 November 2009. The news was expected, following Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko decree issued 20 October suspending a previous government resolution to go ahead with the conversion of UMTS frequencies held by the military, on the basis of security concerns. Three domestic operators had qualified to bid for a single licence including a 25MHz block of spectrum in the 2.1GHz band, with a duration of 15 years and a reserve price of UAH400 million (USD49 million), whilst the NCRC had said that three more concessions with smaller blocks of spectrum would be auctioned in the near future. Kyivstar, MTS Ukraine, URS (Beeline) and Astelit had all indicated their interest in acquiring a licence. There are hopes for the licensing process to get back on track soon, however, as CommsUpdate reported earlier this month that Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers had passed a new procedure for the conversion of military-held frequencies in the 2.1GHz band. The interference from Yushchenko is the latest move in a long-running series of presidential actions to scupper the plans of his political rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, including the cancellation of several high-profile privatisation programmes.


text:
SimplePayMe raises 4 million dollars to build the ideal payment ecosystem for SMEs
The new funds will fund SimplyPayMe's continued growth in the Markets of Europe and North America and the development of business management tools for users
DEALSNEWS
By EMEAstartups Last updated Mar 22, 2022
The international payment platform SimplyPayMe raised nearly 4 million dollars funding in order to leverage existing and new opportunities in both the European and the North American markets.
Over the past two years, SPM has created, integrated and launched its award-winning platform and attracted the attention and interest of some of the world's largest financial institutions.
By building deep-rooted relationships with companies like Mastercard and other key partners, SimplyPayMe has been able to create a fully integrated payment ecosystem, which allows small businesses to run their companies and get paid, all from a single app.
FUNDINGpayment ecosystemSimplePayMeSMEs
Renault: Official sponsor of the Athens Half Marathon
EBRD supports and promotes the digital transformation of the Suez Canal economic zone
Instagram: Published a guide about what's trending for Gen-Z
Vaniday launches in Singapore
Locatee: Workplace analytics provider raises 8,4 million dollars
Debt funding $1,5M for AdStage
ICON: 207 million dollars for the construction of 3D-printed houses
The co-founder of Coinbase launches a 2.5 billion dollars venture fund for cryptocurrencies


text:
Q: Android Application Development for Dummies Silent Mode Toggle app not behaving properly I'm just starting out with Android programming and am following along in the 'Android Application Development for Dummies' book, and have gotten to a point where I have a 'working' Silent Mode Toggle app, but I noticed a 'bug' or something:
When I adjust the volume with the volume buttons on my virtual device (or actual phone if I install it on there) and open the Silent Mode Toggle program it will not necessarily show the correct state of the phone's silent/ringer status. It always shows normal (the green image). So if I use the volume buttons on my button to bring it down to silent and open the app, it will still show the green image for 'normal' even though the phone is actually silenced.
However, if I use the APP to turn it to silent mode, leave the app, and come back, it properly shows the red image. I tried copying the code from the downloaded MainActivity.java file to see if I had a typo in there somewhere, but it still exhibits the same behavior.
The example app in the book was written using Android 2.2, but I'm developing on 2.3.3 (my virtual device and actual phone)
Is there some difference in 2.2 and 2.3.3 that is causing this, or some other issue?
Thanks,
Jamie

A: Ok after some further researching, I decided to try something.
On line 57 of the above reference java file:
if (ringerMode == AudioManager.RINGER_MODE_SILENT) {

I changed it to read:
if (ringerMode == AudioManager.RINGER_MODE_SILENT || ringerMode == AudioManager.RINGER_MODE_VIBRATE) {

and now it seems to work properly!
So maybe this is needed because as I mentioned, I'm using 2.3.3 as opposed to the 2.2 which was used in the book. Hopefully me inserting this line won't cause any issues as I go further along. And I haven't actually tested on my actual phone to see how an incoming call, text message, email, alarm, etc. is affected as far as being silent or not.


The City of Rocksprings City Council held a special meeting this past Monday evening.
RHS Regional qualifiers Nikki Rangel, Freddie Enriquez, Andrea Ruiz, Leondro Gonzales and Jason Carrillo travelled to Robstown on March 1st to compete. Nikki placed 3rd and secured her spot for State competition. She will be traveling to Waco this Thursday March 14th to compete March 15th in her Division. Nikki is ranked 1st in 1A State for her division. Freddie advanced to State with 2nd place. He will compete in Abilene on March 22. Jason placed 4th. Austin Barrera also made the trip with the team.
West Texas Track Bests 2019: March 10 update Unofficial listing of best performances by high school track and field competitors in the San Angelo Standard-Times coverage area from meets during the 2019 season.
Ironically, all our predictions of possible heavy rain, hail and high winds come about the newspaper's deadline of Tuesday.
Read more about Did the rains come?


Essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Modern trends toward more holistic approaches to self care, and growing scientific validation of alternative health practice are driving a rediscovery of the profound health benefits of essential oils.
During this class, we will talk about the different uses of essential oils as well as how you can replace your entire medicine cabinet of over-the-counter drugs with "Nature's Medicine Cabinet" of doTERRA Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) essential oils that NEVER expire and only have side BENEFITS! Essential oils are a great first line of defense for your family's everyday wellness needs!
Buechel Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine is delighted to host two guest speakers for this event! Deb Rosemann is passionate about doTERRA and its' culture of education and natural healthcare. She believes in sharing this wisdom with others and travels around the country helping people with safe effective Food Grade plant-based medicine. Deb turned to integrative health and wellness solutions after she and her children experienced harmful side effects from various pharmaceutical medicine. Deb resides in Draper, Utah.
Lori Williams lives in Northfield, Minnesota and has a business background as a National Sales Director. On the heels of a difficult divorce in 2003, Lori experienced a health crisis. She decided to get pro-active and involved, encouraging her body to heal. She took a course in holistic health coaching and also became a 200 RYT Yoga Alliance-Registered Teacher. Lori has integrity in the things she chooses to bring to others and would not stand behind doTERRA were it not for her belief that these products truly are a gift to us all.
Join us for this very special class!
Sign up to win some of the oils at registration (9:30AM)!


text:
Kärlekspensionatet är en tysk komedifilm från 1932 i regi av Kurt Gerron. Filmen är en för eran typisk förväxlingsfars, baserad på en pjäs av Carl Laufs.

Rollista
Willy Fritsch - Paul Lüders
Dorothea Wieck - Mabel Miller
Rosy Barsony - Anita
Max Adalbert - Birnstiel
Jakob Tiedtke - Michael Lüders
Harry Halm - Bob
Heinz Salfner - herr Miller
Leo Slezak - Theo Müller
Ellen Schwanneke - Evelyn Müller
Wilhelm Bendow - Wendolin
Genia Nikolaieva - Marga Shubart
Fritz Odemar - Werner Schubart
Paul Hörbiger - Emil
Theo Lingen - hovmästare
Adele Sandrock - värdinna, rumsuthyrning
Oskar Sima - mannen från skattekontoret
Klaus Pohl - Schneider

Källor
Ein toller Einfall på filmportal.de

Tyska komedifilmer
Filmer 1932
Svartvita filmer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
import argparse
from contextlib import ExitStack
from daemon import DaemonContext
import sys

from penguindome import set_gpg
from penguindome.client import get_logger
from penguindome.shell import (
    InteractionBroker,
    PenguinDomeServerPeer,
)
from penguindome.shell.client import PexpectPeer

def background_code(args):
    log = get_logger('shell')
    pipe_id = args.pipe_id
    log.info('Initiating shell with pipe ID {}', pipe_id)
    try:
        set_gpg('client')
        with PenguinDomeServerPeer('client', pipe_id) as remote, \
                PexpectPeer('/bin/bash') as shell:
            broker = InteractionBroker(shell, remote)
            broker.interact()
    except Exception:
        log.exception()
        sys.exit(1)

def parse_args():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument('--foreground', action='store_true')
    parser.add_argument('pipe_id', metavar='PIPE-ID')
    args = parser.parse_args()
    return args

def main():
    args = parse_args()
    if args.foreground:
        manager = ExitStack
    else:
        manager = DaemonContext
    with manager():
        background_code(args)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Praise the Lord that the new director, Vincent Collet, arrived in France on Tuesday the 24th of July from Canada. The staff their have been praying for this a long time. This is also an answer to our prays for someone to assist our French translator, Sylvie. Just having this new family there to encourage her is a big help to her.
Please pray for Vincent and his family (his wife Trina and his two small daughters) as they settle into their new ministry and find a place to stay. For the moment Christians from our church are letting them borrow their house which is close to the radio. Vincent was born and raised in France but has been living in Quebec City, Canada for the past ten years. He will be taking over the administrative aspects of the radio ministry in the Lyon area. Thank you for your prayers on his behalf and that of his family. Trina is from the English speaking part of Canada but speaks fluent French.


Pet dogs sports team apparel including jerseys for pets NBA basketball team jerseys, dog collars, leashes, bowls and toys.
Cotton and mesh tank Brooklyn Nets pink pet jersey with screen printed team NBA basketball logo, woven NBA jock tag, embroidered NBA logo on front and contrast trim. Just like the pro's!
Officially licensed cotton and mesh tank Los Angeles Lakers pink pet jersey with screen printed team NBA basketball logo, woven NBA jock tag, embroidered NBA logo on front and contrast trim. Just like the pro's!
Let everyone know which team you and your four-legged friend support with this team bandana! 100% cotton.


Northern Air Services, General Electrical Contractors, listed under "General Electrical Contractors" category, is located at Green Way Halifax West Yorkshire, HX2 9JA, United Kingdom and can be reached by 422245866 phone number. Northern Air Services has currently 0 reviews.
Browse all General Electrical Contractors in Halifax West Yorkshire.


Aroma Magic brings to life a varied range of essential oils to directly create and improve your sense of well-being. They can provide treatment to the body medicinally, cosmetically and also directly, to provide you with healthier skin. Essential oils whether used in Aroma Magic beauty products, cosmetics or as pure essential or blended oils provide a natural perfume as fragrance, and that in turn helps to balance the emotions. The Aroma Magic Ginger Essential Oil is a multi-purpose essential oil with several benefits.
- Eases morning sickness and flu symptoms.
- Relieve body pain including arthritis.
- Help to treat indigestion and sore throat.
Caution: To be avoided by people with sensitive skin.
- Mix 2-3 drops to your massage oil and apply.
- Can be used in warm water for a bath.


TOP TEN TRACKS OF 2016: (10) Haarm - Foxglove - Sync.
Way back at the start of 2016, Liverpool band Haarm put this debut beauty out and we've been listening to it pretty much ever since. At the time we said it carries a hint of Peter, Bjorn & John's Young Folks mixed with a bit of Saint Ettienne and listening to it today we stand by that.
Whatever the comparisons, Foxglove is a worthy inclusion in our top ten of 2016, and if follow-up track In The Wild is anything to go by, they will most certainly be ones to watch in 2017.
Pingback: HAARM – Love In A Different Way | Sync.
Pingback: TOP TEN TRACKS OF 2017: (3) HAARM – Valentine | Sync.


text:
Categories #Games
TSS Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)
Posted on 30th November 2014 19th February 2018
Author Hero of Legend
Developer: Big Red Button Release Date: NA/EU/AUS: Out now, JP as Sonic Toon: Dec 18th, 2014
So here we are, the game that was supposed to mark a new chapter in Sonic's long and treasured history as a new side-series running in parallel to the current Modern Sonic series. Sega entrusted this new series to a not-so-new developer named Big Red Button, I say not-so-new as they've been around since 2008! Big Red Button is a team formed by veterans from Naughty Dog, however, that's where seemingly that relation ends. For a further look into Big Red Button and the folks who worked on the game during the last few years (note that some have departed from the company in the past few months), check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my articles about Big Red Button.
Now before I get to the main review, I want to make clear that sadly I have NOT completed the story for the game as I originally intended, so I want to make sure you know that fact to judge my thoughts on the game more fairly, my deepest apologies.
Also note that this is my very first professional review, so this is a new experience and I hope you'll enjoy what I have to say.
So I will make the following into a few categories, rather than just put the whole thing in one, as in, I will speak about the game's Gameplay, Story, Graphics, Audio, and the overall conclusion. I will also do something a lot don't; I will provide an additional opinion based on the current price, and a bargain price in the conclusion, as a lot of people judge games based on price and can be more willing to pick a game up if they find it for like $10 or $20, also a lot of reviews pan a game for being too short for $50, that sort of thing.
So the gist of the gameplay is; it's a beat-em-up with a decent amount of platforming, why can't I call it vice-versa? Because I kind of find it's more focused on the combat than the platforming though there's quite a bit of it as well. You have your punches and your ground pound moves. All characters function basically the same but have some special touches to them, such as Sonic having his homing attack, Tails can glide and use long-ranged weapons like what appears to be a fire cracker shooter, Knuckles is obviously the strongest but I also find Amy with her hammer to be not far behind Knuckles. Amy is able to kill the snake enemies with a single swing which is pretty handy.
Combat is relatively simple, I never felt I needed to go beyond just mashing X or Y to attack, there's no real strategy, I also find using the enerbeam in fights to be very clunky and they just don't seem to work, even when I grab, swing, and throw them. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. It's certainly not as elaborate as in Sonic Unleashed. You are able to unlock things such as upgrades and acquire items to help, but I didn't really get to experience those fully yet. You also once in awhile find these tiny robots that run from you, and when you kill them, they drop a weapon. Only one I got to try out was a wind gun that shoots a tornado. It was cool, but it has a limited amount of uses. Fun gimmicks I guess.
As far as exploration is concerned, I don't find any of them to be that fast, only Sonic is when you spam the Spin Dash move, and that's a stretch since it's only a bit faster and is absolutely nothing like in Sonic Adventure or Sonic Lost World. Outside of the auto-run sections, Sonic is not his Gotta Go Fast self, so get that out of your head if you came in for speed. And as far as the number of said sections, there aren't that many and they're over after a minute or two. You're slowly running around and fighting a lot more. It's a side dish. I did find the running on water sections to be pretty fun, at least I wasn't bumping into obstacles every 2 seconds.
Now we get to what is arguably my favorite part of the game. Yeah the cutscenes are very unpolished so you see jerking objects here and uber low-res textures there and you wonder why they had the camera up close in clean sight of then. But the character animation and writing is a true highlight, especially the former. The animation is very high quality and the animators should be given high praise. Buuuut I would not say the same thing for the in-game "cutscenes" where you see the characters just stand there like zombies flapping their gums, Amy is not a pretty sight in these. As for the story, the plot is interesting if not the most original (guy stumbles upon an ancient evil, lets it loose, he done goofs, he tries to undo it), but I really like the characterization. Knuckles is probably my fav of the group, but I also really like Lyric and how he animates, I wouldn't call him intimidating, but he works, still it would've been cooler is he was an Owl (Owlyric?), but what can you do? The humor is part of the highlight. From the subtle facial expressions to the one liners, I certainly laughed and I love anything that can make me laugh.
I will say some of the story so far is really out of place, such as Shadow's appearance is so far unexplained and feels very shoehorned and that is NOT a good thing. I like to know why things are the way they are unless they let the audience figure it out as a mystery. This is not one of those times. Will there be some big reveal that explains everything? From what I've read, that's not likely.
It's a double-edged sword. At times it can look really nice, but the severe lack of polish hurts it so badly. It's got a very lovely style, especially when you're outdoors. But the graphical issues such as really bad shadow pop-in, the horrifically low-res textures, especially in cutscenes. Not to mention the game only runs in 720p and 30fps, so they don't even make up for the short comings with trying to be more ambitious with the technical specs. The game was made using Cry Engine 3, and is the very first Wii U game to support it that's been released, and honestly I feel that was a huge mistake. The engine very likely not only was not optimized properly for the console, but also they had to exclusively try to work in a function that the engine never used before; split-screen. I've not used the mode myself, but as I've seen in footage, when you use split-screen/co-op via the TV and GamePad, most shadow and lighting detail vanishes, and apparently the framerate can be even worse, which by the way can get a bit sluggish at points, even in cutscenes.
Lighting is another visual highlight, but again, it's hard to overlook the flaws. However, I also want to bring to attention some of the geometry and effects of the outdoor sections. When you're up-close to plants, they do have subtle animation and you see some particles floating in the air, I really, REALLY liked those details.
The voice acting is REALLY good in this game. No one really stood out as being bad, they all really delivered and were really fun to listen to. The music which was composed by Richard Jacques of Sonic R and Sonic 3D Blast Saturn fame, which to me is nothing like the aforementioned games, it does set the mood and some of the outdoor areas had a really nice tune to listen to. Personally the soundtrack could've been less orchestral and more upbeat like previous games, but it's not a big deal. I personally hoped they would've brought in someone familiar with classic western platformers like Crash, Spyro, Jak, Ratchet, and Sly (Rocket gets no love…), but I guess they wanted someone familiar with Sonic to do it, even if the music isn't anything like the series ever had before. Also, Jun Senoue was in the US for a long time as part of the now closed Sonic Team USA, wouldn't he have been a way more appropriate pick?
So in conclusion, it was not at all what I was really hyped for, I mean I was hoping it'd be a gorgeous adventure though big expansive open worlds, like that infamous Cry Engine 3 demo showed. What's that, they took that out? *sigh*
The game in a word is… okay. It's not the worst thing ever, but it's really hard to recommend it, especially at $50. What really needs to happen is after like 6 months, is that they release a patch that fixes so much in the game, that could give it a much needed and deserved second wind. If you find it for $20, I would say check it out. Compared to Sonic Lost World, if you want exploration, go with Sonic Boom, it's got that, even if some environments like the desert level are really boring and some of the indoor ones also don't feel all that exciting to look at or explore. I really hope we see a patch, I truly do. It needed many more months, like at least 6 more months in the oven to polish what they had. Why do so many not follow the wise words of Shigeru Miyamoto?; "A delayed game is eventually a good game, a bad game is bad forever" or something along those lines.
Also, click here to check out Jason Berry's review of Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for 3DS!
So that's it! What did you think?
Big Red ButtonReviewSonic Boom: Rise of LyricWii U
Hero of Legend
I'm commonly at ResetEra, but I also have my own site, check it out (here)! :)	View all posts by Hero of Legend
< Previous Post Previous post: The 1994 Sonic Super Hedgehog Russian TV Quiz
Next Post > Next post: Rise of Lyric Demo arrives on 4th December


Everything else goes here. Spam = Ban.
Do you like snowy days?
Are you still using a Yahoo email?
Cell phone or Computer (Desktop/Laptop)?
What Plagiarism Detection Tools Do You Know?
Are you on a diet? Tell us what methods you are using to lose weight.
Which site do you use most often to shop worldwide?
Are you are good at giving advice?
What would you do without access to your cell phone for a week?
How do you feel about the status of the current political election?
OUR MINDS: The most dangerous place in the world!
Share with the world the most important thing about you.
Do you like to watch soap opera?
Talk Shows: What is your favorite?


MEMPHIS, Tenn. (March 25, 2019) – As part of its 12th annual High School Visual Arts and Photography Competition, Memphis International Airport (MEM) will host an exhibition and announce the winners of its art and photography contests on Thursday, May 2, from 7-9 p.m. The event will take place in the B Ticketing Lobby and all participating students, their families and the public are invited to attend.
The top six in each category will earn cash and prizes. One winner will earn a scholarship from HMS Host, which operates several restaurants at MEM. The top three entries will be announced at the conclusion of Thursday evening's event. Winners are selected by a panel of judges that includes local artists and photographers along with representatives from the College of Art, University of Memphis, the Withers Collection Museum & Gallery and the Dixon Gallery and Gardens.
The event will also feature food provided by the airport's food and beverage tenants.


Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko answers a battery of questions pertaining to Yucca Mountain from members of the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment May 4, 2011.
Published Wednesday, May 4, 2011 | 8:51 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, May 4, 2011 | 9:07 p.m.
WASHINGTON — In the nearly 30 years that members of Congress have been duking it out over a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, lawmakers have respectfully reserved their political punches.
But as Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Illinois Rep. John Shimkus, a subcommittee chairman, renew a push to develop a dump in Nevada, they're pointing an accusing finger at the nonpartisan body whose duty it is to review Yucca Mountain's licensing, and accusing its chairman of illegal political collusion and malice.
It's a bold tactic that seems partially born out of concerns about internal tensions in an important regulatory body, but heavily focused on discrediting the one agency that seems all but poised to dismantle the Yucca Mountain repository before it can actually usher the project out the door.
What they hoped to prove, through documents that have started to pour in, is that Jaczko was using his position to stall, marginalize and influence votes against Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. That was all supposed to stay secret, though — until ranking Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman of California blew the lid off it at the hearing.
"Did you delay action on Yucca for political purposes?" Waxman said.
The allegations of wrongdoing seem pointedly focused on Jaczko, who has led the commission since 2009. Before that, he served as top science adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the two share opinions on the viability of Yucca as a dump site: Simply put, to them it isn't.
That connection wasn't lost on lawmakers Wednesday or in emails they'd been collecting — which weren't made available to the public, except when Waxman read them.
The last official decision the commission took was in June when its licensing board determined that Energy Secretary Steven Chu couldn't unilaterally withdraw the licensing application. Then in August, commissioners filed preliminary opinions on the final status of the license.
Although those don't carry the weight of a vote, commissioners testifying Wednesday were adamant that their written positions from last summer hadn't changed — causing Republican lawmakers to wonder aloud why Jaczko was waiting for what seemed like a formality.
On that date, the term of Commissioner William Ostendorff, an Obama appointee, ends.
Ostendorff is one of two Republicans on the commission and the author of a proposal in October that is the only clue as to where the commissioners stand on Yucca. He proposed reversing Jaczko's decision to close all work on the Yucca licensing, arguing that could only be done if the application was "withdrawn" or "suspended," which it hadn't been.
Commissioner Kristine Svinicki voted for it. The other three commissioners voted "no participation," a noncommittal option that dodges a majority opinion, which is how the commission reaches its decisions.
That didn't sit well with Republicans, who continued to build their case against Jaczko, characterizing him as the despotic ruler throughout the hearing. They criticized his tone in addressing their questions, his use of the pronoun "I," his insistence on preserving the anonymity of commission proceedings and his request in March to fellow commissioners to avoid the nuclear monitoring center during Japan's Fukushima crisis so that workers wouldn't get distracted.
It was clear from the meeting that the commissioners were not one big happy family, but neither were the congressmen, as Jaczko attempted to defend himself.
"I see internal tensions, but I haven't heard the commissioners make any of the charges that the chairman made," Waxman said.
As for the Nevada delegation, they're ignoring this new focus on the commission.
"When Yucca was selected, it was not based on science, it was based purely on politics ... as now," Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley said. "I think Mr. Shimkus needs to get a life. And he also need to get an alternative" to Yucca Mountain.


text:
CAROLE ANN REON
Carole Ann Reon left this Earth on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Her immediate family was with her in her final moments.
She is survived by her only child, a son, Eric, his wife, Julia, and their son, Broxton; her beloved siblings, whom she admired and talked to often, despite the miles between them: Mary (Rick) Colvin, of Antioch, James Richard Dalrymple (Larry Donegan), of Florida, and Ray (Denise) Dalrymple and David Dalrymple (Diane Mozena), all of Woodsfield; and a number of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews whom she was proud of and loved dearly.
She was preceded in death by her husband, David Broxton Reon; her parents, Inez Irene (Willis) Dalrymple and Clarence Ray Dalrymple; and her sister, Nancy Geldmacher.
Carole was born Jan. 6, 1948, in Woodsfield. She married Dave, the love of her life, April 27, 1974. She was a longtime resident of Laurel, Mississippi, retiring after 20 years from SouthGroup Insurance Services, where she made many friends during her career.
Carole's days were filled with cooking for her family, especially cookies and pancakes, doting on her grandson, Broxton, and telling her son, Eric, how proud she was of the man he had become. She genuinely enjoyed basking in Broxton's accomplishments and watching him during his performances with Encore Performing Arts.
Carole not only loved her family deeply, she extended that love to others, in particular her two special granddaughters, as she called them, Ayla and Nikki Boler. She enjoyed spending time with them and watching them grow into smart and beautiful young ladies. Among their favorite activities were tea parties, watercolor painting, and other crafts. She was an active and constant presence in their lives, sending cards and gifts for holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions.
Carole was a deeply caring and loving person. After her husband's death, she posted on Facebook, "God saw him getting tired, a cure not meant to be, so He put His arms around him and whispered, 'Come to Me.'" She missed him greatly. As well, she and Broxton shared an "I love you more" contest that always ended in a resounding "I love you big as a house!" from Broxton.
Your family loves you as big as a house, Carole, and will miss you every day until we see you again.
Memory Chapel has charge of arrangements. No services are scheduled at this time. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Carole's favorite cause.
To sign the online guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.
Subscribe and see the e-Edition of the Monroe County Beacon for the complete story.


text:
« Report Urges States to Take a New Look at Principal Training | Main | Union-District Partnerships on Display at Urban Education Conference »
Turning Around Troubled Urban Schools in Houston and Philadelphia
By Christina Samuels on October 28, 2011 2:14 PM
Houston's Apollo 20 schools and Philadelphia's Renaissance Schools were highlighted in a Thursday panel on innovative approaches to school district reform, a part of the Council of the Great City Schools conference in Boston.
The Apollo 20 schools were created in partnership with the Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University to inject charter school management concepts into district-run schools and bring in such programs as tutoring for every 6th and 9th grade student in an Apollo school. The Renaissance model in Philadelphia turned some schools over to charter managers. Others became "Promise Academies," a district-run reform model.
The 3-year, $56 million Apollo schools effort has seen some growth in math test scores, though in reading the results are mixed, according to Harvard economist Roland Fryer, who is working with the district and evaluating the results.
Paula Harris, a member of the Houston board of education, said the district is "very encouraged" by the results thus far. But at the end of the presentation, she offered advice to other school districts not to hang their hats too much on one splashy reform effort.
"People would say, what about my school? What are you doing about low performing students in another school? So you have to be careful," Harris said.
The Philadelphia Renaissance schools have seen test score gains, as spelled out in an extensive post in the Philadelphia Public Schools Notebook website. Some schools saw double-digit gains in math.
Leroy Nunery, the interim superintendent in Philadelphia, said that it's important to pick a reform and stick to it. The Renaissance Schools project was an initiative of former superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who resigned earlier this year.
"Many of you are already doing turnarounds, and it is hard to replicate someone else's model in your town," Mr. Nunery said. "The only thing you can do is to take the things you think will work and stick to them. As soon as you start to wiggle and waver, the model changes."
School District Management


Young Woman: So tell me. How was Hawaii?
Tan Friend: It was unbelievable.
Young Woman: Oh yeah? What happened?
Tan Friend: I met this guy.
Red Head: [on the phone] It was the best week of my life.
Q: Does Goldfield syndrome exist?
Q: What song plays during Henry's dream about Lucy after bring hit with the golf ball?


The German research on map use in newspapers almost totally focused on facts and figures concerning the 80s and 90s of our century in order to analyze, to comprehend and - moreover - perhaps to predict the quantative and qualitative development of map infographics for a huge audience. Meanwhile most of the parameters and motives of this development seem to be known and only the readers' reactions and the social impact might be the subject of really general research of German newspapers in the "old Länder". In the same way we should pay attention to what has happened since 1989 in the territories of the former German Democratic Republic which still today show a different way of life also with regard to reading newspapers and perceiving space.
maps in advertising" either as mere illustrative graphics without any information or as metaphorical symbols or as a real matter of orientation to find a shop or a mall which had paid the advertisement.
Until now the take off mentioned above in Germany seems to be based on a foggy past of a prewar century without any research and without any ideas what happened in map use in dailies and other printed mass media apart from propaganda maps. The most important approach to the history of mass media maps had been made by Mark Monmonier examining the map use in elite newspapers in England, Canada and the United States since 1870. The idea to throw a first light on the map use of Berlin dailies before 1914 had been born about 10 years ago, however, the project had to wait in favour of a lot of respective current work until last year when the first step was made to prepare a paper approaching the weather maps. The surprising result of the weather map analysis obviously was quite stimulating to move foreward.
The first plan comprised the comparative examination of three Berlin dailies belonging to the bourgeois social class and representing the three most important journalistic editors in Berlin at that period and - as a social contrast - the "Vorwärts", the daily of the social democratic party.
This initial plan had to be changed because in the Berlin microfilm archives the copies of the "Berliner Zeitung" do not exist for this period and the available original copies show severe gaps and are not allowed to be copied. The reduction of the number of copies concerning bourgeois dailies which had to be examined was a very positive chance for the realization of the project. Because the two bourgeois dailies remaining in the race considerably increased the number of pages per edition and, moreover, the number of editions per day from two to three at the end of the 19th century. By this reason the project could be completed in time.
According to the experiences of the research on modern mass media maps the dailies were analyzed completely through 3 months in five years periods starting in 1912 and going back to the year of the respective foundation. To consider the changes between peace time and war time the period between June and August 1914 were added.
The lack of information and even of suggestions about facts and figures did not allow to put foreward any hypothesis, but to ask questions only.
1. Which are the quantative characteristics of map use before 1914?
In total the "Berliner Tageblatt" (1872-1912+1914) comprised 41, the "Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger" (1887-1912+1914) 39 map infographics, and the "Vorwärts" (1884-1912+1914) 10 cartographic images. If one considers the peace time only the figures are reduced to 30 - 27 - 1. These figures reflect the number of maps in the news and in advertising; weather maps had been excluded.
Chronologically there is a quantitave break concerning maps in Berlin bourgeois dailies between 1902 and 1907. The three months periods do not exceed 3 maps in 1902 and earlier, however, increased to 7 and even 12 maps in 1907 and 1912. In 1914 between 10 and 13 maps were published, most of them in August 1914 when the First World War began. Contrary to the peace time the social democratic daily "Vorwärts" joined the national morale in war time map use and published as many battle field maps as the bourgeois dailies.
If we look at the use of infographics in general at that time in the bourgeois newspapers the number of portraits, landscape and settlement representations increased in the same proportion as maps and maplike images.
Contrary to this development the map and the infographic use is very different in the "Vorwärts" as far as the news are concerned. Infographics can merely not be recorded before 1912; afterwards we find chess problems, pattern charts and in 1914 regularly very professional political caricatures in the news. From the very beginning the advertising parts of the "Vorwärts" more and more got similar to the bourgeois newspapers in containing graphic elements although the advertising parts of the "Vorwärts" could not really compete with the respective sizes of the "Berliner Tageblatt" and the "Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger".
2. In which parts of the newspapers the maps had been published?
There is only one rather strange case in 1877: the first map recorded in the "Tageblatt" is a very detailed plan of Berlin just on an advertising page, however, without any connection to any advertising or any news in this edition.
Most of the maps had been elements of the news and of advertising, and it should be stressed that before 1914 the informative value of advertising was not lower estimated than of the news. Between 1907 and 1912 the number of maps in the "Tageblatt" increased only because the number of advertising pages with its maps had considerably grown. In the sunday editions advertising and private announcements mostly comprised more than 80% of the pages.
Contrary to this result for the "Tageblatt" and the "Lokal-Anzeiger" the "Vorwärts" did not contain any map or maplike image in advertising. This matter of fact is caused, however partly, by the high price features which are linked with maps in the bourgeois dailies: for example sale of estates and properties, sale of cars, holiday cruises in the Mediterranean or luxurious furniture. On the other hand we have to consider that the percentage of advertising in the "Vorwärts" is much lower compared to the respective figures in the "Tageblatt" and the "Lokal-Anzeiger".
3. Which were the events leading to map use in dailies?
There are two approaches to answwer this question: a regional one and an approach with regard to subject matter. Obviously, the regions of preferential treatment had been Berlin and its surroundings, the German Empire and the regions of the world where German politic or economic interests were concerned, first of all Russia and the German colonies in Africa and Asia. As most frequent subjects we find traffic (planning, problems), elections, minority problems, and diseases, but in the same way sensational events like murder and fire. In all cases the maps matched with the news.
In the same way the maps matched with their corresponding advertising. The globe and the shape of the German Empire were used as metaphores for widespread distribution areas of chocolate and cigarettes.
Along with these general tools for advertising special contemporary events became the base for the map use in advertising like the rapid growing of the big cities (sale of estates) and the increase of holidays on comfortable ships cruising in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. These vents caused a lot of rather detailed maps which can be considered as real decision assistance.
While the bourgeois dailies are very similar with this regard they are opposite in the weather presentation. In November 1881 the "Tageblatt" published the first Berlin newspaper weather map based on data from the Imperial Marine Observation Service and by this means replacing the mapless weather reports.
The "Lokal-Anzeiger" took the same way not until 30 years later. In the same years, however, the "Tageblatt" did without the weather map in favour of incoming important news.
During the war time no weather map was published at all.
During the 28 years of peace the "Vorwärts" contained two maps only: a detailed plan of a court yard where a judgement against some party members took place and a general map showing the region of the St. Lawrence mouth where a sinking ship killed more than 700 people. The weather reports in this daily did not comprise any map.
4. Which types of maps had been used?
We can clearly distinguish between maps of the topographic type and thematic maps.
The maps of the topographic type reach from big scale ground-plan drawings of rooms and apartments via town plans to general maps partly with hachures for relief representation.
The thematic maps first of all show traffic lines and nets, the quantitative distribution of disease and minorities and the results of elections.
There is no predominance of a map type with regard to the news or to advertising.
5. Do the maps contain indications of the sources, the authors or the designers?
The sources of the maps of the topographic type never are mentioned whereas thematic maps, for instance those presenting elections' results, record the respective statistic data.
It is an exceptional case if a surname appears on a map and, moreover, this name is completed with the function of the bearer with regard to the map.
Nevertheless, there are some very interesting traces on certain maps.
Between 1906 and 1914 the maps printed in the "Lokal-Anzeiger" mostly showed in one of the lower corners the combined letters A and S - very similar to the way in which designers and infographicians after 1945 used to sign their maps. Until now the question who is behind the A and S cannot be answered. But this AS-person must have been cartographically specialised because we cannot find his sign on any other infographic of that period.
On the other hand between June and August 1914 the "Vorwärts" contained a total of 10 maps which either the legendary "Wolffsches Telegraphen Bureau" originated (abbrevation "W.T.B." and an ordinal number) or a similar anonymous institute with a bangle as its graphic mark (and an ordinal number, too). By combining the dates of publication and the ordinal numbers on the maps we can conclude that both infographic centers produced between 10 and more than 20 infographics per week. These figures exceed considerably the respective figures of the weekly production of infographics in comparable German centers in the 80s of the 20th century.
Of course, these results may be estimated as first indications only and have to be completed by research with a more comprehensive quantitative data base. This could be done in a certain way after the completion of this paper which was made for presentation on a conference on the history of cartography last September in Rostock. After this conference Dr. GŸnter Kosche sent me about 50 German newspaper maps dating between the late 90s and 1914. Almost all maps had been produced by professional infographic centers which sent their products to newspapers published all over Germany. These infographic centers were situated in Berlin, and by these maps now we can prove that not only the Wolff Telegraph Bureau and the bangle center have existed but 6 more infographic centers were very active before 1914. This fact is an extremely important contribution to the quantitative aspect of map use in newspapers at that time.
6. Did the contemporary reproduction technique affect the map use in dailies?
The contemporary reproduction technique to print maps other infographics as line drawings was the chemical transformation of drawings to the printing plate. This process started with the transmission of a line drawing or print to a zinc plate by drawing directly on the zinc plate or by chemical print or by a photographic procedure. Mostly the chemical printing was used to transfer the line content of a paper sheet to the zinc plate. The next step was the line etching using nitric acid to etch away all areas without lines which led to the plate for relief printing.
This plate was combined with the text plates to the final plate for the printing machine.
Copper plates and xylographic originals were transformed to printing plates by galvanoplasty .
Later on photography and copperplate etching completed the traditionall reproduction techniques.
The earliest use of these techniques had been in advertising and only later on in representing graphics for the news. Obviously for the preparation of advertising graphics more time was available than for the preparation of infographics. We have to consider that not the technical process of transformation was the real time problem but the manual process of bringing an idea upon a sheet of paper or to select the appropriate printed original which matched the respective text.
Contrary to the text parts of the dailies the graphic components required more time consuming work and by this reason a lot of specialized institutions was founded to facilitate these processes by outsourcing. Although the factor "time" did not considerably affect the map use, the factor "expenses" certainly has to be regarded as an obstacle.
If we sum up the results of the questionnaire we find a lot of basic similarities between the map use characteristics at the beginning and at the end of our century. This finding must be seen as a real surprise because until now indirectly the research in this field was dominated by the suggestion that before the Mac and the colour in newspapers there had been an infographic Stone Age. In my opinion it will be absolutely necessary to take this finding as a new general question and challenge with regard to mass media communication in a period without film, radio, television and computer technique. A lot of innovative research is waiting for us.