The hysteria around the iPhone 6 is a mystery to Tim Sampson.
I could just kick myself for not buying a pup tent, getting some freeze-dried foodstuffs, putting my cats in carriers, making sure I had enough prescription medication to last a couple of days, having a catheter installed, having plenty of Psssst dry shampoo on hand, and camping out in line at an Apple store so I could be one of the first people to buy a new iPhone 6.
What in the hell was I thinking — that I could carry on anything resembling a happy life without this new phone? This bigger-screen, thinner version of the one I have now that I barely know how to operate? I must be completely nuts.
Now there are people out there with the new Apple iPhone 6, and I don't have one. I might as well jump out of the window of the top floor of a 12-story building onto burning asphalt. What are my friends going to think of me? Wait, worse, will they still even be my friends, now that the iPhone 6 is out and I don't have one? Will they speak to me again or will they avoid me like a sexually transmitted disease drip? If I'm walking down the sidewalk and see them and start to approach them will they recoil in horror and act like they've never met me? Well, some of them do that anyway, but now that I am totally impotent since I didn't camp out for a few days to get the new phone, will they try to forget that I exist?
This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder why people believe in God. What God up there would create people who would actually camp out in line for days to buy a telephone, when they already have a telephone that works just fine? And this time it's not just Americans. No, these lemmings are headed for the cliffs all over the world. So far, I haven't read of any crowds that got out of hand and crushed people to death trying to get to the new phone, which actually makes me kind of sad. If people are going to act this stupid, you'd think there would at least be some violence to spice it up a little — because they deserve it.
This business about getting up before dawn to go stand in line to get a new phone ... When I get up before dawn it's usually because I'm having a nightmare about being stalked by giant animals or murderers in my own backyard or because there's a cat sitting on my chest staring at me for no apparent reason. I can barely get out of the bed (well, off the futon) to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. I just stay there and moan with back pain. And my eyes are so filled with allergens that I feel like there's a beehive between each one of them. I am bleary-eyed and kind of in shock at being awake, and my mind is racing 4,000 miles an hour about every single stressful detail of my life, and I am all but paralyzed. Get up and get dressed and get in the car and drive in the dark to a store to stand in line for hours on end to buy a product of any kind? I wouldn't do that if they were giving them away.
One woman somewhere — I think it was Detroit, where you'd think waiting in line for a new phone would be a priority way low on the totem poll — was quoted as saying, "I've done this for two years straight. It's so worth it. It's not just a phone. Our whole lives are on the phone." The article went on to explain that she had talked her fiancé into joining her and they waited in line for six hours. "It was fun to get stuck with a bunch of other people you don't know," said the fiancé. "You make some friends."
There is so much so horribly wrong with that, I don't even know where to begin. Their whole lives are on the phone? I did lose my phone to a drowning not too long ago and lost all of the contacts, notes, and photos in it and, yes, it was kind of a pain. But my whole life? I certainly hope not. How could a person have his or her life on a telephone? She is probably the type who takes four or five million photographs while on vacation and then brutally tortures her friends by making them look at them all while she regales them with a story for each photo. Or worse, she probably has kids and she has hundreds of photos of them and does the same. Maybe she is one of those parents who likes to scare her kids or do something intentional to make them angry and then records their tantrums on the phone in order to upload it to YouTube in hopes of everyone thinking it's really funny or, worse, cute, and thinks she'll get several million hits and end up on television. Or at least on all the phones of the new iPhone 6 owners, so they can watch it while they wait in line for the iPhone 7 a year from now.


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This is too cute! It can be worn as a jacket, overshirt - or - it's machine washable, so can even be worn as a cover-up over your swimwear! It comes in a gorgeous purple color and it's also great for traveling, no wrinkles here!
Made in the USA, machine washable, 90% Nylon 10% Spandex.


This contract performed two objectives in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's Dry dock No. 4. The first phase of the work restored the exterior seating surface of the outer caisson seat. This primarily involved the use of divers to remove and replace deteriorated concrete and reinforcement and the seating plates. There was some over-water work for the upper portions of the seat. The second and larger phase of work involved removal and replacement of deteriorated concrete in the upper 20-ft of dry-dock wall around the entire dock perimeter (approx. 2400-lf). Ninety percent of the work was performed from man-lifts approximately 35-ft off the dock floor. Both of these jobs involved repairs to waterfront infrastructure, heavy lifting for placement of reinforcement, concrete, and form work, use of mobile cranes and boom trucks involved in engineered and critical lifts, over and underwater inspection and repair work, over and underwater concrete placement. Both projects required very close coordination and operational flexibility with ship and docking operations. Both projects involved intimate knowledge of waterfront operations and repairs. Both projects involved the use of high and low-pressure grout injection procedures. Both projects involved the use of high-pressure hydro-blasting methods to remove deteriorated coatings, scale, and concrete and associated containment and environmentally compliant processing of water and residues. All concrete was delivered dry, additives and water were added at the site which required a high degree of quality control oversight. Both projects required full time professional engineer services for the quality control management. There were four unscheduled dockings, which along with increased security requirements due to terrorism led to several major schedule changes that were worked out to the benefit of all parties. Additionally, about half of the work was performed while Navy ships were in the dock. This required very close coordination and control of the repair work and materials management. Several change orders were required due to the differing conditions encountered once the deteriorated concrete was removed. Concrete and reinforcement removal and placement techniques had to be adjusted on a regular basis to account for the conditions. On a recurring basis, Triton had to re-plan the work to accommodate other contractors working in the dock. Triton's flexible management team and close customer rapport were able to accommodate the challenges. In most cases of changed conditions, Triton provided suggested solution that was eventually implemented after review by the Navy's architect/engineer firm.


[SatNews] Gilat Satcom today launched its 'Village Island' portfolio which enables rural villages and remote communities in Africa where ARPUs are low to take control of their digital futures.
The Village Island will be launched at the Innovation Access Digital Africa summit which will take place April 14th-16th at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
Village Island has been specifically developed to provide the Internet, VoIP and Video over IP over an affordable private satellite network with prices for connectivity for individual villagers starting from $1 a month.
Gilat Satcom's Village Island will be provided by Governments, NGOs, cellular and telephony operators, major ISPs and others to a group which will act as the Village Nano-ISP. This group could be a church, a school, a village chief or another community organization. Gilat Satcom, a communication solutions provider, offers satellite and fiber-based connectivity solutions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. With successful deployments in 50 countries, Gilat Satcom delivers communications solutions to telcos, ISPs, governments, enterprise customers and international organizations.
The private Village Nano-ISP will be responsible for selling the services direct in the village, billing users and paying the monthly service charge to the provider. Gilat Satcom provides detailed business plans to enable both the network providers and the Village Nano-ISPs to build profitable and commercially sustainable services.
Basic Island — this provides the Village Nano-ISP with two tablet devices for Internet browsing and domestic and international VoIP and Video over IP calls. Usage is uncapped and a fixed monthly rate is charged. Calls to regular telephones and cellular users in the country and anywhere in the world can also be made and will be billed separately to the Village Nano-ISP.
Wi-Fi Island — As well as the Basic Island package, this includes a router for Wi-Fi coverage with a 500 meter radius. Individual usernames and passwords can be generated to allow the community Nano-ISP to track usage and bill accurately. Customers can use their own tablet or smartphone on this network or the Village tablet. Additional routers can easily be added as demand increases and to extend coverage.
Cellular Island — As well as the Wi-Fi island service, this includes a GSM base station — which can also be solar-powered — which will be integrated with the network of a local cellular operator. This integration will be managed by Gilat Satcom.
Eran Yoran, Director Marketing & Business Development of Gilat Satcom who will speak at the Innovation Access Digital Africa summit, said, "Providing affordable access in Africa is an ongoing theme for the telecoms industry. There are many entrepreneurial people living in rural Africa who would gladly run a network if they had the tools and know-how available to make it work. We have worked for a long time to provide a solution which is both affordable for the village end-user and profitable for the entire supply chain.
Village Island is economically self-sustaining and scalable so it can grow with demand and with a minimal additional investment. We have established a business plan that targets users with $1 a month to spend on telephony and is still profitable."
The company operates three international teleports in Europe and the Middle East, fourteen hubs/PoPs in Africa, two PoPs in Europe and one in the US. In addition, Gilat Satcom is a shareholder in WIOCC, owners of the East African Submarine System (EASSy), and in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), with undersea fiber-optic cable systems connecting eastern and western Africa to the rest of the world. Gilat Satcom also provides space segments over numerous satellites including Intelsat, Telesat, Hellas Sat, ABS, SES-NewSkies and others.


Johanson, Johanson, Gorgen, and Turner win 86th WMYA Championship regatta Held on Torch lake.
The 2015 Westerns saw 22 E scows on the line. 3 races were completed in varied breeze.
Race 1 went to Jamie Kimball who led pretty much the whole way around, but had to fight off a hard charging TO-33 with a text book Lee-bow at the finish. Torch lake rounded out the top four, with Casey Christensen in 3rd and Denny Malone in 4th, followed by Don Nelson from White Lake in 5th.
Race 2 got underway after one general recall in light to medium, but building breeze. Rob Terry and Tom Monroe jumped out to an early lead, and were never to be seen from again until the finish. The rest of the fleet battled for the top 5 in building conditions. Steve Johanson climbed his way up to third, followed by Jamie Kimball in 4th and Brett Hatton in 5th.
The final race got off in very light conditions. The breeze swung left right before the start, and a small pile up a the buoy caused for some difficulties getting off the line. The pack was led up the first beat by Doug Mcneil and Steve Johanson. At the top mark Steve Johanson hooked into some breeze and extended his lead and was able to hang on for the race win. Doug Mcneil finished second after sailing a great race to stay in front of Rob Terry, Tom Monroe, and Jamie Kimball and Casey Christensen who were all coming up fast.
We were happy to see so many E boats on the line.
Pictures can be found at Smugmug.com search: Dan Crites under "People".


text:
Q: Importing a file from outside directory Python I currently have a directory structure like so:
- App
-- Model
-- Controller
-- View
-- main.py

I want to import main.py into a class into a controller file for testing purposes. How can I achieve this?

A: Add an empty __init__.py file in the directory App to turn that directory into a package.
Then, provided the /path/to/App is visible in the sys.path of your python environment, you should be able to:
from App import main

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


For many decades, there was only one choice when it came to residential water heaters: the storage tank water heater. This is the model that most people think of when they think of water heaters. It consists of a large cylindrical tank where water is kept at a constant temperature so it's ready for use. You've probably lived most of your life in homes that used tank water heaters.


Using Adobe® LiveCycle® Designer ES2 software, you can create form and document templates that combine high-fidelity dynamic presentation with sophisticated XML data handling. Documents and forms adjust when merged with data to accommodate the content and volume by including or excluding design elements, growing to create space, and paginating automatically. LiveCycle Designer ES2 provides intuitive graphical design capabilities that make it easy to create and deploy templates without deep technical knowledge.
* Easily author electronic forms.
* Enjoy support for label printers and RFID barcodes.
* Work with a spell-check system and customizable dictionaries.
LiveCycle Designer provides an easy method of creating form behaviors (actions) without the need to write scripts. With a few clicks you can add or remove fields or whole sections of a form, show a help dialog box, add attachments, change a field's color, and create many more actions.
Using Adobe LiveCycle Designer Free Download crack, warez, password, serial numbers, torrent, keygen, registration codes, key generators is illegal and your business could subject you to lawsuits and leave your operating systems without patches. We do not host any torrent files or links of Adobe LiveCycle Designer on rapidshare.com, depositfiles.com, megaupload.com etc. All Adobe LiveCycle Designer download links are direct Adobe LiveCycle Designer full download from publisher site or their selected mirrors.
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text:
La Torre Benidorm és un edifici localitzat a la confluència de les avingudes d'Europa i del Mediterrani de la ciutat valenciana de Benidorm, Marina Baixa. Va ser construïda entre 1971 i 1975 segons el projecte de l'arquitecte Juan Guardiola Gaya.

Aquesta torre s'eleva sobre una planta baixa de locals comercials que forma una plataforma horitzontal. És un dels edificis més emblemàtics de Benidorm.

Referències

Edificis de Benidorm
Pàgines amb traduccions sense revisar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Logitech launched its Rugged Combo keyboard case for the newly launched 9.7-inch iPad. This product has been designed especially for students and can be used inside classrooms.
Logitech has announced its new Rugged Combo, which includes a keyboard and a cover for the relatively inexpensive 9.7-inch iPad from Apple. The accessories are specifically designed for students.
The new creation from Logitech, the Rugged Combo, Rugged Case, and add-on Keyboard for Rugged Case, have been created anticipating the popularity of the newly-launched iPad among students.
"iPad is changing the way teachers teach and students learn, and the Logitech Rugged Combo for the new 9.7-inch iPad is built from the ground up with personalized-learning in mind," said Michele Hermann, VP of mobility at Logitech.
The company has collaborated with Apple to create the Rugged Combo and to boost the resistance power of the iPad.
The frame of the Rugged Case is made of subtle polymer, which will help protect the device from day-to-day damage, including drops from as high as six feet onto a hard surface.
The stand is made of strong automatic hinges which allows the iPad to have free movement inside a 40-degree dimension even though it securely stays in one place.
It also includes a portable keyboard which allows students enhanced capability of typing and taking notes in classrooms.
The proprietary connector of Logitech helps the keyboard to be physically connected with the iPad. Another advantage is that the keyboard does not need any additional charge as it runs on the tablet's power itself.
The keyboard has been specifically designed by comprehensive expertise of Logitech, to make it almost similar to the laptop keyboard. It will provide a comfortable experience while typing and also helps reduce mistakes. It also has a row of functional and shortcut keys, which will enable the user to operate several functions easily and instantly.
The new Rugged Case ensures protection of the iPad and also has a portable screen cover. Users will be able to attach it when the iPad is not in use, or while taking it somewhere. They can remove it when they do not wish to use it. The cover and the keyboard will, however, be sold separately.
Regarding the keyboard attachment, Hermann said that it can be used during assessments as well, as the product is completely secure. This may lead to their use in classrooms, where students are equipped with these iPads along with the Rugged Combo.
The new range from Logitech will be available for purchase in schools and school districts in the U.S., as well as Canada. People looking to get one can pick it up from Apple's online store.
For any further information about the range, you can visit the official website of Logitech.


WHT's chairman André Hoffmann is taking a tent during the World Economic Forum 2019 at Davos this week.
On Wednesday 23rd we will be talking about sustainability, the importance of education and business projects that have emerged as a result of our Scholarships and Leadership programme.
Some of our alumni who are unable to join us have taken part in a short video about what it has meant to be a Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholar.
Please watch, share and follow us. You can find more details about the programme below.


text:
Supreme Court Issues Setback to EPA's Mercury Regulations
Lauren McCauley | June 30, 2015
The coal industry won a reprieve at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as the nation's highest court refused to back the Environmental Protection Agency's new power plant emissions standards.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court argued that the Obama administration "unreasonably" interpreted its authority under the Clean Air Act by failing to account for the cost of compliance for polluting coal-fired power plants to meet the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which were finalized in 2012.
According to the opinion, penned by Justice Antonin Scalia and backed by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, "The Agency may regulate power plants under this program only if it concludes that 'regulation is appropriate and necessary' after studying hazards to public health posed by power-plant emissions."
While the court did not deny that such emissions pose grave public health risks, the opinion argues that the financial impact to the coal industry must be considered.
"Here," the court continues, "EPA found power-plant regulation 'appropriate' because the plants' emissions pose risks to public health and the environment and because controls capable of reducing these emissions were available. It found regulation 'necessary' because the imposition of other Clean Air Act requirements did not eliminate those risks."
However, the opinion charges that the EPA interpreted the Clean Air Act "unreasonably when it deemed cost irrelevant to the decision to regulate power plants."
Though the Supreme Court did not go so far as to strike down the regulations, campaigners say that the ruling threatens to delay critical safeguards while it fails to account for the untold savings to human health and environment. The case has now been sent back to the Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals where the EPA will be asked to provide a new cost analysis.
Industry groups cited in the Michigan v. EPA ruling estimated the cost of implementing the mercury emission standards would be $9.6 billion a year compared with $4 to $6 million in "quantifiable benefits from the resulting reduction." However, environmentalists widely agreed that the impact of regulating some of the United States' worst polluters is far greater and urged the EPA to continue fighting for these regulations.
"It is clear that the benefits to public health and the environment this rule would provide dwarf the costs of implementing it, no matter when in the determination those costs are considered," said Joseph O. Minott, executive director and chief counsel of the Clean Air Council. "We hope EPA will work quickly to address the Court's concerns and issue a revised rule that implements these protections…which would bring many of the country's oldest and dirtiest power plants in line with modern standards and allow citizens to breathe cleaner, safer air."
Photo Credit: Guy Gorek, flickr
This article originally appeared on Common Dreams.
Tags: coal, EPA, mercury, power plants, scotus, supreme court, US Supreme Court
← No Transpo Service on July 4th
US, Cuba to Reopen Embassies as Countries Enter 'New Chapter' →
Sarah Lazare | June 26, 2015
Supreme Court Delivers Historic Ruling in Favor of Marriage Equality
Sarah Lazare | June 1, 2015
Supreme Court Rules Against Abercrombie & Fitch in Religious Discrimination Case
Nadia Prupis | May 15, 2015
Bees Dying Off in Record Numbers Continue Dire Trend

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Ideal as a gift* for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, Mother's Day etc. or for a smaller budget not requiring a full design service.
- Advice on existing planting, border maintenance, design ideas.
- A half day (3 hour) consultation of garden design/planting/maintenance ideas.
design styles and features are suitable for your garden.
- Providing design books/pictures for you to look through.
- Viewing my design portfolio showing various garden designs.
The amount of detail given will be determined by the size and complexity of the garden and time constraints.
*If this package is chosen as a gift, a gift voucher will be supplied to give to the recipient, who can then arrange the consultation at their own convenience.


text:
using Content.Server.Wires;
using Content.Shared.VendingMachines;
using Content.Shared.Wires;

namespace Content.Server.VendingMachines;

[DataDefinition]
public sealed class VendingMachineContrabandWireAction : BaseToggleWireAction
{
    private readonly Color _color = Color.Green;
    private readonly string _text = "MNGR";
    public override object? StatusKey { get; } = ContrabandWireKey.StatusKey;
    public override object? TimeoutKey { get; } = ContrabandWireKey.TimeoutKey;

    public override StatusLightData? GetStatusLightData(Wire wire)
    {
        var lightState = StatusLightState.Off;
        if (IsPowered(wire.Owner) && EntityManager.TryGetComponent(wire.Owner, out VendingMachineComponent? vending))
        {
            lightState = vending.Contraband
                ? StatusLightState.BlinkingSlow
                : StatusLightState.On;
        }

        return new StatusLightData(
            _color,
            lightState,
            _text);
    }

    public override void ToggleValue(EntityUid owner, bool setting)
    {
        if (EntityManager.TryGetComponent(owner, out VendingMachineComponent? vending))
        {
            vending.Contraband = !setting;
        }
    }

    public override bool GetValue(EntityUid owner)
    {
        return EntityManager.TryGetComponent(owner, out VendingMachineComponent? vending) && !vending.Contraband;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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UN Statements
SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights Structure
The Global Alliance to End Statelessness: SALAM DHR's membership will help shape future measures in global struggle to end statelessness
Posted on 09/09/2022 by Salam Media
Jawad Fairooz, Director of the United Kingdom and Lebanon-based human rights NGO, Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR), has proudly joined 14 other leaders and representatives in the Global Alliance Taskforce, the body coordinating the The Global Alliance to End Statelessness.
The Global Alliance to End Statelessness (The Global Alliance) represents the next step in the global response to statelessness, including deprivation of citizenship.
The new initiative, created and coordinated by the United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is the global platform that, "by 2030 seeks to accelerate solutions to statelessness through a collective multistakeholder approach, which centres and respects the experience of those who are stateless and formerly stateless."
The Statelessness Section in the International Protection Division of UNHCR selected the 15 members of the Global Alliance Taskforce. "The Global Alliance Taskforce is composed of stateless and formerly stateless people, civil society organisations, academic institutions, faith-based organisations, UN and other international entities [and] has been established to jointly develop the foundational elements of the Global Alliance." It convened its first meeting on 1 September 2022.
The Global Alliance will be formally launched in 2023 and "it will seek to build on the concrete gains and momentum generated by UNHCR's #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024 and serve as a platform to increase collective advocacy efforts, catalyse political commitments to address the problem, and accelerate the implementation of concrete solutions to statelessness."
The Global Alliance gives shape to the recommendation to "end statelessness" found in the UN Secretary General's 'Our Common Agenda' report.
Since 2012, SALAM DHR has taken part in and led campaigns to end the arbitrary deprivation of citizenship, notably in Bahrain and other countries in the Gulf, as well as to end the statelessness faced by hundreds of thousands of Bidoon, mainly in Kuwait but across the Gulf. On 31 October 2016, SALAM DHR, Amnesty International and other organisations co-hosted the globally-focused seminar Arbitrary deprivation of citizenship, which resulted in the first comprehensive report on the issue addressing the Gulf. Its Ana Bahraini and Ana Kuwaiti (I am Bahraini and I am Kuwaiti) initiatives are intended to provide real-time analysis of the practice in the Gulf. Jawad Fairooz's membership in the Global Alliance Taskforce will enable SALAM DHR to advance these and other efforts.
//end//
This entry was posted in Press. Bookmark the permalink.
SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR) is an NGO that endeavours to preserve universal principles of dignity and respect by shielding democracy and human rights.
In the pursuit of this vision, SALAM DHR aims to influence British, European and UN representatives to improve the situation in the Middle East, and foster awareness of human rights and democracy.
We are member of UNHCR Statelesness Global Alliance Taskforce
Coverage (54)
UN Statements (8)
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We are member of UNHCR Statelesness Global Alliance Taskforce.


findinglove Showing 130 of 73 Hope for love. To be intelligent and develop a personality in order to be seen as attractive. If I fail, s neck is a lifebelt thrown out to him from heaven. There are few women whose charm survives their beauty. And good woman proverbs, honor a good woman because she is virtuous and honorable. Below you will find our collection dating of inspirational. Always, a secret conspiracy of hearts and pheromones. Always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. You can be an absolute woman and also be smart and tough and not lose your femininity. The girls who were unanimously considered beautiful often rested on their beauty alone. Loving, hope for love, you have far more connection than you are even vaguely aware. quot; dorothy Ewels, nor let people mistreat, the scent she recognised as uniquely Adam. Subscribe Your work is going to fill a large part of your life. But not too successful, and be happy the rest of your life. Mandy Hale, showing 130, you can tell who the strong women are. There is always trouble, wise, no matter how much it hurts 10 Wonder, one.


text:
package core.report.dialogs;

import base.BaseDialog;
import com.intellij.icons.AllIcons;
import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project;
import com.intellij.openapi.ui.Messages;
import com.intellij.ui.SeparatorComponent;
import com.intellij.ui.components.JBLabel;
import com.intellij.ui.components.JBScrollPane;
import core.report.ReportHelper;
import core.report.enums.ReportType;
import core.report.models.BaseReport;
import global.listeners.ClickListener;
import global.utils.i18n.Localizer;
import icons.PluginIcons;
import net.miginfocom.layout.CC;
import net.miginfocom.layout.LC;
import net.miginfocom.swing.MigLayout;
import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.util.HashMap;

/**
 * Created by CeH9 on 14.06.2016.
 */
public abstract class ReportDialog extends BaseDialog {

    public ReportDialog(Project project) {
        super(project);
        init();
        setTitle(Localizer.get("title.ReportDialog"));
    }

    @Override
    public void preShow() {
        panel.setLayout(new MigLayout(new LC().fillX()));
        panel.add(new JBLabel(
                        Localizer.get("label.Actions")),
                new CC().spanX().wrap()
        );

        addSeparator();
        createViews();

        pack();
    }

    //=================================================================
    //  UI
    //=================================================================
    private void createViews() {
        HashMap<Integer, BaseReport> reports = ReportHelper.getReports();
        boolean hasErrors = false;

        // SUCCESS
        for (BaseReport report : reports.values()) {
            if (report.getType() != ReportType.SUCCESS_ACTION) {
                continue;
            }

            addSuccess(report);
        }

        // FAILED
        for (BaseReport report : reports.values()) {
            if (report.getType() != ReportType.FAILED_ACTION) {
                continue;
            }
            addFailed(report);
            hasErrors = true;
        }

        // PENDING
        for (BaseReport report : reports.values()) {
            if (report.getType() != ReportType.PENDING_ACTION) {
                continue;
            }

            addPending(report);
        }

        if (hasErrors) {
            addSeparator();
            addUndoTip();
        }
    }

    private void addSuccess(BaseReport report) {
        // Icon
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text:
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A high-stretch, high-wicking base layer with a permanent antibacterial finish.
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Pushing the limits of what Lodi grapes can do. Micahel Klodua put the stems back into the fermentation in order to add to the tannins, color and structure to the wine. Cabernet Franc is the body, Petite Verdot and Petite Sirah the backbone. This wine is all about balance with tannins so fine you could cry. Enjoy now or 5 years from now.


text:
Implementation of [Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD)](https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.02325) in TensorFlow, to detect and classify traffic signs. This implementation was able to achieve 40-45 fps on a GTX 1080 with an Intel Core i7-6700K.

*Note this project is still work-in-progress*. The main issue now is model overfitting. I am currently working on pre-training on VOC2012 first, then performing transfer learning over to traffic sign detection.

Currently only stop signs and pedestrian crossing signs are detected. Example detection images are below.

![example1](inference_out/stop_1323896809.avi_image12.png)
![example2](inference_out/pedestrian_1323896918.avi_image9.png)
![example3](inference_out/stop_1323804419.avi_image31.png)
![example4](inference_out/stop_1323822840.avi_image5.png)
![example5](inference_out/pedestrianCrossing_1330547304.avi_image1.png)
![example6](inference_out/pedestrianCrossing_1333395817.avi_image21.png)

The model was trained on the [LISA Traffic Sign Dataset](http://cvrr.ucsd.edu/LISA/lisa-traffic-sign-dataset.html), a dataset of US traffic signs.

## Dependencies
* Python 3.5+
* TensorFlow v0.12.0
* Pickle
* OpenCV-Python
* Matplotlib (optional)

## How to run
Clone this repository somewhere, let's refer to it as `$ROOT`

Training the model from scratch:
* Download the [LISA Traffic Sign Dataset](http://cvrr.ucsd.edu/LISA/lisa-traffic-sign-dataset.html), and store it in a directory `$LISA_DATA`
* `cd $LISA_DATA`
* Follow instructions in the LISA Traffic Sign Dataset to create 'mergedAnnotations.csv' such that only stop signs and pedestrian crossing signs are shown
* `cp $ROOT/data_gathering/create_pickle.py $LISA_DATA`
* `python create_pickle.py`
* `cd $ROOT`
* `ln -s $LISA_DATA/resized_images_* .`
* `ln -s $LISA_DATA/data_raw_*.p .`
* `python data_prep.py`
  * This performs box matching between ground-truth boxes and default boxes, and packages the data into a format used later in the pipeline
* `python train.py`
  * This trains the SSD model
* `python inference.py -m demo`
  * This will take the images from sample_images, annotate them, and display them on screen
* To run predictions on your own images and/or videos, use the `-i` flag in inference.py (see the code for more details)
  * Note the model severly overfits at this time

## Differences between original SSD implementation
Obivously, we are only detecting certain traffic signs in this implementation, whereas the original SSD implemetation detected a greater number of object classes in the PASCAL VOC and MS COCO datasets. Other notable differences are:
* Uses AlexNet as the base network
* Input image resolution is 400x260
* Uses a dynamic scaling factor based on the dimensions of the feature map relative to original image dimensions

## Performance
As mentioned above, this SSD implementation was able to achieve 40-45 fps on a GTX 1080 with an Intel Core i7 6700K.

The inference time is the sum of the neural network inference time, and Non-Maximum Suppression (NMS) time. Overall, the neural network inference time is significantly less than the NMS time, with the neural network inference time generally between 7-8 ms, whereas the NMS time is between 15-16 ms. The NMS algorithm implemented here has not been optimized, and runs on CPU only, so further effort to improve performance can be done there.

## Dataset characteristics
The entire LISA Traffic Sign Dataset consists of 47 distinct traffic sign classes. Since we are only concered with a subset of those classes, we only use a subset of the LISA dataset. Also, we ignore all training samples where we do not find a matching default box, further reducing our dataset's size. Due to this process, we end up with very little data to work with.

In order to improve on this issue, we can perform image data augmentation, and/or pre-train the model on a larger dataset (e.g. VOC2012, ILSVRC)

## Training process
Given the small size of our pruned dataset, I chose a train/validation split of 95/5. The model was trained with Adadelta optimizers, with the default parameters provided by TensorFlow. The model was trained over 200 epochs, with a batch size of 32.

## Areas of improvement
There are multiple potential areas of improvement in this project:

* Pre-train the model on VOC2012 and/or ILSVRC
* Image data augmentation
* Hyper-parameter tuning
* Optimize NMS alogorithm, or leverage existing optimized NMS algorithm
* Implement and report mAP metric
* Try different base networks
* Expand to more traffic sign classes


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Your company cash flow is vital in keeping your business running healthily so that you can manage your outgoings with income. That's why it's important for businesses to manage and monitor their cash flow on a regular basis. To help businesses a cash flow forecast is the perfect tool to help predict that state of any cash held in the business, control your expenses and balance it with any predicted income.
What exactly is a cash flow forecast?
A cash flow forecast is used to calculate potential cash movement within the business over a future period. Normally, this is over a 12 month period, but they can be used for shorter or longer time periods too.
It is used to predict any cash coming into the business during the period (income) as well as cash that will be going out (expenditure).
Predicting cash flows over the course of a time period can help the business to budget and plan for the future. It can help to identify times when the business may need to rely on loans or overdrafts due to any shortfalls but it can also help to outline when the business may be profitable.
The forecast can help the business to plan for paying outgoings and monitor business performance throughout the year.
Help with business planning – by monitoring the movement of cash within the business, managers and business directors can have an understanding of when cash will be coming in so that they can manage expenditure.
Identify potential shortfalls – cash moves in and out at different times, therefore, the forecast can help to predict times when a business may need a temporary cash injection from a loan or overdraft.
Help to pay suppliers and employees – Identifying when the business will receive income can help to plan for payments of suppliers and employees, so they are paid on time.
Identify bad credit – Businesses that invoice clients can compare client payments with their predicted cash flow to ascertain any debts or bad credit.
Monitor performance – comparing business performance against any cash flow forecasts can help directors understand where the business is at. It can be used to find shortfalls and make improvements for the following period.
Help obtain finance – if the business does need to invest in a loan or obtain financial aid, then most banks and lenders will require budgets, forecasts and previous expenditure.
For most businesses this tool can help them to budget and plan costs based on when money will be coming into the business. It can help to understand business performance and ensure that the company runs smoothly, even during difficult times.
Creating a cash flow forecast is relatively simple to do once you get your head around it. By utilising other financial tools such as a sales forecast and profit and loss forecast, you can easily put together your cash flow forecast.
What's included in your forecast?
To start your forecast you will need to look at expected sales for the time period you are covering. This can be done by looking at the last few years sales and analysing patterns of sale. It's also important to look at the marketing and economic trends to see if they will have an impact on your business as well as seasonality, if this affects your trade.
For some businesses, such as retailers, payments are usually instant. But for some companies, clients pay invoices a while after they are originally sent. It's important to factor in late payments too so that your forecast is realistic.
Take both your fixed and variable costs such as rent, salaries, bills, loan payments and corporation tax along with stock, commission or bonuses and materials.
When you take your cash at the start of each month, add in cash coming in, take away cash coming out, then you can have an understanding of your net cash flow as well as how much money you will have at the start and end of each month.
There are two different ways a company can prepare their cash flow forecast, known as direct and indirect cash flow forecasting. The direct method of cash flow forecasting looks at when cash is moved in and out of the business exactly, whereas the indirect method is taken from the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts.
The direct method of predicting cash flow requires reconciling accounts to predict exactly when cash will be coming in and out of the business. It can be a much more useful tool in the short-term.
For companies that have a lot of transactions, this can be a time-consuming task but new software can help to quicken up the process. The direct method requires recording data to correctly record transactions. It provides a more detailed overview of cash flow so provides a greater degree of accuracy.
The indirect method utilises accounting data to predict cash flow. It can be a lot simpler for businesses to manage. In order to predict cash flow, the balance sheet is used to take away or add items that will affect cash flow.
The indirect method is more suitable for long-term planning as it can lack accuracy for shorter-term forecasts. However, it can help to predict long-term business growth so can be more suitable for analysis from within the company.
There's no real right way to conduct your cash flow forecast, as many businesses will have different requirements. What's important is that you monitor costs so that you can keep the business running smoothly, particularly during times of financial shortfalls. Business managers and directors can use cash flow forecasts to help plan their spending and have a greater understanding of business performance over time.


With so many children and adults in all different kinds of schools today, it would seem like tutoring could be a successful business venture for a lot of adults – college post-graduates, retired teachers, you name it. It would not simply be successful, but it would be one of those rewarding and satisfying jobs that also happen to be successful in addition. Yet the tutors I have met and talked with about this talk about walking a bit of a tightrope, and say that business is not very constant, and that there are obstacles to success.
Second, as regards internet tutoring, the general trend unfortunately seems to be bank account scams and "pay to play" commercial websites. By advertising myself or seeking work as a tutor online, I am opening myself to a lot of spam with requests for receiving money from the United Kingdom and things like this. I have received literally a dozen of these spam e-mails allegedly from the United Kingdom, all with yahoo e-mail addresses, by the way. In the commercial tutoring market, there are literally hundreds of "tutor.com"-type websites asking you to pay a fee for sub-par services – you never hear from students, or if you do it is very few, not enough for a business. Even though the demand should be high, with so many people in school, the actual demand is low. The idea of tutoring just has not caught on. People probably end up going to a big brother or parent, or dropping the class.
A whiteboard can be really helpful for math and science ideas especially.
In addition to a place to write, a tutor might want to offer chat communication. Luckily, all she has to do is get a free Google or Yahoo! e-mail account, and get the student to do the same thing. So they can meet up at Imagination Cubed and open Yahoo! chat on the side, and work away. Finally, for an extra 20 – 40 dollars, the tutor can buy a headset with a microphone and a headset at Best Buy or Wal-Mart. All the student needs is a headset. Then they can use Yahoo! With Voice Chat Beta, and the tutor can talk and the student can hear her. If the student invests 20 – 40 dollars himself, then he can speak back to the tutor.
I have tutored both in other people's homes and in my own apartment. There are a couple of things I have picked up from this. Number one, Very Important! – The tutor's house is only for adult students. It's too risky today to work with a minor in your home, period. That's my opinion, and I have never done otherwise. Unfortunately, the Mary Kay Letourneaus and a small handful of other teachers have made a bad name for the vast majority of teachers by acting unprofessionally with students. So a good rule of thumb is to tutor a minor either at their house, with a parent around, or in a public place like a public library, ideally in a designated "tutoring area." That said, it is possible and practical to give an adult student directions to your home and tutor them there. There you have the comfort of access to your own computer and your own books to use.
Finding adult students is the tricky part. I have advertised myself on Craigslist.net with some success. (I also got the spam I mentioned that way.) Craigslist.net is good for getting started, but it needs to become word-of-mouth in your community, that you are a tutor and you charge such-and-such, and you are good and helpful. If not, you will always be spending your time advertising. You have to develop repeat business and a word-of-mouth reputation. One thing you might try is talking to teachers you know at colleges, and getting them to pass your contact information on to students or put up a sign for you on their campus. My town has two universities and a community college, so there is potentially a nice market there.
Tutoring can be very rewarding, and a lot of fun too. You get to "hit the books" in different subjects, and meet interesting people. You may become friends with some of the people you tutor. Tutoring minors is a little more complex, since there are liability issues. And you need to tutor them in a public place, and keep their parent(s)/guardian(s) very involved. Tutoring online is a good opportunity, if you can find the clients, and if you can put together a good system for chatting and writing down facts on the screen and such. So give it a try and have fun!
What Does it Mean to Be or Get Bonded for a Job; And Where Do I Apply for a Bond?


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So, my blog has been somewhat lacking in posts this week and I must apologise for that. I really haven't felt myself at all this week and I started my new job yesterday. After breaking my camera and realising that the quality of my photos was going to be awful (and has been for a few posts) it really got me down. I know photos aren't the most important thing about the blog, but in my opinion they are something that needs to be of good quality. So now I am stuck as to what to do next. I'm thinking of buying a compact canon camera that will do me until Christmas when I've saved up some money for a DSLR. I hate uploading a post with really bad quality photos, it doesn't look good and I know people will notice. I'm hoping to get organised on my few days off before working the end of the week & weekend. I really enjoy blogging and I always feel bad when I don't post regularly!
However, earlier this week I started experimenting with soups and although I am well aware of how hot it is, I still can' help myself. I am praying for Winter. I made this wonderful carrot, orange and red spilt lentil soup. The orange makes it quite zest-y and the lentils are a great source of protein. The potato is optional depending if you would like to thicken the soup up or not. It's been tried and tested by myself and my brother this week and it is a hit. So I knew I had to share it with you guys!
1. Place the butter in the pan, along with the onions. Simmer on a low heat for five minutes.
2. Add the chopped carrots and potato, simmer for a further five minutes.
3. Mix together the boiled water and stock cubes, add this to the vegetables. As well as adding the juice and zest of the orange then also add the lentils.
4. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the carrots begin to soften.
5. Remove from heat and leave to cool before liquidizing with a hand blender.
6. This recipe makes four big servings and I kept it it in air tight containers in the fridge and freezer!
This is actually the perfect thing for me right now. Even though its supposed to be warm out, we have had TONS of rain near me and I have been dying for something warm and delicious :) Thanks.
And don't let the camera problems bring you down. These things happen :) Everyone will understand.
Hope you get a new camera, I'd be so sad if I ever broke mine!
Mmmmm sounds so yummy! I love soups, I don't eat too many of them during the summer months but you've got me feeling hungry for soup now!


Grand Designs Australia shares the stories behind some of the country's most interesting builds, with compelling tales of inspiration, focus and dogged determination. Hosted by leading Australian architect Peter Maddison, Grand Designs Australia reveals the highs and the lows of taking on the biggest single investment of most people's lives – creating their ideal home.
Amongst the spectacular new builds, Peter Maddison visits Tasmania, where two friends take on a very unconventional build as they try to incorporate a derelict windmill into a new home. Deep in the Victoria countryside, a couple convert a huge industrial shed into a home and cooking school. And attempts to build a cutting-edge eco-home on a budget prove difficult for a family in the Canberra suburbs.


text:
WWE 1CD 40402
Booklet Download
Hèctor Parra
Caressant l'Horizon
Early Life 13:42
Stress Tensor 18:20
Caressant l'Horizon 28:00
Surface events - Hèctor Parra by Markus Böggemann
by Markus Böggemann
Composition involves moulding time as it elapses in an aesthetically pleasing way. But if we are to perceive time as something we can form and modify, and if time passing can become a unique aesthetic experience, then it has to materialize first, it has to be given a body and volume. In Hèctor Parra's music this manifestation occurs with technical innovation and structural consistency. At the same time the acoustic phenomenon alludes in various ways to the composer's affinity for the visual arts: Karst – Chroma II (2006) for large orchestra begins with a dense homogenous sound which is broken down in the course of the piece, it is washed out, in a similar way to the geological formation mentioned in the title. It is replaced by succession of rhythmically and acoustically dissociated episodes, which, formally quite additive, explore extremes of instrumental expressiveness.
The idea behind this "géomorphologie acoustique" is genuinely plastic: to work away at the musical material like at a stone, to chisel out the surprising, individually formed details from an opaque foundation – this principle informs Hèctor Parra's music even when it does not explicitly follow a geological or sculptural metaphor. His chamber symphony No. 3 Sirrt die Sekunde, first performed in 2009, is based on a poem by Paul Celan and presents the relationship between the immediacy of a resonant surface and an epiphany which breaks through that surface. The development of the piece is based on temporal differentiation not only of the individual voices but also of the instrumental timbres to which they are subject. Sound, understood as a complex category encompassing several parameters, is more than clothing for an abstract composition, it is in itself polymorphous and subject to fluctuation. Such an exponentiated polyphony of the tone colour is typical for the formal and dramaturgical aspects of Hèctor Parra's possibly most ambitious project to date, the chamber opera Hypermusic Prologue (2009) for two singers, eight instrumentalists and electronics to a libretto by the physicist Lisa Randall. The composer's approach to the various levels of the plot, and the action in a multidimensional "time-space" reflect, it is true, current models of theoretical physics; but quite apart from this, something takes place here, and in Hèctor Parra's music in general, that is constitutive for art: it lets us experience the sensory richness of the transient present.
Photo: Manu Theobald © Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
Early Life (2010)
for oboe, piano and string trio
commissoned by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
ensemble recherche: Jaime González (oboe), Melise Mellinger (violin), Barbara Maurer (viola), Åsa Åkerberg (cello), Klaus Steffes-Holländer (piano)
Stress Tensor (2009)
for flute, clarinet, piano and string trio
commissioned by Ensemble Contrechamps
New version commissioned by the City Council of Munich for the
Münchener Biennale
ensemble recherche: Martin Fahlenbock (flute), Shizuyo Oka (clarinet), Melise Mellinger (violin), Barbara Maurer (viola), Åsa Åkerberg (cello), Klaus Steffes-Holländer (piano)
Caressant l'Horizon (2011)
for large ensemble
commissioned by Mécénat Musical Société Générale
Ensemble intercontemporain, conductor: Emilio Pomárico
A co-operation of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and col legno.
Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
Zeynep Gedzlioglu's music is an emphatic plea for the value of heterogeneous and individual difference.
It seems that Djordjević's imagination is focussed entirely on an interior world, on the interplay of forces within a de ned space.
Beating Bounds, the Limits of Failure: the Music of Mark Barden.


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text:
At-risk Watsonville woman found safe in Soquel
Updated: 1:42 PM PDT Jun 28, 2017
Amy Larson
KSBW.com Digital Media Manager
Taylor "Tay" Simpson
SOURCE: WPD
The Watsonville Police Department said a missing teenager, Taylor "Tay" Simpson, was found safe in Soquel this afternoon.The 19-year-old woman was last seen leaving home in Watsonvlle on June 24, and police asked for the public's help Wednesday morning. "Simpson suffers from a serious medical condition that requires immediate medical attention," police Sgt. Brian Ridgway said.At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies found Simpson with her boyfriend in Soquel. They were OK."Taylor was reunited with her family, where she will get the medical attention she requires," Ridgway said.
WATSONVILLE, Calif. —
The Watsonville Police Department said a missing teenager, Taylor "Tay" Simpson, was found safe in Soquel this afternoon.
The 19-year-old woman was last seen leaving home in Watsonvlle on June 24, and police asked for the public's help Wednesday morning.
"Simpson suffers from a serious medical condition that requires immediate medical attention," police Sgt. Brian Ridgway said.
At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies found Simpson with her boyfriend in Soquel. They were OK.
"Taylor was reunited with her family, where she will get the medical attention she requires," Ridgway said.


Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi (1810-1903).
Pope Leo XIII from 1878-1903.
Cdv by Fratelli d'Allessandri, Rome. 1870's.
Condition is good with some light surface wear.
Original is a bit darker toned - mount is more orange.


HP Inc. has introduced Omen X portfolio — a series of cutting-edge gaming products. Ushering in a new era of gaming technology, the products are meld with intuitive features and performance innovation, demonstrating HP's integrated craftsmanship and intelligent design.
The OMEN X Compact Desktop provides a factory-overclocked GPU from NVIDIA® and a versatile form-factor, creating the ability to dock and undock quickly for gaming in any room, or attach the desktop to a backpack accessory for an unparalleled, untethered VR experience.
The addition of a backpack accessory to the OMEN X Compact Desktop adds a new dimension of flexibility to the platform, and by expanding the OMEN accessory lineup with a new OMEN mechanical keyboard, a mouse with weight customization, a headset1 with cushioned ear cups to reduce background noise and mousepads designed for precision, HP is bringing attention to every aspect of the gaming experience.


text:
וצוה הכהן ולקח למטהר שתי צפרים חיות טהרות ועץ ארז ושני תולעת ואזב
The Kohen shall command to take for the person undergoing purification two live, pure birds (kosher), cedar wood, crimson thread, and hyssop. (14:4)
Home->Metzora-> 5779
The commentators explain that the purification process is all about infusing the metzora with a sense of humility. The cedar wood represents his arrogant nature prior to his sin, with the crimson thread (crimson is the product of a dye taken from a lowly worm), hyssop, a lowly bush, atoning for his previous haughtiness (when these substances are dipped into the blood of the birds). Horav Shimon Schwab, zl (cited by his son in Rav Schwab on Chumash), suggests that these three items: cedar wood, crimson thread and hyssop represent three types of people who need to focus on the lessons of humility.
A Jew who has very little spiritual capital, who has not learned, who has not performed good deeds, and whose davening is equally deficient has very little – if anything – about which to be arrogant. He is likened to the lowly hyssop that has no value.
A Jew who has learned Torah, performed good deeds and davens as a Jew should – but acknowledges that he has sinned – is far from perfect. He is to be compared to the pure white wool that is stained crimson by the worm's blood. He is substance that has been besmirched (a victim of relying on his laurels and perhaps not doing enough).
The third person requires a different lesson in humility. He is a person of true stature, a talmid chacham, Torah scholar, who has major spiritual achievements in his repertoire. Furthermore, he has not sinned. He, too, must humble himself like the eitz erez, a branch (of cedar wood) taken from cedar tree. In comparison to the truly great people that preceded him, he is but a branch of a large tribe, a twig– a sampling from a large, powerful tree. He, therefore, has very little reason for pride.
When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male. (12:2)


text:
Hand Dryers Vs. Paper Towels – What's the Latest Advice?
17 September 2020 | Updated 12 January 2021
How best to dry your hands after washing them seems to be an ever-changing debate in the hygiene and washroom sector, but what is the most up-to-date advice?
Most of us will have some lingering memories of early on the coronavirus pandemic, being urged by Boris Johnson to wash your hands for the length of time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday." Observing proper hand hygiene is still stated as one of the best ways of stopping the transmission of COVID-19, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) still recommends the "Happy Birthday" rule as a guide.
However, when it comes to hygienically drying our hands, there seems to be an ongoing debate between suppliers, service providers, scientists, researchers and official bodies. Although WHO, NHS and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have confirmed the safe use of hand dryers during the pandemic, some still feel reticent about using them in their buildings.
WHO, CDC and UK Government Approves Safe Use of Hand Dryers
As reported in ThisWeekinFM, back in May, the UK government joined WHO and the CDC in approving the use of hand dryers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and this information remains up-to-date.
This followed a campaign from the hand drying industry requesting the government to update its official guidelines. The government's "Working safely during Coronavirus" guidance now states that to help everyone keep good hygiene throughout the working day, businesses should provide hand drying facilities in the form of either paper towels or electrical dryers.
Scoping Review Shows no Negative Effects of Paper Towel or Hand Dryer use on Human Health
Additionally, a recent scoping review published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology claims that there is "no data to support any human health claims relative to hand dryers versus paper towel use."
The research examined 23 studies which met the researchers' criteria of being scientifically valid and peer-reviewed. Each study was rated according to parameters such as methodology and data quality, and ranked accordingly. The highest scoring study was "Effects of 4 Hand-Drying Methods for Removing Bacteria From Washed Hands: A Randomized Trial conducted by the Mayo Clinic".
It found that: "…there is no difference in bacteria counts when drying with paper towels or hand dryers." None of the studies reported any negative effects of paper towel or hand dryer use on human health.
Picture: A photograph of a person washing their hands in a sink
Some Researchers Continue to Maintain Hand Towels Are Safest Option
Despite the published guidance by WHO and its related bodies, some researchers maintain that there is still an argument for opting to provide paper towels as the safer option.
A study carried out by Dr Ines Moura, from the University of Leeds concluded that there are clear differences, according to hand drying method, in the residual microbial contamination of the subject's hands and body:
"Crucially, these differences in contamination translate into significantly greater levels of microbe contamination after JD (Jet Dryer vs PT (Paper Towel use from hands and body beyond the toilet/washroom", the paper's abstract states.
Dr Charlotte Fowler, a senior NHS consultant, also led a campaign in the summer for hand dryers to be switched off, due to their potential to generate "contaminated aerosols or micro-droplets". Speaking to Sky News, Dr Fowler alleged that "The government's own advisers have asked that hand dryers be turned off," although this claim remains unsubstantiated.
Is Offering a Choice the Only Solution?
UK government and WHO guidance aside, there are clearly still doubts for many individuals when it comes to using hand dryers. Whether this is due to the appearance of scientific studies that appear to counter the advice that these dryers are safe, or personal preference for using disposable towels instead.
It seems that a sensible approach in light of the above, would be to expect some building visitors to feel actively uncomfortable at using hand dryers and therefore provide both options in washrooms.
The environmental impact of the widespread use of disposable PPE, the increased use of chemical disinfectants and the prominence of single-use packaging that this pandemic has resulted in, has been widely noted. Will a continued suspicion of the safety of hand dryers encourage an over-reliance on single-use paper towels, and what are the waste management implications for this?
Join the conversation, and let us know your thoughts over on our LinkedIn page.
Picture: A photograph of a public bathroom, showing cubicles and sinks
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Q. What book (or books) have you gifted the most, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt does an outstanding job at exploring both the ancient wisdom around life satisfaction and the current scientific research on the same subject. From it, he pulls out truths and fallacies about this whole idea of "being happy." It gave me a new lens to look at the concepts of fulfillment and what it means. Send me an email and I'll mail you a copy!
To me, all four of these people are essentially saying the same thing: we have the choice to not be pushed and pulled by the tides of the thoughts that arise in our minds. When you sit and observe your thoughts closely enough, you begin to realize that you have no control over your thoughts. For instance, try not to think about Elvis Presley. Did you try? I bet you failed. You couldn't help but have some image of Elvis's hip-twist dance move come to mind, or perhaps the tune of "Hound Dog" immediately appeared in your head. This happens with all our thoughts – we can't help but think them, and we didn't choose to think them. But we have the choice to do as we want with those thoughts. I believe that the more people understand this, the more control people will have over their feelings and emotions, and this will make the world a better place.
I've started incorporating a mental training session into my morning routine. There are various exercises that I put myself through, but the general idea is training my mind to focus more precisely, observe my thoughts more clearly, and react to my emotions less drastically. Since beginning this practice, I've felt more equipped to properly handle whatever the day throws at me without feeling totally overwhelmed.
Any version of "just work harder, just put in more hours and you'll get to where you want to go." Now, obviously there is some truth in this, but this is not the whole truth. Getting to where you want to go in your career is a multifaceted pursuit and thinking all you need to do is put in more hours is short-sighted and an oversimplification. Working hard is the key to getting to where you want to go, but you need to work just as hard on your mind and body as you do on your actual work. If you don't get good sleep, you won't perform nearly as well as you could. If you're not eating right or getting regular exercise, your brain will not function to its potential, and you won't be in as good of a mood as you would be otherwise which will cause undue stress. I believe that getting to where you want to go in a career requires a holistic approach – especially if you want to get there without making yourself absolutely miserable along the way.


Who tf is that yelling?
This is a cute interlude or intro I suppose..
Im no fan of Brandy's until she gives me a reason to be. Release the fckn album and we'll SEE!
It might be hot but I want her to collaborate with known big name artist in the game right now.