text:
Tribeca 2011: The Young London Jet Set in Director Alexandra McGuinness's Lotus Eaters
By John Lopez
Film still from Lotus Eaters.
A diaphanous glitter has descended upon Tribeca in the form of beautiful people, fabulous parties, and youth—and it's hard not to wax poetic about such a seemingly perfect cocktail. However, first-time director Alexandra McGuinness has cast anything but a sparing eye on the neophyte jet set in her La Dolce Vita–esque black-and-white film, Lotus Eaters. The film follows Alice (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), a young model-turning-actress, and her friend Felix as they stumble through a youthful haze of cigarettes, vodka baths, and late-night revelry to the point where the fabulous really starts to wear you down. It takes its title from a stop on Odysseus's journey, where a tribe of narcotic-noshing natives seem to do nothing but laze about all day, coaxing Odysseus's men to do the same. Under McGuinness's deft direction, the film casts a gently critical eye on young Londoners similarly lost and without purpose.Sitting across from Little Gold Men at the Mondrian Soho, McGuinness presents her film to us as more than just an excuse to look good in monochrome: " I'd always wanted to make a movie about London—about that period young people have in their 20s where they get waylaid." She smiles as she recounts the vignettes of her own journey as a young Irish girl—and the daughter of U2 manager Paul McGuinness—who came to London to act, and the overall meandering she beheld. Looking at her, you can't help notice a sort of strength reminiscent of Sofia Coppola, whom McGuinness, not surprisingly, admires: "I saw Sofia Coppola on the street yesterday, that was cool," she says.
McGuinness. She then goes on to describe her admiration for the stripper scene in Coppola's Somewhere, in which Stephen Dorff's jaded character watches stripper twins lazily entwine on poles with little enthusiasm or joy: "I love that one of them is so much better than the other, and the other is kind of checking her from the corner of her eye," McGuinness says. Clearly, that subtle, sympathy-peppered criticism has inspired Lotus Eaters: we stay with its main character, Alice, as she behaves quite unsympathetically, but we also see her own awareness of the peripatetic ennui that afflicts her circle of friends. To that end, McGuinness filmed the all-night party scenes in lovely, artful 16-mm. black-and-white—but made sure to capture the hard light of day with the HD lens of Canon 5Ds. The result are vignettes that are wistful without straying into nostalgia.
Ultimately, though, McGuinness thinks the time and place she depicted in the film is vanishing. With current world events, all the empty, unsatisfying superficiality may be evaporating in the harsh light of reality. "I think it's kind of going away, with all what's happened recently," she says, which actually leaves her hopeful: "That's when art really begins to become present, and there's a lot of great stuff around." Accordingly, we look forward to seeing what her next film brings.
John Lopez
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What is so very special about bicycling, walking or jogging along the Pine Creek Rail Trail at the beginning of April? When your spouse, your friends—even your enemies—tell you that you're crazy, meshuggener, to be out there at this time of the year? When you need to wear gloves, woolen socks and cap, five layers of clothes, thermal underwear, perhaps even a facemask?
Well, it's like this: it's coming across mountain runs proudly masquerading as waterfalls. It's fighting against cold, mean-spirited headwinds, and then reveling in the merciful, merry tailwinds. It's eyeing the swollen, rapid, almost-frightening-if-you-get-too-close waters of Pine Creek.
It's discovering hillside ledges with their remaining icicles—sparkling, melting, dripping, and breaking off and shattering below—as you pass by. It's smiling at the few folks that you meet, most bundled up like you, braving the final rudeness of winter. It's spotting that rare wild animal (perhaps a porcupine quietly rooting among last year's leaves at the edge of the trail), after miles of just you.
It's maneuvering around washouts, fallen branches, stones and boulders—keeping you more alert than during a merely mesmerizing outing deep into summer. It's enjoying what is mostly a solitary, quiet communion with Nature, witnessing the amazing transition of seasons. It's experiencing the bursts of warmth when the sun emerges from behind a cloud.
It's stopping to rest and spotting those first, lovely, green shoots rising from the earth. It's listening to the peepers chirping bravely from their watery recesses, sure of the impending spring.
It's feeling your heart pound, your lungs respire, your muscles flex—rejoicing in the fact that that's good stuff that your body is made out of, that you're healthy and wonderfully alive.
It's arriving back home—exhausted physically; invigorated mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Purring while you take that awesome hot shower. Laughing while you gluttonously but guiltlessly shovel food down to stoke your furnace. Sighing as you easily fall asleep, almost like when you were a kid.
So shake off your winter torpidity! Engage in some salubrious, al fresco exercise! Start ridding yourself of that ugly steatopygia and unsightly tenterbelly that you allowed to form over the winter!


text:
Q: Button animate on hover to change colors from top to bottom What I want is the background color of a button to change from top to bottom on hover. There is a good example on this page http://tympanus.net/Development/CreativeButtons/
 This is the code I have now. Thanks
CSS
#button {

    outline: 0;
    margin: 20px  10px 10px 6px;
    border-width:2.7px;
    font-size: 25px;
    border-style: solid;
    font-family: 'PT Sans Narrow', sans-serif;
    padding: 4px 40px;
    background-color: white;
    border-color: #0e83cd;
    color: #0e83cd;
    transition: all .3s ease-in;

    }

 #button:hover {
    color: white;
    background-color: #0e83cd;
    transition: all .3s ease-in;
    }

HTML
  <button id="button" />Ask</button>

A: This is one way to do it, as it did in the website:
button {
    text-rendering: auto;
    color: initial;
    letter-spacing: normal;
    word-spacing: normal;
    text-transform: none;
    text-indent: 0px;
    text-shadow: none;
    display: inline-block;
    text-align: start;
    margin: 0em 0em 0em 0em;
    font: 13.3333px Arial;
}
user agent stylesheetinput,
textarea,
keygen,
select,
button,
meter,
progress {
    -webkit-writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
}
user agent stylesheetbutton {
    -webkit-appearance: button;
}
.btTxt submit {
    border: 3px solid #fff;
    color: #fff;
}
.btTxt submit {
    border: none;
    font-family: inherit;
    font-size: inherit;
    color: inherit;
    background: none;
    cursor: pointer;
    padding: 25px 80px;
    display: inline-block;
    margin: 15px 30px;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    letter-spacing: 1px;
    font-weight: 700;
    outline: none;
    position: relative;
    -webkit-transition: all 0.3s;
    -moz-transition: all 0.3s;
    transition: all 0.3s;
}
*,
*:after,
*:before {
    -webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
    -moz-box-sizing: border-box;
    box-sizing: border-box;
}

A: there are lots of ways to do that.
this css could help you.
#button {

  /*Reset*/
  display: inline-block;
  outline: none;
  background-color: transparent;

  /*Some fancy stuff*/
  padding: 0 20px;
  line-height: 200%;
  border: 1px solid silver;

  /*Magic*/
  background-image: linear-gradient(PaleVioletRed, PaleVioletRed 50%, Sienna 50%, Sienna);
  background-size: 100% 200%;
  -webkit-transition: background-position .3s;
  transition: background-position .3s;
}
#button:hover {
  background-position: 0 -100%;
}

Demo: http://codepen.io/theonebeing/pen/wMzYdY

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 9, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) today reported financial results for the fiscal 2015 second quarter ended December 31, 2014.
Net revenue increased 19% to $249.4 million from the same period last year; Supply Chain Services segment revenue rose 19% and Performance Services segment revenue increased 20%.
Adjusted EBITDA* increased 18% to $98.8 million from the same period last year.
Adjusted fully distributed net income* increased 17% to $52.1 million, or 18% to $0.36 on a fully diluted per-share basis, from the same period a year ago. GAAP net income attributable to shareholders was $9.3 million, compared with $6.4 million in the prior year.
At December 31, 2014, cash, cash equivalents and short- and long-term marketable securities totaled $469.5 million, and the company had access to its entire unsecured $750.0 million, five-year revolving credit facility.
For the first half of the fiscal year, net revenue increased 17% to $478.8 million, adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $189.3 million, and adjusted fully distributed net income increased 12% to $99.9 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP pro forma results for the same period a year ago. Net revenue for the six-month period increased 7% and adjusted EBITDA decreased 9% from GAAP results for the same period a year ago.
Based on year-to-date performance and the current outlook and assumptions for the remainder of the fiscal year, the company is increasing its fiscal full-year guidance range for consolidated net revenue and raising the low end of its consolidated adjusted EBITDA and adjusted fully distributed net income per share ranges.
* Descriptions of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted fully distributed net income and other non-GAAP financial measures are provided in "Use and Definition of Non-GAAP Measures," and reconciliations are provided in the tables at the end of this release. See "Reorganization and Initial Public Offering" for important information regarding non-GAAP pro forma results.
"We are very pleased to report another strong quarter in which we achieved double-digit year-over-year percentage gains in both consolidated net revenue and adjusted EBITDA, driven by robust growth in our Supply Chain Services segment and continued growth in our Performance Services segment," said Susan DeVore, president and chief executive officer. "We believe our financial performance demonstrates the powerful leverage inherent in the diverse revenue drivers that characterize our integrated product and service offerings, enabling healthcare providers to comprehensively address the many cost, quality, safety and population health challenges facing them."
(a) Reflects the impact of the Company's Reorganization on the Supply Chain Services segment as a result of the 30% revenue share to owner members after the Reorganization. The impact of the non-GAAP pro forma adjustment on both Supply Chain Services net revenue and segment adjusted EBITDA was $41.3 million for the six months ended December 31, 2013. Non-GAAP Pro forma adjustments do not impact the financial results of the Company's Performance Services segment.
For the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2014, Premier generated net revenue of $249.4 million, an increase of 19%, from net revenue of $208.9 million for the same period a year ago.
Adjusted EBITDA of $98.8 million increased 18% from $83.4 million for the same period last year. The increase was driven by revenue growth in both of the company's business segments, and continued effective management of operating expenses.
Adjusted fully distributed net income for the fiscal second quarter rose to $52.1 million, or $0.36 per fully diluted share, from $44.4 million, or $0.31 per fully diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Adjusted fully distributed earnings per share is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents net income, adjusted for non-recurring and non-cash items, attributable to all shareholders as if all Class B shareholders have converted to Class A shareholders, and reflects income taxes at an estimated effective rate of approximately 40% on 100% of pretax income.
For the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2014, the Supply Chain Services segment generated net revenue of $179.6 million, an increase of 19%, from $150.9 million a year ago. Revenue growth was driven by very strong performances of both the company's group purchasing organization (GPO) and products businesses. GPO net administrative fees revenue of $112.7 million increased 10.3% from a year ago, reflecting the continuing impact of newer member conversion to the company's contract portfolio, including those who have recently joined Premier, further contract penetration of the membership and the impact of increasing patient utilization. Product sales of $66.7 million increased 37% from a year ago, primarily from the ongoing expansion of member support for the company's direct sourcing and specialty pharmacy businesses, which was further augmented in direct sourcing by purchases related to flu season and Ebola preparedness efforts, and in specialty pharmacy by new hepatitis-C therapies.
Supply Chain Services segment adjusted EBITDA of $97.3 million for the fiscal 2015 second quarter increased 14%, from $85.1 million for the same period a year ago. The increase largely reflects growth in net administrative fees revenue, as well as growth in the company's direct sourcing activities, and continued effective management of operating expenses.
For the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2014, the Performance Services segment generated net revenue of $69.8 million, an increase of 20%, from $58.0 million for the same quarter last year. Revenue growth was driven primarily by SaaS-based (software-as-a-service) subscriptions and renewals, and includes TheraDoc and Aperek, which were acquired late in the fiscal first quarter, as well as by the company's population health offerings, PremierConnect® Enterprise and advisory services.
Performance Services segment adjusted EBITDA was $23.2 million for the fiscal 2015 second quarter, an increase of 31% from $17.7 million for the same quarter last year. The growth in adjusted EBITDA reflects the sale of new SaaS-based and licensed informatics products, including the company's recent TheraDoc and Aperek acquisitions, and effective management of segment operating expenses.
Note: Comparisons of GAAP results are impacted by the changes associated with the Reorganization and IPO, as described below, and therefore, management believes they do not provide meaningful year-over-year comparisons. Performance Services segment results are not impacted by non-GAAP pro forma results.
The company generated net revenue of $478.8 million for the six-month period ended December 31, 2014, an increase of 17% from non-GAAP pro forma net revenue of $408.2 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the six-month period totaled $189.3 million, an increase of 14% from non-GAAP pro forma adjusted EBITDA of $166.5 million in the same period last year. Adjusted fully distributed net income totaled $99.9 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP pro forma amount of $89.5 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the same period last year.
Supply Chain Services segment net revenue for the six-month period increased 18% to $349.9 million from non-GAAP pro forma net revenue of $297.1 million a year earlier. Supply Chain Services segment adjusted EBITDA increased 11%, to $188.6 million from non-GAAP pro forma adjusted EBITDA of $169.3 million for the same period last year.
Performance Services segment net revenue for the six-month period increased 16% to $128.8 million from $111.1 million in the same period last year. Performance Services segment adjusted EBITDA increased 22% to $41.6 million from $34.1 million the prior year.
On a GAAP-comparison basis, Supply Chain Services segment net revenue of $349.9 million increased 3% from $338.3 million for the same period a year ago. Segment adjusted EBITDA of $188.6 million decreased 10% from $210.6 million a year ago.
Cash provided by operating activities was $153.7 million for the six-month period ended December 31, 2014, compared with $198.5 million for the same period a year ago. Operating cash flows decreased primarily due to the addition of member owner revenue share as a result of the Reorganization and IPO effective October 2013. At December 31, 2014, the company's cash, cash equivalents, short- and long-term marketable securities totaled $469.5 million, compared with $408.7 million at December 31, 2013, and consisted of $129.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and $339.9 million in marketable securities with maturities ranging from three to 24 months.
Free cash flow for the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2014 was $67.1 million, compared with $45.4 million for the same period a year ago. The high level of free cash flow relative to adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter results from strong performance in the company's Supply Chain Services segment. Prior year free cash flow of $45.4 million included distributions to member owners related to earnings generated prior to the Reorganization and IPO. The company defines free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less distributions to limited partners and purchases of property and equipment (see free cash flow reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities in the tables section of this press release).
At December 31, 2014, there was no outstanding balance on the company's unsecured $750 million, five-year revolving credit facility.
(1) Guidance is based on comparisons with prior-year pro forma results, which have been adjusted to reflect the impact of the company's reorganization and IPO. The Company does not reconcile guidance for adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP adjusted fully distributed net income per-share to net income (loss) or GAAP earnings per share because the Company does not provide guidance for reconciling items between net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP adjusted fully distributed earnings per share. The Company is unable to provide guidance for these reconciling items since certain items that impact net income (loss) are outside of the Company's control and cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, a reconciliation to net income (loss) or GAAP earnings per share is not available without unreasonable effort.
"Our year-to-date financial results reflect the success of our differentiated business model and our multiple sources of revenue," DeVore said. "We are raising our fiscal full-year consolidated net revenue guidance, based on these results and our current expectations of continued strong Supply Chain Services growth. Within this overall increase, we are anticipating more moderate revenue growth for Performance Services than originally anticipated, due specifically to our advisory services outlook. However, we continue to expect the remainder of our Performance Services segment to perform in line with our original outlook for the balance of the fiscal year. Our SaaS-based offerings, including PremierConnect Enterprise, are on track, with solid quarterly bookings and a full sales pipeline. We're winning business across our PremierConnect platform and continue to sign up new members who are seeking to leverage our integrated Supply Chain Services and Performance Services offerings.
"We believe our unique business model positions Premier very well for the future," DeVore continued. "This model, when combined with our collaborative member relationships, aligned delivery channel, market-leading data analytics platform, and strong execution, uniquely positions Premier to successfully lead the transformation to high-quality, cost-effective healthcare and deliver value for our shareholders for years to come."
Premier is increasing its full fiscal-year 2015 financial guidance range for consolidated net revenue and raising the low end of the non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP fully distributed EPS guidance ranges, based on the following key assumptions.
The company is increasing full-year revenue expectations for the Supply Chain Services segment based on continued growth in net administrative fees revenue, driven by continued contract conversions among newer members, deeper penetration of existing members' supply spend, and increased patient utilization. The company's expectations further assume annualized growth of 20% to 30% in the company's direct sourcing and specialty pharmacy business, reflecting more normalized year-over-year growth in the second half of the fiscal year.
The company is reducing full-year revenue expectations for the Performance Services segment, based on the pace at which the advisory services business expects to replace revenue previously generated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Partnership for Patients initiative, which concluded in December 2014, as well as on management's decision to reposition the company's research advisory services business to better support prospective research activities and collaboratives. Performance Services revenue guidance assumes continued growth in SaaS-based product and services sales, member participation in performance improvement collaboratives and continued demand for advisory services, in addition to the continuation of historically high retention rates of Premier's GPO and SaaS-based offerings.
Guidance assumptions do not contemplate the impact of any potential significant future acquisitions. For fiscal 2015, Premier expects capital expenditures of approximately $67.0 million and a consolidated EBITDA margin of approximately 39%.
The statements in this "Outlook and Guidance" discussion are "forward-looking statements." For additional information regarding the use and limitations of such statements, see "Forward-Looking Statements" below and the "Risk Factors" section of the company's Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2014.
Premier management will host a conference call and live audio webcast on Monday, February 9, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. ET, to discuss the company's financial results. The conference call can be accessed through a link provided on the investor relations page on Premier's website at investors.premierinc.com. Those wishing to participate in the call should dial 855.601.0048 (international callers should dial 702.495.1234) and provide the operator with conference ID number 76895275. The company encourages listeners to dial in at least five minutes before the start of the call to ensure proper connection. A replay of the conference call will be available on the investor relations page of Premier's website.
On October 1, 2013, Premier completed its IPO by issuing 32,374,751 shares of its Class A common stock, at a price of $27.00 per share, raising net proceeds of approximately $821.7 million, before expenses. In connection with the IPO, Premier completed the reorganization of the company on October 1, 2013, issuing 112.6 million shares of Class B common stock representing, at that time, 77.7% of the common stock outstanding, and corresponding Class B common units in Premier Healthcare Alliance, L.P. (Premier LP) to its member owners.
The company's historical consolidated operating results for the six-month period do not reflect the Reorganization, the IPO and contemplated use of net proceeds from the IPO. Therefore, in addition to presenting the historical actual results, the company presents and discusses non-GAAP pro forma results, which reflect the impact of the company's Reorganization and IPO and the contemplated use of net proceeds from the IPO, to provide a more comparable indication of future expectations.
The reorganization, which included the formation of a C-Corporation and the sale of approximately 22.3% of the member's partnership interests to the public through the issuance of Premier Class A common stock, with the member owners retaining their approximately 77.7% ownership interest in the form of Premier LP Class B common units and an equal number of Premier Class B common stock. As part of the quarterly exchange that occurred on October 31, 2014, the member owners exchanged approximately 3.4% of their Class B common units and associated Class B common stock. As a result, the public investors now own approximately 25.7% of the company's stock and the member owners own approximately 74.3% as of December 31, 2014.
The further adjustments set forth in the notes to the supplemental non-GAAP pro forma financial information provided below.
Further details of the Reorganization and non-GAAP pro forma adjustments are in Premier's Form 10-Q for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2014, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 12, 2014, and accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and in the investor relations section of Premier's website at investors.premierinc.com.
Premier uses adjusted EBITDA, segment adjusted EBITDA, adjusted fully distributed net income, adjusted fully distributed net income per share, and free cash flow to facilitate a comparison of the company's operating performance on a consistent basis from period to period that, when viewed in combination with its results prepared in accordance with GAAP, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting the company's business than GAAP measures alone. The company believes adjusted EBITDA and segment adjusted EBITDA assist its board of directors, management and investors in comparing the company's operating performance on a consistent basis from period to period because they remove the impact of the company's asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) and items outside the control of management (taxes), as well as other non-cash (impairment of intangible assets and purchase accounting adjustments) and non-recurring items, from operations.
In addition, adjusted fully distributed net income eliminates the variability of non-controlling interest as a result of member owner exchanges of Class B common stock and corresponding Class B units into shares of Class A common stock (which exchanges are a member owner's cumulative right, but not obligation, which began on October 31, 2014, and occur each quarter thereafter, and are limited to one-seventh of the member owner's initial allocation of Class B common units) and other potentially dilutive equity transactions which are outside of management's control. Adjusted fully distributed net income is defined as net income attributable to PHSI (i) excluding income tax expense, (ii) excluding the effect of non-recurring and non-cash items, (iii) assuming the exchange of all the Class B common units for shares of Class A common stock, which results in the elimination of non-controlling interest in Premier LP, and (iv) reflecting an adjustment for income tax expense on non-GAAP pro forma fully distributed net income before income taxes at the company's estimated effective income tax rate.
Management believes free cash flow is an important measure because it represents the cash that the company generates after payment of tax distributions to limited partners and capital investment to maintain existing products and services as well as development of new and upgraded products and services to support future growth. Free cash flow is important because it allows the Company to enhance shareholder value through acquisitions, partnerships, share repurchases, debt reduction and/or dividend payments.
Statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts, such as those under the heading "Fiscal 2015 Outlook and Guidance" are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Premier to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements in the conditional or future tenses or that include terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "estimates," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include comments as to Premier's beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside Premier's control. More information on potential factors that could affect Premier's financial results is included from time to time in the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements," "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of Premier's periodic and current filings with the SEC, including those discussed under the "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements" section of Premier's Form 10-Q for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2014, filed with the SEC on November 12, 2014, and also made available on Premier's website at investors.premierinc.com. Forward looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Premier undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise that occur after that date.
(a) After the completion of the Reorganization, Premier Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (PHSI) became a consolidated subsidiary of Premier, Inc. Operating results for the six months ended December 31, 2013 reflect the combined results of PHSI, the predecessor of the Company for accounting purposes, and Premier, Inc. These operating results differ significantly from subsequent periods, which reflect the impact of the Reorganization and IPO that became effective October 1, 2013.
(b) Loss per share attributable to shareholders includes an adjustment to net income attributable to shareholders of redeemable limited partners' capital to redemption amount of $(42.3) million and $(424.9) million for the three and six months ended December 31, 2014, respectively, and $(3,720) million for the three and six months ended December 31, 2013.
* After the completion of the Reorganization, Premier Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (PHSI) became a consolidated subsidiary of Premier, Inc. The Statement of Cash Flows for the six months ended December 31, 2013 reflects the combined cash flows of PHSI, the predecessor of the Company for accounting purposes, and Premier, Inc.
* Note that no pro forma adjustments were made for the three and six months ended December 31, 2014 and the three months ended December 31, 2013; as such, actual results are presented for each of these periods.


years active: 1997 – 199?
These fellas didn't stick around too long, and it's really a shame, too! When ingot folded in 1995 or 1996 (I don't remember which year it was), my heart sunk. I'll never forget that last show at On Broadway. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Some time passed, and I guess a couple of the fellas just weren't ready to stop making music. So…they (and by they I mean Jordan Schultz and Otto Junker) teamed up with some other local musicians, Dennis Belogorsky, Eric Perez, Mike Shear (not sure if I got the last name spelled correctly) and a couple of others and created Shooters & Senders. The arrangements were more complex, and musicianship certainly showed with this band. The one thing that I REALLY liked about these guys is that they had 3 guitar players — Otto, Dennis and one other dude who's name I do not know. Yeah, I know, big deal, right? Well…each guitar played a completely different part from one another, and when it all came together, man…it was pretty incredible! Jordan held down the drums just as he did in ingot, and Eric kept things chuggin' along on the bass and Mike Shear yelled.
Another unique thing about this band is they actually got signed (sorta) for a VERY short period of time. I don't know of many Springfield bands that can say this. They got picked up by Deep Elm Records. They were going to release a 2-3 song 7″ pressed on blue vinyl from what I can remember, but the band split up before anything could really materialize with the record company. From what I was told, Mike didn't want to go through the touring that Deep Elm wanted them to, so he said, "I'm done", and well….that was pretty much it from what I understand. Deep Elm did manage to put out ONE song by the fellas called, "The Wrath" which was included on the compilation CD, "A Million Miles Away: The Emo Diaries Chapter Two".


When using cdb_subscribe() to receive notifications about configuration changes, the user needs to specify a path which describes the portions of the data tree he's interested in. According to the user guide, this path can refer to single leafs, lists or entire subtrees.
In my case what I'm trying to do is to subscribe to entire YANG modules. Is it possible to do that without having to specify the top-level node(s) of each YANG module?
Since cdb_subscribe() has a nspace parameter, I was expecting that the path given to the ftm parameter would be constrained to the particular module/namespace, but that's not the case. If I subscribe to / I'll be notified about changes from the entire data tree (e.g. /aaa:aaa/*). The nspace parameter doesn't seem to serve any particular purpose (the documentation doesn't mention anything about it). I tried subscribing to /mymodulename: but that didn't filter data from other modules too.
But it doesn't do anything for "/", since there can only be one root.


text:
ASSUMING MARY'S ASSUMPTION
In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared in an "Apostolic Constitution" of the Catholic Church:
"…We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." (Munificentissimus Deus, paragraph 44)
Note that this is not just any kind of teaching, it is a DOGMA (an irreversible and "infallibly declared" doctrinal statement of the Catholic Church). Catholics are required to believe it, and if they don't, the pope goes on to say, "Let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic faith..." and will "incur the wrath of Almighty God…" This same dogma is also found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC #966 and #974) and in the Catholic Church's "Dogmatic Constitution," Lumen Gentium (paragraph 59).
Ok, as you might expect, the word "assumption" has several meanings in English, but the only ones we want to focus on now that are relevant to this topic are these two basic meanings:
#1) It can mean the Catholic Church's idea of the taking up of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, into Heaven, body and soul, which is celebrated every year by Catholics on August 15. Or,
#2) It can mean an assuming that something is true; a mistaken assumption; a statement (such as a proposition, axiom or notion) taken for granted or accepted as true without proof; a supposition.
When Catholics use the term, "Mary's Assumption," they are speaking of meaning #1 above.
But we Protestants would apply the meaning of #2 above toward the Catholic Church's teaching itself on Mary's Assumption and say that it is an assumption indeed, i.e., it is assumed and cannot be proven.
We also maintain that Mary's Assumption is not biblical, i.e., it cannot be found in the Bible. To this idea, Catholic speaker, author, and apologist John Martignoni tells us in one of his latest newsletters that when someone says that Mary's Assumption is not in the Bible, he (Martignoni) says:
"Well, I generally handle this objection to the Church's teaching on the Assumption by asking one question: 'Does the Bible somewhere say that Mary was not assumed into Heaven?' The answer, of course, is no – the Bible nowhere says that Mary was not assumed into Heaven. So then I ask, 'Well if the Bible doesn't say she wasn't assumed into Heaven, then why can't I believe she was?'"
Martignoni's newsletter can be found here:
https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/393-mary-and-the-bible-part-3
So why can't you believe that she was assumed into Heaven? Well, John, it's because it is just an assertion, and you need evidence to back up that assertion. Note first that John Martignoni wants us to prove a negative – to prove the non-existence of Mary's assumption. But when anyone makes a positive assertion (like "Mary was assumed into Heaven, body and soul"), the burden of proof is on him to prove it, not on us to disprove it.
But when they are unable to prove it, they sometimes resort to the "double-negative" tactic, like Martignoni does. Almost any time an opponent mentions a double-negative like he does here (e.g., "The Bible does NOT say that she WASN'T assumed"), this is a sign that the person is getting desperate. Simply saying, "But the Bible doesn't say it didn't happen to Mary" is not a valid argument at all. We could also say the same thing for dozens of other people in Scripture – "The Bible also doesn't say that it didn't happen to (whomever - fill in the blank), therefore it could have also happened to them, as well!"
Fortunately, most people are understanding enough to see through this very poor argument. Just saying that it is possible does not make it true… for Mary or anyone else.
We do want to point out that no one is saying that the concept of a bodily assumption is not biblical. We agree that it certainly can be. But the biblical question is not whether it can happen, or has happened, but the question is "To whom has it happened?"
We have clear biblical evidence that Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) experienced some sort of bodily assumption. But we have no biblical evidence of anything like this happening to Mary. So it seems strange that the Bible would mention the assumption of Enoch and Elijah, but not Mary's. No Catholic would deny that she is more important than Enoch or Elijah. So, if that's true, then why the silence on her assumption?
As an attempt at producing "biblical evidence" for the Assumption, Catholics will sometimes point to Revelation 12:1, which speaks of the "woman clothed with the sun," and will say that this is Mary in bodily form in Heaven. But this is not the case at all. The "woman" in Revelation 12 is Israel, not Mary. See here:
http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2015/09/is-mary-woman-clothed-with-sun.html
There are a few other Bible verses that some Catholics will try to use in an attempt to show that this teaching is biblical. They will use all kinds of unverifiable typology where they see "Mary" in every object and under every stone, and try to shoehorn her into an "assumption role." But they must go to absurd lengths to make any of these "types" fit.
In conclusion, just saying that something is true does not make it true. Saying that it is "fitting" or that it should have happened also does not make it a fact. If it were a biblical idea, we wouldn't have an issue with it. But it is not. Yet, the Catholic Church claims that the Assumption of Mary is not only a scriptural truth, but a dogma that her members are obligated to believe, but the Church fails miserably in providing evidence for this teaching.
Furthermore, most Catholics don't know that the origin of the teaching of the Assumption is very questionable and is "shrouded in history's mist." It was not the teaching of the church for 2000 years, as Catholics claim. It was not taught by the early church fathers and it cannot be traced back to the apostles. In fact, it first appears in "apocryphal" (hidden, false, doubtful, uninspired) literature around the fifth century that was condemned by (at least) two popes as HERESY.
See this article:
http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/assumption.html
Some Catholics will say, "But Mary had to have been bodily assumed. There are no relics (bones, ashes, clothing, etc.) from her that were ever found. Surely, if there were, this would have been mentioned in the early church." But if Mary's bones would "surely" have been mentioned, then why hasn't something as important as the Assumption "surely" been mentioned in the same early church?
So why is this topic important in the first place? It is because the Catholic Church is using not just this one teaching, but many different Marian teachings to divert attention away from Jesus onto Mary, His mother. The Mary of the Bible - the humble handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38, 48) - would never approve of such attention toward herself, nor the detracting of attention from her Son. As we've said before, the real Mary would join with John the baptist in saying, "He (Jesus) must increase, but I (Mary) must decrease (John 3:30). But the very opposite is happening in the Catholic Church worldwide. Whether intentional or not, the Catholic Church has created an idol in Mary through all these unbiblical claims. But the Bible tells us to flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14).
Once again, the Catholic Church's teaching on Mary's bodily assumption into Heaven is just that, an assumption in the worst sense, a concept that cannot be proven from God's Word or from any other reputable source.
Posted by Russell at 10:55 AM 1 comment:
Labels: assume, biblical evidence, dogma, double-negative, Elijah, Enoch, heresy, John Martignoni, Mary's Assumption, Pius XII, Revelation 12, typology

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Lampadioteuthis is een geslacht van inktvissen uit de familie van de Lycoteuthidae.

Soorten
 Lampadioteuthis megaleia Berry, 1916

Synoniemen
 Lampadioteuthis megaleius Berry, 1916 => Lampadioteuthis megaleia Berry, 1916

Lycoteuthidae

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Looking for a parking garage near Riff Chelsea Hotel? Parking.com offers several parking locations nearby. Discounts, daily and monthly rates are available at selected locations.Click on the map below to view available parking locations.
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ASA Monitor 03 2013, Vol.77, 10-11.
2012 marked a busy year for anesthesiology in the news. As chair of the Committee on Communications, I saw several topics make local and national headlines, including drug shortages, prescription drug overdoses, scope-of-practice issues and the meningitis outbreak. Special thanks to all members who served as spokespeople throughout the year to share ASA's perspective with consumer and trade media outlets. These spokespeople helped advance the specialty of anesthesiology to the general public.
Over the past year, the ASA Advocacy and Public Relations teams aligned efforts to develop and maintain ties with key health care reporters. As a result, ASA became a go-to resource and expert for several media outlets, including Becker's ASC Review, New York Times, Politico and the Wall Street Journal.
John F. Dombrowski; A Media Year in Review. ASA Monitor 2013;77(3):10-11.


text:
from django import template

from journal.models import Issue

register = template.Library()

@register.simple_tag(takes_context=True)
def issues_menu(context):
    if context.get('user') and context['user'].is_authenticated() and context['user'].is_staff:
        qs = Issue.objects.all()
    else:
        qs = Issue.objects.filter(is_active=True)
    out = []
    ctx_issue = context.get('issue')
    for issue in qs:
        css_classes = []
        if issue == ctx_issue:
            css_classes.append('active')
        if not issue.is_active:
            css_classes.append('text-muted')
        out.append(u'
%s
' % (
            (' class="%s"' % ' '.join(css_classes)) if css_classes else '',
            issue.get_absolute_url(),
            issue
        ))
    return u'\n'.join(out)

import itertools

class ResetCycleNode(template.Node):
    def __init__(self, variable_name, cycle_node):
        self.variable_name = variable_name
        self.cycle_node = cycle_node

    def render(self, context):
        cycle_iter = itertools.cycle(self.cycle_node.cyclevars)
        context.render_context[self.cycle_node] = cycle_iter
        context[self.variable_name] = next(cycle_iter).resolve(context)
        return ''

@register.tag
def reset_cycle(parser, token, escape=False):
    args = token.split_contents()

    if len(args) != 2:
        raise TemplateSyntaxError("'reset_cycle' tag requires exactly one argument")

    name = args[1]
    if not hasattr(parser, '_namedCycleNodes'):
        raise TemplateSyntaxError("No named cycles in template. '%s' is not defined" % name)
    if name not in parser._namedCycleNodes:
        raise TemplateSyntaxError("Named cycle '%s' does not exist" % name)

    return ResetCycleNode(name, parser._namedCycleNodes[name])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Ben F. Brown's Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.
In Loving Memory of Duane Myers who passed away on February 5, 2018.
"My condolences to the family . May you find comfort in your treasured memories and Gods promise to..."
Free funeral planning guide compliments of Ben F. Brown's Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.


text:
Exclusive to OpEdNews:
OpEdNews Op Eds 12/16/2018 at 16:50:59 H1'ed 12/16/18
Four OpEdNews Senior Editors Met. We talked about Trump
By Rob Kall (Page 1 of 1 pages) (# of views) 76 comments
(304 fans)
(Image by Screen Grab) Details DMCA
Yesterday Managing editor Meryl Ann Butler, senior editors Josh Mitteldorf and Jerry Policoff and I met in Philly. It's the first time four senior team members got together.
One thing we agreed on was that Trump will probably last through the end of his term. That's because Pelosi wants it that way. The longer Donald Trump is left to hang out to be flayed with accusations, the better the 2020 elections will be for the Democrats.
That's why I think that if Trump is removed from office, it will be the Republicans making it happen. They will be doing damage control. And they'll have to do it soon. A conservative pundit has predicted that a half hour before Trump leaves office, he'll resign and Mike Pence will pardon him. But for that to happen, Trump will almost certainly have to re-name Pence as his running mate for the second term in office. That potential pardon is another reason why Democrats may not want to bring charges against Trump. I'm not sure that they can stop Mueller or state Attorneys General from charging Trump and family, but if the Dem leadership can keep the reek of Trump in the public eye through 2020 and even beyond 2020, it could serve them well.
So my prediction is that as Mueller continues to reveal dirty findings about Trump and the people and organizations around him, the Republican party will begin feeling the drip, drip drip of their brand eroding. Critics argue that the investigation has not shown evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians. Muller doesn't have to do that. He's showing that Trump has surrounded himself with lying, conniving, corrupt people. This is not the way the White House or the Executive Branch should operate. Al Capone wasn't imprisoned for the worst of his crimes. He was convicted of tax evasion. The following video cites a litany of investigations of Trump and his organizations. Conservative arguments that there has been no substance to Mueller's inquiry are delusional, or simply echoes of the garbage spewed by Fox News.
Bottom line, if Trump leaves the White House early, it will be because the Republican leadership force him to, and the question will be whether congressional Democrats actually back the threat of impeachment that will come from the Republicans. My guess, though is that Schumer and Pelosi will try to block that support, so the GOP can bleed even more through 2020.
It was really fun getting together with a crew of OEN people.
I'd like to make that happen, not only where I live in Philly, but in other locations as well-- NYC, DC, and where else? My book, The Bottom-Up Revolution, is coming out in May. I hope to take it on the road, so I'm planning on visiting a lot of places where I can also get together with OEN regulars. Where would you suggest?
Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.
He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity scheduled for release May 22, 2019
He's given talks and workshops to Fortune 500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful people on his Bottom Up Radio Show, and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and opinion sites, OpEdNews.com
more detailed bio:
Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness and empowering them to take more control of their lives one person at a time was too slow, he founded Opednews.com-- which has been the top search result on Google for the terms liberal news and progressive opinion for several years. Rob began his Bottom-up Radio show, broadcast on WNJC 1360 AM to Metro Philly, also available on iTunes, covering the transition of our culture, business and world from predominantly Top-down (hierarchical, centralized, authoritarian, patriarchal, big) to bottom-up (egalitarian, local, interdependent, grassroots, archetypal feminine and small.) Recent long-term projects include a book, Bottom-up-- The Connection Revolution, debillionairizing the planet and the Psychopathy Defense and Optimization Project.
Related Topic(s): Donald Trump; IMPEACHMENT OFF THE TABLE PELOSI; Impeach Trump; Impeachment; Pelosi-Nancy; Trump Impeachment, Add Tags
A Conspiracy Conspiracy Theory
Debunking Hillary's Specious Winning the Popular Vote Claim
Terrifying Video: "I Don't Need a Warrant, Ma'am, Under Federal Law"
Hillary's Disingenuous Claim That She's Won 2.5 Million More Votes is Bogus. Here's why
Ray McGovern Discusses Brutal Arrest at Secretary Clinton's Internet Freedom Speech
Cindy Sheehan Bugged in Denver
"Stressed? Oppressed? Isolated? Kall's Bottom-Up offers a lifeline for connecting with yourself, with others, and with your whole community or organization so that everyone thrives. He offers compelling science, stories, and insights from business, government, the arts, and more to make visible an unabashedly hopeful bottom-up revolution towards cooperation, compassion, and meaning. Join him."
Peggy Holman, author of Engagement Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity and coauthor of The Change Handbook


text:
https://www.silver-peak.com/resource-center/centrally-orchestrated-end-end-segmentation
Centrally Orchestrated End-to-End Segmentation
The Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN Solution Enforces Granular Security Policies across the LAN-WAN-Data Center
Network Security has been a Manual, Device-Centric Approach
Software-defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) have transformed the way users connect to applications. In contrast to the traditional router-centric approach that uses TCP/IP addresses and Access Control Lists (ACLs), an SD-WAN employs a more intelligent and more automated application-driven model to control how traffic traverses the WAN.
With the Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect™ SD-WAN solution, enterprises create multiple application-specific virtual WAN overlays. Each virtual overlay — or business intent overlay — specifies priority and quality of service requirements for application groups based on business requirements or intent. With these definitions in place, EdgeConnect automates traffic steering on an end-to-end basis across all underlying WAN transport services including MPLS, broadband and 4G/LTE, providing the ability to deliver an application Quality of Experience that is better than what can be provided by any of the underlying transport services individually.
However, to date, security policy definition and enforcement across the traditional WAN remains a manual, fragmented, device-centric approach. Multiple disparate policies must be defined for the LAN, the WAN and the data center. Current zone-based firewalls and other security devices must be programmed manually, device-by-device and then stitched together with separate policies defined across the WAN. Not only is this time-consuming and expensive, it leads to inconsistent security policies that expose the enterprise to unnecessary risks due to configuration errors.
Consistent Policies with End-to-End Network Segmentation
EdgeConnect centrally orchestrates end-to-end segmentation spanning the LAN-WAN-LAN and the LAN-WAN-Data center. The Silver Peak Unity OrchestratorTM enables distributed enterprises to easily segment users, applications and WAN services into secure end-to-end zones1 in compliance with predefined security policies, regulatory mandates and business intent. This results in consistent security policies and automates enforcement across the enterprise. Orchestrator centralized security administration pares down the task of defining multiple end-to-end zones to a matter of minutes.
The example shown in Figure 1 below represents typical zone or segment definitions for a retail chain.
In this example, independent end-to-end segments have been defined for Point of Sale (POS) traffic, HVAC control applications, resource planning and for internet-bound traffic with independent policies for guest Wi-Fi, trusted SaaS applications and recreational web applications. Segments extend from the LAN, across the WAN and to the data center or to the cloud service provider. Traffic within a segment is isolated from traffic in other segments, preventing unauthorized access. If a threat were to surface, its impact is contained to the segment in which it emerged. Zone-based security policy definitions also define the transport topology and failover policies for each segment.
The segmentation described in this example would have likely prevented the now-famous Target credit card breach that occurred in 2013. Attackers used stolen HVAC credentials to gain access to Target's internal data network, exploited a vulnerability to gain control of Target servers and injected malware onto POS data servers. Attackers exploited the security breach and misappropriated personal identifiable information for more than 40 million credit and debit cards2. While the Target attack was sophisticated and involved multiple security enforcement breakdowns, secure, end-to-end zone-based segmentation could have prevented access to the POS applications from any other zones or segments.
Figure 1: Sample configuration designed for a retail organization to create isolated segments for Points of Sale traffic, HVAC application traffic, resource planning traffic and internet-bound traffic.
1A zone is a collection of interfaces and network segments attached to the interfaces. A zone may comprise VLANs, physical and/or logical interfaces and sub-interfaces. Each zone is mapped to one and only one EdgeConnect business intent overlay (BIO). However, multiple zones may be mapped to a single BIO.
2https://www.zdnet.com/article/anatomy-of-the-target-data-breach-missed-opportunities-and-lessons-learned/
Figure 2: Security policies enable LAN to WAN traffic within a zone (segment) but deny traffic between zones until IT explicitly whitelists or allows specific communication between zones. For example, in the configuration shown, printer traffic is allowed in multiple zones.
Centralized Orchestration Improves Operational Efficiency
Using an intuitive graphical user interface, an IT administrator can define segments spanning the LAN and the WAN. Each LAN-side zone may be mapped to a business intent overlay, extending micro-segmentation across the WAN. Multiple LAN-side zones may be mapped to a single business intent overlay. However, the traffic from a single LAN-side zone can be mapped only to a single business intent overlay.
Application traffic within a zone is enabled across the LAN and mapped to the corresponding WAN segment, but all other traffic is denied by default. IT can "whitelist" or allow specific applications to access users or devices in a different zone. This may include policies for traffic that remains within the branch LAN such as that for a printer shared between multiple zones. A matrix view from Orchestrator, shown in Figure 2, provides an easy-to-read, intuitive visualization of configured zones and defined whitelist exceptions. Orchestrator also supports a standard table view, similar to that provided by firewall management applications, making the transition to the end-to-end segmentation model seamless for security professionals.
Automated Enforcement and Threat Containment Reduces Risk
Once end-to-end segments, zone-based policies and any exceptions have been defined, Orchestrator programs the policies automatically to every EdgeConnect SD-WAN appliance, eliminating time-consuming manual configuration of routers and firewalls. EdgeConnect automates consistent security policy enforcement across the LAN and WAN and to the data center to help enterprises meet compliance requirements, reduce threat risks and ensure continuous business operations.
The zone-based firewall fully integrated with EdgeConnect meets the security requirements of most branch offices. End-to-end segmentation and security policy enforcement adds no additional latency in the data path and has no impact on application performance.
By combining routing, firewall, segmentation, optional WAN optimization, application visibility and control and SD-WAN in a single solution, EdgeConnect can greatly simplify branch WAN edge architecture. A centralized, automated architecture is inherently more robust and reliable than one that relies on traditional, fragmented, site-by-site manual configuration. In addition to consistent end-to-end security policy enforcement spanning the LAN, WAN and data center, enterprises can realize significant operational efficiencies through the centralized orchestration of all essential wide area network functions from a single pane of glass.


A 38-hectare industrial estate located at Paliparan, City of Dasmariñas, Cavite wherein 13 companies are in full operation. Its development features include grand entrance gate with guard house and 24 hours security, perimeter fence, interconnected water supply system with two elevated water tanks, 3-phase electricity served by MERALCO, underground drainage system, concrete road network designed for industrial use, and administration building with business center. Telephone service providers and lots for commercial purposes are also available in this area.
This techno park is highly accessible via South Superhighway-Carmona Exit, Aguinaldo Highway via Coastal Road, Molino-Paliparan Road and Manila Southwoods Road.


For more information and translation in Japanese, please read below.
During my one year of pottery study under Ken Matsuzaki, he had a profound influence on my work. I began to understand on a deeper level the importance of the materials, which I was able to learn about in all its various stages. His masterful creativity, work process and approach towards presentation helped strengthened my discipline and focus. During my last few months in Japan, I was given the generous opportunity to create a collection of Oribe ware, using his clays, glazes and firing methods. Also included are some pieces which were fired in his noborigama kiln. Characteristics of the Hawai'i landscape emerged as I tried to capture the playful spirit of Oribe ware's shapes and glazes. Our two island cultures have a strong affinity. Learning about Japanese pottery in Mashiko, and my teacher's way of life as a potter, has been a life-changing experience, for which I am deeply grateful.
Many thanks to Ken Matsuzaki and Mashiko Pottery International Association, for making this experience possible.


text:
Meetings in Grójec
A Visit of George Elbaum
In June 2017, George Elbaum, a Holocaust survivor, came to Poland with his wife Mimi, his son Jordan and his daughter-in-law Rebecca. During their stay in Poland, they met with School of Dialogue alumni in the Mazovia region, including students from Primate of the Milenium Public Junior High School in Grójec, where Małgorzata Andrychowicz, a Leader of Dialogue from Grójec, is a teacher.
Talking to young people about the Holocaust with honesty and sensitivity can be difficult at times. Nevertheless, Warsaw-born George Elbaum mastered this art to perfection. With his book "Neither Yesterdays, Nor Tomorrows. Vignettes from the Holocaust", published in Polish with the help of the Forum for Dialogue, and depicting his childhood during the war and further fate, he moved the audience and inspired a lively discussion.
When reading the book, the students learned that their guest loves sweets – so they baked a homemade cheesecake for the occasion. Later, they invited the guests to a walking tour following the footsteps of Grójec Jews, prepared by the students as part of the School of Dialogue program.
We invite you to watch a film from George Elbaum's meetings in Grójec, Błonie and Mszczonów, which is available here.
The program is co-financed by Malka and Pinek Krystal Scholarship Fund.
Read more about the School of Dialogue at the Primate of the Millennium Junior High School
See more about Leader of Dialogue Małgorzata Andrychowicz
Meeting with March of the Living Group from Great Britain
On Monday April 13, students from the Primate of the Millennium Public Junior High School in Grójec took part in an extraordinary meeting. The school received a visit from a group of forty-one guests from the United Kingdom. Among the guests were students of London Business School, as well as the descendants of Jewish residents of the prewar Poland. The group came to Poland to participate in the March of the Living that was held on Thursday April 16. The students presented their project implemented within the School of Dialogue program.
At the end of the meeting, one of the guests said: "During such meetings, as the one today, we discover that even if we live in different parts of the world, we are all THE SAME – and this is beautiful. Yet, at the same time, we are DIFFERENT – and that is really fascinating! I am a Jew and I am proud of it – many Jews feel this way. This goes the same for the Poles – they can be proud of who they are. Because everyone of us wants to be SOMEBODY, to have a feeling of belonging."


text:
Jobs, Professional Services, Robotics, Work
How COVID is Driving Growth in Talent Management Technology
Joseph Kopser
There's a significant change going on in Talent Management Technology & the world of work!
As organizations struggle to adapt their hiring strategies to meet automation and AI-driven workforce displacement, COVID-19 is also forcing companies and employers to take a hard look at their talent acquisition strategies.
For instance, hiring managers now emphasize hiring employees with good moral character, work ethic, and talent, above those with a specific skill set.
Now more companies are incorporating virtual hiring solutions and talent recruiting technology while rethinking their entire talent management strategies to make the best of a bad situation.
The rise of virtual hiring solutions
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, virtual hiring solutions have gone on from novelty to a necessity.
More companies have adapted their talent acquisition strategies in the face of COVID-19 in order to launch virtual solutions to optimize the hiring and onboarding processes; groups like Instant Teams and OData quickly come to mind.
All of these emerging trends point to the changes to the future of work.
Here at Grayline Group this has been a recurring theme in our CATALYST TALKS segment, in which we've sat down with numerous thought leaders and experts to analyze and assess these changes from different angles and perspectives.
For instance, Instant Teams was founded with the purpose of easing the process of building and assembling virtual teams for companies.
On the other hand, OData wants to help organizations figure out easier ways to tap into underutilized talent pools of people stretched across the globe in order to perform repetitive tasks efficiently and faster than AI or machine learning can do.
Virtual hiring solutions are providing critical support for talent acquisition when it's needed most.
More companies are now leveraging these high-tech and high-touch solutions to find talents internally and externally.
Virtual solutions are easily scalable, cost-effective, and perfect for boosting organizational agility despite corporate sector vulnerabilities and uncertainties during COVID.
People like Michael Sarraille and George Randle, authors of The Talent War, also deserve mention for their efforts to help companies, HR professionals, and hiring managers better quantify and qualify the skills, training, and attributes of current employees and future hires. These efforts will go a long way to help predict employee success and help leaders make smarter hiring decisions.
AI for talent acquisition is not one-size-fits-all
The use of AI within the talent acquisition sector is expanding each year.
The technology helps make candidate engagement and onboarding easier and can help hiring managers get better insights to predict employee success. So, it's no surprise that 96% of senior HR professionals would rather leverage AI to greatly enhance talent acquisition and management. However, some companies are finding out the hard way that AI is not a one-size-fits-all solution!
Certain repetitive tasks can be easily automated and the potential for AI and machine learning in talent acquisition and management will only improve. However, there are instances where certain repetitive tasks are more complex, thus much harder to program and hiring people to perform these tasks will be a more efficient solution.
It's becoming clearer that talent acquisition challenges and their corresponding AI solutions should be evaluated within their individual contexts.
People matter most in the workplace of the future!
In 2018, Elon Musk tweeted, 'Humans (people) are underrated!'
While robot efficiency continues to improve at an incredible pace the most important component is still the worker, put simply, the people. This is a position we've maintained in several editions of our CATALYST TALKS segment.
COVID-19 has shown us even further that human skills still matter most at work, while not disputing that data science and AI skills are also critical to the future of work.
"The workplace of the future will more than likely involve humans working alongside machines, rather than machines putting humans out of a job."
MIT Sloan Management Review, Working With Robots in a Post-Pandemic World.
Humans cannot be effectively or completely replaced by automation or robotics.
In fact, this discussion should slant more towards training and educating a future workforce, ensuring that it will be agile and able to adapt in the face of new challenges, rather than focusing on whether or not people are easily replaced by automation or robotics. People always matter, and this knowledge is helping organizations drive more growth in the aspect of talent management.
Speaking of which , David Epstein, in his book, Range, highlighted Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Books like these have emerged recently to help hiring managers and HR professionals reimagine their talent acquisition and management practices.
Organizations will always need experts with in-depth knowledge of the details of any particular technology. Moreover equal importance must be attributed to hiring great team players that can effectively manage the different teams.
COVID-19 is helping to drive growth in talent management.
Savvy employers are finding opportunities for growth amidst this change. Organizations are now riding the wave to transform talent acquisition, from simply shifting workplace priorities to people and leveraging virtual hiring solutions, among other talent recruiting technologies.
These trends are indicative of the future to come, which to an extent is being accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Here at Grayline Group. alongside reputable organizations like Deloitte and McKinsey, we're constantly monitoring and pursuing these trends to help businesses and organizations get better insights into the powerful forces shaping the future of work.
Tags #COVID #Talent Management
Joseph Kopser is a lifelong problem solver committed to building the teams needed to take on our toughest challenges. In addition, he is a technology entrepreneur and expert in transportation, smart cities, urban mobility, energy, national security issues as well as an Army combat veteran. Currently he serves as an Executive-in-Residence at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. In addition, he is President of Grayline where he works with people and companies to bring together experts, data, and solutions to help companies and public institutions manage disruptive change. Prior to co-founding Grayline, Joseph co-founded and served as CEO of RideScout, before it was acquired by Mercedes-Benz in 2014. Read Joseph's full bio.
Demographics, Domestic Policy, Jobs
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Demographics, Global Dynamics, Work
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Demographics, Domestic Policy, Robotics
Robotics and Labor Scarcity
Government, Technology, Work
The Great Divide: Meeting the Challenges of Our Future Workforce
Bret Boyd 16 min read
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Universal Basic Prosperity
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Outsourcing, Automation, and Econometrics
Cybersecurity Management: Driving Improved Resiliency in Public Transit and Beyond
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Mind the Gap: Few Companies Survive Market Shifts
Defense Acquisition Reform is a National Security Issue
Power, Energy Storage, and the Decentralization of the Grid
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The Body as an Innovation Platform


text:
class UserSession
  # include ActiveModel::Validations
  # include ActiveModel::Conversion

  # extend ActiveModel::Naming
  # extend ActiveModel::Translation
  # Now in Rails 4
  include ActiveModel::Model

  attr_accessor :email, :password
  validates_presence_of :email, :password

  def initialize(session, attributes = {})
    @session = session
    @email = attributes[:email]
    @password = attributes[:password]
  end

  def authenticate
    user = User.authenticate(@email, @password)

    if user.present?
      store(user)
    else
      errors.add(:base, :invalid_login)
      false
    end
  end

  def store(user)
    @session[:user_id] = user.id
  end

  def persisted?
    false
  end

  def current_user
    User.find(@session[:user_id])
  end

  def user_signed_in?
    @session[:user_id].present?
  end

  def destroy
    @session[:user_id] = nil
  end
end


text:
Home / Industry / Slovakia looks to buy modern trainer jet to train future F-16 pilots
Slovakia looks to buy modern trainer jet to train future F-16 pilots
Blog Before Flight Staff October 30, 2020 0
Trainer jets under evaluation from Slovakia to train future F-16 pilots.
The Slovak Ministry of Defense recently said they are considering purchasing new trainer jets as part of the nation's project to modernize the Slovak Air Force fleet. Options include aircraft manufactured in Italy, England and the Czech Republic.
This assessment follows the Slovak Air Force's plan to train future pilots of the 'newly acquired' F-16s at home rather than in the United States.
In 2019 Slovakia purchased 14 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 fighters (12 single seat and 2 double seat). The contract signed with the US aerospace giant also provides for the training of the first Slovak pilots at the National Guard Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson will temporarily host the first 4 Slovak F-16s which will be delivered in the fall of 2022.
Subsequently, Slovakia's plan is to train its pilots at home with a modern trainer jet.
"We are currently talking with various manufacturers to define the best proposals. We would like to make a choice during this legislature. Thanks to the new trainer, our next F-16 pilots will be able to fly many hours in Slovakia and not have to complete all training in the United States. This will save us millions of euros," Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď said.
Currently, the Slovak Air Force's fleet includes six L-39 Albatross trainer aircraft whose operational life is expected to end over the next six years. The Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic intends to replace them with eight or ten modern trainer jets.
The aircraft currently involved in the evaluation include the Leonardo M-345 and M-346 jets (with a preference for the first because of the lower cost), the BAE Systems Hawk and the Aero Vodochody L-39NG.
The final choice will take into consideration the aircraft and its integrated training system, but also the opportunity for industrial cooperation with Slovak companies. According to the Minister of Defense, Bratislava intends to spend around ten million euros per aircraft.
👉 You may also like: Aero Vodochody offers Slovakia long-term strategic cooperation in pilot training
Written by Matteo Sanzani


text:
Chicago Opera Theater 2017-18 Review – Il Pigmalione and Rita: A Double-Bill of Donizetti Pays Worthy Homage to His Genius
By Santosh Venkataraman
Seasoned operagoers are very familiar with Gaetano Donizetti, although most have only seen a paltry number of his works including the likes of "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Anna Bolena" and "La Fille du Régiment."
Donizetti is known as opera's most prolific popular composer with over 70 operas to his name with many providing fertile unexplored territory. The innovative Chicago Opera Theater has forged an identity of pushing opera's boundaries and wouldn't normally be associated with such a recognizable figure. Yet it added to that ground-breaking reputation while also paying tribute to one of the giants of the opera world with its unique bel canto double bill of rarely performed works by the Italian, "Il Pigmalione" and "Rita," that opened this weekend.
Two Different Animals
The works contrast in many ways. "Il Pigmalione" is Donizetti's first opera while "Rita" is one of his last. The former is opera seria while the latter is commedia dell'arte. Each is one act, although not a whole lot of action happens in "Il Pigmalione," while perhaps way too much takes place in "Rita."
If they work as a pair, it's not so much the individual quality of each opera as much as how together they reveal the evolution of the composer. Neither was performed in his lifetime. The oddity is that "Il Pigmalione" was first seen in 1960 in his birthplace of Bergamo while 100 years earlier, "Rita" was first performed in Paris in a performance taking place 12 years after Donizetti's death.
"Il Pigmalione" was composed when he was 19-years-old and written in six days (!). He created Rita 25 years later when he was firmly established throughout the continent.
The Forerunner to Success
"Il Pigmalione" is based on the story from Ovid's Metamorphoses of the sculptor Pygmalion, who fell in love with his sculptures. The story of Pygmalion by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the sources for the libretto, whose author is unknown.
It's about 40-minutes long and consists of sculptor Pigmalione, portrayed by tenor Javier Abreu, alone on stage for the bulk of the performance pining for his creations.
While Abreu accurately conveyed the madness and mania of his character, much of what he sang became repetitive. Maybe there's a reason the librettist is unnamed since the text is somewhat banal and meandering.
That's not to say that the performance didn't have merit in other ways. The set design by William Boles under the guidance of director Amy Hutchison for Pigmalione's studio featured a projection screen that showcased Italian neorealist cinema and brought vibrancy where the words could not. The music demonstrated hints of the style that Donizetti would become synonymous with and was performed with aplomb by maestro Francesco Milioto and his orchestra.
Overall, "Il Pigmalione" is about what you would expect from a 19-year-old composer and it only came to life a bit when Pigmalione's sculpture Galatea came to life in the person of soprano Angela Mortellaro.
Something unusual and interesting happened during intermission. During the set change for "Rita," a pair of clowns were onstage providing entertainment. This all made sense once the second part of the double-bill began.
"Rita" is a comic opera about two men and a woman. The spin on this "love triangle" is that both men want nothing to do with Rita upon this chance reunion set in a café on the Italian coast in the 1950s.
Chicago Opera Theater added some twists to the proceedings. The original version of the opera is in French, although it is now mostly performed in Italian. While this performance was sung in Italian, the spoken dialogue was made more accessible in English as the performers humorously broke the third wall to talk to the audience.
The clowns grew to four and were omnipresent with sight gags and hi-jinks that were hilarious throughout. It was all under the guidance of the 'Director of Clowning' Adrian Danzig, who received a bigger bio in the program than anyone else and rightfully so. The clowns were a perfect complement to the principals.
Winning Trio
The singers from "Il Pigmalione" comprised two-thirds of the Rita cast. Abreu was Beppe, the current husband of Rita who is tired of being beaten by her. Mortellaro was Rita, while baritone Keith Phares was Gasparo, previously married to her and thought to be dead at sea.
These performers were said to be handpicked for these roles by Milioto and it was hard to imagine better casting. Abreu was simply the star of the night, partly because of the physical demands his role had in contrast to the others. The Puerto Rican had to climb down from the balcony in the opening moments and later sang while "flying" in a scene you have to see in person to appreciate.
If the material in "Il Pigmalione" did him no favors, Abreu flourished in Rita with his bel canto singing and hysterical facial expressions of a henpecked husband. His stage presence lit up the auditorium.
Mortellaro, who only briefly appeared in "Il Pigmalione," was a commanding Rita. She looked convincing as a stereotypical, dark-haired Italian beauty that men fall in love with while simultaneously sweetly delivering domineering words that showed why these same men desired to leave her. There's not a moment when she is around that you don't realize that she is on stage.
Phares' Gasparo is more of an alpha male to Abreu's Beppe and his panache brought a different energy to the show. The baritone provided one of the night's best moments when he broke into verse by another Italian composer (you can guess who) in a scene that includes a spoken line by someone outside the aforementioned trio in a hysterical surprise.
Such gags were in spirit with this opera and were proof that the Chicago Opera Theater doesn't alaways take itself too seriously. Yet this was serious fun and a worthy homage to Donizetti with kudos to Hutchison, Danzig and the creative team on this lively and witty production.
I am an opera lover who has also been a basketball coach, sportswriter and film writer in the past.


The book is written with the following audience in mind: parents, youth workers, Christian educators, and people who love young people. Since I've been all four (at times simultaneously), I paid close attention to the book's promise: To show readers how (with practical advice) to teach the truth of Christianity to the next generation, given the special challenges they face and their unique identity.
I read the book in two days. It's that good. And even though feelings are subjective and not always the best litmus test for a book's reliability…I have to say I felt SO encouraged when I turned the last page. This is HUGE because it would have been easy for a book of this nature—claiming to prepare me for something so daunting—to leave me feeling ignorant for what I don't know or shamed for what I'm not doing.
A quick glance through the table of contents should put all readers at ease. Every chapter starts with the word love. In fact, the entire book springboards off Jesus' words in John 15:13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.


text:
Q: 301 Redirecting the domain if the page doesn't contain query string I only want to redirect the root page from 1 subdomain domain to another e.g:
from https://checkout.example.com to https://www.example.com/index.php?route=checkout/cart/
however, all other pages and query strings with $ and & should remain untouched. e.g:
https://checkout.example.com/?Amount=1899&Invoice=55498213
should remain as it is
I tried multiple htaccess rules texts: Redirect 301, Redirect, RedirectMatch, RewriteRule. All the rules are redirecting the domain with the query strings.
Here is my current .htaccess rule
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^$
RewriteRule ^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^checkout\.example\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/index.php?route=checkout/cart/ [L,R=301]
</IfModule>

A: This should work for you :
RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^checkout\.domain1\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule .* https://www.domain2.com/checkout [L,R=301]

A: This finally works, Added to the top of .htaccess file
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^checkout\.example\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/index.php?route=checkout/cart/ [L,R=301]


text:
Relevant(REL)$0.73-3.48%
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Home » Where the Metaverse is and How Far it Can Go
By Stanley U. May 24, 2022 No Comments4 Mins Read
Although metaverse is not a completely new term, its popularity more than doubled following the announcement by Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook was becoming a metaverse company and that its name would also be changing to Meta. This singular announcement set many other things in motion as other tech companies like Microsoft, Disney etc expressed their own interests in the new universe. There has really been a lot of hype, confusion, buzz and misinformation around the metaverse concept. However, the metaverse has made considerable progress and it seems to be evolving as the days go by.
The metaverse is a 3D virtual world; a place where one can get immersed in any digital surrounding and participate in any physical reality. The metaverse makes it possible for you to see and feel anything even though you are you millions of miles away from the scene. Another benefit that the metaverse offers is that it gives opportunity for people to collaborate across different locations.
While one is still in the real world, representations can be made on the metaverse using personalized avatars which can explore the digital world. In the near future, electromyography and neural interfaces will make it possible to control devices, communicate and collaborate just by slight movement of the fingers. Things will be just a thought away – just thinking it gets it done. There'd be glasses which will facilitate seeing the reality of others and this will be through the functionality of complex sensors.
For tech companies, businesses and investors, it is important to know where the metaverse is headed and how long it will take to arrive there. While things are just starting to take shape in the metaverse enterprise, the gaming industry has made metaverse to become a word on the lips of every player. Over the next 12 to 24 months, there will be a 'first big wave' where mixed reality hardware produces breakthroughs for immersive experiences. This will be followed by a stage, probably in the next three or more years, where fully augmented reality glasses hit the market in a bigger way. This stage is so important as the glasses are the gateway to the metaverse.
According to expert opinions, there are technological advancements and social factors helping to push the metaverse forward. The emergence of 5G networks, the rise of edge computing, advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) and the need for more digital collaboration necessitated by COVID-19 are all contributing to push the metaverse forward.
While it is not possible to accurately state or predict where the metaverse will be in a few years, one can get a rough idea of its destination by taking a look at the industry players that have worked on the metaverse the longest and have the resources to drive significant changes. Here, companies like Microsoft, Google, Meta (Facebook) and Apple comes to mind.
Glasses Google was actually the first to come up with augmented reality glasses in 2012. The glasses presented a small screen on the right side of your vision designed to carry web or other information streamed via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection with your phone. The Glass Enterprise Edition, which allows workers to go hand-free followed three years ago.
Meta (Facebook) is one of those investing heavily in the metaverse. It invested $10 billion dollars in 2021 alone and company was even renamed Meta to show it's new focus of 'bringing the metaverse to life. Facebook is busy creating all kinds of connective technology, which represents covering its bets across possibilities. It has the Quest headset for VR. It has Horizon, a social VR platform it launched in October that includes various forms: Horizon Home (for your default personal digital space), Horizon Workrooms (for your work environment), Horizon Venues (for events), and Horizon Worlds (which lets you hang out with up to 20 people at a time in a virtual space, and write code to build things like games in a Minecraft-like environment). Meta is also developing a mixed reality (MR) headset, called Project Cambria, for release later this year. It is called mixed because it will allow sensors to pick up your surroundings to inject them into your VR experience.
As the metaverse is growing in popularity, tech companies are all looking for ways to get in. Heavy investments are being laid down and new sceneries are being unveiled everyday. Who knows, we might wake up one day to see that the metaverse has displaced the universe.
Stanley U.
Stanley U. is a writer with unparalleled passion for content creation in the tech space. In fact, content seems to be the very life blood running through his veins. Think content, think Stanley.
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Organizing your finances is an important part of any successful budget. Keeping a daily spending diary can help you take control of your day-to-day spending. We've created an easy five-step budgeting program to help everyone create a budget that they can stick to. Start small by applying for a Bank of the West Classic Savings Account, and learn more about budgeting below.
Setting specific financial goals is the first step toward achieving your dreams and reaching your financial objectives. Visualize your goals so you can create the budget to reach them.
Organizing your finances is an important part of any successful budget. Keeping a daily spending diary can help you take control of your day-to-day spending. Our Bill Pay service also lets you pay your bills conveniently from one location and access your payment history, helping you keep your finances in order.
Keeping a budget that helps you track your income and expenses is easier than you think. Setting up email and mobile alerts to notify you when you reach your budget limit is an easy way to help you monitor your spending and track your progress.
Consider your needs versus your wants. Cutting back on purchases you do not really need can help you find money to save for your financial goals. You can use the Account Activity page within Online Banking to track your spending and categorize your purchases. Then see where you can cut spending .
Building up your savings is a great way to prepare for the unexpected and manage debt. You can use our Auto-Save program to help grow your savings by putting a portion of your paycheck into your Savings account every week or every month. Enroll in Auto-Save by signing in to Online Banking, clicking the Services tab and selecting Set Up Direct Deposit.


text:
import sys
import warnings
from .._display import session_line

PY2 = sys.version_info < (3,)

# TODO: document it
def download(url, dest=None, verbose=True, force=False):
    import os

    if PY2:
        from urllib import urlretrieve
    else:
        from urllib.request import urlretrieve

    if dest is None:
        dest = os.getcwd()

    filepath = os.path.join(dest, _filename(url))
    if not force and os.path.exists(filepath):
        warnings.warn("File {} already exists.".format(filepath))
        print("Set `force` to `True` in order to overwrite the existing file.")
        return

    with session_line("Downloading {}... ".format(url), disable=not verbose):
        urlretrieve(url, filepath)

def _filename(url):
    import os

    if PY2:
        from urlparse import urlparse
    else:
        from urllib.parse import urlparse

    a = urlparse(url)
    return os.path.basename(a.path)