text:
Gangs of Mewat: Majority of ATM thefts in Telangana linked to Haryana
By Newsmeter NetworkPublished on 9 Feb 2021 10:15 AM GMT
Hyderabad: On 8 February at around 1.50 a.m, the Chityal mandal police in Telangana's Nalgonda district received a call via Dial 100. The caller had witnessed an SBI ATM theft on the highway. The cops who were on patrol 200 meters from the crime spot reached the place. However, the police siren had alerted the thieves who managed to give them the slip. The attempt was foiled and the cash in the ATM remained untouched. The police noticed that there was no security guard at the ATM.
The story, however, does not end there. Two hours later, the Chityal mandal police station again received another call. This time it was about another theft at another ATM located 12 kilometers from the spot where the first incident took place. The masked men walked away with Rs. 7.34 lakhs cash. Again, the TATA Indicash ATM was operating without any security guards. This was the second burglary in the first week of February 2021.
#Telangana- Theives walked away with Rs 7.34 lakh cash from an ATM located near Chityal mandal of #Nalgonda district. The man is seen spraying a liquid on the CCTV Camera before he breaks open the machine. @SP_Nalgonda pic.twitter.com/MhtrHioe3F
— NewsMeter (@NewsMeter_In) February 9, 2021
On 4 February a group of masked men stole a cash box from an ATM machine in Adilabad district. The CCTV footage showed how the men had tugged at the machine using a rope and opened the ATM. The investigation found that they walked away with Rs. 20 lakhs cash.
The three incidents are among the many ATM burglaries in Telangana. They have something in common: all are linked to Haryana. Inspector C. Shankar who is investigating the Chityal case explained, "Majority of the accused hail from Mewat district in Haryana, earlier called Nuh. These men travel to different districts in small groups of three-four members. During the day, they conduct a recce of the ATM in the target location. After midnight when all are asleep, they break into the ATM. They first spray the CCTV camera with paint to restrict visibility and ensure their identities are not revealed. Later, using a gas cutter, they break open the ATM and walk away with the cash."
In view of the increasing number of ATM theft incidents, certain banks have embedded a security alarm system within the ATM. "Despite repeated notices to the banks, several ATMs have no security guards. If not during morning hours, a guard should be posted at least during the night in ATMs located in isolated areas," the cop added.
Not too long ago, a team from the Karnataka police visited Mewat in connection with an ATM theft case. However, they were denied entry and faced high resistance from the villagers. The superintendent of police, Nalgonda, A.V Ranganath, said, "The villages in Mewat house these criminals. It is a tedious job to nab the criminals once they enter Mewat due to the resistance from locals and no support from the local police. The miscreants use the wrong number plate or hide it with plaster in order to escape."
How Rachakonda police apprehended two ATM thieves in Amberpet
On 30 November, the Rachakonda cops arrested Mohammad Amir and Mohammed Abdul Afridi in an ATM theft case. Six other accused - Sajid, Azhar, Shahid, Azad, Junaid, and Mohammed Abid Khan - are absconding, many of whom are from Haryana.
According to the police, the gang is well-versed in the workings and mechanism of ATMs and alarm systems. They recce isolated ATMs, spray black paint on the CCTV cameras, and cut the front portion of the ATMs without touching the wires with a gas cutter.
On 11 October 2019, Amir, Afridi, and Mohammed Farooq were arrested by the Abdullapurmet police and sent to Cherlapally jail. Afridi was sent to a juvenile home. It was in prison that they met some inmates from Haryana and formed a gang.
Once released, Amir and Afridi would recce isolated ATMs for Sajid and his gang. On 11 November, Sajid, Azar, Shahid, and Abid came to Nampally by train where they were picked up by Amir and Afridi. Two days later, they went to Charminar and purchased an Oxygen cylinder and an LPG cylinder. They recced ATMs from LB Nagar crossroads to Charminar. The same day, Aazad and Junaid came to Hyderabad. Later that night, the gang went to an SBI ATM in Choutuppal, broke it open, and tried to steal the money. However, they saw a police patrol car and fled the spot.
On 15 November, Amir along with Sajid, Azar, Shahid, and Junaid found another SBI ATM at Mansoorabad. This time they were successful and managed to steal the money from the ATM. They fled the spot and reached Adilabad where they distributed the stolen money.
The Rachakonda police apprehend Amir and Afridi and recover cash worth Rs. 30,000. The Rachakonda commissioner of police, Mahesh Bhagwat, told NewsMeter that their modus operandi keeps changing and the criminals even steal vehicles parked on the road to escape. "I don't want to reveal much about the investigation as it would hamper the probe, but yes most ATM breaks are connected to Mewat district in Harayana. The men collude with locals in Telangana before they commit the crime," he said.


Plus, Basquiat's 'Jim Crow' sells for $17.7 million in Paris and museums are preserving objects from the Las Vegas shooting.
The fair showcases both emerging and established artists, and has plenty to recommend it.
"Obscene" art by women from the '70s and '80s has been censored and blacklisted for decades. Now, it's taking center stage at an unlikely venue.
From legends such as Basquiat and Dubuffet to contemporary hits like Katharina Grosse and Hannah Black.


Access level can be protected with a password.
This testing machine was developed especially for studies of dental materials . The main focus is compressive strength and tensile tests.
The testing machine is available for the force range 0.5 and 1 KN < 0.2 % accuracy (Factory calibration / ISO-calibration ) or with precision class 0.5 according to ISO 376 / DAkks-DKD -R 3-3. The cutoff frequency / sampling rate is 320 Hz. The universal testing machine allows test speeds from 0.5 to 600 mm / min. The maschine has a speed control. The testing machine is operating via touch screen. The maximum / peak value of the test is indicated, which is sufficient for the most standards for dental materials.
Due to the compact construction, the device is ideally suited for laboratory use .
ISO-Standards (speed, cross section) can be selected and the corresponding compressive stress is calculated.


text:
Q: SwiftUI: Integration of dictionaries and quicklook I'm seeking some help for my iOS app and hope someone can get me on the right path!
FYI: I'm no developper, I'm an architectural student trying to work on a project for a museum.
So, I have this view which contains multiple cards for different objects that are in the museum and when I tap on it, I go to a new view with it's image, description,... + a PlayButton (the Playbutton is a vectorial triangle with some overlay for it's frame, background..).
I have it configured in a way for me to be able to add easily more objects with it corresponding informations with a dictionary.
struct Card: Identifiable {
let id = UUID()
var index: Int
var title: String
var subtitle: String
var description: String
var text: String
var image: String
var background: String
var logo: String }

var cards = [
Card(index: 1, title: "Universale".uppercased(), subtitle: "Joe Colombo".uppercased(), description: "Short description", text: "Long description", image: "Universale", background: "Background 5", logo: "Logo 5"),]

Then I call for this variable in my main view with this code to see every cards I want to show.
var featured: some View {
    ScrollView(.horizontal, showsIndicators: false){
        HStack(spacing: 16) {
            ForEach(cards) { cards in
                    CardsItem(cards: cards)

                        .onTapGesture {
                            showCourse = true
                            selectedCourse = cards
                        }
                        .accessibilityElement(children: .combine)
                        .accessibilityAddTraits(.isButton)

            }
        }
        .padding(20)
    }
    .tabViewStyle(.page(indexDisplayMode: .never))
    .sheet(isPresented: $showCourse) {
        CardsView(namespace: namespace, cards: $selectedCourse, isAnimated: false)
    }
}

And my complete view is coded like this:
    var content: some View {
    ScrollView {
        scrollDetection

        Spacer()
            .padding(.top, 40)

        Text("Essayez les objets de la collection chez vous!")
            .font(.body.bold())
            .foregroundColor(.primary)
            .sectionTitleModifier()

        Group {

        featured

        Text("Porte-à-faux".uppercased())
            .font(.body.bold())
            .foregroundColor(.secondary)
            .sectionTitleModifier()

        featured2

        .padding(.bottom, 60)
        }
    }
    .coordinateSpace(name: "scroll")
    .overlay(NavigationBar(title: "Collection", contentHasScrolled: $contentHasScrolled))
}

At this point, everything works like I want. But now I want to add a way for each object to access a usdz file and show it in AR QuickLook when I tap on the play button. I managed to get it working (Kinda, I currently need to kill the app if I want to go back afterwards) with one file that launches on every cards but I can't find a way to launch the corresponding usdz file for each object.
How would I approach this? I hope I was clear enough.
Thanks in advance!

A: Here's the code I used for the AR QuickLook
class ARQLViewController: UIViewController, QLPreviewControllerDataSource {
let assetName = "Pantone"
let assetType = "usdz"
let allowsContentScaling = false
let canonicalWebPageURL = URL(string: "nil")

override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
    let previewController = QLPreviewController()
    previewController.dataSource = self
    present(previewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

func numberOfPreviewItems(in controller: QLPreviewController) -> Int {
    return 1
}

func previewController(_ controller: QLPreviewController, previewItemAt index: Int) -> QLPreviewItem {
    guard let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource: assetName, ofType: assetType) else {
        fatalError("Couldn't find the supported asset file.")
    }
    let url = URL(fileURLWithPath: path)
    let previewItem = ARQuickLookPreviewItem(fileAt: url)
    previewItem.allowsContentScaling = allowsContentScaling // default = true
    previewItem.canonicalWebPageURL = canonicalWebPageURL   // default = nil
    return previewItem
}}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: order matrix based on another matrix If i have
ex1 <-
structure(c(1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L), .Dim = c(10L, 12L
), .Dimnames = list(c("q1", "q2", "q3", "q4", "q5", "q6", "q7",
"q8", "q9", "q10"), c("q1", "q2", "q3", "q4", "q5", "q6", "q7",
"q8", "q9", "q10", "q11", "q12")))

and
ex2 <-
structure(c(1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L,
0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L,
0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L,
1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L), .Dim = c(10L, 12L
), .Dimnames = list(c("q4", "q7", "q10", "q9", "q2", "q1", "q6",
"q3", "q5", "q8"), c("q12", "q9", "q10", "q6", "q5", "q7", "q4",
"q1", "q11", "q2", "q3", "q8")))

How can I make the row and column order of ex2 match ex1 and vice versa .
I tried methods in this post but to no avail.

A: Just use the rownames and colnames to subset. [ is pretty flexible:
ex2[rownames(ex1),colnames(ex1)]
    q1 q2 q3 q4 q5 q6 q7 q8 q9 q10 q11 q12
q1   1  0  0  1  1  1  1  0  1   1   1   1
q2   0  1  0  1  1  1  1  0  1   1   0   1
q3   1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  1   1   0   1
q4   0  0  0  1  1  0  0  0  0   0   0   1
q5   1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  1   1   1   1
q6   1  0  0  1  1  1  1  0  1   1   1   1
q7   1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1   1   0   1
q8   1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1   1   1   1
q9   0  0  1  0  1  1  1  0  1   1   1   1
q10  1  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  1   0   1   1

ex1[rownames(ex2),colnames(ex2)]
    q12 q9 q10 q6 q5 q7 q4 q1 q11 q2 q3 q8
q4    0  1   0  1  1  0  1  1   1  1  1  0
q7    0  1   0  1  1  1  1  1   0  1  1  1
q10   1  1   1  1  1  1  1  1   1  1  1  1
q9    0  1   1  1  1  1  1  1   1  1  1  1
q2    0  0   0  1  0  0  0  1   0  1  1  1
q1    0  0   0  0  1  1  0  1   0  0  0  0
q6    0  1   0  1  1  1  1  1   0  1  1  1
q3    1  1   0  0  0  0  1  1   0  1  0  1
q5    0  0   1  1  1  1  1  1   0  1  1  0
q8    0  0   1  1  1  1  1  1   1  1  1  1


Staff Sheehan is an electrochemist and president of Catalytic Innovations. He received his PhD at Yale University and was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 in the energy sector in 2016.
Chi is a synthetic chemist specializing in homogeneous and molecular catalysis. Chi earned his PhD in the Holland Lab at Yale University and is currently the Chief Scientist of Catalytic Innovations.
Paul Anastas is the Director of Yale University's Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, and the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment..
CI is a partner of the ANSER Collaboration and collaborating member of the Solar Fuels Institute.
Uli Hintermair is Whorrod Research Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies at the University of Bath in Bath, UK. His research group focuses on applied catalysis with metal complexes to develop sustainable processes.
Aaron Bloomfield is a synthetic organic chemist with experience in ligand design and electrochemistry. He is an alumnus of Catalytic Innovations and is currently an assistant professor of chemistry at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.


The VW Emissions Scandal Could Cost Them Billions | Alexander & Co.
Volkswagen, one of the biggest names in the automotive business, is facing a backlash from consumers after it was revealed that they found a loophole to get around emissions tests.
It's believed that the revelations could cost the company more than $18 billion with shares in the company, who also produce the likes of Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, Seat and Skoda vehicles, dropping by around 20% as the news began to filter around the world, with experts believing that British drivers could be driving around in illegal vehicles.
It was revealed this week that the company had installed a form of software aimed at deceiving the emission tests into their VW and Audi diesel cars since 2009, showing that the cars were producing less emissions than they actually were in order to ensure that they met the guidelines set out by the authorities.
Over in the United States, Volkswagen have been ordered to recall around 500,000 diesel models and to adapt them until they meet the required standards – which is likely to have a huge knock-on effect for customers and the company share price on this side of the Atlantic too.
When a company the size of Volkswagen, with a loyal following and such a huge range of models that have sold so well because of their styling and their fuel economy over the years, makes such a huge mistake it could be detrimental in the long-term, not the short.
Customers are likely to take offence with what the company have done in terms of rigging the emissions, causing them to emit huge amounts of harmful gas into the environment without their knowledge with many choosing the VW brand – and range – because of their perceived low emissions.
The CEO of Volkswagen, Martin Winterkorn, has apologised to customers and ordered an internal investigation into the scam – although he may soon have to apologise to other manufacturers and consumers too if it starts to affect people's trust in car manufacturers.
Rather than buying a brand new car, customers may decide that it's not worth the risk because of VW's deception and this could affect the economy across the UK as a whole with the new and used car market proving to be one of the biggest in the country.


text:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

<TITLE>
Uses of Class com.kolbly.android.util.time.SystemTimeFormat
</TITLE>

<META NAME="date" CONTENT="2013-09-28">

<LINK REL ="stylesheet" TYPE="text/css" HREF="../../../../../../stylesheet.css" TITLE="Style">

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Methods in com.kolbly.android.util.time that return SystemTimeFormat

static SystemTimeFormat
SystemTimeFormat.create(android.content.Context context)

          Convenience static Ctor

static SystemTimeFormat
SystemTimeFormat.instance()

          Get this singleton instance

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Apple's October 2018 event was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House on Oct. 30. It kicked off at 10am ET (7am PT) and lasted about 90 minutes. Although Apple live-streamed it (go here to find out how to access it), we rounded up the highlights here.
Apple CEO Tim Cook started things by announcing that the Mac's active installed base has reached 100 million users: "What's most important to us is in survey after survey, the Mac continues to be rated No. 1 in customer satisfaction by far," he said.
From there, Cook jumped right into new Mac hardware, starting with a refreshed MacBook Air. It has a 13.3-inch Retina display -- providing four times the resolution with over four million pixels -- with no aluminum bezel. "The No. 1 feature customers have wanted in a MacBook Air is a Retina Display," Cook explained, "but we've made the display better in every possible way."
The MacBook Air has another new feature customers have been asking for: Touch ID.
Other new features include: a T2 security chip; an always-on processor that enables "Hey Siri"; a backlit keyboard with individual LEDs and Butterfly keys; a Force Touch Trackpad with 20 percent more surface area; audio stereo speakers that are 25 percent louder; two Thunderbolt 3 ports; an eighth-generation dual-core Intel CPU with integrated graphics; up to 16GB memory; up to 1.5TB in SSD capacity; support for Apple's eGPUs; and a 12-hour battery.
The new MacBook Air is made from 100-percent recycled aluminum, weighs 2.75 pounds, and starts at $1,199 for 8GB memory and a 1.6GHz processor. It will be available from Nov. 7.
After years of no updates, Apple has refreshed the Mac mini.
First of all, the new Mac mini comes in space gray.
It also features 4-core and 6-core eighth generation Intel processors (making it five-times faster than the previous generation) and up to 64GB of RAM. You can get it with all-flash storage up to 2TB, Apple's new T2 chip, a Gigabit Ethernet (or 10Gb Ethernet), 4x Thunderbolt ports, HDMI, and two USB-A ports. There's also a new thermal system included.
The new Mac mini starts at $799, with the entry-level model offering 8GB, 3.6GHz quad-core processor, and 128GB of RAM. It will be available from Nov. 7.
CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple has sold 400 million iPads since 2010 -- which he said is more than the entire notebook lineup of the biggest notebook manufacturers combined.
Apple also revealed an all-new iPad Pro with an edge-to-edge LCD "Liquid Retina" display, slimmer bezels, and Face ID (no Home Button). It has the same footprint as the previous 10.5-inch iPad Pro, but it now comes with an 11-inch display. There's also a new 12.9-inch version.
Also: Apple's new iPad Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini: Can features, specs retain business momentum?
Apple said the new iPad Pro tablets support all the same gestures as the iPhone X line, and they are powered by the new A12X Bionic chip, including an 8-core CPU and a 35-percent faster CPU. The iPad Pros are designed to be faster than 92 percent of the portable PCs sold in the last year.
Accessories: Apple Pencil 2 is here!
Apple unveiled a redesigned Apple Pencil alongside its latest iPads.
Apple is also updating its old Smart Keyboard, which is now called the Smart Keyboard Folio, to allow the iPad to sit at two different typing angles.
As for the new Apple Pencil, called Apple Pencil 2, it attaches to the tablet magnetically and charges wirelessly. No longer do you have to plug the Pencil directly into the iPad. Plus, tapping the new Pencil to the iPad Pro will instantly wake the device and launch the Notes app.
Going back to the new iPad Pro tablets for a moment, Apple said the 11-inch model starts at $799. For that price, you get 4GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The 12.9-inch model starts at $999. They will be available from Nov. 7. The old 10.5-inch iPad Pro will now cost $649.
None of the tablets come with the new Apple Pencil 2 or Smart Keyboard Folio, as those must be purchased separately. Apple did not reveal pricing or availability for those during its show.
Finally, Apple will release iOS 12.1 on Oct. 30, bringing Group FaceTime, new emoji, live Depth Control in camera previews, and Dual SIM support to Apple's latest iPhones.
Apple's October 2018 hardware event in New York City focused on updates to the iPad Pro, a new Apple Pencil 2, and new Mac models, including a refreshed version of the MacBook Air and Mac mini. Here's everything that happened during the show -- scene by scene.


text:
Safety Initiatives
Our Loved Ones
The Faces of Continental Flight 3407
Flight 3407 Families, Sullenberger Denounce Republic Airways' Effort to Weaken Safety
Published by Administrator on May 13, 2022 May 13, 2022
Miracle on the Hudson Pilot Rebuts Attempt to Equate Airline's Training Program to Military's
Buffalo, New York – May 13, 2022 – With news that regional carrier Republic Airways has petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration for an exemption to the foundation of the landmark aviation law unanimously passed by Congress in 2010 in response to the tragic crash of Flight 3407, the 'Families of Continental Flight 3407' strenuously objected and called on acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen to reject the proposal in the strongest and swiftest manner possible.
"Obviously a very calculated move by Bryan Bedford and his regional airline cronies to wait for Administrator Dickson to step aside and then to try to pull a fast one when no one was watching or there was hopefully a sympathetic acting Administrator," declared John Kausner of Clarence Center, New York, who lost his twenty four year old daughter Ellyce when the plane crashed less than a mile from their family home. "We are counting on the Biden Administration to be wise enough to see through this smokescreen and ensure that the FAA sends a strong message against it."
The core premise of the Republic Airways' request is that they should be allowed to circumvent the heightened experience requirements enacted in the aftermath of the Flight 3407 tragedy, with a program narrowly geared to training pilots in the specifics of a highly-automated cockpit. The company argues that participants in its training program should receive the same experience credit towards an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license as is currently awarded to pilots who go through a military flight training program.
"As we have said for over 13 years now, let's listen to the true experts like Sully Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles in terms of what is the best way to prepare a commercial airline pilot to calmly and competently respond to a situation which is not addressed in a manual or encountered in everyday flying," stated Scott Maurer of Palmetto, Florida, who lost his thirty year old daughter Lorin, an athletic department fundraiser at Princeton University. "Captain Sullenberger could not be any more emphatic in his statement that there is absolutely no comparison between this training program, no matter how robust Republic considers it to be, and what is offered by the United States military."
The family group cited the sterling safety record that has been produced as a result of the landmark regional airline safety legislation, which included the increased experience requirements, as proof that the FAA and Congress should not modify the current safety regulations in any way.
"Let's recognize these repeated efforts over the past decade for what they truly are; an attempt to rush pilots to the cockpits of commercial airliners and fatten corporate bottom lines at the same time," stated Susan Bourque of East Aurora, New York, who lost her sister Beverly Eckert, a prominent 9/11 widow and activist. "The regionals essentially are objecting to a young pilot gaining an additional 12 to 24 months of seasoning while they accrue these additional hours of experience. That is hardly unreasonable when you consider what an aspiring doctor must go through prior to being entrusted with the lives of patients. Sully and Jeff Skiles have impressed upon us the importance of all the experiences that a young pilot amasses outside of a training environment early in their development, including hand-flying, reacting to adverse weather conditions, and various other decisions that must be made. Shame on us if we ignore the lesson of Flight 3407 and multiple other recent international safety incidents where a pilot was unable to recognize and react to a situation that went beyond the scope of the technology in the cockpit."
Categories: Press ReleasesPress ReleasesUncategorized
Flight 3407 Families' Statement on FAA's Denial of Republic Airways Petition
Safety Advocacy Efforts of Flight 3407 Families to Be Commemorated on Monday with Plaque Dedication at FAA Headquarters
Flight 3407 Families on Alert Over Efforts to Loosen Pilot Qualification Requirements
Flight 3407 Families' Statement on the 13th Anniversary of the Crash
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Buffalo, New York – September 20, 2022 – We commend the Federal Aviation Administration for denying Republic Airways' petition for exemption from the enhanced First Officer Qualification requirements that came about as a result of the landmark Read more…
Event Will Take Place on the 12th Anniversary of Landmark Regional Airline Safety Legislation Buffalo, NY – July 28, 2022 – A plaque honoring the aviation safety advocacy efforts of the 'Families of Continental Flight Read more…
Warn of Airlines Holding Essential Air Service Hostage to Win Government Concessions Buffalo, New York – April 20, 2022 – With Sky West announcing the impending elimination of Essential Air Service (EAS) routes and airline lobbyists Read more…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Mortgage Cop: Four Top Banks Fail Consumers
June 19, 2013 | Diana Olick, NBR, CNBC.com
Fotog | Getty Images
More than a year after the nation's five-largest mortgage servicers signed a $26 billion legal settlement with 49 state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over blatantly improper foreclosure procedures, those banks still need to do better.
That is the conclusion of the National Mortgage Settlement's monitor, former North Carolina banking commissioner Joseph A. Smith, in a report released Wednesday.
"It's better than it was. It's not as good as it needs to be, and we're going to keep at it," Smith said in an interview.
In addition to $26 billion in relief to customers wronged by so-called, "robo-signing" foreclosure document fraud and other abuses, the five lenders, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase,CitiMortgage, ResCap (formerly Ally/GMAC) and Wells Fargo, are required to comply with 304 servicing standards.
The banks are required to use their own employees, albeit those separate from their servicing operations, to work with members of the monitor's staff to assess their performance using 29 separate metrics; these range from foreclosure sale errors to modification denials to workforce management to servicer decision timeliness.
Four of the five banks reported failures in the latest and most comprehensive round of testing. Only ResCap showed no violations of the servicing settlement parameters. Both Bank of America and Chase reported two failures each, both having to do with response times to customers. CitiMortgage and Wells Fargo each reported one, again relating to document collection timeline compliance.
"I think the failures that are important are the failures with regard to prompt response to borrowers who are seeking to file an application for relief," said Smith. "The timeliness is important to the borrowers and to the people who advise them."
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The four lenders now have a chance to correct their violations, under the settlement agreement. If they cannot or choose not to, then the monitor can seek punishment in the form of penalties up to $1 million or, in certain circumstances, $5 million. As of the monitor's last relief progress report on May 21, 2013, the servicers reported distributing $50.63 billion in direct relief to more than 620,000 homeowners, or approximately $81,000 per homeowner.
"The banks take this very seriously. They were not elated at having failures. I know they've spent a lot of money and a lot of time trying to correct their processes in a way that will serve the public better, but we're not there yet," said Smith, who was hesitant even to call the report's results "satisfying." He was also reluctant to praise any one bank over another, unwilling to declare, "who is best yet."
In addition to the 29 servicer test results, Smith also reported receiving 59,586 consumer complaints as well as 797 from mortgage professionals between October and the end of March 2013.
(Read More: The Risks and Rewards of Reverse Mortgages)
The top consumer complaint was that a single point of contact was not provided or that contact was either difficult to deal with or to reach. The lack of a single servicing agent to work with each customer has led to dual-tracking; that is when one side of the bank is unaware that the other side is working on a loan modification and a foreclosure is completed while the borrower is still working through a mortgage modification.
Dual tracking violations of single point of contact and of timeline standards for loan modifications are also the crux of a lawsuit announced in early May by New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman against Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Schneiderman jumped the gun on Smith's report, citing 339 violations of the National Mortgage Settlement in New York.
"Wells Fargo and Bank of America have flagrantly violated those obligations, putting hundreds of homeowners across New York at greater risk of foreclosure," Schneiderman said in a statement released May 6.
(Read More: Home Builder Confidence Soars to 7-Year High)
Former Bank of America employees, in affidavits filed in a Massachusetts lawsuit last week, claimed the lender paid them bonuses to deny loan modifications, lie to customers and initiate new foreclosures. Bank of America denied the allegations.
Smith had no comment on either lawsuit, saying only, "The single biggest deficit we have in the mortgage business is a deficit of trust."
—Follow Diana Olick on Twitter @Diana_Olick
This entry was posted in Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.


Ran into a strange problem with WSS 3.0 that appeared to involve hung sockets, the sql server dynamically assigned port changing, or some other network related problem. 404 errors with some documents in the document libraries, 500 Internal Server errors, memory errors, and tons of sql server related errors in the event logs.
In this particular situation, a reboot resolved all issues but left me wondering how networking worked within the SharePoint product itself. The following are notes on SharePoint inter-process communications, network communication protocols, ports that SharePoint Server uses during its operation, etc.
Upon startup, SQL Server Browser starts and claims UDP port 1434. SQL Server Browser reads the registry, identifies all instances of SQL Server on the computer, and notes the ports and named pipes that they use. When SQL Server clients request SQL Server resources, the client network library sends a UDP message to the server using port 1434. SQL Server Browser responds with the TCP/IP port or named pipe of the requested instance. The network library on the client application then completes the connection by sending a request to the server using the port or named pipe of the desired instance.
SMB, or Common Internet File System (CIFS), is an application layer network protocol mainly used to provide access to printers, file systems, and other miscellaneous communications. It also provides an authenticated inter-process communication mechanism. SMB is used for search and query operations within SharePoint (see the Red paths in the diagram below). This occurs on port TCP:445 or TCP:137,138,139 (over NetBIOS).
As expected, HTTP handles all incoming traffic and web service calls. This will typically occur over ports TCP:80 or TCP:443 for secured SSL communications. Shared Service Provider (SSP) web service calls occur on ports 56737 and 56738 (SSL). Share Service Providers are replaced in SharePoint 2010 with Service Applications which use ports 32843, 32844 (HTTPS), 32845 instead.
This is traffic between the servers in the SharePoint farm including the SharePoint boxes and the SQL Server boxes (click drawing for full-size view).
This could be communications between SharePoint and Active Directory, DNS, etc.


1914. Windows smashed. Women on the run. The militant campaign for the Vote is at its peak.
Helen, a former suffragette, returns to the quiet village of her youth and the charms of the Fernstead Players amateur dramatics.
But when a charismatic leader of the Actresses' Franchise League swoops into Fernstead, a plan is hatched to spread the 'advanced views' of the ladies.
The village – and the lives of its women and men – will be forever changed.
This beguiling comedy drama is inspired by stories, songs and spirit of the women who won the right to vote a century ago.
With Tracy Collier, Matthew Cox, Andrew Hodson, Cath Humphrys, Mairi-Clare MacLean, Mike Ohren.


You read it here first: Media, Pentagon getting their ideas from me & CD jr.
From The NY Daily News: CIVIL WAR REENACTMENT – IN BAGHDAD?
Where did they come up with this one? The Multi-National Corps-Iraq press desk sent out a release today about a new operation targeting insurgents in Baghdad, which succeeded killing two insurgents and locating a cache of "artillery rounds, mortars, cell phones, weapons, propaganda, ammunition magazines and other bomb-making materials." The clever name of this mission? Operation Bull Run.
Last Sunday, Secretary of State Rice made the TV rounds and dismissed an "impending" civil war. And, technically, she's right: It's not impending if it's already here. Her comments sound like Gen. Westmoreland's December 1967 dismissal of the North Vietnamese's ability to launch an offensive anywhere in South Vietnam. The following month the North launched the Tet offensive everywhere in South Vietnam.
There have been two previous battles of Bull Run. We lost 'em both.
Y'know, Tom Lehrer once said that irony died when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize. Oh Tom, if only you'd been right.
Webkinz kick-started a trend in children's gaming that ties virtual environments to real-world merchandise. Online games for kids aren't new. Sierra Online had tot-focused games in the early '90s, and Neopets proved a hot product six years ago with a similar concept. But the unprecedented success of Webkinz is inspiring everyone from Barbie to Disney to get children invested in both the digital and the physical.
From TheWhatchamacallit: Neopets a neoscam?
The NC Mall was the final blow though. Needing to use real money, to buy virtual items on a kids site? It should not be! I am going to write a twelve paragraph letter to neopets on this subject, after seeing how few people actually realize neopets is being taken over!
A new tracing program that reveals where Wikipedia entries come from is stirring up controversy. People using FBI and CIA computers edited entries on such topics as the "Iraq war" and the prison at "Guantanamo Bay," presenting a conflict of interest for the nonprofit online encyclopedia, according to a company spokesperson.
Collateral Damage: See here & here.
Collateral Damage: Today's sarcasm is tomorrow's news.
This entry was posted in Barbie, Bush, collateral damage, Collateral Damage Jr., Cry Havoc and Loose the Penguins of Irony, Disney, george bush, George Bush Desert Classic, Henry Kissinger, Iraq, iraq war, Irony, neopets, New York Daily News, new york times, Nobel Peace Prize, Operation Bull Run, Penguins of irony, Tom Lehrer, Webkinz, Wiki Scanner, Wikipedia Scanner. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Bowhunting Whitetail
Buck Dispersal
October 28, 2010 By Bob Humphrey
You can scout all you want but once the rut starts all bets are off.
By Bob Humphery
How many times have you read that, or something similar in a hunting magazine? For years outdoor writers and so-called whitetail experts have told us that once the rut begins, mature bucks spread out over the landscape like refugees leaving a war zone. You may catch a foreigner trekking through your happy hunting ground, but all those big bucks you scouted through the late summer and early fall are long gone, looking for love in all the wrong places. The good news is, that's not necessarily the case. In fact, there's a body of evidence suggesting quite the opposite may be true.
Dispersal Truths
There are several reasons for this misconception being perpetuated. For starters, a substantial amount of scientific evidence demonstrates that bucks do indeed disperse. However, it's primarily yearling bucks that are packing up and leaving home. Various studies found between 50- and 80-percent of yearling bucks will disperse to establish a new home range. Most of this dispersal occurs just before or during the rut, when bucks are roughly 18 months old; and research suggests they are driven out by older, more aggressive bucks competing for breeding. Some yearling bucks however, disperse in their first spring when, it is speculated, maternal females drive them out.
The other reason for misunderstanding is that bucks--all bucks--do expand their home range considerably during the rut. While they generally stick to smaller core areas most of the year, they travel much farther and wider during the breeding season as they search for hot does. How far a buck may travel will depend on numerous variables including local deer densities--if they can find enough does nearby they won't travel as far.
The good news, according to some recent research at Maryland's Chesapeake Farms, is that while the big bucks do travel more, they still operate in and around their core areas throughout the rut. The Farms is a 3,300-acre wildlife and agricultural research area owned by DuPont and operated by DuPont Crop Protection. By monitoring radio-collared bucks, researchers there found that adult bucks increased their movement within home ranges significantly during the rut, presumably in search of hot does. However, even these major excursions seldom took the deer more than a mile or two from year-round core areas. More importantly, most bucks were back in their core areas within 15 to 32 hours.
Real Homebodies
The key here is that if you're targeting a specific buck or bucks, you shouldn't give up on your home turf when the rut kicks in. In fact, this may be the second best time to hunt them (the best is early in the season when they're on a regular feeding pattern within a small core area). If you've done your scouting, you already have a pretty good idea of where your buck's core area lies. He may not be in there as much or as often, but he will return, particularly if there are does in the area.
Just as important are patience and endurance. It may take several days, but your buck will be back; and he could return at almost any time. Chesapeake Farms research showed that 70-percent of mature buck excursions outside their core areas occurred during daylight hours, as opposed to only 15-percent during pre-rut and 30- percent during post-rut. The greatest increase in daytime activity occurred roughly between eight and 10 in the morning. However, there was an across-the-board increase throughout the day.
That means after a night of carousing your buck could wander back home at almost any hour. It also means that your neighbor's bucks could wander through most any time. This is when you need to be in the woods all day. You never know when he might come by. If you miss him, it could be another day or two before he returns. Miss him twice and you could miss the peak movement period altogether.
You may also want to alter your choice of stands at this time. During the pre-rut you might have hunted scrape lines. Once does come into estrus, the bucks largely abandon their scrapes; so scrape lines now are less productive. As the bucks return to core areas from their excursions however, they're likely to follow familiar paths where they feel more comfortable. They're also still hopped up on testosterone. This makes rub lines, particularly in thicker cover, a good choice.
You may also want to back away from those corridors between bedding and feeding areas that you focused on earlier in the season. Now a buck's primary objective is to find a mate. You should do what he does and concentrate in and around doe bedding areas, particularly on the downwind side.
Don't ignore feeding areas however. While food is now of little consequence to a buck, the does are still largely on their routines, and will be near feed early and late in the day. During the middle of the day, turn your efforts toward bedding areas, or on travel corridors between larger blocks of timber.
The peak of the rut is an exciting time. A lot of hunters enjoy the "anything goes" randomness, knowing that a strange buck could show up anywhere. Research shows however, that it's not quite as wild and unpredictable as some would have you believe. Bucks still come back home every few days. Stick with your home turf and you might be there to greet them.
Bob Humphrey is a certified wildlife biologist and registered Maine guide.
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text:
By Amy Lyons / February 22, 2010
'Percy Jackson' Fails to Deliver Fun Lightning Bolt
The curse of January continues into February at the box office with more depressing attempts at blockbusters and franchise boots and reboots. This past weekend's attempt, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief", proves once more that a good premise still requires a compelling story and solid acting before it can become the next "Harry Potter".
Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is just your average high schooler with an emo hair-do and a mild case of dyslexia. But oh wait, he's actually the son of the god of the sea, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), and his best friend isn't just his buddy Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) on crutches but a satyr—similar to a faun. And let's not forget that his teacher, Mr. Brunner (Pierce Brosnan), isn't just a guy in a wheel chair but a centaur with quite the large walking staff. Sadly, Percy doesn't get to learn about all this on his own. Instead, Zeus (Sean Bean) believes Percy has stolen the greatest weapon of the gods, lightning. Our young demi-god only has two weeks to find out the location of the stolen weapon before a war of the gods breaks out.
For all the idiocy "Lightning Thief" dishes out, and there's enough to feed an audience for two hours, it still manages to be more entertaining than other fantasy disasters of recent years. If this one gets a second shot, and it probably won't, then it could be turned into something better. It has several of the key ingredients, except entertaining leading stars, but just as Chris Columbus proved the weakest director for the "Potter" franchise, he has also taken down another story here, and this time before its prime.
Let's get something out of the way up front. Films for kids are better when they consider an older audience as well. "Lightning Thief" settles for pitiful acting and a storyline fit for daytime Disney reruns. In place of a story for all ages is an uncomfortable mix between "Hercules" (the Kevin Sorbo one, not the cartoon) and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist". The subject matter is a gold mine, but it gets left in the mud. The gods of Olympus – as far as epic ideas go, what's better than that? The answer remains a mystery.
Making matters worse, the filmmakers don't care about the mythology on which it's based. Medusa (Uma Thurman) lives in New Jersey, the Lotus Eaters seduce vulnerable minds in Vegas, and the entrance to the Underworld is next to the Hollywood sign. Putting aside how stupid this all sounds, one thing stands out as the worst part of all. Nothing is set in Greece or any other origin place of the mythology, robbing the narrative of its historical context for the sake of what? Appeasing American viewers. Those viewers did just fine with "Lord of the Rings" set in New Zealand and "Avatar" set on another planet. Too bad the film doesn't trust the audience to go where the story should rather than watch as it becomes trapped in the abyss of did-they-really-just-do-that?
Now, how about character and special effects execution? Again, Pierce Brosnan is a centaur. That's three strikes right there. Percy's Mr. Tumnus spends far too much time trying to hook up with hotties in most scenes. And why is there a Lady Gaga song in a fantasy film? Lastly, heartfelt moments between fathers and sons shouldn't happen when daddy could beat Godzilla in an arm-wrestling contest. Remember "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"? That wasn't serious either and neither is a 50-story-tall god telling his son he loves him.
It's hard not to notice the odd use of disabilities in "Lightning Thief". Percy's dyslexia is actually the hard wiring of his brain interpreting the Greek language. And then there's Grover with crutches and Mr. Brunner in a wheelchair. This would seem to imply that every "weakness" is a strength, but the more ingrained meaning is that disabilities provide a good disguise from the fantasy world when hiding the son of Poseidon. "Lightning Thief" portrays many stereotypes, including the character of Grover, who is subservient to a white male in a way that is offensive. Fantasy has always had trouble with issues of representation and this one's got "text book" written all over it.
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But I will readily admit that as I age, I also am more honest with myself about the things I may not know. I have found that there are still some things that come with your older years that I didn't have mastered. Navigating the senior years takes planning and deliberate choices that we don't always have the foundation to understand. As children, we're taught to be adults, but no one teaches us how to be elders in our community.
One day, I happened to read about a program that has been extremely valuable to me – the Aging Mastery Program® (AMP), organized by the Paul W. Alandt Rose Center for Aging Well in Cleveland. I liked AMP because the instructors worked with each of us at our own skill and comfort levels. This program provides a playbook for older adults like me to take key steps to improve their health, well-being, and economic security, and to strengthen their ties to their community.
It's a really fun and educational approach that celebrates this gift of longevity. Since people are living longer than ever before, I'm definitely not the only one who may have been unprepared for my senior years. Sometimes we forget that this third phase of life has changed drastically since the last generation navigated the aging process.
The Aging Mastery Program is a 10-class program that combines goal-setting, daily practices, and peer support to help seniors like me make meaningful changes in their lives. I've learned that it's the small changes I make in my life that end up producing big results. I'm more educated about medications and other medical concerns, eat better and hydrate more, and exercise regularly. I feel much better about making the years I have left count!
The National Council on Aging and Anthem, Inc. are working with local senior organizations, like the Paul W. Alandt Rose Center for Aging Well, to bring more AMP classes to the Cleveland area as part of their commitment to older adults and the community. I highly recommend other seniors check out this program. Because if I've gained any wisdom with my age, it's never pass up a good opportunity.


text:
Q: Angularjs refresh view via $http.get service after database insertion Please help! I am pulling my hair out over this. I've tried a lot of tutorials for this and can't seem to get anything to work even remotely.
Users can add/delete/update user information on a page, and I want it to refresh whenever they do one of those actions. All of the actions write to the DB just fine and I have had various success with getting the values back out, but I cannot get the view to update in real-time.
I can't use $scope.$apply(); $digest already in process. I feel like there is just some major key I'm missing.
Service
angular.module('userlistFactory', [])
    .service('Data', function($http){
        this.list = function(){
            return $http.get('.../getUsers.php', {cache: true})
            .then(function(data){
                return data.data;
            });
        }

Controller
userlistControllers.controller('UserListCtrl', ['$scope', 'Data', function ($scope, Data){

  Data.list().then(function (data) {   // Populates the page the first time through
    $scope.users = data;
  })

  $scope.$watch('Data.list()', function(newValue){  // At this point, I don't understand
    $scope.users = newValue;
  }, true);

View

    {{user.id}}
    {{user.firstname}}	  // etc...

Thanks for reading.

A: As you are returning your $http object and setting the call back in the scope, there is no need to handle a callback in your service unless you wanted to handle the .fail() or had further processing.  It could even be the return that is causing errors.
angular.module('userlistFactory', [])
.service('Data', function($http){
    this.list = function(){
        return $http.get('.../getUsers.php', {cache: true});
        }
    });

Your call to get the users then would look ok but it will only run once.  If you want to call it to update after DB changes, you will need to put it in to a method
    function UpdateUsers(){
      Data.list().then(function (data) {
         $scope.users = data;
         $scope.$apply();  //Because it was asynch
      });
    }

You can get rid of the $watch section.
Now, when your user adds, deletes, etc., you just call your update Users method and the a synch request will be started.  When it returns, $scope.users will be updated and the $scope.$apply() will call the digest cycle updating your page.
Of course you want your list to update immediately as you even had in comments.  To do this, just call the method in your controller.
    UpdateUsers();

It might seem a little confusing about the $http object.  You are returning the object and by adding .then(.... you are registering your call back.  Most of the code examples show it all at once $http(...).then(...)  but in your case, you are creating it in your service and returning the object where you then register your call back on your controller.  $http  ----> back to controller add .then(..)  so you do not need to handle it in both places.  You can how ever handle the .fail(... anyplace you would like as well if you needed to handle that.
To eliminate some confusion about the $watch.  Angular only cares about things when they are bound.  If I have a value that is not being used anywhere but I want to do something if it changes, I would need to then $watch it for a change. That is because there is no event or anything to trigger the code.  Adding the $watch is done automatically when you bind it to something because it then $watches for it in the digest cycle so it can update whatever it needs to update.


text:
import string
from unidecode import unidecode

def normalise(s, ascii=True, unpunc=True, lower=True, spacing=True, strip=True, space_replace=False):
    if s is None:
        return ""

    if unpunc:
        throwlist = string.punctuation + '\n\t'
        s = "".join(c for c in s if c not in throwlist)

    if ascii:
        try:
            s = unidecode(s)
        except:
            pass

    if lower:
        s = s.lower()

    if spacing:
        while "  " in s:
            s.replace("  ", " ")

    if strip:
        s = s.strip()

    if space_replace:
        s = s.replace(" ", space_replace)

    return s


text:
Corporate social responsibility is all very well, but a company has to answer to its bottom line, even when it's thinking about going green. Brid-Aine Conway asks if there's a way to save the planet and save on costs with IT.
By Brid-Aine Conway Published May 3, 2008
Phrases like "carbon footprint", "climate change" and "corporate/social responsibility" are ones we are all now familiar with. There are some in fact, such as the managing director of EcoVentures, Shezan Amiji, who consider climate change to be "the defining issue of our generation".
EcoVentures is a company based in the UAE which advises on innovations in greenhouse gas reduction and the development and use of renewable and sustainable energy and water resources.
The industry of which it is a part is still a small one, but entrepreneurial companies such as recycling enterprises and environmental consultancies are seeing that saving the environment could be a profitable business.
The datacentre's kind of interesting because to a large extent, for many organisations, it's not even a green issue.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale are enterprises that are still ignoring the tide of popular opinion, missing the obvious signs in the fact that governments are beginning to issue environmental regulations, and failing to see any profit at all in going green.
According to a study by the Gartner group in 2007, ICT accounted for 2% of global carbon emissions - to put that in context, PCs, datacentres and telephony are affecting the environment as much as the aviation industry is, the analyst firm pointed out.
The hue and cry about how badly flying is damaging the environment has been loud and long and eyes are also turning to the similarly heavy carbon footprints of other industries - including ICT.
"Given that it's obviously a sizable chunk of the global carbon footprint, that makes it very important to examine and address," says Amiji, "Per square foot, datacentre energy costs are ten to 30 times more than that of a typical office building.
So given their relative footprint vis-à-vis other types of business environment, I think there's a large responsibility.
Datacentres are a good place for enterprises to start if they want to go green. A lot of talk has centred on energy efficiency, power conservation and smarter cooling, not to mention virtualisation, and most of the marketing is focused on two things - it'll save money and save the environment.
"In order to make people do good, you sometimes have to make it as easy for them as possible," according to Amiji, and in the case of datacentres, the math couldn't be simpler.
"The datacentre's kind of interesting because to a large extent, for many organisations, it's not even a green issue. Whether they're concerned about the environment or not, they simply can't build datacentres that aren't power efficient, because you can't get enough compute power out of that datacentre.
Building datacentres these days is really about trying to get as much compute power out of as little space and as little electricity as possible," says Stephen Kleynhans, analyst and vice president at Gartner, and author of the March 2008 paper 'Cutting Back on Green PC Initiatives Leads to False Economies'.
Everyone - vendors, CIOs, environmental activists - wants to talk datacentres to businesses because they're an easy sell. If datacentres are using less power and are more energy efficient and if they need less rented space because servers have greater capacities and are virtualised, the savings for the IT budget and the business are obvious.
The fact that they also reduce carbon emissions by increasing energy efficiency is a happy bonus for businesses and the environment alike.
This is not a bad thing - bringing cost-saving and the environment together is something that benefits everybody. What many enterprises don't seem to realise as readily as in the case of datacentres, is that there are other areas in the IT industry that have seen this happen.
Another example is e-waste, in particular the disposal of unwanted hardware when an enterprise (or individual) is done with it, which with IT happens fast. Kleynhans notes that this too is an area where environmental objectives were attained somewhat accidentally.
Vendors started takeback programmes not necessarily for green reasons. It was a lot like what happened in the car industry many years ago, where car manufacturers realised if you wanted to sell somebody a new car, you needed to make it easier for them to get rid of their older car.
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Gartner says worldwide PC Shipments grew 1.5% in second quarter of 2019
IBM acquires Red Hat for $34 Billion
Gartner says global IT spending to grow 0.6% in 2019
ALSO IN NEWS & FEATURES
Sony introduces new WF-1000XM3 Noise Cancellation Wireless Headphones


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text:
Current: International Law – Media Perspectives : Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
International Law – Media Perspectives : Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Goldstone committee head denies bias
Benjamin Weinthal | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
The chairman of the UN committee responsible for following up on the findings of the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead acknowledged on Saturday that he had helped prepare an advisory opinion analyzing legal aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian issue in the 1990s, but said he could not recall whether he had done this work on behalf of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
View Article >>
New Revelations About the UN Goldstone Report
Dore Gold and Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers was one of the four members of the UN Fact Finding Mission that produced what is widely called the Goldstone Report. The Mission investigated Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009. Travers joined the Irish Defense Forces in 1961 and retired after forty years. As the only former officer who belonged to Justice Richard Goldstone's team, he was the senior figure responsible for the military analysis that provided the basis for condemning Israel for war crimes.
Hamas' Line of Defence to Goldstone Report
Jonathan Dahoah Halevi | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Israel has recently delivered its official response to the UN's fact finding mission to Operation Cast Lead. Hamas' government is also preparing to submit its official response to the UN Secretary-General before the grace period of six months set to the parties by the Goldstone committee is over. In sharp contrast to the genuine fears expressed by Israel, Hamas does not seem to feel any threat in the legal arena. On the contrary, Hamas demonstrates self confidence based on the understanding that the Goldstone committee strived only to incriminate Israel and all other limited references to the other side were just for lip service without any legal significance.
The Case Against the Goldstone Report
Alan M. Dershowitz | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
The Goldstone Report is much more scurrilous than most of its detractors believe. According to the report, Israel used the more than 8,000 rocket attacks on its civilians merely as a pretext, an excuse to target innocent Palestinian civilians for death, as decided upon by the highest levels of the Israeli government. The report found these serious charges "to be firmly based in fact" and had "no doubt" of their truth. The hard evidence conclusively proves that the exact opposite is true, namely that Israel did not have a policy of targeting innocent civilians for death. Indeed the IDF went to unprecedented lengths to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas did have a deliberate policy of having its combatants dress in civilian clothing, fire their rockets from densely populated areas, use civilians as human shields, and store weapons in mosques.
Israel Poised to Challenge a U.N. Report on Gaza
Ethan Bronner | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
The Israeli military is completing a rebuttal to a UN report accusing it of grave violations of international and humanitarian law in Gaza a year ago. Maj. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, the Israeli military advocate general, said in an interview that the assertions of the Goldstone report went beyond anything of which others had accused Israel. "I have read every report, from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Arab League," he said. "We ourselves set up investigations into 140 complaints. It is when you read these other reports and complaints that you realize how truly vicious the Goldstone report is. He made it look like we set out to go after the economic infrastructure and civilians, that it was intentional. It's a vicious lie."
To Conform to "International Standards" of Law, Israel Would Have to Lower Its Standards
David Benjamin | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Judge Goldstone says our investigations should be conducted in conformity with "international standards." We shouldn't have a problem with this, since it means, in effect, that we can drop our standards. Israel probably has the highest level of accountability of the military under the law in the world. The IDF is required to investigate every complaint into misconduct by its troops, from the severe to the trivial. The IDF will also launch investigations even when no complaint has been filed, such as when alleged misconduct is brought to light in the media. Furthermore, all decisions by the military and civil authorities in relation to investigations and prosecutions are ultimately reviewable by the highest court in the land, where Palestinian residents of Gaza and the West Bank have standing.
Dershowitz slams Goldstone for 'spreading lies'
Yitzhak Benhorin | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
American lawyer levels sharp criticism at author of report for refusing to debate him, sees it as absurd that Barak is under threat of being arrested while Mashaal roams London free of concern
What happened at mosque?
The Goldstone report accuses Israel of an air strike on the Maqadmah mosque in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on January 3, 2009, which caused the deaths of "at least 15 Palestinians." During a confrontation at Brandeis University on Nov. 5, 2009, with Amb. Dore Gold, Judge Richard Goldstone presented the incident as a salient example of Israel's policy of deliberately targeting innocent civilians. What really happened at the Ibrahim al-Maqadmah mosque, named for one of the heads of Hamas' military-terrorist wing?
Carter, Goldstone and Gaza
CAMERA | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
On Nov. 6, Jimmy Carter published an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune endorsing Goldstone's report. CAMERA has requested corrections of five factual errors in his essay. Carter wrote that Gaza is "surrounded by an impenetrable wall." In fact, most of the barrier along Gaza's land border is a fence, not a wall. The Gaza-Egypt border is separated by a wall. Carter claimed "almost 40,000 homes" were destroyed during the fighting. Al Mazen Center for Human Rights, an anti-Israel Palestinian NGO, recently issued a report stating 2,632 homes were destroyed beyond repair and 8,522 were damaged and were repairable. Carter speaks of "several hundred thousand homeless people." AP reported on Nov. 9, 2009: "The UN estimates around 20,000 Gaza residents were made homeless." Carter writes: "The Goldstone committee examined closely the cause of deaths of 1,387 Palestinians who perished." In fact, the report does not closely examine the causes of death for Palestinian individuals. Finally, Carter writes of the "destruction of hospitals." International and Palestinian sources confirm that while there were damaged hospitals in Gaza, none were destroyed.
The Goldstone Illusion
Moshe Halbertal | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
To create standards of morality in war that leave a state without the means of legitimate self-protection is politically foolish and morally problematic; but real answers to these real problems cannot be found in the Goldstone report. What methods can Israel legitimately apply in the defense of its citizens when more lethal and accurate missiles strike the center of Tel Aviv, causing hundreds of civilian deaths?
Why Are the Laws of War Applied Only to Israel?
Amir Mizroch | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler believes that the current laws of war are sufficient, but what really needs to be changed is their selective application to Israel alone. Instead of trying to change the laws of war, Israel and its friends should work to change the principles and procedures of the UN itself, which displays a constant country-specific indictment of Israel. "You can't have a situation where you have special sessions targeting Israel and the rest of the world has immunity. You can't have a situation where Israel alone is excluded from the regional deliberative groups and therefore cannot participate in the drafting of resolutions….The source of the problem [is] the singling out of one member state for differential and discriminatory treatment," Cotler told the Post last week.
Letter to Richard Goldstone
Trevor Norwitz | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Already your Report has had enormous global repercussions, including some that you probably did not intend. Aside from the general anguish that your accusations of "war crimes" have caused in Israel and among the Jewish people, and the anger and hatred that it is has fueled among their enemies, specific identifiable consequences of your Report already include: the lastminute cancellation of NATO joint military exercises among Israel, Turkey, the United States and Italy (and consequent waste of millions of dollars and downgrading of Israeli-Turkish relations); the degradation of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; the weakening of the Palestinian Authority and strengthening of Hamas; travel restrictions on Israeli leaders; and further polarization of the HRC and frustration of the Obama Administration's stated policy of constructive engagement to try to develop the HRC into a useful and meaningful human rights organization.
Brandeis to host Gaza violence forum
James F. Smith | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Brandeis University said yesterday that it will host a forum next month with South African Judge Richard Goldstone, the author of a fiercely controversial United Nations fact-finding report that accused Israeli forces as well as Palestinian fighters of committing war crimes in Gaza. In what is sure to be a heated debate, Goldstone will discuss his report for the first time with a senior Israeli political figure. Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, will respond to Goldstone in the forum and then both will take questions from the audience.
Goldstone report undermines faith in international law
Ed Morgan | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
There are many tragedies in Gaza that deserve proper investigation, including death and destruction on both sides. But the biggest tragedy of the Goldstone report is the damage done to international law. Goldstone, a renowned jurist, has wasted his reputation on a deeply flawed and biased report. It will undermine faith in the rule of international law for any who, apparently unlike the members of the UNHRC, actually take the time to read it
No wonder Hamas isn't scared
Hamas leaders and spokesmen have embraced the Goldstone report. Ismail Haniyeh said on October 14: "We bless the committee, we gave it everything it needed to investigate, as well as documents which helped publish it in its present form." Reading the Goldstone report shows that Hamas is never accused of responsibility for terrorism and firing rockets. Rather, nebulous "Palestinian armed groups" are responsible. The Goldstone Committee viewed the Hamas de-facto administration, which took over Gaza in a military bloodbath, as legitimate in every respect and made an artificial distinction between it and "Palestinian armed groups operating in Gaza," as if such groups did not kowtow to Hamas and had spent eight years methodically launching rockets and mortar shells into Israel in opposition to Hamas policy. For that reason the Committee did not find Hamas responsible of the rocket and terrorist attacks against Israel, despite the fact that the Hamas leadership boasts of their responsibility for these attacks in videotapes on their websites. The issue of Hamas' invisible responsibility for war crimes shows that the report is a masterpiece of deception and manipulation whose only intention is to frame Israel for war crimes and exonerate Hamas.
Israeli President Peres: "One of the Human Rights Is to Remain Alive"
Shimon Peres | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
"One of the human rights is to remain alive. We didn't initiate it (the war in Gaza). We never went to war on our own initiative. We were attacked, in 61 years nine times, with full-fledged wars and endless terrorist attacks. But if a terrorist does not respect the lives of children, the children of ours and their own children, if they don't respect the lives of civilians, our civilians and their own civilians, and they don't respect mosques and they don't respect ambulances, what can the law do?" "We suffered less victims than the Arabs – it's true – because we defend our people and they exploit their people. That's the difference. We have shelters and take care of our children. They don't. They use mosques to hide arms, they use ambulances to carry terrorists. My God! And you know even in that war there were 250,000 telephone calls to all the houses before they were attacked. We asked them to leave. We tried to do whatever we can. We lost many lives because we tried to avoid casualties." "They talk of occupied Gaza? What occupation? We took out our army. We took out our settlers and some of you watched on television how difficult it was and of course it was. Nobody forced us. We handed it over to the Palestinians and for eight years they fired missiles against our civilian life. Can anybody tell me why? Can anybody tell me what was the purpose of it? And Israel restrained and restrained and restrained until the citizens told the government, can't you defend our lives?"
Israel, the U.S. and the Goldstone Report
John Bolton | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
By attempting to criminalize Israel's strategy of crippling Hamas, the Goldstone Report in effect declared the entire antiterrorism campaign to be a war crime. The report has important implications for America. In the UN, Israel frequently serves as a surrogate target in lieu of the U.S., particularly concerning the use of military force pre-emptively or in self-defense. Accordingly, UN decisions on ostensibly Israel-specific issues can lay a predicate for subsequent action against, or efforts to constrain, the U.S. Goldstone's recommendation to convoke the International Criminal Court is like putting a loaded pistol to Israel's head – or, in the future, to America's.
The U.N. sides with terrorists
Editor | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Suppose a UN investigation team found that the U.S. had committed war crimes in its response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The report finds that while al-Qaeda may have been culpable for the attacks, America was equally to blame – if not more so – for the civilian deaths caused during Operation Enduring Freedom. The UN instructs the U.S. to conduct an internal investigation and punish the perpetrators, or face action from the International Criminal Court. This is the framework established by the Goldstone Commission Report. Much of the report was cut and pasted from unsubstantiated and suspect reports from nongovernmental organizations with openly anti-Israel sentiments. Some of the "witnesses" interviewed by the mission were disguised Hamas officials. Even more troublingly is the report's ignoring of the differences between Israel, a sovereign state with a professional armed forces governed by strict policies to limit civilian deaths during the conduct of war, and Hamas, a terrorist organization. After the conflict, Israel conducted some 100 investigations into reports of misconduct by its troops. There is no moral equality between Hamas and Israel any more than there is between al-Qaeda and the U.S.
U.N. panel backs Gaza war-crimes report, but cites only Israel
Michael Winter | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
The UN Human Rights Council Friday endorsed a report accusing Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during the 22-day Israeli offensive in Gaza, and sent the Goldstone Commission report to the Security Council. Of the council's 47 members, 25 – mostly Arab and African states – voted for the resolution. Six – the U.S., Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine – voted against it. The remaining 16, including Britain and France, either abstained or did not vote.
Goldstone Criticizes UN for Failing to Censure Hamas
Hui Min Neo | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Judge Richard Goldstone criticized the UN Council resolution for targeting only Israel and failing to include Hamas. "This draft resolution saddens me as it includes only allegations against Israel. There is not a single phrase condemning Hamas as we have done in the report," said Goldstone in remarks published in the Swiss newspaper Le Temps ahead of the vote.
Russia Opposes Further Action on Goldstone Report
Roni Sofer | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Russia has made it clear to Israel that it will oppose a Goldstone Report discussion at the UN Security Council or at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, although it voted in favor of the report at the UN Human Rights Council, Israel Foreign Ministry officials said Sunday. Russian Ambassador to Israel Peter Stegney reportedly told a Foreign Ministry official that the Goldstone Report "includes statements that do not rely on facts, but rather on subjective estimations."
Op-Ed: What's really on trial in the Goldstone Report?
Joel Lion | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
What is a country to do when being attacked by a foreign army? The answer to this question seems simple: defend its citizens by all means possible. But for Israel, doing so means condemnation by the world in the form of the Goldstone report. Every day, for eight years, rockets and mortars hit the Israeli town of Sderot. Israel tried diplomatic ways, entering into a truce with Hamas to bring peace to the residents of southern Israel. But Hamas chose war. On Dec. 20, 2008, Hamas chose not to extend the truce. On Dec. 24, Hamas fired 87 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel. Israel, a nation with laws and a code of ethics, was forced to defend itself from terrorists who intentionally fired at innocent civilians and decided to hide among their own civilian population in order to defend themselves from counter action.
UN's Goldstone report gives comfort to terrorists
Yoram Elron | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Not only did the mandate designed by the UN Human Rights Council for the Goldstone mission make no mention whatsoever of possible Palestinian violations of human rights, but it first established Israel's guilt, and then sent Goldstone to gather the evidence. As the queen said to Alice in Alice in Wonderland: "Verdict first, evidence later." The four members appointed by the Council to take part in the mission went on the record as having condemned Israel prior to having been selected. Terrorists the world over have now been led to believe that law-abiding democracies can be "handcuffed" by the Human Rights Council, and prevented from taking necessary measures to protect their citizens.
A UN Show Trial
The misnamed UN Human Rights Council is taking up the infamous Goldstone report, which accuses Israel of war crimes during last winter's Gaza conflict. The Security Council will also debate it. The course for the White House is clear: Move fast to squash this anti-Israel ploy, before U.S. soldiers become the UN's next "war crimes" target. The report is a blatantly biased assault on Israel's right of self-defense against Hamas rocket fire. The sooner Team Obama squashes this dangerous UN move, the better the chances for peace all around.
Goldstone Backs Away from Report
Richard Goldstone himself now seems to be backing away from his report's conclusions. In an interview with the Jewish Daily Forward, Goldstone denied that his group had conducted "an investigation." Instead, it was what he called a "fact-finding mission" based largely on the limited "material we had." Since this "material" was cherry-picked by Hamas guides and spokesmen, Goldstone acknowledged that "if this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven." He emphasized that the report was no more than "a road map" for real investigators and that it contained no actual "evidence" of wrongdoing by Israel. Goldstone said that he himself "wouldn't consider it in any way embarrassing if many of the allegations turn out to be disproved."
End wretched charade over human rights
Rarely has the U.S. had as much good reason to exercise its veto in the UN Security Council as it will have when a controversial report condemning Israel for its campaign against Gaza terrorists comes up for consideration. The report, issued by a commission headed by jurist Richard Goldstone, has been denounced by the Israeli government and criticized by U.S. officials as deeply flawed and unbalanced. It accuses Israel of possible war crimes in the defensive action launched last December.
UN Security Council Debates Goldstone Report
Edith M. Lederer | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
The Goldstone report on the Gaza fighting became the focus of nearly 50 speeches at the UN Security Council's monthly Mideast meeting on Wednesday. Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said the report "favors and legitimizes terrorism….It denies Israel's right to defend its citizens….It permits terrorists to victimize civilians, target the innocent, and use as human shields those it claims to defend." Shalev accused the world of "doing nothing" about Hamas' smuggling of Iranian arms into Gaza, its launching of attacks from schools, mosques and hospitals, or its firing of 12,000 rockets against innocent Israeli civilians. Diplomats say there is little chance that the Security Council will take any action, primarily because of objections by the U.S., Israel's closest ally. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff reiterated that the report and "the allegations of human rights and humanitarian law violations…are not a matter for Security Council action." He also criticized what he termed "its unbalanced focus on Israel."
It looks like law, but it's just politics
Warren Goldstein | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
The Report could have salvaged some measure of integrity had it stated that its findings, both legal and factual, were only prima facie. It did not do so.
Goldstone: 'If This Was a Court Of Law, There Would Have Been Nothing Proven.'
Gal Beckerman | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Richard Goldstone says his report on Gaza presents only tentative find- ings. But the document makes bold allegations that haven't been scrutinized.
The Goldstone Report: A Study in Duplicity
A study by CAMERA staff lists numerous examples of factual errors and double standards in the Goldstone report. Evidence damning Israel is normally deemed credible, whereas evidence exonerating Israel or damning Palestinians is dismissed. Information by NGOs is given weight when it suggests Israeli culpability, but is ignored or minimized when it suggests Palestinian guilt. The report concludes: "It is not reasonably possible to determine whether [Israeli] photographs show what is alleged." On the other hand, no doubt is cast on photographs provided by Palestinians.
UN's bias binds Gaza
Jim Molan | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
RICHARD Goldstone, a prominent South African jurist, claims in The New York Times that he hesitatingly accepted his UN mandate to investigate the three-week December-January war between Hamas and Israel because he was taking on something "deeply charged and politically loaded". Many states considered this mandate one-sided. Prominent individuals offered the view that it was more about politics than human rights. Goldstone was wise to hesitate, but he took the mission that will forever bear his name.
A betrayal of Israelis and Palestinians alike
Aharon Leshno Ya'ar | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Regrettably the report, claiming to represent international law but in fact perverting it to serve a political agenda, can only weaken its standing in future conflicts. It broadcasts a troubling – and legally unfounded – message to states everywhere confronting terrorist threats, that international law has no effective response to offer them, and so serves to undermine willingness to comply with its provisions. At the same time, it signals an even more troubling message to terrorist groups that the cynical tactics of seeking to exploit civilian suffering for political ends actually pays dividends.
UN Investigation of Israel Discredits Itself and Undercuts Human Rights
The lowest blow and the worst canard contained in this lie-laden report is that the Israeli judicial system is incapable of conducting investigations and bringing about compliance with international law. It claims that the Israeli judicial system "has major structural flaws that make the system inconsistent with international standards," and that "there is little potential for accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law through domestic institutions in Israel." This is a direct attack on the Israeli Supreme Court by a lawyer who knows full well that there is no country in the world that has a judicial system that demands more accountability than the Israeli system does. There is no judicial system in the world—not in the United States, not in Great Britain, not in South Africa, not in France—that takes more seriously its responsibility to bring its military into compliance with international law. The long term President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Professor Aharon Barak, opened the Supreme Court of Israel to all claims of law violation. Cases that would be rejected by the courts of other nations have been pursued by the Israeli Supreme Court. This part of this infamous report has literally turned black to white and white to black. It has condemned the most responsive judicial system in the world, without even bothering to compare it to other systems. In doing so, they have made a mockery of international human rights and turned into a weapon that targets only Israel.
Mandelblit: Israel right not to cooperate with Goldstone
Yaakov Katz | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
"The baseless claim in the report that Cast Lead was planned and launched to intentionally harm the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and to punish it, effectively illustrates the radical distortion and one-sided character of the report and proves, in my opinion, that the decision not to cooperate with the mission was the right one," IDF Judge-Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit said.
Israel's analysis and comments on the Gaza Fact-Finding Mission Report
Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Israel is appalled and disappointed by the Report published on 15 September 2009 by the Gaza Fact-Finding Mission. Justice Goldstone as Head of the Mission repeatedly insisted that the Mission was not a judicial inquiry and so "could not reach judicial conclusions". On this basis he justified the inclusion of partisan mission members, admitting that their involvement "would not be appropriate for a judicial inquiry". The Report, however, is highly judicial in nature, reaching conclusive judicial determinations of guilt, and including 'detailed legal findings' even in the absence of the sensitive intelligence information which Israel did not feel able to provide. These determinations are made notwithstanding the Report's admission that it does not "pretend to reach the standard of proof applicable in criminal trials".
The Goldstone show-trial
Melanie Phillips | Gaza Fact-Finding Mission
Goldstone himself is utterly compromised by accepting the terms of this rigged mandate which is an affront to justice. As Eye on the UN reports, although he claims to have changed this mandate through informal conversations, this is a load of hooey: Goldstone, a lawyer and former judge, knows full well that he has no jurisdiction or authority to change the mandate either alone or in informal conversation with anyone. His claims to the contrary, therefore, are a serious ethical and legal breach both to the critics who have accused him of assuming a position tainted from the outset, and to the Council itself.