Originally a plastics factory, the former Alcoa Corporation facility has been transformed into a beautiful worship space after two years of planning and construction. The two-story building totals 97,000 square feet and sits on six acres of land in downtown Wheaton. It not only meets current space needs for the thriving congregation but also provides significant room for growth.
Church of the Resurrection set aside the week before the dedication service as a time for members to pray, consistent with the Advent focus on preparation.
Anglican Church in North America leaders Bishop Frank Lyons, Canon Jack Lumanog and Fr. Jack Gabig participated in the joyful service.
"This is a story of obedience, patience and faithfulness over many, many years," notes Bishop Frank Lyons.
Images by Kim Johnson Photography, copyright 2012 Church of the Resurrection.
The Most Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, was the preacher during the service of investiture and enthronement of the Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali as Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Uganda. The service was held on Sunday, December 16, 2012, St. Paul's Cathedral, Namirembe, Kampala, Uganda. Archbishop Duncan's sermon focused on Philippians 2:5-8 and John 21:18 to address the vocations (callings) for the Church of Uganda and the new Archbishop.
Referencing John 21:18, Archbishop Duncan spoke directly to the new primate and his wife and the vocation of this new stage of ministry.
The sermon also reflected the deep friendship between the two men which began some eight years ago when Archbishop Ntagali visited Pittsburgh before his consecration.
In addition to his personal relationship with Archbishop Duncan, Archbishop Ntagali has enjoyed long-term friendships with a number of leaders in the Anglican Church in North America. Uganda's ties with the Anglican Church in North America are strong and longstanding, which Archbishop Duncan noted in his sermon, acknowledging leaders in attendance for the enthronement, including Bishops John Guernsey, Bill Thompson and Neil Lebhar who were once priests of Uganda.
Archbishop Ntagali is committed to continuing and deepening the connection between the two provinces.
Over 3,000 individuals attended the enthronement service. Among those in the congregation were Anglican ecclesiastical leaders from around the world including the Most Rev. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, representing His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Most Rev. Eliud Wabukala, Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council and of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Primates Council and Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya; the Most Rev. Bernard Ntahoturi, Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa and Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Burundi; the Most Rev. Daniel Deng, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan; the Most Rev. Ian Ernest, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean; the Most Rev. Onesphore Rwaje, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda the Most Rev. Henri Isingoma, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Congo; and various bishops and other clergy. Ugandan government dignitaries Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda, along with the Vice-President, Speaker of the Parliament and the Prime Minister also attended.
Archbishop Ntagali succeeds the Most Rev. Henry Orombi.
PHOTO 1 CAPTION: The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali.
PHOTO 2 CAPTION: Abp. Robert Duncan, Abp. John Sentamu, and Abp-elect Stanley Ntagali processing into the Cathedral.


text:
Home News Education
Statewide student test scores stir local concern
Sarah Imboden
Parents and school officials have been reeling from the results of the recently released statewide student proficiency tests.
But while the proficiency in math and English dropped dramatically from the previous year, local and state educators seemed to agree that the scores should be seen as a new baseline, not as a statement on the performance of students, teachers and administrators.
The tests were the first for New York of the new Common Core Learning Standards curriculum and testing standards that have been adopted (but not implemented) by 45 states. New York is the second in the nation after Kentucky to begin implementing the new standards. The tests were administered in April to grades 3-8 in math and English Language Arts.
Across the state, test results showed that 31.1 percent of students were rated proficient in ELA and 31 percent were rated proficient in math. By contrast, scores in 2012 under the old standards were higher by several percentage points than in previous years, with 55.1 percent of students in the state proficient in ELA and 64.8 met or exceeded the standard in math.
This year, every grade in Red Hook and Rhinebeck schools exceeded the state-wide percentage of proficiency (31.1 percent), though some just barely did.
Rhinebeck's eighth grade math students had the highest level of proficiency, at 61.6, while Red Hook's highest proficiency rate was third grade ELA, with 52.7 achieving proficiency. In Hyde Park, eighth grade ELA, with 31.4, was the only grade to exceed the state average.
Education Department officials and local school leaders had warned that the tougher standards would result in lower scores.
In a message to parents, Red Hook Schools Superintendent Paul Finch pointed out that students were assessed on material that had not been fully covered in class. "For example, in order for a third grader to have had a fair opportunity to achieve mastery of the Common Core, he or she must have been exposed to the full breadth and scope of the curriculum since kindergarten. This was simply not the case," he said.
Hyde Park Schools Superintendent Greer Fischer said schools were set to implement the new standards for the 2012-13 academic year but were only notified half-way through the year that the tests would reflect the new curriculum. "The curriculum isn't even all complete and we're already being assessed on it. There's a serious timing issue," she told The Observer.
In his letter, Finch said that Red Hook's students did well on a relative basis, compared to the other school districts in the state and the other 13 Dutchess County school districts, even if this year, more students did not achieve proficient status.
For example, he pointed out that last year's third graders were ranked second in the county for math proficiency and this year, the same students (who are now fourth graders) are again ranked second in the county, even if their scores were lower than last year's.
In Rhinebeck, Schools Superintendent Joe Phelan remained optimistic even though Rhinebeck's scores were also lower across the board.
"We were pleased that our students performed reasonably well, comparatively speaking, at several grade levels, especially in grades 5 through 8. That said, while we have made progress this summer in terms of curriculum development and alignment, we know that we have more work to do across the board in order to enable all of our students to achieve the level of college and career readiness required by the Common Core standards," he told The Observer.
State Education Commissioner John King clearly anticipated the local dismay when the scores were announced. In an Aug. 7 news release accompanying the results, he said, "These proficiency scores do not reflect a drop in performance, but rather a raising of standards to reflect college and career readiness in the 21st century. I understand these scores are sobering … But we can't allow ourselves to be paralyzed by frustration; we must be energized by this opportunity. The results we've announced today are not a critique of past efforts; they're a new starting point on a roadmap to future success."
However, some educators do not appear convinced that the new standards are evidence-based.
Finch pointed to a statement by the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents, which said that one of its main goals going forward will be to seek evidence that the reform has a sound pedagogical basis. For example, the statement challenged King's claim that Common Core will more accurately reflect students' progress toward college and career readiness. "There is no substantive research-based evidence to support this claim," the statement reads.
And Fischer pointed out that while the theory of new standards is one thing, the explanation to a young student who receives a non-proficient score is a whole different problem.
"No one wants to argue with raising standards and higher expectations. My problem is, that's an adult message, so we're going to have quite a few children who have experienced success in their school life and now they're going to see a score that tells them they're not successful," she said. "We can reiterate that adult message, but that doesn't always translate to how a student feels about their progress."
Phelan said that the Rhinebeck school staff would be analyzing the data for their students in order to guide their work during the next school year. And he advised parents and students to stay engaged and informed.
"We would urge parents to be mindful that this is a transition period and not to be unnecessarily concerned by the assessment results regarding their child's performance or by the quality of their schools," he said. "In addition, parents and students should expect that the instructional program going forward will be more rigorous, and that more will be asked of students in terms of depth of understanding, fluency of basic facts, application of knowledge, and critical thinking."
There was also educator criticism of the new reforms, both in application and funding.
Red Hook Middle School Principal Katie Zahedi told The Observer that Red Hook is in a constant state of improvement and always seeking higher standards.
However, she said, "The 'reform mandates' are not contributing to improvement, since they attempt to simplify everything and reduce student and teacher performance to a number. The original goals for efficiency and higher standards are not being achieved. The waste of public time and money is more likely to protect ineffective teachers than to identify them, because it limits principals to using 'data' rather than their own professional judgment."
Finch also told The Observer that Red Hook and other schools have not been given adequate funding to implement the new standards.
"We were given approximately $72,000 over a four-year period to support implementation of the Common Core and associated reforms. The costs associated with such a massive reform effort far exceed $72,000…Red Hook receives less than $100 per teacher per year to provide the professional development necessary to learn about the Common Core, the shifts in instructional focus, and the components of the new evaluation system. $100 barely covers the cost of a substitute for one day per year, and these are topics deserving of multiple days per year with skilled, and costly, professional developers," he said.
wind speed: 2 mph SE

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It's time once again for the my two weekly blogs – Weekly Fitmesh Finds and the Weekly News (I usually do a round up in this post anyway so figured I'd give it a name!).
1) LOGO – LOGO are back, and they've released a new mesh head 'Alex' to celebrate! The head is gorgeous, and comes with 12 expressions (plus you can buy an additional 12 expressions seperately!). Now this head *isn't* an applier head (meaning that currently only the LOGO skins provided with it will work with it) but don't despair, other designers may be able to create skins for it in the future (unknown if/when). Currenly LOGO don't have appliers for mesh bodies, but you'll see them coming out over the next few weeks, so if you're like me and would die without your mesh body (but love the head), hang in there for the mesh body appliers to be released.
Additionally, LOGO will be releasing a mesh body in the nearish future! The release date isn't known but keep your eyes pealed for this one – if it's anything like their mesh heads I know I'll be in love!
2) EBODY UPDATE – EBody will be releasing the update to their mesh body over the next few days (V5.0). The update includes some great body improvements, including a neck fix, buttons to toggle alphas for the hands depending on if you use slink or system hands, and the addition of Omega as a built in script (so no more relay HUD!). Thankfully this update has also included a decrease in HUD memory usage from 4.8mb to 1.8mb (it was a heavy HUD alright!) and some improvements in this shape, namely legs, breasts and hips (and some improved rigging in this areas too to make them more responsive to sliders).
3) SIGNATURE'S MESH BODY – [Signature] have released a female mesh body – Alice. Alice has 10 hand poses and three feet heights, and at this stage is not Omega compatible. With any luck a Mesh Body Review will be coming for this body soon.
Now, on to the Weekly Fitmesh Finds!
Read moreWeekly Mesh Body News & Fitmesh Finds!


text:
Q: How to redirect a subdomain to an ip an keep the subdomain in the address bar? On my domain lapagept.com, I have create a subdomain sm.lapagept.com.
When a user enters http://sm.lapagept.com in his browser's address bar, he is redirected to http://173.209.38.131/~sm. The new address in the address bar is changed for http://173.209.38.131/~sm.
Here is the code we use in the .htaccess file on lapagept.com to make this :
RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^sm\.lapagept\.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.sm\.lapagept\.com$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/[0-9]+\..+\.cpaneldcv$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteRule ^/?$ "http\:\/\/173\.209\.38\.131\/\~sm" [R=301,L]

My question :
When a user enters http://sm.lapagept.com in his browser's address bar, would it be possible to get redirected to http://173.209.38.131/~sm but to keep http://sm.lapagept.com in his address bar?

A: It's not possible, for security reasons.
There are ways to update the URL in the client's browser address bar without reloading the page, but it doesn't apply to your case because you're trying to change the domain part of the URL.
I would recommend

*

*setting up your DNS provider to direct requests to sm.lapagept.com to 173.209.38.131

*setting up your web server at 173.209.38.131 to accept and server requests for the domain sm.lapagept.com. If you're using apache, this can be done by using the ServerName, ServerAlias properties in your VirtualHost settings.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Thank you for meeting us on site on Monday this week to assist with the installation of the new double panelled solar light fittings.
I was impressed with the new units when they were put up that day, and I have been out to site at 10.30 pm last night to take a look at them in operation.
Each lamp was working as you said at a lower power output of 40%, and as I passed by each of them the PIR detected movement and came up to full power output of 100%.
When I went outside the detection area of PIR, each lamp reverted back to the lower power output 40% after approx. 30 seconds.
I also watched a pedestrian walk through the lane and each fitting came up to 100% as he passed.
I would be grateful if you could modify the 3 remaining light units to work as these new units are at your earliest convenience, and once the lane is fully operational the Authority may consider a press release on this renewable energy installation.
Thanks again for your help on this, and I believe you have a good piece of kit here now.


You are visiting the placeholder page for Van Williams. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Van Williams. We created this page automatically in hopes Van Williams would find it. If you are not Van Williams, but are an alumni of Comanche High School Comanche, OK, register on this site for free now.


In recent years we have regularly received recognition for our work at various events and contests.
For the eighth year we have entered in the prestigious world guide of olive oils L'extravergine- Guida ai Migliori Oli del Mondo di Qualità Accertata.
Our oils Itrana, Bianchera and autochthonous Istrian Rosulja were listed among the world's best oils according to German gastronomy magazine from Hamburg, Der Feinschmecker and the oil Leccino achieved the second place.
It also won the second place in the Medoliva competition in Arrezzo, Italy.
We do not know what else could become part of our story, but it is certainly our land, the olives and olive oil that represent our way of living, it's the job we keep talking about, and thinking about. This is the life we live. Oil has become the sacred fluid that accompanies us from birth to death, and leads in all the moments of our lives.
Oil is simply our human need.


On February 28, several protesting citizens, including teachers, peasants and members of different social organizations, met with brutal police repression in the Popayan town in the Cauca department of Colombia.
As a part of the indefinite regional strike, the protesters blocked the Pan-American Highway between Popayan and Pasto with trucks for around six hours. In order to clear the highway, the officials of the Mobile Anti-disturbance Squadron (ESMAD), a special national police unit, used forceful measures and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several protesters suffered injuries and four were arrested. A peasant from the National Association of Peasants of Colombia (ANUC), was injured in face and immediately taken to a healthcare center.
In the evening, dozens of people demonstrated outside the Attorney General's office to demand the release of the arrested protesters and to reject the repressive measures used against the peacefully protesting people.
More than 16,000 teachers and 6,000 peasants of Cauca began the indefinite strike on February 25. They marched to the Caldos Park, situated in the center of the city, demanding that the national government comply with the agreements to guarantee basic rights such as health, education and housing for all. They also demanded the protection of social and peasant leaders who are repeatedly being targeted and killed by paramilitary forces in the department.
The strike was called by the Human Rights Board for the Defense of Life and Territory, an umbrella organization comprising of the ANUC, the Association of Educational Institutes and Workers of Cauca (ASOINCA) and other social movements, such as the Congreso de los Pueblos and the Hogar Digno Hogar association.
Nilson Liz, president of the ANUC, indicated that the strike will continue until clear answers are received from the government.
The incident demonstrates that the right-wing government of Democratic Center, led by president Iván Duque, has once again failed to maintain peace in the country.
Hey Buddy!, I found this information for you: "Protesters meet with brutal police repression in Cauca, Colombia". Here is the website link: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/03/01/protesters-meet-with-brutal-police-repression-in-cauca-colombia/. Thank you.


text:
Q: href appending to earlier generated one in 'a' tag on second click I want to dynamically generate url based on link click using js.
below is my code

function buildURI(item) {
    if (item.href == 'mailto:?') {
        subject = 'subject=' + document.getElementById('header').innerText;
        body = "&body=Check out at this url : " + window.location.href;
        item.setAttribute('href', item.href + subject + body);
    } else {
        item.setAttribute('href', item.href + window.location.href);
    }
}

problem is when I click the link, it generates href properly for the first time. But, when I come back to page after sharing the link of my page via email or fb, and tries to share in another link of the 3 links above, its appending the href to earlier generated one. how to deal with this issue?

I found a solution. Thanks all

const fbShareUrl = 'https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=';
const WhatsAppShareUrl ='https://wa.me/?text=';
function buildURI(item) {
    if (item.title == 'Mail') {
        href='mailto:?';
        subject = 'subject=' + document.getElementById('header').innerText;
        body = "&body=Check out at this url : " + window.location.href;
        item.setAttribute('href', href + subject + body);
    } else {
        if(item.title == 'Facebook'){
            href = fbShareUrl;
        }else if(item.title == 'WhatsApp'){
            href=WhatsAppShareUrl;
        }
        item.setAttribute('href', href + window.location.href);
    }
}

this way I can manage social media urls in js file as well. Hope this is the ideal solution for this. If anyone have better idea please suggest.

easiest solution is adding 'onclick = null' at the end of my original method, as suggested in question's comments. Will explore more about that update here, if its risky to use or not.
function buildURI(item) {
        if (item.href == 'mailto:?') {
            subject = 'subject=' + document.getElementById('header').innerText;
            body = "&body=Check out at this url : " + window.location.href;
            item.setAttribute('href', item.href + subject + body);
        } else {
            item.setAttribute('href', item.href + window.location.href);
        }
        item.onclick = null;
    }

A: This should not be a click function in the first place, since it is not a repeatable process. Just do it once after loading the page.

;window.onload = function(){
  //REM: Building the correct links once on page load
  for(var tListOfLinks=document.querySelectorAll('a.sharelink'), i=0, j=tListOfLinks.length; i<j; i++){
    var item = tListOfLinks[i];

    //REM: The rest of the logic can stay
    if(item.href == 'mailto:?') {
        var subject = 'subject=' + document.getElementById('header').innerText;
        var body = "&body=Check out at this url : " + window.location.href;
        item.setAttribute('href', item.href + subject + body);
    } else {
        //item.setAttribute('href', item.href + window.location.href);
        item.setAttribute('href', item.href + encodeURIComponent(window.location.href));
    }
  }
};

//REM: For demonstration purpose, can be removed entirely.
function buildURI(item){
  console.log(item.href);
  alert(item.href)
}

Header

facebook
whatsapp
envelope

A: You should change else condition to else if, like this:

A: Try this
 function buildURI(item) {
    if (item.href.includes('mailto:?')) {
        item.href='mailto:?';
        subject = 'subject=' + document.getElementById('header').innerText;
        body = "&body=Check out at this url : " + window.location.href;
        item.setAttribute('href', item.href + subject + body);
        return;
     }
    else if(item.href.includes('facebook.com'))
            item.href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=";
    else if(item.href.includes('wa.me'))
            item.href="https://wa.me/?text=";
    item.setAttribute('href', item.href + window.location.href);
}


This is Part 1 of our interview with Randy Johnson. Click here for part 2.
If you were ever curious about the water you drink, the claims you may have heard about a certain specialized water, or which kind of water is good for you and which is not, then I bet you'll find this interview really helpful. I've been intrigued by the chemistry and science behind water ever since taking the plunge, so to speak, into the home aquarium hobby in 2004.
It's my pleasure to introduce Randy Johnson of http://cyber-nook.com. Randy has been running his site which is a source for all things scientific on drinking water for a long time. There's a lot of information and misinformation out there on the topic of drinking water, which makes coming to a reasoned conclusion difficult at times. Randy's goal is to provide the most accurate information available about drinking water on his website.
Josh: Randy, what got you into the subject of drinking water? Can you tell us a little about yourself and your site? How long has your site been in operation, and what was the water scene like on the Internet when you first launched?
Randy: I have always enjoyed water: I lived near a small pond during my childhood and spent hours lying on an inner tube paddling around exploring; back broiled by the sun; staring intently into the water or scanning the shore line; fascinated by the amazing variety of life and activity; completely lost in a unique/exceptional world inches from my face and so different from the one I inhabited.
I purchased a microscope when I was older, carried bits of algae and scrapings from pond rocks and sticks, and discovered yet another entire universe of life and activity in a realm that begins at the limits of our unaided vision. Those childhood experiences probably influenced my decision to major in biology in college and ultimately to pursue a masters degree in the biological sciences at Northern Arizona University.
I briefly taught biology and physical science at both the high school and college levels, but for over 20 years I have worked at the Denver VA Medical Center. I remain interested in all things scientific, whether biology or cosmology, and I try to understand the main ideas in the different fields and the interrelationships among the scientific specialties.
My journey into the world of drinking water and the genesis of my website actually began with the collapse of our well casing. One day our kitchen faucet started to drool brown slime, and the well expert we contacted suggested that a connection to Denver Water would be a better option than a well repair. So my wife Carol, our 7 year old son and I began drinking municipal water.
Now Denver water is quite good, actually, but Carol and I had heard of possible health risks from disinfection byproducts in municipal water, and I had been concerned about possible lead contamination from our home's 50-year old plumbing for several years. Consequently we began purchasing 2.5 gallon bottles of drinking water from the grocery store. That lasted until we returned home from work to discover that a valve failure had drained an entire bottle of purified water onto our kitchen rug.
We had never been particularly happy with bottled water, but that incident convinced us to invest in a water filter—but what kind of filter— there were sediment filters, carbon filters, pitcher filters, counter-top filters, under-sink filters, reverse osmosis filters, and whole house filters by the hundreds to choose from.
I attempted to find information online and quickly discovered that in 1996 most of the little information available on the Internet was marketing copy from the various companies that manufactured or sold filters—plenty of promises, but often no evidence to support the claims. If I recall correctly, there were few if any sites that presented an objective evaluation of the principal drinking water treatment methods in one location.
I spent hours on the Internet, in the library, and reviewing my old text books trying to determine which contaminants might be in my drinking water, understand the positive and negative characteristics of the main water treatment methods, and decide which method would most effectively and economically remove the contaminants Carol and I were concerned about. I was eventually introduced to NSF International, an independent organization that certifies point of use drinking water treatment systems and provides third party validation of marketing claims and manufacturing processes.
After I had assembled enough information to select a water filter I felt confident would protect my family for many years, I had pages of facts accumulated during the quest. I decided in early 1997 to create a website and make that information available to others.
Initially, my site consisted of four pages: a home page, a page that described common water contaminates and their health effects, a page that outlined characteristics of the main point of use water treatment methods, and a page that compared initial and ongoing prices for bottled water the main point of use water treatment methods.
I began to receive messages from visitors from around the world relating their stories and often requesting advice on some drinking water issue. Stories ranged from amusing; 'critters' hatching and swimming around in an office water cooler supplied with bottled spring water, to heart wrenching; a mother trying to forgive herself for her son's developmental problems she believed might have been caused by contamination from a lead water supply pipe to their home (lead levels in their drinking water were way over EPA guidelines), to requests for interpretations of contradictory advice they had encountered like, "Help! I have read that distilled water is the best water to drink because of its purity and I have also heard that it will kill you because of its purity."
I expanded my site over the years to address the more common questions and concerns.
Josh: Can you tell us about products like "specialized" filters or crystals or powders that in effect turn regular water into Superman for human health? We've gotten questions about things that range from water with coral salts to magnetized water to even something called "clustered" water.
Randy: Many questions I currently receive ask what I think about various 'alternative' or 'enhanced' water treatment processes.
or purchase any one of hundreds of similar products that are promoted as the foundations of better health.
Promoters of these products saturate the market with claims that the physical or chemical structure or the energy levels of water can be modified by special treatments so it is more beneficial to health than untreated water. Processes used to treat water include exposure to magnetism, electromagnetic radiation, electrolysis, vortexes, certain vibrations, colors & music, special ceramics, mantras and special bottle labels, extra oxygen or hydrogen and other scientifically suspect, though admittedly creative, techniques.
In response to these queries I created several web pages that address these issues and discuss my conclusion that all these products may well produce a perceived health benefit to people who use them, but any benefits are due to the placebo effect and the subconscious mind's powerful influence on conscious perception of many health conditions.
"Alternative" water treatment process go completely against accepted scientific knowledge of water's physical and chemical characteristics and actions within the body, and all lack credible evidence in scientific literature that they have any effect on human health.
Josh: So what's required for a product's claims to be accepted by the scientific and medical communities?
Theories that explain the process by which the product is manufactured must either be based on accepted scientific principles or exceptionally convincing evidence must be provided to support a new understanding physical or chemical processes. A claim made by promoters of many "altered" water products that the size of water cluster can be reduced will serve as an example. There are no existing scientific theories that explain how water molecules might exist in stable clusters, or if they could, how the cluster size could be altered or how stable clusters might be preserved and packaged. Existing theories about water actually predict that stable cluster claims cannot be true. Product promoters offer no evidence to support alternate theories of water behavior that would allow stable, resizable water clusters.
There must be evidence from well designed experiments (double blinded with a placebo where possible) published in reputable journals that the product actually results in a measurable health benefit. There is no published evidence that so-called clustered water (or micro-clustered water) has any health benefits. Testimonials and product endorsements by celebrities or credentialed individuals do not provide sufficient evidence to "prove" effectiveness.
There must be an acceptable theory presented to explain how the product acts in the body and produces any documented health benefits. There is no theory, for example, to explain how stable clustered water, if it existed, could affect the body in any way. Water molecules enter cells single file through special channels (aquaporins), so according to current theory, clustered water might be expected to actually impede water transfer instead of improve it as claimed.
From my perspective, all "alternative" water products have at least two strikes against them and most have all three: evidence is not (and can not) be provided that the product has special properties, that it has any measurable health benefits, or that it can actually cause a physical change in the body.
Josh: Now, to the basics. H2O. One atom Oxygen covalently bonded to two atoms Hydrogen, forming the water molecule. As organic lifeforms, why do we need water as sustenance?
Randy: The water molecule is remarkably simple, as you point out, only three atoms. Yet without this remarkable substance, organic lifeforms, from the simplest bacteria to humans, would not exist.
Many of the molecules of which we are made contain chains of carbon atoms. These organic molecules, in concert with a host of inorganic molecules and ions, form the cellular structures and carry out the chemical reactions that constitute life. Living cells, which can exist independently and as organized clusters of varying size, complexity, and intelligence have evolved to take advantage of the properties of water in a number of ways.
At the most basic level, virtually all of life's chemical reactions take place in water solutions filled with ions, dissolved gasses, a plethora of simple organic molecules, and the complex organic molecules necessary to create cellular structures and to organize and control the chemical and electrical processes we define as life.
Water transports substances in living cells to regions where they are used, removes waste products, and carries chemical and electrical signals necessary to control cellular activity. Water's ability to form hydrogen bonds and ionize also helps determine and control the three-dimensional structure (and thus the biological activity) of the proteins and nucleic acids that direct a cell's activities. These processes are delicately balanced, and the internal cellular environment must be maintained within fairly narrow boundaries for life to continue.
All active, living cells are bathed in water. Single cell bacteria, and small multicell plants, and animals usually live completely surrounded by water. Nutrients are obtained directly from and waste products are discharged directly into the surrounding water. These small organisms have evolved to live in the "wild": their external aquatic environments can be extremely variable, and they have developed processes to keep their internal environments sufficiently stable to live and reproduce.
Josh: That's certainly true for small organisms, but what about humans and most plants and animals we see that are not surrounded by water?
Randy: The individual living cells of larger, more complex multicellular plants and animals are also continually bathed in a water solution. Their cells are not "wild" though: they have evolved in bodies protected by a shield of dead cells and/or a chemical barrier which prevents water loss in terrestrial organisms and the mixing of external with internal water in aquatic organisms.
These shields enable the cells of larger multicellular organisms to live in relatively stable conditions within their own portable, internal aquatic environment specifically "designed" to provide optimal conditions for the cells.
However, since the individual cells of larger multicellular organisms are not in direct contact with the external world, all nutrients must be brought into the body and distributed to the individual cells. All waste products must be collected from the cells and transported to the "outside world."
Nutrient acquisition, processing (digestion), transport, distribution, and waste disposal processes utilize the internal aquatic solution which depends on an intricate system of specialized structures composed of different cell types (organs), and specific behaviors all coordinated by electrical and chemical signals.
So, at both cellular and multicellular levels living organisms are completely dependent on water - one Oxygen atom covalently bonded to two Hydrogen atoms.
Josh:What are the special chemical or physical properties of water that make it so important to life?
Randy: Water is an extraordinary substance with unique properties. Because of these properties, some of which are described below, water is literally the foundation of all life on earth.
In a water molecule the two hydrogen atoms are attached asymmetrically to the oxygen atom by pairs of shared electrons. Overall, there are as many electrons as protons in a water molecule so it is electrically neutral, but oxygen is the dominant partner in the "relationship" and attracts the negatively charged electrons more forcefully.
This results in an unequal distribution of negatively charged electrons: the oxygen "side" of the molecule is negatively charged compared to the hydrogen "side" resulting in an electrically polar molecule. A water molecule can also ionize (lose a hydrogen nucleus with one electron) which creates a positive hydronium ion and a negative hydroxide ion (H2O <--> H+ + OH-). Pure water has, on balance, an equal number of hydronium and hydroxide ions and a neutral pH of 7.0.
Opposite charges attract, so in pure water the Hydrogen (positive) end of a water molecule will form a connection with the Oxygen (negative) end of another water molecule. This connection is called a Hydrogen Bond, and it is relatively weak.
In liquid form, water molecules are fairly close together and they are in constant motion - hydrogen bonds form, break, and reform very rapidly as do hydronium and hydroxide ions. Water's polarity and ability to form hydrogen bonds (not only with other H2O molecules, but many other types of atoms and molecules) and to ionize give it properties that make life as we know it possible on Earth.
Ian D. Anderson (aka Ian Lurking Bear) describes water in this way: When oxygen and hydrogen find one another, their joining produces fiery passion. Out of this fire, water is born. Quaint Victorian chemistry gives us an image of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms in a fixed molecule that bounces around from place to place. The reality of water is not so orderly. The hydrogen atoms are not owned by any particular oxygen atom. Water is a substance very much in love with itself, and the atoms connect in webs and clusters where oxygen shares around the hydrogen atoms freely, a fluid situation indeed.
Josh: When discussing water, one usually focuses on the liquid state. Can you tell us a little about water in its gas and solid forms?
Randy: Water is a liquid over a wide range of temperatures common on Earth (0 degrees C to 100 degrees C) instead of a solid or a gas – The hydrogen bonds pulls water molecules close together and makes them harder to separate than small, non-polar molecules like molecular nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and oxygen which are not attracted to each other and are gasses at typical Earth temperatures.
On the other hand, water molecules are not so tightly bound together at temperatures between 0 degrees C and 100 degrees C like many atoms and molecules (iron, carbon, lead, calcium carbonate, etc.) that they form solids. Life as we know it can only exist in a liquid water environment. Gas molecules are too far apart, disorganized, and energetic to form the complex structures required for life, and solids are too, well -- solid, to allow the rapid chemical reactions and transport of nutrients and waste products required to support life.
Water is an extremely good solvent. Because of its small size, electrically polar structure, and ability to ionize, water dissolves a wide variety of substances, particularly other polar compounds (including many organic molecules) and ionic substances like salt.
Liquid water can also suspend small particles and make them available to the dissolved substances in the surrounding solution. The water in blood, for example, suspends red blood cells and delivers dissolved oxygen to them for transport throughout the body.
Water is one of the few known substances where its solid form is less dense than the liquid—ice floats instead of sinking. Water molecules are closest together (most dense) at 4 degrees C and the molecules move slightly farther apart as they freeze.
This may not seem like a big deal, but consider what would happen if ice were more dense than the liquid water and behaved like most solids – sinking instead of floating. In the winter ice would form and sink to the bottom of the lake, river, or ocean. In the spring and summer the sun's energy would warm only the top few feet of water.
So instead of having deep seas, lakes, and rivers where life can develop and flourish, Earth would, except for areas of geothermal heating, be a solid ball of either rock or frozen water with a thin film of liquid water above the ice during summer months.
Only science fiction writers are able to conceive of life evolving without water - as pure energy or silicon-based life forms, for example - water is integral to life and to our understanding of life.
This was Part 1 of our interview with Randy Johnson of http://cyber-nook.com, a great resource for all things water.
"Fu-ti-can... It's Japanese. You wouldn't know it. It's in the Japanese character to do this sort of thing. They build these special ships... and sail them to the farthest navigable extremes... and look for the bluest iceberg they can find... and they tow it back. And one is able to drink something that was last in liquid form about 30,000 years ago. Expensively clean."


I just posted the second article in the guest series over at Forbes, "How Much To Charge A Couch-Crasher" over at Forbes. Please feel free to indulge your inner survey-nerd and give it a look.
In the article, I introduce a method for charging your guests who crash on the couch for a week or longer. It's called the Guest calculator and you can view it right now on Splitwise.com and from within the Splitwise interface.
I'm also posting the full-text of the first article about guests, "How Much To Charge Your Roommate's Girlfriend", on this blog, so that you can read it all here. That article has also been featured on AskMen.com and MSNBC, so if you found it first elsewhere – um, welcome! If I post content first somewhere else, I will try to post it here within a week or so.


text:
Fulbright Fellow pens 'The American Workday'
By Leanna Pough
Study, go to class, graduate and land a job — that's a familiar path to college students searching for the American dream of prosperity.
As part of the process, astute college students seek out mentors or participate in internships to develop career insight. These opportunities can provide valuable tips on what to expect in the future. But what does it really mean to be a member of the American workforce?
Levine Scholar and UNC Charlotte alumnus Austin Halbert sought the answer. The resulting book, "The American Workday: Tales of Life and Work in the United States Today," published in January 2016, shares stories of America's workers. It explores how one's career can affect an individual's personal life off the clock, along with misconceptions associated with jobs and class.
Horizons Expand with Levine Grant
A native of Shelby, N.C., Halbert attended Crest High School. Growing up in a small town just west of Charlotte, he was exposed to a working-class population and had little understanding of how people lived outside of that lifestyle.
Austin Halbert is completing a year-long Fulbright Fellowship in Sweden
"When I became a Levine Scholar, I was given an opportunity to go to school in a diverse city, to travel and meet people from backgrounds that were foreign to me," noted Halbert. "This taught me so much about people whose conditions I could have only speculated upon before leaving my hometown. As soon as I heard someone's story directly from them, I was then able to feel empathy for others facing similar circumstances."
To gain a better understanding of how society functions, Halbert listened to people's stories and connected them to larger social trends.
"I believe storytelling is the best way to foster empathy. When I heard discussions in America becoming increasingly divisive — politically, economically and socially — I wanted to find a way to inject a little bit of empathy into the equation. Fortunately, I found many generous people who were willing to share their stories for this purpose," Halbert said.
During a three-year period, he and fellow Levine Scholars Laura Outlaw and Vrushab Gowda interviewed and photographed 38 diverse workers across occupations. Interviewees ranged from stock clerks to Fortune 500 executives.
Workers Have Similar Motivations
"Most of the workers interviewed were from the Charlotte area, and if they are any indication, the people of Charlotte are an incredibly resilient, compassionate and hard-working bunch," Halbert said. "I found that each person I spoke to had fundamentally similar motivations: to provide for the people who depended on them, to find pride and dignity through their work and to find balance between working hard and leading a fulfilled life."
A member of the Class of 2015, Halbert completed a bachelor's degree in management with a concentration in organizational management. He also earned a minor in economics.
"The American Workday" was funded through a grant from the Levine Scholars Program, which enabled Halbert to complete the work. The book is endorsed by the Global Engagement Summit and the Clinton Global Initiative University. Proceeds from the book, available at www.americanworkday.com in hardcover and e-book formats, benefit Charlotte Works and Hired Heroes, organizations working to end unemployment by matching jobless citizens with workforce-training opportunities.
In September 2015, Halbert began a yearlong Fulbright graduate research fellowship at Sweden's University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law. He is studying sustainable development through an assessment of public-private partnerships. Additionally, he is interviewing government and business officials in the capital of Stockholm.
Sustainability Across Sectors
"My mission is to find out how institutions approach social, economic and environmental sustainability across sectors and to determine what can be done to further efforts," explained Halbert. "Sweden is a world leader in sustainability and innovation, so hopefully these insights can serve as a lesson for institutions around the world on how to meet the needs of society while growing strong businesses."
Interviewees have included ministers and ambassadors for the Swedish government, as well as top executives at global companies such as Ericsson, Electrolux, Ikea and H&M.
The Fulbright program is one of the largest and most prestigious international exchange programs in the world today. Its main objective is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the citizenry of other nations through the sharing of ideas, knowledge, skills and individual experiences.
Recently, Halbert was appointed to the Youth Working Group for the U.S. National Commission to UNESCO. The 12 American leaders who make up the group endeavor to engage youth and share UNESCO's mission of international peace and universal respect.
"As a new member of the Youth Working Group, I am leading the creation of the UNESCO Action Coalition, which will pair young activists and social entrepreneurs with experienced mentors in their fields. The mission is to connect new and experienced generations of change-makers, while providing guidance to high-impact projects focused on sustainable development," Halbert explained.
With the help of two co-founders he has met while conducting research in Sweden, Halbert is also planning the launch of a social enterprise he calls "ImpactEd," which will empower universities to bring real-world problem solving into the classroom.
Leanna Pough is communications coordinator in the Office of Public Relations.
Alumnus's project reimagines historic Brooklyn neighborhood
By Melba Newsome
Although Lindsey McApline ('90) was pursuing a double major in Business and Psychology at UNC Charlotte, he always knew real estate development would play an outsized role in his professional future. "I was actively working in real estate and anxious to go out in the business world," he recalls. "I started my first development company between my junior and senior year in college."
Lindsey McAlpine
Fast forward a quarter-century and the former UNC Charlotte alumni president has made his mark in the development world. Yet, McAlpine feels his biggest and most personal project is just around the corner. As the managing partner of Citisculpt, an urban mixed-use developer working exclusively in the Carolinas, McAlpine is now one of three developers vying to revive and redevelop the Second Ward community once known as Brooklyn. The Mecklenburg County Commission will make the selection.
"This is the most impactful project in Charlotte in my generation," says the Charlotte native. "It's an opportunity to rebuild a historic legacy and to build nearly the whole quadrant of the Second Ward."
Second Ward is currently dominated by the city's government quarter, the courthouse, the no-longer used Board of Education offices and the rarely-used Marshall Park. Fifty years ago, the area was home to about 1,000 African-American families. The community was razed as part of the kind of urban renewal plans that swept through the country during the 1960s and 70s. Residents, who had no say in the matter, were supposed to be relocated to federally-funded public housing that never materialized. The families, largely left to their own devices to find housing, were dispersed to the city's poorer neighborhoods surrounding the city center. The treatment left deep scars with those who lost their homes, neighborhood and community.
In large part, the kind of urban renewal projects that displaced urban, minority communities and wiped out a city's character and history have largely been discredited. Now, development and gentrification tend to focus on, if not preserving the past, at least giving a nod to it. Redeveloping the Second Ward is no doubt a tricky project since it contains so many moving parts, including reimagining Marshall Park.
One concept for Brooklyn Village presented by CitiSculpt.
McApline has worked to keep all these elements in mind throughout every step of his design process. The group researched the area's history and the stories of people who had lived there in order to understand the best way create a positive and inclusive legacy. He believes CitiSculpt's community outreach sets it apart from the other two competitors. "We are absolutely committed to hearing what all the stakeholders want in this design and it's extremely important to hear the community's input about this design."
CitiSculpt has put together a team with the kind of unique experience necessary to bring its vision-- up to 1,378 residential units along with hotels, retail space and offices -- to fruition. Prominent architect and former mayor Harvey Gantt essentially came out of retirement to lend his insight and vision to this project.
"There's a lot of pain associated with the removal of that community," says Gantt. "That is why this development has to be done well and realized. It sends a serious message to the African-American community that we wanted so badly to restore the community that we chose the right company to deliver the completion of this project."
If McAlpine is selected, he will be very, very busy for the next 4-5 years. That's how long he estimates creating the new Brooklyn will take.
In the video available through the link below, Lindsey McAlpine and Harvey Gantt discuss the possible future of Brooklyn Village.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqogU5AeAyo
Theatre professor publishes new young adult thriller
By Phillip Brown
Andrew Hartley, Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare in the Department of Theatre, has written a new fantasy-adventure-mystery for young adult readers. "Steeplejack: A Novel" will be released by Tor Teen on June 14.
Set in 19th-century South Africa, the book has received glowing reviews, particularly for its young female protagonist. The monthly book review publication BookPage named it the "Top Teen Pick" for June 2016. Steeplejack is the first book in a series of three.
Hartley, who writes fiction under the name A.J. Hartley, has published numerous novels of fantasy, mystery and historical fiction for adults and young adults, including novelizations of two Shakespeare tragedies, "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" (written with David Hewson). He recently collaborated with platinum-selling musician Tom Delonge to write "Sekret Machines Book 1: Chasing Shadows," the first of three volumes that was released by Simon & Schuster in April.
Among his scholarly publications are two books published in 2014: "Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in Performance)," published by Manchester University Press, and "Shakespeare on the University Stage," published by Cambridge University Press.
Phillip Brown is assistant director for internal communication.
Young alums, inspired by Obama's My Brother's Keeper, endow scholarship
When Zacch Estrada-Petersen attended UNC Charlotte, his academic focus was not a technology-based curriculum. Graduating in 2005 with a degree in accounting, he also explored Spanish, journalism and music.
Alumni Kevin Jackson (left) and Zacch Estrada-Petersen
When he graduated, he set his sights on an entirely different sphere.
"I became increasingly concerned about the lack of diversity in the technology field," Estrada-Petersen said. "I reached out to my friend, Kevin Jackson, who is in the IT field and also an alumnus of UNC Charlotte."
Jackson and Estrada-Petersen were inspired by President Obama's initiative, My Brother's Keeper. They decided to start an endowment to provide a scholarship in a STEM field, specifically for students from underrepresented populations.
It was a remarkable and daunting challenge for the two young men.
"We are both still early in our careers - I am 31, and he is 36," Estrada-Petersen said. "We each donate a little more than $200 per month, and our endowment will be fully funded within five years."
In September 2014, President Obama issued a challenge to cities, towns, counties and tribes across the country "to implement a coherent cradle-to-college and career strategy for improving the life outcomes of all young people to ensure that they can reach their full potential, regardless of who they are, where they come from or the circumstances into which they are born."
Of concern to the two were the rising cost of higher education and the number of students at schools like UNC Charlotte who needed financial assistance. After they did their research, they learned the average student debt at graduation was $26,000.
"I know from personal experience how a scholarship like this can change your life," Estrada-Petersen said. "I was fortunate to get some scholarships, but I still had to borrow a lot of money to finish my degree."
And the impact of student loan debt is felt years after graduation. For him, it means waiting a few more years before launching his own business venture.
"I think of the bright student who might be the next great innovator but is limited in what he or she can do because of debt," he said. "It really changes how you can move ahead with some of your dreams."
During his time at UNC Charlotte, Estrada-Petersen worked at University Times, the student-run newspaper. As a senior, he founded the Voices of Eden Gospel Choir, a student organization with which he still very active.
Since 2008, he has worked as a senior accountant for the Charlotte office of a New York-based multinational diversified-media company. In addition to serving as a member on the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association board of directors, he is co-marketing chair on the board for the Charlotte chapter of Habitat Young Professionals and the social media chair for the Charlotte chapter of 100 Black Men of America.
Jackson is a 2007 graduate of UNC Charlotte with a degree in software and information systems. Prior to enrolling at the University, he served in the U.S. Army for five years. He currently works as a middleware engineer for a Charlotte financial services company.
Both Estrada-Petersen and Jackson know that what they are doing is unique.
"This idea may seem a little crazy to some people, and I can tell you neither one of us is independently wealthy," said Estrada-Petersen. "We had to take the long route to fund this endowment, paying about $2,500 each per year for five years."
It's tough to be patient and wait to see the fruits of their hard work and sacrifice.
"We hope to do a couple of other small things in the interim," said Estrada-Petersen. "We will feel a lot better when we get to see the impact of this scholarship."
Paul Nowell is senior communications manager at UNC Charlotte.
Alumnus's project reimagines historic Brooklyn nei...
Young alums, inspired by Obama's My Brother's Keep...


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Regal Ideas is one of the world's leading manufacturers of aluminum railing systems. This year at the 2017 NAHB International Builders' Show® (IBS), they were honoured with the industry's prestigious Best of IBS Award for Most Innovative Building Product.
The awards were held in Orlando, FL. where Regal Ideas was presented with the well-respected award during a ceremony on the final day of the show.
The NAHB International Builders Show (IBS) is the largest annual construction show in the world, attracting more than 60,000 visitors from 100 countries every year. IBS brings together the industry's most important global manufacturers and suppliers and showcases the latest products, materials and technologies involved in all types of buildings.
Regal Ideas LED lighting and railing systems including Crystal Rail, were one of over 400 entries in the nine categories considered for the 2017 Best of IBS Awards. Approximately 28 industry and media judges considered criteria based on Innovation, Functionality and Good Design to select the 2017 finalists. In addition to receiving the Most Innovative Building Product award, Regal Ideas Quick Step Stair System was also selected as a finalist for Best Outdoor Living Product.
"This recognition is especially meaningful to us because it recognizes our company's 30-year plus passion for innovation and brand excellence." states Ernie Couillard, Executive Vice President for Regal Ideas Inc.
Congratulations to Regal Ideas on this incredible award.


Malignant melanoma is a highly dangerous form of skin cancer. It is a neoplasm of melanocytes. The melanoma begins in the melanocytes or pigment producing cells found in the outer layer of the skin (epidermal cell). These cells grow in uncontrolled manner and form a tumor.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Journal of Hematology and Oncology, Cancer Letters, Advances in Cancer Research, Blood Reviews, Cancer Treatment Reviews.


We answer your questions about… how things work!
We've been getting so many great questions through the Question Machine! Phew! You're really interested in a lot of things. We thought we'd group some of the questions together and answer them in a big bunch. So here are your questions about... how things work!
The paraffin wax is melted down and mixed with powdered colour pigment to produce a crayon. Sometimes it's a single colour pigment and sometimes they mix different colour pigments together to make the final colour. The final coloured hot wax is poured into the crayon molding machines to cool down into the shape we're all used to. Depending on the company making the crayons, other proprietary (that means top secret) ingredients might be added.
You will most likely see fire hydrants in two colours: yellow and red. It's easy to spot them and that's good. If you can spot them, then emergency personnel can easily spot them when needed as well. But have you looked at the tops of the hydrants? In some countries, the tops of the hydrants are different colours to let firefighters know how many gallons per minute (or GPM) the hydrant can deliver. Blue tops usually mark the highest GPM and red mark the lowest.
Want to know even more interesting facts about fire hydrants? Check out "Did you know not all fire hydrants are red"
If you've ever gone to a party or to a carnival, you've probably seen floaty balloons everywhere. In order to get a balloon to float up into the sky, it has to be lighter than air. There are all kinds of gases that you could choose to put in the balloons, and one of those is helium. Since helium is lighter than the air, when you pump it into a balloon, it displaces the heavier air and the pressure around the balloon pushes it up, making it float.
Traditionally, pencils were all made with a wood casing around the core. But today, you can buy pencils with casings made out of colourful plastic — some of which are made from recycled material — but these are usually not recyclable. There are also pencils that have a casing made from recycled newsprint or other paper that is wrapped around the core. Another popular type of pencil is the mechanical pencil, which is a reusable plastic or metal casing that can be refilled with lead.
Interested in pencils? Who isn't! Try your luck with our fun Pencil Trivia Quiz!
Can you tell what the school supplies are up close?
We answer your questions about… cats and dogs!


It's been a while since my last post (with text ;), and i apologize. A lot of interesting things have been going on at RemObjects that have been keeping me busy.
As some of you might have seen, on thursday we announced a a new product to our portfolio, AnyDAC 2.0 for Delphi. Developed by Dmitry Arefiev of DA-SOFT, AnyDAC is not an entirely new product, and version 1.0 has been around for a while and is successfully used by thousands of Delphi and Free Pascal developers every day.
For version 2.0, Dmitry felt the product would benefit from the experience and infrastructure provided by a company such us ours, and so we decided to work together and bring AnyDAC into the fold. Given our existing product portfolio, AnyDAC is a perfect fit, as it closes the one remaining gap in our end-to-end data access strategy that so far relied on third party solutions: talking to the physical back-end databases. AnyDAC will integrate seamlessly with Data Abstract for Delphi to provide the entire data access story from one hand, now (although Data Abstract will of course continue to use its open driver model and to support third party drivers).
We're very excited to have Dmitry on board and be working with him on this, and so far the response we have received both from our customers and existing AnyDAC users has been tremendous – everyone is very excited about the possibilities this cooperation will bring.
Over the next couple months we will be busy finalizing the integration and getting AnyDAC 2.0 ready to be shipped along with our general .29 releases in February. In the mean time, we are looking for a few more good and committed beta testers – so if you are interested, please let me know.
More details about out AnyDAC can be found in our announcement at remobjects.com/anydac.
Oh, and one more thing: of course AnyDAC for Delphi will automatically be available to all our Suite Subscription customers, as soon as the final release is done.
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KING GEORGE COUNTY, Va. – Multiple injuries have been reported after a King George County school bus was rear-ended by a large box truck Tuesday afternoon.
The crash happened around 3:00 p.m. in the 8000 block of James Madison Parkway.
The school bus was offloading kids with its lights on, when it was struck from behind, causing the bus to overturn, according to Virginia State Police Sergeant Keeli Hill.
Multiple students have been transported to the hospital, either by ambulance or by their parents.
"The children have been evaluated by emergency personnel at the scene and some have been transported for treatment of minor injuries," said Sgt. Hill.
The driver of both vehicles have been transported by Med Flight to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Police on scene estimated that around 10 students were on board the bus at the time of the crash.


text:
Businesses adapt to get going again
3:48 pm on 28 February 2011
Some businesses in Christchurch are trying to become operational again for the first time since Tuesday's quake.
The Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce estimates that about 50,000 people will be unable to go into work in the cordoned-off central city area on Monday morning.
Some companies are relocating, such as Perpetual, which is moving to a one-storey office in Hornby.
Part of Pyne Gould Corporation, Perpetual was located in the company's building. Ten of its 49 staff are still missing.
Chief executive Patrick Middleton says it has eight other offices around the country that will be able to provide support for the Christchurch office.
Jade Software says about half of its 200 staff will be back at work on Monday. The rest will work from home or have relocated to Jade's other offices in Wellington and Auckland.
Chief executive Craig Richardson says its offices were cosmetically damaged but that has been repaired in the past few days, and it has power and water.
Other businesses, such as the law firm Duncan & Cotterill, which has 120 Christchurch staff, have people working from home.
Ernst & Young still looking
Financial consultancy Ernst and Young says it is still waiting for its building to be assessed and because of tough competition for alternative premises it's still looking for a new home.
It says it is diverting calls from its Christchurch office, and its branches in Wellington and Auckland will provide support.
Police say it is still too dangerous for people to return to work in the city centre. They say many buildings will have to be demolished, even though they are still standing.
Action on consents processes
Extension of time for Port Hills land
Bridge deck lifted to repair supports
Nearly 240 more properties red-zoned
Quake memorial takes too long - CTV
Forsyth Barr building put up for sale
Christchurch Earthquake RSS


text:
static inline double sanitize_rad(double r)
{
  if(r >= 2 * M_PI)
    return r - ((int)(r / (2 * M_PI)) * 2 * M_PI);
  else if(r < 0)
    return r + ((int)(1 + (r / (2 * M_PI))) * 2 * M_PI);
  return r;
}

static inline double deg_to_rad(int d)
{
  return (double)d * M_PI / 180.0;
}

#define IS_VALID(s) { if(!s) { LOTHAR_FAIL("invalid steering\n"); LOTHAR_RETURN_ERROR(LOTHAR_ERROR_ENTITY_CLOSED);} }

struct lothar_steering_t
{
  lothar_motor_t *left;
  lothar_motor_t *right;
  double radius;
  double distance;
  lothar_time_t t;
  double x;
  double y;
  double o;

  double vl;
  double vr;

  double left_conversion;
  double right_conversion;
};

lothar_steering_t *lothar_steering_open(lothar_connection_t *connection, enum lothar_output_port left, enum lothar_output_port right, double radius, double distance)
{
  lothar_steering_t *result = (lothar_steering_t *)lothar_malloc(sizeof(lothar_steering_t));

  result->left = lothar_motor_open(connection, left);
  result->right = lothar_motor_open(connection, right);
  result->radius = radius;
  result->distance = distance;

  result->t = lothar_timer(NULL);
  result->x = 0;
  result->y = 0;
  result->o = 0;

  result->vl = 0;
  result->vr = 0;

  result->left_conversion = deg_to_rad(DEFAULT_CONVERSION);
  result->right_conversion = deg_to_rad(DEFAULT_CONVERSION);

  lothar_motor_reset(result->left, 0);
  lothar_motor_reset(result->right, 0);

  return result;
}

int lothar_steering_close(lothar_steering_t **steering)
{
  IS_VALID(steering);

  lothar_motor_close(&((*steering)->left));
  lothar_motor_close(&((*steering)->right));

  free(*steering);
  steering = NULL;

  return 0;
}

int lothar_steering_connection(lothar_steering_t const *steering, lothar_connection_t **connection)
{
  IS_VALID(steering);

  return lothar_motor_connection(steering->left, connection);
}

int lothar_steering_forward(lothar_steering_t *steering, double speed)
{
  int status;
  double v;
  int8_t pl;
  int8_t pr;

  IS_VALID(steering);

  if((status = lothar_steering_update(steering)) < 0)
    return status;

  v = speed / steering->radius; // rad/s

  pl = (int8_t)CLAMP(v / steering->left_conversion, -100, 100);
  pr = (int8_t)CLAMP(v / steering->right_conversion, -100, 100);

  LOTHAR_DEBUG("v = %f, p = (%d, %d) %f %f\n", v, pl, pr, speed, steering->radius);

  status = MIN(lothar_motor_run(steering->left, pl), lothar_motor_run(steering->right, pr));
  return status;
}

int lothar_steering_turn(lothar_steering_t *steering, double speed, double turnspeed)
{
  int status;
  double vl;
  double vr;
  double dv;
  int8_t pl;
  int8_t pr;

  IS_VALID(steering);

  if((status = lothar_steering_update(steering)) < 0)
    return status;

  dv = turnspeed * steering->distance;
  vl = speed - dv / 2;
  vr = speed + dv / 2;

  vl /= steering->radius; // rad/s
  vr /= steering->radius;

  pl = (int8_t)CLAMP(vl / steering->left_conversion, -100, 100);
  pr = (int8_t)CLAMP(vr / steering->right_conversion, -100, 100);

  LOTHAR_DEBUG("v = (%f, %f), p = (%d, %d) %f %f %f\n", vl, vr, pl, pr, speed, dv, turnspeed);

  status = MIN(lothar_motor_run(steering->left, pl), lothar_motor_run(steering->right, pr));
  return status;
}

int lothar_steering_stop(lothar_steering_t *steering)
{
  int status;
  IS_VALID(steering);

  if((status = lothar_steering_update(steering)))
    return status;

  status = MIN(lothar_motor_stop(steering->left), lothar_motor_stop(steering->right));
  return status;
}

int lothar_steering_brake(lothar_steering_t *steering)
{
  int status;
  IS_VALID(steering);

  if((status = lothar_steering_update(steering)))
    return status;

  status = MIN(lothar_motor_brake(steering->left), lothar_motor_brake(steering->right));
  return status;
}

int lothar_steering_get_odometry(lothar_steering_t const *steering, double *x, double *y, double *o)
{
  IS_VALID(steering);

  if(x)
    *x = steering->x;
  if(y)
    *y = steering->y;
  if(o)
    *o = steering->o;

  return 0;
}

int lothar_steering_set_odometry(lothar_steering_t *steering, double x, double y, double o)
{
  IS_VALID(steering);

  steering->x = x;
  steering->y = y;
  steering->o = o;

  return 0;
}

// reference: http://rossum.sourceforge.net/papers/DiffSteer/
int lothar_steering_update(lothar_steering_t *steering)
{
  int status = 0;
  double vl;
  double vr;
  lothar_time_t _t;
  double t;

  int32_t dl;
  int32_t dr;
  int8_t pl;
  int8_t pr;

  IS_VALID(steering);

  _t = lothar_timer(&steering->t);

  if(_t)
  {
    if((status = lothar_motor_degrees(steering->left, &dl, 0)) < 0)
      return status;
    if((status = lothar_motor_reset(steering->left, 0)) < 0)
      return status;
    if((status = lothar_motor_degrees(steering->right, &dr, 0)) < 0)
      return status;
    if((status = lothar_motor_reset(steering->right, 0)) < 0)
      return status;

    steering->t = lothar_timer(NULL);

    if((status = lothar_motor_power(steering->left, &pl)) < 0)
      return status;
    if((status = lothar_motor_power(steering->right, &pr)) < 0)
      return status;

    // optimizing can be done
    t = _t / 1000.0;

    if(dl != dr)
    {
      vl = deg_to_rad(dl) * steering->radius / t;
      vr = deg_to_rad(dr) * steering->radius / t;

      LOTHAR_DEBUG("t = %f, v = (%f, %f), d = (%d, %d)\n", t, vl, vr, dl, dr);

      steering->x += ((steering->distance * (vr + vl)) / (2 * (vr - vl))) * (sin(((vr - vl) * t) / steering->distance + steering->o) - sin(steering->o));

      steering->y -= ((steering->distance * (vr + vl)) / (2 * (vr - vl))) * (cos(((vr - vl) * t) / steering->distance + steering->o) - cos(steering->o));

      steering->o += (vr - vl) * t / steering->distance;

      LOTHAR_DEBUG("x = %f, y = %f, o = %f\n", steering->x, steering->y, steering->o);

      steering->o = sanitize_rad(steering->o);
    }
    else if(dl)
    {
      vl = deg_to_rad(dl) * steering->radius;
      steering->x += vl * cos(steering->o);
      steering->y += vl * sin(steering->o);

      LOTHAR_DEBUG("x = %f, y = %f, o = %f\n", steering->x, steering->y, steering->o);
    }

    // this is a precicion tool: don't grow or shrink by more then 10 %
    if(pl && dl)
      steering->left_conversion = CLAMP(deg_to_rad(dl) / (t * pl), steering->left_conversion * 0.9, steering->left_conversion * (1.0 / 0.9));
    if(pr && dr)
      steering->right_conversion = CLAMP(deg_to_rad(dr) / (t * pr), steering->right_conversion * 0.9, steering->right_conversion * (1.0 / 0.9));

    LOTHAR_DEBUG("conv = (%f, %f) (%d, %d) (%f) %d,%d\n", steering->left_conversion, steering->right_conversion, pl, pr, t, dl, dr);

  }

  return status;
}

double lothar_steering_x(lothar_steering_t const *steering)
{
  return steering->x;
}

double lothar_steering_y(lothar_steering_t const *steering)
{
  return steering->y;
}

double lothar_steering_o(lothar_steering_t const *steering)
{
  return steering->o;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
require 'optparse'

class Pigeon::Launcher
  # == Class Methods ========================================================

  def self.launch(engine = Pigeon::Engine, *arguments, logging: true)
    arguments = %w[ start ] if (arguments.empty?)

    new(engine, logging: logging).handle_args(*arguments)
  end

  # == Instance Methods =====================================================

  def initialize(with_engine = Pigeon::Engine, logging: true)
    @engine = with_engine
    @logging = !!logging

    yield(self) if (block_given?)
  end

  def handle_args(*args)
    op = OptionParser.new do |parser|
      parser.on('-v', '--version') do
        pigeon_version = 'Pigeon %s' % Pigeon.version

        version =
          if (@engine.respond_to?(:version))
            '%s (%s)' % [ @engine.version, pigeon_version ]
          else
            pigeon_version
          end

        puts version
        exit(0)
      end
    end

    command = op.parse(*args.flatten).first

    begin
      case (command)
      when 'start'
        @engine.start do |pid, launched|
          yield(pid, launched) if (block_given?)
          self.start(pid, launched)
        end
      when 'stop'
        @engine.stop do |pid|
          yield(pid) if (block_given?)
          self.stop(pid)
        end
      when 'restart'
        @engine.restart do |pid, old_pid|
          yield(pid, old_pid) if (block_given?)
          self.restart(pid, old_pid)
        end
      when 'status'
        @engine.status do |pid|
          yield(pid) if (block_given?)
          self.status(pid)
        end
      when 'run'
        @engine.engine_logger = Pigeon::Logger.new(STDOUT)

        @engine.run do |pid|
          yield(pid) if (block_given?)
          self.run(pid)
        end
      else
        usage
      end

    rescue Interrupt
      exit(0)
    end
  end

  def run(pid)
    log "#{@engine.name} now running. [%d]" % pid
    log "Use ^C to terminate."
  end

  def start(pid, launched)
    if (launched)
      log "#{@engine.name} now running. [%d]" % pid
    else
      log "#{@engine.name} already running. [%d]" % pid
    end
  end

  def stop(pid)
    if (pid)
      log "#{@engine.name} shut down. [%d]" % pid
    else
      log "#{@engine.name} was not running."
    end
  end

  def status(pid)
    if (pid)
      log "#{@engine.name} running. [%d]" % pid
    else
      log "#{@engine.name} is not running."
    end
  end

  def restart(pid, old_pid)
    if (old_pid)
      log "#{@engine.name} terminated. [%d]" % old_pid
    end

    log "#{@engine.name} now running. [%d]" % pid
  end

  def shutdown(pid)
    log "Shutting down."
  end

  def usage
    log "Usage: #{File.basename($0)} [start|stop|restart|status|run]"
  end

  def log(message)
    if (@logging)
      puts(message)
    end
  end
end


Melting honey stains on house walls or roof lines is caused by an established beehive or one that has been exterminated and left in the structure. Some pest control companies have been sued by home owners regarding damages and staining caused from not removing the beehive, perhaps the pest technician is unaware of the problem, or the bees were mistaken for wasps or yellow jackets.
Many pest control companies do not get rid of honeybees of perform structural bee removal. Pest control companies that do exterminate honeybees, typically have the customer sign a waiver to release them from liability of a exhausted beehive in the home or structure and informing them of the need of getting rid of the leftover honey and dead bees.
Some people believe this information should be given prior to exterminating the beehive. This way the home owner has time to consider options and solutions for opening the structure removing the eradicated hive and honeycomb, while then repairing and warranting the structure against future bee problems.
If you have melted honey running down the wall of your house, you have a beehive, or a beehive has been exterminated and now the honey is melting. Honey can run down the walls sometimes long after the actual eradication. If you do not get rid of the honey or remove the honey, you typically end up with long term problems. A bee hive or exhausted bee hive tends to attract returning bees as well as insects, rodents and critters.
Here are some basic bee hive removal services. Occasionally houses that are going up for sale on the market have had beehives killed but not removed. Selling or buying a house after exterminating a beehive without removal of the beehive can lead to legal problems and recurring bee problems for the new owners.
Some time ago I spoke with a home owner that had purchased and installed a new AC unit in a very large house as the old one performed poorly. Once installed and running however, the AC still performed very poorly. Upon furthe inspecting the attic they realized that rats had eaten holes through the air ducts (rats need AC too). Actually the rats were initially attracted by a beehive that was exterminated and left in the attic. When you get rid of bees (preferably alive) be sure to remove the honey as well. For help in the US call the help hotline and rate your call.
If honeycomb is not removed from the structure, you may find honey running down walls.


LAWTON, OK (KSWO) - The Lawton Police Department is still working around the clock to solve a murder in West Lawton and they need your help to bring those responsible to justice.
Detectives are still working to figure out what, exactly, led to the shooting death of Florence Groene on the night of September 9 in the 400 block of Northwest 55th Street. They are still trying to develop suspects in the case, so they need anyone in the community who has any information to come forward.
On September 9th at around 10:30 at night, police arrived in the 400 block of Northwest 55th street on a shots fired call. When they arrived, they found 23-year-old Florence Groene with a gunshot wound. She was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries. Detective Charles Whittington said the detectives on the case are trying to piece the shooting together but need more information to paint the full picture.
"They know people have information have information about this shooting and they want them to step forward. A lot of times people do not step forward just for the fact of possible retaliation or they're afraid. I want everyone to know they can call 355 - INFO or log on to their website and remain anonymous,' Whittington said.
Detective Whittington said if you call or submit a tip online, it will go directly to him, meaning no one else will ever see it. And, if you choose not to give him your name, even he will not know where the tip is coming from. You also can receive a cash reward if your tip leads to an arrest. Jerry Hrnciar has been on the Crime Stoppers board since the mid-1980s and said in that time, he's seen how big of an impact the program can truly have on a community. He said since its inception in southwest Oklahoma, more than 3,000 people have been arrested thanks to Crime Stoppers tips.
"We've expended about $410,000 worth of tip money and confiscated over $210 million worth of narcotics. It's a significant impact on our community," Hrnciar said.
Because of that impact, Hrnciar said in the last few years they've been working to grow Crime Stoppers in southwest Oklahoma. But Detective Whittington said that is not possible without the community doing their part. "This is everyone's community. This is southwest Oklahoma. The civilians that live here, the citizens that live here, it's the police departments job to serve and protect but it's also on some level their job to serve and protect. If you have information it's doing the right thing, it's stepping forward and saying it here," Whittington said.
Whittington urges anyone with any information about Groene's murder or any other crimes to come forward. In addition to giving a voice to the victim, he said you can give much needed closure to the victim's family. You can reach Crime Stoppers at 355 - INFO or here.


text:
East Village: The Joe Labero Theater and
Hoop de Ville
THE JOE LABERO THEATER: 1000 seats, club zone, bar zone, creative seating option.
HOOP DE VILLE: 1,500 seats, stage setup for concerts, basketball court versatile interior to host multiple event types.
EAST VILLAGE:
East Village is a retail development designed in the spirit of a series of 1930's buildings layered with years of life. A mixed and electric surface makes the environment a rich and active one. The Joe Labero Theatre should focus on Joe Labero and his show but should be able to host other events or shows should they occur and should consider the future of the building many years down the line as far as can be achieved within a reasonable budget. The retail portion of the project will open November 1st 2008 but the theatre itself can open when after that. An appropiate date will be selected for maximum effect. RA-DA worked closely with Bob Machen and Greg Young to develop a concept theatre for a magician named Joe Labero in Las Vegas. Adjoining this theatre we also designed a small flexible event center intended for a show called 'Hoop de Ville'.
THE JOE LABERO THEATER was designed to be a full sensory experience from the moment guests walk in through the front doors. Sound, temperature, smell, touch and visuals will all play active roles in all the public spaces. The design will surprise and engage visitors in every aspect of their visit. The theme of the show is ICE but this should be countered with moments and places of FIRE. All program elements and activities should somehow relate back to the show and be opportunities for experiences that ultimately enrich the show. Although the theatre will be fully functional and adaptable to other kinds of shows, the experience will be unique and will stand out in a town where only the best can survive. This will be a boutique ROCK STAR Magician theatre!
HOOP DE VILLE:
Rob Ryder's Hoop de Ville concept is based on the original Harlem Globetrotters. The idea is to stage a live basketball game which is 75% choreographed with the latest tricks of the trade leaving the rest improvised and filling the 80 to 90 minute experience with cheerleaders, dancers, marching bands and live music making the experience a fully rounded and rich one. The audience is engaged fully in the performance. They are split into two halves to support the two teams and are taught cheers and claps etc so they can participate.
The venue for the Hoop de Ville show should have some elements that make it feel like a college or high school basketball court. The court should remain pure in its configuration although it could incorporate some special elements such as black lite markings for dramatic effect. The interior of the bowl should have elements that surpass a college venue, reflecting very specifically the needs for the show and rooting it in Vegas. The bowl and other interior elements should be designed in a manner that respond to the split in the audience for the two teams. The lobby and entry should be dramatic yet raw in feel, utilizing simple and industrial materials.


The Rakshak Rudraksh Bandh is an excellent combination to protect its wearer from untimely death, accidents, diseases and daily life hurdles and problems. It is created of 7 different Rudrakshas. This excellent combination of Rudraksha contains one number each of 1 Mukhi Rudraksha, 3 Mukhi Rudraksha, 7 Mukhi Rudraksha, 8 Mukhi Rudraksha, 9 Mukhi Rudraksha, 10 Mukhi Rudraksha and 11 Mukhi Rudraksha. The wearer of Rakshak Rudraksha Bandh is also protected from devil effect (Bhoot-Pret Badha), Supernatural Powers and Black Magic. The wearer of Rakshak Rudraksha Bandh is blessed with the power of valiancy, bravery, patience, tolerance, sacrifice and relaxation. The wearer of Rakshak Rudraksha Bandh leads the successful life with dare and courage. The wearer of Rakshak Rudraksha Bandh gets the blessings of Great Lord Shankar (Lord of 1 Mukhi Rudraksha), Agni Dev (Lord of 3 Mukhi Rudraksha), Goddess Lakshmi (Lord of 7 Mukhi Rudraksha), Lord Ganesha (Lord of 8 Mukhi Rudraksha), Goddess Durga (Lord of 9 Mukhi Rudraksha), Great Lord Vishnu (Lord of 10 Mukhi Rudraksha) and Lord Hanumaan (Lord of 11 Mukhi Rudraksha).
Apart from above the wearer of Rakshak Rudraksha Pendent is also blessed with the auspicious energies to appease planet Sun (related to 1 Mukhi Rudraksha), planet Mars (related to 3 Mukhi Rudraksha), planet Saturn (related to 7 Mukhi Rudraksha), planet Rahu (related to 8 Mukhi Rudraksha) and planet Ketu (related to 9 Mukhi Rudraksha).
Benefits of Protection Bandh (1 Mukhi + 3 Mukhi + 7 Mukhi + 8 Mukhi + 9 Mukhi + 10 Mukhi + 11 Mukhi Rudraksha).
+ To get the blessings of all nine faces of MAA DURGA.
+ To gain physical and mental power.
+ To improve decision power.
+ For steadiness & firmness in the life.
+ Success in business and FOREIGN TRIPS.
Diseases Cured by Rakshak Rudraksha Pendant (1 Mukhi + 3 Mukhi + 7 Mukhi + 8 Mukhi + 9 Mukhi + 10 Mukhi + 11 Mukhi Rudraksha).


text:
Spirit International Amateur set for Nov. 4-6 at Texas' Whispering Pines Golf Club
From Staff Reports — August 18, 2021
The 10th Spirit International features top amateur players from around the world
HOUSTON (Aug. 18, 2021) – The Spirit Golf Association is set to host The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship presented by The Will Erwin Headache Research Foundation (The Spirit) from Nov. 4-6 along the shores of Lake Livingston at Whispering Pines Golf Club.
The biennial event, staged for the 10th time in 2021, is a premier amateur competition featuring the world's best men and women amateur golfers representing their respective countries in team and individual play.
The Will Erwin Headache Research Foundation joins as the title sponsor of the 2021 Spirit as well as the beneficiary of SGA's ongoing fundraising campaign featuring golf events nationwide.
"The Spirit International Golf Championship is the signature event of the Spirit Golf Association and one of the top destinations for amateur players around the world," said Charlie Epps, President of the Spirit Golf Association. "We are thrilled to host the 2021 event for these young men and women, raise money for the Will Erwin Headache Research Foundation and stage our first-ever individual stroke play competition."
The Spirit features 80 competitors from 20 countries. It is a 54-hole competition with five concurrent competition categories: international team, men's team and women's team, and men's and women's individual stroke play competitions. Until this year, the individual competition was a tally of each players total holes under par. Beginning with the 2021 event, the individual competition will be traditional stoke play. Gold, Silver and Bronze commemorative medals are awarded to the top three golfers in each competition.
The Spirit has been a proving ground for international players over the years with many going on to find success on professional tours. Notable alumni of The Spirit include Jordan Spieth, Lorena Ochoa, Jason Day, Lexi Thompson, Francesco Molinari, Paula Creamer and many others. There are 23 women and 16 men participating in the 2021 Olympic games, raising the total to 56 golfers in all Olympic games.
France will return to The Spirit this year to defend its combined team championship from 2019. The United States team of Cole Hammer and Andy Ogletree claimed the 2019 men's team event, while the Republic of South Korea won the women's team title. In individual play, Australian Jack Trent earned the victory with a total of 20 birdies and one eagle. The women's individual champion was Jeonghyun Lee of the Republic of Korea with 17 birdies.
The Spirit's host course, Whispering Pines Golf Club, is widely recognized as the best golf course in the state of Texas. The beautiful, 18-hole Championship Golf Course is carved through piney woods, creeks, lakes and natural dunes. It was originally designed in 1998 by Texas golf course architect Chet Williams with the Nicklaus Design Group. In December 2019, Williams returned for the course's construction during the end-of-season closure. The 2021 Spirit will be the first one played on the updated layout.
The Will Erwin Headache Research Foundation, founded in 2014, raises funds to support research aimed at understanding the causes and finding a cure for debilitating headaches, including migraines and cluster headaches. The Foundation was created to honor the memory of Will Erwin, whose story as well as additional information about the Foundation, may be found at www.cureheadaches.org.
Additional sponsors whose contributions support The Spirit include Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Chevron, Insperity, John Deere/Brookside Equipment Sales, Inc., Taylormade, EZGO and Munich Re Tradding LLC.
Next post DriveForce's DF-18 Is Now Informed Sport Certified
Previous Article GOLF DATATECH RELEASES 2021 MID-YEAR REPORT ON U.S. GOLF
'Dyed' in the Wool: The Top P.B. Dye Courses to Play or Join
From Staff Reports, March 8, 2022


Habersham Winery has been producing award winning Georgia wines since 1983 and is one of Georgia's oldest and largest wineries.
Charming. Intimate. Comfortable. Sylvan Valley Lodge and Winery offers the kind of rustic comfort you can relax into; warm and inviting.


text:
Q: Video playback not working/choppy in Linux Mint 19.2 I have a problem with Linux Mint and video playback.
The issue is that opening any .mp4 from disk (don't have any other filestypes) results in video player crash. Tried many different players like vlc (which crashes), mplayer (fails with Exit Code 11) et cetera.
Also YouTube videos crash Firefox. Chromium plays YouTube videos but is very choppy. This may or may not be a separate issue.
As far as i see i have everything installed. Drivers, codecs, apps. Im at loss as to why this happens. Having been asking around people seem to suggest the machine is too old and slow but i disagree. We are talking about HD or FHD video playback here not 4K or something like that. If the motherboard and APU are under powered, it would be choppy but it would not outright crash.
This leads me to believe it's some sort of software configuration/conflict issue.
Below is  inxi -F && dmesg | grep -i error output:
System:
  Host: eve Kernel: 4.15.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.2.3 Distro: Linux Mint 19.2 Tina
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: H61M-P31 (G3) (MS-7788) v: 1.0 serial: N/A
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2.7 date: 01/10/2013
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Celeron G550 bits: 64 type: MCP
  L2 cache: 2048 KiB
  Speed: 2594 MHz min/max: 1600/2600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2594 2: 2594
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
  driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Desktop v: 3.3 Mesa 19.0.8
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
  driver: snd_hda_intel
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-58-generic
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
  driver: r8169
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: d4:3d:7e:18:a9:53
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 223.57 GiB used: 106.59 GiB (47.7%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Patriot model: Burst size: 223.57 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 217.61 GiB used: 106.58 GiB (49.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 194 Uptime: 18h 02m Memory: 3.56 GiB used: 1.17 GiB (32.8%)
  Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.32

Im not a first time Linux user and the PC is not mine. But im also not super experienced in Linux tho i seem to have little problem using the terminal.
I can access the PC with remote management if nessesary to test things.
So far i have tried:
Install FFmpeg - no change
Install mplayer - no change
Install ubuntu-restricted-extras - was already installed
Switch VLC video output to X11 - no change
monitor CPU usage during playback - near 100% on both cores during youtube playback via Chromium.
update libva - was already installed
update vaapi - was already installed
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install vlc - no change
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade - no change

Driver manager shows no proprietary drivers avaliable or installed.
Everything else seems to work just fine.
I think i might need to try and use Intel's legacy video driver instead of modesetting. As i understand modesetting is better on newer hardware but legacy is better on legacy hardware.
Problem is, I can't seem to find the specific command to do this.
EDIT:
Ok so i tried using the Linux Mint live usb version (same from where i installed Mint) and when opening video via file manager it requested 2 downloads.
One was gstreamer and i don't remember what the other one was -  MPEG4 something....
It was then able to play back the video just fine after that.
So it seems the hardware is capable and it's not a problem with Mint but there is some sort of software configuration issue with the installed version.


text:
'I bet you're one of these people who get turned on by a packet of crayons' - the Big Debate gets personal
Would you like to see rainbows bow out?
By Amy Southall
Jon Holmes is debating the biggest topic of the day: rainbows.
He says they could be gone in the wake of Brexit.
Alice joined him on air, an expressed how happy she was about the idea of them leaving.
"I think they're divisive, I think they're a blight on the countryside, and anyone who thinks they need polychromasy in their life is just being greedy."
But Horace is very much in favour of rainbows.
"Rainbows if anything are very inclusive, they include all of the colours in the spectrum into one nice streak across the sky, I believe there's nothing quite like a rainbow."
Alice hit back at Horace's remarks.
"I bet you're one of these people who get turned on by a packet of crayons."
Do you like rainbows? Listen to the full debate and decide if who you agree with.
Jon Holmes


This is a 4seater car but cannot seat 4passengers adults, the only possibility to seat 4 is 2adults and 2 very yound children(not in children seats). This car has space for lugagge in the buggage boot when is covered, the cabrio system is falling in the buggage boot. This vehicle is not recommended to a family with children who have to seat in a baby/booster seat. The space on the back seat is not allowing the seat to tight/be placed correct.
Besides we recommend this car for couples, another make of car we sell at the same cost is Mitsubishi colt cabrio.


Duropal worktops are highly resistant and durable kitchen worktops.
The resin Duropal use in their worktops is the hardest of all synthetically produced organic materials. Making the countertops both high scratch and wear resistant. Duropal worktops are also high impact resistant, enabling you to feel comfortable and confident in your worktop.
Duropal worktops are also resistant to chemicals and heat, for example in quality testing Duropal are confident that burning a cigarette on the surface of their stronger worktops will leave no lasting damage.
There's nothing easier than cleaning and caring for Duropal Worktops. A major advantage of Duropal Worktops is that the HPL surface makes cleaning so simple. Usually a moist cloth is sufficient, but use washing-up liquid to get rid of any grease. Stubborn dirt can be removed with an organic solvent such as methylated spirits or alcohol. You can also use brushes with hard bristles (but not wire brushes) to maintain your worktop.
Visit the Just Kitchens Showroom for a demonstration.