text:
Socioeconomic rehabilitation of successful renal transplant patients and impact of funding source: Indian scenario
Rakesh Kapoor1, Raj Kumar Sharma2, Aneesh Srivastava1, Rohit Kapoor3, Sohrab Arora1, Sanjoy Kumar Sureka1
1 Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India
2 Department of Nephrology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India
3 Department of Surgery, Era Medical College, Sarfarazganj, Lucknow, India
Date of Web Publication 1-Jul-2015
Prof. Rakesh Kapoor
Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow - 226 014
Introduction: Socio-economic rehabilitation is an important outcome parameter in successful renal transplant recipients, particularly in developing countries with low income patients who often depend on extraneous sources to fund their surgery costs. We studied the socioeconomic rehabilitation and changes in socioeconomic status (SES) of successful renal allograft recipients among Indian patients and its correlation with their source of funding for the surgery.
Materials and Method: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted on 183 patients between January 2010 to January 2013. Patients with follow up of at least 1 year after successful renal transplant were included. During interview, two questionnaires were administered, one related to the SES including source of funding before transplantation and another one relating to the same at time of interview. Changes in SES were categorized as improvement, stable and deterioration if post-transplant SES score increased >5%, increased or decreased by <5% and decreased >5% of pre-transplant value, respectively.
Results: In this cohort, 97 (52.7%), 67 (36.4%) and 19 (10.3%) patients were non-funded (self-funded), one-time funded and continuous funded, respectively. Fifty-six (30.4%) recipients had improvement in SES, whereas 89 (48.4%) and 38 (20.7%) recipients had deterioration and stable SES. Improvement in SES was seen in 68% patients with continuous funding support whereas, in only 36% and 12% patients with non-funded and onetime funding support (P = 0.001) respectively. Significant correlation was found (R = 0.715) between baseline socioeconomic strata and changes in SES after transplant. 70% of the patients with upper and upper middle class status had improving SES. Patients with middle class, lower middle and lower class had deterioration of SES after transplant in 47.4%, 79.6% and 66.7% patients, respectively.
Conclusions: Most of the recipients from middle and lower social strata, which included more than 65% of our patient's population, had deteriorating SES even after a successful transplant. One-time funding source for transplant had significant negative impact on SES and rehabilitation.
Keywords: Funding sources, renal transplantation, social participations, socioeconomic rehabilitationreconstruction
Kapoor R, Sharma RK, Srivastava A, Kapoor R, Arora S, Sureka SK. Socioeconomic rehabilitation of successful renal transplant patients and impact of funding source: Indian scenario. Indian J Urol 2015;31:234-9
Kapoor R, Sharma RK, Srivastava A, Kapoor R, Arora S, Sureka SK. Socioeconomic rehabilitation of successful renal transplant patients and impact of funding source: Indian scenario. Indian J Urol [serial online] 2015 [cited 2020 Jan 17];31:234-9. Available from: http://www.indianjurol.com/text.asp?2015/31/3/234/159629
In India, the incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is around 226 per million population. [1] Due to the lack of widespread availability and access to hemodialysis, renal transplantation remains the preferred and most suitable treatment option for ESRD patients in India. Transplant patients face many hurdles, like the adverse effects of immunosuppressive drugs, graft failure with possibility of return to dialysis and/or re-graft, recurrent infection, psychosocial stress and extreme monetary burdens. [2],[3],[4],[5],[6] This also takes an emotional, social and economical toll on the family, which is more evident in the scenario of a developing country like India where the cost of health facilities are borne by the patient out of his own pocket. Health insurance and reimbursement for healthcare is available only to a miniscule of the population in India. Transplant centers are inadequate, unevenly distributed throughout the country and inequality exits between various states as far as the transplantation facilities are concerned. Therefore, patients need to travel long distances, frequently with multiple family members to seek out transplant facilities, adding extra expenses on travel, food and lodging. [5] Loss of job, business and break of education of patients and family members make the situation worse. Multiple studies and meta-analysis have evaluated the direct and indirect cost incurred by living kidney donors, renal transplant recipients and their family in setting of various countries of world. [7] The cost of treatment in Indian ESRD subjects has been associated with severe financial burden to the recipients and their families. [8]
The socioeconomic status (SES) is an important determinant of health, nutritional status, mortality and morbidity of an individual as well as family. SES also influences the accessibility, affordability, acceptability and actual utilization of available health facilities. [9] There are many scales to assess the SES that have been validated in Indian urban and rural circumstances. They can also be applied as a surrogate tool to assess the global impact of health care-related costs, treatment-related outcomes and subsequent social rehabilitation of the patients and their family. Thus, assessing SES, which includes various domains including education, occupation, monthly income, land possession, and social participation, etc can evaluate the socioeconomic impact of renal transplantation and subsequent socioeconomic rehabilitation of transplant patients in a broader aspect. However, the socioeconomic rehabilitation in successful renal transplant recipient in Indian scenario has not been addressed previously. With this view, we have conducted this study to determine socioeconomic rehabilitation of successful renal transplant patients and the impact of funding sources using a well validated SES scoring questionnaire.
The study was approved by the institutional ethical committee and written consent was obtained from all the patients. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted on 183 patients from January 2010 to January 2013. Patients with a follow up of at least 1 year after successful renal transplant (defined as nadir creatinine value of <1.5 mg/dl) were included.
A systematic sampling method was used to select a subset of 183 subjects (Every 5 th patient, i.e. 20% of total patient pool) from the 915 patients who visited renal transplant outpatient clinic during the study period following successful transplantation. This sample size was used with an expectation of a 50 percent response rate. Patients who failed to or declined responding to the questionnaire were excluded from the study. Overall response rate was 73%.
At the time of interview, two questionnaires (based on SES assessment scale developed by Tiwari et al. [10] ) were filled, one related to the SES before transplantation and another related to SES at the time of interview. The questionnaires were administered by resident doctors of the transplant department (Urology) in local language readily comprehensible by the patients. The assessment tool includes seven domains including occupation, education and social participation which also reflect the rehabilitation of transplant patients. Changes in SES were categorized as improvement, stable and deterioration if post-transplant score increased >5%, increased or decreased by <5% and decreased <5% of pre-transplant value respectively. Subjects were also asked regarding the overall satisfaction related to transplant in terms of either satisfied or unsatisfied. Extent of current financial debt status (if any) and loss in property (land, house or gold) to meet the cost of transplant were also recorded. The employment status, including loss of job, and social participation were assessed as a part of SES scale.
Socioeconomic status and rehabilitation assessment tool
We have used questionnaire based scale developed by Tiwari et al. [10] to measure SES in urban and rural communities in India. It is a reliable and valid tool for the estimation of SES of individuals and their families in urban and rural areas of India. [10] This scale consists of seven domains, namely house, material possession, education, occupation, monthly income, land, social participation and understanding. All seven domains were equally weighted, each having a maximum score of 10. The score range (0-70) was categorized into five groups based on Central Government city compensatory allowance rules for each category of cities. The scale classifies the subjects into five classes, i.e. upper, upper-middle, middle, lower-middle and lower class. This scale was found to be highly reliable with a co-relation coefficient of 0.998 and the applicability of the scale was tested for its concurrent validity through field trials. [10]
Funding source
Funding sources were grouped as non-funded (Self funded), one-time funded support (single time financial support to meet the cost of transplant surgery and related expenses, paid by Govt under the scheme known as "Mukhya Mantri Sahayta Kosh {Chief minister relief fund}", social agencies, private organisation or rarely by insurance companies) and continuous funding support (continuous funding support to meet all the cost related to transplant and post-transplant medication including immunosuppression, this was usually provided by Govt or agencies to their permanent employees)
Institutional setting
A government tertiary care referral centre in a north Indian state, Uttar Pradesh with established renal transplant program for more than last 20 years., According to hospital policy, the treatment is provided at a subsidized rate. The rough cost of a living donor renal transplant is around Rs. 2,50,000 which includes the investigations charges, surgical expenses of both donor and recipient, bed charges of donor and recipients and cost of the medications including perioperative renal replacement support during the same stay. Patients with a household income below poverty line, defined by the government are entitled to waiver of a part of hospital charges. Several patients receive assistance from government or private charities to meet with a part or whole of the treatment cost. This information was recorded during interview and confirmed from official database system.
Statistical analysis was done using the statistical software package SPSS version 20.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago). Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation or median (range) or number (percentage), as appropriate. Student t-test was used to compare the mean SES score before and after transplant. One-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the impact of funding source and social class on post-transplant SES. Regression analysis was used to assess the co-relation of variables on post-transplant SES. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant
Demographic details, pre-transplant and post-transplant employment status, educational qualifications are tabulated in [Table 1]. In this cohort, 97 (52.7%) patients were non-funded (Self-funded), 67 (36.4%) had one-time funding support, whereas only 19 (10.3%) had continuous funding support. The predominant population (53%) was from the middle class.
Table 1: Patients demographic profile and overall results summary
Fifty-six (30.4%) recipients had improvement in SES, whereas 89 (48.4%) recipients had deterioration in SES. With continuous funding support, 68% had improvement in SES, whereas only 36% and 12% of non-funded and one-time funded patients (P = 0.000, R = 0.812) showed improvement in SES [Figure 1]. On subgroup analysis, there was significant correlation (R = 0.769) between baseline social strata and SES after transplant [Figure 2]. 70% of the patients of upper and upper middle class had improving SES. Patients with middle class, lower middle and lower class had deterioration of SES after transplant in 47.4%, 79.6% and 66.7% of the patients, respectively. There was significant association (P = 0.012) and positive correlation (R = 0.581) between the educational qualification and changes in SES [Table 2], [Figure 3].
Figure 1: Changes in SES after transplant in related to funding source
Figure 2: Changes in SES in correlation with pre-transplant socioeconomic class
Figure 3: Correlation between educations profile and Changes in SES after transplantation
Table 2: Impacts of different variables on post-transplant changes in SES
Loss of job and financial crisis
Employment status at pre and post-transplant period is tabulated in [Table 1]. Focusing on their current debt status, 43% patient families were in debt after transplantation with mean debt of Rs. 4,78,800 ± 62,272. This financial crisis was pronounced in patients from lower middle class or middle class (P = 0.004) and negatively correlated with pre-transplant social strata (R = 0.761). Ninety-nine (54%) of the patients or their families had to sell a part or whole of their land and/or gold ornaments to meet the cost of transplantation or post-transplant healthcare expenses. Forty-two patients (22.8%) had history of poor compliance to immunosuppressive drugs at one or more occasion in the post-transplant period due to the lack of finances, lack of availability at their local place, or inability to attend the transplant OPD on time.
Social participation and outlook toward transplant
Overall, social participation was reduced by 34% in post-transplant period (P = 0.001). It was 51.5% (29/56) in patients with improved SES as compared to 26.31% (10/38) and 13.95% (12/89) in patients with stable or deteriorated SES (P = 0.009). Even after successful renal transplant, only 53% patients had satisfactory outlook toward transplant.
In a developed country, successful kidney transplantation is associated with considerable improvements in survival and quality of life, positive psychosocial outcome as well as significant cost-savings when compared with dialysis. [11],[12] Serious global inequities in access to transplantation exist internationally. For most low and middle-income countries, transplantation programs face many challenges due to the lack of infrastructure, financial constraints and lack of adequate cadaveric donor programs. Similarly, survival can also be compromised by the affordability of immunosuppressive drugs, malnutrition and recurrent infections. In 2011-2012, India had a meager per capita income of Rs 38,037 per annum. [13] Evidently, only few patients can afford any form of organ replacement therapy that on average costs of Rs 3,00,000. [14] A significant number of ESRD patients in India either fail to initiate the treatment, die or discontinue renal replacement therapy (RRT) due to financial disability. [15],[16],[17] The present study evaluated the global impact of renal transplant related costs and associate shortcomings, the consequence incurred by the renal transplant recipient and their family along with subsequent social rehabilitation in setting of successful transplantation. This is the first study related to socioeconomic rehabilitation after successful renal transplantation in Indian prospect where renal transplant program faces several adversities.
In this study group, the predominant population (53%) was from the middle class followed by the lower middle class (26.8%). Hence, the population profile and more so the funding source of our study group may not be the true reflection of Indian population because of the setting and treatment policy of this hospital. As this center provides health care at a subsidized rate, yet not free of cost, where the cost of a renal transplantation is approximately Rs 2,50,000 which is at least half as compared to cost of renal transplantation at corporate sectors. Even in this favorable scenario, only 30.4% recipients had improvement in SES where as 48.4% and 20.7% recipients had deterioration and stable SES. We also noticed that the pre-transplant social strata have a significant impact on post-transplant socioeconomic rehabilitation. There was significant correlation (R = 0.715) between baseline socio-economic strata and SES after transplant. This finding makes it very clear that long-term positive impact of renal transplantation is only seen in the higher social class of patients in our country.
We found that one-time funding support for transplant surgery had adverse impact on socioeconomic rehabilitation. This may partly be because of very high indirect costs related to transplant, like cost of hemodialysis during long waiting period, cost of travel, food and accommodation for patients and donor family members. More so, high cost of immunosuppression adds to significant out-of-pocket financial expenditure by the patients and their family members. Secondly, 72% of the one-time funded support group belongs to the lower middle or lower socioeconomic strata; they were already overburdened by financial crisis and debt before reaching this hospital. A study by Ramachandran [8] et al., on cost analysis for transplantation in India, found that indirect expenses ranged from US $226 to 15,283 and most of the indirect expenses were related to the loss of income of the patient and caregivers.
In this study, 41 (22%) patients have lost their job after transplantation as compared to 56% patients as found by Ramachandran et al. [8] This discrepancy may be explained by different population profiles of these two studies. 43% of our patient families were in debt after transplantation with mean debt of Rs. 4,78,800 ± 62,272. Ramachandran [8] et al. reported that 54% of patients had severe financial crisis in their study group in a public sector hospital of India (government funded). These are very alarming reality that should be kept in mind before offering transplant to underprivileged population, where decision of transplantation is often taken on an emotional basis and many patients are uninformed regarding of the amount of expenses and the need for continuous funding sources.
One in every four patients had a history of poor compliance to immunosuppression at one or more occasions in the post-transplant period mainly due to the lack of finances, which is a unique finding of present study. This may complicate the long-term graft survival and becomes a challenge for a successful transplant program.
There was a significant drop in social participation by 34% after transplant. This is probably related to social dogma and fear of getting infection which is largely related to lack of health education. In our study group only 53% patients had satisfactory outlook toward transplant. Such a finding is an objective measurement of achievement or attainment of transplant program in our perspective. The scenario could have been even worse, if study population would be from public sector hospitals catering the rural population and if the patients with failed transplantation were also included in the study.
Is the financial crisis and unsatisfied socioeconomic rehabilitation in our context surprising? Probably it is a veiled fact that we all aware are of. Though the spending on healthcare is 4.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), the state expenditure is only 0.9% of the total spending, being among the lowest in the world. [18],[19] People using their own resources spend rest of it. Thus, only around 15% of all health expenditure in the country is borne by the state, and rest 85% comes as "out-of-pocket payment" by the people. This makes the Indian public health system grossly inadequate and under-funded [18],[19],[20] Moreover, only about 5.5% of the Indian population has some form of medical insurance. [18] Virtually all of the families from poor rural areas lack any form of healthcare insurance. Xu et al. [21] identified three key preconditions for household catastrophic health expenditure in a multi-country analysis: The availability of health services requiring payment, low capacity to pay, and the lack of prepayment or health insurance, all of which exist in India.
Though at its budding stage, some states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have already taken some initiative to provide free transplant as well as immunosuppression to underprivileged people even in private care centers through government-private health insurance partnership. [22],[23] Various models have been developed in countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan and some Latin American states to provide universal coverage to meet the whole expenditure of RRT. [24],[25],[26],[27],[28] However, this requires provision of a large budget to develop many transplant centers with qualified doctors, amendment of law for successful cadaveric donor program and to provide socioeconomic including occupational rehabilitation model for ESRD patients. Last but not the least, gender inequality, the social and economic inequality in the access to transplantation should not be ignored. [17],[29],[30],[31] Efforts are needed to overcome these biases.
A few limitations of our study must be addressed. We evaluated the SES and thus rehabilitations in a tertiary care center which cater mostly the middle class of populations. Hence our population cohort may not be the true representation of rural India where access to health care is of much inferior quality. We have only considered recipients who had successful transplantation. Therefore patients who had adverse treatment outcome would have faced much worse scenario which merits further study. This was a cross-sectional study and two questionnaires were filled at the time of interview regarding the pre-transplant and post-transplant current SES. A possibility of recall bias regarding past SES remained an important concern.
More than 65% of our patient population, who belong to middle, lower middle and lower class, had poor socioeconomic rehabilitation even after a successful renal transplant. One-time funding source for transplant had significant negative impact on SES and rehabilitation. Restricted social participation, job loss and financial crisis measured by debt are other concerns.
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[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3]
Kapoor R
Sharma RK
Srivastava A
Arora S
Sureka SK
social participations
socioeconomic rehabilitationreconstruction
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text:
How to get a politician to say just what you want to hear
22 Mar 2016 6 Video
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by Bill Camarda
So you've probably heard this old joke: "How can you tell when a politician is lying? When their lips move." Well, guess what: soon, that might not work anymore.
Soon, when you're watching a live speech or press conference, you may not be able to tell whose lips are moving, or who's actually speaking.
Imagine a brave new world of live remixes, where politicians or other celebrities convincingly say what some malefactor wants them to say, in real-time — an era where, as Wired.co.uk puts it, "you can make anyone say anything."
That world isn't quite here yet. But, with Face2Face, researchers from Stanford University, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg have brought it one long stride closer.
See for yourself. They've pulled off a pretty remarkable feat of technical hocus-pocus.
Here's how it works. Start with a live RGB video – from YouTube, for instance. (The researchers experimented with videos of George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, and, of course, Donald Trump.)
Now, with a basic low-cost webcam, capture RGB video of an actor speaking different words, with correspondingly different facial expressions.
Their software does the rest: copying your actor's facial expressions onto the face of your famous politician. As the International Business Times notes, Face2Face can even "look for the mouth interior that best matches the re-targeted expression and warp it to fit onto the celebrity's face."
The result occasionally slips into weird uncanny-valley territory. Moreover, this particular software research project can't match vocal characteristics, so you'd want an actor who sounds at least a bit like your celebrity victim.
Down the road, the researchers envision that target video might be manipulated directly by audio input, presumably making it possible to splice in content from other speeches by the politician you aim to victimize.
Still, all in all, Face2Face is quite impressive: if you weren't anticipating fakery, you might well be fooled.
For a small preview of the implications, consider the contretemps that arose a couple of years ago over whether Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis did or didn't offer an obscene gesture to his German creditors.
Previews of the published research are available here. The final paper is scheduled for presentation in June, at the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, appropriately located in the world headquarters of simulation and fakery, Las Vegas.
More of the authors' remarkable recent work can be found in this 2015 paper, wherein they suggest two intriguing applications:
A multilingual video-conferencing setup in which the video of one participant could be altered in real time to photo-realistically reenact the facial expression and mouth motion of a real-time translator, and
Professionally captured video of somebody in business attire with a new realtime face capture of yourself sitting in casual clothing on your sofa.
We confess that "never having to dress up for a teleconference" is about as compelling as an application gets.
However, we can't help noting their understated observation that "Application scenarios reach even further as photo-realistic reenactment enables the real-time manipulation of facial expression and motion in videos while making it challenging to detect that the video input is spoofed."
Yeah, we'd bet on that.
6 comments on "How to get a politician to say just what you want to hear"
Well, if anyone still trust anyone on TV, here's your sign. Or maybe the over dub'ers will make them speak the truth.
Guy says:
I'm just stunned it took all the way until 2016!
At least when everybody knows they can't trust video, everybody who regrets saying something in front of a camera will have an iron-clad alibi now. "It wasn't me, it's a computer generated fake!"
Mark Stockley says:
There's been ample evidence that photography and video are untrustworthy from the very beginning but for some reason it's never sunk in and we're stuck with the trope that "the camera never lies". It has no basis in evidence, or even anecdotal experience, but it gets treated like a law of physics.
For what it's worth this is one of my favourites – Boulevard du Temple – it's a photograph of a busy street that has almost nobody in it (because the exposure time was so long) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boulevard_du_Temple_by_Daguerre.jpg
lucky49relay+nss@gmail.com says:
While this tech has some scary implications, I think I just figured out the plot to Weekend at Bernie's 3…
mittfh says:
It could also be very useful for dubbing TV programmes / films into other languages, so the actors appear to be lipsynched with the audio. It would be interesting to test it with animation – I'd imagine it would work better on humanoid characters than anthropomorphised animals.
So, how do we authenticate video of people speaking? How do we look at a video and know that, yeah, that's actually Trump saying exactly what he said at the time?
We're going to have to figure something out that actually works.
REvil ransomware crew allegedly busted in Russia, says FSB

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
import uuid
from msrest.pipeline import ClientRawResponse
from msrestazure.azure_exceptions import CloudError

from .. import models

class VirtualMachineImagesOperations(object):
    """VirtualMachineImagesOperations operations.

    :param client: Client for service requests.
    :param config: Configuration of service client.
    :param serializer: An object model serializer.
    :param deserializer: An object model deserializer.
    :ivar api_version: Client Api Version. Constant value: "2017-03-30".
    """

    models = models

    def __init__(self, client, config, serializer, deserializer):

        self._client = client
        self._serialize = serializer
        self._deserialize = deserializer
        self.api_version = "2017-03-30"

        self.config = config

    def get(
            self, location, publisher_name, offer, skus, version, custom_headers=None, raw=False, **operation_config):
        """Gets a virtual machine image.

        :param location: The name of a supported Azure region.
        :type location: str
        :param publisher_name: A valid image publisher.
        :type publisher_name: str
        :param offer: A valid image publisher offer.
        :type offer: str
        :param skus: A valid image SKU.
        :type skus: str
        :param version: A valid image SKU version.
        :type version: str
        :param dict custom_headers: headers that will be added to the request
        :param bool raw: returns the direct response alongside the
         deserialized response
        :param operation_config: :ref:`Operation configuration
         overrides<msrest:optionsforoperations>`.
        :return: VirtualMachineImage or ClientRawResponse if raw=true
        :rtype: ~azure.mgmt.compute.v2017_03_30.models.VirtualMachineImage or
         ~msrest.pipeline.ClientRawResponse
        :raises: :class:`CloudError<msrestazure.azure_exceptions.CloudError>`
        """
        # Construct URL
        url = self.get.metadata['url']
        path_format_arguments = {
            'location': self._serialize.url("location", location, 'str'),
            'publisherName': self._serialize.url("publisher_name", publisher_name, 'str'),
            'offer': self._serialize.url("offer", offer, 'str'),
            'skus': self._serialize.url("skus", skus, 'str'),
            'version': self._serialize.url("version", version, 'str'),
            'subscriptionId': self._serialize.url("self.config.subscription_id", self.config.subscription_id, 'str')
        }
        url = self._client.format_url(url, **path_format_arguments)

        # Construct parameters
        query_parameters = {}
        query_parameters['api-version'] = self._serialize.query("self.api_version", self.api_version, 'str')

        # Construct headers
        header_parameters = {}
        header_parameters['Content-Type'] = 'application/json; charset=utf-8'
        if self.config.generate_client_request_id:
            header_parameters['x-ms-client-request-id'] = str(uuid.uuid1())
        if custom_headers:
            header_parameters.update(custom_headers)
        if self.config.accept_language is not None:
            header_parameters['accept-language'] = self._serialize.header("self.config.accept_language", self.config.accept_language, 'str')

        # Construct and send request
        request = self._client.get(url, query_parameters)
        response = self._client.send(request, header_parameters, stream=False, **operation_config)

        if response.status_code not in [200]:
            exp = CloudError(response)
            exp.request_id = response.headers.get('x-ms-request-id')
            raise exp

        deserialized = None

        if response.status_code == 200:
            deserialized = self._deserialize('VirtualMachineImage', response)

        if raw:
            client_raw_response = ClientRawResponse(deserialized, response)
            return client_raw_response

        return deserialized
    get.metadata = {'url': '/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/publishers/{publisherName}/artifacttypes/vmimage/offers/{offer}/skus/{skus}/versions/{version}'}

    def list(
            self, location, publisher_name, offer, skus, filter=None, top=None, orderby=None, custom_headers=None, raw=False, **operation_config):
        """Gets a list of all virtual machine image versions for the specified
        location, publisher, offer, and SKU.

        :param location: The name of a supported Azure region.
        :type location: str
        :param publisher_name: A valid image publisher.
        :type publisher_name: str
        :param offer: A valid image publisher offer.
        :type offer: str
        :param skus: A valid image SKU.
        :type skus: str
        :param filter: The filter to apply on the operation.
        :type filter: str
        :param top:
        :type top: int
        :param orderby:
        :type orderby: str
        :param dict custom_headers: headers that will be added to the request
        :param bool raw: returns the direct response alongside the
         deserialized response
        :param operation_config: :ref:`Operation configuration
         overrides<msrest:optionsforoperations>`.
        :return: list or ClientRawResponse if raw=true
        :rtype:
         list[~azure.mgmt.compute.v2017_03_30.models.VirtualMachineImageResource]
         or ~msrest.pipeline.ClientRawResponse
        :raises: :class:`CloudError<msrestazure.azure_exceptions.CloudError>`
        """
        # Construct URL
        url = self.list.metadata['url']
        path_format_arguments = {
            'location': self._serialize.url("location", location, 'str'),
            'publisherName': self._serialize.url("publisher_name", publisher_name, 'str'),
            'offer': self._serialize.url("offer", offer, 'str'),
            'skus': self._serialize.url("skus", skus, 'str'),
            'subscriptionId': self._serialize.url("self.config.subscription_id", self.config.subscription_id, 'str')
        }
        url = self._client.format_url(url, **path_format_arguments)

        # Construct parameters
        query_parameters = {}
        if filter is not None:
            query_parameters['$filter'] = self._serialize.query("filter", filter, 'str')
        if top is not None:
            query_parameters['$top'] = self._serialize.query("top", top, 'int')
        if orderby is not None:
            query_parameters['$orderby'] = self._serialize.query("orderby", orderby, 'str')
        query_parameters['api-version'] = self._serialize.query("self.api_version", self.api_version, 'str')

        # Construct headers
        header_parameters = {}
        header_parameters['Content-Type'] = 'application/json; charset=utf-8'
        if self.config.generate_client_request_id:
            header_parameters['x-ms-client-request-id'] = str(uuid.uuid1())
        if custom_headers:
            header_parameters.update(custom_headers)
        if self.config.accept_language is not None:
            header_parameters['accept-language'] = self._serialize.header("self.config.accept_language", self.config.accept_language, 'str')

        # Construct and send request
        request = self._client.get(url, query_parameters)
        response = self._client.send(request, header_parameters, stream=False, **operation_config)

        if response.status_code not in [200]:
            exp = CloudError(response)
            exp.request_id = response.headers.get('x-ms-request-id')
            raise exp

        deserialized = None

        if response.status_code == 200:
            deserialized = self._deserialize('[VirtualMachineImageResource]', response)

        if raw:
            client_raw_response = ClientRawResponse(deserialized, response)
            return client_raw_response

        return deserialized
    list.metadata = {'url': '/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/publishers/{publisherName}/artifacttypes/vmimage/offers/{offer}/skus/{skus}/versions'}

    def list_offers(
            self, location, publisher_name, custom_headers=None, raw=False, **operation_config):
        """Gets a list of virtual machine image offers for the specified location
        and publisher.

        :param location: The name of a supported Azure region.
        :type location: str
        :param publisher_name: A valid image publisher.
        :type publisher_name: str
        :param dict custom_headers: headers that will be added to the request
        :param bool raw: returns the direct response alongside the
         deserialized response
        :param operation_config: :ref:`Operation configuration
         overrides<msrest:optionsforoperations>`.
        :return: list or ClientRawResponse if raw=true
        :rtype:
         list[~azure.mgmt.compute.v2017_03_30.models.VirtualMachineImageResource]
         or ~msrest.pipeline.ClientRawResponse
        :raises: :class:`CloudError<msrestazure.azure_exceptions.CloudError>`
        """
        # Construct URL
        url = self.list_offers.metadata['url']
        path_format_arguments = {
            'location': self._serialize.url("location", location, 'str'),
            'publisherName': self._serialize.url("publisher_name", publisher_name, 'str'),
            'subscriptionId': self._serialize.url("self.config.subscription_id", self.config.subscription_id, 'str')
        }
        url = self._client.format_url(url, **path_format_arguments)

        # Construct parameters
        query_parameters = {}
        query_parameters['api-version'] = self._serialize.query("self.api_version", self.api_version, 'str')

        # Construct headers
        header_parameters = {}
        header_parameters['Content-Type'] = 'application/json; charset=utf-8'
        if self.config.generate_client_request_id:
            header_parameters['x-ms-client-request-id'] = str(uuid.uuid1())
        if custom_headers:
            header_parameters.update(custom_headers)
        if self.config.accept_language is not None:
            header_parameters['accept-language'] = self._serialize.header("self.config.accept_language", self.config.accept_language, 'str')

        # Construct and send request
        request = self._client.get(url, query_parameters)
        response = self._client.send(request, header_parameters, stream=False, **operation_config)

        if response.status_code not in [200]:
            exp = CloudError(response)
            exp.request_id = response.headers.get('x-ms-request-id')
            raise exp

        deserialized = None

        if response.status_code == 200:
            deserialized = self._deserialize('[VirtualMachineImageResource]', response)

        if raw:
            client_raw_response = ClientRawResponse(deserialized, response)
            return client_raw_response

        return deserialized
    list_offers.metadata = {'url': '/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/publishers/{publisherName}/artifacttypes/vmimage/offers'}

    def list_publishers(
            self, location, custom_headers=None, raw=False, **operation_config):
        """Gets a list of virtual machine image publishers for the specified Azure
        location.

        :param location: The name of a supported Azure region.
        :type location: str
        :param dict custom_headers: headers that will be added to the request
        :param bool raw: returns the direct response alongside the
         deserialized response
        :param operation_config: :ref:`Operation configuration
         overrides<msrest:optionsforoperations>`.
        :return: list or ClientRawResponse if raw=true
        :rtype:
         list[~azure.mgmt.compute.v2017_03_30.models.VirtualMachineImageResource]
         or ~msrest.pipeline.ClientRawResponse
        :raises: :class:`CloudError<msrestazure.azure_exceptions.CloudError>`
        """
        # Construct URL
        url = self.list_publishers.metadata['url']
        path_format_arguments = {
            'location': self._serialize.url("location", location, 'str'),
            'subscriptionId': self._serialize.url("self.config.subscription_id", self.config.subscription_id, 'str')
        }
        url = self._client.format_url(url, **path_format_arguments)

        # Construct parameters
        query_parameters = {}
        query_parameters['api-version'] = self._serialize.query("self.api_version", self.api_version, 'str')

        # Construct headers
        header_parameters = {}
        header_parameters['Content-Type'] = 'application/json; charset=utf-8'
        if self.config.generate_client_request_id:
            header_parameters['x-ms-client-request-id'] = str(uuid.uuid1())
        if custom_headers:
            header_parameters.update(custom_headers)
        if self.config.accept_language is not None:
            header_parameters['accept-language'] = self._serialize.header("self.config.accept_language", self.config.accept_language, 'str')

        # Construct and send request
        request = self._client.get(url, query_parameters)
        response = self._client.send(request, header_parameters, stream=False, **operation_config)

        if response.status_code not in [200]:
            exp = CloudError(response)
            exp.request_id = response.headers.get('x-ms-request-id')
            raise exp

        deserialized = None

        if response.status_code == 200:
            deserialized = self._deserialize('[VirtualMachineImageResource]', response)

        if raw:
            client_raw_response = ClientRawResponse(deserialized, response)
            return client_raw_response

        return deserialized
    list_publishers.metadata = {'url': '/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/publishers'}

    def list_skus(
            self, location, publisher_name, offer, custom_headers=None, raw=False, **operation_config):
        """Gets a list of virtual machine image SKUs for the specified location,
        publisher, and offer.

        :param location: The name of a supported Azure region.
        :type location: str
        :param publisher_name: A valid image publisher.
        :type publisher_name: str
        :param offer: A valid image publisher offer.
        :type offer: str
        :param dict custom_headers: headers that will be added to the request
        :param bool raw: returns the direct response alongside the
         deserialized response
        :param operation_config: :ref:`Operation configuration
         overrides<msrest:optionsforoperations>`.
        :return: list or ClientRawResponse if raw=true
        :rtype:
         list[~azure.mgmt.compute.v2017_03_30.models.VirtualMachineImageResource]
         or ~msrest.pipeline.ClientRawResponse
        :raises: :class:`CloudError<msrestazure.azure_exceptions.CloudError>`
        """
        # Construct URL
        url = self.list_skus.metadata['url']
        path_format_arguments = {
            'location': self._serialize.url("location", location, 'str'),
            'publisherName': self._serialize.url("publisher_name", publisher_name, 'str'),
            'offer': self._serialize.url("offer", offer, 'str'),
            'subscriptionId': self._serialize.url("self.config.subscription_id", self.config.subscription_id, 'str')
        }
        url = self._client.format_url(url, **path_format_arguments)

        # Construct parameters
        query_parameters = {}
        query_parameters['api-version'] = self._serialize.query("self.api_version", self.api_version, 'str')

        # Construct headers
        header_parameters = {}
        header_parameters['Content-Type'] = 'application/json; charset=utf-8'
        if self.config.generate_client_request_id:
            header_parameters['x-ms-client-request-id'] = str(uuid.uuid1())
        if custom_headers:
            header_parameters.update(custom_headers)
        if self.config.accept_language is not None:
            header_parameters['accept-language'] = self._serialize.header("self.config.accept_language", self.config.accept_language, 'str')

        # Construct and send request
        request = self._client.get(url, query_parameters)
        response = self._client.send(request, header_parameters, stream=False, **operation_config)

        if response.status_code not in [200]:
            exp = CloudError(response)
            exp.request_id = response.headers.get('x-ms-request-id')
            raise exp

        deserialized = None

        if response.status_code == 200:
            deserialized = self._deserialize('[VirtualMachineImageResource]', response)

        if raw:
            client_raw_response = ClientRawResponse(deserialized, response)
            return client_raw_response

        return deserialized
    list_skus.metadata = {'url': '/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/publishers/{publisherName}/artifacttypes/vmimage/offers/{offer}/skus'}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
'Phantom Thread': How Paul Thomas Anderson's Costume Designer Channeled Reynolds Woodcock
Working with star Daniel Day-Lewis, costume designer Mark Bridges could win his second Oscar with this love poem to fashion statements.
Bill Desowitz
@BillDesowitz
Photo Courtesy of Focus Features
For costume designer Mark Bridges, it's always an adventure working with Paul Thomas Anderson. But "Phantom Thread," their eighth collaboration, represented a meta challenge: It was a movie about his craft.
But Bridges admits that there's a big difference between fashion and costume design. "I'm there to facilitate an actor's performance and fulfill the vision of a director," he said.
And in the case of "Phantom Thread," about the world of London haute couture in the 1950s, it's a movie about the fashion designer as auteur. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the eccentric and obsessive Reynolds Woodcock, whose world is turned upside down when he falls for Eastern European waitress Alma (Vicky Krieps). But imagine if "Rebecca's" Joan Fontaine struck back at Laurence Olivier with sly subversion, exorcising his demons while bringing them closer together. That's what Anderson did with his twisted and witty love story.
Resurrecting London Couture of the 1950s
For Bridges, it was an opportunity to explore celebrity designers Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior along with London staples Hardy Amies, John Cavanagh, Charles Creed, Norman Hartnell, and Digby Morton. The trick was finding the right fit for the fictional Woodcock. "What were the requirements? What were all those British guys doing? And how did Reynolds fit into that?," said Bridges, who won an Oscar for "The Artist."
Bridges did intense research at the Victoria and Albert Museum (he discovered that '50s London glorified woolen suits), watched movies such as "Maytime in Mayfair," a 1949 British musical comedy about Mayfair's haute couture ladies' fashions, and went clothes shopping with Day-Lewis.
"He's very involved and knows that world so well," Bridges said. "He grew up in a level of London [Kensington] where gentlemen were concerned about their clothes, shopped well, and always looked good because they were well made. And this is the kind of man that Reynolds was. It was really fun for me to work with him on that because I was exposed to Savile Row tailoring at Anderson & Sheppard for the first time. Or some of the finest shoe making at [G.J.] Cleverley at the Royal Arcade, where he had his shoes made."
In the end, director, star, and costume designer made Woodcock an iconoclastic, artistically minded London designer. "Paul was interested in Daniel as Reynolds having a sense of authorship," said Bridges. "We all sat down one day and decided it was rich fabrics, a heavy dose of lace, rich colors, and British woolens. Those were the parameters."
Naturally, the actor had a hand in dressing his character. He chose lots of lavender (including an eye-catching bow tie) and some offbeat choices such as a windowpane-check jacket and blue herringbone wool coat. This took Anderson & Sheppard enjoyably out of its comfort zone with raglan sleeves and big patch pockets.
The House of Woodcock
Bridges and his team created 50 garments for the House of Woodcock, run by Reynolds and his domineering sister Cyril (Lesley Manville). "There were normal clothes as well as statement pieces," Bridges said. " It was fun deciding the millinery and the tricks of his trade. He didn't have a pure line of clothes. It was more inspirational. He made garments for special clients and then modified them for his fashion show."
When Reynolds first meets Alma in the country restaurant, she wears a plum dress. "I think we wanted to do something that felt unusually modern and its very clean shape plays up her bone structure," said Bridges. "It reveals that she inspired him."
Photo : Laurie Sparham / Focus Features
The first dress Reynolds makes for Alma is striking in lavender. "We had gone to the Victorian Albert for some research and there was this Balenciaga gown we looked at that had this incredible embroidery on it, all hand done, and the sequins were trapped underneath the stitching for a really subtle glitter," Bridges said.
"And we had our embroiderer recreate that by hand on the bodice of that dress, too. We were shooting in winter and I knew she needed some kind of a jacket and we devised a shaped jacket with as few seams as possible so it comes out very sculptural. And then I had opera gloves to match the brown accent lining. That's a real couture touch, too."
The lavender silk dress for Alma's photo shoot held greater significance for Reynolds because it grew out of an antique piece of lace. Although Anderson had written in the script that the heirloom was satin, Bridges convinced him that lace was more precious. "That really was 17th-century Flemish lace that we found a piece of," he added. "Everybody held their breath when they knew we had to cut into it."
This evolved into the lavender and maroon dress and cape that Reynolds made for Countess Henrietta Harding (Gina McKee). "As we sat down, Paul would doodle a little sketch of Henrietta's dress and he chose the colors and put the two fabrics together," Bridges said. "It was up to me and my head cutter to figure out how the little stick drawing becomes a workable, opulent, society garment."
It was all part of making Reynolds a cut above the other mid-century London fashion designers. He wasn't chic, but he had a style all his own.
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This Article is related to: Awards and tagged Best Costume Design, Daniel Day-Lewis, Mark Bridges, Oscars, Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread, Top of the Line


When developers talk about a game's metagame they're usually referring to a persistent levelling system or leaderboards. The real metagame is far more brutal. It's the griefing you can inflict on your friends and family.
The latest trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts shows Infinity Ward know that only too well.
I imagine you can relate to the events depicted above. Either as the fellow on the left or the guy on the right. The subtle use of the tea bag is what touches me most.


text:
Q: nvidia-smi and double monitor issue After I installed several versions of cuda, I have faced several serious issues win my ubuntu machine.
Such Cuda versions are important for me to run ond neural networks that were built for older Tensorflows.
However, by installing all these cudas, my life came into a disaster. First, every time I run nvidia-smi I have the feedback
spra-e3@u1801890:~$ nvidia-smi

NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make
sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.

I tried to install and reboot all the NVIDIA drivers that show in my screen, but nothing

I basically lost two things:
1- obviously, nvidia-smi is not working
2- before, I had two monitors plugged to my card but now only the main is working
3- I never had do disable boot secure model so I never had problems with that
I honestly believe that installing different versions of cuda may have done the bad trick. They are now uninstalled.
Is there any workaround on this?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
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Jack Gritzmacher
As the founding member of Mesabi Musical Theatre, Jack Gritzmacher has been with the organization since the beginning, working mainly as producer and managing director; however, with the re-organization of MMT in 2013, he was appointed Artistic Director of the organization and asked to direct Chicago in 2014. Jack has been the backbone of this troupe since its inception and currently serves as a member-at-large on the MMT board. Jack is also a part of the Eveleth-Gilbert Drama Guild, directing the theater program for the Eveleth-Gilbert School District where he teaches Language Arts. He also serves as a Minnesota State High School League Region 7A Speech/Drama Representative. Jack has made good use of his double-major in Theatre Arts and English from the University of Minnesota, as well as his minor in speech communications, spending the vast majority of his adult life coaching speech and directing high school plays. He was also a founding member of St. Paul's Shakespeare & Company, first acting in several of the summer repertory productions before directing Twelfth Night for the company, and becoming the company's stage combat master in such productions as Julius Caesar and Macbeth. While teaching in Arizona early in his career, he produced several shows for Mesa Little Theatre, eventually becoming the group's artistic director for four seasons. He has also traveled the country with Dan Witkowski Productions, performing in and directing magic shows in such venues as Las Vegas, Disneyland, Disney World, and the Six Flags theme parks. Somewhere along the line Jack missed his calling to be a major league baseball coach. Jack feels blessed to have had not one but two wives, at different times of course; he also boasts of a long-time mistress–the theatre. He's the proud father of four boys: Tanner, Tory, Alec, and Max.


text:
SAF, CCRKBA See Membership Surge in 18-20 Age Group
Posted By Dave Workman On Monday, March 12, 2018 04:37 PM. Under Breaking News, Featured, Gun control, Second Amendment
Gun rights leader Alan Gottlieb says membership interest and donations to SAF and CCRKBA have surged among young adults since gun control efforts started targeting them. (Dave Workman)
By Dave Workman
The Second Amendment Foundation has reported an astonishing 1,200 percent increase in memberships and donations from young adults in the 18-to-20-year-old age class over the past three weeks, evidently spurred by moves to restrict their gun rights in the wake of the tragic mass murder at a Florida high school.
At the same time, SAF's sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, has also seen a membership spike in that age group, though not as significant. The CCRKBA boost is closer to 500 percent.
The news came from SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. He also serves as CCRKBA chairman.
He acknowledged the foundation does not normally see so much interest from young adults. But now, people in that age group have suddenly realized they are being specifically targeted because of the act of a lone perpetrator who, according to published reports, had sent all kinds of "warning signs" that he posed a danger, and law enforcement essentially did nothing.
"We normally don't get that many members or donors in that age group," Gottlieb acknowledged, "since the gun rights movement typically trends toward older Americans. But the 18- to 20-year-olds have never been specifically targeted before, and they are obviously alarmed."
He suggested that the sudden influx of young Americans into the gun rights movement is important, "not just to respond to the current gun control threat, but as the movement has gotten older, it is encouraging to see so many young adults getting involved in support of Second Amendment rights."
But the significance of this development cannot be underestimated. While the mainstream media has focused on the high schoolers who are planning this Wednesday's walk out across the country to protest for more gun control laws, young adults have suddenly discovered the uncomfortable reality of being singled out as a class of citizens against whom a gun control policy has been implemented.
"While the media has paraded high school students to push a gun control agenda," Gottlieb said, "the age group that is now being targeted by that effort is energizing, and showing that there is another side to this controversy."
Two large store chains, Dick's Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, and Walmart decided unilaterally to not sell guns or ammunition to anyone under 21. They have been sued in two states, Oregon and Michigan, and it is likely young adults in other states will follow.
In addition, the National Rifle Association immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the new law in Florida.
"It's important to note," Gottlieb observed, "that this interest surge has been 'organic' on the Internet. SAF did nothing special to make it happen. They have really done this on their own, finding us on the Internet and following up."
He intends to personally reach out to young adults in the affected age group, so that they "know they are welcome in the gun rights movement."
"SAF has always conducted leadership training conferences," Gottlieb stated, "but now we'll increase our emphasis on a younger audience, to integrate them into leadership roles."
Tags: Alan Gottlieb, CCRKBA, Florida, Gun Rights, SAF
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text:
Professor Paul Betts
Professor of Modern European History
01865 (2)74534
paul.betts@sant.ox.ac.uk
My research and publications center on Modern European Cultural History in general and 20th Century German History in particular. I am especially interested in the relationship between culture and politics over the course of the century, and have worked on the themes of material culture, cultural diplomacy, photography, memory and nostalgia, human rights and international justice, death and changing notions of private life.
My published work includes the books Within Walls: Private Life in the German Democratic Republic (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010; paperback, 2012), which was awarded the Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History by the Wiener Library, and The Authority of Everyday Objects: A Cultural History of West German Industrial Design (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004; paperback, 2007). In November 2020 my new book Ruin and Renewal: Civilising Europe after World War II will be published by Basic Books in the US, and Profile Books in the UK.
I have also co-edited seven volumes:
The Ethics of Seeing: Photography and 20th Century German History (Berghahn, 2017), with Jennifer Evans and Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann
Religion, Science and Communism in Cold War Europe (Palgrave, 2016), with Stephen A. Smith
Heritage in the Modern World: Historical Preservation in International Perspective, Past & Present Supplement 10 (OUP, 2015), with Corey Ross
Years of Persecution, Years of Extermination: Saul Friedländer and the Future of Holocaust Studies (Continuum, 2010), with Christian Wiese
Between Mass Death and Individual Loss: The Place of the Dead in Twentieth-Century Germany (Berghahn Books, 2008; pb, 2011), with Alon Confino and Dirk Schumann
Socialist Modern: East German Everyday Culture and Politics (University of Michigan Press, 2008), with Katherine Pence
Pain and Prosperity: Reconsidering Twentieth Century German History (Stanford University Press, 2003), with Greg Eghigian
Co-Curator, traveling exhibition and catalogue, Tito in Africa: Picturing Solidarity, Museum of Yugoslavia, Belgrade (June-September 2017), Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (November 2017-March 2018), Die Wende Museum, Los Angeles (Spring 2019).
Co-Investigator, "Socialism Goes Global: Connecting the Second and Third Worlds," 4 Year AHRC-Funded Collaborative Grant, with 6 other international institutions, 2014-2018.
I was Chair of the German History Society (2011-2014), and co-edited the journal German History, 2004-2009. Since 2009 I have served on the Editorial Board of Past & Present.
I am Series Editor of New Directions in German History, Berghahn Books, 2012-, and was Series Co-Editor, St Antony's Series, Palgrave Macmillan 2013-2016.
I was Director of St Antony's European Studies Centre, 2015-2017
For 2018-2019 I held a Leverhulme Research Fellowship to finish my book on the remaking of Europe after 1945.
See page on St Antony's College website
Alexandra Fergen
Merton College
Gertrud Bettina Mendelsohn
Lincoln College
Andrew Sanchez
Liliane Stadler
St. Antony's College
Bethan Winter
St Peter's College
FHS: Masters:
General History XIII 1914-1945
Europe in the Twentieth Century, 1914-1989: National, Transnational International Histories
General History XIV 1941-1973
Theories and Methods
Cold War Europe: Further Subject
Revolutions of 1989: Special Subject
Socialism goes global
Ruin and Renewal Civilising Europe After the Second World War
Drawing on original sources as well as individual stories and voices, this is a gripping and authoritative account of how Europe rebuilt itself - and what we, in the twenty-first century, could lose again.
1989 At Thirty: A Recast Legacy*
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>These days 1989 isn't what it used to be. Not so long ago the wildfire revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe during that momentous year were routinely celebrated as the grand victory of liberal democracy over Soviet-style communism. However, recent developments in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere on the continent which in various ways all invoked 1989, either as inspiration or negative foil, behove us to reconsider the effects of that fateful year in Central Europe from a different perspective. The rise of xenophobia, resurgent populist politics on both the Radical Right and the Left, as well as the spread of 'illiberal democracy' across Europe, the US and elsewhere have predictably generated great alarm. Plenty of commentary on the comeback of authoritarian anti-liberalism in Central Europe has claimed that we are witnessing a kind of 'return of the repressed,' a dangerous repudiation of the golden principles of 1989 three decades after the uprisings. But construing recent developments in Central Europe as simply an anti-1989 backlash does not get us very far, not least because the unrest of 1989 carried within it the seeds of illiberalism as well. With distance, the inheritance of the 'revolutionary autumn' appears more mixed and precarious, and much harder to classify than it once was. Like all revolutions, 1989 brought in its train a mixed bag of dreams and disappointments, stark ruptures and stubborn continuities, and this article revisits some of the grey and even darker tones of the inheritance.</jats:p>
The Polemics of Pity: British Photographs of Berlin, 1945-1947
Humanitarianism and the Media
The Ethics of Seeing Photography and Twentieth-Century German History
The Ethics of Seeing brings together an international group of scholars to explore the complex relationship between the visual and the historic in German history.
The Intimacy of Revolution: 1989 in Pictures


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BR Home > Box Scores > 2000 > Montreal Expos at New York Mets Box Score, October 1, 2000
New York Mets Schedule
Montreal Expos Schedule
Montreal Expos at New York Mets Box Score, October 1, 2000
Prev Game
Venue: Shea Stadium
Day Game, on grass
Montreal Expos 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 3
New York Mets 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 0
WP: Pat Mahomes (5-3) • LP: Jeremy Powell (0-3)
Winning Run scored with 0 outs
You are here: BR Home > Box Scores > 2000 > Montreal Expos at New York Mets Box Score, October 1, 2000


Bio-Protection Research Centre, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
Departments of Statistics and Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, Qld 4001, Australia.
This study examines the genetic data coverage and availability in the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD), versions 2.5 and 3.0, and GenBank for the 88 invasive insects listed in the Global Invasive Species Database ( http://www.issg.org). No data are recorded in either BOLD or GenBank for seven of those species. As a dedicated repository of curated barcode data BOLD is either missing data or contains inaccessible private data for 37 (42%) of the species while no data are available in GenBank for nine (8%) of the species. An evaluation of the Barcode Identification Number (BIN) scheme in BOLD ver. 3.0 was also evaluated and in 41% of cases the BIN contained more than one species. This essentially arose due to the 1% delimitation thresholds associated with the BINs and would result in misidentifications. Overall, more information is available from GenBank for the 88 invasive species listed on the Global Invasive Species Database, but quality checking is required to ensure that the data extracted from GenBank are of sufficient quality to make it useful. The implications of these results are discussed, with investment in parallel data silos suggested to be both costly and potentially an inefficient use of resources that may lead to loss of data if the means needed to maintain these databases become unavailable.


Krleža od školskih dana pripada omladinskom revolucionarnom pokretu, kao .. "Povratak Filipa Latinovicza", "Na rubu pameti", "Banket u Blitvi" i "Zastave". Krleža, Miroslav, Zastave. Zagreb, Izdav. poduzeće Zora, ( OCoLC) Material Type: Document, Fiction, Internet resource. Document . Get this from a library! Zastave / 1 Izbrana dela / Miroslav Krleža. 6, Knjiga prva i druga.. [Miroslav Krleža].
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text:
Scottish caravan park operator buys sites in Devon
admin0 December 21, 2021, 7:42 pm December 21, 2021 0 335
A Scotland-focused caravan parks business has hit the acquisition trail in England months after it was bought by property investors.
Verdant Leisure has bought two caravan parks in Devon amid what backers described as an exciting time for the sector.
Caravan park operators have benefitted from a boom in demand for staycations in recent years. This has been fuelled by curbs imposed on overseas travel amid the pandemic, although parks were closed for months last year amid lockdowns in the UK.
Verdant said it is keen to acquire more parks next year.
The acquisition of the Golden Coast Holiday Village and Cleavewood Park in north Devon is the first completed by Verdant in southern England.
READ MORE: Scottish caravan park operator sold amid staycation boom
The business said the expansion would allow it to appeal to a much wider customer base.
It did not provide financial details.
Verdant was launched following the acquisition of the Pease Bay site on the Berwickshire coast and Thurston Manor in East Lothian in 2010. It has acquired five more sites in Scotland since then and three in County Durham.
The business was formed by a team led by Graham Hodgson, who sold South Lakeland Caravan Parks for £125m in 2007. The founders believed Verdant could achieve rapid growth by acting as a consolidator in a fragmented market.
They won backing for expansion from private equity investors.
In August Pears Partnership Capital acquired a majority stake in Verdant from Palatine Private Equity in a deal that it is thought put a multi-million valuation on the business.
READ MORE: Housing heavyweight eyes expansion in Scotland under leadership of former Edinburgh Trams boss
PPC acts on behalf of the family that owns the William Pears property group.
Regarding the move into Devon, PPC's Mark Harper said: "We are delighted to support Verdant's growth, and this acquisition provides scale for national expansion during an exciting time for the UK caravan park sector."
Previous ArticleVladimir Putin blames West for tensions and demands security guaranteesSNext ArticleAgenda: Embracing innovation within Scotland's National Care Service


text:
Some buyers reported their phones caught fire or exploded while they were charging, and Samsung said it had confirmed 35 such cases, caused by faulty batteries.
Since late last month, several users have posted photos and videos on social media showing the charred Note 7 with part of its 5.7-inch touchscreen burnt and melted, saying it suddenly caught fire.
Samsung has confirmed 35 such cases in South Korea and overseas.
The president of the firm's mobile business, Koh Dong-jin, said an investigation by the company found a battery cell made by one of its two battery suppliers caused the phone to catch fire.
He refused to name the battery supplier.
He said: "We have received several reports of battery explosion on the Note 7 that was officially launched on 19 August, and it has been confirmed that it was a battery cell problem."
He added he was "deeply sorry" over the incident and customers who already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones, regardless of the purchasing date.
The South Korean company said in a statement it would take around two weeks to prepare replacement devices.
It said it cannot comment on the cost of replacing sold Galaxy Note 7 phones, but it's a huge amount.
The announcement comes just two weeks after Samsung launched its latest flagship smartphone.
The firm said it has sold more than one million Note 7 smartphones in 10 countries so far including South Korea and the US.
It has manufactured about 2.5 million Note 7 phones so far, some of them still in inventory.
The planned release of the Note 7 in several European countries has not been suspended over growing safety concerns.
Samsung has said China is not affected by the sales suspension, because it used a battery made by another supplier for the Note 7 sold there. Sky News
reporter263
Minister's daughter Belinda Mutinhiri killed in car crash
Last-minute rescue for Warriors
Former Zbc News Presenter Rumbidzai Takawira lands top Post
Chamisa's MDC Alliance sticks to its name
Nursing Scholarships, Fellowships and grants for international students in UK
Zanu PF election results announced


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace RoboticsGUI
{
    namespace RobotIOControls
    {
        namespace Firmata
        {

            public class FirmataPWMOutput : AnimatGUI.DataObjects.Robotics.OutputSystem
            {
                public override string Description {get {return "Controls a pulse width modulation signal from a Firmata controller.";} set { }}
                public override string WorkspaceImageName {get {return "RoboticsGUI.Graphics.PWMSmall.gif";}}
                public override string ButtonImageName {get {return "RoboticsGUI.Graphics.PWMLarge.gif";}}
                public override string PartType {get { return "FirmataPWMOutput"; }}
                public override string ModuleName { get { return "RoboticsAnimatSim"; } }

                public FirmataPWMOutput(AnimatGUI.Framework.DataObject doParent)
                    : base(doParent)
                {
                    m_strName = "PWM Output";
                }

                public override AnimatGUI.Framework.DataObject Clone(AnimatGUI.Framework.DataObject doParent, bool bCutData, AnimatGUI.Framework.DataObject doRoot)
                {
                    FirmataPWMOutput doEngine = new FirmataPWMOutput(doParent);
                    return doEngine;
                }

                public override void BuildProperties(ref AnimatGuiCtrls.Controls.PropertyTable propTable)
                {
                    base.BuildProperties(ref propTable);

                    propTable.Properties.Add(new AnimatGuiCtrls.Controls.PropertySpec("Pin", this.IOComponentID.GetType(), "IOComponentID",
                                                "Properties", "The pin number where the PWM value will be output.", this.IOComponentID));
                }

            }

        }
    }
}


0July 22, 2011Mermaids on TV!
0July 20, 2011New Photo Set from Kiny McCarrick!
0July 20, 20112nd Feature Write-up and Photo Set on SacramentoPress.com!
0July 20, 2011Another Amazing Photo Set from Ang Ratty!
0July 20, 2011Great Photo Set And Write-up on SacramentoPress.com!
0July 19, 2011News10's Promenade Write-up and Photo Set!
0July 15, 2011Promenade is Sacramento News & Review's "Night & Day Pick"!


Furianne: Stop & Chat: Are You Getting Any Pets?
Aww, your mini rodents are quite cute. And your new doggie! She looks like maybe a husky-lab mix...? Is she blind in that one eye?
The only thing we know for sure is Husky. We're waiting until she fills out more (you can feel her spine D: poor girl) before we try and guess her breed.
She's not blind, as far as we or any of the vets can tell. She just has one blue, one half blue/half brown eye!
This is exciting news Liz, those tiny hamsters--I lurve them, as I'm sure you do. Peanut is an excellent name, as is Pickles, but that's off topic. I hope you are doing well, adjusting to the new digs and making a happy home with your new buddies. Dogs are the greatest friends ever, and you're living the dog life now. She's stunning.
With a little more free time, I hope you get into reading again and reviewing, as well as melting and showing off other home projects. Bravo on the diy hammy containment system, it's amazing.


text:
Capability Amplifier
Podcast with Mike Koenigs and Dan Sullivan
Amplify Your Capabilities By Surrounding Yourself With Great Team Members
August 6, 2019 September 3, 2019 Peggy Lam
https://media.blubrry.com/capability_amplifier/p/content.blubrry.com/capability_amplifier/CapabilityAmplifier_AmplifyYourCapabilitiesBySurroundingYourselfWithGreatTeamMembers.mp3
Are you good at managing people? Hiring? Dealing with day-to-day stuff? Do you find it interesting or fun?
I don't. I suck at it.
It's REALLY important as an entrepreneur that you have the right team to support you. You CAN'T do everything on your own … even though I know you may want to (I'm talking to you, perfectionists … I see you!). That's the quickest way to BURN OUT and experience failure.
Dan posed an interesting question during our talk: "Regardless of what business, service, or marketplace you were in, what kinds of people would you want around you? Who would you hire?"
Here are my 4 non-negotiable, must-have employees:
A GREAT Executive Assistant: one who's super resourceful, understands the value of your time, protects it at all costs, and knows how to solve problems. Ideally, someone who has a value system to make themselves available when critical things break, meaning they understand that emergencies happen.
An Integrator: someone who can take over your operations competently. They're watching the "back end" of your business—the details—and know how to deal with a visionary.
A Project Manager: someone who can manage hiring and finding talent and resources to get important tasks done, whether it's in-house, contract, or vendors.
A Communications Director/Brand Manager: someone who understands the branding, the messaging, and what the company and YOU stand for. Someone who can take ideas, flesh them out, and turn them into content so that you're ready for prime time, whether it's on social media, emails, messaging, articles, or proposals.
Dan agrees and feels that your Executive Assistant is probably the MOST crucial hire you can make as an entrepreneur. We live in a world where everyone wants to get to you, and you NEED a gatekeeper—someone who can sort out requests for your time and make judgment calls. They know what your vision of the future is and are confidently judgmental.
In Dan's world, it was also very important for him to hire an artist. The reason for that is because communication through graphics is 100 times faster than communication through words. We are in a conceptual world, a world of ideas, and ideas spoken lend themselves to 100 different interpretations. But if you can take an idea and put it into a graphic, it's almost binary. People either get it or they don't get it, so he takes a graphic approach to everything he does.
We break down our hiring process into a few simple steps:
Place an ad that's HONEST, personal, and detailed about what your expectations are. Make it funny if that's you! Differentiate yourself. Be CREATIVE! Here's a little blurb from the ad I placed when I was looking for my EA 13 years ago (and, by the way, people have asked me to copy it many, MANY times!): "Agent M seeks Mr. or Mrs. Moneypenny, aka an executive assistant who is a workaholic and obsessive compulsive codependent, extremely detail oriented with impeccable organization and communication skills to help manage serial entrepreneur's business."
Hire people for a single focus job. In other words, hire people who are uniquely good at one thing and give them one really extraordinary thing to do.
When you're hiring people, put in your messaging, "I am an entrepreneur whose business is to be a hero to ________ kinds of people in the marketplace. We uniquely help them do _________ and I want to devote all my energies to being a hero in this way." Whoever this resonates with is a GREAT candidate.
I like to say, "You attract exactly who you deserve, depending on your own self worth, and who you're aspiring to be." The more open you allow yourself to be without experiencing fear, the faster you ELEVATE and ESCALATE your business and LIFE!
As usual, there's always MORE. Dan and I LOVE elevating and amplifying your life!
← Get Smart with Adam Conover of the TV show "Adam Ruins Everything"
"The Accidental Entrepreneur" With Rich Litvin →
Joseph McClendon III – What It's Like To Almost Die Because Of The Color Of Your Skin
Are You Burned Out? How To Reclaim Your Passion
A Conversation With "The Larry King Of Podcasting," Jordan Harbinger
Reinvention AND Transcendental Meditation With Marci Shimoff
Capitalism Couldn't Exist Without Religion
Building In Space With Robots And Jim Keravala
RIGHT NOW Is The Time To Reinvent Your Business!
Talking To Robots With David Ewing Duncan
The Best Pitch You've Ever Heard!
Making America Laugh Again With Yakov Smirnoff
TM & © 2018. The Strategic Coach Inc. All rights reserved.


Tracking is everywhere on the Internet. Over the past year, a drumbeat of tech-industry scandals has acclimated users to the sheer number of ways that personal information can be collected and leaked. As a result, it might not come as a surprise to learn that emails, too, can be vectors for tracking. Email senders can monitor who opens which emails, when, and what device they use to do it. If you work for a business or a non-profit that sends mass emails, maybe you've used tools to perform this kind of tracking before. Even if you have used them, this might be the first you've heard of it — because unfortunately, in email marketing software, tracking is often enabled by default.
Unfortunately, that's often not how it happens. Many senders, including the U.S. government, do email tracking clumsily. Bad email tracking is ubiquitous, secretive, pervasive, and leaky. It can expose sensitive information to third parties and sometimes even others on your network. According to a comprehensive study from 2017, 70% of mailing list emails contain tracking resources. To make matters worse, around 30% of mailing list emails also leak your email address to third party trackers when you open them. And although it wasn't mentioned in the paper, a quick survey we did of the same email dataset they used reveals that around 80% of these links were over insecure, unencrypted HTTP.
In addition, several of these third-party email tracking technologies will try to share and correlate your email address across different emails that you open, and even across different websites that you visit, further shaping your invisible online profile. And since people often access their email from different devices, email address leaks allow trackers (and often network observers) to correlate your identity across devices.
It doesn't have to be that way. For users, there are usually ways to "opt out" of tracking within your email client of choice. For mail client developers, including a few simple features can help protect your users' privacy by default. And if you're at an organization that does perform tracking, you can take a proactive approach to respecting user privacy and consent. Here are some friendly suggestions to help make tracking less pervasive, less creepy, and less leaky.
There are many popular email clients which behave differently and have different settings, so protections may vary. Here are some general guidelines for improving your email privacy and security hygiene.
Limit your email client's image/resource loading.
A common tracking practice includes embedded links to "pixels" or other pieces of content that are hosted on a remote server. When your client tries to load the content, it sends out a request that allows you to be tracked. Blocking third-party resources limits the ability of email senders to track when you read or open emails. Some clients, including Thunderbird and Outlook, have it disabled by default, and both Gmail and Apple Mail allow you to disable it by choice. If you need to view images in a particular email, you can selectively turn on this feature for that particular email, but be aware that this allows email-open trackers to work.
For even more security, you can turn off HTML email completely. This will remove formatting from your emails, but it will completely stop any form of remote content tracking.
If you're not sure how well your email client protects you, the Email Privacy Tester is a useful tool to check whether you're vulnerable to a variety of different tracking techniques. For example, even though Gmail uses a proxy to serve images in emails, the privacy tester reveals that using Gmail won't actually protect you from pixel tracking (though it will mask your IP address). Try using it to test each of your email clients, especially the one you use on your mobile phone.
Be careful when clicking links.
Don't click links in email unless you absolutely have to, and try to view the link URL beforehand. This is good practice in general to avoid security risks like phishing as well as privacy-invasive tracking.
If you use a webmail client, standard web hygiene techniques work well for email also. To prevent email trackers from getting even more information about you, turn off third-party cookies in your browser and install a tracker-blocker like Privacy Badger. In addition, to prevent your email browsing behavior from being visible to ISPs and snoops on your network, limit your exposure to HTTP. You can use an extension like HTTPS Everywhere to block HTTP resources from loading by default.
How can email clients do more to protect their users?
Email clients should represent the interests of their users as they interact with the Internet. That includes using sensible protections by default and including strong privacy-preserving options for especially concerned users.
If they have the resources, clients can proxy content that's embedded in emails, like Gmail does. It's not perfect, but has some security and privacy benefits, like preventing HTTP requests from leaking onto the network, blocking cookies, and hiding IP address and User Agent information from the tracker. If you're a client developer, there's even more that you can do.
Tracking should be opt-in, not opt-out, so if you don't already, turn off remote content loading for your users by default. At the very least, you can give your users the option to do this. Also, give users the ability to turn off HTML email. You can check for any further leaks on your client using the Email Privacy Tester.
Even if your users regularly employ end-to-end encryption, after decrypting the email, clients often render the email as they would a regular one, so you'll still need to think about these tracking protections.
How can email senders respect their readers?
The need for feedback on email campaigns drives the ubiquity of pixel and link tracking, and many of these techniques have been used for decades. But it's unfortunately rare to see these tracking technologies being implemented securely and responsibly. Here's how to make sure the analytics tools on your email campaign respect and protect users' privacy.
An astounding number of link-tracking domains are served over HTTP, and many large email senders don't use STARTTLS. Make sure your links are over HTTPS, and that your mail server supports outgoing STARTTLS. There's no reason network eavesdroppers should know what mailing lists folks are subscribed to when users open their emails or their email-link browsing history.
The practice of obfuscating tracked links is especially dangerous, as it trains your readers to click unrecognizable links. This can lead users to click suspicious links from phishers. 91% of cyberattacks start with a phishing email, and normalizing suspicious-looking links in email makes life easier for phishers.
Lastly, and most importantly, think before you track.
Email sanitation, security, and privacy is a team effort. Stay vigilant, and keep good email hygiene!


Jon Daly spoofs Red Hot Chili Peppers with "Abracadabralifornia"
Red Hot Chili Pepper fans might have come across RHCP2014.com today, which features single, "Abracadabralifornia", available just ahead of the band's Super Bowl performance. But fans of podcast "Comedy Bang! Bang!" know better: the single is actually a parody by comedians Zach Galifianakis and Jon Daly, members of fake RHCP fan club, the Pepper Men, made back in 2013.