Online learning, also known as e-learning, offers a very flexible way of doing a course: you choose when and where you study with no restrictions. You need a reliable internet connection and device i.e. laptop, computer, tablet or even a mobile phone. The course resources will be accessed online. The NEBOSH course will be hosted on a Learning Management System (LMS); (An LMS is a piece of software that delivers training courses).
Online learning will present the NEBOSH course content as a mix of media i.e. text, images, audio, videos, animations and interactive activities. The key health and safety concepts are presented using multimedia and interactive activities to develop your understanding of the topic and make it more interesting rather than just passively reading.
Distance learning involves planning and managing your own NEBOSH studies using your course materials to read and study. You access materials online, then download and save them so you're in full control of your learning. Once you've downloaded your materials, you don't need internet access to study. Distance learning materials are text and image based and are ideal for the motivated and self-disciplined learner.
The classroom method of learning (also known as face-to-face) is led by a specialist NEBOSH tutor with a group of students, held on set days and at fixed times in a venue. This traditional course method means you have a tutor in front of a group of learners to direct the learning and share knowledge and experiences. You have the opportunity to work in groups with other learners talking through scenarios and questions. Class learning requires you to take time out of your job and commit to attending a course for the full duration. It is not recommended to miss any days of a classroom course.
It will depend on the provider and course length on how the days are organised i.e. the NEBOSH Certificates are often 5 consecutive days for the first unit with a break of 2-4 weeks before the second unit of 5 consecutive days. Some colleges may offer a day release over 2 to 3 months.
Number of learners typically on theNEBOSH course. The ideal is to have enough for effective interaction but not too many to limit everyone's chance to contribute.
Which Learning Method is Right for Me?
Whatever method you choose for your NEBOSH course the value and recognition of the course is the same, once you have successfully completed it.
How Long will my NEBOSH Course Take?
If you are looking at a classroom-based course, the number of days the course lasts may vary slightly but the number of hours is determined by NEBOSH, outlined in the table below as a minimum. All course providers must offer the required number of hours of tuition on all course methods.
105 hours = 13 days approx.
It's worth taking spending some time evaluating the different ways of taking a NEBOSH course so you can choose the right method to suit you. Always ask a potential course provider for a sample of the learning methods for example with access to an online demo, sample of course materials, videos to help you to really assess the best way to pass your NEBOSH exam and develop your understanding of health and safety for your job.


text:
La gran hambruna de Bengala de 1770 (bengalí: ৭৬-এর মন্বন্তর, chhiattōrer monnōntór; literalemnte, la hambruna del 76) fue una hambruna catastrófica entre 1769 y 1773 (1176 a 1180 en el calendario bengalí) que afectó la llanura inferior del Ganges, en la India. Se estima que la hambruna causó la muerte de 10 millones de personas, reduciendo la población de Bengala, que en la época incluía los actuales estados de Bihar y Orissa, a 30 millones de personas. La causa de esta hambruna hay que buscarla en la extensa obligación de cultivar opio —la Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales forzaba a los agricultores locales a cultivarlo como parte de su estrategia de exportación a China— en lugar de cultivos alimentarios locales, resultando en una escasez de grano para la población local bengalí.

Antecedentes
La hambruna ocurrió en el territorio que se denominaba Bengala, por aquel entonces gobernado por la Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales. Este territorio incluía los modernos Bengala Occidental, Bangladés y partes de Assam, Orissa, Bihar y Jharkhand. Desde el siglo XVI había sido una provincia del Imperio mogol y había estado gobernada por un nawab o gobernador. A principios del siglo XVIII, cuando el Imperio mogol comenzó a colapsarse, el nawab se convirtió de facto en independiente del gobierno mogol central.

En el siglo XVII, la Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales había conseguido que el príncipe mogol Shah Shuja le concediera el gobierno de la ciudad de Calcuta. Durante esta época la Compañía era básicamente otro poder tributario del mogol. Durante el siglo siguiente, la Compañía obtuvo derechos comerciales exclusivos para la provincia y se convirtió en el poder dominante en Bengala. En 1757, en la batalla de Plassey, los británicos derrotaron al nawab Siraj Ud Daulah y saquearon el tesoro bengalí. En 1764 su control militar se vio reafirmado en la batalla de Buxar. En el tratado subsiguiente consiguieron el diwani, es decir, el derecho a recolectar los impuestos; la Compañía se convertía así en el gobernante de facto de Bengala.

Hambruna
Las regiones en las que la hambruna fue especialmente grave coinciden aproximadamente con los estados indios modernos de Bihar y Bengala Occidental, pero la hambruna también se extendió a Orissa y Jharkhand, así como al Bangladés moderno. Entre las regiones más afectadas se encuentran las áreas de Birbhum y Murshidabad en Bengala, y Tirhut, Champaran y Bettiah en Bihar.

Un déficit parcial en las cosechas, considerado nada fuera de lo normal, ocurrió en 1768 y continuó hasta finales de 1769 con condiciones climáticas más severas. Hacia septiembre de 1769 había una sequía severa y ya existían informes alarmantes sobre los graves problemas en áreas rurales. Aun así, los informes fueron ignorados por los agentes de Compañía. Hacia principios de 1770 ya había problemas de hambre y hacia mediados de 1770 las muertes por inanición eran a gran escala.

A finales de 1770 lluvias produjeron una cosecha buena y la hambruna disminuyó. Aun así, hubo otros problemas con las cosechas en los años siguientes, elevando el balance final muertos. Se estima que aproximadamente diez millones de personas, es decir, casi un tercio de la población del área afectada, fallecieron a causa de la hambruna.

A raíz de la hambruna, grandes áreas permanecieron despobladas en las décadas siguientes, cuando los supervivientes emigraron en masa en busca de alimento. Muchas de las tierras cultivadas fueron abandonadas —gran parte de Birbhum, por ejemplo, regreso a ser una jungla y fue prácticamente impenetrable durante décadas. A partir de 1772, bandidos y bandas de matones se convirtieron en habituales en Bengala y sólo pudieron ser controlados con acciones punitivas en la década de 1780.

Responsabilidad de la Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales
La hambruna fue causada o fue agravada en gran parte debido a las políticas de la Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales en Bengala.

Como empresa comercial, el primer objetivo de la Compañía de las Indias Orientales era maximizar sus beneficios. Para ello usaba sus derechos de gestionar los impuestos de Bengala, que provenían sobre todo de los impuestos sobre la tierra y los aranceles comerciales. Según la Compañía iba ganando control de las tierras, típicamente multiplicaba los impuestos por cinco —de un 10% pasaban a un 50% de la producción. En un principio, cuando se introdujeron estos los nuevos impuestos, los ingresos por de la Compañía se duplicaron y la mayoría de los ingresos fueron sacados del país. En el momento en que la hambruna alcanzaba su peor momento, en abril de 1770, la Compañía tenía previsto para el año siguiente a aumentar los impuestos sobre la tierra en otro 10%.

Sushil Chaudhury escribe que la destrucción de cultivos alimentarios en Bengala para cultivar opio para la exportación redujo la disponibilidad de alimentos y contribuyó a la hambruna. La Compañía también ha sido criticada por ordenar a los labradores a cultivar añil en vez de arroz, así como prohibir el «acaparamiento» de arroz. Esto impidió a vendedores y comerciantes a disponer de reservas, que en otros tiempos habrían ayudado a las poblaciones a superar las épocas de vacas flacas

En el momento de la hambruna, el comercio de grano estaba sometido a un monopolio establecido por la Compañía y sus agentes. La Compañía no tenía ningún plan para paliar la escasez de grano y sólo se tomaban decisiones en tanto en cuanto afectaban a las clases de mercaderes y comerciales. Los ingresos por impuestos sobre la tierra disminuyeron un 14% durante el año de hambruna, pero se recuperaron rápidamente. Según McLane, el primer gobernador general de la India británica, Warren Hastings, reconoció la recolección «violenta» de impuestos después de 1771: los ingresos conseguidos por Compañía eran más altos en 1771 que en 1768. En total, los beneficios de la compañía aumentaron de quince millones de rupias en 1765 a treinta millones en 1777. No obstante, la Compañía continuó con sus problemas económicos e influyó en el Parlamento británico para aprobar la Ley del Té en 1773, que aumentaba los impuestos de importación al té enviado a las colonias americanas, lo que contribuyó a la guerra de independencia de los Estados Unidos iniciada en abril de 1775.

Véase también
 Lista de hambrunas
 Gran Hambruna de 1876-78
 Hambruna de 1943 en Bengala

Referencias

Bibliografía

 Brooks Adams, The Laws of Civilizations and Decay. An Essays on History, New York, 1898
 Kumkum Chatterjee, Merchants, Politics and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar: 1733-1820, Brill, 1996, ISBN 90-04-10303-1
 Sushil Chaudhury, From Prosperity to Decline: Eighteenth Century Bengal, Manohar Publishers and Distributors, 1999, ISBN 978-81-7304-297-3
 Romesh Chunder Dutt, The Economic History of India under early British Rule, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-24493-5
 John R. McLane, Land and Local Kingship in 18th century Bengal, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-52654-X

Enlaces externos
 Section VII from Dharampal, India Before British Rule and the Basis for India's Resurgence, 1998.
 Chapter IX. The famine of 1770 in Bengal in John Fiske, The Unseen World, and other essays
 History of West Bengal & Calcutta
 R.C. Dutt, The Economic History of India.
 The Great Bengal Famine (1770)

Desastres naturales en India
Hambrunas
1770
India británica
Historia de la agricultura en India
Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
INCITE! Indie Magazine (1980's)
I've said it before, the whole 80's cassette trip wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if it wasn't for all the supporting Indie magazines that dedicated fans, writers, and musicians put out! Without the editors of all these zines, the database of who and where you could trade tapes with would have been left up to all the Indie, public, and college radio stations, and communications with other musicians would have been much more difficult!
INCITE! was a super cool little zine published by Tim Alborn in Belmont, Massachusetts and was "published in his spare time!"
INCITE! was always free, and could range anywhere from five to twenty-four pages, and basically came out quarterly with the change of seasons!
Mostly music related, each issue of INCITE! usually included music reviews, interviews, Tim's always interesting ramblings, and contact informations.
Issue #7 of INCITE! contained what I think was the most unusual review we ever got! Tim made this Record Review Map replete with territories with names like "Land Of Interesting Guitars But Not Much Else," and "Land Of Grunge And Decay," that contained smaller principalities like "Aimless," "Good At All Speeds," an "Stupid Lyrics," and he would place the records in areas all over the map.
In a completely separate map was the "Cassette Kingdom" that had a fault line running right down through the middle of it that contained 'Genius' on one side, and 'Bullshit' on the other.
Somehow we ended up on the 'Genius' side, but we were kind of close to the edge!
JOHN BARTLES - "It's That Halloween Pumpkin Pie Sp...
REV. TOM FROST - "The Lame Shall Enter First" (2015)
SOCKEYE - "The Loony Misadventures Of Your Dick" (...
MARK HANLEY - "One Way Out" (1989)
GODSPUNK VOLUME NINETEEN - Various Artists Compila...
INSANE MUSIC FOR INSANE PEOPLE Vol. 16 (1987)
JOHN BARTLES - "Audio Cartoons" 45 (1986)
SCEAMIN POPEYES - "Ah Squid" (Early 90's)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Kai Lun Qu
Kai Lun Qu b.1995 immigrated with his parents from China shortly after he was born and grew up in San Francisco, California. Being raised in an artistic family, he ventured back to China after graduating junior high and was then placed in the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts High School in Beijing; being taught the19th Century Russian Academic methods in drawing.
Kai traveled back to the US to finish high school and it was there through being exposed to galleries and museums that he started gaining inspirations from artists such as John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Cecilia Beaux, and the contemporary living master Richard Schmid. Kai then began to seek tutelage from renown painter Vincent Desiderio and Steven Assael at the New York Academy of Arts. He has also studied with Daniel Keys and Timothy Rees at the Scottsdale Artist School as well as ventured to the Village Arts of Putney's Studio Barn; home to Richard Schmid's renown Putney Painters to study with Michelle Dunaway. He graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Arts.
In 2018, He was one of twenty-six recipients chosen out of nearly 3000 entries to be awarded a Certificate of Excellence for his painting Ashton in the 20th Annual International Portrait Society of America Competition. He has also been the winning recipient of the Figurative Art Convention and Expo Scholarship, Robert Gamblin Paint Prize, National Congressional Art Competition, and the Art of the Portrait Grant from the Portrait Society of America. He has recently been featured in Southwest Art Magazine's "21 under 31" Article, where he was one of 21 artists under the age of 31 being celebrated as rising art stars from across the West and around the country. His work has also been included and published by the likes of Poets Artist Magazine and PleinAir Magazine.
Kai has exhibited in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, US Capitol Building in Washington D.C., and the Schuler School of Fine Arts, Maryland Art Place, and Crystal Moll Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland
Kai is currently an Accredited Member of the Maryland Society of Portrait Painter.
Kai is currently residing in San Jose, California, painting and teaching full time.


text:
Q: git: List files that changed between two commits, but exclude whitespace changes and break changes I want to retrieve a list of all the files that really changed between two commits. So, I want to ignore files where the only things that changed are part of the following list:

*

*empty line added / removed

*line containing just an * (and possibly whitespace) added / removed

*indentation changed or whitespace added after lines

*breaks inserted into any line, e.g.:

Before:
System.out.println("bar" + "foo");

After:
System.out.println("bar" +
    "foo");

These kinds of changes should be ignored. I know that this may be a very complicated task, but I don't think I'm the first person needing this kind of thing.
Update
After some help in the comments I came up with
git diff --word-diff-regex='^\*|[^[:space:]]' --ignore-space-at-eol --ignore-blank-lines --ignore-space-change --ignore-all-space hash1..hash2 --name-only

But I am not quite sure if that actually does everything I want. Can someone verify that?

A: The only answer that i come up with, but it´s not so good it´s to make a local branch of the previous commit format them the same way as the new, and compare in the normal way the branch and the head version.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


WASHINGTON, DC – This Saturday, August 10, over 40 young people finished walking on 3 simultaneous pro-life walks across America. Walking with Crossroads Pro-Life, these walks started in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles on May 18th and ended together in Washington, DC on August 10th.
Crossroads has sponsored these pro-life walks across America every summer since 1995. Passing through 36 states and thousands of towns and cities, they have witnessed the reality that the overwhelming majority of Americans identify themselves as pro-life.
"The mainstream media may tell you different, but we can say with authority and through actual experience at the grass-roots level, that America is truly a pro-life country," observed Martha Nolan, National Director of Crossroads Pro-Life.
The reality, she said, "is that the Obama Administration is sadly out of touch with the values of mainstream America." "We know because what we experience firsthand from the hundreds of thousands of people we meet along the way is in stark contrast to the strident stances now coming from the leadership in Washington, D.C.," said Nolan.
Walking Monday through Friday, through rain or shine, the young people have spent the last 12 weeks witnessing to hundreds of thousands of Americans. Wearing shirts that are emblazoned with the words "PRO-LIFE" in big letters on the front, these dedicated walkers say they have had an amazing summer.
Since 1995, Crossroads has organized 12-week-long walks across America from the West Coast to Washington, D.C., to take part in dynamically rebuilding a Culture of Life in the United States. During the journey, each walker averages over 1,000 miles and takes an active role in the organization's mission by speaking to churches and youth groups as well as doing radio and newspaper interviews. Crossroads walkers also engage local communities through peaceful, prayerful protests and sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics in the cities they travel through.
This summer, Crossroads also sponsored their 6th Annual Pro-Life walk across Canada. Made up of volunteer colleges students from throughout Canada, this walk started in Vancouver, British Columbia on May 18th and ended on Saturday, August 10th at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario.
Crossroads also sponsored their 3rd annual "Pro-Life walk Around Ireland and their 2nd annual "Pro-Life walk across Spain" made up of volunteers from those countries.


Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi range extender boosts the Wi-Fi signal to a next level and it can improve the speed of your internet connection up to 750 Mbps. The Wi-Fi extender when connected to a wireless router enhances the wireless signals in the home and business premises. The Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi extender comes with dual antennae that transmit tremendous Wi-Fi connectivity throughout our workplace. The Netgear extender can be easily setup by logging in to the address www.mywifiext.setup. This web address for the Netgear routers lets the user access the extender's setup page.
This Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi extender is designed to suit the user's place of work. Its plug and play design is worth to mention. This Wi-Fi extender just needs to be plugged into the wall socket of your home and enjoy the Wi-Fi uninterruptedly without any signal constraint. The dual antennae of this Wi-Fi extender don't make you feel that you are far away from the Wi-Fi router.
Setting up the Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi extender via mywifiext.setup.
Unbox your Netgear Wi-Fi extender and open the browser of your computer.
Power on the Wi-Fi extender and connect it to your Wi-Fi network.
You can connect your extender to the network with the help of the WPS button given on its back.
The client connection status light will turn solid green.
This will open up the Netgear extender setup page which asks for "NEW EXTENDER SETUP".
After clicking on the "NEW EXTENDER SETUP" tab.
Now, your extender needs to be configured. You can change passkey phrase for the extender or you can also keep the previous credentials used for the Wi-Fi router.
Your Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi extender is all set to be used in the network.
After the whole setup is done, you will experience a lightning fast speed of up to 750 Mbps and an excellent Wi-Fi connectivity throughout. The users can also connect the Wi-Fi extender with the help of an Ethernet cable and follow the steps described above. The wired connection setup is also done by visiting the link www.mywifiext.setup in the web browser of your computer.


We fund projects of all sizes that advance Knight Foundation's goal of promoting informed and engaged communities to support a healthy democracy.
We fund projects that seek to improve how we create, share and use information essential to communities by providing early-stage funding for experimentation and growth. Our efforts support the ideas of people who are curious, adaptable and willing to share what they learn—whether it be from a success or a failure.
We invest in civic innovators who help cities attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunity and create a culture of engagement. We believe that the design of places plays an outsize role in achieving these goals.
We work in 26 communities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight owned newspapers. Resident program directors oversee our grant-making in eight: Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Macon, Ga.; Miami; Philadelphia; San Jose, Calif.; and St. Paul, Minn. We partner with community foundations in the remaining 18.
Our foundation has invested more than $841 million in community initiatives since its creation in 1950. We want our national network of learning to inspire the actions of residents in each of our communities and help us build a better democracy and a successful future.
Our goal is to weave the arts into the fabric of Knight resident communities to engage and inspire the people living in them. The foundation believes that the arts are a catalyst for public dialogue and that shared cultural experiences contribute to a sense of place and communal identity.
We seek innovative ways to reach, engage and increase audiences for the arts, including through the use of technology.
Over a three-year period, Knight funded 1,000 "Random Acts of Culture" to bring artists out of the performance halls and into people's everyday lives.
As a way to solicit fresh and innovative ideas, we launched the Knight Arts Challenge, an open call for ideas that is now in Detroit, Miami and St. Paul, Minn. (and starting in late summer in Akron, Ohio). The challenge seeks to find and fund the best ideas for the arts. Winners range from individual artists to anchor cultural institutions.


text:
Q: Move selection down a row and change font color from red to black when there is a change to another sheet I have a vba code that works great to keep the selection of one sheet on the same cell when there is a change.
Now, i need a vba code to Move selection down a row and change font color from red to black in another sheet (sheet1 column A) when there is that same change.
Current code:
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Not Intersect(Target, Me.Range("A4")) Is Nothing Then
Application.EnableEvents = False
Me.Range("A5").Value = Target.Value
Target.Select
Application.EnableEvents = True
End If
End Sub

So, when there is a change to Sheet7 cell A4, i need the selection in Sheet1 Column A to drop one row and change the font color from RED to BLACK.Please help!!

A: I haven't tested this, but it should be something like this
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Not Intersect(Target, Me.Range("A4")) Is Nothing Then
    Application.EnableEvents = False
    Me.Range("A5").Value = Target.Value
    Target.Select
    Sheet1.Range("A" & Target.row + 1).Interior.Color = RGB(0, 0, 0)
    Application.EnableEvents = True
End If
End Sub

A: Try this one.  Again, untested.  But I commented out the color change in case the text in Sheet1 Column A is black.  You wouldn't be able to see the text if it is.
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
Dim lastRow As Long

    lastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row

    If Not Intersect(Target, Me.Range("A4")) Is Nothing Then
        Application.EnableEvents = False
        Me.Range("A5").Value = Target.Value
        Target.Select
        Sheet1.Range("A" & lastRow + 1).Value = Target.Value
'        Sheet1.Range("A" & lastRow + 1).Interior.Color = vbBlack
        Application.EnableEvents = True
    End If
End Sub


Cronetrade accepts investments with e-currencies and promises high yield return (probably).
Individuals from all over the world are welcome to join Cronetrade (probably).
Extensive details about Cronetrade has not yet been specified by cronetrade.com owner.
So, we not yet know specific information about Cronetrade investment plans and terms.
Possibly Cronetrade review can be found in comments section below.
If you know more about cronetrade.com services and performance, please comment on Cronetrade.
Cronetrade owner is invited to enter details and we will publish cronetrade.com summary for free.
If there is something wrong with Cronetrade, please submit problem report.


The South Eastern Economic Development (SEED) Corporation has selected Building Envelope Systems of Plainville, Ma. as "Small Business of the Year" for 2018.
"SEED is very pleased to present the small business of the year award to this deserving small business. Building Envelope Systems is an excellent example of entrepreneurship and sound management," stated Maria Gooch-Smith, SEED's executive director. The award will be presented at SEED's 36th Annual Meeting starting at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, November 28 at White's of Westport in Westport, Ma.
In 2011, Brett Miller took over from former employer Metro West Steel when that company went out of business, and started Building Envelope Systems. The new company took over projects in the pipeline, and hired long time steel erection specialists who found themselves suddenly unemployed. Brett's father, Steve Miller, joined him two years later. "In seven years, the design and construction business has grown to over $17 million in sales and 57 employees" explained Gooch-Smith.
Brett and Steve have been in the steel fabrication business for many years. The company designs and constructs metal panels, structural steel, and metal stairs for commercial clients in southern New England.
In 2015, Building Envelope Systems purchased a 50,000 square foot plant in Plainville which had previously served as a machine shop. The company also purchased large high-automated steel processing machinery to enable them to bid on new work. The building and machinery acquisitions enabled the business to triple their space, expand their operations, and create 34 new jobs.
Under the SBA 504 Program, SEED was able to provide a total of $1.2 million in conjunction with financing from Bristol County Saving Bank to assist Building Envelope Systems with the building and machinery purchases. The SEED lender on the project was Lisa Holmes, and the bank lender was Timothy Chaves.
SEED will also present the "Regional Business Advocate of the Year" award to Leonard Sullivan, First Executive Vice President of Bristol County Savings Bank, for his role in the growth of the bank's commercial division and his service to SEED and other community organizations over the last 25 years.
The guest speaker at SEED's Annual Meeting is Wendell Davis, Regional Administrator for New England for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). He will also be assisting with the award presentations.
At the meeting, SEED members will vote for officers, directors and members for 2019. SEED Officers include: Richard Shafer, Chair (Shafer Development Services and Taunton Development Corporation); Jennifer Menard, Vice Chair (Bristol Community College); Charles Dwyer, Vice Chair (Middlesex Savings Bank); Lorraine Travers, CPA, Treasurer; Jack Meehl, Jr, Assistant Treasurer (Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation); William Lewis, Clerk; Wayne Carvalho, Assistant Clerk (First Citizens Federal Credit Union); and Gerard Nadeau, Past Chair (Rockland Trust Company).
SEED is a non-profit corporation certified in late 1982 by the SBA. SEED is also a Community Development Financial Institution under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and an SBA Micro Lender. SEED provides financing ranging from a $1,000 micro loan to a $5.5 million SBA 504 loan to small businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
In 2018, SEED made 73 small business loans totaling $19.3 million, leveraging another $33.1 million from financial institutions, and private funds, and assisting in the creation of 339 new jobs. These loans were made in participation with the region's banks to meet a financing gap, or to small businesses not able to obtain conventional financing.
SEED's directors and members represent small businesses, financial institutions, local officials and community organizations. Members meet on an annual basis to elect a board of directors and officers, and review SEED's performance. For more information about the Annual Meeting and SEED's programs call 508-822-1020 or visit www.seedcorp.com.


We sent senior DevOps engineer @andyburgin to DevopsDays Paris to find out about the latest ideas and innovation in the DevOps community.
What is a DevopsDays Event?
If you haven't been to a devopsdays event, given the amount of hype around DevOps you might be quite surprised to find that it's still a very community focused event. Naturally there are big name sponsors that exhibit but the event still involves a high level of DIY.
The event is spread over two days, the mornings are formal presentations and the afternoons consist of a short blast of ignite talks and then the organised chaos of Open Spaces – which for the record are the reason to go.
This will sound very familiar to you if you've been to any "agile"" event and that's intentional, the whole DevOps movement began at an agile conference and the format encourages the "everyone is to get involved".
The day opens with a welcome speech and a we're straight into a talk by one of my favourite speakers John Willis, as well as being one of Edward Deming's biggest fans and perhaps the most knowledgeable man in the DevOps community, his voice is one that has graced my commute for several years by way of the DevOps Cafe podcast – I must admit I'm a little star struck when I speak to him.
The title is a play on Jared Diamonds book "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies". John compares the evolution of societies and their growth with how technology companies must leverage the latest tools and practices to stay ahead.
John then spoke about how companies must take advantage of micro services and containers to move compute power to data (aka data gravity) to reduce latency, improve feedback loops and flow – which ultimately leads to competitive advantage.
A week before the event I was listening to the DevOps Cafe podcast and the hosts (Daemon Edwards and John Willis) were discussing how hard it is to get DevOps practice adopted at enterprise. There needs here is very different approach to achieve the same objectives in large organisations.
Steve's talk addressed this point giving some great advice about it how justify, measure, encourage and champion DevOps adoption in the enterprise. One controversial piece of advice was not to use the term "DevOps" due to peoples incorrect preconceived opinions. He also gave a link to a very handy 50 question checklist.
In this talk Boris discussed a different perspective on the definition of CAMS (Culture, Automation, Measurement and Sharing). Rather than defining them he asked why they were important.
This talk explained how BlaBlaCar grew form a startup with a DevOps ethos at its roots. They discussed their development processes and culture, with details of how they value the working environment and staff collaboration.
The ignite talks usually cover a mix of subjects and this DevopsDays is no exception, from open-source monitoring tools, chatops, cloud infrastructure, salsa dancing and the one I'm presenting how to run a DevOps meetup group. An ignite gives the speaker 20 slides auto advancing after 15 seconds (5 mins total) so there's little room to recover from errors – thankfully mine goes without a hitch and I receive some nice feed back from the attendees.
Next we move onto what I described earlier as "organised chaos"" and I still think that's fair description of the selection process. The attendees are invited to suggest topics for conversations, these are posted on a board and then everyone votes for their which of those topics they would like to talk/hear about.
This discussion focused around the different ways to monitor applications and infrastructure. I'm very pleased to find that SB&G are very much in the "advanced" bracket when it comes to monitoring from alerting, metrics, sharing and business dashboards. But it's interesting to see how some organisations are using log monitoring (ELK stacks etc) to monitor more than just logs.
This turned into quite a heated debate about the selection of an Infrastructure as Code technology. Not surprisingly there were some strong opinions exchanged. The take home was there's no one winner and it just depends on which tool is "right" for the job.
I suggested this open space to gauge opinion of micro services. I explained a situation in Bet Tribe where a legacy application was in part being replaced by micro services. There were a number of extremely smart people in the room (including Patrick DeBois) they explained so long as the necessary testing and monitoring was in place it should really help (which we do, the group concluded in my case that there was nothing to worry about (and that we have a great dev team)). The rest of the discussion focused on the practicalities of implementing micro services and how they could simplify development , in some cases they encourage organisational change (anti Conways Law), but they weren't a silver bullet and under some circumstances aren't appropriate (e,g, transactional rollback).
There's no let up in the pace of the devopsdays as we begin the second and final day. We start with the CIO of Puppet Labs giving a non technical talk on psychology.
Nigel explains how our minds make quick decisions really badly, apparently we have two decision making processes. One that quickly analyses problems to reach conclusions, and a second system that makes more considered analytical decisions but is slow.
The problem is the first system looks for easy wins and will exaggerate the significance of recent events and tries to connect unrelated events into patterns. This is significant to technical teams in debugging, problem analysis and incident post mortems – all can lead to bad decision making.
Scott from Chef describes his experiences of working in IT hardware manufacturing and the relevance to DevOps. It's very much a talk that affirms the work of Demming and Lean manufacturing techniques and their application to CAMS principles.
He covered the importance of understanding your product mix, the flow of work through work centres and the associated issues of WIP backlog. Scott explained how physical production lines had been optimised and explained how different approached to QC vs QA had removed bottlenecks, increasing throughput, all of which Scott argues is relevant to improving flow in the Software Development Life Cycle.
ITIL is widely misunderstood in the DevOps community and Pierre gave a great introductory talk on its core components of Service Design, Service Operation and Service Transition.
The talk the focused on how Change Management (part of Service Transition) could also be done on a small scale by leveraging exiting SDLC tools. He argued that RFCs and CAB could be enforced by the use of pull requests and at the most basic level you could use your chat room logs for Change Request records.
Dirk explained the obstacles he faced when trying to implement continuous delivery of a cloud based project at SAP. He explained how he headed up a team that worked as an internal "startup" in the organisation and how they overcame the obstacles caused by the existing processes and procedures. He then went on to describe how the new processes developed were being used for other cloud based products within SAP to accelerate deliver times.
Oliver described the objectives and format of a post mortem and a number of patterns and anti-patterns. He highlighted the cultural implication of each and the affect on both individuals and the wider organisation.
This discussion was proposed by one of the ignite speakers who was contemplating if in 2015 there was a role for "DevOps". This has been a long standing point of debate in the DevOps community, that DevOps isn't a job title but more of a mindset/approach, it's the equivalent of having the word "Agile" in your job title, it really doesn't make sense. The conversation tried to define a role that had many facets of DevOps (e.g. release engineering, automation, metrics) and if this hybrid/polygot was really a job title – the conclusion was "it depends".
Unfortunately I then had to leave as my train awaits, so I start the long journey home.
All in all I had a great time, I met some of the thought leaders in the DevOps field and spoke with a great number of really clever people. Got some great insights into Microservices and food for thought on many other topics. If you wanted me to summarise the event in a sentence "it's all about people".
Videos of the talks are available on vimeo.


text:
Q: c++ error: no match for 'operator!=' (operand types are 'std::basic_istream' and 'long int') I'm trying to catkin_make the github package from this link:
https://github.com/sontdhust/wandrian_src
However, it keeps returning this error:

no match for 'operator!=' (operand types are 'std::basic_istream<char>' and 'long int')

I have traced the error to the below code, but I have no idea what is wrong as I'm new to C++.
namespace wandrian {
namespace environment {
namespace boustrophedon {

ExtendedMap::ExtendedMap(RectanglePtr boundary, std::list<RectanglePtr> obstacles) : Map(boundary, obstacles) {}

ExtendedMap::ExtendedMap(std::string map_path) : Map(map_path) {}

ExtendedMap::~ExtendedMap() {}

void ExtendedMap::build() {
  std::string size;
  std::string position;
  std::string line;
  std::list<PointPtr> list_point_temp;
  PointPtr center, temp_point;
  double size_x, size_y;
  int i, flag;
  std::fstream read_file;
  std::size_t flag_start, flag_end;
  if (this->map_path.compare("") != 0) {
    read_file.open(this->map_path.c_str());
    if (read_file.is_open()) {
      int i = 1;
      int flag = 0;
      while (getline(read_file, line) != NULL) {
        flag = 0;
        position = "";
        size = "";
        flag_start = -1;
        while (line.find("(", flag_start + 1) < line.length()) {
          flag_start = line.find("(", flag_start + 1);
          flag_end = line.find(")", flag_start + 1);
          temp_point = create_point_to_string(line.substr(flag_start + 1, flag_end - flag_start - 1));
          list_point_temp.push_back(temp_point);
        }
        i = 0;
        for (std::list<PointPtr>::iterator u = list_point_temp.begin(); u != list_point_temp.end(); ++u) {
          if (i == 0) {
            size_y = (*u)->y;
          }
          if (i == 1) {
            size_x = (*u)->x;
            size_y = (*u)->y - size_y;
          }
          if (i == 2) {
            size_x = (*u)->x - size_x;
          }
          i++;
          if (i == 4) {
            std::cout << size_x << " " << size_y << std::endl;
            center = PointPtr(new Point((*u)->x - size_x / 2, (*u)->y + size_y / 2));
          }
        }

        if (!this->boundary) {
          this->boundary = RectanglePtr(new Rectangle(center, size_x, size_y));
        } else {
          this->obstacles.push_back(RectanglePtr(new Rectangle(center, size_x, size_y)));
        }
        list_point_temp.clear();
      }
    } else {
      std::cout << "Can't open file " << std::endl;
    }
    read_file.close();
  }
}

int ExtendedMap::comma_position(std::string str) {
  for (unsigned int position = 0; position < str.length(); ++position) {
    if (str[position] == ',')
      return position;
  }
  return 0;
}

PointPtr ExtendedMap::create_point_to_string(std::string str) {
  int flag;
  flag = str.find(",");
  return PointPtr(
      new Point(strtod(str.substr(0, flag).c_str(), NULL), strtod(str.substr(flag + 1, str.length()).c_str(), NULL)));
}
}

A: On this line:
while (getline(read_file, line) != NULL) {

std::getline() returns a std::istream& reference to the std::istream object it was given as input.  NULL is defined as just an alias for integer 0.  You can't compare a std::istream object to an int value, hence the compiler error.
The correct line would look like this instead:
while (getline(read_file, line)) {

std::istream has a conversion operator that can be used in some contexts where a bool is expected, such as in if statements, to determine whether the stream is in a failure state or not.  The above statement is equivalent to:
while (!getline(read_file, line).fail()) {

A: On one of the lines you did:
int flag = 0;

Keep this in mind flag is an integer...
Next up you do:
flag = str.find(",");

First of all, your code makes zero sense to me, what are you doing?? Storing an "," inside an integer value?? Secondly chances are you did not write a function to assign an int to a character.


text:
You are here: Home » About us » The winning experience blog » Lotterywest grants protect native cockatoos
Lotterywest grants protect native cockatoos
Founded in 2006, the Black Cockatoo Preservation Society of Australia rescue wild black cockatoos in distress and rehabilitate them before releasing them back into the wild.
The three species of black cockatoo native to the South West of Western Australia are the Baudin's black cockatoo, the Carnaby's cockatoo, and the Forest Red-tailed black cockatoo. Sadly, all are threatened with extinction due to activities including land clearing and illegal shooting, plus competition with other species for nesting sites.
The rehabilitation site, Kaarakin, is a 40-acre site in the Perth Hills where they house up to 120 black cockatoos under care at any one time.
This year, the Black Cockatoo Preservation Society lost its ability to fundraise due to COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in a significant loss in revenue. Two Lotterywest COVID-19 Relief Fund grants totalling $110,000 are now supporting essential operational costs.
Founder Glenn Dewhurst said: "We wouldn't have been able to afford the resources to feed the animals we're caring for, so Lotterywest has been able to keep us running."
Thanks to you playing Lotterywest games, Lotterywest is able to support groups like the Black Cockatoo Preservation Society build a better WA.
Black Cockatoo Rehabilitation


Why is it that when you're grooving to Usher in the city's hottest spot you suddenly feel like taking off all your clothes? Turns out it's not because your bad self is turnin' it out on the floor, it's because the club owner is turning up the heat—literally. Taking a cue from Vegas casinos, the nation's booze halls are deploying a litany of savvy marketing techniques and subterfuge to keep you bellied up to the bar. Even corner dives are in on the act. Bar owners know that higher temperatures make for thirstier drinkers and higher profits. And that's not all: those frosted "extra cold" pumps covered in fake condensation? Only the latest in industry marketing gimmicks. Music blaring too loud? Hey, the higher the volume, the faster the cocktails fly. "The last thing we want are people talking quietly in a corner," admits one club owner. And you don't get to dance for very long, either. Indiscreet DJs, according to the BBC, say that house rules, not their bad taste, force them to kill a string of hot tunes with a few clunkers, forcing the crowds to make a beeline for the bar. And the final touch: smoking hot bartenders. Because if you keep ordering doubles, you sadly convince your overheated self, maybe they'll take off all their clothes.


text:
Greeley Man Charged With First-Degree Murder For Killing Roommate
Maxx Published: June 25, 2021
7713Photography
A Greeley man has formally been charged with first-degree murder after confessing that he murdered his roommate in their Greeley apartment.
Weld County Sheriff's Office
37-year-old Anthony Martinez was formally charged on Wednesday (June 23), according to the Greeley Tribune.
Greeley Police first responded at about 1:05 a.m. on Friday morning (June 18) to a suspicious death at an apartment in the 2900 block of C Street in Greeley. A woman reportedly told dispatchers she arrived at her son's apartment to check on him after a roommate called her with suspicion that her son was dead, as per a news release from the Greeley Police Department.
When officers arrived on scene, they found 50-year-old Shannon Ziel dead on the bathroom floor of the apartment.
During the investigation, Martinez - who also goes by Joe Sanchez - confessed to the murder of Ziel, according to police. Martinez was then booked into Weld County Jail of suspicion of first-degree murder.
As per online arrest records, this is not the first time Martinez has been arrested; the suspect in this incident has been booked into the Weld County Jail at least seven times since 2008, most recently in October, when Greeley police executed a warrant for his arrest. Martinez had also been been booked into the jail on suspicion of felony menacing with a weapon, violating parole and flight to avoid prosecution.
Court records for Martinez's prior charges indicate that he had his probation revoked and reinstated for two years in October.
Anthony Martinez now has an advisement hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 30 before Weld District Judge Thomas James Quammen.
Filed Under: anthony martinez, First Degree Murder, Greeley, Greeley Police
Categories: Articles, Breaking News, NoCo Life


text:
Birthplace of the Internet
Society: IEEE Main Category: Electrical Sub Category: Communications Era: 1960-1969 DateCreated: 1969 Computer History Museum Mountain View State: CA Zip: 94043 Country: USA Website: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Birthplace_of_the_Internet,_1969 Creator: Kleinrock, Leonard
"At 10:30 p.m., 29 October 1969, the first ARPANET message was sent from this UCLA site to the Stanford Research Institute. Based on packet switching and dynamic resource allocation, the sharing of information digitally from this first node of ARPANET launched the Internet revolution." (The plaque can be seen at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) The deployment of the ARPANET set in motion a train of developments that led to the Internet as we know it today.
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/FastLizard4 (CC BY-SA 2.0) Image Caption: The original Interface Message Processor, a primitive router, and considered widely to be the beginning (or "birth") of the internet Era_date_from: 1969
Kleinrock
Kleinrock, Leonard
"At 10:30 p.m., 29 October 1969, the first ARPANET message was sent from this UCLA site to the Stanford Research Institute. Based on packet switching and dynamic resource allocation, the sharing of information digitally from this first node of ARPANET launched the Internet revolution." (The plaque… Read More


text:
Day April 22, 2011
Kysor added to Raabe Classic squad
April 22, 2011 April 23, 2011 portsports	Leave a comment
Ken Kysor was double trouble for Port Allegany's opponents last fall, when the soccer all-star decided to play football in his senior year, too. Kysor quickly became one of the best kickers the Gators have ever had, ranking among the state leaders in field goals and touchbacks, and celebrated Homecoming against Otto-Eldred by drilling a 40-yarder which many longtime observers of the program believed to be a school record.
"He's been a weapon for us all year," coach Mike Bodamer said during the Gators' run to the District 9 championship game.
Juggling the demands of his two-sport status – one memorable Saturday morning found him playing in the soccer team's Senior Day win over Johnsonburg, then making the trip to Sheffield to kick six extra points as the football Gators routed the Wolverines that afternoon – Kysor finished the year as one of Port's leading scorers, with six field goals and 37 PATS. The defense also benefited from his booming kickoffs, which pinned the opponent at or inside its own 20-yard line on 30 of 64 attempts (including 20 touchbacks).
His efforts garnered him all-star honors from both the Allegheny Mountain League in football and the Upper Allegheny Valley Soccer League, a spot on the Pennsylvania Class A All-State team, and the D9Sports.com Special Teams Player of the Year award.
He was also one of three Gators selected for the Olean Times Herald's Big 30 All-Star team, which includes an automatic invitation to play in the 38th annual Don Raabe Charities Classic, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011 at Parkway Field in Bradford, Pa.
Formerly known as the Big 30 All-Star Game before being named in memory of its founder, the first 37 games between teams of graduated seniors from area high schools in Pennsylvania and New York have raised nearly $1.5 million dollars to benefit numerous charities and personal causes throughout the Twin Tiers.
The Pennsy roster includes players from Bradford, Cameron County, Coudersport, Eisenhower, Elk County Catholic, Kane, Johnsonburg, Otto-Eldred, Port Allegany, Ridgway, Sheffield, Smethport, St. Marys, Warren and Youngsville.
Players from Southwestern and Frewsburg, two Chautauqua County schools, will join those from Allegany-Limestone, Bolivar-Richburg, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Cuba-Rushford, Ellicottville, Franklinville, Gowanda, Olean, Pioneer, Portville, Randolph, Salamanca and Wellsville on the New York squad, which won last year's game 46-37 to increase its series lead to 19-16-2.
An honor roll student who also spends some of his limited free time volunteering as an EMT with the Port Area Ambulance Service, Kysor plans to major in chemistry in college, then go on to medical school for anesthesiology.
Rain, rain, go away …
April 22, 2011 portsports	Leave a comment
Wait a minute. Isn't it supposed to be spring?
The calendar may claim that it's the middle of April, but don't tell that to area baseball and softball teams who saw multiple games washed out by a mix of rain and snow that left fields unplayable – and underwater in some places.
Two weeks into the season, the scorecard read Mother Nature 11, Port High 0. Since then, the teams have managed to squeeze in some action between the raindrops and snowflakes, but midway through the season, the bat-and-ball squads have combined to finish just five of 17 scheduled games. Even the normally more weather-resistant track teams had to postpone one meet, and with reports of Saturday's high winds blowing hurdles across the track, the Kane Invitational was canceled.
"This has been brutal," athletic director Dan Stavisky wrote in an email attached to a lengthy list of schedule updates. As he attempted to rake the muddy infield last Monday afternoon – the first time his team was able to get outside after practicing in the gym for a full month, and just 24 hours before taking on defending league champ Coudersport – new softball coach Dave Morey said he'd never seen such a prolonged stretch of bad weather to begin the season. Stavisky, who started teaching at Port in 1985-86, echoed that sentiment at the next day's track meet.
Where, to nobody's surprise, it was raining again.
Rescheduled games (so far):
Mar. 28: Smethport (home) – DH at Smethport Apr. 20 // postponed again
Mar. 31: Otto-Eldred (home) – May 7
Apr. 4: Northern Potter (away) – May 14
Apr. 6: Kane (home) – TBA
Apr. 18: Cameron County (away) – suspended; TBA
Mar. 29: Smethport (away) – May 20
Mar. 31: Otto-Eldred (away) – Apr. 21
Apr. 4: Northern Potter (home) – May 14
Apr. 6: Austin (away) – DH at Port May 5
Apr. 8: Johnsonburg (away) – May 17
Apr. 14: Oswayo Valley (away) – TBA
Apr. 18: Cameron County (home) – TBA
PAHS Track/Field: Off to another fast start
April 22, 2011 May 12, 2011 portsports	Leave a comment
Led by quadruple wins from Nick Conway and Max Morris – including a school record in the high jump by Conway – the Port Allegany boys track team started off the 2011 campaign on a fast note, dropping Northern Potter 83-67 in last Tuesday's season opener.
Conway ignored rain and chilly temperatures to soar over the bar at 6′ 3", breaking the previous mark of 6′ 2" shared by B.J. Moses (1991), Chris Stavisky (2002), and Jeremy Clay (2004). The six-foot-tall sophomore also ran district-qualifying times on his way to sweeping the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, and added a win in the pole vault.
"I can't say enough about Nick Conway. I didn't realize during the meet that he'd set the high jump record, but I knew just from watching him that he was going to districts in the hurdles," Gator head coach George Riley said. Noting that Trevor Neal also cleared the six-foot mark in the high jump, he added, "That's going to be a good competition between the two of them all year long."
Morris notched his wins in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, the long jump, and the 400 relay, posting district-worthy times in both sprints.
"He's confident – very confident – in the 100, and wants to run against the best kids going," Riley said. "He hurt his ankle in gym class today playing badminton, and still came out there and ran the best times of his life in two races. Pretty impressive."
The NoPo girls, led by a quadruple from 2010 state qualifier Rebecca Warriner, captured 14 of 18 events in their 88-62 victory. Despite stumbling out of the blocks, Warriner recovered to win the 100, then swept the other sprints and also anchored the winning 1600-meter relay team.
"The young lady's fantastic, and I think she's only a junior, which is impressive," Riley said.
Torin Bennett, Ellen Kibbe, and Erin Perry all tripled for the Panthers, while Kelsey Payne qualified for districts in the high jump and doubled in the triple jump and 400-meter relay to pace the Gators.
"I don't think we gave any points away. I think we got beat," said Riley, who knows his team will now need to run the table – and get some outside help – to catch NoPo in the North Tier League standings. "I'm disappointed the girls didn't win, but they got beat by a very good team. My hat's off to Northern Potter and the coaching staff; they work hard and they deserve it. That's the truth."
Both Gator squads dominated overmatched Cameron County in Emporium last Thursday, with Conway, Morris, Payne, and Evens each earning individual triples, then slogged through yet another cold, wet April afternoon to sweep Smethport and Sheffield on Tuesday.
Conway again led the way, quadrupling against the Wolverines and tripling against the Hubbers, and Morris quadded against Smethport. For Sheffield, defending District 9 sprint champ Kalil Slaughter showed the blazing speed that sent him to states last year, lowering his own school records in both the 100 (:11.1) and 200 (:22.6) and scorching the homestretch of the Gator Field track to anchor the 400-meter relay team to a come-from-behind victory.
"I was honestly surprised by the scores. I expected both boys' meets to be closer," Riley said. "We had a wonderful night."
A Gator sweep in the 200 by Bryanna Evens, Jillian Edgreen, and Sara Borro secured the win against the Hubs, pleasantly surprising Riley, who admitted he'd expected the decision to come down to the meet-ending 1600-meter relay. Payne quadrupled in both meets to lead Port, with Ashley Woodruff quadrupling and Evens tripling against Sheffield.
Halfway through the regular-season schedule, the Gator girls are 3-1, and the boys are riding a 29-meet winning streak as they seek their fourth consecutive North Tier League crown.
"I hope to keep the unbeaten league streak going for these seniors, and we take another championship," Riley said. "Everybody is looking for us, so hopefully we can hold it together and pull it off. We've got a nice start."
At Port Allegany, April 12:
Boys: Port Allegany 83, Northern Potter 67
100: Morris (PA) :11.6, 200: Morris (PA) :23.5, 400: A. Morgan (NP) :55.3, 800: E. Kibbe (NP) 2:25.2, 1600: E. Kibbe (NP) 5:21.6, 3200: Bryan (NP) 11:24.6, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Morris, Osani, Brookens, Neal) :47.3, 1600 relay: Northern Potter (Schweigart, Olney, M. Morgan, S. Kibbe) 4:01.1, 3200 relay: Northern Potter (Olney, E. Kibbe, Reisinger, S. Kibbe) 9:42.8, 110 hurdles: Conway (PA) :15.9, 300 hurdles: Conway (PA) :42.9, long jump: Morris (PA) 18-10, triple jump: Osani (PA) 35-1, high jump: Conway (PA) 6-3*, pole vault: Conway (PA) 8-6, shot put: G. Lehman (NP) 39-8, discus: J. Lehman (NP) 91-3, javelin: A. Morgan (NP) 138-11.
* – PAHS record
Girls: Northern Potter 88, Port Allegany 62
100: Warriner (NP) :13.3, 200: Warriner (NP) :27.5, 400: Warriner (NP) 1:04, 800: Perry (NP) 2:59.4, 1600: E. Kibbe (NP) 6:11, 3200: Soule (NP) 2:59.4, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Payne, Foster, Borro, Edgreen) :56.3, 1600 relay: Northern Potter (E. Kibbe, Perry, Bennett, Warriner) 4:33, 3200 relay: Northern Potter (Sisko, A. Kibbe, Soule, E. Kibbe) 11:27.4, 100 hurdles: Bennett (NP) :18.3, 300 hurdles: Bennett (NP) :53.4, long jump: Healy (PA) 12-5, triple jump: Payne (PA) 30-1, high jump: Perry (NP) 4-11, pole vault: J. Edgell (PA) 7-6, shot put: Slavinski (NP) 28-11, discus: Slavinski (NP) 82-10, javelin: Knauer (NP) 119-6.
At Emporium, Apr. 14:
Boys: Port Allegany 119, Cameron County 22
100: Morris (PA) :11.6, 200: Morris (PA) :24.8, 400: Miller (PA) :56.1, 800: Shaffer (PA) 2:23, 1,600: Coxen (PA) 5:32, 3,200: Coxen (PA) 11:52, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Osani, Brookens, Neal, Morris)
:46.8, 1,600 relay: Port Allegany (Shaffer, Caulkins, Collver, Homell) 4:09, 3,200 relay: Port Allegany (Stehle, Majot, Binder, Coxen) 10:52, 110 hurdles: Conway (PA) :16.1, 300 hurdles: Conway (PA) :42.0, long jump: Morris (PA) 18-5, triple jump: Johnson (CC) 36-3, high jump: Conway (PA) 5-10, shot put: Taylor (PA) 38-0 ¼, discus: Taylor (PA) 123-11, javelin: Thompson (CC) 145-0.
Girls: Port Allegany 120, Cameron County 20
100: Evens (PA) :13.9, 200: Evens (PA) :28.0, 400: Evens (PA) 1:06, 800: Miller (PA) 2:53, 1,600: Woodruff (PA) 6:25, 3,200: Woodruff (PA) 14:11.9, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Payne, Foster, Borro, Edgreen) :57.5, 1,600 relay: Port Allegany (Wise, Rosenswie, Young, Causer) 5:28, 3,200 relay: Port Allegany (Riley, Miller, Woodruff, Johnson) 11:35, 100 hurdles: Payne (PA) :19.4, 300 hurdles: J. Edgell (PA) :56.5, long jump: Culver (PA) 12-2, triple jump: Payne (PA) 29-5, high jump: Payne (PA) 4-6, shot put: Schatz (CC) 31-2 ½, discus: Schatz (CC) 101-0 ¾, javelin: Zoschg (CC) 102-6.
Boys: Port Allegany 100, Smethport 53
100: Morris (PA) :11.7, 200: Morris (PA) :24.1, 400: Caminite (S) :56.6, 800: Miller (PA) 2:15.9, 1600: Lightner (S) 5:28.3, 3200: Groshek (S) 12:47.6, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Morris, Osani, Brookens, Neal) :46.8, 1600 relay: Smethport (Lightner, Alfieri, Caminite, Paulik) 3:49, 3200 relay: Smethport (Johnson, Groshek, Caminite, Paulik) 9:24.7, 110 hurdles: Conway (PA) :15.8, 300 hurdles: Conway (PA) :41.7, long jump: Morris (PA) 18-5, triple jump: Osani (PA) 37-1 ½, high jump: Conway (PA) 5-8, shot put: Lowery (PA) 40-0, discus: Mix (S) 101-6, pole vault: Lightner (S) 8-6, javelin: Stuckey (PA) 159-10.
Port Allegany 95, Sheffield 53
100: Slaughter (S) :11.1, 200: Slaughter (S) :22.6, 400: Stuckey (PA) :57.7, 800: Miller (PA) 2:15.9, 1600: Majot (PA) 5:39,9, 3200: C. Caulkins (PA) 14:08.5, 400 relay: Sheffield (Torres, Allan, Stevens, Slaughter) :46.6, 1600 relay: Sheffield (Torres, Jamison, Allen, Reynolds) 3:52,6, 3200 relay: Port Allegany (Majot, Stehle, Binder, Coxen) 9:31.3, 110 hurdles: Conway (PA) :15.8, 300 hurdles: Conway (PA) :41.7, long jump: Slaughter (S) 20-1, triple jump: Osani (PA) 37-1 ½, high jump: Conway (PA) 5-8, shot put: Lowery (PA) 40-0, discus: Leonard (S) 106-1, pole vault: Conway (PA) 8-0, javelin: Stuckey (PA) 159-10.
Girls: Port Allegany 82, Smethport 68
100: Evens (PA) :14.0, 200: Evens (PA) :29.0, 400: Woodring (S) 1:03.5, 800: Woodring (S) 2:43.5, 1600: Woodring (S) 6:10.5, 3200: Woodruff (PA) 14:07.6, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Borro, Payne, Foster, Edgreen) :56.6, 1600 relay: Smethport (Stratton, Carlson, Smead, Woodring) 4:40.6, 3200 relay: Smethport (Raymond, Carlson, Smead, Leet) 11:51.3, 100 hurdles: Payne (PA) :19.5, 300 hurdles: Carlson (S) :55.7, long jump: Master (S) 12-9, triple jump: Payne (PA) 28-11, high jump: Payne (PA) 4-4, shot put: R. Edgell (PA) 29-2, discus: R. Edgell (PA) 82-9, pole vault: Johnston/J. Edgell (PA) 6-6 (tie), javelin: Duffy (S) 90-10.
Port Allegany 127, Sheffield 15
100: Evens (PA) :14.0, 200: Evens (PA) :29.0, 400: Evens (PA) 1:05, 800: Woodruff (PA) 3:01, 1600: Woodruff (PA) 6:23.5, 3200: Woodruff (PA) 14:07.6, 400 relay: Port Allegany (Borro, Payne, Foster, Edgreen) :56.6, 1600 relay: Port Allegany (Edgreen, Johnston, Foster, Evens) 4:42.3, 3200 relay: Port Allegany (Johnson, Young, Riley, Woodruff) 12:11.8, 100 hurdles: Payne (PA) :19.5, 300 hurdles: Johnson (PA) :59,0, long jump: Culver (PA) 12-8, triple jump: Payne (PA) 28-11, high jump: Payne (PA) 4-4, shot put: R. Edgell (PA) 29-2, discus: R. Edgell (PA) 82-9, pole vault: Johnston/J. Edgell (PA) 6-6 (tie), javelin: Labesky (S) 67-10.
Softball: Gators 1-1 after first week
The Port Allegany softball team wasn't expecting to face defending league champ Coudersport in their first game of the season. But after weather woes washed out the beginning of the schedule, there they were, stepping to the plate against the Falcons just a day after finally getting outside to practice on their home field for the first time.
Coudy plated four runs in the top of the second inning, then held on for an 8-3 victory last Tuesday afternoon. But unlike some previous games against one of District 9's best teams, the Gator girls were in this one until the end. Rachel Taylor scored the first run of the season on Kris-Ann Raymo's stand-up double in the sixth, and Port pushed across two more in the bottom of the seventh on Kyley Mickle's bases-loaded sac fly and a sharp single by Sarah Brodhun off the second-baseman's glove before the game ended on a play at the plate.
"The second inning was where we lost it .. that basically was the game right there," new head coach Dave Morey said. "We had that one bad inning, but other than that, the girls played well. They didn't give up, and I was pleased with their effort.
"We just made some bad mistakes at crucial times, that's all. But overall, I think the girls played well for their first night out playing a game; it was cold, and this was the first time everybody got a chance to work together. And we're a young team. We've got three seniors and two juniors; everybody else is sophomores and freshmen, so you're going to expect mistakes until they get better."
In their only non-postponed game since then, Morey's squad visited Bradford on Friday afternoon, rebounding to shut out the Lady Owls 5-0. Raymo doubled twice to lead the Gator offense, with Mickle adding two hits and scoring a run, and Becky Andrus pitched a four-hit, three-strikeout complete game to earn the win.
Weather permitting, the Gators (1-1) were scheduled to host Smethport on Wednesday, then make up their postponed game at Otto-Eldred on Thursday before shutting down for the Easter break.
Coudy 1 4 0 0 0 1 2 – 8
Port A 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 – 3
Whitman (1 SO, 2 BB) and Gerner
Andrus/Shelley (2 SO, 4 BB combined) and Bova


text:
ft_defaults;
if ~exist('subjects', 'var'), subjects = [3:15 17:25]; end
close all;
clc; clearvars -except subjects

set(0, 'DefaultAxesFontSize', 7);
fig1 = figure; %fig2 = figure; fig3 = figure;

for sj = subjects,

    clearvars -except sj subjects fig1 fig2 fig3 binnedpupil binnedacc binnedRTcorr binnedRTerr;
    clc;

    % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
    % PREPARE
    % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    load(sprintf('~/Data/RT_DDM/P%02d_alleye.mat', sj)); % contains all data_blcorr over sessions
    data.fsample    = 100;
    pupilchan       = find(strcmp(data.label, 'EyePupil')==1);

    % remove noresp trials
    cfg        = [];
    cfg.trials = true(1, length(data.trial));
    cfg.trials(find(isnan(data.trialinfo(:,5)))) = false;
    data        = ft_selectdata(cfg, data);

    fprintf('removing %d out of %d trials \n', length(find(cfg.trials==0)), length(cfg.trials));
    RT = (data.trialinfo(:,6) - data.trialinfo(:,3)) ./ data.fsample;

    % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
    % PRE-STIMULUS BASELINE APPLIED TO ALL DATA
    % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    disp('baseline correcting...');
    bl = nan(length(data.trial), 1);
    data_blcorr = data;

    for t = 1:length(data_blcorr.trial),

        startofref = data_blcorr.trialinfo(t,3) - data_blcorr.trialinfo(t,1);
        % use the 500ms before this (50 samples, resampled at 100Hz)
        try
            bl(t) = mean(data_blcorr.trial{t}(pupilchan, startofref-0.5*data_blcorr.fsample:startofref));
        catch
            % in case there are not enough samples before that
            bl(t) = mean(data_blcorr.trial{t}(pupilchan, 1:startofref));
        end
        data_blcorr.trial{t}(pupilchan, :) = data_blcorr.trial{t}(pupilchan, :) - bl(t); % subtract from whole trial
    end

    % find autocorrelation in the bl
    max_lag = 50;
    autocorr = xcorr(bl, 50);

end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


WE Buchan is a part of the new order of communications.
We're award winning, multi-discipline and cross-sector. At the heart of what we do is the belief that traditional brand positioning is dead. Brands are no longer static and fixed, but are instead in constant motion, shaped by the demands of an ever evolving world and heightened consumer expectations. This belief is what guides us, driving us to develop tailored communications solutions for our clients that tap into the zeitgeist and influence attitudes and behaviour.
We're not Mumbrella's Large PR Agency of the Year 2018 for nothing.
The modern communications landscape is complex and multifaceted. Today's brands need big thinking and powerful storytelling that isn't confined to one perspective. The kind of approach that can only come from a collection of companies who think without boundaries to bring transformative ideas to the forefront for our clients.
Say hello to the WE family.


text:
cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.0)

function(git_pull PROJECT_NAME PROJECT_INSTALL_DIR GIT_REPO)
    ExternalProject_Add(
        ${PROJECT_NAME}
        GIT_REPOSITORY ${GIT_REPO}
        CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${PROJECT_INSTALL_DIR}
    )
endfunction(git_pull)

function(get_target_platform TARGET)
    if (CMAKE_GENERATOR MATCHES "Unix Makefiles")
        set(TARGET_PLATFORM Makefile/)
    elseif (CMAKE_GENERATOR MATCHES "Xcode")
        set(TARGET_PLATFORM Xcode/)
    elseif (MSVC)
        set(TARGET_PLATFORM MSVC/)
    endif ()
    message(${TARGET_PLATFORM} "in function scope")
    set(${TARGET} ${TARGET_PLATFORM} PARENT_SCOPE)
endfunction(get_target_platform)


Worried About Settlement Day? Here's How to Make it Stress-free!
The Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act (PADMA) was designed to make Queensland conveyancing easier and changes were made to improve it over the years but at the end of 2014 PADMA was discontinued.


If we review past couple of years, we can see the impending growth of cryptocurrencies on the market. Just three years ago, many crypto exchange companies were registered, one of them being Gemini, a company from New York that's well respected by the users from the USA. Gemini is with us for... well, quite some time, providing its users with relatively fast transactions, low fees, and great overall relationship with their customers. With their initial focus being on Bitcoin, Gemini decided to flow alongside the ever-changing crypto market, and now they offer a support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zcash. This Gemini review provides a detailed guide, description of services and steps to register, as well as a detailed review of the whole exchange. Read on!
Is Gemini Safe to Use?
Gemini is one of those companies that underwent a rapid expansion from the moment the doors opened for the first users. A few years ago, Bitcoin was their primary focus, and the company didn't have much success. Nowadays, Gemini is here to provide a clean, simple, and user-friendly experience for every customer that is interested in exchanging cryptocurrencies. When it comes to their area of support, the United States, Gemini has proven to be one of the best exchanges.
It's not easy to stay at your best, especially in the unforgiving crypto market, but, Gemini withstood the test of time and successfully managed to climb among the best crypto exchanges that the market has to offer. With their focus on the most popular cryptocurrencies at the moment, great customer support, and their relationships with the customers, Gemini strives to be a company that every crypto enthusiast knows of. In the next section, we'll review its pros and cons.
Interested in how Gemini compares to other crypto exchanges? We have compared all major cryptocurrency exchanges in this article.
Gemini is one of the safest crypto exchanges out there. During their years of work and existence, we haven't heard a single bad word regarding safety and there are numerous reasons for that. The first reason is the company's legitimacy. Gemini is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services, which is known to be pretty tough when it comes to meeting the certain requirements.
As such, there is no money laundering or scams on Gemini, also, there was no successful cyber-attacks, which often happen to many other crypto exchange companies. Aside from that, Gemini takes great care of its customers and their funds by taking advantage of an offline cold storage, rather than hot wallets. Not only that, but the company facilitates several offline wallets that are stored in several secured facilities.
With the addition of 2FA (2-Factor Authentication), Gemini remains at the top when it comes to security and privacy. All in all, the security of this crypto exchange is something that users are not concerned about.
While the customer support isn't great at Gemini, your user experience will be not affected by this because you, most likely, will not need the support. The main issue with their customer support is the lack of "depth" and haste that many other crypto exchange companies have. For example, we only have a FAQ section and the email support, which isn't enough for a company of this caliber. However, it would be a lie if we said that the FAQ section isn't good. In fact, it will provide answers to all of the common questions or issues that may arise.
The email support is a bit of hit and a miss. In most cases, you will receive the reply within a few hours, or, sometimes wait a few days. Nonetheless, we didn't encounter any issues with the support, but we still wish it was a bit better and faster.
Unlike some crypto exchanges from the USA, for example, Coinsquare, Gemini supports a majority of the USA states, including some countries worldwide. This gave a huge advantage to Gemini, as they can expand their area of support to a much higher level, thus having a bit of an edge over other USA-based cryptocurrency exchanges. The interesting thing is that many European exchanges provide solid support for the USA, while the USA exchanges are a bit skimpy when it comes to European countries.
It's pretty clear that users from the USA will gain a huge advantage over the non-USA users. That being said, Gemini supports 42 USA countries, of which we've listed some below. If you want to see the full list, you can simply click here.
The worldwide support is, however, limited. It includes Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. We still hope that it will expand in the years to come.
Gemini is a website that doesn't look that cool, but we consider it as a huge advantage. Thanks to its minimalistic and simplistic look, Gemini is dead simple to use and you won't have any issues with it, even if you are a newbie. In the upper part of the website, you can see the options for registering/signing up, as well as the current values of the three supported cryptocurrencies. On the right side, there is more info about the Bitcoin, Ethereum or Zcash fluctuations, which are great to have at your disposal.
"Probably the most professional exchange there is at this time. Yes it takes a while to set up, but it's US based, regulated, people do respond to any problems(which I have had none)."
As far as the registration process goes on Gemini, you register using your country of residence, your full name, email address, and a password. After that, you'll need to verify your account which can take up to a few working days to complete. Verifying your account isn't that complicated, meaning that you can do this with your government-issued ID, passport, etc.
After verification, you'll be able to take advantage of Gemini's options. You can now make fiat purchases, trade cryptocurrencies, and simply enjoy what Gemini has to offer.
Given the vast possibilities and tight security that Gemini has to offer, we can pretty much say that the company is in a great position. If we check its stats, it's surely not the most popular company worldwide, which isn't strange, since the worldwide support isn't great. However, Gemini shines within the USA. In the USA, Gemini stands for one of the best crypto exchange companies.
On top of that, its reputation is enhanced thanks to NYSDFS, which made sure that Gemini is compliant to every possible standard in the USA. After all, the company was started by Winklevoss twins that are known for series of successful companies under their wing. Gemini built a diamond-hard reputation that isn't so easy to dispute, and we believe that this trend will continue in the future.
Gemini is known for its relatively low fees. The great thing about their fees is that they are applied only to trading, leaving deposits and withdrawals without fees. Like it or not, we think that Gemini did a pretty good job here, as you'll probably spend more time withdrawing your money to your wallet or sending it to your Gemini account. On the other hand, the trading fees are fair by today's standards.
The highest that we got was around 0.4%, which is nothing, when compared to the fees of various cryptocurrency exchanges around the world. Some users complained about higher trading fees, but we're not exactly sure why this issue was even mentioned. Also, we're not sure how things were a couple of years ago. For now, Gemini is an undisputed king when it comes to fees, especially on the US market.
When it comes to the payment methods, Gemini isn't exactly the most generous exchange service. However, we do appreciate that they've included bank transfers and Wire transfers, which makes the payment much more convenient. Sure, we would like a couple of options on top of that, although we rarely use anything besides the bank account to transfer and withdraw funds.
So, if you want to use the bank transfer, you'll need to have a verified account on Gemini, as well as a valid bank account and a credit/debit card. The best thing here is that the fees stay the same – basically, non-existent. The same goes for the wire transfer, though. You can expect your transfer to be done within a few hours and sometimes faster.
All in all, we can't say that we have a plethora of payment options at our disposal, but what we have is more than enough. You can't beat good old bank transfer, at least not in the near future.
Sending cryptocurrencies from Gemini is a simple process that can be done in a matter of minutes. Before sending your crypto to your wallet, you need to buy it first. But, before that, you'll need to deposit money from your bank account to your Gemini account. After you've done this, simply click on the "Buy" button in the upper left corner and you'll see a new menu where you can purchase the desired amount of your preferred crypto.
When you select the amount you wish to purchase, simply click on Buy to complete your purchase. You can then save your crypto on your Gemini account or simply send it to your wallet, if you have one. If not, consider making yourself one, as this process takes no more than five minutes. After you buy crypto, you'll receive it in a matter of minutes, but this tends to take longer at times. Overall, we're satisfied with the simplicity and speed of the buying process.
Thanks to Gemini's numerous cold storages, receiving crypto to your Gemini account very secure. To receive crypto or fiat currencies to your Gemini account, simply buy crypto or deposit your fiat currency. Unfortunately, Gemini supports only one fiat currency and that's obviously USD. To withdraw your fiat currency from theGemini account, simply click on Transfer Funds and follow the instructions. You'll be able to receive your cash within few days, depending on the verification of your account.
On the other side, you can receive crypto. Receiving crypto can be done by purchasing it directly on Gemini and storing it using their cold storage, which has maximum safety. The other way is to use the Transfer Funds option and transfer it via an external wallet. We usually dislike when an exchange company includes a wallet, but we'll have to make an exception here since this one is pretty safe and secure.
If we take into an account our review up until this point, it's pretty clear that Gemini is one of the best crypto exchanges in the USA. But, when there are numerous benefits, there are also some downsides. First, Gemini puts a huge emphasis on the USA as their primary area of work, making it far superior platform for the users there. Secondly, the company supports USD as the one and only fiat currency.
We know Gemini as one of the best crypto exchanges with the lowest fees out there. This means that you won't be charged any fees, except for trading. While their customer support isn't the best out there, we still find it satisfying, to say the least.
Finally, the reputation that Gemini has is very hard to beat, if not impossible. Their numerous connections with the important investors and government are definitely something to take into an account. For the users that live in the US, Gemini is a great choice for starting their crypto voyage.
Have you traded on Gemini? Do you have any advice or suggestion for the other readers? Let us know in the comment section below!


text:
A worker of the Panama Canal dies after suffering an accident in the locks
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reported today the death of a worker who last week suffered an accident during a maneuver in the new locks and since then He was admitted to a hospital center.
SECTORS-COMPANIES Panama
Panama, Nov 22 (EFE) .- The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reported today the death of a worker who last week suffered an accident during a maneuver in the new locks and since then he was admitted to a hospital center.
Osvaldo de la Espada had been working as a tugboat sailor on the water route for more than 24 years, and the week last one had an accident, of which no details are given, in the new locks of Agua Clara, on the Atlantic slope.
Local media have reported that the victim suffered a blow to the head during a maneuver at the Agua Clara locks last 16th.
"All the human resources of the Panama Canal express to Mr. De la Espada his wife, children and family. deep pain for this irreparable loss, "the ACP said in a statement.
The Canal Authority" will continue to provide assistance to their families during these difficult times, " added the institution that manages the water route.
The expansion of the canal, which opened in June last year and whose cost exceeds 5,600 million dollars, consists of a new lane to make way for the Neopanamax, ships with a capacity to transport up to 14,000 containers, triple the load that passes through the centenary road.


text:
Flash Metal Suicide: The Sweet's Identity Crisis
By Sleazegrinder (Classic Rock) 23 May 2016
Glam Metal should have been The Sweet's party, but they weren't even invited...
"It's a good game when you're winning" - Identity Crisis
It was 1981, and things were not looking good for The Sweet. After dominating the charts in the UK during the height of the glitter rock era, the band had been on a devastating downward spiral ever since. Lead singer Brian Connolly's rampant alcoholism was hastening their doom. Gigs, big ones, were blown by his sloppy, tragic performances. Glam was out, at least back home, and Chinn & Champman, the behind-the-scenes songwriters who penned Sweet's biggest hits, had moved on to new wave.
The band itself had been waging a war of identity for years, inching ever-closer to the storming hard rock they loved, but never able to shake their teenage bubblegum image. And so, their last gasp, the aptly titled Identity Crisis. Three quarters of the band were still on board – guitarist Andy Scott, bass player Steve Priest, drummer Mick Tucker. Connolly was lost in a mist of booze and regret. The album bore no hits, and was only released in Germany at first. It got a wider release in 1982, but by that time, The Sweet had already broken up. The album stiffed, the dream was dead, and rock'n'roll went on without them.
Like many bands, The Sweet had ground themselves into bitter, bloody nubs by the end. A decade earlier they were a neon-streaking, star-spangling, eight-armed jukebox of a band, spewing one chewy-chewy bubblegum hit after another, four glittery proto-flash metal gods bedecked in mascara, capes and thigh-high boots, comic book superheroes riding a sugar high to the top. But then the records stop selling and the puppetmasters behind the scenes cut their strings, and it all went straight to hell. But if you keep a close eye on the timeline, The Sweet basically limped to their inglorious finale the same year that flash metal caught fire in LA.
The death of the original Sweet coincided with the bands that would replace them – Motley Crue, Ratt, Quiet Riot, Poison, etc. Outside of the New York Dolls, who were a cult act even in their prime, and Kiss, were very clearly their own specific brand, the US had no history of glam. Everything these bands learned, they learned from the early '70s British glitter brigade – Bowie, Slade, T Rex and The Sweet, basically. And of those four, The Sweet were clearly the harbingers of things to come. Their whole career was basically a struggle to become a metal band, after all.
Aside from Quiet Riot's affection for Slade, the influence of UK glam was downplayed by the Sunset Strip bands, probably because so many of them were basically barbarians in perms, macho chest-thumpers who cited AC/DC and Zep and Sabbath as influences, even though half of early '80s glam metal hits are basically Blockbuster cranked to 11. And really, a lot of the early Hollywood bands looked like they picked their outfits from The Sweet's dumpster.
So it was a real shame the way things shook out. After all, it's not like it was impossible to crossover from the '70s. Glam metal warmly embraced Kiss, Whitesnake and Ozzy, after all, so why not The Sweet, especially when they sacrificed so much to bring cheeseball glam with heavy metal guitars to the masses? Jesus christ man, this was their fuckin' party, and they weren't even invited.
Which is not to say they didn't try to get in. As far back as 1984, Andy Scott and Mick Tucker were fitfully forming new incarnations of The Sweet, largely with NWOBHM cast-offs. Brian Connolly had a separate Sweet at the time, as well. Eventually lawyers got involved, devolving the brand into "New Sweet" and "Andy Scott's Sweet", neither of which caught hold. Eventually Connolly died. So did Tucker. And the Sweet wars dragged ever on, blowing right past the flash metal era, the grunge era, the nu-metal era, and even into this bizarre up-is-down climate of laptop superstars and Axl/DC.
I fear that we will all be dead and the Sweet Wars will still rage. Currently Steve Priest is touring with an LA version fronted by Heaven & Earth mainman Joe Retta, while Andy Scott continues to trudge forward with his ever-revolving line-up. In 2012, Scott's version released the endearingly bonkers New York Connection album, wherein Scott mashes up Sweet hits with covers of (mostly) New York-based bands/songs. The Sweet's own Ballroom Blitz merges into Blitzkrieg Bop, for example, and New York Groove somehow loops in Jay Z's Empire State of Mind. It's mad science, but it actually works. But even so, it's no return to former glories.
Clearly, The Sweet lost the plot. Ultimately they are as responsible as we are for their glaring omission in the sequin-studded history of flash metal. They could not have come with a better title for their last proper album. This whole six-decade debacle has been one long, troubling Identity Crisis. But let's pause for a moment and heap some well-deserved praise on the classic line-up/era of The Sweet. They basically invented '80s glam metal in sound and vision with style and razzle-dazzle showmanship and some of the greatest pop songs ever written.
Think about it, man: Fox On The Run, Ballroom Blitz, Love Is Like Oxygen, Blockbuster, Wig Wam Bam, Teenage Rampage, Action, Little Willy… could there have really been a Poison or a Def Lep or even a Hanoi Rocks without them? Maybe, but they wouldn't have been nearly as fun. The Sweet made gloriously ridiculous, over the top rock'n'roll and they did it while wearing the shaggiest haircuts and shiniest boots possible. And if that's not Motley fucking Crue, then I don't know what is.
Next week: Sixes, Sevens and Nines
The 10 best songs by The Sweet, by Wednesday 13
See more Classic Rock features