"What Children Give to Parents: Reflections for Plato's Symposium and Aristotle's Ethics" Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, Conference on the Family, University of Notre Dame, 11/08/08.
"Embryonic Stem Cell Research" The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 10/24/07.
"Aquinas and Bioethics" The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 2/12/07.
"Ectopic Pregnancy and the Catholic Hospital" Urged on by Christ: Catholic Health Care in Tension with Contemporary Culture, 21st Bishops Workshop, Dallas, Texas, 2/7/07.
"Brain Death: Moral and Ethical Considerations" Urged on by Christ: Serving the Human Person in Medicine and the Life Sciences, Annual National Catholic Bioethics Center Seminar, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, 10/7/06.
"Moral Analysis of Prenatal and Postnatal Care Complications" Urged on by Christ: Serving the Human Person in Medicine and the Life Sciences, Annual National Catholic Bioethics Center Seminar, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, 10/6/06.
"The Tragic Case of Jodie and Mary: Questions about Separating Conjoined Twins" Northridge Medical Center, Northridge California, 5/30/06.
"The Ethics of Artificial Wombs: Kantian, Neo-Kantian, and Utilitarian Perspectives" Marquette University, 2/9/06.
"Moral Analysis of Separating Conjoined Twins: Jodie and Mary" Annual National Catholic Bioethics Seminar, Santa Teresita Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 11/4/05.
"The Desire to Live and the Right to Live" 57th Annual Northwest Philosophy Conference, Seattle University,10/21/05.
"Personhood and Conscious Desires: A Response to David Boonin" The Foundation of Freedom Conference, University of Portland, 6/4/05.
"Capital Punishment and the Catholic Tradition" St. Thomas and the Natural Law, University of Notre Dame, 7/7/04.
"Personhood As Conscious Desires? A Response to David Boonin" University Faculty for Life Conference, University of St. Thomas Law School, Minneapolis, 6/4/04.
"The Natural Law and the Death Penalty" Written on the Heart: The Tradition of Natural Law, Calvin College,5/15/04.
"Being in Love and Begetting a Child: A Greek Myth of Eros and the Christian Mystery of Marriage" The Church in the 21st Century Initiative, Boston College, 2/23/04.
"The Divine in Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: Can We be Good without God?" Ethics without God University of Notre Dame, 7/14/03.
"Disclaimers in the Sententia libri ethicorum of Thomas Aquinas? A Reconsideration" Albertus Magnus Institut, Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn, 6/4/03.
"La nature et le développement de l'amour dans le mariage: Vers une compréhension approfondie de la sexualité, de l'amitié et du don de soi dans la relation conjugale" Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, 5/20/03.
Aristoteleskommentar von Thomas?" Schweidt der Universität zu Köln, 5/15/03.
"Is the Sententia libri ethircorum of Thomas Aquinas only an Interpretation of Aristotle?" Forshungskolloquium des Thomas-Instituts, Universität zu Köln, 5/14/03.
"Freedom, Rationality, and Personhood: The Contemporary Anglo-American Debate and a Late Antique Solution" Institut für Philosophie, Universität Würzburg, 5/14/03.
"La séparation de Mary et Jodie les jumelles jointes : discussion du cas" Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, 4/10/03.
"Solomon's Dilemma: The Case of Conjoined Twins" Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, 4/10/03.
"Are Artificial Wombs Morally Permissible?" Albertinum/L'Ancienne Académie de Fribourg, Switzerland, 4/9/03.
"Krieg gegen Irak: Was unterscheidet US-Präsident George W. Bush und Papst Johannes Paulus II in ihrer Argumentation?" Schweidt der Universität zu Köln, 3/13/03.
"Cost-Benefit Analysis and Human Dignity" Global Values and Global Stability : Economic Efficiency and its Limitations VIII Zavikon Conference of the Dräger Foundation and the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Bieberstein Castle near Dresden, Germany, 2/21/03.
"Der Kommentar zur Nikomachischen Ethik: Nur das Aristoteles-Verständnis des Thomas oder darüberhinaus auch Thomas' eigenes Denken?" Philosophisches Arbeitskreis, Bonn, Germany, 12/3/02.
"Usury and Lending at Interest in the Catholic Tradition: Then and Now" LARIBA 2002, 9th Annual Islamic Symposium on Banking and Finance, Pasadena, California, 3/30/02.
"Why the Death Penalty? Capital Punishment and the Catholic Tradition" A Culture of Life, a Conference sponsored by the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame, 12/1/01.
"Just War: Its Conditions, Our Current Situation, and Why it Matters" Symposium on the Events of September 11, Loyola Marymount University, 9/20/01.
"The Status of Thomas' Commentary on Aristotle's Ethics" International Conference on Aquinas on Nature, University of Notre Dame, 7/18/01.
"Authority in the Church: A Response to Fr. Thomas Rausch, S.J." President's Day, Loyola Marymount University, 3/24/01.
"Thomas Aquinas on the Development of Doctrine" International Conference on the Sources used by Aquinas, University of Notre Dame, 7/19/00.
"Quality of Life and the Culture of Life: An Either/Or?" Linacre Centre Conference The Great Jubilee and the Culture of Life. Queens' College, Cambridge University, 7/4/00.
"Censorship and the Natural Law" at the "Censoring Censorship" sponsored by the Next Step Program of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Loyola Law School, and the Museum of Tolerance, 2/24/00.
"Distinguishing Intention from Foresight: What is Included in a Means to an End" Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame, 12/2/99.
"MacIntyre and Lonergan on the History of Philosophy: A Response to James Duffy" Lonergan Society Meeting at the ACPA, St. Paul, Minnesota, 11/6/99.
"Psychiatric and Philosophic Reflections on Physician Assisted Suicide" with Dennis Philander, M.D., University of Minnesota, Fairview Riverside Campus, 11/11/98.
"Proportionalism and Relativism" Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, 8/1/97.
"Is the 'Medical Management' of Ectopic Pregnancy by the Administration of Methotrexate Morally Acceptable?" Linacre Center for Health Care Ethics 20th Anniversary Conference, Queens' College, Cambridge University, 7/30/97.
"Selbstverteidigung bei Thomas von Aquin und das Prinzip der Doppelwirkung" Forshungskolloquium of the Thomas-Institut, Universität zu Köln, 6/11/97.
"Teleology and Deontology" Internationales Theologisches Institut Gaming, Austria, 4/28/97.
Ethical Perspectives" American University in Bulgaria; Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, 4/26/97.
"Double Effect Reasoning in the Thomistic Tradition" Institute of Philosophy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 4/16/97.
"Human Action and the Goodness/Rightness Distinction" Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 2/28/97.
"Rival Interpretations for Three Hard Cases" Bundeskanzler Scholars Meeting, Washington, D.C., 4/27/96.
"Exceptionless Norms in Aristotle?" Loyola University, New Orleans, 3/5/96.
"Lying: Absolutism and Consequentialism" U.S. Naval Academy, 1/23/96.
"Exceptionless Norms in Aristotle?" Stanford University, 1/17/96.


Something I have learnt over the last few years of taking photos is how much I love high contrast, high highlight images. I also have a love of dark photography and black and white. This annoys the hell out of an american friend of mine who finds my images are like my hair all grey and stuff. This image though totally needed it. I was for starters shooting into the sun, so the guys were silhouetted against the sky, and black and white further helped make what was a boring ole photo much more dramatic.
This was taken when I went to Carrickfergus Castle, in the town of Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. It is known to the locals as Carrick Castle even though my research shows Carrick Castle being in Scotland. Anyhow It is a fantastic spot and I have some great snaps of the castle which I shall be putting up in due course.
The post Sitting on the dock of the bay In Carrickfergus appeared first on McAWilliams Photoblog Ireland.


Qingyan looked to Yaochi before her, thinking that he probably saw that Qilian Qingyan. The Qilian Qingyan wearing a bright yellow phoenix gown, the former Thousand Beast Pavilion's master.
"Miss, that time, why did you let me leave you?" Yaochi stretched his hand towards Qingyan. "Why did you make that kind of decision, why didn't you wait for me to come back?"
Qingyan walked up to Yaochi and patted his head, "Yaochi, this isn't your fault. I have my own resolve, I don't regret it."
Yaochi looked to Qingyan, the expression on his face thoroughly relaxed. "Miss, the red lotus flames of hell, can you endure it?"
Qingyan walked up to his side and cupped his cheeks. His appearance was still as exquisite as it was five years ago. As for those scarlet eyes, she knew the special traits of each of her four guardians, and this secret, aside from herself, no one else knew.
Once those eyes were dyed scarlet, then that person will mistakenly fall to the heart's demons, and be controlled by the inner demons, thus falling into the non-path.
The so called non-path was: no life, no death, no injury, no end, and after death, unable to reincarnate.
And if Yaochi's eyes were dyed scarlet, even the number one martial artist of Jianghu, Fengqing, wouldn't likely be his match either. And in this vast world, these scarlet eyes, only Qilian Qingyan alone could dispel.
"Yaochi, this Empress has returned. Stay by this Empress's side." Qingyan looked to Yaochi, still maintaining a bright smile on her face. "This time, I'll never leave Yaochi again."
Yaochi looked to Qingyan before him and pulled her into his embrace at once, saying in a low voice, "Don't leave."
Qingyan lifted her hand to wipe the sweat from his face, "I won't leave."
I'll never leave again, because I can't bear letting you be all alone in this world.
She suddenly recalled the first time meeting Yaochi and the others. At that time, Yaochi was still called Qinglong. On his back was a tattoo of a giant azure dragon, and he was also an infamous hoodlum within the borders of Nanchen. Anyone who saw his real appearance would all mercilessly die at his hands.
Yet she used her warmth to reform him, reformed her four guardians of the Thousand Beast Pavilion.
er of his eyes also smiled, "Yes, Miss."
"Alright, today after you go back, I will think of a way to let the three of you enter the Su manor. This way Fengqing doesn't have to stay by my side anymore." Qingyan looked to Yaochi and handed him the spice pouch she'd always carried with her, "I made four, one for each of you."
Yaochi looked to the spice pouch in his hand and saw the patterns on the pouch. Earnestly nodding, he replied, "I understand, many thanks Miss."
Recalling Fengqing's movements from earlier, Yaochi looked to Qingyan and asked with a serious expression, "The Fengqing who've been following by Miss's side previously, is he that Seven Star Hall's strongest member?"
Qingyan listened to his words and nodded, "That's right, because Murong Shizi is precisely the Seven Star Hall's master. And he'll probably become my husband in the future, so in the future, don't injure our own people."
Seeing a smile come across Qingyan's lips, Yaochi also felt relieved at last. He knew that in the past, Qilian Qingyan only had Weisheng Junmo in her heart. He was also afraid that Qingyan still clung to Weisheng Junmo in her heart.
But now hearing her say this, the expression on his face relaxed. After all, now, she was only Su Qingyan.
"Yaochi, you don't need to worry. Although I still worry about Weisheng Junmo in my heart, that is in the past after all." Qingyan turned her head to look at Yaochi and spoke. "But now and even in the future, my husband will probably only be Murong Jingxuan."


text:
North Chilton
Thorsby to update town's mower lineup
The Town of Thorsby is preparing for the upcoming grass-cutting season by making sure their arsenal of mowers is ready for the challenge. The Council ... Read more | Add your comment
School projects selected for drawings phase
Valentine's events planned at Senior Connection
Streetscape project coming to Jemison Main Street
Clanton's skating rink turns 60
Monday, January 18, 2021 11:59 am
This week, Clanton Skating Rink turns 60 years old. Read more | Add your comment
OPINION: Thanks for a memorable five years
OPINION: Here's to a year of learning and growth
Local cowboy ropes 'Top in the Nation'
Maplesville Fire as close as family
Tuesday, June 16, 2020 11:33 am
By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor Many of the members at Maplesville Volunteer Fire and Rescue have been with the department for several years. Each has ... Read more | Add your comment
Up in the air: Singleton recounts years spent as airline pilot
Wadsworth named National Philanthropy Day Award Winner
Cruise-in returns to Maplesville
endall Jackson will be the new principal for Jemison High School. (FILE)
MLK Day celebrated in Clanton
Jackson named JHS principal
By Joyanna Love
Published 3:59 pm Wednesday, May 20, 2020
By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor
Kendall Jackson has been named the new principal for Jemison High School following the retirement of Dianne Calloway.
Jackson was the principal for Jemison Middle School for the past three years. The rest of Jackson's career had been at the high school level.
Her new position was approved by the Chilton County Board of Education during a voting session on May 19.
"I am really excited about the opportunity to meet with high schoolers again," Jackson said.
She enjoys working with high school students because she is a part of preparing them for life in "the real world."
"There is just something about a spirit in a high school, all of the activities, extra curriculars and really getting to invest a lot of time with those students and watching them grow," Jackson said.
Jackson said she would work with Calloway "to make sure there is a smooth transition."
"I want to work with our community to bring us together," Jackson said. "I want to do good things and positive things to add to the rich tradition and history that we have in Jemison. I truly am honored and humbled that I been given this opportunity."
Jackson is a graduate of Jemison High School and attended Jemison schools from first to 12th grade.
"Once you go into education, it is always your dream to come home at some point," Jackson said. "But, I also know, it's about timing."
Coming to work in Jemison schools was coming home for Jackson, and she has known for a while that whenever Calloway retired she "would consider" applying for the position.
"I have a lot of respect for her," Jackson said. "She taught me in high school, and then I got to come back and work with her."
When the position became available, Jackson said it was "something I thought about and prayed about, talked with my husband about and felt that it was time."
Although Jackson enjoys her career, she was initially reluctant to be a teacher.
Her bachelor's degree is in mass communications. When a professor suggested she become a teacher, she was an adamant that this was not the path for her.
After graduation and having trouble finding what she wanted to do, "I was having a conversation with my husband one day, and he said, 'I think you need to be a teacher.'"
She went back to complete a master's degree in education, followed by a master's degree in administration, both at the University of Montevallo.
She emphasized to her students to focus on walking with purpose and see the why behind what they are doing.
"I have found my purpose, and those kids are my why," Jackson said. "I go in, and I work for them everyday … It's hard, but I've loved it. I've loved every minute of it."
Turner added as IHS assistant principal
By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor Christopher Turner will be joining the leadership ranks at Isabella High School on Aug. 3.... read more
OPINION: Rivals take center stage at county basketball tourney
Mixed results in CCHS v. Calera
MLK basketball (photos)
Disc golf tournament coming to Clanton
2021 Chilton County Basketball Tournament photos
CCHS cruises to county title
Chamber Newsletters
Timber agreement reached
AgriClean meets deadline, installs disinfectant systems
Raleigh's Place partners with bag program
Hatley, Senior Connection host Veterans Day programs
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Future Phones: What do you think phones will look like in 2050?
By: Jonathan Strickland
Will the phones of 2050 look anything like the ones we use today?
As we gaze into the future using our crystal ball smartphone app, we came up with some predictions about what phones will be like in 2050. But this is just our own idea of what might happen and we want to know what you predict! Share your thoughts with us in our comments section.
Forecasting the technological future is tricky at best. Back in the 1980s, the thought of carrying around a small, portable phone seemed to belong in the realm of science fiction. Then in the 1990s, imagining a phone that would allow you to browse the World Wide Web -- something that didn't even exist until 1990 -- was outlandish. Today, smartphones can surf the Web, run applications, play games and those with a near field communication (NFC) chip can act as a transaction method for purchases. Oh, and they can still make phone calls too.
So what will phones look like in 2050? Based upon phone customer behavior, I imagine the future phones will rely more on integrating our physical lives with our digital lives. They probably won't resemble the handsets we're used to now. They'll be built into other devices and products. Imagine a pair of glasses that can display a digital overlay on top of your physical surroundings.
I don't think video chat is taking off despite services like Skype and FaceTime. Rather, the trend seems to be toward asynchronous communication. That means the two or more people in a conversation complete a discussion over time.
We might even see the phone part of phones disappear. Recent phone customer behavior suggests that texting is a more popular way to communicate than telephone calls. Future phones will need a way to display messages but not necessarily incorporate voice communication.
Since we're talking 2050 here, there's even the possibility that research into brain-computer interfaces will have reached a point in which we won't need a physical screen or microphone at all. Electronics could be built into clothing or other accessories. You'd link the devices to an interface connected to your brain and direct applications and messages just through thought. It'd be a technologically assisted form of telepathy.
But what do you think? Will we be wearing devices that let us communicate effortlessly? Or will we be carting around the iPhone 47 and answering texts between games of "Angry Birds"? Let us know your predictions in the comments section. You can even use more than 140 characters to say it!
Jonathan Strickland "Future Phones: What do you think phones will look like in 2050?" 28 June 2011.
HowStuffWorks.com. <https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/phones-in-2050.htm> 20 January 2022


C.K. "Pete" Rowland, Ph.D. of Litigation Insights, Inc. will be a panelist during the upcoming 16th Annual Energy Litigation Conference on November 9, 2017.
Litigation Insights is honored to announce that its Chairman emeritus, C.K. "Pete" Rowland, will be a panelist at the upcoming Energy Litigation Conference in Houston, Texas. Dr. Rowland will be lending his expertise to the session, The Public Perception of Energy Companies: How to Harness the Good and Combat the Bad in Litigation.
As stated by the Institute for Energy Law, this conference has become a must-attend event for energy litigators. It brings together top in-house and private practice energy litigators to discuss new industry trends, significant recent case law, and ways to improve an energy litigation practice.
The 16th Annual Energy Litigation Conference will take place on November 9, 2017 at the Hilton Houston Post in Houston, Texas. It is proudly presented by the Institute for Energy Law (IEL) of The Center for American and International Law. Marsha L. Montgomery of BP America Inc., Houston and Stan Perry of Reed Smith LLP, Houston are co-chairing the conference.
Part of the Center for American and International Law, the Institute for Energy Law provides superior educational and professional opportunities for lawyers and other professionals in the energy industry through educational courses, conferences, scholarly publications and membership activities. IEL presents several educational conferences and seminars each year, publishes papers, periodicals, and provides an important forum in which contemporary issues affecting the energy industries can be discussed.


The Bobby Elle is the first bag in the Bobby family that is 100% made for women and designed by women. It has great safety features that you are used to from Bobby but combines those with a nice materials and high end finishing. By using high end PU materials and jeans the Elle has a soft and luxurious feeling. Perfect for daily commuting or a short trip.
Padded tablet compartment up to 9,7"


ATLANTIC BEACH - Just when it seemed the city's side of the Beaches Town Center was starting to wane in merchants, there's a burst of activity of new restaurants under construction and parking demands could exceed the supply.
While Sticky Fingers restaurant closed at 363 Atlantic Blvd. this year after about a dozen years of popular barbecue fare near the thriving intersection with Third Street, a new eatery is quickly filling the void. Poe's Tavern is already under construction and also received a use-by-exception permit from the city to serve alcohol at the location.
Meanwhile, the M Shack Restaurant is replacing what used to be the Bookmark bookstore next to Ragtime. That eatery has already received approval from the city's Community Development Board for a 60-seat restaurant. But the owners want to provide 75 seats and that would require that they provide an additional four parking spaces.
Both of the restaurants are expected to open within weeks, but their progress comes just as a large unofficial parking lot is under question. A makeshift parking lot behind Al's Pizza, which is situated right between Poe's and the M Shack, is causing a rift among some who say the lot is becoming an eyesore and it's out of compliance with city code.
A complaint was filed by Don Ford in June. Ford is currently the Neptune Beach Building Official and used to hold the same position in Atlantic Beach. Ford said in his complaint to Atlantic Beach that the Al's parking lot, directly north of the restaurant on a quarter-acre of undeveloped land, is unstable.
Ford's complaint states that rainwater runoff on the land is washing sand into the drainage system, cars are getting stuck in the loose dirt and sidewalks are being destroyed on the property at 42 East Coast Drive that's owned by local developer Chris Hionedes.
Atlantic Beach Building Official Michael Griffin acknowledged Ford has a point and a letter has been sent to Hionedes outlining the complaints. Griffin also directed Hionedes to provide a more solid foundation for the lot.
"This letter requests the lot become sufficiently stabilized if, as owners, you allow free parking to continue on the property," Griffin said in his July 11 letter.
Hionedes is out of town until August, but Griffin said property managers have been contacted and will brief Hionedes as soon as he returns.
Officials involved in development of the M Shack could not be reached for comment.
Griffin said Poe's Tavern's seating is supported by ample parking.
Griffin said the city technically can't do anything about free parking on the lot behind Al's. There's no ordinance controlling parking unless they decide to charge money. But the city can enforce maintenance standards and Griffin said the lot is simply becoming chewed up from motorists going through the area.
He said because parking is in such high demand in the Beaches Town Center area, the Al's Pizza parking area is "an attractive nuisance."
Kendra Robertson, past president and current member of the Beaches Town Center Merchants Association that works closely with the Beaches Town Center Agency, said the Al's parking lot issue raises a recurring theme with the popular shopping hub: There's simply not enough parking and with more businesses coming on line, it won't get any better.
"Lack of parking is always good because it shows that we're busy," Robertson said. "But it is a discussion once again and the Beaches Town Center Merchants Association and The Town Center Agency [are] working on creating an overlay district."
The overlay proposal would eventually be presented to both Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach city governments for consideration, though Robertson did not specify when that might happen. But she said the Town Center needs more control over traffic and that could happen through increased traffic signs and even kiosks to help visitors to the business district.
In the meantime, Griffin said he'd like to see the merchants gather their resources and provide some potential solution to the parking lot behind Al's.
"We're trying to get the property owner and the business owners together for a win-win there. But we can't let it continue on like that," said Griffin.
Robertson said she's not sure that the merchants group will act on anything regarding the Al's parking lot any time soon. She said she's even heard that it might be developed into a building at the site.
"I think it doesn't provide that much parking, not to mention people are getting towed out of there because they get stuck," said Robertson. "Ultimately, we can't rely on it because the owner does want to develop it."
Eventually, Robertson said, a plan to address overall parking concerns in the seaside shopping center does need to be more aggressively pursued.
"It is one of the top priorities for the Beaches Town Center Agency," he said.


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Elon Musk Has Been Tweeting a Lot. What Can His Clothing Tell Us?
Posted on 1 month ago by Peak Mag
Of the many newsworthy things tech villain of the moment Elon Musk has said this year, the most surprising might have come at the Met Gala. "I love fashion," Musk said to a group of red carpet-side journalists on the first Monday in May. Seeming to register a few raised eyebrows, Musk elaborated: "I do, actually," he continued, increasingly earnest. "Sometimes it's viewed as frivolous and maybe not that important, but I think beauty is very important, and style, and things that move the heart."
If his audience was skeptical, it's easy to see why. In the pantheon of Silicon Valley overlords, where imagemaking is taken as seriously as New Age-y health regimens, Musk seems to be uniquely averse to the persuasive powers of fashion and style—at least when it comes to his own outfits. At the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday, where Musk watched the game in a VIP box alongside Jared Kushner (of the erstwhile "Slim Suit crowd"), the Twitter boss wore an olive green T-shirt and simple black jeans (with an oval belt buckle). What little attitude the outfit conveyed was carried by the buckle—perhaps an adopted habit from his new home state, Texas. (Musk is also occasionally pictured in a cowboy hat, and has said he is a fan of the "space cowboy" aesthetic.) But nothing could hide the fact that the man who spent $44 billion to become the center of attention looked unprepared for the moment, like he had thrown on the first thing he saw in his Doha penthouse suite.
Musk at the World Cup final.
Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Replying to the poll Musk posted this week asking if he should step down as head of Twitter, one user had a different suggestion: "Honestly You should hire a stylist just for the sake of elegance."
There is a long tradition of rich and famous tech tech titans aligning themselves with the fashion world. Ever since Steve Jobs asked Issey Miyake to make him a subtle black turtleneck for everyday use, clothing has been a central part of techworld mythmaking. The iPhone progenitor's daily uniform projected a monastic commitment to creativity, and an attention to high design cloaked in humility.
Similarly, Mark Zuckerberg's gray T-shirts were designed to free his mind from non-Facebook-related decision making—or at least give that impression. (Because he's a billionaire, they are made by Brunello Cucinelli, the cashmere-clothed humanist who dispenses clothing and philosophical musings from his Perugian hamlet to other world historically wealthy tech lords like Jeff Bezos and Marc Benioff.) Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, on the other hand, fashioned himself an anti-establishment crypto evangelist and free-spirited CEO with a closet full of droopy shorts and slim-fitting lamb-leather jackets by Rick Owens.
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Dora 1 en Dora 2 zijn twee voormalige bunkers voor U-boten in het Noorse Trondheim. Ze werden aangelegd door de Duitsers tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Dora 1 is afgemaakt. Dora 2 werd slechts deels gebouwd.

Achtergrond
Na de bezetting van Noorwegen in juni 1940 zag de Duitse Kriegsmarine het voordeel in van de lange kustlijn en diepe fjorden als uitvalsbasis voor schepen en onderzeeboten. Na de capitulatie van Frankrijk twee maanden later, nam het strategische belang van Noorwegen af. De havens van Frankrijk, waaronder de zeer grote onderzeebootbasis in Lorient, gaven een betere toegang tot de Atlantische Oceaan, maar Noorwegen bleef van belang als uitvalsbasis voor aanvallen op het noordelijk deel van de Atlantische Oceaan en de Noordelijke IJszee.

Bouw en gebruik
In Noorwegen waren onvoldoende werven die groot genoeg waren voor het onderhoud en reparaties aan grote marineschepen. Verder was de dreiging van geallieerde luchtaanvallen aanwezig. De marine besloot twee grote bunkers te bouwen die hiertegen bestand waren en waarin veilig onderhoud aan de onderzeeboten kon worden gepleegd.

De eerste bunker, Dora 1, is 154 meter lang en 105 meter breed. Er waren vijf ruimten, drie van deze waren 15 meter breed en boden ruimte aan een onderzeeboot, en twee ruimten van 21 meter breed waarin twee onderzeeboten tegelijk konden liggen. Het complex bood een veilige onderhoudsruimte voor zeven onderzeeboten.

Met de bouw van Dora 1 werd in de herfst van 1941 begonnen. De muren en het dak zijn zo'n 3 meter dik en gemaakt van gewapend beton. Noorwegen bood te weinig personeel en ook bouwmateriaal moest van buiten worden aangevoerd. Het staal voor de wapening werd ingevoerd vanuit Duitsland. De bouw werd uitgevoerd door Organisation Todt en duizenden mensen werkten aan de bunkers waaronder ook honderden Russische krijgsgevangenen. Mede vanwege het strenge winterweer werd de bunker pas in juni 1943 opgeleverd.

De basis werd gebruikt door de 13. Unterseebootsflottille. De eenheid werd in juni 1943 opgericht. Vijfenvijftig U-boten maakten deel uit van de eenheid die tijdens haar gehele bestaan Trondheim als basis gebruikte.

Het complex werd beschermd met luchtdoelgeschut. De basis werd diverse malen aangevallen door geallieerde bommenwerpers. Tijdens een aanval op 24 juli 1943 werd de basis beschadigd en een grote aanval op 22 november 1944 werd gestaakt omdat het weer een goed zicht op het doel belemmerde.

Met de bouw van een tweede en kleinere bunker, met de naam Dora 2, werd in 1942 gestart. Deze bunker ligt dicht bij Dora 1. De bouw vorderde langzaam en deze bunker was maar voor de helft gereed tegen het einde van de oorlog. Hier was ruimte voor nog eens zes onderzeeboten. Dit gebouw wordt momenteel gebruikt door een scheepswerf.

Na de oorlog
Na de oorlog wilde men Dora 1 opblazen, maar hiervan werd afgezien. De omvang van de bunker en de zware constructie zou zware schade aan de omliggende gebouwen hebben veroorzaakt. De basis werd korte tijd gebruikt door het Noorse leger en later zijn er twee etages boven op de bunker gebouwd. In het gebouw is tegenwoordig het stadsarchief gevestigd, een bowlingbaan en een aantal andere bedrijven waaronder een datacenter.

Externe links
  uboat.net The Bases in Norway - Trondheim
  Battlefieldsww2 U-boat base Dora
  Archief Trondheim

Bouwwerk in Trøndelag
Bunker
Trondheim

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Huntington Trio performers are Betsy Bobenhouse, flute, Pance Zaev, clarinet, and Larry Jones, piano. All three are music faculty members at Nebraska Wesleyan University. The trio's name is in honor of D.W.C. Huntington, third Chancellor of Nebraska Wesleyan, who raised funds to complete the C.C. White Building in 1907, which housed the NWU Music Department until 1964 when the Rogers Fine Arts Center was built. The Huntington Trio performs during the academic year at Nebraska Wesleyan University and in the Lincoln community.


Back in 2011 Swizz got caught out there when a woman by the name of Chris confirmed that her and Swizz had a sexting affair going on!, Now fast forward to three years later… Same senerio, different girl! people started noticing that Swizz Beatz started liking photos on the Instagram page of a gorgeous fitness model by the name of Lita Lewis.
At one point, Swizz also told her to "check her DMs," and from there rumors spun out of control as blog platforms blasted him for attempting to cheat on his beautiful wife, Alicia Keys. Swizz noticed the slander and decided to set the record straight once and for all by posting a screen shot of the DM exchange between Ms. Lewis and himself.
In the DM conversation, it is clear that he contacted her solely to have her link with his wife, since Lita is such a skilled trainer. He accompanied the post with a lengthy message to the public about how he had to take time away from studying for his Harvard education in order to clear his name, and how he wants everyone to keep that sort of negativity away from him and his wife.
I seen the Texts.. JumpoFFs aint winning this last part of the year?
Lita wanted to be like yeah I seen your wife's thick azz ankles.
I wonder if AK knew he was out here trying to set her up with a trainer. She may be at home looking like Is this mofo trying to call me fat?!
Imma just say her body looks like his type.
B! I need some of that POOPCORN in my life!
She should be home thinking just that oh and Vdot don't brang up my stalker NO MO!!!!!
VDot says: I wonder if AK knew he was out here trying to set her up with a trainer. She may be at home looking like Is this mofo trying to call me fat?!
Just like Kirk brought Jasmine home for baby Carter, right?
He may be a nice husand and really wanted to hook his wife up w/the trainer, but not for a fitness class.
Anna says: He may be a nice husand and really wanted to hook his wife up w/the trainer, but not for a fitness class.
I fell out when I read that! leave him lone!
LuVie its really dried Okras. Wanted to look like I be living tho.
I would love some 'corns from Chitown. Gonna have to get on that. SOOO GOODT.
MisT, you seen Bey's latest pics? Secretary skirt? Afro braids swung to the side like so? So Joi on you hoes.
So this is different from a FOB who most likely "recruit" for HIS wife? OR NAH????????????????
Just because Swizz wife a former bulldagger he cant "recruit" for her? OR NAH?
Wanted to look like I be living tho.
BRB. Gotta grab a polynesian punch slush from Sonic.
sounds like The CHamp is here…Jada and Ali voice.
My slow self said it like ole boy on "Jersey Shore" tho.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Nasty Prolly aint eem know that girl (his baby ma) NAME.
*mind blown hands* I swear she turn ppl into fools. Present company sometimes withstanding..
yep he didn't Know her name or HER for that matter.
At first glance see looks a tad bit like LaLa.
when I looked again she looked like Hoopz.
STAWP. Pauly aint got no bebe?
Y'all already talk about the live Aaron Hernandez hearing or nah?
Oh y'all MissyJ in love and need help!
In the DM conversation, it is clear that he contacted her solely to have her link with his wife, since Lita is such a skilled trainer.
You could take this 1 of 2 ways. Since everybody knows (Phadra voice) how AK and the nose get down she could be for both of their enjoyment or he like everyone else is tired of her cankles and wants to know what she can do to help.Either way its a win win for him.
Cali Poll would vote Directional Baby.
What baby? Al I can see is One Direction in my head. Who the fukk is the directional baby?
Wasn't Kirk looking for a nanny for his wife too?
OutsidetheBox says: STAWP. Pauly aint got no bebe?
OMG, she is so pretty Armabella is the lil gal's name. He aint even know til the baby was 7 or 8mths old.
Oh y'all MissyJ in love and need help!
These husbands play too much. Wives need to show up with a hot throb tombout he the gardener. Or the former bball star come to teach hubs how to play. Bet they sit their helpful asses down then.
Darned machine was broken. My inner brat through a hissy fit and had a meltdown in the parking lot (in my head).
With dude you broke things off with in Feb?
@Missy J - What the problem is?
Beleive it or not, I've fugged up enough to ...give you various outcomes.
(stole that from JOE BUDDEN) but true.
This is the second or third site that I have seen her referred to as a "fitness model". Why are they calling her that? What the heck is a fitness model anyway? I was just checking out her website and it is the real deal. She is a life coach, professional body builder, certified trainer, etc. But for the purpose of smearing Swizz and bringing the "how you get em is how you lose em" old wives tail to fruition folk are calling this accomplished young lady a "fitness model".
lIES... That was days ago and his response was 11 hours after??? naw, he staged that and paid her off...lolol. He thinks he is so slick.
This is the second or third site that I have seen her referred to as a "fitness model". Why are they calling her that? What the heck is a fitness model anyway?
Fitness model is below the body building category. I've been one, it's a level of competition.


text:
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What is the #BlackArtChallenge?
October 10, 2018 / Ashlee Cox
Image from #BlackArtChallenge post featuring renowned art collector Paul R. Jones
"The #BlackArtChallenge is what Zucot Gallery is doing in 2018 to make sure we [the black community] start collecting art. Black History month isn't the only time to celebrate black artists. This year we hope to motivate many to collect, buy, gather, research, come together to learn about and celebrate black art."
-Lauren Harris, ZuCot Gallery Manager
Internet "challenge" culture has emerged as a dominant force during the last five years. In 2018, it isn't unusual for a new challenge to command the attention of Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram users for weeks. From Drake and #InMyFeelings, to Ciara and #LevelUp, social media challenges are opportunities for artists to connect fans with their art. Although dominated by music and dance moments, challenges are not limited to entertainment. ZuCot Gallery, the largest black owned gallery in the Southeast, hopes to engage visual art enthusiasts of all ages with a challenge promoted since February 2018. The challenge— dubbed the #BlackArtChallenge — is a compelling intiative involving all things black art history.
The #BlackArtChallenge was created to promote the buying and selling of art by African American artists as well as encourage ZuCot followers to generally learn more about art. The motivation for the #BlackArtChallenge stemmed from the disparities that existed in online arts coverage. ZuCot Gallery Manager and Curator Lauren Harris noticed the limited coverage of African American artists within the mainstream art community.
"During Black History Month so many publications promote the history of black art in this country, but the conversation completely loses momentum during the rest of the year. There is a vast number of talented contemporary African American artists. Coverage of their work should not begin and end during the month of February. ZuCot Gallery decided to help shift the habit online."
Aside from the lack of promotion, the #BlackArtChallenge also hopes to address the disparity in art collection between the African American community and other cultural groups – a byproduct of art's traditionally elitist function within society. Historically art has been a hobby reserved for the wealthier members of society. According to a study published by Wealth X, a global wealth information and insight research company, art collecting is among the top fifteen hobbies of the wealthy with 8.9% of the highest earners in North America citing art as a regular pastime. (Fischer, 2018) Unfortunately, lack of income has created distance between African Americans (many of whom are of middle and lower class incomes) and fine art -- eliminating opportunities to interact and learn about art. (American Psychological Association)
Harris is aware of the black community's relationship to art and views it as an opportunity for growth. "We [ZuCot Gallery] try to present an alternative of who has the right to exist in the fine art space. We understand that for many of our followers, ZuCot is their first introduction to art on any level. With an emphasis on education, we hope to cut down on the intimidation factor."
One of ZuCot's earlier #BlackArtChallenges attempts to do just that. The post redefines collecting as a hobby available to anyone with a genuine passion for art, culture, and history. The post features renowned art collector and longtime Atlanta resident Paul R. Jones. Jones rejected the idea that collecting art required wealth, amassing a 2,000-piece collection. The impressive collection includes work from legendary African American artists Romare Bearden, Sam Gilliam, Jacob Lawrence, Betye Saar, and Faith Ringgold, among others. Through his support of emerging talent, Jones acquired art at the beginning of artists' careers – often avoiding mid-career level price tags. Jones along with other African American collectors like Bernard Kinsey, Shirley Kinsey, and Richard Long demonstrate the rich, cultural benefit available through the collection of art.
During the past eight months the #BlackArtChallenge has garnered significant discussion online. With hundreds of views, retweets, likes, and shares across all social media platforms, ZuCot Gallery's goal of bringing attention to art by African American artists throughout 2018 has become a reality. "The reactions from our followers show me that the #BlackArtChallenge needs to exist. I'm excited to continue developing new content with the team for the rest of the year, " states Harris.
Utilizing the viral capabilities of social media, the #BlackArtChallenge could expose a whole new generation to the history of black art in the United States. The challenge taps into the power of the information age and highlights the access granted to previously esoteric industries through the Internet. Take advantage of this cultural gem by staying updated on future #BlackArtChallenges through @ZucotGallery 's Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages.
To explore other resources promoting African American artists and exhibitions visit Culture Type, Black Art in America, and Black Museums.
https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2018/03/08/top-interests-hobbies-of-the-ultra-wealthy/?slreturn=20180818113416
http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/minorities.aspx
October 10, 2018 / Ashlee Cox/ Comment
#BlackArtChallenge, Challenge Culture, ZuCot Gallery, Black Art, Black Culture, Art Education, Paul R. Jones, Bernard Kinsey, Shirley Kinsey, Richard Long
Ashlee Cox
An African Marvel: The Diasporic ...
Supporting African American Art ...
Do you have relatable topic in the arts that you want to write about or have written about? Have you written a review of an art exhibition? If it's an opinion, news, listicle, or interview...share it with us!
SUMBIT your articles to lauren@zucotgallery.com with the SUBJECT line as BLOG SUBMISSION when you're ready!
(404) 380-1040 INFO@ZUCOTGALLERY.COM
100 CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PK DR SW ATLANTA, GA 30313
HOURS: Tuesday-Friday: 10am-4pm, Saturday 1pm-4pm


text:
Lower-priced electric cars give more people options for greener modes of transportation
December 30, 2017 · 11:45 PM EST
By Stephen Schmidt
Charging stations for electric cars have begun to increase in number in the US and several other countries.
Karlis Dambrans/CC by 2.0 (image cropped)
For years, the idea of owning an electric car was often tethered by limits for most potential customers — the two biggest being a high sticker price and limited driving range per charge.
Those limitations, though, are beginning to fade as the major manufacturers of gas-powered vehicles have entered the electric market. In addition to the number of cars available, the number of charging stations found in the US and other countries has also grown.
Furthermore, as competition has risen, the costs have concurrently lowered. Tesla — an electric car pioneer — began rolling out its Model 3 earlier this year. With a base price of $35,000, the Model 3 stands in stark contrast to its older brother, the Roadster, whose base model starts at $200,000. Recently, General Motors released the first all-electric version of its Chevrolet Volt, the EV, with a starting price in the same range as the Model 3.
"It's now within the realm of reality for many people," says Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation engineering at the University of Texas.
Jessika Trancik, an associate professor in the Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDDS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, points to the steady increase of people who are trading in a gas nozzle for a charging plug.
"We've done some research on energy consumption per day of people in cars, and on a daily basis, at least, we estimate that about 90 percent of cars on the road daily could be replaced by a low-cost electric vehicle and still meet the energy needs of drivers," Trancik says of work at IDDS.
One of the top reasons that consumers hesitate to buy an electric car is what is known as "range anxiety" when it comes to making sure that there will be enough miles to take care of daily tasks before having to recharge.
"I think we need to come up with some creative solutions to increase electric vehicle adoption," Trancik says. "Part of it is just getting information to consumers."
Kockelman recently took part in a series of studies in which Americans' driving habits — via more than 200 electric vehicles — were analyzed to determine the probability a household would not be able to complete all of its trips by charging just once a day. They found very low percentages that could not make one trip a year, she says.
Kockelman adds that many car manufacturers are providing a warranty on their electric vehicle sales, stating they will cover the cost of a gas-powered rental car in the event of a long trip. She does note that Tesla's Model 3 and the Chevy Volt can both now go over 200 miles between charges.
Trancik says that this improved mileage can be attributed to several factors. One of those is the overall improvement of electric car batteries, especially in regards to energy density, which allows manufacturers to add higher-capacity batteries without introducing more weight or volume. Another improvement has been with a reduction in the cost per unit of energy stored in batteries, Trancik says.
Still, given the "lifetime of our existing vehicles," Kockelman estimates that it will take at least 20 years until electric vehicles become the staple mode of individual transportation.
When that does happen, can the electrical grid in the US and in other countries handle the influx of increased usage?
"There are practical steps that we can take to improve our infrastructure," Trancik says. "So, it's very doable, I think."
Trancik notes that 5 p.m. has become the peak demand time to recharge electric vehicles, but her team discovered that delaying the charge could take significant pressure off the grid.
Kockelman adds that vehicle manufacturers are well aware of this peaking issue. She mentions the Volt has a feature to automatically delay its charging to be mindful of those surges in electricity use. The car does not start charging until much later in the evening.
Then there is the source of the electrical grid to take into consideration, such as the many cities in the Northeast still being powered by coal plants.
The data that Trancik and her colleagues have collected has shown that it is possible to reduce emissions per mile by 30 percent or more by switching to an electric vehicle, resulting in 30 to 40 percent emissions savings — while using today's electricity supply mix.
"The reason for that is that conversion efficiency is really quite high from what we call 'the well to the wheel,'" she says. "So, all the way from extracting your fuel, and in the case of electric vehicles, producing electricity and then all the way to what's called the tract of energy that propels the car forward."
In several states that are heavily reliant on coal for power, numerous coal plants are going offline purely for economic reasons — while the relatively low upkeep of electric vehicles allows them to be an investment in one's garage that could last for upwards of 18 years, Kockelman says.
"They actually get cleaner over time while conventional vehicles get dirtier," Kockelman says of electric vehicles. "The catalytic converter [on gas-powered vehicles] and other pieces on that engine and components are absolutely known to decay. And so they get dirtier over time while the grid's cleaning up."
Although interest in electric cars continues to grow, Kockelman, Trancik and millions of other people wait for the day of self-driving cars for the ride-sharing potential, among other reasons.
"I know lots of people who have better things to do, and driving is dangerous. It's actually the most dangerous thing we do and it's one of the costliest things that we do," Kockelman says, adding that the US is approaching a trillion dollars a year in crash-related costs, resulting in thousands of dollars a year per capita. "That's a great reason to make these cars smarter. There's excellent reasons to shift, and we will. I think it really takes some policy support at the national level, and we're not seeing that recently."
This article is based on an interview that aired on PRI's Science Friday with Ira Flatow.
Iran investigation says airliner caught fire before crash, Ukraine outlines theories
Science & TechnologyTechnologyEnvironment


The Xiaomi Mi 8 was announced in May 2018, but didn't make it to the UK until November 2018, when the brand officially launched in Blighty.
So it might seem like the Mi 9 comes soon after the Mi 8 surfaced, but it's nearly a year old – and a year is a long time in the life of a smartphone.
Here's everything we've heard so far about the next Mi flagship phone – but proceed with caution – it's very hard to verify some of these details, with the volume of leaks much lower than the likes of Samsung.
Xiaomi is attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2019, a show that now takes on increased significance as the company looks to increase its presence on the global stage.
The press event is scheduled for Sunday 24 February and although there's no confirmation of what might be launched, the Mi 9 is one of the devices rumoured to make an appearance. We've previously heard about the Mi Mix 3 5G and seen that folding phone prototype too, so MWC will give us something.
There's every chance that there will be an announcement in China prior to the MWC event. It's reported that new Xiaomi models have passed 3C certification in China.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 has done its turn in concept renders, appearing a couple of times thanks to Ben Geskin on Twitter. These renders show a device that is clearly based on the Mi 8, but you'll note the triple camera on the rear.
We're not expecting huge changes from the flagship design. Xiaomi has pushed in a different direction with the Mi Mix 3 – while there's also talk of a folding phone from the company.
With all that considered, we'd expect the Mi 9 to be rather more conventional – fully prepared for mass volume sales.
In addition to renders there's been a live sighting of a phone claimed to be the Mi 9 – it doesn't reveal too much of what's to come. Again, there's no fingerprint sensor on the rear, suggesting it will be in the display.
There's every reason to believe that the Xiaomi Mi 9 will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. Since the launch of that platform in December 2018 there have been few announcements, but we believe that Mobile World Congress will see many – with Xiaomi kicking off the action.
The RAM hasn't been confirmed, but we suspect there may be several configurations available. It might offer 6 or 8GB RAM, but also likely to see 64 or 128GB storage choices.
One thing that's probably closer to certainty is faster charging. The Mi 8 offers Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+, but only comes with a QC3 charger in the box – and that's going to be bettered. Taking to Weibo, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun confirmed as much. With battery life being one of the relative weaknesses of the Mi 8, the bigger the better for Mi 9 – currently there's little to confirm the capacity.
We're also pretty certain that the Mi 9 will adopt the in-display fingerprint scanner of the Mi 8 Pro. That certainly looks to be the case from the leaked wild photo, while we expect that display to again be a 6.4-inch AMOLED – currently there's little to go on with regards to these specs.
The Mi 9 might follow the Redmi Note 7 in offering a 48-megapixel rear camera, but the biggest rumour is that it will offer a three-camera system. That's pictured in the concepts and that appears to be the case for the leaked live image too.
Previous devices have a dual camera system, pairing 12-megapixel sensors for a 2x zoom option. The third camera might add wide angle, or it might just be a "depth" sensor. We hope it's the former, so it brings features that need a camera – but with cameras being the focus for so many phones, we expect the Mi 9 to step things up in this area.
It's expected that the Mi 9 will launch with Android 9 Pie – which is on the Mi 8 – as well as MIUI 10. We'd expect this to very much reflect the experience of the Mi Mix 3 and Mi 8.
With a new wave of phones there's potential for MIUI 11, although this is not expected to land until the second half of 2019.
We will of course keep you updated with all the news surrounding the Xiaomi Mi 9 launch.
Huawei is making a voice assistant for outside of China – but why?
Oppo Find Z name surfaces, but what is it?


These Objects specify how to communicate with a device and how to configure it.
This object describes the type of the logical device and its functionality.
Indicates the name given by Synapticon.
Identification of the EtherCAT device.


Cruising through the Highlands of Vietnam on the back of a motorbike is rather thrilling to me, especially since it's coffee harvest time. I opted for the Easy Rider Tour to take it all in and get easily on and off the bike whenever we wanted to stop to "watch and learn" about local agriculture.
Arabica and Robusta coffee is the name of the game and it appears that every household is in on it. Especially since Vietnam is now a top exporter of robusta beans it has become a profitable harvest for the farmers.
The area also produces one of the best tasting green, black and white peppercorns, an important element to Vietnamese cuisine.
The tarps are out again, either on the side of the road or anywhere else the sun shines to dry the picked cherry like coffee beans. They are then delivered to their central processing and roasting plant.
Having coffee with your friends every single day is a ritual here. The little shops are all packed with men and women drinking, chatting, laughing and enjoying each others' company over a great cup of coffee which is served with hot Vietnamese tea.
This reminds me of growing up in Vienna, the Kaffee Haus capital of Europe, where coffee still gets served with such great elegance and purpose. In these old ancient coffee places your Kaffee would be served in a beautiful cup on a small silver tray with a glass of water that had a small spoon balancing on top of the glass. It meant that you could stay all day if you liked and you would always be welcome, even if you consumed only one cup of espresso. My easy driver was completely perplexed when I tried to explain to him that drinking coffee in our western world is mostly done on the run. Preferably in a paper cup while texting and driving.


COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, Feb. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jack W. Gustavel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Idaho Independent Bank ("IIB" or the "Bank") (OTCBB:IIBK), announced IIB's unaudited, consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $2.7 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, compared to $3.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2014 included a one-time gain of $1.3 million on the sale of other real estate owned. Pre-tax net income for the full year ended December 31, 2015, was $3.5 million compared to $2.8 million for 2014, an increase of $0.7 million, or 25.0%. Net income after tax through December 31, 2015, was $5.2 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, compared to $5.0 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, for 2014. The income tax expense during each year included reversal of the Bank's deferred tax valuation allowance ("tax valuation allowance") sufficient to offset income tax expense plus a credit of $2.2 million in 2014 and $1.8 million in 2015. As of December 31, 2015, IIB was carrying a tax valuation allowance of approximately $1.1 million that may be used to reduce future tax expense.
At December 31, 2015, the Bank's total assets were $556.0 million, an increase of $25.6 million, or 4.8%, when compared to December 31, 2014. Deposits and repurchase agreements increased $25.7 million, or 5.7%, to $477.9 million; while total loans, including loans held-for-sale, increased $26.2 million, or 9.8%, to $292.2 million over the same timeframe. At December 31, 2015, the allowance for loan and lease losses totaled $6.1 million, or 2.1% of total loans, excluding loans held-for-sale. Nonperforming assets were less than 0.2% of total assets at December 31, 2015.
As of December 31, 2015, the Bank's Stockholders' Equity to Average Total Assets Ratio was 11.4%, and its capital ratios exceeded the regulatory thresholds required to be considered "Well-Capitalized." During 2015, the Bank purchased 93,778 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $770,000. As of December 31, 2015, IIB could repurchase up to $1.4 million worth of additional shares under its previously announced stock buyback plan.
IIB filed its Consolidated Report of Condition and Income for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, ("Call Report") with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on January 29, 2016. It will be available on the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council website at http://cdr.ffiec.gov/Public/.
IIB was established in 1993 as an Idaho state-chartered, commercial bank and currently operates three branches in Boise, as well as branches in Meridian, Coeur d'Alene, Nampa, Mountain Home, Hayden, Caldwell, Star, and Sun Valley/Ketchum, Idaho. IIB has approximately 200 employees throughout the State of Idaho. To learn more about IIB, visit us online at www.theidahobank.com.
Statements contained herein concerning future performance, developments or events, expectations for earnings, growth and market forecasts, and similar statements that are not historical facts are intended to be "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and as such, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to differ materially from expectations or our stated objectives. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, include, but are not limited to, declines in regional and general economic conditions; changes in interest rates, deposit flows, demand for loans, real estate values, competition, or loan delinquency rates; changes in accounting principles, practices, policies, or guidelines; changes in legislation or regulations; changes in the regulatory environment; changes in monetary policy of the Federal Reserve Bank; changes in fiscal policy of the Federal government and the State of Idaho; changes in other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technological factors affecting operations, pricing, products, and services; material unforeseen changes in the liquidity, results of operations, or financial condition of the Bank's customers . Accordingly, these factors should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The Bank undertakes no responsibility to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Common Equity Tier 1 capital (to risk-weighted assets) 16.04 % N.A.


text:
Covid-19 booster shots available at area pharmacies to individuals who meet the requirements of CDC's recommendation
Cedar Rapids, Iowa – COVID-19 booster shots are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for certain groups who completed their Pfizer/BioNTech series at least six months ago.
The operations director for eight pharmacies in Eastern Iowa, including Mount Vernon Pharmacy, Roger Thompson, said his locations have begun administering booster shots to eligible individuals.
"For the long-term care facilities in Johnson and Linn County I would say I probably have over 2,500 doses already scheduled," said Thompson.
Individuals in long-term care facilities and those 65 and older who finished their Pfizer series more than six months ago should receive a booster, according to the CDC. Those 18 and older with underlying health problems or who work in environments with increased chances of exposure should also receive boosters.
Dr. Cameron Webb, a senior advisor to the White House COVID-19 response team, expressed his pleasure at receiving a booster.
"As a healthcare worker, I'm working in the COVID unit tomorrow, it's something that brings me some modicum of peace," said Webb.
However, not all healthcare workers are eligible at this time.
"Myself I actually being a healthcare worker and doing all these clinics, I don't qualify for the booster shot because we were given Moderna so I'm actually on that list of people still waiting," said Thompson.
We asked Webb will booster shots for individuals who got Moderna or Johnson & Johnson be available shortly.
"We've got about 68 million folks who got Moderna. About almost 15 million folks who got Johnson & Johnson. We're certainly not leaving anybody behind. If the science is telling us that some of those folks need to be boosted then we're going to make sure we get that to them as soon as possible," said Webb.
Those who are able have already begun going into Mount Vernon Pharmacy to get a Pfizer booster.
"I think our stores are going to see a lot more influx in patients actually coming in and getting their booster shots," said Thompson.
Mount Vernon Pharmacy will be relocating before the end of the year. They'll be moving to 101 First Street Northeast, approximately a block away from their current location.
COVID-19 booster shots are also being administered at Hartig Drug and Hy-Vee to individuals who are now eligible.
Prisoner dies after battling Covid-19 virus for couple of days


text:
\section{Introduction}
Ever since Maxwell summoned his demon~\cite{maxwell1871theory}, the mutual influence between physics (i.e., the representation of a system's physical properties), information (i.e., the representation of an agent's knowledge about a physical system), and the measurement process (i.e., the interaction between system and agent) has emerged as one of the main themes of debate in theoretical physics. Von Neumann is surely among the most influential names to have contributed to this discussion. In his mathematical formulation of quantum theory~\cite{von1955mathematical}, much space is devoted to a careful analysis of the interplay between quantum measurement theory and thermodynamics. Therein, von Neumann approaches the problem using the artifact---common, as he explicitly remarks, in phenomenological thermodynamics and used before him also by Einstein~\cite{einstein1914beitrage} (see also Ref.~\cite{klein1967thermodynamics}) and Szilard~\cite{szilard1929uber,szilard1964decrease}---of an ideal gas of particles, whose mechanical degrees of freedom obey the laws of classical mechanics, while their states (which should really be thought of, in this context, as mere labels) are described according to quantum theory, but are otherwise irrelevant from an energetic viewpoint. In this way, it is possible to separate, on the one side, the mechanical and thermal properties of the gas, and, on the other side, the information that an agent acting on the gas has about its particles. The ``missing link'' between physics and information is provided by two assumptions: the first is the existence of particular devices called \textit{semipermeable membranes}; we will discuss them extensively in what follows. The second assumption is about the validity of the second law of thermodynamics, which is posited by von Neumann \textit{ab initio}. Following this line of thought, von Neumann was able to explore the consequences of the second law in quantum theory and obtain his famous formula for the entropy of quantum states.

The argument constructed by von Neumann, although operational in the most part (i.e., the quantum entropy is defined using a thermodynamic protocol, which in principle also provides a way to measure the quantum entropy), still relies on the structure of Hilbert spaces. In particular, a crucial role is played by the spectral decomposition of self-adjoint operators~\cite{von1955mathematical}.
A natural question is then to see how far von Neumann's discussion can be reconstructed from purely operational assumptions. The common way to approach this kind of problems utilizes the framework of general probabilistic theories (GPTs; see, e.g., Ref.~\cite{dariano-OPT,janotta2014generalized,plavala2021general,popescu1994quantum,pawlowski2009information,barnum2010entropy,masanes2011derivation,muller2012structure,barnum2014higher,wakakuwa2021gentle}). These provide a modern take on the operational approach to quantum theory, which can be traced back to works by Ludwig~\cite{ludwig1964,ludwig1967}, Davies and Lewis~\cite{davies1970operational}, Gudder~\cite{gudder1973}, and Ozawa~\cite{ozawa1980optimal}.

Without Hilbert spaces, in GPTs there exist various ways to introduce the entropy functional in an operational way, which turn out to be all equivalent in conventional quantum theory, but are not so in general \cite{short2010entropy,barnum2010entropy,kimura2010distinguishability,kimura2016entropies}.
A possible approach is to add assumptions that are strong enough to conclude that a unique spectral decomposition exists~\cite{chiribella2015operational,krumm2017thermodynamics}.
However, in more general setups, the uniqueness of the spectral decomposition is not guaranteed~\cite{barnum2014higher,barnum2015entropy,krumm2015thermodynamics}: in all such cases, von Neumann's argument seems to be a nonstarter.

In this paper, we clarify the importance of two implicit assumptions in von Neumann's argument: the existence of repeatable measurement processes, on the one hand, and of states that are the fixed point of some non-trivial repeatable measurement, on the other. These two operational assumptions---we argue---can take over the role played, in von Neumann's argument, by the spectral theorem, which instead is not operational. In this way, we can provide von Neumann's thought experiment with a fully operational narrative, and to explore the consequences of the second law of thermodynamics also in GPTs that do \textit{not} have a unique spectral decomposition. However, to achieve this, some modifications to von Neumann's argument are needed: in particular, the thermodynamic process must be modified into a cycle. As a byproduct, our argument allows us to obtain also an analogue of the Groenewold--Ozawa information gain~\cite{groenewold1971problem,ozawa1986information} in a wide range of GPTs, and to equip it with the operational meaning of monotone, with respect to a suitable preorder of the measurement processes.

\section{Basic definitions}
In order to discuss von Neumann's thought experiment in GPTs, we begin by briefly reviewing the basics of a simple single-system theory (see, e.g., Refs.~\cite{janotta2014generalized,plavala2021general} and references therein). A single-system GPT is determined by providing all possible \textit{events}, thought of as ``black boxes'' with an input and an output, which can be either the system of the theory or the trivial system (i.e., a system with only one possible state). The input-output arrangement determines the \textit{type} of the event. Events with trivial input are interpreted as preparation events, whereas events with trivial output are interpreted as observation events, or \textit{effects}. Families of events of the same type form a \textit{test}: one has, therefore, preparation tests and observation tests. The latter are usually called \textit{measurements}. Tests describe what can happen in an experiment: among the events it contains, one and only one will occur in any given repetition of the same experiment. Therefore, tests with only one element describe \textit{deterministic} events. In particular, a common assumption (corresponding to a ``no-signaling from the future'' principle~\cite{no-signaling-future,dariano_2010}) is that only one deterministic measurement exists. Instead, a theory typically provides many possible deterministic preparations: these are the (normalized) \textit{states} of the theory and form its \textit{state space}, denoted by $\Omega$. Normalized states naturally form a convex set: its extremal points are called \textit{pure states}, otherwise they are \textit{mixed}.

Tests can be composed, following the idea that any experiment can be seen as a chain preparation--process--measurement. Since states can be convexly mixed, tests are naturally assumed to satisfy linearity on such convex combinations. This observation allows for a more concrete definition of single-system tests as families $\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ of affine maps acting on $\Omega$~\footnote{Notice that we are not assuming that \textit{any} family of affine maps constitutes a legitimate test of the theory: further conditions, most notably that of complete positivity, may restrict the set of possible tests. However, this point is irrelevant for the present discussion.}. Denoting by $u$ the unique deterministic measurement, normalization of probability requires that $\sum_j(u\circ s_j)\rho=1$, for all $\rho\in\Omega$. In conventional quantum theory, it is easy to recognize that tests are \textit{quantum instruments}~\cite{ozawa1984quantum}, whereas the composition $\{u\circ s_j\}_{j\in J}$ provides the generalization of \textit{positive operator-valued measures} (POVMs). For this reason, in what follows we will call \textit{instruments} those tests that have both input and output non-trivial, while the term \textit{measurement} will only be used to denote the analogue of POVMs.
Summarizing, in what follows we will work with normalized states, denoted by $\rho$, $\sigma$ etc., instruments, denoted by $\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$, $\{t_k\}_{k\in K}$ etc., and measurements, denoted by $\{e_j\}_{j\in J}$, $\{f_k\}_{k\in K}$ etc.

Finally, an important notion is that of perfect distinguishability: a family of normalized states $\{\rho_j\}_{j\in J}$, $\rho_j\in\Omega$ is said to be \emph{perfectly distinguishable} if there exists a measurement $\{e_j\}_{j\in J}$ such that \[e_{j}(\rho_{j'})=\delta_{jj'}\;,\] for all $j,j'\in J$.

\medskip\textit{The measurement stage.}---As anticipated in the introduction, von Neumann's thermodynamic thought experiment makes use of semipermeable membranes (SPMs). These are devices that are can separate, reversibly and without any thermodynamic cost, the particles of a gas, as long as their states are distinguishable---at least in principle, of course. Von Neumann goes to a great length to justify the use of such idealized devices, which, he argues, represent ``\textit{the thermodynamic definition of difference}''~\cite{von1955mathematical}. In what follows, we characterize SPMs from an operational viewpoint.

The first property of SPMs, implicit in their definition, is their \textit{repeatability}: the first time a particle collides with the membrane, a measurement occurs determining whether the arriving particle is a ``pass'' or a ``bounce,'' and it will remain so until the end of the experiment, even if the same particle collides with the membrane multiple times. Hence, our first assumption is that the theory contains repeatable instruments. Formally, an instrument $\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ is repeatable if and only if \[s_{j'}\circ s_{j}=\delta_{j'j} s_j\;,\] holds, for all $j,j'\in J$.

The second requirement needed to go along with von Neumann's discussion is the existence of states that are the fixed points of some repeatable instrument.  This is necessary if we want to speak, as von Neumann does, of thermodynamic reversibility with respect to the system's initial state. Since even in quantum theory there exist repeatable instruments without invariant states~\cite{buscemi2004repeatable}, we need to treat this requirement as a further assumption. In thermodynamic terms, the assumption of state invariance makes it reasonable to assume that there are no hidden thermodynamic costs (besides the macroscopic mechanical ones) incurred when using SPMs that preserve the mixture being separated. Formally, we say that an instrument $\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ is $\rho$-\textit{preserving} whenever $\sum_js_j(\rho)=\rho$.

In the assumption of state invariance, however, we need to exclude the trivial case of the deterministic identical instrument, which is of course repeatable and for which all states are fixed points. We thus strengthen our requirements as follows: first, we define a set of ``maximal'' instruments with respect to a suitable preorder, and then require the existence of states that are fixed points of some instrument that is maximal \textit{and} repeatable. As a straightforward extension of the post-processing preorder of POVMs~\cite{buscemi2005clean} to the case of instruments, we introduce the following preorder (see also Fig.~\ref{fig:refinement}):

\begin{figure}[htbp]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=7cm]{ordering.pdf}
    \caption{A schematic representation of the notion of Groenewold majorization $t\succ_\rho s$.}
    \label{fig:refinement}
\end{figure}

\begin{definition}[Groenewold majorization]
	\label{def:rho-ref}
	Given two instruments $s=\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ and $t=\{t_k\}_{k\in K}$, and a state $\rho\in\Omega$, we say that $t$ \emph{Groenewold-majorizes} $s$ given $\rho$, in formula,
	\[t\succ_\rho s\;,\] if and only if there exists a conditional probability distribution $p(j|k)$ such that
	\begin{equation}
		s_j(\rho)=\sum_{k\in K}p(j|k) t_k(\rho)\;,
	\end{equation}
for all $j\in J$.
\end{definition}

In the above definition, we could have in fact chosen a more general scenario, including also some suitable transformations before and after the randomization. However, since for our purposes we are only interested in the maximal points of $\succ_\rho$ and since these are the same with or without the extra transformations, for the sake of simplicity, we choose to work with the above definition.

\begin{definition}[Fine-grained instruments]
	An instrument $s=\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ is said to be \emph{fine-grained} if and only if, for all preorders $\succ_\rho$ (i.e., for all states $\rho$), the condition $t\succ_\rho s$ implies that also $s\succ_\rho t$ holds.
\end{definition}

\begin{definition}[MPP instruments]
	An instrument $s=\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ is said to be of the \emph{measure-and-prepare-pure (MPP)} form if and only if it is completely characterized by one measurement $\{e_j\}_{j\in J}$ and one family of normalized pure states $\{\sigma_j\}_{j\in J}$, such that the $j$-th state $\sigma_j$ is prepared whenever the $j$-th effect $e_j$ occurs.
\end{definition}

The following lemma holds (for the proof, see Appendix \ref{app:lamma:f-g}) .

\begin{lemma}\label{lemma:f-g-instrument}
	Let $s=\{s_j\}_{j\in J}$ be a fine-grained instrument. Then, $s_j(\rho)$ is (up to normalization) a pure state, for all states $\rho\in\Omega$ and all $j\in J$. In other words, $s$ is an \emph{MPP} instrument.
\end{lemma}

The above lemma guarantees that fine-grained instruments are all physically admissible, simply because they can be physically realized as measurements followed by the preparation of pure states that only depend on the outcome. As such, they do not require any notion of composition (i.e., complete positivity) to be discussed. We denote fine-grained instruments as pairs $\{e_j,\sigma_j\}_{j\in J}$, where $\{e_j\}$ is a measurement and $\{\sigma_j\}$ is a family of normalized pure states.

Hence, the following two assumptions, that is,
\begin{enumerate}
	\item the existence of fine-grained and repeatable instruments; and,
	\item the existence of states that are fixed points of some fine-grained and repeatable instrument,
\end{enumerate}
together with Lemma~\ref{lemma:f-g-instrument}, imply that the theory contains states that can be decomposed on a set of perfectly distinguishable pure (PDP) states. Following~\cite{barnum2014higher,krumm2017thermodynamics}, we call such states \textit{weakly spectral}. For simplicity, we summarize the previous discussion into one assumption as follows:

\textit{Assumption 1} (Weak spectrality). We assume that the theory contains weakly spectral states $\rho\in\Omega$, that is, states that admit a (possibly non-unique) convex decomposition into PDP states $\rho=\sum_i p_i\rho_i$.

Notice that we are not assuming that \textit{all} states of the theory are weakly spectral. In what follows, for ease of notation, for a weakly spectral $\rho$, we denote by $\mathcal D(\rho)$ the set of all possible probability distributions $\{p_i\}$ that appear in at least one of its PDP decompositions.

Assumption 1 (A1) above is ``weak'' because in the literature its ``strong'' version is often encountered, and the separation between the two is strict. More precisely, instead of A1, the property of \textit{(unique or strong) spectrality} assumes that all PDP decompositions of the same state correspond to distributions $\{p_i\}$ which differ at most in a permutation of the indices \cite{barnum2015entropy,krumm2015thermodynamics}.
Strong spectrality is hence akin to assuming the spectral theorem from the onset. Instead, the existence of weakly spectral states is guaranteed as soon as there exist at least two perfectly distinguishable pure states. Examples of theories that satisfy weak spectrality but not strong spectrality are given in Ref.~\cite{krumm2015thermodynamics}. For what follows, it is convenient to introduce the following definition:
\begin{definition}[$\rho$-separating SPMs]
	A set of SPMs is said $\rho$-\emph{separating} if it corresponds to a repeatable \emph{MPP} instrument $\{e_j,\sigma_j\}_{j\in J}$, which is in particular $\rho$-preserving, that is
	\[
	\rho=\sum_{j\in J}e_j(\rho)\sigma_j\;.
	\]
\end{definition}
\noindent From the above discussion, it is clear that $\rho$-separating SPMs exist if only if $\rho$ is weakly spectral.
\begin{figure*}[t]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{von_neumann.pdf}
\caption{The process of separating particles in a state $\rho=q_1\sigma_1+q_2\sigma_2$ using suitable $\rho$-separating SPMs. The dashed line is a SPM transparent to $\sigma_1$ but perfectly elastic for $\sigma_2$; the dashed-dotted line vice versa.}
\label{fig:von_neumann}
\end{figure*}

\section{The feedback stage}
Von Neumann's argument also involves a feedback control stage, during which a suitable transformation is applied to the system, depending on the measurement outcome. Again, to follow von Neumann's narrative, we need an assumption, that we identify in the following:

\textit{Assumption 2} (Free pure-state transformations~\cite{masanes2011derivation,hanggi2013violation,krumm2017thermodynamics}). For any pair of pure states, $\rho_{\textrm{in}}$ and $\rho_{\textrm{out}}$, the theory contains a deterministic event $F:\Omega\to \Omega$ which is reversible, that is, there exists another deterministic event $G$ such that $G\circ F=\operatorname{id}$, and satisfies $F(\rho_\textrm{in})=\rho_{\textrm{out}}$.

According to the thermodynamic narrative, a reversible operation is one that does not cause any change to the entropy of the thermodynamic universe. Notice that we do not put any constraints on what the operation does on states other than $\rho_{\textrm{in}}$. In this sense, Assumption 2 (A2), like A1 before, is ``weak'': instead of A2, in the literature it is common to find the assumption of \textit{strong symmetry}, which assumes that any two collections of PDP states are connected by one \textit{simultaneous} reversible process \cite{barnum2014higher,krumm2015thermodynamics,krumm2017thermodynamics}.
A counterexample of a theory that satisfies A2 but is not strongly symmetric is given in Appendix \ref{sec:app2}, where we explicitly construct a GPT that contains two pairs of PDP states that cannot be simultaneously and reversibly converted.

We conclude this section by noticing that conventional quantum theory satisfies both strong spectrality and strong symmetry. In fact, it is known that any GPT satisfying both strong spectrality and strong symmetry becomes to a large extent akin to quantum theory~\cite{barnum2020spectral}.

\section{Entropy from thermodynamic considerations}
We are now ready to formulate our version of von Neumann's thought experiment in the language of GPTs. As already noticed, we follow von Neumann's argument, in that the particles' mechanical degrees of freedom obey the classical laws of ideal gases, whereas the non-classical degrees of freedom, i.e., the generalized states labeling the different ``isomers,'' are thought of as internal degrees of freedom with a completely degenerate Hamiltonian so that they do not directly enter in the energetic balance of the process.

We begin with the calculation of the work needed to separate the particles by means of SPMs. The separation process is depicted in Fig.~\ref{fig:von_neumann}.
An ideal, thermostatted gas contains $N$ particles in the mixture state $\rho$. According to the above discussion, $\rho$ is assumed to satisfy the property of weak spectrality. For simplicity, we assume that $\rho$ contains only two pure components, that is, $\rho=q_1\sigma_1+q_2\sigma_2$, where $\{q_j\}_{j=1,2}$ is a probability distribution and $\{\sigma_j\}_{j=1,2}$ are two PDP states. The generalization to a larger number of components is straightforward.

Closely following von Neumann, we apply a set of $\rho$-separating SPMs, corresponding to the repeatable MPP instrument $\{e_j,\sigma_j\}_{j\in\{1,2\}}$ with effects such that $e_j(\sigma_{j'})=\delta_{jj'}$. This is physically modeled by two SPMs with opposite mechanical behaviors: if one SPM is transparent for, say, $\sigma_1$, the other is transparent for $\sigma_2$. After the separation, which is done isothermally, the two species ($\sigma_1$ and $\sigma_2$) are contained in two separate chambers, both of the same size as the initial chamber.
The number of particles in a state $\sigma_j$ is $e_j(\rho)N=q_jN$.
In agreement with our preceding discussion and previous analyses~\cite{von1955mathematical,hanggi2013violation,krumm2017thermodynamics}, we can assume that this first step of the separation is basically a solid translation of coordinates, so that the work worth of this step is zero.

The two SPMs are then replaced by impermeable walls and we isothermally compress the chamber with $\sigma_1$ (resp., $\sigma_2$) until its volume becomes $q_1V$ (resp., $q_2V$), so that after the compression both chambers have the same (initial) pressure.
From the ideal gas law, the amount of work needed for the isothermal compression c$\to$d is
\begin{align}
&-\int_{V}^{q_1V}\frac{q_1NkT}{V'}dV'-\int_{V}^{q_2V}\frac{q_2NkT}{V'}dV'\nonumber\\
	&=H(\{q_j\})NkT\ln 2\;,\label{eq:work-in}
\end{align}
where $T$ is the temperature of the environment, $k$ is the Boltzmann constant, and $H(\{q_j\}):=-\sum_j q_j\ln q_j$. This ends the separation protocol. If the decomposition of $\rho$ has more than two PDP states, we repeat this protocol for each perfectly distinguishable state and obtain the same result.

Next, we consider the mixing process. Here we deviate from von Neumann's process, in that we want to go back to the initial mixed state, whereas von Neumann's final state is pure. After the separation process has been completed, we are in the situation in which the two (pure, distinguishable) species $\sigma_1$ and $\sigma_2$ are in two separate chambers with equal pressure (i.e., the initial pressure). The total volume of the two chambers together equals the initial volume, but now we know which species is present in each chamber.
If we were to replace the wall between the two chambers again with the same SPMs used during the separation step, by letting the two species slowly and independently expand, we would be able to gain back the work invested in the separation stage with the gas restored to its initial state. We would then have achieved a trivial, reversible cycle.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=8cm]{fig-main.pdf}
	\caption{The cycle used in the proof of Theorem \ref{theorem:main}. \textbf{[$\alpha\to\beta$]}: work is invested to achieve the separation as in Fig.~\ref{fig:von_neumann}. \textbf{[$\beta\to\gamma$]}: additional partition plates are inserted at proper positions (zero work). \textbf{[$\gamma\to\delta$]}: to each chamber, a suitable reversible transformation, with zero work-cost, is applied and the states therein contained are transformed into $\rho_i$. \textbf{[$\delta\to\alpha$]}: work is extracted, by running the separation process for the decomposition $\rho=\sum_ip_i\rho_i$ backwards.}
	\label{figure:main}
\end{figure}

Instead, we consider a \textit{different} decomposition of $\rho$ in pure distinguishable states, as assumption A1 does not exclude such a possibility. Let us denote the alternative decomposition of $\rho$ by $\sum_ip_i\rho_i$. As depicted in Fig.~\ref{figure:main}, we can freely insert additional partitions in a suitable way, and transform the pure states (which are known) in each partition into $\rho_1$ or $\rho_2$, as needed. In this way (by removing additional walls as necessary), we have transformed the arrangement corresponding to the decomposition $\sum_jq_j\sigma_j$ into the arrangement corresponding to $\sum_ip_i\rho_i$ without the need to account for any new term in the thermodynamic balance, thanks to assumption A2.

Then, by using two new SPMs tuned to match the new PDP decomposition $\sum_ip_i\rho_i$, and by following the separation steps backward, we can bring the system back to its original state having gained in the process (isothermal expansion) an amount of work equal to:
\begin{equation}
    H(\{p_i\})NkT\ln2 .\label{eq:W_mix}
\end{equation}
As a whole, therefore, the amount of work we can extract from this cycle is calculated from \eqref{eq:work-in} and \eqref{eq:W_mix} as follows:
\begin{align}
    \Delta W=[H(\{p_i\})-H(\{q_j\})]\;NkT\ln 2\;.\label{eq:delta_W}
\end{align}

We now invoke, following von Neumann, the second law of thermodynamics, which implies that $\Delta W$ cannot be strictly positive; otherwise, we would have constructed a \textit{perpetuum mobile} of the second kind. Moreover, since the same must hold also if we exchange the role of the two decompositions, we conclude that $\Delta W$ must be exactly zero. But this must hold for \textit{any} PDP decomposition of $\rho$. Hence we obtain the following:
\begin{theorem}\label{theorem:main}
    Under assumptions A1 and A2, the second law of thermodynamics implies that for all weakly spectral $\rho\in\Omega$ we have
    \begin{equation}
        H(\{p_i\})=H(\{q_i\})\;,\label{eq:ent}
    \end{equation}
	for all $\{p_i\},\{q_i\}\in\mathcal{D}(\rho)$. In other words, a necessary condition for the validity of the second law is that any weakly spectral state has a unique spectral entropy.
\end{theorem}
Indeed, we provide an explicit example of a GPT where the spectral entropy is not uniquely defined in Appendix \ref	{sec:app-different-spectral-entropies}.

Here we derive concavity of the spectral entropy under the assumption that \textit{all} the states of the theory are weakly spectral and that the second law is valid.

\begin{theorem}[Concavity]\label{theorem:concavity}
Let $\rho_1,\rho_2\in\Omega$ be states. Then we have the following inequality:
\begin{equation}
    H\left(p\rho_1+(1-p)\rho_2\right)\ge pH(\rho_1)+(1-p)H(\rho_2)\;,
\end{equation}
for any value $0\le p\le 1$.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
Consider a state $\rho$ whose decomposition into PDP states is $\rho=\sum_i q_i \sigma_i$. First, as shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:concavity}, we separate it into its pure components using a suitable set of $\rho$-separating SPMs. The resulting arrangement is shown as (b) in Fig.~\ref{fig:concavity} and costs an amount of work proportional to $H(\rho)$. Then, by adding partitions, transforming pure states, and mixing, we can arrive at the arrangement shown in (c) of Fig.~\ref{fig:concavity}. In this step we can gain an amount of work proportional to $\sum_j p_j H(\rho_j)$, where $p_1\rho_1+p_2\rho_2=\rho$.
Finally, since $\rho$ is the convex combination of $\rho_1$ and $\rho_2$, we can accomplish the process (c)$\to$(a) by only removing the partion, without requiring any work. Therefore, the work we can extract from the isothermal cycle (a)$\to$(b)$\to$(c)$\to$(a) is $\Delta W=\left[-H(\rho)+\sum_j p_jH(\rho_j)\right]NkT\ln 2$. The second law implies that $\Delta W\le 0$, which completes the proof.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=8.5cm]{concavity.pdf}
	\caption{The proof of the concavity of spectral entropy. \textbf{[(a)$\to$(b)]}: separate $\rho$ into PDP states; this process needs work $H(\rho)NkT\ln 2$. \textbf{[(b)$\to$(c)]}: create $\rho_1$ and $\rho_2$ from pure states; the amount of work $\sum_i p_iH(\rho_i)NkT\ln 2$ can be extracted from this process. \textbf{[(c)$\to$(a)]}: since $\rho$ is the convex combination of $\rho_1$ and $\rho_2$, we can accomplish this process by just removing the wall with no work.}
	\label{fig:concavity}
\end{figure}
\end{proof}

\section{Groenewold--Ozawa information gain}
The uniqueness of the spectral entropy functional can be used to extend the definition of the Groenewold--Ozawa information gain~\cite{groenewold1971problem,ozawa1986information} to GPTs that satisfy weak spectrality as follow:

\begin{definition}
For any state $\rho\in\Omega$ and instrument $s$,
we define the Groenewold--Ozawa information gain as follows:
\begin{equation}
    I_{\mathrm{G}}(\rho,s):=H(\rho)-\sum_je_j(\rho)H\left(\frac{s_j(\rho)}{e_j(\rho)}\right)\;,
\end{equation}
where $e_j(\rho):=(u\circ s_j)(\rho)$ is the probability of the $j$-th outcome.
\end{definition}

The Groenewold--Ozawa information gain earns an operational interpretation in terms of the preorder introduced in Definition~\ref{def:rho-ref} as a consequence of the following fact, proved in Appendix \ref{sec:app-goig}.

\begin{theorem}\label{theorem:monotone}
   For any state $\rho\in\Omega$ and instruments $t$ and $s$,
   $t\succ_\rho s$ implies the following inequality:
    \begin{equation}
        I_{\mathrm{G}}(\rho,t)\ge I_{\mathrm{G}}(\rho,s)\;.\label{eq:Groenewold-monotone}
    \end{equation}
\end{theorem}

Recently, Ref.~\cite{danageozian2021thermodynamic} proved a relation between the Groenewold--Ozawa information gain and the heat absorbed by the system during a measurement process. This result together with our inequality \eqref{eq:Groenewold-monotone} suggests a link between the thermodynamic and the resource-theoretic characterization of quantum measurements. We leave this point open for future studies.

\section{Conclusions}
In this work, we have shown how von Neumann's thought experiment can be formulated in a purely operational language, without resorting to the structure of Hilbert spaces or the spectral theorem. An advantage of our reformulation is that we can now appreciate how important it is, in von Neumann's argument, to assume the validity of the second law of thermodynamics from the beginning. It is the second law, and not the spectral theorem, to force the entropy to be unique, lest we build a \textit{perpetuum mobile} of the second kind. In this sense, the second law is used by von Neumann as a consistency check, a first principle of logic rather than a law of physics~\cite{watanabe55,watanabe65,buscemi2021fluctuation,aw-buscemi-scarani}.

A problem left open is that of finding relations between the spectral entropy considered in this work and other entropies that can be considered in GPTs~\cite{short2010entropy,barnum2010entropy,kimura2010distinguishability,perinotti2021shannon}. Moreover, since we can regard von Neumann's device as a process for extracting work from measurements, there may be a close relationship between the present discussion and previous research on work extraction from quantum measurement processes~\cite{hayashi2017measurement}. We leave these questions for future works.

\section{Acknowledgments}
The authors are very grateful to Michele Dall'Arno, Masanao Ozawa, and Mark M. Wilde for their useful comments.
Support from MEXT Quantum Leap Flagship Program (MEXT QLEAP) Grant No. JPMXS0120319794 is acknowledged.
S.M. would like to take this opportunity to thank the "Nagoya University Interdisciplinary Frontier Fellowship" supported by JST and Nagoya University.
H.A. is supported by a JSPS Grant-in-Aids for JSPS Fellows No. JP22J14947, a JSPS Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Research (B) Grant No. JP20H04139, and a Grant-in-Aid for JST SPRING No. JPMJSP2125.
F.B. acknowledges support from MEXT Quantum Leap Flagship Program (MEXT QLEAP) Grant No. JPMXS0120319794; from MEXT-JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A) "Extreme Universe", No. 21H05183; from JSPS KAKENHI Grants No. 19H04066 and 20K03746.

\medskip\textit{Author contributions.}---S.~M. and H.~A. contributed to this work equally.

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