text:
10 April 2017 / #Data Science
Whose ratings should you trust? IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, or Fandango?
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by Alex Olteanu
A data scientist investigates
Should you watch a movie? Well, there are a lot of factors to consider, such as the director, the actors, and the movie's budget. Most of us base our decision off of a review, a short trailer, or just by checking the movie's rating.
There are a few good reasons you would want to avoid reading reviews, or watching a trailer, although they bring much more information than a rating.
First, you may want to completely avoid spoilers, no matter how small. I understand that!
Second, it could be that you want an uninfluenced experience of watching that movie. This usually applies only to reviews, which are sprinkled with frames, like "this is a movie about the complexity of the universe" or "this movie is really not about love". Once these frames get encoded in your short-term memory, it's really hard to stop them from interfering with your own movie experience.
Another good reason is that if you're tired or hurried, you might not want to read a review, let alone watch a 2-minute trailer.
So a numeric movie rating seems to be a good solution in quite a few situations, for quite a few people.
This article aims to recommend a single website to quickly get an accurate movie rating, and offers a robust, data-driven argumentation for it.
Criteria for "the best"
Making such a recommendation is a lot like saying "this is the best place to look for a movie rating," which is an evaluative statement, resting on some criteria used to determine what is better, what is worse or worst, and what is best, in this case. For my recommendation, I will use one single criterion: a normal distribution.
The best place to look for a movie rating is to see whose ratings are distributed in a pattern which resembles the most, or is identical to, the pattern of a normal distribution, which is this: given a set of values lying in a certain interval, most of them are in the middle of it, and the few others at that interval's extremes. Generally, this is how a normal (also called Gaussian) distribution looks like:
A normal (or Gaussian) distribution of movie ratings means that there are a few low ratings, a lot of average ones, and a few high ones. An ideal normal distribution means the best in this context.
What's the rationale behind this criterion? Well, from my own experience consisting of several hundred movies, I can tell that I've seen:
a few outstanding ones that I've watched several times
a couple that were really appalling, and made me regret the time spent watching them
and a whole bunch of average ones, for most of which I can't even remember the plot anymore.
I believe that most people — whether critics, cinephiles, or just regular moviegoers — have had a similar experience.
If movie ratings do indeed express movie quality, then we should see the same pattern for both.
Given that most of us assess the bulk of movies as being of an average quality, we should see the same pattern when we analyze movie ratings. A similar logic applies for bad and good movies.
Every bar is thought here to correspond to a rating (it can also correspond to a rating interval). The taller the bar, the greater the number of movies with that rating.
If you're not yet persuaded that there should be such a correspondence between the patterns, think about the distribution of ratings for a single movie. As many people rate the movie, it's not a leap of faith to assume that most often there will be many of them with similar preferences. They'll generally agree that the movie is either bad, average, or good (I will quantify later these qualitative values). Also, there will be a few others who assess the movie with one of the other two qualitative values.
If we visualized the distribution of all the ratings for an individual movie, we would most likely see that one single cluster forms in one of the areas corresponding to a low, an average, or a high rating.
Provided most movies are considered average, the cluster around the average area has the greatest likelihood of occurring, and the other two clusters have a smaller (but still significant) likelihood. (Note that all these likelihoods can be quantified in principle, but this would require a lot of data, and would have the potential to turn this article into a book.)
The least likely would be a uniform distribution in which there are no clusters, and people's preferences are split almost equally across the three qualitative values.
Given these likelihoods, the distribution of ratings for a large enough sample of movies should be one with a blunt cluster in the average area, bordered by bars of decreasing height (frequency), resembling, thus, a normal distribution.
If you have found all this hard to understand, consider this illustration:
Please notice the distinction between "likely" and "very likely".
IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, or Metacritic?
Now that we have a criterion to work with, let's dive into the data.
There are a lot of websites out there that come up with their own movie ratings. I have chosen only four, mainly based on their popularity, so that I could get ratings for movies with an acceptable number of votes. The happy winners are IMDB, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic.
For the last two, I have focused only on their iconic rating types — namely the tomatometer, and the metascore — mainly because these are more visible to the user on each of the websites (meaning it's quicker to find them). These are also shared on the other two websites (the metascore is shared on IMDB and the tomatometer on Fandango). Besides these iconic ratings, both websites also have a less-featured rating type where only users get to contribute.
I have collected ratings for some of the most voted and reviewed movies in 2016 and 2017. The cleaned dataset has ratings for 214 movies, and can be downloaded from this Github repo.
I haven't collected ratings for movies released before 2016, simply because a slight change has occurred in Fandango's rating system soon after Walt Hickey's analysis, which I will refer to later in this article.
I'm aware that working with a small sample is risky, but at least this is compensated by getting the most recent snapshot of the ratings' distributions.
Before plotting and interpreting the distributions, let me quantify the qualitative values I used earlier: on a 0 to 10 scale, a bad movie is somewhere between 0 and 3, an average one between 3 and 7, and a good one between 7 and 10.
Please take note of the distinction between quality and quantity. To keep it discernible in what follows, I will refer to ratings (quantity) as being low, average, or high. As before, the movie quality is expressed as bad, average, or good. If you worry about the "average" term being the same, don't, because I will take care to avoid any ambiguity.
Now let's take a look at the distributions:
Each rating has its peculiarities. For IMDB and Fandango, each bar corresponds to a 0.5 range, and for the other two, the range of a bar has a value of 5.
At a simple glance, it can be noticed that the metascore's histogram (that's what this kind of graph is called) most closely resembles a normal distribution. It has a thick cluster in the average area composed of bars of irregular heights, which makes the top neither blunt, neither sharp.
However, they are more numerous and taller than the bars in each of the other two areas, which decrease in height towards extremes, more or less gradually. All these clearly indicate that most of the metascores have an average value, which is pretty much what we're looking for.
In the case of IMDB, the bulk of the distribution is in the average area as well, but there is an obvious skew towards the highest average values. The high ratings area looks similar to what would be expected to be seen for a normal distribution in that part of the histogram. However, the striking feature is that the area representing low movie ratings is completely empty, which raises a big question mark.
Initially, I put the blame on the small sample, thinking that a larger one would do more justice to IMDB. Luckily, I was able to find a ready-made dataset on Kaggle containing IMDB ratings for 4,917 different movies. To my great surprise, the distribution looked like this:
This similarity raises the confidence with regard to the representativity of the smaller sample.
The shape of the distribution looks almost the same as that for the sample with 214 movies, except for the low ratings area, which is in this case feebly populated with 46 movies (out of 4917). The bulk of the values is still in the average area, which makes the IMDB rating worth considering further for a recommendation, although is clearly hard to rival the metascore, with that skew.
Anyway, what's really great about this outcome is that it can be used as a strong argument to support the thesis that the 214-movies sample is fairly representative for the whole population. In other words, there's a greater confidence now that the results of this analysis would be the same — or at least similar — to the results reached if absolutely all the movie ratings from all the four websites were analyzed.
With this increased confidence, let's move on to examining the distribution of Fandango's ratings, which doesn't seem to have changed much since Hickey's analysis. The skew is still visibly towards the higher part of the movie rating spectrum, where most of the ratings reside. The area for the lower half of the average ratings is completely empty, just like the one for low ratings. It can easily be concluded that the distribution is quite far from fitting my criterion. Consequently, I won't consider it further for a possible recommendation.
(I promise that the torment of scrolling up will end soon. It's much easier to compare the distributions if they are placed one near the other, rather than having them scattered across the article.)
Lastly, the tomatometer's distribution is unexpectedly uniform, and would look even flatter under a different binning strategy (a binning strategy is defined by the total number of bars and their ranges; you can play with these two parameters when you're generating a histogram).
This distribution is not easy to interpret in context, because the tomatometer it's not a classical rating, but rather represents the percentage of critics who gave a positive review to a movie. This makes it unfit for the bad-average-good qualitative framework, because it makes movies either good, either bad. Anyway, I guess it should still boil down to the same normal distribution, with most of the movies having a moderate difference between the number of positive reviews and the negative ones (rendering many ratings of 30% — 70% positive reviews), and a few movies having a significantly bigger difference, in one way or the other.
Given the last consideration and the shape of the distribution, the tomatometer doesn't meet my criterion. It could be that a larger sample would do it more justice, but even so, if I were to recommend it, I would do it with some reserves because of the vague positive or negative rating system.
At this point of the analysis, I could say that by looking at the distributions, my recommendation is the metascore.
However, the IMDB's distribution seems to be worth considering as well, especially if you tweak a little the rating intervals for the three qualitative categories (intervals which I defined myself, more or less arbitrarily). From this perspective, recommending the metascore by mostly doing a visual examination is clearly not enough.
So, I will try to delimit between these two by using a quantitative method.
The idea is to use the Fandango variable as a negative reference, and then determine which variable, from the IMDB rating and the metascore, is the least correlated with it (I call these variables because they can take different values — for example, the metascore is a variable because it takes different values, depending on the movie).
I will simply compute some correlation coefficients, and the variable with the smallest value will be my recommendation (I will explain then how these correlation coefficients work). But before that, let me briefly justify choosing the Fandango variable as a negative reference.
Fandango's users love movies too much
One reason for this choice is that the distribution of Fandango's movie ratings is the furthest from that of a normal one, having that obvious skew towards the higher part of the movie ratings spectrum.
The other reason is the cloud of suspicion around Fandango left by Walt Hickey's analysis. On October 2015, he was also puzzled by a similar distribution, and discovered that on Fandango's website the numerical ratings were always rounded to the next highest half-star, not to the nearest one (for example, a 4.1 average rating for a movie would have been rounded to 4.5 stars, instead of 4.0).
The Fandango team fixed the biased rating system, and told Hickey that the rating logic was rather a "software glitch" on their website, pointing towards an unbiased system on their mobile app. (More about this on Hickey's article.) The adjustment did change some statistical parameters for the better, but not enough to convince me not to work with the Fandango variable as a negative reference.
This is what the change looks like:
I have normalized all the other rating types to match Fandango's — I converted them to a 0–5 rating system and then rounded the converted values to the nearest 0.5. The acronym "FTE" stands for FiveThirtyEight, the online publication Hickey writes for.
Now, let's zoom in on Fandango:
The blue bars represent the year 2017, and the red ones 2015.
Between the metascore and the IMDB rating, which is the least correlated with the Fandango rating?
The least correlated with the Fandango rating is the metascore. It has a Pearson's r value of 0.38 with respect to Fandango, while the IMDB rating has a value of 0.63.
Now let me explain all this.
As two variables change, taking different values, they are correlated if there's a pattern corresponding to both changes. Measuring correlation simply means measuring the extent to which there is such a pattern.
One of the ways to perform this measure is to compute the Pearson's r. If the value is +1.0, it means there's a perfect positive correlation, and if it's -1.0, it means there's a perfect negative correlation.
The extent to which the variables are correlated decrease as the Pearson's r approaches 0, from both the negative and the positive side.
Let's better visualize this:
Ratings can be plotted on a graph. Each of the small points that together make up the shapes above could describe the ratings of two variables (say, Fandango and IMDB) for a specific movie. Image credit: Denis Boigelot (source: Wikipedia).
Now, to put the abstraction above into context, if we compare how the values for two rating types change — say Fandango's and IMDB's — we can determine the degree to which there's a pattern corresponding to both changes.
Given the correlation coefficients just mentioned, there is a pattern between Fandango and IMDB to a greater extent than is for Fandango and the metascore. Both coefficients are positive, and, as such, the correlation is said to be positive, which means that as Fandango's ratings go up, IMDB's ratings tend to go up as well, more than the metascores do.
Put differently, for any given movie rating on Fandango, it is more probable that the metascore is going to be more different from it than the IMDB rating.
The verdict: use Metacritic's metascore
All in all, I recommend checking the metascore whenever you are looking for a movie rating. Here's how it works, and its downsides.
In a nutshell, the metascore is a weighted average of many reviews coming from reputed critics. The Metacritic team reads the reviews and assigns each a 0–100 score, which is then given a weight, mainly based on the review's quality and source. You can find more about their rating system here.
Now, I just want to point out a few downsides of the metascore:
The weighting coefficients are confidential, so you won't get to see the extent to which each review counted in the metascore.
You'll have a rough time finding metascores for less-known movies that appeared before 1999, the year Metacritic was created.
Some recent movies whose main language is not English aren't even listed on Metacritic. For example, the Romanian movies Two Lottery Tickets (2016) and Eastern Business (2016) are not listed on Metacritic, while they are on IMDB, with ratings.
Few more words
To sum up, in this article I made a single recommendation of where to look for a movie rating. I recommended the metascore, based on two arguments: its distribution resembles the most a normal one, and it is the least correlated with the Fandango rating.
All the quantitative and the visual elements of the article are reproducible in Python, as it is shown here.
Thanks for reading! And happy movie-going!
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How I built an app that showcases the first and last sentences of great novels


text:
<?php

declare (strict_types=1);
namespace Rector\Core\NodeManipulator;

use PhpParser\Node\Name;
use PhpParser\Node\Name\FullyQualified;
use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_;
use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\ClassLike;
use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Interface_;
use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Property;
use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Trait_;
use PHPStan\Reflection\ReflectionProvider;
use PHPStan\Type\ObjectType;
use Rector\NodeNameResolver\NodeNameResolver;
use Rector\PostRector\Collector\NodesToRemoveCollector;
final class ClassManipulator
{
    /**
     * @var \Rector\NodeNameResolver\NodeNameResolver
     */
    private $nodeNameResolver;
    /**
     * @var \Rector\PostRector\Collector\NodesToRemoveCollector
     */
    private $nodesToRemoveCollector;
    /**
     * @var \PHPStan\Reflection\ReflectionProvider
     */
    private $reflectionProvider;
    public function __construct(\Rector\NodeNameResolver\NodeNameResolver $nodeNameResolver, \Rector\PostRector\Collector\NodesToRemoveCollector $nodesToRemoveCollector, \PHPStan\Reflection\ReflectionProvider $reflectionProvider)
    {
        $this->nodeNameResolver = $nodeNameResolver;
        $this->nodesToRemoveCollector = $nodesToRemoveCollector;
        $this->reflectionProvider = $reflectionProvider;
    }
    /**
     * @deprecated
     * @param Class_|Trait_ $classLike
     * @return array<string, Name>
     */
    public function getUsedTraits(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\ClassLike $classLike) : array
    {
        $usedTraits = [];
        foreach ($classLike->getTraitUses() as $traitUse) {
            foreach ($traitUse->traits as $trait) {
                /** @var string $traitName */
                $traitName = $this->nodeNameResolver->getName($trait);
                $usedTraits[$traitName] = $trait;
            }
        }
        return $usedTraits;
    }
    public function hasParentMethodOrInterface(\PHPStan\Type\ObjectType $objectType, string $methodName) : bool
    {
        if (!$this->reflectionProvider->hasClass($objectType->getClassName())) {
            return \false;
        }
        $classReflection = $this->reflectionProvider->getClass($objectType->getClassName());
        foreach ($classReflection->getAncestors() as $ancestorClassReflection) {
            if ($classReflection === $ancestorClassReflection) {
                continue;
            }
            if ($ancestorClassReflection->hasMethod($methodName)) {
                return \true;
            }
        }
        return \false;
    }
    /**
     * @return string[]
     */
    public function getPrivatePropertyNames(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_ $class) : array
    {
        $privateProperties = \array_filter($class->getProperties(), function (\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Property $property) : bool {
            return $property->isPrivate();
        });
        return $this->nodeNameResolver->getNames($privateProperties);
    }
    /**
     * @return string[]
     */
    public function getImplementedInterfaceNames(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_ $class) : array
    {
        return $this->nodeNameResolver->getNames($class->implements);
    }
    public function hasInterface(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_ $class, \PHPStan\Type\ObjectType $interfaceObjectType) : bool
    {
        return $this->nodeNameResolver->isName($class->implements, $interfaceObjectType->getClassName());
    }
    public function hasTrait(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_ $class, string $desiredTrait) : bool
    {
        foreach ($class->getTraitUses() as $traitUse) {
            if (!$this->nodeNameResolver->isName($traitUse->traits, $desiredTrait)) {
                continue;
            }
            return \true;
        }
        return \false;
    }
    public function replaceTrait(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_ $class, string $oldTrait, string $newTrait) : void
    {
        foreach ($class->getTraitUses() as $traitUse) {
            foreach ($traitUse->traits as $key => $traitTrait) {
                if (!$this->nodeNameResolver->isName($traitTrait, $oldTrait)) {
                    continue;
                }
                $traitUse->traits[$key] = new \PhpParser\Node\Name\FullyQualified($newTrait);
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    /**
     * @param Class_|Interface_ $classLike
     * @return string[]
     */
    public function getClassLikeNodeParentInterfaceNames(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\ClassLike $classLike) : array
    {
        if ($classLike instanceof \PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_) {
            return $this->nodeNameResolver->getNames($classLike->implements);
        }
        return $this->nodeNameResolver->getNames($classLike->extends);
    }
    public function removeInterface(\PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Class_ $class, string $desiredInterface) : void
    {
        foreach ($class->implements as $implement) {
            if (!$this->nodeNameResolver->isName($implement, $desiredInterface)) {
                continue;
            }
            $this->nodesToRemoveCollector->addNodeToRemove($implement);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


What is 40 less than 2631?
We are looking for a new number which is 40 less than 2631.
We will get the new number by subtracting 40 from 2631.
And finally the solution for: What number is 40 less than 2631?


text:
Q: Datatables serverside Select WHERE from Additional tables I have serverside like this.
$qteamwork = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM tw_rcpa_users WHERE leader='$selectuname'");
$rowteam = mysql_fetch_array($qteamwork);
$teamname = $rowteam['nama'];

$table = 'rcpa_click_report';
$primaryKey = 'click_id';

$columns = array(
  array( 'db' => 'click_username',  'dt' =>'click_username' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_landercode','dt' =>'click_landercode' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_cid',       'dt' =>'click_cid' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_offer',     'dt' =>'click_offer' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_revenue',   'dt' =>'click_revenue' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_country',   'dt' =>'click_country' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_ip',        'dt' =>'click_ip' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_device',    'dt' =>'click_device' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_os',        'dt' =>'click_os' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_browser',   'dt' =>'click_browser' ),
  array( 'db' => 'click_visittime', 'dt' =>'click_visittime' ),
);
// SQL server connection information

$sql_details = array(
    'user' => '',
    'pass' => '',
    'db'   => '',
    'host' => ''
);
require( 'ssp.class.php' );
echo json_encode(
SSP::complex( $_GET, $sql_details, $table, $primaryKey, $columns, "click_username = '$teamname'")
);

But WHERE clause not working correctly, this code only show array number one..
Now I want to show all data. How to resolve this? Thank You..

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
2 Dead, 5 Hurt in Suspected Wrong-Way Crash on Highway 24
The California Highway Patrol said the head-on collision caused "catastrophic damage"
By Brendan Weber	• Published at 9:43 am on June 30, 2019
At least two people died and five others were injured in a suspected wrong-way crash near Orinda early Sunday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Based on a preliminary investigation, it appears that the male driver of a Saturn Vue was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of the highway between Fish Ranch and Wilder roads when he collided head-on with a Toyota Camry, causing "catastrophic damage," the CHP said.
The male passenger in the Saturn was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the CHP. The driver of the Saturn was rushed to a hospital with major injuries, but he was later pronounced dead.
PG&E 38 mins ago
Judge Wants Bankrupt PG&E to Pay $44 Million Fine
Barry Bonds 10 hours ago
For Eighth Straight Year, Barry Bonds Falls Short in Hall of Fame Voting
Five males, who are believed to be in their 20s, were inside the Toyota when the crash occurred, the CHP said. They all suffered major injuries and were transported to local hospitals.
The CHP said the driver of the Saturn may have been under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the crash. The driver of the Toyota was not suspected of being under the influence.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
Anyone with information about the collision is encouraged to contact Contra Costa CHP at 925-646-4980.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
St Andrews Links –
The Old Course
The oldest and most iconic golf course in the world, the Old Course at St Andrews Links is known the world over as the "Home of Golf."
The sport was first played on these links as early as the 1400s and its' extraordinary history has flourished ever since, including playing host to the Open Championship an incredible 29 times. The 700-year-old Swilcan Bridge and Hell Bunker are recognized across the globe, yet the greatest feature of the Old Course is that despite its' grand status it remains a public golf course, open to all.
6,721yds (Men's white tees)
Limited, Adv booking & Med cert req'd
The Open Championship,
Alfred Dunhill Links & Walker Cup
Daw Anderson & Old Tom Morris
Recommended Packages
Play this course as part of the following packages…
St Andrews & EdinburghEast & West Coast Scotland


text:
Matthew Henley Home Submissions & Awards Poets About Us Collections - TEMPLAR COLLECTIONS: 2005 - 2018 Pamphlets Iota Trade Poetry Live! ANTHOLOGIES eNEWSLETTER Your cart (0)
Matthew Henley
Matthew Henley was born in Colchester, Essex, and educated in the UK and Canada. His poetry has appeared in various publications in the UK and elsewhere, including Poetry Review, Brittle Star, Iota and The Antigonish Review. Since joining the diplomatic service in 2003, Matthew has worked in the Balkans and South Asia, and is currently based in Canada, where he is completing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
Beetle, published in 2014, is Matthew's first collection.
Matthew Henley About Us Poetry Live Your cart (0)


Protein- and fiber-packed, this healthy and streamlined salmon dinner for two can be cooked all on one sheet pan. The veggies get a head start, then BBQ-rubbed salmon fillets join in and everything finishes the race at the same time. Use Parmesan in place of Cotija -- a crumbly Mexican cheese -- if you prefer.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the bottom and stem ends off the pepper and cut the ends into corn kernel-size pieces. Remove the seeds and cut the pepper into 4 rings.
Scatter the tomatoes down the center of a baking sheet and arrange the pepper rings next to the tomatoes on whichever side you'd like. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the oil over the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper and about half of the BBQ rub. Toss together the corn, pepper pieces, cheese, yogurt, cilantro, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper in a bowl. Fill the pepper rings with the corn mixture. Bake the vegetables until slightly browned, about 20 minutes.
While the vegetables are in the oven, brush each salmon fillet with dijonnaise and sprinkle with the remaining BBQ rub, some salt and a few grinds of pepper.
Once the vegetables are browned, remove the baking sheet from the oven and drizzle the empty side with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil. Add the fillets, return to the oven and cook until the sides of the salmon feel firm when gently squeezed and the flesh is just slightly flaky, 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves and serve with lime wedges.


When solo, Colin can accompany himself on keyboard. For a fuller sound, he uses high quality backing tracks. Colin is self-contained with top quality sound equipment and lighting. He has also joined with an outstanding saxophonist to form a duo.
Colin is a talented, versatile and passionate solo singer and keyboard player. Originally from Wales, Colin cut his teeth as a performer at numerous venues in his home country from a very young age.
Music was in his family and in his blood. Later, since travelling the world, he has accumulated more than 15 years' experience performing in clubs, restaurants, and bars, and at private functions and conferences in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Colin's vocal talents enable him to sing a wide spectrum of music. His voice can be exquisitely soft and beautiful, lending itself to romantic ballads and, at the other extreme, powerful and raunchy, as whilst punching out rock and soul numbers in the style of Joe Cocker and the Commitments.
Because of this versatility, his music is suitable for a wide range of events – weddings, corporate functions, sports and social clubs, private parties, and bars.
Colin also performs on a no-fee basis in local aged care homes, where his extensive knowledge of music from the 1930s and '40s goes down a storm!
With Colin, you can ask either for a variety of suitable music of his choosing or for a more personalised performance. He can focus his performance on one genre or any number of your choosing to create the right atmosphere.
Given sufficient notice, he will even research and prepare music that is new to him to make the occasion extra special and personal to you.
Colin is also more than happy to act as DJ and play your own music when required.
MY REPERTOIRE IS SUBSTANTIAL WITH MANY MORE SONGS AVAILABLE!
WITH PRIOR NOTICE, MOST SONG REQUESTS CAN BE MET!


text:
Inaugural Scottish Women in Touch Championships proved major success
Oct. 26, 2021 @ 0:00 UTC
Anthony O'Brien
The inaugural Scottish Women in Touch Championships proves to be a resounding success and is set to provide a new pathway for elite players.
The inaugural Scottish Women in Touch Championships was held at the University of Strathclyde Playing Fields, Stepps on the country's West Coast.
Hosted by Glasgow Touch on Saturday 23 October, Sixpack Touch proved too strong for the opposition are the first team to take home the shield.
According to John Beaton-Hawryluk, Secretary of Scottish Touch, the event proved a resounding success with around 65 of Scotland's best players participating and supported by a full complement of 10 dedicated referees.
"The event was great for a Scottish Touch event, and the final was officiated by an all-female team which is wonderful news for the sport," John said.
"We conducted a straw poll, and although we are waiting for more formal feedback, following the presentations, it seemed like everyone was in favour of Scottish Women in Touch Championships becoming an annual fixture on our calendar."
Peter Topp, Sport Development Director, Federation of International Touch congratulated Scottish Touch on the initiative.
"As this was Scottish Touch's first one-day tournament back post-COVID it is fitting that they have hit the ground running with an inaugural Women's only tournament that is sure to help expand our game in one of the important Home Nations markets.
"I look forward to seeing this event become an annual milestone weekend on the Scottish Touch calendar."
For more information visit Scottish Touch's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/scottishtouch
The Euros is returning to France after 15 years
Atlantic Cup brings a new look for international Youth Touch next summer
Touch France to host European Junior Touch Championships
Euros 2022 dates confirmed
FIT outlines strategic plan for the return of international tournament play
Touch in Translation
Welsh Dragon firing up again
England Touch blasts out of Covid-19 hibernation
International Touch is back for the first time since Malaysia
Bulgarian rules translation demonstrates the international reach of Touch


text:
J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz from Japan + Related Japanese Music
> Sellos>Nonesuch>Highway Rider
Highway Rider (7559-79827-0)
Title Highway Rider
Author Brad Mehldau
Label Nonesuch
LABEL CODE 7559-79827-0
Highway Rider
"Highway Rider"one of the top Jazz albums of 2010
This double-disc of original work by Mehldau reunites the pianist/composer with producer Jon Brion for the first time since Largo. Featured are performances by Mehldau's trio, plus drummer Matt Chamberlain, saxophonist Joshua Redman, and a chamber orchestra, with orchestrations by Mehldau.
"For me, the biggest challenge was the orchestration – which notes to assign to what instruments. I've been studying lots of orchestral scores for a while now – Strauss, Brahms, Tchaikovsky; a lot of big romantic stuff in particular. But while I was writing, I was also listening closely to modern orchestrators and arrangers, and there are two who have made an impact on me especially – François Rauber in his work with Jacques Brel, and Bob Alcivar in his work with Tom Waits."
1.01 John Boy 3:11
1.02 Don't Be Sad 8:35
1.03 At the Tollbooth 1:06
1.04 Highway Rider 7:42
1.05 The Falcon Will Fly Again 8:17
1.06 Now You Must Climb Alone 4:06
1.07 Walking the Peak 8:00
2.01 We'll Cross the River Together 12:23
2.02 Capriccio 5:16
2.03 Sky Turning Grey (For Elliott Smith) 6:20
2.04 Into the City 7:34
2.05 Old West 8:24
2.06 Come with Me 6:15
2.07 Always Departing 6:21
2.08 Always Returning 9:52
3.01 Bonus Download: Highway Rider (commentary & demo) 9:34
Brad Mehldau, piano (CD1:1-5, 7; CD2:1-6, 8), pump organ (CD1:2; CD2:3), Yamaha CS-80 (CD1:4), orchestral bells (CD1:7; CD2:1, 8); handclaps (CD2:2)
Jeff Ballard, percussion (CD1:1, 5; CD2:2), snare brush (CD1:2), drums (CD1:7; CD2:1, 4, 6, 8); handclaps (CD2:2)
Joshua Redman, soprano saxophone (CD1:1, 5; CD2:2, 8), tenor saxophone (CD1:2, 7; CD2:1, 3, 5); handclaps (CD2:2)
Larry Grenadier, bass (CD1:2, 4, 7; CD2:1, 3, 4, 6, 8); handclaps (CD2:2)
Matt Chamberlain, drums (CD1:2, 4, 5, 7, 8; CD2:2, 3); handclaps (CD2:2)
Orchestra, Dan Coleman, conductor (CD1:1, 2, 6, 7; CD2:1, 7, 8)
Brad, Josh, Dan, Matt, Jeff, and special guests The Fleurettes, la la la vocals (CD1:5)
Masada Live in Jerusalem 1994
At the Village Vanguard
The Music Of John Lewis
Jazz at The Lincoln Center Orchestra
2 Gether
Bill Charlap
Complete Live at the Black Hawk
Live in Cuba w/ Wynton Marsalis
Complete Live at Cafe Montmartre
Cecil Taylor
Made in Chicago
Synovial Joints
Saturn Sings
Mary Halvorson
Spain, European Union,
Swizterland and Norway.
For Orders above 30€
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Second Hand Vinyl Store
More than 2000 titles available.
The real digger's place!
Jazz Messengers Catalog
To download our catalog in pdf format click here
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RubyConf Los Angeles
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Weedmaps is building the cloud platform for the cannabis industry serving 6M+ users with 12,000+ customer listings. Our tech stack consists of Ruby, Elixir, Kubernetes, Rancher and React and we hire from across the country. Our team is comprised of folks from Amazon, Yahoo, Twitter, Microsoft, IBM, SpaceX, Google, Ticketmaster and Facebook. We are solving problems for e-commerce, logistics, marketplaces and content delivery specific to cannabis. Our headquarters is located in Irvine, CA with an onsite gym, daily lunch and other amazing perks! We are an Agile team focused on innovation, moving fast and establishing the standard for the industry. We take pride in giving back to the community through meetups, conferences and the open source community. Contact us at email careers@weedmaps.com to learn more.
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Stitch Fix is reinventing the shopping experience by delivering one-to-one personalization to our clients through the combination of data science and human judgment. Stitch Fix was founded in 2011 by CEO Katrina Lake. Since then, we've helped millions of men and women discover and buy what they love through personalized shipments of apparel, shoes and accessories, hand-selected by Stitch Fix stylists and delivered to our clients' homes. For more information about Stitch Fix, please visit http://www.stitchfix.com.
Flexport is a platform for global trade in an industry that comprises 12% of global GDP. We're using software to transform the analog world of freight shipping, equipping the world's fastest-growing brands with new tools and better data for managing their global supply chains. To date we've shipped more than $9B worth of goods, and we're just getting started. Our goal is to enable a seamless web of commerce around the world, eliminating distance and complexity as barriers to trade.
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With around 100 million average monthly users in 65+ countries and 21+ languages, Cookpad operates at a unique scale as not only the largest recipe sharing community in the world but also one of the biggest Rails services too. We're building a world-class, product-focused team to push our global platform forward at our new UK office in Bristol. We chose Bristol for its unique mix of tech, design and UX communities, incredible food scene and farming, and vibrant arts and music scenes. We're a visa sponsor and offer a generous relocation package. Come and join us!
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At Mode, we're building a product that helps people analyze and explore data to find answers. Mode Studio is a free toolkit for every analyst, while Mode Business helps take your organization to the next level with advanced automation and collaboration tools. Our product is an integral part of data science workflows at Lyft, Twitch, Intercom, Github, Shopify, and 500 other data-savvy organizations.
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CodigoDelSur is a 10-year-old boutique development shop that helps US-based companies and startups in the creation of top-notch mobile and web products, as well as in usability, growth hacking, engagement, and monetization. Its portfolio of over 200 products includes some that have topped the charts and reached over 220 million users.
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RubyConf 2018 November 13-15, 2018 Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles
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In 2018, I talked about phase two of digital mortgage, which went beyond the borrower portal (phase one) and focused on an end-to-end process that creates an eNote to be managed all the way through the secondary market. As we enter 2019, I'm excited to see the industry continue to move forward and I anticipate the months ahead to reflect a true renaissance of digital mortgage processes.
Better Borrower Experience. Digital enhances mortgage transactions for both the borrower and the lender by creating a better overall user experience.
Operational Efficiency. Digital mortgage technology reduces turnaround time and eliminates missing signatures.
Accelerated Speed to Capital. eNotes can be managed and delivered to the secondary market far faster than a paper promissory note, expediting the replenishment of capital.
With growing adoption and demand, digital mortgage delivers a competitive advantage and operational efficiencies that cannot be obtained through paper processes.
It is encouraging to see interest in the production of eNotes continue to grow as consumers and lenders recognize the value of moving toward a more streamlined, digital process and there is no shortage of coverage in industry trade publications.
This recognition by the Post shows just how widespread the demand for digital mortgage really is and how dramatically expectations of the market and key stakeholders have shifted in a short period of time. It also creates more pressure on the industry to be ready for these new expectations.
It's great to see the digital mortgage buzz go mainstream, and I firmly believe the announcements from mega industry players was a key catalyst. Last year, we saw stakeholders from across the ecosystem announce digital initiatives, including Wells Fargo Home Lending's MBA Annual announcement, Ginnie Mae's 2020, and news about the launch of MERS® eNote Solutions at MBA Tech. With so many prominent organizations taking the digital leap, it's no surprise publications such as The Washington Post are taking notice.
Additionally, it's worth noting that the benefits of digital mortgage are not limited to the closing process. Investors play an integral role in maintaining a robust secondary market and are the engines driving today's digital financial ecosystems. Technology can be used to verify the authenticity of the eNote and provide an online platform through which assets can be properly tracked and transferred. Having "certainty" is critical to funding and overall market confidence, especially for organizations that require the ability to securitize, pool or pledge assets in the secondary market.
From originators to investors, and all the parties in between, there's no escaping mortgage's digital renaissance. And let's face it, with the stellar list of benefits, why would you want to stick with paper? Digital mortgage elevates the industry's focus on capital efficiency and market execution, while also meeting regulatory requirements. If you have questions on how to shift to a digital mortgage solution, we can help. Please contact the eOriginal team today.


text:
Greg Roach and Kim Froggitt family history
British English български
Ancestors Births Burials Deaths Descendants Family Individual Marriages Occupations Pedigree Related individuals Vital records
On this day… Nissan 30, 5680
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Shevat 5, 5781
Tishrei | Heshvan | Kislev | Tevet | Shevat | Adar | Nissan | Iyar | Sivan | Tamuz | Av | Elul | Shevat 5781
For help with genealogy questions contact Greg Roach.


Parag Parikh still remembers the bright summer weekend he spent patiently planting tiny saplings into large earthen pots at the leafy terrace garden of his Walkeshwar home. At the end of the process, pleased with his labour, the 60-year-old chairman and CEO of Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services dragged the pots to their final spots around the tiled terrace. Parikh was grateful for the light drizzle that followed, till the drizzle turned into a shower, which then turned into a four-day burst that not only drowned his newly planted pots but wrecked some of his other favourites as well. "Nature, just like the markets, is extremely unpredictable. When I first started gardening, it took me several wasted pots and some seasons of ups and downs to understand the rhythm of the garden," Parikh smiles.
This little piece of eden is located on the top floor of Parikh's residence, offering two different views of the glittering Arabian sea. From up here, one can watch gulls and hawks swiftly swooping down on prey, little boats and yachts sputtering on the surf, the sun shimmering off the distant skyscrapers on the Queen's necklace and, best of all, reach out for the brightly coloured butterflies floating around idly. "This beautiful scenery is what originally prompted me to buy a home here twenty years ago," he says. Parikh had help at hand when he first decided to test his green thumb, with someone coming in from faraway Karjat every day to help him learn the vagaries of a garden.
That learning got another boost from a course at Harvard. "I realised that the market is made up of people who make sentimental decisions that may or may not be in their best financial interest." Confidence restored, Parikh went on to launch his own mutual fund in 2013, which now has Rs 385 crore under management. "From my little garden, I learnt to be accepting of change, as nothing is permanent, not even failure. As in value investing, there is no crop in nature that you can sow today and reap tomorrow. That is the most powerful lesson I can pass on to my employees, whom I nurture the way I tend to my plants," Parikh smiles.
The similarities between growth and success in his garden and in the stock market are endless, Parikh says — both need a great amount of nurturing; it takes a fair bit of time and effort to figure out what works for you; and if everything works out, you get a chance to reap the benefits. For now, Parikh and his family are content consuming the rich harvest from his vegetable garden — from pudina, green tea, colocasia, spring onion, capsicum and baby spinach to chickoos, lemons, chillies, tomatoes, baingan and pears — perhaps the best kind of return on investment in life.


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* Professional Golf Training
* Guaranteed Improvement
* Play Better Golf
* Sports
* Elmhurst
Introducing: "The Fosbury Flop of Golf"
The "TL Pendulum Putting System", the new sheriff in town Launches on Kickstarter
By: Golf 4 Family
• Professional Golf Training
• Guaranteed Improvement
• Play Better Golf
• Elmhurst - New York - US
ELMHURST, N.Y. - April 5, 2018 - PRLog -- Corona, New York, S. Terry Lewis, Professional Golf Instructor and founder of Golf 4 Family is also an instructor/coach with the New York City Parks Foundation's Golf Division and has developed a "new" method of putting that is the absolute "game changer" that will benefit golfers of all ages.
PGA's Shot Tracker reveals that tour players on average make: 99% of putts from 3 feet and in, 69% from 6 feet, 54% from 8 feet and 31% of putts between 10 and 15 feet. "Never until now has there been a putting method that could boast 85 to 95% accuracy with straight putts between 8 and 10 feet.
This is a major Fosbury Flop type development" said Lewis.
Because he found the standard techniques, the scissor, the eastern roll cut off, the straddle and the western roll too difficult, famous High Jumper, Dick Fosbury, invented his own method for clearing the high bar which for the past 50 years has been the method of choice by 98% of athletes in High Jump events around the world. Lewis went on to say, "Fosbury re-invented High Jump". The excitement at Golf4Family now comes from the anticipation of the TL PENDULUM PUTTING SYSTEM radically changing the approach to putting as the Fosbury Flop did to High Jump.
Several golfers young and old, male and female have been introduced to the new method with greatly satisfying results. Lewis beamed when saying, "We are now ready to share this new and highly accurate putting technique with the world".
Golf 4 Family is an innovation company that offers professional golf instruction and also creates a variety of products that are designed to improve the quality of life of family members of all ages.
To learn more about the company, this new innovation, and your chance to be a part of this project visit
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tlpps/726056345?ref=...
S. Terry Lewis
Golf 4 Family
terry@golf4family.com
: ***@golf4family.com


← Time Out (Prayer Time)!
I read an interesting piece by Tim Wise, Trayvon Martin, White Denial and the Unacceptable Burden of Blackness in America, which is a little long but worth the read. Wise stresses the problem of racism that lies behind the murder of Trayvon Martin. And that is why this problem is not just an American problem, it is also a problem for the Christian church in America. So allow me to explain.
In the Bible the Apostle Paul writes, "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one…" (Eph 2.14). And with those words, Paul goes on to lay out the intent of the gospel whereby all people are reconciled to God and each other as one people. But that intent has largely been so far down on the list of what's important that it becomes inconsequential to being Christian. Instead of pursuing this reconciliation, we have cherry-picked a couple of verses here and there from the Bible to make an entire list of other issues more important…all the while, ignoring the big elephant right in the room.
America came of age as nation in whom the majority professed Christian faith and yet we have a sordid history of racism. It is said that Sunday morning is still the most racially segregated hour on Sunday. Sad! Just plain sad that of all people, many Christians still remain divided by race. As a preacher, I spoken for a few churches during my lifetime and believe me, even in the twenty-first century racism lives among Christians. Yet I was once was told how unimportant this issue was as I was admonished for preaching on racial relations all the while being told that the problem facing the Churches of Christ was instrumental music being introduced into worship (a casualty of Bible cherry-picking).
I have been fortunate to serve as a minister for congregations that did share in the gospel vision of Ephesians 2:14ff. Yet even this has had its challenges. What I know is that racism is a product of ignorance. Because we do not know, we fear and eventually learn to hate. So if racism is ever to become a thing of the past, we must work to end the ignorance.
First, we must develop friendships. Only then can we learn about each other and the stories to share with each other. But to hear these stories as they are meant to be heard, we must seek to understand which requires listening before making any evaluations. Yet how many times have we judged someone without first listening to them…or even knowing them?
Ultimately, if we are to end the ignorance, we must learn the value of hospitality. This is the practice of sharing the table with people of other races, in our homes and their homes. It is one thing to converse with each other at the gym, at work, at a church building…it is another thing to sit in our homes together. Yet that is easier said than done. I know as recently as a couple of weeks ago I was invited to the home of a local Muslim and I found myself suddenly asking myself what I got myself into. And I knew that what was driving that feeling in me was a slight bit of fear because I did not really know a Muslim.
I'm not sure how to end this post except to say that if we call ourselves "Christian" then we must overcome our racism. It is plain and simple and it is what God desires!
* I have updated this post based on some gracious feedback from commenter JD. My remarks about Martin and Zimmerman are based on what I have gleaned thus far from the news reports I have read and listened too. With that being said, my hope in writing this post was not to address the incident involving Martin and Zimmerman but to use that event to speak about the larger problem of racism in America and why this problem is the problem of the Church as well.
This entry was posted in Christian History, Churches of Christ, Contemporary Culture, Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Scripture. Bookmark the permalink.
Rex, while I agree with much of what you have said, I would like to know how you know the following: "This is yet another act of injustice committed because Trayvon Martin happened to be Black." There has been no trial, Mr. Zimmerman is in hiding due to threats to his life and family (it cuts both ways) … and he has yet to speak except through friends and lawyer. I want to stand against racism, for justice, but not for lynching the guilty party before he is proven guilty. He had some injuries himself, which seems to suggest that there was more than just skittles involved. we'll learn more later.
John, I am basing my statement on what I have heard so far and I did wait a while before writing on this so that I had time to read and listen to various news reports. Any how, I did change the post a bit to read that Zimmerman "killed" (not murdered) Martin and that it's is "likely" motivated by racism.
Thanks for your gracious critique.
Zimmerman was brutally beaten by the 6″ taller and younger man, had his nose broken and beaten on the back of his head to bloodiness there too. (Probably implying a concussion.) Zimmerman was being beaten while on the ground on his back and was eyewitnessed yelling for help while he was being beaten. (An audio witness Mary Cutcher presumed it was Martin calling for help, but she was not a eyewitness.) You could have listened to all 911 calls, read police transcripts, etc. like I did before I answered the matter.
It is not enough to merely change "murdered" to killed likely motivated by racism. Repent of your prejudgment. And since that is what you accuse, it makes your accusation hypocrisy as well.
And what evidence do you have for the beating Zimmerman allegedly received? Seems like your making some prejudgments too (anonymously too).
Eyewitness reports. Are you still posting without listening to every 911 tape and police reports?
And how have you been able to read/listen to every eye-witness report and 911 tape?
This discussion highlights the problems with dealing with race relations in this country. The leap to assume that race was even an issue in the Trayvon Martin shooting. The distribution of information that is hearsay and opinion to convict one or the other before the finding of facts does nothing to seek the truth but support personal agenda's. This display of hipocrisy does more to hurt christianity than to help it. The rush of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to convict Zimmerman in the court of public opinion is an affront to christianity and a disgusting manipulation of the death of a young man for selfish reasons.


There is no minimum time commitment.
Ideally you will have fairly good bird identification skills.
Able to identify birds by sight, song and call.
2 morning visits to record bird numbers. The average visit takes approximately an hour and a half to complete.
Able to identify common birds by sight.
Volunteer observers make counts of apparently occupied nests at heron colonies each year.
Nest recording is one of the simplest BTO projects to take part in. You can choose whether to monitor a single garden nestbox or to carry out a larger study.
Training to ring requires time and dedication, and to reach the level to ring independently with mist nets, you will need to train for at least 18 months. Restricted permits will take less training time. Basic bird identification skills and a reasonable level of dexterity are advantageous.
Ability to recognise all species of waterbird at selected site. For larger sites, ability to be able to estimate numbers accurately.
One visit per month, ideally at least September to March, but summer counts are also welcome. Duration of visit varies depending upon size of site but averages about an hour per visit.
View a list of current and completed surveys.


I have some questions about customizing workitems.
* Can you define and use your own struct types for custom fields?
* Can you use existing struct types for custom fields?
* Can you define custom fields as lists (like the hyperlink field)?
* Is is possible to extend the hyperlink type to include a category field?
* Is there a "combo box" UI element (a text field with a pre-populated list of * values as a drop down)?
* Is it possible to add custom fields that HTML text fields in the same way that the description field is?
* Is it possible to add multi-line text fields?
The main driver of these questions is being able to add multiple HTML documentation fields, and being able to categorise document attachments.
We support a plenty of custom field types in our Polarion server product (not FastTrack) which are propagated to FastTrack entries.
Struct types could be single or multiple selection fields.
What do you mean with existing struct types?
These are the multi-value fields mentioned above. Yes, this is possible with the Polarion server.
What do you mean with category? Link type/role is a category, isn't it?
Pre-populated drop-downs are available in our Polarion server product.
No, not yet, but planned for one of next releases.
Sorry, I meant "attachment", not hyperlink. Given the way attachments are stored at present (dumped in the folder and enumerated at runtime), this would mean adding a persisted XML field to the workitem to hold this, or adding it to the structured pathname that holds the attachment id at present.


This iconic Tomcat represents the symbol of one of the world's most premier fighter aircraft — the F-14 Tomcat. We represent it on a 14 inch solid wood plaque that is hand carved and painted.
The F-14 has completed its decommissioning from the U.S. Navy. It was slated to remain in service through at least 2008, but all F-14A and F-14B airframes have already been retired, and the last two squadrons, the VF-31 Tomcatters and the VF-213 Black Lions, both flying the "D" models, arrived for their last fly-in at Naval Air Station Oceana on March 10, 2006. The F-14 Tomcat was officially retired on September 22, 2006 at Naval Air Station Oceana.


In this booth I have the release of my Quake 1 single player episode, Unforgiven. From the readme: "Long in development (more off than on), this 3-map episode was originally started as a sequel to 2001's Rapture, although it is probably more remniscent of 2008's Soul of Evil Indian Summer. The episode includes a cool start map by RPG. I'd reccommend picking easy or normal.
And a note about upcoming Q1SP projects: I'll be releasing a new version of "Arcanum" (a dark indoor episode) in the fall, with new maps, rebalanced gameplay and changes to existing maps. I am also working on "Something Wicked This Way Comes," a large level using the Unforgiven textures, based on scraps by Necros and Tyrann. Finally, I'm hoping to release a "Drake Merger" by the end of the year, including all of my Q1SP maps/episodes made in the last 15 years, divided into episodes, with the final version of the Drake mod, and a new start map and final boss arena.


text:
Managing Editor, Gubbi Labs
Spoorthy Raman is the Managing Editor at Research Matters since 2016. In her span of about three years as a science writer, she has written about a wide range of topics, based on research papers, interviews, features and events. She was the recipient of the EurekAlert! Fellowships for International Science Reporters 2019, and was awarded the 'Merit Prize' in the Asian Scientist Writing Prize, 2017. She is trained as a computer science engineer with a Master's degree in Information Technology from the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. After her stint as a Software Engineer, she found that her passion lies in science writing and started her journey with Research Matters. She is excited about all things new, be it technology or a skill. She is currently based in Bengaluru with her loving husband and an adorable dog.
@sciresmatters
Stories written
Keratin: Nature's remarkable protein
It is time to thank the horseshoe crabs for our medical safety
The dancing frogs of the Western Ghats
The power of poop
Infosys Science Foundation announces 2020's Infosys Prize Laureates
How songbirds learn their songs
What does it take to discover geckos?
A new mathematical model explains how seed dispersal maintain savanna and forest biomes
Despite ban, vulture-killing drug diclofenac widely sold for veterinary use in India
Too close for comfort: Proximity to humans is significantly affecting the behaviours of lion-tailed macaques
Kerala wraps up Asia's biggest bird survey
Toxic pollutants in the air are taking the toll on pollinating insects
The sorry tale of snakebites in India


text:
Q: MySQL high CPU usage Recently my server CPU has been going very high.
CPU load averages 13.91 (1 min) 11.72 (5 mins) 8.01 (15 mins) and my site has only had a slight increase in traffic.
After running a top command, I saw MySQL was using 160% CPU!
Recently I've been optimizing tables and I've switched to persistent connections.  Could this be causing MySQL to use high amounts of CPU?

A: If this server is visible to the outside world, It's worth checking if it's having lots of requests to connect from the outside world (i.e. people trying to break into it)

A: First I'd say you probably want to turn off persistent connections as they almost always do more harm than good.
Secondly I'd say you want to double check your MySQL users, just to make sure it's not possible for anyone to be connecting from a remote server. This is also a major security thing to check.
Thirdly I'd say you want to turn on the MySQL Slow Query Log to keep an eye on any queries that are taking a long time, and use that to make sure you don't have any queries locking up key tables for too long.
Some other things you can check would be to run the following query while the CPU load is high:
SHOW PROCESSLIST;

This will show you any queries that are currently running or in the queue to run, what the query is and what it's doing (this command will truncate the query if it's too long, you can use SHOW FULL PROCESSLIST to see the full query text).
You'll also want to keep an eye on things like your buffer sizes, table cache, query cache and innodb_buffer_pool_size (if you're using innodb tables) as all of these memory allocations can have an affect on query performance which can cause MySQL to eat up CPU.
You'll also probably want to give the following a read over as they contain some good information.

*

*How MySQL Uses Memory

*MySQL System Variables
It's also a very good idea to use a profiler. Something you can turn on when you want that will show you what queries your application is running, if there's duplicate queries, how long they're taking, etc, etc. An example of something like this is one I've been working on called PHP Profiler but there are many out there. If you're using a piece of software like Drupal, Joomla or Wordpress you'll want to ask around within the community as there's probably modules available for them that allow you to get this information without needing to manually integrate anything.

A: As this is the top post if you google for MySQL high CPU usage or load, I'll add an additional answer:
On the 1st of July 2012, a leap second was added to the current UTC-time to compensate for the slowing rotation of the earth due to the tides. When running ntp (or ntpd) this second was added to your computer's/server's clock. MySQLd does not seem to like this extra second on some OS'es, and yields a high CPU load. The quick fix is (as root):
$ /etc/init.d/ntpd stop
$ date -s "`date`"
$ /etc/init.d/ntpd start


text:
Content Tutoring
Research on student success tells us that learners benefit from nurturing, engaged conversation, supported risk taking, collaborative learning spaces, and access to current technologies.
The Mandia Family Learning Commons provides these in the form of holistic online and on-campus tutoring, open computer labs, research assistance, and a team of peers and professionals dedicated to student-centered learning.
Our services are free and available to all enrolled students.
Francis A. Wilcox Hall | 129
Saturday | 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Spring Break | March 13th - 17th
Monday - Friday | 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Online appointments are available throughout the week.
Tutors are available between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. most days of the week. Hours vary by tutor.
Plumley Complex | 102
Tuesday & Thursday | 8:30 - 11 a.m.


text:
Cardioglossa annulata est une espèce d'amphibiens de la famille des Arthroleptidae.

Répartition
Cette espèce est endémique du Congo-Brazzaville. Elle se rencontre vers Mayoko et Tsinguidi.

Sa présence est incertaine au Gabon.

Publication originale
 Hirschfeld, Blackburn, Burger, Greenbaum, Zassi-Boulou & Rödel, 2015 : Two new species of long-fingered frogs of the genus Cardioglossa (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from Central African rainforests. African Journal of Herpetology, , , .

Liens externes

Notes et références

Anoure (nom scientifique)
Arthroleptinae
Faune endémique de république du Congo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This year is not over, but this Master Roshi cosplay will be hard to top this year. And next year, too.
That's body builder Taichi Shimizu, who previously, he pulled off a great Zangief cosplay, and at this summer's Comic Market in Tokyo, he did an excellent Master Roshi in his Max Power form.
The dude even shaved his eyebrows for this.
This is how you power up Dragon Ball cosplay.
Haha! What has he been injecting?
you havnt been watching Dragon Ball Super have you?
if you did, you would understand.
haha, nah man, just going off original DB and DBZ from back in the day.
Whats Super about, if you don't mind?
I thought it was just like a condensed version with fights and arcs shortened, that sort of thing?


text:
Daniel Ian Rubenstein (* 19. Juni 1950 in New York City, New York) ist ein US-amerikanischer Verhaltensbiologe, Ökologe und Pädagoge.

Leben
Rubenstein heiratete im Jahr 1972. Aus dieser Ehe gingen ein Sohn und eine Tochter hervor. Im selben Jahr erlangte er den Bachelor of Science an der University of Michigan. 1977 wurde er mit der Dissertation Population density, resource patterning: and mechanisms of competition in the Everglades pygmy sunfish zum Ph.D. an der Duke University promoviert. Von 1977 bis 1980 absolvierte er seine Postdoc-Phase am King's College in Cambridge, England. Von 1980 bis 1990 forschte er mit einem NSF-NATO-Stipendium. Im selben Zeitraum war er zunächst Assistant Professor und ab 1986 außerordentlicher Professor an der Princeton University. Seit 1991 ist Rubenstein ordentlicher Professor an der Abteilung für Ökologie und Evolutionsbiologie und seit 2008 Professor in Zoologie an der Princeton University. Von 2004 bis 2015 war er Direktor des Programms für Afrikanische Studen an der Princeton University.

Rubensteins Forschung konzentriert auf den adaptierten Wert des Tierverhaltens. Seine Untersuchungen befassen sich der Fragestellung, wie die Nahrungssuche, die Paarung und das Sozialverhalten eines Individuums durch seinen Phänotyp, durch ökologische Umstände und durch die Handlungen anderer Individuen in der Population beeinflusst werden. Er entwickelte einfache mathematische Modelle, um Vorhersagen zu treffen, die anhand von Daten aus strukturierten Feldbeobachtungen oder experimentellen Manipulationen überprüft werden können. Zudem widmet er sich der Anwendung verhaltensökologischer Prinzipien zum Verständnis von Tierbewegungsmustern und der Populationsdynamik von erfolgreichen und gefährdeten Arten.

Viele seiner Forschungsprojekte konzentrierten sich auf das Verständnis der sozialen Dynamik von Pferden, Zebras und Eseln. In seinen Studien zeigte er auf, dass sich die Bewegungsmuster und Verbindungen der Weibchen ändern, wenn sich die Verteilung von Nahrung und Wasser ändert. Im Gegenzug ändert sich auch die Art und Weise, wie Männchen um die Paarung mit Weibchen konkurrieren. Somit spielen ökologische Merkmale eine große Rolle bei der Bildung von sozialen Kerngruppen der Equidae.

1986 erschien Rubensteins Buch Ecological Aspects of Social Evolution: Birds and Mammals. 2011 schrieb er das Kapitel über die Equidae im zweiten Band des Handbook of the Mammals of the World.

Rubenstein ist Mitglied der American Association for the Advancement of Science, bei der Animal Behavior Society, der British Ecological Society, der Citizen Science Association, der Ecological Society of America, bei Sigma Xi, der Society for the Study of Evolution, der Society of Conservation Biology, bei der International Society for Behavioral Ecology sowie bei der IUCN/SCC Equid Specialist Group. 2022 wurde er in die American Academy of Arts and Sciences aufgenommen.

1978 und 2003 erhielt er die Ehrendoktorwürden der University of Cambridge und der University of Oxford.

Literatur
 Daniel Ian Rubenstein. American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences, Gale, 2008. Gale In Context: Biography, abgerufen am 29. April 2022

Weblinks
 Mitarbeiterprofil für Daniel Rubenstein bei der Princeton University
 Curriculum Vitae (Stand: Januar 2022, PDF, 381 kB)
 Bibliographie bei Google Scholar

Verhaltensforscher
Ökologe
Hochschullehrer (Princeton University)
Mitglied der American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellow der American Association for the Advancement of Science
Ehrendoktor der University of Cambridge
Ehrendoktor der University of Oxford
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1950
Mann


When journalist Vera Gibbons launched nonpoliticalnews.com she had lots of former colleagues and friends telling her she needed to spend money on all kinds of costs, but after making a few missteps, the entrepreneur learned to prioritize and keep her costs in check while she built a strong foundation.
-Where she regretted spending money, and where she felt her money was best allocated.
-How the upward movement in interest rates can be both a positive and a negative.
They said "We'll do 20 videos for $20,000. You should do a podcast, your website needs to be revised, I'll do it for $15,000." I'm a startup, and I have no income, and I have no revenue, how am I going to pay for any of this?
You're listening to Financial Grownup with me, certified financial planner Bobbi Rebell, author of How to Be a Financial Grownup, and you know what? Being a grownup is really hard, especially when it comes to money. But it's okay, we're going to get there together. I'm going to bring you one money story from a financial grownup, one lesson, and then my take on how you can make it your own. We got this.
Hey, friends. We talk a lot about living within our means, and ideally below our means, when we talk about personal finance. But the truth is, that also applies in business, especially with startup businesses that are as they say pre-revenue. Before we get to our guest, I just want to welcome our new listeners, and of course welcome back our regulars, we keep the show on the shorter side around 15 minutes, so you can fit it into your busy day. But of course, feel free to binge on a few episodes if you've got half an hour, two episodes, and so on. The idea is that we share money stories that are going to give us something to think about that may relay to our personal lives, maybe our careers and business lives, which these days are blending together more and more. We also do everyday money tips, because we want you to have more money.
On that note, I guess Vera Gibbons spent years as a Consumer Journalist before starting her website, Non Political News, aka NoPo. When she did, everybody wanted to help her out and have their hand out. Here is Vera Gibbons. Hey, Vera Gibbons, you're a financial grownup, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to be your guest.
Congratulations on your new website, Non Political News, something we all need a little bit of.
It is a labor of love. I started it a couple of years ago, and it's really been growing like gangbusters. All the news is non political, and then we have some fun stuff and some stuff that is just frivolous and interesting. It's resonating, people really seem to like it.
I want to hear more about it, but first I want to get to your money story, because it has to do with being an entrepreneur and starting a business, and the fact that sometimes we take on costs that we should not. Tell us more.
That is a big problem. All my life, as you know, I've been bouncing around on different TV shows, doing personal financing consumer segments. Then I started NonPoliticalNews.com, so the big money story is it's expensive to be your own boss. This is probably why people don't do it. There are legal costs, there are marketing costs, and they add up, and they add up very, very quickly, as I quickly found.
People tell you that you need to do this, you need to do that.
Because your revenue was what at this point?
Zero. Zero revenue and these people are hitting you up.
They wanted to do all sorts of stuff and they weren't taking me and my personal situation under consideration at all. I'm like "Hey, I'm a startup, I have no income. I have no revenue. How am I going to pay for any of this?" People were telling me "You should bring on people to work for you. You should hire someone to do the marketing." I hired one person to help me with email problems, with the delivery of our email. We use MailChimp, as everybody does, because I'm a newsletter business pretty much. The email goes out every single morning at 7:00 into your inbox. Occasionally, some people weren't getting the email, or it was showing up late, or it was bouncing back. So I had to bring in somebody to help me with that. But at the time I was thinking "I just got to make sure this email gets out to my subscribers every single morning, and it's consistent in the delivery." So that was a priority.
Now we had another priority that literally landed on my desk, which was we had a trademark problem, I had trademarked NonPoliticalNews.com, and somebody was infringing on our trademark. That was a big legal cost that I had to undertake for obvious reasons, we couldn't have this happen. We had to do a cease and desist, and [inaudible 00:04:42] people out, and then we ended up buying their domain. It was a big ordeal. It also held up the marketing side of things too, because I was like "Well, I can't really continue with using the name Non Political News or NoPo News as call it if somebody else has that name." People are confused with where they're going, and they're being miscorrected. That was a big unfortunate legal battle that we had to undertake, and that was an expensive one.
How did this all evolve to where you are now in terms of your ongoing expenses, your payroll basically?
I did make a compromise with videos. They had wanted me to do like 20 videos for $20,000. I worked out a deal with them where I did a couple just to test the waters for a couple thousand dollars. In the end, that was a financial mistake actually, because the videos did not do all that well, they weren't generating the kind of traffic or interest we wanted. I had actually found a couple of typos in one of the videos before it went out. I'm like "What am I paying for all this for?" That was a mistake. Thankfully it wasn't that big of financial a mistake, it was just a couple thousand dollars, the cost of doing business.
I also had a lot of people who approached me and wanted to help me with the social media. That's still a work in progress, because I'm not very good at social media, and I don't really like it. But at some point, I'm probably going to have to hire somebody to do that, because I know now that in order to get your product out there, and to get the word out there about your product, you need to have someone pretty aggressively promoting it on Instagram, and Twitter, and Facebook. I've been not very good about that quite honestly. The bulk of the money has gone toward my website guy, he redid the website, it looks pretty good now, it's a little flashier, it's a little more user friendly. My marketing, he's just a part-time marketing guy, he's on a retainer. He does help me with Facebook promotions, and a little bit of social media. We occasionally do free giveaways via NonPoliticalNews.com, where we partner up with various entities, and we provide something for our subscribers. He's been helping me with some of those promotions.
Those can be costly too depending on how you market them on Facebook. Facebook has changed all the algorithms now, so it's a little trickier than it used to be perhaps, but that has been primarily where I've been spending the money.
The revenue model is, at some point we're going to be doing sponsored segments. We do have, the way it's organized now is we have different categories. We have consumer/personal finance, health and wellness, fashion/beauty and fitness and diet. Every day into the night, and early morning, I curate the news within those categories. At some point soon, we're going to partner up with influential people within each of the respective categories, and we're going to tap into their followers and see if it ... to catch on with Non Political News.
Vera, what is your money lesson from that story? Taking on all of those expenses, some you didn't take on, some you did and regret.
Right, because if people aren't getting their daily emails, you have no business.
Exactly. That was a hot fire I had to put up immediately. Then the other issue was this legal issue, we had someone infringing on our trademark, and that was another hot issue that had to be taken care of immediately. The other stuff could wait, and some of it is still waiting. It's just been a work in a progress.
All right, let's talk about an everyday money tip, because you're in the news business, you know what's going on, and that gave you an idea for something people need to be paying a lot of attention to, maybe more than they think.
Check your interest rates, guys. A lot of people do not even know what their interest rate actually is. We are in a rising interest rate environment, you really need to know where you stand on that front, because your costs are going to get more expensive, you probably, maybe, perhaps have noticed things are going up on your credit card.
Yeah. What are the different interest rates that people should be checking that could change, that aren't usually fixed?
That would be your variable rate loans, your credit cards are variable rate loans. If you had an adjustable rate mortgage, that's a variable rate loan. These are the types of things that people really need to check, especially that credit card rate, because when Fed raises their rates, your credit card rate goes up in sync, pretty much immediately. 25 Basis Point hike may not sound like a lot, but we've had a couple, and we're potentially going to get three or four hikes for the total of 2018. That credit card debt you carry months to months, to months over, you revolve your debt, is going to be more expensive.
Let's say you have a credit card, and you know it's not being paid off any time soon, what can you do?
If you have good credit, in the 700 range, you could always call up your credit card company and see if they'll actually lower your rate. That strategy continues to work today. If you have been paying your bills on time, if you've shown them that you're reliable, that you do pay everything off, and you're responsible, they may actually be willing to give you a bit of a break. That has been true for years and years and years, but a lot of people don't bother actually taking that step. If you notice your credit card rate has gone up, and it probably has over the course of the last six months, you could always pick up the phone and ask the credit card company to lower that rate, or to bring it down to the rate it once was a couple of months ago.
All right. Tell us a little bit more about Non Political News and where people can find it, where people can learn more about it, and more about you.
Non Political News, you can find it on NonPoliticalNews.com, once you sign on to subscribe, you will get a link to confirm your subscription, and then every day in your inbox, 7:00 a.m., you get a nice [inaudible 00:10:54] of Non Political News in consumer/personal finance, health and wellness, fashion/beauty, fitness and diet. Then on Friday, we run guest posts. We've had Jean Chatzky, we have had Peter Greenberg, we've had a bunch of CNBC people up from Bill Griffeth to Ron Insana up to Guy Adami do them.
I know you're not a huge social media fan, but people would probably really enjoy following you, where can they?
Thanks, Bobbi. Yeah. We do have an Instagram account nonpoliticalnews. Like you said, I'm not very good about putting updates on there, but I promise to get better. On Facebook, we're Nonpoliticalnews. Twitter, we're NoPoDaily.
Vera Gibbons, thank you so much. This was wonderful.
Thank you, it's been a pleasure.
So my friends, Vera learned some very big lessons very quickly. Financial Grownup tip number one, tune out the advice from well-meaning friends, who want you to take on costs before your business mission and priorities are well defined. Frankly, before you can afford them. Vera still has no clear path to revenue, so she's right to limit her expenses to only the most essential, making sure her emails go out without a hitch and paying her legal bills. She knows that if she adds people on, as she does on occasion, she keeps it freelance, and project-based, so flexibility is still there for you.
Financial Grownup tip number two, if you aren't already, start paying attention to the news regarding the Fed and interest rates. It is going to get personal real fast. If you have any kind of loans, this is important to be paying attention to. But here's the good news, there is an upside, low rates have also meant very low returns for those on fixed incomes or those that just invest in fixed income instruments. Rates for things that you might want to invest in, like CDs, are going to go up. Glass half full my friends. I will leave some links in the show notes of places you can get some great information and stay up to speed on what matters.
If you are not already, please hit that subscribe button. If you are listening on Apple podcast, or iTunes, please rate the podcast or leave a review. Also, if you liked the show, just tell a friend. Ask them to check it out as well. If you are enjoying the promos, and want one for yourself or for your business, follow me on social media and share them. I will be choosing a winner soon and it could be you. I am on Twitter, @bobbirebell, Instagram @bobbirebell1, and Facebook @bobbirebell. DM me your thoughts on the show, and what guests you would like to hear from.
Loved how candid Vera Gibbons was with us about the challenges of starting and growing a business. Lots of lessons in hindsight already. So thank you, Vera, for bringing us all one step closer to being financial grownups. Financial Grownup with Bobbi Rebell is edited and produced by Steve Stewart and is a BRK Media production.


Y Me Siento Soloo (No Soy Nada Si Tu No Estas!).
Llego A Su Final, Toodo Terminoo.
Mi Corazon Dejo De Latir, Por Ti.
Found a mistake in "Ya No Queda Amor" song lyrics? Please correct it!
"Ya No Queda Amor" lyrics is property and copyright of its actual owners and provided for educational purposes and personal use only.


This past weekend, I went down to Mansfield to pick apples at Apple Hill Orchards. I heard that this was one of the best orchards in the area from multiple sources. When I got there, I was amazed by how big it was. And being a city girl, I've always loved the crisp, clean smell of the country. It's so different.
When you get there, you go to a desk and pick the size bag that you want and you can put as many apples in it that you want. I got a peck ($10) which holds 10-12 lbs of apples. They provided a list of the types that you can pick and sectioned off those you couldn't. By this time of year, a lot of the non-restricted trees were picked clean. I lucked out and was still able to get a ton. That just shows you how big this place was.
In addition to the orchard, there's a farm and store. In the store, they sell everything from vegetables to spices to honey to apple pops to cider to apple donuts. Their cider and apple donuts are phenomenal. I ended up getting some of both. The cider isn't overly sweet and has a perfect balance to it. The apple donuts were warm and fresh out of the oven. When you bite into them, your taste buds are assaulted with this soft, sweet, spiced apple flavor that is really incomparable.
I would absolutely suggest this orchard. I can definitely say that it is worth the hour drive that I took. I had so much fun. I really want to do a few other fall activities before the season is over. It's obviously one of my favorite times of the year.