text:
Denver Choir League: A Drinking Group with a Singing Problem
You Have Until 2 p.m. to Bid in the El Chapultepec Auction
Beyond Playlist: The Offspring and More
| Commentary |
Michael Roberts | July 3, 2008 | 2:16pm
The latest edition of Beyond Playlist includes reviews of the Offspring's Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, Vanessa Hudgens' Identified, Misha Alperin's Her First Dance and George Strait's Troubadour.
The Offspring Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (Columbia)
Don't go changing to try and please us. Despite the presence of a big-time rock producer with a big-time rock name – Bob Rock, appropriately enough – Dexter Holland, Greg K and Noodles pretty much stick to the template that's kept this combo alive and commercially viable since long before its 1994 mainstream breakthrough. This approach may not have a load of appeal for those listeners who already own a handful of Offspring platters – but it makes stumbling upon the CD a lot less painful than it might have been in the case of an experiment gone terribly wrong.
The pace-changers here aren't egregious, but neither are they likely to inspire much enthusiasm. "A Lot Like Me" starts off a lot like Metallica's "Enter Sandman," which – surprise, surprise – a certain Mr. Rock produced back in the day. Too bad the style is a bit too grand for these guys. Likewise, the Offspringers' venture into power-ballad territory with "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" takes the band, and its fans, outside the comfort zone. But "Half-Truism," "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" and the concluding "Rise and Fall" gallop in the expected ways, and "Stuff is Messed Up" turns out to be far less lyrically cautious than its moniker implies. The cut would be named "Shit is Fucked Up" if the players weren't concerned about selling the disc in Wal-Mart.
Not much rising, but not much falling, either. More like a holding action. -- Roberts
Vanessa Hudgens Identified (Hollywood)
On Identified, our little High School Musical sweetheart isn't all grown up yet. That'd be premature from a marketing standpoint. Instead, her Disney masters try to find a style that will appeal to a slightly older demographic without alienating the tweens who make up her most enthusiastic fans. But they only succeed in making her sound even more generic than she already does.
The most effective track is the title cut thanks to production wizard Dr. Luke, who sprinkles some of the magic dust he had left over from his work on Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." Not that Hudgens is doing much chick mackin', daddy. Hell, as Musical viewers know all too well, it took Miss V two damn movies to smooch a boy. The results, though, don't differentiate Hudgens from any of the good doctor's other patients, not to mention the pop-princess population in general – and the other ditties range from vapidity to mediocrity and back again. On one level, "Sneakernight," in which Hudgens struggles to deliver the clunky hook line "Basically, what we're gonna do is dance," represents the low point. But at least it's memorably weak. Most of the rest will slip from your mind faster than the birth and death dates in a European history class.
Wrong title, my friends. If Hudgens really wants to be Identified, she's got to be given better material than this. -- Roberts
Misha Alperin Her First Dance (ECM)
Pianist Alperin, a Ukranian by birth, records for a jazz label, and his work has improvisational aspects. In truth, though, the material on First Dance, which breaks a six-year silence between releases, sounds more like a mingling of classical music and Eastern European folk, played with a formal virtuosity that's wholly impressive.
The arrangements tend toward spareness, with cellist Anja Lechner and (occasionally) horn player Arkady Shilkloper supplementing Alperin's keyboarding. But from the first track, "Vayan," which juxtaposes meditative passages whose notes shimmer and echo in the approved ECM manner with dizzying bumblebee-flight bursts, the overall focus is clear. Alperin is drawn to melancholia, and the plaintive "New Day" and the appropriately glacial "Frozen Tears" benefit tremendously from his patience and pacing. Yet he's equally adept on busy efforts such as "Jump," a frantic yet still precise rain of arpeggios that's charmingly playful – at least until its expectedly somber conclusion.
Jazzy? Not really. But jazz aficionados will still be rewarded if they decide to Dance. -- Roberts
George Strait Troubadour (MCA Nashville)
Because today's country-music industry is every bit as youth-obsessed as its pop counterpart, George Strait's continuing commercial viability seems inexplicable – or it would if he weren't so damn reliable. He may never have made a genuinely classic album, but he's never made a truly horrible one, either, and his self-awareness and discipline are the reason why. While artists in every genre give in to creative restlessness on occasion, and sometimes embarrass themselves by doing so, Strait understands what he does best and sticks with it come hell or high concept – and that's the case again with Troubadour.
All of the material on the recording was penned by others, and not all of it's prime. "I Saw God Today" is so egregiously soggy that even Strait's dry delivery can't soak it up, and "House of Cash," a tribute to Johnny and June Carter Cash, collapses under the weight of clunky couplets such as "Well, no one sleeps in Cash's bed/Except the man in black and the woman he wed" – although ol' George deserves credit for choosing Patty Loveless to duet with him on the track, as opposed to, say, Taylor Swift. But the appropriately melodramatic "Give Me More Time" proves that he hasn't lost his song-picking perspicacity, and "Make Her Fall in Love With Me Song" and "West Texas Town," featuring Doug Dillon, represent the sort of nods to Western swing that Strait includes on every long-player. Somehow, though, they never get old.
The same can't be said for him, of course. Yet he's a lot more dependable than most of the newer models. -- Michael Roberts
Sober Parties? Rage in Denver Without Waking Up in Dallas
Reader: I Miss Seeing Live Shows!


text:
Home Top Stories ARMM's trafficked survivors get assistance, skills training
ARMM's trafficked survivors get assistance, skills training
Ferdinandh B. Cabrera
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 18 June) – At least 10 human trafficking survivors, mostly young women displaced during skirmishes in Maguindanao in 2013, have received livelihood assistance and training packages from Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-ARMM) awarded livelihood assistance to 10 victim-survivors in Maguindanao during the celebration of People's Day last Monday.
Farhana Gendeng, 17, a resident of Brgy. Glasi, Datu Piang town, was one of the survivors who received a cash incentive and training package. She could have been in the wrong hands and fallen to human abuses had she not been rescued by the Inter-Agency Task Force against Human Trafficking in Butuan City.
Social worker Barbara Guialel narrated how these young women were duped last year and convinced to work abroad, travelled in a jampacked public utility vehicle for days going to Butuan City and get their National Bureau of Investigation clearance from there despite the much nearer NBI office here.
But the spurious attempt of the traffickers were immediately detected, and a rescue operation ensued, resulting in the apprehension of two suspects now facing charges at a court in Butuan City on charges of human trafficking.
"The victims from Maguindanao were mostly young daughters of hopeless internally displaced persons (IDPs or bakwits) whose parents could not afford to send them to school. Their situation has made these young women vulnerable to trafficking vultures," Guialel said.
Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM executive secretary, personally handed the P10,000 checks to each of the victim-survivors last Monday during People's Day held in Cotabato City.
"They can use the amount they received to pursue higher education as well as in starting a small business," she said.
For Farhana, she said she will use the money to start a small sari-sari store to help her and her family.
Alamia also referred the women to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-ARMM for skills development.
Rosalie Esturco, of TESDA-ARMM, said the agency is offering free vocational courses to the victims.
"We want to attend to the needs of these individuals. On our end, the first thing we can do is to get their profiles, know what trainings they need, and endorse them to our provincial training center," Esturco said.
The intervention is part of the Recovery and Re-integration Program for Trafficked Persons, a national program of DSWD that provides adequate services to victims of human trafficking.
Based on data from the ARMM Council Against Trafficking (ACAT), there are 387 human trafficking victim-survivors in the autonomous region alone. In the Philippines, the Bongao town in Tawi-Tawi province was identified as the transit point wherein potential victims are often intercepted.
ACAT performs as the regional counterpart of the National Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking who monitors, oversees and coordinates programs and projects to prevent trafficking in persons from the region.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
extern "C"
{
#	include <lua/src/lstate.h>
}

namespace am {
namespace lua {
namespace gfx {

	int GfxEngine_register(lua_State *lua);

	int GfxEngine_asset(lua_State *lua);
	int GfxEngine_font(lua_State *lua);

}
}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Oh, wish the walking would get you nice and tired so the insomnia would go away, rizen. Bummer.
Went to the gym again and am off the cane for another day!
^Good work going to the gym.
I walked 2.8 miles last night.
I'm not sure if I'm sick so I only walked a mile.
I didn't walk the last 2 days because I was sick but I walked 2.8 miles today.
Midterm grades were due yesterday, so no exercise for me over the weekend or yesterday. But tonight I got to the gym again. YES!
I walked 1.5-2 miles today. My mom gets out of the wound rehab in a week (for sure this time). I'll be so glad when she's back. I'm worn out.
I only walked a mile. IDK if I'm sick or not. I hate this.
200 posts, good work everyone!
I walked 1.5 miles twice today.
i dont know why i dont think i have posted here i do exercise at least three time a week. i was a mess i have athrites of the spine so its good to stay fit well at least sort of lol .
i got out of bad relationship , moved to my home town , then i stared exercise started to lose wiegth now im at 120 , my blood pressure is perfect , no more heart stuff , it helps my pain no sure how i just feel better i still have tons of pain , i breath better , i changed my diet i cut sugar from my diet my feet stopped feeling like i was walking on gravel , it helps enrgry levels are better , my colrestrail is 160 sorry about my spelling .


Paul Howard, AKA Ross O'Carroll Kelly appeared on Sunshine's Dublin's Talking, show with Lynsey Dolan to promote his latest, The Oh My God Delusion.
I thought the party was going to last forever. But as I watched the steel shutters fall, one by one, on all my old haunts – Renards, Mint, Guess Menswear – I realised that I was as deluded as everyone else. Suddenly, I was beng told I had to "share the pain" when I had more than enough of my own, thank you very much. Sorcha's boutique was bleeding me dry, the Deportment of Social Welfare had stuck two members of the Westies criminal gang in penthouse next to mine and Oisinn, deep in debt, hadn't been seen since he porked his cor at Dublin Airport and took off for who-knows-where.
It's like the Noughties never happened. Still, I thought, at least I still have my Leinster Schools Senior Cup medal – until a letter from Castlerock College took away that one final certainly. For once, 'Oh my God!' doesn't even cover it.


Sometimes antivirus software provides false results over keygens, cracks and patches. It may happen because archives with cracks sometimes modify your system files. In 99% of cases all patches are safe. Nevertheless you must explore AV scan report below and decide for yourself whether to proceed to download or not.
Here you will see scan result from all known antivirus. At the end you will see total potential danger level.
Discussion for ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Smart Securit...64).rar crack.
As an alternative you can try to look for ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Smart Security v6.0.115.0 RC (+ Daily Updated Key Maker) (x86x64).rar torrent file. You may need a little bit more time to download it but in fact bittorrents usually offer a full pack (software+crack) so you will not need to bother about product version match.


i am using the Tree panel (tree column grid) in my app. when i use selection model on the same i could not get the child items recursively. when i try to use this approach i coul only pick the current row and its children up to one level only, but not children children. i wanted to select all the children recursively on selection any help will be really appreciated.


text:
Controversy and Conflict
Is this racist, or acceptable preference?
Public Club
News and Current Events
By LogicalFallacy, July 11, 2018 in Totally Off Topic
★ LogicalFallacy ★ 3,128
LogicalFallacy 3,128
Rationalist
★ Gold Patron ★
Location:New Zealand
Interests:Fishing, camping, gardening, politics, social dynamics, science, philosophy, astronomy. A special interest in mythology and ancient history (Both ancient humans and ancient earth)
Still have any Gods? If so, who or what? :A transcendent, immaterial, invisible Pink Unicorn
We all have preferences, many of them simply because we are more comfortable with people of our own kind. I prefer conversationalists and fishing buffs to party and concert goers.
Recently an ad appeared for flatmates on a popular trading site here in NZ. A portion of the ad states no Indian's.
Racist on the face of it, but is having a preference for who you want to flatmate with racist or simply preference? The ad was taken down. Is this PC gone to far or were the people writing the ad just racist arsewipes?
http://www.msn.com/en-nz/money/homeandproperty/trade-me-property-listing-specifies-no-indians/ar-AAzWlpq?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=ientp
Your (civil) thoughts
☆ ag_NO_stic ☆ 1,178
ag_NO_stic 1,178
Authentic Pastafarian
Interests:Food. Life. People. Laughter.
Still have any Gods? If so, who or what? :Damn good sandwiches elicit "hallelujahs" from me.
Regardless of whether or not the poster is racist, it's certainly not newsworthy or worth excessive public shaming. There could be any number of reasons for that post, a few might not even be racist, but it's not our right to dictate that his thoughts are wrong if they aren't violent or really harming anyone.
I think getting our collective and national panties on a twist over something like this is nonsense.
Fweethawt 2,607
Fully Human
It's a preference.
I certainly prefer living with someone that won't take a shit in the middle of my living room.
Just sayin'...
12 minutes ago, Fweethawt said:
Can't help yourself can you?
Where is my eye roll emoji....
2 hours ago, LogicalFallacy said:
Well, you know....
Don't tell me that if you see an Indian reaching into the potato chip bag with their left hand, you would feel just a little, tiny bit queezy about having some for yourself?
And curry does stink...
Lucy 304
Interests:art, movies, culture
Still have any Gods? If so, who or what? :Meow-Meows
I'm not Indian. I love curry.
Here's how that sort of thing works. If you don't want Indian roommates you can't advertise that fact. You advertise for a roommate and then you simply "filter" any Indians who come by out on some flimsy criteria. It's like dating or any other sort of thing where someone sort of shows interest in you. You don't just shout "NO BLACKS!" or "NO INDIANS!" or "NO FATTIES!" in their face. You say something like "I'm seeing someone" even if it's not true and then continue your search for whatever suits your fancy.
With equal housing laws in some places you just have to make sure that you don't say something stupid like you already have someone else lined up or whatever because that could come back to bite you on the ass. I would think the right way to do all this would be to have an interview period, some overall length of time, and simply choose the person who you think is most compatible with you (and have the option to choose no one if you can afford it). Explain this process to every person that applies. That avoids any problems with you being a racist asshole and you may be surprised who you think might actually be a good roommate. It might just be an Indian.
In the US, the fair housing act doesn't apply to a roommate. You can't discriminate as a landlord renting out a unit, but you can discriminate if you are on subletting a space that you also occupy as a your private dwelling. Sharing the same private living space is considered too personal to force someone to have to accept anyone. That doesn't mean it's not racist, but different laws apply to roommates.
An individual can discriminate in an ad for a roommate/flatmate they will share living quarters with.
A landlord can't discriminate in an ad for a tenant in a unit they themselves won't also occupy.
However this incident is in NZ, and I have no idea how the laws are written there.
Bhim 807
Jesus-hating idol worshiper
Interests:Religion (of course), Hindu/Christian interactions, Christian proselytism, astrophysics.
Still have any Gods? If so, who or what? :Hindu God/gods
OK...*sigh*. Here's the thing with us Indians. The ones from India (i.e. first generation) do have some bad habits, as do us Westernized ones. First of all there's the tendency to speak their native language around Westerners despite being fluent in English. This is just plain rude. When I socialize with first generation Indians, I politely insist that they speak English at all times around me, because no one wants to hear that weird foreign gibberish of ours.
Next, there's the fact that those of us who are religious have some strange rules that make life hard for Westerners. If I had a roommate, I'd need him to cook meat in separate dishes, to keep alcohol away from the area where I set up my altar to God, and to not wear shoes in the house. This is part of why I didn't have any roommates after deconverting and rededicating myself to Hinduism. It wouldn't be fair to the Western roommate.
I could go on, but yes there is also the curry. Curry tastes great, smells awful. If you leave your closet door open and it gets on your clothes, you'll walk around smelling like the third world for the next week. Not a pleasant way for a Westerner to live.
Having said all that, it's also impolite to single out Indians in a public ad. It would be better to simply state that you want a native New Zealander. Or even that you just want a white guy. Saying "no Indians" is unnecessarily rude. I don't think these people should have been publicly shamed, but they shouldn't have written the ad like this.
Oh well. Ultimately, this hurts no one. If these people are anti-Indian, then I probably wouldn't want to live with them anyway, and it's good to know this about them before I sign a lease.
On 7/11/2018 at 10:56 PM, Fweethawt said:
What...how do you people know about the left hand thing!?
On 7/11/2018 at 9:17 PM, TrueScotsman said:
Because they don't like curry? Sounds like typical racist asshole BS to me.
Let's make this more interesting. You've mentioned previously that you associate Indian culture with the patriarchy. What if the person said they didn't want Indians because they don't want to support the patriarchy?
This is not a hypothetical scenario.
duderonomy 1,853
Interests:I have to put my interests here? Get to know me, will ya? I'm not just a piece of meat.
Still have any Gods? If so, who or what? :Agnostic
On 7/11/2018 at 9:47 PM, LogicalFallacy said:
Couldn't help but notice that while you rolled you eyes, you were also smiling.
I thought the whole left hand thing was because of Muslims. Now it's Indians too?
By the way, is that dot or feather?
I don't want to be racist or anything. I mean, I'm just a recovering white guy so please cut me some slack here.
1 hour ago, duderonomy said:
Fucking stupid eyeroll emoji! Want to do another crusade?
Daffodil 1,276
Interests:Family, walking/hiking, reading, psychology, simple living, minimalism
On 7/12/2018 at 8:58 AM, Lucy said:
A woman can prefer a female roommate, and a man a male roommate. I've seen that designation in ads before. It's a little ugly to pick out a specific race, but I don't actually see a lot of difference here. I used to visit a collegiate housing area for my old job that was inhabited mostly by international students. You could tell what nationality was behind the closed apartment doors by the cooking smells emanating from within. Indian and Chinese foods were especially pungent. I'm not sure I could live with that on a daily basis, and I love those foods!
14 hours ago, Bhim said:
Oooo, this is exactly where the Christian Right's efforts to allow discrimination would totally bite them in the ass. If they can discriminate against LGBTQs based on their value system, anyone can discriminate based on THEIR value system as well. I can refuse to serve Christians based on my value of inclusion or anti-bigotry or anti-patriarchy or whatever. They really don't think this stuff through.
8 hours ago, Daffodil said:
I don't think anyone really thinks these through. I think the push for everyone to be tolerant and inclusive and diverse has created some of the most intolerant non-inclusive tribal people I've seen in my lifetime. "Live and let live but stay off my lawn" has become "Do as I say, even on your own lawn".
♦ nivek ♦ 805
nivek 805
Make it pan out
♦ Diamond Patron ♦
Location:ask
Interests:Wimmins, guns, dawgs, Liberty
Still have any Gods? If so, who or what? :Whatever happens, panned out
21 hours ago, LogicalFallacy said:
22 hours ago, duderonomy said:
Goddamn Unionistas anyway, both of ye!
5 minutes ago, SkipNChurch said:
I'm warnin ya Mister...LogicalFallacy and me are coming to get out post numbers back, and the proles of Ex-C are comin with us.
Its a preference
On 7/14/2018 at 11:09 AM, Daffodil said:
If they can discriminate against LGBTQs based on their value system, anyone can discriminate based on THEIR value system as well. I can refuse to serve Christians based on my value of inclusion or anti-bigotry or anti-patriarchy or whatever.
I'm waiting for someone to use the Colorado cake baker case this way.


text:
Q: How to create production database sample for testing? Is there a tool (for PosgreSQL, ideally), which can make a small, but consistent sample of a big database?
The this is we need a testing database, but we don't want to fully copy the production one. First, because it is too big and second, the nature of testing implies that the testing database will be recreated several times in the process.
Obviously, you can not simply take random rows from some tables, because this will violate the hell out of foreign keys and what not. So, I wonder is there a tool available that can do that?

A: I once built such a tool for the IDMS system.
I was in the process of making it work for SQL systems too when the managers of the company we were mergered into told me I could not continue wasting my time on such futile and unnecessary pieces of software.
Until this day, I have still neither seen nor heard of any commercially available thing that matches what I achieved way back then.

A: What about generating some mock data with a tool like databene benerator, just as much as you want, and store them for reuse.

A: Yes, I wrote a tool to do this: https://github.com/mla/pg_sample
From the README:

pg_sample is a utility for exporting a small, sample dataset from a
  larger PostgreSQL database. The output and command-line options
  closely resemble the pg_dump backup utility (although only the
  plain-text format is supported).
The sample database produced includes all tables from the original,
  maintains referential integrity, and supports circular dependencies.

A: You can use pg_dump --schema-only to dump only the schema of the database. Then use pg_restore to load the dump into a new database. From there you have a few options:

*

*Create your data by hand; this will allow you to cover edge cases but will take a while if you want to test on a lot of data.

*Script a few queries to import random sections of each table on your database. As you said, this will violate foreign key constraints, but when it does just ignore the failure. Keep track of the number of successes and keep going until you have as many data items as you want. This may not work depending on your schema, however, if you have very restrictive constraints, because it might take too long to hit on succeeding data.

A: Back in my Oracle days we would have a test database with a very small auto generated set of data. At the time it was about a 5th of the production database size.  We would than copy the stats from the production database and put them into our test database to make it think it had billions of rows in tables when in reality it only had 500,000. This allowed us to get explain plans in test that would we would get in production. It has it's values, but doesn't solve all your question and I'm not sure how easy or even feasible it is to mess with PostgreSQL's stats.

A: You can create custom scripts to create meaningful copy of production data or use commercial products such as Informatica data subset or IBM optim

A: Please use IBM OPTIM to production database sample. If you have Prod data available in DB, go for OPTIM TDM or if there is no Prod data go for IBM OPTIM TDF (Test data Fabricator)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Send your friends, family, and loved ones on a special trip this season with a fully redeemable Gift Certificate! Can be used on the tours found below.
Send your friends and family on a journey into the Alaskan wilderness on our Mendenhall Glacier ICE Adventure Tour.
Our gift certificates provide a once in a lifelong experience – paddling across the Mendenhall Lake, deep inside the Tongass National Forest followed by exploring and trekking on the Mendenhall Glacier.
Give an Alaskan gift they will never forget!
Roundtrip Transportation from cruise ship terminal in downtown Juneau, Alaska.
Ready to book the trip? Choose a date below.


The holidays listed below are observed by the City and County of Denver, and shall be granted to all employees regularly scheduled to work except for on-call employees and employees in the short range classes (e.g. Park Seasonal Laborer, Pool Supervisor, Recreation Aide, Recreation Facility Asst., and Ushers). Some employees may be required to work on a holiday(s) in order to maintain essential services to the city.
*Personal Holiday - A time agreed upon by the employee and supervisor. Personal holidays can not be carried over to the next year.
Holidays that fall on the weekend will be observed on the dates indicated, pursuant to Career Service Rule 10 - Paid Leave.
Employees have the option to copy and paste the following text into their Out of Office Assistant in Outlook for upcoming holidays.
I will be out of the office on __________ in observance of the _____________ holiday. I apologize for any inconvenience and will respond to your message when our offices reopen _____________.
If you have an urgent matter, please contact ____________ at______________.


Available replacement parts for BISSELL Deep Cleaners can be ordered from BISSELL Consumer Services either online at http://www.bissell.com or by calling 1-800-263-2535, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. or Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. You can also contact your nearest BISSELL Authorized Service Center to inquire about pricing and availability of replacement parts. To locate your nearest BISSELL Authorized Service Center, please go to www.bissell.com under the Customer Center tab near the top of the homepage. Enter your zip code in the Service Center box on the right of the page to perform your search. You can also locate a Service Center by phone, 24 hours a day, by calling 1-800-263-2535 and choosing option #1.


Choosing Timeout Locations for Grandchild.
Grandparents and Time-out:Choose your time-out location in advance of the time you needit. Remember that for the time-out penalty to be effective, it must be unpleasantfor your grandchild. Also, timeout does not work well after you have lost yourtemper and/or yelled at the child. You need to be calm yourself when administering atimeout.
A restroom or even your car will work for a time-out location in a public place. Don't leave your grandchild alone in a public place during the time-out period.
Remember that for the time-out penalty to be effective, it must be unpleasant for your grandchild. Also, timeout does not work well after you have lost your temper and/or yelled at the child. You need to be calm, cool , and collected yourself when administering a timeout.
Put an immediate halt to an inappropriate behavior.
Take away something (freedom and attention) that your child wants.
Choose your time-out location in advance of the time you need it. When a grandchild is misbehaving, you want to be able to stop the behavior immediately, not make a decision about where to send the child.
1. Choose a location where you can send your grandchild every time you must invoke time-out.
2. Choose a boring spot away from all action and any attention from other family members.
3. Choose a location that can be reached quickly.
Basements or dark closets: These places are too scary to be used for timeout.
Kitchens or bathrooms: Too many potentially dangerous objects in these areas, such as knives, poisons, hot water, etc.
The child's bedroom: It's never a good idea to reinforce the idea that there is something bad about the bedroom. You also don't want to associate punishment with a place your grandchild sleeps at your home.
When visiting others, use a porch, a hallway, or the back yard.
A restroom or even your car will work in a public place.
Don't leave your grandchild alone in a public place. Although you'll still ignore him and withhold your attention, keep him well in sight.
If your grandchild suffers from separation anxiety when you leave her, use a time-out spot that is not isolated from you. Again, you are not trying to scare your child, only provide him/her with a place to get unacceptable behavior under control.


text:
Montana Administrative Register Notice 10-16-132 No. 3 02/08/2019
BEFORE THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
In the matter of the amendment of ARM 10.16.3010, 10.16.3011, 10.16.3022, and 10.16.3806 pertaining to special education
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT
TO: All Concerned Persons
1. On March 12, 2019, at 2:00 p.m., the Superintendent of Public Instruction will hold a public hearing in the Superintendent's conference room, 1227 11th Avenue, Helena, Montana, to consider the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules.
2. The Superintendent of Public Instruction will make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities who wish to participate in this rulemaking process or need an alternative accessible format of this notice. If you require an accommodation, contact the Office of Public Instruction no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 5, 2019, to advise us of the nature of the accommodation that you need. Please contact Beverly Marlow, Office of Public Instruction, P.O. Box 202501, Helena, Montana, 59620-2501; telephone (406) 444-4402; fax (406) 444-2893; or e-mail bemarlow@mt.gov.
3. The rules as proposed to be amended provide as follows, new matter underlined, deleted matter interlined:
10.16.3010 CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION OF A CHILD AGED THREE THROUGH FIVE EIGHT HAVING A DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY (1) remains the same.
(a) at least three, four, or five and not yet nine years old; and
(b) remains the same.
AUTH: 20-7-402, MCA
IMP: 20-7-401, 20-7-403, MCA
STATEMENT OF REASONABLE NECESSITY: Stakeholders in the educational community have expressed concerns regarding the transition of students into the elementary grades and the requirement that they be immediately evaluated to determine continued eligibility. For many students, their sixth birthday occurs very early in the school year and the student has not had the opportunity to adjust to the school setting when the IEP team is being required to conduct an evaluation to determine if another disability exists. Extending the age range for this category will allow students to continue to receive needed services during the early elementary years.
10.16.3011 CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENT AS HAVING AUTISM (1) The student may be identified as having autism if documentation supports the existence of a developmental disability that was generally evident before the student was three years of age and if the student has communication difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction.
(2) Assessments shall document the presence of significant delays in verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction.
(a) Significant delays in verbal communication are manifested by at least one of the following:
(i) delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime);
(ii) in students with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others.
(b) Significant delays in nonverbal communication are manifested by a marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye to eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, or gestures to regulate social interaction.
(c) Significant delays in social interaction are manifested by at least one of the following:
(i) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental levels;
(ii) lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., lack of showing, bringing or pointing out objects of interest);
(iii) lack of social or emotional reciprocity;
(iv) lack of varied, spontaneous, make‑believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level.
(3) Other characteristics often associated with autism may include restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by one or more of the following:
(a) Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus;
(b) Apparently inflexible adherence to specific nonfunctional routines or rituals;
(c) Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole‑body movements);
(d) Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects.
(4) A student who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in (2) and (3) are met.
(5) The student may not be identified as having autism if the student's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the student has an emotional disturbance.
(1) The student may be identified as having autism if the results of a comprehensive evaluation document significant difficulties in social communication and social interaction, and restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests.
(2) The characteristics below are those which most frequently occur with the student but may not occur in every situation.
(a) Significant difficulties in social communication must be documented for at least six of the following characteristics:
(i) does not initiate or maintain eye contact while interacting with others;
(ii) does not use or has limited use of facial expressions to communicate with others;
(iii) has difficulty identifying and/or understanding the communicative intent of another person's facial expressions;
(iv) does not use gestures to direct attention to an object (for example, showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest);
(v) does not use gestures for communication;
(vi) does not respond to or misinterprets other's use of gestures;
(vii) does not notice or misinterprets other's use of body language;
(viii) does not use or has inconsistent use of own body language;
(ix) does not use verbal language for communication and social interaction;
(x) echolalia (immediate and/or delayed) is present;
(xi) has verbal language but has difficulties in expressive verbal communication;
(xii) has verbal language but has difficulties in receptive verbal communication; or
(xiii) interpretation of other's verbal communication is often concrete and literal (for example: does not understand idioms or sarcasm).
(b) Significant difficulties in social interaction must be documented for at least five of the following characteristics:
(i) does not seek to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with others;
(ii) does not initiate social interaction unless seeking preferred items or help;
(iii) no or minimal response to social interactions initiated by others;
(iv) has difficulty initiating a conversation on non-preferred topics;
(v) has difficulty sustaining a conversation on non-preferred topics;
(vi) has difficulty explaining another person's perspective in verbal and/or non verbal communication. (e.g., what other people are thinking or feeling);
(vii) does not join play activities of others (solitary play preferred);
(viii) play lacks elements of make-believe (e.g., using blocks as food);
(ix) has difficulty in participating in make-believe play with others; or
(x) does not engage in social imitative play (such as playacting, fantasy characters, animals, pretending adult role).
(c) Significant difficulties in restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests must be documented for at least three of the following characteristics:
(i) makes repeated vocalizations or verbalizations (e.g., repeats same word, phrase, or sound);
(ii) persistent preoccupation with specific objects or parts of objects;
(iii) engages in repeated, repetitive movements with objects such as sticks or string, lining up toys, flipping objects, spinning objects;
(iv) preoccupation with particular interests causes difficulties in social interaction and/or academic performance;
(v) resists when asked to discontinue preferred or special interest activity;
(vi) prefers consistency and resists expected and/or unexpected changes (for example: changing activities, leaving activity unfinished, changes in routine or daily schedule); or
(vii) engages in repetitive physical behaviors such as body rocking, spinning self, finger flicking, and/or hand flapping.
(3) A student must have the minimum number of characteristics in all three areas above to be identified as a student with autism.
(4) A student who has the minimum number of required characteristics in social communication and social interaction, and restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests, shall be identified as a student with Autism Type 1. A student who has more than the minimum number of required characteristics in social communication and social interaction, and restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests, shall be identified as a student with Autism Type 2.
IMP: 20-7-401, 20-7-403, 20-7-414, MCA
STATEMENT OF REASONABLE NECESSITY: The current criteria for identification as a student with autism are not consistent with the criteria used outside of the school system. The current criteria are difficult to interpret and lead to confusion in the identification of children with disabilities. The proposed criteria have been developed with a tremendous amount of input from stakeholders and are felt to be more widely understood and to lead to more accurate and consistent identification of children with disabilities.
10.16.3022 CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENT AS HAVING VISUAL IMPAIRMENT (1) remains the same.
(a) a visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye with correction or field of vision which at its widest diameter subtends an angle of no greater than 20 degrees in the better eye with correction; an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects the student's educational performance; or
(b) a medically indicated expectation of visual deterioration that would qualify the child as having a visual acuity impairment as described in (1)(a).
(2) The term "visual impairment" includes both partial sight and blindness.
STATEMENT OF REASONABLE NECESSITY: Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education indicated that a state may not have criteria for identification as a student with a visual impairment that are more limiting than the criteria in the definition provided at CFR 300.8 (13).
10.16.3806 SPECIAL EDUCATION ALLOWABLE COSTS--INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES (1) through (1)(f)(i) remain the same.
(ii) travel to in-state child study evaluation report team meetings or in-state IEP meetings;
(iii) and (iv) remain the same.
IMP: 20-7-431, MCA
STATEMENT OF REASONABLE NECESSITY: The language of this rule contained a reference to a process that was replaced in 2007. This change updates the language to reflect current requirements.
4. Concerned persons may submit their data, views, or arguments either orally or in writing at the hearing. Written data, views, or arguments may also be submitted to: Beverly Marlow, Office of Public Instruction, P.O. Box 202501, Helena, Montana, 59620-2501; telephone (406) 444-4402; fax (406) 444-2893; or e-mail bemarlow@mt.gov, and must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., March 12, 2019.
5. Kyle A. Moen, Chief Legal Counsel for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, has been designated to preside over and conduct this hearing.
6. The Office of Public Instruction maintains a list of interested persons who wish to receive notices of rulemaking actions proposed by this agency. Persons who wish to have their name added to the list shall make a written request that includes the name, e-mail, and mailing address of the person to receive notices and specifies for which program the person wishes to receive notices. Notices will be sent by e-mail unless a mailing preference is noted in the request. Such written request may be mailed or delivered to the contact person in 4 above or may be made by completing a request form at any rules hearing held by the agency.
7. The bill sponsor contact requirements of 2-4-302, MCA, do not apply.
8. With regard to the requirements of 2-4-111, MCA, the agency has determined that the amendment of the above-referenced rules will not significantly and directly impact small businesses.
/s/ Kyle A. Moen /s/ Elsie Arntzen
Kyle A. Moen Elsie Arntzen
Rule Reviewer Superintendent of Public Instruction
Certified to the Secretary of State January 29, 2019.


text:
Predictive Analytics System
Digitisation & Text Classification
Telecom – Cross-sell & Upsell
E-commerce – Conversion Optimisation
Finance – Product Recommendation
Retail – Dynamic Pricing
Insurance – Document Recognition
Legal – Case Similarity
Latest Technology Insights
6 Most Important ways how Artificial Intelligence is Redefining Banking
Business,Featured
Merishna Singh Suwal
Artificial Intelligence is a system that understands it's environment and can make critical decisions by asking the right questions.
For instance, the system can not only understand the language but also understand concepts within sentences. Of course, it's not going to write a thesis in one night, yet.
Do you remember the computer revolution? The smartphone revolution? The internet revolution? All of these have been tremendous shifts that put humanity on a different trajectory. Artificial intelligence is one such shift that is happening as we speak.
Artificial Intelligence offers millions of possibilities in various fields such as e-commerce and banking. The banking sector is using AI for various purposes and yielding more profits with growth like never before. Do you want to know why it matters in the banking sector? If yes then, here you're at the right place. Here we will explore its role and importance in the banking sector.
1. Decreasing Fraud Through Real-Time Detection
Source: Here
What are the most important tasks or functions of a bank? First and foremost, securing the money and transactions of their clients. Customers rely on banks to execute their transactions securely. That's where AI comes into the picture. Traditional algorithms can only detect fraudulent transactions when some predefined set of rules get violated. That's why they are not smart or advanced enough to analyze every transaction leading to fraudulent transactions.
What can AI do in such suspicious and fraudulent scenarios?
Artificial intelligence can go a little deeper and identify suspicious activities by analyzing the behavior and transaction history of each customer. AI examines all the historical data available and detects the doubtful transactions in real time by analyzing the traffic ratios and how those translate into conversion. By tracking IP addresses, AI can expose if there is any bot involved in transaction. Thus, AI performs better than traditional rule-based algorithms at preventing fraud. Wirecard Asia and Quattro Processing are some reputed names offering out of the box fraud prevention solutions.
Citibank has launched multiple tech startups worldwide and developing products for banking and financial sector. Citibank invested heavily in FeedzAI, and that's one of most delicate move and investment made by Citibank. FeedzAI utilizes data science to detect fraudulent transactions. It uses machine learning algorithm to analyze big data in real time and notify the respective financial firm about the illegal fraud activities.
2. Improving Customer Experience And Engagement
Have you ever used iPhone and interacted with Siri? How was your experience?
Well, Siri is chatbot that imitates a human conversation using natural language processing to understand human inputs in the form of text and voice inputs.
How can banks take advantage of chatbots?
Most individuals have specific queries related to banking for which they call and interact with customer service. The number of queries that banks receive on a daily basis is enormous, more than a million. In fact, you may have encountered several issues while trying to contact customer service support such as long wait times and unsatisfactory answers., It becomes excruciating for both banks and the customers to interact with each other for every basic query. Most of these customer queries are similar to each other, and thus there is the scope for automation.
Before AI and machine learning advancement, it was challenging to make a computer understand customer queries accurately and respond to them. But today, thanks to Artificial Intelligence, we have chatbots that can handle most of the queries and customer interaction based tasks. This helps bankers to focus on significant customer issues only. AI is offering a personal touch in the banking sector.
For example, HDFC Indian bank has launched their chatbot 'Eva". This move has helped the bank to gain more reputation and popularity, and now they can take care of their customer more conveniently.
The bank of America has launched personal assistant "Erica" last year, ranked one of the most prominent payment and finance service innovation. Erica acts as an on-point financial advisor to more than 45 million customers of BOA. Mobile banking was serving approximately 12 million customers in 2012; this number grew to 22 million in 2016. Thus, you can see the growth graph.
3. Improving Risk Management System
Have you ever applied for the credit loan? If yes then you must be familiar with the loan approval procedure of a bank. Before providing the credit to any client, the bank goes through risk assessment to estimate the prospect's credit worthiness. The traditional system entirely relies upon the historical data of the client, including their credit and transaction history, income growth in past few years to analyze the risk factors associated with the respective loan. Well, historical data of the client is not an ideal approach to predict their future behaviors, and that's why it results in inconsistent estimation.
How Can AI and Machine Learning Improve The Risk Management?
AI and machine learning offer real-time data analysis of recent transactions, present market scenarios, and updated news to track the potential risk associated with credit offerings. ML algorithm, using predictive analytics, can efficiently analyze data petabytes to detect micro activities and access client behaviors to predict possible default.
Xactium and IBM REGTech are some of the oldest firms offering AI enabled risk management systems. JP Morgan Chase, Ally Bank and Citigroup are the first to adopt AI in their risk management system and improved the online security.
4. Robotic Process Automation
Banking is very competitive and hence, banks are among the first to adopt latest technologies, especially when its about saving cost through automation. Cost saving is still the second priority of banks after customer satisfaction.
Artificial intelligence boosts efficiency by speeding up processes, reducing human time consumed and human error. Robotic process automation automates most of the workflow by using technologies such as screen capturing.
The banking sector is saving millions and billions by adopting AI technology, and robotic process automation is increasing rapidly with time. According to a study report released by Cognizant, 26% of the bankers stated that they are getting more than 15% surge saving by relying on AI and 55% of the bankers are expecting to have similar saving figures, that's +15%, in coming five years.
According to financial estimation report and statements of Bank of NY Mellon Corp, they are saving more than $300,000 annually with their "fund transfer bots" only.
5. Automated Trading Algorithms
AI-based automated trading algorithms are ruling the financial world. These trading algorithms are designed to take input from different sources of data in the financial market and make trading decisions with ease. With AI based trading algorithms, one can predict the market scenarios and invest appropriately to yield maximum benefits. Algorithmic trading is programmed to keep you updated with the latest trends, investment opportunities and risk factors to maximize the profit. Overall, AI has made it a perfect trade investment planner and market astrologer. AI-based algorithmic trading promise safe and reliable returns, that's the reason investment platforms like Betterment and Wealthfront are attracting millions of investors to trade.
6. Anti-Money Laundering Pattern
Anti-money laundering is a set of rules, regulations, and laws designed to resist the illegal practices of generating money. Money launderers are technically smart to hide their illegal actions in various ways, and thus the money earned by unfair and unlawful means seems legally earned money.
Most of banking and finance sector worldwide is now shifting from traditional software to the artificial intelligence based systems that are more robust and intelligent to resist and detect money laundering activities. Intel and Fico are two big names offering anti-money laundering solution to the banking and finance world. HSBC is using AI in its AML to improve the risk profile and combat suspicious money laundering activities.
The Future Of AI in Banking Sector
In the coming years, the banking sector will be investing more in artificial intelligence and machine learning instead of human employees. The primary motive of using AI is not only to reduce the cost only but also offer better customer experience.
Presently, the main role of AI in the banking sector is to automate the repetitive tasks and reduce process outsourcing. In the coming years, AI will become more autonomous, and it will be focusing on core issues including new product development based on customer demand and credit risk minimization.
How can AI and Blockchain be used together?
What are the AI startups active in 2018?
Machine Learning Applications in Business
What businesses will be disrupted by AI in the near future?
When did the deep-learning revolution begin, and why?
Google Add-Ons
Copyright © Acuvea Analytics Private Limited. 2018. All rights reserved.


text:
Business Council for International Understanding in Washington D.C held a luncheon discussion with Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani
Ambassador Jilani's address at the Stanford University
PM Speech in National Assembly
Few days ago in this honorable house we unanimously passed a resolution which says that this house represents the 200 million people in this country. I believe that this spectacle would ever be remembered and I am glad that it is the voice of 200 million Pakistanis. I feel excited when the members of this house express this that they are only working for the supremacy of democracy not for any government or Prime Minister. To me this is supremacy/victory of our ideology, of the very ideology which we believe in and trust upon. This is not about individuals and governments because governments come and leave, Prime Ministers come and go but trusting the system, democracy, supremacy of the constitution is the supreme victory for the democracy. And I believe that irrespective of hailing from left or right wing everybody in this house voted for the resolution. Nine out of 10 parties are present here and raised their hands in support for the resolution, I think never ever before in the history of Pakistan such an example can be found.
Hence from the core of my heart I want to thank the honorable house and all of you that you all chose me and I assure you that I took an oath that I will abide by the constitution and I will not disappoint you. And I will not flinch from my oath (Insha'Allah). I promise you and all the political parties which are even not present in the house but who supported the resolution and all journalists who supported it and business community who supported it and I believe that minorities also supported this (resolution) and People from all walks of live supported it and I want to thank them all. This journey of the supremacy of the constitution and law will be continuous and by the grace of God it will never be interrupted. I believe that we are part of this journey and moving ahead in the direction which will endow Pakistan a bright future. Democracy will prevail in Pakistan. By the grace of God a day will come there will be no hindrance in its path and anyone who tries to derail it would face accountability/impeachment. Whatever development projects we started we would pursue them vigorously and we aren't scared of these odds.
Mr. Speaker, with the grace of Almighty whatever little we are doing for our country, we faced ups and downs and I don't call it either good or a bad time, we saw a time when we went through hardships, and faced them with steadfastness of character and never whined about them. I want to give an example of 2008 elections in this regard, Mr. Speaker I wasn't allowed to contest election at that time and my nomination papers were rejected; even if we had won those elections nobody would have been aware of the fact that who would be the Prime Minister. Although we went through the whole election process and ran our campaigns and ultimately whatever result appeared we accepted it open heartedly. We never protested, although we could have protested; and it would not have been unjust on our part to protest about the rejection of the nomination papers of the party leader. At that time a dictator was in power who had his hold on district governments, all governors were under his command, care taker government was subservient to him and hence all set-up and system belonged to him. In such a scenario elections were held and I have already mentioned what kind of elections those were. We endorsed that People's Party had the right to form a government and we would support that decision. And we announced this in presence of all the leaders including Asif Ali Zardari. And in subsequent five years we made every possible effort to strengthen and prolong the (democratic) system, nothing should derail the system and government complete its full five years term. And with the grace of Almighty we succeeded in that mission as well, the government completed its term. And after that another election was held and the result in front of you. I personally went to see Imran Khan when he was in hospital after getting injured. And after the elections, Imran Khan congratulated me for winning these elections and assured me that he would co-operate in each positive step we take. He assured about the presence of constructive opposition. And he invited me to his residence in Bani Gala and I personally went to him and talked to him in most amicable manner. Even when I left him he talked very positively about our meeting to press. At his residence he assured me about is cooperation.
I personally believe that if a government commits some mistake and can't positively decide an issue then the honorable house has the right to hold it accountable. We would be glad in such a scenario, why we always remain among psychopaths, I personally believe that system of check and balance should be there for government; even then the driving force behind such checks and balance should be that if a government works positively it should be encouraged. Today morning I have met with the MQM delegation and I really appreciated what they said and they also expressed the same about us. We want reforms in our country; actually government comes and goes so does the PM. We have to ponder about the better future of our future generations and about the betterment of Pakistan. For all this we have to plan today, all the house and the whole nation agree about such reforms. We have formed 33 members committee to discuss reforms and all the members should contribute through their input. Mr. Speaker Pakistan is progressing and I am not saying that we have touched milestone, rather we just started to move towards that. But due to current commotion in the country, stock exchange suffered considerably, people suffered heavy loss of millions of rupees. Pak rupee considerably suffered. Who will be happy in such circumstances? In recent past Pakistan's rating moved to stable from negative rating; nobody wants it to be demoted to the negative rating again. But in recent past our confidence is considerable shaken.
Our investment partners are apprehensive about investing in such an uncertain atmosphere. Khawaja Saad rafique will enlighten you all about our recent dialogues with both the parties. About their demands and what we can do and what we can't. I have been thoroughly following these recent incidents and I will talk about it at opportune time. And certainly we will discuss why this all started. But with the grace of Almighty our journey toward betterment would continue, poverty is rampant in Pakistan we shall eliminate it. And this we desire all, not just our party but all the parties together. There is unemployment in Pakistan and we all desire to eradicate this. Pakistan is facing the problem of load shedding and we all want to end this, we all desire that all find feasible transport system, to spread roads. We are moving towards achieving these goals and now you tell me how can one achieve all this in one single day? We have only one old power house currently working and our banks do not have enough money to lend us loan to build a new one. We arranged loan and started a project with the capacity of 10,000 MW electricity, this project was approved in May and this has to be completed on priority basis.
I want to share with you that with the grace of Almighty, four days ago we made an agreement with Chine that it would lend us 55 billion rupees for Karachi and Lahore motorway project. We have very ambitious plan for Gawadar, its development for the development of Balochistan, we also have positive plans to upgrading Pakistan Railways, Dasu dam project after dasu dam project we would shift towards Bahsha Dam and then towards Port Qasim in Karachi; in Punjab and KPK provinces different power projects we have whole list of this. New projects are being initiated in Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan is also included. The whole country would be part of this development, and its positive effects would reach to every nook and corner of Pakistan and at each doorstep.
We believe that we should spend our energies in such projects rather than the way these politicians are spending. Now at the end of my speech I would like to thank all honorable members of Parliament, who are at my right and at my left, for the fact that they have given me a cause. I liked when Haji Bilour said that whatever they did it was for the supremacy of law and for the stability of the system. Haji sahib also said that the government did not take the step which it should have taken, now I don't know what he was referring to. Haji sahib should be aware how such a situation should be handled. Now I would like Khawaja Saad rafique to brief the house about the dialogues which were held with both the parties (PAT, PTI), for he had been there all along during dialogues.


Though I'm new, I am more than happy to be working at Horizon Academy because it seems like a place where I can truly make a difference in students' lives. The team here is excellent and compassionate, I couldn't have asked for a better group of teachers and faculty to work with! My older brother, Ben, graduated from Horizon, so it's been a part of our family for quite some time now.
Passions: Helping others succeed, creating music and art, photography, and nature.


Yeah, read that this morning – I think I'm ok with it.
I'm in the no camp I'm afraid. I was kind of OK with the way Mostly Harmless ended, it seemed to somehow fit!
Damn you. You stole my blog. I think it will be interesting apart from the fact that he has suggested that he wants to slip Artimus into the story. He shouldn't be allowed to do that. If he wants to pimp his books let him get a PR manager.
It's due out next September so a lot could change between now and then.
I'm just going to ignore it, unless I hear really good things when it comes out.
definitely no. didnt work with Nero Wolfe.
It's a Ford Prefect, I presume?


"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death" (Revelation 12:11). As we near the end of the age, persecution and even martyrdom of Christians will increase dramatically. Those of us living in the United States won't be exempt. In fact, we are already witnessing an increase in persecution. The time to prepare for this eventual reality is now. Make sure you are thoroughly grounded in the faith. Make sure you know what you believe and why you believe it. Make sure you are truly of the faith. Make sure you are an overcomer! Otherwise, when persecution comes—particularly persecution with the threat of death—you will run the risk of denying and bringing shame to the name of Christ. Such denial may indicate another reality—that you do not belong to Christ. Therefore, it is imperative that we understand what the Bible says about those who overcome. Revelation 12:11 give us three marks of an overcomer. All three are true in the life of one who has truly been saved by the grace of God through faith in the Son of God.
John writes, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb." In a previous article I pointed out the Greek word for overcame is the word nikao, meaning "to come off victorious." True Christians are, by nature, overcomers. But we don't overcome in our own strength and energy. We overcome "because of the blood of the Lamb." Satan is our accuser. Yet, because of the blood of the Lamb, his accusations cannot stand. Paul wrote, "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies" (Rom. 8:33). We are justified through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The blood emphasizes the death of Jesus. He died so that we might live. We are forgiven because of His shed blood. No accusation can stand against those whose sins have been forgiven! Because Christ was victorious, His victory is our victory. So the first defining mark of an overcomer is that they belong to Christ, having been washed by the blood of the Lamb. Secondly, John writes that we overcome the enemy, "because of the word of [our] testimony." My testimony is not walking a church aisle and praying to receive Christ. My testimony is the fact that I have been born again by grace through faith and that I continue to walk in newness of life. In other words, my testimony is a changed life! I no longer embrace my sin, but rather, I embrace Christ! Your testimony overcomes Satan's deception. Paul could write, "I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Tim. 1:12). The writer of Hebrews echoed that truth by writing, "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). The King James says it this way: "He is able also to save them to the uttermost." We are saved to the uttermost! This is the testimony of the believer and it is this testimony we share with others and is the living evidence of a changed life. I cannot emphasize this changed life enough! Finally, John says we overcome because, "[we do] not love [our] life even when faced with death." Overcomers are willing to make any sacrifice, including death. Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). Willingly dying for the cause of Christ is the ultimate in self-denial. Like Christ, we should all be willing to be "obedient to the point of death" (Phil. 2:8). However, self-denial begins with repenting of my sin and turning to Christ. It is an ongoing condition and lifestyle whereby I choose Christ over all else—especially self. Such a life is not easy but it is eternally rewarding. If we refuse to cling to our earthly lives, then there really is no threat Satan can bring against us. If the enemy kills you because of your faith in Christ, what else can they do (see Luke 12:4)?
To sum it all up, overcomers are first of all, saved. Secondly, they have a consistent testimony of a changed life. Finally, they would readily welcome death rather than to deny their Lord. So, the question is, are you an overcomer? Does your life give evidence of a changed life? Are you truly saved? If so, take hope in knowing that God will preserve you to the end—He is able and has saved you to the uttermost! If you are not saved, now is the time to give your life to Christ, receiving His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. The Bible says, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb. 2:3) God has provided "so great a salvation," so that through Christ we can overcome Satan, the flesh, and the world system. But it begins by simple faith in the crucified, risen, ascended, and soon returning Lord. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).
"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died… Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come… Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God"(2 Corinthians 5:14-20). As Christians, we have the greatest message anyone will ever hear. Unfortunately, most of those who hear it will reject it. "We are ambassadors for Christ," meaning we represent the King of heaven with the His glorious Gospel. In his first letter to the Corinthian believers, Paul referred to this glorious Gospel as "the word of the cross," a foolish message to those who remain lost, yet the power of God to those of us who are being saved (see 1 Cor. 1:18). It is this foolish message we proclaim, "as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." Every time I share the Gospel with another, every time I stand in the pulpit to preach, every time I open the Bible to teach, I have this message in mind and my goal is always the same—to clearly and concisely preach Jesus, "namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself."
Why do I do this? "For the love of Christ controls [me]." The word translated "controls" is the Greek word, συνέχω (synechō), which basically means "to hold together, confine, secure, to hold fast." Its use throughout the New Testament is interesting. For example, it is used to describe the effect of the Word of God upon Paul in Acts 18:5: "Paul began devoting [synechō] himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ." In Acts 7:57, it is used to describe the response of those who refused to listen to the truth of the Gospel message preached by Stephen: "But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered [synechō] their ears and rushed at him with one impulse." In 2 Cor. 5:14, it refers to the effect the love of God has on those of us who believe, meaning the love of Christ keeps us within bounds and compels us to preach the Gospel. This is the "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 7:18) and it sums up the Gospel message in that "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). This statement is the heart of the Gospel—Jesus Christ, the sinless Savior has taken our sins that through Him we might be forgiven and have His righteousness. God accomplished this "in Christ" and offers this righteousness to all those who will ever be saved. This is the "ministry of reconciliation" whereby believers proclaim the Gospel, God speaks through them ("as though God were making an appeal through us, we beg of you…be reconciled to God") thus urging unbelievers to come to Christ in faith and believe the Gospel. This means repent of your sins and believe on Jesus! This is the essence of reconciliation—a changed relationship where our sins are no longer counted against us. No religion in the world offers this. It comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and is offered freely to everyone who believes. This "belief" isn't mere head knowledge but a heart knowledge that results in a changed life!
So my question to you is this: Which use of the word "controls" will you choose for yourself? Will it be the positive use whereby you allow the Word of God and the love of Christ to control you, thus resulting in salvation by grace through faith and a compelling desire to preach Jesus to others? Or, will it be the negative use, whereby you hear the Gospel message yet refuse to listen to it, turning a deaf ear to the one message that can change your life for all eternity? Paul wrote, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." To be "in Christ" means that I was at one time without Christ. In other words, I was lost and by nature a sinner. But thanks to God's grace I am now "in Christ," forgiven of my sin, and the recipient of a new nature, one of being a saint—a radical change wrought by the Gospel . It also means I have the promise of being with Christ in glory when He returns for His saints or calls me home to be with Him. All of this the Bible says is made a reality by faith. I must believe God—"And without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, "[I] beg you, be reconciled to God."


Any festival in India is incomplete without food. Whenever we talk of festival we think of the special dishes prepared for the occasion. Festival cooking is a part of all celebration. Durga Puja is also one of the festivals where special emphases on sweets are given. Other than sweets different kinds of other dishes are also prepared. This festival is mainly celebrated in the West Bengal, which is famous for sweets. Durga Puja is the festival of fun and feasting. It is the time when people have the liberty to eat what ever they like. Different kinds of sweets are available in the market. You can choose from a wide variety of range. Other than sweets you can make various other items at home, which are easy to cook and very delicious to eat. Begalis are known for their delicious delicacies. Here are list of some traditional delicacies, which will make your celebration all the more exciting and happening.


The students are introduced to some of the Bulgarian traditions and learn the beautiful Bulgarian folklore dances.
Our building features a 370-seat theater hall with modern audio and video equipment. Every Sunday parents and guests can watch Bulgarian movies.
First-graders ask riddles to the audience. After classes are over, everyone who volunteers can perform.
Botev Academy teachers are highly qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced.
We are located in Takoma Park and we serve the greater Washington DC metropolitan area.
Our mission is provide an environment for children to learn the Bulgarian language, history, traditions, folklore, and culture.


text:
Ari Lennox Went From Uber Driving to Headlining Her Own Tour
Alex Shultz
Ed Sheeran's New Song with Travis Scott Games the System
Brennan Carley
Adele Has Returned With 'Hello,' So Here, Watch the Video 1,000 Times
John Jannuzzi
Music Internet has been shivering with excitement over the past few days, a shudder caused largely by Adele's teasing of her long-awaited album 25. We've seen personal notes from the singer, heard teasers, and finally, finally, have a single to satiate us until the full album drops on November 20. And in this era of autotune, pop queens, and Hotline Blings, her voice cuts through all of it, and reminds us why she's one of the most talented artists of… ever?
In her tweeted explanation of the album, Adele tells us that her last record was a "break-up record," she continues, "If I had to label this one I would call it a make-up record. I'm making up with myself. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did." That's some heavy stuff. Of the single, which will chill you to your emotional bones, she says it's "very intimate" and "very conversational." It's a powerful ballad, there's no denying that, she even jokingly compared it to a Meatloaf song when speaking with the BBC. (Quite honestly, if the world needs anything, it's more Meatloaf-esque ballads as far as I'm concerned.)
Though we've got about a month until 25 comes out, it already looks to be another collection of fantastic songs. There are tracks produced in collaboration with powerhouses like Max Martin, Danger Mouse, and Ryan Tedder. All of whom have helped create some of the most popular songs of the last decade. Until we've got more, we'll be dialing up every one of our ex's, praying it goes straight to voicemail and blasting this song into the phone. If you care to do the same, the video for the single is below (co-starring Tristan Wilds from The Wire).
Lauryn Hill's Nina Simone Cover On The Tonight Show Will Dismember Your Soul
Erykah Badu's Remix of Drake's 'Hotline Bling' Is Just Way Too Nice
Who's the Saddest Sack in Sam Smith's James Bond Music Video? Oh, Everyone
Related Stories for GQAdeleMusic
Ed Sheeran's New Album Is a Super Bowl Audition
GQ Recommends
The Best Sex Toys for Guys
J Balvin and Bad Bunny Make Summer Hot Again with Oasis


Emodo, Ericsson's mobile advertising and data monetization platform, today unveiled Emodo Supply, a carrier data-powered product that enables demand-side platforms (DSPs) to filter media supply for accuracy.
The company's unique relationships with carriers enable it to leverage anonymized, privacy-compliant carrier data as a truth set for scoring the accuracy of other mobile data. This is the foundation for Emodo Supply, which uses carrier data as a filter to remove bad data at the supply level, ensuring only clean, verified data and inventory is made available on DSPs.
Supply matches AdID to carrier data to determine if specific bid requests are accurate. The platform then uses historic data as a training data set for a pre-bid machine learning predictive algorithm, scoring accuracy in real time. A high score correlates with a high location data accuracy and only that data is accurate enough to use.
"The ad ecosystem is focused on transparency as a proxy for quality. Media agencies are savvy. They know there are mobile data problems in the ecosystem," said Alistair Goodman, general manager of Emodo, in a statement. "By leveraging carrier data as an accepted truth set, debates about accuracy become real solutions that improve media delivery. Verified supply gives advertisers the confidence that high-quality data and inventory is consistently applied to their programmatic campaigns."
Emodo also today announced a partnership with Axonix, a programmatic trading platform that facilitates the trading of unique telco-verified audiences. This partnership allows Emodo Supply to maximize the pool of verified media supply by operating as an independent platform and develop direct connections with hundreds of DSPs, publishers, and supply partners.
"We're excited to partner with Emodo to launch this supply product," said Zee Ahmad, global head of strategy and business development at Axonix, in a statement. "Emodo's capability to leverage mobile operator data in real time will add enormous value to demand-side decision makers, enabling them to determine the quality of location signals in the same way they utilize other verification products."


text:
Het Brabants Buitenmuseum Out Herlaer
Het Brabants Buitenmuseum Out Herlaer will be a special place where nature, cultural history and art come together. On behalf of the land trust Het Brabant Landschap we developed a landscape vision for the area Haanwijk, Out Herlaer and Sterrenbos in 2013. This vision was further developed, together with Het Noordbrabants Museum and Parklaan, into an ambitious plan for an outdoor museum.
Brabants Landschap
Theo Mathijssen, Tess Landsman
Parklaan Landschapsarchitecten (2017)
Multi-layered landscape
We started, back in 2013, with the question how to anchor the historic fortified city of 's-Hertogenbosch with the rich history and contemporary culture of the Groene Woud area. The direct location of 's-Hertogenbosch old town centre next to the open landscape is unique. The Bossche Broek and the river Dommel form a beautiful entrance to nature; the cultural-historical landscape of the Groene Woud. An important point for the area around Out Herlaer is to make the landscape more accessible to residents and visitors of 's-Hertogenbosch and surroundings. The landscape can be experienced in different ways. The landscape has the potential to appeals to different groups if we offer a multi-layered landscape.
Ferry Castle Maurick > Out Herlaer
Museum landscape park
The most important layer is the beautiful natural landscape itself . A second layer is the existing historic cultural landscape that is sometimes visible and sometimes disappeared or hidden under new structures. The built heritage is an obvious third layer of cultural significance. In this study we present the spatial possibilities of a fourth and fifth layer.
We like to strengthen the present art activities that take place in Sterrenbos in the atelier of Leon Adriaans. Art and landscape, in the vicinity of the city, can be a very attractive destination for new visitors. We proposed a spatial framework shaped by an art-route through the surroundings. In a museum park, the focus could be on art and the relationship with nature. Land-art and larger statues are placed in in the woods and fields. A next step could be to offer accommodationIt would be nice to experience the nature and arts in an intense way. Accommodation in listed buildings make renovation possible and ensure the conservation of the heritage.
Out Herlaer
The Out Herlaer farm will form the centre in the outdoor museum. Here, heritage, landscape and art can come together in a special way. Out Herlaer is a listed building. The current long gable farm is built on the remains of a castle in 1850. The first written indications of the possible existence of a castle on the site of Out Herlaer date from the 11th century.
Tollhouse ' t Vaantje, entrance from the River Dommel
RESET ARCHITECTURE Boschveldweg 471, 5211 VK 's-Hertogenbosch | +31737074838 | info@resetarchitecture.com


Awards are open to candidates from IADR Divisions and non-Division Sections. The number of candidates is determined by a formula based on membership. The selected candidates will be eligible to compete in the IADR Unilever Hatton Competition and Awards.