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Topic: Talent & Education
Michigan students to take standardized tests, but which one is unclear
The state is expecting Michigan schools to remain open to in-class learning this year, and has made it harder for districts to switch to remote instruction. (Shutterstock)
Ron French (Email)
Michigan K-12 schools, Coronavirus Michigan
April 26 update: Some Michigan schools allow students to say 'no thanks' to M-STEP tests
April 7 update: Students in COVID-weary Michigan schools must take M-STEP, feds say
It's unclear what standardized test Michigan students will take this spring.
It's uncertain whether they will be administered at home or in classrooms.
And once test scores are in, it's up in the air how those results will be used or what they'll mean.
Will Michigan students take M-STEP test this year? Here's what we know.
Michigan GOP: Cancel standardized tests and 3rd grade reading law this year
A day after the U.S. Department of Education shot down requests from Michigan and other states to drop federally mandated student testing this school year amid COVID, the state's schools, teachers and students still don't know what to expect when testing begins in mid-April.
The federal government requires some form of standardized test to compare student achievement between schools and classrooms. In Michigan, that test is the M-STEP, administered to students in grades 3 to 8, and the MME, given to 11th-graders.
Those test scores can have ramifications for schools as well as for individual teachers, whose annual evaluations are based partly on student growth as measured by standardized tests.
But hours after federal officials on Monday turned down blanket waivers of testing, State Superintendent Michael Rice stepped in and said he will ask that students be allowed to skip the statewide M-STEP, allowing school districts to choose instead from a variety of tests they already administer to students. Rice said he's asking federal education officials for permission to use those benchmark assessment tests this spring.
Rice's statement leaves the state's spring testing regimen unresolved until federal officials give a thumb's up or down on his request. That decision will have a far-reaching impact, from determining how many days Michigan students spend taking standardized tests, to whether third-graders have to worry about being held back in grade for scoring poorly on reading, to whether the performance of schools can be compared to one another.
Here's what we know so far:
Why do students take standardized tests?
The U.S. Department of Education requires standardized testing to compare student achievement between schools and classrooms. The test scores are intended to provide transparency on student achievement, and accountability for educators.
Scores from standardized tests can provide a wealth of information. For example, because the same test is given across the state, M-STEP scores can compare how well third-graders in Kalkaska are reading compared with third-graders in Alpena or Grand Rapids. Education leaders can also see how students from different racial groups or economic levels score in eighth-grade science.
Because the test is similar each year, school leaders also can examine whether student achievement is rising or declining year after year.
In Michigan the M-STEP is also used for accountability in several ways. Third-graders whose scores on the test indicate they are reading at a second grade or lower level can be recommended for retention in grade. For teachers, 40 percent of annual evaluations were to be based on growth in student test scores this year.
What's the controversy this year?
The impact of COVID-19.
The M-STEP wasn't given to students in the spring last year, after Michigan and many other states asked for waivers in the wake of mass school closures due to COVID-19.
In January, State Superintendent Michael Rice again requested a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education, citing an inability to give standardized tests when nothing about the current school year has been standard, including a second wave of the coronavirus that began in the late fall.
Some students still haven't returned to classrooms more than 11 months after the beginning of the pandemic, while others have had face-to-face instruction for much of the 2020-21 school year.
Experts fear the tests, which are stubbornly correlated to income in normal years, might show even larger gaps between poor and non-poor students this year because of, among other factors, differences in access to reliable Internet for online classes.
"Without uniform testing conditions, adequate participation, and appropriate test security measures, summative assessment results will misrepresent achievement," Rice wrote to acting U.S. Secretary of Education Phil Rosenfelt in his request for a test waiver.
Proponents of giving standardized tests argue the pandemic increases the need for testing to measure the impact of remote learning and determine where best to marshal resources to help struggling students.
What's the difference between M-STEP and other tests?
The state M-STEP is taken over the course of three to five days. It's not uncommon for classes to spend weeks prepping for the test, according to educators.
Results typically aren't received until close to the end of the school year, making the results of little contemporaneous help in classrooms.
Benchmark assessment tests, on the other hand, which is what Rice is pushing for, are required to be given at least twice a year under the state's Return to Learn legislation passed in the summer of 2020. The tests are short — as little as 45 minutes per subject area — produce immediate results, and are studied to determine the strengths and weaknesses of individual students, allowing teachers to adjust their teaching to meet students' needs.
"The benchmark assessments are more responsive because you get the information immediately to influence learning," said Kevin Polston, superintendent of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools near Grand Rapids.
Those benchmark assessment tests, though, vary by school district. There are five different assessments approved by the state, and districts are also free to develop their own assessments.
That makes student achievement comparisons between schools difficult.
"The results of these assessments will not be comparable from district to district," Amber Arellano, executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, a Michigan-based school research and advocacy organization, said in a statement. "Parents and families deserve to know whether their children are meeting college- and career-ready expectations — and whether the education system is responding to and improving their opportunities to succeed."
Whatever the benefit of statewide comparisons, they're not worth the cost of lost instruction time during a pandemic, said Doug Pratt, spokesperson for the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teacher union.
"So much has been made about the learning time that has been lost" during the pandemic, Pratt said. "We shouldn't be spending time that could be used learning on testing."
Have other states tweaked standardized tests this year?
In Texas, many students can choose to skip the state's standardized test this year.
In Tennessee, the legislature passed a bill that holds students, teachers and schools harmless for the results of standardized testing this school year. That way, school leaders can measure the impact of the pandemic without anyone being punished for potential learning loss caused by remote learning.
Sen. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, vice chair of the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee, introduced a set of bills in the Michigan Legislature that would eliminate M-STEP student test score growth from being factored into teacher evaluations.
"It isn't fair to the teachers or the students in the end," Horn told Bridge Michigan.
That compromise — holding tests but stripping out accountability for this year — is something Detroit Public Schools Community District Nickolia Vitti likes.
Vitti told Bridge last week the tests should not be used to hold teachers and students accountable for their performance this year, but rather to collect data on how much learning loss students have suffered during the pandemic.
"I do think it's important to know where children are at and to properly advocate for their support," he said. "It'll be much easier to make those justifications if we have data to show and quantify the amount of loss that we've seen."
Horn, who spoke to Bridge Michigan before the U.S. Department of Education rejected Michigan's request for a test waiver, said he would prefer to not have standardized testing until after the pandemic.
"To be able to teach people over Zoom on the kind of things you need for standardized tests" is difficult, Horn said. "Every kid is wired differently. They handle stress differently. So let's get them back as close to normal as possible before we go back to testing."
Michigan is waiting for a decision from federal officials on whether the various benchmark assessments now being used in schools will meet federal requirements this school year, or whether the M-STEP is required.
The U.S. Department of Education's letter to state school leaders said the department was open to "flexibility" in testing.
"I appreciate that, during the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education has recognized the need for a number of flexibilities, including school identification, accountability, and participation rate," Rice said in a statement late Monday.
Rice added that the Michigan Department of Education "will be reaching out to and working with the U.S. Department of Education to share the value of the benchmark assessments administered statewide during this year."
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My, oh my, Folk Festival is a wonderful time of year.
I went into this year's Folk Fest not knowing any of the artists. In a way, that's really the best because I went in without any expectations. Just an open mind. I always manage to find artists that I like. My two stand-outs of this Folk Festival: Jeremy Fisher and Del Barber. Both are singer/songwriters from Canada. Fisher hails from Quebec and Barber is from Manitoba.
Fisher has this quirky and wholesome stage presence which compliments nicely with his sing-as-you-speak performance style. Wearing his skinny artist jeans, comfy v-neck t-shirt, and his curly afro, he serenaded the audience with tunes such as "Shine a Little Light" or "Cigarette" or a love song incorporating tetris and math. What's not to love? Listen to some of his tunes here.
Barber has a bit more a biting wit to him with a Canadian prairie boy wholesomeness. As he confessed, where he comes from, it's all about three things: hockey, fishing, and women. Rocking a pair of jeans, a plaid shirt and his black Ray-Bans at the festival, he sang songs about his disappointment over Archie choosing Veronica over Betty, a Junior Mint mishap on a blind date, and a breakfast date break-up in Chicago. Barber is a skilled storyteller and it felt like I was listening to an episode of Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe as he accompanied his stories with guitar back-up. You can listen to some of his songs here.
Other enjoyable artists I took in at the Folk Festival?
Delhi 2 Dublin-an electric fusion of Indian and Irish music styles. They had the hill dancing on their feet in no time!
Other favorite Folk Fest moments?
Walking in the lantern parade with friends.
Watching the candlelight illuminate the Folk Fest hill.
Until next year's Folk Fest!


Policy development and analysis often boils down to decision making, and most decisions involve multiple objectives or goals, with various constraints. In fact, many decisions can be posed as multi-objective optimization (MOO) problems. Yet, the struggle to pursue more than one objective is frequently inefficient, often depending on trial-and-error. And, this trend occurs in any discipline involving different people or institutions with different intentions, or involving a single decision-maker with more than one target. Although the idea of resolving interactive scenarios between multiple people has long been a topic of the social sciences, originally growing out of the field of economics, the process of systematically and computationally optimizing a collection of objective functions is less common. Furthermore, interpreting results can be especially challenging, as there may be no single "best" solution.
This five-week course focuses on concepts and methods for MOO, with policy applications ranging from human performance to national strategy. This topic bridges single-objective optimization, a mainstay of the logistics community, with game theory. It strives to help answer questions like, how should equipment be distributed to maximize effectiveness while minimizing load, or how should body armor be designed to maximize mobility and survivability simultaneously? Rather than depending too heavily on mathematical aspects, the intent is to help students identify real-world MOO problems, understand solution concepts, formulate and solve problems using existing tools (like Excel), and interpret results. A variety of common methods are reviewed, all with a focus on problem formulation and modes of preference articulation. We will then touch on methods for representing fuzzy preferences, applicable to scenarios where priorities may not be distinct. We will also touch on methods for incorporating uncertainty, which relates to robust decision making. Finally, game theory is introduced, simulating how information is exchanged between multiple policymakers.


Today we are announcing a product power efficiency goal: improve large rack-mounted-equipment system power efficiency from 77% to 87% by 2022 using an FY2016 baseline.
School buses are on the move. Excitement and anxiety are high—and easy to see. What's less visible: one in six of these student passengers doesn't get enough to eat.
Since 2014, Women Rock-IT has held 20 events with 25 female speakers, publishing 17 blog posts, leading to 13,429 course enrollments, and reaching a global audience of 243,894 people.
Help us build a pathway for in-demand entrepreneurial and life skills, growing the impact that GPS: The Series participants can have now and hopefully for years to come.
Today, World Refugee Day, is an opportunity for us to recognize organizations that are doing this important work right now around the world.
Cisco Live US 2018 may be over, but it was only the continuation of our collective efforts to positively impact people, society, and the planet.


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Why Nipro decided to deploy Rydoo in 15 countries
Fast Reimbursement 4 minutes reading
You might not think about medical equipment a lot, but to some people it can mean the world. Nipro is one of the world's leading companies manufacturing, selling and shipping dialysis machines, and as a truly global company it has offices across the world — from Japan to Norway and South Africa to the US.
We sat down with Hugo Charlet from the European office to talk about making changes to corporate processes, how Rydoo has redefined their digital workflow and why they might start using the Rydoo Travel module in the near future.
Making big changes
One thing immediately becomes clear when we start talking — things used to be very different at Nipro. "We used to do everything with paper, but that's changed now that we have Rydoo," Hugo explains. "Before, our sales people would have to keep all their physical receipts, fill out an Excel sheet, print it, attach the tickets to the expense note and bring it into accounting. Using Rydoo, they just scan, approve and get reimbursed."
We're always interested in hearing how businesses deal with changing their expense management — transforming a vital company process isn't a small feat, after all. "The implementation was easy, so we didn't really need to give a training," Hugo says. "We just organized a feedback session." After sending their employees a video tutorial, the company invited them to just play around with the platform and write down any questions they had. As it turned out, there were very little questions and people were already quite satisfied: "They quickly understood that it would speed up their processes, including their reimbursement."
Putting it to good use
There's a big difference between pitching a new tool to your team and actually using it every day — while it's easy to sell flashy features, it can be hard to convince people of their practical use. According to Hugo, however, everything changed when the team got to use the product out in the wild: "After a business dinner and taxi ride, one of our colleagues opened up the app and took a picture of the receipt — and that was it. That got them really excited."
For Nipro, implementing Rydoo has been about more than just getting rid of paper receipts. When asked what they like best about the product, Hugo replies: "The speed of reimbursement and the fact that everything is now digital. Some countries are putting in place legislation that enforces digital administration and keeping of documents, so we need to follow suit – we think Rydoo will help with that."
People quickly understood that it would speed up their processes, including their reimbursement
Hugo Charlet
This international focus has also incentivized the company to get started with a global rollout. Nipro is currently only using the platform in their Dutch and Belgian offices, but is looking to expand sooner rather than later: "We have offices in almost 20 countries and we're looking to deploy Rydoo in 15 of them by the end of the year," Hugo says. "There are some specific hurdles we have to take for every country that slow down the process a bit, but we learn every day."
Something else that the team appreciated was Rydoo's tight integration with SAP, the enterprise software used at Nipro for resource planning. For a lot of larger companies, this tool is what ties together their digital workflows, making it critical that the two work well together. "The consultant who helped us set up SAP had already implemented Rydoo before, so he knew exactly what he needed to do," Hugo tells us.
After having used the platform for a while, something interesting started to happen — employees asked to see the Rydoo approach in the other tools they used for their job. "They were still using physical signatures for some documents," Hugo tells us, "but they wanted those to be approved through their computer or smartphone as well. This got us interested in the Travel module."
One of the most important things for travel booking is keeping everything under control — you don't want your employees to fly business class when the budget doesn't allow it, for example. "We really think it'll help with late bookings," Hugo says. "Right now, we often have people booking shortly before their trip, sometimes resulting in expensive flights and stays." With Rydoo, the team is able to approve or deny these requests before they're booked — something that could end up saving the business a lot of money.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Top Iowa festivals and July summer festivals you can't miss out on.
Top Iowa festivals in July you can't miss out on!
Hoover's Hometown Days in West Branch will be rocking!
Bluesmore Blues Festival in Cedar Rapids Iowa is one of the best events in Brucemore Mansion!
ZooBrew fest is held every Wednesday until August 28th in Des Moines Iowa. The event features beer and wine tasting from local vendors with the ability to buy alcohol. There is also live entertainment and the ability to walk around the zoom past operating times.
Here are the best September Iowa festivals for 2018. Don't miss these great events!
Midwest Old Threshers Reunion – The Midwest Old Threshers Reunion is a great event held in Mount Pleasant on September 01, 2018 to September 05, 2018.
Fairfest: Music Food and Fun in Fairfield – The Fairfest: Music Food and Fun in Fairfield is a great event held in Fairfield on September 02, 2018 to September 04, 2018.
Madrid Labor Day Celebration – The Madrid Labor Day Celebration is a great event held in Madrid on September 02, 2018 to September 05, 2018.
Art Center's ArtSplash – The Art Center's ArtSplash is a great event held in Sioux City on September 03, 2018 to September 04, 2018.
Pioneer Village Labor Day Celebration – The Pioneer Village Labor Day Celebration is a great event held in Long Grove on September 04, 2018 to September 05, 2018.
Pufferbilly Days – The Pufferbilly Days is a great event held in Boone on September 08, 2018 to September 11, 2018.
Garden Quilt Fair – The Garden Quilt Fair is a great event held in Ames on September 09, 2018 to September 11, 2018.
Beaux Arts Fall Fair – The Beaux Arts Fall Fair is a great event held in Davenport on September 10, 2018 to September 11, 2018.
Art Barn at the Clay County Fair – The Art Barn at the Clay County Fair is a great event held in Spencer on September 10, 2018 to September 18, 2018.
Clay County Fair – The Clay County Fair is a great event held in Spencer on September 10, 2018 to September 18, 2018.
One Hundred and Sixth National Cattle Congress Fair – The One Hundred and Sixth National Cattle Congress Fair is a great event held in Waterloo on September 15, 2018 to September 18, 2018.
Celtic Festival and Highland Games of the Quad-Cities – The Celtic Festival and Highland Games of the Quad-Cities is a great event held in Davenport on September 16, 2018 to September 17, 2018.
Pioneer Fall Festival – The Pioneer Fall Festival is a great event held in Oskaloosa on September 16, 2018 to September 17, 2018.
Davis County Bluegrass and Old Time Country Festival – The Davis County Bluegrass and Old Time Country Festival is a great event held in Bloomfield on September 16, 2018 to September 18, 2018.
World Food and Music Festival – The World Food and Music Festival is a great event held in Des Moines on September 16, 2018 to September 18, 2018.
Riverssance Festival of Fine Art – The Riverssance Festival of Fine Art is a great event held in Davenport on September 17, 2018 to September 18, 2018.
Oktemberfest – The Oktemberfest is a great event held in Marshalltown on September 22, 2018 to September 25, 2018.
Pella Historical's Fall Festival – The Pella Historical's Fall Festival is a great event held in Pella on September 23, 2018 to September 24, 2018.
Guttenberg Germanfest – The Guttenberg Germanfest is a great event held in Guttenberg on September 23, 2018 to September 24, 2018.
Des Moines Arts and Crafts Show – The Des Moines Arts and Crafts Show is a great event held in Des Moines on September 23, 2018 to September 25, 2018.
Oktoberfest – The Oktoberfest is a great event held in Amana on September 30, 2018 to October 02, 2018.
Best Iowa festivals and winter events in 2018.
Top Iowa festivals and events to check out this winter season. Best November Iowa art festivals and craft fairs.
Bossier City Winter Gun Show – held December 07, 2019 to December 08, 2019 in Bossier on 620 Benton Rd.
Top art festivals, winter events and January Iowa festivals for 2018!
Top Iowa festivals and events in 2018 get 5 out of 5 stars for the IA events scheduled. The Iowa State Fair was a big help, as it is one of the best state fairs in the nation, if not the best.
Best cultural and Spring festivals this month. March top Iowa festivals and events in 2018!
Tri-State Home and Builders Show – will be held at Grand River Center in Dubuque, IA and held on March 2, 2018 to March 4, 2018.
Spring Fiber Festival – will be held at Kirkwood Center in Marion, IA and held on March 3, 2018.
Des Moines Home + Outdoor Living Show – will be held at Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA and held on March 9, 2018 to March 11, 2018.
Iowa Flower Lawn and Garden Show – will be held at Iowa State Fairgrounds, Varied Industries Building in Des Moines, IA and held on March 16, 2018 to March 18, 2018.
Mid-America Spring Arts and Crafts Show – will be held at Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, IA and held on March 17, 2018 to March 18, 2018.
Spring Collections Craft Fair – will be held at Sioux City Convention Center in Sioux City, IA and held on March 17, 2018 to March 18, 2018.
BMAI Iowa Theater Show – will be held at Iowa Theater in Bloomfield, IA and held on March 24, 2018.
Grand River Center Spring Arts and Crafts Show – will be held at Grand River Center in Dubuque, IA and held on March 24, 2018.
Montezuma Area Business Expo – will be held at Montezuma Community School in Montezuma, IA and held on March 27, 2018.
Top food and wine festivals, county fairs, art fairs and top Iowa festivals for April 2018!
Here are the hottest festivals and top things to do in Iowa this May!
NAMIWalks in Iowa City, IA is a amazing celebration you don't want to miss today.
Pella Tulip Time in Pella, IA is a great culture festival you don't want to miss today.
Midwest Pride in Your Ride Truck and Tractor Show in Earlville, IA is a amazing music festival you don't want to miss today.
Amana Maifest in Amana Colonies, IA is a unbelievable food festival you don't want to miss today.
Art Walk in Waverly, IA is a great music festival you don't want to miss today.
Mid Iowa Woodcarvers Show in Ames, IA is a great art festival you don't want to miss today.
Spring Fiber Festival in Marion, IA is a unforgettable celebration you don't want to miss today.
Iowa Children's Water Festival in Ankeny, IA is a amazing art festival you don't want to miss today.
Beaux Arts Spring Fair in Davenport, IA is a unforgettable music festival you don't want to miss today.
Bubble RUN in Des Moines, IA is a unbelievable art festival you don't want to miss today.
Davenport Beaux Arts Fair in Davenport, IA is a unforgettable art festival you don't want to miss today.
Orange City Tulip Festival in Orange City, IA is a unbelievable food festival you don't want to miss today.
Dubuquefest Fine Arts Festival in Dubuque, IA is a unforgettable celebration you don't want to miss today.
Indianola Bike Night – May in Indianola, IA is a unforgettable festival you don't want to miss today.
Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival in Tama, IA is a unforgettable food festival you don't want to miss today.
Main Avenue Craft Show in Clinton, IA is a unbelievable fair you don't want to miss today.
Marion Arts Festival 2018 in Marion, IA is a unbelievable art festival you don't want to miss today.
Women's Expo Tour – Council Bluffs in Council Bluffs, IA is a unbelievable culture festival you don't want to miss today.
Cruisin' For Camp Courageous in Monticello, IA is a unforgettable culture festival you don't want to miss today.
Valley Junction Art Festival in West Des Moines, IA is a unforgettable festival you don't want to miss today.
Tree Town Music Festival in Forest City, IA is a amazing fest you don't want to miss today.
Bonaparte Spring Festival in Bonaparte, IA is a great festival you don't want to miss today.
Danish Villages Tivoli Festival in Elk Horn, IA is a unforgettable art festival you don't want to miss today.
Party in the Park in Charles City, IA is a great festival you don't want to miss today.
Iowa Renaissance Festival in Amana, IA is a unbelievable food festival you don't want to miss today.
Spring Arts and Crafts Festival in Mcgregor, IA is a amazing food festival you don't want to miss today.
Iowa Chocolate Festival in Des Moines, IA is a amazing music festival you don't want to miss today.
Pioneer Village Heritage Days in Long Grove, IA is a great art festival you don't want to miss today.
Whittemore Fun Days in Whittemore, IA is a unbelievable festival you don't want to miss today.
Pella Tulip Time Festival in Pella, IA is a unbelievable celebration you don't want to miss today.
Top Iowa festivals in June each year including top county fairs, corn festivals and top food festivals for 2018!
Autism Speaks Walk in Des Moines, IA is a unbelievable fair you don't want to miss today.
Heritage Park of North Iowa International Festival in Forest City, IA is a unbelievable fest you don't want to miss today.
Burlington Steamboat Days in Burlington, IA is a unbelievable fair you don't want to miss today. Check out the main state events this year!
Riverside Area Community Club TREKFEST in Riverside , IA is a unbelievable fest you don't want to miss today.
Color Vibe in Cedar Rapids, IA is a unforgettable celebration you don't want to miss today.
Conesville Two Rivers Music Festival in Conesville, IA is a unforgettable culture festival you don't want to miss today.
Glenn Miller Festival in Clarinda, IA is a unbelievable fair you don't want to miss today.
America's River Festival in Dubuque, IA is a unforgettable music festival you don't want to miss today.
East Grove Farms Folk Music Festival in Salem, IA is a unforgettable festival you don't want to miss today.
Farmington Strawberry Festival in Farmington, IA is a unforgettable celebration you don't want to miss today.
Ag in the City Day in Knoxville is a really special event and worth checking out.
Art in the Park in Clinton is a 10 out of 10 star event!
BBQ, Buggies and Tunes in Marshalltown Rocking fun in M town!
Beckster Fest in Amana is going to be Beckster's best!
16 Responses to "2019 Top Iowa festivals arts and craft shows and events you cannot miss"
Iowa is has some of the top rated festivals in the nation.


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Award-winning collaboration the key to Lovegrove Crescent
Auckland, 29 November 2014 - At a time when CBRE New Zealand is looking ahead to the soon-to-be-announced world-wide International Property Awards, two recent South Auckland sales have demonstrated the strength of agency collaboration and CBRE is now marketing an industrial property for sale at 12-16 Lovegrove Crescent, Otara.
Collaboration was at the heart of CBRE New Zealand's selection as a finalist in the International Property Awards. It was also central to two recent South Auckland industrial sales - at 12 Ha Crescent and 89 Richard Pearse Drive for Euroclass - and underpins the marketing of 12-16 Lovegrove Crescent.
"We are achieving great success due to our collaborative approach," says Claus Brewer, Director of CBRE's Industrial and Logistics Services business, based in Mt Wellington. "Premium grade industrial properties are extremely hard to find, and owner occupiers and investors are actively seeking properties. Our joint approach is proving to be the key that unlocks the door for investors and occupiers into great properties in new areas across the Auckland region."
Recognised in May this year as the Best Property Consultancy in Asia Pacific at the prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards 2014-2015, CBRE New Zealand is now competing against other regional winners from Africa, Arabia, Europe, UK and the Americas to find the ultimate World's Best Property Consultancy. The winner will be revealed at an awards ceremony in Dubai on 4 December 2014.
CBRE was initially named Best Consultancy in New Zealand before being selected as the winner at the Asia Pacific International Property Awards, which were announced on 9 May 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This qualifies CBRE New Zealand for entry into the worldwide awards.
CBRE Senior Managing Director New Zealand, Brent McGregor, said: "Winning both the Best Property Consultancy for New Zealand and the Best Property Consultancy for Asia Pacific is an outstanding achievement.
"Our professionals work hard every day to deliver the best real estate services to our clients, and these accolades are a testament to their efforts. It would be a further feather in our cap to be named 'International Best'."
CBRE has worked collaboratively over recent months to sell two A-grade South Auckland industrial properties on behalf of Euroclass Design & Build.
Sold by CBRE agents Paul Steele, Mark Bramwell and Mike Beresford and involving close links by two CBRE offices - South Auckland and Christchurch - 12 Ha Crescent in Wiri was bought in late August by Christchurch-based Irvine Flooring.
Now occupying the facility as owner, Irvine Flooring bases its North Island distribution from the 6,500sqm site.
Built by Euroclass, the property includes a 3,888sqm clear span warehouse with 10 metre stud height and a 1,043sqm drive-through canopy, plus 278sqm of offices and a secure 2,334sqm concrete yard.
Paul Steele says: "Irvine Flooring came up from Christchurch after the earthquakes and secured space as a tenant. Their purchase of the building is an example of the ongoing shift into owner-occupation, particularly in the fast-growing Wiri industrial zone, where Euroclass are currently developing Stonehill Business Park."
This sale has been followed by the sale of 89 Richard Pearse Drive in Mangere by Euroclass, a transaction that went unconditional two weeks ago.
Sold by Lindsay Jackson of CBRE's Auckland CBD office and by Claus Brewer and Tim Boyle of South Auckland on behalf of Euroclass, the property has been ppurchased by an investor.
Occupying a flat 9,144sqm site that creates space for a large yard for all-weather loading and unloading, the property has a 5,110sqm clear span warehouse with 10 metre stud, plus a 1,064sqm canopy, complemented by three roller doors providing access to the warehouse, and 800sqm of offices over two levels.
Located on Richard Pearse Drive overlooking a reserve, the property has quality neighbours and is close to the local amenity of Airport Oaks.
Tim Boyle says: "The investor sought A-Grade property, preferably in the popular Airport Precinct, which is home to many of Australasia's largest logistics and customs companies. It is only a short distance from the airport, with excellent access to SH1 and 20, linking the CBD to the southern corridor.
"As there is very little grade A property available in the market right now, and interest rates are flattening, owner occupier demand continues to be very strong and is likely to continue in this vein."
Following these transactions, and a number of successful CBRE campaigns on Lovegrove Crescent in Otara, sole agents Tim Boyle and Nikolai Vulinovich of CBRE are marketing another industrial property for sale on the street at 12-16 Lovegrove Crescent.
Expressions of Interest are sought before Christmas.
Occupying a freehold 3,594sqm 'Business 5'-zoned site only 1.1 kilometres from State Highway 1, the 2,118sqm facility comprises three distinct warehouse bays with associated office space towards the front of the property.
The 1,804.99sqm of warehouse space is of low to medium stud and accessed via multiple roller doors situated at the front and either side of the building. The 177sqm ground floor offices are complemented by 125sqm of office space on level one. There are two yard areas situated to the north and south of the main building, featuring roller door access into the warehouse.
Nikolai Vulinovich says: "The property is located on the northern side of Lovegrove Crescent, in the Otara Industrial Precinct. There is excellent access to SH1 via the East Tamaki Road Interchange which is located only 1.1km to the south west. Other established occupiers in the area include Designer Textiles, Manukau Institute of Technology and Viking Group.
"The office space is provided at an excellent office to warehouse ratio, with the current tenant using a portion of the ground floor area as a showroom adjacent to the main reception.
"The facility is fully leased to Trans-Space Doors Limited. Due to expire in September 2015, a recent valuation has indicated a market rental of $172,500 per annum.
"As the property offers holding income until September 2015, it would suit both an owner occupier looking to move in in September 2015 or an investor seeking a high return."
Tim Boyle says that the property is being marketed after CBRE has sold a number of properties on Lovegrove Crescent over recent months.
"We are seeing growing demand for the area off the back of low vacancy in East Tamaki and the area's proximity to the motorway. Lovegrove Crescent is also close to many amenities, including a shopping centre, retail, motorway, petrol stations and a strong labour pool.
"The tight market we are in means that hitherto relatively unexplored areas including Otara are coming into view for investors and occupiers, as they have good fundamentals.
"The latest successful sale of lots 1-4 at 15 Lovegrove Crescent, which we sold recently, is a case in point. This industrial facility was bought by an investor who will remediate the site and will be in the market looking for tenants seeking up to 4,000sqm of space in the New Year. To an investor, leasing opportunities here provide varying options for tenants moving forward."
View the NZ Herald article


text:
Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women
About the Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women
Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women: About the Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women
Photographs and Audio/Video
Collecting Fun!
The Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women took place on Saturday, January 21, 2017, one day after the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump.
The March was organized by Harmel Codi, Gina Gareau-Clark, Janel Green, Gerald A, Griggs, Blynne Olivieri and Aisha Yaqoob.
Speakers included Stacey Y. Abrams, Park Cannon, Stephanie Davis, Vincent Fort, Staci Fox, Shirley Franklin, Dr. Francys Johnson, Hank Johnson, John Lewis, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Luma Mufleh, Tiffany Roberts and Tanya Washington.
Marchers congregated at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and marched to Liberty Plaza, adjacent to the State Capitol Building. Ten thousand protesters were expected to take part, however, it is estimated that over 60,000 people attended.
(Image courtesy of Omar Khalid)
Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women website: https://atlantamarch.com/
GSU Resources:
Digital Collection: Women's Marches 2017 Collection
Research Guide: Women's March on Washington
Research Guide: Women's Marches
Oral Histories at GSU
Archives for Research on Women and Gender
Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives
Lucy Hargrett Draper Collections on Women's Rights, Advocacy, and the Law
E-Mail: archives@gsu.edu
Georgia State University Library
100 Decatur Street, SE
Library South, 8th floor
Next: Oral Histories >>
URL: https://research.library.gsu.edu/atlantamarch
Subjects: Women's Collections
Tags: March, Protest, Women's Collections, women's rights


text:
Q: Passing date variables as a parameter to a function in PHP? I am trying to insert a date variable into a function to execute a mysql statement using it and retrieve a value from my database. However, the MySQL statement is executed and the date I am passing is correct, however, I am not getting the values I want back. Instead, I am getting nothing back. Here is the code in question:
<?php

function conn(){
    $user = 'root';
    $pass = '';
    $db = 'proj';
    $connection = mysqli_connect( "localhost", $user,$pass,$db);
    if($connection){}
    else{ die("Connection failed. Reason: ".mysqli_connect_error());}
    return $connection;
}
function getRoom($dt){
    $connection = conn();
    $sql = "SELECT * FROM reservation WHERE Check_out = $dt";
    $result = $connection->query($sql);
    $row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
    $rn = $row['Room_Num'];
    return $rn;
}
$date = '2017-03-25';

echo getRoom($date);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Australia Studies Centre
The Upside of Life Down Under
LEARN A NEW LATITUDE
New Places, New Classes and New Friends
August 2, 2014 September 2, 2014 / australiastudiescentre
Excerpt from Fall 2014 student Tim Almquist's blog "A Season Down Under". Reproduced with permission.
I woke up my first morning here by myself and stumbled jet-lag disoriented out of the YHA hostel and down a busy street in Brisbane's Central Business District in search for coffee. I passed a gentleman with what looked like coffee and asked him where he got it. "There's heaps of coffee shops two blocks down, mate," he replied. In one of my first interactions with an Aussie, I heard two very common colloquialisms, namely: the words "heaps" and " mate." I found a shop full of sharply dressed young adults and I got in line, acting as if I was from the area. But, when my order for "a coffee" didn't come through to the barista, I was a bit flustered and just said, "black," which she took to mean a "long black." In Australia all coffee is espresso, unless it's instant. So if your like me, the 4.70 is worth it. A long black is like an americano and the popular "flat white" is espresso with a tad bit of steamed milk. Flat whites are my new thing, though I do really miss a Caravan Zinho Peaberry pour over. Long black and breakfast sandwich in hand, I returned up the street towards the hostel, where I would soon meet the rest of my American classmates and program directors.
We spent the following few days in program orientation at the hostel and enjoyed local restaurants downtown, including Pancake Manor (a pancake restaurant in an old brick chapel, giving off "A Night's Tale" medieval vibe with streaming pop music over breakfast for dinner). We also had Australian BBQ, Korean and Thai. We took a ride on the Wheel of Brisbane, Brisbane's version of the London Eye and got good views of the city. The Brisbane River, a muddy winding water way curves through the city, reminding me of Portland's Willamette. The city's transportation system operates a frequent ferry schedule and you can get places very quickly. According to our program director, Bull sharks make their home in the river, which is probably why I have yet to see an Aussie taking a dip. Not to mention, it's winter here.
Australian Winter in Queensland (Brisbane's state which occupies the northeastern region of Australia) is perfect compared to Oregon Winters. It's rarely cloudy and rain has really only come once during my time here. The daily temperature fluctuates between about 15 and 25 degrees celsius, which is probably around 50 to 65 fahrenheit.
On Thursday of last week our group bussed to the campus of Christian Heritage College in Mansfield, about a thirty minute drive from downtown where we will be enrolled in classes this semester. We joined their new students enrolling for the first time in their typical CHC orientation. We sat through various workshops covering details of our academic semester and met other students. We participated in what was called a "coffee crawl," (the tame version of a pub crawl) which meant a guy named Caleb speeding us around Brisbane in a mini bus to get coffee and Italian hot chocolate. My Aussie mates (friends) are quite down to earth and seem to really enjoy the simplest of things. I appreciate that and feel very welcomed by them. Aussie humor is sarcastic and relaxed.
I spent Saturday afternoon learning my bus route into downtown and enjoyed being a foreign observer at the Queen Street Mall. This is an outdoor mall full of shops, cafes and there is constantly heavy foot traffic flooding Queen Street. Besides the many street musicians, a live band and decent audience was present in the massive flow of people. Getting home was painless, and I was starting to feel confident on the city busses. Monday however, demonstrated my lack of experience when I took three busses to get to my first class and they all got me nowhere near campus. I consulted three bus drivers, spent a fortune on fares and had to wipe dripping sweat from my face before walking into class twenty minutes late. My lecturer was gracious.
I have taken three classes so far and being away from the distractions involved with home life, I am having a lot of interest engaging well during lectures and with course work. One of our program courses taught on Aboriginal Cultures is fantastic and very compelling. The content we are covering about Aboriginal cultures includes the fascinating way of community life involved within their tradition, how they have been united with their land and people group. They have said: "we don't own the land, the land owns us." However, when the tragedy of European imperialism and colonialism forces them from their land, there are deep wounds and terrible fractures that echo through history. The class attempts to engage a Christ centered theology and view of Aboriginal cultures. It is a very controversial thing to be learning in a western education system here in Australia and CHC is taking a risk by teaching it. But I am thankful they are and saddened by the truth. Obviously, I cannot help but relate this to where I live, the land I call my home and those who lived their before me.
The two ministry courses I am in are very inspiring. My lecturers are very kind and excited to have me in class. In Ministry Formation, we are discussing the crucial marriage of theology and ministry. In History of Christian Though and Practice, we are focusing on individual topics and discussing their influence in the church at a chosen time in history. My lecturer affirmed my idea of discussing how modernity has influenced ecclesiology. I am particularly interested in how ideas of western reasoning has shaped the way we as evangelicals typically do things on Sunday morning and the potential limitations in our ecclesial practice because of it. This will take the form of a 3000 word paper I write, which is one of two for the course. The Australian education system is different in that there are no weekly assignments. We have two assessments (papers) to write during the semester and our lectures and texts act as guides along the way. I am getting to know the other ministries students and they seem to enjoy an American in the classroom who comes from this "weird" Quaker tradition, a bit of a contrast to the pentecostal majority. I don't know if I will come back home any more charismatic, but I believe getting away from my contemplative tradition will be healthy and challenging.
Today I started my service placement, which is a community serving focus of the ASC program. On Thursdays after class, I take the bus to Regis of Bulimba. This is an elderly care facility where I am to volunteer thirty hours this semester. I had bus confusion again getting there, but the workers were forgiving. I met my supervisor and two individuals conducting a mock Commonwealth Games for a room full of elderly individuals. I think Don, one of the workers who ran the games and works at Regis doing activities and such is about as close as one can get to an angel. He has such a tender heart for the residents and I believe I will be learning a lot from him this semester about Christ's love. I sat with a resident named John and he told me about being in a war and going cold turkey and recited for me from memory one of his published poems. Sel, another resident asked if I was in University, if my Dad was around and then repeated those questions nearly a dozen times over the course of the mock shot-put event. He reminded me of my Grandma back home: not fully present mentally, but able to laugh. Maybe that's all that matters.
Tomorrow we have our View from Australia course which is an experiential all-day class with the ASC group. I'm excited to be back with them again and there is talk about going to a Koala sanctuary on Saturday.
This post has gotten a bit long and it is time for me to get ready for sleep. I am feeling thankful and excited about what's to come.
← Planes, Trains, and… Nope, Just Buses.
Why it's been a while . . . →
www.bestsemester.com/australia www.vimeo.com/australiastudiescentre
ASC on Instagram
ASC on Facebook
ASC on Twitter
australiastudiescentre
92 and still driving…
"… wherever two or three come together in honor of my name, I am right there with them"
Life as a business intern
My Student Representative Council Experience
Kangaroos, red dirt, and scorching sun…I knew I wanted to be a part of this adventure!
Prayer to Masks
Adventures at Tyrone Station
You said what?!
Highlights from Oz
Study abroad ruined my comfortable life
ASC Program
Christian Heritage College


Fantastičan mali Mikser namenjen Live svirci benda ili kao sub mikser. Prenosan je i opremljen USB-om. Moguće uključivanje gitare direktno u mikser putem D. I. - ulaza. Ima dva sireo ulaza i XLR main sireo izlaz. Opremljen je ZED efektima.
Mikser sa efekt procesorom malih dimenzija, ali izuzetnog kvaliteta. Kako bi vaša svirka bila što kvalitetnija, a pri tom jednostavna, pored kvalitetnih mikrofonskih ulaza ovdje će te naći i namenski ulaz za gitare, stereo ulaz za klavijature, kao i ulaz za plejer. A da bi ste potpuno iskoristili ovu miksetu tu je USB port za povezivanje sa računarom tako da možete ovaj mikser koristiti i u kućnom studiju.
ZED-10 and ZED-10FX are amazing little desks for small band mixing. They are ultra portable for carrying to the gig, and can be used for recording live or in the studio. Guitars can be plugged in directly to the mixer using the specially designed high-impedance inputs, while the mixer has two stereo inputs for MP3/CD players or keyboards. Equipped with professional XLR main stereo outputs and a flexible monitoring section with headphone and speaker feed outputs. In the FX version, we've added a set of fabulous effects to give shimmering reverbs and enhance your sound. What's great about the ZED-10FX? ZED's are great for live mixing! Their layout makes them very easy to use and easy to achieve a great sound. They are also perfect for recording, either a live show or an audio project at home can be built up track by track using the USB digital audio interface. The flexibility and quality of these mixers make them stand out from the crowd. You can plug your guitars or instruments straight into the class A discrete FET high impedance inputs, cater for up to four microphones, two stereo sources with MP3 player compatibility, separate 2-track record outputs and a stereo playback input for 2-track replay or perhaps interval music from a CD player, XLR main stereo outputs with inserts, comprehensive monitoring with headphones and separate monitor speaker outputs, 48V microphone phantom power, DI level switching for sub mixing, and not least of all, the same digital effects algorithms as those used on our flagship digital consoles costing 150 times as much! Features Inputs One of the great things about the ZED series is the number and variety of things you can plug in. In addition to the sixteen mono channels there are two dual stereo channels, each with a main stereo input on jack sockets and with additional inputs on phono sockets. the USB return can be selected to one of the additional inputs so that it feeds either the main LR bus or the stereo channel. Guitar DI In place of the DuoPre, the ZED-10 &10FX have pre-amps similar in design to our MixWizard range of mixers, but with a twist! Inputs 3 & 4 have a high impedance jack input capable of taking either a normal line level or a low level input from a guitar pickup. These newly designed inputs have been crafted with the aim of replicating the sound of a classic guitar or instrument tube pre-amp in a combo or head amp. An extremely high input impedance ensures loading on pick-ups is minimal and a Class A FET (field effect transistor) circuit powered from 48V is employed to give the valve-like gain stage. There is a gain "Boost" switch associated with the guitar inputs which boosts gain by 26dB to cater for instruments with very low level outputs and the overdrive characteristics of the guitar inputs are very similar to a valve (tube) circuit, being asymmetric and soft. All this makes for a wonderfully natural sound to be reproduced from the instrument, full of warmth and character. EQ section ZED-10FX is equipped with a responsive 3-band EQ with MusiQ, an optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual instruments. Auxiliary sends 6 aux sends are provided, of which 1&2 are prefade for foldback monitoring, and 3 & 4 are switched pre or post-fade for effects sends. and 5&6 are post-fade. Auxes 1&2 can be sent to the USB bus for recording pre-fade signals independently to the main mix. Auxes 5&6 can also be sent to the USB bus for use as effects sends. USB audio flexibility Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way we have implemented this on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that's it! Quality audio to and from your PC or Mac. Three switches provide different send/return configurations for recording, playback and utilising external FX. Build The ZED-10FX has been designed using individual vertically mounted circuit boards with each rotary control fixed with a metal nut to the front panel - making a much more robust product that will resist damage and give years of reliable use. AmpliTube X-GEAR Software Allen & Heath is pleased to announce a partnership with leading music software company, IK Multimedia, to bundle its pioneering AmpliTube X-GEAR Visit their site for more information.


text:
Q: Display Second Largest no in Array in Java Hi all I want to find out second Largest no in Array accept negative numbers. I have used following code and this display second largest no of only positive no.So please suggest me how to do this.
class ArrayExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int secondlargest = 0;
        int largest = 0;
        Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.println("Enter array values: ");
        int arr[] = new int[5];
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
            arr[i] = input.nextInt();
            if (largest < arr[i]) {
                secondlargest = largest;
                largest = arr[i];
            }
            if (secondlargest < arr[i] && largest != arr[i])
                secondlargest = arr[i];
        }
        System.out.println("Second Largest number is: " + secondlargest);
    }
}

A: The problem comes from the fact that you initialize your two variables to 0 in the lines:
int secondlargest = 0;
int largest = 0;

You should instead initialize them to Integer.MIN_VALUE and then it will also work for negative values.

A: Initialize largest and secondLargest to Integer.MIN_VALUE instead of zero.

A: Initialize the variables secondlargest and largest with the smallest negative values.
Use this code:
class ArrayExample {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
            int secondlargest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
            int largest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
            Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
            System.out.println("Enter array values: ");
            int arr[] = new int[5];
            for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
                arr[i] = input.nextInt();
                if (largest < arr[i]) {
                    secondlargest = largest;
                    largest = arr[i];
                }
                if (secondlargest < arr[i] && largest != arr[i])
                    secondlargest = arr[i];
            }
            System.out.println("Second Largest number is: " + secondlargest);
        }
    }

A: This works for me, for both positive and negative values. Before the loop, you need to initialize the largest and secondlargest variables with very small values, by doing this you can be (almost) sure that all the other values in the array will be greater than them:
int largest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
int secondlargest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;

Inside the loop:
if (arr[i] > largest) {
    secondlargest = largest;
    largest = arr[i];
}

else if (arr[i] != largest && arr[i] > secondlargest) {
    secondlargest = arr[i];
}

After the loop:
if (secondlargest != Integer.MIN_VALUE)
    System.out.println("Second Largest number is: " + secondlargest);

Notice that the last check is required for the (rather unlikely) case where all the elements in the array happen to be Integer.MIN_VALUE.

A: I think this method may be useful it takes around n+log(n)-2 comparisons
 import java.util.ArrayList;

 public class SecondLargest {
 static ArrayList<ArrayList<Integer>> level = new ArrayList<ArrayList<Integer>>();

public static void main(String[] args) {
    int input[]={9,8,7,4,5,6,1,2,3,1,1,21,33,32,1,2,3,12,3,2,1};
    ArrayList<Integer> arr= new ArrayList<Integer>();

    for(int i=0;i<input.length;i++){
        arr.add(input[i]);
    }
    level.add(arr);
    seconLarger(arr);
    System.out.println(SecondLarge(level));
}

private static ArrayList<Integer> seconLarger(ArrayList<Integer> arr) {
    ArrayList<Integer> tmp= new ArrayList<Integer>();
    if (arr.size()==1)
    {
        return arr;
    }

if(arr.size()%2==0)
    {
        for(int i=0;i<arr.size();i=i+2)
        {
            if(arr.get(i)>arr.get(i+1))
            {
                tmp.add(arr.get(i));
            }
            else
            {
                tmp.add(arr.get(i+1));
            }
        }

    }
else
    {
        for(int i=0;i<arr.size()-1;i=i+2)
        {
            if(arr.get(i)>arr.get(i+1))
            {
                tmp.add(arr.get(i));
            }
            else
            {
                tmp.add(arr.get(i+1));
            }
        }
        tmp.add(arr.get(arr.size()-1));
    }
level.add(tmp);
return seconLarger(tmp);
}

private static int SecondLarge(ArrayList<ArrayList<Integer>> li)
{
    int li_size=li.size();
    int large=li.get(li_size-1).get(0);
    int secondlarge=0;
    int tmp=0;
    for(int i=li_size-2;i>=0;i--)
    {
        ArrayList<Integer> arr = li.get(i);
        if(large==arr.get(tmp))
        {
            if(tmp+1<arr.size())
            {
                if(secondlarge<arr.get(tmp+1))
                {
                    secondlarge=arr.get(tmp+1);
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            if(secondlarge<arr.get(tmp))
            {
                secondlarge=arr.get(tmp);
            }
            tmp=tmp+1;

        }

        tmp=tmp*2;
    }
    return secondlarge;
}}

A: package com.demo.mum;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;

/**
 * @author cyruses
 *
 */
public class SecondLargest {
    public static int largest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
    public static int secondLargest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;

    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {

        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
        System.out.println("Enter the Size of Array:");
        int n = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
        int a[] = new int[n];
        System.out.println("Enter the elements on array:");
        for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
            a[i] = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
        }
        System.out.println("Elements you entered are:");
        for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
            System.out.println("a[" + i + "]" + "=" + a[i]);
        }
        if (a.length <= 2) {
            if (a[0] == a[1]) {
                System.out.println("Theres no second largest number in your array");
            } else {
                System.out.println("SecondLargest:" + secondLargest(a));
            }
        } else {
            System.out.println("SecondLargest:" + secondLargest(a));
        }
    }

    private static int secondLargest(int[] a) {

        for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
                if (a[i] > largest) {
                    secondLargest = largest;
                    largest = a[i];
                } else if (a[i] > secondLargest) {
                    secondLargest = a[i];
                }
            }
        return secondLargest;
    }
}

A: Or here is a gimmicky Java implementation which doesn't rely on Integer.MIN_VALUE
int findSecondHighest(int[] arr){
    if(arr == null || arr.length < 2){
        throw new IllegalArgumentException();
    }

    int fh,sh;

    if(arr[0]>=arr[1]){
        fh = arr[0];
        sh = arr[1];
    }else{
        fh = arr[1];
        sh = arr[0];
    }

    for (int i = 2; i < arr.length; i++) {
        if(fh < arr[i]){
            sh = fh;
            fh = arr[i];
        }else if(sh < arr[i]){
            sh = arr[i];
        }
    }

    return sh;
}

A: Instead of initializing the second largest number to min value or zero. You can follow below code to get second largest number.
import java.util.Scanner;

public class SecondLargestNumber {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
        int[] a;
        int n;
        System.out.println("Enter number of elements");
        n = scanner.nextInt();
        a = new int[n];
        for(int i=0; i<n; i++) {
            a[i] = scanner.nextInt();
        }
        int secondLargestNumber = a[0];
        int largestNumber = a[0];
        int count = 1;
        for(int i=1; i<a.length; i++) {
            if(a[i] >= largestNumber) {
                if(a[i] == largestNumber) {
                    count++;
                } else {
                    count = 1;
                }
                secondLargestNumber = largestNumber;
                largestNumber = a[i];
            } else {
                if(secondLargestNumber == largestNumber && count == 1) {
                    secondLargestNumber = a[i];
                } else if(a[i] > secondLargestNumber) {
                    secondLargestNumber = a[i];
                }
            }
        }
        System.out.println("Second Largest Number: " + secondLargestNumber);
    }
}

A: public static void main(String[] args) {

    Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
    System.out.println("Enter array size = ");
    int size=in.nextInt();
    int[] n = new int[size];
    System.out.println("Enter "+ size +" values ");

    for(int i=0;i<n.length;i++)
        n[i] = in.nextInt();
    int big=n[0],sbig=n[0];

    // finding big, second big
    for(int i=0;i<n.length;i++){
        if(big<n[i]){
            sbig=big;
            big=n[i];
            }else if(sbig<n[i])
                sbig=n[i];
    }
    // finding second big if first element itself big
    if(big==n[0]){
        sbig=n[1];
        for(int i=1;i<n.length;i++){
            if(sbig<n[i]){
                sbig=n[i];
                }
        }
    }

    System.out.println("Big "+ big+" sBig "+ sbig);

    in.close();
}


text:
Eiffel Tower turns visitors away as strike enters second day
A tourist poses at the Fontaine du Trocadero in front of The Eiffel Tower in Paris on July 24, 2018, as a heatwave continues across northern Europe, with wildfires breaking out in northern Scandanavia and Greece. . ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
The Eiffel Tower was turning away tourists for a second day on Thursday as workers pressed a strike over a new access policy which they say is causing unacceptably long wait times for visitors.
The monument has been closed since Wednesday afternoon as unions locked horns with management over a decision to assign separate elevators to visitors with pre-booked tickets and those who buy them on site.
At the same time, the tower now sets aside half of daily tickets for internet customers, up from just 20 percent previously.
Workers say the changes have resulted in lopsided queues that can extend to three hours for those waiting to pay for tickets, and up to an hour for internet customers who are supposed to have reserved time slots.
They want more flexibility in managing the thousands hoping to reach the top of the "Iron Lady" each day during the peak summer tourist season.
"We may or may not come again, because we spent so much money," a tourist who gave her name only as Hema told AFP on Wednesday.
"It's not nice, for whatever reason they have the strike for, it's an injustice to visitors," said Hema, who was visiting with her husband and two teenaged children.
Negotiations dragged on well into Wednesday night and resumed early Thursday, when workers were supposed to vote on a proposal offered by the site's operator SETE, which is majority owned by the city of Paris.
"The SETE is well aware of the disappointment for visitors because of the monument's closure, and its negative impact on the image of both the city and country," the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The tower's 300-strong staff has staged strikes repeatedly in recent years over issues including pickpocketing and maintenance work.
It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world, drawing more than six million people each year.
Paris' Eiffel Tower may be closed by new strike
Word Cup
Eiffel Tower to close for World Cup final
Eiffel Tower reopens as strike ends


text:
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-After you have created and saved lineups, browse to My Lineups/Entries in Player Models. If you're not sure how to create and save lineups, first check out our Player Models tutorial.
-Browse to www.draftkings.com in order to grab your contest information. Click on Lineups, then 'Edit Entries', then 'Download'. The file you'll download will be called DKEntries.csv. If the file has another name, this is not the correct file.
-Next, go back to the FantasyLabs website and click on My Lineups/Entries within Player Models.
-You can choose to edit your entries by type: GPP, Cash, or Leagues. Click the corresponding checkbox in the above image to target that contest type. You can also select an individual contest: for example, the 5 entries in the 'Drive the Green' contest above.
-Now, you are ready to export your contest file to upload the edited entries back to either DraftKings or FanDuel.
-Your edited file will either be called FantasyLabs_Entries_DK_XXXXX (for DraftKings). If your file does not match this naming convention, you have downloaded the incorrect file.
-You will see a 'Successfully Uploaded' message when the upload is complete.
-Once the upload is complete, you will return to the Upcoming tab and you'll see the newly edited lineups.


text:
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What are you made of? This collection was designed for those who have used this hobby of pumping iron to help forge them into the person they are. Those who know, know...It's more than just lifting weights.
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text:
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       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
       xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx" xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop.xsd">

    <!-- 自动扫描semsplus包 ,将带有注解的类纳入spring容器管理 -->
    <context:component-scan base-package="com.semsplus"></context:component-scan>

    <!-- 引入配置文件 -->
    <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
        <property name="locations">
            <list>
                <value>classpath*:application.properties</value>
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    <!-- dataSource 配置 -->
    <bean id="dataSource" class="com.alibaba.druid.pool.DruidDataSource" init-method="init" destroy-method="close">
        <!-- 基本属性 url、user、password -->
        <property name="url" value="${jdbc.url}"/>
        <property name="username" value="${jdbc.username}"/>
        <property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}"/>

        <!-- 配置初始化大小、最小、最大 -->
        <property name="initialSize" value="${ds.initialSize}"/>
        <property name="minIdle" value="${ds.minIdle}"/>
        <property name="maxActive" value="${ds.maxActive}"/>

        <!-- 配置获取连接等待超时的时间 -->
        <property name="maxWait" value="${ds.maxWait}"/>

        <!-- 配置间隔多久才进行一次检测,检测需要关闭的空闲连接,单位是毫秒 -->
        <property name="timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis" value="${ds.timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis}"/>

        <!-- 配置一个连接在池中最小生存的时间,单位是毫秒 -->
        <property name="minEvictableIdleTimeMillis" value="${ds.minEvictableIdleTimeMillis}"/>

        <property name="validationQuery" value="SELECT 'x'"/>
        <property name="testWhileIdle" value="true"/>
        <property name="testOnBorrow" value="false"/>
        <property name="testOnReturn" value="false"/>

        <!-- 打开PSCache,并且指定每个连接上PSCache的大小 -->
        <property name="poolPreparedStatements" value="false"/>
        <property name="maxPoolPreparedStatementPerConnectionSize" value="20"/>

        <!-- 配置监控统计拦截的filters -->
        <property name="filters" value="stat"/>
    </bean>

    <!-- mybatis文件配置,扫描所有mapper文件 -->
    <bean id="sqlSessionFactory" class="org.mybatis.spring.SqlSessionFactoryBean" p:dataSource-ref="dataSource"
          p:configLocation="classpath:mybatis-config.xml"
          p:mapperLocations="classpath:com/semsplus/web/dao/*.xml"/>

    <!-- spring与mybatis整合配置,扫描所有dao -->
    <bean class="org.mybatis.spring.mapper.MapperScannerConfigurer" p:basePackage="com.semsplus.web.dao"
          p:sqlSessionFactoryBeanName="sqlSessionFactory"/>

    <!-- 对dataSource 数据源进行事务管理 -->
    <bean id="transactionManager" class="org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DataSourceTransactionManager"
          p:dataSource-ref="dataSource"/>

    <!-- 事务管理 通知 -->
    <tx:advice id="txAdvice" transaction-manager="transactionManager">
        <tx:attributes>
            <!-- 对insert,update,delete 开头的方法进行事务管理,只要有异常就回滚 -->
            <tx:method name="insert*" propagation="REQUIRED" rollback-for="java.lang.Throwable"/>
            <tx:method name="update*" propagation="REQUIRED" rollback-for="java.lang.Throwable"/>
            <tx:method name="delete*" propagation="REQUIRED" rollback-for="java.lang.Throwable"/>
            <!-- select,count开头的方法,开启只读,提高数据库访问性能 -->
            <tx:method name="select*" read-only="true"/>
            <tx:method name="count*" read-only="true"/>
            <!-- 对其他方法 使用默认的事务管理 -->
            <tx:method name="*"/>
        </tx:attributes>
    </tx:advice>

    <!-- 事务 aop 配置 -->
    <aop:config>
        <aop:pointcut id="serviceMethods" expression="execution(* com.semsplus.web.service..*(..))"/>
        <aop:advisor advice-ref="txAdvice" pointcut-ref="serviceMethods"/>
    </aop:config>

    <!-- 配置使Spring采用CGLIB代理 -->
    <aop:aspectj-autoproxy proxy-target-class="true"/>

    <!-- 启用对事务注解的支持 -->
    <tx:annotation-driven transaction-manager="transactionManager"/>

</beans>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Hair and makeup for Sam and Sherlyn's pre-wedding shoot.
I received many compliments for my makeup done by Gerra on my wedding day and I love the makeup she did for me. I was worried initially that my makeup would be heavy as I am not a fan of loading a lot of powder but after the trial, I was very relieved that I got the perfect MUA for my wedding. Thank you Gerra! I would definitely recommend her to anyone! She has great personality and MUA turn to friend!
Gerra was very professional and detailed! i never looked so beautiful before in my life! All my wedding day pictures turn out perfect because of her make up skills! i look pretty from all angles! Prior to my actual day, she met up with me to discuss on the kind of look that i wanted. i did not have any idea in mind, and just let her decide for me. the trial make up was already very beautiful. Imagine, on my actual day, she level up and made me the most beautiful woman on earth! Using Gerra as my makeup artist was the best decision i made!
Gerra was super fun to work with! She was friendly, punctual and made the whole process very fuss free. I felt comfortable and confident that Gerra would be able to create suitable looks for me as she gave me good advice during the makeup trial. Everyone complimented my hair & makeup! Thanks again Gerra :) highly recommended!
She came earlier than stated timing. Able to give professional views on the makeup according to my wedding dress and able to improvise on the spot according to my request even though it's a diffrent requirement from the trial makeup. Definitely worthwhile!!!
So they said, wedding day is probably one of the most important day of a woman's life, every bride will want to be in her best on this very day. I am so glad that I had chosen Gerra to be my make up artist for pre-wedding shoot and actual day shoot. Gerra helped with my pre wedding outdoor shoot and it lasted quite well even though the hot weather in Singapore was not forgiving, only light touch up required. For my actual day, I wanted a natural and classic look and she did it super well. She even suggested a bold red lipstick (first time in my life) which many of my friends and relatives claimed it fitted well for the evening. Not forgetting my mother and MIL, Gerra managed to made both aunties so happy that I have never seen them taking so many photos like a super star! It's very easy to work with Gerra and she is also very accommodating to our request. Will definitely recommend all brides to be out there. Do also check out her website, she does funky style too!
At wee hours, Gerra and her team came over to our place with bubbly smile and set the mood right for pre wedding shoot. My step gals and mum love the makeup / hairdo that were done on them. She exceeded our expectations and carried out what is beyond her task etc taking care of my well being and also looking after our furkid Princess during our shoots. I would highly recommend her to anyone. Thank you for making me a beautiful bride Gerra!
Had bubbly Gerra for my makeup and hair stylist more than 8 years ago! She was a young girl back then but her professionalism and attitude proved that if you put your whole effort into doing something, age does not matter. She made my day effortless as I left everything in her hands, and I was happy with the choices she made for me. From there, me and my husband continue to introduce our friends to her and all had positive feedback. Glad to see you come this far and proud of your achievements.
Gerra is amazing and so professional!!! A MUA that is also great to seek opinion from as I don't wear makeup so I am unsure about what look suits me. As she understood that I am not into anything dramatic, she gave me a natural dewy look (akin to Korean celebs hahaha) which garnered me lots of compliments on my actual day – particularly noting my radiant complexion despite my lack-of-sleep-weary-face (thanks to her trickery)! I am really glad to have chosen her and would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a MUA and a relaxing wedding.
I have a sensitive face and the products used does not make me itch as much as other make up that I've used before. Thumbs up for the products. Most importantly, The make up done brings out my features in a very natural way. my face still looks like mine. I'm very particular about looking natural which is how all make ip should be. I highly recommend anyone who is looking for a natural look to engage Gerra. Her hair styles are also beautiful. My hair style was able to hold out through out the wedding as it is tied together firmly but not so tight.
Gerra is a very creative-minded makeup artist who understands my intended art direction and makeup style. She completes a job quickly and was able to nail the look in a shot. I highly recommend her if you are looking for a professional makeup artist who has patience and great makeup skills.


I wish to meet Spider-Man!
5-year-old Charlie is from Houston, TX. Charlie's wish came true when he met Spider-Man and some of his favorite superheroes at Universal Studios including: Wolverine, Cyclops, Captain America, Storm, and Rogue! Charlie's favorite colors are red and blue and loves playing baseball! He also enjoys eating grilled cheese sandwiches! Even though Charlie is battling end-stage kidney disease, these superheroes helped to give Charlie super-sized strength!
Charlie even spun a spider web of his own!
Charlie loves his new friends!


it reuses existing methodologies for connection and testing.
Because this method of access goes through the core, it provides any native memory address translations from virtual to physical. It has the disadvantages that it requires an understanding of how the core accesses memory, and might also take several cycles depending on the instruction set.
Figure 4.1 shows an external JTAG connection connected to some memory through a processor.
External tools connected through the JTAG link can access the system memory by instructing the processor, in Halted-Debug Mode, to fetch and save values from the memory directly. This method permits the automatic translation of the Virtual Modified Address (VMA) that the core sees, to the physical memory addressing of the system.


A security issue has been identified in a Microsoft software product that could affect your system.
A security issue has been identified in a Microsoft software product that could affect your system. You can help protect your system by installing this update from Microsoft. For a complete listing of the issues that are included in this update, see the associated Microsoft Knowledge Base article. After you install this update, you may have to restart your system.
Other critical security updates are available: To find the latest security updates for you, visit Windows Update and click Express Install. To have the latest security updates delivered directly to your computer, visit the Security At Home web site and follow the steps to ensure you're protected.


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You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us. Purposes for which we will use your personal data. We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time [by logging into the website and checking or unchecking relevant boxes to adjust your marketing preferences OR by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you OR by contacting us [hyperlink to contact details] at any time].
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Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting usa599551 Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
Other companies in the [COMPANY] Group [acting as joint controllers or processors] and who are based in [SPECIFIC COUNTRIES] and provide [IT and system administration services and undertake leadership reporting].
Professional advisers [acting as processors or joint controllers] including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers based in [SPECIFIC COUNTRIES] who provide [consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services].
HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities [acting as processors or joint controllers] based in the United Kingdom.


Reporters may have found a key piece of evidence involving an attack on Jussie Smollett.
(AllHipHop News) The FBI is analyzing a mysterious substance found on the route actor Jussie Smollet was allegedly attacked.
Reporters for the New York Post covering Jussie's claims reportedly found an empty hot sauce bottle that was "partially filled with a clear liquid that smelled like bleach."
Local police seized the bottle and sent it off to the FBI.
The feds plan to analyze the bottle's contents and look for DNA.
The "Empire" star was beaten and reportedly had a noose tied around his neck and bleach poured on him, by masked men in a racist and homophobic assault that took place on January 29, in Chicago, Illinois.
This story gets weirder and weirder. Really hoping there is closure.