text:
Ethics Dunce: Food Lion
I suppose the silver lining in our various corporations and businesses groveling to anti-American groups and movements is that their owners and leaders lack any convictions, values, principles or integrity, so they will abandon stupid decisions as thoughtlessly as they made them. Remember how quickly Cracker Barrel did a mid-air double backflip when it first condemned "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson, then changed its corporate mind the second it realized its original position would forfeit more profit that the reverse? That's Food Lion. That's most of these spineless, weasel-wired organizations.
Yecchh.
We learned about Food Lion's "now you see 'em, now you don't" values when employee Gary Dean, a 69-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran, showed up to work wearing an American flag-printed face mask. His store manager told him that someone found the mask offensive, and instead of telling the asshole that he was welcome to get his groceries in China, the manager informed Dean that he could no longer wear the patriotic mask while working. (If Food Lion simply enforced a policy that no attire could communicate any opinion, position, or sentiment, that would be proper. However, that's not why Dean was told to take off his mask.)
"As a veteran, my dad being a World War II hero, my best friend killed in Vietnam, out of respect for them, I can't just say, 'No, I'll take my flag and put it in my pocket," Dean said. So he quit. See, some Americans have principles, just not many who run corporations.
Dean's story spread on social media, and suddenly, Food Lion was a big fan of the flag again.
"Food Lion deeply respects the American flag. We listened to our associates and customers about our uniform policy. We require that associates wear masks without writing, insignia or symbols. We will allow associates to wear masks with the American flag that meet this standard," it tweeted. "We appreciate and thank our more than 77,0000 associates who are working hard every day to safely nourish our neighbors in the towns and cities we serve."
Wait: if Food Lion respects the American flag, why did its employee groevl to a cutomer who didn't? And how does someone have an American flag on his mask without having a "symbol" there?
I'm sorry. Not only is Food Lion run by weenies who would be the first to welcome our insect overlords…
…the groceries Food Lion sells probably makes those who eat the food cowardly and stupid.
To hell with it.
Business & Commercial, Character, Ethics Alarms Award Nominee, Ethics Dunces, Government & Politics, War and the Military
American flag, cowardice, employers, Food Lion, hypocrisy, integrity, pandering, principles
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22 thoughts on "Ethics Dunce: Food Lion"
If you hate the US flag so much there are a couple of hundred other nations to emigrate to. Unless you are an immigrant who used a flying saucer to get here, and then the sky's no limit. Something can be tacky without giving the right to be offended.
194 to be precise. Seriously? Don't make me do my Jack Nicholson impression and give the "World with walls" speech. Actually, let me give one of my own, that I gave this past Memorial Day, before all this garbage started:
Ten Reasons this Nation is Still Worth Fighting and Dying For
That sounds almost retro in this era of self-loathing, self-flagellation, and endless guilt, with a double dose if you're white, a triple dose if you're also male. But, I'm not here to talk about identity politics, as much of an issue as they may be. I'm here to talk about how, despite the endless criticism leveled at this country, some fairly, some not so fairly, some sincerely meant to move us closer to the best we can be, some from those who criticize everything and can never be satisfied with anything, there are still valid reasons that our young people don the uniform and put their lives on the line every day.
1. Ours is still the greatest economy in the world. No matter how you slice it, even on our worst day, our economy is more than a quarter again the size of the next biggest economy, that of China, and four times the size of the third, that of Japan. After that the economies just get smaller. That's because we have the resources, we have the expertise, we have the room for innovation, we know how to use all of them, and we let those who know how to use them best do so.
2. Ours is still a Constitution often imitated, but never duplicated, that gives our people the most freedom anywhere in the world. That's because the underlying basis of it is that the government must trust the people if it wants them to trust it. A few nations, including some surprising ones (the UK, New Zealand) have no constitution at all, meaning the individual rights you and I take for granted could be voted away there tomorrow. Many other nations didn't even have any kind of guarantee of basic rights until well into the 20th century. Even where they do have them, quite often they are more aimed at keeping the community civil and orderly than free. In some countries (Austria, Germany) you can be jailed for displaying a symbol, in others (Turkey) for speaking out against the majority or disparaging its founder, in still others for daring to criticize current policy. This is before we even talk about the right to keep and bear arms, or the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, or the rights of criminal defendants, a lot of which are greatly curtailed or nonexistent elsewhere.
3. Ours is still one of the most welcoming nations in the world – for those who come here legally. Over the centuries we've welcomed people from almost all of the 196 nations in the world right now, and successfully incorporated them to become productive members of society. Some have fled wars. Some have fled tyranny. Some simply come seeking a better life and are willing to play by the rules and work hard for it. Every July 4th we swear in thousands of these new citizens. Our main problem, despite what others might tell you, is with the folks who AREN'T willing to play by the rules or do the necessary work to become part of this society.
4. Ours is a nation where advances are made. That wasn't always the case, but, where Japan produces electronics, Germany produces automobiles, and South Korea produces both cheaper and quicker, we make the first foray into cyberspace, we harness light to cut through steel and perform life-saving surgery, we build aircraft that can't be seen, heard or detected until they're right on top of you, and we put men on the moon. Name the last five major European medical breakthroughs? They aren't there, because single payer health care takes away the impetus to make advances.
5. Ours is a nation that helps others. Who was there when Indonesia was flooded through no fault of its own? Who was there when Japan got so shaken by earthquakes that nuclear plants were getting destroyed and polluting land and sea? And that's just some of the more recent stuff, we haven't even touched the really major efforts like the Marshall Plan, that rebuilt Europe from the ashes of World War II, which we did not have to do. When New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina, and the New Jersey Shore and Long Island were left helpless by Superstorm Sandy, no one from anywhere else did so much as pump out a basement. Although firemen came from as far away as Chicago and LA to help their brothers when the Twin Towers lay in ashes, I don't recall any international smoke-eaters coming in to work "the pile."
6. Ours is a nation that forgives. Yes, we certainly know about realpolitik and how to use the enemy of my enemy and how today's enemy can be tomorrow's friend and vice versa. We also know our history and we know we had help coming to be, mostly from France. We paid that debt when rushed to France's aid when they were in danger of falling. We liberated them again when they DID fall, even though we didn't have to. By all rights we could have left Germany and Japan in ruins. They tried to conquer the world. We didn't, and today we are allies. By all rights we could have told the UK, who'd been our enemy twice and actually built ships to be used against us that they were on their own against Hitler, and a few communities here wanted to do just that. We didn't. We have embassies in Havana and Hanoi, the capitals of nations that were our sworn enemies for years. We have every right to hold grudges, and if we did we could make a lot of other nations' lives miserable, but we don't.
7. Ours is a nation of great opportunity. I won't deny that many folks who did well here, including many on both sides of the political aisle, were born into wealth. That happens all over the world. However, this is the nation where Andrew Carnegie started as a poor immigrant with nothing and became one of the world's richest men by discovery how to purify steel. It's the nation where Athinasios Karvelas started selling ice cream with one old truck, and later became Tom Carvel, with 500 franchises nationwide. It's also the nation where a decidedly ordinary engineer named Jeff Bezos launched amazon and a whiz kid from White Plains named Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook.
8. Ours is a nation that somehow manages to hold it together despite being possibly the most heterogenous anywhere. Americans come from every continent, color, creed and class the world over, but, somehow, in the almost 250 years since we declared our independence, we've had a few rough patches, but only one civil war, over the questions of state vs. Federal power and whether we would continue to allow slavery. Can other, more homogenous nations make that claim? The UK, which fought over five ruling dynasties and a messy civil war over religion? France, who went through two kingdoms, two empires, and five republics in the same time we've been around? The Scandinavian nations, who don't seem to have been able to decide exactly which one of them was in charge for centuries? India, which had to split into a Muslim nation and a nation composed mostly of Hindus to avoid tearing itself apart upon becoming independent?
9. Ours is still the deadliest nation in the world. A few other nations may have more men under arms, and before the war on terror there were others who had more battle experience, but our armed forces still boast the most sophisticated missiles, the fastest and most advanced aircraft, the best training with the most strategic depth, and an ability to project power anywhere in the world unsurpassed by any other nation and unstoppable.
10. Ours is still the nation all other nations look to. For a while the world took its cues from London and Paris. After that Berlin and Vienna joined the club. Then all those flags fell and the world looked to Washington and Moscow for fifty years. At this point Moscow's star has faded and, like it or not, this is the nation all others look to. Hopefully that's how it stays.
Great comment Steve. Thanks.
A.M. Golden
Steve, you make good arguments in favor of American exceptionalism.
However, I would like to clarify one point on your list. The United States did get offers of help after 9/11, particularly from Japan.
And we also got offers of help after Katrina.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9231819/ns/us_news-katrina_the_long_road_back/t/nations-offer-aid-help-us-katrina/#.X1TJmnlKiUk
How much assistance our government accepted is an entirely different story, but other countries do offer help.
<bSteve, you make good arguments in favor of American exceptionalism.
Yet, and certainly everyone notices this, America is exceptionally afflicted right now. It would seem — or it is possible to suggest in any case — that a great deal made it 'exceptional' has been, through many different mechanisms, undermined. While I do think that the plurality of those who write here — this is by-and-large a Conservative blog — understand that corruption is present and rampant, there seems to be some difficulty for the conservative sort to gain clarity about causation.
Again, it is easy to understand why some will undertake to point to the many good reasons why the nation America is great or has great aspects and things about it, especially when there are people who are literally burning it down in the name of Heaven-knows-what. But simply citing some reasons why the nation is exceptional is simply not enough. Corruption has rendered it non-exceptional.
How can one go about examining that corruption and speaking about it?
Thanks for getting that in, A.M. The Japanese, in particular, have always been around when help was needed, before it was looked for, unnoticed. A lot of Alaskan coastal waters and shores have been quietly cleaned up by individuals and small groups. The country that is mostly on-the-spot after any of our disasters, however, is most often overlooked: Outside of the U.S., Canada provided the most aid and relief for Hurricane Katrina for instance: "ships, supplies, volunteers, search-and-rescue teams", and homes for evacuees in their country. And to finish up where you left off, here's Homeland Security's take on this country's learning to swallow our false pride and learn to take what we're offered with good grace.
https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/report/accepting-disaster-relief-other-nations-lessons-katrina-and-the-gulf-oil
There's nothing worse than wanting to help people who have helped you and have it cavalierly waved away. Among other things, it's an insult. And insulting ones friends …. even the little ones who can't afford to copy our extravagant (and generally well publicized) generosity …. is not a nice thing to do to friends.
Ethics Alarms is a blog dedicated to the investigation and discussion of ethics. Into what category within Occidental traditions do we place and locate ethics? Philosophy seems the most likely category. Because any conversation about ethics, because it is a conversation and takes place through *the terms of discourse*, will be philosophical by nature. This is also true of Greco-Christianity btw, The religious and mystical categories of the early Apostles entered into and became animated through Greek philosophical categories.
So, the point is that the discussion of ethics, decisions about what is ethical and what is not ethical, is not a game of vanity in the sense that you cannot play unless you are serious. But the question What is seriousness? And What makes a person serious? turn back into philosophical considerations and the use of reason and profound thought that are necessary for that sort of examination.
I suggest that there is a large and obvious problem with The Patriotic Viewpoint and The Patriotic Assertion that is in some sense incompatible with the examination of ethical questions. Patriotic View is, more often than not, infused with sentiments that tend to augment bias. This is not a hard point to grasp. If a man is a salesman for a car, for example, and owns stock in the company that manufactures the car, it is not likely that he will be able to tell you the Real Truth or the Full Story about that car.
So it is — I assert this is obvious — with the Declarative Patriotic Viewpoint. You cannot say anything against such a declared position because you will *offend* the one who has it and expresses it. And everyone should know that the Patriot's Viewpoint will tend to gloss over those elements of a given nation that are *unbecoming* to patriotic rhetoric.
We live in a dynamic and dangerous time, a crucial moment in US history obviously, but also one that Is similarly dangerous for Europe — for the Occident generally. To speak about this — to uncover what is happening, why it is happening, and what it means — seems to me to be an area of investigation that can only be an endeavor demanded by Ethical Imperative. One has a *duty* to attempt to understand the present. And one has a duty to profoundly engage in the examination of ethics — essentially an examination of behavior and choices — and to be a serious about it as is possible. But again, What is seriousness? It turns back again to questions that are essentially philosophical.
We definitely live in a time where a great deal about *America* is being attacked. We see this daily. But as I often say it seems to me that we often see *superficially*. A superficial view is a view that remains *on the surface* and does not get to the heart of the issue. So, we are bound to the task of examining *causation* and not merely to examine shifting, mutating circumstances. To choose to focus only on surface is, according to the reasoning I present, a failure to *take seriously* what one must take seriously if one is to understand.
A Patriotic View cannot be and is not sufficient as a platform of analysis of our dangerous & complex present. True indeed that a radically critical and a radically destructive movement such as we observe out there on the streets, and also on the pages of the New York Times, calls forth a reaction. One is called to defend what is unfairly attacked. One is also required to see into and also through the motivations of those who carry forward this attack. But here is the issue, or certainly an important part of the issue: Who can see and who can explain? If one merely explains superficially, but does not arrive at genuine understanding (if such is actually possible), that could be insufficient and even perhaps worse than if no attempt at explanation were attempted.
The Patriotic View is a glossary view. It can also contaminate the necessary intellectual freedom that is needed to be able to see and describe things truthfully. A Patriotic View, in a genuine crisis, cannot serve the internal processes of analysis and examination needed to come to *actionable understanding*. Yet it is true that the patriotic mood can rally people, to some degree, within defensive postures.
But even if this is so, and it is so, nevertheless a Patriotic View cannot replace the mind-set that is needed for profound ethical analysis. This much seems obvious to me. And this is why I resist patriotic viewpoints. If ethics becomes *contaminated* by patriotic sentiment then one establishes, it seems to me, an ethics of bias as being *good & proper*. This can't be right.
So I will say it again: America is splitting apart at its seams. The reasons this is happening definitely needs to be examined and understood. A mere Patriotic Viewpoint is not sufficient to this task. And a Patriotic Stance is not and will never be enough to patch back together what is coming apart at the seams because, I suppose, the reasons the seams are parting extend far beyond sentimental vision.
Isaiah Berlin is, I think 'classically', a Roosevelt liberal. And here he describes the importance and the advantage of a *philosophical perspective* while also at least mentioning why such analysis is problematical.
In a Monty Python skit, a BBC host (I'm reciting from memory) begins by saying, "We must be clear and mean what we say.' Then he starts saying, with increasing speed, "But what to we mean by mean? What do we mean by clear? What to we mean by must? What do we mean by we? Waht do we mean…" until a 40 ton weight falls out of the sky and squashes him.
So watch out.
Ah, I see your point. Touche!
However, had he started by saying
I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.
Wipe your hands across your mouth, and laugh;
The world revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in ancient lots.
that 40 ton weight would have remained suspended in the air and he and we would only have stared at it in wonder!
I am sure that you will agree of course . . .
Alizia, I suspect your are a compulsive contrarian. There may be a treatment for the condition.
There may be a treatment for the condition.
I am afraid I might have to insist that there is likely not … 😉
Oh, there most certainly is. You couldn't get away with taking such advantage of someone else's blog anywhere else.
That's a 'still beating your wife' type statement, isn't it? Any answer means I assent to your characterization.
Now watch out so 40 tons of unnecessary pique do not fall on you.
Very nicely said.
Marie, the malcontents don't want to leave, they are miserable and want to stay and make everyone else miserable. I ask the same question of the black kids who want to change colleges. "If the place is so awful and is irreparably racist, why don't you go to a historically black college are start your own?" But they just want to make a ruckus.
or start your own
A bit off topic but I read about a refugee from
North Korea who now lives in the U.S. Her journey was harrowing but she says she is grateful for her experience because she sees so much good. She also mentions being bewildered at how Americans growing up here can see so much darkness.
As a great philosopher once said: "Hunger is the best sauce."
https://kstp.com/news/small-pin-with-a-big-message-passenger-receives-blm-pin-from-airline-after-incident-on-flight-september-4-2020/5851620/
Well, we're a long way from the airlines kicking militant liberals who harass Trump supporters off.
Steve Witherspoon
We are seeing more and more of this kind of kowtowing to the extremists everyday across the USA, their intimidation is working. It's happening so often that every instance is as signature significant as the last.
It's things like this that lend support my claim that the the deliberate dumbing-down of America is complete and irrational social justice warrior intimidation has already won the battle of the minds across the metropolitan areas of the United States. They're controlling damn near all the college campuses and infiltrating every corner of society with their irrational poison. They're being elected to local governments, school boards, and congress. This is just one more signature significant example to put on top of the already huge pile of evidence to prove my argument. It's a verifiable pattern; it's happening over and Over and OVER again and it will not stop until there is a HUGE public blow up and the shit really hits the fan because some company or University or municipality doesn't kowtow the irrational lunatics of the social justice army.
Hordes of Anti-Social "Stupid" People Stomp Civility Into Submission!
It's been said that you never really know what you have until it's gone. I think our society has lost so much of those sturdy societal building blocks that it's now quite obvious that they're mostly gone and without these sturdy building blocks our society is apparently starting to crumble.
Was there sociological switch that was flipped over night or was it a slow decline to what our society is today? Personally I think it's been a nearly unnoticeable slow decline with some notable stimulus along the way. What I've observed is that since the beginning of the 21st century it seems to me like these sturdy societal building blocks are rapidly being disregarded as valueless and old-fashioned. This is especially evident in the last ten years and their value is very noticeably been scrapped and replaced in the last three years.
What was once considered to be taboo anti-social behaviors in our society are now rapidly becoming mainstream acceptable, encouraged and are replacing the sturdy societal building blocks that were once held in high regard.
As I often say: You (plural) see the surface but seem inhibited from getting to — seeing and explaining — causation. If society is *crumbling* as you say this is an observation that people have been making for generations and even for thousands of years. There are cuneiform tablets from Sumer where fathers complain about this errant sons!
Those 'building blocks' seem to me more the effect of an integrated, well-founded society. Could one assemble those *blocks* and (to push on your metaphor) give them to people and think that the social corruptions will magically be cured? It would not seem so. Those *blocks* have become non-important to them. Other *blocks* they prefer to work with.
If what I suggest is so, a more detailed and perhaps *fearless* examination of causation is in order.
Was there sociological switch that was flipped over night or was it a slow decline to what our society is today?
This question, though a good one, seems to me an admittance of having no (or little) idea about causation. 'The Decline of the West' is a topic in and of itself. Richard Weaver's Ideas Have Consequences attempts an answer . . . yet I might suggest that though the answer is there, it is not an answer that is recognizes as needed or useful. I mean that if people cannot see themselves, if they cannot see their circumstances, if they cannot see their 'trajectory' and what has happened to make them them, they rather obviously cannot introspect sufficiently to even have concern for the question!
In Hindu thought (Vaishnava philosophy specifically) it is suggested that our activities lead us either toward nescience or liberating science which, for a Vaishnava, is knowledge about the higher orders of being. It is a dual possibility that stands before us. We either cultivate the sort of materialism that leads to bondage; or we recognize, *see*, and cultivate higher levels of awareness. So, you ask if a switch was suddenly flipped or if it was a slow decline. It does not matter, does it? if the problem — the cause — is properly identified.
In reading you over some years now you seem to have very little idea about *causation*. My theory is that the causal agent simply does not appear on your mental radar. Why do I say such a bold thing? Because I force myself to be serious about this endeavor — the one we are apparently involved in.
But there are perhaps a dozen different areas — causes, as I say — that you cannot see because you will not to see them, or you will to exclude them from being seen. Note simply that the Dissident Right does not suffer from that fear, or that defect as the case may be.
What if your rhetorical questioning amounts to *going around in circles*? What if you will never make substantial progress until you can develop some clearer notions of causation? What if, given your methods and the material you work with, your efforts are unfruitful and even vain? Isn't this the biting question we must all ask ourselves?
"We appreciate and thank our more than 77,0000 …."
Was it wrong of me to expect that sentence to end with gratification toward the armed forces? or say…. the country? (okay, I wasn't expecting the government to get the praise, but their "associates?" Am I meant to understand that these are not employees or that those who work for wages and the ones who get salaries are lumped together? Talk about mealy mouthed, just to avoid an apology to an individual . . . . Who is this "we"? (Anyone remember the old Lone Ranger/Tonto exchange when kemosabe notes the bows and arrows aimed down at them from the high canyon walls and exclaims "Looks like we're in trouble now, Tonto" and Tonto questions his use of the plural?)


text:
Tamils - a Trans State Nation..
"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C
Home Whats New Trans State Nation One World Unfolding Consciousness Comments Search
Home > Tamils - a Nation without a State> United Kingdom > Tamil Hunger Strikers in London Refuse Food & Water
Tamils - a Nation without a State
United Kingdom - ஐக்கிய இராச்சியம்
- an estimated 100,000 Tamils live in Great Britain -
Tamil Hunger Strikers in London Refuse Food & Water [also in PDF]
2200 BST, Parliament Square,
Westminster, London, UK
The protest by UK Tamils at Parliament Square calling for an immediate internationally monitored ceasefire is in its fourth day. During the first 24 hours the protesters occupied and blocked the Westminster Bridge.
Beginning at 10 PM (22.00 h) British Summer Time (BST) on Day One of the Protest, Monday 6 April 2009, two Tamil youth, Sivatharsan Sivakumaravel, 21 (on right in photo) and Parameswarn Subramaniyan, 28 (on left) ate their last meal and embarked on a "Hunger Strike 'til our Last Breath". The two protesters have refused to consume any food or water until there is a ceasefire in Sri Lanka and humanitarian aid is allowed to the civilians in the so-called 'safe zone'.
It has now been 72 hours (as of 22.00 BST) since the protest fast began. Earlier in the day British Police threatened to forcibly remove the 'hunger strikers' from Parliament Square and transport them to hospital for treatment. However the two Tamil youth signed legal documents "refusing any treatment" and so even if forcibly removed medical personnel would not be able to legally treat them.
Medical authorities have stated that after 72 hours with out food or water (or any fluid) the body begins to shut down and death is a very real possibility. Latest medical reports state that the two youths kidneys are shutting down.
In an interview with the Times (UK) Parameswaran Subramaniyan stated that, "Two days ago the Sri Lankan government was bombing with poison gas, chemical gas. In that bomb, nearly my whole family - five members of my family - is dead." In an interview with the Evening Standard (UK) he stated, "My mother, brother and sisters were killed two days ago in Vanni by the Sri Lankans, using poison gas. They say they are attacking the LTTE [the Tamil Tigers] but there have been pictures of these dead babies in the papers."
In the same article Sivatharsan Sivakumaravel revealed that his grandmother and cousins are in the area under attack by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and he has not been able to contact them. He stated that: "I don't know what's happened to them. Suddenly the Sri Lankan government is killing all Tamil people in what they call the 'safe zone'. They started using banned bombs and chemical weapons."
"There is a genocide happening there, Britain knows it well. This is not against terrorism; it is a war against Tamil people. They are killing all Tamil people."
The 'hunger strikers' distributed the following document articulating their demands:
Sri Lanka Crisis
Action Plan Needed Immediately
Immediate and permanent ceasefire
Food and medical aid should be allowed to reach the civilians immediately with international monitoring committees and allow "Mercy Mission to Vanni"
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, arrange to meet our representatives.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are our sole representatives and UK government should lift the ban on LTTE.
UN should call for an immediate referendum to the Tamils regarding whether they want separate nation or to remain as Sri Lanka
Otherwise there will be
Hunger strike till we breathe our last breath
Arjunan Ethirveerasingam
UK Mobile : +44 (0) 77 586 49198
Geneva Mobile : +41 (0) 788 385 814
Sri Lanka Mobile: +44 (0) 77 674 6594
Skype: arjunan1
Mercy Mission to Vanni
497 Sunleigh Road, Suite 27
Wembley, HA0 4LY, UK
http://www.vannimission.org
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text:
Szczepankowo – dawna gmina wiejska istniejąca do 1954 roku oraz w latach 1973–1976 w woj. białostockim (przejściowo w woj. warszawskim), a następnie w woj. łomżyńskim (dzisiejsze woj. podlaskie). Siedzibą gminy było Szczepankowo.

Przez większą część okresu międzywojennego gmina Szczepankowo należała do powiatu łomżyńskiego w woj. białostockim. 1 kwietnia 1939 roku gminę Szczepankowo wraz z całym powiatem łomżyńskim przyłączono do woj. warszawskiego.

Według Powszechnego Spisu Ludności z 1921 roku gminę zamieszkiwało 5103 osoby, 348 było wyznania rzymskokatolickiego, 9 prawosławnego, 18 ewangelickiego a 119 mojżeszowego. Jednocześnie 5019 mieszkańców zadeklarowało polską przynależność narodową, 8 białoruską, 75 żydowską a 1 rosyjską. Było tu 753 budynków mieszkalnych.

W wyniku napaści ZSRR na Polskę we wrześniu 1939 gmina znalazła się pod okupacją sowiecką. Od czerwca 1941 roku pod okupacją niemiecką. Od 22 lipca 1941 do 1945 włączona w skład Landkreis Lomscha, Bezirk Bialystok III Rzeszy.

Przez krótki okres po wojnie gmina zachowała przynależność administracyjną, lecz już z dniem 18 sierpnia 1945 roku została wraz z powiatem łomżyńskim wyłączona z woj. warszawskiego i przyłączona z powrotem do woj. białostockiego. Według stanu z 1 lipca 1952 roku gmina była podzielona na 32 gromady. Gmina została zniesiona 29 września 1954 roku wraz z reformą wprowadzającą gromady w miejsce gmin.

Gminę Szczepankowo reaktywowano 1 stycznia 1973 roku w tymże powiecie i województwie. 1 czerwca 1975 roku gmina weszła w skład nowo utworzonego woj. łomżyńskiego. 2 lipca 1976 roku gmina została zniesiona, a jej tereny włączone do gmin Łomża, Miastkowo i Śniadowo.

Przypisy

Szczepankowo
Szczepankowo
Szczepankowo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


As many well-intentioned marketers are charged with driving more growth faster, they're scrambling for faster insights, faster innovations, faster sales, and faster proof of performance. But they've little hope of achieving much growth unless they first realize what they're inadvertently doing to foster the slow to no-growth situation from which they suffer. Then they must replace the unproductive strategies with best practices newly proven to actually get them somewhere.
That's according to the soon-to-be-published study "Surprising revelations on how to improve short-term results while also driving YOY increases in sales and margins." (To be notified when it is available, email [email protected]). It's the result of a 10-month effort by Lindsay, Stone & Briggs, an ad agency that says it specializes in the relaunch of stalled brands, and the long-time curator of Brandworks University.
CMO.com recently caught up with the author of the analysis, Marsha Lindsay, LSB's chief strategist for growth, brand, and innovation, to find out exactly what she thinks is going on in the marketing universe.
CMO.com: For each of the past 26 years, you and your firm have undertaken an annual study—a "meta-analysis," in your words—to identify a single, critical issue on the horizon that marketers will soon face but few, if any, see coming. What megatrend has your analysis found this year?
Lindsay: It's an outgrowth of the Great Recession that is limiting the growth and sustainability of many brands. We all remember 2008 and the years following: Self-preservation was job one, and the leading strategies were cost cutting and driving short-term volume. However, our research found that, in many companies, those strategies have been assimilated to the point that they are actually inhibiting recovery.
Having incentivized short-term sales for so long with low pricing and deals, brands have trained their customers to buy only when the company cannot make any money on the sale. This continues the company's desperation for short-term sales at least for cash flow. So they continue to demand of their marketing team even more short-term volume, which prompts them to lower prices and do more deals.
The result is a catch 22: Without margins to invest in new offerings and market their value (as opposed to a low price), there is no way to break the vicious cycle. So many companies who've persevered through years of slow to no growth are going to find it is too late to recover.
CMO.com: So you're saying that companies are inadvertently using strategies that perpetuate no-growth and then using the same strategies to mitigate their disappointing results?
Lindsay: Precisely. It creates a sort of hamster wheel on which many executives race to try and get ahead but find they never get anywhere. One successful short-term volume-driving campaign after another is well-proven not to result in profitable growth.
Also well-proven is that continuous cost cutting and sales promotions do not constitute a growth strategy.
CMO.com: What can break the cycle?
Lindsay: We did further research and vetted a framework of recommended best practices to deal with the issue. What's great about the findings is that, if they are properly used and used consistently, not only do they drive year-over-year increases in sales, share, margin, profit, and brand strength, they also lift the performance of short-term volume-driving efforts.
The net is, the use of these best practices will make all your marketing efforts more effective and efficient.
CMO.com: What were some of the sources of research you reviewed and analyzed to come to these conclusions?
Lindsay: Our meta-analysis covered many different independent sets of longitudinal and evidence-based research—across many categories—in both B2C and B2B. It covered pre- and post-recession studies, large brands and small, and traditional as well as digital, social, and mobile marketing. To cite just a few sources, we reviewed research on how brands grow originating from the Ehrenberg Bass Institute for Marketing Science and publications from the Institute for Advertising Practitioners—in particular, "The Long and Short of It" and "Marketing In the Age of Accountability." We studied the science of human decision-making detailed by Daniel Kahneman ["Thinking Fast and Slow"] and Dan Ariely ["Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality"]. We tapped into the global library of WARC and recent findings from the likes of MarketShare.
CMO.com: Is there a main finding as to how any company can best drive profitable growth?
Lindsay: The evidence is clear that the leading driver of growth and profit is, first, determining and framing the emotional value that an offering can play in the lives of its targeted customer—and then becoming famous for it.
By "emotional value" I don't mean an offering's features or functionality but, rather, how it helps the user be more of who they are or aspire to be. Our brains are hard-wired to notice, prefer, and remember offerings with this degree of hyper-relevance. So if you get it right and communicate it to the point you are well-known for it, you'll not only create demand but make a decent margin.
In other words, the key to year-over-year increases in sales, share, and profitability is not more discounting to drive short-term volume but, rather, a value proposition so resonant that it allows you to charge a bit more.
The research is very clear: Price increases will boost profit far faster than increasing volume. Increasing unit volume by 1% yields a 3.33% increase in operating profit, whereas increasing price by 1% yields an 11.1% increase in operating profit.
CMO.com: You're saying that efforts to desensitize people to price will have three to four times the effect on profitability as will efforts to increase volume?
It turns out that when it comes time to persuade people to buy, rational arguments are not very persuasive at all. Instead, the research found that campaigns that evoked strong emotions in people produced more "hard business results." There is a great deal of case-based evidence and data.
There is also extensive evidence that emotional campaigns that reached the level of "fame" were found, time and again, to also desensitize people to price. In fact, they were 50% more likely to affect positively all kinds of growth and financial metrics.
CMO.com: I'm hearing a marketing best practice: Become famous for the emotional benefit of your product or service.
Lindsay: Yes, and we should all embrace creativity. The evidence clearly shows that, when it comes to driving hard business results, campaigns deemed as the "most creative" in award competitions outperform noncreative campaigns in every dimension.
For example, one dimension is media efficiency. When equalized for share of voice and media spend, the more creative a piece of communication, the more it outperformed those that were less creative.
CMO.com: So a marketer should not only demand original ideas but also must support these ideas with a healthy media spend?
Lindsay: Right. That share of voice matters is not a new orthodoxy, but it has been reaffirmed. Overindexing share of voice is still practically guaranteed to fuel growth.
Also reconfirmed is the degree to which media mix also matters. New ARF research found that, today, 60% of campaigns rely on only one or two mediums. However, by increasing from one media platform to two, brands on average can increase ROI 19%. With each additional platform added to the mix, ROI continued to improve. This maxed out at five media platforms, which improved ROI by 35% over using just one medium for a campaign.
Related to media mix is the all-important allocation of budget between building perceptions of the emotional value of one's offering versus activating short-term volume. Case-based evidence shows that the budget ratio that produces the highest rate of success is when 60% is allocated to awareness building and emotional priming—what we'd call brand-building—with the other 40% aimed at activating sales in the short term.
The research shows this ratio might vary a tiny bit from category to category, but the added business effects of spending much more than 40% on activation are not much. Most important, optimum growth and profitability are achieved when these brand-building and brand-activation efforts are used in combination, year after year.
The evidence shows it actually takes about three years to see the maximum impact of awareness building and priming of a brand's emotional benefit. In other words, the typical short-term metrics on which investors, bosses, and marketers so often judge marketing performance are not a reliable guide by which to base what will drive year-over-year increases in sales, share, margin, and profitability.
CMO.com: What conclusion from your study surprised you the most?
Lindsay: When all the findings are compared to each other, it's clear that what really drives marketing results and efficiency is not price or technology. Rather, whether using traditional media or digital, social, and mobile, what is most effective is leveraging how people naturally process information in the first place—that which plays to the predominantly implicit way people take in information about an offering, process it subconsciously, and again, subconsciously weigh its value emotionally, even irrationally. What is deemed relevant by the subconscious gets stored in memory as a short-cut to future decision-making.
We call that shortcut a stereotype or a brand. And in a marketplace where people are increasingly time-starved and harder to engage, where media usage is so fragmented, investing in brand building is proved to be all the more critical. Essentially, it is what drives year-over-year increases in sales, share, and margin.
CMO.com: With its impact falling in the future, I expect it's easy for marketers to rationalize that brand-building can wait. But isn't it your point that a big reason so many marketers are experiencing slow to no growth is because they've put off building perceptions of their brands' value for too long?
Lindsay: That is exactly the point. Being famous for an emotional benefit so compelling it gives you price elasticity is such a game changer for a company's profitable growth. But the research shows that even doing it consistently, it takes two to three years to actually kick in. So every C-suite should appreciate the criticality of investing in it every year.
Marketers wanting to get off the hamster wheel in two to three years should engage in these best practices starting today—and even with that, hope that they are not too late.


text:
Q: Save form data to multi-value field on MongoDB using Play2.2.2 I'm experimenting with play (v2.2.2), and I have it connected to MongoDB (v2.4.6) using jackson.
I have a models.Role class with the following attributes:
@Id
@ObjectId
public String id;

public String name;
public ArrayList<String> permissions;

On the template (roles.scala.html), I can easily get the list of permissions to be printed on the HTML, but when I try to add a new role passing a single permission as a string in the form as an @InputText field, it does not get recorded in MongoDB. I suppose that it is because play/scala is trying to assign a simple String to an ArrayList<String>.
Any ideas on the propper approach? Maybe I should do some logic on the create() method under Role class?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Walhalla, SC — Malcolm Rodney Hastings, 70, husband of Linda Lusk Hastings, of 154 Bethel Church Road, Walhalla, passed away Wednesday, January 2, 2019, at Oconee Memorial Hospital. A memorial service will be conducted at 11:00 AM, Saturday, January 5, 2019, at Davenport Funeral Home Chapel. Flowers are accepted.


text:
Horní Beřkovice è un comune della Repubblica Ceca facente parte del distretto di Litoměřice, nella regione di Ústí nad Labem.

Note

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Horni Berkovice


We discussed the huge near term impact on a number of industries. McKinsey estimates $50 trillion of value created over the next 10 years. Gartner predicts one-third of current jobs to be automated in the same time period. Internet of Things, automated cars, automated 18-wheel semis. Heathcare, medicine, 3D printed houses, the legal profession. E-discovery, patent searches, automated contract creation. Liability questions when robots or automated vehicles harm someone. Big data, bots that commit insider trading, price fixing, or purchase illegal items on the darknet. With careful thought and introspection about values we can expand today's legal and business environment to include automated systems and create a much more efficient and humane future.


Aug. 25, 2012 @ 8 p.m.
Run at Chimera 2012. This is run two of two simultaenous runs, designated "Game White".
by Rowena Knill, Dave Luxton, Scott Kelly, Ivan "Vanya" Essin, Chris Rosedale, Clare Stones, Rachel Meads and Hamish Meads.
In a world where Magic is real, Princes are Charming, Queens are Evil and Dreams can come true, a horrible travesty has occured. Oberon, the Fae King of Summer has been found dead. Rumours are rife and fingers have been pointed. But what really happened, only 2 could know, Oberon and his killer.
You have been summoned to the Summer Palace of Oberon. Your duty this eve is to assist in the investigation, arrest, trial and excecution of the King's murderer. Once the case is closed, a new King or Queen of Summer must be chosen!
Can you help catch the killer? Will you take up the throne that stands empty? Summer approaches and without a rulling figure, who knows what will happen?


The participation of the citizenry in the electoral process is a direct indicator of the health of a democracy. The higher the participation, the more vibrant will be the democratic process. Mere participation by itself is not enough. One needs to have enlightened participation in order to ensure that the citizenry make an informed choice. Increasingly elections have resulted in making our democracy, representative of the moneyed and the elite few. It should be the collective responsibility of each one of us to make sure that we make the Indian Democracy a truly participatory one. One needs to begin with the elections as an event and take forward the process by engaging our elected representatives on a continual basis.
India in going through exciting and paradoxical times. On one side, we have so much and yet so little. We have the highest scientific manpower in the world today and at the same time we are grappling with the issue of illiteracy. Even today 74% of our rural women are anaemic and we have been able to completely immunize only 42% of our children. We have the technology to go to the moon, but are battling the issue of poor sanitation. Two Indians are represented in the list of the top 10 richest men in the world today, while 25% of the world's poor live in India. More than 35% of Indians do with less than 1000 KCal per day. The irony of the situation is that we are no longer as poor as we thought. While we have made great economic progress, we are now faced with poverty of value based leadership. Most of what we are today is the direct result of poor and bad governance over the last 20-30 years. Nations who have made enormous social and economic progress have been able to do so only because they have had responsive and responsible governments. While we cannot wish away the role of the elected representatives in Governance today, we need to ensure that we hold them accountable to the performance that the situation demands. We need to engage with them on a continual basis and work with them in ushering in true participatory democracy where each one of us has a say in the development processes that affect us. All this begins with the kind of people we chose to represent us. Mere complaining on what we get will not change the situation. We need to now involve ourselves constructively in understanding the people we will vote for, assess their capabilities, and give them a chance to explain their vision to us and interact and partner with them in making sure that they deliver on the promise of good governance.
Come let us all join hands in ensuring that we each one of us take on our civic responsibility seriously and begin by making informed choices. Let us not forget that we will only get the leaders we deserve.


text:
Q: How can I use scaffolding in ASP.NET Core MVC? I was following an ASP.NET MVC tutorial and in the section that he used scaffolding to make controller and views, I got an error.
I searched but I couldn't figure out how to solve it.
It's the error message:

My startup class:
Startup configure function
.csproj file:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Folder Include="Areas\" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\ASP.NetCore5Tutorial\DataLayer\DataLayer.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

And there is no error in the error list. The project builds successfully.
Any help is appreciated.

A: I solved it by reinstalling visual studio.
But I found out it can be solved by installing code generator package from Nuget or with package console manager using the below command:
dotnet tool install -g dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator


Offers a realistic and affordable way to provide each student with their own CPR manikin. The one-piece, disposable lung/mouth protection system makes this manikin completely sanitary - there is no risk of cross contamination and no need to sanitize the manikins after use! Rugged carrying bags make transporting the Basic Buddy™ 5-Pack convenient (manikins fit into bags fully assembled).
Consists of five adult/child manikins, 50 lung/mouth protection bags, one carrying case, and an instruction manual.
Offers a realistic and affordable way to provide each student with their own CPR manikin. The one-piece, disposable lung/mouth protection system makes this manikin completely sanitary - there is no risk of cross contamination and no need to sanitize the manikins after use! Rugged carrying bags make transporting the Basic Buddy™ 10-Pack convenient (manikins fit into bags fully assembled).
Consists of 10 adult/child manikins, 100 lung/mouth protection bags, two carrying cases, and two instruction manuals.
Consists of 5 infant manikins, 50 lung/mouth protection bags, 1 carrying bag, and an instruction manual.
Consists of 10 infant manikins, 100 lung/mouth protection bags, 2 carrying bags, and 2 instruction manuals.
Kit comes packed in a snap-cover plastic tub for convenient storage. NOTE: Due to item availability, some items may be substituted or replaced with similar items.
Consists of 1 infant manikin, 10 lung/mouth protection bags, and an instruction manual.
Includes four Basic Buddies™, two Baby Buddies™, six lung installation tools, 40 Basic Buddy™ lung bags, 20 Baby Buddy™ lung bags, and carrying bag.
Includes one Basic Buddy™, one Baby Buddy™, two lung installation tools, 10 Basic Buddy™ lung bags, 10 Baby Buddy™ lung bags, and one small carrying bag.
Includes the LifePak® 500T AED Trainer (SB33735G), plus a Basic Buddy™ manikin (LF03693G).
Holds five fully assembled Basic Buddies.
Holds 5 fully assembled Baby Buddy™ manikins.


The other morning the sunrise was all thin layers of acid tangerine and atomic yellow, like some psychedelic celestial torte.
Today, sunrise is invisible. The sky, stone grey. Nothing edible.
I read somewhere that the colours are an optical, not exactly illusion, but an effect created by various molecules in the atmosphere and their length and/or density and/or how they line up and/or etc. on any given day.
An astonishing point, when illustrated like that! Thanks, Carin.


In August, I had the opportunity to attend the National Puppetry Festival in Storrs, Connecticut. One highlight among many was Elephant, a toy theatre show from Clare Dolan, my old friend and colleague from Bread and Puppet Theater. See http://museumofeverydaylife.org/ for more about Clare's lovely work.
Since returning to Bristol, I participated in some research and development with Knowle West Media Centre and Ludic Rooms on their project, The Forgotten Toys Compendium. This fascinating work, created for Bristol 2015 Neighbourhood Arts Programme straddles the worlds of play, puppetry, hacking, tinkering and social/civic practice.


ATI just announced its latest greatest polygon cruncher on the planet: the previously leaked Radeon HD 5970. The new card card is also one of the first to support Microsoft DirectX 11 and Eyefinity multi-display (driving up to three displays at once for a 7680x1600 maximum resolution) with ripe potential for overclocking thanks to the card's Overdrive technology. Instead of relying upon a single GPU like the already scorching Radeon HD 5870, the 5970 brings a pair of Cypress GPUs linked on a single board by a PCI Express bridge for nearly 5 TeraFLOPS of computer power, or a mind boggling 10 TeraFLOPS when setup in CrossFireX. Naturally, the card's already been put to the test by all the usual benchmarking nerds who praise the card as the undisputed performance leader regardless of game or application. It even manages to keep power consumption in check until you start rolling on the voltage to ramp those clock speeds. As you'd expect then, ATI isn't going to offer any breaks on pricing so you can expect to pay the full $599 suggested retail price when these cards hit shelves today for retail or as part of your new gaming rig bundle.


text:
Q: passing parameters to BeginGetRequestStream I am using thread pool to call some asynchronous web request call for posting the data
I am calling RunWebAccess function in a for loop
public void RunWebAccess (string strdara, int inttype)
{
     HttpWebRequest req =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://www.test.com");
     byte[] requestBytes = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(xmlvar);
     req.Method = "POST";
     req.ContentType = "text/xml";
     req.ContentLength = requestBytes.Length;
     IAsyncResult result =
         req.BeginGetRequestStream(new AsyncCallback(ProcessResults), req);
}

private void ProcessResults(IAsyncResult result)
{
    HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)result.AsyncState;
    Stream postStream = request.EndGetRequestStream(result);
    postStream.Write(result., 0, postData.Length ;
    postStream.Close();
}

ProcessResults function is not working because it can not access the parameters.
The problem is I want to pass the parameters in ProcessResults function and write to stream.
As per code, I can not use global variable or read input in ProcessResults function.
(I want to pass the strdara,inttype in ProcessResults function)

A: You could use lambda-notation for the callback, something like this:
public void RunWebAccess (string strdara, int inttype)
{
     HttpWebRequest req =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://www.test.com");
     byte[] requestBytes = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(xmlvar);
     req.Method = "POST";
     req.ContentType = "text/xml";
     req.ContentLength = requestBytes.Length;
     IAsyncResult result = null;
     result =
         req.BeginGetRequestStream(ar =>
         {
            Stream postStream = request.EndGetRequestStream(result);
            postStream.Write(result., 0, postData.Length ;
            postStream.Close();
         }
         , req);
}

A: You could send a new object, containing all the parameters that you want to pass to the callback. Like:
IAsyncResult result = req.BeginGetRequestStream(
    new AsyncCallback(ProcessResults),
    new Tuple<HttpWebRequest,byte[]>(req, postData));


text:
Its only  npm install fluig_dev_report --global

And POW! Get your widgets report!

Execute fluig_dev_report in your terminal and get the CSV report!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Re-introducing Gautham Narayan
I'm Gautham Narayan (@gsnarayan). I study supernovae and other things that go bump in the night. I work on identifying and classifying them very early with machine learning, understanding their progenitor systems, finding the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources, calibrating their brightness and using them to constrain the nature of dark energy, and I'm studying the interplay between these stellar deaths and their environments. I'm currently the Lasker Data Science Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute (@stsci), and I'm particularly excited to talk exploding stars with you this week because we've got TWO awesome meetings about this field, so you'll hear about the forefront of our field and meet some of the awesome people I work with! I grew up in India, the UK and Ireland, moved to Illinois Wesleyan for my undergraduate work, Harvard for my Ph.D., and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory for my postdoctoral work. I'm delighted to be moving to the University of Illinois this Fall. Aside from science, there may also be tweeting about the academic job search, baby owls, building the LEGO Millennium Falcon, re-watching Marvel movies, hiking outside Baltimore, and ranting about how my dog Kepler has stolen my dinner/place on the bed/heart.
introduction, supernovae
Introducing Joshua Lothringer
I'm Joshua Lothringer (@JDLothringer). I'm a PhD candidate in my final semester at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. I did my undergrad in astronomy from the University of Colorado at Boulder where I worked at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics operating several NASA spacecraft, including the Kepler space telescope and the Student Dust Counter on New Horizons. I also worked on the science team of the MAVEN mission to Mars. In the fall, I'll be moving to Baltimore to postdoc at Johns Hopkins University and work with folks at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).
My research has focused on studying exoplanet atmospheres. I've been lucky enough to observe and model exoplanet atmospheres. I've used observations from HST/STIS to study Neptune and sub-Neptune sized exoplanets, as well as done some ground-based observing work at MMT. I've also used the PHOENIX stellar atmosphere model to simulate the atmospheres of the hottest Jovian exoplanets.
Outside of my research time, I like to read (mostly sci-fi), play video games, watch sitcoms, play guitar, and walk by partner's doge.
exoplanets, introduction
Introducing Sarah McIntyre
I'm Sarah McIntyre (@ExoBioExplorer) a PhD student at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University.
My current research aims to examine the effect that a diverse range of astronomical and planetary parameters have on an exoplanet's ability to sustain liquid water. I spend most of my time working on exoplanet models and simulations and doing lab experiments. Long term research plans include helping determine optimal targets for near-future ground- and space-based observations of planetary atmospheres and the potential detection of life in space.
When not exploring exoplanets I read (lately mainly about AI/machine learning), compose, play piano (or violin) and travel.
exoplanets, introduction, Uncategorized
Introducing Haley Wahl
I'm Haley Wahl (@hwahl16) and I'm a PhD student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at West Virginia University. I'm originally from New England and I did my undergraduate at the University of Vermont. My main research interest is pulsars. I love pulsars because each of them is different and they exhibit weird phenomena like nulling (where they just randomly stop pulsing for a period of time and we have no idea why!). They're a ton of fun to study and we can learn about neutron stars, equations of state, the interstellar medium, gravitational waves, plasma physics, and so much more from them.
During my time at UVM, I worked with Dr. Joanna Rankin studying two pulsars that exhibit an emission phenomenon called "swooshing" and also started a project on pulsar emission geometry at low frequencies. I'm currently working with Dr. Maura McLaughlin with the NANOGrav collaboration (the Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, a collaboration that is working to detect gravitational waves using pulsar timing) on studying the polarization and rotation measures of a set of 40 pulsars.
In addition to doing research, I've recently fallen in love with science outreach! I work at WVU's planetarium putting on shows for the public and love getting people excited about space. I frequently talk to classes through the Skype a Scientist program and love sharing my knowledge about space with elementary and middle school classes and telling them what it's like to be a scientist. I recently started writing for AstroBites and once a month, I get to take a really cool paper that may be a little bit technical and bring it down to a level that everyone can understand. I've always loved writing so I'm so happy to have found AstroBites.
When I'm not at my computer exploring the mysteries of pulsars, you can find me in the kitchen trying my hand at yet another pastry (I've been inspired lately by The Great British Baking Show), in my running shoes exploring another part of Morgantown, or with a book in my hand. I'm also part of the Physics and Astronomy Graduate Student Organization (PAGSO) at WVU and am currently the secretary of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, a group that is dedicated to keeping graduate students involved in what's going on at WVU.
introduction, outreach, pulsars
Introducing Andrew Mann
I'm Andrew Mann (@amannastro) a new assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before coming to North Carolina, I was a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, before which I was the Harlan J. Smith Fellow at University of Texas and Austin after getting my PhD from University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2013. My research focuses on the evolution of planetary systems. Primarily, I search through data from the K2 and TESS transiting planet surveys to find young (10-650 million year old) planets and compare their properties to similar older planets statistically.
I also work on fundamental stellar properties (chemical composition, radius, mass, temperature). Primarily I study low-mass and young stars as a means to better understand the planets orbiting them (we only know a planet as well as we know its host star). I am just getting involved with the design and building of small satellites (CubeSats) to answer fundamental questions about astrophysics.
Outside astronomy, my primary interests are hiking, traveling, eating exotic food, sci-fi books, and board games. I am also slightly obsessed with my cat.
demitrimuna
exoplanets, introduction, TESS
Introducing Sarah Schmidt
I'm Sarah Jane Schmidt (@sjs917), and currently I'm the Schwarzschild Postdoctoral Fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics – Potsdam (AIP). Before that, I was a postoctoral fellow at Ohio State University and before that I got my PhD at the University of Washington (2012). My work is focused on determining the magnetic properties and metallicities of some of the smallest stars and warmest brown dwarfs (spectral types M and L). To do this, I primarily works with survey data of all sorts – photometric, spectroscopic, and/or time-domain. In addition to cool star science, I plan to tweet about equity + inclusion, learning to mentor students, and what it's like to be from the US and (try to) adapt to German academia.
In my non-astronomy time, I read (sci-fi, fantasy, history, biography, feminist theory), sing in a collective women's choir, listen to podcasts, play video games, and recently borrowed a bass guitar that is my new favorite thing.
Brown dwarfs, introduction
Brian Jackson (@decaelus — astrojack.com) is an assistant professor teaching astronomy in the Physics Department at Boise State University. Before coming to Boise State, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington DC and before that, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt MD. He earned a PhD in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson AZ and my BS in Physics from Georgia Tech in Atlanta GA. His research focuses primarily on orbital dynamics and transit observations of extrasolar planets, planets outside of our solar system. He also does some planetary science field work, notably on Death Valley's Racetrack Playa (www.racetrackplaya.org) and on terrestrial and Martian dust devils.
exoplanets, introduction, planetary science
Introducing John Wenskovitch
John Wenskovitch (@wenskovitch) is a PhD student in the Computer Science Department at Virginia Tech. His research falls in a zone combining aspects of data visualization, human-computer interaction, and machine learning. As a part of the Discovery Analytics Center, he works to develop intelligent and interactive techniques for the visualization and exploration of high-dimensional datasets. His past work in collaboration with astronomers involved visualizing and interactively exploring spectral flux density data from stellar merger simulations.
John is also an amateur astronomer, volunteering his free time at observatories and with his own telescopes to share the otherwise-invisible wonders that can be found telescopically to all who are interested. He is passionate about astronomical outreach, particularly regarding light pollution and basic science education. He currently serves as Vice-President of the Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society, and is actively involved in outreach with the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh.
During those unfortunate nights when the moon is full or the weather is sub-par, John is also an avid science fiction reader, mediocre marathoner, accidental artist, nature enthusiast, and traveler (having set foot in 43 US states and 25 countries over the past five years).
data science, introduction, Uncategorized
Introducing Steph LaMassa
Dr. Steph LaMassa is a Support Scientist at STScI who works on one of the instrument teams for JWST. Steph's research focuses on the growth and evolution of supermassive black holes and how they co-evolve with their host galaxies. Steph is also interested in learning how highly variable active galactic nuclei provide insight into black hole feeding habits.
Dr. LaMassa organizes and hosts Astronomy on Tap DC (@AstroOnTapDC), which is an outreach event where astronomers give short, fun talks in a bar! When not working or doing public outreach, Steph enjoys running (albeit very slowly), reading, and going to concerts.
AGN, black holes, instrumentation, introduction
Introducing Laura Mayorga
Dr. Laura Mayorga (@mayorgalc) is a Harvard Future Faculty Leaders Fellow based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She is interested in exploring the diversity in exoplanet atmospheres by using Solar System objects as analogs for their exoplanet counterparts. From flyby data of Jupiter taken by the Cassini Spacecraft she is laying the groundwork comparison dataset needed to understand the underlying, unresolved phenomena in the atmospheres and on the surfaces of planets around other stars.
A lover of accents and languages if she can't be Cdr. Spock she would be Lt. Uhura. When not engaged in science research and communication, she enjoys cycling to the closest beach, crocheting the next unfinished project, or playing video games at home where her first duty is to be a warm lap to a caliby named Stellar. She finds the rules for what makes something a cookie vs. a biscuit fascinating and she plays the ocarina while traveling, where the cat won't try to stop her.


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Shell's Kulluk oil drilling platform sits off Alaska in October 2012. Later that year, the rig would run aground on an island in the Gulf of Alaska. Photo by Gary Braasch/Corbis
Everyone Calm Down: Shell's Arctic Oil Surveying Isn't Going to Kill All the Whales
If they actually start producing oil, though, that could be a different story.
by Jacqueline Ronson
July 27, 2015 | 900 words, about 4 minutes
Last week, the US government gave Royal Dutch Shell the go ahead to resume oil exploration in the Arctic Ocean. A high profile failure three years ago had forced Shell to shelve the project, and caused both the company and the government to rethink the wisdom of offshore drilling in such difficult conditions.
Shell's highly politicized project would not be the first to drill the Arctic in US waters, but it has been the subject of sensationalistic claims from people both for and against Arctic drilling. Take, for instance, Rose Hackman's recent story in The Guardian that says that "[e]xploratory drilling, seismic testing and ice-breaking activities threaten to expose whales to damaging sounds, and 'a deaf whale is a dead whale,'" referencing a publication by advocacy group Oceana.
"For whales, one of the biggest causes for concern is their hearing. Exploratory drilling, seismic testing and ice-breaking activities may expose whales to damaging sounds," writes Hackman. "With damaged hearing, bowhead whales would stop [trying to communicate], something that could be lethal in the short or long term."
The available science, however, does not support the claim that bowhead whales will die if subjected to the sounds of oil and gas exploration activities.
There are documented cases of whales dying because of underwater noise, but they have mainly been in beaked whales (which are in the toothed whale family—bowheads are baleen whales) exposed to military sonar. Military sonar is very different from industrial noise.
"There is no evidence and little likelihood that most kinds of industrial activities could lead to deafness in whales, bowhead or otherwise," says W. John Richardson, a biologist who has been studying the industry's effects on bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea, the region off Alaska's north slope, since 1980.
Richardson is an expert on the effects of sound on marine mammals. He is also the lead author of the widely cited 1995 tome Marine Mammals and Noise.
Richardson says that industrial activity has not—at least, not yet—been linked to damaging biological consequences for bowhead whales. But seismic surveying will have behavioral effects on bowhead populations, he says.
A bowhead whale surfaces for a breath in the Chukchi Sea. Photo by Steven Kazlowski/Science Faction/Corbis
Multiple studies provide evidence that bowhead whales go out of their way—15 to 30 kilometers out of their way—to avoid drilling operations. Research shows that whales react differently to disturbance depending on whether they are resting, feeding, or migrating.
Other behavioral changes range from the very subtle—small alterations in diving, surfacing, and breathing patterns only detectable through statistical analysis—to the dramatic, says Richardson.
"If they're particularly distressed by whatever the situation is, because the sound level is too high or it's increasing very rapidly, then they may be swimming as fast as they can go," says Richardson.
To date, the evidence shows that whales will repopulate an area once the noise has died down, says Richardson. As a result, it's unlikely that short-term disturbances would result in consequences for the whales' ability to find food and reproduce. "But frequent disturbance by continuing industrial operations in a given area—[it's] not so clear as to what the longer term effects of that would be," he says.
For their part, Shell says that this summer's exploration activities will have no significant impact on bowhead populations. "Impacts from these sounds to whales and seals would be temporary and could result in, at the most, short-term displacement of seals and whales from within ensonified zones produced by such sound sources," according to a document filed with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Inuit whale hunters prepare a bowhead whale corpse in 1981. Seismic surveying and other industrial noise can make the Inuit subsistence whale hunt more difficult, and since 1985 the US federal government has mandated quiet periods to allow the hunt to go undisturbed. Photo by Lowell Georgia/Corbis
Yet surveying for oil in the Arctic is far from ecologically mundane. If Shell's search proves fruitful, it will pave the way for oil and gas production. In that case, the potential consequences for bowhead whales—and for all of the other animals, and the Iñupiak and Yup'ik people that depend on them—become much more acute.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) projects that the Chukchi Sea could eventually see more than 500 wells producing 4.3 billion barrels of oil over the course of 77 years. Development at that intensity would not only bring industrial noise, but the risk of oil spills and collisions between whales and vessels.
At that rate of production, the BOEM estimates a 75 percent likelihood that a spill of 1,000 barrels of oil or more will take place during that time. The National Academies Press says that bowheads are unlikely to avoid oily water, and contact would likely result in injuries to the whales' skin, eyes, baleen, and stomach.
Between ocean acidification and climate change, bowhead whales are already headed for a rough future. The reality is that the effects of seismic testing on whales are nuanced, and not yet fully known. But the debate over Arctic drilling is highly polarized, and muddled enough, without sensationalistic claims distorting the story.
Correction: A previous version of this article said that this project would be the first to drill in US Arctic waters. In fact, in the 1980s and 1990s, numerous offshore wells were drilled in the US Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
Jacqueline Ronson is a freelance science and environment writer based on Vancouver Island, BC. She previously spent three years as a reporter with Yukon News in Whitehorse, where she wrote about politics, business, mining, First Nations, energy, and the environment.
Cite this Article: Jacqueline Ronson "Everyone Calm Down: Shell's Arctic Oil Surveying Isn't Going to Kill All the Whales," Hakai Magazine, Jul 27, 2015, accessed January 15th, 2021, https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/everyone-calm-down-shells-arctic-oil-surveying-isnt-going-kill-all-whales/.
Whistling Through the Din
Dolphins change their tune in a noisy environment.


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module AbingoSugar

  def ab_test(test_name, alternatives = nil, options = {})
    if (alternatives.nil?)
      choice = Abingo.flip(test_name)
    else
      choice = Abingo.test(test_name, alternatives, options)
    end

    if block_given?
      yield(choice)
    else
      choice
    end
  end

  def bingo!(test_name, options = {})
    Abingo.bingo!(test_name, options)
  end

end


The Travis Education and Training centrally manages administration of all education and training matters at Travis. We support long-range Air Force goals for maintaining a high quality force and enhancing professional and personal development, recruitment, retention and readiness.
*Appointments are mandatory for all testing. To schedule FAA, PME, DLAB, AFCT and misc. tests call 424-3444/3445. To schedule TBAS, and AFOQT email 600FSSFSDEWTESTING@us.af.mil. To schedule OPI or DLPT email 60education.testing@us.af.mil. Please arrive 15 minutes early. Doors close at designated times. Military ID is required for ALL tests and ALL service members MUST be in uniform.
**Appointments and uniform are not required for CLEP & DSST Testing. See Walk-In schedule above.


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LEGO Batman Latest Building Block In ADIFF Schedule For Fantastic Flix
Posted on January 11, 2017 January 11, 2017 Author Luke DunnePosted in UncategorizedLeave a Reply
As the schedule for the 2017 Audi Dublin International Film Festival continues to be put together, a first look of what is quite possibly one of the most anticipated movies of the year was announced yesterday for the festival's Fantastic Flix strand for 4-16 year olds. Fans of Lego, Batman and combinations thereof are sure to take an interest in a sneak preview of The LEGO® Batman Movie.The launch screening is set to take place on Saturday 4th Feb 2017 at 11.00 at Movies@Dundrum, with the added excitement of a family-friendly pre-screening festival party at the cinema. Fantastic Flix brings the best cinema for children and young people from around the world to film fans in Dublin from 4th -25th February.
In the irreverent spirit of fun that made The LEGO Movie a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if Batman wants to save the city from The Joker's hostile takeover, he may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. Will Arnett reprises his starring role from The LEGO Movie as the voice of LEGO Batman, aka Bruce Wayne. Zach Galifianakis (Muppets Most Wanted, the Hangover films) stars as The Joker; Michael Cera (TV'sArrested Development) as the orphan Dick Grayson; Rosario Dawson (TV's Daredevil) as Barbara Gordon; and Ralph Fiennes (the Harry Potter films) as Alfred.
Embracing the possibility that a billionaire who takes it upon himself to rid a city of crime and who self-brands literally everything he owns might be a little self-centered helped to make LEGO's take on Batman one of the funniest since Adam West. A spinoff entirely about him has a lot of potential amd with the voice talent involved there's plenty of reasons to be excited.
Arriving in Irish cinemas on 10th February from Warner Bros. Pictures, The LEGO Batman Movie joins a number of eye-catching additions to the Fantastic Flix line-up, including a special selection of films from visiting children's author Dame Jacqueline Wilson, along with the Golden Globe-nominated animated film My Life as a Courgette, and Michaël Dudok de Wit's The Red Turtle (co-produced with Studio Ghibli).
The Audi Dublin International Film Festival's Fantastic Flix conjures up the world of cinematic wonder for the next generation in its packed festival of children's films from around the world. Activities include workshops, short film selections, the Fantastic Flix Children's Jury and other special events. Fantastic Flix runs from 4th – 25th Feb 2017 in cinemas across Dublin, including official venue partners Movies@Swords, Movies@Dundrum, Omniplex Cinema Rathmines and The Ark.
Tickets for Fantastic Flix (4th-25th February 2017) are now on sale at www.diff.ie or by phoning 01 687 7974 for general tickets, groups, and school bookings.
← It's Popping Off At The Sugar Club This Month
Live By Night Is Lifeless, Ludicrous →


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Home > For Patients & Professionals > about saint francis hospice > News > 2.6 for Colin
When the PM asked everyone in the UK over 70 to self-isolate back in March, Saint Francis Hospice volunteer Colin Cornell didn't want to take any chances.
As Colin takes some time out from doting on our patients, he revealed that he misses us as much as we miss him.
"It's an incredible place to be," Colin said. "Volunteering gives me a real sense of achievement. When I've finished my shift, I go home knowing that I've made the patients' day just that little bit better."
Colin still wanted to do something to help us in our mission to beat the coronavirus. That 'something' was to take part in the nation's 2.6 Challenge.
The challenge was for all ages, abilities, and interests. The concept was simple: do something around the numbers 26 or 2.6 and complete it on 26th April, which would've been the date of the 2020 London Marathon.
The test was to think of an activity and complete it. Colin rose to the challenge and came up with a plan to walk 2.6 miles in the streets of Upminster as quickly as he could (in line with his permitted one hour of exercise per day and respecting the two-metre rule, of course.)
Colin completed his brisk walk in 33 minutes — proving there's plenty of mileage left in his legs yet. He raised an incredible £1,000 in the process. Thank you, Colin.
There are countless ways you can continue to raise money for our Hospice during the coronavirus pandemic, and we're here to support you every step of the way.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast, and totally secure. The money you raise will go directly to where it's needed: supporting our patients living with life-limiting illnesses.
You can get in touch with us at fundraising@sfh.org.uk


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package com.oregonscientific.meep.together.activity;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.List;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.graphics.Matrix;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.AdapterView.OnItemClickListener;
import android.widget.BaseAdapter;
import android.widget.Gallery;
import android.widget.ImageView;

import com.oregonscientific.meep.opengl.MediaManager;
import com.oregonscientific.meep.together.R;

public class ImagePickerActivity extends Activity implements
		OnItemClickListener{

	private Context mContext = null;
	private Gallery gallery;
	private ImageAdapter imageAdapter;
	private List<Bitmap> list;
	private ArrayList<String> listPath;
//	MyProgressDialog loading;
	private int count = 0;

	@Override
	public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.image_picker);
//		loading = UserFunction.initLoading(this);
		mContext = this;

//		loading.show();

		gallery = (Gallery) findViewById(R.id.gallery);
		gallery.setOnItemClickListener(ImagePickerActivity.this);
		imageAdapter = new ImageAdapter(ImagePickerActivity.this);
		gallery.setAdapter(imageAdapter);
		new LoadImageList().execute();

	}

	public class ImageAdapter extends BaseAdapter {
		private Context mContext;

		public ImageAdapter(Context context) {
			mContext = context;

		}

		public int getCount() {
			return count;
		}

		public Object getItem(int position) {
			return position;
		}

		public long getItemId(int position) {
			return position;
		}

		public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
			ImageView imageView = new ImageView(mContext);
			imageView.setImageBitmap(list.get(position % list.size()));
			imageView.setScaleType(ImageView.ScaleType.FIT_XY);
			imageView.setLayoutParams(new Gallery.LayoutParams(100, 100));
//			imageView.setBackgroundResource(mGalleryItemBackground);
			imageView.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.image_stroke_old);
			return imageView;
		}
	}

	private void getBitmap() {
		List <File> fileList = MediaManager.getAllImagesFiles();
		list = new ArrayList<Bitmap>();
		list = Collections.synchronizedList(list); ;
		listPath = new ArrayList<String>();
		for (int j = 0; j < fileList.size(); j++) {
			Bitmap newBmp = decodeFile(fileList.get(j).getAbsolutePath());
			list.add(newBmp);
			listPath.add(fileList.get(j).getAbsolutePath());
			count++;
			Utils.printLogcatDebugMessage(newBmp.getByteCount()+"");
			mHandler.sendEmptyMessage(1);
		}
//		mHandler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
	}
	private final Handler mHandler = new Handler() {
		public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
			switch (msg.what) {
//			case 0:
//				loading.dismiss();
//				break;
			case 1:
				imageAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
				break;
			default:
				break;
			}
		}
	};

	@Override
	public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> arg0, View arg1, int arg2, long arg3) {
		Intent intent = new Intent();
		intent.putExtra("path", listPath.get(arg2%list.size()));
		setResult(RESULT_OK,intent);
		finish();

	}
	@Override
	protected void onDestroy() {
		super.onDestroy();
	}

	private Bitmap decodeFile(String f) {
		try {
			// Decode image size
			BitmapFactory.Options o = new BitmapFactory.Options();
			o.inJustDecodeBounds = true;
			BitmapFactory.decodeStream(new FileInputStream(f), null, o);

			// The new size we want to scale to
			final int REQUIRED_SIZE = 100;
			// Find the correct scale value. It should be the power of 2.
			int scale = 1;
			while (o.outWidth / scale / 2 >= REQUIRED_SIZE
					&& o.outHeight / scale / 2 >= REQUIRED_SIZE)
				scale *= 2;

			// Decode with inSampleSize
			BitmapFactory.Options o2 = new BitmapFactory.Options();
			o2.inSampleSize = scale;
			return fixSize(BitmapFactory.decodeStream(new FileInputStream(f),
					null, o2));
		} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
		}
		return null;
	}

	public Bitmap fixSize(Bitmap bitmapAPIcon) {
		int iconWidth = 0;
		int iconHeight = 0;
		int newIconWidth = 100;
		int newIconHeight = 100;
		iconWidth = bitmapAPIcon.getWidth();
		iconHeight = bitmapAPIcon.getHeight();
		float scaleIconWidth = ((float) newIconWidth) / iconWidth;
		float scaleIconHeight = ((float) newIconHeight) / iconHeight;
		Matrix iconMatrix = new Matrix();
		iconMatrix.postScale(scaleIconWidth, scaleIconHeight);
		Bitmap finalAPicon = Bitmap.createBitmap(bitmapAPIcon, 0, 0, iconWidth,
				iconHeight, iconMatrix, true);

		return finalAPicon;
	}

	private class LoadImageList extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> {

		protected Void doInBackground(Void... v) {
			try {
				getBitmap();
				Utils.printLogcatDebugMessage("test");
			} catch (Exception e) {
			}
			return null;
		}

		protected void onPostExecute() {
		}
	}
}


What is interesting is that many companies and organizations (big or small) do not pay attention to their website. Its your online business face, it should always be clean, maintained and reflect professionalism.
The first are those whose website is vital, and they integrate it into their overall business. They look for the latest and greatest trick, they understand SEO, they blog and post and all the rest.
The other group are those folk who know they need to have a website, pay it lip service, and either have a site (albeit an unexceptional one) or, horrors, no site at all.
If I were to tell you that the majority of small businesses fall into the second camp, you wouldn't be surprised, would you? We have all seen what too many small business websites look like: With the look and feel of something out of 2002 or so, they have few, if any, Web 2.0 tools and act essentially as an e-Yellow Page ad.
Given that, it is not surprising that many small business people find their website to be a pain in the rear, a necessary evil, a chore to be handled, rather than what it should be – their MAIN window to the world, a profit center, an e-billboard, a marketing brochure, and a sales tool all rolled into one. But for too many small business owners, it is not that. Instead, their site is not only boring, it is difficult to update, and although they may want a nicer or more robust site, the imagined costs and effort make it seemingly prohibitive.
But it need not be, redoing your site with WordPress can change all that.
As you may know, WordPress is a popular program that many people use to blog. It's popular because it is easy. But what you may not know is that WordPress can also be a very powerful and affordable website creation tool.
Creating a website with WordPress is surprisingly easy. There are literally hundreds of themes to choose from, and most are free. These themes can be completely customized and installed quickly. You can see some of the best themes here.
The look: As indicated, there are tons of WordPress themes out there, so finding one that fits your business is easy. That it will be Web 2.0 enabled, and have the look and feel of something very now makes it all the more attractive. Slideshows, flash movies, blogs, video, advertising spots – all are a part of various WordPress themes, or easily integrated.
No longer need you be stuck with a site that is bland, blah, or mediocre.
The cost: Most WordPress themes are free, and those that are not cost less than $100, generally. Customizing your theme, if desired, is easy.
CMS: A CMS, or Content Management System, is what most small business people need but don't have; that is why they need to go to their webmaster whenever their site needs updating. Not so with WordPress. The WordPress CMS is simple and intuitive. It is designed to make adding or changing content to a site a breeze.
SEO: SEO is built into the WordPress dashboard. Below the spot where you post a new article is an "All in One SEO Pack." It asks you to give your keywords, tags, excerpts, and so on. WordPress does the rest. The result is that you get URLs that are indexed right, full of keywords, and are friendly to search engine spiders.
Suddenly, SEO is a snap.
Participation: Adding visitor comments to your site is always great, and with WordPress, visitor participation is integrated through comments and trackbacks.
Support: Because WordPress is open source software, there is a very large community of people out there who can help you.
Ease: Installing a standard WordPress site is quick and easy. Even a custom one can be done in short order. 1 and 1, GoDaddy, and other web hosts know how to add WordPress sites easily.
Bottom line: If you have been thinking of redoing your site, give WordPress a good look. You will be glad you did.
I have researched various social networks dedicated to learning languages. Interestingly they all have their unique twist. From embedding flash cards for your websites to writing and becoming official translators (like yahoo answers).
Byki for example lets your create your own flash cards, with voice and share them on websites and other social networks. VoxSwap and iTalki reminds me more of a MySpace for learning languages. But professional looking with interesting methodologies are LiveMocha and Babbel.
Pick your choice, how do you want to learn or teach a language: like a geek, like a teen or like a traveler.
Hate it or love it, the Flash Player is here to stay. HTML5 is the called the Flash killer. But when it comes to games, video and media in general, Flash is a winner.
But the Flash Player has yet another Ace up the its sleeve, Augmented Reality. AR has many uses when it comes to directions, presentations and games. And now it does not need any other special plugin but the Flash Player, and since it's in 99% of all machines installed, we should be ready for some great AR applications and examples.
AR applications can now be developed with ActionScript, all thanks to T-Immersion. Bellow is a video to explain more about this exiting technology, Augmented Reality.
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Eran Stern demonstrates how you can create the illusion of time bending with a special focus on the correct way of using the CC Time Blend FX.


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Q: Empty responseText after GET Http Request with Javascript i try to get text from a Http Get Request:
This is a small web service to correct texts.
http://193.196.7.26/cgi-bin/ColorError-line.pl?arg_childText=Ich%20gehe%20in%20die%20schule.&arg_errors=MOR_GrS;MOR_KS&arg_corrText=Ich%20gehe%20in%20die%20Schule.

When i call the service with a browser (f.e. Chrome) i see the corrected text.
Now i try this in Javascript:
var http2 = new XMLHttpRequest();
var url1 = "http://193.196.7.26/cgi-bin/ColorError-line.pl?arg_childText=Ich%20gehe%20in%20die%20schule.&arg_errors=MOR_GrS;MOR_KS&arg_corrText=Ich%20gehe%20in%20die%20Schule."
http2.open("GET", url, false);
http2.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "text/plain");
http2.send(null);
var temp = http2.responseText;

But responseText is empty. Any idea?

A: You must set the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header.
In .htaccess:
<Files "ColorError-line.pl">
    Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin *
</Files>

or print this header:
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *

This will allow cross-domain access from any domain, not just yours. To only allow your domain only, you should set it to
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: http://yourdomain.com

without the slash in the end, but then you must remember to change it if your domain changes. This also applies to the .htaccess version.
Update: Also, you could create a proxy script to do it, as suggested here. However, I recommend that you filter the URL sent to the proxy, or someone could create lots of excess traffic to your site by downloading big files with it.