text:
Columns Digital Publishing
Digital Publishing: Writing Headlines That Will 'Click' With Readers
Rob Tornoe February 18, 2016
Last year, the world of journalism lost long-time New York Post staffer Vincent Musetto, who came up with what is often cited as the greatest newspaper headline in history: "Headless Body In Topless Bar."
Most reporters don't want to hear this, but the last thing a reader is inclined to do is invest his or her valuable time reading a story. That's where the power of the headline comes into play in print. Not only will a great headline help sell a newspaper, it is often the main reason a skimming reader will stop and pay attention to a particular story.
Writing digital headlines is an entirely different game. Headlines can still make or break a story, but online, all a reader has is a headline (and sometimes a photo or piece of art) to make a conscious decision to click into a story.
Thus, the term "clickbait" was created, and suddenly bombastic, sensationalized headlines from outlets like Upworthy and BuzzFeed were able to mine the curiosity gap of its readers to the tune of millions and millions of page views. It didn't take long before more traditional media companies adorned their websites with those new headline-writing formulas in an attempt to bolster click-through rates.
Now it turns out those clickbait headlines techniques might not work so well after all.
Chartbeat, a popular analytics firm that provides real-time data to hundreds of media companies, has published a surprising study about headlines using data from its new Engaged Headlines Testing. After crunching the numbers, the biggest takeaway is most of the headline writing tricks we've been taught and use daily don't really work.
"We've proven that '5 ways to write the best headline ever' isn't actually that effective," said Chris Breaux, the data scientist at Chartbeat who put together the report. Using the data from 10,000 headline tests from more than 100 domains, Breaux found there was no significant advantage for headlines that used one of the many fill-in-the-blank gimmicks over a more straight-forward approach.
"The results echo stuff we're reading form Upworthy and others that maybe the curiosity gap is closing," Breaux said. "If you have a hook or a technique that works, readers only have so much interest, and overplaying it may not be effective over time."
The findings also surprised Andy Bechtel, an associate professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who has taught classes on digital headline writing. Bechtel was particularly surprised that using a name of a person wasn't especially effective in driving more clicks.
"I'd still recommend doing that, not only for SEO purposes but also because 'Area Band to Play Local Festival' is vague," Bechtel said. "Be specific."
Chartbeat isn't alone in proclaiming an end to overused words and paint-by-numbers gimmicks. An analysis of more than 3.3 million headlines from more than 100,000 websites by Hubspot and Outbrain showed headlines with words like "you," "easy" and "how to" also underperformed compared to a more direct headline.
Instead of searching for a silver bullet, Breaux's study suggests the most effective way to come up with a successful headline is to simply A-B test as many alternatives as possible and let readers tell you which headline works best.
According to Chartbeat's data, in a single A-B test between two headlines, the winner generated about 23 percent more clicks. But editors who were able to test six different headlines generates 2.6 times more clicks than the average of those tested, a rift that increases the more headlines you're able to test.
Other best practices for A-B testing include testing content in higher traffic positions, as smaller numbers can tend to skew results. Also, editors should test headlines that are distinctly different from one another.
"One common mistake is producers will take a headline and switch two words around," Breaux said. "As you'd expect, it won't lead to a large shift in clicks there."
Bechtel agrees, noting the data gleamed from multiple headline testing is valuable not only in generating clicks, but devising a strategy for content moving forward.
"The beauty of digital headlines is we can gather data on what works and what doesn't, and we can update and revise as much as we want," Bechtel said. "In print, we never knew what readers liked or disliked, and once a headline was in print, that was it."
Despite the clear shift away from headline gimmicks, Breaux's report did find a couple headline writing techniques which led to a consistent increase in click-throughs.
Headlines that used demonstrative adjectives like "this," "that" and "those" showed significantly higher click through rates and a higher propensity for outperforming other headlines. Demonstrative adjectives can be used multiple ways, such as creating interest with a vague headline like, "You've never tasted anything like this." They can also be used more directly in a call to the reader to seek more time-sensitive information, such as "GOP Debate This Evening."
Another interesting finding was that long headlines consistently received a higher click-through rate than shorter headlines, something that seems counterintuitive in the era of Twitter and divided attention spans. Breaux agrees, and notes that editors may have actually gone too far in pushing headlines so short they lack enough details to draw readers into a story.
One thing the report didn't cover was the use of direct quotes as a headline, something I've seen more and more on websites. Breaux examined the data and found that headlines that contain direct quotes were 14 percent more likely to win a headline test.
"Speculating a bit into the reasons we see significance, perhaps use of quotes lends a gravitas to what's being said," Breaux said. "It may also be a curiosity-driving device. What was the context of the quote? What else did they say?"
Despite these exceptions, Breaux's data is clear that the best way to write successful digital headlines is to carefully catalogue what works and what doesn't on your particular publication, and always make sure headlines accurately match the content of the stories they go with.
"Blindly following guidelines can lead to copy that sounds cliché at best, and actively off-putting at worst," Breaux said. "Effective headline writing can make quite a difference in the success of your content—after all, readers have to get to the actual articles somehow—so it can be expensive to get wrong."
Rob Tornoe is a cartoonist and columnist for Editor and Publisher, where he writes about trends in digital media. He is also a digital editor for Philly.com. Reach him at robtornoe@gmail.com.
https://www.editorandpublisher.com/columns/digital-publishing-writing-headlines-that-will-click-with-readers/
Tags: Digital Publishing
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5 thoughts on "Digital Publishing: Writing Headlines That Will 'Click' With Readers"
Leonarda
Thanks for writing such an outstanding article, Rob, and an interesting subject to think about.
Which tools do you personally use for headlines creation? BuzzFeed, CoSchedule and Unplag plagiarism checker play a valuable role in my daily blogging routine.
Thank you and Chris Breaux for a brilliant piece of advice. Hopefully, this knowledge will help me to create a genius title like "Headless Body In Topless Bar" one day.
Headline writing is something of s talent.
Hupomone
Nice, relevant well written article. Thanks!!
Great article, agree 100%.
That's why we built a tool to A/B test headlines on Social (before changing anything on the page). It uses very clever multi-armed bandit algorithm so it will always AUTO optimize for the winning headline. You just turn it on and get more pageviews. Here is a demo on WordPress for example go.sharethis.com/ab It's used by the very limited amount of top publishers now, but let me know any feedback or if you would like access.
The above story perhaps doesn't adequately define "click bait headlines" other than by pointing out that they don't work. Despite this, I have a sense of what they are, and dislike them intensely.


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The Singer and The Songwriter / April 27, 2016 by E
Catch up with jazz/folk duo The Singer and The Songwriter (Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran) and watch the video for their single, "Nights & Weekends" taken from their EP, Ballads For Trying Times.
What brought you two together?
Thu: We went to school together in San Francisco. We were in theater school and I played guitar and did open mics and was a singer-songwriter, folky, rock guy [laughs]; Rachel likes to describe me as 'fedora wearing'. We were in theater school together and we met through mutual friends, but the first time we really hung out was at open mic night at The Canvas Gallery - which is now, like, a fish restaurant - and it was this cool, multi-art, space thing, but that's where we met and started to hang out and talk. Rachel was actually scared to sing in front of people when we first met.
Rachel: We just were in school together and we were friends so we started to hang out and he would learn covers of songs that I liked to sing, so it brought me out of my shell, in terms of singing in front of other people. He learned songs I liked and I would quietly sing them and that turned into playing more together. We pursuing theater degrees, so we were doing acting when we first met.
Which musicians have you been influenced by, individually or in what you do now?
Rachel: I grew up with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, so I wasn't turned onto women who sounded closer to me until I was in college; I didn't even know who Ella Fitzgerald was until I was in my twenties. I always thought that women singers had to have an incredible pop self and I have a different voice than that, so I never really thought my voice was a valid thing and that I could pursue it professionally because it didn't sound like what I was hearing on the radio or American Idol - that had just started - so I think Fiona Apple was actually the first person that I was like, 'oh, she sings really well and she doesn't sound like any of those other women'. That was really the first person that I really loved as an adult and I would say, now, we listen to everything. Thu and I just listened to Loretta Lynn's entire catalog, we listen to Top 40 radio in the car and know all the pop music, we just watched Lemonade last night [laughs].
Thu: I agree. We consider everything and we try to be open to being influenced by everything. We're really influenced by great hooks and great melodies, so it doesn't matter where it comes from, we just pick and choose the things that we like. In terms of my influence, I had two older sisters growing up and they both listened to '80s and '90s pop and RnB and stuff, so I actually grew up with a lot of Wham! and George Michael - not just like it was around, I really loved Wham!, still love Wham! [laughs] - and also Madonna, Boyz II Men, ABBA, and all this stuff. When I met Rachel in college, I was trying to to get my own musical identity; I listened to a lot more indie pop songwriters like Sufjan Stevens and Rufus Wainwright. What's interesting is that, I'm Vietnamese and my parents are immigrants, so I didn't get the "proper" rock education. I never got the Zeppelins and the Bob Dylans and The Beatles, I never got that because my parents didn't listen to music and my sisters just listened to pop music, so I feel unencumbered by the roots of rock and roll tradition, so it's kind of nice to just like what we like.
How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music before?
Rachel: We struggle with that endlessly. Now, we're saying folk/jazz and people are a little bit confused with that and then they hear it and they're like, 'oh, yeah, folk/jazz,' but it's a little bit indie, a tiny bit old-timey sounding, and a tiny bit pop; it's a little bit hard to describe, if you have any ideas we're open to it [laughs]. Folk/jazz is what we've been sticking with now 'cause it's a little bit jazzy and whenever you get someone just being accompanied by guitar, often, it's folk, so that seems to be working right now.
Your single speaks for itself, but could you tell us more about your inspiration behind "Nights & Weekends"?
Rachel: When we're playing it onstage, we often say that it's a song about people who aren't artists who give advice to people who are artists. The song's really just about how the arts aren't really valued that much and that, to make art, you have to have this full other career to support it; there's only this top tier of people in music and theater and movies that make a living wage and everyone else has to have a day job to support themselves and you end up being relegated to do your art after you get home from work or on the weekends and that that's really frustrating and feels not fair because it feels like two jobs.
Thu: And that's the way that we operated for our entire adult careers [laughs]. The last six or seven years that we've had this band, we've always had full time jobs, so we know what it's like to only play music on nights and weekends and for free and in-between: we would have a full eight hour day of work, go home, and then have another full eight hours of whatever that is. We just recently quit our jobs to go on tour full time because we thought, it's worth that commitment, that full time energy, and it should be given that full respect and attention.
How would you sum up your EP, Ballads For Trying Times, in one sentence?
Thu: Ballads For Trying Times is about a bunch of big questions that we have as modern day adults.
If that sounds too general or vague, I think the trying times that we are in - for many reasons but just for our personal life right now - we struggle with a bunch of things that are just choices, they're crossroads. We're at an age where all our friends are having children, buying houses, excelling in their careers, but then we have a bunch of artist friends who are at crossroads thinking should I keep doing this, is this worth it; I'm in my 30's, am I still cut out to play open mic night? That is what I mean by being an adult. It's struggling with these traditional ideas of what these benchmarks are in growing up and having a career, having an income, having a house, having a mortgage, and then what are all the alternative choices and the emotional toll that it takes to make either choice and the emotional toll it takes to watch the other lives that live pass you by.
You're heading out on tour, do you have a favorite song from this EP to perform live?
Rachel: "Impractical Art" - I think that's track 2 - that's really fun to play, because it's really slow and it has the joke right at the top, so it's sort of fun to sing it and hear the audience chuckle when they hear the joke of, 'I just want a dog'. That one's really fun just to do live and, also, we're writing new stuff too and it's always really fun to play the super new things.
What would you say is the best part about performing?
Rachel: We've only done one tour. We did it two years ago and we just did it up the coast and it was great; we did ten days and it was so fun and we got to meet a lot of people that we wouldn't usually meet or get to play for. Last time when we were on tour, we stumbled upon this - I think we were in Oregon at Cave Junction - tiny little town and we went to this pizza restaurant for dinner and it happened to be their open mic night at this pizza place, which was actually a big deal in the town, like everyone was at it. We had our guitar in the car, so we signed up to play and we sang a couple originals and then I sang "I Fall To Pieces" and "Happy Times" and everyone started singing along with that song. All these little old people were at the open mic and they started quietly singing and then really singing along and it was really moving and it was a really special moment that you wouldn't get in your own town. In LA, that probably wouldn't occur. So, just these little moments that are really unusual and spontaneous that I don't even think we're prepared for or know will happen. Just being out of our little bubble of our home.
What do you hope your listeners are able to take away from your music?
Thu: I think the hope is always that they connect with the stories that we're telling in our songs. Our songs are all generally pretty personal, they have some autobiographical qualities to them, but I think, when we write, we don't try to pour our diary out onto the page, we go through a pretty intense writing process for each song and so we try to make the stories clear and make the melodies beautiful and perform them with care and specificity. All of that work on the back-end for us, we would really like for the audience to let it wash over them and for them to be able to feel and think about things without having to work hard at it; they can just enjoy it and it can take them to a place that makes them feel whatever they want to feel and they can just have a good time.
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Posted in Interviews Tags: The Singer and The Songwriter
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


An InfoWars videographer attempted to ambush Austin, Texas-based defense attorney Chris Perri, who is running for Congress.
While shouting into a microphone at an "Impeach Trump" rally, Owen Shroyer hammered the candidate on foreign policy as the progressive answered questions calmly and respectfully.
Ultimately, Perri got the InfoWars interviewer to admit he didn't agree with Trump's actions on Syria and that Trump hasn't "drained the swamp" the way he said that he would. Shroyer also admitted that Trump demanded a loyalty pledge by former FBI Director James Comey, something the president and White House have denied.
The two then got into a long conversation about what constitutes "obstruction of justice," and Shroyer asked "but didn't Barack Obama obstruct justice" for not doing something fast enough on Russia. Perri explained that the former president wasn't under investigation for links to Russian hacks, so there wasn't an investigation to obstruct, and sanctions were eventually levied against the Russians by the Obama administration.
Once the discussion seemed to be lost, Shroyer quickly switched to talking about immigration.
Perri fought back about the implication that deportations make communities safer. He specifically cited cases in which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement came into courtrooms where domestic violence survivors were being detained after serving as a witness for prosecutors.
"I'll agree with that," Shroyer said.


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I wanted to share with you these images of Mark Tuckey's home, the celebrated Australian furniture designer. Mark uses recycled/reclaimed material for his furniture, making it eco-fabulous to boot. These images were photographed by one of my favourite photographers right now, Mikkel Vang.
The following photos are from Mark's site.
I love de furniture, look so natural in the spaces.
Must visit his store soon... Looks divine!


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Best Live Music Venues in St Kilda
With the reopening of two Melbourne entertainment icons - The Palais Theatre in 2017 and the Esplanade set to reopen in October 2018 - the seaside haven of St Kilda is dominating the live music scene once more. Here we take a look at some of the best live music venues it has to offer.
The Palais Theatre
As synonymous with St Kilda as Luna Park and the pier, The Palais Theatre is a cultural icon. It somehow manages to combine a majestic exterior façade with an intimate theatre setting. The resulting acoustics are superb, making it ideal for mellow live music shows. Its recent refurbishments have only added to its glamour, yet it still retains the ambience that its long history has created that makes it such a prime Melbourne entertainment destination.
Affectionately known by locals as The Espy, this is the longest running live music destination in Australia, and for good reason. A staunch supporter of live music, this hotel overlooks stunning Port Philip Bay, but the hordes drawn to it know that it is a St Kilda destination in itself.
Music lovers flock to its many band rooms but The Gershwin Room is the number one choice for live music aficionados, providing a sound and atmosphere like no other. This band room gains extra kudos as the filming location of cult live music trivia quiz show, RocKwiz.
In addition to the well-known bands, the Espy also provides emerging local acts with the chance to take to the stage in their weekly sessions. A prime music spot to see quality Melbourne entertainment.
Located in The Prince of Wales hotel, the atmosphere in this packed standing room music spot is as electrifying as the guitars on the stage, making it very popular with locals. The large space has a 900 body capacity which generates a pulsating vibe. It has played host to Coldplay, Lenny Kravitz and Jack Johnson. With the main act often coming on stage between 11.30pm and midnight, you will be rocking out to quality live music acts until the early hours.
The St Kilda Branch
This pub/restaurant/bar all-in-one perfectly embodies the essence of Australia. It combines delicious food and plenteous beer with great acoustic live music. What more could you want? Its cool vibe makes it a fun spot to hang out with friends and soak up the St Kilda lifestyle.
Riva St Kilda
This restaurant's stunning views of St Kilda beach and Port Philip Bay provide a relaxing location to listen to the acoustic live band sets as you watch the sunset. It also hosts functions, making it an ideal destination for a wedding reception.
Now that you've found the perfect destination for your wedding reception, check out our wedding music packages to find the perfect live music artist to really set the tone.


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Bargo, Marge Sully, Bargo RFS, Sid Wyre
A woman affectionately known as Bargo's "Mrs Claus" has died. Marge Sully spent more than two decades dressing up each Christmas Eve for the Bargo Rural Fire Service brigade's annual Santa Run. Mrs Sully would ride around town on the back of the brigade's fire truck and present lollies to children. She succumbed to a long battle with illness in late August at the age of 90. Her son Peter Sully said his mother had the perfect white hair and "right build" to dress up as Santa's wife. "Mum loved Christmas time," he said. "She was Mrs Claus for 21 years and only missed one due to illness in 2016. "She had the right look to be Mrs Claus and she was a people person. Mum was a really awesome woman." Mrs Sully and her husband Jack moved to Bargo in 1958. They joined Bargo RFS during the 1970s but Mrs Sully wasn't allowed to attend any fires. Her main role included making sandwiches for the fire crews and she was made a brigade life member in 1981. Mrs Sully had six children but only Peter became involved with the Bargo brigade. He was also later made a life member. In between her brigade commitments, Mrs Sully was a founding member of the Bargo Bowling Club and was a Girl Guides group leader for 30 years. "Mum had some great friends and she was a well loved person around Bargo," Mr Sully said. Bargo RFS captain Greg Green said Mrs Sully was well respected within the brigade. "Whenever big fires came through Bargo, Marge would be there," he said. "Marge did a lot for the town and she was fairly active in the community." Former Bargo firefighter Sid Wyre also died in late August at the age of 92. Mr Wyre was involved in the brigade during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also made a life member in 1981. Mr Green said Mr Wyre was fondly remembered by the brigade's members. "Sid was an active firefighter for at least 10 to 15 years but he didn't do much in recent years due to his age," he said. "Unfortunately a lot of our younger members didn't know Sid." Mr Green said Bargo residents should be thankful for Mrs Sully and Mr Wyre's service to the community. "It's a sad time at the Bargo brigade," he said. "We will miss them. "The whole Bargo community should appreciate what Marge and Sid did over the years."
https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/4sZx2UeLhML2LRYLyd2FGM/707b34a3-9290-4733-b22e-b9a6e7a694d2.jpg/r0_1417_3096_3166_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
September 10 2018 - 2:50PM
Bargo community pays tribute to late Marge Sully and Sid Wyre
Joshua Bartlett
Bargo community farewells 'Mrs Claus'
The late Marge Sully, who was better known as "Mrs Claus" around the Bargo area.
The late Sid Wyre.
A woman affectionately known as Bargo's "Mrs Claus" has died.
Marge Sully spent more than two decades dressing up each Christmas Eve for the Bargo Rural Fire Service brigade's annual Santa Run.
Mrs Sully would ride around town on the back of the brigade's fire truck and present lollies to children.
She succumbed to a long battle with illness in late August at the age of 90.
Her son Peter Sully said his mother had the perfect white hair and "right build" to dress up as Santa's wife.
"Mum loved Christmas time," he said. "She was Mrs Claus for 21 years and only missed one due to illness in 2016.
"She had the right look to be Mrs Claus and she was a people person. Mum was a really awesome woman."
Mrs Sully and her husband Jack moved to Bargo in 1958.
They joined Bargo RFS during the 1970s but Mrs Sully wasn't allowed to attend any fires.
Her main role included making sandwiches for the fire crews and she was made a brigade life member in 1981.
Mrs Sully had six children but only Peter became involved with the Bargo brigade. He was also later made a life member.
In between her brigade commitments, Mrs Sully was a founding member of the Bargo Bowling Club and was a Girl Guides group leader for 30 years.
"Mum had some great friends and she was a well loved person around Bargo," Mr Sully said.
Bargo RFS captain Greg Green said Mrs Sully was well respected within the brigade.
"Whenever big fires came through Bargo, Marge would be there," he said.
"Marge did a lot for the town and she was fairly active in the community."
Former Bargo firefighter Sid Wyre also died in late August at the age of 92.
Mr Wyre was involved in the brigade during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also made a life member in 1981.
Mr Green said Mr Wyre was fondly remembered by the brigade's members.
"Sid was an active firefighter for at least 10 to 15 years but he didn't do much in recent years due to his age," he said.
"Unfortunately a lot of our younger members didn't know Sid."
Mr Green said Bargo residents should be thankful for Mrs Sully and Mr Wyre's service to the community.
"It's a sad time at the Bargo brigade," he said. "We will miss them.
"The whole Bargo community should appreciate what Marge and Sid did over the years."


When high school student Libby Ladd takes the stage tonight to sing "Mack the Knife" she'll be on familiar ground. Libby is no stranger to the CT stage, having participated for many years in our summer melodrama program. In fact, this year's 13th Annual Metropolitan Rhythm & Blues Revue features quite a few veterans of Cottage Theatre's popular summer camp program.
Click here to read our latest newsletter with information about this weekend's 13th Annual Metropolitan Rhythm & Blues Revue, upcoming auditions for Moon Over Buffalo, information about submitting a proposal for our 2015 season, and more.


text:
import time

from nova import test
from nova.tests import fixtures as nova_fixtures
from nova.tests.functional.api import client

class TestDeleteFromCell0CheckQuota(test.TestCase):
    """This tests a regression introduced in the Ocata release.

    In Ocata we started building instances in conductor for cells v2. If we
    can't schedule the instance, it gets put into ERROR state, the instance
    record is created in the cell0 database and the BuildRequest is deleted.

    In the API:

    1) quota.reserve creates a reservation record and updates the resource
       usage record to increment 'reserved' which is counted as part of
       usage.
    2) quota.commit deletes the reservation record and updates the resource
       usage record to decrement 'reserved' and increment 'in_use' which is
       counted as part of usage

    When the user deletes the instance, the API code sees that the instance is
    living in cell0 and deletes it from cell0. The original quota reservation
    was made in the cell (nova) database and usage was not decremented.

    So a user that has several failed instance builds eventually runs out of
    quota even though they successfully deleted their servers.
    """

    def setUp(self):
        super(TestDeleteFromCell0CheckQuota, self).setUp()
        self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.RealPolicyFixture())
        self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.NeutronFixture(self))
        self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.GlanceFixture(self))

        api_fixture = self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.OSAPIFixture(
            api_version='v2.1'))
        self.api = api_fixture.api

        self.start_service('conductor')
        self.start_service('scheduler')

        # We don't actually start a compute service; this way we don't have any
        # compute hosts to schedule the instance to and will go into error and
        # be put into cell0.

        self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.CastAsCallFixture(self))

        self.image_id = self.api.get_images()[0]['id']
        self.flavor_id = self.api.get_flavors()[0]['id']

    def _wait_for_instance_status(self, server_id, status):
        timeout = 0.0
        server = self.api.get_server(server_id)
        while server['status'] != status and timeout < 10.0:
            time.sleep(.1)
            timeout += .1
            server = self.api.get_server(server_id)
        if server['status'] != status:
            self.fail('Timed out waiting for server %s to have status: %s.' %
                      (server_id, status))
        return server

    def _wait_for_instance_delete(self, server_id):
        timeout = 0.0
        while timeout < 10.0:
            try:
                server = self.api.get_server(server_id)
            except client.OpenStackApiNotFoundException:
                # the instance is gone so we're happy
                return
            else:
                time.sleep(.1)
                timeout += .1

        self.fail('Timed out waiting for server %s to be deleted. '
                  'Current vm_state: %s. Current task_state: %s' %
                  (server_id, server['OS-EXT-STS:vm_state'],
                   server['OS-EXT-STS:task_state']))

    def _delete_server(self, server):
        try:
            self.api.delete_server(server['id'])
        except client.OpenStackApiNotFoundException:
            pass

    def test_delete_error_instance_in_cell0_and_check_quota(self):
        """Tests deleting the error instance in cell0 and quota.

        This test will create the server which will fail to schedule because
        there is no compute to send it to. This will trigger the conductor
        manager to put the instance into ERROR state and create it in cell0.

        The test asserts that quota was decremented. Then it deletes the
        instance and will check quota again after the instance is gone.
        """
        # Get the current quota usage
        starting_usage = self.api.get_limits()

        # Create the server which we expect to go into ERROR state.
        server = dict(
            name='cell0-quota-test',
            imageRef=self.image_id,
            flavorRef=self.flavor_id)
        server = self.api.post_server({'server': server})
        self.addCleanup(self._delete_server, server)
        self._wait_for_instance_status(server['id'], 'ERROR')

        # Check quota to see we've incremented usage by 1.
        current_usage = self.api.get_limits()
        self.assertEqual(starting_usage['absolute']['totalInstancesUsed'] + 1,
                         current_usage['absolute']['totalInstancesUsed'])

        # Now delete the server and wait for it to be gone.
        self._delete_server(server)
        self._wait_for_instance_delete(server['id'])

        # Now check the quota again. Since the bug is fixed, ending usage
        # should be current usage - 1.
        ending_usage = self.api.get_limits()
        self.assertEqual(current_usage['absolute']['totalInstancesUsed'] - 1,
                         ending_usage['absolute']['totalInstancesUsed'])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Q: What is a usable free proxy site that you *know* is usable?
You (a) *know* that this proxy server is (b) *usable*.
nature of free and open proxies and that won't do you much/any good.
*already* has a good *usable* free proxy server to recommend.
listed. It's not rocket science.
didn't need to install any custom software to do it.
A beautiful woman will enrich your life soon.


Stamford Chidge is joined by Chelsea legend Kerry Dixon to look back at Chelsea v Liverpool last weekend and the Europa Cup match against Mol Vidi on Thursday and look ahead to the visit to Southampton on Sunday.
Hazard comes to the rescue in a frustrating match against Mol Vidi and Morata, in a strange performance, finally gets a goal, but will it lead to a return to goal scoring form?
Was the draw against Liverpool Chelsea's best performance of the season and does it prove how well Chelsea are doing under Sarri?
With Chelsea the only unbeaten side, in any competition, can we keep the run going against Southampton?


text:
Posted by: Lisa Hill | January 4, 2017
Australian Women War Reporters, Boer War to Vietnam (2015), by Jeannine Baker
Synchronicity! On Tuesday as I read more of Australian Women War Reporters, Boer War to Vietnam by Jeannine Baker – a fascinating book I discovered from Carolyn Holbrook's review at Inside Story – I came across the name of Louise Mack, in the chapter called 'War from a Woman's Angle'. The women featured in this chapter include Agnes Macready and Edith Dickenson who reported on the Boer War; Katharine Susannah Prichard whose subsequent writing was apparently very much influenced by having witnessed the wreckage of war near the front in WW1, and Janet Mitchell who reported on the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931-32. All these women have interesting stories, but it was Louise Mack who grabbed my attention because she was so unconventional…
Then, to my surprise, the name of Louise Mack cropped up again in Sue's Monday Musings at Whispering Gums! As Sue says, Louise Mack is hardly a household name so this is synchronicity indeed. Well, like many bloggers Sue is tackling her TBR, and her first book of 2017 is a novel by this same Louise Mack (1870-1935). Sue's introduction to this enterprising woman is full of all sorts of interesting snippets, but Jeannine Baker's profile is a bit different because her focus is on the experiences of Australian women war reporters during World War II. Baker's PhD – which won the Dennis-Wettenhall Prize for the best Australian history postgraduate thesis at the University of Melbourne – is the subject of her book, and so it is Mack's experience reporting on WW1 which is the focus of her attention.
Baker's account begins in an interesting way:
The first published memoir or war corresponding by an Australian woman journalist was the purportedly eyewitness account of the German invasion of Belgium and the fall of Antwerp in 1914 by Louise Mack, an unconventional and adventurous writer and poet. (p.25)
Purportedly??
The biographical details are more or less the same as in Sue's article, but there appears to be some doubt about Mack's claims to have been an eye-witness. Here's what Baker's research has revealed:
Initially unable to get a foothold in Fleet Street, Mack found herself hard-up in London and living in the clichéd attic in Bloomsbury, where she kept the wolf from the door by writing formulaic serial romances. Her publisher was Lord Northcliffe, who happened to own the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Sunday Observer and The Times. This gave her an entrée into contributing to periodicals and writing reviews of theatre, concerts and social events, and her success extended to editing the Italian Gazette in Florence for six years until she returned to London in 1910 and went back to writing romantic novels. And then came the war…
Just after the outbreak of war in August 1914, Mack persuaded a newspaper editor to send her to Belgium. She later clamed that she carried papers given to her by Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, even though Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, had banned all correspondents from the Western Front. In the face of threats that if they were found, correspondents would be arrested and expelled from the country, and [despite] the imposition of a severe system of censorship, several determined male and female reporters relied on subterfuge to get to the front, avoid detection, and dispatch their copy. (p.27)
In addition to these difficulties, all sides apparently considered women to be spies who were therefore adding to the dangers for other journalists as well. Still, Mack managed to get hold of a vehicle, and then made her way by train 'into the very heart of German ruin and pillage and destruction' and on to the ransacked town of Aerschot. She travelled through the German lines to occupied Brussels where she visited the devastated town of Louvain and eventually returned to Antwerp. And like her fellow Australian journalist Frank Fox she was determined to stick it out rather than head for safety.
However, while there's no doubt that she was in Antwerp in October 1914, some of her account of events is unclear and hard to corroborate. By October 7th, most of the press had debunked because of the forthcoming German bombardment, but
Mack, Fox, and Lucien Arthur Jones of the Daily Chronicle took shelter in the cellar of the Wagner Hotel. According to Fox and Jones, all three escaped Antwerp on Friday 9 October, just as the Germans entered the city – Fox and Jones in a motorboat, and Mack via a Red Cross motorcar.
Mack's version of events departs dramatically from the others' accounts. She frequently insisted that she had been 'the last war correspondent to leave the city' – a claim that was as important to a journalist as having been the first to arrive. (p.28)
In her book A Woman's Adventures in the Great War, Mack claimed to have walked the empty streets, the only noise the terrified howling of deserted dogs.
The whole city was mine. I seemed to be the only living being left. I passed hundreds of tall, white, stately houses, all shattered and locked and silent and deserted. I went through one wide, deadly street after another. I looked up and down the great paralysed quays. I stared through the yellow avenue of trees. I heard my own footsteps echoing, echoing. The ghosts of five hundred thousand people floated before my vision. (p.29)
According to her account, she then disguised herself as a mute maid to avoid detection by the occupying Germans while she witnessed the invasion, eventually being smuggled out, disguised as a peasant, on a false passport, arriving in January 1915 back to England via Holland.
Well, we all know that there have indeed been brave/foolhardy actions by all kinds of people who miraculously survived in war, but Baker the historian is unconvinced. She says that
Mack's book and her subsequent public lectures contained exactly the sort of anti-German propaganda commonly printed in Northcliffe's newspapers, with emphasis on the bravery of the Belgians, the 'companionship and comradeship' at the front and the Germans' brutal desecration of churches and women. The events Mack depicted did not reach the depths of some of the commonly repeated atrocity stories of the time, but she undoubtedly embellished events and her participation in them to whip up patriotic fervour, encourage volunteering and ensure publicity.
During a subsequent series of lectures in Australia and the Pacific, Mack and her promoters shamelessly mythologised her role in the war. (p.30)
Later on in 1919 she even dressed in a nurse's uniform and claimed to have been in Belgium as a worker for the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Mack also claimed to have met with wartime heroine Edith Cavell in prison in Brussels in 1915 when it could not possibly have happened – because Mack was back in England in January, many months before Cavell was arrested in August 1915.
Baker seems disappointed in Louise Mack, and so am I. At a time when women were struggling to get recognition as serious journalists, she seems to have let her gender down.
Mack's sensationalist writing style, her uncritical repetition of anti-German stories that were typical of the popular press of the time, together with her later embellishments of those events and exaggeration of her participation in them, has diminished the validity of her account of her war reporting, which has never been properly scrutinised by previous historians. (p.31)
Mind you, she would probably have been an overpaid star in today's commercial tabloid news programs…
Australian Women war Reporters is a terrific book. I'm about half way through and hope to be able to write more about it before the book is due back at the library in *oops!* three days time.
Update 8/1/17: There is so much more to say about this book, but it has to go back to the library today. The best I can do is to alert you to the stories of
Adele (Tilly) Shelton-Smith, who unwittingly caused a furore when she reported on the AIF based in Malaya before the Fall of Singapore. Officially restricted to reporting only on non-operational issues, her story for the Australian Women's Weekly offended the troops because it didn't conform to the Anzac Myth. She praised their physicality and stressed their exemplary behaviour (which wasn't entirely true since there were widely reported allegations of offensive conduct and a 'generally boorish attitude' towards the local Asian population). But her stories intended to reassure families back in Australia that the troops had 'all the comforts of home' and were in good spirits backfired when they were accompanied by photos of soldiers with taxi-dancers and there was an unholy uproar, which influenced future reporting considerably. (See her entry at Trove).
When Dorothy Jenner reported from Singapore, she was sure to distance herself from the Women's Weekly brouhaha, and the army, having thought better of their rules for reporting, allowed her to go out on rugged training exercises which earned the respect of the troops. She was subsequently interned in Hong Kong and at the risk of her life, kept a clandestine diary about military developments in the area as well as observations of life in the camp. (See her entry at the Australian Women's Register).
Accredited female war correspondents from 1942 onwards, and the restrictions on their movements. There were three categories: those in operational areas (men only); Lines of Communication Correspondents who worked at the HQ of their newspaper (nearly all women), and Visiting Correspondents with temporary accreditation and forbidden to travel to operational areas. The women in this group reported on women in the services which had been formed in 1942 because of the critical shortage of men. (It's easy to forget that Australia had a population of only about seven million at this time). Much of this reporting had propaganda value in encouraging more women to join the services. While reporters such as Rita Dunstan felt a bit miffed that they were restricted to reporting from the home front, they also felt privileged by being allowed to travel interstate when there were restrictions on internal travel. More importantly, these reports showed women succeeding in occupations that were hitherto 'men's jobs', such as helping to guard the coastline and operating anti-aircraft instruments. Connie Robertson refuted the sexist notion that women couldn't be trusted with sensitive information while Patricia Knox similarly stressed the reliability of women plotting the movements of RAF aircraft. Censorship meant that the style of reporting in final copy tended to be a bit anodyne and it's not surprising that they were satirised by Iris Dexter alias Frenzia Frisby'. (You can read more about her in this edition of the State Library of NSW magazine).
Lorraine Stumm was the one Australian war correspondent who made her way close to operational areas, and she did it via London. She was a reporter for Daily Mirror and working on an equal footing with the men when her husband – an Australian pilot flying with the RAF – was posted to Singapore. She went too, though she didn't have any luck getting near the front. Evacuated with her baby daughter in January 1942, she got nowhere with Australian authorities so she bypassed them and got accreditation through the Daily Mirror office in London. But even when she made her way to New Guinea, she had to sit back at base cooling her heels while male correspondents accompanied Allie Forces on their missions. Still, she paved the way for Alice Jackson but she was the last woman accredited during WW2 because Blamey abolished the licensing system. (See her entry at Trove).
There is a whole chapter on correspondents in Europe where they faced similar restrictions until December 1941 when the US belatedly joined the war. They allowed women to be accredited, providing access that the Brits had denied. In 1944 the British finally caved in but no women were supposed to go anywhere near D-Day (though two American women did). This is a really interesting chapter showcasing the battle between official attitudes and the determination of women to be treated as equals. There is also discussion about the complexities of writing from the 'women's angle', i.e. 'human-interest stories (because that's often all they could get access to) as against political stories about the impact of war on civilians. They came into their own when reporting on the post war refugee crisis and the Holocaust, humanising it in a way that more 'objective' male reporters tended not to do.
Further chapters include
Narrowing the Gap, reporting from Asia, 1945-46. This covers conflicts from Burma to the Korean War and Vietnam, and the tensions that arose as women gradually moved into forward zones. Baker also reveals the story of Dorothy Cranstone whose work in Burma has largely been unrecognised because she had no by-line for her reports and wasn't officially accredited.
Cold War Conflicts… and Beyond – which includes the emergence of women reporting on radio, and the appointment in 1983 of Helene Chung as the first female foreign correspondent (in Beijing) for the ABC, and Monica Attard's world-renowned reportage of the fall of communism in Moscow in 1991. This chapter also explores more recent reportage by women, such as Irris Makler in Afghanistan and the particular challenges of reporting in a culture where women are 'invisible'.
This is a really interesting book which will be of interest to journalists, historians and anyone interested in women's writing.
Update 30/1/17 Dagny from Madame Vauquer's Boarding House has posted today about Mary Roberts Rinehart, one of the first American women to post 'from the trenches', and there's a link from Dagny's blog to the Gutenberg link where you can read Rinehart's book, Kings, Queens and Pawns: An American Woman at the Front.
Author: Jeannine Baker
Title: Australian Women war Reporters, Boer War to Vietnam
NewSouth Publishing, 2015
Source: Kingston Library
Available from Fishpond: Australian Women War Reporters: Boer War to Vietnam
Posted in 21st century, Aust 2015, Australian Authors—by State & Territory, Australian history, Australian Non-fiction, Australians at War, BAKER Jeannine, Female authors, Journalism, New South (UNSW Publishing), New South Wales authors, Read in 2017, REVIEWS | Tags: Australian Women War Reporters Boer War to Vietnam, Book Reviews, Jeannine Baker
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Synchronicity squared! I'm reading this book (because you mentioned it to me) and I too noticed Sue's mention of Louise Mack. I have a bit more than 3 days to finish it, but you'll beat me nonetheless. I was interested in Sue's mention of Louise Mack because as part of the Heidelberg Historical Society newsletter, I write a 'Hundred Years Ago' column about life in Heidelberg in 2016-17. I've been interested by the women speakers who came to speak in 1916 to the women's groups attached to the Red Cross or to local churches (largely interchangeable in Heidelberg) and I wondered if she was one of them.
By: residentjudge on January 4, 2017
The pages about her don't mention anything about that, but maybe there will be something in the references at the back of the book?
It's a great book, yeah!
By: Lisa Hill on January 4, 2017
This is very funny isn't it! Sounds like a fascinating book, Lisa. I've actually had war correspondents on my possible Monday Musings list – the list I look at every now and then when I need inspiration – but I haven't had enough info to do anything on it. Now there's the possibility of doing one on males and one on females. One day.
Janine, she went to many many places, and raised money for the Red Cross, but I can't see Heidelberg in Trove. I did see Yea, and Dubbo, and Perth, and Ulverstone, to name a few, when I was looking on Monday, but I gave up eventually because the reporting was all the same (clearly using a press release). I wonder if the Red Cross has records?
As for Mack's wartime stories, all I know is that she was a survivor. She was scrabbling for money much of her time in England so I guess if fabricating a bit got her money to live on, she'd do it. It would be good to think all she wrote were "true", but I do admire her resourcefulness. She sounds like a really lively woman
By: whisperinggums on January 4, 2017
I think she was, in her way, a bit like Eliza Frazer. According to Larissa Behrendt's book Finding Eliza, Frazer embellished and exploited her experience with lecture tours that became ever more audacious about her exploits and ever more racist about the 'savages'. But as you say, Mack was a survivor, and if like Frazer, she found that gilding the lily was a way for a woman to make a living, well, it's hardly surprising.
After all, didn't even Manning Clark invent things about his war time experience?
What storyteller doesn't is perhaps the real question!
Don't forget 'my' Miles Franklin who reported on the effects of war in London in 1915-16 before serving in Macedonia with the Serbians and reporting from there.
By: wadholloway on January 5, 2017
*gasp* I've just checked the index and MF isn't there. Which (given that Baker is a proper historian and can't possibly not have known about MF) means that MF doesn't meet her criteria and definitions, I wonder why not…
what a fascinating story but how disappointing that with so much real material at her disposal she chose to make up her articles……
By: BookerTalk on January 5, 2017
Well, yes, but if you consider that at the time she was competing with the reportage and memoirs of the soldiers who had actually been *fighting* at the front, maybe she felt she needed to jazz things up a bit to get her head above the parapet.
But you'd think people would have twigged that she was exaggerating. I mean, 500,000 ghosts as she walks through the town, as early as January 1915 less than 6 months after the war started? How could she have known this anyway, the War Office wasn't about to reveal the carnage in totals because it didn't suit their propaganda needs…
I am also interested in these amazing women. The young Katherine Susannah Prichard was a courageous young Australian woman who lived in the slums of London and also the amazing Molly Skinner from WA who spent time in India nursing the war wounded. So much to discover about these feisty Australian women writers whatever genre they chose.
By: Fay Kennedy on January 5, 2017
Fay, you will be pleased to know that Nathan Hobby is hard at work on an exhaustive PhD about KSP and I am rather hoping that he pops up here to tell us more about her.
This month I will be researching KSP's trip to report on a war hospital in France in December 1914. As you may know, Fay, she wanted to report from the front and when the editor refused that, tried to join the women's auxilary corps. The hospital trip was third choice for her, but still brave! I didn't know about Mollie Skinner's service – how interesting!
By: Nathan Hobby on January 6, 2017
Mollie Skinner wrote a novel about her war service called Letters from a V.A.D.
Yay, Nathan, good to see you here:) I will do my best with my review of this excellent book but I really think you need to read it yourself because it's very good on the context of women war reporters – the hurdles they faced and so on, but also the way they were expected to report on things 'from a woman's POV' rather than on military matters. Also, from reading Kitty's War by Janet Butler, it's also important to note that nursing staff close to the front were also in serious danger, from gassing, shrapnel and sometimes artillery and bombs. Some of the died, and some of them were badly injured but there was little fuss made about this because the women didn't want to be stopped from participating.
Thanks Lisa, I have just finished reading this book today. An excellent read. So many fights and battles these women had to face just for some recognition to be writers. I admired how some of these women were so determined, and even reached their aims. Though, I think the nurses on the front line were the most courageous of them all.
By: Meg on January 26, 2017
Yes, having read Kitty's War, where so much danger was left unsaid in her diaries, I'd agree.
By: Lisa Hill on January 26, 2017
[…] Australian Women War Reporters, from the Boer War to Vietnam (2015) by Jeannine Baker […]
By: 2017 ANZLitLovers Australian and New Zealand Best Books of the Year | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on December 30, 2017
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By: 2017 Non-fiction November | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on November 24, 2018


text:
A variety of things that probably only I care about
Comic Capsule Reviews
Comic book series come through faster than I can write full reviews of them. I'm going to experiment with capsule reviews to cover some of the recent series that I read. My plan is to cover "indie" miniseries today (in comic terms, that means "anything without superheroes"), and then look at some recent superhero ones tomorrow.
Note that these are just the comics that I read. They aren't always the most significant ones. For example, the big summer events are underway at both DC and Marvel, and I haven't been interested in picking up either of those. I'll be the first to admit that my choices are sometimes arbitrary, but I don't have the time (or money) to try everything. Looking at the list below, I'm fairly happy with my choices. Even the failures are interesting ones, and if I hadn't been willing to take a chance on the occasional disappointing comic, I wouldn't have found the good ones, either.
Atomic Robo : The Deadly Art of Science
Atomic Robo: The Deadly Art Of Science
Atomic Robo follows the adventures of an intelligent robot built by Nikolai Tesla, and is aimed at people who never tire of "SCIENCE!" as a punchline. It's generated a devoted following, despite being published by a tiny company that few people will ever notice. This is only the second Atomic Robo miniseries that I've tried out (plus two Free Comic Book Day specials), and my opinions have been mixed. The art has an excellent sense of comic timing that works well with the "big tough robot wades into action with… SCIENCE!" approach, but the overall visual appearance (especially the coloring and many backgrounds) are so simple as to feel distractingly half-done. The writing is spot-on sometimes but feels phoned in at other times. I never knew from issue to issue whether to expect to enjoy it.
Fortunately, the latest miniseries is more consistent overall. The plot (a young Robo joins a vigilante hero team and is so eager he doesn't notice how much he gets in the way) doesn't feel very original in a medium that's already centered on superheroes, but it makes up for that by fleshing out an important time in Robo's past. His relationship to Tesla takes center stage, and the plot stays fun and light throughout. Despite the superhero overtones, this series is light on the action, as it's the intelligent sense of humor that draws the fans. If you are the kind of person who has an opinion on the rivalry between Tesla and Thomas Edison, you'll enjoy it too.
Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth
This is the first attempt to translate the wildly popular webcomic ("written by a 6-year-old and illustrated by his 30-year-old brother!") to a print-only series. The results are mixed at times, since some padding and abrupt plot changes are needed to flesh a childish flight of imagination out to over sixty pages. On the whole, though, this is still very fun. By the third and final issue, it really seems to hit a stride. The key to filling the space turns out to be large splash pages of everything that is especially exciting. While splash pages usually feel like useless padding in comics, they are the perfect way to portray a child's excitement at his own awesome imagination. In a story whose chief villain turns out to be "an evil magician woman riding a gorilla riding a lion", that's very appropriate.
Days Missing: Kestus
I never read the first Days Missing miniseries, but I decided to try the second after being introduced to Phil Hester through The Anchor. This was less impressive.
Days Missing is the story of The Steward, a man who lives outside of time and visits key points in history to help shepherd humanity along a noble path. This second miniseries chronicles his interaction with another immortal named Kestus. But as she experiences the flow of time normally, she doesn't have the distant, optimistic viewpoint of The Steward. After countless years among primitive humanity, she is cynical and has little respect for them.
It's a clever set-up for a conflict, but nothing very interesting is done with it. The slow build-up to learning about the two characters is time-wasting rather than intriguing, and once the foils have gotten to know each other, much of the conflict happens in poorly-executed conversation. The characters' evolution after that point simply feels arbitrary.
The final issue is based around hard-to-follow pseudoscience that lets the two characters face a high-stakes threat. However, the resolution only works to the extent that they tell the reader exactly what it's happening, so there is little reason to care. That lack of reader investment in the story carries through to the final page, which reveals a new major character to lead into the next miniseries.
Fallen Angel: Return of the Son
Now at well over 60 issues, Fallen Angel is an impressive success story for an indie comic. However, too much of the output in recent years has been inessential cross-overs with other indie characters. It's good to see Return of the Son, which is also a return to form for the series: Characters from Judeo-Christian apocrypha vying for power in the mystical "city that shapes the world". At long last, the main plot is moving forward again, and even J. K. Woodward's painted art has stopped feeling static and distracting to me.
However, this is still not an especially strong entry in the Fallen Angel canon. If I were to describe the plot from a high level, it would sound like a fun, interesting story. When actually reading it, though, the details seem to be missing. Some characters want to kill each other all of a sudden. Significant backstory is explained, but as a simple infodump. And the major status quo changes at the end are based on a decision that seems out of character. If this were part of the DC or Marvel universes, I would complain that this feels rushed in order to make editorially-madated changes. Since it's creator-owned, though, I'm not sure what Peter David's reasoning is. Perhaps he decided that if he is only going to advance the plot every few years, he can't afford to waste any time when he gets the chance.
Return of the Son is an enjoyable addition to the Fallen Angel library, but if you're not already a reader, there's nothing to bring you in.
The New York Five
The New York Four was the standout of DC's failed "Minx" line a few years ago. In a sad nod to market realities, DC has decided that it won't hurt sales to simply publish the sequel to that aimed-at-preteen-girls story in their "mature readers" Vertigo line. Never mind that this story of freshmen college girls is a little glib, and works better as an energetic looking-forward-to-growing-up story than nuanced look back at youth.
If that's what it took to get this story published, though, it's worth it. The main draw, as always, is Ryan Kelly's spectacular art. His expressive, distinct characters truly come alive on the page, and it's a crime that he isn't regarded as one of the best artists in the industry. Kelly's characters feel so real that they can easily help the reader accept otherwise iffy writing. That's the case here: I've never understood Brian Wood's strong fanbase. He's a solid, well-intentioned author, who truly tries to focus on people in an industry that's more interested in events, but his characters and plots sometimes fall short of the depth that he attempts. In this case, we never see the threads that hold this group of friends together throughout their exaggerated college adventures, and the fifth member who is added never gets the time to make her story have any emotional weight. However, Wood still acquits himself surprisingly well at the end, with a closing that almost seems tailor-made to address those criticisms of mine, and does slip in some of that "nuanced look back at youth" that the series otherwise lacked. It's a worthy conclusion to the series.
Brian Clevinger
David Marquez
Ethan Nicolle
J.K. Woodward
Malachai Nicolle
Phil Hester
Scott Wegener
Trackback from : Spider-Man: Big Time (Comic Review) « Cult of the New
Trackback from : Comic Capsule Reviews: Ongoing Indie Series « Cult of the New
A: A future classic. Check it out.
B: Recommended. If this sounds good to you, you're probably right.
C: Eh. Not bad, but not worth the effort.
D: This is bad.
F: Truly awful. I don't know how it got published.
Metablogging
Webcomics Roundup: Trends for 2014
So Much for January
John le Carré – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Book Review)
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (Movie Review)
Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones – Foreverly (Music Review)
Android: Netrunner Genesis Cycle (Game Review)
Obits – Beds & Bugs
JD Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers – Wild Moon (Music Review)


What an insightful comment/poem. I know the feeling of defensiveness when a comment "attacks" someone on a blog. I sadly do take them very personally, but I am learning to simply say, "press 'next blog' please".
I will follow your links and look forward to some challenging reading.
Am always glad for comments and the ones that have a bit of sting (so to speak) make me think.
"Dilemma" is from the ancient Greek words di, "two," and lemma, "premise, thing taken." When you write about life---about the every day---of autism, you do indeed have a dilemma, how to get in all the ugly, bad, etc. and also the kalokagathia. Some might strive to keep these separate----as if the latter are "things to remember" and the former "things to forget." Myself, I like to mix things up; I like to stir the pot, sully the neat-cut strands of noodles with a spoonful of brown sauce, turn up the heat so the flavors meld together and the bits of minced ginger dissolve.
I wonder whether it is very naive to hope that this longer version might be a little more truthful and balanced?
Oops, forgot to mention: I was referring to that "Autism speaks" film, of course.
Actually, I have put comments back onto my blog, but with certain controls.
It is not about disagreeing with me, sting, spice, or any of the more interesting comments you and Kristina mention. It is about personal attacks. The anonymous comments that hurt me were about me personally (my body, my self image) and not about my autism beliefs. Even if they did not get what I said or what I'm about, it still hurts.
I, like you, welcome controversy. I post controversial things. Mom NOS, you do, too. But I do not welcome ad hominem insults.
I know plenty of people who've totally turned off comments on their blog (but mostly designers) and teh quality of their posting has not been affected.
As far as idiots go - meh - who cares? If you wanted to you could implement Haloscan (be careful, it deletes all comments made before it was installed) which allows you to ban commenter's and edit comments.
Off-topic (this relates to the Teletubbies Thanksgiving Massacre) but, I told my husband about your plight and he recommended setting your Google filter (maybe you can do this on other search engines as well) to SafeSearch Filtering. However, I don't know if this will filter out all the other "adult content".
Or has Bud already cracked that code?
This seems like a good post to mention that I came across your blog by chance a short time ago (Huzzah for "Next Blog" buttons!) and have been greatly enjoying current posts and looking back over the archives.
Having no children (yet?) and little experience with autism, I haven't had any particulary useful or insightful comments to contribute, but I just wanted to let you know how much I've been enjoying the reading.
Susan, thanks for the tip! I didn't know about Google filters but we will definitely check it out.
Marilyn, thanks so much for "de-lurking" and popping in with your comment - and thanks for your kind words! Don't be a stranger!
My ever-loving is a computer engineer. He has a few suggestions for family-friendly security measures. If you'd like, I will ask him to email them to you. Let me know if you're interested.
FWIW - Yes! I'd love to get suggestions. Thanks so much!
that was beautifully put, ulyyf. truly.
I only found it because I was looking for the *original* post to share with somebody who... well, I'm not going to reach her in regards to her own kid, I think. She wants to be mad at people.


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Tyne & Wear selected
Siemens Desiro train deal creates 300 new Hebburn jobs
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-13791214
Image caption Staff in Hebburn will be working the new Siemens Desiro train
Engineering giant Siemens is creating up to 300 new jobs on South Tyneside in a deal to build train carriages.
The company is part of a consortium which will build and maintain 1,200 vehicles and two depots for the massive Thameslink project.
The jobs will be created at the company's facility in Hebburn, which already employs about 100 people.
Earlier this year Hitachi confirmed a factory in County Durham would build rolling stock for high-speed trains.
Announcing Siemens as the preferred bidder for the project, Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said: "This announcement is further proof of the government's commitment to investing in Britain's future."
Steve Scrimshaw, managing director for Siemens' rolling stock business in the UK, said: "We are delighted to have been selected as preferred bidder.
"The new and highly-innovative Desiro City Train, designed specifically for the UK commuter market, will deliver significantly better reliability and energy efficiency, as well as vastly improved passenger access and comfort."
Newton Aycliffe train factory will create 500 jobs
Railways to get £8bn investment
County Durham train plant decision delayed
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EU in Action
Why is the EU planning to introduce a ban on single use plastics?
Seth Dervey | May 28, 2018 | Climate, News | No Comments
Ocean litter is an important issue, and protecting marine wildlife has been made a priority by the EU. Recent research has shown that a patch of plastic waste has now formed in the Pacific Ocean, mainly consisting of plastic containers and packaging, as well as fishing nets and equipment. Reports have even shown that particles of microplastic are present at Point Nemo in the Southern Ocean, which is close to 1700 miles from the nearest inhabited land.
In light of this ongoing environmental concern, the EU has now proposed to extend its current regulations on plastic in a bid to address the issue. The new proposal is a ban on all single use plastics. There is currently no deadline; however, officials are pushing for the law to be passed in the near future – although it still needs the approval of all the member states and the European Parliament.
Why does the EU think the ban is necessary?
In a recent statement, EU First Vice-President Frans Timmermans is quoted saying: "Plastic waste is undeniably a big issue and Europeans need to act together to tackle this problem. Today's proposals will reduce single-use plastics on our supermarket shelves through a range of measures. We will ban some of these items and substitute them with cleaner alternatives, so people can still use their favourite products."
The EU believes that the ban is necessary, not only to protect marine wildlife, but for various other reasons including:
It's believed that the ban would reduce carbon emissions by around 3.4 million tonnes
The ban could also prevent damage to the environment, which could save €22bn by the year 2030
Not only would it benefit the environment, it's also estimated that it could save consumers €6.5bn
Which products would it affect?
If the proposed ban is passed by the European parliament, it would include a large number of everyday items. In particular, it would target food containers like plastic plates, cups and cutlery as well as plastic packaging. The EU also wants to see 90% of plastic bottles being recycled by the year 2025.
How would it work?
In order for the ban to be effective, all member states would need to prove that they're making an active effort to reduce the amount of single use plastic that's available for sale to the public. They would also make it compulsory for producers to label products in a way that informs consumers about how plastic waste is disposed of and the effect it has on the environment. In addition to this, companies that produce single use plastic products would be offered incentive if they switch to sustainable materials. They could also be made to contribute to waste disposal costs, including paying for the collection of plastic waste from ports.
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Spain calls for services to be prioritised in post-Brexit EU deal
Germany debates whether to increase VAT on meat
Report says EU must invest €20 billion in infrastructure for EV's by 2030
EU data shows last year was the hottest on record for Europe
EU court rules that Airbnb isn't a property broker
Copyright © 2020 EU Policies.


text:
After More Than Laughs
Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them is a two-by-four swung with vigor at politicos, pundits, and journalists whose homes are decidedly right of center.
By Brad Risinger | Updated on October 06, 2003
The original version of this story was published on Legal Times


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Mutinus borneensis is a species of fungus in the Phallaceae, or stinkhorn family. It was originally in described 1879 by Italian botanist Vincenzo de Cesati. The species has been collected from Borneo, China, and Australia.

References

External links
Mutinus borneensis at Index Fungorum

Phallales
Fungi of Australia
Fungi of China

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package ru.job4j.collections.generic;

public class RoleStore extends AbstractStore<Role> implements Store {

}


text:
scarlett pomers net worth
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scarlett pomers net worth 2020


text:
<?php
namespace RocketTheme\Toolbox\File;

use \Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml as YamlParser;

/**
 * Implements Markdown File reader.
 *
 * @package RocketTheme\Toolbox\File
 * @author RocketTheme
 * @license MIT
 */
class MarkdownFile extends File
{
    /**
     * @var string
     */
    protected $extension = '.md';

    /**
     * @var array|File[]
     */
    static protected $instances = array();

    /**
     * Get/set file header.
     *
     * @param array $var
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function header(array $var = null)
    {
        $content = $this->content();

        if ($var !== null) {
            $content['header'] = $var;
            $this->content($content);
        }

        return $content['header'];
    }

    /**
     * Get/set markdown content.
     *
     * @param string $var
     *
     * @return string
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    public function markdown($var = null)
    {
        $content = $this->content();

        if ($var !== null) {
            $content['markdown'] = (string) $var;
            $this->content($content);
        }

        return $content['markdown'];
    }

    /**
     * Get/set frontmatter content.
     *
     * @param string $var
     *
     * @return string
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    public function frontmatter($var = null)
    {
        $content = $this->content();

        if ($var !== null) {
            $content['frontmatter'] = (string) $var;
            $this->content($content);
        }

        return $content['frontmatter'];
    }

    /**
     * Check contents and make sure it is in correct format.
     *
     * @param array $var
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    protected function check($var)
    {
        $var = (array) $var;
        if (!isset($var['header']) || !is_array($var['header'])) {
            $var['header'] = array();
        }
        if (!isset($var['markdown']) || !is_string($var['markdown'])) {
            $var['markdown'] = '';
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        return $var;
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    /**
     * Encode contents into RAW string.
     *
     * @param string $var
     * @return string
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    protected function encode($var)
    {
        // Create Markdown file with YAML header.
        $o = (!empty($var['header']) ? "---\n" . trim(YamlParser::dump($var['header'], 20)) . "\n---\n\n" : '') . $var['markdown'];

        // Normalize line endings to Unix style.
        $o = preg_replace("/(\r\n|\r)/", "\n", $o);

        return $o;
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     * Decode RAW string into contents.
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     * @param string $var
     * @return array mixed
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    protected function decode($var)
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            'header' => false,
            'frontmatter' => ''
        ];

        $frontmatter_regex = "/^---\n(.+?)\n---\n{0,}(.*)$/uis";

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        $var = preg_replace("/(\r\n|\r)/", "\n", $var);

        // Parse header.
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        if(!empty($m)) {
            $content['frontmatter'] = preg_replace("/\n\t/", "\n    ", $m[1]);

            // Try native PECL YAML PHP extension first if available.
            if ($this->setting('native') && function_exists('yaml_parse')) {
                $data = $content['frontmatter'];
                if ($this->setting('compat', true)) {
                    // Fix illegal @ start character.
                    $data = preg_replace('/ (@[\w\.\-]*)/', " '\${1}'", $data);
                }

                // Safely decode YAML.
                $saved = @ini_get('yaml.decode_php');
                @ini_set('yaml.decode_php', 0);
                $content['header'] = @yaml_parse("---\n" . $data . "\n...");
                @ini_set('yaml.decode_php', $saved);
            }

            if ($content['header'] === false) {
                // YAML hasn't been parsed yet (error or extension isn't available). Fall back to Symfony parser.
                $content['header'] = (array) YamlParser::parse($content['frontmatter']);
            }
            $content['markdown'] = $m[2];
        } else {
            $content['header'] = [];
            $content['markdown'] = $var;
        }

        return $content;
    }
}


IGas share price jumps 20 per cent after Ineos deal | City A.M.
Shares in IGas have jumped this morning, after the announcement of its £30m shale gas deal with Switzerland's Ineos, which will give the latter access to IGas shale sites in the north west and East Midlands regions of England.
IGas, the UK's biggest shale gas explorer, saw its share price jump 23 per cent at 30 pence per share today. Shares in the firm have shed around 16 per cent this year amid uncertainty around UK shale gas legislation.
The deal means Ineos will invest up to £138m in the development of IGas's shale gas sites across the UK. Earlier deals with French firms Total and GDF Suez means total partner investment is now $285m (£189m).
This is good news for IGas which, like its competitors, has come under pressure from the global commodity rout. Oil prices have shed around 50 per cent since June last year, and they fell to just $45 per barrel in mid-January.
"Alongside the commitment from our existing partners, INEOS's commitment of upfront cash and considerable capital investment will help fund us through the next steps of our shale appraisal and production programme," Andrew Austin, chief executive of IGas, said.
"This transaction, together with our existing partnerships with Total and GDF, reinforces the potential and materiality of our portfolio to world class counter-parties and strongly positions us as we seek to work together to unlock the potential of our untapped natural gas resources in Britain."
Ineos gave an optimistic outlook for the UK's shale gas industry today, saying it would drive economic growth.
"INEOS believes that an indigenous Shale gas industry will transform UK manufacturing, and that we can extract the gas safely and responsibly," Gary Haywood, chief executive of INEOS Upstream, said.


text:
COLDWELL BANKER ISLAND AFFILIATES IN THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS AND HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL IN THE UNITED KINGDOM ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP
L-R: Rebecca Adlington, Marc Goldberg Head of Sales at Hamptons International, Phil Tennant Chief Operating Officer at Hamptons International accept Best Large Agency UK from John Notley of Zoopla.co.uk
Coldwell Banker Island Affiliates, the Master Franchise of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. in the Caribbean and Atlantic Island region and Hamptons International, a leading estate agency in the United Kingdom, announce their exclusive partnership. This agreement strengthens the scope and reach of both companies enabling them to offer property buyers and sellers a superior level of real estate service on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
The agreement allows for additional exposure of all of Coldwell Banker Island Affiliates' property listings to be marketed by Hamptons International and also displayed on their website, www.hamptons.co.uk.
Coldwell Banker Island Affiliates has been in business since 1997, when Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. began pursuing their vision of a global real estate company. The islands of the Atlantic and the Caribbean were one of the first areas targeted for expansion of the Brand being just off the shores of the USA. The Master Franchise area known as Coldwell Banker Island Affiliates (CBIA) comprises all the islands from Bermuda on the North, Aruba and Curacao to the South, Cuba to the West and Barbados to the East.
Today, CBIA has 21 offices covering 15 different islands throughout the Caribbean and Atlantic island region. Hamptons International is a leading residential agency operating in London, the South of the UK and overseas. With more than 140 years of experience in the property market and a commitment to industry innovation and exceptional levels of customer service, Hamptons International today offers a wealth of award-winning services including UK and international Sales, Lettings, Property Management, Corporate Services, Residential Development, Development Land and Valuation, and Property Finance. Headquartered in London's Mayfair, Hamptons International has an international network of more than 85 offices and is a subsidiary of Countrywide, the UK's largest estate agency and property services group.
"This agreement is a smart move on the part of both companies. There has long been a connection between the Caribbean and the UK. Many people from the UK are looking to buy property in the Caribbean, so the agreement makes sense to have reputable real estate agents on both ends of the transaction," said Jim Reed, Managing Director of CBIA.
"We are proud to have Hamptons International as a referral partner in the UK." Alasdair Hedley, Head of International at Hamptons International, says: "The demand for second homes outside of the UK is gaining momentum and we're thrilled to have extended our partnership with Coldwell Banker to include Coldwell Banker Island Affiliates. Traditionally the Caribbean has been a real hotspot for our buyers and we're looking forward to capitalizing on the opportunities that this partnership will bring."
About Coldwell Banker' Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker' organization has been a premier full-service real estate provider. The Coldwell Banker System has approximately 3,100 residential real estate offices and approximately 85,000 sales associates in 51 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker System is a leader in the industry in residential and commercial real estate, and in niche markets such as resort, new home and luxury property through its Coldwell Banker Previews International division. It is a pioneer in consumer services with its Coldwell Banker Concierge Service Program and award-winning Web site, www.coldwellbanker.com. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. Coldwell Banker' is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Each office is independently owned and operated.
About Hamptons International Hamptons International is a leading residential estate agent and property services organization, operating in London and the South of the UK. With more than 140 years of experience in the property market and a commitment to industry innovation and exceptional levels of customer service, Hamptons International today offers a wealth of award-winning services including UK and international Sales, Lettings, Property Management, Corporate Services, Residential Development, Land, Valuation and Property Finance. Headquartered in London's Mayfair, Hamptons International has an international network of more than 85 offices and is a subsidiary of Countrywide, the UK's largest estate agency and property services group.