text:
Need Some Help? (Contact Us)
Register Login Sign up for our newsletter
Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.
DIY: How to Polish Your Manuscript with Editing and Art Services
By Alex Palmer
To ensure a manuscript is polished before publication, tap the talents of outside professionals.
A common pitfall for self-published authors is to release a book before it's actually ready for readers. While you may have constructed an entertaining and marketable work, it won't make a difference if readers are too distracted by typos, an amateurish cover, or inconsistent formatting to get past the first page.
One of the best ways to ensure a manuscript is polished before publication is to tap the talents of outside professionals, including an editor, proofreader, and designer. Here's how.
1. Hire an Editor
Before you publish your book for the world to enjoy, first consider hiring an editor to read over the manuscript to catch any issues you may have overlooked. This does not mean asking a friend or spouse to give it a read (though that's also a good step to take), but securing the services of someone who edits manuscripts for a living and can offer objective, honest advice.
"You want someone neutral who can read your book with fresh eyes," says Dara Beevas, creative director and co-owner of boutique publishing company Wise, Ink, and author of The Indie Author Revolution: An Insider's Guide to Self-Publishing. "They should have a similar experience as a reader who would pick up your book knowing nothing else about it."
For a 50,000-word manuscript, an author can expect to pay at least $1,500 for a professional edit, which might scare off budget-conscious writers. But services can often be secured for lower costs from a number of sources, including:
Editorial Freelancers Association (an organization of writing professionals, with a searchable directory that includes bios and books edited);
Writer.ly (a marketplace of editors and other writing service professionals, ranging in experience and prices);
LinkedIn (advanced searches allow you to sort based on location or genre experience);
Local editor communities, such as Professional Editors Network based in the Twin Cities, and Bay Area Editors' Forum in San Francisco.
Editors specialize, so find one that has edited manuscripts in your genre. After selecting an editor, go over the specifics of the book with him or her and consider having the editor edit a sample chapter before confirming them for the whole project.
2. Track Down a Designer
"Books from all publishers now compete in the online space on equal footing. In exchange for a level playing field, [self-publishers] have to meet the standards set by traditional publishers, or face the possibility their books will suffer by comparison."
While we're told not to judge books by their covers, few readers follow this advice when searching out a book online.
"Books from all publishers now compete in the online space on equal footing," says Joel Friedlander, a book design veteran who runs the self-publishing blog The Book Designer. "In exchange for a level playing field, [self-publishers] have to meet the standards set by traditional publishers, or face the possibility their books will suffer by comparison."
One way to compete on this level is to track down a big-league designer. Go to a bookstore and note the designers of book covers that have the look you would like for your book. Even those working for major publishers are often open for a quick freelance project on the side, and may charge a cheaper rate than you would expect.
Authors can also seek out designers through an agency or their individual websites, which will include samples of each designer's work.
Those looking for a less expensive option should check out design bidding sites such as crowdSPRING or 99designs where you can crowdsource a designer from dozens of proposed designs.
3. Secure a Proofreader
While an editor can identify major issues an author has overlooked, a proofreader can handle the nit-picky points. Proofreaders can often be found through the same organizations as editors, listed above, but online proofreaders are also available and offer quick turnaround times and reasonable rates, though their service can be more impersonal than going directly to a proofreader. These include:
GoProofreading.com,
Proof-editing.com;
Scribendi.com.
It will cost at least another $500 to $1,000 for proofreading (which typically costs a penny to a penny and a half per word). The costs of all these services can add up, and a self-publisher will want to decide carefully which of these areas are worth a greater investment than others. But when the alternative is a book filled with avoidable errors, the investment might seem like pocket change.
image-here
Retail & Libraries
PR & Reviews
Finance & Funding
Agents & Industry
PW SELECT
ABOUT PRIZE
© by Booklife LLC and PWxyz LLC. All rights reserved.
Site Engineered by Mediapolis; Designed by Sonya Balchandani
Subscribe me to the Booklife Newsletter


When I was a girl my mum called me Chicken Liver.
I have no idea why? Despite the strange offally tag, it was said sweetly, as a term of endearment. I'm a little sheepish to admit that I still get it when I'm a bit poorly, as I have been this week.
In need of a bit of comfort, I do like to spend a bit of time with 'The Girls'. Anyone who has had chickens will tell you they're a bit like dogs with wings. They are always pleased to see you and run at you whenever they hear you coming... Probably because they expect you have food.
And sadly for them, they make great soup. Which is another thing I crave when I'm a bit low.
Beat egg, cheese and parsley in a bowl. Boil your stock and add egg mix. Count to three and stir. Serve hot with buttered sourdough. You'll be better in no time.


After our heady series of events on Saturday, it was Wednesday bookgroup last night, and today (Thursday) we ran two storytimes to coincide with World Book Day. The 2pm session was a very tight squeeze in the children's room, so for the 3.45 session we decamped into the main part of the shop. Thanks to everyone who came along, and listened to Alison and I reading some of our favourite children's stories, we hope you enjoyed our selection!
The big event this week, however, was our Spread The Word: Books To Talk About event on Monday. Of the ten authors shortlisted for the £5,000 first prize (announced today), we were honoured and delighted to welcome two of them - Angela Young and Eliza Graham - to Abingdon for the evening.
It was a small triumph that - considering both are first-time authors - we were able to fill the shop on a Monday evening, testament to the success of the Books To Talk About competition, and the quality of the books themselves. Both Angela and Eliza are hugely erudite and entertaining speakers, by the way, and talk about their writing lives with a great deal of passion and honesty.
I'd pitched the event as a chance to hear two first-time authors talk about their experiences of getting published, and the impact of being shortlisted on their writing careers, as much as being about the books themselves. Both authors willingness to be extremely candid (!) together with plenty of interaction from the audience combined to create a great deal of energy throughout the evening, making it possibly the most enjoyable (and certainly the most satisfying) event we've ever run in the shop.
We also had at least three bloggers at the event (that I know about, and not including the authors!) and Simon Thomas has written a wonderful review of the event, which will probably put my ham-fisted, sleep-deprived prose to shame - but here goes.
I asked both authors to first give me an overview of their "route to the shortlist" - how they got published, how they got on the longlist, and the impact of being in with a shout of the prize on Thursday.
Eliza is now published by Pan, but she came up originally through Macmillan New Writing, Macmillan's groundbreaking publishing initiative once cruelly (and very inaccurately) dubbed the "Ryanair of publishing". In fact, her experiences very closely mirrored those of Jonathan Drapes, another MNW author, who we had at Mostly Books last year: wonderful support, excellent editing, a publisher using revolutionary 21st century technology, such as email submission of manuscripts - fancy that!
Having had "mixed" experiences of an agent previously, Eliza appreciates the straight dealing with Macmillan. As you'd expect from one of publishing's aristocrats, they were very smart in marketing her book. It narrowly missed being on the Richard & Judy list, and was then submitted for the Spread The Word 100 Books To Talk About.
Angela on the other hand has been published by Beautiful Books, a tiny independent publisher based in London. Her route to the shortlist couldn't have been more different - and it's very revealing in what it says about the realities of an author getting their book noticed even after it's been published. Authors (even those who have achieved some success) are increasingly expected to market (and sometimes even sell) their own books. Angela's experiences show what you can do by getting creative if - crucially - you have a quality book, and you have belief in it.
Angela originally googled "small, independent publishers" and chose seven from the search results. One of them happened to be just around the corner from where she lived, they loved her book, and it was published in hardback midway through last year.
Angela also searched for resources on marketing her book - including all the awards available to first time authors - and worked very closely with her publisher on submissions to several awards she thought the book was best suited to. One very strong element for Angela is the cover design - in fact, Waterstone's admitted that (prior to the shortlisting) the cover design was a huge factor in selecting her book.
Having got on the shortlist, life has become pretty hectic for the two authors. Eliza admitted that it's helped her internally within Macmillan, being summoned to a few more marketing meetings with the reps. For Angela, the effect of being shortlisted is a huge vote of confidence for a book whose journey has taken several years. And of course all the publicity should ensure healthy sales - nothing less than both of them deserve.
Both writers also admitted cheerfully to innovative (but ethical!) techniques to maximise their chances of winning. The feeling was that this aspect of the competition - what is essentially a "Pop Idol" of books - has some weaknesses and does leave the award open to criticism (Candi Miller recently blogged about this for the Guardian). Both had suggestions of ways the competition could improve next year, and if you think about it, changes might need to be made. Next year everyone will be in on the secret and looking to 'game the system'.
Having discussed how the books got on the list, I thought it best if we found out some more about the books themselves - here are both authors reading extracts, courtesy of YouTube.
After more questions, we did what we always do at Mostly Books events and break the formal part of the evening, allowing people to talk directly with the authors, refill their wine glasses and get books signed. I was particularly pleased to be able to introduce various people who, before Monday evening, had only swapped comments on blogs. The Internet can be a heady experience for authors, but it is always nice to be able to step out of the sometimes ephemeral and transitory world of blogs, websites and emails, get to the know real people and make proper connections in the flesh - John Naisbitt's "high touch" against the "high tech".
It really was a great evening, and I'd like to thank everyone who came and contributed. Everyone was very complimentary about the shop and the way the event was run, so it was unfortunate that I completely forgot to ask either author to sign books for the shop at the end of evening. Thanks to Angela for coming back in the next day to remedy this (Eliza will be coming back Saturday morning). Room for improvement there I feel.
This morning Jonathan Trigell's Boy A was announced as The Book To Talk About 2008, but you know, I don't think it's going to matter too much to the other authors on the list. The shortlisting itself has given all of the authors a chance to set out on extremely successful writing careers, and both Angela and Eliza have earned their opportunity through sheer talent and merit. I hope they enjoy the ride.
What a wonderful report of a wonderful evening. Thank you, Mark.
But your modesty has prevented you from saying a couple of things, so I'll say them for you. First you chaired the evening with such enthusiasm, knowledge and humour - it couldn't have been the success it was without your obvious love of books and the way you make people feel so very welcome at Mostly Books. Abingdon is a lucky town to have you and Nicki and Mostly Books in their midst.
And, second, your modesty prevented you from blogging about your superb course for first-time writers, Shelf Secrets, which I came to last August and which gave me such insight into what it is that booksellers are looking for (things that I had no idea about and which I think most first-time writers don't know about). After Shelf Secrets I approached several indy booksellers with Speaking of Love and had some success, but the most important thing I discovered from that course was how important it is for a writer to get behind her book. The work doesn't stop when a publisher says 'yes'; it's then that a different kind of work begins.
You are an inspiration, Mark, thank you.
Thank you for this post. I couldn't come on Monday evening, so it was good to have your account and in particular the YouTube extracts.


The 10'6″ Elite has stainless steel or ceramic guides. It is a Medium action rod with plenty of backbone but with a slightly softer tip than the Pro Series. Best use is for vertical fishing or strolling with a baitcasting or micro reel. However, a spinning reel can be used.
This little beast of a rod has a sensitive tip with good backbone. Designed for vertical fishing. It's light enough to hold all day…every day.
The 7′ Todd Huckabee signature series Dingo rod. Its super sensitive tip and stout backbone make it the perfect rod for dock fishing as well as for Cast & Drag.


The high level of innovation currently transforming our society and its technological dynamics can be seen as a second wave of innovation of the third technological system, which emerged in the late 1970s.
This book discusses the concept of technological systems, focusing on the tools used for formalizing the organization of technology in society and its dynamics of evolution.
The author uses these tools to characterize the contemporary technological system and to model its specific dynamics. In doing so, he raises questions about the continuity of the current technological system, and its capacity to generate powerful innovatory movements.
1. How Can a Technological System be Understood and Analyzed?
2. The Historical Dynamics of Technological Systems: Putting the Contemporary Technological System into Historical Perspective.
3. The Contemporary Technological System Emerges from the Previous One or the Third Technological Revolution.
4. Formation of the Third Technological System and First Wave of the New Technological System.
5. The Second Wave of the Third Technological System.
6. The Second Wave of the Technology System Transforms and Reorganizes? Economy and Social Systems.
Smaïl Aït-El-Hadj is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Head of the Innovation Research Unit at the ITECH-University of Lyon, France. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Innovation Research Network.


Explore Your History. Discover Your Pride.
June 7th, 2017, Los Angeles, CA: THE LAVENDER EFFECT® and Out & About Tours launch the PRIDE Explorer™ App – the 1st and only self-guided Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) and Allied History Tour of Los Angeles that is both educational and entertaining.
PRIDE Explorer's first tour offering is "LGBTinsel Town!" From the historic and haunted Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to the hustler-laden intersection of Hollywood & Vine, and all points in between, PRIDE Explorer's interactive self-guided walking tour will blow the dust off over a century of closeted stars, underground pansy bars, and gay rights battle scars.
The PRIDE Explorer™ is available for download from the App Store and Google Play for $2.99 (www.prideexplorer.com). Net proceeds support THE LAVENDER EFFECT®, a non-profit project of Community Partners that is Advancing the Future of LGBTQ Heritage and Culture. Go to www.thelavendereffect.org for more information about their mission, projects, and to sign up for their email list.
PRIDE Explorer™ was created with both tourists and locals in mind. Gay or straight, young or old, there's no other tour like this in Hollywood! You can experience it from the glittering streets of Hollywood or the comfort of your own home (or closet)! Team Lavender plans to expand the App to feature more historic locations in the near future.
Sign up before June 30th at www.thelavendereffect.org/tours/self-guided/ for a chance to win a Guided VIP Tour for 4 people.


text:
Hot Topics Home and Family
38 years ago, a great film was released to foretell our future
If you love science fiction, Blade Runner is worth viewing
HVP Staff
June 25th, the anniversary of Blade Runner, a movie to remember
I recently booked marked an article by Sadaf Ashan, that reminded me of a favorite movie of my husband, Clay. It has flying cars. Girls with snakes. Robots that are as real as humans. And a music score that should have won those glorious awards. This delicious film is called Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott. And starring, among others, Harrison Ford.
The movie was released on June 25, 1982 but was set thirty-seven years in the future in Los Angeles in November of 2019. For science fiction buffs, you probably know that it is based on American writer Philip K. Dick's novel published in 1968 called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? You may also be familiar with his work produced by Amazon called The Man in the High Castle.
This science fiction film tells the story of a band of advanced replicants who escape back to Earth to meet their creator before their robotic life forms expire.
According to Ashan, "That date (November 20th) has sent Twitter ablaze for weeks leading up to Wednesday, with most social media users commiserating over the fact that we haven't become quite as technologically advanced as the film promised."
I am sorry to say, as of this date, I was not able to find a free version to watch on the streaming services but it's $3.99 to watch with Amazon Prime.
Another film In the Dirk mode is the 2002 movie, Minority Report, staring Tom Cruise. Set in 2054 in Washington, DC, we watch the police use psychic technology to arrest murderers before they actually commit their crime. Based on the turmoil we are currently experiencing, this may not be your cup of tea.
Cell phone's GPS is science fiction becoming reality
I mention the Minority Report because it features technology that may seem close to becoming a reality.
Think about contact tracing. We have used contract tracing for tracking one-to-one contacts when tracking the spread of measles. People, who have the disease are contacted and asked who they have had contact with. But with the newest in technology, states are turning to the GPS location technology we use with our cell phones.
According to the May 12,2020 article from Rollcall.com, governors and mayors who are trying to reopen their economies after nearly eight weeks of lockdown see "contact tracing" done with new technologies as a key to containing the spread of COVID-19.
China and South Korea already have deployed GPS location technology to assist in such tracking. Europe and United Kingdom are developing contact tracing apps.
In April Harvard School of Public Health published an article on studies that are being done using our cell phone data to predict COVID-19 outcomes.
One May 13, 2020 Human Rights Watch published an article that says they are particularly concerned about proposals for the use of mobile location data in the COVID-19 response because the data usually contains sensitive and revealing insights about people's identity, location, behavior, associations, and activities.
Science Fiction…we should read those books and watch those films. Many times, their predictions are spot on.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Man flings currency notes off Bengaluru flyover, faces case
Kerala CPI-M leader's 'lie' exposed in govt order
Kangana returns to Twitter, announces wrap up of her directorial 'Emergency'
Man flings currency notes off Bengaluru flyover, faces case January 24, 2023
Kerala CPI-M leader's 'lie' exposed in govt order January 24, 2023
Kangana returns to Twitter, announces wrap up of her directorial 'Emergency' January 24, 2023
Greg Gonzalez of Cigarettes After Sex reveals his favourite part while performing live January 24, 2023
Breaking News, Crime, Society, Human interest, January 24, 2023, 07:10 pm Daily World
Bengaluru, Jan 24 : An unidentified man flung off currency notes from a Bengaluru flyover on Tuesday, leading to a traffic jam on the roads below as people scrambled to gather the money, police said. The incident was reported from the Mysuru Road flyover in Kalasipalya area. Both pedestrians and vehicle occupants below were taken by total surprise and couldn't believe it when they saw currency notes of Rs 10 denomination falling at their feet from both sides. The development created huge commotion in the usually crowded Kalasipalya locality, as people, in a mad rush to pick the currency notes, created a traffic jam. The traffic cops present at the spot were left at their wit's end. DCP, West, Lakshman Nimbargi stated that a case was filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Karnataka Police Act, a person taken into custody and an inquiry is going on. The identity of the "generous" man and his motive behind the act is yet to be ascertained. /IANS
Bengaluru, Jan 24 : An unidentified man flung off currency notes from a Bengaluru flyover on Tuesday, leading to a traffic jam on the roads below as p
Fake 'ED raid' on jeweller: Mumbai Police crack case in 24 hrs, nab 3
Mumbai, Jan 24 : In a major shocker, a gang of four persons, including a woman, impersonating Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers, "raided" and loot
Judges don't face elections or public scrutiny: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju
[**EDS: IMAGE VIA @RijijuOffice** Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijuju speaks at a function to celebrate the Republic Day 2023 with the memb
Breaking News, Crime, Society, Human interest
Bengaluru, Jan 24 : An unidentified man flung off currency notes from a Bengaluru flyover on Tuesday, leading to a traffic jam on the roads below as people scrambled to gather the money, police said. […]
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 24 : CPI-M's firebrand leader Chintha Jerome, currently the chairperson of the Kerala State Youth Commission, was on Tuesday caught napping as a government order contradicted h […]
Mumbai, Jan 24 : Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is back on the micro-blogging site, Twitter and the very first tweet after her return on the platform talks about her upcoming directorial 'Emergency' […]
Greg Gonzalez of Cigarettes After Sex reveals his favourite part while performing live
Mumbai, Jan 24 : Singer Greg Gonzalez, who is set to perform in India with his band Cigarettes After Sex during the first edition of the Lollapalooza music festival, has shared what he loves best whil […]


text:
Happy Good Luck To Us All Year
This is the photographic difference, one-of-'em, anyway, of chemical film photography and electronic digital. It's technically bad, but has a look that can't be imitated,
I can't believe how right up my alley this is. Sent to me by Eric Marth.
https://amusine.typepad.com/art/sardine-can-labels-as-art.html
I eat at least 160 cans of sardines a year. I save the tins to put bike photos and bike related golden gems of universal truth into 'em. I'm way behind--don't send me your sardine cans, please--I've bot at least 180 cleaned and ready, but they're all bland now. Sardine can art, the decline thereof, mirrors a lot of stuff happening. There are much bigger things to cry about, but still.
PENCIL, only incidentally
Matthew Grimes, 13, left, and brother David, 11, started participating in e-sports as an alternative to in-person athletics during the pandemic. Photo by Jake Dockins for The New York Times. Look at their sox.
THE E-SPORTS GENERATION
Step Aside, LeBron and Dak, and Make Room for Banjo and Kazooie
Kids were already drifting away from traditional sports before the pandemic, with ramifications for the entire sports industry. The trend has accelerated in the pandemic.
FRISCO, Texas — A miniature basketball hoop hangs from the bedroom door. Soccer trophies are prominent on the dresser. Each sport competes for the time and attention of David and Matthew Grimes. But both are losing ground to another staple of adolescence: the video game console.
David, 13, and Matthew, 11, are fledgling e-sports athletes.
David thumbs his controllers and listens to strategy talk from a YMCA coach on Monday nights. On Wednesday, he takes on all comers. Matthew has league play on Thursday. At least one weekend a month, they compete in a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament.
David and Matthew are part of a surging migration among members of Generation Z — as those born from 1997 to 2012 are often labeled — away from the basketball courts and soccer fields built for previous generations and toward the PlayStations and Xboxes of theirs.
It's not a zero-sum game: Many children, including the Grimeses, enjoy sports both virtual and physical. But it's clear that the rise of e-sports has come at the expense of traditional youth sports, with implications for their future and for the way children grow up.
E-sports got a boost, especially at the grass-roots level, during the pandemic. Between at-home learning and the shutdown of youth sports, a high-tech generation found even more escape and engagement on its smartphones and consoles.
Participation in youth sports was declining even before Covid-19: In 2018, only 38 percent of children ages 6 to 12 played team sports on a regular basis, down from 45 percent in 2008, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
In June 2020, the pandemic's early days, 19 percent of parents with kids in youth sports said their child was not interested in playing sports, according to a survey conducted by The Aspen Institute's Sports and Society Program. By September 2021, that figure was 28 percent.
On average, children play less than three years in a sport and quit by age 11, according to the survey. Why? Mostly, because it is not fun anymore.
The implications are global. There are currently more than 2.4 billion gamers — about one-third of the world's population, according to Statista, an international marketing and consumer data firm based in Germany. There are professional teams around the world that compete in tournaments for prize pools up to $34 million as well as tens of thousands of other competitions with prize money or contested in school and recreational leagues, accounting for more than a $1 billion in global e-sports revenues.
The effect on traditional sports is just one of the concerns often expressed about this phenomenon. The proliferation of e-sports conjures images of children eating sugary snacks late into the night as they stare at their screens. Research, however, doesn't fully support this, with a 2019 German study finding only "a slight positive correlation" between gaming and body mass in adults, but not children.
Some youth sports coaches seem to understand the spell video games cast over their players. In 2018, a lacrosse coach in New Jersey decided if he could not beat them, he'd join them. He gave a pregame talk that demonstrated his deep knowledge of Fortnite, and it ricocheted through social media.
"This is just like Fortnite, just like Battle Royale," he said. "Twenty-four teams, there's four left. You know what? There's four left, we've got Chug Jugs, we've got the golden SCAR. Let's go! This is no different than a Fortnite battle. Let's go win this, baby!"
The waning interest in sports is hardly surprising when 87 percent of teenagers in the United States have iPhones, according to a survey of 10,000 young people by investment bank Piper Sandler, or when 26 percent of Gen Z youths named video games as their favorite entertainment activity, compared to 10 percent who chose watching television.
"There is a lot more stuff competing for the attention of young people — e-sports is a big one," said Dr. Travis E. Dorsch, associate professor and founding director of the Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University. "As kids get older, there is more tug at them academically and socially. We're seeing a lot of dropouts. This creates a reckoning for youth sports."
The more than $19 billion youth sports industrial complex, with its private coaching, interstate travel and $350 baseball bats, shoulders some of the blame. Ten-month seasons in pursuit of a college scholarship in a single sport can mean that kids get yelled at by overzealous coaches and parents spend thousands of dollars on team fees and travel expenses.
"We're at an inflection moment of sports in America," said Tom Cove, president and chief executive of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, which compiles an annual report on participation in sports. "While families were at home during the pandemic, they did not have to drive their kids to practices four nights a week.
"They liked it. They decided that there must be a better way."
For Tony and Dawnita Grimes, that way led them to the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas and a greater appreciation for e-sports.
Frisco, a city of 200,000 about 28 miles north of Dallas, is football country. It is home to The Star, the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys.
David Grimes wears a Cowboys T-shirt and can tell you about the team's quarterback, Dak Prescott. When The Star opened, David was chosen to carry the helmet of linebacker Leighton Vander Esch before a preseason training camp session.
Tony Grimes is a sales executive with PepsiCo. He played high school football growing up in South Los Angeles. Dawnita Grimes, a lawyer, was on dance and tennis teams growing up in Kentucky.
Tony and Dawnita Grimes steer their sons away football because of the risk of injury, but encourage soccer, swimming, basketball and golf. They want the boys to be well rounded, so David plays trumpet and Matthew piano. Sometimes the scramble of school, sports and other activities led to quick dinners or late starts on homework. The Grimeses were busy but adept at conducting the rhythms of family life.
Then came the pandemic. The cancellation of games left the boys with time on their hands.
"Because of Covid, I started to play video games," David Grimes said.
Little brother Matthew was right behind him.
Their mother and father were immersed in their screens, too, and in a surrender familiar to many parents, were not as disciplined as usual about clocking the amount of time their boys were on their devices.
"Oh yeah, it was a lifeline," said Dawnita Grimes. "They were cut off from their friends. Most hadn't exchanged numbers, or they don't know each other's last names. Unless you knew their parents, it was hard to connect, and I hate to say it, except through these games."
Tony Grimes admits that he likes picking up his boys' controllers and trying to master another universe. Beyond the peace and quiet David and Matthew's screen time afforded him, he had a new appreciation for the skills necessary to be competitive.
"You have to be focused, understand strategy and have good hand-eye coordination," he said.
On a recent evening, David carried the game console downstairs so he could tell Matthew, his parents and a visitor what he had learned the previous night from the Y's online tutorial. Both boys held their controllers gently, as if they were holding a bird.
"It's not enough to watch the games, you have to actually play them," David said. "So you have to find a character that you're good with."
"Get Hero or Cloud," Matthew said as his brother clicked through characters.
E-sports let kids have fun with their friends even when they're not together. Audio headsets allow players to talk — or often scream — at one another as if they were sitting side by side. Anyone who has listened to their sons or daughters competing online has heard at least one side of conversation carried out as effortlessly as the cross talk between two basketball players on the playground during a game of HORSE.
"The hierarchy you usually find in traditional sports is gone — everyone is just there," said Dorsch, who was one of the lead investigators on the Aspen Institute research. "It's more of a meritocracy."
He believes that e-sports have evolved that way because of the absence of adult influence at its introductory stage.
"You go to a soccer or basketball program and you can tell immediately the 6-year-olds who are athletic and have talent," Dorsch said. "Their parents see it and think, 'Well, he or she could be really good with better coaching.' "
For kids, that can turn a passion into a pursuit. A costly one, for parents.
In a 2016 study, Dorsch and his colleagues found many households that spent as much as 10.5 percent of their gross income annually — sometimes $20,000 or more — on personal trainers, travel costs and private teams for their children.
"Then it becomes about the adults in the room," he said. "And they want a return on their investment."
In the Grimes family, the love of sports was handed down the traditional way. During one-on-one games on the miniature hoop hanging from the bedroom door, Tony Grimes was always Michael Jordan and David was LeBron James. It offered Tony an opportunity to tell the boys about a hero of his youth and how he compared to a hero of theirs.
Now, those conversations are often reversed. Tony listens to David talk about why he prefers Banjo and Kazooie, Super Smash Bros. characters, over other game avatars. Instead of shooting percentages and scoring averages, the conversation is about B-button moves or side special ones that can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
"So this is my favorite character, but I'm not great at playing him," David said, conjuring a character named Hero onto the screen. "There are some characters that you really want to get good with. I'm not. Yet."
So, Banjo and Kazooie are more important to you than LeBron & Dak?
"Pretty much, yeah," David said, "because those are the characters I have to play with if I want to win a match or a tournament."
A new playing field
He has plenty of chances to compete. In April, the YMCA of America launched a national e-sports pilot in 120 of its U.S. branches. It was an immediate hit in the Dallas area, where more than 500 middle to high school age children have participated in its programs.
"We knew how popular the games were and the fact that tournaments could be held remotely gave us a way to engage with kids during the pandemic," said Rodney Black, program director for the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. "The interest was immediate and continues to grow. The plan is to have an on-site gaming lounge in 2022."
It was just the kind of mainstream recognition that persuaded Dawnita Grimes to open the online world a little wider for her boys.
"You hear the stories about predators, and you worry about how addictive these games are," she said. "Here, it is organized and supervised, and you don't have to worry about bad language and poor sportsmanship."
David has won one tournament and Matthew beat his big brother in another. Still, neither has abandoned soccer and both are looking forward to tennis, golf and swimming in the spring and summer.
David, however, knows there are professionals who have sponsors and can make millions in tournament play. You can almost hear the youth league football coaches pulling their hair out when he talks about it.
"It's safer than other sports. You don't get hurt," he said. "Well, you still have to worry about hands because if your hands get messed up, that's a problem because you got to be able to play the game."
He pauses, then smiles.
"It would be awesome to get paid to play video games."
End of incidental PENCIL
I meant to put this in the last Blahg, but ...didn't do that. It's from around Dec 3 NYT. I always like this guy's columns.
Another film photo that only the guy who took it could like,
This is Will's phone. He got it used and used it harder, but it's still going.
He told me, "sometimes I think I can feel little bits of glass in my skin," but don't just harp on the glass part--look at the edge, too—follow the edge around the whole perimiter. This should be in an Apple ad. There should be a campaign to collect the most beat-up fully functional ones out there. Will's would at least make the top three, and among General Managers of an international bicycle company (technically, we are that), he'd win for sure. Let's see what the phones of the GMs of Trek and Specialized and Giant. Heck, through Felt in there, just for fun.
Will spends money on bikes and cameras, and squeezes a lot out of both. Slick new phones aren't on his list.
WE received three ROSCOPLATZ, Rosco Bubbe (our catch-all brand), one each 50, 55, 60. Up to and including now, but maybe not in the future, Rosco Bubbe has been a catch-all model name for a variet of low-volume (as low as twelve) frames that for one reason or another, we have materials and time to make. And in this case, the current Rosco Bubbe frames, well, the fork maker made a tiny cosmetic error that I swear to dog 95 percent of the custom builders in America wouldn't consider a goof, but they did. The rack-mount holes in the fork crown are sometimes UP TO 3/16th-inch off spec. They work 100 percent as well.
Rather than waste them and make our fork maker sad, we did ye olde lemons-to-lemonade thing and designed these ultra-super frames around them. They're 98 percent Platypus geometry, 100 percent Platypus fit and ride, but we got a deal on the forks and we made plainer (no lugs) frames, and added a bit MORE tie clearance (they fit 55mm tires with fenders), and holy toledo, everybody who's ridden them says a version of the same two things:
(1) "Oh my god, this is what a bike should ride like"; and
(2) "Nobody could ask for any more than this."
They are NOT hillibikes. They look CLEMish. but they're more like Platypuses.
For the prototype colors, James picked a Coca-Cola red that came out a bright red-orange ("James Red," from now on); somebody else picked a Mermaid; and then we got a purple, for wild fun.
James and Vince picked parts for the 50; Sergio for the 55, Antonio, the 60.
Here's something I got in my stocking:
Little known FACT about me, although it's not little-known to my family: I'm a hack, low-level numismatologist. I specialize in 1943 pennies and buffalo/Indian head nickels, with minor forays into Indian-head pennies and with plans to add Walking Liberty dimes and quarters. I don't care about condition or rare dates. I just likem clean, so I boil and then dry them before carefully pouring them into clear cream bottles.
I think I've mentioned these before here. The dates were raised too much and wore off. They were a rare coin that wasn't renewed for a second 25-year term. Only 1913-1938. A one-termer, like the Donald.
Cycling Baggies (formerly "knickers")
Forgive the lengthy details that follow, but it's our way of preventing returns...also addressed below. These are based on our old classique knickers, but with a few changes, mostly improvements:
MUSA military fabric, slight stretch, Berry-compliant (google it). Instead of the all-nylon, they're like 96-4 nylon and spandex. I know this veers off our tweed-and-orgo cotton vibe-theme, but these are better for riding.
The belt-elastic is also Berry/Military spec. The best in the world, or at least the country. It doesn't have to be, but it really is. It's not stitched in, so it's what we here call "theoretically replaceable." You can get your own ¾-inch elastic and buckle. They won't wear out, anyway.
Orange mesh pockets with blue trim. Good water drainage and heap mucho fun, if that's allowed. They're inside pockets, not orange outside.
No buttons on the rear pockets. I never used mine, so I made this unilateral call. I doubt there's a person in the world who'd put a wallet back there and take the time and develop the dexterity to button it, so we have button-free pockets.
No adjustable bottom-of-leg straps. I always felt my floppy straps as I pedaled, so out the window they unilaterally went.
FIT GENERALITIES:
WAIST: The CUT is the same as before, but there's less gathering of elastic, so it feels looser. Basically, they're more vanity-waisted now. If you have our old ones you can get the same size or one size down.
BUTT-'n-THIGHS: Big & baggy. They're not Hammer-pants, but you won't feel restricted in them, so they're good for riding, hiking, all-purpose wear. From knee to hip, I think of them as sized and shaped like segments of baby telephone poles. I rarely wear anything else, and these new ones are my favorite yet.
LEG LENGTH: They're either short long-pants or long knickers. At full length, they're closer to your ankle than your calf.
The lower opening is too wide to hike up over most calves and have them stay put. Easily fixed with a needle and thread, but most people can't handle that, and were sorry. If you're between sizes, you can comfortable size down, and that'll help. If you want to modify yours, pinch the outer seam about an inch, lay a few stitches in there with beeswaxed threat, and finish it off like this or some other way. I've used another way for decades, but this works, and watch the one after it, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f58woIqfz3o
These are more covering than classically flattering. They're like two long wide tubes. You won't fill them out. But they're perfectly good even on-the-town if you're already got your girlfriend or boyfriend, and on a bicycle, they're the best bottoms in the land. They're not waterproof, and we opted out of a DWR (durable water repellent) surface treatment, because they're already fast-dryin' nylon, and the DWR treatment isn't green or durable enough to last even 1/8 the life of these pants, which I estimate (your mileage may vary) is about five and a half years if you wear and ride in them a few hundred days a year.
Color is a dark tan—a medium brown, two notches darker than the color that's sometimes known in the garment industry as "British tan," which is much darker than, but on the same scale as "Pallid American Khaki."
SIZING: See ye olde belowe:
Sizes there are as I measured them laying the, across my lap or on a table. Here are the spec dimensions:
And here are some images of genuine people wearing them:
That's Sergio. He says the smalls are fine in leg width and the waist is fine (but no need to cinch the belt) but he likes the length of the meds.
She had the hardest bike ride to high school in America from about 2007 to 2011: more than 1,100 feet of climbing, round-trip. A car would have taken LONGER, tho, and she had the option of two schools, and that's the one she picked, even knowing the commute. I rode with her for a few years. Actually, most of that time. Always on the way, usually on the way back...but I wasn't allowed to go right up to the school. She often wore flip-flops, even in the winter.
She rides a Glorious every day to work/school. She, too, would never wear these pants, but I mentioned that hey, this is the family business, it's paid for a lot of your stuff and school, so come on, man. And she did.
The thing is, we aren't a clothing company with a staff of pros pattern people. We hire out for help with the patterns and markers, but the shape and details evolved over about 15 years...and they STILL might not be right for you, they might look funky or something, or not sexy, but they work really well.
They're sewn 17 miles from us by a sewing shop we've seen and it seems like a pleasant, light, open, clean space.
We're going to sell out of these, and the middle sizes might not last a week. If you return them, fine, but we'll probably be out of the next size up or down, so we'll give you credit. Cash returns on expensive stuff that we barely break even on hurts too much.
We'll get more in as we can. The next color will be kind of a sage-y green and they may be 7 to 8 months (July, August) out.


Eggbutt Snaffle Bits at The Horse Tack Company. More Bit mouth piece styles to choose from. Horse Tack Co has over 1200 quality horse bits from top brand names. We carry a large selection of Eggbutt Snaffle Bits which are one of the largest and most popular class of snaffle bits. It is useful in training a young horse, general riding, and the beginning stages of dressage. Eqqbutt snaffle bits work on the tongue, bars and lips of the horse. These bits do not have the tendency to pinch lips as much as a ring snaffle might. Many styles of mouth pieces may be used in eggbutt snaffles such as Dr. Bristol snaffle, French Links snaffels, Waterford snaffle bits and various rollers mouth pieces.


We were having a relatively lighter day, and we nurses were caught mid-conversation about something silly. My colleague said of course we could get her water, and left to fetch it. She stood there waiting somewhat awkwardly, her expression caught in some in-between place. She looked as if what she really wanted to do was return to her dark room, lonely but private, tragic but familiar, and had emerged into a half-outside world that was a change from her sad bedside vigil, but still too painful the reminder that no, she hadn't just woken up from a nightmare, and yes she was still in the hospital with her child. Her eyes gazed hazily down the hall.
I told her the pictures of her children were beautiful. "Thank you," she replied, her voice drifting off. A few moments later, she said, "We haven't seen his sister in a few months." I can't remember my response, but it was brief, something along the lines of, "Oh…that's so hard." She stayed quiet. Another nurse walked by and made a side commentary related to our earlier silly conversation, and I made some forgettable reply with a small chuckle. My colleague returned with the water pitcher for the mother, and she silently slipped back into her dark room.
It's a moment that has stayed with me. I see it as a missed opportunity for genuinely empathetic, compassionate care, and each time my mind wanders back to that brief exchange, it makes me sad and makes me resolve to do better. I sensed the tremendous gap between her world and ours, just in taking that step from her son's room out to our nursing station. I could see she felt it and was at best disoriented, at worst feeling very much alone even among the caregivers. I had not really met her as she had opened up a bit of our conversation to her experience as a mother estranged from her precious daughter as she wearily poured her energy into her very ill son…and I closed that conversation without gently coming to her side, instead cracking some stupid side joke and shutting her back into her private world.
Some could argue, well I wasn't her nurse and I had to keep up some emotional self-protection because her kids reminded me too much of my own and that's hard. Some might write it off and tell me I am being too hard on myself, which may have some truth. But it stays with me nonetheless because I still think it matters. I think it is the kind of interaction that makes the difference between one who just does the work of a nurse and one who cares for the heart of a mother with greater empathy, social skill, and wisdom than I had that day.
She most likely remembers very little of that conversation. But I remember it, this small unforgettable lesson, and my resolve is to do better.


The Red Dot Design Awards are an internationally-recognised product accolade.
"A minimalist use of form and the highest degree of functionality with regard to user-friendliness and ease of use characterise the Signature range of hygiene products." Statement by the jury, Red Dot Design Awards.
The Signature Range has won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award, an internationally-recognised product quality seal for achieving product design excellence.
Our efforts to cultivate environmentally-friendly habits have led to Initial's range of Bio Sanitisers awarded the Green Label by Singapore Environment Council.
Highest accolade for business success in UK, we are humbled to be recognised as award winners.


text:
Smoking, including taking puffs of electronic cigarettes, could be banned at all Minneapolis city parks by the end of the summer.
Spurred by complaints from park users, Park and Recreation Board commissioners John Erwin and Jon Olson proposed the ban. Violators could be hit with a $50 fine.
Since 2010, people have not been allowed to smoke tobacco products within 100 feet of park buildings, playgrounds, pools and water play areas, beaches, in park buildings and in park vehicles. But Erwin and Olson want it to be park-wide.
"Four years ago, we were a little concerned if we were overreaching in an outdoor area, but as a park system we hope to be a leader for issues of health and provide a healthy place to go," Erwin said. "We feel that smoking is not consistent with that."
The ban on e-cigarettes would be what's believed to be the first public ban in the state. Elsewhere, efforts to treat e-cigarettes like regular cigarettes and curb their use in public places have mostly failed.
The battery-operated thin, cylindrical devices heat a liquid nicotine solution. Users inhale a vapor but they don't emit the chemicals, tar or odor of regular cigarettes.
Erwin said they included e-cigarettes in the proposed ban because "no one really knows what's in them."
But Cap O'Rourke, who represents dozens of e-cigarette sellers for the Independent Vapor Retailers of Minnesota, said his group plans to fight the proposal.
"There is no evidence that they would be harmful in any way outside," he said. "Not even the state Legislature was for banning these products outside,"
O'Rourke said the vendors he represents label all the ingredients on their e-cigarettes.
"People who say that they don't know what's in them, don't want to know what's in them," he said.
Erwin wants the ban to be an ordinance, and not just a policy, which would allow the Park Board Police to issue a $50 fine to violators. If the ban is simply a policy, the Park Board could not issue any fines.
"We may decide to go with a policy, unless we see that we need to have enforcement," he said. "People have typically abided by the current policy really well.
The Park Board ban would also include "vaping" of medical marijuana, which was already banned in public by the Legislature.
The bill passed Thursday will allow those with a medical need for marijuana to have access to it in a pill, liquid or vapor form.
The first public discussion of the proposed Park Board ban is scheduled for June 4, in front of the Recreation Committee. If passed, the board would then vote on the proposal on June 18.


A recent demographic report is sparking a spate of articles. The data do not capture the pain of separation, but they highlight a drastic national security threat to the future of Israel.
My wife and I can describe the pain first hand but who else cares? Our younger son gave up last month after eight years hoping and struggling to build a life in the Jewish State. He, his wife and our grandchildren returned to live in Chicago. They join the 1.2 to 1.5 million Jewish Israelis already there and growing. Israeli ex-pats publish their Israeli newspapers, online blogs, support their own synagogues, social welfare and Israel advocacy organizations. Our daughter-in-law is in touch with a former-Israeli-women's network helping her assimilate.
Terrorism, wars and the prospect of sending their children off to the IDF, factored little into the decision. It's all about the light in the attic, as Shel Silverstein put it, flickering and burning out. The "big fortune" he was warned to bring on aliyah exhausted after studying a year in ulpan learning to speak Hebrew followed by months of unemployment, and moldering underemployment, throughout the eight years. The family stressed out.
Concomitantly, they don't blame Israel, however, our son remembers the better standard of living and demands for his skills in his hometown. He brought those memories with him. An inspiring single mom, first generation immigrant of Mizrahi descent, the kind about which national activists tell stories and make movies, raised his Israeli-born wife and her siblings in public housing. His wife dreams about the opportunities overseas for her husband and children. They lived modestly in Israel but on the edge of an economic precipice compounded by the proverbial culture clash and frustrations of Israel's bureaucracy.
Another son of ours and his family thrive in Israel. After some 20 years they have no intentions of moving anywhere else. But it hasn't been easy. Both sons are poster boys for the consumer debt rising at a rapid pace approaching "out of control," according to the Bank of Israel supervisor.
Our emigrant son had respectable jobs in Israel, several at the same time to make ends meet, but failed to unshackle himself from Israel's immersive low wages and pitiable purchasing power. He was told not to put on his resume he is a graduate of Northwestern University fearing to appear too smart and high priced.
He speaks admiringly about Mizrahi, Russian and Ethiopian immigrants and other Israelis. They come to Israel with nothing, make subsistence salaries, build lives and make do. He worships his brother and sister-in-law living in Israel raising their children with a sense of belonging raising eight kids in a tiny apartment.
Our polymath son is not an ingrate, by nature not a quitter or alone in his decision. American ex-pats are 1% to 2% of the population living abroad for family, work and retirement. Israel government officials ought to worry that 36% of secular Israelis Jews would move abroad given the opportunity, according to Massa Israel. I've read 30 percent of olim leave after three to five years. Numbers don't matter to parents and family, but they ought to matter to the government. If the US lowers its corporate tax rate to 15% Israel's business community will drain away in a country already needing a surgical remix.
Former Chicagoan Harold Goldmeier moved to Israel five and a half years ago. He is a university instructor, public speaker, businessman and consultant.
Be the first to comment on "Heartbreaking choice to return to Chicago"


Police are appealing for help in finding a missing person, who has not been seen since Monday.
Darius Marauskas (46) from the Lurgan area is believed to have been last seen on Monday, April 2, in the Victoria Street area of Lurgan. He is known to frequent other areas of the town.
His description is 5 feet 6 inches tall, brown hair wearing an ADDIDAS track suit, track shoes and a dark hat.
Darius speaks very little English .


text:
namespace foundation    { class IAbortSwitch; }
namespace renderer      { class OnRenderBeginRecorder; }

using namespace foundation;
using namespace std;

namespace renderer
{

namespace
{
    //
    // Spherical camera.
    //

    const char* Model = "spherical_camera";

    class SphericalCamera
      : public Camera
    {
      public:
        SphericalCamera(
            const char*             name,
            const ParamArray&       params)
          : Camera(name, params)
        {
        }

        void release() override
        {
            delete this;
        }

        const char* get_model() const override
        {
            return Model;
        }

        void print_settings() const override
        {
            RENDERER_LOG_INFO(
                "camera \"%s\" (#" FMT_UNIQUE_ID ") parameters:\n"
                "  model                         %s\n"
                "  shutter open begin time       %f\n"
                "  shutter open end time         %f\n"
                "  shutter close begin time      %f\n"
                "  shutter close end time        %f",
                get_path().c_str(),
                get_uid(),
                Model,
                m_shutter_open_begin_time,
                m_shutter_open_end_time,
                m_shutter_close_begin_time,
                m_shutter_close_end_time);
        }

        bool on_render_begin(
            const Project&          project,
            const BaseGroup*        parent,
            OnRenderBeginRecorder&  recorder,
            IAbortSwitch*           abort_switch) override
        {
            if (!Camera::on_render_begin(project, parent, recorder, abort_switch))
                return false;

            // Precompute pixel dimensions.
            const CanvasProperties& props = project.get_frame()->image().properties();
            m_half_pixel_width = 0.5 * props.m_rcp_canvas_width;
            m_half_pixel_height = 0.5 * props.m_rcp_canvas_height;

            return true;
        }

        void spawn_ray(
            SamplingContext&        sampling_context,
            const Dual2d&           ndc,
            ShadingRay&             ray) const override
        {
            // Initialize the ray.
            initialize_ray(sampling_context, ray);

            // Retrieve the camera transform.
            Transformd scratch;
            const Transformd& transform =
                m_transform_sequence.evaluate(ray.m_time.m_absolute, scratch);

            // Compute ray origin and direction.
            ray.m_org = transform.get_local_to_parent().extract_translation();
            ray.m_dir = normalize(transform.vector_to_parent(ndc_to_camera(ndc.get_value())));

            // Compute ray derivatives.
            if (ndc.has_derivatives())
            {
                const Vector2d px(ndc.get_value() + ndc.get_dx());
                const Vector2d py(ndc.get_value() + ndc.get_dy());

                ray.m_rx.m_org = ray.m_org;
                ray.m_ry.m_org = ray.m_org;

                ray.m_rx.m_dir = normalize(transform.vector_to_parent(ndc_to_camera(px)));
                ray.m_ry.m_dir = normalize(transform.vector_to_parent(ndc_to_camera(py)));

                ray.m_has_differentials = true;
            }
        }

        bool connect_vertex(
            SamplingContext&        sampling_context,
            const float             time,
            const Vector3d&         point,
            Vector2d&               ndc,
            Vector3d&               outgoing,
            float&                  importance) const override
        {
            // Retrieve the camera transform.
            Transformd scratch;
            const Transformd& transform = m_transform_sequence.evaluate(time, scratch);

            // Transform the input point to camera space.
            const Vector3d p = transform.point_to_local(point);

            // Compute the outgoing direction vector in world space.
            outgoing = transform.vector_to_parent(p);

            // Compute the normalized device coordinates of the film point.
            ndc = camera_to_ndc(p);

            // Compute the emitted importance.
            const Vector3d q0 = ndc_to_camera(Vector2d(ndc.x - m_half_pixel_width, ndc.y - m_half_pixel_height));
            const Vector3d q1 = ndc_to_camera(Vector2d(ndc.x + m_half_pixel_width, ndc.y - m_half_pixel_height));
            const Vector3d q2 = ndc_to_camera(Vector2d(ndc.x + m_half_pixel_width, ndc.y + m_half_pixel_height));
            const Vector3d q3 = ndc_to_camera(Vector2d(ndc.x - m_half_pixel_width, ndc.y + m_half_pixel_height));
            const double solid_angle = 0.5 * norm(cross(q2 - q0, q3 - q1));
            importance = 1.0f / static_cast<float>(square_norm(outgoing) * solid_angle);

            // The connection was possible.
            return true;
        }

        bool project_camera_space_point(
            const Vector3d&         point,
            Vector2d&               ndc) const override
        {
            ndc = camera_to_ndc(point);
            return true;
        }

        bool project_segment(
            const float             time,
            const Vector3d&         a,
            const Vector3d&         b,
            Vector2d&               a_ndc,
            Vector2d&               b_ndc) const override
        {
            // Retrieve the camera transform.
            Transformd scratch;
            const Transformd& transform = m_transform_sequence.evaluate(time, scratch);

            // Project the segment onto the film plane.
            a_ndc = camera_to_ndc(transform.point_to_local(a));
            b_ndc = camera_to_ndc(transform.point_to_local(b));

            // Projection was successful.
            return true;
        }

        RasterizationCamera get_rasterization_camera() const override
        {
            RasterizationCamera rc;
            rc.m_aspect_ratio = 1024.0 / 576.0;
            rc.m_hfov = deg_to_rad(54.0);
            rc.m_shift_x = rc.m_shift_y = 0.0;
            return rc;
        }

      private:
        // Precomputed values.
        double  m_half_pixel_width;     // half pixel width in meters, in camera space
        double  m_half_pixel_height;    // half pixel height in meters, in camera space

        static Vector3d ndc_to_camera(const Vector2d& point)
        {
            return Vector3d::make_unit_vector(point.y * Pi<double>(), point.x * TwoPi<double>());
        }

        static Vector2d camera_to_ndc(const Vector3d& point)
        {
            // Compute the unit direction vector from the camera position to the point.
            const Vector3d dir = normalize(point);

            // Convert that direction to spherical coordinates.
            const double phi = atan2(dir.z, dir.x);
            const double theta = acos(dir.y);

            // Convert the spherical coordinates to normalized device coordinates.
            return Vector2d(
                wrap(phi * RcpTwoPi<double>()),
                saturate(theta * RcpPi<double>()));
        }
    };
}

//
// SphericalCameraFactory class implementation.
//

void SphericalCameraFactory::release()
{
    delete this;
}

const char* SphericalCameraFactory::get_model() const
{
    return Model;
}

Dictionary SphericalCameraFactory::get_model_metadata() const
{
    return
        Dictionary()
            .insert("name", Model)
            .insert("label", "Spherical Camera");
}

DictionaryArray SphericalCameraFactory::get_input_metadata() const
{
    return CameraFactory::get_input_metadata();
}

auto_release_ptr<Camera> SphericalCameraFactory::create(
    const char*         name,
    const ParamArray&   params) const
{
    return auto_release_ptr<Camera>(new SphericalCamera(name, params));
}

}   // namespace renderer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Complementing the exhibition at the Pavilion of Switzerland at the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia organises a Collateral Event entitled «Salon Suisse». The «Salon Suisse», now in its fourth year, is a programme of talks and events offering a platform for exchange on contemporary architecture and thought in a relaxed atmosphere.
Laufen Bathrooms AG is delighted to be the partner of the Salon Suisse in the fourth year. As a brand standing for a symbiosis of design, quality and functionality, we have been supporting the events at the Palazzo Trevisan since the beginning with the intention to participate in and encourage an international dialogue in the fields of architecture and design.
The «Salon Suisse» 2015 is entitled «S.O.S. DADA – The World Is A Mess». To this day, Dada stands for the radical, avant-garde attempt to push boundaries and challenge established ideas.
But can Dada still come to the rescue of art and literature after the Situationist International, after Fluxus, Pop and Punk, in a world that is a mess, as former US-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said recently?
The series of early evening events takes place over the course of five weekends between spring and autumn 2015. Each weekend is devoted to a specific theme: «S.O.S. DADA – The World Is A Mess», «Collective Experiments», «Dionysius redivivus», «YES and NO» and «Speculatio mystica». Responsible for this year's «Salon Suisse» are the two Dada-specialists Juri Steiner and Stefan Zweifel, who have put together an ambitious programme focusing on Dada's cross-epochal force and timelessness, exploring the past, present and future of Dada.
the first Salon (4 to 6 June) cherishes the practice of «dérive» (drifting). We will track down Babylonian babble, flashes of genius and team spirit in the bars of Venice and Matteo Bertelé will guide us to a hidden billiard saloon. Inquiry will be conducted into the operative complexities of art and politics in conjunction with black risotto and films.
The second «Salon Suisse» (10 to 12 September) will explore the Dionysian zones not merely ex cathedra or discursively, but across all the senses and nonsenses, in a programme of films, performative readings, dance, sound configurations and a book launch in collaboration with Cabaret Voltaire. For this weekend we will collaborate with the Flanders Arts Institute which facilitates contributions to the «Salon Suisse» from Prof. Hans De Wolf (VUB, Brussels), Anders Kreuger (Muhka,Antwerp) and Phillip Van den Bossche (Mu.ZEE, Ostend).
The third Salon (15 to 17 October) approaches Dada's negation of the negation and the Dadaist Rastaquères grand NO and duplicate DA-DA-YES. The Salonniers also look into the underexplored relationship between Dada and the African continent, as a means to develop alternative scenarios for the future and explore potential links of the Helvetian reference system of a «Genève internationale», with institutions such as the Red Cross and the United Nations in regard to current applications of the Salon's subtitle, borrowed from Madeleine Albright, «The World Is A Mess».
The very last weekend of the Venice Biennale, the «Salon Suisse» (19 to 21 November) will leave the Palazzo Trevisan once again, this time rambling through churches in search of the universal spirit of Dada between fantasy, reason, memory, longing and speculation in a spiritual and poetic closing ceremony. A final dinner party will bring together a handful of artists and curators to celebrate the artist, poet and impresario Robert Filliou.


Bartels K, Mahoney K, Raymond KM, McWilliams SK, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Schulick R, Hopfer CJ, Mikulich-Gilbertson SK. Opioid and non-opioid utilization at home following gastrointestinal procedures: a prospective cohort study. Surg Endosc. 2019 Apr 03. PMID: 30945059.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Vidal Melo MF. Bedside assessment of lung aeration and stretch. Br J Anaesth. 2018 11; 121(5):1001-1004. PMID: 30336843.
Serpa Neto A, Juffermans NP, Hemmes SNT, Barbas CSV, Beiderlinden M, Biehl M, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Futier E, Gajic O, Jaber S, Kozian A, Licker M, Lin WQ, Memtsoudis SG, Miranda DR, Moine P, Paparella D, Ranieri M, Scavonetto F, Schilling T, Selmo G, Severgnini P, Sprung J, Sundar S, Talmor D, Treschan T, Unzueta C, Weingarten TN, Wolthuis EK, Wrigge H, de Abreu MG, Pelosi P, Schultz MJ. Interaction between peri-operative blood transfusion, tidal volume, airway pressure and postoperative ARDS: an individual patient data meta-analysis. Ann Transl Med. 2018 Jan; 6(2):23. PMID: 29430440.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Schoen J, Vidal Melo MF. Incentive Spirometry After Bariatric Surgery: The Importance of Patient Compliance. JAMA Surg. 2017 Oct 01; 152(10):984-985. PMID: 28636722.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Vidal Melo MF. The Increasing Call for Protective Ventilation During Anesthesia-Reply. JAMA Surg. 2017 Sep 01; 152(9):894. PMID: 28593302.
Neto AS, Hemmes SN, Barbas CS, Beiderlinden M, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Futier E, Gajic O, El-Tahan MR, Ghamdi AA, Günay E, Jaber S, Kokulu S, Kozian A, Licker M, Lin WQ, Maslow AD, Memtsoudis SG, Reis Miranda D, Moine P, Ng T, Paparella D, Ranieri VM, Scavonetto F, Schilling T, Selmo G, Severgnini P, Sprung J, Sundar S, Talmor D, Treschan T, Unzueta C, Weingarten TN, Wolthuis EK, Wrigge H, Amato MB, Costa EL, de Abreu MG, Pelosi P, Schultz MJ. Association between driving pressure and development of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation for general anaesthesia: a meta-analysis of individual patient data. Lancet Respir Med. 2016 04; 4(4):272-80. PMID: 26947624.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Agazio A, Wilson P, Elkins N, Domaleski L, He Q, Baer KA, Moss AF, Wischmeyer PE, Repine JE. Brief Glutamine Pretreatment Increases Alveolar Macrophage CD163/Heme Oxygenase-1/p38-MAPK Dephosphorylation Pathway and Decreases Capillary Damage but Not Neutrophil Recruitment in IL-1/LPS-Insufflated Rats. PLoS One. 2015; 10(7):e0130764. PMID: 26147379.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Hashimoto S, Serpa Neto A, Moine P, Vidal Melo MF, Repine JE. Perioperative lung protective ventilation in obese patients. BMC Anesthesiol. 2015 May 06; 15:56. PMID: 25907273.
Wanderer JP, Ehrenfeld JM, Epstein RH, Kor DJ, Bartz RR, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Vidal Melo MF, Blum JM. Temporal trends and current practice patterns for intraoperative ventilation at U.S. academic medical centers: a retrospective study. BMC Anesthesiol. 2015; 15:40. PMID: 25852301.
Serpa Neto A, Hemmes SN, Barbas CS, Beiderlinden M, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Futier E, Hollmann MW, Jaber S, Kozian A, Licker M, Lin WQ, Moine P, Scavonetto F, Schilling T, Selmo G, Severgnini P, Sprung J, Treschan T, Unzueta C, Weingarten TN, Wolthuis EK, Wrigge H, Gama de Abreu M, Pelosi P, Schultz MJ. Incidence of mortality and morbidity related to postoperative lung injury in patients who have undergone abdominal or thoracic surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Respir Med. 2014 Dec; 2(12):1007-15. PMID: 25466352.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Klawitter J, Repine JE, Agazio A, Janocha AJ, Shah C, Moss M, Douglas IS, Tran ZV, Erzurum SC, Christians U, Seres T. Early effect of tidal volume on lung injury biomarkers in surgical patients with healthy lungs. Anesthesiology. 2014 Sep; 121(3):469-81. PMID: 24809976.
Mehta N, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Seres T. A review of intraoperative goal-directed therapy using arterial waveform analysis for assessment of cardiac output. ScientificWorldJournal. 2014; 2014:702964. PMID: 24987744.
Piehl E, Fernandez-Bustamante A. Lucinactant for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome in neonates. Drugs Today (Barc). 2012 Sep; 48(9):587-93. PMID: 23032799.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Easley RB, Fuld M, Mulreany D, Chon D, Lewis JF, Simon BA. Regional pulmonary inflammation in an endotoxemic ovine acute lung injury model. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2012 Aug 15; 183(2):149-58. PMID: 22728442.
Stair C, Fernandez-Bustamante A. Sugammadex, the first selective relaxant binding agent for neuromuscular block reversal. Drugs Today (Barc). 2012 Jun; 48(6):405-13. PMID: 22745926.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Wood CL, Tran ZV, Moine P. Intraoperative ventilation: incidence and risk factors for receiving large tidal volumes during general anesthesia. BMC Anesthesiol. 2011 Nov 21; 11:22. PMID: 22103561.
Easley RB, Mulreany DG, Lancaster CT, Custer JW, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Colantuoni E, Simon BA. Redistribution of pulmonary blood flow impacts thermodilution-based extravascular lung water measurements in a model of acute lung injury. Anesthesiology. 2009 Nov; 111(5):1065-74. PMID: 19809280.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Easley RB, Fuld M, Mulreany D, Hoffman EA, Simon BA. Regional aeration and perfusion distribution in a sheep model of endotoxemic acute lung injury characterized by functional computed tomography imaging. Crit Care Med. 2009 Aug; 37(8):2402-11. PMID: 19531954.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Ibañez V, Alfaro JJ, de Miguel E, Germán MJ, Mayo A, Jimeno A, Pérez-Cerdá F, Escribano PM. High-frequency jet ventilation in interventional bronchoscopy: factors with predictive value on high-frequency jet ventilation complications. J Clin Anesth. 2006 Aug; 18(5):349-56. PMID: 16905080.
Easley RB, Fuld MK, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Hoffman EA, Simon BA. Mechanism of hypoxemia in acute lung injury evaluated by multidetector-row CT. Acad Radiol. 2006 Jul; 13(7):916-21. PMID: 16777566.
Fernandez-Bustamante A, Jimeno A. Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy in aortic aneurysms. Eur J Intern Med. 2005 Dec; 16(8):551-60. PMID: 16314235.
Yuh DD, Simon BA, Fernandez-Bustamante A, Ramey N, Baumgartner WA. Totally endoscopic robot-assisted transmyocardial revascularization. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2005 Jul; 130(1):120-4. PMID: 15999050.


text:
See answers to frequently asked questions about 20905 (Silver Spring, MD)
The 20905 ZIP Code is primarily associated with Silver Spring, MD in the United States.
The 20905 ZIP Code is located in Montgomery County in the state of Maryland.
The median household income in ZIP Code 20905 is $130,071, while the mean household income in the region is $152,446.
The per capita income in ZIP Code 20905 of $49,627 is approximately 45.52% more than the per capita income in the U.S. overall of $34,103.
An estimated 23.4% of the residents in 20905 earn $200,000 or more per year, the highest percentage of any range, while 22.9% earn $100,000 to $149,999 per year.
An estimated 29.7% of the residents in 20905 reached the level of graduate or professional degree, the highest percentage of any level. Additionally, 26.6% reached the level of bachelor's degree.
The most common race in 20905 (race alone or in combination with one or more other races), is White (50.7%), followed by Black or African American (27.2%) . In this region, 95.2% of residents are one race, while 4.8% are two or more races.
Residents of ZIP Code 20905 are older than average. The median age of 42.2 years in ZIP Code 20905 is approximately 10.76% higher than the overall median age in the U.S. of 38.1 years.
The most common chronic health issue in 20905 is high cholesterol, as an estimated 35.2% of adults aged 18 and older deal with this issue.
Approximately 9.7% of adults aged 18 to 64 in ZIP Code 20905 are uninsured and do not have health insurance.
Telephone area codes that are frequently associated with ZIP Code 20905 include: 301.


And yet, if you're a fan of this blog, the Feldenkrais Method, or any of a great variety of life-affirming approaches to self-improvement, you also know that following that voice is ultimately limiting. At best it is an inefficient waste of effort, and at worst it is self-defeating, since we can never satisfy the demands of our inner prosecutor.
This week's theme is tiferet, embodying beauty and compassion. It is seen as integrating the two previous opposing forces of outpouring chesed (love) and constraining gevurah (power and discipline).* When applied to the way we treat ourselves (bein adam l'atzmo, in classic Jewish terminology), tiferet is the antidote to the chastising voice. Our self-love, or desire to achieve, and our self-discipline, or path to achievement, are harmonized in self-compassion: the way we treat ourselves as we pursue our goals.
Moshe Feldenkrais liked to say that his method showed people a way to make the impossible possible, the possible easy, and the easy, elegant and satisfying. The trick is to begin at the end of the sentence: to make our simple, merely-possible movements satisfying to us, or as he sometimes put it, aesthetically pleasing.
When you are engaging with yourself from a place of self-compassion, you can be patient with your difficulties, and you don't waste energy and effort pushing through things that don't work. Your internal resistances melt away when you stop fighting them, and you find the most efficient way to improvement. You begin to notice what is working, rather than what is not, and since you act on what you notice, things begin to work better almost on their own.
Make no effort to breathe deeply, or in any special way.
Simply let the breath come and go of its own accord. Trust your body to know how much oxygen it needs from moment to moment. Certainly if you're lying down quietly, your body doesn't need much oxygen, so there's no reason to breathe deeply.
As you feel the breath come and go begin to notice where you move as you breathe. Somewhere in your belly? Your chest? More on one side than the other? It doesn't matter where. Just notice where you are moving. You might want to put a hand there, to make the sensation clearer.
As you continue to make no effort to breathe deeply, or in any special way, simply attending to where you feel the movement of your breath, you will likely notice an interesting thing: parts of yourself near the first place you noticed your breath will begin to participate more. And anywhere you put your attention (or your hands) and simply feel any movement at all, the movement will slowly grow, as more and more of you softly participates in the gentle ebb and flow of your breath.
You can do that for as long as you like. Some sensitive people will be able to feel the effect in just a few minutes. Maybe you'll fall asleep if you're tired. Or maybe you'll feel a sense of ease in your breath and throughout yourself, which is the best foundation for learning.
Please do share your thoughts in the comments below — whether on the ideas or on the breath experiment. And if you'd like to explore breath more, check out my breath workshop and retreat!
* (Rabbi Simon Jacobson also connects it with truth and objective reality — a favorite theme of mine, but I'll get into that in a few weeks. (In the meantime, any sfirot geeks out there can contemplate the obvious connection between tiferet and yesod).
Pingback: What's holding you back as a musician?


I'd like to understand why major variations occur per Eur / Usd in the absence of really important events.
Since a variation of 300 pips 10:1 leverage loss (or gain) would be $ 3000, it is clear that the risk taken should be reasonable. if you lose money, there is the temptation to increase your leverage to the next transaction to recover the loss. Risk management in this case recommend that every transaction will not commit more than 15-20 margin and the possible loss of more than 5% of the capital. If it remains at the 5% is like you have other 19 tokens in 20 tries. Probability go wrong transaction is 50% but the market can turn. Therefore it is better to set strategy for both gain and especially the loss. If you win more is better and there are no limits, to lose is limited to the capital paid and it's very frustrating.
Speaking again about Drupal, today was announced a maintenance release, 7.25 which mostly is fixing issues underlined by contributors. This release also fixes some missing links in documentation and minor bugs.
Performance improvement: Prevented block rehashing from writing blocks to the database on every cache clear and cron run when the blocks have not changed. This fix results in an extra 'saved' key which is added and set to TRUE for each block returned by _block_rehash() that actually is saved to the database (data structure change).
Fixed a bug which caused cached pages to sometimes be sent to the browser with incorrect compression. The fix adds a new 'page_compressed' key to the $cache->data array returned by drupal_page_get_cache() (minor data structure change).


Who's using a Barber Small Fry and how do you like it?
Discussion in 'Effects, Pedals, Strings & Things' started by Deaj, Aug 3, 2006.
I had an opportunity to demo a Barber Small Fry yesterday and my initial impression was very good. I'm just wondering how those of you who have a Barber Small Fry are getting along with it after some time. Thanks!
What kind of sounds are you getting?
I've been using mine for a couple of months now for smooth classic rock crunch with the Fralin SP43 bridge pickup in my Strat into a Carr Mercury. Gain at 3:00, Dynamics at 9:00, EQ'd to taste (bass at 12:00, mids at 2:00, Presence off). It's worked out real well. Definitely a keeper.
I'm looking at the Small Fry as a potential replacement for my OCD (500K and a cap change for more mids and smoother highs). The OCD has worked very well for me but interacts poorly with some other pedals - most notably the DLS EchoTAP that follows it. While I didn't have the opportunity to A/B the Small Fry with my OCD the SF seemed very similar and more flexible. I mostly dig Dumble type OD and responsiveness and use OD pedals that provide some tonal variety with the above characteristics. The Small Fry would be used for more aggressive medium OD sounds and occasionally as a low gain OD for blues (this is how I currently use the OCD.
I have been using one for a few months. Current favorite OD pedal through my super reverb, even more than the zendrive. I find it really smooth with a tight low end with alot of tweakability. It is a lot tighter sounding pedal to me than the zen.
I'm playing a Burn Unit...they're the same (as far as sound), correct?
I love the BU. The dynamics knob lets you dial in the character you want (more "distortiony" or more "over-drivy" for lack of better terms).
How is the Small Fry compared to the Direct Drive? Which's better on Marshall amps? Is it worth having both?
Does the DD have more gain than the SF? Seems most of the reviews I've read imply that the SF is more of a low to low-medium gain OD.
Man, I haven't been that happy with my direct drive. You guys think the small fry is the answer. I am Like I can some good tones from my DD but it has this mid range that I am not too crazy about and I can tweak it anymore than I already have. SO is the small fry my answer to my prayers????
*mainly looking for a high gain sound in the vain of plexi British type sound.
The Small Fry isn't really a high gain pedal. There are some aspects of the Small Fry's responsiveness that reminded me of early Marshall amps but it's more of a medium gain OD for my ears.
I love, love love the Small Fry.
Sounds great, versitile, affordable, built like a dream.
I'm getting along great with my Small Fry. Super versatile pedal.
As for comparisons with a "stock" DD, it has a bit less gain, but a lot more control over midrange - as well as lows and highs. I would have to agree it's more of a medium gain type of pedal. I prefer it over a regular DD.
However, a DD with mod board is quite a different animal, much better than a stock DD.
Anyhoo, you can't go wrong with the Small Fry.
Wow - lots of positive press here for the Small Fry! It's nice to here that folks are getting along with it after some time. After demo'ing the SF it struck me as a pedal that would have some staying power. My modded OCD is my favorite OD pedal (has been for a while now) but the SF, upon first meeting, seems to cover the same sonic territory with wider flexibility. I'll be A/B'ing them this week. Should be interesting.
I've heard pretty much unanimously positive things about the Small Fry.
So, it's basically, a medium gain OD.
How does it respond when hit/goosed/smacked with another OD/Boost ?


In general terms, you must be an Australian citizen to serve in the Navy, Army or Air Force, but there are some exceptions.
An Australian Citizenship Certificate (including an extract from the register of citizenship or extract from the register of Australian births abroad).
Permanent residents who are prepared to apply for citizenship after they have completed 90 days of relevant Defence (effective) service.
Overseas applicants with relevant military experience (see below).
Please be aware that if, as a permanent resident, you refuse citizenship or fail in your application, your ADF service will be terminated.
Visit the Defence Community Organisation website for detailed information about the range of support services available to ADF members and their families and answers to frequently asked questions.
The ADF lateral recruitment program addresses capability shortfalls that cannot otherwise be filled using Australian personnel. Visit the Defence Recruitment website for eligibility criteria.
While the ADF will become a strong support base for your family, you should carefully research and plan your move across the world well before you leave.
For specific military entitlement information visit the ADF Pay and Conditions website, and become familiar with the myGov website, a single-access portal to access all Australian government services.
The Department of Home Affairs is the official source of information regarding moving to and setting in Australia, living and working in Australia.
'Frequently asked questions' for lateral recruits and their families.


text:
Ivan Iakovlev (; 17 de abril de 1995) é um voleibolista russo.

Carreira
Jogador do Voleibolni Klub Zenit São Petersburgo, clube da Rússia, Iakovlev integrou a equipe de voleibol do Comitê Olímpico Russo nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2020 em Tóquio, quando conquistou a medalha de prata após confronto com a equipe francesa na final.

Seleção
Liga das Nações de Vôlei: 2019

Voleibolistas olímpicos da Rússia
Voleibolistas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2020
Medalhistas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Already more than a decade ago Albert Heijn has acknowledged the importance of sustainable cultivation methods. At the same time, their supplier for herbs, Tuinderij Bevelander, has begun to produce chives with hydroponic systems. Nowadays, the customer can still buy these chives produced on water at Albert Heijn. The implementation of this innovative cultivation method is becoming more accessible, due to the increasing technological developments. UCS is playing a key role in making indoor vertical farming systems more accessible.
The agtech company develops tailored plant growth installations (PlantFactory), has its own range of standard growth container products (FarmFlex and FarmPro) and has an in-house team of plant biologists which develops plant growth recipes to grow a wide range of crops in these installations. UCS has joined forces with Albert Heijn and Bakker Barendrecht in order to promote this high-tech method of cultivating. A FarmFlex container was strategically placed in front of the headquarters of Ahold Delhaize in Zaandam (The Netherlands) where the past three days employees could visit this mobile indoor vertical farming system. Global Sales Director, Brecht Stubbe and Chief Technical Officer, Dr. Oscar Navarrete were on-site to provide detailed information.
Image middle: FarmFlex container in front of the headquarters of Ahold Delhaize in Zaandam (The Netherlands).
Image right: Our Global Sales Director gives detailed information to the employees inside the FarmFlex container.
Image left: Employees visiting the FarmFlex container placed in front of the headquarters of Ahold Delhaize in Zaandam (The Netherlands).


Corporations, non-profit organizations, and public institutions, large and small, encounter scrutiny from federal, state, and local government agencies, which are less and less tolerant of regulatory mistakes. In addition, businesses face increased litigation initiated by private parties. Businesses should conduct their own internal investigations to quickly and efficiently evaluate each factual situation and determine the most effective response.
Chamberlain Hrdlicka's internal investigation lawyers investigate allegations of wrongdoing on behalf of public and private companies and institutions, corporate committees, audit committees, and individual officers and directors throughout the world. Our internal investigation team provides comprehensive assessments of criminal and civil exposure and provides strategic counsel regarding each clients' options.
The internal investigation team consists of attorneys who have served in the U.S. Department of Justice, as state prosecutors and public defenders, as well as experienced corporate advisors, Title IX investigators, and litigators. They are well-positioned to investigate a wide array of subject matters.
A leading tax firm in the U.S., Chamberlain Hrdlicka possesses the talent and resources necessary to thoroughly investigate any tax, financial, or white-collar matter. Our objective is to conduct an internal investigation to deliver strategic advice concerning any possible misconduct within a corporation with minimal disruption to business.
Our Title IX attorneys are experienced, independent investigators in matters relating to sexual or gender-based harassment, sexual assault, and interpersonal violence, involving students and employees at colleges and universities. In fact, our Title IX attorneys contribute to the media as the Title IX regulations evolve.
We are committed to ensuring that Title IX investigations on campus are handled professionally and thoroughly. As independent investigators, our attorneys conduct comprehensive and impartial interviews, gather evidence, and issue findings, while respecting the sensitivity of each individual case and ensuring compliance with Title IX legislation.
Chamberlain Hrdlicka's legal investigators are trained to remain consistently fair and nonjudgmental throughout an investigation, while equipping campus administration with the information necessary to implement and maintain an appropriate response to the case in question. We abide by the most up-to-date procedures for colleges and universities regarding Title IX compliance, as specified by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR).


If you are trying to find a trusting agency to deliver quality work if full, on time. You found it!
We help business find high quality customers online!
Find what you need All In One place, All services are completed in house!
Are You Missing Out On Digital Marketing?
Ready To Find More Customers?


Official Muzik video for 'Last Of The American Girls': Awesome atau Crap?
What's your kegemaran Green hari album?
Alright, so we all know 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' - it's one of Green Day's most popular songs, and you're bound to know it whether you're a devoted peminat of Green hari atau not. Of course, most people don't take the time to look for the meaning behind it, and when September ends every year, they joke about it. I wasn't one of those people, though I have seen some getting frustrated about it. I looked for the meaning behind the song, and and would like to contribute my point of view on how people treat it and how they joke about it every October 1st.
Today is HAPPY GREEN DAY!!!!!! So all green hari peminat-peminat put on a baju atau anything of Green hari and post it the green hari page do it though out the day!!!! Tell other people anda know of and just tunjuk your Cinta 4 GREEN hari and Don't be an American Idiot!!!! Listen to their Muzik on YouTube atau just tell anda Friends about the band if they don't know who they are,I did it yesterday and she loved it. So go out and tunjuk cangkul, hoe much anda Cinta GREEN DAY!!!!!!!!! So go on the internet atau on your phone and tunjuk Cinta for green day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Green hari is a Awsome band, who won Muzik awards in 2005. They may look Gothic because they are. But if anda like them like your LIFE,you should tunjuk it off and let people know who is GREEN hari IS!!!!!
I do it everyday and people know that i'm a peminat of Green Day!You people should do the same thing to tunjuk off your Cinta FOR GREEN DAY!!!! Tomrrow i'm going to write a senarai for peminat-peminat of Green Day,on 4/20/12. IF anda ARE A GREEN hari peminat tunjuk IT OFF!!!
Green hari have set up an interactive website to promote 'God's kegemaran Band'!
Six lebih days to your konsert your first stop AUBURN, WA I'm originally from San Francisco.
which did green hari release first?


text:
Q: different templates - how to connect via landing page to next layout I am developing a site for a friend of mine. The startpage should only contain her name, a slogan and a link (something like Enter Site) to the next template. I can't figure out on how this can be accomplished.
So, briefly, the startpage should NOT contain menu items, the next template which would be called from the link "enter site" would contain ALL the menu items and the relevant information..
I have searched thru various discussion groups, but can't find an answer. Site is being build around Joomla CMS 3.2.3
URL is (for development purposes) www.webmatix.be/nikie
Can someone throw in a helping hand?
Tnx + b rgds
Gino

A: there are various ways to achieve this. I guess that Joomla wants you to assign a different template to the home menu item. You can do this in extensions - templates. If you click on the template there is an option somewhere to add it to menu pages. So in fact you have to make 2 templates then. This is not what I prefer.
I always do it using PHP in my template's index.php. I ask for the menu's alias and then fix the template accordingly:
<?php
    $currentMenuItem = JSite::getMenu()->getActive();
    $alias = $currentMenuItem->alias;
?>
<?php if($alias == "home"): ?>

homepagestuffs

<?php else: ?>

normal template with all kinds of modules and components bla

<?php endif; ?>

This gives me the flexibility I want without having a second template to worry about.

A: Ignoring for a moment the negative effect on user experience, why not just create an index.html in the root directory of the website and only if necessary adjust the .htaccess to promote it before index.php for just that directory.
e.g.
DirectoryIndex index.html index.php

A: You can make a HTML file like index.html and do what ever you want in that.
Place index.html in the root folder of your host.
Then make a folder and give it name like "dynamic" or whatever you want.
Copy the whole Joomla Website files in that folder.
The URLs would be like:
http://www.example.com/index.html
http://www.example.com/dynamic/index.php
I've one use this solution in rasoularam.com
The first page (landing page):rasoularam.com, pure HTML, Javascript, CSS
The other pages: http://rasoularam.com/dynamic/index.php/%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%88%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85.html
Do't worry about unfamiliar characters in the url, they are uni-code urls, written in persian.
The benefit of this solution is that, because of using pure html page as landing page, the first page will load fast, even the host does not have good hardware configuration.
The only problem is the administrator section's url would be rasoularam.com/dynamic/administrator

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Dodge Charger Added to FCA e-Shift Investigation
#transmission #investigation
carcomplaints.com
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into e-Shift last summer. They have since upgraded the investigation to an engineering analysis and have included the Dodge Charger.
"NHTSA says to date, there are 306 incidents of Jeep Grand Cherokees rolling away after owners believed the SUVs were shifted into "Park." The 306 rollaway incidents resulted in 117 alleged crashes and 28 injuries. Those injuries include pelvic fractures, broken kneecaps, a ruptured bladder, busted ribs, sprained knees, trauma to the legs, lacerations to the face and various other injuries."
e-Shift is a monostable electronic assembly that removes the grooves and tactile feedback of a traditional gear shifter, and replaces it with something much more confusing. The result? More and more Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep owners have no idea if their car is in drive, reverse, or park.
The new shifter has led to an increasing number of vehicles rolling away after the driver exited. How e-Xciting.
For what it's worth, FCA changed the gearshift design for the 2016 model year.
Related Problem Dodge's Dangerous e-Shift Design
The monostable electronic gear shifter is Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) vehicles has been disastrous. The confusing design is responsible for hundreds of rollaway incidents and widely believed to have caused actor Anton Yelchin's death.
Full Story on carcomplaints.com
Models Mentioned in this Story
PainRank™
Grand Caravan Windshields Are Coming Loose Grand Caravan and Journey Mentioned in Continental Airbag Lawsuit
Have a complaint about your vehicle?
The best way to find out what's wrong with a vehicle is from the people who drive them. Not only do owner complaints help us rank vehicles by reliability, but they're often used to spark class-action lawsuits and warranty extensions. Plus, they're a great way to vent.
This site is part of a network of free resources for car owners and is not associated with Dodge. We recommend you always seek car advice from a qualified mechanic before making any repair decisions. Problem data is gathered from CarComplaints.com and is based solely on reports received from vehicle owners. Recall, investigation, and TSB data is from NHTSA. Safety and crash data from IIHS and NCAP. Proudly made in Vermont. ©2007 – 2020 Autobeef, LLC


In an attempt to reaffirm the status of a major player in the smartphone market, Nokia could attend MWC 2017 edition with a high-end range model.
Already named Nokia 8 Supreme, the new smartphone is expected to offer an alternative to those that doesn't like the Nokia 6's specifications, already announced in a configuration motorized by Snapdragon 430 chipset.
Thus, if Nokia 6 is trying to convince only with the generous amount of 4GB RAM memory, Full HD screen of 5.5″ and the 64GB internal memory, Nokia 8 Supreme will be a true flagship, powered by Snapdragon chipset 835 or 821. Unofficial specification list includes a 4GB or 6GB RAM, 64GB or 128GB internal memory and a screen with a 5.7″ QHD resolution.
The piece de resistance, however, could be its 24mp camera resolution, equipped with Optical Image Stabilization OIS and "Super EIS". Moreover, the design captured from the first unofficial photos reminds us of another well known smartphone with the same camera capabilities, the Nokia Lumia 1020.
Even if it is unlikely that PureView technology developed by Finns have been taken over by the "new" Nokia, Nokia 8 Supreme launch at the MWC 2017 exhibition certainly deserves all our attention.