While the media paint the mentally unhinged school shooter as a Trump-supporting white supremacist, the truth is that the hero — Coach Aaron Feis — truly was a Trump supporter.
Starting just hours after the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, the media was already working at a fevered pitch to attach the shooter to President Trump.
The Daily Beast's Taylor Lorenz published a piece that quoted a student as saying "I've seen him in a Trump hat." When asked for clarification on the quote, Lorenz became defensive and pointed to an unconfirmed Instagram account as evidence that — clearly — the mentally unwell Nikolas Cruz was guided by the hate he learned from watching President Trump.
The day after the shooting, the media quickly grabbed on to a claim by a white supremacist organization that the shooter had been "trained" by them. CNN spent the entire afternoon promoting the unconfirmed story, and eventually even MSNBC's Chris Hayes had to call for a little order and sanity as that narrative began to fall apart.
I'm surprised at how many outlets and reporters are flatly asserting that the Florida shooter was a white supremacist. The evidence is actually pretty thin!
Set aside the fact that CNN producers and anchors spent their day on the campus in Parkland, FL cherry-picking students and parents who would push their anti-Trump, anti-second amendment agenda in the wake of the tragedy. That's to be expected.
But the lazy, paper-thin evidence about the mentally unglued shooter being a Trump supporter who by default (natch) was also a white supremacist, was non-stop.
I bet there were a lot of Trump supporters at that school. After all, he did carry Florida in 2016.
And then I realized that the hero of the story — Coach Aaron Feis — may very well have been a Trump supporter, too.
And in case you haven't been following closely: Aaron Feis was an Assistant Coach at the high school, and he died protecting other students. He used his body as a shield and took bullets that were meant to take several more young, innocent lives.
So first I checked the FEC individual contributor website.
Then I went looking on Facebook, and lo and behold, there it was: His page, which had already been transformed in to a memorial celebrating his life, was peppered with signs of his strong faith, his support for President Trump, and so many other right-minded people and outlets.
The real hero in Florida; the man who literally gave his life by using his body as a shield to save others; the person in this story who was actually lucid: He was a real supporter of President Trump, along with so many of the other conservative-leaning people and media that typify Trump's base.
And here's the link to the page, if you'd like to visit it yourself.
Steven Crowder, Michelle Malkin, Paul Joseph Watson (who is pretty good despite being at freaking InfoWars)…Twitchy, TownHall…these are just a few from a long list that Aaron Feis wanted the world to know he liked.
So take a moment to visit his page and peruse his Likes. Take a moment to say a prayer for Aaron, and his family, and all the victims and families who were struck by this horrible act of evil.
Because based on his Facebook page, which he left behind for us all to get to know him a little bit better, I'm guessing that's what Aaron would want you to do.
And while the media wants you to believe that an unhinged psychopath is representative of Trump supporters, the perfectly lucid hero of the story — Aaron Feis — left that media a big reminder about how wrong they are.


Thank you for taking the time to read and comment, Rhonda. I am happy that you feel it as well. God is so good!
I find whatever we focus on grows! the more time I spent worrying and rehashing negatives that I had no control over the more those thoughts to over. When I started focusing on the Word and who God said I am, I rediscovered hope. It is a day to day choice but true that the more we get into the Word and spend time seeking God's peace in our lives the more old things pass away and all things become new!
I agree with you, Deborah. They say it is better to say things in the positive than in the negative. Please, do... instead of... Please, don't do... Focusing on the positive, focusing on God, focusing on God's love... is where we find the good.
That could've been me writing the same thing (other than reading the bible)... like you, recently I've found more peace in my life because I've been focusing so much more on God and prayer. I really enjoyed reading your blog-article.
Yes! I guess that is why Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Prince of Peace. It is so cool! And, I think the peaceful feeling is like a guiding light letting us know that we are heading in the right direction.


The SB-Assembler is just another program that tries to understand the commands you give it. It will not always succeed in understanding you. That's why I've added some error messages to warn you that there is something wrong in your source files.
Please note that the SB-Assembler can only warn you for syntax errors, value errors, and non-existing properties. It can't warn you for logical errors in your program. A program that does not report any errors is not necessarily a working program! It only tells you that the program obeyed to the rules of the SB-Assembler.
There are two main types of errors, fatal and non-fatal errors. Fatal errors are so severe that it's no use to continue the assembly process. The SB-Assembler will report such an error and quit immediately.
Non-fatal errors are still errors that would prevent your program from working correctly, but they are not serious enough to quit the assembly process at once. The SB-Assembler will not start pass 2 of the assembly process if errors are found in your program during pass 1. No code will be generated if pass 2 is not started and the previous code file is unchanged. If an error occurs during pass 2 some code may have been generated and a previous code file will be overwritten. Due to the error(s) found it is not very likely that the resulting code file will work correctly.
Errors are always sent to the screen. But if there are too many errors you may no longer see the first error messages, which have long gone off the top of the screen. Errors are also listed in the list file, if you have opened one during assembly. And finally you can send all errors to an error file using the .EF directive.
Version 3 of the SB-Assembler also supports warnings. Warnings are not errors, and therefore are no show stoppers like errors are. A program, which produced one or more warnings, will possibly be all right, but may need some attention from you.
There is a standard list of error messages originating from the SB-Assembler itself. Some Cross Overlays may add some specific error messages to the standard list. Details about Cross specific errors can be found in the description of the particular Cross Overlay.
Version 2 and version 3 of the SB-Assembler have their own set of error messages. Therefore you will see them listed here in separate chapters.
Each error message is preceded by the text *** Error: or *** Fatal Error:, which will tell you what type of error it is. Basically any error in the list below can be either a fatal or a non fatal error, depending on the place where the error occurred.
Somehow you have mixed up some of the program files in the assembler package. Download the latest package from this web site and install it again.
By the way, this is a fatal error.
There was some kind of error detected in the instruction field (mnemonic or directive).
A misspelled mnemonic or directive may cause this error. Or it could be caused by loading a wrong Cross Overlay.
There was some kind of error detected in the operand field (parameters). Consult the description of the mnemonic or directive to learn the rules of the operands in question.
A missing comma to separate operands may also cause this error to appear.
Can't open the binary include file. Are you sure it exists?
A source file could not be opened. It probably doesn't exist in the location you have specified. This is obviously a fatal error.
The .TW directive can't write plain text to binary target files (files of type BIN and HEX).
One or more files can't be written to. Maybe the file or the entire file system is read only.
This is always a fatal error. You are using the .CR directive to load a cross overlay which does not exist. This is probably a typo, or the particular Cross Overlay really doesn't exist.
An expression tried to divide a number by 0, which is not allowed in math.
No text was found between two delimiters, resulting in an empty string, which is not allowed.
An attempt is made to give an already existing label a different value than the first time it was declared using this assembly run. Label values are constants and can not be changed any more.
You are trying to use a label's value before the label is actually defined. Most of the time this is perfectly legal. However, there are times where this is not allowed. And this is such a time.
The assembler expected to find a binary digit but found a character which was not 0 or 1.
The assembler expected to find a decimal digit but found a character which was not 0..9.
You are trying to use a character to start a string constant which is not a legal delimiter.
The directive you are using here is not allowed at this moment. This may happen to some directives which are not allowed within a Macro definition for instance.
The format of the binary include file you are trying to read is not recognized.
The assembler expected to find a hex digit but found a character which was not 0..9 or A..F.
You try to declare a label on a program line containing a directive which does not allow labels to be defined. The label field of such a program line should be empty.
You have made some error in naming a label. A label may start with a letter A to Z, a dot . , or a colon : . As of Version 3.01 a label name may also start with an underscore. Furthermore it may contain the letters A to Z, the digits 0 to 9, a dot . , or an under score character _ . Only during definition a label may contain a colon : at the end of the name.
You have made some error in naming a Macro. A Macro name may start with a letter A to Z. As of Version 3.01 a macro name may also start with an underscore. Furthermore it may contain the letters A to Z, the digits 0 to 9, a dot . , or an under score character _ .
The assembler expected to find an octal digit but found a character which was not 0..7.
The label field can not be empty for the .EQ and .SE directives.
You try to redefine a label's value automatically or by using the .EQ directive that originally was declared using the .SE directive. Once a label is declared as a variable it cannot be changed to a constant any more.
You try to redefine a label's value using the .SE directive that originally was declared automatically or by using the .EQ directive. Once a label is declared as a constant it cannot be changed to a variable any more.
You tried to expand a non existing Macro. The instruction field started with a > symbol.
The SB-Assembler finds a program line containing the .EL or .FI directive, while no pending .DO is active.
You tried to use a local label without providing a global label in your program first. Local labels are always tied to a preceding global label.
This error is also reported after the definition of a Macro or the first declaration of a variable by using the .SE directive.
The .MA directive was found on this line, but you failed to provide a name for that Macro.
A mnemonic was found in the instruction field, but no Cross Overlay was loaded yet. This is always a fatal error. Use the .CR directive before the first line containing a processor instruction.
The .XM directive was found outside a Macro expansion. The .XM directive can only be used from within a Macro definition.
The SB-Assembler expected to find an operand in the operand field, but none was found.
The .EC directive was found without a preceding .CO directive. Probably you forgot to remove it after removing the .CO directive.
The .EM directive was found without a preceding .MA directive. You can't end a non existent Macro definition.
An operand appears to be outside its allowable range. Please refer to the operand details in the description of the directive or mnemonic.
A constant number in any of the available radixes (not an expression!) was larger than 32 bits. Values larger than $FFFFFFFF result in this error message.
It is not possible to write code/data to the RAM memory segment. Therefore it is no use to assign a target file to the RAM memory segment.
You try to open a new include file with the same name as the current include file. This could cause an infinite loop. This is always a fatal error.
The end of the program line was reached while the assembler expected to find a closing delimiter somewhere. You must terminate a literal string with the same delimiter as you started it with.
Labels appear to have different values in pass 1 and pass 2, which is not a good sign. You may have done something wrong with conditional assembly which includes the pass parameter ? .
If you haven't used conditional assembly using the pass parameter then there is probably a bug in the Cross Overlay causing a different number of bytes generated in pass 1 and pass 2. Please let me know if you get this one.
You get this error during pass 2 if you use a label which was never declared during pass 1. This error is not reported during pass 1 because the label could be forward referenced.
The instruction field started with a dot, but doesn't contain a legal directive name.
That's odd, an error occurred and I don't know what caused it. Please let me know if you get this one.
This is the default message for user raised errors. You can raise a user error with the .ER directive.
The SB-Assembler expected to find a value in the operand field, but could not find one.
The address counter of the target file reached the end and wrapped back to $0000. This is not considered an error, but it probably requires some of your attention.
You provided more parameters to a directive or instruction than expected. The extra given parameters are ignored. But you may have to take a look at your code to see if the parameters which were expected are indeed the ones you have given.
The .OR directive was found while a non formatted target file was open and not empty any more. Non formatted target files don't contain address information and therefore have to be closed when you change the program counter. If you don't open a new target file after this warning all subsequent target code will get lost.
You can only open one Symbol file. Opening more than one is not allowed. Only the first opened Symbol file is active, all others are ignored.
Apparently you have just loaded a new Cross overlay, which uses a different instruction size, at a moment where the program pointer and the target pointer are no longer in sync. If this happens the SB-Assembler can't figure out what the relationship between these two pointers is going to be. It is highly unlikely that the target address will be what you want it to be now. Therefore it is advised to use the .OR directive, just before the .CR directive in order to set both pointers to the same value, which will avoid this warning.
Then, after loading the multi-byte per instruction Cross Overlay you'll have to do another .OR to make sure the Target Address gets double the value as the Program Pointer.
That's odd, a warning was generated and I don't know what caused it. Please let me know if you get this one.
This is the default message for user raised warnings. You can raise a user warning with the .ER directive.
You try to use processor instructions in an EEPROM or RAM segment. Processor instructions are only allowed in CODE segment. See the .SM directive for details about the three memory segments.
This warning is usually given only once per assembly run.
The system does not allow you to create, alter or erase a particular file. Perhaps the file is read only or in use by another program. This one is always fatal.
A missing comma to separate operands may also cause this error to appear. Or perhaps you typed a space behind the comma which is not allowed for commas that should separate operands.
The label name in the label field does not obey to the rules. Perhaps the label name started with something else than a letter from A to Z, an underscore, a dot, or a colon?
An error was found in the formatting of a Binary Include file. All records should be formatted according to the file format in use.
A checksum error was found while the assembler was reading a Binary Include file. Maybe the file is corrupted.
Congratulations! You've broken the world record of foolishness. You have nested more than 255 .DO directives! Obviously you have outsmarted the SB-Assembler.
There were no characters found in the string that was delimited by 2 adjacent delimiters. Empty strings are not allowed.
You tried to open a second error file using the .ER directive. Only one error file can be opened during an assembly run.
An attempt is made to give an already existing label a different value than the first time it was declared during this assembly run. Label values are constants and can not be changed any more.
You try to define a macro with the .MA directive with the same name as an already existing macro. Choose a different name for one of the macro definitions.
The SB-Assembler tried to open a file, but could not find it in the current or indicated directory.
Every processor's program counter (PC) is limited. You tried to save instructions beyond its range if you get this error.
You tried to create a label in the symbol table during pass 2. This is a little too late. All labels must be declared at the end of pass 1.
You've used one of the forbidden directives from within a macro definition. This error is given during the definition of the macro, between the .MA and .EM directives.
This is a list of all illegal directives from within a macro definition: .MA, .IN, .CH, .BI, .EN, .CO and .EC .
You tried to use the value of a label that was not defined yet. This is OK in most situations, but not in all.
The .BI or .HS directives report this error when they stumble over a character other than a hexadecimal digit. Legal hexadecimal digits are the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to F.
You try to declare a label on a program line containing the .EL or .FI directives. The label field of such program lines should remain empty.
The maximum length of mnemonics in the SB-Assembler is 10 characters. You typed more than 10 characters so it can't possibly be a mnemonic.
You try to define a Macro using the .MA directive. But the SB-Assembler could not find a legal macro name on that line. Macro names should start with a letter from A to Z. The macro name is expected in the label field, or optionally in the operand field.
The SB-Assembler tried to use an out dated Cross Overlay. I try to keep overlay files backwards compatible as much as I can. But this is not always possible for major release changes. Download the latest version of the SB-Assembler if you get this error message.
You try to redefine a label's value automatically or by using the .EQ directive that originally was declared using the .SE directive.
Once a label is declared as a variable it cannot be changed to a constant any more.
You try to redefine a label's value by using the .SE directive that originally was declared automatically or by using the .EQ directive.
Once a label is declared as a constant it cannot be changed to a variable any more.
The end of the source file was encountered during the definition of a Macro. Macro definitions can not span multiple source files.
The SB-Assembler finds the .EM directive in your program while you were not defining a macro with the .MA directive.
The directive you used expected to find a file name in the operand field. Give it a break and provide for one.
You tried to define a Local label while you never declared a Global label yet. This error is also reported directly after the definition of a macro or the first declaration of a variable by using the .SE directive. You should declare at least one Global label before you can use Local labels again.
No, or no legal string of hexadecimal bytes was found in the operand field of the .HS directive.
The directive expected to find a label name in the label field, but couldn't find one.
The directive requires a file name in the operand field. No file name, or a file name that is not MS-DOS compatible was given.
You tried to open a new .INclude file or .BInary include file from within an other .INclude file. Include file nesting is not allowed with the SB-Assembler.
The .EC directive was encountered without a matching .CO directive.
The SB-Assembler tried to decipher a mnemonic while there was no Cross Overlay loaded into the SB-Assembler. Please use the .CR directive to load the appropriate Cross Overlay.
The .TA directive can not be used on a PC because the SB-Assembler can't produce 8086 code.
The SB-Assembler did not succeed in opening an important file, for various reasons.
The SB-Assembler expected to find an operand in the operand field, but could not find one.
Please note that expressions will never generate an Overflow Error!
The path you provided was not found while accessing an important file.
The expression in the operand field produced a number out of the expected range. Please consult the particular directive or mnemonic that caused this error and check the allowed range.
An MS-DOS read error was reported to the SB-Assembler when accessing a file. Probably you have a damaged disk.
You did not terminate the string with the same delimiter you started the string with.
The .SF directive tried to open a symbol table for the 2nd time in your program, which is not allowed.
Although the SB-Assembler has very modest memory requirements you managed to fill the whole free MS-DOS conventional memory below 640k. If you're running under windows and have your DOS based text editor running in the same dos box you better start your editor in a separate dos box to leave more memory free for the SB-Assembler.
This error is reported during pass 2 if you used a label that was never declared during pass 1. This error is not reported during pass 1 because the label could be forward referenced.
You tried to expand a macro that was not declared. Perhaps you miss-typed its name. Macros can't be forward referenced!
The .BI directive was fed with a file that did not contain data according to the selected file format.
This error was forced by the .ER directive.
6 Fatal error. Wrong Python version is used.
Every MS-Dos program will report an error level to the system when it exits. This error level could be used in a batch file to act appropriately to different exit reasons.


text:
EVs on cover of Economist
14th August 2017by Alastair Dodwell EV News, Reviews0 comments
This weeks Economist is a must read for anyone interested in the transition to Electric Vehicles, Battery Technology and Peak oil.
The cover and lead article related to the demise of the internal combustion engine or ICE. See Economist. The more detailed briefing (subscription required) covers battery technology in detail and focus of next post.
"HUMAN inventiveness…has still not found a mechanical process to replace horses as the propulsion for vehicles," lamented Le Petit Journal, a French newspaper, in December 1893. Its answer was to organise the Paris-Rouen race for horseless carriages, held the following July. The 102 entrants included vehicles powered by steam, petrol, electricity, compressed air and hydraulics. Only 21 qualified for the 126km (78-mile) race, which attracted huge crowds. The clear winner was the internal combustion engine. Over the next century it would go on to power industry and change the world.
But its days are numbered. Rapid gains in battery technology favour electric motors instead.
The Chevy Bolt has a range of 383km; Tesla fans recently drove a Model S more than 1,000km on a single charge. UBS, a bank, reckons the "total cost of ownership" of an electric car will reach parity with a petrol one next year—albeit at a loss to its manufacturer. It optimistically predicts electric vehicles will make up 14% of global car sales by 2025, up from 1% today. Others have more modest forecasts, but are hurriedly revising them upwards as batteries get cheaper and better—the cost per kilowatt-hour has fallen from $1,000 in 2010 to $130-200 today.
All change
electrification has thrown the car industry into turmoil. Its best brands are founded on their engineering heritage—especially in Germany. Compared with existing vehicles, electric cars are much simpler and have fewer parts; they are more like computers on wheels. That means they need fewer people to assemble them and fewer subsidiary systems from specialist suppliers. Car workers at factories that do not make electric cars are worried that they could be for the chop. With less to go wrong, the market for maintenance and spare parts will shrink. While today's carmakers grapple with their costly legacy of old factories and swollen workforces, new entrants will be unencumbered. Premium brands may be able to stand out through styling and handling, but low-margin, mass-market carmakers will have to compete chiefly on cost.
Meanwhile, a scramble for lithium is under way. The price of lithium carbonate has risen from $4,000 a tonne in 2011 to more than $14,000. Demand for cobalt and rare-earth elements for electric motors is also soaring. Lithium is used not just to power cars: utilities want giant batteries to store energy when demand is slack and release it as it peaks. Will all this make lithium-rich Chile the new Saudi Arabia? Not exactly, because electric cars do not consume it; old lithium-ion batteries from cars can be reused in power grids, and then recycled.
The internal combustion engine has had a good run—and could still dominate shipping and aviation for decades to come. But on land electric motors will soon offer freedom and convenience more cheaply and cleanly. As the switch to electric cars reverses the trend in the rich world towards falling electricity consumption, policymakers will need to help, by ensuring that there is enough generating capacity—in spite of many countries' broken system of regulation. They may need to be the midwives to new rules and standards for public recharging stations, and the recycling of batteries, rare-earth motors and other components in "urban mines". And they will have to cope with the turmoil as old factory jobs disappear.
Driverless electric cars in the 21st century are likely to improve the world in profound and unexpected ways, just as vehicles powered by internal combustion engines did in the 20th. But it will be a bumpy road. Buckle up.
Cables For Charging mentioned by BBC
31st January 2017by Alastair Dodwell Reviews, Sales and marketing0 comments
Yes we are mentioned in a BBC article published jusst before Christams on the BBC Autos page.
Featured as Last-Minute gifts for green-minded drivers. See BBC website.
Eco-friendly cars that swap petrol for plugs are becoming increasingly popular. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2015, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in use across the globe reached over 1.26 million. And 13 million charging stations, which will accommodate that growing number of EVs, are projected to be in place by 2020.
The holidays are here, but here are some last-minute ideas for the EV lover in your life, from the cousin who only commutes via e-bicycle, or your friend who refuses to sit behind a steering wheel to spew exhaust into the air.
Electric car charging cables
This Surrey-based company, Cables for Charging, will supply charging cables for any EV user you know, whether they drive an electric BMW, Nissan, Mistubishi, or Audi. The site provides a guide for choosing which charging cable is best for your type of car, and they ship to anywhere in the UK or Europe. £120 to £140
Tip of the hat to Jim Barber for the headsup.
How to charge a Nissan Leaf
28th October 2016by Alastair Dodwell Charging, Nissan Leaf, Reviews0 comments
Charging an EV like the Nissan Leaf is easy.
See this short video of plugging a Leaf into a Public Type 2 Charging Post at Sainsbury's.
The Nissan Leaf uses a TYpe 1 on board connection. The Pod Point charging system offers a standard Type 2 connection. The cable required is thus a Type 1 – TYpe 2 Charging Cable. This leaf has a standard 16 Amp charger and. This will function with both a 16 Amp or a 32 Amp cable but will only draw 16 Amp from ther supply. In this case we are using a 16 Amp Type 1 – Type 2 cable. EV-CHC007.
Apple show their future of in car iOS navigation
5th March 2014by Alastair Dodwell Reviews0 comments
Apple's in-car infotainment system has been a long time coming. After it was announced at the company's annual WWDC conference in June last year, "iOS in the Car" flew under the radar, only to undergo a rebrand and launch publicly this week as : CarPlay. Sharing part of its name with the company's AirPlay media-streaming protocol, CarPlay combines all of the iPhone's most important features and mirrors them inside the car, allowing car owners to call, text, navigate and listen to music (and more) using touch- or Siri-based voice inputs.
The new in-car interface is compatible with new Ferrari, Mercedes and Volvo models unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show. Engadget were lucky enough to get a hand on demo in a sweet Ferrari.
From Endgatet: Compatible with the iPhone 5 and up, CarPlay is "loaded" into the Ferrari's built-in navigation system by way of a Lightning adapter located underneath the armrest. Wireless connections are coming, at least from Volvo, but our test was limited to traditional cables. Once it's connected, Ferrari will continue to utilize its own infotainment system, but users can load CarPlay by hitting a dedicated dashboard button, allowing all touch and voice inputs to be diverted to your iPhone. This loads the CarPlay dashboard, which features a familiar array of icons and services you'll recognize from your iPhone. From here, it's a case of using the touchscreen or calling upon Siri to load each of the services — the latter of which can be summoned with the Siri Eyes Free button located on the reverse of the steering wheel. The first thing we noticed is how speedy everything is. Apps load quickly, and Siri's contextual algorithms hastily recognized our voice commands and responded appropriately. Apple has also implemented safety features to ensure services do not draw your attention away from the road and push forward its "hands-free" theme. For example, when we sent or received a message from a contact, Siri would only read the message back to us and we never once got the chance to see its contents. An Apple representative was able to talk us through each CarPlay feature, so do make sure you check out our in-depth hands-on video above to get a better idea of what Apple and its car maker buddies are aiming for.
Right Prescription? Road Ready!
10th February 2014by Alastair Dodwell Reviews0 comments
A recent government survey done by Brake in conjunction with the DVLA and auto insurer RSA showed 26% of drivers had not had their vision tested in the past two years. Additionally, the survey reveals 9% of drivers who need glasses or lenses do not always wear them when driving.
RSA also says research indicates that not having good vision while driving accounts for over 2,900 road casualties a year. Having and wearing prescription glasses when driving is as important as taking care of your car, especially for the driving enthusiast. When you're one with the road, clear eyesight is a top priority. While there's no one size fits all prescription, a good optician makes sure your eyes are ready for the road. The right prescription maximises your vision for precision timing around those rolling hills, smooth curves and sharp turns. If you value your ability to drive without restriction, get your eyes checked. Not having clear vision is against the law.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) states that drivers must be able to meet an appropriate eye standard, which includes reading a numbered plate from at least 20 metres away. Don't meet the guidelines? Your insurance is invalid and you are driving illegally. Be careful with tinted shades or glasses too. The law includes the provision that you cannot wear them at night or in poor light due to dark lenses affecting your vision.
For day driving, The AA recommends having prescription sunglasses as a viable option for seeing the sights – clearly. It's important to get your eyes checked every year to make sure your vision is in tip-top condition. You want to be able to see everything up close and personal when you attend those petrol head events, and you'll need to drive to get there. Glasses take the strain off your eyes, especially if you're driving for long periods of time. Take care of your vision like you take care of your interest in cars and driving. Keep yourself in the driver's seat – it's no fun in the back. With the right prescription, you'll always be road ready.
Tesla Model S UK test drive event
20th October 2013by Alastair Dodwell EV News, Features, Reviews, Tesla0 comments
Tesla UK test drive day
The UK is one of the last major markets to get the Tesla. I guess it's because it must be a pain and an engineering cost to switch the car to Right Hand Drive. The UK is a large car market and currently the only European market showing any signs of life.
The company is now starting to show the Model S. This weekend Tesla held its first public event to drive the Model S on the UK roads. It was an invitation only affair with pre-booked driving slots held at a hotel near Windsor, close to the Tesla UK office.
They had 5 Model S cars to drive. All left hand drive and from various part of Europe. In the hotel room was a rolling chassis and a white car together with a couple of iMacs where you could browse the Tesla site and place an order. Groups were allocated a two-hour slot to play with the car, speak to the Tesla folk and take a test drive around a set course with an on-board Tesla Co-Pilot. The course was only about 10 miles on length and covered mostly small UK roads with one short stretch on dual carriageway. But before we headed to the road we were subjected to pretty lame presentation about the company and plans. This was a great opportunity to present the company and products. However it was rather dull and poorly presented. An opportunity missed.
The car in the hotel room was definitely the center of attention as people climbed in and out of it. The main comments seemed to be about the size and space. The car is large when compared to most UK cars on the road. The interior space is massive, especially the rear seats that feel very comfortable and airy. This is backed up the front and rear trunks or as the Brits say bonnet and boot. The brochure claims a storage space of 150 in the front and 1640 in the rear that totals over three times the storage of a BMW 5 Series.
The mega control screen was the other key point of interaction. You can do anything with it. All the basics like Sat Nav, radio, climate but also drag the roof open, set the driver's seat position into memory with a name. The displays for the power usage and range calculations were especially neat and informative. Unlike most hybrids with their graphics showing energy into and out of the pack, the Tessa just showed power used over the last 5, 15 or 30 miles and calculates the expected remaining range based on the most recent driving data.
The car drives superbly the ride being especially impressive. Our red car had 21' wheels fitted with low profile tires. I think the co-pilot said that it was the sportiest of the options. The performance was astonishing, the car just powered away with total ease. We reached no more than 70 MPH and only then for a dozen or so seconds but it reached that speed in a mighty short time. We drove to the event in my Porsche 911 and the Tesla's performance was far more dramatic than the Porsche. The other big difference was the lack of noise. The car is super quiet and this makes it a relaxing vehicle to drive and be driven in.
Tesla are now taking orders for UK cars. However the price and specs are not fixed yet. So you can place a £4,000 deposit now and in a few months, most likely early 2014, be told the UK price. Your deposit is fully refundable. At that point you will be able to configure your car and have a good idea of when it will arrive.
People that I spoke with seemed impressed with the car. Not knowing the final price will put some people off from pulling the trigger but we have a pretty good idea of the comparisons from other European countries. One Tesla rep mentioned that they registered 650 Model S in Norway in September and this represented the largest of any model, even the best-selling VW Golf.
With petrol and diesel pushing £1.32 per litre, remember that's equivalent to just under £6.00 per gallon we pay a small fortune for fuel. With a UK average of 10,000 miles per car and say 40 MPG that's equal to 250 gallons or 1,136 litre of petrol. At today's price that's £1,500 just on petrol before you include the road tax and other costs.
Of course the big cost in motoring is the depreciation of the car and the finance of the purchase. The running costs are important of course as they have to be met every month.
UK Specs
On offer we have a 60Kwh, 85 Kwh and an 85 KWh performance models. All have 8 year battery warranty. The larger packs offer a 300 mile range and the 65Kwh a 230 mile range.
Model S Specifications
60 KWh 85 KWh 85 KWh Performance
Range 230 miles 300 miles 300 miles
0 – 60 5.9 seconds 5.4 seconds 4.2 seconds
Top Speed 120 mph 125 mph 130 mph
Power 302 hp 362 hp 416 hp
Torque 317 lb-ft 325 lb-ft 443 lb-ft
Even the 60 KWh offers impressive performance.
Let's compare with a BMW 5
Tesla BMW 5
Model S 60 KWh 525d Luxury Saloon
Top speed 120 mph 152 mph
0-60 5.9 seconds 7.0 seconds
Length 4970 mm 4907 mm
Width 2187 mm 2102 mm
Height 1445 mm 1464 mm
The standard specifications on the Tesla are mainly options on the BMW. Heated seats, fancy stereo, tire pressure monitoring, Bluetooth, Climate Control, Keyless entry, Cruise, backup camera and of course 17″ touch screen control system.
i3 driven by Top Gear
16th October 2013by Alastair Dodwell BMW, Reviews0 comments
Top Gear hack Paul Horrell reviews a pre-production BMW i3 and likes it.
One day, the idea of cars driven by electric motors will become routine. After all, diesels were once a novelty, and so were turbos. We've just had a drive in a BMW i3 – visually disguised, but the real thing in the way it behaves – and it feels so incredibly natural that you rapidly fall for the idea that electric drive should be an idea that nobody questions.
After all, if you were on the ground floor and wanted to get to the 21st, would you want a lift powered by petrol? One that changed up a gear as it passed the 14th floor, and changed down again on the 19th? Nope, for smooth and silent movement, electricity is the way to go.
At first sampling then, this is a compelling electric car. It's not the first on the market, but BMW has put some original thinking into almost every part of its design and engineering. It drives sweetly, is distinctively designed, and has the reassuring range-extender option if you are anxious about running flat.
That said, BMW reckons nearly all i3 buyers will use it as a second car so won't be doing long journeys, and it's optimised to make them efficient and fun.
You can read the full review at Top Gear:
Auto CAR compare Tesla to Aston Martin
16th September 2013by Alastair Dodwell Reviews, Tesla0 comments
Thanks to AutoCAR for playing with and penning a decent review, for once.
They enjoy the Tesla S and an Aston Martin Rapide S as a comparison.
It's primarily a Model S review. In summary, the reviewer is blown away (his words) and concludes that the Aston seems 'really, really old fashioned' in comparison. And, of course, the S easily bests the Rapide in a straight line comparison. Beyond the accolades it's a nicely produced review and there doesn't seem to be an agenda.
The reviewer also notes that for about the same range, the S costs about £4.5 per charge versus about £120 in fuel for the Rapide. Wow.
Well worth a watch.
Vauxhall Ampera Review
10th May 2013by Alastair Dodwell Features, Reviews0 comments
The Ampera arrived care of Vauxhall with just over 45 miles of electric power in the battery pack on a press car that has covered close to 20,000 miles. Considering its use by fellow hacks it was in perfect condition looking clean and sharp in the sunshine.
So what is the Ampera?
The Vauxhall is basically the same as the US Chevy Volt branded as a Vauxhall for UK sales, as an Opel Ampera for European sales and a Holden Volt in Australia. All are the same GM car with some exterior modifications for local markets. Confusingly in the UK the Ampera is £4,000 more than the Volt.
The Volt was launched in the US in late 2010 and GM have shipped over 45,000 units since then making it the largest EV supplier in the US. Thought given Tesla's recent sales numbers that title will be short-lived.
The car combines an Electric motor and battery pack with what GM call a range extender or what we call an Engine. The purpose of the engine is primarily to drive a generator to charge the batteries. This is clever stuff. But it is even cleverer than just that, if the car needs more power the engine will also be called on to drive the wheels via a mechanical clutch. Of course the car recovers power from regenerative braking system. All in all that's a lot of technology to pack into a mid-sized car. GM have done a fine job in this aspect.
The GM team who delivered the Ampera seemed less impressed and regarded it as just another car to loan out. They offered a DVD and glossy fact sheet.
The best part of the car is how it drives: It is always smooth and purposeful on the road. The performance is rapid enough for everyday events and the car delivers the performance in an almost silent way. After years of driving in petrol or diesel car you are so accustomed to acceleration equalling noise from the engine. In the Ampera this does not happen. The car just increases in speed with no audio increase. Just the digital speed dial increasing.
I was expecting other road users to notice or enquire about the car. Not once was I looked at or question. This is in sharp contrast to driving a Sparrow, where the extreme visual impact was accompanied by constant point, stares and photographs. A quick Strarbucks became a half hour event as a minimum. Not so in the rather dull looking Ampera. It looks different from other cars with a deep nose but otherwise it's pretty bland on the eye. There are no fancy EV graphics or images. No car of the year sticker. Nothing to announce it.
The engine and battery management is faultless with the transition totally seamless and a non-event. The dashboard gives you a range gauge with both battery and fuel distances till empty. When the battery range goes to zero the engine cuts in and the only real difference a low speeds is a change on the dashboard. At higher speeds you can hear the engine performing work to both charge the pack and drive the wheels.
Inside the car is surprisingly spacious with generous seats front and back and instrument panel that provides sufficient information in a reasonable clear way. The test car had keyless entry, Bluetooth phone connection, GPS, rear facing camera and a few other goodies. The worst component was the integrated heating, map, navigation display panel. During our test we never managed to master the controls and the whole device was let done by the nasty touch push buttons. They had a small button that seemed to work by touch rather than push, but most likely was push. They did not have good feel or hand.
Charging was easy – Just plug the connector into a standard 240 volt outlet and the car gave a short beep and a green light illuminates on the dashboard and the instrument panel gives a time when the pack will be charged. As with most EV 's this is quite a long time. Expect a full charge to take 6 hours or so. We never put petrol in the tank as most of our journeys were short enough to complete on the 52 mile EV range.
16.5 KWh Lithium-ion Battery Pack
One 111 KWh motor
One 55 KWh motor
1.4 L petrol engine 4 cylinder
EV Range 52 miles
UK Retail price start at £30,000 including the £5,000 EV Plug-In government grant
Mia at Goodwood Festival of Speed
14th July 2012by Alastair Dodwell EV, Reviews0 comments
At the great Goodwood Festival of Speed there is always a Future Tent where the advanced motoring concepts and ideas are to be found. This year was no exception with a number of interesting vehicles, including a pair of MIA cars.
Inside the tent was a new 3 seater Mia in white while outside on the Goodwood grass was a Mia van. They looked a little strange next to the concept cars from Toyota and Mazda. However the Mia is real and you can buy one today in the UK.
Goodwood had a number of interesting EV vehicles – The GM Volt and Vauxhall Ampere were on display. The most interesting in terms of clever was the Volvo Plug in diesel hybrid. To be reviewed in detail.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Grabbing first item in a set I am trying to grab the first item in a set but none of the examples i have seen on traversing really fit the format I am using. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
function popagateDegreeUpwards(obj, sectionNum, compLev, counter)
{
    var ddl = $(obj);
    var oneTierUpPnl = ddl.parent('.Section' + (sectionNum - 1));
    var parDdls = oneTierUpPnl.find('.DDLSelector' + (sectionNum - 1));
    var parDdl = //How do I select the first element in the parDdls Set???
}

A: Use the :first selector.  Here's some documentation: http://api.jquery.com/first-selector/
You might use it like so:
function popagateDegreeUpwards(obj, sectionNum, compLev, counter)
{
    var ddl = $(obj);
    var oneTierUpPnl = ddl.parent('.Section' + (sectionNum - 1));
    var parDdls = oneTierUpPnl.find('.DDLSelector' + (sectionNum - 1));
    var parDdl = $(':first', parDdls);
}

You could also use the .first() call.  Docmentation here: http://api.jquery.com/first/
Usage example:
function popagateDegreeUpwards(obj, sectionNum, compLev, counter)
{
    var ddl = $(obj);
    var oneTierUpPnl = ddl.parent('.Section' + (sectionNum - 1));
    var parDdls = oneTierUpPnl.find('.DDLSelector' + (sectionNum - 1));
    var parDdl = parDdls.first();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Saudi-UAE ties are central to regional peace, prosperity
Sultan Althari Saturday 05 December 2020
The United Arab Emirates celebrated its 49th national day this week – while commemorating such an occasion is imperative, it certainly isn't the only reason to celebrate.
It is also a reminder to take pride in – and celebrate – the UAE and Saudi Arabia's indispensable ties, as well as the strategic economic, social, and geopolitical value bilateral relations offer the region at large. Strategic alignment at the national level between Saudi Vision 2030 and UAE Vision 2021 comes with positive byproducts that extend far beyond Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
Ties between both nations are central to regional stability, socio-economic development, intra-Islamic tolerance, interfaith dialogue, youth empowerment, and unleashing the unmet potential of cultural and creative industries.
Spheres of bilateral intersection continue to expand, culminating most recently in the Aber project – an initiative launched by the central banks of the UAE (CBUAE) and Saudi Arabia (SAMA) to explore the viability of a shared digital currency aimed to reduce transfer times and costs between banks of both nations. In a 93-page synopsis of the Aber project, the two central banks concluded that a distributed payment system is not only viable, but offers "significant improvement over centralized payment systems in terms of architectural resilience." Beyond digital currency development, the project's name, Aber – which is the Arabic word for "crossing boundaries" – encompasses the broader nature of ties between the Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
The most obvious manifestation of such alignment is evident in the formation of the Saudi–Emirati Coordination Council in 2016—an unprecedented model for bilateral cross-sectoral coordination with a plethora of strategic byproducts, including job creation, investments, GDP growth, cultural exchange, and regional security. Official figures paint a clearer picture: The Council is set to implement 175 initiatives across 44 joint strategic economic, developmental, and military projects.
Emiratis attend celebrations of UAE's national day on December 2, 2020. (AFP)
The economies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE represent a gross domestic product of slightly more than $1 trillion. As both nations transition to knowledge-based economies, economic diversification is central to their respective national strategies. This places great strategic weight on bilateral economic integration and coordination between the two largest economies in the Arabian Peninsula.
Economic, cultural ties
Economic ties have swelled since the creation of the GCC Customs Union in 2003: Saudi-UAE non-oil trade increased 1,230 percent from 2003 to mid-2018. Bilateral investments are also on the rise – the UAE has direct investments amounting to more than $9.2 billion in the Kingdom spanning 122 investment projects, while Saudi direct investments in the UAE amount to over 4.3 billion. These figures are expected to witness an exponential increase as the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council embarks on a series of strategic economic initiatives. These include a joint investment fund to invest, in partnership with the private sector, in small and medium enterprises of emerging industrial sectors, a joint venture company for agricultural investment to enhance sustainable food security, and a Saudi-Emirati investment fund for renewable energy to attract large and start-up companies and provide funding support for research and development projects.
Geopolitically, bilateral ties are best described as a cornerstone of regional stability. The strengthened security dimension of the alliance gives both nations greater latitude to engage in coordinated multilateral action. It is precisely this cooperation that has given both nations the ability to effectively counter extremist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, extremist non-state actors such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, and state-sponsored terrorism emanating from Iran and its regional proxies.
Joint geopolitical intersections extend far beyond combating extremism and into the realm of positive peacemaking: The historic 2018 Jeddah Peace Agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that was made possible by joint Saudi-Emirati efforts is a testament to that commitment. The peace accord between the Horn of Africa neighbors is just one example of bilateral commitment to regional peace and sustained stability.
A military helicopter flies over Riyadh during celebrations marking Saudi Arabi's 90th National Day, Sept. 23, 2020. (AFP)
Culture and creative industries serve as a prime source of employment and foreign direct investment (FDI), while making up over 4.5 percent the global GDP. These figures point to a clear link between cultural development and economic diversification. But what sets Saudi-UAE cultural relations apart is the fact that both nations believe in the intrinsic value of culture beyond its economic efficacy, and its indispensable role preserving heritage, promoting national unity, and building bridges of mutual understanding at both regional and global levels.
Saudi Arabia open to full ties with Israel, on condition of Palestine state: Saudi FM
'Significant progress' made to resolving Gulf crisis: Saudi FM Prince Faisal
UAE minister: Gulf has changed and cannot go back to what it was before Qatar crisis
Bilateral cultural exchange is continually strengthened through various platforms and festivals such as Souq Okaz, Janadriyah, the Misk Art exhibition, Riyadh International Book Fair, Sharjah theatrical days, and Abu Dhabi's Al-Burda Exhibition, among others.
More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Saudi Arabia and the UAE to find ways to keep cultural ties strong amid global lockdowns put in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The UAE's embassy in Riyadh launched the Cultural Corridor Initiative through which prominent cultural figures in both countries participated in interactive virtual dialogues on topics including music, heritage, poetry, fashion and culinary arts. Further, the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council established a Saudi-Emirati Youth Council as a body to facilitate the exchange of skills and ideas between youth from both countries, while acting as a link between youth and decision-makers.
It is difficult to overstate the centrality of the Saudi-Emirati partnership to regional peace and prosperity. Strengthened ties between both nations propels the region to a brighter future through a common vision, one that is driven by an ironclad commitment to regional stability, optimism, and inclusive socio-economic development . A common vision begets a common destiny—as strategic ties increase in size and magnitude, the region's destiny continues to look brighter with each passing moment.
Last Update: Saturday, 05 December 2020 KSA 14:53 - GMT 11:53
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Al Arabiya English's point-of-view.
Coronavirus: UAE reports 1,214 COVID-19 cases, three new deaths
Vessel attacked off Yemen's coast, UK maritime organization says
US raised prospect of blacklisting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, says Oman FM


to get narrow toe blocks and wide hex like 2018 car .but very expensive fix for a car that is less than 2 months old.
The 68mm driveshafts are now available under part number #365322.
where a mistake can xray replace these ?
Looking at the spec's between the 2017 and 2018 XB2 ,the shafts are at 68mm on the 2017,and 67mm on the 2018. Also the pin on the shaft of the 2018 is 2.5mm compared to 2mm on the 2017 shaft .This is done to accommodate the larger slots on the 2018 . Also note the hex's on the 2018 are now 4.5mm.
This was a running change - the drive shafts has been designed 67mm long to improve clearance between driveshaft and outdrive as the mostly used hinge pin insert positions are the middle and inside ones.
It was not a mistake so XRAY will not replace them - if you need to use also the outer position than the optional 68mm drive shafts has to be used.
When you use XB2C´17 like manual says there is problem?? We use this car all last season and no problem!
XB2C´18 has longer driveshaft because we have more narrow pivot holder.
to limit rear shock length to 27mm not 29mm like your setup??
Hello, when you run so much drop you need to be sure then out drives are in very good condition.
If driveshaft come out once then is very easy to out again.
use little less drop in rear to be safe.


text:
Fiona Shaw Quotes
Ireland, Actress
Fiona Shaw, CBE (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish actress and theatre and opera director, known for her role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films and her role as Marnie Stonebrook in season four of the HBO series True Blood (2011). She has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, twice winning the Olivier Award for Best Actress; for various roles including Electra in 1990, and for Machinal in 1994. She won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for The Waste Land. Her other stage work includes playing the title role in Medea, both in the West End and on Broadway (2001–02). She was awarded an Honorary CBE in 2001.
Also known as Stage Actor, Film Actor
A relationship is sent by God and accident.
Fiona Shaw
This whole tribal loyalty seems to have gone.
Theater dates very quickly.
The word democracy has no meaning. Duty has gone. Only rights remain.
Every generation is obsessed with the decade before they were born.
Theater is dangerously open to repetition. It's exciting when you hit on a new way.
I certainly had no intention of playing a man.
I had a ball doing Harry Potter.
I'm not on the run from anything and I'm not at all clear about what I'm running towards. But as some great writer put it, I want to be certain that when I arrive at death, I'm totally exhausted.
Like a lot of Irish households we read a lot of Irish history. It was almost Soviet, raising the next generation with a mythic view of their history.
Honestly, I get more recognized for 'Three Men and a Little Lady' than 'Harry Potter'.
I enjoy making films, but my heart is in the stage. Every night you have to be on. There's no second take.
I think America becomes more disgruntled by going to the movies and having an endlessly good time at them.
My mother adores singing and plays piano. My uncle was a phenomenal pianist. My brother John is a double bassist. I used to play the piano, badly, and cello. My brother Peter played violin.
People who are good at film have a relationship with the camera.
I can hardly decide what plays I should be in.
There's something about the Irish that is remarkable.
One moment cannot be the most important.
I take the theater seriously in that I loathe it, I'm bored by it.
There once was a demographic survey done to determine if money was connected to happiness and Ireland was the only place where this did not turn out to be true.
Also, an area that interests me – and it will probably take years to state what I mean – is the period of the rise of democracy, with Tom Paine, which is around the turn of the 18th century into the 19th.
Irish people are educated not only about artistry but local history.
The Americans are very clear, and obsessed with nouns.
I would love to write the story of my upbringing in Ireland.
LATEST NEWS ABOUT:
Lalla Ward
Michael Eric Dyson


Understand the shifting revenue paradigm.
Discover new anesthesia and orthopedic strategies to improve outcome and workflow.
Manage the orthopedic surgical patient in the context of VBC.
Role of PSH for MIPS and APM requirements for anesthesiologists and orthopedic surgeons.
ASA & AAOS have both endorsed the Perioperative Surgical Home Model.
Improve orthopedic patient outcomes while streamlining care delivery and reducing expense.
Discover how VBC is being clinically practiced in different setting.
Recognize shared challenges faced by all healthcare stakeholders.
Get valuable pointers to improve your results on VBC procedures.
Work more productively with the clinical team.
Gain new ideas for improving current episode of care.
Network with other nurses, nurse-navigators and APRN.
Define Enhanced Recovery and PSH.
Plan Enhanced Recovery and PSH implementation at your own hospital.
Gain insights from leading organizations in the orthopedic space.
Medacta is joining us this year to provide hands-on training on cadavers in two labs. Expert instructors will provide instructions and guidance using the latest and innovative techniques to improve your practice.
Sunday's agenda has been shortened to allow our out-of-town visitors to allocate time to travel.
More bootcamps. This year we have three bootcamps scheduled separately to allow for participants to attend one, two or all three bootcamps.
Cadaveric Lab – A brand new all-day hands-on activity brought on by Medacta and lead by physician expects in Anesthesia and Orthopedic Surgery.
More outstanding speakers joining us this year to share their expertise in topics suggested by past conference attendants.
We welcome feedback. After all, this conference is for you!


text:
Deux romans – 1. Le Roman du docteur 2. Le Roman du reporter (en russe  :  Dva romana, 1 Roman doktora, 2 Roman reportera) est une nouvelle d'Anton Tchekhov, parue en 1883.

Historique
Deux romans – 1. Le Roman du docteur 2. Le Roman du reporter  est initialement publié dans la revue russe Les Éclats, , du , sous le pseudonyme de l'Homme sans rate.

Résumé
Avec humour et sous la forme d'une ordonnance de médecin, l'auteur décrit les atouts d'une demoiselle, la dot, le mariage, les cris de sa femme et de sa belle-mère. Il prescrit l'ablation de la langue selon une méthode décrite par Charcot. La femme ayant appris à parler avec les doigts, il préconise de la munir de moufles pour avoir la paix.

Puis, dans un langage journalistique (bon à tirer, censure, vente au numéro, etc.), un homme décrit son mariage, sa déception, le lendemain de la noce, les tromperies de madame et, finalement, son renvoi chez ses parents.

Notes et références

Édition française
 Deux romans – 1. Le Roman du docteur 2. Le Roman du reporter, dans Œuvres de A. Tchekhov 1883, traduit par Madeleine Durand et Édouard Parayre, Les Éditeurs Français Réunis, 1952, numéro d'éditeur 431.

Nouvelle d'Anton Tchekhov
Nouvelle russe parue en 1883
Nouvelle publiée dans Les Éclats

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Through The Looking Glass Children's Book Review
Seasonal Feature
Organization Spotlight
Bookish Calendar
Board and Novelty Reviews
Picture Book & Graphic Novel Reviews
Fiction Reviews for ages 5 to 12
Fiction Reviews for ages 12 and up
Annual Editor's Choice Collections
Library of Reviews
Authors and Illustrators - This Month's Spotlight
Every month TTLG highlights the work and life of an author or illustrator. Below you will find this month's spotlight.
Philip Reeve was born and brought up in Brighton, and has since lived in Devon and Dartmoor. He worked for many years in a bookshop, while involved with amateur film making and theatre.
Since 1994, he has earned his living as a cartoonist. His drawings are well known from three series of books for school children: Murderous Maths; Horrible Histories; and Dead Famous. He has provided illustrations and jokes for over forty books.
His first novel is Mortal Engines (2001), a thrilling fantasy adventure story with traditional elements and moral conundrums, set in a futuristic landscape where cities move across the globe, gobbling other towns and cities as they go. It opens: 'It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.' Mortal Engines won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award) in 2002 and was also shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award.
Philip Reeve has also had short stories published in various magazines, and is the author of the children's series of books about Buster Bayliss - far-fetched but hilarious tales for younger readers. He has also written a musical with Brian P Mitchell, 'The Ministry of Biscuits'.
TTLG Newsletter
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with Google Custom Search
©2003 - 2021 Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews. All Rights Reserved.


text:
"""
Read a feature file containing a 0 or 1 on each line, output
all mafs whose index in maf_file corresponds to a row having a 1

usage: %prog feature_file < maf_file
"""

import psyco_full

import sys
import bx.align.maf

def __main__():

    feature_file = sys.argv[1]

    if len( sys.argv ) > 2:
        match = int( sys.argv[2] )
    else:
        match = 1

    feature_vector = [ int( line ) for line in file( feature_file ) ]

    maf_reader = bx.align.maf.Reader( sys.stdin )
    maf_writer = bx.align.maf.Writer( sys.stdout )

    index = 0

    for m in maf_reader:
        if feature_vector[ index ] == match: maf_writer.write( m )
        index += 1

if __name__ == "__main__": __main__()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Robert Erickson papers
Robert Erickson (1901-1989) was born in Fitchburg, MA and graduated from Northeastern University's School of Engineering in 1926. He earned an M.S. in Business Administration from Boston University in 1930. While attending Northeastern, he was known as the most active man in his class. He was a member of the student senate, played drums in the school orchestra, and was an enthusiastic participant in his fraternity, Beta Gamma Epsilon.
Erickson, Robert, 1901-1989 (Person)
Beta Gamma Epsilon. Northeastern University Chapter
College student government
College students -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Erickson, Robert, 1901-1989
Greek letter societies
Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). Class of 1926
Archives/3. Alumni
Finding aid for the Robert Erickson Papers
Finding aid prepared by Peter Rawson
Robert Erickson papers, M029. Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections. https://archivesspace.library.northeastern.edu/repositories/2/resources/813 Accessed February 01, 2023.


text:
All-New 2023 Renault Duster Coming to India
Posted on August 2, 2022 |
The new-gen Renault Duster is expected to go on sale in India in the near future; Design Potentially Influenced by Bigster
Renault India indeed made a strong impact in the domestic market with the Duster nameplate as it opened up the mid-size SUV segment by setting an initial benchmark. The monocoque SUV continued to be sold for years, despite receiving minor updates in India before facing the axe. All is not all doom and gloom though the chances of a new Duster arriving in India are high.
It is no secret that the new generation Duster is under development and it may arrive in the period 2023-24 based on a new platform. Courtesy the upcoming Duster, the CMF-B architecture will likely debut in India leaving the B0 platform, which was available in the now-discontinued model and other cars including the Captur and Lodgy.
More notably, the new Renault is underpinned by the CMF-B LS lower spec variant, which is modular as well as economical friendly developing markets. The new generation monocoque SUV could be equipped with hybrid technology for higher fuel efficiency and to compensate for the non-sales of diesel engines. As far as the design is concerned, it will be influenced by the bigster.
The styling will boast of modern elements while retaining the character of the SUV as prominent wheel arches, squared-off fenders, muscular bodywork etc. may be present. The mid-size SUV segment seems to be trending with hybrid powertrains and 4WD technology being part of the package and whether Renault will follow the same path is yet unknown.
Given the popularity of the nameplate, the new generation Renault Duster is being actively evaluated for launch in India. If the French manufacturer goes ahead with the CMF-B LS platform, its global alliance partner, Nissan, can also go ahead with bringing in products based on it and economies of scale can be achieved.
Thus, the platform can be leveraged to expand their respective vehicle lineups in the near future. Renault currently has the Kieger compact SUV as its best seller in India while Nissan has Magnite as its top seller.
Filed under: Auto
Ravi kumar E September 18, 2022
When in india it will be Launched.
Can you please elaborate more details on the new duster.


The University of Memphis delivered an update on the construction of its long-in-the-works indoor football practice facility. The school announced that the first phase of the project is expected to be completed in spring 2019.
In a statement, the Memphis athletic department said that it held its first construction meeting Thursday to discuss the timeline, budget and details of the project. But the start date for construction on the actual indoor practice facility is still to be determined.
The first phase of the project, which begins pre-construction this month, includes new offices for the football program's coaches and staff in addition to new training rooms, recruiting rooms and meeting spaces, among other enhancements.
The school said it aims to submit its proposal for the second phase, which includes the football facility, to the Tennessee State Building Commission in the coming weeks.
Memphis held a groundbreaking ceremony for the indoor practice facility last April. The school's Board of Trustees then approved $10 million in debt financing from the Tennessee State School Bond Authority last August to fund the first phase. An additional $600,000 will come from gifts going toward the facility design.
The facility, which will be located on the Park Avenue campus, includes a 120-yard turf football field. Fundraising for the project began in 2011.
Memphis formally announced the arrival of graduate transfer quarterback Brady White from Arizona State, as well as two other mid-year recruits, on Thursday.
Joining White as the newest members of the Tigers are junior college transfer wide receiver Antonio Gibson and freshman tight end Jared Edwards.
Gibson signed with the Tigers during the early signing period in December and Edwards signed last spring but grayshirted, meaning he attended classes in the fall but could not practice or participate in team activities.
The athletic department also announced spring football practice will begin on Saturday, March 17. Practices will be closed to the public, with exceptions to be announced at a later date.
The Friday Night Stripes spring game is tentatively scheduled to take place on April 13 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.


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Tag Archives: sexually transmitted diseases
When Thou Liest Howling
There are some things we just don't want to acknowledge aren't there? Some things that we would rather not hear, not so much because we don't think they're important, but because they embarrass us… Or maybe offend us. Sexually transmitted diseases are prime examples.
For some reason, many of us find them difficult to talk about. Admittedly they require rather special venues, and the very subject casts long shadows on the interlocutors no matter how discreetly it is introduced. Rather than appearing as an intimate trust issue, the very fact of its being raised in the first place tends to arouse suspicion -accusations by proxy.
At first, I wondered if this attitude might be a generational thing. I was raised in an era when the most feared unintended consequence of premarital sex (as we called it then), was assumed to be pregnancy; VD -another time-specific term for sexually-acquired disease- was confined to clearly recognizable and therefore potentially avoidable people. This naïveté, of course, didn't prepare us for the inevitable consequences of our wide-eyed ignorance and even nowadays, those of us still around could yet be dragged, aged and surprised, into the vortex as I outlined in an essay elsewhere: https://musingsonretirementblog.com/2016/10/16/too-good-to-be-true/
The initial solace of antibiotic treatment also proved too good to be true. Throughout history, sexually transmitted infections were a scourge –the wages of sin as they were considered then. But with the advent of effective treatments, those debts were forgotten –although clearly not forgiven.
Syphilis, gonorrhea, and the more recently characterized chlamydia exacted a terrible toll on fertility and long term health, but until recently, all were fairly amenable to antibiotic therapy –albeit a necessarily changing one. Gonorrhea, however, seems to be particularly adept at developing resistance to the various antibiotics thrown at it.
There are various mechanisms by which a bacterium can become antibiotic-resistant but a common and easily appreciated reason is inadequate initial treatment. Even if an antibiotic is effective, there will usually be some bacteria that are less sensitive to it for whatever reason, and hence require longer antibiotic exposure for it to affect them. People tend to continue treatment only until they feel well –in other words, until the number of bacteria infecting them has fallen below whatever level was required to cause the symptoms. Unfortunately, the few bacteria that remain, are the less sensitive ones that weren't so easily killed off at the beginning.
Physical barriers to the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections –condoms, for example- are certainly helpful, but men don't tend to wear them with oral sex, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40520125 This has led to an increasing problem with throat infections according to the BBC News article. 'Gonorrhoea can infect the genitals, rectum and throat, but it is the last of these that is most concerning health officials.
'Dr Wi [from the WHO] said antibiotics could lead to bacteria in the back of the throat, including relatives of gonorrhoea, developing resistance. She said: "When you use antibiotics to treat infections like a normal sore throat, this mixes with the Neisseria species in your throat and this results in resistance." Thrusting gonorrhoea bacteria into this environment through oral sex can lead to super-gonorrhoea.'
The problem is that a throat infection with gonorrhea may be relatively asymptomatic and hence more likely to be inadvertently transmitted to someone else. And 'It's hard to say if more people around the world are having more oral sex than they used to, as there isn't much reliable global data available. Data from the UK and US show it's very common, and has been for years, including among teenagers.
'The UK's first National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, carried out in 1990-1991, found 69.7% of men and 65.6% of women had given oral sex to, or received it from, a partner of the opposite sex in the previous year. By the time of the second survey during 1999-2001, this had increased to 77.9% for men and 76.8% for women, but hasn't changed much since.
'A national survey in the US, meanwhile, has found about two-thirds of 15-24 year olds have ever had oral sex. Dr Mark Lawton from the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said people with gonorrhoea in the throat would be unlikely to realise it and thus be more likely to pass it on via oral sex.'
And apparently there are only 'three drug candidates in the entire drug [development] pipeline and no guarantee any will make it out.
'Prof Richard Stabler, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "Ever since the introduction of penicillin, hailed as a reliable and quick cure, gonorrhoea has developed resistance to all therapeutic antibiotics. In the past 15 years therapy has had to change three times following increasing rates of resistance worldwide. We are now at a point where we are using the drugs of last resort, but there are worrying signs as treatment failure due to resistant strains has been documented."'
So, we've got a potentially untreatable, possibly asymptomatic, and very definitely prevalent infection out there, and a societal reluctance to talk about it… Perhaps it's time for another approach. Fortunately there is an active search for a gonorrhea vaccine –and a serendipitous observation may have suggested a possible route –although, in retrospect, it seemed an obvious place to start. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40555702
'The vaccine, originally developed to stop an outbreak of meningitis B, was given to about a million adolescents in New Zealand between 2004 and 2006. Researchers at the University of Auckland analysed data from sexual health clinics and found gonorrhoea cases had fallen 31% in those vaccinated.
'The bacterium that causes meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, is a very close relative of the species that causes gonorrhoea – Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It appears the Men B jab was giving "cross-protection" against gonorrhea.' This is very early in the work, however, and it seemed only to be effective in a third of those vaccinated. But it is certainly encouraging.
Be that as it may, however, I can't help but worry that if there is development of an effective vaccine against gonorrhea, it will once again fool us into forgetting about the other diseases potentially transmissible by oral sex, including viruses such as hepatitis, herpes, and HPV (for which, thank god, there is also an effective vaccine), not to mention the bacterially-caused ones like syphilis, chlamydia, and many others that don't make for salacious headlines.
But I'm not advocating for the formation of a Temperance League to combat a practice that is likely as old as humanity, nor do I have any religious or ideological objections to its persistence in our society, but I do believe that the Past informs the Future. I think that it would be prudent to ensure that all participants –newcomers to the field, as well as those who have already passed through and are merely nibbling at memories- have a working knowledge of those risks that should not be placed, as Shakespeare put it, on the windy side of care…
I just wonder if those who are entrusted with sexual education nowadays would put it so beautifully.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40555702
Tagged antibiotic resistance, antibiotics, BBC news, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, Dr. Mark Lawton, Dr. Teodora Wi, generational biases, gonorrhea, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Men B jab, meningitis, National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, oral sex, premarital sex, Professor Richard Stabler, sexual education, sexually transmitted diseases, Shakespeare, unintended consequences, University of Auckland, VD, WHO, World Health Organization
PTSD in Gynaecology?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by being exposed to a traumatic or frightening event. It has been described in various guises since antiquity: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30957719, but although we have traditionally ascribed it to military veterans, it is by no means confined to those who have been in the midst of battle. Paramedics, police officers, and various other sorts of first-responders are also exposed to frightening and traumatic events. The DSM-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) has even allowed a variant for those emergency workers even if they are only exposed to disturbing videos in the conduct of their jobs.
So I suppose it should not come as too much of a surprise that someone would take the leap and wonder whether the public, exposed as we all are to social media, would be at risk as well: http://www.bps.org.uk/news/viewing-violent-news-social-media-can-cause-trauma There followed the usual offence at what seemed like an attempt to demean the diagnosis of PTSD in those felt more worthy of its acquisition, and in conditions far more important and deserving, but nonetheless there is a spectrum of manifestation inherent in most diagnoses.
The BBC posted a helpful primer on PTSD http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26867615 but in brief, the diagnosis requires: flashbacks to the event, avoidance behavior, sleep disturbance, and mood changes.
I have to say I was skeptical that we should even consider that anything found on social media could have such an important impact that could in any way be considered PTSD –however attenuated. It seemed almost an insult, a belittling of those who had undergone real trauma. Until, that is, I remembered Lucille.
She was a young lady visiting from another province who had been sent to me for a second opinion from the emergency department at the hospital across the street. Her problem was abdominal pain –chronic and unexplainable pain in the pelvic region, for which she had been thoroughly investigated elsewhere with ultrasounds, CT scans, an MRI and even –no doubt in desperation- a laparoscopy four or five years ago to view the area more directly. And all, said the accompanying note, were normal.
She was not what I was expecting; rather than an anxious woman sitting quietly in the waiting room with her face locked in pain, instead I found a smiling, smartly dressed young lady happily talking to the pregnant woman in the seat beside her. She smiled when I walked over and immediately extended her hand for me to shake.
"I'm so happy you could see me on such short notice," she said as I led her down the corridor to my office. And she did indeed seem cheerful and, well, normal as she seated herself across from my desk by the window. "What a wonderful view of the ocean from here," she almost purred, staring past the buildings and traffic at the almost-invisible water far in the distance. "Vancouver is such a wonderful city…"
I sensed her cheer was other than completely genuine, as her words wound down and slowed. Sometimes, with chronic conditions like pain, I like to wait until the patient is ready to speak -unprovoked, as it were. Unencumbered by a line of questioning known all too well to her that leads… nowhere. She was silent for a while as she turned her attention to the office itself, her eyes alighting like sparrows first on a painting on the wall, then on a wooden carving from Ethiopia I had placed on the desk so it looked out between the leaves of a plant. They stopped no place for long, revisiting their favoured twigs almost at random.
"Offices are all different, aren't they?" I said, to begin the conversation.
She nodded thoughtfully. "I suspect they reveal a lot about the doctors…"
"And the patients who notice." It provoked another smile.
Her face became serious –a major change. "Look, I don't want to waste your time, doctor. I'm certainly grateful you could see me, but maybe I should wait until I get back to Ontario to get it checked out."
"It..?" She looked down at her lap, as if the little sparrows were tired of flitting about. "The note from the ER said you were having some pain… Care to tell me a bit about it?"
She still seemed reluctant to look up. "Oh, I get these pains every now and then. No big deal, though."
She risked a glance and I immediately seized the opportunity. "Well, suppose I just take a brief history and then if you feel you want to wait till you get back to Ontario, I can fill your doctor in as to what happened while you were here in paradise."
She nodded her assent and for the first time, her eyes didn't flee from my face. Was it hope? Or merely resignation that it was beginning again?
We all expect that we will be able to find the treasure where nobody has succeeded before, but the only thing I could discover in her history that might be remotely related to her pain was an episode of Chlamydia –a sexually transmitted condition- several years before. It had been treated and subsequent cultures had demonstrated cure. "When did the pain start?" I asked, almost as an afterthought, but I think she could see through my strategy.
The memory seemed uncomfortable to her, and she looked out the window again.
After an awkward moment of fidgetting silence, I said, "Sexual diseases are always difficult to talk about, I think…"
"My friend didn't think so," she suddenly blurted out before I could even finish my poorly worded attempt to console her. "She got an STI and had to be hospitalized when it spread through her abdomen… They even had to operate to remove the pus. She sent me a picture of her tubes they took during the operation…" She looked as if she were about to cry, but grabbed a tissue from the desk and dabbed her eyes to recover. She lapsed into a morose silence and turned her head so she could see the door.
"You know, I'd been fond of the guy who gave it to me; I'd gone out with him for a couple of years… And yes we used condoms!" She stabbed me with a sudden glare and turned her head away again. "I did everything right, but I still got it." She sighed heavily and stared at her lap again. "I mean, how do I know I don't still have it -but without symptoms? Or that I haven't gotten it again from somebody?" Her hands were nervously clasping and unclasping. "They did a laparoscopy shortly after the infection and it was normal, but that was years ago…"
The time for my questions was over; I let her talk.
"I read that PID [pelvic inflammatory disease] can be silent after an infection and the damage can be going on even without symptoms…" She considered that for a second or two. "I suppose I twisted my doctor's arm to do the laparoscopy. But anyway, she didn't find anything. Nothing abnormal." Another sigh. But my girlfriend kept warning me about it, so of course I read as much about it as I could online. I even looked at videos of operations for PID…" Her eyes teared up immediately. "I couldn't stop looking at them," she managed to whisper between sobs. "They were terrible! Frightening: great slimy fat tubes stuck to bowels and everything… And in some of the videos, when they tried to dissect them, there was blood everywhere! And pus oozing out of dark little spaces the tubes had walled off…" She considered the implications of what she'd said and closed her eyes briefly. Hid behind her face. "I've hardly had sex since that Email and I'm never going to trust anybody again," she blurted out abruptly with her fists clenched. "I mean I keep thinking about those videos; I wake up in the middle of the night, and there they are, running through my mind!"
She stared at my face for a second. "You think I'm stupid for watching all those videos, don't you?" she yelled at me. "But I couldn't help it! I just knew that it was going on inside of me: big fat greasy sausages filled with sticky white ooze..!" And then, just as suddenly she stood up and pinned me to the wall with venomed eyes. "You're the same as all the rest, you know. And I know you don't believe me!"
She turned and walked to the door. "And don't bother sending anything to my doctor in Ontario, either. I'm gonna find another one."
She disappeared through the door leaving me wondering how I could have handled things differently. But in a moment a head poked around the door again –but only briefly. Awkwardly. "I'm sorry doctor… You're really great! Honestly." And then it disappeared into whatever hellish world it was forced to inhabit.
Did she have PTSD? A variation of it somewhere on the spectrum? Or was she just embarrassed that she'd disclosed so much to a stranger? I suppose I'll never know, but I hope that somebody, somewhere, takes her seriously. She, just like anybody else with PTSD has a life to live. Deserves to live.
Tagged chlamydia, Diagnostic criteria for PTSD, DSM-5, laparoscopy, pelvic pain, PID, PTSD, PTSD in antiquity, sexually transmitted diseases, social media, STI


Do you remember the feel of finger paint on your fingers?
Do you remember the feel of finger paint on your fingers? That moment when you saw the red, blue, green, yellow, orange on the page. And the feeling of amazement of how you put it there?
Just about all of us have had this experience.
When I invite us to paint with the sensations of a three year old I want to bring you and I back to a time that was free from judgment.
When I introduced this to conventioneers and protesters at the Republican and Democratic Conventions I wanted all of us to share this common early source of relaxation and play.
Each of us has a unique way of moving just like we each have a unique fingerprint. This expression is needed. I know this because whenever I see a new gesture I fall in love.
When I'm upset full of fear, worry, anger or just overstimulated this kind of painting brings me back home.


Materials from and about the Union League of America, for the Kansas state office and for some of the local councils. It includes letters, a list of rejected candidates for the League, meeting minutes for an 1863 meeting of the Humboldt Council in Allen County and related reports, and a record book for 1863 for the Wathena, Doniphan County chapter. There is also a history of the League in Kansas, written by D. W. Houston of Garnett, Anderson County, for the Kansas State Historical Society. Two charters are also included for the local councils of DeSoto and Junction City. The purpose of the organization was to promote loyalty to the "Union" during the Civil War.


Strawberry fruit is characterized by a unique flavour and taste. The fruit are harvested at full maturity, causing high susceptibility to mechanical damage, pathological and physiological disorders during postharvest storage, with a maximum shelf-life of 4 days.
Due to high levels of postharvest spoilage, increased fungicide resistance and a growing health concern from the consumer, the industry is currently searching for an economically viable, effective and affordable alternative to improve fruit quality and reduce spoilage.
Although various postharvest treatments, including a chitosan coating and hot water treatments have been investigated, an effective standard treatment is yet to be identified.
The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a dual-release sulphur dioxide (SO2) generating pad, in combination with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) to control postharvest fungal development on strawberry fruit.
The study specifically focused on preventing postharvest development of Botrytis cinereal, commonly referred to as grey mould.
Strawberry fruit exposed to SO2 showed a noticeable decrease in decay development, especially when the SO2 treatment was combined with MAP.
The treatment successfully decreased the B. cinerea incidence by more than half, allowing for a longer cold storage period than is currently available with standard industry practices.


Should Your Business be on Houzz?
You are here: Home / Social Media / What the Houzz Is Houzz and Why Should My Company Be Using It?
What the Houzz Is Houzz and Why Should My Company Be Using It?
Houzz is awesome. Seriously. If you're in the home improvement industry, but don't use Houzz yet, it's time to sign up and create a profile for your business.
Houzz has the largest consumer audience out of any website or magazine in the shelter category. With over 30 million unique monthly visitors, Houzz users are constantly logging on to the site (or app) to discover ideas, products, and find the professionals they need for all home related projects.
How to Get Started on Houzz?
As we said, your projects are the place the show off your best work. For example, one of our clients, Nicolock Paving Stones, shows their Bradstone Madoc Wall used for building a raised garden. When a Houzz user searches the Landscape category, or searches keywords like gardens or raised garden, Nicolock's picture could show up in the results.
Our goal is to make sure this photo is seen by as many users as possible, and added to as many Ideabooks as possible. This image has been added to 46,193 Ideabooks on Houzz and is so popular that it's now a featured image.
You're adding photos to your projects and Houzz users are adding them to Ideabooks – great – but are you listening to what they're saying? Everyday you should run a search for your company name, and keywords related to your business, and make sure to jump in relevant discussions and answer any questions Houzz users are asking. Here's an example of how we've done that for Nicolock Paving Stones.
Just like any other social network, listening and responding in a timely fashion is critical towards building a relationship and generating leads.
We're really excited to see what updates Houzz adds for advertisers and business owners as the platform continues to evolve. If you need help getting your Houzz profile started, feel free to drop us a line and see how we can help get the ball rolling. Until next time, Houzz on!


Build Republic | Design Studio | Hong Kong — Design Review: How Misfit Wearables designed a user-centric packaging by using digital marketing.
The packaging resembles a speaker from afar, separating it from all the hanging boxes the accessory wall.
Two weeks ago, the summer heat here in Hong Kong made me took a cooler route through the Apple store in Causeway Bay. As I walk pass the huge accessory wall, a round looking object caught my attention. From afar, I thought I was looking at another personal bluetooth speaker, just hanging there without any packaging. So it got me curious and made me went over to investigate. Turns out it was the Misfit Shine.
The Misfit Shine is another new entry into the fast growing wearable fitness tracking market. It launched on indiegogo back in November 2012 and ended with a successful campaign of raising US$846,675 in January 2013.
The unique shape of the packaging is definitely an attention grabber, it's able to separate itself from all the other boxes and the noise of information on the accessory wall.
The back of the package is super simple, only 2 sentences in English describing the product, a simple illustration of the product and what the dot display represented. There were no bold keywords or bullet point lists of features normally found on a packaging of a small company. This really impressed me because I am a strong believer that packaging is part of the product experience and it should not be compromised by treating it as a media for sales pitches (more on this later).
One detail of the packaging that I found very thoughtful was the hang-tab. Unlike other packaging that normally adds a stick on hang-tab as an afterthought, the Misfit's packaging hang-tab is a custom designed disc that you pull out to hang and it retracts when you take the package off the hanger. This solution made the packaging so much more elegant and confident. It tells me that the designers took a lot of care in designing the packaging and I could trust that the product inside is just as well thought out.
going through the layers of compartments require you to constantly use your nail and I find this to be annoying.
It's nowhere near intuitive because it's hard to know where to pull or flip. I wonder why the designers didn't use "pull tabs" to solve this problem because I'm sure they had considered it.
Popping the shine from the panel wasn't perfect either, it requires a certain force to separate the device from the holding panel. In my case, my Shine flew off and bounced around the table and fell on the floor, ouch!
bottom left is a pick tool to open the device for battery replacement; at the center is the wrist band and on the right is a magnetic clip and a battery.
The overall feel of the packaging and the accessories that comes with are very high quality and neatly arranged.
This minimalistic packaging solution that emphasizes on user experience rather than designing it as if it's a Point of Purchase are common for large companies like Google or Apple. Some would argue that this is possible because they have millions of dollars in advertising money, but the Misfit showed that it could also work for a small company. Today there are so many cost-effective platforms online that gives small companies the chance to attract and engage their customers even before their product is ready to launch. Misfit used online platform by reaching out on Indiegogo to potential customers and to assess the demand, build a stronger relationship with their early adopters, and use feedback to make their product better.
I think by having a good presence online they were able to tell their story clearly and convert customers even before the product is available in store. This is essentially the reason that allowed them to design their packaging for user experience and tell a continuation of their online story rather than using it as a boxed salesman that people have to take home and later discard.
As much as I applaud the packaging design from a marketing point of view, I can't help but feel bad that it's going to be another high quality plastic packaging that will end up an environmental hazard when I throw it away.


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Q: Aligning text next to an image (left side) The issue I'm having is putting text on the left side of an image...
HTML & CSS

h2,
social-hand {
  font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif;
  display: inline;
  float: left;
  margin-left: 95px;
}

p {
  float: left;
  margin-left: 95px;
  margin-right: 400px;
  margin-bottom: 20px;
  margin-top: 50px;
  position: absolute;
  text-align: left;
  display: inline;
  font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif;
}

<big>Tittle Text</big>

Example Text Read More >

And this is the result I'm getting...
Any help would be amazing!

A: Try using display block instead:

h2, social-hand {
    font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif;
    display: block;
    float: left;
    margin-left: 95px;
 }

 p {
    margin-left: 95px;
    margin-right: 400px;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
    margin-top: 50px;
    text-align: left;
    display: block;
    float: right;
    font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif;
}

<big>Tittle Text</big>

Example Text   Read More >