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/ Mobile Zone
16 Ways to Make your WP7 Game Better
Matt Lacey
May. 11, 11 · Mobile Zone ·
One of the great things about Windows Phone 7 is all the games available.
Over the last few weeks, I've definitley spent more time than I probably should playing just a few of them.
Not being one to miss an opportunity to find ways to improve the apps (and games) I'm working on and may build in the future, I've been looking for lessons I can learn from other people's games. Some of these lessons are based on identifying things which some games do well, some on things some games do badly and some on my own ideas and observations.
In the hope that these lessons can also help you improve the apps you create, here's the list of points I've drawn up. This is in no way an absolute or complete list but that shouldn't invalidate it's value. (While specifically relating to games, many of these points could be applied to any application.)
Lots of short levels are preferable to a few big ones.
This is especially true if the game doesn't support tombstoning (or any form of saving and resuming later). It also better suits a mobile environment where users will typically play for shorter periods of time compared to other platforms.
Get tombstoning right, so I don't lose my place in a game.
Unfortunately there are lots of games that don't support saving games part way through. Because of the nature of the phone I can't guarantee not being interrupted and so if I can't save my game at any point (whether the interruption was my choice or not) can be very frustrating.
Keep multiple copies of saved state so that even if there's a problem you can revert back to the slightly older copy as its preferable to go back a bit in a game than to lose everything.
Unfortunately, (presumably at least in part) due to the large amount of data a game needs to save to resume later, quite a few games I've played have crashed when trying to resume a previously saved game. The framework will automatically close the game if it takes too long to perform certain tasks (including resuming a game). In all of these cases the only solution was to start the game again, thereby losing all progress. If practical I'd like to see a game take periodic snapshots of game state (some games do do this. e.g. at certain points in a level anyway) and then if when attempting to resume it's not possible to successfully restore a game based on a specific copy of the saved state
Don't screw up the back button!!!
The rule of the back button (for >95% of apps) is that (with the exception of a possible dialog to confirm closing) repeatedly pressing the hardware back button will close the application. Unfortunatley there are a few games which break this rule. This can be very frustrating!
Evenly balance all achievements
Don't just achievements that will mostly be achieved in the first few minutes of play and then a couple for having played for a VERY long time or (for example) 1000 Games or earing a million points. Achievements should be achieved as the user progresses through a game, not all at the start.
Show progress towards achievements
If you have achievements based on the number of times something is done or the total time spent playing a game then indicate the progress being made towards those numbers/lengths of time
Don't use technical, meaningless terms in unnecessary prompts.
Seriously, just don't. To a non-technical user you will just confuse and potentially frustrate. "Why do you keep asking me this question I don't understand. Cancel."
Be smart about touch targets
If a game has lots of touchable items close together and I try and click on something I can't but its right next to something I can, assume I meant to click on the thing I can click on. An example of this would be a game which has certain spaces where you can place "pieces" and the user touches the already populated space next to an empty space. Yes this can mean that the touchable area for items will change based on it's neighbours (which may be complicated to program) but the alternative is to frustrate users. Your choice.
Don't save all details on a single config file
Because if the stored game state fails to save and all details lost I don't want that to lose my entire history. e.g. Total points across all games or number of games played. Use multiple files and/or IsolatedStorageSettings as appropriate.
If your about screen contains URLs and email addresses make them clickable/actionable.
Do you seriously expect me to type in your url or email address when you're to lazy to wire up a touch event to launch a task? And if I have to contact you because of a problem I'll be even more frustrated because of this. Just saying.
Let me exit the app at any point, not just at the end of a level/go.
Specifically in response to navigating via internal menus or the hardware back button. (Yes I know it's possible to exit via the start or search buttons.) This is a variation on the above point about breaking the back button but I can't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to exit at any point in the game, even if I'm happy to lose my progress/state within the game.
If I'm listening to the radio when I start your game don't ask me about "custom music"
This is a specific variation of the above point about unnecessary prompts. Why is the music "custom"? What does "custom music" even mean. The point hear is to word your dialogs carefully to match user terminology. I suspect they meant to refer to "currently playing music".
If you prompt me to confirm closing the game don't add another screen after that where I have to select quit again.
I seriously don't understand why anyone would even think this was acceptable. As a user I find this frustrating and confusing. What happened? Did the game actually close? Why do I have to press "Quit" 4 times to close this game?
Its better to show loading progress in lots of small steps than a few big ones
Responsiveness is even more important on mobile devices. Having a loading status information message or progress bar length update more frequently can give extra reassurance to the user that they are progressing towards being able to play thier game sooner. In some instances, a more frequently updated progress bar can also give the perception that the total load time was less than an infrequently updated one.
Having an on screen back button can be useful for navigating between pages.
Don't rely on the hardware back button if your game only plays in a landscape orientation. Most landscape games have an onscreen way of navigating back so by not having one you add an moment of confusion to the user as they try and work out what they're supposed to do to navigate.
If you have a lot of instructions / help (which is probably good) don't just have it all in one place (as a single long list).
Provide relevant info, in pieces, as the user advances through the game. It's much easier to take in this way and a user is more likely to remember it when they need it. This all serves to help the user learn the game as they need to and become less frustrated by having to try and work out what they need to do. The challenge should be in playing the game, not how to play the game.
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Published at DZone with permission of Matt Lacey , DZone MVB. See the original article here.
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Karl Liebknecht, the son of Wilhelm Liebknecht and Natalie Reh, was born in Leipzig on 13th August, 1871. Two years previously, Liebknecht and August Bebel formed the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) together. They also established a newspaper, Der Volksstaat.
Liebknecht married Julia Paradies on 8th May 1900. Over the next couple of years the couple had two sons and a daughter. His father died on 7th August 1900 and now August Bebel became the dominant figure in the Social Democratic Party. Liebknecht began to argue for more radical action. In 1904 he joined forces with Clara Zetkin to suggest the use of the political mass strike to overthrow capitalism.
Karl Liebknecht was in direct opposition to Eduard Bernstein. He published a series of articles where he argued that the predictions made by Karl Marx about the development of capitalism had not come true. He pointed out that the real wages of workers had risen and the polarization of classes between an oppressed proletariat and capitalist, had not materialized. Nor had capital become concentrated in fewer hands. His analysis of modern capitalism undermined the claims that Marxism was a science and upset leading revolutionaries such as Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
Karl Liebknecht became a leading figure in the anti-militarist section of the SDP. In 1907 he published Militarism and Anti-Militarism. In the book he argued: "Militarism is not specific to capitalism. It is moreover normal and necessary in every class-divided social order, of which the capitalist system is the last. Capitalism, of course, like every other class-divided social order, develops its own special variety of militarism; for militarism is by its very essence a means to an end, or to several ends, which differ according to the kind of social order in question and which can be attained according to this difference in different ways. This comes out not only in military organization, but also in the other features of militarism which manifest themselves when it carries out its tasks. The capitalist stage of development is best met with an army based on universal military service, an army which, though it is based on the people, is not a people's army but an army hostile to the people, or at least one which is being built up in that direction."
At this time Germany became involved in an arms race with Britain. The Royal Navy built its first dreadnought in 1906. It was the most heavily-armed ship in history. She had ten 12-inch guns (305 mm), whereas the previous record was four 12-inch guns. The gun turrets were situated higher than user and so facilitated more accurate long-distance fire. In addition to her 12-inch guns, the ship also had twenty-four 3-inch guns (76 mm) and five torpedo tubes below water. In the waterline section of her hull, the ship was armoured by plates 28 cm thick. It was the first major warship driven solely by steam turbines. It was also faster than any other warship and could reach speeds of 21 knots. A total of 526 feet long (160.1 metres) it had a crew of over 800 men. It cost over £2 million, twice as much as the cost of a conventional battleship.
As a member of the Reichstag, Liebknecht had parliamentary immunity from prosecution. When the military judicial authorities demanded that this immunity was removed, the Reichstag agreed and he was placed on trial. On 28th June 1916, Liebknecht was sentenced to two years and six months hard labour. The day Liebknecht was sentenced, 55,000 munitions workers went on strike. The government responded by arresting trade union leaders and having them conscripted into the German Army.
A convention of the Spartacus League began on 30th December, 1918. Karl Radek, a member of the Bolshevik Central Committee, argued that the the Soviet government should help the spread of world revolution. Radek was sent to Germany and at the convention he persuaded the delegates to change the name to the German Communist Party (KPD). The convention now discussed whether the KPD should take part in the forthcoming general election.
Militarism is not specific to capitalism. It is moreover normal and necessary in every class-divided social order, of which the capitalist system is the last. Capitalism, of course, like every other class-divided social order, develops its own special variety of militarism; for militarism is by its very essence a means to an end, or to several ends, which differ according to the kind of social order in question and which can be attained according to this difference in different ways. This comes out not only in military organization, but also in the other features of militarism which manifest themselves when it carries out its tasks.
The capitalist stage of development is best met with an army based on universal military service, an army which, though it is based on the people, is not a people's army but an army hostile to the people, or at least one which is being built up in that direction.
Sometimes it appears as a standing army, sometimes as a militia force. The standing army, which is not peculiar to capitalism appears as its most developed, even as its normal form.
The army of the capitalist social order, like the army of any other class-divided social order, fulfils a double role.
It is first of all a national institution, designed for external aggression or for protection against an external danger; in short designed for use in cases of international complication or, to use a military phrase, for use "against the external enemy".
This function of the army is in no sense eliminated by the latest developments. For capitalism war is in fact, to use the words of Moltke, "a link in God's world order". In Europe itself there is admittedly something of a tendency for certain causes of war to be eliminated: the probability of war breaking out in Europe is decreasing, in spite of Alsace-Lorraine and the anxiety caused by the French trinity of Clemenceau, Pichon and Picquart, in spite of the Eastern question, in spite of Pan-Islamism and in spite of the revolution taking place in Russia. On the other hand new and highly dangerous sources of tension have arisen in consequence of the aims of commercial and political expansion pursued by the so-called civilized states, sources which have been handed down to us by the Eastern question and Pan-Islamism in the first instance, and as a consequence of world policy, and especially colonial policy, which - as Billow himself unreservedly acknowledged in the German Reichstag on November 14, 1906 - conceals countless possibilities of conflict. This policy has at the same time pushed forward ever more energetically two other forms of militarism: naval militarism and colonial militarism. We Germans know a few things about this development!
Navalism, naval militarism, is the twin brother of militarism on land and bears all its repulsive and virulent features. It is at present, to a still higher degree than militarism on land, not only the consequence but also the cause of international dangers, of the danger of a world war.
The attempt to develop special anti-militarist propaganda in Germany has been resisted by influential leaders of the movement, who say that there is no Social-Democratic Party in the whole world which fights militarism as hard as German Social-Democracy. There is much truth in this. Ever since the German Reich has existed ruthless and tireless criticism has been levelled by the German Social-Democrats in parliament and in the press against militarism, the whole of its content and its harmful effects. It has collected material to indict militarism, enough to build a gigantic funeral pyre, and has waged the struggle against militarism as part of its general agitation with great energy and tenacity. In this respect our Party needs neither defence nor praise. Its deeds speak for themselves. Nevertheless, there is more to be done.
We by no means deny that the struggle waged against militarism has met with great success and that the form of the struggle has been well adapted to the goal. Nor do we deny that this kind of struggle will remain useful, and even indispensable, in the future, and bring more successes. But that does not settle the question. It does not resolve the problem of the education of young people, which is the most important part of the fight against militarism.
At this point someone will retort: He who has the parents has the children of these parents, he has the youth! In any case it would be a wretched Social-Democrat who did not try his best to fill his children with the Social-Democratic spirit, and bring them up as Social-Democrats. It may be that the influence of the parents – together with the influence of the economic, social and political conditions under which the working-class youth grows up, but which, though the most important and obvious means of agitation and enlightenment, cannot be influenced by Party activity and must therefore be disregarded here – can easily overcome all the cunning of the attempts of reaction and capitalism to capture the child's mind. But this fact clearly does not refute our point. One cannot settle things so easily. In fact it is precisely a careful examination of the above trend of thought which shows where the failing in our present agitation lies, a failing which is growing continually more serious and urgently demands a solution.
"Every Social-Democrat brings up his children as Social-Democrats." But only to the best of his ability. This is the basis of the first important failing. How many people have a general understanding of how to teach, even if they have the time and inclination, and how many Social-Democratic workers, even if they have the best of intentions, have the necessary leisure and the necessary knowledge to educate their children? And in how many cases do the women and other politically backward members of the family rather unfortunately constitute a serious counterweight to whatever educational influence the class-conscious father may possess? If the Party wants to do its duty properly it must go into every nook and corner to help with home education. What is required is general educational and especially agitational work among young people, which must have an anti-militarist aspect.
But further: how many proletarians are really educated in Social-Democracy, educated to the point where they themselves can educate others on the fundamental principles of the standpoint and goals of the movement? How many workers are there in time of peace so ready for sacrifice and so tireless that they are even willing to undertake, to the best of their ability, the tough, painful, continuous hourly and daily work of education? And apart from those who are a quarter or half-educated, and the lukewarm who form an enormous mass: what a huge number of workers are total strangers to Social-Democracy! Here is a great field full of the best hopes of the working-class, almost incalculable in its potential, whose cultivation must not at any cost wait upon the conversion of the backward sections of the adult proletariat. It is of course easier to influence the children of politically educated parents, but this does not mean that it is not possible, indeed a duty, to set to work also on the more difficult section of the proletarian youth.
The need for agitation among young people is therefore beyond doubt. And since this agitation must operate with fundamentally different methods – in accordance with its object, that is, with the different conditions of life, the different level of understanding, the different interests and the different character of young people – it follows that it must be of a special character, that it must take a special place alongside the general work of agitation, and that it would be sensible to put it, at least to a certain degree, in the hands of special organizations. Our agitational work, with the growth in its volume and the increase in the Party's tasks, and at a time when the decisive struggles are drawing ever nearer, has become so extraordinarily extensive and complex that the need for it to be divided up becomes more pressing – a division of labour of whose relative, but only relative, difficulties we are not by any means ignorant.
The Berner Tagewacht publishes the full text of Karl Liebknecht's protest in the Reichstag against the voting of the war credits. The protest was suppressed in the Reichstag, and no German paper has published it. It appears that seventeen Social-Democratic members expressed their opposition to the credits on December 2, but Karl Liebknecht's was the only vote recorded against them.
The enemies of the working class are counting on the forgetfulness of the masses – provide that that be a grave miscalculation. They are betting on the forbearance of the masses – but we raise the vehement cry: "How long should the gamblers of imperialism abuse the patience of the people? Enough and more than enough slaughter! Down with the war instigators here and abroad!"
You probably know how he (Karl Liebknecht) has lived for many years: practically only in parliament, meetings, commissions, conferences; running and rushing, always ready to jump from the commuter-train into the tram, and from the tram into a car; every pocket stuffed full of memo pads, his arms full of the latest newspapers which, of course, he never finds time to read; body and soul covered with street dust, and yet always with a kind and youthful smile on his face.
He (Liebknecht) never seemed to get tired... besides speaking at meetings, doing office work, and acting as defence counsel in court, he could still spend whole nights debating and drinking merrily with the comrades. And even if the street dust did cover his soul at times, it could not stifle the genuine enthusiasm which imbued all his activities. It was this devotion to the cause, the passionate temperament and this capacity for enthusiasm that Rosa valued. She recognised the true revolutionary in him, even if they sometimes disagreed on details of party tactics. They worked together and complemented each other very well, especially in the struggle against militarism and the danger of war.
Karl Radek had furnished me in Moscow with introductions to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the famous Spartakist leaders in Germany. So I began to search for them and, after a while, I found the headquarters of the Spartakusbund, the most revolutionary of all the German Left parties. After my credentials had been carefully inspected, I was taken to see Rosa Luxemburg.
A slight little woman, she showed at once a powerful intellect and a quiet grasp of any given situation. She had heard about me and of the fact that I had taken up a strong stand against the Allied intervention in Russia. She proceeded to question me about the situation in Russia. I told her how the White Counter-Revolution had been beaten on the Volga and thrown back to Siberia, but that Lenin had spoken to me not long before with some apprehension of the possibility of Allied military support for the Russian Whites in South Russia, now that the Dardanelles and Black Sea were open to British and French warships. Then she asked me a question, the significance of which I did not appreciate at the time. She asked me if the Soviets were working entirely satisfactorily. I replied, with some surprise, that of course they were. She looked at me for a moment, and I remember an indication of slight doubt on her face, but she said nothing more. Then we talked about something else and soon after that I left.
Though at the moment when she asked me that question I was a little taken aback, I soon forgot about it. I was still so dedicated to the Russian Revolution, which I had been defending against the Western Allies' war of intervention, that I had had no time for anything else. But a week or two later I began to hear that Rosa Luxemburg differed from Lenin on several matters of revolutionary policy, and especially about the role of the Communist Party in the Workers' and Peasants' Councils, or Soviets. She did not like the Russian Communist Party monopolizing all power in the Soviets and expelling anyone who disagreed with it. She feared that Lenin's policy had brought about, not the dictatorship of the working classes over the middle classes, which she approved of but the dictatorship of the Communist Party over the working classes. The dictatorship of a class - yes, she said, but not the dictatorship of a party over a class. Later, I began to see that Luxemburg had much wisdom in her attitude, though it was not apparent to me at the time. Looking back, it seems that she was not so critical of Lenin's tactics for Russia. She did not want them applied to Germany. Alas, she never lived to use her influence on her colleagues in the Spartakusbund for more than a few weeks after I saw her.
Friends, Comrades, Brothers! From under the blows of the world war, amidst the ruin which has been created by Tzarist Imperialist society - the Russian Proletariat erected its State - the Socialist Republic of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers. This was created in spite of an attitude of misconception, hatred and calumny. This republic represents the greatest basis for that universal socialist order, the creation of which is at the present time the historic task of the International Proletariat. The Russian revolution was to an unprecedented degree the cause of the proletariat of the whole world becoming more revolutionary. Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary are already in the throes of revolution; revolution is awakening in Germany. But there are obstacles in the way of the victory of the German proletariat. The mass of the German people are with us, the power of the accused enemies of the working class has collapsed; but they are nevertheless making all attempts to deceive the people, with a view of protracting the hour of the liberation of the German people. The robbery and violence of German Imperialism in Russia, as well as the violent Brest-Litovsk peace and the Bucharest peace have consolidated and strengthened the Imperialists of the Allied countries; - and this is the reason why the German Government are endeavouring to utilize the Allied attack upon Socialist Russia for the purpose of retaining power. You have no doubt heard how Willhelm II, who, now that Tzarism has perished, is the representative of the basest form of reaction, - a few days ago made use of intervention in the affairs of proletarian Russia by the Allied Empires for the purpose of raising a new war agitation amongst the working masses. We must not permit our ignoble enemies to make use of any democratic means and institutions for their purpose; the proletariat of the Allied countries must allow no such thing to occur. We know that you have already raised your voice to protest against the machinations of your governments; but the danger is growing ever greater and greater. A united front of world Imperialism against the proletariat is being realised, in the first instance, in the struggle aga inst the Russian Soviet Republic. This is what I warn you against. The proletariat of the world must not allow the flame of the Socialist Revolution to be extinguished, or all its hopes and all its powers will perish. The failure of the Russian Socialist Republic will be the defeat of the proletariat of the whole world. Friends, comrades, brothers arise against your rulers! Long live the Russian workers, soldiers and peasants! Long live the Revolution of the French, English, American proletariat! Long live the liberation of the workers off all countries from the infernal chasm of war, exploitation and slavery!
The Putsch, wth inadequate forces and overwhelming mass disapproval except in Berlin, was as she had predicted, a fizzle. But neither she nor her close associates fled for safety as Lenin had done in July, 1917. They stayed in the capital, hiding carelessly in easily suspected hideouts, trying to direct an orderly retreat. On January 16, a little over two months after she had been released from prison, Rosa Luxemburg was seized, along with Karl Liebknecht and Wilhelm Pieck. Reactionary officers murdered Liebknecht and Luxemburg while "taking them to prison." Pieck was spared, to become, as the reader knows, one of the puppet rulers of Moscow-controlled East Germany.


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Bread & Rolls (Bakery & Cereals) Market in Venezuela - Outlook to 2022: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics is a broad level market review of Bread & Rolls market in Venezuela.
Bread & Rolls market in Venezuela registered a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -7.04% during the period 2012 to 2017 with a sales value of USD 181.68 Million in 2017, a decrease of -11.57% over 2016. The market growth rates were negative across all the years during the review period, the market has registered its lowest decline in 2013, when it decreased by -1.36% over its previous year .Though negative growth rates were observed across all the segments of the market.
The research handbook acts as an essential tool for companies active or planning to venture in to Venezuela's Bread & Rolls (Bakery & Cereals) market. The comprehensive statistics within the research handbook provides insight into the operating environment of the market and also ensures right business decision making based on historical trends and industry model based forecasting.
Sales Values in the handbook are depicted in USD ($) and Volumes are represented in M Kilograms.


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Banks to cut variable interest rates from July
Posted by MyHome.ie	in Blog, General, Home, Market News, Mortgages & Money, Property News	with 1 Comment on Banks to cut variable interest rates from July
Homeowners with standard variable mortgages (SVR) look set to benefit from reduced interest rates from July.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said he had met with the country's main six lenders – AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank, KBC and ACC – to discuss "the comparatively high standard variable rates currently being charged by the banks".
Mr Noonan said there was agreement from all lenders that customers should have access to more competitive mortgage products.
At a press conference outside Government Buildings today, Mr Noonan said he has given the six banks until July 1st to make their announcements as to how they will reduce the cost of standard rate variable mortgages for customers.
"All of them in one way or another will offer an option to each holder of a mortgage to get a reduced rate," he said.
In some cases, this will involve a straight rate cut but in others it might involve offering a lower fixed-rate to a customer.
"We'll expect announcements from the banks in their own time between now and the first of July."
Mr Noonan also wants the banks to conduct publicity campaigns to inform customers of their options in securing a lower rate.
He suggested that interest rates are probably at the bottom of the cycle currently and that borrowers should seriously consider fixing with their bank.
Mr Noonan said there was a "growing belief" that the margin being charged by banks for standard variable rate mortgages was "too wide and that there is scope for a reduction". He said the banks were "expected to make moves" but he was "not prescriptive" about the rates that should be charged.
The minister said he also "reminded" the banks that Senator Feargal Quinn's bill to give powers to the Central Bank of Ireland to fix interest rates has now been published in the Senate and that the Government does not have a majority in the Seanad.
The minister said there are potential competition issues arising from the six banks all moving at the same time to offer lower rates to customers and he doesn't want them all to make the same cuts. "I want them to compete with each other across a range of products," he said.
Mr Noonan warned that a "severe, penal" bank levy in the Budget could be introduced if the banks don't reduce their rates. He would also consider giving the Central Bank powers to fix rate. He said neither option was "particularly good" and he would prefer the banks to move on rates themselves.
"As long as they move we won't have to take further action," the minister said, adding that it was in the interest of all the banks to "look after their customers".
The minister said another rate cut by AIB, in addition to the two it has pushed through in the past six months, should not affect its profitability or damage the prospects of the State selling some of its 99.8 per cent stake to private investors.
"Happy customers make for profitable banks," he said. "I don't see any change in our intention or our policies about selling AIB."
In terms of the timing of a possible IPO, he said the first window would be late this year, "probably November…then a window will open up again in the Spring".
Tags: ACC, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Central Bank, fixed rate, KBC, Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, mortgage, mortgages, Permanent TSB, standard variable mortgages, Ulster Bank, variable, variable rates
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text:
LIBBY MEYER is a composer of concert, theater and film music. Her interest in natural soundscapes, conservation of special places and curiosity about the relationship between the arts and the natural world fuel her work. She has served as an Artist in Residence at Isle Royale National Park and has written a number of compositions inspired by the landscape. Libby has received awards from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Sorel for Women in Film Music fund. Libby holds a DMA in music composition from Northwestern University and is currently a Lecturer in Music Composition at Michigan Tech University.
More information at: http://www.libbymeyermusic.com/
Back to the exhibit


Some very witty & insightful folks have commented on the sport of fly fishing. There's so much literature available on the sport you'll never run out of books to read. Perhaps the best are some of the old, forgotten classics.
Lang's spring 2011 auctions are coming up soon. There are a total of four days of buying available. Their main cataloged auction will be Saturday April, 30th & Sunday May 1st, 2011. They offer many ways for you to bid: absentee online, & in real time through liveauctioneers.com. Right now, you can browse these two upcoming auction days by clicking HERE. From the looks of things, there seem to be some good fly reels on the block this time & some nice rods as well. This would be a good opportunity to pick up a nice Leonard or Orvis bamboo rod, too.
Lang's will also be having their uncatalogued "Discovery" auction with a live audience at the Holiday Inn at Boxborough, MA. You can preview the items from 8am until 11am, with the auction starting at 11am. You'll have to be there to bid & to take your purchases away, but if you're going to be in the area I wouldn't recommend missing it.
The folks at Lang's have been doing this since 1990 & have earned a great reputation. They are very professional & knowledgeable, making them the most legit & trustworthy folks in the collectible fishing tackle - auction business. Rods, reels, creels, accessories, books, art, ephemera, etc, Lang's are the folks to see for everything that's angling collectibles.
Special Offer: Fly wallet with every rod!!!
For a limited time, when you order or purchase a rod you will receive a free leather fly wallet. These are quality wallets, made with real leather & one can be yours free when you get a rod from me. A timeless way to carry wet flies, you'll be proud to have one of these wallets in your vest or bag. That includes both custom made split-bamboo & graphite fly rods, plus any rod listed on my "available" page. So, purchase or order a rod, & get a new home for your wets & nymphs at no charge. This is a limited time offer. To learn more about these wallets, see my "accessories" page.
If you're not aware of it, there is a great resource available on the internet that covers just about anything you need to know about to angling: Take Me Fishing (takemefishing.org). This website is full of information.
Covering many topics of fishing, Take Me Fishing is a wealth of info. It covers all styles of fishing (spin casting, bait casting, fly fishing), & gives great articles & tips for beginners. It also goes into great detail about boating & everything you need to know to get a boat in the water. Plus, the site covers different fishing locations across the nation. You can read reviews, etc that other anglers have posted about a particular location, find directions to it, etc.
You can buy your fishing license on line these days & Take Me Fishing has links & info for every state. You can purchase your fishing & boating licenses, learn the rules & regulations for any state, get maps, learn where to fish, etc. This is especially great for anyone planing a trip, vacation, or anyone who has a traveling job & is away from home & wants to do a little fishing wherever your work takes you.
Overall Take Me Fishing promotes boating & angling which is good because the number of anglers is diminishing, with less youth taking up the sport. Fishing & boating & purchasing licenses & buying tackle all help the environment because when you purchase those items, some of the money goes to the government & other agencies for that purpose.
Take Me Fishing looks like a great place to plan your next fishing trip, no matter if it's in another state or just down the road.
A while back I wrote about the timeless favorite for generations of fly anglers, the legendary Pflueger Medalist. The goal of that earlier post was to bring that reel to the attention of folks who either didn't know about it, or hadn't thought about the Medalist in a long time. Recently, a friend sent me an article about the storied history of the Medalist & I wanted to share it here, along with some other Medalist information.
Joe Cornwall is the author of a fantastic article about the Medalist. This is the most comprehensive article on the internet that I have seen about this reel & I think Mr. Cornwall deserves an "atta boy" for doing such a fine job. I've read in books about the Medalist & was reminded of things I had forgotten about.
The Medalist is my idea of the perfect mix of angling history & modern fly fishing because you can purchase an older Medalist today & take pride in using a reel as old (maybe) as your grandpa. I especially like the way Mr. Cornwall's article examines the changes the Medalist went through by the decades & eras of it's past. This, & the many photos he's included, make it a valuable resource for collectors or anyone trying to date a reel. If that wasn't enough, he also includes a detailed, step-by-step section describing how to change a Medalist over from right to left hand winding - important information for those who have just bought their first medalist.
Go HERE to read Joe Cornwall's article, written in two parts.
The Pflueger Medalist name first appeared in 1931, & by 1938 the Medalist took on the appearance that we all know. What's amazing to me is that you can still purchase a brand new Medalist today. While the modern Medalists might not be the quality reel their ancestors were, it is still an effective & usable reel.
Pflueger has a long & important history in American angling & today many collectors treasure & seek many of their old reels, lures, & fishing accessories. There is an entire comunity of Pflueger fanatics that help to keep that part of angling history alive. If you are one of those fanatics, or if you'd just like to learn more about this historic company, there is a book available. Dr. Todd Larson, noted angling historian, has written a book entitled "Pflueger Profiles: Eclectic Essays on the History of Enterprising Manufacturing Company, Makers of Pflueger Fishing Tackle." available from The Whitefish Press.
With so much history behind it, using a Medalist on your fly rod is yet another way to make the sport of fly fishing a timeless endeavor.


The time has come for you to choose the right vacuum for your home and you're stuck making the choice between a stick vacuum vs upright vacuum. If you don't have any experience with either, it's important to think about the pros and cons of each as well as common features that you can expect from a stick model and an upright model. This guide is designed to make buying vacuums simpler, as we compare both types to help you make the perfect choice for your space.
When you take a look at unique features that can be included in either a stick or upright vacuum, they have the tendency to be the same, though some models may offer more cleaning attachments or cleaning options than others.
As an example, you can find certain upright and stick vacuums that also have wet carpet or wet tile cleaning components. You'll also find the majority of models are equipped with a variety of cleaning attachments ranging from extension rods to pet hair removers.
The only important difference to consider is that since an upright vacuum is traditionally larger in size, you might be able to get additional features such as an integrated HEPA filter to help eliminate traces of dust and dander in the air.
The maintenance associated with a stick vacuum and an upright vacuum is similar as the construction of their dirt reservoirs is essentially identical. If you choose a stick or upright vacuum with a bag, you'll be responsible for replacing it when it gets full. Whereas with a bagless model, all you'll have to do is remove the dirt reservoir and empty it as you please.
One of the benefits of bagless stick or upright vacuums is you can easily wash the removable reservoir to keep the unit clean and fresh after every use. Also, it's far more cost effective to not have to worry about purchasing bags along with the base model.
Another important maintenance tip is to take a look at the rotating brushes at the bottom of the units to ensure there isn't a buildup of hair or threads that could prevent the brushes from picking up dirt and debris. This should typically be completed once a month so you can receive optimal suction with every use.
Depending on the type of flooring you have in your home, a stick vacuum may be preferable to the upright vacuum and vice versa.
Stick vacuums are recommended for hardwood, tiles, and any other type of hard flooring, as they're generally not designed to deal with highly textured and plush surfaces, such as carpet. If you were looking for a vacuum to deal with high pile rugs or plush flooring, an upright model would be preferable.
The ease of use for each model depends on personal preference and the jobs you wish to complete. With an upright vacuum, you'll be able to adjust the height of the rolling brushes to accommodate both high pile and low pile carpet. Many home owners also find it can be simple to use their upright vacuum on harder floors, though it won't be as efficient with picking up small debris when compared to a stick vacuum.
A stick vacuum is great for individuals that just need a unit to use for small and quick jobs as they typically offer an on/off switch and no customizable cleaning options. This is why apartment owners prefer them or people who have smaller rooms in their home.
There isn't a drastic price difference between a typical stick vacuum and upright vacuum, in fact, the difference is within tens of dollars in most cases. If you decide to opt for more expensive brands, such as Dyson in comparison to less expensive brands such as Hoover, that is where you're going to see a significant difference in price.
Overall, stick vacuums are going to carry a lower price tag than a traditional upright vacuum because they typically have a smaller motor and require fewer parts to manufacture.
The most important factor to think about when you're buying any type of vacuum is how powerful it is. The stronger the motor, the more suction you'll receive and that will result in a deeper clean.
Since upright vacuums are larger in size, they're going to be built with a larger motor than their smaller counterparts. Meaning, you'll get the most for your money with an upright instead of a stick model.
If you're searching for a vacuum that is going to pick up small amounts of hair, fine dust, and other minimal types of debris on hard floors, a stick vacuum is your best bet as the brushes are designed for minimally plush surfaces.
Aside from power, stick vacuums are far more adaptable to everyday living situations than upright vacuums. Upright models are larger and weigh more, which can make them difficult to carry upstairs or around your home.
Stick vacuums are also much thinner due to their smaller dirt reservoir, which is an essential feat for storing them in small spaces such as broom closets.
As with any type of vacuum, you're going to want to consider the jobs you need it to perform before deciding on a final model. Stick vacuums are convenient, easy to transport and store, and are great for hard floors. Whereas upright vacuums are phenomenal for deep cleans, recommended for carpeted surfaces, and offer more power.


text:
Congress Passes Defense Bill Codifying Indefinite Detention
The President is expected to sign the bill, which will allow indefinite detentions without charge or trial, even for American citizens
John Glaser Posted on December 15, 2011 Categories NewsTags indefinite detention, ndaa
The Senate passed the 2012 defense authorization bill 86-13 on Thursday, one day after the House of Representatives passed it in a 283-136 vote. The bill, which codifies a system of indefinite detention for terrorism suspects, will be sent to the President's desk today.
The Obama administration is supportive of the bill and is expected to sign it into law, despite initially threatening to veto it on the grounds that those provisions "mandat[ing] military custody" amounted to a "restriction of the President's authority" to choose what to do with terrorism suspects. No mention of the disintegration of the fifth amendment's due process clause appeared in the administration's objection.
In response to this veto threat, the Senate revised the provisions mandating military custody and inserted the option of a waiver for American citizens; that is, the Executive branch would be allowed to waive the requirement to deprive suspects of their constitutional rights at their discretion.
As revealed in the Senate deliberations last week, the Obama administration itself requested the principal authors of the provision – John McCain and Carl Levin – to include language authorizing due-process-free military custody for American citizens. The initial threat of veto was apparently nothing more than political theater on the part of the White House.
While the provision's language is threatening to the due process rights of the accused – whether U.S. citizen or not – the bill would really only codify into law already existing practice for depriving accused terrorists of due process.
"If President Obama signs this bill," said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, "it will damage both his legacy and America's reputation for upholding the rule of law. The last time Congress passed indefinite detention legislation was during the McCarthy era and President Truman had the courage to veto that bill. We hope that the president will consider the long view of history before codifying indefinite detention without charge or trial."
Author: John Glaser
John Glaser writes for Antiwar.com.	View all posts by John Glaser
29 thoughts on "Congress Passes Defense Bill Codifying Indefinite Detention"
Valerianus says:
The long extant, but not openly proclaimed, US police state is now official.
Fedupandsick says:
Damage his legacy or add to it?
What did I do?
*****From Antiwar.com: We are having commenting issues. Please don't overreact.
Fuck you. There, that's something you can delete. And no more contributions from my ass.
Offenbach says:
Absolutely appalling. In their trampling on the most fundamental rights of every U.S. citizen, the congressmen and women, and the senators, who voted for indefinite detention declare themselves to be enemies of the american people.
Absolutely appalling.
Steve H. says:
"America's reputation for upholding the rule of law"? Is this an Onion piece? Is there any law that isn't routinely violated? Compare the Bill of Rights with the thuggish nature of our out-of-control government. Our "leaders" are power-hungry sociopaths.
News flash to the uninformed: the government is not protecting you. They are, in fact, far more dangerous than some cave-dwellers in Afghanistan.
Time to face facts. The war on terror is the most expensive scam in world history. It's about power. Nothing more. The wars are a means of robbing us of our money and our liberty. Those doing the killing and looting do not care about you. Anyone who places his trust in these cretins deserves to be a slave.
Heathcliff_Maw says:
Like terrorism has been such a problem the last 10 years that we must pass an Enabling Act to make the president a dictator. This is a fascist country. That is not hyperbole.
jgmoebus says:
The ONLY reason these Thugs and Thieves have been able to perpetrate and perpetuate this obscenity is because of the so-called "Terror Event" of September 11, 2001.
The ONLY way this so-called "War" Against so-called "Terrorism" can and will be stopped is if The Lie, Scam, Hoax, and Sham of 9.11 is exposed, and the people who conceived, approved, planned, resourced, executed, and covered it up are brought to terminal justice. If that does not happen, then Chancellor Cheney was right: This "war" will indeed go on forever.
Those who denigrate and deny 9.11 TRUTH aid and abet The Enemy.
antiWar.com must use its moral and intellectual authority to lead the unconditional national and global Demand for The Whole, Real, Actual, Truth. If it does not, then it is part of The Problem, and not The Solution.
paulBass says:
Truthers
Y U NO TALK ABOUT FIRST IRAQ WAR?
ME NO TALK ABOUT FIRST IRAQ WAR because the article being commented upon was about The Second Iraq War. But, for you, paulBass, Me Talk About First Iraq War. And First Iran War, too.
Let's talk about that one first. You know, the one where the US and the rest of the West gave Saddam tens of billions of dollars and billions more worth of war gear to wage Bush the Elder's Holy War against Iran (while of course at the same time providing arms to Iran as part of the Iran-Contra goat-rope, and giving Saddam nerve gas to use against both Iranians and non-compliant Iraqis). Does anybody know how many millions upon millions of casualties were suffered on each side? Does anybody care? The most important thing about America's First Iran War was that it paved the way two years after its conclusion, paulBass, for your "FIRST IRAQ WAR"… (to be continued)
….. your "FIRST IRAQ WAR"…
The realized ultimate meta-strategic objective of which was to enable the US to finally establish a large-scale, permanent, war-fighting military presence in the Middle East, something it had been intent upon doing and attempting to do since at least the end of WWII — if not before — and without which it would not have been able to launch the so-called "War" Against so-called "Terrorism" while "liberating" Afghanistan in the weeks after 9.11. Saddam's timely "invasion" of Kuwait on orders from his owners and operators in DC enabled the Centurions of Bush the Elder's "New World Order" (his term, not mine) to be moved into place on 'the Grand Chessboard."
By then, our goons in our other Holy War — you know, the one with the Taliban and Osama and Da Boyz of alQ on our side against "The Evil Empire," aka the soon-to-be-former Soviet Union — had about wrapped up their business and settled back to getting ready for and waiting on their cue to play their bit role in our Next Great Crusade. The cue? The so-called "Terror Event" of September 11, 2001.
But that's TRUTHER talk; far too True For You.
"Truthers"
F-Yeah!!!
TRUTH!!!!
Why are You so afraid of it????
"Truthers" you call us.
Is that anything, i wonder, is that anyThing like "DEATHERS"
i have no doubt whatsoever, paulBass, that you believe your governement's (and its media's) tale of the "DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN."
WHY do you believe these people? About ANYTHING?
What's YOUR — antiTRUTHER — plan to stop the so-called "War" Against so-called "Terrorism"? Abroad and at home?
Do you have one?
Do you understand the definition of the word, concept, and action of "PLAN"?
"The ONLY reason these Thugs and Thieves have been able to perpetrate and perpetuate this obscenity is because of the so-called "Terror Event" of September 11, 2001. "
Well, there's the minor detail that massive majorities of Americans keep electing them. They keep falling for the charade that Dems offer change from Repubs, and that Repubs offer change from Dems, and the end result was that the candidates who would have had a different policy as President in the last election got about 2% of the vote
curmudgeonvt says:
There are those who still don't believe that "Freedom" has been eradicated from the fabric of this country and that we are quickly becoming a fascist dictatorial state. Still. The final proof will be when the case is dropped in the lap of the Supreme Court regarding the (obvious) unconstitutionality of this law. When the Court either declines to take the case (wouldn't surprise me at all) or actually grows a pair and takes it but rules in favor of the Archons then – THEN the tale will have been told and even those who view what is happening with closed eyes will have to see it for what it is.
And after they "see it for what it is," curmudgeonvt, WHAT will they do?
And WHO exactly is "They"?
i haven't seen any polls yet (i doubt that any exist), but my guess is that very Very VERY few Americans have any problems whatsoever with Indefinite Detention.
And even Less have enough of a problem with it to even begin to think about, let alone imagine, actually really DOING something about it.
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. And that is why 9.11 is the most successfull psychological warfare operation in history. It accomplished exactly what it was intended to achieve: to terrorize the American people into going along with EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that its government and that government's media told them must be done to preserve and protect "The American Way of Life and Living."
I assume that your questions are rhetorical – but maybe not so: "They" will do nothing, as you say. "They" are those who believe what is told to them by the all-seeing benevolent government – you know, the one that promises to "take care of you." It may be true that so few might actually have a problem with Indef Detention and that, while not surprising, is really scary because they are the ones who so often spout platitudes about defending the Constitution and such.
The Patriot Act was created to institutionalize the terrorism of the American people. It allows the Archons to ratchet up the fear without actually having to resort to violence. But when the level of fear drops, due either to indifference (most likely) or recognition of what is being done to them (possible but not likely) then, well, then something will have to happen to re-instill the FEAR that is necessary to keep the ball rolling.
So, this new law which "codifies" the "disappearing" of American citizens anywhere is just the next step. The more aware we become of what is being done, the more need the Archons will feel to keep things under control – be it disappearing someone or taking more control of the Internet and stifling discourse – or both.
No sir…. my questions are most definitely NOT rhetorical. Two things don't exist in a War Zone: Protest and Rhetorical Questions.
What i really want to know is this: WHAT is to be done about Indefinite Detention and its rationale and justification: the so-called "War" Against so-called "Terrorism"? And, more importantly, HOWare they to be confronted, combatted, defeated, and destroyed?
Those are the Questions every antiWar.com reader and commentor needs to be thinking about.
"WHAT is to be done about Indefinite Detention and its rationale and justification: the so-called "War" Against so-called "Terrorism"?" Sadly, nothing will be done beyond a multitude of armchair pundits and malcontents baying at the moon.
"HOWare [sic] they to be confronted, combatted, defeated, and destroyed?" IMO, they won't be confronted, will not be combatted, defeated, nor destroyed. Wish it were otherwise. But I don't plan on holding my breath waiting for pigs to fly.
Perhaps you have the solutions to your own questions?
No. i do not have Answers to my Questions. Not yet.
How was "The Thousand Year Reich" confronted, combatted, defeated, and destroyed?
Will it, Must it come down to that?
i guess the real Question comes down to this: Is the only way to deal with and dispatch The Fourth Reich to Invade and Occupy Washington, DC.?
I think you'll find that the vast majority of the American people have neither the stomach nor the balls to go that route. We have been well trained to bend the knee or look the other way or mind our own business or to trust the Archons – whatever malady you wish to subscribe to. Truly sad.
Actually, i wasn't talking about the American people being the ones to confront, combat, defeat, and destroy The Fourth Reich by Invading and Occupying the Seat of Empire.
The American people are no more capable of terminating the obscenity and insanity than were the German people after the Reichstag Fire. And for exactly the same reasons:
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/reich.h… .
The Questions remain: WHO? And HOW?
rybo1 says:
Hello Amerika! Not to worry. The country's Sheeple won't say a word or raise a finger.
Nelson_2008 says:
Our Masters know that the next series of illegal, immoral wars of aggression that they plan to launch, are going to have catastrophic consequences, potentially anything from economic collapse to nuclear WW3. Thus they need to get everything in place now, in preparation for the day when even the most brain dead sheeple start wondering why their country and everything they had needed to be sacrificed on the altar of Zionism.
davidgrayling says:
"it will damage both his legacy and America's reputation for upholding the rule of law."
Obaaaaama's legacy and America's reputation are already in tatters and it is still spiraling downwards!
How low will it go?
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
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text:
Q: Integration by parts for $\int \frac{f'}{f} dx$ The correct answer to the integral above should be $\int \frac{f'}{f} dx= \ln(f)$. Yet if one applies integration by parts according to
$\int u \frac{dv}{dx} = u v - \int v \frac{du}{dx} dx$
then setting $u = \frac{1}{f}$ and $v=f$ yields
$\int \frac{f'}{f} dx = f\frac{1}{f}  - \int f \left(-\frac{f'}{f^2}\right) dx = 1 + \int \frac{f'}{f} dx$
or 0 = 1. What's going on here?
Thanks in advance!

A: The correct answer is
$$\int \frac{f'(x)}{f(x)}dx= \log |f(x)|+C$$
not $\log |f(x)|$.

A: Let's assume, for simplicity, that $f$ is continuous over the interval $(a,b)$ (and nonzero).
If $c\in(a,b)$, an antiderivative of
$$
g(x)=\dfrac{f'(x)}{f(x)}
$$
is
$$
G(x)=\int_c^x \frac{f'(t)}{f(t)}\,dt
$$
Let's try integration by parts as you do:
$$
G(x)=\Bigl[f(t)\frac{1}{f(t)}\Bigr]_c^x - \int_c^x -\frac{f'(t)}{(f(t))^2}f(t)\,dt=1-1+\int_c^x \frac{f'(t)}{f(t)}\,dt=G(x)
$$
A long tour that proves nothing.
When in doubt, use a particular antiderivative; you're not considering that antiderivatives (over an interval) are defined up to an additive constant, so what you actually proved is that $0$ and $1$ differ by a constant. Not really a surprise, is it?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Apple announced today that App Store sales topped $10 billion in 2013, including a record breaking $1 billion in December alone, where App Store customers downloaded almost three billion apps. Overall, Apple has paid out over $15 billion to App Store developers.
In its press release, Apple also highlighted a number of popular and emerging apps and developers while drawing special attention to a few larger developers that particularly embraced the new look and features of iOS 7, which was released in September.
Apple announced a year ago that the App Store had passed 40 billion downloads, with half of those coming in 2012. The company also announced that December 2012 brought over two billion downloads, with 500 million user accounts registered.
In May 2013, Apple hit 50 billion worldwide app downloads, which it celebrated with a promotion for a $10,000 gift card for the person who downloaded the 50 billionth app. The App Store also reached one million live apps in December.
They're about as doomed as Microsoft or Samsung... But as we could observe more than once in the last few decades, markets, trends and hypes can change quickly and the larger a company gets, the slower it can adept and change. When the next big thing (TM) comes, Apple should better have -THE- product for that market. Only a few years ago, it was unthinkable that Blackberry and Nokia would become endangered species. There also was a time when the entire IT industry was afraid of IBM. Empires and success stories don't last forever.
I wonder how much of that revenue were from in-app purchases?
When the next big thing (TM) comes, Apple should better have -THE- product for that market. Only a few years ago, it was unthinkable that Blackberry and Nokia would become endangered species.
As for Apple needing to have "-THE- product for that market" or else they are doomed™, no, because unlike say RIM who had a single business, telephones, Apple has any number of different businesses that can alone sustain the company - Mac, iPhone, iPad, iTunes (media sales/rentals), Stores (which on their own make far more money than Amazon) - heck, even it's AppleTV hobby is something most companies can only dream about.
I'll pay for a quality app and buy in app purchases to extend functionality, but I will not pay $99.99 for "1,000,000,000,000" coins to buy a weapon or new car.
That's a whole lotta pesos!
Why is it when these figures are announced Apple always says they "pay out" x amount to developers? To me the verbiage comes off a bit arrogant but at the same time I'm guessing it's so that Apple doesn't want people to claim they take the whole cut.
They want to show developers how much money the market is worth, and what they're potentially missing out on if not already part of the ecosystem.
+1. It would be very interesting to know this as I regard in-app purchases/freemium stuff as the cancer of the software world.
That really depends. There are obviously ridiculous in-app purchases that are designed to rip off kids and weak-willed (idiotic) adults. But if you live in Britain, that's nothing compared to so-called "pay-day loan" companies, where I would sincerely vote that anyone involved in these companies should be hanged because these companies prey on people who don't have money instead of people who have too much.
On the other hand, you can play 35 levels of Candy Crush for free, and 15 more levels cost £0.69, and I really can't find anything wrong with it. Or I got a basic SatNav program with all the UK maps built in for free, and I'm expected to pay £1.99 if I want French maps, or German maps, and so on. That's fine with me. As long as they don't claim that an app is free and what you get is just a lame demo, that's fine with me. The two examples that I gave do actually give you value for nothing, and expect you to pay more if you want more value, and that's fine with me.
Is this Mac App Store + iTunes App Store?
Sounds like apps for iOS 7 (whatever that store is called). I'd be very surprised if app store sales for MacOS X apps were anywhere near, because (1) there are a lot fewer Macs, and (2) there are a lot of other places where you can buy apps, and many top sellers are not even available on the app store.


text:
When librarians speak up: justifications for and legitimacy implications of librarians' engagement in social movements
Nanna Kann-Rasmussen (Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark) (Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden)
Journal of Documentation
Article publication date: 13 April 2022
Issue publication date: 10 January 2023
This article presents a discussion of how librarians' engagement in certain social movements manifests itself in public libraries, how librarians justify their engagement with specifically the LGBT + movement and the climate movement and what it might entail in terms of legitimacy.
Besides an extensive international literature on libraries and climate/LGBT + issues, the article draws on data from an interview study with librarians from Denmark and Sweden. Theoretically, the article utilizes the orders of worth framework by French sociologists Boltanski and Thévenot. The framework is used to analyse librarians' justifications for engaging in certain agendas in society.
Active engagement in social and green agendas takes place through strategies of education, efforts to make the cause more visible in the library and by setting an example. Justifications for active engagement in social movement agendas draw on inspirational, civic, projective and green orders of worth (OoW).
Much of the existing research on librarians who engage themselves in either climate issues or in agendas concerning minorities has a normative character. However, this study shows that there is no causal (positive or negative) relation between active engagement in social movements' causes and legitimacy of libraries, but that the justifications for doing so might have an impact on legitimacy.
Justifications
The author wishes to thank the Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences at Lund University, Sweden for funding the research sabbatical which allowed me to work on this article.
Kann-Rasmussen, N. (2023), "When librarians speak up: justifications for and legitimacy implications of librarians' engagement in social movements", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 79 No. 1, pp. 36-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2022-0042


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PRIVATE EQUITY AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES TO INVESTMENT MARKETS
This article is the second in a series of seven exploring private equity investment, and it focuses on the "lower for longer" returns expectation from traditional asset classes, as well as some fundamental shifts in those markets.
It is easy to forget how serious the global financial crisis was. As a quick recap, some banks had provided mortgages irresponsibly to borrowers who could not repay the debt and then went and sold those "toxic" loans to other investors in a bond format. When property prices started going backward (implying borrowers' debt was more than the house they owned, which led to defaulting on the mortgage) the house of cards came down. At that stage there was a very real risk of consumers losing faith in the entire financial system, which might potentially have led to an implosion of financial markets, hurting everyone severely. Central banks responded by printing money and buying these bonds (called quantitative easing or QE). They flooded markets with liquidity, which brought stability and gave Joe Soap some confidence in the system again.
The necessity for central bankers to intervene to protect the financial system in general, is an important backdrop for the conversation around what the real impact was. Whether or not you agree with QE, it did stabilise the global economy. Nonetheless, in investments, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Printing money was tantamount to borrowing from the next generation. This debt is still a drag on growth.
In addition to carrying this burden, the current economic / trade wars for global supremacy are weighing further on global trade and therefore economic growth. Apart from the direct impact of tariffs and exclusions, there is the secondary effect of uncertainty driving cautious behaviour.
This is a tough environment for investment markets!
Traditional asset classes have an additional challenge – structural changes to investment markets. The number of listed companies globally is reducing considerably.
In the USA, there were about 23 listed companies per million US citizens in 1976. Today, it's closer to 11 per million, according to a new report by economist René Stulz, issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). This is a significant reduction.
The number of firms choosing to list their shares on UK stock markets hit a decade-long low in 2016. And listed companies in South Africa have reduced from near 600 in 1994 to only around 300 at present.
Investment activity has shifted, however, to private markets, where the Nasdaq Private Market numbers set a new record in deal flows in the first half of 2018 already – private equity seems to have taken significant volumes away from listing activity. These private markets have evolved to be able to provide sufficient capital for growing firms without needing to list on the stock market.
WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THIS SHIFT FROM LISTED TO PRIVATE MARKETS?
Onerousness of listing: Disclosure requirements for a listed company are very onerous. Furthermore, listed companies pay significant amounts of money to the stock exchange annually for their services.
Short-termism: Investment analysts are often obsessed with trends in corporate earnings, and the slightest hint of a slowdown in the speed of earnings growth from one half year to the next can place pressure on management for short-term solutions (or place pressure on the share price by investors selling the stock).
Control: Shareholders can be quite uncompromising in terms of improving short-term results of a company, which may be bad for long-term growth prospects. It is beneficial for founders and / or management to be able to take a longer-term view to business strategy. Control can be abused too, but it is a fine balance.
Balancing stakeholders' needs: Listing and governance requirements have pushed listed companies to implement more and more extensive governance processes, procedures, checks and balances and independence in decision-making, sometimes leading to indecision or at least a lack of a nimble response to opportunities and / or threats. Conversely, private equity funds focus management's attention on the long-term health of the organisation. The latter has been touted as a more effective way of managing sustainability considerations, by NB Hudson in his paper "The flourishing firm", as presented to the Actuarial Society in 2015.
Structural changes to business: There have been certain structural changes in business which imply a lesser need for capital in order to build a company. The sharing economy has brought down overhead costs and improved the ease / reduced the friction of doing business. Platform businesses, such as Airbnb, Uber and Facebook, have no stock to warehouse due to their assets being in the form of intellectual property, which has led to such businesses waiting much longer in the business cycle to consider going public.
It does not seem it will happen anymore, but Elon Musk was "considering taking Tesla private at US$420" per share and would still have preferred the company to be private. This is the view of one of the most respected global business leaders – considered a visionary / entrepreneur. This is serious food for thought. It may say something about future trends in how innovative, disruptive companies raise capital.
It would be unfair to infer that lower returns on listed assets recently is a direct consequence of this business trend away from listing businesses on an exchange, but it can certainly be seen as one of the drivers.
Arguably the most revered investor in the world, Warren Buffett, has been managing the lion's share of his wealth by buying unlisted businesses and holding on to them. Fortunately for the rest of us, he made an investment in this company available by offering it as a listed company. This structure benefited those who had limited wealth and therefore did not have access to unlisted investment opportunities directly (though now one share in Berkshire Hathaway may also be too expensive for many investors).
If retirement funds would like to invest in a representative sample of companies in their economy, they would need to shift some capital to private markets due to the number of companies that have shifted capital raising efforts there. If trustees would like to make up for the current lower returns environment, they will have to consider shifting even more exposure to private markets.


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Norfolk is best known to many as the flat, low lying county in eastern England where The Broads form a network of navigable, lock-free rivers and canals, providing many with a wide variety of leisure pursuits, from those "messing about on boats" to twitchers searching for rare birds among the many acres of wetlands.
Norfolk County Golf Union was formed in 1908 so it has been the administrative authority to clubs in the county for over 100 years. Today there are more than thirty clubs – from Eagles GC in the west to Great Yarmouth & Caister GC in the east – in membership of the Union, which itself is affiliated to the South Eastern Group of Unions (even though Norfolk competes annually against Suffolk and four counties from the Midland Golf Union in the Anglian League).
Norfolk Ladies' County Golf Association celebrated its centenary in 2012 and it currently presides over 31 affiliated clubs in the region – quite an improvement in membership, considering only five clubs were represented at its inaugural meeting back in 1912. Norfolk ladies take part in competitions against other associations with two county teams, a junior team and a senior team.
The county is blessed with a number of top golf courses, two of which – Royal West Norfolk and Hunstanton – are rightly ranked amongst the Top 100 18-hole layouts in Great Britain and Ireland. The two links courses are located within seven miles of each other so there's absolutely no reason for serious golfers to not play both when visiting Norfolk.
Our Norfolk golf course rankings were updated in 2019. Click the link to read the story.
Royal West Norfolk
King's Lynn, England
Norfolk, England
Sheringham
Sheringham, England
Royal Norwich
Norwich, England
Royal Cromer
Cromer, England
Thetford, England
Great Yarmouth & Caister
Great Yarmouth, England
Barnham Broom (Valley)
Norfolk Top 100 Leaderboard


An excellent completely transparent fragment of sphalerite-cleophane crystal with yellow-green to light green color. Specimen is convenient for faceting. Pictures are taken in transmited (back) light in cold LED light, what make green color stronger.


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Home > Colleges > College of Sciences and Health > Food Science Environmental Health > articles > 323
Short Term Forecasting of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Levels Using a Hybrid Statistical and Air Mass History Modelling Approach
Aoife Donnelly, Technological University DublinFollow
Owen Naughton, National University of Ireland, GalwayFollow
Brian Broderick, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Bruce Misstear, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Environmental sciences, 2.7 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Environmental Modeling & Assessment
A novel hybrid model has been developed to support the provision of real-time air quality forecasts. Statistical techniques have been applied in parallel with airmass history modelling to provide an efficient and accurate forecasting system with the ability to identify high NO2 events, which tend to be the episodes ofmost significance in Ireland. Airmass history modelling and k-means clustering are used to identify air mass types that lead to high NO2 levels in Ireland. Trajectory matching techniques allow data associated with these air masses to be partitioned during model development. Non-parametric regression (NPR) has been applied to describe nonlinear variations in concentration levels with wind speed, direction and season and produce a set of linearized factors which, together with other meteorological variables, are employed as inputs to a multiple linear regression. The model uses an innovative integrated approach to combine the NPR with the air mass history modelling results. On validation, a correlation coefficient of 0.75 was obtained, and 91 % of daily maximum (hourly averaged) NO2 predictions were within a factor of two of the measured value. High pollution events were well captured, as indicated by strong agreement between measured and modelled high percentile values. The model requires only simple input data, does not require an emission inventory and utilises very low computational resources. It represents an accurate and efficient means of producing real-time air quality forecasts and, when used in combination with forecaster experience, is a useful tool for identifying periods of poor air quality 24 h in advance. The hybrid approach outlined in this paper can easily be applied to produce high-quality forecasts of both NO2 and additional pollutants at new locations/countries where historical monitoring data are available.
Donnelly, A., Naughton, O., Broderick, B. & Misslear, B. (2016). Short-Term Forecasting of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Levels Using a Hybrid Statistical and Air Mass History Modelling Approach. Environmental Modeling & Assessment, vol.22(3), pp.231-241.
https://doi.org/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10666-016-9532-4
Engineering Commons, Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons


Join Klubhaus Modern Gaming in Downtown Norfolk for International Tabletop Day!
International Tabletop Day (ITTD) is a worldwide celebration of tabletop gaming for all members of our incredible community. This is a great opportunity to nerd out and scratch your tabletop gaming itch, to introduce your non-gamer friends to an incredibly enriching and rewarding hobby, or to come see what all of this board game fuss is about in the first place. Part of what makes ITTD so special is the tabletop gaming community that comes together to share, celebrate, and express our passions.
It's not just about playing board games every year, though – it's about making new memories with friends and favorite games.
Learn more about this board game store in Downtown Norfolk.


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A good vacation takes some preparation. You have to scope out the best sights, figure out which restaurants to hit up and figure out how you'll fit in all the fun stuff a vacation has to offer. But you also want to plan how you'll secure your home while you're away. Follow these security tips and you'll be able to focus on your vacation while you're away, not your home.
The simplest security measures are often also the first line of defense in home security. From basic timer switches and motion-activated lights to smart-home tech like light bulbs and connected plugs, your home may already have what it needs to make it look like you're still there.
Burglars often scope out homes before breaking in. Setting up a light on a timer in a few rooms throughout your house can go a long way to making it look like someone is still in there. You can also purchase sensors that will turn on lights when motion is detected or when light levels are low, helping to make your home looked lived in.
If you want to step up your system, consider buying some smart light bulbs or connected outlets. While these are great for everyday use, they really shine when you're away. Instead of crawling under a desk to set your timer, you can do it from your smartphone. And you can set up your whole house with a single set of rules.
If you're going with a smart solution, you may want to stick with the schedules you're already using, like turning the lights on around the time you'd usually get home from work and turning them off at bedtime. But it doesn't hurt to change things up a little, which you can do from anywhere thanks to the connected nature of these gadgets. This could throw off an especially smart thief or just come in handy if you forgot to set your timers until you're standing in the security line at the airport.
Peace of mind can be hard to come by when you can't actually see your home. Luckily, there are great solutions to getting a live feed of the inside of your house. A connected security camera, like the Nest Cam or Logi Circle, provide both sound and vision anywhere you have a Wi-Fi connection. And with continuous cloud recording, you'll be able to review footage if something goes wrong.
For the best coverage, you'll probably want to purchase a few cameras. The Blink cameras are small and cheap enough to blanket your house, and their ability to run for years on battery power means you don't need to snake power cables all over the place. However, they only turn on the camera when they sense motion, which means you'll have to hope that it catches everything you want it to.
If you do only have one or two cameras, consider placing them in ways that provide coverage of main rooms in your house. While facing the front door may seem like a great idea, a burglar prying open a side window wouldn't be caught on tape. Putting the camera in the room with a big TV or packed jewelry drawer is more likely to catch a thief in the act.
Also consider some cameras rated for the outdoors. Nest makes an outdoor option, and Netgear's Arlo wire-free cameras are rated for inside and outside use.
You may also want to up your subscription to your cloud recording system. While a day of recording on the free plan may work for day-to-day life, it could leave you blind to some problems you don't notice until you get back from a 10 day trip. Plus, those upgraded plans often come with smarter notifications that send special alerts when they sense a person instead of your cat.
There's nothing like a good security system to keep your home safe and your mind at ease while you're away. Check out Frontpoint or Protect America as good examples. But you may want to take a few extra steps before just setting it and walking away. Obviously, step one is arming the system.
It can be easy to let your bad habit of leaving the security system off while you run to the grocery store turn into leaving it off all the time. But you'll want to be sure it's in working order before your road trip or international cruise. That may mean just arming the system and making sure it's not going off. If you have a monitored solution, give them a heads up before testing it so they don't call the cops if something does go wrong. You'll also your security provider with details of your trip and an alternate contact so that someone can respond quickly if you're unreachable.
Securing your space also means making sure everything is locked up tight. Checking the locks on all your windows and doors is a great first step. You'll want to engage all deadlocks for extra security and place a strong bar in any sliding doors to ensure they aren't jimmied open. Also consider turning off your garage door opener to keep it from being opened with illicit "universal" remotes.
Consider unplugging unnecessary devices as well. Obviously, this will save on electricity, but it will also cut down on chances for electrical fires or other accidents. However, you'll probably want to leave your router and modem plugged in if you're using a security system or smart devices that rely on the internet connection to do their jobs.
Nothing beats a real human keeping an eye on your house. This can be as simple as letting a neighbor know you're away to hiring someone to check in daily. However, be careful broadcasting this info too much, as you don't want it to get out that your home is empty.
Again, some smart home solutions can help here, especially if you're hiring a dog walker, plant waterer or other helpers that need access. You can buy smart locks that allow access only during certain hours to certain people, keeping your housesitter from throwing a rager. You can then revoke access once you return, so you'll never need to give anyone your garage code or an easily copyable key.
You'll definitely want someone to come by to take in any papers, mail or flyers left outside. A stack of packages and mail is a sure sign that no one is home. Also consider asking someone to mow the lawn or shovel the walk during longer trips. No trash bins out on garbage day is another sure sign someone is away, so make sure they're taken in and out, even if they're empty.
Armed with these tips, you should be able to really relax and enjoy your vacation knowing your house is safe and sound. Plus, they're simple enough that you can still spend plenty of time packing and planning for the fun part. Bon voyage!