Two clues for each player - how many can you get?
Sorry to spoil a relaxing Sunday evening but we've got a list of all the players Tony Pulis used at Stoke City and we'd like to see how many you can name.
It's a triffic quiz that might just drive you mad.
There are 135 in all from 464 games, that's more than 10 per cent of all the players in the club's history. Some are easier to remember than others. Some are hard to remember even when you see their name then they knock on your door to shake your hand.
But don't worry, we've given you 10 minutes to work your way through the list from zero to hero.
We've given the position of each player and the club from which they arrived, for example centre-back and Manchester United could be Ryan Shawcross. There, we've given you one to get started, only 134 to go.
Good luck! Don't forget to share your scores with us via @StokeCityLive on Twitter or our Stoke City Facebook page and challenge your friends to do their worst.


This page shows businesses on Heathryfold Circle. Click on a business to bring up its details and a map showing its location.
Mormans Convenience Store is a convenience store selling a range of household supplies and groceries.
Map showing Heathryfold Circle in Aberdeen.


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Joseph E. Taylor III
Border Flows traces the century-long effort by Canada and the United States to care for the ecologically and economically shared rivers and lakes, a challenge that the editors call "a fundamental environmental and moral concern of the twenty-first century."
"Reading Taylor's incisive and critical seventh chapter. . . . there has never been a unified political entity that controlled the Salish Sea [and] the presence of pollutants varies across space within the Salish Sea and that people's access to, and reliance on, different fish varies by both geography and class."
- Canadian Historical Review
"Joseph Taylor returns to the Salish Sea, using the ecology of toxic chemicals to consider the meanings of diverse kinds of borders--including those that separate ourselves from nature."
- Scientia Canadiensis
"en délaissant les questions de partage des ressources et de souveraineté pour insister sur l'homogénéité écologique des régions étudiées . . . . La singularité des territoires disparaît alors au profit d'un récit plus classique des conséquences environnementales de l'anthropisation des espaces."
- Histoire sociale/Social History
University of Calgary Press (free download)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Swearing-in Ceremony for the Honourable Susan Kiefel AC
Supreme Court Oration
Valedictory Ceremony for the Honourable Margaret McMurdo AC
Advocacy in Arbitrations
Advocacy and the Litigant in Person
Case Note: Sanderson as Liquidator of Sakr Nominees Pty Ltd (in liq) v Sakr
Energy & Resources Update
Who is a "professional"?
Book Review: The Dry
Book Review: Sicilian Summer
Book Review: The Sicilian Vespers
Book Review: Ghost Empire
Book Review: As in memory long
Book Review: The Rules of Backyard Cricket
Banco Court, Supreme Court, 16 March 2017
Judicial Methods in the 21st Century
The Hon Susan Kiefel AC
Chief Justice of Australia
This topic, "Judicial Methods in the 21st Century", was suggested by Justice Glenn Martin. He observed that the High Court appears to deliver its judgments more quickly than in the past. He asked: could it be that the method of producing judgments has changed? In answering that question, I will discuss the processes presently utilised in the High Court and, where possible, compare them with what may have occurred in the past.
I think it true to say that, in the latter part of the 20th century, public sentiment changed from an acceptance of the truth expressed in the aphorism "justice delayed is justice denied" to an expectation that decisions in litigation should be given reasonably promptly. Courts responded by establishing protocols for the timely delivery of judgments and methods of monitoring delay. In the High Court, for example, a list of outstanding judgments is circulated each Monday. It identifies who has and has not produced a judgment in each outstanding matter.
It would have been useful to have had a proper survey of the time taken for the delivery of judgments in the Court in the past, but this was not practicable. The current position may be stated with certainty. French CJ said in the Court's 2015-2016 Annual Report that "[a]ll civil and criminal appeals decided by the Full Court [that year] were decided within 6 months of the hearing of argument". I am prepared to hazard a guess that such a statement is unlikely to have been made at very many points in the Court's history.
The process leading to the production of a judgment now starts at the point of preparation for a hearing. Gone are the days when a justice entered the courtroom unencumbered by any real knowledge of the parties' arguments. Comprehensive written submissions, filed before the hearing, have been required since 1997. They have altered things, possibly irretrievably.
Preparation may involve not just an understanding of the shape and content of the arguments and where issue is joined, but also an understanding of relevant legislation and key cases. The level of preparation will obviously vary according to the nature of the case, the time allowed for it and the individual justice. Lord Neuberger, the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, divides judges into two categories: judicial Pre-Raphaelites, who read everything; and judicial Impressionists, who read very little. He frankly admitted to being more of an Impressionist. This was later reported in a newspaper article entitled "Lord Neuberger, Britain's most senior judge, admits he doesn't read all the papers in a case" or words to that effect.
I think most High Court justices would prepare as much as time allows and as much as they consider necessary to the particular case. Much depends on how up to date one is with judgments and where one draws the line between continuing to write them and preparing for the next sittings. Preparation enables better engagement with the argument during the hearing and it shortens the time taken for the hearing. A glance at the Commonwealth Law Reports (CLRs) for the number of hearing days in comparable matters in the past confirms this. A justice is also better placed to start writing the judgment than before. Writing can commence soon after the conclusion of oral argument and the conference which follows it.
Conferences pre and post hearing
In recent years, the High Court has adopted the practice of holding a short meeting of the justices at the beginning of each sitting week, preparatory to hearings. Pre‑hearing meetings are not uncommon in other common law jurisdictions. Their principal purpose is to identify any procedural issues or matters to which the parties' attention needs to be directed before the hearing. Points of possible importance might be flagged. Sometimes preliminary views are offered, but any substantial discussion is left until the meeting which is held after the conclusion of oral argument.
Methods of conferring differ between jurisdictions. In England it has been the practice that the judges speak in inverse order of seniority, with the most junior offering his or her view first. This tradition was apparently designed to "forestall any tendencies of more junior Law Lords to be overly deferential to more senior and more trenchant colleagues".
Needless to say, the position in Australia today is rather more informal. It suggests little concern about the possibility of deference. There is a free exchange of views, in no particular order, with the Chief Justice, or the justice who has presided, steering the meeting. There is opportunity for persuasion, for criticism, and for debate. The benefits of the conference should be obvious. Each justice has the benefit of the views of six legal minds which should be amongst the best in Australia. Why would one not listen to them? Even if one does not agree with another point of view, discussion can only assist in refining one's own. The final product is bound to be better.
It is not at all clear that conferences, or conferences of this kind, have been a fixture in the past. This may, in part, be explained by justices not being in a position to have formed views to enable discussion, because they did not have written submissions and had not prepared for the hearing. It may also be explicable by reference to attitudes to such meetings.
Another purpose of the conference is to ascertain if there is a clear majority. This does not involve voting, as it does in some courts, such as the US Supreme Court. There judges speak in descending order of seniority and then vote. Curiously, this is not dissimilar to the process undertaken in some civilian jurisdictions, the main difference between the two being that civilian courts aim for one collective decision; and the US Supreme Court for two – one majority and one dissenting judgment.
There is rarely more than one meeting held post-hearing, largely because once the process of writing a judgment commences, views tend to become entrenched. There is much to be said for a further meeting when the first meeting ends inconclusively as to a majority view or where the justices need more time to reach their conclusions. It can be useful for them to give the matter some further thought, to work towards a solution and then exchange memos before another meeting is held.
The first draft
If there is a clear majority, at the end of the meeting, one justice is usually assigned the task of producing a first draft for the others. The allocation may be made on the basis of the issues in the matter being of particular interest to a justice or simply in order to achieve an equitable allocation of work. A system like this works best if all are able to produce judgments to a similar standard and within a similar time.
If there is not a clear majority sometimes a justice nevertheless volunteers to produce a first draft, perhaps hoping to bring his or her colleagues to a point of view. But sometimes judges need to work their way through the problem and writing a judgment is the only way to do it. In this event no allocation is made, but there may be informed discussions later exchanging views and identifying who is writing.
In either case, those who are not assigned a first draft will usually make further detailed notes after the meeting, have further research undertaken, and prepare an outline, or even a draft of their own, in preparation for the receipt of the first draft.
The principal purpose of a first draft is to have those who are of the same view agree with it and thus avoid unnecessary judgments. By "unnecessary" I mean judgments which add nothing of substance to what has already been written. A judgment of this kind is unnecessary for the justice writing it. It is unnecessary for the Court and for those who read the published judgments.
This is not to suggest that there may not be perfectly valid reasons why another justice may find it necessary to write. I shall discuss them later. Even if that be so, a first draft is a valuable resource. It should not be necessary for that justice to set out the facts again, at least not completely. The first draft will also identify the relevant legislative provisions and place them in context, identify the parties' arguments, and discuss the authorities which bear upon the issues. This is why the reader often sees a grateful acknowledgment of another's labours in a later judgment.
There is a method to writing first drafts. They need to be succinct. A long judgment which says more than is necessary is less likely to attract agreement. Neither will a judgment written in the idiosyncratic style of the author, or in florid language from the classics or 19th century literature. It is better to resist the temptation to quote extensively from literature unless the aim is to not have others join in.
The layout and length of judgments
With respect to both the layout and the length of a judgment, the modern judgment is different from those of the past.
A survey has recently been undertaken of the length of judgments of the High Court in the period from 1903 to 2015. The authors refer to judgments collectively, rather than individually. They found, amongst other things, that the length of judgments was "relatively stable" during the first five or six decades of the Court. That ended in the 1970s when a general, expansive trend followed which resulted in the Brennan and Gleeson Courts producing the lengthiest judgments in the Court's history.
Two observations might be made about those periods. In the first place, there appear to have been many more individual judgments, some of substantial length. And, for a significant part of both periods, a lengthy dissent appears in almost every case. It is said that at the event which marked the publication of Volume 200 of the CLRs, a former justice of the Court remarked to the author of these dissents that, had it not been for them, the celebration would not have taken place for many years.
Some things have clearly changed in relation to the way judgments are written, not the least because writing styles have changed. We no longer write sentences which travel across many pages. We have fullstops, paragraphs and even headings.
One can have too much of a good thing. Lord Bingham, speaking extrajudicially, once said that his heart sank whenever he had to embark upon reading a judgment that set out a table of contents or chapters. That may be so, but I think most would agree that this method is helpful when judgments are lengthy. The real question is whether judgments need to be so long.
I have always assumed it to be a universally held view that a judgment should be as succinctly stated as the matter allows. That assumption may not be correct. A concern has been expressed that the judgments of the High Court are too short; they do not deal with the subject at length and in as much detail as the intermediate appellate court from which the appeal is brought. Rarely does the High Court need to review the facts; it has the benefit of the findings of the courts below. This may sometimes account for the length of the judgments of those courts. Lengthy dissertations of the law are another matter. It is a question for any appellate court, the High Court included, whether that is necessary in each case.
Concurrence and dissent
A first draft judgment is circulated to the other justices in order to ascertain if those of like view will agree with it. Agreement is expressed by the circulation of a judgment which states little, if anything, more than the fact of agreement with the reasons and the orders proposed. That justice is then usually "joined in" to the first draft, with his or her consent. The justice's name appears on the judgment with that of the author. If others agree they too are joined in.
Although a judgment is called the "judgment of the Court" when all justices agree, or a "joint judgment" (or, more controversially, a "judgment of the plurality") when a number agree, it is more often the case that there is only one author. Whilst it is not unusual for suggestions, sometimes substantial in content, to be made to the author of the first draft, it is not often the case that two or more justices will work together to produce a judgment.
Suggested changes to the first draft after its circulation are usually contained in a memorandum, in which an explanation is given for the changes. It would not be usual to suggest a change in its essential reasoning or a substantial re-writing of it, although suggestions may nevertheless be of significance. The author of the first draft is not obliged to accept any proposed changes.
The effect of the High Court's practice of "joining in" is to render the author largely anonymous. Some might argue that a reader should know who the author is, although it is difficult to see what the benefit of that knowledge could be. On occasions a justice might wish the practice was otherwise, when it is felt that he or she has written a particularly good judgment, but it is always understood that if the practice were not followed justices would be encouraged to write separately more often, which is what the practice seeks to avoid.
Even when agreeing, some judges cannot help but say more. A judgment in a criminal law case before the House of Lords reported in 1999 furnishes an example. The Law Lord in question explained that he had been persuaded to concur with the reasons of a colleague because trial judges needed certainty in the particular area of the law. He nevertheless took one and a half pages of the law reports to summarise the reasons he was abandoning.
A judge is at liberty to write separately, to the same result, if he or she chooses. There may be perfectly valid reasons for a judge doing so. There may be something which is considered necessary to be added to what has been written, which could not be accommodated within the first draft. An important qualification may be thought necessary. A judge may not consider that the judgment has been expressed clearly enough or it may be written in a style which they do not wish to be seen to adopt. It may contain statements of principle, or even a footnote, which a judge does not wish to be taken to approve but which the author has declined to remove.
It goes without saying that if a judge cannot agree with the view of the majority, he or she is duty bound to dissent and write accordingly. I would expect that any judge who is considering this course will first have endeavoured to understand the majority view and whether they can accept it as a possible view, not the least because if a number of one's colleagues are persuaded to a point of view, it could just be that one is wrong.
Fewer individual judgments
Most justices are motivated to agree with a first draft written by another if they are of the same view, the reasoning is correct and there is no other obstacle to agreement. They will agree although they may have wished to write themselves. They may even think they might have expressed it somewhat better than their colleague's draft. But they appreciate that there is every good reason to reduce the number of individual judgments which are published in a matter.
In the first place, foregoing writing another judgment to the same effect allows each like‑minded justice to focus their attention on other judgments. If all, or most, of the justices adopt this approach there will be a reduction in the time taken to publish judgments. On the other hand, if all, or most, of them are writing in most matters there will almost certainly be delays. There will be delays because justices will have a backlog of judgments.
A single majority judgment is more likely to provide a clear ratio. The reader will not be required to analyse a number of judgments in order to ascertain if there is a ratio and whether the reasoning in each accords with the others. Readers include judges of lower courts, who must apply the Court's decisions, and practitioners. These judges often work under considerable pressure of time. A practitioner's time in reading at length is a cost, sometimes considerable, to their client.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom appears recently to have attempted to reduce the number of individual judgments. Lord Neuberger calls judgments which add nothing to what has already been written by a colleague, and effectively say no more than "I have understood this case" or "I think I can express it better", "vanity judgments". He says that they are "at best a waste of time and space, and, at worst, confusion and uncertainty – although they are popular with academics". He adds that most appellate court judges have been guilty of writing them at some time.
A single judgment of the Court or of the majority carries greater authority, not only for its precedential value. It instils confidence in the Court's decision. This is especially important where it is necessary to give guidance to courts below. So understood, some of the benefits of a single judgment, or fewer individual judgments, are institutional. The "vanity judgment" of which Lord Neuberger speaks is not the voice of the Court, it is the sound of self.
There are critics of this collegiate approach including a former justice of the High Court. They argue that conferences and agreement with another's judgment compromise the independence of judges. According to this view a judge has a duty to reveal what he or she thinks to the parties and to the public and it is necessary that each judge show that the case has been given the closest personal attention. These obligations are fulfilled by avoiding discourse with other judges and writing separately in each case.
These views may be answered shortly. The opinion of a judge is revealed to the world by the publication of a judgment in his or her name. A judgment written for the purpose of proving that a judge has understood the case is an unnecessary judgment of the kind earlier referred to. It is no part of the duty of a judge to write a judgment in every case. The true duty of a judge is to consider a matter properly before coming to a decision. The fulfilment of that duty is a matter of conscience for a judge. The method by which a judge's opinion is expressed is irrelevant to it.
No appellate judge in Australia would conceive of a judge's duty as being simply to vote on a matter. But, as any judge who has ever concurred in another's judgment knows, it is not necessary to write a judgment to be able to reason to a conclusion. The collegiate method enables a judge not only to give proper consideration to a matter, but to do so promptly. This is because, as earlier explained, it involves preparation, participation at hearing and in conference, and making notes and outlines. The individualist, writing in each matter, will rarely be in this position.
The other concern which is expressed about the collegiate approach is the effect of "excessively dominant judicial personalities". I think most people would be surprised at the suggestion that High Court justices might be overborne by such a personality. I have had no experience of such a person. It is not clear whether those who are concerned about judges conferences have. The examples given are drawn from the English judiciary of the past, such as Lord Diplock. This might not be thought to provide a strong reason for declining to engage in a dialogue with one's colleagues.
The ability to influence is another thing altogether. It is a fact that some people, judges and lawyers included, are better at persuasion than others. There are methods which may be employed by judges to persuade. Participating in discussion is one. Preparation for it is another. Writing a judgment quickly, when a first draft has not been assigned, is sometimes effective, although it may be overcome simply by another advising colleagues that he or she will be producing another judgment for their consideration.
Lord Neuberger, in response to the criticism of the collegiate approach, identifies another obligation to which a judge is subject. It is "to do her best to ensure that the court of which she is a member produces as clear and coherent a judgment or set of judgments as is consistent with each member's opinion". I respectfully agree.
The individualistic approach has not been without its critics. In 1984
Professor A W B Simpson wrote:
"[T]he undisciplined individualism of English appellate judges, and their complete lack of any collegiate spirit, reduces much of their work to mere confusion."
Lack of coherence and clarity in the Court's reasoning is one undesirable result of too many separate judgments. Delay is another. The reality is that the timely production of judgments could not be achieved if each justice produced a complete separate judgment in each case. The critics of the collegiate approach do not suggest otherwise. Indeed they do not point to any benefit that might accrue to the Court or those affected by its judgments from the pursuit of individualism.
A delay in publication of judgments may have important consequences for litigants and for the Court. Some years ago I wrote a joint judgment with two colleagues. It was joint in the true sense; each of us wrote a separate part of it. It was to be an important judgment involving commercial law. I would give the citation for the judgment, but it was never published.
Our joint judgment was circulated. All but one concurred. We waited for that justice's judgment but the justice had a backlog of judgments. The parties waited for the Court's decision. Months passed. Finally the other judgment arrived. We gave notice that we would hand down the Court's decision in a week's time. A few days before that date the parties advised the Court that the matter had been settled. It is not difficult to infer that, as time went on, the parties decided to resolve it for themselves. The Court had let them down.
One solution to the pressure of time might be for individual justices to write draft judgments by the method adopted by judges of the US Supreme Court, which is to delegate that task to his or her clerk. I had thought that great individualist, Antonin Scalia, to have been an exception to this practice. However, in an interview conducted a few years before his death, the judge frankly admitted that he had never written a first draft of his own judgment. I hasten to add that there is no suggestion that this practice might become part of the judicial method of the High Court.
The answer to Justice Martin's question is that a somewhat different judicial method does appear to have evolved. It started with the introduction of written submissions. The work of a justice shifted from post to pre‑hearing. There came to be closer engagement with oral argument and with colleagues in discussions. Judgments are now produced in which a majority combine in agreement. One cannot say that this method is here to stay. Much will depend upon the continued acceptance of the benefits it produces. Views can change and with them judicial methods.
Adrian Duffy


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Restrictions imposed on holders of mineral rights
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Tag Archive for: Information Technology
From intern to Director
03/18/2020 /in Employee Stories, Life @ Discover build, career at discover, cloud, cloud cybersecurity, cloud security, cybersecurity, discover, great experiences, intern, investing in our talent, new opportunities, new opportunities internally, numerous, opportunities internally, people, security, spirit of innovation, talent, time, work /by jbrim
Name: Kyle S.
Job Title: Director, Cloud Security, Business Technology
I've been with Discover since 2005—started as an intern! When I'm not thinking about how to secure the cloud, I enjoy time with my lovely wife and our dog. When left to my own device, I follow the latest trends in pop culture and tabletop gaming. I have a great love for telling narrative stories and as such enjoy rolling twenty-sided dice to slay dragons.
How did you land at Discover?
I went to school at Illinois State University for a degree in Computer Science. I was introduced to Discover through one of the school's numerous job fairs. The Discover intern program at the time was ahead of the other companies at the fair, providing intern events, housing and friendly people. I made my decision to do whatever I could to get an internship opportunity at Discover. Anything to get my foot in the door and I'm very happy that Discover saw something in me and offered me an internship.
I've had many different roles throughout my career at Discover. Currently, I am a Director of Cloud Security but just before that I was the product manager and people leader of our Cloud Cybersecurity teams. I guide our cloud cybersecurity strategy, act as a cloud security consultant for the enterprise, and coach a wonderful group of engineers who build out incredible cybersecurity cloud products.
Great experiences, Great Work, Great People
I've had numerous great experiences throughout my career at Discover. During my internship, I learned how to network with peers and I made some life-long friends in the process. That network has continued to serve as a support system throughout my time at Discover.
One moment I'm particularly proud of is helping to organize the Robocar Rally. This event helped demonstrate the benefits of cloud computing and machine learning. What started off as an idea from a small piece of feedback, turned into a wonderful learning experience on our campus. We had folks in the upper levels of the building watching the Robocar car track on the ground floor!
While this is just one example, the most common factor to all of the great experiences I've had at Discover is the people. I've met so many fascinating folks from around the company and it's been an absolute pleasure to work with such awesome and amazing people.
The difference is in the cloud… cyber cloud that is!
While our team's contributions may be behind the scenes, I view our team as enablers. For example, when we recognized that security misconfigurations in the cloud could open the door for security threats, we typically tackle this issue by looking into the commercial marketplace for solutions and the products at the time were uninspiring. So in the spirit of innovation and investing in our talent, we decided to build our own solution!
Our product accomplished a few things. It gave our enterprise developers a set of security guardrails to operate within when deploying infrastructure to the cloud – nearly frictionless cybersecurity. It skilled up our engineering team with cloud security knowledge that will be required as our cloud adoption increases. It also demonstrated the spirit of innovation that Discover promotes – as the product has been recognized by the cloud security community and our cloud providers.
Build more than tech
From a technical skill standpoint, the freedom to pursue new opportunities internally at Discover has enabled me to gain skill sets across test automation, IT operations, systems administration and infrastructure architecture to build a solid foundation for my current role in cybersecurity.
From a development standpoint, wearing different hats and working with numerous teams helped build my people leadership experience. There's an old metaphor I say often: "I stand on the shoulders of giants." I have had great mentors throughout my career at Discover who knew what they had to do to push me forward. Whether telling a story, creating a vision or putting together a solution to tackle a complex problem, I've been able to exercise my talent for those skills at every opportunity I've had at Discover.
Build People: Investing in them leads to successes
I believe what makes Discover different is our investment in our people. The ability and support to look for new opportunities internally is something I have taken advantage of and not experienced in previous companies. I've learned from those before me that investing in our talent yields long term benefits. In retrospect, every sound and rewarding decision I've made was made with an eye on talent investment. It's a common theme in our success.
How is your work and the work of your department meaningful?
Taking care of the security of our customer's data is integral to all that we do. The talented group of folks I get to work with everyday deliver cybersecurity innovation to enable our business while being relentless in the pursuit to protect our customers and our brand.
If you want to be part of a community of builders, if you want a company that invests in you, if you want to create things that matter, if you want the freedom to express yourself in the work that you do – Discover is the place to be.
We also have great benefits and a remote work-at-home program.
Scrum Master for Two Teams
03/09/2020 /in Employee Stories, Life @ Discover award, bt, business, business degree, company, discover, discover gives, friends, love, master, opportunity, peers, president's award, risk, scrum, scrum master, team, technical, values, work /by jbrim
Name: Cynthia D.
Job Title: BT Scrum Master
Aligning on values
I first joined Discover in April 2016 as a part of the Business Technology (BT) Risk and Compliance team. At the time, I was looking for a company that provides its employees with good work-life balance, has values, is going in a direction I agree with, and has amazing people. Discover marked all the boxes and today, I am the Scrum Master for two teams, the Authentication Infrastructure team and the Identity & Directory Services team.
Tools for self-discovery
Discover gives us so many great resources and opportunities to advance our career and networks—both professional and personal. From the Development Central training portal to one-on-one conversations with leadership, I feel I have the opportunity to figure out how I want to grow my career which is very important to me.
I'd like to say that I'm in a unique position—I have a business degree and experience in both technical and risk areas. This combination significantly helps me in my current role as a Scrum Master, as well as bringing a different perspective to the table. Having been an engineer for a few years, I understand the processes and can relate to team members. They also don't need to explain technical details to me, because I was once in their shoes. On the other hand, my business degree and risk experience give me a unique perspective from my peers and I ask questions and look at situations differently. For instance, I always ask – "How can we communicate this change so our end users fully understand and don't require follow-up questions?" This saves us time in development and ensures we deliver a quality product.
An opportunity to fall in love
This year, I transitioned from being an engineer into my current role—a Scrum Master and I absolutely love it. This role keeps me in the technical world and allows me to help enhance current processes, shield my team from distractions and interruptions, and help them become more efficient and effective in everyday work.
Hard work pays off
I love that Discover gives us the opportunity to acknowledge the great work our peers do through various channels, including recognition points to peers and the President's Award. The greatest award to me is the acknowledgment and appreciation for the work that we do every day. So, when I was nominated and won the President's Award last year, it meant so much to me that my passion and efforts were not going unnoticed.
Coworkers worth celebrating
As cliché as it sounds, it's the people who keep me here at Discover. I have gained so many friends as well as grown into the person I am today. At my wedding, I had a whole table full of my Discover friends, and though I've only been here for a few years, I have made lifelong friends.
In Corporate America, it's difficult to find a company that truly cares about you as an individual. Not only is Discover one of those rare companies, but Discover also has company values and beliefs that prove it is looking out for its employees and customers.
Marathon Runner Keeps Her Feet on the Ground and Her Hands in the Cloud
06/03/2019 /in Employee Stories build, capabilities, cloud, consumers, customers, discover, drive, fail, future, help, marathons, member, passionate, role, run, solutions, sprint, sprint work, team, work /by jbrim
Name: Heather M.
Job Title: Senior Manager Cloud Engineering
I would describe my role as a passionate Cloud solutions evangelist, student and enabler. I am keen on identifying efficiencies, targeting cloud capabilities and automation to drive value. Outside of work, I am part of the first Discover onsite MBA cohort, site coordinator and coach for Girls on the Run, lover of running (more than 10 marathons completed, including two Boston Marathons) and almost anything fitness related. I'm also a proud mama of three!
What's a typical day for you at the office?
We start each day with a short stand-up (i.e. 15 – 30 minute meeting) to review our sprint work for the day. Sprint work is the work we've planned in small increments/sections. Each team member shares what they worked on the day before, plans for today and where they may need help. As a Development Operations team, we build and test the capabilities that will allow consumers to drive desired outcomes with our customers. We are a peer-program, which means we collaborate on ways to fix problems, build new features, or find solutions to give our customers the best experiences. Any given day is split between supporting our platforms, building new capabilities and helping our team mates. Let's not forget, we constantly talk through future needs driven by our consumers or product roadmaps. This helps us plan the work into future sprints.
How have you been able to "Be Your True Self" at Discover?
In my current role, I have been empowered to lead, fail and grow each and every day. Failures are perceived as opportunities and we take risks to get better. We band together and truly embody a blameless culture. Without learning to fail, we fail to learn.
Also, my management is understanding of the need for work-life balance and supports the flexibility needed to manage a team in a growing space alongside the demands of raising a family and being an active member in the community. I'm passionate about fighting human-trafficking and have founded a charity 5K run in my town to raise awareness and funds to help restore the lives of victims.
Interested in working in Business Technology?
This Product Owner Doesn't Own a Cookie Cutter
05/13/2019 /in Employee Stories board, company, dad, discover, end, experience, help, leadership, offer, open, policy, provide, school, solutions, team, technology, technology solutions, voice, work, working /by jbrim
Name: Daniel
Job Title: Product Owner
When I was first starting out, I considered many career paths including being a pilot. However, in the end, I chose to study Information Technology, and that's where I discovered my passion for the latest and greatest technologies.
While in college, I supported the school administration, school board, and president. I then had the opportunity to transfer my skills into developing custom technology solutions for retailers. These leadership interactions and problem-solving experiences allowed me to make the move to Discover and support the executives and board members. Over the last six years, I've found that every role has helped prepare me for greater responsibility and success in the next position.
Outside of work, I am a proud dad to a one-year-old daughter, and, in my downtime, I enjoy music, learning how to play new instruments, and watching or listening to Chicago Cubs games (I've been a die-hard fan since I was 12-years-old!).
Before joining Discover, I thought the leadership made most decisions in a large company. However, my experience here has been quite the opposite.
There's truly an open door policy here at Discover. Employees are encouraged to ask questions, offer input, and voice ideas—it's ingrained in our culture. From day one, I have been able to voice ideas to leadership all the way up to the executive team.
How do you make a real difference at Discover?
With our new Working Smarter initiative, a program which introduces collaborative tools to help drive productivity and efficiency in our open workspace. I feel we have really hit on something that is making a difference.
For example, I strive to offer technology solutions that provide the best experience possible without impeding the end users ability to get things done. Also, I'm given the flexibility to collaborate with each department to help me understand how each team works. Rather than a cookie-cutter approach, this collaboration allows me to provide unique solutions tailored to each team's needs. Seeing everyone's positive reaction gives me confidence that personalized solutions work and are making a real difference at Discover.
What are some of the benefits of working here? Is there anything that surprised you?
The 401k match is extremely competitive. Plus, as a new dad, I was able to take two weeks paid parental leave to adjust to my new family life. Finally, our generous paid time-off policy and our great medical coverage have led me to brag about our company benefits to all my friends!
What would you say to someone who wants to work here?
Discover functions as a large technology company that helps people find financial freedom. I love being part of an organization that is proactive and competitive in the Fintech space. We don't react to the industry; we are trendsetters and are leading our industry in technology advancements and customer experience.
Linking machines to learning.
05/06/2019 /in Employee Stories acquisition, analytics, business, card, channels, data, data science, development, discover, field agents, led, manager, paid, professional, professional development, science, senior, team, work, working /by jbrim
Name: Suvadeep
Job Title: Senior Manager, Data Science
I manage analytics efforts for paid search and media channels for card acquisition. For my PhD dissertation I worked on the big bang machine in Geneva, Switzerland that led to the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle. After working at Fermilab for eight years, I decided to make a career move and join the exciting world of data science. That led me to the position of Data Science Manager in the Supply Chain and Optimization team at Sears Holdings Corp. Two years ago, I was hired at Discover to run a data science team to provide advanced analytical solutions for different businesses.
How has Discover helped you in regards to Professional Development?
The open ambience at Discover fosters collaboration. Working with various business units gave me a broad knowledge about different functions within the Discover ecosystem. After being part of the Analytics Lighthouse leadership team, I started directly interacting with Card Marketing Acquisition and have been involved in determining the long term road-map. Lighthouse has given me the exposure to work directly with senior leadership, which sharpened my communication and conflict management skills, and ability to handle crucial conversations. I consider these to be key elements in shaping my professional development.
Tell us about a great experience you've had so far here.
Prior to joining Acquisition, I've gotten to work with three different business teams—card operations, credit risk and card member assistance—a highlight of that was a visit to our Lake Park office in Salt Lake City, UT. I went on a live call listening program with a team of analysts from Customer Service & Engagement. I got to see how the field agents handle complex calls with ease. At that time, I was working on a machine-learning model to score customer call qualities using recorded transcripts from historical calls. The live listening and interaction with the field agents offered a fresh perspective to what the business really needs. During the trip, I could connect how the work I was involved in can make a difference in improving our cardmembers' experience.
How are your work and the work of your department meaningful?
We are constantly pushing boundaries by seeking cutting edge, best in class technology to drive operational efficiency and speed to market. Having adopted the Discover Management System (DMS) principals, our department is building capabilities within teams and empowering members to make key decisions. My team is playing its part in having an immediate impact towards driving profitable growth through paid digital channels and improving our customers' journey through personalization.


In an orange dumpster one recent Sunday morning, between old bricks and trash bags, Heather Olsen struck gold: rustic wood beams that once held the floor of a 100-year-old house.
When Ann and Corey Limbaugh renovated the attic of their home in Seattle four years ago, she spent weeks calling local lumberyards for pre-used wood. Eventually, she found one that had just received boards from an old building in Idaho. She was told to hurry because they wouldn't be there for long.
But as in many areas across the country, Ohio City is a prime example of craft breweries helping spur redevelopment of various pockets of Northeast Ohio by breathing new life into neighborhoods and repurposing old buildings that have sat empty for years.
The once-majestic house was open during the Architectural Heritage Center's Old House Revival Tour on Saturday, April 13.
The abandoned Jacob H. Cook mansion near Mount Tabor in southeast Portland was ripe to be ripped down. Instead, new owners Lyrin Murphy and Steve Day have carefully started to restore much of the oak woodwork, porcelain tile and tub, and the kitchen of the pre-1890s house.
Zulkarnain started making pipes about four years ago and he has made about 500 pipes, with half of them from the wood which are considered as waste.
Rather than demolishing blighted buildings, the city is helping fund nonprofits that take the buildings apart piece by piece—then resell the parts, which still have significant value in construction.
"Riding down the back roads saving the past," Killeen said with a twinkle in his eye. "I find all kinds of things." Killeen's Vint-Age Lamp lighting has now been shipped to customers across the United States and Europe and an imposing creation made a Royal Electric Company of Montreal gauge sits in the Parliament Hill office of his local MP.
Rock Row, a project of Waterstone Properties Group, will transform the old Blue Rock Quarry near the town of Westbrook, Maine, into a 2-million-square foot mixed use village including a temporary amphitheater, retail space, and a 25,000-square-foot beer hall.
Douglas fir steps with amphitheater seating ascend from the entry to the cafeteria. Photography by Connie Zhou.
In 1989, Union Pacific Railroad acquired Western Pacific, and for the first time in 27 years, the unique trailers were dismounted from their flatcars. Some of the 40-foot trailers were destroyed, some went to railroad museums in California, and others were auctioned. Only five trailers are in public possession, including one belonging to a private owner who asked Timeless Travel Trailers to restore it with the 1950s and 1960s in mind.
In the words of Oak Park's Stephen J. Kelly, a historic preservation specialist, "Will we continue to watch as pollution-spouting equipment turns usable buildings to rubble; more polluting equipment hauls away discarded building materials — concrete, brick, metal and glass — into a landfill to be abandoned?
In addition to that, make sure you're deconstructing your home during a renovation instead of demolishing it. This ensures that some materials in your home can be repurposed instead of being thrown out as waste. You can sell or donate your deconstructed items and help another person make a sustainable choice by upcycling them.
For example, in the summer of 2012, Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts) deconstructed two small wood-frame buildings and, in the process, recycled 92 percent, by weight, of the total material removed from the project site. The Williams small building deconstruction resulted in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 14 cars from the roads for a full year (66 metric tonnes).
By volume, the most widely used acoustic material is traditional fiberglass or molten rock materials. Once retired or demolished, these materials are nearly 100-percent disposed of as trash and put into landfills. Despite their obvious recyclability, there is no mechanism or infrastructure to process and reuse these materials. Consequently, none of them are recycled post-use nor made into new products.
The Victorian summer home on the West Cape May Bridge. The first floor of the house was moved Thursday, starting at the EHT storage yard, and moving down through Cape May, over a four-hour journey. March 14, 2019.
What was once one of the oldest homes in Avalon was being moved from an Egg Harbor Township storage yard to the Victorian shore town, a four-hour-long journey taken on by a South Jersey moving company and seven law-enforcement departments.
Four years of investigation into the illegal timber trade in West Africa led an environmental group to the doorstep of Roseburg Forest Products, one of the Oregon's largest and oldest timber companies.
These venues are not only serving great food but they also are retaining much of their original gas station architecture, too.
Korey Nolan built an award-winning surfboard made from Dunkin' foam cups.
Nolan, who has been surfing for about a decade, said he was inspired to build the board for the California-based Creators & Innovators Upcycle Contest, an international competition that calls on contestants to repurpose waste by turning it into something that can be used in the ocean.
The family-owned Silver Oak Cellars winery was established in 1972 and has since become world-renowned for its award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tucked into the rolling hills of Alexander Valley, the solar-powered Silver Oak winery design, which was made with repurposed materials, has already earned a LEED-Platinum certification and is on track to become the one of the world's most sustainable wineries.
"The building was gone." He had unwittingly become a member of the "rubble club". This is the tongue-in-cheek term coined in architectural circles to describe a relatively recent phenomenon – the fact that older architects are now outliving many of their own buildings. And in Hogan's case, the toll of demolition has become relentlessly repetitive as more and more of his work is cleared away, to make room for bigger, contemporary office blocks.
A family home was remodelled by the team at Retrouvius – the reclaimed flooring was specifically designed for hosting cocktail parties.
Some 26 years later, they now rule the roost of the London salvage scene, with both a warehouse trove of reclaimed products and a design studio that specialises in refurbishing top-end properties using rescued materials in a modern context.
A few months ago, North Carolina-based developer Grubb Properties demolished the old Grant Park School, a Spanish Colonial Revival-style structure built in 1930.
Designer and architect Patricia Urquiola speaking at the 2019 Fortune Brainstorm Design conference in Singapore.
Where do bridges go when they die? Or more specifically, where do the pieces of large infrastructure go when they get demolished or repaired? Well, one company is finding one intriguing way to recycle old, discarded scrap cables from San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge — by incorporating them into elegant and timeless pieces of furniture.
The beams featured in this photo are originally from a Wellington wharf.
It's not just for the sake of the environment but it also gives homeowners a chance to think outside the box when furnishing or renovating to make a home that extra bit special.
Hydraulic shears takes down part of the old ACRA building for the new Aspen city offices on March 6.
Dating back to 1910, the building rises 12 storeys and encompasses just over 126,000 square feet (11,706 square metres).
The team sought to preserve original elements where possible, such as high ceilings, wooden flooring and ornate detailing.
The design is an extraordinary example of adaptive reuse, transforming a decaying industrial building for constructing and storing trains into a place for learning and storing books–while retaining the existing industrial materials, flaws and all.
It would also mark the latest of Furness's works to be eradicated. Since the architect's death in 1912, many of his Philly-based buildings fell into disrepair, and faced the wrecking ball—largely over the first half of the 20th Century.
"The reuse industry needs to continue building more circular economy partnerships to repurpose reclaimed materials on a larger scale, " Goodman says.
The 26,000 pound chiller has been donated to Friends of Charlottesville Ice Park, a nonprofit working toward creating a new rink in Brookhill, a mixed-use development set to be built along U.S. 29 at Polo Grounds Road. Along with the refurbished chiller, ice park equipment, such as lighting bleachers and commercial kitchen equipment also will be repurposed, according to a news release.
The theft was spread on social media, and officers started investigating possible locations of the items. The fixtures were eventually located at West End Architectural Salvage in Des Moines. The light fixtures were retrieved, and the owner of the store identified the seller as McGinn. He was paid $350 for each item. "The owner of the store appraised the light fixtures at $2,000," the police report said.
"People are under a misconception that the property is run down. That's not the case. The bones are solid. The roof was 100 percent replaced," he said.
To access the guest rooms, patrons enter through space-age flight tubes—which you may remember from the film Catch Me If You Can. Clean lines meet a touch of glam in the rooms, which feature leather upholstery; a pop of primary color; Hollywood-style vanities; and custom walnut, brass, and glass details.
Photo via Mon Valley Initiative. If Seen call Braddock police at 412-351-5400, or Mon Valley Initiative at 412-464-4000.
Zinski said her organization is concerned that the windows may be sold to an antique dealer or architectural salvage dealer for re-use in a house or business. The purchasers may not realize they are in possession of stolen property.
Heather Passmore, left, her husband Jacob Crest, right, their daughter Gwendolyn Passmore, 4, and dog Fred, at a home they had hoped to purchase and have moved to a location up the coast, in Vancouver, on Jan. 19, 2019.
The attraction of a used house is obvious. The Nickel website is offering a 1920s character house currently on south Vancouver Island with 2,700 square feet for $162,000, moving included.
Bricks were salvaged from the demolition of the building's interior to create the wall of the side extension. Similarly, the wood ceiling joists are left exposed, giving an indication of how the structure fits together.
UNBUILDERS — Adam Corneil, who operates Unbuilders, says he aims to collaborate, rather than compete, with traditional demolition contractors, letting them take down a building to the wood frame.
Local couple Bruce and Heidi Kramer spent three years rebuilding the second floor of a nearly 100-year-old structure known as the Blair Building.
A burgeoning expansion witnessed by the construction industry is primarily driving the global reclaimed lumber market. This is mainly due to highly preferred properties present in reclaimed lumber such as superior stability, high strength, less carbon footprint, and good durability. Such characteristics make the lumber perfect for utilization in various types of construction projects.
Modern architecture made of recycled materials can help raise the profile of greener approaches to building, move the industry as a whole closer to closed-loop ideals and even preserve physical connections between past, present and future.


Monday was a real "get up and go" kinda day. Josh and I made a plan over the weekend to do our second canoe trip. Since Josh had to work at 5:30 pm, everything was shifted a littler earlier in the morning. We didn't even have time to clean up after the Game Day party Monday morning. We threw our river stuff together and hustled out of the house by 9 am. We got to the Wal-Mart parking lot about 9:30 to meet Josh. After another "duffle shuffle," we headed for Bignotti. Suzi's Shuttle Service dropped us off and left in a cloud of dust.
Josh and spent quite a bit of time using bow saws, loppers and hand clippers making a much better pathway for from the parking area to the river bank. Just as we got on the water about 11 am a bald eagle flew very low right over our heads. We both knew that was a great omen for our day. We started downstream about 11:15. It was a real "adventure" type of day. We had 5 portages. One was actually a "line job" and wasn't all that difficult. Two of the portages were a lot of work. One was a big load of work and involved tandem-towing the canoe maybe 300 yards across a dry wash alluvial fan.
I'd forgotten there is an actual Class 2+ rapid in this stretch. We were lucky to run it and remain upright and dry. The trip was considerably longer than I had thought it would be. I was thinking it was in the 5-6 miles distance but it turned out to be over 9 miles. I told Josh we would be to the take out no later than 3 pm and almost made it on time--arriving at 3:15. All-in-all, we both agreed it was a "two thumbs up" kinda day. Thanks to Suzi's Shuttle Service prompt and professional service, we were able to pack up in a hurry and got Josh back to his car a few minutes earlier than promised at 4 pm.
Then Susun and I skee-daddled back to the 2nd Chance Ranch and had to hustle just to get a campfire up and running before sunset. Gary came over and we three enjoyed a fine Monday evening until the last embers died down in the dark. Susun fixed a fine dinner of what we call "kyoto bowls" and we went to sleep pretty late. 'Twas a LOONG day! THANKS, Josh, you did an awesome job Monday! THANKS, Susun. Without Susun's cheerful and happy shuttles, what we're doing on the river would be impossible.
great picture and writeup! Josh was effusive about the day. Thank you so much for including him.
John it is so awesome that you have introduced so many people to the joys of boating, including myself. It is a treat for anyone who gets to learn from and float on the water with you. I hope we can do it again soon. I would love to show my fiancé the joys of floating the river!


Host a couple of talks that didn't make it into the conference.
A session like Google's OpenJam in which people talk about their projects for 10-15 mins.
Graeme and I talk about the internals of Grails and how to contribute.
If you have any other ideas, or favour one of the options above, let me know in the comments.
This entry was posted in Groovy & Grails on November 27, 2009 by Peter.


text:
Q: JSON decoding string - Unterminated string I have a json file that is 2 GB, and when I try to load it I'm getting this error:

json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Unterminated string starting at: line 1 column 1093156512 (char 1093156511)

So this means that there is probably some escape sequence, right?(or something like that..) that is messing up the json correct? The issue is that this file is huge, and just opening it in the editor is a huge pain. The editor 100% crashes before I can see what the issue is. However, I still need to fix this issue somehow.... I'm not sure what can be causing this issue.... it can be many things.
my data is essentially a list of objects like so:
data = [{key1: 123, key2:"this is the first string to concatenate"},
 {key1: 131, key2:"this is the second string to concatenate"},
 {key1: 152, key2:"this is the third string to concatenate"} ]

Except with more complicated key2's. If the issue was an \, if I got rid of all of \'s within the json file would it work? However, there is nothing to say that an  odd escape character is my issue.... also, I have very little control about what my input json file is, so I dont think I would be able to change that anyway.
Is there anyway to fix this issue without changing the input json file?
[EDIT] This is the whole error trace:

File "halp.py", line 38, in
     data = json.load(json_file,strict=False)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/json/init.py", line 299, in load
     parse_constant=parse_constant, object_pairs_hook=object_pairs_hook, **kw)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/json/init.py", line 367, in loads
     return cls(**kw).decode(s)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/json/decoder.py", line 339, in decode
     obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/json/decoder.py", line 355, in raw_decode
     obj, end = self.scan_once(s, idx)
  json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Unterminated string starting at: line 1 column 1093156512 (char 1093156511)

When I seek there I get:
eers in the fridge!"}, {"city_name": "Portland", "comments": "A cute space to rest your head in Portland. We just stayed for one night, briefly met Adam who was lovely! Appreciated the beers and coffe

A: I discovered the good guys at Luminoso have written a Library to sort this kind of issue.
Apparently, sometimes you might have to deal with text that comes out of other code. where the text has often passed through several different pieces of software, each with their own quirks, probably with Microsoft Office somewhere in the chain.
This is where ftfy comes to the rescue.
from ftfy import fix_text
import json
# text = some text source with a potential unicode problem
fixed_text = fix_text(text)
data = json.loads(fixed_text)

A: I was having this problem with my data, and tried many of the things recommended online to no avail. Finally, I just read in the json lines to a dictionary, line by line, skipping any lines that raised an exception. Then, I loaded the dictionary into a DataFrame: no error.
In the code below, you can see that I actually read the lines into a dictionary of dictionaries (using enumerate to get a numeric key); this gives Pandas an index to use and avoids an error. I also had to transpose the df ('T') to get the data like I wanted.
This is with a json lines file, so the code below won't work for a regular json file, but I'm sure the same principle can be used.
I ended up losing about 20 lines in over 388K lines of data. This doesn't matter for me because my data is a sample anyway. If you actually need every line of your data, this isn't the ideal solution. But if you don't, it seems that the easiest way to deal with this problem is to just toss out the bad apples.
import pandas as pd
import json

filename = 'data.jl'  #json lines file

with open(filename) as f:
    lines = f.read().splitlines()

my_dict = {}
for i, line in enumerate(lines):
    try:
        my_dict[i] = json.loads(line)
    except:
        pass

df = pd.DataFrame.from_dict(my_dict).T

A: Might not work if you're loading from a file, but for me, the problem was the way I prepared the JSON:
I had a string containing the JSON data and split it at " = " to get rid of some JavaScript around it. It worked for most inputs, but once in a while, this sequence (" = ") was inside of the JSON data, which resulted in an incomplete (unterminated) string.
My solution was stripping instead of splitting:
json_str = str_with_js.lstrip("foo = ").rstrip(";")
json_obj = json.loads(json_str)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


These tin plated copper lugs have stainless stell set screws and come with stainless steel thread forming screws and lock washers. they meet the NEC requirements for connecting a continuous ground wire to all modules. Sold in packs of ten. UL Listed.


Three hundred and ninety-six members entered four thousand and fifty-six birds into the British International Championship Club race from Falaise. They were liberated at 09.00BST into clear skies with no wind. The following is a report on the provisional result based on members' verifications.


LOS ANGELES (AP) - A growing dispute over where legal marijuana can be delivered in California is unsettling the nation's largest pot market.
Police chiefs on Friday lined up against a proposed state rule that critics say would allow unchecked home marijuana deliveries anywhere in California - even in communities that have banned cannabis sales.
"Regulated marijuana dispensaries have tough security, checks for identity and legal age and strictly licensed workers. If marijuana can be delivered anywhere with virtually no regulation, California will lose these safeguards," council executive director James Araby said in a statement.
But state regulators point to the business and professions code, which says local governments "shall not prevent delivery of cannabis or cannabis products on public roads" by a licensed operator.
The state Bureau of Cannabis Control, which oversees the market, has said the proposed rule is merely clarifying what has always been the case: A licensed pot delivery can be made to "any jurisdiction within the state."
A proposal in the Legislature intended to clarify that a licensed business can deliver cannabis anywhere in California stalled in the Senate. Meanwhile, online directories like Weedmaps advertise delivery services - some legal, some not.
California's legal market has gotten off to a bumpy start. Illicit sales are still thriving, a shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some shops and there have been complaints about testing and hefty taxes.


text:
Upcoming Releases of the Week (January 14th - 20th)
Covert Seduction by Callie Croix
Publication Date: January 14th 2013
Useful Info: Goodreads, Author's Website
Navy SEAL Reid Galvin is back from hell and eager to find comfort in Becca Anderson's arms. He knows he hurt her when he cut contact during his deployment, so when his call interrupts her date with another man, he has only himself to blame. But he can't forget what she means to him—or the sexy email she sent him—and he won't miss this chance to claim her as his own.
It's been weeks since Becca heard from the man she thought she was involved with. So when Reid wants to take up where they left off as if nothing happened, she refuses. Then he rescues her from a first date gone very wrong, and she realizes she's not quite ready to let him go.
Reid and Becca have a lot to talk about, but since she's not listening, he's going to have to regain her trust another way—by bringing her most erotic fantasies to life. Making her surrender to pleasure just might be his most important mission.
Jar of Dreams by Liz Flaherty
For as long as she can remember, Lucy Dolan has been jotting down her hopes on slips of paper and saving them in a pickle jar—her jar of dreams. It was the first thing she saved when the beloved family diner went up in flames, and it's safely buckled in her beat-up minivan when she lands in Taft, Indiana, to start over. She rents a room and goes into business with her landlady, but then Gert's nephew comes charging in to "rescue" his aunt.
Boone Brennan will be damned if he'll let Lucy take advantage of Aunt Gert, who raised him and his sister. Believing that she's just passing through, he's deeply suspicious of her—despite the sparks that fly between them.
Just as Boone and Lucy are starting to open up to each other, a series of fires throws Lucy under suspicion. Boone wants to trust her and his feelings, but with the whole town against her, will he stay by her side? Or will Lucy move on and find another place to make her dreams come true?
Wrongfully Accused by Ana Barrons
Detective Gabriel Hugo has never been able to forget Kate Franklin. Eight years ago he let down his barriers and made love to her, but guilt and regret tore them apart.
Now she's the prime suspect in the murder of her second husband, an ambitious congressman. The FBI wants Gabe to use his connection to Kate to prove her guilt. Unfortunately his desire for Kate is as intense and forbidden as ever.
Kate is shocked to be a suspect and that the lead detective is the man she always wanted. Eight years ago Gabe hadn't been willing to hear that she was in love with him, and nothing has changed. But when the attacks on Kate's life begin can she trust Gabe to prove her innocence and keep her safe?
Gates of Paradise (Blue Bloods #7) by Melissa de la Cruz
Schuyler Van Alen is running out of time. The Dark Prince of Hell is storming the Gates of Paradise, intent on winning the heavenly throne for good. This time he has his greatest angels by his side, Abbadon and Azrael—Jack and Mimi Force, as they are known in the Coven.
Or so he thinks. Even as Lucifer assigns Jack and Mimi the tasks of killing their true loves, the Force twins secretly vow to defeat the Dark Prince once and for all. But how far will Mimi and Jack go to conceal their real loyalties?
Meanwhile, former vampire Bliss Llewellyn has joined forces with Lawson, the greatest wolf of the underworld, to free his people from their imprisonment in Hell. As they struggle against impossible odds, an ancient message, woven into the very fabric of time, reveals just how much depends on the success of their mission.
Lucifer seeks the key to the Gate of Promise, and when Schuyler is taken captive and delivered straight to Hell, she must make an unthinkable choice—the same one the archangel Michael was forced to make during the Crisis in Rome. Will Schuyler find the strength to do what he could not?
The epic, heartbreaking Blue Bloods series comes to a close with this final novel about staggering courage, unbearable sacrifice, and the immortality of true love.
Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles #1) by Lenore Appelhans
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Three levels. Two loves. One choice. Debut novelist, Lenore Appelhans has written a thrilling otherworldly young adult novel about a place that exists between our world (Level 1) and what comes after life (Level 2).
'I pause to look around the hive - all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories ... I've wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me. There has to be more to death than this.'
Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in a stark white afterlife limbo, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend ... and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her.
Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing, and it seems she is the key. Suspended between heaven and earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves.
Revving Her Up (Full Throttle #1) by Joy Daniels
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd
Sarah Katz's career as a New York lawyer is in high gear—and the stress has left her hormones sputtering. With strict doctor's orders to relax, she books the cure: a spa vacation in the cool, green mountains of Virginia.
When a pothole sends her Porsche to the side of the road, she finds herself stuck in small-town Rapture. She'd love nothing more than to blow this Hicksville and be on her way…until she meets sexy stockcar mechanic Cole Cassidy.
Coles knows exactly how to handle that fancy car, and its uptight driver. Sarah's not his type, but neither can deny that their attraction is firing on all cylinders. Soon he's introducing her to the thrill of speed at the local track—in his car, and on it.
But Sarah's troubles aren't so easily left in the dust. Unless she forces herself to decide if she's willing and able to let someone else take the wheel.
Warning: Contains a false start, breakdowns of the automotive and erotic kinds, creative uses of shower massagers and silk ties, and thrill-rides in, on, and outside of a racecar.
Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3) by Beth Revis
The final book in the New York Times bestselling trilogy, perfect for fans of Battlestar Galactica and Prometheus!
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.
But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.
Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.
FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.
Touch of Death (Touch of Death #1) by Kelly Hashway
Jodi Marshall isn't sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she's in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she's being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.
After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he's not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she's part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.
Jodi's deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn't difficult enough, Jodi discovers she's the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can't figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.
Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
A notorious rake is about to make the ultimate faux pas—fall in love with his own wife.
Gil Truman has eyes only for the beautiful Tilly—until he is forced to marry plain, sickly Rose Davenport to reclaim the lands his father foolishly gambled away. After a disastrous wedding night tainted with his bitterness, he deposits Rose at his remote Northumbrian estate, soothing his guilt with the thought that she need never lay eyes on him again.
Five years after the mortifying wedding night that destroyed all her romantic fantasies, Rose is fed up with hearing second- and third-hand reports of Gil's philandering ways. She is no longer the shy, homely girl he left behind, but a strong, confident woman who knows how to run an estate. And knows what she wants—her husband, back in their marriage bed.
Gil doesn't recognize the bold, flirtatious woman he meets at a ball, with or without her mask. Yet he is bewitched and besotted, and their night together is the most passionate he has ever known.
But when he confesses his sins to the beautiful stranger, the truth rips open the old wounds of their blighted history. Threatening any hope of a future together.
Product Warnings
Contains a flawed hero who can be redeemed with the right woman—the one who's been under his nose the whole time. Ain't that just like a man?
Vortex (Tempest #2) by Julie Cross
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Julie Cross's Vortex is the thrilling second installment of the Tempest series, in which the world hangs in the balance as a lovelorn Jackson must choose who to save
Jackson Meyer has thrown himself into his role as an agent for Tempest, the shadowy division of the CIA that handles all time-travel-related threats. Despite his heartbreak at losing the love of his life, Jackson has proved himself to be an excellent agent. However, after an accidental run in with Holly—the girl he altered history to save—Jackson is once again reminded of what he's lost. And when Eyewall, an opposing division of the CIA, emerges, Jackson and his fellow agents not only find themselves under attack, but Jackson begins to discover that the world around him has changed and someone knows about his erased relationship with Holly, putting both their lives at risk all over again.


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Mariners Storm Through Napa 80-57
Marin 40 40 80
Napa Valley 30 27 57
Pts: Eric Mireri - 17
Reb: Malik Ghiden - 7
Ast: Eric Mireri - 7
Pts: Braxton Adderly - 12
Reb: Terrance Coates - 6
Ast: Braxton Adderly - 3
College of Marin closed out 2018 with their second straight victory in conference competition on Friday in Napa. The Mariners dominated in an 80-57 win over the Napa Valley Storm . They controlled the game from the outset and received contributions up and down the roster. 11 of 12 Mariners scored in the game and 10 scored four or more points.
Marin opened the game with tremendous defensive effort that forced turnovers which directly led to easy buckets for the Mariners. The Mariners led at halftime and looked to extend their lead in the second half.
The Mariners continued their excellent defense through the second half, limiting the Storm's chances while continuing to score, despite emptying their bench down the stretch. When time expired, the Mariners earned an 80-57 victory in one of their most well-balanced games of the season.
Eric Mireri led Marin with 17 points and seven rebounds. Malik Ghiden chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench while nine others made it into the scorebook.
Joey Potts had eight points, six rebounds and two assists. Zamaria Odom had eight points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Chris Kress had a pair of made three pointers while Alfonso Murrie had six points and a pair of assists. Jalen Chandler filled up the stat sheet with four points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Mariners shot 57.4% as a team and were 20-25 from the free throw line.
Next up for Marin is a home game against rivals from Contra Costa College on Wednesday, January 2nd.


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Q: Arithmetic right shift on logic (2 dimensional) signal I am trying to do a Shift Right, Arithmetic (keep sign) on the signal in.
When I set the value in[0] to 16'hbb00, I expect in_sign_extend[0] to be 16'hf760 after it is signed right shifted. But, I notice that the actual result I see on in_sign_extend[0] is 16'h0680.
localparam CHANNELS = 8;
localparam AXI_M_DATA_WIDTH = 32;

logic signed [0:CHANNELS-1]    [AXI_M_DATA_WIDTH/2-1:0] in;
logic signed [0:CHANNELS-1]    [AXI_M_DATA_WIDTH/2-1:0] in_sign_extend;

assign in_sign_extend[0] = (in[0] >>> 3);

I am trying to understand if the in is actually correctly signed. Or am I missing something here.

A: The part select of a packed array is always unsigned, even when selecting the entire array. Only the variable as a whole reference (in) is signed. You can change your code to
assign in_sign_extend[0] = (signed'(in[0]) >>> 3);

Or you might prefer to use an unpacked array
logic signed [AXI_M_DATA_WIDTH/2-1:0] in[CHANNELS];
logic signed [AXI_M_DATA_WIDTH/2-1:0] in_sign_extend[CHANNELS];

assign in_sign_extend[0] = (in[0] >>> 3);


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FlashCards to replace Residence Hall keys
Jill Church, director of Residence Services, said the university plans to eliminate room keys by Fall 2019 and create a dual access system for students to access their residence halls.
Lydia Taylor Rachel Stevenson
Starting in Summer 2017, Kent State students will no longer rely on their room keys. Instead they will be using their FlashCards.
Jill Church, director of Residence Services, said the new lock system contains three main parts: FlashCards, keypads and a smartphone application.
"Students will be using their FlashCards as their key cards, but will also receive a pin to plug in to their door before they enter," Church said. "The app will have Bluetooth capabilities, where students can connect their Bluetooth on their phone to the wireless system on the locks."
The Kent State Board of Trustees approved the measure during its Sept. 30 meeting, and the estimated cost to implement it will be $11.5 million.
Church said the updates are attributed to an outdated lock system and security concerns within residence halls. The current system requires students to have a FlashCard for a meal plan and a separate key to enter rooms.
"Some of (our current locks) are about 15 years old, and I think the newest ones are about 12 years old," Church said. "When we put those in at Kent State, we were on the cutting-edge as far as technology at the time, but here we are 15 years later and they don't have a lot of life left."
Students will need to enter a unique pin assigned to their door, as well as swipe their FlashCard for dual-access security to eliminate concerns.
"If students lose their FlashCard, the pin can be used to gain access to the room, which only the student and nobody else should have," Church said. "They can also just use the app if they happen to forget the pin."
Residence Services must be notified about a lost FlashCard to allow a student to access the room with only their pin.
Dillon Coventry, a sophomore aeronautics major, said he is excited to see the change.
"It's a struggle to often remember both cards," Coventry said. "It will make life much simpler with just one."
It costs students $25 to replace a lost FlashCard, according to the FlashCard Office. Church said adding room access to the cards will not increase the replacement fee.
Church said implementing the system is a gradual process spanning the course of three years. Residence Services will install the system in one of four area desks per year.
The New Front area desk will be the first to experience the change, including Dunbar, Verder, Engleman and Prentice Halls.
Residence Services plans to expand the system to all 25 residence halls on campus by Fall 2019, Church said.
Contact Lydia Taylor at [email protected] and Rachel Stevenson at [email protected]


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Q: Homebrew: Safe to remove .git folder in homebrew-core/homebrew-cask folder? Is it safe to delete the .git folder in homebrew-core/homebrew-cask? It takes up like 1GB of my disk and I def won't contribute to brew using git.

A: As discussed in here, it is safe to untap (aka remove) the homebrew-core and homebrew-cask taps, and then you manage the formulae/casks using HOMEBREW_INSTALL_FROM_API.


My time in Oklahoma is winding down.
of The Salvation Army. SPOILER ALERT: If you do not like The Salvation Army, then this blog post will not be something you want to continue reading.
I love The Salvation Army! We are the Army of the One!
My Army talks to people.
My Army prays with people.
My Army cares about people.
My Army works for people.
My Army witnesses to people.
My Army prays for people.
My Army stays with people.
My Army stands up for people.
My Army is an Army of the One!
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of Gods grace in its various forms" (1 Peter 4:10 NIV).
I love the people of my Army!
I love the Head of my Army!
"And he (Christ) is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy" (Colossians 1:18 NIV, parentheses added mine).
Consider donating to The Salvation Army Oklahoma Disaster Relief Fund!
I can tell you I have seen first-hand where it has gone and still needs to go!


text:
Russel Winston Brant
Recommend Russel's obituary to your friends
Plant a tree in memory of Russel
Obituary of Russel Winston Brant
Please share a memory of Russel to include in a keepsake book for family and friends.
Brant, Russel Winston
November 19, 1938 – September 17, 2021
Passed from Turtle Island to the closer presence of our Creator in his 83rd year, with a reverent willing attitude toward his journey. Dear son of the late Marjorie (nee Duncan) and Kenneth Brant. Beloved husband of the late Jane Barber-Brant. Devoted father of Kenneth of Pheonix, Arizona, Cathy of Prescott, Arizona and Danny of San Francisco, California. Dear brother of Margaret Anderson of Belleville and Albert Brant of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Russel was predeceased by his brothers Sherman (Joe) and Warren and his sisters Jean, Catherine, Mildred and Edith. Grandfather of Danny of Las Vegas, Nevada and Travis of Pheonix, Arizona. Uncle to several nieces and nephews of the Mohawk Territory and surrounding district.
Russel worked in a variety of trades but favored his role on the Police Force of Pheonix, Arizona. He also enjoyed his role as Boy Scout Master, taking his troop to Grand Canyon adventures. He was a caring and generous man, giving of his energy and resources. He loved Native Arts and Crafts, country music and dancing. On the dance floor he and Jane were spectacular. He was a faithful member of All Saints Anglican Church and the Royal Canadian Legion.
The family wishes to give heartfelt thanks to the staff of the Tyendinaga Community Wellbeing Centre for their constant care and expertise over several years as well as the ceremony they conducted for Russel on September 17, 2021. In Keeping with Russel`s wishes cremation has taken place and a service will be held at a later date.
DESERONTO, ONTARIO
To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Russel Brant, please visit our Tree Store
A Memorial Tree was planted for Russel
We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at M. J. Smith & Son Funeral Home
Russel Brant
Services for Russel Brant
There are no events scheduled. You can still show your support by planting a tree in memory of Russel Brant.


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'Saaho' review: Prabhas's ripped muscles and fancy guns can't save this one
The success lies more in the hype generated in the run-up to the film's release
By Rahul Devulapalli August 30, 2019 15:33 IST
The biggest achievement of Saaho is that it opened Telugu cinema to a pan-India market and elevated the star status of Prabhas. The Rs 350-crore movie's success lies more in the hype generated in the run-up to the release and for getting one of the biggest releases in the country. The finished product may not entirely do justice to the expectations of many. Saaho, released in four different languages, strictly falls in 'action' category and like most hardcore action movies, is devoid of much logic and is far removed from reality.
Director Sujeeth Reddy created a fictitious city called Waaji, to tell a good part of his story while choosing Mumbai for the first half of the plot. The opening scenes introduces us to Roy (Jackie Shroff) who heads a group of global mafia leaders. He has the key to the vault which stores the wealth amassed by the group members. His position also makes him vulnerable as other members of the gang aim to occupy his chair. Roy comes down to Mumbai and is murdered in a road accident. The story then shifts to a huge robbery that takes place in Mumbai.
The interesting sequence of events leading to the robbery present the hero, Ashok Chakravarthy (Prabhas) who is an undercover police officer. He is assigned to investigate the robbery. While probing the case he meets his lady love, Shraddha Kapoor, another police officer. The duo along with a hacker, Murli Sharma, eventually get involved in the pursuit to find a black box which is a key to the vault that Roy's group is in control of. Roy's heir (Arun Vijay) also wants to take possession of the black box along with other gang members. In the first half, lighting up the screen are a number of Bollywood actors like Chunky Pandey, Mahesh Manjrekar, Tinnu Anand, Mandira Bedi and Prakash Belawadi. The first half ends with a twist. It is clear that the director in a way conveyed that the second half of the movie is the part to watch out for. The movie title is shown only in the interval.
In the second half of the movie, Prabhas undergoes a major makeover is re-introduced to excite his fans. The second half is loaded with a huge cache of arms, fist-fighting, flying cars and good amount of blood. The movie mainly revolves around four characters and at many places, one finds it difficult to join the dots and understand the flow of narration.
There are no dearth of surprises in the movie but it hardly saves the film. The writing is not up to the mark and in the end, the plot loses steam. The director has tried to infuse novelty and experimented with action sequences like the ones involving jetpacks. But, a weak and confusing story with average performances from most of the popular artists, gives a feeling that it is a lost opportunity.
What stands out in the movie is its background music and some well-shot songs. The dialogues and songs fail to register much. Even with a towering Prabhas armed with a ripped body and fancy guns, Saaho fails to hit the target.
Director: Sujeeth Reddy
Producer: Vamsi-Pramod
Cast: Prabhas, Shraddha Das, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Chunky Pandey, Arun Vijay, Murli Sharma, Vennela Kishore
Dimensions of dedication


Aimed at outdoor enthusiasts, the Casio WSD-F10 is a rugged smartwatch designed to face every adventure with you. The first smartwatch available from Casio, the WSD-F10 utilizes Android Wear to not only allow you to effortlessly expand its functions, but to also provide a fast and fluid user interface that makes it a desirable tool for people of all walks of life. Oh, and if that wasn't enough – it also responds to voice commands and hand gestures too.
Priced at $500, the Casio WSD-F10 is in the same price range of most touch-screen smartwatches available today. Add in the fact that it is waterproof, rugged, and features one of the most impressive user-interfaces I have ever seen, it makes you wonder why Casio isn't charging more. The one catch in this otherwise awesome smartwatch is that it really has been designed to be paired with Android-based phones. Pairing it with Apple's iPhone doesn't impact any of the pre-installed functions and apps, but you are severely limited on expanding it to include much of anything from the Google Store.
Compass, Accelerometer, Air Pressure, Gyrometer, and Altitude Sensors.
At this point, this is where the functions of the watch generally top out if you're an iPhone owner. However, if you're an Android user this is the point that the barn doors are kicked wide open and the true power of the WSD-F10 and its ultra-fluid interface is unveiled. In a world where we've become suckers for a good user-interface, the WSD-F10 arguably destroys the competition. This fact shines through in their custom-built Trekking, Cycling, and Fishing apps but can also be seen in some of the other third party software available in the Google Play Store.
The WSD-F10 is large, rugged and durable, yet strangely lightweight when compared to some of its peers. Sleek in design, there's nothing that really stands out to prove that this watch is as durable as Casio claims it is – but, take my word for it – it is.
After wearing Casio's Mudmaster for the past six-months, switching over to the WSD-F10 is like a vacation in paradise. In comparison, they're about the same size, but the WSD-F10 is rounded and doesn't have the same rough features as the Mudmaster.
The WSD-F10 utilizes voice control and hand gestures to allow you to scroll through messages and alerts with ease. Combined with the fluid graphical user interface and intuitive touch screen, I would have to say that this watch functions more efficiently then the Apple Watch, which – to date – I thought was the most innovative smartwatch I had ever used.
This is where I would tell an Apple iPhone user to look somewhere else for their next smartwatch. The basic functions of the WSD-F10 make it a joy to use, but knowing what the watch is capable of when paired with an Android device just leads to disappointment for iPhone owners. For the Android users of the world: look no further. You will not find another smartwatch that does this much, this well.
The USB-based magnetic charger that is included with the WSD-F10 is a bit of a step back in my mind. Though it's easy to attach to the watch, it's just as easy for the two to come apart. For anyone charging this watch on the go – it just isn't possible. You need to leave the watch and charger on a flat, still surface while charging. Aside from that, the device takes less than two hours to fully charge.
Casio claims that the WSD-F10 gets about a month of use on a single charge. This is true when using it as a standard watch in the Monochrome mode, which I highly recommend people keep the watch in when not using any of the smart features. Otherwise, when being used as a fully-functioning smartwatch, you can expect around three days of power off of a single charge. This timeframe will be reduced further once you start delving into some of the more complex activity apps.
Because of its design, build, and Android Wear utilization, the Casio WSD-F10 has the ability to be one of the most effective and appealing smartwatches on the market today – provided you're an Android user. The only other watch to rival the WSD-F10's graphics and fluidity would be the Apple Watch, which isn't rugged or waterproof; making the WSD-F10 that much more appealing. Because Android Wear is used on a multitude of smart watches, its capabilities are forever expanding through apps and interface updates. This fact expands the wrist life of the WSD-F10 exponentially. However, for anyone spending a considerable amount of time in the outdoors, be prepared to charge this watch every night at camp.