text:
Maha Lund, DHSc, PA-C, DFAAPA
Maha Lund, DHSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, has had a distinguished career as an educator and a certified physician assistant. Dr. Lund was raised in Osnabrück, Germany where she completed the equivalent of an American pre-med program at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover before moving to the United States. Lund graduated with a master's degree in physician assistant studies from Chatham University in 2001. She later earned her Doctor of Health Science from NOVA Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale in 2012. While attaining her Doctorate, Dr. Lund's studies focused on PA education and leadership in health care professions.
Prior to becoming a certified PA, Dr. Lund worked as a self-employed German translator and interpreter specializing in medical and technical translation work and taught German in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Dr. Lund moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a project manager for curriculum development and an instructor for Languages by Nicole, an international language instruction and consulting company in the Pittsburgh area.
Dr. Lund became interested in the PA profession through her mother, a nurse and nurse educator. After graduating with her master's degree, Dr. Lund worked as a physician assistant in hospital medicine at Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center and then at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, also in hospital medicine. Dr. Lund was a founding member of the Physician Assistant Clinical Educator (PACE) team – the first internal medicine PA team at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She also initiated the PA student precepting program with MCPHS University, co-chaired PA Grand Rounds for approximately 120 PAs, and represented the PACE team at hospital-wide Chief PA meetings.
Dr. Lund's first faculty position was at MCPHS University from 2004-2014. She started as a preceptor and adjunct faculty member and eventually became program director in 2011. Dr. Lund transferred to Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta in 2014, where she currently works as program director.
Dr. Lund is a member of the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, and the Physician Assistant Education Association. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Three Rivers Area Health Education Center and of the Board of Trustees for the Physician Assistant History Society. Dr. Lund is on the Faculty Development Committee and the Academic Health Program Directors Advisory Committee at Emory University. She is also an Accreditation Site Visitor for the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).
Dr. Lund has two siblings: an older sister and a younger brother. She is married to Mack Lund and they have two daughters, one of whom graduated with a degree in public health.
Acknowledgments: This biographical sketch was prepared by Michelle Schabowski with the assistance of Dr. Lund and submitted to the Society in March 2019. The photograph is courtesy of NeTosha Randle.


14k white gold celtic cross pendant with a trinity knot at each of the 4 points.
The Trinity Knot is an ancient Celtic symbol representing the everlasting, having no beginning and no end.
Comes with 18 inch gold chain.
Measures approx. .8 inch tall by . 55 inch wide.


This week, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will release letter grades which will label school districts with an A, B, C, D or F and campuses with a rating of "met requirement" or "improvement required" based on performance in the 2017-2018 school year on STAAR/EOC assessments.
REACH High School has received the tremendous honor of being designated a preliminary awardee of the 2018-2020 School Transformation Fund Grant from TEA.
The Castleberry High School Track & Field Complex will be closed for upgrades from August 13th through September 16th. The complex will be upgrading their field lighting and press box.
Community Link and Tarrant County College Northwest Campus are hosting a back to school bash on August 11, 2018! At this celebration there will be free school supplies, free hair cuts, free eye glasses, free books, food, music, and more!
There are several changes coming in 2018-2019. Including new transparent backpack requirements, all your school supplies for $15, and more. Read the full article for more information.
This summer Castleberry ISD will once again connect children 18 years old and younger with healthy Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) meals at no cost to the child.
The Books and Bytes program is a partnership between the Child Nutrition, Library, and STREAM Services programs of Castleberry ISD. A bus has been outfitted for food service, STREAM learning, and reading. Look for the STREAM bus, named Mo, at the following locations from June 5th through August 1st this summer.
The school year may be over, but Castleberry is still going strong! There are many programs and activities this summer including sports camps, free food, STEM Camps, and the brand new Books & Bytes Bus. So stay tuned to our websites and social media outlets, because school may be out for summer, but we are just getting started.


text:
A poem for New Year's Eve
The ground isn't white with snow. (It's 56°F as I type.) But here's a poem for the day, from Ted Berrigan (1934-1983):
The ground is white with snow.
It's morning, of New Year's Eve, 1968, & clean
City air is alive with snow, it's quiet
Driving. I am 33. Good Wishes, brothers, everywhere
& Don't You Tread On Me.
[From Many Happy Returns (Corinth Books, 1969). In The Collected Poems of Ted Berrigan (University of California Press, 2005), it's in line three is changed to its.]
Ted Berrigan, "A Final Sonnet"
Happy New Year (dialogue from the 1954 film Marty)
My son Ben told the rest of our family that we had to watch An Inconvenient Truth. We did. The next morning we went out to buy compact fluorescent bulbs. We're also walking whenever possible. My hope is that people everywhere are making the same sorts of changes.
The above image is from a .pdf available from the film's website. I'd urge everyone within the sound of my voice to watch An Inconvenient Truth.
An Inconvenient Truth (climatecrisis.org)
Gilgamesh travesty
Boing Boing, the website that identifies itself as "a directory of wonderful things," has a link today to something to wonder at -- something so misconceived that it bewilders, and then it bewilders some more. It's a short animated movie from 2004, made by the Department of Veterans Affairs, entitled The Epic of Gilgamesh: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Post-Deployment Health Evaluation and Management (hereafter, GVA). This three-part movie recasts the story of Gilgamesh and his comrade Enkidu (the oldest written story, from ancient Mesopotamia) as a story of war and its sorrowful aftermath. I suspect that Jonathan Shay's work linking Homer's epics and the suffering of Vietnam veterans -- Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America -- prompted this rethinking of the Gilgamesh story. It's indeed plausible to find in Gilgamesh an allegory of the experience of a combat veteran. But this adaptation fails in several ways.
In the original story, Gilgamesh (king of the city of Uruk) and Enkidu journey to the mysterious forest to kill the giant Humbaba and bring back cedar. They behead Humbaba (who, like Homer's much-later Cyclops, turns out to be a rather plaintive character) and cut down every tree in sight. The story seems to combine admiration for human daring with the recognition that it's possible for human beings to go too far (the god Enlil, like the God of Genesis 3, a later story, is outraged by what these creatures have done). Gilgamesh's overarching purpose in going to the forest is to make a claim to fame, to do something magnificent, or die trying, and thereby leave a name that will endure, a name stamped on brick. The hero and his sidekick undertake this journey alone.
In GVA, the journey to the cedar forest becomes a "a great military deployment," the work of an army, a war, an adventure in slaying a demon and acquiring loot in the form of cedar trees (we see one such tree turn into a dollar sign). In the original story Gilgamesh is indeed intent on destroying "evil" and bringing back loot. But in a story about treatment options for American veterans of the present war, these motives look unmistakably like an allegory of the American presence in Iraq. And there's more: early on, we see Gilgamesh reading a to-do list that includes the item "Conquer world." What does such a scene say to American veterans, or to American allies and enemies? What were the makers of this film thinking?
A severe irony-deficiency might explain these problems. Other problems in this movie can be explained in terms of an unwillingness to acknowledge the full truth of the Gilgamesh story, a story that is ultimately about death and the human awareness of death. For slaying Humbaba and for another transgression back in Uruk, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are punished by the gods. Enkidu must die, and Gilgamesh's punishment is to live without his friend, with the knowledge that he too will die. Unable to reconcile himself to the loss of his comrade and to his own mortality, Gilgamesh undertakes a second journey in search of a way out of time. He travels to wise old Utnapishtim, the only survivor (along with an unnamed wife) of a catastrophic, divinely-sent flood (again, the story pre-dates Genesis). Utnapishtim, the great witness to universal destruction, tells Gilgamesh that there is no permanence, that he will never find what he is seeking. After some further complications, Gilgamesh returns to his city and dies.
GVA gives us a war story that shies away from acknowledging loss and grief. In this recasting, Enkidu is inexplicably paralyzed (a vague metaphor for paraplegia? quadriplegia? Gulf War syndrome?) and suffers another unexplained illness before dying. Gilgamesh, wandering, depressed, sleepless, experiencing intrusive thoughts of Humbaba's beheading and his friend's death, suffers from what unmistakably seems to be post-traumatic stress disorder. The profound loss without consolation that we see in the original story (and which, of course, marks the human condition that we share with ancient Sumerians and Babylonians) here becomes the occasion for a grotesquely comic encounter between Gilgamesh and "Dr. Utnapishtim," aka "Dr. U.," a vaguely Einstein-like figure whose name generates lame jokes about me and you. Dr. U. offers no explanation of Gilgamesh's problems, saying only that the diagnosis remains "in doubt," "unexplained," and "unresolved." The acronym PTSD appears on Dr. U's computer screen but is never spoken in the movie. The following image suggests some of the ways in which Gilgamesh can help himself recover:
Or as Dr. U. says while snatching a donut from Gilgamesh's hand, "A few less lattes in the morning." This is the suggestion of a doctor whose patient is tormented by memories of a beheading?
In the final scene, Gilgamesh, now dressed in a track suit and sneakers, goes for a run. The narrator then states that in the original story, Gilgamesh never recovered from his "war-related illnesses," adding that "Perhaps the outcome would have been better if his health-care providers had had access to the new VA/DoD Post-Deployment Health Clinical Practice Guidelines." Perhaps the outcome would be even better if those whose work is to help heal were willing to acknowledge loss and grief as directly as the Sumerians and Babylonians whose story has been turned (with our tax dollars) into a travesty.
Department of Defense remakes Gilgamesh online (Boing Boing)
The Epic of Gilgamesh: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Post-Deployment Health Evaluation and Management (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
Update, January 19, 2007: The three-part animation and an accompanying transcript have been taken offline. They are still available (at least for now) from the Internet Archive:
The Epic of Gilgamesh: 1, 2, 3
The Epic of Gilgamesh: Transcript
James Brown (1933-2006)
Butane James
The Funky President
The Godfather of Soul
The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business
The Man Who Never Left
Minister of the New, New, Super-Heavy Funk
Mr. Dynamite
Mr. Please, Please, Please
Soul Brother Number One
Universal James
"Where I grew up there was no way out, no avenue of escape, so you had to make a way. Mine was to create JAMES BROWN."
May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006
[Photographs by Howard Bingham, 1965]
Ralph Kramden on Christmas
We now join The Honeymooners, already in progress:
"You know something, sweetheart? Christmas is -- well, it's about the best time of the whole year. You walk down the streets, even for weeks before Christmas comes, and there's lights hanging up, green ones and red ones. Sometimes there's snow. And everybody's hustling some place. But they don't hustle around Christmastime like they usually do. You know, they're a little more friendly -- if they bump into you, they laugh, and they say 'Pardon me' and 'Merry Christmas.' Especially when it gets real close to Christmas night. Everybody's walking home; you can hardly hear a sound. Bells are ringing; kids are singing; snow is coming down. And boy, what a pleasure it is to think that you've got someplace to go to. And the place that you're going to has somebody in it that you really love. Someone you're nuts about. Merry Christmas."
From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," written by Marvin Marx and Walter Stone, broadcast December 24, 1955
My dad again. Thanks, Dad. (Note the spelling, as in John Deere.)
[Ink, watercolor, and colored paper, by James Leddy.]
More by James Leddy
Hardy mums
The "new" Blogger
I switched to the "new" Blogger (no longer in beta) this afternoon. Alas, the tools that Blogger touts as making blog design easier aren't available to me without a new template, something I have no interest in creating right now. But there's one feature of the new Blogger that's surprising and useful: the search box in the upper-left-hand corner, which in the past offered hit-and-miss results, now seems to turn up all posts containing the searched-for text. And the search returns not headers, but the posts themselves, arranged into a blog page. It's exciting to see posts that have been separated by lengthy (or not so lengthy) gaps in time reappear as parts of a rambling chronology. (Type, for instance, brooklyn, and see what you find here.)
Update, December 22: Things will look strange for a while, and many links are now gone while I figure out a new template.
Later that night . . .
I've gone back to my previous template (which, to my surprise, came back with all its links and tweaks). My limited experience suggests that the "new" Blogger, while making some changes very easy, gives the user less freedom in designing the page. I could not, for instance, devise a way to put my name above my photograph without having it also appear below (as part of the text of my "profile").
Paramus blues
"Rule No. 1 is to avoid Route 17 in either direction."
A taste of what it's like to live in Paramus, New Jersey, a town of 27,000 with four malls and 2,700 stores.
(Sam Goody's at Garden State Plaza, the largest of these malls, was one of the great culture spots of my teenaged life.)
In This Town, Even a Mall Rat Can Get Rattled (New York Times)
Richard Rorty on the value of literature
The inspirational value Rorty claims for literature lies in its capacity to "make people think there is more to this life than they ever imagined." He's writing in opposition to what he calls "knowingness," "a state of soul which prevents shudders of awe," that substitutes "theorization for awe."
The following excerpt echoes a passage, quoted earlier in the essay, from Frederic Jameson, who dismissively refers to "prophets, Great Writers, and demiurges," "the distinctive individual brush stroke," and "quaint romantic values such as that of the 'genius'":
Inspirational value is typically not produced by the operations of a method, a science, a discipline, or a profession. It is produced by the individual brush strokes of unprofessional prophets and demiurges. You cannot, for example, find inspirational value in a text at the same time that you are viewing it as the product of a mechanism of cultural production. To view a work in this way gives understanding but not hope, knowledge but not self-transformation. For knowledge is a matter of putting a work in a familiar context -- relating it to things already known.
If it is to have inspirational value, a work must be allowed to recontextualize much of what you previously thought you knew; it cannot, at least at first, be itself recontextualized by what you already believe. Just as you cannot be swept off your feet by another human being at the same time that you recognize him or her as a good specimen of a certain type, so you cannot be simultaneously inspired by a work and be knowing about it. Later on -- when first love has been replaced by marriage -- you may acquire the ability to be both at once. But the really good marriages, the inspired marriages, are those which began in wild, unreflective infatuation.
Richard Rorty, "The Inspirational Value of Great Works," in Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America (Harvard University Press, 1998)
George Steiner on reading
Mark Edmundson tells it like it is
Rorty on Proust
Words, mere words
Zadie Smith on reading
Pens, quills, and great big typewriters
In the 1944 film Laura, Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) is trying to persuade writer and radio personality Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) to endorse a fountain pen. But Lydecker is keeping it old school:
LH: Here's what I wanted to show you. It's for the Wallace Flow-Rite pen. I know my company would be glad to pay you $5000 if you'll endorse the ad.
WL: I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom.
In fact, when we first see Waldo Lydecker, he's working at a typewriter, which sits on a swing-away platform over his bathtub.
The opening scene in Laura, in which detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) first talks to Lydecker, is a hilarious clash of masculine styles. Lydecker sits in the tub, with his glasses, his scrawny chest, and his big typewriter. McPherson stands in jacket and fedora, with a cigarette and a small black notebook. The next time you watch Laura, watch for the trace of a smirk on McPherson's face as Lydecker gets up from the tub. Would an audience in 1944 have caught it and understood? I think so.
Update, December 23: I watched Laura again last night, and it's a small portable typewriter, which seems more appropriate anyway.
I was watching an episode of Ralph J. Gleason's television series Jazz Casual (1962) featuring the singer and pianist Jimmy Rushing, who was remembering his first encounter with Count Basie:
Rushing: Basie was an actor on the stage when I first saw him. And they used to ballyhoo. You know what that is? That's about fifteen minutes prior to the show, they would take a band -- the band would go out from the show. They'd play a number. And a fella singing. People would gather round. He would explain the show.
Gleason: Oh, out on the street?
Rushing: Yes. . . . See, in those days, Ralph, they did a lot of ballyhoo. Whatever place you worked for, you had to advertise it yourself.
I've always thought of ballyhoo as a close relation of such nouns as hoopla and hype. But Rushing was using the word as both noun and verb, and the word seemed, in his use, to denote the act of performance itself, not mere promotion. I was curious enough to look up the word in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The OED's definitions certainly suggest hoopla and hype. For ballyhoo the noun: "A barker's touting speech; hence, blarney, bombastic nonsense; extravagant advertisement of any kind." And for ballyhoo the verb: "To cajole by extravagant advertisement or praise (after the manner of a barker); to advertise or praise extravagantly." But the OED's first recorded use of the word (from World's Work, 1901) jibes with Rushing's use: "First there is the ballyhoo -- any sort of a performance outside the show." (I've omitted the rest of the citation, which uses the racist terms of the time to describe performances by singers and dancers.) By 1914, Jackson and Hellyer's Vocabulary of Criminal Slang marks the word's move toward its still-current associations: "Current amongst exhibition and 'flat-joint' grafters. A free entertainment used for a decoy to attract customers." And by 1927, a Mr. Weiner of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission is calling "Dempsey's letter" "mere ballyhoo." (It seems likely that the reference is to the fighter Jack Dempsey, who fought and lost to Gene Tunney in Philadelphia in 1926.)
Neither the OED nor Merriam-Webster offers an etymology for ballyhoo. The Online Etymology Dictionary notes a village named Ballyhooly in County Cork, Ireland and the nautical word ballahou or ballahoo, meaning "an ungainly vessel" (from the Spanish balahú, schooner), but this site too offers no explanation of the word's origin. The American Heritage Dictionary adds a reference to an 1880 Harper's article describing the two-headed, four-winged "ballyhoo bird," which could whistle through one bill while singing through the other. That'd draw a crowd. The scholarly online archive JSTOR holds five articles spanning three decades (1935-1965), covering (with much greater detail) the possibilities I've sketched here. But still, the origin is unknown.
The use of ballyhoo among performers helps to explain what must be its most famous appearance -- in Harry Warren and Al Dubin's song "Lullaby of Broadway":
Come on along and listen to
The lullaby of Broadway,
The hip hooray and ballyhoo,
The lullaby of Broadway.
Jimmy Rushing (remember him, a few paragraphs ago?) recorded that song in 1956 for The Jazz Odyssey of James Rushing Esq., a great LP now available on CD.
Ralph J. Gleason's Jazz Casual (All About Jazz)
The Jazz Odyssey of James Rushing Esq. (Amazon.com)
"I'll take the soup"
The New York Times gets the punchline right:
Because of an editing error, an obituary on Sunday about Sid Raymond, a comic actor, rendered one of his jokes incorrectly. It was about a son who sends a prostitute to his widowed father, still a self-proclaimed ladies' man in his 90s. The prostitute tells the father that she is his birthday present and promises to give him "super sex" (not that she promises to give him whatever he'd like). The father replies, "I'll take the soup."
I'm glad that the Times made this correction, in what it calls one of Sid Raymond's last jokes.
Sid Raymond, 97, Actor With a Familiar Face, Dies (New York Times)
Eleven pieces for students
Lifehack.org recently put together a post with links to ten pieces that I've written for students (and one by my daughter).
Lifehack also has a brief interview, with my answers by e-mail to Leon Ho's questions.
And now I must get back to work at the Continental Paper Grading Company.
Roundup: 11 Important Student Tips
Productive Interview Series: Michael Leddy
From a conversation in motion, heard through an open window:
"In Europe, a bird landed on my head, by the collar, and I was like . . . ."
Previous "Overheard" posts (via Pinboard)
Reality trumps satire
Is al Qaeda a Sunni organization, or Shi'ite? The question proved nettlesome for Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, incoming Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "Predominantly -- probably Shi'ite," he said in a recent interview with Congressional Quarterly, a periodical that covers political and legislative issues in Congress.
Unfortunately for Reyes, the al Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden is comprehensively Sunni and subscribes to a form of Sunni Islam known for not tolerating theological deviation. In fact, U.S. officials blame al Qaeda's former leader in Iraq, the late Abu Musab al Zarqawi, for the surge in sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites.
But Reyes' problems in the interview didn't end with al Qaeda. Asked to describe the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Congressional Quarterly said Reyes responded: "Hezbollah. Uh, Hezbollah," and then said, "Why do you ask me these questions at five o'clock?"
Reyes' office issued a statement on Monday noting that the Congressional Quarterly interview covered a wide range of topics.
That's from Reuters, not The Onion.
House intelligence chair calls al Qaeda Shi'ite (Reuters)
Update: Here's an interesting article by a Congressional Quarterly editor, first published in the New York Times. The responses therein of FBI officials and members of Congress won't inspire confidence.
Can you tell a Sunni from a Shiite? (International Herald Tribune)
On December 8
On December 8, 1957, CBS aired The Sound of Jazz, whose highlight is Billie Holiday's performance of "Fine and Mellow." I'm happy to say that this performance can be found on YouTube. The version I've linked to below is the one with the best sound- and image-quality.
If you're not a jazz head, here is the sequence of soloists: Ben Webster (tenor), Lester Young (tenor), Vic Dickenson (trombone), Gerry Mulligan (baritone), Coleman Hawkins (tenor), and Roy Eldridge (trumpet). There's also a brief shot of Doc Cheatham playing a muted trumpet obbligato. The other musicians are Mal Waldron (piano), Danny Barker (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), and Osie Johnson (drums).
Whoever supervised the camera work understood the irrepressible interest we have in looking (no, make that staring) at faces. Watch Ben Webster's quick nod at 1:31 (he seems to be saying "Mmm, that note tasted good"). Watch Holiday's face as she listens to Lester Young, the great friend with whom she'd had a falling out (he had named "Lady Day" years earlier; she had named him "Pres"). And watch Gerry Mulligan's face as Coleman Hawkins solos.
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered. Paul Simon wrote of that December 8 (and of the December 24, 1954 death of singer Johnny Ace) in "The Late Great Johnny Ace":
On a cold December evening
I was walking through the Christmastide
When a stranger came up and asked me
If I'd heard John Lennon had died
And the two of us went to this bar
And we stayed to close the place
And every song we played was for
The late great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah
And that's what I know about December 8.
Billie Holiday, "Fine and Mellow"
John Lennon (official website)
Johnny Ace (Wikipedia)
Ambrosia and the deathless ones
From Anu Garg's A.Word.A.Day:
ambrosia (am-BROE-zhuhuh) noun
1. In classical mythology, the food of the gods.
2. Something very pleasing to taste or smell.
3. A dessert made of oranges and shredded coconut.
[From Latin, from Greek ambrotos, from a- (not) + mbrotos (mortal). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mer- (to rub away or to harm) that is also the source of morse, mordant, amaranth, morbid, mortal, mortgage, and nightmare.]
The Greek gods of course, subsisting on their not-mortal food, are athanatoi, deathless or, literally, not-dead.
I cannot hear the word ambrosia without remembering a weird bit of dialogue from the old television series Hazel. It's been stuck in my head since childhood, "Mister B." speaking to Hazel (his maid): "Hazel, your sweet potato pie is sheer ambrosia!" Pies made from potatoes? Ambrosia? Maids? I remember as a kid thinking that here was a world I would never be part of.
Hazel and Mister B., available on DVD (and still perhaps in re-runs somewhere), are now among the deathless ones themselves.
Robert Schneider sees things clearly
Professor Robert Schneider sees things clearly:
Podcasts of university courses are not "every student's dream"; they're totally bogus, a thin surrogate for real instruction, a fig leaf for disengagement, an excuse for lack of commitment from professors and students alike. People who believe in the transformative value of higher education will resist podcastification with a passion.
I hope that he's right.
Professor Schneider is writing in response to a student-journalist's commentary on said "dream." He quotes from her description:
Wake up for school, stumble over to the computer, and download the day's class lectures . . . then crawl back into bed -- iPod in one hand, notebook in the other.
This scene reminds me in some way of the picture of intellectual and emotional isolation near the end of The Waste Land:
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
I remember being presented some years ago with the argument that a college course consisting of videotaped lectures was a good "alternative" for students, particularly students who did not seek much contact with professors. "Professor in a can," some of us were calling it (or was it "in a box"?). What would the person "administering" the class (who would not be the professor on tape) do? Give and grade exams two or three times a semester.
As I've written in a previous blog post (about wireless classrooms), technology makes it possible to do things, not necessary to do them. It's possible to be a professor in a can. It's possible to stay in bed and take notes on a voice coming to you through headphones. But there are better ways to teach and learn.
Follow the link for the rest of Schneider's passionate rebuttal of what he calls "dystopian nonsense."
The Attack of the Pod People (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Curiosity and its discontents
My son Ben just came in with some interesting news: he wants to write an article for the high-school page in our local newspaper comparing high-school life in 1956 and 2006. To write this piece, he proposes to study the 1956-57 yearbook (available in the school office).
His teacher told him that "No one would be interested" in reading such an article. He's going to write it anyway, and fight the power that be.
Another word from the Greek
It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day:
symposium \sim-POH-zee-um\ noun
*1 : a social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas
2 a : a formal meeting at which several specialists deliver short addresses on a topic or on related topics b : a collection of opinions on a subject; especially : one published by a periodical
3 : discussion
Example sentence: The symposium gave Eduardo and other writers the chance to listen to and share new ideas about literature.
Did you know? It was drinking more than thinking that drew people to the original symposia and that gave us the word "symposium." The ancient Greeks would often follow a banquet with a drinking party they called a "symposion." That name came from "sympinein," a verb that combines "pinein," meaning "to drink," with the prefix "syn-," meaning "together." Originally, English speakers only used "symposium" to refer to such an ancient Greek party, but in the 18th century British gentlemen's clubs started using the word for gatherings in which intellectual conversation was fueled by drinking. By the 19th century, "symposium" had gained the more sober sense we know today, describing meetings in which the focus is more on the exchange of ideas and less on imbibing.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
I can remember as a (naïve) college freshman being baffled by the drinking in Plato's Symposium. This was philosophy? Huh?
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
"Analog geezer"
From the New York Times:
Variety recently published an obituary for the VHS format: "VHS, 30, dies of loneliness." If there's a format heaven, you'd expect VHS to be joining audiocassettes there. At age 42, cassettes predate VHS and have been pummeled by CDs and digital downloads.
But the cassette just won't seem to die.
The article goes on to explain why.
The Analog Geezer That Keeps Working (New York Times)
And a related link, with photographs showing "the amazing beauty and (sometimes) weirdness found in the designs of the common audio tape cassette":
Readers and writers
L. Lee Lowe went exploring in the NCSA glossary and came back with treasures: ghost icon, passive gateway, shadow widget.
Most interesting of all, Lee says, is the explanation of readers and writers. See what she found by following the link.
Ghost icon and the love of dictionaries (from lowebrow)
Britney Spears and Sophocles
Christie's auction house explains:
A page taken from Britney Spears' junior high school notebook containing her handwritten review of Rex Warner's translation of Sophocles' story Antigone, written in black ballpoint pen on either side of the page, Britney's review annotated by her teacher with corrections to her spelling and comments including Nice cover Organized Watch your spelling and Write more neatly and her grade: 88; and a corresponding piece of yellow card decorated with the book's title Antigone in black felt pen -- 12x9in. (30.5x20.8cm.)
This item was offered in an on-line auction to raise money for the Britney Spears Foundation.
I especially like "He get's scared to he lets her go. NO" "To where" is the horrendous idiom the writer is in search of. Note though that in addition to letting the apostrophe go, the teacher has no offered no suggestion as to how one might reconstruct this sentence. Perhaps the teacher was so tired of grading to where they just couldn't bother. (I can't believe I just wrote that sentence.)
And was it Britney or her teacher who appears to have added Rex Warner's name (not Sophocles') at the top? The ink seems to match the teacher's corrections, and the capital R looks pretty old-fashioned. We'll just have to wonder: the bidding is closed.
Britney Spears' Antigone (Christie's, via Gawker)
Tables for studying
Just in time for final examinations: Anastasia at Lawsagna took the idea of granularity and created tables with which students can plan out their studying by subject and by time available. These tables are quite nifty if you feel at home doing such planning on the computer. You can download the Excel file by following the link to her post.
Strategies and tools to plan your exam preparation (Lawsagna)
Hello, Boing Boing readers
Welcome to my blog. Enjoy your stay, and as the signs say, Please Come Again!
(If you're wondering what this post is about, I've been Boing Boinged.)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


How are these Biological Phenomena Relevant to Wind Turbine Noise Exposure?
Why do some people report becoming more affected by wind turbine noise (WTN) with ongoing exposure ("noise sensitised")?
Why do they report deterioration in both health & sleep quality, which improves if exposure to WTN ceases (crossover effect)?
Why do WTN affected people then report the same sensations/symptoms are triggered by other pulsing noise?
Why do people with autism and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) report rapid onset of intense anxiety and physiological stress symptoms if exposed to operating wind turbines?
Why are WTN exposed people being diagnosed with PTSD?
Why are uncommon 'adrenaline' surge pathologies occurring, (Tako Tsubo "heart attacks" and acute hypertensive crises), without the usual precipitants?
Q Are these issues related, and if so, how?
A Yes, via acute physiological stress events.
Why is sensitisation to noise and vibration important?
From a public health perspective, sensitisation of individuals to noise will predictably lead to worsening individual health outcomes, especially via the well known disease pathways associated with chronic stress, and chronic sleep deprivation.
What is the Australian field evidence of worsening health & sleep in WTN exposed?
known privately to each of the three authors in some cases for 7 years across the 4 eastern and southern Australian states, some resulting in home and farm abandonment, relocation, or forced sale, because of worsening health and poor sleep quality in family members. Health and sleep improve after cessation of exposure to WTN, but new "noise sensitised" state continues.
Steven Cooper's intensive acoustic investigation for Pacific Hydro at their Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm (2014/5) looked at three homes with six noise sensitised people.
Dr Bob Thorne's 2012 study of WTN sensitised people from Cape Bridgewater and Waubra – key results follow.
Q What are the known biological mechanisms that could explain why the health and sleep quality of chronically exposed wind turbine noise (WTN) sensitised residents deteriorates with ongoing wind turbine noise exposure?
Study investigated whether repeated startling of the seals via acoustic startle reflex caused habituation or sensitisation. "repeated elicitation of acoustic startle reflex leads to rapid and pronounced sensitisation" and subsequent avoidance behaviour and fear conditioning.
Two groups of seals – exposures same dB (underwater), but different noise character – impulsive (pulses) vs slow rising. It was the pulsing noise which resulted in sensitisation – the slow rising sound showed no change in observed behaviour with repeated acoustic stimulus.
What is the Startle Reflex (SR)?
The response originating in the caudal brainstem means the SR cannot be due to a nocebo effect, which will instead originate in the cortex or "thinking" centre of the brain. The initial motor response includes the reaction of the heart as part of the neurological reflex "fight flight" component – demonstrated by a sudden rapid increase in heart rate.
This could be particularly important for WTN exposed people if their acoustic, vestibular, and tactile / pressure sensors are being activated suddenly, and concurrently.
Why are they developing PTSD?
Is it related to repeated stimulation of SR?
Professor Alexander MacFarlane, "The long-term costs of traumatic stress: intertwined physical and psychological consequences" World Psychiatry 2010 Feb; 9(1): 3–10.
"initial investigation into the particular acoustical characteristics of wind turbine noise that might have the potential to disturb sleep".
Q What are the known biological mechanisms that could explain why the health and sleep quality of chronically exposed wind turbine noise (WTN) sensitised residents deteriorates with ongoing wind turbine noise exposures?
A Repeated stimulation of the startle reflex (SR) by a trigger (or triggers) leads to increasing WTN sensitisation, with ongoing exposure. If SR occurs during sleep, repeatedly, in the context of sensitisation, there is a downward spiral in physical and mental health, with poor quality and disrupted REM sleep at its core. PTSD appears to be one consequence of prolonged exposure for some people.
What are the Acoustic Triggers for SR?
Evidence from the 2016 WiTNES study by Smith et al – is it strong (dynamically pulsed) amplitude modulation?
Geoff Leventhall's evidence to the 2015 Australian Senate Inquiry Canberra hearing on 23 June, 2015 "I think that the most important aspect of wind turbine noise-which I said in the paper I published nearly 10 years ago-is the amplitude modulation…because this is what upsets people".
Steven Cooper's Cape Bridgewater research – subsequent analysis of acoustic data showed the presence of strong amplitude modulation and the change in power output of the wind farm (Schomer principle).
Separately, Steven Cooper and Les Huson's acoustic field research at Cape Bridgewater identified intermittent strong wind gusts cause acute reactions in residents and concurrent pulsation pulses, as a result of resonant frequencies of the turbines.
What happens when someone is noise sensitised?
Cooper's latest work presented earlier to the ASA contained details of a series of 9 noise sensitised people exposed to inaudible pulsing ("dynamically pulsed amplitude modulated") sound which had previously been recorded from a bedroom near the Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm. The sound did not include infrasound frequencies, but was instead low – mid frequency sound between 30 – 1200 Hz, at or below the threshold of hearing and had a contribution of 12 dB(A) in a background level of 23 dB(A) (ie would normally be described as inaudible).
Cooper found that whilst blinded to the timing of the stimulus the noise sensitised people could tell with 100% accuracy when the sound was on or off, and they also developed some characteristic sensations they experience back in their own homes. A control group of 9 people not pre exposed to WTN, including 4 acoustic colleagues, was subject to the same test. None of the control group could detect the sound but 2 of that control group could detect pulsations.
This small pilot double blind provocation study provides scientific evidence that when noise sensitised people describe symptoms and sensations including the sensation of "pulsing" they are not imagining their symptoms, nor are they making them up. Rather, their brain and body are reacting in a reproducible way to the WTN stimulus present in the environment.
This pilot study therefore indicates evidence of direct causation.
These sounds are not regulated, and the regulatory authorities currently do not act to protect residents from further harm (let alone primary prevention of sensitisation).
The consequences for the individual's health are profoundly negative if they stay exposed, and the sensitisation can affect where they work, live, study, and sleep for the rest of their lives – because of the persisting cross sensitisation For children, exposed in utero or in their childhood, this potentially means the rest of their lives.
Once one family member is adversely affected by noise sensitisation, this inevitably affects others especially if sleep is disturbed. In addition, farming families are often multigenerational, and the elderly and the young are acknowledged to be vulnerable.
Worsening mental and physical health in circumstances (especially in rural areas) where access to health care is often already reduced compared to the city and suburbs.
Decreased rural populations as families move away, and are not replaced by other residents in what have become newly uninhabitable homes, because of noise pollution.
Posted on: 17 January 2018 . Category: Acoustics, Concerned Professionals, Health, ILFN Senstisation. Tags: Acoustic Startle Reflex, ASA Conference, Chronic Sleep Deprivation, December 2017, Dr. Bob Thorne, New Orleans, PTSD, PTSD de novo, Sarah Laurie, Sensitisation, Sleep Quality (PQSI), Steven Cooper, The Acoustic Group.


text:
Q: ng-repeat th element remove attribute So i have the following ng-repeat:

        <input type="checkbox" ng-model="checkAll" ng-change="selectAll(checkAll)">

This works fine however due to some errors in an external script the ts-criteria should not be set if field.fieldKey is null. So my question is how can i remove the attribute completely?

A: If think a good option would be to use ng-switch to choose if your attribute should be set, or not.
Don't have your full code, but it would be something like:

    ts-criteria here
    not here

Here is a demo on JSFiddle
Try it by changing myVar value.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Home › Fishing Reports › Blackfish and Flounder seasons open...the unofficial opening of the trout season which is April 1st.
Blackfish and Flounder seasons open...the unofficial opening of the trout season which is April 1st.
Most lakes in Suffolk county are now stocked in time for the unofficial opening of the trout season which is April 1st. Brown and rainbow trout have both been placed into several lakes and rivers along the island. Some of the methods to target these fish can be by bait, lure or fly.
When using bait, nothing beats a nightcrawler or a wax worm fished on a small hook below a float.
If using lures, any small tin, spinner or trout magnet can do an excellent job at getting the attention of a fish. Play around with your retrieve speed util you figure out what the fish like that day. Slight twitches of the lure can also help wth a reaction strike.
A last method to catch these fish and one of the most challenging/ rewarding is using a fly rod. although freshly stocked fish are usually more likly to hit, still presenting a fly to them can be quite difficult to do. I suggest trying wolly buggers in colors of green or brown ,hares eared nymphs or scuds. All these patterns are proven to be sucessful and fish catchers.
Hey Joe O here fished this week at East Lake and made out pretty well with about a dozen perch.
Something New....Featured: New York Freshwater Fishing: West Lake, Patchogue.
Now with Blackfish and Flounder seasons open, saltwater fishing offers several opportunities and worth a maiden vouage.
Try the standard places: in moriches; Smithpoint bridge and the areas around the inlet should produce. westward, Fire islands sore thum along with eastern Long islands shinecock canal, may hold some fine oportunities for this spring opener.
It might be a little early for Striped bass but worth a try. here too the usual spots can produce. Small lures, or maybe drifting a liitle clam could bring about some spring action.
A few reports of schoolies have been floating around from great river to camens river. Go light for these little guys, small jigs heads with tiny grubs or finess soft plstics.
Even though the Striped Bass season opens April 15th, this fish can be targeted for "catch and release" in the closed season. Handle them with care but enjoy.


text:
Chris Cuomos CNN Situation Update
Media Mob News
Found this on yahoo and thought it was worth breaking down and sharing. we know Cuomo was fired last weekend after the leak that he had been thoroughly involved in helping his older brother Andrew Cuomo during his sex scandal.
CNN found itself at the center of the US news cycle this week, after its primetime host Chris Cuomo was abruptly fired for helping to shape the response of his brother, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo to multiple accusations of sexual harassment.
The younger sibling, 51, lost three jobs in as many days – as CNN host, Sirius satellite radio jock, and a contract for a book provisionally titled Deep Denial – and now faces an investigation by outside lawyers for CNN, while the elder Cuomo, 64, faces a justice department investigation stemming from a damning report issued by New York's attorney general.
CNN President Jeff Zucker stood by Chris Cuomo last spring after revelations that the star anchor had helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, navigate a sexual-harassment scandal.
In a virtual town hall with staffers in May, he conceded that Chris Cuomo had "made a mistake," but also said he wasn't surprised that the anchor discussed the matter with his brother. Mr. Zucker said suspending Chris Cuomo would be "punishment for the sake of punishing."
Everything changed this past week. New information surfaced—including detailed records from the New York attorney general's office, a report from the law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore and an unrelated allegation of sexual misconduct—that sealed Chris Cuomo's fate.
Mr. Zucker was taken by surprise by the attorney general's report, and felt Mr. Cuomo misled him, according to people familiar with the situation. On Saturday he completed a
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cnn-mess-over-cuomo-shows-070032991.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cnn-president-jeff-zucker-protected-chris-cuomo-then-came-a-u-turn-11638748914?mod=hp_lead_pos10
Previous post Lions 2022 Draft Predictions With Matt Dery
Next post The World Is a Scary Place Right Now
Previous post:Lions 2022 Draft Predictions With Matt Dery
Next post:The World Is a Scary Place Right Now


text:
A 2010 Forecast
Issued by: Bureau of Trivandrum Development Prediction
Validity: 12 months, ending December 31, 2010
Expected Accuracy: > 70%
Vizhinjam: After the dismal lows of last year, Vizhinjam is expected to be on the upswing this year, aided by high pressure from the public and the Government. With the introduction of IFC as the project consultant, things are expected to pick up pace. Land acquisition for the initial infrastructure is well in progress and the State has already gotten commitments from the Railways and NHAI to provide the rail and road connectivity for the project. An outlay of approximately Rs 500 Crores has already been allocated by the State Government. We can expect the restart of the tender process with a series of road shows by March-April and tender proceedings themselves to start and complete in the second half of 2010.
Technopark: The formal commissioning of the Infosys campus will kick off a hectic year for Kerala's IT hub. Work on the 900,000 sq.ft Phase I of the UST Global campus has kicked off and is expected to achieve significant progress by the end of the year, enroute to a mid-2011 commissioning. The TCS Development Center is also expected to commence work by the middle of the year. The NEST and CDAC campuses are expected to open in the first half of 2010 while the work on the mammoth 1 million sq.ft building at Technopark Phase III is also in progress.
All told, 2010 will see the addition of about 1 million sq.ft to Technopark's existing 4 million, with significant progress on the construction of another 3.5 million sq.ft.
Technocity: After an exasperating, doldrum-ridden four years of land acquisition and background work, the land for Kerala's biggest IT infrastructure project - all 451 acres of it - is now with the Government. Working on the basic infrastructure is also expected to start in the first half of 2010. And if the Government or KSITIL (yeap, the same ol' one man company which is supposed to generate Rs 10,000 Crores of investment) do take up the minor task of finding developers for often bespoken "multiple SPVs", then we could see the work on the first phase of a project that could generate 100-150,000 direct jobs, start within 2010.
Urban Development projects: Despite the utter chaos of recent times, the storm in a tea-cup called city development, finally seems to be sorting itself out. JNNURM work in the areas of water supply, storm water management and sewerage as well as services to the urban poor seem to have kicked off although other areas like urban transport seem to have mysteriously vanished. Except of course for the 30 Volvos and 120 non-AC, low-floor buses which are all set to hit Trivandrum's roads this year. Even when the Volvo's debut has not been as commercially successful as ideally should have been, with a minimum of intelligent route planning (instead of the "my guess is as good as yours" strategy currently in evidence) the services should be plying successfully on arterial routes as the year progresses.
TCRIP should achieve substantial completion by 2010-end. We can expect to use the chronically delayed Bakery Junction flyover sometime in April. Work on the other pending corridors of TCRIP should also be substantially be complete by December 2010 with only the M.G. Road flyover to be completed in 2011. That means about 40 Km of world-class roads for us.
With a bit of luck and interest from the Government, 2010 could also see the first stages of work on the transport components of JNNURM (if someone finally remembers them!) including several grade separators and the widening of several key roads. We could also see the commencement of work on the BRTS system, cleared by the Cabinet in July 2009. Fingers crossed on that one.
Finally, 2010 will also see the much-maligned JICA-aided water project come good with an extra 80 million litres per day of water delivered to the city and its suburbs.
Highway Development: The tenders for the Cherthala - Oachira and Oachira - Trivandrum (Kazhakkoottam) stretches of the NH-47 are almost through and we can expect work to start by July-August on the long-overdue 4-laning of NH-47 between Trivandrum and Cochin. The tendering of the Kazhakkoottam - TN Border stretch is yet to be completed but we can expect it also to get going by end-2010. Meanwhile, NHAI will complete a study for the Outer Ring Road for Trivandrum as well as for an Expressway starting from Trivandrum till Thrissur. Work on the M.C. Road will also be complete by mid-2010, bringing Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam districts closer to the State Capital.
Institutions: The stunning campus of the IISST is due to open in mid-2010 while the much larger one of the IISER should also be substantially complete by the end of the year. New campuses are also on the anvil for the RGCB, IIITM-K and Asian School of Business.
Trivandrum International Airport: After missing its 2009 completion target, the massive 350,000 sq.ft Terminal 3 (hopefully??) along with its 6-lane elevated approach road should be open by April 2010. Simultaneously, the Air India - Boeing MRO complex should swing its giant doors open in June or so. The acquisition of at least a portion of the 80-odd acres promised to AAI for the further expansion of the Airport may be completed within 2010, paving the way for further facilities such as a dedicated cargo terminal and further expansion of T3. We could also see a new ATC tower coming up in 2010.
Railway Development: After much ado and no show in 2009, the Railways are expected to put in a much better showing in 2010. First up could be the inauguration of the much-delayed and nearly forgotten MEMU service between Trivandrum and Kollam, sometime in June. Hopefully, this could be followed by the commissioning of new facilities at Kochuveli as it crawls forward to meet its destiny of becoming Kerala's busiest station. Upgradation work at Trivandrum Central and even Nemom could start off in 2010. All in all, nothing much seems to be on the horizon this year on rails, except the odd new train which may end up still-born either due to coach shortage or the perpetual congestion at Trivandrum Central.
Tourism: Yes, yet again 2009 was a drab here in this case as well. With demand picking up in 2010, we can expect the launch of a slew of new projects starting with the artificial reef at Kovalam! A number of luxury hotel projects are also in progress or set to start off in the first half of 2010. We can expect some of the global marquee names in the industry to make an appearance including Marriott, Oakwood and Hyatt. Work on the International Convention Center Complex at Aakulam should also kick off by April 2010.
Real Estate: And finally....... ! Despite the slow down having affected Trivandrum the least among the real estate destinations in Kerala and even across India, the action had decelerated, especially with respect to commercial projects. 2010 will see the opening of Trivandrum's first true-blue mall, at M.G.Road while work will kick off on a number of major retail projects in locations as diverse as Sasthamangalam to Pattoor. The residential sector is also going to see a slew of major launches, especially along the IT Corridor along with some luxury properties within the city itself. We can expect a number of major retailers to open their doors in 2010 as well, stay tuned for more.
....and that's it. Many of you may be wondering why I didn't mention the National Games?! Simple, because the 35th National Games of India will be held in Trivandrum in 2011, not 2010. Other initiatives that I have left out like expansion of the Trivandrum Urban Agglomeration, notification of a TCR Master Plan and the outcome of the twinning initiative with Barcelona are mostly intangible in nature and as yet uncertain. Projects like the KSIDC Life Sciences Park and the SIDCO Telecom City are still very much alive but are yet to fructify to an extent when we can make a prediction about them, in view of the experience with much more solid projects in 2008 and 2009.
This is my take on what we can expect in 2010. Do let me know your thoughts on the forecast. There will be updates on some of the key projects mentioned here in the days and weeks ahead, so stay tuned!
Labels: Air India, Barcelona, Boeing, BRTS, Infosys, TCS, Technocity, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, Trivandrum, Trivandrum International Airport, UST Global, Vizhinjam
vidhya Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 11:36:00 AM EDT
I follow your blog regularly... I am also very much interested in the developments that takes place in our city-TVM..I would also like to be a part of TDF..How do I go about it?Do let me know..
Vidhya
Ajay Prasad Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 10:47:00 AM EDT
Thank you for the support Vidhya. Drop me a mail at ajaypp@gmail.com and we will take it from there. Look forward to seeing you as part of TDF. Cheers!
RIP Budget 2010
Tweaking the Volvos!
Black Rust to play at Nishagandhi on Friday
Suggestions for the Union and Rail Budgets
Manorama's Take on City Twinning
T3 Updates - Jan 2010


text:
Town and City
3 Fantastic activities to enjoy
They do things their own way in Friesland. This is the only one of the Netherlands' twelve provinces to have its own language, with West Frisian the native language for over half of its population. But don't worry, fun, sun and fantastic attractions work in any language.
There's much to enjoy in the north of the Netherlands, and Friesland's unique charms have not gone unnoticed. Lonely Planet put the province in third place on its prestigious ten 'Best in Europe' list in 2018 – the first Dutch destination to ever place so high!
A fantastic mixture of nature and culture makes a holiday in the region a brilliant break for everyone, and there's no better way to enjoy it than a stay at Landal Friesland.
To get you started, here are three fantastic activities to enjoy in Friesland.
It may be famed for its natural landscapes, but we're going to start in the city – after all, Friesland is a place of surprises!
Leeuwarden is wonderful for fans of culture and heritage. There are all kinds of art and history museums and over 800 national heritage sites to explore as you work your way through its ornate streets and shops.
Recipient of the European Capital of Culture in 2018, Leeuwarden opened its doors and hosted an amazing array of events and installations. You can still see many of them, and there are festivals running throughout the year.
The Wadden islands
This is what it's all about. It's safe to say that the great outdoors is even greater in the Wadden Islands. There's wonderful sun and stunning scenery, glorious views galore and plenty of amazing activities to enjoy.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, and voted the Netherlands' 'Most Beautiful Nature Area in 2016', it boasts a unique, diverse landscape filled with fun things to do.
Enjoy the huge open expanses, wonderful scenery and spotting the natural inhabitants lucky enough to call this corner of the Netherlands home. What's more, the islands are in constant movement, so each visit can literally mean that there's something different to see!
History comes to life at this traditional Frisian town. Hindeloopen's maritime setting and history, dating back hundreds of years, is still perfectly preserved, so you can truly enjoy the best of both worlds.
Must-see sights include the historic captains' residences, loch keeper's house and the famed 'Liars' bench' where sailors would tell tall tales to each other.
Needless to say, its scenic seaside setting means some seriously fine dining. Visit the museum, take a tranquil tour and soak up your stunning surrounds after you've enjoyed the catch of the day.
If you're ready for a fun-filled Frisian adventure then take a look at our Landal parks in Friesland for lovely accommodation and activities in the region's most stunning settings.
hannahkmurray Culture, Europe, Family, Inspiration, Nature, Outdoors, The Netherlands
Win a luxury break 2021 T&Cs
Inspiration, Northumberland, Outdoors
Hidden adventures in Northumberland
Cornwall, Uncategorized
Rainy days in Cornwall
The Unforgettable Sale
About Landal
Our green promise
Security and privacy notice
YO662/L4801
Landal GreenParks is a trading name of Vacation Rentals (UK) Ltd. Registered in England and Wales.
Company Registration Number: 00965389. VAT Registration Number: GB 598 22 99 77. Calls may be recorded for training purposes.


WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 15, 2019) --The following statement was issued by Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, executive vice president and CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects on the occasion of the signing into law of the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (H.R. 7279). The new law provides flexibility to municipalities wishing to prioritize investments in wastewater and stormwater projects needed for Clean Water Act compliance and requires the EPA to promote the option of green infrastructure, which allows communities to use natural processes to infiltrate or reuse storm water runoff beneficially on-site where it is generated.


Looking to organise a Hen or stag night? Then look no further! We have some amazing activities for a memorable event. Fantastic offers, superb activities, great accommodation and top nightlife are our ingredients for a truly memorable night....what are yours?
The Maltese Islands offer a great alternative to the major cities and everyday life! This is why Sunspot Malta has teamed up with several hotels and top adventure suppliers to offer great packages especially for Stag and Hen groups wanting to get away for a couple of days of fun and some naughty stuff !!
We have different levels of accommodation from the basic to the top notch 5 star hotels with Spa facilities for the ladies, whilst Malta with its diverse topography can offer opportunites for some great adventure sports for the gentlemen!!!


text:
Boosted Commerce, Which Has Raised $380 Million In Capital, Acquires FoxyBae
The Opportunity And The Danger Of Artificial Intelligence In Retail
Retailers Are Optimistic About 2022, And Ready To Jump Into The Metaverse
Asian Luxury Sales Soar As Burberry Predicts 35% Profits Rise
How Big Is Walmart's China Problem?
Activist Investor Macellum Advisors Urges Kohl's To Initiate Sales Process Of The Retailer
Editors' Pick| Jul 29, 2020, 08:00am EDT |
EBay Has A Chance To Become Relevant Again Thanks To Coronavirus. Can It Deliver?
Andria Cheng
Former Contributor
I cover retail, from fashion to grocery, and its dance with technology
Coronavirus has given eBay a rare growth bright spot with increased online shopping. (Photo ... [+] Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Coronavirus has led to bankruptcies and even the end for many struggling companies, but it's given a new window of opportunity for eBay in its continued fight against larger rival Amazon.
Second-quarter gross merchandise value, or GMV, sold on eBay platforms worldwide rose 29% to $27.1 billion, the company said late Tuesday. The growth pace, the best eBay has seen in 15 years, followed at least five quarters of either flat or declining rates. In the U.S., GMV surged 35% last quarter after at least five straight decreases.
Active buyers rose 5%, or 8 million, to 182 million. That increase was more than what eBay was able to add in the last six quarters combined, eBay's newly- minted CEO Jamie Iannone said on a conference call. Iannone, a former company executive who re-joined as CEO in April, most recently served as Walmart e-commerce's chief operating officer. He had also served as CEO of SamsClub.com, the online arm of Walmart's wholesale membership club.
"Consumer behavior is rapidly evolving, and this dynamic has been accelerated by COVID-19," Iannone said. "In the past few years, we have not executed to our full potential. New competitors have taken share because we neglected our core area of expertise….We did not adapt quickly enough to the rapidly-changing needs of our customers…. The current strength in demand creates a significant opportunity for us."
Those new competitors include his former employer, Walmart. Walmart, benefiting from its physical store fleet processing a surge in online grocery orders for curbside pickup or delivery, is expected to beat eBay to become the No. 2 online U.S. seller this year with a 5% share of the market, outpacing eBay's 4%, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak estimated in a report this month.
Amazon's share of the U.S. online e-commerce market, meanwhile, would rise to 37% by next year, up from 34.5% this year, Nowak projected. Amazon was founded in 1994, just a year ahead of eBay.
'No Christmas Trees, No Christmas Trees' Another Shortage May Be On The Way
The Grocery Business Is Going To Get Much More Competitive
Costco Addresses Supply Chain Pains By Chartering Their Own Ships
Iannone said "a tech-led reimagination of eBay" will be key to helping make eBay "the best global marketplace." The company is simplifying the listing flow for consumers selling on its site as well as making the registration and onboarding process easier for small-business marketplace sellers. It said it's started to offer sellers "real-time competitive pricing and traffic data."
To attract more Gen Z customers, in June it released a Dark Mode feature that enables a dark screen background in its mobile app. The company said that was the most requested feature by customers, especially the younger demographic.
"A key focus for us over the next couple of years will be our Gen Y customers," he said.
Under pressure from activist investors to focus on its core online marketplace business, eBay, the former parent of PayPal before spinning it off in 2015, in February also sold its ticket-sale business StubHub. This month it agreed to transfer its online Classifieds business to Norway-listed Adevinta, a global online classified ads specialist, for about $9.2 billion.
EBay also had unveiled marketing campaigns in recent years to show consumers it's far more than the online auction site it was long identified with.
EBay shares, after falling to a low of $26 in late March, have more than doubled to close at $56 on Tuesday.
However, the Covid-19 tailwind aside, the key is whether eBay can keep the shoppers it has attracted during the pandemic and stem further market share loss.
In a cautionary sign, in Germany and Italy where economies have begun to reopen, the growth rate of the total amount of merchandise bought on eBay's platform has slowed despite the pace still being higher than pre-Covid levels.
Related on Forbes: Google Just Upped Its E-Commerce-Game. It's Not Enough To Compete With Amazon
Related on Forbes: Best Buy sales rebound after stores reopen, another sign coronavirus won't kill brick-and-mortar retail


text:
Dark Sarah ist eine finnische Symphonic-Metal-Band, die Heidi Parviainen nach ihrem Ausscheiden aus Amberian Dawn 2012 gründete.

Geschichte

Gründung und Schaffung von Behind the Black Veil (2012–2015)
Nachdem die Sängerin Heidi Parviainen ihre frühere Band Amberian Dawn verlassen hatte, begann sie an Dark Sarahs Debütalbum Behind the Black Veil zu arbeiten. Der Name Dark Sarah geht zurück auf eine Figur namens Sarah, in der es im ersten Song Save Me ging. Sarah hier von ihrem Verlobten am Altar stehengelassen und rennt weinend in den Wald. Sie entschloss sich ein Konzeptalbum zu erstellen, in dem es um die dunkle Seite von Sarah geht. Um das Publikum auf ihr Projekt aufmerksam zu machen, bat sie die Musiker Kasperi Heikkinen, Teemu Laitinen und Jukka Koskonen, die ersten beiden Songs Save Me und Poison Apple aufzunehmen. Das führte zu Dark Sarahs Debütalbum Behind the Black Veil.

Um das Projekt zu finanzieren, wurden drei separate Indiegogo-Kampagnen gestartet. Sie wurden alle von den Fans vollständig finanziert. Die CD wurde in drei Teilen, Episoden genannt, aufgenommen, wobei die erste Episode die ersten 4 Spuren, die zweiten Spuren 5 bis 8 und die dritten Spuren 9 bis 14 enthielt. Zu Werbezwecken enthielt die EP Violent Roses die Folgen 1 und 2 und ging während des Metal Female Voices Fest 2014 in den Verkauf. Es wurden nur 250 Exemplare gepresst.

Währenddessen wurde die restlichen Aufnahmen für Behind the Black Veil fortgesetzt. Am 27. September 2012 wurde bekanntgegeben, dass Manuela Kraller (ex - Xandria) an einem Duett für den Song Memories Fall als der Charakter "Fate" teilnehmen würde.

Später wurden auch zwei weitere Kollaborationen angekündigt. Am 13. Januar 2013 die von Inga Scharf (Figur "Queen of No Good") und Stefan Schmidt von der deutschen Metal-Band Van Canto für den Song Evil Roots  und am 29. August 2014 das von Tony Kakko ( The Moon ) von der finnischen Metal-Band Sonata Arctica für das Lied Light In You.
Heidi vervollständigte den Text mit Hilfe von Emy Frost, Janne Storm und Perttu Vänskä und die Musik mit den Komponisten Emy Frost, Janne Storm, Mikko P. Mustonen und Stefan Schmidt. Die Gitarristen Sami Salonen und Erkka Korhonen, der Schlagzeuger Lauri Kuussalo und der Bassist Jukka Koskinen wurden in die offizielle Besetzung von Dark Sarah aufgenommen, die sich jetzt in eine Live-Band verwandelt hatte. Heidi blieb die Hauptfigur. Bald ging der Bassist Jukka Koskinnen und wurde durch Rude Rothstén ersetzt. Am 29. April 2015 wurde bekanntgegeben, dass Schlagzeuger Lauri Kussaloit Dark Sarah verlassen hatte, um sich mehr auf seine eigene Musik konzentrieren zu können. Er wurde durch Thomas Tunkkari ersetzt. Videos zu den Songs  Memories Fall  (feat. Manuela Kraller),  Hunting The Dreamer  und  Light In You  (feat. Tony Kakko) wurden veröffentlicht.

The Puzzle (2015–2017)
Am 16. Dezember 2015 gab Heidi auf ihrer Facebook-Seite bekannt, dass mit den Aufnahmen für die ersten Songs des nächsten Albums begonnen wurde. Am 6. März 2016 wurde der erste Teaser zusammen mit dem Namen The Puzzle des neuen Albums veröffentlicht. Die Geschichte des Albums setzte sich an dem Punkt fort, an dem die des vorigen Albums endete. Heidi erklärt dieses so: The Puzzle ist auch ein Konzeptalbum und setzt die Geschichte fort, die mit dem Debütalbum Behind the Black Veil begann. Nachdem der böse Baum gestorben war und Dark Sarahs Seele damit einherging, flogen sie entlang des Todesflusses. Die Bäche führten sie auf eine Insel, zu der die verbannten Seelen gebracht werden. Um die Insel zu verlassen, muss sie das Rätsel lösen und drei Schlüssel finden.

Wieder begann eine Indiegogo-Kampagne, um das Album zu finanzieren, diesmal ohne mehrere Episoden. Die volle Finanzierung wurde am Ende der Kampagne erreicht.
Das erste Video für das Album wurde am 15. April 2016 unter dem Namen Little Men veröffentlicht. Am 24. April verriet Heidi auf ihrer Facebook-Seite, dass erneut drei Gäste auf dem neuen Album auftreten werden. Manuela Kraller (Ex-Xandria) kehrt als Charakter Fate aus dem Song Rain zurück und Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto (Charon, Northern Kings) spielte den Charakter The Dragon im Song Dance With The Dragon. Am 13. September wurde der dritte Gast angekündigt, Charlotte Wessels(Delain, Phantasma) spielt die Figur Evil Siren Mermaid im Song Aquarium, zusammen mit der Information, das The Puzzle am 18. November in Europa und Nordamerika veröffentlicht werden.

Am 18. Oktober wurde ein Lyrik-Video aus dem Song Aquarium veröffentlicht.

The Golden Moth (seit 2017)
Im März 2017 wurde bekanntgegeben, dass ein drittes Album in Arbeit sei. JP Leppäluoto kehrte zurück, um seine Rolle als "The Dragon" zu wiederholen, trat der Band bei und komponierte zusammen mit Heidi die Musik für das Album. Eine weitere Crowdfunding-Kampagne, um Geld für ein neues Musikvideo zu sammeln, wurde ebenfalls angekündigt. Die Beschreibung auf der Crowdfunding-Seite lautet:
"Das Konzept von Dark Sarah basiert auf einer Geschichte, die von einer jungen Frau namens Sarah und ihrem Kampf gegen ihre böse Seite Dark Sarah erzählt. Die Alben erzählen eine Geschichte über ihre Reise durch drei Welten - The Middle World, die Welt des Lebens (Behind The Black Veil -Album) und The Under World, wo die Toten wohnen (The Puzzle-Album) und The Upper World, wo Geister und Götter wohnen. "
Das neue Album wurde auch als eine Fortsetzung der Geschichte von Dark Sarah und The Dragon (dem Herrscher der Unterwelt) beschrieben, die sich in The Upper World wieder treffen. Am 26. Oktober startete die nächste Indiegogo-Kampagne, die am 14. Dezember voll zur Verfügung stand. Dazu kam der Titel des neuen Albums The Golden Moth und ein neues Musikvideo für den Song Trespasser. Am 2. November wurde die Sängerin Zuberoa Aznárez von der spanischen Metal-Band Diabulus in Musica als erster neuer Gast des Albums als die heftige Göttin Iron Mask auf Dark Sarahs Facebook-Seite enthüllt. Später am 3. Dezember wurden die beiden anderen Gäste enthüllt, der Sänger und Bassist Marco Hietala von der finnischen Metalband Nightwish als Gott White Beard und der Akkordeonist Netta Skog von der finnischen Metalband Ensiferum als Akkordeon, das Fortune Teller spielt.

Bandmitglieder

Aktuelle Besetzung
 Heidi Parviainen — Gesang (2012–heute)
 Sami Salonen — Gitarre (2014–heute)
 Erkka Korhonen — Gitarre (2014–heute)
 Thomas Tunkkari — Schlagzeug (2015–heute)
 Rude Rothstén — Bass (2014–heute)
 Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto — Gesang (2017–heute)

Ehemalige Mitglieder
 Jukka Koskinnen — Bass  (2014)
 Lauri Kuussalo — Schlagzeug (2014–2015)

Session-Musiker
- Behind the Black Veil:
 Kasperi Heikkinen (Gitarre bei Save Me und Poison Apple)
 Manuela Kraller (als der Charakter Fate in Memories Fall)
 Inga Scharf (als der Charakter Queen of No Good in Evil Roots)
 Van Canto (Hintergrundgesang in Evil Roots)
 Tuomas Nieminen (Hintergrundgesang in Silver Tree und Light in You)
 Tony Kakko (als der Charakter The Moon in Light in You)

- The Puzzle:
 Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto (als der Charakter The Dragon in Dance With the Dragon)
 Charlotte Wessels (als der Charakter Evil Siren Mermaid in Aquarium)
 Manuela Kraller (als der Charakter Fate in Rain)

- The Golden Moth:
 Zuberoa Aznárez (als der Charakter Iron Mask)
 Marco Hietala (als der Charakter White Beard)
 Netta Skog (als der Charakter Fortune Teller)

Diskografie

 Studioalben
 Behind the Black Veil (2015)
 The Puzzle (2016)
 The Golden Moth (2018)
 Grim (2020)
 Attack of Orym (2023)

 EPs
 Violent Roses (2014)

 Musikvideos
 Save Me (2013)
 Memories Fall (2014) (mit Manuela Kraller)
 Hunting the Dreamer (2014)
 Light in You (2015) (mit Tony Kakko)
 Little Men (2016)
 Aquarium (lyric video) (2016) (mit Charlotte Wessels)
 Dance With the Dragon (2016) (mit Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto)
 Trespasser (2017)
 Gods Speak (lyric video) (2018) (mit Marco Hietala und Zuberoa Aznárez)
 Sky Sailing (2018)
 Golden Moth (2018)
 Melancholia (2020)
 All Ears! (2020)
 Illuminate (2020)

Weblinks
 Offizielle Website

Einzelnachweise

Finnische Band
Symphonic-Metal-Band

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: PHP - Cannot update the cart total amount in Session As the title says, I cannot update the cart total amount. Here's the scenario of my situation.
I have a checkout page in which there is an option of shipping amount in which the user has to select an option from the drop down menu. Once chosen, the cart total amount should get updated adding the shipping charges in the header where my navigation links are and also in the page where I want the user to click the button for checking out.
Here's the shipping charge HTML code:
<select name="selectZone" id="custDelAddZone">
    <option value="-1">----- Select -----</option>
    <?php
    $queryForZone = "SELECT * FROM shipping_zones ORDER BY ZoneName";
    $validate->Query($queryForZone);
    if ($validate->NumRows() >= 1) {
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            echo '<option value="'.$row['ZoneId'].'">'.$row['ZoneName'].'</option>';
        }
    }
    ?>
</select>
<button name="CustDelAddUpdateZone" id="btnCustDelAddUpdateZone" type="submit">Continue</button>

Here's the AJAX part of the button click:
$("#btnCustDelAddUpdateZone").click(function() {
    zoneId = $("#custDelAddZone").val();
    if (zoneId == '-1') {
        toastr.error("Please Select The Region", "Error");
        toastr.options.showMethod = "slideDown";
        toastr.options.hideMethod = "slideUp";
    }
    var dataStr = $("#chooseShippingZoneForm").serialize();
    $.ajax({
        url: 'http://localhost/ECommerceOnFlatastic/ActionFiles/Customers/UpdateDeliveryZone.php',
        type: 'POST',
        data: dataStr,
        success: function(msg) {
            toastr.success(msg);
            toastr.options.showMethod = "slideDown";
            toastr.options.hideMethod = "slideUp";

            $("#selectZoneForm").slideUp();
            $("#delMethod h3").removeClass("color_light active");
            $("#paytMethod").show();
            $("#paytMethod h3").removeClass("bg_light_color_1 color_dark");
            $("#paytMethod h3").addClass("color_light active");
            $("#payment").slideDown();
        }
    });
    return false;
});

And here's the PHP script (UpdateDeliveryZone.php):
<?php
session_start();

$zoneId = $custCode = "";

require_once '../../Classes/class.Validation.php';
$validate = new Validation('developi_ecommerce');

$q = "SELECT CustCode FROM customers WHERE CustEmailAdd = '".$_SESSION['Customer']['email']."'";
$validate->Query($q);
if ($validate->NumRows() >= 1) {
    while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
        $custCode = $row['CustCode'];
    }
} else {
    echo "No Customer Found";
}

if ( isset( $_POST['selectZone'] ) && $_POST['selectZone'] != "" ) {
    $zoneId = $validate->EscapeString( $_POST['selectZone'] );
    $query = "UPDATE customers_delivery_address SET ZoneId = '".$zoneId."' WHERE CustCode = '".$custCode."' AND CustDelAddLastInserted >= NOW() - INTERVAL 10 MINUTE";
    if ( $validate->Query( $query ) == TRUE ) {
        echo "Updated Successfully";
    } else {
        echo "Invalid Query";
    }
} else {
    echo "Value Not Set";
}
?>

And here's how I am trying to get the cart total amount in PHP:
if ($validate->Query($sql) == TRUE) {
    if ($validate->NumRows() >= 1) {
        while ( $row = $validate->FetchAllDatas() ) {
            echo '
';
            echo ''.$row['ProdName'].'	';
            echo ''.$row['ProdCode'].'	';
            echo '
Rs. '.$row['ProdRate'].'
	';
            echo '
'.$_SESSION['cart'][$row['ProdCode']]['quantity'].'
	';

            $sbTotal = $row['ProdRate'] * $_SESSION['cart'][$row['ProdCode']]['quantity'];
            $subTotal = $sbTotal;
            echo '
'.number_format($sbTotal, 2).'
	';
            $total += $subTotal;
            $_SESSION['cartTotalAmount'] = $total;
            $tax = $row['CatTaxPercent'];
            $taxAmt = (($sbTotal * $tax ) / 100);
            $taxAmount += $taxAmt;
            $amt = 0;
            $cartWeightPerProduct = ($row['weight'] * $_SESSION['cart'][$row['ProdCode']]['quantity']);
            echo '
';
            $totalCartWeight += $cartWeightPerProduct;
        }
        $totalTaxAmount += $taxAmount;

        $_SESSION['cartWeight'] = $totalCartWeight;

        $sessAmnt = ($total + $totalTaxAmount);
        $totalPayableAmnt = $sessAmnt + $_SESSION['TotalWeight']; // This is my cart total amount

        $_SESSION['sessionTotalPayable'] = number_format($totalPayableAmnt, 2);
        if ( isset( $_SESSION['sessionTotalPayable'] ) ) {
            $amt = $totalPayableAmnt;
        } else {
            $amt = "Rs. 0";
        }

        echo '

Cart Total:

'.number_format($total, 2).'

';

        echo '

Taxes:

'. number_format($totalTaxAmount, 2) .'

';

        echo '

Shipping:

'.number_format($_SESSION['TotalWeight'], 2).'

';

        echo '

Total Payable Amount:

'.number_format($amt, 2).'

';
    }
}

For those who wants to know from where the $_SESSION['TotalWeight'] came from:
<?php
session_start();

require_once 'Classes/class.Validation.php';

function SelectZoneAmount($amt, $id) {
    $validate = new Validation('developi_ecommerce');
    $zoneCol = 0;
    if ($amt >= 1 && $amt <= 499 ) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_0_500';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 500 && $amt <= 999) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_500_1000';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 1000 && $amt <= 1499) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_1000_1500';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 1500 && $amt <= 1999) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_1500_2000';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 2000 && $amt <= 2499) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_2000_2500';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 2500 && $amt <= 2999) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_2500_3000';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 3000 && $amt <= 3499) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_3000_3500';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 3500 && $amt <= 3999) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_3500_4000';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 4000 && $amt <= 4499) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_4000_4500';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 4500 && $amt <= 4999) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_4500_5000';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    } elseif($amt >= 5000 && $amt <= 10000) {
        $zoneCol = 'SWC_5000_10000';
        $query = "SELECT $zoneCol FROM shipping_weight_charges WHERE ZoneId = '".$id."'";
        $validate->Query($query);
        while ($row = $validate->FetchAllDatas()) {
            return $row[$zoneCol];
        }
    }
}
$region = 0;
if (isset($_POST['selectZone'])) {
    $region = SelectZoneAmount($_SESSION['cartWeight'], $_POST['selectZone']);
    $_SESSION['TotalWeight'] = $region;
    echo number_format($_SESSION['TotalWeight'], 2);
}

?>

When I go to checkout page and select the shipping zone, I am not able to refresh the cart total amount. I know there must be a logical error somewhere. Kindly help me in rectifying the error.
Thank You in advance.

A: I think, error is found:
 $_SESSION['sessionTotalPayable'] = number_format($totalPayableAmnt, 2);

you set value in session var by using number_format() function. this is wrong way.
you can use  number_format()  function only view section...
because,  number_format() return a string . so, it can't calculate.
Please check your code based on above condition.
then that may solve.


Visual Latin and the AP Latin exam.
I really really love your courses and videos. As a matter of fact your videos convinced me to take Latin as a second language in school. Although in school, the class is slow and I like fast paces in language learning. As my parents say, I have a gift in language-learning and I love linguistics and the study of languages. So I want to purchase your Visual Latin course to speed the learning process up although I have two questions. The first is, will this course get me ready for AP Latin for my Junior Year (if you recommend doing AP). I want to really challenge myself. My second question is, will I be able to read texts like De Bello Gallico or Natural History by Pliny? I forgot to mention that I also read that you are now teaching Italian. I have a big interest in Italian and I'm currently studying it on Duolingo. Do you have any books or videos on Italian? Thank you so much! I really enjoy watching your videos and I can't wait to watch more with the Visual Latin!
I am happy to hear that you are enjoying Visual Latin.
Unfortunately, I have to tell you that Visual Latin, will not prepare you for the AP Latin exam. To pass that exam, you will need to be very familiar with Caesar's Gallic Wars and Vergil's Aeneid. Visual Latin is designed to teach students the basics of Latin grammar.
I do teach advanced online classes for those who would like to go beyond Visual Latin. You can find out about them on my site: www.dwanethomas.com.
However, you may not need me to help you. I recommend you read Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg. You can find it by clicking here: Lingua Latina. From there, read the second book in the series, Roma Aeterna. Once you read these, you will be ready for the Gallic Wars and for Vergil's Aeneid.
It's going to be a long road, my friend. I like Latin… but, at some point, you may ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" I did. Then I started studying Italian.
If you would like to learn Italian, then I recommend you download the book L'italiano secondo il «metodo natura». If the link does not work, then it is available on this page: http://lingualatina-orberg.blogspot.com/2012/06/el-metodo-directo-aplicado-las-lenguas.html.