Abstract: In this thesis, the effect on solubility of cyclodextrin polymers, prepared by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and epichlorohydrin (ECH), has been discussed by changing the ratio between epichlorohydrin and cyclodextrin. In addition, thio- cyclodextrin polymer was also synthesized by using the thio-cyclodextrin and ECH. The structures of CD polymers were characterized by FT-IR and 1H NMR spectra. The results show that the ratio between epichlorohydrin and cyclodextrin is lower than 35:1, the CD polymers are water-soluble, and otherwise, the polymers are water-insoluble.


Delbert told Rik his father died when he was thirteen.
I had good reasons to do that.
I'm not going to buy one of those, at least not yet.
Kathryn has just released a warts and all autobiography of his life with Francisco.
She will lay the doll on her bed.
She's been practicing piano for a year and can play the piano a bit.
Rayan won't make it in time.
Matthieu won't be the only one.
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Ole.
You don't know anything about Kelvin, do you?
Vickie has put his car up for sale.
I suppose Skip told you why I was late.
The garden at Horst's house was heavily overgrown. For over a year no one had bothered to look after it anymore.
Celia, are these books all yours?
Dave loved Nick, you know.
Clearly, you have feelings for Jeffery.
I don't think Jeany is in Boston.
Lowell runs a food bank in London.
Cole said I was the only one who said thank you.
I think Kamiya is insane.
I don't have to be here. I'm here because I want to be.
They were looking for a place at which they could pitch the tent.
Vladimir urged Wolfgang to take an umbrella.
Giovanni ran into a squad of police officers armed to the teeth.
Vicky is doing what we asked, isn't he?
I think you should send Marvin to Boston.
He pricked himself with a pin.
Jerald broke his neck falling down a flight of stairs.
Spudboy and Roxie sat on the couch very close together.
Danny would help us if he could.
I didn't even see her go.
Nichael has already done it.
I like to answer this kind of question.
Alan said that he enjoyed the party.


text:
40 Years of the Spiel des Jahres - Our Top 10 Winning Board Games
It's been 40 years since the Spiel des Jahres award was first made in 1979 to Hare and Tortoise. 40 great games have received this honour, and we know friends who began a board game collection only based on games that had won this coveted award. Winning the award guarantees a huge boost in sales, but for gamers, the games can often be a bit too simple and more towards the family end of gaming.
As gamers we enjoy both the heavy and lighter end of the spectrum, we've chosen to make a top ten list based on the 40 Spiel Winners, as well the eight games that have won the Kennerspiel (Connoisseurs' game of the year) and the 30 games that have won the Kinderspiel (Children's game of the year). We used Wikipedia as our source of information.
1. Azul has quickly become one of our favourite games and is likely to feature in both of our top ten games lists. It is no surprise that it took home the Spiel des Jahres in 2018, after it has flown off shelves with every printing. For us, it's a game that we play at home with two players, introduce to friends and it's also Fi's parent's favourite game so far, meaning that it gets plenty of table time. With its fantastic looks and simple, yet thinky gameplay, Azul is surely going to become an evergreen title.
2. Ticket to Ride was one of the first modern board games we played together and added to our collection. We started with Ticket to Ride: Europe, but have since added the UK map, Switzerland Map and Germany base game to our collection. Fi is also addicted to the fantastic app implementation. Again this is a game we've introduced to parents, friends and colleagues and it is always a success. The variety and complexity added by new expansions also keeps Ticket to Ride fresh and keeps it hitting our table.
3. Dominion is the first game Fi added to our board game collection (just look how far we've come!). We bought Dominion because of it's Spiel des Jahres credentials and it really opened our eyes to deck-building, which went on to be one of our favourite genres. We probably played it five times on Christmas day alone and have played it much more ever since, adding the Seaside and Prosperity expansions. It is still a top 10/20 game for us.
4. Codenames has really broken through to become a mainstream game since it won the Spiel des Jahres in 2016. It is the most played game in our collection, as well as the game we own the most variants of. We were surprised by how much we enjoyed the two player version - Codenames Duet, and have been having some great nostalgic games with Codenames Disney. Codenames is pretty much a guaranteed hit for us at any large gathering of friends or family and is still a game our friends request frequently.
5. Carcassonne is a brilliant tile laying game. We own the game with lots of expansions, enjoy the app and have even hand-made a Carcassonne magnet set for our fridge! One of the most satisfying things about Carcassonne is how the map grows and looks great as you play the game and you can play it quite competitively or take a more laid back approach. It's definitely one of the classic gateway games and deservedly so!
6. Hanabi is a cooperative game that we almost exclusively enjoy with only two players. We've taken Hanabi on many holidays over the years and have enjoyed getting better and better as a team, trying to deduce our was through this firework building puzzle. As a cooperative game and a small box card game, it was quite an unusual Spiel des Jahres winner for 2013, but as you'll see from our next pick, the designer, Antoine Bauza, has form!
7. 7 Wonders is listed as the first game to be awarded with the Kennerspiel, Connoisseur's Game of the Year, award in 2011. When we were getting into gaming, I knew it was one of the games we needed to try and it was probably our first exposure to a drafting game. I even remember winning the first game I played, with the full player count of seven players, which is always a way for a game to enter my heart. The drafting and set collection were both really appealing and the only drawback to 7 Wonders is the need for three or more players, which has been solved with 7 Wonders Duel instead.
8. Dixit is another one of our most played party games. Like Codenames, it's not just silly fun though - it really encourages creative thinking and works well amongst a group of friends who can make really interesting clues with 'in-jokes' and references. The artwork in Dixit is a amazing and surreal and we love keeping the game fresh with the expansions that add different artwork. This is a another game that we enjoy with friends, colleagues and family.
9. The Settlers of Catan is undoubtedly one of the best known modern board games and it win the Spiel des Jahres all the back in 1995! Before we got into gaming, I saw a friend with a copy of The Settlers of Catan and thought I'd never play such a geeky game. Probably a year later I was a much bigger geek! Many of our gamer friends are now bored of The Settlers of Catan, but we still keep it on our shelves with the Traders and Barbarians expansion and play it with some of our more casual gamer friends.
10. EXIT is an escape room style series of games, which was a surprise winner of the Kennerspiel in 2017. The win was a surprise because the Kennerspiel invariably goes to a medium weight euro game. That said, the designers, Inka and Markus Brand are no strangers to the award! The EXIT games have now released nine titles in English, with more on the horizon and are really tricky puzzle games. We've had varied experiences with the games, as some puzzles are more frustrating than others, but we really have to applaud the variety of ideas that have been captured by just paper and cardboard throughout the series so far.
No matter what our thoughts are on some of these games now. Many Spiel des Jahres winners helped provide a gateway into the hobby for us and still do for many people. Many are now household names and can be the hook in a conversation you have with friends about your amazing hobby. Lots of people have heard or played of Settlers of Catan, more so than if you try to explain to them all about Gloomhaven!
Posted by Fiona at Monday, August 27, 2018
Labels: Award Winning Games, Top 10s
Edvardas 28 August 2018 at 20:24
no one of your announces
OUTLIVE

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
← Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford displays her rapping-ability; calls-out Jordan Spieth (for a 'date').
Why Donald Trump is on Top →
Donald Trump : Potential GOP nightmare : 'I know this game really well. And I'm really rich'
Republicans dreaming of shooing away Donald Trump may want to think twice.
By publicly rebuking the billionaire-businessman for his inflammatory comments, the Republican-party may convince Donald Trump to launch a 3rd-party candidacy. That's a potential nightmare-scenario for the GOP establishment: a populist-outsider with unlimited-resources attacking their nominee from the right in the general election, raising hell – and attracting votes – with his rhetoric on issues like illegal-immigration.
Attorney Ralph Nader, who has run for president multiple times as a third-party candidate and may have cost Democrat Al Gore the 2000 election by running to his left, says Republicans mishandle Trump at their own peril. 'The Republican Party establishment is playing with nitroglycerine when it goes after Donald Trump and tries to minimize him and exclude him, because a jilted Donald Trump as a 3rd-party candidate can blow the presidential race wide open and turn it into a three way race.' • Ralph Nader
The Republican party's condemnation of Trump is likely to have helped fuel Trump's unorthodox-campaign.
'I think the damage is already done to a large extent, All the people who said well, his campaign is over now and blasted him for some of his previous comments, many of which he's walked back, they already have just pretty much dismissed this guy and the polls are saying otherwise.' • Bill Hillsman, a political-consultant who has worked for a number of independent-candidates including gubernatorial-races in Massachusetts and Texas.


I???m trying to delineate polygons along a river channel delineated by points representing different n values. I was wondering if anyone knew of a tool that would allow me to create polygons based on the same input value instead of what I am doing now which is connecting the dots. I tried Thiessen polygons but it gave me shapes that went way outside the boundaries of the points. Anyone know of such a function? See attachment for screen capture.
Depends... if you have sequence IDs as a means to determine the order of "connecting the dots" so to speak, then yes, that can be easily scripted - if there is no other ready means (other than visual inspection), that's another story. I saw your pic - those IDs group the points and that's fine, but are there more available attributes? Are these GPS points?
It appears that there are FID numbers but what I want to connect would be the odd numbers on one side of the bank and the even numbers on the other side. These are the numbers on the new attachment. Is this possible?
There are no other attributes to the file. THey were generated from a Hec GeoRas model.
Wow, Thanks. I'll have to read this over several times to absorb it. Not a real expert on Python but its practical stuff and makes sense when I read it. Will get back to you.
Thanks. I have been off on another project but will get back to this in the next day or so.
You mentioned closing the polygons: I'd like to do this where the n-values change (manning's coefficient value) which is in the attribute table as n-value. Would this be possible to insert somewhere in the code or I can just split the polygon created at those locations? See attachment. Upper number in label is the FID and lower number is the n-value.
Certainly. Can you attach a sample of your data? I ask because at this point it would probably be easiest to write the code specifically adapted to your input, whether that be a point feature class with these n-values in the attribute table or other format, such as a text input file containing these values in addition to XY point coords. It would be easier to explain it with comments in the code which I can post here. In short, I can give you the below explanation (along with that above for sorting the input).
If you already have a point feature class, you can use a sorted search cursor to access each table row and transfer point object geometry directly to an object array. Or, if you have a text file (or just a table, no geometry yet), you can read each line in the file (or row in the table), create point geometry from the read XY coordinates, and load the resultant points into an object array.
So how are the sets defined during iteration?...i.e., when do you stop loading the object array to load the point object set into a feature polygon geometry? By detecting change in the aforementioned n-values read with each row (or, if txt file input, with each line) - when the n-value changes, that's the end of the set. The array load is then interrupted to load the array into the polygon feature's geometry which in turn is inserted into a destination polygon feature class (your output feature table).
The iteration continues on in similar fashion with each successive set... there won't be any n-value change detected on the last set, so the final set will of course load the array but will not be loaded into polygon feature geometry within the loop - this final polygon must be completed outside the loop.
I will get back to you either today or Tuesday witha sample data set.
I have attached 2 files, one showing points Reach1B_Banks) but only for part of the stretch of river I am trying to calculate, and the other a line file (Reach1B). Values were not included from the spreadsheet but are included in the cross section line file. I hope the script can handle values in this file. What I need to do is combine the N_values for the left bank, channel and right bank which are in the attribute table as Left_Bank_N, Channel_N and Right_bank_N. These values will determine the changes in flow. The screen shot shows how I connected the dots but Reach 1B point does not have values so I want to use the red lines which have values.
Does this make sense? Will it work?
OK, I looked briefly at your attachments and will look further into it when I have more time...probably later today.
I would suggest 1st that if you know how to better combine your data, I would write everything to a temp workspace - that way, your orig data is preserved and you hopefully will have intermediate output that's simply easier to work with (or at least appears less complicated).
Sounds like you may benefit from either joining, sorting, or otherwise housing the data in a single table? That way, when you go building the geom, you then don't have to go to multiple lookup tables, etc., for attributes if it isn't necessary. I haven't looked into it yet at that detail, but sometimes it's more expedient to work with what scripts you've already experimented with and go ahead if at all possible to 'clean up' or adapt the data accordingly... I'll get back to this shortly. Meanwhile, if you have a breakthrough, certainly post it!
Okay, I've had a chance to get back to this - I haven't done much, just taken a look and attached a couple of files. Looks more like a 2-part problem, that maybe you'd like to 'see' data in a single table? Otherwise the problem statement is as you stated from the beginning to create a polygon based on ordering of FIDs, odd on one side, even on the other. Is there any change to that?
Pertaining to the data table, it seems to me you could do a spatial join, to 'combine' or join the line attribute data to the points. Make sure this data is accurate, see the attached. I used the one-to-many option of Spatial Join making the points the target so that you'd be able to 'look' at the data in a single table. Still it is redundant though - you could condense the table further to see a single record for each line (reversing the join, more or less). Anyway, I don't see how this really affects your orig problem creating polygons - have I missed something?
If all is as I understand it, I'll run the solution and attach it tomorrow.
- Took a subset of your point shapefile as defined in a query on the search cursor.
- Loaded the point geometry objects into a python list.
- According to the order you wanted based on your input, used the 'device' already described above for 'odd' and 'even' sides.
- Resorted the point objects to form the perimeter of a polygon.
- Created a new row via insertcursor in an existing polygon shapefile into which the point objects are to define new poly geom.
- Loaded the result into an object array (thought I could load the py object list directly into the insert row, but that didn't work).
Here's the rough code (again, this was done by trial and error within IDLE), see below. If you want to create 1 huge poly out of the point shapefile, you can - simply remove the query. Otherwise, if you want to create individual polygons out of progressive sets of points from the input shapefile, you can set up a looping cursor either based on a common ID code in the point table or redefining your query. Hope that helps.
Yes I get the code. Will need to study it further. Not sure what IDLE is. I would like to use an excel spreadsheet I have with all the values I need: left bank, channel, right bank, as you mentioned above. Will that work? Need to create polygons where values change at each of these locations. I only had points for a short section. None were created for the other sections. I am assuming that no spatial join is needed if I have all the data in an attribute table? Just join the excel table to the line file? Thinking out loud...will get back to you once I study the code a bit more and see if I can make it work on some of the data.
IDLE is simply the interactive editor/debugger app I use to test commands as I am typing each one, sort of like the command window you can now open within ArcMap to execute Python. Basically, if you take out the command prompts " >>> " and a few extraneous print commands, etc., get the indentation right, then you have a working script.
Not sure I yet understand what form all your data is in...are you saying you have XY coordinate values in Excel? Is there a reason why you have data in multiple forms, or is this because you just haven't assimilated it yet, or is all part of your data conversion process?
Yes, if you have coord vals in Excel, a search cursor can access that directly and assign each coord pair to a point object (in the code provided, the search cursor accessed the point shapefile and captured each point object directly - no need for the XY values).
Note: Not sure what you mean by creating polys "where values change" but if you happen to have ID values in Excel as in the input file used in the sample of the Writing Geometries help file, you can use this as your means to loop on a specific set or range of values, breaking the polygons where you wish.
Also, about the spatial join, I was using that because I thought you were missing a reliable common field on which to make an attribute join. I didn't need this to create the points although it appears this extra data may be needed to define where to 'break'.
Thanks for your last message and the code. I hope I haven't been sending you around in circles. Here is where I am: I have values in Excel that correspond with the left, channel and right banks of the river. I joined this table to the line file based on a common field. (I am not going to use the point file since the values exist only for a short section of the river and I need the whole). So are you saying that the code will assign coordinates based on those values to a line file with no need for xy values? See attachment of values along the cross sections. Top label is left, middle is channel and bottom is right bank. As I mentioned earlier, where the values change is where the break point would be. Can I substitute the shp file in the code with another and can I substitute lines for points?
Is there anything else on the code that would have to be revised?
What I'm saying is, if you have it, you can directly use point geometry (as I last demonstrated) or you can use XY coordinate values if you have that in a table, Excel, txt, or whatever. Or if you can derive those points somehow from the lines - I didn't see how, maybe I'm just being dense, but you know your data better than I.
Only real difference in using coord vals is you'd need to fetch the coord pairs from the table to assign to point objects before loading them in the array (the last sample simply fetches the point objects themselves from the point shapefile).
I'm slightly confused about 1 thing: what exactly you want polygons to represent.
The channel cross-sections bank-to-bank is what the lines represent, correct? But the points shown before were, as I understood it visually, where the 'normal' or main channel is? So you do not want a polygon bank-to-bank but the actual channel? Correct me if I'm wrong in these assumptions, and tell me how these 'channel points' are determined and did I somehow miss that from the table?
At this point (if the above assumptions are correct), I'm thinking if the 'inner' channel points are related to the measure of the line cross-sections, then the point locations you want to form the channel polygon out of can be derived. Just curious, why do you only have points for part of the channel?
Anyway, I can look at this again probably tomorrow and figure it out -- fill me in when you can and we'll solve this quicker.
In response to your message: Paragraph 1: I don't have point geometry for all the channel. It was derived from a model only for that section for some reason. So I have to use the values in the cross section lines. Forget about the points. Paragraph 3: The lines represent the cross section of not just the channel but the left and right bank values for flow.(N) The polygons will represent the values from line to line connecting the same values as polygons--for the channel, left bank and right bank. So there will be 3 sets of polygons. You are correct that the points represented the channel but I don't have that data for the rest of the river. Paragraph 4: How do we derive the inner channel or any of the polygons if we don't have xy locations? In the previous correspondence, I was assuming that we could assign coordinated based on some value in the cross section line file? If it is not possible to form polygons for all three areas, left, right and channel, maybe we can just do the channel.
...and if I carefully measure along that line FID 171 between the points in the shapefile you provided, using ArcMap's measuring tool, I get 147.58792.
So I'd say we have a winner algorithm for computing the points - I'll test further by 'chopping' your lines with the points for the segment lengths, make the computation as in the above, and make sure the results closely match the GIS computed length geom segments...pretty sure this isn't coincidental.
From there, I believe there are python methods for getting the 3 polygon sets you ask. Well, it's looking up, what do you think?
Thanks for touching base. This sounds great! Yes the N values pertain to flow. I would have never thought to look at the shape length. That would be great if the points could be computed with those values. Get back to me once you have tested your hunch.
Just thought I'd add this - I haven't had time to work on this further but I wanted to pass along that since RightBank and LeftBank are apparently 'measures', this has to do with 'linear referencing'...there are tools to generate points at those 'measure' locations, just I haven't used them in a while. I can also bypass that step using Python, but if you are familiar with the linear referencing tools, then you can also generate the points for the channel (I'm fairly certain that's how the point shapefile you have was generated) and use the script already made to build the polygons from the points.
I'll probably work more on this if I get time tomorrow, but keep me posted about this interesting problem.
...more time to look again at this - confirmed to my satisfaction that this part of the problem is really a 'linear referencing' exercise, see the attached (I only processed the right bank numbers). The red circles represent the points you sent in the shapefile and the points displayed within the circles represent the result of 'Make Route Event Layer'. Looks like I screwed up a bit on portions - this is simply where the measurement is from the 'wrong end', so that'll need a little tweaking. Once you get the points you can feed them into the script already provided to create polys from points.
- 1st use 'Create Routes' on your line fc, Reach1B, and I just used your FID as a route identifier since each line is essentially a route.
- Use 'Make Route Event Layer' to create your points...you'll be using a table output from Reach1B since it contains the necessary RightBank and LeftBank measures. Also, remember we established that these measure values are actually proportion of the length of the respective lines, so you can establish the number of feet by multiplying the measure value by your val in Shape_Leng field (add a double field, use the Field Calculator).
EDIT - You have to use the 2 pt method in the 'Create Routes' process to get the correct result as shown in the attached linearRef_corrected.pdf.... See the attached jpg on how I filled out the dialog of 'Create Routes'. Basically you need a start measure of zero (0) --- I simply used a field with 0 already in the table, but if you need to create a 'dummy' numeric field, that'll work.
I needed to sharpen my skills on Linear Referencing anyway, so hope this helps you as well. You may need to 'Copy Features' of your route event output to make the input points for the script...try it out and see.
I'm still following this interesting thread.... I do not have any further product to post now but have a question about the outermost polygon boundaries (of the 2 outer polys) - is this delineated by the endpoints of the lines in your line shapefile or are there more values in the table I am not aware of? I should have the time tomorrow to post a complete script file solution. I'm updating you now with what I understand so it gets incorporated properly into the script.
If you've had time to read the last post, I suppose you now know that the channel points for the 'inner' polygon can be derived from your line shapefile via the linear referencing technique I outlined. It looks like in your attached data, you preprocessed a join from Excel to your line shapefile, ProfileM = Station, is that correct? ...and if so, is that join going to be the script input to use for the entire river as in the subset you provided earlier? If so, then I'm correct to assume the change in the sum of the 3 N values is where you want to 'break' the channel polygon? And do you also want to break the outer polygons at the same location, so that the final result is a break that runs the complete cross section line?
To answer your question: yes, the endpoints of the lines should be where the outer boundary of the polygons would be delineated.
I now have n-values for each of the points based on the join I did with the values in the excel table and the same values for the cross sections. I selected all the points from the Reach_banks file that had the same n-values as the corresponding cross section. That gave me a field to calculate the values in that point file.
Yes, the join will be the input for the script for the entire river ( I have other reaches but we can practice on this one) The change in the N-value is where the break in the polygons should occur.
I have attached the cross sections and the banks point file. At this point I would need a script that uses the values in the cross section file to create polygons where the same n-values occur and breaks where they change for the left, channel and right. Will you be able to use the line file or the point file?
A rudimentary script file has been included as an attachment - I would urge you to use this script at your own discretion. I'm not sure if the output will work in satisfactorily applying a solution for your original problem - however, this will at least introduce you to some geoprocessing techniques.
Good luck! I'll try to paste the code in a window below as well as include as attachment.
Note that if you test the code (which is in very simple format, no error trapping, etc.), the code works with your provided line file (so you'll need to change the shapefile pathname depending on where this source is and you'll need to create a file gdb workspace to which to write outputs (and change that pathname accordingly as well). There's nothing really special about this code - just a 'brute force' method going step-by-step as we've pretty much discussed in earlier posts.
Thank you. I"m going to give this a try and will let you know the outcome.
as I already have the point events and route events as feature classes.
Let me know what you think--if I am on the right track.
- Did you have any error messages in the script run or do you have any specific related questions?
- You should attach your original script file -- do not copy to a Word document as this serves no purpose (and can create indention errors, failure in Python - so leave as is in the py file and attach that).
And I strongly suggest this (and you may have already followed up accordingly) -- check back with your associates familiar with the model output/techniques to be certain that your solution fits the problem. I am only familiar with the scripting techniques...not whether they are appropriate for your scenario. Consider that a final disclaimer. Just want you to know I enjoyed the challenge you posed, thank you, and if you are at a point you are satisfied with my 'contribution', please mark this post 'answered'.
Thanks again - if you have additional questions I can answer (scripting related), please be specific and I'll get back to you. Otherwise, looks good so far, so keep trying.
I tried running the script and got the following error messages attached. The polygons were not created. I would like help in tracing the errors to correct them and run the script again, if possible. What could be wrong according to the red errors? I think I Uploaded the files associated with this project to check if field names, etc are correct.
Hello Siran...think your attachment may not have uploaded properly. I'll take a look probably tomorrow and it's likely a pathname or data type is set wrong. I don't know how well you understand the code, but certainly having output to examine will be essential for you. Maybe it'll help to make a zipped folder containing only relative pathnames so it will run without changing a thing.
Anyway, do you have any colleagues looking at this so far to give you a sense of confidence in the final output?....always good to do a reality check! Hope all is well.
It is now geared to run off of your shapefile (the one you sent, also included on the provided attachment in case yours has changed).
When the tool opens, insert the shapefile - you'll see it alongside as in the illustration provided (also attached).
Provided you have ArcGIS Desktop 10 license (Advanced), then it should run in about 20 sec (as tested on my machine) to overwrite all you see contained in the file gdb. I left the test run feature classes in the gdb...but when you run it, it should overwrite everything. No 'addmessages' statements were added to the script, so it's very plain.
That's all! Enjoy. Make sure the errors get posted next time, if there are any.
The tool ran fine I think because it created the routes, outer poly, channel and break polys. However, attached is a list of errors that came up after the tool completed. I will still have to manually add the n-values field to those polygons to see where they change. This information is in the point files. Aside from that, I think this should work for my purposes. I'm not sure if correcting the errors will give us those values I still need but I can enter them in a new field in the polygon feature classes.
Right, so you must not be using ArcInfo (the Advanced license) - there are certain tools you must have the advanced license to run, Feature To Polygon is one of them.
EDIT: If you cannot borrow an ArcInfo license or you do not have time to study/modify the Python code to work around the licensing disadvantage, I suggest you download/install a free utility such as ET GeoWizards at ian-ko.com. The Build Polygon Wizard is completely free and works well.


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THIERRY HENRY NAMED HEAD COACH OF THE MONTREAL IMPACT
MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced Thursday the nomination of Thierry Henry as head coach of the Montreal Impact. Henry signed a two-year deal, with an option for 2022.
Henry, 42, is considered one of the best strikers in the history of football. After an illustrious career spanning 20 years, Henry retired from the professional game on December 16, 2014. He then became a coach in the Academy of English club Arsenal, in February of 2015.
In August of 2016, Henry became assistant coach of the Belgian national team, which reached the semi-final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, eventually finishing third after defeating England in the third-place match. On August 31, 2018, he was promoted to main assistant coach of the national team which currently sits at the top of the FIFA World Ranking, with players like Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Jan Vertonghen, Axel Witsel and Thibaut Courtois.
He then accepted the head coaching position at AS Monaco, the Ligue 1 club where his professional career began after growing up in Ulis, a Paris suburb.
"We are extremely happy to announce the nomination of this legend of the game," said Montreal Impact president and CEO Kevin Gilmore. "Henry will bring a new energy to our club. He shares our vision to elevate this club and will help us achieve our goals on and off the field. He is a competitor and a leader who has proven himself at the highest level throughout his career. He now brings these qualities with him to Montreal, a place he wants to be."
"We are extremely happy with the arrival of Thierry Henry," declared Montreal Impact sporting director Oliver Renard. "Young and dynamic, he's very familiar with MLS and meets the qualities we were looking for in our search. This nomination, two months before the start of camp in January, will give us a chance to build our squad with the man that will lead it."
"It's an honour to coach the Montreal Impact and return to MLS," said Thierry Henry, holder of a UEFA Pro licence. "It's a league I know well, in which I had some very nice moments. To be in Quebec, in Montreal, which has an enormous multicultural heritage, it's extraordinary. I've always kept an eye on the club and now I'm here."
A Ballon d'or finalist in 2003 and 2006 and FIFA World Player of the Year finalist in 2003 and 2004, he climbed to the top of Arsenal's goalscoring charts with 228 goals in all competitions, where he won two Premier League championships, three FA Cups, while also taking part in a UEFA Champions League final. With FC Barcelona, he won La Liga in 2009 and 2010, as well as winning the UEFA Champions League, the Copa Del Rey and the FIFA Club World Cup.
He concluded his professional career with the New York Red Bulls in 2013, after spending four and a half seasons in MLS, scoring 51 goals and adding 42 assists in 122 games, including 118 starts. He notably won the Supporters' Shield in 2013, was chosen three times on the league's Best XI, and was selected to play in the MLS All-Star game four times.
On the international scene, he played in four FIFA World Cups with the French national team (1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010), winning the tournament in 1998, in France. He also won the Euro in 2000. He is France's all-time leading scorer with 51 goals in 123 games, in front of Michel Platini.
Henry will be presented to the media Monday. He will be at the helm of his new team as of mid-January, when training camp begins.
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Wow! We have received such a hearty and warm response from media and industry personnel with regard to my father, Otto Stehlik, joining us at BON Hotels. Throughout our recent trip to Indaba, nothing but good wishes and heart-warming reactions from travel and hospitality people flowed: a wonderful feeling for my dad and I. We are both pleased and honoured.


Attilio Marinangeli would like to thank his staff, suppliers, producers and loyal clients for many wonderful years.
D'Arcy Glover opened D'Arcy's as a Swiss restaurant in the premises of a former grocer's shop on the corner of Hargrave and Elizabeth St Paddington.
Reinvented as Darcy's Restaurant Italian Cuisine by Attilio Marinangeli and Aldo Zuzza in 1975, Darcy's welcomed couples, families, professionals, celebrities and everything in between with traditional Italian food, quality service, notable wines and an intimate atmosphere.
Guillaume Brahimi and his team will move into the beautiful and historic Darcy's Restaurant site in Paddington, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, and will reopen as guillaume in August 2014.
"For me, the restaurant could not have gone to a better person than Guillaume Brahimi, and if I can be of any assistance to him when he opens the restaurant, I certainly will be. Guillaume knows he can always call me & I will always be available to him."


text:
IGNOU started the Admission for January 2023 session
Indira Gandhi National Open University has started the admission process for its various academic programs for January 2023 admission cycle. Some of the recently launched programs are MA in Environmental Studies (MAEVS), MA in Journalism and Electronic Media (MAJEM), MA in Journalism and Digital Media (MAJDM), MSC in Information Security (MSCIS), Masters in Urdu (MAUD), PG Diploma in Environmental Management and Law (PGDEML), Post Graduate Diploma in Agribusiness (PGDAB), and various Under-Graduate Honours programs in several academic disciplines.
The university has also got approval from UGC & AICTE for four new MBA programmes; MBA Human Resource Management (MBAHRM), MBA Marketing Management (MBAMM), MBA Finance Management and MBA Operational Management (MBAOM). Besides, the university has already been running MBA in Banking and Finance, MBA (General) in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode and MBA (General) in online mode. There is no need to appear in any entrance test to take admission in any of these seven different MBA programmes. Revised programme of Masters of Computer Applications (MCA) has also been launched with the approval from UGC & AICTE and will be now of two years duration. The eligibility for the programme has also been relaxed in terms of having Mathematics as one of the subject at UG level and there is also no need to appear in any entrance test to take admission in this programme.
Information regarding the newly launched and other programs offered by IGNOU is available on the official website of IGNOU (www.ignou.ac.in) in a common prospectus, which is also available on the IGNOU Regional Centre Srinagar website (www.rcsrinagar.ignou.ac.in). Desirous students can use the Samarth portal of IGNOU (https://ignouadmission.samartha.edu.in/ ) to take admission in any of the programmes offered by the university for the January 2023 admission cycle. Last date for the submission of admission application forms is 31st January, 2023. For any query, students can visit IGNOU Regional CentreSrinagar or call on 0194-3500995 or send mail to [email protected] Re-registration for January 2023 session is also going on and the last date is 31st December 2022, informed the Regional Director RC Srinagar Dr. Shahnawaz Ahmad Dar.
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text:
News Entrepreneurs
Business models for new digital media
1.5 million page views a month for journalism of ideas
Angel Alayon, photo by James Breiner
Versión en español.
Angel Alayon is an economist in one of the craziest economies in the world, Venezuela, where inflation is more than 100 percent annually. It is awash in petroleum yet has chronic shortages of milk.
And he is a journalist in a country whose government has been censoring enemies by buying them up and turning them into pro-government mouthpieces or cutting their supplies of newsprint.
Add to that, only 41 percent of the population are Internet users. So he is used to challenges. Maybe that is why he has been undaunted about creating a website with the unsexy concept of journalism of ideas, ProDaVinci.
With a full-time staff of only three, ProDaVinci has monthly traffic averaging 1.5 million page views to articles about economics, art, literature, science, and technology.
The latest month's numbers from Google Analytics were:
1.6 million page views
852,000 users
1:22 average session duration
84 percent bounce rate
49.9 percent new users
"We don't compete with the news sites," Alayon told me in an interview in Mexico City, where he had given a workshop. "Our network of 50 collaborators, who are experts in their fields, responds very quickly to news events and offers analysis of what they mean and what their consequences will be."
"The oil boom is over; poverty level is about 40%"
The website's collaborators include professors and experts in architecture, economics, literature, public policy, culture, and many other topics.
Probably more important from a business perspective is that 15 percent of those users are coming to the site more than 9 times a month -- loyal users, in other words. And 7 percent come more than 25 times a month.
The volume of traffic has started to attract advertising from media buyers, which has allowed the site to continue expanding gradually.
The biggest expense is the three full-time journalists. The business model has been to keep costs low and expand only as the growth in revenues allows. Alayon declined to give specific revenue numbers. Any profits are re-invested.
Alayon draws a monthly salary as director but the majority of his personal income comes from his work as a professor and consultant. He dedicates about three hours a day to ProDaVinci. A year ago he added a partner, the Venezuelan writer Oscar Marcano.
Journalism of ideas
Alayon started out writing a blog five years ago and converted it to an online magazine 2 1/2 years ago. I got to know him in 2011 when he was one of 10 participants in an online course in entrepreneurial journalism that I coordinated for the Foundation for New Journalism in Iberoamerica (FNPI, for its initials in Spanish).
From the beginning, Alayon's idea has been to create something more in-depth than the journalism he was seeing all around him. Obtaining high traffic numbers was never his goal. "Being a part of the conversation is more important than the number of clicks. You can't let yourself be tyrranized by clicks."
The big challenge for any digital medium, he said, is to attract a part of the fragmented digital audience. All media and social networks are competing for people's attention. But for him, it is not as important that a particular article received 100,000 page views as it is that an article with 1,000 page views reached people who have the power to steer policy or effect change.
It is easy to get lots of clicks with stories about sex and celebrity scandal, he said. What gets him excited is to hear that an article on ProDaVinci started a discussion among people over lunch or at a meeting.
Censorship in Venezuela
Another challenge is avoiding the heavy hand of the government of President Nicolas Maduro, whose socialist policies have lost popularity because of rampant inflation and chronic shortages of basic products. The falling price of crude oil has hit the government hard since it depends on exports for much of its revenue.
For Alayon, the formula is not self-censorship but high ethical standards: don't attack people or institutions, but do challenge their ideas. For topics that are controversial, he and his team give special attention to verifying facts and figures. They do not let writers express opinions that are not buttressed by facts.
Alayon, 42, has a bachelor's degree from the University of Santa Maria in Caracas and a master's degree from the University of Chicago, where he focused on applied economics. Although Chicago is famous for nurturing conservative economists, Alayon's own writing does not necessarily follow that line.
Audience becomes mobile, social
Alayon worries every day about how to compete for attention and keep the traffic coming. The Internet audience has changed dramatically in just the last year. Half the site's traffic now comes from mobile devices, so he is planning to invest and create a mobile version of the content.
The other big change is that two-thirds of the traffic is now coming from social networks, with half of that from Facebook alone. When Facebook tweaks its algorithm, every website feels it.
"The issue is the same for social networks and the whole ecosystem of digital media -- reputation," he said. "The goal is that people know if they enter your site it's because your content is carefully crafted and responsibly researched. And it should not be boring."
Alayon wants everyone who comes to ProDaVinci -- even those who visit just once or twice month to read a particular writer -- to experience carefully crafted and edited work.
ProDaVinci is also on the country's top non-music radio station with twice a week with one-hour interview programs during drive time and is producing a 15-minute video interview program twice a month that has obtained a sponsor.
Alayon compares the business of attracting and keeping an audience to the secret of maintaining a successful marriage. He quoted the Nobel Prize-winning novelist and journalist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who said, "You have to get up every day with the goal of winning your spouse's love as if it were the very first time."
Video interview with Alayon (Spanish).
Freedom of the press for those who own one (or a search engine)
Social media challenge Google for news distribution
How journalist built his brand from college dorm room
Journalists have to market their work in social media
WeChat as social media strategy for news in China
Digital entrepreneurs turn to mobile for users, revenue
Earthquake accelerated use of social media at Japanese newspapers
at 4:22 AM Posted by James Breiner
Labels: business models, digital journalism, entrepreneurial journalism, Venezuela
Bilingual consultant, teacher, trainer in digital journalism
James Breiner is a digital media consultant, bilingual in Spanish and English. He specializes in journalism innovation, entrepreneurship, and multimedia. He has done consulting and teaching in more than a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He is currently visiting professor of communication at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. Contact him at jamesbreiner@gmail.com @jamesbreiner
He previously worked for three decades in the newspaper business. He led a team of investigative reporters at the Columbus Dispatch, and he was later editor of Business First of Columbus and publisher of the Baltimore Business Journal. His work won awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and Press Club of Cleveland.
In his second career, he was founding director of the Center for Digital Journalism at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. He served as the editorial consultant for Crain Communications on the launch of a weekly business newspaper in Manchester, England. He also directed the master's program in Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University in Beijing on behalf of the International Center for Journalists.
He has a master's degree in English literature from the University of Connecticut.
His blog on entrepreneurial journalism in Spanish is at jamesbreiner.com. See the video introduction to his talk on entrepreneurial journalism in Prague at the Source Fabric conference.
Periodismo Emprendedor en Iberoamérica
JamesBreiner.com
12 revenue sources for digital news organizations
Versión en español. So much innovation is occurring on the revenue side of new digital media that it's time to review, update and agg...
Is quality journalism sustainable? Here are 20 media organizations that are solving this problem
This post is part of a study that identifies 20 media organizations from 16 countries and four regions --Eastern and Central Europe, Wester...
How digital media monetize their social capital
From GDJ's Clipart, Openclipart.org Lately I have been reading a lot about a new way of valuing media that would benefit entrepreneu...
5 dirty words journalists have to learn to say without blushing
Versión en español aquí. Journalism is the best job in the world, and working with journalists is fun. They're funny, irreverent, intelli...
When government fails, 'business has to step up'
Businesses like to devote part of their marketing and public relations budget to promote how they are giving back to society . We are not j...
My lectures, seminars, courses
"How to Build Media Credibility and Sustainable Value in the Post-Truth Era", Creima (Creative Industries and Media Management Congress), 22 septiembre 2018, Porto, Portugal.
"La credibilidad como la nueva moneda del periodismo: Las innovaciones en medios digitales nativos que convierten el capital social en la sostenibilidad", 24 mayo 2018, XXIV Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Periodística, Málaga, España.
"Los usuarios mandan: Escuchan los editores?", conferencia, 5 diciembre 2017, Facultad de Comunicación, Universidad de Málaga.
"David vs. Goliat: el capital social como arma defensiva contra Facebook y Google," presentación de paper, 9 junio 2017, Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Periodística, Elche, España.
"Emprender en una crisis," conferencia, 8 mayo 2017, Asociación de corresponsales de prensa extranjera, Madrid.
"Social capital to the rescue of the Fourth Estate," 22 abril 2017, International Symposium of Online Journalism, U. of Texas, Austin.
"8 prácticas de los periodistas emprendedores exitosos", 9 February 2017, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
"Periodismo Emprendedor: Cómo promocionar, monetizar y manejar un medio digital". 17 October-13 November 2016, MOOC, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
"Mapping the World´s Digital Media Ecosystem: The Search for Sustainability". World Media Economics and Management Conference, May 5, 2016. New York.
"The Economics of Accountability Journalism: What Price is Right?" International Symposium of Online Journalism, 16 April 2016, University of Texas, Austin.
"Sustainable financial models for investigative journalism," lecture, Primer encuentro caribeño de periodismo investigativo, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 5 November 2015.
"Deal with the Devil: Facebook, Google and the Migration to Mobile," Lecture at ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal, 15 May 2015.
"New entrepreneurial journalism ventures in Spain," iRedes 5th Iberoamerican Conference on Social Media, Burgos, Spain, 17 April 2015.
"The Mobile Audience Has Changed All the Rules of the Game," International Conference of Local Media, Barcelona, 26 March 2015.
Moderator, "The Profile of Entrepreneurial Journalists," The 3rd Latin American Forum on Digital Media and Journalism, Mexico City, 9 October 2014.
"The Mobile Audience Has Changed All the Rules of the Game", Congreso Internacional de Periodismo Digital, Cancun, Mexico, 6-7 March, 2014.
"Entrepreneurial Journalism," (Periodismo emprendedor), Cartagena (Aug. 27) and Medellin (Oct. 9) Colombia, 2013, invited by Periodismo de Hoy, FNPI, Ministerio TIC.
"Building the new journalist" (El ensamblaje del nuevo periodista), Congreso itinerante de periodismo digital, Puebla, Mexico, 30 August 2013.
"Entrepreneurial Journalism Initiatives," via webinar, U.S. Embassy, La Paz, Bolivia, 27-28 July 2013.
"How to verify content in Weibo and microblogs," Thomson-Reuters Programme on Global Journalism, China Radio International, Beijing, Dec. 20, 2012.
"Promote your brand with social networks; entrepreneurial journalism techniques," Tsinghua-Netease Future Media Center, Beijing, Sept. 22, 2012.
"New Trends in Journalism Education," Seminar on Financial Media Management and Business Journalism Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Sept. 21, 2012.
"Entrepreneurial Journalists in Latin America and Europe," Summer course, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, El Escorial, Spain, July 13, 2012.
"Independent Journalists on the Web," Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an, China, May 24-25, 2012.
"New China Seen through the Eyes of American Journalists," Chinese Association of Global Communication Conference, Shandong University, Weihai, China, Nov. 4, 2011.
"Entrepreneurial Journalism Ventures in Latin America and Europe," MediaFabric Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, Oct. 21, 2011.
Coordinator of Laboratory of Digital Journalism Entrepreneurs, online course for Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, Colombia, May-December 2011.
My articles, interviews
Breiner, J. (2018). "Regreso al servicio público y al enfoque en el usuario: Algunas señales de la revolución mediática desde América Latina", Asuntos de Comunicación, 109, 22-25. Telos, Fundación Telefónica: Madrid.
R Salaverría Aliaga, MP Martínez-Costa Pérez, J Breiner (2018): "Map of digital news media at Spain in 2018: quantitative analysis". Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, pp. 1034 a 1053.
Breiner, J. (2017). David vs. Goliat en medios digitales: el capital social como arma defensiva ante Facebook y Google. En Mediamorfosis: Perspectivas sobre la innovación en periodismo. Eds. Félix Árias Robles y Alicia Lara de González. XXIII Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Periodística (UMH). pp. 319-36.
Breiner, J. (2017). Mapping the world's digital media ecosystem: The quest for sustainability. In P. Berglez, U. Olausson, & M. Ots (Eds.). What is Sustainable Journalism? Integrating the Environmental, Social, and Economic Challenges of Journalism. New York: Peter Lang.
Breiner, J. (2017). "Social Capital to the rescue of the Fourth Estate: A Playbook for Converting Good Will into Economic Support". ISOJ Journal, 7 (1).
El "contenido distribuido" ha transformado las plataformas tecnológicas en los nuevos editores. ¿Están listos para su nuevo rol? En I. Bel Mallen (Ed.). La prensa digital en España 2016, 81-93. Madrid: IME, Institute for Media and Entertainment.
Mapping the world's digital media ecosystem: The quest for sustainability. In P. Berglez, U. Olausson, & M. Ots (Eds.). What is Sustainable Journalism? Integrating the Environmental, Social, and Economic Challenges of Journalism. New York: Peter Lang, 2017.
The Economics of Accountability Journalism: What Price Is Right? Conference: International Symposium of Online Journalism, At Austin, Texas, Volume: 6, Number 1, pp. 91-109
"The Surrender of Digital News Publishers" (La rendición de los editores de los medios digitales) (2015). in García Avilés, J.A.; Ferris, J.L.; & González, J.L., eds. Innovar en Periodismo: X Jornadas Internacionales de Periodismo UMH. Diego Marín Librero Editor, Murcia, 109-120.
"Innovation in Communication: An Art that Humanists Need to Learn and Teach," Revista Empresa y Humanismo, XVIII, 2 (2015), Spanish.
Interview given to InnovaSpain (Spanish) about digital news pioneers in Latin America
Prologue (in Spanish) to the book "Innovation and Journalism: entrepreneurship in the University"
1.5 million page views a month for journalism of i...
Freedom of the press for those who own one (or a s...
My Orcid
News Entrepreneurs by James Breiner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at www.newsentrepreneurs.blogspot.com.


Order within the next 14 hrs 16 mins and this item will ship out today.
Temperature control thermostat 5304476700 regulates the temperature in the freezer.
Part Number 5304476700 replaces 1615281, AH2582607, EA2582607, PS2582607.


MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED! That's what comes to mind over the last few weeks. I went with her a few weeks ago to look at a venue in North Georgia and then this past weekend Scott and I went to look at a few more with her. She's my only sibling and only 17 months older than me. 🙂 The wedding will likely be next June or July.
Our life has also been consumed with postseason baseball. As I type this the Cubs are getting ready to play game 4 of the NLCS. They are down by 3 games so this is a must-win if they want to have a chance to make it to the World Series!
I'm on Week 4 of the She Sweats 12-Week Transformation. I've completed all of the workouts so far and can't wait to move onto the next segment! I love checking stuff off and knowing exactly what I have left to do!
Two weekends ago we went to the Smokies with plans to climb Mt LeConte. We made it to the Smokies (a three-hour drive) and it was raining. We had been checking the forecast, which called for rain earlier in the week but then changed to no rain. We forgot our rain gear and didn't want to do this extremely difficult and long hike without rain gear and take the chance at getting sick. We were bummed but determined to make the most of it. The Chimney Tops trail had just re-opened so we decided we would do that trail instead. This trail was closed for over a year due to the (human-caused) fires last fall. It isn't open to the very top (the actual chimney tops) anymore so I'm glad we did it before the fires. I'm not sure if they are every going to re-open the whole thing which is a huge bummer.
It was a year ago that I posted about my aunt being in the hospital & then the day before Thanksgiving she was taken off life support. She's been on my mind a lot lately & I saw a lot of her today. Our day didn't go as planned…we drove 3 hours to the Smokies but forgot our rain gear (because it wasn't supposed to rain!) so we ended up doing a hike much shorter (but still hard!) than the one we had planned. I saw her in everything on the hike. When we left the Smokies to go to Scott's brothers to watch the Cubs (who lost) we stopped by a produce stand to buy a pumpkin. She was there again in these little birds and owls that were hand carved out of tree bark. She LOVED birds (and I've never been a big fan!). If we would have been able to do the hike we planned I wouldhave missed out on these moments because we would have been rushed. Sometimes it's nice to have time to absorb what is going on around you.
After our hike to Chimney Tops we went to Athens and stopped by Trader Joes. We love Trader Joes but we have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to the closest one so we don't get to go as often as we would like to. We bought a lot of random things like brown rice pasta, black bean pasta, cereal, produce, and beer (Scott's!). Of course we did our normal weekly Costco shopping too!


text:
The Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) consists of the American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

The Board has nearly 55,000 mathematicians and scientists who are members of the four organizations.

Each April, the JPBM celebrates Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month (previously, the month was called Mathematics Awareness Month) to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics and statistics. The event was renamed by the JPBM in 2017. To simplify coordination efforts, the JPBM also decided in 2017 that there will no longer be an annual assigned theme for the month. This celebration of mathematics, and now mathematics and statistics, began as Mathematics Awareness Week in 1986.

JPBM Communications Award
Each January at the Joint Mathematics Meeting the JPBM gives its Communications Award to a journalist or other communicator for bringing accurate mathematical information to non-mathematical audiences.

JPBM Communications Award winners
2022: Talithia Williams
2021: John Bailer, Richard Campbell, Rosemary Pennington, and Erica Klarreich
2020: Christopher Budd and James Tanton
2019: Margot Lee Shetterly
2018: Vi Hart and Matt Parker
2017: Siobhan Roberts, for Expository and Popular Books, and Arthur T. Benjamin, for Public Outreach
2016: Simon Singh, for Expository and Popular Books, and the National Museum of Mathematics, for Public Outreach
2015: Nate Silver
 2014: Danica McKellar
 2013: John Allen Paulos
 2012: Dana Mackenzie
 2011: Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton
 2010: Marcus du Sautoy
 2009: George Csicsery
 2008: Carl Bialik
 2007: Steven H. Strogatz
 2006: Roger Penrose
 2005: Barry Arthur Cipra
 2003: Robert Osserman
 2002: Helaman Ferguson and Claire Ferguson
 2001: Keith J. Devlin
 2000: Sylvia Nasar
 1999: Ian Stewart
 1998: Constance Reid
 1997: Philip J. Davis
 1996: Gina Kolata
 1994: Martin Gardner
 1993: Joel Schneider
 1991: Ivars Peterson
 1990: Hugh Whitemore
 1988: James Gleick

External links

 JPBM
 Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month
 MAA: JPBM Communications Award

Mathematical societies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Well, I am now in my second week in South America. Currently I am sitting in an Internet cafe in Bariloche, Argentina - but I will get to that in a minute.
The trip started (after almost 20 hours of travel from Toronto) with five days in Santiago, Chile. Beautiful weather in Santiago - sunny every day with highs of 30c. I got a wicked sun burn on my forehead though. I can never seem to apply sun screen correctly. They should give a course on that.
Santiago (population 6 million) is like most big cities. It's cosmopolitan and expensive (at least by South American standards). It has interesting things to see and do (museums, winery tours, historic architecture), but is ultimately exhausting. After 5 days in Santiago I was looking forward to going to a smaller, less noisy and dirty place. So I hopped onto an overnight bus to Peurto Varas in the South of Chile.
Imagine my surprise on arriving in Pto. Varas to find that it is raining and 10c! Not at all what I was expecting from South America!!!! Anyway, luckily I had warm and dry clothes to wear. Eventually the temperature climbed to around 15c, but the rain never broke once. Pto. Varas is very nice. Very German influenced. Small town (only about 30,000 people) but right on a beautiful lake and with views of the Andes in the distance.
We cruised Lago Todos Los Santos for about 2 hours. INCREDIBLE! The Andes Mountains surround the lake, rising almost vertically up from the lake. I have never seen anything like it. The mountains in the Andes are like the mountains you draw as a kid, steep and pointy at the top. Very unlike the Rockies in Western North America, which time has smoothed. After the boat ride (and lunch) we went by bus through an evergreen rain forest (it was raining, of course). Mud roads with lots of switch backs cruising up and down the Andes mountains. I think they said the highest point we reached was 2,700 meters. After another couple hours, two more boats and two more buses I arrived in Bariloche.
Bariloche is a ski town in the Andes Mountains situated on a very large Argentinean lake. It reminds me of Kelowna or Lake Tahoe in geography. It is very tourist focused, but not in that corporate way that Vail or Whistler are - just lots of independent hotels and hostels and restaurants. The weather is not much better here than in Pto. Varas. It's a little colder, but at least the sun is out.
And now I must place a pox on all of the Internet information and book-form travel guides that I read. For all of them stated that reservations were not required ANYWHERE, even in the high season, because housing was SO plentiful. I spend from 9:30pm until midnight stopping in EVERY hotel and hostel I saw trying to find a room. Eventually, aching from carrying my pack for 3 hours up and down the hilly streets of Bariloche, I found a place to stay. Only around $CDN 20. Very basic, but at that time of night I just wanted a place to sleep.
Today I have been taking it easy. Booked a bus out of here (again a pox on Lonely Planet for the information that buses were easy to get. The first bus out to my destination I could get was Saturday), found a new hotel and grabbed some lunch. Note to anyone travelling in Argentina. While the "Smoked Venison" sounds like a very fancy and interesting dish, ultimately it is just deer jerky. I imagine the chef in the back with a Ronco Food Dehydrater and a pound of deer meet snickering as I ordered it. At least the beer is good.
Future plans - Hanging around Bariloche for a few days and then to Pto. Montt to watch Superbowl (anyone now how to ask "are you showing the Superbowl" in Spanish) and prepare to catch a boat down the southern fjords of Chile to watch icebergs and glaciers cleave. After that, probably up North again to get some WARM weather again. Probably Buenos Aires for a few days.
I hope everything is good where ever you are. I hear it is very cold in Toronto, so despite it only being 10c here today, I don't feel too bad that I am missing the -15c weather in Toronto.


text:
George Maull & E.J. Harrison
It gave this nine-year-old choirboy a lot to think about. "Were there really angels showing up disguised as regular folks?" "Could they eat pizza and drink coke like the rest of us?" "How did they talk?"
While I cannot presume to literally know what the author's intentions were, over the years of my own life I've come to the conclusion that, at the very least, it means that one should always treat strangers politely, kindly…as a matter of course.
A case in point…one of our youngest and highly valued Trustees, E.J. Harrison, (and I would hasten to add that we highly value all the members of our Board) when I asked him how it was that he came to us, told me that a former member of the Board of the New Jersey Symphony had recommended that he seek out The Discovery Orchestra.
This conversation took place early in E.J.'s tenure with us, but I never could quite get my head around it. "Why would a former member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's Board advise a promising young executive to perhaps join our Board?" So it just bounced around in my brain as an occasional visiting riddle to solve.
Eventually I asked E.J. for more info. He indicated that he had met Richard E. Hinson in North Carolina while E.J. was a university student. Richard Hinson was by then living in Chapel Hill, serving on the Board of the North Carolina Symphony (which Mr. Hinson still does.) E.J. had been an intern at the NCS and that was where they met.
I still could make no sense of this. Why would E.J., born and raised in New Jersey, be advised to join our ranks – as opposed to the NJSO? More time passed. The riddle kept making its rounds. More prying. E.J. wasn't entirely sure we should attempt to contact Richard Hinson, but he nevertheless reluctantly gave us an email address for him.
I wrote Richard Hinson recently primarily to thank him profusely for sending E.J. our way. I began:
"I'm embarrassed to say that I can't remember, now that I'm 70, whether we had formally met while you were still in New Jersey, but should that have occurred, my apologies – and if it didn't, 'Hello' now!"
Richard replied:
"You and I met very briefly on a couple of occasions at the home Rob and Julie Neff, my next-door neighbors when we lived in Princeton…These were fund raiser/recitals and there is no reason to think you would have remembered me…As far as E.J. is concerned…when I discovered he was from NJ, my wife and I started thinking about possibilities, and that is how you and your orchestra came to mind…by the way, I was one of the advance readers of Rob's novel Über Alles and I saw that you were, too."
Robert Neff, a former Trustee of The Discovery Orchestra now himself living in North Carolina, and his wife Julie hosted a number of our Intimate Evenings in their beautiful Princeton home with its magnificent Bösendorfer grand piano. Many people attended. I always try to do my best to be polite to all the guests at our events. Who knew? …Angels Unawares.
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Tips for Parents of Children Going to Middle School for the First Time.
For children going into middle school, there are many anxieties, apprehensions and fears to deal with and overcome. Middle schools are larger than elementary schools, the school work is harder to do, and there are more classes and more teachers – all with different expectations and personalities. If you have a child who is entering middle school for the first time, know that it is normal for your child to express concern and maybe even exhibit some acting out behavior over school issues.
Don't be too anxious about your child going to middle school. She will take clues from you and if you a consistently talking to other parents about how worried you are, she will hear you. Your child is capable of handling middle school. You know this. Empower her by letting her know that you know this.
Teach him daily organizational habits like checking an assignment sheet before leaving his locker everyday or packing up his book bag the night before and being sure he has everything he needs for the next day.
Put up his daily schedule on the refrigerator. This is a wonderful spot for him to check whether he has gym or band on that particular day. You will also be able to access his schedule here and help him with gentle reminders.
Go to any meetings or parenting classes your child's school offers. Most middle schools offer a class for parents whose children are transitioning from elementary school to middle school. Use this resource.
Openly communicate to your preteen child that you are available to help him with what ever he needs. While you may feel that your child knows this already, now is a good time to remind him.
Do not be afraid to communicate with your child's middle school administrators and teachers. They are there to help.


I have 14 years of Real Estate Experience and am a licensed Broker in both California and Hawaii. As the Principal Broker for Locations Maui, I coach my agents in their business development and providing top notch service to their clients.
I was born and raised in California, but the first time I visited Maui in 1992, I knew I would live here one day. It took me awhile, but I am proud to call Maui home and love to help others fulfill their dreams of owning property here, Whether you are looking to live here full time, part time, or simply own investment property, my team and I can help you.


Free workshop, normal admission charges apply.
On Saturday 10 December from 2pm — 4pm there will be a free family printmaking workshop run by Northern Print. Join us to print your own Christmas cards using simple mono printing stencil techniques — colourful, shimmery and full of seasonal cheer.


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Anne Hathaway's Unique Baby Name Decoded: The Special Meaning Behind Jonathan Rosebanks
by Lily Harrison | Thu., Apr. 7, 2016 4:38 PM
Kristina Bumphrey/Startraksphoto.com
What's in a name? Well, you're about to find out!
E! News exclusively confirmed that Anne Hathaway and husband Adam Shulman welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Jonathan Rosebanks Shulman.
So, you may ask, where did their son's unique middle name come from? It seems as though it's a combination of names from both side of the newborn's family.
Anne's paternal grandfather was named Roseline, while Adam's mother's maiden name was Banks.
To add to the mix, Adam's middle name is also Banks. So they're keeping it in the family!
Hathaway gave birth to her little one on March 24, and currently is "surrounded by friends and family in L.A.," a source tells E! News.
PHOTOS: Anne Hathaway's best movie roles
"The baby is extremely healthy," our insider added. "Anne and Adam are ecstatic to be parents."
Before giving birth, a separate source close to the couple told us that the timing was just right to start their family.
"Adam has been really helpful and is so excited on the baby. Adam and Anne are doing great as a couple and this whole baby process is a bonding experience for them both. 'One baby at a time,' she says but she would not mind one more after this."
The new parents tied the knot in a romantic ceremony in front of close friends and family in Big Sur, Calif., in Sept. of 2012.
The two started dating in late 2008 after meeting through mutual friends and by November 2011 Shulman had popped the question.
PHOTOS: Anne and Adam's romance rewind
TAGS/ Anne Hathaway , Babies , Top Stories


It's here. After a delay of nearly two months, summer has arrived in the Northeast, and it is one hot and angry season now. There is a theory that you can trick your body into feeling cool and refreshed by sipping on chilled soup that zings with the heat of hot chile peppers. There is also another theory, that if you fall off a horse, you need to get back on to avoid the trauma that will haunt you for the rest of your life.
I am tackling the second theory first: my horse is the habañero chile. It's been two years since a sassy, fearless, and smug me slit open a clutch of cherry bombs without gloves on. I've never, despite the warnings, ever protected my hands against the volatile oils measured in various Scoville Units that spit at you while preparing any sort of hot pepper. I knew enough not to rub my eyes or mouth with my fingers, but the gods were snickering at me when the fumes rose up from under the running faucet where I was cleaning out the seed cavities. I needed a respirator. Seriously. The pain was real and merciless. Drinking anything just spread the misery. I laid on the couch for half an hour, weeping tears, not of onions, but of terror. There was nothing to do but wait it out. Do not try this at home.
I would probably still be stuck in time, nursing my self pity, had this month's No Croutons Required not put out the call for pepper recipes. I've never been one to opt for the easy way out and am always on the prowl for new culinary horizons. An Internet search quickly brought up this recipe. At first I had palpitations, especially when I read that it called for four to six of the fiendish fireballs, and even more so when I read the intro, which was a reassurance not to be alarmed by the number of chiles. So I felt the fear and did it anyway, my way, by reducing it down to just one chile.
I'm not going to lie to you. Even this level of heat has enough cumulative kick to smoke your sinuses, enough so that you will no longer feel those wretched summer temperatures suffocating you. Which just goes to prove that that other theory is correct, too. This recipe will have you blowing hot and cold.
Roast bell peppers over an open flame until uniformly charred, holding and turning them with a long-handled metal fork or tongs. If roasting indoors, ensure that your kitchen is well ventilated. Place charred peppers in a paper bag and fold over to seal. Set bag aside for at least ten minutes. Remove peppers from bag to a cutting board. The peppers will be collapsed and easy to peel. Discard the stems, membranes, seeds, and skins.
Prepare the habañero chile. Wearing disposable latex gloves and distancing your face as much as possible from your work area, cut off chile stem, then cut chile in quarters, trimming away membranes and seeds. Carefully discard these, ensuring you do not touch your face (especially your lips and eyes) with your hands. Finely chop chile and transfer to a small, dedicated bowl. Set aside. Carefully peel off gloves inside out from your hands and drop them directly into the garbage bin. Wash hands thoroughly before continuing.
This recipe is for Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes who co-hosts No Croutons Required, the monthly vegetarian salad and soup event, with Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. The August theme is peppers.
Frozen Mocha Marlow (recipe below).
Every season has its special culinary celebrations: crisp, tart apples in autumn; bubbling, crusted pot pies in winter; and buttery leaf lettuces in spring. Summer heralds its own splendors. Here, I chronicle but a few of mine. What delectable, healthy or hedonistic, comestibles are you enjoying, wherever region you reside in, whatever season is visiting you now?
Juicy, sweet melons (Ambrosia variety).
Juicy, acidic tomatoes (Black of Tula variety).
A marlow is a melted marshmallow dessert dating back to the late 1800s, and a popular early recipe for ice cream. Its texture is like a luxurious mousse with a very rich, lingering mouth feel. Best enjoyed with strong, clear, unsweetened tea, black coffee, or ice water.
In the top vessel of a double boiler over slowly simmering water, melt the chocolate. Slowly stir in the coffee with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be streaky, not smooth. Add marshmallow quarters, stirring constantly until they are melted. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Using a whisk, beat mixture until smooth. The texture will be somewhat elastic. Allow to cool.
* Freezing times vary depending on your appliance setting, as well as how crowded your freezer is.
Thank you, dear Hema. There are far too many blogs which I love for a variety of reasons. Rather than attempt to list them all at the risk of leaving anyone out, allow me to assure you that my regard for you is more than just a summer fling.
My Legume Love Affair, the popular bean-centric event now in its second year, is stopping here at The Well-Seasoned Cook, where it all began. Hosting my own event is a special treat for me. The queue is long with guest hosts, and I have tried very hard to accommodate every request while making an appearance, however irregularly. I am forever thankful for the enduring creativity, support and good will this event has enjoyed throughout the months, and I have no doubt that August will spoil me with dozens of delightful dishes from around the world that tempt the tastebuds and spark new horizons in culinary adventure.
Use of the logo is optional. I am happy to accept more than one recipe per cook as well as those submitted to other events. Those who do not blog are also welcome to join and will be included in the random drawing. Friends and family of hosts are not eligible to win.
1) The New Food Lover's Companion - My personal choice and purchase, which I will ship worldwide.
Depending on volume of recipes, I expect to have the round-up online first week of September.


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History on Trial
My Day in Court with David Irving
by Deborah Lipstadt
In 1993, Deborah E. Lipstadt, a professor of Jewish Studies at Emory University, published the first comprehensive history of the Holocaust denial movement, Denying the Holocaust (JDC #58702). In this critically acclaimed account, Lipstadt called David Irving — a prolific, respected, and well-known writer on World War II who had, over the years, made controversial statements about Hitler and the Jews — one of the most dangerous spokespersons of the denial movement. A year later, when Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin UK, for libel in a London courtroom, the media spotlight fell on Deborah Lipstadt and, by extension, on the historiography of the Holocaust. Five years later, when David Irving lost his case after an intense ten-week trial, Lipstadt's resounding victory was proclaimed on front pages of newspapers worldwide. The implications of the trial, however, were far from over.
History on Trial is Deborah Lipstadt's personal, riveting chronicle of the legal battle with Irving, in which she went from a relatively quiet existence as a professor at an American university to being a defendant in a sensational libel case. This blow-by-blow account reveals how Lipstadt raised $1.5 million for her defense, which included a first-rate team of solicitors, historians, and experts, among them Anthony Julius, a literary scholar who is better known as the late Princess Diana's divorce lawyer. Lipstadt describes how in forced silence she endured Irving's relentless provocations, including his claims that more people died in Senator Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick than in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, that survivors tattooed numbers on their arms to make money, and that nonwhite people are a different 'species.' She also reveals how her lawyers gained access to Irving's personal papers, which exposed his association with neo-Nazi extremists in Germany, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and the National Alliance, which wants to transform America into an 'Aryan society.' In the course of the trial, Lipstadt's legal team stripped away Irving's mask of respectability through exposing the prejudice, extremism, and distortion of history that defined his work, even his once highly regarded account of the Dresden bombing.
Part history, part edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama, History on Trial goes beyond the historiography of World War II and the Holocaust to reveal the intricate way in which extremism and deliberate historical distortions gain widespread legitimacy and help generate hatred. An inspiring personal story of perseverance and unexpected limelight, here is the definitive account of the trial that tested the standards for historical and judicial truths, a trial that the Daily Telegraph of London proclaimed did 'for the new century what the Nuremberg tribunals or the Eichmann trial did for earlier generations.'(368 Pages)
Publisher: HaperCollins/Ecco, 2005
This item is sold by:
Note: Judaism.com is the longest established Jewish book and Judaica store on the Internet!
Direct link: http://www.judaism.com/display.asp?type=books&type=holocaust&etn=FIHAH
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The Case for Auschwitz
The Holocaust on Trial
Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory
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The island of Bali is one of the best tourist destinations in the world, as evidenced by the thousands of tourists who visit and come in a variety of the country.
One of the tourist areas you should visit while you are in Bali, is Ubud. Ubud Bali is often used as a holiday destination for writers who want to produce a creative work, because Ubud promises a beautiful atmosphere and quiet.
Monkey Forest Ubud is a protected forest area in which there are very sacred temple for Balinese Hindus. 14.00 is the best time to visit here, because the monkeys here is quite satisfied so do not be too aggressive when he saw the food that you hold.
Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA) was founded by Agung Rai, a resident of Bali who has devoted his life to the preservation and development of arts and culture. Here, you can see diverse collection of works of masters like I Gusti Nyoman Bali Lempad, Ida Bagus Made, and others. Here you will not only enjoy the beauty of the paintings, but also had the opportunity to watch theater performances, music, and dance. In the museum there is also a bookstore and a library complete with a reading room.
Tegallalang village offers beautiful views of rice fields has become one of the resorts in Ubud that is most popular among photographers. Rice paddies in the Tegalalang village is a favorite tourist attraction of international tourists. In contrast to other rice fields, rice paddies in the village form a neat terraces. To enjoy the green rice terraces, you just have to stop at one of the cafes or restaurants that are there.
Attractions Gunung Kawi is the ancient site. The appeal of the attractions Gunung Kawi, besides lies in the temple located in the cliffs, as well as the place is very beautiful and is equipped with the sound of the river water sound Pakerisan.
The appeal of pretending that one is located at the source of natural spring water in the temple area. Water from a natural spring, piped gets outside of the temple in the form of pancoran(shower) water. Water from pancoran very clear and cool, and according to Bali public confidence in water is also a holy water which can be used to cure various diseases.
If you have some question about this tour packages please contact us.


Compaq Deskpro EX Mini/470012-014 memory upgrade specification, Deskpro EX Mini/470012-014 maximum memory, memory speed, and memory upgrade options.
PC133 SDRAM DIMMs. Supports ECC, with maximum 256MB per slot in 2 memory slots. The Compaq Deskpro EX Mini/470012-014 takes the PC133 SDRAM DIMMs. Supports ECC Memory Type.
Compaq Deskpro EX Mini/470012-014 Memory Upgrade options.


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Q: SQLite: Efficient substring search in large table I'm developing an Android application that has to perform substring search in a large table (about 500'000 entries with street and location names, so just a few words per entry).
CREATE TABLE Elements (elementID INTEGER, type INTEGER, name TEXT, data BLOB)

Note that only 20% of all entries contain strings in the "name" column.
Performing the following query almost takes 2 minutes:
SELECT elementID, name FROM Elements WHERE name LIKE %foo%

I now tried to use FTS3 in order to speed up the query. That was quite successful, query time decreased to 1 minute (surprisingly the database file size increased by only 5%, which is also quite good for my purpose).
The problem is, FTS3 seemingly doesn't support substring search, i.e. if I want to find "bar" in "foo bar" and "foobar", I only get "foo bar", although I need both results.
So actually I have two questions:

*

*Is it possible to further speed up the query? My goal is 30 seconds for the query, but I don't know if that's realistic...

*How can I get real substring search using FTS3?

A: You should add an index to the name column on your database, that should speed up the query considerably.
I believe SQLite3 supports sub-string matching like so:
SELECT * FROM Elements WHERE name MATCH '*foo*';

http://www.sqlite.org/fts3.html#section_3

A: Solution 1:
If you can make every character in your database as an individual word, you can use phrase queries to search the substring.
For example, assume "my_table" contains a single column "person":
person
------
John Doe
Jane Doe

you can change it to
person
------
J o h n D o e
J a n e D o e

To search the substring "ohn", use phrase query:
SELECT * FROM my_table WHERE person MATCH '"o h n"'

Beware that "JohnD" will match "John Doe", which may not be desired.
To fix it, change the space character in the original string into something else.
For example, you can replace the space character with "$":
person
------
J o h n $ D o e
J a n e $ D o e

Solution 2:
Following the idea of solution 1, you can make every character as an individual word with a custom tokenizer and use phrase queries to query substrings.
The advantage over solution 1 is that you don't have to add spaces in your data, which can unnecessarily increase the size of database.
The disadvantage is that you have to implement the custom tokenizer. Fortunately, I have one ready for you. The code is in C, so you have to figure out how to integrate it with your Java code.

A: I am facing some thing similar to your problem. Here is my suggestion try creating a translation table that will translate all the words to numbers. Then search numbers instead of words.
Please let me know if this is helping.

A: not sure about speeding it up since you're using sqllite, but for substring searches, I have done things like
SET @foo_bar = 'foo bar'
SELECT * FROM table WHERE name LIKE '%' + REPLACE(@foo_bar, ' ', '%') + '%'

of course this only returns records that have the word "foo" before the word "bar".

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
December 15, 2011 conversableeconomist
Africa\'s Prospects: Half Full or Half Empty?
There has been a flurry of articles recently with optimistic economic news about sub-Saharan Africa. For example, the December 3 issue of the Economist featured \"Africa's hopeful economies–The sun shines bright–The continent's impressive growth looks likely to continue.\" The December 2011 issue of the IMF publication Finance & Development has a group of articles about Africa; for example, an article by Calestous Juma titled \"Africa\'s New Engine: Africa looks to its middle-class consumers to drive prosperity.\" These articles draw to some extent on a September 2011 report from the African Development Bank: \"Africa in 50 Years Time: The Road Towards Inclusive Growth.\"
Good economic news about Africa has been hard to come by these last few decades, but in the last 5-10 years, there have been some encouraging signs. For example, I posted last June 13 on how Africa was making up a growing share of international trade in Africa\'s Economic Development, and on September 19 about Africa\'s Growing Middle Class (!?!). I\'ll re-cap here some of the optimistic news, but buried a little deeper in these reports is some gloomy reality, too.
Here\'s the Economist: \"From Ghana in the west to Mozambique in the south, Africa's economies are consistently growing faster than those of almost any other region of the world. At least a dozen have expanded by more than 6% a year for six or more years. Ethiopia will grow by 7.5% this year, without a drop of oil to export. Once a byword for famine, it is now the world's tenth-largest producer of livestock. … Severe income disparities persist through much of the continent; but a genuine middle class is emerging. According to Standard Bank, which operates throughout Africa, 60m African households have annual incomes greater than $3,000 at market exchange rates. By 2015, that number is expected to reach 100m—almost the same as in India now. These households belong to what might be called the consumer class.\"
Here\'s Juma in F&D: \"Cell phone use has grown faster in Africa than in any other region of the world since 2003, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Africa became the world's second most connected region after Asia in late 2011, with 616 million mobile subscribers, according to U.K.-based Informa Telecoms & Media. Of course, South Africa—the most developed nation—still has the highest penetration, but across Africa, countries have leapfrogged technology, bringing innovation and connectivity even to remote parts of the continent, opening up mobile banking and changing the way business is done. Seeing the cell phone success, banking and retail firms are eyeing expansion in Africa to target a growing middle class of consumers.\"
Unlike many areas of the world with aging populations, Africa is on the brink of a \"demographic dividend\" of rising numbers of prime-age workers. The last few decades have seen real strides in health and education. The region is urbanizing. The business climate is improving. It has vast quantities of natural resources and 60% of the world\'s undeveloped arable land. Africa\'s economies have strong and developing connections to China and to India, with their rapid growth rates. Africa\'s diaspora outside the continent of 30 million or so sends back something like $60 billion per year to the region–along with connections to other markets and skills. Capital inflows to the region are rising and now substantially outstrip foreign aid to the region: here\'s a figure from the Economist:
The Economist cites a World Bank report from last March, \"Africa's Future and the World Bank's
Support to It,\" which says: \"Putting these factors together, the Bank concludes that Africa could be on the brink of an economic take-off, much like China was 30 years ago, and India 20 years ago.\"
Good economic news about Africa\'s economic development is welcome, and it may be churlish–or a sign of short days and looming Minnesota winter–to look at the gloomier side. But Africa\'s current growth projections, although they are presented in an optimistic tone, still mean odiously high levels of severe poverty even a half-century from now. Juma writes: \"Poverty will be a fact of life for a long time: one-third of all Africans will still be extremely poor in 2060, living on less than $1.25 a day, according to the AfDB.\" The African Development Bank writes: \"A dramatic decline in Africa's poverty would require the continent to grow at an average of 7%. These projections fall short of that level. And there are still serious risks ahead to Africa's growth path.\"
Developing Africa\'s possibilities for trade will require infrastructure investment, perhaps $500 billion over the next decade. Paul Collier writes about the possibilities for African railroads in F&D: \"The continent is a huge landmass, well suited to railroads. Yet during the past half-century Africa's rail network, never very extensive, has shrunk. Even the United States, a huge landmass with relatively low population density, has one kilometer of track for every 43 square kilometers of land. By contrast, Nigeria, home to one-fifth of the population of sub-Saharan Africa and one of its most densely populated countries, has but one kilometer of rail for every 262 square kilometers. Nigeria is not atypical: by radically reducing transportation costs, railways could open up vast tracts of Africa to economic opportunities, especially in agriculture and mining, which many countries are relying on for future growth. The continent needs a decade of massive investment in rail networks. Railways are hardly technologically challenging. They represent the oldest continuous industrial technology. Africa's lack of railways compared with other regions is primarily a consequence of politics.\" But as Collier points out, rail in Africa would need to cross many national borders, which raises questions of who will invest, how the railroad would be governed, and how it would be priced.
Electricity is another infrastructure need. Here\'s the African Development Bank: \"Africa's electrification rate
as at 2009 was estimated at 42%, with coverage of 69% and 25% for urban and rural areas, respectively.
Available projections for electrification rates indicate a steadily rising trend in the coming three decades to a
rate of 51% in 2030.\" Investment in this area also raises questions of electrical generation and distribution systems that would cross multiple national borders. The AfDB again: \"Africa's road infrastructure development is quite low in quantity, quality and access. Under 20 percent of roads are currently paved, and a study by the World Bank found that a significant share of the road networks built in the 1970s and 80s were in poor condition due to lack of maintenance.\"
African agriculture has been in reverse. Here\'s Juma: \"There is also vast untapped potential for African agriculture, which has actually regressed. World food production has increased by 145 percent since 1960, but sub-Saharan African food production is 10 percent lower today than it was 50 years ago, largely as a result of underinvestment in agriculture. For example, fertilizer use is strikingly low—only 13 kilograms a hectare in sub-Saharan Africa compared with 71 kilograms in northern Africa. Only 24 percent of cereal production uses improved seeds compared with 85 percent in eastern Asia. The lack of nutrient input has led to a dramatic depletion of soil quality; 75 percent of farmland in sub-Saharan Africa has been degraded by overuse. Only about 4 percent of Africa's crops are irrigated, compared with about 40 percent in south Asia, which leaves sub-Saharan Africa vulnerable to fluctuations in world food prices.\"
Of course, one can look at these issues of investment and infrastructure not as problems, but as potential opportunities to accelerate Africa\'s growth. The current 50-year projections, although they sound optimistic, don\'t offer enough progress for me. Here\'s a graph from the African Development Bank. The top line, with the tan diamonds, shows a decline in extreme poverty for those living on less than $1.25 per day, but it would still be one-third of Africa\'s population in 50 years. The bottom line with green squares shows a second poverty line: those living on between $1.25 and $2 per day. This would still be another 10% of Africa\'s population 50 years from now. Yes, the line with diamonds, showing the \"middle class\" living on $4-$20 per day is rising. But my eyes just keep returning to the two poverty lines and their distressingly high predictions even 50 years from now.
Tagged Africa
A Soft Drinks Tax?
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