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Gerrit Eicker 07:00 on 9. June 2013	Permalink
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While traditional newsrooms have shrunk, however, there are other new players producing content; http://eicker.at/NewsMedia2013
Gerrit Eicker 07:00 on 12. October 2012	Permalink
Tags: .EN ( 3,425 ), Communities ( 90 ), Community Journalism, Community News ( 6 ), Community News Websites, Journalism ( 109 ), Media ( 621 ), Net ( 2,755 ), Social Media ( 1,080 ), Web ( 3,322 )
Community News Websites
The landscape of community news websites reached a new level of maturity; http://eicker.at/NewsMedia2012
Gerrit Eicker 10:11 on 20. December 2011	Permalink
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Journalism 2012
What will 2012 bring for journalism? Social media bubble burst? Tech criticism? Appification? http://eicker.at/Journalism2012
Predictions for 2012 « Wir sprechen Online. and Gerrit Eicker are discussing.	Toggle Comments
Gerrit Eicker	10:11 on 20. December 2011	Permalink | Reply
NJL: "Predictions for Journalism 2012 – To close out 2011, we asked some of the smartest people we know to predict what 2012 will bring for the future of journalism."
NJL, Carrie Brown-Smith: "The social media bubble may burst, and more predictions for 2012 – In 2012 we will see a growing gap between newsrooms that are innovating and those that are…not. – 2011 saw a number of promising examples news organizations going beyond 'digital first' platitudes to actually trying things and making it work, and I'm optimistic we will see this trend continue. … 2012 will be a good year for local television. … 2012 *might* see a bursting of the social media bubble, or at least convince us that it is harder game to play than we thought. – This might seem odd coming from an avid social media user who developed two new courses on it for our journalism department and who even has been christened with that dreaded 'social media guru' title on more than one occasion [ack]. And assuredly, I do think social media is an incredibly important tool for news organizations to use to promote their content, improve their reporting, and engage their audiences… Journalism schools will increasingly step up to the plate to play a leadership role in journalism innovation in 2012."
NJL, Dave Winer: "We need to improve tech criticism. Here's how. – At the end of this year I'm thinking about the need for proper criticism of software, alongside other arts like theater, movies, music, books, travel, food and architecture. It's finally time to stop being all gee whiz about this stuff. Tech is woven into the fabric of our culture, as much as or more so than the other arts. And it's headed toward being even more interwoven. – We all need this, on all sides of the art. As users and creators. … The goal would be to move away from the lone inventor myth and see tech projects as more like film production or a even more apt, a TV series. Software is a process."
NJL, Nicholas Carr: "2012 will bring the appification of media – For years now, the line between the software business and the media business has been blurring. Software applications used to take the form of packaged goods, sold through retail outlets at set prices. Today, as a result of cloud computing and other advances, applications look more and more like media products. … As traditional media companies have moved to distribute their wares in digital form – as code, in other words – they've come to resemble software companies. … The old general-purpose web, where everyone visited the same sites and saw the same stuff, is rapidly being supplanted by specialized packages of digital content geared to particular devices – iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Kindle, Nook, Xbox – or to particular members-only sites like Facebook and Google+. … Apps are as much content-delivery services as they are conventional software programs. Newspapers, magazines, books, games, music albums, TV shows: All are being reimagined as apps. Appified, if you will. – Appification promises to be the major force reshaping media in general and news media in particular during 2012. … Appification opens to newspapers the powerful marketing and pricing strategy that the Berkeley economist (and now Google executive) Hal Varian dubs 'versioning.' Long a cornerstone of the software business, versioning is the practice of creating many versions of the same underlying informational product, packaging them in different ways, and selling them at different prices to different sets of customers. … We already see versioning strategies at work in the 'metered' programs operated by a growing number of papers… The orthodox view among online pundits has been that paywalls and subscription fees won't work for general-interest newspapers, that people simply won't pay for a bundle of news online. … That won't mean the end of the industry's struggles, but it does portend a brighter future. And that's good news."
NJL, Robert Hernandez: "For journalism's future, the killer app is credibility – We know that Content is King. There is no doubting this concept. If you don't have 'it,' no one is going to engage with you. We know that Distribution is Queen. In this modern age, what's the point of having 'it' if no one will find it? My prediction is that this ruling monarchy will be augmented by… a prince. Perhaps a duke? Whatever. And it's called Credibility. … We want to trust journalism. And to do so, we need to trust journalists. – And bypassing the blogger-vs-tweeter-vs-media company-vs-journalist debate, it is going to come down to one thing: Credibility. – Can I reliably trust you to tell me what is going on? If the answer is yes, then I don't care if you work out of a newsroom or out of your garage."
NJL, Dan Gillmor: "2012 will be the year of the content-controller oligopoly – Journalists will start paying serious attention to an issue that will ultimately determine whether they can participate in the digital world: control. – We are moving rapidly from an era of an oligopoly of content providers to an oligopoly of content controllers: new choke points. … This consolidation, to a very few companies plus increasing government intervention, is even more dangerous – and information providers of all kinds are finally starting to grasp what's happening. … Search engines… wire-line Internet service providers… mobile carriers… Apple… the copyright cartel… government: The forces of control are getting more powerful every day. They are a direct threat to journalism and innovation. Journalists are starting to take note – and we can only hope it's not too late."
NJL, Martin Langeveld: "A look back at my 2011 predictions, along with a fresh batch for 2012 – The Eurozone crisis gives way to the dollarzone crisis as Congress continues to deadlock over budget and debt issues. The Dow falters, dropping 10% by mid-year. The prospect of a President Gingrich lifts hopes briefly, but when Obama is re-elected while Republicans retain the House and retake the Senate, it sinks another 5%. Newspaper stocks fail to beat the market, but all the digital giants (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Amazon, AOL and Apple) are all in positive territory well ahead of the Dow."
NJL, Amy Webb: "Big data, mobile payments, and identity authentication will be big in 2012 – When Google launched its new social network Plus, it made headlines for requiring users to create accounts with their real names and identities. At the time, Google argued that people behave better when they use their real names – it even went so far as to call Plus not a social network, but a digital identity service. Some are now questioning how and when Google would be using our digital identities. Outside of social media, police departments in the U.S. have started using MORIS, which snaps on to an iPhone and enables officers to scan the irises of alleged criminals. In Brazil, police offers are starting to fit glasses with biometric cameras which can scan 46,000 data points on a face and query a criminal database in real-time. Siri, an application acquired by Apple for the iPhone, can recognize individual voices and infer contextual information based on the user. In 2012, our fingerprints may not matter nearly as much as our eyes, faces, and usernames."
NJL, Gina Masullo Chen: "Next year, personalization platforms will bring us more choices, not fewer – News has always been about making choices among lots of information; technology just helps us make those choices more smartly. … If I were creating this future, a large component of it would include offering greater customization of news and information for readers. … People choose what they like, what interests them, what gratifies their own needs, and what fits how they see the world. – In 2012, technology may help them make those choices more quickly and easily."
NJL, Tim Carmody: "Next year, Kindles, iPhones, and tablets will truly grow up – In consumer technology, five year cycles are really interesting. … Why does this matter for 2012? Well, besides five years of iPhone, we're also looking at five years of Kindle. That's two five-year anniversaries that really signal the point when mobile reading became mainstream. You could also call it the five-year anniversary of the tablet as a media device, because really, that's what the Kindle is, form factor-wise. … With e-readers, in general, I don't think we've really figured out how touchscreen reading devices are supposed to work, how to blend what we've learned from tablets with what we've learned from e-readers. … If I could make an analogy, 2011 for reading devices was like the first color/video iPod. 2012 will be the iPhone year. It seems like we made big leaps forward only because we don't actually know what the real leap forward looks like yet."
NJL, Burt Herman: "In the coming year, social media journalists will #Occupythenews – Social media's essential role in serious journalism can no longer be ignored. Next year, social media journalism will finally grow up. – Journalism will be more collaborative, embracing the fundamental social nature of the Internet. The story will be shaped by people involved in the news, curated by savvy editors from diverse sources and circulated back again to the audience. This is the new real-time news cycle. … Journalists have always taken masses of information and condensed it into something digestible for readers, adding context and insights. More than ever, journalists will curate sources outside their newsrooms to tell their stories. … It's up to the new generation of social media journalists to #Occupythenews – and to make sure society doesn't miss the stories that, diffuse and elusive though they may be, are crucial to understanding our world."
NJL, Rex Sorgatz: "LA is the future (kill me now) – Let's get this out of the way: I hate LA. – I hate LA the way that any good New Yorker hates LA, with a passion bordering on paranoid psychosis. I hate the faux culture, I hate the vapid people, I hate the unctuous politics. … But I am here to preach a new sermon: LA is the Future. It pains me to say, but it's time we all sucked up the fresh sludge spewing from the organic juice pumper. … Let's start here: Right now, I pay over $200 per month to have 1,600 TV channels pumped into my apartment. How many of those channels do I watch? A dozen, max. – This is clearly broken. Really broken. Stupid broken. – And we all know this has to end, somehow. And we all know it will end, somehow. … But I think we can all agree that this broken system is going to be fixed, somehow. – And when that happens, the fallout for the LA-based television industry will be catastrophic. … When the collapse hits, capital will rush out of the traditional entertainment industry faster than you can say 'Lehman Brothers.' … It will be fun, it will be exciting. And I might even hate LA a little less."
NJL, Vadim Lavrusik: "Curation and amplification will become much more sophisticated in 2012 – A big question for the coming year: How will the right communities get the right kind of news? – Ladies and gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the capability to build a sustainable journalism model. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster. … For the last year, much of the focus has been on curating content from the social web and effectively contextualizing disparate pieces of information to form singular stories. … Because anyone can publish content today and report information from a breaking news event, the role journalists can play in amplifying – and verifying – that content becomes ever more important. … Curation itself will continue to evolve and become more sophisticated. … The coming year will see a more balanced approach. … Information will, in this environment, inevitably reach the citizenry; at stake is the quality of the information that does the reaching. If content is king, distribution is queen."
NJL, Steve Buttry: "From a dropped paywall to a social media Pulitzer, expect a year of transformation – We will see more newspaper-company transactions in 2012. … [P]eople with sufficient wealth appear to have bought the companies outright, taking on little or no debt. … The winner of the 2012 presidential election will work harder on reaching voters through social media than through the professional media. …Digital First Media will continue to lead the way in transforming the digital news business. … We will see some major realignment of journalism and news-industry organizations."
NJL, Paul Bradshaw: "Collaboration! Data! 2012 will see news outlets turning talk into action – 1. 2012 will be the year we finally move away from the traditional homepage – The 'stream' as an interface will move from being the preserve of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to being a serious consideration for news website homepages. We're all 24-hour news channels now. 2. In 2012, 'Collaboration Is King'… 3. News organizations turn talk into action on data – Any news organization that is serious about its fourth estate role is building the skills to interrogate those datasets."
NJL, Dan Kennedy: "2012 will bring 'the great retrenchment' among newspaper publishers – Paywalls may become more popular in 2012; that doesn't mean they'll be enough to save a flailing industry. … The great newspaper retrenchment may prove to be more than a dead-cat bounce. As the economy slowly improves, the newspaper business may well enjoy a semi-revival. But before long, the forces that have been undermining newspapers since the rise of the commercial web in the mid-1990s will come back to the fore. … For the most part, though, you can be reasonably sure that newspaper companies will continue to cut costs, maximize profits (or minimize losses), and do their best ostrich imitations until they find themselves under siege once again. – They're standing up for traditional values – and what could be more traditional than failing to plan for the future?"
NJL, Emily Bell: "2012 will be a year of expanded 'network sensibility' – Making predictions about journalism is a hopeless business: Jay Rosen, who is much wiser than I am, said he never does it, and I salute him for that. … The network sensibility will grow in newsrooms that currently don't tend to have it as part of their process – it is still seen in the vast majority of places as more of a 'nice to have' rather than a 'must have.' … While this use of distributed tools and new platforms continues at speed, I think we will also see some much-needed closer scrutiny on what this new reality means for journalism and its constant redefinition of products and services. … Journalists have always been very skilled at stories and projects and fairly awful at thinking about platforms. We need more engineers who want to be journalists, and we need to teach students more about the implications of publishing in a digital environment – whatever the format their journalism originally takes."
NJL: "Amazon conquers, Patch dies, a Facebook-only outlet is born…and more predictions for 2012 – [P]redictions about the business of, and platforms for, journalism, from and platforms for, journalism, from Brian Boyer, Rick Edmonds, Kevin Kelly, Joy Mayer, Alan Murray, Alan Mutter, Geneva Overholser, Howard Owens, and Sree Sreenivasan."
Gerrit Eicker 08:01 on 9. August 2011	Permalink
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NYT Beta620
Beta620, a new home for experimental online publishing projects from NYT developers and readers; http://eicker.at/NYTbeta620
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Gerrit Eicker	08:02 on 9. August 2011	Permalink | Reply
NYT: "At The New York Times, our software engineers, journalists, product managers and designers are constantly striving to create new and innovative ways to present news and information and interact with our readers. Yet it's often difficult to try out new inventions on the world's largest newspaper Web site. That's why we created beta620, a new home for experimental projects from Times developers — and a place for anyone to suggest and collaborate on new ideas and new products."
AdAge: "The New York Times has introduced its long-delayed Beta620, a public beta testing site where web surfers can experiment with new products that could eventually take root on NYTimes.com. … 'It's a place that gives a permanent home to the tradition of innovation,' said Denise Warren, senior VP and chief advertising officer at the New York Times Media Group as well as general manager at NYTimes.com. 'And it invites our community in to help us formulate an opinion about the innovation and the new products.' … The Times' public beta site has come along just a few weeks after Google said it would wind down its own Google Labs page, which showcases a very wide range of ideas, in an effort to prioritize core products and put 'more wood behind fewer arrows.' … The Times believes its public beta site is perhaps different because the projects being tried there bear on its core digital product, The New York Times Online."
Nieman: "'It's all about spurring innovation – coming up with ideas that no one has thought of before, and having a place for them,' says Marc Frons, the Times' CTO for digital operations. And not just innovation, but 'continuous innovation.' The hope is that, in highlighting experiments as they evolve – and in providing a shared space for shaping their evolution – beta620 will be a place where developers, designers, readers, journalists, and pretty much anyone with an interest in the Times can engage in an ongoing conversation about its future. And about, specifically, the tools that will shape that future. … With beta620, the Times is taking the lessons of end-user innovation and applying them to the process of development, rather than simply the products of it. It's trying to make experimentation something that's open and interactive – rather than, Frons says, 'something that's cordoned off in the ivory tower.'"
RWW: "The Times has recognized the importance of open data for several years now, and the launch of their API in 2008 was an important step for the struggling news industry, which must now rely on the rest of the Web to make the most of its wealth of data. The Times has put considerable effort into properly categorizing its content for the open Web, and now it has begun to open its software development to the public, too. Some Web citizens have even taken to redesigning NY Times Web products without being asked. – As of now, only NYT developers can display projects on beta620, but the site has set the tone for a public forum on the future of the Times' technology, so that could certainly change."
GigaOM: "Can a newspaper think like a startup? New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen said on Twitter that the launch of beta620 is a turning point for the newspaper company because it means the media giant now has an 'openly experimental newsroom.' In an inaugural post on the new site, meanwhile, NYT staffer Joe Fiore said the company hopes it will become a place where Times developers 'interact with readers to discuss projects, and incorporate community suggestions into their work.' … But can a company whose financial status is still less than stellar really devote much time or resources to something like beta620? The New York Times may be a digital leader, but the reality is that the vast majority of its revenue comes from the printed product it has been manufacturing for a century and a half, because that contains the advertising that is its bread and butter – and even though many see the paywall as a success, its contribution to the bottom line remains relatively minuscule. Will the Skimmer or the NYT's take on instant search make a difference? That seems unlikely."
pC: "Right now, the projects on Beta620 are submitted by employees only, though anyone can comment on them or provide suggestions for improvement. Eventually, the NYT will open the site up to allow outside individuals and developers to submit their own proposals. At the moment, the best outsiders can do is send along recommendations for what the NYT R&D technology staff should be working on."
Gerrit Eicker 08:42 on 24. May 2011	Permalink
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State of the News Media 2011
Pew: 8th annual report on health and status of American journalism; State of News Media 2011: http://eicker.at/NewsMedia2011
News Consumption: Online vs. Print « Wir sprechen Online., Gerrit Eicker, and Plumber Stoke are discussing.	Toggle Comments
Gerrit Eicker	08:43 on 24. May 2011	Permalink | Reply
The state of the U.S. news media improved in 2010, at least in comparison with a dismal 2009. Newspapers were the only major media sector to see continued ad revenue declines, down 6.4%. (After our report was published, the Newspaper Association of America released its final tally and put the drop at 6.3%.) But as online news consumption continues to grow – it surpassed print newspapers in ad revenue and audience for the first time in 2010 – a more fundamental challenge to journalism also became clearer. The news industry in the digital realm is no longer in control of its own future, according to the State of the News Media report from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Online, news organizations increasingly depend on: independent networks to sell their ads, on aggregators and social networks to deliver a substantial portion of their audience, and now, as news consumption becomes more mobile, on device makers (such as Apple) and software developers (Google) to distribute their content. And the new players take a share of the revenue and in many cases, also control the audience data.
"In a world where consumers decide what news they want and how they want to get it, the future belongs to those who understand the audience best, and who can leverage that knowledge with advertisers," said PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel. "Increasingly that knowledge exists outside of news companies."
These are some of the conclusions in the eighth annual State of the News Media report, which takes a comprehensive look at the health and status of the American news media: This year's study includes detailed looks at the eight major sectors of media. The special reports this year include a survey about the role of mobile technology in news consumption and the willingness of people to pay for their local newspaper online, a look at emerging economic models in community news and a study of how the U.S. newspaper business is faring compared with other nations.
The Who Owns the News Media database allows users to compare companies by various indicators, explore each media sector and read profiles of individual companies. And in the Year in the News Interactive, users can explore PEJ's comprehensive content analysis of media performance based on 52,613 stories from 2010.
Among the study's key findings:
Mobile has already become an important factor in news: Nearly half of all Americans (47%) now get some form of local news on a mobile device, according to a new survey in this year's report, produced by PEJ with Pew Internet and American Life Project in partnership with the Knight Foundation. As of January 2011, 7% of Americans reported owning some kind of electronic tablet, nearly double the number four months earlier. But the movement to mobile doesn't guarantee a revenue source. To date, even among early adaptors, only 10% of those who have downloaded local news apps paid for them.
Online outpaces newspapers: Fully 46% of people now say they get news online at least three times a week, surpassing newspapers (40%) for the first time. Only local TV news is a more popular platform in America now (50%). In another milestone, more money was spent on online advertising than on newspaper advertising in 2010: Online advertising overall grew 13.9% to $25.8 billion in 2010, according to data from eMarketer. While eMarketer does not offer a print ad revenue figure, we estimate the newspaper took in $22.8 billion in print ad revenue in 2010. (We estimate online ad revenue at newspapers to be about $3 billion.)
Online news hires may have matched newspaper cuts for the first time: Large national online-only news operations began to get into the creation of original reporting in a significant way in 2010. AOL hired nearly 1,000 employees, over half of whom went to the new local news venture Patch.com. Bloomberg Government expects to number 150 journalists and analysts by the end of 2011, doubling Bloomberg's Washington bureau and Yahoo added several dozen reporters across news, sports and finance. These hiring increases appeared to have compensated for the 1,000 to 1,500 job losses the study estimates the newspaper industry suffered in 2010.
More grim news for newspapers: The newspaper sector endured another year of revenue and audience declines. Advertising revenues fell by roughly 6.4% in 2010 from the year before. Weekday circulation fell 5% and Sunday fell 4.5%. Seven of the top 25 newspapers in the United States are now owned by hedge funds, which had virtually no role in the industry a few years ago. Many of these new owners are turning to other outsiders to turn the business around. One potential silver lining is the finding that 23% of Americans said they would pay $5 a month for an online version of their local paper if the print version were to perish.
Every media sector is losing audience now except online: For the first time in at least a dozen years, the median audience declined at all three cable news channels. CNN suffered most with median prime-time viewership, falling 37% in 2010; Fox lost 11%, and MSNBC 5%. In aggregate, the median viewership fell 13.7% across the entire day in 2010. Prime-time median viewership fell even more, 16% to an average of 3.2 million, according to PEJ's original analysis of Nielsen Market Research data. Daytime fell 12%.
Local TV wins 2010 revenue race: Among traditional media, local TV may have had the best year financially. Revenue rose 17%, exceeding projections, thanks in part to a 77% increase in auto advertising and a record $2.2 billion in political advertising for the midterm elections. And, to boost audience, local TV has added newscasts at 4:30 AM in 69 cities; more than double the startups in that time slot a year ago. Nonetheless, when adjusted for inflation, average station revenue has still dropped by almost half in the past nine years.
AM FM radio listening may be on the brink of a major change – and decline: Radio has remained among the most stable media platforms, largely because AM and FM remained the primary listening format in automobiles. That may be about to change. Toyota is about to put online radio in all its models and Pandora has made an agreement with Pioneer that would include its online radio service in the cars of at least six additional auto manufacturers by the end of 2011. Meanwhile, Audio's foray into HD radio seems to be failing. Only 31% of Americans have even heard of it and the number of stations converting to HD dropped substantially in 2010.
The report is the work of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonpolitical, nonpartisan research institute: The study is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and was produced with the help of a number of collaborators, including Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute, Deborah Potter of Newslab and a host of industry readers.
Plumber Stoke	18:15 on 26. May 2011	Permalink | Reply
Its true. This is what most printing companies were worried about a decade ago. How has this affected the development of new printing technology… esspecially for newpapers ?
Well, there's eInk, eReaders with different screen technologies, publication systems etc. pp. – Anyway, personally I do not believe in a recovery of "print". At least not in developed countries. Print's got a hype around the world, but not where electronic devices have taken over…
Gerrit Eicker 19:26 on 7. March 2011	Permalink
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Hyperlocal?
AOL acquires hyperlocal aggregator Outside.in for a merger with Patch. Hyperlocal wishes and dreams; http://eicker.at/Hyperlocal
News Media « Wir sprechen Online. is discussing.	Toggle Comments
Gerrit Eicker 09:02 on 28. February 2011	Permalink
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Rockville Central Goes Facebook
Community news site Rockville Central (DC-area) moves to Facebook – entirely: where the people are; http://eicker.at/Rockville
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Gerrit Eicker 09:28 on 7. February 2011	Permalink
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Huffington Goes AOL
Aol. acquires The Huffington Post (HuffPo) for $315M: Arianna Huffington stays editor-in-chief; http://eicker.at/HuffingtonAol
Hyperlocal? « Wir sprechen Online. and Gerrit Eicker are discussing.	Toggle Comments
Gerrit Eicker	09:28 on 7. February 2011	Permalink | Reply
HuffPo: "AOL Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Huffington Post, the influential and rapidly growing news, analysis, and lifestyle website founded in 2005, which now counts nearly 25 million unique monthly visitors. … The transaction will create a premier global, national, local, and hyper-local content group for the digital age – leveraged across online, mobile, tablet, and video platforms. The combination of AOL's infrastructure and scale with The Huffington Post's pioneering approach to news and innovative community building among a broad and sophisticated audience will mark a seminal moment in the evolution of digital journalism and online engagement. … As part of the transaction, Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post's co-founder and editor-in-chief, will be named president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will include all Huffington Post and AOL content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, StyleList, and more."
Huffington: "By combining HuffPost with AOL's network of sites, thriving video initiative, local focus, and international reach, we know we'll be creating a company that can have an enormous impact, reaching a global audience on every imaginable platform. … Far from changing our editorial approach, our culture, or our mission, this moment will be for HuffPost like stepping off a fast-moving train and onto a supersonic jet. We're still traveling toward the same destination, with the same people at the wheel, and with the same goals, but we're now going to get there much, much faster."
ATD: "For AOL, the deal gives them a site that is very good at generating lots page views and impressions very efficiently–which is the company's whole thrust these days. – That means lots more ad inventory to sell and an injection of content talent, giving AOL more scale it desperately needs. – The move also obviously gives AOL a much-needed editorial identity and cohesion, which it doesn't really have. … Five time multiple to the Huffington Post's $65 million in expected revenue for the coming year, one-eighth of AOL's market valuation, the offer was accepted quickly."
Guardian: "The sale to AOL marks a personal triumph for Ariana Huffington, the colourful and controversial co-founder of the site that bore her name, who under the terms of the deal is given a new role as president and editor in chief of a unit to be named Huffington Post Media Group, and includes management of AOL's sprawling news operations and other media enterprises such as TechCrunch and MapQuest. … Originally a politics blog aimed at Democrats, the Huffington Post branched out into celebrity coverage and turned itself into one of the biggest pieces of real estate in online news media in the US, rapidly overtaking more established media organisations such as the Washington Post by deftly utilising the internet to exploit untapped markets."
NYT: "The deal will allow AOL to greatly expand its news gathering and original content creation, areas that its chief executive, Tim Armstrong, views as vital to reversing a decade-long decline. … By handing so much control over to Ms. Huffington and making her a public face of the company, AOL, which has been seen as apolitical, risks losing its nonpartisan image. Ms. Huffington said her politics would have no bearing on how she ran the new business. … One of The Huffington Post's strengths has been creating an online community of readers with tens of millions of people. … The sale means a huge payout for Huffington Post investors and holders of its stock and options, who stand to profit earlier than if the company had waited to grow large enough for an initial public offering. … 'The reason AOL is acquiring The Huffington Post is because we are absolutely passionate, big believers in the future of the Internet, big believers in the future of content,' Mr. Armstrong said."
RWW: "Can the Huffington Post strategy bring in as much or more revenue than that? While eyeballs have come online fast, ad revenues have been much slower to move. That's in large part because in the old media world, advertisers used to say "half my advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half that is. So they bought both halves. Online, that's not the case. Every click and every conversion is countable – so ad buys can be made much more rational. Thus much less media gets sponsored. It's hard to say how this is all going to play out in the long run. – AOL is making a strong move, though, in spending more than an entire financial quarter's subscription revenue on one big content shop and its leadership."
TC: "Arianna Huffington's genius is to churn out enough SEO crap to bring in the traffic and then to use the resulting advertising revenue – and her personal influence – to employ top class reporters and commentators to drag the quality average back up. And somehow it works. In the past six months journostars like Howard Fineman, Timothy L. O'Brien and Peter Goodman have all been added to the HuffPo's swelling masthead, and rather than watering down the site's political voice, it has stayed true to its core beliefs. Such is the benefit of being bank-rolled by a rich liberal who doesn't give a shit."
Gerrit Eicker 14:36 on 15. March 2010	Permalink
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Pew: 7th annual report on health and status of American journalism; State of the News Media 2010: http://j.mp/NewsMedia
State of Online News 2010 « Wir sprechen Online. and Gerrit Eicker are discussing.	Toggle Comments
Gerrit Eicker	14:43 on 15. March 2010	Permalink | Reply
Pew: "The State of the News Media 2010 is the seventh edition of our annual report on the health and status of American journalism. … Inside news companies, the most immediate concern is how much revenue lost in recession the industry will regain as the economy improves. – Whatever the answers, the future of news ultimately rests on more long-term concerns: What are the prospects for alternative journalism organizations that are forming around the country? Will traditional media adapt and innovate amid continuing pressures to thin their ranks? – And with growing evidence that conventional advertising online will never sustain the industry, what progress is being made to find new revenue for financing the gathering and reporting of news?"
Pew: Major Trends
– As we learn more about both web economics and consumer behavior, the unbundling of news seems increasingly central to journalism's future.
– The future of New and Old Media are more tied together than some may think.
– The notion that the news media are shrinking is mistaken.
– Technology is further shifting power to newsmakers, and the newest way is through their ability to control the initial accounts of events.
– The ranks of self-interested information providers are now growing rapidly and news organizations must define their relationship to them.
– When it comes to audience numbers online, traditional media content still prevails, which means the cutbacks in old media heavily impact what the public is learning through the new.
Pew: Key Findings
For the third consecutive year, only digital and cable news saw audiences grow among the key sectors that deliver news. – In cable in 2009, those gains were largely captured by one network, Fox, though during the day, a breaking-news time, CNN also gained viewers. – What's more, the data continue to suggest a clear pattern in how Americans gravitate for news: people are increasingly 'on demand' consumers, seeking platforms where they can get the news they want when they want it from a variety of sources rather than have to come at appointed times and to one news organization. … In 2009, the recession only intensified the financial crisis that technology has brought to the news business. Every commercial news media sector saw revenue declines except for cable. Ad revenues were particularly hard hit. If estimates by ZenithOptimedia prove accurate, total U.S. ad spending fell 12.9% for the year, the sharpest drop since the Great Depression, although most news sectors saw declines close to double that."


Each year, the Windjammer Days Street Parade kicks off the procession with a Grand Marshal. A respected tradition, this person is chosen for their strong character, sense of community, and their kindness toward others. This year there are three.
The "Blake Boys" as everyone knows them - Joe, Neil, and Gary were born and raised on Hodgdon Island in Boothbay, Maine. Today, they all still live in pretty close proximity to each other. Joe and his wife Brenda live on Barter's Island, Neil and his wife Sheila on Hodgdon's Island, and Gary and his wife Cathy at Boothbay Center.
Their father, Fred Blake, established Blake's Boatyard over in West Harbor back in 1951. The three boys spent every school vacation and summer working along side him in the Boatyard. In 1961, Fred purchased what is now known as Pier One from Gulf Oil. The three boys again worked along side their dad selling fuel, boats, and motors, as well as parking cars for boaters, many of them Squirrel Island residents. They sold Boston Whalers, Makos, Grady Whites, MFG boats, and Johnson Outboard motors. They even rented little Boston Whalers. Gary's daughter, Amy Blake Goodwin along with her husband Dusty, who are managing the Boatyard these days shared, "To this day, I have customers who come in and tell me that they bought their first boat from Freddy and the boys back in the 60s. It's really neat to hear those old stories." In 1973, Fred and the boys moved all the operations back to West Harbor. Their uncle Percy Barter who helped run the West Harbor yard would often tease them, "You said you were just going over to town one day, and you didn't come back for 12 years."
Despite working together nearly every day of their lives, the Blake Boys remain close friends even choosing to spend a lot of their free time together. Many nights they would leave the boatyard to shower and change just to meet up again for dinner. Family dinners were very important to the Blake brothers. They still are today, though the family has grown so big with kids and grandchildren, it can be hard to get everyone together as often. "A favorite family tradition to kick off the summer season," says Amy, "is our annual Father's Day dinner at Rocktide. Every year when I would call Mary Lou for a reservation, she would laugh and ask 'How many this year?' The last Father's Day celebration before my Grandfather Fred passed away, we managed to all sit together under that neat old train overlooking beautiful Boothbay Harbor. It was a table for 22."


The book they always mention on TV. Brad Gilbert's famous book draws on his experiences as a journeyman player who forced his way into the world top ten, and his days coaching ANDRE AGASSI. Foreword by ANDY MURRAY.


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Thanksgiving has come and gone, and chances are your relative wasn't the only one who got on your nerves. Spending that much time with your kitchen is bound to bring out its worst qualities. Maybe those lingering feelings of resentment left you ready to tackle some kitchen organization projects. If so, you've come to the right place. Choose the problem that best describes your Thanksgiving, and find tips to ensure your next holiday is angst-free.
You realized your cabinets and drawers are jam-packed.
The backs of cabinet doors are a great place to store kitchen gadgets that are cluttering your drawers. Simply attach a rod to the inside of the door, and use binder clips to hang items like measuring cups and spoons.
Dry spices are stored in glass containers in Atlanta interior designer Eryn Houck's kitchen, adding color and interest to what would otherwise have been a blank wall.
If you desperately need cabinet space, consider emptying the spice cabinet and displaying your spices, instead. Just be sure to place them into uniform containers to achieve a clean, sophisticated look.
A pot rack with an integrated light fixture with small halogen bulbs takes advantage of vertical space and can add task lighting to the work space below.
If you have an appropriate spot for one, a hanging pot rack can be an excellent storage solution. Your pots will be easily accessible, and you'll open up a cabinet to store other items. It's a win-win!
A set of columns on either side of the sink look purely decorative, but they're totally practical with their pegboard-style storage. Design by John McGilvray.
If you're totally on board with pegboards, consider installing them as a functional backsplash. Just imagine all the drawers you could reclaim!
The cabinet under the kitchen sink often gets crammed full, decreasing its functionality. Create space by adding a small curtain rod to hang cleaning supplies. That way, the bottom of the cabinet will be open for other items.
You couldn't find ingredients quickly.
Maximize your counter space by hanging Mason jars from the bottoms of your cabinet. By attaching sheet metal underneath your upper cabinets and magnets to the tops of jars, you can free up counter space and ensure your spices are always nearby. "For me, it's nice to have your spices within reach," says Jule Eller, Lowe's director of trend and style. "So if they're right there, you can grab them pretty easily." Decluttering your counter space will ensure there is extra space for cooking come mealtime.
Place foods you frequently use in jars, and hang them from the bottom of your cabinets. Attach sheet metal underneath your upper cabinets and magnets to the jar lids.
When your spices are unorganized, using them is a pain. Spend some time organizing, so they're all within easy reach. Tip: If you don't have a drawer to dedicate to spices, a lazy Susan is great for organizing them in a cabinet.
Organizational strategies for organizing cooking spices, your knife collection, and inside your refrigerator.
Do items get lost in the abyss of your fridge? It's time to spend some time organizing. Consider using a turntable for condiments and other clear containers to organize staples.
Organize your pantry staples in see-through, pull-out baskets it'll make it easier to see what you have and what you need.
Organizing your pantry isn't as difficult as you think. It is, however, super-helpful when it comes time to finding the 37 ingredients for the casserole you volunteered to make.
Just as you can utilize the back of your cabinet doors, you can also utilize the back of your pantry door. Attach wire organizing units, and fill them with items you use most often.
You totally ran out of counter space.
If you've got an appliance that needs to move — say, a heavy stand mixer or a clunky breadmaker — you could be in for serious pain upon lifting. Remove the danger with an in-cabinet appliance lift like Rev-A-Shelf. It can elevate hefty items almost as if they're weightless.
When you're working with limited counter space, you can't leave all your appliances out. But if you've ever tried lifting a stand mixer into a cabinet, you know it's no easy task. That's why you'll be ultra-thankful you installed this appliance lift.
This modern kitchen, including a wall of windows, adds rustic touches with a farmhouse sink, open shelving made of reclaimed wood, and a butcher block island. This kitchen leaves everything on display and accessible. Open shelves provide plenty of storage while keeping everyday serveware, pots and pans within easy reach. For the serious chef, built-in knife slots in this kitchen's butcher-block island keep culinary tools handy.
Keep your countertops bare, and load up your shelves, instead. Place the items you use most often on the bottom shelves, working your way upward.
You tripped over toys and dropped the turkey.
OK, I really hope you didn't actually trip and drop your turkey. But, since kid clutter is a universal problem in almost every room of the home, I thought it necessary to address. Kid-height kitchen storage allows kids to put their own things away and will (hopefully) keep them from dragging other rooms' toys into the kitchen.
Browse stunning images of beautifully-organized pantries, and get inspired to tackle your own.


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Q: How to use AWS SES on an Elastic Beanstalk Spring Boot app running in a private subnet I have a Spring Boot app that uses AWS SDK v2 for Java. I'm using the software.amazon.awssdk.services.sesv2.SesV2Client to do various tasks like add contacts, send emails etc and everything works fine in development. However, I realized that in production I use VPC endpoints for other tasks since the app runs on a private subnet. So I will have to add an endpoint for SES to me VPC Endpoints. I went and looked for an SES endpoint but it looks like the only one offered is com.amazonaws.us-east-1.email-smtp. It looks like its impossible to use SES in the AWS SDK when on a private subnet. For reference, this is the error I get which just reinforces what I'm saying but there may be something else helpful in there to others taking a look at this.

Jul 24 22:46:15 ip-10-0-2-126 web: 2022-07-24 22:46:15.999 DEBUG 1747 --- [nio-5000-exec-6] .m.m.a.ExceptionHandlerExceptionResolver : Using @ExceptionHandler com.oddsapi.odysseyapi.controllers.exceptionhandling.GlobalControllerExceptionHandler#defaultErrorHandler(HttpServletRequest, Exception)
Jul 24 22:46:16 ip-10-0-2-126 web: 2022-07-24 22:46:15.999 DEBUG 1747 --- [nio-5000-exec-6] o.s.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet        : Failed to complete request: software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.SdkClientException: Unable to execute HTTP request: Connect to email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com:443 [email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/52.5.91.104, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/18.206.141.93, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/52.20.100.70, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/34.230.97.163, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/3.217.95.76, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/34.237.162.86, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/54.164.105.38, email.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/3.220.196.1] failed: connect timed out

As you can see it attempts to connect to the SES endpoints but cant I'm assuming because it has no available VPC endpoint and also no connection to public internet. Are my assumptions that this is currently impossible correct? If so what are my other options here and if it is possible how can I modify my code/configuration to make this work?
EDIT
I read over this stackoverflow question here AWS Fargate - not sending emails from private subnet with SES endpoint and it is the same problem I'm experiencing with the exception that his private subnet using SES is a Fargate container and my private subnet is an app running on an EC2 instance through Elastic Beanstalk. However, I dont think that matters I think whatever the solution is it will work for both use cases. The guy in that question answered it with his own solution in one sentence and it is not very helpful. I use the exact same AWS article that he did as well which is here new-amazon-simple-email-service-ses-for-vpc-endpoints. My case is specific to using the aws-jdk which appears to connect using port 443 as can be seen in the error above. I think my question still stands as it seems based on the one sentence answer he provided that he went with using smtp instead of java aws-sdk. Spring on Fargate cant connect

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Published: Nov. 19, 2017 at 06:59 a.m.
Updated: Nov. 19, 2017 at 02:55 p.m.
The Denver Broncos' losing streak has reached five game, and the angst is now palpable.
As Denver prepares to host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, it will do so with a quarterback situation and an offense under an intense microscope.
On Friday, Broncos general manager John Elway spoke openly about the team not being competitive in their recent losses, saying that is "probably what concerns me the most." He added that the team "got a little bit soft" after their fast start. It was, no doubt, a challenge from Elway to his team.
While Elway spoke in generalities about the team, sources say there is growing frustration in the building with the offensive scheme. Ranked 24th in points per game, with a quarterback situation that hasn't been resolved yet, the offensive output and efficiency must improve.
Elway, by the way, supported coach Vance Joseph and said he knew there would be growing pains with a first-year coach.
Brock Osweiler will start again for the 3-6 Broncos, Paxton Lynch will be his backup, and original starter Trevor Siemian is inactive. The hope is this is the beginning of the turnaround.
If it's not, don't be surprised to see some changes on the offensive coaching staff next year.
Mostly, the dissatisfaction comes from the offensive playbook being unwieldy. Elway has always believed in execution over everything -- simple and fast -- rather than focusing on trying to out-scheme the opponent. The belief is the offense has contained too much this year. At times, the playbook has featured more plays than even when Peyton Manning was under center in Denver, except this version of the Broncos has inexperienced QBs.
Fewer plays could equal better performance.
Some of this will change Sunday, a continuation of what started last week. The scheme will be pared down and simplified. The hope is it will potentially allow players to execute better. Play-calling has been an issue, those in charge believe.
If all goes according to plan, the difference will be noticeable against the Bengals. If not, the Broncos' decision-makers might have to make some tough calls at the end of the season.


SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -Johnnie Ganem's is still a Savannah institution, but it once was known at one of the best places to get a steak, and a great hangout after hours. On one fall night in 1964, serendipity fell on Ganem's.
"So the Cab Driver driver, knowing Johnnie Ganem's was the place to be, brought them here," remembers Margaret Rose Ganem.
Ganem was a senior at Saint Vincent's, home, doing homework in her pajamas, when her dad had an employee bring her to the restaurant that night.
The "Fab Four," or in this case John Lennon and George Harrison, were eating late night at Johnnie Ganem's. The Beatles were in their British Invasion Year of 1964 tour. They were on the way to Jacksonville when the plane had engine trouble and had to land at Hunter Army Airfield. Paul and Ringo went on to Jacksonville, while John and George decided to stay in Savannah, which led to this chance meeting.
And when you 'Meet The Beatles," word gets around, even in the day of the rotary phone.
Ganem believes the Beatles were in Savannah due to engine trouble which leads us to think of alternative history if that was the case,but they also had to go to Key West to avoid Hurricane Dora approaching Jacksonville. The Fab Four was also riding out that concert, as they refused to play the Gator Bowl, until they were guaranteed that the seating would not be segregated.
This weekend marked the 55th anniversary of the Beatles first appearing in America on the Ed Sullivan show.
That show aired right here on WTOC in 1964.


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Huskies to put best "fut" forward in Lethbridge
by Phil Wood
Posted Mar 11, 2019 6:09 pm MST
Keyano Huskies goalie Emma Jones (left) and Taylor Fraser-Chaba of the women's futsal team share a laugh; Benjamin Fonkou of the men's team. Both will play in the ACAC futsal championships this weekend in Lethbridge, Alta., beginning March 15, 2019.
Keyano College has a proud tradition of indoor soccer or "futsal" excellence.
From March 15-17, 2019, both the Huskies men's and women's futsal teams will be in Lethbridge for the ACAC Futsal Championships.
Macky Singh coaches both teams, but it's the men's squad returning to the finals to repeat as defending champs.
In the seven years the ACAC held championships, Keyano never placed outside of the top three in men's competition winning five gold medals.
The women's squad also has a measure of success winning one silver medal and three bronze medals.
The Huskies men's team plays Lakeland at 11 a.m. and then Kings University at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, March 15, before facing SAIT on Saturday, March 16 at 11 a.m.
A good showing means Keyano would play in the Championship draw on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Huskies women's team plays Olds College at 12:15 p.m. and Medicine Hat at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, March 15, and then Kings University on Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m.
Spots in the Championship are up for grabs on Sunday, so the Huskies will go for double gold.
#ymm|2019|acac men's futsal championship|acac women's futsal championship|futsal|indoor soccer|Keyano College|keyano huskies|Lethbridge|RMWB
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When a loved one is being mourned, we often turn to poetry in order to express our deepest thoughts and feelings. The right poem, whether ancient or modern, will help us celebrate a life that has ended and, perhaps, allow us to find some comfort.
Yet it's not always easy to find the poem that's right for the occasion, especially at such a time or sorrow. As an actress, Julia Watson has sometimes been asked by friends for suggestions, and in this collection she offers over ninety poems and other short readings which could be read at a funeral or memorial service.


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About Nagercoil
Nagercoil is located in Tamil Nadu. It is also the district headquarters of Kanyakumari district. Renowned for its e- governance system, it was merged into the state of Tamil Nadu in 1956, before which it was a part of the royal state of Travancore. It is a highly prosperous town considering a majority of its population are non-resident Indians (NRIs).
Budget Hotels in Nagercoil
There are good budget hotels in Nagercoil. Some of them are Hotel Sri Maniya (Tariff – Rs. 950 and 0.5 km from Kanyakumari Railway Station), Hotel J.S. Homestay (Tariff – Rs. 400 and 2 km from Nagarcoil Railway Station), and Hotel Cape Residency (Tariff – Rs. 924 and 19 km from Nagarcoil Railway Station).
Tamil is the official language. English is also spoken along with Malayalam in certain parts.
Events in Nagercoil
Pongal is the most important festival that is celebrated among the Tamil community all through the state. The other major festival celebrated here is the Malayalee New Year,'Onam'.
Places to See in Nagercoil
The Udayagiri Fort (15 km from Nagercoil station), Padmanabhapuram Palace (14 km from Nagercoil station) and the Vivekananda Rock Memorial (18 km from Nagercoil station) are some of the places of interest.
The airport closest to Nagercoil is Trivandrum Airport (57 km).
Nagercoil has its own railway station and is well connected to different parts of the country.
Online booking of bus tickets has certainly made life easier for travellers. Operators like Tippu Sultan Travels and Kallada Tours & Travels ply their buses to Nagercoil. To keep customers happy, several travel websites offer discount coupons for bus tickets on a regular basis.
About Tuckalay
Tuckalay
Tuckalay is a town in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. It is 17 km from Nagercoil and is 709 km from Chennai. It is surrounded by Melpuram, Killiyoor, Kurunthancode, and Thiruvattar. Some of its nearby cities include Pacode, Karungal, Padmanabhapuram, and Unnamalaikadai. Tuckalay is also located on the border of Travancore.
There are some reasonable hotels in Kanyakumari, which is 17 km from Tuckalay. They are Hotel Sahana Castle (Tariff- Rs.926), Pioneer Paradise (Tariff – Rs.648), and Hotel Shyama (Tariff – Rs.612).
The languages spoken here are Tamil and English.
The important festivals celebrated in Tuckalay are Pongal in January, Shivrathri celebrated during February-March, Mandaikadu in April, and Saraswathi Pooja during September-October.
There are places of interest in Nagercoil 17 km from Tuckalay. They are Suchindrum (6.2 km), Padmanabhapuram Palace (16 km), and Mathur Hanging Trough (30 km) from Nagercoil.
The nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport, which is 73 km from Tuckalay.
Eraniel Railway Station is the nearest being 16 km away from Tuckalay.
There are regular buses to Tuckalay from neighbouring cities. Many private buses also connect Tuckalay to other parts of the state. Get discount coupons for bus tickets to your favourite holiday destination by logging on to travel websites like Ticketgoose.com.
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Police from Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID) Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos, have arraigned two salesclerks, Ugwuanyi Obinna, 20 and Abudu Nnemeka, 25, before an Igbosere Chief Magistrate's Court, Lagos, on charges bordering on conspiracy and unlawful diversion of N4.8 million, belonging to one Fidelis Ozioko.
The two defendants were arraigned before Magistrate O. O. Oshin (Mrs.) on three counts charge bordering on conspiracy stealing and fraudulent conversion of sales proceeds to personal their use.
The two defendants who worked as salesclerks in cosmetic stores situated at Koseh Street, Balogun, Lagos, belonging to one Fidelis Ozioko, were alleged to have committed with others now at large, sometimes in April, 2018.
The prosecutor, Barrister Morufu Animashaun, while arraigning the defendants, said they were arrested after their boss, Mr. Ozioko, petitioned the police of the alleged act. Adding that during interrogation, the two defendants admitted commuting the act.
Animashaun told the court that following the defendants' voluntary confession to the alleged act, they were brought before the court on charges bordering on felony to wit stealing and unlawful conversion of the said sum.
The offences which are contrary to and punishable under sections 411 and 287(1) of the criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
The defendants however pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Following his plea, the magistrate, Mrs. O. O. Oshin, admitted him to bail in the sum of N250, 000, with two sureties in like sum.
Magistrate Oshin also ordered the sureties who must be residents of Lagos State to furnish the court with three years tax payable to the Lagos State government, meaning of livelihood and their addresses, which must be verified by the prosecutor.
The magistrate while adjourning the matter till February 22, 2019, for trial, ordered that the two defendants be remanded in prison custody pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
Count one of the charge reads: "That you Ugwuanyi Obinna 'M', Abudu Nnemeka 'M' and others now at large, on or about April 2018, at No 12, Koseh Street, Balogun, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: stealing and there committed on offence contrary to punishable under Section 411 of Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
And the count two reads: "That you Ugwuanyi Obinno 'M', Abudu Nnemeka 'M' and others still at large on or about April 2018, at No 12, Kosah Street, Balogun, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, fraudulently converted to your own use the sum of Four Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira being proceeds from sale of Cosmetics products property of Fidelis Ozioko, 'M' and thereby committed on offence contrary to punishable under Section 287 (1 ) of criminal Law of Lagos State 2015".


text:
"use strict";
Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", { value: true });
//# sourceMappingURL=IQuotesController.js.map


Hunter-gatherers used to populate Europe before ancient farmers took over. Scientists are trying to figure out what happened.
It goes from bland plastic to a thing of beauty.
Forget plugging in your phone to charge, soon the battery could stay topped off from swipes and typing.
Could this be even more encouraging than a FitBit to get up and walk around?
The small device is perfect for tiny homes or those wanting a convenient, yet electricity-free option.
The same inventor who brought us the body heat-powered flashlight is at it again.
The shiny sticker generates energy from movement.
This quick project makes a useful emergency flashlight while recycling your leftover cardboard.
A community soccer field in Rio de Janeiro stays well lit at night thanks to energy harvesting tiles laid under the turf.
Nanotechnology breakthroughs have lead to a successful prototype of a device that could charge your cell phone with ambient noise or the conversations of users.
Spark is a musical instrument that harvests kinetic energy when it's shaken, storing it in a battery for powering LED lights.
We often write about technologies that harness energy from your steps. Here's how you can make your own piezoelectric sneakers at home.
A new technology developed by Korean researchers uses ultra-thin, flexible materials to generate electricity from body heat.


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GTA publisher Take-Two makes it necessary for two brands to give up – archyde
Screenshot: The Game Awards / Kotaku
In a bizarre new development, Take-Two has the makers of It takes two to give up the brand for the name of the game so that people would be the publisher of. don't confuse Grand Theft Auto with a platform puzzler about a crumbling marriage.
As reported from Eurogamer, Take-Two hit indie studio Hazelight with a trademark claim shortly after the game was released in March. A legal dance followed, but in the meantime the studio had to give up the brand under the direction of the outspoken game designer Josef Fares It takes two Name.
A spokesman for Hazelight said Eurogamer that it "cannot comment on ongoing disputes" but "hopes that it will be settled". It is unclear how this will affect the game and the studio at this point, but according to industry analyst Mike Futter, It takes two will not be forced to be renamed – instead Hazelight and EA only cannot legally protect the name and therefore may assert claims against Take-Two at some point in the future. You could choose to do it change the name itself to avoid it, but it's unclear how much that would get them.
Continue reading: It takes two Creates an almost perfect combination of story and gameplay
It takes two is the third game by Josef Fares, famous for innovative indie games and say a lot of "fuck", and the second game developed by Hazelight that he founded. After the critically acclaimed games Brothers: A Story of Two Sons in 2013 and A way out in 2018, It takes two was revealed on EA Play in 2020, a full nine months before its release, and long before the notoriously contentious Take-Two ruled that its attorneys didn't have enough lighthearted work to do. Take-Two did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
G / O Media can receive a commission
As noted by Eurogamer, Take-Two has charged the US Patent Office with dozens of other dubious claims against companies using generic words such as "rock star", "mafia" and "civilization". Or also "Star rock."
The reason companies take such steps is essentially to future proof their own rights. When Take-Two decided to do a full commercial Campaign around "It Takes Two" for example, at this point EA or Hazelight could enforce their own brand to prevent this. Take-Two doesn't have to worry by forcing her to give it up now. But wow, it still sucks, especially when you exaggerate like that.
This follows the publisher's warpath against GTA modders and fan projects in advance too, and after starting, the disastrous GTA-Trilogy remaster.
Take-Two has targeted other game studios as well, including not until October when it went after that Mobile games company Tripledot Studioswho have requested more time to familiarize themselves with the Recently filed trademark claim.
So far, however, the lawsuit with Hazelight does not appear to have hampered the launch of It takes twoo too bad. The game published by EA sold over 3 million copies and was nominated for multiple categories at this year's Game Awards, including game of the year.
COVID Quickly, Episode 20: The Omicron Scare, and Anti-COVID Pills Are Coming
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 15 Scout Report – World


United States President Barack Obama recalled the non-violent methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr as he praised the people of Egypt for their peaceful protests and welcomed the end of Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule.
"While the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can't help but hear the echoes of history: echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path of justice," Obama said in his speech hours after Hosni Mubarak resigned as President of Egypt.
As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana, while trying to perfect his own, "There's something in the soul that cries out for freedom", those were the cries that came from Tahrir Square, and the entire world has taken note, he said.
"Egyptians have inspired us, and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence; for in Egypt it was the moral force of nonviolence -- not terrorism, not mindless killing, but nonviolence, moral force -- that bent the arc of history toward justice once more," he said.
Obama said Egypt has played a pivotal role in human history for over 6,000 years. "But over the last few weeks, the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace as the Egyptian people demanded their universal rights. We saw mothers and fathers carrying their children on their shoulders to show them what true freedom might look like.
"We saw protesters chant "salmiya, salmiya" -- we are peaceful -- again and again. We saw a military that would not fire bullets at the people they were sworn to protect. And we saw doctors and nurses rushing into the streets to care for those who were wounded, volunteers checking protesters to ensure that they were unarmed," the US President said.
Welcoming the resignation of Hosni Mubarak as the president of Egypt, Obama asked for an irreversible and credible process of transition of power in this country which has witnessed massive pro-democracy protests for more than two weeks now.
"There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege of witnessing history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times," Obama said in his remarks to the media.
Obama said that the Egyptian military must ensure credible transition of power.
"The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same," Obama said.
"By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people's hunger for change. But this is not the end of Egypt's transition. It's a beginning. I'm sure there will be difficult days ahead, and many questions remain unanswered," said the US President.
Obama's remarks were delayed by about 100 minutes because was in the White House Situation Room meeting with his national security team.
Earlier he dropped by a previously schedule Principals Committee meeting convened by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon to discuss current developments in Egypt.
Meanwhile, the United States on Friday said that there is "no need to fear" from democracy in Egypt as a section of Americans expressed apprehension that the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood might grab power through ballet.
"I don't think we have to fear democracy. I think that whenever the will of the people shapes the demands of those that govern it, that's what many had in mind with democracy and representation," outgoing Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told mediapersons at his last press conference.
Ending the 30-year-old despotic regime in the most populous Arab nation, President Hosni Mubarak finally resigned yesterday and delegated power to the military.
"We don't know the ultimate outcome of what free and fair elections (in Egypt) will be. We don't have a sense of who that next leader will be... But we will continue to have important relationships. This is a volatile region of the world. The relationships bilaterally that we have bring some measure of stability and peace to the region," Gibbs asserted.
"Obviously, there's still great work to do to bring peace throughout this region, and the (US) President has worked tirelessly with the team on that. But there will be many days ahead to see what comes next here. It's important. We will continue to talk about, as we did with the Egyptian government, of the universal values that we hold dear," he said.
"I don't think we have to fear democracy," Gibbs said, adding this was a group of demonstrations and protests that demonstrated the breadth of concern across Egyptian society.
"So I think what you've seen is the breadth of cause and concern that had to have been addressed, needed to be addressed by the government, and I think today was the very first step in that process," he asserted.
The White House Press Secretary said in the past 18 days the world has seen sweeping change which is unlike anything they it has ever seen in a short period of time.
"I think the next process of this is going to play out over a much longer arc. We will continue to be involved and to ensure that the transitional government in Egypt and ultimately the government that the people choose to represent the people of Egypt," he said.
"If they take the steps that are necessary to meet the concerns of those in Egypt, then this government will be a strong partner to it and to all of our friends in the region," Gibbs said.


Mobil SHC lubricants are useful while working in low-temperature environments, as mineral oils tend to thicken to a greater degree. Their high viscosity index give Mobil SHC lubricants the ability to flow at low temperatures, while providing better film thickness and as a result, wear protection to machine elements at extreme temperatures.
All these attributes of Mobil SHC lubricants result in another positive: energy efficiency. Synthetics provide a thicker lubricant film at operating temperature compared to mineral oils, thus reducing the extent of metal-to-metal contact and the associated energy loss. As well, energy can be lost due to churn as mechanical parts move through oil: synthetics have a lower viscosity when compared to mineral counterparts of the same ISO viscosity grade at start-up, resulting in lower churn energy loss than a mineral. Finally, since Mobil SHC lubricants have a low traction coefficient, they behave better under high pressure.


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Q: tf.keras: Evaluating model.updates breaks when using a tf.data.Dataset as input Note: All code for a self-contained example to reproduce my problem can be found below.
I have a tf.keras.models.Model() instance and would like to train that with a custom low-level TensorFlow API training loop. As part of this training loop, I need to make sure that my custom training loop updates all stateful variables from layer types such as tf.keras.layers.BatchNormalization. In order for this to happen, I understand from this answer by Francois Chollet that I need to evaluate model.updates in every training step.
The problem is: This works when you feed your training data to the model by using the feed_dict, but it isn't working when you use a tf.data.Dataset object.
Consider the following abstract example (you can find a concrete example to reproduce the problem below):
model = tf.keras.models.Model(...) # Some tf.keras model
dataset = tf.data.Dataset.from_tensor_slices(...) # Some tf.data.Dataset
iterator = dataset.make_one_shot_iterator()
features, labels = iterator.get_next()

model_output = model(features)

with tf.Session() as sess:
    ret = sess.run(model.updates)

This sess.run() call throws the error
InvalidArgumentError: You must feed a value for placeholder tensor 'input_1' with dtype float and shape [?,224,224,3]

This error obviously shouldn't be raised. I don't need to feed a value for the placeholder input_1, because I'm calling my model on a tf.data.Dataset, not feeding input data to a placeholder via the feed_dict.
What can I do to make this work?
Here is a fully reproducible example. It's a simple image classifier being trained on Caltech256 (download the TFRecord files using the link at the bottom of this post):
import tensorflow as tf
from tqdm import trange
import sys
import glob
import os

sess = tf.Session()
tf.keras.backend.set_session(sess)

num_classes = 257
image_size = (224, 224, 3)

# Build a simple CNN with BatchNorm layers.

input_tensor = tf.keras.layers.Input(shape=image_size)
x = tf.keras.layers.Conv2D(64, (3,3), strides=(2,2), kernel_initializer='he_normal')(input_tensor)
x = tf.keras.layers.BatchNormalization(axis=3)(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Activation('relu')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Conv2D(64, (3,3), strides=(2,2), kernel_initializer='he_normal')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.BatchNormalization(axis=3)(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Activation('relu')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Conv2D(128, (3,3), strides=(2,2), kernel_initializer='he_normal')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.BatchNormalization(axis=3)(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Activation('relu')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Conv2D(256, (3,3), strides=(2,2), kernel_initializer='he_normal')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.BatchNormalization(axis=3)(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Activation('relu')(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.GlobalAveragePooling2D()(x)
x = tf.keras.layers.Dense(num_classes, activation='softmax', kernel_initializer='he_normal')(x)
model = tf.keras.models.Model(input_tensor, x)

# We'll monitor whether the moving mean and moving variance of the first BatchNorm layer is being updated as it should.
moving_mean = tf.reduce_mean(model.layers[2].moving_mean)
moving_variance = tf.reduce_mean(model.layers[2].moving_variance)

# Build a tf.data.Dataset from TFRecords.

tfrecord_directory = '/path/to/the/tfrecord/files/'

tfrecord_filennames = glob.glob(os.path.join(tfrecord_directory, '*.tfrecord'))

feature_schema = {'image': tf.FixedLenFeature([], tf.string),
                  'filename': tf.FixedLenFeature([], tf.string),
                  'label': tf.FixedLenFeature([], tf.int64)}

dataset = tf.data.Dataset.from_tensor_slices(tfrecord_filennames)
dataset = dataset.shuffle(len(tfrecord_filennames)) # Shuffle the TFRecord file names.
dataset = dataset.flat_map(lambda filename: tf.data.TFRecordDataset(filename))
dataset = dataset.map(lambda single_example_proto: tf.parse_single_example(single_example_proto, feature_schema)) # Deserialize tf.Example objects.
dataset = dataset.map(lambda sample: (sample['image'], sample['label']))
dataset = dataset.map(lambda image, label: (tf.image.decode_jpeg(image, channels=3), label)) # Decode JPEG images.
dataset = dataset.map(lambda image, label: (tf.image.resize_image_with_pad(image, target_height=image_size[0], target_width=image_size[1]), label))
dataset = dataset.map(lambda image, label: (tf.image.per_image_standardization(image), label))
dataset = dataset.map(lambda image, label: (image, tf.one_hot(indices=label, depth=num_classes))) # Convert labels to one-hot format.
dataset = dataset.shuffle(buffer_size=10000)
dataset = dataset.repeat()
dataset = dataset.batch(32)

iterator = dataset.make_one_shot_iterator()
batch_features, batch_labels = iterator.get_next()

# Build the training-relevant part of the graph.

model_output = model(batch_features)

loss = tf.reduce_mean(tf.keras.backend.categorical_crossentropy(target=batch_labels, output=model_output, from_logits=False))

train_step = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(loss)

# The next block is for the metrics.
with tf.variable_scope('metrics') as scope:
    predictions_argmax = tf.argmax(model_output, axis=-1, output_type=tf.int64)
    labels_argmax = tf.argmax(batch_labels, axis=-1, output_type=tf.int64)
    mean_loss_value, mean_loss_update_op = tf.metrics.mean(loss)
    acc_value, acc_update_op = tf.metrics.accuracy(labels=labels_argmax, predictions=predictions_argmax)
    local_metric_vars = tf.contrib.framework.get_variables(scope=scope, collection=tf.GraphKeys.LOCAL_VARIABLES)
    metrics_reset_op = tf.variables_initializer(var_list=local_metric_vars, name='metrics_reset_op')

# Run the training.

epochs = 3
steps_per_epoch = 1000

fetch_list = [mean_loss_value,
              acc_value,
              moving_mean,
              moving_variance,
              train_step,
              mean_loss_update_op,
              acc_update_op] + model.updates

sess.run(tf.global_variables_initializer())
sess.run(tf.local_variables_initializer())

with sess.as_default():

    for epoch in range(1, epochs+1):

        tr = trange(steps_per_epoch, file=sys.stdout)
        tr.set_description('Epoch {}/{}'.format(epoch, epochs))

        sess.run(metrics_reset_op)

        for train_step in tr:

            ret = sess.run(fetches=fetch_list, feed_dict={tf.keras.backend.learning_phase(): 1})

            tr.set_postfix(ordered_dict={'loss': ret[0],
                                         'accuracy': ret[1],
                                         'bn1 moving mean': ret[2],
                                         'bn1 moving variance': ret[3]})

Running this code throws the error described above:
InvalidArgumentError: You must feed a value for placeholder tensor 'input_1' with dtype float and shape [?,224,224,3]

A very shitty work-around to circumvent this problem would be to fetch the next batch via a separate sess.run() call and then feed the fetched Numpy arrays to a second sess.run() call via the feed_dict. This works, but it obviously partially defeats the purpose of using the tf.data API:
# Build the training-relevant part of the graph.

labels = tf.placeholder(dtype=tf.float32, shape=(None, num_classes), name='labels')

loss = tf.reduce_mean(tf.keras.backend.categorical_crossentropy(target=labels, output=model.output, from_logits=False))

train_step = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(loss)

with tf.variable_scope('metrics') as scope:
    predictions_argmax = tf.argmax(model.output, axis=-1, output_type=tf.int64)
    labels_argmax = tf.argmax(labels, axis=-1, output_type=tf.int64)
    mean_loss_value, mean_loss_update_op = tf.metrics.mean(loss)
    acc_value, acc_update_op = tf.metrics.accuracy(labels=labels_argmax, predictions=predictions_argmax)
    local_metric_vars = tf.contrib.framework.get_variables(scope=scope, collection=tf.GraphKeys.LOCAL_VARIABLES)
    metrics_reset_op = tf.variables_initializer(var_list=local_metric_vars, name='metrics_reset_op')

# Run the training. With BatchNorm.

epochs = 3
steps_per_epoch = 1000

fetch_list = [mean_loss_value,
              acc_value,
              moving_mean,
              moving_variance,
              train_step,
              mean_loss_update_op,
              acc_update_op] + model.updates

sess.run(tf.global_variables_initializer())
sess.run(tf.local_variables_initializer())

with sess.as_default():

    for epoch in range(1, epochs+1):

        tr = trange(steps_per_epoch, file=sys.stdout)
        tr.set_description('Epoch {}/{}'.format(epoch, epochs))

        sess.run(metrics_reset_op)

        for train_step in tr:

            b_images, b_labels = sess.run([batch_features, batch_labels])

            ret = sess.run(fetches=fetch_list, feed_dict={tf.keras.backend.learning_phase(): 1,
                                                          model.input: b_images,
                                                          labels: b_labels})

            tr.set_postfix(ordered_dict={'loss': ret[0],
                                         'accuracy': ret[1],
                                         'bn1 moving mean': ret[2],
                                         'bn1 moving variance': ret[3]})

As mentioned above, this is just a bad work-around. How can I make this work properly?
You can download the TFRecord files here.

A: The problem is this line:
model_output = model(batch_features)

It's generally fine to call a model on a tensor, but in this case it causes problems. When the model was created, its input layer created a placeholder tensor that wants to be fed when you call model.updates. Instead of calling the model on the batch_features tensor, you should instead set the model's input layer to build upon batch_features (instead of creating a placeholder) when you create it. That is, you need to set the right input at model instantiation, afterwards it's too late. This is done like so:
input_tensor = tf.keras.layers.Input(tensor=batch_features)

Now running model.updates works just fine.


text:
As many corners of the world begin to open with the easing of COVID-19 cases, the safety and wellbeing of our employees, patients, and partners remain at the forefront of Ora's operating strategy, as does the continued progress of ophthalmic research.
As an essential business with a nimble infrastructure and can-do teams, Ora never stopped offering our services—safely and productively.
We continued to engage clinical sites that remained open over time and are working hand-in-hand with others as they reopen.
Today, as many of our sponsors initiate, restart, or accelerate studies, Ora stands alongside them, delivering the expertise they need, continuing to enroll patients in trials, and fully prepared for the milestones ahead.
Ora has and continues to follow COVID-19 work processes and protocols set by governmental bodies and health authorities, including:
Remote monitoring programs where appropriate
Regional strategies for our Clinical Research Coordinators
Employee safety and standards
Clear safety protocols, including personal protective equipment, for employees deemed essential for on-site work or in-person visits
Remote working an option for all non-essential employees
In person or remote, Ora employees provide responsive and thorough support, efficiently delivering only the highest-caliber work. We are proud of Team Ora!
Regular reviews of office reopening dates and processes. As of this writing, local authorities continue to require our employees to work remotely wherever possible.
Continued meetings of Ora's Emergency Response Management Team.
Full compliance with additional COVID-19 guidelines set by regulatory bodies, global health authorities, and local and federal governments.
Throughout the pandemic, Ora has remained strong and steadfast in our commitment to our clients, the patients we serve, and our employees, who smoothly transitioned during these times, unwavering in their commitment to helping others live in a fully sighted world.
Supporting Our Partners During Challenging Times
Ora recently held roundtable discussions with a number of investigators and CRCs to learn about the operational challenges they have been facing due to COVID-19, as well as their plans for current and future trials and how we can help them moving forward. One of the many valuable insights came from Dr. David Evans from Total Eye Care in Memphis, who shared how Ora's local CRC placement strategy benefited his practice by allowing clinical trials to continue, which in turn prevented layoffs with his staff. Watch the video below to hear about his experience.


Trusty Brewing's brewer started his homebrew obsession over 20 years ago in a small apartment in San Francisco. After moving to Portland and perfecting his recipes, he opened Trusty in the beautiful downtown area of Vancouver USA. Sip on your choice of 16 handcrafted brews alongside tasty bar snacks.