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Ecological transition right now: green construction projects with a future.
Published on 15. October 2020 25. January 2021 by biskup
The climate crisis is and will remain one of the key concerns and challenges of the 21st century. The targets that have been set are ambitious. The European Union is planning to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels by the year 2030. A growing focus is being put on buildings, which the German Environment Agency says are responsible for roughly 35% of energy consumption and about 30% of carbon emissions in Germany.
With this in mind, it is clear that the architecture, construction and design sectors carry a great responsibility when it comes to making the buildings of tomorrow. What do the projects that incorporate these targets look like? What role do the architects and planners play in them? There are already numerous projects today whose approach sets a good model. They offer exemplary solutions in the fight against climate change.
Zero-energy building, Felix Partner Architektur und Design interdisziplinär © Thomas aus der Au
Zero-energy building with history
With an aim of turning a historic house into a zero-energy building not needing any additional energy supplied from outside, the architects Felix Partner in Latsch, Switzerland, set a unique transformation in motion. The 350-year-old heritage-listed home in Grisons canton was derelict and had to be adapted to contemporary needs without losing any of its original charm. Felix Partner meticulously restored the historically valuable structure of the house, which had stood empty for 50 years. Its appearance is characterised by solid stone material, while its interior makes prominent use of timber. The rooms are timbered and stacked on top of each other using traditional log construction, leaving the historic substance of the house tangible and exposing the different phases of construction.
The sizeable roofs of both annexes were equipped with photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors for climate-neutral consumption. The excess solar energy captured during the summer is stored in the rock using a borehole heat exchanger, so it is available during winter with net zero carbon impact. As a zero-energy building, the home produces its required amount of heating energy and electricity by itself. In modernising this centuries-old house, the architects at Felix Partner achieved a sophisticated interplay. It saw the combination of traditional cultural heritage and historic charm with elegant, modern design. Updated with the latest technology, the restored building has a promising future and is fitted to today's needs. Felix Partner Architektur AG is a prizewinner at the ICONIC AWARDS 2020: Innovative Architecture and has received the "Best of Best" award.
Zero-energy classroom wing, Liebel/Architekten BDA © Valentin Schmied
Integrated climate concept for ideal learning conditions
With little technology yet a high level of visual and thermal comfort, the Schubart Gymnasium high school in Aalen is achieving a zero-energy standard. Liebel/Architekten developed the classroom wing together with Transsolar Energietechnik. There were various actions necessary in order to achieve the zero-energy standard. The school's energy consumption was able to be reduced through resource-efficient, compact construction. The team of architects and climate engineers made maximum use of natural principles such as light, temperature and geothermal energy, helping reduce the overhead costs for artificial lighting and ventilation. They also created the ideal conditions for learning, with a hybrid ventilation system combining "thrust" ventilation with window ventilation to ensure good air quality. The incoming air supply is pumped mechanically through a duct in the ground, working passively and cooling the air in summer while warming it up in the winter. Skylights ensure sufficient natural light in learning spaces and at night they are also used for airflow and cooling down those spaces. The school building's roof faces south-west and is equipped with photovoltaic panels. The energy is acquired and then consumed in the school at similar times each day, so the use of a renewable power source is very fitting. This project by Liebel/Architekten BDA is a "Winner" at the ICONIC AWARDS 2020: Innovative Architecture.
The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) has devoted itself to an environment built to be future-proof. Its activities include issuing certificates for sustainable properties. According to Felix Jansen, the DGNB's spokesman, significant achievements have already been made in the construction and real estate industries, "There are an increasing number of sustainable buildings these days, particularly in the commercial property segment. Businesses are building their head offices based on this principle, and there are sustainable retail buildings being constructed too." Nevertheless, corresponding construction activity has not yet arrived in the mainstream. "There is catching up to do in the residential segment in particular," continues Jansen. The non-profit organisation considers "sustainable construction" as incorporating resource-friendly construction as well as two further criteria. Firstly, buildings should be commercially rational and studied over their life cycle, and a focus should also be put on the users of a building. Secondly, people serve as the deciding factor. It is they who must feel good where they are, whether that be a house or an office. The design, room temperature, lighting and insulation play a significant role in this.
Copenhill, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group © Rasmus Hjortshøj
Power plant with a recreation factor
For Danish architects BIG the added social value of a construction project also plays a critical role. In autumn 2019, they created a rather unconventional location in Copenhagen for sports and recreational activities: the Amager Bakke waste incineration facility. Its roof houses the country's first ski slope, which can be skied year-round without snow thanks to the plastic matting that has been installed. It is an iconic building that features a recreation factor, created at a place where 400,000 tonnes of rubbish are converted into energy each year to supply roughly 160,000 households with district heating and 62,500 buildings with electrical energy. Hiking trails, playgrounds, gym machines and rock climbing are the proverbial icing on the cake of the Copenhill facility, located right in the middle of the lively Christianshavn neighbourhood.
While incineration facilities in urban contexts typically radiate little charm, BIG pursued an idea of making the place a point of attraction for residents and tourists right from the outset. Copenhill goes beyond the pure functionality of its power plant to serve the public and combine sustainable energy generation with fun and recreation in an innovative way. By building the new power plant, the city of Copenhagen is simultaneously moving closer towards its goal of being the first climate-neutral capital city. The facility is one of the world's cleanest and most modern thanks to its use of the latest filter technology. The architects at BIG received the "Best of Best" distinction for this project at the ICONIC AWARDS 2020: Innovative Architecture.
All of these projects make it clear that architects occupy a key role in sustainable construction. As part of their engagement, it is more important now than ever that they advocate for actions that help protect the climate – by using environmentally friendly, long-life materials and consuming resources with awareness. After all, the sociocultural quality that buildings have is growing in significance, and future generations will benefit from this too.
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Home BooksFictionAdventureHistorical Adventure
Stealth Gambit: A Cold War Novel Inspired by Actual Events
Wes Truitt
Set in the midst of the Cold War, Stealth Gambit is a compelling, realistic tale of espionage between the CIA and the Soviet KGB....
Set in the midst of the Cold War, Stealth Gambit is a compelling, realistic tale of espionage between the CIA and the Soviet KGB. An ambitious but na ve Columbia University graduate student, Nick Butl... er, is recruited by the CIA. He poses as an industrial spy for a major U.S. aerospace company, stealing classified military airplane technology from NATO aerospace companies for his company's use. The data is false-supplied to him by British, French, and U.S. intelligence. Believing the data is genuine, KGB female agents take the technology from him to assist Soviet aircraft design bureaus in their race for air supremacy against the U.S. Air Force. To obtain his industrial secrets, KGB women agents seduce our unsuspecting hero, who later finds out who they really work for-Yuri Andropov, Chairman of the powerful KGB. As the tension mounts later in the story, our handsome hero lets the KGB rob what they believe is the ultimate prize-stealth airplane designs from two leading U.S. companies. The designs are fakes. During these activities, he unearths a network of KGB moles operating within the U.S. headed by the FBI's Deputy Director for Counter-Intelligence. The story unfolds in exciting locations: New York; London; Paris; Moscow; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles. There are scenes at Columbia University, the Farnborough and Paris Air Shows, KGB Headquarters, the Pentagon, the CIA, and the White House. About the Author Wes Truitt is an experienced writer, having published four nonfiction books, the latest of which is Power and Policy: Lessons for Leaders in Government and Business (Praeger Publishers, 2010). He bases the realism of Stealth Gambit on his years of experience as an executive in the military aircraft industry and his long association with the CIA, the Defense and State Departments, and the U.S. Air Force. He was a consultant to Rand Corporation, the USAF's leading think tank, and is currently a member of their Policy Circle. Also, he was Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy, at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management, and Executive-in-Residence at Loyola Marymount University's College of Business Administration. Dr. Truitt has spoken on defense and foreign policy issues at CATO Institute, Brookings Institution, the Central Intelligence Agency, Los Angeles World Affairs Council, and other organizations. He has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on foreign military sales issues. He earned a Ph.D. in Political Science at Columbia University.
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Author:Wes Truitt
Endangered Species: Book 1
Vaulte Kamish
Maalstrom
Glenn Lazar Roberts
The Selk King
In Rembrandt's Shadow
Eileen Haavik McIntire
Nuclear Shadow
Charles W Meier

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At the entrance of the Poseidon cabin there is a box decorated with waves and sandy beaches. Written on the front is the phrase "Ballot Box". The time for cabin leader elections has finally arrived. Beside the ballot box is a pen and a stack of paper. Next to that is a sheet that has been pinned onto the wall above the box.
Lizzi walked into the Poseidon cabin, noticing a box that had not been there before. "Cabin Leader, huh?" she mumbled to herself. She wouldn't mind being leader... But it wasn't like anyone would vote for her. Pursing her lips, she contemplated her choices. 'It's not like I've never dealt with regection before...' she thought. Lizzi grabbed a pen and a slip of paper and wrote her own name down.
Neatly folding up the slip of paper, Lizzi placed into the Ballot Box. Lizzi sighed and stuffed her hands in her pockets. 'Wonder how this will go..' she thought with light amusement. Walking to her bed, she grabbed her book then made her way out of the cabin once again.


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Grounds Maintainance
Construction/Design
Home » Articles » SHORT CUTS
Monarchs safe after all
A well-publicized study concluding that corn genetically modified to contain the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal toxin could harm monarch butterflies raised a cry from environmentalists. However, some criticized the study, saying that the research did not reflect real-world exposures. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) apparently agrees. Based on data from several unpublished studies, it concludes that Bt corn poses little threat to monarchs.
Toronto to ban "cosmetic" pesticides
The city of Toronto is nearing a decision to ban the use of pesticides for "cosmetic purposes." The ban would probably be phased in over several years and would apply to all properties, public and private.
The action follows a similar ban enacted in Halifax. Canadians can expect more such regulations now that the Canadian supreme court has ruled that they are permissible. The ruling settled a lawsuit filed by lawn-care companies operating in Hudson, Quebec. Hudson enacted a ban on cosmetic pesticides and two lawn-care operators sued the city.
Pyrethrum labeled carcinogenic
Pyrethrum, one of the most widely used organic pesticides, has been declared a likely human carcinogen by an EPA scientific advisory committee. Apparently, this conclusion was reached some time ago, but is only seeing the light of day as a result of a lawsuit challenging the EPA's findings. The case is Jim J. Tozzi, et al, v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. One of the plaintiffs is a manufacturer of pyrethrum.
Dennis and Alex Avery, of the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues, provide an interesting take on this topic, which you can access through www.cgfi.org/.
School pesticide bill in jeopardy
The School Environment Protection Act of 2001 (SEPA), an amendment to the education bill currently being considered on Capitol Hill, may be in trouble. SEPA was brokered by N.J. Sen. Robert Torricelli and was widely hailed as a workable compromise between environmental and industry groups. However, some members of the House Agriculture Oversight Subcommittee have expressed serious reservations about the bill. Without their approval, SEPA cannot be enacted.
If SEPA ultimately is approved, it will restrict pesticide applications in schools by requiring posting and prior notification, as well as limiting applications to certain times.
Novel bioherbicide shows promise
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) studies suggest that various broad-leaved weeds could meet their match in a novel bioherbicide that includes weak or nonvirulent fungi and an oil emulsion.
One ingredient is the usually non-pathogenic fungus Myrothecium verrucaria. In nature, it survives by absorbing nutrients from decaying plant matter. When mixed with oil, however, it can kill many common weed species.
ARS researchers have shown that the oil serves as both an emulsifier that retains moisture and a synergist that enables the fungus to kill weeds. Neither the fungus nor oil alone will damage plants, so natural movement of the fungus to crops or other nontarget plants isn't likely.
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In times of tight budgets, efficiency of Public Procurement – accounting for the over 15% of GDP in OECD countries – has become an even more important priority. In addition, the policy debate is steering towards an increased use of Public Procurement as an active driver for sustainable growth, in terms of stimulating innovation, facilitating SMEs participation, enhancing environment protection, etc. (see e.g. the recent EU Green Paper and the new Directives on Public Procurement and Concession). The cost of "distorting" Public Procurement to pursue these important long term objectives is still unclear, though recent research is offering some numbers. The use of Public Procurement as a policy tool is also limited by its high procedural rigidity aimed at maintaining accountability given poor ex-post performance measures, as well as by conflicts with pre-existing policy objectives like common market integration in the EU.
Performance (i.e. quality), Incentives, Enforcement of Rules, Discretion, Reputation in Public Procurement.
Must read reference : Spagnolo G., "Reputation, competition, and entry in procurement", Journal of International Industrial Organization, 2013.
Must read reference : Tadelis, S. "Public procurement design: lessons from the private sector", Journal of International Industrial Organization, 2012.
Must read reference : Lewis J. and P. Bajari. "Procurement with Time Incentives: Theory and Evidence." Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2011.
Moretti, L. and P. Valbonesi: "Subcontracting in public procurement: an empirical investigation", Univ. of Padova, Dept. of Economics and Management, Working paper, 151/2012, revised version on March 2014, R&R for Journal of Law, Economics and Organization.
Corazzini, L., Galavotti, S., Sausgruber, R. and P. Valbonesi"Allotment in First-Price Auctions: an experimental investigation", Univ. of Padova, Dept. of Economics and Management, Working paper, 150/2012. Revised on July, 2013. Revision required from Experimental Economics – currently under revision.
Bigoni, M., Spagnolo, G. and P. Valbonesi: "Sticks and carrots in procurement: an experimental exploration", Univ. of Padova, Dept. of Economics and Management, Working paper, 105/2009). Revised version on March, 2014. R&R for The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy.
Coviello, D., Moretti, L., Spagnolo, G. and P. Valbonesi: "Court Efficiency and Procurement Performance", Univ. of Padova, Dept. of Economics and Management, Working paper, 164/2013.
Galavotti, S., Moretti, L. and P. Valbonesi: "Level-k thinking in average bid procurement auctions", mimeo, (2014).


DEL MAR, Calif. — Trainer John Sadler woke up feeling confident on Pacific Classic day, believing he had the best horse in the field.
"The toughest thing all day was getting into the parking lot," he said.
Accelerate never gave Sadler reason for concern, living up to his name with a record 12 1/2-length victory in the $1 million race at Del Mar on Saturday.
He became just the third horse to sweep all three of Southern California's major races for older horses in the same year, joining Lava Man in 2006 and Game On Dude in 2013. They won the Santa Anita Handicap, Gold Cup and Pacific Classic.
Ridden by Joel Rosario, Accelerate ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.83 at the seaside track north of San Diego. The winning margin was the largest in the race's 27-year history, bettering Game On Dude's 8 1/2-length win.
"He put me in a good place and took me to the outside and we went from there," Rosario said.
Bobbling slightly at the start, Rosario moved Accelerate to engage pacesetters Roman Rosso and Prime Attraction up the backstretch racing off the rail.
Accelerate suddenly surged away from his rivals to a four-length lead at the mile mark and increased his margin to eight lengths in the stretch while racing home unchallenged.
Sadler earned his first Pacific Classic win in 11 tries.
Accelerate paid $2.80, $2.40 and $2.10 as the 2-5 favorite in the eight-horse field. The win price was the lowest in race history, beating the previous mark of $3 by Gentleman in 1997.
The victory, worth $600,000, increased Accelerate's career earnings to $2,772,480, with eight wins in 20 starts. He earned an automatic berth in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Churchill Downs.
Pavel returned $4.20 and $3.40. He already qualified for the BC Classic by virtue of his win in the Stephen Foster at Churchill.
Prime Attraction was another 3 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $4.20 to show.
Accelerate finished third in last year's Pacific Classic.
This year, he's won four of five starts. At Del Mar, Accelerate owns four wins in six races.
Rosario was subbing for injured Victor Espinoza aboard Accelerate.
– Fatale Bere won the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies by a neck over Ollie's Candy.
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Fatale Bear ran 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:48.14 and paid $16, $6.80 and $5.20 at 7-1 odds for trainer Leonard Powell.
Ollie's Candy returned $4.40 and $3.40, while Californiagoldrush paid $6.20 to show in the Grade 1 race.
– Fashion Business rallied around the final turn to win the $250,000 Del Mar Handicap by 5 1/4 lengths and earn an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf this fall.
Ridden by Flavien Prat, Fashion Business ran 1 3/8 miles on turf in 2:13.84 and paid $10.20, $5.80 and $4.20 at 4-1 odds.
Prat began serving a three-day suspension for careless riding on Friday, but racing rules allow him to ride in designated races, which include stakes, on Saturday and Sunday.
Ya Gotta Wanna returned $35 and $13.40, while Multiplier was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $4.60 to show.
Trained by Phil D'Amato, Fashion Business earned his first stakes victory in seven tries. The 4-year-old gelding, a son of Frankel, began his career in England.
Itsinthepost, the 5-2 wagering favorite, finished seventh and fell to 0-11 at Del Mar.


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Gay Lawmaker: You May Be Denied Federal Programs for Aiding Religious Freedom
An openly gay Missouri state representative told a Farm Bureau staff member that her support for a pro-marriage amendment to the state constitution could result in a loss of federal subsidies to her organization and to the state's farmers.
The pro-marriage amendment is intended to protect religious leaders and wedding vendors who support marriage — and who oppose single-sex marriage — from legal retaliation.
"There's no room in public policy for elected officials issuing threats to constituent groups," said Ryan Johnson, president of Missouri Alliance for Freedom, in a statement to Breitbart News. "I hope that as the debate on religious liberty continues in Missouri we won't see any future instances of such behavior."
Senate Joint Resolution 39 passed the Missouri state senate last month along party lines after Democrats held a 39-hour filibuster against the measure. It next moved to the Missouri House's Emerging Issues Committee, chaired by Republican state Rep. Elijah Haahr. Approval of the measure would place the issue on the ballot for Missourians to vote on themselves.
Nice subsidies. Sure would be a shame if something happened to them. @RepMikeColona in his own words. https://t.co/NYPTBdBYc3 #SJR39 #MOLeg
— Gregg Keller (@RGreggKeller) April 18, 2016
During a hearing of the Emerging Issues Committee, state Rep. Mike Colona (D) — who reportedly identified himself as the only openly gay member of the state legislature — said the following to Ashley McDonald, state legislative affairs director of Missouri Farm Bureau:
I don't know other states that have attempted to do this by amending the constitution. But, are you aware — what is it Mississippi just passed something like this? A little more draconian than this. But, the Department of Education is now investigating them and whether or not they have religiously protected themselves into discriminating and whether or not to withhold education funds.
I was told, and I don't know if it's true or not, that farmers get a lot of federal subsidies. Is there any fear that if we do something like this, that the next thing you know the Department of A is going to knock on the door and say, "Wait a minute, you might not be eligible for all these subsidies because of what this constitutional amendment does."
When McDonald responded that she had not heard of what Colona described, he pressed:
Well, I have to be honest, this is something new that I heard last night. It was relevant to the discussion… What I wanted to toss out there is that… because your membership is very active and, sometimes my constituents vote against their best interests all the time. But, it's something that should be put out there. We're talking about opening the door for litigation, for employee on employer suits. Some of the best applicants… the ability to retain them or even recruit them. What we haven't talked about is whether or not we would put any of our federal dollars at risk by doing this… I think that should be part of the discussion. Maybe the only inquiry that would come back would be, "Sorry… we'll take all your money," or maybe not. But it is something we should talk about.
"It's rare that you get such a blatant example of government threat and coercion aimed at a constituent group caught on tape," a Missouri-based campaign consultant tells Breitbart News. "Rep. Colona's threat was clear: Missouri's largest rural public policy organization must fall in line with persecuting religious minorities on behalf of the gay lobby or they can expect retribution from Rep. Colona's friends in the Obama administration."
"It was disgraceful and Rep. Colona should apologize," the consultant added.
The measure is defined as follows:
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment to article I of the Constitution of Missouri, by adding thereto one new section relating to the protection of certain religious organizations and individuals from being penalized by the state because of their sincere religious beliefs or practices concerning marriage between two persons of the same sex.
Colona also told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Wednesday that the state House might be amending the bill since the Senate approved it.
"Depending on the day, depending on the hour, we either have just enough votes or just not enough votes," Colona said about proposed amendments. "It's been very fluid."
He added there were a "couple of amendments floating around out there."
"Those issues and the underlying constitutional amendment itself are being lobbied so heavily by both sides that it's hard for the members to commit one way or another," Colona said.
Chairman Haahr, however, said he would like to see the measure move forward as is.
"I'm leaning toward supporting the bill in its current form, but I've said from the beginning, I have a membership of 12 committee members, and it's a majority vote," he said. "I'm not going to force them to go one way or the other. They get to vet the bill and they get to decide whether or not they think it should be amended, passed or voted down."
Once the proposal passes the Emerging Issues Committee, it will travel to at least one more committee before landing on the state House floor. If the House adds amendment(s), the new version would need to be sent to a House-Senate conference committee.
Breitbart News reached out for comment to both Colona and McDonald, but neither responded to the request.
FaithPoliticscoercionLGBT agendaMissouriReligious freedomsame-sex marriage


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Home News General Assembly special session set for Aug. 18
General Assembly special session set for Aug. 18
Lawmakers will amend budget, discuss police initiatives
Published July 17, 2020 by Kate Andrews
Gov. Ralph Northam set the General Assembly's special session for Aug. 18 in a proclamation Friday. Lawmakers will adopt the biennial budget based on the revised revenue forecast, and they also plan to discuss policing measures in light of ongoing protests against police brutality.
A finalized agenda has not yet been issued, but the House of Delegates and Virginia State Senate must pass a final budget, which was postponed in April due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor, along with legislators, froze $2.2 billion in new spending passed during the regular session to prevent cuts to programs, and the General Assembly also postponed by one year a ban on so-called "gray machines," slot-like games that were set to be prohibited this year in Virginia. Income from the games is going toward a coronavirus relief fund to assist Virginians with housing insecurity and small business loans.
In May, Northam signed an amended $135 billion 2021-2022 state budget with the spending freezes.
In the August meeting, lawmakers will consider several items that saw their budgets frozen in April, including tuition-free community college, broadband access, early childhood education and affordable housing. The session will be held after the governor presents his end-of-fiscal-year report to the General Assembly's money committees. Although state officials predicted earlier this year a possible shortfall of $1 billion, the deficit is now at $236.5 million, Northam announced July 9.
It's not clear if the House and Senate will meet in person in Richmond next month, due to ongoing coronavirus concerns. In April, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, attempted to adjourn the special session — held under a tent on the Virginia State Capitol grounds — to hold a virtual version, but she was defeated in a party-line vote.
In recent days, though, the governor and some Hampton Roads officials have expressed concern about a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in the region, which could impact a decision on a virtual session in August.
Also on the agenda are measures to address policing, which has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis and subsequent protests. In recent weeks, police in Virginia have been criticized by activists and some elected officials for using tear gas and pepper spray against protestors — including a couple of delegates participating in street protests. In Richmond, protestors have taken to the streets nightly since the beginning of June, protesting the city's police department and some elected officials, including the mayor and commonwealth's attorney. In early July, the city removed all five city-owned Confederate monuments, and the state is currently in court, defending its plan to take down the state-owned Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, which has been stopped by court injunction.
According to the governor's office, the General Assembly will take up measures in August on police use of force, increased training of officers, accountability and oversight, and hiring and decertification. The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, the Virginia African American Advisory Board, the governor's Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law, and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will advise the administration in developing policy initiatives.
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Northam proposes $240M for pandemic response
Governor's proposed budget amendments includes funding for jobs training, education, housing
Northam seeks to include part-time workers in state IRA fund
Other bills expanding rail service, broadband and alcohol service signed into law
Business groups ask Va. lawmakers for higher PPP tax deductions
House of Delegates, state Senate bills differ on amounts


a big thank you to ena renee, who reached out to me a few weeks ago and asked if i would be willing to host a styling event in brooklyn during her 1st wednesdays meet and mingle event in brooklyn ny.
with a swank venue like the brooklyn terrace, i agreed. although i wasnt in new york we were able to work out a few things and its all set.
there will be complimentary wine tasting and photographs from 6-7pm.
i am excited that there will be a number of well-dressed men scheduled to attend and help make this event amazing.


Balloonistas from far and wide have left the 'hood. Bleachers still up. Banging and clanging to come for the annual return of our sidewalk. Soon. We hope. Along Central Park West. Can park on our block again. Even if the No Parking signs linger. Scissors at the ready or they'd be up until May.
A rollicking fun weekend. Delicious non-turkey feast at the Oxbow. Parades. Family visits. Post Stuffington Frittata. Respite from politics. Even if. Some wore their opinions on t-shirts for lively dinner conversations. Until next year.


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Q: making NeoComplCache show the same matches like omnicomplete I am tring to set up autocomplete (intellisense) in VIM. For this I am using the NeoComplCache plugin, which works, but it does not show all entries that C-xC-o shows. For instance, NeoComplCache doesn't show any newly created functions, variables, or classes, whereas as omnicomplete shows them just fine.
I have this in my _vimrc:
autocmd FileType php set omnifunc=phpcomplete#CompletePHP
let g:neocomplcache_enable_at_startup = 1
let g:neocomplcache_enable_auto_select = 1
let g:neocomplcache_min_syntax_length = 1

Is there a way to tell NeoComplCache to show the those entries as well so that Vim's default C-xC-o items show?
Thanks

A: if !exists('g:neocomplcache_omni_patterns')
    let g:neocomplcache_omni_patterns = {}
endif

let g:neocomplcache_omni_patterns.php = '[^. \t]->\h\w*\|\h\w*::'

from neocomplcache.txt I think this might work.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Іща́к — українське прізвище. Відомі носії:

 Отець Андрій (Іщак) — блаженний Української греко-католицької церкви, мученик.
 Іщак Василь Євгенович — український та радянський футболіст.

Українські прізвища

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


You might look into turmeric. I've been taking it for my asthma and just googling it seems like it can help the inflammation of other things too. https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/triple-strength-curcumin-900-mg-120-capsules/vs-2564 this is the one I'm taking. It's not cheap, but it works really fast, like noticeably better in a day. I take 1 capsule 3-4 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, bed).
FWIW--My rheumatologist says 500 mg. of turmeric twice a day is plenty. That's for me (RA); I don't know if it would be different for people with other conditions. But what you're taking really seems like a huge, huge dosage. You might could cut back, save some money and still get the same results.
I have seen that mentioned. Not sure he will take it. He would have to break them open and eat it. He can't swallow pills.
Interesting. I arrived at it because it's what it is taking to keep my asthma under control. That's interesting though. And when I first started (9 months ago) I had to take 4 a day or I had breakthrough symptoms. Now I'm usually fine at 3 a day. So maybe I was just terribly inflamed? I don't know, lol. My GP said turmeric is hard on the kidneys and that that would be the thing to watch. I wouldn't be surprised if they're balancing concerns like that. I was getting pneumonia and bronchitis 4 times a year and spiraling down, so I was just glad it worked. I could play with it and see if I stay stable at 2X a day. I've got spring coming up, so I'm going to be pretty cautious.
So do your labs for your RA alter when you take the turmeric? How dramatic have been the changes with it?
This was the study I first read when deciding to try the turmeric. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4190737/ It's saying up to 3.6g/day is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) for a period of 1-4 months. The study got progress with 2g/day but that was add-on therapy. I think I decided to be generous because I was trying to get completely off my inhalers. So even at 4 capsules a day I'm within GRAS levels.
The other issue is that the products say one thing on the bottle but are standardized to a different level. So something might say this or that on the front and be standardized to a much lower level. But they're saying it can be safe up to 8g/day.
As for cost, I was paying $60 for the one inhaler and the 2nd was going to be $200 once my "free year" ran out. And I was still getting sick on top of that. So I'm saving money big time, lol. Yeah, the turmeric is expensive. We'll see. Spring is coming up and I'm going to be careful. I probably should take an antihistamine (wool rugs, dog, etc.) but it gives me headaches.
I'm on two prescription DMARDs as well as turmeric. And I started the second DMARD at the same time I started turmeric. So it's not possible to really determine which of them is helping most, or if it's the combo of all of them.
Interesting. Well you could flip it and see for yourself. What I'm reading doesn't seem to indicate that 500mg is some sort of max. They're going much higher in these studies. Of course I don't have RA and it might be that for RA that caps the benefit. But for the asthma, yeah they're taking it a lot higher. I definitely feel the difference and can measure the difference with my peak flow meter.
Flip it? You mean go off the DMARDs? No heck no. I've seen up close and personal what happens when someone thinks they can treat RA with all natural stuff. It's not a risk I"m willing to take. The joints might be feeling okay while silent damage is being done to heart, lungs, eyes, etc.
Flip it? You mean go off the DMARDs? No heck no.
Oh I totally agree. I just meant flip the argument mentally. You were saying 500mg was enough, and I was saying what if you flipped that and asked what is a dose that would max out the benefit for your situation. That's what I did with mine and it was much higher. But yeah, I agree no pipe dreams on the RA meds. I know someone who did natural stuff and her family was like please, please use meds. It's the problem I don't ever want, ugh.


text:
North Carolina Alcohol Laws
Probable Cause
The legal basis for an DWI stop, arrest, and detainment proceeding, normally the police officer must have either reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe criminal activity is "afoot."
The term "probable cause" has been traditionally related to when the police officer first pulled your vehicle over. That has recently changed in North Carolina, with the Supreme Court of North Carolina drawing a distinction between Reasonable Suspicion to stop and Probable Cause to stop.
The test is whether, under the totality of the circumstances, 'a reasonable person would feel that he was not free to decline the officer's request or otherwise terminate the encounter.' Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (1991)
Reasonable Suspicion is a lower standard that requires the careful analysis of the surrounding factual scenario of the DWI stop.
One need not necessarily break any law, other than obviously operating a motor vehicle while subject to an impairing substance in violation of N.C.G.S. §20-138.1.
It may be possible for you to drive in a "suspicious" manner.
What Lawyers Want to Know:
Why were you stopped in the first place?
Where did you pull over?
Was it a safe place?
What were the roadside conditions?
How heavy was traffic?
How many police officers / squad cars were involved?
What did the officer say to you or ask you to do?
Did you see whether the Officer(s) wore a Body Camera?
Did you see whether the Police Car had a Dash-Camera?
Did the officer immediately start the DWI investigation?
Were you asked to step out of your vehicle?
Did you provide your Driver's License and Registration?
Did you perform Dexterity Test?
Did you blow into a portable breath screening device?
How much did you tell the Officer you drank?
Did they search your vehicle?
Did they find anything?
Were you handcuffed at ANY time?
Were you told you could not leave?
Did the Police Officer ever put his or her hands on you?
Frankly, while these are all good questions to determine the legality of a DWI arrest and the associated investigation, many of the same questions and legal standards would also be true for other criminal investigations of both misdemeanor and felony charges in North Carolina.
"Probable Cause and what constitutes a legal arrest requires a careful consideration of the law, the facts, and what law enforcement observed on-scene."
– Bill Powers
READ MORE: Time Out! What is Probable Cause for NC DWI Cases?
Why Does Probable Cause Matter?
When there is a lack of probable cause, as determined by a Judge, that may serve as the basis to suppress evidence and when legally appropriate, may indeed serve as a basis for dismissal of the charges.
You may have a viable DWI defense; but, that does not mean the State, through the Office of the District Attorney, will immediately dismiss the charges against you. Ultimately that decision is normally within the discretion of the presiding Court.
Lawyers experienced handling such matters in Court spend a fair amount of time arguing Probable Cause issues in a Motion to Suppress and/or Motion to Dismiss.
In addition to United States Supreme Court caselaw, the North Carolina Appellate Courts have set forth what is appropriate for police officers to do.
To be lawful, a warrantless arrest must be supported by probable cause. State v. Zuniga, 312 N.C. 251, 259, 322 S.E.2d 140, 145 (1984).
"Probable cause for an arrest has been defined to be a reasonable ground of suspicion supported by circumstances sufficiently strong in themselves to warrant a cautious man in believing the accused to be guilty…" Id at 259 (Emphasis Added.)
The Court's role "is not to import to the officer what in our judgment, as legal technicians, might have been a prudent course of action; but rather our role is to determine whether the officer has acted as a man of reasonable caution who, in good faith and based upon practical consideration of everyday life, believed the suspect committed the crime for which he was later charged."
Is it More Than a Gut Reaction or Instinct?
A police officer may have observed you breaking some type of traffic law (speeding, swerving, etc.) in order to stop you in the first place.
He or she cannot stop you because you looked a certain way or because they "felt" like stopping you.
That would be called an un-particularized hunch.
Again, the basis of the stop must always be reasonable. Gut instincts are not considered legally reasonable.
Police officers may be "suspicious" — frankly, it may be fair to say they are generally always suspicious of criminal activity… that's their job.
"In order to pull you over, that suspicion must be reasonable and based on facts consistent with illegal activity."
The suspicion is that "criminal activity is afoot." That's a complicated way of saying there is a reasonable likelihood that the law is being broken.
It is also possible for an officer to stop you based on probable cause. Again, this is a very complicated area of the law in North Carolina. You may want to review one of the Continuing Legal Education papers Bill Powers has presented on the subject. In fact, there have been some exciting developments on what may considered reasonable suspicion and probable cause in North Carolina. It is very factually specific and is based upon what happened prior to and during the arrest and the law itself.
If it's determined that there was reasonable suspicion or probable cause to stop you, how did the officer launch into the DWI investigation? Before asking you to take a chemical test or asking you to perform a field sobriety test, the officer may have observed something such as an open alcohol container in your vehicle or the smell of alcohol coming from either you or your car.
Finally, why were you arrested for DWI? Did the officer give you a field sobriety test and/or a chemical test that indicated you were driving while intoxicated or subject to an impairing substance? These are the types of questions your attorney should find the answers to.
If at any point during the DWI investigation there was a lack of probable cause, this may be grounds for the evidence against you to be deemed inadmissible in court. For example, if the officer did not have probable cause to believe you were DWI, he or she should not have asked for a breath test sample. Similarly, if there was not probable cause to arrest, any evidence seized thereafter may be deemed inadmissible. That concept of the law is called the Exclusionary Rule. It may also be referred to as Fruit of the Poisonous Tree.
Get a Free Case Evaluation Right Now!
Modified Transcript of "Probable Cause Driving While Impaired North Carolina" for the Hearing Impaired
Probable cause in North Carolina related to driving while impaired, that's where we are on our website, we're in the driving while impaired section, is probably; no pun intended, one of the most important aspects of a DWI defense, at least I can think of now because it determines what happens next.
This sets forth the precept from an older case called North Carolina or State v. Zuniga. If you're having trouble sleeping at night, or you really want to know about your DWI case, we got these materials available online and on this web page to take a look at.
The idea behind probable cause and these cases is that probable cause is not formulaic. It's not de minimus, meaning how low can the state go and still somehow squeak underneath, I call it the legal limbo, squeak underneath that bar or measure and still with a straight face make a finding of probably cause.
DWI investigations, properly conducted ones, under NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are meant to be a battery, they're meant to be a totality of the circumstances, they're meant to include: Phase I vehicle invocation; Phase II personal contact; Phase III dexterity test, possibly an alco-sensor, hand-held blowing device.
This concept of probable cause, is not formulaic, it's not how low, like any bad driving and odor of alcohol. What the cases say, and it makes sense, is that the Courts of Appeals, in judging Superior Court and Superior Courts in reviewing probable cause in district court, is that one we're seeing if courts are abusing their discretion in making these decisions, which is a pretty high standard as you might imagine. And, two was the court justified in making this ruling based on the facts and circumstances of a particular case, understanding that one is standard.
So, Overocker and Townsend, there are other cases Tap, Tee, Thomas, Williams, where the Courts of Appeals have reviewed the cases and said, given these factors, the judge did not abuse their discretion in finding probable cause to arrest. Now it's not the standard of reasonable doubt, it's not beyond any doubt or all doubt, it's a probability of a factor. The question is, based on the totality of the circumstances, both good and bad; what you did good and bad on scene, was there probable cause to arrest you for driving while impaired. If there was not probable cause, if they did not have these reasonable, then the evidence thereafter, under what we call The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, is supposed to be suppressed, including the [inaudible 02:06:14] number and any other evidence that they obtained as Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, we call it the Exclusionary Rule.
If there is probable cause and they get over that damn, sometimes referred to as trickling over, then we get into the next aspect of a case of reasonable doubt, was there enough prima facie evidence, that's Latin for first facts, to convict you for driving while impaired. Where we may consider the exact same dexterity test, both on the scene and maybe later on in jail, as well as the Intoximeter ec/ir II for a record. As an aside, the hand-held device, the alco-sensor, is different from the Intoximeter ec/ir II. Neither of them are the breathalyzer, which sometimes everyone just refers to every breath test device as breathalyzer.
The alco-sensor in North Carolina is not admissible to provide an alcohol concentration. All it's meant to do is confirm the existence of alcohol. The officer says I smell alcohol on a person's breath, I gave them the alco-sensor, and it indicated positive or negative for a reading. That number is not admissible in court for determining probable cause. But if they get you arrested and having probable cause, the number on the ec/ir II, which is the big box down there, with the big black tube. That number is admissible. So you'll see, and if you look at our North Carolina DWI quick reference guide, there is a 2017 version that's on Slide Share, you'll see evidentiary vs. non-evidentiary. I have pictures there of what a breathalyzer is, what an intoxalyzer is versus an intoximeter, versus, an alco-sensor, versus the ignition interlock device, versus, the thing they put on your ankle, not my wrist called the CAM or continuous alcohol monitoring.
This is something that's extraordinarily complicated, I'm sorry, there's no good way or easy way to define it other than to be overly simplistic. But we spend a lot of time, as defense lawyers, taking a look at probable cause and explaining to clients what's admissible and not admissible. It gets that granular, it gets to that level, the grains of the sand. So this website, take a look at it. Start in the satellite view and then we gradually work our way down to the little pieces of sand on the beach for your case. It's meant to be instructional and informative but not necessarily dispositive, meaning there can be exceptions to the rule. You may have nailed two of the standardized field sobriety test and failed one and that still could be enough probable cause. You may have failed all three, and there isn't enough probable cause. That's the precepts behind Overocker and Townsend and Zuniga.
I'm more than willing to go over these things with you. It's more than just nuance to us. It makes the difference between whether are cases proceed forward or not. We offer help, we offer free consultation, it's number 877-462-3841, look forward to hearing from you.
Probable Cause | Charlotte DWI Lawyers | Powers Law Firm PA


In this podcast, Jacob and Adrienne are joined by Rupal Shah to discuss work that comes from cultural contexts other than the dominant mainstream.
NOTE: the really boring topic that we try to avoid talking about off the top makes an appearance around 3:30. We appreciate your patience as we work on our technical difficulties. In the meantime, if you or someone you know has experience fix those kind of sounds (full description) let us know. Thank you.


Are you kidding me? Another shooting? When are people gonna learn? When a people gonna stop hurting one another?
When will people learn? They won't because we by nature are sinful to the very core. In our heart of hearts we're selfish and really only care about ourselves.
Create in me a pure heart. God does that when he places faith inside of us. He put something new in there, something different from what we are by nature. Through that faith he washes us in the blood of Jesus and purifies us from all corruption, from all of our sin, but that faith then, is also eager to love God and love one another.
Through that faith God changes us so that we think differently about ourselves and about the people around us. God, through that faith, empowers us to be kind and compassionate to one another.
May God continued to purify your heart through faith in Jesus. May he continue to change the way you think so that you view him and your neighbor properly.


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50 Years Of NorthPark: Where High-End Meets Low-Key
If Dallas had a Central Park, it would be a mall. A mall called NorthPark.
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By Courtney CollinsAugust 19, 2015 10:53 amBusiness & Your Money
Tim Cummins/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
NorthPark Mall at night, photographed in 2005.
This story originally appeared on KERA News.
NorthPark Center turns 50 this week. At a time when shopping malls are closing, NorthPark remains one of the top-performing malls in the country, generating more than $1 billion in sales a year.
For half a century, North Texans have been shopping at Neiman Marcus, soaking up the air conditioning and snacking on food court fare.
It's Dallas' high-end shopping center and it's diverse too – from the stores to the visitors.
With well over 200 stores, it's not an overstatement to say NorthPark has something for everyone. In fact, most shoppers have mapped out their own, very specific mall route.
NorthPark is a place where you can spend $5,000 on shoes in the same time it takes you to order a $5 sandwich at the food court.
Gap To Gucci
"We kind of describe NorthPark as being Gap to Gucci," says Victoria Snee, NorthPark's head of marketing. "We see people that spend all levels of money here. They shop in different stores. There are so many things you can come to NorthPark for."
She says the diversity of stores matches the diversity of shoppers. Some people have standing appointments at Nordstrom. Others buy a pretzel at Auntie Anne's and spend the day browsing. Snee says it's that phenomenon that makes NorthPark a destination.
"You really have to just grow with the demand. And we're seeing people that come to NorthPark not only from around North Texas, not even from around the country, but internationally," Snee says.
Before Opening Day
Fifty years ago, NorthPark didn't have global appeal. To Darwin Payne, it was simply an irritating newspaper assignment.
"I was a courthouse reporter for the Dallas Times Herald at the time and I was very pleased to have that as a beat," Payne remembers.
"And I was shocked one day when the news editor called me in and wanted me to take a week off to go to NorthPark where they were constructing this huge shopping center," he adds.
Just a few months after the shopping center opened, a newspaper ran a story claiming that on any given Saturday, there were more shoppers at NorthPark then there were in all of downtown Dallas.
A Prime Spot
When developer Raymond Nasher picked a spot to build, Payne says, he was thinking ahead.
"When it opened it was way out at Northwest Highway and Central Expressway. And nowadays that's really like the center of town," Payne says.
The mall is equally close to working class neighborhoods and upper-middle class neighborhoods. You can take DART to get there, or you can drive over in your Tesla and plug in at one the mall's charging stations.
Shopper Pam Frank says you can have a different experience every time you go.
"Do we want to buy a $540 pair of Tod loafers today or do we want to just go get a cookie?" she says.
Or you can opt out of spending altogether and just gaze at the public art collection. Dozens of sculptures, paintings, even retro advertisements for Mac computers and Mobilgas.
NorthPark Traditions
During the holidays, people wait for hours to visit the mall's iconic Santa – the same one NorthPark has had for 25 years.
Kids slide on the concrete planters by Neiman Marcus, teenagers people watch at the food court, adults take advantage of covered parking and free air conditioning.
"You see pictures of downtown Dallas, let's say in the '40s, the '50s when it was crowded, the streets were full of shoppers," Payne says. "And that's where downtown Dallas is right now, at NorthPark. All those people going all directions, carrying bags and generally feeling very good."
From a 97-acre cotton field to one of Dallas' premier shopping destinations – all in 50 years.
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text:
Q: Unable to resolve NULL driver for [Illuminate\Mail\TransportManager] I am getting this error  InvalidArgumentException Unable to resolve NULL driver for [Illuminate\Mail\TransportManager] on Laravel 5.6 and I'm having this issue both on my local machine and on the test website the internet.  I started off using just gmail with smtp and was getting some login problems, so i then came across mailgun and set everything up with that.  I have my .env file set up (the test website shows driver as mailgun properly)
MAIL_DRIVER=log
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailgun.org
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=USERNAME
MAIL_PASSWORD=PWD
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls

My config/email is as follows
'mailgun' => [
    'domain' => 'domain',
    'secret' => 'key-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
],

'host' => env('smtp.mailgun.org', 'smtp.mailgun.org'),

'port' => env('587', 587),

'from' => [
    'address' => env('MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS', 'hello@example.com'),
    'name' => env('MAIL_FROM_NAME', 'Example'),
],

'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'tls'),

'username' => env('uname'),

'password' => env('pwd'),

'sendmail' => '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs',

'markdown' => [
    'theme' => 'default',

    'paths' => [
        resource_path('views/vendor/mail'),
      ],
    ],

  ];

config/services is
 'mailgun' => [
    'domain' => env('domain'),
    'secret' => env('key-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'),
  ],

  'ses' => [
    'key' => env('SES_KEY'),
    'secret' => env('SES_SECRET'),
      'region' => 'us-east-1',
  ],

  'sparkpost' => [
    'secret' => env('SPARKPOST_SECRET'),
  ],

  'stripe' => [
      'model' => App\User::class,
      'key' => env('STRIPE_KEY'),
       'secret' => env('STRIPE_SECRET'),
  ],

  ];

Ever since adding this stuff ive gotten the problem. Ive was getting output to the log file and as i mentioned earlier when using gmail smtp i did not get this driver error. I have tried the laravel docs using maiables and that didnt help. I used this link https://scotch.io/tutorials/easy-and-fast-emails-with-laravel-5-3-mailables as a guide and even then i got the same error.  Ive done a dd on the Route
  Route::get('test', function(){
  dd(Config::get("mail"));
  Mail::raw('Sending emails with Mailgun and Laravel is easy!',        function($message)
  {dd(Config::get("mail"));
    $message->to('email@email.email');
    });
});

with the following results
  array:9 [▼
 "mailgun" => array:2 [▼
  "domain" => "domain"
  "secret" => "key-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
  ]
  "host" => "smtp.mailgun.org"
  "port" => 587
  "from" => array:2 [▼
   "address" => "hello@example.com"
  "name" => "Example"
 ]
"encryption" => "tls"
"username" => null
"password" => null
"sendmail" => "/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs"
"markdown" => array:2 [▼
"theme" => "default"
"paths" => array:1 [▶]
  ]
]

Admitantly I'm new to Laravel so i was pretty eager to try to resolve this, as that is the best way to learn, but with even google I personally wasnt finding alot of help so i reach out to some of the experts here on SO.  Thank you in advance.

A: If you want to use Mailgun you should change to this in your .env:
MAIL_DRIVER=mailgun

Which will tell Laravel to use this config from config/services:
'mailgun' => [
    'domain' => 'domain',
    'secret' => 'key-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
],

Edit:
Change your config/email.php to this. Copy paste replace everything in your current config and the error should be resolved. You should do the same for config/services.php - copy from here.
Reason: you deleted the 'driver' => env('MAIL_DRIVER', 'smtp'), line from your config and Laravel is unable to resolve the driver.
Even if you just add this line you'll run into more errors because of these lines:
'username' => env('uname'),

'password' => env('pwd'),

The first argument for env(..) function is which line in .env file to look for the variable. The 2nd is the default value if the variable is not found in the .env. You don't have variables uname and pwd in your env (at least from what you've shown). And you don't provide the default value either.
Long story short, don't edit your mail config, edit the variables in the .env file instead.

A: Copy content this in your config/services.php and this in your config/mail.php
And add this in end of your app.php
$app->configure('services');
$app->configure('mail');


text:
module.exports = THREE = require('three');
require('three-object');

/**
 * @author mrdoob / http://mrdoob.com/
 * @author alteredq / http://alteredqualia.com/
 *
 * parameters = {
 *  color: <hex>,
 *  opacity: <float>,
 *  map: new THREE.Texture( <Image> ),
 *
 *  size: <float>,
 *
 *  blending: THREE.NormalBlending,
 *  depthTest: <bool>,
 *  depthWrite: <bool>,
 *
 *  vertexColors: <bool>,
 *
 *  fog: <bool>
 * }
 */

THREE.ParticleSystemMaterial = function ( parameters ) {

	THREE.Material.call( this );

	this.color = new THREE.Color( 0xffffff );

	this.map = null;

	this.size = 1;
	this.sizeAttenuation = true;

	this.vertexColors = false;

	this.fog = true;

	this.setValues( parameters );

};

THREE.ParticleSystemMaterial.prototype = Object.create( THREE.Material.prototype );

THREE.ParticleSystemMaterial.prototype.clone = function () {

	var material = new THREE.ParticleSystemMaterial();

	THREE.Material.prototype.clone.call( this, material );

	material.color.copy( this.color );

	material.map = this.map;

	material.size = this.size;
	material.sizeAttenuation = this.sizeAttenuation;

	material.vertexColors = this.vertexColors;

	material.fog = this.fog;

	return material;

};

// backwards compatibility

THREE.ParticleBasicMaterial = THREE.ParticleSystemMaterial;
/**
 * @author alteredq / http://alteredqualia.com/
 */

THREE.ParticleSystem = function ( geometry, material ) {

	THREE.Object3D.call( this );

	this.geometry = geometry !== undefined ? geometry : new THREE.Geometry();
	this.material = material !== undefined ? material : new THREE.ParticleSystemMaterial( { color: Math.random() * 0xffffff } );

	this.sortParticles = false;
	this.frustumCulled = false;

};

THREE.ParticleSystem.prototype = Object.create( THREE.Object3D.prototype );

THREE.ParticleSystem.prototype.clone = function ( object ) {

	if ( object === undefined ) object = new THREE.ParticleSystem( this.geometry, this.material );

	object.sortParticles = this.sortParticles;

	THREE.Object3D.prototype.clone.call( this, object );

	return object;

};


State of Colorado official web site, State of Georgia, New York State Senate, US Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Commerce, US Department of Energy, City of Austin, Citi of Los Angeles, London Gov UK, Australian Government, NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NCAA (The National Collegiate Athletic Association), Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is the largest school system in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 10th largest in the United States, Government of Bermuda, Government of France, South African Government. Drupal based web site is used by governments at the state and federal level in more than 150 countries including embassies, parliaments, government portals, police, research centers, ministries, monarchies. White House gov uses Drupal.


Cherry has lived in Burgess Hill for 10 years and is married to Jeremy.She has served as a Councillor for four years and has worked hard to support residents. Cherry chairs the local Police & Crime Panel which sets policing priorities in the ward. Cherry helped secure a land swap to create the new playing field at Sheddingdean School and fought plans to re-route the road to the tip through the industrial estate.


This lovable Blue Teddy Bear is around 10″ Inches of huggable, loveable bliss! Complete with a ribbon on his neck, this huge closest friend will look extraordinary in any bedroom or playroom.
On the off chance that one thing babies love, it's teddy bears. Ask one, they truly do. Enter Lil' Boy the Big Baby Safe Plush Blue Teddy Bear by New Happy Flower, a child's fantasy. This extensive, delicate, and safe teddy bear is the buddy that children spend their whole childhoods hauling around by the arm. Try not to stress, Lil' Boy approves of that. A little pull on the arm or leg is nothing to this huge blue teddy bear. Lil' Boy the Big Baby Safe Plush Blue Teddy Bear isn't simply cute, Lil' Boy is a survivor! Proceed child, bite on Lil' Boy, drool, toss Lil' Boy over the room and Lil' Boy will continue returning for additional.
This enormous rich blue teddy bear comprehends what it takes to fulfill an infant and it's an occupation that Lil' Boy grasps wholeheartedly. This vast size of Little' Boy is around ten inches tall in a sitting posture, is wearing a valuable blue bow, and has his name weaved in a heart on one foot. Huge, adorable, cuddly, and safe. Lil' Boy the Big Baby Safe Plush Teddy Bear is the aggregate bundle and is likewise accessible in planning pieces! You can see them all HERE!
New Happy Flower. is one of the world's most well known extravagant organizations. Likewise with the greater part of the quality squishy toys by New Happy Flower.
New Happy Flower is very nice…specially they provide all flavour cakes and sweets gift pack also. Occasions could vary from person to person. Cakes can be used on multiple occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. These are amongst the top most reasons to present a cake as a gift. Apart from this, you can amaze your brother or sister by presenting a cake as a rakhi gift in replacement of sweets. We also have tempting Valentine's Day cakes that can surprise your partner at midnight. This can make them realize how special they are to you.


A vivid reminder of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "lame duck" President this morning….
Ahmadinejad still has five weeks before Hassan Rouhani takes over as head of Government, but — despite warnings that he could cause mischief — he almost completely disappeared from this month's Presidential election and has scarcely bothered the headlines. While as President, he still updates his official website, president.ir, President-elect Rouhani has eclipsed him even in cyberspace, creating his own president92.ir website.
The pro-Ahmadinejad IRNA tries its best to revive the President with a lead story that he has flown to Zanjan Province to inaugurate several projects, featuring Ahmadinejad smiling and waving as he enters the plane.
No one else follows, however — Fars, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, sees no reason to mention the trip. Nor do Khabar Online, the outlet of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, or Mehr News.
Indeed, Mehr prefers a jab at Ahmadinejad. It features a letter from leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli — a long-time critic of the Government — to Larijani, alleging that the President has manipulated the currency market so billions in Government debt "disappeared".
UPDATE: Fars News in Persian has just noticed Ahmadinejad's trip to Zanjan, with a very short article reporting that the outgoing President has opened a sanitary products factory there.
We are clarifying reports as to whether Saeed Laylaz, one of Iran's leading economists, was interrogated at Evin Prison on Saturday over his six-year prison sentence, but was soon released, reportedly on bail of 5 billion Rial (about $400,000 at official rate; $150,000 at open-market rate).
Laylaz, an advisor to 2009 Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, was handed a nine-year sentence in December 2009 for "taking part in illegal gatherings" and "holding classified information". The term was subsequently reduced by an appeals court.
The economist recently called the election of Hasson Rouhani as President "a historical opportunity" and a "trend toward moderation".
Rouhani Addresses Iranian People: Moderation or Freedom?
President-elect Hassan Rouhani, whose public relations campaign including in English has continued after his election victory, announced late Friday via his website and social media tha cleric Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had visited him. Seyed Hassan congratulated Rouhani, and the two had a discussion, according to Rouhani's website.


text:
Q: Ruby: Get a method's class or module name I'm trying to understand a mixin precedence situation. If I run foo.bar I'm trying to figure out exactly which bar will be executed. Here is a snipped irb session where I tried to find out where an array's assoc method is defined.
2.3.0 :032 > ray = ['cat', nil, 'dog']
 => ["cat", nil, "dog"]
2.3.0 :033 > ray.methods
 => [:fill, :assoc, :rassoc, :uniq, ...
2.3.0 :034 > ray.method("assoc").class_or_module_name
NoMethodError: undefined method `class_or_module_name' for #<Method: Array#assoc>
    from (irb):34
    from /Users/mark/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/bin/irb:11:in `<main>'
2.3.0 :035 > ray.methods("assoc").class_or_module_name
NoMethodError: undefined method `class_or_module_name' for #<Array:0x007ffb8aa286a8>
    from (irb):35
    from /Users/mark/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/bin/irb:11:in `<main>'
2.3.0 :036 > ray.methods("assoc")
 => [:fill, :assoc, :rassoc, :uniq, :uniq!, :compact, ...

If possible I would like to see the methods and their source location that lost precedence.

A: To find out which class or module defines a method (rather than what file), use Method#owner.
For example,
[].method(:last).owner #=> Array
[].method(:flat_map).owner #=> Enumerable

You'll actually find that a lot of the methods that Array could get from Enumerable, it actually defines itself (presumably to provide a more efficient implementation):
irb(main):018:0> Enumerable.instance_methods.select {|meth_name| [].method(meth_name).owner == Array }
=> [:to_a, :to_h, :sort, :count, :find_index, :select, :reject, :collect, :map, :first, :include?, :reverse_each, :zip, :take, :take_while, :drop, :drop_while, :cycle]

A: In general, to know where a method is defined you can use source_location(docs), e.g.
ray.method("assoc").source_location

although in this case it will return nil since assoc is a native method. It will work for other methods, e.g.
ray.methods.map{ |m| [m, ray.method(m).source_location] }

For native methods you can use Pry, e.g.
pry(main)> ? ray.assoc

From: array.c (C Method):
Owner: Array
Visibility: public
[...]

? is a shorthand for show-doc.


2006 July | All Games for Me!
Lost for more than 5000 years, the Treasure Pyramid has been waiting to be discovered. You've found an ancient map that will lead you there. Embark on an adventure that will have you puzzling your way through the lost temples of Egypt. Dodge dangers, find treasures and collect the 7 jewels that will unlock the long-lost majestic pyramid.
Birds On A Wire is an action-puzzle game that takes you on a thrilling adventure across the world of cute Birds. Explore 3 unique gameplay modes, with 250 mind-blowing levels at each mode, with various power-up bonuses. Try to find ancient Big Golden Bird artifact which can stop birds laugh invasion. Birds will try to distract you, by resorting to various tricks, making laugh, gladden, surprise and delight! Try to resist their tricks, otherwise they will conquer you by their charm and fascination and you won't want to come back!
Follow one of the most famous stories ever written as you retrace the route of Ulysses in his attempt to return home from the Trojan wars. Incredibly realistic water current behavior will amaze and challenge you as you use your godly powers to protect the Hero's fleet.
Help an orphaned girl find a path to follow through life. She has some innate skills, but it's up to you to guide her. She can train in classes, work at jobs, make friends, find romance and fight monsters. Dress and design your character as you lead her to one of 50 potential endings. Will she be a princess or a pauper?
Dodge dangers and tour exotic locales as you journey around the globe in an effort to collect museum artifacts. Play solitaire to unlock treasure chests containing power-ups that will let you re-shuffle portions of the deck, snake-charm your way to bonus token payouts, or give you a wild card to use when you'd like. Enjoy an original music soundtrack and stunning graphics as you make your way through the game.
Behold this relaxing garden of tile-matching games. This spectacular take on an ancient classic allows you to choose your tile sets and enjoy custom puzzles. Unlock treasures as you play, and always feel safe knowing you can get hints to help you out. You'll never tire of these games as your matching skills bloom and you blossom into a mahjong master.


text:
Despite thruster glitch, test of manual Progress docking successful
Progress MS-01 is manually guided in for a re-docking by cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin. Photo Credit: Roscosmos
In a test of the manual docking system on the Russian side of the International Space Station (ISS), a Progress cargo ship undocked from the Pirs docking compartment early this morning and was remotely re-docked by cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin some 30 minutes later, despite a thruster glitch at the moment of capture.
Progress MS-01 nears Pirs for re-docking. Photo Credit: Roscosmos
The test provided an opportunity to verify a new signal converter installed on the Telerobotically Operated Rendezvous System (TORU), which allows crews to take over an approaching Progress spacecraft in the event the automated docking program fails.
Physical separation occurred at 12:36 a.m. CDT (05:36 GMT) July 1. Progress MS-01, which had been attached to the orbiting outpost since December 2015, was pushed away via springs in the docking mechanism. The initial speed was only 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) per second.
The automatic departure was monitored by Expedition 48 flight engineers Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka. Both were positioned at the TORU station located in the Zvezda service module.
Twelve minutes and two brief thruster firings later, the Progress reached a distance of about 623 feet (190 meters) away from the ISS and transitioned to stationkeeping mode.
After initial checks, mission control in Moscow gave the two Russians permission to initiate the manual docking. The close rate was about 11.8 inches (30 centimeters) per second, as the two cosmonauts insured the docking target was in the center of the crosshairs in the engineering camera view from Progress.
Ovchinin was at TORU's controls and was flying the spacecraft in. Skripochka monitored the approach. All remained on target.
Once the Progress reached about 82 feet (25 meters) from Pirs, another stationkeeping period occurred to ensure everything was still aligned and systems were still operating as expected.
Due to a thruster glitch, the Progress began to oscillate around the Pirs docking compartment. Photo Credit: NASA TV
Final approach started around 1 a.m. CDT (06:00 GMT) as Ovchinin guided Progress in at a rate of only 5.9 inches (15 centimeters) per second. There was another brief stationkeeping period at about 9.8 feet (3 meters), but final capture of the docking probe occurred at 1:05 a.m. CDT (06:05 GMT).
At the moment of docking, however, there was a noticeable amount of oscillation. Based on views from engineering cameras, the Progress rotated as much as 10 to 15 degrees. Some dampening between the ISS and visiting vehicles is normal, but this amount was more than usual.
According to Spaceflight101, as the Progress docked to Pirs, thrusters from both the X and Y axes fired. Normally, only the X-axis thrusters fire to push the spacecraft at the moment of contact to engage capture latches. The reason the Y-axis thrusters fired remains under investigation.
After the oscillation dampened, the probe was retracted and hooks closed forming a hard-mate between the space station and cargo craft. There it will remain, with hatches closed until Saturday night.
Over the last number of weeks, the crew loaded the spacecraft with hundreds of pounds of unneeded equipment and trash. The hatches between the space station and Progress were officially closed on the morning of June 28.
Final undocking will occur at 10:48 p.m. CDT July 2 (03:48 GMT July 3). Four hours later, Progress MS-01 will deorbit and burn up over the Pacific Ocean.
Video courtesy of NASA TV
Tagged: Expedition 48 International Space Station Lead Stories Progress Roscosmos
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a blog about the International Space Station, called Orbital Velocity.
jim oberg
Nice report, thanks. Only thing I'd suggest adding is to specify the backaway/return direction — out-of-plane, aft, whatever. This is important to assessing the dynamic forces acting on the vehicle during 'proximity operations'.


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Q: installation of snap-store in kali linux 2020.4 I was trying to install snap-store in kali linux 2020.4.
sudo install snapd
sudo snap install snap-store

I tried above source code. And, I am getting that I have successfully installed snap-store.
But, when I am trying to run snap-store.

You can see I have successfully installed snap-store. But, there's no snap-store in my directory. Again, when I tried to run snap-store this way.
snap run snap-store

Then, I am able to run that way. But, I need Desktop-Entry of it..
Look I have installed lot more software also.

I can only run them via snap run [package name]. There's no desktop entry of them. So, it means I have successfully installed snap-store only there's no desktop entry of snap-store and others.
How to solve it?

A: From the 2 following links: installing snap on kali linux installing the snap-store

Installing snap from a live Kali Linux environment is not currently supported. These instructions only work when Kali Linux is installed.

From a Kali Linux installation, snap can be installed directly from the command line:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install snapd

Additionally, enable and start both the snapd and the snapd.apparmor services with the following command:
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd apparmor

Finally, either log out and back in again, or restart your system, to ensure snap's paths are updated correctly. if you don't do this step, menu shortcuts won't appear!
The Snap Store app is installed with the following command:
sudo snap install snap-store

now reboot or at least log out and back in. if the menu shortcuts still don't appear you can try to run this command: ln -st ~/.local/share/applications /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/*.desktop
I haven't tested it, so I don't know if it will break something. use at your own risk!

A: In earlier versions of Kali (older than 2020.1) you didn't have access to create desktop entry while directly installing any software from snapd. However, if you install gnome in Kali in any version than you will have desktop entry of those files.
I don't know why, whenever I use gnome, I get a desktop entry of those software which I installed from snapd. But, when I don't use gnome, I don't get any desktop entry of those software. I really don't know why this happens. Since then, I always install gnome.
I didn't even have any idea of command lines when I asked the question. As @Itai Nelken said in his answer, use
ln -st ~/.local/share/applications /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/*.desktop

I think this command is "saying" that to take them to another directory.
Also, he warned that,

I haven't tested it, so I don't know if it will break something. use at your own risk!

So, now I think this could break something. Because, they are not likely to run by snap run <package name>, because they aren't in their directory where snap searches for them. That's why it's likely to break.


Would anyone be able to share some exciting course introductions with me that make the learner want to dive into the course. Specifically for business related courses for middle to top management type professionals.
For me, if I really wanted to hit the nail on the head and make them want to dive right in, I'd need to understand who the specific audience is, what the topic is, why the course would be important to that learner, and what the desired result is.
Without all of that I could only imagine a generic intro that might look cool but wouldn't really connect in a meaningful way. I don't know if that helps, but that's the way I'd look at it.
Food for thought. Despense with the usual introductory content and engage the learner with a question or scenario that grabs their attention and gets them thinking. I recently built an aerospace compliance course. I opened the course with a black screen and actual cockpit audio from an jet that was going down. The audio ends with an explosion and then a slow fade in picture of the crash scene appears. Compliance training is generally boring so I wanted the user to understand why quality is important to the aerospace industry. You can do the same thing with an opening scene involving a conflict between two employees that requires the learner to chose from a set of actions they might take. You tgrab their attention and ask them to start thinking immediately.
For courses that include complicated concepts I've started with 2 or 3 questions directly related to those concepts to impress on the audience what they don't know about the subject and get's them engaged.
I've also started courses with an introduction narrated by a leader who explains why the course is important and sets the expectation for what is required of the audience.
Tom had a great blog post a while back on how to NOT start your course with bullet point objecives. He took an emeregecny prepardeness course and created a very simple, but very engaging intro.
"Tom had a great blog post a while back on how to NOT start your cou..."


HR Indexx is a leading Human Resources solutions company.
We specialise in the recruitment, training and development of personnel for national and multinational companies and for government agencies in Nigeria and the rest of the world.
We aim not just to meet our clients' expectations, but to exceed them.


Tip: How Do I Remove Frames from Timecodes?
I don't want the frame number to appear in my timecode. I want [hh:mm:ss], not [hh:mm:ss:ff]. Can I turn it off?
3. Under the "Inserted Timecode Format:" section, check the "Omit Frames" checkbox.
4. Click "OK" to close the window.
This will tell InqScribe not to use frames in the future for this particular transcript (Frames will still be used by default for any new transcripts that you create. See the next section to turn off frames for all future transcripts). Next we need to remove the frames from your existing timecodes.
5. Select "Transcript->Adjust Timecodes…" from the menu bar.
6. Leave the "Adjustment:" field at "00:00:00", and click "Adjust." This will reformat all of your timecodes to remove the frame number.


Encourage self-service and peer invitations to your Client Portal. Anyone you invite will receive a special invitation link that gives them access to their own account in your portal.
Your clients will not be able to access your secure Client Portal until they have been granted access and have received their username and password. Before inviting a contact to the Client Portal, we strongly recommend reviewing the Setup options and the default Permissions.
From the View Client screen, click Portal and select View & Invite Company Users.
This will open the View & Invite Users screen. Here, you will see a list of contacts associated with the Company.
All - a list of all the contacts associated with a Company.
Active - a list of all the contacts who have accessed the Client Portal.
Invite Sent - a list of all the contacts who have been sent an invite to the Client Portal.
None - a list of the contacts that have either never been invited to the Client Portal, or they have been invited but their access has been removed.
To invite users to access the Client Portal, navigate to the None tab.
In the Contact list that appears, you will notice checkboxes that have appeared next to each contact's name. Any number of contacts in the list can be selected by marking the checkboxes.
To select every contact on the page, click the checkbox next to Name, then click Select This Page. To select every contact that exists for a company, click the checkbox next to Name, then click Select All.
When the contacts you wish to invite have been selected, click the Prepare Invite to (X) Users button.
This will open the Invitation Preview dialog box. This will display your Invitation Template and allow you to customize the message before sending. You can modify this template in the Client Portal Invitation Settings in the Configurations section of your deployment.
Note: When sending an invitation to more than one contact, the recipient's name will auto-fill in the invitation via Merge Fields.
Click the Send Invitation button to send the invite email to the user.
View Contact - leaves this screen and opens the standard View Contact screen.
Edit contact - leaves this screen and opens the Edit Contact screen.
Reset Password - sends a new password to the contact's email address.
Remove Access - this contact will no longer have access to the portal, effective immediately. This access card will be removed from view.
Send Invitation - triggers the Send Invitation pop-up for you to preview the invite before sending.
View Portal As - this allows you to impersonate this contact, seeing the portal as they would see it. Handy for confirming your settings.
Generate Invite Link - opens up a pop up with the user's unique invitation link, so you can copy and paste it for other uses.


The STASH collection was developed for the growing number of riders trending away from full packs (especially on shorter rides) but still wanting the convenience of carrying items in a secured, balanced location. This category offers a combination of storage core layers: tank, liner and bib. STASH gives riders the option to carry a spare tube, tool, pump, snacks, etc without having to wear a traditional pocketed XC jersey.


FINALLY. It's here! My skincare routine. Many of you have asked me to share my daily skincare routine and I'm humbled/excited to do so. After so many years of trying out multiple products and researching for the best 100% NATURAL ones, I've finally come up with a simple daily routine that actually works!
Did you know that the skin has memory? Meaning, as the years go by it begins to reflect it's past. So fascinating and yet scary! This is why it's never to early to begin taking care of it. I wish I knew this at 21 when laying out under the sun (unprotected) for hours was a favorite pastime. Anything for the perfect tan! Ugh, if I only knew then what I was doing to my skin. But some of us learn the hard way, haha. Long story short, I quickly figured out that I needed to avoid any products that had harmful chemicals and endless hours under the sun in order to maintain a young healthy looking skin, because what's the point on spending tons of money on fancy products that will feel and look great in the short term but harm your skin with side effects in the long run. No, thank you.
Arcona Cranberry Toner – After I clean my face I apply this toner. It helps cleanse, tone and hydrate by infusing skin with protective antioxidants to leave it glowing and refreshed. Plus its smells soooo good! The best part is that you can also double it as a make-up remover.
Arcona Peptide Eye Serum – Once my face is clean and refreshed, I apply this eye serum. It reduces puffiness and hydrates such a delicate area. Trust me, a life changer and worth the money! I began to see results almost immediately.
Biossance Vitamin C Rose Oil – This is something I recently added to my routine and I now can't see myself ever not using. It's powerful natural ingredients will give you the extra nourishment and protection to visibly brighten and firm your skin.
Arcona Magic White Ice – This is the cherry on top and the most important step in my opinion. Daily hydrating gel that moisturizes your skin and l swear it leaves it feeling like baby face without clogging your pores. It makes me feel renewed and ready to take on the world.
Mineral Fusion SPF 40 Face Moisturizer – Once I've done all of the above, I give it time to nourish my skin as I get ready. Once I'm done and ready leave the house I religiously apply this natural SPF before I put on make up to protect my face from the sun. And voilà!
I repeat steps 1 to 4 once I've cleaned my face at night. So that's it. Short and simple skincare routine great for everyone. Nothing fancy, just pure natural products that protect and regenerate your skin to keep it young and radiant.
Do you have any natural skincare products that you already love? If so, comment below. I'd love to know!


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Nikkei: Microsoft porting first-party game franchises to Android and iOS (update: not quite)
Jon Fingas|@jonfingas|June 24, 2013 4:02 PM
Microsoft is selective about where its first-party game franchises appear -- outside of lightweight releases like Kinectimals and Wordament, it prefers to use games as technology showcases and system sellers. It may not be picky for much longer, though, as Nikkei claims that Microsoft has reached a deal with Japan's KLab to develop Android and iOS versions of its first-party titles. The deal reportedly includes adaptations of both PC and Xbox games, and would start with a free-to-play variant of Age of Empires that could launch before the end of the 2013 fiscal year. We've reached out to Microsoft to verify the rumor, but it's clear that the arrangement could be a breakthrough for gamers who aren't wedded to Microsoft's existing mobile strategy.
Update: Microsoft's Phil Spencer says that the report wasn't completely right -- the company isn't bringing Xbox games to non-Microsoft devices, Kinectimals and Wordament notwithstanding.
ageofempires
free-to-play
microsoftstudios