text:
\section{Introduction}

Technology has facilitated the evolution of public participation. It has enhanced the rise of civic grass rooted actions such as activism, mobilizations, public campaigning and community monitoring due to its power to connect people, improve cities and to better governance \cite{KnightFoundation2013}. It must be understood that every interaction between people and a civic technology\footnote{Civic technology refers to the diverse ways in which people are using technology to influence change in society \cite{KnightFoundation2013,Steinberg2014,boehner2016}.} represents a deliberate and intentional act of public participation, which can take different forms (see Fig.~\ref{fig:palette}), from merely allowing people to consume information about matters they care about e.g. traffic or pollution (data consumer); collect data about predefined issues of common interest e.g. FixMyStreet (data provider); collaborate with authorities to monitor issues - predefined by authorities - (collaborators); co-create solutions for issues of shared concern (co-creator); ideate civic action e.g. Code for Ireland (ideator); or, disrupt established processes by passive non-participation or negative participation (disruptor) \cite{palacin2018ict4s}.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=2in]{figures/Palette.PNG}
    \caption{Palette of Public Participation in Civic Technology adapted from \cite{palacin2018ict4s}}
    \label{fig:palette}
\end{figure}

Civic technology is currently an intense target of study \cite{saldivar2018civic}. While extant literature seeks to understand the effect of technology on people \cite{boehner2016,johnson2016} and to orchestrate civic engagement \cite{ferrario2014software, balestrini2017city}, research in the context of software engineering practices in civic technologies remains under-explored \cite{gama2017preliminary,lee2015open}.

In order to better understand how grassroots organizations develop civic tech, we performed an in-depth qualitative study of a civic tech group: Code for Ireland. In the study, we followed the formation of two projects in Code for Ireland, seeking to understand how their development processes evolved over time, and how the group carried out their work in creating new technology. We want to understand if a systematic process similar to a software engineering process emerges, and what kind of process the group adopts. From existing studies on open source software projects \cite{scacchi2006understanding}, we know that volunteer-based communities can set up processes with characteristics of software engineering processes, including the systematic use of theories, methods, and tools to achieve desired levels of quality, acceptability, and maintainability \cite{sommerville_software_2011}.

To accomplish our goals, we framed our research as an interpretive case study \cite{walsham1995interpretive, runeson2009guidelines} using the constructive grounded theory research method \cite{Charmaz2014Constructing}\footnote{In this context theory is defined as a set of testable abstract statements that define and explain relationships among constructs, as set of prescriptive instructions on how something should be done, and as a set of abstract statements providing a lens for viewing or explaining a part of a phenomenon \cite{gregor2006nature}. A situational theory emerging from the research process is not necessarily a "grand theory" explaining the entire phenomenon \cite{Urquhart2010Putting}.}. Our main contribution is providing a situated, systematic explanation of one civic technology software engineering process phenomenon.

To address this gap in knowledge, we have formulated the following exploratory research question for our study: \textit{What software creation processes emerge in grassroots-driven civic technology groups?} As secondary results 1) we also relate our results to established literature on software engineering and civic technology processes, and 2) provide actionable knowledge in the form of recommendations to emerging grassroots civic tech organizations using lessons learned and established literature.

The paper is structured as follows. In the next section, we perform a literature review on related civic technology studies. In section three we detail the research setup and in section four our analysis and findings. We discuss the findings in section four and conclude with section five.

\section{Related Research on Civic Technology}

Since 2014, the term civic technology, also known as "civic tech", started to increasingly appear in discussions about public participation and governance, rapidly surpassing terms like e-governance, e-democracy, gov2.0 or gov.3.0 \cite{Steinberg2014}. Civic tech is a term that refers to the diverse ways in which people are using technology to influence change in society \cite{KnightFoundation2013}. The breadth of civic technologies is wide and comprises a large pool of technologies for i) governance (e.g. MySociety, SeeClickFix), ii) collaborative consumption (e.g. Airbnb, TaskRabbit), iii) community action (e.g. citizen investor, GeekCorps), iv) civic media (e.g. Wikipedia, Global Voices) and v) community organizing (e.g. Whatsapp groups) \cite{KnightFoundation2013}.

Researchers across many fields of software engineering have been studying civic technologies from different perspectives, for instance: a) examining the role of information technologies in governance \cite{borg2018digitalization}; b) supporting participatory democracy practices of technology in society \cite{holston2016engineering}; c) understanding the role of software in society \cite{newman2015role}; d) exploring the dynamics of the collaborative use of software \cite{franzago2017collaborative}, e) developing agile methods and techniques to support software development in society \cite{memmel2007agile,gama2017preliminary} and, more recently f) architecting smart cities, open data with and for people \cite{larrucea2017software}. In other related fields, such as HCI, the focus has turned onto examining the a) dynamics of technology in public life, b) civic discourse on social media, c) civic engagement, d) data literacy, e) social justice and f) trust, often using in-the-wild approaches of systems in communities \cite{boehner2016,johnson2016}. In addition, both SE \cite{becker2015sustainability,penzenstadler2018software,penzenstadler2017software} and human-computer interaction (HCI) \cite{disalvo2010mapping,silberman2014next,knowles2018changes} share a recent turn of interest onto sustainability matters, which has a close link with civic tech, as the focus is put on the environment, peoples' behavior and the role of technology \cite{boehner2016}.

People have influenced the development of cities around the world by orchestrating grassroots initiatives through which they take action and solve issues they care about. These groups have affected positive change in neighborhoods as well as at a larger scale. For instance, Safecast\footnote{\url{https://blog.safecast.org}} was created by a group of people that wanted accurate and real-time measures of radiation. They created open hardware devices to allow people to measure radiation on the go. By now, Safecast has become the go-to solution for radiation measures worldwide (all supported by a large pool of volunteers across the globe). Civic technology groups have a rich variety of goals, from city-driven projects \cite{hou2017sustainable}, issue-centric initiatives \cite{balestrini2017city} to user-driven groups, such as hackerspaces and fablabs \cite{capdevila2014can}. Different ways to arrange public participation in the creation of civic tech have been developed, such as the City in Common framework \cite{balestrini2017city}, the MK:Smart project \cite{gooch2018amplifying}, and Code for Europe-style open innovation intermediates \cite{almirall2014open}.

\section{Research Setup}

The purpose of this research project is to investigate the software creation processes in grassroots-driven groups who create civic technology, about which our literature review informs a substantial lack of theoretical insights specifically related to this recent academic conversation. We assume that grassroots civic software creation contexts happen through an apparently natural process, but a complex one, and contingent on several social actors and activities. Therefore, we consider an interpretive perspective the most suitable for this project.

Given the nature of this study, we found a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis appropriate. Given that these software creation processes are explored from the meaning given by the people that are actively involved in constructing such reality, qualitative research methods are appropriate as they are "designed to help researchers understand people and the social and cultural contexts within which they live" \cite{Myers1997Qualitative}.

Case study research was found to be the most suitable for the purposes of this research. It is a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a bounded system (a case in a specific setting/context) over time, through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information, and reports a case description and case-based themes \cite{walsham1995interpretive,yin2009case,Runeson2012Case}.

\subsection{Case: Code for Ireland}

The case we studied is concentrated on a grassroots group creating civic tech, Code for Ireland, which describes its mission as \textit{"developing innovative and sustainable solutions to real-world problems faced by communities across Ireland, by fostering collaboration with civic-minded individuals, businesses and public sector organizations."} The group is led by volunteers, coordinated online through services such as Meetup.com, and not officially registered. We coined a term \textit{"organically grown civic tech"} to describe the group because the current iteration of Code for Ireland was formed by a group of motivated citizens coming together. They have not registered as a formal organization, they operate without the intention of making a profit, and use only volunteered or donated resources. Furthermore, there is no city organization, academic body, or other influential stakeholders backing the group. If evaluated with the palette of public participation (Fig.~\ref{fig:palette}), they are ideators or people who are taking civic actions in their hands and orchestrating the creation of civic tech.

Code for Ireland was selected as the case study for this research for several reasons, including: (1) the case is a clear example of grassroots civic software development (i.e. the phenomenon of interest); (2) since the very first contact with the case, a significant interest was observed from the group members to take part of this study, which ensured us the possibility of conducting interviews; (3) their willingness to share experiences, and access to relevant documents and material; (4) the group and its people are based in a location that allowed us long-term engagement and to conduct observations; and (5) unlike similar groups, Code for Ireland has been operating for more than 5 years, and thus ensured maturity in relation to the richness of the participants' experiences.

The structure of the case study is described in Fig.~\ref{fig:researchcontext}, which is similar to a single case study with multiple embedded units of analysis \cite{Runeson2012Case}. In the figure, we specify three essential units: (1) The \textit{group}, which is all of Code for Ireland. (2) \textit{Teams}, who work on (3) \textit{projects}. The group can have several ongoing projects, with each team working on one or several projects simultaneously. In this case, we studied a single organization and the two projects the group was working on. These are Transparent Water, which is concentrated on making water quality data available; and Vacant Homes, which focuses on developing a mobile app to identify apartments that could be rented to alleviate the current housing crisis in Dublin. The projects are expanded on in Table~\ref{tab:c4iprojects}.

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{figures/case-context.png}
    \caption{Case study context}
    \label{fig:researchcontext}
\end{figure}

\input{tables/c4iprojects}

\subsection{Data Collection}

Inductive qualitative case study researchers usually combine multiple data collection methods \cite{walsham1995interpretive,eisenhardt1989building,eisenhardt2007theory,stake2013multiple} and keep the design of the process flexible to "provide stronger substantiation of constructs" \cite[pp. 538]{eisenhardt1989building}. While observation was a natural source for collecting data during the time we spent on site, documents and semi-structured interviews were chosen as the other main sources for the data collection process.

The research and data collection occurred during 2018 over a nine-month period. We interviewed\footnote{Interview guide available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2565435} six participants from two projects. Additionally, a researcher participated in the activities of the group, including weekly online stand-ups and monthly in-person meet-ups for a total of 40 attended events, with events lasting from one to three hours on average. This involvement allowed exclusive access to the digital cooperation platforms of the group. Data from interviews was transcribed on the same day in which these were undertaken. Data from observation was stored in field notes.

In case study research, consideration must be given to construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability \cite{yin2009case,stake2013multiple}. We ensured construct validity through a validation effort conducted by presenting the findings back to the participants, and through building a chain of evidence throughout the coding process. Internal validity was ensured by including more than one researcher in the coding process.

\section{Case Analysis and Findings}

In this section, we present our data analysis process and summarize results from each stage of analysis. We analyzed the data using the grounded theory research method \cite{Glaser1978Theoretical,Urquhart2010Putting,Charmaz2014Constructing}, following the existing empirical software engineering literature in adapting it for case study analysis \cite{Runeson2012Case} and used e.g. by Kasurinen et al. \cite{kasurinen2010test}. Grounded theory has been useful in developing context-based, process-oriented descriptions and explanations of phenomena \cite{Urquhart2010Putting}.

There are variations on how to approach grounded theory research, as evidenced by a split between Strauss and Glaser in their research methodology publications. In this paper, we follow Charmaz's \cite{Charmaz2014Constructing} constructivist grounded theory, which acknowledges that when interacting and interviewing, knowledge is built together with the participants and the researcher. This approach was chosen because the researcher spent an extended period interacting with the researched civic tech group. We also used Charmaz's guidelines for ethnographic research for analyzing the data from research participation in Code for Ireland activities and the approach by Vaast et al. \cite{Vaast2017Building} when analyzing publicly available social media and online software repository data.

The grounded theory approach \cite{Charmaz2014Constructing} we selected has three stages, with each stage leading towards the increasing depth of analysis and generalization. The three stages \cite{Urquhart2010Putting} are summarized in Table~\ref{tab:gtlevels} and their results are expanded on in the following subsections.

\input{tables/gtlevels}

\subsection{Open Coding: Identifying Actors, Concepts and Categories}

We started the open coding phase by coding the interviews line by line using the Dedoose Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software. The start of our coding process was informed by the \textit{process} coding family \cite{Glaser1978Theoretical}, which was selected as it best matched our research questions. With this open coding process we identified initial concepts present in the interviews and online material and defined 372 codes to describe them. During subsequent iterations these codes were grouped into eleven top categories, which are \textit{pre-process}\footnote{When we discuss a concept identified through the coding process, the word is italicized.}, \textit{team formation \& selling the idea}, \textit{group goals / decisions}, \textit{personal motivations}, \textit{challenges}, \textit{problem / opportunity}, \textit{requirements definition}, \textit{task division \& decisionmaking}, \textit{design \& engineering activities}, \textit{evaluation}, and \textit{post-process}.

When analyzing the interview data, we identified four main type of participants: \textit{Mentor}, \textit{core group}, a \textit{regular contributor}, and \textit{visitors}. Mentor spars with the group without directly influencing the decision-making process. The core group emerges from regular contributors by their activity and commitment, and has the most influence, mainly because they are the major contributors. If a \textit{project manager} is selected, the project manager is first among equals, others willingly following the project manager's lead. Most interviewed core group members and contributors had a software technology career background, and all were from technical fields, such as statistics and project management. None of the participants had previously participated in the open source software community, though some had worked with open data initiatives.
\begin{displayquote}
``[...] but also when people were committed, they were motivated that they were part of something like task or group that like solving real challenging problems.'' ---Interviewee D4
\end{displayquote}

During the last iteration of open coding, we selected the \textit{civic tech software creation process} as our core category, which is the central phenomenon around which all the other categories are related \cite{Strauss1990Basics}. In the next part, selective coding, we relate other discovered code categories to the core category.

\subsection{Selective Coding: Identifying the Civic Tech Software Development Process}

In this section, we refine the data by taking the discovered codes, further categorizing them into hypernyms with the help of the \textit{process} coding family and then establishing causal or semantic relationships \cite{spradley_ethnographic_1979} between the concepts. We started selective coding by identifying the iterative process of the group's project structure and abstracting it. It is presented in Fig.~\ref{fig:workloop} and consists of \textit{monthly meetups}, which lead to \textit{new team composition}, who meet \textit{weekly to design} or to \textit{evaluate outputs}. They are guided by a \textit{mentor} in this process, until the \textit{new team} selects a \textit{project manager} or a \textit{core group} emerges. In one sense the process is iterative, but we have chosen to depict it as a spiral because some stages are not repeated. Furthermore, the project can change shape and direction rapidly if necessary and so desired by the team.

\paragraph*{Monthly meetups} are the main structured social event around which new teams and projects form. The meet-ups allow evaluating new ideas and getting input in the form of new members, ideas, and priorities. \textit{Motivation} and the \textit{selling the idea} are big part of the initial meet-up. The \textit{mentor} leads the first meet-up and presents projects to newcomers. The organization, Code for Ireland in this case, often has some ongoing projects or new ones waiting for implementation. The \textit{mentor} tries to make sure that individual goals match with the available projects and then facilitates the newly formed team's decision-making process until they create their own internal structure.
\begin{displayquote}
    ``I would say they definitely start mostly with the meet-up. They would come to a meet-up, get to know us during the meet-up and say, `Okay, I'm happy I'm interested in working a lot, continue working on it.' In some free time I'll have just-- I don't know if I have a lot of free time but I'll see how much I can do and then go from there.'' ---Interviewee D5
\end{displayquote}

The first \textit{monthly meetup} results in initial consensus on \textit{group goals}, which is based on negotiation between team members and their \textit{motivations}. \textit{Weekly meetups} are the second major event around which the teams are structured. The meetups and project structure are loosely inspired by \textit{agile methodology}. The team members negotiate between task assignment before dispersing to perform individual work.
\begin{displayquote}
    ``It's an agile approach and -- if the team consensus says to go down a different direction, that's the direction it goes down.'' ---Interviewee D3
\end{displayquote}

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{figures/work-loop-spiral.png}
    \caption{Overall project progress structure in Code for Ireland}
    \label{fig:workloop}
\end{figure}

\paragraph*{Weekly online stand-up meetings} and \textit{individual work} balance the team decision-making process and getting things done, and establish the \text{basic loop} of work. The teams meet weekly or less often (but more often than the monthly personal meeting) to \textit{design} and \textit{evaluate}. After the weekly meeting, members disperse into smaller units, like pairs or individuals, and work to accomplish the agreed on \textit{goals}. The loop between shared design and individual work and the outputs of each stage are depicted in Fig.~\ref{fig:designloop}.
\begin{displayquote}
    ``--We do like a week-by-week. We have a weekly review call where we talk about, 'Okay, this is where we're currently at, this is how much, what everyone's done.' Everyone does a stand up in a way and so what they've accomplished in the last week or 10 days and then we go from there, 'Okay, see, this is what we need to go forward, this is our current status it might depend on hosting, what technologies do we still need, what could be added, what functionality, where do we go from there?' '' ---Interviewee D5
\end{displayquote}

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{figures/basic-loop.png}
    \caption{The teams' iterative plan-consensus-action-evaluation loop}
    \label{fig:designloop}
\end{figure}

One major characteristic of this loop is \textit{opportunistic design} and \textit{opportunistic evaluation}. The goals are not only evaluated based on what needs to be done based on requirements but what can be done. This is because the group is dependent on volunteers and voluntarily contributed resources, such as server space or meeting locations. For example, if a team gains a member with competence in a new beneficial technology, the use of that technology might be re-negotiated into team goals. The team also recognizes that some features might not meet original goals, but might decide to work towards a \textit{minimum viable product} despite the challenges and work on \textit{recruiting} in the meanwhile.

\paragraph*{Technological tools} play a major role in facilitating team functionality. Communication channels such as Slack and WhatsApp and commit access to define team membership in one sense. If a team member is part of all shared online systems that enable them to contribute, that essentially signifies team membership. Furthermore, they store and communicate all group artifacts, and in some cases act semi-independently after programming and exert influence over the process. For example, software artifact production is facilitated through GitHub, which is a platform for storing and managing software source code. The platform facilitates source code peer review and can also perform automated quality control operations after each new commit. In one of the projects, the \textit{core group} has decided on automatic style guide checking through linter software and that each new commit has to be peer reviewed in a code review process in GitHub. Technically anyone can contribute new source code, even a complete newcomer. However, the contribution has to 1) match existing group goals, 2) pass automatic evaluation against pre-existing unit tests and the automated style guide, and 3) pass a peer review by more experienced contributors.
\begin{displayquote}
    ``At the moment, I would say it [our process] is leaning heavily towards being more technically evaluated. Every bit of code we write is reviewed. It's reviewed manually by another member of the team before it can get into the mainline development branch. It's also run-- We also have an automated test that run against those that check the code quality and just whether it works at a basic level.'' ---Interviewee D6
\end{displayquote}

By programming decisions and quality control checks into automated tools, the team codifies earlier decisions and \textit{invests power in them}. This is one of the reactions the team has taken to address the uncertain project stability and variable levels of commitment of each team member.

The approach to stakeholder involvement is a mix of open source approaches and a variant of agile. Like in many open source projects, all contributions and contributors are welcome. Unlike in large open source projects, the current group structure aims for closer, agile-style involvement and attempts to involve contributors in socially structured activities, such as the meet-ups, instead of just accepting software contributions. However, unlike in many agile processes such as SCRUM, there is no strict gate-keeping structure.
\begin{displayquote}
    ``I wouldn't call it sprints, I would say we work quite agile. I wouldn't call it sprints but we do kind of do like a week-by-week.'' ---Interviewee D5
\end{displayquote}

The group works with the intention of being part of a larger ecosystem of other, related groups, and sharing source code and adapting the shared solutions of other groups to local contexts. However, generalizing the solutions has proven to be challenging, considering the localized nature of problems they are addressing. They still participate in the network in the sense that they use open source -licensed software, openly publish their software artifacts, and publicize information about their solutions to other groups within the "Code for" network.

\subsection{Theoretical Coding: Abstracting the Development Process and Defining the Associations}

In this section, we present an abstracted form of the civic tech software development process, analyze how the unique operating environment and other characteristics affect it, and further refine relationships between the concepts and actors.

\subsubsection{\textbf{Grassroots-driven Civic Technology Software Development Process}} \hspace*{\fill} \\
The civic technology group has a systematic development process with four major stages: Requirements and goals planning, architecture and data structure planning, iterative development that starts with prototyping, and evaluation. They are iterative and agile, with a possibility to return and adjust any stage after evaluation. We call it systematic and iterative because the group engaged in explicit meta-level process selection and development stage before engaging in actual software development. However, the process has some inflexibilities, because the group has less cohesion and face-to-face time. Due to those issues, the group relies more on the established processes and silos of responsibility.

The development process and the flow between process stages are visualized in Fig.~\ref{fig:projectphases}. The large arrows denote transitions between project stages and the thin arrows denote flow of information between stages that do not have direct transitions. We detail each major stage in the group's development process further as follows.

\begin{itemize}
\item \textit{Goal and requirements planning, and task allocation.} The unique characteristics of this stage that there is no formal requirements engineering process. The planning starts as a brainstorming session that tries to fit the identified needs with participant motivations. The planning leads results in the \textit{group vision}, which is an informal agreement on what the project goal is and how it should be accomplished. From there each task is allocated a task lead, who takes responsibility for ensuring that each part of the project is finished. The tasks are distributed based on individual interests and competencies.
\item \textit{Architecture and data structure design.} The design process starts with architecture and data structure development. This is because the group aims for the parallel development of various software components that interact with standardized data structures and application programming interfaces. In order to enable parallel development, the group started both projects with architecture and data structure design.
\item \textit{Prototyping.} After planning and architecture design, the lead for each part designs a prototype that is evaluated against the group vision. The prototyping process and evaluation can also lead to new planning and task allocation if new needs or required features are identified. The use of prototypes is mainly internal and less used after the first design iterations.
\item \textit{Development.} The development process follows an iterative plan-consensus-action-evaluation loop that was described in Fig.~\ref{fig:designloop}. It should be noted that as many features as possible are developed in parallel, and evaluated individually. The development of quality control features such as unit tests and continuous integration pathways also proceeds simultaneously with development activities. Development is then continuously informed by automatic testing. The automatic testing feedback is personal, as opposed to group evaluation and peer review, which is performed together with the team.
\item \textit{Evaluation.} Evaluation is performed in two ways. The first one is the evaluation of the technical quality of new software contributions. It is carried out in GitHub and facilitated by GitHub's code review process, which allows other team members to evaluate summaries of automated testing results and review proposed changes to source code. This code review process can lead to acceptance or rejection of new contributions. The second type of evaluation is a shared, qualitative evaluation of overall software quality and functionality against the group vision. There are no formal quality requirement criteria, and the evaluation depends on the core group on agreeing whether the task outcomes meet the desired level of quality. This type of evaluation leads back to the re-negotiation of short term goals and new task allocations. Some evaluations also affect group vision.
\end{itemize}

\begin{figure*}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{figures/software-process-phases.png}
    \caption{The iterative stages of the civic tech group's software development process}
    \label{fig:projectphases}
\end{figure*}

The team members adopt different roles in the process, with the core group driving most of the processes forward and work being coordinated by a project manager if one has been selected. The mentor adopts a larger role in the planning and evaluation phases and acts as a kind of a sparring partner. The mentor never questions the goals themselves, allowing the team to be self-directed, but challenges the team in terms of rigor in development, realism in implementation goals, and evaluation methods.

More casual team members contribute to planning and development to the extent they can. However, more casual participants are invited to participate more, and one recurring meta-level discussion in the group is to how better give tasks to and benefit from the less committed participants.

\subsubsection{\textbf{Unique Characteristics Grassroots-driven Civic Technology Software Construction Process}} \hspace*{\fill} \\
Many of the group members have described methods they have adopted as agile. This is probably because agile is one of the most popular development methods in the local small to medium software companies, where most of the group's participating developers come from. However, there are also apparent differences to agile approaches. For example, before engaging in development activities, the team members to negotiate motivations, roles, and goals without much external input. Also, after basic structures and processes have been set up, there is an unwillingness to go back and change things, because that would involve a full re-negotiation many group structures.

In both projects the major effort was to create a \textit{minimum viable product} that would \textit{demonstrate group capabilities} in order to gain more \textit{credibility} in the eyes of \textit{external stakeholders}. For example, the mentor has mentioned that the current environment has an over-abundance of charitable and volunteering organizations. The drive to gain demonstrable outputs and more credibility was a driving meta-level goal. It could be said that the process to achieve a minimum viable product is an extended vetting process, with projects that are not able to reach this stage eventually starting to flounder and team members move to work on other projects or leave the group altogether. At the moment of writing, the Transparent Water project was closest to reaching the minimum viable product.

Two major characteristics of the process of an individual project, as presented in Fig.~\ref{fig:workloop}, are \textit{constant renegotiation of goals} and \textit{opportunistic evaluation}. Both \textit{monthly meetups} and \textit{weekly online standups} involve a constantly re-establishing consensus. For example, if an expert that was championing some particular technology leaves the group and later a person endorsing another technology joins the team, it is likely that the team will eventually shift to use the new one. This \textit{project drift} is related to \textit{opportunistic evaluation} and occasionally causes tension against the drive to achieve a \textit{minimum viable product}.

The major unique characteristics of the software construction process that are caused by volunteer-based workers, fluid group structure, drive to acquire more resources, opportunistic evaluation, and constant re-negotiation of goals are summarized below.

\begin{itemize}
    \item \textit{Internal stakeholders with development goals driven by team member motivations}. All stakeholders are considered internal to the project, in the sense that all concerned parties are invited to participate in the project. The current participants are mostly software engineers or from technical backgrounds, which causes the projects to be considered from a mostly technical background.
    \item \textit{Skeptical external stakeholders}. Grassroots-driven development does not have backing from large civic, academic or industrial organizations. Civic organizations can be unused or negative to civic participation, such as Irish Water in Dublin. One of the major challenges in new civic tech groups is to gain credibility and sell the idea of civic participation to civic organizations. For example, what is technically supposed to be open data, it is in practice closed from the stakeholders whom the civic authority deems "not worthy."
    \item \textit{Meritocratic involvement}. The more a participant does and the more they demonstrate competence, the more authority that participant gains. When a participant does more and contributes more, they acquire more responsibility and influence based on the respect and voluntary investment of authority from others. This is emphasized in requirements definition and evaluation. This leads to a \textit{emerging hierarchy}, who can steer the group through challenges. The more fluid the team becomes, the more a single person such as a project manager gains responsibility.
    \item \textit{Civic ghosting} and the challenge in harnessing casual participation. Some aspects of development are slowed by mismatches in communicated and intended participation. The unavoidable challenge caused by volunteering participants is that some participants simply disappear without any communication or \textit{ghost}.
    \item \textit{Opportunistic decision-making} and \textit{flexibility in evaluation} in the sense of skills, resources, and goals (``what we can do at the moment''). The team decides the next course of action partly based on previous goals, and partly based on reflection of team capabilities. Some essential tasks are delayed because they are seen to be unachievable for now. Furthermore, project stages stretch or shorten depending on how much time and resources the volunteer participants have currently.
    \item \textit{Uncertain project stage duration and project inertia}. Any project stage or iteration has no specific duration because the effort volunteers and other stakeholders can put in varies constantly. The project scope, duration, or goals are adjusted to reflect new resources and capabilities. Furthermore, the longer something has been a certain way, the more entrenched it becomes. This is can be a positive aspect, for example when the group has decided on well-functioning architecture and beneficial online tools. On the other hand, re-work and refactoring previous contributions are seen as less valuable, especially with the goal of achieving a minimum viable product.
    \item \textit{Short-term perception}. The opportunistic decision-making, fluidity in team structure, and the drive to achieve a minimum viable product discourage long-term planning.
\end{itemize}

\section{Discussion}

The first question is whether a grassroots-driven civic tech group can set up a software engineering process. If we compare the discovered process against four fundamental characteristics of software engineering processes as defined by Sommerville \cite[p. 9]{sommerville_software_2011}: Software specification, development, validation, and evolution, we find out that the process has each of the characteristics. Even though the emphasis is on development and validation, both specification and evolution aspects are present.

If the group's process is a software engineering process, the question remains what kind of process it is, in relation to existing literature. Perng and Kitchin \cite{perng2018solutions} discussed Code for Ireland from a civic and cultural perspective and defined Code for Ireland as a civic hacking group, where "civic hacking binds together elements of civic innovation and computer hacking, with citizens quickly and collaboratively developing technological solutions" \cite[pp. 2]{perng2018solutions}. Based on our findings, we partly agree with this definition, though our discovery is that the group has evolved to a phase where they have systematized their process, and it has rigor beyond hacking.

Compared to existing software engineering processes defined in established literature \cite{sommerville_software_2011, dyba_empirical_2008}, the group's process is unique. It resembles agile methods most closely, conforming to the principles of the agile manifesto\footnote{http://agilemanifesto.org/}, with emphasis on individuals and interactions, working software, collaboration over contracts, and responding to change over following a plan. The significant difference is that the team is most commonly distributed, and has encountered difficulties often present in distributed development \cite{ramesh2006can}, such as communication challenges, lack of control, and lack of trust. We discuss the actions a distributed agile group can take to address these issues \cite{ramesh2006can} in the next subsection.

A taxonomy of agile principles by Conboy \cite{conboy2009agility} defines agility as creation of, proaction in advance of, reacting to, and learning from change. Agile methods should also contribute to perceived economy, quality, and simplicity. When using the taxonomy to evaluate the group's software engineering process in terms of agility, the group still has some issues in aspects of learning, creation, proactivity, and quality. Many of these challenges arise from the group's unique operating environment, but some could be addressed by improvements in the process. We discuss these in more detail in the next subsection.

When considering a wider context, the group had difficulties in external stakeholder engagement. Their issues are similar to ones discovered by Lee et al. \cite{lee2015open}. They discuss the civic app development efforts in the US, where programming contests and opening up of datasets were used to encourage the development of applications to address civic challenges. According to Lee et al., the first generation of efforts failed because of difficulties in value capture and lack of involvement within city departments. The motivation of citizens as participants was not fully understood and there was resistance from within the government to participate. The challenges Code for Ireland has faced are similar. While the participants in Code for Ireland are strongly motivated, the response to attempts of stakeholder engagement from civic authority stakeholders ranged from neutral to negative. In the second generation of civic app approaches \cite{lee2015open}, the engagement issues were addressed by legislation to force civic bodies to engage, providing support to bottom-up engaged communities, and bringing in entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to judging panels to evaluate most promising app ideas.

Additionally, when participants in Code for Ireland reflected on their processes, they identified issues with engaging newcomers and non-technically oriented participants. In these matters, lessons could be learned from the engagement aspects of academically-led co-creation and co-design approaches \cite{ferrario2014software, balestrini2017city, gooch2018amplifying}, innovation accelerators \cite{almirall2014open}, and open source software communities \cite{scacchi2006understanding}.

\subsection{Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Practise}

Perhaps the most significant challenges the group faced were due to the nature of the group and the operating environment. All participants were inhabitants of Dublin who wanted to effect change in their environment by the creation of digital services. This means that all development efforts were volunteered and any resources used were free or sponsored. The group was held back by a lack of engagement by the civic sector, which was a factor out of their control. However, some issues could be addressed by improvements in the development process and a more systematic approach to both citizen and civic stakeholder engagement. We list some of the main challenges and proposed remedies from literature as follows.

\begin{itemize}
\item \textbf{\textit{Civic ghosting and engaging newcomers}}. By using shared duties and methods such as pair programming, which has been found to increase agile learning in development processes \cite{conboy2009agility}, the group would address several issues: Harden any single feature under development against a participant disengaging from the group, increasing learning across silos, and helping new, inexperienced members to become fully contributing participants. Furthermore, having shared repositories, encouraging documentation and knowledge sharing, and concentrating on well-understood functionality can make achieving development goals easier \cite{ramesh2006can}.

\item \textbf{\textit{Transitioning from planning to development to release}}. Planning iterations \cite{ramesh2006can} and explicit retrospectives \cite{conboy2009agility} can help development groups to shift gears when transitioning between development stages. While the lack of resources can make every moment feel important, it is important to take a moment to re-evaluate processes and goals. At the same time, goals should be clear and documented in shared knowledge repositories. Documentation is more important in distributed development groups than in other agile approaches \cite{ramesh2006can}.

\item \textbf{\textit{Group cohesion and trust}}.  Without an external motivator such as income, the group is dependent on internal motivation to work together. As some of the participants were new to volunteering-based work, organizing and harnessing volunteer work was a challenge. In distributed teams, Ramesh et al. \cite{ramesh2006can} recommend building trust and community by distributed partners, sponsor visits, and building a cohesive team culture. Furthermore, clear and constant communication by easy to access methods, social media presence, or even a regular physical meeting location will promote team communication and identity.

\item \textbf{\textit{External mentoring and support}}. Paradoxically, a grassroots-driven approach does not ensure a wider citizen engagement. The group faced issues that have solutions proposed by researchers, especially in community engagement \cite{gooch2018amplifying} and hand-off \cite{balestrini2017city}. In this, the group could benefit from mentoring and lessons learned in the civic technology and HCI research community.

\item \textbf{\textit{Towards a Civic Tech Toolkit}}. Although several frameworks from projects in partnerships with citizens \cite{ferrario2014software,balestrini2017city,lee2015open} have outlined potential life-cycles to enhance social technology development. Their application seems to be currently limited to academic contexts. The creation of a civic tech toolbox similar to the current toolkits for orchestrating citizen sensing\footnote{Making Sense Toolkit: \url{http://making-sense.eu/publication_categories/toolkit}} or hackathons\footnote{The Hackathon Toolbox: \url{https://www.thecodeship.com/general/hackathon-toolbox-essential-tools-practices}} could help to solve this issue by allowing civic groups to discover, use, re-use and share content and knowledge relevant for their causes.
\end{itemize}

While the group cannot address the lack of engagement from civic organizations, Lee et al. \cite{lee2015open} have listed actions civic organizations have taken that allowed grassroots civic technology groups to thrive. They included (1) legislation to force civic bodies to publish data in a timely manner, (2) publishing problem statements by cities to direct developer attention, (3) stronger management and direct coordination by city administrations, and (4) common app and crowd-sourced data repositories, along with bottom-up engaged communities.

\section{Conclusions}

In this paper, we investigated and described the software engineering process of a grassroots-driven civic technology group, and presented how the process resembles and diverges from agile approaches. Our preliminary findings show that such groups are capable of setting up systematic software engineering processes that address software specification, development, validation, and evolution. However, while they are able to deliver software according to self-specified quality standards, the group has challenges in requirements specification, stakeholder engagement, and reorienting from development to product delivery. The challenges they face are due to the civic environment, nature of participants, and issues in distributed development processes.

Grassroots-driven civic technology groups can deliver software, but our findings show that even if they have software engineering professionals as volunteers, they could benefit from improvements to their process. For example, they could utilize an existing community engagement process \cite{balestrini2017city,ferrario2014software,gooch2018amplifying}, and address issues in distributed development \cite{ramesh2006can} and agility \cite{conboy2009agility}. In this, the group could benefit from being mentored by a more experienced civic technology organization, even though that can increase the risk of the group becoming dependent on the mentor. However, many of the challenges the group faced were because of civic organizations and lack of support. If these were addressed from the civic side, such as in the US \cite{lee2015open}, it would allow an increased number of grassroots-driven civic technology groups to thrive.

We extended the current body of knowledge by presenting a case study of how a grassroots-driven civic tech software process emerges in the absence of a major academic, civic or industrial stakeholder. The way grassroots-driven civic technology group evolves is unique from existing top-down, orchestrated frameworks and will help both understand and better involve civic volunteer stakeholders in future efforts. As an additional contribution, this study demonstrates the suitability of interpretive case studies to inductively generate knowledge surrounding software creation processes.

We acknowledge a potential limitation for this study in the use of only a single case in the study. While generalized outcomes from one case study are achievable \cite{Urquhart2010Putting,yin2009case,eisenhardt1989building}, the debate is still ongoing. However, some case study methodologists argue that multiple case study is a more viable option to provide stronger assertions \cite{stake2013multiple}. Our future research will involve more cases. As a result, we expect further aspects and stronger assertions to emerge when conducting analysis across cases.

\section*{Acknowledgements}
The work of the first author was supported by the Ulla Tuominen Foundation. This work was supported, in part, by Science Foundation Ireland grant 13/RC/2094. We thank Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre, for their support.

\FloatBarrier

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Watch the Wholesome Reaction of Actor F. Murray Abraham Realizing People Are Cheering for Him
Life-Size Installations of Hands Playing with Toys
By Pinar Noorata on March 26, 2013
Sculptor Lorenzo Quinn playfully designs disembodied hands playing with life-size toys. The artist's public installation titled Esto no es un juego, or This is not a game, is especially interesting in its declaration juxtaposed with a pair of hands holding onto what appear to be plastic toys. Like the set of a child's imagination gone wild at playtime, the display is adorned with classic green army men holding varying stances. It is simultaneously playful and powerful, sending a message about the seriousness of war that is made light of through toys.
Visually similar (though more lighthearted in nature), Quinn's installations titled Vroom Vroom and La Dolce Vita feature an amusing display of hands guiding life-size vehicles like toys. The installations simply show a child-like grip over a car and a gentle hand plucking a vespa to pop a wheelie, but the gestures are universally understood. The artist provides an entertaining bit of nostalgia with each installation.
Lorenzo Quinn website
via [Art Ruby]
Pinar Noorata is the Managing Editor at My Modern Met. She is a writer, editor, and content creator based in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BA in Film and Media Studies from CUNY Hunter College and is an alumni of the Center for Arts Education's Career Development Program in NYC. She has worked at NBC Universal, Penguin Books, and the Tribeca Film Festival as well as many other independent media companies. When she isn't writing, editing, or creating videos herself, Pinar enjoys watching movies—anything from foreign art house films to mainstream blockbusters.
Read all posts from Pinar
'Frida Catlo' Enamel Pin
by Niaski

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Country Club was the first widely successful malt liquor brand in America, as well as the leading candidate for the first actual 40oz malt liquor (however, it was not the first 40oz beer, as A-1 lays claim to that honor). Originally created by Goetz Brewing, Country Club was advertised as being the new "party brew" for upper middle class white Americans. In 1955 an advertisement featured a smiling woman with a pearl necklace serving Country Club poured into fine stemware. Fast forward to the 1970s and it was being advertised as a "bad dude's brew", featuring a black pimp.
Today Pabst Brewing Co. brews Country Club. It is a classic street malt. The name may have had elite intentions at one point, but now it's ironic. There's nothing fancy going on here, just pure 100% American made malt liquor. It's by no means the best malt on the market, but make no mistake about it, it's far from the worst. You simply cannot go wrong with one of, if not the first 40oz malt liquor ever made. 7/10 swills overall.


Welcome to the Newport Yacht Club Race Committee. This introduction will help you understand the who, what, why and how of the NYC Race Committee.
The NYC Race Committee consists of a special group of people dedicated to sustaining and growing the sport of Corinthian (amateur) yacht (sailboat) racing.
The NYC Race Committee, under the aegis of the NYC Regatta Committee, conducts safe, fair and fun yacht races for the local Newport and international sailing community. Our vision is to be recognized by the global yachting community as dedicated to excellence and sportsmanship.
Newport Yacht Club membership is preferred to volunteer for the Race Committee. However, if you are interested in joining the club, volunteering with the Race Committee is a great way to meet members of the club in a fun environment.
Previous Race Committee experience is not required to volunteer. We'll teach you everything you need to know with our onshore training sessions and in real-time out on the water.
Mark Boat Operator and more.
Typically each race committee volunteer will hold a variety of these roles throughout a season's racing.
The NYC Race Committee conducts races in the beautiful East Passage area of Narragansett Bay, typically in the area West of Goat Island and just South of the Newport Bridge. We are known for our Spring and Summer Regatta Series on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in partnership with Sail Newport.
Dock time is 5:00PM on both nights and we are back to Newport Yacht Club for burgers and a beverage on the deck before sunset. We also run several local, regional and international weekend regattas which attract sailors from around the world.
It's easy, just send an email to: regatta@newportyachtclub.org with your contact information and we'll get you added to the NYC Race Committee email distribution list. Then simply attend the informal training and signup to volunteer for races.


The metallic yarn makes the buff Glen knitted & Polar Fleece Neck Warmer a very special tube scarf. The warm fleece on the inside to keep the cold and wind. With this fashionable tube scarf from buff you are perfectly equipped for the winter.


text:
"""Module to handle pudb"""

import inspect

from pudb import remote

remote.PUDB_RDB_PORT = 53337

def frame_above():
    return inspect.currentframe().f_back.f_back

def back_trace(term_size, frame=frame_above()):
    remote.set_trace(frame, term_size)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Memorable Manitobans: Israel "Blackie" Simkin (1917-1998)
Businessman.
Born at Pine Ridge on 15 June 1917, son of Samuel Simkin (?-1954) and Fanny Bresavsky (c1880-1976), brother of Saul Simkin and Abraham L. Simkin, he began working with his father in the fuel business. After active duty in Europe during the Second World War, he co-founded Simkin Construction with his brothers Saul, Jim, and Abe. The company grew into BACM Industries, of which Simkin served as President and Chief Executive Officer for over 25 years. The firm was involved in such construction projects as the Red River Floodway, several airports, hydroelectric developments in Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia and James Bay, and the Athabasca Tar Sands Development at Fort McMurray, Alberta. The firm subsequently merged into Genstar Corporation and he retired to Palm Springs, California. He contributed to such causes as the Jewish Foundation, Jewish National Fund, Rosh Pina Synagogue, and Talmud Torah / Joseph Wolkinsky Collegiate. He died at San Diego, California on 8 April 1998. His body was returned to Winnipeg for burial in the Rosh Pina Memorial Park.
Historic Sites of Manitoba: British-American Cement Plant (Sturgeon Road, RM of Rosser)
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Fanny Simkin], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 February 1976, page 42.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 April 1998.
"They are gone, but not forgotten," Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 1998, page A4.
Page revised: 1 August 2020


The property owner would like certain utility services such as water, power, phone, sewer, etc. The Public Utility District (PUD) and other various districts or entities typically will require/verify that the parcel has a County approved and assigned situs address.
Multiple residences on one parcel, etc.
If a new private lane, drive, or road is created. This may require that some parcels be readdressed.
If you would like to request an address to be assigned for a County parcel, you may do so by completing the Address Request Form (below). Please submit this application along with the appropriate fee ($81.00 per address) and a map illustrating the parcel, road access, any structures located on said parcel, and the adjoining property addresses to the Building Division.
*For subdivision addressing requirements please contact a Planner at (360) 249-4222.
Currently cash, personal check or bank check are accepted. Incomplete applications will not be accepted and returned to sender. Also, electronic requests are currently not accepted.
If you have additional questions regarding addressing please feel free to contact a Permit Coordinator at (360) 249-4222.


In order to help individuals achieve their dreams of homeownership, the Wyoming County Development Authority (WCDA) launched the Home$tretch Loan Program, which helps potential homebuyers cover down payment, closing costs, and prepaid items with assistance in the form of a deferred loan.
The Home$tretch Loan Program provides eligible applicants with a zero-interest (0.080 percent APR based on an average loan amount of $5,500) second mortgage of up to $10,000. There are no monthly payments required, and the loan only needs to be repaid upon sale of the property, refinance, or 30-year maturity. These loans are offered in conjunction with WCDA first mortgage purchase loans through WCDA participating lenders only.
The Home$tretch Loan Program is available to any first-time borrowers financing their homes with the WCDA's Standard First Time Homebuyer Program. All applicants must make a minimum cash contribution of $1,500 (This amount may be a gift).
To be considered eligible for the program, and they must also maintain a credit score of at least 620, and have a maximum total debt-to-income ratio of 41 percent. Additionally, it is mandatory for all Home$tretch Loan borrowers to complete WCDA's regular Homebuyer Education Class, as well as the One-on-One Counseling class.
Note: Seller-funded down payment programs were eliminated in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, but States and Local government agencies are still permitted to help borrowers finance their homes with second mortgages and grants. These agencies set different requirements that a borrower needs to meet in order to qualify for the grant programs, such as property location, and purchase price and income limits.


JUST LIKE NEW AND MOVE IN READY! Don't miss out on this fantastic home located in the beautiful community of Palencia. Just minutes to historic St. Augustine, the beaches and easy commute to Jacksonville. Curb appeal plus with pavered driveway, 3 car garage & elegant front entry. Space for everyone in this energy efficient Lennar built home. Office/Den w/ French doors. Elegant dining room with crown molding, (currently being used as an office). Spacious kitchen with 42'' cabinet w/ crown molding, stainless appliances, gas range, large breakfast bar & large pantry. Just off the kitchen area, you'll find a mud room, with 1/2 bath, and laundry room with washer & dryer and laundry tub. Kitchen overlooks the family room with custom ceiling fan and sliders leading to the paveredscreened lanai. Luxurious master suite with tray ceiling & crown molding. Glamour bath with dual vanities, garden tub, shower, and large walk-in closet. Split bedroom arrangement. Nice sized secondary bedrooms. One with full bath for great guest suite. Guest bath features dual vanity & tub/shower combo. Upstairs you'll find large bonus room with full bath and oversized closet for great storage. Enjoy the screened enclosed lanai with pavers and stubbed for gas grill. Easy maintenance back yard with natural landscaping, backing to wooded buffer area. Spacious 3 car garage plus water softener! Short walk or bike ride to the fitness facility and all of the other great amenities Palencia has to offer! Don't miss out on this one!


text:
package com.heaven7.databinding.core.listener;

import android.view.View;

/**
 * Created by heaven7 on 2015/11/20.
 */
public class OnLongClickListenerImpl extends ListenerImplContext implements View.OnLongClickListener{

    public OnLongClickListenerImpl(){}

    @Override
    public boolean onLongClick(View v) {
        Object val = invokeCallback();
        return val == null || (Boolean)val ;
    }
}


Boris when he had 2 horns !
who only has the one horn now (how he lost the other is another story), managed to get his one horn stuck in my trouser pocket!
There was some tugging while we tried to extradite ourselves, common sense though soon took over and we stopped pulling long enough to give us some slack and to disentangle ourselves.
We went on our way none the worse for wear, with just the slight feeling of a certain loss of dignity on both our parts. Oh well.


text:
Andrew Selous
South West Bedfordshire
My motivation for being a Member of Parliament is that I love my country and want to serve it. It is a huge privilege to be able to represent my constituents in Parliament and I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from trying to solve the problems my constituents bring to me. It is also an honour to be able to campaign for improvements that will help the whole of South West Bedfordshire.
My Christian faith inspires me in much of what I do in Parliament. I campaign in Parliament on many different issues from human trafficking to the A5-M1 link (Dunstable Northern Bypass) and from climate change to the need for a community hospital in Leighton Buzzard. I have always had a passion for trying to strengthen families and prevent family breakdown and have helped set up a Community Family Trust which aims to give people skills and support to strengthen marriages and family relationships.
Andrew's Beliefs
Love of family, spouse, partner, children, community, locality and country should be at the heart of all we do.
Home ownership and secure affordable tenancies are the foundation of family stability.
The first duty of the government is to keep its people safe at home and abroad.
Ladders of opportunity are needed through the provision of excellent schools, colleges, apprenticeships and universities where aspiration is nurtured, and meritocracy can flourish.
Stewardship of our natural environment globally is vital, preserving and enhancing it for future generations.
Thriving businesses are essential for the creation of wealth to pay for the public services we value. The purpose of prosperity is to provide for everyone.
A socially just society is an indispensable part of a vigorous market economy, where those unable to look after themselves are valued for their innate worth.
These are some of my core beliefs and values I told true as a Member of Parliament. Hopefully it will give you a greater understanding to what I strive to achieve, both in the Commons and locally in South West Bedfordshire.
MP Expenses
Andrew Selous MP South West Bedfordshire
This website is funded from Parliamentary allowances.
Copyright 2021 Andrew Selous MP South West Bedfordshire. All rights reserved.


text:
Free breakfast & lunch for all students in the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast
Free meals until October 20
Updated: 9:10 AM EDT Sep 18, 2017
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced Monday that all students in 48 counties, including the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast, are eligible for free school breakfast and lunch through the National School Lunch Program. These changes, in effect September 18 – October 20, will potentially impact over 3,000 schools and 2.5 million children. All students in the following counties can access free school meals: Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pinellas, Broward, Palm Beach, Glades, Hendry, Sarasota, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, Brevard, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Polk, St. Lucie, Seminole, Sumter, Volusia, Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Suwannee and Union.For more information click here.
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla —
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced Monday that all students in 48 counties, including the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast, are eligible for free school breakfast and lunch through the National School Lunch Program. These changes, in effect September 18 – October 20, will potentially impact over 3,000 schools and 2.5 million children.
All students in the following counties can access free school meals: Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pinellas, Broward, Palm Beach, Glades, Hendry, Sarasota, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, Brevard, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Polk, St. Lucie, Seminole, Sumter, Volusia, Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Suwannee and Union.


text:
'Avatar' to Get Surprise Rerelease in China (Exclusive)
The plan could have the unexpected effect of restoring James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi epic as the highest-grossing movie ever, pushing 'Avengers: Endgame' back into second place.
March 9, 2021 4:12am
20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Seemingly out of nowhere, James Cameron is back at the multiplex — but only in China.
China's Film Bureau has approved a surprise plan for the director's 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar to get a wide rerelease in the country on Friday, according to two sources at Chinese movie theater companies, which were informed of the arrangements. The technologically trailblazing blockbuster will be made available to exhibitors for a nationwide release in both Imax 3D and ordinary 3D.
The sudden rollout of the movie could have the unexpected effect of restoring Cameron and Avatar's crown as the highest-grossing movie in global box office history (not adjusted for inflation), pushing Marvel's Avengers: Endgame back into second place. Endgame currently tops the record books with $2.797 billion and change, with Avatar trailing at $2.790 billion — meaning the Pandora-set, blue-peopled sci-fi spectacular will need to earn just under $7.4 million to reclaim the crown.
Although odd in its hastiness, the plan to bring back Avatar in China isn't quite as unexpected as it seems. The 20th Century Fox film (now owned by Disney) was among a short list of historically popular blockbuster titles China's Film Bureau requested for rerelease last March, when China's cinemas were attempting a staged reopening as the country began to get a handle on local spread of the novel coronavirus. With both Hollywood and Chinese studios holding back their new releases for the full-scale reopening, China's Film Bureau turned to back catalogs in an effort to gradually reboot cinemas. A flare-up in COVID-19 cases slowed those plans, however, and most of the catalog movies never made it back to screen.
The exhibitors THR spoke with Tuesday said the digital cinema packages (DCPs) for Avatar were completed last year, and it appeared a decision was made to put them to use. Some in the Chinese industry said that the state-backed distributor China Film Group should push for slightly more time to prepare for the rerelease, delaying Avatar's reappearance on Chinese screens again by a week or two. But China's Film Bureau confirmed Wednesday that the film indeed would be opening Friday, sending exhibitors scrambling to rearrange screening schedules.
The Hollywood Reporter's messages to Disney about the plans went unreturned.
Avatar is an especially nostalgic Hollywood title for Chinese millennials. The movie was among the first wave of Hollywood blockbusters to sweep the country as it was entering its high-growth box office boom era of the late aughts — and Avatar became the biggest sensation of them all. The film opened on a bitterly cold Monday in Beijing in January 2009, instantly setting a new record for biggest opening ever in China on a weekday. The Hollywood Reporter's Beijing correspondent at the time wrote of Chinese cinema-goers lined up outside theaters in foot-deep snow, waiting to get a glimpse of Cameron's 3D vision of Pandora. The film was so popular there that Cameron even considered co-producing his Avatar sequels in China.
Avatar topped out at $202.6 million, an astonishing sum for the China market then, when it was still trailing Japan as the third-biggest theatrical film territory (today, it is the world's largest). It took four years and the construction of thousands more cinemas in China for Avatar's record to fall to Stephen Chow's Journey to the West, which brought in $215 million in 2013.
On Wednesday, a video message of Cameron confirming Avatar's return and thanking Chinese fans of the film was posted to social media in China. "I'm so pleased you get to return to the world of Pandora and relive its wonders," he said.
https://twitter.com/gavinfeng97/status/1369571396939091969?s=20
March 10, 1:10 a.m.: Updated with video of James Cameron confirming Avatar's return.


Posted on November 2, 2010, in Art Every Day Month, NaNoWriMo, Nature Photography, Nature Writing, Woods and Water and tagged AEDM 2010, change, Faith, Growth, Hope, NaNoWriMo 2010, Photography, travels to and from work. Bookmark the permalink.	2 Comments.


The Tempo, the largest of the fully-featured Hot Spot models offers quality details that will provide years of pleasure and pride of ownership. Equipped with two 2.5 horsepower Jet pumps, a water feature, and the beautiful Raio lighting system; this spacious spa is perfect for family and friends. From the flowing lines of the bar top to the perfect sized lounge; every detail of this sleek spa is designed for space, comfort and luxury. All HotSpot models feature Wavemaster jet pumps, 2lb FiberCore insulation and no-fault heaters for efficiency and quality.


These days, there are countless impressive athletes to compete against for college scholarships that it's almost impossible for student-athletes to make the cut and achieve their dreams. However, this is no longer the case as Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) are paving the way for student-athletes to attend college through sports. With their strong give-back attitude they are committed to helping the community and make recruiting better for college-bound athletes.
With NCSA, athletes receive a recruiting profile, highly-personalized support, and guidance to ensure they have the best opportunity to find a college that is the right fit for them. NCSA leverages proprietary technology and data with professional expertise and personal relationships to equip student-athletes with the resources they need to connect with more than 35,000 college coaches across 34 sports in NCSA's network.
Since its inception, NCSA has been committed to making collegiate sports accessible to all student-athletes. Each year, NCSA donates millions of dollars in recruiting services to deserving student-athletes and their families through various awards and programs such as the All In Award.
The All In Award program is given to deserving student-athletes who have the strong desire to continue their sport in college and demonstrate financial need. NCSA has pledged to give one million dollars in college recruiting support to Chicagoland student-athletes in 2019.


She blows sparkles on babies and gets arrested in the first ad for the line.
Céline Dion may have just announced the end of her Las Vegas residency, but the epic Canadian songstress isn't stepping out of the spotlight.
Dion, 50, debuted the first ad for her new gender-neutral kids clothing line today, and it is as extra as one might hope from someone who spent two decades giving breathtaking and sparkly performances at Caesars Palace and once casually sashayed across a boat with a hat in her crotch for Vogue.
Her new line, Célinununu, is a collaboration with Iris Adler and Tali Milchberg, the co-founders and designers of the kids fashion brand nununu. But the new ad is 100 per cent Céline Dion, complete with over-the-top dramatic scenes, tongue-in-cheek references to her fame, and — obviously — glitter.
WATCH: The first ad for Célinununu, starring Céline Dion. Story continues below video.
"Our children, they are not really our children, as we are all just links in a never-ending chain that is life," Dion says in the ad, during a scene where she busts into a children's hospital in the stealth of night.
"We may thrust them forward into the future, but the course will always be theirs to choose," she says, strutting past a row of newborn babies divided into "girls" and "boys" via their pink or blue blankets and hats.
In the background, what we must assume is Dion hums a haunting children's lullaby, as Dion then blows black glitter onto the babies and transforms all their outfits and decor into black and white. But soon the spell is broken as two security guards chase her away from the babies and arrest her.
Dion shared a preview of her getting slammed to the ground on her Instagram account Monday.
"It's OK, it's OK, I'm Céline Dion," she says in the ad, before getting hauled away. Later in the ad, she thinks that surely they won't arrest her since she's famous, before muttering a swear word and bolting.
Dion doesn't shy away from showing her goofy side, professionally or in real life. A sweet photo she recently posted to mark her twins' eighth birthday, for instance, shows her making a funny face and holding a mask up to her son. At Halloween, she posted a photo of her and her family wearing gross fake teeth while she gives a thumbs up.
The newly-launched Célinununu line is gender-neutral, which is something a lot of parents look for in their kid's clothes since some believe gendered clothing can pass on troubling messages about gender, masculinity, and femininity. Experts have said that marketing these items to "boys" or "girls" reinforces harmful stereotypes.
"CELINUNUNU liberates children from the traditional roles of boy/girl, and enables younger people to grow on values of equality with the freedom to strengthen their own power of personality based on mutual respect," the Israel-based company explains on its website.
An example of a baby outfit in Céline Dion's new clothing line Célinununu.
"I've always loved nununu and what they represent. Partnering with them to encourage a dialogue of equality and possibility makes so much sense," Dion wrote on Instagram Tuesday.
The new line includes tops, bottoms, dresses, baby clothes, shoes and blankets — some adorned with stars, the alphabet, skulls, or messages like "New Order." The items are mostly black, white, grey, or yellow.
And don't worry: they ship to Canada.


text:
New York City, 1913
I want to welcome everyone (back) here. Today's Snowman has been on sabbatical in 2009 during the production of The History of the Snowman TV movie and it's great to be back. The project is ongoing (& going great) and hopefully will air at the end of 2010. A new star just came on board (right now we won't spill the beans as to who it is but will share it's a beloved comedian from TV and radio.).
One last note regarding The History of the Snowman; I'm very excited and flattered to receive requests for signed copies of the book but unfortunately I've had to stop doing individual orders (I'm handling only orders of 10 or more. Orders over 25 copies get a large discount from my publisher–just contact me at snowmanexpert@pipeline.com.). There are signed copies available at Honesdale (Country Dawn store) and Hawley (Settlers Inn), Pennsylvania and New York City (Barnes & Noble, Union Square) and Brooklyn's Barnes & Noble in Park Slope.
In the next couple of months Today's Snowman will be posting not only the latest snowman news but some fantastic photos of snowmen from around the world leading into the first snowman contest in January 2010. Thanks to all who have been sending me their snowmen–they will be enjoyed by all soon.
Finally, a big welcome to the new sponsors here. First there's Northern Ireland Car Insurance. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Painting by Today's Snowman's favorite painter Ray Lang
For giving anything edible for the holidays, I want to introduce to terrific people at Christmas Hampers, who delivery and make up beautiful gift baskets for any occasion.
Need a Santa suit? NOW??!!! You need Santa Claus Costumes! Everything from angel get-ups to elf suits to sexy wear. They also have an amazing selection for children. Check them out!
Also welcome back all the usual advertisers incliuding, The Nap Shop because naps happen and Chicken 'n'Bricks "for all your poultry and mortar needs!"


text:
Q: How to Block a thread on CPU then awaking it? How to block a thread on CPU (So it doesn't use CPU time) and then awaking it after a time t without using signal mechanism.

A: There is no cross platform way to do this, but a few options are:
Since you are doing this on Linux, your best option is the pthread library and  something like pthread_mutex_timedlock
Example:
#include <pthread.h>
#include <time.h>

pthread_mutex_t mutex;
struct timespec timeout;

timeout.tv_sec = 2; // Two seconds
timeout.nv_nsec = 0; // Zero nanoseconds
pthread_mutex_init(&mutex, NULL); // Initialize mutex object
pthread_mutex_timedlock(&mutex, &timeout); // Wait for two seconds.

It is advised you check the return value of the functions for any errors that may have occurred.

If you really don't want to use any OS libraries, you can't put the thread to sleep, but you can use special instructions, such as pause or rep; nop; while spinning to reduce power consumption.
For example:
while (time(NULL) < timeToWake) asm("pause");

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
<?php namespace Peakfijn\GetSomeRest\Contracts;

use RuntimeException;
use Illuminate\Support\Contracts\ArrayableInterface;
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\HttpExceptionInterface;

abstract class RestException extends RuntimeException implements HttpExceptionInterface {

	/**
	 * The status code of this exception.
	 *
	 * @var int
	 */
	private $statusCode_;

	/**
	 * The headers of this exception.
	 *
	 * @var array
	 */
	private $headers_;

	/**
	 * The content of this exception.
	 *
	 * @var array
	 */
	private $content_;

	public function __construct( $statusCode, $message = null, array $content = array(), \Exception $previous = null, array $headers = array(), $code = 0 )
	{
		$this->statusCode_ = $statusCode;
		$this->content_ = $content;
		$this->headers_ = $headers;

		parent::__construct($message, $code, $previous);
	}

	/**
	 * Get the status code of this exception.
	 *
	 * @return int
	 */
	public function getStatusCode()
	{
		return $this->statusCode_;
	}

	/**
	 * Get the headers of this exception.
	 *
	 * @return array
	 */
	public function getHeaders()
	{
		return $this->headers_;
	}

	/**
	 * Get the content of the exception.
	 * This is not the message, but e.g. the validation errors.
	 *
	 * @return array
	 */
	public function getContent()
	{
		return $this->content_;
	}

}


text:
Leagues Find Partner in Greed-Fueled Quest for Betting Proceeds
By JD McNamara on Apr 13, 2018 Sports
People have uttered many harsh words about the executives who run the world's largest professional sports leagues. But the truth is, these are very smart men and women who help line the pockets of their already-wealthy owners. The leagues they lead are also something else: greedy.
They say misery loves company, but apparently, greed loves company, too. With the emergence of the new US Sports Integrity website, run by sports data company Genius Sports, it's clear the leagues have found a partner in crime.
Under the guise of "reliable" data that's somehow better than data already coming from the leagues themselves (because where the hell else would it come from?), the leagues are making it painfully obvious they'll find a way to make the widely expected ruling in the Murphy V. NCAA case – which would technically be a loss for them – their own personal Golden Goose.
What are integrity fees?
An integrity fee is essentially a tax, imposed by professional leagues on sports betting operators, as a percentage of all bets placed. Earlier this year, the NBA proposed a 1% integrity fee from sports betting operators, which, when you break it down, is a huge sum.
See, the leagues aren't asking for 1% of revenue from sports betting outfits, even though they're trying to make it sound like they just want a little taste. They're asking for a percentage of every bet placed with sports books. Since the books make a revenue that's roughly 5% of the total amount of wagers, what the leagues want to take is 20% of the revenue created by sports betting operators.
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How many businesses do you know of that could handle 20% of their revenue vanishing into thin air? The answer is not many.
So guess what? If the leagues get their wish and integrity fees are worked into legal sports betting regulations, sports books will have no choice but to pass that 20% through me, you and every other sports fan and bettor.
The kicker is, with tools like the US Sports Integrity website, the leagues are trying to make it sound like integrity fees benefit everybody involved. Don't get fooled.
Faulty Logic
Here's the thing about the MLB and Co's assumption they "deserve" to share in the absolutely astounding amount of money wagered on sporting events around the world: it's faulty logic.
What the leagues fail to realize – or maybe they know and just don't care? – is the revenue they generate depends entirely on the fans. And in case it isn't already obvious, sports fans like to gamble.
On the US Integrity website, Genius Sports claims the following:
"The utilization of unofficial data to create betting markets creates a sense of illegitimacy and inaccuracy associated with the sport. If regulation would require more reporting and transparency from the gaming operators, then that would be a positive for all sports."
There's a very simple counterpoint. Las Vegas has successfully featured legal sports betting for over 80 years while using "unofficial data." Apparently, the data is not sanctioned or verified, so I guess that means some books missed that Patrick Reed won the 2018 Masters, right? And darn that lucky Rickie Fowler fan who couldn't believe it when Vegas accidentally paid out Fowler as the proud new owner of a green jacket.
See what I mean? These things don't happen. Sports bettors seem happy with the way Vegas has been running things, which means the clamor for change is coming from one side: the leagues.
See Goose, Golden.
The entire situation is nothing more than the leagues realizing $150 billion worth of bets could soon be legal, and thus fair game for them to try and get a slice of pie via legislative mandate.
There's just one problem: they have no rights to any of the money – legal or otherwise. The states will regulate sports betting, the books will operate it and the fans supply the bets. The leagues have no added function, task or responsibility.
Right now, the leagues are trying to leverage their brand names and power. Unfortunately, they might get some money if the sports books and casinos decide they want to just get a law passed so they can start getting their own portion of the action.
But here's hoping they fight against integrity fees and anything else the leagues throw at them during this final hour. Several states, most recently West Virginia, have already passed laws, and the leagues have yet to get a law passed that includes their monetary demands. Other states are close to passing as well, also without any bogus fees, which would no doubt be better for sports book operators and gamblers everywhere.
At the end of the day, the truth is painfully obvious: integrity fees are a slap in the face to the leagues' real Golden Goose – the fans.
JD McNamara
JD is the founder of Content Aces (so he writes a lot of things for the Internet). He also enjoys poker, sports, film, science fiction, and is a huge fan of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Will High Tax Rates Drive Away Pennsylvania's Sports Betting Business?
What's a Realistic Scenario That Leaves Sports Leagues Happy?
Are Sports Leagues Getting Too Aggressive In Pursuit Of Gambling Spoils?


The Baltic Sea Experiment's (BALTEX) Radar Data Centre (BRDC), operated by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), aims to collect data from as many radars in or near the Baltic region as possible. During the Main Observational Phase (October 1999 through February 2002), data from 25 radars in six countries covered the Baltic region every 15 minutes. High-latitude data are recorded from 50 to 70 degrees North and they complement pre-existing efforts in the mid-latitudes and tropics. BALTEX data sets are used for validation of AMSR-E data, as well as AMSU/HSB Level 1 brightness temperatures and Level 2 cloud and precipitation parameters.
For more information about BALTEX radar data, visit the BALTEX Radar Data Centre Web site.


John remembers street games in the Vauxhall Road in the 1930s.
John was born and grew up in Vauxhall Road, where his parents were landlords of The Trevor Arms, opposite Sparkes' Bakery. He remembers playing street games in the 1930s. John is a born entertainer and his memories are recounted with great humour.
This photograph was taken in The Picturedrome Theatre in June 2011 with his wife Jeannette, who contributes memories of Tuffley Avenue.
You can find more of John's memories here and here.


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text:
Bieke Schreurs
(Redirected from User:Biekeschreurs)
Bieke
WP1 Management"Management" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property., WP2 Cross-sector analysis and comparison"Cross-sectoranalysisandcomparison" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property., WP3 The role of Community in OER"TheroleofCommunityinOER" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property., WP3 The role of Community in OER"TheroleofCommunityinOER" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property., WP5 Dissemination"Dissemination" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property., WP7 Quality and evaluation"Qualityandevaluation" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.
http://www.ou.nl/web/bss
bieke.schreurs@ou.nl
Bieke Schreurs is a researcher and project coordinator at the Open Universiteit since April 2010. She is involved in projects to support primary and secondary schools to stimulate the professional development of teachers through the use of ICT. She also does research on implementing measures to streamline (ICT) innovations in schools.
Due to her former work experience at EuroPACE and the K.U.Leuven she is a skilled project co-ordinator with 5 years experience of European projects in the area of ICT enhanced learning, virtual campuses and e-learning. She coordinated the VENUS project, in which she experimented with didactical models to organise virtual seminars in higher education. She also coordinated the Re.ViCa project, set-up to review Virtual Campus Initiatives around the world. In the frame of these European projects she published two books, one about the organisation of Virtual Seminars and a book about the Virtual Campus phenomenon. She was also involved as a researcher in a number of other European projects in the area of digital television, virtual campuses and new educational technologies. As well as the projects she also organised and delivered a range of training activities related to the use of ICT in education. She has delivered numerous lectures and presentations at renowned national and international conferences and events about the use of ICT in Education.
Bieke Schreurs received the MA degree in Communication Science at the K.U.Leuven, in 2003. She also received the MA degree in Electronic communication at the K.U.Leuven.
Schreurs, B. (editor), Bacsich, P., et al (2009) Reviewing the Virtual Campus Phenomenon: The Rise of Large-Scale e-Learning Initiatives Worldwide (The Re.ViCa Handbook), http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Re.ViCa_Handbook
Schreurs, B., Reynolds, S., and Rajagopal, K. (2009) Organising Virtual Seminars, EuroPACE, Leuven.
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Ptype Staff +
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Surname Schreurs +


It's been almost 12 months since IT systems around the world were ravaged by the WannaCry and Petya cyberattacks, which crippled hospitals and technology vendors. An eye-opening fact is that the healthcare industry is still not prepared for the next big attack.
The WannaCry ransomware attack in May 2017 affected over 300,000 computers and knocked hundreds of businesses offline, which included the U.K. National Health Service. A month later, hackers struck again with Petya wiper malware, which permanently damaged the IT systems of its victims, including two U.S. health systems and FedEx.
What's most concerning is that these attacks are seen by several security experts as poorly executed test attacks but their victims were still not prepared for the major damages they caused.
Healthcare wasn't ready then, and a year later it's not in any better condition to face another, more sophisticated global attack of equal or greater magnitude.
That's not to say that there weren't some valuable lessons learned from these cyberattacks. But for whatever good has come from them so far, there's plenty more to still be concerned about.
While threats are increasing in sophistication and hackers show no signs of letting up, the good news is that the healthcare industry is increasing its investments in cybersecurity and making a lot of efforts to mask some of its vulnerabilities.
A recent Cybersecurity Ventures report predicted that global healthcare cybersecurity spending will exceed $65 billion by 2021, as ransomware attacks on the sector will quadruple by 2020.
The added investments are a step in the right direction, as majority of security leaders agree that boardroom support and funding are crucial in the fight against cybersecurity threats.
What's also helping is that more organizations are collaborating and some are participating in partnerships with security organizations such as the National Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC) and MITRE.
According to David Finn, executive vice president of strategic innovation for CynergisTek, since WannaCry and Petya, ransomware has only gotten worse and there's been "an incredible uptick since then."The bad guys saw how well it worked and then started attacks" at a greater pace.
On a micro level, consider the U.K. National Health Service, one of WannaCry's largest victims. All of its 200 trusts failed a government assessment, just one year after the attack.
While some failed due to the high standard of the test, many failed because they didn't appropriately patch their systems. And here's the rub: NHS failed to patch a known vulnerability just four months before WannaCry, and that flaw was what allowed the virus to proliferate.
Patching is one of the simplest ways to shore up flaws, in theory, but many organizations don't patch as it can affect the function of the device and even interrupt service.
Another big problem is that many healthcare organizations still fail to encrypt devices.
Ransomware may be continuing to pummel the healthcare sector, but it's no longer the reigning threat actor. Cryptocurrency mining malware and cryptojacking are still on the rise, with hackers now looking to exploit mobile devices as much as computer systems in the near future.
The virus is better refined than ransomware, and runs in the background often undetected for an extended period of time. Attackers infect the computer, or IoT device, and use its processing power to mine for cryptocurrency. According to a recent McAfee report, it's been incredibly lucrative for hackers.
But new, invasive viruses are just the tip of the ugly nightmare.
For Kim, her biggest fear is that next time the attack will actually impact patient safety. Both Petya and WannaCry held health systems hostage. NHS had to divert patients to other locations and cancel some surgeries, which would have put patients at risk.
For Kim, healthcare's biggest problem is that "we're so cannibalistic in healthcare."
With everyone competing with each other, she explained, not everyone wants to share threat information. But for the industry to get better, stronger and more resilient against future major cyberattacks, working together is now a necessity.