text:
Childhood's End - Part 2: Divide and Conquer
Part 1: Click Here
[This episode opens with atmospheric shots of the school that Sally has found herself in. Kids walk orderly down hallways, in uniform. Damien stands there in the center of the hallway, looking authoritarian. The music here has a heavy beat. Once again, the colors are washed out, almost grayscale. The uniforms are white with gray accent. Only Damien stands out, his suit being navy blue.]
[As the beat continues, kids walk to their desks in various classes - orderly and equally. Towards the end of the montage, Sally appears among them. She's immediately noticeable. Her green eyes and colorful brown hair do help her stand out, along with being shorter than many of the peers her surround her. Sally looks nervous and confused.]
[Sally sits down at a desk in the center of the room. She looks forward. April sits down next to her.]
Sally: There's no way I'm ready for this.
April: Sally, be quiet - class is about to start.
[Much to Sally's surprise, Janet enters the classroom. Her hair is done up. She also has a very authoritarian expression, demanding focus on her. In her hand, she holds a ruler.]
Sally: [Hushed whisper] Janet!? M-maybe she'll go easy on me.
Janet: Class, what did I tell you? Homework out by the time that the bell rings, each and every one of you.
[April smiles smugly, her hands folded on top of an upside down piece of paper.]
Sally: [Whispers] Why do I even bother? Nothing makes sense in this crazy world.
[Beat]
[Sally's eyes widen with realization.]
Sally: If I've always been in this world, maybe my this-world self did her homework.
[Sally opens her backpack and comes face-to-face with Charmichael. Sally gives him a pained expression. Then she rummages through her backpack until she indeed pulls out a piece of paper. "Homework" is written on top of the page. It's a math worksheet; however, many of the problems are completely wrong.]
Sally (internally): Can this-world Sally not do math!? These problems are so easy!
[Sally grabs a pencil out of the backpack and begins correcting the numbers. She smiles as she comes up with the answers, and she does it quickly. The camera is on a close up on her face. Sally appears to be getting a moment's reprieve.]
[A ruler slams down on Sally's desk, drawing her attention. It's Janet's ruler. Janet looks down at Sally harshly.]
Janet: Ms. Dunn, we've been over this. You cannot do your homework in class. Your parents spend a fortune to send you to this school, you can at least have the respect to follow even the most basic of rules.
[The rest of the class starts chuckling]
Sally: But the problems were wrong! I was fixing them!
Janet: And how do you know that they were wrong? Cheating perhaps?
Sally: [Abrasive] I know that they were wrong cuz I do my family's shopping every week. I know how to do math.
Janet: I'm tired of your childish fantasies, Ms. Dunn. You get a zero on this assignment.
[Sally crashes her head into the desk. A tear streams from her face.]
Janet: Chin up, Ms. Dunn. You've still got a long day to go.
[The camera pulls back and this scene becomes displayed on a window. Shane's reflection appears on it. He is grinning happily. The camera reverses to show him in his office. An intercom box on his desk comes to life.]
Old Lady (voice over): Sir, Ms. Dunn is here for her appointment.
Shane: Excellent, send her in.
[The window turns to static, and then it becomes a typical window, over-viewing the heavily industrial landscape. For the first time in the episode trilogy, the sun breaks the clouds and shines into Shane's office. Autumn enters the room, looking guilty.]
Shane: Ms. Dunn, welcome.
Autumn: Shane... you can spare the formalities. I've decided... that I'm not sure if I want to do this. Robert--
Shane: Ah yes, your husband. We had a fine chat just now. You must have missed him on the way up.
Autumn: Not exactly. I passed by him, but he didn't say anything to me. He seemed... upset.
Shane: These things just take some time getting used to. When you get back to reality, he'll thank you for the vacation.
Autumn: This doesn't seem like much of a vacation to be honest.
[Shane turns around and sits down in his chair.]
Shane: Don't like my little company here?
Autumn: Well... I just thought that I'd be doing something... a little bit more important.
Shane: Tell you what--
[Shane flips through a rolodex on his desk.]
Shane: It seems like there's an opening for Vice President. It appears that our current one had just retired. What luck, am I right?
[Autumn looks down, giving a guilty expression. Shane gives a friendly smile.]
Shane: Don't worry, Autumn. They're just pieces of code. Bits of binary. Nothing to get worked up over.
Autumn: I'm worried about the people that aren't made of binary.
[Shane looks down, and then he looks up with the same expression]
Shane: The kids, huh?
[Autumn nods.]
Shane: Don't worry. They'll wake up when this is all over and think that it's nothing more than a bad dream.
[Autumn's eyes narrow.]
Autumn: Bad dream?
Shane: Relax. You're hearing things that I'm not saying. You're stressed out. Living in a world run by kids could do that to an adult. Your family will be fine. And maybe by the end of this, they'll have some respect on what you go through on a daily basis.
Autumn: That... does sound nice.
Shane: Remember, there's no reason to feel guilty here. What Sally is going through for a single week, you've been doing for years and years.
[Shane offers his hand and a smile. Autumn shakes it.]
Shane: Good, good. Now let's get back to making those teacups. They're not going to make themselves, after all.
[The camera holds on Shane and his stone-cold expression as Autumn leaves the room. When she's gone, it has completely morphed into a sneer.]
Shane: I guess I now know why Autumn married "that idiot." They really are the perfect pair.
Old lady (voice over): Sir, I don't know how but someone flipped over all of the cars in the parking lot! I've never seen a prankster do something like this before!
[Shane pinches the bridge of his nose.]
Shane: Thank you Ms. Dorris. I'll see to it that it's fixed.
[Shane pets his rabbit again, and then he pushes down the ears. A computer materializes on his desk.]
Shane: Why does programming have to be so convoluted? You remove one NPC and the whole system goes on the fritz. This better not have affected anything in Sally's school.
[Shane's eyes dart back and forth across the screen.]
Shane: No, no. It's an isolated system. Good. The plan should be working just as expected.
[Cut to Sally's school. She has her head down on the desk and is looking out the window, forlornly.]
Janet: Alright, everyone pass their worksheets forward, face-down.
[Sally picks her head up, revealing a worksheet of hers. She turns it on its back. It's a drawing of Gumdrops, as Sally is used to making. She looks at it, gives a brief weakened smile, and sends it forward. Then Sally returns to looking outside at the clouds.]
[Sally imagines herself turning into a bird and flying through the air, closing her eyes and soaring on.]
Janet: Congratulations Ms. Morris, that's another 100%.
[Sally wakes up and is brought back to reality.]
April: Thank you, Ms. Kelly.
Janet: And Ms. Dunn. This is a surprisingly improved worksheet.
Sally: T-thank you.
Janet: But what's this on the back?
[Janet turns it over and reveals Sally's art. The class, almost expectedly, laughs.]
Sally: It's my art--
[The class laughs louder. Sally's eyes well with tears]
Janet: Class, don't laugh at her because she thinks she's an artist.
Sally: The b-back was blank. Nothing was on it. I thought-- I thought--
Janet: You shouldn't focus so much on fantasy, or these imaginary... horses.
[Janet tears the paper up]
Janet: Did not follow instructions. Zero.
Sally: [Desperately] Why are you being so mean to me!? I didn't do anything to you.
Janet: My job is to prepare you for the real world. Not this one you've got in your head. And I take that job very seriously. Now if you talk back to me again, you're getting a detention, Ms. Dunn.
Sally: Then what am I supposed to do? Just sit back while you talk at me!?
Janet: Yes. And that's a detention for you, Ms. Dunn.
[Sally is about to say something, but she turns away, back to looking out the window.]
Sally: I hope that Max is having a better day than me.
[Cut to Max in his classroom. He's holding a scalpel.]
Max's teacher: And that's all there really is to dissecting a frog.
[Max gets a very disgusted look on his face.]
Max: Can I please get a rain check on this one?
Max's teacher: We've been over this, Mr. Dunn. Come on, you kids like looking at gross stuff. I don't see what the big problem is, just make that incision and--
Max: I'm a vegetarian.
Max's teacher: I'm not asking you to eat it. I'm asking you to open it up. You need to do it to pass.
Max: I'll take the fail then. I'm not doing it.
Max's teacher: Fine, Mr. Dunn. That's an F and a detention.
[Max looks at the frog, pinned to its dish.]
Max: It's worth it, little guy. At least Sally doesn't have to deal with anything like this, I hope.
[Cut to Sally writing on the board "I will not be a disruption during class." With how many times it's been written, it's clear that she has been doing this for quite awhile. Janet sits quietly at the teacher's desk.]
Sally: How many times do I have to do this?
[Janet doesn't even look up from the papers that she's grading.]
Janet: You're the expert in math. Subtract the number you've written from 100. Once you're done, you can go out to recess with the others.
[Sally puts the chalk down.]
Sally: You don't have to do this.
Janet: If I don't, then I'll have more students like you.
Sally: Well... what's wrong with... me?
[Janet stops grading papers and looks over to Sally with a stern stare. Janet doesn't come up with an answer. Sally waits for an answer, but when Janet turns back to the papers, it's clear she's not going to get one.]
Sally: Well, are you gonna answer me!?
[Janet snaps towards Sally, with an angered expression.]
Janet: Excuse me!? You do NOT talk to adults that way.
Sally: It's the way you been talkin' to me!
Janet: I've been treating you with the respect that you deserve. I expect you to do the same.
Sally: [Bitterly] Okay.
[Sally runs up and kicks over the trash barrel. She kicks over desks. She grabs Janet's ruler and swings it at a globe so hard the ruler breaks and the globe gets launched across the room. Sally opens April's desk and begins tearing up her textbooks. Janet runs over to the phone under the intercom.]
Janet: Principal Kelly, I have an out-of-control student. I'm going to need some help down here.
[Cut to Shane sitting in his office, once again watching Sally. He's eating popcorn and watching like it's his favorite comedy.]
Shane: Wow. I made her angry. I knew that she was going to break eventually, but this might be a new record. It's not even lunch yet.
[As Shane talks, a couple of adults - one of them being a police officer - enter Sally's classroom and try to apprehend her.]
Shane: I guess it might be better to give the leash some slack. It's much more effective if I let her think that she can still win. She'll learn -- sooner or later -- that she can't.
[Cut to Sally in the school counselor's office.]
Counselor: And do you promise - wait, pinky promise - to never, ever have an outburst like that, ever again?
Sally: If I say no?
Counselor: Well then the nice police officer who brought you here is going to have a nice, long conversation with you and that won't be pleasant.
Sally: Alright, sure, whatever. I promise.
Counselor: Excellent. Now why don't you get along to lunch. I hear that they're having meatloaf today.
Sally: What on earth is a meatloaf?
[Gilligan cut to Sally standing in a lunch line. A gross wad of meatloaf is placed on her tray. Sally is absolutely disgusted by it.]
Sally: What kind of... meat is it?
Lunch lady: It wouldn't be fun if I told you, now would it?
Sally: I don't think that I want to try it--
Lunch lady: How can you get your pudding if you don't eat your meat, young lass?
[Cut to Sally at the table. She taps it with a spoon. Sally covers her mouth as if she's about to throw up.]
Sally: I think I saw an eyeball.
[April and Molly sit down next to Sally.]
April: Sally dear, are you feeling better?
Molly: We heard of yer little... outburst. You feelin' okay?
Sally: [Seething] It's not a silly fantasy.
April: V-very well.
[Sally folds her arms.]
Sally: I don't know who these grown-ups think they're playing with, but I think it's time we played the Sally way.
April: Dear, you're talking crazy again.
Molly: I'm curious to hear where this is goin' actually.
[Sally pulls April and Molly down into a huddle.]
Sally: Our class has what... thirty kids?
April: Twenty-seven.
Sally: And only one teacher.
Molly: Whatcha sayin'?
Sally: Am I the only one good at math here?
April: I will admit, it is my weak spot.
Sally: They needed two grown-ups to take just me down. What if we all fight back? There's no way they could beat us.
[Molly and April stare at each other.]
[Gilligan cut to Sally sitting in the principal's office in front of Damien's desk. April and Molly stand on either side of her. Both of them look worried.]
Damien: You girls did a good job bringing her right to me.
Sally: [Seething] TATTLE-TALES!
Damien: You girls can go on.
[April and Molly walk off. Sally tries to join them.]
Damien: Sally, not you.
Sally: What? I'm a girl. I'm going.
Damien: Sally, I'm your friend here.
[Sally sits back down in the chair and pouts.]
Sally: Considering what passes for friends around here--
Damien: Did something happen recently?
Sally: Yeah. I woke up in a world where everyone has gone crazy!
Damien: Why do you have to be this way, Ms. Dunn?
Sally: BECAUSE YOU KEEP CALLING ME MS. DUNN. My name is Sally! It's what I wanna be called!
Damien: Please keep your voice down. This is a safe place.
[Sally's eyes narrow. She doesn't trust Damien at all. After a beat:]
Sally: What do you want from me?
Damien: I want you to care for your future.
Sally: Well... what about my present?
Damien: Trust me, the future is more worth caring about. I was a child once, and it's not all it's cracked up to be.
Sally: [Snapping] Because you grew up in a world that treats kids like--
Damien: Productive citizens of the future.
Sally: I want to be a "productive citizen" of now. You can't treat me like this! I have rights.
[Damien gives a simple laugh. Sally's nervous expression grows. Things slowly dawn on her.]
Sally: I'm starting to think that Anna had the right idea.
Damien: If you want to be a low-life.
[Beat. Sally looks away.]
Damien: Sally, look. It's almost dismissal. You should get home.
Sally: [Mocking] What about detention?
Damien: I'll talk it over with my wife, but you've got to work on this attitude problem of yours. This Friday there will be an assembly featuring a very special speaker. It would mean the world to me if you behaved yourself.
[Cut to Shane in his office, looking on at the scene just displayed. Sally is folding her arms and in a pout. He points to Sally's expression.]
Shane: You can see by her expression here that she's still got a plan. Shame really. I was hoping my appearance at the school would go down without a hitch. She still wants to pull off this rebellion thing--
[Cut to reveal that Shane is talking to the old lady from the reception desk. She's standing in the center of Shane's office.]
Old Lady: That's excellent Mr. Anderson. You're an absolute master of psychology!
Shane: Just... leave. Is this how far I've fallen? I'm trying to get praise from NPC's... in a simulation that I programmed myself. For my sanity, this plan had better work.
[Shane narrows his expression.]
Shane: Let's see how much fight she really has in her. I'll ramp up the tension a bit. Your move, Ms. Dunn. Don't fail to impress.
[Cut to Sally walking through the hallways of the school. They're long and empty, with a lot of open space. The large areas emphasize how alone Sally is. She looks into individual classes. Every single one of the kids are well-behaved, politely raising hands, and being silent. Sally wistfully looks on and marches forward to the beat of the music.]
[Sally stands in front of the door to the outside. Much of the wider world is obscured by her bus. After a beat, Sally steps outside.]
Anna (voice over): I was wondering when you'd show. Got out early for our little meeting, huh?
[Cut to Anna leaning against the side of the school wall.]
Sally: Anna, I forgot about you--
Anna: [Sarcastically] That's not very nice, is it? Why would you do something so mean to such a nice person? I'm a nice person, right?
[Anna steps closer and closer to Sally.]
Sally: What is... with you?
Anna: I've got a reputation.
[Anna steps forward as intimidating as she can be. However, she still has the same frantic body language as she usually does.]
Anna: Then again, maybe they're wrong. Maybe I am nice. So nice, in fact, that I'll let you take the first punch. Come on, make it count.
[Anna stands over Sally, waiting for Sally to take the punch. The tension rises. There's nothing but the sound of a heartbeat. Sally steps back.]
Sally: I-- I-- I can't.
Anna: [With a lot of disrespect] You're weak! You're just a scared stupid little girl!
Sally: Anna... what happened to you?
[Anna steps forward. Sally steps back. Anna is clearly not listening.]
Anna: But I'm strong! I'm so strong I can knock your socks off with one good punch! Don't think that I can do it? Because I can! And I'm gonna prove it!
[Sally walks back even faster as Anna encroaches on her further.]
Sally: You don't have to be like this, Anna.
Anna: What choice do I have!?
[Anna throws a punch. Sally ducks, and Anna misses. She goes off balance.]
Anna: Stop doing that!
[Sally pops up behind Anna.]
Sally: We used to be friends, Anna. Look into my eyes. Come'on. You're not like this!
[Anna looks down, thinking, for a beat. Her eyes snap forward and she looks more determined and angry than ever.]
Anna: This is all I've ever been, and this is all I'll ever be.
[Anna throws a punch, but Sally manages to duck again.]
Sally: You're definitely not as fast as the Anna I know.
Anna: Oh really punk? Well let's see how fast you can run, then.
[Cut to Sally running down the city streets. She's panicked, and Anna is hot on her heels chasing after her.]
Sally: [Breathless] Come on Sally, all that time on the playground has to pay off now!
[Sally turns down an alleyway and comes across a chainlink fence, forcing her to pause. Anna turns around the corner into the alleyway. She trips over a garbage can, drawing Sally's attention. Sally bolts into a run and climbs up over the fence. She jumps off of the other end and lands safely. Anna comes after her quickly, and easily climbs the fence herself, but Sally starts running again and stays out of her grasp.]
[Sally turns onto a busy street of tons of people walking in separate directions. Anna tries to chase after Sally, but it's not long before Anna can't get through the crowd and is lost completely. Sally looks back, and runs right into a police officer because she's not watching where she's going.]
Police Officer #1: Hey, watch where you're--
[Sally looks up and her eyes widen with fear. It's the police officer who was trying to apprehend Sally back in the school.]
Police Officer #1: Wait a minute, you're the girl from earlier.
Sally: [Fast] Look, a girl's trying to beat me up and I don't know what to do or where I am, and-- and-- and--
[The police officer looks into the crowd. Anna isn't there.]
Police Officer #1: Girl? I don't see any. Shouldn't you be getting home? You live around here somewhere?
Sally: N-No. I got too much to do to go home.
Police Officer #1: Look, it's too dangerous to let a girl like you wander around without adult supervision. We'll call up your parents and get you home.
[Cut to Robert walking past Autumn's cubicle.]
Robert: I got a call from the police.
Autumn: What?
Robert: They're like this world's version of the scouts or something. They've got Sally down at the station.
Autumn: Is she okay!? I'll go get her.
Robert: No, I will. You're the one who wanted to be here, remember? I wouldn't want to take that away from you.
Autumn: R-Robbie, I--
Robert: Look, we'll talk about this later, okay? I've just got to process all of this.
[Robert walks down the halls of the office. His cellphone rings. He answers it.]
Shane (voice over): Keep walking.
Robert: I was planning on it.
Shane (voice over): You shouldn't be so angry at your wife, you know? It's not her fault. Your daughter is the deliquent here.
Robert: Why do you even want me here?
Shane: Not an idiot, huh? Yeah, it'd be the smarter move to keep you somewhere where I have no control over you. Sacrifice the pawn to take the rook, Mr. Dunn.
Robert: So, what was this call about? To gloat? [Sarcastically] That doesn't seem like a mastermind like you.
Shane: I heard that you wanted to talk to your wife about this later.
[Robert's eyes widen. He stops walking]
Shane: I said keep walking, Mr. Dunn.
[Robert waits for a beat and then he keeps walking]
Shane: I can hear. I can hear everything. And if I hear you talking about anything to anyone... well, let's just say that it's not going to turn out the best for you and your family. Remember you signs your paycheck, and who's at risk for... termination.
[Cut to Sally at the police station, sitting down, forlorn. Robert opens the door, and Sally's expression brightens with happiness.]
Sally: Robbie!
[Sally runs to hug Robert]
Robert: Hey Sally... had a tough day, huh?
Sally: It was horrible! The worst day of my life!
Police officer #1: As much as I'd hate to break up this reunion, there's a bit of a processing fee.
Robert: Processing fee?
Police officer #1: Yeah. We've had to watch your daughter when we could have been dealing with actual crime. Come on, we'll take care of this in the other room.
Robert: [To Sally] Don't worry, I'll try to make this up to you.
[Cut to Robert in the processing room. He opens up his wallet. There's no money inside.]
Police Officer #1: Got a credit card or something?
Robert: A... what?
Police Officer #1: Seriously?
[Robert looks into his wallet again, and he comes across a red credit card device called an "Andercard." Robert's eyes immediately narrow. He knows what's going on. He offers it over.]
Police Officer #1: By the way, what did you daughter call you?
Robert: Robbie, my name.
Police Officer #1: Back in my day, kids had some respect. Called their parents Mom and Dad. Didn't throw temper tantrums in school either.
[Cut to Sally and Robert in the car. It's later in the day. Heavy shadows are on everything. It's a quiet, emotional moment. Neither of them talk. Robert turns to Sally. His lip quivers. Then the moment is broken when a car races by and Sally screams. Robert swerves.]
Sally: How are you a worse driver than me!?
Robert: It's been awhile, okay!
Sally: Sorry... I....
[Robert notices a restaurant sign, a smallish diner-type place.]
Robert: Hey, why don't we stop here for dinner.
[Sally perks up a bit.]
Sally: Y-yeah. Maybe some good food will help me forget about all of this.
[Cut to Robert and Sally sitting at a seat in the restaurant. A waitress comes by. The waitress looks at Sally.]
Waitress: Oh my, aren't you a little cutie pie?
[Sally blushes.]
Sally: Uh... what?
[The waitress looks at Robert.]
Waitress: So, what will you two be having?
Robert: I'll be having the burger, medium rare.
Waitress: And what'll the girl havre?
Sally: I'm right here!
Waitress: Oh, did you want to order like a big girl?
[Sally looks on with disbelief]
Sally: I'll have the mac and cheese.
Waitress: Oh, you are so precious, I could just eat you up.
[The waitress walks off, with the menus.]
Sally: This is what I'm talking about!
Robert: Sally, I know that this can be hard, but you've got to pull through.
Sally: [Angrily, moderately loud] I just want the world to make sense!
[Other patrons look at Robert and Sally. The waitress comes up.]
Waitress: Sir, can you please try and keep your daughter quiet? Other patrons are tryin' to enjoy their meal.
[Robert awkwardly gives an "okay" sign and the waitress walks off. Sally is steaming.]
Sally: [Whisper-shouting] Why does she act like I'm not even here!?
[Robert debates on what to say for a beat. A patron sitting at the counter looks over to Robert. He's wearing a dark outfit and a top hat. Perhaps it could be a Matrix reference. Have him look like Agent Smith.]
Robert: I wish I could tell you, Sally.
[Transition to some time later. The food has been completely eaten. The waitress comes up.]
Waitress: Sorry sir, your Andercard doesn't have enough funds for both ice creams.
Robert: I... see. Just give my daughter hers, and cancel mine.
Waitress: Alright, sir.
[Cut to Robert looking at the Matrix Man. The Matrix Man looks back. Robert sneers and the Matrix Man smiles back.]
Sally: Robbie, what's wrong?
Robert: It's not important.
Sally: [Stern] I'm a part of this family, and I want to know what's going on.
Robert: I... can't tell you, Sally.
[Sally looks to Robert, pleading, trying to dig. Sally decides that she believes Robert. The waitress plops the ice cream fiercely onto the table.]
Waitress: I take it I'm not gettin' a tip.
Sally: [Grumbles] Maybe you should treat your customers like they're people.
Waitress: Listen little lady, you gotta learn to respect your elders.
[Cut to Robert and Sally arriving home. It's night now. As they pull into the driveway, Robert looks to his cellphone. He looks at a text message. It's the only source of light in the scene, as it's glowing.]
Robert: Your mother left me a text.
[Autumn's text - "hey Robbie. Gonna be working late tonite. Need to get into my new office. Mr. Anderson was nice enough to provide me with a company car, so you don't need to worry."]
Robert: She's gonna be working late tonight.
Sally: [Bitterly] She must be having all the fun in the world.
[Max opens the door, creating another light source.]
Max: Hey, where have you two been?
Robert: Out. Autumn's at work.
Max: I got the mail. Even though it's for a Mr. Dunn, I don't think it's for me.
[Max hands Robert the mail. He opens it.]
Robert: Electricity bill, phone bill, gas bill...
Max: Woah. Those are really expensive. Do we have the finances to cover it?
Robert: I've got a feeling--
[Robert's ringtone goes off. He answers it.]
Shane (voice over): Hello, it's your boss, Mr. Anderson.
Robert: Yeah, I figured.
Shane (voice over): I wouldn't take that tone with me. Anyway, I have a proposition for you. Some overtime has opened up--
[The sky flickers static for a moment. Max looks up with surprise.]
Max: Did the sky just--
Shane (voice over): Oh come on! I thought that I had fixed that.
Robert: No Max. I think you're just getting tired.
Shane (voice over): Good boy. Now about that overtime.
Robert: I'd rather spend time making sure that my kids are alright. I hear it's a dangerous world out there.
Shane (voice over): Suit yourself. I think that those bills are really going to stack up.
Robert: Autumn got a--
Shane (voice over): Well you know how it is in this day and age. Both parents need to work a full time job in order to even break even.
Robert: So that's what this is about.
Shane (voice over): Divide and conquer, Mr. Dunn. You can't beat me. Not here.
[Sally walks by, looking groggy]
Sally: I'm just going to go to bed.
Shane (voice over): Sally wait.
[Robert pauses for a beat.]
Robert: Sally, wait.
[Sally stops.]
Shane & Robert (in unison): My boss has given me a special gift that he'd like us all to check out.
Shane (voice over): Bottom envelope. I'm sure you'll be delighted.
[Robert opens the bottom envelope. Inside it has a key.]
Shane (voice over): It's to your garage. First floor, second door on the left.
[Cut to a dark room. The garage door opens, letting some light in. Both Sally and Max are standing behind Robert. A vague mechanical object is in the foreground.]
Max: Is that... a motorcycle?
[Robert turns on the garage light. As he does, Sally drops to her knees with a horrified expression. The camera reverse shots to show that the motorcycle is white, with holden blonde trim. The brand name just happens to be "Gumdrops."]
Shane (voice over): Congratulations on your gift, Mr. Dunn.
[A "To be continued" appears on the bottom of the screen on this image.


In spring 2018 the Alicante Convention Bureau contacted us to invite 12 event organizers from the Nordic countries to show them the city of Alicante and what it offers for MICE groups. Previously we had traveled with 3 hotel member to Stockholm in December 2017 to present their destination.
Alicante airport is only 10 minutes from the city center and has 104 weekly direct flights from Scandinavia to Alicante.
The Educational Trip took place from the 18th till the 20th of October 2018 and although the weather forecast was of rain for the 3 days, finally had sunshine every day and we could do everything that was planned. The group stayed at emblematic Hotel Meliá Alicante that is located right in front of the sea and only a few meters of the center. The first day the participants enjoyed a bike ride through the old town and a dinner with incredible views from one of the highest points of the city.
The second day the participants could meet 10 hoteliers from Alicante in a workshop organized by the Convention Bureau, then to change the registry completely we went to a yacht club to do a Paddle Surf activity which was followed by a fantastic meal in a hotel in his restaurant with views on the 26th floor. In the afternoon we did a Tai Chi activity on the beach listening to the sound of the sea that we all liked very much. The dinner took place in the restaurant of an emblematic hotel and was exquisite.
The last day we did a walk through the Castle of Santa Bárbara where we could try a typical horchata with fartons. Next and to leave a good taste, we did a workshop with the aim of cooking tasty rice. Did you know that in Alicante has more than 150 rice recipes?
Costa Blanca region enjoys a warm climate throughout the year registering an average of 18º between the months of November to March and more than 300 sunny days a year per year.
We cannot be more happy and proud with the result of this Educational Trip knowing that the participants have taken good ideas for future groups and have left happy with the experience. It has been a pleasure to work with Alicante Convention Bureau and promote the destination!
If you would like to see more pictures of our Fam Trip you can CLICK HERE.


If you require multiple packing boxes for your move then buying boxes in packs is your cheapest option. We offer packs of double walled corrugated cardboard all manufactured in the UK, a range of pack sizes from 5 boxes to 10 boxes in sizes small, medium, general and large.
Bristol, Leeds, Nottingham and Glasgow depots dispatching to any UK address.


85' Substitution, Edinburgh City. Calum Hall replaces Scott Shepherd.
78' Goal! Arbroath 1, Edinburgh City 4. Liam Henderson (Edinburgh City) header from the right side of the six yard box to the top left corner. Assisted by Craig Thomson with a cross following a corner.
77' Substitution, Edinburgh City. Keiran Stewart replaces Graham Taylor.


text:
Kindle $4.99
The Human Cosmos: A Secret History of the Stars
Jo Marchant
790 ratings132 reviews
An historically unprecedented disconnect between humanity and the heavens has opened. Jo Marchant's book can begin to heal it.
For at least 20,000 years, we have led not just an earthly existence but a cosmic one. Celestial cycles drove every aspect of our daily lives. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are--our art, religious beliefs, social status, scientific advances, and even our biology. But over the last few centuries we have separated ourselves from the universe that surrounds us. It's a disconnect with a dire cost.
Our relationship to the stars and planets has moved from one of awe, wonder and superstition to one where technology is king--the cosmos is now explored through data on our screens, not by the naked eye observing the natural world. Indeed, in most countries modern light pollution obscures much of the night sky from view. Jo Marchant's spellbinding parade of the ways different cultures celebrated the majesty and mysteries of the night sky is a journey to the most awe inspiring view you can ever see--looking up on a clear dark night. That experience and the thoughts it has engendered have radically shaped human civilization across millennia. The cosmos is the source of our greatest creativity in art, in science, in life.
To show us how, Jo Marchant takes us to the Hall of the Bulls in the caves at Lascaux in France, and to the summer solstice at a 5,000-year-old tomb at New Grange in England. We discover Chumash cosmology and visit medieval monks grappling with the nature of time and Tahitian sailors navigating by the stars. We discover how light reveals the chemical composition of the sun, and we are with Einstein as he works out that space and time are one and the same. A four-billion-year-old meteor inspires a search for extraterrestrial life. The cosmically liberating, summary revelation is that star-gazing made us human.
GenresScienceNonfictionHistoryAstronomySpacePhilosophyAnthropology
352 pages, Hardcover
12 books153 followers
Dr Jo Marchant is an award-winning science journalist based in London. She has a PhD in genetics and medical microbiology from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College in London, and an MSc in Science Communication (with a dissertation in evidence-based medicine) from Imperial College London. She has worked as an editor at New Scientist and at Nature, and her articles have appeared in publications including The Guardian, Wired UK, The Observer Review, New Scientist and Nature. Her radio and TV appearances include BBC Radio 4's Start the Week and Today programmes, CNN and National Geographic. She has lectured around the world. Her book Decoding the Heavens was shortlisted for the 2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books.
6 (<1%)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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31/12/2009 28/04/2012 by Dani K. Nedal
Back in the USSR?
One week from the day of the first move in the latest (but probably not last) clash in the Caucasus, not one but two major deals were signed. One of them was a cease-fire agreement, signed by Georgian President Mikheil Saaksashvili and brokered by Nicholas Sarkozy (his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev signed the agreement on Saturday), the other was the deal signed by Poland and the U.S. which allows for the deployment of American interceptor missiles in Polish soil as a component of the long-debated US "Missile Shield".
Both agreements are tentative and don't necessarily mean the end of the struggle, be it the struggle over the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia or the one over the missiles. Actually, the success of one could mean the failure of the other. Poland's agreement to house American missiles, after a great deal of stress within Poland and fierce debates as to the pro's and con's of doing so, was a product of the fear of renewed Russian assertiveness and increased American pressure. An easing of tensions following the success of the cease-fire could lead to less support for a move that was made under a (false?) sense of urgency. This holds especially if the Poles realize that Saakashvili's test of Russian temper was a major cause of Georgia's ill-fate.
Although both sides are guilty of provocative and overeager behavior, it's increasingly clear that Georgia made the first definitive move. The West has been testing Russia's patience for quite a while. Since 1991, one could say, but a glance at recent events should suffice. NATO's encroachment of Russia, the American recognition of an independent Kosovo (which Putin WARNED IN ADVANCE could lead to similar claims regarding South Ossetia and Abkhazia), and, last but definitely not least, the absurd missile-shield plan defended in casual and patronizing tone by the US.
As Russians were quick to note, the hurry with which the US-Poland agreement was signed – not to mention Ukraine's pledge to participate in the missile defense system and increased restrictions on activities in the Russian naval base of Sevastopol – betrays the true intentions behind the missile-shield and just who the threat is perceived to be ("protection against Iran, eh George?"). And although Russia has nothing to fear from this "shield" (see why) – or maybe precisely because it's such a gratuitous move – it will feel compelled to push back in other spots of the world that are of Western concern. It is in this sense that insistence on the fantastic idea of a missile-shield could have sealed Georgia's fate: Russia may feel all the less willing to let this one slide.
The realization that Western self-righteous, self-serving, patronizing and passive-aggressive behavior towards Russia for the past decade or so is one of the major drivers of Russian assertiveness (coupled with what Thomas Friedman called the First Law of Petropolitics) has not been enough to convince some commentators to rethink their stance. Quite to the contrary, it has led them to dig up the ghost of appeasement. Yes, though it should be quite obvious that 21st century Russia is not Nazi Germany and Putin is not Hitler, the latter's specter looms large and the analogy gets thrown around. The fact that Secretary of State Rice compared Russia's invasion of Georgia to Brezhnev's 1968 and not to Hitler's 1938 invasion of Czechoslovakia is thus actually a small relief.
This was the kind of thinking that provided the rationale for a "vigilant containment" of the USSR since the aftermath of the WWII. The predominance in the United States of the belief that a sustained strategy of containment "won" the Cold War lends further credence to this idea even today. But Putin's Russia is not Soviet Union either.
All these flawed analogies obscure what should be the real lessons drawn from the history of the Cold War, namely that paranoid, frantic "containment" of even a moderately conservative, defense-minded power is counterproductive and acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Soviets were not without their share of the blame for the Cold War, and the bipolar distribution of capabilities made SOME tension and counterpoising inevitable; but Kennan-style containment of the "red threat" just made it harder to deal with the complex realities of international politics.
In the Cold War, the "West against the rest" formula made it impossible for the US to work the cleavages in the "communist bloc" fully to its advantages, namely the Sino-Soviet split from the 60's onward. Today, the fact that Russia and China both failed to democratize after the fall of communism and thus remain the main players of what Robert Kagan and others have recently characterized as the other extreme of a new divide, between democratic and authoritarian governments, pushes analogical new-cold-war thinking a step further. Recasting the old Cold War formula in these new terms risks, therefore, any prospect of a sensible strategy towards China (and Iran, for that matter), as well as towards Russia.
There is some truth to this reading, though. As Kagan powerfully argues, it is in the fault-lines between democracy and authoritarianism that conflict is more likely to occur these days (see his The Return of History and the End of Dreams, where he stops inches short of predicting the present war). This happens because democracies are increasingly pushy and downright abusive when it comes to "good governance", "responsibility", and "democratization"; and authoritarians, jealous of their power positions and sovereign rights, and are not afraid to play the power game to keep intruders at bay. It's not a necessary feature of power politics, but a sad reality with nasty consequences.
And like in the Cold War, it's the small players that are the most enthusiastic about this "ideological" struggle, because it blinds statesmen to the necessities of power politics. Saakashvili was quick to play the democracy card, the Western media followed suit, and so did American leaders, though not to the extent that Saakashvili hoped. He was counting, fantastically, on Western intervention on his behalf. Putin decried the ridiculous notion that government-type politics should trump power politics and, luckily, cooler heads prevailed. Crude power considerations no doubt played a major part in preventing the West from taking a much tougher stance against Russia, but the picture is clear: Russia comes out of the war as the bad guy, and some major developments in Russia's integration into the "international society" (e.g. NATO-Russia cooperation, Russian candidacy to the WTO) will suffer.
But the big losers here are the US and Europe. Europeans do not want to pick a fight with Russia right now. The Euro-zone is going through some difficult economic times and the European Union is still not a cohesive actor in foreign and defense affairs, and Russia has been very successful in driving wedges between European countries. Tension with Russia could put overwhelming stress on both economic and political integration in Europe.
The US have bigger fish to fry in the Far East, but instead of devising a comprehensive strategy to deal with a rising China – something that has been a top political priority in Russia –, let alone a strategy that takes advantage of the potential divergences between Russia and China (such as the Chinese Diaspora in Siberia or disputes over political influence in Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East), American politicians keep pushing both countries together.
This war was not the political blunder of the decade, but it was pretty close. Thousands of Ossetians lost their homes, Georgia is probably going to lose both provinces and any chance of joining NATO anytime soon, and Saakashvili could lose his job. Russia lost any remaining sympathy from the West and could lose a lot of money in trade and investment. Though Poland stands to lose a lot more in case of a nuclear exchange, the chances of this happening (or of Poland surviving an all-out nuclear war even if it didn't accept American missiles) should not be overestimated. The US and Europe are losing in the long term as well as the short term, as was argued above. Even China lost, by having its thunder stolen. To the extent that this war is turned into an omen of the "dawn of a New Cold War" we're all losers.
* Postado originalmente por Dani Nedal na versão (local) anterior deste blog, no dia 16/08/2008.
← Previous Post Georgia's on my mind!
Next Post → And what if there was some rationality involved in Saakashvili's move?
Russian revisionism and the status security dilemma | Imminent Crisis 06/03/2014 at 22:46
[…] That said, though I clearly sympathize with the argument (and made it myself here before), it begs the age-old question of whether Russian revisionist behavior is a product of status […]


Brynne Rebele-Henry is the author of the poetry collections, Autobiography of a Wound (Pitt, 2018), winner of the AWP 2017 Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, and Fleshgraphs (Nightboat Books, 2016), which was published when she was 16 years old, and was described by Publisher's Weekly as "A visceral engagement with the politics and poetics of girlhood." Her first YA novel, Orpheus Girl, forthcoming from Soho Press in October 2019, re-imagines the epic of Orpheus as a love story between two teen girls in rural Texas.
Her fiction, poetry, and nonfiction has appeared in Denver Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Fiction International, The Volta, Rookie, Adroit, PANK, Revolver, and So to Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language and Art. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including the 2016 Adroit Prize for Prose, the 2015 Louise Louis/Emily F. Bourne Award from the Poetry Society of America, and a 2017 Glenna Luschei Award from Prairie Schooner.


text:
Q: Custom code is not executing in SSRS 2008 when rendering as PDF UPDATE: Ok so the custom code works in SSRS 2008 report services but not when I render the report as PDF.  The code is trying to create a dynamic report title in the master report header.
It runs great in report services but when I save as PDF only the value from the last subreport (the last time the custom code is executed on the report) is showing on all headers...
How can I get the PDF render to correctly execute the custom code for each subreport??

Previous question details here...
I was using a Code module in my SSRS 2008 report but it was not functioning correctly after I deployed the report.
I am now trying to create a custom code assembly to do the same thing however I'm receiving the error:
> [rsErrorLoadingCodeModule] Error while loading code module:

>> SSRSDynamicRptTitle, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
>> PublicKeyToken=null.
>>
>> Details: Could not load file or assembly 'SSRSDynamicRptTitle,
>> Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its
>> dependencies. The system cannot find the file
>> specified.   C:\DEV\KPI\APKPIReports\APKPIReports\MasterReport2.rdl

I have copied the dll to here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies
here
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies
and here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10.SQL2008VANILLA\Reporting Services\ReportServer\bin
but still no dice.
Here is the code from the module I am trying to turn into an assembly:
Public Class DynamicRptTitle

    Public Shared myTitle As String

    Public Shared Function SetRptTitle(ByRef t As String) As Boolean

        myTitle = t
        Return False 'not hidden

    End Function

End Class

Originally I just had the shared variable myTitle and the shared function SetRptTitle in the Code portion of the project which worked perfectly in SSRS 2008R2, but not in 2008.
Any ideas?
UPDATE:
Meh, ok so I had copied the dll to the wrong folders.  Apparently I needed it here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies
and here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies
I was copying it to the wrong version of VS...
I also changed the assembly name to the same name as the dll/namespace since the GAC said that was a good idea. Smart guy, that GAC.
Anyhow it's 'almost' working. It still works in my local dev environment but not when it's deployed. On the deployed report the last value I plug into the dll is repeated throughout the entire report. Are there any special considerations when deploying an assembly?  Maybe I need to revisit GAC...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Some Reflections on Anti-Fetishism and the Early Avant-Garde
Contradictions of Visual Worlds
Department of Theory
Tue, 12 Dec 2017, 19:30
Prof. John Roberts
Shklovsky, Error and The End of Saint Petersburg
This paper looks at the important place Vsevolod Pudovkin's film The End of St. Petersburg (1927) plays in the transition to a post-avant-garde, or popular-narrative cinema, in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s and 1930s. In this the film's unstable, formal character makes it an interesting site of the emerging conflicts around the image, as the influence of Futurism on the left avant-garde, comes increasingly under attack by the Party. These tensions are vividly illustrated in Viktor Shklovsky's article 'Mistakes and Inventions' on Pudovkin's film, published in Novyi Lef in 1927. Shklovsky assesses the film as representing a shift in the stakes of the avant-garde's attack on the 'familiar.' He notices the opening out of the intersection of avant-garde montage and narrative to the ideological demands of popular cinema. As such, in his tentative discussion of film production as of necessity working hypotheses (the realm of mistakes), Shklovsky reasserts the anti-fetishistic ideals of the Futurist-Formalism programme. In this respect the paper emphasizes how significant 1927 was in the struggle to maintain the anti-fetishistic content of the avant-garde image: namely, that revolutionary art require a change in perception ('seeing' as opposed to 'looking'), not just the presentation of 'revolutionary content.'
Vortrag in englischer Sprache.
Plakate gestaltet von Alexander Schmidt, Julius Kleinbach und Katja-Lisette Seger
John Roberts is professor for art & aesthetics at the university of Wolverhampton and an internationally known writer, in the areas of art theory, cultural philosophy, and art and political philosophy. He is currently leader of the Research Cluster, 'Art, Philosophy and Social Practice' in the Faculty of Arts at the UoW. Following his first degree in English and Art History (Middlesex Polytechnic 1974-1977) Professor Roberts taught and lectured extensively in various fine art departments throughout the UK and overseas, including Goldsmiths (MA Fine Art) University of Northumbria (MA Fine Art) and the National College of Art & Design, Dublin. In 2005 he gained a PhD on the basis of previously published work, from the UoW with a written commentary. Since 2000 he has been an invited speaker at numerous Universities, museums and public galleries in Europe and North America. In his earlier career he worked as an art critic and curator.
Recent publications: "Thoughts on an Index Not Freely Given" (2016); "Revolutionary Time and the Avant-Garde" (2015); "Photography and Its Violations" (2014); "The Necessity of Errors" (2010).
Other Events in This Series
21.11 Catarina Simão
28.11 Johan Hartle
19.12 Vasyl Cherepanyn
09.01 Angela Melitopoulos
17.01 Gertrud Koch
25.01 Ruth Sonderegger
30.01 Brigitta Kuster
Other Event Series
Playing with the (Im)possible – Computing Games
Disarming Chekhov's Gun
Frontiers of Animation
NIE NUR NEU
Creating Insights: Research and Aesthetic Discovery in the Video Essay


text:
Q: Does the fill_parent or match_parent attributes work for a relativeLayout object really Does the fill_parent  or match_parent attributes work for a relativeLayout object really?
Please see the following image:

A: match_parent works on any view.
As long as you don't have margins assigned to offset your view, it will expand to its parent size.
As for why you see it like this - do not rely too much on Android Studio designer. It is there to show a rough picture but is not a precise tool to rely on.
Best case to see things are fine:

*

*set a temporary different background color for your view (RelativeLayout in your case) and its parent layout

*load the app and check if the parent color is shown around your relative layout


text:
Carl Joseph Wilhelm Großmann (* 5. August 1816 in Höchst am Main; † 20. Juni 1889 in Wiesbaden) war ein deutscher Jurist und nassauischer Abgeordneter.

Familie
Großmann war der Sohn des Mainzollamtbesehers und Rats Johann Jacob Ignatz Großmann (* 6. Januar 1769 in Steinheim am Main; † 15. März 1850 in Höchst) und dessen Ehefrau Catarina geborene Will († 7. Oktober 1857 in Höchst), der Tochter des Kriegsrats Johann Philipp Will. Großmann, der katholischer Konfession war, heiratete am 28. Mai 1846 in Höchst Anna Maria geborene Steinebach (* 16. August 1813 in Höchst), die Tochter des Kaufmanns und Gastwirts Johann Seinebach.

Leben
Großmann besuchte 1830 bis 1836 das Gymnasium Philippinum Weilburg und studierte dann Rechtswissenschaften an den Universitäten Heidelberg, München und Leipzig. 1841 legte er sein Examen ab und wurde aufgrund Krankheit erst 1843 Prokurator in Wiesbaden. 1846 wurde er zum Dr. jur. promoviert. Ab 1848 war er Prokurator am Appellationsgericht Wiesbaden, später am Oberappellationsgericht Wiesbaden. Er trug den Titel eines Justizrates.

Politik
Nach der Märzrevolution war er von 1848 bis 1851 war er Mitglied der Ständeversammlung der Landstände des Herzogtums Nassau. Er wurde im Wahlkreis X (Königstein/Höchst) gewählt. Im Landtag schloss er sich dem Club der Rechten an. Er war neben Ludwig Heydenreich der führende Vertreter der Großdeutschen im Landtag. Von 1862 bis 1863 gehörte er dem Vorstand des Deutschen Reformvereins an und bewirkte, dass dieser seinen Sitz in Wiesbaden nahm. 1850 wurde er vom Landtag zum Abgeordneten im Staatenhaus des Erfurter Unionsparlaments gewählt, nahm das Mandat jedoch nicht an. Zwischen 1858 und 1863 gehörte er der Ersten Kammer der Landstände an. Er war aus der Gruppe der Grundbesitzer, Wahlkreis II (Montabaur) gewählt worden. Von 1864 bis 1865 gehörte er der Ersten Kammer als Vertreter des Friedrich Wilhelm Schütz von Holzhausen an. 1865 wurde er in einer Nachwahl für Carl Wirth im Wahlkreis VI (Hadamar) in die Zweite Kammer des Landtags gewählt.

Literatur
 Nassauische Parlamentarier. Teil 1: Cornelia Rösner: Der Landtag des Herzogtums Nassau 1818–1866 (= Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Nassau. 59; = Vorgeschichte und Geschichte des Parlamentarismus in Hessen. 16). Historische Kommission für Nassau, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-930221-00-4, S. 63.
 Jochen Lengemann: MdL Hessen. 1808–1996. Biographischer Index (= Politische und parlamentarische Geschichte des Landes Hessen. Bd. 14 = Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen. Bd. 48, 7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6, S. 155.

Weblinks

Mitglied der Ständeversammlung der Landstände des Herzogtums Nassau
Mitglied der Ersten Kammer der Landstände des Herzogtums Nassau
Mitglied der Zweiten Kammer der Landstände des Herzogtums Nassau
Deutscher
Geboren 1816
Gestorben 1889
Mann

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CP provides cost-effective AV/VTC systems to meet our government customers needs. We have a comprehensive network of skilled and trained professionals who understand the unique requirements brought by each customer to provide them with a managed solution, including the design, installation, on-going support, system hosting, and day-to-day management and operation. Our highly trained staff are bolstered with many years of experience in system maintenance, design, and custom installations for a wide variety of government customers.


text:
Q: Text doesn't wrap in IE 10 when using flexbox I have tried pretty much every solution I could find by Googling around.
Those include setting max-width to 100%, setting parent element to display as block or flex, setting white-space to normal, and played around with overflow but nothing seems to work in my case.
Anyway, this is what it should look like (and actually looks like in IE 11, Firefox and Chrome):

and on IE 10 it looks like this:
.

body {
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}
html {
  -webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
  -moz-box-sizing: border-box;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}
*,
*:before,
*:after {
  -webkit-box-sizing: inherit;
  -moz-box-sizing: inherit;
  box-sizing: inherit;
}
.flexContainer {
  display: -webkit-box;
  display: -moz-box;
  display: -webkit-flex;
  display: -ms-flexbox;
  display: flex;
  -webkit-box-direction: normal;
  -webkit-box-orient: horizontal;
  -moz-box-direction: normal;
  -moz-box-orient: horizontal;
  -webkit-flex-direction: row;
  -ms-flex-direction: row;
  flex-direction: row;
  -webkit-flex-wrap: wrap;
  -ms-flex-wrap: wrap;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  -webkit-box-align: stretch;
  -mox-box-align: stretch;
  -ms-flex-align: stretch;
  -webkit-align-items: stretch;
  align-items: stretch;
}
.flexContainer * {
  -webkit-box-flex: 0;
  -moz-box-flex: 0;
  -webkit-flex-grow: 0;
  -ms-flex: 0;
  flex-grow: 0;
  -webkit-flex-shrink: 1;
  -moz-flex-shrink: 1;
  -ms-flex: 1;
  flex-shrink: 1;
  -webkit-flex-basis: auto;
  flex-basis: auto;
  width: auto;
  background-color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.1);
}

          ☰

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A: The source of the problem is the main element in your HTML.
This element was introduced in HTML5 and is not recognized by IE10.
Since main is not supported by IE10 – meaning it doesn't exist in the browser's default style sheet – the element assumes initial properties as defined in the spec.
As a result, main in your layout is display: inline. (Check dev tools and you'll find it has no width and is not wrapping anything. It's just a little spec.)
With the following adjustment, main should work in IE10, enabling the text to wrap:
main {
   display: block;
}

Note that the main element is unique because other HTML5 elements such as article, section, header and figcaption (which are also in your code) work fine in IE10 (and even IE9). For whatever reason, IE left main out in the cold. See the caniuse link below for more details.
More info:

*

*Default settings of unrecognized HTML elements

* element not working in Internet Explorer 11

*9.2.4 The display property

*main element browser support at caniuse.com

A: Hi In this case I prefer change flex-direction in class .flexContainer
.flexContainer {
   -webkit-flex-direction:column;
   -ms-flex-direction: column;
   flex-direction: column;
}

Adding to the following project file can also help you in this situation
Normalize css
Regards :)


text:
Order Lagos to give us building permit, church tells court
By Godwin Dunia
Bankole Kayode
The Incorporated Trustees of Word of Life Bible Church has asked a Lagos High Court, Igbosere, to order the state government to issue it with building permit for its plot of land in Victoria Island, having paid all necessary fees assessed by the state in respect of the planned structure.
In a suit marked LD/3040/14 before Justice Christopher Balogun, the church claimed that it was the lawful owner of Block 1, Plot 21E, Victoria Island Annex Residential Scheme in Eti Osa Local Government Area.
Joined as defendants are Lagos State Governor, Attorney-General, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Building Control Agency, Physical Planning Permit Authority and Task Force on Environmental Sanitation.
The claimant, through its counsel, Kayode Bankole, averred that it acquired the property in 2003 with Certificate of Occupancy No. 68/68.199AR from Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd.
It said it secured an approval for change of use of the land from residential to institutional (place of worship) via a September 7, 2004 letter and that its application for a building plan approval was received, processed and assessed for payment of various sums of money which the claimant paid.
"The claimant applied for and secured land clearance from the defendants, by which the claimant was confirmed as the assignee of the land," the claimants stated.
The defendants, the claimant said, demanded and received a total of N4,590,132.99 as Land Use Charge and other payments so as to allow it continue with its church building, when suddenly the defendant posted a contravention notice, dated January 20, 2014 on its fence, alleging absence of development permit as ground of seeking removal of the building on the land within two days.
According to the claimant, the defendant allegedly posted another two-day notice on January 21 and "demolished part of the fence without any lawful justification and in bad faith."
It said the defendants, by two letters of July 27, 2010 and June 25, 2011 admitted it "loss all documents submitted by the claimant and demanded another set of documents and fees, which the claimant obliged."
It is seeking, among others, a declaration that the defendants acts on or about January 21, 2014, amounted to trespass, was illegal, unconstitutional and contrary to Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution.
It also wants a declaration that "the sealing of the claimant's property since April 2014 by the 4th defendant is wrong, illegal and unlawful and an order directing it to unseal the property.At the last mention of the suit on May 25, the defendants were yet to file their defence. Justice Balogun adjourned till July 6.
Kayode Bankole


In hopes of curing his business woes, Charro Machorro-windshield washer, roadside vendor, and free-market enthusiast-pays a visit to a faith healer in the Arizona desert and learns more than he bargained for about how the free market really works. To increase his profits, the healer suggests, he should establish his company during the Middle Ages, gain a monopoly, exploit natural resources, break up unions (though currently he's the only employee), and, of course, become a multinational corporation. The healer's $20,000 fee shows that she, at least, knows how to manage her own little business.
In a single, hilarious rush, cartoonist Rafael Barajas, aka El Fisgon ("the peeper"), takes us from the dawn of capitalism to the age of global conglomerates, showing how the world economy developed and how it functions today. Amid the laughs, he offers a critique of a planet in which the few "globalize" to their endless benefit, while everyone else suffers poverty, famine, migration, and war.
El Fisgon's graphically stunning, visually sophisticated book, filled with allusions to the history of art and cartooning, cleverly reverses every self-help manual for playing the market, teaching us not how to become rich but rather why so many remain poor.


The municipality of Lwamgasa is about 1.5 hours away from Geita (Tanzania). The gold rush has broken out in the nearby area. Private individuals try their luck with the search for gold. Mercury is used to bind the gold dust from the rock. As a result, groundwater near the surface is contaminated with mercury over a wide area.
In the municipality of Lwamgasa we plan to drill a deep well to get clean water. This is then to be used as drinking water in the community.


Chainee Bartlett is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University with a Bachelor of the Arts degree. She is a native Arkansan with a passion for news and popular culture. Chainee joined the morning show staff as a producer in June 2013.
VAN BUREN (KFSM) — A man accused of stabbing another during an argument has been arrested. Jason Eric Parker is facing felony first-degree battery in connection with the stabbing that happened Friday (Oct. 27) in the 300 block of North 20th Street, according to Van Buren police. Surveillance video captured the reported stabbing. It shows a suspect, whom police have identified as Parker, approach the home and knock on a door before an argument pursues.


How alert are we on the road?
We all travel, don't we? How alert are we when moving about?
Do we check local traffic laws when we travel? I have traveled to many countries and one of the main concerns I had in traveling the local roads was making sure I didn't hit a bicyclist or pedestrian.
I've heard of some troublesome situations for motorists traveling from another country. Plus, imagine the ongoing guilt feeling even if we are in the right.
But it's not only while traveling abroad. The challenge is even in our home towns.
May is bicycle safety month in Florida so I thought I would provide an emphasis on this subject.
In Florida, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) works diligently to help ensure our vulnerable road users (like bicyclists and those walking) are protected. There are ongoing campaigns to emphasize road safety.
I'll use some of their information to highlight this month's emphasis on bike safety.
This is important for those who live in Florida as well as the U.S.A. It's equally important for those visiting from other countries to understand the traffic rules to help protect ourselves, resulting in a pleasant experience.
I also think it is important to understand when we travel to and through tourist destinations there are many just like us mixing with the locals on the roads. Some know where they are going and some do not. We MUST recognize this diversity on the roads for a safer travel experience.
Many times when we travel through construction zones our GPS or electronic devices may not be dependable, whether on the major highways or local roads. This creates an additional distraction causing us to not be as vigilant for other vehicles, bicyclists or pedestrians. I suggest we review a map of the area before traveling so we will know if the GPS is accurate or not; and have an alternate route planned to help ease the confusion.
Cyclists rides correctly on the right side in the U.S. Think how far your mirror sticks out too.
During my last trip to Europe I was once again reminded to be extra careful and alert for bicyclists. I believe when we travel to other countries we realize the importance of being watchful because of uncertainty on the roadways; however, I'm confident we are not as observant around our familiar roadways at home.
Bicyclist uses the bike lane properly and rides with the traffic. Drivers must still ensure at least three foot distance while passing a bicycle.
My personal opinion is there are more bicyclists in Europe than in the U.S. – for varying reasons – and local drivers are more accustomed to them, along with a better attitude toward cyclists. Maybe most U.S. drivers prefer using motorized vehicles and aren't as tolerant for bicyclists.
It's spring now and there is an increase of bicyclists as the trend builds throughout the summer. Be alert cyclists not following the rules. They often don't ride in the same direction as traffic when riding on the road. You are required to ride WITH the traffic, not against it. You may use the sidewalk in most areas provided you give an audible warning to a pedestrian when approaching him or her.
Although Florida Statutes allow riding on the sidewalk, there are some local municipalities that have more stringent requirements. For instance, in St. Augustine, particularly around the downtown area, bicyclists are not supposed to ride on sidewalks. This is likely true in many congested areas where a lot of people are walking around.
Bicyclist falls almost in front of an oncoming vehicle after crossing a major road illegally.
Bicyclist picks up his bicycle after falling nearly in front of this vehicle. We all must expect the unexpected.
It's up to law enforcement to determine respective violations and cite them, or not. In Jacksonville, you may be fined if you ride a bicycle on the sidewalk in an unsafe manner or if there is a bike lane in the road and you choose to not use it. However, I'm sure most law enforcement officers prefer to not write these citations.
• There were 818 pedalcyclist (bicyclist) deaths in 2015, which accounted for 2.3 percent of all traffic fatalities during the year.
• Seventy percent of pedalcyclists who died in motor vehicle crashes in 2015 died in crashes in urban areas.
• Over the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, the average age of pedalcyclists killed in motor vehicle crashes increased from 41 to 45.
• The pedalcyclist fatality rate per million people was almost 6 times higer for males than females in 2015.
• Alcohol involvement – either for the motor vehicle operator or for the pedalcyclist – was reported in 37 percent of all fatal pedalcyclist crashes in 2015.
• More than 27 percent of the pedalcyclists who died in 2015 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of .01 g/dL or greater.
There are numerous bicycle education and training courses as well as events in Florida. I'm curious if other states and countries have a robust plan to help the most vulnerable travelers. When do other states and countries begin reinforcing safe habits to bicyclists – as a child, youth or adult?
FDOT works through various local, state and national partners to survey and conduct research as well as safety campaigns to reinforce road safety.
One of FDOT's Alert Today Florida campaigns involves reinforcing bike safety as children ride to school. I applaud the National Football League Jacksonville Jaguars in teaming each year with FDOT's Alert Today Florida emphasis. I was part of this emphasis in 2017. Mark Brunell, former Jaguars quarterback, and Donovin Darius, former Jaguars defensive safety, along with The ROAR cheerleaders and the Jaguars Mascot Jaxson de Ville, were key celebrities to highlight safe biking to school.
Do you remember the commercials years ago with the "crash dummies Larry and Vince?" Recent efforts involved using these outfits to emphasize buckling up and other road safety procedures.
I had the privilege, or duty, to interact with young people and adults to reinforce driver, bicycle and pedestrian safety. Youth particularly enjoyed the interaction – although some were apprehensive and didn't know for sure if the "dummy" was real or just fake. You should have seen them jump when I moved!
Since May is the emphasis month this year for bicycling, there was a first-ever Bicycle Safety 365 Challenge at select schools. The Bicycle Safety 365 Challenge in Jacksonville was a four-week pilot program that provides in-class bicycle safety lessons to all sixth grade students at Fletcher, Kernan and Mayport Middle Schools.
Each week, a different bicycle safety lesson was taught in class with teachers hosting safety activities for exciting learning opportunities. Schools had the opportunity to earn points during the week. The school with the most points by the end of the fourth week wins a "Bike to School Day" event with the Jacksonville Jaguars!
Alert Today Florida efforts to provide and "fit" children with bicycle helmets.
I challenge cities, states and countries to examine how we emphasize and reinforce travel safety wherever we go – at home and abroad. There must be a major emphasis worldwide to help save lives of our most vulnerable roadway users.
Other safety tips may be viewed at http://trafficsafetyteam.org/traffic-safety-campaigns/bicycle-safety/.
Share the road with bicyclists.
Stop before turning right on red.
Passing bicyclists too closely is dangerous and illegal.
Focus on the road. Avoid aggressive driving.
Obey the traffic laws, signals and speed limits.
Do you know what a Sharrow is? Throughout Florida there are road markings in the middle of a lane showing a bicycle with two arrow lines above it. This is a Sharrow!
A SHARROW is a shared-lane marking indicating where a cyclist has the right to ride.
Give cyclists 3 feet of space when passing.
Under Florida Law, bicycles have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles.
Person walking across multiple lanes of busy traffic. Why didn't she use the crosswalk and push the button?
Pedestrians cross busy corridors regularly every day without thought of their safety and thinking EVERY driver will see them.
What is needed? Will autonomous (self-driving) vehicles be the answer? But, how would a pedestrian or cyclist know if the vehicle is autonomous or being driven by a human? What will it take for individuals being responsible for their own traffic safety?
It is so easy to cast fault to others. Every day I drive I see someone walking or biking in between traffic, even when they are within 20 feet of a marked crosswalk. I just don't understand this scenario, especially in major corridors with many moving parts and distractions. I believe we are almost facing an epidemic of non-attention in traffic safety.
My heart goes out to those impacted by traffic crashes,whether they are at fault or not. The fact is, someone died or was injured. That impacts everyone involved.
Can and will these situations be prevented? I propose the ongoing achievements for autonomous vehicles will help curtail crashes but can we rely on technology alone?
Just recently a tragic death occurred where a self-driving vehicle apparently did not "see" a pedestrian in time to stop. As I looked at the video clip my first thought was I couldn't see the person neither since it was night and the person was wearing dark clothing. If I was driving the vehicle myself I'm not sure I could have stopped in time.
With spring arriving there are more people walking and bicycling. I'm curious concerning laws and how people use the designed road safety features around the world. I see that human nature is the same.
How observant will we be in the days ahead. Let's make a goal of saving one life at a time! We can!
I've wondered for years why technology for automated vehicles isn't picking up steam. Have you?
I realize most of our populace still prefer driving and are not ready to give up the thrill, or whatever you want to call it – maybe just freedom.
However, what will help save lives in our fast and sometimes careless driving society? While plenty of us drive responsibly and desire to obey the rules of the road, I believe the pace of those driving irresponsibly is increasing, almost exponentially.
Combine the lack of responsibility with more efficient, fast vehicles that help mask speeds, or give the feeling that the vehicle will compensate for our human errors, and we have a disaster in the making.
What will make up the difference?
Autonomous vehicles are coming and they will be here whether we embrace the new technology or not.
Think of the lives that will be saved if the technology compensates for us – even the safe drivers who may have a moment of carelessness. After all, none of us is perfect or 100 percent.
Florida is on the fast tract to make autonomous vehicles a reality sooner than what we think; and I'm glad.
Will you embrace the new capability or will you reject it? It is inevitable though.
Check out this blog post from FDOT about an autonomous summit coming to Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 1-2, 2015. https://myfdotnefl.wordpress.com/.
According to the website, the third annual Florida Automated Vehicles Summit is a part of the proactive planning with various state agencies, local governments, MPOs, and the private sector. The efforts enhance automation and will continue the energy around Florida as a national leader in applying automated transportation to help improve the quality of life for all residents and visitors.
Check out http://www.automatedfl.com to learn more.


text:
You are here: Home / General / The Libyan Weapons Paradox – to Arm, or Not to Arm? [analysis]
The Libyan Weapons Paradox – to Arm, or Not to Arm? [analysis]
UNHCR Update Libya (17 January 2020)
Libya: Tens of thousands of children at risk amidst violence and chaos of unrelenting conflict
Six months following the enforced disappearance of Siham Sergewa, UNSMIL calls for her immediate release
The Libyan government – what remains of it – wants more weapons to fight off various militant groups and install some semblance of stability in the country. But the United Nations won't lift the arms embargo until some form of stability is already achieved. It's a paradox that suggests that everyone is asking the wrong questions. By SIMON ALLISON.
There was a time when the Libyan government had enough weapons and ammunition of its own – more than enough. In fact, when arch-dictator Muammar Gaddafi was booted out of office, and all semblance of arms control with him, those weapons flooded into the hands of militia groups and rebels, in both Libya and surrounding countries, and caused havoc wherever they appeared.
In April 2013, a United Nations report concluded that Libyan weapons were fuelling conflict in the region, particularly in Mali, and were even stoking the fires as far away as Syria.
Now, in a strange but inevitable irony, it's the Libyan government that needs new weapons, while the rebels control most of the firepower.
"Libya needs a decisive stance from the international community to help us build or national army's capacity and this would come through a lifting of…
Source : Daily Maverick
The Netherlands Support Algeria's Efforts for Peace in Mali, Call for Peaceful Solution in Libya February 24, 2015
Federal Foreign Office Condemns Terrorist Attack in Libya [press release] February 24, 2015


text:
Paul William Robinson
(1979-10-05) 5 October 1979 (age 40)
Beverley, England
Playing position
Senior career*
Team Apps (Gls)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
Paul Robinson (born 15 October 1979) is an English football player. He plays for Blackburn Rovers.
Club career statistics[change | change source]
1998/99 Leeds United Premier League 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0
1999/00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000/01 16 0 1 0 1 0 6 0 24 0
2004/05 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League 36 0 6 0 2 0 0 0 44 0
2008/09 Blackburn Rovers Premier League 35 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 41 0
International career statistics[change | change source]
↑ http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10303~5707,00.html
↑ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Paul Robinson". www.national-football-teams.com.
England squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Robinson
2 Neville
3 A. Cole
4 Gerrard
5 Ferdinand
6 Terry
7 Beckham
8 Lampard
9 Rooney
10 Owen
11 J. Cole
12 Campbell
15 Carragher
16 Hargreaves
17 Jenas
18 Carrick
19 Lennon
20 Downing
21 Crouch
23 Walcott
Coach: Eriksson
This short article about a sports person can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
This short article about the United Kingdom can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Robinson&oldid=6437260"
English footballers
People from North Yorkshire
Sportspeople stubs
United Kingdom stubs


text:
Posts by Steve K
Alma Karlin
Born in Slovenia, but raised as a German, Alma Karlin (12 October 1889 – 15 January 1950) was a world traveler, writer, poet, collector, polyglot and theosophist. Following the Nazi occupation of Slovenia during World War Two, Alma joined the partisan guerrilla movement and was imprisoned in Celje in 1941.
Alma and her Erika typewriter. Image from Wikimedia. Adolf Perissich [Public domain]
After the war, Alma's property was confiscated by the Communist Yugoslav regime. She fell into poverty and died of cancer in 1950.
Image above from the Digitised cultural heritage of Slovenian regions
A full-size wax doll of Alma on display at the Kvartirnaya house in Gosposka Ulica 3, Celje, Slovenia.
Image above from https://www.rfantasy.si/5509
Alma Karlin's Erika typewriter. Image above from: https://liza.aktivni.si
Categories: Typewriter, Writers
The Sun Goes Down on Smith Corona
At the very last, Smith Corona VTX- and DTX- series (and Samsung-manufactured "Wordsmith") portable electronic typewriters bore the (Sun) logo of Smith Corona Office Supplies …
Which literally shows how rapidly the sun went down on a company that was once one of the giants of the typewriter industry.
At some point during the production run of these series, in the early 1990s, Smith Corona threw their (re-born, 1986 onwards) logo, and their reputation, out with the bathwater, stopped manufacturing better quality PWPs in Singapore, and began sourcing shoddy machines from Indonesia instead …
A faded non-hyphenated Smith Corona logo in its last incarnation (above).
A French VTX-100 (above)
A British-plugged VTX-200 (above)
From a distance, the rounded design of these machines is attractive (a lone rampart to the right of the keyboard is reminiscent of the ramparts on Nakajima AX-series machines), however the quality of construction is low grade and the keyboards are sub-standard (I've seen several where the transfer lettering on the key-tops has completely worn away).
A German VTX-300 (above)
A QWERTY VTX-400 (above)
VTX/DTX-300/400 typewriters were also sold (with "Death Star" logo) as "Display Dictionary" typewriters in North America. The Model Number, listed on the underside of these machines, takes the form NA<n>HH, where <n> is a number in the series: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
VTX- and DTX- prefixes are meaningless, but at least the underlying model numbers make sense. Do I recommend you buy one? NAHH.
Categories: Electr(on)ic, Typewriter
Tagged: Smith-Corona
(photograph in my collection)
Categories: Typewriter
Tapping the Keys
I stumbled across this while searching for something else …
It makes for interesting reading (I downloaded a copy onto my Kindle for just a few dollars).
From approximately 1976 to 1984, the Soviet union used electro-mechanical and electronic implants to gather information from Selectric typewriters located in the U.S. embassy in Moscow, and the U.S. consulate in Leningrad. Project GUNMAN was a National Security Agency (NSA) plan to remove and replace all of their potentially compromised typewriters (so any bugs could be analysed and reverse engineered) without the Soviets knowing they'd been rumbled.
The first bug was discovered on the 24th of July, 1984 …
On a Monday evening, 23 July, a technician noticed an extra coil on the power switch of an IBM Selectric typewriter. He decided to x-ray the whole machine from top to bottom. The x-rays of the keyboard proved to be very interesting:
When I saw those x-rays, my response was 'holy f***\ They really were bugging our equipment.
[…] The next morning, [engineers] argued about whether we had an anomaly or a bugged typewriter. Some typewriters had memory now which could account for additional circuits. What led us to conclude that this typewriter was probably bugged was the location of so many circuits in a metal bar that went along the length of the machine."
Of the 44 typewriters shipped back to the NSA from the U.S. embassy, 6 were bugged. Later, 7 additional typewriters in the Moscow embassy and 3 typewriters in the Leningrad consulate, were found to have implants.
In total, 16 bugs were found in twelve IBM Selectric II typewriters and four IBM Selectric III typewriters. All had modified bails (interpose latches or arms) that controlled the pitch and rotation of the ball.
The Soviets continually upgraded and improved their implants. It was discovered that there were five varieties or generations of bugs. Three types of units operated using DC power and contained either eight, nine, or ten batteries. The other two types operated from AC power and had beacons to indicate whether the typewriter was turned on or off. Some of the units also had a modified on and off switch with a transformer, while others had a special coaxial screw with a spring and a lug. The modified switch sent power to the implant. Since the battery-powered machines had their own internal source of power, the modified switch was not necessary. The special coaxial screw with a spring and a lug connected the implant to the typewriter linkage, and this linkage was used as an antenna to transmit the information as it was being typed.
Six ferromagnetic magnetizable bails were replaced with six nonferromagnetic nonmagnetizable bails with a very strong magnet in the tip. All the typewriters contained a modified comb support bar. Housing the bug inside a metal bar, and using low power and short burst transmissions at the 30, 60, or 90 MHZ range via radio frequency, made it very difficult for the bugs to be detected.
The Soviets also used "snuggling"techniques to hide bug transmissions in the noise of the transmission of television stations.
All of the implants were quite sophisticated. Each implant had a magnetometer that converted the mechanical energy of the keystrokes into local magnetic disturbances. The electronics package in the implant responded to these disturbances, categorized the underlying data, and transmitted the results to a nearby listening post. Data were transmitted via radio frequency. The implant was enabled by remote control (the Soviets could simply turn off the implants when they knew teams of inspectors were around). The integrated circuits were very sophisticated for that time period, and contained one bit core memory, an advancement that NSA engineers had never seen.
When the story broke in June 1985, press reports attempted to describe how the bugs worked, but were inaccurate in saying that the bugs were based on sound or timing. In reality, the movement of the bails determined which character had been typed because each character had a unique binary movement corresponding to the bails. The magnetic energy picked up by the sensors in the bar was converted into a digital signal.
While there was some ambiguity in determining which characters had been typed, the laws of probability enabled the Soviets (and subsequently NSA) to figure out what had been typed.
The implants were most likely installed by the Soviet Intelligence Service when the typewriters were under the control of Soviet customs officials before they reached their destination at the embassy or the consulate.
(Incidentally, the Soviets exercised extreme caution when it came to their own typewriters, using mechanical typewriters for all classified documentation.)
The GUNMAN security breach led to improvements in procedures for shipping plain text processing equipment. In 1988, the State Department built a facility to inspect and package (using ant-tamper technologies) all such equipment that was shipped overseas. The facility is still in operation today.
"Be careful what you say, I think it's bugged."
Extracts (and paraphrasing) from: Learning from the Enemy: The GUNMAN Project by Sharon A Maneki, National Security Agency, Progressive Management Publications, 2012.
Of course, I knew Juki 2100 and 2200 portable electronic typewriters took an Olivetti Praxis compatible ribbon (and a TA Triumph-Adler print wheel, and quacked like a duck, see my Juki New Year blog post of January 1st, 2017), but who knew the Juki 2100 (or is it the 2200?) portable electronic typewriter was also sold as the Olivetti DAISY BLACK?
This imaginatively-named typewriter appears to have been unique to Japan (this is a sighting on the Japanese Yahoo auction site).
While Olivetti collaborated with several major Japanese electronics and computer companies throughout the 1980s to produce photocopiers (Sharp, Canon) and office automation systems (Toshiba, Hitachi), I cannot find any evidence they entered into any kind of joint venture with Juki Industries.
On its own, the existence of an Olivetti ribbon, hardly seems like proof of anything. Many electronic typewriter manufacturers used third-party consumables.
But an "Olivetti" branded typewriter and operating guide (rather than the "no name" generic booklet you normally get with an OEM machine)?
Hmm… Maybe Olivetti was more than just a supplier of ribbons? Is it likely Juki came to an agreement with the Olivetti Corp. of Japan to produce a Praxis clone, in the same way they came to an agreement (presumably) with IBM, to put Selectric ribbons in their daisy wheel printers, and unadulterated IBM Selectric golf balls in their Sierra 3300/3400/3500 golf ball typewriters?
Apart from taking the same ribbon, the Juki 2100 and 2200 do share a number of features in common (for example, they share the same see-through top cover, and the same KBI and KBII selector switch to the left of the keyboard) and were manufactured around the same time (circa 1983).
Olivetti Praxis 20 (above)
Below, a Daisy Black is listed as an "Olivetti" alongside a Nakajima AX-150 … which shows how much care and attention went into this Japanese online listing.
A second Nakajima thumbnail image is also shown (above) for the Olivetti ET 101, which should look like this…
Not that an association between Nakajima and Olivetti is completely erroneous – if you ever wondered why this Olivetti CX-880 takes a Nakajima AE-series compatible ribbon ….
The answer is simple …
… it's a Nakajima clone.
Tagged: Juki, Nakajima, Olivetti
A Serious Machine
This Brother AX-550 portable electronic typewriter punches well above its weight (said weight being 4.5 kg and noticeably lighter than my Brother AX-10 or Brother AX-30. No doubt, cheaper construction materials and components account for the difference.
So what kind of punch does this cheap-looking AX-β (BETA) version of an AX typewriter pack?
Truth be told (rather than a half truth), the specification for this typewriter should probably state "a top speed of 12 cps" rather than "12 cps" as stated in the User's Guide. In other words, this typewriter's average speed feels more like 10 cps.
A reasonably tactile keyboard and a smooth carrier return compare well with older JP-12x portable electronic typewriters, however the motor that rotates the type wheel wheezes like a mildly asthmatic dog.
Nonetheless, the AX-550 does what it was designed to do and is still in good working order almost thirty years after it was made.
This function-rich portable typewriter (the User Guide weighs-in at 111 pages) sits at the top of the Brother AX-β series – however there are at least four distinct (JP-12x, JP-18, AX BETA, GX/SX) AX-prefixed variants.
Some later AX- portable wedges have the scalloped GX/SX body shape, for example an AX-325 (added on the TWDB). Another UK-made AX-210 seems like a JP-18 yet different again (also added on the TWDB).
The only ones with this β (BETA) body shape I've come across so far are the AX-110, 130, 140, 350, 450 and 550. (Various non "AX" word processors, WP-1600D, WP-3400, etc have a similar BETA-like body shape.)
This one was sold – as distributor stickers on both the paper table and the front cover of the User's Guide attest – as a "business" machine.
It supports Pica, Elite and Micron pitches, has a keyboard memory of 48 characters, a correction memory of one line or 383 keystrokes (???), allows up to 12 tabs to be set (including decimal tabs), and can safely handle 1 original plus 4 carbon copies.
With a generously wide (2 lines x 40 characters) LCD screen, it'll take a while to reach the "hot zone", and an eternity to reach someone on the Brother "hotline" …
Call me picky, but this typewriter's "Lego-land" construction (as exemplified by one hideously simple platen knob) lets it down badly.
What, no grooves? I've seen better looking toothpaste tube caps.
Remember the parable of the dentist in the Coen Brothers' movie A Serious Man, wherein a Hebrew message was discovered engraved in the plaster mould of a goy's teeth?
"Help me, save me"
Oy vey, Brother, if this typewriter could speak! I see dark echoes in the way an identity number has been burnt into the skin of this machine, not once, but twice!
Why would anyone do such a thing? I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man: which of us is possessed?
Categories: Electr(on)ic, Movies/TV/Theatre, Typewriter
Tagged: Brother
IFs and USBs
I finally managed to connect my Silver Reed EX-32 with a Centronics-to-USB bidirectional cable and get it to print (a rough video is embedded at the end of this post). It ain't fast but, hey, what's the rush?
The breakthrough came on a Toshiba Portege M405 laptop running Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.
The above steps are pretty much the same on my Windows 10 laptop. However, it refused to cooperate, or elaborate further on this minimalist error notification (clicking on it simply opened up the print queue).
No luck, no matter how many times (4) I switched USB ports.
In addition to setting up a Generic/Text printer and pairing it with a USB port, you have to press CODE + P to toggle between Typing mode and Printer mode. This is revealed on pages 28 and 29 of the Silver Reed EX-32 Operating Manual …
The Silver Reed I/F44 interface box is specific (I think) to the Silver Reed EX-44 (and EX-43N), and connects to the front of the typewriter via a flat cable. …
Putting this to use will be a bigger challenge, should I ever trade-in my EX-42 for an EX- 44.
In pre-USB times, parallel and serial interface boxes were very common. The AEG Olympia Carrera, for example, offered an "IF-Box" very similar to the I/F44 …
One small step for man …
Tagged: Silver Reed
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writelephant


text:
Q: Can a CFMutableArrayRef store simple integer values? Can a CFMutableArrayRef store simple integer values? Or must I wrap them like with NSMutableArray (which is basically the same beast at runtime)?

A: CFMutableArray and its toll-free bridged sibling NSMutableArray will only allow a pointer value to be stored inside of it.

A: You can make instances of NSNumber to hold integer values
NSMutableArray *array = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:15]];


real time and on demand.
The team at Bladen Box with the New Zund G3When James Bladen founded Bladen Box in 2004 his aim was to produce quality designs for prototyping and manufacture. Working for big names such as Next and Jaguar his company grew from strength to strength and Bladen Box now manufacture all their box and display products in house.
Bladen has now totally embraced digital technology and their manufacturing facilities are driven by this technology; from design to production and finishing.
Bladen Box creates bespoke displays and packaging solutions and aim to provide effective and creative packaging to their clients brief. They have established a strong portfolio of free-standing displays, dump bins, cardboard standees, counter display units and displays with shelves to help promote and maximise product impact instore.
They also produce Free Standing Display Units (FSDU's) also known as Floor Standing Display Units and counter display units (CDU's), book displays and DVD displays.
Recently they purchased a Zünd G3 L-3200CVE16 with the facilities to cut, crease, fold and more using the universal tool module. They are also looking at other modules that will allow them to incorporate plastics and polypropylene into their product portfolio. The state of the art Zünd flatbed cutter was installed mid-January 2013 by Zünd UK. The installation process took two days to site and build and a further day to test and train with further training two weeks later once the operators had time to use and play with the machine.
Bladen Box catalogueBladen opted for the integrated software Zünd CutCentre which allows them to create a complete streamlined workflow from printing on their Oce Arizona 360GT through to finishing and cutting on the Zünd G3L. The fact that the whole system is inline and digitised, means that prints can be tiled to make use of the full sheet and then cut to size. Bladen Box has noticed a 20 per cent saving on materials so far based on this new process. In addition, they've noticed a much quicker turnaround in job times as previously the printing and cutting would be done separately. Now, as the prints are coming off the printer, they are being processed by the cutter immediately so the job is done in real time and on demand. With older technology the printing process would have to be complete first, then a die cutter used once all the printing had been done, which was time consuming.
"The process has totally revolutionised the way Bladen Box works and we have changed our processes as a result – saving time, energy and money – which in turn will have a positive knock on result for our clients," added Bladen.
Bladen Box will be using a wide variety of materials to create their products including Corrugated, Polypropylene, acetate, folding box-boards in addition to point of purchase and retail materials such as banner and display boards.