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Religious Zionism of Rav Kook
Rabbinic acclaim of "Religious Zionism of Rav Kook" by Pinchas Polonsky
Judea and Samaria Guidebook buy now
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Relationship Between Ideals and Commandments in Judaism
Rabbi Kook and the Modernization of Judaism
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Home/JUDEA AND SAMARIA, the historical heartland of the Jewish people: A guidebook to Israel
JUDEA AND SAMARIA, the historical heartland of the Jewish people: A guidebook to Israel
by Marina Magrilov (Author), Pinchas Polonsky (Author), Michael Magrilov (Author)
A guidebook to Israel; it is a Biblical Tour or Travel Guide to Israel, Judea and Samaria. The same Creator, who endowed all people with inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, endowed the Jewish people with an inalienable land, among which are Judea and Samaria. In fact, Judea and Samaria have been and continue to be at the center of the Jewish history, and we have the whole Tanakh to prove it. Current tour guides call these areas "the West Bank" or "Palestinian Territories". They will tell you about the final resting place of the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, but will not tell you that merely three miles from there, in Beit El, is where the Patriarch Jacob had his dream with the ladder. This is why this book was written. It is the first tour guide exclusively devoted to Judea and Samaria. This guide was originally written in Russian by a group of talented tour guides from the company Guide21, it is now in its third Russian edition. In 1967, Israelis did not purposefully set out to liberate Judea and Samaria, these territories had fallen in their hands as if by miracle. The country's establishment did not want these lands then and many don't want them now. They were to be used as a bargaining chip with the Arabs and at best for security reasons. Possession or surrender of these territories defines the character of Israel in the most fundamental way. Will it face its Jewish destiny or will it reduce itself into oblivion? Thankfully, many Israelis choose the former. Today the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria is around 350,000 and in "East Jerusalem" around 250,000. The combined number of 600,000 has a special meaning in Jewish history. This was the number of fighting men among those who left Egypt with Moses, and the number of fighting men among those who entered the Promised Land with Joshua. This was the number of Jews in the British mandate Palestine when the State of Israel was declared. The Vilna Gaon said that redemption will begin when 600,000 Jews live in the Land of Israel. Today, about as many Jews live beyond the "Green Line", and hopefully the status of these lands will change soon. How is this guide different from all other guides? All other guides tell you how you can go somewhere, this guide tells why you should go there. This is because it is saturated with Biblical quotations tied to the tours. When a passage is read on the exact site of the event, it brings to life both the text and the place. It compresses the centuries and fills a Jewish traveler with ownership of both his history and his land.
Buy Now Read Online | Download
Bible Dynamics
About Pinchas Polonsky, author of BIBLE DYNAMICS series
Preface to the English Edition
2022, All Rights Reserved | Orot Yerushalaim | E-mail


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Q: Рекуррентные нейронные сети в Keras и Tansorflow Возможно я не совсем понимаю структуру рекуррентной нейронной сети, которую строит Keras. Пример с одним рекуррентным слоем понятен, есть слой который повторяется n раз. Вопросы возникают, когда появляется 2 рекуррентный слой. Находится ли этот 2 слой в одной и той же итерации что и первый рекуррентный слой или же сначала отрабатывается первый слой со своим количеством итерации а потом второй слой со своим количеством итерации? Объясните пожалуйста.

A: При обучении сети все слои обновляются в одной итерации (эпохе).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


For a new project, i need to develop a Bluetooth HID Keyboard, so i searched for the good controller.
I found BCM20735 and BCM20733 are good for making HID keyboard, to connect directly a keyboard matrix.
The problem is that i can't find much help for these products like a developement kit, hardware and routing preconisation and, more important, code example to scan a matrix and get a HID Bluetooth keyboard recognized by the host.
Bluetooth HID solutions are not supported in this forum. You may want to speak to a local Cypress representative on this engagement.
Hi user_287327599, we are also developing similar solution on the same chips and have the same issue.
In the end, we started from the available development boards for BCM20730https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-1pcs-BCM20730-bluetooth-keyboard-module-bluetooth-remote-control-module/2020810520.htmland then going to port the firmware into the new BCM20735 chips as soon as find development boards for them.
Please, let me know if you have already found development boards for BCM20735.
BCM20735 is produced by Cypress and is already released (I received a few BCM20735PKML1G chips in the end of September), but there are still neither developments kits nor SDK available on the official page.
Can you please point out any concrete contacts where I can ask about the development support?
If you are aware what exactly "tier 1 customers" have the support, can you please list them?


May – The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government.
August 5 – Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe is found dead of a drug overdose.
September 7 – Filming of Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace begins and will continue for another 5 years.
October 5 – Dr. No launches the James Bond series, the second longest-running film franchise of all time (next to Godzilla), still running more than 50 years later (Spectre, 2015). It also launches the career of Sean Connery.
The Chapman Report, directed by George Cukor, starring Jane Fonda, Shelley Winters, Claire Bloom, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Convicts 4, starring Ben Gazzara, Stuart Whitman, Vincent Price, Ray Walston, Sammy Davis, Jr.


These presentations are classified and categorized, so you will always find everything clearly laid out and in context. You are watching PDF My Dad Had That Car: A Nostalgic Look at the American Automobile, 1920-1990 | Online presentation right now. We are staying up to date!


Discussion in 'Reconnecting with Old Friends' started by haiqu, Feb 24, 2011.
Tonight I received an email from Switzerland informing me that my old friend Allen Wright has passed on. Since anyone who was around Scientology in ANZO in the 70's will know him, this message is meant to inform his many friends.
Allen originally hailed from New Zealand. He was an Olympic level cyclist, a world class audio designer and a dedicated Scientologist. He was on the Mission Into Time voyage with LRH and acted as ship's photographer, amongst other duties. Some of the well known photographs of LRH used by the church even today were taken by him.
Allen ran his own business, Allen Wright Electronics in Sydney where he modified and repaired hi-fi and instrument amplifiers, and manufactured his own range of equipment under the Audiolab brand. At night on SydF staff he also ran the Communications Course.
In 1982 he formed a new company VacuumState Electronics specializing exclusively in valve amplifiers. This business has produced audio products regarded within esoteric high-end audio circles as amongst the best available, and he has consistently won awards and accolades from his peers in this rarified realm.
Sensing that he could no longer agree with church management in the early 1980s, Allen trained with Bill Robertson to C/S level for Ron's Org, and delivered services up to the OT levels and Excalibur to various people within Australia before reestablishing his electronics business in Germany in the mid 1990s. At one stage he also manufactured his own meters for this purpose.
Allen also had an interest in Gold exploration and used his abilities to successfully research potential goldfields as a consultant. In the past few years he moved the audio business once more to Schaffhausen, Switzerland and expanded to 3 additional staff.
I regarded Allen as a friend and mentor, and as someone to whom I could communicate anything. His passing will leave a gap that cannot be filled.
Allen is survived by two daughters, and I have contacted his ex-wife Erin via Facebook to inform her of the news.
Thanks for passing this info on, Haiqu.
Allen is a great, very decent Being. Your write-up did him justice.
Good tribute. My condolences on this loss. Glad he concentrated on his talent and made much success, as that is the best defense against the corrupt scientology.
Was Allen the father of Erin Wright's daughter Virginia Stewart?
"Erin is still in the fold - her daughter Virginia is in OSA ANZO, and Erin is right behind her."
I am sorry for your loss Haiqu. May he rest in peace.
Erin Stewart is Allen's ex-wife. They had two daughters, Virginia is one of them. He was always eager to hear news of how they were going in life.
Edit: I guess this also means I just outed myself to OSA by mailing Erin. Oh well. Anyone with half a brain could figure it out anyhow.
For what it's worth, I think that resting might be the last thing on his mind. He intended to join LRH at Target Two.
Hope he is doing exactly what he wants and getting one hell of a kick out of it.
Sorry to hear Allen has passed , it may be considered off topic, but do you know what area in sydney his showroom was in?
Wentworth Avenue, Sydney. He also had a manufacuring facility in Drummoyne at one stage.
Thank you, haiqu. You can delete th at part of the content of your posts and I can delete what I reposted of yours that is related. Just go back to the original posts with content that reveals what you didn't want to reveal after signing in, then click edit at the bottom right and wipe out with the back or delete keys whatever you want.
I'm saddened to hear of Allen's passing. He was a great guy and will be missed.
Several of us here knew him well in the early days of Sydney.
I hadn't seen Allen for many years but managed to reconnect with him thanks to ESMB.
We corresponded occassionally and exchanged ideas. He was very smart and helpful.
I doubt that Allen will be "resting peacefully" he wasn't that kind of guy.
Thank you, haiqu. You can delete that part of the content of your posts and I can delete what I reposted of yours that is related. Just go back to the original posts with content that reveals what you didn't want to reveal after signing in, then click edit at the bottom right and wipe out with the back or delete keys whatever you want.
There's nothing to delete, AnonyMary.
RIP to Allen Wright. to all who knew him. Sounds like he was a great person!
different dude im thinking of.
I had the pleasure of Allen' company for a day in Melbourne a few years ago when he was visiting Oz on business.
I worked with Allen in the early 80s in Syd F org - he was Course Sup and I was Course Admin. He saw things I didn't and moved away from the cult a few years after, and then his daughters disconnected from him because of that.
Al was charming, witty and very sharp mentally - a joy to be around. I was shocked at how he'd physically aged when I first saw him again in Melbourne but there was no doubting that mentally he was still as sharp as ever, and a beautiful being to boot.
He missed his daughters but lived his life with integrity and enjoyment despite the horrors of disconnection. He was a far more dedicated scientologist than anyone else I know, despite leaving the "official" "Church."
I'm sorry he's left but I'm so glad he's been - I'll miss you mate.
But I'm sure you'll do well at your next adventure too.
Thoughts and love to family and friends on this sad news.
I had only recently chatted and exchanged PM 's with Allen - I knew him in Sydney and was delighted to find him here on this board - He knew LRH personally and was a wonderful guy - I used to drop by his Hi - Fi place in Wentworth Ave ..
Thanks for the memories, Allen.
I first met Allen in 1972 shortly after my arrival in Sydney. I had only just discovered Scio at that time, had signed up to do the "Training Package" (Student Hat, Dianetics Course and Class 0-IV) and needed a place to stay. Allen had a spare room in his flat in Bondi Junction only a few blocks from the org and it was there I lived until the org moved the following year to Lee St in the city.
And quite the flat it was. This was back before the motorway arrived, when Bondi Junction was a busy entity onto itself for the most part, in constant flux. The org was on the lower side of the Junction at the end of Oxford St where it split into Old South Head Road and Bondi Road, right across from the Whale Car Wash.
My route between the org and our flat each day took me right along the busiest part of Oxford street, right through Bondi Junction itself-past the Whale, the jewelers, the fruit and veggie shop, Grace Brothers(across from the old cinema), and the RSL club and pub, then left a block to Spring St, right on Spring St about half a block, right into the drive, up a long set of stairs and through a door and there you were in the kitchen.
We had the floor above the butcher shop, a quite long but very narrow space with the kitchen, living room and 2 small bedrooms and bathroom. With a small water heater on the wall. The butcher shop entrance opened onto Oxford St below so there was never any conflict with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
Though in a convenient location, the flat did have its drawbacks. My window opened onto the air conditioning unit of the shop next door and in the summer heat with my window always open there was a constant noise to contend with, though it surprised me how quickly I got used to it. I had one wardrobe for furniture and that was it. I slept unconcernedly on the carpeted floor with just a sleeping bag.
Allen was an electronics afficionado so we had a great sound system of his own design. I got my sister in Canada to ship down my old records from Canada and turned Allen onto the likes of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.
We even had a television set. I always remember the station signing off at night with the same song. "I left my heart in (?)Sydney" sung to the tune of "I left my heart in San Francisco". Really.
Allen made great toasted cheese sandwiches on the grill.
At night when you came in the back door into the kitchen, it became a game to turn on the light and quickly count as many cockroaches you could, all scurrying away to hide in the cracks and holes. Counted 29 one time. And they are BIG in Oz. But I never saw a single one in my room. Only in the kitchen. And when the light was on they never showed their heads anyway.
Well this girl was a screamer the likes of which I have yet to see/hear again either before or after. Our rooms were adjoining and of course our windows would be wide open but even the constant rattle and hum of the air conditioning unit right outside made no difference. Nuff said.
Though it was midwinter in July, the weather was pleasant for the most part. I could never get over how great it was to be able to go to the beach in WINTER! And we would. Not to swim, of course, but to go for a run in the morning or to barbecue on the weekend.
Allen had a dark gold Renault and we would zip on down in the morning to run the length of Bondi Beach and back. (I had grown up on the prairies in Canada and hadn't even seen the coast until I was 12- or the open ocean either until embarking on a ship for the South Pacific just 6 months prior to my arrival in Australia.) So the ocean beach was still a real novelty to me that I never tired of. Allen pointed out bluebottle jellyfish so I wouldn't step on them, and introduced me to the "singing sands" of Bondi. The sand literally squeaks in places there when you kick at it while walking.
The best part was there was generally no one about there in the mornings during winter. I don't know why. The sun was up and actually warm even thought the breeze might be cool. It certainly was not a challenge to deal with the weather at all. We would often have the entire beach to ourselves. And though I hadn't yet seen the famous beaches of California, when I finally did I found them to be a great disappointment. The golden sands of the beaches of Sydney put them all to shame.
You COULD go into the water at that time of year, but we usually limited ourselves to wading or running through the surf splash. But it was so invigorating. It was Allen who made this experience possible. We needed the car. The beach was just a bit too far to walk to and back in the mornings and expect to arrive on course on time.
Some Sunday nights we would go down to the south end of Bondi near the rocks and make a bonfire. I still have pictures of that.
Allen would teach me karate kicks and holds. He was good but I remember him expressing surprise at how he could never wrestle me down.
In the summer, of course, things were quite different. The beaches would get crowded and there would be this wonderful heat throughout the day….for months! I loved the heat! I swear I never got tired of it. And the summer was just so long!
You could start swimming in November and it would still be comfortable in April. I didn't miss the snow one bit.
It was an easy jog to the org. I could even sprint home and back for lunch. There would be a street vendor on the corner with a few boxes of fruit, always happy to sell me a bunch of bananas. Often I would see truckers unloading aluminum beer kegs by hand off their truck parked on the street in front of the pub and then lowering the kegs by rope down to the basement through a street-level window. I can still hear the sounds of the metal hitting pavement.
The guys at the fruit and veggie shop were always great ones for a laugh. And it took no time at all to stop in and get what you needed, fresh, on the spot, while making your way home for tea.
Later that summer they opened a specialty pie shop on the street (Simple Simon's?) and I had my intro to the ubiquitous meat pie.
There was always new development taking place. Little coffee shops would open up and you could sit and have a cup in a little patio just like in Europe. In fact the owners were usually European, recently arrived in Australia.
The org itself was a cosy place, a residential, 2 storey dwelling. The staff were friendly, and it was a lot of fun really. At first.
I was sad when the move was made to downtown. It was a heck of a lot further to go, I had to move, and trips to the beach were no more. And the mood changed.
But prior to that, it was a great adventure. My first year in Australia.
Allen's ex is Erin Stewart (though she was not Stewart yet at the time that I was there. Just Erin Wright. Her maiden name was O'Donnell and Noel is her brother.
They all hailed from New Zealand in the Hamilton area and, incidentally, the O'Donnell family played a major role in the problems scio had in New Zealand. Noel and Erin's family strongly opposed their involvement and at one point (I believe Noel was in Australia and had returned to NZ in an attempt to "handle" his relatives) he was abducted-literally forced off the street and into a car- in an aborted attempt to deprogram him. Apparently it was quite the harrowing experience and took place over a number of days.
The upshot of this was an inquiry/court case and was only resolved when Scio promised to cancel "Fair Game" after which the government agreed to allow scio to continue practicing in that country. We know now of course that scio had no intention of cancelling the policy, only to cancel use of the TERM "Fair Game" and not the practice. Thus with that sleight-of-hand they managed to put one over on the NZ government.
This made it difficult for Noel and Erin to receive further services, of course, and Noel at least had to be content with being stuck in the middle of the OT levels for years afterwards. I think he was just an OT1 when he and his wife Sue returned to Sydney from Saint Hill in early '73.
I have to add here that in my opinion both Sue and Noel were major reasons why the tech flourished in Sydney for some years afterwards. They were both such excellent tech terminals and both were dealt severe injustices later on. But that's another story entirely.
But Allen and Erin were not together at the time I knew him.
Allen had some interesting stories to tell.. I remember him saying that one night while Erin was pregnant, a horrific commotion arose in their kitchen even though "no one" was there. Allen maintained it was his kid(s)-to-be fighting over who would get the body!
Allen was astute. He knew more of what was really going on in the org than he let on. Or if he did let on he only alluded to what he knew.
But he was not on staff during the time I knew him. That came later, after I was gone.
After the purge in the early 80's he was making meters (his own improved design) one of which I ordered from him. He was with someone (girlfriend?) who was offering grades and ARC SW outside of the church, quite successfully I am told. And I seem to recall he had some affiliation with Rowland Barkley (another very interesting guy).
But apart from that and a few exchanges on ESMB much more recently, we did not really ever associate again. I never did see him again either though I was close to doing so once when I visited Rowland in Slovenia. (I had been living in Denmark and learned that Allen was in Switzerland).
And so now he has passed on and I will never get that chance.
I miss him and the fun we had.
I am writing this both as a tribute to him and to express my appreciation at having met him. He was a wonderful guy.
They say that every time an elder dies it is like the burning of a library.
I hope that one day his children will find and read this and know that people shared good times with him and learned from him and remember great times with him. And know that he was/is a wonderful being. My story is one they would otherwise never hear.


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Blending modes in Photoshop – which 5 are the most useful?
I know that many retouchers tend to stay away from blending modes as there are a lot of them, some of them are pretty crazy and it is unclear how they function. But trust me, you only need a few and they can be very useful. If you haven't heard about blending modes at all, make sure you spend some time on the Adobe website or any blogs that explain how these things work. It's possible not to use them at all without losing much productivity, but blending modes can be helpful and using them is not as hard as it looks at first glance.
Blending modes give you an opportunity to do pretty cool things
It's not like you can avoid blending even if you want. If you're not using any blending modes, it means that you're in the Normal blending mode. Blending occurs when you put two layers on top of each other, or when you paint over something with a brush or use a filter or some command. If you did something to an image and its appearance has changed, there's blending going on because you've basically applied this new image on top of the previous image. But as everything that happens is going on in the Normal blending mode, we don't think about it that way. In the Normal mode, blending is not really blending. A top layer, a brush stroke, a newly changed image just covers what was there before. But when you switch to other blending modes, you can see the difference.
You can use shortcuts to switch between different blending modes while using a brush or when you have a layer and you're not using a brush. You won't really need many blending modes in everyday work, but it's good to memorize a few:
Darken – Shift-Alt-K
Lighten – Shift-Alt-G
Color – Shift-Alt-C
Luminosity – Shift-Alt-Y
Normal – Shift-Alt-N
You can also cycle through different blending modes by pressing Shift and +(plus) or – (minus), but it takes longer as there are a lot of modes there.
I'll give a short explanation of every Blending mode that I find useful. In the Darken mode, only the pixels that are darker than the original image show up on the new image. When you pick a color sample from an image and use the Brush in the Darken mode, If it's darker than the image underneath, the effect will be applied. If it's lighter, there will be no effect. The Lighten mode is the opposite. If the sample is lighter, it will be applied. If it's darker, you won't see it. The Color blending mode only applies some color without changing the tone. And the Luminosity is the opposite – it applies tone changes, but not color changes. I will be using the aforementioned blending modes quite extensively, so if you still wonder why anyone would need something like that, just wait till we get to the retouching process and you'll see. For now, I'll give you two examples of the blending modes usage to demonstrate when they can be of help.
This image here is more or less fine, but the legs of the model are a bit darker than her hands. I would like to make them lighter. What is the fastest way to do it? Don't offer me to zoom in and work carefully with a brush or make a selection, or anything like that. It's not fast enough. I'll grab the Brush, switch it to the Lighten mode by pressing Shift-Alt-G, set the Opacity to 30% and pick a color from the model's hand. Now I will just paint over the legs in one go. I don't have to be careful not to touch the skirt and the background. Why? Because both the skirt and the background are lighter than the color sample I'm using. In the Lighten mode, only the effect that makes the image lighter is visible. So even if I accidentally drag my brush over the skirt and the background, nothing will happen. No effect. If I used the Brush in Normal mode, it wouldn't work. The background will be also affected. By using the Lighten mode I saved myself a bit of time on making a selection, which is actually quite nice.
There's a bunch of dust bits on the border between the sole and the background. It's tricky to remove with a Healing tool because when you try to use something like that on an edge, the result might be rather disappointing. And if you want to try and use the Dust & Scratches filter on a selected area, you'll see that it smooths the rippled edge, which is not a good result. But there's one thing that is important here. The trash is all lighter than the sole and the background. To remove it, you need to make it darker. So the situation basically calls for the Darken blending mode. I'll use the Dust & Scratches filter with radius 15, Threshold 11 and apply the changes. That got rid of the dust, but the sole is ruined. But now I'll press Ctrl-Shift-F to access the Fade window and change the Blending mode to Darken. Now only the effect that led to the darkening of the image will still be visible. It means that the dust will go away, and the sole will stay as it was before.
After watching the video above, you should be able to understand how exactly I removed the electric outlet from the image in the animated gif at the top of the page. By using the Lighten blending mode, of course! I used a Normal clone stamp and as I got close to the pink fur, switched it to the Lighten mode. As the background sample was lighter than the rest of the outlet but darker than the fur, it got replaced flawlessly, while the fur didn't take any damage at all. If I wanted to do the same thing without using blending modes, I would've had to isolate the fur first, which would be extremely time-consuming.
As for the Fade trick, I'll extrapolate on this matter in a short while.
Apply the last settings & Fade trick
In catalogue retouching, we always try to think of different tricks that let us work faster. There's one very useful feature in Photoshop that I'm using all the time. It's called "apply the last settings" trick. When you use some function that can be accessed by pressing Ctrl-Something, like Ctrl-L for the Levels or Ctrl-M for the Curves, you can use this trick as well. It's really simple. For example, I want to check if this image is isolated properly. There might be some hard to notice trash on the background. To check, I'll access the Levels and move the leftmost slider to the right as far as possible and press OK. It will turn all the pixels in the image black, except for the white pixels. So if there was some trash on this perfectly white background, I would be able to see it. But there's none, so I'll undo the changes.
Now if I want to check this image as well, I don't have to drag any sliders once again. Instead of pressing Ctrl-L to access the Levels, I'll press Ctrl-Alt-L, and it will bring the Levels window with the last settings applied already. It saves time on dragging the slider manually.
It's not really a good method when you need to correct many images, because in this case you should better open them simultaneously in Camera Raw, which allows correction of multiple images easily. But when you have a couple of images, it might come handy. Like when you have three images, and two are considerably brighter and overexposed, you can just use the Curves by pressing Ctrl-M, apply the changes, and then switch to another image and apply the same Curve by pressing Ctrl-Alt-M.
It doesn't just work with the default shortcuts. I have assigned a shortcut for the Selective Color, which doesn't have a shortcut by default. Now I have it on Ctrl-. I mostly use it to brighten white items, because they might appear darker after isolation, when contrasted with a perfectly white background. So I press Ctrl-. to bring the Selective Color window, go to the Whites and drag the Blacks slider to the far left while in the Relative mode. It's tedious to do this over and over again every time I need it, but I can use the same trick as before. Just press Ctrl-Alt-. and then immediately press Enter to apply the last settings. Most of the time this is enough, but not this time, this time the effect is too strong, the item is overexposed now. This is not really a problem. Because I can use another trick to adjust the effect quickly. Right after I apply the Selective Color with the last settings, I'll press Ctrl-Shift-F to bring the Fade window. This is a very simple tool that allows you to do two things. The first is weaken the effect of whatever you just applied to your image, like Selective Color now, or anything else, be it a filter or any command like the Curves or Levels, or even a brush stroke. Second is to apply the changes you did in some blending mode. We don't really need blending now, so I'll just hold Shift and press the down button on my keyboard to reduce the effect. I can just hold the down button, but it will go slower, one by one. When I hold Shift it subtracts 10 percent each time I press the down button. The up button also works, just the opposite way. 70% seems like enough, so I'll press Enter and that's it.
White items often lack contrast, so this Fade trick can also be used in cases like this one. I'll press Shift-Ctrl-Alt-L, which a shortcut for the Auto Contrast command. But the effect is too strong, so I'll press Shift-Ctrl-F immediately after and reduce the effect to maybe 40 percent. When you add contrast to an image, you might get a color shift, but if I change the blending mode to Luminosity, it will stay intact. You will learn more about this when we get to retouching white items.
The Fade trick is so awesome because it lets you reduce any effect you apply so you don't have to undo it, change opacity and do it again. You can just fade whatever you want. You can fade instead of going through trial and error when trying to pick a correct opacity setting. You can fade a single brush stroke. These legs are too dark, so I want to lighten them with the Brush in Lighten mode, right after picking a color sample from a well-lit area. But what Opacity percentage should I pick? I'd say 20%, but if you're not sure, just pick 100%, but you have to do it in one stroke. Don't let your left mouse button go, or don't release your tablet pen. It doesn't look like something that should be done to a person, but we're not going to leave it like that. Right after you've finished the stroke, press Ctrl-Shift-F and fade the effect to 30% or so. And you know what, I could just use a normal brush at 100% Opacity, and then Fade it to the Lighten mode and 30% opacity to get the same effect. But personally, I prefer switching between the blending modes with the keyboard shortcuts because it's faster. Even without blending modes, Fade is a very powerful tool that lets you tweak your effects on the fly. Make sure you don't forget about such a great possibility.
This trick is not really known, mostly because people use Adjustment layers and layers and masks and they reduce Opacity of whatever they do by other means. But in product image retouching for online stores, we try to keep our images as flat as possible, as working with non-destructive methods in mind slows down the whole process. It is not so important when you spend 30 minutes or even more on each image, but if you count seconds, as we do in product image retouching, every unnecessary move, every click, and every extra stroke is robbing you of the most precious thing – your time. The Fade is also great because it teaches you to be precise, as you have only one opportunity to adjust the slider, you have to know how to do it properly, and you won't get a second chance.
Now, when we've finished discussing all the tools and filters useful for catalogue retouching, I can start showing you how to use them in different situations. Before you start watching the next videos, make sure that you know how all the tools and filters I've mentioned work, and that you have at least some experience with each of them. I really do not want to turn this section of the course into a tools and filters know-how manual, because there's everything you might ever need on the helpx.adobe.com website, where they give a very detailed explanation of all the tools, filters, commands and features you might find in Photoshop. My work here is to point out the essential tools and filters so that you don't have to dig through tons of information.
Next: Frequency separation

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group, Inc. (MARG) is a volunteer search and rescue organization dedicated to saving lives in the outdoors. Our missions include wilderness search for lost persons and rescue of the injured from hiking, hunting, or other outdoor accidents. We also assist with other outdoor rescues including cave rescues and technical (requiring the use of rope) evacuations of the injured. Our group is composed of experts in many fields including search management, cave rescue, communications, and wilderness medicine. We are member of the Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference (ASRC).
The Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference is a community of nine search and rescue groups spanning from Pittsburgh, PA through the tidewater area of Virginia. All groups follow a common set of operating and training standards. Although we conduct training locally, all of our members are tested to accordance with the standards of the ASRC prior to certification.
The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group functions under the authority of the agency responsible for search and rescue, for example the State Police, County Sheriff, Fire Department, Civil Air Patrol Mission Coordinator, Local Emergency Services Coordinator, or Park Superintendent. MARG will only conduct operations at the request of these agencies, and will directly support the agency.
A Mountaineer Area Rescue Group quick response team can be mobilized in an hour or less. The composition of the team depends upon the nature of the mission. For a rescue operation, the quick response team is self-sufficient for 48 hours, and carries field portable medical, communications, and rescue equipment appropriate to the situation. Members have medical training ranging from First Aid through Paramedic and field-qualified Physician.
MARG can also provide an overhead team to initiate the coordination and execution of a large-scale search operation. Our members can provide advice, provide specific management help, or supervise all aspects of the search operation, at the request of the responsible authority. A number of members are graduates of the National Search and Rescue School, Yorktown, VA, as well as taken other nationally recognized courses in search management.
We welcome the opportunity to train with other organization interested in search and rescue techniques. We can also provide assistance with search related training to interested emergency service organizations within our service area. From time to time we sponsor regional cave rescue and wilderness medicine training courses.
MARG also has community outreach programs to prevent persons from becoming lost or what to do if they should find themselves lost. We provide preventative search and rescue education, such as the Hug-a-Tree children's program and a "Lost in the Woods" flyer. We provide personal safety education, such as Wilderness First Aid classes for the Boy Scouts. Often MARG is asked to provide radio communication and first-aid services for events, such as 5-K races or the Coopers Rock Foundation's Winterfest.
The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group will respond to any location within a 2-3 hour drive of Morgantown, West Virginia. Most of our members live in Monongalia and Preston Counties and the surrounding areas in West Virginia. We are available for emergencies in other areas depending on travel time and transportation. For many outside area emergencies we ask that the responsible authority approve fixed-wing transport (usually funded by the US Air Force or the state) to minimize travel time and fatigue and to make our services more efficient.
We work with many emergency services organizations across the region. We will respond outside our normal service area in response to a mutual-aid request from any of these groups.
The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group and ASRC have neither the equipment nor the intent to replace any of the services of established rescue squads, fire departments, or law enforcement agencies. We provide specialized management, medical, and technical services in the outdoors, especially in rugged terrain. We consider our mission finished when the lost person or accident victim reaches a normally accessible area (i.e., a road).
We will assist law enforcement agencies with certain tasks, such as collection of evidence or search and recovery of crime victims in wilderness areas. However, we will not be involved in any pursuit or apprehension of criminals nor participate in any high-risk or "tactical" searches involving fugitive recovery.


Do you know the name of the largest national forest in the United States? It is the Tongass National Forest and it is situated in southeastern Alaska, in what is called the Panhandle. Why am I asking you this question?. It is because today,10th of September of 2019 I got a newsletter from Sierra Club which entailed some disturbing news.
The Trump administration wants to make a deal with Alaskan authorities to open up Tongass for logging and road construction. It is amazing at what speed the destructive forces of this administration operates. Remember Bears Ears and the Gran Staircase-Escalante? Ancient sites, huge fossil findings and nature on the whole with all its right full inhabitants to be destroyed. Then came the idea of starting to drill on most of the U.S. coast. Hearing about these awful things I feel our planet would be much better off without us. The human race is a destructive species with an alarming capacity of ruining beautiful and valuable things. Then again, there are many people who do care about Mother Earth. These people plant trees, collect the plastic from our oceans or find solutions to give clean drinking water to millions of people worldwide. To me, it seems an ongoing battle between good and bad. Let us hope good will win in the end before we have destroyed our habitat.
I would like to tell you a bit about the history of the Tongass National Forest. 2 important bits of data before I start.
The Tongass stores 10% of the carbon stored by all the national forests combined, that is important environmental data. Tongass National Forest is the largest in the United States. It has an area of 16.7 million acres ( 68.000 km2) and its situation is so remote that it gives safe heaven to many endangered species of fauna and flora. It is managed by the United States Forest Service and beside fjords and glaciers, it also encompasses the islands of the Alexander Archipelago.
The Tongass attracts more than 1 million visitors each year. They come to enjoy the beauty and good air. Families show their children how to be in harmony with nature while having a great day outdoors. Fathers will show their sons the tricks of fishing, some good salmon to be caught. The total represents 2 billion in revenue that the forest supports.
On the 20th of August 1902 through a proclamation by President Roosevelt, the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve was founded. A few years later, on the 10th of Septembre of 1907, a new presidential proclamation created the Tongass National Forest. In 1908 on the first of July the 2 forests were joined and now cover most of Southeast Alaska.
Many things happened over the years. After the World War II, the Forest Service set up long-term contracts with 2 pulp mills. After lawsuits about who can cut and how much, the end result was that by the middle of the 1990's, more than half of the old growth timber had been removed. In 1990 the Tongass Timber Reform Act rewrote the relationship with the logging industry. New wilderness areas were established and other places became off limit to the logging companies. These companies became limited in their movement and were subject to environmental review. In 1993 and 1997 the 2 biggest companies closed down after the companies stated the limitations made them noncompetitive.
There is another issue which is very important that is the roads. Roads are valuable because they connect the local communities and enable the visitors to move around. Visitors who come for trekking, fishing, hunting, and recreation. But roads were constructed mainly for the movement of timber cut through native forests and were primarily loose rock filled with soil. Once you cut a clearing through the forest and grade the road to establish a path big enough for equipment to remove timber, you cut through the established network of roots, fallen timber, and detritus and expose the loose rock and unconsolidated soil to the potential for erosion. As I stated before, the Tongass is in the Alaskan Panhandle which is on the Pacific coast. This area receives a lot of rain. You can visualize an uncontrolled network of roads cutting across hills and destroying entire hill sides and potentially providing the impetus for massive mud slides. The road-less Initiative that included The Tongass National Forest was passed on the 5th of January, 2001 to prevent this kind of erosion from happening. This initiative was signed during the last days of the Clinton Administration.
With the following president, there was an attempt to nullify the Road-less rule. A lot of hassle but no roads were built. Then President Obama gave green light to clear-cut on 381 acres in the remaining old growth forest of a Tongass National road-less area. This did not happen as a lawsuit stopped timber sale.
The environmental groups call Tongass the Great Bear Rainforest. It is Earths largest remaining temperate rainforest, with western red cedar, Sitka spruce, and western hemlock. Along the coasts of its thousand islands, 5 species of salmon can be found. The forest is the habitat of brown and black bears, wolves, mountain goats, and Sitka black-tailed deer. You will be able to see the bald eagles and ravens roam the sky and many migratory birds come to build their nests during the summer months on the archipelago. In the sea, you will be able to observe Orca and the humpback whales together with sea lions, seals and porpoises. A real heaven on earth.
Up to 40% of this vast area, is wetlands, snow, ice, and rock. No trees grow in this part. Some 10 million acres do have forest growing and half of this area is considered productive old-growth of which 4.500,000 acres are wilderness areas. Of all the old growth in the forest, no more than 11% of the remaining area will ever be harvested.
Today, 12th of September 2018 I received a second email from Sierra Club. The situation is getting more and more serious. The deadline to react is October the 15th. Hopefully, the people will speak up to avoid this catastrophe. It seems that the Trump administration, together with Senator Lisa Murkowski and the Alaska Delegation, instead of protecting this beautiful and valuable place want to destroy it.
These highly vulnerable and valuable areas on our planet, where carbon dioxide is being absorbed are disappearing at an alarming rate. These valuable places where unique and endangered species live in peace are being destroyed. How will future generations think of our stupid and destructive actions? We have an obligation to take care of Mother Nature, she offers so many things for us to enjoy. We should stop destroying it.
You might like to read about a great initiative, planting new trees.
I feel so sad and can really relate your situation at my workplace. The area surrounding my workplace is full of greens 10 years ago. But due to rapid development, our natural habitats are destroyed. Recently, there is land clearing on the reason of "development". I saw many monkeys lost their habitats. I feel so sorry for them. Is development so important to the extent that we are willing to risk extinction?
Thank you for leaving a comment on my post. You tell me where you live you have seen nature disappear because of development. Also that monkeys have lost their habitat. I am curious to hear where you live?
Humans are ruining the planet and because of that, we put our own existence in peril. Bees are rapidly disappearing and eventually will cause the human race to disappear.
The money earned now without thinking of the future generations will be our downfall, so be it.
Still, there are many good initiatives worldwide, people planting trees, cleaning up the oceans, and going organic. I do hope it is enough to save our habitat.
Thank you for leaving this nice comment on my website. Yes, I am passionate about nature in general. Fauna and Flora had my interest already from the time I was a small girl. I live on a farm in the south of Spain since 1981. I love to observe the small happenings on my property. As my neighbor with his big avocado farm, bordering on 3 sides to my property, has gone organic also, this here has become a little paradise filled with life.
When I read about awful things happening in the world I often feel an urge to write about it. I also hope a lot of people hear about this and will unite forces to stop this destruction.
This is the first time I'm hearing about Tongass, and you're so right, this is unbelievable! It is criminal. People who do not take care of Mother Earth do not deserve a place on this earth! I feel very strongly for environmental protection, so I feel the pain in your heart as I read your blog. Thanks for raising awareness, really hope it doesn't go through.
I also pray this crazy idea will not happen. There are more National Parks in danger in the U.S. I have written on Bears Ears, one other sad episode in the history of this country.
I wish people would think before destroying beautiful and valuable nature, alas, it often happens.
Thank you for visiting my website, I hope to see you again.
Thanks for your post on the Tongass National Forest. I haven't visited Alaska, yet, but I'd like to, and I'd like to check out this national treasure. The nation is blessed with such beautiful natural wonder; we ought to be more focused, as you are, on raising public awareness on the need to preserve these unique locations. I was educated through the reading of your post and by the video that you included. I had heard of the forest you describe, but hadn't known that it was a temperate rain forest–a rain forest in Alaska: who knew?!Thanks again. Looking forward to future posts.
It is really sad to see that the beautiful planet we are blessed to live on is destroyed at such an alarming speed.
What we destroy in a day might take hundreds of years to be repaired. Sometimes it cannot be repaired and is lost forever to perhaps live on as a legend in history.
Thank you for your comment, I hope to see you again.
Hi Taetske, This really makes me want to weep. When I was growing up in the 70's we were always outside and playing, There were green fields and trees everywhere and they were in every part of town and the town was surrounded completely as far as the eye could see. This is now not the case. I live in the UK but as a whole we are destroying this world which was such a beautiful place not so long ago. I think to some degree we have done so much damage we may already be past the point where we can fix it. Unless we come together as one unit, and say no more and instead of these empty gestures and accords (that no one sticks too) actually do something drastic. I fear for all of us and the future generations.
I feel like you so I understand you very well. I was blessed growing up in Holland in an area which also had a lot of trees. Now I live on a farm in the south of Spain since 1981 and the trees I planted, in the beginning, are now big and beautiful.
This story of the Tongass park upset me so much I had to write about it. More nasty things are happening in the U.S, other National Parks are suffering also.
Humans are so very able to destroy, building up seems to be less of a concern to a lot of people. We should be ashamed at what we pass on to our future generations.
Still, one should not give up hope as one sees a waking up of people worldwide, they become more conscious about the beautiful place we are allowed to live in. I hope it is not too late.
This is rally sad and disappointing. I really think that we are closing to the robots era. Technology has improved that much that it is incredible and we remove the greenery. Trees are very helpful for our climate and especially those that are that old but I think that tree cutting have just started which is really sadly.
Thank you for your visit and leaving a comment. Indeed we are close, sometimes I think already in, this robot era. I say this as I think we have lost our feelings, preferring money. You can see the consequences of this where ever you look in the world but some countries are worse than others.
Thanks for sharing this very alarming articles! I could feel your sentiment for this atrocious news that are happening nowadays. I wonderful what life (as we know it) would become if we continue to see trees are cutting down at an alarming rate, things might not be the same that we are used to. we might experience the catastrophic wrath of mother nature in no time. And What about our future generation, does the future still has something in store for them? It's hard to answer.
There are still people who do not believe in Global Warming but I think that Mother Nature already shows us in multiple ways that she is not happy with our destructive actions.
If we continue like this the planet future generations will have to live on will be a lot less beautiful for sure.
I so enjoyed your article – even though it was very sad. Heads up to you for speaking for the trees!
National Parks are close to my heart as I actually live in one – Victoria Falls National Park.
The Tongass National Park sounds amazing – I loved the idea of no roads! I so wish we had the same thing here.
Sadly, there are many building projects on the go right now and residential homes being put in and many areas have been cleared of trees. The little sleepy Vic Falls tourist town is becoming a hive of activity!
Happily, the area around the Zambezi River Bank and the Falls themselves are kept natural and are beautiful!
I hope the right folk read your article.
Good Morning, what is your name?
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving a comment. It must be difficult, living in a beautiful place as you say to see nature disappearing. So sad that we humans too often destroy all that is beautiful and forms a habitat for Fauna and Flora. Everything is related and also everything is needed to keep a good balance. I do get the impression that humans are not needed at all and that Mother Earth would be better off without us.
Let me know how things are going in Victoria Falls National Park.


text:
Texas Star Bank Review
by Gabe Rueda Updated July 11, 2019
Texas Star Bank Savings
SmartAsset's Overall Rating
Highly-Rated Mobile App
Multiple Banking Products
1. Overview 2. How We Rated It 3. Products Offered 4. Branch Locations
Founded in 1890, Texas Star Bank has assets totaling $390 million as well as deposits totaling $342 million, which makes the institution a small bank. Texas Star Bank, whose headquarters are in Van Alstyne, Texas, lacks premium access to customer service, with no options for live chat or all-day service. It is a conventional brick-and-mortar bank with access to service representatives at a physical location, in addition to its online and mobile apps. SmartAsset has rated Texas Star Bank 4.2 out of 5 stars, which means it is a solid pick to be your bank. Texas Star Bank offers a full choice of banking products, including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, CDs and IRAs. It has a fair savings rate; other popular banks have higher rates. If you're interested in stress-free personal checking, the bank's most basic checking account does not carry a monthly maintenance charge. Finding a checking account with no monthly fee as well as a savings account with a high interest rate at the same bank is your best option for returning the most income from your deposits while having easy access to your money.
How We Rated It
National Average: 4.1
The overall rating is a weighted average of rates, fees, service quality and financial health.Read more
When a component rating is unavailable, the overall rating is calculated as an average of the remaining available ratings.
The Rates rating represents an aggregate of interest rates for specific bank products measured against the national average interest rate for each product. Product interest rates may vary by branch. Rates shown reflect the highest available nationwide.
The Fees rating is an assessment of the bank's fees measured against the national average fee amount for particular services and is also affected by whether or not the bank refunds ATM fees.
The Customer Experience rating is a weighted average of the Mobile Rating and the Consumer Satisfaction Score, which is based on complaints brought to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The Financial Health rating is based on the Texas Ratio, an indicator that warns of credit problems at particular banks: anything less than 5% is considered Excellent; less than 20% is Very Good; less than 50% is Good; less than 90% is Fair; and over 90% is Poor.
SmartAsset Average: 3.5
Texas Star Bank has a savings rate of 0.15%, which is fair in comparison to the average U.S. bank. Texas Star Bank's CDs feature a rate of 0.30% and 1.41% for the one-year and five-year term lengths, respectively, while its highest-yielding money market account earns at an APY of 0.15%. Given Texas Star Bank's below average savings rate, you should consider opting for higher earning savings accounts with other banks.
How Texas Star Bank's Savings Rates Compare
Texas Star Bank Savings 0.15 National Average 0.09 Compare Offers
On average, Texas Star Bank charges its customers extremely low fees compared to other U.S. banks. With no monthly fee, Texas Star Bank is perfect for those who want a basic checking account. Texas Star Bank does not reimburse out-of-network ATM fees, meaning you will have to locate a Texas Star Bank ATM or eat the ATM charge.
Monthly Fee $0 National Average: $3.21
Non-network ATM Fee N/A National Average: $1.20
Overdraft Fee N/A National Average: $35.00
Texas Star Bank is a brick-and-mortar bank, with eight total bank locations in Oklahoma and Texas. It also offers access to mobile and web apps for a simple mobile-banking experience. Texas Star Bank gets moderately decent feedback from customers for its mobile app. The Texas Star Bank mobile app has been given a 4.1 out of 5 (with 14 customer reviews on iOS and Android) compared to the national average of 3.8. Texas Star Bank's mobile app allows you to manage your bank accounts by monitoring account balances, transferring money as well as accessing support representatives. Texas Star Bank gets a superb consumer satisfaction rating based on relatively few consumer complaints reported to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a government agency that protects consumers in the financial sector.
Overall Mobile Rating 4.1/5
Consumer Satisfaction Rating 5.0/5
Online Banking Portal No
Live Chat No
Texas Star Bank ranks as a small bank with assets totaling $390 million and $342 million in deposits. Texas Star Bank's Texas Ratio is 2.25%, suggesting a low possibility of failure. Additionally, Texas Star Bank is FDIC-insured, meaning that your money is insured up to $250,000, even in the event of bank failure.
Texas Ratio Analysis
High Risk 75% 50% 20% 10% Low Risk
The Texas Ratio, a measure of a "bad assets" against available capital, can provide an early warning sign of bank failure. A low ratio indicates smaller chance of failure; a higher ratio suggests greater risk.
Compare Texas Star Bank to Other Competitive Offers
Current Terms and Rates
Minimum Balance for APY
Savings Account 0.15% APY $150
Checking Account 0.05% APY $100
12 Month: 0.30% APY
$1000 for all terms
Money Market Accounts 0.15% APY 0.15% APY $10000 $15000
Texas Star Bank has several deposit products like savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts and CDs to give you many options to manage your money. Texas Star Bank does not have the best savings rate, which means you should think about looking elsewhere for banks that deliver more return for your money. CDs can be a terrific option to achieve higher returns, but there are limitations to accessing your money. Texas Star Bank's CD rates are fair compared to other U.S. banks.
Find a Texas Star Bank Near Me
Texas Star Bank has eight physical locations in the U.S.
bank reviews Find the best
savings accounts Find the best


Space available is 2,510 up to 9,010 sq. ft. located between Price Chopper Supermarket and Sweet Caroline's Restaurant. Direct access from the parking lot with no step entry. 254 parking spaces on site. Other tenants are Family Dollar and the US Post Office for West Rutland. Take a look and let's talk.


I hiked and posed at the Grand Canyon.
I experienced my first snow.
I posed with a monster.
I was a human magnet.
The Japanese tourists loved me.
I went to the snow the next day too.
Then I made lemon ice, BOL.
I was told they were elk.
I posed with this humongous bird.
He didn't scare me one bit.
Then I called it a day.
We are so glad you went to see the Canyon. We have enjoyed all your pictures so much!!
What a wonderful trip Lily! How 'cool' is that, you got to see your furst snow!!
I never saw snow before. You make it look like fun! Great pics!
First snow is the best. Lily we can see you are having a swell trip. Have a fabulous Friday.
So did you just love that snow???
Great pics - thanks for sharing.
LILY YOU ARE SOOOOOOO FUNNY....AND YOU CAN ICEES TOO.
What a great adventure....so many wonderful things to say.
SNOW!! The best thing in the whole world! I like to roll in it too. Did you love the snow??
Someone's been a busy bee! Haha, lemon ice, although I'm sure no one was willing to try it!
You are so cute in your photos, especially rolling around in the snow. The lemon ice was hilarious.
Wesa wish'ums wesa were there with yous!!
What a wonderful vacation ... wish we were there!
Excellent! You should have come about 350 miles north and visited us, while you were gallivanting about the country! ;-) Looks like you had a great time Lily!
You got to stay in a hotel?? Wow!
We attract people wherever we go, too....not that we get to go many places. SHE's been to the Grand Canyon, it's gorgeous (and cold). You enjoy yourselves...Lily and Lily's mum.
Oh, that eagle was a bit scary, it looks like it could have carried you OFF! Both of you.
I would absolutely love to go to the Grand Canyon, you would never run out of things to sketch.
Aiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee We were TOTALLY scared of that EAGLE... WE thought it was gonna SWOOP you AWAY... Whew.
And you were a Peep Magnet... AND you gotted to Roach in your FURST EVER SNOW... at 11° that was a COLD meet up.
AND then you made LEMON ICE!!! WOW what a GRAND time you did have at the Canyon.
PeeS... did you get to call fur ROOM SERVICE???
What a great vacation. We loved looking at all the pictures ... especially the ones with you in it.
What a wonderful adventure! Happy New Year!
Oh dogs what an adventure, love your pictures.
Glad you enjoyed the snow, it's just a blast, good you didn't leave any yellow stuff on the monster, or Japanese!
Isn't snow just the bestest ever, Lily! 11 degrees is COLD!
The humongous bird scared us.
You sure had a fun trip. We love the snow too.
Lily 11 degrees? Then you would LOVE it in Michigan right now, you could make LOTS of "lemon ice" BOL! So glad you had a great time! Come and visit us, you will LOVE our snow!
You are a human magnet for sure Lily!!!
What a great trip and super photos! Thanks for sharing!
Your first snow!!! Woo hoo!!! Our pups love rolling in the snow too! Did your mom take off your coat for better back rubbing in the snow?
I'm not surprised that you were a tourist magnet. I'd be all over you!
What a fantastic adventure! Oh, Lily, it looks like so much fun!
What a great adventure! That looks so fun.
What a fun trip! Glogirly and Gloman LOVE the Grand Canyon. ...and you got your first SNOW too! That is very cool. I mean cold!
Oh my gosh- those photos are fantastic of you with all the beautys at the Grand Canyon. Did your tosies get a little cold?
Your trip looks like SO much fun! The snow is awesome, I'm glad you had fun in it instead of running away, LOL! I love your sweaters and jackets...so cute!
Lily it looks like you really enjoyed your trip - AND got to see real snow and go for a good old snow-roll ! A trip of a lifetime and Benny was no doubt there to enjoy it with you....what's better than that? Nothing....that's what.
What a fun trip! So you are a snow bunny now. You want snow...come visit me and I'll show you snow you can get lost in! But don't worry, I'll watch your back!
What a brilliant adventure. Isn't snow grand? It makes one a bit nutty (in a good way).
Haha, that's funny, I've been taking photos of my car's temperature reading lately too! I kept taking pics all the way up to Duluth, MN... I had never seen it read subzero temps before, it seemed quite photo-worthy! :) Love the Grand Canyon pics, and the first snow experience, that's great! And the cute little sweater. The Grand Canyon is on my list of things to see one of these days.
That is our Dad's dream...to see the Grand Canyon! Oh and if you wants snow...come on over....we got lots and lots of the white stuff!


text:
Q: uses-configuration and supports-screens makes app incompatible with all devices? I have published a test app with such manifest
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="xxx"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4" />

    <uses-configuration android:reqFiveWayNav="false"
    android:reqHardKeyboard="false"
    android:reqKeyboardType="nokeys"
    android:reqNavigation="nonav"
    android:reqTouchScreen="notouch"></uses-configuration>

    <supports-screens android:xlargeScreens="true"
    android:largeScreens="true"
    android:normalScreens="true"
    android:smallScreens="true"
    android:anyDensity="true"></supports-screens>

    <application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <activity
            android:label="@string/app_name"
            android:name=".TestManifestAttributesActivity" >
            <intent-filter >
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

I published the app and it is incompatible with all devices, both mine and all of my friends. We have apps with Normal and Large screens, mdpi and hdpi.

Why is this happening? Why can't I use these attributes at all?

A: notouch means the application doesn't require a touch screen
and you are setting android:reqHardKeyboard="false".
Remove the uses-configuration tag.


I recently bought the Rollei 120mm colour film, which was on sale at a reduced price whilst purchasing some silver gelatin paper.
I had read that the Rollei Chrome CR 200 is an E-6 colour slide film which has rich, warm colours and subtle contrasts. It can be cross developed (C-41 process).
I knew I wanted to test this film out in my Hasselblad. I've recently become quite addicted to black and white photography so this was the first colour film that I decided to try and I was very excited to see the results.
After doing some research on the film and looking at other people's photos online who had used it, I decided that I preferred the warm tones and colours when the film is cross processed under C-41 so got my film developed this way.
I was really pleased with how the above photos turned out. I felt the film being cross processed gave a warm vintage feel to the photos. I feel the colours all blend in together in a nice subtle way. I also love the crisp detail of the trees that my camera has managed to capture.
Again, there is very much a warm tone to these photos and I particularly like the darkness of the tree against the bright blue sky. Also the blossom has a yellow tint to it.
I love the water detail in these photos and was surprised to see that the clouds almost look like paintings.
I especially love the last photo which I feel has a real 1970s dreamy, advert feel to it.
Looks a lot like expired Fuji Superia that I shot some years ago. Interesting about the granularity in the sky in the last shots. Almost looks more like scanning artifacts, have you inspected the slides? Neat results though, I particularly like the warm tonality on the portrait shots!


« Sydney Brick Show 2014 – Lego!
Wow! You've seen stuff many of us have only seen in National Geographic! Thanks for sharing these great photos. I especially appreciate a photo of an echidna. Have never even heard of one!
I can thank my travel partner (my wife) for a lot of that curiosity to go and see some of this stuff.
These are fabulous animal photos. Thanks for sharing!


For the first time in six years the Vatican fits tight for "two popes". Or rather, for the Pontiff and the Emeritus. Benedict XVI's "notes" on pedophilia risk creating a fracture in this unique situation: the coexistence of two successors of Saint Peter within the "enclosure of Peter". So far the balance has been maintained thanks to the affectionate relationship between the two popes, in addition to the prudence of the emeritus, but now the Holy See suffers from the weight of this coexistence. A "constitutional" question therefore arises on the role of the emeritus. Starting from the assumption that the pope is bishop of Rome, referring to the indications "for the ministry of the bishops", which reads: "the Bishop Emeritus always carries out his activity in full agreement with the diocesan Bishop and in deference to his authority. In this way all will understand clearly that the diocesan Bishop alone is the head of the diocese, responsible for its governance".
Benedict XVI's notes on paedophilia open the "constitutional" question and unleash accusations against his entourage. Beyond the content of Ratzinger's text - in which he criticizes progressive theology and writes that the spiritual collapse that caused paedophilia began in 1968 - has never before form become substance like in this affair. In the Vatican the air is heavy. Because many people believe that with this unusual statement Ratzinger was not "hidden from the world" as he had announced after the renunciation of the papacy. And what aggravates the situation is the chosen theme, decisive for Bergoglio's pontificate of and for the Church as a whole.
The accusation is explicit: the Pope emeritus intervenes with a text that might represent "a pastoral and theological line parallel to that of the Pope", and thus lends itself to being used as a weapon for those opposing Francis.
And among the "oddities" noted there is for example the lack in the document of any mention of emblematic cases such as that of Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who began to commit the first sexual abuse in the '40s, well before '68, and was anything but the progressive current. At the same time Ratzinger's affirmations are considered by the conservative and traditionalist galaxy as necessary and urgent words of truth to save the "boat of Peter" that is allegedly sinking. As Cardinal Robert Sarah would tweet: "We must thank the Pope Emeritus for having had the courage to speak. His analysis of the crisis of the Church is of fundamental importance".
All eyes are focused above all on Ratzinger's entourage, accused of wanting to insist on making Ratzinger's pontificate continue in some way, confirming the thesis that the true and great Pope is the German, not the Argentine one. The number one clue would be the way this media operation was set, with the involvement of Catholic and non-Catholic media that in the United States are part of the apparatus in continuous propaganda against Pope Francis.
In addition, the authenticity of the article is questioned. As Luis Badilla, director of the Seismograph, near the Vatican, says: "The iron circle around Ratzinger has not rarely taken the place of the Pope Emeritus". And as Gian Franco Svidercoschi, former deputy director of Osservatore Romano, author of the pamphlet "Church, freed from evil. The scandal of a believer in the face of paedophilia" (Rubbettino), writes: uncertainty "is due, for Ratzinger's precarious health conditions, not only physical". And then "an acrimony emerges that does not belong to him". And if "someone can answer that it is not so - he continues - then why hasn't he limited himself to transmitting these "notes" to Francis?" For Svidercoschi "the fact that both Parolin and Francis have been informed does not attenuate the gravity of a gesture inevitably interpreted as an attack on Bergoglio". Also because, "how could one answer "no" to a request from the Pope Emeritus?". Moreover, Benedict's staff, with this "international anti-Francis coordination, also puts Ratzinger in difficulty, forcing him to a role he doesn't want. He thus suffers yet another imposition". He explains: after his resignation "he wanted to call himself Father Benedict and not take the title of emeritus, nor be dressed in white and live in the Vatican. But then someone forced him".


Jarvous Chen, CEO and Director of Sinda Corporation UK , was invited to attend the Horasis China Meeting 2016 and joined other panelists to discuss reading China's 13th Five-Year Plan.
Horasis was funded by Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter and he is chairman of Horasis – an international think tank dedicated to developing a vision for a sustainable future.
Horasis hosts annual meetings to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing corporations today. Participants jointly identify globally relevant business issues and develop sophisticated and interdisciplinary solutions. Participants then leverage these solutions to enhance corporate performance and long-term growth.
Among the participants are the Chief Executive Officers of the world's most respected corporations as well as key business leaders from emerging markets. Also participating are renowned thought leaders and relevant public figures including heads of government and ministers.
Horasis is using its unrivalled history of partnership with corporations from emerging markets to create a powerful platform for cooperation between emerging and developed markets. From the first meeting in 2005, annual gatherings have been held around the globe. The flagship events are the Horasis Global Meeting as well as regional summits focusing on China, India, and South East Asia. We also host private events for the Horasis Visionary Circle, a peer-to-peer group of the world's wealthiest and most respected entrepreneurs.


I buy a lot of handmade glass, and this time I bought "seconds", which means some of the cabs had melted together or were chipped or had some other "flaws". This cab had a tiny red cab melted into it (as seen on the photo), which I loved immediately and decided to use as an advantage and a creative opportunity, as I had beads of the same colour and even the same kind of shiny finish. Unfortunately I ended up covering most of the original red part so that the wire wrapping was sturdy enough to hold everything together. You can still see enough of it to appreciate the idea.
blue, crafts, czech fire polished glass, dichroic glass, enamelled copper wire, etsy, fused glass, handmade, jewellery, jewelry, red, wire, wire wrapping.


New edition with supplementary notes.
Bridgewater treatises on the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as manifested in the creation ; 6.
V.2 contains many plates showing geological diagrams and fossils; includes fold-out hand-colored diagram, "Ideal section of a portion of the earth's crust... composed by Thomas Webster... drawn by Joseph Fisher, engraved by J. Knight & C. J. Hollis."


Welcome to the second week of my Arctic Animal Fun unit. I am really enjoying teaching the Pre-K class at our homeschool co-op. Back in October I did a Pumpkin lesson which included reading books, songs, motion rhymes, and crafts. For the month of January I decided to focus on something cold. In the past I have done snowmen and penguin activities, so I decided to focus on the Arctic this time around.
As I mentioned last week, we start each class with the song "Good Morning to You" as I used to do at the Montessori. Just a song to get us focused on our day. Then I found some snowy songs/fingerplays in a book I reviewed last year called I'm a Little Teapot!: Presenting Preschool Storytime compiled by Jane Cobb.
As we did last week, we started out by skimming through the book, What Lives in the Arctic?. This book gives some brief information for a handful of arctic animals. This week I only focused on the details for the arctic fox though.
Then I wanted to connect our lesson to last week's so I read the book, Ice Bear and Little Fox by Jonathan London.
This book is told as a story but gives factual information about arctic foxes following polar bears to find food. However, in this story the arctic fox ends up helping the polar bear by warning him of danger. In real life the fox would either be picking at whatever the polar bear leaves from a kill or trying to snitch it while attempting to not become the polar bear's meal.
Arctic Foxes by Emily Rose Townsend has one photograph on each double page spread, with information given in easy to read sentences, usually just one or two per page, in large font. It gives physical characteristics, plus information about where they live and what they do. The book concludes with a glossary, suggested books and websites, plus an index.
Arctic Fox: Very Cool by Stephen Person is actually more appropriate (in my opinion) for elementary school children. There is a lot of information on each page, and more detail. However, I did use the book to share some of the pictures, such as what a den would look like, what baby foxes look like, the difference between their summer fur and their winter fur, plus an encounter with a polar bear.
We then made our Textured Paper Plate and Tissue Paper Arctic Fox that I highlighted in this week's Littles Learning Link Up. This was a craft that was included in my Arctic Fun Round Up at the beginning of the month.
This week we focused on how the arctic fox is designed to stay hidden in its surroundings. We talked about the big word "camouflage" which some children recognized once they heard it because of their parents wearing camouflage when going hunting. We saw how the brown fur helps the arctic fox stay hidden in the summer, and how the bushy white fur keeps it camouflaged in the winter.
Then we made a "Camouflage and the Arctic Fox" booklet.
I just folded a piece of cardstock in half. On one side I wrote "Summer" in brown, and on the other, I wrote "Winter" in blue.
We used brown construction paper cut into a hill shape, plus brown and green markers for the summer side, and more white tissue paper squares and cotton balls for the winter side. Plus I found a fox template on Google, put it in my word processing program, shrunk it down to size and printed out enough for each child to have one brown and one white fox.
Here is my sample of what the finished books were to look like.
We sang our "Did You Ever See a Polar Bear?" song from last week, but I added a verse for the Arctic Fox.
Then we played a game where the children had to take a beanbag (that I made with white socks and beans) and toss it onto the white snow on the top of the brown dirt so it would become camouflaged.
And then we played follow the leader to remind us that the arctic fox followed the polar bear. Each child took a turn being the leader.
We ended our class time with the following finger play, also from the book I'm a Little Teapot!: Presenting Preschool Storytime compiled by Jane Cobb.
Stop by next week for the Walrus lesson.


You Want Some Dog Pictures? Here You Go!
I have a new backdrop and I thought what better subjects for my first photos with the new backdrop than my wonderful dogs. Here are the best pictures I got.
Please ignore the folds in my backdrop, thank you.


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Q: xmlEventParse (package XML) messes up encoding I am having a hard time to read in a XML file with german umlauts (ä, ü, ö) and other special characters. The weird thing is that R manages to read in the file correctly when just using 'readLines()'. However, as soon as the xmlEventParse part of the function 'get.all.text()' finishes building up 'collected.text' with the help of the handler functions 'sE2()', 'eE2()' and 'tS2', all special characters are broken. It appears that even breaks are inserted before each of these characters.
The XML file says '?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?' in the first line. Hoever, I thought that shouldn't be a problem because the 'readLines()' function reads in the text properly.
Do you guys have any pointers for me how to proceed?
Thanks!
get.all.text <- function (file) {
  read.file <- paste(readLines(file), collapse = " ")
  assign("collected.text", c(), env = .GlobalEnv)
  assign("get.text", F, env = .GlobalEnv)
  xmlEventParse(read.file, asText = T, list(startElement = sE2,
                                            endElement = eE2,
                                            text = tS2),
                error = function (...) { },
                saxVersion = 1)
  head(collected.text)
}

sE2 <- function (name, attrs) {
  if (name == "s") {
    get.text <<- T }
}

eE2 <- function (name, attrs) {
  if (name == "s") {
    get.text <<- F
  }
}

tS2 <- function (content, ...) {
  if (get.text & nchar(content) > 0) {
    collected.text <<- c(collected.text, content)
  }
}


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You are here: Home / All News / Building News / Should we vote on the £4bn Houses of Parliament refurbishment?
Should we vote on the £4bn Houses of Parliament refurbishment?
Whitehall is currently abuzz with panicked chatter, deep anguish and parliamentarian discomfort. With general consensus now being that the palace of Westminster is in dire need of a retrofit, the taxpayer will ultimately be footing the bill. Seeing as we voters currently have the choice of who goes in and out of Parliament, shouldn't we also have a say on its refurbishment? Building Specifier editor Joe Bradbury discusses.
Completed in the 1860s, the Palace of Westminster is an iconic building that currently houses the British Parliament. It is a world famous and instantly recognisable structure and stands as a celebrated international symbol of our parliamentary democracy. Just as UK Parliament is constantly in a state of flux, so too has the building; adapting accordingly to suit its primary and functional purpose. Taking massive damage during the WWII blitz, the Houses of Parliament were repaired as a matter of utmost national priority post-1945. The project was seen as a real opportunity to create some much-needed new facilities that would be consistent with the original design.
From the 1960s onwards the requirement for individual Members of Parliament to have offices, coupled with the expansion of other parliamentary services led to the acquisition of additional buildings and the Palace became the core of a much larger Parliamentary Estate. In 1992 responsibility for maintaining the Palace 'on behalf of the nation' transferred from the Government to Parliament itself. How did this work out?
Fighting a losing battle
It appears that since 1992, every effort has been made to maintain what is ultimately an outdated and increasingly unsuitable infrastructure. Services such as heating, cooling, water, sewage, electricity and cabling have been kept semi-functioning, but have not been modernised. Astoundingly, there has been no real general renovation of the building and its services since the partial rebuild of 1945-50 – some of the services even predate the war. The original basements and vertical shafts that litter the building are now completely filled with pipes and cables, making further work difficult to carry out – which results in further expense.
Reports illustrate that asbestos features heavily throughout the palace and although asbestos remains safe if treated with great care in compliance with safety regulations, it makes any intervention so much more difficult. Another issue is that most of the work undertaken over the last 50 years is largely undocumented and since many areas are inaccessible, the state of dilapidation and subsequent risk is mostly uncharted. The building is completely at the mercy of fire, with little modern safety practices in place and fire compartmentation considered almost impossible.
The original roofs are no longer watertight and there are many areas plagued with penetrating damp, damaged by interior leaks and flooding.
Today, an influential committee is expected to recommend that MPs and peers should abandon the crumbling Houses of Parliament for six years so that drastic refit works can be carried out.
So now at the crux of the issue, how much does it cost to renovate a 150 year old Grade I listed building which is partly sinking, contains asbestos and has outdated cabling? The short answer is 'a lot.' The sheer amount of work and the sensitive nature of refurbishing a World Heritage Site results in a sky-high estimate of between £3.5bn and £5.7bn, with some suggesting the sum could rise to as much as £7.1bn.
A 2012 report warned that "major, irreversible damage" may be done to the building unless significant restoration work is carried out soon, making the refurbishment one of the most urgent and arguably important renovation projects in the UK today. Some feel that the whole thing is a needless expense to the taxpayer and a vanity project for British Parliament. Another previous report concluded that the maintenance costs alone are so astronomically high that if the Palace of Westminster was a commercial structure of no historical significance, it would be far more cost-effective and efficient to demolish it and rebuild using modern methods of construction, such as modular offsite building.
Whatever you stance, the Houses of Parliament are of national, historical and cultural importance and refurbishment will happen. It should therefore be imperative that efforts are made to soften the bludgeoning blow to the taxpayer's pocket, shouldn't it?
"Should I stay or should I go?" The parliament predicament
Assuming renovation does take place, the big decision to make will be whether Parliamentarians stay put throughout restoration works or whether there will be a need for them to temporarily relocate. Estimates predict that if the palace was vacated for just 6 years, the cost of works would total around £3bn. If MPs decide they want to stay whilst work is undertaken, the figure is doubled and renovation is expected to take up to 32 years. Needless to say, vacation of the building for six years is the cheapest, quickest and viable solution. One option would be to set up temporarily over the road, by moving to either the Methodist Central Hall or the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. Some have suggested MPs could relocate as far away as Birmingham – or perhaps even hold a touring parliament. This option is unsurprisingly unpopular with many parliamentarians.
There are some interesting and difficult challenges ahead, some difficult decisions to take, but I would say to the House that instinctively I think it is important that this building remains consistently at the heart of our democracy and that we don't end up being forced to move somewhere else. – Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling
Others feel that something must be done quickly and efficiently.
Doing nothing or muddling on are not options. – Lichfield Conservative MP Michael Fabricant
A select committee of both the House of Commons and House of Lords is expected to be formed to consider the findings of the Independent Options Appraisal and make recommendations to members of both houses. In the meantime a joint committee of Commons and Lords will be set up with the task of recommending a way forward. A decision on which option to adopt is expected to be taken by MPs next year, with work to begin after the next election in 2020. However, is it really their decision to make?
Affectionately nicknamed the "Mother of Parliaments," the British parliament is respected as the most ancient parliament in today's world. Apart from a few brief interruptions, it has carried out its business on the same spot, the Palace of Westminster, since the year 1265.
The longevity and overwhelming presence of this building is a physical testament to our very democracy. Parliament was originally formed by the people, for the people. Therefore, under the very democracy that the building stands for, shouldn't we have ultimate say over how our tax money is spent and renovation is undertaken? Meanwhile parliament continues to crumble around our legislature.
September 8, 2016 /0 Comments/by Joe Bradbury
Tags: debate, government, parliament, refurb, renew, retrofit
https://buildingspecifier.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/British_Houses_of_Parliament.jpg 437 778 Joe Bradbury http://buildingspecifier.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/building-specifier-logo.png Joe Bradbury2016-09-08 08:48:162016-09-08 08:52:03Should we vote on the £4bn Houses of Parliament refurbishment?
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Spring 2009 Capsules
The South Florida softball team should have no shortage of momentum heading into the season.
The Bulls won their first Big East regular season championship last season, posting a 44-20 (16-4) record, and made the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years USF alumnus Ken Eriksen, who has coached the team for more than 12 years, leads the team. Eriksen holds a 508-260-1 record at USF.
The Bulls return a veteran group that includes four seniors and 11 juniors. South Florida lost only five players from last year's squad.
Sophomore Capri Catalano led the Bulls last year with a 17-1 record and a 1.80 earned run average on the mound. The Bulls have two more players with potential — seniors Cristi Ecks and Bree Spence. Spence is coming off a redshirt year and Ecks went 7-3 with a 1.54 ERA last year before a heart condition cut her season short.
The Bulls will be led by junior first basemen JoJo Medina and senior shortstop Britta Giddens. Medina batted .309 last year while leading the team with eight home runs and 36 RBI. Giddens hit .331 with six home runs and 33 RBI.
If USF looks to carry on success from last year, it'll be up against a tough schedule.
The Bulls will play three teams that appeared in the Women's College World Series last year. USF will host perennial powerhouse University of Arizona on Valentine's Day weekend in the USF Wilson Tournament. Arizona has won two of the past three national championships.
Two weeks later, the Bulls will travel to Gainesville to take on the University of Florida in the Cox Communications Invitational, and then play Virginia Tech University in the Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater.
A tough non-conference schedule should make for good experience as the Bulls try to defend their Big East regular season championship from last year.
— Will McLaughlin
Led by third-year coach Lelo Prado, USF is coming off back-to-back 30-win seasons. Last year's squad featured just 12 upperclassmen on a roster of 40, but the Bulls still managed a 31-28 overall record.
The team is even younger this year, with only 10 upper classmen, and only four of those seniors.
South Florida took a hit in the summer with the de-commitment of highly touted recruit Adrian Nieto. Nieto, a catcher, committed to the Bulls in May, right before being taken in the fifth round ofthe Major League Baseball draft by the Washington Nationals, and he eventually decided to join the professional ranks.
Not all is lost for USF, however, as the team returns two freshmen all-Americans in sophomore outfielders Stephen Hunt and Ryan Lockwood.
The Bulls should get a good measuring stick as to what kind of team they have early in the season with their non-conference schedule.
USF will open with games against the University of Michigan, Purdue University and the University of Indiana as part of the inaugural Big East/Big Ten Baseball Challenge, which will feature 27 games from Feb. 20-22 at various venues throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Following the Big East/Big Ten Challenge, USF will host an exhibition match against the Netherlands National Team on Feb. 24.
After those games, South Florida will try and contend in a Big East conference that's had only one team qualify for the NCAA College World Series in the past five years
— Phil Neary
With only four players returning from last year, the South Florida men's tennis team will have an abundance of youth as it prepares to challenge again for a Big East championship.
Mahmoud Hamed, the team's only senior, will lead a squad with five new players. Returning players Jamal Adderley, Thomas Estrada and Lucas Jovita will be relied upon for the experience they bring. Hamed, a native of Cairo, Egypt, had a 15-15 record in 2008 while suffering through a lingering back injury last season. Hamed is expected to have no more complications with the injury this year.
Coach Don Barr is in 16th season as head coach. In that time, he's accumulated 221 victories.
Last year, the Bulls finished second in the Big East with a 14-7 overall record and a 4-1 conference record.
Much is expected from sophomore Jovita, who made it to the semifinals of the main draw and consolation draw in the All-American Championships last fall. He finished with a 13-5 record, the best among the Bulls.
Barr said he's looking for success in his "two experienced freshmen," Wael Kilani and Romain Deridder. Kilani has played at Wimbledon and the US Open. While Deridder is ranked fourth nationally in his home country of France.
The team will face tough competition including Memphis, Florida A&M and Illinois, followed by matches against Texas and TCU.
A mix of youthful experience and seasoned talent will try to contend in the Big East conference after a 14-7 finish and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2008.
— Kelli Polson
USF Health confident in COVID-19 testing supply despite state shortage 10 views


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Regina Cassandra (High Definition)
Current: Regina Cassandra (High Definition)
'Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham' completed 50 days
Kotha Janta to release on May 1st
Mega producer Allu Aravind's son and Stylish star Allu Arjun's brother, Allu Sirish, is coming up with his latest film titled 'Kotha Janta' co starring Regina Cassandra in female lead role opposit...Continue reading
Nani wants to encourage new talent
Nani is producing the film 'Awe' for a reason. He says that he became a producer to encourage new talent. Awe is directed by Prashant Varma. This is his first film. When working for Ninnu Kori Nan...Continue reading
Sundeep Kishan's 'Nakshatram' Getting Ready For Release
'Nakshatram', the joint venture of K Srinivasulu, S Venugopal and Sajju, is getting ready for release in May. This action entertainer that features Sundeep Kishan, Regina Cassandra, Sai...Continue reading
Routine Love Story promotions in Tirupathi
RLS team as part of their on road promotions in Ceeded, visited RED FM radio Station in Tirupathi for a live show on air. RLS team also made their appearance at Kidees Fest held by Red FM as part o...Continue reading


I know that the Texas Ledge reinstated the TCEQ rebate program ($2500 for new vehicles sold in Texas). But I don't know any of the details. When does the program start? How do I apply? What vehicles are included? etc.
I been trying to figure this out too. It looks like the law has been passed, but the program has not been funded. I found one government web site that said it is hoped that it would be funded in Spring 2018. When they had this program before, purchases made before the program was funded are not eligible. This makes it really had to plan ahead, as the program may start in March, April, or May 2018, or some other month.
Their site says they anticipate it to open around spring....not sure if there is a time period within which the application has to be made after the purchase of the vehicle.
The TCEQ board that manages this program met on April 4th. It seems that most of the first quarter was spent reviewing feedback to the law, which predominately was about Tesla vehicles being excluded, since Tesla doesn't have dealerships in Texas. Having resolved that, they have now looked to designate which cars will qualify with the aim of starting the program in the summer. I get the impression that this group only meets once a quarter, so the next meeting would be in July at the earliest, and the program would start sometime after that.
Rebates are only going to be offered to vehicles on the approved list, so someone from Chrysler must fill out the Manufacturer Information Request Forms before July. They need to state how it meets the eligibility requirements under the Light-Duty Motor Vehicle Purchase or Lease Incentive Program (LDPLIP). We will only find out in July whether Chrysler bothered to do this to know whether a Pachy purchase is eligible.
Any idea if this will be retroactive for any 2018 purchases? Not sure how the previous rebates worked.
It likely will not be retroactive. When the prior program started several years ago, only purchases made after the rebate application was made available were eligible. So, if you want a chance at this tax rebate, do not take delivery until at least July.
Has someone from FCA filled out the LDPLIP Manufacturer Information Request Form?
Is there some reason to believe that the Pacifica Hybrid would not be eligible? The dealer I spoke to seemed to indicate that FCA was not attempting to get on the eligibility list.
The TERP website has been updated and more information about the purchase/lease rebate is now available. The 2018 and 2019 Pac Hybrid are listed as eligible vehicles but must be purchased and registered in TX. Way to go TX for incentivizing energy efficient cars!
Does this purchase has to be this year or as long it is 2018 or 2019, it is fine? can it be last year December purchase?


The DSIR provides recognition to software product and manufacturing companies with in- house R&D centers. While the recognition holds many a benefits, but are you eligible to apply for the same? Let's find out.
The very first thing that you need to make sure before applying for the coveted DSIR recognition is whether or not you are eligible for the same.
a software product/ manufacturing company.
If you tick all of the above points, you are good to go!
And the 'comprehensive list of guidelines' that we were talking about earlier, don't let that intimidate you at all. There are experts out there who can provide exhaustive support.
So, if you are eligible as per DSIR, do not waste your time contemplating whether you need to get recognized or not. Because the benefits that the recognition comes with, you sure should get recognized!