Even though importing transactions is getting easier and easier, it could be worth your while to spend a few minutes here and there cleaning up your QuickBooks Renaming Rules For Downloaded Transactions. Ever scroll through you vendor list and realize you have 13 different Exxon vendors that each have their own store code associated with them? Depending on how these vendor names were set up, simply merging the vendors via a vendor edit won't stop this from happening again and again. After merging the vendor names, you will want to make sure changed to your renaming rules next time you are going through your import process.
We all fall behind on our bills at one point or another in our lives but others may go a little further then that just like Han Solo. Forgoing payment to a particular vendor for an extended period of time may turn into insurmountable debt. The debt may now become a loan, which will require you to record a settlement of debt in QuickBooks to help keep your books balanced. I hope for your sake though it never gets as bad as Han Solo.
In this QuickBooks video tutorial I will cover the basics of QuickBooks. This is a very short video to give you a brief overview of what I consider the core basic bookkeeping functions of QuickBooks. I will touch on the chart of accounts, how to enter an invoice, how to enter a bill, how to pay a bill, how to make a journal entry and how to reconcile an account.


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Pesticides linked to colony collapse.
Author Topic: Pesticides linked to colony collapse. (Read 869 times)
The Thing in the Shadows
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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/neonicotinoids-bee-collapse/
A controversial type of pesticide linked to declining global bee populations appears to scramble bees' sense of direction, making it hard for them to find home. Starved of foragers and the pollen they carry, colonies produce fewer queens, and eventually collapse.
The phenomenon is described in two new studies published March 29 in Science. While they don't conclusively explain global bee declines, which almost certainly involve a combination factors, they establish neonicotinoids as a prime suspect.
"It's pretty damning," said David Goulson, a bee biologist at Scotland's University of Stirling. "It's clear evidence that they're likely to be having an effect on both honeybees and bumblebees."
Neonicotinoids emerged in the mid-1990s as a relatively less-toxic alternative to human-damaging pesticides. They soon became wildly popular, and were the fastest-growing class of pesticides in modern history. Their effects on non-pest insects, however, were unknown.
In the mid-2000s, beekeepers in the United States and elsewhere started to report sharp and inexplicable declines in honeybee populations. Researchers called the phenomenon colony collapse disorder. It was also found in bumblebees, and in some regions now threatens to extirpate bees altogether.
Many possible causes were suggested, from viruses and mites to industrial beekeeping practices and climate change. Pesticides, in particular neonicotinoids, also came under scrutiny.
Leaked internal reports by the Environmental Protection Agency showed that industry-run studies used to demonstrate some neonicotinoids' environmental safety were shoddy and unreliable. Other researchers found signs that neonicotinoids, while they didn't kill bees outright, affected their ability to learn and navigate.
'Anything that makes bees even a little bit worse at navigating or learning could be a disaster.'Those results came from laboratory situations, with no guarantee of real-world applicability, but they were troubling.
"Bees' ability to navigate is very important. When they leave their nest, they fly miles to gather food. Anything that makes them even a little bit worse at navigating or learning could be a disaster in those circumstances," said Goulson. "The research suggested effects on their learning ability, but it was all done in confined situations. What we and the French group did is something more natural."
In the first study, led by biologist Mickaël Henry of INRA, a French agricultural research institute, free-roaming honeybees were tagged with RFID chips that allowed researchers to track their movements. When dosed with a neonicotinoid, bees were more than twice as likely as non-dosed controls to die outside their hives. They seemed to get lost.
When the researchers added their results to computer simulations of honeybee dynamics, the model populations crashed.
Penn State entomologist James Frazier, who was not involved in the study, called it "the best study to date" on neonicotinoids' real-world effects on foraging."
The result dovetailed with the findings of Goulson's group, who exposed developing bumblebees to varying neonicotinoid levels and set them loose to forage in an enclosed field. Measured after six weeks of growth, pesticide-dosed colonies were stunted, weighing about 10 percent less and producing 85 percent fewer queens.
"Nests have annual cycles. They start with a single queen, and the nest grows through the season. If it doesn't get big enough, it doesn't have the resources to pour into rearing queens," Goulson said. "The French study shows that exposure to neonicotinoids make honeybees less likely to find their nest. That's likely the mechanism that led to our nests growing more slowly."
However, biologist Jerry Bromenshenk of the University of Montana was critical of the results. Goulson's results were interesting but the researchers weren't careful enough in verifying the doses given to their bees, and Henry's group administered an unrealistically high dose, said Bromenshenk.
The latter's dosing "is not what I would consider to be a field-relevant, low dose," wrote Bromenshenk in an email, citing another recent study that used RFIDs to track bees given what he considers a more realistic dose. "At truly field representative, sublethal doses — no effect," Bromenshenk wrote.
A comparison of bee queen production in colonies treated (middle, right) and untreated (left) with a neonicotinoid pesticide. Image: Whitehorn et al./Science
Both Goulson and Mace Vaughn, pollinator program director at the Xerces society, an invertebrate conservation group, said neonicotinoids won't be the only cause of colony collapse disorder.
"If it was as simple as that, the answer would have been discovered a long time ago," said Goulson. "I'm sure it's a combination of things. I'm sure that disease is a part of it, and maybe the two interact." He noted a study in which honeybees exposed to neonicotinoids were especially vulnerable to a common bee parasite.
Vaughn raised the issue of industrial-scale beekeeping practices, which have also been linked to bee declines. "We've potentially created a situation where behavioral impacts, compounded with a lack of genetic diversity and the food they eat, results in something like colony collapse disorder," he said.
"My only caution is that farmers use neonicotinoids for a reason," said Goulson. "If they were banned, farmers would have to use something else. The question is, what would that be? Would it be better? Would it also have harmful effects?"
While it's unlikely that neonicotinoids will be banned outright in the United States, where they're now used on more than 100 million crop acres and an unknown area of home gardens and urban vegetation, Vaughn said they could be used differently.
"I would call for a ban on their use without a demonstrated pest threat. If you have corn rootworm, and need to address that, then use neonicotinoid-coated seeds," he said. "But if it's a vague threat that you haven't identified, you shouldn't be using them. Maybe it makes you a few bucks, and certainly makes the seed companies a lot of money, but it's potentially killing bees across the country."
Heather Pilatic of the Pesticide Action Network recommended a return to pest management strategies used widely through the 1990s, when the rise of pesticide-treated seeds and genetically modified crops allowed farmers to change their growing strategies.
"When you plant the same crop, year after year, you're creating the conditions for a pest infestation," Pilatic said. "In the mid-1990s, we were doing a really good job of pest management with corn in particular. With the introduction of treated seeds, and in particular of genetically engineered corn, it all unraveled. But we know how to do it. We were doing it 20 years ago."
Penn State's Frazier said that the Environmental Protection Agency, which recently received a 1.25 million-signature-strong petition to ban neonicotinoids, is slowly becoming better at risk assessment, though the agency is still heavily influenced by chemical companies and opaque in its workings.
The fundamental problem isn't neonicotinoids, but our society's relationship to chemicals, said Frazier. "We're making ourselves the guinea pigs," he said. "I don't think that's what a rational society should be doing."
I guess it's finally "news". This has been known for several years, and the govt has been dragging it's feet with the information, I suspect because of payoffs from the pesticide companies. (Bayer)
An Unorthodox Halloween
Quote from: Buster's Uncle on April 27, 2018, 05:38:08 PM
Uno could probably make you deader...
Buster's Uncle
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AC2 is my instrument, my heart, as I play my song.
Re: Pesticides linked to colony collapse.
We don't want to have to do without bees, that's for sure, but science has a way of becoming "unproven" and "controversial" when there's money at stake. I miss Teddy Roosevelt sometimes.
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Planet's atmosphere, though a gasping death to humans and most animals, is paradise for Earth plants. The high nitrate content of the soil and the rich yellow sunlight bring an abundant harvest wherever adjustments can be made for the unusual soil conditions.
~Lady Deirdre Skye 'A Comparative Biology of Planet'
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Pollution News
Mainpuri has sent Yadavs 13 times to Lok Sabha since 1952
This story is from March 13, 2019
Anuja Jaiswal | TNN | Updated: Mar 13, 2019, 14:44 IST
This constituency is currently represented by Akhilesh Yadav's estranged uncle, Shivpal Yadav.
AGRA: Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency, a Samajwadi Party (SP) stronghold, has elected MPs of Yadav caste 13 times out of total 18 elections since 1952. Interestingly, of these, 10 times the MPs were chosen from Mainpuri's neighbouring district of Etawah, the home district of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Not only this, all the 10 MPs including three generation of veteran leader, MSY, his nephew Dharmendra Yadav and grandnephew Tej Pratap Yadav, chosen by the residents of Mainpuri to represent them in the Lok Sabha belong to Jaswant Nagar assembly constituency of Etawah district.
This constituency is currently represented by Akhilesh's estranged uncle, Shivpal Yadav.
The merger of Jaswantnagar assembly segment with Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency happened after the last delimitation drive in 2009, making the position of the Yadav's all the more indomitable.
According to district president of Congress and a resident of Etawah, Udaybhan Singh, this LS constituency has always been Yadav dominated. He said that only three MPs were from other castes, Badshah Gupta (1952 and 62) and Raghunath Singh Verma (1977 and 80) from Mainpuri and Bansidhar Dhangar (1957) from Etawah.
According to available statistics, Etawah residents, who had won from Mainpuri LS constituency included Bansidhar in 1957, Balram Singh Yadav in 1984, 1998, and 1999. MSY has represented Mainpuri three times in 1996, 2004 and 2009.
He had won this seat in the last Lok Sabha polls also with a margin of over 3.64 lakh votes but chose to retain his second seat, Azamgarh, which he contested along with Mainpuri.
MSY's victory margin in Azamgarh was only 63,204 and he had defeated Ramakant Yadav. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls Mulayam had won this seat by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.
While MSY's nephew, Dharmendra Yadav, MP from Badaun, had successfully contested the by-elections from Mainpuri in 2004, his grandnephew and present MP Tej Pratap Yadav, won the 2014 by-elections after MSY gave up the seat in favour of Azamgarh.


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Ratings Agency Casts Doubts Over India's Solar Power Target This Year
by smiti 1 comment
An Indian ratings agency has projected that the expected solar power capacity addition in the country during the current fiscal will be significantly lower than the government's own target.
CARE Ratings claims that only 5.2 GW of solar power capacity is expected to be added between April 2016 and March 2017. This capacity is sharply lower than the target set by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy — 12 GW.
The markdown is despite the fact that several state governments, the central government and a number of public sector companies auctioned very large capacity over the last 12 months.
The report issued by CARE does not paint the picture as a grim one though. The report itself mentions that an increasing number of states have come out with the aggressive solar power policies and targets.
At the end of June 2016 India's renewable energy capacity stood at just over 44 GW including 7.8 GW solar power capacity. More than 1 GW solar power capacity was added during the first three months of the financial year.
The CARE report further states that an estimated 8 GW capacity will be added during the next financial year of 2017-18. This, again, would be a massive reduction compared to the annual capacity addition targets announced by the Indian government.
The Indian government has set a target for 100 GW installed solar power capacity by March 2022. To achieve this, the government plans to add 15-17 GW every year starting 2017-18, hoping that the installed capacity at the beginning of the fiscal year would be around 19 GW.
CARE RatingsindiaIndia Solar Power TargetMinistry of New & Renewable EnergyMNRENational Solar Mission
smiti
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The 33-story Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in Black Hawk, said to be the tallest building between Denver and Salt Lake City, opened in 2009.
The hotel, with 536 rooms and 64 suites, was the result of a $230 million expansion by Ameristar, which also owns casinos in Nevada, Missouri, Mississippi, Iowa and Indiana. It opened several months after Colorado changed its laws to increase betting limits from $5 to $100 and to allow casinos in the three mountain towns that allow gambling to stay open 24 hours.
The adjacent 2-story casino features hundreds of slot machines as well as blackjack and poker.


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The A-wedge is a golf club that's used for shorter and softer shots. It can be classified as one of the four main types of wedges, which include (from least loft to most loft) pitching wedge, sand wedge, lob wedge or an A-wedge.
1 What Is the Purpose and Loft of an A-Wedge?
2 What is the loft of an A wedge?
3 Is an A wedge the same as a gap wedge?
The gap wedge is a versatile and useful addition to any golfer's bag. When it was first invented, the A-wedge filled in the large space between pitching wedges and sand wedges that were already common tools of golfers everywhere.
The "a" stands for either approach or attack, and some manufacturers may go with one of these names instead of A-wedge (approach wedge or attack wedge).
The manufacturer might also identify it by stamping "A"or "AW" near the toe on the sole but its becoming more common all over to just use degrees with no letters at all!
The versatile A-wedge is a club that fills the gap between other clubs in your golf set. The name of this wedge has changed, as it was originally called "pitching wedges" because its original use was to help you get out of tough sand traps or rough without losing too many shots on an approach shot.
In modern times it's been renamed the "gap wedge," but either way they're all just one type of single swing blades with different characteristics depending on what kind of situation you need them for!
The A-wedge is the perfect club for those times when you find yourself in a tight space on the course.
Gap Wedge
What Is the Purpose and Loft of an A-Wedge?
Previously, golf wedges were few: you had your pitching wedge and you had your sand wedge. For much of the game's history, at least after a limit on clubs was put in place, those were all the wedges found in bags even among professionals' equipment.
Beginning later into the 20th century, lob wedges came out as high lofted items, but still left an interesting gap with typically eight to 14 degrees difference between a pitching blade and a sand iron.
The gap wedge was created to fill the space in between a PW and SW. It allows for more precise control of both distance and trajectory on shots, perfect for those tricky greens that would otherwise cause issues with an average club.
What is the loft of an A wedge?
The A wedge is generally lofted at 50° or below but can reach anywhere from 46-54°
Is an A wedge the same as a gap wedge?
Is it easier for golfers to know what they're talking about if we call the wedge by loft instead of its name?
Some people believe that A wedges are different from gap wedges, but in truth both have the same purpose.
They come down to semantics or marketing speak – some manufacturers choose to label them as gap wedges while others go with approach ____s (fill in blank).
However you say it though, these clubs serve a specific need on par-4 holes and will be an important part of your bag when playing long courses at higher levels.
The Top 10 Best Women's Golf Clubs – Updated 2021
10 Best Drivers For Amateur Golfers – (2021) Updated
You should now know what an A wedge is and how to use it like a pro! It's important for you to have the best club in your bag.
Just to be clear! The A-Wedge is a type of golf club that can be used to play shots from directly behind the ball.
This wedge has an angle with its bottom edge ranging anywhere between 46 and 54 degrees, which allows for some extra loft when needed while playing in more difficult scenarios like steep slopes or green surfaces.
The qualities of this particular style make it ideal for players who want to get creative on demanding courses by adding just enough height off their tee so they don't have to take as much time lining up each shot; these wedges are great tools but only if you know how use them properly!
There are many things that will help get you prepared, but don't forget about this one-it might save your game from being ruined by faulty shots or poor aim. What do we mean?
You can hit with more power because of its design which makes contact on both sides so there isn't any slipping when hitting through rough terrain or even cement ones (despite not having as much control).
Get ready before heading out onto the golf course today; I hope everyone has fun playing out there!
Categories Blog, Golf Equipment, Golf Gear Tags Wedge Post navigation


Dryden High honours the contribution that Mr. Elmer Lick played in the past for the school.
Mr. Elmer Lick was Agriculture Representative for the Department of Food and Agriculture for the province of Ontario. For over fifteen years, he lectured and made presentations to the Conservation Camp students. In addition, the Lick family has provided Dryden High with many historical pictures of Conservation Camp as it occurred during that time.
In March 2018, Mr. Lick passed away peacefully with his family at his side.


Google has updated the stable channel of Chrome for Android to Chrome 26, which offers two new syncing features designed to save you a bit of time on mobile devices.
You can grab the latest version of Chrome for Android from the Google Play Store.
This release has two noteworthy features – password syncing and form autofill syncing. Keeping track of passwords is a pain and let's face it, most mobile password managers leave much to be desired. With the new Chrome for Android you can sync and access your saved passwords across devices.
Even if you prefer not to have Chrome store your passwords for you, the form autofill syncing is equally handy – especially given how tedious it can be to fill out forms using your mobile device's tiny keyboard.
Like all of Chrome's syncing features, you'll need to be signed into your Google account to use the new password and autofill sync.
This release also fixed a few bugs and offers some modest performance and stability improvements. For more details, see the Chrome blog.


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Business|The Most Wanted Gun in America
https://nyti.ms/14vUXbN
The Most Wanted Gun in America
At the Pasadena Pawn and Gun Shop in Maryland, customers can join a waiting list to buy an AR-15-style rifle. "It's kind of fashionable," Frank Loane Sr., the shop's proprietor, said of the gun.Credit...Steve Ruark for The New York Times
By Natasha Singer
PASADENA, Md.
THE phone rings again at Pasadena Pawn and Gun, and a familiar question comes down the line: "Got any ARs?"
The answer is no. Pasadena Pawn and Gun, a gun retailer and pawnshop 15 miles south of Baltimore, is pretty much sold out of America's most wanted gun, the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Since the massacre in Newtown, Conn., in December, the AR-15, the military-style weapon that the police say was used in the shootings, has been selling fast here and across the nation.
Before Newtown, the rifles sold for about $1,100, on average. Now some retailers charge twice that. At Pasadena Pawn, on the wall behind glass counters of handguns, are three dozen or so AR-15-style rifles. Dangling from nearly every one is a tag that says "Sold."
"The AR-15, it's kind of fashionable," says Frank Loane Sr., the proprietor. His shop has a revolving waiting list for the rifles, and a handful of people are now on it. "The young generation likes them, the assault-looking guns."
On one level, what is happening here and elsewhere simply reflects supply and demand. The gun industry has spent decades stoking demand for the AR-15 and rifles like it. Now, after the mass killings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, President Obama wants to reduce the supply. He has asked Congress for tougher controls, including a ban on what are commonly called "military-style assault weapons"; the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on gun violence last Wednesday. Many enthusiasts are rushing to buy one of the rifles now, in case the president prevails.
But how did gun makers stir up the demand for these particular guns in the first place? The answer is a story of shrewd advertising, aggressive marketing and savvy manufacturing — a virtual recasting of the place of guns in American life. With speed and skill, firearms manufacturers transformed a niche market for the AR-15 and similar rifles into a fast-growing profit center.
When certain rifles and features were banned under federal law from 1994 to 2004, gun makers tweaked their manufacturing specifications — and introduced more AR-15-style rifles than ever. With ads celebrating the rifle's military connections, they lured a new and eager audience to weapons that, not long ago, few serious gun enthusiasts would buy.
It might seem remarkable, given the national conversation about gun control, but guns are a relatively small business in the United States. Sales of commercial guns and ammunition — as opposed to those sold to the military and police — amounted to about $5 billion in 2012. That's less than half of the profits that Apple earned in the final 13 weeks of last year. But despite the headlines, and partly because of them, commercial gun sales are growing. Last year, they were up 16 percent industrywide, according to estimates from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade association. Semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 are responsible for a significant share of that growth.
By now, many Americans probably recognize the AR-15, whether or not they recognize the term. Unlike its military counterpart, the M-16, the civilian AR-15 cannot spray a continuous stream of ammunition with one pull of the trigger. But, as a semiautomatic, it can fire individual bullets as fast as the trigger can be squeezed. By design, it looks and feels like something commandos might carry. That is part of its appeal, and of manufacturers' pitch.
On one level, marketing military-style weapons to civilians is not so different from pitching professional sports equipment to high-school athletes. Garry James, the senior field editor at Guns & Ammo, says a military pedigree inspires consumer confidence in a gun's reliability.
"Credibility of performance is what appeals to the firearms enthusiast," Mr. James wrote in an e-mail.
Yet marketing combat-derived weapons to civilians is a risky business, particularly now. The industry itself has promoted the guns by using battle imagery and words like "assault" and "combat." Bushmaster Firearms, a leading maker of AR-15-style guns, and whose rifles have been used in several mass shootings, features the Bushmaster ACR, short for adaptive combat rifle, on its Web site. "Forces of opposition, bow down," part of the site says. All the same, gun makers say customers buy these weapons with peaceable intentions.
The AR-15 isn't the first military-style weapon to gain a consumer following. After World War II, some people bought surplus German service rifles made by Mauser and repurposed them for hunting and competitive shooting. But the selling of the AR-15 represents the first mass marketing of a military-style semiautomatic rifle made by a number of different gun makers. Its success has led to an increasing militarization of the entire consumer firearms market, says Tom Diaz, a gun industry researcher and gun control advocate.
"It speaks to the fact that there are a lot of young men in the U.S. who will never be in the military but feel that male compulsion to warriorhood," says Mr. Diaz, the author of "The Last Gun," a forthcoming book on the industry. "Owning an assault weapon is a passport to that."
A REMINGTON MODEL 870, a classic pump-action shotgun with an all-steel receiver and walnut stock, sits on a brown gingham tablecloth along with a slice of apple pie, a mug of coffee and an issue of the Old Farmer's Almanac.
This is how guns were marketed in 1981. That year, the Remington 870 was featured on the back cover of the July issue of Guns & Ammo, in an ad that emphasized quality and durability. "The 870," the ad read. "Still as American as apple pie."
The front cover of the same issue showed something very different: a photograph of two gleaming black rifles, with the cover line: "The New Breed of Assault Rifle."
That breed's military antecedent, the M-16, developed by Colt, had been an American staple of the Vietnam War; soldiers had nicknamed it the "black rifle" for its anodized coating. But, by the 1980s, with the war ended and military orders waning, the industry was eager to find a market for the civilian AR-15. Many gun makers were under pressure as traditional customers like hunters were aging and young Americans were taking up other pursuits like computers and video games. Net domestic gun sales fell from more than five million guns in 1980 to fewer than four million in 1987, according to a report in 2000 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Some gun makers responded by advertising handguns for women. Others found success in adapting combat weapons for civilians. Colt, which had introduced an updated version of the M-16 for the military, began selling a similarly tweaked AR-15 for the consumer market. Some parts manufacturers started selling AR-15 parts to consumers who wanted to piece together their own rifles. Other companies imported semiautomatic Uzis, a version of the Israel Defense Force weapon, for civilian use.
The look and the gas-powered mechanisms of the new black rifles offended some gun enthusiasts, who viewed them as mere high-powered toys. Even magazines like Guns & Ammo, the Vogue of firearms, had to acknowledge the initial wariness of some readers.
"The dyed-in-the-wool deer hunter watching his domain being infiltrated by these black and gray guns assumes these 'new generation' hunters are merely fantasizing 'war games' and are playing 'soldier,' " Art Blatt, a writer at Guns & Ammo, said in that 1981 issue. Mr. Blatt, now deceased, covered all types of firearms for the magazine and was himself a shotgun enthusiast.
But the gun media found ways to appeal to readers. In that 1981 article on the Colt AR-15 and similar firearms, Mr. Blatt invoked the rifles' military pedigree, "spawned in the crucible of war." He spoke of their military-level durability, speed and accuracy. In a 1983 cover article on "Bushmaster assault systems," he noted that in tests on a human-size silhouette target 10 yards away, a Bushmaster with a full 30-round magazine could be "rapidly emptied into the lethal zone."
The new rifles used ammunition — .223 caliber — that was considered too small for big-game hunting in most states. Before long, consumers were buying the guns for small game — "varmint hunting" — as well as recreational shooting called "plinking."
Some gun writers were not entirely comfortable with the rifles. In his article on Bushmaster, Mr. Blatt wrote that the guns seemed "a mite too powerful and penetrating" for home defense. He recommended the Bushmaster for police SWAT teams "in close-quarter encounters with evildoers."
Despite such reservations, the AR-15-style rifle — which is fast, modern, ergonomically designed, relatively easy to handle and produces little recoil — soon found a wide audience, be it Vietnam War veterans who had used the military version or first-time gun buyers.
"End users with minimal firearms exposure can learn to quickly become safe and proficient with the platform regardless of prior firearms experience," Mr. James, the editor at Guns & Ammo, wrote in an e-mail.
Another feature of the AR-15 is that it can be easily personalized and accessorized.
"You can take the whole gun apart and replace any part you want to without special tools, without knowing a whole lot," says Tim McDermott, a range officer at the Personal Defense and Handgun Safety Center in Raleigh, N.C. "They are Legos for guys."
IN 1976, Richard Dyke, a Korean War veteran, bought a bankrupt gun maker in Bangor, Me., for $241,000. That business grew into Bushmaster Firearms, which quickly earned a following after target shooters began winning competitions with its rifles.
"That did give us prestige," Mr. Dyke said in an interview with The New York Times in 2011. "Then we won law-enforcement contracts and started getting recognition in the trade press." (Mr. Dyke later sold Bushmaster and started another gun company, Windham Weaponry. He declined to comment for this article).
Then, in 1994, the AR-15 hit a speed bump. Congress passed a 10-year ban on "assault weapons," which legislators defined as semiautomatic rifles that included two or more specific features, like pistol-type handle grips and metal mounts, called bayonet lugs, to which bayonets could be attached. People who already owned such rifles were allowed to keep them.
The ban made the rifles only more desirable for some consumers. To meet the demand, gun makers removed prohibited features, like bayonet lugs, and marketed them as legal alternatives.
"It was unfortunately an industrywide event where companies were openly bragging about their ability to sell guns in circumvention of the law," says Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a research and gun-control advocacy group in Washington.
The industry produced an estimated one million modified AR-15-style rifles during the ban — more than it had produced of the original version in the previous decade — says Gary G. Mehalik, a former marketing executive at the National Shooting Sports Foundation and at Taurus USA, a handgun maker in Miami. He denied that gun makers circumvented the law.
"If you drive 40 miles an hour in a 40-mile-an-hour zone, are you exploiting a loophole or following the law?" Mr. Mehalik asked.
After the ban's expiration, gun makers simply restored the once-prohibited features. Some companies added muscle to the rifles — to enthusiastic reviews in the gun media.
"Scoffed at for being a 'poodle shooter,' the AR has grown fangs and is now available in a variety of calibers including big bores," said an article in Guns & Ammo in 2005. "Today's ARs ride in an increasing number of patrol cars," the article said, adding that the guns' military counterparts "are turning live terrorists into dead ones in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Combat allusions increased in ads as well. In a 2008 issue of Guns & Ammo, an ad for Stag Arms, a leading AR-15-style rifle and parts maker, showed a photo of two policemen wearing bulletproof vests and helmets, carrying the black rifles. "Stag Arms rifles meet the highest standards of engineering precision and reliability," the ad said. "Just ask these guys."
An article about Stag Arms in the same issue described one of the company's models as "a southpaw's dream" and invoked "the role this rifle plays in combat."
Mark Malkowski, the president of Stag Arms, declined to comment.
Mr. James, of Guns & Ammo, said his magazine devoted many articles to AR-15-style rifles because manufacturers over time had improved the guns and introduced a variety of accessories, thereby attracting readers' attention.
"Guns & Ammo's role in popularizing the platform is purely a function of reader interest and the platform's unique adaptability for a wide range of sporting purposes," Mr. James wrote.
Pressured by investors in the wake of Newtown, Cerberus Capital Management, a private investment firm that bought Bushmaster from Mr. Dyke and has built the nation's largest gun company, the Freedom Group, announced that it would sell its gun interests. It has yet to find a buyer.
A WOMAN wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses and a make-my-day smirk aims a hefty black semiautomatic Benelli rifle at an unseen predator. "This baby handles prairie varmints or the kind that come uninvited through your door," the Benelli Web site says of the rifle. "Chosen by the United States Marine Corps."
Gun makers seem to be competing to roll out the next civilianized combat weapon. Today, one trendsetter in handguns is a new generation of semiautomatic pistols with large-capacity magazines and other features. An ad for a pistol from Taurus USA promoted it as "the extreme-duty next-generation handgun, created for Special Operations Personnel."
Such marketing aside, the industry disavows a link between military-style guns and gun violence. Industry representatives, like the National Rifle Association, often fault news outlets for demonizing and mislabeling the rifles.
"As you should know, but your non-gun-owning friends probably don't, the guns our opponents call 'assault weapons' are not 'high-powered' when compared to other firearms," Chris W. Cox, the executive director of the N.R.A.'s Institute for Legislative Action, wrote in a 2009 article in American Rifleman, a monthly N.R.A. publication.
Some marketing executives take a different view, suggesting that the industry include warnings the way alcohol and cigarette ads do. In a blog post last month on Adage.com titled "In a Culture of Mass Shootings, the Ad Industry Shares the Blame," David Morse, a contributor, recommended that gun makers develop "more responsible ways" to present their products.
"Should we be holding manufacturers accountable?" Mr. Morse, the C.E.O. of New American Dimensions, a multicultural marketing research firm, asked in a phone interview. "The marketing messages do share in the blame because the messages are picked up and misinterpreted by the wrong kind of people."


Preventing the introduction of noxious and invasive species—commonly known as weeds—is the first line of defense against their establishment. The UFO applies Integrated Weed Management (IWM) principles and Early Detection/Rapid Response strategies to curtail damage to ecosystems by noxious weeds.
IWM utilizes a combination of control strategies which will hopefully result in the most effective control of target noxious species. IWM methods include cultural practices, the use of biological, physical, mechanical, and manual treatments, and the selective use of herbicides. Following the use of control measures, monitoring is conducted to determine which treatments are working, and on which species. Early detection and rapid response efforts increase the likelihood that invasions will be addressed successfully while populations are still localized and population levels are not beyond that which can be contained and eradicated. Once populations are widely established, all that might be possible is the partial mitigation of negative impacts. In addition, the costs associated with such efforts are typically far less than those of long-term invasive species management programs.
BLM authorizations granting land use to private entities (such as rights-of-way and oil and gas permitting) always include specific stipulations that place the responsibility for weed management on the holder/proponent of the permitted activity.
Weeds can be controlled through various levels of treatment. Should chemical methods (herbicide treatments) be selected, the BLM requires both prior approval to conduct chemical weed treatments and follow-up recording of the actual application of the herbicide(s). Contact the BLM UFO Weed Coordinator directly for additional guidance should biological control methods be proposed.


text:
Q: Rust implement Into trait for Arc to Arc I'm trying to cast a struct which implements a trait to a trait object of that same trait. The problem is that the trait object needs to wrapped in an Arc and I can't implement the Into trait for an Arc. Due to the following code not compiling:
use std::sync::Arc;

trait Foo { }

struct Bar {}

impl Foo for Bar { }

impl Into<Arc<dyn Foo>> for Arc<Bar> {
    fn into(self) -> Arc<dyn Foo> { self }
}

fn bar_to_foo(bar: Arc<Bar>) -> Arc<dyn Foo> {
    bar.into()
}

This fails with the following compiler message:
error[E0119]: conflicting implementations of trait `std::convert::Into<std::sync::Arc<(dyn Foo + 'static)>>` for type `std::sync::Arc<Bar>`:
 --> src/lib.rs:9:1
  |
9 | impl Into<Arc<dyn Foo>> for Arc<Bar> {
  | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  |
  = note: conflicting implementation in crate `core`:
          - impl<T, U> std::convert::Into<U> for T
            where U: std::convert::From<T>;
  = note: upstream crates may add a new impl of trait `std::convert::From<std::sync::Arc<Bar>>` for type `std::sync::Arc<(dyn Foo + 'static)>` in future versions

error[E0117]: only traits defined in the current crate can be implemented for arbitrary types
 --> src/lib.rs:9:1
  |
9 | impl Into<Arc<dyn Foo>> for Arc<Bar> {
  | ^^^^^------------------^^^^^--------
  | |    |                      |
  | |    |                      `std::sync::Arc` is not defined in the current crate
  | |    `std::sync::Arc` is not defined in the current crate
  | impl doesn't use only types from inside the current crate
  |
  = note: define and implement a trait or new type instead

error: aborting due to 2 previous errors

However I cannot do the following either:
use std::sync::Arc;

trait Foo { }

struct Bar {}

impl Foo for Bar { }

impl Into<dyn Foo> for Bar {
    fn into(self) -> dyn Foo { self }
}

fn bar_to_foo(bar: Arc<Bar>) -> Arc<dyn Foo> {
    bar.into()
}

Because that results in:
error[E0277]: the size for values of type `(dyn Foo + 'static)` cannot be known at compilation time
 --> src/lib.rs:9:6
  |
9 | impl Into<dyn Foo> for Bar {
  |      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ doesn't have a size known at compile-time
  |
  = help: the trait `std::marker::Sized` is not implemented for `(dyn Foo + 'static)`

I'm probably missing something obvious, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

A: I'm a moron:
use std::sync::Arc;

trait Foo { }

struct Bar {}

impl Foo for Bar { }

fn bar_to_foo(bar: Arc<Bar>) -> Arc<dyn Foo> {
    bar
}

I'll show myself out.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Voters are ready to feel the bern.
A new poll from Quinnipiac University has some bad news for Hillary Clinton, who was once considered a shoo-in for the White House, and some good news for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was considered to be nothing but a dreamer. Conducted from February 2-4, it shows the two candidates in a virtual tie in their bids for the Democratic nomination: Clinton holds 44% to Sanders's 42% with a 2.9 % error of margin. In the same poll in December, Vice News reports that Clinton held a 31% lead over Sanders.
It's the first poll since the candidates faced off in Iowa, which also ended in a near-tie, and showed that maybe Sanders's lofty ambitions for a political revolution aren't that unattainable and that his views are resonating with voters. Sanders has created a lot of buzz for his campaign from millennials with his rally to combat the income gap and his promise of free public college tuition. No doubt his strong finish in Iowa proved to some voters that he might actually have the right message and passion to win this election, and that's being reflected in the current poll.
With the New Hampshire primary right around the corner, and Sanders leading by large margins in there and in poll match-ups against potential Republican opponents for the general election, Clinton has a lot of catching up to do and hearts to win in a race that was previously seen as nothing more than a formality for her.


The unprecedented advances in interactivity and multimedia capabilities together with a myriad of emerging technologies have enabled the creation of virtual learning environments that could be utilized to boost the development of English language skills among Malaysian primary and secondary school students. English language standards have been deteriorating over the years and basic oral skills have been appalling due to lack of usage and reflective practice. English lessons that incorporate multimedia applications can exert powerful motivation and provide bored students with exciting new ways to learn. The utilization and integration of ICT tools can indeed assist students in acquiring English Language competency as well as enhance the quality of their learning experience. This paper first examines the present scenario of English language teachers as regards ICT integration and tries to determine if ICT skills of English language teachers in the light of existing infrastructure facilities are adequate to promote English language teaching and learning. The researcher next looks at some of the obstacles faced by English language teachers in ICT integration and finally in the concluding part the researchers suggest the use of interactive lessons to speed up the teaching and learning of English.


text:
Vóór 1960 was er weinig sprake van wijnbouw in Thailand. De druiven werden geïmporteerd uit de Verenigde Staten en Australië, wat voor hoge kosten zorgde. Nadat er geschikte druivenrassen werden gevonden voor de groei in eigen land, groeide de wijnbouw in een snel tempo. De eerste commerciële wijnstreken bevonden zich in de provincies Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Samut Sakhon en Samut Songkhram, nabij Bangkok. Vervolgens groeide de wijnbouw uit naar noordoostelijke en westelijke regio's.

De weersomstandigheden in de diverse provincies verschillen enorm.
In de centrale vlakte liggen de temperatuur, gemiddelde neerslag per jaar, spectrum van relatieve vochtigheid en hoogte, respectievelijk, 25-30°C, 1300-1450 mm, 60-90 procent en 2-3 m. De bodem is van kleiachtige aard en de drainage is vaak erg slecht in deze regio. Kalk en mest zijn tevens nodig om chemische en fysische eigenschappen van deze gronden te verbeteren.
In de noordelijke regio's liggen de bovenstaande waardes respectievelijk op 10-20°C, 1400-1500 mm, 60-90 procent en 1200 m. De bodem is een klei-leem type en bestaat veelal uit een goed gedraineerde grond met een pH van ongeveer 4-5. Water is afkomstig van reservoirs die zijn gebouwd voor irrigatie.
In het noordoostelijke deel liggen de waardes respectievelijk op 19-30°C, 1200-1300 mm, 60-90 procent en 450 m. Voor de rest heeft het dezelfde kenmerken als de bovenstaande noordelijke regio's.

In 1998 werd er op 2.717 hectare druiven verbouwd. In de centrale vlakte van het land groeien voornamelijk tafeldruiven. In de noordoostelijke regio zowel tafel- als wijndruiven.

Er zijn twee wijnbedrijven, in de provincies Loei en Nakhon Ratchasima. Een voorbeeld van een Thaise wijn is de Chateau Loei uit Loei.

Wijnbouw
Wijnbouw
Thailand

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


It has been over twenty years since I first began hearing about the Culture War. We were warned over and over again about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket and it is all their fault. They, those people who are not us, have cast off all moral restraint which is resulting in the end of the tidy world as we know it.
I heard it. I heard it some more. I still hear it. Them vs. Us. Everywhere. And we must get out there and fight that war. Kill those enemies. Or, if necessary, circle the wagons and wait out the whole shootin' match.
I may have overstated. I am not trying to be terribly offensive, but I am weary. And concerned.
I have mentioned a time or two that my father was a Navy pilot in World War II. He flew nifty planes in the Pacific Theater and, best I can guess from the bits and pieces I have heard, did some rather heroic things. During childhood the memories of his old Navy days graced the wall, complete with photos of uniforms and airplanes and medals and flags. He may have been the most patriotic man I know.
I was well into adulthood before I found out that his father, my grandfather, was in World War I. I never knew this man, but I hear that he was a quiet and gentle man. Instead of flying the planes or shooting from the trenches at the well defined enemy, he served in a different, much needed way. He drove an ambulance. According to my father, "he could make an ambulance GO places."
Where there is war, there are wounded.
When the economy goes in the tank, we tend to rail against whatever political or economic ideology we feel is responsible. Do we out as much energy into caring for the casualties of a failing economy? Do we give of our resources to those suddenly without a paycheck? Or a home?
When we hear that the percentage of children born to women out of wedlock is reaching 41% (or even 50%, as I saw recently), we shake our heads at the moral laxity, tighten our grip on our own daughters, and jump on the modesty bandwagon. But do we come alongside those women who find themselves lonely and overwhelmed? Do our hearts melt for those children who might not know what a father is?
It is easier to fight an enemy out there than to love a neighbor in here. Up close and personal. Where things might get messy. Hands dirty.
We can debate and campaign until the cows come home. We might very well be right in our position. But the wounded are not healed by arguments or upright moral standing. The wounded are healed by kindness and compassion, mercy and grace, and love.
My grandfather may not have been a war hero. He will never go down in the history books. His actions didn't change the outcome of any battle. But I can guarantee you that to those wounded soldiers, his presence, his care, and his willingness to go to scary, messy places meant the difference between life and death.
The Culture War has plenty of soldiers. It's time we trained to be medics.


text:
Home » Car Articles » Car Reviews » Car Review Listings » BMW Reviews
The Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 Shooting Brake revealed
Car Review - BMW X5 xDrive40i X Line 7-Seater (A)
The new fourth generation X5 delivers on its promise of being a practical, high-tech and dynamically confident family SUV.
Launched all the way back in 1999, the first ever BMW X5 was the very first SUV from BMW, heralding the start of the brand's X family of cars. Of course, this was way before the rapid proliferation of SUVs across the industry.
Now, the new fourth generation X5 finds itself in a highly competitive segment chock full with competitors chomping for a piece of the pie (a pie BMW will gleefully tell you it first created). How does it stack up?
The new X5 is longer, wider and taller than its predecessor
It must have grown bigger, yes?
As with everything these days, yes, the new X5 is bigger. It's not just the kidney grille either (though that too has grown). Compared to its predecessor, the new X5 is 36mm longer, 66mm wider, 19mm taller and has a 42mm longer wheelbase.
Visually, it's not immediately apparent (other than the aforementioned kidney grille, which really is rather big). The car retains a generally similar beefy and muscular design language to the third generation model, though sleeker elements like the BMW Laserlights and a strong signature character line help make the car look a tad less gargantuan than it actually is.
With the third row of seats folded, the X5 boasts 645 litres of boot space
It is inside the car where the extra space can be felt. There's more head, shoulder and legroom, especially for the rear passengers.
The car also comes standard with seven seats - fold the third bench and you have access to 645 litres of boot space, expandable to 1,860 litres with the second row folded. There is also a couple of buttons in the boot area that will allow you to easily fold the second row of seats.
And there's a ton of new tech, presumably...
Oh yes, there most certainly is. The list of new available technology is extensive, but a couple stand out.
The Gesture Control function is now much more refined, with clearer detection and operation
The first is the new BMW Live Cockpit Professional, comprising a 12.3-inch digital instrument display as well as a 12.3-inch Control Display running BMW's latest Operating System 7.0. Beyond just being very sleek-looking, the new Operating System 7.0 is easy to use, while also being highly customisable. This also gives you access to all sorts of cool functions, including gesture control and the Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA), activated by saying "Hey BMW".
The X5 also features wireless Apple CarPlay, which allows you to mirror your iPhone without an ungainly cable dangling around the cabin. However, we found the system to have occassional hiccups - at times, the system would disconnect the iPhone for a couple of minutes before being able to re-establish the connection. This should hopefully be resolved in a future Remote Software Upgrade.
Wireless Apple CarPlay allows for even more convenient smartphone connectivity
BMW has also packed the X5 with the whole gamut of driver assistance systems, including Parking Assistant Plus, Reversing Assistant and Cruise Control with braking function.
And while the new X5 definitely packs a lot more equipment, the cabin actually feels more minimalist and uncluttered. This can be attributed to the new centre console where a majority of the important buttons are housed.
So how does it drive, then?
As you'd expect, the X5 is pretty sweet to drive. It's light on its feet, with generous amounts of power from the 3.0-litre turbocharged engine. 335bhp and 450Nm of torque pushes the car from 0-100km/h in just 5.5 seconds. And, the engine makes a pretty sweet sound - not loud or rapturous like an M engine, but rather mellow yet sonorous.
Saying "Hey BMW" activates the IPA, enabling you to operate a wide range of features just by talking to the car
The ride is good, too. The two-axle air suspension system with automatic self-levelling allows the X5 to soak up bumps in the road effortlessly, significantly improving overall ride comfort. You can also engage Sport mode to firm up the suspension if you want to partake in spirited driving.
For a car this big, the X5 handles impressively. Along twisty roads, the X5 delivers ample amounts of grip, the steering is fairly precise, and you can really hustle it along much more quickly than you really should a big, tall-riding SUV. However, there's no overcoming the sheer size of the car - some roll is to be expected, and you'll definitely find yourself creeping into the other lane.
The 3.0-litre stright-six engine pairs creamy smooth power with a melodic soundtrack
Niggles? We seemed to detect a low-frequency boominess within the cabin of the X5, though we're not quite certain what it is. It may be the car's large cabin reverberating ambient noise. Tyre noise is also a tad more detectable than we'd like.
So is it still the segment leader?
There's no doubt that the new fourth generation X5 is markedly improved from before. That's no real surprise - with new technology, better equipment and greater refinement, the X5 is a step up from the previous generation.
Right now, the new X5 is a certainly the best iteration of BMW's family SUV formula
Is it better than the rest of the field? This is a more difficult question. You see, back when the X5 first debuted in 1999, there was nothing else quite like it. And, the X5 has always stood out for its superior driving dynamics, while still delivering the practicality of a big family SUV.
These days, with so many SUVs in the market, drivers have more options than ever before. The new X5 is undoubtedly the best iteration of BMW's luxury family SUV formula (at least until we get behind the wheel of the new and even bigger X7). Is it the best-driving? We suspect the Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne will beg to differ. The most luxurious? The Bentley Bentayga has got that covered. Most comfortable? The Volvo XC90 is certainly up there.
There may be other SUVs that do specific things better, but when it comes to all-round capability, the X5 still stands tall
The X5 may have created the formula, but so many brands have now gone and made their own spin on it. Where the X5 probably still reigns supreme is in scoring the highest average mark across all grading categories. It's supremely well-rounded, capable of delivering the goods no matter what you ask of it. And if you think about it, that is probably its own new benchmark.
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bmw bmw x5 x5 bmw suv x5 40i x5 suv


text:
Q: How to print awk's results with different colors for different fields? This file has 3 fields. I wanted e.g. the first 2 fields in green, and the third in white (NB : black background), so I tried :
awk '{print "\033[0;32m"$1"\033[0m", "\033[0;32m"$2"\033[0m", "\033[0;37m"$3"\033[0m"} }' chrono.txt

and everything was green…
How must I proceed (if it is possible) ?

A: To get color output from awk, you can use this approach.
function red(s) {
    printf "\033[1;31m" s "\033[0m "
}

function green(s) {
    printf "\033[1;32m" s "\033[0m "
}

function blue(s) {
    printf "\033[1;34m" s "\033[0m "
}

{
    print red($1), green($2), blue($3)
}

A: An alternative to using awk functions is passing the colors in shell variables.  E.g.
RED='\033[01;31m'
GREEN='\033[01;32m'
YELLOW='\033[01;33m'
BLUE='\033[01;34m'
NONE='\033[0m'

echo "Col1 Col2 Col3 Col4" | \
awk -v r=$RED -v y=$YELLOW -v g=$GREEN -v b=$BLUE -v n=$NONE \
 '{printf r$1n y$2n g$3n b$4n "\n"}'


Kevin R. den Dulk is the Paul B. Henry Professor of Political Science and the Executive Director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI). An award winning teacher, his scholarly work focuses especially on how religion works within civil society to foster democratic citizenship. He has co-authored or co-edited several books, including Religion and Politics in America (2013), Christianity in Chinese Public Life (2014), The Church and Religious Persecution (2015), Pews, Prayers, and Participation (2008), A Disappearing God Gap? (2010), and most recently, The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Six Democracies (2017). He writes regularly for Comment magazine and the Center for Public Justice and occasionally tweets @kdendulk.


text:
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Reform Update: Providers still skittish of CMS' renal ACO initiative
Sabriya Rice
With just a few months before its launch, some providers are expressing frustration with a CMS initiative aimed at testing innovative payment and care-delivery models specifically geared toward patients with end-stage renal disease. Too many questions remain about key details and the framework offers too little potential for success.
The treatment of end-stage renal disease, or ESRD, cost Medicare $34 billion in 2011, about 6% of all Medicare spending. Hemodialysis for ESRD costs the program about $88,000 a year per patient.
The CMS Innovation Center conceived the new Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease Care initiative, or CEC, in February 2013 to investigate new payment and delivery models that would rein in those costs while encouraging higher quality, better coordinated and more patient-centered care for these more than 500,000 beneficiaries.
Introducing a model similar to the accountable care organizations aimed at improving the efficiency and quality of care for the general Medicare population, the CMS is establishing ESRD seamless care organizations, or ESCOs, for kidney failure patients.
Q&A: DaVita CMO Dr. Allen Nissenson on renal care and Medicare ACOs
The initiative drew early criticism from kidney researchers, who supported the idea but questioned why the ESCO model wouldn't also target patients in earlier stages of the disease to slow its progression. They also expressed reservations about how the CMS would calibrate the quality targets.
Questions about the details of the program persist more than a year and a half later, even though the CMS is expected to begin testing accepted models in January 2015.
"The economics are not great, the quality targets are not known and they haven't told us what interventions are going to be dictated by the waivers," said Robert Sepucha, vice president of corporate affairs for Fresenius Medical Care, a dialysis service provider that has submitted about six applications to the program.
The quality metrics applied to this patient population have to be specific, he said, because they tend to have multiple chronic diseases and face difficult and costly treatments.
Another fear is that the program's waivers won't give providers enough leeway to try new interventions that are prohibited under traditional Medicare reimbursement, Sepucha said. For example, offering financially strapped patients free transportation to a dialysis clinic is considered essentially a kickback to the patient. If an approach is denied "We'll have to scratch our heads and go back to the drawing board," Sepucha said.
In response to such criticisms, the CMS says similar models, such as the Pioneer ACO payment model and the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, were able to successfully ramp up their care-management activities well before the quality metrics were finalized. The CMS also says the agency has already published a set of preliminary CEC measures. The list includes metrics for quality of life, disease management (like extremity amputation), mortality rates and care coordination (like readmission and hospitalization ratios). The CMS expects to release details on the quality measurement strategy for the initiative in late fall of this year. Participants can expect "substantial overlap" between the preliminary and final list when it is released in the late fall, the CMS said.
"The problem is very few of the quality measures have been field-tested, and some are tested in the general population but not the dialysis population," says Dr. Edward Jones, chairman of Kidney Care Partners, a coalition of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, care providers and manufacturers. "They've been put out by technical expert panels of CMS, with little input from the community," he said.
The CMS has not disclosed the number of applications it has received from providers vying to operate as ESCOs, but some observers suspect the numbers are low. In response to stakeholder feedback, the CMS extended the application date this past spring. ESCOs that include a large dialysis organization were given through June 23, while those with small dialysis organizations have until Sept. 15.
"It's not likely going to be the large number of applications they were hoping for," said Jones, who is also a practicing nephrologist in the Philadelphia area. Members of the coalition also expressed concern over a two-sided risk model, in which larger organizations who participate would not only suffer losses if targets are not reached, but would also have to pay back the federal agency for money lost. Many support the CMS efforts, "but it has to be done the right way," Jones said.
Other payment and delivery experiments the CMS has launched under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have yielded mixed results so far. Last January, the first results for Medicare's shared-savings program for ACOs showed uneven progress among hospitals and physicians. The Innovation Center's Pioneer ACO Model, meanwhile, saw nine of 32 organizations exit the program after its first year. Several of them switched to the less financially risky shared-savings program.
Kidney Care Partners—whose members include AbbVie, the American Kidney Fund, the American Society of Nephrology and DaVita HealthCare Partners—is supporting legislation it says will lay the groundwork for the success of programs like Medicare's new ESRD initiative. The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2014 bill aims to address gaps in kidney disease research, drive efforts to improve education for patients, and establish an interagency committee to improve research coordination.
For now, potential participants in the CEC remain skeptical. The way in which the model has been rolled out has provided little incentive, kidney-care providers say.
DaVita, which along with Fresenius dominates dialysis care in the U.S., is hoping to have as many as five ESCOs accepted by the CMS.
"We really believe in care coordination," DaVita Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Nissenson said in a recent interview with Modern Healthcare. "We want to be held accountable for the outcomes as well as for the cost. We've asked for that."
But he also echoed Sepucha's reservations about the model. "It's sort of sad," Nissenson said, "that the full potential probably won't be realized."
October ruling expected in Fla. Medicaid case
A federal judge is expected to rule in October on a class-action lawsuit filed in 2005 against Florida health and child-welfare officials. The case claimed the state violated federal law by providing inadequate Medicaid services to children, and that care of the children had been hampered by low Medicaid payments to doctors, the Miami Herald reported last week. According to the report, if the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, the state might have to come up with about $227 million a year to permanently increase payment rates to pediatricians and dentists, pending any appeals.
Follow Sabriya Rice on Twitter: @MHSRice
Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.
Aetna, Anthem among funders of Aveneer Health's $50M seed round
Fund launched to invest exclusively in Black-owned health tech ventures
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text:
International›
Sweden›
Annual business confidence index for the service sector Sweden 2008-2022
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
by M. Szmigiera, last edited Jul 8, 2019
This statistic shows the business confidence index for the service sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2017, with projections up until 2022. In 2017, the confidence index for the Swedish service industry ranged at approximately 26.22 index points, indicating a major increase in business confidence.
Business confidence index (0 = neutral)
*Estimate.
Note: Forecasts were estimated by Statista using cyclical forecasting algorithms, based on data of the Business Confidence Survey conducted monthly by the European Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (EC DGFIN). During the survey, businesses are asked to rate various aspects of their sector to understand how positive or negative they feel about the current, and near-future situation. The answers from these questions are ranked numerically and are combined into a weighted, averaged "confidence" value for each sector and each country. The Business Consumer Surveys data used here is the non-seasonally adjusted version; from these datasets, forecasts of the confidence in the sector have been derived. Positive confidence trends indicate growth, whereas negative confidence indicates decline.
EU & Euro-Zone
GDP growth forecast: Western Europe, U.S., U.K. and Germany 2010-2023
Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors Sweden 2017
Inflation rate in Sweden 2024
Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in Sweden 2024
Economic Outlook Sweden
Everything On "Economic Outlook Sweden" in One Document: Edited and Divided into Handy Chapters. Including Detailed References.
Statistics on "Economic Outlook Sweden"
Key economic indicators
Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections for the U.S., U.K., Germany and Western Europe from 2010 to 2023GDP growth forecast: Western Europe, U.S., U.K. and Germany 2010-2023
Sweden: Gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices from 2014 to 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)Gross domestic product (GDP) in Sweden 2024
Sweden: Growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in Sweden 2024
Sweden: Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors from 2007 to 2017Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors Sweden 2017
Sweden: Unemployment rate from 2008 to 2018Unemployment rate in Sweden 2018
Sweden: Inflation rate from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)Inflation rate in Sweden 2024
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in the European Union from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in EU 2008-2022
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector Sweden 2008-2022
Industry revenue of »manufacture of motor vehicles« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »manufacture of motor vehicles« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »manufacture of paper and paperboard« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »manufacture of paper and paperboard« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »manufacture of basic iron, steel, ferro-alloys« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »manufacture of basic iron, steel, ferro-alloys« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »manufacture of kitchen furniture« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »manufacture of kitchen furniture« in Sweden 2011-2023
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the service sector Sweden 2008-2022
Industry revenue of »rental and operating of own or leased real estate« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »rental and operating of own or leased real estate« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »engineering activities, related technical consultancy« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »engineering activities, related technical consultancy« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »business and other management consultancy activities« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »business and other management consultancy activities« in Sweden 2011-2023
Restaurants and mobile food service activities revenue in Sweden from 2010 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)Restaurants and mobile food service activities revenue in Sweden 2010-2022
Industry revenue of »tour operator activities« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »tour operator activities« in Sweden 2011-2023
Annual business confidence index for the retail sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the retail sector Sweden 2008-2022
Industry revenue of »sale of cars and light motor vehicles« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »sale of cars and light motor vehicles« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale in non-specialised stores with food« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale in non-specialised stores with food« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale of clothing in specialised stores« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale of clothing in specialised stores« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores« in Sweden 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale of furniture, lighting equipment« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale of furniture, lighting equipment« in Sweden 2011-2023
Turnover of online shops in the services segment in Sweden 2016, by branch
Annual business confidence index for the service sector Malta 2008-2022
Annual business confidence index for the service sector Cyprus 2008-2022
Annual business confidence index for the service sector Croatia 2008-2022
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in EU 2008-2022
Italy: service sector output production at basic price Italy 2004-2016
Real GDP growth of the service sector in Cambodia 2014-2020
Italy: salaries of marketing and sales professionals in service sector by city 2017
Turnover of online services in Sweden 2018, by category
Share of services in total employment in APAC 2018, by country
Distribution of blockchain fund raising cases by sector in China 2018
Balance of opinions on e-commerce among services enterprises in France 2014
Leading online shops in the services segment in Sweden 2016, by turnover
Share of online service shoppers in Sweden 2018, by category
Italy: resident foreign affiliates' employees 2016
Annual bonuses unclassified services sector Japan 2017, by age group
Service sector private non-financial corporations gross rate of return in the UK 2018
Export value of agricultural products and food from Sweden into Austria 2012-2017
Forecast: revenue art facility operation Turkey 2009-2020
Airlines in Scandinavia
Automotive industry in Sweden
Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections for the U.S., U.K., Germany and Western Europe from 2010 to 2023
Sweden: Gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices from 2014 to 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Sweden: Growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)
Sweden: Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors from 2007 to 2017
Sweden: Unemployment rate from 2008 to 2018
Sweden: Inflation rate from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in the European Union from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Industry revenue of »manufacture of motor vehicles« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »manufacture of paper and paperboard« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »manufacture of basic iron, steel, ferro-alloys« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »manufacture of kitchen furniture« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »rental and operating of own or leased real estate« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »engineering activities, related technical consultancy« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »business and other management consultancy activities« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Restaurants and mobile food service activities revenue in Sweden from 2010 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Industry revenue of »tour operator activities« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Annual business confidence index for the retail sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Industry revenue of »sale of cars and light motor vehicles« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale in non-specialised stores with food« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale of clothing in specialised stores« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale of furniture, lighting equipment« in Sweden from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Turnover of online shops in the services segment in Sweden as of August 2016, by branch (in thousand SEK)
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in Malta from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in Cyprus from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in the Croatia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in the European Union from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Annual output at basic price of the services sector in Italy from 2004 to 2016 (in million euros)
Real GDP growth of the service sector in Cambodia from 2014 to 2020
Average gross annual salaries of marketing and sales professionals in the service sector in selected cities in Italy in 2017 (in euro)
Turnover of online services in Sweden in 2018, by category (in billion SEK)
Share of services in total employment in the Asia Pacific region in 2018, by country
Distribution of blockchain fund raising cases in China until March 31, 2018, by sector
Balance of opinions of services enterprises regarding the impact of internet sales on their activity in France in 2014*
Ranking of the leading online shops in services sales based on turnover in Sweden as of August 2016 (in thousand SEK)
Share of online service shoppers in Sweden in 2018, by category
Total number of employees of foreign-controlled enterprises in Italy in 2016, by sector
Annual special cash earnings of ordinary workers in the Japanese miscellaneous services sector in 2017, by age group (in 1,000 Japanese yen)*
Gross rate of return of service sector private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) in the United Kingdom (UK) from the first quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2018
Value of agricultural products and food exported from Sweden into Austria from 2012 to 2017 (in million SEK)
Revenue of art facility operation (EFIS (NACE) 9004) in Turkey from 2009 to 2020 (in million U.S. dollars)


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Home > Reviews > Rockport, Rockport Jazz Festival > Rockport Jazz Festival 2015
Rockport Jazz Festival 2015
Spectacular sounds -- and sights -- in Massachusetts
Updated April 25, 2019 – By Bill Beuttler
Anat Cohen performs at the 2015 Rockport Jazz Festival
The Joey Alexander Trio, featuring bassist Dan Chmielinski and drummer Mark Whitfield Jr., performs at the 2015 Rockport Jazz Festival
Joey Alexander performs at the 2015 Rockport Jazz Festival
The arty seaside town of Rockport, about an hour north of Boston on Massachusetts' Cape Ann, hosted its fourth annual Rockport Jazz Festival this past weekend, with performances by six Newport-worthy headliners in separate shows over four days at the exquisite 5-year-old, 330-seat Shalin Liu Performance Center. The Shalin Liu looks relatively unassuming from Main Street-one could mistake it for a spiffy new B&B-but inside it's state-of-the-art, renowned regionally for its excellent acoustics and the spectacular view of Rockport Harbor.
At Newport, the audience faces the main stage and the musicians get the view. At Rockport that's reversed, and it produced a couple of memorable moments during the three festival performances I saw. As 12-year-old piano prodigy Joey Alexander and his trio played his Spanish-tinged tune "City Light" on Saturday afternoon, three paddle boarders inched their way tranquilly through the water in the distance behind. The next day, guitarist Julian Lage was startled as a seagull suddenly shot past the window, yet he somehow continued his solo on his trio's "Stop, Go, Start" without missing a beat. The curtains were drawn on the ocean view for Anat Cohen's performance with her quartet that night, for which she apologized, explaining it was done for acoustical reasons.
Originally Published August 19, 2015
The arty seaside town of Rockport, about an hour...


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"As always, you can expect me to shake the ground" – exclusive interview with Tarja Turunen about her "Best Of: Living The Dream" release
Author Julia Suloinen - 1.12.2022
Time goes by so fast, and it's been already 15 years since the world-famous Finnish nightingale Tarja Turunen started her career as a solo artist. This milestone, surely, deserves to be celebrated, and it will be by the release of the first-ever compilation of "best of" songs, created throughout these years. "Best Of: Living The Dream" album will be released on the 2nd of December and not only it contains the most remarkable 15 songs, chosen by Tarja herself, but also one new song, "Eye Of The Storm", which has a sudden and captivating background story behind it.
With all her sparkling sincerity Tarja shared this story with Chaoszine, as well as disclosed the secrets of creating the "Circus Life" live video, previously unreleased but soon available as a part of the "Best Of: Living The Dream" limited edition Mediabook and deluxe box set. Besides that, you'll have a chance to find out what band Tarja dreams to hear covering her song, what recent releases impressed her the most, and how she ended up taking part in a party-like cover of Crewish's "Dark Chest Of Wonders".
Check out the interview below.
If you like the content we do on Chaoszine subscribe also on our YouTube channel. You can do it here. For behind the scenes video footage and pictures from interviews check out our Instagram page here. You can start following our Twitter page here.
Tarja Turunen on her next album: "I can already say that it's pretty heavy"
During an interview for MetalHammer, Tarja Turunen talked about many interesting things. Herever-discussed relationship with Tuomas Holopainen's Nightwish, her difficult health situation, and her future plans. Among the relevant news, are a few small clues on the direction of her solo career. Speaking about a possible new release: I'm currently writing songs for it, but...
earMUSIC launches "Tarja's Memory Book": an unmissable experience for fans from all around the world
earMUSIC, the world-famous record label of Tarja Turunen, announced a few days ago the creation of "Tarja's Memory Book". We are talking about an Instagram page managed by earMusic itself, which aims to collect photos and stories of Tarja fans from all over the world. As stated by the label, you can simply send a...
Tarja shares exclusive live video of "Innocence" from "Best Of: Living The Dream"
"Best Of: Living The Dream" is finally out via earMUSIC and our beloved Tarja celebrates the success with an exclusive live video of her legendary piece "Innocence". An unforgettable part of Tarja's fifth album, "The Shadow Self", this version of "Innocence" was performed on 23 January 2020, at the Circul Metropolitan in Bucharest, and now shines...
Tarja Turunen says she is in active contact with Floor Jansen: "Ever since she joined Nightwish I was there for her"
The former lead singer of Finnish metal band Nightwish, Tarja Turunen, was fired from the band in 2005, and since then there has been some coldness between the band members and Turunen. Many fans also still hope that Turunen will return to the band one day. However, Turunen has nothing bad to say about the...
Tarja Turunen announces a Live Q&A on her Instagram page
As stated by earMusic, today, 23 November, at 5 pm CET, Tarja will hold a Live Q&A on her official Instagram page. Fans from all over the world could freely ask about the upcoming project, "Best Of: Living The Dream", and enjoy discovering curiosities about the queen of symphonic metal. View this post on Instagram...
Tarja drops new official lyric video of "Eye Of The Storm"
In view of her upcoming "Best Of: Living The Dream", to be released on December 2nd, 2022 via earMUSIC, Tarja Turunen shares a brand new video of her latest song "Eye Of The Storm".There are a lot of curiosities about this piece of wonderful music. The song was initially composed by Tarja during the time...
Tarja Turunen releases new song "Eye Of The Storm"
Tarja Turunen has shared her newest song "Eye Of The Storm" from her upcoming album, "Best Of: Living The Dream" – out on December 2, via earMUSIC. In Tarja's words: "It was the right time to finally release this song. It has a very deep feeling of closure in it. It's been influenced by two very important countries in my life,...
Tarja Turunen to Chaoszine: "I am very glad the stroke I suffered in 2018 didn't leave any marks to me"
Rocket 88 will be releasing today "Singing In My Blood", the first book by former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen. Written and compiled over the past year of lockdown, Tarja has searched through scores of photos and memories to create a big, deluxe book about her life in music. There are contributions from friends and colleagues...


How to revert radio band back to default?
You can't change the bands, perhaps you rooted and/or unlocked the bootloader and did something else?
Try repairing your phone with Sony PC Companion.
follow @Phy's advice and report back.
I didn't unlocked bootloader, my phone is not rooted. Just opened the service settings by dialing *#*#4636#*#*. I tried repairing using pc companion but it didn't work. I tried 1bit's advice and it did work. I got my signal back. Problem solved! Thanks guys!
Please tell me complete procedure how can i get my signals back i accidently changed the radio band to US please help.


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CharlesValentine
COO, SES Foam
With their high-yielding, high-R-value, Appendix- X-passing, bio-based spray polyurethane foams, SES Foam has made an important contribution to green bio- content technology in the spray polyurethane foam industry. Not content, however, they continue to innovate and to support the industry with focused customer training and contractor education. SprayFoam Magazine spoke to Charles Valentine, SES Foam's Chief Operating Officer, about his role as a leader in such a dynamic corporation and in the industry he so proudly champions.
A CONVERSATION WITH
BY JEN KRAMER
EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK
18 MARCH/APRIL 2016 • SPRAY FOAM MAGAZINE
Spray Foam Magazine: How did you get your start with SES Foam?
Charles Valentine: Although I am a chemical engineer by training, I have worked in just about every position in the industry – sales, sales management, technical service, research and development, production, marketing, and business management. And I have worked at just about all the major corporations, so I truly know this industry and this marketplace. In 2010, Howard Scoggins found out about a new technology and asked if we could start a business around this technology. We then started SES Foam from scratch, based on this new technology. Scoggins, a contractor, believed that sucrose-based foam was the future of the industry and I believed that we could build a business around that product. Scoggins directed the company to always have a strong focus on contractor support and success.
SFM: Foresight and knowledge help, but so does technical ability. Given your background, how quickly were you able to engineer a success?
CV: The initial technology involved didn't work. So, with my chemical knowledge, we went back to the lab and tried a new approach with sucrose and urethanes. By 2011, we had a new product, which eventually became SucraSeal, our ½-pound, sucrose-based foam. To this day, SucraSeal is the backbone of our company. SucraSeal has been copied many times and we are proud to state that none of our competitors have been able to reproduce the performance of this superior product.
SFM: A green foam that early on? That must have been successful from the beginning.
CV: It took a lot of pounding the pavement, a lot of trials by our growing base of contractor partners, before we gained momentum. In fact, it wasn't until we increased the yield and continued to pass the Appendix-X Fire test – as a high yield product, without a top coating – that's when we really started to be separated from the rest of the crowd.
SFM: You mention "contractor partners." How do they fit into the SES corporate model?
CV: As mentioned above, Mr. Scoggins started the company to always be cognizant of the contractors and the effects our decisions would have on their businesses. As a supplier, we can be the difference between success and failure. Many SES employees are former contractors. We understand the challenges that contractors face. We know just how hard it is to try and succeed in this industry without being given the proper tools. Take a look at other urethane applications such as car seat manufacturers or mattress manufacturers. These industries use urethane and employ chemical experts to try and make the final outcome the best that it can be. For years the spray polyurethane industry did not do this, but rather tried to minimize the complexity involved with using chemicals. The contractors were typically given very little training. This is all changing now – thanks to the hard work of industry organizations such as the SPFA (Spray Polyurethane Foam Association), ACC
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Like a swarm of furious locusts, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is sweeping the tech industry.
You could argue that unlike locusts cryptocurrency doesn't leave vast swathes of devastation in its wake but, considering that nearly half of the 902 companies which attempted an Initial Coin Offering in 2017 have already folded, you could also argue its a fairly apt analogy.
According to a survey carried out by Bitcoin.com, 142 startups failed before completing an ICO, and another 276 failed sometime afterwards. Furthermore, another 113 projects were found to have "semi-failed" which, considering their teams have gone silent and their communities have died, one could reasonably call just a regular failure. In all you're looking at a failure rate of 59 per cent from 2017 alone with at total cash sink into those companies of $233 million.
Of course, it gets worse. One figure that's been suggested a few times is that a good ICO should provide around three years of runway for a startup. Without wanting to sound fatalistic, nine in ten startups fail; the survivors of 2017 have yet to crumble but, as one developer told me, the sector is "full of charlatans". Basically, it doesn't matter how long the runway is if you don't know how to fly the plane.
Speaking with Alex Amsel, head of blockchain strategy at equity crowdfunding platform Fig -- ahead of his panel discussion at Gamelab Barcelona this week -- I asked if we're heading toward a bubble burst with blockchain and how sustainable this oncoming tide of doomed startups might be.
"It's inevitable in one sense because you've got lots of startups and most startups will fail," he says. "In this case you've got lots of startups and a new technology where it's really complicated so 95 per cent, if not 99 per cent are going to fail. The ones that don't will be massive, that's the difference. Will people get jaded? People were jaded about ICOs virtually at the start, so I don't think that's going to change."
If you're working in the tech sector right now, even if you don't care one iota about blockchain, it's difficult to believe that it will be anything other than a massive success. When and how? Those are different questions entirely, but Amsel believes it's not going to be a currency like Bitcoin or Ethereum that cracks the mainstream market; cryptocurrency simply too esoteric, and the barrier to entry too high for your average consumer right now.
"There's various problems around transaction fees, transaction speed, network reliability and scalability that are yet to be solved in any good way," Amsel adds. "What you need is a game or project that goes mainstream. It's not going to be done by buying Ether; it's going to go mainstream because it's a project people really like that happens to use blockchain somewhere.
"There's various problems around transaction fees, transaction speed, network reliability and scalability that are yet to be solved in any good way"
"It might be because it uses blockchain, but it won't be because people are using cryptocurrency to interact with it. Like Minecraft, it will be becauses people just really like it, and it just happens to be that the way it was implemented is using blockchain and people see the benefits but they don't have to go through that awkward route of owning Ether....it's the product that will win, not the fact that it's on the blockchain. In the end, it just gives you features that you turn into benefits."
Amsel heads up a team at Fig working on a secretive, unannounced blockchain-related project. While not forthcoming with the details, he did elucidate what makes a blockchain project successful, and what is little more than a ponzi-scheme.
"What we're doing, unlike a lot of the projects out there, is designed from day one to be given to the community and it's theirs to essentially look after and work or fail based on what they do," he says. "That community is developers, brands, gamers, stores, and publishers; that's what we call the community."
The uncharted frontier that is blockchain makes it rife for exploitation and misadventure. Applications that are simply a centralised company just building its own currency for use on its own store "is just a bad idea" says Amsel. Another common and questionable application of blockchain tech, he adds, is using games to mine cryptocurrency.
"I don't really believe in cryptocurrencies where the only use is to buy stuff, there has to be more to it than that"
"This is usually a poor idea ripe for exploitation of either users or the system," he says.
Essentially, the success of a blockchain project rests on its community Amsel explains; if you build a currency for use in a single game, it's much harder to find value and encourage growth. Blockchain is all about decentralisation, and it's important to play to those strengths.
"It's a complex issue," says Amsel. "I don't really believe in cryptocurrencies where the only use is to buy stuff, there has to be more to it than that. Having said that, if you have strong community that is invested in a currency, it will work. Dogecoin is the best example of that. It's been a very successful currency for many years; they sponsor NASCAR, they've done all sorts of crazy stuff. It's always only had value because it was one of the early currencies and it has a strong community."
A strong community, Amsel explains, is the key to success in a decentralised ecosystem where top-heavy prosperity is contrary to the nature of the blockchain. His advice: build a platform that can facilitate others to create, reward you early adopters and incentivise your community to hold onto the currency and give it value, and to "do interesting things, and create."
"Anyone who has ever said 'this is the future and this part of gaming is dead' has been proven wrong every single time"
Jonathan Blow: "C++ is a weird mess"