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Journal of Global Research in Computer Sciences
Electronic Student Management System for State Schools in Colombo District in Sri Lanka
Kusum Priyanath Jayasinghe*
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Malabe, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka – Southern Province
Kusum Priyanath Jayasinghe
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Malabe, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka – Southern Province.
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Sri Lanka is situated in the Indian Ocean and it is considered as a South Asian Country and also well known as a centre of Buddhists Religion. With record to economic perspective Sri Lanka is considered as a developing country. Today Sri Lanka has 20,359,439 populations and Colombo is an economic capital of Sri Lanka. Also Colombo is considered as an economic city and most of the technological institutes and educational institutes are situated in Colombo district. When considering educational institutes, a large number of foreign and local educational institutes are established in this region. There are larger number of well-known state and private schools situated in this area. According to figures 375,187 students attend schools in Colombo district. When considering the whole Sri Lanka there available high quality state schools, qualified teachers and talented students in this district. The Electronic Student Management System mainly designs to the requirements of the government schools in Colombo region of Sri Lanka. This system provides solution of duplicate data entry, inefficient information access and security. The system as a whole will be far more efficient than common methods such as manual inspection and almost as accurate. Also this system reduces the work load of state schools. Researcher objective is to develop web site which supports real time and efficient desktop application which has high performance and the best features. The purpose of the website is to provide real time availability to their busy client and also the main functions of the website are to response and transfer data according to the request of the client. Also desktop application provides the same service to clients who are working and who are studying inside the school premises. In future researcher will be planning to develop a website and desktop application, which will take some inputs and will generate optimal solutions as the outputs. The ultimate objectives of developing the above web-based application and the desktop application are to reduce the additional costs of the state schools.
Electronic Student Management System, Sri Lanka, Colombo district, State Schools, Web-based application, Desktop application, Real time
Sri Lanka is located in the Indian Ocean and is considered as a South Asian Country. According to Economic perspective Sri Lanka can be considered as a third world country and also known as a developing country. There are nine major provinces existing in Sri Lankan Context. According to Sri Lankan circumstance, Western Province is the capital province in Sri Lanka. Western Province consists of three districts [1] called (Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara) also Colombo is a major developed district in the Western Province. According to the statistics today Sri Lanka has 20,359,439 [2] population and Colombo consists of 2,309,809 [3] population and also Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka. Other than that most of the population of Sri Lanka, live in Colombo district and it gets the 1st (11.40% of total pop) [3]. According to annual school census reports of Department of Census and Statistics, there available eleven [4] educational zones and thirty eight [4] educational divisions in the Western Province. Department of Census and Statistics, divides the state schools in Western Province in functional grade (Type) called 1AB, 1C, Type 2 and Type 3 [4]. In regard to annual school census reports there available 1356 [4] of functional grade (Type) schools in the Western Province and also there exists 1236 [4] sinhala medium schools. Also there available 46,024 [4] school teachers who work in state schools in the Western Province. Also there exist 975,517 [4] students who are studying in schools in the Western Province. Likewise, 482,740 [4] male students and 492,777 [4] female students who belong to schools in Western Province. In Colombo district, there exist 402 [4] functioning state schools. These Functioning government schools consist of 40 [4] boys' schools, 57 [4] girls' schools and 305 [4] mixed schools. In Colombo region there available 380324 [4] students and there exist 361 [4] schools. Too Colombo region includes 17,846 [4] school teachers, 187,905 [4] female students and 192,419 [4] male students attached to schools in Colombo district. Also Colombo city is considered as an economic city and it includes most quality and technological institutes and educational institutes. There are large numbers of well-known state and private institutes established in this area. The Electronic Student Management System mainly designs and is proposed to suit the requirements of the government schools in Colombo region in Sri Lanka. This system provides solution of duplicate data entry, inefficient information access and security. The System as a whole will be far more efficient than common methods such as manual inspection and almost as accurate. Also this system reduces the work load of the state schools. Researcher's objective is to develop website which can effectively support real time and efficient desktop application which has high performance and the best feature. The purposes of this website are to provide real time availability to their busy clients and website responses and transfers data according to the request of clients. Also desktop application provides the same service to clients who are working and studying inside school premises. Researcher's planning is to develop a website and desktop application, which will take inputs and will generate an optimal solution as the output of selected state schools stakeholders. The ultimate objective of developing the aforesaid web based application and desktop application is to reduce additional cost of state schools.
The Electronic Student Management System provides a more efficient and reliable solution to schools' paper based activities. Currently there is no real-time web based Electronic Student Management System in schools in Sri Lanka. There are several major functions which will be included in the Electronic Student Management System which will be used in Colombo district. Figure 1 shows the functions of the Electronic Student Management System. In this system process and actions are performed in real time and there are few manual users. Using this system, Colombo schools can maintain details of all the students' and information of schools very easily. This system consists of two system components, which are called desktop applications and web based applications. Desktop application can be used within the school premises and web based application can access in real time manner. The features of new system are reliability, availability (online availability), security (secure and safe logging), user friendliness (attractive user interface) and accuracy (data filed validation). This new proposed system will have real-time (web-based) mechanism which is a major advantage of the Colombo district schools. It causes to help the customer attraction and to increase the revenue sources to schools. New students' registrations, students' re-registration and students and teachers attendance and performance can be done using this system. These functions can be done in a short time and with high accuracy by using the proposed system. Payrolls calculation, students' progress, semester Grade Point Average and scholarships, teachers' progress and students' improvement can be easily accomplished through the new system. The Electronic Student Management System consists of several network components with high expense and flexibility, in order to establish the system. Wireless access point, modems, firewall, switch, Wi-Fi Router, and Unshielded Twisted Fair cables, Registered Jack -45's, database server and faxes are major components of this system. Also the personal computers, notebooks, smart phones, scanners, printers are other subordinate components of this Electronic Student Management System. Regarding the client, front activities are done using several network components called access point, modems and Wi-Fi Router. Also it includes the personal computers, smart phones, notebooks, Wireless Personal Computers, Tablet are components of the front side of the system. According to the Electronic Student Management System, the personal computer is directly connected to the access point. Both of the Access Point and Personal Computer are established in near locations and using this Personal Computer, the client can access the system through the access point. The Client having a notebook, a wireless PC, or a smartphone facilitate to access the Electronic Student Management System access point. The data then goes into the modem, and it moves back and forth between the client and the Electronic Student Management System. The data then goes to the Public Switched Telephone Network and gets to the modem on the other end (schools sides). After receiving data from Public Switched Telephone Network, it points to the firewall installed on the school premises. Then firewall checking the reliability and security of the Data Packets. According to the proposed system, one switch and one Wi-Fi router, Workstation and Modem connect to the firewall. The switch checks the data packet destination and sends that data packet to the server. Database is embedded in the server and that data can be sent to the client when needed. After examining these data packets, then it redirects to the firewall. After checking the reliability and security of data packets inside the firewall and it directs to the data packets to the modem side. In the modem, it converts digital signal to analog signal and sends to remote access modem through the internet.
Figure 1. The Functions of the Electronic Student Management System
In the Remote access modem sends those data to wireless access point and remote client gets their feedback using the Electronic Student Management System with reliability and security. On the school side, the database server is directly connected to the switch. Besides that, the Personal Computers ring topology is connected to the switch. In school sides the Wi-Fi Router connects to the firewall. The Wi-Fi router allows users to connect to the Electronic Student Management System using the desktop, laptop, Tablet and smartphone within the school premises. Wi-Fi router is a modification of the normal route. This combination of the Wi-Fi and other equipment can be called and considered as an Intranet. The Electronic Student Management System offers five access levels to users. They are Students, Parents, Teachers, Non Academic staff and Administrators and these parties have different responsibilities and different privileges. Administrators have privilege to access all the functions of entire system and other parties enable the different functions according to their roles in the school.
Research Problem
Today most of the state schools in Colombo district maintain all the students' details and school details manually. Therefore state schools have to put fair amount of effort to prepare the documents and reports regarding the school details. Currently there are no real-time (web based) mechanisms, in the schools those who are residing in Colombo district and that is a major downside, which faces by the schools in Colombo district. It causes to reduce the customer attractions and revenue sources to school and they use desktop applications to do some school related activities. These applications are not properly integrated with each other. Therefore, some activities may take longer to produce output. There are lots of human errors and duplicate data entry happened when use of existing applications, because of not having proper integration of those applications and not proper quality standards. Currently there is no field validation function in existing applications. Therefore Human makes a lot of mistakes when entering user details. The outputs such as reports regarding the academic and non-academic activities are not satisfied. That is not suitable for schools in Colombo district. Important functions of the school are carried out using the Excel spreadsheet. It is not the best way to handle the state schools in the Colombo district. Because Excel does not produce attractive reports for requested parties and the Excel output reports are not-user friendly. The client does not satisfy himself with the output reports which are prepared by the existing applications. One of the major drawback of applications that are not well developed is the lack of proper security and user privileges. Applications do not provide the access privileges to their users therefore any user can access the applications and its functions. All the undeveloped applications consist of same security mechanisms; also schools share same usernames and passwords within the schools to access the undeveloped applications. There is no real-time (web-based) mechanism to respond to urgent requests of busy clients who are in schools in Colombo district. All the school functions are done only on working days. Therefore busy client must wait until working days to perform their activities. Responsible activities such as registering new staff, re-registering students and student and teacher participation were carried out by school staff manually. These activities are vital to school and take a lot of time for data entry and searching. Also calculating payrolls, student progress such as Semester Grade Point Average and Scholarships, Teachers Progresses, and school improvement are done manually. The existing undeveloped applications do not have capabilities to fulfill above mentioned tasks.
Research Solution
The Electronic Student Management System provides efficient and effective solutions to state schools in Colombo district. Also it causes to reduce additional cost and provides considerable revenue to state schools. Other than that this system can be considered as a first step of technological administration of state schools. The Electronic Student Management System is properly integrated with each other. Therefore, some activities take less time to generate output. This system reduces and eliminates human errors and duplicates data entry, because of integration of applications and within proper quality standards. Also system developer makes a proper filed validations and it reduces the duplicate data entry and human errors. The proposed application produces different layouts, outputs such as reports regarding the academic and non-academic activities. It is suitable for state schools in the Colombo district and the proposed new project will fulfill the important functions of the state schools in the Colombo district as early as possible. Previously all the important functions were done by using Excel spread sheets. The Electronic Student Management System produces attractive reports for requested parties, and output reports are very user-friendly. Therefore the client will satisfy with the output reports which are prepared by the proposed system. The Proposed system is user friendly, because it has proper used graphical user interface, images and field validation. Major advantages of the new application system consist of security and user privilege. The busy client can access the system at anytime and anywhere using the Internet. First, researcher reviews the requirements for the development of the system, then collects the information, and then the researcher considers the appropriate software development life cycle methodologies. Researcher will draw the Unified Modeling Language diagrams and Entity–Relationship diagrams to gain a thorough idea about the system development and the database design. After fulfilling the aforesaid requirement, researcher will use the .Net Framework and PHP language to develop the web based application and the desktop application for the state schools in Colombo district. This will be very user friendly developed environment, so researcher can find error easily. At the end researcher will implement user friendly and attractive web based application and desktop application to fulfill the user requirements, However researcher hopes the system which he is developing for the state schools in Colombo district will be free of errors. The data transfer between access point and networking equipment, then data goes to modem. "Modem" name comes from its functions and it converts analog signal to digital signal and also vice versa. After the data coming to modem, it forwards and backwards data between client and Electronic Student Management System. After sending the data from Access Point, then the data goes through Public Switched Telephone Network and receives from the other end of the modem (School Side). In school side modem, converts the data to analog signal in to digital signal and vice versa. After receiving data from Public Switched Telephone Network to modem, it is re-directed to the Firewall which is established in state school premises. In proposed system, switch and Wi-Fi router directly connect to the Firewall. After receiving the Data packets to Firewall, it examines the security and sends those data to switch. The Switch examines the destination of the data packets and sends data packets to server. Inside the server, the database is attached to it and sends those data to client. These data packets include the destination and also the switch examines the destination and sends to the firewall. In the firewall perspective it examines the reliability and security of the data packets and sends those data packets to modem. In the modem, data converts to digital signal into analog signal and sends to remote access modem through the internet. In the remote access modem sends the data to wireless access point and the remote client gets their feedback using Electronic Student Management System with reliability and security. In the state school side, database server is directly connected to the switch. And also other Desktop Personal Computer with Scanner and Printer, I-Phone also connects to the switch. The four Personal Computers which connect to ring topology is attached to the switch. In the ring network topology, the state school workstations are connected in a closed loop configuration. Adjacent pairs of workstations in schools are directly connected. Other parts of the state school workstations are indirectly connected, the data passing through one more intermediate node. If a token ring protocol is used in a ring topology, the signal travels in only one direction, carried by a so-called token from node to node. In state schools, the Wi-Fi Router connects to the firewall, in this Wi-Fi Router facilitates to connect the Electronic Student Management System using desktop, laptop, smart phone and tablet within the school premises. Wi-Fi Router is a modification of normal router. This combination of Wi-Fi Router and other equipment can be called and considered as an Intranet.
Conclusion and Future Works
The Electronic Student Management System is mainly designed for the needs of government schools in the Colombo region in Sri Lanka. This system provides solution of duplicating data entry, inefficient information access and security of data. The system is more efficient than the most common methods, such as manual inspection. Also this system reduces the workload of the stakeholders. The Electronic Student Management System will be developed to protect security, duplicate data entry, and ineffective information access, etc. Also this system reduces time consuming, inefficient information retrieving. After developing this system, researcher hopes to increase schools' revenues, lower costs and attract new consumer segments and new approaches. Researcher hopes to reduce the workload of the state schools after using this Electronic Student Management System. The researcher recommends that the state school must train their users before they can use the system. It takes some time to the actual usage of the system. As future works, the researcher aims to establish this system in the whole island (in other districts) and not in other rural districts such as Jaffna and Batticaloa. The ultimate goal of the Electronic Student Management System is to provide better communication service to students and parents. It also helps to create better interactions in the state schools and eliminates additional cost and workload.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 'Western Province, Sri Lanka', 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Province,_Sri_Lanka
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 'Demographics of Sri Lanka', 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Sri_Lanka
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 'Colombo District – Wikipedia', 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombo_District
Statistics Branch of Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka.,' Annual School Census of Sri Lanka- Final Report' 2018. http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Education/StaticalInformation/SchoolCensus/2018.
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NEW GEAR IN THE STORE!
Swing thy heavy blade through the skulls of your enemies in one of our new badass PLANET OF DOOM logo tees!
Featuring a chilling DEATH – VENGEANCE – DEATH back print, these David Paul Seymour designs will surely bring you great fortune and infamy! Choose from an assortment of ink colors, and grab one in purple or crimson for those night raids when you want your victims to see you coming.
Available in a wide range of men's and women's sizes right here by hitting the store.
Made in Brooklyn by MIBK Silk Screeners.
Ripple Music to Release 'First Contact: Music from the Original Soundtrack 'The Planet of Doom' June 22
In the Spirit of R-rated Animated Films Like "Heavy Metal" and "American Pop", Comes an EPIC Feature-Length Fantasy / Sci-Fi Tale Soundtracked by Underground Metal Artists from Across the Globe
In the spirit of R-rated animated films like Heavy Metal and the works of Ralph Bakshi, Riff Lodge Animation (the studio behind the mind-blowing music video for Conan's "Throne of Fire") are creating an EPIC feature-length fantasy/science-fiction film titled "The Planet of Doom", created entirely by both artists and bands within the doom/stoner/psych/metal genres. Set for release in 2020 and subtitled as "An Animated Tale of Metal and Art", "The Planet of Doom" features a worldwide assembly of 17 respected artists and animators and 18 revered bands and promises to present a colossal compendium of underground culture and this generation's ode to counterculture. On June 22, Ripple Music will release First Contact: Music From The Original Soundtrack 'The Planet of Doom', a teaser EP including four of the film's featured groups: Mos Generator (USA), Messa (Italy), Vokonis (Sweden) and Slomatics (Ireland).
Written by art director/producer David Paul Seymour and adapted into a screenplay by animator/director Tim Granda, "The Planet of Doom" is one continuous tale broken up into 15 chapters, each interpreted by a different artist and band team-up. The film contains no spoken dialogue, opting instead to tell the tale via the lyrics of the soundtrack's original music. In the film, the titular hero, Halvar The Brave, seeks vengeance aboard a witch-born chopper, journeying across a psychedelic landscape on a quest to defeat the deadly beast Mördvél for the slaying of his beloved bride.
""The Planet of Doom" is a tribute to heavy music and the art that accompanies that type of music." says Seymour. "With this film, we're seeking to encapsulate the music and art community that Tim and I are a proud part of with one epic body of work. We are also naturally bringing in all sorts of fringe countercultures who've attached to this same community: bikers, skateboarders, comic book, and sci-fi fantasy fans. It's a really vibrant and diversified community, and we've certainly brought in the right ambassadors to represent it properly."
"One of the things we loved about Heavy Metal was the format. We really dug how the style of art changed from one sequence to the next, as if you were reading an issue of their magazine," adds Granda. "But rather than use a plot device like the "Loc-Nar" to tie a series of unrelated segments together, we wanted to stick to one story that's split up into a series of chapters, with each being told by a different band and artist."
The complete list of artists and bands contributing to "The Planet of Doom" reads like a who's who of the modern day underground scene. Contributing artists include David Paul Seymour, Skinner, Pascal Blanche, Ian Bederman, Maarten Donders, Adam Burke, Alexis Ziritt, Dave Olteanu, Burney, Justin Mohlman, Mikey McKennedy, Matt Stikker, Jason Cruz, Simon Berndt, Gorgeous George, Brian Profilio, Tim Granda, and Forrest Cavacco.
Bands and musicians that will appear on the film's soundtrack include Cirith Ungol, Wo Fat, Ufomammut, Mos Generator, Slomatics, Elephant Tree, Vokonis, Phillip Cope (Kylesa), Slow Season, Messa, Summoner, Space Witch, Destroyer of Light, Mother Crone, and Tim Granda.
First Contact: Music From The Original Soundtrack 'The Planet of Doom' track listing:
1.) Mos Generator "Sword of the Sea'
2.) Messa "Serpent Libido"
3.) Vokonis "Runa"
4.) Slomatics "Jagaer"
Pre-order First Contact: Music From The Original Soundtrack 'The Planet of Doom' at this location.
David Paul Seymour and Tim Granda are available to speak with interested media. To chat with the artists and/or request a review copy of First Contact: Music From The Original Soundtrack 'The Planet of Doom', simply contact Carl Schultz at ACTION! PR.
"The Planet of Doom" channels spirit of "Heavy Metal" movie." – Heavy Metal Magazine
"Now THIS is an animated movie I'll take my kids to! Fuck Frozen, it's all about "The Planet of Doom"!" – Cvltnation
"I could gush and go on and on about the admirable undertaking that is bringing so many artists and bands together…It's a massive, comprehensive project." – The Obelisk
"The Planet of Doom"…looks so damn epic and manly that it just shot right to the top of the list of my most hotly anticipated animated films." – Dread Central
We're stoked to announce that artist Justin Mohlman has joined us on our trip to The Planet of Doom! He'll be conjuring up color for the works of Burney, forging a deadly alliance as they have often done in the past (see pic above).
Justin has been working for almost two decades in the video game industry creating content for legacy franchises like Mortal Kombat and Tony Hawk. When he's not shaping the minds of future artists with his quick wit and industry knowledge, he's running his tattoo shop Code of Conduct Tattoo, coloring the epic work of Burney, and lending his creative eye as a contributing editor for Heavy Metal Magazine.
We're stoked to announce that the band Ufomammut has joined us on our trip to The Planet of Doom! They'll be teamed up with artist Ian Bederman on a journey that's soaked in blood!
Ufomammut is a power trio formed in Italy in 1999 by Poia, Urlo and Vita, a lineup that has remained stable since. The trio have developed a sound characterized by lengthy songs centered on repeated heavy riffs coupled with droning vocals and the use of sound effects and synths.
Their status as one of the most potent, powerful and artistic contemporary doom artists in existence continues to captivate the masses, and the band's worldwide grasp grows wider with each release. Their live show is supported by the internationally acclaimed video and graphic art of Malleus, a rock artists' collective of which Poia and Urlo form a part, who conjure the entirety of Ufomammut's visual impact.
We're stoked to announce that artist Pascal Blanché has joined us on our trip to The Planet of Doom!
By day, Pascal Blanché is a senior art director at Ubisoft Montreal, a massive game studio where blockbusters like Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs are made. But by night, he's an artist dreaming up captivating sci-fi worlds that harken back to greats like Chris Foss and Ralph McQuarrie.
Blanche's work also graced the cover of Heavy Metal Magazine 270.
Andrei Bouzikov
» Web Site
Andrei Bouzikov was born in Vitebsk, Belarus in 1979. He was taught art by his parents at an early age. After receiving an award for Excellence in Visual Arts from high school, he decided to become an artist. Andrei's art reflects his childhood and the surroundings he grew up in.
Fascinated with his native country's past, he creates haunted and surreal images of war, religion, broken dreams and an uncertain future. At a young age he would spend most of his time in Belarusian forests, searching for artifacts from the past.
Andrei immigrated to the United States in 1996 at the age 16. In 2000 he attended the Academy of Art University, where with the help of the University's excellent instructors he polished his painting and drawing skills. In 2006 Andrei left school to pursue a career as a freelance illustrator.
Joel Abad
Joel Abad is an Illustrator, muralist, and graphic designer from Barcelonawho who runs Grafficants, a graphic design studio. He's done work for Vans, Harley-Davidson, Warner Music, Arnette, Rockzone Magazine, HFMN Crew, Ripper Seeds, Crème International, and RockAction Productions (among others). He's also done work for bands such as Nofx, Lagwagon, Against me!, The Queers, Marky Ramone, The Ataris, MxPx, Biohazard, Blowfuse, Crisix, Pennywise, Bad Religion, The Toy Dolls, Sick of it all, and Satanic Surfers.
We're stoked to announce that artist Ian Bederman has joined us on our trip to The Planet of Doom! Bederman will be joining a band we'll be announcing shortly for a chapter you won't wanna miss! Ian Bederman is from Austin, Texas, and is a tattooist at Royal Legion Tattoo. Together with writer Danny Cates, Bederman unleashed the tremendous Atomahawk strip, which appears in Heavy Metal Magazine. A deluxe, over-sized edition of the strip was reproduced by Image Comics back in October of 2017.
We're stoked to formally announce that the band Space Witch will be bringing their glorious psychedelic sludge to the film! Their latest album "Arcanum" is available on HeviSike Records and features cover art by fellow POD brethren Adam Burke. We can't wait to hear what they come up with!
Check out what's been goin' on behind the scenes over at the mighty The Obelisk!
RIFF LODGE ANIMATION presents in partnership with OLD BIKE BARN and THOUGHT MECHANIC PRODUCTIONS "THE PLANET OF DOOM" a film by TIM GRANDA and DAVID PAUL SEYMOUR music by CIRITH UNGOL music by UFOMAMMUT music by MOS GENERATOR music by WO FAT music by SLOMATICS music by VOKONIS music by ELEPHANT TREE music by SLOW SEASON music by SUMMONER music by MESSA music by SPACE WITCH music by MOTHER CRONE music by DESTROYER OF LIGHT music by TIM GRANDA art by DAVID PAUL SEYMOUR art by SKINNER art by PASCAL BLANCHE art by JASON CRUZ art by BURNEY art by JUSTIN MOHLMAN art by ALEXIS ZIRITT art by GORGEOUS GEORGE art by BRIAN PROFILLIO art by TIM GRANDA art by SIMON BERNDT art by MAARTEN DONDERS art by ADAM BURKEart by Forrest Cavacco executive producer JUSTIN MILLY executive producer BEAR HAUGHTON co-executive producer ZAC DOOM co-executive producer TREVOR ANTONIDES associate producer DAN DELLOSTRITTO associate producer MELBA AND JERRY COLCA associate producer MARC_ERIC GAGNON associate producer TIM GORMLEY associate producer DOUG AND JESS REISER associate producer TODD AND CORINNE SEVERIN associate producer ROBERT STEGLICH art director DAVID PAUL SEYMOUR story by DAVID PAUL SEYMOUR screenplay by TIM GRANDAdirected and animated by TIM GRANDA
This Film is Not Yet Rated
Riff Lodge Animation
Kickstarter (completed)
© 2020 Riff Lodge Animation. The Planet of DOOM. All rights reserved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Scientists Detect "Ghost Particle" That Shouldn't Exist
Survival Update Team December 31, 2018 3 min read
According to a recent report featured on NBC News, there's something strange happening in the universe that is making humanity's most cutting-edge physics experiments contradict one another.
A major particle physics laboratory claims to have discovered definitive proof of a particle that is not supposed to exist. In the 1990s the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), an experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, found evidence of a mysterious new particle. Coined a "sterile neutrino," it seemed to pass through matter without interacting with it; hence it also becomes known as the "ghost particle" for its seeming ability to pass through matter as supposed ghosts could walk through walls.
But after years of dedicated searches, scientists have been unable to replicate the results obtained by LSND, and other experiments couldn't find any trace of the elusive particle. So the result was set aside, and two camps firmly set up in physics — those that believe that sterile neutrinos are real and those who say they do not exist.
Now, MiniBooNE — a follow-up experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located near Chicago — has picked up the hidden particle's scent again. A new paper put out by Fermilab offers compelling enough evidence of the missing neutrino that scoffers have sat up and taken notice of, even as other experiments continue to suggest sterile neutrinos don't exist at all.
What Does This All Mean to Particle Physics?
So what does this all mean to particle physics and our fundamental understanding of the universe? If MiniBooNE's results can be confirmed, it could transform the foundations of particle physics. It could also help solve cosmic mysteries like the existence of dark matter – an unidentified substance that makes up roughly 27 percent of the universe. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the world. As waves of neutrinos pass through space, they will periodically "oscillate" — switching back and forth between one "flavor" and another.
Physicists have already identified three "flavors" of neutrino: muon, electron, and tau – but in recent decades, several scientists have hypothesized about the presence of a fourth type of particle, the "sterile neutrino."
Discovering an additional form of neutrino could help to explain the mysterious origins of dark matter and could provide evidence for some more esoteric theories such as the existence of parallel universes.
Speaking to the journal LiveScience, Kate Scholberg, a particle physicist at Duke University, said, "That would be huge; that's beyond the standard model; that would require new particles … and an all-new analytical framework."
Like the LSND experiment before it, the Fermilab experiments found more neutrino detections than are possible to explain with the Standard Model's description of neutrino oscillation, and therefore concluded that those must be the results of sterile neutrinos.
However, other famous particle physics labs such as the Large Hadron Collider and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory that are looking into the fundamental building blocks of the universe, and searching for evidence of things such as dark matter and parallel universes, have failed to replicate the experiments.
So, the scientific community is not yet ready to rewrite the textbooks, and for now, the so-called "ghost particle" remains as elusive and mysterious as the paranormal phenomena for which it is named.
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UCFC HAS BAD BOUNCE IN BLACK, FALLS 7-3 TO AMBUSH
UTICA, NY - Utica City FC hosted the St. Louis Ambush for the first time this season, sporting their black Mastrovito Hyundai jerseys in a tough 7-3 loss.
The first quarter was significantly less frenetic than many prior in the season. For the first time in five games, it was Utica City who got on the board first as Gordy Gurson potted the opening goal with ease at 5:56. That would serve as the lone goal in the opening frame. It would take until the the second quarter for the Ambush to respond as William Eskay perfectly placed a top-shelf strike to tie it up at 1-1. That would be all of the goal scoring in the quarter to cap off a quick, physical, and defensive-focused first half.
St. Louis came out firing in the third quarter, scoring three consecutive goals. Robert Kristo opened the second half scoring for the Ambush to give them their first lead of the game at 9:18 on a power play goal. Sam Guernsey added another to make it 3-1, celebrating by cartwheeling and backflipping in front of the Utica crowd. Lucas Almeida would add onto the total before the quarter ended to send the Ambush into the final frame up by three goals. Utica City nearly stopped the skid on a long-ball sent by Andrew Coughlin that ricocheted above the goal, off a UCFC player, and into the net, but the refs determined that it was no goal to the vocal displeasure of the Utica faithful.
Eskay continued the Ambush's assault, widening the St. Louis lead to 5-1, but Gurson scored his second of the game to bring UCFC back within three. Unfortunately, Eskay would score a hat trick on an empty net and Almeida would notch his second to widen the score to 7-2 St. Louis. Nilton de Andrade tipped in a late goal for the home team for the final goal of the game, wrapping the score up at 7-3.
Utica City returns home next Sunday, January 29th at 2:00 PM against the Baltimore Blast. Tickets are still available at uticacityfc.com/tickets.


Kevin Carey's controversial new article highlights troubling higher education trends that haven't gotten much coverage from mainstream news outlets.
Fifteen years ago, the expectation was that online education would help make college more affordable. But college tuition continues to rise and online learning features some disturbingly high-end offerings.
A new feature article from New America's Kevin Carey tells us that one of the culprits may be the rise of all-but-invisible for-profit middlemen called online program managers (OPMs), who have convinced big-name universities to let them create and administer their online programs in exchange for a hefty share of the revenue.
Published last week at HuffPost's longform website, Highline, The Corporations Devouring American Colleges pulls multiple strands— college costs, online learning, deregulation, and inequality — into a compelling narrative.
Published in the liberal-leaning HuffPost, the piece has no shortage of critics. A longtime think tank staffer, Carey plays a role that's part reporter, part researcher, and part advocate, which some find objectionable.
But there's little disagreement that the development of online higher education is important and has gotten too little attention from mainstream reporters and outlets.
In the following Q and A, which has been edited for clarity and length, Carey tells how he came to tell this story and why the mainstream press hasn't spent enough time reporting stories about the business of higher education. Mainstream outlets need to acknowledge their biases and up their games, according to Carey.
Sign up here for the week's best education news and newsroom comings and goings.
Carey's HuffPost Highline article, which we named the best of the week, has generated a lot of discussion in recent days.
Alexander Russo: What does online learning look like these days, in terms of engagement, rigor, and effectiveness? Has it really gotten all that good?
Kevin Carey: The technology has matured to the point that bandwidth and processing speed aren't issues for live interaction and streaming video anymore. A lot of the various underlying components — chat rooms, simulations, group annotation, etc., are inexpensive and work well together. And we have two decades of teachers and professors experimenting and figuring out what works and what doesn't in a purely online or hybrid environment.
Of course, none of that is a substitute for a well-designed curriculum or an inspired teacher. But that's true of in-person higher education as well.
AR: How and when did you decide that you had to revisit what had happened to online higher education since your book, The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere?
KC: I first heard entrepreneur John Katzman give a presentation on his company 2U back around 2010, well before I started writing my book. We had probably a half dozen conversations in the ensuing years, as he left 2U, started Noodle, and became a vocal critic of the OPM industry. But it wasn't until the industry got much bigger, the OPM model spawned the for-profit to non-profit conversion trend, and the Trump administration kicked off its deregulatory agenda that it felt like there was enough context and importance to justify a long feature. OPMs also addressed a question that has been nagging me for a long time: why doesn't technology ever make college less expensive?
AR: What were the most challenging parts of reporting the story, and how did you address them?
KC: It was tricky to nail down the causality of the policy decisions that were made back in 2010 and 2011. It was a while ago, there was a lot going on, and a lot of the most important conversations were just that — conversations, not official memorandums that someone could show me in 2019. So while people would say that they heard such-and-such was involved, I couldn't prove it unless such-as-such agreed to talk, which they often wouldn't.
It's also very difficult to get colleges to talk on the record about how much profit their programs make, and why. I had a hilarious back-and-forth with the communications director at one very expensive online MBA program, who first told me that their OPM-driven program was no more profitable than their executive MBA program (side note: these are also kind of a racket), and then in the next email said it was impossible to compare profit margins between their online and terrestrial programs.
While trade publications have covered developments closely, this 2016 piece in The Atlantic is said to be one of the relatively few mainstream news stories about the rise of online program managers that have been produced.
AR: The topic of online program management is extremely complex and super-wonky, but the end result is extremely readable. How did you do that?
KC: For that, much of the credit goes to my editor, Rachel Morris. She was a great partner in shaping the piece. I was able to combine John Katzman's personal narrative with the larger story of the federal government's troubled relationship with for-profit colleges. It helped that Katzman's original antagonist, Kaplan Inc., was present for every stage, first as a test prep company, then as an online for-profit college, and finally turning into a kind of OPM to itself. Betsy DeVos conveniently brought the story all the way to the present day.
There's a lot of greed and bad behavior in the story. That tends to get people's attention and motivate them to engage with the wonky stuff.
AR: Is there a healthy set of outlets, reporters, and editors focusing on the business of higher education?
KC: The trade press has done a great job covering these issues. Doug Lederman and Lindsay McKenzie cover the beat really well at Inside Higher Ed, as does Goldie Blumenstyk at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Anyone who's interested in this stuff should subscribe to Goldie's newsletter. It hasn't gotten much attention in the mainstream press, though, in part because OPMs are deliberately designed to not attract attention to themselves.
AR: Why haven't these developments gotten more attention from mainstream news outlets and reporters?
KC: There's a strong bias in elite media for the classic residential college experience at highly selective colleges, which isn't that different than 100 years ago. If that's your frame of reference for what college is, you may have a blind spot for where things really are and where they're going.
There's also not much mainstream coverage of the business of higher education. If there's a hot-button cultural issue to cover, national reporters are all over it. Ditto sports, elite admissions, and student loans. But in general, education reporters cover education and business reporters cover business. College is an education business, and a very complicated one at that, so media coverage kind of gets lost in the blind spot of that intersection. People see colleges as benign or even virtuous non-profit organizations providing a public service, not as an enormous multi-billion industry selling a valuable product in the free market.
AR: Have you gotten any notable responses to the piece from OPMs, elite universities that work with them, and the main characters in the piece?
KC: I've had a few employees from 2U contact me over the last couple of days. I don't know that John agreed with all of my conclusions, but I hope he thinks it represented him fairly. I'll let him speak to that if he wants to.
AR: What's your response to criticisms of the piece claiming, for example, that it's unfair to blame OPMs for undergraduate tuition increases, and that nonprofit conversions remain so small in number?
KC: I think final responsibility for college prices rests with colleges, and I hope readers come away from the piece with that in mind. OPMs do what we expect businesses to do – maximize profits. It's colleges that have a higher social responsibility to keep higher education affordable.
Non-profit conversions aren't small in number if the numbers you're looking at are students and federal tax dollars. Grand Canyon University, which I highlight, got more federal student loan money last year — $750 million – than any other college in the country. Purdue Global (nee Kaplan Online) has over 30,000 students. Ashford University has 36,000 students, and it got IRS approval to become non-profit two months ago.
AR: Would you describe yourself as a journalist who's produced a piece of longform journalism or an analyst who's produced a piece of reported opinion or advocacy? How (if at all) is this piece different from others you've written for the New York Times?
KC: I've never described myself as a journalist. When I write for different publications, I follow their editorial standards and practices. The Upshot publishes a kind of policy- and data-oriented news analysis, which is why some of the other contributors there are college professors who write from their field of expertise. I would describe this piece as longform narrative with a strong point of view.
AR: Many of the graduate students who earn their degrees through OPM-run online degree programs like the ones at USC and Concordia University are K-12 teachers. Why is that?
KC: Many teachers have to get masters degrees to maximize their compensation on the salary schedule, and it usually doesn't matter what university does the teaching, as long as it's accredited. Online education can be a great option if you're working during the day and taking care of your kids in the evening, as many teachers are. So that combination of scale and built-in demand creates a lot of profit opportunity for whomever is good at marketing. Sometimes the appeal might be a famous brand, like USC, or the kind of boiler-room sales tactics that the Department of Justice accused Concordia — or, more accurately, the OPM that was pretty much running Concordia's masters program — of engaging in.
AR: What are the implications or parallels for reporters and news outlets covering K12 online learning, if any?
KC: I have a lot of concerns and suspicions about fully online K12 programs run or facilitated by for-profit companies, put it that way.
AR: Are there K-12 equivalents to OPMs, or for-profit companies wrapping themselves in nonprofit designations?
KC: That question sounds like the premise for a good article someone should write!


Trade Radiators proudly presents this Apollo Milano Horizontal Flat Panel Radiator. Featuring a double panel and single convector to produce 6520 BTU's, this designer model is in stock and available for £505 only.
Made and manufactured in Italy to the highest standards, this type 21 heater also has a brilliant white finish – RAL 9016 to suit the bathroom, kitchen or living room. Get yours with a fully inclusive 15-year guarantee as well as delivery in just 4-5 days, when you cut out the middle man and buy direct from our massive product range.


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A Cloud of Hope!
It wasn't until 2016 that Paula Sneyd, Saoirse and Caoimhe Giles decided to open a cafe in the north side of Dublin City. In the North Strand Road, specifically, well known for being one of the most important roads that connects the city, with northern communities like Clontarf, Howth and Malahide, just to mention a few of them.
After many years of working in hospitality, the dream of opening a cafe stayed in the back of their minds for such a long time, that they came up with the original idea that is Cloud Cafe today. Homemade, wholesome, soulful and healthy food. Saoirse explains what defines the style of Cloud is its authenticity and simplicity, "We have our menu that hasn't changed much over the years but we put a lot of thought into our daily specials and our weekend brunch specials. Having something different to offer every week/ weekend keeps us thinking and keeps our customers interested."
The north strand road is well known in Dublin for its community values, social activities and the support between the neighbours. The neighbourhood keeps growing for the best and one of the most relevant changes happened after the opening of Cloud Cafe. Not just for being the only cafe in the area, but for serving great quality coffee, super tasty food and cakes at affordable prices. Saoirse also mentions, "North Strand already had a bustling community being so close to town and with so many great amenities nearby like the Mud Island Community Garden behind us and D-Light studios up the road. We saw it as a great opportunity to get in there and be the coffee spot it was missing".
Lately, Cloud cafe had connected small businesses to their own customers, sharing their premises to sell their products and expand their commercial activity.
Relatively new brands like ourselves &:
https://cloudpickercoffee.ie
https://www.oatly.com/int ,
https://www.whitemausu.com ,
https://harrysnutbutter.com ,
https://flowerchild.ie ,
have been added to the shelves of Cloud Cafe.
More brands like @_too_savage_, @savage.sauces
can be found on Instagram too.
This has established a commercial spot for those who are still growing and starting up their brands in the Irish market and for those who are still working on their websites. Giles confirms the positive impact of this commercial exchange for the cafe, "With the year that it's been and the current lockdown we're in, we really wanted to use our space to help support other businesses that don't have the same opportunities that our physical shop provides us".
Their customers had appreciated the new display of the shop and all the new options they're able to find locally, "We are looking for more Irish products! Our customers have also approached us to sell handmade macrame plant baskets, organic skincare and homemade chocolate truffles. We're so happy to be able to provide a space to sell these products and also love the aesthetic it lends to the front of the cafe. It's a win-win situation!", Saoirse explained.
END DIRECT PROVISION COLLECTION POINT
The support that cloud cafe has given to the north strand community, doesn't stop there. It multiplies in hope for those who really need it in these difficult times. In Ireland, more than 7.400 adults and children live in 38 direct provision centres across 17 counties by the end of April 2020, their living conditions are not the best and some of them had spent years in these premises.
Cloud cafe has become a collection point for donations of different kinds like baby food and toiletries for both adults and children. "We are now selling t-shirts and face-masks in the cafe with proceeds going to enddirectprovision.org. It's a cause that's really important to us and we have been delighted to be able to help in any way possible", Gilles added.
The end of direct provision is a constant fight for human rights and actions like this, could only make asylum seeker's lives better. The Irish government set to end it by 2024.
In the middle of the pandemic, a community cafe had made a revolution in the north side of Dublin city. Staff, customers, suppliers, neighbours and local entrepreneurs are now building a network, based on respect, trust and support.
This is all thanks to Cloud Cafe!
Paula Sneyd
Caoimhe Giles
Saoirse Giles
Roslyn McCann
Sven Jajac
Cloud Cafe.
43 North Strand Road, North Strand,
http://cloudcafe.ie/
IG: @cloudcafedublin
Photography: @ciarangildea
With love from us...
Aideen Leonard Mar 25, 2021
We are so lucky to have such a wonderful and innovative cafe in our midst. Paula and her staff are a delight to engage with, the food is simply delicious and I just bought my niece a cool vintage shirt there for her birthday. We are so proud of Cloud!


Central government has launched Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan 2018 under Namami Gange Programme. This is a one week programme starting from 9 July 2018 to 15 July 2018. Under this Ganga Vrikshapropan Saptah, trees will be planted in a mission mode in 5 states present along the lines of Ganga River. So, anyone who want to lend a hand in Cleaning Ganga can lend a helping hand in planting trees.
PM Modi has launched Namami Gange Programme in June 2016. With this initiative, govt. wants that "Everyone must work together and ensure that holy Ganga is free from dirt. Trees brings rain and improve water level. They reduce occurrence of flood, soil erosion and pollution while contribute towards protecting Ganga.
People can participate in Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyaan 2018 & do bit towards cleaning Ganga.
Namami Gange Programme, an integrated conservation mission with primary objective of effective reduction in pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga. For more details, candidates can contact District Forest Office.
Survey of India will start the process of geo-mapping of Ganges and adjoining areas. All the information of Ganga river will be collected essential for clean river.
Trees plays an important role in cleaning and rejuvenation of Holy River Ganga.


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CIO50 2018 #26-50: Michelle Beveridge, Intrepid Group
By Byron Connolly
Australia Editor, CIO	 Nov 22, 2018 11:00 am PST
For Intrepid Travel, getting technology innovations off the ground requires the basics like evidencing expected ROI and specifics such as finding a way to excite management colleagues to get behind the programs, says chief operating officer, Michelle Beveridge.
"Money and people's time are scarce resources and there are always more ideas on ways to use those resources than capacity," she says.
"Why should we invest in blockchain when we could be launching a new marketing campaign? Both are investments in a concept that may or may not increase revenue. While marketing campaigns can succeed or fail, technology innovations have a lower history of success and delve into areas that non-technical people can't readily understand."
Beveridge admits that even people with technical backgrounds have troubling understand new technologies and deciding which one to choose. The challenge is to determine and then persuade people that the expected outcome is of sufficient value to meeting the future goals of the organisation that the risk of failure is acceptable and the investment of resources appropriate," she says.
Technological innovation is certainly a key enabler of Intrepid Group's global 2020 strategy to grow the market for sustainable, experience-rich travel while operating a business led by purpose beyond profit.
For the technology team, the strategy is supporting by two goals, says Beveridge. The first is business transformation through a digital mindset where staff are educated and engaged in the opportunities created by digital innovation. This goal, says Beveridge, is to create sustainable profit improvements by delivering a better customer experience or productivity gains for staff.
The second is increasing Intrepid's destination management companies' (DMC) technological capabilities.
"Our DMCs are effectively the factory of our business and needed new tools and technology to improve the efficiency of the current services delivered and increase the range of services that could be delivered. Both these outcomes contribute to Intrepid Group's competitive advantage via lower costs in destinations and enabling our operators to be externally-focused on the customer experience rather than internally focused on administration," Beveridge says.
Establishing a digital mindset
To create a digital mindset, the organisation needed to better understand the needs of its customers and staff. Using agile delivery methods, the tech team, led by Beveridge, extended 'scrum' training to non-technical staff and gave the role of product owner to key users, i.e., the people who daily contact with customers. This empowered them to make decisions and created future champions for embedding change, she says.
"I moved away from the concept of publishing an 'IT roadmap' and instead set up a group of key business managers to decide how to prioritise project work and make the best use of scarce IT resources. Together, we meet monthly to prioritise the work based on our alignment with the 2020 strategy," she says.
This means teams concentrate their efforts towards the most business-sensitive projects. Beveridge's team no longer on longer gets caught between competing business needs. This has led to a better understanding of the value of IT projects, which now receive equal priority to other initiatives.
"This change to the way we deliver IT value has initially focused on sales growth by rethinking existing ways of working and innovating through better synergies of functionality, systems and data," says Beveridge.
"Contributing to Intrepid's 15 per cent sales growth year-on-year, the integration projects have enabled a lower cost of customer acquisition with a 1 per cent shift to direct sales."
The projects included: integration of marketing, web analytics and sales systems to personalise email marketing and improve effectiveness of campaigns; data analytics tools to optimise selling price and discount options through near-time reporting to trip departures (demand) and customer demand. Customers are also saving and sharing their shortlist of dream trips on web and mobile with data integration for analytics, marketing and sales.
Leveraging the DMC
Intrepid's DMC network has 21 regional offices across five continents, many in developing countries. The company has more than 1,000 tour leaders working with local community suppliers with limited access to technology.
For instances, Intrepid users locally-run hotels and guest houses, rather than large international chains, to provide a more authentic experience for travellers. Many of these accommodation providers are small businesses with lower levels of technology awareness or capability. Trip manifests (including customer details) were previously printed at a local DMC office for staff to carry and share with accommodation providers while on the trip, says Beveridge.
"The technology vacuum restricted our ability to automate which made for a challenging environment to maintain security and data protection and was highly inefficient and static," she says.
A 'leader portal' is one way the company is dealing with these challenges, she says.
"For many of our tour leaders, English is their second language and with little exposure to technology, they are very unlike the typical user in an Australian office environment. We have built an application that leaders can use on their mobile phones, both online and offline. The user interface is a simple icon-based navigation that has been developed iteratively with constant feedback from tour leaders around the globe," she says.
The mainfest details are delivered via the app directly from the organisation's booking system. Using a secure login, the tour leader can see customer details including special dietary or medical requirements or any additional activities a customer may have booked.
Forward plans include updated flight arrival details to align with airport transfers and customer preferences to help the tour leader know what sights or experiences each customer is likely to enjoy, says Beveridge.
"It has helped us to vastly improve our customers' experience and security. Longer term, the vision for the app to collect as well as provide data using the native capabilities of smartphones and machine learning."
Byron Connolly
Byron Connolly is a highly experienced technology and business editor who contributes to CIO Australia. He also facilitates roundtables and conferences for CIOs and other senior technology executives and creates content from these events.


At Sowden Wallis face to face contact is as important (if not more important) as online interaction for good estate agency. We try to give our clients as many ways as possible to contact us they can get in touch through our website, through Rightmove and the new property portal onthemarket.com or through our social media profiles such as Facebook and Twitter.
That being said, for us the most important piece of our business, and what sets us apart from other local agencies, is the way we communicate with our clients in our offices or over the phone. No matter how you find us or how long you spend searching for properties online, nothing is quite the same as coming in and speaking to us directly. We believe in an exceptionally high level of customer service, which we deliver at every opportunity. So if you are passing by our offices in Stamford feel free to call in for a chat and a coffee.


"Molecular scissors" can literally snip away disease-causing DNA.
CRISPR-Cas9 is the most advanced and efficient gene editing tool we have. It's uses, however, have been largely limited to silencing protein-coding genes in the DNA. This leaves out what's called the DNA "dark matter" — the non-coding DNA that covers about 99 percent of our genetic code. A study published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology may soon change this.
The new technique, developed by a team of researchers led by Carlos Pulido, is a software pipeline called CRISPETa. It's based on a breakthrough tool (which uses CRISPR-Cas9) called DECKO. The tool was recently developed by the Johson lab, and was specifically designed for deleting those pieces of non-coding DNA. DECKO employs two sgRNAs as "molecular scissors" that snip out a piece of DNA. While the concept might seem simple, designing deletion experiments using DECKO was time consuming due to thee lack of software to create the required sgRNAs.
This is where CRISPETa comes in. Users can tell CRISPETa which region of DNA they wish to delete. The software then generates a pair of optimized sgRNAs that can be used directly for that experiment. Even better, the software can develop designs at high scale, which would all for future screening experiments as well.
"We hope that this new software tool will allow the greatest possible number of researchers to harness the power of CRISPR deletion in their research," Pulido said.
CRISPETa designs have already demonstrated their ability to efficiently delete desired targets in human cells. "Ultimately, we expect that CRISPR deletion and other genome engineering tools to lead to a revolution in our ability to understand the genomic basis of disease, particularly in the 99% of DNA that does not encode proteins," researcher Rory Johnson explained. The deletions could also be carried in RNA molecules.
"Apart from being used as a basic research tool, CRISPR may even be used in the future as a powerful therapeutic to reverse disease-causing mutations," Johnson added. This is the underlying value of the research: the software could be used to develop CRISPR scissors to delete suspected disease-causing, non-coding DNA. At the very least CRISPETa will improve our understanding of non-coding DNA, which could lead to the discovery of new disease-causing genes, and aid in the development of potential new drugs with which to treat and maybe even eventually cure them.


I am delighted to be able to announce that Problem Gambling Ireland has assembled a Board of Directors in preparation for establishing as a not-for-profit company. We will be submitting our paperwork to the Companies Registration Office shortly.
All members are taking on their roles in a voluntary capacity and are not representing their employers.
I would like to thank all of the Board Members for their commitment to reducing gambling-related harm in Ireland and for volunteering their time, energy and expertise.


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Das Lord-Howe-Purpurhuhn (Porphyrio albus) ist eine ausgestorbene, flugunfähige Ralle, die auf der australischen Lord-Howe-Insel endemisch war.

Aussehen
Es ähnelte dem Purpurhuhn (Porphyrio porphyrio) abgesehen von seiner weißen oder weißblauen Farbe und den roten Augen und Beinen sehr. Es soll laut Keith Alfred Hindwood auch völlig blaue Vögel gegeben haben. Die Kopfoberseite war rot. Beine und Füße waren kräftiger ausgebildet, die Zehen kürzer während der Schnabel kleiner war. Die Flügel waren kürzer, die Flugfedern kleiner und weicher als beim Purpurhuhn (Porphyrio porphyrio).

Aussterben
Der Vogel wurde durch zwei Bälge, einige subfossile Knochen und diverse Gemälde bekannt. Er hatte keine Scheu vor Menschen. Obwohl der Vogel, als die Insel 1790 entdeckt wurde, nicht selten war, wurde die Art innerhalb von kürzester Zeit durch die Jagd durch Matrosen von Segel- und Walfangschiffen ausgerottet. Ratten und Katzen wurden auf der Insel erst wesentlich später eingeschleppt. Das Lord-Howe-Purpurhuhn war wahrscheinlich schon 1834 bei der Besiedlung der Lord-Howe-Insel vollständig ausgestorben.

Quellen
Arthur Phillip: The Voyage Of Governor Phillip To Botany Bay. With An Account Of The Establishment Of The Colonies Of Port Jackson. And Norfolk Island (1789). (online)
BirdLife International 2004. Porphyrio albus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 11 September 2007.
Dieter Luther: Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt. 4. Auflage, unveränderter Nachdruck der Auflage von 1986. Westkarp-Wiss, Magdeburg und Spektrum Akad. Verlag, Heidelberg 1995.

Weblinks

 Lord-Howe-Purpurhuhn auf artensterben.de

Rallenvögel
Neuzeitlich ausgestorbener Vogel
Lord-Howe-Insel

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Ace Archers, Inc. will be holding two archery camps over the Spring 2019. There will be one Intermediate Camp and one Beginner Camps. Beginner Camps are open to everyone 8 years old and older and you do not need your own equipment! The Intermediate Camps are open to anyone that is 10 years old and older with their own archery equipment.
The camps are held at Ace Archers, Inc. indoor facility at 131 Morse St, Foxboro, MA 02035. Our phone number is 774-215-5292. Parents and guardians are welcome to stay and observe the camp; or you may leave.
The camps run from 4/16/2019 through 4/19/2019. Beginners Spring Break Camp will take place from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and the Intermediate Spring Break Camp from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
Pre-registration is required and spots are limited! Each camp has a capacity of 14 people so register early to ensure you have a spot!
The beginner and intermediate camps are both $150/person.
You can register by calling 774-215-5292 or emailing us. Please bring in the Spring Break Camp Application with you on the first camp day, or mail it to us earlier!


Certified Marijuana Doctors office in Palm Beach County certifies patients for access to medical marijuana and assists patients in ordering their medical marijuana card from the Florida Department of Health. Our Palm Beach office is located in Lake Worth where there is a good selection of medical marijuana dispensaries to serve patients. Our Lake Worth office serves patients from Wellington, Loxahatchee Groves, Royal Palm Beach, Golden Lakes, Haverhill, Royal Palm Estates, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Golf, Ocean Ridge, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Gulf Stream, Lantana, Atlantis, Seminole Manor, The Acreage, Golden Lakes, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Shores, Riviera Beach, Century Village, Palm Springs, Mangonia Park, Palm Beach Gardens, N Palm Beach, Tequesta, Jupiter, Juno Beach, and North Broward County.


text:
Q: How To Get Datepicker(Kendo) Value On Load I'm using "DatePickerFor" control in my project...
Date value is already defined, before load.
@Html.Kendo().DatePickerFor(m => m.DateOfBirth).Name("DateOfBirth").Format("dd/MM/yyyy").Animation(true).Events(e => e.Change("DateOfBirth_Change"))

Everything works fine, but now i need to get the value in javascript...For some reason value is empty:
$(document).ready(function () {
var input = document.getElementById("DateOfBirth").value;//here i get empty string
}

I can get value of other controls in "ready" function, but datepicker still returns an empty string.
Could someone tell me, why? Thanks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I Love West Brom – Baggies FTW!
West Brom manager Darren Moore said that he was pleased with the performance of his players in the game against Aston Villa. His team managed to win the game 2-0 after a battling performance.
Darren Moore said that it is never easy to win games away from home in this division and that what makes this win even sweeter is that they managed to do it while keeping a clean sheet. He said that this is proof that his team is progressing well and that they can win games in every environment.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Ben Woodburn could pursue a temporary move away from the Merseyside outfit before the transfer window closes next month. The youngster was loaned out to Sheffield United during the first half of the season but the move was far from fruitful with him failing to earn regular game time.
Ultimately, Woodburn returned to the Reds after sustaining an ankle injury in training with the Blades, but he has since recovered from the setback to participate with the first-team in training. Speaking to reporters, Klopp hailed Woodburn as an 'outstanding talent' but suggested that the youngster was impatient with the decision-making in the summer.
West Bromwich Albion midfielder Matt Phillips has admitted that team are disappointed after they could only muster a draw during the recent Championship game against Brentford. The Baggies were the dominate side with twice the number of attempts as Brentford last weekend but they were ultimately left frustrated with a 1-1 draw.
Darren Moore has made it clear that there won't be any change in the approach his team has been carrying on the pitch in the on-going season. West Bromwich Albion has been one of the most attacking teams in UK this summer as no team has found the net as many times as them in the top four tiers of English Football till this stage of the season.
However as they have been lethal with their attack, West Brom has been that much loose on their defense and so far there has been only one match where they have ended up without conceding any goal and that's the reason why, despite being so good attackingly, they haven't had as many results in their favor as they would have liked to.
Against Brent ford, the Baggies broke the deadlock during the 77th minute and it appeared that they had secured the three points before Brent ford came up with a stoppage time equaliser through Lewis MacLeod. Despite the outcome, the Baggies are occupying the third position with35 points on the board but they cannot afford another lapse with just one point separating them from seventh-placed Derby County.
The west Midlands outfit are scheduled to face cross-town rivals Aston Villa in their next Championship fixture on Friday and the game could prove a tricky prospect for them with the Villains having picked up their form over the past month. Dean Smith's side have dropped just two points from their previous five league matches and the Baggies may need to produce their best to outsmart the visitors this weekend.
West Bromwich Albion manager Darren Moore has hailed the fighting spirit of his team after they came from two goals down during the final five minutes of their Championship clash at Sheffield Wednesday night. The Baggies were seemingly on the cusp of a third league defeat with Wednesday holding a comfortable 2-0 lead but a late flurry ensured that they managed to leave the Hillsborough Stadium with a share of the spoils.
Dwight Gayle has highlighted his ambition to secure promotion with West Bromwich Albion during the ongoing campaign. The 27-year-old recently signed for the the Baggies on a season-long loan as part of an agreement which has witnessed Salomon Rondon join Newcastle United on a similar kind of deal.
West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster has said that he will not leave the club even if the club gets relegated. It is becoming increasingly likely that West Brom will be relegated at the end of the season and the goalkeeper said that he does not believe that all the players will be leaving the club.
He admitted that there are some players that have release clauses in their contract and that this will be activated once the club is relegated. However, he believes that not everyone will be leaving the boat.
West Bromwich Albion midfielder Chris Brunt has pledged his future to the Baggies for next season regardless of their league status. The west Midlands outfit are on the cusp of relegation from the English top-flight but this has not stopped the Northern Irishman from prolonging his stay via a 12-month extension clause.


I couldn't wait to feature my flock of Ozark Doorstop Hens. I have been working on them for two months. Never taking short cuts and doing much of my stitching by hand, they are at last ready for adoption. I have even named them at the suggestion of The Brycer, who picked his own wools for his personally-made hen last Christmas. He told me that before he got home, he had named his hen Henny Penny and suggested that I offer them for adoption on line, complete with names, as he found it was like taking home a new pet. He loves his and I hope my readers will find one that they enjoy as much.
I even made smaller ones, more like a Batam version of the original. I got this pattern when I was in the Ozarks over forty years ago. I had gone to visit close friends of the family, as a girlfriend and I took a trip to Kansas to visit her brother.
I have this thing about looking at a map and seeing that only a half inch further, and there is a yet another adventure waiting! It was many hours of travel in my VW convertible in the hot summer, with my car heater on overdrive and unable to be shut off! The Ozark hen pattern was worth the trip however!! I have never seen another one like it.
The tail is beautifully tufted and I found that making them in velvet or wool made them an even richer than the original calico version.This time I am offering them in a variety of beautiful wools.
They are much simpler than real hens and safer than roosters. Trust me on this one, for we have raised our own, and though I love them, they are rather messy and we had to be on the watch for predators always! I have a friend that has a flock of her own, that now have to be cooped up due to the local fox! Our rooster was even more difficult than our hens. Though beautiful, he was a bird of little brain, attacking the only family he knew and that had raised him by hand. I had to use a broom to keep myself safe from his spurs. A neighbor dog was less threatened by him and so Chuck met his end prematurely when he tried to take on the neighbor dog. We were sad but safer to be sure!
Do go to Etsy and check out their names and stories. Each has their own Hatch Certificate, as each took on a life of its own in the making. Wools are all different and so no two are alike and each comes with an authentic Vermont rock tucked inside to weight it down! Hopefully you will find one that will look lovely roosted in your house.


Humidifiers are renowned as a useful helping hand in the home, preventing the flu, alleviating asthma symptoms as well as allergies and dry coughs while reducing snoring, healing dry skin – and rejuvenating less than healthy house plants.
Modern homes are often warm and cosy in winter thanks to central heating or kept cool in hot summer months with the help of air conditioning.
But the air produced in these environments can be too dry. Whether heat is removed from the air or it is added to an already cold and dry indoor climate, humidity levels are usually too low. Having the air humid enough is also important. Today, modern indoor air is unnaturally dry.
A humidifier can change that unnatural dryness.
1. To combat the symptoms of asthma. And reduce allergens and irritants in the air.
2. To reduce coughing bouts. If the air is more humid, sufficient moisture can get into the airways to make a cough more productive, helping to release trapped phlegm.
3. To reduce snoring. If the air is dry, the airways are drier too which can increase the risk of snoring.
4. To combat the signs of "Sick Building Syndrome". The symptoms of this syndrome include headaches, eye, nose and throat irritation, fatigue, dizziness and nausea. The reasons why the syndrome exists in the first place include exhaust fumes, aerosols, micro-organisms and all those volatile organic compounds (VOCs) circulating in recycled air. If the humidity can be raised sufficiently, those sick building syndrome symptoms disappear.
5. To avoid dry skin. No one wants dry, cracked skin and chapped lips. A humidifier in the home during the winter months can reduce or eliminate these problems.
6. To avoid dry hair. Neither do we want to have dry and lifeless hair.
7. Houseplants will be happier. Houseplants will thrive in a moist atmosphere. For most plants, they will appreciate a weekly soaking as well as having their leaves sprayed with water regularly. A humidifier will add to their comfort.
8. Wood floors and furniture will last longer. They don't like being too dry either. Ensuring the wood items in your home are nourished and have a humid atmosphere will keep them happy.
9. Moisture in the home saves money on the cost of energy. Moisture helps hold heat in the air, meaning heaters and air conditioning won't have to work as hard, saving costs on your energy bills.
10. Helps to keep the flu from appearing during the winter months. Research studies over several years have found that raising indoor humidity to above 45% stops the flu virus from making any headway.
You can use a hygrometer in your home to assess the humidity and there are several effective humidifiers to choose from to use in your home if you consider one to be warranted.
Of course, if you don't live in an extreme climate, and your quality of outdoor air is good, having windows open and plenty of fresh air is another way to raise the humidity in your home.


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You are here: Home / Commission on Human Rights / Survey Results on Discrimination and Bullying in Schools Share this Page:
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Released by: Human Rights Commission
Discrimination and Bullying in Our Schools
Junior Commission on Human Rights Releases Results of Youth Survey on Racial Discrimination and Harassment in Sonoma County High Schools
Santa Rosa, CA – February 7, 2018 – In 2016, the Junior Commission on Human Rights conducted a peer to peer online survey of Sonoma County High Schools to assess the state of racial discrimination and inequality among students, as well as measure the level of response to incidents by teachers and administrators. The anonymous survey was designed to allow students an opportunity to voice their experiences, opinions, and concerns in an environment where they felt safe and would be listened to.
The Racial Equality and Justice Committee of the Commission, an advocacy group made up of Sonoma County high school students, created the survey in 2016 after learning about the rise of racial discrimination at schools as reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center. In The Trump Effect report, 90% of 10,000 surveyed teachers reported a negative impact on school climate and 80% reported increased anxiety and fear in students. As students themselves, the Junior Commissioners have witnessed first-hand the impact of racial discrimination in schools, which should always be places dedicated to learning and the safety of students.
Unfortunately, data shows that incidences of racial discrimination had been on the rise during the 2016 election cycle and has skyrocketed since the beginning of the Trump administration. Based on this, and reports of racial harassment and civil rights violations at Analy High School in the West County Unified School District, the committee felt a countywide general survey of students should be conducted to measure school climate around racial harassment and discrimination.
The Junior Commission compiled the data from the 2016 survey into a full report, presentation, and series of recommendations that they seek to present to high school principals, school districts, and school boards, in hopes of improving the climate of schools for students. The full report and presentation can be found here:
Report and Recommendations
Survey Results Presentation
Committee member Tara Sullivan says, "We hoped this survey would give Sonoma County students an opportunity to voice their experiences and feel safe doing so, because the online survey was anonymous. For too long, students and administrators have kept silent about racial discrimination, or haven't properly addressed the problems in their schools. Now, more than ever, is the time to start talking about it and take action."
The Junior Commission on Human Rights is a project of the Commission on Human Rights, an appointed advisory board to the County Board of Supervisors. The Junior Commission is intended to provide high school aged youth with the opportunity to participate in advocacy, take an active role in County government, provide education about human rights issues that impact their lives, and empower youth to make a positive impact on their communities. For more information about the Junior Commission, visit the Commission's website at www.sonomacountychr.org or follow us on Facebook.
Find the Commission on Facebook
Find the Jr. Commission on Facebook


text:
Our age: Our stage
Bernard, Miriam (2013) Our age: Our stage. Social Care Evidence in Practice (28 May 2013). Website.
Text - Published Version
Through archival research and interviews with older people, an innovative project- 'Ages and Stages' aimed to explore the role the New Vic Theatre has played in the creative life of the people of Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire, past and present. The project also considered how ageing and old age have been portrayed in the theatre's famous social documentary productions from the 1960s to the 1990s in ways that shed light on the experiences of those in the local community. Findings from the research were drawn together to create a new social documentary performance, 'Our Age, Our Stage' and the associated 'Ages and Stages Exhibition'. Here, Miriam Bernard the Project Lead and Professor of Social Gerontology at Keele University talks about challenges and benefits of going outside the traditional remit of academic communication and the impacts it has had.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/socialcareevidenceinpractic...
© 2013 The Author(s)
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater


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Joe Pesci nearly played this iconic Disney character
Legendary actor Joe Pesci was nearly part of a Disney movie, in a voice role for an animated character you would never have guessed
Jakob Barnes
Legendary actor Joe Pesci is best known for his work with Martin Scorsese, having starred in some of the best movies of all time, from Goodfellas to Raging Bull, but he very nearly had a part in a Disney movie. Turns out, the veteran actor almost lent his vocal talents to an animated movie, and you would never have guessed what character it was for.
Pesci has mainly worked in the thriller movie and crime drama movie genres, using his commanding screen presence and and brilliant chemistry with other performers to bring to life some of the best characters you're likely to see on the big screen. His most recent role came back in 2019, for the Netflix movie The Irishman, with long-time collaborator Scorsese.
One credit you won't find on Pesci's filmography is in the '90s movie Mulan, but the Italian-American star very nearly lent his vocal talents to the family movie. In an interview with Curator from 2013, Tom Bancroft, the man who created Mushu the dragon, explained how Pesci was considered to voice the loveable character.
"We were looking at Joe Pesci and Richard Dreyfuss, and Michael Eisner made the final choice, Eddie Murphy, so that kind of set everything in place," Bancroft said. "We had a direction, and we knew what his personality was going to be—a smart aleck, a more urban kind of a character. So that was kind of the adventure that we went on for Mushu."
Now, Eddie Murphy knocked it out the park as Mushu, there's no question about that. The energy he brought to that character is one of the best things about the kids movie, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
But, can you imagine the dulcet tones of Pesci coming out of a little dragon? In the middle of the big battle in Mulan, you hear some angry Italian-American slang and turn around to see Mushu asking a soldier, "How am I funny?"
Come to think of it, that's the kind of live-action Disney movie we would pay very good money to watch. For more animated fun, check out our list of the best Pixar movies.
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Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 release date speculation and more
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Our resident Virgin River correspondent, a purveyor of dark, psychological thriller movies, and Star Wars-obsessed geek, Jakob's range puts Meryl Streep to shame.
The best Disney movies of all time
Mary Poppins is Disney's accidental feminist movie
Disney princesses ranked, from worst to best


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

using Hyena;

using Gdk;

using GLib;

using GFileInfo = GLib.FileInfo;

namespace FSpot.Imaging
{
	public class ImageFormatException : ApplicationException
	{
		public ImageFormatException (string msg) : base (msg)
		{
		}
	}

	public static class ImageFile
	{
		#region Factory functionality
		internal static Dictionary<string, Type> NameTable { get; private set; }

		static ImageFile ()
		{
			var base_type = typeof(BaseImageFile);
			var raw_type = typeof(DCRawFile);
			var nef_type = typeof(NefFile);
			var cr2_type = typeof(Cr2File);
			var dng_type = typeof(DngFile);
			var ciff_type = typeof(Ciff.CiffFile);
			var raf_type = typeof(RafFile);

			NameTable = new Dictionary<string, Type> ();

			// Plain image files
			NameTable ["image/gif"] = NameTable [".gif"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-pcx"] = NameTable [".pcx"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-portable-anymap"] = NameTable [".pnm"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-portable-bitmap"] = NameTable [".pbm"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-portable-graymap"] = NameTable [".pgm"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-portable-pixmap"] = NameTable [".ppm"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-bmp"] = NameTable ["image/x-MS-bmp"] = NameTable [".bmp"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/jpeg"] = NameTable [".jfi"] = NameTable [".jfif"] = NameTable [".jif"] = NameTable [".jpe"] = NameTable [".jpeg"] = NameTable [".jpg"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/png"] = NameTable [".png"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/tiff"] = NameTable [".tif"] = NameTable [".tiff"] = base_type;
			NameTable ["image/svg+xml"] = NameTable [".svg"] = NameTable [".svgz"] = base_type;

			// RAW files
			NameTable ["image/arw"] = NameTable ["image/x-sony-arw"] = NameTable [".arw"] = nef_type;
			NameTable ["image/cr2"] = NameTable ["image/x-canon-cr2"] = NameTable [".cr2"] = cr2_type;
			NameTable ["image/dng"] = NameTable ["image/x-adobe-dng"] = NameTable [".dng"] = dng_type;
			NameTable ["image/nef"] = NameTable ["image/x-nikon-nef"] = NameTable [".nef"] = nef_type;
			NameTable ["image/rw2"] = NameTable ["image/x-raw"] = NameTable [".rw2"] = raw_type;
			NameTable ["image/pef"] = NameTable ["image/x-pentax-pef"] = NameTable [".pef"] = nef_type;
			NameTable ["image/raw"] = NameTable ["image/x-panasonic-raw"] = NameTable [".raw"] = nef_type;

			// Other types (FIXME: Currently unsupported by Taglib#, this list should shrink).

			NameTable ["image/x-ciff"] = NameTable [".crw"] = ciff_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-mrw"] = NameTable [".mrw"] = raw_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-x3f"] = NameTable [".x3f"] = raw_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-orf"] = NameTable [".orf"] = nef_type;
			NameTable ["image/x-raf"] = NameTable [".raf"] = raf_type;
			NameTable [".kdc"] = nef_type;
			NameTable [".rw2"] = raw_type;
			NameTable [".srf"] = nef_type;
			NameTable [".srw"] = raw_type; // Samsung NX Raw files, supported by latest dcraw

			// as xcf pixbufloader is not part of gdk-pixbuf, check if it's there,
			// and enable it if needed.
			foreach (Gdk.PixbufFormat format in Gdk.Pixbuf.Formats) {
				if (format.Name == "xcf") {
					if (format.IsDisabled)
						format.SetDisabled (false);
					NameTable [".xcf"] = base_type;
				}
			}
		}

		public static List<string> UnitTestImageFileTypes ()
		{
			return NameTable.Keys.ToList();
		}

		public static bool HasLoader (SafeUri uri)
		{
			return GetLoaderType (uri) != null;
		}

		static Type GetLoaderType (SafeUri uri)
		{
			// check if GIO can find the file, which is not the case
			// with filenames with invalid encoding
			var file = GLib.FileFactory.NewForUri (uri);
			if (!file.Exists)
             		   return null;

			string extension = uri.GetExtension ().ToLower ();

			// Ignore video thumbnails
			if (extension == ".thm")
		                return null;

			// Detect mime-type
			var info = file.QueryInfo ("standard::content-type,standard::size", FileQueryInfoFlags.None, null);
			string mime = info.ContentType;
			long size = info.Size;

			// Empty file
			if (size == 0)
		                return null;

			Type t = null;

			if (NameTable.TryGetValue (mime, out t))
				return t;

			if (NameTable.TryGetValue (extension, out t))
				return t;

			return null;
		}

		public static IImageFile Create (SafeUri uri)
		{
			var t = GetLoaderType (uri);
			if (t == null)
				throw new Exception (String.Format ("Unsupported image: {0}", uri));

			try {
				return (IImageFile)System.Activator.CreateInstance (t, new object[] { uri });
			} catch (Exception e) {
				Hyena.Log.DebugException (e);
				throw e;
			}
		}

		public static bool IsRaw (SafeUri uri)
		{
			string [] raw_extensions = {
				".arw",
				".crw",
				".cr2",
				".dng",
				".mrw",
				".nef",
				".orf",
				".pef",
				".raw",
				".raf",
				".rw2",
				".srw",
			};
			var extension = uri.GetExtension ().ToLower ();
			return raw_extensions.Any (x => x == extension);
		}

		public static bool IsJpeg (SafeUri uri)
		{
			string [] jpg_extensions = {".jpg", ".jpeg", ".jpe", ".jfi", ".jfif", ".jif"};
			var extension = uri.GetExtension ().ToLower ();
			return jpg_extensions.Any (x => x == extension);
		}
		#endregion
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Painting is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to give your home a new look. Whether you want to upgrade your home's outdated exterior or liven up your lackluster living room, turn to EJL Construction for reliable exterior and interior painting service. We paint homes in the Houston, San Antonio and Austin and Georgetown, TX areas.
We'll help you pick the perfect color scheme for your home. Call us today at 512-704-4696 to schedule painting services.
We have the right ladders and equipment to paint every inch of your home.
We have an eye for detail and won't miss a single spot.
We'll protect your floors and possessions while painting.
We'll leave your home cleaner than we found it.
Ready to spruce up your home? Reach out to us right away to schedule exterior or interior painting service.


To celebrate the 10th anniversary of director Robert Wilson's The Watermill Center, an interdisciplinary laboratory focusing on the arts and human studies, Slamp joins the "ART of the Treasure Hunt", an exclusive experience organized by art collector Luziah Hennessey. It will explore Tuscany, starting on June 30, 2016.
Amongst the contemporary pieces on display throughout Chianti, Zaha Hadid's Aria chandelier shines in Borgo San Felice, as do Robert Wilson's luminous La Traviata sculptures in the Felsina cantina. Both of the wineries selected the sculptures' positions based on a strong relationship between the work and its surrounding environment, immersing the visitor in a fully sensorial context, where light, art and design present a unique and unforgettable experience.
La Traviata, the light sculpture designed by Robert Wilson for Slamp, will be the star of a site-specific installation in the historic Felsina cantina in Castelnuovo Berardenga, Siena. Wilson's three light sculptures create a "polychrome" landscape suspended above the immense wooden barrels of Chianti Classico, as seen in the exclusive photograph shot by Massimo Listri. In parallel, an additional two La Traviata light sculptures are on display in the Relais & Châteaux Borgo San Felice chapel. At the same resort, Dame Zaha Hadid is honoured with an installation of the Aria Gold, a new collection presented this past April. The lamps' haunting aura will cast an air of mystery in one of the Winery's hidden vinsantaie.
During the event, Luziah Henessey invites her guests to an exclusive dinner; their arrival marks the exact moment that the doors to the Felsina winery are opened, presenting them with an exceptional view of Wilson's masterpiece, all while Verdi's Prelude from La Traviata plays in the background.


text:
zshaul August 5, 2022 falcon 9, NASA, Space Force, SpaceX
South Korea launches first lunar mission
Tuesday August 2nd at 7:04 pm E.T. from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
KPLO or the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter has just set off on a journey to the Moon. This is South Koreas first attempt of a lunar mission and was developed and managed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. If all goes successfully the craft will orbit the Moon for one year, carrying an array of experiments developed by South Korea and one built by the United States.
Photo by: Kyle Montgomery – NHS
The main objectives are to develop indigenous lunar exploration technologies, to demonstrate a space internet and conduct scientific investigations of the lunar environment, topography, and resources, as well as identifying potential landing sites for future missions. Utilizing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket the launch will start into a 300km Earth orbit, followed by a translunar injection burn and then lunar transfer phase which will have it reach a lunar orbit in mid-December. From there it will circularize to a 100km nominal polar orbit of the Moon where it will conduct those scientific explorations.
The spacecraft itself has a cubic shape with twin solar panel wings and a parabolic antenna which is mounted on a boom. The total mass is 550kg. Communications are through S-band and X-band systems with the 760W power needed provided through those twin solar panels and rechargeable batteries. The Spacecraft sports two cameras, one of which that will collect images of the Moon's surface at a high resolution of 2.5 meters per pixel. The other, a wide angle polarimetric camera which will determine the type of surface materials based on the way light reflects and scatters off them. The idea is to better understand the Moon's surface composition and understand further the nature of its volcanic deposits.
Also onboard is a gamma-ray spectrometer, which will look at highly energetic gamma rays that are released from the Moon. These readings will study the energy levels of the rays, which a linked to the elements they produce, allowing scientists to determine the elemental make up of specific Moon materials. Combined with the polarimetric camera, KPLO will hopefully help us better understand the Moon's mineral composition and how its terrain has evolved of the last four billion years.
Photo by: Matt Cutshall – NHS
KPLO has two more scientific instruments in its arsenal, the first of this, built in South Korea, is a magnetometer. The Moon has lost its global field, which means it does not have localized magnetic features such as "Swirls". Though it does have weak magnetic fields, and these are what the magnetometer will study from its orbit. This will help us understand the extent of protection these fields offer from harmful space radiation, and possible give us hints to what the Moon's past was like as well.
The final instrument, ShadowCam, is an ultrasensitive camera provided by NASA to see inside permanently shadowed areas of the Moon. The idea is that this instrument will provide critical data about the terrain and water in these shadow regions to help plan future crewed and robotic missions.
Flying the mission today was Falcon 9 B1052, a previously converted Falcon Heavy side booster that has now flown four times as a dedicated Falcon 9. That's six trips total to space and back with today's KPLO launch.
Posted in falcon 9, NASA, Space Force, SpaceX and tagged falcon 9, KPLO, Moon, NASA, South Korea space craft, SpaceX. Bookmark the permalink.
ULA launches 6th and final SBIRS satellite
SpaceX launches Starlink 4-26


Association of Teachers of English in Somalia ATES are sending condolences to the family who lost their daughter yesterday in Mogadishu, Somalia. On September 18, 2019 a soldier tried to stop a school bus at gun point and deliberately fired on the school bus. One student lost her life and nine young student got injured. Additionally, we are sending the same painful condolences to the school teachers and students of HOYGA HAMAR School. We do not accept any more these brutal killings and we wait for the government to take quick reaction and action surrounding the daily killing of teachers and their students.