Helps With Overall Health. Studies have proven there is a direct correlation between oral health and overall health. Regular Dental exams & cleanings lower your risks of diseases like heart disease & stroke among others. Oral exams can be an early detector for many life threatening conditions.
Whiten Your Smile. The things we each and drink add up over time leading to stained teeth. A dental cleaning polishes your teeth and helps with the removing of stains which whitens teeth.
Bye Bye Bad Breath. Proper oral hygiene is the best option for ridding bad breath. Brushing and flossing is key, but so is a regular dental cleaning to ensure an odor-free and healthy mouth.
Keep Your Teeth. Built-up plaque leads to gum disease with is a major cause of tooth loss for adults. As gums disease progresses, plaque moves down the tooth where it can destroy the supporting bone in your jaw, causing teeth to loosen and fall out. Luckily, the chance of this happening to you can be greatly reduced through regular dental cleanings combined with good oral hygiene habits.
Cavity Prevention. The whitish film that builds up on your teeth is called plaque and is the leading cause of tooth decay. This acidic substance eats away at the tooth enamel and, if left unattended, can lead to cavities. Plaque can be removed by brushing, flossing and dental cleanings.
Save You Money. Neglect leads to higher costs in the long run. Get the most value from your dental benefits and save money in the long run. Most dental plans have low or no copayments/coinsurance for dental cleanings and oral exams. If you take advantage of your benefits now.
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after the previous post, I write about how gamification can create business (and economic return). Mind the Roi and gamification. I'll try to give some suggestion about insider game features, things often forgotten when calculating Roi of a gamification project (this problem can afflict game-designer looking for a way to drive managers to invest, or can be found in manager who need to judge gaming investment).
I cannot give tool to exactly calculate Roi of your gamification project: I can give a number of parameter you have to set, in order to make your calculation. Because of this the post is split into pieces, anyone about a specific factor of game-designing.
You could also find Revenue be written as "Payback", and Cost as "Investment". Except the word itself, nothing changes. Everything you need to calculate Roi will be included into one of these pool. This is the way you how Roi works. Now, I can't write down the "standard" parameter you have to consider. There are dozens, hundreds or maybe thousands of books and guidelines to help you calculating Roi about economic standard issue, and a lot of "standard" calculation are about marketing, selling and other stuff not regarding gamification.
Down here you will find a list: for every point there are some tips about measurement and some different application to choose between accordingly to game design strategies.
Let's start with the tail. I mean playtesting. In the next post, the focus will be on User Generated Content.
Have you think about playtesting your game, right? Playtesting is quite similar to "testing" . You need to be very flexible when foresight playtesting's cost.
When using it for Roi calculation, it can be added in several ways. Anyone means focusing your attention and resources on a different role of playtesting in your game-creation process. We'll see the more common two.
α [Static Playtesting Cost] – Playtesting is usually added to denominator like [+Playtesting Cost], which is added to the overral cost. This focus you on playtesting as final touch for your game. You are choosing to do not heavy change your game during playtesting. If so, you have to provide an average time and fee for playtesting, and adding it to cost. This way is useful for playtesting on game based on solid frame (like Monopoly) with lesser new feature.
β [Playtesting Impact Factor on Design] – Maybe for you is different. Maybe you're not sure of all your game, and playtesting could change core rules or setting. Maybe your cost are growing too much, and in this case, only if you have some free-playtest structure, Playtesting could be used as a multiplier of Designing cost. This means that will have higher impact, possibly causing re-writing of entire chapter/section of game. This can be written as [Designing Cost] x [Playtesting Design Factor]. Your procedures got a big role in the process.
I you you create a rough game systems, without fluff or details, and playtest it. During playtesting, you can shorten time for further design (you can use suggestion from playtesters, or cut off lamest part of the game before it's too late). This could probably cutting your time in designing of half, and helping you to have a smaller team of designer, in prevision of use the playtester also as "designer". See the opposite example: you have rules, setting: an entire game. You test it, and after that you have to heavily re-write it. Maybe you designing time will be doubled, or even more. But, also in these case, probably is better to double cost of design (because you have structure or asset, or for any other reason) instead of calculating and including a totally new source of cost.
The Impact factor then usually could be placed somewhere inside x0.6 and x4, with most of the games that could consider x1,5 as a "normal" point (but you have to consider very carefully what implies this factor).
This kind of measurement of playtesting cost is useful in totally new game, whan you have to test from the basic frame of the rules to every little mechanical and mathematical aspect.
In gamification, you could consider the testing factor slightly different for calculating Roi.
First, playtest could be not only a cost, but also a revenue. How? Using it as marketing factor. If you see the D&D Next playtesting project (starting 24 May 2012) you could find that Hasbro-Wizards use the designing latest phases as a way to reach the users disappointed of D&D4° Edition and convincing them, at least, to try the new version of the game. There are many examples, especially in video-gaming industry (with closed or open beta-testing phase). Microsoft have got an entire site to subscribe for testing their game for free.
These are game (not gamification) projects, but they show how a good reasoned play-testing (open to all, or upon registration) could generate hype and a marketing positive impact on your Revenue, like could have done a viral or social campaign.
Anyway, keep an eye focused on risk: if your game is not convincing, you could lose potential customer even before your game is ready. If you don't care what say playtester, you could be seen as uninterest of improving your game. In fact, considering playtesting as a Revenue have the same advantages and risks could have a 2.0 marketing campaign.
Pingback: Game on Demand #3 – Playtesting and Feedback | Play for Business!
Pingback: How to talk to your C-Level about Game on Demand (and Gamification) | Play for Business!


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Home Public health and population health air pollution Fuels Paradise: the health impact of Australia's poor fuel quality standards
Fuels Paradise: the health impact of Australia's poor fuel quality standards
Editor: Jennifer DoggettAuthor: Jennifer Doggetton: September 29, 2020 In: air pollution, Croakey longreads, environmental health, Inside Story, public health
Introduction by Croakey: Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions kills more Australians every year than motor vehicle accidents. Despite this significant toll, successive governments have failed to take action to improve our fuel quality, a key factor contributing to toxic air pollution.
This missed opportunity and its implications for our ability to address other major health threats, such as climate change, is discussed by Jennifer Doggett in the article below, first published by Inside Story.
Jennifer Doggett writes:
The Global Burden of Disease Study calls air pollution the world's greatest environmental health risk. It causes around 5000 premature deaths in Australia each year by increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, lung cancer and other diseases.
Yet successive governments have failed to lift standards for petrol quality, a key contributing factor to air pollution. In fact, the petrol most Australians use to fill their cars (known as 91 RON) is so poor in quality that it would be illegal in almost any other developed country.
Australia's poor fuel quality
Global consultancy Stratas Advisors recently ranked Australia's fuel quality as eighty-fifth in the world — between Argentina's and Tanzania's — on the basis of its high proportion of sulphur, a key health and environmental toxin.
This is a worse ranking than all European countries, the United States, Canada, Japan, China and India, and most other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Caledonia, Fiji and New Zealand.
Australia's poor fuel is well known internationally and recently became an issue in negotiations over the EU–Australia free trade agreement. Some car manufacturers refuse to supply certain of their new models to Australia or to downgrade the engines of cars designed for the cleaner fuel available in Europe, because of the risk of damage from our low-quality petrol.
And yet, when the regulations in the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000were reviewed in 2019, the federal government ignored calls from health experts and organisations to bring Australia's fuel standards into line with best overseas practice. Expert advice was trumped by opposition from Caltex, Mobil, Viva Energy and BP, the oil companies that make up Australia's domestic oil refining sector.
Alarming findings
The Global Burden of Disease Study says that one of its "most alarming" findings is that "about a third of the burden of stroke is attributable to air pollution." Air pollution is known to damage the lungs, heart and brain, it says, but "the extent of this threat seems to have been underestimated."
Australian-based research, including the landmark Australian Child Health and Air Pollution Study, has demonstrated that even low levels of exposure to air pollution can increase the severity of asthma among children.
A study recently published in the European Respiratory Journal found that Australians aged forty-five to fifty who live less than 200 metres from a major road have a 50 per cent higher risk of asthma, wheeze and lowered lung function over a five-year period than those who live further from a major road.
Lung cancer is another well-documented effect of air pollution. But newer research has demonstrated causal links between air pollution and other forms of cancer, such as pancreatic, colorectal and bladder, as well as increased mortality from all cancers. Emerging research is also demonstrating a link between air pollution and obesity, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, allergic reactions and ADHD.
Other serious impacts
Perhaps the most serious impact of air pollution is on the brain and respiratory-system development of babies in utero. The link between premature birth and air pollution has been known for some time, but reports of a dramatic drop in pre-term births during the Covid-19 pandemic have led some researchers to speculate that reduced exposure to air pollution may be part of the reason.
Evidence even suggests that exposure to air pollution can cause DNA changes that can then be passed on to future generations.
Despite all this evidence, public awareness of the dangers of air pollution remains low. This partly reflects the fact that the harms of air pollution can be difficult to spot at the individual level. Like smoking, air pollution increases an individual's risk of serious conditions. Identifying the population-wide harms of air pollution means extrapolating data from large-scale epidemiological studies that clearly demonstrate the link between air pollution and serious health conditions.
Costs of air pollution
Using 2017 data, the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub and the Melbourne Energy Institute put the Australian health costs of air pollution each year at $17.8 billion, with an additional $4.5 billion in "welfare losses and foregone labour output." On those figures, air pollution's health costs are greater than those of obesity ($11.8 billion in 2017–18) and close to those of smoking ($19.2 billion in 2015–16).
Not only are motor vehicles Australia's third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, they also have a greater direct impact on health than the same level of emissions from other sources — factories, for example — because of higher levels of exposure in the population.
According to the State of Global Air report, the small particulate matter (PM2.5) produced by vehicle emissions was responsible for an estimated 1715 premature deaths in Australia in 2015, more than the annual road toll. (Other harmful components of vehicle emissions are not included in this figure, and nor are coal-fired power stations, factories, wood-burning heaters and other causes of air pollution.)
The International Council on Clean Transportation estimates that reducing toxic materials in vehicle emissions could cut premature deaths by around 75 per cent.
Harms of sulphur
Sulphur in fuel increases the production of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide and other toxic gases. It also creates harmful small particulate matter that can be inhaled and can enter the bloodstream.
Fuels high in sulphur also prevent the effective operation of emissions control technology, such as particulate filters, which is why car manufacturers including Volkswagen (anxious to regain its reputation after an earlier fuel scandal) will not sell their most eco-friendly cars in Australia.
Clare Walter, a PhD candidate researching air pollution and policy at the University of Queensland, says the move to low-sulphur fuel would have the dual benefit of supporting the uptake of vehicles with the most advanced emission controls while reducing toxic emissions from Australia's current fleet.
"Our current standards are in line with those introduced in Europe in 2009 — they are known as Euro 5," Walter tells me. "Australia did not mandate these standards until 2016, by which time Europe had moved onto more stringent standards, Euro 6."
Why that laggard status has persisted is a case study in how clear medical evidence can be outweighed by well-organised and well-resourced industry lobbying. Despite extensive evidence of the harms of air pollution, a five-year government review into Australia's fuel standards concluded in 2018 by recommending no changes to fuel quality until 2027.
Policy options
The process began with the release of a discussion paper on vehicle emissions in December 2016, by the then environment minister (now health minister) Greg Hunt. "Around 17 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are from transport," he said bluntly.
"In cities such as Sydney on-road motor vehicles can contribute around 60 per cent of some noxious air pollutants." The following year, his successor as environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, declared that "Australia's petrol quality is the lowest in the OECD or seventieth in the world."
Hunt's discussion paper contained five options:
No change in Australia's fuel standards (maximum allowable sulphur content in standard petrol remains 150 parts per million, or ppm).
Harmonisation with European standards within two to five years (low grade petrol phased out, maximum sulphur in premium unleaded petrol limited to 10 ppm).
As with option B, but low-grade petrol retained (maximum allowable sulphur content 10 ppm)
Harmonisation with the (stricter than Europe) standards recommended by the Worldwide Fuel Charter (maximum allowable sulphur content 10 ppm)
A gradual improvement in quality standards from 2020 with a review in 2022 (maximum allowable sulphur content for standard petrol 50 ppm) heavily favouring a reduction in sulphur levels to 10 ppm, the maximum allowed in most other developed countries.
Submissions from health and environmental groups strongly supported the options that would bring Australia's fuel standards in line with Europe, most other developed countries, and even the United States — option B or, failing that, D.
But the government's subsequent draft regulation impact statement added a sixth option suggested by the downstream petroleum sector, represented by the Australian Institute of Petroleum, which involved no action on sulphur until 2027.
The institute argued that the refining industry would need to invest around $979 million, "which may threaten the economic viability of the remaining refineries in Australia," and stressed that the price of petrol could rise as a consequence — two possibilities that no doubt influenced government decision-making.
Challenging the oil industry
Robyn Schofield from the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne is one who challenges the institute's argument. All the Australian refiners are multinational and operate in jurisdictions requiring a maximum 10 ppm of sulphur, she says. There is no reason they can't bring the same technology to Australia.
Schofield also argues that the cost of upgrading refineries is outweighed many times over by the health costs associated with increased mortality and morbidity caused by poor fuel quality. If the government is concerned about potential petrol price rises it could fund the upgrade itself, she says, out of the $6 billion per year collected in petrol excise, for example.
The cost-effectiveness of such a move would be incontrovertible given that the cost of the $979 million upgrade would be significantly lower than the $17.8 billion in annual health costs associated with vehicle emissions.
The Institute of Petroleum also argues that the generally good quality of Australia's air undermines the case for improving fuel standards. Not so, responds Clare Walter. "Average" measures of air quality are not an accurate representation of the risks of exposure to pollution in specific locations and among specific populations.
"The air-quality models used in the government's analysis were designed to reflect regional air quality rather than roadside air-quality conditions," she says. "Yet much of our population lives in big cities and spends a considerable amount of time exposed to roadside pollution."
We also need to recognise exposure among people at higher risk from air pollution, such as young children, people with respiratory conditions and the elderly, says Walter. She also questions the validity of calculating health risks based on international epidemiological studies that use finer-grained data from overseas.
Health groups contend that the calculations used by the government in assessing the cost-effectiveness of different policy options fail to take account of Australia's underlying population health. Asthma and allergies are more prevalent here than in the United Sates and EU countries, for example, making our population more vulnerable to air pollution.
Lack of health sector representation
None of these or other points made by health organisations appear to have been considered by the government. Health groups and experts were limited to providing written submissions to the regulatory review process, and were then largely ignored.
The review's "stakeholder forums" and face-to-face meetings almost exclusively involved industry representatives and were dominated by the Australian Institute of Petroleum. Even high-profile government-funded organisations — the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes consortium, the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Centre for Air Pollution, Energy and Health Research, or CAR, and peak bodies in air, energy and health research — were excluded from full participation.
The experience of Graeme Zosky, an expert on the health impacts of air pollution who was the lead author of CAR's submission, was typical. As deputy director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and a professor of physiology at the Tasmanian School of Medicine, he recalls being contacted by a consultant for input on the evaluation measures for the policy options. But he wasn't invited to any of the stakeholder forums or interviewed by the department.
Also lacking has been any health-sector representation on the two major committees with a role in fuel standards. The health minister isn't among the members of the Ministerial Forum on Vehicle Emissions, which is responsible for coordinating the government's regulation of motor vehicle emissions, and the health department is not represented in its secretariat.
Interestingly, the forum's influence on policymaking is hard to gauge because details of its meetings are not publicly available — a lack of accountability highlighted by senator Rex Patrick when he questioned a representative of the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities during a Senate inquiry hearing in August 2018:
Senator Patrick: I presume the ministerial forum produces minutes.
Mr Foulds: No, they don't produce minutes as such…
Senator Patrick: Do you have officials go along that take notes?
Mr Foulds: The forum has met without officials and with officials.
Another key advisory group on fuel standards is the Fuel Standards Consultative Committee, whose members include representatives of all states and territories, the Commonwealth, fuel producers, an environment protection body and a consumer interest body, but no health expert or representative of the health sector. The minister is required to consult the committee before creating or amending a fuel quality standard.
Final regulation impact statement
The lack of health-sector involvement in these two committees and their secretariats probably contributed to the focus on the oil industry's perspective rather than health impacts in the final regulation impact statement, released in August 2018. The statement includes an analysis of policy options B, C and F (the industry's option) relative to the status quo (option A), based on the following criteria:
Achieve appreciable health and environmental outcomes
Ensure the most effective operation of engines
Facilitate adoption of better engine and emission control technologies
Achieve harmonisation with European standards, as appropriate
Minimise regulatory burden
Maximise net national benefits.
The analysis demonstrated that option F only partially met the first criterion: appreciable health and environmental outcomes. It also showed that option B was the only one that would decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
The final regulatory impact statement concedes that option B was supported by approximately 60 per cent of submissions because it would deliver maximum health and environmental benefits. It also states that the proposal to reduce sulphur to 10 ppm was "supported almost unanimously — only one submission (confidential) expressed a preference to maintain current levels of sulphur in petrol."
Yet the statement opts for the industry's option F on the basis that it avoids the cost of upgrading oil refineries. It also makes clear that this was the option supported by the downstream petroleum sector. In relation to sulphur, the statement says that delaying any reduction until 2027 is the "best option for the viability of domestic refineries" and therefore "the best option from a system-wide perspective."
Omission of health expert views
Health experts' detailed criticism of the methodology used to determine cost-effectiveness is not covered in the statement; instead, it focuses almost exclusively on the positions of the Australian Institute of Petroleum and other industry organisations. Tellingly, its summary of "key views from stakeholders" fails to mention any of the health and environmental groups that provided feedback on the policy options.
Following the publication of the final regulatory impact statement, the new fuel standard regulations were introduced into parliament last year.
The failure of the standards review to improve Australia's fuel quality shows how interest groups with deep pockets can dissuade governments from making changes that reflect expert advice and promote public health. That influence explains why Australia lags behind most other developed countries in reducing the level of toxic material produced by our seventeen million cars, even though 90 per cent of Australians live in urban areas and are directly affected by vehicle emissions.
The implications for dealing with other threats to public health, such as climate change, obesity, poverty and inequality, are obvious.
One of the most frustrating aspects of this issue, according to Robyn Schofield, is that Australians "have been lulled into a false sense of security and don't understand that these standards are being dictated by the petroleum industry."
Add to this the fact that improving fuel quality is relatively simple compared with other strategies to reduce air pollution, such as phasing out coal-fired power. Schofield describes better standards as potentially an "easy public health win" that should be a "no brainer" for governments.
At the very least, as the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes consortium suggested in its submission, the health department should be included formally in developing fuel standards. The Heart and Stroke Foundations and other public health groups could play an important role from outside by using their profile and lobbying expertise to support scientists taking on a greater advocacy role.
In contrast with both the American and British Heart Associations, neither of these organisations currently takes a position on the health impacts of air pollution.
Overcoming vested interests
Australia has relied on high-quality scientific and medical expertise to steer us through the Covid-19 pandemic. But we don't have a good track record in supporting research scientists outside crises.
The lag between public health research findings and policy changes can be significant: it took twenty years from the discovery of the health harms of smoking until the first health warnings appeared on tobacco products, and another twenty years before tobacco advertising was banned.
We shouldn't have to wait forty years for action on fuel quality. But history shows that overcoming the influence of well-resourced interest groups and the inertia of governments and entrenched bureaucratic cultures won't happen without a struggle.
Tags: #airpollution#auspol#CroakeyNews#Fuelqualityclimate change
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Q: Do I need an explicit wait? In essence, I have a situation where when the user types in to an HTML text input, an element is dynamically added to a the page. No network activity is involved in adding the element.
I want to run my tests -that include checking this behaviour -on as wide a variety of browsers as possible and will use a cloud service e.g. saucelabs.com.
I'd like to test that the number of dynamically added elements is correct. My test so far:
text_input.send_keys('a')
#send_keys('a') should make the browser immediately add an li to ul.new-elements
added_elements = browser.find_elements_by_css_selector('ul.new-elements li')
assert(len(added_elements), expected_num_of_list_items)

This is working reliably on my local machine, but from what I can see it assumes that the browser will always complete the DOM manipulation before Python/Webdriver gets to the find_elements_by_ call. Am I right in thinking this a dangerous assumption?
If so, do I need an explicit wait? Perhaps something like:
text_input.send_keys('a')
try:
    WebDriverWait(browser, 30).until(
        lambda b: len(b.find_elements_by_css_selector('ul.new-elements li')) == expected_num_of_list_items,
        'Timed out waiting for LI to be added.'
    )
except TimeoutException:
    fail('Timed out waiting for LI to be added.') #2 fail messages?

(My understanding is that implicit_wait is not relevant here).

A: Your thinking is correct. As soon as you start using explicit waits, you should forget implicit waits. An excellent explanation of why you should not mix the two types is available here.

A: Yes you are correct in making that assumption.
In my understanding for the specific condition that you are asserting  an explicit wait would be required. For other scenarios that are more commonly used you could use "expected conditions".
Read more here

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Fiery Texas author breathes life into dead woman Dr. Joe Vitale, the world-famous copywriter and creator of the "hypnotic Writing" method, has chosen to release the amazing book that changed his life - one of the 3 most powerful books of all time. Dr. Joe Vitale Presents: How to Attain Your Desires. By Letting Your Subconscious Mind Work For You. Brought back to life from an amazing book entitled Attaining Your Desires: By Letting Your Subconscious Mind Work For You by Genevieve Behrend. This long lost 1929 book was discovered by Dr.
Joe Vitale many years ago. This amazing book profoundly influenced his life. It taught him how to focus on the essence of something he wanted-rather than on the appearance of something-in order to magnetize him to receive what he truly desired. Written as a complete seven-on course in the early 1920s in dialogue form, between a "Sage" and a "Pupil." The Sage is the famous author and teacher, Judge Thomas Toward; the Pupil is you. It is very easy reading, very tightly written, and very enlightening. Within these ons is pure compressed dynamite. Here are a few sub-headings to give you a sense of the staggering power of this rare material: "How to Get What You Want" "How to Overcome Adverse Conditions" "Strengthening Your Will" Dr. Joe Vitale breathes life into the book as the list of incredible topics, answers, and mind expanding concepts goes on and on. The book even includes special sections on handling anger, disease, disappointment, and much more.You can now learn from this amazing author too, for the first time in almost a hundred years, as Dr. Joe Vitale takes Genevieve Behrend's magical book and releases it to the public.


You've probably spent hours and hours training in various gymnasiums with different routines, many types of diets and probably yes got off weight, but still have that belly hanging in front of you, that hate safe and no longer knows how to get rid of it, but today we will make your life much easier with these eight amazing techniques and exercises to lower abdomen.
To get rid of the accumulated fat and have a flat stomach is ideally noted cardio exercises. Go with an instructor so that he put you a routine depending on your physical condition and health.
To perform these exercises you must lie down on the floor and lift your legs keeping them together without touching the floor whenever you get down. This exercise will also help you to have a toned legs.
These are classic exercises to reduce tummy. Put on the floor, bending your knees to 90 degrees and try to reach your elbows with your knees.
You have to lie down and elevate your legs a bit to open and close them across the foot. This is an excellent exercise to achieve a flat stomach.
The position for these exercises is on the floor with straight legs elevated 90 degrees; alternating hands are touching the opposite ankle to hand you're using. If you want to look amazing on your holiday this is one of the summer exercises you should not forget.
Very simple but effective exercises to lose belly. You must pretend that you pull something to you, because with that, you're tightening the belly and slowly, with time and dedication, it will get hard.
Similar to crunch exercise, but with the difference that now try to reach the left knee with the right elbow and vice versa. This exercise also helps tone the abdomen will be your ally this season.
These exercises are really effective to work the sides of the abdomen and get a wasp waist. We lay on the floor with your legs bent, touch the right ankle with your right hand and vice versa.
Now that you know these amazing exercises, do not hesitate to have the abdomen that has both desired. Of course, you must have patience and perseverance to achieve the expected results.


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Trim personal finance bot raises $2.2 million to save you money
Katie Roof	@Katie_Roof / 5 years
Ever wonder how much you spend each month on Uber? The newly released Trim chatbot will tell you in a text.
Trim also helps you manage subscriptions, set up spending alerts and check your bank balance. But there is no app, only a bot that can be linked to SMS or Facebook.
"Anything that you can do on your mobile banking app, you can do with trim with the exception of moving money," said CEO and co-founder Thomas Smyth. He founded the business alongside fellow Yale alumni Daniel Petkevich and the duo is based in San Francisco.
Ashton Kutcher believes in the concept, and is participating in their $2.2 million financing round through Sound Ventures. Eniac Ventures led the round, with Version One Ventures and Core Innovation Capital also participating.
"I love backing teams like Thomas and Daniel who are passionate about advocating and moving the financial needle for average American families," said Tim Young, general partner at Eniac.
Trim first launched seven months ago, with a focus on identifying and canceling unwanted subscriptions. The team estimates they have saved users $6 million so far.
Now with more features, Smyth expects that the service will be an alternative to not only banking apps, but also personal finance apps. He believes that "people prefer to use the messaging interface."
The service is free, but Smyth says that they will eventually monetize by charging for premium features.
It's only been a few months since Facebook launched chatbots, but many businesses are testing the concept out to see whether it will catch on. From customer service to news digests, users can communicate with a robot to get an AI-powered response.


The Seychelles Island chain has 115 islands that occupy a total land area of about 455 square kilometers. It is located in a region of about 1.4 million square kilometers in the western part of the Indian Ocean, and is known worldwide for its great natural beauty. Extending from about 4 to 10 degrees south of the equator, and lying from about 500 km to 1600 km off the east coast of Africa, this beautiful island chain is well worth exploring. This article will discuss the Seychelles and the surrounding islands.
The Seychelles consist of an archipelago grouped around Mahe, which is the main island and home of the capital city Victoria. Mahe is also home to the international airport. The islands of Praslin and La Digue are close by as well. These so-called inner islands are the economic and cultural center of the republic and are home to most of the Seychelles' tourist facilities. The islands in the Seychelles have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Air Seychelles has regularly scheduled flights from Rome, London, and Paris in Europe. Other connections are to South Africa, Mauritius, and Singapore. Qatar Airways and Emirates Airlines also fly to and from the Seychelles, through hubs in Dubai and Doha, travelers can connect with other places around the world. Additionally, Air France, Condor, Kenya Airways, Air Mauritius and Air Australia fly to the Seychelles. Private planes are cleared through the Civil Aviation Authority at Mahe Airport.
The more cosmopolitan parts of the Seychelles have a blend of races from European, African, and Asian ancestors. Each has brought customs and lifestyles to the islands. The culture is a wonderful blend of peoples that make people feel instantly at home once they arrive at the Seychelles. Though the Seychelles were a British colony, the influences of the French are still quite strong. African slaves remained here after they were liberated.
Music and dance are important parts of the culture of the Seychelles Islands. Creole music and dance come from African, Malagasy, and European cultures. Tambour and Tamtam drums are played, along with stringed instruments. The violin and guitar have also found a place in Seychellois musical culture. A popular local dance called Sega, is danced to a rhythm beaten out on drums. It involves swaying of the hips and shuffling of the feet. The lyrics to Seychellois music are usually about everyday events. There is also a more exotic dane called the traditional Moutya. It comes from the days of slavery at which time it was about the only way tht slaves could express themselves. It is done generally in gatherings on beaches under moonlight.
The broad variety of cultures and backgrounds make for a broad variety of cuisine in the Seychelles. Seychelles cuisine includes influences from French cuisine, spicy Indian dishes, and Oriental dishes. One local favorite is grilled fish marinated in a sauce of chili, ginger, and garlic, as is chicken curry made with coconut milk.
The variety of fresh fish is amazing, and is often turned into any number of delicious fish dishes that include the use of fruits, spices, condiments, and herbs. Local markets offer fresh fish. Many hotels and restaurants serve international dishes as well as the local Creole cuisine. The Creole dishes are quite innovative, having been developed in a time before there were supermarkets. A dish called Chatinis is made from grated fruit and is a delicious accompaniment to meat and fish dishes. Mangoes, apples, coconut, hearts of palm, tubers, and unusual delicacies like fruit bat and octopus add to the impressive culinary repertoire of the Seychelles.
Artists love the Seychelles, and not only for its stunning natural beauty. Though the scenery is worthy of inspiring art, the relaxed human culture is also an influence on arts and crafts. Artists in the Seychelles display a broad spectrum of media. Works available range from tiny memorabilia to impressive collectors items.
Though the beaches alone are enough reason to visit the Seychelles, there are actually other interesting attractions, too. One is the Valee de Mai. L'Union Estate on La Digue Island has some of the most pristine beaches in the island chain. Arise Island is the world's most important nature preserve and biodiversity sanctuary. Aride Island is home to 10 species of endemic birds like the Brush Warbler, Fodie, and Magpie Robin, as well as numerous species of sea birds. Ile Coco Marine Park covers three small islands surrounded by sparkling clear water and coral reefs. The green and red hillsides of Curieuse Island are another unusual natural offering in the Seychelles. The hills are speckled with coco-de-mer trees, bearer or the unique fruit that is one of the prime symbols of the Seychelles.


Provides an opportunity for self exploration enabling integration of your body, mind and soul. Alicia believes the practice of Yoga and Meditation are useful methods for organic self-development. She provides space to contemplate the essence of one's true nature and opportunity to reconnect with their unique life purpose.
Perhaps you first come to yoga with the goal to increase your personal physical strength and better achieve balance in your lifestyle. Through Alicia´s teachings what you will discover, gain, and achieve through Asana will far exceed your original intentions by taking you deeper and beyond.
Meditation is a practice training the mind to focus and concentrate by bringing awareness to our "monkey mind" which is constantly jumping from one thought to the next. Meditation helps us to control our thoughts in order promote an internal state of peace and well-being.
When you truly experience the power of your natural breath, you begin to understand it is the bridge between body and mind. Learn how to listen closely to your body, breath and mind and experience the countless health benefits associated with the practice of mindful breathing.
How to listen to your body using movement, breath, and meditation.
Believes overall health and wellbeing are not solely achieved working with only the physical body but also focusing on maintain emotional stability and mental clarity.
Reiki healing therapy is extremely beneficial for anyone looking to bring more balance into their life.
Alicia teaches a range of special events ranging from week long yoga retreats, to two day reiki courses and yoga workshops and yoga teacher training all year round.
"Alicia is a powerful individual and so incredibly uplifting. She worked with us on meditation which I continue to practice daily, she helped me find a better balance which I will carry with me my whole life".
Yoga, meditation classes, personal programs, private sessions and Reiki courses.


text:
Cuban Americans Rejoice
Fidel Alejandro Castro was born on August 13, 1926. He was a Cuban dictator, politician, and revolutionary who was President of Cuba from 1976 to 2008. Castro turned the country into a Marxist-Leninist and Cuban nationalist. He was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba until 2011. Under his rule, Cuba became a one-party socialist state and state socialist reforms were put in place throughout the country.
Fidel Castro was born to a wealthy farmer in Biran. It was during his years as a student studying to become an attorney when he developed his ideals as a leftist anti-imperialist. He was attending the University of Havana. He began his "political" career by rebelling against right-wing governments in Colombia. After a few tumultuous years following an unsuccessful overthrow of the government, a year in prison, and moving to Mexico, he came together with his brother Raul Castro and Che Guevara to play an important role in the Cuban Revolution. It was during this time that they overthrew Batista in 1959 and Fidel Castro took on the role as Cuba's Prime Minister.
Fidel Castro created the one-party socialist state under the Communist Party Rule, which was the first and only country in the Western hemisphere to do so. These actions began to seriously frighten America, especially under developing relationships between Cuba and the Soviet Union. The United States tried multiple times to assassinate Castro. A huge mission of the American military to invade Cuba and overthrow the government of Fidel Castro in 1961, but failed. This failed attempt only served to strengthen the ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union. In 1962 Castro allowed the Soviet's to keep some of their nuclear weapons on the island. This was the Cuban Missile Crisis and a milestone in the Cold War.
Fidel Castro retired in 2008. His health began to deteriorate. The government of Cuba refused to admit that anything was wrong with him, but many people believed he had diverticulitis, which is a digesting disease when areas within the bowel wall become inflamed that cause diarrhea, nausea, constipation and fever. Castro's final meeting with foreign leaders took place in late October of 2016 with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. On November 26, 2016 the Cuban news announced that Fidel Castro had passed. His brother, and current President of Cuba, Raul Castro stated, "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 this evening." His cause of death has not yet been released, but he will be cremated. Exiled Cubans began to flood the streets in America to celebrate the news.


Lionel Messi netted a hatrick to see off Athletic Madrid on Saturday and Cristiano Ronaldo netted a brace to keep himself above the Argentine by one goal. Leo Messi had an outstanding match again and was even superb in defence as on one occasion ran back to keep Kun Aguero from advancing into the 6 yard area.
oh i love the way we play. but pls we shuld be very cearfull wen we move. bcs this ma .u boys day are very farst in canta so we shuld be very cearfull good louk end we are going to beat them a gain. this is samuel from ghana bye.


Their colours were purple and black and really wanted an apple tree to feature on the invitations.
The thank you cards contain a personal text on the front in both languages and a postcard-style back to save on postage!
The little gift tags were a gift!


text:
Q: How to use Delphi "in" operator in C++ Builder I'm a newbie programmer. I need to use Delphi's in operator in C++ Builder XE like this:
if (dgColLines in DBGrid->Options)
    // include vertical lines in total (one per column)
    TotalColumnWidth = TotalColumnWidth + ColumnCount;

if (dgColLines **in** DBGrid->Options)

How to do that in C++ Builder?
Thanks in advance.

A: Looking the the property in question, TDBGrid.Options, its type is TDBGridOptions which is defined as:
typedef System::Set<TDBGridOption, TDBGridOption::dgEditing,
    TDBGridOption::dgTitleHotTrack> TDBGridOptions;

As you can see, C++ Builder uses the template System::Set<T, minEl, maxEl> to emulate Delphi set types.
All of the functionality available using the built in Delphi set operators is exposed through the methods of Set. Specifically to this question, set membership is testing using Contains().

A: Use the Contains method to check if a set contains a specific element:
if( DBGrid->Options.Contains(dgColLines) )
  TotalColumnWidth = TotalColumnWidth + ColumnCount;


2 How Long Has The Autoresponder Service Been Around?
3 Will Your Emails Get Delivered?
4 How Easy Is The Service To Use?
Your autoresponder service is the lifeblood of your email marketing business. If you choose the wrong service you can end up with your emails not being delivered, and other problems that you just don't want. This article will show you how to make the right choice.
How Long Has The Autoresponder Service Been Around?
This is something that you cannot overlook. The time that the autoresponder service has been in business is very important. A lot of people use Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail email services these days, and if the company has been in business for a while then they will have built rapport with these companies.
The benefit of this is that you will have a higher probability of your emails appearing in inboxes rather than Spam boxes. As a rule of thumb it is not advisable to go with a company that has not been in the autoresponder business for at least 7 years.
Will Your Emails Get Delivered?
Most of the quality autoresponder companies will produce deliverability statistics for you to look at. This is another crucial decision for you to make. If your emails are not being delivered to a proportion of your subscribers, then your email marketing efforts will be severely compromised.
Most of the companies that have been around a few years will claim high deliverability rates. Look for the actual metrics that they publish. The top companies should claim at least 99% deliverability on their website. When you set up your email list use the double opt in feature as this tends to improve overall deliverability.
This is not as important as the first two factors mentioned above, but if you are going to be setting up a lot of campaigns then you must take this into account. This starts by viewing the company website. If it is easy to navigate and intuitive then it is likely to be the same with the email user interface.
You do not want to go through a clunky process that is not intuitive with your email marketing. You want the process to be as simple as possible and include features like drag n drop. The ability to send the same email in HTML and plain text format is also required. There are still some people using email clients that cannot display HTML formatting.
This should be the last factor that you consider. Autoresponder services can be pretty expensive, and usually the monthly subscription increases in line with the total number of subscribers that you have. If you have three autoresponder services that will meet all of your needs then by all means do a price comparison.
Here is a good tip. Most of the autoresponder services are offering 30 day free trials these days. Or you can try the service for a small fee. Sign up and see how their delivery of emails stacks up. Are there any delays?
If you are sending to Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail do the emails go to the inbox or the Spam box? What is the user interface like? Is it easy to use or do you have to keep referring to the help files to work out what to do?
There is nothing like a long test drive to see if you are comfortable with a service or not. Be sure to cancel the subscriptions of the services that you do not want to continue using. You want your autoresponder service to be one of your best friends, so make sure that you do your homework before making a decision.
EasyVSL 3.0 Review with $60,000 Special Bonus - Read Me First!
Curation Studio Review with $60,000 Bonus - Read Me First!


text:
Why is this image so small?
This image is presented as a "thumbnail" because it is protected by copyright. The Brooklyn Museum respects the rights of artists who retain the copyright to their work.
Loren Roberta Barton (American, 1893-1975). Altar A - Lado Oriental, ca. 1930. Watercolor drawing on paper, 20 7/8 x 82 13/16 in. (53 x 210.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 30.952.5. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.30.952.5.jpg)
Loren Roberta Barton (American, 1893-1975). Altar A - Lado Oriental, ca. 1930. Watercolor drawing on paper, 20 7/8 x 82 13/16 in. (53 x 210.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 30.952.5. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.30.952.5_detail4.jpg)
Altar A - Lado Oriental
MAKER Loren Roberta Barton, American, 1893-1975
MEDIUM Watercolor drawing on paper
DIMENSIONS 20 7/8 x 82 13/16 in. (53 x 210.3 cm) (show scale)
CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund
RIGHTS STATEMENT © artist or artist's estate
Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
CAPTION Loren Roberta Barton (American, 1893-1975). Altar A - Lado Oriental, ca. 1930. Watercolor drawing on paper, 20 7/8 x 82 13/16 in. (53 x 210.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 30.952.5. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.30.952.5.jpg)
IMAGE overall, CUR.30.952.5.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013


text:
//// THIS CODE AND INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
//// ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
//// THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A
//// PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
////
//// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

(function () {
    "use strict";
    var page = WinJS.UI.Pages.define("/html/scenario1_Files.html", {
        ready: function (element, options) {
            document.getElementById("filesLocalIncrement").addEventListener("click", filesLocalIncrement, false);
            document.getElementById("filesLocalCacheIncrement").addEventListener("click", filesLocalCacheIncrement, false);
            document.getElementById("filesRoamingIncrement").addEventListener("click", filesRoamingIncrement, false);
            document.getElementById("filesTemporaryIncrement").addEventListener("click", filesTemporaryIncrement, false);
            filesDisplayOutput();
        }
    });

    var localFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.localFolder;
    var localCacheFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.localCacheFolder;
    var roamingFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.roamingFolder;
    var temporaryFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.temporaryFolder;
    var filename = "sampleFile.txt";
    var localCounter = 0;
    var localCacheCounter = 0;
    var roamingCounter = 0;
    var temporaryCounter = 0;

    // Guidance for Local, LocalCache, Roaming, and Temporary files.
    //
    // Files are ideal for storing large data-sets, databases, or data that is
    // in a common file-format.
    //
    // Files can exist in either the Local, LocalCache, Roaming, or Temporary folders.
    //
    // Roaming files will be synchronized across machines on which the user has
    // singed in with a connected account.  Roaming of files is not instant; the
    // system weighs several factors when determining when to send the data.  Usage
    // of roaming data should be kept below the quota (available via the
    // RoamingStorageQuota property), or else roaming of data will be suspended.
    // Files cannot be roamed while an application is writing to them, so be sure
    // to close your application's file objects when they are no longer needed.
    //
    // Local files are not synchronized, but are backed up, and can then be restored to a
    // machine different than where they were originally written. These should be for
    // important files that allow the feel that the user did not loose anything
    // when they restored to a new device.
    //
    // Temporary files are subject to deletion when not in use.  The system
    // considers factors such as available disk capacity and the age of a file when
    // determining when or whether to delete a temporary file.
    //
    // LocalCache files are for larger files that can be recreated by the app, and for
    // machine specific or private files that should not be restored to a new device.

    function filesLocalIncrement() {
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        localFolder.createFileAsync(filename, Windows.Storage.CreationCollisionOption.replaceExisting)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.writeTextAsync(file, localCounter);
            }).done(function () {
                filesReadLocalCounter();
            });
    }

    function filesReadLocalCounter() {
        localFolder.getFileAsync(filename)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.readTextAsync(file);
            }).done(function (text) {
                localCounter = parseInt(text);
                document.getElementById("filesLocalOutput").innerText = "Local Counter: " + localCounter;
            }, function () {
                // getFileAsync or readTextAsync failed.
                document.getElementById("filesLocalOutput").innerText = "Local Counter: <not found>";
            });
    }

    function filesLocalCacheIncrement() {
        localCacheCounter = localCacheCounter + 1;

        localCacheFolder.createFileAsync(filename, Windows.Storage.CreationCollisionOption.replaceExisting)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.writeTextAsync(file, localCacheCounter);
            }).done(function () {
                filesReadLocalCacheCounter();
            });
    }

    function filesReadLocalCacheCounter() {
        localCacheFolder.getFileAsync(filename)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.readTextAsync(file);
            }).done(function (text) {
                localCacheCounter = parseInt(text);
                document.getElementById("filesLocalCacheOutput").innerText = "LocalCache Counter: " + localCacheCounter;
            }, function () {
                // getFileAsync or readTextAsync failed.
                document.getElementById("filesLocalCacheOutput").innerText = "LocalCache Counter: <not found>";
            });
    }

    function filesRoamingIncrement() {
        roamingCounter = roamingCounter + 1;

        roamingFolder.createFileAsync(filename, Windows.Storage.CreationCollisionOption.replaceExisting)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.writeTextAsync(file, roamingCounter);
            }).done(function () {
                filesReadRoamingCounter();
            });
    }

    function filesReadRoamingCounter() {
        roamingFolder.getFileAsync(filename)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.readTextAsync(file);
            }).done(function (text) {
                roamingCounter = parseInt(text);
                document.getElementById("filesRoamingOutput").innerText = "Roaming Counter: " + roamingCounter;
            }, function () {
                // getFileAsync or readTextAsync failed.
                document.getElementById("filesRoamingOutput").innerText = "Roaming Counter: <not found>";
            });
    }

    function filesTemporaryIncrement() {
        temporaryCounter = temporaryCounter + 1;

        temporaryFolder.createFileAsync(filename, Windows.Storage.CreationCollisionOption.replaceExisting)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.writeTextAsync(file, temporaryCounter);
            }).done(function () {
                filesReadTemporaryCounter();
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    }

    function filesReadTemporaryCounter() {
        temporaryFolder.getFileAsync(filename)
            .then(function (file) {
                return Windows.Storage.FileIO.readTextAsync(file);
            }).done(function (text) {
                temporaryCounter = parseInt(text);
                document.getElementById("filesTemporaryOutput").innerText = "Temporary Counter: " + temporaryCounter;
            }, function () {
                // getFileAsync or readTextAsync failed.
                document.getElementById("filesTemporaryOutput").innerText = "Temporary Counter: <not found>";
            });
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    function filesDisplayOutput() {
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        filesReadLocalCacheCounter();
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        filesReadTemporaryCounter();
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})();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Maybe in reply to: Daniel W. Connolly: "Goals of HTML Math [Was: Shortref [was: Re: Super and Subscripts] ]"
X-Listprocessor-Confession: Can't stop snacking on Reply-To headers!
> on the client side.
like the way to go for academic journals and preprints.
I don't know about percentages, but both are important.


There is a ripple effect. When one person gains a firmer footing in their life's purpose, the uplifting effect echoes through whatever they are a part of, including a company.
The more people strengthening themselves, the louder the resonance.
We strive to make CoLab a place where each team member is supported in their path of personal and spiritual development, whatever that means to them. It is written in our core values and is the underpinning for our mission to make the world better. When our team member Joshua shared news of his upcoming departure for a vision quest, we were happy to support and grateful to know our collaborators took such deep interest in personal growth. So much so that one of our co-owners (we're a coop), Rylan, followed Joshua in personal support. We were all so moved by this event, we asked Josh to share a little bit about his experience. We'd like to share it with you too.
Joshua: A vision quest is an ancient rite-of-passage ceremony that has been practiced all over the world by many different cultures. Under the guidance of a medicine man or woman, the initiate goes into the wilderness and spends one to four days and nights alone fasting and praying.
My vision quest involved a fast that excluded food or water for three days and nights. I kept a fire going the whole time, without letting it go out until I walked off the mountain. It also involved carrying a sacred pipe about the length of my forearm; I was challenged to carry the heavy pipe during the three days without letting it touch the ground, even while sleeping.
Joshua: On a personal level, I went because I was struggling with frustration and dissatisfaction and had a strong intuition that this ceremony could help me although I didn't know exactly how. All I knew is that wanted to connect deeply with Nature, myself, and God, and that this was my way to do it. I think everyone has their own inner work to do in order to be happy and grow into the kind of person they want to be. I consider initiation ceremonies like the vision quest to be vital to this process.
The vision quest ceremony strips everything away — comforts, habits, opinions — and leaves you with nothing but your basic nature. This is something people in our culture often avoid, but I think it's absolutely vital to mental and emotional health. Nature and the elements have a beautiful way of putting you in touch with what is universally human as well as forcing you to really evaluate what truly matters in life. I learned a lot about myself through undergoing the trial, and I've noticed the more I understand myself, the better my life becomes.
Can you tell me a little bit about what you learned?
Joshua: At a certain point in the ceremony, I was able to experience a sense of peace and awareness that was greater than thought. My mind wanted to understand it, reduce it to ideas or concepts, until I had a realization that this simply could not be done. I could not experience the sense of peace and aliveness that I was looking for through thinking. For so long I had been looking for peace, unconsciously thinking that if I just did the right thing or thought the right way, then I would find it. Now I know that as long as I pursue it that way, it will elude me.
How does an experience like this contribute to your professional success?
Joshua: For me, this was an experience of deep self-reliance. I was accountable for everything that happened during those three days. I often encountered frustration at not being able to ask someone for help. It was like there was a child inside me that felt cheated because no one told him how to make a fire, and there was no one else to do it for him. I couldn't pull out my phone to Google how to keep the fire going. Ultimately this was empowering, strengthening my confidence and teaching me about accountability.
In a professional context, there is a huge benefit to pursuing your work with a strong sense of confidence, personal purpose, and accountability. Advocating for something that matters to you while not expecting anyone else to do it for you is a powerful combination. The people around you will feel it, and trust follows.
In business, good cooperation requires a balance of humility and assertiveness. Accept the things you can't change, but pursue change in the spaces where need and ability meet. I learned this balance on the mountain. There is a lot of humility needed to get through that ceremony, so many forces one must surrender to: hunger, thirst, and weather to name just a few. And yet, there were those things that I could, and had to, effect. I had to gather firewood, tend the fire, stay warm, hold the pipe. I struck the balance on the mountain, and now I try to strike it everyday at my desk.
Will you reflect on what it meant to have a co-worker there supporting you?
Joshua: I am immensely grateful to Rylan. His presence showed me that I work with people who are honestly invested in walking their talk. I've always longed to work somewhere where I would be embraced as a whole person and seen for myself rather than a role, a list of tasks, or a job description. The support I received through this experience has shown me that I am not only seen at CoLab, but embraced and deeply supported by both my colleagues and clients.
There are plenty of people who will support you when it's easy or when they get some benefit, but as we all know it's when someone is asked to do something difficult for you that you learn who's really interested in your well-being. I know that this was an immense effort for Rylan, a man with so much family and professional responsibility. He drove 6 hours each way, spent days away from his family, gracefully accepted the trials along the way (a flat tire and a GPS that took him to the wrong location, for instance). He did all that to do hard labor: gathering wood, tending a bonfire that needed to be kept going all the time I was on the mountain, and participating in intense sweat lodges all because he believed in the value of what I was doing. This experience drove home the fact that I'm working for an organization where the people have a deep spiritual grounding; most people that I have met and worked with don't value these kinds of experiences so highly. Rylan's action was more than that of a co-worker. It was something that family would do, and I would do the same for him.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do something like this?
Joshua: The best advice that I could give to anyone who was going to undertake something like this is: do it for yourself. Vision quests, retreats, self-inquiry are not things that you ever do for anybody else. It's not a check-mark on a resume. It's not something to brag to your friends about later. It's a deeply personal thing, and should be approached that way. That's the only way you're ever going to get what you want out of it.


If you did this in certain departments (for example, earth sciences or physics - the ones I know about!), both the professors and the graduate students would think you were very odd, and you would likely distance yourself from the faculty in a way which would be bad for your career. Yes, I'm completely serious. This is entirely department and/or program-dependent. In e-mails, it's best to just use "Professor X" until and unless they send you an e-mail signed "Kathy" or "Brett" or "L" or something like that. If they do sign with their first name, I would strongly recommend just using the same address they gave you with their first name in place of yours. If they list both names, it's a judgment call - if you know that first names are common in the department, might as well use that, and otherwise err on the side of formality. In person, you will figure out very clearly what is and is not acceptable by observing how grad students talk about and to the faculty, both the ones who are advising them and others.
Ended up getting an offer from MIT. The way my department contact put it (and the timing) makes me think it was likely that some funding came through rather than that another student declined, but not sure either way.
I think physicsgre got all the traffic that this site would otherwise get, to the point that you can't even start up a conversation here. The editing features on gradcafe make it essentially impossible to update profiles, so the preference for physicsgre isn't really surprising in my opinion.
Well, to some extent planetary science, (geophysical) fluid dynamics, etc. are conducted as fields of applied physics/math (in fact, research on them is frequently found in those departments). Speaking specifically about earth, I also really love the environment, from a conservationist perspective and a knowledge perspective, so it's really a natural point of confluence for my interests. Which of Thorne's books? I'm reading through his recent collab with Blandford now; it's quite an achievement in pedagogy!
I am leaning toward one of MIT physics, Berkeley physics, UCSB physics, and Harvard applied physics.
Here are my final results, for posterity's sake: MIT EAPS - PAOS - Mar. 21 WAITLISTED (apparently this is the Trump administration's fault haha - the department's climate funding went down)Caltech - Planetary Scence - Feb. 22 REJECTED (my LoR writer said something like "we were doing you a favor" lol)Columbia EESC - Mar. 19 WITHDREW UWash - Atmos Sci - Jan. 28 ACCEPTED Didn't end up applying to UWash ESS. I think it's hard for future applicants to take much away from this, given that I received one of each possible type of result, and got rejected from Caltech in large part because I went there for UG (not that I would have necessarily gotten in otherwise, but it's not generalizable information). However, in retrospect I think it was certainly possible to get accepted to any or all of these schools. A similar applicant with a quality research experience in the earth sciences would probably have their pick. I also applied to a bunch of physics programs, and fared better there, so I'm not too bummed about this outcome.
Soooooooo it's March 16th and I still haven't heard anything from MIT. Which is odd, because (1) they said that they would get back by March 15th and (2) lots of people got rejected on the 14th. I almost certainly wouldn't enter their program if I got accepted, but I'd still like to know what's up... I'm applying for AOC and I think they specifically might have missed their deadlines by a ways.
I also haven't heard from Caltech at all, nor have I heard of anyone who has. Same with Columbia EESC. I just spoke with a professor from MIT EAPS who says that the department is pretty far behind its typical admissions schedule. He sounded positive about my application status (I couldn't quite make out what he said when he talked about that part lol), and said that he/the department would likely get back to me next week. This was an Atmos/Oceans/Climate person; not sure if he was referring to that or all of EAPS.
I can't figure out how to edit this; if it's possible someone please tell me how and I'll delete this post. I got ACCEPTED (woo) to work with a computational mat sci professor. I didn't list him on my SoP, but we did have a skype conversation a few weeks ago that went quite well.
I have only been accepted to one physics school so far (a top 15/20, yet to hear back from another 7 or 8 more highly ranked), but I have spent a lot of time thinking/reading about this, and I think I have a handle on the principles of writing an SOP for a physics school. 1. Don't write about a personal story unless it answers a potential question about your academic history (why did you take this year off? why are you switching subfields?), and if you do, make sure you write the minimum amount necessary to answer the question. Generally the chronology of your SOP should never begin before your first serious exposure to physics, which for virtually all applicants (>99%, I would guess) occurs after their freshman year. The crucial reason why you should not write about earlier experiences that sparked your interest in physics is that the only relevant information they convey is that you are passionate about physics research. But the committee will already assume this if you did research as a UG and are applying to grad school, so you are wasting space on the page telling them about something they have already assumed to be true. The exception, then, is if there is something in your UG career that might give them pause about your commitment. For example, I did not do research until after my undergrad, so I briefly discussed some reasons why not. But you should keep this short, and it possible, focus on why it might make you a better or more unique candidate. If you were originally a math major, for example, spend a sentence on how that helped you later in your advanced physics coursework. 2. The SOP is the only place where you get to talk about your research in your own words. What specific contributions did you make? Instead of "our lab discovered X abour Y" - something that can be gathered from an abstract - write "I built Z for W purpose, which was vital to A observation or B insight." Also talk about what you learned and, if possible, how it led you to your particular interests in your chosen subfield. 3. I think "what" is better than "why." What does the school offer? Its research labs! Find the ones you want to work in, and explain why. If you have the chance to make contact with PIs ahead of time and discuss some concrete future directions, definitely do that and feel free to write a few sentences per possible direction. Otherwise, it's probably best to briefly describe the topics that they are working on that are most interesting to you. If you have written a cohesive narrative about how your undergrad experiences shaped your interests, it ought to be clear why you want to work on these topics, but if it isn't, that's all right. Try to explain the source of your interests as best you can, but don't spend a lot of time on it. Sometimes things are interesting to you for reasons that are inscrutable, and it is very common to learn that you are interested in something else in grad school anyway. The point of this part is to signal your particular interests and show you understand what the department is working on. I also think it's good to write an intro that answers the SOP question very specifically - as in, what kind of research do you want to do here (CMT, biophysics, etc.) and what is it about this place in particular (interdisciplinary faculty, large theory department, good observing facilities, etc.). Anyway, bottom line, there's no need to swing for the fences. Write clearly and correctly, address your past and future research directions, and provide information that the admissions committee will find useful. Also, don't sweat it too much - it's hard to do something meaningful in this 2 page format, so focus instead on conveying information and writing well.
Hi @rocksandstuff ! Unfortunately I'm totally out of the loop, so I really don't know anything more than what I've learned by scouring the internet. It seems that some people have heard back this cycle, though I've only verified that one of these people is real (a geophysics admit last Tuesday). You're not the first to ask me about the PS option, and it seems as though there are people waiting to hear back everywhere I look, so I hope that means they're not done yet haha. One of my recommenders is from the department, but I'm a little scared to ask him what's going on... Anyway, best of luck! Hopefully the few of us waiting on them will get good news this week.


With snowpack in Wyoming continuing to hover between 102 and 139 percent of average, it seems there will be no shortage of irrigation water this growing season.
In the April 4 snow report by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Wind River Basin recorded the state's low snow water equivalent (SWE) of 102 percent of average, while the Upper North Platte and Upper Bear River basins claimed the high at 139 percent.
In the first week of April, 10 Wyoming basins gained average SWE, while one basin stayed the same and only two lost SWE.
The released water has increased flows on the Shoshone River from 350 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,000 cfs.
Over the last several years the Shoshone has ran as much as 5,000 to 6,000 cfs under evacuation conditions to make room for spring runoff.
In the March 2011 Wyoming Spring Snowmelt Flood Potential Outlook, issued March 24, many basins in the state are forecast at low to moderate flood potential. The Shoshone River Basin is one that's forecast to have moderate to high flood potential, with the highest potential across the extreme upper portions of the North Fork of the Shoshone River.
"Current SWE trends are slightly above the 30-year normal, and are below the record SWE years of 1996 and 1997, but are above the SWEs that produced record runoff in 1981 and 1991," says the report.
Although ice is still thick and there hasn't been a good measurement since last fall, Wheatland Irrigation District Manager Don Britton says their Reservoir #2 is holding 57,400 acre-feet, Reservoir #1 has 8,340 acre-feet and Reservoir #3 is sitting at 60,000 acre-feet.
"The snowpacks are way up there on the charts, and we're expecting high inflows and flooding this spring," says Britton of his area in southeast Wyoming.
Britton says his district has released a little water from their reservoirs, but not to the extent of the Bureau of Reclamation's releases.
Britton says word is that the Snowy Range area is still gaining snowpack.
Those high water measurements contribute to the forecasted high potential for headwater spring snowmelt flooding across the Upper North Platte River Basin.
"Current SWE trends are near the record SWE years of 1982, 1986 and 1997, and well above the SWE trends of 2009 and 2010," says the Flood Potential Outlook. The Laramie River Basin also has high potential for spring snowmelt flooding, as does the Little Snake River Basin in southern Wyoming.
The Upper Bear River Basin in western Wyoming has a high potential for flooding, as well, with SWEs above the record SWE years of 1986 and 1995.
Of moisture on the croplands over the winter, Startin says growers in his area have had decent snow cover for some of the winter, as well as spring moisture in the last month.
Britton says Wheatland-area farmers have been progressing with fieldwork, with most of the barley planted and oats in progress.
The Shoshone Irrigation District recently finished up a large winter project. With funding from the Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC), the district was able to line about 600 feet of concrete tunnel, which was over 100 years old, and a 300-foot section of their canal with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, a hard plastic that's said to last for years.
"It's about 70 feet below the invert of the canal to the top of the pipe we had for the tunnel, so we would have had to dig a big hole to replace the concrete," says Startin.
Britton says projects over last winter with the Wheatland Irrigation District were repairs to flood damage from last year.
"It looks like a year that we'll have plenty of water again," says Britton.
Casper – In an update to the Wyoming Water Association Oct. 29, Wyoming Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation John Lawson said this last year was a good water year.
"We did have a good year, which, quite frankly, wasn't too much above average in some places, but things have been so miserable since 2001 that this last year appeared to be a great year. I'm going to take advantage of giving out good news for once," he told the audience.
However low 2007 may have ended, in a year's time Lawson said Seminoe moved from 226,000 af to 534,000 af. "We went from 171,000 in Pathfinder to 348,000. That's more than double the amount in both of those," he says.
Buffalo Bill, which he said has always been a little more blessed in water supplies, was at 96 percent last year and this year sits at 111 percent. "That's the good news aspect in a capsule," he added.
However good the news may be, he cautioned that, particularly in Boysen and the reservoirs on the North Platte, we could have one bad year and be right back to talking about the 35 percent numbers again. "It could happen that easily," he said.
Regarding water partnerships, Lawson said the Bureau of Reclamation is working closely with the state on endangered species issues. "Part of the funding under some of our programs is to address Endangered Species Act (ESA) funding, and right now for 2009 we received over $11 million for ESA. Half of that went to the Platte River Implementation Program, which is progressing well and moving ahead," he said.
"One of the major things we've been working with is a partnership with Wyoming on the modification of Pathfinder, which will allow us to restore some space lost to sediment and, more importantly, be able to have the change of use and be able to use the water for environmental purposes for the program, and also to contract with the state of Wyoming so it can be used for agricultural purposes and municipal purposes," explained Lawson.
He said the project is going ahead well, with a hearing the week before with the Board of Control. "I testified there for the change of use, and we had opposition but we've that resolved with an agreement and I believe we'll be successful," he said.
"All that is good news, and it's nice to stand here and be able to say that," he concluded.
According to University of Idaho Extension Water Management Engineer Howard Neibling, managing water levels in the soil on irrigated cropland is all about balance.
If a clay particle is put in a glass of water and allowed to settle, it'll take four to six hours to reach the bottom, he says.
"If you have clay particles stacked together you can make a nice brick wall, of sorts, if they're all oriented in the same direction. Normally they're randomly scattered and oriented in different directions so you have pore space between them," he adds, noting that's where compaction and working wet soil comes into play.
Neibling refers to an Ohio State University demonstration where a researcher took tractors and ran across a number of plots of wet high clay content soil. "For the next 10 years, whenever it rained he had a lake on those plots. It took 10 years of freezing and thawing to get rid of one compaction," he says.
"On a good hot day, malting barley in the middle of the active growing season will use about a quarter inch of water per day. One inch of available water is gone in four days, and if the root zone is two feet deep you have maximum eight days of water before the crop starts to stress," says Neibling.
Neibling says most crops at optimum growth are able to use the top half of available water. Alfalfa at all stages uses 50 to 55 percent and field corn 50 percent. Cereal grains, except through flowering can use over half; from root through flowering they can only use 45 percent. Sugarbeets can use half and dry beans about 40 percent.
Regarding center pivot systems, Neibling says every time the pivot goes around water is lost to evaporation. "If you're running a ¼-inch revolution, you're losing four times the amount of water to evaporation as you would running one one-inch application," he explains.
Neibling says growers should pay attention to a crop's pattern of water use. "While grains are growing you can barely keep up, then all the sudden they shut off, and if you don't see it and continue to water you get disease problems or you're pumping water you could use elsewhere," he explains.
Also, different crops use water from different areas of the root zone. Sugarbeets use water down to four feet, while alfalfa reaches to six feet or deeper. "Different types of roots utilize different depths," he says.
He says that's where a thin layer of crop residue will help, giving the soil some sort of protection so it doesn't fall apart and is able to absorb more water.
"You want to really work toward maintaining a deeper rooting system if you can," he says of irrigation management.
Worland – "When we think about how we will irrigate our small acreage, it really should be tailored to the specific location and crop and designed in a way that is going to compliment our efforts. We want to maximize yield. We also want to think about the bottom line," remarked University of Wyoming Extension Educator Caleb Carter at WESTI Ag Days in Worland on Feb. 20.
Efficiency is a common consideration when producers look at irrigation, but Carter suggested looking beyond the field when deciding which type of system is best for a specific location.
"I spent a couple of summers doing research in Powell, and lots of people there have really shallow, 12- or 15-foot-deep wells they use to water their lawns. Those wells are dry until the irrigation water starts running, and then they all fill up," Carter described as an example of hydrology related to irrigation systems.
He also described examples near Laramie where an endangered Wyoming toad resides, thanks to habitat created by flood irrigation practices.
"When we talk about efficiency, people throw out numbers, but they don't always account for where that water is going, and it may be going to some other beneficial uses," he said.
Labor is another important consideration when choosing an irrigation system because there are many different options.
"Do we want a system where we can go to our computer and say, boom, irrigate? Or do we want to go out there and move dams and flood pastures? The technology exists to do either one of those," remarked Carter.
Various systems also come with different costs and different levels of precision in water application. Finances and production goals are also important considerations when deciding how to irrigate a field.
Topography also impacts which kind of system is best suited to a specific area. For example, flood irrigation or other surface irrigation scenarios require a relatively flat field because water doesn't flow uphill.
"It's also important to think about our soil type when we are choosing an irrigation method. If we have a really heavy soil that can hold a lot of water but has a slow infiltration rate, a flood or surface irrigation system is going to be more effective than a sprinkler," he commented.
In one case, Carter worked with producers who switched from a flood irrigation system to a pivot in their alfalfa field, but yields declined.
"They had really good clay-loam soil. It held a lot of water, and the flood irrigation was able to fill that soil profile. When they switched to the pivot, they weren't able to apply enough water to fill that root zone," Carter explained.
Good irrigation requires the soil to both absorb water and disperse it through the soil profile. If soils have a high infiltration rate, water from flood irrigation systems may flow through too quickly, moving below the root zone instead of benefiting the crop.
Producers should also be familiar with the water rights associated with their property and usage.
"We sometimes get people buying property that maybe are not familiar with Wyoming water law or their responsibilities, but if we have property and it has water rights, we are responsible for the maintenance of the ditches and the infrastructure that delivers the water to that property," Carter stated.
This may involve burning ditches, removing weeds or clearing debris to ensure that water flow is not inhibited.
Systems vary from surface irrigation systems, such as furrow, flood or gated pipe, to sprinkler systems, such as hand lines, wheel lines, K-lines and Big Guns. Drip irrigation systems can also be installed, depending on the goals of the producer.
Big Guns are popular with producers who want precision in water application over their pastures, and wheel lines or side rolls may be more appropriate for crops such as alfalfa that shouldn't be trampled on as they grow.
An oddly shaped field with a lot of topography will present more challenges and costs for even water distribution over the whole crop.
"Costs also have to do with the level of automation. We can have a drip irrigation system where we go out manually and turn the water on in each zone, or we can also have a system where we take our smartphone out of our pocket, say how much we want to irrigate in each zone and turn it on," he explained.
No matter which type of irrigation is best for a certain field, Carter emphasized using proper management once the system is installed.
"We can have the best, most wonderful system, but if we're not monitoring, maintaining and operating it in the best manner for that system, it's not going to do us any good or serve us in the way we designated it," he said.
Sheridan – Approximately 100 years ago men dug through a hillside by hand to pipe water for the Meade Creek Ditch Irrigation Drop. A century later, badly eroded soils and pipe decay call for repairs to the project.
The Meade Creek ditch drop is located outside of Sheridan. The original ditch was hand dug and placed partway in pipe and after decades of use the pipe began to disintegrate. The ditch was one of several stops on the July 18 Wyoming Water Association summer tour held in Sheridan and Johnson counties.
Vice President of the Meade Creek Irrigation District Jim Roach says four years ago the shareholders on the ditch saw the erosion getting worse and worse and set out to do something about it. To replace the existing system, the irrigation district turned to funding from the Wyoming Water Development Commission, the Sheridan County Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
The $500,000 project included construction of approximately 680 feet of new 24-inch irrigation pipe installed by directional drilling, new inlet and outlet structures and irrigation ditch extensions to connect the new structures to existing ditches.
The purpose of the project was to cut down on erosion and ease some liability. Roach says the liability aspect came in the potential loss of livestock should they fall into the badly eroded area.
Water was turned into the new pipe in mid-July and Roach says everything looks good so far. The ditch is running 11 cubic-feet-squared (cfs) and will run 15 to 18 cfs at peak season. The ditch does have rights to 20 cfs but Roach says the landowners have put in efficient systems and don't require that much water.
Roach says reclamation for the eroded area was taken out of the current project because the cost was too high. He says they plan to revisit the reclamation issue in the next couple of years and their current focus is on fixing the pipe.
The life of the project is expected to be approximately 50 years.


The 24 hours of Le Mans is the most prestigious endurance motorsport event in the world. Fantelli Productions follows Great British privateer team Jota Sport, taking an intimate look at the feat of human endurance and the marvel of engineering it takes to compete in one of the most challenging races on earth.
TV Drama set during World War 1 where Arthur Robertson is forced to come face to face with more struggles than he bargained for. Watching his personal battle unfold proves that sometimes all that matters is knowing you matter.
iWitness is a thriller set inside an English caravan park which centres on the young and recently wheelchair bound landlord. As he physically recuperates in confinement, he becomes more and more dependent on his CCTV, internet and phone texts for information about the outside world.
In a City consumed by Civil War, a renegade Special Ops soldier risks everything by kidnapping a prisoner about to be executed. As Special Forces close in, he interrogates his hostage, hoping to uncover the truth about the Vanishing Man.
Heartwarming story of a boy who befriends a wolf.
A poignant yet humorous Feature Film about the plight of a man stuck in a mid-life crisis and trying to rebuild his life again.
A UK feature documentary examining the current state of the alleged British Film Industry.
All film and TV soundtrack music is composed and produced by Phil Mountford.
Several of the films have had their Original Motion Picture Soundtrack albums released and are available online through Amazon and iTunes.


text:
Ald. Sposato proposes 'Lightfoot rule' — 2-year ban on seeking political office
By Fran Spielman Jun 13, 2018, 2:31pm CDT
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Police Board appointee Paula Wolff (right) talks to Ald. Edward Burke (14th) (center) and Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) prior to Wednesday's confirmation hearing. | Fran Spielman/Sun-Times
Mayoral appointees to boards and commissions should be prohibited from seeking political office in Chicago for two years to prevent them from doing what Lori Lightfoot did, Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato (38th) said Wednesday.
Sposato floated the idea at the City Council confirmation hearing for Lightfoot's replacement, Police Board member and designated vice-president Paula Wolff. He plans to introduce it in ordinance form.
When Sposato asked Wolff if she would be willing to sign such a pledge, the nominee said: "I would be delighted to sign such a statement. No danger there."
Wolff's answer was just what aldermen wanted to hear.
"It's a concern I have for future appointments—people using these appointments as springboards to either beat us over the head [or] the mayor, the clerk, the treasurer, whatever," Sposato said.
"I just don't think these appointments should be springboards for higher office."
Last month, Sposato accused former Police Board president-turned mayoral challenger Lori Lightfoot of committing the "ultimate act of betrayal" by using the political platform the mayor gave her to hammer him and attempt to take his job.
He also joined the call for an "independent review" of all Police Board cases Lightfoot helped to decide, on grounds she was using the board presidency as a springboard to run for mayor.
"It's unconscionable what she's doing. … It's disloyalty at its best," Sposato said the day Lightfoot declared her candidacy.
"When somebody you trust to do a job flips on you, to me, that's the ultimate betrayal. … It's almost like she cheated with her brother's wife. It's just plain wrong. Garry McCarthy is a different story. He was fired."
After Wednesday's Paula Wolff love-fest, Sposato acknowledged the two-year ban may not be constitutional.
If that's the case, the alderman said he would ask mayoral appointees to sign a "pledge" promising not to seek elective office in Chicago for two years after the appointment. Without mentioning Lightfoot by name, he said: "You know who it's about."
"I want a commitment from them. … I just think it's wrong that somebody gets in office and they use this office as a platform. … It taints the office," he said.
Reminded that Sharon Fairley stepped down as head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to run for Illinois attorney general, Sposato said, "I'm trying to correct the future. In the future, I want people to know, 'Look, if you're gonna take these appointments, you can't run. You can't run for public office in the city of Chicago. Plain and simple.'"
Two weeks ago, Sposato made his case for the now-vacant job of chairman of the City Council's Aviation Committee and urged Mayor Rahm Emanuel not to play the familiar Chicago game of racial politics.
"Race should be a non-factor in this. He shouldn't be worried about it because blacks and Latinos already have a disproportionate amount of committee" chairmanships, Sposato said on that day.
"Forty-four percent of the Council is white and whites have 31 percent of the committees. Blacks are 34 percent of the Council. They have 44 percent of the committees. And Hispanics are 22 percent of the Council and they have 25 percent of the committees."
Sposato is vice-chairman of an Aviation Committee that will ride herd over Emanuel's $8.7 billion O'Hare Airport expansion plan.
On Wednesday, the alderman denied the two-year ban was another attempt to ingratiate himself with the mayor after years of outspoken criticism.
"I've disagreed the third-most amount with him in the last seven years. This last four years, the fifth-most," Sposato said.
"I'm not trying to ingratiate myself with anybody or win favor or whatever you want to say. I do what I think is right. … I'm above reproach. I can't be bought. I do the right thing all the time. I do what I say. I'm not afraid of 49-to-1 votes."
Sposato said he plans to make an endorsement in the crowded mayoral race in short order. But he predicted the field of 10 would be whittled down significantly by the need to gather enough signatures to survive a petition challenge.
He predicted four survivors: Emanuel, former Schools CEO Paul Vallas, fired Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and Lightfoot.
"I know it's 12,500 [signatures, but] if anybody here thinks you only need 12,500, then you're in the wrong business. 12,500 is not gonna make it. You'd better triple that," he said.
Sposato said it's a "very safe assumption" he will not endorse Lightfoot, whom the alderman has branded "anti-police."
Lightfoot could not be reached for comment.