text:
Q: Oracle APEX 19.2 character encoding in app builder problem I have a problem with encoding in ORACLE APEX app builder.
When I'm using a app builder and creating for example a list with entry with polish native chars for example "Otwórz". When i save it it appears on list as "OtwA3rz". So I'm thinking about problem with encoding, but when i use "Grid Edit" on list I can easily use "Otwórz" and save it properly. After that there is a problem with edit this entry in form. Additionally when I create a form with for example textarea in my app there is no problem to save a value with polish chars. There is only a problem with app builder.
Some info from "About Application Express" modul:

• Product Build   19.2.0.00.18
• Schema Compatibility    2019.10.04
• Last DDL Time   02/05/2020 01:09:01 PM
• Host Schema APEX_PUBLIC_USER
• Application Owner   APEX_190200
• Language Preference en
• Current Time (on server)    03/16/2020 02:17:08 PM +01:00
• APEX_LISTENER_VERSION   19.2.0.r1991647
• PLSQL_GATEWAY   WebDb
• GATEWAY_IVERSION    3
• SERVER_SOFTWARE Mod-Apex
• GATEWAY_INTERFACE   CGI/1.1
• REQUEST_METHOD  GET
• QUERY_STRING    p=4350:9:956788024708&p_dialog_cs=e6pVbBxXQReCPpEOwNEhrbAjoGPeY7nX6VVuLL8ObTSnXKlihOrJCOR8f1EU9isYxMT5Ooqgb-j9A33Mmx1aKA
• PATH_INFO   /f
• HTTP_USER_AGENT Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64)
  AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/72.0.3626.121
  Safari/537.36
• HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING    gzip, deflate, br
• HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE    pl-PL,pl;q=0.9,en-US;q=0.8,en;q=0.7
• REQUEST_CHARSET AL32UTF8
• REQUEST_IANA_CHARSET    UTF-8    •  Oracle Database 12c Enterprise
  Edition Release 12.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production
• CORE    12.2.0.1.0  Production
• NLSRTL Version 12.2.0.1.0 - Production
• PL/SQL Release 12.2.0.1.0 - Production
• TNS for Linux: Version 12.2.0.1.0 - Production
• NLS_CHARACTERSET:   EE8MSWIN1250
• DAD CHARACTERSET:   UTF-8
• JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES:    15

I noticed that when I run a sql select 'ó' from dual the result is exactly 'A3'. I run another select * from V$NLS_PARAMETERS; and maybe find a reason of all of this. NLS_LANGUAGE is AMERICAN. How to change it for POLISH like I have normally database session configured. When I create my own app with globalization setting there is no problem with setting nls_language to Polish. But i don't know how to change it for app builder
I made a additional experiment i run insert into table value 'ł' and select * from v$nls_parameters thru sql_workshop and sql_script: and below are results:
(syntax parameter:value:method(script or sqlworkshop))
NLS_CALENDAR:GREGORIAN:script
NLS_CALENDAR:GREGORIAN:sqlworkshop
NLS_CHARACTERSET:EE8MSWIN1250:script
NLS_CHARACTERSET:EE8MSWIN1250:sqlworkshop
NLS_COMP:BINARY:script
NLS_COMP:BINARY:sqlworkshop
NLS_CURRENCY:$:script
NLS_CURRENCY:$:sqlworkshop
NLS_DATE_FORMAT:mm/dd/yyyy:script
NLS_DATE_FORMAT:mm/dd/yyyy:sqlworkshop
NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE:AMERICAN:script
NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE:AMERICAN:sqlworkshop
NLS_DUAL_CURRENCY:$:script
NLS_DUAL_CURRENCY:$:sqlworkshop
NLS_ISO_CURRENCY:AMERICA:script
NLS_ISO_CURRENCY:AMERICA:sqlworkshop
NLS_LANGUAGE:AMERICAN:script
NLS_LANGUAGE:AMERICAN:sqlworkshop
NLS_LENGTH_SEMANTICS:BYTE:script
NLS_LENGTH_SEMANTICS:BYTE:sqlworkshop
NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET:AL16UTF16:script
NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET:AL16UTF16:sqlworkshop
NLS_NCHAR_CONV_EXCP:FALSE:script
NLS_NCHAR_CONV_EXCP:FALSE:sqlworkshop
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS:.,:script
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS:.,:sqlworkshop
NLS_SORT:BINARY:script
NLS_SORT:BINARY:sqlworkshop
NLS_TERRITORY:AMERICA:script
NLS_TERRITORY:AMERICA:sqlworkshop
NLS_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT:DD-MON-RR HH.MI.SSXFF AM:script
NLS_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT:DD-MON-RR HH.MI.SSXFF AM:sqlworkshop
NLS_TIMESTAMP_TZ_FORMAT:DD-MON-RR HH.MI.SSXFF AM TZR:script
NLS_TIMESTAMP_TZ_FORMAT:DD-MON-RR HH.MI.SSXFF AM TZR:sqlworkshop
NLS_TIME_FORMAT:HH.MI.SSXFF AM:script
NLS_TIME_FORMAT:HH.MI.SSXFF AM:sqlworkshop
NLS_TIME_TZ_FORMAT:HH.MI.SSXFF AM TZR:script
NLS_TIME_TZ_FORMAT:HH.MI.SSXFF AM TZR:sqlworkshop
value:A?:sqlworkshop
value:ł:cript

and basically they are the same
next thing i did is running with the same method as previously code for inserting userenv parameter, and below are the differences:
ACTION::script
ACTION:Processes - point: BEFORE_BOX_BODY:sqlworkshop
CLIENT_IDENTIFIER:::script
CLIENT_IDENTIFIER:#MY_LOGIN#:12101284695326:sqlworkshop
CLIENT_INFO:100001:#MY_LOGIN#:sqlworkshop
CLIENT_INFO:#MY_LOGIN#:script
MODULE:APEX_190200/APEX:APP 4500:1200:sqlworkshop
MODULE:HTML DB:SQL Workshop:Script:test2:script

A: I run APEX on tomcat/ords. I'm using CAS for authentication and I found that implementing CAS (confguring it in xml making these problems). I don't know why and i don't know how, but it appears that this questions is closed, becouse it's a problem with TOMCAT/APEX/ORDS/CAS combine, so I will create new question.
Encoding problem with APEX app builder caused by CAS

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Panasonic In-Flight Entertainment Systems Can Be Hacked: Researcher
IOActive has disclosed several vulnerabilities found in Panasonic Avionics in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems and warned that such security holes could, under certain circumstances, pose a serious risk to an aircraft.
Panasonic Avionics is one of the world's largest suppliers of in-flight entertainment and communications systems. The company says it has delivered more than 8,000 IFE systems and 1,300 in-flight connectivity solutions to major airlines.
Panasonic Avionics recently announced the launch of a private bug bounty program whose goal is to enhance the security of IFE systems, with rewards ranging between $100 and $10,000.
Many months before the launch of the bug bounty program, IOActive researcher Ruben Santamarta, who has also analyzed ship data recorders and satellite telecommunications systems, decided to conduct an investigation in an effort to determine just how secure Panasonic Avionics' IFE systems were.
A Google search helped Santamarta find the latest firmware updates for the devices used by more than a dozen major airlines, including Emirates, Air France, United, American, KLM, Scandinavian, Aerolineas Argentinas, Virgin, Iberia, Singapore, FinnAir, Qatar and Etihad.
One of the components of the IFE system is the seat display unit (SDU), an embedded device that allows passengers to watch movies, buy items and connect to the Internet via a touchscreen. The SDU can also come with a personal control unit (PCU), a controller typically found in the armrest.
The IFE system also includes the cabin crew panel, which crew members use to control lights and other features, and the system control unit (SCU), the server that provides flight information, chat features and on-board shopping capabilities. Panasonic's legacy IFE systems (e.g. 3000/3000i) rely on Linux, but the newer X Series products use Android.
An analysis of the firmware update files found by Santamarta revealed some potentially serious vulnerabilities, including weaknesses that can be exploited to bypass credit card checks, arbitrary file access issues, and an SQL injection flaw. The researcher has published videos demonstrating how these vulnerabilities can be exploited in-flight using only the available touchscreen and PCU.
According to the expert, an attacker who hijacks the IFE system could spoof flight information and feed inaccurate speed or route data to SDUs, or they could tamper with the crew unit and control lights or other systems. However, if the IFE system is physically separated from aircraft control and other critical systems, attacks should only result in passenger discomfort.
In another possible scenario described by the white hat hacker, the attacker gains access to frequent-flyer data, including payment card details, through the entertainment system.
Aircraft systems are not always physically separated, which could, in theory, turn IFE systems into an attack vector, Santamarta said.
"In some scenarios such an attack would be physically impossible due to the isolation of these systems, while in other an attack remains theoretically feasible. The ability to cross the 'red line' between the passenger entertainment and owned devices domain and the aircraft control domain relies heavily on the specific devices, software and configuration deployed on the target aircraft," the expert said.
The researcher reported his findings to Panasonic Avionics in March 2015, but it's unclear if the issues have been addressed by the vendor. SecurityWeek has reached out to the company and will update this article if it provides any information.
Several security experts and government organizations have warned recently about the risks posed by vulnerable IFE systems. While some researchers conducted their analysis offline, others reportedly exploited IFE flaws while in flight. The most widely known case is the one involving researcher Chris Roberts, who the FBI claimed had hacked into entertainment systems more than a dozen times.
Aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing have insisted that the risk is low, arguing that entertainment systems are isolated from flight and navigation systems.
UPDATE. Panasonic Avionics has provided the following statement to SecurityWeek:
"The allegations made to the press by IOActive regarding in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems manufactured by Panasonic Avionics Corporation ("Panasonic") contain a number of inaccurate and misleading statements about Panasonic's systems. These misstatements and inaccuracies call into question many of the assertions made by IOActive.
Most notably, IOActive has chosen to make highly misleading and inflammatory statements suggesting that hackers could "theoretically" gain access to flight controls by hacking into Panasonic's IFE systems. Panasonic strenuously disagrees with any suggestion by IOActive that such an attack is possible, and calls upon IOActive to clarify that its research does not support any such inference."
The company said Santamarta made incorrect assumptions as to where payment card data is stored and encrypted within Panasonic's systems, and condemned IOActive for making its products appear to be the source of insecurity to aircraft operation.
Panasonic said it addressed the "minor" issu
es reported by the IOActive researcher last year and encouraged security experts to take part in its bug bounty program, in which the vendor provides unfettered access to products for in-depth testing and analysis.
"Panasonic does not condone unauthorized security testing during aircraft operation in uncontrolled environments, such as those conducted by IOActive. Panasonic strongly supports legislation that should be enacted to make on-board electronic intrusion a criminal act," the company said.
UPDATE 2. IOActive has provided the following statement in response to Panasonic Avionics:
"IOActive has a stringent and thorough process by which it technically validates published research and the company stands by the accuracy and integrity of the findings with regard to the research recently published on Panasonic Avionics IFE systems.
As with virtually all security-related research, the findings are made up of both documented technical findings regarding the vulnerabilities described, as well as statements of opinion, theory and/or feasibility by the researcher that were developed based on both the merits of the technical findings, as well as the researcher's vast domain expertise, experience, and knowledge on the subject matter presented – as evidenced by current and past research published.
While we cannot control how the information presented is precisely interpreted, represented, or disseminated across all outlets, we have absolute confidence in the accuracy of the technical findings and the merit of observations and opinions contained in the research documentation, including the technical feasibility of the theoretical references. In some cases, direct access to files and systems is no longer available to extend the research and validate or discount the actual feasibility of things such as the IFE system being used as an entry point to other systems not detailed in the research. Additionally, some of the opinions and references to theoretical scenarios referenced in the research have little or nothing to do with the IFE system itself and more to do with the configuration, or potential misconfiguration, of other systems inherent in an airplane's IT ecosystem.
Quite simply, if an attacker is able to exploit vulnerabilities acknowledged to be resident (and claimed to be subsequently addressed) by the manufacturer in a technology component within a connected ecosystem (i.e., say an IFE on board a plane), and the ecosystem is not configured appropriately to segment and isolate the respective domains as they should be, then exploiting the vulnerabilities in that component to gain access to other domains in the ecosystem is technically feasible and "theoretically" quite possible. So not only are the theoretical statements in the research technically feasible and relevant to the topic of the research, but they are important in explaining the potential extent and possible implications of vulnerabilities within a component in such an ecosystem and the need for a holistic approach to managing and maintaining the highest security measures at all levels throughout that ecosystem.
We believe that it is in the long-term best interests of the public, the aviation industry, aviation product security teams, and the manufacturer in this case to publicly disclose this example of cybersecurity risk in the aviation industry. Our intent with publicly describing these vulnerabilities is to create informed, fact-based public awareness about the presence of cybersecurity risks in aviation and demonstrate the risks in a responsible manner to ensure that senior management and stakeholders within the aviation industry allocate appropriate levels of resources to deal with these risks."
Related: Internet Connectivity Could Expose Aircraft Systems to Cyberattacks
Related: United Airlines Offers Air Miles in New Bug Bounty Program
NSA publishes guidance to help system administrators identify and mitigate cyber risks associated with transitioning to IPv6.
Websites of German airports, administration bodies and banks were hit by DDoS attacks attributed to Russian hacker group Killnet
AFP3 days ago
Arm Vulnerability Leads to Code Execution, Root on Pixel 6 Phones
Technical details published for an Arm Mali GPU flaw leading to arbitrary kernel code execution and root on Pixel 6.
Apple Patches WebKit Code Execution in iPhones, MacBooks
Apple rolled out iOS 16.3 and macOS Ventura 13.2 to cover serious security vulnerabilities.
VMware Plugs Critical Code Execution Flaws
VMware vRealize Log Insight vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to take full control of a target system.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home/World News/Middle East/Saudi-backed side hindering peace: Ansarullah leader
Middle EastWorld News
Saudi-backed side hindering peace: Ansarullah leader
syriatr June 24, 2016
TheAnsarullah movement says it has given difficult concessions in negotiations to establish peace in Yemen but the Saudi-backed side is obstructing the process by refusing to compromise.
"In order to fulfill its obligations, the (Houthi) Ansarullah delegation brought itself to giving some concessions, some of which were tough to give," the movement's leader Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi said on Thursday
"But now, the opposite side has returned to square one and is demanding the submission of the Yemeni nation," he added.
Peace talks have been underway in Kuwait between the two sides in order to find a solution to the country's conflict.
"There are practical solutions to resolve the conflict and we have proposed many. If the opposite side opts for conflict resolution, we are ready [to cooperate], and if it chooses to keep up the invasion, we are also ready [to fight back]."
Yemenis visit the grave of relatives killed in Saudi military airstrikes, at a cemetery in the capital, Sana'a, March 25, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
Houthi said resistance on the part of the movement is not a "political tactic" but is at the heart of Yemeni values and civilization.
Saudi Arabia, an ally of the former regime, has been staging military attacks against Yemen in a bid to bring former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and undermine Ansarullah.
More than 9,400 people have been killed and at least 16,000 others injured since the onset of the Saudi aggression on March 26, 2015.
"The continuation of your crimes," Houthi said, "will never dissuade us from resistance. No matter how much US support you receive, by God, the suffering that you impose on us will bring back but defeat for you," the Houthi leader said in an address to Saudi Arabia and its allies.
He accused certain Arab regimes of colluding with Israel, saying they had chosen to fight Muslims.
Lebanon arrests five Israeli Mossad spies
Blasts kill 15 in and around Iraq's Baghdad
Yemeni Army Downs Saudi Spying Plane, Destroys Abrams Tank in Assir, Najran Provinces
Turkey Providing Financial Support for Ankara-Backed Terrorists' Families in Northern Syria: Report
King Salman's Guard Likely Killed for Info about Khashoggi's Death


David Craig: Content is King. Distribution is King Kong. Talent is God! With unlimited content and distribution...the real scarcity is talent, although strategic media management and premium advertising are also important drivers in this ecosystem. Content marketing, influencer marketing, native advertising...and sustainable CPMS...VITAL!
@bhardwajamit: Do you see a role change for Influencers in coming time?
David Craig: Influencers have ALWAYS had a role in shaping society. Now they also can profit from it. Communitainment allows for the commodification of cultural power, which can be used for good or evil. All the more reason to teach responsible communitainment literacy and production. EARLY!
@katrasuraj: How to build and align with influencers within your organisation on social media?
David Craig: Absolutely! Although generating IP is less central to this ecology.
@Ga3lyn: How important is it for content creators to exist across multiple social media platforms? What's the future of the intersection of TV and social media entertainment?
David Craig: Communitainment creators have proven quite adept at operating across multiple platforms...as some stumble, others succeed.
@StonerJesus: Doesn't the existence of paid influencers pose a challenge to trust and fairness in this sort of industry?
@ish_likes_you: What do you think about the communion created by @hankgreen and @johngreen ? Is academia a part of this #communitainment?
David Craig: Vlogbrothers rule the world! They represent something remarkable...geek power meets entertainment. But the line between academia, education, information, and entertainment converge in this space. Communitainment recognizes entertainment as a communicative strategy for engagement, not just play.
@SaloniKogta: What do you think is the major factor that has led to the rise of the YouTube community?
David Craig: Hard to list one major factor...clearly technological innovation but also a cultural demand for authenticity.
David Craig: 4G is about to explode...following by live broadcasting...coupled with net neutrality...this will be exciting!


text:
DG History
» Anne-Sophie Mutter
Please choose an artistAbbado, ClaudioAbdrazakov, IldarAimard, Pierre-LaurentAlagna, RobertoAmos, ToriD'Arcangelo, IldebrandoArgerich, MarthaAndersson, BennyAssad, BadiAvital, AviArquez, GaëlleBabayan, SergeiBarenboim, DanielBashmet, YuriBatiashvili, LisaBeczala, PiotrBernheim, BenjaminBerlin Comedian HarmonistsBerliner PhilharmonikerBernstein, LeonardBeving, JoepBlechacz, RafalBoulez, PierreBrueggergosman, MeashaBuchbinder, RudolfCarmignola, GiulianoCho, Seong-JinCigala, Diego elConcerto KölnCorea, ChickCostello, ElvisDessner, BryceDomingo, PlácidoDudamel, GustavoEmerson String QuartetErdmann, MojcaEsfahani, MahanFagioli, FrancoFauré QuartettFinch, CatrinFischer-Dieskau, DietrichFlores, PachoFricsay, FerencFuchs, JulieGabrieli Consort and PlayersGalliano, RichardGalway, Sir JamesGaranca, ElinaGardiner, John EliotGarrett, DavidGolijov, OsvaldoGrimaud, HélèneGrubinger, MartinGhraichy, SimonGrazinyte-Tyla, MirgaGregson, PeterHagen QuartettHahn, HilaryHampson, ThomasHarding, DanielHelbig, SvenHeppner, BenHeras-Casado, PabloHope, DanielHorowitz, VladimirJacobs, RenéJenkins, KarlJóhannsson, JóhannJost, ChristianKarajan, Herbert vonKissin, EvgenyKleiber, CarlosKozená, MagdalenaKremer, GidonLabèque, Katia & MarielleLakatos, RobyLang LangLisiecki, JanLozakovich, DanielLong YuLos Angeles PhilharmonicMaisky, MischaManzel, DagmarMarcon, AndreaMayer, AlbrechtMcCreesh, PaulMehta, BejunMilosMinkowski, MarcMutter, Anne-SophieNelsons, AndrisNetrebko, AnnaNézet-Séguin, YannickObel, AgnesOtt, Alice SaraOttensamer, AndreasOtter, Anne Sofie vonÓlafsson, VíkingurPape, RenéParry, Richard ReedPerahia, MurrayPetibon, PatriciaThe PhilharmonicsPires, Maria JoãoPletnev, MikhailPogorelich, IvoPollini, MaurizioPressler, MenahemPrevin, AndréProhaska, AnnaQuasthoff, ThomasRaabe, MaxRadulovic, NemanjaRepin, VadimRichter, MaxRomero, PepeRundfunkchor BerlinSalonen, Esa-PekkaSamuelsen, MariSchillerShankar, AnoushkaSidorova, KsenijaSimón Bolívar String QuartetSimonyan, MikhailSierra, NadineSokolov, GrigorySöllscher, GöranSosa, MercedesSoltani, KianStingStutzmann, NathalieTale Of UsTenebraeTerfel, BrynThielemann, ChristianThomas, CamilleThorvaldsdottir, AnnaTrifonov, DaniilTristano, FrancescoVenice Baroque OrchestraVeronesi, AlbertoVillazón, RolandoWainwright, RufusWang, JianWang, YujaWiener PhilharmonikerWiener SängerknabenWunder, IngolfWunderlich, FritzYundiYoo, EstherZimerman, Krystian
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER AND JOHN WILLIAMS: ACROSS THE STARS
Legendary film composer John Williams conducts a brand-new album of many of his beloved movie themes in stunning new adaptations written especially for his superstar violinist friend and collaborator Anne-Sophie Mutter. Recorded in Hollywood, Across the Stars will be released on 30 August on Deutsche Grammophon and includes familiar themes from blockbuster films including Star Wars and Harry Potter, as never heard before.
"There is only one John Williams," says Anne-Sophie Mutter. "What he writes is just extraordinary. Every time I go to one of his films and there is a violin or cello, I think, I would like to play that! And now I have his wonderful translations of all these iconic themes."
John Williams adds: "Working with Anne-Sophie on this recording has been a pure inspiration. She has brought vibrant life to these familiar themes in new and unexpected ways, which has been a great joy for me as a composer."
Alongside Mutter as soloist, Williams assembled an extraordinary group of musicians with whom he has worked over the years to form the 70-piece Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles. They recorded over five days in April at the historic Sony Pictures Scoring Stage, where many great film soundtracks of the past were recorded, including The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Singin' In The Rain, Lawrence of Arabia, E.T. and many more.
John Williams – who has won five Oscars, four Golden Globes, five Emmys and 24 Grammys – explains that for this project he's revisited themes from many of his existing scores and completely transformed them: "Presented on the violin, they become a different emotional experience." One example is his newly arranged version of "Hedwig's Theme" from the Harry Potter films, which he and Mutter describe as "Harry Potter meets Paginini" and "a Carmen Fantasy for the 21st century". Listen to the single HERE.
The music ranges from Star Wars motifs such as "Yoda's Theme" from The Empire Strikes Back, "Luke and Leia" from Return of the Jedi and the title track "Across the Stars" from Attack of the Clones, to more recent pieces such as "The Duel" from The Adventures of Tintin and "Sayuri's Theme" from Memoirs of a Geisha. Listen to the new track HERE.
In addition to the haunting violin melodies from Williams' Oscar-winning Schindler's List score, the album features new versions of themes from Cinderella Liberty and Dracula (originally written in the 1970s and rarely performed since then) along with the Irish-flavoured 'Donnybrook Fair' from Far and Away and the romantic theme from Sabrina.
Anne-Sophie Mutter, a four-time Grammy winner and widely acclaimed as one of the finest violinists of our time, says it was "a tremendous honour" to work so closely with John Williams – and that the recording conditions for this album were the finest since she collaborated with Herbert von Karajan.
The admiration is mutual as Williams calls Mutter "the greatest violinist that Germany has produced in a hundred years". Discussing their collaboration on Across the Stars, he notes that her decision to perform "some melodies of mine is very flattering, and a great honour".
John Williams and Anne-Sophie Mutter were introduced by their mutual friend André Previn nearly a decade ago. It was Previn who encouraged Williams to write for her. Their first musical partnership was Markings (for solo violin, strings and harp), which Mutter premiered in 2017 at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the United States. A year later, she premiered Williams' new arrangement of "Across the Stars" during Deutsche Grammophon's 120-year anniversary gala concert in Berlin with Manfred Honeck conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Mutter will perform much of this newly created repertoire in concerts later this year. She will appear with the Boston Pops Orchestra on 7 July at Tanglewood, with John Williams and David Newman sharing conducting duties. Newman and Mutter will reunite on 14 September for another all-Williams concert, this time with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Munich's Königsplatz, in what will be her first ever open-air concert appearance.
Anne-Sophie Mutter and John Williams both consider Across the Stars to be a milestone recording. Mutter recalls growing up in Germany's Black Forest and falling in love with the music of Star Wars as a teenager. "These are melodies which touch us so deeply, they just stay with you," says Mutter. "That's the wonderful thing about John's music – even without the film it has a life of its own."
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER - HOMMAGE À PENDERECKI
A moving account of an extraordinary artistic friendship
To mark Krzysztof Penderecki's eighty-fifth birthday Deutsche Grammophon is releasing a double album showcasing a number of the composer's works for violin and piano or violin and orchestra. All of them feature the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, whose name is closely associated with that of Penderecki.
The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and the composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki are among the leading musical figures of our age. For more than thirty years these two outstanding musicians have been close friends, and during that time their friendship has proved a fruitful one, repeatedly inspiring and challenging both parties. To mark the composer's eighty-fifth birthday Deutsche Grammophon is now releasing a very special double album featuring Anne-Sophie Mutter both as a soloist and in partnership with a number of colleagues. All the works that are included here reflect Penderecki's unique musical language in fascinatingly intense and multifaceted ways. The result is a sensitive and moving homage on the part of the violinist to a musical friend whose Second Violin Sonata she has recorded for the first time.
Penderecki's works have an existential depth to them that goes far beyond the sheer sensuousness of the musical world that they inhabit. Anne-Sophie Mutter compares their complex, multifaceted nature to the canvases of Pablo Picasso, so varied, extreme and contrastive are they. For the composer himself these works are the end result of a creative process that is both tireless and extremely demanding. As he himself puts it: "I like travelling uncharted pathways. I have to do this whenever I compose, otherwise nothing comes out. I start somewhere in the middle of a work, before moving to the right or left and time and again having to get back on course, which often means retracing my steps. I continue to compose until it becomes clear to me that I could really do it much better. I then start at the beginning." Penderecki has retained this self-critical attitude right up to the present day. It is an attitude that places enormous demands on him. The works that have come into existence in this way afford impressive proof of his uncompromising dedication to music and provide thrilling evidence of his ability to explore the emotional extremes of human existence.
This double album brings together various pieces that Penderecki has written for the violin and that are performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter in ways that bring out their wealth of tone colours and captivating expressivity, while also striking a personal note. In addition to La Follia, a virtuoso set of variations for unaccompanied violin, and the dialogue-like concert duet for violin and double bass that Anne-Sophie Mutter has recorded with the bass player Roman Patkoló, it is two large-scale, complex works that are at the heart of the present release. Both reflect Penderecki's multilayered and hugely expressive art of composition. Laid out along symphonic lines, the Second Violin Concerto – subtitled Metamorphosen – was premiered by Anne-Sophie Mutter in 1995: "For me this task is physically and psychologically challenging, but it is a challenge that I am grateful to accept," says the violinist about the extremely demanding and contrastive work, in which Penderecki provides a virtuoso amalgam of the most varied styles. Like the Second Violin Concerto, the Second Violin Sonata is dedicated to Anne-Sophie Mutter, who has recorded it for the present album with the pianist Lambert Orkis. The piece is in five movements and resembles a dramatic disquisition on life that ultimately leaves the listener emotionally moved.
Penderecki and Mutter have been friends for many years. It is a friendship that has proved inspirational. They first got to know each other in the early 1980s, although it was not until 1988 that they began to work together closely. This was the year in which the then twenty-five-year-old violinist played Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto under Penderecki's direction. From the outset the conductor was fascinated by her musical maturity. Their musical association has lasted until the present day. For Anne-Sophie Mutter, it is "far more than mere admiration that has bound me to Krzysztof Penderecki's works for several decades. I am shaken to the very roots of my being by the depth of emotion that issues from them – almost more than I am by his genius as a composer." With this double album, Hommage à Penderecki, the violinist pays touching tribute to a truly exceptional composer and to their mutual friendship.
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER & DANIIL TRIFONOV: SCHUBERT "TROUT QUINTET"
Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniil Trifonov discuss their natural affinity as chamber music partners and the joys of recording Schubert's "Trout" Quintet for Deutsche Grammophon.
Two stars from different generations, artists of the highest calibre, mark their first collaboration with an album devoted to one of the supreme landmarks of classical music. Anne-Sophie Mutter, who in 2016 celebrated the 40th anniversary of her professional debut, and Daniil Trifonov, now in his mid-twenties, joined forces with three outstanding young string playing alumni of the Mutter Foundation at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus in June to perform Schubert's Piano Quintet in A major, popularly known as the "Trout" Quintet. They also explored the composer's Notturno, a sublime late work for violin, cello and piano, and arrangements of his songs Ständchen and Ave Maria for violin and piano. The results were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon to create an album scheduled for international release on 3 November 2017.
Mutter and Trifonov were drawn together by a strong artistic attraction. "It was a spontaneous idea to work together," the violinist recalls. "But I was stalking Daniil for several years," she adds with a laugh. Mutter found time earlier this year to follow the Russian pianist's Rachmaninov concerto cycle with the Munich Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev. "I was also in Moscow when he won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 and heard him play in the prize winners' concert there."
Anne-Sophie Mutter's long-established recital partnership with Lambert Orkis is set to continue, yet she notes how she has often performed chamber music with other pianists, Alexis Weissenberg, André Previn and Yefim Bronfman among them. The opportunity to make her first recording of the "Trout" Quintet with Daniil Trifonov, she says, was too good to miss; the pianist, likewise, embraced the project with wholehearted enthusiasm. He sees Schubert, one of the great Classical composers, as an inventor of the purest melodies and a master of formal structure.
"The sincerity of his musical expression captivates audiences and performers alike," notes Trifonov. "When I first learned that Anne-Sophie wanted to record this music, I was incredibly happy. I've only recorded Schubert in Liszt's transcriptions of his songs before, so it was a great joy to work on one of the composer's greatest works with four fantastic colleagues. The more we played together, the more possibilities opened up. Something different happened every time and that always expands your awareness of what is possible. And then you become more comfortable with an interpretation which reveals itself in the moment."
While Schubert's output for violin and piano amounts to little more than a handful of pieces, his piano trios and the evergreen Piano Quintet include magnificent parts for violin. "The 'Trout' Quintet is one of the great pieces in the repertoire," Anne-Sophie Mutter reflects. "Schubert, sadly, wrote very little for violin. The 'Trout' gave me the opportunity not only to work with Daniil but also to include wonderful colleagues, young artists who have gone through tutoring with my Foundation. It's a piece that allows musical friends to work together." The "Trout" team was completed by South Korean violist Hwayoon Lee, German cellist Maximilian Hornung and Slovakian double-bass player Roman Patkoló, all current or former scholarship students of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. "It's inspiring to have many viewpoints, many cultural roots coming together in this collaboration," comments Mutter. The five musicians soon found common cause as they developed their vision of Schubert's Piano Quintet. Mutter compares the interpretative process to mountain climbing, where reaching the top of one peak reveals fresh perspectives on other, higher peaks yet to be conquered. The process of discovery, she adds, was both exciting and demanding. Differences of opinion over tempo changes within a movement and tempo relationships between movements of the "Trout" were resolved in rehearsal, allowing the players to unlock what Trifonov calls the composition's "essence of energy", the dramatic outbursts, sharp contrasts and bright sonorities that give the work its life. "Emotions don't run in pale grey," Mutter interjects before the pianist has finished his thought.
© Harald Hoffmann / DG
"I have always been quite disturbed that so many of our wonderful colleagues play the theme from the fourth movement as if the trout has been dead for several centuries," she observes. "But if you read the text of the song from which Schubert takes his theme, the trout is as fast as an arrow! He doesn't use the sequence where the trout is killed. No – the trout is there wiggling its tail and having a great time. When the 'Trout' theme returns, it's an Allegretto, even faster than the original Andantino. There's esprit and exuberant joy in this music. It's one of Schubert's sunniest pieces."
Anne-Sophie Mutter pays tribute to Daniil Trifonov's phenomenal range of tone colours and lightning-quick reactions to fresh musical thoughts. "Even after discussing everything in rehearsal, you come to different solutions in performance," she observes. "But that only happens with musicians who are free to make music, not concerned with working from one recipe." In addition to the "Trout", their album contains Mischa Elman's arrangement of Ständchen together with Ave Maria, more correctly known as Ellens Gesang III, arranged by August Wilhelmj in the 1880s and subsequently elaborated by Jascha Heifetz. Both performers made changes to their parts to create what Mutter describes as a "joint venture" in the art of arrangement. "I think there was also a little help from Liszt," notes Trifonov, referring to the Hungarian composer-pianist's influence on his handiwork.
"Of course, arrangements are arrangements," comments Mutter. "But one sometimes has to rearrange them to bring out the original in a better way." Schubert's Notturno, she observes, bears witness to the composer's quest for new sounds in the final years of his short life. The piece, perhaps conceived as the original slow movement of the Piano Trio No.1, achieves transcendent beauty in its marriage of simple violin and cello melodies with elaborate keyboard writing.
What's NewShow all
ACROSS THE STARS Williams / Mutter
Ltd. 10'' Vinyl + Poster
Int. Release 15 Nov. 2019
Int. Release 27 Sep. 2019
ReviewsShow all
SCHUBERT Trout Quintet / Mutter, Trifonov
MUTTERISSIMO
Int. Release 09 Dec. 2016
On TourShow all
CCK Centro Cultural Kirchner
Previn, Sibelius, Beethoven
KlassikAkzente
Deutsche Grammophon is a Universal Music Company
Impressum Privacy Policy FAQs Press extranet Literatur


Tsao Foundation - Strategic L.E.A.D.
The Civil Service College and Tsao Foundation partnered in 2006 to develop a programme designed for deputy directors, senior assistant directors and assistant directors in the public service. The CSC Strategic L.E.A.D Programme's objective is to gather and impart insights into the ageing situation in Singapore and how it impacts the built environment, transport, housing, income security, health care, employment.
The half-a-day programme includes home visits to the clients of Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing for the participants to observe first-hand the issues that elders face every day.


text:
Record heat recorded all over the world during the past week
Dan Broadbent July 5, 2018, 1:52 pm 2 Comments
If you live in the northern hemisphere, you know that it's hot outside. Really hot. So hot that record heat has been recorded not just in the United States, but all around the world.
It's so hot that I've started to question if it would me more energy-efficient (read: lower our electric bill) for Emily and I to replace our air conditioner with a larger unit, since according to our Nest thermostat (highly recommend it!), our air conditioner has been working overtime all week long. We've had our AC set to 70, which is cute because it's not gotten to 70 degrees in our house this week. Nevertheless, according to our thermostat's history, our air conditioner ran for about 18 hours a day this past week:
I estimate our electric bill will be $300 this month.
#FirstWorldProblems, I know. Especially when you consider the potentially dangerous outcomes of it being so hot. Which is precisely the excuse I'm going to give to my HOA if/when they send me a letter about how tall my grass is right now:
The Canadian Broadcasting Company reported that at least 33 people have died due to heat-related causes in Quebec alone, as the temperature today is a balmy 34 degrees (94 degrees Fahrenheit), with humidex values between 40 and 45 degrees (104 to 113 Fahrenheit). Days like these warrant staying inside if possible, and staying hydrated.
Get this sticker in our store or buy it as a t-shirt and more right here!
The cause of the heat on the northeastern part of North America is due to the strongest dome of high pressure for this time of the year in over three decades.
The dome of high pressure set to develop this weekend over the eastern US is IMPRESSIVE. Current foretasted strength would make this the strongest ridge of high pressure on record for this time of year over the last 30 years. pic.twitter.com/A5bTh5CvOV
— Greg Porter (@NEWeatherRants) June 28, 2018
And according to the Washington Post, the heat wave isn't exclusive to just North America.
In Northern Siberia, along the coast of the Arctic Ocean – where weather observations are scarce – model analyses showed temperatures soaring 40 degrees above normal on July 5, to over 90 degrees. "It is absolutely incredible and really one of the most intense heat events I've ever seen for so far north," wrote meteorologist Nick Humphrey, who offers more detail on this extraordinary high-latitude hot spell on his blog.
European model analysis shows temperatures in northern Siberia along Arctic Ocean rising more than 40 degrees above normal early July 5. (WeatherBell.com)
Despite what our president was saying just 6 months ago, this is part of an increasingly obvious trend of record-setting weather events occurring all over the globe.
The Environmental Protection Agency, despite Scott Pruitt's best efforts, tracks heat-related deaths each year and acknowledges that they are an indicator of climate change.
The Capital Weather Gang put together an impressive list of the oppressive heat records around the Earth this past week:
A massive and intense heat dome has consumed the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southeast Canada since late last week. It's not only been hot but also exceptionally humid. Here are some of the notable all-time records set:
Denver tied its all-time high-temperature record of 105 degrees on June 28.
Mount Washington, N.H., tied its all-time warmest low temperature of 60 degrees on July 2.
Burlington, Vt., set its all-time warmest low temperature ever recorded of 80 degrees on July 2.
Montreal recorded its highest temperature in recorded history, dating back 147 years, of 97.9 degrees (36.6 Celsius) on July 2. The city also posted its most extreme midnight combination of heat and humidity.
Ottawa posted its most extreme combination of heat and humidity on July 1.
Excessive heat torched the British Isles late last week. The stifling heat caused roads and roofs to buckle, the Weather Channel reported, and resulted in multiple all-time record highs:
Scotland provisionally set its hottest temperature on record. The U.K. Met Office reported Motherwell, about 12 miles southeast of Glasgow, hit 91.8 degrees (33.2 Celsius) on June 28, passing the previous record of (32.9 Celsius) set in August 2003 at Greycrook. Additionally, Glasgow had its hottest day on record, hitting 89.4 degrees (31.9 Celsius).
In Ireland, on June 28, Shannon hit 89.6 degrees (32 Celsius), its record.
In Northern Ireland,
Belfast hit 85.1 degrees (29.5 Celsius) on June 28, its record.
Castlederg hit 86.2 degrees (30.1 Celsius) on June 29, its record
A large dome of high pressure, or heat dome, has persistently sat on top of Eurasia over the past week, resulting in some extraordinarily hot weather:
Tbilisi, Georgia: On July 4, the capital city soared to 104.9 degrees (40.5 Celsius), its all-time record.
Yerevan, Armenia: On July 2, the capital city soared to 107.6 degrees (42 Celsius), a record high for July and tying its record for any month.
Several locations in southern Russia topped or matched their warmest June temperatures on record on the 28th.
As we reported, Quriyat, Oman, posted the world's hottest low temperature ever recorded on June 28: 109 degrees (42.6 Celsius).
All this adds to the relentless stream of evidence that anthropogenic climate change is real.
Climae changeheat waveweather
Previous article Alex Jones Roasted For Saying Democrats Will Start A Civil War July 4th
Next article Scott Pruitt – EPA Chief and Climate Change Denier – Has Resigned
Watch these storm chasers get ridiculously close to a huge tornado
in Covid-19
in Facebook
Facebook just killed my personal account, and I don't know why
Church leader who blamed COVID-19 on same-sex marriage gets sick with COVID-19
Alex Jones Roasted For Saying Democrats Will Start A Civil War July 4th
Scott Pruitt – EPA Chief and Climate Change Denier – Has Resigned


The Broncos' best receiver on the roster is senior Cedrick Wilson, a junior college transfer. Juniors A.J. Richardson and Sean Modster have had moments but have not been consistent playmakers. They have combined for 38 catches and 398 yards receiving in 2017, with just one touchdown.
Harsin said they've done well, but not in ways that show up in the stats, whether it's freeing up others with their routes or blocking on runs or screens.
Attrition has been an issue, too. Seven scholarship receivers since the start of 2015 have either transferred or did not finish their eligibility at Boise State. Three have left since the end of spring practices this year.
Improving the talent level and stocking up on numbers obviously are keys in the Broncos' recruiting — they have picked up commitments from four players at wide receiver, including three high schoolers, for the 2018 class in the past two weeks.
And the Broncos know improvement must come quickly, with Wilson graduating. There have been signs of potential as true freshmen CT Thomas and Octavius Evans have combined for nine catches, 93 yards and a touchdown in the past two games. They had eight catches for 32 yards in the first seven games combined.
First-year wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau is well-known for being strong at teaching fundamentals. After bouncing around college football for a few seasons, he said after he was hired that he hoped to stay for some time, a good recipe for development.
"We've seen dramatic improvement in that group over the year," Hill said.
On Tuesday, junior linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy, an award honoring the nation's best player who began his career as a walk-on.
Vander Esch, a Salmon River High graduate, redshirted in 2014 and was put on scholarship the following spring. He leads the team with 86 tackles (three sacks) and has two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
"I think he's a next-level player, reminds me of the kid from the Carolina Panthers in the way he plays the game, (All-Pro Luke) Kuechly," Colorado State coach Mike Bobo said.
Colorado State will sport new uniforms and helmets Saturday that resemble the Centennial State's flag. The all-white look (which has more blue than the school colors of green and gold) means Boise State will be wearing a color scheme more akin to what the Broncos would wear at home.
The Broncos clinched a 20th straight winning season last Saturday with their win over Nevada, a streak that dates to the team's third year in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Only one other school has a longer active streak — Virginia Tech, at 25. Technically, Florida State is on a 40-year run, but the school vacated 12 wins in the 2006 and '07 seasons because of NCAA violations.
Former Boise State standouts Rees Odhiambo and Shea McClellin won't be playing again this season for the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, respectively.
Odhiambo was put on injured reserve after needing surgery on both hands. He started the first seven games at left tackle. McClellin has yet to play this season because of concussion problems. He was eligible to return Sunday against Denver, but a setback means he will be shelved.
"We won't be activating Shea to the roster," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday.


text:
Covid 19 coronavirus: Many trial volunteers got placebo vaccines. Do they now deserve the real ones?
3 Dec, 2020 10:05 PM 6 minutes to read
Photo / 123rf
By: Carl Zimmer and Noah Weiland
In October, Judith Munz and her husband, Scott Petersen, volunteered for a coronavirus vaccine trial. At a clinic near their home in Phoenix, each got a jab in the arm.
Petersen, a retired physician, became a little fatigued after his shot, and developed redness and swelling on his arm. But Munz, a social worker, didn't notice any change. "As much as I wanted it, I couldn't find a darned thing," she said. "It was a nothing burger."
She knew there was a 50-50 chance that she would get the vaccine, developed by Johnson & Johnson. Judging from her lack of symptoms, she guessed she had received the placebo.
At the time, MsMunz thought that anyone who had received the placebo would get the real vaccine as soon as the trial showed it was safe and effective. She looked forward to the peace of mind it would bring. But last month, she was asked to sign a modified consent form indicating that people who got the placebo might have to wait up to two years to get the vaccine, if they got one at all.
Munz found the form vague, confusing and, most of all, unfair. "You put yourself out there with that risk," she said. "I am owed that vaccine."
As state and federal governments prepare to distribute the first coronavirus vaccines to health care workers and nursing home residents later this month, the tens of thousands of people who received placebo shots in trials have become the subject of a thorny debate among experts.
Some scientists agree with Munz that, if she indeed received a placebo, she should be moved toward the front of the line in exchange for her service for the greater good. "I think probably we owe them, as a consequence of their participation in the trial, some special priority in terms of access to the vaccine," Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said at a meeting in July.
But on Wednesday, 18 leading vaccine experts — including a top regulator at the Food and Drug Administration — argued that vaccinating placebo groups early would be disastrous for the integrity of the trials. If all of the volunteers who received placebo shots were to suddenly get vaccinated, scientists would no longer be able to compare the health of those who were vaccinated with those who were not.
"If you're going to prioritise people to get vaccinated, the last people you should vaccinate are those who were in a placebo group in a trial," said Richard Peto, a medical statistician at the University of Oxford. Peto and his colleagues laid out their concerns in a new commentary in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Placebos have been essential to clinical trials for decades. It's vital that neither the volunteers nor the staff running the trial know who is randomly assigned to get the vaccine or the placebo. This "blinding," as it's called, eliminates the chance that people will behave differently depending on which treatment they get, potentially skewing the trial's results.
In their new paper in The New England Journal of Medicine, Peto and his colleagues argue that once a placebo group disappears from a clinical trial, the chance to collect rigorous data about a coronavirus vaccine will vanish.
Preliminary results don't reveal how long a vaccine's protection will last, for example. It's possible that the immunity provided by a vaccine can fade over the course of months. That decline would lead to an increase in the rate of vaccinated people getting sick as compared with the placebo group. Scientists would most likely see that trend if they can keep a vaccine trial intact.
"It is clear that there is early protection, and I suspect there will be protection for quite a long time afterward," Peto said. "But I think that we will be much better as a planet if we get clear evidence of this."
If the companies were to encourage unblinding their trials, that could also harm their chances of receiving the FDA's full stamp of approval — a license. And allowing a trial to continue may also be good for their bottom line, because knowing when immunity from a vaccine begins to wane will dictate how frequently people will need their product.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the ethical case for giving the vaccine to people like Munz was more compelling now that the vaccines had turned out to work surprisingly well.
The two companies at the front of the U.S. vaccine race, Pfizer and Moderna, both have reported efficacy rates of about 95%. It is unlikely that waiting for more volunteers to develop Covid-19 will change that number much.
The issue will likely come to a head Dec. 10, when an FDA advisory board meets to discuss Pfizer's application for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine. Moderna, which is just a week behind Pfizer, has yet to settle on a policy for its placebo group. Fauci said that it was likely he, Collins and other top NIH officials would talk more about the issue with Moderna, whose vaccine was developed in collaboration with researchers at Fauci's institute.
If the FDA authorises the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the limited initial supply will likely mean that the shots are slowly rolled out. As new groups of people become eligible, it's possible that the two vaccine trials may gradually lose some people in their placebo groups as people drop out to get the authorized vaccines.
The rollout could have a bigger impact on the two other late-stage clinical trials underway in the United States, run by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Johnson & Johnson expects to get the first results from its trial in January or February — but that will depend on its placebo group remaining unvaccinated.
After learning that it may take two years before Johnson & Johnson will provide her with the real vaccine, Munz, who is 68, is considering trying to get Pfizer or Moderna's version as soon as she's eligible thanks to her age.
"I'll drop out, which I can do, and I'll get the vaccine," she said.
Holly Janes, a biostatistician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and her colleagues are preparing for this kind of erosion. She and her colleagues are now working on statistical methods to squeeze the most insight out of the trials no matter what their fate.
"It won't be ideal from a purely scientific vantage point, because we lose the direct comparison between vaccine and placebo," she said. "But we're trying to strike a balance between doing what some would argue is right for the participants, and maximising the public health value that comes out of these trials."
Written by: Carl Zimmer and Noah Weiland


Tracing the history of the cult of Ludovica, the Altieri Chapel, and the statue, Shelley Perlove illuminates Bernini's contribution, both artistically and iconographically, to the chapel and proposes an interpretation of the precise nature of the experience the beata is undergoing in the sculpture. This interpretation is developed from an examination of the statue in the full context of other works of art in the chapel, medieval and Renaissance tomb sculpture, contemporary accounts of Ludovica's life and cult, and devotional Catholic literature undoubtedly known to Bernini. Woven into an iconographic scheme whose layers of meaning are mutually independent, the statue and the other elements in the chapel convey a unified conception.
Shelley Karen Perlove is Associate Professor in the History of Art, University of Michigan at Dearborn.


NOTE TO FANS, PROMOTERS AND MEDIA MEMBERS: ALL ANSWERS GIVEN BY INTERVIEW SUBJECTS ARE THEIR OPINIONS AND NOT THOSE OF ALAN WOJCIK OR HIS WEBSITE. IF YOU WISH TO USE ANY OR ALL OF AN INTERVIEW OR PHOTOS FOR YOUR SITE, PLEASE NOTIFY HIM AT alanwojcik@hotmail.com AND PLEASE CREDIT HIM WHEN YOU USE THE PIECE/PHOTO. THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE SITE.
NOW ONLINE: ERIC "ESCOBAR" PEREZ!!! STEVE "DJ GABRIEL" LEWINGTON!!!
COMING SOON: NEW INTERVIEWS ARE IN THE WORKS. PLEASE CHECK BACK TO SEE WHO IS NEXT TO SIT DOWN WITH ALAN WOJCIK.


Amit Yashar, Dominique Lamy; Intertrial repetition affects perception: The role of focused attention. Journal of Vision 2010;10(14):3. doi: 10.1167/10.14.3.
Implicit short-term memory plays an important role in visual search. For instance, singleton search is faster when the target and distractor features repeat on two consecutive trials than when they switch, an effect called Priming of Popout (PoP). However, whether or not PoP facilitates early perceptual/attentional processes remains controversial. To resolve discrepancies between existing findings, we tested the hypothesis that early effects of PoP occur only if attention is focused/engaged on the target. We measured search accuracy using brief displays for a fine discrimination task, which required focused attention, and for a left/right hemifield localization task, which did not. We found that PoP effects on accuracy occur only in the discrimination task. The theoretical implications are discussed.
Many day-to-day activities require us to repeatedly direct our attention to the same subset of objects in the visual field and to repeatedly ignore potentially distracting information. For example, when crossing a busy street, it is necessary to constantly extract update information regarding traffic lights (to see if they changed) and cars (to see if they stopped) while commercial signs should be ignored. Maljkovic and Nakayama (1994, 1996, 2000) have shown that we are equipped with an implicit memory system that facilitates reallocation of attentional resources to objects that have recently been the focus of our attention. They had participants search for a target defined as the uniquely colored item among homogeneously colored distractors and respond to its shape. Target and distractor colors switched unpredictably from trial to trial, such that observers had to perform their search with no knowledge of the upcoming target color. Response times (RTs) were faster when target and distractor colors happened to repeat on two consecutive trials than when they switched, an effect known as priming of popout (PoP). In subsequent experiments, Maljkovic and Nakayama (1996, 2000) showed that the effect of PoP is implicit, automatic, and independent of top-down expectations. In addition, studies that measured target and distractor repetitions and switches separately revealed that both target activation and distractor inhibition processes contribute to the PoP effect (Kristjánsson & Driver, 2008; Lamy, Antebi, Aviani, & Carmel, 2008).
While PoP is a very robust phenomenon and has been replicated in numerous laboratories (see Kristjánsson & Campana, 2010, for a review), it is not yet clear what stages of processing it affects. The selection-based view suggests that PoP occurs during target selection and affects the speed of target detection and attentional orienting (e.g., Becker, 2008; Goolsby & Suzuki, 2001; Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1994, 1996, 2000). Several findings support this view. For instance, Maljkovic and Nakayama (1994) showed that repetition effects occur only with features that are important for target selection (i.e., target-defining feature and spatial position) but not with features that are important for post-selection processes (i.e., reporting feature). In addition, Goolsby and Suzuki (2001) showed that PoP does not occur when attention is focused at the location of the upcoming target, that is, when search is not required.
Huang, Holcombe, and Pashler (2004) and Huang and Pashler (2005) suggested an alternative account, according to which PoP facilitates decision processes related to response selection. They relied on the finding that PoP interacts with response repetition (Huang et al., 2004), with a larger PoP when response repeats from one trial to the next than when it switches. They reasoned that, as the target response feature becomes available only after the target has been found, such interaction indicates that PoP occurs only after the target has been selected and its response feature identified.
However, in that study, PoP appeared to remain significant when the response switched. This residual effect is inconsistent with a purely response-based account of PoP, which predicts a crossover interaction between response repetition and target feature repetition. In a recent study (Lamy, Yashar, & Ruderman, 2010), we showed that PoP emerges early during search (within 100 ms) and interacts with repetition of the response feature only later (after 200–400 ms). A dual-stage model was proposed to account for these findings and suggests that PoP consists of two components: one might reflect perceptual processes and the other, response-related processes.
Huang and Pashler (2005) reported additional data that contradict the idea that PoP includes a perceptual component. They relied on the idea that reaction times (RTs) with extended viewing times index both perceptual and post-perceptual stages, whereas accuracy under data-limited conditions (Moore & Egeth, 1998) measures only perceptual stages. To create data-limited conditions, the search display is typically presented very briefly and followed by a mask. Participants are required to extract the task-relevant information before the search display is replaced by the mask and to respond under no speed stress. Accuracy rate is thought to reflect the quality of the information extracted from the display. Huang and Pashler (2005) reasoned that if PoP affects early stages of perceptual processing, then it should improve the perceptual quality of repeated targets.
Participants in their study reported whether the target singleton (defined by its unique orientation) appeared in the left or right hemifield of the screen. To distinguish between effects of top-down expectation and effects of PoP, they used a pre-knowledge condition (in which target- and distractor-defining features either alternated on every trial or repeated on every trial) and a no pre-knowledge condition (in which target and distractors switched unpredictably from trial to trial). The results showed only an effect of pre-knowledge and no PoP effect on accuracy, leading the authors to conclude that PoP affects post-selective processes exclusively.
These findings are inconsistent with the outcomes of a study by Sigurdardottir, Kristjansson, and Driver (2008). Using signal detection theory methodology, they found that streaks (3 or more successive trials) of repetitions increase perceptual sensitivity. However, PoP effects in this study may have been confounded with top-down effects because in order to obtain such streaks, the probability of a repeated-color trial was much higher than that of a switched-color trial.
The objective of the present study was to resolve the contradiction between findings suggesting that PoP affects perceptual/attentional stages (Goolsby & Suzuki, 2001; Lamy et al., 2010; Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1996) and findings showing that PoP affects only post-perceptual processes (Huang et al., 2004; Huang & Pashler, 2005). In a recent study (Yashar & Lamy, 2010), we demonstrated that PoP occurs when the search items are presented successively in a rapid stimulus visual presentation stream rather than spatially distributed, that is, when search occurs in the temporal rather than in the spatial domain. This finding suggests that while PoP requires search (Goolsby & Suzuki, 2001), it can occur in a task that does not require shifts of attention in space. We concluded that PoP facilitates the process of engaging attention in the target.
This finding raises the possibility that the early component of PoP may emerge only when the task requires focused attention but not when it can be performed with distributed attention, that is, in tasks that do not require attentional engagement in the target. Keeping this hypothesis in mind, note that the task used by Huang and Pashler (2005) only required participants to make a coarse localization judgment by indicating whether target appeared in the right or left hemifield. In other words, they only had to detect the target and code its general location. Therefore, the participants did not need to engage their attention in the target in order to respond. By contrast, the task commonly used to demonstrate PoP (e.g., Goolsby & Suzuki, 2001; Lamy et al., 2010; Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1994, 1996) requires fine discrimination of the target shape. Thus, after the target has been detected, attention must be focused on the target location to allow extraction of the responding feature, that is, of the target shape.
The objective of Experiment 1 was to test the hypothesis that PoP affects perceptual processes but only when the task requires focused attention. Accordingly, we measured the effect of PoP on search accuracy using brief search displays, in a fine discrimination task (held to require focused attention) and in a coarse localization task (held not to require focused attention). We expected PoP effects only in the fine discrimination task.
Participants were 9 Tel-Aviv University undergraduate students who participated in the experiment for course credit. All reported having normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity.
Displays were generated by an Intel Pentium 4 computer attached to a 17-in. CRT monitor, using 1024 × 768 resolution graphics mode. A chin rest was used to set viewing distance at 50 cm from the monitor.
Sample stimulus displays are presented in Figure 1. The fixation display consisted of a gray 0.2° × 0.2° "plus" sign, in the center of a black background. The search display consisted of 24 shapes in a virtual matrix (6 columns by 4 rows) centered at the screen center, with 3 columns in the left hemifield and 3 columns in the right hemifield. The distance between two adjacent matrix cells was 2.6°. The shapes were outline circles (1.7° in diameter) and outline diamonds (rotated squares, 1.4° in side). Centered inside each shape was a gray T letter (0.6° in length and 0.4° in width) pointing to either the left or right. Each display contained a unique shape (the target) among homogeneous shapes (the distractors). On each trial, the target was randomly chosen to be either a diamond among circles or a circle among diamonds. The mask display contained 24 mask shapes (the outline diamond, outline circle, left-pointing T and right-pointing T, overlapping each other), positioned at the same locations as the stimulus display shapes.
Illustration of the sequence of events in Experiments 1 and 2. In the coarse localization task, participants were required to indicate whether the target appeared in the right or left half of the screen. In the fine discrimination task, participants were required to indicate whether the T inside the target was oriented to the left or to the right. The stimuli were gray and were presented on a black background.
Each trial began with the fixation display for 500 ms, followed by the onset of the search display that was replaced by the mask display after a variable time interval, for 110 ms. Then, the screen went blank for 10 s or until the participant made a response by pressing one of two designated keys. The intertrial interval was 500 ms. In the fine discrimination task, participants reported whether the T inside the target pointed to the left or to the right. In the coarse localization task, participants reported whether the target appeared in the left or right hemifield. The participants were urged to respond as accurately as possible with no time pressure.
The two tasks were conducted in two separate sessions. Each session contained 480 trials divided into 8 blocks of 60 trials each. Stimulus duration was recalibrated every 20 trials. If the average accuracy rate had been below 65% or above 85% during the last 20 trials, search display exposure duration was increased or decreased by 35 ms, respectively. Stimulus duration remained the same if the accuracy rate had been between 65% and 85%. Each session began with 20 practice trials for which stimulus duration was set at 470 ms for the discrimination task and to 235 ms for the localization task.
Trials preceded by an error trial were removed from analysis. Mean error rate scores are depicted in Figure 2.
Effects of intertrial repetition on accuracy rate in the fine discrimination task and in the coarse localization task in Experiment 1. The graph shows the mean percentage of error trials as a function (A) of whether the target shape repeated or switched on two consecutive trials and (B) of whether the target was in the same or in a different spatial position relative to the previous trial, separately for each task.
An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted with target shape repetition and task as within-participant factors and with accuracy rate as the dependent variable. Although stimulus duration was calibrated according to performance within each task, accuracy rate in the fine discrimination task tended to be lower, yet not significantly so, than in the coarse localization task (77.2% vs. 80.0%, respectively), F(1,8) = 3.96, p < 0.09. Neither the main effect of target shape repetition nor the main effect of task reached significance, F(1,8) = 3.94, p < 0.09 and F(1,8) = 3.96, p < 0.09, respectively. The interaction between the two factors was significant, F(1,8) = 5.75, p < 0.05. Paired comparisons revealed a significant PoP effect on accuracy in the fine discrimination task, F(1,8) = 11.45, p < 0.01, but not in the localization task, F < 1. Thus, the PoP effect on accuracy is contingent on the task. It does not occur when the task requires detection and coarse localization of the target, but only when it requires the additional process of engaging attention in the target location.
Note that because the calibration procedure was aimed at equating performance between the two tasks within an accuracy range of 65% to 85%, mean display exposure times could differ between the two tasks, which indeed occurred (405 ms for fine discrimination vs. 135 ms for localization). Thus, one may argue that differences in exposure durations rather than in task requirements may underlie the difference in perceptual effects of PoP between the sessions. However, we claim that the additional processing steps required by the fine discrimination task relative to the localization task (i.e., shifting attention, engaging it in the target, and extracting its response feature) account for the longer exposure times (see also Bravo & Nakayama, 1992; Huang, in press).
To provide an independent test of the hypothesis that the coarse localization task was indeed performed with attention broadly distributed over the search display, whereas the fine discrimination task involved focal attention on the precise location of the target, we took advantage of the target position repetition effect first reported by Maljkovic and Nakayama (1996). We reasoned that this effect should be observed only when attention had been focused on the same location on successive trials, that is, in the discrimination but not in the localization task. We conducted an ANOVA with target position repetition and task as within-participant factors and with accuracy rate as the dependent variable. 1 The main effect of target position repetition was significant, F(1,8) = 12.17, p < 0.009, and interacted with the effect of task, F(1,8) = 5.42, p < 0.05. Paired comparisons revealed that repetition of target position improved accuracy only in the fine discrimination task, F(1,8) = 12.73, p < 0.008, but not in the coarse localization task, F < 1. These findings confirm our hypothesis that the former but not in the latter task required focused attention.
The findings from Experiment 1 suggest that PoP affects perceptual/attentional processes but only when the task requires attention to be focused/engaged in the target location. Following Goolsby and Suzuki's (2001) terminology, we distinguish between two phases of PoP: encoding during the previous trial (n − 1) and retrieval of the encoded information during the current trial (n). In Experiment 2, we examined whether focusing attention is required during encoding, retrieval, or both. We interleaved coarse localization trials with fine discrimination trials, such that whenever trial n was a localization task, trial n − 1 was a discrimination task and vice versa. If focused attention is required only during encoding of the target, then PoP should be found only in the localization task because attention was focused on the target in the previous (fine discrimination) trial. If focusing of attention is required only during retrieval, then PoP should be observed only on discrimination trials. If focusing attention is required during both, then no PoP effect should be obtained in either task.
The apparatus, stimuli, procedure, and design were the same as in Experiment 1 except for the following changes. The tasks were interleaved, such that each fine discrimination trial was followed by a coarse localization trial and vice versa. Each session contained 600 trials. Stimulus duration was recalibrated individually and separately for each task, as a function of the participant's performance on the last 20 trials with a particular task.
Mean error rate scores are depicted in Figure 3. Two participants were removed from analysis, because their error rates were more than 2.5 standard deviations either above or below the group mean (40% and 5% of errors, respectively).
Effects of target shape repetition from trials n − 2 and n − 1 on accuracy rate on trial n in Experiment 2. The task on trial n − 1 is different from that on trial n; the task on trial n − 2 is the same as on trial n. The task on trial n was either a fine discrimination task (left-hand panel) or a coarse localization task (right-hand panel).
Accuracy rates did not differ between the two tasks (81.4% vs. 82.0% for the fine discrimination vs. coarse localization tasks, respectively, t < 1). Mean stimulus duration was 138 ms for the fine discrimination task and 377 ms for the coarse localization task. We first examined the effect of shape repetition from the previous trial (n − 1) when the current trial (n) was a fine discrimination trial, and trial n − 1 had therefore been a coarse localization trial. There was no significant effect of shape repetition, t < 1. However, performance was significantly improved when the target shape repeated from trial n − 2, which had been a fine discrimination trial just as the current trial, t(1,6) = 18.22, p < 0.006. When trial n was a coarse localization trial, there was no significant effect of shape repetition when target shape repeated either from trial n − 1, which had been a fine discrimination trial, or from trial n − 2, which had been a coarse localization trial just as the current trial, all ts < 1.
These results suggest that PoP facilitates performance only if attention must be engaged in the target location both during encoding and during retrieval, which in the present experiment occurred only for successive fine discrimination trials (despite the fact that these were separated by a coarse localization trial). One may argue that switching from one task to the next may have introduced contextual changes that did not allow priming effects to emerge. However, previous findings (Yashar & Lamy, 2010) strongly argue against this possibility, as we showed that PoP transfers across very different contexts, namely, from temporal search to spatial search and vice versa.
The results from the present study provide a resolution of the controversy over the effects of Priming of Popout on perceptual processes during visual search. With a procedure known to tap only perceptual processes (using very brief masked displays), we show, on the one hand, that PoP affects perception, in line with selection-based accounts (e.g., Becker, 2008; Goolsby & Suzuki, 2001; Lamy et al., 2010; Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1994, 1996; Sigurdardottir et al., 2008), but only in a fine discrimination task. On the other hand, we also show that in line with the claim that intertrial repetition facilitates only response-related processes (Huang et al., 2004; Huang & Pashler, 2005) perceptual effects of PoP are not observed in a coarse localization task (Experiment 1). Thus, our results suggest that the apparently contradicting findings reported in previous studies (e.g., Sigurdardottir et al., 2008 vs. Huang & Pashler, 2005) reflect task-related differences.
These results entail that PoP affects processes that are involved in one task but not in the other. In other words, they suggest that (1) PoP does not affect processes that are common to both tasks, and (2) it facilitates one or more stages involved only in the discrimination task.
In both tasks, the target was defined as the unique singleton and finding it therefore required the spatial representation of local contrasts (often referred to as the saliency map, e.g., Itti, Koch, & Niebur, 1998). As PoP was not observed in the coarse localization task, we may infer that PoP does not affect processes related to local contrast representation. That is, repetition of the target- and distractor-defining features does not speed computations of relative salience nor does it enhance the strength of the contrast signal at the location of the target singleton.
The tasks differed in that the fine discrimination task required focal attention to be allocated to the target location in order to extract the response feature, whereas the coarse localization did not. We may thus conclude that PoP facilitates allocation of focal attention. The decision to allocate focal attention is based on the prioritization of locations and/or of stimulus features. However, if we posit that responding to a stimulus entails that this stimulus was selected (prioritized), then we should distinguish between selecting of location(s) (as required by both tasks) and allocating of focal attention to the target (as required by the fine discrimination task alone). A similar distinction has been proposed by Huang (in press), who suggested that the notion of attention includes selection of information and processing optimization. Within this framework, our findings suggest that repetition of the target- and distractor-defining features affects the prioritization process that guides allocation of focal attention but does not affect the prioritization process that underlies the selection of a discrepant location. Note, however, that our findings do not indicate whether PoP speeds the prioritization process per se (e.g., Hillstrom, 2000) or whether it enhances the relative priority of the repeated target (Becker, 2008).
Several authors have shown that allocation of focal attention can be further decomposed into two different processes (Folk, Ester, & Troemel, 2009; Posner & Petersen, 1990; Yashar & Lamy, 2010): it entails shifting (or narrowing) of attention to the target location as well as engagement of attentional resources in the target. Accordingly, our results suggest that PoP facilitates attentional focusing, attentional engagement, or both. In a recent study, we already showed that PoP affects engagement of attention. Indeed, we observed PoP in an RSVP task, that is, when attentional shifting/narrowing was not needed (because attention remained focused on the same location), but engagement in the target was needed to extract task-relevant information. Note, however, that this finding did not preclude the possibility that in addition to facilitating attentional engagement, PoP might also affect earlier stages of processing.
In addition, no PoP effect was observed when the two tasks were interleaved (Experiment 2). On the one hand, PoP was not observed when the task was fine discrimination on the current trial and coarse location on the previous trial. Thus, perceptual effects of PoP were also contingent on attention being focused on the target during encoding (that is, on trial n − 1). This finding suggests that while spatial representation of local contrasts can be extracted when displays are presented for a brief time interval and attention is distributed over the display, the features that underlie the local contrasts are poorly encoded (if at all).
On the other hand, PoP was not observed when the task was coarse localization on the current trial and fine discrimination on the previous trial. This finding suggests that failure to observe PoP in the coarse localization task of Experiment 1 did not result only from failure to encode the target and distractor features. Instead, it reinforces our claim that PoP facilitates stages of processing not involved in the coarse localization task.
To summarize our conclusions, the present study shows that PoP does not affect early preattentive stages during which local contrasts are computed. Instead, PoP affects feature prioritization for the allocation of focal attention. Further research is needed to determine whether such effects on prioritization facilitate only engagement of attention or may also speed shifts of attention to the target.
It is important to note that the rationale of the present study rests on the notion that focal attention is needed in tasks that require discrimination of a subtle feature of the target but not in tasks that do not require such discrimination, such as the coarse localization task used here, or absent/present detection tasks. While the idea that a target can be selected and responded to without focal attention has been supported by several authors (e.g., Bravo & Nakayama, 1992; Huang, in press), it was recently challenged by Theeuwes, Van Der Burg, and Belopolsky (2008). They showed that detecting the presence of a singleton was speeded when the target shape (which was irrelevant to the task) repeated relative to when it changed on consecutive trials, suggesting that a simple detection task involved focused attention on the target location. However, our finding that repetition of the target location facilitated performance only in the discrimination task and not in the coarse localization task strongly indicates that attention was focused on the target location in the former but not in the latter task. Thus, we may speculate that selection in a detection or coarse localization task may be accompanied by a shift of attention to the target location only in certain circumstances, for instance, under conditions of unlimited viewing time (e.g., Theeuwes et al., 2008).
The conclusion that PoP does not affect search unless the task requires allocation of focal attention seems to be at odds with several reports of PoP effects on search latencies in detection and coarse localization tasks (e.g., Huang & Pashler, 2005; Lamy, Carmel, Egeth, & Leber, 2006). However, the apparently contradictory findings can be accommodated within the framework of our dual-stage model (Lamy et al., 2010). We suggest that while target feature repetition does not affect perceptual processes when attention is distributed over the search display, it speeds response-related processes. The outcomes of such response-related processes can be assessed by RT measures with unlimited viewing time but not by accuracy with brief displays (e.g., Moore & Egeth, 1998), which is why they did not emerge in the present study. Recent findings from our laboratory confirm this prediction (Yashar & Lamy, in preparation).
Support was provided by Israel Science Foundation Grant 1382‐04 to Dominique Lamy.
Address: Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, POB 39040, Israel.
1 Note that in the localization task target position repetition is confounded with motor response repetition, because whenever the target position repeats, so does the response. Thus, whereas the same response condition included both same and different location trials, the different response condition included only different location trials. Therefore, to measure position repetition effects on similar conditions of response repetition in both tasks, we included only repeated-response trials in the analysis.
Huang L. Q. (in press). The speed of feature-based attention: Attentional advantage is slow, but selection is fast. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Lamy D. Yashar A. Ruderman L. (2010). A dual-stage account of inter-trial priming effects. Vision Research.
Yashar A. Lamy D. (2010). Intertrial repetition facilitates selection in time. Psychological Science.
Yashar A. Lamy D. (in preparation). Refining the dual-stage account of PoP: Does motor response or response feature matter?


text:
Q: Loading External JS in SAP Fiori all pages We have a software that runs as an overlay on existing applications, SAP Fiori being one of them. We need to ask our client to include the CDN hosted JavaScript on all application pages. As I understand this might mean the js needs to be included in all Fiori app component.js or index.html.
Is there a way, to load the CDN hosted script on All SAP Fiori Apps pages including launchpad?
I am new to the SAP world and my research only got me so far. Appreciate any help.

A: You need to create Fiori plug-in (using SAP WebIDE).
Tutorial
File Component.js:

sap.ui.define([
    "sap/ui/core/Component",
], function (Component) {

    return Component.extend("cdntest.Component", {

        metadata: {
            "manifest": "json"
        },

        init: function () {
            let cdnScript = document.createElement('script');
            cdnScript.setAttribute('src', 'https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.1/jquery.min.js');
            document.head.appendChild(cdnScript);

        }

    });
});


Gareth Brindle Black Dyke's Solo Baritone has reluctantly called time with the Band, due to his work commitments expanding in these challenging times.
"Gareth is a fantastic bandsman, his lyrical and dynamic qualities were simply outstanding" said Nick Childs.
Gareth himself said "Being at Black Dyke has been a great experience and one that I shall never forget. To play a very small part in the history of this great band has been such a privilege and I would like to thank Nick, the players and back room staff and of course my family for all their support over the years".


Please note that in some talks, slides showing unpublished results, as well as slides showing budget information, have been removed. Please send me an e-mail if you would like to receive a full presentation.
Download Slides: PDF (8.9 MB), Keynote (52.9 MB, including animation) PowerPoint (18.1 MB).
Electron Beam Instrumentation for SwissFEL.
Technical Implementation of SwissFEL Injector Test Facility Diagnostics.
For talks prepared at PSI, the slides are © Copyright Paul Scherrer Institut.
For talks prepared at SLAC, the slides are not copyrighted.
For talks prepared at DESY, the slides are © Copyright Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron.
For the talk prepared at RWTH, the slides are © Copyright Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen.
You are allowed to re-use these talks or to copy from these slides, provided that you cite the source, and provided that you share your work under a simliar license.


This entry was posted in ID Management, National ID by adam. Bookmark the permalink.
The National Animal ID System plan is appalling in how it has been promulgated. The U.S. Government is suggesting that anyone with a subject animal register their home as a "premise" regardless of the nature or use of the animal.
The potential impact on horse owners is completely out of proportion to the prospective benefit. Imagine if you had to fill out a request form and ask the Government every time you wanted to take your bicycle to a bike race. That's essentially what they're expecting horse owners to do. There are already self-policed (and occasionally state-mandated) rules about current disease test results that must be presented to show officials whenever a horse is to participate in a show venue with other horses.
1- to make marketing easier for the handful (2-4) companies (none of whom are U.S. headquartered) breeding horses here for slaughter as human food. That amounts to fewer than 3% of the horses in the U.S.
While both may in some way have a benefit, it's completely out of proportion to the costs, in terms of time, paperwork, privacy impacts and process friction on an industry that is avocational in large part.
The process by which the public was given (or not given) notice of the proposed rule seems to have been somewhat disingenuous as well.
Disclaimer: My family owns a horse and I'm not looking forward to how this plays out.


In his An Event Apart Chicago presentation, Thinking Small, Jason Santa Maria discussed how small decisions can have a big impact on Web designs.
In choose your own adventure books, we were given a choice about where to go next. Even small choices would affect what would happen at the end of a story. In Web design it's the same -small decisions can make a big impact.
Be a Thinker. Many people jump onto a computer and start designing. They get into a solution before they get into a problem.
Keep a sketchbook for your ideas. Sketchbooks are not about being a good artist they are about being a good thinker. Once you get past the obvious ideas in sketching, a lot of new ideas come out.
Find the message. Between wireframes and design, you begin to see how content works relative to itself and the collective.
Know your process and know your tools. A computer is the tool of refinement. Your mind is the tool of design.
Be a Reverse Engineer. Put yourself in someone else's shoes. Try to think from the perspective of others.
How to reinterpret a message for interest: think about previous and next panels; zoom in or out; embellish or exaggerate; disarm, deconstruct, or re-contextualize the content. These are ways to free up your thinking.
Plot it out. Grids create a sense of cohesion for content. But you need to think about why you are using a grid and how.
Grid frameworks sometimes push people to solutions that are not thought through. How do the grids you use represent and support your message?
Think horizontally before vertically. This helps you move from thinking about columns to thinking about slots. Design systems instead of pages.
Stop, modulate and listen. Make a modular system that you can utilize a la carte. A system constructed of CSS classes for identifier, size, and placement allows you to use simple rules to enable a large range of layout solutions.
Be a matchmaker. A lot of type solutions are coming online now. This will open up opportunities for new messages and designs.
Do not use two script or display types faces together because they each have a lot of character. One goes a long way.
Do not use two similar sans serif typefaces –they are often too close.
General rule of thumb in type selection is one of each face –kind of.
Pair fonts from the same designer. Often share some qualities or feel.
Find harmony and structure –for example humanistic typefaces (getting to basics).
Look for contrast –find fonts that have contrast so they can play off each other.
Web sites are always changing because their use is always changing. Prepare for it.


According to TMZ, The Kidd Creole, a rap pioneer from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, has been arrested and charged for the stabbing death of a homeless man.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … the rapper used a small knife to stab the man 2 times in the chest and once in the head Tuesday night in Midtown. The man allegedly called Kidd Creole a gay slur.
The homeless man — identified as 55-year-old John Jolly — died at Bellevue Hospital.


text:
Jacob Jake Loucks Devers (York, Pensilvania, 8 de septiembre de 1887-Washington D.C., 15 de octubre de 1979) fue un militar estadounidense, famoso por haber comandado al 6.º Grupo de Ejércitos durante la Operación Anvil Dragoon, en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Fue el primer oficial de los Estados Unidos en alcanzar el Rin después del Día D, el desembarco aliado en Normandia.

Biografía
Devers nació en York, Pensilvania. Se graduó en 1909 en trigésimo novena posición de un total de 103 graduados de la Academia Militar de los Estados Unidos en West Point, Nueva York. Algunos de sus compañeros de clase fueron George S. Patton (46), John C. H. Lee (12), Robert L. Eichelberger (68), Edwin F. Harding (74), y William H. Simpson (101). Desarrolló gran parte de su actividad en el periodo de entreguerras en la mejora de tácticas y técnicas de su arma, la Artillería de campaña.

Al iniciarse la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Europa, Devers estaba sirviendo en Panamá. Entonces mandaba la 9.ª División de Infantería en Fort Bragg, Carolina del Norte, a cuyo cargo estuvo desde el 15 de enero de 1940 al 15 de julio de 1941. El 14 de agosto de 1941 Devers, el más joven General de División de las fuerzas terrestres del Ejército, fue destinado a Fort Knox, Kentucky, para asumir el mando de las fuerzas acorazadas, encargándosele la preparación para la batalla de las unidades blindadas. Durante su mando, Fort Knox creció de dos divisiones acorazadas a 16, además de 63 batallones de tanques independientes. Tuvo bajo su mando a su antiguo compañero de West Point, George Patton.

En mayo de 1943, Devers fue nombrado comandante supremo de las fuerzas del Ejército de Estados Unidos en Europa, donde, desde su Cuartel General de Londres, participó en los planeamientos preliminares de la invasión del norte de Francia, así como organizó y entrenó muchas divisiones que iban a participar en el asalto a la Muralla atlántica de Hitler, la invasión a través del Canal de la Mancha, prevista para la primavera de 1944.

En enero de 1944, y tras asumir el general Eisenhower el mando de las fuerzas aliadas destinadas a la invasión de Francia, Devers fue transferido al Teatro de Operaciones del Mediterráneo, donde fue designado Vicecomandante Supremo, a las órdenes del general Henry Maitland Wilson.

En julio de 1944, Devers recibió finalmente el mando de combate que durante tanto tiempo había codiciado: el 6.º Grupo de Ejércitos. Con sus doce divisiones americanas y once francesas, Devers desembarcó en la Costa Azul francesa, despejó de alemanes Alsacia, redujo la bolsa de Colmar, cruzó el Rin y aceptó la rendición de las fuerzas alemanas en Austria occidental, el 6 de mayo de 1945.

Fue promovido a General de Brigada en mayo de 1940, General de División en octubre de 1940, Teniente General en septiembre de 1942 y General en marzo de 1945. Después de la guerra, regresó a Estados Unidos, donde sirvió como Jefe de las Fuerzas de Tierra del Ejército de los Estados Unidos hasta que, después de 40 años en el ejército, se retiró del servicio activo el 30 de septiembre de 1949.

Finalmente murió el 15 de octubre de 1979 en el Hospital Militar Walter Reed, en Washington, D. C., siendo enterrado con todos los honores en el Cementerio Nacional de Arlington.

Bibliografía
 David P. Colley (2008). Decision at Strasbourg: Ike's Strategic Mistake to Halt the Sixth Army Group at the Rhine in 1944. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-133-8.
 David P. Colley (November 2, 2009). How World War II Wasn't Won. New York Times.

Enlaces externos
 Eisenhower archives
 44th Infantry Division

Nacidos en York (Pensilvania)
Fallecidos en Washington D. C.
Condecorados con la Estrella de Bronce
Generales del Ejército de Estados Unidos
Militares estadounidenses de la Segunda Guerra Mundial
Personas enterradas en el Cementerio Nacional de Arlington
Graduados honorarios del Williams College
Grandes oficiales de la Orden del Libertador San Martín
Grandes oficiales de la Legión de Honor
Comandantes de la Orden de Leopoldo
Caballeros comendadores de la Orden del Baño

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Sectarianism, Proxies & De-sectarianisation
SEPADPod
Hadra
Saudi and Iran: The Struggle to Shape the Middle East
By Dr. Simon Mabon
Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Struggle to Shape the Middle East is the first report from SEPAD, theSectarianism, Proxies and De-Sectarianisation project, funded by Carnegie Corporation. The report examines the increasingly fractious rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran and its devastating impact on the contemporary Middle East. Shaped by geopolitical aspirations but given existential importance by claims to Islamic legitimacy, the rivalry plays out in divided societies across the Middle East. This report explores the nature of the rivalry and its impact in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The report argues that while there are links between sectarian groups and their kin in the Gulf, many of these groups exercise their own agency independent of Saudi Arabia or Iran. The international community too often ignores the importance of domestic political forces, both across the countries of the region and in within Saudi Arabia and Iran themselves, when trying to understand conflicts in the Middle East.
The report calls for the international community to stop using sect-based groups as proxies or allies and avoid using language that reinforces divisions between communities, such as 'Shi'a Crescent'. It must resist the siren call to frame problems in terms of groups' rights that further entrenches sectarian divides, but instead recommit to protecting the rule of law and individual rights. The report argues that the international community should do more to support grassroots projects that cut across sectarian, ethnic, social and tribal divides. At an international level it must try to create more neutral spaces for discussion of regional issues, facilitating dialogue and trust-building between Riyadh and Tehran, which can help work towards building peace and assist efforts to reach a ceasefire in Yemen and Syria.
The report is a collaboration between the Foreign Policy Centre and SEPAD based at the Richardson Institute for Peace Studies at Lancaster University. The report contains contributions from experts Including: Dr Simon Mabon, University of Lancaster (ed.); Professor Toby Dodge, LSE ; Professor Madawi Al Rasheed, LSE; Dr Bassel Salloukh, Lebanese American University; Dr May Darwich, Durham University; Dr Chris Phillips, QMUL; Dr Hannes Baumann, University of Liverpool, Dr Edward Wastnidge, Open University; and Dr Rahaf Aldoughli, Lancaster University.
Download project data document
©2019 SEPAD
Site by Hotfoot