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OGC API - Features - Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems by Reference
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 28 April 2020.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) seeks public comment on the OGC API - Features - Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems candidate standard.
OGC APIs usher in a new age for location information on the web, enabling a much simpler way to share and access location information that is consistent with the architecture of the Web. The OGC API family of standards define modular API building blocks to spatially enable Web APIs in a consistent way. The OpenAPI specification is used to define the API building blocks.
OGC API - Features provides the fundamental API building blocks to create, modify, and query 'features' on the Web (features are simply the digital representations of objects of interest in the real world). OGC API - Features is comprised of multiple parts, with each part being a separate standard. OGC API - Features - Part 2 extends the core capabilities specified in Part 1: Core with the ability to use coordinate reference systems (CRS) other than WGS 84.
A key advantage to the OGC API - Features standard is the direct, fine-grained access to the data at the feature (object) level, providing greater flexibility for linking of resources on the Web. This OGC standard is consistent with the OGC/W3C Spatial Data on the Web Best Practices.
Specifically, the OGC API - Features - Part 2 standard specifies:
How, for each offered feature collection, a server advertises the list of supported CRS identifiers;
How the coordinates of geometry valued feature properties can be accessed in one of the supported CRS;
How features can be accessed from the server using a bounding box specified in one of the supported CRS; and
How a server can declare the CRS used to present feature resources, and optionally the coordinate axis order used.
OGC API - Features - Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems by Reference (18-058) (.HTML)
Comments should be submitted via the OGC API - Features Issues Tracker on GitHub for this standard. Issues may be submitted for consideration through 28 April, 2020. All Issues will be assessed by the editing team.
To view comments as they are submitted, follow the OGC API - Features Issues Tracker on GitHub.
Read more about OGC API - Features - Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems by Reference
OGC API - Common
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 28 March 2020.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking public comment on the candidate OGC API - Common standard.
OGC APIs usher in a new age for location information on the web, enabling a much simpler way to share and access location information that is consistent with the architecture of the Web. OGC API standards define modular API building blocks to spatially enable Web APIs in a consistent way.
In the course of developing OGC's new suite of OGC API standards, some elements proved to be common across all OGC API standards. OGC has documented these common elements in the form of the OGC API - Common candidate standard.
OGC API - Common serves as a foundation upon which all OGC APIs will be built. The candidate standard identifies resources, captures compliance classes, and specifies requirements that are applicable to all OGC API standards.
Since OGC API-Common is the foundation for OGC API standards, a stable baseline is required prior to developing those standards. Yet the OGC API - Common standard cannot be finalized until it has been validated against those same standards. Therefore, OGC API-Common will go through at least two OGC Public Comment periods. This initial request seeks to establish a "beta" version that is stable enough for use by other OGC API standardization efforts. A final request will be issued once there is sufficient implementation experience to move API - Common forward as an OGC standard. Additional requests for public comment may be issued if changes to the candidate specification justify them.
OGC API-Common (19-072) (.PDF)
Read more about OGC API - Common
Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) Candidate Community Standard Work Item Justification
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is in the process of ratifying Apple's Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) as a Community Standard. OGC Members Autodesk, Esri, Google, New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT), Ordnance Survey Limited, and Safe Software support the submission and welcome public comment ahead of the voting period for the Work Item Justification on March 17, 2020.
Apple designed IMDF to deliver indoor maps for thousands of airports and shopping centers around the world, making it possible for users of the Maps app to find their way indoors and discover places to shop and eat. IMDF provides a mobile-friendly, compact, and human-readable data model for any indoor space, providing a basis for orientation, navigation, and discovery.
IMDF enables many use cases such as multi-level indoor mapping, indoor way-finding, indoor routing, hyper-local search, and indoor positioning. Using Apple MapKit and MapKitJS for cross platform rendering of IMDF, the free, online IMDF Sandbox, and the Indoor Survey app tool for self-enabling indoor positioning, the format has been adopted by many companies and organizations for use in private and public applications.
Adoption of IMDF by OGC and the wider mapping community would make it possible to create apps and services using the same highly accurate and detailed map data on any app, website, or operating system. Examples include government agencies using an electronic standard of indoor maps data for efficient response to events, hospitals providing mapping guidance to patients, doctors, and visitors, and airports creating a single map that can be easily styled by partners without altering the accuracy of the underlying data.
An OGC Community Standard is an official standard of OGC that was already available as a widely used, mature specification, but was developed outside of OGC's standards development and approval process. The originator of the standard brings to OGC a "snapshot" of their work that is then endorsed by OGC membership so that it can become part of the OGC Standards Baseline.
Indoor Mapping Data Format 1.0 (IMDF) Community Standard Justification Version 1.0 (.PDF)
Read more about Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) Candidate Community Standard Work Item Justification
TimeseriesML v1.3 request for comment
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) seeks public comment on version 1.3 of the TimeseriesML standard. TimeseriesML is an XML Encoding of the Timeseries Profile of Observations and Measurements, and is used for the representation of observations as 'timeseries' - that is, a sequence of data values that are ordered in time. TimeseriesML supports observations tagged with location, but is equally useful for applications that aren't concerned with location.
The core aspect of the Timeseries Profile of Observations and Measurements is the correct, precise description of timeseries. The intent of TimeseriesML is to enable the exchange of precise timeseries datasets across information systems.
Through the use of existing OGC standards, TimeseriesML provides an interoperable exchange format that may be re-used to address a range of data exchange requirements and scenarios. Example areas of usage are: cross-border exchange of observational and/or forecast data; release of data for public dissemination; enhancing disaster management through data exchange; and exchange in support of national reporting.
Version 1.3 of TimeseriesML adds an optional 'TimeseriesMetadata' property as a specific count of the number of time steps in a timeseries, or each homogeneous (regularly spaced) segment of an irregularly spaced whole timeseries. For example, a timeseries containing temperature forecasts:
every 1 hour for the 1st 36 hours of the time series;
every 3 hours from forecast hour 36 to 72; and
every 6 hours from forecast hour 72 out to 7 days.
TimeseriesML 1.3 – XML Encoding of the Timeseries Profile of Observations and Measurements (15-042r6) (.ZIP file including the candidate standard plus release notes and a presentation outlining the changes)
Read more about TimeseriesML v1.3 request for comment
Public comment requested: CityJSON Community Standard Work Item
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 5th March 2020
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is considering CityJSON for adoption as an official OGC Community Standard. A new Work Item justification to begin the Community Standard endorsement process is available for public comment.
CityJSON is a JSON-based encoding for a subset of the OGC CityGML data model, which is an open standardized data model and exchange format to store digital 3D models of cities and landscapes.
CityJSON defines ways to describe most of the common 3D features and objects found in cities (such as buildings, roads, rivers, bridges, vegetation, and city furniture) and the relationships between them. It also defines different standard levels of detail (LoDs) for the 3D objects, which allows different resolutions of objects for different applications and purposes. CityJSON considerably simplifies the storage and exchange of 3D city models.
The purpose of CityJSON is to offer an alternative to the GML encoding of CityGML, which can be verbose and therefore complex to work with. The design objective for CityJSON is ease of use for both reading datasets and for creating them. CityJSON was designed with programmers in mind, therefore tools and APIs supporting it can be quickly built. It was also designed to be compact - using CityJSON typically compresses publicly available CityGML files by a factor of 6x - while at the same time being friendly for web and mobile development.
CityJSON was developed, and is maintained, by the 3D geoinformation group at TU Delft. Others have since joined its development, especially virtualcitySYSTEMS and Claus Nagel.
Community Standard Justification: CityJSON v1.0 (20-005r1) (.DOCX)
Read more about Public comment requested: CityJSON Community Standard Work Item
Public comment requested: Core Tiling Conceptual and Logical Models Abstract Specification Topic
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 20th February 2020
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking public comment on the Abstract Specification Topic 'Core Tiling Conceptual and Logical Models.' The Abstract Specification defines a tiling conceptual model as well as a logical model for tiling 2-D planar space based on the conceptual model.
Numerous OGC standards specify some type of tiling scheme. These standards include Web Map Tiling Service (WMTS), CDB, and GeoPackage. There have also been a number of OGC Innovation Initiatives focused on tiling and tiling schemes. However, a general tiling conceptual model and related logical model for two-dimensional Euclidean (aka planar) space - the most common tiling approach for geospatial technologies - have not been defined.
The general tiling conceptual model described in the Abstract Specification is applicable to space with any number of dimensions. The conceptual model makes no assumptions regarding content, use cases, implementation scenarios, or how the space is to be tiled.
As one or more logical models are required to provide the requirements and structure necessary for implementation, the Abstract Specification also specifies a core logical model for the two-dimensional Euclidean use case.
Across geospatial technologies, the tiling of two-dimensional Euclidean space is the most common approach for partitioning space. However, there are common elements and semantics across any approach to partitioning a space of any number of dimensions. The logical model described in the Tiling Abstract Specification therefore defines this set of common required elements and then follows with more specific requirements for the two-dimensional case.
Other Parts that specify additional logical models, such as for three-dimensional Euclidean space, may be added in the future.
Core Tiling Conceptual and Logical Models for 2D Euclidean Space (19-014r1) (.PDF)
Read more about Public comment requested: Core Tiling Conceptual and Logical Models Abstract Specification Topic
Public comment requested: IndoorGML v1.1
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 29th November 2019.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking public comment on the v1.1 update to the IndoorGML standard.
The goal of IndoorGML is to represent and allow for exchange of the location information required to build and operate indoor spatial services such as indoor navigation systems. Several standards, such as CityGML, KML, and IFC, have been published to describe 3D geometry and semantics of buildings for outdoor/indoor spaces, but they lack some important features that are specific to indoor spaces. IndoorGML aims to provide complementary and additional encoding features for indoor space. In this respect, IndoorGML is a complementary standard to CityGML, KML, and IFC.
IndoorGML v1.1 introduces a new feature for level (i.e. storey or floor) information as an additional attribute of cell space to respond to the requirements from many indoor spatial applications. IndoorGML v1.1 is fully compatible with the previous version IndoorGML v1.0.
The OGC IndoorGML Encoding Standard was developed to provide a common schema framework for interoperability between indoor spatial applications. These cover a broad spectrum of application areas such as indoor location services, indoor web map services, indoor emergency control, indoor IoT sensors, guiding services for visually handicapped persons in indoor space, and indoor robotics. Cross-platform, vendor-neutral communication of indoor spatial information is essential to meet the market demands of these applications.
OGC IndoorGML 1.1(19-011r2) (.DOCX)
Read more about Public comment requested: IndoorGML v1.1
Public comment: OpenFlight Scene Description Specification as an OGC Community Standard
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is considering the OpenFlight Scene Description Database Specification (v16.0) for adoption as an official OGC Community Standard. Public comment is sought before approval.
The OpenFlight Scene Description Database Specification, commonly referred to as simply "OpenFlight," is a 3D scene description file format used for real-time visual simulation of 3D terrain features and moving models, such as ground and air vehicles.
OpenFlight was submitted to OGC for consideration as a community standard by its creator and maintainer, Presagis. While OpenFlight databases are often created and edited using Presagis software tools, the format is widely adopted and, as a result, many tools exist in the marketplace that are able to seamlessly read and write OpenFlight files.
The OpenFlight file format supports both simple and relatively sophisticated real-time software applications. The full implementation of OpenFlight supports variable levels of detail, degrees of freedom, sound, instancing (both within a file and to external files), replication, animation sequences, bounding volumes for real-time culling, scene lighting features, light points and light point strings, transparency, texture mapping, material properties, and many other features.
An OGC Community Standard is an official standard of OGC that is considered to be a widely used, mature specification, but was developed outside of OGC's standards development and approval process. The originator of the standard brings to OGC a "snapshot" of their work that is then endorsed by OGC membership so that it can become part of the OGC Standards Baseline.
OpenFlight Scene Description Database Specification 16.0 (19-065) (.PDF)
Read more about Public comment: OpenFlight Scene Description Specification as an OGC Community Standard
Public comment requested: OGC JSON Encoding Extension to Moving Features Standard
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 21st November 2019.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking public comment on the new OGC Moving Features Encoding Extension - JSON candidate standard. Comments are due 21 November, 2019.
This candidate standard defines how to encode and share the various movements of geographic features by using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). Such a 'moving feature' is one whose location changes over time. For example, a car, a pedestrian, an airplane, a ship, etc.
OGC Moving Features Encoding Extension - JSON provides an IETF GeoJSON encoding for OGC Moving Features as an alternative to XML Core or Simple CSV. A moving feature contains a temporal geometry, whose location continuously changes over time, as well as dynamic non-spatial attributes whose values vary with time. The JSON Encoding Extension supports, 0- (point trajectories), 1- (lines), 2- (polygons), and 3-dimensional (polyhedrons) objects with locations and/or properties that vary over time.
The ability to attribute time-varying properties to an object (rather than just varying its location or trajectory), has utility and value in many current application areas, including: Location Based Services, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Disaster Risk Management Systems, and Smart City Applications. For example, the traffic congestion on roads and 'hotspots' of air pollution are typical moving features seen in the real world.
The representation of the following phenomena in a spatiotemporal domain is within the scope of this Encoding Standard:
Discrete phenomena, which exist only on a set of instants, such as road accidents;
Step phenomena, where the changes of locations are abrupt at an instant, such as administrative boundaries;
Continuous phenomena, whose locations move continuously for a period in time, such as vehicles, typhoons, or floods.
OGC Moving Features Encoding Extension - JSON (19-045r2) (.PDF)
Comments can be submitted to a dedicated email reflector for a thirty day period ending on the "Close request date" listed above, Comments received will be consolidated and reviewed by OGC members for incorporation into the document. Please submit your comments using the following link: requests [at] lists.opengeospatial.org (Click here to submit comments). Please refer to the following template for the message body: Comments Template
Read more about Public comment requested: OGC JSON Encoding Extension to Moving Features Standard
OGC 3D streaming Community Standard, I3S, receives update: public comment sought before approval
Please note: This Request is scheduled to close on 7th November 2019
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) seeks public comment on v1.1 of the candidate OGC Community Standard Indexed 3d Scene Layer (I3S) and Scene Layer Package Format Specification. I3S v1.0 was approved as an OGC Community standard in 2017 Since then new features have been developed and implemented by the I3S community. The candidate Community Standard was submitted by Esri.
I3S is used to stream large three-dimensional (3D) datasets and is designed for performance and scalability. I3S supports 3D geospatial content as well as the requisite coordinate reference systems and height models in conjunction with a rich set of layer types. I3S is designed to be cloud, web, and mobile friendly, and is based on modern web standards.
A single I3S dataset, referred to as a Scene Layer, is a container for arbitrarily large amounts of heterogeneously distributed 3D geographic data. Scene Layers are designed to be used in mobile, desktop, and server-based workflows and can be accessed over the web or as local files.
The delivery format and persistence model for Scene Layers, referred to as Indexed 3d Scene Layer (I3S) and Scene Layer Package (SLPK) respectively, are specified in detail in the OGC Community Standard now available for public review and comment.
The changes included in v1.1 of the OGC I3S Community Standard include:
Addition of the Point Cloud Scene Layer (PCSL) type. A PCSL is designed to quickly display large volumes of symbolized and filtered point cloud data. A PCSL is scalable similar to Mesh-Pyramids and Point profiles that are currently supported in I3S V1.0. A PCSL relies on principles of bounding volume driven tree hierarchy, to organize a multi-LOD (Level of Detail) representation of the point cloud data structure. This in turn, allows for a quick discovery and selection of the appropriate LOD by a client application, whether its consumed on a mobile, web, or desktop platform.
For existing layer types, the addition of: Oriented Bounding Boxes; Attribute Domain Rules; Service Update Timestamp, and; Index hash table for improved performance.
Numerous editorial updates/corrections to improve readability.
OGC Indexed 3d Scene Layer (I3S) and Scene Layer Package Format Specification (17-014r7) & OGC Indexed 3d Scene Layer (I3S) and Scene Layer Package Format Specification Version 1.1 Release Notes (19-034r1) (.ZIP/.DOCX)
Read more about OGC 3D streaming Community Standard, I3S, receives update: public comment sought before approval


Gamification in the Classroom: The Right or Wrong Way to Motivate Students?
What thoughts come to most students' minds when they're asked about the Articles of Confederation? If they're up on their civics, they'll know it was the first Constitution of the United States. Some will remember it as a primary source they used in a presentation. Others will only recall the Articles as a yellowed document printed in a textbook or posted online.
Matthew Farber's eighth-grade history class may view the Articles as all these things, but the document to them also represents the failed first attempt to adopt a rule-sheet to govern a game creating a U.S. government.
"The way my students see it is that the Articles was this initial rule-sheet. The country play-tested it and it flopped, so the founders replaced it with the United States Constitution, a much more detailed and effective set of instructions. The Bill of Rights then became the rules," explains Farber.
"My students can look at anything as a game," he adds. This, says Farber, opens the door for teachers to start thinking of themselves as game designers.
Farber teaches social studies at Valleyview Middle School, in Denville, N.J. He is also an adjunct instructor for the New Jersey City University Educational Technology Department. He is among the growing legions of educators across the country who are bringing game dynamics—competition, collaboration, points, leaderboards, and badges—into the classroom.
It's a challenge for any teacher—especially ones who are new to the profession—to capture and sustain student interest. But are all strategies to motivate and engage created equal? This is one of the key questions as "gamification" takes hold in more classrooms across the country, and excited teachers spread good news about heightened levels of student motivation. But skeptics are wary about how gamification is being practiced, and question the value of what they see as outward motivators to bolster student attention and engagement.
"As educators, we may be conceding that learning isn't inherently meaningful," warns John Spencer, a teacher and education writer in Phoenix.
Gamification: Motivation or Pavlovian Response?
Rewards, points, badges, and other extrinsic motivators are key ingredients of gamification, particularly in the private sector, where the concept has been popularized. In 2011, the term made the short list in Oxford Dictionary's "Word of the Year," which defines gamification as "the application of typical elements of game playing to other areas of activity." In other words, you're not necessarily playing a game, but you are using the things that make a game motivating and enticing to achieve another goal.
Gamification is a popular business marketing strategy. Think the reward program at Starbucks, or the Nike+ Fuelband, which allows users to set fitness goals, track physical activity and energy burned, and compare results with other users. Both companies' concepts rely on outside motivators, and have increased brand loyalty.
The practice of dishing out points, badges, stickers and other student rewards has gained traction in many classrooms. A badge system, for example, is used in traditional classrooms and in online environments by teachers who want to reward mastery or demonstration of behaviors and skills. But to many educators, the practice—granted, the level of sophistication varies greatly— amounts to little more than a crude method to elicit a Pavlovian response from students.
Kathy Sierra, a popular technology blogger, author and game developer, believes that incentivizing learning-related behaviors poses risks. Sierra says rewards should be left at the classroom door. She is critical of the way gamification is practiced in the classroom, and believes well-intentioned educators may be missing the mark.
No matter their short-term appeal, educators shouldn't want to foster mechanical behaviors. "These behaviors are not associated with the kind of robust, deep, and durable motivation we want for our students," Sierra says.
Matthew Farber is not keen on the term "gamification" partly because it has been too closely and unfairly associated with rewards and other external motivators. He agrees that it can be counterproductive to drive student interest through a clumsy use of badges and points.
What's missing, Farber says, is a narrative structure that places the student on a "journey," similar to what the best games do.
It's fine to include elements like badges, points or leaderboards along the way, adds Farber, but they shouldn't be too central to the experience. Attention will likely spike and recede, and teachers have to keep in mind that these motivators are not effective for students who aren't naturally competitive.
In Farber's social studies class, students immerse themselves in historical debate—their study of the Articles of Confederation for example—using instrinsic game elements like narrative, creativity and collaboration, rather than just badges.
Kathy Sierra sees potential in some forms of gamifiction, but says educators shouldn't be seduced by the lure and hype surrounding the concept. Instead of applying surface elements of games, she suggests teachers look beneath the surface and create the right balance of challenge and skill, deeper knowledge and high-quality feedback.


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Culture Hog
Shirin Neshat is an artist that uses her own life experiences. Who is Shirin Neshat? Via female art and identity art, the voices the strife of women not just in Iran, but all over.
Discrimination against women in the Middle East and across the world is so devastating and silencing that even works of female art done by female artists addressing the issue can be a rare discovery. In Saudi Arabia men, not women, have VIP reservations at the front of the line for just about everything. "More than 200 men have been laboring in a factory for eight months to produce the gold-embroidered, black-dyed Kiswa, a silk cover for the Kaaba" (Reuters). Only men are allowed the honor of embroidering the Kiswa, but also considered first for work at all in factories and other industries. It's almost as if women have some rare child-invented disease that men don't want circulating the office. "According to the results of the 1385/2006 Iranian census, only 3.5 million Iranian women are salaried workers, compared with 23.5 million men" (Middle East Institute). 23 million men in Iran alone are robbing women of their careers over some ridiculous and unreasonable phobia. But people want to know who is Shirin Neshat? In a gloomy work by Iranian artist, Shirin Neshat (b. 1957), this bleak marginalization of women in Islamic lands is publicized.
Despite an overcast political climate in the West, many female artists feel safer working in the United States compared to the Middle East. As Shirin Neshat's artwork became critical of the Iranian government, she found herself exiled to the States. She studied at U.C. Berkeley in California. Shirin Neshat, one of the great female artists, works with identity art, particularly identity art concerning Iranian women (Neshat). She has made a name for herself so when people ask, "who is Shirin Neshat," they will have an answer.
See more about Neshat on Wikipedia.
Who Is Shirin Neshat and What About Female Identity Art?
It's one thing to know who is Shirin Neshat but knowing her art is so much more powerful. Gender in the Middle East is a theme for Shirin Neshat's film, Passage (2001), on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Passage is an intensely layered eleven and a half minutes of video. The work opens on desolate, arid, ominous, and stark sand dunes with turbulent waves crashing nearby. Four views cut together abruptly and only seem to converge and make sense at the end. There are several men dressed in black solemnly marching across the sandy terrain and eventually inland while those at the front carry a pristine white stretcher. Another view is of several more women dressed in chadors also in black arranged on the ground in a circle and bobbing rhythmically as they chant. One of the female artists, Shirin Neshat, also shows viewers a young girl clearing a site for her newly erected structure of stone and twigs. Finally, the views all merge and a triangular arrangement of stone and flames surround all the previous elements. Beautifully suspenseful music heightens the mood of the strange events. Passage is disturbing visually as well as symbolically with allusions to the dark realities of female artists and their identities in identity art. Who is Shirin Neshat? She's a damn good filmographer.
The same oppression women experience in the Middle East is felt via film in Neshat's somber work of female art. This movie starts as a moving abstract painting. A black mass marches across the screen dotted only with flesh-colored hands and topped with the faces of an all male cast. The abstraction becomes clearer as an all-male procession. Atop the dark mob that is this procession is a clear sign. They are carrying a pure and bright white stretcher with the form of a human wrapped inside. This stretcher is a designation that this is a funeral procession and an honor that is being had only by men. The male figures having the honorable involvement in the funeral procession depicted in a staged movie is a visual copy of the marginalization women face in a very real Middle East where only men have the privilege to participate in honorable ceremonies.
They needed a few destitute women to exploit and do the dirty work in the film though. A second dark clump of black appears. Women disguised by black chadors are burrowing into the dirt and dust of the desert, bobbing, and chanting, "die die die." There is a moment when the viewer is startled by the fact that the arduous circle of characters in black are indeed all female. One of an increasing number of female artists, Shirin Neshat, is director and empress of her visionary world. Like a sexist king might, she has clearly defined the unfortunate roles of the female cast. Of course only in her films can she call such shots, for gender roles are very much reverse in much of the world. Again the very lucky privileged roles of men and the involuntary deplorable roles of women are depicted in the Neshat's movie.
Young girls are born into shackles according to Neshat and her movie. Another small and curious scene shows a recent, very young, inmate. The young girl building a tomb in solitude on the crummy ground from rocks with the twigs as its eternal resident shows that not even the young are spared from discrimination. Even the small child is left to toil in the dirt of daily life in Neshat's visual comparison. This young woman is the newest of generations of women imprisoned by gender roles. Neshat's film shows in this scene the discriminatory roles where women are forced into monotonous labor and men are allowed more honorable endeavors.
Neshat's movie becomes more assertive in the end protesting that the sexes should be equal in life as they are in death. Death has lurked around every sand dune and beneath every rock of the film thus far. The wrapped body and the women chanting about dying all allude to the eventual demise of men and women. Frightening images of termination are very apparent. And finally both men and women fight death together in one single hellish image. The male funeral march and the female gravediggers converge in the last scene. The men set the body down in preparation for burial in front of the maltreated gravediggers while the scene is ignited in a fiery pubic triangle. Viewers feel the undiscriminating wrath of death that has already taken the life of the faceless and genderless soul at the same time these privileged men and oppressed women stand together. Shirin Neshat has depicted the marginalization of women while also showing that they are equal in death's hunt for life.
So, who is Shirin Neshat? Is Shirin Neshat an activits or an artist? Admittedly this is a risky description of both Neshat's dismal work and the current state of women's rights. Contemporary female art, especially, depends on the viewer's journey through life. Female art is personal and can mean different things to different people. Varying journeys through life influence a person's experiences, beliefs, identity (and identity art), and opinions which alters how people analyze art. Perhaps this analysis on Neshat's pictures is a vulgar mistake. It is certainly difficult for Western connoisseurs of female art, especially those that are male, to even begin to understand hardships women in the Middle East go through. Perhaps the opinions mentioned here will end up being too obscene and only create an embarrassing backlash. But these unfair conditions for women are seen in Neshat's movie, yes, but also on canvas, in the news, and in daily life. Oppression of minorities, especially women, still strives similarly in the United States and across the globe. It is daring and often dangerous to point out this oppression of women. But identity art is what gives people the power to analyze female art, honor everyone's opinions, and critique female oppression. Who is Shirin Neshat? She is daring. If one of these female artists, Shirin Neshat, is daring enough to make these visual accusations, then so should others. Who is Shirin Neshat? She is a fearless woman and artist. It is Shirin Neshat's life experiences, perspective, and identity art in this movie that demonstrate the strife of women all over.
Neshat, Shirin. Shirin Neshat: Art in Exile. TED, 2010.
Reuters. "Kiswa Embroidery: a Makkah factory Secret." Arab News. www.arabnews.com/news/467540. Accessed 26 March 2017.
"Where Are Iran's Working Women?" Middle East Institute. www.mei.edu/content/where-are-irans-working-women. Accessed 26 March 2017.
Apr 25, 2017 Artists
Topics: art, artist, artists, arts, contemporary, culture, death, feminist, film, gender, identity, images, life, political, scene, struggles, symbols, viewer, viewers, visual, woman, women, work, works, world
Written by topherjamesknoll
Topher is the proud creator and editor of Culture Hog.
https://blog.culturehog.com
How to Design a Website for Your Art
Learn how to make a plan for launching your online portfolio and how to design a website for your artworks. Everyone and their dogs have websites, right? Well, let's make your website stand out. Learn how to design a website for your art, and maybe, later on, your favorite pet. Who knows? When you learn […]
Portfolio Design for Students
Presentation is everything. Portfolio design for students should mirror the hard work you put into your paintings, drawing, designs, or whatever awesome medium you work in. Creating a portfolio design for students is an important step in creating a relationship with collectors. You don't buy croissants covered in mold or smashed into pancakes. So why […]
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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School of Engineering Dynamics of FRP Structures
Box-girder bridge
This pedestrian bridge crosses a river in a narrow, picturesque valley in Wales, UK. It is a 16.9m long, single span structure. Due to the site being inaccessible by road, the bridge was transported and put in place by a local helicopter. This was only possible because the structure is extremely light, weighing about 1,800kg only. Ease of installation of this bridge in a site inaccessible by roads is an excellent example of benefits that FRPs offer over other construction materials. Some photos of the bridge are shown in Figure 1.
Modal testing
Frequency response function (FRF) based modal testing was conducted to determine modal properties of this bridge. The input force was generated using an instrumented hammer and the vertical vibration response was measured at 18 points on the bridge deck to determine the vertical/torsional vibration modes. The lateral response was also measured at the nine points alongside one edge of the bridge deck, when lateral impact force was applied. Seven vibration modes in the frequency range up to 30Hz were identified; these can be observed in Figure 2 representing all the measured FRFs.
The fundamental natural frequency of the lateral flexural mode is at 4.3Hz, a little lower than that for the first vertical flexural mode at 4.8Hz. The damping ratios of these two modes are 1.6% and 2.4%, respectively. The frequency and the damping ratio of the first vertical mode were found to be amplitude dependent.
It was also found that human presence on the structure during modal testing increases both natural frequency and damping ratio of the first vertical mode. These findings will be elaborated in a journal paper that is currently under review.
Response measurements
A set of tests involving three people crossing the bridge, one at a time, at a range of pacing frequencies specified by a metronome. The acceleration response in the first three vertical modes was most significant. The maximum measured peak acceleration of 1.44m/s2 was found to be perceptible, but short-lasting.
The photos on the right-hand side of this page illustrate the fun of the field work - including unpredictable micro-climate.
Zivanovic, S., Wei, X., Russell, J. and Mottram, J. T. (2017) Vibration Performance of Two FRP Footbridge Structures in the United Kingdom. Footbridge 2017, Berlin, Germany, 6 - 8 September.
Wei, X., Russell, J., Zivanovic, S. and Mottram, J. T. (2018) The Effects of Hammer Operator in Manually Operated Impact Hammer Testing of Lightweight Structures. The World Conference on Structural Control and Monitoring WCSCM2018, Qingdao, China, 22 - 25 July.
Impact force
Response test
Dynamics of FRP Structures
EPSRC Project EP/M021505/1
Email: engineering at warwick dot ac dot uk
Page contact: Stana Zivanovic
Last revised: Sat 9 Feb 2019


We've had a fairly dry winter so far - which I'm thankful about after last year's snowy mess! But, I did look out the window just a few minutes ago to see a few big beautiful flakes beginning to fall and it reminded me of an winter song that I used to sing and dance to with my younger kiddos. It's called "Dance Like Snowflakes" and the author is unknown. It's sung to the tune of Frere Jacques and it's fun to sing, dance around in a circle and pretend to be snowflakes!
I purchased the Kidsplay 8 Note Hand Bell Set with a case many years ago and have gotten countless hours of use during my sessions with them. I'm going to post more activities that can be done using handbells after the holidays, but for now I'd like to share a Christmas song that can be played on the handbells.
Begin by encouraging the child to choose the bells with the colors on the page below (red, green, orange, light blue, yellow, and dark blue) If the child is able to play all bells notated, place all bells on the table or floor in front of them. If all bells are too challenging, place 1 or 2 in front of the child to begin with. You may play the other bells if you wish.
Practice pointing to the words and encourging the child to ring the correctly colored bell when you speak the word (ie: ring the red bell when you speak "wish"). Once they have mastered the ringing while speaking the words, slowly sing the words while pointing to them and encourage the child to ring the appropriate bell.


The beginning of the season is near. You're all ready to ride, but before you head out the door there are a few things to check to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience. Your bike needs regular care and maintenance, and performing your own safety checks is a good way to catch small problems before they become larger ones. It also ensures that your bike is safe to ride, always handles the same way, and will help to prevent pesky roadside repairs.
Join us on Friday March 23rd for this women's only clinic to learn how to perform a pre-ride bike safety check for your bicycle. You will learn how to check the brakes, tire pressure, quick releases, chain & drivetrain. We will also touch on identifying issues with your hubs, headset & bottom bracket.
Space is limited so registration must be completed in full and paid in order to reserve your spot. Bring your bike and be prepared to roll up your sleeves!


Are you looking for interface testing companies that verify security requirements during communication between the systems? The interface is an integral part that facilitates the communication between several components of software like the server, database, etc. Functional interface testing is performed to confirm that the functionality of an application or system is operating as expected. GoodFirms presents the list of top interface testing service providers to ensure that your customers do not encounter any trouble while using the software product.
Validata Group is the leader in the Enterprise Software market for DevOps and Continuous Testing for Temenos Core Banking and WealthSuite, delivering on the promise of full automation and predictive analytics and ensuring our customers achieve agility @ scale to unlock and accelerate their digital transformation initiatives.
"Be the first one to review Validata Group"
"Be the first one to review Litota Labs"


text:
What the playoff and New Year's Six bowl games would be today
68dHeather Dinich
College Football Playoff rankings: What the games would look like today
LSU claims top spot, Bama falls out of top four in CFP rankings (1:51)
Rece Davis reveals the top six in the second week of the College Football Playoff rankings, with LSU claiming the No. 1 spot and Alabama falling out of the top four. (1:51)
Heather DinichESPN Senior Writer
College football reporter
Joined ESPN.com in 2007
Graduate of Indiana University
There are still two SEC teams in the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings -- but Alabama isn't one of them.
No. 5 Alabama is officially on the outside looking in after its loss to new No. 1 LSU, and SEC East favorite Georgia has been promoted to No. 4 as the selection committee's highest-ranked one-loss team in rankings released Tuesday night.
No. 2 Ohio State was followed by No. 3 Clemson, which entered the top four for the first time after sitting on the bubble last week. But No. 8 Minnesota made the biggest leap. The Golden Gophers made an unprecedented nine-spot jump from No. 17 after beating then-No. 4 Penn State on Saturday. The Nittany Lions fell to No. 9 but are still ahead of No. 10 Oklahoma.
LSU atop CFP; Georgia beats out Bama for No. 4
'This is the biggest party I've ever been at': Inside Minnesota's game-changing Saturday
How 62 coaches feel about the CFP, and why nearly half favor expansion
Undefeated Baylor, which needed triple overtime to beat TCU, dropped one spot to No. 13. At No. 17, Cincinnati remains the highest-ranked Group of 5 team in an otherwise crowded race for a spot in a New Year's Six Bowl.
Here's what the bracket would look like if the playoff were today:
No. 1 LSU would face No. 4 Georgia in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. The selection committee makes sure the No. 1 seed is not at a geographic disadvantage, and it would consider Atlanta to be a more favorable location for the Bulldogs.
That's why No. 2 Ohio State would face No. 3 Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Because the Big Ten champion is in a semifinal, the league's next-highest-ranked team, No. 8 Minnesota, would go to the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual, where it would face No. 6 Oregon because the Rose Bowl is also guaranteed the Pac-12 champion if it's not in a semifinal.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl, which is guaranteed an SEC team against a Big 12 team, would take No. 5 Alabama against No. 10 Oklahoma, as they are both the highest-ranked teams available from each conference. The Capital One Orange Bowl is guaranteed the ACC champion, but since No. 3 Clemson is in a semifinal, it would take the next-highest-ranked ACC team. In this week's ranking, there aren't any other ACC teams, but Wake Forest and Virginia are the only two seven-win teams, so the Demon Deacons probably would go because Virginia has three losses.
Assuming this week it's Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons would face a team from the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame. In this case, it's No. 9 Penn State, as it's the highest-ranked team available.
The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic would feature No. 7 Utah against No. 17 Cincinnati, which is guaranteed a spot as the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion.
(All games can be seen on ESPN and the ESPN App)
Saturday, Dec. 28
Noon ET: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 7 Utah vs. No. 17 Cincinnati (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)
4 or 8 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)
4 or 8 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Georgia (State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona)
8 p.m. ET: Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 9 Penn State vs. Wake Forest (Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida)
Wednesday, Jan. 1
5 p.m. ET: Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual: No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 8 Minnesota (Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California)
8:45 p.m. ET: Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 10 Oklahoma (Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans)


What does the baby name Maine mean? Learn about what Maine means, its history & origin, popularity in our random name database, pronunciation, similar names, nicknames & spelling variations.
M-A-I-N-E, is a 5-letter female given name.
Maine currently has 18 likes, and is in the top 10% of liked girl's names. The name Gwynn is slightly more popular than Maine.


The funds from Alberta's carbon levy – more than $1 billion annually – are prohibited from going to general revenue. Half goes directly back to Albertans – the rest is reinvested into the economy.
The primary purpose of a carbon levy is to reduce carbon emissions by putting a price on the pollution to help motivate both businesses and individuals in choosing low-carbon options in place of direct government regulations. Alberta carbon pricing system combines a carbon levy on fossil fuels – for everyone – with an additional pricing system for large industrial operations. The funds from Alberta's carbon levy are prohibited from going to general revenue.
Since the point of the tax isn't to raise money, a good portion of the revenue – just over half – goes directly back to helping Albertans offset its impact, through small business tax cuts, household rebates, and assistance to Indigenous communities. More than 60% of Albertans recouped whatever they paid in carbon taxes.
The remaining half – $676 million in 2017-2018 – is reinvested into the economy, helping to drive down emissions by supporting low-carbon efforts like green infrastructure, coal phase-out, energy efficiency, and investment in renewable energy and clean tech innovation.
Funds from Alberta's carbon levy are prohibited from entering general revenue. They must be reinvested into the economy or returned to Albertans through rebates.
Of the $2.5 billion collected from carbon taxes since its introduction in 2017, more than half has been reinvested in the economy, while the rest has gone back into the pockets of Albertans.
In 2018, the carbon levy resulted in an increase of about $5 per month on the average natural gas bill, before rebates.
About 60% of Albertans receive a full rebate of $300 to $495 to help offset costs associated with the carbon levy.
Tags: Alberta, Provincial Policy, Carbon Pricing.


text:
DEI steht als Abkürzung für:
 Dale Earnhardt, Inc., US-amerikanisches NASCAR-Team
 Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, insektenkundliche Forschungseinrichtung
 Deutsches Esperanto-Institut, Sprachpflegeeinrichtung
 Deutsches Evangelisches Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes, eine Forschungseinrichtung der EKD und zugleich Forschungsstelle des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts mit wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen in Amman und Jerusalem
 Dimosia Epichirisi Ilektrismou, staatliche Stromgesellschaft und größter Energieversorger Griechenlands
 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Diversität, Gerechtigkeit und Inklusion – meist in Bezug zum Arbeitsplatz, siehe Diversity Management, Gerechtigkeit und Inklusion (Soziologie)

Dei steht für:
 Dei (Volk), Volksgruppe in Liberia

Dei ist der Familienname folgender Personen:
 Diana Dei (1921–1999), italienische Schauspielerin
 Gianni Dei (1940–2020), italienischer Schauspieler
 Michael Dei-Anang (1909–1977), ghanaischer Schriftsteller
 Mimmo Dei (1909–1985), italienischer Sportmäzen und Rennstallbesitzer
 Shōtarō Dei (* 1986), japanischer Fußballspieler

Dei steht als alternative Umschrift für:
 Dey, islamischer Herrschaftstitel z. B. für Janitscharen-Befehlshaber

dei steht als Abkürzung für:
 dei – die ernährungsindustrie, Fachzeitschrift für die Nahrungs- und Genussmittelproduktion

 im weiteren Sinn
 Genitiv Singular oder Nominativ Plural als deklinierte Form des lateinischen deus, für Gott, z. B. in Opus Dei oder Agnus Dei

Abkürzung

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: How to Avoid Prompts When Installing Ubuntu-Drivers for Nvidia GeForce GPU Running Ubuntu Focal Fossa on a laptop with Nvidia GeForce GPU. Using the following script as part of some automated set up, particularly for my NVIDIA GPUs and cuDNN set up. (Right now it is happening on my laptop, but potentially it can happen inside a docker container)
# Running as root
apt-get --assume-yes --no-install-recommends install ubuntu-drivers-common wget
ubuntu-drivers install

The last command is asking me for prompt regarding my keyboard layout, like this.

Clearly this would not work as part of a container set up. But I cannot find any option to pre-empt this prompt from the ubuntu-drivers manual either. I do use US International layout. Earlier it was also asking for a timezone prompt, which I managed to preempt by setting the timezone, but any help regarding the keyboard prompt will be appreciated.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text: Ord 137 Canvassing the April 6, 1985 ElectionNo. 137 AN ORDINANCE CANVASSING ELECTION RETURNS OF ELECTION HELD APRIL 6 1985 , TO ELECT THREE ALDERMEN. THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS: SECTION I. that the Town Council officially finds and determines that an election was duly ordered to be held in the Town of Westlake, Texas on the 61b_ day of April, 1985 , for the purpose of electing Three (3) Aldermen for two year terms for the Town of Westlake, Texas; that proper notice of said election was duly given; that proper election officers were duly appointed prior to said election; that said election was duly held; that due returns of the result of said election have been made and delivered; and that the Town Council has duly canvassed said returns; all in accordance with law. SECTION II. That the Town Council officially finds and determines that only resident qualified electors of said Town were allowed to vote at said election, and the following votes were cast at said election for each candidate and write-in, there being no other person receiv- ing any votes at this election: Aldermen: A. F. Oien 30 votes Jerry N. Moore 30 votes Ralph Rampellini 27 votes Kelly Pace Bradley 4 votes SECTION III. That the Town Council officially finds, determines and declares the results of said election to be that A.F. Oien , .Tarry N. Moore andRalph Raellini are elected f as Aldermen or two (2) year terms, and mpeach received the proper number of votes to be elected; and that each of them are elected to said Council in accordance with law. PASSED AND APPROVED THIS THE tr- ay of April, A.D. 19 OWN MAYOR, TOWN OF WESTLAKE ATTEST: T SEC ETARY, TOWN OF WESTLAKE TOWN OF WESTLAKE TEXAS NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING. TO THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS: Notice is hereby given that the governing body of the Town of Westlake, Texas will meet at 7:00 p.m.on the 4th day of March , 198 5 at the Dudley Ranch in the Town of Westlake, Texas for the purpose of consid- ering the following agenda. 1. Public Hearing for the consideration of annexation of property contiguous and adjoining the Town of Westlake, Texas. 2. Consideration and adoption of an ordinance annexing 29.112 acres of land that is contiguous and adjoining the Town of Westlake, Texas. 3. Consideration and adoption of an ordinance annexing 548.106 acres of land that is contiguous and adjoining the Town of Westlake, Texas. 4. Consideration of a request from IBM for a change in zoning classification. 5. Town's authorization for participation in a joint study of the rate increase request expected to be filed by Southwestern Bell in March, 1985. 6. Adoption of a joint resolution with Tarrant County regarding 9-1-1- election to be held April 6, 1985. Posted this the 1st day of March ,198 5 Clic Lam- o ✓ TPWN SECRETARY NOTICE. OF PUBLIC HEARING TO THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS: Notice is hereby given that on Monday, March 18, 1985 at 7:00 p.m. the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Westlake, Texas will hold a public hearing at the Dudley Ranch in the Town of Westlake to consider the request of Nelson Bunker Hunt that two tracts of land adjoining and located outside the cor- porate limits of the Town of Westlake be annexed to the Town. The 548.106 acre tract is located in the Wm. Huff survey,mostly in Tarrant County. The 29.112 acre tract is located in the Wm. Huff survey, located in Denton county. Signed and executed this 6th day of March, 1985. Ger Whi e, Secretary Tow of Westlake, Texas TOWN OF WESTLAKE TEXAS NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING TO THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS: Notice is hereby given that the governing body of the Town of Westlake, Texas will meet at 7:00 p.m. on the 8th day of April, 1985 at the Dudley Ranch in the Town of Westlake, Texas for the purpose of considering the following agenda: 1. Canvass returns of election held April 6, 1985. 2. Administer oath of office to successful candidates. 3. Public hearing to consider a request from IBM to annex a parcel of land contiguous and adjacent to the Town of Westlake, Texas. 4. Consideration of an ordinance annexing 29.112 acres of land contiguous and adjacent to the Town of Westlake. 5. Consideration of an ordinance annexing 382.76 acres of land contiguous and adjacent to the Town of Westlake. 6. Presentation of a petition from the citizens of Westlake_ and consideration of same. Signed and executed this 5th day of April, 1985. Ge yWh te,�cr Town of Westlake, Texas NOTICE OF EMERGENCY ITEMS ON AGENDA Notice is hereby given that the governing body of the Town of Westlake, Texas will meet at 7:00 p.m. in regular meeting on the 8th day of April, 1985, at its regular meeting place, the Dudley Ranch in the Town of Westlake, Texas, and in addition to the items posted in accordance with regular meeting requirements will consider emergency items listed below: 1. Appoint a Mayor Pro Tem. 2. Consideration of a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding the Preliminary Plat of the Shepherd Hills Subdivision, a 6.694 acre tract of land, situated in the Town of Westlake's ETJ. 3. Consideration of recommendation from Planning and Zoning Commission to change the zoning classification on property owned by IBM. It is an urgent public necessity that the matters mentioned in this notice be considered at an early date so as to further the public welfare of the inhabitants of the Town by taking timely action. G fry WIAte,t6AtaFy GRAPEVINE PUBLISHING CO. P.O. BOX 400 GRAPEVINE, TEXAS 76051 IN THE MATTER OF: TOWN OF WESTLAKE ------------------------ 1 1 � FILE NO. STATE OF TEXAS, COUNTY OF TARRANT ROBERT J. THORNTON, the General Manager of the Grapevine Sun, a newspaper of general circulation which has been continuously and regularly published for a period of not less than one year in the County of Tarrant, Texas, preceding the date of the attached notice, appearded before me and swore that the said notice was published in said paper on the following dates: Subscribed and swornq to before me this- day. of 19�� - - --- _r- ---A witness me hand and official seal. Mar 'e L. Hanlon Notary Publi , Tarrant CountyA Texas MW M%zzM.0 CYN CJ°AG«rELyyp O� � N d^ ,NZx I—'T•W r—y�gcEuCV" dor N h YI N E. G a .°i o r c« U,g 2 1- 7 Z'yX i W SL �Xwj>iw in a�io�co0Xt; mZ'E ak S ° vmdc«r+rd� c,3Xc A 0-3 zfisa3alatm$�cm5�w+4s3au (817) 4888561 METRO (817) 481 3221


text:
How much of our $150b welfare goes up in smoke?
by Mark Furler
Mark Furler Group Digital Editor
Mark Furler is News Regional Media's group digital editor. He's an award-winning journalist who has lived and worked on Queensland's Sunshine Coast for more than 30 years. He's passionate about fighting for a better go for locals. His awards include Editor of the Year, and involvement in three PANPA Newspaper of the Year wins for the Sunshine Coast Daily. He has also been involved in INMA and News awards wins for excellence in digital coverage.
13th Jul 2015 7:58 AM
AUSTRALIA has always prided itself on being the land of the fair go.
But how far do we really have to go in giving those who don't want to work a free ride?
Today's Daily Telegraph reports that the rate at which people are being rejected for a disability pension is at it highest in a decade.
While no-one argues that people with a genuine disability needs support, not everyone who applies for the $782 a fortnight scheme should get it.
I have a relative on a disability pension.
He spends far more on cigarettes in a fortnight than many pensioners would spend on food.
I wouldn't mind if it was his money.
But it's not. It's yours and mine.
And the end result is we will all have to fork out more money for his hospital care when his body finally gives in to smoking-related diseases.
As a nation, we can't afford to keep paying for welfare recipients' smoking and booze habits.
Give them money for food and clothing. But not vices most taxpayers could not afford.
As a nation, we are already forking out almost $150 billion a year to fund our welfare bill and that number is predicted to balloon out to almost $190 billion.
The federal government has promised to get tougher on those who abuse the system.
They should, while being careful to ensure those that really need support, get it.
I, for one, would rather see my hard earned taxes going to support parents of disabled children than those with marginal disabilities who want to blow their welfare payments on cigarettes.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should those on welfare be subjected to tighter controls on what they can spend their money on?
Join our daily water cooler conversation today by leaving your comments below.
Aboriginal women kept as 'cash cows', says former MP
No jab, no pay under tough new vaccination rules
Govt dumps plan to force young to wait six months for dole
OPINION: It's time to make animal desexing compulsory
Crackdown on couples rorting welfare and immigration begins
Welfare cheats claim victory in 2015-16 budget
Medicos call for overhaul of booze taxes
alcohol cigarettes editors picks opinion welfare


text:
Nueces Co. Judge Barbara Canales: Mask mandate will not be enforced
Nueces County mandates masks for all public schools
Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales says the order issued by Corpus Christi-Nueces County Local Health Authority Dr. Srikanth Ramachandruni mandating masks be worn at all public schools in Nueces County will not be enforced.
Canales says this is due to the Texas Supreme Court decision regarding Dallas and San Antonio's mask mandates.
"As a practical matter, this Texas Supreme Court ruling puts everything on hold", said Canales in a release. Instead, she says they will wait until the Texas Supreme Court makes its final ruling.
She is asking students to "be smart" and practice social distancing, wash hands, and voluntarily wear a mask.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Corpus Christi-Nueces County Local Health Authority Dr. Srikanth Ramachandruni has ordered all public schools in the county to require masks inside buildings for the next 30 days.
The county hosted a press conference on Sunday where they made the announcement. Dr. Ramachandruni was joined by Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales and City of Corpus Christi – Nueces County Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez.
This comes after Brooks County and Jim Hogg County ISD announced new health protocols involving masks within the past week.


text:
Sheltered is a deep and emotional survival management game. You take on the role of protecting four family members who, after a global apocalypse, have found their way to a deserted shelter.
Genre: Role Playing Game (RPG) / Simulation / Strategy
Publisher: Team17 Digital Ltd.
Developer: Unicube & Team17 Digital Ltd.
Crude Humor
Want one icon
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Want it!
Sheltered is a deep and emotional survival & post-apocalyptic disaster management game.
After a global apocalypse, a frightened family find their way to a deserted shelter, where they try to survive. You take on the role of protecting four family members. Their wellbeing and survival is your responsibility. One mistake, one bad decision and a loved one is gone, forever. Sheltered is a world where death is permanent.
Combat claustrophobia, radiation and mental exhaustion as you try to turn the cold and cramped Shelter into a home. And as they cling desperately to life, you must send family members from the scant protection of the shelter, outside into the dangerous, desolate wasteland to scavenge for vital supplies. You'll come across abandoned towns, roaming factions and feral beasts.
How you handle the many moral choices you'll encounter could be the difference between the family surviving or dying. It seems a waste to bury a body when the rest of the family is so hungry.
See Sheltered in Action
Sheltered. Developed by Unicube and Team 17 Digital Ltd © 2015. Published by Team17. Team17 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Team17 Digital Limited. All other trademarks, copyrights and logos are property of their respective owners.


text:
Annamarie James
Award winning editor Annamarie James started her career teaching media studies in the UK. Over the past18 years she has produced numerous corporate videos, hundreds of hours of TV series' for national broadcasters and has worked on the award winning feature film "Unrequited Love" - winner of the New York Independent Film Festival's Comedy of the Year 2007. Annamarie has produced, directed, scripted and edited 7 full-length films for various local NGO's and she won the 2015 SAFTA for editing the documentary 'The Vula Connection'. Her edits are story and instinct driven and she believes that the rhythm and pace of a project is paramount. When she isn't working, you'll find her solo at the movies telling people off about their noisy popcorn eating.
ALL CONTENTS © COPYRIGHT 2016 REGENCY GLOBAL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


Resale clothing, toys, equipment & more! Now fully open to buy & sell everyday!
The Kids Shoppe is Windsor's premier children's and maternity resale shop, established in March of 2015. We buy and sell new and gently-used children clothing, toys, books and baby gear as well as maternity clothing, offering sellers the opportunity to recycle your nearly-new items and get paid on the spot! Saavy shoppers can browse an immense range of items from clothing to toys to strollers to home decor, all at up to 70% off regular retail!
Having expanded by 1,000 sq ft in December of 2017, The Kids Shoppe is now nearly 3100 square feet in size, filled with children's clothes, including girl's clothes and dresses, boy's clothes, newborn, infant and baby clothes, loads of baby and children's shoes, kids' winter coats and jackets, baby gear, furniture, as well as maternity clothes including dresses, tops, pants, jeans, and more.
At The Kids Shoppe, we are very particular about the condition and brands of clothing that we buy. We like to offer our customers a wide variety of top-quality, name-brand clothing for children at a fraction of retail prices every day – Up to 70% off regular retail! We won't hold back special brands for sale days. The Kids Shoppe buys and sells children's clothing from newborn to size 12.
We are fully operational, open to buy and sell all day, every day! Sign up to our newsletter (below) to receive all the latest news. We'll see you soon!
We are proud to be locally-owned & operated! Our goal is to ease the burden young families face by offering better convenience & selection than small consignment boutiques and better service & pricing than big box franchises.
When you bring in your items we will look through them. We will price the items we think will sell, and return items we are not able to purchase. We will offer you cash on the spot and you can take it, or leave it. Simple as that!
We buy every day, all day, and all seasons. We pay cash on the spot for the items we are able to buy from you. No 90-day waits, and no appointment is necessary!
If you enjoy winning gift certificates or receiving discounts, make sure you LIKE us on Facebook so you get notifications of all kinds of deals and events we currently have. Also, you can register your e-mail address to receive updates about what is going on at The Kids Shoppe.
Join our email list so you can receive email-only coupons, to be the first to know about our upcoming events and to receive updates about what is going on at The Kids Shoppe. Enter your birth month to receive our Birthday Coupon!


text:
Q: Auto mapper - Mapping objects with collections using Auto Mapper, I need to Map objects of following classes
public class RemoteClass
{
    public IEnumerable<RemoteDetails> collection{get; set;};

    public int RemoteFieldA{get; set;}

    public int RemoteFieldB{get; set;}
}

public class LocalClass
{
    public IEnumerable<LocalDetails> collection{get; set;};

    public int LocalFieldA{get; set;}

    public int LocalFieldB{get; set;}
}

What should be my configration and mapping for this ?

A: Just define mapping between RemoteDetails and LocalDetails. AutoMapper is smart enough to deal with collections of types which he knows how to map. Assume these two classes have field C:
Mapper.CreateMap<RemoteDetails, LocalDetails>()
      .ForMember(ld => ld.LocalFieldC, opt => opt.MapFrom(rd => rd.RemoteFieldC));

Mapper.CreateMap<RemoteClass, LocalClass>()
      .ForMember(lc => lc.LocalFieldA, opt => opt.MapFrom(rc => rc.RemoteFieldA))
      .ForMember(lc => lc.LocalFieldB, opt => opt.MapFrom(rc => rc.RemoteFieldB));

With these mappings you can map from RemoteClass to LocalClass:
RemoteClass remote = new RemoteClass {
    RemoteFieldA = 42,
    RemoteFieldB = 100,
    collection = new [] {
        new RemoteDetails { RemoteFieldC = "Foo" },
        new RemoteDetails { RemoteFieldC = "Bar" }
    }
};

var local = Mapper.Map<LocalClass>(remote);

Result:


text:
package com.royalrangers.repository;

import com.royalrangers.model.Country;
import org.springframework.data.repository.CrudRepository;

import javax.transaction.Transactional;

@Transactional
public interface CountryRepository extends CrudRepository<Country, Long> {

    Country findByName(String countryName);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Tag: Gameday: 4/21/2002
Game Thread: Red Wings at Canucks – 4/21
Detroit Red Wings at Vancouver Canucks
Author DH.N BotPosted on April 22, 2002 Categories Game ThreadTags Gameday: 4/21/20023 Comments on Game Thread: Red Wings at Canucks – 4/21
Finally Dominating
Dominik Hasek was not doing his job.
After two home playoff games against the Vancouver Canucks, "The Dominator" had allowed eight goals and the Red Wings were down two games to none in their first round playoff series.
He admitted that he didn't know what he was doing wrong.
"I think to myself, 'What I do wrong?'" he said after a 5-2 loss in Game Two.
He doesn't have to worry about that anymore.
In Game Three, Hasek stopped twenty-two of twenty-three shots from the Canucks, including a third period penalty shot from Todd Bertuzzi and a flurry of nine shots in the final five minutes.
On the other hand, Canucks netminder Dan Cloutier, who had played like Patrick Roy in the games in Detroit, allowed a goal from center ice and three goals total.
As the roles switched back to where they belonged, Hasek finally began to dominate again. He'll have to if the Red Wings are going to survive the first round.
Author Clark RasmussenPosted on April 22, 2002 Categories Blog Post, MisconductTags Dominik Hasek, Gameday: 4/21/2002, Patrick Roy, Todd Bertuzzi
Right Back In It
A frustrated Vancouver fan threw a broom onto the ice at the end of the game– no sweep for them. For the first time in the playoff series, all aspects of the Red Wings' game came together, gaining them a 3-1 victory and cutting their series deficit to only one game.
Scotty Bowman adjusted the lines slightly, as is to be expected, scratching Jason Williams and Uwe Krupp in favor of Boyd Devereaux and Freddy Olausson. Yet all the line changes and coaching strategies in the world would do no good if the Red Wings didn't play with the intensity they are capable of, and they knew it. The offense and defense were both strong through the first period, taking thirteen shots against Dan Cloutier and holding the Canucks to only four shots against Dominik Hasek. Cloutier was solid in net once again, but the Red Wings put one past him on a power play midway through the first.
Brenden Morrison had gone into the box for holding. The Canucks cleared the puck from the zone on the first try, but Tomas Holmstrom and Steve Yzerman carried the puck back into the zone for the second attack. Yzerman took the puck behind the net and banked it off Cloutier's right leg pad on a wraparound shot.
The Canucks answered with a powerplay goal of their own early in the second period, on a hooking call to Darren McCarty. Yzerman wasn't able to win the faceoff cleanly, and Andrew Cassels flipped the puck over to Todd Bertuzzi, who put the puck high past Hasek before the Wings could even spread out into their penalty killing box formation.
The Red Wings spent most of the second period killing off penalties- a great deal of time was spent five-on-three. Sergei Fedorov was sent to the box for hooking, and forty-seven seconds remained in that penalty when Hasek was called for deliberate delay of game for knocking the net off its moorings. Brett Hull went into the box to serve the penalty, and Hasek, Yzerman, Chris Chelios, and Nick Lidstrom neatly and simply handled the Vancouver power play.
Just three seconds before Hull was to step out of the box, Brendan Shanahan was given a penalty for high sticking, and Vancouver was gifted with another two full minutes of power play time. Detroit's penalty killers continued to live up to their promise, and the game remained tied at one.
Just twenty-five seconds before the end of the period, Nicklas Lidstrom took a perfectly aimed shot on the Canucks' net from the Red Wings' side of the center ice line. To everyone's surprise, Cloutier missed the puck, and the 102 foot slapshot hit the back of the net.
Brendan Shanahan gave the Wings their first two goal lead of the series early in the third period. The puck squirted free from a tangle of players and sticks along the right side boards, right to Shanahan's stick. He positioned himself, waited, and took a hard wrist shot which just barely redirected off the stick of Ed Jovanovski and right between Cloutier's legs.
Vancouver came back hard during the third period, but Hasek was right where he needed to be, playing once again like that goaltender who backstopped the Red Wings to the President's Trophy, not the frustrated netminder he has been of late. Bertuzzi was awarded a penalty shot with three minutes left to go. It could have been huge for Vancouver, but Hasek got in his way and the puck stayed out of the net.
The Red Wings closed out the game easily enough when Bertuzzi was sent to the penalty box for roughing with only 1:52 to play.
Cloutier stopped twenty-three of the twenty-six shots the Red Wings sent against him during the game, while Hasek made twenty-two splendid saves on twenty-three shots. The Red Wings will attempt to even up the series Tuesday night when Vancouver hosts Game Four.
Author Jenny WilsonPosted on April 21, 2002 Categories General NewsTags Boyd Devereaux, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Dominik Hasek, Fredrik Olausson, Gameday: 4/21/2002, Jason Williams, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scotty Bowman, Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman, Todd Bertuzzi, Tomas Holmstrom, Uwe Krupp


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Universal Life Insurance Policy Violation Lawsuits
By Heidi Turner
Some insurance companies are under scrutiny for their universal life insurance policies and practices that may violate US regulations. These companies are alleged to have made substantial changes to their universal life insurance policies, increasing premiums by drastic amounts and making it difficult for policyholders to continue with the policy or find replacement policies. Lawsuits have been filed against some insurance companies alleging they have violated their contract with policyholders.
FREE UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE LAWSUIT EVALUATION
Send your Universal Life Insurance claim to a lawyer who will review your claim at NO COST or obligation.
Universal Life Insurance and Basic Life Insurance
Universal life insurance policies last for the policyholder's life—or at least well into the policyholder's senior years. The policy includes both a death benefit and a savings benefit that accumulates through the life of the policy. Premiums may vary based on what the policyholder needs. With basic life insurance, the policy only pays out if the policyholder dies within a specific timeframe and the policy does not include a savings component.
Universal Life Insurance Complaints
Companies including Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Conseco, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, and Voya Financial all face criticisms they have unreasonably increased the rates for their universal life insurance policies. Critics allege the companies are doing so to subsidize the cost of meeting interest guarantees, recover past losses, and make policies more profitable by pushing out policyholders who could not afford the rate increase.
These increased rates could have a hugely detrimental impact on policyholders. Many people reportedly purchased universal life insurance policies decades ago, meaning they may not have the option of finding new life insurance policies. Those who cannot afford to pay the new rates may have more money deducted from the policy's cash value until the cash runs out and the policy lapses.
In February 2016, the Consumer Federation of America sent a letter to all state commissioners requesting an investigation into the increased costs of universal life insurance to ensure the increases are justified and to prohibit unjustified or unfair price increases.
Universal Life Insurance Lawsuits
A lawsuit has been filed by Consumer Watchdog against Transamerica Life Insurance Company, alleging the company violated its policyholder agreement by raising premium rates 38 percent in 2015. According to the insurance lawsuit, by increasing the amount it takes from policyholder accounts to cover premiums and other expenses, the insurance company avoids paying the interest rates the company agreed to when the policy was sold.
One of the named couples in the lawsuit—Gordon and Mary Feller—reportedly had their monthly deduction increase from $1,500 to more than $2,000 simply to maintain the same death benefit.
Consumer Watchdog alleges in its complaint that Transamerica sold universal life insurance policies and agreed to credit the interest with a guaranteed rate of no less than 5.5 percent annually but in 2015 suddenly increased deductions from policyholders' accounts by 38 percent. That increase, according to the lawsuit, was to recoup past losses and push out policyholders who could not afford the increase.
Universal Life Insurance Legal Help
If you or a loved one has suffered similar damages or injuries, please click the link below and your complaint will be sent to a lawyer who may evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.
Please click here for a free evaluation of your Universal Life Insurance claim
Last updated on Sep-15-16
UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE LEGAL ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS
Consumers Hit with Massive Universal Life Premiums Join Class Action
Los Angeles, CA: Rip off is a harsh term, although one plaintiffs embroiled in Life Insurance Rip Off lawsuits use with complete comfort. At the very least, consumers holding universal life insurance policies currently facing massive rate increases are stuck with a classic catch 22 situation, in that policyholders annoyed with rising premiums, or unable to pay them, have few alternatives given their age.
READ MORE Consumer Fraud Settlements and Legal News
READ MORE Insurance Settlements and Legal News
Richard W Simon
We've been having these same issues with Allstate. I just discovered they have sold these policies to run off companies, who, like Allstate, never respond, stonewall you all in the hopes that the investment side will zero out and then they cancel the policy and keep all the money you have invested in it. There is that poison pill built into these flawed and dangerous instruments. That the states allow them to be sold and refuse to hold the companies responsible for this breach of the public trust is unconscionable. Makes you wonder just how much Allstate and the others are contributing to political campaigns.
Jayne Dowe
If anyone has a Universal or Indexed Life Insurance policy. YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED are being ripped off. If you were sold one of these fraudulant policies, get rid of it if can AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If you are considering buying one of these kind of policies -DON'T! It is a scam.
They have people pay in massive amounts of premiums over 20-30 years and then after all this time, they tell you there is zero value in the policy and that you need increase your premiums 5-6 times or more what you have been steadily paying those many years, otherwise the policy will lapse and they say there is no cash value in the policy. SYMETRA, PAN AMERICAN, AND PACIFIC LIFE, all horribly ripped off my parents. My mother is quite sharp and we reread all the original documents, it says nothing like this could ever happen. What happened to her policies is not what she was told when they purchased the policies.
If you have been ripped off by a Life Insurance company, file a complaint with your Insurance Commissioners, so they can't ever say they weren't informed, but don't expect any help from them.
Elizabeth Buckley
I am an 86 year old woman who "invested" in 2 Universal Life Insurance policies to leave to my son and daughter. My agent left without notice.. and I am left in the red each month trying to pay for these.
Communication has been poor with the company.. and we as a family are left scratching our heads each month trying to make sense out of the premiums.
It's a very distressing situation to say the least. I am hoping that you help me. I am with Mass Mutual.
Dejon.williams
I was the benificiery.of two.life insurance company's western & southern & mutal.omaha life insurance but i neber got my money its been.since 1980
ADD YOUR COMMENT ON THIS ISSUE
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Trips to CVS are such a mine field for me.
I go in only needing a tube of toothpaste or a birthday card or a 12-pack of Diet Coke (or 3) and walk out with a bag full of makeup.
I just cannot resist the siren call of the cosmetics aisle no matter how hard I try.
That's how I wound up with the Revlon Photoready Primer + Shadow Palette in Pop Art.
It was purchased on a complete whim when I did a quick browse of the makeup section and saw that Revlon was on BOGO 1/2 off.
It wasn't the primer shadow that the palette supposedly has that caught my eye -- it was the sparkle topcoat.
Each palette contains a primer shade, three traditional shadows, and the sparkle topcoat.
These palettes are available in 8 shades, I believe, and there were several pretty ones with purples and pinks or nice natural shades. But I tried to go outside my comfort zone and went with Pop Art, which is a green-based collection.
The primer shadow in Pop Art is sheer white shade with slight green cast and a satin finish. The lid color is a particularly interesting shade -- it's a sort of metallic sage color with some mint and brown in it. The crease shade is a dark khaki with gold glitter. The highlight is a sheer shimmery gold with slight glitter. The sparkle top coat is a sheer army green-ish color with gold, blue and green glitter.
After I bought the palette, I read some reviews of this line and they were pretty mixed so my expectations weren't that high when I used the shadows for the first time.
But honestly, I was pleasantly surprised.
As you can see from the swatches, it's only the primer shadow, highlight shade and glitter topcoat that are sheer -- and that's fine really. You don't need any of those shades to be super pigmented, at least in my opinion.
The lid and crease shades are nicely pigmented, though, and are both easy to work -- they apply and blend very easily.
I used the palette pretty much as Revlon suggests -- I didn't use the primer shadow on its own because honestly I put on my Too Faced Shadow Insurance without thinking (it's just too much of a habit) but I applied it over the lid and up into the crease as base layer. I put the lid shade over it from lashline to crease and the crease color in... you guessed it! ... the crease.
I didn't use the gold highlight shade as a brow highlight, though. With my skin tone, that would look a little odd, I think. And there's plenty of glitter and sparkle in this look so I didn't really need any up there. Instead, I went with a matte skin tone shade (MAC's Blanc Type) on my brow bone and used the gold highlight shade in my inner corner.
According to Revlon, this shadows can be used wet and dry, which is always cool, but the only shade that I felt the need to do that with was the glitter topcoat. It has a dry, hard texture and I feel like applying it dry doesn't do all its sparkly goodness justice. If you tap your brush in it and then spritz it with a little water, MAC Fix+ or your setting spray of choice, it really makes the glitter pop when you pat it on the eye.
I just put it in the center of my lid to keep from looking too disco ball-y during the day. However, if you're going out at night, I think pressing it all across the lid would be super pretty.
When I wear Pop Art like this, the effect is a really pretty, shimmery green smokey eye. In fact, it's the eye look that I wore for St. Patrick's Day (I've got a little Irish in me so I had to represent). I've already worn it a handful of times in the month or so that I've had it, which, if I'm honest, is a lot more than I thought I would.
I can't vouch for the other shades in the Photoready shadow palettes, though. Reading other reviews, there seems to be some difference between the quality of shadows in each palette. So while these are nicely pigmented, you might not be so lucky with some of the others. I'd probably do a little research if you're interested in a particular palette before making a purchase.
All in all, I'm very happy with Pop Art. I wouldn't say that everyone needs to run out and buy it, but if Revlon is BOGO and you're a fan of green, shimmery shadows, this one is definitely worth a try.
Have you tried any of the Revlon Photoready Primer + Shadow Palettes? What's your verdict?


How can I continue to use the argument of Israel's astounding international aid work when it conflicts with my own philosophy of international relations based on realistic or pessimist principles?
As someone who has been involved with public diplomacy and international relations, both academically and professionally, I have always looked at international aid skeptically. I have assumed actions and policies to be driven solely based on interests, always searching for the political, economic and diplomatic gains of any particular government that engaged in providing foreign assistance. The irony is that even I have often invoked the Jewish state's contribution to the developing world to combat biased, spiteful and at times hypocritical attitudes toward Israel.
I am still unsure how to reconcile these two stances. How can I continue to use the argument of Israel's astounding international aid work when it conflicts with my own philosophy of international relations based on realistic or pessimist principles?
I am certain that this is going to be a thought I will wrestle with throughout my participation in Project Inspire Guatemala. I could not be more thankful for this opportunity to prove myself wrong—to prove that intrinsic values may in fact play a prominent role in the decision-making process of nations choosing to cooperate with each other around the globe.
As we sat around a table during our pre-trip orientation and discussed some of the philosophical and ethical complexities of visiting developing countries, these issues were addressed. Apart from discussing the political and social complexities of Guatemala, we immersed in conversations that centered around the need to experience person-to-person connections while abroad.
But this trip is not only about the participants and the wonderful education that we will pull from this exciting experience. During our discussions on the ethics and impact of tourism in developing countries, there was a particular personal account from another participant that resonated with me. One person shared a question he asked himself as to whether the local population looked at the tourists with envy accredited to the simple fact that tourists can leave whenever they pleased. They are not truly affected by a country's economic or political instability and social inequality. They are free-flowing folks who come to acquire an experience and can leave at their leisure.
Whatever experiences lay ahead of this journey, I will make sure to carry this personal account with me. It will serve as a reminder to me that this trip is not only about our experience alone, but the impact we have or can have on others—both positive and negative. This trip will enhance our worldview and teach us to treasure the wonders of a new culture, landscape and people.
While I have seen poverty and social inequality in the past, it was never in the context of a study tour structured to teach about international development. I expect this trip to help me expand my understanding of international development and allow me to interact with communities in Guatemala, in the hopes of realizing that not only interests dictate all relationships between countries.
Yoni Michanie is the West Coast campus coordinator for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). In addition, he oversees CAMERA's developing Latinos for Israel program. He is a writer, speaker, activist, former IDF paratrooper and opinion columnist for The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel. Yoni's writing has also been published at The Forward and The Algemeiner. He holds an M.A. in diplomacy and conflict resolution from IDC Herzliya.


DMS created and localised over 500 assets for 20th Century Fox's War for the Planet of the Apes.
Fox's European region of operation was the first to adopt our centralised service for its 36 territories within Europe, with its success continuing to build as more of its territories across the globe choose DMS. When the studio's huge summer blockbuster War for the Planet of the Apes was approaching release, DMS were responsible for creating localised TV spots, social media spots, digital billboards and a variety of online content for Fox's territories around the world.
To work on the assets, DMS recieved master films from the Fox Media Cloud system and uloaded them to our own platform, PANTHER ONLINE ®.
Many of the briefs only specified the text needed for the call to action details per asset, leaving DMS responsible for incorporating local specifics such as voiceover, age ratings, URL and social media tags. Voiceover artists recorded and localised voiceovers at ADR facilities and at DMS' on-site audio facilities. In most instances, content was also dubbed and subtitled, while graphic cards were created to match the quality of the studio's masters. DMS' local-language-speaking customer services team checked every asset before sending to Fox for sign-off.
Read more about the full brief and process DMS undertook for War for the Planet of the Apes here.


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Community encourages imagination
If interested in exploring a new world, contact teen volunteer Lynn Miller at [email protected] (Cartoon by Peter Brown)
The room is filled with players of all ages fighting orcs, hunting food, tracking thieves and living out whole lives in the span of a few hours. Here players in the foreground debate the next move after wandering into a dragons lair. (Zev Golden-Zagorski)
Ballard Public Library hosts D&D club for middle and high schoolers
Brett Richter, Staff Reporter
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 27, 2019
My dad has cried twice in his life. Once when I was born and once when his Dungeons and Dragons character died. Needless to say, Dungeons and Dragons, better known by the acronym D&D, means more to people than just any old tabletop role-playing game (RPG).
D&D is different from other classic war games. It allows for more creativity in gameplay, instead of choosing a character, the player creates their own. The players don't focus on troops and larger war strategies, they focus on their own character and how it interacts with others.
The party members work together to solve the puzzle and beat monsters as they move through the fantasy world created by the Dungeon Master (DM), who takes the mantle of master storyteller and referee. The adventures can take multiple days, these long term conferences are dubbed campaigns. For the more casual player, players host one-off/ one-shots that are meant to be started and finished in one sitting.
The character grows as you play. They gain Experience Points (EXP) and level up; when they level up, they grow more powerful. They can learn new spells, get better weapons, or gain more health points (HP).
The player can do just about anything the DM allows. Heck, you could get married and have seven kids in your campaign, all while fighting firebreathing dragons and hunting down criminals. Unless there's a handy healer capable of revival around, losing all of your HP results in death.
Sam Buck, a senior and DM at the Ballard Public Library D&D Club session, explains why she is drawn to D&D. "You can make them be whoever you want them to be. You can mold a whole new person from some books, paper and dice."
D&D in pop culture
If character creation doesn't sound appealing, storytelling and world creation is a major part of the game. Another DM, Adele, shares her favorite part of D&D, "I think it's a wonderful way to explore different depths of interactive storytelling — it gives me freedom if I create my own world."
The game has also made countless pop culture appearances, like the 2007 show "The Big Bang Theory" and the 2016 show "Stranger Things." During the 80s, it became increasingly popular to blame deaths, disappearances and generally strange behaviors on D&D; schools and parental units dubbed the game as "devil worship."
Of course, these allegations turned out to be untrue, but D&D still got a smear on its permanent record. Ghosts of the D&D scare still remain, as seen in the portrayal of a game similar to D&D inciting cult-like activity in the 2017 show "Riverdale."
Nowadays, it's hard to come across someone who hasn't at least heard of it. While researching, it became exceedingly clear just how popular the game was. Even with an estimated 20 million D&Ders worldwide, I still didn't know there were so many players in the Ballard area.
I was expecting the classic group-of-guys-sittingin-a-dark-basement vibe from the Ballard Public Library D&D session, instead I was greeted by a much more diverse group of people, in a much brighter room. Everyone was warm and welcoming and seemed excited to participate.
Players range from ages 11 to 19, and all experience levels are welcome. The volunteers teach new players the rules of the game, basics of role play, and character creation. The club meets once a month, though many of the dates have yet to be determined. The next meeting will be Dec. 28, and volunteers are greatly needed.
The club started out pretty small, both the players and volunteers have noticed attendance growth. One volunteer, William, commented, "I feel like more people have started showing up. The amount does vary, but we started getting a lot more people who regularly show."
The golden number of people per group is around five. Anything below that, the DM has to work extra hard to keep the story going, and anything above is just mayhem. As the club grows, the DMs have to adapt, "a lot of it is making sure that the volunteers also know how to help with campaigns," says William.
With such a large and diverse group, some interesting things can take place. One of these is something called being a "murderhobo."
A "murderhobo" is someone who goes around killing everyone and everything in their path. In a game as open and creative as D&D, killing your teammates is pretty annoying for all parties.
"Murderhoboing" strays about as far away from the core aspects of D&D as possible. Dungeons and Dragons is about cooperation and bonding, the beautiful thing about the D&D club is going there knowing almost no one and leave feeling like you just made new friends. Taking down an army of orcs or solving a medieval murder-mystery helps adventurers form close bonds.
Jay, a new D&D player, summed it up, "it's just getting to collaborate and strategize with other people, not just alone. You're on a team with your peers, like your colleges. It's a sense of bonding."


What Implications Could FASB's ASC 606 Have for Healthcare?
The new revenue recognition accounting standard, ASC Topic 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, takes effect for public entities in 2018, with all other companies following suit in 2019. The goal of ASC 606 is to scrap industry-specific accounting to give investors a more streamlined picture of revenues–one that's comparable across global jurisdictions.
However, the third step of ASC 606–determining the transaction price–could prove uniquely challenging in healthcare, complicated by the transition to value-based care and the diverse nature of constituents-including hospitals, accountable care networks and post-acute care providers.
Our own Steven Shill addresses this and other variables in McKnight's, offering actions healthcare organizations should consider when preparing their compliance plans. Read more here: http://bit.ly/2jkphT3. For timely information on transitioning to ASC 606 and applying it to your organization, visit BDO's Revenue Recognition Resource Center here.