text:
Maine Road Trip Guide
A COVID-Free Island Escape
Gwyneth's Summer Stay-Cay
A Wildly Scenic Road Trip through Arizona
It's All in the Details: Everything You Need to Nail a Beach Picnic
10 goop Editors Are Dreaming of Vacation—and They're Dreaming Big
Armchair Travel: Hotels and Wellness Retreats We Love—Online
A Relaxing Weekend in the Scottsdale Desert
Burgundy by Barge (for the Bon Vivant)
A Program for Working through Stress and Trauma
Three Perfect Days in Palm Beach
Where to Eat, Sleep, and Get a Massage in Zurich
8 Idyllic Mountain Escapes
3 Days of Food, Camaraderie, Craftsmanship in Eastern Spain
Several (Idyllic) Days in the Cotswolds
A Weekend on Lanai, Hawaii's Most Secluded Island
3 Reasons to Get Out of Town Right Now
How to Spend a Few Epic Days in Kyoto
Bucket-List Skiing—for Every Level
How to Have a Wellness Weekend in Athens
goop by the Sea: A New England Clambake with GP
A Classic Maine Road Trip
Maine's Route 1 road trip is as quintessential New England as the West Coast's Route 1 drive is classic California. If you happen to be picking your kids up from a New England sleepaway camp at the end of the summer, it's arguably a good time to tack on a family adventure. But, kid camp aside, the state's coastline (secretly famous for being longer than California's), is certainly worth going out your way to explore, and it's stunning in the fall, too. Below is our take on the Maine "Lobster Trail," as it is sometimes called, which includes some (but definitely not all) of Maine's seemingly endless cute towns—with plenty of emphasis, of course, on the lobster rolls. There are two ways to go about this ride: Make a lot of stops on the way up and then power home. Or, pick a few pit stops for the way up, and save a few for the way back.
Kennebunk & Kennebunkport
About two hours north of Boston and an hour-plus east of Manchester, sea and riverside Kennebunkport and neighboring Kennebunk are the first Maine charmers on our list. Both are known in part for their beautiful 18th- and 19th-century architecture and historic homes. (If you're starting your trip a little further south, though, Ogunquit is a similar, perhaps slightly less frequented stop. And between Ogunquit and Kennebunk/Kennebunkport happens to be an excellent ice cream shop called Big Daddy's.) Photo: Visit Maine
White Barn Inn
The 26-room White Barn Inn is the place to stay, but you should make a reservation well in advance. The award-winning restaurant here spans two restored barns that date back to the 1820s, and is staffed by old-school, tuxedoed waiters.
Get your first lobster roll of the trip at The Clam Shack. This little stand on the bridge connecting Kennebunk and Kennebunkport bakes round, airy buns they've been using since the '70s—plus, they cook their lobsters in fresh ocean water.
Tree Spa at the Hidden Pond
The incredibly relaxing Tree Spa at the Hidden Pond hotel/resort is quite literally perched among the trees, eight feet off the ground.
50 Local
As should be expected, the menu at 50 Local leans on what's fresh from the surrounding fisheries and farms, and as such, the menu changes daily. In addition to the seafood mainstays, you can also get chicken/steak/pasta/burgers at this bistro.
Rococo's
Stopping for a cone of handcrafted ice cream at Rococo's is required business before heading on to the next town. Flavors range from Apple Cider & Cider Donuts to Maine Whoopie Pie and Spicy Rocky Road.
Instead of going straight to Portland, stop at Cape Elizabeth, the small peninsula with rocky ocean views and historic landmarks like the famous Portland Head Light.
Inn by the Sea
Inn by the Sea offers a variety of guest room, suite, and cottage-condo options on a stretch of relatively rare, sandy Crescent Beach. Nearby Black Point Inn has fewer amenities, but is arguably much more historic.
Two Lights Lobster Shack
Two Lights Lobster Shack does fresh seafood made-to-order in very generous portions. It's often busy but it's popular with families because it's an easy place to hang. The shack spills out onto a patio with red picnic tables that overlook the ocean, right near the pair of lighthouses, built in 1828, that make up Two Lights State Park.
Portland is the city where you can smell the ocean while you're shopping at small businesses that are all about thoughtful curation, while eating (another) delicious lobster roll. There's been somewhat of an artist and food renaissance in Portland in the past few years, adding to the list of reasons to visit. (If you're here for the first Friday of the month, you can join in on the city's monthly art walk. The Space Gallery is a good place to see art Wednesday through Saturday.)
Originally built as a Federal-style mansion in the early 1800s, The Danforth served as a Prohibition hideout, Episcopal housing, and boarding school before it was transformed into an elegant inn in 1993. Its location, near Congress Street, is perfect for browsing the art district and Portland's galleries, shops, and restaurants.
Tandem has two coffee spots in Portland: A café in East Bayside (open weekdays only) and a more bakery-focused spot in the West End, near The Danforth (open every day).
Eventide Oyster Co.
Maine might be better known for their lobsters—and Eventide Oyster Co. does have their own version of the lobster roll, served on Chinese steamed buns—but oysters certainly have their place here. And at Eventide they take center stage on the granite block atop the restaurant's bar, which showcases a wide array of fresh shellfish.
Portland Hunt & Alpine Club
For a cocktail, go to Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, which has a smart bar with a clean, industrial look. Alongside their beverages, they serve Scandinavian-esque snacks like shrimp sandwiches, deviled eggs, salmon soup, and a smörgåsbord platter. (But if beer is your thing, Maine has some quality breweries and tap rooms, like Austin Street Brewery in Portland—known for brewing one barrel at a time.)
Peaks Island
Peaks Island is a short (15-minute) ferry ride from Old Port, where Casco Bay Ferries—the only line to shuttle back and forth regularly—has docked since the 1880s. (Just hold onto your hat because it's a windy ride.) The shore opposite where the ferry docks at Peaks Island is quiet and full of beach roses and tall beach grass—all elements that make you feel like you're on a remote getaway, even though you're still so close to Portland. Walk or bike (Brad's is a popular rental spot) the perimeter of the island and get ice cream at Down Front. If you want to have a more quaint Maine experience, you can stay the night here—check out The Inn on Peaks Island, although a lot of people also opt to rent little beachside houses.
Open since 1996, the interior of Fore Street revolves around a brick and soapstone hearth where you can see the chefs working the wood-burning oven and grill. The upscale menu makes a point of highlighting local ingredients, and changes every day, but always includes signature dishes like turnspit roasted organic chicken from Whitefield, Maine, served with charred cornbread rusk and toasted black cumin sweet butter.
The Holy Donut or Scratch Baking Co.
For the road, stop at The Holy Donut (they make their doughnuts with Maine potatoes—seriously) or Scratch Baking Co. (homemade breads and pastries, plus coffee and more substantial lunch items). Or, leave Portland hungry and proceed to your next lobster roll…
About an hour outside of Portland, Georgetown is a tiny town that's home to one of the best lobster roll joints (in our humble opinion). On the way to Georgetown, you'll pass through Freeport, where the original L.L. Bean—now 200,000 square-feet—lives.
Five Islands
Five Islands picks their lobster meat daily from local waters, adds a kiss of mayo, and serves it on a buttered, grilled bun lined with Romaine. (They also have other seafood baskets and sandwiches and kid favorites like grilled cheese and chicken tenders.) Eat on one of the green picnic tables overlooking the water for full effect.
Hungry but lobster-rolled out? Make your mid-day stop in Waldoboro instead, which is about 45 minutes beyond Georgetown.
Moody's Diner
Located off of Route 1, Moody's Diner, which has been in business for more than 80 years and has 100-plus seats, is something of a legend in Maine. Awesome roadside diner, zero frills.
This has a become a more popular stop thanks to an expanded art scene (see Rockland's Main Street) and restaurants like Chef Melissa Kelly's Primo.
Audubon's Project Puffin Visitor Center
If you're traveling with kiddos, stop at the Audubon's Project Puffin Visitor Center on Main Street—which is actually pretty cool and educational for adults, too.
A short (20-minute) car ride from Rockland is the town of Lincolnville on Penobscot Bay.
Salt Water Farm
Started by chef Annemarie Ahearn when she was in her late twenties, Salt Water Farm is a farm-to-cooking-school of sorts. The focus of the classes, taught by Ahearn as well as guest chefs, varies from baking pies to pickling, braising, gathering herbs from the farm's gardens, and everything you need to know about cooking seafood in your own kitchen. Home chefs of all skill levels can register in advance for a class, which run June through October.
Acadia National Park & Mount Desert Island
Acadia is a small, compact park, but it doesn't suffer from a lack of breathtaking views, and its size and layout makes it ideal for outdoor activities. While 2016 is a big year for the entire National Park Service, which is celebrating its centennial, it's notable for Acadia in particular, as the park was actually created on Mount Desert Island in 1916. A few logistical notes: Traffic and parking in Acadia can be a challenge, which is a good reason to stay out of the car as much as you can. (You'll obviously see a lot more this way, too.) The park is very bikeable—there are over 45 miles of car-free "carriage roads," a John D. Rockefeller Jr. construction project that spanned 1913 to 1940. (Bikes are more popular on these roads than carriages ever were.) There are also some great hikes in the park (see below). And there's the Island Explorer bus system, which stops virtually everywhere in the park except for Cadillac Mountain.
Claremont Hotel
Just a few miles outside of the park in Southwest Harbor is the historic (open since 1884) Claremont hotel, which sits on six acres of shoreline, and has both rooms and cottages on offer. If you want to camp, though, the two main campgrounds here are Blackwoods and Seawall, located roughly on opposite sides of the island. Make a reservation ahead of time.
McKay's Public House
Head northeast on Mount Desert Island into Bar Harbor. McKay's Public House, a Victorian building on Main Street with a large outdoor patio garden space, specializes in locally caught seafood and dishes made with organic vegetables.
Jordan Pond Hike
There are about 130 miles of hiking trails in Acadia that ascend nearly every peak on the island. Be warned, though: Unlike western parks, most of the hikes in Acadia don't have switchbacks; rather, you'll climb short, direct ascent trails, some of which can get pretty steep. The Jordan Pond route is not crazy intense, but it's still a good hike, and it shows off a lot Acadia's beauty. Start at Jordan Pond House and walk the flat trail around Jordan Pond about halfway, then climb Penobscot Mountain (about 1,200 feet). You'll see all the mountains along the ocean's edge—some of the tallest mountains in the east are in Acadia (including the tallest, Cadillac). Then hike south along along Penobscot Ridge Trail, looping back to the Jordan Pond House restaurant. It's considered tradition to stop for a popover and a glass of lemonade there. For an easier, family-affair hike, try Ship Harbor Trail, which is just over a mile path along the shore.
Most of the Maine coast is rocky and cliffy, which makes this small, inlet, ocean shore Sands Beach stand out—and, of course, fairly popular. To avoid the crowds, spend a morning here instead of an afternoon.
See Sunrise
The secret has long been out about the top of Cadillac Mountain, the eastern-most point from which you can be the first person to watch the sunrise half of the year, and still among the very first the other half. The truth is, though, there are many other places in the park from which you can see an incredible sunrise—sans the headache that can sometimes come with trying to park nearby. The shore along Ocean Drive is one of them, and you can park along there. Smaller Gorham Mountain is another, and it's a relatively easy one-mile walk up to the top.
There are a few options if you want to get out on the water around the island. The freshwater "ponds" (they can be miles long) and lakes are good for kayaking and canoeing. And you can pick up rentals alongside Long Pond. For sailing, you want to go to Southwest Harbor or Northeast Harbor. Here's one operation that does private charters as well as group sails.
What's nice about road tripping in Maine is the way back can be just as entertaining (and dotted with lobster rolls) as the way up. And if you're flying out of Logan, or otherwise headed to Boston, check out our family-friendly spots there.
Related: Top Travel Destinations in America in 2019


text:
rm .coverage .noseids
nosetests -v --with-id --with-coverage --cover-package=formalchemy2 -s

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Elastic is on a mission to make real-time data exploration easy and available to anyone. As the company behind the popular open source projects Elasticsearch, Kibana, Logstash, and Beats, we're looking to hire team members invested in realizing this goal.
As a distributed company with employees in 27 countries (and counting), spread across 18 time zones, speaking over 30 languages, we believe that diversity drives our vibe. Whether you're looking to launch a new career or grow an existing one, Elastic is the type of company where you can balance great work with great life.
At Elastic we care more about what you can do than where you rest your head.
With two main hubs, one in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and the other in Mountain View, California, USA, we also have offices in London, Berlin, Phoenix, Hong Kong, and Sydney. That said, we also have colleagues in France, Japan, Spain, and Uruguay — to name but a few.
Health care coverage (variable per location).
We offer a fun, family-friendly work environment full of fantastic employees around the world. Elastic values transparency, integrity, honesty, diversity, passion, and humor, you know, for laughs. We believe in non-hierarchical communication while still preserving a hierarchy of ownership.
If you're looking for a dynamic environment with a smart and growing team, then Elastic is the place for you!
At Elastic, we have a simple goal: to solve the world's data problems with products that delight and inspire. As the company behind the popular open source projects — Elasticsearch, Kibana, Logstash, and Beats — we help people around the world do great things with their data.
At Elastic, we have a simple goal: to pursue the world's data problems with products that delight and inspire. We help people around the world do extraordinary things with their data. From stock quotes to Twitter streams, Apache logs to WordPress blogs, our products are extending what's possible with data, delivering on the promise that good things come from connecting the dots.
At Elastic, we have a simple goal: to solve the world's data problems with products that delight and inspire. As the company behind the popular open source projects — Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, and Logstash — we help people around the world do great things with their data.
For all of us at Elastic, community matters. Our users and contributors have helped to ensure that Elasticsearch, Kibana, Logstash, and Beats are more than just code — they are open source projects that people love to use, and love to talk about. As our Student and Higher Education Program Manager you will champion our Elastic community – especially our student members of the community.


Thank you to the 300+ attendees at our 2018 One Day Seminar in Richardson, TX. We hope you enjoyed the day and will attend in 2019. If you have any feedback to provide that can help improve the event in 2019 please feel free to contact one of the Branch Board members.
Register here if you have been chosen as a speaker/presenter to give us an accurate count for the food order. If you have more than one presenter, please have each person register separately.
Full Time students can attend free for this event.
Register in advance to get the $30.00 entry fee. Payment at the door is $35.00.


David Gray / Reuters An Australian kangaroo shooter with his rifle on land outside of Canberra, April 2013.
R. JAMES BREIDING is a Fellow at Harvard's Center for International Development and a Fellow at the Collegium Helveticum. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Too Small to Fail.
On April 28, 1996, Carolyn Loughton was enjoying lunch with her 15-year-old daughter, Sarah, at the Broad Arrow Café near the waterfront in Australia's historic Port Arthur. They were at their table when Martin Bryant, a psychologically disturbed man, entered the restaurant and began shooting. Carolyn threw herself on top of her daughter and was shot in the back. Carolyn survived her injury, but Sarah, who was shot in the head, did not. So began a nine-hour killing spree that left 35 dead and 23 wounded, the worst mass shooting in the nation's history. Bryant's weapons, a semiautomatic Colt AR-15 and a .308 FN rifle, had been legally purchased—despite the fact that Bryant had qualified for a disability pension on psychiatric grounds.
Twelve days after the Port Arthur attack, the public outcry spurred Australia's then Prime Minister John Howard to enact a sweeping package of gun reforms. The reforms prohibited automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles while requiring licensees to take a gun safety class and demonstrate a "legitimate need" other than self-defense for a particular type of gun. The most innovative and effective aspect of the reforms, however, was the gun buyback program, in which taxpayers paid US$230 million for the purchase and destruction of some 700,000 privately owned guns.
It has been 21 years since Carolyn Loughton lay helplessly with her lifeless daughter in her arms and Australians woke up to the need to reform their gun laws. Few Australians would deny that their country is safer today as a consequence of gun control. In the 18 years before the 1996 reforms, Australia suffered 13 gun massacres. Since then, there has not been a single one. But how did Australia succeed in passing these reforms, and what can the United States learn from them today?


text:
'''

New Integration Test for Ceph Pool Capacity.

@author: Legion
'''
import zstackwoodpecker.test_util as test_util
import zstackwoodpecker.test_lib as test_lib
import zstackwoodpecker.test_state as test_state
import time

test_stub = test_lib.lib_get_test_stub()
test_obj_dict = test_state.TestStateDict()
pool_cap = test_stub.PoolCapacity()

def test():
    pool_cap.get_bs()
    pool_cap.create_vm()
    test_obj_dict.add_vm(pool_cap.vm)
    pool_cap.crt_vm_image(pool_cap.bs)
    time.sleep(150)
    pool_cap.get_bs()
    used1 = pool_cap.bs.poolUsedCapacity
    avail1 = pool_cap.bs.poolAvailableCapacity
    pool_cap.check_pool_cap([used1, avail1], bs=True)

    pool_cap.vm.destroy()
    test_obj_dict.rm_vm(pool_cap.vm)
    test_lib.lib_robot_cleanup(test_obj_dict)
    test_util.test_pass('Ceph Image Pool Capacity Test Success')

#Will be called only if exception happens in test().
def error_cleanup():
    global test_obj_dict
    test_lib.lib_error_cleanup(test_obj_dict)


What else can you learn about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3?
You can also register on site, add Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3 to your personal cabinet, its date release to Google Calendar. You can vote for your favorite movie of 2019.
Please leave feedback if you watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3. It will help others to choose the new film.
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This wedding of Jacinta & Jacob was a fairytale! Located in Sydney, Australia on the grounds of ICMS (International College of Management, Sydney) it was the first out of two weddings they had. The ICMS has a stunning view of the surrounding landscape and Sydney which, as you can see, provided a great backdrop to their photo session.
The couple got married in Saint Patricks Cathedral which had a tall ceiling and with its light made the photographs even more beautiful. Jacinta arrived at the church in a white convertible Rolls Royce and was walked to the aisle by her father accompanied by the sound of the string quartet!
The newlyweds choose a marquee for their wedding dinner which was decorated with a special chandelier with cascading orchids, with each table in different shades of flowers. After the dinner, the wedding guests went into the historical building for the party and were greeted with espresso martinis with gold leaf specks! The building was decorated with draped linen, candles and cascading flowers and was perfect for the newlyweds first dance.
Everybody enjoyed the champagne tower, the gorgeous and elegant cake and the music! And at the end of the wedding, while Seed Flora team came back to wrap the flowers for the guests to take home, we took Jacinta & Jacob for a short ride in the Rolls Royce and had another mini photo session with them before they took off on their journey!
Take a look at the full list of vendors on the wedding planners website: Champagne & Confetti Events!


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New Horizons Space Probe
By: Laurie Childree
Laurie Childree's image for:
"New Horizons Space Probe"
According to MSNBC the region around Pluto could be more dangerous than anticipated when the New Horizons spacecraft reaches the area during July of 2015. Debris is expected to be the main problem for the probe as it orbits Pluto. There are Kuiper Belt objects (space rocks), constantly bombarding the moons of Pluto. The rock and dirt that hit the moons are not held as a result of the low gravity.
The debris orbits Pluto making it a danger to the New Horizons spacecraft as it tries to make its journey around the planet. There could be something large enough to destroy the craft when it hits it. There are cameras on the probe that will observe the system around Pluto for a number of months before it gets the closest. The problem is that the cameras cannot detect the particles that would instantly destroy the probe.
Two and a half months before the launch of New Horizons there were two moons discovered for Pluto by the Hubble Space Telescope. There was a fourth moon found during July of 2012 and two more may exist. Scientists believe that there are more moons to be discovered around Pluto since three of the four were found in the recent years. The discovery of the moons combined with the flying debris has caused another look to be taken at the safety of the mission.
A route around the moon Charon would be safe since the moon clears a path around Pluto, unless the atmosphere becomes cloudy. The route would be on the side of Pluto opposite the moon since the large moon clears a path before it, it's safest if the path takes the path of the rings around Saturn. Scientists are continuing to use a number of telescopes on the ground, in addition to the Hubble Space Telescope, to help find other moons that might be hidden and the orbits they take. The problem is that just because they look for the moons if they are too small they may be missed even if they are in existence.
There has been the consideration of developing an escape route for the probe should it encounter danger. Scientists are continuing to search for potential dangers and ways to avoid them when the probe finally reaches its destination during 2015. There have been discussions of creating a bail out trajectory; the problem is that there is no guarantee that the safe alternative route will still be safe by the time the probe reaches Pluto's orbit.
More about this author: Laurie Childree
2013 Celebrates 50 Years of Women in Space
Experts Conclude Ancient Egyptian Iron Trinket Fell from Outer Space
How and why Space and Time became Space Time
Why Space and Time became Space Time
Space Missions Advance the Future and Unite the Earth
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45482874/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/plutos-moons-could-endanger-new-horizons-spacecraft/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Ask Facebook, Twitter, X-box or BT a question about keeping your child safe online. What would you ask?
• Would you like to know what Xbox game ratings mean?
• Not sure how to report abusive comments on Facebook?
• Do you know how to set parental controls in your home provided by your Internet Service Provider?
Through Safer Internet Day TV you can now ask these questions directly of the people who know. There will be a panel of experts from Facebook, Twitter, Xbox & BT who will be answering questions about keeping children and families safe on the internet. Your questions will be posed to these experts and the interview filmed as part of the Safer Internet Day TV programme which will be broadcast on Safer Internet Day, 11 February 2014. Safer Internet Day is organised in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre in February of each year to promote the safe and responsible use of online technology and mobile phones for children and young people.
To send your question email sidtv@saferinternet.org.uk BY 23 JANUARY. Just state your first name and how old your children/grandchildren are and they will try and respond to as many questions as they can.
To see your question answered, just tune in to Safer Internet Day TV on 11 February.
Please note that at Ravenswood we have Safer Internet Week which this year runs from 10th to 14th February.


text:
My response to the KBFC
As is probably obvious if you've seen the last thread but one, the tragic events in Cumbria on Wednesday have led me to get embroiled in yet another exchange with Arizona-based gun enthusiast Kevin Baker and his ever-delightful Fan Club. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon rebutting various points at Kevin's blog, but as has happened on previous occasions his gang seem to multiply with water, so I'm (not for the first time) going to bail out of a trainwreck of a comments thread and instead give my thoughts here on some of what has been said over the last few hours.
Someone calling themselves 'The Happy Rampager' told me this -
"Let's face it, you're the type who puts his own satisfaction ahead of other people's lives. Mine, the 12 dead, everyone in the UK whether they agree with you or not. You also think you can fling mud to hide the fact that you hold other people's lives in contempt. What sort of person does holding other's lives in contempt make you?"
A comment that's plainly beneath contempt, but it's worth just pointing out the supreme irony of it being said by someone who clearly puts the personal satisfaction and pleasure of owning a gun before everything else, including other people's lives, safety and peace of mind. The 12 people he referred to were gunned down by someone who owned weapons on exactly the same legal basis as he does. It seems quite likely that without a gun licence, Bird would not have succeeded in killing so many, and perhaps would not have killed at all. There is, therefore, at least an arguable case for asking legal gun owners to accept some small disappointment in return for greater public safety and reassurance. Is 'Happy Rampager' prepared to be socially responsible and make that sacrifice? It seems not, and perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise given his deeply unfortunate choice of moniker.
The poster Ken (who has been making some utterly baffling points all day) followed up with this observation about me -
"Why, it makes him a slave who knows he is a slave, can imagine nothing else, and will not rest until everyone else is likewise enslaved (as witness his ill-disguised glee over National Health coming to America)."
I wasn't trying to disguise my glee - yes, I do believe that health care is a basic human right, not just a perk for the well-off. I'm not quite sure what the value of all this high-minded stuff about the 'freedom of the individual' is if someone is too ill to do anything with that nominal freedom. But the Alice in Wonderland notion of being 'enslaved' by a decent standard of universal healthcare is indeed one to conjure with!
On the broader issue of liberty, I wrote at some length last year about what a limiting freedom it is that can only be guaranteed by the constant possession of a firearm, along with non-stop vigilance and the readiness to use the weapon at any time. That really is a counsel of despair, and yet it's precisely the sort of world more lax gun laws would condemn us to, as people would probably have to consider purchasing a gun whether they 'freely' wanted to or not - because they'd need one to protect themselves against all those countless 'decent, law-abiding' gun-owners they'd suddenly be having brushes with on a daily basis. There must be a deeper, richer freedom out there to be won than that.
'Geek with a 45', in response to my suggestion that it is legitimate for the authorities to disarm private gun owners if mandated to do so by democratic legislation, had this to say -
"No, Democracy, in and of itself, is not the highest value. While it is may be necessary for a free society, it is hardly sufficient."
Agreed, the rights of individuals and minorities need to be enshrined, otherwise you can end up with extreme outcomes like a majority ethnic group making a 'democratic' decision to wipe out the minority. But, in truth, Europe on the whole does a better job than the US of protecting the rights of individuals - by far the most important of which is the right to life. No European country other than Belarus takes the lives of its own citizens, whereas unfortunately most US states still have the death penalty on the statute book.
On the issue of guns, there are two potential rights that can be afforded citizens, but that plainly clash with each other - a) the unlimited right to amass tools for the purposes of self-defence, and b) the right not to be attacked, and perhaps even more importantly, not to have to live in constant fear of being attacked by fellow citizens. Which of these rights should be accorded precedence? I'd say the latter, every time.
Ed "What the Heck" Man, at the end of an interminable exchange in which he imagined (bless him) he was toying with me, finally answered my question -
"I never claimed that these items were as quick and efficient as a gun. (Though in this latest incident, it's entirely possible to kill more people in the same time frame using a baseball bat than this guy killed using his guns.)
What they do accomplish is also to multiply force, even if not as much as a gun does. So even if a person doesn't have a gun available, they can (and will) still find a way to kill. Agreed?
When faced with someone intent on committing violence, how do you stop them? (Remember, you've already agreed that violence comes from the individual's intent, not the gun.)
That point has already been dealt with on the previous thread. Without a phenomenal number of private citizens undergoing a phenomenal level of training, it is simply not very likely that just any old bod with a gun is going to stay cool enough to bring such a frightening and totally unanticipated situation to a clean end. It may even make matters much worse, and lead to more lives being lost. But even accepting your flawed premise for a moment for the sake of argument, your fellow poster Matt gave the game away - he claimed that, in America, people are stopped from committing these massacres "ALL the time". Whereas this was only the third incident on this scale in the UK in the last twenty-five years. Quite clearly, quick 'stops' to these situations on most occasions would not be sufficient to offset the number of lives lost as a result of the hugely greater number of gun attacks occurring in the first place.
Britt said -
"You banned all handguns in 1997. Yet there are still handguns in the UK. In fact, there is more handgun crime every single year. Explain that Jimbo. Handguns banned means zero handgun crime? Right?"
No, it means fewer handguns, and less handgun crime, than would have been the case had the ban not been implemented. That is not the same thing - as has been repeatedly pointed out to Kevin - as saying the level of handgun crime has fallen in the UK since the late 1990s.
Scott Ganz -
"James Kelly demonstrates this mental hitch rather well, focusing entirely on THREE incidents of legally-owned guns being used in atrocities while THOUSANDS are murdered in less sensational ways."
This (ie. the disproportionality point) was something else we went into last year, and it was one of the few points that Kevin made that gave me some pause for thought. However, having reflected on it, the view I came to was that even if only a small number of lives can be saved, these incidents still justify relatively draconian gun laws because the right to own a luxury item like a gun simply isn't important enough. It's not like the brutal logic of weighing up the mind-boggling number of traffic deaths in a year against the huge benefits to society of easy travel.
There was, predictably, quite a reaction when I pointed out that the right to proportionate self-defence is enshrined in law in the UK.
Ken : You lie.
Kevin Baker : No, he doesn't. Well, "enshrined" is a complete fabrication . . .
Ed : You know, I could have sworn that you were arguing for banning shotguns and .22's. Furthermore, I could have sworn that we were challenging you on imposing that desire on others through government force. Are you now changing your tune on that?
Don't be obtuse, Ed. The comment from Kevin, meanwhile, is slightly baffling - the law does indeed provide for proportionate self-defence, and it's as "enshrined" as any law can be in a country that does not have a written constitution.
And back to Ken again. He asked me why, if I believed so strongly that private gun ownership was undesirable, I didn't simply unilaterally go and confiscate people's guns, without any need for legislation. (What a fascinating insight into the mindset of the KBFC.) I pointed out that I believed in democracy and the rule of law, as opposed to 'might is right' and the imposition of one's will by force. But it turns out that Ken doesn't seem to see any distinction whatsoever between democratically-mandated action by the authorities (eg. the collection of taxation), and an individual arrogantly taking action by himself -
"How is any action on the basis of "Do this or I'll imprison/kill you" appropriate? To say that it's okay for the (G)overnment is to say that some people are more equal than others and enjoy prior claim to the property of their lessers. On moral grounds, taxation under coercion is most certainly theft.
Ability is certainly heterogeneously distributed, but on what basis can the legitimate claim that 'Government Agent over there is a better person than regular people, and therefore enjoys a prior claim to my life and property?'"
But, Ken, as I've already pointed out, it's only in your country (well, yours is the only major one in the western democratic world) that the government reserves the extraordinary right to literally take the lives of its own citizens by judicial means.
UPDATE (couldn't resist this one) :
Carnaby : With the conclusion that we ought to increase the restrictions on legally owned firearms. Well, given that logic, how do we solve the following problem here in the USA: you're (anyone) far, far more likely to be shot in the US by a black person than a white person. Furthermore, you are far, far more likely to be shot by a black person using an "illegal" gun than anyone using a "legal" gun. Your solution, James?
A massive policy effort to raise the educational and living standards for black people up to the national average, and then the differential will disappear over time. Unless you're about to tell me that black people are somehow innately more prone to violence. Of course, rational gun control laws would reduce the problem in itself, without the slightest need for racial discrimination in its implementation.
Phew. And, that ladies and gentlemen, was my response to a small selection of the points raised by the KBFC!
Labels: gun control, politics, USA
No knee-jerk changes, absolutely - but the Tories' instincts are in the wrong place on gun control
So now we know - extraordinarily, this was yet another massacre perpetrated with legally-owned weapons. So, for all the protestations from the usual suspects about how it's the illegal guns that are the problem - nope, gun control laws really do make a difference. If Derrick Bird had not been licensed to own a shotgun it seems perfectly reasonable to assume that many of his victims would still be alive.
There was remarkable consensus tonight on Question Time on the issue of possible further tightening of the law, with Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru making the point that shotguns are in a different category to handguns as they are a legitimate tool for people who work in rural areas. However, I was mildly encouraged to hear the coalition's (as I suppose we must now call him) David Willetts hint that the door had not been completely closed on further legislation, if after a period of reflection it is deemed necessary. David Cameron had earlier given a very different impression when he suggested that the problem here was not the weapon, but the fact that someone had just 'snapped' - a factor that cannot possibly be legislated for. Now, where have I heard that counsel of despair before? From a purely practical point of view, the idea that Bird's 'snap' would have had such lethal consequences - and on such a scale - had he not been a licensed gun owner is simply not credible.
Quite honestly, it should be no surprise to anyone to discover where the Tories' instincts are on this subject - although the post-Hungerford and post-Dunblane legislation was passed on their watch, it was overwhelming public opinion that had left them with little choice. Not that London Labour were any quicker to act on the scourge of airguns, of course. Let's hope that the Calman recommendations on devolving control of airguns to the Scottish Parliament are included in the legislation to be tabled in the autumn - and it wouldn't be a bad idea if responsibility for all gun control was transferred at the same time.
Posted by James Kelly at 12:42 AM 3 comments
Labels: Conservatives, gun control, politics, Scottish politics, USA
One more tragedy too many
What a truly horrendous day it's been. I'm usually able to retain a sense of distance when I hear about tragedies on the news, but as with Dunblane fourteen years ago, this sort of incident seems different somehow. It brings home once again the devastating capacity of a gun to snuff out multiple lives in a matter of minutes or seconds, in a way that few other weapons can match. Not for the first time, the oft-heard line of defence that 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' rings sickeningly hollow tonight. Derrick Bird simply would not have succeeded in killing as many people with a lower grade of weapon, no matter how murderous his intent. As a poster on a Dunfermline Athletic forum rather pointedly put it -
"Not to persecute anyone, but I have never heard of any spree-killings carried out with anything other than a gun or guns. I'd love to hear about any pool cue massacres that went unreported."
Of course it remains to be seen how Bird obtained his weapons, but there does seem to be one clear pattern in the limited number of these massacres we've seen in the UK - they tend to be carried out by 'ordinary' people, in other words not the sort who would be likely to have easy access to illegal stockpiles of guns. The idea that gun control laws have no impact at all on the likelihood of these incidents occurring is therefore very difficult to sustain. It's far too early to judge whether a further tightening of the law would have made a difference in this case, but the notion that more legal gun ownership would have helped matters I just find utterly incomprehensible. It may seem bizarre to us in the UK that anyone would advance such an argument, but as I discovered last year, it's a frighteningly common attitude beyond these shores.
Labels: gun control, USA, Whitehaven
Earth calling Chekov, Earth calling Chekov...
I'm afraid doggedly referring to Scotland as a 'region' a minimum of fifteen times a week is not going to magically make our nationhood go away. Even most Scottish Tories got over that particular hang-up a few decades ago!
Labels: politics, Scottish politics
Alistair Carmichael : was he even Clegg's third choice for SoS?
It's hard not to feel extremely sorry for David Laws given the circumstances of his case, although I've been slightly baffled by the suggestions in parts of the Tory/Lib Dem blogosphere over the last thirty-six hours that there was no cause for him to even consider his position. On the face of it, he was quite simply caught bang to rights breaching the expenses regime. Anyway, he's now fallen on his sword, and the dynamics of coalition politics mean that the ripples have hit the Scottish political world straight away. Has Danny Alexander just made history as the shortest-serving Scottish Secretary of all time? No idea, but must be close.
Being inclined to believe in fate, moments like this always make me slightly nervous. There's no immediately obvious reason to think that Michael Moore is any less likely to deliver on the enhancement of Scottish self-government than his predecessor, but I can't help wondering if we might one day look back on this as some kind of 'accidental turning-point'. The first question that formed in my mind was - what on earth was Alistair Carmichael doing in those pre-election Scottish "leaders'" debates if he wasn't even Nick Clegg's second choice for Secretary of State? I could understand him initially being leapfrogged by Alexander, in the sense that Clegg clearly wanted one of his closest confidantes at the cabinet table, but the appointment of Moore just looks like a calculated snub for the man who performed so creditably in those debates. Perhaps the public should have been informed that the Scottish Lib Dems were in fact being represented by Clegg's preferred candidate for Deputy Chief Whip.
Leaving aside the impact on Scotland, I wonder if there may be a silver lining to all this. However talented Laws is, he also just happens to be the Lib Dem MP ideologically closest to the Tories, so his appointment to such a key position didn't inspire much confidence that the 'social liberal' wing of the party was going to hold much sway within the coalition. As Danny Alexander doesn't seem to have much political identity of his own beyond being a leadership sychophant, it's impossible to say definitively that this mini-reshuffle marks a slight shift away from the right, but his contribution to BBC Scotland's recent programme on the welfare system did at least give the impression his instincts on social justice and the protection of the vulnerable are in the right place. Or at least they were at the time of filming - it's funny what a difference a ministerial title can make.
Labels: Alistair Carmichael, David Laws, leaders' debates, Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, politics, Scottish politics
I even painted my toenails for you, I did it just the other day
Well, owsabout that for a prediction, then? I had to rub my eyes in disbelief at the way it worked out - what with all the pre-contest uncertainty, I thought the odds were heavily against picking the right winner, let alone the top three all in the correct order. Admittedly, I seem to have had something of a blind spot about the Icelandic entry, but all in all I think I'm entitled to say (not for the first time) - eat your heart out, Keith "The Oracle" Mills!
It's obviously a fantastic outcome for the contest to have such a genuine international hit take the crown, although for me it's tinged with a couple points of regret - a) it would have been a real breakthrough moment for Eurovision if a song like Turkey could just have gone one better, and b) I had been looking forward to a photo-finish in the voting for the first time in a few years, but instead (to everyone's huge surprise) we had yet another runaway winner. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps it should have been obvious that Lena's fame across the continent would sweep her to an easy victory - but then people thought the same about Tatu (among many others).
It was, shall we say, an interesting experience for me watching the contest this year, because I was with two people who took an instantaneous and highly personal loathing to Lena, that frankly bordered on the homicidal. The ubiquitous words "Allemagne, douze points" were greeted on each and every occasion with groans that were probably audible from Germany itself. During the reprise of the song at the end, they turned to me and said "so what do you think of it, then?", and I had to sheepishly say "I didn't think it was that bad, to be honest...". My middle names are 'Moral' and 'Cowardice'.
I can of course completely understand why Lena would seem a bit irritating to some, but one thing I can't really relate to is the moaning about her singing in an exaggerated English accent. Why would that be intrinsically any more objectionable than the countless continental European singers who routinely adopt an American twang when they perform in English?
A few other random thoughts :
Exactly as I observed last year, the victory of a western country is masking the fact that the reintroduction of the juries has completely, spectacularly, utterly failed to resolve the problem of political voting. It's maybe diluted it by about 20% at best. The amount of obviously political voting for Russia in particular was as obscene as ever. I'm struggling to see what the solution is, though, because presumably eliminating televoting altogether has now become unthinkable, while the public would feel conned if their voice counted for less than 50%.
The genie's probably out of the bottle now, but I still think the two-hour televoting window is a terrible retrograde step for the credibility of the contest. I promised myself I wouldn't do this, but as I'd more or less made up my mind to vote for Portugal, I went ahead and made the call before they actually performed. I can't have been alone in doing that, and it really makes a mockery of a competition that in the past has always hinged on the live performance of each song.
On the other hand, although the organisers will be mortified by it, the 'pitch invasion' during the Spanish entry at least reminded us that, for all the new-fangled computer technology and backing tracks, Eurovision remains a completely live event with the welcome potential for unscripted catastrophe. Although this incident was a first for the main contest, something very similar happened in the Lithuanian national selection four or five years ago - except on that occasion the intruder remained on stage for half the entire song, and for good measure the performer's microphone stopped working as well. Bona fide TV gold - and if anyone ever manages to track it down on YouTube there might just be a fun-size Aero in it for you.
Labels: Eurovision, Eurovision Song Contest, Germany, Lena Meyer-Landrut


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Writers Reading: The Green Revolution in Nepal with Jon Stewart
Wednesday, December 16, 2020, 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM Google Calendar Yahoo Calendar Aol Calendar Windows Live Calendar Outlook Calendar (iCal)
This is a live event. Join here https://zoom.us/j/92485560804?pwd=cXExbUFPbkRZNUZCSE1KSE1HbG9QZz09 or click "Join Program" above. A recording of this webinar will be available within one week following the program.
Hear from local author Jon Stewart on his journeys through Nepal.
In 1969 when over half a million US troops were fighting a losing war in Vietnam, a few dozen American volunteers were winning a major victory over famine in South Asia. Two Years Behind the Plow, written by local author Jonathan Stewart, describes one Peace Corps volunteer's efforts to bring the Green Revolution to the jungled hills of Nepal. His book showcases a medieval kingdom half a century ago at the cusp of a dramatic transformation in its economy. Since then improved agricultural practices linked to rural education has dramatically transformed a rich mix of tribal cultures that share a mountainous nation that stretches from the Gangetic plain to Mt Everest. Thanks to the all but forgotten efforts of these American Peace Corps volunteers, famine that used to kill millions has been temporarily erased from the subcontinent and the life expectancy of the average Nepali has doubled.
Between 1969 and 1971 Jonathan Stewart helped bring the Green Revolution to Nepal. He spent two years living in a small Nepali village in remote jungle valley at the foot of the Himalayas. With mixed success, he demonstrated the advantages of using hybrid seed and chemicals to increase the productivity of local rice, maize and wheat crops.
The author obtained degrees in history and journalism from the University of Oregon and worked as a reporter for the Tuscola Journal in Central Illinois. He also spent over three decades working for the US Forest Service. During that time, he worked as smokejumper, volunteer coordinator, fire management officer, fire crew supervisor, and six years as the as the executive director of the Northwest Service Academy, the nation's first conservation-oriented AmeriCorps program.
Jonathan Stewart is an avid long-distance hiker, having trekked the length of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the Hayduke Trail and written a book about each. He has also hiked the Pacific NW Trail, the Great Divide Trail, the Long Trail, the Arizona Trail, the Colorado Trail, the Grand Enchantment Trail., the Wonderland Trail and many other trails worldwide. He has repeatedly volunteered as a crew leader for Conservation International, leading trips to Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, and currently manages his family's tree farm in NW Oregon. It is the first small woodland in the world to put under California's cap and trade initiative to fight global warming.
Event url: www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/event/60971
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Writers Reading - The Source Weekly Annual Poetry Contest Winners at Deschutes County - Virtual
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Chris Barborka Original Guitar Performance at Deschutes County - Virtual
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Provider: Event ID: 317150711 Title: Writers Reading: The Green Revolution in Nepal with Jon Stewart Source Page: [url]


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Ana Vasco es una escritora, y periodista brasileña, habiendo escrito tres libros:

Aécio Neves - De facto et de JureJoão Paulo II - Uma história
''João Paulo II - Antologia

Notas

Enlaces externos

Biógrafos de Brasil
Mujeres periodistas de Brasil

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Kevin Gaskell - Building a world class brand
This week Maria's guest on the show is Kevin Gaskell. Kevin has led the iconic brands, Porsche, Lamborghini, and BMW. After driving the turnaround at Porsche and leading five years of record growth at BMW, he was recognised as one of the UK's top 40 leaders. Kevin founded a dot com, Epyx Limited, which became the market leader in automotive e-commerce. As global CEO of the Eurotax Group, he led his team to integrate 30 companies and to create the world leader in automotive data. During his career of founding start-ups, driving turnarounds and leading major brands, he has built over £3 billion of shareholder value. He has led transformational growth at 14 companies and now acts as chairman of a number of growing businesses.
Recorded on: 2nd February 2018
In this week's show, Kevin tells us about why he turned down the opportunity to become a professional cricketer & how this decision helped him set out to help people become successful. He talks about the big corporates he has worked for, the businesses he has built and his discipline for working and fitness training.
Significant quotes:
"You only go this way once, so make the most of it. Get out and live your life. Do things, which are exciting and interesting"
More about Kevin Gaskell
Kevin's book on Amazon
Next Week:
Join us next week when Maria's guest will be Former Commandant of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Major General Patrick Marriott.


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As Amada Cruz Exits, Phoenix Art Museum Acknowledges Lost Revenues
Apollo 11 Anniversary: Fun Ways to Celebrate in Phoenix — and Beyond
Lalo Cota on Carly's Bistro
Claire Lawton
Claire Lawton | July 13, 2010 | 1:00pm
It's about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we're losing track of the times we've said, "Woah, when did that go up?", we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town -- their artists, their hosts and their inspirations.
If you've meandered around Roosevelt Row, you may have seen these skeletons before.
They're the signature works of Lalo Cota, who was born in Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico and grew up celebrating and loving Dia de los Muertos. "The skeletons are from my earliest memories," says Cota," and while they're not all I do, they're definitely what I'm known for."
His skeletons are popping up all over the city, but we spotted these fresh ones at Carly's Bistro.
You may be able to catch him or his two collaborators, Pablo Luna and Thomas Marcus, aka Breeze, painting at Carly's in the evening for the next few days -- Cota admits that while it may look done, there are still a few finishing touches. The project has taken 22 hours so far, which has all been donated time. But he says the project gives him a chance to contribute and to connect with other street artists in the community.
"When I'm outside painting or spraying, kids will come up to me and ask where they can get spray paint or brushes," says Cota. "It's great because I feel like for the first time, kids downtown have the resources and community available to be creative and participate in public art."
Cota's artwork can also be seen on the side of Conspire and on Roosevelt Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. His work will also be in a street art show at Pravus gallery in August, which will feature works from the top graffiti writers in Phoenix.
The post above has been edited from its original form to include the mural collaborators, Pablo Luna and Thomas Marcus.
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The Euclidian
Love An Indie 1
Final Reckoning
Alien Hitman
Unforeseen Alliance
Crazy Rich Aliens
Love an Indie
Jay Cannon
Jay Cannon's Latest Sci Fi Adventure
The Euclidian: Final Reckoning
"If you enjoy first contact novels, be sure and check this one out, then take a look at the rest of the series!" ~ readper.com
Chaell Shisal, captain of the Euclidian resource extraction ship Andrea, leads his space-going vessel across the Milky Way Galaxy in search of planets to mine. His ship harvests minerals, people, and technology from unsuspecting planets. On occasion, the Euclidian invite advanced civilizations into their alliance of planets. As a result, the Andrea has a diverse crew drawn from across the alliance. Each crewmember shares in the spoils from each mission, although senior officers earn the lion's share of the bounty. Planet Earth is Shisal's last mission and the Executive Officer (XO) of the Andrea has plotted a mutiny to replace him and take his share of the loot.
The battle lines have been drawn and it's the XO of the alien ship Andrea against its Captain, his loyal crewmembers, and a newly formed alliance with some of the same Earthlings he attacked. In the middle of the fight is a gang of female bikers who don't like following the rules, and each has her own agenda. The XO risks losing his cargo, his wealth, and his career, while the Captain and his band of followers risk losing their way back home, their lives, and the Earth. A lone teenager, Morgan, holds the balance between the two forces.
The Euclidian series is a tale of alien invasion from the viewpoint of the aliens. It contains intrigue, romance, epic battles, strong female characters, and a level of diversity to be expected from futuristic novels.
On Sale Now @ The Following Booksellers
The Euclidian: Alien Hitman
This prequel to the Euclidian series follows the exploits of Adar, an alien from the Ossuary System, hired as an elite assassin aboard the Euclidian resource ship Andrea. Adar was sent to retrieve, dead or alive, renegade aliens who started a gang war on their home planet and killed a group of law enforcement officers who chased after them.
Adar uncovered that they had been stowed away aboard the Earth-bound Andrea and tracked them all the way to Chicago before the trail goes cold. While waiting for them to turn up, Adar fed his thirst for blood by taking on Chicago's most notorious mob family. Throughout his journey, Adar learned how Earthlings live and love and discovered his own need for love.
DartFrog Book of Distinction
The DartFrog Indie Award recognizes excellence in traditional-style indie publishing and rewards those books with prominent front facing placement in independent bookstores.
Review: The Euclidian: Alien Hitman ~ readper.com
This is a prequel to a highly rated first contact series by Jay Cannon. It draws you in quick with interstellar action, and doesn't let go until the last page. The book opens on a Euclidian mining ship. Its multi-year mission: to exploit distant planets and return minerals to the home system. The Euclidian typically conquer the inferior races inhabiting these worlds. On occasion, they turn the locals into trading partners, but so far remain the dominant species throughout the galaxy. Next stop: Earth. But first, they pick up a load of prisoners, and here things go off the rails a bit. Some of the detainees escape. An "Ossie" from the Ossurary system, who is particularly skilled in fighting, tracks them to Earth where the action continues. If you enjoy first contact novels, be sure and check this one out, then take a look at the rest of the series!
Jay Cannon, Sci-Fi Whiz ~ postcardsandauthors.com
When you think back to your childhood, about your passions, your quirks, your strengths… Did any of it resurface in your adult life? For Jay Cannon, author of The Euclician: Alien Hitman, the answer is yes!
Also known as JC, he spent countless hours in front of the TV watching Star Trek during his teen years. And then, science fiction books and movies accompanied him on the journey. I suppose there was an AHA moment, or perhaps a gradual insightfulness, that later led him to create his own amazing stories... more>
The Euclidian: When Worlds Collide
This book centers around an alien invasion of Earth. Unlike other stories about alien invasion of Earth this one looks at it from the perspective of the aliens who see it as a business venture. The only thing standing in the way of the Earth being strip mined out of existence is a kid and a small alien fugitive.
"Tense conflict- Incredible characters – Only from the mind of Jay Cannon." ~ Bob Makey
"A gripping saga of alien betrayal." ~ Ray Wills
Also On Sale @ The Following Booksellers
The Euclidian: Unforeseen Alliance
Part 2 of the Euclidian series, focusing on an alien invasion of Earth from the viewpoint of the aliens.
This is episode 2 of the Euclidian series. The Euclidians finally reached Earth and started stripping it of its vital resources, including its people. The captain of the ship Andrea is angered when he is betrayed by his XO, who took over his ship and labeled him a thief. Now the captain must rely on the Earthlings he invaded to help him get his ship back.
"The same heart pounding pace of When Worlds Collide."
~ Sharon Seivers
"Jay Cannon creates an incredibly rich universe (in all senses of those words), delivering us a highly engaging story of twins Penda and Paul and how they navigate their cultural social norms, their dreams, their desires, and the wealthy galaxy unfolding before them."
—Ran Walker, 2019 National Indie Author of the Year
Penda is heiress to one of the richest families in southeast Asia. Her dream is to create a startup that will commercialize space travel to Mars. To go her own way will ruin her relationship with her family, which is already strained from her being openly gay. Paul, her twin brother, wants to maintain family traditions and is angry with Penda for turning her back on them. Worse, Penda's business partner is Paul's ex-fiancée.
At an elaborate costume ball, Penda and Paul meet Luke, a gorgeous stranger wearing an alien "costume." They join him on an exotic yacht and after a night of partying, wake up on Tauran, a planet of gender-neutral beings. After their initial shock, Paul comes to view the trip as a business opportunity, while Penda prefers to learn about Tauran culture.
Penda soon falls for the amiable Timbor (Luke), heir to the richest fortune in the galaxy. Then the warm welcome to Tauran evaporates. Terrorists abduct Penda. She escapes but is relentlessly hunted. She must now evade government agents, xenophobes, and Timbor's jealous suitor on a strange planet, while foiling a plot to invade Earth, and defending her new friend, an alien.
Visit the CRAZY RICH ALIENS Site
About Jay Cannon
Jay Cannon grew up in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. He became hooked on science fiction when he used to run home from junior high school to catch the original episodes of Star Trek. He spent six years in the U.S. Navy working on the flight deck of aircraft carriers, which felt like being on a starship. After leaving the Navy he spent several years in the software industry. During that period he passed time reading science fiction books and watching science fiction movies. He eventually decided to stop writing programs and start writing books
Jay Cannon Interview
EuclidianBook@gmail.com
Contact Jay Cannon
© 2019, Jay Cannon. All Rights Reserved


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Dan Jansen
Name: Dan Jansen
Sport: Long Track Speedskating
Event(s): 500-meter, 1,000
Birthplace: West Allis, Wis.
Hometown: West Allis, Wis.
High School: West Allis Central High School (West Allis, Wis.)
Four-time Olympian (1984, 1988, 1992, 1994); Olympic medalist (1 gold)
Sarajevo 1984, 4th (500-meter), 16th (1,000)
Calgary 1988, DNF (500, 1,000)
Albertville 1992, 4th (500), 26th (1,000)
Lillehammer 1994, gold (1,000)
Personal: Son of Harry and Geraldine Jansen...Youngest of nine children...Grew up in a family of skating enthusiasts and competed in his first race at age 4...Youngest speedskater at the Olympic Winter Games Sarajevo 1984...Won seven world cup titles, two world sprint championships and one Olympic gold medal throughout his career...Served as a motivational speaker and sales representative for an orthopedic equipment company...Father to two daughters, Olivia and Jane.
Dan Jansen is an American former long track speedskater and four-time Olympian, who won a historic gold medal in the 1,000-meter at his fourth and final Olympic Games. Born in West Allis, Wisconsin, Jansen and his eight siblings were introduced to skating at a young age. He set a junior world record at age 16 during his first international competition, and he made the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team two years later. Jansen was a seven-time overall world cup champion and two-time world sprint champion, with eight world records and over 75 world cup medals. Despite his success outside of the Games, Jansen had not won an Olympic medal entering the final event of his Olympic career. He finished fourth in the 500 in his first Games, and he fell in the 500 and 1,000 during the Olympic Winter Games Calgary 1988 following his sister's death due to leukemia. Jansen continued competing and training, however, becoming the first skater to break the 36-second barrier in the 500. He beat the 36-second barrier four times leading up to the Olympic Winter Games Lillehammer 1994 -- a feat no other skater had accomplished. Jansen finally earned his first Olympic medal in the 1,000 with a world-record time, and subsequently won the 1994 James E. Sullivan Award for the nation's most outstanding amateur athlete. After retiring from speedskating, he worked as a CBS sports broadcaster and established the Dan Jansen Foundation to help aid in leukemia research and youth sports programs.


The reflect of the desires, passions, memories and illusions that the skin has always wanted to express is what encourage me to make my work actively.
Making the best to reach a perfect and balanced communication between the artist and the client.
Effort and priority to offer plenty hygiene guaranties, quality service and a relaxed and calm atmosphere to propitiate comfort.
Black and Gray #AllDay. My work is what I am. My influences are my roots, my experiences, my life day by day. Religious Art, FineLine, Sculpture and realism is what I like and it is what I feel. Tattoos with soul.
"Turn your dreams into reality on your skin"


Reclaim Fund Ltd was established in 2011, following the enactment of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 and the completion of the regulatory regime.
The Co-operative Group was approached by HM Treasury in late 2009 to support the Government and industry efforts by establishing a reclaim fund to enable dormant account monies to be used for good causes.
Reclaim Fund Ltd was incorporated on 13 August 2010 and commenced operations on 28 March 2011. Reclaim Fund Ltd is ultimately owned by Co-operative Group Ltd via its financial services holding subsidiary Angel Square Investments Limited (formerly known as Co-operative Banking Group Limited). It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, operates independently with an appointed Board and Executive, and is non-profit-making.
The principal activity of Reclaim Fund Ltd is that of the receipt and management of dormant account monies.
The Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 ('The Act') enables those banks and building societies, that choose to participate ('participants'), to transfer money from their dormant accounts to RFL, where surplus funds, deemed as being amounts in excess of what is required to meet future reclaims, can be distributed by RFL to The National Lottery Community Fund (previously known as Big Lottery Fund) and then onwards to good causes across the UK. The Act also ensures that the right of account holders to reclaim their money, at any time, is protected in perpetuity by transferring the individual's claim against the bank or building society to RFL.
The strategy of the Company is wholly aligned to the operational activities authorised by the Act, which permits only those activities set down in the Act. Along with the activities above, the Company is permitted to invest funds and to defray administrative costs and other reasonable expenses.
*Content such as financial figures provided in this video correct as at January 2019.
Allied Irish Bank (UK) p.l.c.


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Home Domestic Policies Ethnic-Hungarian Bugar to Run for Slovakia's President
Ethnic-Hungarian Bugar to Run for Slovakia's President
Most-Hid chairman Bela Bugar (stock photo by TASR)
Bratislava, June 9 (TASR) – Co-ruling Most-Hid chairman Bela Bugar, currently serving as a parliamentary vice-chair, will run for president of Slovakia in the elections set for the spring of 2019, the party's congress decided unanimously on Saturday.
Most-Hid vice-chairman Laszlo Solymos, who announced the party's decision at a press conference, said that time is ripe to see a member of an ethnic minority to run for the country's top political post.
"Bela Bugar represents the values of cooperation, tolerance and ability to reach compromise, which are all shortage goods in these days," said Solymos.
Bugar at the press conference stated that he made the decision following thorough consideration and debates with his closest ones, while he announced that if elected, his main goal as a "person able to stand above disputes" will be to contribute towards reducing tension and polarisation in society.
"I want to be a president of all Slovakia's people – Slovaks, Hungarians, Ruthenians, Roma, successful and lesser successful, young and old, people from cities and the countryside," said Bugar.
Outlining his overall approach in politics if elected, Bugar said that president should be a "partner and helper, not an activist and opponent at any cost, regardless of what government emerges as the result of people's will expressed in general election, while this will needs to be respected by president".
The presidential post could be a worthy crowning of Most-Hid chairman Bela Bugar's (59) long political career, but it seems that his bid in the 2019 presidential elections is rather motivated by advertising his party prior to the 2010 general election, analyst Juraj Marusiak told TASR on Saturday.
Marusiak doesn't believe that Bugar could make it even to the second round next year. While still being the very central figure in Most-Hid, his image overall has suffered in recent years, noted Marusiak.
"The fact that he entered into a coalition with Smer-SD [in 2016] created many enemies for him in the Opposition, while it's unclear whether he'll be able to attract, for example, Smer-SD voters at the same time," said Marusiak.
However, if Most-Hid hadn't placed its own candidate and had supported a figure from a different party instead, this would likely result in a gradual decline in public perception of the party ahead of the 2020 general election, stressed the analyst. He added that Most-Hid itself obviously doesn't believe in Bugar's success in the presidential elections, as it hasn't bothered to look for his successor as party leader.
Facing no contender, Bugar was also re-elected Most-Hid chairman for another four years on Saturday.
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text:
Q: calculate the time elapsed for a robot to pass certain distance with a load For a robotics project I wanted to find the optimal gear ratio for my robot to travel 10 meters. Unfortunately. the acceleration is nonconstant, and that proved to make my life much harder. I think I have most of it figured out, and the only part left is to find the correlation between the acceleration and velocity graph to the acceleration/velocity/position to time graph.
The robot with mass m and wheels that have a radius of r is allowed to accelerate on a surface with negligible friction. It uses 4 motors that have a free speed of Vfree rpm, and a stall torque of Tstall. The graph is included below. How can I find the time taken for this robot to travel x meters? I was able to turn the torque to angular velocity graph into an acceleration to velocity graph, but I got stuck trying to transform it into a distance to time or even a velocity to time graph.

A: Your graph is a good start. You need to use the radius of the wheels to express the torque as a force at the road and express the rpm as velocity. Then you will have a force vs velocity diagram.
Then write Newton's 2nd law as $$F(v)=m\;dv/dt$$ and solve the differential equation for $$v(t)$$. Then integrate velocity to get distance.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How do I resample the index itself, not the columns, in pandas? I have a data frame like so:
df = pd.DataFrame(
[
{
  "timestamp" : "2021-03-05 00:00:01", "a" : 1, "b": None,
},
{
  "timestamp" : "2021-03-05 00:00:02", "a" : 2, "b": 100
},
{
  "timestamp" : "2021-03-05 00:02:30", "a" : 3, "b": 200
},
{
  "timestamp" : "2021-03-05 00:03:00", "a" : 4, "b": 300
}]
)
df["timestamp"] = pd.to_datetime(df["timestamp"])
df.sort_values(["timestamp"], inplace=True)
df.set_index("timestamp", inplace=True)

Producing
    a   b
timestamp
2021-03-05 00:00:01     1   NaN
2021-03-05 00:00:02     2   100.0
2021-03-05 00:02:30     3   200.0
2021-03-05 00:03:00     4   300.0

And I want to count how many records occur in each minute.  Importantly, I do not want to count the columns at all.  I just want to count whether there are any values in the row
within the minute.
df.resample("T").index.sum().plot()

So I try to resample to 1 minute, and then count across the index, and get:
AttributeError: 'DatetimeIndexResampler' object has no attribute 'index'

What's the right way to count events by interval?
My desired result will be a plot of:
2021-03-05 00:00 : 2
2021-03-05 00:01 : 0
2021-03-05 00:02 : 1
2021-03-05 00:03 : 1

A: try this, you can remove the b column if you please.
df = df.drop(columns=['b'])
df = df.groupby(pd.Grouper(freq='1min', origin='start_day')).count()
print(df)

                     a
timestamp
2021-03-05 00:00:00  2
2021-03-05 00:01:00  0
2021-03-05 00:02:00  1
2021-03-05 00:03:00  1

A: The fastest way to do this is to create a minute column and use it to count the observations per group. However, I assume you are dealing with minutes in multiple days, so you can try this slightly longer solution:
# Reset seconds to 00
df.index = pd.to_datetime(df.index.astype(str).str[:-2] + '00')
# Count observations by second
counts = df.groupby(level=0).size().reset_index(name='observations')

            timestamp  observations
0 2021-03-05 00:00:00             2
1 2021-03-05 00:02:00             1
2 2021-03-05 00:03:00             1

As you may have noticed, this result is missing the timestamp 2021-03-05 00:01:00. If you want to have all timestamps, you need to declare start time and an end time. For this example, I'll just create 4 minutes.
# Range of 4 minutes
minutes = pd.date_range(start='2021-03-05 00:00:00', periods=4, freq='min')
# Convert to data frame
minutes = pd.DataFrame(minutes, columns=['timestamp'])

            timestamp
0 2021-03-05 00:00:00
1 2021-03-05 00:01:00
2 2021-03-05 00:02:00
3 2021-03-05 00:03:00

So all you need to do now is outer join minutes and counts:
minutes = minutes.merge(counts, on='timestamp', how='outer').fillna(0)

            timestamp  observations
0 2021-03-05 00:00:00           2.0
1 2021-03-05 00:01:00           0.0
2 2021-03-05 00:02:00           1.0
3 2021-03-05 00:03:00           1.0

A: You can do something like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

to_plot = df.resample('T').size()

plt.scatter(to_plot.index, to_plot)
plt.show()

Output


text:
Q: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pdf2docx' Look at this simple PDF to Docx converter, it needs pdf2docx module, although I have installed it manually using this code (py -m pip install pdf2dox) in CMD but still, it says (ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pdf2docx')
What am I doing wrong here, please?
Screenshots:

Code:
from pdf2docx import Converter, parse
from tkinter import *
from tkinter.filedialog import askopenfilename
from tkinter import messagebox

def choose_and_convert_file():
    pdf_file = f"{askopenfilename()}"
    if pdf_file == "":
        messagebox.showwarning("Error", "Please choose a file!")

    else:
        file = pdf_file[:-4]
        word_file = f"{file}.docx"
    # Converter Method
        cv = Converter(pdf_file)
        cv.convert(word_file, start=0, end=None)
        cv.close()

# Parse Method
# parse(pdf_file, word_file, start=0, end=None)

def space():
    space = Label(text="", bg="black")
    space.pack()

root = Tk()

root.title("PDF to Word Converter")
root.geometry("450x450")
root.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
root.config(bg="black")
root.iconbitmap('icon.ico')

space()
space()
space()

img = PhotoImage(file="logo.png")
pic = Label(root, image=img, bg="black")
pic.pack()

space()
space()
space()
space()
choose_file = Button(width=23, height=1, bg="black", fg="white", text=" Choose and Convert",
                      font=("jost", 11, "bold"), command=choose_and_convert_file)
choose_file.pack()

space()
space()
space()
space()
space()
space()
space()
dev_label = Label(root, text="Developed by Totenkopf ", bg="black", fg="#CC1B25", font=("jost", 11))
dev_label.pack()

root.mainloop()

A: As pip is installing all your packages in Python 3.10,
I would recommend that you locate the python.exe for python 3.10 and then execute your command like this:
C:\users\......\python\python310\python.exe main.py

Alternatively, If you already have environment variables configured for python, you can run:
python main.py

A: Solved, there was a bit of confusion I fell into, I was running my Python file with Python3.8 and I was using  py -m pip install ModuleName for installing the missing module.
So instead, I used:
python -m pip install ModuleName

A: *

*make sure that all words are spelled correctly,

*try different keywords,

*try more general keywords,

*try fewer keywords.


text:
<?php

namespace NotificationChannels\FCM;

use LaravelFCM\Sender\FCMSender;
use Illuminate\Events\Dispatcher;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;
use NotificationChannels\FCM\Exceptions\CouldNotSendNotification;

class FCMChannel
{
    /**
     * @var \LaravelFCM\Sender\FCMSender
     */
    protected $sender;

    /**
     * @var \Illuminate\Events\Dispatcher
     */
    protected $events;

    /**
     * Constructor.
     *
     * @param \LaravelFCM\Sender\FCMSender $sender
     */
    public function __construct(FCMSender $sender, Dispatcher $events)
    {
        $this->sender = $sender;
        $this->events = $events;
    }

    /**
     * Send the given notification.
     *
     * @param mixed $notifiable
     * @param \Illuminate\Notifications\Notification $notification
     *
     * @throws \NotificationChannels\FCM\Exceptions\CouldNotSendNotification
     *
     * @return \LaravelFCM\Response\DownstreamResponse|null
     */
    public function send($notifiable, Notification $notification)
    {
        $message = $notification->toFCM($notifiable);
        if ($message->recipientNotGiven()) {
            $to = $notifiable->routeNotificationFor('FCM');
            if (is_array($to) && empty($to)) {
                return;
            }
            if (! $to) {
                throw CouldNotSendNotification::missingRecipient();
            }
            $message->to($to);
        }
        $method = 'sendTo';
        if ($message instanceof FCMMessageTopic) {
            $method .= 'Topic';
        } elseif ($message instanceof FCMMessageGroup) {
            $method .= 'Group';
        }

        $response = $this->sender->{$method}(...$message->getArgs());

        $this->events->fire(new MessageWasSended($response, $notifiable));

        return $response;
    }
}


Foxy Women & Wine Scottsdale – ABOUT FACE BOUTIQUE – 10341 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85253 – This highly attended monthly women's event is the perfect place to meet people for business and for fun! Event is held on the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 5pm-7pm in some of the hippest locations in the valley. Sip a glass of wine, hand out some business cards, make new connections & try some cool new places. Don't have a business of your own? No worries! Join us anyway! This is a very social & friendly group of women! Cost is only $10 in advance or $15 day of/at the door and includes a chance at door prizes. Purchase tickets here online & your name will be added to the guest list. Can't wait to see you! Invite your friends!
Devy Walker of About FACE Boutique is providing complimentary wine & appetizers at this event! What a great way to spend a couple of hours on St. Patty's day! Join us!


Practice-Web is cloud-based dental solution that is suitable for all types and sizes of organizations, offering charting, imaging, billing, patient scheduling and practice management modules. The charting system provides users with three-dimensional charting, allowing them to view and reposition teeth to mimic conditions within the patient's mouth.
Photographs and X-rays can be attached to the chart along with progress notes, planned treatments and upcoming appointments.
The practice management module includes electronic treatment-consent forms which can be digitally signed by the patient using a tablet device or e-signature. A patient information terminal allows patients to enter information directly into the system.
New patients can also register on the Web either through the practice's website or a HIPAA-compliant site provided by the vendor.
It is compatible with Windows operating systems. Support is available via phone.
I have been impressed with the thought put into this software.
It allowed me to integrate my accounting and patient chart into a seamless unit.
I have been able to make it make it mold to my practice style. Support has been great. It allows me to locate the needed information easily. With some thought, I have it set up so that hopefully, we will not over look important information.
There are things I would change but that's just because I want the software to behave exactly the way I want it to. That's not going to happen with any software, but Practice Web has listened to my ideas and the ones they consider universal enough, they have accommodated.
Ease of use. Great graphics. Very few clicks to complete a task.
The name. People confuse it with Practice-Works.
Practice-web has been a great program to us for the last 8 years, we look forward to seeing what it will it do in the future.
The software is easy to use and the help when something does not work properly is fast.
It's easy to do billing and treatment plan. You could also customize your own sheets the way you want . Coming from Eaglesoft and not know how to bill and treatment plan this software was very easy. Eaglesoft I was pulling my hair.
PW his helped my company for almost 20 years. Loved the software and support!
Loved the software and support! Support staff was consistently positive and patient. They helped train my new staff members and the program is logical and easy to use.
On occasion, it would takes PW's support staff a day or so to get back to us when they were very busy . But this was rare.
Our office was unsure about which electronic patient management software to get after a bad experience with our previous program and Practice Web was recommended to us. Learning the in and outs of the program only took a few days but we do not regret out decision to switch!
A very versatile program with ample room for customization and an incredibly helpful support staff.
The graphic design and user interface could be a little more polished and appealing.
Very user friendly and all in one software . Exceptional customer support .
Ease of use , open ended so very convenient , can customize it to our liking , great customer support.
Cannot say it's a con but upgrades are done frequently so have to keep up with it .
Once in a while issues with text messaging and e mails .
This is a great software product.
This is a great software product. Any dentist who is seriously considering improving the work-flow of their office should evaluate Practice-Web. This program is the cornerstone of the modern "chartless" dental office and allows me to be "green, eco-friendly" by using significantly less paper.
I computerized my dental office back in 1981 (there was very little software available and I was a very early user of computer technology in the Dental field, the IBM PC-XT came to me in parts which I put together). Over these many years, I have updated the software and hardware. Currently, there are many different brands of Dental Practice Management software available. I have found Practice-Web to be the most comprehensive software available at any price. But the bonus is Practice-Web is available at a VERY reasonable price! Their conversion of data from my former practice management software allowed me to be up-and-running immediately. The software is extremely intuitive but if needed, their support is second to none. They listen to user ideas and often incorporate them into subsequent releases. There improvement come often and are state-of-the-art.
There is absolutely nothing I would change about this software program.
Jaswant from Jaswant Suthar dds Inc.
Very Easy to handle. Any one can learn in matter of hours.
There are bundles of benefit . I could use on 70% because of me not having enough time to explore the entire software.
I have been using Practice Web for a few years now, I started with Easy Dental when was I believe DOS, through the years we were looking for more features like Rx,Graphics etc most of the features were a add on to the original program with additional cost . My original concern was to find a program capable of giving up a chart that would show the patient their actual status with proposed treatment. Before finding Practice Web i did test several programs and some of them very good and expensive but none was as complete as Practice web. The program has so many features that could benefit our practice that once you tried either you keep it or you will switch from whatever you are using as practice management software to Practice Web. Overall i believed this is the best Program in the market and the support is SUPER. You can still have a great meal without spending your savings.
It's a complete package including bridge links for imaging software.
Software is so user friendly even us old folks can use it. The staff is not only knowledgeable about Practice Web software they know all about computers period. E-mails arrive weekly telling you about new fetures and upgrades. What's really cool is their remote support they come right into my computers and show me excatly what to do.
Practice-Web has been an answer to all our aches and pains with our previous practice management. It is so easy to use, quick, and intuitive to navigate. Their support staff has been awesome and very helpful. They always have the right answers to our questions right away. I thought migrating from MediaDent (previous practice management) would be hard, but it was quick and easy. There are things we will need to update but that is nothing compared to how it helped us function more efficiently. Transitioning to paperless would save us a lot of time and money and I could see that now happening with Practice-Web on our side.


text:
Q: SQL Query hangs and makes version store grow First of, I apologize if this is the wrong place for this questions, but I haven't found any other location that might help me out.
I have a query that is running on a sql server that keeps running indefinitely and as a result the version store on SQL Server grows and tempdb grows as well. Currently I don't have the source code.
I would like to get a few pointers for where to search for the cause of this problem.
In activity monitor all I see is a process with a taskstate of SUSPENDED, and Wait Type of ASYNC_NETWORK_IO_WRITELOG. I'm running this on SQL Server 2008.
Again sorry if this is the wrong place for asking this.
/Andy.l

A: First, I've got no experience with SQL2008, but from my experience with SQL2000, it managed itself sometimes into nasty locking situations running multicore environment. I would try rerun query with Option (MAXDOP 1). Cost you almost nothing to check it out.

A: At least with older SQL Server versions a SELECT could be blocked by other sessions, so I would suspect something like that in your case (even though your mentioning the "version store" which seems to indicate that you have enabled the new snapshot isolation mode).
Running sp_who2 will give you more details about whether it is a blocking problem or not


This year I turned 25. Last year I turned 24 and naturally saw this "quarter-century" milestone coming. So long as I survived the year, I would (and did) turn 25.
It was the only semi-certain thing that I could predict and naturally, it freaked me out. This 25th birthday could mark the quarter point in my life, but depending on where fate takes me, it may mark something more substantial - my half life, my 80% life, etc. Without a doubt, it marked halfway through my twenties which is arguably the most opportunistic period of one's life. With little responsibility and a lot of naivete, the room for potential growth during this period is immense.
A few months into this 24th year, I wanted my road to 25 to embody that. During my very early twenties, I spent my life getting a degree and the few years following that entering the workforce; both extremely "sponge-like" periods of anyone's life, but more-so inflicted by their circumstances.
But the start of 24 felt slow. The winds of the world were not naturally taking me down any hyper-growth path and so, I decided to embark on a year of learning. That year has taken me through a period of self-assessment and more importantly, an objective look in the mirror that has allowed me to enter the second half of my twenties once again as a sponge and perhaps the most effective and focused sponge to date.
Before I get into the meat of this article, you're probably like "why does she keep calling herself a sponge?".
I would like to define a "sponge" in the context of this article as someone that rapidly absorbs knowledge or awareness, growing substantially in some way as a result.
Most of the classic sponge phases occur closer to the beginning of one's life, followed by a few decades of stability. While stability isn't bad, I've recently come to realize that the best and most sustainable growth comes from consistent sponge behaviour. I've also come to realize that later in life, this behaviour needs to be self-directed. So, starting in February I embarked on my Year of Sponge™.
In more practical terms, I took a snapshot of my life. I brainstormed the hell out of things that would potentially benefit my life, ranging from the more traditional (building a business, writing a book, learning to surf) to the more offbeat. I came up with a solid list of things that I would target and more importantly, actively deprioritized others - not just for this year, but in some cases for the foreseeable future.
In order to make space for the most important goals, I needed to remove the noise of other options that were nice but not as beneficial to my future growth and happiness.
I tried to think more long-term than I had in past goal-setting and ultimately what rose to the top was learning to code. This quickly became my top priority when I realized it consistently limited me from participating in the places I wanted to participate, from being able to intelligently contribute to conversations that I was a part of, and realistically from building the life that I had long prioritized.
This year has been one of the most rewarding years of my life with a tangible output of learning a new skill set and launching 4 projects under my own name, some of which have won awards or topped ProductHunt. It is for these reasons, that I chose to share what worked for me during in my Year of Sponge.
One of the biggest developments enabling "sponge-dom" was some radical candor with, well... myself. It was the active recognition that I had spent most of the prior year learning to work remotely, but ultimately, that was not an end-goal (I could write an entire article on this alone).
The best way to hold yourself accountable is to take an active inventory of your "fuckbucks" and acknowledge where your actions != your values.
Those Instagram influencers whose lives you know are fake? Unfollow them. Or better yet, delete Instagram.
That ex who cheated on you? Forget about him.
That TV show you know doesn't offer any value? Stop watching.
Your life is defined by the time you spend, and time adds up.
The most important step that I took was setting key performance indicators (KPIs) for myself. We are very quick to hold KPIs at work or even in your relationships (keeping score), but not with ourselves. You should want to be the most accountable person to yourself.
Unconscious competence: Rare, but something you are so skilled at that it takes minimal mental energy for you.
Naturally as I talk about this year of sponge, I plan to continue sponging into 2019 and beyond.


text:
TIME Person of the Year for 2016 is President-elect Donald Trump
Dec. 7, 2016, 12:28 PM UTC / Updated Dec. 7, 2016, 1:16 PM UTC / Source: TODAY
By Eun Kyung Kim
President-elect Donald Trump, the real estate businessman and political novice whose election campaign made the entire world take notice, has been selected as TIME's 2016 Person of the Year.
The magazine revealed its choice Wednesday on TODAY.
President-elect Donald Trump is TIME Person of the Year for 2016
Dec. 7, 201603:16
"To be on the cover of Time as Person of the Year is a tremendous honor," Trump told Matt Lauer in an interview after the reveal.
The president-elect did however take issue with the magazine's choice to refer to him as "President of the Divided States of America."
RELATED: Donald Trump: Mitt Romney is still in the running for secretary of state
"When you say 'divided states of America,' I didn't divide them," Trump said. "They're divided now, there's a lot of division. And we're going to put it back together."
President-elect Donald Trump is TIME's Person of the Year for 2016Nadav Kander / TIME
Every year, TIME editors select the person — or idea — who has most influenced the news and the world in the past year, for good or ill.
"So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer," TIME managing editor Nancy Gibbs wrote in a magazine essay.
Trump beat out 10 other finalists, including his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. TIME declared Clinton their runner-up, and she was also the top pick among TODAY viewers.
The president-elect, shown in his private living room in Trump Tower.Nadav Kander / TIME
This will be Trump's 10th time on the magazine's cover, and all but one have been since August 2015. His first appearance on TIME was in 1989.
Donald Trump on the cover of TIME in 1989, 2015, and 2016. Trump has appeared on the magazine's cover 10 times.Hewlett-Packard / TIME
"For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow's political culture by demolishing yesterday's, Donald Trump is TIME's 2016 Person of the Year," Gibbs wrote.
Last year's recipient was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump was a runner-up. The year before that, 2014, the Person of the Year were the Ebola fighters.
Donald Trump: It's 'a tremendous honor' to be TIME's Person of the Year
The magazine has made the designation every year since 1927, when aviator Charles Lindbergh was chosen as the first Man of the Year. The title was amended to Person of the Year in 1999.
MORE: TIME's Person of the Year 2015 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Over its history, TIME has bestowed the title to many presidents, political leaders and industry trailblazers who often view the designation as an honor. However, the magazine also has selected notorious recipients in the past, including Adolf Hitler in 1938, Joseph Stalin in 1939 and 1942, and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, because of the impact they had on the world at the time.


My name is Alicia, a DreamTrips member for the last two years. It was important to me to be able to take my four-year-old son on a vacation and thanks to DreamTrips I was able to do it. It was his very first vacation and it was to Disneyland!
Being able to take my son on his first trip was definitely on my bucket list, because I remembered having my first trip at his age and I really wanted to give him the same wonderful experience. The vacation was 4 days and 3 nights long. It was great being in the big city of Los Angeles (Anaheim) and walking around Downtown. Disneyland was so close to our hotel! It was amazing not having to worry about transportation or parking — such a relief! The lines to even park a car were longer than what I remember! While the convenience and time-saving part was great, my greatest joy was, of course, seeing my son's face light up when he saw all of his favorite characters! He cut the line to meet Jack Skellington, his most favorite. He just ran up to him from the Jack Store and interrupted a visit. I felt bad, but he was just so excited to see him in person he couldn't contain himself.
I had price-shopped this trip before I became a member. The best I could find was the same length trip, but with a hotel that was further away, and it was $1000 more for only two of us! When I booked the trip through my membership, my mom and niece were able to join us and I STILL saved money! With a hotel further away, it would have been way more hassle to get to and from the park. Plus, DreamTrips also included breakfast. I could not have asked for more.
I would highly recommend contacting us if you have a bucket list trip you'd like to take!