text:
Five Positives For A Shortened NHL Schedule
Posted: January 17, 2013 in Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, NHL, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets
Tags: Alexander Semin, Alexei Zhamnov, Hockey, lock-out, Marian Gaborik, Martin Havlat, NHL, Niklas Kronwall, Sports, Wayne Gretzky
Let the words 'lock-out' and 'Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations' never be uttered again.
News of a pending work stoppage for the National Hockey League in September was catastrophic, coming eight years after the previous period of such circumstances. Days quickly escalated into months, but we can be thankful that it did not require a full season to solve the dispute between the owners and the Players' Association.
With the madness behind us and the National Hockey League's return just days away, fans can relax and finally enjoy the action, soon. On Saturday, 26 clubs are slated to start their campaign, starting at 3:00 P.M. An observer will have the option of seeing the Philadelphia Flyers renew their rivalry with Pittsburgh, a promising all Canadian match-up between the Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets or the Los Angeles Kings raising their Stanley Cup banner prior to hosting the Chicago Blackhawks—the choice is yours.
While some will be bemoaning a 48-game season, there are a few benefits to a campaign of this length for the rabid fan base and the players themselves.
Intensity Amplified
Early struggles and losing streaks will be back-breakers, as a single bad run has the potential to bury a club and their playoff hopes. Recovery time will be at an absolute minimum from these setbacks and everyone will look to be at their sharpest when the puck drops on days one and two. Those highly passionate contests we're accustomed to seeing late in the year when teams are fighting for a postseason berth and in the postseason itself should be present straightaway because there is such a small margin for mishaps. It's odd to think of it, but the playoffs aren't too far away and the season is not underway even. Also, every player, from the ones who kept competing overseas or elsewhere to the individuals who sat idly by, will be aching to return to the ice for their respective organizations. Don't presume that any match will be a boring affair low on tenacity.
Pain in the groin: Marian Gaborik's lower body is often uncooperative, but a reduced season should keep it intact. (Photo courtesy of Bridget Samuels/ Flickr)
Injury Injustice
Marian Gaborik's groin and Martin Havlat's, well, body, should be pleased with the thought of a season nearly cut in half, although the latter is usually finding new and improved methods for a trip to the treatment table. He has come a long way since being demolished by Niklas Kronwall in 2009. For those whose bodies cannot handle a vigorous schedule, it will be helpful to suit up less and the playoffs will be improved through the same means because the likelihood of someone missing a series due to injurious matters is decreased. Truthfully, the heightened intensity of the matches will in all probability factor into the equation, as the checking will be more ferocious and the passions running high.
Toronto's Playoff Drought May Conclude
Speaking strictly from the viewpoint of this organization, the players and management should be looking forward to what is ahead. As the sole club to have failed to garner a single playoff berth between 2006 and 2012, the Toronto Maple Leafs are desperate, not that their attendance would show it. Having begun strongly last year and stayed in the thick of things until an epic collapse stalled them in February, there will not be a fifth month to do so in 2013. If they scrape together a few early victories and hang on for four months again, postseason hockey can return to Toronto. If not, they are one year closer to a ten-year anniversary for their previous playoff showing and Jeremy Roenick's dancing celebration which shut it down.
Conference Control
Defeat at the hands of a squad from a separate conference carried a minor note to take comfort in, which was that the points could not be used against you in a playoff race. Dropping any game will be extra problematic now because neither conference will venture outside of its parameters and the window of opportunity is tiny. As usual, postseason placements will come down to the wire and in lieu of these inner conference battles that shall be presented on a daily basis, every match will hold extra weight. Standings in both conferences are going to fluctuate more than Alexander Semin's performances.
Expect the unexpected in 2013 for player production and team positioning, since all of the new invariables create unpredictability. Out of the current list of NHL players, most of them cannot say they've been involved in a half season, so how will it effect them? Will trophies be shockingly awarded to someone who caught fire quickly? What about playoff seeds? In 1995, also a year which saw a 48-game schedule, Alexei Zhamnov was the third-best producer and outpaced Wayne Gretzky. Certain prognostications are likely to unfold as they should, but the amount of twists in the tale will definitely underline the year.
Compressed NHL Season Brought More Delight Than Despair


Nick and I moved into our current apartment around September 2016 and we've had so many cats around us for the past few years that I couldn't bare with the silence around me. At the time I only worked 3 full days of the week. Nick wanted to wait a little bit longer until we've had really settled into our apartment, but I really missed having cats around me. My partner and I really wanted to adopt an older cat to give it another chance and loving home instead of a young kitten. We'd been looking around at shelters and a Dutch website called Marketplace.
We got Onyx in the beginning of October 2016 and he was in such bad health at the time. His skin was really dry (and flaky) and his fur very dull. He must have been underweight because you could literally count his ribs and he's always been really social but frightened at the same time. His previous owner could not take care of him anymore and he's been fed dog food and treats most of the time, because they had a dog as well and it was cheaper to feed them both the same stuff. Onyx had been online for over a year and nobody wanted him because he only has three legs. His previous owner told us that her children found Onyx in the bushes when they were playing outside. They called the animal ambulance and wanted to be informed about Onyx's health. Onyx was only a six-month old kitten at the time and probably had been living on the streets since he was born. There was no trace of any other kittens or his parents so there is a possibility that he might've been put on the streets or had lost his family. He was in really bad health and one of his back legs had to be amputated entirely because it was shattered all the way up. They decided they wanted to adopt Onyx and they first named him Speedy, later on they changed his name to Onyx. Sometimes I use both names, because he still seems to be responding to the name Speedy and somehow he gets very playful and cheeky when I call him that. I fell in love as soon as I met him and seeing the state he was in I decided he was coming home with me no matter what. He was so social straight away and wanted to be lifted up and being cuddled. Our friend that works with animals was with us as well and we were blown away by the stories they told us. They lived on the third floor of a flat and found it perfectly normal for Onyx to jump off of the balcony to go for a wander. They told us he loved dog snacks and never got fed any cat wet food, because he didn't like it.
This was Onyx on the first few days he was with us.
And this is Onyx nowadays.
I had grown up with the idea that there was only Whiskas, Felix and other supermarket dry and wet food for cats and that it was good for them. I was so wrong! Our friend who came with us when we picked Onyx up actually told me that supermarket food is the worst thing you can feed your feline friend. You can compare it to eating junkfood as a human being on a daily basis and thus not getting anything good or filling into your body at all. I wish everyone would know that, and when they do, do something with it. Sadly, a lot of people don't care and keep feeding their feline friends the bad stuff because 'otherwise they wouldn't sell it in the stores'. A ton of people think better food for cats are extremely expensive, but to be honest, it doesn't always have to be extremely expensive.
Onyx actually did seem to like wet food, unlike his previous owners have told us. Just after Christmas Onyx got sick and we couldn't find out why. On the day of New Years Eve I took him to the vet and they were surprised by the fact that Onyx didn't look or behaved sickly at all. His fur was really shiny and he was quite active as well. They gave him an injection and medicine, because they thought his stomach might have been infected or irritated and told me to try grain-free and high quality cat food instead of Whiskas for example. I only gave him cooked chicken and fish with rice for a couple of weeks, until he had finished the medication we got to take home with us. Onyx not only started feeling better, but also started getting A LOT less aggressive. We've had Onyx for a couple of months and he usually was alright with Nick but he didn't seem to like me very much (unless I fed him). It came to a point where I was actually frightened of my own cat (and I'm not frightened of animals very easily). Whatever I did, or rather didn't do, he kept attacking me. For example; sometimes I keep my arms on the side of the couch (hanging you could say) and he would just run up to me and scratching and biting my face until I pulled away. Then he would usually still jump at me and continue biting and scratching me anywhere he could reach me. Believe me, I bled a lot. I got frightened that he might attack me while I was sleeping and scratch my eyeball out or something and sometimes he did attack me while I was asleep. We just couldn't find out what the reason was and if Onyx would have continued attacking me like that, we would have make a decision if it was wise to find him another home.
I'd been doing a lot of research and asking around on cat behaviour forums trying to find a solution to his aggression and it got me a lot of sleepless nights because I was so happy to have given Onyx a lovely home. Not too long after he finished his medication I decided to do something with the tips I had gotten on the cat forums and I started buying him good quality, grainfree food. I think I started with Applaws straight away and he seemed to like that brand more than any other brands. Applaws has at least 60% of meat in their food. I started off with the lamb version and got to the chicken/salmon version a couple of months ago because that's his favourite one. I think around last summer I started noticing a difference in Onyx's behaviour and he seemed to be a lot calmer as well. We kept getting him a variety of toys to play with and two big scratching posts as well. Very slowly Onyx started to attack me less and actually came up to me for a cuddle. We were so happy to see the change and nowadays Onyx loves cuddling with me. He still is a daddy's boy but I can happily tell you that he loves laying and cuddling with me as well.
Onyx also is a very loud cat. He loves talking to us all day long and follows me throughout the entire house. He gets angry and sad when I close a door behind me and I can't shower with the door closed (which I don't mind anyway), because Onyx would keep shouting and scratching the door. It's only recently that I found out Onyx is part Siamese and definitely has most traits of a full Siamese (except that he is black and hasn't got blue eyes). That seems to explain a lot and gave us more insight of his behaviour and his need of attention from us all the time.
Anyway, not too long ago I decided I wanted to do something with the information I had learned and found out that there isn't a lot of information out there, unless you specifically google it. There also aren't a lot of reviews out there, either cat food or toy-wise. So here we are, Onyx and I. I absolutely won't stop doing what I've been doing for years, but I will be adding a few more categories on this blog, hoping to get some more information and reviews out there and helping people making choices a bit easier .
You can always tell a cat is healthy when it has a beautiful, glossy coat of fur. Sanabelle Shiny Hair Snacks are a tasty, easily digested treat for between meals, that can help to support your cat's skin and coat with essential fatty acids, especially Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils.
Many cats cannot digest wheat or gluten, so Sanabelle Shiny Hair Snacks don't contain any – making them extra easy to digest. The recipe contains linseed, which is particularly rich in unsaturated fatty acids that can support your pet's digestion. Extra ingredients such as chicory powder and yucca extract have a prebiotic effect and can also have a positive effect on the digestive tract. Dried fruits, such as lingonberries and blueberries, provide valuable vitamins. These balanced, delicious snacks are packed full of healthy nutrients, and come in a handy resealable container.
Poultry meal, maize, barley, animal fat, salmon meal (min. 5%), liver meal, meat hydrolysate, dried greaves, meat meal, cellulose fibres, dried egg, dried beet pulp (desugared), linseed (min. 2%), dried yeast, fish oil (min. 0.6%), potassium chloride, sodium chloride, dried lingonberries, dried blueberries, muscle meat meal, chicory powder, dried marigold, yucca extract.
Vitamin A (25,000 IE/kg), Vitamin D3 (1,500 IE/kg), Vitamin E (600 mg/kg), Vitamin B1 (20 mg/kg), Vitamin B2 (22 mg/kg), Vitamin B6 (20 mg/kg), Vitamin B12 (40 mg/kg), Biotin (400 mg/kg), pantothenic acid (20 mg/kg), niacin (80 mg/kg), folic acid (2 mg/kg), choline chloride (2,450 mg/kg), taurine (2.000 mg/kg), zinc [as zinc oxide] (30 mg/kg), zinc [as amino acid-zinc chelate, hydrate] (75 mg/kg), copper [as copper-(II)-sulphate, pentahydrate] (10 mg/kg), iodine [als calcium iodate, anhydrate] (2 mg/kg), selenium [as sodium selenite] (0.2 mg/kg).
How does it look, smell and taste (tasted by Onyx of course)?
The treats are not too big or too hard. They smell rather nice and Onyx couldn't wait to open the container. He helped himself and it looked like he absolutely loves them.
I bought the container from Zooplus.nl and it cost €1.79 for 150 grams of product (treats usually contain about 30 grams of product so this container contains quite a lot for it's price). You can also purchase a saver pack, which contains 3 containers for €4.99.
The prices seem to differ from time to time and they might be different on the UK website from Zooplus for example. It's really affordable and a great snack for your loved one!
This snack is definitely going to be a repeater every month when I do the cat groceries. It's affordable, grain free and Onyx really loves it. Win-win!
If I have to believe Onyx, it's definitely worth 5 out of 5 paws.
🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾/5!


The Middle Tennessee Vocal Association (MTVA) announced the students selected to be members of the Elementary Honors Choir and the Middle School Honors Choir.
The honors choirs are similar to the mid-state choir for high school students. The Elementary Honors Choir accepts students until sixth grade. The Middle School Honors Choir is made up of seventh and eighth grade students. Auditions for the choir were held at the end of October, where students were graded on their pitch, musicality, tone, rhythm and diction.
These students will perform in the Elementary/Middle School Honors event on January 22.
Previous articleOBITUARY: Dana Wendel Dolzen, Sr.


text:
Profile / History
E.E. Reed News
Building Within
At E.E. Reed Construction, we are committed and involved with a variety of community activities and have been since our founding in 1977. Our employees participate in a mixture of philanthropic activities, including:
BP MS 150 Bike Ride
E.E. Reed volunteers and has employee participation in the 180-mile, MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin as a part of the Houston Builders team.
Run for the Rose
Each year, the company participates in this annual run/walk to support brain cancer research. E.E. Reed's team, Jan's Crusaders, pays tribute to former E.E. Reed employee, Jan Crews.
Lunches of Love
E.E. Reed employees volunteer throughout the year for this Fort Bend County cause. Lunches of Love provides nutritious lunches Monday-Friday during extended school holidays for children in need.
Badges and Bears
Each year, E.E. Reed Construction participates in the Houston Police Department's Badges and Bears Program. The collected bears are distributed to the Houston Police and Fire Departments so that officers and firefighters can carry them in their patrol units, fire trucks and ambulances. The bears are used to comfort children who may have suffered a traumatic experience or been involved in a catastrophic situation.
© 2020 E.E. Reed Construction, L.P. | 281.933.4000

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
// Copyright (c) 2008-2022, Hazelcast, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

using System;
using Hazelcast.Core;
using Hazelcast.Serialization;
using Hazelcast.Serialization.ConstantSerializers;
using Hazelcast.Tests.Serialization.Objects;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions;
using NUnit.Framework;

namespace Hazelcast.Tests.Serialization
{
    internal class DataInputOutputTest
    {
        private static readonly object[] DataCases =
        {
            new object[]{Endianness.BigEndian, 0 },
            new object[]{Endianness.BigEndian, 1 },
            new object[]{Endianness.BigEndian, 2 },
            new object[]{Endianness.BigEndian, 3 },
            new object[]{Endianness.BigEndian, 4 },
            new object[]{Endianness.BigEndian, 10 },

            new object[]{Endianness.LittleEndian, 0 },
            new object[]{Endianness.LittleEndian, 1 },
            new object[]{Endianness.LittleEndian, 2 },
            new object[]{Endianness.LittleEndian, 3 },
            new object[]{Endianness.LittleEndian, 4 },
            new object[]{Endianness.LittleEndian, 10 }
        };

        [TestCaseSource(nameof(DataCases))]
        public virtual void TestDataInputOutputWithPortable(Endianness endianness, int arraySize)
        {
            var portable = KitchenSinkPortable.Generate(arraySize);

            var config = new SerializationOptions();
            config.AddPortableFactory(KitchenSinkPortableFactory.FactoryId, typeof(KitchenSinkPortableFactory));

            using var ss = new SerializationServiceBuilder(config, new NullLoggerFactory())
                .SetEndianness(endianness).Build();

            IObjectDataOutput output = ss.CreateObjectDataOutput(1024);
            output.WriteObject(portable);
            var data = output.ToByteArray();

            IObjectDataInput input = ss.CreateObjectDataInput(data);
            var readObject = input.ReadObject<IPortable>();

            Assert.AreEqual(portable, readObject);
        }

        [TestCaseSource(nameof(DataCases))]
        public virtual void TestInputOutputWithPortableReader(Endianness endianness, int arraySize)
        {
            var portable = KitchenSinkPortable.Generate(arraySize);

            var config = new SerializationOptions();
            config.AddPortableFactory(KitchenSinkPortableFactory.FactoryId, typeof(KitchenSinkPortableFactory));

            using var ss = new SerializationServiceBuilder(config, new NullLoggerFactory())
                .SetEndianness(endianness).Build();

            var data = ss.ToData(portable);
            var reader = ss.CreatePortableReader(data);

            var actual = new KitchenSinkPortable();
            actual.ReadPortable(reader);

            Assert.AreEqual(portable, actual);
        }

        [TestCaseSource(nameof(DataCases))]
        public virtual void TestReadWrite(Endianness endianness, int arraySize)
        {
            var obj = KitchenSinkDataSerializable.Generate(arraySize);
            obj.Serializable = KitchenSinkDataSerializable.Generate(arraySize);

            using var ss = new SerializationServiceBuilder(new NullLoggerFactory())
                .AddDefinitions(new ConstantSerializerDefinitions()) // use constant serializers not CLR serialization
                .AddDataSerializableFactory(1, new ArrayDataSerializableFactory(new Func<IIdentifiedDataSerializable>[]
                {
                    () => new KitchenSinkDataSerializable(),
                }))
                .SetEndianness(endianness).Build();

            IObjectDataOutput output = ss.CreateObjectDataOutput(1024);
            output.WriteObject(obj);

            IObjectDataInput input = ss.CreateObjectDataInput(output.ToByteArray());
            var readObj = input.ReadObject<object>();
            Assert.AreEqual(obj, readObj);
        }

        [Test]
        public void TestNullValue_When_ReferenceType()
        {
            var ss = new SerializationServiceBuilder(new NullLoggerFactory())
               .Build();

            var output = ss.CreateObjectDataOutput(1024);
            ss.WriteObject(output, null, true);

            var input = ss.CreateObjectDataInput(output.ToByteArray());
            Assert.IsNull(ss.ReadObject<object>(input));
        }

        [Test]
        public void TestNullValue_When_ValueType()
        {
            Assert.Throws<SerializationException>(() =>
        {
            var ss = new SerializationServiceBuilder(new NullLoggerFactory())
               .Build();

            var output = ss.CreateObjectDataOutput(1024);
            ss.WriteObject(output, null, true);

            var input = ss.CreateObjectDataInput(output.ToByteArray());
            ss.ReadObject<int>(input);
        });
        }

        [Test]
        public void TestNullValue_When_NullableType()
        {
            var ss = new SerializationServiceBuilder(new NullLoggerFactory())
                .AddDefinitions(new ConstantSerializerDefinitions()) // use constant serializers not CLR serialization
                .Build();

            var output = ss.CreateObjectDataOutput(1024);
            ss.WriteObject(output, 1, true);
            ss.WriteObject(output, null, true);

            var input = ss.CreateObjectDataInput(output.ToByteArray());
            Assert.AreEqual(1, ss.ReadObject<int?>(input));
            Assert.IsNull(ss.ReadObject<int?>(input));
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


OOPSLA 07 Workshop: "No Silver Bullet"
Article summaries -- some existing articles on the subject of "No Silver Bullet"
This is the website for the OOPSLA retrospective workshop -- a discussion of the issues in Frederick P. Brooks' 1987 article No Silver Bullet.
What if we had a chance to rewrite Brooks' article today? What have we learned about effective software development techniques over the last 20 years? Do we have some experiences that reinforce Brooks' thesis?
This workshop will be a working session -- to identify the areas of reality and fiction in the Brooks article, and to develop the outline of an "updated edition" of No Silver Bullet.


text:
Nestlé Recalls Chocolate Powder Due To Salmonella Concerns
Home » Nestlé Recalls Chocolate Powder Due To Salmonella Concerns
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Nestlé Recalls Chocolate Powder Due To Salmonella Concerns2013-08-202016-09-27https://www.gwclaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/logo-gwclaw-dark.pngGWC Injury Lawyers LLChttps://www.gwclaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/logo-gwclaw-dark.png200px200px
Food manufacturing giant Nestlé USA recently announced that it would recall some varieties of Nestlé NESQUIK Chocolate Powder due to concerns about salmonella. Nestlés recall comes after one of its calcium carbonate suppliers recalled its products because of salmonella reports.
Salmonella contamination is one of the most common causes for food-based product liability lawsuits and recalls. Salmonella is a bacterium which can create an infection called Salmonellosis, more commonly called salmonella poisoning.
The majority of people who come down with salmonella poisoning develop fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea within a day or two of infection. The health effects of salmonella poisoning typically last up to a week and many people recover without treatment. However, there are many cases in which a patients diarrhea becomes so severe that hospitalization is required.
Children are the most likely to get salmonellosis, CDC experts said. The rate of diagnosed infections in children less than five years old is higher than the rate in all other persons. Young children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised are the most likely to have severe infections. It is estimated that approximately 400 persons die each year with acute salmonellosis.
Nestlé says that its chocolate powder recall is voluntary and that no illnesses have been linked to its products.
Source: FDA, Nestlé USA Announces Voluntary Recall of NESQUIK Chocolate Powder, Nov. 8, 2012


text:
The Daily Upside
Ferragamo Kicks Suitors To The Curb
Smart, keep it in the family.
This story is brought to you by The Daily Upside. For more crisp and insightful content, you can sign up for the free Daily Upside newsletter here.
The Ferragamo family — the majority shareholders of the luxury brand adored for its fashionable attire and flair of European sophistication — has called off plans to sell a minority stake in the company.
Instead, Ferragamo is reportedly working to overhaul the management team and hire independent board members to replace an outfit currently dominated by family and friends. And maybe even a few button men.
Like many other luxury goods companies, Ferragamo has suffered through the pandemic with the prolonged closure of boutiques and the reality that no one needed $695 loafers last year. 'Gamo's revenue dropped 39% during the first nine months of 2020.
Last year the Ferragamo family — which owns a 54% stake in the Milan-listed company — explored selling a minority stake to raise capital. But according to the Financial Times, buyers were put off by the fact the family refused to relinquish control of the company's governance.
New Talent: Now that a stake-sale has been taken off the table, Ferragamo is focusing on relaunching the brand with the help of a new management team:
Last week the company appointed former Goldman Sachs banker Claudio Costamagna to the board following the resignation of Giuseppe Anichini.
Contracts for Ferragamo's creative director and chief executive, which will expire in the next few months, are reportedly unlikely to be renewed.
The Takeaway: No comment from the Ferragamo family. Makes sense - you never tell anyone outside the family what you're thinking.
The Daily Upsidecorporate governanceFashionGoldman SachsFerragamoClaudio CostamagnaFamily Businesses
Gary Cohn Won't Give It Up
Because he earned it.
Christian Louboutin Finds His Price
And an Italian dynasty heads to France.
The Rubik's Cube Is About To Hit The Big Screen
Step aside, Beth Harmon.
David Beckham Has Still Got It
Victoria, not so much.
Dunkin' Is In Talks To Be Swallowed
Try not to let your eyes glaze over on this story.
Billionaire Oligarchs Take An L
And anonymity is no longer an option.
The Bodega Gets A Makeover
To the tune of $42 million.
Europe Is Socially Distancing From The U.K.
Here's what to know.


We have introduced over 25 Adobe AIR&Flex applications for images on 25+ Very Cool Adobe AIR/Flex Applications for Images & Photos. All of them are very useful! But AIR apps can also be used for video enthusiasts. Take a look through the 20+ apps we've gathered for you, and you are sure to find something useful.


April 28th, May is knocking on. Due to the mild winter, nature is more developed than in recent years.
All shrubs and trees are leafy and all perennials are expelled.
With a bit of luck, the ornamental apples and ornamental cherries are still blooming.
Early perennials such as catnip and cranesbill show up with the first flowers.


A new species from Madagascar, Lesliegraecum elzbietae Mytnik, Szlach. & Olędrz. (Orchidaceae, Angraecinae) is described and illustrated. The morphological description is complemented with data of ecology and distribution of the species. The taxonomic affinities of the new taxon are discussed and key to determination of all Lesliegraecum representatives is provided.


text:
#ifndef TORUSGEOM_H
#define TORUSGEOM_H

/** \file torusgeom.h
 Contains the torus geometry class.
 */

#include "geomobject.h"
#include "proceduralslot.h"
#include "sor_triangulator.h"

// Define the CGKIT_SHARED variable
#ifdef DLL_EXPORT_SPHEREGEOM
  #include "shared_export.h"
#else
  #include "shared.h"
#endif

namespace support3d {

/**
  Torus geometry.
 */
class CGKIT_SHARED TorusGeom : public GeomObject
{
  public:
  /// Major radius
  Slot<double> major;
  /// Minor radius
  Slot<double> minor;
  /// Number of segments in u
  Slot<int> segmentsu;
  /// Number of segments in v
  Slot<int> segmentsv;

  Slot<vec3d> cog;
  ProceduralSlot<mat3d, TorusGeom> inertiatensor;

  public:
  TorusGeom(double amajor=1.0, double aminor=0.1, int segsu=16, int segsv=8);
  ~TorusGeom();

  virtual BoundingBox boundingBox();
  virtual void drawGL();

  boost::shared_ptr<SizeConstraintBase> slotSizeConstraint(VarStorage storage) const;

  void computeInertiaTensor(mat3d& tensor);

  virtual void convert(GeomObject* target);

  private:
  void createSilhouette(SORTriangulator::SORVertexList& vlist);
};

}  // end of namespace

#endif


text:
You are here: Home » Blog » Calendar » Community Calendar
haw | February 20, 2010	| 0 Comments
Send announcements to community@hawaiiarmyweekly.com.
19 / Today
Oahu South Stable Call — The Fort Shafter Hale Ikena is hosting a "Stable Call" for all Oahu South-based units and organizations, today, at 4 p.m. All Soldiers and Department of Defense-affiliated civilians working for units and organizations within the Oahu South area are invited to enjoy an evening of great food, great music and great camaraderie. Tickets are $8. Tickets include free pupus and a chance to win door prizes. Call 438-1974.
20 / Saturday
IRS Assistance Available — The Honolulu IRS office will be open Feb. 20, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. IRS employees will answer questions for taxpayers on the full range of tax law provisions such as the new allowance for $2,400 of tax-free unemployment compensation benefits. Call 1-800-906-9887.
23 / Tuesday
Black History Celebration — 25th Infantry Division will host "The History of Black Economic Empowerment," Feb. 23, 10 a.m., at the Nehelani, Schofield Barracks. Guest speaker will be "Famous Wally Amos" founder of "Chip and Cookie." Call 655-5183.
PWOC Meeting — Join the Protestant Women of the Chapel for food, fun and fellowship as guest speaker Julie Daubenspeck from Cracked Egg Ministries and author of May I See the King will speak on healing and brokenness, Feb. 23, 9 a.m., at the Schofield Barracks Main Post Chapel Annex, Room 212. Free limited child care is available with R.S.V.P. Call Valerie at 753-3584 or e-mail valeriepowc@me.com.
Wet Hens Sailing Course — Sign-ups for this nine-week beginning sailing course will be held Feb. 23 at Hickam Harbor from 9-11 a.m. The class will meet at Hickam Harbor, Thursdays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. from March 25-May 20 and costs $80. Call Sandi Hanlon at 450-3729 or Teresa Brown, 772-4114.
25 / Thursday
Kolekole Pass Closure — Kolekole Pass will be closed Feb. 25-27 to allow for live-fire training. Additionally, movement from Lualualai to Kolekole will not be permitted.
Ask The Commander — The next "Ask the Commander" community television taping is scheduled, Feb. 25, 3-4 p.m., at the Schofield Barracks Post Exchange. U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii community members are encouraged to ask their questions on camera during an open session. Questions for the commander can also be submitted by e-mail, at any time, to askthecommander.usaghi@us.army.mil or online at the "Ask the Commander" mailbox link at www.garrison.hawaii.army.mil.
Operation Kid Comfort — Comfort, create, unite. Operation Kid Comfort creates comfort quilts and pillows for children of deployed service men and women, and offers an opportunity for America to unite in support of military families. E-mail the Armed Services YMCA for more information at pearlharbor@asymcahi.org or call 473-3398.
1 / Monday
Oahu North Community Council — The next PX/Commissary/Nehelani Advisory Council Meeting is scheduled March 1, 10:15-11:15 a.m., at the Nehelani, Schofield Barracks.
12 / Friday
Honolulu Festival — The 16th Annual Honolulu Festival will showcase cultural performances, exhibits and a parade at four locations downtown, March 12-14. The festival promotes understanding, economic cooperation and ethnic harmony between the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim region. For a schedule and list of events, visit www.honolulufestival.com.
Art and Essay Contest — The Armed Services YMCA's annual art and essay contest invites students in grades 1-12 to write an essay about "My Military Hero." Entries must be postmarked no later than March 19. Winning entrees will be displayed in a number of locations in the Washington D.C. area, and winners will be recognized at a luncheon on Capitol Hill. Entry forms are available at www.asymca.org.
Military Order of the Purple Heart — Are you on active duty or a veteran that has been wounded in combat? Have you been awarded a Purple Heart for those wounds? If so, you are invited to join the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Local chapters are located on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kuai and the Big Island. The Oahu chapter meets the second Saturday of every month. Visit www.purpleheart.org or call 433-0428 or 772-1963.
Sexual Assault Prevention — The Army has a sexual assault prevention program as part of its "I.A.M. Strong" sexual assault prevention campaign. Visit www.preventsexualassault.army.mil.
Category: Calendar
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text:
Memorial Day Thanks
It is only fitting that we pause today to remember all those who have fought so hard to preserve our freedom. Whatever your opinion about war, you should raise your glass to everyone in our military (past and present) and to our allies around the globe. We're taking this opportunity to honor our fathers, who were part of the Greatest Generation.
Leah's father, Jerry, started in the Army but was immediately transferred to the Air Corps. He had some difficulty landing the PT-17 biplane (an open-cockpit, two-wing plane), so the Air Corps trained him as a radio observer. The mission was to guide pilots to shoot down German bombers before they reached England. His fighter squadron trained and waited, but they were never deployed in England.
One of the pilots in his squadron adopted a stray dog they named Radar, who flew on all of their training missions. Most every night, Radar would go with them to one of the local bars where they set up a special bar stool at bar level. The bartender would mix Radar a drink in his special bowl and Radar would imbibe from time to time. Some nights, Radar drank a little too much and spent most the next day's flight sleeping in the cockpit. Jerry was discharged (nothing to do with Radar) in March 1944 after serving two years. He married and they eventually settled for a time in the San Francisco Bay Area. They now live in the Willamette Valley wine region of Oregon.
My father, Joe, was in the Army infantry for four years, stationed first in North Africa and later in Italy. He was literally a GI Joe and, when the time came to force Hitler north and liberate Italy, Joe's division departed North Africa for the southern tip of Italy and began marching north, eventually breaking through Hitler's last major defensive line and reaching Milan. He spent a lot of time in Tuscany, first near Pisa and later in a small town named Monticello near Florence, where he got to know the local mayor. I asked him what was his best memory of Monticello and he said, "They had very nice wine."
In 1945, the German forces in Italy surrendered in late April and Germany itself surrendered on V-E Day in early May. While in Africa, Joe remarked that the weather was perfect and a fellow soldier said it was just like his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. After his discharge in October 1945 after more than four years of service, Joe married the woman who had waited for him, finished school and moved to a suburb of San Francisco, less than an hour from the Napa Valley wine region.
We are able to enjoy our freedom today because of our fathers and so many people like them (and our mothers who gave them so much support). For that, and their decisions to eventually settle in and around some of the greatest wine regions in the world, we can't thank them enough.
Note: Joe passed peacefully on March 24, 2009 at age 88.
(Photos courtesy of Warbird Alley, National Archives and Owens Archive, respectively.)
Filed Under: Blogs, Holidays, Italy, Memorials


We're excited to announce that the following races are SOLD OUT!
For those of you who are registered, CONGRATULATIONS, you're in! If you were still trying to nail down your plans you might still have some options (see below). We don't have waitlists (more about that here) but we do have a variety of other beautiful events to choose from. Hopefully you can check something else off your bucket list.
Option 2: Try to buy someone else's bib.
Option 3: Sign up for the 100 Miler and then just drop out of the race once you hit 50 miles or 55K. You'll get a DNF on the official books but you'll still get a finisher award.
Ryan claims to be a "product in infinite beta". He loves hamburgers and peanut butter (but not together) and he should run more. He also really enjoys writing bios in the 3rd person.


An opportunity to add your unique Rotary Grace for general use. Please send your own suggestions.
If you like what you see, or use the graces a small donation to our Charity Account would be appreciated. Please click on the BT icon.
and the friends below never fall out.
Bless the Chef and all who serve us from indigestion, Lord preserve us.
to good Service, we give our all.
and nowhere called home to rest their feet.
Bless this food to our use, and us to thy service.
Fill our hearts with grateful praise.
May we give thanks for this our food.
We give our grateful thanks to Thee , O Lord. Amen.
and freedom from the washing up.
We thank you, Lord. Amen.
for friends when others are lonely.
In a world where so many are lonely, may we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
May this food restore our strength, giving new energy to tired limbs, new thoughts to weary minds.
May this drink restore our souls, giving new vision to dry spirits, new warmth to cold hearts.
And once refreshed, may we give new pleasure to You, who gives us all.
Good wine, good meat, good God let's eat!
Through Jesus Christ our risen Lord.
Who seek to turn it back again.
All those whom life has left behind.
God make us truly grateful.
Of Bread and Meat and Wine.
In kindness to others show.
To serve our fellow men.
It wud a been etton.
Sae let the Lord be thankit!
Let us offer thanks for our food, blessings for one another.
and contentment for those who are lonely.
Let us give gratitude for our opportunity to serve Rotary.
Thanks be to God our creator divine.
And bless our hearts that we may be, aware of what we owe to Thee.
Remember those who would eat, if they could.
We thank thee Lord, Amen.
To fulfil thy purpose of service.
Then thank God for our daily feed.
Lord make us truly thankful for good company, pleasant conversation, and for the patience of an indulgent President.
Keep us ever mindful of the watchful eye of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and his ever pressing need to fill the bottomless coffers of the Treasurer.
And let us be granted freedom from the ravages of old age, especially those that leave us weak and limp when we need to be firm and upstanding. Amen.
(Comments need to be approved by the club administrator before they can be displayed here).
Comment: For good food and good fellowship and the opportunity to serve, we give thanks.


text:
Board index Railroading and Railfanning by Region and State Midwestern Railfan
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in the American Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas. For questions specific to a railroad company, please seek the appropriate forum.
Moderator: railohio
WNYRailfan
Location: Pickerington, OH
Post by WNYRailfan » Mon Apr 05, 2004 6:53 pm
What were the names of the railroads that utilized the terminal in Marion, OH?
What tracks border the station/museum?
Note: Old names and new names would be helpful
What can a railfan do in Marion today?
Is there still lots of rail action today?
Can you still see the signal bridge that was in Emery Goulash's videos?
catfoodflambe
Post by catfoodflambe » Mon Apr 05, 2004 8:00 pm
Marion is still a great place to watch trains - you can literally be trackside and still be off railroad property. The place is very popular on nice days.
The signal bridge is gone, unfortunately.
The north-south lines are relative simple - the PRR/N&W/Norfolk Southern main from Columbus to Sandusky runs along the east side of the station.
The Hocking Valley/C&O/CSX Columbus-Toledo line runs along the west side of the station.
Along the north side of the station, the old Erie/Erie Lackawanna and Big Four/NYC/PC came into town from the east on what functioned as a double-track main line from Akron and Cleveland respectively. Just west of the station, the two lines split - the Erie-EL peeling west-northwest to Lima and Chicago, and the NYC/PC going west-southwest to Bellefontaine and Indianaoplis. In addition, the Erie/EL Dayton branch took off to the southwest at the same location. The Erie/EL maintained a sizable yard opening up west of the station.
All of this was merged into Conrail in 1976. CR pulled up the Erie/EL side of the eastern line as well as the Dayton branch. The yard is still there, however.
CSX, of course, purchased the Big Four/NYC/PC/CR line in 1999. Today, they run a great deal of traffic over the connection between their north-south line and their east-west line - carload traffic moving into and out of Williard from Cincinnati and Indy, plus intermodal traffic moving south off the old B&O main line to Columbus (it goes west to Ridgeway, then south to Marysville and the IM yard in the west side of Columbus - the straight shot south involves very unfavorable connection layouts and traffic situations in downtown Columbus.).
nycrick
Post by nycrick » Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:27 pm
Don't forget AC tower and the Marion MR Club. AC Tower was moved from the northside of the EL/Big 4 main to Marion Union Station property(about 100') and is now open to the public. The MR club occupies the western portion of the building & is open on weekends.
Rick Kolhoff
Post by MR77100 » Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:12 pm
When was the EL branch ripped up? I know it was cut back to Richwood at one point?
Return to "Midwestern Railfan"


text:
In memory of Valery Legasov
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the accident at the Soviet nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, it is appropriate to commemorate the life of the academician, Valery Legasov, who in addition to his indisputable scientific accomplishments, also demonstrated a total independence of spirit and complete sincerity regarding this disastrous accident.
The accident took place on 26 April 1986 and it was in the following August at a special meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna, that Valery Legasov presented a detailed account of the accident to some hundreds of experts, revealing its astounding causes and the truly tragic consequences.
This honest presentation which shared details of the errors in the actions taken by skilled persons within Soviet society was something quite unusual, even inconceivable. Within a few days the rest of the nuclear community learned further reliable information concerning the destroyed RBMK type reactor; about the way in which it was exploited and how it was poorly operated during the transient which preceded the accident and what happened during the accident itself.
Over the three months preceding, the nuclear community had devised numerous hypotheses on the cause of the accident; all were wrong.
Valery Legasov, in stark opposition to the normal secrecy exhibited by his political leaders, had made a truthful presentation of what had happened.
Having been exposed to radiation himself at the Chernobyl site and having undertaken in Vienna to implement immediately the most urgent provisions to avoid a repetition of this accident, two years later physically weakened and demoralised by the absence of such provisions, the brilliant academician, Valery Legasov, committed suicide.
Currently, the nuclear disaster which has taken place in Japan is often reminiscent of Chernobyl. Nevertheless, the types of reactors are very different, the geological and geographic environments are completely different and the consequences will be different too. Let's hope that there will be a Japanese Valery Legasov who, when the time comes, will reveal the causes and exactly what happened in the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Some countries are preparing to decommission their nuclear power plants or at least, abandon the construction of any others. Some countries are refusing to take such measures. It's their choice. But the accident in Japan should at least give rise to a universal critical assessment, in a reliable and in-depth manner, and eventually lead to the same levels of security being adopted throughout the world. It's no easy task, but from an ethical perspective it's a crucial obligation.
European Energy Forum
Square Eugène Plasky 92-94, bte 14 1030 Brussels


text:
Bargain and Free eBooks for Tuesday (5/27)
Today's News and Notes:
Enjoy today's selection of free ebooks!
★ BOOK OF THE DAY ★
Slow Burn: Zero Day, Book 1
by Bobby Adair
Get This Book for FREE
Survive the infection! Survive the Infected!
A new flu strain has been spreading across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Disturbing news footage is flooding the cable news channels. People are worried. People are frightened. But Zed Zane is oblivious.
Zed needs to borrow rent money from his parents. He gets up Sunday morning, drinks enough tequila to stifle his pride and heads to his mom's house for a lunch of begging, again.
But something is wrong. There's blood in the foyer. His mother's corpse is on the living room floor. Zed's stepdad, Dan is wild with crazy-eyed violence and attacks Zed when he comes into the house. They struggle into the kitchen. Dan's yellow teeth tear at Zed's arm but Zed grabs a knife and stabs Dan, thirty-seven times, or so the police later say.
With infection burning in his blood, Zed is arrested for murder but the world is falling apart and he soon finds himself back on the street, fighting for his life among the infected who would kill him and the normal people, who fear him.
(Note: Books were free when this was sent. Check the price before downloading as prices may have changed.)
You Belong With Me
by Shannon Guymon
Layla Kendall is the oldest of three sisters. She's a burned out social worker one step away from a major depression and she needs a fresh start. When she and her sisters Kit and Jane inherit their grandmother's bakery, she doesn't know if she can trust her good fortune or not. Life has taught her that happiness is just an illusion. But the chance to be with her sisters and get away from the heart ache and pain she's faced day in and day out is a chance she's going to take. The fact that they don't know anything about running a bakery won't stop them. With Layla's new life, come new connections and friendships including Michael Bender, a single dad and someone who wouldn't mind getting to know Layla better.
She doesn't trust men and she doesn't want to change her mind but Michael's little girl Stella grabs her by the heart and won't let go. When Layla and her sisters realize that there are people who want to see them fail, it will take a lot of heart and courage to keep going. Layla will have to let go of the past in order to grab onto the future if she'll ever find the love she needs.
by Marissa Farrar
Caught in a violent and abusive relationship, Serenity thinks there is no escape.
Upon meeting a stranger, Sebastian, she is shown the possibility of a different future.
Only Sebastian has a dark secret; he is a vampire.
As Serenity's life takes a terrifying turn, she finds herself drawn into a world she never knew existed; one of murder, love and immortality. She is forced to confront her own weaknesses to save both her own life and that of the vampire she has come to love. But in the end all that matters is; can she find the strength to be Alone?
Vegan Cooking For Meat Addicts: 50 Vegan Recipes Carnivores Will Love
by Michael E. Reese
People choose a vegan lifestyle for health, ethical and environmental reasons. Most people experience a lot of health benefits on a vegan diet. The key to a good vegan diet is having variety that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts.
Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn After Downloading "Vegan Cooking For Meat Addicts" Kindle book:
Vegan Lunch
Vegan Dinner
Take Action Right Away To Cook Delicious Vegan Food.
The Silent Reporter
by Mobashar Qureshi
A reporter investigates the suicide of his professor, only to stumble upon a conspiracy that is bigger than he had imagined.
Hyder Ali, a Muslim-American, is working as a reporter for the Daily Times. Eric Freeland, his old professor and mentor, is found hanging inside his home. Freeland's daughter, Jessica, shows up asking for Hyder's help. She believes her father was murdered.
Detective Tom Nolan is assigned the Freeland case. He is an alcoholic who would rather sit in a bar and get drunk than work on the case.
What looks like an apparent suicide soon turns into something more sinister when Hyder, Jessica, and Nolan begin searching for the truth.
Fire Burn And Cauldron Bubble
by H.P. Mallory
A self-deprecating witch with the unique ability to reanimate the dead.
A dangerously handsome warlock torn between being her boss and her would-be lover.
A six hundred year old English vampire with his own agenda; one that includes an appetite for witches.
The Underworld in a state of chaos.
Let the games begin.
Life isn't bad for psychic Jolie Wilkins. True, she doesn't have a love life to speak of, but she has a cute house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a cat and a quirky best friend.
Enter Rand Balfour, a sinfully attractive warlock who insists she's a witch and who just might turn her life upside down. Rand hires her to help him solve a mystery regarding the death of his client who also happens to be a ghost. Jolie not only uncovers the cause of the ghost's demise but, in the process, she brings him back to life!
Word of Jolie's incredible ability to bring back the dead spreads like wildfire, putting her at the top of the Underworld's most wanted list. Consequently, she finds herself at the center of a custody battle between a villainous witch, a dangerous but oh-so-sexy vampire, and her warlock boss, Rand.
by Richard Stephenson
America is falling, ready to join the Roman Empire as a distant memory in the annals of history. The year is 2027. Tired and desperate, the American people are deep in the middle of The Second Great Depression. The Florida coastline is in ruins from the most powerful hurricane on record; a second just like it is bearing down on the state of Texas. For the first time in history, the Middle East has united as one and amassed the most formidable army the world has seen since the Third Reich. A hidden army of terrorists is on American soil.
This is the story of three men: Howard Beck, the world's richest man, also diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Richard Dupree, ex-Navy SEAL turned escaped convict. Maxwell Harris, a crippled, burned out Chief of Police of a small Texas town. At first they must fight for their own survival against impossible odds. Finally, the three men must band together to save their beloved country from collapse.
by Kate Perry
When Treat Byrnes walks into her bookstore café, Eve Alexander wants to eat him up. Bad boy isn't her usual flavor, but for the attractive contractor, she's willing to take a walk on the wild side.
Treat meets Eve on a reconnaissance mission for his mother, who owns a neighboring teashop, but he keeps going back to Eve for her sweet smile and sassy shoes. He has a history of falling for damsels-in-distress, but Eve doesn't need rescuing. Not even when her café is sabotaged.
But when Treat finds out the saboteur is his own mother, he knows he has to do something before things go too far.
by Theresa Shaver
Five go by Land – Five go by Sea
A group of teens on a class trip to Disneyland are left stranded. An EMP over North America has destroyed everything electronic. No cars, no planes, no phones, no electricity. Refusing to wait for someone else to help them, ten courageous young people take charge of their future and choose to begin the long journey home. 1500 miles of adventure and lawless country await. Will their determination be enough?
Alex, Quinn, Josh, Cooper and Dara – setting out on foot with nothing more than some soon to be worthless cash and a little advice from a trusted teacher, they walk through a burning city that has come to a halt. The devastation they see as they make their way out of the city is a small part of the horror that the nation will become. As the days go by with no food deliveries and no water flowing from taps, civilization will start to crumble and it will be survival of the fittest. With five States and half a Province to cross they will need to plan well, count on each other and pray for a little luck. Even with that, chances are slim of getting home when you are Stranded.
Freak Of Nature: Book 1 In The Lost Witch Trilogy
by Katie Lee O'Guinn
Sarah Hudson refuses to believe she's a witch regardless of what her aunt says. She prefers to call it psychokinesis. Sarah has been an outcast since her early teens because of her power. Labeling herself a witch would only make her life even more unbearable. But on the first day of school, a new boy named Zane Miner recognizes her power and decides that he's going to take her under his wing, whether she likes it not. Since he's gorgeous and just as powerful as she is, she's very tempted to let him. But her pull towards another loner threatens her new relationship.
As Sarah starts to accept her power she begins to realize that there are many people who would use her and break her into darkness. She must protect herself from her aunt and from a dark destiny that's determined to claim her. Sarah must turn to her new friends if she's going to survive and find the freedom and happiness she's always craved.
The Pelican Trees
by A Grateful Believer
Left out of her grandfather's will for no apparent reason, Shelby McKinney mysteriously receives a post-dated letter from him a few days later, stating that he hadn't forgotten about her after all. But if she wants her inheritance, she must find it buried six-feet beneath the sand somewhere in the state of Florida.
The only available clues, limited as they are, were stored in a bank safe-deposit box somewhere in the Sunshine State. Shelby is given ninety-days to locate the bank, decipher all clues and find her buried inheritance. If she doesn't find it within the ninety-day time frame, she'll be forced to forfeit it altogether.
Facing insurmountable odds, Shelby embarks on an exciting family adventure. It quickly turns dangerous when the wife and mother of three discovers she isn't the only one searching for the buried treasure chest. Six extremely dangerous, greedy men are carefully monitoring her every move, fully determined to use any and all necessary measures to steal it from her the moment she unearths it.
Not only does this tumultuous voyage of self-discovery nearly cost Shelby her life, she is also confronted by the ever-present spirit world like never before!
Soul-lifting…
But with one-hundred and forty strangers constantly praying for her, Shelby ultimately realizes the adventure her beloved grandfather sent her on was so much more than a personal quest to find her buried inheritance.
Life-transforming…
In the end, Shelby McKinney finds so much more than that underneath the pelican trees….
Tip Of The Toes
by Lily Lexington
This is a tale about a young ballerina as she prepares for her big concert. Follow her as she attempts to conquer her fears about performing in front of an audience in this heart warming tale.
Note: We have received compensation for some of the books mentioned above.
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"Men on there are so bold," says Jamanchi Orgi, a pre-med major at UNC Chapel Hill, as she discusses her latest unpleasant encounter with Tinder's finest.
After a few more laughs and joking around the conversation takes a steep turn. It becomes clear to me that their experience on tinder is something unique to black women.
As we delve deeper into the conversation we come to the conclusion that there's definitely a black experience to Tinder.
That last part brought back memories of the same foolishness we had to deal with in high school. All of us attended the same predominately white high school and during our time there were constantly baffled by the fact that none of the guys there would go for black girls.
Apparently we all matched with a lot of the preppy white boys and black guys who wouldn't go for black girls from our high school. We continued to laugh at the irony of it all; these were the same people that convinced us that we weren't on par with their eurocentric standards of beauty, yet here they are begging us for nudes with their corny pickup lines.
I come to realize that maybe since they can hide behind a screen, they may think that it's okay to pursue black girls.
We soon ended sharing our two cents about Tinder, but the conversation stuck with me enough to get me writing. The more and more I think about it the more I question Tinder's popularity, and what's it's really doing to black girls. Is it uplifting black women or putting them down?
Tinder has gotten much more publicity recently, and I think that this could be dangerous since it seems to be perpetuating the fetishizing of black women and maintaining this idea that black women are undesirable.
Then again maybe the anonymity that Tinder provides serves as a platform for men to view black girls romantically, and this could help lead us one step closer to popularizing interracial dating.
Honestly it all looks a little hazy to me, but hopefully my two cents will make sense to somebody reading this.
A few decades ago, Sistas didn't hava a problem in the world(!) finding husbands in our community. Then, what happened? You really have to start with Sista elders born before 1946. There are no accidents. I wrote Reconnecting With Your Black Consciousness [AuthorHouse $20 800-839-8640] which explains OBSESSIVE Black "I don't need a man"-ism. Whiteboys did NOT kidnap Sistas from Afrika to be LADIES. True or false: Whiteboys kidnapped Sistas from Afrika to be THEIR ghetto-gagging ghetto booty.


How many bras shall I have?
Is there an expiry date for underwear? And how long will it last?
How to find the right size brief that suits you?
How to wash your underwear?
How to redeem the shopping credits?
How long it would take to receive my order?


Thulani Mbenge – headed overseas for tough action in early 2018.
Dangerous Vincent Feigenbutz is next in line for SA's Ryno Liebenberg.
WBO bantamweight king Zolani Tete.
Colin Nathan taking Chinese fighters through their paces with the WBC's Bob Yalen in the foreground.
Kozanga Mwanza Youssef, who fights Johnny Muller on December 4.


text:
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<!DOCTYPE html
     PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
     "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

  <title>raise_block_failed_error (Spec::Mocks::ErrorGenerator)</title>
  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../.././rdoc-style.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />

# File lib/spec/mocks/error_generator.rb, line 33
      def raise_block_failed_error(sym, detail)
        __raise "#{intro} received :#{sym} but passed block failed with: #{detail}"
      end


Have you filed a provisional application?? if not i suggest to file a provisional application to block the priority date.
If a provisional application has been filed already taking priority from that file a non provisional application and express request for examination. If patent examiner feels that the claims cover more than one application then the examiner would request you to elect the one specific group from multiple inventions, for remaining groups you can file continuation or divisional applications.
Good question. In brief I would say: Need? No. Should? Probably yes. This leads naturally to the question "how many?", which has no simple answer, as it depends on your plans and the perceived value you hope to obtain from each additional patent.
Control of costs - only prosecuting one patent application at a time is easier on the cash flow, even if at the end you will file divisional applications and cost could be the same.
Control of process - if you have several uses for an invention, it may take time to figure out what is the best use and what features of invention best serve that.
Control of prosecution - makes it easier to control the scope you actually obtain in each eventually granted patent and reduces cross-talk between the prosecutions.
It allows you to focus each patent application on a different use of the invention. Often there are subsidiary inventions that are different for each application and may need separate description. You should prepare this separate description in any case, but filing separate applications tends to help the inventor's focus.
Licensing is easier if you have separate patents for each field of use.
Avoids the risk that the eventual patent will be considered to limited to whatever particular use you focus on in your "one" patent application.
Faster issuance of a licensable portfolio.
Just to be clear - legally, you can put as many inventions and/or uses as you want in one patent. What counts in the end is the claims. If you have claims to more than one invention, you will usually be required to choose which one to prosecute first, but you will usually be able to file a divisional patent application to the other inventions at a later time (country dependent).
Note: if you decide to go via the multiple-parallel route, you have some work to do on deciding which will be the patent with widest scope.


GenuWIN Sports Training is a 24,000 square foot sports complex which features two indoor fields (approximately 90′ x 90′ and 80′ x 85′) and seven full-size batting cages. There are two Jugs Baseball Machines and seven Jugs Super Softball Machines available for use. GenuWIN Sports Training instructors have years of professional training experience and offer championship quality instruction to allow young athletes to reach that next level and compete at the top of their ability. Marcy Kritikos is the owner and head instructor of GenuWIN Sports Training and spent five seasons as a high school coach and seven seasons as a college coach training athletes to compete as champions. Marcy and her staff performed over 12,000 private lessons last year from the beginner to the elite athlete. Our highly trained professional instructors know the latest techniques and methods to prepare the athlete physically and mentally to help them perform to the best of their ability.


Looking for Amazing Christmas Living Space Ideas for your Home?
Merry Christmas !! Well, It's the most wonderful time of year again. The spirit of the holidays is best expressed through the ways we decorate our home. The living room is a place of gathering, where we cozy up by the fire, unite to decorate the tree, and keep warm amidst the chilly winter weather. Look below for our favorite Christmas living rooms, which are sure to inspire your decor this season.
If you want to have An Amazing Christmas Living Space Ideas in your home. Maybe some recommendations from our team can provide inspiration to solve your problem. We hope our article can be inspire, enjoy.


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Photo provided by Gina Roth
City officials say they hope communication, rather than citations and fines, convince most people to wear mask in Oxford.
By Kenn Jones
Two years after Ohio's first diagnosed COVID-19 case, Butler County reached a record high positivity rating of 38.3% this week. This week also broke records from positive tests, with nearly 2% of the county testing positive as of Jan. 28, according to the county department of health.
Oxford City Council passed the new mask ordinance Jan. 18 with a vote of six to one, requiring masks be worn in all indoor public spaces. Assistant City Manager Jessica Greene said Oxford's mask ordinance was prompted by the high rates of positivity throughout the county. While the ordinance does include a fine of $100 per violation, Greene said that the goal is not enforcement, but rather communication.
"We're hoping for voluntary compliance and are focusing more on communication, rather than enforcement…" said Greene.
Various forms of communication have been utilized to spread the safety message to the public: 4,700 emails were sent to residents, signs have been sent out in the mail to businesses and social media has been utilized to update the public.
The omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus causes high rates of infection throughout Butler County. Photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Oxford City Police Department also plans to focus on communication rather than issuing tickets in terms of the mask mandate. Lt. Lara Fening explained the reason behind the lenient enforcement.
"It's very difficult to enforce so you have to think about the bigger picture," said Fening. "Oxford is this little island in the middle of areas with no restrictions. You have many transient people stop up here or pass through, and they just don't know."
Under the city's 2021 mask mandate, only about half a dozen citations were issued, Police Chief John Jones told council earlier this month.
On Jan. 24, Miami University began its spring semester with a new COVID-19 quarantine policy. With a limited quarantine space of 128 beds available, the university requires on-campus students who live within 150 miles to either return home or find local off-campus accommodations where they can quarantine if they test positive. The quarantine length reflects that of the CDC's policy. Currently, the university is reserving the on-campus quarantine spaces for confirmed positive cases in need of isolation. For close-contact or exposure quarantining, students are expected to find their own accommodations.
The university's website explains that students should only return home if there is a safe way to travel and that needs-based funding is available for those students who choose local accommodations.
While the city's mask ordinance came into effect around the time of students' arrival to campus, Greene said it was not a factor in the ordinance's passing.
"The ordinance was actually in response to high spread rates within the community," said Greene.
She also said that a portion of the ordinance that mentioned the return of Miami's students was removed because the council noted the student vaccination rate at the time was over 90% higher than the rest of the community.
Kenn Jones, Reporter
Kenn Jones is a senior at Miami University majoring in journalism and English/creative writing.
Talawanda to open Saturday vaccine clinics for children


Weather conditions: air temperature 83 degrees, relative humidity 47 percent, barometer 29.64 inches, adjusted altitude 2,623 feet, track temperature 121 degrees. Janis and Smith have each won 1 time against the other in prior events and Janis is 1 - 0 against Smith in prior final rounds. Smith with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. Smith wins his 12th National event wally and his third here at Gainesville. He also won in 2016 and 2012.


text:
Q: CSS pseudo class for label after being clicked I have the task of implementing a star review.
I assume that I need to set a rule on the label, since the inputs are hidden. My question is, how can I give the stars a color of black even after being clicked. I know that the active pseudo-class only works when being clicked. Is there another pseudo-class for this? The goal of is to do this only using HTML/CSS.

  <input class="rating-radio visuallyhidden" type="radio" id="rating-features-1" value="1" />
  <input class="rating-radio visuallyhidden" type="radio" id="rating-features-2" value="2" />
  <input class="rating-radio visuallyhidden" type="radio" id="rating-features-3" value="3" />
  ★
  ★
  ★

A: You can achieve a HTML/CSS only star rating system that has good browser support by utilising the CSS subsequent sibling selector ~ with flexbox row-reverse for left-to-right stars:

.rating-stars {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: row-reverse;
  width: fit-content;
}

.visuallyhidden {
  display: none;
}

.rating-radio:checked~.rating-star {
  color: gold;
}

  <input class="rating-radio visuallyhidden" type="radio" name="stars" id="rating-features-1" value="1" />
  ★
  <input class="rating-radio visuallyhidden" type="radio" name="stars" id="rating-features-2" value="2" />
  ★
  <input class="rating-radio visuallyhidden" type="radio" name="stars" id="rating-features-3" value="3" />
  ★

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Saturn's rings are very chemically complex, new research shows, and actively change the makeup of the planet's atmosphere.
Titan in front of Saturn and its rings.
Image credits NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.
Data beamed back from the Cassini spacecraft during its final descent into the depths of Saturn shows that the giant's rings are more chemically complex than we've believed.
"This is a new element of how our solar system works," said Thomas Cravens, professor of physics & astronomy at the University of Kansas and a co-author of the new paper.
Cravens is a member of Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) team. Back in 2017, as Cassini plunged into Saturn's upper atmosphere, it sampled the chemical makeup of points at various altitudes between Saturn's rings and atmosphere using its onboard mass spectrometer.
The paper reports finding a surprising chemical complexity in the planet's rings. This challenges the current view, based on past observations, that the rings "would be almost entirely water", Cravens explains.
The INMS-readings were performed in the gap between the inner ring and upper atmosphere. They uncovered the presence of water, methane, ammonia, carbon monoxide, molecular nitrogen, and carbon dioxide in the rings.
Dust grains from Saturn's D (innermost) ring constantly rain down into the planet's upper atmosphere, carrying a coating of this 'chemical cocktail'. This process takes place at an extraordinary rate, the team adds — 10 times faster than previously estimated. This process is powered by the different spin rates of the planet and its rings (the rings spin faster than the planet's atmosphere). Over time, this process likely changed the carbon and oxygen content of Saturn's atmosphere.
The findings not only shed light on the chemical complexity of planetary rings, but also raise important questions pertaining to their formation, lifespan, and interaction with the host planet.
For example, given the very high rate of material transfer to the atmosphere, it may be safe to assume that planetary rings are much more short-lived than previously estimated. In the absence of a source of fresh material to make up for this particle flow, rings may simply drain away into nothingness. One possibility that derives from these findings is that Jupiter likely also had its own set of fully-fleshed out rings, which gradually drained into the wispy trail that surrounds the gas giant today.
Finally, the team reports that this influx of matter also impacts the planet's ionosphere by converting hydrogen ions and triatomic hydrogen ions into heavier molecular ions — thereby depleting the ionosphere of charged particles.
But Cravens' main contribution involved interpreting that data with a focus on how materials from the rings are altering Saturn's ionosphere.


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Showtime! A Day in the Life of a Guitar Tech Pt. 4 - Soundcheck
The crew has had its lunch. There has been a linecheck and the PA is up and running. We are ready for a soundcheck. Up until now everything has been going according to plan. I have even managed to relax a little and fill up on coffee. It's not yet clear, whether there'll be a soundcheck today, but we're ready for the eventuality just the same.
Some bands feel that a soundcheck disturbs the natural flow of their day on tour, thus having a negative consequence on the show itself. Other acts like to soundcheck for hours, just up until the point when the doors open for the audience. Most bands at least turn up for the first couple of days, until they're certain that a soundcheck is superfluous to requirements. This means they put all their trust into us, their crew.
Don't make the artists wait!
The tour manager has informed us that the band will indeed be attending soundcheck today. They have left their hotel a few minutes before, so the crew gets everything ready for their arrival. A touring day is scheduled in such a way, as to make the band wait the least possible amount of time. A delay, right before the soundcheck is scheduled to begin, would put the crew's work in an unfavourable light. If there's a hiccup you should inform the artists as soon as possible.
The band arrives, we say hello, and I go over last night's gig with my client. If yesterday's show went down well I will keep his set-up and settings the same. The soundcheck is the best place to go over any problems that may have occurred during the last show. Right after a show there usually isn't enough time for this.
If the artist wants you to change something you should fulfill his wishes. He's your boss, and he is the one who has to step on stage in front of a large audience.
Rehearsing and songwriting on tour
Even though the primary objective of a soundcheck is to iron out any technical problems, often a tour's tight schedule can make it difficult for a band to keep up their chops or rehearse new material on the road. Sometimes, when a band know they have studio time booked right after their tour, they will attend soundchecks much more regularly. The deadlines loom and the band want to have fresh material routined and ready for recording.
Luckily, we live in the age of laptops, tablets and portable digital studios. It's very easy to take inspiring effects and amp-modelling technology with you to the hotel room. Many guitarists carry portable recording equipment with them, these days, and manage to combine combatting the boredom of a long tour with writing and practicing new material. A lot of acts write at least some of their new material while on tour.
Writing on tour isn't always an easy undertaking, though. A tour can be such a grinding, power-sucking experience that having to write new songs seems too hard to bear. I have great respect for musicians who can be creative in the midst of a tour. If you're working for a client who seems to be willing to fire up his creativity, you – the guitar tech – can help him.
You could, for example, assemble a compact rig for the guitarist, selecting a pair of headphones, a guitar, a pack of plecks, a guitar lead and a few spare batteries. You could arrange for this compact rig to be made available for your client's use on the tour bus or in a suitable dressing room backstage, turning songwriting into something of a routine.
People cannot be creative all the time and every day, but it's good to supply them with the means to hone their craft, in case inspiration might strike them. It's a good thing if the band can come up with good new material while on tour. If everybody's really lucky, you might find yourself on tour again next year, on the power of some of the riffs your client has come up with during this tour.
Listen to your client's wishes
If you're only beginning your stint as a guitarist's technician, soundcheck provides a good opportunity to find out how your client likes to work on stage, and what to do in case of a broken string during the set. You should practice emergency instrument changes at least a handful of times, so both of you get at least some sort of feel for the procedure. When the show is on and adrenaline levels are high some details of what has been agreed on can be forgotten easily. You should also discuss where the artist would like to find his plecks, his capo, his slide, his setlist, his towels, and his onstage refreshments.
Build up mutual trust
As a band technician you have to have some social skills, too. There are many different types of personality you may encounter, and it's important that you know how to calm down stressful situations for your specific client.
You have to be able to communicate with "your" artist. Ideally, you should be able to tell your client if he's making any small mistakes that have a negative effect on his tone. He (or she) might be hitting the strings in such a way that they hit the pickup's pole pieces, causing choppy metallic noises. He might be selecting the wrong effects for a certain song, several nights in a row. Your mutual trust should be strong enough that your artist takes in your criticism without getting angry or feeling hurt.
The old adage of not biting the hand that feeds you still applies. Always remember that when it comes down to it, the artist is your employer, and because he pays you he is always "right"! There might be differences of opinion and artistic taste, granted. Sometimes you will even have to resort to some sort of psychological "trick" to help your client save face and think that a certain change (that you felt was needed) was his own idea, after all. This isn't always easy, I can tell you!
The height of the mic stand
Once your client has found his preferred spot and height for his microphone stand, you should determine the stand's position in relation to his pedals using a simple plumb line. Use a non-flexible piece of string or cable with a nut (or a bolt etc.) for a weight. Use the plumb line to determine the height of the mic above the pedalboard, as well as the mic's position above the 'board.
Even though the plumb line will give you quite precise mic set-ups, things can still go wrong sometimes. One of the guitarists I have tech'ed for told me it took him the better part of a tour to find out, that the change in mic position was due to the different type of shoes he was wearing for the show. At the soundchecks everything was OK, but after he had changed for the gig the microphone was at a slightly wrong height!
And you shouldn't forget that many people have to touch their mic before starting to sing backing vocals, regardless of the fact that the mic already is in the correct position.
Should you mute or not?
It is very advisable to get a clear picture of how the guitarist wants to be handed his instrument at the start of the show. Make sure you both are clear on what has been agreed, as during the heady atmosphere at showtime your memories may not be so clear anymore. Does he (or she) want to get the instrument somewhere backstage or in the wings of the stage? Or does the guitarist prefer to find his instrument parked in a stand next to the amplifier? You should also know, whether the guitar's controls should be turned on or off when the guitar is handed over. Which pickup should be selected? Which amp channel should be running? What effects are on? And most importantly: Should you leave the tuner on (with the signal muted)?
There are several alternative, basic scenarios:
The tuner is on (in mute). The guitarist steps onstage, takes his guitar from the stand and switches the tuner off. Now the signal is on. Most guitarists will scrape the strings a couple of times to make sure there's a signal. The intro tape is rolling, the crowd are cheering and the PA's guitar channels are still muted – so nobody will really notice his two little, choppy "chink-chinks".
The tuner is off (the signal is on), but the guitar's volume is turned all the way down. The guitarist steps onstage, takes his guitar from the stand and turns the volume control up. His technician watches him closely, ready to move onto the stage to turn the guitar up for him (and maybe check there's a signal).
Handing over the guitar as the artists steps on stage. You help him put it on, hand him his plectrum and open the volume control. This way practically nothing can go wrong – your client only has to start playing.
Number one in the favoured choice of younger players, while older guitarists tend to prefer number two. Pedal tuners only became widely available during the 1990s. Before then all the tuning was handled by the backliner with a strobe tuner. In the old days players often checked the tuning by holding the guitar against their ear and strumming it, before turning the volume up. Then they would play the show until the instrument was so badly out of tune it had to be changed.
The main thing is that the guitarist can trust in his technician – he must feel sure that everything is taken are of. And he must know that there is somebody to remind him, in case he forgot to turn up his guitar's volume control.
Let's do it just like yesterday!
Once you've agreed on all pre-show and onstage procedures make sure to stick with them! A seasoned artist may have an ingrained, muscle memory of where all his accessories are. Don't try to force changes on "your" artist. Musicians tend to stick to their routines even more steadfastly than the crew sticks to theirs. If last night's show was all right don't go changing anything. Only change routines if your client asks for a change. Nobody likes surprises during a show. Everybody likes things running smoothly in their usual fashion, helping them to put on a decent show, even if it's not their "best day ever".
The headliner's backline stays put
After the soundcheck the headliner's backline and drums stay exactly where they are. It is normal practice that any support act has to put up their own equipment without moving the headliner's gear. A support act sets up their backline well in front of the headlining act's. Sometimes this rule causes tensions – especially with inexperienced supporting bands – but there's a reason to this practice: The crew has spend all day making sure the headliner's rig is in perfect condition and that the sound is superb, both on stage as well as in the house. If you start moving around risers or monitors this balance is disturbed, and all the work of the band technicians and the soundmen has gone to waste.
A supporting act often tends to try and rush onto stage right after the last note of the headliners' soundcheck. You must tell them politely to hold their horses for just a little longer. The headliner's crew first have to make sure that the stage is ready for the support act.
The guitar tech marks out the exact spot for the pedalboards with tape, before removing the 'boards and their cable snakes to a safe spot behind the amp cabinets. The monitor technician marks the positions of the stage monitors, before moving them to the sides of the stage. All superfluous cables are removed, while the local crew gets the stage boxes ready for the supporting band. Now we are ready to let the support act take to the stage.
The backline is covered up
The crew uses several pieces of cloth to neatly cover up the headliner's drum kit and amps. There are several good reasons for this: It is considerate toward the opening act to dress up the stage more darkly, because a shining drum kit would distract the audience from the warm-up band's performance. Secondly, covering the backline prevents dust and smoke from settling on and inside the equipment. Furthermore, you prevent nosey or mischievous characters from tampering with the main act's equipment. Besides, it is always something special for the audience to get their first look of the headlining band's shining drum set. We all have our pleasures.
The support act is let in
Once the stage is ready, the supporting band is asked to come on stage. If there are still stagehands hanging around you might ask them to give the support act a hand. If the stagehands have gone home the backliners should be polite enough to help them with their largest pieces of gear.
A warm-up band is always a source for concern to the headliner's crew. In an ideal world the opening act would take care not to make a nuisance of themselves. A supporting act should be aware of its proper place in the touring hierarchy, by not making life more difficult for the headliner's band techs.
On some tours the support acts change on a daily basis, consisting of local bands, often hired in by the promoters to give a further boost to ticket sales. This makes life even more difficult for the main act's crew.
The best-case scenario has the headliner and the warm-up act stay together at least for a whole leg of the tour. This leads to everybody getting to know each other, and working out the best ways to get the shows on stage with the least amount of problems. After a few shows everything will start running like clockwork.
There's not much time
If the headlining band has had a long soundcheck there might not be all that much time for the warm-up band to get their equipment up and running. A clever headlining act factors in at least enough time (in theory) for a short warm-up soundcheck of the support act's equipment. But most supporting acts have to live with being forced to set up in a huge hurry, and going on without any prior soundcheck, if they want to stay on the ticket.
If you're in an opening act, you should prepare yourselves for being pushed onstage with no soundcheck whatsoever. I've seen bands who have managed to set up in a few minutes flat, played a cracking show, and packed up in just another few minutes, before loading everything into their own van and setting off for the next stop of the tour. These days, there's a lot of heavy competition throughout the world. You should be prepared to put in an extra effort to leave a favourable impression with the headliner's touring organization. Slackers won't do…
Just before the doors are opened to the public there is a last rush of activity. There's always something left to do. Letting the audience in means a complete ceasing of activity on the stage from the crew's perspective. The venue's staff ask the tour manager for permission to open the doors. The tour manager, for his part, makes sure that the crew is ready to vacate the stage.
I have a last look around my workspace, grab anything that will not be needed during the show, and make my way to the backstage area. You can already sense the electricity from the fans waiting in the foyer. Soon I hear the sound of the doors opening and the rush of the fans to take their places right in front of the stage. I feel a sense of relief. The next few hours are set aside for rest. Time to make contact with the outer world.