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Microsoft Expands Blockchain Solution to Include Ethereum Blockchain for Gaming Royalties
December 28, 2020 │ 12:42 PM GMT
Microsoft's blockchain platform expands for royalties management.
The expansion will bring better payments to the gaming industry.
Paul Brody notes that a test is already being conducted on a private network based on Ethereum blockchain
Microsoft Expands its Blockchain-Based Solution
Microsoft was one of the first major tech companies to accept Bitcoin for payment. In November 2019, the software giants announced Azure Blockchain Tokens, a platform created to issue asset mints to a wide range of crypto assets.
Tech giants Microsoft and Big Four firm, Ernst & Young have now announced that it has expanded Microsoft's blockchain-based solution to include gaming rights and royalties management.
Tests are Ongoing
Blockchain lead at Ernst & Young, Paul Brody, in the announcement noted that Microsoft's blockchain solution for gaming royalties is already being tested. According to his announcement, a test is being conducted on a private Quorum network based on Ethereum.
He further noted that this expansion will provide a financial system of record for royalty agreement. Brody believes that by putting royalty agreements on a blockchain all the parties will be able to work off the same foundational information. Microsoft's new expanded blockchain network will create a single source for the financial system of record that will improve the end-to-end royalties management process.
Upon completion, Microsoft's blockchain network will be able to record contract creation, payment, and reconciliation transactions associated with gaming rights. A solution such as this reduces the time it takes for contracts to be paid, simplifies self-service content creation, and reduces costs.
The blockchain game space has been experiencing remarkable advancements in recent times.
Last week, Assassin's Creed publisher, UBISOFT, announced that it will validate transactions for Axie's new Ethereum sidechain to help Axie scale to accommodate more players. Axie Infinity is an Ethereum-based pet game merging the worlds of Pokémon and Tamagotchi.
DeFi Game, a retro, Tamagotchi-inspired game has announced its plan to launch fully on January 4, 2021. In November, Aave officially announced its investment in Pixelcraft Studios, now the company plans to launch fully in January.
How Will This Affect the Gaming Industry?
While it is certain that Microsoft's integration will lead to transparency, trust, and faster payments, the question remains what will be the impact on the much larger gaming industry outside of Microsoft's network.
Robby Yung, CEO of Animoca Brands, believes that Microsoft can cut a chuck out of the billion-dollar gaming industry if the tech giants can provide the kind of plug and play tools for game developers.
Microsoft's new expansion undoubtedly has the potential of expanding the reach of blockchain and cryptocurrency in the gaming industry. The challenge will be to get businesses on their existing platforms to adopt new technology like blockchain.
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TON Joins BTC and ETH as Only Crypto Assets with Options Trading


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RADARSAT Constellation Mission to Fly on Refurbished SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket
Marc Boucher December 15, 2017 Business, News 8 Comments
President and CEO Howard Lance and members of the leadership team had the honor of ringing the closing bell at the @NYSE this afternoon. Credit: Maxar Technologies.
Maxar Technologies President and CEO Howard Lance was on CNBC this afternoon talking about the new company formed from the acquisition of DigitalGlobe by MDA. During the interview he said they would be using a refurbished SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle for the Canadian government RADARSAT Constellation Mission.
MDA, a business unit of Maxar Technologies, is currently completing the build phase of the three satellites that make up the RADARSAT Constellation. Early on in the project MDA had contracted SpaceX to launch the satellites. They will all be launched at the same time using the refurbished SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage.
SpaceX has reused four of the Falcon 9's first stages to date including today's launch to the International Space Station on a cargo resupply mission. Presumably Maxar will get a discount for opting to use the refurbished Falcon 9 first stage.
Maxar was also at the New York Stock Exchange today where they participated in the closing bell ritual. Maxar's stock has been doing well since the formation of the new company.
The company also has a new Twitter account; https://twitter.com/MaxarTech.
Maxar Technologies CEO: We're a new space company with 50 years of history from CNBC.
[stockdio-historical-chart stockExchange="NYSENasdaq" width="100%" symbol="MAXR" displayPrices="Lines" performance="true" from="2017-10-02″ allowPeriodChange="true" height="350px" culture="English-Canada"] [stockdio-historical-chart stockExchange="TSX" width="100%" symbol="MAXR" displayPrices="Lines" performance="true" from="2017-10-02″ allowPeriodChange="true" height="350px" culture="English-Canada"]
Tags Canadian Satellite Constellations Maxar Technologies MDA RADARSAT Constellation Mission Satellite Constellations
Previous Minister Bains Highlights Robotic and Lunar Technology Contributions to Canada's Space Program
Next Canadian QEYSSat Quantum Satellite Program Gets Next Round of Funding
Top Canadian Space Stories of 2022
Euroconsult Says Satellite Demand to Quadruple and Concentrate in a Few Key Players
Strong MDA Revenues Close Out Q3 as the Company Maintains Guidance for 2022
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Just a nitpick, I know — but without knowing when the launch will be, and what generation of first-stage booster it will be riding on, the term "refurbished" may well be inaccurate. I think a more accurate term would be "previously-flown" or SpaceX's preferred term, "flight-proven."
schmoe
According to the Canadian Space Agency, this mission will launch sometime in 2018. I would deduce that they are able to get a short lead-time launch slot in 2018 is because they are willing to launch on a previously-flown Falcon 9. If they had insisted on flying on a brand-new booster they probably would have to wait until 2019 or 2020 to launch.
Since the RADARSAT constellation is supposed to go to a 600km low-earth sun-synchronous orbit, pretty much any of the existing Block III and Block IV Falcon 9 boosters can do the mission. For SSO missions it will most likely launch from Vandenburg SLC-4E pad, and there are three flight-worthy previously-flown Falcon 9 cores available at Vandenburg they can choose from:
– Block III B1036 (which will be flying Iridium-4 in a few weeks and probably can be reused again),
– Block III B1038 (previously launched the very light Formosat 5 so it's practically new), and
– Block IV B1041 (Previously launched Iridium-3).
These cores had only been used on LEO launches so they have not been subject to the harsh thermal stresses of the higher-energy GTO launches and can definitely be flown again with minimal refurbishment (just like the NASA CRS-13 booster re-flown today from Cape Canaveral).
The decision is made by MDA as per their contract with the CSA. The launch has been on the books for 2018. At this time it looks like the launch is scheduled for Q3. As long as SpaceX maintains its cadence the launch should not slip to Q4.
You are right in that it is previously flown and yes SpaceX likes the marketing term "flight proven." However after the first stage is used and before it is reused it goes through testing with parts replaced etc.
Please don't be defensive.
All I'm saying is that the wording in the article is assuming RADARSAT will launch on older hardware, but since no first stage has been assigned yet, being so far out from launch, it may well launch on SpaceX's newer Block 5 hardware, making the term "refurbished" innacurate.
Not all first stages in the future will have parts replaced as you say. For some time, SpaceX has been developing Falcon 9 Block 5, which addresses some of NASA's requests for Commercial Crew and SpaceX's wants for greater reusability without refurbishment. This new block has been design-complete and approved by NASA since February 2017. [ Source, Gwynne Shotwell, COO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjXYSJF-7Cs ]
Block 5 improves around 100 parts of the rocket, including a new turbine wheel NASA specifically requested, a revised landing leg design, and new forged titanium gridfins. Block 5 components have been tested and flown on missions this year.
As designed, the Block 5 iteration should only require inspection, with no refurbishment scheduled until after the 10th landing. [ Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/04/04/musk-previews-busy-year-ahead-for-spacex/ ]
Block 5 must be complete and stable and flown multiple times before NASA will certify it for human spaceflight, so SpaceX will be building as many as they can and flying them as often as they can to meet the Commercial Crew milestone schedule which was just recently presented.
SpaceX is lining up resources for a very aggressive launch cadence next year, and Block 5 is part of that plan. If SpaceX rolls out Block 5 in Q1 as expected to meet it's Commercial Crew timeline, you could well see RADARSAT launching on a reused Block 5 first stage, without any refurbishment, in Q3. So that's why it "may well be inaccurate" to call it a "refurbished" stage.
No worry, I'm not being defensive. SpaceX will make a big deal of the block 5 when it's first used. At the moment it has not been associated with this launch. I'm reporting what was said and where things stand now. If in the future SpaceX announces it will use a block 5 for this launch it will be reported here.
All of those terms are accurate. None are inaccurate.
Yang Ed Wren Nu
Semantics….

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It took a crusading music journalist with a well-documented love for the blues and a brand-new record label based in Mississippi with a decidedly fresh outlook to give guitarist Junior Kimbrough his belated encounter with fame. Kimbrough's hypnotic, primitive drone may not have displayed much commercial promise when he was a young man, but it entranced 1990s blues fans when they finally had a chance to hear it on record. Until then, you had to journey down to North Mississippi hill country to absorb Junior's singular brand of blues (he held weekly Sunday night house parties at his home-turned-juke-joint for many years).
David 'Junior' Kimbrough was born July 28, 1930 in Hudsonville, Mississippi, close to the Tennessee border. While the rest of his family toiled in the fields, little Junior would sneak up and grab his dad's guitar off the shelf. Those early forays taught him enough to allow him to give guitar lessons to future rockabilly singer Charlie Feathers when both were lads (Feathers was so thrilled with Kimbrough's blues that he called them "the beginning and end of all music"). Heavy as his sound came to be during the '50s, Kimbrough found it difficult to make his mark.
Between 'All Night Long' and a highly atmospheric appearance in Robert Mugge's 1992 Mississippi blues film documentary 'Deep Blues' (Palmer was its writer and co-star), Kimbrough finally received some national recognition. He made a couple more albums for Fat Possum, but health concerns limited his touring. Kimbrough died January 17, 1998 in Holly Springs, Miss., his fame at last extending outside the rural Mississippi area he called home.
Customer evaluation for "Most Things Haven't Worked Out"


In Four Hours Time, I'm Getting Married.
What Music (albums, songs, etc.) Are You Listening To These Days?
An apology to the UK . . .
For some reason, . . .
Some of us may be cranky tomorrow and Monday . . .
Oh, that crazy Brit-speak . . .


;In light of the limitations with the control softwares of the commercial gas chromatographs (GCs), which are mostly suited for batch analysis in the laboratories, independent GC control softwares through the use of a system-design platform (LabVIEW) were developed. The as developed GC softwares can repeat the analytical cycle of sampling, data acquisition, peak integration, concentration calculation and data display, so that an operator can easily obtain gas concentrations in real-time when used as an on-line industrial gas analyzer.
To test the control softwares, two applications were attempted. In the first, the control software was designed for a GC system equipped with flame ionization detection (FID) to on-line monitor a syngas production process. Both methane and propane in a standard mixture at ppm level was continuously analyzed. The results were compared with the same GC but using a commercial control software for comparison. Synchronous results between the self-developed and the commercial software by measuring the two gases in ambient air were obtained with R2 better than 0.87. Linearity (R2) resulting from the calibration curves of the two gases were better than 0.9991. The analytical precision expressed by the relative standard deviation (RSD) was better than 1% for each calibration point for the two gases.
In the second application, a software was designed for a GC-FID system to on-line monitoring of total hydrocarbons (THC) and total non-methane hydrocarbons (tNMHCs) from stacks. The results showed that the correlation coefficients (R2) for methane's and propane's calibration curves were 0.9885 and 0.999, respectively, and the RSDs for each calibration point were 2.4% and 3.4%, respectively.


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THE FORTUNATE ONES - Ed Tarkington
A Southern exposé in a certain way, with grace and pain wrapped between frankly beautiful written pages. I was not expecting to love this story of a white man in the South, but there are some kernels here and no one was more surprised to find them than me.
Characters: ★★★★ 1/2
Pacing: ★★★★★
For those who know me here on Goodreads and in the book community, you might be thinking this really isn't my type of read. (You're totally right) A book written by a white dude, about a white dude in Nashville, Tennessee, with lots of white privilege and classism?? Amy, come on.
Well I had to eat my hat with this one, folks, because this was stunning.
Beautifully written, poignantly described, and filled with an unbelievably delicate balance of self-awareness and reflection on the hypocrisy and decay of the Southern white elite, The Fortunate Ones is a read that will no doubt be a focus of discussion in 2021.
Charlie Boykin grows up in a poorer part of Nashville with his single mother, Bonnie. Bonnie got pregnant at 15 and was thrown out of her rich family's house and told never to return. Charlie never knows anything different—his Aunt Sunny is a bar singer, his mother is a cocktail waitress at a bar nicknamed The Divorcee, and his best friend, Terrence, is a Black kid with a lot of heart who looks out for Charlie.
Then Charlie's life dramatically changes in high school. His mother has managed to snag him a need-based scholarship to Yeatman, an all-boy prep school known for housing Nashville's elite children with ties to old money and the Old South. Charlie has no idea what he's in for.
In a move that should feel derivative of The Great Gatsby but manages to stand alone and supersede it, Charlie's life as the "outsider" passes as he reflects on, admires, craves, and worms his way into the glamorous and decaying life of Nashville's rich. His tie to his close friend and occasional secret lover, Archer Creigh, becomes one of unbalanced love and manipulation as Charlie falls deeper and deeper into a world that he's aware is wrong, racist, and fueled by the pain of the lower classes—and yet the lure of the glitz is too much for him to ignore.
Spanning decades and locations, The Fortunate Ones feels like an epic wrapped in a mere 300 pages. Charlie is—surprisingly, for me as a woman from a lower middle class background—a likeable narrator to follow. He's both aware of his privilege and yet aware enough of his ignorance to own up to his blindness in certain arenas.
The people of color in this novel are marginalized and relegated to stereotypical Southern roles, and we as readers are uncomfortably aware of that boundary line even as young Charlie and old Charlie miss most of it. The women of this novel are trapped in the gossamer cage of the trophy, the accessory, the beautiful—and while Charlie catches some of that and misses most of it, Tarkington's skill as an author highlights it for us despite his own narrator's ignorance. I found that extremely well done.
Another element to this story was its fringe revelations in the handling of its gay and lesbian characters. In a society where sexuality is strictly forced into a heteronormative binary, Tarkington's way of highlighting that rot and hypocrisy by having Archer's sexuality bleed through the edges of the page was fascinating, along with Charlie's interactions with a mentor figure who exists as a lesbian amongst this world of "good old boys." I really can't talk about this element without spoilers, but wanted to highlight that it's here for those who would automatically dismiss the story as not including that element. (I totally did that, honestly, so I'm raising my own hand.)
What a beautiful, lingering piece of fiction.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.


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By MacRumors Staff on November 3, 2015
iOS 9.1 Articles
iOS 9 Adoption Jumps to 66 Percent After iOS 9.1 Emoji Update
Tuesday November 3, 2015 6:02 pm PST by Husain Sumra
Since launching in September alongside the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, iOS 9 has seen its adoption rate grow to 66 percent of active iOS devices, according to numbers on the Apple Developer Support page. Two weeks ago, iOS 9 adoption sat at 61 percent. After 24 hours, iOS 9 adoption was in line with the adoption rate of iOS 8. However, in late September Apple announced that the newest version of iOS...
Read Full Article 76 comments
Apple Releases iOS 9.1 With New Emoji, Live Photos Improvements
Wednesday October 21, 2015 10:52 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 9.1 to the public, marking the first major update to the iOS 9 operating system that launched in September. In testing since before iOS 9 was even released, iOS 9.1 was beta tested for more than a month before its launch, with developers and public beta testers receiving five betas in total. Today's iOS 9.1 update is available as an over-the-air update to all iOS 9...
Read Full Article 408 comments
Apple Seeds Fifth iOS 9.1 Beta to Developers and Public Beta Testers
Monday October 12, 2015 10:57 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of iOS 9.1 to registered developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fourth iOS 9.1 beta and two weeks after releasing iOS 9.0.2, the second minor bug fix update to iOS. The new iOS 9.1 beta, build 13B137 (13B5137 for public testers), is available as an over-the-air update and through Apple's Developer Center. There's a...
Apple Seeds Fourth iOS 9.1 Beta, Third tvOS Beta to Developers
Tuesday October 6, 2015 10:56 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the fourth beta of iOS 9.1 to both registered developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the third iOS 9.1 beta and releasing iOS 9.0.2, the second minor bug fix update to iOS. The new iOS 9.1 beta, build 13B136, is available as an over-the-air update and through Apple's Developer Center. Apple has also released a third tvOS beta. iOS ...
Apple Seeds Third iOS 9.1 Beta to Developers
Wednesday September 30, 2015 10:58 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the third beta of iOS 9.1 to registered developers for testing purposes, three weeks after seeding the first iOS 9.1 beta following its fall "Hey Siri" event and one week after releasing iOS 9.0.1, the first minor update to iOS 9. Apple has also just released iOS 9.0.2, another minor update to iOS. The new beta of iOS 9.1, build 13B5130b, is available as an over-the-air...
Apple Releases Second iOS 9.1 Public Beta
Thursday September 24, 2015 11:00 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second iOS 9.1 beta to public beta testers, two weeks after seeding the first beta a day after its "Hey Siri" fall media event. Today's beta is the same as the second iOS 9.1 beta seeded to developers yesterday. Public beta testers who already have iOS 9.1 installed can get the second beta as an over-the-air update, and those interested in getting early release software...
Apple Seeds Second iOS 9.1 and tvOS Betas to Developers
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 9.1 to registered developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the first iOS 9.1 beta following its fall "Hey Siri" event and one week after releasing the first version of iOS 9 to the public. The new beta of iOS 9.1, build 13B5119e, is available as an over-the-air update and through the Apple Developer Center. Apple has also released a...
Apple's 'Hey Siri' Feature in iOS 9 Uses Individualized Voice Recognition
Friday September 11, 2015 6:07 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Following the release of the first public beta for iOS 9.1 yesterday, along with the GM version on Wednesday, a few of the testers have come across a new feature introduced in the update. Somewhere in the Settings app, it appears that Apple has quietly added a set-up process for the new "Hey Siri" feature coming to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, thanks to a built-in M9 motion coprocessor that...
Apple Releases First Public Beta of iOS 9.1
Following yesterday's big media event, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 9.1 to developers, and now the company has made iOS 9.1 available to public beta testers. iOS 9.1 includes features for the iPad Pro, adding support for accessories like the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil, both of which were designed for the larger-screened tablet. iOS 9.1 also offers support for Unicode 8,...
Apple Seeds First iOS 9.1 and Apple tvOS Betas to Developers
Wednesday September 9, 2015 1:39 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Following the conclusion of today's iPhone-centric event in San Francisco, Apple has seeded the first betas of iOS 9.1 and Apple tvOS to developers. The betas were seeded alongside the iOS 9 Golden Master and the OS X 10.11 Golden Master. All of the beta software is available for download immediately from the Apple Developer Center. tvOS, just announced today, is the operating system that runs ...
iPad Pro Likely to Ship With iOS 9.1, Suggesting No September Launch Alongside iPhone
Wednesday August 19, 2015 10:48 am PDT by Juli Clover
Earlier this week, we saw hints of Apple's work on iOS 9.1 in the MacRumors visitor logs, speculating Apple had begun work on the update as a way to test features on the much-rumored 12.9-inch "iPad Pro" or the iPad mini 4 ahead of production. As it turns out, we were correct. This morning, analytics company AppSee found an "iPad6,8" with a resolution of 2,732 x 2,048 in its logs. We asked AppS...
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The games were a huge hit and not just with year 10. Have been poking around online today and found some other useful sites. I'm preparing Module A: Richard III and Looking for Richard and came across Film Education which has some great notes and study guides on a huge range of films. I think this is a very interesting pairing of texts (and a refreshing change from Blade Runner and Brave New World). I'm planning to show the film first because I think it will engage students in a closer reading of the play itself as well as give them some insights into authentic questions about the play as a play.
Revisited TeacherTube. What a great site this is – have visions of an assessment task where students create a 3 minute video on Richard III and Looking for Richard and post it on TeacherTube!
I haven't completely set up my blog for various reasons (you could call them convenient excuses) but I will get there I hope. I just need to sit down with time on my side and do it and for that I may have to wait for holidays!
I did want to email you but Don't have your email address. Would love some help with Prelim English Stan/Adv as I mentioned. Just feel like I would like to look at some other schools' programs and reassess what the teachers are doing here. Do you think you can help me? And, is this the right place to put a question…..?
I think I prefer email…..!
Thanks for your support at the conference and I look forward to catching up soon. I have a staff meeting on Wed 10th (always on Wed) where I have to present so that day is not good for me.


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Global Traveller Report Reveals Shift Towards Sustainable Travel
Small Business Confidence Collapses – FSB calls for Growth Plan to Power Through
Shepherd Neame Pub Managers Celebrate 30 years – with 30 Happy Couples
Hoteliers Encouraged to Look Outside of the Industry in Order to Make Change
Cost, Taste and Ethical Eating Essential to Achieve Post-Veganuary Success, says GlobalData
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Covid-19 Highlights Hospitality News
Industry Reacts to Rishi Sunak's First Budget
March 11, 2020 March 20, 2020 Finance, Hospitality, Industry, News
Chancellor Rishi Sunak's first Budget speech has concentrated on fiscal action to combat the temporary effects of Coronavirus, including business rates suspensions, statutory sick pay and a business interruption loan scheme.
The hospitality industry has also welcomed a long called for freeze alcohol duty.
Coronavirus emergency measures
Business rates suspended for one year for small businesses in hospitality
Business interruption loan scheme of up to £1.2m to support SMEs
14 days statutory sick pay refunded for businesses with fewer than 250 employees – 14 days statutory sick pay covered
Abolition of business rates for one year for small businesses (rateable value under £51k)
£3,000 benefit to all businesses eligible for SBRR or rural rates relief
Business rates system review to be completed by Autumn Budget
Pubs discount raised to £5,000
Alcohol duty
Alcohol duties frozen
UKHospitality Chief Executive, Kate Nicholls, reacted to the details of today's Budget Statement, saying:
"Hospitality businesses are on the front line of coronavirus impacts and need support as footfall and bookings drop and people self-isolate, and as serious cashflow problems arise.
"While easing business rates burdens and partial refunding of statutory sick pay will help support some businesses but while the measures announced today may give smaller hospitality businesses some breathing room, it's vital to recognise larger operators, and the huge number they support, but which have today been utterly ignored at a time of business crisis.
"The perverse nature of the current system is underlined by the ongoing coronavirus situation, with punishing payments still expected of companies whose venues may not be able to open or operate."
"We finally have a much-welcome deadline for a review of the archaic business rates system. While the outcome of that remains to be seen, it's a positive step that the Government acknowledges that the system requires modernising and improving.
"We also recognise that measures announced today, to further relieve pubs and to bring other hospitality venues into scope for reliefs are a positive recognition of hospitality and the vital role it plays in the UK's economy and culture. That said, many of the hardest hit businesses will not benefit, either because they have rateable values above £51k (or above £100k for pubs) or because state aid rules mean that venues in bigger chains – the larger employers – will be ineligible, so more will likely be needed between now and implementation of a new system".
The BII has also warmly welcomed the support shown to the hospitality industry by Rishi Sunak in his first budget as Chancellor.
Steven Alton, BII COO commented "We are extremely pleased that in these turbulent times, government is taking the radical step of abolishing business rates for pubs with a rateable value of less than £51k for the next year.
Pubs are at the core of high streets and rural communities alike and the challenges they currently face are unprecedented. This relief, coupled with the sick pay support for those self-isolating in the midst of Coronavirus, is great news for those working in the frontline of hospitality.
In addition, the news that business rates will be reviewed this year gives us hope that measures bringing short term relief will be backed up by rate reforms that could bring long term growth to our vibrant and vital sector."
Commenting on the Chancellor's announcement for a freeze to wine and spirit duty Miles Beale, Chief Executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said:
"The decision to freeze wine and spirit duty is welcome for British business, pubs and the wider hospitality trade. While he has not cut duty, it is reassuring to see that in his first Budget as Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, has taken steps to address the UK's excessively high duty rates.
He has shown he is in touch with British consumers – from all walks of life – who want to enjoy a drink without getting stung by further tax hikes. In particular the UK's 33 million wine lovers, a large proportion of whom are women, are expressing a sigh of relief after they were singled out for a duty rise at the last Budget.
Responding to today's Budget statement, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Mike Cherry, said:
"This is a pro-small business Budget, which has delivered a high streets bonus, a series of Conservative manifesto promises to small businesses, and emergency steps to support small firms through the coronavirus outbreak.
"Covering the cost of Statutory Sick Pay and emergency measures for the self-employed are particularly welcome. Removing the minimum income floor for those on Universal Credit will bring help to those working hard to keep their businesses going. These are vital contingencies for the UK's 5.8 million-strong small business and self-employed community. There may need to be further steps in the weeks and months ahead. The Bank of England funding package means that there are no excuses for banks not to help, when a small business customer is in distress.
"Suspending business rates for small high street firms is a huge bonus for our town centres and high streets. Together with extra cash for those that already qualify for small business relief, this shows a real commitment to supporting small businesses at the heart of communities. The case for fundamental reform to bring down the burden of such a regressive tax on bricks-and-mortar businesses is now stronger than it has ever been, and FSB is ready to help the Government deliver this.
"One of FSB's main asks at this Budget was a cut to the Jobs Tax, an easing of the cost of employer National Insurance, and we are very pleased to see such a pro-growth, pro-employment measure delivered for all small employers. A National Insurance holiday for small firms employing military service leavers will incentivise tapping the skills and potential of those joining the workforce after a career in the armed forces.
"This has been a deliberately pro small business first budget for the Chancellor. We hope it is the start of things to come."
Responding to the Chancellor's Budget, Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, commented:
"Pub goers across the UK will be toasting the Chancellor tonight for freezing beer duty. This freeze alone will save pub goers £80 million and secure 2,000 vital jobs across the country.
"82% of the beer we drink here is brewed in the UK, so this is a very welcome decision that will help pubs and brewers across the UK. Cheers to the Chancellor!
"At the beginning of the year we welcomed the Government's decision to cut business rates for the UK's smallest pubs by £1,000. It is great to see the Chancellor listen to our calls to take this one step further by increasing the relief to £5,000 for pubs with a rateable value up to £100,000.
"The announcement that pubs with a Rateable Value of £51,000 or less will not pay their rates over the next financial year is an enormous boost. For pubs who already pay little or no business rates, a £3,000 small business relief grant is available, which 14,000 pubs could benefit from.
"In total the additional business rates support announced for pubs is worth over £190 million.
"Pubs pay 2.8% of rates despite accounting for only 0.5% of rateable turnover across the country. Such reliefs are vital until the fundamentally unfair system is overhauled. We therefore welcome the call for evidence on business rates reform announced today, commencing in the spring.
"Following the extensive review into Small Brewer's Relief, we welcome confirmation that the Government will publish its results in the spring. We hope the Government's response will recognise the long-standing distortions caused by the current structure, whilst supporting growth among brewers of all sizes.
"Overall, this has been a great Budget for pubs, pub goers and Britain's world-class brewing industry worth £270 million. We hope the Government continues to support our industry in the future, recognising the vital role it plays in our communities and lives across the UK."
Wine expert Joe Fattorini, spokesperson for Wine Drinkers UK:
"The recognition by the Chancellor that wine is the nation's favourite alcoholic drink and therefore shouldn't be singled out for tax rises is welcome news for the 33 million wine fans in the UK.
"Now it's time to go one step further and cut back wine tax in the coming year. The last Chancellor to do so was Nigel Lawson, 36 years ago, when wine would not have been as regular a feature in British shopping baskets.
"This year, over half of shoppers are set to be priced out as the price of an average bottle rises above £6. With women and the working class being disproportionately penalised by this unfairness, we will continue to lobby for a better deal. It's high time to reduce wine duty.
"Today's freeze is a victory for the WSTA's hard fought campaign which called on government to help cash-strapped consumers by keeping prices down, and to support British businesses entering a new trading landscape."
We will all raise a glass to the Chancellor tonight, who has recognised that everyone benefits from a freeze, including the Treasury."
Commenting on announcements in the Budget, CAMRA Chairman Nik Antona said:
"Against the backdrop of industry fears on Coronavirus, it is good to see the Government has continued to recognise the value of pubs to the economy and society by freezing beer duty in the Budget. Brewers and pubs companies must now pass any savings on to consumers.
"We feel the decision not to implement a preferential rate of beer duty is a missed opportunity and will use the upcoming review of alcohol duty to continue to make the case for this, as we believe this is the best way to support community pubs.
"The abolition of business rates for pubs with a rateable value under £51,000, and the £5000 discount for those with a value up to £100,000 is great news for qualifying pubs, and we are glad that the Treasury has listened to our calls for action.
"The announcement of a review of the business rates system is welcome, and this must happen as soon as possible so that we can fix the root issues with this unfair system and save our pubs from extinction."
Gareth Ogden, Partner at accountancy firm haysmacintyre added:
"There is certainly some good news in today's budget for the UK's hospitality sector. Significant business rate relief for all small businesses in the sector as well as the enhanced business rates discount for pubs will be welcomed, albeit these are short term measures to counter the impact of coronavirus in the coming months. There is however a promise of a review of the long-term future of business rates to be concluded by the autumn, which has long been demanded by operators.
The freeze on spirits, beer, cider and wine duties will also be welcomed and the coronavirus loan fund, as well as assistance with statutory sick pay, may help to alleviate very real concerns the sector has over the economic effects of Covid-19. Whether it will be enough to stave off a new wave of business failures remains to be seen."
Business support organisation, the Forum of Private Business, welcomed renewed focus on the needs of business by the new Chancellor, as he delivered his first Budget, but cautioned that the Chancellor's words will need to translate into meaningful deliverables for small businesses.
Managing Director of the Forum, Ian Cass commented; 'Several of the announcements from Chancellor are in line with the wish list that we set out. In particular the commitment to accelerate investment on rural broadband connectivity, the investment in infrastructure, long term in the railways and in the shorter term our roads and also addressing the imbalance in the North/South economies is well overdue, like moving treasury jobs out of London and is something we have been asking for.'
The potential impact of the Covid19 virus on smaller businesses is a further area that the Forum has real concerns about, and the relief on Business Rates as well as the £3,000 cash grant will go some way to helping says Ian Cass, particularly as this also looks to be extended to the pub sector, but more reforms are needed once the current crisis is over.
'Business Rates are a hugely disproportionate burden on small high street businesses and need to be completely reformed. The immediate relief is of course welcomed and appropriate, but we hope that the Chancellor won't simply kick the issue back into the long grass once the Covid19 crisis is through,'
Not directly addressing the late payment practices of big business is a disappointment, with a specific concern from the Forum that this will become a bigger issue still in the coming weeks and months.
Overall Ian Cass scores the Budget 8/10 as far as business is concerned, with the hope that the Chancellors full year report will score higher based on actual deliverables.
David Hough, a Partner at Blick Rothenberg, the leading tax and advisory firm said:
"The move to refund statutory sick pay to small businesses whose staff self-isolate is helpful, but we will also see low-paid people on hourly wages, who are fit to work, lose their hours as demand decreases. Temporary income protection would help ensure those people get through the upcoming decline in productivity."
Fiona Fernie, Partner at Blick Rothenberg said: "It's good news that Time to Pay (TTP) is being scaled-up during the Coronavirus and also that there should be easy access via a dedicated helpline. However, traditionally, HMRC is not particularly helpful regarding TTP, so it will be interesting to see just how flexible they are prepared to be."
Simon Rothenberg, a Senior Manager at Blick Rothenberg said: "Guaranteed loans will be welcomed by small businesses – but detail is key. Businesses need to know what the terms will be and when repayments will have to be made."
Simon added: "Sick pay from day-one is a good move, but how will the Government reimburse business? This will not help cash-flow issues given the fall in economic activity expected."
He said: "Abolition of business rates for one year is welcomed. It will help small retail businesses and the leisure industry. This is huge support, as is the long-term review of rates. Cash grants to 700,000 small businesses of £3,000 will help with the cash-flow issues small businesses are likely to experience."
Andrew Sandford, a Partner at Blick Rothenberg said: "The hospitality sector benefits from savings on rates, but will have large increases in wages through the minimum level wage."
Suzanne Briggs, partner at Blick Rothenebrg said: "The additional support by scaling up Time To Pay (TTP) helplines is great news. However, taxpayers still need to discuss their income and expenditure with HMRC when they phone in."
Commenting on the announcement in today's Budget that leisure and hospitality proprietors are to receive business rates relief for the upcoming year, Global Head of Leisure and Hospitality at KPMG LLP, Will Hawkley said:
"With doctors and the NHS rightly recommending isolation for all those affected by the coronavirus, and with all UK organisations being encouraged to take the necessary precautions to slow down the spread of the illness, those businesses who mainly trade on experiences and social interactions are likely to be some of the hardest hit.
"Publicans that rely on the repeat custom of their clients have no doubt been concerned that the ongoing impact of the coronavirus on the spending habits of UK consumers will have a swift and serious impact on their bottom line. These operators will no doubt greatly appreciate the announcement today that UK pubs will receive a business rates discount of £5,000, an increase from £1,000 the previous year, as well as a price freeze on beers, wines and ciders.
"Leisure proprietors for businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will also receive a 100% reduction in business rates over the course of the next year as they battle to overcome the aftermath of the coronavirus.
"It is encouraging to see the Chancellor taking steps to assist companies. However this is not a quick fix, and proprietors must also put into place their own contingency plans to minimise costs and seek opportunities to maximise the services they are still able to provide."
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text:
Q: Reading binary file in C++ and output result as hexdump I'm building a simpler version of xxd for a school project and I'm getting hung up on the file output when reading binary files only (i.e. when I read plain text files, everything works as expected).
Expected output:
0000000: 504b 0304 1400 0000 0800 70b6 4746 562d  PK........p.GFV-
0000010: e841 3600 0000 3f00 0000 0900 1c00 706c  .A6...?.......pl
0000020: 6169 6e2e 7478 7455 5409 0003 7307 d754  ain.txtUT...s..T
0000030: ba1d d754 7578 0b00 0104 f501 0000 0414  ...Tux..........
0000040: 0000 000b c9c8 2c56 00a2 e2fc dc54 85e2  ......,V.....T..
0000050: c4dc 829c 5485 92d4 8a12 ae10 a844 625e  ....T........Db^
0000060: 7e49 466a 9142 4e66 5eaa 4266 9e02 9003  ~IFj.BNf^.Bf....
0000070: 56a0 9096 9993 ca05 0050 4b01 021e 0314  V........PK.....
0000080: 0000 0008 0070 b647 4656 2de8 4136 0000  .....p.GFV-.A6..
0000090: 003f 0000 0009 0018 0000 0000 0001 0000  .?..............
00000a0: 00a4 8100 0000 0070 6c61 696e 2e74 7874  .......plain.txt
00000b0: 5554 0500 0373 07d7 5475 780b 0001 04f5  UT...s..Tux.....
00000c0: 0100 0004 1400 0000 504b 0506 0000 0000  ........PK......
00000d0: 0100 0100 4f00 0000 7900 0000 0000       ....O...y.....

Actual output:
0000000: 504b 0304 1400 0000 0800 70ffb6 4746 562d  PK........p.GFV-
0000010: ffe841 3600 0000 3f00 0000 0900 1c00 706c  .A6...?.......pl
0000020: 6169 6e2e 7478 7455 5409 0003 7307 ffd754  ain.txtUT...s..T
0000030: ffba1d ffd754 7578 0b00 0104 fff501 0000 0414  ...Tux..........
0000040: 0000 000b ffc9ffc8 2c56 00ffa2 ffe2fffc ffdc54 ff85ffe2  ......,V.....T..
0000050: ffc4ffdc ff82ff9c 54ff85 ff92ffd4 ff8a12 ffae10 ffa844 625e  ....T........Db^
0000060: 7e49 466a ff9142 4e66 5effaa 4266 ff9e02 ff9003  ~IFj.BNf^.Bf....
0000070: 56ffa0 ff90ff96 ff99ff93 ffca05 0050 4b01 021e 0314  V........PK.....
0000080: 0000 0008 0070 ffb647 4656 2dffe8 4136 0000  .....p.GFV-.A6..
0000090: 003f 0000 0009 0018 0000 0000 0001 0000  .?..............
00000a0: 00ffa4 ff8100 0000 0070 6c61 696e 2e74 7874  .......plain.txt
00000b0: 5554 0500 0373 07ffd7 5475 780b 0001 04fff5  UT...s..Tux.....
00000c0: 0100 0004 1400 0000 504b 0506 0000 0000  ........PK......
00000d0: 0100 0100 4f00 0000 7900 0000 0000 0000  ....O...y.......

Here's a quick diff of the two files for easy reference.
I have a feeling it's the way I'm reading the files. I decided to stick with the C++ libraries and use std::ifstream to read the files. Here's my implementation:
void DumpUtility::dump(const char* filename) {
    std::ifstream file(filename, std::ifstream::in|std::ifstream::binary); // open file for reading

    if(file.is_open()) { // ensure file is open and ready to go
        std::cout << std::hex << std::setfill('0'); // pad PC with leading zeros
        char buffer[this->bytesPerLine]; // buffer symbols

        while(file.good()) {
            file.read(buffer, this->bytesPerLine);
            std::cout << std::setw(7) << this->pc << ":";
            for(unsigned int i = 0; i < this->bytesPerLine; i++) {
                if(i % 2 == 0) std::cout << " ";

                std::cout << std::setw(2) << (unsigned short)buffer[i];
            }

            std::cout << "  ";
            for(unsigned int i = 0; i < this->bytesPerLine; i++) {
                if(isprint(buffer[i]) == 0) { // checks if character is printable
                    std::cout << ".";
                } else {
                    std::cout << buffer[i];
                }
            }
            std::cout << std::endl;
            this->pc += this->bytesPerLine;
        }
    } else {
        std::cerr << "Couldn't open file. General error..." << std::endl;
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    file.close();
}

So, file.read(buffer, this->bytesPerLine); is the line that reads the file and I format the data has hex via iomanip. I have also tried using printf(%02X, (unsigned short)buffer[i]); with no luck – same output.
What has been done

*

*Using multiple compilers to recompile program

*

*clang++ -O0 -g -Wall -c

*g++ -g -Wall -c

*Two versions of g++

*

*4.2.1 - OS X 10.10

*3.4.6 - Sun Solaris 10

*Debugging in lldb and gdb in order to see where exactly these extra F's come from, I found nothing.

It seems like std::ifstream::read() is doing something other than simply storing the special characters as they are. Does anyone know what these extra F's represent and can anyone point me in the right direction to resolve this?
Note: I'm trying to understand how to do this using std::ifstream as opposed to using cstdio. If worst comes to worst then I'll implement the method using the File IO utilities in cstdio instead. If I can't do this using ifstream then I'll gladly take the explanation so I can learn!

A: Your problem is that your char type is signed. So when you write (unsigned short)buffer[i], it is translated as char -> int -> unsigned short.
if the byte is under 0x7f, it is seen as >=0 and all is fine, but if not, it is internally padded with 1 bits to form a negative int. You first problem is on a b6. What actually happens is :
b6 (signed char) -> FFFFFFb6 (signed int) -> FFB6 (unsigned short)

Hopefully the fix is simple. You just have to write :
std::cout << std::setw(2) << (unsigned short) (unsigned char) buffer[i];

because now the conversion will correctly be :
b6 (signed char) -> b6 (unsigned char) -> b6 (signed int) -> b6 (unsigned short)

A: Try the following:
std::cout << std::setw(2) << (unsigned short)buffer[i] & 0xFF;

Or
std::cout << std::setw(2) << (unsigned short)(unsigned char)buffer[i];

Or
unsigned char buffer[this->bytesPerLine];
...
std::cout << (char)buffer[i];

Also isprint is used incorrectly with signed char. The issue is similar: when the char value is negative, it is expanded to negative integer, and not positive integer with value over 127 (what isprint expects).
So if you are using signed chars, the call shall be:
if(isprint((unsigned char)buffer[i]) == 0)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election
Title: 2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election
Subject: Magical Negro
1999 ← Republican Party chairmanship election, 2009 → 2011
Fmr. L.G. of Maryland
S. Carolina GOP Chair
Katon Dawson
Michigan GOP Chair
Saul Anuzis
Fmr. Ohio Sec'y of State
Ken Blackwell
Incumbent RNC Chair
Mike Duncan
January 29, 2009 – Chip Saltsman withdraws from the race amidst controversy surrounding racially-political satire[1]
January 20, 2009 – Election held by party voting members in Washington, D.C.
Balloting
First ballot: Duncan wins plurality; 52
Second ballot: Duncan and Steele tie for lead; 48–48
Third ballot: Steele wins plurality; 51; Duncan withdraws
Fourth ballot: Dawson wins plurality; 62; Blackwell withdraws
Fifth ballot: Steele wins plurality; 79; Anuzis withdraws
Sixth ballot: Steele wins majority over Dawson; 91–77
Chairman before election: Mike Duncan (Kentucky)
Chairman after election: Michael Steele (Maryland)
The 2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election started out as a six-way race, and ended on the sixth ballot with Michael Steele becoming the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee.[2] The Washington Times called it the "'Dirtiest ever' race for RNC chairman."[3]
1 Pre-campaign
2.1 "Barack the Magic Negro" controversy
2.2 Voting
2.3 The sixth round
Pre-campaign
On November 11, 2008, Jeff Burton launched a political draft website to encourage Steele to run for Republican National Committee Chairman.[4] The website allowed visitors to sign a draft petition, and received over 6,000 signatures.[5]
Katon Dawson announced his official bid on November 24, 2008.[6] Dawson was one of two candidates to earn votes on each of the six votes taken; he lost the final ballot to winner Michael Steele, 91-77.[7]
On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his own campaign website,[8] and confirmed his intention to run on Hannity and Colmes.[9] Steele, seen as an early frontrunner,[10] rejected the idea that the color of his skin had anything to do with his chances at becoming RNC chair, saying, "I am a Republican who happens to be African-American."[11]
Chip Saltsman was the first candidate to release a specific plan regarding the future of the party, which can be viewed at Our Plan for Republican Victory.[12] In his bid for the RNC Chairmanship, Saltsman has been endorsed by: former Republican presidential candidate Governor Mike Huckabee,[13] former United States Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, and Tennessee House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower.[14]
USA Today reported that, "half of the candidates to lead the Republican National Committee (RNC) are Southerners: current Chairman Mike Duncan of Kentucky, South Carolina Chairman Katon Dawson and former Tennessee chairman Chip Saltsman. Former Ohio secretary of State Ken Blackwell and former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele are black. Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP chairman, is a Harley-Davidson rider, an ex-union member and the son of an autoworker.[15]
"Barack the Magic Negro" controversy
For Christmas 2008, Chip Saltsman sent members of the Republican National Committee a music CD of songs intended to be political satire. The CD of 41 songs included one entitled "David Ehrenstein's 'Barack the Magic Negro' " set to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon". Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column, written by Ehrenstein, who is partly of African-American descent,[16] that suggested President Barack Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans.[17] Saltsman said the song, penned by his longtime friend Paul Shanklin, a white conservative parodist songwriter, who performs it using his impersonation of Al Sharpton, "should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times."[18]
Some opposing candidates, including incumbent RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, criticized Saltsman; others, such as former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, defended Saltsman against the "hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race."[19]
Saltsman responded by saying, "Liberal Democrats and their allies in the media didn't utter a word about David Ehrenstein's irresponsible column in the Los Angeles Times last March. But now, of course, they're shocked and appalled by its parody on the Rush Limbaugh Show. I firmly believe that we must welcome all Americans into our party and that the road to Republican resurgence begins with unity, not division. But I know that our party leaders should stand up against the media's double standards and refuse to pander to their desire for scandal."[20]
Some conservatives not currently seeking the RNC chairmanship, such as Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and North Carolina Republican National Committeewoman Ada Fisher, have also criticized with regards to the issue. Gingrich stated in an e-mail message: "There are no grounds for demeaning him (Obama) or for using racist descriptions."[21]
The election was decided in late January after six rounds of voting, with Steele elected chairman by a majority vote of the 168 committee members.[10][22][23]
Michael Steele 46 48 51 60 79 91
Katon Dawson 28 29 34 62 69 77
Saul Anuzis 22 24 24 31 20 Withdrew
Ken Blackwell 20 19 15 15 Withdrew
Mike Duncan 52 48 44 Withdrew
Candidate won that round of voting
Candidate withdrew
Candidate won RNC Chairmanship
After the third round of balloting Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate.[24] Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative." Steele picked up Blackwell's votes.[25] After the fifth round, Steele held a ten vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.[26]
The sixth round
The final push that led to Steele's win was from the eight voters from the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands, who switched to Steele after Anuzis dropped out.[27] Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.[28]
Republican National Committee chairmanship election, 2009
Outgoing Chairman: Mike Duncan
Dropped out prior to election
Chip Saltsman
of the RNC
Cortelyou
Gabrielson
Alcorn
T. B. Morton
R. Morton
Laxalt/Fahrenkopf
Reagan/Fahrenkopf
Yeutter
Racicot
Mehlman
Priebus
Presidential tickets
Frémont/Dayton
Lincoln/Hamlin
Lincoln/Johnson
Grant/Colfax
Grant/Wilson
Hayes/Wheeler
Garfield/Arthur
Blaine/Logan
Harrison/Morton
Harrison/Reid
McKinley/Hobart
McKinley/Roosevelt
Roosevelt/Fairbanks
Taft/Sherman
Taft/Sherman/Butler
Hughes/Fairbanks
Harding/Coolidge
Coolidge/Dawes
Hoover/Curtis (twice)
Landon/Knox
Willkie/McNary
Dewey/Bricker
Dewey/Warren
Eisenhower/Nixon (twice)
Nixon/Lodge
Goldwater/Miller
Nixon/Agnew (twice)
Ford/Dole
Reagan/G. H. W. Bush (twice)
G. H. W. Bush/Quayle (twice)
Dole/Kemp
G. W. Bush/Cheney (twice)
McCain/Palin
Parties by state
and territory
(list)
1856 (Philadelphia)
1860 (Chicago)
1864 (Baltimore)
1876 (Cincinnati)
1892 (Minneapolis)
1896 (Saint Louis)
1924 (Cleveland)
1928 (Kansas City)
1956 (San Francisco)
1968 (Miami Beach)
1980 (Detroit)
1984 (Dallas)
1988 (New Orleans)
1992 (Houston)
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2004 (New York)
2008 (St. Paul)
2012 (Tampa)
College Republicans
Congressional Hispanic Conference
International Democrat Union
National Republican Senatorial Committee
Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Conference of the United States Senate
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Republican Liberty Caucus
Republican Main Street Partnership
Republican Majority for Choice
Republican National Coalition for Life
Republican National Hispanic Assembly
Republican Study Committee
Republicans Abroad
ConservAmerica
Ripon Society
Teen Age Republicans
Young Republicans
2009 chairmanship election
Conservatism portal
Magical Negro
Barack Obama, White people, Harlequin, Cinema of the United States, Spike Lee


text:
Q: ASP.Net Web Site Project vs. Web Application Project I'm trying to convince my co-workers to switch from a web site project to a web application project, because I want the use of the project file.  However I can't diffuse this argument against:

*

*The web site project allows each page to be compiled into a single dll.  Their argument is this enables easy fixing of errors found after publishing. This is contrast to how the web application project compiles all code behind into a single dll.

*Is updating a single page's dll essentially different to updating the entire site's dll?

*Is there some way to compile each page's code behind into a separate dll in the web application project?

*Are there some prohibitive (performance,memory?) costs to compiling each page's code behind into separate dll's that we are unaware of?

*Why is the feature(?) to compile each page to separate dlls in web site projects and not web app projects?

A: I'd say if everyone there needs the flexibility to deploy bug fixes post release without re-releasing the whole site then they are right: you need to have a web project for that sort of dynamic compilation. That or a better testing process ;)
Personally I prefer a web application though since there is only one dll created, which means less mess and less scope for "weird bugs" with dll's having different names etc. If you have a large site you should really be using a web application. I remember making this decision a year ago and I never looked back (I chose web application) :)

A: I used to favor web applications much more than a web site project.  However, I came to realize that if you have a site that requires lots of minor updates, then going with a web project is just easier.
When you can just change one code-behind file, instead of having to rebuild the entire app and deploy - it makes deployment a million times less stressful.
However, if you are using proper version control systems, branching, automated builds, proper QA, then either way works out.
But yes, website projects are a lot easier to "update".


text:
KILLER OF ISRAELI GIRLS LAUDED AS 'HERO' IN JORDAN
DAVID L. MARCUS The Boston GlobeSUN-SENTINEL
If ever there was an unlikely hero, he is Ahmed Musa Mustafa Daqamseh.
On a still morning in March, Daqamseh, a sergeant in Jordan's army, aimed his automatic rifle at a group of Israeli schoolgirls on a field trip and kept shooting until his weapon jammed; by then, he had killed seven schoolgirls, aged 12 to 15.
President Clinton denounced the attack, and King Hussein called for the death penalty. Hussein piloted his own helicopter to Israel and knelt in front of the victims' parents.
Over the summer, a Jordanian court sentenced Daqamseh to life in prison, but the story does not end there.
Dozens of defense attorneys in Jordan have taken up his cause, without pay. Across the country, many people say they feel sorry for Daqamseh. And there are even reports that a shadowy terrorist group in Lebanon has taken Deqamseh's name and is trying to kill Israeli officials.
In a chilling statement to reporters, Najib Rashadan, Jordan's former chief justice and the leader of the Popular Committee for the Defense of Ahmad Daqamseh, recently called the killer a "hero." He justified the killings by saying the girls eventually would have gone into Israel's army.
The transformation of the Daqamseh, 26, from villain to object of sympathy, and perhaps even martyr, is a telling symbol of the failure of the peace process in the Middle East. At the same time, many political scientists say Daqamseh's shifting image shows the declining popularity of King Hussein, whose national economy is sputtering.
"There is tremendous support for Daqamseh," said Layth Shabeilat, an opposition leader in Amman. "He was subjected to the most unjust trial . . . condemned by the king from the very first, and nobody wanted to listen to his side of the story."
It is hard to gauge the extent of Daqamseh's support. Jordan does not have accurate polling, and the media avoids controversy. Moreover, under press laws that were tightened this year, it is illegal to criticize the king and government officials.
The support for Daqamseh is puzzling to some Jordanians.
"I can understand being frustrated with Israel and . . . the peace process, but to champion someone who shoots girls, I just don't understand," said Malik Mufti, who teaches political science at Tufts University. "It must be some deep-rooted feeling of resentment, frustration and defeat that overcomes the most basic principles of humanity and Islamic teaching."
This much is certain: On March 13, Daqamseh had been on duty for about 22 hours at an observation post overlooking Jordan, Israel and Syria when the girls arrived from a religious school. The site, ironically, is known as the "Island of Peace," because Israel turned it back to Jordan as part of the 1994 peace agreement between the two countries.
With no warning, Daqamseh opened fire and charged ahead as bleeding, screaming children tumbled down a knoll. Fellow border guards overpowered him, and soon Jordanian farmers lined up to donate blood for the wounded girls. Daqamseh said the girls had mocked him as he prayed, but no one backed up his claim.
Tensions in the region had been high. Hussein had just written an impassioned letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chiding him for pushing the peace process "toward an abyss of bloodshed and disaster," and Israel was starting construction on a settlement on disputed land in East Jerusalem.
After the shooting, the king said his army units should have shot Daqamseh dead "on the spot." Hussein visited the girls' families, knelt in front of their parents, then hugged and kissed them. And when the families came to Jordan to testify, he hosted them at his palace for a dinner.
That was too much for many Jordanians.
"The king behaved in an extremely naive fashion," said Radwan Abdullah, former chairman of the political science department at Jordan University. "He was being submissive, or meek or weak. He was humiliating Jordan. . . . It was cheap politics."
A total of 92 lawyers volunteered to defend Daqamse. A panel of five military judges found him guilty, but refused to call for capital punishment because he was "mentally unstable."
Daqamseh's defense team continues to work, but the lawyers know their chances are slim. The verdict cannot be appealed in court.
By law, only one person has the power to cancel or reduce the life sentence: King Hussein.


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Dutch government seeks higher fines for cartel infringements
Stibbe
Netherlands March 3 2014
On 11 February 2014 the Dutch minister of economic affairs announced that the government would submit legislative proposals in the fall of 2014 to enable the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets ("ACM") to impose higher fines for cartel infringements
Under the current rules, the ACM determines the amount of a fine on the basis of its fining policy rules. Within this framework, the fine that is ultimately imposed by the ACM can never be higher than the legally permitted maximum amount of the fine. The ACM is further obliged to lower the amount of the fine if the continued existence of the undertaking is in danger as a result of the imposed fine.
Stemming from a government-commissioned study carried out by the Dutch consulting firm Strategies in Regulated Markets, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs announced three proposals in order to increase the deterrent effect of cartel fines.
The first proposal by the Minister involves amending the legally permitted maximum amount of the fine. Currently, the maximum amount of the fine is EUR 450.000 or, if this is higher, 10 percent of the yearly turnover of an undertaking that is involved in the cartel infringement. The Minister proposes to change the base amount for calculating the fine from ten percent of the turnover for one year to 10 percent of the combined turnover during the years that the cartel was in place. The Minister suggests however that the number of years that are taken into account must be limited to a maximum of 4 years, as this corresponds to the average duration of a cartel.
The second proposal entails doubling the legally permitted maximum amount of the fine in case of recidivism of an undertaking. Thirdly, the Minister announced that the possibility of introducing a payment arrangement in order to pay an ACM-imposed fine will be examined. According to the Minister, such a payment arrangement could reduce the need to decrease a fine on the basis of an undertaking's lack of financial capacity and would increase the deterrent effect of the other two proposals.
Stibbe - Delphine Gillet, Florine Verhaegen, Hendrik Viaene, Peter Wytinck, Christof Swaak and Rein Wesseling
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Q: Win8 Computer 1 can see but can't access Computer 2 on home wifi network I have two laptops on a home wifi network, call them c1 and c2.  Both are Windows 8.1 Version 6.3 Build 9600.
Both can surf the web just fine.
Both can "see" the other in Windows Explorer - that is, the other shows up as a computer on the network, and shows up in the HomeGroup as well as under Network in the left pane.
But whereas c2 can explore c1's shared folders and access files, c1 cannot explore or access c2.  When I try, c1 says "Windows cannot access \c2".
Also, there is a network drive - as USB external drive connected to a secondary router on the network.  c2 can see and access that and I was able to map the drive.  c1 cannot, giving the same "Windows cannot access \the-ip-address" message.
I've gone through all the network settings I know of with the machines side by side to ensure they are the same.  But I do't know Windows networking all that well so I'm sure there are important settings I just don't even know to check.
Here's more detail on the behavior and settings:
BEHAVIOR
Open Windows Explorer.  In left pane, for both c's:
- shows HomeGroup, with c1 & c2.
- under Network, shows c1 & c2
In c2, expand HomeGroup > c1 > c1 - shows Music, Pictures Videos - and clicking on any of them shows the true contents of the folders.
But on c1, expanding HomeGroup > c2 > c2 - shows Music, Pictures Videos, Network Share - but they are greyed out.  Clicking on any of Music, Pictures Videos does nothing.  Right click > Properties says " Properties not available".  Clicking on Network
Share says "Windows cannot access \c2\Network _Share".
UPDATE: Changing what folders are shared under Pc Settings > Network > HomeGroup on c2 does change what folders c1 sees as accessible.  When I change c2 so that only Pictures is shared, then only Pictures shows up when expanding c2.  So, c1 is getting this share info from c2 over the network - why then when I try to actually access this shared folder does it says it can't connect to c2?
Under Network, clicking Network in left pane shows c1 & c2 under Computers in right pane, both c's.
On c2, clicking c1 under Network shows Printers, Users and MP3 in right pane.  Exploring Users allows to drill down into
Pictures, Videos, Music folders and see files and open them.
But on c1, clicking c2 under Network says "Windows cannot access \c2".
SETTINGS I HAVE CHECKED
Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections > WiFi > WiFi properties > Networking & Sharing
All identical
Control Panel\Network and Internet\HomeGroup
c1 has HomeGroup enabled and is sharing Pictures, Videos, Music and Printers.
c2 says "This computer can't connect to a Homegroup.  HomeGroup is not ready yet.  Please try again in a few minutes. or start
the HomeGroup Troubleshooter.
c2 HomeGroup Troubleshooter says "Some HomeGrou problems are network related.  Troubleshoot network problems before continuing."
But Network Troublshooter can't diagnose problem, & Home Group Troubleshooter the same.  Remember, c2 is the one that CAN explore c1.
Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings:
Private (Current profile) - Network Discovery is ON and Automatic Setup of Network Connecetd Devices is checked on both c's.
HomeGroup Connections - "Allow Windows to Manage HomeGrou connections" is selcted on both.
All Networks - Public Folder Sharing is ON, 128bit encryption is ON, Password Protected Sharing is ON, on both c's
PC Settings > Network > HomeGroup
Sharing is ON for Music, Pictures, Video, Printers on both c's.
Strangely, the "Leave" button is available on both c's, with the text "If you leave the HomeGroup..." - implying that c2 IS connected to the HomeGroup even though above it said it was unable to connect to a HomeGroup.
Also, both computers show the same password under Password, to join the HomeGroup.

A: It was a Windows Firewall setting.  I don't know exactly which, but I had customized the Outbound rules.  Re-setting the firewall to defaults and re-starting suddenly made c2 and the network drive show up and be accessible.


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Spanish resident tax returns declaring income received in the 2016 calendar year will be submitted during May and June 2017. The deadline for submission of a return and payment of any tax due is 30th June 2017.
Taxes are split between central and regional governments. This used to be an equal split but since 2011 each autonomous region (comunidad) of Spain has been able adjust its own tax rates and bands so residents of each region pay slightly different rates of income tax.
Most foreigners will be considered Spanish tax resident if they were in the country for 183 or more days during the calendar year. Residents must submit a Spanish tax return including all their worldwide income, unless their income is lower than the thresholds described below. Any person becoming tax resident in 2016 must file a tax declaration regardless of income level for their first year of residency. Related article: Do you need to do a Spanish tax return?
> Tax rates for 2016 have stayed largely the same as 2015 with just a few minor adjustments. Allowances and deductions have largely stayed the same as well.
> The top rate for income is 48% in some regions (see below).
> The deduction for your main home only continues for those with income up to €24,000 that claimed previously and have rental contracts in place from before 1 January 2015.
In Cataluña the top rate, payable on income over €175,000, is 48%.
In Andalucía the top rate, payable on income over €120,000, is 48%.


It's not often that a novel way of looking at the globe comes along, also one in a small trick, but such holds true with a brand-new book by among our leading scientific research authors, Professor Tim Birkhead The Most Perfect Thing inside a Bird's Egg. Things concerned is a bird's egg and also exactly what Birkhead does is program to anybody interested in nature why any kind of such item is a source of wonder as well as fascination however not in the means it utilized to be seen. All through the 19th century and also for the first half of the 20th, the eggs of wild birds, a number of them exquisitely coloured and formed, were avidly accumulated to be presented as well as kept in closets as organic jewels, equally as butterflies were. The sensation of egg-collecting was big, with some guys becoming obsessive and accumulating collections of thousands. Originally, it was viewed as a science, a flawlessly respectable branch of ornithology. It had its very own scientific name zoology and its own discovered culture, however slowly egging came to be devalued to a plain activity, as well as ultimately befalled of favour entirely, as being completely as opposed to the passions of conservation; the Security of Birds Act 1954 made it illegal.
Professor Birkhead and also I are old enough to have our own selves experienced, as tiny children growing up in the 1950s, what still appeared after that the tempting allure as he terms it of wild birds' eggs. Undoubtedly, you may obtain a feel for it from the dust jacket of his book, a plate from Coloured Numbers of the Eggs of British Birds, an extravagant quick guide released by Henry Seebohm in 1886. From the egg of the tree creeper at top left, to that of the golden oriole at bottom right, the delicate beauty is all too evident. Yet this charm ended up being demonised as a decreasing band of eggers defied the regulation and continuously quest and also destroy the nests of rare birds particularly, sought by the RSPB, and also sometimes rightly sent to jail. It is now unlawful to offer any wild bird's egg in Britain, as well as indeed to have one in any way, unless you can show convincingly it was taken before 1954. But with this demonization, passion go away the entire topic of birds' eggs appeared unpleasant and out-of-bounds, and little, if anything has been created accessibly, authoritatively and also detailed about it for more than 50 years.
Birkhead has made birds' eggs intriguing again, by providing us a new way of checking out them not as commodities to be drooled over and also collected, yet as marvels of life sciences as self-supporting life support group. Exactly how does the egg obtain its covering inside the bird? Exactly how do the coloured markings get on it? Why are they there, when some eggs appear? Why are different eggs the form they are? Just how do expanding chicks breathe inside them? Why some chicks do hatch blind and defenseless, while others can play around and also feed them at once? Birkhead responds to all these standard concerns with panache, yet other, stranger realities caught my creativity much more. For example, I was amazed to find out that little goldcrests heat their eggs in the nest by pumping blood right into their legs to transform them right into immersion heating systems; and some birds require a supply of snails, to get from the snail coverings the calcium to construct eggshells of their very own, and might cannot reproduce if they cannot discover it.
All the prior scientific research had actually pointed to moving ducks and also geese dispersing the infection to residential turkey and chicken farms. But none of the evidence in Minnesota implicates wild birds disastrous break outs, which's causing new conflicts regarding the infection. In enormous hunt for the source of bird flu, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources examined greater than 6,200 wild bird samples, mainly droppings, for indications of the bacteria. The search turned up only two contaminated birds and also neither was a waterfowl. We absolutely did the most effective that we could make use of the devices that we had to define infection. We simply really did not discover it stated Lou Cornicelli, wildlife study supervisor at the DNR. The firm has spent several hundred thousand bucks on its wild bird monitoring which doesn't also consist of lab tests. The federal government has paid the 30 screening cost for the majority of the countless bird examples. With nary to show from compiling bird poop on lake coasts and stream banks, Cornicelli claimed the DNR will not duplicate the effort.