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Tag: Konx-om-Pax
New release on ∆ ICASEA : « Benefit Compilation for Japan »
Posted by K4W53 on 07/11/2011 | Category : Album-EP Reviews / Stay informed by subscribing to RSS Feeds or to Twitter
The great ∆ICASEA Label has just released a new project to contribute to help Japan. This digital compilation features 75 tracks from different kind of underground electronic music producers like : AUTECHRE, DJ STINGRAY, LUKE VIBERT, RUSELL HASWELL, TEAM DOYOBI, MESAK, ICASEA soliders and many more… Amazing!
[Release Date 07-11-11 – Digital]
More on the ∆ICASEA Website
SPACEY Tune by MORTAL & CHEMIST
Posted by K4W53 on 02/21/2011 | Category : Electronica - IDM / Stay informed by subscribing to RSS Feeds or to Twitter
Taken from the "AUDIO_DATA_BANK" compilation released on a very nice label called ∆ ICASEA – 2010


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Isn't it nice to be in paradise?
"..And therein is whatever the souls desire and [what] delights the eyes, and you will abide therein eternally." (43:71)
Allah promised fresh flowing streams, and rivers of milk, and honey, and wine.
These were refreshing drinks for Arabs who lived in the desert.
What if Qur'an came down during our time? In paradise there's everything that souls desire, so it is possible to have
A whole river made out of CoolBlog *imagine swimming in milk tea, with 'pearls' floating around..and if you feel like it, you could munch on the pearls..sambil berenang kunyah bebola*
A river made out of iced milo.
A river made out of 'carrot susu'! *gasp* *swoon*
|look at me mom! Tak sia-sia pergi usrah lepas penat kerja*
But this special reward is reserved for a special group of people.
"Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous (muttaquun) are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered, rivers of milk the taste of which never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of purified honey, in which they will have from all [kinds of] fruits and forgiveness from their Lord, like [that of] those who abide eternally in the Fire and are given to drink scalding water that will sever their intestines?" (Muhammad: 15)
It is only for the muttaqeen (the people of taqwa), and they are indeed the rarest of the rare. Try and find their characteristics in the Qur'an, and try and emulate those characteristics.
Having a CoolBlog stream is awesome, but drinking CoolBlog with the likes of Rasulullah, Abu Bakr, Umar and their righteous followers is definitely awesome-r.


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What's different about Mount Mary's Theology Major?
Mount Mary University's theology major creates opportunities for you to understand and find meaning in the Judeo-Christian tradition and enter into dialogue with both Christian and non-Christian traditions. Through the program, you can develop your spirituality, participate in internships and study abroad. Students from all faith traditions are welcome to study theology at Mount Mary.
A theology degree prepares you for careers in church ministry or for pursuing graduate school for ministry or teaching at the college level. It also can be paired with a teacher education major if you want to pursue a career teaching religious education. Theology students are strongly encouraged to do at least one internship. Discover more about theology careers.
Minor in Theology
Complete degree requirements for a minor in theology and a listing of courses are available in the Undergraduate Bulletin.
Create your own career path with a theology degree. Start the journey at Mount Mary.
Flexible Curriculum to Match Your Interests
Mount Mary offers a Bachelor of Arts in theology, as well as a minor and post-baccalaureate certificate in theology. Theology courses encourage you to explore diverse religious traditions and theological viewpoints. You'll learn from qualified professors and receive a solid foundation in biblical, historical and systematic (ethics) theology. The flexible curriculum allows you to take course in areas you are most interested.
Study Theology in Italy
You can earn theology credits while studying abroad. In particular, every other year a three-week program in Italy offers a course on early Christianity in Rome.
Theology Activities Outside of Class
Mount Mary has a chapter of Theta Alpha Kappa, the national theology honor society. The theology program holds events and encourages student groups to share their faith and discuss theological topics. Learn more about theology student activities.
Scholarships for Theology Majors
In addition to academic scholarships, Mount Mary offers many other scholarships to help make a college education affordable.
We're here to help you get started.The best way to get started is to get in touch. We'll answer your questions, help you explore programs and walk you through the admissions and financial aid process.
Contact us to hear from your Admission Counselor:
Our admissions team is here to help
The best way to get started is to get in touch. We'll answer your questions, help you explore programs and walk you through the admissions and financial aid process.


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MINNEAPOLIS - J.J. Barea scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Timberwolves ended Oklahoma City's 12-game winning streak with a 99-93 victory over the Thunder on Thursday night.
Kevin Love had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and Nikola Pekovic had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota. But it was Barea who was the key, scoring 12 straight at one point for the Wolves to hold off the team with the best record in the league.
Kevin Durant had 33 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Thunder, who had not lost a game since Nov. 23 at Boston.
DALLAS (AP) — LeBron James scored 24 points with some early baskets on nifty passes from Dwyane Wade, and Miami rolled to a victory over the injury plagued Mavericks.
James has scored at least 20 points in all 23 games, the longest streak to start an NBA season since Karl Malone's 24 in a row opening the 1989-90 season.
Dallas, still waiting for the season debut of 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki after right knee surgery, was also without starting point guard Derek Fisher (right knee) and post players Elton Brand (right groin) and Brandan Wright (right ankle).
The Heat never trailed after James drove for a short floater 3 minutes into the game to make it 6-4. Wade had 19 points and six assists while Chris Bosh had 17 points.
Rookie Jae Crowder had 15 points to lead six Dallas players in double figures. Dahntay Jones and Bernard James had 12 points each.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — J.J. Hickson had 18 points and 18 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double, and the Trail Blazers beat the Nuggets.
Nicolas Batum had 22 points to give the Blazers their first four-game winning streak of the season despite missing forward LaMarcus Aldridge because of a sprained left ankle.
The Nuggets were 0 for 22 from 3-point range, breaking the NBA record of 20 misses set by the Trail Blazers in a game against Toronto last week. Denver had 74 points in the paint.
The Blazers led by as many as 18 in the first half and while the Nuggets were able to close the gap, they were never able to pull even.


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Imagine being asked to build 141 sources of solar power for 141 very remote sub-villages in rural East Africa. Then imagine being asked to distribute 2,300 Google tablets filled with cutting-edge software and content to 2,300 children in those villages.
Children who have never seen a tablet. Children who have never had access to electricity. Children who can't read, write, or do basic math because they live too far from any school.
Then imagine being asked to maintain this technology for the next 15 months while the world waits to see if these very children can teach themselves how to read and write without the aid of a literate adult.
Imagine that the person funding all of this was Elon Musk, and that the organization behind it was the XPRIZE Foundation.
Oh, and think about the fact that there is no roadmap for this kind of thing because nothing like it has ever been done before.
When the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) was asked to do just this, their first response was an unequivocal yes. And not just yes, but HELL YES! That's the kind of organization WFP is. Action-oriented, innovative, and committed to taking chances if it means that more people will benefit. These are the characteristics that drew XPRIZE to partner with WFP on the ground in Tanzania to help conduct the Global Learning XPRIZE.
The Global Learning XPRIZE is a $15 million competition sponsored by Elon Musk that challenges teams from around the world to develop technology designed to foster children's self-learning in the world's poorest and most remote places. We believe that with the right technology, any child, anywhere, can have access to world-class learning in the palm of her hand.
With up to 100 million children out of school largely due to distance or other environmental and economic factors, and with another 250 million children who attend school but leave without ever having learned to read or write, the problem of illiteracy is one of the world's grand challenges. And it is precisely this challenge that 700 teams began solving for when the XPRIZE competition was announced in September 2014.
We have come a long way since then, and because of the stunning effectiveness of WFP, we now have the applications of our five finalists in the hands of more than 2,000 children in 141 remote villages across Eastern Tanzania.
Working with UN agencies can be a tricky thing. Like many large institutions, these agencies are sometimes overly bureaucratic and are unwilling to take risks. WFP is the opposite. They start with yes, and work to ensure that when innovation presents itself, they take the opportunity.
I am convinced that if we are successful, that success will be due in large part to WFP's boldness, excellence, and vision. A vision that seeks not to keep the world the way it is but seeks to create a world that could be.


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Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, Westinghouse, Boeing, Gates and Tariffs
History 101
Ford brought the Price of Cars down and Paid his Workers more without Tariff Protection
Andrew Carnegie grew a steel empire in the late 19th century. With technological innovation. He made the steel industry better. Making steel better. Less costly. And more plentiful. Carnegie's steel built America's skylines. Allowing our buildings to reach the sky. And Carnegie brought the price of steel down without tariff protection.
John D. Rockefeller saved the whales. By making kerosene cheap and plentiful. Replacing whale oil pretty much forever. Then found a use for another refined petroleum product. Something they once threw away. Gasoline. Which turned out to be a great automotive fuel. It's so great that we use it still today. Rockefeller made gasoline so cheap and plentiful that he put the competition out of business. He was making gasoline so cheap that his competition went to the government to break up Standard Oil. So his competition didn't have to sell at his low prices. And Rockefeller made gasoline so inexpensive and so plentiful without tariff protection.
Henry Ford built cars on the first moving assembly line. Greatly bringing the cost of the car down. Auto factories have fixed costs that they recover in the price of the car. The more cars a factory can make in a day allows them to distribute those fixed costs over more cars. Bringing the cost of the car down. Allowing Henry Ford to do the unprecedented and pay his workers $5 a day. Allowing his workers to buy the cars they assembled. And Ford brought the price of cars down and paid his workers more without tariff protection.
George Westinghouse decreased the Cost of Electric Power without Tariff Protection
George Westinghouse gave us AC power. Thanks to his brilliant engineer. Nikola Tesla. Who battled his former employer, Thomas Edison, in the Current Wars. Edison wanted to wire the country with his DC power. Putting his DC generators throughout American cities. While Westinghouse and Tesla wanted to build fewer plants and send their AC power over greater distances. Greatly decreasing the cost of electric power. Westinghouse won the Current Wars. And Westinghouse did that without tariff protection.
After losing out on a military contract for a large military transport jet Boeing regrouped and took their failed design and converted it into a jet airliner. The Boeing 747. Which dominated long-haul routes. Having the range to go almost anywhere without refueling. And being able to pack so many people into a single airplane that the cost per person to fly was affordable to almost anyone that wanted to fly. And Boeing did this without tariff protection.
Bill Gates became a billionaire thanks to his software. Beginning with DOS. Then Windows. He dominated the PC operating system market. And saw the potential of the Internet. Bundling his browser program, Internet Explorer, with his operating system. Giving it away for free. Consumers loved it. But his competition didn't. As they saw a fall in sales for their Internet browser programs. With some of their past customers preferring to use the free Internet Explorer instead of buying another program. Making IE the most popular Internet browser on the market. And Gates did this without tariff protection.
Tariff Protection cost American Industries Years of Innovation and Cost Cutting Efficiencies
Carnegie Steel became U.S. Steel. Which grew to be the nation's largest steel company. Carnegie had opposed unions to keep the cost of his steel down. U.S. Steel had a contentious relationship with labor. During the Great Depression U.S. Steel unionized. But there was little love between labor and management. There were a lot of strikes. And a lot of costly union contracts. Which raised the price of U.S. manufactured steel. Opening the door for less costly foreign imports. Which poured into the country. Taking a lot of business away from domestic steel makers. Making it more difficult to honor those costly union contracts. Which led the U.S. steel producers to ask the government for tariff protection. To raise the price of the imported steel so steel consumers would not have a less costly alternative.
During World War II FDR was printing so much money to pay for both the New Deal and the war the FDR administration was worried about inflation. So they put ceilings on what employers could pay their employees. With jobs paying the same it was difficult to attract the best employees. Because you couldn't offer more pay. So General Motors started offering benefits. Health care. And pensions. Agreeing to very generous union contracts. Raising the price of cars. Which wasn't a problem until the imports hit our shores. Then those union contracts became difficult to honor. Which led the U.S. auto makers to ask the government for tariff protection. To raise the price of those imported cars so Americans would not have a less costly alternative.
These two industries received their tariffs. And other government protections. Allowing them to continue with business as usual. Even though business as usual no longer worked. So while the foreign steel producers and auto makers advanced their industries to further increase quality and lower their costs the protected U.S. companies did not. Because they didn't have to. For thanks to the government they didn't have to please their customers. As the government simply forced people to be their customers. For awhile, at least. The foreign products became better and better such that the tariff protection couldn't make the higher quality imports costly enough to keep them less attractive than the inferior American goods. With a lot of people even paying more for the better quality imports. Losing years of innovation and cost cutting efficiencies due to their tariff protection these American industries that once dominated the world became shells of their former selves. With General Motors and Chrysler having to ask the government for a bailout because of the health care and pension costs bankrupting them. Something Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, Westinghouse, Boeing or Gates never had to ask.
Tags: AC power, Boeing, business as usual, car, Carnegie, Current Wars, efficiencies, electric power, FDR, Ford, gasoline, Gates, General Motors, imports, innovation, Internet browser, Internet Explorer, jet, Rockefeller, steel, tariff, tariff protection, Tesla, U.S. Steel, union contracts, unions, Westinghouse


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Download Example 1
DI - recorded straight from guitar using an Asterope cable
Download Example 2
Acoustic - recorded with a Rode NT1-A mic about a foot from the f-holes
Download Example 3
Amplified - recorded with a Vox AGA70 through the Tube-Pre channel (all amp tone stack settings at noon) with a Shure SM57. An Asterope cable was used from the guitar to the amp.
Since opening his shop in 2006, Paul Hartmann has been creating both traditional archtops and solidbody electrics. Because he is a one-man shop, Hartmann doesn't churn out many axes, which allows him to customize each one specifically for each customer. If you're in the market for a one-of-a-kind instrument and aren't worried too much about cost, the Dutchess might be right up your alley.
New York State of Mind
At first glance, the Dutchess—named after the county in New York where it is crafted— isn't breaking any new ground when it comes to overall design, but really shows its unique side when you begin to look at the details. It sports American red flame maple back and sides, along with a bear claw American red spruce top, so you already know the guitar smells great. The lower bout measures a comfortable 17 ½", and the top is braced using a single X method originally developed by Martin.
The three-piece maple neck has a mahogany center, for added support, along with a double-acting truss rod and Gretsch inspired fingernail-style fret markers. At 25", the scale length feels just right, while the 12" fretboard radius makes the neck fast and smooth. Sliding up and down the neck, I noticed some of the edges of the fretwire were noticeably rough. To my hands, the fretboard feels a little wider than standard, which is great for fingerstylists, but might take some getting used to for flatpickers.
For electronics, there's a floating Bartolini 5J pickup in the neck position and a very discreet volume control mounted on the pickguard. Hartmann took some inspiration from Gibson with the guitar's adjustable 6-finger tailpiece, which looks similar to some late-model Howard Roberts Fusion III models. According to Hartmann, the individual fingers let you adjust each string's intonation between the bridge and tailpiece.
Overall, the craftsmanship and design of the guitar was pretty solid. There weren't any major flaws in the finish—which Hartmann outsources—and the guitar played well straight out of the box. For an instrument in this price range, I would expect nothing less.
Good Vibrations
The first thing I noticed when I opened the case—after the amazing flamed top—was that the guitar was set up with acoustic strings. Normally, even on acoustic/electric archtops, I tend to use electric strings, but when I began to strum the guitar, the acoustic strings really brought out the midrange frequencies and gave the tone some real projection, similar to a standard dreadnought. As I strummed full chords, the body vibrated with authority and provided good resonance and sustain.
When building this guitar, Hartmann's benchmark for acoustic tone was his Brazilian rosewood Taylor 814ce. I didn't have an 814ce handy, but I did compare it to a high-end Martin and the Dutchess made a respectable showing. Though the tone was a bit tighter than a dreadnought, the sound that leapt out of the f-holes was loud enough to cut through at a jam session.


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Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) will demonstrate a very long single-span system of long-haul optical fibers with Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) at OFC/NFOEC, March 6-10 in Los Angeles. The demonstration will feature an advanced 100G coherent solution with 250 kilometers (km) single-span transmission built with commercially available equipment. This solution is attractive to network operators who want to reduce the number of remote amplifier sites, along with the associated costs for powering and security.
The 250 km-span configuration is possible using Corning® SMF-28® ULL optical fiber, the lowest-attenuation ITU-T G.652-compliant fiber, and Ciena's ActivFlex 6500 Packet-Optical Platform. The Ciena platform uses integrated coherent 100G optics and an ActivSpan Common Photonic Layer line system with Raman amplification at the terminal sites. All components are commercially available today, and the extended single-span transmission system operates without fixed dispersion compensation or in-line amplification.
At OFC/NFOEC last year, Corning and Ciena demonstrated 100G transmission over 1500 km with 125 km amplifier spans. "We are delighted to team once again with Ciena to demonstrate extended single-span reach in a 100G solution with commercially available products," said Barry Linchuck, division vice president and director, worldwide marketing, Corning Optical Fiber. "Our ongoing innovations ensure our long-haul optical fiber products continuously improve to meet our customers' current and future requirements. With our low-loss fiber, network operators can extend optical reach at very high data rates and make their network scalable for the higher capacities that will be required to meet growing bandwidth demand."
Corning SMF-28 ULL fiber provides up to 25 percent advantage in span length compared to legacy standard single-mode fiber, and has the best optical characteristics in the G.652 category for operating with coherent high-capacity transmission systems. It has been commercially available since 2007 and deployed in many countries around the world.
For detailed product specifications, visit www.corning.com/opticalfiber.
About Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 150 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy and metrology.


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Inspiring ballerina has been to hell and back to keep dancing
She might have lost her leg to cancer, but that hasn't stopped inspirational schoolgirl Gabi Shull, 14, from becoming a competitive dancer!
She might have lost her leg to cancer, but that hasn't stopped inspirational schoolgirl Gabi Shull, 14, from becoming a competitive dancer!
Gabi's family first realised something there might be something wrong with her right leg after she fell over onto her knee whilst ice skating. As her knee hadn't healed two weeks after the fall, her mum Debbie took her to hospital for an MRI scan.
'We went to the doctor, and he told us the news. He said 'Your daughter has what we think could be cancer, a type of cancer called osteosarcoma.' We were shocked. He had to repeat what he said because I didn't believe him, I didn't think my ears heard him correctly.'
'She asked – 'Why did this happen to me?' and we said, 'you know sometimes bad things happen to good people. We don't know why but we just have to do our best to get through it.' And that's what we did.'
As well as undergoing grueling chemotherapy, Gabi also had rare rotationplasty surgery – as this option gave her the best chance of mobility. This involved removing her cancerous knee, rotating her lower leg and foot by 180 degrees and attaching it to her upper thigh – meaning her ankle now acts as her knee joint. She was nervous at first – but Gabi has been thrilled with the results of the pioneering surgery.
Breaking down barriers
Her muscles are turning to bone
Happy at last
'The surgery has allowed me to do so much more than I expected and I would never go back and change it.'
Recovery was a long and painful process for Gabi, and it wasn't until a year after the surgery that she was able to take her first steps.
'The first goal was to get walking and just get out of the hospital bed, but what motivated me to walk was dancing again.'
'It took several PT sessions just getting the motion back in my ankle and taking my first steps without any assistance – no walker or crutches. And then a year after that I was dancing again on stage.'
Now that she's back dancing again competitively, Gabi's mum couldn't be more pleased to see the incredible progress that her daughter has made.
'We all are extremely proud of Gabi for everything she achieves because she's done so much more than anyone has ever expected.'
And it doesn't stop there – Gabi is currently volunteering with children's cancer charity The Truth 365, and dreams of helping others when she is older.
'When I'm older I would like to be a paediatric oncologist or a nurse, or one of the scientists that finds a cure for cancer.'
'If I could beat cancer and have a prosthetic leg and learn to do everything again, then I can do anything.'


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Also: New music from Flight of the Conchords, Ben Gibbard, 2 Chainz featuring Kanye West and more.
Bob Dylan - "Duquesne Whistle"
Nice comeback single from Bob, whose new album "Tempest" is coming Sept. 11 on Columbia. ("Fun" fact: Dylan also released an album on THE Sept. 11.) Love that this video basically skewers the sort of quirky indie romance usually populated by Manic Pixie Dream Girls, and I love that Bob shows up to roam the streets with his posse. That said, the fact that I'm embedding this from "BobDylanVEVO" is just too bizarre. Speaking of bizarre...
2 Chainz featuring Kanye West - "Birthday Song"
This song seemed truly stupid when I was listening to the underwhelming 2 Chainz album, but after watching that video it just seems truly weird. Everything about this makes me feel like a terrible human being. "Based on a T.R.U. Story" is out now on Def Jam, women should not be objectified as birthday cakes, and that show at Long Street was still terrible.
No Doubt - "Push and Shove"
Tony Kanal calls this No Doubt's own "Bohemian Rhapsody." Not even close, but I think I'm glad to have them back in the limelight anyhow. The Diplo-produced "Push and Shove" is the title track from No Doubt's first album in 11 years, out Sept. 25 on Interscope.
Converge - "Aimless Arrow"
Just might be willing to go out on a limb and say there is no better heavy band in operation these days than Converge. Better go see these guys Oct. 15 at Skully's, because they rule. "Aimless Arrow" hails from Converge's new album "All We Love We Leave Behind," out Oct. 9 on Epitaph.
Ben Gibbard - "Teardrop Windows"
Ben Gibbard's first solo single sounds like... Death Cab for Cutie! But maybe Death Cab through a John Vanderslice filter. But I don't like it as much as Death Cab or John Vanderslice, so there's that. Gibbard's album "Former Lives" is out Oct. 16 via Barsuk, the label that released fine Death Cab recordings like this one.
Flight of the Conchords - "Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)"
So good to have Bret, Jemaine and Murray back, if only for a moment. "Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)" supports New Zealand charity event Red Nose Day.
DJ Scream feat. Rick Ross, Slim Thug & Bun B - "Cassette Deck"
Love hearing these dudes on a chilled-yet-zesty beat like "Cassette Deck," even if Rozay's reading of "pocket full of stooooooones" reminds me of Krispy Kreme. DJ Scream's "Long Live the Hustle" is coming Nov. 20.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz - "Thrift Shop"
This goofy, fun, very literal tribute to thrift shopping comes from the same dudes who just released an emotional anthem in support of same-sex marriage. They are pretty good at both sides of the spectrum. The next Macklemore & Ryan Lewis LP, "The Heist," is coming in October.
Win Win - "Salt Days +"
Good to see somebody's still making LCD Soundsystem songs even if James Murphy's not. Like all the best LCD tracks, "Salt Days +" grooves like party music yet grabs me by the heartstrings. It makes me want to get my carpo-tunnelly little hands on Win Win's album, "Double Vision," out via Vice Oct. 16.
Nas - "Bye, Baby"
And if you thought things couldn't get any mistier up in here, check Nasir Jones' farewell to his ex-wife Kelis. "Life Is Good" may be the title of Nas' great comeback album on Def Jam, but sometimes it hurts, babe.


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Google just pushed out a nice update to Google Maps on Android, bringing it to version 6.7. Some of the new features include:
Google Offers
You can find special deals near you from Google Offers. Here's how it works in the new Maps app:
Indoor Walking Directions
Indoor maps have been around for a few months now, but Google Maps wouldn't direct you through the store. Now it will!
Google Business Photos
You can explore 3D panoramas inside of select businesses, giving you an easy way to see what the store looks like.


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Uber Works
Uber Works is changing the way businesses meet their staffing needs and individuals find work. By building a platform that brings together businesses and a vetted pool of workers, we believe that we can power opportunity by taking the work out of finding work. Join us.
Why Uber Works?
Supercharging Businesses and Careers
Uber Works sees immense potential in using technology and the Uber model to make staffing more affordable, efficient, and humane.
High-growth Opportunity
Join one of the most important, high-growth businesses in the Uber family.
Passionate Builders
You'll work with a small group of talented team-members applying their knowledge and experience to solve tough problems at the intersection of technology and real-world operations.
Explore our Uber Works teams
The Growth team is responsible for recruiting new business customers to join the Uber Works platform and for ensuring the highest-quality service is provided to those customers. The team focuses on all customer sizes - enterprise-level, mid-market, and small businesses - and works with customers to understand their labor needs. They also provide a clear roadmap for improving the quality of their staffing workforce, reducing their overall labor costs, and eliminating the hassle of recruiting and onboarding, through the Uber Works platform.
Central Operations
The Central Operations team's goal is to create efficient, sustainable processes for the journey from business need to completed shift. Central Ops works across all operational functions to build the infrastructure that powers magical business and worker experiences.
Local Operations
The Local Operations teams own individual markets in which Uber Works operates. Local Ops works to understand market-specific customer and worker needs to adequately balance supply and demand and experiment rapidly in order to build the business faster and more efficiently.
The Engineering team builds the applications and infrastructure that power Uber Works. The Engineering team works closely with Design, Product, and Central and Local Operations to build and improve our foundational technology interfaces, including our apps for workers & business customers as well as tools for our Operations teams.
The Design team works closely with Product and our Operations teams to understand the inherent needs and behaviors of the businesses and workers that use the Uber Works platform. They conduct UX research and design technology for workers, our Operations teams, and business customers to increase ease of use and efficiency and to power simple and elegant experiences for all of our users.
Data Science
The Data Science team are the core drivers of our marketplace strategy and technology applications that improves our ability to match workers with the right businesses. Our Data Science team's models are integral to Uber Works' efforts to provide reliability & quality to business customers, while providing workers consistency & choice.
The Product team owns and develops the product roadmap and strategy as well as serves as the key execution engine for the business. Product works alongside Design & UX research to bring together insights learned in the field by Operations and Growth teams and translates them into a strategy & features that achieve Uber Works' business objectives.
The Expansion team owns Uber Works' roadmap for geographic expansion, supporting the business' efforts to achieve its scale objectives. The team evaluates and prioritizes new market opportunities, executes fast and efficient launches in new markets, manages stakeholder relationships across all functions, and works closely with Local Operations to ensure a smooth transition of new markets from launch state to a standardized operating model.


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Get a Quote
‡ The discount does not apply on New Jersey Re-Insurance Company auto policies.
The information and descriptions of coverage on this site are general in nature. The coverage afforded for a particular loss depends on the specific facts and the terms, exclusions, and limits of the actual policy. Nothing on this site alters the terms or conditions of any policy; the policy controls coverage. Coverage options, limits, discounts, deductibles, and other features are subject to underwriting criteria, state availability, and effective dates. Coverage provided and underwritten by NJM Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, 301 Sullivan Way, W. Trenton, NJ 08628.


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Operations Consulting for Greater Efficiency Through Digital Transformation
After an era of stagnation in productivity growth, revolutionary applications of digital and analytics are rewriting the rules about how to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The use of big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and collaborative robots will allow for a quantum leap in speed, quality, and cost efficiency. As supply chains grow more complex and volatile, businesses must embrace collaboration, integration, Industry 4.0, and Service 4.0 opportunities to ensure success.
Get a hands-on look at Industry 4.0 through BCG's Innovation Center for Operations—a network of capabilities and offerings that provide immersion, experimentation, and training.Learn more about the Innovation Center for Operations
New design principles and digital technologies are profoundly changing industrial production, giving rise to "the factory of the future." The first manufacturers that transition to full-scale adoption will usher in a new era of industrial operations.Our Latest Thinking on Operations
Companies that master the challenges of data integration and advanced analytics can realize the promised benefits of end-to-end supply chain coordination.Explore our solutions
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Geologists working in Ethiopia have found that a 60-meter-long canyon is steadily expanding and will allow a new ocean to form — one which will bisect the African continent.
The shifting of molten rock beneath the Earth's surface initially caused the rift in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia and, as those underground eruptions are continuing, the rift will continue to widen — and, in about 10 million years, create a vastly different Africa.
Dr. James Hammond, a seismologist from the University of Bristol, says that parts of the region are below sea level and the Indian Ocean is only cut off by about a 20-meter strip of land in Eritrea:
"Eventually this will drift apart.... The sea will flood in and will start to create this new ocean. It will pull apart, sink down deeper and deeper and eventually... parts of southern Ethiopia, Somalia will drift off, create a new island, and we'll have a smaller Africa and a very big island that floats out into the Indian Ocean."
(Via BBC News)


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※ 为了保护您的个人信息,请勿在内容正文中填写您的个人信息(地址、手机号, 过敏等敏感信息等), 如需咨询,请在顾客信息栏准确填写。
I hereby confirm that my personal information below are accurate, and consent to LOTTE HOTELS & RESORTS to collect and use as follows.
Personal information are collected to provide effective communication for services.
Required items: Name, E-mail, Contact Number, Country, Event Information(Event Title, Select Hotel, Number of event attendees)
Personal information is retained from the date of consent until two (2) years for further services such as counselling for detailed requests. (However, e-mail and contact information will be disposed upon the achievement of the relevant purpose.)
Refusing to consent to the collection is allowed, but there would be limitation of services.


text:
Yahoo Snaps Up Mobile Gaming Company Loki Studios
Yahoo has acquired mobile gaming startup Loki Studios, the company announced on Friday. The staff will join Yahoo's mobile team to work on unspecified projects — though Loki's specialty seemed to be in location-based mobile products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.


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Less Social Trailblazing, More Points Per GameApril 29, 2013
So there's that story that just came about NBA player Jason Collins being the first athlete to come out of the closet in one of the four major sports leagues in America, and I went to find Tina the Lesbian to see how she felt about it.
"Well, Martina Navratilova's been out of the closet for years, and college basketball standout/future WNBA Number One draft pick Brittney Griner came out recently too," says Tina the Lesbian. "But yes, I'll concede the obvious point that few people pay attention to tennis or women's basketball in this country."
"So how big is this for your people?" I say.
"To be honest, I'm not feeling all that jazzed about it," says Tina the Lesbian. "This Jason Collins guy… he's not that good at basketball."
"You were wishing for a better player to come out of the closet," I say.
"Look, I wasn't expecting LeBron James or Kobe Bryant or some other all-star to say they're gay," says Tina the Lesbian. "But couldn't we in the gay community get someone better than an underperforming journeyman center? Maybe someone who's a good 6th man off the bench, or a really good role player."
"Is this to combat the stereotype that gay men are bad at basketball?" I say.
"Is that a real stereotype?" says Tina the Lesbian.
"I don't know, I might have invented that one," I say.
"Maybe now that he doesn't have to worry about being gay he can be a better player," says Tina the Lesbian. "But he's already 34, so he's well into the downswing of his less than notable career. Maybe if someone coming out of the NBA draft, like a high-rated prospect, came out just before draft day I'd be more excited about it."
"Perhaps it opens the doors for other athletes in the other major sports to come out of the closet," I say.
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't," Tina the Lesbian says with a shrug. "If it does, I'll give this Collins guy his props for being the first to do it. But it takes a little more than a below-average center whose less-than-notable career is almost done coming out of the closet to get me excited. There's a reason they picked Jackie Robinson to be the first black player in the Major Leagues of baseball: because he was fucking awesome."
"You've become jaded in your older years," I say. "When this blog began you probably would have been doing backflips in the street from news like this."
"Back then I didn't need a nap on the weekends, and I could finish off a box of Franzia by myself and still have the wherewithal to hit the after hours bars," says Tina the Lesbian. "I'll leave the excitement of progress to the under-25 crowd. They have the energy to ride those drama waves."
Strangely it seems like a significant step forward in society that gay people can be this unimpressed about such events. Not giving a shit is usually the domain of us straight white males. Welcome to the club! The "meh" club, but the club nonetheless.


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Our product selection is a result of our parent company, Rollier Hardware. We are a family run business that is in it's fifth generation. Over the years many independent retailers have gone out of business as large big box stores moved in. At Rollier Hardware we have found that the shift in the retail landscape has made it more difficult for our customers to find certain items anywhere around Pittsburgh. As a result, we decided to bring our most unique items to the internet. Hence the name Hard to Find Items.
We've just got started, so we are constantly adding items. If you don't see something that you are interested in there is a good chance we stock it in our retail store, so just give us a call.


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Hi there!
Been using this neat little program for quite some time and decided I'd try the new pre-release update (only went from 126.96.36.199 to 18.104.22.168) but I am having problem getting encryption to work.
Since I have physical access to my server, I decided that to be on the safe side I would do a complete reinstall of Server (as Service) on Server-computer and complete reinstall of Viewer on Viewer-computer.
Server - WinXP x64 SP2 w/ UltraVNC x64 v18.104.22.168 w/ SecureVNC 184.108.40.206
Viewer - WinXP x32 SP3 w/ UltraVNC x32 v22.214.171.124 w/ SecureVNC 184.108.40.206
Enable DSMPlugin SecureVNCPlugin64.dsm
Configure as AES with 256-bit Key, RSA-2048
Generate Client Authentication Key
save *.pkey and *.pubkey
Copy *.pkey from Server to UltraVNC folder
Use DSMPlugin SecureVNCPlugin.dsm
"You have specified an encryption plugin, however this connection is unencrypted! Do you want to continue?" Yes/No
Yes: Connection established, but Status Window reports: "Connected (SecureVNCPlugin-v22.214.171.124)
(no encryption)
No: You refused the insecure connection.
Connecting without DSMPlugin:
SecureVNCPlugin authentication failed (no plugin interface available)
This last one can also occur upon pressing Yes in previous scenario.
Could anyone help me sort out what I've done wrong? I admit I might not be an expert on encryption, but following the rather simple guide for SecureVNCPlugin, this should have worked?
Best Regards
edit: I noticed that the UltraVNC Server for x64 is labeled "VNC Server for win32" - wrong label, or could this be the source of my problem?


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SALT LAKE CITY - Through nearly 40 minutes, the Utah Jazz made Tony Parker look average.
He had 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and the San Antonio Spurs were clinging to a five-point lead.
Parker the MVP candidate then took over.
"They threw a lot of guys at me, so I needed to be more patient and then in the fourth quarter I was more aggressive," said Parker, who hit all five field goals and went 6 of 6 from the line in the final period to finish with 27 points.
His effort fueled a 102-90 victory Saturday night that gave the Spurs a 3-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
No NBA team has ever overcome an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. The Spurs can close it out Monday night in Salt Lake City.
"My guys are experienced to realize an NBA game is 48 minutes. Anything can happen," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "You can look at the other games and other series and realize you don't stop playing. They stick with each other and the system. That experience is something they have gained over a long period of time and they feel comfortable with each other, even in a tough environment like we had here tonight."
A sellout crowd of 19,911 was energized from the start, standing from pregame festivities that saw a massive green-and-yellow balloon drop.
The fans were on their feet again when a young Utah lineup brought the Jazz back after they trailed by 13 in the fourth.
DeMarre Carroll scored on a putback, rookie Alec Burks sank a pair of free throws and Derrick Favours scored after grabbing another offensive rebound to get Utah to 81-74 with 8:58 remaining. Favours then hit a 7-footer to make it a five-point game.
"He's a handful and he's very physical," Parker said about Favours, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in his most extensive action of the series. "He goes to the boards hard."
Parker, who took the Spurs on his shoulders this season, showed he can finish just as strong.
His 5-foot floater halted Utah's run, then Matt Bonner blocked Favours' shot to set up Stephen Jackson's fast-break layup.
Parker's 18-foot jumper then bumped San Antonio's lead back to 10 with 5:44 left.
Utah would only get within eight after that on Paul Millsap's dunk. But Parker was there to finish the Jazz off at the line.
"We needed to get this one because we know they're not going to give up, especially in this building," said Spurs guard Danny Green, who finished with 14 points, including a block and fast-break layup that helped seal the game midway through the fourth.
The Jazz, meanwhile, lamented the missed free throws — 12 in all in a game they lost by 12 points.
"Those were free points we need in a game like this," said Jazz point guard Devin Harris.
Harris, after scoring just 12 points in the first two games combined, had 12 in the first quarter and finished with 21.
Al Jefferson also rebounded from two sub-par games and finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting.
Jefferson, in the end, was thinking more about Utah's bad plays.
"We can't make mistakes," said Jefferson, playing in his first playoff series since he was a rookie in 2005. "We've got to play a perfect game to even have a chance to beat a team like this. We make too many mistakes during the crunch time of the game and they made us pay every time."
Popovich gave reserve Tiago Splitter plenty of credit.
Splitter missed Game 2 because of a bruised wrist, but had 10 points, eight boards and a blocked shot. He had four points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter alone.
"I thought Tiago was huge for us," Popovich said. "When Favors was giving us trouble, he made shots, got the boards and then scored a bunch during the most important time of the game."
The last time the two teams met in the post-season, in the 2007 Western Conference finals, the Spurs went on to win the NBA title.
San Antonio, with coach of the year Popovich, its Big 3 and collection of castoffs, foreigners and rookies, looks intent on doing the same.
The Spurs won the first two games by 46 points combined, but figured Saturday's would be the toughest of the series.
They were right.
"We expected them to have a much better effort," said Tim Duncan, who had 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Spurs. "It was a good win for us. We had a lot of guys really step up and play well for us."
Utah's Tyrone Corbin, still looking for his post-season coaching victory, tried several different approaches Saturday.
He put 6-foot-8 swingman Gordon Hayward on Parker. And Corbin went to his Big 3 lineup early and often.
Corbin had said he wanted Favours to play more, and Favours showed why he deserves more minutes.
He blocked Splitter's jam attempt early in the second quarter then scored on a putback that gave Utah a 41-40 lead. He followed with a 9-foot turnaround jumper over DeJuan Blair, and then grabbed his own miss and drew the foul from Duncan. He made one of two free throws for a 44-42 Jazz lead.
In 16 minutes in the first half, Favours had seven points and seven rebounds, with a pair of blocks.
While Favors was 3 of 7 shooting in the fourth, Utah's other budding star struggled down the stretch.
Burks was just 1 of 6 in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points.
A stark contrast to Parker.
"The experience showed tonight," Corbin said. "They know exactly what to do... They make adjustments and we didn't get the energy and sense of urgency when we needed it."
NOTES: Jazz Hall of Famers Jerry Sloan and John Stockton were in attendance. ... The Spurs shot 60 per cent and outscored Utah 18-2 in the paint in the first quarter (50-28 overall). ... The Jazz made 8 of 16 free throws in the first half, with Millsap and Favours both missing three. ... Manu Ginobili had six assists in the first half and finished with 10, but scored just six points. ... Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have played 125 playoff games as teammates — the most among any active trio in the NBA.


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Koch Industries funds ALEC and State Policy Network front groups to kill Kansas clean energy standard
Crossposted from Greenpeace USA.
UPDATED November, 2016: Since late 2012, a nationally-coordinated attack on state RPS laws by State Policy Network and fossil fuel industry has largely failed. A handful of states took steps to reverse their commitment to clean energy development. The Energy and Policy Institute published a report on state-level attacks on clean energy policies in 2013-2014, and an update for 2015. NRDC's Aliya Haq has published research on state-level clean energy attacks in 2016.
UPDATED May, 2015: after three years of continued attacks, Koch Industries, Koch's Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-backed Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the state's wind industry lobby cut a deal to weaken the Kansas RPS law by making compliance voluntary. This was a largely symbolic political victory for Koch's lobbyists, since the state's utilities have already exceeded the 2020 target for renewable energy generation targets established by the law. This followed many failed attempts by ALEC legislators to freeze or repeal RPS laws in North Carolina, Kansas, and many other states, ALEC legislators in Ohio froze its RPS law, effectively gutting the clean energy and energy efficiency incentives. Ohio state Senator and ALEC member Troy Balderson sponsored SB 310, which passed and was signed by early ALEC alumni Governor John Kasich. Troy Balderson, the third ALEC member senator in Ohio to introduce RPS attack legislation, is listed in ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force rosters from 2011 (see ALEC EEA agendas from Cincinnati and New Orleans, from Common Cause's whisteblower complaint to the IRS about ALEC's lobbying activities). Balderson's ALEC affiliation was unfortunately unreported by Ohio press and bloggers. Despite a nationally-coordinated State Policy Network and fossil fuel industry attack on state RPS laws, Ohio is the only state that has allowed ALEC and SPN to undermine its own clean energy incentives, after quietly passing the RPS law with support from ALEC legislators back in 2008.
UPDATED July, 2013: The Topeka Capital-Journal confirmed that Rep. Dennis Hedke is a member of ALEC and will attend ALEC's Annual Meeting in Chicago from August 7-9, 2013. Text below has been updated to include Rep. Hedke's ALEC membership.
Correction: this post listed Sen. Julia Lynn as a supporter of the RPS freeze--she is not and her name was removed from SB 82 co-sponsors below.
A recent flood of Koch-supported think tanks, junk scientists and astroturf groups from inside and outside of Kansas are awaiting the outcome of a bill this week that could stall progress on the growth of clean energy in Kansas.
States around the country, including Texas, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina are poised to cut back on government support for clean energy jobs using model legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC, which brings companies together with state lawmakers to forge a wish list of corporate state laws behind closed doors, is coordinating this year's assault on state laws that require a gradual increase of electricity generated by clean energy sources.
ALEC and a hoard of other Koch-funded interests operating under the umbrella of the State Policy Network have hit Kansas legislators hard with junk economic studies, junk science and a junk vision of more polluting energy in Kansas' future. Koch Industries lobbyist Jonathan Small has added direct pressure on Kansas lawmakers to rollback support for clean energy.
This fossil fuel-funded attack ignores the good that wind energy has done for Kansas, a state known for its bipartisan support for its growing wind industry (see key report by Polsinelli Shughart). The state now has 19 operating wind farms that have brought millions to farmers leasing their land and millions more to the state, county and local levels (NRDC). The American Wind Energy Association says that Kansas wind industry jobs have grown to 13,000 with the help of incentives like the renewable portfolio standard.
Unfortunately, clean energy is not palatable to the billionaire Koch brothers or the influence peddlers they finance.
All of the following State Policy Network affiliates (except the Kansas Policy Institute) are directly funded by the Koch brothers, while most of the groups get secretive grants through the Koch-affiliated "Dark Money ATM," Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which have distributed over $120,000,000 to 100 groups involved in climate denial since 2002.
- $53,500 grant from Donors Trust in 2007
- Koch-funded (Washington Post)
- State Policy Network member
Based out of Suffolk University's economics department, the Beacon Hill Institute wrote the fundamentally flawed analysis that ALEC is using to scare legislators into thinking that renewable portfolio standards will destroy the economy. In reality, electricity prices do not correlate with state RPS laws (see also Kansas Corporation Commission).
An extensive debunk of the Beacon Hill report was done by Synapse Energy Economics, and similar critiques can be read in the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Morning Sentinel, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Nature Resources Defense Council and the Washington Post.
The definitive Post article confirms that the Beacon Hill Institute is Koch-funded. This may be through $729,826 in recent grants (2008-2011) from the Charles G. Koch Foundation to Suffolk University. The Kochs tend to send grants to economics departments, causing controversy at Florida State University and other schools over professor hiring processes.
Beacon Hill's Michael Head co-authored the reports that ALEC and the State Policy Network are using in several states. Mr. Head specializes in STAMP modeling, a form of economic analysis that has been criticized for its limitations and poor assumptions in the case of energy analysis. Michael Head testified before the Kansas legislature on February 14th to promote the flawed findings of his report. Mr. Head testified alongside members of the Heartland Institute, Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Policy Institute (see more on each, below), all of which are members of ALEC and SPN.
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC):
- State Policy Network member (and vice-versa)
- $858,858 from Koch foundations since 1997
- Ongoing funding from Koch Industries and numerous coal, oil & gas interests
- $45,000 grant from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund since 2010
- Koch lobbyist Mike Morgan sits on ALEC's corporate board
ALEC is leading the nationally-coordinated attack on state renewable portfolio standards as part of an ambitious dirty energy agenda for the members of its anti-environmental task force, like Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, Duke Energy and other major oil, gas and coal interests.
ALEC's "Electricity Freedom Act" is a full repeal of state laws requiring increasing electricity generation from clean sources, although in some states the model has morphed into a freeze of those targets rather than a full repeal. Kansas is one of those states.
The bills running through Kansas' House and Senate are co-sponsored by legislators who are members of ALEC. The Senate Utilities committee sponsoring SB 82 has at least three ALEC members and the House Energy & Environment committee that introduced HB 2241 has at least three ALEC members:
- Senators Forrest Knox, Ty Masterson and Mike Petersen.
- Representatives Phil Hermanson, Scott Schwab, and Larry Powell (a member of ALEC's anti-environmental task force that created the Electricity Freedom Act)
- State Policy Network member; ALEC anti-environmental task force member
- $55,000 from Koch foundations since 1997
- $14.5 million from Donors Trust since 2002
Heartland is based in Chicago and perhaps best known for its billboard comparing those who recognize climate change with the Unabomber (for which they lost over $1.4 million in corporate sponsorship along with the "mutiny" of their entire Insurance department, now the R Street Institute).
The Washington Post reports that ALEC's "Electricity Freedom Act" was created by the Heartland Institute. Heartland has long been a paying member of ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force along with Koch, Exxon and others. Citing the flawed Beacon Hill reports, Heartland has encouraged a repeal of Kansas' clean energy incentives on its website.
Heartland lawyer James Taylor testified before the Kansas legislature in February, opining that the growth of Kansas' clean energy sector is "punishing the state's economy and environment." James Taylor was flown into Kansas City for an Americans for Prosperity Foundation event intended to undermine the Kansas RPS law. The AFP Foundation is chaired by David Koch.
- State Policy Network member; ALEC anti-environmental task force member
- Chaired by David Koch, founded by Koch executives
- $5.7 million from Koch foundations since 1997
- $12.2 million from Donors Trust since 2002
Americans for Prosperity was created by the Kochs with help from Koch Industries executive Richard Fink after the demise of their previous organization, Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), which split into AFP and FreedomWorks in 2004.
In addition to hosting an event against the Kansas RPS law featuring Heartland's James Taylor, AFP's Kansas director Derrick Sontag testified before the Kansas House committee on Energy and Environment. AFP's Sontag urged for a full repeal rather than a simple RPS target freeze:
"We believe that HB 2241 is a step in the right direction, but that it doesn't go far enough. Instead, AFP supports a full repeal of the renewable energy mandate in Kansas."
Derrick Sontag apparently only cited a range of debunked studies (the "Spanish" study and the flawed Beacon Hill report) and information from Koch-funded interests like the Institute for Energy Research and "State Budget Solutions," a project of several State Policy Network groups including ALEC and the Mercatus Center, a think tank founded and heavily-funded by the Kochs.
- $534,500 from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, 2009-2011
- $340,000 in 2010--49% of 2010 budget
- $125,000 in 2011--20% of 2011 budget
- Member of ALEC; member of the State Policy Network
- KPI Trustee George Pearson is a Koch family friend who "worked for nearly three decades for the Koch family as manager of various Koch Foundations and for Koch Industries." Pearson helped Charles Koch start the Cato Institute as one of Cato's original shareholders and worked for the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, one of Charles Koch's most heavily-financed projects.
The Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) has been the central coordinating think tank within Kansas as outside interests have backed ALEC's attack clean energy laws. KPI co-published the debunked Beacon Hill Institute report that ALEC has used for its clean energy standard repeal in Kansas (see sources in Beacon Hill section above for debunking).
Kansas Policy Institute Vice President & Policy Director James Franko testified in the Kansas legislature alongside representatives of Heartland Institute, Americans for Prosperity and Beacon Hill Institute on Feb. 14 to weaken Kansas's renewable portfolio standard.
Reasserting the false premise that clean energy standards substantially increase electricity prices, James Franko told the legislature's Energy & Environment committee:
We have no objection to the production of renewable energy. [...] Our objection is to government intervention that forces utility companies to purchase more expensive renewable energy and pass those costs on to consumers.
James Franko's free market logic comes with the usual holes--no mention of the "costs" of coal and other polluting forms of energy that taint our air, water and bodies, nor any mention of how the government spends billions each year propping up the coal and oil industries.
After KPI's Franko testified before Kansas legislators on February 14, KPI hosted a luncheon for legislators at noon on the same day. The luncheon, hosted at the Topeka Capital Plaza Hotel, featured Beacon Hill's Michael Head. From KPI's email invitation:
"Given the importance of this issue, we would like to invite you to join us for lunch on Thursday 14 February to hear from the author of a study we published last year exploring the costs and benefits of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Not only will we be discussing KPI's study but offering a review of different studies that have been presented to the Legislature."
KPI has served as the glue for other State Policy Network affiliates entering Kansas to amplify the opposition to clean energy.
Chris Horner -- Competitive Enterprise Institute & American Tradition Institute
- Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI):
- $530,146 from Koch foundations since 1997
- $423,444 from Donors Trust since 2006
- Member of the State Policy Network
- American Tradition Institute (ATI):
- Member of the State Policy Network
- 75% of 2010 funding from oil businessman Doug Lair
Chris Horner is a senior fellow at CEI and the lead lawyer at ATI, a close CEI affiliate known for its litigious harassment of climate scientist Michael Mann alongside Virginia attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who just worked with coal utility companies to kill Virginia's renewable energy law. ATI was behind a leaked memo encouraging "subversion" among local groups opposed to wind energy projects.
Horner testified before the Kansas legislature on February 12 to encourage the false notion that the renewable energy portfolio standard is going to make consumer electricity bills skyrocket (again, there is no correlation between state RPS laws and electricity prices). He cited the long-debunked "Spanish" study, which Koch front groups have cited for years in attempts to undermine clean energy.
Chris Horner is affiliated with several other Koch- and Exxon-funded State Policy Network affiliates such as the National Center for Policy Analysis and Tech Central Station (set up by DCI Group).
Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform:
- $60,000 from Koch foundations since 1997
- $172,100 from Donors Trust since 2004
- Member of the State Policy Network
ATR president Grover Norquist wrote a Feb. 27, 2013 letter supporting the Rep. Dennis Hedke's House bill shortly before the bill was kicked back into the House Utilities commission. This Kansas letter followed an ATR op-ed in Politico encouraging rollbacks of state clean energy incentives, claiming they are a "tax," which is Norquist's consistent tactic against anything the financiers of ATR don't feel like supporting.
Junk scientists with Koch and Exxon ties:
Disgraced scientists Willie Soon and John Christy were flown in by Americans for Prosperity to assure state legislators that global warming isn't a problem (it's already a $1.2 trillion problem annually). Doctor's Soon and Christy themselves directly funded by Koch or directly affiliated with several Koch-funded interests like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Heartland.
Willie Soon in particular has a habit of conducting climate "research" on the exclusive dime of coal and oil interests over the last decade:
- ExxonMobil ($335,106)
- American Petroleum Institute ($273,611 since 2001)
- Charles G. Koch Foundation ($230,000)
- Southern Company ($240,000)
Dr. Soon's questionable climate research now receives funding through the Donors Trust network--$115,000 in 2011 and 2012.
See Skeptical Science's profile of John Christy for a through explanation of why he is not a credible voice in the scientific community studying climate change, using peer-reviewed climate research as refutation.
State Policy Network
- Umbrella organization to all groups listed above
- $49,000 from Koch foundations since 1997
- Over $10 million from Donors Trust & Donors Capital Fund since 2002
- Donors Trust provided over 36% of SPN's 2010 budget and over 40% of SPN's 2011 budget (budgets for both years listed in their 2011 IRS filing).
- Based in Wichita, Kansas
- Operations in oil refining, oil and gas pipelines, fossil fuel commodity & derivatives trading, petrochemical manufacturing, fertilizers, textiles, wood and paper products, consumer tissue products, cattle ranching, and other ventures.
- $115 billion in estimated annual revenue
- 84% private owned between brothers Charles Koch and David Koch, each worth an estimated $34 billion (Forbes) to $44.7 billion (Bloomberg).
- Member of ALEC's anti-environmental task force
- Associated foundations fund State Policy Network, ALEC, Heartland Institute, Americans for Prosperity, Beacon Hill Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and Dr. Willie Soon.
- Koch brothers founded Americans for Prosperity and helped establish the Heartland Institute.
The money trail of the out-of-state groups inundating Kansas with their sudden interest in killing the state's incentives for wind energy leads back to the Koch brothers. While Koch Industries has deployed its own lobbyists to compliment the effort, the brothers who lead the company have tapped into their broader national network to aid the fight against clean energy in Kansas.
Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries, have spent over $67,000,000 from their family foundations on groups who have denied the existence or extent of global climate change, promote fossil fuel use and block policies that promote clean energy development.
The Kochs obscure millions more in annual giving through Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which collect money from the Kochs and other wealthy corporate interests and pass it on to State Policy Network groups. This video provides a visual overview of how the Koch-funded network amplifies unscientific doubt over climate science and blocks clean energy policies:
Article composed with one of the best online HTML tools. Please purchase a htmlg membership to stop adding links to the edited documents.


text:
Fetch groups are sets of fields that are loaded together.
You may recall that a field can use the
default-fetch-group attribute to control whether it is in
the default fetch group. JDO also allows you to create other fetch
groups. As you will see in Chapter 12, FetchPlan, you
can use fetch groups in conjunction with JDO's
FetchPlan interface to fine-tune data loading.
You create fetch groups with the
metadata element. This element goes within the
element, after all
field elements. Classes can
define multiple fetch groups. The
element has the following attributes:
name: The name of the fetch group. Fetch
group names are global, and are expected to be shared among
classes. For example, a shopping website may use a
detail fetch group in each product class
to efficiently load all the data needed to display a product's
"detail" page. The website might also define a
sparse list fetch group containing only
the fields needed to display a table of products, as in a search
The following names are reserved for use by JDO:
none, and any name
beginning with
Kodo also reserves fetch group names beginning with
fetch-group contains
As you might expect, listing a
field within a
fetch-group includes that field in the fetch group.
Each fetch group
field can have the following
name: The name of the persistent field.
fetch-depth: If the field represents a
relation, the depth to which to recurse. The current fetch
group will be applied to the related object when fetching it,
and so on until the depth is exhausted or the related object has
no relation fields in the current fetch group. Under the
default depth of 1, the related object will be fetched, but none
of its relation fields will be traversed, even if they are in
the current fetch group. With a depth of 2, the related object
will be fetched, and if it has any relation fields in the
current fetch group, those will be fetched with a depth of 1.
A depth of 0 indicates that the recursion continues until the
graph is exhausted or a related object has no relation fields
in the current fetch group.
Thus, to create a detail fetch group consisting of
publisher and
relations, with the fetch group applied recursively to the related
objects, use:
<fetch-group name="detail"> <field name="publisher" fetch-depth="0"/> <field name="articles" fetch-depth="0"/> </fetch-group>
Kodo currently places the following restrictions on fetch groups:
The behavior mandated by these restrictions mimics the behavior of previous Kodo versions.


text:
District 9 director Neil Blomkamp's next film could feature a huge star. The Spider-Man reboot casts a super-villain's child, while we learn who won't be in Captain America and The Avengers. Which actress will be the new Barbarella? Spoilers!
Captain America
Marvel Studios exec Kevin Feige confirmed that Nick Fury and the Invaders superhero team do not appear during any of the film's 1940s scenes. He also said that of the next three Marvel films – this, Thor, and The Avengers - some of them will have after-credits scenes like those in the Iron Man movies and The Incredible Hulk. Assuming he's telling the truth when he says "some", that really logically has to mean two out of three of these movies will feature post-credits scenes, with the smart money on Captain America and Thor. [Hero Complex]
The Avengers
However Tony Stark plans to cope with all the other superheroes in the big team-up movie, he's going to have to do it without his favorite personal assistant. Gwyneth Paltrow confirmed that Pepper Potts almost certainly won't be in the movie, as they're close to the start of shooting and she hasn't been asked about it. I suppose that still doesn't preclude a quick cameo, but she most likely isn't putting in an appearance at all. [Collider]
A set report reveals why the crew built an entire fake town out in Arizona instead of just using one that already existed: the movie shows its complete destruction during a massive fight involving Thor, the Warriors Three, and the Destroyer. There are more observations on the move from concept art to film at the link. [Hitfix]
Tron Legacy
Here's a bunch of cast interviews. Even more interviews and a couple featurettes can be found at the link: [SciFi Mafia] Click to view
Click to view
Click to view
Elsewhere, star Garrett Hedlund explained how he took the fantastical journey of Sam Flynn and turned it into something more easily understood:
It starts off in the real world. Sam was so affected by the disappearance of his father, and you got the abandonment issues there. You come from real life on that. It's key for Sam's qualities to be real in a technological world, and the story has to be there as well. This being a movie of a son searching for his father, that's the jugular of this whole thing. Now you're in this world of the unknown, trying to overcome obstacles and get out.
Spider-Man Reboot
Child actor Miles Elliot, best known from a recent appearance on Grey's Anatomy, has reportedly been cast as Billy Connors, the young son of Lizard alter ego Curt Connors, who is being played by Rhys Ifans. [BSC Review]
Neil Blomkamp's follow-up to District 9, reportedly set in the far future and starring Sharlto Copley, may be bringing on board one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Matt Damon is reportedly in talks to join the project. Hard to tell how reliable these reports are, so keep the grains of salt at the ready, though I'd like to think this is the sort of project Damon would get involved in. [Deadline]
A remake of the cult 1960s scifi movie starring Jane Fonda as a sexy space adventurer has been in the works for a while, and now Anne Hathaway is reportedly "attached" to the role, although her representatives deny any formal connection to the movie at this time. Knowing industry jargon, that phrasing does leave a ton of wiggle room for her to still be involved, but I'd definitely take this with a grain of salt for now. [Pajiba and The Playlist]
Judge Dredd
Here are some photos from the set of the new Mega City One. According to the person behind the set report, the movie only films at night, so we can only see the sets themselves in these photos. [Mania]
Real Steel
Dreamworks has released four new promo photos for the upcoming robot boxing movie: [Blastr]
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Two new names are being rumored to take on the main role of the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's Jane Austen reimagining. Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy are reportedly contenders to play Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. [Pajiba]
Everybody's favorite shirtless adolescent, Taylor Lautner, has reportedly signed on to play the lead role of Finn in the adaptation of Catherine Fisher's recent young adult bestseller. The story concerns a savage, futuristic prison society where the protagonist Finn grew up. He meets the warden's daughter, who unknowingly lives in a prison all her own modeled on 17th century Europe. The two both discover a pair of strange crystal keys that could make it possible for Finn to escape his hellish existence. [Deadline]
Mortal Instruments
Speaking of young adult adaptations, Legion and Priest director Scott Stewart is reportedly developing a movie based on Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series, which concerns a young woman named Clary Fray who stumbles into a secret world of demon-hunting. The story involves rogue demon-hunters, friendly werewolves and vampires, and, most encouragingly, demon-powered motorcycles. Priest costar Lily Collins is reportedly in line to play Clary. [EW]
Season of the Witch
Because all our lives would be infinitely poorer without these, here's three clips from the latest ludicrous Nicolas Cage fantasy action movie: [Beyond Hollywood]
The Green Hornet
Here are some new photos: [Sci Fi Mania]
Here's a promo for the next episode, "Firefly", which kicks off Fringe's move to Friday nights with the most brutally appropriate name imaginable: [Fringe Television]
Doctor Who
Here's a behind-the-scenes look at "A Christmas Carol" with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill:
"A Christmas Carol" costar Katharine Jenkins says her character Abigail Pettigrew comes from a very humble background, and that she does indeed sing during the special. She says this is probably the most Christmas-y Doctor Who ever, but it's also very emotional and even heartbreaking. [BBC]
Torchwood: The New World
A couple returning cast members will apparently be joining John Barrowman and Eve Myles in The New World. Kai Owen, who plays Gwen's husband Rhys, tweeted that he will start filming in one month. Tom Price, who plays Gwen's former police colleague Andy Davidson (last seen rather awesomely beating the crap out of some soldiers) heavily hinted that he will also be back and filming in the US in a tweet replying to Owen. [The Doctor Who News Page]
Here's a new promo for episode 12, "Like a Virgin": [On the Flix]
Here's a promo for episode 6: [ComicBookMovie]
The latest J.J. Abrams produced pilot, which is all about a team of cops and FBI agents dealing with the sudden reappearance of Alcatraz prisoners who vanished from the prison decades ago, has picked up a new cast member. Sam Neill, whom I probably should respect enough not to call him Jurassic Park's Sam Neill, is reportedly playing "Emerson Hauser, the head of a government agency who radiates authority and piercing intelligence." It's still a little unclear just how science-fiction-y this show will actually be, although it does already costar Lost's Jorge Garcia and Fringe's Jason Butler Harner, so at least it's got a couple vets of Abrams scifi on board. [Deadline]
The first four episodes are called "Red Rain" (which we already knew), "Serpent's Tooth", "Laid Bear," and "Unholy Alliance." Wait, episode three is called "Laid Bear"? I really don't think I want to know what that could possibly mean. It's infinitely better without any context anyway. [The V-Files]
The season premiere reportedly reveals the presence of a traitor in the Fifth Column, and that person's identity will be "devastating." Here's hoping it turns out the traitor was Erica all along, just so the series can make the most of its continued life by being as batshit insane as possible. [EW]
Here's a promo for the first episode from the 2011 half of this season, "Collateral": [ComicBookMovie]
Black Panther
Here's a synopsis for the six-part animated series starring Djimon Hounsou (who also wants to play the character in live action). The DVD featuring all six episodes is due out January 18, 2011:
"Deep in the heart of Africa lies Wakanda, an advanced and unconquerable civilization. A family of warrior-kings possessing superior speed, strength and agility has governed this mysterious nation as long as time itself. The latest in this famed line is young King T'Challa, the great hero known worldwide as the Black Panther."
"Now, outsiders once again threaten to invade and plunder Wakanda. Leading this brutal assault is Klaw, a deadly assassin with the blood of T'Challa's murdered father on his hands, who brings with him a strong army of super-powered mercenaries. Even with Wakanda's might and his own superhuman skills, can the Black Panther prevail against this deadly invading force?"
Untitled Kevin Williamson Supernatural Show
Scream writer Kevin Williamson confirmed he is developing a show for the WB, although he balked at the Internet characterization that it's Buffy meets The X-Files:
"That was the wrong characterization. I was like, 'What is Buffy meets The X-Files?' They're completely at odds tonally. It's neither. It's set on a college campus. There's a little bit of some paranormal investigation involved, but it's more about the characters. It's more about what Julie and I like to do, which is create a world of people. A young girl goes to college, and it turns out there's a lot more going on."
Additional reporting by Chelsea Lo Pinto and Charlie Jane Anders.


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Python Programming, news on the Voidspace Python Projects and all things techie.
Election forecasting with Resolver One
Resolver One is the highly programmable spreadsheet, programmed with and in IronPython, created by Resolver Systems where I have been working for the last three years. With the programming model central to the application it is easier to do complex data-modelling with Resolver One than with traditional spreadsheets.
One of the founders of Resolver Systems, Robert Smithson, has a strong interest in UK politics and has used Resolver One to create an election forecasting model based on local rather than national data. The results are different to those currently predicted by most political pundits / election models:
While almost all commentators are expecting the Conservative Party to win from the incumbent Labour Party, Smithson's model predicts something more like a landslide - a change comparable to Labour's own 1997 win.
His model has attracted the notice of the Financial Times political blog, which is nice publicity for Resolver One:
Could Tories be on track for a landslide
You'll have heard of Mike Smithson, founder of Politicalbetting.com, one of the most popular blogs of its kind in cyberspace. His son Rob, a former Goldman Sachs banker (who is also involved in politicalbetting.com) runs a company, Resolver Systems, specialising in sophisticated spreadsheets for business clients.
He has come up with an election modelling system which - he believes - is more accurate than some of its existing rivals.
Instead of applying a national swing to all 646 Westminster seats universally, the model is based on more local data.
"If you go back to the 1950s you could do simple two-way swing analysis because the Conservatives and Labour had 95 per cent of the vote," says Smithson. "Now the two parties have 65 per cent that makes traditional forecasting pretty inaccurate."
The model itself is available for download from the Resolver Systems website, along with an article explaining how to tweak it:
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Posted by Fuzzyman on 2009-07-23 11:26:46 | |
Categories: Work Tags: resolverone, politics, election, forecasting
First Quarter Sales Figures for IronPython in Action
IronPython in Action went on sale in March this year and I have just received the figures, and royalty cheque, for the first quarter sales. I wrote up my experience of writing IronPython in Action in Writing a Technical Book which included a discussion of the contract and royalties before this arrived.
Although it should have been obvious in retrospect, the first quarter sales figures are for the first quarter of the year (up until the end of March) which only includes a month of the book being on sale. Despite the short time covered these figures could represent most of the copies that the book will ever sell. Book stores like Amazon order a chunk of books straight away and if they don't sell they'll never order any more or they could even return some. Additionally, all copies of the book or ebook bought through the early access program (before the book was actually published) count in these figures.
|Domestic gross sales
|Domestic returns
|International sales
|Print book web sales
|Ebook sales
|Subsidiary rights sales
There are a few interesting things here. First of all I want to know who the three gits who returned IronPython in Action are... 651 ebook sales is surprisingly high. They record 2986 sales in total (quite a few will have bought ebook and print book) - nearly 3000.
I have no idea what the 'subsidiary rights sale' is. It will be translation rights or something but I'll have to ask. Christian and I get 50% of the subsidiary rights sale and 10% of everything else - making around $7,500 due in royalties. This is minus the $5000 advance should be quite a nice royalty cheque, but Manning have held back around two grand for what they call the 'reserve' in case a huge number of books are returned by stores. This is standard practise but some publishers can hold onto these reserves for a long time. The Manning contract states The Publisher may delay for one quarter the payment of up to 25% of royalties due in any quarter as a reserve for returns.
It turns out the subsidiary rights was for: One translation - China. One foreign reprint - India.
So I actually got a check for $701.27. Not bad for two years work. Of course the real test will be how many copies are sold in the second quarter...
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Posted by Fuzzyman on 2009-07-21 23:46:13 | |
Categories: IronPython, Writing Tags: manning, publisher, royalties
Audioboo: Four short episodes on Python implementations, performance, popularity and books
I've been playing with Audioboo which is a combination of an iPhone application and website for recording short five minute podcasts: boos. The four episodes I've recorded touch on programming language popularity, the rise of Ruby, Python performance and implementations and some new Python books that have come out recently:
- A ramble on programming languages, books, implementations and popularity - Python and Ruby. Part 1.
- A ramble on Ruby and Python implementations and performance. Part 2.
- Python implementations and performance. Part 3.
- Python popularity and books. Part 4.
- My audioboo profile (RSS feed)
Unfortunately I repeated myself on PyPy at the end of part 2 and the start of part 3. It's hard to remember what you've already said when you're in mid-flow and having to break it up into five minute slots doesn't help.
It's been an interesting experiment. it is certainly convenient to be able to record straight from the iPhone and the audio quality isn't bad. If I do it again I will make sure not to walk around whilst recording it, to try and have a clear idea of what I want to say and to stick to the five minutes. If I want to go on for longer I should record a proper podcast.
In other random news, The Hidden Network (The Daily WTF job board distributed across programming blogs) is closing down after three years. It's a shame but they never achieved the volume they hoped for. The economic downturn in combination with all the other similar job boards that started around the same time are a big part of this.
Last night there was a huge fire in a pallet yard in Northampton (UK) town centre less than 1km from our house. I took a bunch of (blurry) pictures. The BBC used one of these pictures on their local news site article:
UPDATE: They stopped using the picture (which had my name on it - fame and glory was briefly mine) and switched to an edited version of one of the two videos I posted without crediting me. B*ds!
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Posted by Fuzzyman on 2009-07-21 22:17:56 | |
Categories: Python, Writing, Blog on Blogging Tags: podcast, audioboo, ruby, books, performance, implementations
IronPython Training with Addskills.se
September 23-24th I'll be presenting a two day training session in Stockholm (the training is in English) with addskills. It is aimed at .NET developers looking to use IronPython for application development, scripting, embedding, testing or just as another useful tool. It will be a comprehensive training session for those with .NET experience who are interested in making practical use of IronPython. There will even be some IronRuby examples covered.
Expertseminarium: IronPython and Dynamic Languages on the .NET Framework med Michael Foord
This course is about how to make the most of dynamic languages like IronPython and IronRuby on the .NET framework; with a particular focus on IronPython. The dynamic language runtime, which is being incorporated into .NET 4.0 and is the basis of IronPython and IronRuby, enables a new class of language to run on the .NET framework. In the last few years dynamic languages have gained a reputation for increased developer productivity and being easy to learn. These new languages for the .NET framework have potential applications in everything from scripting tasks to application development to embedding in .NET programs as ready made scripting engines.
Topics covered will include:
- IronPython and the interactive environment (the REPL)
- Why dynamic languages? (how Python and Ruby differ differ from statically typed languages)
- The Python language
- Multiple programming paradigms: object oriented, functional and metaprogramming
- Working with the .NET framework
- Development tools including IronPython in Visual Studio
- Testing with IronPython
- Dynamic Silverlight applications
- Embedding the DLR (IronPython and IronRuby) in .NET applications
- Interacting with dynamic objects and the dynamic keyword in C# 4.0
- Practical tips, tricks, and participants' questions
It looks like attendees will also get a free copy of IronPython in Action.
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Posted by Fuzzyman on 2009-07-20 12:07:18 | |
Categories: Python, IronPython Tags: ironruby, training, addskills
Return from finally
In several languages, like C# for example, a return inside a finally block is a syntax error. This isn't the case with Python. The reason languages choose to make it a syntax error is that it can lead to results that are surprising and arbitrary at best, and at worst code that simply doesn't do what it looks like it does.
Here are two examples of Python code that may or may not do what you expect:
... try:
... return 3
... finally:
... return 4
>>> f()
This may or may not be the result you expect - it is likely you have just never considered the question and had no idea which to expect. The choice is arbitrary and it makes more sense just not to allow it.
Here's another, if anything worse, example:
... try:
... raise Exception('foo')
... finally:
... return 4
>>> f()
A return inside a finally block silently swallows exceptions. This seems particularly egregious as if this is the behavior you want it is no effort to rewrite in a clearer form, where the intent of the code is more obvious:
... try:
... raise Exception('foo')
... except:
... return 4
>>> f()
It even happens in the following code:
raise KeyError
except KeyError:
raise Exception
return 4
Yes Python is normally very permissive, following the "we're all consenting adults" principle - but we don't have a goto and we don't allow programmers to monkey patch built-in types. There are few constructs in Python that are arbitrary, misleading or dangerous without compelling use case and return inside finally seems to me to be one.
As for silently swallowing exceptions (Errors should never pass silently. Unless explicitly silenced.), a break inside a finally does the same:
... while True:
... try:
... raise Exception('foo')
... finally:
... break
... print 'got here'
>>> f()
got here
Oddly enough whilst break swallows the exception a continue in a finally is a syntax error and yield propagates the exception on resuming.
In my opinion these are unfortunate design decisions in Python and it would be better if a return inside a finally was a syntax error. I brought up the issue on the Python ideas mailing list and opinion was divided (now there's a surprise) but Guido said it isn't going to change - so that's that.
I emailed the maintainers of Pylint suggesting that it would be good to have a Pylint checker that warned about use of break / return inside a finally as the exception swallowing may not be expected.
I received a reply from Sylvain Thenault saying "I've filed a ticket for this easy & nice to have functionality":
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Posted by Fuzzyman on 2009-07-18 12:44:07 | |
Categories: Python, General Programming Tags: exceptions, syntax
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text: Bunyaad, centered in Lahore, Pakistan, provides employment for artisans in more than 100 villages throughout Pakistan. The name meaning "foundation" in Urdu, Bunyaad works to create strong foundations in the villages of Pakistan by paying a fair wage to its artisans. Artisans who receive a fair and living wage for their work are able to build better homes and living conditions, create educational opportunities for their children, foster better understandings among different religious communities and spread peace through fair wages and equal opportunities for men and women in the villages of Pakistan. Since its beginning, Bunyaad has focused on artisans in remote villages, as these are areas with significant lack of opportunity for artisans. In addition to their marketing of artisans' products, Bunyaad has supported education, adult literacy, housing and refugee programs, as well as a variety of other social services in Pakistani villages.


text:
Outstanding news from the Cape Cod Times (with their first, and likely last, big scoop):
ESPN baseball analyst and Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons saw his first live baseball game in quite a while yesterday, taking in a few innings of Game 1 of the Cape League's West Division playoffs at Lowell Park.
The story says Gammons was introduced before the game and, predictably, received a huge ovation. (We expect something similar, but much louder, when he makes it to Fenway.) He says it will "be a while" until he's back on the job — presuming he has avoided being handsy with the staff — and, like a lot of you, we suspect, that time can't come soon enough. Welcome (almost) back, Peter.
Gammons Back At The Ballfield [Cape Cod Times]
(UPDATE: Cape Cod Baseball has a photo of Gammons. It's also after the jump.)


text:
Dutch HUG/DutchHugDay
Dutch HUG day
To celebrate our first anniversary, the Dutch Haskell Users Group (HUG) invites Haskell and functional programming enthusiasts in the Netherlands and surrounding area to a short symposium. The Dutch HUG is an informal group with monthly meetings including talks on novel applications of Haskell and socializing in the neighborhood pub. The group was founded on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at the Haskell Hackathon hosted in Utrecht. After a successful year, we will continue the trend with the Dutch HUG Day.
The Dutch HUG Day will be held in Utrecht on the afternoon of Saturday, April 24, 2010. The actual location is not confirmed; however, we will send out a notice as soon as it is confirmed.
There is a special page dedicated to the Call for Praatjes.