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0.978983	Does Louisiana Homecare/Ruston offer the following services? Ruston seniors that want to remain independent and live in their homes but need some assistance should consider an in-home care provider. Ruston, LA home care agencies can provide seniors with assistance with daily activities and minor medical services in the comfort of the resident's home or apartment. Seniors in Ruston can stay in their homes and have home care workers visit to help with basic daily tasks and other services such as medication management. There are 8 home care companies that serve the Ruston market.
0.999999	Text :A coalition of religious leaders has castigated the government over the two-child benefit cap, warning that some women will be forced to face the “invidious” choice between abortion and poverty. Urging the government to repeal the contentious legislation, 60 Church of England Bishops alongside the Muslim Council of Britain and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, claim the policy is expected to tip 200,000 children into poverty. The policy – imposed by former chancellor George Osborne – came into effect last year and restricts the payment of tax credits and universal credit to the first two children in a family. Anyone who had a third child after April 2017 is affected by the change. In the letter to The Times, the religious leaders write: “This policy is making it harder for parents to achieve a stable and resident family life. By 2021, 640,000 families will be affected. “The policy is expected to tip an estimated extra 200,000 children into poverty. It also conveys the regrettable message that some children matter less than others, depending on their place in the sibling birth order. When the policy was introduced last year the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Institute for Public Policy Research said families will be almost £3,000 a year worse off under the new rules. At the time the CPAG’s chief executive, Alison Garnham, called the change a “particularly pernicious cut” because it suggests some children matter than more than others. She added: “It’s also illogical because no parent has a crystal ball. Families that can comfortably support a third child today could struggle tomorrow and have to claim universal credit because, sadly, health, jobs and relationships can fail. A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions defended the policy, claiming “it is right that people on benefits have to make the same financial choices as those supporting themselves solely through work”.
0.946286	The first electric streetcars, replacing horse-drawn cars on rails, came along in the 1880s. By the early years of the 20th century almost all American cities had electric streetcar systems. The streetcars were smaller and lighter than intercity trains, and they often ran on tracks right down the street instead of on a separate right-of-way. As more Americans bought cars and the streets got more congested, streetcars got slower and much less popular. By the middle of the 20th century, most cities had torn out the tracks and replaced the streetcars with buses. A few streetcar lines lasted into the '50s and '60s. Minneapolis and Cleveland closed their last lines in 1954, New York City and Detroit in 1956, Kansas City in 1957, Chicago and Milwaukee in 1958, Baltimore in 1963, and St. Louis in 1966. The only cities that kept any streetcars running through the '60s and '70s were San Francisco, Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Then, in the 1980s, streetcars (now usually known as light rail) began a big comeback in the U.S., often with their own rights-of-way. Early systems were in San Diego (1981), Baltimore (1983), Buffalo (1985), Portland, Oregon (1986), Sacramento and Pittsburgh (both 1987), and San Jose (1988). More light-rail systems opened in the '90s, including Los Angeles (1990), St. Louis (1993), Denver (1994), Dallas and Cleveland (both 1996), and Salt Lake City (1999). Later systems included those in Jersey City (2000), Seattle and Tacoma (both 2003), Houston and Minneapolis (both 2004), Newark (2006), Charlotte (2007), Phoenix (2008), Tucson (2014), Atlanta (2014), Cincinnati (2016), and Detroit (2017). Several American cities have subway systems – underground railroads through the central city – that date back more than 100 years. Boston built the first subway in the U.S. in 1897. New York City, with by far the most extensive subway system, opened its first line in 1904. Philadelphia opened in 1907, and Chicago opened its subway in 1943. The modern era of subway construction began in 1971 with the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). BART has subways in downtown San Francisco and Oakland, with aboveground rapid-transit tracks going to other nearby cities. Subways were also built in Washington, D. C. (1976), Atlanta (1979), Baltimore (1983), and Los Angeles (1993). Miami opened a rapid-transit line in 1984 that runs aboveground only.
0.999857	You title an episode “Hitting the Fan,” and you had best bring it. Last night’s The Good Wife–in which Lockhart Gardner discovered Alicia and Cary’s plans to bolt the firm–brought it. It brought everything: tension, acrimony, thrills, subterfuge, and comedy. It barreled forward with the momentum of four-plus years of history, plot, and character development. And it proved, if there was any doubt, why The Good Wife is currently the best thing on TV outside cable. “Hitting the Fan”‘s first course ran a good 14 minutes, but there was a full episode’s worth of drama crammed into there alone, with Will and Alicia’s confrontation–“You were poison!”–segueing into a blitz of sotto-voce skulduggery as the fourth-year crew worked against the clock, and culminating in Alicia’s being marched into the elevator by security. Her closing words–“This was never meant personally”–echoed ironically; for four seasons now, we’ve seen that nothing in her entangled work life can ever be entirely impersonal, just as nothing in her personal life can be entirely private. The Good Wife has spent four years building its cast into a force of magnificent bastards: competent, improvisatory, quick-witted, but none of them, even Alicia, entirely innocent. Part of what made “Hitting the Fan” such a glory to watch was how it turned these suite-fightin’ men and women against each other, like wizards hurling powerful spells–restraining order against restraining order, objection against objection. The existential battle over the business brought out the worst and best in them, as the partners and their troops battled over the ultimate prize. The Good Wife has often been about passion and principle, but it has never forgotten that it is also, always, about the money. The episode, and the way it resolved, was another example of how The Good Wife works at a level of moral ambiguity that other network shows can’t reach. (Scandal may come closest.) We like Alicia, we sympathize with her, we want her to win. But we don’t necessarily want her enemies to lose–Diane’s predicament, having tried to escape the crossfire and failed, is especially sad. And even as Alicia wins out (for now), how loudly are we supposed to cheer a governor using the power of his office to secure his wife a lucrative business venture? (It’s romantic, I guess?) It is, at least, a nice gender reversal to see a guy turned on by his wife’s power. And the resolution is a kind of reverse callback to the early days of The Good Wife, when it was Alicia who, albeit with misgivings, used her legal connections to help Peter with his criminal-political problems. But that’s what this show does well: makes you say, “Yeah!” then ask, “Um, why am I happy about this again?” And it allows you the space to hold both reactions in your head at the same time. So, a toast: to a happy ending? Kind of. For now. It’s complicated. And that’s an example, yet again, of how within the confines of broadcast drama, The Good Wife is making smart, nuanced–and balls-out thrilling–TV for and about grown-ups. Maybe on CBS you can’t say out loud what it was that hit the fan. But The Good Wife has ways of making sure you hear it anyway–loud and clear. * Surely someone has made a GIF of Alicia making the talky-talky motion at David Lee without looking at him? * One more reason Christine Baranski is a brilliant actress: can say the word “ChumHum” and make it sound dead serious. * “I need my company contacts saved to my personal cloud. Can you do that?” “You have no idea what any of those words means.” My personal cloud. That’s a kind of poetry.
0.95972	We have previously shown that the transcription factor FOXO1 is elevated in conditions with high levels of bone resorption. To investigate the role of FOXO1 in the formation of osteoclasts, we examined mice with lineage-specific deletion of FOXO1 in osteoclast precursors and by knockdown of FOXO1 with small interfering RNA. The receptor activator for NF-κB ligand (RANKL), a principal bone-resorbing factor, induced FOXO1 expression and nuclear localization 2 d after stimulation in bone marrow macrophages and RAW264.7 osteoclast precursors. RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and osteoclast activity was reduced in half in vivo and in vitro with lineage-specific FOXO1 deletion (LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L) compared with matched controls (LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L). Similar results were obtained by knockdown of FOXO1 in RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, FOXO1-mediated osteoclast formation was linked to regulation of NFATc1 nuclear localization and expression as well as a number of downstream factors, including dendritic cell–specific transmembrane protein, ATP6vod2, cathepsin K, and integrin αv. Lastly, FOXO1 deletion reduced M-CSF–induced RANK expression and migration of osteoclast precursors. In the present study, we provide evidence that FOXO1 plays a direct role in osteoclast formation by mediating the effect of RANKL on NFATc1 and several downstream effectors. This is likely to be significant because FOXO1 and RANKL are elevated in osteolytic conditions. Osteoclasts play a critical role in bone development, normal remodeling, and pathologic conditions such as periodontitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. Osteoclasts are generated from myeloid progenitors that are produced in bone marrow and released into the vasculature (1). The formation of osteoclasts is governed by ligands, particularly M-CSF, receptor activator for NF-κB ligand (RANKL), and TNF-α as well as several other factors that directly or indirectly contribute to their formation and activity (2). Osteoclast formation involves several steps, including differentiation of myeloid precursors to preosteoclasts, fusion of mononuclear preosteoclasts to multinucleated osteoclasts, and maturation and activation of osteoclasts to resorbing bone. Several cytokines have been shown to play a key role in osteoclast formation. M-CSF stimulates progenitors to upregulate RANK expression, the receptor for RANKL (3, 4). RANKL signaling stimulates formation of single-cell TRAP+ osteoclast precursors and induces cell fusion to form multinucleated TRAP+ cells. M-CSF and RANKL stimulate several signaling intermediates and transcription factors such as DAP12, TRAF6, NF-κB components (relA, p50, p52), and potential downstream effector molecules needed for cell fusion, osteoclast activity, and survival, including CD9, dendritic cell–specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP), NFATc1, Atp6v0d2, OC-STAMP, integrin αvβ3, cathepsin K, and others (5, 6). Cell fusion is a characteristic feature of osteoclasts. It involves cell migration, chemotaxis, intercellular adhesion, and fusion of membranes. DC-STAMP, a transmembrane protein, plays an important role in cell fusion (7). It plays a central role in cell fusion and is induced by two transcription factors, NFATc1 and c-Fos (8). NFATc1 is involved in a number of cellular functions in various cell types. RANKL induces NFATc1 in osteoclast precursors through activation of NF-κB, which is further enhanced by Ca+ oscillation regulated by Tmem64 (9). Overexpression of NFATc1 can stimulate osteoclast differentiation without RANKL signaling, suggesting that NFATc1 is a master switch that regulates osteoclast differentiation downstream of RANKL (8). Once formed, osteoclasts are polarized so that the cellular constituents needed for resorption are localized to the bone surface. This process involves the formation of actin rings and the integrin αvβ3 (10). Resorption of the bone surface requires the action of vacuolar ATPase (Atp6v1c1) proton pump located in the osteoclast cell membrane and the release of cathepsin K, a lysosomal cysteine protease that degrades bone matrix proteins, including collagen (11, 12). FOXO1 is a transcription factor that has been linked to protection of osteoblasts from oxidative stress (13, 14). FOXO1 is a member of the forkhead transcription factors in the O-box subfamily. There are four members, FOXO-1, -3, -4, and -6 (15). FOXO1 regulates transcription of many different classes of genes depending on the cell type and nature of the stimulus (16). We have recently shown that FOXO1 mediates inflammatory gene expression in dendritic cells (17) and that FOXO1 is elevated in conditions with high levels of osteoclastogenesis (18, 19). Similarly FOXO1 mediates gene expression in macrophages (20). A recent report indicated that long-term combined deletion of FOXO1, -3, and -4 decreases physical bone mass by increasing osteoclast numbers and activity (21). Although that report examined the indirect effects of FOXO deletion associated with aging and focused on simultaneous deletion of three FOXO members in vivo, we took an alternative approach and examined the direct effect of FOXO1 in mediating short-term RANKL-stimulated osteoclastogenesis. The results indicate that FOXO1 is activated 2 d after RANKL stimulation in bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) and RAW264.7 cells. To determine whether FOXO1 mediates the effects of RANKL stimulation in vivo, a calvarial model was used (2, 6). FOXO1 deletion significantly reduced osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity stimulated by RANKL injection. In vitro experiments agreed well with in vivo experiments and demonstrated that FOXO1 deletion reduced osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity induced by RANKL in both BMMs derived from experimental mice and in RAW264.7 cells with FOXO1 knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA). Moreover, FOXO1 deletion reduced the expression of several proteins that are involved in osteoclast formation or function. These results point to FOXO1 having a role in mediating RANKL-stimulated osteoclast formation, which is distinct from its long-term effect associated with aging (21). Abs were obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Dallas, Texas) unless noted otherwise. Mice that express Cre recombinase under control of the lysozyme M promoter (LyzM+.Cre) were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). FOXO1L/L mice were provided by Dr. Ronald De Pinho (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX) (22). FOXO1L/L mice were bred with LyzM.Cre mice to generate experimental mice (LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L) and the control littermates (LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L) (17, 23). Homozygous LyzM.Cre mice were crossed with FOXO1L/L to generate mice that were heterozygous for FOXO1 conditional alleles (LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/W) and then backcrossed with the FOXO1L/L mice to obtain the experimental LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and the FOXO1L/L control littermates. Genotypes were determined by PCR using primers specific for LyzM.Cre (5′-ATCCGAAAAGAAAACGTTGA-3′ and 5′-ATCCAGGTTACGGATATAGT-3′) and specific for FOXO1 (5′-GCTTAGAGCAGAGATGTTCTCACATT-3′, 5′-CCAGAGTCTTTGTATCAG GCAAATAA-3′, and 5′-CAAGTCCATTAATTCAGCACATTG A-3′). We chose both male and female 10-wk-old mice for RANKL injection experiment. Anesthesia was achieved with ketamine (80 mg/kg of body weight) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) in sterile PBS. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Pennsylvania. Soluble RANKL (3 μg/injection) (PeproTech, Rocky Hill, NJ) or vehicle (PBS) was injected at the midline of the calvaria of LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice daily for 5 consecutive days (24). One week after the final injection, mice were euthanized and calvarial bone was examined by μCT-40 (Scanco Medical, Bassersdorf, Switzerland). RANKL was injected at the midline between first and second coronal sutures and was compared with mice injected with vehicle alone, PBS groups. Specimens were fixed in paraformaldehyde, and small pits on the surface of the calvaria were quantified in reconstructed images following μCT scanning with NIS-Elements AR software (Nikon). Specimens were then decalcified in EDTA and osteoclasts were counted as TRAP+ multinucleated cells in sutures and bone marrow cavities by TRAP histostain (24) and immunofluorescence with Ab specific for TRAP. BMMs were cultured from bone marrow cells isolated from femurs and tibiae of experimental and control littermate mice (25). After the marrow was obtained, single-cell suspensions were prepared by mechanically dispersing the bone marrow through a 70-μm cell strainer. Then bone marrow cells were cultured in α-MEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 1% penicillin, and 0.05% streptomycin (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY) at 37°C overnight. Then, nonadherent cells were harvested and transferred to media with 30 ng/ml M-CSF (PeproTech). Seventy-two hours later, floating cells were removed and attached BMMs were obtained. Spleens were harvested from experimental and control littermate mice (26), and single cells were obtained with a cell strainer (70 μm). Erythrocytes were removed by RBC lysis buffer (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) and splenocytes were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 1% penicillin, and 0.05% streptomycin (Life Technologies) at 37°C overnight. The next day, nonadherent cells were harvested and used for immunofluorescence with Ab specific for FOXO1. RAW264.7 cells were cultured in complete DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 0.05% 2-ME, 1% penicillin, and streptomycin. In some experiments RAW264.7 cells were transfected with FOXO1 siRNA, FOXO3 siRNA, or control scrambled siRNA (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) with Lipofectin (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) or GeneMute siRNA transfection reagents (Signagen Laboratories, Rockville, MD). In some experiments, freshly isolated single-cell suspensions of bone marrow cells were obtained from bone marrow and centrifuged at 500 rpm for 5 min in a cytocentrifuge (Thermo Scientific, Rockford, IL). Attached cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, washed, and subjected to immunofluorescence with Ab specific for FOXO1 or control IgG. No signal was detected with matched control. Results were obtained by measuring mean fluorescence intensity or counting immunopositive cells. BMMs were stimulated with 100 ng/ml RANKL and 30 ng/ml M-CSF or 100 ng/ml RANKL alone for 4 d and fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, whereas RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with 100 ng/ml RANKL and then fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde. The number of multinucleated TRAP+ (more than three nuclei) cells, average area, and average number of nuclei per multinucleated TRAP+ cell were counted after staining for TRAP with a kit from Sigma-Aldrich or F-actin with FITC-labeled phalloidin from Sigma-Aldrich. Osteoclast bone resorption activity was measured with the OsteoLyse assay kit (Lonza, Allendale, NJ) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Briefly, BMMs from experimental and control mice or RAW264.7 cells transfected with FOXO1 siRNA or control scrambled siRNA were cultured in 96-well OsteoLyse plates (Lonza) at 50,000 cells/well in complete α-MEM. BMMs were incubated with 30 ng/ml M-CSF and 100 ng/ml soluble RANKL, and RAW265.7 cells incubated with 100 ng/ml soluble RANKL. Four days later culture medium was renewed and samples were collected after an additional 24 h of culture, and calcium release was measured by fluorescence. RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with RANKL for 48 h. Inhibitors such as BML-257 (12.5 μM), triciribine (1 μM), SB203580 (10 μM), JNK inhibitor I (10 μM), PD098059 (20 μM), N-acetyl-l-cysteine (5mM), l-NG-nitroarginine-methylester (100 μM), sirtinol (10 μM), and DON (50 μM) were added for the last 24 h. Cells were then fixed in 100% methanol at −20°C for 10 min and incubated with primary Ab to FOXO1 or matched nonimmune primary Ab overnight at 4°C. Ab was then detected by a biotinylated secondary Ab and visualized using Alexa Fluor 546–conjugated streptavidin and counterstained with DAPI. Images were acquired using a Nikon 90i fluorescent microscope, and image analysis was performed using NIS-Elements software (Nikon, Melville, NY). Nuclear localization with standard immunofluorescence was confirmed with deconvolution immunofluorescent microscopy. Cells were imaged in five 1.7-μm stacks. The middle stack representing the center of the cell was then further analyzed for FOXO1 nuclear localization using NIS-Elements AR software (Nikon). Total RNA was extracted and quantitative real-time PCR was performed with primers designed using the Universal ProbeLibrary Assay Design Center (Roche Applied Science) and labeled probes (Roche Applied Science). Each value was normalized to ribosomal protein L32 and represents the mean of three independent experiments. Chemotaxis of BMMs and RAW264.7 cells was measured using transwells with polycarbonate filters (8-μm pores) (Corning, Corning, NY) with or without M-CSF added to the bottom chamber for 6 h at 37°C. Cells on the top of the filter were removed and those that had migrated to the bottom chamber were counted after DAPI staining by fluorescence microscopy. Cytoplasmic and nuclear extractions were prepared by using NE-PER nuclear and cytoplasmic extraction reagents (Thermo Scientific). The cytosolic and nuclear fractions were resolved by SDS-PAGE. Primary Ab against FOXO1 (Cell Signaling Technology, Boston, MA), laminin A (Sigma-Aldrich), and actin (Cell Signaling Technology) were used according to the manufacturers’ directions. Bands were visualized by biotinylated species-specific secondary Ab and chemiluminescence using a kit from Thermo Scientific. No signal was detected with matched control. For in vitro assays, cells were fixed in 100% methanol (10 min, −20°C) followed by incubation with primary Ab specific for FOXO1, CD11b, RANK, and the integrin αv or matched control Ab. Ab was then detected by a biotinylated secondary Ab and visualized using Alexa Fluor 546–conjugated streptavidin and counterstained with DAPI. Images were acquired using a Nikon 90i fluorescent microscope, and image analysis was performed using NIS-Elements software (Nikon). No signal was detected with matched control. For most assays data are presented as the mean fluorescence intensity for each group. In some experiments nuclear localization was determined by colocalization of FOXO1 immunostaining and DAPI nuclear staining. For in vivo assays, paraffin sections were subjected to Ag retrieval in citrate buffer at 95°C. Sections were incubated with Ab specific to TRAP, FOXO1, or NFATc1. Abs were localized with biotinylated secondary Ab followed by avidin–biotin HRP complex (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA). Abs were visualized using streptavidin Alexa Fluor 546 (Invitrogen) for TRAP and fluorescein–avidin DCS (Vector Laboratories) for FOXO1 or NFATc1 and counterstained with DAPI. Tyramide signal amplification (PerkinElmer, Waltham, MA) was used to enhance the signal. Fluorescent immunostaining of TRAP+ and FOXO1+ or NFATc1+ cells were observed under ×20 magnification of images captured with a Nikon Eclipse 90i microscope (Nikon) and analyzed with NIS-Elements AR software (Nikon). RAW264.7 cells were transfected with FOXO1 WT, FOXO1 AAA construct or pcDNA empty vector alone, as we have described (27), by electroporation (Neon transfection system; Life Technologies) and cotransfected with an NFATc1–luciferase reporter (provided by Dr. Yihong Wan) (28). Luciferase activity was measured 2 d later using a Dual-Luciferase assay system (Promega) and reported as the firefly/Renilla luciferase ratio. Most in vitro experiments were carried out three times to obtain mean and SE from independent experiments. In some cases experiments were carried out in triplicate to provide a mean and SEM, with experiments having been performed three times to confirm results. In vivo experiments were carried out with five to seven animals per group. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test for comparisons between multiple groups at the p < 0.05 level. In some cases, significance between experimental and control groups was directly compared at a given time point by a Student t test to establish significance at the p < 0.05 level. BMMs were isolated from experimental (LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L) and matched control (LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L) mice. LyzM-driven Cre recombinase reduced FOXO1 mRNA levels (Fig. 1A) by 95% and protein levels by 90% in BMMs (Fig. 1B). Most bone marrow cells and splenocytes directly isolated from experimental and control mice did not exhibit FOXO1 deletion as expected because most are not CD11c+ (Fig. 1C, 1D, Supplemental Fig. 1). LyzM deletes FOXO1 in BMMs. (A) FOXO1 mRNA levels were measured in BMMs by quantitative real-time PCR. (B) FOXO1 expression was measured by immunofluorescence as mean fluorescence intensity in BMMs. (C) Percentage FOXO1 immunopositive cells in single-cell suspension of bone marrow cells was measured by immunofluorescence. (D) FOXO1 expression was measured by immunofluorescence as mean fluorescence intensity in splenic cells. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of triplicate specimens. p < 0.05 compared with matched Cre− group. Studies were carried out in which RANKL was injected over the calvarial bone of experimental and control mice. The formation of resorption pits was measured on the surface of calvarial bone in three-dimensional μCT images. The number of resorption pits decreased by 60% and total pit area was reduced by 64% in experimental mice compared with control mice (p < 0.05) (Fig. 2A–C). The number of osteoclasts was measured in the sutures and bone marrow cavities of calvarial bone by TRAP histostain (Fig. 2D, 2E) or by immunofluorescence with Ab to TRAP (Fig. 2F). RANKL stimulated a 3- to 10-fold increase in osteoclasts. RANKL-induced osteoclast formation was reduced by 67% in sutures of LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L mice compared with control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice (p < 0.05) and was completely blocked in bone marrow cavities (Fig. 2D–F). There was no difference in osteoclast numbers in PBS-injected groups (p > 0.05). The effect of FOXO1 deletion on cortical bone architecture and cancellous bone volume, mineral density, number, thickness, and spacing of trabeculae associated with remodeling in young mice was examined (Supplemental Fig. 2A–E). No significant difference was observed between experimental and control mice (p > 0.1). FOXO1 deletion reduces osteoclastogenesis in vivo. (A) Soluble RANKL (3 μg/injection) or vehicle (PBS) was injected at the midline of the calvaria of LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice daily for 5 consecutive days. After 12 d, calvarial bone was examined by μCT. (B and C) Pit number and total pit area per calvaria were analyzed with μCT. (D and E) TRAP+ multinucleated bone-lining osteoclasts were identified by histostain in calvarial sutures or bone marrow cavities. (F) Osteoclasts were counted as TRAP+ multinucleated cells lining bone in bone marrow cavity and detected by immunofluorescence. Each value is the mean ± SEM for n = 6 mice/group. p < 0.05 compared with matched Cre− group. BMMs from FOXO1 deleted or matched control mice were stimulated with RANKL in vitro to induce osteoclastogenesis (Fig. 3A, Supplemental Fig. 2F). Deletion of FOXO1 resulted in a 65% reduction in the number of osteoclasts formed (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3B). Additionally, there was a 58% reduction in the average area per osteoclast and a 59% reduction in the average number of nuclei per osteoclast (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3C, 3D). Experiments were also carried out with RAW264.7 cells transfected with FOXO1 siRNA or scrambled siRNA followed by RANKL stimulation (Supplemental Fig. 2G). FOXO1 siRNA reduced FOXO1 levels by 70% (Fig. 3E) and reduced the number of osteoclasts induced by RANKL in RAW264.7 cells by 49%, the average area per osteoclast by 27%, and the average nuclei per osteoclast by 35% (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3F–H). Scrambled siRNA had no effect (p > 0.05). FOXO1 deletion or FOXO1 silencing reduces osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity in vitro. (A–D) BMMs from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice were incubated with RANKL (100 ng/ml) and M-CSF (30 ng/ml). After 4 d cells were fixed and stained as indicated. (A) TRAP+ multinucleated osteoclasts (original magnification, ×10). (B) TRAP+ multinucleated osteoclasts with >30 nuclei per osteoclast. (C) Mean area per osteoclast. (D) Mean number of nuclei per osteoclast. (E–H) RAW264.7 cells were transfected with FOXO1 siRNA or scrambled siRNA and incubated with RANKL (100 ng/ml). After 4 d cells were fixed and stained as indicated. (E) FOXO1 mRNA levels were measured in RAW264.7 cells by quantitative real-time PCR after siRNA transfection. (F) TRAP+ multinucleated osteoclasts with more than three nuclei per osteoclast (original magnification, ×10). (G) Mean area per osteoclast. (H) Mean number of nuclei per osteoclast. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of three independent measurements. (I) BMMs from experimental and control mice were stimulated with RANKL (100 ng/ml) and M-CSF (30 ng/ml) or incubated with vehicle alone. Osteoclast activity was measured by release of europium-labeled collagen measured by florescence. (J) RAW264.7 cells were transfected with FOXO1 siRNA or scramble siRNA and were stimulated with RANKL (100 ng/ml) for 4 d. Osteoclast activity was measured as in (I). (K) RAW264.7 cells were transfected with siFOXO1, siFOXO3, or scrambled siRNA and then incubated with RANKL (100 ng/ml) for 4 d and fixed and stained for osteoclasts with TRAP histostain. (L) RAW264.7 cells were transfected with siFOXO3 or scrambled siRNA and FOXO3 mRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR after 2 d. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of three or four independent experiments. p < 0.05 compared with matched Cre− or scrambled siRNA group, +p < 0.05 compared with matched Cre− or scrambled siRNA group stimulated with RANKL and M-CSF or RANKL alone. Osteoclast activity in vitro was measured by release of labeled collagen. RANKL stimulated a 16-fold increase in resorptive activity in osteoclasts from BMMs of control mice, which was blocked by FOXO1 deletion (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3I). FOXO1 knockdown by siRNA also blocked RANKL-induced resorptive activity from RAW264.7 cells (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3J). To compare the role of FOXO1 and FOXO3, each was knocked down separately in RAW264.7 cells and then stimulated with RANKL. FOXO1 knockdown reduced osteoclast formation by 66%, and FOXO3 knockdown had no significant impact on osteoclastogenesis even though FOXO3 siRNA effectively reduced FOXO3 levels (Fig. 3K, 3L). Both BMMs and RAW264.7 cells were examined for RANKL-induced FOXO1 by both quantitative real-time PCR and immunofluorescence (Fig. 4A–C). At the protein level little to no FOXO1 was detected in BMMs or RAW264.7 cells at baseline. RANKL stimulated an increase in FOXO1 levels that could be detected within 1 d and that increased further on days 2 and 4. RANKL stimulated a maximum 7.9-fold increase in FOXO1 in BMMs and a 4.5-fold increase in RAW264.7 cells (p < 0.05) (Fig. 4C–E). To confirm that FOXO1 expression was associated with osteoclastogenesis in vivo, double immunofluorescence was performed to identify FOXO1+, TRAP+ multinucleated osteoclastic cells (Fig. 4F). RANKL induces FOXO1 in BMMs and RAW264.7 cells. (A and B) BMMs from FOXOL/L mice were incubated with M-CSF (30 ng/ml) and RANKL (100 ng/ml) or RAW264.7 cells were incubated with RANKL (100 ng/ml). Cells were fixed 0, 1, 2, and 4 d later. FOXO1 (red) was examined by immunofluorescence with specific Ab, and cells were counterstained with DAPI (blue) (original magnification ×400 (A), ×200 (B). No signal was detected with matched control Ab (data not shown). (C) FOXO1 mRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR in BMMs following stimulation with M-CSF (30 ng/ml) and RANKL (100 ng/ml). (D and E) FOXO1 expression was measured by immunofluorescence as mean fluorescence intensity in BMMs and RAW264.7 cells. (F) RANKL was injected into the calvaria as described in Fig. 2. FOXO1+, TRAP+ double-immunopositive cells in close proximity to the bone surface were counted in the suture area (n = 6 mice/group). (A–E) Each value represents mean ± SEM of three independent measurements. p < 0.05 compared with day 0 or with matched Cre− group. FOXO1 is active in the nucleus, and FOXO1 activation can be followed by nuclear localization. FOXO1 nuclear localization induced by RANKL could also be detected after 1 d and peaked with a 10-fold increase on day 2 in both BMMs and RAW264.7 cells by immunofluorescence (Fig. 5A, 5B). Interestingly, the pattern of FOXO1 nuclear localization differed from the expression pattern by declining substantially between days 2 and 4 with a 70% reduction in FOXO1 nuclear localization in BMMs and a 64% decline in RAW264.7 cells (p < 0.05) (Fig. 5A, 5B). Nuclear localization was confirmed by deconvolution immunofluorescent microscopy, which examined FOXO1 colocalization with DAPI at the center of each cell. By this analysis, RANKL stimulated a 7.4-fold increase in FOXO1 nuclear localization in BMMs from WT mice and a 5.6-fold increase in RAW264.7 cells (p < 0.05) (Fig. 5C, 5D), consistent with results obtained by standard immunofluorescence microscopy (Fig. 5A, 5B). RANKL-induced FOXO1 nuclear localization was also examined by Western blot analysis. FOXO1 protein accumulated in the cytoplasm within 4 h of RANKL stimulation (Fig. 5E). Nuclear localization was strongly detected 2 d after RANKL stimulation (Fig. 5E), which was consistent with the immunofluorescence data. RANKL stimulates FOXO1 nuclear localization. (A and B) BMMs were incubated with M-CSF (30 ng/ml) and RANKL (100 ng/ml) or RAW264.7 cells were incubated with RANKL (100 ng/ml) for 0–4 d. FOXO1 nuclear localization was determined by FOXO1 immunofluorescence and colocalization with DAPI nuclear stain. (C and D) Immunofluoresence was repeated and colocalization of FOXO1 and DAPI nuclear stain was determined by Z-stack analysis in the center plane of BMMs and RAW264.7 cells. (E) RAW264.7 cells were incubated with RANKL (100 ng/ml). Cells were fixed after 0, 4, and 48 h. Cytoplasmic and nuclear extracts were prepared, and FOXO1 cytoplasmic and nuclear levels were measured by immunoblot analysis. (F) RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with RANKL (100 ng/ml) for 48 h. Inhibitors of Akt, BML-257 (12.5 μM), triciribine (1 μM); p38, SB203580 (10 μM); JNK inhibitor I (10 μM); ERK, PD098059 (20 μM); ROS, N-acetyl-l-cysteine (5 mM); NOS, l-NG-nitroarginine-methylester (100 μM); sirtuin-1, sirtinol (10 μM); and phosphate-activated glutaminase, DON (50 μM) were added for the last 24 h. Cells were then fixed and FOXO1 was measured as described in (A). Each value represents mean ± SEM of three independent measurements. p < 0.05 compared with BMMs on day 0 or with matched control group, +p < 0.05 compared with BMMs on day 2 after RANKL and M-CSF stimulation or with matched control group. To investigate RANKL-stimulated FOXO1 nuclear localization further, experiments were performed examining pathways that may mediate RANKL-induced FOXO1 nuclear localization. Inhibitors of p38 and JNK but not Erk MAPK inhibitors reduced FOXO1 nuclear localization by ∼50%. A reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitor, sirtuin-1 inhibitor, and NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor also reduced FOXO1 nuclear localization by 39–65% (p < 0.05) (Fig. 5F). Thus, a number of known pathways stimulated by RANKL induce FOXO1 nuclear localization. However, an Akt inhibitor did not have a significant effect on RANKL-induced FOXO1 nuclear localization. Several potential target genes were examined at the mRNA level to investigate the role of FOXO1 in mediating RANKL stimulation. This was done in BMMs obtained from experimental mice with FOXO1 deletion compared with matched controls. RANKL increased FOXO1 mRNA levels, which were blocked by Cre recombinase (Fig. 6A) (p < 0.05). Deletion of FOXO1 reduced by ∼60% the increase in NFATc1 mRNA levels stimulated by RANKL in vitro (Fig. 6B, 6C, Supplemental Fig. 3A) and reduced RANKL-stimulated NFATc1 nuclear localization by 53% (p < 0.05) (Fig. 6D). In vivo RANKL simulated a 2.1-fold increase in NFATc1+TRAP+ multinucleated cells measured by double immunofluorescence staining. This was reduced 70% in LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L mice compared with LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice (p < 0.05) (Fig. 6E). However, cotransfection of WT (FOXO1 WT) or a constitutively active FOXO1 (FOXO1 AAA) expression vector with an NFATc1 reporter did not enhance NFATc1 transcriptional activity compared with cotransfection with empty vector (PcDNS) (Fig. 6F). However, deletion of FOXO1 reduced the capacity of RANKL to stimulate increased mRNA levels of factors that are involved in osteoclast formation and activity including ATP6v0d2 by 49%, cathepsin K by 63%, and DC-STAMP by 55% (p < 0.05) (Fig. 6G–I). FOXO1 deletion inhibits expression of genes involved in osteoclastogenesis. BMMs from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L or littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice were stimulated with M-CSF (30 ng/ml) and RANKL (100 ng/ml) for 0 or 2 d. (A and B) FOXO1 or NFATc1 mRNA levels were assessed by real-time PCR. (C) NFATc1 was examined by immunofluorescence with Ab specific for NFATc1. Mean fluorescence intensity was measured. (D) NFATc1 was detected by immunofluorescence and nuclear colocalization with DAPI measured. (E) RANKL was applied to experimental and matched control mice described in Fig. 2. NFATc1 and TRAP were examined by double immunofluorescence, and sections were counterstained with DAPI. The percentage NFATc1+, TRAP+ double-immunopositive cells in close proximity to bone were measured in the calvarial sutures. (F) Luciferase assays were performed in RAW264.7 cells cotransfected with FOXO1 WT expression vector, FOXO1 AAA constitutively active or PcDNS empty vector alone, and an NFATc1 promoter–luciferase construct. Luciferase activity was measured as described in Materials and Methods. (G–I) mRNA levels of ATP6v0d2, cathepsin K, and DC-STAMP were measured in BMMs from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice stimulated with M-CSF and RANKL as described in (A). Each value represents the mean ± SEM of three independent measurements. p < 0.05 compared with matched control group. Osteoclast precursors (CD11b+ BMMs) are induced by M-CSF from myeloid progenitor cells (6). The effect of FOXO1 deletion on production of CD11b+ BMMs was examined in vitro by immunofluorescence. Neither the percentage CD11b+ bone marrow cells or the number of M-CSF–induced BMMs in vitro was affected by FOXO1 deletion, indicating that the effects of FOXO1 on osteoclastogenesis are downstream of BMM formation (p > 0.05) (Fig. 7A, 7B, Supplemental Fig. 4). RANK expression was examined in bone marrow cells and BMMs from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L mice and matched control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice following stimulation with M-CSF (Supplemental Fig. 3B). BMMs from FOXO1-deleted mice had an ∼40% reduction in RANK+ cells compared with BMMs from matched control mice (p < 0.05) (Fig. 7C). We also examined M-CSF stimulation of BMM migration (29, 30). M-CSF induced a dose-dependent 16-fold increase in BMM migration. This increase was reduced by up to 72% when FOXO1 was deleted (p < 0.05) (Fig. 7D). Similarly, FOXO1 knockdown in RAW264.7 cells reduced migration in these cells up to 56% (p < 0.05) (Fig. 7E). To determine how FOXO1 may affect BMM migration, integrin αv was examined in BMMs based on reports that it plays an important role in migration of these cells by immunofluorescence (31, 32). FOXO1 deletion resulted in a 73% decrease of integrin αv at the protein level (p < 0.05) (Fig. 7F). FOXO1 deletion or knockdown reduces M-CSF–induced RANK, integrin expression, and BMM migration. (A) Bone marrow cells and BMMs were prepared from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice as described in Materials and Methods. The cells characterized as BMMs were determined by immunofluorescence with Ab specific for CD11b and DAPI counterstain. (B) CD11b expression was measured by immunofluorescence as mean fluorescence intensity. (C) Bone marrow cells and BMMs from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L and littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice were fixed and RANK was visualized by immunofluorescence and DAPI counterstained. (D) BMM migration was measured in a transwell assay in response to M-CSF (0–30 ng/ml) placed in the lower chamber. (E) RAW264.7 cells were transfected with scrambled or FOXO1 siRNA and cell migration was measured in response to M-CSF (0–30 ng/ml) placed in the lower chamber. (F) The protein level of the integrin αv was measured in BMMs from LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L or littermate control LyzM.Cre−FOXO1L/L mice by immunofluorescence with specific Ab and the results are expressed as mean fluorescence intensity. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of three independent measurements. *p < 0.05 compared with matched Cre− or matched control group. The role of FOXO1 in regulating monocytic cells has received relatively little attention. FOXO1 has been shown to modulate TLR expression and cytokine production in monocytes and dendritic cells, which share a common precursor with osteoclasts (17, 20). In the present study, we report that FOXO1 has an important role in mediating induced osteoclastogenesis. RANKL stimulated FOXO1 expression and FOXO1 nuclear localization in vivo and in vitro. FOXO1 deletion or knockdown reduced RANKL-stimulated osteoclast formation in vivo and reduced osteoclast formation from BMMs and RAW264.7 cells in vitro. Additionally, FOXO1 deletion in myeloid cells reduced M-CSF–induced RANK expression and migration of BMMs. However, FOXO1 deletion did not affect formation of BMMs in vivo or in vitro. To investigate the role of FOXO1 on RANKL-stimulated osteoclastogenesis, mice that expressed lysozyme M promoter-driven Cre recombinase (33) were bred with floxed FOXO1 mice (34). This led to substantial deletion of FOXO1 in osteoclast precursor cells, BMMs. BMMs from experimental mice had a 95% reduction of FOXO1 mRNA and 90% reduction of FOXO1 at the protein level compared with control mice. This was not a general reduction of FOXO1 in hematopoietic cells because there was no significant difference in FOXO1 levels in bone marrow cells or splenocytes from experimental and control mice. Several lines of evidence establish that RANKL stimulates FOXO1 in osteoclast precursors. RANKL induced a time-dependent increase in FOXO1 mRNA and protein expression in both BMMs and the osteoclast precursor cell line, RAW264.7, which increased 5- to 8-fold after stimulation. In vivo RANKL stimulated an increase in FOXO1 in osteoclasts as determined by the number of FOXO1+TRAP+ double-positive multinucleated cells. Interestingly, RANKL also stimulated an increase in FOXO1 nuclear localization, which peaked at day 2 and declined on day 4, although expression was still high on day 4. This pattern was observed in both BMMs and RAW264.7 cells. FOXO1 nuclear localization 2 d after RANKL stimulation was shown by both immunofluorescence and Western blot assays. Each of these assays was carried out with primary Abs to FOXO1 from different sources and gave consistent results. The time frame for induction of FOXO1 nuclear localization by RANKL is considerably slower than the 1–2 h induction that is observed for TNF stimulation. However, it is similar to the time frame of RANKL-induced NFATc1 (8). Interestingly, both the protein expression and nuclear localization of NFATc1 are continuously increased during RANKL-induced differentiation of BMMs to osteoclasts. Because FOXO1 activity is directly related to its nuclear localization, the functional significance of high FOXO1 expression but exclusion from the nucleus on day 4 requires further investigation. Pathways that are known to mediate RANKL-induced NFATc1 also were shown to be involved in FOXO1 nuclear localization (35–38). Thus, FOXO1 nuclear localization was significantly reduced by inhibitors of MAPK, ROS, NOS, and deacetylase. In contrast, Akt, which is known to negatively regulate FOXO1, did not have a significant effect on RANKL-induced FOXO1 nuclear localization 2 d after stimulation. That FOXO1 had a significant effect in mediating RANKL stimulation was shown by significantly reduced osteoclast formation in vivo and reduced total resorption pit area in experimental mice compared with matched control mice. The effect of FOXO1 deletion on reducing RANKL-stimulated osteoclast formation from BMMs or RAW264.7 cells in vitro was similar to in vivo results. Additionally, the size and number of nuclei per osteoclast was significantly smaller when FOXO1 was deleted or silenced, suggesting that the amount of cell fusion was diminished. Osteoclast resorbing activity was also reduced when FOXO1 was deleted in BMMs or silenced in RAW264.7 cells in vitro. We also compared cancellous bone volume and several aspects of bone architecture in vertebrae of LyzM.Cre+FOXO1L/L mice versus control littermates. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that FOXO1 deletion alone does not have a major impact in physiologic bone remodeling in young mice. Several downstream targets were identified to investigate mechanisms through which FOXO1 may affect osteoclastogenesis. These studies investigated whether FOXO1 mediated the expression of gene targets that are induced by RANKL stimulation (1, 39). NFATc1, ATP6v0d2, and DC-STAMP expression and nuclear localization of NFATc1 were reduced by FOXO1 deletion. NFATc1 is a master regulator of osteoclastogenesis, transducing the effects of RANKL-induced fusion of precursor cells (1, 39). Thus, FOXO1 may impact cell fusion through downstream regulation of NFATc1, which in turn regulates DC-STAMP and ATP6v0d2 (7). FOXO1 also modulated mRNA levels of genes that are needed for osteoclast function, including cathepsin K and ATP6v0d2, which are responsible for dissolution of the mineral phase and proteolytic degradation of bone matrix proteins (6). The latter are consistent with our findings that FOXO1 deletion or knockdown reduced osteoclast activity stimulated by RANKL in vitro. Moreover, the linkage between NFATc1 and FOXO1 is supported by in vivo results that FOXO1 deletion reduces NFATc1 expression in osteoclasts following RANKL injection. However, a luciferase reporter assay suggests that NFATc1 promoter activity is not directly regulated by FOXO1, which may indicate that other mechanisms are involved. FOXO1 deletion did not affect the formation of osteoclast precursors but did affect M-CSF–induced BMM migration and M-CSF–induced integrin and RANK expression. RANK, integrin αv, and BMM migration are important in the formation of osteoclasts from BMM osteoclast precursors (31, 32). Thus, FOXO1 may also influence the formation of osteoclasts by mediating M-CSF stimulation of BMMs. Bartell et al. (21) reported that RANKL reduced FOXO1 promoter activity at 16 h in vitro and that simultaneous FOXO1, -3, and -4 deletion in vivo increased osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption. Their report concluded that FOXO1, -3, and 4 acted to inhibit bone loss by inducing catalase production, which acted to reduce formation of H2O2. In contrast, we focused on FOXO1 alone and downstream events that occur in a later time frame, 2 d after stimulation when osteoclast precursors fuse to form multinucleated cells. Our results demonstrate that FOXO1 mediates several events associated with RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in vivo and in vitro and also affects events downstream of M-CSF, including RANK and integrin αv expression as well as M-CSF–induced migration of BMMs. Thus, we have shown in the present study that under direct stimulation FOXO1 promotes M-CSF/RANKL–induced osteoclastogenesis, whereas the net long-term indirect effect of FOXO1, -3, and -4, as shown by Bartell et al. is to reduce osteoclastogenesis associated with aging by attenuating oxidative stress. We thank Dr. Ronald DePinho for providing the FOXO1L/L mice. We thank Sri Aravind Thatikonda for assistance with genotyping and Sunitha Batchu for help in preparing this manuscript. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant AR-060055. 2011. Regulators of osteoclast differentiation and cell-cell fusion. Keio J. Med. 60: 101–105. . 2012. Osteoclast fusion and regulation by RANKL-dependent and independent factors. 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Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) negatively regulates Toll-like receptor 4-mediated inflammatory response via FoxO1. J. Biol. Chem. 286: 44295–44305. . 2009. High levels of tumor necrosis factor-α contribute to accelerated loss of cartilage in diabetic fracture healing. Am. J. Pathol. 175: 1574–1585. . 2008. Activation of the acquired immune response reduces coupled bone formation in response to a periodontal pathogen. J. Immunol. 181: 8711–8718. . 2010. FoxO1 regulates Tlr4 inflammatory pathway signalling in macrophages. EMBO J. 29: 4223–4236. . 2014. FoxO proteins restrain osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption by attenuating H2O2 accumulation. Nat. Commun. 5: 3773. . 2007. FoxOs are lineage-restricted redundant tumor suppressors and regulate endothelial cell homeostasis. Cell 128: 309–323. . 2008. NOTCH1 regulates osteoclastogenesis directly in osteoclast precursors and indirectly via osteoblast lineage cells. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 6509–6518. . 2009. 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IGF-1 increases macrophage motility via PKC/p38-dependent αvβ3-integrin inside-out signaling. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 394: 786–791. . 2009. A transgenic mouse model of inducible macrophage depletion: effects of diphtheria toxin-driven lysozyme M-specific cell lineage ablation on wound inflammatory, angiogenic, and contractive processes. Am. J. Pathol. 175: 132–147. . 2007. FoxOs are critical mediators of hematopoietic stem cell resistance to physiologic oxidative stress. Cell 128: 325–339. . 2003. Osteoclast differentiation and activation. Nature 423: 337–342. . 2009. NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species are essential for differentiation of a mouse macrophage cell line (RAW264.7) into osteoclasts. J. Med. Invest. 56: 33–41. . 2008. The JNK-dependent CaMK pathway restrains the reversion of committed cells during osteoclast differentiation. J. Cell Sci. 121: 2555–2564. . 2006. 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0.981508	How do we simplify the inter-linking of datasets? It is common to carry out inter-linking of datasets as a separate activity following the initial modelling and data conversion exercises have been completed. How can the final stage of inter-linking be simplified? It is also common that within a specific domain there will be a set of non-web identifiers that are standardised across different applications and publishers. How can the inter-linking of those datasets be simplified, encouraging convergence on web identifiers? Create Patterned URIs by applying the Natural Keys pattern, but prefer public, standard identifiers rather than internal system specific codes. Predictable URIs structures make it easy for application developers and toolkits to build URIs from simple templates. By using URIs that are constructed from public identifiers, that already have scope outside of the immediate application, it increases the ease with which inter-linking can take place. For example, the pattern may avoid the need to look-up URIs in a SPARQL endpoint, allowing a developer to simplify use a URI template. The Shared Keys pattern is best suited to situations where the shared identifiers are stable and rarely change.
0.999999	Good summary. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and prominent researcher Nigel Shadbolt will lead a new British Institute for Web Science with $45 million in government backing. The announcement was not without its critics, but the Institute could have a world-wide impact. The two men collaborated in helping build the excellent data.gov.uk and will now expand upon that work. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said of the move: "We are determined to go further in breaking down the walled garden of Government...This Institute will help place the UK at the cutting edge of research on the Semantic Web and other emerging web and internet technologies. " Understanding the Web of Data Berners-Lee said two years ago last month that all the pieces were in place to build the semantic web, a paradigm based on giving structured meaning to and clear links between otherwise unstructured content floating around the web. Berners-Lee famously described his vision of the semantic web like this: 250.000 jobs ? Posted by Tom Foremski - March 22, 2010 Associated Press reports that Tim Berners Lee, who developed the world wide web, a method of viewing and displaying pages of content, will head the UK's Institute of Web Science. The institute -- which has been given 30 million pounds ($45 million) funding -- will aim to help Britain develop 250,000 new jobs in the technology sector. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday it will put Britain at the cutting edge of "emerging Web and Internet technologies. " He said the institute would work on opening up government data for public use, such as developing smartphone apps, or interactive maps. Quite how 250,000 jobs will be created from this work is a mystery. Mr Berners Lee has his work cut out for him. Southampton & Oxford to partner. Gordon Brown video. Gordon Brown: "The next generation web ... will change fundamentally the way we conduct business" The government has announced plans for a new Institute of Web Science to be hosted jointly by Oxford and Southampton Universities. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said £30m was being committed to the project. Sir Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the world wide web, and Professor Nigel Shadbolt will head the new institute. The government said one role of the institute would be to ensure greater access to information. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "We want to build on the outstanding work Sir Tim and Nigel Shadbolt have put in to 'making public data public'. "We are determined to go further in breaking down the walled garden of government, using technology and information to provide greater transparency on the workings of Whitehall and give everyone more say over the services they receive. " The sceptics. As an alliance of the desperate, this one takes some beating. The Greatest Living Briton (Sir Timothy Berners Lee) has been thrown £30m of taxpayers' money for a new institute to research "web science". Meanwhile the Prime Minister waxed lyrical today about the semantic web - how "data" would replace files, with machine speaking unto machine in a cybernetic paradise. It's really a confluence of two groups of people with a shared interest in bureaucracy. Computer Science is no longer about creating graduates who can solve engineering challenges, but about generating work for the academics themselves. Of course, most web data is personal communication that happens to have been recorded. "You've been phished, Timothy? For real bureaucrats the dangers of self-service government are obvious - most of the civil servants are not needed any more. In his latest speech, Broon says: And I'm sure he believes every word. So you have two parties with a mutual interest in prolonging the agony.
0.999976	Internet streaming services provide consumers with a wide range of viewing options as well as a viable alternative for people who want to cut the cord from their cable companies. How do these services stack up against one another? Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Hulu are competitors, but their features appeal to different viewing preferences. Apple TV competes with Netflix and Hulu in specific areas but also allows viewers to stream content from both service providers. The following is a summary of each of these streaming services, including how they work as well as what consumers can expect from each service. Netflix is an app-based streaming service that requires an Internet connection, either with a Smart TV, a gaming console such as an Xbox, a laptop/tablet or a Blu-ray player. If the Netflix app is not already on the device, the user can download it from the Web. As of 2017, there are three pricing tiers, starting with basic service at $7.99 per month. This tier allows for streaming to one device at a time and does not include high definition (HD). For $9.99, viewers can watch HD streaming on two devices simultaneously, while the premium tier at $11.99 allows streaming of Ultra HD when it’s available on up to four devices. The strong suits for Netflix are its selection of movies and its original television shows. Netflix offers a huge library of movies spanning from productions by Marvel Entertainment, which is now owned by The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), to an extensive collection of documentaries. The streaming service is also gaining attention for its award-winning original series, including House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Narcos and Stranger Things. Netflix also offers a wide range of TV series (with no commercials), but its viewers must wait up to a year before the most recent seasons become available. For viewers who can wait or who are trying to catch up on a long-running series, the service provides a “binge-watching” solution, but for others who prefer to stay current with their shows, Netflix falls short in this area. Hulu is also app-based, and the Internet connection options are the same as those available with Netflix. The service offers two pricing tiers: the Limited Commercial plan for $7.99 and the No Commercial plan for $11.99. In the Limited Commercial plan, the number of ads is less than the number of those appearing on network broadcasts. Both plans have access to the same library of shows and movies, but the No Commercial plan gives subscribers the option to add Showtime for $8.99 per month. Hulu’s strong suit is its streaming of current network and cable shows within 24 hours after they air live, including Grey's Anatomy, Homeland and Modern Family. One disadvantage is that Hulu sometimes offers only the last four or five shows in the current season, which can be frustrating for viewers who want to watch a season from its first episode. Where Hulu falls short against Netflix is in a comparison of movie selection and original programming. Generally speaking, the selection on Hulu is divided between older movies and its relatively small collection of Criterion titles, which includes Academy Award-winning films such as Selma as well as art house films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Jean Cocteau and Federico Fellini. Hulu has some original programming, but shows such as Deadbeat and The Path have not created the level of viewer interest as the original shows on Netflix. Apple TV is a different animal than app-based Netflix and Hulu, in that programming, apps and games run through an Apple set top box that sits between the TV and the Internet connection. There are two prices for the Apple TV hardware: $149 for the 32GB model and $199 for the 64GB box. Both set tops include a newly designed remote control with a touch pad, an app store and full integration with Apple's Siri voice-recognition for search and device operation. Apple TV allows viewers full access to the iTunes library, which has the largest amount of content available for any streaming service due to partnerships with most, if not all, movie and TV studios. While some may see access to the iTunes library as direct competition for Netflix and Hulu, Apple TV actually enables streaming for both services. In addition to Netflix and Hulu, this service offers a full slate of online programming, including HBO Go, MLB.TV and YouTube. The biggest disadvantage of Apple TV is that it does not offer a subscription service, and purchases made on an a-la-carte basis can add up quickly. That may change, however, as there are expectations for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to offer a subscription-based streaming service with an estimated subscription cost of $30 to $40 per month. Each of these three services has strengths and weaknesses. Netflix provides a huge library of movies and award-winning original TV series, but viewers have to wait a year to see current network/cable TV shows. Hulu solves that problem by making current TV shows available within 24 hours, but the service has limited movie offerings and has yet to hit its stride with original programming. Apple TV offers apps for Netflix and Hulu in addition to access to all the movies, TV shows, games and music in the iTunes library. When compared to cable, and bills that can run into hundreds of dollars per month, subscribing to all three services provides two solutions: the cost may be a fraction of typical cable bills while viewers have access to an immense collection of content that grows in size with each month. How Does Sling TV (DISH) Work?
0.942656	ingredients 8 eggs, 200 g sugar, 1 l milk, 150 g caramel sugar, 1 vanilla sugar. Method of preparation In a 2 l sauce, sugar is caramelized. After a little foam has formed on the surface, the saucepan is removed from the fire and twirled so that it sticks to half with the flowing sugar, let it cool. In a 2-liter bowl, whole eggs are rubbed with sugar and vanilla sugar for 1-2 minutes. Then dilute with the added cold milk gradually stirring all the time. The composition is put in a saucepan with burnt sugar, which is then placed in the well-heated oven, placed in a cold-water tray. The water in the tray should not boil in boil. Keep in the oven for 50-60 minutes without the water in the saucepan boiling. The cream is served only cold. You can also have a whipped cream. In a 2 l sauce, sugar is caramelized. After a little foam has formed on the surface, the saucepan is removed from the fire and twirled so that it sticks to half with the flowing sugar, let it cool. In a 2-liter bowl, whole eggs are rubbed with sugar and vanilla sugar for 1-2 minutes. Then dilute with the added cold milk gradually stirring all the time. The composition is put in a saucepan with burnt sugar, which is then placed in the well-heated oven, placed in a cold-water tray. The water in the tray should not boil in boil. Keep in the oven for 50-60 minutes without the water in the saucepan boiling. The cream is served only cold. You can also have a whipped cream.
0.999865	Is "aftertaste" always a bad thing, and are there food products that are supposed to have some (specific) aftertaste? It likely matter how you qualify 'aftertaste'. I was watching a documentary on artificial sweeteners, and they specifically mentioned that with sucrose, there's a period of time where you continue to sense it. (I'm having difficulty finding what they called that variable, and what the time is for sucrose ... I want to say it was either 0.5 seconds or 1 second). So they don't want the sweetness to disipate immediately, but they don't want to to hang around too long. For chilies and hot dishes, people might talk about 'attack' vs. 'sustain'. You can have a spicy dish that's initially powerful, or the ones where you can take a bite and it takes some time for you to get the impact of the heat. I've used these two together to make deceptive drinks -- you load enough sugar into something that also has significant heat to it, and your mouth considers it to be overly sweet at first ... then after a minute, you start to notice the heat, and you go back for the sweet drink to cool it off, only compounding the problem. (this was a high school/college trick ... I want to say that it involved grape juice concentrate, Tobasco, and Mt. Dew, with the occassional addition of Tang (mixed so it was just a fluid, not dilted to normal strength). What we discuss as 'aftertaste' are typically unintended longer-lasting flavors that are covered up by other flavors initially, but continue to persist after the other flavors have disipated. This is inherently different from flavor changing foods (typically candies), which typically use two different flavor compounds, one of which is encapsulated so that it releases after the other one.
0.943569	Are the Benefits of Offshore Accounts Worth the Risks? There has been a great deal of commotion surrounding the use of offshore bank accounts to shield assets from authorities in the United States. Some of these accounts are used for the purpose of evading income taxes, but there are also many situations where an individual has foreign accounts for legitimate reasons. While there is nothing illegal about holding assets in foreign bank accounts, the complex regulations and reporting requirements can be very difficult to keep up with, even for many seasoned CPAs and tax return preparers. This exposes many well-meaning taxpayers to the risk of criminal prosecution and onerous civil penalties. The federal government has made the identification and prosecution of undisclosed foreign account holders a top priority. Through the use of tax treaties and the criminal prosecution of foreign banks who have aided American account-holders, the federal government is tightening the noose around those with undisclosed foreign bank accounts. Switzerland, notorious for its banking secrecy, has all but been eliminated as a tax haven for Americans. Banks in several other countries are also being pressured into revealing their American account holders to US authorities. In order to encourage future compliance, the IRS rolled out their Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI), a program allowing those with undeclared foreign bank accounts to voluntarily disclose the existence of the accounts and pay taxes and penalties, without the risk of being criminally prosecuted. The 2009 program was so successful that the IRS renewed it in 2011. The current version, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), started in 2012 and does not have a scheduled end date. In addition to the legal risks, maintaining foreign accounts does not make sense for most individuals, from a financial and administrative perspective. Opening a foreign account often requires hiring an international tax planner. The additional reporting requirements result in additional fees paid to CPAs and other domestic tax advisors. When it comes time to file the required tax documents in the United States, obtaining the necessary information from the foreign accounts can be difficult and time consuming. If the goal is to shield assets from potential creditors, there are alternative measures available domestically. For example, one might purchase liability insurance, which may cost less than the costs associated with opening and maintaining foreign accounts. Another option is to place assets into a domestic asset-protection trust. If you have undisclosed foreign bank accounts, the opportunity to avoid the risk of criminal prosecution by taking part in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program may be limited. The federal government is constantly pressuring more and more foreign banks to turn over information related to American account holders. Once US authorities have information that identifies you as the holder of an undisclosed foreign bank account, you are no longer eligible for the voluntary disclosure program. For more information on the program, please visit the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program page on our website.
0.972456	With some of the finest beer in North America and some delicious treats to accompany, the Budweiser Beer Gift Basket is a gift all beer-lovers should receive! Along with Budweiser Beers, delve into rich chocolates, gourmet cheeses, and tasty crackers. Enjoy the great taste and drinkability of Budweiser Beer, the perfect drink for enjoying the game, summer vacation, and any activity that could be improved with a simple cold one in hand. Tortillas - Los Cantores Originals: When it comes to making tortilla chips, the ancient Aztecs knew better. They perfected a maize-processing technique that results in better taste and aroma, better texture, better nutrition, and an all around better tortilla chip. Pretzels - East Shore Dipping Pretzels: These exquisitely seasoned pretzels from East Shore Speciality Foods are full of crunch, flavour, and character. Enhance the pretzel to new heights by adding a dash of mustard. Chocolate - Canada True Icewine Chocolates: These maple leaf shaped treats are made with milk chocolates and the creamy centres are flavoured with icewine. Bucket - Silver Ice Bucket: The perfect home for your many new beers, this silver ice bucket keeps your beers cool and fresh out on the patio on a warm summer day. Beer - 6 Budweiser Beers: As the name of the gift basket implies, this gift features 6 Budweiser Beers. Enjoy the smooth taste of American-style pale lager Budweiser Beer. Worth every penny you spend on it. Loved the hamper. The beer was refreshing and lovely. I'm not really a beer person but when it comes to drinking beer, I like Buds. My husband loves it and now it's become a staple. I like its mild flavor. The beer in this basket was great per se. The other items accentuated the beauty of this basket, each and every one of them fresh and delicious. Would recommend this basket to everyone who loves having quick bites with a great beer. I frequently order gifts from Hazelton's for my family, friends, and acquaintances. Always a good service and the products are delivered on time. The only comment would be that I don't particularly want crackers and cheese included which quite a lot of the hampers have. A personal thing for me and not being judgemental about the quality. I love your service. This was my first shopping experience with this site and I am absolutely thrilled with it as everything went so brilliantly! The whole experience was so simple and easy and the service and basket were great... I can't wait to order again. Purchased for my brother, who enjoys beer. He has a collection of beer bottles from several countries. This gift was so loved by him. Great gift and great service. Thank you for delivering it exactly on his birthday in a very short time. Well done! Would love to use your service again. i live in the UK and I sent this gift to my brother in Ontario, he sent me a picture and it looked great, he was very pleased with the contents.
0.998355	Use the journey planner above to find all travel options from Naples to Monza. Plan your trip, combine and compare transportation providers such as for example: Railway agencies, Bus operators, airines. From Naples [LAT: 40.85177, LNG: 14.26812] to Monza [LAT: 45.58450, LNG: 9.27445] is 796.3 km. Driving towards Monza from Naples is about 11 hours 28 minutes. International trains, coaches, flights, and all relevant routes and modalities are the modes of transportation Combitrip would suggest for long trips. To make wise travel decisions, use Combitrip! For very long-haul trips, Combitrip recommends connecting flights from multiple major international airports, so you should always check all routes and all airlines to save on your long-haul flight. At Combitrip, you can choose how you wish to start your trip (walk, bike, car, taxi), how to do the main trip (flight, bus, train, carshare, rideshare, taxi), and how to end your trip (walking, biking, car, taxi). Depending on your input, Combitrip tailors the most efficient trip for you. If you are having a hard time figuring out the best, cheapest, and most efficient airports or stations to use, Combitrip can help you with that just by entering your specific departure and destination.
0.998943	Decide whether you want to put your fountain indoors or outdoors. In general indoor applications require fountains that are designed to minimize splash out and sound. Fountains that create a gentle water flow from leaf to leaf make just enough sound so that you know they are there, but not so much that they become get overwhelming. Models of this type include: Rose, Single Stem Leaf, Waterfall with Bloom, and Eucalyptus. These models are fine outside, also. I offer some other designs that have greater water flow and sound, but don't have much splash out. They, too are good indoors or outdoors. They include: Prairie Fountains, Columns, some Arcs, and some Agaves. Outdoor applications can tolerate more splash and sound. That's why Yuccas, Saguaros, Taller Agaves, Prickly Pears, Iris, Cattails, Calla and Day Lilies, Birds of Paradise, Big Leaf, Rain, and some Arcs are well-suited for outdoors where you REALLY want to see and hear them. For the most part, these models are not recommended for indoor use. Fountain style is also an important factor. You should select something that complements your decor or landscaping - not something that competes with it. Other considerations are size and display. Your fountain should be appropriately sized for the space. Too large a fountain in a small space doesn't do anything justice. Neither does too small a fountain in a large space. When in doubt, put something of a similar size in the space you are considering and live with it for a few days. If you still want more advice, email me.
0.995261	How is the pKa of extremely weak acids determined? According to Wikipedia, the conjugate acid of LDA has a pKa of about 35 - which is in line with figures I've seen elsewhere. How then can such a weak acid's pKa be determined? If the determination is made in water, how is that even possible? Water would be a stronger acid by far and couldn't it easily mask the acidity of LDA's conjugate acid? Is LDA's pKa value even determined in water? Similarly, how are extremely strong acids' pKa values determined? Wouldn't the leveling effect come into play as one introduces, say, tosic acid into water? How then can we determine the strength of an acid stronger than hydronium ion in water? Sure enough, such extreme pKa values can't be determined in water for the very reason you've specified (the so-called leveling effect). Now, pretty much every textbook containing the phrase "leveling effect" would also provide a word of explanation as to how can we move beyond the common pH range of water. Even the link above does that; please, read it till the words "discrimination window", at least. Long story short, we abandon water altogether and move to another solvent (more acidic, like acetic acid, if we are interested in super-strong acids, or more basic, like liquid ammonia, if we want to deal with super-weak acids and super-strong bases). We take our compound in question which is too acidic (or too basic) to be measured in water, pit it against some known compound which is less acidic (or basic) so that its pKa (or pKb) is known from the measurements in water, measure the constant of equilibrium between them and thus derive the unknown pKa. If our compound is too strong for that solvent, we step further to another solvent. Thus we build a kind of ladder, much like the ladder of years in dendrochronology or the ladder of distances in astronomy. And that's how the wild values of pKa like -20 or +40 can be reached. pKa is, as you mentioned, commonly measured in water. This worked well initially, but as chemists got more ambitious in their measurements, they began to come up against the levelling effect, whereby the acidity/basicity of the compound being measured was limited by the acid/base properties of the solvent being used to measure it. To a certain extent, this was mitigated by moving from water to a solvent that is unchanged over a wider range of pKa (the range of pKa is known as the discrimination window), DMSO being the example chosen. This change to DMSO allowed the pKa of far more compounds to be measured. DMSO has been used to measure the pKa of LDA, the example you gave. Even in cases where DMSO is unsuitable pKa may be measured in other solvents. There is however an issue with using different solvents to measure pKa in that the values are not directly comparable since different solvents affect the ease of protonation/deprotonation. The discrimination windows of several solvents are given below (Source: Wikipedia). Standard pKa measurement is carried out by dissolving the compound in the solvent and titrating in acid/base slowly, whilst measuring the pH change, which can be done in many ways. This gives a curve from which the pKa may be read off (pKa is the point at which the compound is 50% ionised). Whilst pKa has been determined for many common chemicals, there are instances where pKa will be extremely high/low. In these situations, we can abandon the direct measurement as described above, and look for some other way of doing it. -A brief interlude- To give an analogy that may (or may not) be more familiar. In medicinal chemistry, logP is an incredibly useful property. It was traditionally measured by partitioning the drug molecule in-between octanol and water and seeing how much of the compound ended up in each layer. This was laborious, and so medicinal chemists moved from directly measuring logP to carrying out other analysis from which logP could be derived. The common way of doing this is to use a column (similar to chromatography, but specially adapted). The chemist first runs a set of samples with known logP through the column, followed by the compound being studied. By looking at retention times and then comparing and doing some maths, a calculated logP can be obtained which is generally fairly reliable. With pKa measurement, the situation is a similar in that we can indirectly measure the pKa and extrapolate. There are, however, two separate issues here. A first problem is that pKa measurements at the extreme are just difficult (i.e. very small or very large) due to the titration curve becoming very difficult to measure accuratly, it isn't impossible however. This is really the main issue. The other problem is related to levelling, but as you can see from the table above , we do have solvents available to measure over pretty much as wide a range as you could ever want (note: if you're considering measuring a pKa in hydrofluoric acid, you should probably reconsider why you need to measure it in the first place). The following paper (free to view) details the most common direct and indirect methods of determination. From my experience, there are three methods I think are worth discussing here as alternatives to direct pH change measurement. . . HPLC measurement in which the pH of the mobile phase is varied. As the pH changes, the compound may ionise, which changes its retention time on the column. This may be used to extrapolate pKa by comparison to samples of known pKa. The HPLC columns used now are able to tolerate the use of highly acidic/basic mobile phases for pKa determination. NMR measurement in which we 'titrate' in the NMR tube, adding acid/base, and watching as the chemical shift changes. This has allowed some super accurate pKa's to be measured. Comparative measurement in which a compound with a known pKa is reacted with our compound for analysis, and we see the extent to which they protonate/deprotonate one another. By looking at this equilibrium constant we essentially can derive the pKa. Although not a 'measurement' of pKa, in silico computational methods are becoming increasingly accurate. This is especially true within a normal pKa range, but has also found applications with highly acidic/basic molecules. Some common packages for this are ACDpKa, Epik and Marvin. Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged organic-chemistry ph or ask your own question. What is the pKa of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol? How do you make sense of acid base reactions in organic chemistry? What is the pKa of iodous acid?
0.989842	Predicting about your job loss is almost impossible and how can one defend him/her self against such satiations? Keep reading down Experts in Finance handling clarify that in most situations, loosing job not only depends on the structural change of the company but also on employee incompetence and carelessness. There are particularly some certain tell-tale changes indicating about forthcoming job loss. Employees should read and put into practice these signs. Not receiving a hike or a promotion is an indication that the employer or management might be unhappy with the employee and termination chances could be high. One more approach is to look through the employee, making him/her feel absent. A tell-tale sign is being excluded from all major meetings and projects. Situations like a junior being promoted to higher levels and later being asked to train the junior for his own roles indicate red flag. Finally, a lot of agitations at the top level are also a sign that your job might not be safe or secure. Action Plan: HR experts are of the opinion that a person should try to manage and handle the situations in spite of losing his anger when endangered with a possible job loss. One more common mistake is to quit the job in anger. Never put down your papers until the management has asked for them. Dealing with a pink slip: If a pink slip is about to appear for sure, then its better option to search for a new job before you quit the present one. Also plan out for the finances in order. Its suggestible to plan out your financial expenses until you get into the next job to regularize your monthly and annual expenses. Getting a New job: Approaching the previous companies competitors for a job is a good step for the employees who get a pink slip. Circulating the resume in the network would be good planning. Another step while searching for a new job is to focus on a company which is smaller than the previous one. In the same time, never short-sell yourself and settle for a lesser salary package or position in a bigger company which can have an impact on your efficiency.
0.999999	My potatoes have had flowers for about three weeks. How do I know when to pick them? You can just remove the flowers, or leave them. Some people like to removed them so the plant focuses more on the tubers while others leave them to ensure they do not accidentally allow disease into the plants through the cuts.
0.999805	Meet Clare. She is the number one salesperson in the Northeast for a software systems company. She is a single mother of three children, 15, 11, and 9. Clare is a woman on the go! She has to travel a great deal for her job, and when she is home, she is constantly running, balancing the demands of her career with the needs of her three children. She often feels that she is moving at such a fast pace that she loses sight of who she wants to be and how she can contribute to the world at large. There is no rationalization. Clare is highly aware that she needs to slow down long enough to be intentional about her life. She understands that the lure of her high-powered job and the high salary she earns keeps her moving at such high speeds that she doesn't have time to ponder things such as meaning and significance. Deeply troubling to her, this disconnect is a significant drain on her energy. She feels good about the way she provides for her children and her relationships with them, but she feels as if she should do more for those outside her immediate family. Clare is no different than most of us. Our day-to-day demands get in the way of loftier goals. Just as in every other dimension of energy, awareness and intentionality are key. Clare knows that she is not accessing and fueling her spiritual energy as fully as she could. Now, she needs to be more intentional about how she is going to overcome it. One of the first keys to cultivating spiritual energy is to reserve time for quiet reflection. The second is to make sure that our own needs are being met adequately. We cannot begin to think about the needs of others if our own sense of self is not secure, and if we do not have "enough" of what we need (. When we have enough resources, we call this "abundance". It is only when we are in an abundant state that we can consider the needs of others. Quiet reflection means taking time to connect with ourselves and our values. It is only when we are clear about what we stand for that we can connect to these values and use them to drive our behavior. The more clarity we have, the more likely we can access our values even when under stress. A good way of framing this idea is to imagine yourself in the ocean When the waves are crashing all around you, you are preoccupied with simply keeping your head above water so that you do not drown. If you go down deep, far below the surface where the waves are, the water is still and quiet and calm. In order to connect to our values we need to "go deeper," to reach the stillness and move beyond survival. Clare knew that she connects most to her own meaning and values when she spends time in nature. She created a ritual where once a week she would take an hour-long walk along a nature trail that was near her home. She would use this time for reflection and thinking about how she could be more of the person she wants to be on a daily basis. Her focus of reflection was this: How can I add more value to others in small ways each and every day?
0.996211	Stochastic gradient descent is the dominant method used to train deep learning models. There are three main variants of gradient descent and it can be confusing which one to use. In this post, you will discover the one type of gradient descent you should use in general and how to configure it. What gradient descent is and how it works from a high level. What batch, stochastic, and mini-batch gradient descent are and the benefits and limitations of each method. That mini-batch gradient descent is the go-to method and how to configure it on your applications. Update Apr/2018: Added additional reference to support a batch size of 32. Photo by Brian Smithson, some rights reserved. Gradient descent is an optimization algorithm often used for finding the weights or coefficients of machine learning algorithms, such as artificial neural networks and logistic regression. It works by having the model make predictions on training data and using the error on the predictions to update the model in such a way as to reduce the error. Gradient descent can vary in terms of the number of training patterns used to calculate error; that is in turn used to update the model. The number of patterns used to calculate the error includes how stable the gradient is that is used to update the model. We will see that there is a tension in gradient descent configurations of computational efficiency and the fidelity of the error gradient. The three main flavors of gradient descent are batch, stochastic, and mini-batch. Stochastic gradient descent, often abbreviated SGD, is a variation of the gradient descent algorithm that calculates the error and updates the model for each example in the training dataset. The update of the model for each training example means that stochastic gradient descent is often called an online machine learning algorithm. The frequent updates immediately give an insight into the performance of the model and the rate of improvement. This variant of gradient descent may be the simplest to understand and implement, especially for beginners. The increased model update frequency can result in faster learning on some problems. The noisy update process can allow the model to avoid local minima (e.g. premature convergence). Updating the model so frequently is more computationally expensive than other configurations of gradient descent, taking significantly longer to train models on large datasets. The frequent updates can result in a noisy gradient signal, which may cause the model parameters and in turn the model error to jump around (have a higher variance over training epochs). The noisy learning process down the error gradient can also make it hard for the algorithm to settle on an error minimum for the model. What is Batch Gradient Descent? Batch gradient descent is a variation of the gradient descent algorithm that calculates the error for each example in the training dataset, but only updates the model after all training examples have been evaluated. One cycle through the entire training dataset is called a training epoch. Therefore, it is often said that batch gradient descent performs model updates at the end of each training epoch. Fewer updates to the model means this variant of gradient descent is more computationally efficient than stochastic gradient descent. The decreased update frequency results in a more stable error gradient and may result in a more stable convergence on some problems. The separation of the calculation of prediction errors and the model update lends the algorithm to parallel processing based implementations. The more stable error gradient may result in premature convergence of the model to a less optimal set of parameters. The updates at the end of the training epoch require the additional complexity of accumulating prediction errors across all training examples. Commonly, batch gradient descent is implemented in such a way that it requires the entire training dataset in memory and available to the algorithm. Model updates, and in turn training speed, may become very slow for large datasets. What is Mini-Batch Gradient Descent? The model update frequency is higher than batch gradient descent which allows for a more robust convergence, avoiding local minima. The batched updates provide a computationally more efficient process than stochastic gradient descent. The batching allows both the efficiency of not having all training data in memory and algorithm implementations. Mini-batch requires the configuration of an additional “mini-batch size” hyperparameter for the learning algorithm. Error information must be accumulated across mini-batches of training examples like batch gradient descent. Mini-batch gradient descent is the recommended variant of gradient descent for most applications, especially in deep learning. Mini-batch sizes, commonly called “batch sizes” for brevity, are often tuned to an aspect of the computational architecture on which the implementation is being executed. Such as a power of two that fits the memory requirements of the GPU or CPU hardware like 32, 64, 128, 256, and so on. Batch size is a slider on the learning process. Small values give a learning process that converges quickly at the cost of noise in the training process. Large values give a learning process that converges slowly with accurate estimates of the error gradient. Tip 1: A good default for batch size might be 32. … [batch size] is typically chosen between 1 and a few hundreds, e.g. [batch size] = 32 is a good default value, with values above 10 taking advantage of the speedup of matrix-matrix products over matrix-vector products. Tip 2: It is a good idea to review learning curves of model validation error against training time with different batch sizes when tuning the batch size. … it can be optimized separately of the other hyperparameters, by comparing training curves (training and validation error vs amount of training time), after the other hyper-parameters (except learning rate) have been selected. Tip 3: Tune batch size and learning rate after tuning all other hyperparameters. … [batch size] and [learning rate] may slightly interact with other hyper-parameters so both should be re-optimized at the end. Once [batch size] is selected, it can generally be fixed while the other hyper-parameters can be further optimized (except for a momentum hyper-parameter, if one is used). In this post, you discovered the gradient descent algorithm and the version that you should use in practice. I think this is lower than SGD, rather than BGD, am I wrong? Typo, I meant “higher”. Fixed, thanks. The idea of batches in SGD and the Adam optimizations of SGD are orthogonal. You can use batches with or without Adam. Oh ok, and also isn’t SGD called so because Gradient Descent is a greedy algorithm and searches for a minima along a slope which can lead to it getting stuck with local minima and to prevent that, Stochastic Gradient Descent uses various random iteration and then a proximates the global minima from all slopes, hence the “stochastic”? Yes, right on, it adds noise to the process which allows the process to escape local optima in search of something better. Suppose my training data size is 1000 and batch size I selected is 128. So, I would like to know how algorithm deals with last training set which is less than batch size? In this case 7 weights update will be done till algorithm reach 896 training samples. Now what happens for rest of 104 training samples. Will it ignore the last training set or it will use 24 samples from next epoch? It uses a smaller batch size for the last batch. The samples are still used. These quotes are from this article and the linked articles. They are subtly different, are they all true? Yes, batch/mini-batch are types of stochastic gradient descent. Thanks for the post! It’s a very elegant summry. – The noisy update process can allow the model to avoid local minima (e.g. premature convergence). Can I ask why is this the case? Because the weights will bounce around the solution space more and may bounce out of local minima given the larger variance in the updates to the weights. Suppose there are 1000 training samples, and a mini batch size of 42. So 23 mini batches of size 42, and 1 mini batch of size of 34. if the weights are updated based only on the sum of the gradient, would that last mini batch with a different size cause problems since the number of summations isn’t the same as the other mini batches? Good question, in general it is better to have mini batches that have the same number of samples. In practice the difference does not seem to matter much. Shouldn’t predict(X, train_data) in your pseudocode be predict(X, model)? Could you please explain the meaning of “sum the gradient over the mini-batch or take the average of the gradient”. What we actually summing over the mini-batch? When you say “take the average of the gradient” I presume you mean taking the average of the parameters calculated for all mini-batches. Also, is this post is an excerpt from your book? The estimate of the error gradient. Sorry Igor, I don’t follow. Perhaps you can rephrase your question? I think he’s asking if you actually update the weights after computing the batch gradient calculation. If I’m understanding write, The answer should be “yes”. You would compute the average gradient resulting from the first mini-batch and then you would use it to update the weights, then using the updated weight values to calculate the gradient in the next mini-batch. Since the present values of the weights of course determine the gradient. Could you please further explain the parameter updating in mini-batch? Here is my understanding: we use one mini-batch to get the gradient and then use this gradient to update weights. For next mini-batch, we repeat above procedure and update the weights based on previous one. I am not sure my understanding is right. Thank you for this well-organized, articulate summary. However, I think many would benefit from an example (i.e. facial-recognition program). In this part you might explain the unfamiliar notations employed for these equations. I conclude thinking SGD is a kind of ‘meta-program’ or ‘auxiliary-program’ that evaluates the algorithms of the primary-program in a feedback cycle (i.e. batch, stochastic, mini-batch) that improves the accuracy of both. Is that accurate? To me, this parallels ‘mindfulness’ does that resonate? SGD is an optimization algorithm plan and simple. I don’t see how it relates to mindfulness, sorry. But how does this relate to happiness ? I must agree. It’s fun times. I’m sorry to hear that, perhaps post your code and error to StackOverflow.com? Sorry, I don’t have material on tensorflow, I cannot give you good advice. Great tutorial !My question is in the end does mini batch GD ,Batch GD converge to same values of parameters or there is a difference.? Each run of the same method will converge to different results. Each version of the method will also converge to different results. Could you please clarify, is it required to keep all elements from a training sample checked by SGD? Do we have to check that all elements from the samle have been chedked so far, and then the current epoch is over? Thus, on the last iteration withian an epoch SGD chooses the last unchecked element from the training set, so it does this step in non-random way? The second question – is it required to randomly choose mini-batches (of size > 1) either? Yes. Normally, this is easily done as part of the loop. No batch size can be evaluated and chosen in a way that results in a stable learning process. I want to thank you for your well detailed and self-explanatory blog post. Do you have an idea backed by some research paper about how to choose the number of epochs? I know this question depends on many factors but let’s narrow them down to only the dataset size in case of training ConvNets. How would you suggest it is best to do mini batches on time-series data? I have a time-series data (of variable number of days each), I am using an LSTM architecture to learn from these time-series. I first form a look-back window and shift it over each series to form the training samples (X matrix) and the column to predict (y vector). If a batch is 32 samples, do all of the 32 samples have to be from one of series? Have you got any code for this? I understand in an image classification problem this wouldn’t matter, in fact having random images in the batch might give better results (making a higher fidelity batch). My datsaset has 160,000 training examples, image size as 512960 and I have a GV100 with 32 GB dedicated GPU Memory. My batch size is 512, but what should be my mini batch size to give faster and accurate training results? I have tried it as 16,32 but they don’t seem to have a much of a difference as when I run nvidia-smi the volatile GPU util is fluctuating between 0-10%. Is it because the time to load the batches on the GPU is very high? Is there any fix to increase the GPU-Util? And considering my machine and training examples what would be the ideal batch and mini-batch size? It depends on the model, e.g. if you are fitting an LSTM, then the GPU cannot be used much, if you are using data augmentation, then you will not be using the GPU much. I am using a CNN, should not it be showing high volatile-gpu usage? Yes, unless you are using data augmentation which occurs on the CPU. Thanks, I am not using any kind of data augmentation as of now. On running nvidia-smi the volatile GPU util is fluctuating between 0-10% and occasionally shoots up to 50-90%. Is it because the time to load the batches on the GPU is very high? Like the R/W operations are taking too much time/memory? 160,000 training examples, image size as 512960 and I have a GV100 with 32 GB dedicated GPU Memory. Interesting, I’m not sure. Perhaps try posting to stackoverflow?
0.999997	University of Phoenix Material Animation: The Digestive System Hydrolysis of Sucrose After viewing the animation, answer these questions: 1. The enzyme sucrase breaks the disaccharide Sucrose into two monosaccharides: Glucose , or sugar, and fructose , or fruclose sugar. 2. Where does this reaction occur? This reaction occurs on the surface of the instetina epithelial (mucosal) cell surfaces. 3. For hydrolysis to occur, the sucrose must bind to what part of the sucrase enzyme? The sucrose molecule must bind to the active site of the enzyme. 4. What happens to the enzyme when this occurs? The enzymes configuration will change so that the oxygen bridge located between the two monosacharides is then exposed to the water molecules in the covalent. 5. What happens to the sucrose? The sucrose then breaks apart into two monosacharides and float away (Glucose & Sucrose). 6. What molecule breaks the bond? Do you see why the process is called hydrolysis? ydro = water and lysis = to break. The bond is broken by water. A water molecule breaks the bond ( oxygen Bridge) and attaches the components water; OH to one monosaccharide and H to oxygen of which is still attached to the other monosaccharide. 7. After the bond is broken and the two monosaccharides are released, what happens to the enzyme? Once the bond has been broken the enzymes configuration will then turn back to its original form so that the entire process can begin again. 8. How many times can this process be repeated? This process will continue to repeat it’s self until the enzyme becomes inhibited, denatured, or wears out. 9. What three events can occur to end this process? the monsacharides will drift away leaving the site available for another sucrose molecule to bind, changing the enzymes configuration, permitting it to be hydrolyzed. Reference Broyles, R. B. (2012). Workbook to accompany anatomy & physiology revealed version 3. 0. New York,NY: McGraw-Hill.
0.999596	TL;DR how do I do this? At work we've been moving toward standardized Git commit messages. By following the pattern, it's very easy to see what type of code is in a specific commit. We use Sprint.ly and Github. Both of these services can perform actions based on what is in a commit message. Github can close or reference an issue if I type closes #144 at the end of my commit. Sprint.ly can pull a commit message into a specific ticket in much the same way. The problem with all this, is remembering to actually do it in the heat of the moment, when I'm buried in code and trying to push stuff out the door. That's why I put together a Git commit message template. All my template does is list the various flags and an example of how to reference a Sprint.ly ticket, but it shows this in my editor every time I commit. It's been incredibly useful. Create a file to hold your template, e.g. git-commit-template.txt. Put in whatever you want to remember, just be sure to keep everything commented out (via #) or it will be in the actual message. Run git config --global commit.template /path/to/git-commit-template.txt or edit ~/.gitconfig and add template = /path/to/.gitmessage.txt under the [commit] block.
0.999962	Suppress the appetite by taking the honey/apple cider vinegar syrup before meals. Mix a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of pure honey with a dash of cinnamon. Take three times a day and sip slowly before each main meal. Apple cider vinegar has acids and enzymes which will speed up the metabolism and process of burning fat in your body rather than storing it. It suppresses the appetite and makes you eat less and lose your weight quickly. It will make you feel fuller for longer time by reducing the speed that the stomach is emptied. This syrup with its amazing properties helps to flush out the harmful toxins from the body which also helps to lose the excess weight. This powerful combination not only helps with weight loss but also strengthens the immune system, treats cellulite, detoxifies the body, helps with cold and coughing, treats viral, bacterial and fungal infections and has many other health benefits. I find it useful to prepare this syrup in advance by taking a cup of honey and mixing with cup of apple cider vinegar and adding a teaspoon or two of cinnamon. It does not need to be refrigerated, just keep it at a dark place.
0.999851	Most people in the western world are familiar with the phrase, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend." But what would the appropriate phrase be to describe the delight of having a handful of lustrous loose diamonds to enjoy? When most people think about these stunning stones, they visualize them in fine jewelry mountings and not as a loose stones. Diamonds are the most desirable and, more often than not, the most costly jewels available. Due to their higher prices, however, many people are inhibited in purchasing diamonds despite their attraction to the beautiful sparkle. What some people may not realize is that they might actually have a chance in owning their very own diamond if they look into purchasing unmounted diamonds, which make the diamonds less expensive and more obtainable. In fact, some people consider that the wisest way to buy precious gemstones, including diamonds, is to purchase them before they are placed into a setting. Buying loose diamonds actually provides a few different advantages over buying such items as diamond rings or diamond earrings, which already have the stones placed into a setting. The largest benefit is the fact that you can save money. Diamonds that are loose or unmounted can often be purchased at a lower cost than those already mounted and placed into a fine jewelry setting. When purchasing an unmounted diamond, you are no longer responsible for paying for the gold or silver metal the diamond is set in. Secondly, the metal wrapped around the diamond is likely to prevent you from seeing the true quality. If the gemstone is loose, you will be able to judge the quality of the diamond with more confidence. There are different settings jewelers often use to hide a flaw in a diamond. Flaws take away from the value. If a diamond's flaw is cleverly masked by the way that it is mounted, you could unintentionally purchase a stone that is worth a lesser value. To decide upon a value for a diamond, the quality must be determined. To do so, one must check four characteristics of the gemstone. These characteristics are in reference to clarity, color, cut, and carat weight. To be certain of these factors, the jeweler will be dependant on a small microscope called a loupe, in which magnification allows close examination of the color, clarity, and quality of the cut. People who prefer to have gems set into the jewelry design of their choice often choose to purchase unmounted diamonds. This type of purchase is often found amongst people that like to wear distinctive and personalized custom diamond jewelry. Loose diamonds are available in many different shapes (or cuts) and you can select from those cuts when you want to purchase a rare stone for a custom diamond jewelry piece. While there are many cuts you can find, the most common shapes are the round, oval, radiant, and emerald. Archibald Rockwealth demands quality but, refuses to simply throw good money away.. Buying loose diamonds in other Portland jewelry stores would cost a fortune but he gets them at a much lower cost from HBLoan at Portland diamonds, Oregon. This way, he can ensure his wife's happiness with her custom jewelry and his happiness at finding the best possible deal.
0.999182	The standard English sentence order does which of the following? The standard English sentence order is Subject-Verb-Object. In the sentence, Why did you (S) do (V) that (O)?
0.999993	Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea's name comes in two parts, "Papua" and "New Guinea." New Guinea is the name of the entire island, which was named by European explorers in the 1550s; they believed the people resembled the people on Africa's Guinea coast. Papua has a more mysterious background, but was the name of certain parts of the island as named by the locals. No one knows with absolute certainty where this name comes from, but theories suggest it may mean "frizzy-haired," "land below the sun," or "lands not united." Few places in the world offer such unique cultures, diversity, and history as Papua New Guinea does. This mountainous and forested country has a landscape that has divided people in many ways, leading to a huge number of sub-cultures, languages (over 800 in total), foods, and more. While today the country is also home to modern cities with more "international" cultures, the country remains rooted in the people of the island who have lived as they do today for centuries. These early settlers came from various areas in separate immigration waves, making them very unique as many people have ethnic relations to various people, although most of the people are related to each other ethnically and have similarities to the people from other Melanesian countries. The people also shared similarities in that all these people survived off the lands, whether that be by hunting, gathering, fishing, or farming. Even today most people in the country make a living off the land. Europeans arrived to the lands numerous times through history, but there were few efforts to truly colonize the region, other than perhaps establishing some plantations along the coasts. It wasn't until the 1900s when the Europeans made any truly great effort to control the lands and alter the culture. In the 1900s most efforts to change the people and their traditional culture came in the form of religion as many missionaries arrived and spread Christianity. This effort was very successful as most of the people today are Christian. However, few outside influences arrived since the lands didn't prove profitable to most European settlers and those who did find profit generally found it along the coasts, hence only changing the culture in limited geographic areas. Today communication and technology have united the people in many ways as many people are abandoning their native languages for a more commonly spoken language, such as Tok Pisin. The people are also urbanizing as cities have more jobs and better paying jobs than much of the island can offer. In these cities the culture is one that contains aspects of the many people of the islands as well as Europe. In land the cultures, languages, and lifestyles remained authentic in many ways as historic traditions, cultures, and languages survive, or even thrive. The striking colors on the flag of Papua New Guinea represent the traditional colors of the country. On the top right is a large bird of paradise, which represents the tribal culture; the bird of paradise is also endemic to the island of New Guinea. On the bottom left are the stars that make up the Southern Cross constellation.
0.999827	What Kind of Classes Have to Be Taken to Be a Mechanical Engineer? A mechanical engineer designs and plans how to construct machines, tools, engines and other types of mechanical equipment. A mechanical engineer might also be responsible for the installation and maintenance of certain types of equipment such as heating, air conditioning, gas systems and water systems. To be qualified for these job duties, you'll have to obtain at least a bachelor's degree. To advance in the field, you'll most likely need to seek a graduate degree. If you plan to become a mechanical engineer, you can choose mechanical engineering as your undergraduate major, but you'll still have to take a series of core classes to graduate. Most colleges require you to take intro level courses in English, humanities, communication and public speaking. Certain colleges might also require writing, composition and health as part of your undergraduate degree requirements. A mechanical engineering degree requires certain math and science classes. Math classes usually include algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus, starting with introductory courses followed by more advanced applications of the concepts. Science classes usually include biology, chemistry and physics. In terms of mechanical-focused classes, you'll be required to take classes that cover numerical computation, differential equations, mechanics and materials, energy consumption and optics. Since mechanical engineering requires you to understand the design process, you'll take several courses that teach you to understand and interpret complex elements of design, such as robotics, energy conversion, ocean systems, heat transfer, electrical systems and computer science. Most mechanical engineering programs also require courses in thermodynamics and machine design. Most mechanical engineering programs require you to take classes in theory, research and problem-solving. Not only do these prepare you to get and keep a job, but they also prepare you to work in a field that is highly technical. You might also be required to take hands-on courses, which are similar to an internship, that allow you to get up close and personal with the field of mechanical engineering and help you hone your skills before you start looking for your first job.
0.920782	What is an ald file and how do I open an ald file? Microsoft acquired Axtapa Systems and later developed the Microsoft Dynamics AX software that uses files appended with the ALD extension. These ALD files are also known as Application Label data files and its content is referenced by the Microsoft Dynamics AX, which happens when users creating or editing the associated project output file (using the Microsoft Dynamics AX application) want to enter form data into those project output files. The content of these ALD files are text messages entered by the user for forms found in the project output file that was saved using the Microsoft Dynamics AX program, and these ALD files are automatically created by the software upon saving the main project output file. The Microsoft Dynamics AX software also associates these ALD files to the corresponding project output files for quick and easy referencing and retrieval when the user wants to view the content of those project output files. Users of Microsoft Windows-based platforms can install the Microsoft Dynamics AX program to start creating, opening or editing projects and to also integrate support into their systems for the ALD file format. The Microsoft Dynamics AX software is classified as a business productivity application.
0.999997	The Builder Design Pattern simplifies the process of creating composite objects. It is a Creational Design Pattern as it states an efficient way of creating complex objects. Furthermore, it promotes code re-usability, as only small piece of code is required to create another complex object using existing code. It makes use of Inheritance. Consider a complex object, say, a car. A car has many components such as engine, tyres, speedometer, seats etc. Typically, a car object will contain instances of all these components. This leads to an excessive number of constructors and chaotic code. The Builder Pattern resolves this issue and brings order to this chaos by removing the complexity involved. This is achieved by segregating the entire process into four roles. Abstract Builder: provides necessary interfaces required to build the object. It is abstract because it is not instantiated, it is only inherited by the Concrete Builder. Concrete Builder: inherits the Abstract Builder and implements the above interfaces of the Abstract Builder class; provides methods to create components of the product. Director: in charge of creating the product, assembling various components and then delivering it. It uses the concrete builder object. Using the pseudo code above, it is easy to materialize the Builder Pattern using different classes for Product, AbstractBuilder, ConcreteBuilder & Director. Building on the previous basic example, let's take it one step towards a more realistic implementation by adding component classes of Engine, Tyres and Speedometer. In addition to this, let's give the class Car an attribute 'make', storing the makers brand name. Expand the following code snippet for source code. # 2. Addition of the 'make' attribute to the Car class. Let's take it a step further by enabling our user to create different cars by altering the way the constructCar() is called. Expand the following code snippet for source code. # These four arguments are passed on to addMakersName(), addEngine(), addTyres() & addSpeedometer() respectively of Concrete Builder object. Here's a demonstration on how to add the capability of creating a different complex object, say, a Computer, to the existing code. Expand the following code snippet for source code. # Create Computer objects by calling getComputer() method of the Director class. # Concrete Builder which uses the interface to create a car and a computer. # making a new car as well as a new computer by calling the createNewCar() & createNewComputer(); provides methods to create components of these products. Let's walk through the first example, the basic one. Expand the following code snippet for source code of implementation # 1. Then, the above object is passed it to the Director, whilst obtaining its object. Using the director object, we create a car object and assemble it in one method call to constructCar(). Using the getCar() method of the director object, we obtain the ready car and use it as per our needs. One could argue that the code before implementing the Builder Pattern is much more compact. That is because, we are only creating a couple of objects here. Number of lines to create a car, add parts to it, and print its details is 5, while it takes only 2 lines once the setup is done. As the number of objects created is increased, you will see that the latter approach, one with Builder Pattern implemented, is much more economic and systematic. Another thing to note is that we are assigning strings to the components engine, tyres and speedometer. In a real world scenario (something like the most enhanced example in the 'How to Implement It' section), these variables will be assigned component classes such as Engine, Tyres & Speedometer, leading to excessive amount of constructors (Engine(), Tyres() etc.) while creating a car object if the Builder Pattern is not adopted. Hence is advised to use the pattern while creating complex objects.
0.970268	American teen dreaming big after reaching Open fourth round Open champion, now faces No. 22 Roberto Bautista-Agut, a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victor against No. 10 Karen Khachanov. American great Serena Williams was 16 when she moved through to the fourth round of the 1998 French Open. Man accused of threat linked to R. Kelly turns himself in Russell added "that the information would ruin [Savage], his reputation, business, and family, because it would show him a liar". A separate investigation has since been launched into Kelly's current manager, Don Russell. "When we got to go backstage with R. Frigid temperatures continue into Sunday Wind chills in those areas were expected to taper off a bit during the day, dropping back into the -40 C range by Friday night . Wind chill values of -40C to -45C are occurring over much of Northern Ontario this morning. UK's Labour Party seeks 'frank' debate on Brexit impasse He said Parliament should be allowed to hold a series of "indicative" votes on a number of different Brexit plans and lawmakers should vote without being constrained by party loyalties. CA Has $24.34 Million Position in CVS Health Corp (CVS) Brennan Troyen A had sold 14,229 shares worth $1.17M. $1.03M worth of CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) was sold by Boratto Eva C. The Equity research analysts give $75 target price per share which suggests upside potential of 18.35 % on CVS's shares. Oil Climbs as OPEC Output Drop Eases Concerns About Glut Earlier in the week, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said he's confident the cuts will have a "strong impact" on the market. As of writing this article, Spot Crude oil WTIUSD is trading at $52.74 per barrel up by 1.07% on the day. Cardi B and Camila Cabello to perform at Grammys The Recording Academy recently announced the first group of artists to perform at the 2019 Grammy Awards . Cardi B , Camila Cabello , Post Malone and Shawn Mendes are all set to perform at the Grammy Awards . Fitzgerald plays golf with Obama, gets a hole-in-one It's unclear if that was the first hole-in-one ever, but by the sound of it it's tough to do on that hole at Seminole Golf Club. Fitzgerald, who also hit the green, quickly broke into celebration as the ball rolled directly into the hole for an ace. Roger Federer vs Stefanos Tsitsipas; result, score, match updates and more In the clip, the guard is seen indicating to Federer that he was missing his Australian Open accreditation pass. Federer failed to convert any of 12 break points, with some errant forehands particularly letting him down. United States striker Tim Weah, son of George, scores on Celtic debut Rodgers expects further incomings, although he admits some players are likely to leave Celtic Park in search of more games. He said: "There will be movement both ways towards the end of the window". At the time of being confirmed the world's oldest man by Guinness World Records in April previous year, Mr Nonaka was still able to move around by himself in a wheelchair. Guinness officially recognized Nonaka as the oldest living man after the death of Spaniard Francisco Nunez Olivera a year ago. That's according to Japanese media reports that say he passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning. "We feel shocked at the loss of this big figure", his granddaughter Yuko said. His doctor confirmed that Nonaka had died. Nonaka lived at home in Ashoro with his family. During the Guinness World Records ceremony, he was offered cake but could only eat the whipped cream as he was not able to eat solid food. His family said he spent his time enjoying hot springs at their inn, watching sumo wrestling on television and eating candies. The oldest verified person - the French woman Jeanne Louise Calment - died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to Guinness World Records.
0.999577	This recipe can be adjusted to fit any taste. Try raw sunflower seeds, grated apple, dried cranberries etc. I love to top it with banana slices.
0.984201	Nearly a year after migrant caravans captured the nation's attention and drew the ire of President Donald Trump, they appear to have fizzled out, marking yet another shift in their ever-evolving immigration policy narrative. (CNN) — Nearly a year after migrant caravans captured the nation’s attention and drew the ire of President Donald Trump, they appear to have fizzled out, marking yet another shift in their ever-evolving immigration policy narrative. Caravans, as they’ve largely become known, have deviated from their original purpose — from a way to highlight the plight of migrants, and in some cases, search for loved ones who never made it to the US — to another, seemingly safer, form of travel to the southern border. But now, migrants are splintering off into a number of groups, instead of journeying north in one large caravan. A Department of Homeland Security official told CNN that there are currently more than 10,000 undocumented migrants making their way to the US-Mexico border, but they do not appear to be traveling in caravans. Instead, the groups are “dispersed,” making them “very difficult to track,” said the official, who added that the caravan that arrived in Piedras Negras in early February has been largely moved out of the Mexican border town. Those who watch and study migration flows have also taken notice of the trend. “The innovation of traveling in groups without a smuggler may persist, but it seems to be devolving into smaller groups,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, which studies global migration trends. In short, while traveling with a caravan might’ve been useful for trekking through Mexico, it proved impractical once arriving to the US-Mexico border, where entry became more difficult. In November, thousands of Central American migrants, part of caravans bound for the US, reached Tijuana, where many waited to seek asylum in the United States. Tensions flared up at the San Ysidro port of entry when some migrants tried to cross the border and authorities used tear gas to disperse the group. Central American migrants are still waiting to apply for asylum in Tijuana. During his presidency, Trump has cited caravans as reason for his signature border wall and strict immigration policies. He has referred to caravans as an “invasion,” and used the influx of migrants to help justify last month’s national emergency declaration. His administration deployed a number of controversial efforts to try to discourage migrants from coming to the border, including the “zero tolerance” policy that resulted in thousands of children being separated from their families and the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols that require some migrants to stay in Mexico until their immigration court hearing. But the issue is not exclusive to the US. Mexico is also reviewing ways to address the flow of migrants. “It’s a new phenomenon that we had not previously experienced,” said Mexican Secretary of the Interior Olga Sánchez Cordero at an event in Washington Thursday, adding that the government is evaluating who is organizing caravans, promoting them and leading them. Mexico has touted its efforts, under the new administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to address the flow of migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. In January, Mexico granted a large number humanitarian visas to migrants crossing its southern border. Of the 13,500 that came through the border in mid-January, only 10% continued to the US-Mexico border, according to Cordero. Cordero suggested that doing so has discouraged migrants from continuing their journey north and instead stay in Mexico. It’s unclear, however, whether those migrants will decide to journey north in the future. Over time, the arrivals of caravans have also strained cities like Tijuana, where migrants are passing through or waiting until they can apply for asylum. There’s no guarantee that caravans, the most recent of which have been spontaneous, will cease to exist. The pull of them in the past has been that they provide safety in numbers on the dangerous journey north. But for now at least, it appears that migrants are deciding to travel in smaller, more spread out, groups, in hopes of seeking asylum in the US.
0.999996	In the field of social sciences, the systematic and empirical investigation of social phenomenon through use of mathematical, statistical and computational techniques is referred to as quantitative research. The main objective of it all is to come up with and employment theories and mathematical models or hypothesizes trying to explain the phenomena (Smith, 1988). This type or research is applied mainly in psychology, sociology, economics and political science. It involves scientific models which include; collection of empirical data, experimental control and the manipulation of variables. It may also include development of methods and instruments for measurement, modeling and analysis of the collected data and finally the evaluation of results (Hunter, 2008). As its name suggests, it involves the use of large deal of information in trying reach an unknown conclusion and therefore it vulnerable to having advantages and disadvantages. To begin with, quantitative research has several advantages. It is an excellent way of getting the final result to either proof or disapproves a hypothesis that was initially made. It has had standard structure for quite a long time and hence can be relied upon across many fields that are of scientific discipline. Since a lot of information is analyzed during the initial stages of the research. The probability of arriving at a comprehensive end result is very high and such results can be legitimately discussed and even published. This research method also filters the opportunity of external factors to affect the final results. If properly designed, it eliminates biasness and the final results/ findings are seen to be real. On the hand, quantitative research can be employed to test the outcomes of qualitative experiments which are a direct way of promoting subsequent research to verify the hypotheses of it. Quantitative research gives room for a larger study with big number of people hence there is a tendency to generalize result based on the findings. It also gives room for a larger degree of objectivity because it involves very small number of variables and the prescribed procedure ensures that the answers are that of a reliable set. It also employs standards that can easily be compared and analyzed with other studies of similar nature. This procedure of comparison makes sure that the results obtained are reliable and valid. A personal bias and opinion is avoided to a great extent because those large groups of people that are unknown to the surveyor provide information that is free from the way they know the surveyor. In other words, the research is free from misconception of the sampled population to the surveyor. With regard to this subject, it is evident that the relationship between the independent and dependent variable is given a great deal of time this therefore means that the researcher is more objective concerning the findings of the research. Through experiments, the hypotheses can be tested because of the possibility of using statistics to measure data. The answers found from quantitative are robust statistically. Because quantitative research is deductive and particularistic, it is based upon formulating the research hypothesis and empirically verifying them on the selected set of data (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992). The hypotheses don’t have value the researcher’s biases, values and preferences are not found to have a place during research in quantitative methods. The communication process is rather viewed as tangible and concrete and that it can analyzed without people involved in communication being contacted in any way (Ting-Toomey, 1984). As one of the advantages, the research problem is stated in set and specific terms to avoid any misinterpretation by the sampled population in answering any question concerning the topic under study (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992). It also clearly and precisely specifies both the independent and dependent variables that are under investigation to avoid confusion during the final analysis of data. It is also possible to have controlled observations in the laboratory experiments and conducting mass surveys or through any other for form of manipulations that can be utilized in research (Balsley, 1970). It is also possible o follow precisely while firmly making sure that the research goals originally set are followed hence arriving at a more objective conclusion and taking the opportunity to put the hypothesis to test and thereafter determining the issues of casualty. The works of Kealey & Protheroe, 1996 found out that it also eliminates or minimizes subjectivity of judgment thereby allowing longitudinal measures to subsequent performance during the carrying out of the research subjects. Though quantitative research methods proof to be more reliable and tend to give more precise answers to the research question, there are also limitations of the research method and these limitations tend to bring down the trust given to this kind of approach while applying it during research finding analysis and conclusion of results. To begin with, quantitative research may fail to provide the researcher with the information he/she requires on the context of the situation in the place where the studied phenomena occurs. Secondly, the researcher may lack the inability to control the environment where the respondents provide the answers for the questions in the survey. On the hand, there is the weakness that arises due the type of questions that might be asked in the questionnaire. Specifically, the closed type question ties the hands of respondents by not giving him/her the environment to full explain his/her ideas as he/she thinks. Therefore the correctly structured question should be used during the collection of raw data from the field in which research is carried out. Quantitative research also does not encourage the continuous and evolving investigation of a research phenomenon because the resources put in it might be so vast and therefore discourage subsequent research since the information so obtained can be published and used by other organization in the same filed to practically make decisions. Sometime, the dataset collected might be much narrower and superficial to be relied upon. This is particularly the case involving small quantitative researches that are characterized by lack of sufficient fund to fully and independently run a research through quantitative methods. One the other hand, the results so obtained using these quantitative methods may be limited because it tends to give bear numerical descriptions rather than facts detailed on a narrative and may provide a less elaborate account of human perception. The kind of environment in which the quantitative research is carried out also presents another threat to the quality of information or raw data obtained. The artificial environment and the level of control given in the exercise, already tampers with the type of answers expected. This is true because the respondents may be surprised or may feel ashamed of writing the correct information into the questionnaire. This level of control will make something out of the real world. In addition, the answers preset may not necessarily reflect how the interviewees feel about the subject and also in some extreme cases may be in the closest match. Another disadvantage is that the way the researchers develop standard questions may lead to ‘structured’ bias or false representation and will try to divert the respondent’s mind into giving false information. The data obtained in this case actually represents the views of the researcher instead of the participating subject. This will always or most of the times lead to divergent conclusion on the subject or topic being investigated. In addition, there are areas in which this research method cannot be used at all or if used, it is only to a small extent. In fields like psychology and psychiatry, anthropological studies and medical research are some of the areas. Though it gives an objective perspective or view, not everything can be quantified. This is true because even if a careful scale is chosen or constructed, there can be not continuum. Most of the time the questions drafted are not carefully constructed or worded to remove any type of redundancy or any aspects or double-barreled. The questions should be made direct, very clear and they should only address one point at a time. In order to achieve this, it requires a lot of time to prepare such questions and also laborious exercise. There are also other disadvantages of this type of research in that the feeling, emotions, motives, opinions and intents of the subject being interviewed are not taken into account during data analysis. Outward behaviour is the one considered only and this is a loophole to obtain inconsistent responses and may lead to analysis of incorrect or misguided data. The quantitative questionnaires are usually pre-coded and that they lack depth and insight of the qualitative study. The best approach is to first conduct a qualitative research to identify issues and thereafter confirm their validity by use of quantitative research. This will act to combine depth and insight. Finally, quantitative studies most of the time require a lot of statistical analysis. This is difficult because most scientists are not statisticians. The field of statistics is a very wide field and can be very difficult to non-mathematicians.
0.999997	Produce a business study report. The report needs to contain the following four parts plus a formal introduction to your report and a conclusion. Select a business from anywhere in the world. Provide an overall description of the business and the competitive environment in which it operates. You may provide information about the business as suggested below plus any other information peculiar to the business you choose. • The (approximate) market share of key competitors including your business (e.g. ’your’ businesses has approximately 10% of the market, your main competitor has approximately 50% of the market, and many other small businesses share the remaining 40% of the market). Given the above information, comment on whether or not you think the competitive environment in which the firm operates is likely to be closer to (a) perfect competition; or (b) monopoly. Comment also on the number of ‘close substitutes’ for your business’ products, and the cost of your product relative to ‘average’ income of your customers. Does this mean that the demand curve facing the firm is likely to be relatively elastic or relatively inelastic? What does this imply about the ability of the firm to ‘mark up’ its price above marginal cost? • Variable and hence likely to increase with increased production or sales. Use the above information to comment on the likely overall cost structure of your business. For example: Are fixed costs large or small relative to variable costs? Does this mean that the firm’s ‘optimal’ size is likely to be small, medium or large? • The overall ‘stability’ of the political system/government of the country in which the business operates. • The general level of inflation, unemployment and ‘average’ interest rate of the country in which the business is physically located (and also the countries in which most customers live if different from the location of the firm). Discuss any recent changes in those variables. Does the economy seem to be in a recession, boom or otherwise? • If ‘your’ business exports its products to other countries, provide some information about the (currency) exchange rate, discussing its current level, and recent changes in it. • Whether your main products are likely to be ‘normal’ or ‘inferior’ and hence whether demand is likely to rise or fall during recessions and thus whether the economic climate of the countries in which most of your customers live is likely to reflect well or poorly on your sales. • Whether you are likely to face problems getting access to key factors of production (e.g. are there skills shortages?), and whether this is likely to affect the business’ future operating costs. • If your business exports its products or imports factors of production…whether recent trends in exchange rates are likely to be good or bad for costs and/or revenues. • Does the production process of the business generate any positive or negative externalities? If negative, has the government (or anyone else) put in place any measures to mitigate? What is done to mitigate by the business? If positive, what is done to take advantage of it? • Does the consumption of the good produced by the business generate any positive or negative externalities? If negative, has the government (or anyone else) put in place any measures to mitigate? What is done to mitigate by the business? If positive, what is done to take advantage of it? • Use the information from above to comment on how the sustainability practice by this business and other businesses in the same industry would affect their long-term business viability.
0.999856	Is Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari dead or alive? Nigerian officials maintain leader 'alive and well' as protests against death rumours hit capital Abuja. Rumours that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is dead are persisting, in spite of the presidency's efforts to dismiss such claims. Allegations emerged earlier in January after Buhari, 74, announced he would take a 10-day-long vacation to relax and undergo a medical checkup in the UK. Some local media speculated on whether Buhari was going abroad to seek medical attention, as he did in 2016 when he travelled to London to treat an ear infection. However, rumours on the leader's alleged death continued. Fake versions of news websites Metro UK and the Huffington Post – both domains were registered in Arizona, US, and are owned by the same company – reported respectively that Buhari had died and "was caught committing suicide". The claims were quickly dismissed by Buhari's spokesperson Garba Shehu, who reassured Nigerians that the president was "alive and well." "President Buhari is not magical. He cannot be holidaying in the UK and be in Germany, dead or alive at the same time," he said after some claimed Buhari had died in Germany. "He is unlike a past President [Goodluck Jonathan] who was at Ota, with Chief Obasanjo and attending the Trump inauguration in D.C, being in two places at the same time!" One day later, the presidency released pictures of Buhari "relaxing" in the UK. However, some alleged the pictures had been photo-shopped, with some calling on Buhari to personally dismiss the death claims. On 31 January, the presidency said Buhari had phoned minister of youth and sports, Solomon Dalung, to offer his condolences for the death of his wife. Meanwhile, civil society groups protested at the headquarters of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Central Bank of Nigeria, in the federal capital of Abuja, calling for an end to the death rumours. Buhari is to return to Nigeria and resume office in four days. Some have criticised the leader for going on vacation just days after the army mistakenly killed dozens of refugees and aid workers in an airstrike supposed to target Boko Haram militants. Others also took to social media to comment on Buhari's holiday, with some suggesting he should have travelled to the country's northeast to visit survivors of the army's bombing, which occurred in the town of Rann, Borno state. Before leaving Nigeria, Buhari said vice-president Yemi Osinbajo would act as president in his absence. The leader added had met security chiefs to discuss, among other things, the progress of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) troops in The Gambia. Finally, responding to questions on the nature of his holiday, the leader told journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport: "What's wrong with going on vacation? Didn't I go last year at the same time? "
0.908896	The object, simply stated, is to go from point A to point B on a river as quickly as possible. Typical wildwater venues consist of Class II - IV whitewater, in contrast to extreme racing, which takes place on more difficult streams. Match competitions generally consist of a classic and a sprint race. A classic course is 3–6 miles (4–10 km) in length or 10 to 35 minutes in duration, while the Sprint is between 200 and 600 meters and lasts around 1 minutes. Although there is some specialization, the vast majority of racers compete in both classic and sprint. They are numbered within their class based on results from previous races and compete in reverse order (best paddler last), usually at one-minute intervals. To race successfully, paddlers must possess refined technical skill, as well as strength, endurance, aerobic capacity, and the ability to "read" whitewater. Whitewater racing is also practiced by competing teams; each team is made by a group of three competitors belonging to the same class. Whitewater racing started in Europe with the International Canoe Federation being formed and having the first World Championships in France in 1959. Since then, there has been a World Championships every two years. Since 2011 there is a sprint only world championships, with sprint and classic being contested every other (even) year. Wildwater kayaks and canoes are long (4.5 m/14 ft 9 in) and narrow (60 cm/23.6 in), with a rounded hull profile, making them fast but unstable and hard to turn. Wildwater solo canoes (C-1) are 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) long and 70 cm (27.5 in) wide; 2-person whitewater canoes (C-2) are 5 m (16 ft 5 in) long and 80 cm (31.5 in) wide. Rather than using wide sweep strokes to turn the boat, the paddler tilts the boat to one side, utilizing its curved profile to effect the turn in a manner similar to "carving a turn" in skiing. Two "wings" (flaring protrusions near the stern hull) meet the minimum width required by racing rules and add secondary stability, as well as enhancing the effect of carving a turn. When the boat is under way, most of each wing will be above the waterline so as to minimize drag. The use of kevlar, carbon fiber, and glass-reinforced plastic construction has substantially reduced the weight of wildwater boats, while improving stiffness. The top part (the deck) and the bottom (the hull) are molded separately and then bonded together using kevlar or glass cloth strips and epoxy or polyester resin. A boat can be made in 2 to 3 days, but without an oven can take weeks to cure fully. Before glass-reinforced plastic boats, the common racing craft was the folding kayak, usually composed of a wooden frame covered with canvas. Competitors are also required to wear an appropriate whitewater helmet and PFD and River shoes or booties and floatation bags for their boats. Racers paddle down a course along the fastest jets of water. In order to go fast, they follow the edges of wave trains and hold as straight a line as possible down the river. If it is unclear which line is fastest, two paddlers simultaneously float the different options and see which boat moves ahead. Because of the high speeds, racers frequently run a river two or three times a day when training for a race. Some racers practice on rivers if they are lucky to live near one. Usually they will paddle 5–10 miles a day, five to six days a week. Others practice on lakes or flatwater rivers. In northern areas rivers and lakes freeze, so racers sometimes train in an indoor pool, lift weights, run or do Cross-country skiing. When the rivers and lakes become free of ice then training is resumed outdoors.
0.999998	Stickie is the colloquial name for what kind of wine? Stickies are the name Australians fondly give to their dessert wines. Most Australian stickies are made from riesling, semillon or sauvignon blanc grapes, and are outrageously fruity and viscous (sticky). Stickies usually come in half bottles and are considerably less expensive than French dessert wines.
0.922309	While tornadoes can occur any time of year, it is unusual for a tornado threat to exist in northwest Oklahoma in mid-December. If you live in the brown area, please keep an eye on the weather later today in case warnings are issued.. The thunderstorms will likely be fast-moving.
0.995787	For those of you who are CFOs or have interviewed candidates for the CFO position, what was the hiring process like? I am currently interviewing for a CFO position through a recruiter. The first interview was 1.5 hours long with the owner of the company, and the second (and final) interview will be 1 hour and 15 minutes with the owner and 4 principals of the company in a panel-style interview. It is my understanding that the recruiter was engaged for this search, but was not involved with the company prior to this search. Hiring a CFO based on less than 3 hours of discussion seems awfully quick to me, even using a recruiter that you trust. I am trying to determine what a "normal" process looks like, and how I can get comfortable with the company in this short period of time, or what I should ask for if I need more time to get to know the leadership & company culture. Any insight would be appreciated!
0.948314	During Ingram's time at the Academy, he was a member of the school's rowing, track and football teams, leading the latter team to the Midshipmen's first victory in six years over their bitter rivals from Army by scoring the lone touchdown in the 1906 clash. His athletic exploits helped earn him the Academy's prestigious Athletic Sword and induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Following his graduation in 1907, Ingram served in several battleships, cruisers and destroyers. As turret officer of the battleship Arkansas (BB-33), he established a world's record for firing 12-inch (305 mm) guns. On April 22, 1914 he landed at Veracruz, Mexico with the Arkansas battalion and was later received the Medal of Honor for "distinguished conduct in battle" and "skillful and efficient handling of the artillery and machine guns". Ingram served as head football coach at the Naval Academy from 1915 to 1917. During World War I he was awarded the Navy Cross for his services on the staff of Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman Commander, Division Nine, Battle Force, Atlantic Fleet. Earning the rank of Commander in 1924, he became the commanding officer of the destroyer Stoddert (DD-302) before returning to the U.S. Naval Academy to serve as both athletic director and football director from 1926 to 1930. Ingram moved on to command the battleship Pennsylvania (BB-38) for a period of time after that, before serving as Officer-in-Charge of the Public Relations Branch. Prior to his promotion to Captain in 1935, Ingram served as an aide to the Secretary of the Navy, then returned to the sea as commander of Destroyer Squadron Six. Ashore, he was Captain of the Yard, New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York before returning to sea, in command of the battleship Tennessee (BB-43). In the early years of World War II, Ingram was promoted to Rear Admiral on January 10, 1941 and served as Commander Task Force Three prior to his designation in September 1942 as Commander South Atlantic Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, with the rank of Vice Admiral. This force, with headquarters in Brazil, guarded shipping in the coastal waters south of the Equator and throughout the United States zone of responsibility in the South Atlantic. Admiral Ingram's command included air and surface units of Brazil which were brought to a high state of efficiency through his leadership and coordinating efforts. The ability to develop and maintain harmony and close cooperation with Brazilian naval forces contributed to the control of the South Atlantic achieved by the Allies. He assumed personal responsibility for properly equipping and training the Brazilian Navy and for their combat operations against U-Boats and German raiders and later for the important task of maintaining the air and sea rescue patrol for ultimate deployment in the Pacific. For his services in these important commands, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and a gold award star in lieu of a second. On November 15, 1944, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, with the rank of Admiral. In this command he played a major role in assuring the steady flow of troops and materials to Europe across the Atlantic during the later phases of World War II. He also directed Atlantic Fleet efforts in containing and destroying the German U-Boat fleet. For exceptionally meritorious service during his command, he was awarded a gold award star in lieu of a third Distinguished Service Medal. Task Group 22.3 Commander, Captain D. V. Gallery, presenting U-505's flag to ADM Jonas H. Ingram at Navy Department, Washington D.C. Edited by BEAST, 18 October 2011 - 07:45 AM. Detached from duty as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, during September 1946, he subsequently retired from active duty on April 1, 1947 after 44 years of service. Ingram was named commissioner of the All-America Football Conference. Serving until resigning in 1949, Ingram went on to serve as a vice president for the Reynolds Metal Company. In August 1952, he suffered a heart attack while serving as the superintendent of summer schools at Culver Academies, then was stricken again with another attack on September 9, while at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. He died the following evening. Kind of a coincidence, uniforms of two successive WW2 CinCs Atlantic Fleet have been posted here in recent months (Ingersoll and Ingram). One of several Mexico Navy MoH recipients that went on to big things. Great jacket, thanks for the post! Excellent uniform and history. As previously stated, thank you for sharing! Great uniform!! Thank you for sharing!! I very liked to see the Brazil connection. I can't remember where I read it, but IIRC Ingram, though not qualified as a USN aviator, did get a private pilot's license and was awarded Brazilian pilot's wings. You can see him wearing them on his USN uniform in some wartime photos. Thanks for mentioning this. I never noticed them on the photos until you brought it up. This is an image that was sold on eBay recently. Edited by DesertRatTom, 25 May 2014 - 06:24 PM. Thanks for posting that photo, it's a nice one. You can see on his left arm that he's wearing the wartime "half" rank lace, something that's not always visible in photos. Thanks for posting the wings also, Ricardo. Looks like a match! I have never noticed the "half lace" before--can anyone explain why it was used? It was a wartime economy measure to conserve material, which was also done by the British Royal Navy during the war. The wartime CNO, Admiral King, made several moves that he intended to simplify officers' uniforms for wartime. The most famous is the unpopular gray working uniform in place of khaki, but he also tinkered with blues. After mid-1943, the pre-war Service Dress Blue, with full lace around the sleeves, was classified as a "dress" uniform. The "service" blues were basically the same but with the "half" lace, and also with a gray shirt (with optional collar rank devices) instead of white, and the option of black chinstrap on the cap instead of gold and no scrambled eggs on the visor for commanders and up, or a blue garrison cap. The half lace and plain caps were supposed to be mandatory after October 1943 but many officers did not comply and the wartime caps later became officially optional. Another unpopular pet uniform of Admiral King's was "Service Dress E," which was dress white on top and blues on the bottom. Great information, thanks fopr sharing it!! Well, thanks to the same USMF member, I was able to acquire his 1907 dated frock. 1907 is the year in which he graduated from the US Naval Academy. This sold on eBay at the same time as his midshipman's jacket. Also included but not shown is his undress belt. I just received his records and will post additional information on his awards soon. Here is the dated tailor's label from the frock. Wow, another great addition for this admiral. The ensign stripe would have been put on in 1909, from '07-'09 the stripe would have been half width (quarter-inch) as a graduate midshipman, during which time Ingram served in USS Nebraska as part of the Great White Fleet. Nice work, keep 'em coming! Thanks to everyone for their comments! Justin, thank you for providing a timeline for this coat. I thought I would show some of the documentation for his foreign awards. While the reading of orders is not always interesting, keep reading as their is an interesting twist in this man's career! First up is his letter requesting permission to wear the Order of the Southern Cross awarded by Brazil. Edited by BEAST, 20 April 2012 - 06:18 AM. His receipt for his WWI Victory Medal with Grand Fleet clasp.
0.800141	How is paediatric first aid different to adult first aid? If you are thinking of going on a first aid training course, it is important that you choose the most appropriate one for your situation. For example, if you will be working with children, or if you have children yourself, you will need to take a paediatric rather than an adult first aid training course. • Paediatric first aid training works on the assumption that children aren’t likely to be able to deal with certain medical situations themselves (i.e. minor cuts and burns).
0.999731	Apple's Mac line of Hardware, iPhones, iPad, iCloud, iTunes, OS X and iOS operating systems, Safari, iLife and iWork. illustrate is an innovative dictionary app that uses animated videos containing actual conversations and context as means to explain and elaborate the meaning of English words. The contextual explanation and visual illustration help the users understand the accurate meanings of a word and their usage. The app is useful for anyone looking to further their understanding of English words or improve their vocabulary - from young students learning new words to working adults trying to better their vocabulary to teachers searching for tools to explain words to their students to candidates appearing for tests like SAT, GRE, GMAT, ACT, MCAT and LSAT. The app is also suitable for students in the ESL and EFL programs. * Illustrate explains the meaning and usage of English language words using easy to understand videos. * The animated videos showcase actual scenarios and conversations explaining the context and accurate usage of the word. * Visual content and contextual information helps the user with remembering the correct meaning of words. * The app serves as a fun classroom tool for English Language Teachers to introduce and explain new words. * A search tool is implemented to easily find words of interest. * The user can mark words as 'favorites' to make them easier to find later. * The 'Trending' Section allows users to explore what other illustrate users find interesting at the current point in time. * The 'Popular' function lets the user see the most viewed words among illustrate users over time. * A new 'Word Of The Day' is updated daily to help users discover new and interesting words. * A new 'Fact Of the Day' is offered everyday for users to learn interesting tidbits about the English language. * For every word, the app suggests other relevant words to explore.
0.998851	New York artist, critic, writer, art consultant, and curator, Walter Pach (1883-1958) was an influential promoter of modern art and was instrumental in organizing the landmark Armory Show in 1913. Walter Pach was born in New York City, July 11, 1883. His father, Gotthelf Pach, was a prominent commercial photographer who, along with his family, ran the New York firm of Pach Brothers. The company did the bulk of the photographic work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the young Pach often accompanied his father on museum assignments. In 1903, Pach graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in art. He also studied with Robert Henri at the New York School of Art and went abroad to paint with William Merritt Chase in the summers of 1903 and 1904. In 1906 Pach presented his first art history lecture at the Westfield State Normal School in Westfield, Massachusetts. In 1907, Pach went to France and as an artist and critic moved among the Parisian avant-garde and became part of the Gertrude and Leo Stein circle. Gertrude Stein's "Portrait of Walter Pach was painted in 1908. Pach wrote extensively about modern art and through his numerous books, articles, and translations of European art texts, brought an emerging modernist viewpoint to the American public. In 1908 he wrote the first article published in America on Cézanne, and also wrote on such established artists as Claude Monet, whom he interviewed in 1908 for Scribner's Magazine.. Pach organized exhibitions of contemporary art for important New York City galleries of the period, as well as the landmark exhibition of 1913, "The International Exhibition of Modern Art," commonly known as the Armory Show. Along with painters Arthur B. Davies and Walt Kuhn, he brought together leading contemporary European and American artists. Pach served with Kuhn as administrator, publicist and gallery lecturer for the Armory Show Chicago for the run of the exhibition. Pach helped to form major collections for John Quinn and Walter Arensberg. He was also instrumental in securing individual works of art for museums, such as a portrait for the Louvre Museum by American master Thomas Eakins, and Jacques-Louis David's Death of Socrates for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pach married artist Magdalene Frohberg in February 1914, and their son Raymond was born at the end of that year. The Pachs lived primarily in New York, but spent time abroad from 1928 to 1932. Intermittently, they lived on the West Coast, where Pach taught at the University of California at Berkeley. In the 1920s he taught at the University of Mexico on a Shilling Fund grant, lecturing and writing on Native American art and developing a strong interest in Pre-Columbian art. He took an active interest in organizing exhibitions and raising money for a museum to be dedicated to the indigenous art of the Americas. In addition, he was a friend of José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera and helped organize the Mexican chapter of the Society of Independent Artists, the New York-based organization he founded in 1917 with Walter Arensberg and Marcel Duchamp. While not well known today as a painter, Walter Pach devoted much of his creative effort to painting. He considered himself both an artist and a writer, even though friends like art historian Bernard Berenson urged him to devote all his time to writing. Among his writings are monographs on a wide range of subjects, social commentary on the art world, and a book on museum structures. Among his first publications were a series of brochures produced for the 1913 Armory Show, including Odilon Redon and, in the same year, A Sculptor's Architecture, a book about the work of Raymond Duchamp-Villon, a close friend whom he admired greatly. In 1923, Pach wrote Georges Seurat, a book later cited by art historian John Rewald as an important early text on the artist. Masters of Modern Art and the monograph Raymond Duchamp-Villon were published the following year, and in 1928 Pach's well-known indictment of opportunistic artists and corruption in the art world, Ananias, or The False Artist, created a stir in art circles. Pach considered Vincent Van Gogh to be a seminal figure in the development of modern art and was the first historian to lecture on him in America. In 1936, he published his well-received monograph, Vincent Van Gogh. His recollections of a life spent in art, Queer Thing, Painting appeared in 1938. Ingres was published in 1939, as well as Masterpieces of Art, written for the 1939 New York World's Fair, for which Pach was exhibition director. His Art Museum in America, published in 1948, called into question the relevance, responsibility, and future direction of the American art museum. He long championed the artists of Mexico and published an essay on Diego Rivera in 1951 for the National Museum of Fine Arts, Mexico, for its 50-year retrospective exhibition on the artist. The Classical Tradition in Modern Art, Pach's last book, was published posthumously in 1959. Pach's fluency in French, German, and Spanish allowed him to understand and interpret new avant-garde ideas developing in Europe and to translate them for an English-speaking audience. His language skills also allowed him to communicate personally with many noted artists in Europe and Mexico and to mediate between gallery dealers and museum curators on their behalf. His correspondence with major figures in 20th-century art are a fascinating and important source of information, not only about the artists themselves but about the art world in general during the first half of this century. "Cézanne," by Walter Pach, the first American article on the subject, published in December issue of Scribner's. "Albert P. Ryder," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Scribner's. Met with Arthur B. Davies and Walt Kuhn to begin preparations for the Armory Show. Was responsible for the exhibition's European operations. Completed Portrait of Gigi Cavigli (exhibited at the Armory Show the following year). "Pierre-Auguste Renoir," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Scribner's. Exhibited 5 paintings and 5 etchings in "The International Exhibition of Modern Art" (Armory Show), which opened in New York City on February 13. Served as administrator, publicist, and gallery lecturer for the Armory Show Chicago with Kuhn for the run of the exhibition. At the close of the show, Matisse, Brancusi, and Pach were hanged in effigy by the students of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Publication of The John Quinn Collection, catalog of a collection Pach was instrumental in assembling. Founded Society of Independent Artists in collaboration with Marcel Duchamp, Walter Arensberg, and others. Adviser to collector Walter Arensberg. Designed sets for Wallace Stevens's play, Bowl, Cat and Broomstick, produced at the Neighborhood Playhouse, New York City. Arranged a Gino Severini exhibition at Stieglitz's 219 gallery, New York City. "The Schamberg Exhibition," by Walter Pach, published in May 17 issue of the Dial. Wrote introduction for Odilon Redon, the catalog for a graphics show at Albert Roulliers Gallery, Chicago. "The Art of the American Indian," by Walter Pach, published in January 20 issue of the Dial. His paintings abandoned the cubist-futurist mode and returned to a more naturalistic style. Publication of History of Art: Ancient Art, volume 1, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. Lecturer, University of Mexico, where he developed a strong interest in Pre-Columbian art. Lectured at Société Anonyme. Publication of History of Art: Mediaeval Art, volume 2, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. Contributed a chapter, "Art," to Civilization in the United States: An Inquiry by Thirty Americans, edited by Harold E. Stearns. Publication of Georges Seurat by Walter Pach. Publication of The Art of Cineplastics and History of Art: Renaissance Art, volume 3, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. "Georges Seurat," by Walter Pach, published in March issue of the Arts. Publication of Masters of Modern Art, by Walter Pach. Publication of Raymond Duchamp-Villon, by Walter Pach. Publication of History of Art: Modern Art, volume 4, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. "The Greatest American Artist," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Harper's Magazine. "Graveur Américain," by Léon Rosenthal, an article about Pach's graphics (illustrated with an original etching, New York), published in September issue of Byblis, Miroir des Arts du Livre et de L'Estampe. "Brancusi," by Walter Pach, published in December 1 issue of the Nation. Instructor, New York University. First solo exhibition at Brummer Gallery, New York, New York. Publication of Ananias, or The False Artist, by Walter Pach. Pach family relocated to Europe. "The Evolution of Diego Rivera," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Creative Art. "John Ruskin and Walter Pach: Defenders of the Faith," by W.H. Downes, published in August issue of American Museum Art. Publication of An Hour of Art, by Walter Pach. Publication of History of Art: The Spirit of the Forms, volume 5, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. "Notes sur le classicisme de Delacroix," by Walter Pach, published in June issue of L'Amour de L'Art. Solo exhibition at Kraushaar Gallery, New York City, with review published in March 21 issue of Art News. "Raymond Duchamp-Villon," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Formes XV. "Le Classicisme de Barye," by Walter Pach, published in November issue of L'Amour de L'Art . Returned to the United States. "Address at the Worcester Opening of International, 1933," by Walter Pach, and "Georges Rouault," by Walter Pach, both published in January issue of Parnassus. "American Art in the Louvre," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Fine Arts 20. "On Owning Pictures," by Walter Pach, published in August issue of Fine Arts 20. "Rockefeller, Rivera and Art," by Walter Pach, published in September issue of Harper's Magazine. Organized Maurice Prendergast retrospective for Whitney Museum of American Art. Exhibition at Knoedler Gallery, New York City included Walter Pach's Respice, Adspice, and Prospice, a fresco commissioned for the City College of New York by the Class of 1903. Exhibition of watercolors at Kleemann Galleries, New York City. Publication of Vincent Van Gogh, by Walter Pach." The Raphael from Russia," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Virginia Quarterly Review. "First Portfolio of American Art," by Walter Pach, published in October 3 issue of Art News. Wrote foreword to First Exhibition in America of Géricault, catalog of exhibition at Marie Sterner Gallery, New York City. "The Outlook for Modern Art," by Walter Pach, published in April issue of Parnassus. Article about Pach's City College mural published in February issue of City College Alumnus Magazine. Publication of The Journal of Eugène Delacroix, translated by Walter Pach. Publication of Thomas Eakins, by Walter Pach, catalog of exhibition at Kleemann Gallery, New York City. Publication of Queer Thing, Painting: Forty Years in the World of Art, by Walter Pach. "Delacroix Today," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Magazine of Art. Publication of Ingres, by Walter Pach. Appointed general director, "Masterpieces of Art" exhibition, New York World's Fair. Publication of Masterpieces of Art, New York World's Fair, 1940, Official Illustrated Catalogue, by Walter Pach. Solo exhibition at Schneider-Gabriel Gallery, New York City. "Newly Discovered Ingres: The Lovers," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Art in America Exhibition at Whitney Museum of American Art, "Between the Wars: Prints by American Artists, 1914-1941," included Walter Pach's etching Saint-Germain-des-Pres (1911). Lecturer, University of Mexico, Shilling Fund grant. "A Newly Found American Painter: Hermenegildo Bustos," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Art in America. "Unknown Aspects of Mexican Painting," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Gazette des Beaux-Arts. Marriage of son, Raymond. "The Eight, Then and Now," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Art News. "Problemas del arte americano," by Walter Pach, published in December issue of Origenes. "La Barricade in America," by Walter Pach, published in July issue of Art News. "On Art Criticism," by Eugène Delacroix (first published in Revue de Paris, May 1829), translated by Walter Pach for catalog of exhibition at Curt Valentin, New York City. Publication of Picasso, by Juan Larrea, edited by Walter Pach. Publication of "Museums Can Be Living Things," by Walter Pach, in Laurels Number One, Laurel Gallery. Etching, Scopasian Head, by Walter Pach, included in Laurels Number Two, Laurel Gallery. Publication of The Art Museum in America, by Walter Pach. "The Past Lives On," by Walter Pach, parts 1 and 2, published in October and November issues of American Artist. "Thus Is Cubism Cultivated," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Art News. Contributed a chapter, "The State of the Arts in the Democratic Way of Life: A Postscript," to Perspectives on a Troubled Decade: Science, Philosophy and Religion, 1939-1949, edited by Lyman Bryson, Louis Finkelstein, and R. M. MacIver. Death of wife, Magdalene. "Reaciones entre la cultura nordeamericana y la ombre de Diego Rivera," a major essay by Walter Pach published in Diego Rivera, 50 años de su labor artistica, exposition de normenaje nacional, Museo nacional de artes plasticas, Mexico City. Married Nikifora. "A Modernist Visits Greece," by Walter Pach, reprinted in autumn issue of Archaeology. "John Sloan," by Walter Pach, published in August issue of Atlantic Monthly. "Introducing the Paintings of George Of (1876-1954)," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Art News. Professor, City College of New York. Died, New York City, following an operation for stomach ulcers. Publication of The Classical Tradition in Modern Art, by Walter Pach. Exhibition, "Walter Pach, A Retrospective," at Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina. Exhibition, "The Art of Walter and Magda Pach," at Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Exhibition, "Discovering Modernism: Selections from the Walter Pach Papers," at the Archives of American Art, New York City. Exhibition, "The Paintings of Walter Pach," at Forum Gallery, New York City.
0.999489	Did the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) supply an F-16 to China? Note. Not necessary that China kept the F-16 permanently. Pakistan has provided China with access to U.S. and other Western military technology that Beijing’s scientists have then reverse-engineered. During the later stages of the Cold War, much of this covert technology transfer was tacitly permitted by the United States, as a way of solidifying its own budding relationship with Beijing and putting pressure on the Soviet Union. In 1982, for example, the Central Intelligence Agency warned that if the AN/ALR-69 radar warning system was sold to Pakistan as part of the F-16 fighter jet package, the United States should expect Pakistan to transfer this sensitive technology to China. Ultimately, the sale was approved. I'm not finding evidence that China ever actually came to directly possess an actual and complete F-16, and the following passage from the same article seems to imply otherwise. When the United States began selling F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in 1981, China was particularly interested in gaining access to a top-of-the-line aircraft that had previously been offered to only the very closest U.S. treaty allies (notably consisting of NATO partners and Japan). F-16 avionics and other associated technology have continued to be of such great interest to China that the United States, in order to decrease the risk of technology transfer, has insisted that some of Pakistan’s more advanced F-16s be segregated from other parts of air bases where Chinese technicians have access. Even further, Washington has insisted that particularly sensitive upgrades and maintenance be performed at sites outside of Pakistan entirely. Perhaps the highest-profile episode of suspected U.S. aviation technology transfer to China by way of Pakistan happened in 2011: following the raid on Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden, U.S. intelligence officials charged that Pakistan’s spy service granted Chinese military technicians access to a downed Black Hawk helicopter and permitted them to take samples of the aircraft’s skin, which contained state-of-the-art stealth technology. Mentions of China directly obtaining an F-16 are conspicuously absent from this article and other relevant sources.
0.981668	How can you change my yard so that it isn’t so drab and boring? What can I do to have a landscape which will amaze anyone who visits my home? This article will help you answer these questions by giving you some great tips on landscaping. For a fresh look for your landscape, re-edge the rock beds and flowerbeds with curves that are soft. A curved edge looks modern, smooth and beautiful, and can really enhance your design. It doesn’t cost much to cut fresh edges, but it can make your lawn and your flower bed look a whole lot nicer. When planning a landscaping project, concentrate on native plants. Native plants that grow in your area include flowers, trees and shrubs. These native plants will flourish even in poor soil, they may not require as much water, and they are better able to survive in extreme weather conditions. Plant things that are native to your area. Native plants are require less effort on your part because they’re accustomed to your soil and environment. This makes them a low-maintenance variety for any yard. Visit your local gardening center to find out more about plants native to your particular area. As you landscape, be sure you know what is different between annuals and perennials. Also, make sure you know which plants, shrubs, and flowers are best for your climate. Make sure to consider seasons when landscaping. It’s key that you are aware of the relevant information so you have the optimal landscaping experience. Use a drip irrigation system to help you water your plants. The expense of this system will be worth it. They are simple to install and continuously give your plants water. You will also find that drips of water work more efficiently than a full stream of water, helping you to avoid the dangers associated with over-watering. It’s hard to landscape your entire property at once. You are better off breaking up large projects into smaller phases. It can also assist you in changing your design while carrying out in the process of landscaping. There’s much more to landscaping then simply planting some grass and trees. To add texture and substance, look for opportunities to include wood, cement or iron structures. Adding other structures like birdbaths and birdhouses, or an archway in a flower bed will really add complexity and intrigue to your landscape. These elements can be in various price ranges that can suit most budgets. Include different kinds of greenery in your landscaping plans for variety and unique beauty. This is critical to preserving your yard should it be the victim of an insect infestation or disease outbreak. If you use all the same plants, they will all be attacked and lost. Diversity is crucial for plant health when landscaping.
0.999623	Configure how your users access Blackboard Learn. Authentication in Blackboard Learn allows you to configure the system so users can validate and initiate a session by providing username and password credentials. You can also integrate Blackboard Learn with one or more external authentication providers, to enable single sign-on and ensure more secure access. A change to the authentication framework configuration may inadvertently cause you to be locked out of the user interface. If your system is in accessible due to a lockout or bad authentication provider configuration, please contact Support to resolve the issue.
0.999855	If you sleep for eight hours a day and live to be 80 years old, you will have spent approximately 9,733 days snoozing. Assuming that most of this time is spent in bed, it makes sense that you should put some thought and effort into buying a mattress. Buying a mattress is a huge commitment, as most people tend to hang onto their mattresses for ten years or more before replacing them. Since adequate rest is vital to your health and overall well-being, it’s important to purchase a mattress that provides excellent support and amazing comfort.
0.916527	Simona Halep (Romanian articulation: [siˈmona haˈlep]; conceived 27 September 1991) is a Romanian expert tennis player. She is the present world No. 1 on the WTA Tour, having already held this situation for four months between October 2017 and January 2018. Halep first broke into the world's main 50 toward the finish of 2012, achieved the best 20 in August 2013, lastly the best 10 in January 2014. She won her initial 6 WTA titles in a similar logbook year in 2013 (an accomplishment that was last accomplished by Steffi Graf in 1986 when she won her initial 7), being named the WTA's Most Improved Player at its end, and additionally being named ESPN Center Court's 2013 Most Improved Player. Halep achieved the 2014 French Open last, her first Grand Slam last, where she lost to Maria Sharapova in three sets. She likewise achieved the last of the WTA Finals that year, losing to Serena Williams in straight sets in the wake of having vanquished her 6-0 6-2 prior in the competition. Halep proceeded with her prosperity all through the 2015 and 2016 seasons winning 3 titles in each individual season (counting 2 Premier Mandatory titles) and staying inside the Top 10.[better source needed] In 2017 she played in her second French Open last, losing again in three sets (this opportunity to Jeļena Ostapenko), in the wake of driving by a set and 3-0 in the second. Halep was the most clicked player on WTATennis.com for two sequential years (2014– 2015), when she was granted the WTA Most Popular Player of the Year prize. After the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Simona Halep turned into the dynamic player with the most sequential weeks inside the Top 10. Halep has likewise won WTA's Fan Favorite Singles Player in 2017. She was given the honor of Cetățean de onoare ("Honorary Citizen") of the city of Bucharest in 2018.
0.977531	Conditional Branch – To branch processes in programming, use “if… elif… else…” syntax. The space before lines next to the “if”, “elif”, “else” lines are necessary to define paragraph in program. a = "x is higher than 5" a = "x is lower than 5" a = "x is 5" not – Not(a and b) is false. #If both the operands are true then condition becomes true. print "(a and b) is true" #If any of the two operands are true then condition becomes true. print "(a or b) is true" #Used to reverse the logical state of its operand. print "Not(a and b) is true." print "(a and b and c) is true" print "(a or b or c) is true" print "Not(a and b and c) is true."
0.841423	The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League will be the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final will be played at the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland. The winners of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup. They will also automatically qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage, and if they have already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved will be given to the third-placed team of the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list. Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each have three teams qualify. Associations 52–54 each have two teams qualify. Liechtenstein and Kosovo (association 55) each have one team qualify (Liechtenstein organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Kosovo as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee). Moreover, 57 teams eliminated from the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League. For the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2018 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2013–14 to 2017–18. The following is the default access list. Changes will be made to the access list above, if any of the teams that qualify for the Europa League via their domestic competitions also qualify for the Champions League as the Champions League or Europa League title holders, or if there are fewer teams transferred from the Champions League due to changes in the Champions League access list. In any case where a spot in the Europa League is vacated, cup winners of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds will be promoted accordingly. When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place". When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible. For associations where a Europa League place is reserved for either the League Cup or end-of-season European competition play-offs winners, they always qualify for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier. If the League Cup winners have already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place is taken by the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions. NOTE: The following list of qualified teams is provisional, subject to final confirmation by UEFA in June 2019, as each participating team must obtain a UEFA club license. All qualified teams are included in this list as long as they have not been banned by UEFA or have not failed their final appeal with their football association on obtaining a license. Note: Teams in italics may still qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, either through domestic performance, or by winning the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League or the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. ^ Belgium (BEL): Genk can still qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League if they finish in the top two of the 2018–19 Belgian First Division A. ^ France (FRA): Strasbourg can still qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League if they finish in the top three of the 2018–19 Ligue 1. They will enter the Europa League group stage instead of the second qualifying round if they finish fourth in the league, or finish fifth in the league and a team in the top four win the 2018–19 Coupe de France. ^ Greece (GRE): AEK Athens will enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round if they win the 2018–19 Greek Football Cup, or finish third in the 2018–19 Superleague Greece and PAOK win the cup. Atromitos will enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round if they finish third in the 2018–19 Superleague Greece and PAOK win the cup. ^ Republic of Ireland (IRL): Waterford would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the fourth-placed team of the 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division, but were ruled by UEFA to have not passed the "three-year rule" as the club were reformed in 2016. As a result, the berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, St Patrick's Athletic. ^ San Marino (SMR): Tre Fiori can still qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League if they win the 2018–19 Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio. The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise). Matches in the qualifying (including preliminary and play-off) and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts. Note: All qualified teams below are listed with their 2019 UEFA club coefficients (CC) (after matches played on 18 April 2019; teams whose coefficients may still increase are marked by ≥). In the preliminary round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2019 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. A total of 16 teams are expected to play in the preliminary round. In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2019 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. A total of 94 teams are expected to play in the first qualifying round: 86 teams which enter in this round, and the eight winners of the preliminary round. The second qualifying round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for cup winners and league non-champions). The 17 losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, and the three losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League preliminary round. 27 teams which enter in this round, the 47 winners of the first qualifying round. The third qualifying round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for cup winners and league non-champions). The ten Champions Path winners of the second qualifying round, and the ten Champions Path losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. Twelve teams which enter in this round, the 37 League Path winners of the second qualifying round, and the three League Path losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. The play-off round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for cup winners and league non-champions). The ten Champions Path winners of the third qualifying round, and the six Champions Path losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. The 26 League Path winners of the third qualifying round. The 48 teams are drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams are seeded into four pots based on their 2019 UEFA club coefficients. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32, where they are joined by the eight third-placed teams of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage. A total of 48 teams play in the group stage: 17 teams which enter in this stage, the 21 winners of the play-off round (eight from Champions Path, thirteen from League Path), the six losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League play-off round (four from Champions Path, two from League Path), and the four League Path losers of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage with the better group records are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other. ^ "Istanbul to host 2020 UEFA Champions League Final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018. ^ "Timeline for UEFA Presidential elections decided". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2018. ^ "Country coefficients 2017/18". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018. ^ a b "Champions League and Europa League changes next season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018. ^ "St Pats to benefit as Waterford are refused UEFA licence". extra.ie. 19 April 2019. ^ "2019/20 Europa League match and draw calendar". UEFA.com. 14 January 2019. ^ a b c d "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018. ^ a b c d "UEFA Team Ranking 2019". Bert Kassies. This page was last edited on 20 April 2019, at 19:32 (UTC).
0.994098	When I was a child I would visit my grandmother every Saturday. Did you go there on your vacation? No, I used to go with my mom and dad to the seaside. We would always stay at the same hotel. So, you were telling me what you used to do with your grandmother. Yes, every Saturday we would pack a picnic basket and go for a long walk at the lake. We would find a nice place to sit and watch the ducks swimming, and the people fishing. Did you used to stay the whole day? Yes, we would spend as much time as possible chatting to each other about all sorts of things. I never used to spend time with my grandparents. I'm sorry about that now. We would always have such fun. It has left me with good memories. You are lucky to have had those good times.
0.98522	Would a paid-for review from Kirkus give me real insight into quality of my manuscript? As an amateur writer who has just finished my first manuscript, I want a qualified, non-biased, and thorough opinion on whether what I've written is any good. I recently heard about a service offered by Kirkus where I can pay about $400 or $500 to receive a "professional review" of my manuscript. Kirkus dangles the possibility that the review might be read by someone important, leading to publishing offers -- but for now, I'm more interested in getting the pro-caliber feedback than the long-shot at exposure. So is it worth it for me -- a hopeful upstart with my first manuscript in hand -- to pay for a Kirkus review? Again, what I'm interested in is the feedback, not the potential exposure. It's really good that you're looking for professional critique - that's a really helpful thing to have! However, a Kirkus book review might well be the wrong address. A Kirkus review exists to help people find books they want to read, or to choose whether or not to buy a particular book. What you're looking for is a critique - feedback highlighting both the faults and merits of your particular book. The two goals may be somewhat related, but for $400 and upwards, you can do a whole lot better than "somewhat related." I've just browsed some of the Kirkus indie reviews. Look at those and see if that's the type of criticism that you think you'll find helpful. Notice that in general, the reviews are half a simple description of the book - not very important to you, but extremely important to people who want to know "what the book's about" - and half opinion as to what in the book works and why, mostly in general terms addressing the novel as a whole rather than going in-depth to characters, scenes, etc. That's not unhelpful. But it's not a whole lot, either. In addition, a serious concern is how reliable the Kirkus indie reviews are. The ones which I've browsed often portray their books as a mixed bag, with some things done well and others serving as flaws - so this isn't a "buy a glowing review" scam. But even mixed reviews can be suspect. The tone, phrasing and generality of many of the partially-positive review makes me suspicious that "the good stuff" is simply "the least bad stuff," portrayed positively so that the reviews don't all come off as excessively negative. This suspicion is acute because Kirkus is pitching to self-publishers here, not to readers. When your target audience is readers and book buyers, you succeed most if they come to trust your reviews. When your target audience is self-publishers, you succeed if they think they're getting good publicity for their books. Note how the Indie reviews are held seperate from the regular ones - they're aimed at two different segments. So, if you consider pursuing such a review for feedback purposes, then you really want to check out how reliable the reviews are. Maybe read a couple reviewed books yourself, and see if the reviews match; at very least look for unbiased reviews elsewhere. Those are all reasons Kirkus sounds to me like a poor option for feedback (for publicizing your book, that's a whole different story, which I won't get into here). Here's are two suggestion I think might be more appropriate. Firstly, you started out asking for qualified, non-biased, and thorough feedback. How about two out of three? There are many venues for getting your work critiqued by fellow writing enthusiasts. I'm personally a big fan of the Critters workshop, which has a well-established track for getting novel critiques. If you've never been in a workshop or a critique circle before, you might be surprised how helpful they can be. Readers may not be "qualified" editors, but they read and love their genre - they're the type of reader you're writing for, so at very least, they can be a great guide to whether you're getting across what you'd like to, and what impressions random readers have from your work. And these aren't random readers - these are readers who write, and some of them know a little about it. Of course, if you get somebody whose criticism resonates with you, then you'll find that incredibly helpful, even if it's not professional-level. A lot of feedback from a hobbyist beats a few lines of feedback from a pro. Similarly, you can probably find friends and acquaintances who can be a big help (if you haven't done so already). What's most important is that (A) they be somebody whose opinion you respect, and (B) they thoroughly understand that you prefer honest criticism, even if harsh. When soliciting feedback, what's most important isn't suggestions for improvement - most amateur suggestions will not be immediately helpful or beneficial. What's important is understanding what the reader's response to the book was. That's what they can report on unerringly; how you can improve your work to get better responses is an issue for later. Again, these might not be qualified critiques, but they're extremely helpful in gauging where your writing stands. Jumping to a professional review without getting more modest, accessible feedback is a waste - because really, why not get both? And why not get the expensive feedback after you've made as many improvements as you can with the free stuff? Secondly, consider hiring an editor. Editors and reviewers hire out same as everybody else; find somebody who can do the job you need, rather then the job Kirkus is offering. Offhand, two blogs I follow do review work for pay, Nancy Fulda and Mette Ivie Harrison. I'm not recommending these two specifically (one of them isn't even an option - Nancy Fulda only accepts new clients by reference), but they can give you an idea of what services to look for and what kind of prices to expect. If you go this route, WATCH OUT FOR SCAMS. Any way you wind up choosing, best of luck, with this piece and with future ones! Do not trust Kirkus Indie to provide a real review. I have had a very bad experience with them. I'll say it loud and clear: stay away! I assumed that a company of their repute would, surely, give a full read of the manuscript. I paid $575 for a review (express service). The resulting review was ridiculous - it made such gross mistakes describing the plot, I can guarantee the reviewer never read the entire work. They did skim it enough to check correct spellings of character names right and pick out a few choice details, but I cannot believe they made any more effort than that. The so-called "problems" with the narrative simply did not exist. There was a major aberration of the story arc as a whole and therefore, the reviewer just summed it all up the way he/she wanted to see it. My efforts to complain and to demand a refund were firmly rebuffed, though I am certain I could prove my case if they'd simply give me a chance to. In conclusion, Kirkus Indie is a scam and should be avoided. They're certainly not a good address for seeking a helpful assessment of your work. O.K. with the edit--but I did present my "case" in a clear, logical manner--asking that the editor there ask the reviewer only a few brief, but pertinent questions (proving my assurance that she did not read major, crucial sections) and I asked that it be done in a live call. Not in an email. (as it would give time for the writer to go back to the manuscript to answer those questions). I suggested this as the Kirkus Indie CEO assured me that every reviewer assigned a book must read the entire work. This is something they are adamant about, she assured me. However, when it got down to the wire, both she and the editor ignored my request and responded with tepid, defensive statements from their reviewer--who was interrogated via email about anything but my questions. The attitude was: "Too bad." it's "her opinion". The problem is, she was factually and demonstratively incorrect. They clearly did not care to get to the truth of the matter. They only wanted to protect their position as the bottom line for them was to keep my money. That's another thing: they say "Well, if you don't like the review we'll make sure it never sees the light of day." They actually say this. And proudly. Like they're doing you a big favor. I have just been through the experience of having obtained a Kirkus Review. I paid for the expedited version. I feel violated. The review was worse than disappointing. The review gave an introductory somewhat inaccurate plot summary, and then added some comments that were so damaging that they would guarantee that no-one would want to read the book. The comments were distorted. For example, the book was a memoir and I describe a legendary London folk club where many famous singer-songwriter musicians were discovered. The reviewer states that the people that I met in this place were "increasingly notorious." I wrote to Kirkus to complain that this was very inaccurate and I got a response that it was the subjective view of their qualified reviewer. This changes the entire thrust of the book from a young girl finding mentors and role models to a young girl being corrupted by disreputable people. Basically, the review was a joke, and you could almost hear the staff at Kirkus laughing as they took my money and gave me a handful of beans in return. There should be laws against this. What I experienced was fraud. I would have understood if the review had been legitimately critical of real flaws -- but it was more along the lines of being insulted, and they refused to change the insulting wording, stating that it was in their contract that it was subjective. My view is this: if a company promises to help a writer get all kinds of amazing offers and they cannot deliver - they will invent a reason to pan the work. My standard response to a question like this is to go to Critique Circle and create an account. You will be able to find people who are looking for your particular genre who will read your manuscript and provide honest, constructive criticism. Most importantly, it's free! Another option is to try to develop a group of beta readers who are willing to take the time to read your book and give you some feedback from a reader's perspective. I have been fortunate enough to find a few trusted souls who will read my books and give me their opinions without glossing over anything or trying to make me think it's better than it is. You need to make sure they will be truly honest in their feedback. It's better to have them reject you and offer suggestions on where/how to improve it. Kirkus Indie sounds like a good way to get publicity for your book, but here's how it actually works: Kirkus take $425 (or more) from the publisher/author, spends one hour skimming the text to select some problems (and only problems), then writes a terrible review which you will of course choose not to publish. Kirkus is into this for about less than $50 in labor costs and they don't have the expense of publishing a review. They pocket the difference and make a lot of money off the gullible public. Kirkus has no incentive to give you a good review, and every incentive to give you a bad one. You will get nothing of value out of Kirkus Indie. Avoid them like the venomous snakes they are! I obtained a Kirkus review at the suggestion of my publisher. While the review was not bad, as far as my book was concerned, it instantly became apparent that this reviewer had no idea what he was doing and did not have a clear understanding of literary genres. (He reviewed a historical fiction novel as if it were a biography and a history book.) He missed major sections of the book and misstated facts in comparing it to other books on the same topic. I suspect my reviewer was a first or second year college student. Obviously, a writer can’t stop Kirkus from reviewing a book if they choose to do so, but I would say do not invite or request it. Based upon the skill level of the reviewer I have seen you would be far better off to have it reviewed by a literature professor or another person qualified to review it properly. I paid to have my book reviewed by Kirkus Reviews. It was a terrible, expensive mistake on my part. I am almost positive the reviewer did not even read my book, but scanned it quickly, making sure the ending was mentioned, just to make it look like they did read the book. Not one important fact about its contents was mentioned. Not one! Also a reviewer should read a book with an open mind, or that reviewers pick the genres they like the best. This did not happen in my case. Whoever the reviewer was, they either hated the genre or was very closed minded. I wish I had found and read this article on Kirkus Reviews before I had published with them, otherwise I would never had used them! Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged reviews feedback or ask your own question.
0.936568	Are you brave enough to lure a bull into the sea? The event Toros en el Mar which means 'Bulls in the Sea' is what it sounds like. It is one of the wildest festivities in the province of Alicante, around 100 km away from Valencia. Many consider it more interesting than the classic bull run, and more animal-friendly. The goal of the activity is to lure the bull to come after you down the main street of Marqués de Campo in the town of Denia and then make them jump into the Mediterranean Sea. When a bull falls into the sea, it's rescued by a special boat; but there were some cases when bulls drowned in the water. People and media express their concern regarding animal abuse in this kind of events for the human entertainment. For those who are brave enough to take part in such an event, Toros en el Mar is happening every year in July. Of course, you can also be a part of the audience; safe, but still amused.
0.965115	Для создания лекций использованы только аутентичные источники, более того, я сделал акцент на максимально современных, авторитетных и наиболее труднодоступных изданиях. Я использовал как традиционные книжные издания учебников и энциклопедий, так и электронные ресурсы. Перед Вами список некоторых хороших книг, учебников и статей по страноведению, а также важнейших словарей и энциклопедий, использованных для создания лекций и презентаций по страноведению США и Великобритании. Я решил включить в него по 30 источников по каждой стране, которые могут показаться Вам наиболее интересными или полезными. Полный список источников насчитывет более 100 наименований. 1. Addis, C. Britain Now [Текст] / C. Addis. – Relod, 1994, 61 p. 2. Britain’s System of Government [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office. – 26 p. 3. British Flags and Royal Coats of Arms [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1994. 4. British Royal Family [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1997. 5. Cannon, J. The Kings and Queens of Britain [Текст] / J. Cannon, A. Hargreaves – Oxford, 2001. – 406 p. 6. Emerson, G. Young People in Britain [Текст] / G. Emerson – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1999. – 48 p. 7. England [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2000. – 24 p. 8. Hargis, T. Rules, Britannia [Текст] / T. Hargis. – Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, 2006. – 228 p. 9. Harvey, P. Britain Explored [Текст] / P. Harvey, R. Jones. – Longman, 2002. – 176 p. 10. In-City London [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 11. Kings and Queens of England – Top Foto, 2004. – 20 p. 12. London. Portrait of the City [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office. – 40 p. 13. Media in the United Kingdom [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2002. – 40 p. 14. Miall, A. The Xenophobes Guide to the English [Текст] / A. Miall, D. Milsted – Oval Books, 2005. – 64 p. 15. Monahan, J. Ethnic Diversity [Текст] / J. Monaghan – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2001. – 24 p. 16. Muirden, J. 100 Great Brits [Текст] / J. Muirden – Summersdale, 2007. – 264 p. 17. Nicholson, M. General Elections in the UK [Текст] / M. Nicholson. – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2001. – 24 p. 18. Nicholson, M. Parliamentary Elections in the Britain [Текст] / M. Nicholson. – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1998. – 24 p. 19. Northern Ireland [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office. – 40 p. 20. O’Driscoll, J. Britain [Текст] / J. O’Driscoll. – Oxford, 2002. – 224 p. 21. O’Meara, T. A Miscellany of Britain [Текст] / T. O’Meara – Arcturus, 2007. – 192 p. 22. Praill, A. 100 Questions Answered [Текст] / A. Praill. – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2000. 23. Praill, A. People in Britain [Текст] / A. Praill. – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1999. – 36 p. 24. Praill, A. United Kingdom: A Modern Tradition [Текст] / A. Praill. – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2002. 25. Scotland. The View Today [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2001. – 20 p. 26. Shott, A. Wales [Текст] / A. Shott – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1999. – 32 p. 27. United Kingdom’s System of Government [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1999. – 40 p. 28. Wales [Текст] – Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1996. – 32 p. 29. Wales. World Nation [Текст] – Welsh Assembly Government. 30. Wilkinson, P. British Monarchy for Dummies [Текст] / P. Wilkinson. – John Wiley and Sons, 2007. – 380 p. 1. 80 days that changed the world [Текст] – Time Books, 2003. – 138 p. 2. Althen, G. A Guide for Foreigners in the United States [Текст] /G. Althen, A. Doran, S. Szimania – Intercultural Press, 2003. – 295 p. 3. Barden, C. Discovering and Exploring the Americas [Текст] / C. Barden. – Mark Twain Media, 2001. – 62 p. 4. Barden, C. The Westward Movement [Текст] / C. Barden. – Mark Twain Media, 2001. – 62 p. 6. Bordman, M. In the USA [Текст] / M. Bordman. – Chancerel International Publishers, 1998. – 110 p. 7. Celebrate Holidays in the USA [Текст] – United States Information Agency, 2000. – 58 p. 8. Cincotta, H. A Sense of Place: Regional American Literature [Текст] / H. Cincotta– U.S. Society and Values, 1996. – 34 p. 9. Cincotta, H. Contemporary U.S. Literature [Текст] / H. Cincotta– U.S. Society and Values, 2000. – 52 p. 10. Cincotta, H. The Arts Today [Текст] / H. Cincotta– U.S. Society and Values, 1996. – 58 p. 11. Cincotta, H. United States: A Nation of Volunteers [Текст] / H. Cincotta– U.S. Society and Values, 1998. – 42 p. 12. Closer than we think [Текст] – Global Publishing Solutions, 2007. – 12 p. 14. Falk, R. Spotlight on the USA [Текст] / R. Falk. – Oxford University Press, 1993. – 173 p. 15. Faul, S. The Xenophobe’s Guide to the Americans USA [Текст] / S. Faul. – Oval Books, 2008. – 96 p. 16. Fielder, E. America in Close-Up [Текст] / E. Fielder, P.R. Mil, N. Risch. – Longman Group UK Limited, 1990. – 284 p. 17. Friedman, L. American Cinema of the 1970s [Текст] / L. Friedman. – Rutgers University Press, 2007. – 286 p. 18. Grambs, J. Texas [Текст] / J. Grambs – Smithmark, 1994. 19. Hamsphire, D. Living and Working in America: A Survival Handbook [Текст] / D. Hamsphire. – Survival Books, 2008. – 480 p. 20. Headrick, D. Technology. A World History USA [Текст] / D. Headrick. – Oxford University Press, 2009. – 180 p. 21. Italiano, B. Visual Reference of the United States [Текст] / B. Italiano. – Blackbirch Press, 2002. – 336 p. 22. Kral, T. American Panorama [Текст] / T. Kral. – United States Information Agency, 1995. – 256 p. 23. Mills, S. Living and Working in America [Текст] / S. Mills – How To Books, 2004. – 318 p. 25. O’Callaghan, B. An Illustrated History of the USA [Текст] / B. O’Callaghan – Longman, 2002. – 144 p. 26. Reese, R. Greater Yellowstone [Текст] / R. Reese. – Montana Geographic Series, 1991. – 104 p. 27. Sisson, R. The American Midwest [Текст] / R. Sisson, C. Zacher, A. Cayton. – Indiana University Press, 2007. – 1890 p. 28. Souvenir Guide to Boston [Текст] – Kina, 32 p. 29. The Great Seal of the United States [Текст] – The United States Department of State, 1996. – 25 p. 30. Yellowstone in Pictures [Текст] – KC Publications. – 48 p. Хотели бы Вы приобрести и прочитать некоторые из этих книг?
0.916424	left: Walter's signature from his brother John's will when he was about 66; right: signature from Walter's will when he was about 77. He also signed the inventory of Ephraim Lockwood of Norwalk in 1685, which appears very similar to the example above left. The early generations of the Hoyts in Connecticut and New York used varying spellings of their first and last names. In some instances there was no concensus within nuclear families. This may indicate they were only partially literate. I don't subscribe to the practice of using phonetic or interpretive spellings for an individual in biographical text unless there is a specific reason to do so. I think it's enough to note exact spellings in quoting documents. In some cases this is a judgement call. Was Walter firmly committed to his name being "Hoyte," but his son was committed to "Hayt?" Considering how few times it was necessary for them to sign their names, given their circumstances, it seems unlikely they thought much about it. When they learned how to write their names, they might have learned it from a schoolmaster, for instance, who spelled it as it sounded. I do think it's important to note exact name spellings when quoting documents. For these reasons, the surname of this family is referred to uniformly as "Hoyt," and "Waltar" is converted to the normative "Walter." Walter came with his father and siblings to New England probably in 1629. His mother had probably died by this time, and the family may have sailed with his stepmother Susannah. Walter likely came of age in Windsor, CT. He was granted several pieces of land there. Thirty acres were set and aside for him from his father's grant on 28 February 1640/41,(1) "yt lyes neere the falls in the rivulett [probably the Farmington River]; it is in length from the river back a hundred and twenty rodd, in breadth a hundred twenty six rodd, bounded every way by the Common." Walter supposedly bought a house lot in Backer Row in the fortified heart of the settlement called the Palisado. His brother Nicholas also lived there. Early land records(2) give the following: "Walter Hoyt hath Granted from the Plantation of Land, threescore and four acres more or Less, in bredth seventy-three, in Length a Hundred and forty, Bounded East by Nicholas Hoyt, West and North by the Commons, and South by the Rivulett; Also fifty acres more or Less, opposite John Tinkers farm, Bounded North and East by the Land of Nicholas Hoyt, Southeast by the Land of William Thrall, and South by the Rivulett; also Ten acres of Land, in bredth Twenty Rod, in Length four score, Bounded west by Nicolas Hoyt, North by Richard Willer, & South by William Thrall." He bought another lot which may not be recorded in extant records, but the following records its sale: "John Denslow hath by Purchas of Walter Hoyt, a homelott and house with all the appurtenances and Common Priviledges pertaining thereto, Twelve acres more or Less, which formerly was Elias Parkmans, the bredth is fourteen rod and half, Bound North by Nicholas Hoyt, South by a way in part, and William Hofford the other part, West by the wood Lott of John Mason, East by the Sreet." Walter moved to Norwalk, CT, by 18 December 1653, when he and Ralph Keeler entered into an agreement with the town to build or supervise the construction of a house for Rev. Hanford.(3) On 21 January 16(54/?)55 Walter made an agreement with the Town of Norwalk to "erect and sett up a good and sufficient gate leading into [his] meadows."(4) He and Ralph Keeler were chosen fenceviewers "to worke the fence" on 29 March 1655.(5) On 22 May 1655 Walter, Matthias St. John/Sention and Matthias' brother Mark were reported to have driven the "dry" herd of cows to "Rooton" and were to receive 6 pence "a turne." (6) In the same year he is listed among the landowners of Norwalk, and his property value, though obliterated in the record, was probably about 100 to 110 lbs. He was chosen a deputy to the General Court of Connecticut supposedly in 1658/59 and 1661 (records not yet found) and certainly in 1667. (7) He was supposedly a selectman, although this was not found in the published records of Norwalk. At the General Court of Election at Hartford, "Mr. Campfield presenting from the Towne of Norwalk, Richrd Olmstead for yr Lieutenant and Walter Hoyt for their sergeant [in the local militia], they are both confirmed by this Court" on 19 May 1659.(8) The Town of Norwalk granted Walter the home lot of Thomas Barnum at a town meeting in February 1663 for the use of "one of his sons." (9) The property was then granted by Walter to his son John two years later.(10) 1665 saw a series of grants to John from his father, likely for his being the oldest son. Returning to civic activities, "Walter Haite has undertaken to beate the drumm for meetings when all occasions required, for which he is to have 10 s[hillings]" on 24 July 1665.(11) This duty was performed again, as recorded at a town meeting on 21 February 1670.(12) His estate was valued at 192 lbs. in 1670,(13) and he had added to it that year with 16 acres in Norwalk and referred to as "six acres to the hundred."(14) One of the parcels was on Elie's Neck. He acquired more land in "six acres to the hundred" in 1683 or 84, this time it was 6 acres on the east side of "Seakautuck Hill."(15). He had written his will on 11 February 1675/1676, although he had about 20 more years of life (see below). aaaWalter signed the Norwalk charter of 8 July 1686.(16) He is listed among the men having "estates of commonage" on 3 January 1687, valued at 242 lbs. - a relatively high amount.(17) For all his land transactions, his residence has not been located exactly, but it is said to have been in the village of Norwalk, now East Norwalk, on land east of the cemetery and bordering partly on the harbor. It isn't known when he died, but he was involved in a confirmation of property ownership with Samuel Camfield on 13 August 1695.(18) The next pertinent record is his inventory, taken after his death, literally dated 10 January 1698.(19) Since this not a double-date (10 January 1698/1699) which was often used at the time to indicate the Old and New Style (Julian and Gregorian) calender systems, it may be wholly in the Old Style, which would make it 10 March 1699 in the New Style. Estate inventories were usually taken shortly after someone's death, pointing to Walter's death in late February/early March 1699. aaaRegarding Walter's marriage, no evidence has been found - not even a first name. He had two sons, referred to in his will, and two daughters are named in the Norwalk town records when they married. They apparently were born between 1640 and 1650, given circumstantial evidence. This is sensible given that their father was of prime marrying age in the early 1640s and had property. It is possible that their mother died perhaps about 1650. She has, without proper explanation in published material, been called Rhoda (Tinker) Hobbs Taylor, widow of Thomas Hobbs and probably widow of John Taylor.(18.5) It would have been very abnormal in the 17th century for a man to marry someone 6 years his elder (Rhoda was evidently born in 1611), and even more so to marry a woman twice-widowed as his first wife. The oldest child known to be Walter's was born when he was about 26, indicating a marriage at about 24. The possibility that he was already a widower is slim. There is a record of a Rhoda Taylor paying a church rate in Windsor in 1660 (source?), but it may be a reference to something that didn't occur in that year. She supposedly was a widow with two daughters (Hannah and Anna) when she married John Taylor. Evidence of this hasn't been seen. Citing Walter selling land to Thomas Taylor late in life, this has been presented as supporting evidence of their being related, but there is no mention of a familial relationship in the document. If Walter and Rhoda did marry, it was most likely later in life when both were widow/widower. Mathias St. John/Sention of Norwalk, who was the same generation as Walter, mentions "brother and sister Hoyt" in his will. This is supposed to indicate that his wife Mary Tinker was the sister Rhoda (Tinker) Hobbs Taylor. I's an interesting theory, but is there any further evidence of it? The following is translated from the original estate papers found on microfilm at the Connecticut State Library. It differs slightly from the reading given in David Hoyt's genealogy. The document is written in a very poor hand and spelling errors are numerous. Italics indicate words that are virtually scribbled but intended. A portion of Walter's estate file is written in shorthand and hasn't been deciphered. It may simply be the will, but a number of regularly-spelled words indicates otherwise. It isn't known if Walter could write anything other than his name, but the three available signatures show that he spelled it "Waltar Hoyte." The will and Inventory of ye Estate of Walter Hoit of Norwalk deceased being exhibited to ye Prerogative Court for fairfeild this 11: April 1699 and the Court do Aprove sd Will and Inventory and do order them to be recorded. Elizabeth, b. abt. 1643, m. Samuel Sention, September 1663, "the daughter of Walter Haite" Hannah, b. abt. 1645, m. Judah Gregory, 20 October 1664, "the daughter of Waltar Haite of Norwake" 1. first book of land records, pg. 113, according to David Hoyt's genealogy. This particular reference was not found in the Fairfield County deed index. 3. Edwin Hall, The Ancient Historical Records of the Town of Norwalk, Conn. (ARN), (Norwalk: 1847). 6. Ibid. The list is in descending order of value. The landowner just ahead of him on the list had land valued at 118 lbs. 7. Only record found is for 9 May 1667 at the Court of Election, CRC, pg. 59. 10. Fairfield County deeds, vol. 1, pg. 85 (Feb. 1665). 14. Fairfield County deeds, vol. 1, pg. 110. 15. Ibid, vol. 1, pg. 238 (2 February 16(82/?)84). 18. Fairfield County deeds, vol. 1, pg. 321 (13 Aug. 1695). 18.5. New England Historic Genealogical Register, vol. 149, p. 412. 19. Fairfield district probate record.
0.977549	The Republic of China's retreat to Taiwan, also known as the Kuomintang retreat to Taiwan or (in Taiwan) "The Great Retreat" refers to the exodus of the remnants of the Kuomintang-ruled government of the Republic of China to the island of Taiwan in December 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War. The Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party), its officers and approximately 2 million troops took part in the retreat; in addition to many civilians and refugees, fleeing from the advances of the Communist People's Liberation Army. Troops mostly fled to Taiwan from provinces in southern China, including Sichuan Province, where the last stand of the Republic of China's main army took place. The flight to Taiwan took place over four months after Mao Zedong had proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 1949. After the retreat, the Republic of China leadership, led by Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek planned to make the retreat only temporary, hoping to regroup, fortify and reconquer the mainland. This plan, which never came into fruition, was known as "Project National Glory", and made the national priority of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Once it became apparent that such a plan could not be realized, Taiwan's national focus shifted to the modernization and economic development of Taiwan, even as the ROC continues to claim sovereignty over regions under PRC control. The Chinese Civil War between Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT forces and Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entered its final stage in 1945, following the surrender of Japan. Both sides sought to control and unify China. While Chiang heavily relied on assistance from the United States, Mao relied on support from the Soviet Union as well as the rural population of China. The bloody conflict between the KMT and the CCP began when both parties were attempting to subdue Chinese warlords in northern China (1926–28) and continued though the Japanese occupation (1932–45). The need to eliminate the warlords was seen as necessary by both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, but for different reasons. For Mao, their elimination would end the feudal system in China, encouraging and preparing the country for socialism and communism. For Chiang, the warlords were a great threat to the central government. This basic dissimilarity in motivation continued throughout the years of fighting against Japanese occupation in China, in spite of a common enemy. Mao's Communist forces mobilized the peasantry in rural China against the Japanese, and at the time of the Japanese surrender in 1945 the Chinese Communist Party had built an army of nearly a million soldiers. The pressure Mao's forces placed on the Japanese benefitted the Soviet Union, and thus the CCP forces were supplied by the Soviets. The ideological unity of the CCP, and the experience acquired in fighting the Japanese, prepared it for the next battles against the Kuomintang. Though Chiang's forces were well equipped by the US, they lacked effective leadership, political unity and experience. In January 1949, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down as leader of the KMT and was replaced by his vice-president, Li Zongren. Li and Mao entered into negotiations for peace, but Nationalist hardliners rejected Mao's demands. The Communist military capability was a deciding factor in resolving the impasse, and when Li sought an additional delay in mid-April 1949, the Chinese Red Army crossed the Yangtze (Chang) River. Chiang fled to the island of Formosa (Taiwan), where approximately 300,000 soldiers had already been airlifted. Over the course of 4 months beginning in August 1948, the ROC leaders relocated the Republic of China Air Force to Taiwan, taking over 80 flights and 3 ships. Chen Chin-chang [zh] writes in his book on the subject that an average of 50 or 60 planes flew daily between Taiwan and China transporting fuel and ammunition between August 1948 and December 1949. Chiang also sent the 26 naval vessels of the Nationalist army to Taiwan. The final Communist assault against Nationalist forces began on April 20, 1949 and continued until the end of summer. By August, the People's Liberation Army dominated almost all of mainland China; the Nationalists held only Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands, Guangdong Province, and a few regions in China's far west. Institute of History and Philology director Fu Ssu-nien spearheaded a rush to persuade scholars to flee to Taiwan, as well as bringing books and documents. In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek began planning the KMT retreat to Taiwan with a plan to take gold and treasure from the mainland. The amount of gold that was moved differs according to sources, but it is usually estimated from between 3 million to 5 million tael (approximately 113.6-115.2 tons; one tael is 37.2 grams). Other than gold, KMT brought old relics, which are now kept in National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Some scholars say the movement of gold and treasure were part of protective measures against the Japanese invasion and occupation, similar to how European governments transferred gold to other locations during World War II. There are different opinions on treasures that are at Taiwan's national palace museum. Some in China view the relocation as looting, and others believe these treasures have been accidentally protected; and they might have been lost forever due to the Four Olds campaign during the Cultural Revolution. Others believe that Taiwan is still part of Chinese sovereign territory so the relocation is not an issue. Taiwan's National Palace Museum claims that in 1948 when China was going through its Civil War, executive director Chu Chia-hua and others (Wang Shijie, Fu Ssu-nien, Xu Hong-Bao, Li Ji, and Han Lih-wu) gathered together and discussed about shipping masterpieces to Taiwan for artifacts' safety. Chiang Kai-shek's mission to take gold from China was held secretly because, according to Dr. Wu Sing-yung, the entire mission was operated by Chiang himself. Only Chiang and Dr. Wu's father, who was the head of finance for the KMT government, knew about moving gold to Taiwan and all the orders from him were carried out verbally. Dr. Wu stated that even the finance minister had no power over the transfer. This is why there are no written records relating to the movement of golds and treasures from the mainland. It is a widely held belief that the gold brought to Taiwan were used to lay foundations for the Taiwanese economy and government. After six months of the gold operation by Chiang, the New Taiwanese dollar was launched, which replaced the old Taiwanese dollar at a ratio of one to 40,000. It is believed that 800,000 taels of gold were used to stabilize the economy which had been suffering from hyperinflation since 1945. Three of the most famous artifacts taken by Chiang are the so-called Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum: the Meat-shaped Stone, the Jadeite Cabbage, and the Mao Gong Ding. The Meat-shaped Stone, part of the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, is made of jasper, which is dyed and carved to make it look like Dong po-ru, a Chinese stewed pork belly. It is one of the Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum. The second of the Three Treasures is the Jadeite Cabbage. It is carved out of a natural jade stone which was half green and half white. Its size is 9.1 centimeters (3.6 in), smaller than the average human hand. Since it was carved out of natural jade, it has a lot of flaws and cracks. This makes the sculpture seem more natural, for those cracks and flaws look like the cabbage's stem and leaves. The Mao Gong Ding is the third of the Three Treasures. It is a bronze tripod/cauldron It has a height of 53.8 cm (21.2 in), width of 47.9 cm (18.9 in), and a weight of 34.7 kg (77 lb). It has an inscription of 497 characters arranged in 32 lines, the longest inscription among the Ancient Chinese bronze inscriptions. It is said to date back to the Ancient Zhou Era. From Taiwan, Chiang's air force attempted to bomb the mainland cities of Shanghai and Nanking, but to no effect. Chiang's ground forces aimed to return to the mainland, but had no long-term success. Thus Mao Zedong's Communist forces were left in control of all of China except Hainan Island, Tibet, and Taiwan. As a whole, the Civil War had an immense impact on the Chinese people. The historian Jonathan Fenby proposes that “hyperinflation [during the Chinese Civil War] undermined everyday lives and ruined tens of millions. Hampered by a poor taxation base, increased military spending and widespread corruption." Originally, the Republic of China planned to reconquer the mainland from the People's Republic. After the retreat to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek established a relatively benign dictatorship over the island with other Nationalist leaders, and began making plans to invade the mainland. Chiang conceived a top secret plan called Project National Glory or Project Guoguan (Chinese: 國光計劃; pinyin: Gúoguāng Jìhuà; literally: 'National glory plan/project'), to accomplish this. Chiang's planned offensive involved 26 operations including land invasions and special operations behind enemy lines. He had asked his son Chiang Ching-kuo to draft a plan for air raids on the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, from where many ROC soldiers and much of the population of Taiwan had origins. If it had taken place, it would have been the largest seaborne invasion in history. The 1960's saw Mao Zedong's so-called "Great Leap Forward" in mainland China lead to catastrophic famines and millions of deaths, as well as progress by the PRC towards possible development of nuclear weapons. Thus, Chiang Kai-shek saw a crisis-opportunity to launch an attack to reclaim mainland China. At this time, the U.S. was fighting the Vietnam War. Chiang Kai-shek and for Project National Glory to be successful Chiang Kai-shek knew he needed US military assistance. Thus he offered to help the Americans fight the Vietnam War in exchange for U.S. support conducive to take back his lost territory. The U.S. opposed and refused Chiang's suggestions. This did not stop him. Rather, Chiang went ahead with the preparations and continued to further his plan to take back their lost territory. In 1965, Chiang's plans to strike were completed. Generals and admirals planned best dates to deploy while soldiers and field officers prepared for battle, according to the government archives. April 1, 1961: The year witnessed the advent of the Project National Glory. The office was built by the Republic of China Armed Forces together with the Ministry of National Defense in the town of Sanxia, Taipei County (now a district in New Taipei City). Army Lieutenant General Zhu Yuancong took the role of governor and officially launched the project to compose a prudent plan of operations to recover the lost territories in mainland China. At the same time, the establishment of Project Juguan[clarify] came to light whereby military members began to work out a possible alliance with American troops to attack mainland China. April 1964: During this year, Chiang Kai-shek arranged an ensemble of air-raid shelters and five military offices at Lake Cihu (Chinese: 慈湖), which served as a secret command centre. Following the establishment of Project National Glory, several sub-plans were put into place, such as the frontal area of the enemy, rear area special warfare, surprise attack, take advantage of the counterattack, and assistance against tyranny. However, the United States Armed Forces and the U.S. Department of Defense, together with the State Department, strongly opposed Project National Glory; rejecting the KMT plan to retake mainland China. Thus, every week American troops checked the inventory of Republic of China Marine Corps amphibious landing vehicles used by ROC and ordered American military advisory group members to fly over the Project National Glory camp on scouting missions. These flyovers infuriated Chiang Kai-Shek. June 17, 1965: Chiang Kai-shek visited the Republic of China Military Academy to convene with all mid level and higher officers to devise and launch the counterattack. June 24, 1965: A multitude of soldiers[quantify] died during a training drill to feign a Communist attack on major naval bases in southern Taiwan near Zuoying District. The deaths that occurred during the happening were the first but not the last in Project National Glory. August 6, 1965: A People's Liberation Army Navy torpedo boat ambushed and sunk 200 soldiers as the Zhangjiang naval warship carried out assignment Tsunami Number 1, in an attempt to transport special forces to the vicinity of the Eastern mainland Chinese coastal island of Dongshan to carry out an intelligence gathering operation. November 1965: Chiang Kai-shek ordered two other naval vessels, the CNS Shan Hai and the CNS Lin Huai to pick up injured soldiers from Taiwan's offshore islands of Magong and Wuqiu. Nonetheless, the vessels were attacked by 12 PRC ships, the Lin Huai sunk, and roughly 90 soldiers and sailors were killed in action. Surprised by the heavy loss of life in the naval battle at Magong, Chiang gave up all hope for Project National Glory. After several unsuccessful feigned invasions between August 1971 and June 1973, in the lead up to the main landings, the 1973 coup which witnessed Nie Rongzhen's rise to power in Beijing[clarification needed] drove Chiang to call off all further false attacks and commence full landing operations. Having said this, according to Gen Huang Chih-chung, who was an army colonel at the time and part of the planning process, Chiang Kai-shek never completely gave up the desire to recapture China; "even when he died (in 1975), he was still hoping the international situation would change and that the Communists would be wiped out one day." The failure of Chiang's Project National Glory changed the course of Chinese and Taiwanese history, forever altering China-Taiwan relations. For example, the Taiwanese “shifted the focus to modernizing and defending Taiwan instead of preparing Taiwan to take back China,” stated Andrew Yang, a political scientist specializing in Taiwan-China relations at the Taipei-based Council of Advanced Policy Studies. Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo, who later succeeded him as president, focused on maintaining peace between the mainland and Taiwan. Today, political relations between Taiwan and China have changed; "I hope it will develop peacefully... There's no need for war." After being expelled from the mainland, Chiang Kai-shek and other KMT leaders realized they must reform the party. Party flag and emblem of the Kuomintang; based on the Blue Sky with a White Sun, which also appears in the Flag of the Republic of China. In late 1949, having been almost destroyed by the Chinese Communists, the Kuomintang relocated to Taiwan and reinvented itself. Not only did the KMT leadership build a new party, but it built a new polity on Taiwan that created economic prosperity. From August 1950 to October 1952, more than four hundred working meetings were held almost four times a week to discuss how to build a new political party and implement Nationalist government policies. On August 5, 1950, Chiang chose the Central Reform Committee (CRC) to serve as the party's core leadership for planning and acting. The CRC members were on average young with an average age of 47 and all had college degrees. The new CRC had six goals. Make the KMT a revolutionary democratic party. Recruit peasants, workers, youth, intellectuals, and capitalists. Establish the work team as the basic organizational unit. Adopt Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People as the KMT's ideology. All CRC members took an oath to fulfill the party's ultimate goals which is to get rid of the Communists and recover the Chinese mainland. Having organized a cohesive, loyal party, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to extend its influence deep into Taiwan's society in order to broaden its social base. One way to do that was to select new members from different socioeconomic groups. Various party branch members were ordered to recruit new members, especially students and teachers. New members had to show loyalty to the KMT party, understand what the party represented, obey party principles, and perform services for the party. In return, the CRC promised to pay attention to society's needs, which helps the CRC define a clear political purpose. Party policy also targeted ways to improve ordinary people's living conditions. Having new party branches made up of people of similar social status was a strategy that improved relations with workers, business leaders, farmers, intellectuals. With the new party branches promoting the various groups of people, the KMT was able slowly to extend its control and influence into Taiwan's villages. By October 1952, KMT membership had reached nearly 282,000, compared to the 50,000 members who had fled to Taiwan. More significant, more than half the party members were Taiwanese. By the late 1960s, this number had risen to nearly one million. CRC made its work teams responsible for enforcing party policies and informing members how to behave. They also prevented communist infiltration, and recruited new party members after investigating their backgrounds, in order to hold regular meetings to discuss party strategy. The new party, then, behaved very differently from the way it had before 1949, with its work teams having new managerial and training responsibilities. According to the KMT's new rules, all party members had to join a work team and attend its meetings so that the party leadership could discover who was loyal and active. According to one report, in the summer of 1952, the KMT's Taiwan provincial party headquarters had at least thirty thousand work-team units in the field, each unit having at least nine members who worked in various state agencies, areas of Taiwan, and occupations. Gradually, the party expanded its influence in society and in the state. Important KMT tactic was to promote limited, local-level political reforms to enhance the party's authority with the Taiwanese people. To legitimize the Republic of China (ROC) as the central government for all China, Taiwan's Nationalist government needed elected representatives for all China. Thus, in 1947 more than one thousand mainlanders in Nanking were elected by the Chinese people as members of the National Assembly, Legislative Yuan, and the Control Yuan. After coming to Taiwan, those representatives were permitted to hold their seats until the next ROC election could be held on the mainland, thus legitimizing the ROC's control of Taiwan. In this new political environment the reformed KMT and the ROC government were able to propose their new power. Chiang Kai-shek believed that, in this authoritarian polity, local elections could promote Taiwan's eventual democracy. People did not believe that the KMT would never not interfere with such elections. However, having so many local elections in a year, many voters were convinced to think that the KMT wanted to advance political pluralism. Party leaders tried to broaden their influence while only slowly allowing opposing politicians to compete by giving political lessons to teach voters how democracy should work. In January 1951, the first elections for county and city council were held. In April, other elections followed for county and municipal offices. In December, the Taiwan Provisional Provincial Assembly was organized. Its members were appointed by county and municipal assemblies. Through martial law and the control of local election rules, the KMT won most of those local elections but claimed that free elections had been held. Chiang believed that enough liberty had occurred. Therefore, party leaders continued to emphasize that martial law was still necessary. There are opposing views on the legality of the KMT takeover of Taiwan. At the time of the retreat to Taiwan, the KMT maintained that they were a government in exile. The Chinese Communist government maintains to this day that the Republic of China on Taiwan is a renegade province that must eventually return to rule by the mainland. According to an article published in 1955 on the legal status of Taiwan, "It has been charged that Chiang Kai-shek has no claim to the island because he is 'merely a fugitive quartering his army' there and besides, his is a government in exile." Moreover, the Treaty of San Francisco, which was officially signed by 48 nations on 8 September 1951, did not specify to whom Japan was ceding Taiwan and Pescadores. According to Professor Gene Hsiao, "since the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the separate KMT treaty with Japan did not specify to whom Japan was ceding Taiwan and the Pescadores, the implication of the U.S. position was that legally, and insofar as the signatories of those two treaties were concerned, Taiwan became an 'ownerless' island and the KMT, by its own assent to the American policy, a foreign government-in-exile." ^ a b c d Han, Cheung. "Taiwan in Time: The great retreat". Taipei Times. ^ a b Zhànzhēng, Jiefàng. "Civil War 1945-1949". ^ Shu-Ling, Ko (June 17, 2014). "Museums to display Taiwan's treasures". The Japan Times Online. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved July 15, 2018. ^ Museum, National Palace (May 17, 2017). "Brief Chronology". National Palace Museum. Retrieved July 15, 2018. ^ a b "How one man took China's gold". MINING.com. Retrieved July 15, 2018. ^ "Asian Art Museum". www.asianart.org. Retrieved July 20, 2018. ^ Chinese Art Treasures: Exhibition Catalogue from the National Palace Museum. Geneva: SKILA. 1961. ^ "The Chinese Civil War". Chinese Revolution. April 17, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2018. ^ a b c d e f "Taiwan's plan to take back mainland". BBC News. September 7, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2018. ^ "Republic of China: Government in Exile". www.taiwanbasic.com. Retrieved November 23, 2018. ^ "The Chinese Revolution of 1949". history.state.gov. Retrieved November 23, 2018. ^ "Breaking with the Past: The Kuomintang Central Reform Committee on Taiwan, 1950-52 - PolicyArchive". www.policyarchive.org. Retrieved July 16, 2018. ^ "CIA memorandum ollenhauer meeting 23 October 1952 October 21 1952 secret nara". doi:10.1163/9789004287648.useo_b03301. ^ Moss, R. Maurice (1951). "Employment Opportunities and Working Conditions as Factors in Youth Development". Social Service Review. 25 (4): 497–500. doi:10.1086/638528. ISSN 0037-7961. ^ Marie, Laurence (January 1, 2001). "R de réel". Labyrinthe (8): 123–126. doi:10.4000/labyrinthe.872. ISSN 1288-6289. ^ "Current Publications Received". The Social Studies. 43 (1): 47–48. 1952. doi:10.1080/00220973.1938.11017690. ISSN 0037-7996. ^ Wachman, Alan M. (2004). "Taiwan: A Political History. By Denny Roy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003. xiii, 255 pp. $18.95 (paper)". The Journal of Asian Studies. 63 (1): 166–167. doi:10.1017/s0021911804000324. ISSN 0021-9118. ^ Phillips, Claude S. (1957). "The International Legal Status of Formosa". The Western Political Quarterly. 10 (2): 276–289. doi:10.2307/443689. JSTOR 443689. ^ Marc J. Cohen, Emma Teng (July 15, 2018). "Let Taiwan be Taiwan" (PDF). Taiwan Foundation. Retrieved July 15, 2018. This page was last edited on 24 February 2019, at 19:51 (UTC).
0.978858	I need help coming up with an idea of what to shoot for my final project in my college photography class. My project can pretty much be anything, but I don't have any ideas. I need a project that can produce 14 or so prints. The only thing I know for sure about my project is that I will be shooting hp5 at 800 and using my nikon f3. You can look at my gallery to see some of the things I have shot in the past if you want. I just don't have any ideas an I need some kind of theme to guide my work. Any theme suggestions would be very helpful. Gosh...in Ellensburg, you've got a pretty narrow range of options. Out there at which college? I forgot which one was in Ellensburg. I'd love to offer you something creative, but I have all the creativity of a tapeworm. Maybe 14 images that sum up the essence of Ellensburg? That would be really...banal. 14 portraits of professors in the meat of their craft. Math professors teaching math, philosophy professors being philosophical. Capture that on film, and you've got it. 14 images of yourself producing 14 images of nothing. 14 images of some inanimate object that is slightly affected by time and environment. Maybe a gas station or a piece of trash on the street over 14 hours, one each hour. oh...here's a good one: 14 self portraits taken over a period of 14 hours. You'd have to sit in the chair (only leaving to use the restroom) for 14 hours straight (making sure NOT to give yourself a blood clot), and set the camera up with a remote release, or a cable or something. I foresee a funny progression of physical evidence that you hate the chair. How about a play with long exposures under different phases of the moon? Would take at least four weeks. If film, I'd recommend something other than hp5. You can also try some still life stuff, variations on a theme with this could include light painting, seasonality, etc. Body parts could be another theme. How about a gross theme? Or something repetitious, showing sequence? Or chose a color? Facial expressions? Elements of matter? States of matter? Hi Joe-- The T-bird photo in your gallery (1958-59 or so I guess) looks like a long-ago crashed personal craft from Star Wars... :) Maybe you'd like to do something with cars as a theme, say restored or in the process of restoration. Some possibilities for the human element (proud owner, craftsman, etc) if desired, or textures, curves, details and such. If that appeals, you might look up Allen Faltus who has an impressive collection. Good contact point anyway... One of the original partners of University Motors (his side was the Chysler/Plymouth line), and he may now be retired from active participation, don't know. But there's quite a bunch of classic car & hotrod buffs in this area that might offer some possibilities for your project. Good luck! Thanks for the advice, bump.
0.999861	Is your old furnace or air conditioner on its last legs and in need of constant repairs or replacement? If so, consider replacing one or both systems with a heat pump. Heat pumps are affordable and efficient. To learn more about heat pumps, check out these five facts to determine if one is the right solution for your heating and cooling needs. Heat pumps are a great one-stop solution for heating and cooling your home. Unlike furnaces and air conditioners, however, heat pumps don't create hot or cold air. Instead, they move air. During the winter, this keeps your house warm because warm air from outside is pumped into your home while the pump expels cold air from inside your house. In the summer, the system does the opposite. It finds cold air outside and pumps it inside and eliminates hot air from inside your home. Heat pumps are an incredibly energy-efficient option because they use less power to operate than furnaces and central air conditioners. This results in lower monthly heating and cooling costs, which allows you to recoup your initial investment. Also, heat pumps don't release dangerous gases or chemicals into the air like other systems, so they have a smaller carbon footprint. The downside, however, is that many heat pumps can be less effective than furnaces and air conditioners, so if you live in an area with hot summers or cold winters, you may need a back-up system to stay warm or cool on extremely hot or cold days. A common problem with many heating and cooling solutions is they don't have zones. Zones allow you to heat/cool different parts of your home while blocking other rooms that you don't normally use. Some people without zoned heating try to mimic the effects of zoned heating by closing vents and doors, but this puts strain on the system and actually creates cold and hot stops. Luckily, if you are interested in a heat pump, they do have zoned heating/cooling options. If you want zoned heating with your heat pump, it's best to consider a two-speed compressor system. Geothermal heat pumps are one common option. They pull heated or cooled air from the ground. Air-source heat pumps are another option, and they pull heated or cooled air from the air. As you can imagine, it's hard to find warm air outside during the winter and cool air during the summer, which is why a geothermal heat pump is more effective than an air-source heat pump. For this reason, geothermal heat pumps are also more efficient at heating and cooling because they use less energy to get the temperature you want. So, if you choose a geothermal heat pump, youre monthly savings will be even higher. You get what you pay for, and because air-source heat pumps are less effective and efficient than geothermal systems, they are also more affordable. A geothermal system can cost you between $10,000 and $30,000. Depending on the type of air-source heat pump you need, the cost is anywhere between $500 and $15,000. However, geothermal heat pumps last longer than air-source heat pumps, and because they are more efficient, you'll still recoup your initial cost in a short time. If it's time to upgrade to a new heating or cooling system, consider an air-source or geothermal heat pump. They are an efficient way to heat and cool your home without increasing heating and cooling bills. For more information, contact a specialist today.
0.961306	Atheists. I started to listen to atheists and learned that many of them were just like me at one point: Good and sincere people who couldn�t understand why a god let the world get a certain way.... One of the saddest things in the world is for someone to lose faith in God because they have lost faith in a church. The two are not the same. 21/10/2009�� He doesn't believe in anyone, I know people are different but how can i get him to come round and see God... show more I am a devoted christian and i just can't imagine how my life would be like if i didn't believe in God. My lovely partner doesn't even want to hear about God so i take it he doesn't believe. He doesn't believe in anyone, I know people are different but how can i get him to... 27/09/2018�� Find a cause that you believe in. It may be difficult to believe in yourself if you are always trying to please others. Make sure that you look for causes and projects that appeal to you and that you actually believe in. In 2011 Amitai Shenhav, David Rand and Joshua Greene of Harvard University published a paper showing that people who have a tendency to rely on their intuition are more likely to believe in God how to get baby to take bottle medela A Buddhist really doesn't believe in a God, so that is a hurdle you'd have to get over. You must ask questions to find out about the person. Here's a brief outline of how to do this: You must ask questions to find out about the person. In 2011 Amitai Shenhav, David Rand and Joshua Greene of Harvard University published a paper showing that people who have a tendency to rely on their intuition are more likely to believe in God how to help someone get out of debt Many people today say they do not believe it is God�s will to heal them, yet they spend thousands of dollars on doctors and drugs trying to get �out of the will of God.� If God healed someone else and then refused to heal you, it would not be fair; God is no respecter of persons. A Buddhist really doesn't believe in a God, so that is a hurdle you'd have to get over. You must ask questions to find out about the person. Here's a brief outline of how to do this: You must ask questions to find out about the person. For example, I know that God heals today, but I hesitate to pray for someone with something serious because I am afraid of what people will say if that person is not healed (for example). Or sometimes I am afraid of being ridiculed. So that is selfish on my part because I am thinking about my feelings and not their need. Maybe they will get healed miraculously! Why People Believe in Evolution By Wayne Jackson The most insidious and damaging ideology ever foisted upon the mind of modern man is the notion that human beings are but animals, and the offspring of other, more primitive creatures.
0.94623	The next thing that you need to remember when painting your house is to paint from side to side. A very common mistake for most people is that they paint vertically and horizontally, which results to uneven paint application. If you are going to paint your house, make sure that you apply paint only from one direction pointing to another direction, horizontally OR vertically not horizontally AND vertically. This will help you get the best results, and will make sure that the paint is applied evenly. Choosing the proper kind of paint is very important too. An interior paint will not work very well for painting the exterior of a home. Certain paints are not going to stick as well to certain surfaces either.
0.978965	A mother was telling her little girl what her own childhood was like. She said, "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in.
0.95033	What are the hottest Math Programs in Tacoma, WA? Tacoma, Washington has 2 math schools for you to consider if you are interested in pursuing a degree in math. With an overall population of 193,556 and a student population of 22,872, approximately 6,460 of Tacoma students attend one of Tacoma's schools that offer math programs. Tacoma's largest math school is Pacific Lutheran University. In 2010, Pacific Lutheran University graduated approximately 25 students with credentials in math. A total of 45 students graduated with credentials in math from math schools in Tacoma in 2010. In 2009 tuition at math schools in Tacoma was $31,867 per year, on average. You should also anticipate spending about $986 for math related books and supplies every year. And if you live on campus, you will face an additional expense of $9,015 per year, on average, for room and board. If you live at home, you can cut this cost down to approximately $42,607. The average salary you can expect to earn as a math professional in Tacoma is $49,240 per year. This is lower than the state-wide average salary for math professionals.
0.987207	The basilica was a fundamental element of a Roman forum. It was used as a public building, much like the Greek stoa. It also served as a meeting place for administration, as a law court, and as a marketplace. It provided cover and shade for hot or stormy afternoons too After Christianity became the main religion of the Roman Empire, the basilica came to be a church where the masses worshipped, and remains its function today. In the Forum Romanum of Rome, there were several basilicas constructed throughout the city’s history. They were usually named for the person or persons who paid for its construction, and as a way to cement a person's status and recognition throughout Rome. Basilica Porcia – This building holds the distinction of being the first basilica to be built in Rome. Built by Cato during the period of the Roman Republic in 184 BCE, this was an official meeting place for tribunals (law cases). It was destroyed by fire in 52 BCE and was not rebuilt. Basilica Aemelia – Of the four Republic-era basilicas constructed in the Forum Romanum, this is the only one to have any substantial remains left today. This large building was erected in 179 BCE by censors M. Aemilius Lepidus and M. Fulvius Nobilior. This public meeting spot was restored between 55 – 34 BCE, when the Tabernae Argentariae (Moneychangers’ Shops) were added along the front side (today, the remains of melted copper coins can be seen in the marble floors). What remains is the foundation and some of the columns, following the destruction of the basilica during a sack of Rome in 410 CE by the Visigoths of Alaric. Basilicas were usually named after the person or persons who paid for their construction. Basilica Sempronia – This is one of the earliest basilicas built during the Republic in the Forum Romanum, constructed there in 169 BCE. It was built by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, a high-ranking Roman and the father of two tribunes, Tiberius and Gaius. Little remains of this basilica, and Julius Caesar had it torn down in order to build his own Basilica Julia in its place. Basilica Opimia – This late Republic-era basilica was built in 121 BCE by the consul L. Opimius. One of the four original basilicas in the Forum Romanum, it was demolished by Tiberius in order to build a new Temple of Concord. Unfortunately, nothing remains of this building. Basilica Julia – When Julius Caesar reorganized the Forum Romanum (between 54 – 48 BCE), he had the Basilica Sempronia torn down so that he could construct his own larger and grander basilica. Caesar never saw the completion of the building, and Augustus ensured that it was finished. This large basilica was constructed for official Roman meetings, and it was the home of the Centumviral Court, 180 jurors who heard civil lawsuits. It had to be restored in 9 BCE when a fire severely damaged it, and it was restored again by Emperor Diocletian in 283 CE when another fire damaged it. Basilica Maxentii (alternatively, the Basilica of Maxentius or the Basilica of Constantine) – This was the last basilica constructed in the Forum Romanum, begun by Emperor Maxentius in 308 CE. It was intended to be the administrative offices for the city’s Prefect. It was completed in 312 CE by Constantine, following the defeat of Maxentius at the Battle of the Mulvian Bridge. Constantine altered the original plane of the basilica in order to better suit his own tastes and needs. writer873, . "Basilicas of the Roman Forum." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified January 18, 2012. https://www.ancient.eu/article/24/. writer873, . "Basilicas of the Roman Forum." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 Jan 2012. Web. 25 Apr 2019.
0.970571	The first Test series between the two teams took place in 1951–52, when Pakistan toured India. India toured Pakistan for the first time in 1954-55. Between 1962 and 1977, no cricket was played between the two countries owing to two major wars in 1965 and 1971. The 1999 Kargil War and the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks have also interrupted cricketing ties between the two nations. The growth of large expatriate populations from India and Pakistan across the world led to neutral states like the United Arab Emirates and Canada hosting several bilateral and multilateral ODI series involving the two teams. Tickets for the India-Pakistan match in the 2015 World Cup in Australia sold out in 11 minutes after they went on sale. Players in both teams routinely face intense pressure to win, and are threatened by extreme reactions in defeat. Extreme fan reactions to defeats in key matches such as in the ICC Cricket World Cup have been recorded, with a limited degree of violence and public disturbances. At the same time, India-Pakistan cricket matches have also offered opportunities for cricket diplomacy as a means to improve relations between the two countries by allowing heads of state to exchange visits and cricket followers from either country to travel to the other to watch the matches. But the rivalry had finally grown so much that Indian Government issued a bill that stated that Indian players will not be going to Pakistan for safety reasons. Since 2008, India has refused to play series against Pakistan : something the ICC is unable to prevent them from doing. Pakistan has offered to play at neutral venues but India has rejected even this. However, India is not able to opt out from playing Pakistan in ICC events if drawn in the same group. India-Pakistan cricket matches are some of the most watched television broadcasts in both countries. The 2011 Cricket World Cup semi-final attracted an average audience of nearly 135 million in India alone. The 2015 World Cup opening match between India and Pakistan had a 14.8% TV rating (TAM data M15+ ABC) in India, with a live reach of 288 million. In total, the match is estimated to have drawn over 1 billion viewers worldwide. The approximate number of viewers for the India vs Pakistan encounter at the World T20 in 2016 was more than 83 million. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and subsequent War of 1971 put hold on India-Pakistan cricket that lasted till 1978, when India toured Pakistan and cricket resumed for a brief period. In the post-1971 period, politics became a direct factor in the holding of cricketing events. India has suspended cricketing ties with Pakistan several times following terrorist attacks or other hostilities. The resumption of cricketing ties in 1978 came with the emergence of heads of government in both India and Pakistan who were not directly connected with the 1971 war and coincided with their formal initiatives to normalize bilateral relations. Shortly after a period of belligerency during the Operation Brasstacks war games, Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq was invited to watch the India-Pakistan test match being played in the Indian city of Jaipur. This form of cricket diplomacy has occurred several times afterwards as well. Pakistan toured India in 1979, but an Indian tour of Pakistan in 1984 was cancelled mid-way due to the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The rise of multinational competitions such as the Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy, the Austral-Asia Cup and the Asia Cup led to more regular albeit briefer contests. In 1999, immediately following Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's historic visit to Pakistan, the Pakistani team toured India for Test matches and played in an ODI competition before the Kargil War again put bilateral relations in deep freeze. Prime Minister Vajpayee's peace initiative of 2003 led to India touring Pakistan after a gap of almost 15 years. Subsequent exchange tours were held in 2005 and 2006 before the 2008 Mumbai attacks led to the suspension of India's planned tour of Pakistan in 2009 and all future engagements in Pakistan. India was scheduled to begin the tour of Pakistan from 13 January to 19 February 2009, but was cancelled because of the tension existing between the two countries after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. India has refused to play series with Pakistan since then. The rise of domestic terrorism led to Pakistan not hosting international cricket since the Sri Lankan team was attacked in 2009, and Pakistan was stripped of its co-host status for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. India and Pakistan qualified for the first semi-final in Chandigarh, India, and the Indian government invited the Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch the match along with his Indian counterpart, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Bilateral ties finally resumed when BCCI invited the Pakistan national team to tour India for three ODIs and two T20Is in December 2012. The ODIs were held in New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai with Ahmedabad and Bangalore hosted T20I fixtures. In June 2014, the Pakistan Cricket Board stated that an agreement to play six bilateral series has been signed with the BCCI during the ICC annual conference in Melbourne. After lengthy negotiations, involving offers and counter-offers on the venues and scheduling of the first of these series in December 2015, the boards were unable to reach an agreement, and the BCCI did not tour for a full series against Pakistan in the UAE, and communications petered out with no result. In May 2017, BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary said that the BCCI would need approval from the Indian government before a bilateral series can go ahead. There was no further progress, despite both members of both boards meeting in Dubai to discuss the matter. Notes:† The 2007 ICC World Twenty20 match between the teams ended in a tie, but India was awarded the points as a result of a Bowl Out( Ind 3-0 Pak). The match result was officially recorded as a tie. * India did not participate in 1986 Asia Cup. * Pakistan did not participate in 1990–91 Asia Cup. * Pakistan did not participate in 1990 Asia Cup. The table contains details and results only of matches played between India and Pakistan in the respective series and not matches with other teams involved in the series. † The match was abandoned. *- The 2007 World T20 group stage match was won by India in a bowl-out. The match was officially recorded as a tie. Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated 19 November 2016. Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated 30 November 2016. Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated 18 June 2017. Notes: The 1987 ODI match between the teams ended in a tie, but India was awarded the match as a result of a losing lesser wickets. IND 212/6(44 overs) & PAK 212/7(44 overs). After the match ended in a tie, the winner was decided out of a bowl out. India won the bowl out and qualified for the Super 8s as a result of this match. Sohail Tanvir (Pak) made his T20I debut. Yusuf Pathan (Ind) made his T20I debut. Twenty20 International debut: Mohammed Shami (Ind). The start of the match was delayed by a wet outfield and the game was reduced to 18 overs per side. Rain during the Pakistan innings reduced the match to 40 overs per team. Further rain reduced the India innings to 22 overs, with a revised target of 102. Rain reduced the match to 48 overs per side, with further rain setting Pakistan a revised target of 289 runs from 41 overs. Wahab Riaz (Pak) recorded the worst bowling figures in the history of the Champions Trophy with 0/87. Fakhar Zaman (Pak) scored his first century in an ODI. Pakistan's total was their highest in any ICC tournament final. The margin of victory was the largest by any team in the final of an ICC ODI tournament. Although Pakistan was created in 1947, Gul Mohammad continued to represent India until 1955, and played for India against Pakistan in Pakistan's first tour of India in 1951–52. Wikimedia Commons has media related to India–Pakistan cricket matches. ^ Brett, Oliver (9 March 2004). "Cricket's most intense rivalry". BBC News. ^ Richards, Huw (8 March 2008). "Cricket: Passion and politics mix as India faces Pakistan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. ^ "World Cup win shatters all records as 67.6mn tune in". Hindustan Times. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. ^ "World Cup final had highest rating: TAM". Economic Times. Retrieved 13 February 2015. ^ Malvania, Urvi (16 March 2015). "India matches pick up steam on TV". Business Standard. Retrieved 25 June 2017. ^ Bynon, Daffydd (15 February 2015). "Cricket World Cup: India v Pakistan watched by a billion people – in pictures". The Guardian. ^ "Cricket World Cup 2015: India & Pakistan fans usurp the limelight". BBC Sport. 15 February 2015. ^ "India vs Pakistan Champions Trophy 2017 Final tickets: Tickets being sold for staggering sums". The Indian Express. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017. ^ Herman, Steve (18 December 2008). "India Cancels Cricket Tour of Pakistan". VOA News. Voice of America. Retrieved 3 January 2009. ^ "Cricket spirit: Pakistan to tour India in December". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 July 2012. ^ "India to play six bilateral series against Pakistan in next eight years". Patrika Group (in Hindi). Retrieved 27 June 2014. ^ "India-Pakistan series appears difficult - Thakur". Retrieved 25 April 2017. ^ "Playing Pakistan depends on government - BCCI". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 May 2017. ^ "No progress on India-Pakistan bilateral ties". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 May 2017. ^ "10th Match, Group D: India v Pakistan at Durban, Sep 14, 2007 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Retrieved 25 April 2017. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Highest totals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Lowest totals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ a b "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Largest victories". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Smallest victories (including ties)". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Most runs". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Highest scores". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Most wickets". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Test matches / Best bowling figures in an innings". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "3rd ODI: India v Pakistan at Hyderabad (Deccan), Mar 20, 1987 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Retrieved 25 April 2017. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / One-Day Internationals / Most runs". Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / One-Day Internationals / High scores". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / One-Day Internationals / Most wickets". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / One-Day Internationals / Best bowling figures in an innings". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016. ^ "Records / India v Pakistan / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures in an innings". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
0.940673	Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include religious freedom, threats against minority Christian communities in Africa and the Middle East, the plight of refugees and migrants, sexual misconduct by clergy, international development, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1.2 billion people worldwide profess Catholicism - the world's largest Christian faith. ecclesiastical elective monarchy; self-described as an "absolute monarchy" The Holy See is supported financially by a variety of sources, including investments, real estate income, and donations from Catholic individuals, dioceses, and institutions; these help fund the Roman Curia (Vatican bureaucracy), diplomatic missions, and media outlets. Moreover, an annual collection taken up in dioceses and from direct donations go to a non-budgetary fund, known as Peter's Pence, which is used directly by the pope for charity, disaster relief, and aid to churches in developing nations. The separate Vatican City State budget includes the Vatican museums and post office and is supported financially by the sale of stamps, coins, medals, and tourist mementos as well as fees for admission to museums and publication sales. Revenues increased between 2010 and 2011 because of expanded operating hours and a growing number of visitors. However, the Holy See did not escape the financial difficulties experienced by other European countries; in 2012, it started a spending review to determine where to cut costs to reverse its 2011 budget deficit of $20 million. The Holy See generated a modest surplus in 2012 before recording a $32 million deficit in 2013, driven primarily by the decreasing value of gold. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome so most public expenditures go to wages and other personnel costs;. In February 2014, Pope FRANCIS created the Secretariat of the Economy to oversee financial and administrative operations of the Holy See, part of a broader campaign to reform the Holy See’s finances. the Vatican Apostolic Library is one of the world's oldest libraries, formally established in 1475, but actually much older; it holds a significant collection of historic texts including 1.1 million printed books and 75,000 codices (manuscript books with handwritten contents); it serves as a research library for history, law, philosophy, science, and theology; the library's collections have been described as "the world's greatest treasure house of the writings at the core of Western tradition"
0.978113	Bill Text - SB-210 Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program. SB 210, as amended, Leyva. Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspections Inspection and Maintenance Program. (1) Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board, in consultation with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and a specified review committee, to adopt regulations requiring owners or operators of heavy-duty diesel motor vehicles to perform regular inspections of their vehicles for excessive emissions of smoke. Existing law requires the state board, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to adopt regulations requiring heavy-duty diesel motor vehicles to use emission control equipment and alternative fuels. This bill would authorize the state board to develop and implement a Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program for nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicles, as specified. The bill would authorize the state board to assess a fee and penalties as part of the program. The bill would create the Truck Emission Check (TEC) Fund, with all the moneys deposited in the fund to be available upon appropriation. (2) Existing law generally requires the registration of vehicles by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Under existing law, a violation of the Vehicle Code is an infraction, unless otherwise specified. This bill, no later than one year after the effective date of a regulation implementing the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program, would require the department to confirm that a heavy-duty vehicle, as specified, is compliant with, or exempt from, the program prior to the initial registration, the transfer of ownership, or the renewal of registration, except as specified. The bill would require the state board to notify the department of the vehicles allowed to be registered pursuant to these provisions. This bill would authorize the department to issue a temporary permit, valid for a specified period and subject to certain conditions, to operate a vehicle for which registration may be refused pursuant to the above-described provisions, as specified. The bill would require the payment of a $50 fee fee, as specified, for the temporary permit, to be deposited in the Truck Emission Check (TEC) Fund. This bill, commencing one year after the effective date of a regulation implementing the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program, would require a legal owner or registered owner of the heavy-duty vehicle to maintain a certificate of compliance with the vehicle, with exceptions, and would make a violation of this provision subject to a notice issued by an officer to correct the violation, as specified. The bill would require the driver of the vehicle to present the certificate of compliance for examination upon demand by a peace officer. This bill would prohibit the operation of a heavy-duty vehicle on a public road in this state if that vehicle has an illuminated malfunction indicator light displaying a specified engine symbol, and would make a violation of this provision subject to a notice issued by an officer to correct the violation on the basis of its designation as a mechanical violation. This bill would prohibit the operation of a heavy-duty vehicle in a manner resulting in the escape of visible smoke, except during active regeneration. (a) Communities in the state are too often exposed to unhealthy air. Communities near hubs of activity, such as warehouses and distribution centers, ports, highways, and roads with high levels of truck traffic, bear the burden of heavy-duty trucks that are not maintained. (b) Trade corridors, such as those in the Inland Empire and Central Valley, consist of some of the most environmentally disadvantaged cities in the state. (c) As of 2016, heavy-duty trucks operating in the state emitted nearly 60 percent of all oxides of nitrogen emissions from onroad mobile sources, which are the most significant contributor to both federal ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality standard violations across the sate. state. Heavy-duty diesel trucks are also the largest source of diesel particulate matter emissions in the state. Diesel particulate matter is a carcinogen and toxic air contaminant. Risks are particularly high in urban areas and along busy roadways where trucks operate. (d) Statewide, about 12 million residents live in communities that exceed the federal ozone and PM2.5 standards. The health and economic impacts of exposure to elevated levels of ozone and PM2.5 in the state are considerable. Meeting air quality standards will pay substantial dividends in terms of reducing costs associated with emergency room visits and hospitalizations, lost work and school days, and, most importantly, premature mortality. (f) The Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program established by Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code is a key step in achieving the state’s goals to improve public health and meeting our environmental imperatives. (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program be developed in partnership between affected state agencies, the public, industry, and other stakeholders to address the inspection of, tampering with, and maintenance of emissions control systems. It is further the intent of the Legislature that the State Air Resources Board work with other relevant agencies in conducting a pilot program prior to the full-scale implementation of the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program in order for this program to be developed in a way that minimizes costs to truck owners and fleets; provides a level playing field for industry through effective enforcement; and provides flexibility for the program to adapt as truck technology and industry evolves. (h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Air Resources Board minimize the duplication of programs and program requirements related to heavy-duty vehicle inspection and maintenance. It is further the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent feasible, the creation and implementation of the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program established by Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code minimizes duplicative programs and program requirements in a way that reduces compliance requirements and costs to truck owners and fleets. For purposes of this chapter, “program” means the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program established pursuant to Section 44152. (1) Establish test procedures for different motor vehicle model years and emissions control technologies that measure the effectiveness of the control of emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. The procedures may include, but are not limited to, procedures for the use of onboard diagnostics system data and test procedures that measure the effectiveness of the control of emissions of greenhouse gases. (2) Require a motor vehicle to pass the test procedures in order to register or operate in the state. The state board may establish in the regulation full or partial exemptions from the requirements of this section for categories of vehicles it determines on the basis of substantial evidence that the economic costs of compliance substantially outweigh the benefits of compliance, including public health benefits. (3) Allow a streamlined process for the owner or operator of a vehicle fleet who has an established compliance history with the program. The streamlined process shall not include an exemption from the requirements of paragraph (2). (4) Establish program validation methods for evaluating program effectiveness, fraud investigation, and research purposes. (C) Requiring emissions testing of vehicles. (6) Develop, in coordination with the Department of Motor Vehicles, an information technology database to collect and track vehicle test data, assess the data to determine compliance, and regularly generate lists of compliant vehicle identification numbers and transmit them to the Department of Motor Vehicles in order for annual vehicle registration notices to be issued. (B) A publicly owned authorized emergency vehicle operated by a peace officer, as defined in Section 830 of the Penal Code, only as necessary to ensure the ability to respond to emergencies. (C) An authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165 of the Vehicle Code, and used for fighting fires or responding to emergency fire calls, pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of or pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 165 of the Vehicle Code, only as necessary to ensure the ability to respond to emergencies. (D) A publicly owned authorized emergency vehicle used by an emergency medical technician-paramedic, as defined in Section 1797.84, only as necessary to ensure the ability to respond to emergencies. (b) The state board may establish licensing standards for persons engaged in the business of the inspection, diagnosis, and repair of heavy-duty motor vehicles. The board also may establish qualification standards or approval, operational, or licensure standards for testing equipment, including protocols, hardware, and software used for the submission of vehicle test data to the state board or its contractors. (c) (1) As part of the program, the state board shall develop a Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Compliance Certificate. The state board shall issue the certificate to the legal owner, registered owner, or designee of a vehicle that, at the discretion of the state board, meets the requirements of the program so that vehicle owners and operators may easily demonstrate proof of compliance, as required pursuant to Sections 27158.1 and 27158.2 of the Vehicle Code. (C) Name and residence or business address or mailing address of the legal owner or registered owner. (D) Vehicle identification number assigned to the vehicle. (E) Description of the vehicle that includes the year, make, and model of the vehicle. (d) The Department of Transportation, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of the California Highway Patrol may provide any necessary information to help facilitate the installation of equipment necessary to implement the program. (e) The state board, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Department of Food and Agriculture may develop initiatives for outreach and education to help ensure compliance with the program. (f) (1) The state board shall request a permit to deploy equipment on the state highway system, as defined in Article 3 (commencing with Section 300) of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the Streets and Highway Code, in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 660) of Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, Code and in cooperation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol. (2) If the Department of Transportation denies a permit requested by the state board pursuant to paragraph (1), the Department of Transportation shall provide any assistance the state board deems necessary to ensure that equipment can ultimately be deployed in a manner consistent with both the requirements of the program and other laws. (g) The state board may inspect vehicles subject to this section in conjunction with the safety and weight enforcement activities of the Department of the California Highway Patrol or at other locations selected by the state board in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol. Inspection locations may include instate private facilities where fleet vehicles are serviced or maintained. The state board and the Department of the California Highway Patrol may conduct these inspections cooperatively or independently, and the state board may contract for assistance in the conduct of these inspections. (h) (1) The state board may issue a citation to the owner of a vehicle in violation of this section or a regulation promulgated pursuant to this section. The state board may require the operator of a vehicle to submit to a test procedure and may specify that refusal to submit is an admission constituting proof of a violation. The state board may require that, when a citation has been issued pursuant to this section, the owner of a vehicle in violation of the regulation shall be required to correct every deficiency specified in the citation within a timeframe determined by the state board. (2) When deciding whether to issue a citation, the state board may take into account whether the owner of the vehicle has obtained a temporary permit to operate the vehicle pursuant to Section 4156.5 of the Vehicle Code. (i) The state board shall provide an owner cited as violating this section an opportunity for an administrative hearing consistent with the process established pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 60065.1) and Article 4 (commencing with Section 60075.1) of Subchapter 1.25 of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations. Following notice and an opportunity for an administrative hearing, the state board, at its discretion, may use the procedure set forth in subdivision (j) of Section 44011.6 for a vehicle owner cited pursuant to this section. (j) After an order imposing an administrative penalty becomes final pursuant to the hearing procedures identified in subdivision (i) and no petition for a writ of mandate has been filed within the time allotted for seeking judicial review of the order, the state board may apply to the Superior Court for the County of Sacramento for a judgment in the amount of the administrative penalty. The application, which shall include a certified copy of the final order of the administrative hearing officer, shall constitute a sufficient showing to warrant the issuance of the judgment. (a) The state board shall assess a fee to fund the reasonable costs of implementing the program established pursuant to this chapter. (b) All fees collected by the state board pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the Truck Emission Check (TEC) Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury. All moneys in the fund shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the state board for the regulatory purposes of the program. (c) All penalty moneys collected by the state board pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the Air Pollution Control Fund. Prior to fully implementing the program, the state board, in consultation with the bureau, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, other interested state agencies, and stakeholders as part of a public process, shall implement a pilot program that develops and demonstrates technologies that show potential for readily bringing vehicles into the program. The state board shall report the findings of the pilot program on its internet website. (a) No For purposes of this section, “heavy-duty vehicle” means a nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds, as defined by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code. (b) No later than one year after the effective date of a regulation implementing the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program described in Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code, (Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 44150) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code), the department shall confirm, confirm prior to the initial registration, the transfer of ownership, or the renewal of registration, registration that a heavy-duty vehicle is compliant with, or exempt from, the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program. (b)For purposes of this section, “heavy-duty vehicle” means a nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds, as defined by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code. (1) A motor vehicle registered to a sole proprietorship is transferred to the proprietor as owner. (2) The transfer is between companies the principal business of which is leasing motor vehicles, if there is no change in the lessee or operator of the motor vehicle or between the lessor and the person who has been, for at least one year, the lessee’s operator of the motor vehicle. (3) The transfer is between the lessor and lessee of the motor vehicle, if there is no change in the lessee or operator of the motor vehicle. (4) An additional individual is added as a registered owner of the motor vehicle. (d) The State Air Resources Board shall notify the department of the motor vehicles allowed to be registered pursuant to this section. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the department in its discretion may issue a temporary permit to operate a vehicle when a payment of fees has been accepted in an amount to be determined by, and paid to, the department, department by the owner or other person in lawful possession of the vehicle, for a vehicle for which registration may be refused pursuant to Section 4000.17. The permit shall be subject to the terms and conditions that the department shall deem appropriate under the circumstances. (b) The department shall not issue a temporary permit pursuant to subdivision (a) to operate a vehicle for which a certificate of compliance is required pursuant to Section 4000.17, and for which that certificate of compliance has not been issued, unless the department is presented with sufficient evidence, as determined by the department, that the vehicle has failed its most recent inspection pursuant to the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program described in Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code. (Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 44150) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code). (c) Only one temporary permit may be issued pursuant to this section for any vehicle, unless otherwise approved by the State Air Resources Board. (d) A temporary permit issued pursuant to this section is valid for either 60 days after the expiration of the registration of the vehicle or 60 days after the date that vehicle is removed from nonoperation, whichever is applicable at the time the temporary permit is issued. (e) (1) A fee of fifty dollars ($50) shall be paid for a temporary permit issued pursuant to this section. (2) The fee authorized pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index as compiled and reported by the Department of Industrial Relations. (3) After deducting its administrative costs, the department shall deposit fees collected pursuant to paragraph (1) in the Truck Emission Check (TEC) Fund described in subdivision (b) of created pursuant to Section 44151 44154 of the Health and Safety Code, to be used for regulatory activities under the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program. Program (Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 44150) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code). (a) A nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds shall not be operated on a public road in this state if that vehicle has an illuminated malfunction indicator light (MIL) displaying the International Standards Organization (ISO) 2575 engine symbol F01, consistent with subdivision (d) of Section 1971.1 of Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations. (b) A violation of this section shall be considered a mechanical violation under Section 40610 of the Vehicle Code. A peace officer shall not stop a vehicle solely on suspicion of a violation of this section. (a) A motor vehicle shall not be operated in a manner resulting in the escape of excessive smoke, flame, gas, oil, or fuel residue. (b) A nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds shall not be operated in a manner resulting in the escape of visible smoke, except during active regeneration. (c) This section applies to motor vehicles of the United States or its agencies, to the extent authorized by federal law. (a) Commencing one year after the effective date of a regulation implementing the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program described in Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code, (Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 44150) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code), a legal owner or registered owner of a nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds shall maintain a certificate of compliance, Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Compliance Certificate, as described in Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code, or a facsimile or electronic copy thereof, of that certificate of compliance, with the vehicle for which the certificate is issued. (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply when a certificate of compliance Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Compliance Certificate is necessarily removed from the vehicle for the purpose of renewal or when the vehicle is left unattended. (c) A violation of this section shall be cited in accordance with Section 40610. (a) The driver of a nongasoline heavy-duty onroad motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds shall present the certificate of compliance, a Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Compliance Certificate, as described in Section 44152 of the Health and Safety Code, or other evidence of the that certificate of compliance, of the vehicle under the driver’s immediate control for examination upon demand by any peace officer. (b) The driver of the vehicle described in subdivision (a) shall not present to any peace officer a certificate of compliance Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Compliance Certificate not issued for that vehicle.
0.999277	Do you know how to support your child through a breakup? As parents, it can be very difficult to stand by and watch our child deal with conflict in a relationship, and breaking up. Conflict is normal in relationships, and isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And breaking up is normal too, especially for teenage romantic relationships. However, when an abusive relationship is ending, there are safety concerns for the person experiencing abuse. Whether the conflict is healthy or not, and the breakup is normal or due to abuse, you can find ideas and resources for how to support your child below.
0.986324	Why are Turks and Caicos yacht charters so enchanting and exciting? The Turks and Caicos is an archipelago consisting of 40 islands and cays dotting the Atlantic Ocean. Of these, only eight are inhabited. The islands are known for their white sand beaches, clear, azure waters, and privacy. On a yacht charter to Turks and Caicos, you will have access to fine dining, luxurious spas, and world-class resorts as well as vast stretches of empty, pristine beaches. The surrounding waters are a playground for diving, fishing, and seeing some of the most exciting marine life up close. Turks and Caicos are a great yacht charter destination year-around with spring and early summer being the most popular time for charters. Offering wonderful diving and visiting peaceful, pristine beaches, a Turks and Caicos yacht charter is a welcoming escape to paradise for everyone. With waters simply overflowing with captivating dive sites and islands offering unique experiences, an itinerary encompassing these underwater delights and on land activities is guaranteed to impress. Known as the gateway to the Caicos Islands there is no surprise that Providenciales or Provo more affectionately, is the starting point for a foray into the Turks and Caicos. An ever-expanding island full of luxurious amenities including a golf course, casino, shopping centres and excellent restaurants, Provo is also home to an international airport and several marinas. This island has some of the very best snorkeling and diving in the Caribbean so for those who like to explore the world beneath the water, it is a must-see. Head to South Caicos, cruising around the north of the islands where the water is deeper. This is the longest passage your itinerary, taking you past many islands and cays with beautiful beaches. Spend the night on the southern end of the island, between South Caicos and Long Cay. While you are there, enjoy snorkeling, whale watching (January to April), beach barbecues, tour the historic village and have your chef prepare some of the plentiful lobster (in season), conch and fish from the fish co-op. enough to shore for beach dives. Spend some leisurely time strolling the streets, visiting the National Museum and enjoying the colonial spirit of this outpost where time seems to have almost stood still. During whale watching season, you watch the humpback whales pass from Grand Turk’s shores as well as from the surface of the water. Take a short tender ride (1 mile or so) to Gibbs Cay where you can swim with the friendly stingrays right from the beach. Salt Cay is the smallest and least populated island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Donkeys, which use to be used for pulling carts, now roam freely all over the island. There are no paved roads and very few cars. Visit the ruins at Taylor’s Hill and discover one of the most breathtaking views on the island. This is an ideal spot for whale watching during January and April when migrating humpback whales populate the azure waters of Salt Cay. Divers can dive a 17th century British warship. The next recommended destination stop is the uninhabited island of Big Sand Cay. This small island is a designated bird sanctuary and also great for snorkeling. Take a hike on this small Island to explore and then relax on some of the best beaches in the Islands. French Cay boasts some of the most amazing coral and marine life in the Turks and Caicos which makes it an absolute dream for scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts. Molasses Reef is home to what is believed to be one of the oldest shipwrecks discovered in the New World. It is also a peaceful sanctuary for migratory birds. Set course for West Caicos where there are many excellent dive sites off the west coast, as well as several moorings. Dive the wall, which drops off some 7000 feet, where large sea life is often seen. Topside depth range is between 40 to 90 feet, allowing diving for a wide range of divers from beginners to experts. A short morning cruise will put you back to the south shore of Provo to get in those last few hours of playing with all the toys. If you have time before your flight back home, stroll the streets of Providenciales and do souvenir shopping of local arts and crafts. There are a number of activities and things to do on Turks and Caicos yacht charters. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider it for your next getaway. Adventure awaits on Turks and Caicos’ 40 islands and cays. Head ashore and go horseback riding along the beach. Visit the Middle Caicos Caves, the largest chain of limestone caves in the Caribbean, and don’t forget to stop by Mudjidin Beach to see the breathtaking limestone cliffside. History lovers will want to see Cheshire Hall, the ruins of a former cotton plantation that have been carefully preserved by the National Trust. Over on Little Water Cay, right off Providenciales, is the Turks and Caicos Iguana Sanctuary, an uninhabited island that is home to Rock Iguanas. Turks and Caicos has some of the most beautifully colored waters in the world, and there’s a reason for those vibrant blue hues. Light reflects off the white, sandy sea bottoms and the fine white sand particles suspended in the water, resulting in the the azures, aquas and turquoises of the shallow waters. In photos, the water almost looks unreal, but the colors are even more vivid when you see them in person. The sugar sand beaches of Turks and Caicos have been consistently rated as the most beautiful beaches in the world by both Conde Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor. Surrounded by the world’s third largest coral reef, the beaches are known for their powdery fine sand, lack of crowds, clear turquoise waters, and gentle rippling waves. Turks and Caicos has some of the finest coral reefs and walls in the world, teeming with exciting aquatic life. You can dive to the reefs or explore one of several historic wrecks. Fishing enthusiasts in your yacht charter party will love the area’s deep offshore waters, where they might catch tuna, wahoo, or blue marlin. Turks and Caicos yacht charters offer some of the best scuba diving in the world. Divers can venture below the waves to the world’s third largest barrier reef, and the clear waters ensure optimum visibility so you can see the exciting marine life. The water is warm year-round and there’s an average of 350 days of sun per year. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert driver, there is a reef, a wall, or a shipwreck to discover. The Columbus Passage is a 22 mile wide channel that separates the Turks from the Caicos, and is an underwater highway for migrating species like rays, turtles, dolphins, and whales. Much of the coast is protected by the National Parks Ordinance, which preserves these impressive dive sites. The limestone plateaus of the Turks bank drops off into deep waters, making it the perfect spot to see spotted eagle and manta rays, dolphins, sea turtles, and even whales from the comfort of your yacht. The marshes and salt ponds are a refuge for local and migratory birds, including great blue herons, flamingos, osprey, pelicans and egrets. The Turks Island Iguana, a protected species, can be seen on many of the deserted islands. One of the most spectacular sites you will ever see is the humpback whale migration from January to April each year. Head to the Turk Islands Passage near Salt Cay and Grand Turk to witness these gentle giants breaching an arm’s reach from your yacht. Each year, the whales migrate from the northern Atlantic to the Caribbean to mate and give birth. You and your group will always remember seeing a whale calf with its mother, or hearing the song of the male humpback. Turks and Caicos is home to an incredible selection of resorts, spas and restaurants. Providenciales has large full-service resorts with a wide array of amenities. Grand Turk has more quaint inns. Take advantage of golf, dining, diving, water sports and more that these resorts have to offer either as a day excursion during your Turks and Caicos yacht charter, or at the start or end of your journey. For the ultimate indulgence, book an afternoon at one of the many spas on Turks and Caicos. Allow yourself to be pampered with massages, facials, or salt scrubs. Follow up the treatments with a dip in their pools, or a nap on the beach. If you don’t want to leave the comfort of your yacht, some of these spas offer mobile services that will come to you. Turks and Caicos is gaining renown as a destination for connoisseurs of fine food. Providenciales has a bustling gourmet food scene with more than 50 restaurants, most located in the Grace Bay region. Casual outdoor eateries are also plentiful, offering local and international cuisine with scenic views. End your day with beachside cocktails while you watch a stunning Caribbean sunset.
0.962708	NIAGARA FALLS, New York (CNN) -- It was 20 years ago this week that President Jimmy Carter declared a state of emergency as hundreds of residents of Love Canal fled their homes after it was discovered that 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals were buried there. Today, the waterway that gave the neighborhood its name is buried under a plastic liner, clay and topsoil in a fenced area declared permanently off-limits. Scores of homes were buried, too. However, the rest of Love Canal has been declared safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A public corporation took ownership of the abandoned properties, fixed up the homes and resold them. Susan Bloss of the Love Canal Revitalization Agency said the agency has sold 232 of the 239 homes it renovated. Love Canal, which once symbolized hidden toxic wastelands, is now known as Black Creek Village. The new residents of Black Creek Village feel safe in their new homes. "This area has been tested and tested and tested," said homeowner Trudy Christman. "This is the most tested piece of real estate in the United States." Ms. Christman moved into the home of former Love Canal resident Leulla Kenny, whose seven-year-old son died of kidney disease before the family relocated. "His autopsy revealed the same symptoms they see in animals that have been exposed to dioxin," she said. "The children are what bother me when I see them running around this neighborhood. I'm so frightened for them," Kenny said during a visit to her old neighborhood. The New York State Department of Health says no conclusive evidence exists linking Love Canal to illness, a statement that many Black Creek Village residents agree with.
0.899129	How knowledgeable is the average CART fan at St. Pete? I went into this weekend's season opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg looking to do a racing version of Jay Leno's "Jay-Walking", which I thought would be an interesting way of informally evaluating the knowledge of CART race attendees. How much do these folks know about what they are watching? After all, the NASCAR attendees statistically buy significantly more merchandise, and watch and attend the races in much larger numbers, which is an indicator of the attention they devote to the sport. I also was personally interested to see if the open-wheel racing wars still have people confused, despite various efforts to define, or "brand" the two rival versions of this form of the sport. I devised five basic questions that I thought even a casual fan should know. I even bounced them off of a friend or two to see if I was on target. After confirming this, I approached race attendees at random. The first thing I noticed was a lot of NASCAR apparel and merchandise. I thought this was a good thing, and contrary to the seemingly popular assumption that CART and NASCAR do not share fans. I would have loved to survey all those wearing NASCAR merchandise on what they thought of the race they just watched, but that's another story for another day. So there I was, my notepad in hand, with these five questions. 1) Where did Michael Andretti qualify for today's race? 2) Name one American driver in today's race. 3) Name one other race on the CART schedule this year or any past year. 4)Who won last year's Championship? 5) Name one difference between Champ Car Racing and IndyCar racing? Sounds pretty simple right? Well for all of us, of course. We are here on a website that is designed for the racing fan. So yes, these might seem like pretty simple questions…almost too simple? Think again. I spoke with 79 people as they entered the track to attend the race. I told them my purpose, and that not knowing the answers to these questions was not intended to be an embarrassment. I also thanked them all on behalf of the sport, at the risk of being a little bit self-righteous. Here are the results, question by question. Question 1: Where did Michael Andretti qualify for today's race? Question 2: Name one American driver in today's race. 1 "That Target driver…what's his name?" Question 4: Who won last year's Championship? 1 I think his name started with an "F" Question 5: Name one difference between Champ Car Racing and IndyCar racing. 13 I think they are the same….right? This was admittedly an unscientific survey, but it does raise some interesting questions. I personally did not find the results very surprising, with the exception of question 5 which most people seemed to answer rather accurately. Could this be because Ford is a brand name that people know and recognize? Could it be a result of placing their name on the series title? I have been of the strong opinion that CART needs major consumer brands attached to the series more than the brands need them. Now, this sounds a little crazy, but on this basis, it might make just a little bit of sense to give away (or even pay for) a major sponsorship position in exchange for some serious marketing and promotion of the series as a whole. Once CART becomes a household name again (like NASCAR perhaps?), and people come out in droves to watch and attend, then the sponsorships will be worth something and can be sold for what they are really worth. It does seem to confirm a suspected confusion on the part of the casual fan between the IRL and CART products. It also seems that the casual (or even incidental) fan could represent a major portion of CART attendees, which might explain good attendance, but poor television ratings. CART has good race attendance, now it needs to work on making those attendees fans for every race, and you only can do that if the drivers become heroes....i.e. CART must focus on growing the name recognition of its drivers so they become fans of the sport and not just fans of the "event." So…let’s see if this creates some constructive discussion and debate.
0.972568	How to make the Forbes "30 Under 30" list! Don't get me wrong, I do find it very humbling that people reach out to me for advice. I do not, however, agree with the motivation that these emails are written with. Plain and simple: If you want to get recognized for your work, stop trying to get recognized. My friends that are getting recognized for their work through Forbes lists, TED talks, national media sources, etc. do not pursue their individual passions to get recognized, but rather, to see a change in the world. The best way to look at it is by thinking about your primary incentive for pursuing your goals. Is it to become famous? Is it to get to a celebrity status? Or is it to see a difference being made? Whether or not I would have been recognized by Forbes, CNN, Popular Science, etc. I would have still continued with my lab work and my company as a whole. I would not have waited around to get 'validation' or a sense of security from huge media sources. I did not need permissions to see a change. The way I see it: I would rather eradicate global warming and be completely unknown to the world than make a marginal change and be known by everyone. I know what you are thinking. I clearly have not answered the question: How do YOU get on the Forbes '30 Under 30' list. 3. If you follow steps 1 & 2, Forbes will find you. Trust me.
0.999999	You scored as Shamanic Pagan. A shamanic pagan's roots are generally found in Native American faith. A true love and respect for the earth and all that it yields is central to their faith. Wisdom is most often found in spirit guides or totems, who can be animals, ancestors, or spirits. Pagans who follow this path tend to be far more aware of the delicate web that interweaves the lives of every person and thus move within that web accordingly. They're usually deeply insightful, friendly, loving people and excellent friends and parents. Mysterious and strong, as well, they are often the protectors of their friends and family as well as the moral compass for their friends and loved ones.
0.926549	I am certain that the National Transitional Council (NTC), in its desperation, has agreed to sell its soul in order to save itself from Gaddafi. I won't judge, condemn or preach to them about their decision. As Libyan people who suffered the most horrific oppression under this mad colonel, it was always their own decision to make, and I respect that completely. I don't respect those pseudo-resistance types who, whilst accepting that Gaddafi has to go, drool at the mouth whenever they find evidence of the strong ties that the NTC will be having with the West. Where were these resistance types when Gaddafi's soldiers were shooting at unarmed protesters with anti-aircraft guns and mortars? For people who are self-described anti-imperialists, their behaviour towards the people they are supposed to be "anti-" for seems to lack an awful lot of compassion and empathy. I don't mind somebody who tells me they support one camp against another, that they are after their own self-interest or that they benefit from the favours of one particular ruler: I can appreciate the motivations behind human nature. What I don't like is the self-deception these people try to convince me of as true. The devil doesn't need an advocate. If you get of your moral high ground - all of your posts lately have an awful lot of terms like empathy, compassion, human dignity - you would see that "those pseudo-resistance types" argue that the rebels may have gotten rid of Gaddafi but at a very high price: the loss of their revolution. Independent of what actual regime will follow (parliamentary democracy, authoritarian regime, islamist state) it is now already clear that the oil companies will have full and unlimited access to Libyan oil, coupled with a pro-Western attitude in international politics. And that severely limits any future progressive or alternative policy that the Libyans might want to pursue. That is all that anti-imperialists are pointing out, that the uprising has been emptied of future political options. But since you seem so intent on moralizing all conflicts: if the reports of mass executions by the rebels of unarmed Gaddafi soldiers turn out to be true, will you then also write a post on how horrific these acts are? Or is your compassion and empathy limited to certain people only? I am certain that the National Transitional Council (NTC), in its desperation, has agreed to sell its soul in order to save itself from Gaddafi. As for your second question, I think I can ask you the same. For some reason, that I am trying hard to understand, today you felt motivated not to talk about all those people Gaddafi and his regime killed; you didn't wish to talk about his bombing and besieging of cities like Misrata and Benghazi; nor did you think it relevant to remember the massacres that took place in cities like Zawiyah, early in the conflict. No, you are angry because Libya's oil is going to be taken by Western oil companies. Do you realise that, like this, you are no better than the imperialism you condemn? Let go of pride and this stubborn dogma.
0.997553	What is Black History Month? Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history. Purpose of Black History Month. Black History Month began in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment was put in place to end slavery in the United States. One of the inspiring women i chose to celebrate today is Rosa Louise McCauley Parks. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, known as “The Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement”, was an African-American woman born on February 4,1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her parents were James and Leona McCauley. They separated when she was two.Rosa’s mother moved the family to Pine Level, Alabama to live with her parents, Rose and Sylvester Edwards. Both were former slaves and strong advocates for racial equality; the family lived on the Edwards' farm. Parks childhood brought her early experiences with racial discrimination and activism for racial equality.Rosa attended a segregated, one-room school in Pine Level, Alabama, that often lacked essential school supplies such as desks. African-American students were forced to walk to the 1st- through 6th-grade schoolhouse, while the city of Pine Level provided bus transportation as well as a new school building for white students.Through the rest of Rosa's education, she attended segregated schools in Montgomery, including the city's Industrial School for Girls (beginning at age 11). In 1929, while in the 11th grade and attending a laboratory school for secondary education led by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes, Rosa left school to attend to both her sick grandmother and mother back in Pine Level. She never returned to her studies; instead, she got a job at a shirt factory in Montgomery. In 1932, at age 19, Rosa met and married Raymond Parks, a barber and an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. With Raymond's support, Rosa earned her high school degree in 1933. She is well known for her stand against racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1,1955 after a long day of work at a Montgomery department store, where she worked as a seamstress, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus for home she took a seat in the first of several rows designated for "colored" passengers. As the bus Rosa was riding continued on its route, it began to fill with white passengers. Eventually, the bus was full and the driver noticed that several white passengers were standing in the aisle. Rosa refused to give up her seat for a white man and was arrested, charged with, and convicted of civil disobedience. Rosa recalled that her refusal wasn't because she was physically tired, but that she was tired of giving in. On the evening that Rosa Parks was arrested, Edgar Nixon, head of the local chapter of the NAACP, began forming plans to organize a boycott of Montgomery's city buses. On the morning of December 5, They formed the Montgomery Improvement Association, electing Montgomery newcomer Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. as minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The MIA believed that Rosa Parks' case provided an excellent opportunity to take further action to create real change.In response to the ensuing events, members of the African-American community took legal action. Rosa's attorney, Fred Gray, filed the suit. In June 1956, the district court declared racial segregation laws (also known as "Jim Crow laws") unconstitutional. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling. With the transit company and downtown businesses suffering financial loss and the legal system ruling against them, the city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift its enforcement of segregation on public buses, and the boycott officially ended on December 20, 1956.The Montgomery Bus Boycott is one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history. Although, she had became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement Rosa Parks suffered hardship months after her arrest in Montgomery and following the boycott. She lost her department store job and her husband was fired after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or their legal case. Unable to find work, they eventually left Montgomery; the couple, along with Rosa's mother, moved to Detroit, Michigan. There, Rosa made a new life for herself, working as a secretary and receptionist in U.S. Representative John Convyer's congressional office. She also served on the board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. On October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, Rosa Parks quietly died in her apartment in Detroit, Michigan. She had been diagnosed the previous year with progressive dementia, which she had been suffering from since the year of 2002. Her death was marked by several memorial services, among them lying in state at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. Rosa’s was buried between her husband and mother at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery, in the chapel's mausoleum. Shortly after her death, the chapel was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel. In honor of Black History Month, TORLIGHTS (Tabernacle of Restoration Light) celebrates Rosa Parks for her bravery and fight against inequality in America and for the her contribution in the liberation of African Americans. Thank you and God bless you for listening. A presentation made Sunday the 4th of February 2018 by By Gloria Ajayi at the Tabernacle of Restoration Church of the The Redeemed Christian Church of God,Bronx,New York, in Honour of Rosa Parks on the Celebration of Black History Month.
0.999971	A young couple expecting a child also happen to inherit a furnished house. Among their acquired furniture is a phone that can send them back in time to relive the lives of their ancestors. They slowly realize that their ancestors were not very nice. I liked the story but I think if the main character wanted to send a message to the future it should have been to sell the house so history couldn't repeat itself. It also never says what happened to the real criminal relative that left this mess for him to deal with. This was a very good episode, but it contained some anomalies that took place 32 years ago during this airing. #1. Though originally aired in 1974, this episode was a replay from June 20, 1980. #2. That date seems uneventful, but it was the same night as the famous Roberto Duran/Sugar Ray Leonard fight--one of the biggest fights in history. #3. The episode was very interesting and engaging was frequently interrupted by a news correspondent keeping the listener aware of the fight's details and eventual outcome. #4. The frequent disruptions took away from the story, but if you are a history or boxing aficionado, by all means listen to this episode understanding that there will be holes in its story. Wasted potential could be the most apt description of this one. An intriguing horror premise of time travel as karmic retribution is undermined by some weak acting and plot holes. The first act is excruciating, as the leads awkwardly fake-laugh their way through painfully unfunny dialogue. The second act is the protracted process of the leads taking fifteen minutes to realize what's immediately obvious to the listener. By then there just isn't enough time remaining to build the tension and dread the story's aiming for, and we still barely know a thing about the leads or their historic counterparts. A nice idea, badly executed. All I can say is, "Roberto Duran &Sugar Ray, wow!" I wish they cut in with some of the fighting, live. Oh, well. If you set aside the numerous interruptions from the boxing update, the show itself was pretty good. I like it when the real-time commercials and news is left in the show and not edited out for the current listener. It's a fun episode that strikes me as a evil and twisted version of "Groundhog Day." I like with the show leaves you asking questions. I wonder how many times history "repeats" itself. A better message to the child is in order to break the cycle. Of course no one would ever get a chance to know to tell the child to break the cycle. Giving away stolen money does not change the fact that it is still stolen. I agree 100% with Matt Sandwich's review. Wasted potential. They could have done so MUCH with the play, but the first act did have terrible voice acting (on the man's part), some of the fakest I've ever heard here, and second act dragged. Very frustrating hearing them argue for awhile about whether to even answer the flippin' phone or not. Jeez, just answer the darn thing. And there could have been many more connections between the past and present, and no real lessons learned. Just kind of a bleh ending and bleh development. I was hoping he'd try to make amends, as he did, but instead he just realized how complicated it all was and backed out of the entire thing. And that he knew someone was coming to kill him, yet still got killed is just beyond me. I first heard it when I was 12, when it started in 1974. On the local station, KWON in Bartlesville, OK. It got a reputation among kids as a scary show, and since it ran from 10-11 pm I'd listen to it when I was in bed. I liked it, but I wished it wasn't so targeted to adults. The plots always seemed to revolve around a middle aged man who was having some crisis, so sometimes it wasn't easy to relate. Now it's not so hard to relate! I agree with Mike and Matt - terrible voice acting in the first act (which got better in the second and third acts for some reason) and bad plot development. Time travel stories can be interesting, even paradoxical ones like this one, but when you never find out what happened to the real grandparents or know more about them it's not a very good story. I too, was 12 years old listening to this series in my upstate NY bedroom. I wasn't allowed to listen to the radio after bedtime, but I had a small Radio Shack transistor radio I would turn on and secretly put under my pillow and listen to these shows at 10pm. My stepmom didn't know! Those were good, simple times back then. Now that I am listening to these shows again, these shows really remind me of a "radio version" of the TV series The Twilight Zone. Norma is supposed to be pregnant, why is drinking champagne? Not good. Maybe back in that time, they did not hear of alcohol fetal syndrome. Hal and Norma Glenford inherit an ancient empty New York City brownstone that was once owned by Hal’s robber baron great-grandfather. Only one room is furnished, in 1890s style, complete with an antique telephone that still works. In fun, Hal makes a call on the antique for a hansom cab, and shortly after he does so, one arrives! His wife, believing that the phone is magic of some sort, orders the whole house decorated in 1890s style. But when a call from an associate of Hal’s great-grandfather comes through, Hal and his wife have their life threatened by an angry—and long-dead—client.
0.999998	Their arrival to America brought the laborers that the industries and factories needed. As the panic deepened, ordinary Americans suffered terribly. Industrialization caused factories to open which made many jobs available to the public. Each social class had its own specific culture and views and its own set of values and they would often clash as a result leading to more polarized political parties and factions. By the middle of the 19th century, polytechnic institutes were being founded in increasing numbers to train students in the scientific and technical skills needed to design, build, and operate increasingly complex machines. By 1900, there were 193,000 miles of tracks in U. Industrialization made apprenticeships obsolete and commoditized labor itself. In the 1850s, British engineer Henry Bessemer 1813-1898 developed the first inexpensive process for mass-producing steel. Mass production eliminated choice, since Ford produced no other car, but Ford built variations of the Model T, like the runabout with the same chassis, and owners retro-fitted their Model Ts for everything from camping to farming. Please read the and to ensure the section will still be inclusive of all essential details. To help with transportation, subways, street cars, and elevated trains were used. Effect and Impact of Industrialization in America: Depersonalization of Workers Industrialization in America also brought the depersonalization of workers. The increased number of automobiles on city streets further congested already congested downtown areas. Aided by innovations developed by Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse would eventually best Thomas Edison. Most women who worked outside the homes were the ones with the worst economic prospects: African-American and immigrant women who historically have been the most likely women to be wage earners working outside of the home. Reformers won control of many city and some state governments. These rights were to be carefully safeguarded. For each piece of silver they crafted, raw materials had to be collected and often reused from disparate sources, most commonly Spanish coins. Many Americans called for changes in the country's economic, political, and social systems. Immigration in Industrial America and the Rise of Nativism Provide an overview of immigration trends during the Second Industrial Revolution, including nativist fears and legislation. By 1920, for the first time in American history, the census revealed more people lived in cities than on farms. These developments, along with the telegraph, provided the quick communication that is vital to the smooth operation of big business. The South increased its cotton supply, sending raw cotton north to be used in the manufacture of cloth. It was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and first store was in Arkansas. For one, it had great deposits of coal and iron ore, which proved essential for industrialization. Like Carnegie, Rockefeller publicly supported a number of philanthropies, yet privately domineered over his workers and bitterly fought their efforts to organize and unionize. The success of the Erie Canal spawned a boom of other canal-building around the country: over 3,326 miles 5,353 km of artificial waterways were constructed between 1816 and 1840. Industrialization in America: New Transportation Systems The advances in transportation systems made it easier for workers to reach and settle in the areas containing these rich natural resources, easier to transport the products and helped to accelerate industrialization of America. In 1816, with the experiences of the war before him, no well-informed statesman could shut his eyes to the national aspects of the problem. However, the populations of these peoples were small and their rate of technological change was very low. By 1850, - and as it did, new immigrants contined to be a large percentage of the 19th century population. Equally importantly, both are so broad, in the sense that they encompass all kinds of industries and locations that they include a huge range of books and other sources. More than 25 million immigrants entered the United States between 1870 and 1916. Both the English and the Spanish would vie for dominance of the uncharted continent with the establishment of colonies on American soil. New Inventions and Technology During the Gilded Age, the skyrocketed: between 1790 and 1860, the U. Among the online collections focusing on urban living are and. The Industrial Revolution also stimulated the rise of unskilled labor. Similarly, the expansion of the railroad brought a dramatic reduction in the time and money it took to move heavy goods, creating new opportunities for wealth at a time when two-thirds of all Americans still resided on farms. The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution. Modern productivity researchers have shown that the period in which the greatest economic and technological progress occurred was between the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. So what were the consequences of rapid urbanization during the Gilded Age? The name suggests both the golden gleam of a gilded surface on top of the cheap base metal underneath. These changes mutually fueled the Second Industrial Revolution which peaked between 1870 and 1914. The broad knowledge of the Industrial Revolution and helped facilitate understanding for the construction and invention of new manufacturing businesses and technologies. Industrialization and the Transformation of American Life: A Brief Introduction. Without the huge numbers of immigrants 19th Century Industrialization 3. Countless companies failed and others were bought up by larger corporations which eventually ruled the marketplace. Other advancements in chemistry, manufacturing, and transportation ensured Britain became the world's first modern superpower, and its colonial empire allowed its many technological innovations to spread around the world. In the early 1800s, British engineer Richard Trevithick 1771-1833 constructed the first railway steam locomotive. Electrification allowed managers to automate jobs once done by hand labor, thereby eliminating inefficiency, gaining greater control over the production process, and boosting overall productivity. The in Maryland was the largest in the United States in the late 1840s, and the first in the nation to produce for the construction of railroads. After the turn of the 20th century, this region became an important center of activity for the textile industry, in large part because of the cheap, nonunion labor available there. But back then in the 19th century these rights were alien to women, they were deprived of them rather they were at a worse category. They came about as the result of a design contest, but were generally so crowded that they did more harm than good to the people who lived in them. Many government policies were created in the 19th century to encourage expansion and growth for America. Industrialization was a very big part of the development of the United States of America. These images were reproduced as engravings in newspapers large and small, which along with the telegraph allowed the news of the nation to spread easily across long distances. Other cities, like Elizabeth, New Jersey, grew as byproducts of the expansion of their larger neighbors. Inventions were created in conjunction with the emerging new technologies - electricity replaced steam power; the assembly production line replaced individual production; and single machines with huge output capacities replaced single workers. Miners took large quantities of coal and iron ore from the ground. Over the next 10 years, Goddard's rockets achieved modest altitudes of nearly two kilometers, and interest in increased in the United States, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union. The act had no effect on the British or French economy but completely devastated the American economy. The business boom opened up many opportunities for financial gain. The earliest engines were large and prohibitively expensive for all but the largest firms.
0.963661	How do I relieve the pain from a pepper burn? I have used Lavender essential oil to stop the burn from the oil of hot peppers. Also of value in treating such burns is ice water, poultices made of ground oatmeal mixed with water, and the juice of the aloe plant.
0.999999	There are some instructions about how you can fill the survey. Follow the given instructions to fill the survey. You can get a free coupon code for your next visit to the store. This is how you can fill the BagelTalk Survey. By filling the survey you can win coupon code. So do fill the survey to win that coupon code. BagelTalk was established in 1995 by Boston chicken. It is a chain of restaurants in the United States. They provide their customer with freshly baked breakfast and lunch items. Their menu contains freshly baked bagel, sandwiches, coffee and more. Win $250 Chase gift card by filling the Aramark Survey! Share your experience by filling the RadioShack Survey! Get A Free Dessert After Taking The Sizzling Pub & Grill Survey! Subway UK Survey Needs Your Honest Feedback! Baskin-Robbins South Africa Survey Lets You Enjoy More than Your Ice Cream! Sheetz Survey Is Here to Win Customer Trust!
0.981746	Manhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, less than a mile north of the northern tip of Manhattan and roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers undergraduate programs in the arts, business, education, engineering, and science. Graduate programs are offered for education and engineering. It also houses a public middle school, Jonas Bronck Academy, on the bottom floor of Hayden Hall, the primary residence of the Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics departments, named after the noted philanthropist Charles Hayden. Question and Answer about "Manhattan College"
0.95617	Like or are associated with the seasons? Not my area. I've found this but cannot vouch for its' accuracy. Of those attested in pre-Christian times, the Disting was associated with female ancestors and family luck/protectors, Alfblot with the elves and wights, Mothers' Night with The Mothers (possibly), and a couple of mid-winter festivals - one to Thor and one to Frey. But these weren't universal across all Heathen countries - for example, Mothers' Night is (IIRC) exclusive to England and may reflect the influence of the Romans here. The Frey one is Swedish and the Thor one Icelandic. The only ones common (AFAIK) to heathens in the UK are Winters Night, Mothers' Night and Yule. Aside from that, according to Bede, our month of March (spring equinox) was dedicated to the unknown goddess Hređa. while our month April was dedicated to Eostre. Baldr is often portrayed as a Spring God, probably largely because of his death/rebirth story, and his being portrayed as the White/Fair/Shining One. I think most of the inferred connection actually comes from Voluspa rather than Edda, the discussion of Baldr's rebirth. Personally I've always suspected the spring association has been 'misquoted' from Edda LIII where his horse is described as having the power to create springs wherever her hooves fell and Baldr therefore being considered the protector of springs and wells. Mythology by Chinese whisper, if you will. From Rydberg's standpoint, the Merseburg charm points to powerful sorcery coming out of Jotunheim being aimed at Baldur, and injuring his horse's foot. In comparing Baldur to the saint Stephanus, Rydberg (op cit., p.56) says, "The Ballad of Steffan relates how Stephanus waters the horse he rides and four others by a "spring", while the stars still twinkle. This watering-ceremony is the ballad's actual subject. Baldur is the defender of springs and wells. Springs rise up under his horse's hooves and wells are called by his name." Saxo, Book Three (Peter Fisher, tr.) tells us that "The victorious Balder, wishing to provide water as due refreshment for his thirsty soldiers, bored deep into the earth and discovered underground springs. From every direction the parched troops made for the gushing rills with parted lips. The site is confirmed by a permanent name..." It is directly thereafter that it is mentioned that Baldur is so tormented by phantoms that he was unable to walk. ... He scoops out water with the ladle..." -- just as Baldur bored into the earth to bring up water for his troops in Saxo. Rydberg in Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Volume I, Chapter 92, says, "In the Danish popular traditions Baldur's horse had the ability to produce fountains by tramping on the ground, and Baldur's fountain in Seeland is said to have originated in this manner (cp. P. E. Muller on Saxo, Hist., 120)." He also says, same chapter, "I now return to the Merseburg formula: "Falr and Odin went to the wood, Then the foot was sprained of Balder's foal". With what here is said about Baldur's steed, we must compare what Saxo relates about Baldur himself: Adeo in adversam corporis valetudinem incidit, ut ni pedibus quidem, incedere posset (Book III). The misfortune which happened first to Baldur and then to Baldur's horse must be counted among the warnings which foreboded the death of the son of Odin." However, I do agree that an awful lot of deities end up linked with things they originally had nothing to do with, and linking Baldr with spring is par for the course. I think Loki is having fun with the summer weather.
0.999999	The following post was written by Mike Moore, who recently received a PSEER Travel Grant to attend the Biennial Conference for Chemical Education (BCCE). Based on these metrics, and some of the goals that emerged throughout the conference, I consider it a success! Below I outline some of the professional and personal highlights of the conference. The first evening featured a keynote about the history of the BCCE and the field of chemical education in general. It took place in one of the most interesting keynote settings I’ve ever seen: a hockey rink (see Figure 1). I had a couple interesting takeaways from the keynote: first, that the subfields in chemistry (organic, inorganic, physical, analytical) used to be even more siloed than they seem to be today; of course, even then there was commentary that this had to stop. My second interesting takeaway was the awareness of the bias of genders in general educational (and chemical) research is not new. Gender discrimination/bias was already a hot topic in the first few BCCEs (1970) and was a topic of editorial columns prior to that. It can be easy to forget how far back certain ideas and movements go (Figure 2!). Figure 1: Location of the first keynote - a hockey rink. An index to score the quality of multiple choice questions was developed based on the breadth of literature about common errors (J.B. Breakall et.al.). I wonder if the score on this index would correlate to students’ perceptions of exam fairness? These technical sessions allowed me to give an unreserved checkmark to goal 1: learning about broader topics. Figure 2: A reminder that some ideas that seem modern have old roots. I attended two workshops (in-depth sessions lasting 3 hours): An ACS Exams Committee Experience: Developing a Test Specification and Writing and Editing Items, as well as Scale Interventions: Their Adaptation into a Class and Measuring Their Effect. Both of these workshops were largely the work of Prof Kristen Murphy: she was the workshop facilitator for the former and one of her master's students facilitated the latter. Identify each different step required in solving the problem (e.g. convert to moles, use stoichiometric ratio, convert to mass). Do the distractors require evaluation between them (+2) or do they require elimination (+1)? Add all the values of 2 together to come out with the difficulty of the question. The most interesting steps in that process, in my opinion, were 2.5 and 2.6. In my experience, when we evaluate the problems we ask students, we often use the number of steps as a proxy for difficulty instead of thinking about all aspects of the question. The systematic rigor that this group put their tests through was fantastic. I find that this kind of testing is often considered (though usually, only in part) but seldom executed. Goal 2, check! Overall, I enjoyed the conference very much and felt that I got a lot out of it, both academically and socially. It was great to talk to people in many different fields with hugely varying experiences: some new and veteran chemical education researchers, high school teachers doing research on the side, ACS education specialists, and more. I learned about their experiences and backgrounds by, you guessed it, chatting before sessions and eating lunch with new people each day. Goal 3, check!
0.939673	What is this medicine? NAFAZOLINE; FENIRAMINE is a deantigenante yantihistamínico. It is used in the eyes to relieve itching and redness caused by pollen, ambrosia, grass, hair and animal dander. This medicine can be used for other uses; If you have any questions, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.
0.926225	We have N boxes, numbered 1 through N. At first, box 1 contains one red ball, and each of the other boxes contains one white ball. Snuke will perform the following M operations, one by one. In the i-th operation, he randomly picks one ball from box x_i, then he puts it into box y_i. Find the number of boxes that may contain the red ball after all operations are performed. Just before the i-th operation is performed, box x_i contains at least 1 ball. Print the number of boxes that may contain the red ball after all operations are performed. Just after the first operation, box 1 is empty, box 2 contains one red ball and one white ball, and box 3 contains one white ball. Now, consider the second operation. If Snuke picks the red ball from box 2, the red ball will go into box 3. If he picks the white ball instead, the red ball will stay in box 2. Thus, the number of boxes that may contain the red ball after all operations, is 2. All balls will go into box 3.
0.922822	Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents. Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement) and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Race is calculated according to the race variable. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Community is based on the following question, "Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?" Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable. Respondents were asked, "Just your opinion, in the United States today, how much discrimination is there against Hispanics" Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
0.999948	I had been looking for a few months, casually, mind you. I was not confident that any business would be able to accommodate my offered limitations. I only wanted to work a couple of days per week; I could not work weekends; I wanted a job I would not have to take home with me. Two of my children - college students now - have spent their holidays working at a busy cafe-bistro in the nearby resort village where their dad also works as a manager at the main resort hotel. My kids have often expressed their gratitude at working for such kind people as own the cafe and the owners never tire of telling me how appreciative they are of my children's good work ethic and attitude. One Wednesday morning, which happened to be my husband's day off, I was struck by an idea out of the blue. I wondered aloud to my husband whether the cafe might be an option for me. I love cafes. I have worked in one before and spend much time in them, and know how busy they can be. My husband thought it was worth a try. That same morning I had to go to the resort village to take care of something at the art gallery I help to run. My husband had to drop in at work as well so we decided to make the ten minute trip to the village. I had phoned the cafe in question earlier, even before I was struck by the idea of working there, and one of the two owners answered. No, they would not reopen until the weekend - they take the entire month of January off like many businesses in the tourism dependent village - but they were in the cafe painting and cleaning and she had said, "Come by, I will make you a coffee!" A good opening line if I ever heard one. My husband and I took care of our errands and then stopped by the cafe. The owner made me the promised coffee - my usual small Americano (espresso topped with hot water) - and we chatted about our college kids, the owners' time off and whatnot for a few minutes. "The thing is," I said, "I am looking for a couple of days per week of work. It has been a challenge because I cannot work weekends." It is difficult now to describe exactly what transpired in those seconds between my statement and success. The owner's eyes opened widely and she made the following points in some order: We have been so worried about reopening so short-staffed. I would love another adult working here. We have been waiting. I responded with something like: Really? You have? I love cafes and cafe culture. I'm so glad. And then we hugged. Even more simply put, they needed me as much as I needed them, which in my view is a great way to start a working relationship. Back in January when I was working backstage for the musical my youngest was performing in I thought, 'When this is over I will enjoy all my free time.' When the play ended its run, however, I found I did not enjoy all that free time. I found it hard to get motivated. I was increasingly lonely and isolated. Almost all the work I do throughout the year - my volunteer work, my writing - requires self-motivation and often a mental workout. I realized that in January, even though I was so busy the structure of my days helped me get things done at home. I appreciated my time more. I did not feel quite so adrift and my days and weeks had a form and shape beyond getting up and seeing my daughter off to school and occupying myself until she returned at three o'clock in the afternoon. Although I did not want to be running off my feet as I had been during the play I did want more structure in my life. I needed it. Perhaps my life at home would suit an introverted person but I am not an introvert. I worked my third shift at the cafe last Friday. There is so much to learn and I am absorbing everything with my eyes and ears at every minute. The cafe is a hopping place. The food is excellent and I find I am proud to make and serve it. We make most of our menu from scratch and plate it prettily. Our coffee is very good and roasted locally by people I have known for many years thanks to my other roles in the community. I have to work hard but the job is never boring; there is always a sauce to make or something to chop or clean. I am comfortable in the kitchen and feel at home in the physical and social nature of the work itself. What do my children think of me working at their cafe? My youngest is happy. "This is good," she said decidely, after I assured her I would not be working on weekends or full time. She will also begin working a little at the adjoining ice cream parlour this summer. My older children, who will work at the cafe again when they return from college in the spring were happy for me, too, especially after I assured them that if the question came up of who would get hours in the summer they would always take precedence over their mother. On Friday, many people I know came into the cafe. One person who works for the village's tourism office and whom I know through the arts council of which I am currently president said to me as I served him his lunch, "You are doing this, too?" I said in response, "Yes, part-time, but this I get paid for." He smiled and said, "Yes, this is true." Note: I typed this post from the handwritten version I wrote in, you guessed it, a cafe this past weekend. The photo above is of the view from the resort village in question. Sounds like a match made in heaven, for you, MW, and your family. What a very satisfactory arrangement. Stella's café comes to life. I once got a job in a similarlyfortuitous fashion, but that is another story. Yes, I suppose it does! Poor neglected Stella's blog. Perhaps I may get back to her one of these days.
0.999999	What is a good language to teach at undergraduate level for Computing degrees? To optimize goal Think, I believe that students should be exposed early to a programming system which minimizes the number of extraneous details between the programmer and the computation. Note that this doesn't mean that we should be teaching Assembly Language (though that is one possibility); there are other models of computation around, and using a lisp-related dialect such as Racket or a Hindley-Milner typed system such as Haskell would allow the students to tackle computational problems immediately without having to deal with more than a minimum of syntax and tooling issues. Teaching in Java (or C++, or similar industry-standard languages) directly at this point is antithetical to the goal, because of the amount of boilerplate and irrelevant knowledge needed in order to achieve anything at all. Using Processing is not as antithetical, because it eradicates at least some of the boilerplate, but the tooling (the Processing “IDE” and its woeful handling of errors, the bizarreness of the base language that it inherits from, and the absence of pedagogical assistance) is subpar. To help our students with goal Career, I think we need to instil in them the clear knowledge that in order for their skills to stay current and relevant they will need to continue to learn new computational technology, as well as become expert in their domains, throughout their working lives. I don't think that this is something that we can achieve by exposing the students to any single language in particular; rather, they should be exposed to a large variety of languages, so that they can appreciate the variety of programming paradigms out there, what they're good for, and the extent to which a language and programming environment adapted for a particular domain can deliver benefits in that domain over a general-purpose language. Ideally, students should be exposed to procedural, functional, object-oriented (both message-passing and generic), dataflow, logic and agent-oriented programming styles, as well as some metaprogramming. As for further Study, our Masters courses are in some cases aligned with our undergraduate offering, and in some cases not. There would not be any particular difficulty from a programming point of view for undergraduates to take up the MA/MFA in Computational Arts (their art practice is likely to be more of an issue, with the possible exception of the Digital Art undergrads); likewise, there's an obvious route in to MSc Games and Computer Entertainment for our undergraduate Games Programming students. On the other hand, there’s no obvious progression from our undergraduate programmes to Data Science or the MRes in Digital Journalism; this may or may not be a problem. At PhD level, the problem tends to be less about the programming, which is almost always bespoke in any case, and more about the domain of research – though C++ for IGGI students is always likely to be helpful. The overall point, though, is that we cannot optimize all these goals simultaneously. That means we will have to compromise, based on an overall hierarchy of desired outcomes, our judgment of our intake’s needs and desires and our assessment of what their careers and outcomes should be in three years’ time. Before agreement has been reached about what the goals of that teaching are, and the relative importance of those goals, arguments about the relative merits of languages for teaching are likely to be futile.
0.997934	Trump based his belief that there was a gas attack in Syria on staged photos of dead children, and a viral video showing children being showered with water in a hospital following an alleged chemical attack. Two medics from the hospital who appeared in the video said that when they were treating patients for smoke inhalation, unidentified strangers shouted that the event was a chemical attack, spooking the patients. They say there were no chemical attack victims.
0.999921	Start a new Ariel Atom question. What Do You Think Of The 2009 Ariel Atom? Most cars prefer to hide their frame behind smooth, curved sheets of steel and surround the driver with a metal roof and a glass windshield and windows. But then, most cars can't get from a standstill up to 100 mph and back to a stop in less than 12 seconds. The Ariel Atom dares to be different. From the beginning, the Atom has worn its skeleton on the outside, had an entirely open cockpit with no windshield (though it now offers optional windscreens), and astonished drivers with its speed and handling. The Atom has been outfitted with a number of different engines, the most powerful of which are a 220-280-hp supercharged Honda four-cylinder VTEC (used in the U.K.) and a 300-hp GM Ecotec V8 (used in the U.S.). The Atom has won Autocar's 0-100-0 challenge three times, most recently on August 30, 2008, in 11.5 seconds. The Atom's strengths are its acceleration and handling. It tops out at about 140 mph, which isn't terribly impressive within its class, but it can also get from 0 to 60 in less than 3 seconds. Its suspension features two double unequal length wishbones and hand-adjustable dampers for the suspension, springs, and wheel camber that result in race-car accurate and adjustable handling. The Atom's certainly not for everyone, but it will serve as a perfect track car for some. And while its $65,000 U.S. base price isn't cheap, it's a lot less than that of many of the cars it consistently outperforms.
0.999999	The inflation rate in Finland between 1957 and today has been 1,497.07%, which translates into a total increase of €1,497.07. This means that 100 euro in 1957 are equivalent to 1,597.07 euro in 2019. In other words, the purchasing power of €100 in 1957 equals €1,597.07 today. The average annual inflation rate has been 4.5%.
0.587664	If you notice something crawling on your floor or scurrying through the cabinets, it may be time to call a pest control service. Interestingly enough, even the cleanest of houses can become havens for all sorts of insects and rodents. Let's take a closer look at some common pests that an exterminator may encounter. 1. Ants [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PefeGmzgq1k[/embed] Ants may decide to take shelter in your home for a variety of reasons. In some cases, it is because they have found a source of food such as sugar spilled on the kitchen floor. In others, it is because they have found a warm spot in the walls where they can hibernate during the winter. Carpenter ants can be especially destructive, so make sure to call a pest exterminator if you see signs of them in your home. 2. Wasps [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFrXF-v8ocA[/embed] During the summer months, wasps like to build nests under your roof, in your attic or any other place where they are safe from predators. Unlike bees that only have the ability to sting once, a wasp may sting multiple times. Those who are allergic to their stings could suffer severe injury or die from just one prick from this flying invader. One way to get rid of wasps is to spray chemicals directly into their nest or knock it down when they are gone during the day. 3. Mice [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOwinLWrEIw[/embed] If you see a single mouse in your home, it is likely that there are more hiding within the walls or just outside of the house. One way to reduce the odds of seeing them in your home is to keep your grass as short as possible during the year. This is because mice like to hide in tall grasses before making their way into your warm home. Since this creature can multiply quickly once it establishes a niche in your house, you should call a pest extermination company quickly. 4. Rats [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5oIuMNO-Q8[/embed] A rat is generally thought of as a larger type of mouse. While they are related in some ways, rats are generally more aggressive and will bite if provoked. Rat bites can cause infections that can lead to pain or other health problems. They also like to bite cats, dogs or other animals that they come across, which could lead to large vet bills even if you are left alone. Like a mouse, a rat colony can expand quickly, which makes getting rid of one as soon as possible your top priority. 5. Cockroaches [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU9oOCYPros[/embed] Cockroaches have been around for millions of years because of their ability to adapt to almost any environment. Once they have invaded your property, it may be necessary to fumigate the entire premises multiple times to properly deal with the infestation. In extreme cases, you may need to bulldoze your home and rebuild it somewhere else. Even if your home can be saved, cockroaches can cause significant damage as well as spread diseases. Unlike termites that tend to live in walls and underneath the ground, cockroaches will make their presence known, which may make it easier to identify the problem and call for help quickly. If you are dealing with a pest problem in your home, do not hesitate to call for help immediately. A trained professional may be able to diagnose the cause of the problem and take steps to put an end to it as quickly as possible. This may make it possible to enjoy your home again free from the fear of getting hurt or sick by invading insects or rodents. The Reliable Pest Control website is a useful reference for more information. When you are downsizing to a smaller home or apartment, engaging in a renovation project or getting your home ready to sell, a storage center is a great idea. Putting your extra belongings into self storage provides you with more space and a tidier living environment. Consider these four tips for packing up your hobby supplies and putting them into nearby storage units. 1. Protect Fibers from Insects It is important to protect fibers from insects such as carpet beetles and moths. If you will not be accessing your storage units for a while, consider washing and drying your fabrics and then sealing them in a vacuum-sealed bag. The vacuum sealing process removes the air that the insects would need in order to hatch or develop into larvae. If you are putting yarn into storage, use vacuum-sealing bags. They compress the skeins or hanks of yarn, which will also help you to maximize your storage space. 2. Seal Organic Materials from Insects and Rodents Fabric and yarn are not the only organic materials that are interesting to insects and rodents. They will also go after cardboard, paper, stickers, canvas and other materials. There are many home remedies for discouraging insects and rodents from accessing these materials. Moth balls are a good deterrent. Vacuum-sealed bags are another good choice. Keep in mind that rodents can chew through plastic, so you will need more than one type of barrier. 3. Remove Moisture from Papers and Fabrics Even a low level of moisture could cause your scrapbook, card making, sewing and quilting supplies to grow mold or develop a musty smell while they are stored. If possible, pack them with silica gel packets. The silica gel absorbs moisture from small, enclosed spaces. The papers or fabrics should also be sealed so that no new moisture can get into the box or bin where they are stored. 4. Drain or Dispose of Any Combustible or Pressurized Fluids If you have leftover paint thinners, mineral spirits, glues, spray paints or other products that are under pressure or combustible, do not store them in self storage centers. Even in a climate-controlled unit, these products could burst, damaging the things that you have stored. It is best to dispose of such products safely at a specialized hazardous waste collection center. These products often have a short shelf life anyway, and would be unlikely to be in a usable condition after they have been stored for many months or years. Similar items, such as oil or water-based paints, oil pastels or embossing powders may also not store well for more than 6 to 12 months. For more information, there are some helpful resources on the Storage City website. The term “best” means many things to many people. Best in terms of finding a good landscaping company may mean the company’s ability to create awe-striking landscape design. The term best could also refer to the landscaping company that offers the lowest pricing without compromising quality. The following are some tips that can help to ensure that you get the most reliable landscaping company. Sort out Your Budget The first step in the process is sorting out your budget. It makes no sense to try to hire a landscaping company if you cannot afford its services. For that reason, you’ll want to come up with a solid figure that you will not surpass when it comes to hiring a landcaper. The amount is up to you, and it depends on your obligations. Decide What You Want to Do What is your main goal in hiring a landscaping company? Do you want a clean yard, or do you want to dazzle every person who bats an eye toward your establishment? Is this for a personal home or a business? Knowing what you want to achieve by doing business with this company will help you to establish which company would work best for you. You can use a small contractor if you only want to take care of one home. You may want to move on to a highly professional establishment if you own a business, however. What Services Do You Need? What service do you need from the company? Your answer will determine which company that you feel is the best. Do you need tree removal, hedge trimming, grass cutting, installation, sprinkling work or something additional? Some landscaping companies may offer bundles of the services that you need. You won’t know which one is “best" for you in that aspect unless you first write down what you need. Ask for Referrals Ask your family members, friends, acquaintances and other businesses for referrals to some amazing companies. They may be able to tell you who they used and then you can skip the lengthy process of searching for the best. The work will be right in front of you, and you will have the approval of someone that you know and trust. Check Accolades and Certifications When you get hold of a number to a provider, you will want to check the accolades, certifications and work. Many prospects will provide you with samples of their work so you can see what you are getting in the project. See if the companies that you are considering have satisfaction guarantees so that you can ensure that the work turns out the way you want it. Follow those tips, and you should be able to come up with a provider that can do some magnificent work for you. Learn more information at Royal Decks or speak with one of their experts if you have any questions. Losing your keys after locking your car or actually locking your keys in your car can be embarrassing and scary. If your child, pet or some important item is in there, you may only have a limited amount of time to get back into your vehicle. This is why calling a locksmith is your best option when you can't get into your vehicle on your own. Get Emergency Service Day or Night Emergencies don't keep normal business hours and neither do you. Therefore, a locksmith will come to you day or night whenever you need help. They may also be available on weekends and on holidays to ensure that you get the service you need when you need it. In most cases, they can arrive within 30 to 45 minutes of your call. Response times may be even lower during slow periods. You may also have the option of scheduling service for the next morning or during a weekday if you won't need your vehicle overnight or during the weekend. Some locksmiths also allow you to schedule appointments where service is rendered whether or not you are actually by your car. This may be beneficial if you can't stay home from work or if your key is locked in your car in your employer's parking lot. How Can Locksmiths Help You? Locksmiths can provide a number of services to help you get back into your locked car. First, it may be possible to jimmy the door open by pushing a slim rod through the space between the driver's side window and the top of the car frame. Once inside, it may be possible to pop the lock and open the door. If this is not working, it may be possible for a new key to be cut on the spot. What Happens If You Need a New Key? Your locksmith will use a blank key template to laser cut one that works in your vehicle. This may take a couple of hours to complete, but it may also be possible to have multiple keys cut at once, which can be beneficial if you ever lose your key or lock it in your car again. In most cases, a professional locksmith will charge much less than a car dealership will for a new car key. If you can't get into your car, you may not make it to work on time, make it to school on time or be able to get your kids where they need to go. That can cause a serious interruption to your life. The good news is that locksmiths can be there for you whenever you need them to unlock your car and help you get back to your life. Check out the Lock-Up Services Inc website if you want to learn more. All over the world people are discovering the joys of home gardening and landscaping and in the process, discovering that this hobby requires a lot of accessories. Accessories in the form of seed, fertilizer, irrigation systems, and of course, tools. Gardening tools for home use are becoming increasingly varied, sophisticated, and expensive. Owners as a result want to store these tools so that they are protected and easy to access. Fortunately, garden sheds are a great option to store your gardening supplies. Storage Sheds To The Rescue In days gone by, this type of shed was an unattractive metal depository for old tires and drying out cans of paint. But today's storage sheds are attractive, versatile, and work very well as storage for gardening tools. Four arguments against storing tools in this way are that these sheds are too large, too difficult to assemble, too expensive, and too unattractive to have on display in a yard. But sheds designed specifically for gardening purposes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from small, chest like containers, to structures that resemble car garages, to sheds that look like miniature cottages, complete with porches and shutters. Prices are dependent on shed size and structure materials, which range from metal to plastic to wood or resin. Gardeners should expect to pay anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars for a quality garden shed. The Secret Behind The Best Garden Sheds The secret is an easily solved one. It requires gardeners to think carefully about what exactly they'll be using this shed for before tracking down and purchasing one. Will you be simply be keeping rakes and a lawn mower in there? Do you expect to be storing live plants in there? Doing potting? Making the shed one of the landscape features of your property? Knowing this before purchase and installation can save both time and aggravation. Other homework to complete before going to the home improvement store or garden centre: total square footage of interior space that you'll require,and whether or not you plan to utilize the shed's walls for storage. If so, are you contemplating hooks or shelves? Other Considerations Depending on how you'll use this shed, you may want to put it in a location that has access to electricity, water, and phone or internet capability. Any living things spending much time in this shed will require ventilation. And given the value and potential toxicity of what you might be storing here, good door and window locks are probably in order. It may seem like a lot of advance work and consideration for a shed. But remember that you plan to use this shed for years. Like all other aspects of your garden, you will find this advance planning worth it. When it comes time to complete a long distance move, not just any movers will do. You will need a professional who is willing to drive hundreds of miles safely with your possessions. What steps will you need to take before and during your long distance move to ensure that it goes smoothly? Step 1- Find a Moving Company that Specializes in Long Distance Moves The first thing that you need to do is find a mover that is willing to drive as long as it takes to get you settled in your new place. When you contact that company, you should ask how much it will cost as there may be additional fees for gas, possible overnight accommodations and other costs that may not be incurred during a local move. Step 2- Make Sure Your Long Distance Movers Have Insurance It is critical that you find a moving company that has insurance and is willing to guarantee that your things will be transported safely. In addition to items getting broken, you could also encounter a situation where your goods are stolen or misplaced during the move. Therefore, you want to make sure that someone will cover the cost for you. Step 3- Prepare As Much as Possible Ahead of Time The less time it takes to complete the move, the less that you will have to pay to go through with it. To cut down on moving time, you may want to pack items ahead of time and put smaller items in your car. Doing so enables you to use a smaller truck as well as spend less time loading and unloading everything. It is also a good idea to get your keys ahead of time if possible to ensure that you can get in and start unloading right away. Step 4- Figure Out Who is Driving the Truck If you have your own vehicle that you have to transport to your destination, you may want to let one of the movers drive the moving van or truck. If you don't have a vehicle, you may want to offer to drive the truck yourself as you are the one who knows where you are going and are the one who needs a ride the most. If your looking at a long distance move, you need to go about it the right way to save time and money. Working with a qualified moving company, preparing ahead of time and making sure that everyone knows where they are going are the best ways to accomplish that goal. Yes, it happens to the best of homeowners. At sometime in the future, you'll have to go through the experience of a roofing Toronto job: either replacing and installing a new roof or have a roofing repair job done. And when that time comes, your next question is, "Should I use shingles or have fa metal roof installed?" Our article below covers the positives and negatives as expressed by many Canadian roofing contractors. Price wise, geographic factors and trends are not necessarily the same from one locality to another, so let's start with what dictates whether you'll need a roof repair or a total roofing installation. Asphalt Roofing Repair Without a doubt, roofers, and common sense as well, tell you that an asphalt shingle roof can be repaired--up to a certain point. Easier and less expensive than a metal roof, this is the way to go if there's only a minor roof repair needed such as having just a few tiles to replace or repair. That being said, some provinces and territories in Canada mandate that roofing jobs be warranted for 50 longevity; in reality, entire asphalt roofs typically may last for half that time. However, they do stand up to most adverse weather conditions and go well with any home design or color choice. Metal Roofs: The Pros Outweigh The Cons Today, there is a real trend by roofing contractors to encourage quality metal roofs, and simply go "green." Many roofers claim that a metal roof can be expected to easily have more than 50 years of longevity, if not more. Energy-wise, a 1995 study clearly showed that Canadians having metal roofs saved up to 20 percent on their energy bills as compared to other kinds of roofing. Moreover, a good quality metal roof is truly the best choice for standing up to even the most severe of weather conditions for the longest number of years. In addition to being fire resistant, having a house with a metal roof and metal sidings obviously prevents insects like termites having feeding frenzies at your expense. They can also be easily maintained at low-cost and are especially excellent for regions subject to severe snowfall, sleet, frost, rain and wind. In addition, sidings that are metal don't absorb humidity or encourage the growth of mold. Unfortunately, costs that typically run two, three, or even four times more than asphalts, give homeowners reason to hesitate having them installed. There are other factors as well to give homeowners food for thought. Working around an existing eavestrough is a daunting experience. After a snow avalanche, the snow can easily rip off the eavestrough and/or damage it severely. While some asphalt roofs have been known to last longer than a 25-year span, sometimes from 30 to 40 years, if you can budget for a metal roof, then do so. Whether it is tin, aluminum, galvanized steel or copper you decide on, the extra upfront expense may prove more cost-effective in the long run. It's impossible to stress the importance windows and doors have to a building's curb appeal, especially if that building is a home. Windows that are narrow, small or hard to see or doors that are hidden or in place they're not expected must be compensated for by some interesting architectural structure that lets the visitor know that the building is a place of human habitation and not a storage facility. It's been a long time since widows and doors were simply openings in a building to let in air and light, let out smoke and keep out intruders. Doors The door should hint at the personality of the household and echo something of the house's overall decor. When it comes to style, the two main types of doors are paneled and smooth surfaced. Both can have windows or other decorative features. Paneled doors are more often seen with traditional houses. Doors can be made out of a solid material like wood or steel or can have a hollow core. Dutch doors, which are divided into two halves that open separately, are not as strong as solid doors and are best used at the back of the house as a patio or backyard entryway. Doors called French windows, which have multiple panes of glass, are gracious doors that open to garden rooms, patios or different areas inside the house. Sliding or barn doors are also good solutions for interior doors, as are folding doors, which have a middle hinge to save space. Accordion doors are made of pleated fabric and are good to place over closets. Windows There are more types of windows than doors but the type of window and where it is placed in a house is even more important, for the amount of light that comes into the building, the style of the building and for safety. Indeed there are local codes that control the size and the type of window that can be placed, say, in the basement. Energy bills also come into consideration, so nowadays most windows have an arrangement of insulating glass panes. Types of windows include casement windows that open in or out, double-hung sash windows, large and elegant bay/bow windows or jalousies with glass louvers that open and close. When To Replace Windows Window replacement should be considered when the frames start to rot because water has penetrated them and if the homeowner sees condensation between panes of insulated glass. If the house was built before the 1980s, the homeowner should have an expert come in and check to see if the window frame contains either lead paint or asbestos before it is taken out. Of course, some homeowners simply replace old windows because they want a new look, but they should be prepared to pay for it! Plumbing emergencies can occur at any time and when they do, it is important to be able to rely on a credible plumber. A professional plumbing expert who possesses the appropriate licenses and credentials will be able to provide you with a wide array of services and repair options. The education and experience of a plumbing professional gives them the ability to work with plumbing fixtures, sinks, water heaters, backed up sewer systems, drain pipes, and toilets. Credible plumbing professionals will also be able to troubleshoot many different types of plumbing problems and will have the tools and expertise to perform the appropriate repair after diagnosing the problem. Hiring a licensed plumber will help you to ensure the job is performed up to code and safely. When looking for a professional to handle your plumbing problems, it is critical to understand the importance of licensing. In many states, plumbers are required to be licensed. Required course work or an apprenticeship must be completed in order to obtain a license. As part of their training, plumbing trainees will learn about building codes and state laws. Professional and credible plumbing specialists will also be educated about the most up-to-date techniques and services. This includes the provision of plumbing services that are environmentally safe. Specific plumbing products that are safe for the environment, people, and pets can be used. This includes drain cleaners that are non-toxic. Advanced technology and techniques, including video inspection devices, can make it much easier for drain lines to be assessed for damage and cleanliness. This type of system can also be used to provide clients with a view of the completed work. If you are not already acquainted with a licensed plumbing specialist in your local area, there are many different ways you can find a professional. One option is to ask family, neighbors, and friends for recommendations. Advanced technology and social media have now made it much easier to ask your acquaintances for recommendations. You can also search online ratings and reviews to assist you in your search. Keep in mind that a business license and a state-issued plumbing license are not the same thing. All businesses are required to have a business license in the area where they conduct business. A business license do not provide certification that the contractor is able to work legally in the plumbing industry. When hiring a credible plumbing specialist, it is always important to ask contractors to show you both their plumbing license and their business license prior to making a decision. It is also a good idea to consult your local Better Business Bureau to obtain information about anyone you consider hiring. Choose a professional who has a reputation for being reliable and honest. Hiring a credible plumbing professional to handle issues with your home’s plumbing system is not something that should be left to chance. By hiring a reliable and professional , you can often prevent further problems in the future while remaining assured that the job is done right the first time. Security cameras have come a long way in the protection of businesses. There are so many type of cameras available with a multitude of options. Because of the array of surveillance camera systems to choose from, they are found in just about every business around. With the use of technologies such as smart phones and tablets, a business owner can run and view their security cameras from anywhere at anytime. Being able to easily monitor the activities in a business can help thwart off many illegal activities. There are many other benefits to having a security camera set up in a business. Prevention of Theft and Illegal Activities This is one of the biggest benefits of having surveillance systems on a business' premises. Many thieves, burglars and other criminals will shy away from doing any acts if they know that they could be caught on camera. Cameras are a great deterrent for illegal actions. The cameras record twenty-four hours a day to capture any suspicious activity. If a business does have a break-in or a theft, the footage from the surveillance system can be given to local law enforcement to help catch them or to use as evidence in the event of a trial. Reduces Liability Many criminals and even employees are looking to make false claims against a company in order to sue and get paid settlements. Having video cameras throughout a business is a great deterrence against such acts. If a business does not have video evidence to defend themselves, those criminals have a good chance of getting what they want financially. To divert employees from reporting incidences outside the view of cameras, you should add covert cameras in other locations so that no employee knows if or when they are being recorded. Offers Peace of Mind Not only will video cameras offer peace of mind for the business owners and employees, but they also offer peace of mind for customers. Customers feel more at ease knowing that they are being monitored in case of an incident. Surveillance is an easy and simple way to offer a safe and secure environment for both employees and customers alike. Another way that cameras can offer peace of mind is by protecting intellectual property. Many competitors are capable of doing many things in order to know your company's secrets. Increases Productivity Another great reason why it is beneficial to have surveillance in your business is to keep an eye on your employees. When they know they are being recorded and constantly watched, they are generally more productive. Cameras can keep employees on their best behaviors when the managers and owners are not around. Once a business installs security cameras in their buildings and they begin to realize all of the benefits they provide, they will not know how they lived without them. In addition to catching or deterring criminals, they can also offer protection of your assets, create a safer environment for your workers and customers and they enable you to effectively monitor your business at all times. Buying a home is one of the biggest investments anyone will make in their lifetime and thus one of the most stressful ones as well. Aside from the high cost of the investment, the fact that a new house is the place you'll spend the next 10 or more years calling home means buyers should search for the most value their money can buy. Home Evaluation How is value determined? Home appraisals, or home evaluations, are an important step in buying or selling a home. For the buyer, the bank financing the purchase performs an evaluation to determine the monetary value of the home and thus whether or not the requested loan amount is a good investment. A bad evaluation can be the difference between a buyer securing the financing to complete the purchase and having to walk away from a sale. On the flip side, current homeowners, prior to selling, will usually request an independent evaluation of their own to determine the value of their property as well as what repairs or renovations can be done to increase the estimate. Particularly if you're selling a property for which a mortgage is still owed, underselling a home is always a bad financial decision. In today's connected world, social media is a great tool for sorting through appraisers to find the best person for the job. What's Involved with a Home Evaluation? It should be noted that a home evaluation is not the same as a home inspection. The latter is a structural examination of the property to determine whether any repairs are needed or if any safety issues exist. A home evaluation deals primarily with the surface aspects of the home such as appearance or the quality of the neighborhood. Nevertheless, since a home evaluation deals primarily with "first impressions," it's helpful to know what the process entails so that sellers can improve the value of their property and buyers can be informed. Curb Appeal and Yard Maintenance Whether it's a lack of time, money or the manpower to do the work, many homeowners adopt the habit of neglecting the outside of their home. Overgrown grass, weeds growing between cracks in the sidewalk, broken porch steps and damaged siding are but a few examples of what will lead prospective buyers to drive past a home and the owner to sustain a property devaluation. A neglected exterior may also signify to a prospective buyer that a yard's size is too big to manage. Structural Appearance While a home evaluation does not look closely at the structural integrity of the property, it's possible to judge the condition of the roof, signs of leakage around window frames and the quality of the siding just by walking around the exterior of the home. Touching up the exterior paint or spending a few thousand dollars to add a second layer of roof shingles will increase the value of a home. Interior Design How a home is decorated will greatly influence the evaluator's opinion. This is known as home staging. An open floor plan with modern furniture, bright colors to lighten the space and decluttered rooms all add value to a home. The key is to remove any reminder that a family already lives there and instead create a magazine-esque look that anyone can envision as their own. Renovations and Updated Appliances Renovated kitchens with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are a perfect example of how investing $5,000 in updating your home will add $15,000 to the property's value. Features like these are also what prospective buyers are looking for because no one wants to spend additional money on renovations after buying a new home. Competition is fierce in a housing market still reeling from the collapse of 2008. Buyers are out there and eager to find a new neighborhood, but they have plenty of options and many houses are selling at desperate prices. In order to generate interest and get the best possible price for your house, you will need to make it stand out. These are the five easiest and most effective ways to boost your home's value and improve your odds of making a quick sale. Remove Personal Touches Buyers want to imagine their new home full of their own personal belongings and ready to make some memories. They don't want to see family portraits, knick-knacks and your child's macaroni artwork. When in doubt, model your house after a catalog: clean, spacious and a little bland. Perform a deep cleaning within every room, and use that time as an opportunity to remove clutter and anything that will remind buyers of another family's presence. By the time you start showing, your house should be a blank canvas. Add a Fresh Coat of Paint Nothing spruces up a house like new paint. Years of use and exposure to the elements will wear out even the most durable paints, and you may not have noticed the gradual fading and accumulation of dirt. Buyers will, however, and see it as just another renovation that must be done before they can enjoy their new residence. On the other hand, bright, fresh paint instantly increases a house's appeal. Use attractive, neutral colors that will complement most furniture and not turn off prospective purchasers. Landscape People love spending time outside, and an overgrown or boring yard is unlikely to win your home any fans. Even if you have already moved out, stop by or hire someone to keep the lawn mowed and weeds pulled. Adding flower beds, trees and ornamental bushes adds to your maintenance costs, but they also improve your house's first impression on buyers. If done properly, a little landscaping can add thousands of dollars to your sale price. Get Rid of Old Carpeting Much like dingy paint, old carpeting is one of the fastest ways to decrease a home's value. Carpets hold smells and stains for years, trap dirt and are out of style. If you are having a hard time selling your home, installing hardwood flooring and tiles in several rooms may prove to be a profitable investment. Otherwise, determine which floors are the worst and swap them out with new carpeting to give the entire house a face-lift. Update Bathrooms and the Kitchen The home renovations with the highest ROI are bathroom and kitchen updates. Upgrading to modern appliances and technology can bring a home into the 21st century and make buyers forget that they are purchasing used. Refurbished cabinets and counter-tops are the bare minimum, but the real value comes with new toilets, sinks, refrigerators and stoves. Do what you can afford, and you may find families lining up to make an offer on a home that had previously been stagnant on the market. A longing to make the busiest room in the home function and look better has made bathroom renovations the most popular home remodeling projects that homeowners undertake. Bathroom renovations account for nearly 30 percent of home improvement projects. Prioritizing design goals helps homeowners get the job done right. Some people simply want the bathroom to work more efficiently, with more storage and with fixtures that are more efficient. Others want features that make the room function as a home spa. Most want a bathroom that looks and feels up-to-date. Too often, bathrooms become dated, trapped in a time capsule. While mid-century bathrooms can have a retro charm, it’s a style that doesn’t always gel with the style of the rest of the home or with the homeowner’s personal taste. Setting Priorities Before contacting contractors, before shopping for products or even before sketching out the first layout, homeowners need to set clear design goals. It’s not only important to decide upon a decorative style for the busy room, but to determine the desired mood and atmosphere of the space. Creating an environment that suits the lifestyles of those who inhabit the space is the best guarantee for a successful bathroom renovation. Whether it’s a sleek, modern room with an invigorating energy that helps people get up and get out the door on time in the morning, or whether it’s a warm and serene environment that helps people relax and unwind at the end of a busy day, designing for an atmosphere that enhances personal lifestyles helps ensure that the bathroom renovation will be worthwhile. Planning and Preparation One of the most pleasurable aspects of bathroom renovations is creating a wish list for the project. Collecting pictures of products, materials and decorative styles that are personally appealing into an idea folder is a good way to start. A scaled drawing of the existing bathroom, illustrating both the location of windows and doors as well as utility lines and outlets helps set design parameters. Some homeowners will choose to consult with a designer or architect to create a tentative floor plan. Others may prefer to layout the space themselves, either by drawing plans or by using 3-D software. Choosing a Contractor The most important decision of all when undertaking a bathroom renovation is choosing the contractor. It’s a decision that should never be rushed. Engaging a contractor and planning for the project typically takes longer than the renovation itself. It’s important to get estimates from several contractors. Homeowners should ask for references, both from clients and from suppliers, and should take the time to follow up with them, visiting completed projects whenever possible. Before signing a contract, homeowners will want to ensure that they understand the time-frame and work schedules for the renovation, the payment schedule and they types of payment that are accepted. A quality renovation will not only raise a home’s resale value, but will enhance the quality of life at home.
0.999831	Add and Subtract A fun forum game for everyone. If you're bored here in the forums let's have some fun playing this game. Let's Go! How to play? 1. Let us have two teams, TEAM ADD and TEAM SUBTRACT. 2. We will start at 500.. The role of Team ADD is to add (+) 2 to the current number to reach 1000 from 500.. 3. Team SUBTRACT, will minus (-) 2 to the current number until it reaches zero (0) from 500. 4. The first group that reaches the goal will earn 1 point. 5. So we should always look at the number above us to know what to add/subtract 6. When your team reaches 1000 or 0, please tag me @RayB / @angelangie and put in the current score of both teams so I can update the scoreboard. How to know what your group is: TEAM SUBTRACT MEMBERS: - All registered users in the forum with their names starting with: A, B, E, F, I, J, M, N, Q, R, U, V, Y and forum names starting with numbers TEAM ADD MEMBERS: - All registered users in the forum with their names starting with: C, D , G , H , K , L , O , P , S , T , W , X, Z, and forum names starting with SYMBOLS. By default, I belong to team SUBTRACT because my name is RayAmbler7 starting with 'R' RULES: 1. All forum rules should be followed 2. Because we are sure that this game will be a long one, we should prevent heat discussions and fights while playing the Add and Subtract game 3. NO DOUBLE POSTING (Wait for someone to post after you before you can post again) 4. Follow Rules 1 to 3 ---------------------- SAMPLE: Danny: 500+2= 502 Joseph: 502-2= 500 Oscar: 500+2= 502 etc.. ---------------------- So let me start the game. 498 go!
0.982578	A lot of research in astrobiology is directed toward the question of how life can, and did, arise given a certain set of conditions, in an attempt to shed light on how likely it is that it might have happened elsewhere in the Universe. Another area, somewhat less well represented, is the study of how these conditions are created in the first place. That is: what physical mechanisms must conspire for the formation and stable existence of a habitable planet such that chemical and biological can take over and cause life to be created? With an ever-increasing number of observed exoplanets, theorists are working hard to construct models that can explain the systems that we observe and ultimately provide data on their expected abundance in the Universe and their long-term stability. This often involves working with fundamental physics such as gravitation or fluid flow, in the context of a young solar system. Due to the fundamentally insoluble nature of any complex interaction between more than two bodies under gravity, the majority of research into the evolution of such systems takes the form of computational simulations. This book is presented as a series of review papers, broadly providing a summary of the current (published 2010) state of research into extra-solar planets. It begins with two chapters on observations, discussing the various methods and their inherent observational biases. This provides the background for later discussions on theories that inevitably measure their success by their agreement with observation. Chapter three provides a summary of resonant interactions between bodies in a solar system. The next three chapters summarise the methods by which planets are believed to form and describes the computer models used to simulate this, along with results. In these chapters, space is devoted to discussing both the core-accretion model and the disc-instability model, as well as the specific (and astrobiologically relevant) case of the formation of terrestrial planets. From there, chapters are devoted to the formation of brown dwarfs and how these are distinct from giant planets, the chemical composition of exoplanets (again, relevant to astrobiological research) and the mechanisms by which giant planets are believed to migrate during the formation process. The topic of resonances between planets is revisited in detail in chapter 10, followed by a chapter on the dynamics of planet-planet scattering events. The final chapter is devoted to the concept of tides on exoplanets, with a section explicitly devoted to the habitability implications of tidally locked planets. This book is written at around postgraduate level and requires a good understanding of the background physics (such as gravitation, resonances, fluids) to get the most out of it. I would not recommend it for the casual reader, certainly not as a first port-of-call, but perhaps as a reference book for someone wanting more depth than is offered by popular science books. Similarly, it does not contain much explicit information about the astrobiological implications of the various results. For that reason, I see this as a starting point or a reference volume for anyone requiring a summary of the current state of the field. For researchers in other fields, I can certainly recommend it as a handbook to the key points of our current understanding of formation and evolution of exoplanets and as a place to find key equations, tables and explanations. As a collection of review papers, each chapter is fully referenced, with many chapters containing well over a hundred references and only one providing less than fifty. Tables of data are given wherever appropriate, with key results shown as graphs or other diagrams (sometimes in full colour). The authors (as this is a review book and not a popular science one) do not shy away from showing, discussing and solving relevant equations. While the field of extra-solar planet research is a very fast moving one, and I cannot say how long this book will remain “current” for, it certainly provides an excellent summary of the current state of the field. Given the price, I would most certainly recommend at least a perusal of a library copy of this book for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of current theories on the formation and evolution of exoplanets. While it is not specifically aimed at an astrobiological audience, its relevance to the field cannot be denied.
0.943405	Mentors and how have they assisted you in your career: I have been privileged to have many incredible mentors throughout my career. They have provided insight, guidance and advice and most important, challenged and inspired me through each stage of my career. What are you most proud of in your career achievements? Do you have a defining moment of your career to date? It has been very rewarding to be a champion for woman associates in the food industry, acting as a mentor and advisor to women on how to successfully traverse the ever changing terrain. I have been fortunate to watch many women continue to grow and achieve their goals as they find success building their careers. Most challenging part of your job: I am fortunate to be working for a company that is growing at an astounding rate year over year. While this is an exciting and rewarding time for all, it is challenging to juggle the ever changing priorities while keeping the teams focused on customer satisfaction. Advice for upcoming younger executives: Find a career you are a passionate about. Learn something new every day. Take risks without fear of making mistakes as this is how we learn. Most important of all, pay it forward when you have achieved your goals by coaching and helping to develop young women just embarking on their journey. Hobbies: Traveling, cooking and reading a good book.
0.999906	Literary invention or lived experience? More than a few apologists have noted that there is a tension between debunking explanations which appeal to sheer invention to account for stories of religious experience (perhaps in the service of some societal or political ambition) and those which accept that certain people have had what they thought were 'real' religious experiences but which try to nevertheless account for them pathologically, most often today using neuroscience. It seems that in skeptical circles the balance between the two is tipping more towards the invention end of the spectrum, and it is not hard to fathom why: human experience is notoriously tricky to judge as 'genuine' or 'false'. Even if there is confidence in naturalistic explanations of religious experiences, having to accept even the possibility that they are nonetheless genuine would probably put more of a burden of proof on the skeptic than she would like to bear. It seems much easier to explain away the Resurrection encounters, for example, as literary fictions drawn by imitation from other religious texts (and where did the encounters in those texts come from, one wonders?) than to try to explain naturalistically how two disciples in Emmaus broke bread with their risen Lord who then vanished from their sight. In any case, Robin Lane Fox has some comments specifically on the Resurrection narratives which are worth pondering: "In the pagan world, visions of a person soon after death were not uncommon...Christians, however, advanced the extreme claim that the object of their visions had risen physically from the dead...These [resurrection] stories were very explicit and had no pagan counterpart." (pp.377-378) To be sure, Lane Fox accepts the possibility that they were deliberate fictions designed to counter skepticism that the apostles had just seen another ghost from the grave. Concerning Matthew's observation that even after the appearances some of the disciples doubted, he asks: "is this unexpected note of doubt historical, or was it contrived to answer the charge that the beholders had been convinced too easily?" (ibid.) It might be interesting to compare the charges levelled against the Christians which we find in the apologists and the pagan criticisms which have survived with the charges which the Gospel stories are supposed to be countering. If they match up well, we might have more reason for suspecting apologetic shaping of the narratives. But if the criticisms were largely different, what reason have we to assume that the Gospel stories are necessarily polemical? This is not to say that Lane Fox believes that the Resurrection experiences or Hermas' visions were actually of the risen Lord and heaven respectively. In fact he would deny both, since he is an atheist. The point here is simply that he is uncomfortable with the tendency to ascribe to literary invention what is best explained in terms of personal experience, however the latter is accounted for (as he also shows with respect to stories in the Acts of the Apostles: "[a]lthough Acts' author has been given some odd disguises, none is odder than that of a man who knew fragments of Ovid and their Greek sources and distorted them to suit his picture of St. Paul." p.100, in reference to Acts 14:8-18). I would have to agree. I think there is something cowardly and even misanthropic about stamping 'invention' on any unusual experience which would otherwise be rather hard to explain (or explain away). I would even say this with reference to alleged religious experience which I find challenging, like Joseph Smith's visions of the Father and the Son or the angel Moroni. I would not call it 'invented' or Joseph Smith a liar unless I had darn good reason to (I may reject the veridicality of these experiences on other grounds, though, such as the conviction based on good historical and philosophical arguments that the mainstream Church is not in apostasy or that God was not once flesh and blood like we are). This is not to say that concocting of tall tales does not happen or that such stories are not later embellished or that it is always easy to tell the difference between real lived experience and derivative invention. But I am prepared to give the benefit of the doubt to those who say they have had such experience, if otherwise I know them to be trustworthy (I would be more than a little suspicious of someone who claimed to have seen an angel with a personal message for me and then said, "Now all I need is your credit card number"). And I certainly do so with respect to the Resurrection narratives, which as far as I can tell are some of the most compelling accounts of religious experience there are, and well able to support the believing trust placed in them by the sincere Christian. I completely agree that the sceptical strategy of labelling dramatic examples of religous experience as 'inventions' is rather cowardly and even misanthropic. One of the reasons that I take such experiences seriously is that some examples are so clearly unnatural that rejecting them practically has to mean accusing the witnesses of lying, even when there is no reason to doubt their sincerity apart from the extraordinary character of their experiences. It remains tempting to identify certain oddities in the other people's experiences as "debunking characteristics". Lane Fox's remark about that caught my attention: "Visions, however, are not 'fictitious' because their draw on their seers own learning…The contrast between traditional imagery and 'original' truth is misplaced." This reminds me of (then) Cardinal Ratzinger's commentary on the so-called "Third Secret" associated to the Marian apparitions at Fatima, where he suggests that the imagery of the vision had been influenced by things the children had seen in prayer books, and emphasises that revelation is never perceived directly but always through the filter of one's own state of mind. That means that determining whether a religious experience is really from `outside' is often a subtle matter. Recently I came across the passage of Acts 14:8-20, where Paul is stoned, presumed dead, and yet survives. The interesting thing about this passage is the close parallel between Paul and Christ. Both have healings that are similar. Both won over crowds, only to have those same crowds turn on them. But then the parallel abruptly breaks off. Paul is stoned, but presumed dead. He turns out ok. Paul doesn't claim to die (2 Cor 11:25), nor is it presented as such in this passage. If there was ever a time to "enhance" or "invent" or "fudge the facts" it would be here. It would have been easy for Paul, or another disciple, or the author, or a later copyist, to claim that Paul had died, and also rose from the dead, just like Christ. After all, it would fit in the context of the passage. And yet, this claim is not made. Why is this important? Personally, I think this just adds to the overall case of the trustworthiness of the witnesses at the time. That's an interesting observation, Midacamp, and leads into another rather interesting question with respect to the 'Jesus myth' thesis: it must account for why these 'mythical' stories of Resurrection, etc. coalesced around someone named 'Jesus' and not someone else who was arguably more important to the early Christians: why not Paul, for that matter? Or Peter or James? Over time we see a consistent refusal to attribute to anyone else the character, deeds and exaltation of Jesus Christ, though legends certainly sprang up around saints and apostles aplenty. Why not have multiple savior gods who rose from the dead? Is Christianity Rebounding in Europe? Supreme Court Moves to the Right?
0.984532	What's happened to the Sun? Sometimes it looks like the Sun is being viewed through a large lens. In this case, however, there are actually millions of lenses: ice crystals. As water freezes in the upper atmosphere, small, flat, six-sided, ice crystals might be formed. As these crystals flutter to the ground, much time is spent with their faces flat, parallel to the ground. An observer may pass through the same plane as many of the falling ice crystals near sunrise or sunset. During this alignment, each crystal can act like a miniature lens, refracting sunlight into our view and creating phenomena like parhelia, the technical term for sundogs. This image was taken in 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden. Visible in the image center is the Sun, while two bright sundogs glow prominently from both the left and the right. Also visible is the bright 22 degree halo -- as well as the rarer and much fainter 46 degree halo -- also created by sunlight reflecting off of atmospheric ice crystals.
0.95137	Collusion and fake ringtones: This week in cellular carriers that are up to no good. Government agencies are going in on cellular carriers for being shady. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into AT&T, Verizon, and GSMA, a mobile networks trade standards organization, according to the New York Times. The three companies may have collaborated to make it harder for customers to switch wireless carriers. A new technology called eSIM, or electronic SIM, which is being promoted as a new standard by the GSMA, allows customers to more easily move their phones between different carriers. With eSIM, you wouldn’t need a new, physical SIM card to move between AT&T and Verizon, for example. A traditional SIM card and SIM tray. AT&T and Verizon allegedly worked with GSMA to lock eSIM devices to their respective networks. The Justice Department investigation was opened about five months ago after device makers filed a formal complaint with the Department of Justice regarding the switching issues, Bloomberg reported. The iPad ESIM only works fully with switching between Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S.. Sign up for AT&T and you're locked in, Verizon doesn't support it at all. It's a bad experience for consumers who just want to switch whenever. That's a problem. In an emailed statement, an AT&T spokesperson wrote: "Along with other GSMA members, we have provided information to the government in response to their requests and will continue to work proactively within GSMA, including with those who might disagree with the proposed standards, to move this issue forward." The AT&T/Verizon/GSMA collusion drama comes on the heels of a $40 million settlement the Federal Communications Commission reached with T-Mobile earlier this week, after the agency discovered the company inserted “false ring tones with respect to hundreds of millions of calls” in rural areas. An FCC investigation found many T-Mobile calls failed to reach consumers & that false ring tones were inserted into hundreds of millions of calls. That’s right. Fake! Ring! Tones! The tones made it seem like the call recipient was not available (or refused) to pick up the call, when in fact the calls had been failing. “False ring tones also create a misleading impression that a caller's service provider is not responsible if the call fails,” explains the FCC order. T-Mobile had apparently been using fake ringtones called the “Local Ring Back Tone” for a decade. The FCC prohibited the practice in January 2014. T-Mobile did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment. Just a reminder that cell carriers are up to no good and stress good people THE HECK out.
0.99211	Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of July 31, 2014 was 615,232,482. our ability to successfully enter new markets and manage our international expansion. We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments we may make. We review a number of metrics, including monthly active users, or MAUs, timeline views, timeline views per MAU and advertising revenue per timeline view, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans and make strategic decisions. See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Metrics” for a discussion of how we calculate MAUs, timeline views, timeline views per MAU and advertising revenue per timeline view. The numbers of active users and timeline views presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are based on internal company data. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring usage and user engagement across our large user base around the world. For example, there are a number of false or spam accounts in existence on our platform. We have performed an internal review of a sample of accounts and estimate that false or spam accounts represented less than 5% of our MAUs. In making this determination, we applied significant judgment, so our estimation of false or spam accounts may not accurately represent the actual number of such accounts, and the actual number of false or spam accounts could be higher than we have estimated. We are continually seeking to improve our ability to estimate the total number of spam accounts and eliminate them from the calculation of our active users. For example, we made an improvement in our spam detection capabilities in the second quarter of 2013 and suspended a large number of accounts. Spam accounts that we have identified are not included in the active user numbers presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We treat multiple accounts held by a single person or organization as multiple users for purposes of calculating our active users because we permit people and organizations to have more than one account. Additionally, some accounts used by organizations are used by many people within the organization. As such, the calculations of our active users may not accurately reflect the actual number of people or organizations using our platform. Our metrics are also affected by third-party applications that automatically contact our servers for regular updates with no user action involved, and this activity can cause our system to count the users associated with such applications as active users on the day or days such contact occurs. Historically we tracked and reported in this section all users who accessed Twitter through third-party applications. We have reviewed and refined our processes, however, to calculate a new metric that is comprised of only such active users who have used applications with the capability to automatically contact our servers for regular updates where there was no discernable user action involved. In the three months ended June 30, 2014, approximately 11% of all active users solely used third-party applications to access Twitter. However, only up to approximately 8.5% of all active users used third party applications that may have automatically contacted our servers for regular updates without any discernable additional user-initiated action. The calculations of MAUs presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may be affected as a result of automated activity. In addition, our data regarding user geographic location for purposes of reporting the geographic location of our MAUs is based on the IP address associated with the account when a user initially registered the account on Twitter. The IP address may not always accurately reflect a user’s actual location at the time such user engaged with our platform. We present and discuss timeline views in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We have estimated a small percentage of timeline views in the three months ended September 30, 2013 to account for certain timeline views that were logged incorrectly during the quarter as a result of a product update. We believe this estimate to be reasonable, but the actual numbers could differ from our estimate. Further, timeline views in 2012 exclude an immaterial number of timeline views for our mobile applications, certain of which were not fully tracked until June 2012. We present and discuss our total audience based on both internal metrics and data from Google Analytics, which measures unique visitors to our properties. We regularly review and may adjust our processes for calculating our internal metrics to improve their accuracy. Our measures of user growth and user engagement may differ from estimates published by third parties or from similarly-titled metrics of our competitors due to differences in methodology. Twitter, Inc. (“Twitter” or the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware in April 2007, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Twitter is a public platform where any user can create a Tweet and any user can follow other users. Each Tweet is limited to 140 characters of text, but can also contain rich media, including photos, videos and applications. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP). The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements and reflect, in management’s opinion, all adjustments of a normal, recurring nature that are necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods, but are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full fiscal year or any other period. The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements and these related notes should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, as well as related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ materially from the Company’s estimates. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, the Company’s financial condition or operating results will be affected. The Company bases its estimates on past experience and other assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable under the circumstances, and the Company evaluates these estimates on an ongoing basis. In July 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a new accounting standard update on the financial statement presentation of unrecognized tax benefits. The new guidance provides that a liability related to an unrecognized tax benefit would be presented as a reduction of a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss or a tax credit carryforward, if such settlement is required or expected in the event the uncertain tax position is disallowed. The Company adopted this guidance prospectively for unrecognized tax benefits as of January 1, 2014. The adoption of this guidance resulted in a $15.8 million decrease in net deferred tax assets and the related liability for unrecognized tax benefits. In May 2014, the FASB issued a new accounting standard update on revenue recognition from contracts with customers. The new guidance will replace all current U.S. GAAP guidance on this topic and eliminate all industry-specific guidance. According to the new guidance, revenue is recognized when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration for which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This guidance will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017 and can be applied either retrospectively to each period presented or as a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the date of adoption. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company has not yet selected a transition method and is evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting standard update on the financial statements and related disclosures. In June 2014, the FASB issued new accounting standard update on stock-based compensation when the terms of an award provide that a performance target could be achieved after the requisite service period. The new guidance requires that a performance target that affects vesting, and that could be achieved after the requisite service period, be treated as a performance condition. As such, the performance target should not be reflected in estimating the grant date fair value of the award. This update further clarifies that compensation cost should be recognized in the period in which it becomes probable that the performance target will be achieved and should represent the compensation cost attributable to the periods for which the requisite service has already been rendered. This guidance will be effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015 and can be applied either prospectively or retrospectively to all awards outstanding as of the beginning of the earliest annual period presented as an adjustment to opening retained earnings. Early adoption is permitted. Adoption of this new accounting standard update is expected to have no impact to the Company’s financial statements. The available-for-sale securities classified as cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated balance sheets are not included in the tables above as the gross unrealized gains and losses were immaterial for each period; their carrying value approximates fair value because of the short maturity period of these instruments. Investments are reviewed periodically to identify possible other-than-temporary impairments. No impairment loss has been recorded on the securities included in the tables above as the Company believes that the decrease in fair value of these securities is temporary and expects to recover up to (or beyond) the initial cost of investment for these securities. For each of the period presented, gross goodwill balance equaled the net balance since no impairment charges have been recorded. Amortization expense associated with other intangible assets for the three months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 was $8.1 million and $3.3 million, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 was $14.3 million and $7.2 million, respectively. In May 2014, the Company completed its acquisition of privately held Gnip, Inc. (“Gnip”), a leading provider of social data and analytics headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The acquisition is expected to allow the Company to further enhance its data analytics capabilities. Under the terms of the acquisition, the Company agreed to pay $107.3 million in cash and issue a total of 0.6 million shares of common stock including shares of restricted stock subject to continued employment in consideration of all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of Gnip. In addition, the Company agreed to issue up to 0.4 million shares of the Company’s stock as a result of assumed Gnip equity awards held by individuals, who will continue to provide services to the Company. The fair value of total consideration of $134.1 million, including the earned portion of assumed stock options and other equity awards, was preliminarily allocated to the acquired tangible and intangible assets and assumed liabilities based on their estimated fair values at closing as follows: $23.2 million to developed technology, $9.3 million to customer relationships, $9.1 million to tangible assets acquired, $5.8 million to liabilities assumed, $6.4 million to deferred tax liability recorded, and the excess $104.7 million of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired was recorded as goodwill. This goodwill is primarily attributable to the potential expansion and future development of the Company’s data products, expected synergies arising from the acquisition and the value of acquired talent. Goodwill is not expected to be deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. Both developed technology and customer relationships will be amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful life of 60 months. The discounted cash flow method, which calculates the fair value of an asset based on the value of cash flows that the asset is expected to generate in the future, was used to estimate the fair value of these intangible assets acquired. During the six months ended June 30, 2014, the Company acquired four other companies, which were accounted for as business combinations. The total purchase price of $55.5 million (paid in shares of the Company’s common stock having a total fair value of $25.1 million and cash of $30.4 million) for these acquisitions was preliminarily allocated as follows: $9.2 million to developed technologies, $1.4 million to net tangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair value on the acquisition date, $1.3 million to deferred tax liability, and the excess $46.2 million of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired to goodwill. Goodwill resulting from these acquisitions is not expected to be deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. Developed technologies was valued using the cost approach and will be amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives of 12 to 18 months. In connection with all of the acquisitions completed during the six months ended June 30, 2014, the Company also agreed to pay cash and shares of the Company’s common stock with a total fair value up to $57.8 million, which is to be paid to certain employees of the acquired entities contingent upon their continued employment with the Company. The Company recognizes compensation expense related to the cash and equity consideration over the requisite services periods of up to 48 months from the respective acquisition dates on a straight-line basis. In addition, the Company will recognize approximately $7.9 million of stock-based compensation expense in relation to these assumed stock options over the remaining requisite service periods of up to 48 months from the respective acquisition dates on a straight-line basis, excluding the fair value of the assumed stock options that was allocated and recorded as part of the purchase price for the portion of the service period completed pre-acquisition. The results of operations for each of these acquisitions have been included in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations since the date of acquisition. Pro forma revenue and results of operations for these acquisitions have not been presented because they do not have a material impact to the consolidated revenue and results of operations, either individually or in aggregate. The Company computes net loss per share of common stock in conformity with the two-class method required for participating securities. The Company considers the shares issued upon the early exercise of stock options subject to repurchase to be participating securities, because holders of such shares have non-forfeitable dividend rights in the event a dividend is paid on common stock. Prior to their conversion to common stock, the Company also considered all series of the Company’s redeemable convertible preferred stock and convertible preferred stock to be participating securities as the holders of the preferred stock were entitled to receive a noncumulative dividend on a pari passu basis in the event that a dividend was paid on common stock. The holders of all series of convertible preferred stock and the holders of early exercised shares subject to repurchase do not have a contractual obligation to share in the losses of the Company. As such, the Company’s net losses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 were not allocated to these participating securities. Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing total net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average common shares outstanding. The weighted-average common shares outstanding is adjusted for shares subject to repurchase such as unvested restricted stock granted to employees in connection with acquisitions, contingently returnable shares and escrowed shares supporting indemnification obligations that are issued in connection with acquisitions and unvested stock options exercised. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding including potential dilutive common stock instruments. In the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, the Company’s potential common stock instruments such as stock options, RSUs, shares to be issued under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), shares subject to repurchases and the warrant were not included in the computation of diluted loss per share as the effect of including these shares in the calculation would have been anti-dilutive. The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share for periods presented (in thousands, except per share data). Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote. The holders of common stock are also entitled to receive dividends whenever funds are legally available and when and if declared by the Board of Directors, subject to the prior rights of holders of all classes of stock outstanding. As of June 30, 2014, no dividends have been declared. The Company has granted restricted common stock to certain key continuing employees in connection with the acquisitions. Vesting of this stock is dependent on the respective employee’s continued employment at the Company during the requisite service period, which is generally two to four years from the issuance date, and the Company has the option to repurchase the unvested shares upon termination of employment. The fair value of the restricted common stock issued to employees is recorded as compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. During the three months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, the Company recorded $12.9 million and $7.3 million, respectively, and recorded $24.0 million and $12.5 million during the six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively, of compensation expense related to restricted common stock issued to employees. As of June 30, 2014, there was $94.4 million of unamortized stock-based compensation expense related to restricted common stock issued which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.45 years. As of June 30, 2014, the total number of RSUs outstanding under the 2013 Equity Incentive Plan was 18.2 million shares, and 82.4 million shares were available for future issuance. There were 88.7 million shares underlying options and RSUs outstanding under the 2007 Equity Incentive Plan as of June 30, 2014. No additional shares will be issued under the 2007 Equity Incentive Plan. Under the 2007 Equity Incentive Plan, RSUs granted to (i) international employees; and (ii) domestic employees prior to February 2013 (“Pre-2013 RSUs”) vest upon the satisfaction of both a service condition and a performance condition. The service condition for these awards is generally satisfied over four years. The performance condition was satisfied in February 2014 pursuant to the terms of the Company’s equity plan. An aggregate of 19.6 million shares of common stock were issued as a result of vesting and settlement of the Pre-2013 RSUs during the six months ended June 30, 2014. During the same period, the Company's employees who are not executive officers were allowed to sell a portion of vested and settled Pre-2013 RSUs in the public market to satisfy the income tax obligations related to the vesting and settlement of such awards. The proceeds from selling the shares required to satisfy the employees' minimum statutory tax obligation were withheld and remitted to the appropriate tax authorities. In addition, the Company undertook a net settlement of vested Pre-2013 RSUs held by the executive officers upon satisfaction of the performance condition in 2014 and withheld shares and remitted income tax on behalf of the applicable executive officers of $16.2 million in cash at the applicable minimum statutory rates. These shares withheld by the Company as a result of the net settlement of Pre-2013 RSUs are no longer considered issued and outstanding. RSUs granted to domestic employees starting in February 2013 (“Post-2013 RSUs”) are not subject to a performance condition in order to vest. The majority of Post-2013 RSUs vest over a service period of four years. Under the terms of the 2007 Equity Incentive Plan and the 2013 Equity Incentive Plan, the shares underlying Post-2013 RSUs that satisfy the service condition are to be delivered to holders no later than the fifteenth day of the third month following the end of the calendar year the service condition is satisfied, or if later, the end of the Company’s tax year. An aggregate of 5.1 million shares of common stock were issued as a result of vesting and settlement of the Post-2013 RSUs during the six months ended June 30, 2014. On May 15, 2014, the first purchase under the ESPP was made and employees purchased an aggregate of 957,392 shares at a price of $22.10 per share. As of June 30, 2014, 16.7 million shares were available for future issuance under the ESPP. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2014, the Company recorded $10.5 million and $16.7 million, respectively, of stock-based compensation expense related to the ESPP.
0.985912	If you are traveling by plane, you will need to find a way to get to the airport. You typically have three options: drive yourself and park at the airport, take a taxi, or have a friend drop you off. I believe the best method is to use a ride share app to get to the airport. I actually used to drive myself and park at the airport. Fortunately if you are traveling for work and expensing any costs, you don’t have to worry about parking in a far away lot and shuttling over; you can park right at the terminal. I didn’t start using Uber until after I moved cities. Since I wasn’t sure where the best parking was, I decided to try Uber for the first time, and I haven’t turned back since. Using a ride share app instead of parking at the airport will typically save you money, especially if you are commuting out of a larger airport. You may pay $20 for an Uber or Lyft, but you are typically paying $20 a day for parking. Even if you live further away from the airport, the extra cost of a ride is still beneficial. If you park at the airport, your car is at risk of having someone break into it. There is also the possibility of damage, such as someone opening their car door into yours, or someone backing into you. Your car is much safer if you can leave it parked at home. By driving yourself to the airport, you risk missing your flight. As you travel more frequently, you will start to identify the exact minute that you need to leave your house. If you are driving yourself, you risk not finding parking, or having to park further from the door. With a ride share app, you are dropped off right at the front of the terminal without the extra stress. I would not recommend depending on a family member or friend to take you to the airport. While it’s nice the first trip or two, if you are traveling frequently for work then you will likely be a burden on their schedule. Especially if you can expense your ride, don’t make someone go out of their way to drop you off or pick you up every time. A ride share is also convenient after you land. It is fast to have someone pick you up right outside baggage claim, rather than having to find your car in the parking lot. The best part is, you have the opportunity to sleep on your ride home rather than having to focus on the drive. If you are worried about not being able to find an Uber or Lyft in the morning, you also have the opportunity to schedule a ride. You will have to be ready to go within a 15 minutes window, but reserving your car ahead of time can ease the stress of having to find a ride the morning of. Only once in my life there were no cars available, however for this reason I have both apps downloaded with accounts created and ready to go. I have had success with both apps, and still recommend having both on your phone just in case. I very rarely have co-workers who park at the airport these days. Since being able to call a car is so simple, using a ride share app is the way to go. Don’t stress out about having to find parking right before your flight or driving while tired. Use a ride share app, and relax on your journey.
0.998219	To evaluate the value of computer-administered interviews and rating scales, the following topics are reviewed in the present article: (a) strengths and weaknesses of structured and unstructured assessment instruments, (b) advantages and disadvantages of computer administration, and (c) the validity and utility of computer-administered interviews and rating scales. Computer-administered evaluations are more comprehensive and reliable and less biased than evaluations routinely conducted in clinical practice. Also, the use of continuous monitoring systems, which increasingly entail the use of computer administration, has been related to improved treatment outcome. However, the use of computer-administered interviews and rating scales will sometimes lead to false positive diagnoses, and for this reason, it is recommended that computer assessment be combined with clinical judgment.
0.993769	What is the German Gommission for Justice and Peace? The German Commission for Justice and Peace assembles the Catholic institutions and organisations which work on an international level on behalf of the German Church. It includes several bishops, representatives of Zentralkomitee der Deutschen Katholiken / ZDK (Central Committee of German Catholics), leading staff members of the German Bishops' Conference, of Katholisches Büro (contact office to the Government), of the relief agencies, of Catholic organisations as well as experts on international politics. The Commission is run by the German Bishops' Conference and by ZDK.
0.999992	The World Health Organization provided the following information about the virus suspected to have caused 92 deaths, and up to 149 by some estimates, in Mexico and infected individuals around the world, including two known cases in Costa Rica. Swine influenza, or “swine flu,” is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of pigs, caused by one of several swine influenza A viruses. Outbreaks and sporadic human infection with swine influenza have been occasionally reported. The best term to refer to the influenza has been a source of controversy in political circles and in newspapers. Because the virus has not been sourced in pigs, pork producers and other animal groups are asking people to use the more technical term, 2009 H1N1 flu virus, which is how the World Health Organization refers to the disease. Generally, clinical symptoms are similar to seasonal influenza, but reported clinical presentation ranges broadly from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia resulting in death. Since typical clinical presentation of swine influenza infection in humans resembles seasonal influenza and other acute upper respiratory tract infections, most of the cases have been detected by chance through seasonal influenza surveillance. Symptoms include high fever (above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and 37.8 degrees Celsius), sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, chills, headache and body aches and fatigue. There is no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products. Individuals are advised to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis and should seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of the influenza-like illness. It is likely that most people, especially those who do not have regular contact with pigs, do not have immunity to swine influenza viruses. If a swine virus establishes efficient humanto-human transmission, it can cause an influenza pandemic. The impact of a pandemic caused by such a virus is difficult to predict; it depends on virulence of the virus, existing immunity among people, cross protection by antibodies acquired from seasonal influenza infection and host factors. Is there a human vaccine to protect against swine influenza? There are no vaccines that contain the current swine influenza virus causing illness in humans. It is not known whether current human seasonal influenza vaccines can provide any protection. Influenza viruses change very quickly. It is important to develop a vaccine against the currently circulating virus strain for it to provide maximum protection to the vaccinated people. This is why WHO needs access to as many virus samples as possible in order to select the most appropriate candidate vaccine virus. There are two classes of such medicines, 1) adamantanes (amantadine and remantadine), and 2) inhibitors of influenza neuraminidase (oseltamivir –widely marketed as TAMIFLU – and zanamivir). Most of the previously reported swine influenza cases recovered fully from the disease without requiring medical attention and without antiviral medicines. Some influenza viruses develop resistance to the antiviral medicines, limiting the effectiveness oftreatment. For the ongoing outbreak of the swine influenza infection in the United States and Mexico, national and local authorities are recommending use oseltamivir or zanamivir for treatment of the disease based on the virus’s susceptibility profile. In the past, human infection with swine influenza was generally mild, but is known to have caused severe illness such as pneumonia. For the current outbreaks in the United States and Mexico, however, the clinical pictures have been different. Only one of the confirmed cases in the United States has had the severe form of the disease. ? Avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and who have a fever or cough. ? Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water. ? Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food and keeping physically active. ? Try to provide the ill person a separate section in the house. If this is not possible, keep the patient at least one meter in distance from others. ? Cover mouth and nose when caring for the illperson. Masks can be bought commercially or made using the readily available materials as long as they are disposed of or cleaned properly. ? Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly after each contact with the ill person. ? Try to improve the airflow in the area where the ill person stays. Use doors and windows to take advantage of breezes. ? Keep the environment clean with readily available household cleaning agents. The Costa Rica Health Ministry is advising residents who have symptoms of the flu to stay away from public areas, communicate via telephone or the Internet, consume plenty of fluids and avoid taking Aspirin. If symptoms become serious, individuals are advised to seek medical attention. For tourists or temporary residents unfamiliar with Costa Rica’s medical system, contact your embassy.

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