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This article is more than 1 year old
Which kind of cloud database is right for you?
This way for relationship counselling
Deep Dive In the second of two articles about cloud-based data storage, the focus is on the options available and how to decide on one approach rather than the other. (Part 1 is here).
Find the keys
Not-so-relational databases do not store data in tables – at least, not the sort of tables we associate with relational databases. Unfortunately, Google has chosen to call its underlying storage mechanism BigTable and Microsoft offers Table Storage as an option in Windows Azure.
Joseph Feltz, an architect at the Microsoft Technology Centre in Dallas, says: "When thinking about Windows Azure table storage, I suggest you think of it as object storage."
The first thing to understand about key/value stores is that they store all related information about a single item, or object, as a single entity, as opposed to having multiple tables in a relational database linked by primary/foreign key relationships.
This means that you eliminate the joins necessary in conventional environments. The items themselves are stored in a "table", also known as a domain. Completely different sorts of items may be stored within the same domain.
Out of order
The reason why these sorts of databases are usually referred to as key/value stores is because you use keys to inter-relate different items. If two distinct items have the same value for a particular key, then they are related.
But that is it. Because you can put anything into a domain there is no database schema and there are no primary/foreign key relationships and there is no referential integrity.
It is entirely possible to orphan an order because you have deleted the customer
It is entirely possible in a key/value store to orphan an order because you have deleted the customer. You can prevent this but not in the database; you would have to do it in the application code instead.
There is a significant danger that companies will try to exploit key/value stores in the cloud without proper structure. It is a good idea to do some class modelling as a precursor to setting up a key/value database.
If the data is not stored in a formalised way you will have a problem if you ever decide to migrate from your chosen key/value platform, or if you want to archive data from it, or use that information as a part of a master data management project.
Normally, you would use a data profiling tool to discover the relevant business entities but so far there are no data profiling tools that work with key/value stores as opposed to relational databases.
And, in so far as retrieving data rules from application code is concerned (so called program profiling) we know of only one vendor, Rever, that can do this. So the message is: even if key/value stores are more freeform than relational databases, you must still approach your database design with rigour.
Formal attire
There are loads of not-so-relational databases but relatively few are available in the cloud. Among the most notable are Amazon's SimpleDB; Google's AppEngine Datastore, which acts as an interface to BigTable; and Microsoft's Windows Azure.
Microsoft also offers SQL Azure in the cloud, as a cut-down version of SQL Server, while Amazon also offers MySQL and has announced the availability of Oracle.
So the question arises: when should you choose a conventional relational database and when should you prefer a key/value store?
Fundamentally, relational databases are good at handling formally structured data, especially where transactional integrity is a requirement.
This is still true if the application is running with Azure: it will still be appropriate to host structured data within SQL Azure. Further, if you are migrating an application to the cloud, and that application runs against a relational database, then a relational database in the cloud will make most sense.
Using key/value databases may make sense when, for example, you want to use multimedia or other unstructured data, or if you never access more than a single relational table at a time and there are never any join requirements.
Feel the width
A further consideration is commercial. Most vendors impose limits: on the data that can be held within a single partition, or on the number of items or rows that can be retrieved in a single query, or on the amount of time allowed for processing a query, and so on.
So it may be less expensive, for example, to license storage using Windows Azure than SQL Azure, depending on how much storage is needed.
Key/value stores offer advantages and disadvantages over relational databases. Whether in the cloud or not, leaving aside commercial considerations, transaction processing is probably best handled relationally, while other types of application may well be suited to a not so relational approach. ®


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9/125µm OS2 Single Mode I/O 250µm Bare Fiber Loose Tube, Riser Rated, 24 Fibers
This cable has 24 strands of 9/125µm OS2 Single Mode 250µm bare fibers. OFNR Riser rated.
This cable has no gel fill to complicate the connectorization process. Instead, water swellable yarn replaces the gel.
Each tube contains colored 250µm bare fibers, making your installation simple and fast. Available in 2 to 72 fibers. Fiber counts 2-12 are in one subunit and larger fiber counts are in seperate subunits in multiples of 12.Jackets are available in Riser and Plenum.
Note: Connectors usually are not directly terminated onto the 250µm bare fibers, the FOFS Fan Out Kits should be used to terminate this cable.

subset: commoncrawl


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For employers who rely on unpaid interns, it's been the summer of reckoning.
Hundreds of interns have filed lawsuits or raised complaints over working long hours for free. But one group of former interns is sidestepping the courtroom and going straight to the White House to fight for fair compensation.
The Fair Pay Campaign, a grassroots lobby set to launch around Labor Day, is calling on President Obama to pay White House interns in order to set an example for other government agencies and private employers.
"We have a minimum wage law in this country, and just because you call someone an intern doesn't mean you get out of it," said Mikey Franklin, the leader of Fair Pay's charge.
Opinion: Obama should pay his interns
According to the White House website, its internships are unpaid, housing isn't provided, and interns should expect to work "at least Monday-Friday, 9 am-6 pm."
The campaign's focus has turned to President Obama as he has been stumping for raising the minimum wage all summer.
"We don't believe the White House can, in good faith, go after minimum wage and at the same time have unpaid staff."
Related: 7 college grads: How I'm surviving the jobs crisis
The biggest issue Franklin sees, at the White House and any place not paying interns, is that working for no pay seems unimaginable, particularly as student loans skyrocket and more young people are forced to live at home. It creates a situation where only a privileged few can afford to work in these prestigious jobs.
"If you want to break into these industries, you have to work for free," he said. "That's not a reality for a lot of people who aren't upper middle class."
The vitriol over unpaid internships has gotten stronger, as a number of high-profile instances over the last year have caught public attention.
Related: Interns at Google probably make more than you
Last week, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In organization caught heat for advertising an unpaid internship position. The posting garnered more than 300 comments and even spurred a coworker.org petition that called on the non-profit to pony up and pay.
In June, a federal court ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures violated wage laws by not paying its interns. The same month, 189 interns who once worked for Charlie Rose and his production company were given about $1,100 in back wages after they brought a lawsuit against the newsman for not paying them.
This past February, an intern filed a $50 million lawsuit against Elite Model Management for violating wage laws, and former interns from Hearst Magazine, Atlantic Records, the website Gawker and Warner Music Group have filed similar suits.


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Robb School Memorial Fund
Donate now to support the families and community affected by the tragedy at Robb Elementary School. All donations will be held locally at First State Bank of Uvalde through the Robb School Memorial Fund. LEARN MORE >
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Aquarius Zodiac Talisman Necklace Silver Tone
Aquarius is the esteemed Water Bearer, tasked by Zeus to pour nectar into the cups of the gods, which preserved their eternal youth and vigor. Here on earth, your effect is the same. The spirit-lifting life of the party, you're widely admired for your beauty and good humor. Appropriately, amethyst—an amicable stone that promotes love—is assigned to Aquarius.
Sun goes into Aquarius: January 21st - February 17th
Words that describe you: Adventurous, Gentle, Inventive and Visionary
Zodiac Birthstone: Amethyst – Stone of Spirituality
Your Element: Air
Vibration: High frequency
Life Pursuit: Understanding the mysteries of life
Aquarius Secret Desire: Being unique and original
Ruling Planet: Uranus - Originality, IndividualitySize: 32 mm diameter
Chain: 22"L


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Home | Reviews | Extras | Forums |
Mashiroiro Symphony ~The Color of Lovers~SynopsisShingo Uryuu is among the first boys to attend the once girls-only Yukiho Acamdemy, which is going through a co-habitation trial of sorts, though almost all of the girls are opposed to this. The night before the fall semester starts his little sister Sakuno gets lost, and Shingo goes out to find her. But Sakuno is helped out by a cute blonde girl named Airi Sena, who's very helpful and kind to both Sakuno and Shingo. The next day proper at school Shingo meets Airi again, but she refuses to talk to him. Not only that, so don't most of the other girls, since Airi hates men, and especially Shingo for some reason. If Shingo wants to stay in his new school, he'll have to make her change her mind by being the best visual novel protagonist that he can be! ReviewMashiroiro Symphony ~The color of lovers~ is the essence of mediocrity. In terms of its "rivals" in the genre, it doesn't reach the heights of Kyoto Animation's adaptations of the Visual Art's / KEY series, nor does it fall to the depths of To Heart or the repugnant Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo. It's just kind of there in the middle. Still, the episodes go at a smooth pace, only about 20 minutes long if you don't count the OP/ED themes. It's not a groundbreaking 20 minutes every episode, but it goes relatively quickly across its 12 episodes. One thing I will note though is that the series' original plot point (boys and girls being assimilated into what was once only an all-girl school) is dumped about a quarter into the series. After that the series becomes fixated on a club at school called the Nuko Club, which takes care of lost animals, feeds/helps them, and then returns them to the wild. Cute-as-a-button sweetheart high school senior Miu Amaha is the president of this club along with a girl named Sana, whose character we'll get back to later. Of the animals Miu takes care of, the most prominent is Panya, who doubles as our resident mascot of the series. The best way I can describe him is if Kirby swallowed one of those Sanrio cat mascots. For the most part he's just your standard (weird-looking) cat, until the final episodes push him into the spotlight quite a bit. Heck, he takes up almost the entire final episode, which wouldn't be noteworthy except that this greatly reduces the impact of an arguably much bigger event going on with Airi, nearly brushing it aside as filler. In the mix we also have a clumsy maid, Angelina "Ange" Nanatsu Sewell. She's looking for a "master" as she lives in the school, though she has a hard time looking for one despite it being the very reason she's at the school. And with it she brings her helium-induced voice and clumsy nature, too. She's basically the android girl Multi from To Heart, except human and with huge breasts. And she always wears her maid uniform. (I have to admit I found it funny how in one episode she frantically looks for a master to serve, and even the boys in her school turn her down. I guess this school must be grouped with the only teenage boys in Japan who don't fantasize about maids.) If you think I'm kidding around by how extreme the focus goes from a single guy trying to show the unaccommodating girls in his school that assimilation isn't a bad thing to kitty/maid antics amongst other things, think again. The few times after the change of pace the assimilation is mentioned, it's mentioned quite briefly. I know story isn't all that big in these kinds of anime, but it still annoyed me. Even come the end of the season, where the assimilation issue is at its peak in importance, it's still glanced over in favor of Panya. It's like the writers ran out of things to do with Airi after a few episodes, so they decided to focus the rest of the series on the supporting cast instead. So anyway, between the boys/girls assimilation, Muko Club antics, and clumsy maid comedy, we have Shingo going around trying to prove that boys are not the Devil to all the naysayer girls at his new school. And while he's not anything special as a character, he's also not a wuss, pervert, or sarcastic jerk. He's just kind of…average. (And of course everyone falls for him.) I'm going to give Shingo credit where credit is due, though; he's not only smart and fully capable - not to mention having zen-like patience with the dismissive girls in his school - but he actually does get a girlfriend before the series' end. I actually really liked that, especially how his girlfriend is not the very first girl I thought he'd end up with. Kudos in that regard, series. More anime in this genre need to do this. One thing I really like about Mashiroiro Symphony ~The color of lovers~ is that, for the most part, it's a pretty normal, relaxing series that avoids some of the more annoying cliches of the genre. It doesn't pretend to have some super secret plot like Fortune Arterial. It doesn't resort to childhood memories like Kanon and the like. The series also doesn't fixate entirely on Airi; the cast's time is pretty divided out, actually. It also avoids that nasty "are they related or not" game with Shingo and Sakuno. I know this all sounds like faint praise, but the lack of some of these cliches actually makes the series quite a bit more bearable than quite a few anime in this genre. Sadly, I hate to go back to the negative here with Sana Inui, the other initial member of the Muko Club. For the first three episodes she's a perfectly normal character, helpful and nicety boys and girls alike. But then out of the hell nowhere in episode 4 she proclaims she hates Shingo (and all boys too) as she kicks him, because male abuse is apparently funny. In the very next scene Ange casually explains to Shingo; "Sana hates men". I am not joking, it is THAT abruptly mentioned. And this happens right after Airi starts opening up to everyone in her school, too. And when Sana's not trying to protect her beloved "Miu-sama" from whatever derogatory term she comes up with for Shingo, she's fulfilling the series' melodrama requirement. And there's no avoiding this, as Sana eats up a lot of the last quarter of the series. (In-between scenes of Airi just looking sadly at Shingo as he talks to other girls than her, mind you.) You know the anime cliche "sad girl in snow"? Sana takes that one step further with "sad girl in giant downpour". With a baby kitten. So I think that's all the characters except Airi, who's your standard anime tsundere. After she warms up to Shingo a bit, she spends much of the remainder of the series either looking at him sadly, or giving advice to some of the other girls. She kind of disappears into the background like Nagisa did in the first season of Clannad. In this case it was to give the other girls more time, but in Airi's case it doesn't, making her almost like an extra instead of the supposed female lead of the series. So despite the abrupt pacing and a couple of annoying characters, Mashiroiro Symphony ~The color of lovers~ is an adequate show, especially for a genre known for either producing hits or destructive misses. It's pleasant eye candy for the most part, with a mostly likable cast of characters. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but if you have nothing else to watch on crunchyroll, this would be nicely. An average show. — Tim Jones Recommended Audience: There is some (censored) nudity in the crunchyroll broadcast, notably among its "bigger" cast members. So this alone pushes it up to early-to-mid teens in terms of age suggestion. Not much else objectionable here. Version(s) Viewed: crunchyroll.com stream, Japanese with English subtitles Review Status: Full (12/12) Mashiroiro Symphony ~The Color of Lovers~ © 2011 Palette / Mashiro-P |
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved. |


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Ford's appearance Monday night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in Los Angeles was the culmination of months of wooing by the talk-show host to get Ford to appear as a guest.
Ford tossed T-shirts to the audience to loud applause as he came onstage after Kimmel introduced him by saying, "Our first guest tonight has tripped, bumped, danced, argued and smoked his way into our national consciousness."
Kimmel told Ford that if he's an alcoholic, and drinking enough that he would try crack cocaine in his 40s, "and you don't remember it, maybe that's something that you might want to think about, like talking to somebody."
Ford shot back his head and laughed before saying he "wasn't elected to be perfect."
"I was elected to clean up the mess that I inherited, and that's exactly what I did," Ford said, defending his record as mayor.
Back in Toronto on Tuesday, Ford said outside his office that he knew he "was going into the lion's den" and would face tough questions.
"I don't have any personal issues. We've gone down that road before," Ford said.
Ford made international headlines last year when he acknowledged having smoked crack cocaine while in a drunken stupor. He continues to draw attention for his erratic behavior, but has resisted pressure to step down and is seeking re-election in October.
The audience applauded after Kimmel told Ford that accepting help "is nothing to be ashamed of" and would set a "good example for other people who might be in a similar situation." When asked again about getting help, Ford said: "Talk is cheap, action speaks louder than words. We'll let the people decide on Oct. 27. I'm just a normal, average, hard-working politician that's real."
"You are not the average politician," Kimmel quipped. "You are the most wonderful mayor I've ever witnessed."
Earlier during the segment, Ford and Kimmel left their seats during the segment to watch a series of videos depicting the mayor of Canada's largest city in a variety of embarrassing scenes, including a cellphone video of Ford ranting about wanting to kill someone. Ford said he didn't know who he was talking about in the video.
"You have no idea?" an incredulous Kimmel asked. "You have that many enemies that you don't know which one this was?"
Kimmel also played several other videos, including one from a city council meeting in which he mimes a drunk driver and another that shows him dumping and throwing - not handing - candy canes to children during a Santa Claus parade. The red-faced mayor stood next to a video screen and was asked to comment about each of them.
Kimmel earlier dabbed sweat pouring off of Ford's forehead with tissues and asked Ford why he had agreed to come on the show.
"Why are you here? What good could come of this? Have you ever seen the show?" said Kimmel, who had repeatedly skewered Ford on his show.
Doug Ford, the mayor's brother who traveled with the mayor to Los Angeles, later told The Toronto Sun that the mayor "was a little upset" after appearing on the show. The Sun reporter wrote that he heard the mayor say in the background of the phone call that he was "set up."
Doug Ford, a city councilor, said they were disappointed the mayor wasn't able to promote Toronto more.
Before the show, Ford had said that his appearance on Kimmel's show was intended to promote Toronto's film industry, describing his city as "Hollywood North."
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Trampoline Park is an amazing indoor playground for both adult and children, with hundreds of interconnected trampolines from the floor to the walls. It doesn't matter if you've never jumped on a trampoline before, you've to try a trampoline park and experience the thrill of defying gravity. Come with your friends or your family and enjoy the thrill of flight at indoor trampoline parks.
This popular activity for all ages has taken the world by storm. Since 2004, the industry has exploded across the United States of America and globally. Facilities include a wide range of activities including dodgeball, foam pits, slack line, slam dunk, donut slide, bumper ball, spider wall, against bridge, air bag and so on.
As the industry grown, also develop the technology and equipment of trampoline. Some trampoline park focus on the standard service, while some are try to develop new alternative attractions. Some are expanding out to include Ninja Warrior courses, rope course, interactive jumping, donut slide, spider wall, zip line and more. It makes trampoline park more challenging and interesting.The newly trampoline parks have wider range of activities, attract wider population.
Jumping in a trampoline park can exercise their body, increase muscle strength, promote cardiopulmonary function, blood circulation, enhance metabolic, myocardial development, promote the development of the nervous system, prevent disease. All in all, it is worthwhile to experience.
Size requirement | Any size can be customized, the height (site) requirement >3.5m, 5m is better. |
Model | KD-11046 |
Ages | Children ,teenager and adults. |
Apply Location | Amusement park, indoor themed park, super mall, warehouse, etc. |
Theme &design | Customized ODM and OEM ,design for you for free with your layout |
Trampoline composition | 1): Galvanized pipe:80*80*2mm, 80*50*2.5mm, 40*40*1.5mm |
2): Soft pad: Wooden +70mm EPE +PVC/PU | |
3): Spring: length 18cm, 26cm | |
4): Foam: sponge size 15*15*15 | |
5): Trampoline bed: 1800*1800mm and 2130*4260mm | |
Payment Terms | 50% deposit before production,50% balance before shippment,T/T, L/C, Western Union,Credit card |
Delivery date | 10-15 days after your order confirmed and deposit the down payment. |
Shipping | 1*20'GP=140 Square Meters (around ) |
1*40'HQ=340 Square Meters (around ) | |
Installation | Provide specific installation instruction or supply Professional installation team |
Features | Exercise children's drilling, climbing, jumping, running ability |
Warranty | Galvanized pipe constrcution : 5 years |
Springs : 1year ( you need to check every month ) | |
Trampoline mats and soft pad : 2 years | |
Applications: | Sports center, amusement park, shopping mall, match, play center, trampoline park, primary school, resort, hotel, hospital,comprehensive business district, independent store, surrounding residential areas, large square or park, suburban scenic spots rest area |
Product features:
Trampoline can exercise children's limbs, increase muscle strength. Promote children's cardiopulmonary function, so that blood circulation, metabolic enhancement, myocardial development, increased contractility. Promote the development of the nervous system, prevent disease.
Production process:
Manufacturability advantage explanation:
1.Coated Iron pipe: the iron pipe of Xingjian will use electrostatic powder spraying equipment to spray powder coating on the surface of the pipe. Under the action of static electricity, the powder will be uniformly adsorbed on the surface of the work-piece to form a powder coating; the powder coating is baked at high temperature, it becomes a final coating with different effects, so as to achieve beautiful appearance and protect the pipe from scratches and rusting.
2.Packaging: Xingjian pays attention to the packaging of products. The packaging of tubes and soft plays are black cotton, bubble bags, and plastic films, which is different from other suppliers who do not pack tubes.
3.Safety standards: Xingjian play toys according to ASTM F381-2016, ASTM F1487-17: cl.6 Performance Requirements; cl.7 Requirements for Access/Egress; cl.12 Structural Integrity, EN 71-14:2018 and ISO9001. There are specialist on standard tests, customize according to any requirement.
Safety Rules:
1.All who enter must have a signed waiver.
2.All participants under 18 must have a waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian.
3..Participants must use all equipment in a safe and responsible manner.
4.Access to equipment is restricted for those who do not meet the minimum age/certified
5.Children under the age of 7 should never be left unattended.
6.Absolutely no double bouncing.
7.Gripper socks or bare feet only on trampolines.
8.Pockets should be completely empty and jumpers should remove large or loose jewelry, studded belts and, where possible, glasses and hearing aides.
9.No running or racing.
10.No sitting, wrestling or lying down on mats.
11.No climbing the trampoline walls.
12.Prevent collision with other jumpers by paying attention to your surroundings at all times.
13.No gum, food or drink allowed in the trampoline arena.
Product Advantage:
1.Fluorescence webbing: the absorption of traditional Fluorescence webbing for 100% perfect lighting effects is actually only 5%, while the utilization rate of this new type of Fluorescence webbing for only 5% of lighting effects can reach 200%, thereby enhancing the overall atmosphere and effect of the venue, allowing The trampoline becomes delicate and highlights the theme!
Fluorescence is a photo luminescence phenomenon. When a substance at room temperature is irradiated with incident light of a certain wavelength (usually ultraviolet or X-ray), it absorbs light energy and enters an excited state, and immediately de-excites and emits outgoing light (usually the wavelength is longer than that of the incident light, which is in the Visible light band); and once the incident light is stopped, the luminescence phenomenon disappears immediately. Outgoing light with this property is called fluorescence. Generally, the fluorescence or phosphorescence is distinguished by the continuous luminescence time, the continuous luminescence time is shorter than 10-8 seconds is called fluorescence, and the continuous luminescence time is longer than 10-8 seconds is called phosphorescence. In daily life, people usually refer to all kinds of weak light as fluorescence in a broad sense.
Different from the widely used reflective tape and phosphor webbing, the fluorescent tape made of our exclusive patented technology can be used continuously for five years, which is different from the reflective tapes used in trampolines of other manufacturers. The effect is better, you can refer to our real case photos and live video
2.Fluorescent PVC: free of Cd/AZO/FCKW/PCP/PCB/PCT/ formaldehyde and health hazard substances as prescribed by law— long durability – UV resistant light fastness >6 —perspiration resistant — urine resistant — saliva resistant — waterproof — salt-water resistant — tear resistant — non-irritant – (neon: not adequate for massage tables, light fastness: 4, it is not adequate for outside use, not UV resistant)
3.Double Layer trampoline bed: the double-layer trampoline surface can have double protection to prevent the trampoline surface from damaging the user's foot and provide an additional layer of protection and risk avoidance for operators of trampoline parks.
4.Spring: professionally designated manufacturers, national and third-party certified enterprises, quality assurance, good gloss under natural light, glossy material
quality, reduce the absorption of ultraviolet rays, strengthen the ability of anti-ultraviolet rays, and further improve the service life.
Spring: Made of piano wire, the anti-deformation tensile length is 5 times that of manganese steel, and the service life has been tested for 500,000 times without deformation
Project map:
Description | Dimension | Reference Image | Material Specification | Capacity |
Free Jump Area | 255SQM | PP Trampoline bed EPE+PVC soft pad Galvanized pipe | 45 | |
Professional Trampoline Area | 488CM*610CM | PP Trampoline bed EPE+PVC soft pad Galvanized pipe | 4 | |
Climbing Wall | 1037cm*488cm | EPE+PVC soft pad Galvanized pipe | 4 | |
Sponge Pool Area | 976cm*488cm | Sponge | 4 | |
Air Bag Area | 610cm*366cm | wooden sponge PVC | 2 | |
Ninjia Course Area | 854cm*488cm | Galvanized pipe Wooden+EPE+PVC soft pad iron accessory | 4 | |
Donut slide Area | 1037cm | Plastic | 3 | |
Rope Course Area | 2200cm*500cm | Galvanized pipe Wooden Low-stretch rope | 10 |
Cases Video Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bnPgxTkIBs


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Flash floods in Kerala have killed 37 people and displaced around 36,000, Indian officials said on Saturday, after heavy monsoons led to landslides and overflowing reservoirs across the southern state.
Kerala, famed for its pristine palm-lined beaches and tea plantations, is battered by the monsoon every year but the rains have been particularly severe this season.
Those forced from their homes "have moved to 350 relief camps across the state", an official at the Kerala State Disaster Management control room told AFP.
The army has been roped in for rescue efforts in Kerala after two days of heavy rain drove authorities to open the shutters of 27 reservoirs to drain out the excess water.
One of the five shutters of a large reservoir in the mountainous Idukki district was opened for the first time in 26 years.
"Our state is in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.
"The calamity has caused immeasurable misery and devastation. Many lives were lost. Hundreds of homes were totally destroyed," he added, lauding the efforts of rescue teams working in the state from across India.
The US embassy on Thursday advised its citizens to avoid the areas affected and monitor local media for weather updates.
More than a million foreign tourists visited Kerala last year, according to official data.
The government of Kerala, which has a population of 33 million people, has imposed a ban on the movement of lorries and tourist vehicles in Idukki.


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Hi Everyone,
I've been kicking around the idea of a little, mini, weekend practice retreat here in Colorado or Utah. We have so many awesome retreat spaces available for really low costs! I plan on going on a personal retreat for a weekend this summer no matter what, possibly multiple weekend intensives, but I wondered if anyone was interested or available to come out here and get together.
I was thinking Crestone or Moab area. Is anyone within reach?
In gassho,


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Last update:
We at CBD Plus USA believe in a more natural way of managing your health. CBD isn't the only way to do that, but it is a great option. We have spent a lot of time researching the health benefits of the Hemp plant and have created products that we are proud of. Our focus is on providing you with the highest quality products at the most affordable price. Come visit with one of our experts to see what CBD can do for you. When you come in, take advantage of our Loyalty Rewards Program to earn free products. Live your best life.


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DEF LEPPARD: 'VIVA! Hysteria' Album Samples
November 14, 2013With 100 million records sold worldwide, DEF LEPPARD continues to be one of the most potent forces in global rock. For the past 30 years the band has been a top box-office draw, consistently selling out arenas worldwide. October 19 sees them issue in Europe (October 21 in U.K. and October 22 in North America) an exciting new live release, "VIVA! Hysteria", across multiple formats through Frontiers Records.
Originally released on August 3, 1987, the "Hysteria" album took the already well established DEF LEPPARD and catapulted the band into the stratosphere.
The statistics are astounding: the album has sold in excess of 25 million copies and counting. Due to the incredible success of previous album "Pyromania" (released in 1983) and "Hysteria", DEF LEPPARD are one of only five groups who can claim two separate original 10 million plus selling albums in the U.S. The others are THE BEATLES, LED ZEPPELIN, PINK FLOYD and VAN HALEN.
The "Hysteria" album also spawned 7 hit singles! Enormous hits such as "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Animal", "Love Bites", "Armageddon It" and "Rocket" are hugely influential rock staples that still enjoy huge popularity today and have helped make DEF LEPPARD Britain's greatest-ever arena rock band.
Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 chart in the U.S. and also No. 1 on the U.K. album chart. The album has earned critical acclaim from a number of sources including Q magazine, who voted the release as one of the greatest albums of all time, and Rolling Stone magazine, who included the collection on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.
For the first time ever, DEF LEPPARD played "Hysteria" in its entirety during an eleven-show residency which started on March 22, 2013 at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino in Las Vegas. The band played also under the fictitious name of DED FLATBIRD (which came about after someone once mispronounced DEF LEPPARD as "Dead Flat Bird"). Two different opening sets of 35 mins. on each of the nights. The band showcased some fan favourites and very rare songs from the early years of the band besides playing a selection of their greatest hits, highlighting classic material from throughout their career. The "VIVA! Hysteria" show featured an elaborate set design created uniquely for the Las Vegas residency.
"We've been asked for many years if we'd ever play an album in its entirety, and the answer was always no because we'd be out promoting a new album," says lead vocalist Joe Elliott. "Then in March and April 2013 when we had no new music to promote, we had a chance to revisit arguably our most important album. It was an easy decision to make. As for Vegas, it's no longer perceived as the place crooners go to die! Artists like MÖTLEY CRÜE, ELTON JOHN, GUNS N ROSES and CHEAP TRICK have recently done residencies and rock 'n' roll has definitely moved in! So, there was no better place for us to take the show. It was a fantastic experience for us and for our fans."
Known for legendary arena shows, DEF LEPPARD bring their extravagant production to your house as "VIVA! Hysteria" is their first full live show shot in HD released commercially. Finally "VIVA! Hysteria" showcases for the first time a career-defining album (excluding concept albums) performed live in its entirety — from start to finish — for a commercial audio/video release. "VIVA! Hysteria"! is unlike any show DEF LEPPARD has ever done or will ever do again. This is one release not to miss….
Available on the following formats — 2CD+DVD digipak, Blu-ray, DVD and digital album downloads — the full track listings are as follows:
01. Women
02. Rocket
03. Animal
04. Love Bites
05. Pour Some Sugar On Me
06. Armageddon It
07. Gods Of War
08. Don't Shoot Shotgun
09. Run Riot
10. Hysteria
11. Excitable
12. Love And Affection
13. Rock Of Ages *
14. Photograph *
* Extra non-"Hysteria" tracks
DED FLATBIRD - Night 1
01. Good Morning Freedom
02. Wasted
03. Stagefright
04. Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)
05. Action Not Words
06. Rock Brigade
07. Undefeated
08. Promises
DED FLATBIRD - Night 2
01. On Through The Night
02. Slang
03. Let It Go
04. Another Hit And Run
05. High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)
06. Bringin' On The Heartbreak
07. Switch 625
The VD tracklisting is as above but also includes bonus content of the acoustic medley: Where Does Love Go When It Dies / Now / When Love & Hate Collide / Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad / Two Steps Behind.
DVD / Blu Ray menu:
- Viva Hysteria
- DED FLATBIRD Night 1
- DED FLATBIRD Night 2
- Acoustic Set
- Photo Montage
Check out "VIVA! Hysteria" album audio samples in the YouTube clip below.


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3300 Broadway Street, Suite 612
Bayshore Mall Foodcourt
Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 443-4631
Prices: $$$$
Good, authentic, reasonably priced Mexican food in a mall food court. Go figure.
I had difficulty finding this place until I realized that it was in the Bayshore Mall food court. As you are looking at the front of the mall, the food court is inside the glassed-in area between the middle and left end of the mall. You will find Los Gallos immediately straight ahead on the right.
Wanting to sample a variety of Mexican staples, I ordered the guacamole and chips ($3.75), a carne asada and a carnitas taco with cheese ($2.50 each), and a cheese and onion enchilada ($2.50) ala carte. The guacamole was fair at best, obviously from Sysco or cut with yogurt or sour cream and with too many tomatoes which are cheaper than avocados, a trick many restaurants use to same money.
The tacos were authentic and tasty with two medium size soft corn tortillas each, sliced grilled steak/pork, onion, cilantro, salsa and cheese (actually, cheese is not authentic on tacos, but I like it) with plenty of meat. The enchilada was also very good with a zesty red chili sauce, with plenty of cheese and diced onion.
For under $12, I ate very well and, with the exception of the guacamole, the food was good, not great, and plentiful. I am always amazed that most Mexican restaurants cannot seem to make a decent guacamole because it is very simple to make and at 50¢ to $1 per avocado, the profit margin is still 300-400% using only avocadoes and no fillers. See my post for an excellent guacamole recipe!
CombatCritic Gives Los Gallos Taqueria 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!
Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16
Tabelog - Official Judge (Bronze)
Zomato - #1 Ranked Foodie
... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube
Title: Eureka, CA: Good, Authentic, Mexican Food In A Mall Food Court ... Go Figure
Key Words: Los Gallos Taqueria, los, gallos, taqueria, taco, tacos, Bayshore, Eureka, California, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, Tabelog
Translation for Civilians: S&G = "Shits & Grins"


text:
"How Much is Enough? The Love of Money and the Case for the Good Life" Session 1
In 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted that, over the next century, income would rise steadily, people's basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week. Why was he wrong?
In How Much is Enough? The Love of Money and the Case for the Good Life (Penguin, 2012 and 2013), Robert and Edward Skidelsky argue that wealth is not—or should not be—an end in itself, but rather a means to the good life. Observing how far modern life has strayed from that ideal, and rejecting the claim that there is any single measure of human well-being—whether GDP or 'happiness'—they analyse the good life into seven elements, argue that a healthy liberal society should promote them, and propose a set of policies to realise them.
In this McDonald Centre conference, held at Christ Church, Oxford on 28 February 2014, the Skidelskys debate with theologians Rowan Williams and John Hughes; philosopher Cecile Fabre; economicsts Donald Hay, Edmund Newell, John Thanassoulis, and David Vines; and journalist Diane Coyle.


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All-in-one neutral palettes have never been more popular, they're a quick solution to the eternal morning dilemma of eyeshadow selection when all you really want is an extra five-minutes in bed. Stepping firmly on the bandwagon with their latest palette release is U.S. brand, Stila in the form of their In the Light eye shadow palette*.
A cardboard palette, lightweight and without a mirror makes this a slightly more portable (if flimsy) choice than the Urban Decay Naked franchise. The palette contains 10 pans of colour, both a mix of shimmer and matte shades. Each pan provides 1.4g of product, around the same quantity per pan as the Urban Decay offering, but two less pans in total. The stock images that you will see online of the palette don't reflect the true shades within, both bliss and sunset do not swatch pink as described in the official colours and shown in the stock photo. All shades can be used both wet and dry.
The ten shades vary in pigmentation and texture, some feel quite soft and creamy whilst others are more firmly-textured and require building up to achieve rich colour. None feel chalky and they all share excellent blendability. There are four matte shades in total: Bare, Bliss, Sandstone and Ebony allowing you to create a fully matte look with a range of neutral shades if you so wish.
I like this option a lot… it allows me to create a fully matte eye look as my base before adding in a 'pop' of something more shimmery without going into disco territory.
The shades are mostly warm-toned with the exception of Night Sky and Luster. Also included in the palette is a 0.28g black, retractable eye pencil (smudge stick) which provides rich colour with a smudgable but long-lasting formula.
A quick FOTD showing Bare, Bliss and Sandstone with a pop of the inimitable Kitten on the inner corner to brighten the eye area. Kitten has long been one of Stila's most cult shades, and I can see why, it's a very pretty champagne highlight that opens up and lifts the eye area when used as a highlight.
The Stila In the Light eyeshadow palette is available to buy instore at SpaceNK, online at BeautyBay and Escentual. It's also available at Stila's freshly-launched website: stila.co.uk – priced at £25.00
* press sample


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Penis pumps cost the U.S. government's Medicare program $172 million between 2006 and 2011, about twice as much as the consumer would have paid at the retail level, according to a government watchdog's report released on Monday.
The report by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services said Medicare, the government health insurance system for seniors, paid nearly 474,000 claims for vacuum erection systems, or VES, totaling about $172.4 million from 2006 to 2011. Yearly claims for the devices nearly doubled from $20.6 million in 2006 to $38.6 million in 2011.
According to the Mayo Clinic, penis pumps are one of a few treatment options for erectile dysfunction.
(Read more: On health care fraud, spending is pound-foolish)
Government waste is a major issue in budget talks in the U.S. capital as lawmakers try to reach agreement on a $1 trillion spending bill.
"Medicare payment amounts for VES remain grossly excessive compared with the amounts that non-Medicare payers pay," said the report, dated December 2013. "Medicare currently pays suppliers more than twice as much for VES as the Department of Veterans Affairs and consumers over the Internet pay for these types of devices."
If Medicare had adjusted its payments to approximately the price non-Medicare payers pay, the U.S. government would have saved an average of about $14.4 million for each of the six years, the report said.
"Considering the strain retiring baby boomers will soon be placing on Medicare's budget, shouldn't we be focusing this entitlement program on real, life-saving treatment and equipment to serve the health needs of seniors – instead of subsidizing penis pump purchases?" Ben Domenici of the Heartland Institute think tank said in an email statement.
"And to those seniors who really do want one," added Domenech, "just buy it yourself – you don't need to send the bill to your fellow Americans."


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I have a basic list setup on my board: To do / Doing / Done.
I've accumulated a crapload of cards in my Done column (go me!). But I've gotten over myself and decided that Done should only contain stuff that I finished this week, making my weekly status report a cinch.
I see that I can archive an entire list, but is there a a way to archive all cards in a given list at once without archiving each one manually?


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Microsoft to encircle Google and Apple with Windows Mobile split
The vision see-what-sticks thing
When a person says they like something, they might also add: "What's not to like?"
When Steve Ballmer said he liked Microsoft's Windows Mobile strategy a few years back, you had to ask "what strategy"?
Microsoft's chief executive told CNBC-TV "I like our strategy, I like it a lot" while laughing off Apple's iPhone.
Ballmer was speaking when the iPhone was announced and not yet released, Microsoft's primary market in mobile was business users, and the competition was RIM and the sickly Palm.
It was a stable and predictable world, like the world of super-power politics before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Now, with the company losing market share to Apple along with RIM and Palm, and Google moving into the handset space with Android, old certainties are off and Microsoft is scrambling to find its place in the new world order.
Six months ago it unveiled Windows Mobile 6.5, which will add some finger-based input capabilities to Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile 6.5 wasn't even talked about when Ballmer went on TV in 2007, and when it launches in October this year it'll be almost two and a half years behind the iPhone and four months after Palm's webOS was released with the Pre.
We were told Windows Mobile 7.0 would follow in 2010, and would add more touch capabilities. Details are sketchy and Microsoft has not talked about Windows Mobile 7.0, but we had something to aim at. Call it "a strategy."
Now, it seems that Microsoft plans an interim Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade in February 2010 "with a touch interface", DigiTimes has reported. The report cites sources inside handset makers.
And, once Windows Mobile 7.0 is released in the fourth-quarter of 2010 Microsoft will cut the price of Windows Mobile 6.5. The idea is to compete against Android using Windows Mobile 6.5 and the iPhone with Windows Mobile 7.0, DigiTimes said.
Microsoft refused to comment on the report, but a spokesperson told The Reg that Microsoft is excited about the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5. "This is our focus right now," he said.
The dictionary defines strategy as "a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result." Based on what we've seen, on what Microsoft has said about needing to do better, and on the company's recent loss of market share, it would be generous to call what's going on in Windows Mobile a strategy - now, in 2007, or going further back.
If DigiTimes is correct, the new so-called dual-approach strategy backs what The Reg believes is Microsoft's real goal: use Windows Mobile 6.5 to onramp iPhone converts to Windows Mobile 7.0.
It's hard to see, though, whether Microsoft can sway iPhone developers with the offer of either of these operating systems, or if they'll respond to being gently moved down an unclear roadmap that'll simply bring Microsoft to some kind of parity with Apple, Google, and Palm once it's completed.
Meanwhile, we have the added complication of Windows 7. This will add finger-licking touch and raise further questions of why didn't Microsoft simply cut its losses and cut down the PC version of Windows for mobile devices.
Keeping up with the Joneses
This would have made sense for the roadmap of Windows and provided a practical answer to getting developers. Microsoft could appeal to the existing base of Windows programmers, rather than try to poach smartphone developers from Apple, Google, Palm, or RIM.
At a high level, Microsoft's approach to mobile has been sound: build market share for Windows using devices, with Microsoft as a software-only player. It's what Microsoft did in the PC and server world - build software and outsource hardware engineering and delivery to partners.
Ballmer had every reason to like Microsoft's strategy because it worked. Microsoft has provided email, web browsing, and music in Windows on handsets right up there with everyone else and it has built market share. Windows Mobile worked for business users, and Microsoft kept up with the competition.
However, Microsoft did not excite developers or consumers, the leading adopters of new technologies past whose embrace of touch on smart phones is driving uptake of the iPhone among business users.
In the partner model Microsoft has followed, excitement and innovation must come from the top - from the software provider. And in this regard, Microsoft has failed to read the future and create a strategy for it in the way that Apple did, and in the way Google and Palm have now caught on to.
Microsoft needs a strategy reset to regain a vision that will capture developers and consumers, not updates to Windows 6.5. ®


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Development Team/Issues
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Note: The olpc:Developers manual provides more comprehensive and up-to-date introductions to the issues described here.
Here are a few of the most obvious development issues/questions/comments:
- What language should be used to develop applications?
- What is the API?
- The olpc:Low-level Activity API page attempts to cover this, but is frequently incomplete. Documentation help would be very useful.
- Will the laptops and/or an emulator be available to developers interested in direct contibutions to OLPC?
- Yes!!! See the olpc:Developers Program for details. Also read the olpc:Development Systems page for ideas of using other minimal systems to do your application testing.
- What if I don't qualify for one of the development systems?
- You can still build something as long as you are careful to isolate the GUI portions of your code and not do anything overly complex. Or, if you use olpc:PyGTK, then you come very close to the real development environment in olpc:Sugar. If you will be programming in a compiled language or in assembly, make sure that you are aware (and respect) the olpc:Geode instruction set. It is about the same as the original Athlon instruction set. See the Geode data book linked in the olpc:Geode instruction set page.
- Where can I find the sources?
- If you are a skilled *IX user then the olpc:Sugar page should help. But most developers who will be working on OLPC will be using Python to develop educational applications.
- Memory footprint of applications
- It must be as small as you can make it. These are memory-constrained devices.
- For Python development, don't import modules at the top. Instead, import them just where they are needed in the code and then unload the module. This will require some work with ihooks and imp to support unload() but for now, just use a dummy function in your code. If possible, implement optional components as a separate Python module and delete the .pyc file when a user chooses not to use that option. Remove objects when they are no longer needed using del.
- Memory leaks
- You need to measure the memory usage repeatedly while thoroughly exercising your program. Sample the memory size every minute and graph it. If there is a slowly increasing size, then you have a leak. A normal program will increase rapidly at the beginning and then remain perfectly flat or shrink and grow repeatedly. Remember that every leak, however small, counts!
- Required flash footprint of the application
- if it is big, there may not be space. However, olpc:JFFS2 does data compression, so don't presume that the size of a file in a conventional file system corresponds to the actual amount of flash used. As a *rule of thumb*, expect a factor of 2 compression for text and typical data, expect no compression on already compressed content, but take actual measurements to understand what your actual flash usage will be.
- If you test on a Unix system you can install olpc:JFFS2 and test directly. Since olpc:JFFS2 does block compression you can affect the amount of compression by reorganizing your code.
- Your application should be engineered and packaged to make it easy to strip unneeded functionality.
- For example, GAIM supports just about every IM protocol in existance, but we can only anticipate 3 being common. So the fact it uses plugins that we can choose to not package saves greatly on its footprint, whereas if everything were built in, both the memory and flash footprint would be much larger.
- Ability to operate applications when running in black/white mode
- Judicious use of contrasting colors will mean that your program automatically works in B&W mode.
- The effective resolution in color mode is somewhat lower in color than grayscale: some applications will find this hard, even though the frame buffer will always be in high resolution. If your application does not honor the font resolution change-on-the-fly mechanisms, or hardwires fonts by pixel size, your application won't be able to switch modes gracefully and may require manual intervention to be usable. Please fix.
- The hardware does support alpha blending (Porter-Duff compositing), so we expect to eventually support this well
- No 3D hardware: we don't have shaded triangles or a geometry pipe; so any OpenGL used will be based on Mesa, and without hardware, will be very slow
- Ideally, don't use OpenGL at all except for specialty applications which absolutely must and which can accept the slow rendering. For instance a design program could use OpenGL to provide a rendered view because most of the time the user will not be using OpenGL.
- Remember that the olpc:Geode supports MMX and Enhanced 3DNow!, which can speed up some applications, such as 3D rendering, and should be appropriately used.
- Choice of libraries and required applications: you may not have the dependencies you might need, or those dependencies might come at too high a memory cost. We will inventory what you can "count on" in the basic system as it becomes clear.
- In the meantime, make sure you know your application's dependencies. For compiled code, run it with "ldd" to get a list of all the libraries being loaded. For Python code, run it with "python -v" to get a list of all modules imported.
- Graphical activity that does not turn itself off quickly; we want to save power
- This means avoid cute animated GIFs that do not add value to the educational experience. (That is one example of not letting the CPU be idle) Your users may have to exert themselves physically to provide the electricity to run their OLPC. Respect them and their effort.
- CPU performance: the system is slow relative to current desktops, though fast relative to desktops at the turn of the millenium.
- Power consumption: if your application is CPU bound for long periods (not letting the CPU be idle), or routinely requires itself to be run (can't be suspended well), this isn't good
- While we are a great fan of interpreted languages, key CPU bound kernels had better be in compiled code, or your performance and power consumption will be poor.
- Python is an interpreted language, similar in operation to perl. It lacks a JIT, though it does use an intermediate code form rather than strictly interpreting the raw text as a shell script or makefile would. It is thus inherently slower than C# or Java, but not as bad as it could be. A more serious problem for Python is often memory consumption.
- Remember that your slow code has a direct impact on power consumption (far more than on a desktop), and its usability. Applications that run slowly or don't let the processor idle will be very, very unpopular on battery powered machines that may be powered by children having to run a generator.
- The file system is a flash file system, so its write performance is slow, while random access is actually very good. The performance is glacial if the file system is low on space and has to continually erase freed blocks before writing (olpc:JFFS2 attempts to do this in the background, but if it can't....). Programs that continually write to the file system without need are anti-social; wear leveling helps flash longevity, but it certainly doesn't help, and burns power. Writable file mappings (via the mmap system call) may not be supported.
- Looping waiting for events (or other busy-waiting) eats power; don't do it. Poll and select with timeouts are your friends. Don't gratuitously wake up at frequent intervals just to test if something has happened; design your hardware and software to be completely idle between events they have to respond to.
- Right now this is a nice summary page. But items like this deserve some more explanation along with some sample code that uses select/poll/inotify/signals instead of busy-waiting.
- Keep in mind that the OLPC wireless network is peer-to-peer. Design applications accordingly. We can presume at least some technology like mDNS (e.g. Avahi) is available for discovery.
- Applications should be localizable.
- If you will be using Python, start by reading these 31 slides about how to use Unicode in Python: http://downloads.egenix.com/python/LSM2005-Developing-Unicode-aware-applications-in-Python.pdf
- Next, read the page on gettext and it's documentation. Become familiar with GTK+ and Pango features for I18N and L10N.
- You can create a fake translation with lengthy text containing non-ASCII characters. It is common to do this with Cyrillic (Russian) and Greek characters that are shaped similar to English characters. Does the text get rendered? Are any graphical elements too small? East-Asian characters may need extra height, along with some of the double-accented characters used in Eastern Europe. Right-to-left scripts like Arabic should also be considered.
- Read and comprehend Dave Jones' paper on "Why Userspace Sucks"; a summary and pointers to the paper can be found at LWN. Note that most of those problems are now being worked on; please do not make similar mistakes!
- What kind of applications are needed?
- have a look at olpc:Sample Applications for some ideas. Or, release an early prototype of your own app as a sample application to help others learn the ropes of developping for this innovative, i.e. non-standard laptop.


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Skype: Fear and loathing in Cupertino, Mountain View
Ditches MySpace warns on patents and Apple
Analysis Skype's IPO has revealed some interesting nuggets about the voice network provider's intentions and fears as it looks to make an initial public offering of its shares. Chief among them are its decision to ditch MySpace and expressions of concern about Google and Apple.
"We believe that users that have registered through MySpace are infrequent users of Skype products," noted the company in today's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Skype said it increased its average monthly connected users from 91 million to 124 million in the three months ended 30 June this year. At the same time its average monthly paying users grew from 6.6 million to 8.1 million.
However, only one million of these registered users connected to Skype, after signing into their MySpace account.
"We have notified MySpace that we do not intend to renew our contract arrangement with MySpace, through which users can register through MySpace, when it expires on November 27, 2010," said Skype.
"It is currently uncertain whether users that connected to Skype through MySpace will continue to do so following the expiry of this contract."
MySpace first agreed to let eBay's relatively short-lived IP telephony outfit plaster its pages with click-to-call buttons in October 2007. It went live in November that year, and the two companies inked a deal to share revenues in an undisclosed carve-up.
A now emboldened Skype obviously feels that MySpace isn't doing enough heavy lifting in the sales department to justify keeping their relationship ambling along. Hence, the News Corp-owned social network is now getting the boot.
Elsewhere in Skype's IPO filing, the firm expressed fears about its intellectual property rights.
"We licence technology for certain elements and other components of our products from third parties, including the VP7 video compression/decompression technology, which we have licensed from On2."
Google of course finally bought On2 Technologies in February this year in a deal valued at around $124.6m.
"The VP7 video compression/decompression technology is used to provide high video quality. There can be no assurance that disputes will not arise as to the scope of a relevant license or the terms of our use of a particular technology or that the licensed technology or other technology that we may seek to license in the future will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all," said Skype.
The company is also worried about being unseated by what it described as the "application store owners" who "have ultimate control over the products and services made available through their channels".
Apple and other potential rivals could walk away from Skype if vendors view the VoIP provider as a competition threat.
"For example, although our application for the Apple iPad, iPhone and iTouch is currently enabled to make voice communications over 3G networks, Apple or its carrier partners may choose to alter the terms of inclusion in its application store, effectively withdrawing this functionality at any time or develop competing applications, such as Apple Face Time, that may better integrate with Apple's devices," said Skype in the filing.
So in effect, the company has a battle on its hands even to remain relevant in the tech landscape up against the likes of Google and Apple. So will the IPO – the number of shares on offer and the price range for which have yet to be revealed – make a difference?
In the first six months of 2010 it pulled in net sales of $406.2m and net income of $13.2m. Skype scored 2009 revenues of $719m, but also lost $99m in the same year.
At the end of the firm's last quarter, Luxembourg-based Skype reported $727.9m of debt outstanding on its books under its amended five-year credit agreement.
So the company, while something more of a cash cow now, certainly doesn't come without risks attached. And that fact perhaps best explains why the IPO's top page figures remain shrouded in mystery for now. ®


text:
Statement by Prime Minister on 9/11
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text:
The Medibuntu repository was discontinued and is no longer available.
As a consequence, you might see error messages in the Update Manager, Package Manager and Software Manager.
The solution is to remove Medibuntu from your list of repositories:
- Open a terminal
- Type gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list to edit the list of repositories (replace "gedit" with "pluma" if you are running MATE, or with "kate" if you are running KDE)
- Remove any line which contains "medibuntu" in it and save the file
- Type apt update in the terminal
- If you are running Linux Mint 15 you've nothing to do (Medibuntu isn't used in Mint 15)
- If you are running the KDE edition, sources might not be present in /etc/apt/sources.list but in another file in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory instead
Medibuntu provided us with additional codecs since 2006. It's sad to see them go and we wish their maintainers the best of luck for the future.
In Linux Mint 16 onwards libdvdcss2 (which allows us to watch DVDs) will be provided via a new Linux Mint repository at http://extra.linuxmint.com.


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UA:Diviner Variants
From D&D Wiki
This material is published under the OGL 1.0a. |
Diviner Variants
Seekers of knowledge, hoarders of lore, and master spies, diviners are perhaps the most underrated specialist wizards. Because they must give up access to only one other school of magic, they are also the most versatile specialists. More than any other specialists, diviners excel at gathering information, and an adventuring party that includes a diviner is much more likely to prepare properly for an adventure.
Many campaigns benefit from featuring more than one type of divination specialist, and diviners can play important parts in any game revolving around information gathering. Campaigns that feature mysteries and detective-style adventures, themes of prophecy and oracles, or large amounts of social interaction and espionageall make excellent forums for a diviner's powers. In campaigns that feature variant diviners with different class abilities, one simple way to add more variety is to make each distinct group of specialists experts in and proponents of a different form of divination. In game terms, this divergence is represented by altering the material components for some divination spells. For example, one group of diviners might favor osteomancy and require a collection of bones to use as components for their spells.
Enhanced awareness(Ex)
A diviner using this variant adds Sense Motive to her list of class skills. In addition, she gains minor benefits when casting certain divination spells.
She needs only to study an item for ten minutes (rather than 1 hour) when casting identify.
An arcane eye cast by the diviner travels at 20 feet per round when studying its surroundings (rather than 10 feet per round).
Add +1 to the saving throw DCs of the character's divination spells (This bonus stacks with the bonus from Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats.)
A diviner using this variant permanently gives up the ability to obtain a familiar.
Bonus feat list
A diviner using this variant gradually grows in awareness and perceptive ability, but at the expense of the metamagic capabilities. The diviner may not select a metamagic feat as a wizard bonus feat(that is, those feats gained at 5th, 10th, 15h and 20th level). However, the following feats are added to the list of bonus feats available to her at those levels: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, and Skill Focus (Spot, Listen, or Sense Motive only).
Prescience (Ex)
Gifted with extraordinary insight and perceptive abilities, a diviner using this variant can add an insight bonus equal to her Intelligence modifier to any attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or level check she makes. The diviner can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day for every five levels attained. Using this ability is a free action that can be taken out of turn if needed, but the character must choose to use this ability before the die roll is made.
A diviner using this variant does not gain additional spells per day for being a specialist wizard.
Back to Main Page → Variant Rules → Classes


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Is your printer stealing from you? Yes--if it's making you replace ink or toner constantly, or if you need to buy pricey special paper to get the best output. Maybe it's stealing your time or sanity by being a lot slower than it said it'd be, or having cheapo components that break or are just plain hard to use. PC World reveals some sinners-and saints-based on our recent printer reviews.
Our Top 10 charts keep tabs on this and more. We test speed and print quality; we try all the features; and we price ink and toner to see if you're going to get reamed. For instance, while you'd think any monochrome laser would be cheap, think again: Some models have surprisingly pricey toner, like the HP LaserJet P2055x chart.
Multifunction printers (MFPs) are especially popular in small offices that need to do more in less space. The HP OfficeJet 6500 is a standout for being good at everything and offering cheap inks. Wish we could say the same for the Epson Workforce 600, whose ink costs are ridiculous even for its high-yield cartridges. One of the most balanced among color-laser MFPs is the Brother MFC-9450CDN. And then there's the Lexmark X543dn, whose toner is some of the most expensive we've ever priced.
The cost of a printer goes far beyond its purchase price. Make sure it's not stealing from you by checking ink or toner costs before you buy; and check PC World's reviews for other hidden costs or gotchas.


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The Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery from Jakks Pacific pairs microwavable cake mixes with a fully equipped detailing station featuring a a battery-powered icing pen, fondant mixes and mini cookie cutters you can use to decorate your very own cake creations!
The brand-new Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery from Jakks Pacific is the latest in a line of cool cooking toys for girls. It pairs microwavable cake mixes with a fully equipped detailing station that features a Lazy Susan, a battery-powered icing pen, fondant mixes and mini cookie cutters you can use to cut shapes out of dough and decorate your cake creations!
Ace Of Cakes
Another cool feature of this kitchen-based toy is that it features Duff from the Ace Of Cakes reality show. He seems pretty happy to be the spokes-guy for the Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery and makes a pretty good cooking companion, too!
Some Assembly Required
Don't be too alarmed when you first open up your Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery - there are quite a few little pieces to unpack and put together before you can start honing your cake-decorating abilities. Once you untwist all the little twist ties and release the plastic inserts from their vacuum-molded packaging, you'll be all set to go. (Here's a hint: we suggest you wash all the pieces under water before putting the set together. That way you'll know it's clean and dust-free before you start cooking!)
What's Inside
Here's what you get with the Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery:
- One cake bakery base
- One vanilla cake mix
- One chocolate cake mix
- Four fondant mixes (blue, yellow, chocolate and red)
- One bag of rainbow sprinkles
- One tube of white gel
- One gel decorator
- One decorating wheel (aka Lazy Susan)
- One microwave baker
- One mixing bowl
- One cake mold
- One measuring spoon
- One tray
- One spatula
- Four fondant cutters
- One utensils holder
- One working mat
- One rolling pin
- Two gel cartridges
- One cartridge-cleaning brush
- Four recipe cards
- One instruction sheet
- One Duff pamphlet
Easy Instructions
Here's the quick version of how you use the Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery to create and decorate your very own cakes:
- Mix up the batter
- Cook it in your microwave baker
- Make and shape the fondant
- Decorate your cake!
Video: Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery
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Dossier 17: Kabul, ban on women working, the cold, the misery and trading in human remains
Publication Author:
Zaki Chihab
September 1997 Attachment | Size |
Word Document | 84.45 KB |
number of pages:
170 A row of vehicles on the highway from Kabul, in the foothills of mount Mahi Barre, stuck due to the freezing cold and massive snowfall: this is the image of the painful living conditions that the Afghan population has been enduring since the invasion of the country by the Russians seventeen years ago. The Afghans are known for their tremendous strength of character but this time around, the present situation of their country seems to have visibly affected them. The stricken expression on the faces of those whom we questioned on the topic of children who desecrate cemeteries on the northern part of the capital, on the look out for bones, seems to witness this fact. They collect bones in order to sell them to dealers, who then transport these to Peshawar(in Pakistan). Over there, these human remains are sold as animal bones and used in the manufacture of certain products.
According to the teacher from Kabul who was accompanying me, these bones are used for the manufacture of salad oil, soap, food for poultry or even for making buttons for clothes. Traders have veered towards this activity after giving up collecting scrap iron and various other ores. After they took over Kabul on 27th September 1996, the Taliban had in fact forbidden them from making these exports to Pakistan. "There's nothing else to do. We need money to feed our children", says a dealer, who refuses to be photographed by my guide, who has been following me around like a shadow during my stay in Kabul.
According to Haroun Chawli, degree holder from the university of Kabul who works for a humanitarian organization, "the people who live near the cemeteries in the northern part of the capital and the cemetery of the Martyrs in the centre of town are quite used to seeing children slip into these at the crack of dawn", as soon as the curfew imposed upon the capital from 9 p.m to 5 a.m is lifted. "Obviously, the Taliban seem to be unaware of this, even though they might have already heard about it, he adds. Those who indulge in the trade of human remains act as if they were collecting bones of dogs, horses, cows or sheep, and not of human beings." He attributes this phenomenon to the deterioration in the economic situation, the high cost of living-last year, inflation had escalated to more than 400%-and to unemployment, which has affected almost half of the population.
Women no longer have the right to go to university
Living conditions have further worsened with the ban imposed upon working of women, with the exception of doctors and nurses, who must now wear the chador. "The cemetery children are the products of a generation without work, without food and without hope", confides Haroun Chawli to us. Life in Kabul is boring for some, difficult and tiresome for others. According to a Kabul resident, the absence of public places such as cafés and cinema halls, and the icy cold weather are responsible for confining people to their homes. Perched at a height of more than 1 800 meters amidst mountains, the Afghan capital had however been, during other times, a veritable crossroads for trade in the region. Today, at nightfall, Kabul resembles a ghost city.
Anouar Matouniar, the manager of the Intercontinental hotel, where I was to spend the night, receives me warmly upon my arrival, but he hesitates for a long time before admitting to me that there is no electricity any more after 9 p.m. Electricity supply is still irregular due to damage of generators and the network which supply electricity to the capital. The entire area surrounding the hotel is plunged in darkness. He gives me a few candles in case of need and promises to fetch me a bucket of hot water the minute I felt the need for it. He even goes as far as to proffer his apologies for the present situation, he who has been witness to all the recent upheavals and wars that his country has had to face ever since the coup d'état engineered by Mohammad Daoud against the regime of king Mohammad Zaher Chah, in 1972. However, Anouar's voice reveals a certain amount of satisfaction when he says,"as we have an Islamic government, there are no missile attacks any more, like in the past. Only air raids from time to time. We receive our salaries regularly, even though they are not very high: they do not exceed a few dollars a month. Life is very expensive, the poor were not able to feed their children without the help of humanitarian organizations." At present, Kabul does not lodge any diplomats other than two Pakistani and two Iranian officials. The embassies of Sudan and France have been closed down, and walking down the city, we noticed that many others had done the same. Dhalimi Ali, university student in Kabul, is impatient for the university that has been closed for the winters, to reopen and for the return of students. Taliban have forbidden school and university to girls. Of the 7 000 students registered in the university of Kabul, 3 000 are women, as per Dhalimi, who is temporarily employed in the administrative department of the university.
At the head office of the international committee of the Red Cross, Jean-Luc Paladini gives a detailed account of the activities of this humanitarian organization in Afghanistan. He puts the number of Afghan families benefiting from the help of the Red Cross at 36 000. Twenty-five Afghan women had to discontinue work at the committee following the decision of the Taliban. They were working as secretaries, translators and even as cleaning ladies. Other humanitarian organizations of the United Nations had been more adversely affected by this decision as they had had more women workers on their ranks. However, this official feels that the bitter cold and the snow accounted for the main difficulties faced by the residents of Kabul. Fuel prices are very high, inflation is escalating, whereas the salary of a government official is no more than 4 dollars a month. This is just about enough to buy 7 kilos of rice...
Source: Translated into English and reproduced from 'Kaboul, l'interdiction du travial des femmes, le froid, la misère et le commerce d'ossements humains', Courrier International, No.332, 15-19 March 1997. [Reprinted from Al Wasat, London]
Courrier International, 14 bd. Poissonnière, 75308 Paris, France
Related News
- The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, requests judicial authorisation to commence an investigation into the Situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
- Mauritania broadens death penalty for blasphemy
- 'We will break every bone': Islamist leaders threaten Bangladeshi lawyer, WLUML Networker
- Indonesia: PRESS RELEASE: Women Leaders National Jamboree--230 Women Leaders Building the New Indonesian Economy and Peace
- UN Special Rapporteur in Field of Cultural Rights on the Paris Attacks: "Crime against humanity, crime against culture"
Related Actions
- WLUML Letter to the Canadian Govt.: Support of Afghan Women's Demands
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- Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) condemns the harassment of Sri Lankan activist Sharmila Seyyid
Relevant Resources
- Promotion and protection of human rights: human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms
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EDITOR'S NOTE: BP Ledger carries items for reader information each week from various Southern Baptist-related entities, and news releases of interest from other sources. The items are published as received.
Today's BP Ledger contains items from:
World News Service
Western Recorder
University of Mobile
Christian landmarks in Israel under attack by ultra-Orthodox gangs
By Jill Nelson
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (World News Service) — Attackers torched nine cars in Israel's West Bank and slashed the tires on 28 cars in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem on June 19. The Hebrew word for "revenge" was scrawled across a number of the vandalized vehicles. Just weeks earlier, vandals spray painted Jerusalem's Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion with the words, "Christians are monkeys" for the second time in two months.
Both incidents are believed to be part of a growing trend in Israel called "price tag" attacks, a form of retribution for violence against Israeli settlers or the government dismantling of illegal settlements. The perpetrators claim a "price" must be paid for any anti-settlement activity and often label the vandalism with their trademark phrase, "price tag."
These attacks are on the rise in Israel, and their targets have expanded from primarily West Bank Arabs to peace activists, churches, and monasteries. For a region accustomed to the unknowns of terrorist attacks, Israel finds itself grappling with how to define these attacks, and what they mean. Some victims claim the government hasn't done enough to track down and prosecute the perpetrators in a country known for its superior security forces.
The number of price tag attacks has grown from only a few in 2008 to more than 200 in 2012. Already the number of incidents reported during the first half of this year has surpassed last year's total. The violators have desecrated mosques and churches, demolished olive trees owned by Palestinians, torched cars and places of worship, and scrawled offensive graffiti across Christian sights in Israel.
The primary suspects are disaffected youth among ultraright Jewish settlers, and while some acts seem to be coordinated and tied to a particular event or announcement by the government, others appear random and unrelated.
On May 17, a group of Palestinians, a mosque, and a Greek Orthodox monastery filed a case in a New York district court against five U.S.-based organizations. The lawsuit alleges that these nonprofits have supported terrorist activities through the funding of Israeli settlements.
Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and The Hebron Fund are among the list of organizations cited in the lawsuit. Both organizations refuse to comment on the allegations, which accuse the groups of violating the material support statute, a law that has been primarily used to ban funding of Palestinian terror groups by U.S. charities. The indictment of the Holy Land Foundation is the most notable example of prosecution under this law.
Omri Ceren, a senior advisor at The Israel Project, says the allegations are a far stretch. "It's going to be tough to tie settlements to the price tag attacks. The settlement leaders are almost unanimous in ostracizing these guys for obvious reasons. It makes them look terrible and it brings attention that they don't want."
With price tag attacks on the rise—particularly against churches and monasteries—the Israeli government is also garnering unwanted attention.
Last fall, price taggers defaced three Christian properties in Israel, including the Trappist monastery in Latrun which was lit on fire and spray painted with graffiti. In February of last year, the Valley of the Cross Monastery and the Narkis Street Baptist House were vandalized with offensive phrases such as "Jesus drop dead" and "death to Christians."
"This is a criminal act and those responsible must be severely punished," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the attack in Latrun. "Religious freedom and worship are two of the most basic institutions."
Some Christian leaders in Israel say the government isn't doing enough to hunt down the perpetrators of such crimes, pointing to a much quicker government response when a Jewish site has been vandalized.
After the monastery attack in Latrun, senior Catholics and Protestants issued a statement complaining not only about government inaction but ultra-Orthodox teaching they say tells children they have an obligation to attack Christians. "What happened in Latrun is only another in a long series of attacks against Christians and their places of worship," said Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Franciscan Order in the Holy Land.
In 2011, price taggers targeted the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, spray painting such phrases as, "Hitler, thank you for the holocaust," with a signature of "the global Zionist mafia." The culprits were quickly apprehended and turned out to be an anti-Zionist and ultra-Orthodox gang trying to "copycat" the price tag attacks launched by settlement youth. Police may have had an easier time tracking down the culprits, knowing that only extremist haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, groups would write slogans with such blatant anti-Israel sentiments.
Members of the extremist cell were arrested within three weeks and the leader of the group told police he wanted to bomb the Knesset.
In June, the Israeli security cabinet voted against labeling price taggers as "terrorists" but did adopt stricter measures for preventing and punishing such attacks. These new regulations allow law enforcement officers to treat price tag attacks the same way they would acts of terrorism.
Police in the Jerusalem area arrested 12 suspects with alleged connections to the 56 price tag attacks in their district during 2012, but most of them were released. Ceren, however, disagrees with accusations of a lackluster government response: "It's just very difficult to make the case that these are anything but a fringe group of a fringe group, let alone that the government is providing them with immunity."
Analysts are quick to point out that Christians still fare far better in Israel than surrounding Muslim countries where persecution involves much more than offensive graffiti and vandalism. Israel's price tag attacks have not led to any injuries or deaths. Still, Christian and Muslim leaders are hopeful that stricter laws targeting price taggers will prevent a slippery slope of growing minority persecution in a country that is no stranger to trials and tribulations.
Kentucky Baptist wins Miss Kentucky title
By Ken Walker
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Western Recorder) — Jenna Day plans to use her platform as the new Miss Kentucky to advocate for special needs children—while hoping encounters with the public will open doors to discuss her faith in Jesus.
"I want to spread Christ-like love to people," said the member of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville. "I hope my biggest witness will be that they see some sort of light in me.
"What I have is security, joy and unconditional love. When you have unconditional love in Jesus there is nothing that can stop you. … Even on a bad day, you know you're loved."
A Louisville native and 2009 graduate of Male High School, Day is the daughter of longtime Highview members Daniel and Leslie Day. Jenna has one sister, Courtney Nitz, who lives in Lexington.
The crown marked her first victory in four attempts. As the pageant winner, Day received a $12,000 scholarship and the use of a new Lexus for a year. She will also compete in this year's Miss America pageant, which airs on national television Sept. 15.
A senior at the University of Kentucky, Day is taking a year off from school because of the demands of her new position. She hopes to surpass the 400-plus personal appearances recorded by Mallory Ervin, Miss Kentucky in 2009.
Employed by the state agriculture department during her reign, Day will promote Kentucky Proud. The initiative encourages residents to buy healthy vegetables and other locally-produced foods. In addition, she plans to train a spotlight on special needs children.
This cause became dear to her during childhood, originally through extended family members. Her aunt and role model — former Jefferson County Judge Executive Rebecca Jackson — taught special education classes and later ran a supported employment agency.
Day gained more appreciation for what families of special needs children experience during high school through a teacher.
Jeffrey Wright was the father of a special needs son named Adam. She said "life chats" with Wright inspired her because she saw how much love and dedication went into raising a special needs child.
And, she saw how Adam taught his father how to love. In the same way, special needs children can show everyone that there is a plan and purpose for their life as well, Day said.
She called this experience the finishing touch on a long journey that revealed to her that she should speak up for these children.
"A lot of times people want to know, 'What does God want me to do?'" Day said. "I think you have to listen to the little things. Sometimes God doesn't hit you over the head with His plan. It's a combination of moments."
She said her supportive role will revolve around advocacy and education. In addition to publicly supporting organizations that help such children, she will let others know about their capacity for achievement.
Many people don't believe special needs youngsters have any potential, which can result in bullying in school and later in life on the job, she said. "I want to educate people and get them talking about this issue so when people see a special needs kid they will look at them as an inspiration," Day said. "They do amazing things every day."
Voices of Mobile performs at Pentagon, Brooklyn Tabernacle
MOBILE, Ala. (University of Mobile) -– Voices of Mobile, one of more than 20 ensembles in the University of Mobile Center for Performing Arts/School of Music, performed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City during their summer tour.
From May 12 to July 7, the ensemble performed concerts from Texas to south Florida, from New York to Louisiana, according to Roger Breland, vice president for project development and executive director of the UMobile Center for Performing Arts/School of Music and School of Worship Leadership. Previously, Voices of Mobile has performed at the White House, toured Europe, the Cayman Islands, and the Middle East, and presented concerts featuring contemporary Christian music across the United States from Hawaii to Alaska.
Voices performed at the Pentagon chapel for the Pentagon Prayer Luncheon on June 20, hosted by the Pentagon Chaplains Office. They performed at the Brooklyn Tabernacle on June 23.
University of Mobile vocal and instrumental groups performed before more than 12,000 people during major events in just five weeks during Spring Semester 2013. That doesn't include weekend concerts by the more than 20 ensembles in the Center for Performing Arts.
"Our students have amazing opportunities in the classroom to study with world-class professors, then gain extensive performance experiences in all types of musical styles, from contemporary Christian to opera, from worship leadership to classical guitar," Breland said.
Among the many concerts and productions performed during spring semester were a Passion Play sacred music and theatre production, Godspell musical theatre production, Pirates of Penzance opera production, and concerts featuring jazz, classical music, the university's Steinway Artist performing on the famed Horowitz piano, piano ensemble, guitar ensemble, RamCorps choreographed brass and percussion group, and the annual Spring Spectacular featuring all 21 ensembles.
Breland said the Christian university's music program provides the flexibility to add ensembles based upon students' interests and talents.
"We have a very popular Celtic strings group, Welsh Revival, that features a student who has won awards for Celtic dancing. Our Jazz Band and Voices played before an audience of more than 1,800 at our university's Leadership Banquet featuring Tim Tebow," Breland said.
The Voices summer tour began May 12 in Mobile at Luke 4:18 Fellowship and concludes July 7 in Baton Rouge, La., at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church. At tour's end, they will have traveled over 5,500 miles in seven weeks through nine states, performing more than 30 concerts including at First Baptist Jacksonville, Fla.; Green Acres Baptist in Tyler, Texas; Sherwood Baptist in Albany, Ga.; and the Brooklyn Tabernacle in Brooklyn, N.Y.
One student, Annaclaire Wilbanks, even had an opportunity to be filmed for TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" television show during a two-day break from touring in New York City.
The University of Mobile is a Baptist-affiliated university located in Mobile, Ala., on an 880-acre campus near Gulf Coast beaches. Approximately 1,800 students are enrolled in more than 40 undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Christian Leadership, School of Business, School of Christian Ministries, School of Education, School of Nursing, School of Worship Leadership, Center for Performing Arts/School of Music and Center for Adult Programs.
For more information about the University of Mobile, visit the website at www.umobile.edu. To audition for the Center for Performing Arts, visit www.umobile.edu/audition.


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Let $\pi \colon M\to N$ be a smooth map between real smooth manifolds. Then $C^\infty(M)$ forms a module over $C^\infty(N)$ (via pullback). Is this module flat when $\pi$ is a submersion?
Recall that the usual definition of flatness is equivalent to the following equational condition: whenever $ h_1 \ldots h_k\in C^\infty(N) $ and $g_1 \ldots g_k\in C^\infty(M)$ are such that: $$h_1 g_1 + \ldots + h_k g_k = 0$$ (as functions on $M$) then there are functions $G_1 \ldots G_r\in C^\infty(M)$ and $a_{i,j}\in C^\infty(N)$ such that: $$g_i= \sum_j a_{i,j}G_j \; \forall i $$ and $$\sum_i h_i a_{i,j}= 0 \; \forall j$$
Some remarks:
It's known that the inclusion of an open subset $U\subset N$ is a flat morphism since smooth functions on $U$ are obtained from smooth functions on $N$ by localizing w.r.t. functions vanishing nowhere on $U$.
It's also known that smooth flat maps have to be open. Proofs of both of these facts can be found for example in the book: Gonzales, Salas, $C^\infty$-differentiable spaces, Lecture notes in Mathematics, Springer 2000.
I've asked some of the experts including Malgrange and the above authors and it seems that the answer is not known.
I gave the equational condition of flatness since it seems like the most reasonable thing to use here. But considering already the simplest situation here's what gets me stuck: suppose you want to check flatness of the standard projection $\mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}, (x,y)\mapsto x$, and take the case of just one $h\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R})$ and one $g\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R}^2)$ with $hg=0$. If you pick $h(x)$ to be strictly positive for $x<0$ and $0$ for $x\geq 0$, then the flatness condition translates into:
Any smooth function $g(x,y) \in C^\infty (\mathbb{R}^2)$ that vanishes on the half plane $x\leq 0 $ admits a "factorization": $$g(x,y)= \sum_j a_j (x)G_j (x,y)$$ where the $a_j\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R})$ all vanish on $x\leq 0$ and the $G_j\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R}^2)$ are arbitrary.
Anyone has an idea how to prove this "simple" case, or sees a counter example?
(Edit: George Lowther beautifully proves this "simple" case, and also comes closer to the full result in his second answer. If you also think he deserves some credit consider up-voting his second answer since the first one turned community wiki.)
My personal interest is that a positive answer would allow me to finish a certain proof, which trying to explain here would take this too far afield. But I may try to put the question into context as follows: the notion of flat morphism plays an important role in algebraic geometry where it is basically the right way to formalize the notion of parametrized families of varieties (fibers of such a morphism being these families). One may also say that it is the right "technical" notion allowing one to do all the things one expects to do with such parametrized families (correct me if I'm wrong).
Now I've been taught that differential topology may also be seen as a part of commutative algebra (and that taking such a point of view might even be useful at times). For example: a manifold itself may be recovered completely from the algebra of smooth functions on it, and any smooth map between manifolds is completely encoded by the corresponding algebra morphism. Other examples: vector fields are just derivations of the algebra, vector bundles are just finitely generated projective modules over the algebra etc. Good places to learn this point of view are: Jet Nestruev, Smooth manifolds and observables, as well as the above mentioned book.
Now in differential topology there is a well know notion of smooth parametrized families of manifolds, namely smooth fiber bundles. Hence from this algebraic point of view it would be natural to expect that fiber bundles are flat morphisms.