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11 Best Judy Blume Books for Every Stage of Life
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51 Must-Read Books for Teens (That Even Adults Adore)
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30 Inspirational Books That Will Change Your Life
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How to Read The Summer I Turned Pretty Books in Order
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Here's Why This Teacher Says the Book "Rainbow Fish" Might Be Outdated
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36 Children's Books About Diversity to Read to Your Kids
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8 Children's Nursery Rhymes That Are Actually Racist
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Marine biologists are having a heyday in California, where in the last week a rarely seen species of fish has washed ashore, not once, but twice.
In the last week, two carcasses of oarfish have washed ashore. The first one measured in at 18 feet long, and the second one, found by a group of third-graders on a school trip, was 14 feet long.
Sightings of the extremely large deep-sea creature, which can grow up to 50 feet, are rare, as oarfish tend to swim thousands of feet below the surface. While dead, the fish appear to be in good health.
"It looks good enough to eat – if you have a 13ft pan," biologist Ruff Zetter told the BBC.So why have two of these rare fish washed up in the last week? In the wake of the sightings, many have cited an old Japanese myth that links oarfish sightings to earthquakes. But scientists aren't so sure. What's more likely is that these fish are poor swimmers, and a current simply could have carried them into rough waters.
For now, if you're in the mood to see a sea serpent, your best odds are in Southern California as the Catalina Island Marine Institute will likely keep the fish skeleton for educational purposes.

subset: commoncrawl


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2013 brought us so much change that we thought it would be best to provide you with a non-prediction, non-forecast, non-reflective perspective…just to throw you off (and get a few more reads). Cut to the chase right now? Naw…let's tease you a bit:
So we still live in a world hell-bent on immediate gratification. The perfect report. Flawless analytics. Immediate results. Impeccable product. Amazing customer service. And all for less than last year. Or last week…and our clients' clients want that, too.
Our challenges remain the same as they were over 13 years ago when the Auto Industry beckoned to me, selling cars to customers "over the Internet". Customers want a seamless, enjoyable experience that allows them to receive value, benefit and satisfaction. From consideration to contact to confirmation to courting to contract. We seem to fail at the essential points: reaching then, setting appointments and storing/sorting data.
Better websites and SEO and SEM and social media and reputation management, better products and marketing and incentives all show the glaring deficiencies we have as an industry when it still takes about 24 hours to get back to a "lead", make actual contact less than 40% of the time and sell under 10% (really under 8%) of them…
So our prediction is nothing will change; nothing more than a tick on the needle of progress. Oh sure, more dealers will do a "better job", their OEM and vendor suits will tell them so. Yes, for the most part the pie will shift its slices however it won't grow like it should.
More consolidation of vendors will happen. Manufacturers will continue roll out and/or mandate mediocre programs while not selling more cars or knowing how to actually measure a thing. Some of 2013's stars will fade while others will receive the spotlight. "Of course, that's the cyclical ways of commerce" you say…we say bull hooey.
2014 is the 20th year of the Automotive Internet, however over half of the market is still waking up to their year one. This is not meant to piss on anyone's parade, however it is a wake up call to the still-asleep-at-the-wheel. Those clinging to their manipulated audits while flying the flappy arm blow up man or building-sized animal, swearing that 3,000 people came in with their direct mail piece…
You can buy the new adaptive thingy. Roll out the chat-to-dance app. Boost your presence with the social-speed transmission. Serve mobile burritos to your clients. Then wrap it all up with some pay-per-view ultimate fighting service sauce. Or not change a thing and sell and maintain just about what you did in 2013. Why go through a business existence like this?
We need real education and investment. Not "training" and "cost". Curiosity killed the cat. And fear is the lengthened shadow of ignorance. So what will you do to support success before the next snake oil rep comes in with the "must have" toy or NADA party pass if you sign up?
2014 will not change a thing. Your customers will, if you allow them. Your OEM will not change a thing. Your service manager will, if you allow them. Your inventory will not change a thing. Your new actions will, if you allow them.
# # #
Note: we've been quiet for a long, long time here on our blog. The "experiment" is done and we'll be more active again. So if you'd like to see a subject covered, let us know here, on Twitter, Facebook or by contacting us directly (310) 377-6481 or info at imacsweb.com.
A lot is in store for IM@CS in 2014 and we'd love to have you along for the ride. Not making it to NADA? Set up an assessment meeting with Gary, JD or Evelyn (for our Canadian friends), we are honoring 2013 pricing until January 15…
Thank you for reading (and participating on) our blog as we start year six of doing so for the Automotive Industry's superstars: the dealers.


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One of these things just doesn't
Can you tell which thing is not
like the others
By the time I finish my song?
I would like to proceed with a simple examination of the
success (or not) of the various US Federal cabinet departments toward their
stated missions. I will do this by
selecting for examination one or two appropriate measures for each
NB: Keep in mind, the success is relative to the mission statement,
not based on my views of either the Constitution or libertarian theory.
The mission of the Department of Defense
is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the
security of our country.
There are fourteen
major military operations listed for the United States since World War
II. Other than the 1991 Gulf War, the
rest might – at best – be considered dubious victories; more often,
embarrassing defeats.
A success rate of 7% would qualify as horrendous. Weighting the conflicts for cost and lives
destroyed, I suspect the success rate would be lower than 1%. Is there a category below horrendous?
Maintain a strong economy and
create economic and job opportunities by promoting the conditions that enable
economic growth and stability at home and abroad, strengthen national security
by combating threats and protecting the integrity of the financial system, and
manage the U.S. Government's finances and resources effectively.
Protecting the integrity of the financial system?
The financial crisis of 2007–2008,
also known as the Global Financial Crisis and 2008 financial crisis, is
considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the
Great Depression of the 1930s. It
threatened the total collapse of large financial institutions, which was
prevented by the bailout of banks by national governments, but stock markets
still dropped worldwide.
Total collapse = Horrendous.
The U.S. Department of the Interior
protects America's natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and
tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future.
Living conditions on the reservations have been
cited as "comparable to Third World…"
…depending on the reservation, four to eight out
of ten adults on reservations are unemployed.
Among American Indians who are employed, many are earning below poverty
The overall percentage of American Indians
living below the federal poverty line is 28.2%. The disparity for American Indians living
below poverty on the reservations is even greater, reaching 38% to 63% in our
service area…
"…30% of Indian housing is overcrowded and less
than 50% of it is connected to a public sewer."
"The average life expectancy for Native
Americans has improved yet still trails that of other Americans by almost 5
We provide leadership on food,
agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related
issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient
Obesity in the United States has been
increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many
industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, obesity rates in
the United States are among the highest in the world.
Obesity has continued to grow within the United
States. Two out of every three Americans are considered to be overweight or
obese. During the early 21st century, America often contained the highest
percentage of obese people in the world.
The United States had the highest rate of
obesity for large countries, until obesity rates in Mexico surpassed that of
the United States in 2013.
The highest rate…well, until last year. As one year does not make for a trend, the
Department of Agriculture will remain, for now, in the horrendous category.


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N° 72 Loud & Clear
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31 January - 9 March 2003
John M Armleder / Hans van Manen / Fastland/Ground / Pierre Bismuth / Theo Loevendie / Strawberry Frog / Marlene Dumas / Ryuichi Sakamoto / Kessels/Kramer / Pierre Huyghe / Steamboat Switserland / Tyler Whisnand / Yayoi Kusama / Haukur Tòmasson / Jung von Matt / Aernout Mik / Gudni Franzson / Wieden & Kennedy / Pipilotti Rist / Caroline Berkenbosch / *S,C,P,F... / Viktor & Rolf / Toek Numan / Saatchi & Saatchi / Gillian Wearing / Yello / NEW
It was cold and windy. The sky was cloudy, but the light was bright above the Dutch city of Delft. A procession of horses and carriages had left from The Hague. It was not an everyday sight, nineteenth century gala uniforms, sabres on saddles, footmen marching all the way beside a purple hearse. Military standing everywhere along the route. Marines. Army. Air Force. Behind them the people. It was deathly quiet. The procession halted in Delft, on the square next to the church where the Dutch royal house inters its prominent members in a vault. Thousands of people stood for hours exposed to the weather to see the guests arrive. To see how the coffin with the body of Prince Claus, the husband of Queen Beatrix, was borne slowly and solemnly into the church. Afterwards, a television reporter asked a woman in her forties, who had stood waiting on the church square the whole day, what she thought about it. She shook her head and bit her lower lip.Then she said, "I hadn't expected it to be so impressive. It all seemed so unreal.'
The people who took their positions along the route in Delft found themselves in a completely mediated zone. Everything, from the stupidest incident to the official ceremony, was picked up by dozens of television cameras, by photographers and radio reporters, by newspaper journalists. The burial of the prince consort is a national event, which means in the first place a television event, repeated all day long on all the channels and discussed in all the newspapers. The people standing along the route knew that their physical presence provided insufficient access to the national occasion. Yet they stood there, flesh and blood, skin and hair, electrified by the feelings of shared grief intensified by the silence; but the actual funeral, the journey of the hearse, the faces of the Queen and her family, the words of the speakers, the sound of Mozart's Requiem in the church, all that was only to be seen on television. Of course the crowds of spectators, their faces and emotions, were also extensively shown on television. Only there, on television, did everything blend together and the horses and carriages, the weapons and the flowers, the tears on the royal faces and on those of the people outside merged to become a national event. The woman standing on the church square in Delft was so accustomed to experiencing national events in television form that the 'small', physical version confused her. She was immersed in an intense sensual experience. Much richer than television can offer. She smelt the horses, the heard the voices of the troopers, she saw a stream of details that cameras miss, she had to wait for hours and had the feeling that the silence of the crowds around her and the advancing coldness made death more present. But precisely that which gave her the feeling of familiar reality, that was lacking. There was no commentary that would put names to faces and assuage feelings by naming them in generalised terms. With no commentary there were no sentimental historical facts, no interpretation or grasp on events. There was no accompanying music, no majestic camera swerves from the rafters of the church, no linking between locations. And because there was none of the familiar rhythm that a national event has, she stood forlornly, or should I say defenceless against a continuous stream of indeterminable, but impressive minutes, whereupon, after many hours, the hearse with the dead body of the prince finally arrived.
She stood for hours looking at the church where the funeral service would take place, but she was not allowed inside. The whole audio-visual tableau that would have given her access to the reality of the funeral at home was now cordoned off from her. She was left to her own devices, to her limited senses and the passing of time. But that it had seemed unreal was no reason to complain. Oh no, it had all made an enormous impression. The feeling of unreality was for her precisely a hallmark of intensity, of significance. The realistic version of the world is the version made by newspapers and television; supplemented by chats in waiting rooms or at the market, by press photos, radio and internet. Thanks to these media we are able to feel ourselves part of a meaningful and comprehensible world. And not only that, we can appropriate the meanings proffered. The media's stylised facts and generalities supply us with the moulds to pour in our attention, desires and fears. We recognise each other's casts, even though we tinker about with them and adorn and combine them. As long as the result remains compatible with that of the others then it's all right. In this way we gain a sort of common reality-currency, which we can exchange with others, with strangers if necessary. People thus become a family, an occupational group, inhabitants of a region, Dutchmen, Britons, art lovers. The realistic version of the world gives our inner life and our social life a certain rigidity and reliability. That goes for our intimate and private domain, but it also counts in a professional and political respect. Nothing is better to communicate than the realistic version of the world. Clarity, mutual linkability of the parts, standardisation, repetition, maximum recognisability, these are the characteristics that optimum communication and the realistic version of the world have in common.
The realistic version of the world has the media as an ideal means of conveyance, but can also exist outside the media, in the conversations, thoughts and fantasies of people who are well trained by the media and are able to continue and imitate the same patterns all by themselves. Even in a lonely hiker who is surprised and pleased to see a deer in the depths of the woods and writes a poem about it. However much the hiker might be convinced that he is expressing his own experience in original verses, it can happen that the poem consists entirely of shards of glued together 'reality-currency', evoking nothing but an echo of the clear, general, maximally recognisable and accepted way in which deer are communicated about in reality. A gap then seems yawn between noting 'a real deer' and a physical deer/shock/woods experience and what all of this might mean.
Where the actual experience and the realistic version of the world collide or leave each other in the lurch, that's where you experience unreality. That's exactly what happened to the woman on the church square in Delft. It made so much of an impression that it all seemed unreal. Isn't that what you wish a night with a new lover to be like? And how can you better typify the moment surrounding the first cry of your child? And what do traumatised soldiers say about the horrors they saw? That it seemed like a dream, a painfully lucid dream, since it didn't feel like reality. It is not so that music, art, literature and cinema derive their rationale from it, but they are certainly based on the dream that their works are able to induce in viewers a similarly intense experience. Only rarely does this happen. What hopefully does always happen is perception comingin touch with the unreal. For that can also happen in a sneaking, whispering, casual, quasi-everyday manner. A good example of this is the film that Marlene Dumas has contributed to Loud & Clear. It makes it clear immediately that the unreal is not the same as fiction, madness, fantasy or something supernatural. In a restless and smudgy projection surface with brightening fields of colour, a window opens. It is a blurry, slightly slowed down video film, in which a camera enters the room of a sleeping girl. The title is My Daughter and the viewer has every reason to assume that it is the artist who is making use of her role as mother to make this film. Realistically seen, nothing happens. The camera steals up on the sleeping body, zooms in on her buttocks, her hand, her hair and makes a few brief explorations of the room, which results in a close-up of a human skull. Then it comes to an end. It may well have an extremely everyday subject (in fact it is a variant on the home movie), but, crazily enough, the film is not realistic. The first thing one notices is that, in its colouring, the image looks like a living drawing. The face of Dumas's daughter seems to be drawn with the same smeared lines of ink as in Dumas's drawings. That the girl is sleeping and thus not stirring makes this association even more powerful. What we also see is that there is a difference between making a drawing and making a video of someone sleeping. Not only an aesthetic difference, but also a moral one. That the maker of the video is the mother of the girl gives the image an extra voyeuristic charge. We see in the peaceful but unstable hand of the mother the attempt to search for something of herself, something of the impenetrable innocence and beauty of childhood. That this has to be done in such a secretive way colours the gaze with something forbidden, makes the intimacy ominous. You think of the power of a mother, the power of a camera, the power of art. But despite the skull it is just as much a dreamy, loving, aesthetic film. Its colours and the attention to the hand hanging down (which could be a hand from a drawing by Leonardo), for example, continually refer to works of art and the way of seeing that they invite.Nothing invented, nothing acted, no representation of madness or fairytale-like intimations of the supernatural, and yet thoroughly unreal. The way in which a sleeping girl would be staged with a camera in the realistic version of the world would look nothing like this. Here there is no obvious purpose, no dominating meaning. The image emphatically presents itself much more sensuously, more amorally, more ambiguously than in a realistic version. In the realistic version the indeterminacy would ultimately be resolved, that is to say, connected without too much friction to a simple and comprehensible message, which may or may not remain implicit.
This unreal version makes it difficult to make connections or to summarise, and a message or report is miles away. Surprise, poignancy or a vague sense of alarm are indeed evoked, but not in a communicable format; that is to say, according to the conventions of reality. Communication stalls, as viewer you remain stuck with something that is not decipherable without remainder and yet keeps its hold on the viewer, not only sensorily and aesthetically (it is thrilling to see), but also as a process of 'reading', thinking and associating. The unreality emerges, much more than the viewer is directly aware of, thanks to Sakamoto's music. Any idea of a domestic idyll is dispelled by the tense, threatening repetitions of fluits and percussion. It makes you think more of suppressed violence or restrained hysteria. My Daughter shows very well how much the unreal is simply a part of our world, but also that a careful, subtly made film is needed in order to make this experienceable.
The coupling of advertising agencies and artists in Loud & Clear takes place by means of music. Listening to a soundtrack, the artist makes his or her contribution to the project, and then the advertising agency reacts to the completed work. You could say that each DVD shows a relay, beginning in the sovereign hills of music where meanings are scarcely to be found, via the unrealities of art to the pseudo-reality of advertising. Advertising agencies are masters in the art of communication. The best of them play their game at the extreme limits of the communicative conventions from which the real version of the world is constructed. The sensuality they appeal to is distanced from the obvious, straightforward way of seeing, listening and reading that characterises the bulk of visual culture. They prefer to appeal to what you could call the viewer's visual intelligence. In inventiveness, subtlety, aesthetics and daring, their work easily matches an awful lot of art, yet there always remains a fundamental difference and various facets of this are shown in the Loud & Clear series of DVDs. Ultimately an advertising agency will make its work be part of the real version of the world. Albeit with some reluctance or disdain. However much beauty, humour, ambiguity or confusion it may evoke, the work is ultimately only successful if it makes itself superfluous by leading to a strong and unambiguous communicative effect. Unsolved confusion, lasting ambiguity, unresolvable ironic content, painful 'senseless' emotions, these are the things that characterise art but which are harmful for the communication that advertisers want to achieve. In Loud & Clear the advertisers do not have to convey any commercial message or to evoke a form of desired behaviour. But their work does constantly mark the meeting-point between the unrealities of art and the real, audio-visual version of the world. This can be seen very strikingly in what SCFP does with the work of the combination Caroline Berkenbosch and Pipilotti Rist. We hear a slow and wistful melody played on a melodica. You could call it childish or clownish, a forlorn song. You also hear birds and the wind. And cars. The camera is located in the reeds and bushes. It is early spring or autumn. The sky is bright blue. The camera moves wildly, as though the 'narrator' is crawling and rolling over the ground. Through the bare branches the camera scrutinises a provincial road with cars passing. The camera is hiding, you might think. The images evoke shyness. The viewer has to guess the reason. SCPF's advertising man chose three locations where he set up a large monitor and played Rist's video. In a pedestrian street in the city, between shops and houses, in the morning. Beside a sandbox in an infants' school playground, in the afternoon. And in the entertainment district of a big city in the evening. Each time he filmed the scene from a distance and let the shot stand. The children, of course, crowd round the monitor. But in the street the passers by hardly grant the monitor demonstrably standing in the way a glance.
The advertising man also shows an image of solitude. He removes the art video from its protective context and puts it in the street. The camera was shy and had to conceal itself. The video monitor stands defiantly in the way. Here loneliness is caused by indifference and incomprehension, by lack of communication. You hear the same song, the same birds, but now it is background music.
The advertising man registers the friction between Rist's video and the world which supplies the measure of his communicative success. It's up to the viewer to decide whether he does this out of sympathy with Rist or as a form of ironic-critical commentary. Whatever the case, he allows Rist's dream-like, shy and ambiguous images to clash with the problem of communication in the real version of the world.
The addition that Jon Matthews made to the video by Aernout Mik which was made to the music of Gudni Franszon is downright nasty. Zone, a film about..., the screen keeps saying, referring to the title of Mik's video. Then we see the back of a head being scratched long and thoroughly. It is an international gesture of speechlessness and ignorance. Matthews shows us a great many backs of the head and a whole lot of ways of scratching it.
Mik's video is supported by repetitive, sombre music. Drums, didgeridoo and other wind instruments evoke associations with a primitive ritual. Hardly a jolly party. Rather an exorcism or preparation for a war. A sense of oppression also dominates the image. Trucks are standing around a square in a modern area of the city. In the zone thus created, fifty adolescents are hanging around, girls and boys of thirteen, fourteen. It is not a realistic shot of a schoolyard. Uprooted trees and bushes are lying around, as well as cardboard boxes, some of them on fire. The children behave sometimes like tramps, sometimes like children. There is a sense of boredom, but the gaze of the slowly swerving camera also registers deprivation, disorientation, pent up and stifled energy. The camera's gaze is cool and insistent. It is as though you are looking at a group of laboratory animals. One unavoidably thinks of a spectre from the future, a post-catastrophic zone Measured by the standards of the realistic version of the world, this film about children hanging around, getting bored and lighting fires, says next to nothing. Matthew's commentary is an eye-opener in this sense: it collides so frontally with Mik's video that it is instantly clear that the quality of Mik's video cannot be found in the degree to which the film is about something, that is, its communicative contents. Matthews sharpens the viewer's gaze (willingly or not) for the disturbing effect emanating from the unreality in Mik's video. The mixture of arbitrariness and pattern in the behaviour of the children, the threat coming from the fire and the uprooted bushes, the references to the dangers and dejection of a life on the street in the images of these far from needy children; all of these play a part, without clicking together into a clear, communicative story. Matthews is asking in vain.
Art can be festive and funny, optimistic and sexy, but it always derives its strength from evoking, giving form to and manipulating the unreal. And there's something fishy there. It's where artists and spectators encounter the nameless, the uncomprehended, the untamed, the lawless, the senseless violence of the universe. Art is a way of exorcising, investigating and celebrating man's fundamental non-conformity to nature as well as to the world of his own making. What is unfathomably funny and unutterably sad is that this non-conformity is the cause of all magnificence, ingenuity and human grandeur, but also of man's monstrosity, cruelty and clumsiness. If art can connect us with this insolubility then it has some truthfulness; herein lies its success as unreality.
The more intensely this unreal stance penetrates the realistic version of the world the better. Loud & Clear is an adventurous homage to this.
Dirk van Weelden
Organized by SMBA in collaboration with Bifrons Foundation. Outdoor projections at De Melkweg and the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg.


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Hope you had a wonderful Christmas? Since my husband passed away, Christmas has not been the same. On special days like this the girls and I miss him even more. He should have been celebrating with us.
We did our best to enjoy the festivities. Baking and cooking always helps, so does inviting people around. We had Christmas dinner with the family, which was lovely!
I made another Bundt cake and some chocolate truffles to serve with the tea and coffee afterwards. It was a great success and a joy to work in my new kitchen :-)
I added the recipe for the chocolate truffles below. They are not difficult to make.
You need:
* 60 gr of butter
* 250 gr dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
* 125 ml double cream
* 3 tubes of sprinkles
* amaretto, espresso, orange zest and juice (if you like)
Melt the butter au bain marie on a low flame. Then chop the chocolate and add to the mixture. Little bits at a time. When melted, take it from the fire and add the double cream. Stir until you have a smooth mixture. You can add flavourings if you like, for example amaretto, espresso or zest and a juice of an orange.
Leave to cool and chill for about three/four hours. You can use a mellon baller to shape the truffles or you can do it by hand. When finished you can coat them with sprinkles. You can store them in the fridge for about three days.
Wishing you all a lovely New Year's eve! Thank you for your kind comments and friendship over the year!
Madelief x


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GMB Vehicle Battery 75DT-550
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GMB has been an OE manufacturer for 80 years. With this experience, GMB is recognized as one of the world's Top 5 auto part manufacturers.
Additional information
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Cold Cranking Amps | 550 |
Terminal Type | Dual |


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For thousands of years we have wrestled with the great questions of existence. Who are we? What is the world made of? How did we get here? The quest to answer these is the story of science.
Each week, medical journalist Michael Mosley traces the often unpredictable path we have taken. From recreating a famous alchemist's experiment, to following in Galileo's footsteps, and putting himself in the hands of a hypnotist, Michael unpicks how science has changed the way we see ourselves, and the way we see our world.
It is a tale of courage and of fear, of hope and disaster, of persistence and success. It interweaves great forces of history – revolutions, voyages of discovery and artistic movements – with practical, ingenious inventions and the dogged determination of experimenters and scientists.
This is the story of how history made science and how science made history, and how the ideas which emerged made the modern world.
1. What Is Out There? How we came to understand our planet was not at the center of everything in the cosmos.
2. What Is The World Made Of? How atomic theories and concepts of quantum physics underpin modern technology.
3. How Did We Get Here? Michael Mosley tells how scientists came to explain the diversity of life on earth.
4. Can We Have Unlimited Power? The story of how power has been harnessed from wind, steam and from inside the atom.
5. What is the Secret of Life? Michael Moseley tells the story of how the secret of life has been unraveled through the prism of the most complex organism known – the human body.
6. Who Are We? The twin sciences of brain anatomy and psychology have offered different visions of who we are. Now these sciences are coming together and in the process have revealed some surprising and uncomfortable truths about what really shapes our thoughts, feelings and desires.


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Re: Context Problem
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg109429] Re: Context Problem
- From: "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net>
- Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:04:43 -0400 (EDT)
I want to thank Ingolf Dahl, Bob Hanlon and Patrick Scheibe for their answers. Using the Global` context is a good solution, except if the package had been loaded in something other than the Global` context, say on a Function page. Also I would like to have a simple way to process simply written rules in the package such that it would return simple looking and usable rules to the user. There are a number of issues I would like to raise because I'm not certain of the best procedure if we want a package to generate an expression with new symbols that are in the Context of the notebook using the package. There are two solutions that might be useful but are unavailable. 1) WRI might be able to create a floating context, which had the property that it took on the context of the notebook or cell in which it is created. This could then be used by package writers to return created symbols. 2) WRI might provide a way for a package routine to retrieve the current Context in the InputNotebook[]. This could then be used actively in generating new symbols. Otherwise we can obtain "Context free" output by putting the Rule symbols into existing Contexts such as the Package Context itself, or the System` context. But is it good practice to usurp simple symbols such as x, y, z into some special Context? Maybe it is all right if users always read in the package first. But suppose a number of packages start doing this? In any case, here is the package routine again in a form that statically determines the Context at the time it is read in. The problem is that if the user changes evaluation from one notebook to another, that have different Contexts, then the package must be read in anew. I am taking advantage here of the fact that SymbolName strips any leading Context from a symbol so we can just attach the new Context. System`loadcontext=Context[]; BeginPackage["PackageContext`"]; Rule1::usage="Rule1 is a test exported rule."; Begin["`Private`"]; cs[var_Symbol]:=var->Symbol[System`loadcontext<>SymbolName[var]] cs[vars:{__Symbol}]:=cs/@vars Rule1=(y_ Sin[x_ y_]/;AtomQ[y]->{x,y})//.cs[{x,y}]; End[]; EndPackage[]; Test: Rule1 a Sin[a b] /. Rule1 y_ Sin[x_ y_] /; AtomQ[y] -> {x, y} {b, a} David Park djmpark at comcast.net http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/ From: David Park [mailto:djmpark at comcast.net] I would like to export rules from a package in such a way that the pattern symbols did not include any contexts and in which I also did not have to export the symbols used in the pattern. In addition, If possible, I would like this to work even if the package was loaded from a notebook that had something other than the Global` context. Here is a sample package and exported rule: BeginPackage["PackageContext`"]; Rule1::usage = "Rule1 is a test exported rule."; Begin["`Private`"]; Rule1 = Cos[x_]^2 + Sin[x_]^2 -> 1; End[]; EndPackage[]; Then, if we evaluate Rule1 we obtain a very clumsy version of the rule, although I suppose it will work. Rule1 Cos[PackageContext`Private`x_]^2 + Sin[PackageContext`Private`x_]^2 -> 1 What I would like is the rule as written in the package. Is there a way to do this? David Park djmpark at comcast.net <http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark> http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/


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I was going to donate it to the Xprize to hang in their lobby. I talked to my accountant today and learned that I can't have an increase in basis for a self created asset, that's CPA for I won't get any kind of deduction if I donate it. Its basically intact, it would be 100% ready to fly with less than 8 hours of work so next time I'm out at FAR I will bring it home and fix it. Then I will fly it.
Without doing any paperwork I can fly it to 1199 ft AGL and back. To go higher than that I'll need an FAA waiver. So in the next few days I'll do a detailed model of what it can do and write a waiver request. I'll probably fly it in 60 to 90 days to max altitude (more than 10K less than 30Kft) and back to the pad. If anyone wants to fly an experiment on it when I fly it let me know.
- less than 5Kg,
- self powered ,
- 100% open public results
I'll probably let people on the blog vote for their favorite if I get more than one request.


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We have a strong and committed sales staff with many years of experience satisfying our customers' needs. Feel free to browse our inventory online, request more information about vehicles, set up a test drive or inquire about financing!
If you would like to discuss your options with our friendly sales staff, click on Directions for interactive driving directions and other contact information. We look forward to serving you!


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1.What kind of payment do you accept?
We offer a variety of online payment methods to ensure our customers can place orders with ease.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, Paypal, Western Union, MoneyGram and T/T. Security measures are taken to protect your personal information in case accessing by unauthorized people and against illegal process, accidental lost, destruction and damage. We do this to ensure that our customers are safe while they shop.
2. Why is my payment declined?
a.Check the information that you filled while paying.
b.Check whether if there is enough money in your account.
d.Using the card which we can not accept.
3.What can I do after my payment declined?
a.Contact your bank to process your next order, and try it again.
b.Change to another card.
c.Change another paying methods such as Western Union/MoneyGram.
4.Does the product come with original box?
All products are shipped with original dust bags and signature boxes.
5.What carrier do you use for my parcel and how long does the shipping take?
a.Shipping time: maximum 35working days for shipping.
b.Express delivery with tracking number: DHL, EMS, UPS, FedEx, UPS
c.Free EMS shipping on all orders. Accept drop ship.
6.Do I need to pay tax?
All the fees are included and you don't need to pay any other cost.
7.Can I pay extra money to ship the orders overnight?
All the international delivery company can not be delivered in the next day. Please order before your big day comes.
8.Will you send me junk mails if I subscribe you?
We promise that we will never send our customers junk emails and will always keep customers' information secured.
9.When will I get my email reply?
Our customer service team are always trying their best to reply your emails within 24 hours on working days, and we also offer live chat online.


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Not just another Mega Man clone.
This E3 I got a chance to check out Keiji Inafune's masterpiece Mighty No. 9 , and it was easily one of the most fun experiences I had the entire convention. What I expected was just a Mega Man clone, without Mega Man in it. However, Mighty No. 9 is so much more. This version had all the levels unlocked and all the powers available to toy around with. We got to see Keiji Inafune's vision in its entirety, and it is wonderful.
Beck has a couple abilities that Mega Man does not have. His main attack is still a pea shooter style gun, but his goal isn't actually to kill the enemies he is facing. Instead, his goal is to make them become "unstable." At this point, he can dash through the enemy to absorb them and gain some temporary buffs and weapon energy. This makes the game much more fast-paced than Mega Man . Shoot three enemies, dash through them, and carry on. That's the pace you will be getting used to. The fact that Beck can air dash as many times as he wants (although there is a short recharge time between each one) makes him even more mobile in the air that Mega Man X or Zero. This game is a speedrunner's dream, as there is no time that you aren't dashing madly around each level.
Beck doesn't switch weapons the way Mega Man did. Instead, he goes into completely different forms. These forms have different passive and active abilities that Beck can use. For example, the air form allows him to charge a propeller in order to make extra high jumps. His bulldozer form allows him to travel across terrain that might otherwise be dangerous.
Of course, each form has its own weapon to use, and these weapons are tied to weapon energy. However, unlike Mega Man, Beck's weapon energy automatically restores if he simply waits around and does nothing. This is perfect if you are stuck before a boss or a difficult platforming segment, and want to take your time in order to have just the right weapon to make it through the next portion of the game. As I said before, dashing through an enemy will restore weapon energy quicker, so if you constantly do this, your weapons have pseudo infinite uses. And never fear, bosses have certain weaknesses to certain weapons, just like in a Mega Man game.
What was the coolest thing about Beck's forms is that many of them are based around other games that Keiji Inafune worked on. The blade form, for example, is very reminiscent of Zero from Mega Man X . Meanwhile, the electric form has a sort of shoot, lock on, and zap mechanic very reminiscent of Azure Striker Gunvolt . Aside from these forms, he also has a form that shoots a remote bomb, a form that shoots an arcing ice shot, a form that produces a chargeable AOE explosion of fire, and a form that bounces a laser off enemies and walls multiple times. He also has a "super" form, which I'll let you discover for yourself.
Mighty No. 9 hits a lot of different notes as you progress through its campaign. For example, one stage has you playing as Call, this game's Roll equivalent. Call's buster is very bad and her dash doesn't let her absorb enemies. However, she can do one thing Beck can't do, duck. I'm sure this is a joke on prior Mega Man game mechanics. She uses her ability to duck and crawl to play an entire stage based on stealth instead of combat. It's an interesting and refreshing diversion from the main game, and it comes at exactly the point that it is needed.
The story of Mighty No. 9 is absolutely amazing and is delivered through some top notch voice acting. Yes, it feels kind of goofy at times, sort of like a Saturday morning cartoon, but that's the feeling that they went for, and it works. The one qualm I have with the story, however, is that you can't appear to skip story sequences. This is especially frustrating whenever you die and have to sit through the same cutscene over and over again. It's a simple oversight that really would have made the game easier to jump into. Mighty No. 9 is all about action and while I enjoy the story, being forced to stay out of the action for the sake of re-watching the story can get draining.
But that's just a small nitpick in an otherwise awesome game. I played Mighty No. 9 for an absurdly long time. The only reason I stopped was because I had to head off to my next appointment. The level design is just so good, even though its old school Nintendo Mega Man hard. The enemies are a joy to fight, even if you keep dying to them. It just feels good to attack an enemy and dash your way through him. It feels like you are rewarded for going fast, which is something older Mega Man games really didn't have.
Mighty No. 9 is old school platforming at its best, period. I cannot stress enough how much this takes the Mega Man formula and makes it better. Beck is a better blue bomber than Mega Man ever was. His abilities are more interesting and flow with the pace of the game better than Mega Man did. Simply put, this certainly feels like the game that Keiji Inafune would make it he had no restrictions, a combination of all his past works rolled up into one story about a robot trying to save the world from other insane robots. What more could you possibly ask for?
Game Features:


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Mailers | |||||
The website for all your mailing bags needs | |||||
Mailing bagsMailing bags are most commonly used for posting promotional material or delivering your products to your customers. They are often referred to as courier bags or courier sacks, polythene mailers or postal mailers. Manufacturers and suppliers of mailing bags include: You might also be interested in |
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Alternative packagingThere are many types of packaging all for specific uses. To obtain information about other types of polythene bags or polythene film, visit:
More on mailing bags |


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Those who precipitated the recent fall in the gold price may have unleashed a beast that will put future efforts at market manipulation way out of their control. Physical metal is now seemingly becoming key in investors' minds. They are no longer putting any faith in paper gold and this is being seen in all quarters with reports from virtually all continents of demand exceeding supply of physical metal, and some hefty premiums being applied on sales of gold bullion. Add to this particularly strong demand from Asia – reports have put the volume of deliveries into the Shanghai exchange so far this year of over 1,000 tons as actually exceeding estimated new mine production over the period.
Now whether this is indicative of actual Chinese demand, or perhaps a liquidation of gold held in the Western ETFs and it being moved into what might be deemed as safer depositories elsewhere is uncertain for the moment – although anecdotal evidence does suggest huge demand re-occurring at Chinese and Hong Kong retail outlets. That other hotbed of gold demand, India, has also seen a huge upturn in demand for physical metal over the last two weeks, while Middle Eastern souks are reportedly raising premiums on bullion to almost unprecedented levels.
In terms of pure physical demand – as Ross Norman notes on www.sharpspixley.com there have already been reports of "Dubai running short of physical, US Mint selling out of smaller denomination bars, coins and bars flying off the shelves in India and China and queues outside leading gold sellers such as Degussa in Germany. The effect has been a massive drawdown in physical metal which has, by and large, caught the gold refineries and some stockists by surprise." Add to this that South Africa's popular Krugerrand and Canada's gold Maple Leaf coins finding difficulty in meeting current demand and you have the recipe for a big squeeze on physical gold supplies developing with ever higher premiums being applied – and as a result the gold price has already taken back around $100 of its losses over the period from April 10th to 16th, Indeed at the time of writing the price had recovered to a level last seen during the initial major collapse on April 12th
Thus immediate delivery of physical metal is hard to obtain, seemingly anywhere, premiums are rising rapidly and Goldman Sachs, perhaps cynically, is warning of a short squeeze developing on the gold markets. Indeed reports also suggest that long held short positions in gold are being unwound rapidly against just such a scenario developing. How many more indicators are there out there that we could be in for a strong and rapid bounce back in the gold price. While the stimulus in the East for the sharp rise in demand may well have been price driven, at least initially, in the West this has been exacerbated over doubts about the formerly-seen-as-safe banking system.
The bail-in that the IMF/EU/ECB troika is trying to impose as an integral part of the Cyprus rescue plan has promulgated uncertainty among bank depositors in all the financially challenged economies in the Eurozone – and further afield – in case similar remedies are being considered elsewhere with major bank depositors being forced to unwillingly participate in any economic rescue plans. Some of this money is surely part of the flood into what investors are again increasingly believe to be safer assets – like gold.
Jeff Nichols from the U.S. also comments on major global mints struggling to keep up with demand, and his premise is that physical gold being purchased in the latest run on gold bullion is largely going into strong hands and unlikely to come back rapidly on to the market again. In his latest note on www.nicholsongold.com he says "Importantly, the "stickiness" of demand is creating a shortage of available physical gold — what I call "free float", the result of which may very well be greater-than-expected future price increases once the market turns convincingly higher. More simply, available supply will be insufficient to satisfy demand except at much higher price levels."
With weak economic statistics coming out again in the U.S. and the Eurozone, and as news of shortages of bullion continues, the purchasing momentum will likely continue to build in the short term at least and we could well see gold prices surge back to levels seen at the beginning of the year. If, as Goldman Sachs is suggesting, a true short squeeze in the gold market develops, then some of the positive market predictions prevailing at the beginning of the year could yet well actually come about.
Source: mineweb.com
Source: Bullion Bulletin


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IQS Directory implements a thorough list of rubber to metal bonding companies in [state]. Utilize our listing to examine and sort top rubber to metal bonding companies with previews of ads and detailed descriptions of each product. Any rubber to metal bonding company can design, engineer, and provide rubber to metal bonding to meet your companies specific qualifications. An easy connection to reach rubber to metal bonding companies through our fast request for quote form is provided on our website. The company information includes website links, company profile, locations, phone, product videos and product information. Customer reviews are available and product specific news articles. This source is right for you whether it's for bonded to metal rubber, bonded to metal products, and metal rubber glue bonding.
Accurate Products will satisfy your exact specifications for custom die cut parts of various materials, including sheet rubber, open & closed cell sponge, silicone, polyurethane foam, cork, felt, fibre, electrical grade paper, FDA & MIL spec materials. For superior die cut seals, gaskets, bumper pads, barriers, packing, diaphragms & more, trust our short lead time, great-priced service!
A manufacturer of custom-molded rubber and rubber bonded to metal products including natural and synthetic rubbers, fluroelastomers, silicones, urethanes and specialty elastomers, Associated Rubber can claim clients in a broad range of industries, and handles jobs from prototype to production, whether it's a run of five or 500,000.
We are a manufacturer and distributor of custom and standard molded rubber products; injection molded rubber items; compression molded rubber products; molded silicone items; rubber grommets; vibration shock mounts and items produced via the rubber to metal bonding process. APR is ISO 9002 compliant.
Our custom rubber molding equipment includes rubber injection molding presses, rubber compression molding presses, and rubber transfer molding presses. We can accommodate all of your rubber molding needs. We specialize in rubber-to-metal bonding and rubber-to-rubber bonding. Insert molding is an area we excel in, as we have over 45 years of insert molding experience.
Rubber to metal bonding is a specialty of ours utilizing our proprietary Cal Bond Process. Our process is ideal for any applications requiring toughness, long service life, or for critical uses. Our Metal Stamping Division regularly produces intricate substrates that the Rubber Division turns into precision bonded assemblies holding tolerances as close as 0.001.
Cooper Standard can bond rubber directly to a metal substrate for noise dampening and vibration applications. We offer injection and transfer molded parts, dense rubber, insert-molded and rubber-to-metal bonded products to meet your material and specification needs, including vibration isolation components, wire pass through grommets, mount assemblies, finishing components, insulation and spacers.
Molded diaphragms, custom or standard, manufactured via either nylon or rubber to metal bonding processes are a specialty of ours. Our other diaphragm types—double-coated fabric, fabric-reinforced elastomer, homogeneous elastomer, Teflon® bonded. QS 9000 and ISO 9001 certified.
Founded in 1951, Ebco offers a wide range of standard engineered vibration mounts for all types of industrial applications. Our existing selection is the widest in the industry today. Modifications to an existing mount can be done quickly and for unique applications our engineering team will develop a custom product for you. Call today for rubber to metal bonding solutions.
Standard or custom, rubber bonded to metal products are manufactured by us. Our product line includes bumpers, bushings, flex mounts, friction mounts, machine feet, machine mounts, shears and many other items. Industries such as aircraft, general machinery and transportation use our products.
ENA has a core competency in the manufacturing of a broad range of hard-to-produce, complex custom OEM molded rubber parts and shapes, and custom rubber sealing solutions such as rubber gaskets and elastomer flat metal gaskets, bonded rubber-to-metal parts, o-rings, boots/bellows, and the like.
Rubber to metal bonding or nylon-type insert bonding takes place here, among other procedures such as compression molded rubber processing, transfer molding and more. We make rubber grommets, bumpers, mounts, etc. We thrive on special needs, custom mixing materials and color matching. Try us.
Ephrata Precision Parts is a rubber to metal bonding company offering rubber rollers and urethane bonded to metal. We are a complete machine shop offering many services including close tolerance machining and CNC machining as well as tool and die building and repair.
Need a vibration, noise or shock control solution? See us for rubber to metal bonding of dampers, isolators and mounts (bonded bushing and snubber mounts, center-bolted mounts, engine and power train mounts, plate mounts, rectangular and cylindrical mounts, shear mounts). Custom products manufactured.
We are a manufacturer of molded rubber products (natural rubber, silicone, urethane, etc.)—rubber grommets, gaskets, bellows, bushings, etc. Many of our products are rubber to metal bonded parts, or they are transfer, compression, or injection molded rubber items. Call for rubber bonding today.
Iris Rubber Company custom molds rubber products, including bonded to metal rubber products. Our customers' rubber bonding requirements are our #1 concern. We work with your pre-existing mold or design from your idea or concept to finished product. Rubber mallets, rolls, bumpers and so much more.
No one better understands the relationship between rubber, metal, adhesives and paints. Contact us for rubber encapsulated bonding, chemical bonding and rubber to metal bonding after curing.
KN Rubber is a vertically integrated company. Our extensive processing and manufacturing capabilities include sheet and roll manufacturing, compression and injection molding, rubber to metal bonding, die cutting, assembly operations, rubber formulation, compounding, calendering and preforming.
For over 90 years, we have been a leader in the design and manufacture of custom and standard rubber bonded to metal components, molded rubber, injection molded rubber, compression molded rubber, molded silicone parts, rubber grommets and more for the OEM and plumbing industries.
Providing innovative solutions & quality products since 1975, Maclan is a leading polyurethane & rubber part manufacturer. Utilizing 12 ovens, our polyurethanes come in any color & range in hardness from 30A to 70D. We make wheels, rollers, flex & dredge hose, pipe linings, custom parts & more.
Manville Rubber Products manufactures custom rubber products through injection, compression and transfer molding. We efficiently produce orders of a single piece or millions. We are the next generation in rubber technology. Discover the difference our rubber molding can make! ISO9001:2000 certified.
We offer rubber to ruber bonding, rubber to metal bonding, rubber to plastic bonding, and rubber to cloth bonding for all custom applications. We have an extensive background in solving all of your custom rubber bonding needs. We specialize in the rubber bonding of rollers ground to precision tolerances of +/-.0002.
We have remained an active growing company since our founding. Our Knowledge and Experience has made us a role model for the Rubber Lining Industry. We are also extensively involved in the rubber to metal bonding industry; our products include flexible couplings, seals, rubber expansion Joints, Belts, Bridge Bearing Pads, Cushion (Rail Car)Shock Dampeners and much more.
Since our rubber operations began in 1967, we have committed ourselves to making your projects a success by offering excellent quality and services at competitive prices. As molders of parts critical in dimension and material, we are uniquely qualified to take your project from design to full production. Bonding rubber to various metals and plastic is another Rahco Rubber specialty.
At REDCO, we manufacture the best rubber products, emphasizing complete customer satisfaction with a commitment to quality, on time delivery, cost effective production and safety. We are specialists at rubber to metal bonding, producing uniform, high quality products.
Robinson™ Rubber Products is a rubber molding manufacturer capable of creating a variety of rubber products from compression, transfer and injection rubber molding processes. Molded rubber components include: bushings, diaphragms, bellows, isolators and lip seals, among others. Call us!
Royal Rubber Company is a complete manufacturing facility which provides a full line of customized rubber products for general industry. A 30,000 sq. ft. facility in South Bend, Indiana, houses well equipped and maintained production departments, as well as the sales and administrative offices. We offer many services, including rubber to metal bonding.
Rubber Industries manufactures custom molded rubber and thermoplastic products. We produce molded silicone, transfer molded, compression molded and injection molded rubber items, rubber bonded to metal items, such as stampings and rubber rollers plus much more.
Rubber bonding specialists, we will design and produce rubber bonded to metal items; rubber compounds bonded to plastic; bonded rubber washers and basically any item presented to us. We also manufacture vibration and shock isolation machine cushion pads. We combine specialized capabilities from initial design, to manufacturing, to an ultra thorough final inspection using the latest equipment.
We serve applications for aggressive environments. Since 1960, our molded rubber seals and washers, rubber bonded to metal gaskets (molded silicone bonded to steel) and silicone and urethane components have been some of our offerings. Rubber to metal bonded seals can be custom made as well.
Star-Glo has steadily progressed to a leadership position in rubber, plastic and metal component parts and assemblies to the OEM. Complete vertical integration remains our cornerstone in the industry. We are the rubber to metal bonding specialists. We have approved quality control procedures for rubber to metal bonding to meet the stringent requirements of industry and military needs.
Team Products, Inc. is a full-service manufacturer of custom precision rubber products. We have the materials, equipment, and expertise to meet the specialty rubber needs of a large variety of industries. We are an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, and our services include compression molding, transfer molding, rubber to metal bonding and much more.
Our press line, ranging up to 500 ton capacity with platens of 48 X 72 inches provides for parts 1/8" diameter to massive rail car suspension parts bonded to metal weighing over 200lbs. Metal to rubber bonding is a specialty using compounds and adhesives designed for the most demanding application. Many meeting UL, FDA, ASTM and military specifications.
Valley Rubber has extensive experience in bonding a wide variety of materials to rubber. Our bonding solutions have been put through very rigorous field and lab testing with outstanding results. We bond rubber to Mild Steel, AR Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Ceramic, Fabric, UHMW polyethylene, magnets and more.


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IT EASY International Limited
IT Easy International Limited is a Hong Kong based company, which was found in 2007 by a group of IT professionals in business solutions of Computer Equipment, Network Infrastructure and Security in Hong Kong. We have sales and technical support offices in Hong Kong, China.
- Server Maintenance
- Server Monitoring
- Workstation Maintenance
- Microsoft Windows Security Updata
- Daily Data Backup
- Network Assessmemnt
- Streamline your environment and to increase your flexibility and responsiveness by making sure IT functions and business processes are carefully aligned to support business strategies.
Email Hosting Service -Email hosting service differ from typical end-user email pro-viders such as wed mail sites. They cater mostly to demanding email users and SME businesse which they do not need to own their own email server,
● DNS Server ● VPN
● WWW Server ● Firewall
● FTP Server ● Anti-Virus
● Email Server ● Auti-Spam
● NAS Server ● File Server
● Proxy Server
● Backup and Restore(DIY)


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After a long hiatus in blogging, I was pleasantly surprised to still be invited to the Ad:Tech Singapore 2012 conference to cover the event as a blogger. While my schedule did not permit me to stay for the entire conference, I managed to attend the press conference.
But before we go into that, I feel this year's conference lineup is exciting! The theme of the event is about Driving Asia's Digital Development and there were tracks of breakout sessions covering from Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Tools and Technologies, and Digital Adoption And Execution Trends of Emerging and Developed Markets, as well as an Exhibition Seminar Theatre in the Expo Hall.
The topics which the speakers are covering are really close to the ground. With breakout sessions like "Integrating Mobile Marketing Into Your Overall Business Strategy", and interactive workshops like "Optimising Your Social Media Marketing", I really see how the attendees can walk away with actionable insights that can be applied immediately in their digital marketing.
The press conference this morning featured a panel of 6 speakers to share their insights. Here are my insights!
- Enrique Baizas – Digital Marketing Champion, Zone AOA for Nestle touched on the idea that the strategy for marketing in social media needs to be different from one for the regular traditional media. The key difference in that, even when brands stop advertising or promoting online, conversation will still continue on the various platforms. It is therefore important for companies not only to have their content grid and marketing plan, but also be flexible enough to adapt, remix and engage with the responses they get from the different social platforms.
- Michael Lazerow, CEO and Founder of Buddy Media emphasised that it is the content that powers the connections, and it is in the human networks where the power lies. With right idea and great story to tell, digital marketing need not be complicated.
- Greg Dale, COO of Comscore Inc talked about the the trends and evolutions in Digital Advertising. Mobile is big, especially in Singapore. In fact, Singapore leads the world in terms of non-computer traffic! E-commerce, while slower to pick up in Singapore, are also still seeing positive trends.
- Jeffery Cole, Director, Centre for the Digital Future, USC Annenberg School touched on a point that is near and dear to almost everyone connected to the Internet – that nobody really wants to give up the Internet! But, many of us are tired of having it define our lives. The lines between and work and personal time have blurred and even though the Internet is supposed to make us more productive, we end up working more hours, working late at night and on weekends. There is a need to find a balance.
- Ranji David, Executive Director for Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Singapore told us how IAB has been doing to educate, enable, inspire and elevate digital marketing in Singapore. She also touched on some very important statistics – that as of the 1st half of 2011, only 8% of the advertising budget is spent online in Singapore, comparatively, the mature markets like US and the UK are seeing figures in the 30-odd percentile. More talents are hired today than ever, and Singapore is also getting a lot of support from the government in this industry
- Loren I. Shuster, Country Director, Singapore and Emerging Markets at Google spoke about the acceleration of everything! Soon everyone and everything can and will be online, and with the availability of the Internet on mobile and other platforms, consumers are becoming hyper-informed and they do a lot of their research online before they make purchasing decisions.
Hopefully, I'll be able to drop in for some sessions tomorrow so I'll be able to provide you with more insights!


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As technology and performance continue to push the limit of possibilities, the end goal for a fly rod remains the same. We seek to cast a fly line with ease and accuracy – to deliver our best artificial imitation at the right time and in the right place to convince the fish to eat. In saltwater fly fishing, fly presentation and placement are often as critical as when casting tiny imitations to fussy selective trout. But there is also a need for power; both to face into the wind so commonly encountered and to turn the heads of the largest fish.
These combined challenges of accuracy, delicacy and power are met with the new Sextant saltwater series from T&T. The Sextant rod family was born from extensive R&D, representing an evolution in composition and construction from any fly rod previously available.
Sextant rods are constructed with a unique reinforcement strategy that enhances strength and recovery properties of high-performance unidirectional fibers. This improves the coefficient of energy of the completed rod sections, resulting in rods that load quickly and generate wind-cutting line speed and casting distance with less effort.
The entire Sextant rod family shares a smooth loading, quick recovery action that allows for precise accuracy at short distances without sacrificing the power and backbone necessary for punching flies at longer distances through the wind.


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German tourists are now allowed to fly to Spain for 'safe corridor' trial - here's how it works
Mallorca has welcomed hundreds of tourists from Germany for the first time since Spain shut its borders in March, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Over 10,000 German tourists will now be allowed to visit the Balearic Islands, which include Ibiza and Menorca, as part of a "travel corridor".
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Hide AdThe corridor will help replenish Spain's now suffering travel industry, which is so crucial to the country's economy. New regulations are intended to keep the country's coronavirus outbreak at bay.
When are tourists from other countries allowed to visit Spain?
The tourist industry in Spain generates 12 per cent of Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) and is responsible for around two and a half million jobs in the country. Because of this, the Spanish government is facing great pressure to open borders again and restart the crucial industry.
The islands' welcome is a trial to test how the rest of the country will reopen its doors to other European holidaymakers on the set date of 21 June.
The move allowing German tourists into the Balearic Islands has predated the set date Spain is to welcome back international tourists, which is 1 July.
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Up to 10,900 German residents are now allowed to visit the Balearic Islands, thanks to an agreement with the German travel company, TUI, several airlines and other holiday operators.
The first of these German travellers, landed in Mallorca from Dusseldorf on Monday 15 June.
The travellers all had to wear face masks on board the flight and were required to fill out a detailed health report in Germany before taking off.
Upon arrival in Mallorca, they passed signs instructing tourists to keep their hands clean through regular washing, and to keep their face masks on while in the airport.
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Hide AdVisitors had their temperatures taken at the airport, while remaining at a safe distance from other holidaymakers. Spanish border staff were also wearing masks to uphold safety standards.
What are the safety regulations on the islands?
The German travellers must stay on the islands for a minimum of five nights, however they will not have to complete a two week quarantine.
They will have their body temperatures checked by infra-red cameras at their hotel. Hotels are currently being limited to 50 per cent occupancy.
The president of the Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol, announced that the Mallorcan authorities will be sure to test any tourists showing symptoms of the virus. Those who test positive will be transferred to a separate part of their hotel, before doctors can determine the best course of action for their treatment or return home.


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Welcome Back Delphi
Several years ago I said goodbye to the programming language in which I took my first stumbeling steps as a coder. I had moved on and there were no reasons to believe I'd ever go back. I was wrong. A reason emerged and Delphi 2009 now has a place, both in my computer – and in my heart.
A sort of homecoming
Firing up the new IDE from CodeGear with Delphi for Win32 felt a lot like coming home. The outstanding graphical editor was there as was the lightning fast compiler. Visual Studio is great in many ways but it can't compete with CodeGear's RAD Studio when it comes to speed and rapid application development.
Not only that, the language (Object Pascal) has finally woken from its stagnated state and is getting increasingly modern. It now implements, for instance, closures (anonymous methods) which is quite rare for a non garbage collected language.
type TClosureProc = reference to procedure(AMsg: string); function CreatePrefixedWriter(APrefix: string): TClosureProc; begin Result := procedure(AMsg: string) begin WriteLn(APrefix + AMsg); end; end; var Log: TClosureProc; begin Log := CreatePrefixedWriter('Closure Test: '); Log('Write this'); Log('And this'); end.
The above program should produce the following output.
Closure Test: Write this
Closure Test: And this
I gotta wear shades
I am not the only one being thrilled with the rebirth of Delphi. A look at the TIOBE Programming Community Index for February shows that Delphi is the 9th most popular programming language, with a steady increase. That is a lot better than the 15th position a year and a half ago. At that time Delphi felt like a marginalized language with little promises for the future; Now it feels alive and vibrant.
Since the magic is back, I think I'll stick around for a while.


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Notebook: Indiana preparing to blend in Mosquera-Perea, Jurkin
Indiana's front line could receive a significant boost in Saturday's game with Butler when freshmen Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin will be eligible to play for the first time after serving a nine-game suspension from the NCAA.
With the Hoosiers sitting at 9-0 and No. 1 in the country while playing at a high level, it sounds as if both guys could be worked slowly into the rotation.
"We've been very cautious with them coming back because there's been no pressing need for them to have to play in the games," Crean said Monday on the Big Ten coaches teleconference. "So you want to make sure you're doing a good job of letting guys get adjusted, be in the mix, not rush them and try to help build their confidence. The bottom line is you don't want to put anybody in a situation they're not ready for, especially in a situation like this where we're already nine games in, going into game ten."
Mosquera-Perea, who has battled a left foot injury for most of the fall that's forced him to wear a walking boot at times, was healthy enough to play in recent weeks, but Indiana has remained cautious as he works his way back.
Crean wouldn't say whether or not Mosquera-Perea is back to full strength.
"Full strength is a relative term. I don't know if I would call it full strength, but he's in a situation where he's getting better all of the time," he said. "He certainly would have been able to play, but as to what level and how long remains to be seen because we didn't bring him back that way in the sense when this became the situation that it was with them having to sit out."
The Hoosiers have yet to win a game by fewer than ten points despite having a relatively thin front court which has forced Will Sheehey and Jeremy Hollowell to log minutes at the four.
Getting Mosquera-Perea and Jurkin integrated should provide a major boost to IU's athleticism and depth in the front court.
"I think the length that they bring is tremendous," Crean said. "I think the fact that there's a toughness around the rim, defensively, without question. Rebounding, without question. I think the scoring will come through the course of the offense, through the course of the game and then they'll get integrated more and more into what we're trying to do as far as plays and concepts and things of that nature. I think just the overall attack and aggressiveness on the defensive end and the rebounding is what will start it."
Strength of schedule not much of a concern
Through nine games, Indiana's strength of schedule sits at 269th in the country, but Crean said Monday that when putting together a non-conference slate, projecting strength of schedule isn't top of mind.
"We don't spend a lot of time on the strength of schedule part of it as much as projecting where we think somebody is going to be inside of that year," he said. "You try to look at the statistics, you try to look at the past, who they have coming back."
Continuing to play in-state opponents will be a priority for Indiana as next year's schedule includes a neutral court game with Notre Dame and Evansville will return to Assembly Hall to complete a 3-game series.
IU is also expected to play on the road in next year's Big Ten/Challenge, which will be a major consideration when completing the rest of the non-conference schedule.
"We want to make sure we're trying to counter-balance the Big Ten/ACC Challenge with playing a home game when we're going to be on the road and vice versa," Crean said. "And then trying to find the best situation for us that year when it comes to the exempt tournament."
· Crean on Illinois: The Illini are the league's surprise team at 10-0 and are coming off a win at Gonzaga on Saturday night. Crean was very complimentary of the start for Illinois under new coach John Groce.
"I don't think there's any doubt that they have great energy," Crean said. "They're really moving the ball. They're playing extremely fast and I think that Illinois is a little bit more like how Michigan has been in the sense that the break is ongoing."
· Big Ten player, freshman of the week: Illinois guard Brandon Paul was named the Big Ten's player of the week on Monday morning and Michigan State guard Gary Harris was the league's freshman of the week. It's the second freshman of the week honor for Harris this season.
Filed to: Hanner Mosquera-Perea, Peter Jurkin


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REDDING, Calif. (AP) — The death count from a Northern California wildfire rose to five Saturday after two young children and their great-grandmother who had been unaccounted for were confirmed dead.
"My babies are dead," Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies.
Bledsoe's two children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were stranded with her grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when walls of flames swept through the family's rural property Thursday on the outskirts of Redding.
The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighborhoods.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found cars gone — a strong indication they fled.
The fire sparked Monday by a vehicle in forested hills had scorched 131 square miles (340 square kilometers) by late Saturday, up slightly from 127 square miles (327 square kilometers) in the morning. It pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts.
Two firefighters were killed in the blaze, including a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the wildfire's path. He was identified as Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines. Redding fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, but details of his death were not released.
About 38,000 people were under evacuation orders, 5,000 homes were threatened and the fire was just 5 percent contained.
The latest tally of 536 destroyed structures was up from 500 earlier in the day, and sure to rise. A count by The Associated Press found at least 300 of those structures were homes.
Meanwhile, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Redding, two blazes prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County. The two fires, burning 30 miles (50 kilometers) apart, started Friday and were threatening more than 350 buildings.
Cal Fire officials said more than 10,000 firefighters were on the line, making progress on 14 large wildfires across California.
President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for the state Saturday, allowing counties affected by wildfires to receive federal assistance.
Big fires also continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. As of Saturday afternoon, those fires had burned more nearly 100 square miles (260 square kilometers). Yosemite Valley remained closed to visitors and won't reopen until Friday.
In the Redding area, authorities were investigating reports of looting in evacuated areas.
Police Chief Roger Moore said people were reportedly driving around evacuation zones and busting down doors of houses still standing. Sheriff Bosenko announced at a community meeting that authorities had made their first looting arrest, a parolee. Anxious residents cheered.
About 100 law enforcement officers and 260 National Guard soldiers were helping with evacuations and providing security in empty neighborhoods.
Moore was among the many people who lost homes.
Greg and Terri Hill evacuated their Redding home of 18 years Thursday night with little more than medications, photo albums, clothes and firearms, assuming they'd be back home in a few days.
They returned Friday to find little more than ash.
"It's pretty emotional," Terri Hill said. "But we'll make new memories and get new stuff. Everybody's safe."
The so-called Carr Fire wiped out forest around much of Whiskeytown Lake, burning dozens of boats docked at a marina and then swept through the historic Gold Rush-era town of Shasta and destroyed nearly all of Keswick, a hamlet just west of Redding.
The fire blew across the Sacramento River and burned a path to the property where Melody Bledsoe was living with her great-grandchildren.
Bledsoe's husband, Ed, who had the couple's only car, had gone to buy supplies before any evacuation order was issued, family members said.
His great-grandson phoned him at the store to say the flames were approaching and "we need your help," according to Jason Decker, who is dating one of Bledsoe's granddaughters.
Bledsoe rushed home, but was turned back by police because the fire was raging. He spent Friday searching in vain for the three at shelters while Decker's girlfriend posted desperate messages on social media for any help locating them.
Decker rode his motorcycle up to view the property and found smoldering ruins too hot to enter.
"It looked like a war zone," he said. "I couldn't smell death in the air, which is good."
While he discussed the worst-case scenario of the three staying put as the flames closed in, Decker held out some hope Saturday morning until he got the word they were dreading.
"We got horrible news. I have to go," he said and hung up.
Melley reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Martha Mendoza in Redding; Olga Rodriguez and Janie Har in San Francisco; Don Thompson in Sacramento; Amanda Lee Myers in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.


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එස් එන්. ගොඑන්කා විසින් උගන්වනු ලබන පරිදි
සයාජී ඌ බා කින් තුමාගේ සම්ප්රදායට අනුව
The Quality of Generosity
According to the tradition of pure Dhamma, donations are the only source of funding for courses and centres in Vipassana meditation. There are no charges or fees to attend a course, and neither the meditation teachers nor the trustees who run the centres receive any payment for their service. Thus, the spread of Dhamma is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism.
The Pali word Dāna can be translated as donation
or as generosity
. It is one of the ten Parāmis or mental qualities. Giving donations (dāna) develops one's qualities of generosity and selflessness.
Dāna is the act of giving; giving in a special way. As Goenkaji says 'The good of all, the welfare of all should be the volition'. Those who have experienced the benefits of Vipassana meditation are able to donate with this volition to help others in the ultimate sense: to come out of craving, aversion and ignorance.
Goenkaji also spoke about the Dāna of Dhamma:
As one progresses on the path, one keeps developing different pāramis - qualities which helps one to cross the ocean of life and death. When these pāramis are fulfilled, it becomes easy to reach the final goal.
Dāna is a very important pāramī. And, according to the words of the Enlightened One, the dāna of Dhamma is the greatest of all.
Why is it the greatest? Let us understand. According to the law of nature, the seed that we sow will give fruits, many fruits and each fruit will contain the same type of seed. If we give dāna of food, then the fruit will be that we will get sufficient food in our present life and future lives.
According to the same law of nature, whatever type of dāna you give, you will get that type of fruit in the future in a greater quantity. When you give the dāna of Dhamma, the fruit that you will get is a greater quantity of Dhamma.
As a result, one becomes stronger and stronger in Dhamma which helps one to reach the final goal. That is why the Enlightened One said that, "The dāna of Dhamma is the greatest dāna."
Donating to Centres or Courses
A Dhamma centre is not established only for the benefit of the present students. Properly managed it will continue to serve for generations, maybe for centuries.
Vipassana students may donate by going to the website of any centre for further information.
International Projects
There are several Vipassana organisations that benefit centres and students worldwide:
International Vipassana Technology Association - IVTA provides introductory information, course schedules, online course applications via dhamma.org websites and mobile apps and other technical support for centres worldwide
Vipassana Research Institute - VRI provides a store-house of Dhamma related articles and books, education, other online resources and IT support for centres in India and Asia
Vipassana Community Foundation - VCF is a non-profit entity that accepts donations to provide grants and capacity-building investments to new and existing centres worldwide. It is tax-exempt in USA.
Donations in Your Will: Charitable Bequests
Another way of donating is to give a bequest to Dhamma in your will. Usually this would be to a Vipassana Centre or Centres in your region. Correct legal format for bequests does vary between states and countries. To find out the best wording to use for providing a bequest in your will, including the official name and contact details of the relevant Centre(s), please contact the treasurer or secretary of the relevant organisation(s).


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November 13, 2013
Free agent pitching options: Middle-of-the-rotation starters
Dating back to the 2011 season Twins starting pitchers have posted a combined 5.08 ERA for the worst mark in baseball and the only other rotation with an ERA above 4.80 during that three-year span plays half its games at Coors Field. In those three seasons Twins starters ranked 26th, 29th, and 30th in ERA. They also ranked 28th, 30th, and 30th in strikeout rate, including a pathetic 4.9 strikeouts per nine innings this year while no other team was below 6.0.
To figure out their options for addressing the dreadful rotation via free agency I've grouped the available arms into three categories: Top-of-the-rotation starters, middle-of-the-rotation starters, and back-of-the-rotation starters. Below are the middle-of-the-rotation starters, which I view as a No. 3 or No. 4 starter on a contending team, which means an average-or-better starter without the same type of upside as the front-line guys.
• Ricky Nolasco - RHP - 199 innings - 3.70 ERA - 3.58 xFIP - 165/46 K/BB
Nolasco was a No. 2 starter early in his career and pitched like one again this year, but from 2009-2012 he threw 740 innings with a 4.68 ERA despite calling a pitcher-friendly ballpark home. His secondary numbers were always much better than his ERAs during that time and it wouldn't be a huge stretch to include him in the top-of-the-rotation group, but he lacks the big-time velocity or strikeout rates to totally convince me he's better than a really good mid-rotation guy.
• Scott Kazmir - LHP - 158 innings - 4.04 ERA - 3.36 xFIP - 162/47 K/BB
Kazmir was a dominant young starter with the Rays and then rapidly deteriorated to the point that he posted a 5.34 ERA in independent ball at age 28. He made an incredible comeback with the Indians, racking up strikeouts at the same rate that made him a star in the first place, and finished strong with a 43/4 K/BB ratio in September. Kazmir is a huge risk, but he's still just 29 and looked an awful lot like his old self this year. Based purely on upside, he's easily the best of this bunch.
• Bronson Arroyo - RHP - 202 innings - 3.79 ERA - 3.97 xFIP - 124/34 K/BB
Arroyo's average fastball has never cracked 90 miles per hour, but he's logged 200 innings per season for a decade thanks to a wide variety of off-speed pitches and good control. He also gives up a ton of homers, leading the league in two of the past three years, and at age 37 he's had to become an extreme strike-thrower to make up for diminished strikeout rates. Arroyo is a prototypical Twins pitcher in the good and bad ways, and it'd be shocking if they weren't targeting him.
• Paul Maholm - LHP - 153 innings - 4.41 ERA - 3.89 xFIP - 105/47 K/BB
Maholm was headed for his third straight season with a sub-4.00 ERA when arm problems tripped him up. He had a 6.00 ERA after July 1 and also spent a month on the disabled list during that time, but no serious injuries were found. At age 32 with a high-80s fastball he lacks upside, but Maholm has generally been a solid mid-rotation starter with average strikeout rates, acceptable control, and lots of ground balls. He's one of the few quality left-handers in a righty-heavy class.
• Phil Hughes - RHP - 146 innings - 5.19 ERA - 4.39 xFIP - 121/42 K/BB
Considered baseball's best pitching prospect when the Twins tried to get him in the Johan Santana trade, Hughes is now 27 years old with a 4.54 career ERA. As an extreme fly-ball pitcher getting away from Yankee Stadium would help Hughes a lot, but it's also possible he's just mediocre. He had a 4.34 ERA on the road from 2011-2013, and his velocity and strikeout rates are good rather than great. He's better than his ERAs suggest, but the potential ace simply never developed.
• Bartolo Colon - RHP - 190 innings - 2.65 ERA - 3.95 xFIP - 117/29 K/BB
A flame-throwing top-of-the-rotation starter for a decade, Colon was wrecked by injuries after robbing Johan Santana of the Cy Young award in 2005. Out of MLB in 2010, he came back at age 38 as a strike-throwing machine and has a 3.32 ERA in 507 innings since. Now he's 40 and coming off a 2.65 ERA for the A's, but his secondary numbers are far less impressive. No longer a strikeout guy, he pumps low-90s fastballs for strikes and relies on good defense behind him.
• Roy Halladay - RHP - 62 innings - 6.82 ERA - 5.10 xFIP - 51/36 K/BB
Halladay is one of this generation's best pitchers and a likely Hall of Famer, but it's tough to say if he has anything left in the tank at age 37. He was wobbly at times in 2012 and the wheels fell off this year, as he got battered for a 6.82 ERA in 13 starts and averaged just 88 miles per hour with his fastball. It was hard to watch Halladay pitch in his diminished state, but if healthy he certainly has the control and smarts to extend his career as a mid-rotation starter.
• Chris Capuano - LHP - 106 innings - 4.26 ERA - 3.67 xFIP - 81/24 K/BB
Los Angeles' rotation depth and a groin injury limited Capuano to 20 starts this year, but he posted a 3.91 ERA and 52/10 K/BB ratio in 13 starts after June 1. He also tossed 198 innings with a 3.72 ERA in 2012 and has always managed above-average strikeout rates to go with being impossible to run on, so even at age 35 he looks far from washed up. There's no upside to be found, but he's a perfectly capable mid-rotation guy who likely won't require a multi-year commitment.
• Scott Feldman - RHP - 182 innings - 3.86 ERA - 3.96 xFIP - 132/56 K/BB
Placed in the back-of-the-rotation starter group last offseason because he hadn't topped 150 innings in three years, Feldman signed a one-year, $6 million deal and threw 182 innings with a 3.86 ERA. Not much about his underlying performance actually changed, he just stayed healthy and got away from Texas' hitter-friendly ballpark. He gets an average number of strikeouts with average control and was a ground-ball pitcher for the first time this year, although that may not stick.
• Roberto Hernandez - RHP - 151 innings - 4.89 ERA - 3.60 xFIP - 113/38 K/BB
On one hand the Rays not being able to fix a pitcher makes me think he may not be fixable. On the other hand Hernandez's secondary stats improved dramatically, as he issued just 38 walks in 151 innings after years of awful control and managed a decent number of strikeouts while maintaining a strong ground-ball rate. He's not the same pitcher he was back when his name was Fausto Carmona, but there's still reason to be intrigued if the price is right.
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