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I will try to explore my relationship with IT / software / computers / computer science / software engineering or whatever the best term is to describe it. I am in a mode of looking back with content, and making small changes, learning a bit more.
As often, thinking in 'opposites' comes most natural to me:
Self-study versus formal education. The IT and software industry is young and - I believe - had originally been populated by people without a formal training in computer science as this did not yet exist as an academic discipline. The community was open to outsiders with no formal training or unrelated experience. As a former colleague with a psychology background put it: In the old times, anybody who knew how to hold a computer mouse correctly, was suddenly considered an expert.
I absorbed the hacker ethics of demonstrating your skills rather than showing off papers, and I am grateful about the surprisingly easy start I had in the late 1990s. I just put up a sign in a sense, saying Will Do Computers, and people put trust in me.
I am not 'against' formal education though. Today I enjoy catching up on computer science basics by reading classics like Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.
Breaking versus building things. I have been accountable for 'systems' for a long time, and I have built stuff that lasted for longer than I expected. Sometimes I feel like a COBOL programmer in the year of 2000.
But I believe what interested me most is always to find out how stuff works - which also involves breaking things. Debugging. Reverse Engineering. Troubleshooting. All this had always been useful when building things, especially when building on top of or interfacing with existing things - often semi-abandoned blackboxes. This reverse engineering mentality is what provided the connection between physics and IT for me in the first place.
It was neither the mathematical underpinnings of physics and computer science, or my alleged training in programming - I had one class Programming for physicists, using FORTRAN. It was the way an experimental physicist watches and debugs a system 'of nature', like: the growth of thin films in a vacuum chamber, from a plasma cloud generated by evaporating a ceramic target bombarded with laser pulses. Which parameter to change to find out what is the root cause or what triggers a system to change its state? How to minimize the steps to trace out the parameter space most efficiently?
Good-enough approach versus perfectionism. 80/20 or maybe 99/1. You never know or need to know anything. I remember the first time I troubleshooted a client's computer problem. I solved it. Despite knowing any details of what was going on. I am sort of embarrassed by my ignorance and proud at the same time when I look back.
In moment like this I felt the contrast between the hands-on / good-enough approach and the perfectionism I applied in my pervious (academic) life. I remember the endless cycles of refinement of academic papers. Prefixing a sentence with Tentatively, we assume,... just to be sure and not too pretentious though I was working in a narrow niche as a specialist.
But then - as a computer consultant - I simply focused on solving a client's problem in a pragmatic way. I had to think on my feet, and find the most efficient way to rule out potential root causes - using whatever approach worked best: Digging deep into a system, clever googling, or asking a colleague in the community (The latter is only an option if you are able to give back someday).
Top-down, bottom-up, or starting somewhere in the middle. I was not a typical computer nerd as a student. I had no computer in high school except a programmable calculator - where you could see one line of a BASIC program at a time. I remember I had fun with implementating of the Simplex algorithm on that device.
However, I was rather a user of systems, until I inherited (parts of) an experimental setup for measuring electrical properties of samples cooled down by liquid nitrogen and helium. I had to append the existing patchwork of software by learning Turbo Pascal on the job.
Later, I moved to the top level of the ladder of abstraction by using *shock, horror* Visual Basic for Applications, ASP, and VBScript. In am only moving down to lower levels now, finally learning C++, getting closer to assembler and thus touching the interface between hardware and software. Which is perhaps where a one should be, as a physicist.
Green-field or renovation (refactoring). I hardly ever had the chance to or wanted to develop something really from scratch. Constraints and tough limiting requirements come with an allure of their own. This applies to anything - from software to building and construction.
So I enjoy systems' archaeology, including things I have originally created myself, but not touched in a while. Again the love for debugging complements the desire to build something.
From a professionals' point of view, this is a great and useful urge to have: Usually not many people enjoy fiddling with the old stuff, painstakingly researching and migrating it. It's the opposite of having a chance to implement the last shiny tool you learned about in school or in your inhouse presentation (if you work for a software vendor).
In awe of the philosophy of fundamentals versus mundane implementation. I blogged about it recently: Joel Spolsky recommended, tongue-in-cheek, to mention that Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs brought you to tears - when applying for a job as a software developer.
But indeed: I have hardly attended a class or read a textbook that was at the same time so profoundly and philosophically compelling but also so useful for any programming job I was involved in right now.
Perhaps half of older internet writing reflects my craving for theses philosophical depths versus the hard truth of pragmatism that is required in a real job. At the university I had been offered to work on a project for optimizing something about fluid dynamics related to the manufacturing of plastic window frames. The Horror, after I had read Gödel, Escher, Bach and wanted to decode the universe and solve the most critical problems of humanity via science and technology.
I smile at that now, with hindsight. I found, in a very unspectacular way, that you get passionate about what you are good at and what you know in depth, not the other way round. I was able to possibly reconnect with some of my loftier aspirations, like I could say I Work In Renewable Energy. However, truth is that I simply enjoy the engineering and debugging challenge, and every mundane piece of code refverberates fundamental truths as the ones described in Gödel, Escher, Bach or Structure and Interpretation.
This website shall finally reconnect with its roots – radices.
With the dawn of the new millennium a self-proclaimed Subversive Element has registered a bunch of domains. It was especially fond of radices.net and subversiv.at. Today, all these sites have been re-united and redirected to elkement.subversiv.at. But the site does not deliver on its promising name – I feel it became way too 'professional' recently. Historical content has been filed mostly under Physics (radices) and Art (subversiv). The category life displays some of the matter-antimatter collisions of these two worlds. Which also explains the category of the current article.
The Subversive Site was a Red Padded Cell, with Font Color = White, a so-called creative playground. The Element was aware that 'everybody' could read this but it did not care. The Merger of the sites was inevitable in the end, after a final detour of professionalization – when radices.net suddenly also hosted pages with IT Security links.
I have been a blogger, and I observed the evolution of other blogs: My anecdotal evidence shows that blogs live for about 1-2 years. If they are bound to survive they have to escape the matrix and to overturn their creators. A personal blog or website needs a 'Big' Idea. OK, not really big, but at least a-all-encompassing and abstract enough so that all the authors different threads and lines of thoughts can be silently tied together using this idea's magic glue.
My elkement.blog is relentlessly edited. It was a more philosophical site once, but I aim at following our punktwissen principles now. Articles should be concise, provide value, and perhaps also entertainment. There should be s logical connection between posts and my curated lists should help readers to find something 'useful'.
On the contrary, this site has more or less the same article over and over again – perhaps in disguise and interlaced with technical notes. It is all about my personal keeping the essence of Physics alive and useful for me. Since radices was originally a German-only science and philosophy site, the English version might not reflect this – but in the early articles on elkemental Force (at that time: Theory and Practice of Trying to Combine Just Anything) I recaptured these ideas.
So I do finally accept this – let elkement.subversiv.at have its way. This is elkement's personal site, and its primary topic is How To Learn About Physics And Why This Might Be Useful Or Even Edifying In Very Different Ways.
- Learning physics means to start somewhere in the middle. That's why a first Introductions to Physics lecture is always hard (if the lecturer has some modest mathematical aspirations). You need to look at the same phenomena from different angles, and only after a while – and some work – everything will fall into place. This process and journey of learning is rewarding in itself.
- The more related to mathematical foundations (of physics) a question is, the less googleable the answer is. You can find anecdotes, and examples, science sound-bites for entertainment. Of course you find awesome lecture notes to learn the fundamentals from Feynman Lectures to Landau-Lifshitz – but you need to 'learn' them. In contrary to the mantra of You Just Need to Know Where to Find Something (like: Google for error messages) I believe that really knowing about fundamentals without googling helps a lot with problem solving: You can walk through how a system should work, just using the resources in your head.
- Mathematics purges the brain, and this does not only help with mathematical problem solving. So I believe that the hackneyed problem-solving skills of science graduates are real (albeit it is difficult to assess the self-selecting nature of STEM degrees for people with natural 'analytical' skills). But the caveat it: Years of corporate work, powerpoint slides, office politics, distractions, pressure to deliver ad hoc can erode these skills. I have long-term tested different methods to keep physics knowledge alive and usable - and learned now that science might even provide some evidence, in a sense.
- I have been in 'cyber security' for a while and I have written lots of gloomy articles about our new smart world of automation and where everything (including heating systems) is turned into cloud-based services. Thoughts on all of this is still work in progress, I am working on internal consistency and unambiguity. I came into the world of IT as an experimental physicist, I was applying my training of troubleshooting complex 'analog systems' to digital systems. Despite the myth of crystal-clear 0s and 1s it was often better to treat them as blackboxes. I lacked the typical computer nerd's / enthusiast's background and started late – playing with Microsoft systems and Office VBA and the like. In spite of this Treat-as-a-Blackbox approach I like to understand as much as possible about a system. Yes, I know you cannot understand, yet build, a power plant, from knowing how to solve Maxwell's Equations (yet understand or solve issues in cyber security related to such power plants). Nevertheless, if I have the choice to understand something at all, I'd pick Maxwell's Equations.
Since years I am using an (angry) dinosaur as my web and blog logo. The dinosaur is from another era, and sometimes it cannot deal with 'modern' concepts of our 'smart', 'networked' world. But perhaps, it was part of this world for a while in order to overcompensate.
Now the dinosaur is getting more and more confident that its typical dinosaur activities might be more productive and positive than it thought before.
On science and technology
- I believe there is often a simpler, a more low-tech solution to a problem technology is thrown on.
- I sometimes call myself a geek but I don't understand this 'geek' movement of cheering science and technology - without any desire to learn any of the details.
- I prefer to work on seemingly mundane problems that somebody really wants me to solve right now.
- This explains why I discarded inquiries to participate in and profit from governmentally funded research projects.
- Yet, I often find a universe of intriguing puzzles when mulling upon a 'simple' problem.
- Learning about theoretical physics has a mind purging effect: It helps, no matter if I ever need the math directly.
On business and life
- If a business relationship does not work without a written contract, it does also not work well with one.
- Don't follow any advice by strategists and experts, especially if their primary role is to act as consultants and not as doers.
- If somebody has an opinion on something, I judge them on Skin in the Game, hands-on experience, and education - in that order. I keep this in mind when voicing my own opinions.
- I don't pay for leads - I endorse other for free, and I am endorsed for free. Not necessarily on a 1:1 basis.
On the internet
- The greatest internet-powered innovation in the workplace I have encountered is to work remotely.
- I am grateful that I started writing online before there were Likes and Comments. The point of writing online is to hold yourself accountable because others could read this on principle, not because you need feedback.
- The internet sharing paradox: The more information you share for free, the more requests for free information you get. Learning to say No is a key skill.
- No matter how eclectic you think your combination of specialties is - you will find people on the internet featuring the same combination. Just better. It's humbling and this is a good thing.
Since 2012 I have published PKI status updates here, trying to answer the question 'Do you still do PKI?' (or IT). I have re-edited them often, and my responses were erratic - I was in a Schrödinger-cat-like superposition state of different professional identities.
Now and then I still get these questions. Can I answer it finally? I am still in a superposition state - I don't expect the wave-function to break down any time soon. I enjoy this state! But my answer to IT-related requests is most often no.
So yes, I am still 'working with IT' and 'with IT security' professionally. Not necessarily 'in IT'.
I am supporting a few long-term clients with their Windows PKI deployments and related X.509 certificate issues (after having done that for more than 10 years exclusively). Those clients that aren't scared off by my other activities, and clients I had always worked with informally and cordially. But I don't have any strong ties with specific PKI software vendors anymore, and I don't know about latest bugs and issues. So I don't present myself as a Windows PKI consultant to prospects, and I decline especially requests by IT security partner companies who are looking for a consultant to pitch or staff their projects. I am also not interested in replying to Request for Proposals for PKI or identity management and 'offering a solution', competing with other consultants and especially with other companies that have full time stuff doing business development (I hardly did this in my PKI-only time). I am not developing software anymore that might turn into an 'enterprise solution'.
Today I am working 'with IT' more than 'in IT' in the sense that I returned where I came from, as an applied physicist who was initially drawn into IT, armed only with experience in programming software for controlling experimental setups and analyzing my data: I call myself the 'theoretical department' of our small engineering consultancy - I am developing software for handling Big Monitoring Data. I am also tinkering with measurement technology, like connecting a Raspberry Pi to a heat pump's internal CAN bus.
Security is important of course: I have fun with awkward certificates on embedded devices, I sniff and reverse engineer protocols, and I could say I am working with the things in the Internet of Things. But I am not doing large-scale device PKIs or advising the IT departments of major engineering companies: My clients are geeky home owners, and we (the two of us) are planning and implementing our special heat pump system for them. An important part of such projects is monitoring and control.
So every time I feel that somebody is searching for 'a PKI consultant' I am the wrong person. But if somebody stumbles upon my CV or hears my story at full length - and absolutely wants to hire me just because of the combination of this - I might say yes.
But it is no good rationalizing too much: Finally it is a matter of gut feeling; I am spoilt or damaged by our engineering business. Our heat pump clients typically find our blog first - which has been mistaken for a private fun blog by friends. Prospects are either 'deflected' by the blog (and we never hear from them), or they contact us because of the blog's weird style. Having the same sense of humor is the single best pre-requisite for a great collaboration. So whenever I get any other project request, not mediated by a weird website, I try to apply the same reasoning. Years ago I a colleague I had not met before greeted me in the formal kick-off meeting, in front of all others, with: You are the Subversive Element, aren't you? (Alluding to my Alter Ego on subversiv.at). That's about the spirit I am looking for.
Once upon a time this category was intended to comprise what I had learned about philosophy. I had even aspired to study philosophy. Then came the dawn of the web and of unconventional philosophers of web culture.
I had also followed common wisdom, and my first FrontPage-generated business website had a section called Philosophy.
What's left of that, or what has been my conclusion?
I believe - in a pang of cheeky self-assurance - that I ought to have my own philosophy. Experience, business and otherwise, should be good for something. My philosophy does not focus on the grand questions of life. I might have had an argument with my former self, the idealistic student of science who aspired to change the world as a physicist, a profession I pictured as a cross-over of hands-on MacGyver theorist-philosopher-mathematician, ad-hoc-inventing smart tools whole mulling upon deep insights on universe and everything.
The unexciting truth is that my personal philosophy is explained best by summing up the different roles I have ever seen myself to take on, no matter what my job title was. None of them was about making profound changes to the world or being any sort of thought leader.
1) The Reverse Engineer
I have been told that I dismantled (tech) stuff already at a time I have no conscious memory of. I wanted to know how things worked, and I found a way to get there. Some of these activities morphed into a career later, the obvious one having been IT Security - the stereotype field for lone maverick nerdswho reverse engineer stuff. Even as a white hat hacker and so-called security consultant you have to indulge in the relentless black hacker's mindset - or you become a security bureaucrat, ticking off checklists and following rules. (Which dies not mean you should not know the rules).
But I could as well have turned into a tax advisor or lawyer, given my pleasure in finding out how such systems work.
I disagree with Keep To Your Core Skills, and I have often used 'wasted my precious time' by 'not delegating'. I hope or believe - delusionally - that 'actually' everybody has this pleasure of finding things out ((c) Richard Feynman). I am wary of marketing (tech) stuff to allegedly dumb or stressed out end-users who don't want to understand anything about underlying technology. Perhaps I am talking to less than 10% of people, but after all this is about my personal credo.
2) The Mediator
One of my first ever fantasies as a child that came close to something like a career was being kind of a negotiator or diplomat. I am not kidding: I dreamt about settling peace treaties between Mickey Mouse and his sinister opponents in his cartoon world.
This has impacted any of my jobs, but it finally surfaced expicitly when a client booked me 'for another mediation', which was in fact the follow-up of a very technical meeting.
I had considered yet another training or degree, in coaching, psychology, or the like. However, I am glad that I never left technology for good (see 1). There is a paradox: People want such 'tech project psychology' services. However, they will not buy it if labelled as such yet happily use them if they come as a hidden by-product of technical consulting.
3) The Communicator
Maybe principles 1) and 2) can only co-exist if you bridge them with a lot of talking. During most of my career 'teaching', 'training', or 'lecturing' had been part of my official duties or a side-project done in moon-lighting fachion. I stopped teaching when I became a moonlightung student again. I have also realized that I am not cut out for
over well managed, structured, quality-assured educational systems. I suck at keeping to my own agenda, and I beg for being carried away by hard off-script questions.
I was not the best class-room teacher, but I think I was good at informal, jam-session-style train-the-experts sessions.
Projects I remember most fondly were those where clients were not only interested in The Tech Guy Who Will Fix Everything but also in my pontifiating on fundamentals, even if that was not required to get the job done. But as I said above (1) - I believe it's always worth it.
4) The Organizer and Automator
When I was a child, I was not called upon to tidy up my room: Not only was I self-motivation to clean it - Mr.Monk-style - but I rather re-organized my cabinets quite frequently. It was Feng Shui of Decluttering meeting obsession with structure, and it has not changed to this day.
I have extended these principles to the virtual world as soon as I had 'data'. Writing a tool, script, program to automate something is second nature. Some sort of software development has always been part of my jobs - just as teaching was, but I found out only recently that I like data analysis and programming much more.
Proficiency with interpreting and manipulating data, and with using or fixing software is part of our culture and should be trained and valued just as other basic technologies and skills. And of course I believe that we, each of us, really needs them! But perhaps it is just my bad luck or my high standards... Every time I just to use and application or service as a normal end-user I end up with low-level troubleshooting.
I am aware of the picture of the obsessed nerd that I have painted here. I don't underestimate subtleties and human nature though. But nowadays soft skills are so often praised to the skies and people with 'big ideas', rather than nitpicking detailed persons, so as Subversive Element the contrarian stance comes natural to me. Even the most empathic coach who tells burnt out IT guys not ot overdo perferctiomism will be very happy if a neuro-surgeon or airplane engineer are totally obsessed with flawless technology.
I renamed my blog elkement.wordpress.com last November:
Theory and Practice of Trying to Combine Just Anything
elkemental Force
The original tagline was
Physics versus engineering
off-the-wall geek humor versus existential questions
IT versus the real thing
corporate world's strangeness versus small business entrepreneur's microcosmos, knowledge worker's connectedness
versus striving for independence.
until it became
I mean it
and finally turned into
Research Notes on Energy, Software, Life, the Universe, and Everything
This means that my blog elkement.wordpress.com has found its purpose, and I am able to distinguish blogging better from publishing to this website elkement.subversiv.at. My actual research and 'science writing' is featured on my blog. Over there I am using wordpress.com features I have no desire for developing them myself for - and this website will remain my 100% home-grown self-developed pseudo-blog with a very limited feature set and no interactivity. The blog has LaTex support and allows me to present galleries of technical figures and diagrams.
These recent blog articles showcase what elkemental Force has been and is covering now (the end of a journey that started already two years ago - when heat pumps and thermodynamics replaced quantum physics):
Rowboats, Laser Pulses, and Heat Energy (Boring Title: Dimensional Analysis)
How Does It Work? (The Heat Pump System, That Is)
Half a Year of Solar Power and Smart Metering
My personal website, on the other hand, should be just this: A more self-indulgent site that provides status updates, meta-information and About-Me-style summaries. Because of that I will keep not sharing articles here to any social network.
And so yes: The hands-on engineering, physics, math and data analysis will be done over there on the blog. But there really are personal meta-thoughts on physics - so I don't have to change categories here.
(Theoretical) Physics and Me
Over the Christmas holidays I have been nearly offline from social media. I used the internet as I believe it was intended for me: To learn about something in depth and not necessarily sharing my insights or my 'progress'. I indulged in theoretical physics lectures just for the joys of it. I can rationalize: Yes, a bit of mathy gymnastics also serves me well when I deal with more mundane physics as a professional - such as toying with the heat transport equation.
But the real reason is unrelated to work: Theoretical physics and mathematical modelling of a small part of a complex world gives me the pleasure - and/or the illusion - of being able to understand and solve, well, something. Whenever I had been very stressed out in the past, close to burn-out, I got up even earlier - as 4:00 AM sometimes - to plow through Feynman's Physics Lectures or my favorite German volumes of theoretical physics by my late professor, W. Macke.
Not only did it help me to focus onto abstract details of a logical clear universe and to enter a more detached state of mind, but amazingly it also made me work more efficiently and focused later - on whatever technical challenge I had to solve. In those days, I was mainly concerned with Public Key Infrastructure, networking security, and applied cryptography.
With hindsight - and hopefully not too much hindsight bias - I feel that a rigorous training in a mathy subject boosts your results in any endeavor that needs an analytical approach. Perhaps only your physics training makes your realize that you need a more analytical approach at all, in addition to soft skills, practice, and familiarity with culture in certain industry sectors. I am thinking about project management, for example.
I believe that in any 'STEM' job, e.g. in IT, it is soothing to re-learn fundamentals often. One should know more than seems necessary about 'theory', before or in addition to knowing how to google, where to look up things, or whom of your tech buddies to call. Success in technical troubleshooting always gave me most contentment when I was doing it in my head mainly - like walking through a networking protocol the way it was designed, comparing that to messing reality, and uttering an educated guess about the root cause of an issue which was finally correct.
Whenever I had been blogging about a field of physics not related to my work - like quantum field theory - it was these mental connections I had in mind. I was trying to convey the joys of physics, but my main focus was different from most science writers' ones, so I think my writing was not engaging enough for the interested lay audience and sometimes oblique owing to too much references to math (whereas it was very basic for experts, of course).
My science writing is often a covert and feeble attempt to encourage others to tackle the real thing, that is the fundamentals and the math, and then to feel the same effects. I have seen that more books seem to have been released recently that try to bridge this gap between classical science writing (following the mantra of: Every formula will half readers) and text books.
I want to be part of that movement.
The most existing things, in no particular order:
Infrastructure updates - 'real'
- Turning the supporting construction of the first version of the solar collector into support for new wall heating loops - renovating the old kitchen: German article om the rebirth of the collector.
- Now we finally have what every green-minded home owner is expected to: A photovoltaic generator, plus smart metering infrastructure: Latest blog posting on data.
Infrastructure updates - 'virtual'
- We migrated three bank accounts, and I learned what I never wanted to know about different ways to setup debit orders. My favorite: an anonymous form on the vendor's website. Security = knowing your client account
- Our village has changed its zip code. I learned what I never wanted to know about how organizations store addresses. Goodie: Opening 'support tickets' turned interactions with big platforms into something human.
Work and Life
- One year ago we joked about it, now we do it: Planning heat pump systems the way we did IT projects - remote-only: Series of German blog posting on a project In The North
- Self-sufficiency, 'green life', and skin in the game: Harvesting 'salad' from the meadow for months: Blog posting on edible plants in the garden
We feel the fresh air of a new category: A new major tag that has infected most of our online content: It is called Work, Life, and Balance.
So it has to be added here of all websites, of course! Do we need a manifesto?
We don't want only a solar collector for research and self-sufficiency - we want 100% self-sufficiency re tomatoes!
We don't only want to
hack play with our inverter's web interface - we want to have enough time to watch our
PV panels harvesting energy!
(Re-visiting two months in WWW's netherworlds. I can prove my theoryvia two similar but independent and surreal events.)
As the saying goes, an expert is somebody who has committed every blunder in his or her discipline. It should be 'her' discipline as I have finally made it. I can prove via two similar but independent (and surreal) events.
1) The Subversive Element's website had been hacked. Well, not quite, as it was the same web server but the URL pointing to The Element's so-called business identity.
Paranoia and panic was mitigated by the curiosity of the nerd. The Element spent countless hours dabbling with Google Webmaster Tools. That is: Not only clearing Google's cache from spammy URLs, but also with scrutinizing all data available, for all websites including also the elkementary blog. And there we looked into an abyss:
2) Google's love for the elkement's blog was dwindling - by a factor of 100 within a few weeks.
But what an opportunity: Conspiracy theories running wild. In two blog postings, presented to THE INTERNET at a global level:
- [2014-12-20] Waging a Battle against Sinister Algorithms.
- [2014-01-09] Looking for Patterns.
Of course I want you to click these links. The anatomy of a hack part is perhaps interesting. After all, I can still consider it correct, given most recent findings.
This does not apply to the elemental theories on Google. Here is the final explanation, in an incredibly brief posting, by elkement's standards:
- [2015-01-23] All My Theories Have Been Wrong. Fortunately!
tl;dr: All WordPress.com blogs had been gradually migrated to https only in the past months. In Google Webmaster Tools you need to add the https URL as an additional site. My traffic was tucked away in statistics for the https URL.
Facepalm, Tim Green from Bradford, Wikimedia.
I am running a small engineering consultancy together with my husband. Following Star Trek terminology, he is Chief Engineer, and I am Science Officer.
In overly correct legalese, my job titles according to our business licences are 1) Consulting Engineer in Applied Physics and 2) IT Consultant.
We specialize in planning of heat pump systems with unconventional heat sources, that is a combination of an underground water tank and an unglazed solar collector. 'IT' means: playing with control units and data monitorin.
As we run a German blog focused on this system and I also devote a 'sub-division' of my English blog to it, I use this site (radices.net) mainly for consolidating resources and links - in the same way as I curate security / PKI related links. Perhaps these link dumps will not be very useful for anybody but myself.
I once was a laser physicist and a materials scientists - my specialties having been high-temperature superconductors, laser-materials processing with Excimer lasers, and the microstructure of stainless steel. Then I turned to IT security, IT infrastructure and IT management for more than 10 years.
In 2012 I felt the urge to reconnect with my roots as a scientist and engineer, and we started working on our own heat pump research project in stealth mode. It turned to a second 'branch' of our two-person business. There are connections between my different fields of expertise - IT security and heat pumps - like: the security of the smart grid, 'hacking critical infrastructure', monitoring and control systems. Even the data we gather with our pilot setup have turned into 'big data' that require analysis and management.
So I am actually more of an engineer than a physicist. But I am still very interested in theoretical physics as sort of a mental exercise, and I indulge in reading textbooks as hobby. In 2013 I had focussed on (re-) learning quantum field theory.
Since 2014 I am mainly blogging on down-to-earth classical mechanics or thermodynamics, and I enjoy doing cross-checks and back-of-the-envelope calculations on my blog.
The Element has tried hard to subvert the Modern World of Work. As discussed on this site often - but not necessarily in a way comprehensible to anybody - results are debatable.
The Strategy of Subversion was too complex in the long run - hence The Element now wishes to apply a Keep it Simple approach. It wants to ride real waves: Anything longer than a tweet is not a read anyway.
Up-to-date and meticulously updated information on the current elementary undercover disguise can be found here.
The Elementary Work Portfolio is truly diversified.
On Twitter its tagline reads:
Physicist, engineer, geek, dilettante science blogger, IT security consultant, search term poet, Subversive El(k)ement.
The Element indulges in working (playing) with technology, in particular if there is something to be hacked. As odd as this may seem - it especially likes heat pumps and digital certificates.
On subversiv.at we are still dedicated to spot the weird and the bizarre in daily working routines, mantras, and rituals.
I need to go one step further in discussing why a problem is not a problem for me. This page is odd anyway, and the root problem is actually the structure of this website which once has been turned into a bilingual website. So I am discussing issues in English that had only been described before in German or vice versa.
Years ago I had been intrigued by discussions among freelancers: about (potential) clients who are not willing to pay for deliveries of samples, concepts and whatnot.
I have discussed below why I declared this issue non-existent.
Now it is even better (or worse, depending on interpretation) - I can hardly see a problem at all.
Yes, it can make sense to deliver a free sample work. But sometimes you don't even notice that this was sample work (You do not even notice that this was work). I cannot - and do not want to - distinguish between:
- a spontaneous outburst of my creativity - as close to 'art' as somebody like me can get.
- strategic 'viral' marketing (though done in a very paradoxical way)
But probably these are just dry runs for a new way our economy should work at large?
Is this Open Source or Open Innovation?
The Elkement has recently put forward a theory: Its life is cliché and some googling does prove that.
It has been proposed that there is a huge community of people (Netizens) who would share the following characteristics / properties / hobbies:
- Physicist
- IT security
- Interested in the history of science
- Star Trek fan
- Douglas Adams fan
- Douglas Coupland fan
We are now going to challenge this, and we will ask Google. As Scott Adams has pointed out correctly the internet is nothing else than the consciousness of an omnipotent being, once splintered and now reassembling itself.
- Searching for "physics" "IT security" "Star Trek" yields 5 out of 10 hits on page one that can be associated with The Element. Actually 2 more elemental links have been pushed down to page three since I wrote the German version of this article two days ago.
- "physics" "IT security" "history of science" yields 6 elemental page 1 hits.
Similar results can be achieved with nearly every combination of key words listed above.
So my advice is: If you are frustrated about being cliché:
- Write an article about those attribute
- And enjoy your page 1 Google hits.
- rant a little more, more sarcastically, more witty on stuff that deserve being ranted about.
- remove all the self-pity and replace it by the enormous chances that challenges actually bore.
- The menial engineering stuff plus the project management experience I gained during my PhD work was what made me employable in the real world while still keeping some relationship with the academic world over the years.
- It all - and I really mean IT ALL including the negative experiences - prepared me for the final step I had taken recently: returning to research and development (OK, it's more development), to physics and engineering - and being able to afford a smooth an gentle migration to a new career path.
I have returned to where I started from. This website closes on itself.
Unburdened of the nagging questions that have tortured The Element before. So this is: Subversion Light. Subversion in Retrospect. Subversion Reloaded - a remake, probably diluted due to pondering about what has been pondered about what had been pondered about.
Work has always been the leitmotif of subversiv.at. Work and the connotations attached to it by a corporate geek, such as true calling (or not), (knowledge) work, dread and pleasure.
This website has been started in 2001: motivated by philosophical discussions with like-minded corporate geeks. Discussion that accompanied a so-called management training. Confirmed by hip and hot so-called business book.
On the dawn of the new millennium I have started a psychological self-test and under-cover research. This was called 'Corporate World'.
So what happened to the Element? Did it live up to its expectations? Which expectations? Imposed by whom?
There is a Ten Years After edition of the business book mentioned. I do not know it and I have written an update of my own.
My graduation is online again. It is now 18 years old, and neither the content nor the style had been or are truly subversive. I am creating an air of postmodern intellectual mist around it by commentingon the (German) speech in English and try to convince my younger self on what should have been improved.
In Austria you can be awarded your PhD with special honors by the president of Austria, it is called Sub Auspiciis Praesidentis Rei Publicae. This year (2012) about 1000 people have been given this award since about 1952. I am not adding this explanation to impress you - this should rather set the stage for the probably unexpected message I sent to the guests of my graduation ceremony. On October 1996, we had been 4 awardees, me and husband being two of them.
I thanked the representatives of academia for their kind words, they gave us the feeling that we had been rewarded for our perseverance and our talents. Nevertheless I believed that an award like this imposes some accountability on us - we had to prove that we are not intellectuals or nerds only, but that we have some social skills too. Update: According to feedback I frequently got from customers I think I have done fine on this.
But... then... BANG....(paraphrasing my long-winded German sentences) there comes the eye-opener: There is something like real world and real jobs and nobody has waited for us. It was 1995 and there was something like a micro-crisis on the job-market, at least for physics PhDs. Update: I did not research that thoroughly in recent times, but I think that has not changed so much.
I still like my speech, but there was too much self-pitying. I belabored the point that as a high school I had expected a grown-up physicist's biggest ethical dilemma would be to choose between working for the evil military or searching the solution to the unified field theory as a lonesome wolf. Then I found out that your biggest problem was to find a job. Actually, in hindsight the situation was not that bad after all - rather the opposite. I did write only a few job applications in order to get a decent job, shortly after my husband ended up with the same employer - a national research center. And we had ditched the scientific career deliberately and knowingly before. And I pitied to be just a small and unimportant part of world's scientific machinery and I would just work on something unimportant. Recently, I had read Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions for the first time (shame on me) and it came as relief that this was normal. As normal as it can get - I did Normal Science.
(Oktober 8, 1996, University of Linz)
I added a small rant that I would phrase harsher today. I had been told - repeatedly - that excellent people stay in academia (mediocre ones join industry). Back then I felt that this was BS - though of course I phrased it more politely. What I did not dare to say: I had also been told that there will be so many academic job openings for physicists in the near future. Today I have been confirmed by lots of credible accounts by other physics PhDs and by simply statistics, that this is what students have been told since the 1970s. And since the 1970s the number of physics graduates kept growing and exceeded the demand.
I had also ranted (a bit, in too timid fashion - but stay tuned for an article that I had written two years, to be re-published soon) about the metrics of scientific community - survival of the fittest AKA the person who managed to out his/her names on most papers and to minimize real contributions at the same time. I generally criticized the importance of "selling yourself". This is quite bizarre actually. This is self-irony, but in a subconscious fashion - I meant what I said. The truth is: I had an impressive record of publications - obtained by honest work. And I always had the talents to market myself - that I was not aware this this was self-marketing. When you tend to over-analyze things - as I sometimes so - then it is best to simply stay with the facts: I did get any job I ever wanted. I changed my expertise, my fields of work several times. My track record in terms of metrics (grades, publications, performance data, revenue, customer feedback) had been successful. It took me some time to find out, but I enjoy being an entrepreneur - and I would rather work "mundane tasks" in a self-employed way than being "part of the system that imposes its arcane rules on me. So back then was probably just lacking a bit of self-esteem and self-awareness.
I was proud of the fact that my husband and I merged our PhD theses into a single book. This is an option (though an uncommon one) as long as you denote who has been responsible for which part. I had also enjoyed of being supported by gifted technicians. And I really detested the attitude of not giving enough credit to other persons who had delivered valuable contributions. So I did not take the acknowledgement section in thesis too seriously, as I thanked my friends "how to use the pipe wrench" - which was an allusion to using that tool to open coke bottles every afternoon in the workshop. I could have phrased this a bit crispier in my speech.
Thus in summary the speech was not to bad (it felt good to receive standing ovations), the topics addressed were fine. Today I would:
As for the second item, wallowing in self-pity was probably also due to the fact that I did not get over the fact I did leave academia though it a deliberate choice and I have always considered it right - absolutely, positively. At that time I worked in a national research lab, but already felt separated from true science. More realistically (as explained in the posting linked above) also my academic existence was "more engineering-like" and more routine development grunt work than pure science. But there are two catches:
So after all - it was all worth it.
This is not about numerology or other esotericism - this is just a try to transform corporate planning thinking and deadline madness into something useful.
The proverbial carrot in front of the nose of the donkey does work. In fact, in works the better the more pointless but simple the goal is. I can speak from experience.
I once promised to myself that I need to make the change until a date of
0x.0x.(20)0x with x=5.
Actually the decision has been taken as early as x=2.
And it worked.
Probably thanks to conditioning by various dangling prestigious carrots - that I had all managed to grasp finally in the past: School, university, corporate goals.
At x=9 I started pondering about new plans again.
We are using the Babylonian system of numbers based on 60 and its various factors such as 12. This means that there will be no 13.13.13
The Element is in change mode and mood again.
I am a true professional: I am the total antithesis of a dilettante and an amateur. (Ha! Mike Daisey! Greetings from ElkeS)
An expert is a specialist and proud of not being a so-called generalist. Generalists is what the cowards call themselves: Those wimps that found the exit from permanently living in emergency mode, from really knowing it all and having to know and to fix it all. But I am not like that. I am the hero of troubleshooting.
But I am putting my hand on machines. I am wearing rubber gloves. By sheer thought power only I am able to penetrate into the nervous systems of these modern NOMADs. This is like in CSI – you remember the close-ups of blood vessels or electrical wiring. Then I track down and kill the enemy made from zero's and one's.
I am Trillian, I am Lara Croft, I am Ms. MacGuyver. And I put pizza into the microwave oven like Sandra Bullock in The Net. [Insert here: Something on the Improbability Drive, 42 or HAL].
I should not have any contact with human beings; I should not be human myself. I should live as an avatar only. I should inherit my mind to the world – to be uploaded to the internet. And as a compensation for all those heroic deeds I receive: Money, fame and glory without limits. People that owe their lives to me. And flowers. And an e-mail with some managers on CC. Until the next tsunami approaches the shore.
How did I ever end up in this geek paradise?
And where is the exit, the shut down button?
Get me out of here. Please.
Years ago (see below) I thought that I had the same problem as reported by many
freelancers: So-called colleagues, customers or social networking acquaintances asking for:
something that will require time, efforts and my expertise - and that is usually paid (well).
The problem has vanished or did never really exist for me. As long as you do not believe you need to make everybody happy you can simply say no to such not-willing-to-pay pseudo-clients. And as long as you are selling some service that somebody (desperately) needs (who is willing to pay).
But it is hard to say no to the paying clients. Especially if they are appealing to your vanity and to your reputation as the Number One / Guru / Diva.
Realistically it is not so much the fact that I can solve a problem in such a marvelous way. But I am probably the only available person. Or the only person that is as crazy as considering to work under such conditions - in terms of risk and schedule.
On reviewing your one history you are always biased and tend to rewrite it silently. You might consider that bias positive, recapturing Viktor Frankl's saying of flooding the entire life with meaning in retrospect. I am keeping the old versions of my web pages and force myself to re-read, comment and gradually change them. The CV tends to become cluttered, therefore I am providing a current version (2011) which is neither complete nor objective.
I always wanted to know how stuff really works and what makes human beings behave the way they do. As a child I have dismantled a toy car in a way that the grown-ups could not reproduce. I grew crystals of potash alum and blue vitriol (until I destroyed a not so heat resistant glass) and crafted paper polyhedrons (the largest in terms of no. of surfaces was a rhombicosidodecahedron with pyramids on each surface). Later I fired pulsed laser beams on little lumps of ceramic material, took photos of the emitted cloud of evaporated material and let thin films grow from this material. I have tried to understand why this clouds protruded into space in a very peculiar shape and why the electrical resistance of these films became zero at low temperatures (or not).
I was most interested in the reason why (things were as there were). It seemed less important to me to build something useful based on these insights. But I became more and more involved in the latter. Probably this was based on my investigations of the human behavior. Or rather the behavior of systems constituted by human beings. I learned what is required, important, right or opportune. As a small particle in large systems I have made some contributions. Today I am still under the impression of the ambivalent nature of of being the 'techie who saves the world': Fame and glory versus burnout and stoic self-descipline.
Reading the book of my life I am detecting the following recurrent theme: Since nearly 25 years I have been explaining technical and scientific stuff. By explanation I mean the transfer of low-level understanding - of 'talking and thinking science' in the language of mathematics - into examples, action, and stories. I am a true fan of Richard Feynman.
Do you know somebody who could help me with:
[insert here: something the networker does not have the faintest clue about in will cost him/her 1000s of hours.]
Years ago the Subversive Element would have analyzed these questions and did what it had to do - as a brave hero of networking. But know it knows:
For meeting one helpful person on the net, you have to pay: by serving five I-want-it-for-free-freaks
I had literally been asked: Do you like to work for free? Of course not really for free - this was an opportunity: Put in many hours of work requiring a lot of experience and a specific skill set. Then - if we are lucky - we will win the jackpot, get the project grant etc. Risk and reward!
Being subversive - does anybody appreciate it?
Does appreciation result in financial compensation?
Are we not able to be subversive in so-called business world or do we just feel that we are not allowed to?
Or could we be subversive all the time?
Would anybody notice it?
Ever tried?
Personal website of Elke Stangl, Zagersdorf, Austria, c/o punktwissen.
elkement [at] subversiv [dot] at. Contact


text:
Victorian brick terrace/house (over 100 year old heritage building) offers a large bedroom with fireplace. Includes linen, toilet paper & basic breakfast (cereal and toast). 2 minute walking distance to trains, trams & buses along with shops, gym (sauna, spa, pool, yoga, classes) & park lands
Victorian solid brick terrace - early style house that migrants constructed and lived in when they immigrated from Europe 100 years ago. Large bedroom with fireplace, 14 foot high ceilings and gigantic built in robes. Gorgeous low maintenance front rose garden.
Polished floor boards , kitchen with meals area with separate central lounge opening via French doors to side paved area along with water feature. Central heating throughout, beautifully tiled bathroom with period style claw foot bath, low maintenance brick paved rear courtyard with an exceptional outdoor covered entertaining area.
Adgang for gæster
Five minute walk to train station (Clifton Hill Station), tram (96 RMIT/Bundoora) and bus stop (246 Elesterwick, 240-Moonee Ponds & Victoria Market), along with gym /pool/sauna/spa/group classes (Collingwood Leisure Centre) and tennis courts on Hoddle Street. You could borrow my bike to explore the numerous bike tracks around inner city Melbourne.
Kontakt med gæster
I keep a low profile, but home most evenings. I make fantastic curries and BBQ's. Happy to cook an evening meal for you at a cost of $15.
Andre ting, der er værd at bemærke
I am happy for a third person to stay in the same room. They would sleep on a large single bed blow up mattress in the same bedroom. Happy to supply sheets, towel, linen, blankets and pillows for all parties.
House in non smoking. When leave house - my dogs "Penny" and "Bella" must be locked in the kitchen, as they can get outside via her "doggy door". Do not let the two dogs into the main part of my home - they stay outside. Security front door must be always locked at all times. When leaving my home always lock front and back door, security front door and ensure all other windows & doors and closed and LOCKED. No bath towels and wet clothes to stay in the bedroom & towels only to be hung in rack in bathroom - not on my wooden antique furniture, beds, brass door knobs etc. Coaster must be used at all time for cups, toiletries so they do not stain the wood work or paint work. Do not put anything on wood work in bathroom - especially water as it destroys the wood. Refer to "House Rules" Folder for further details located in main cupboard in the bedroom.
169 omtaler
Denne vært har 4 omtaler af andre boliger.Se andre omtaler
Easy going

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Soundboard, July 21-27 | Soundboard | Chicago Reader.
This week: Marissa Nadler, Monument, and Cass McCombs.
Tags: Cass McCombs, Chicago Reader, Marissa Nadler, Monument, music
Posted 23 Jul 2011 by LeorGalil
in Freelance Work
Algernon Cadwallader - "Some Kind of Cadwallader" from Leor Galil on Vimeo.
Peelander-Z at the Middle East Upstairs, 5/15/2009 from Leor Galil on Vimeo.
Leor Galil © 2017 All Rights Reserved. We Love WordPress 4.8.2 .
Vina 1.3.1 design by WPGPL


text:
iTAL tEK
0 Shouts - 2,059,277 Scrobbles
iTAL tEK is Brighton based electronic musician Alan Myson. Signed with Mike Paradinas's Planet Mu label, his music ranges from dark bass heavy industrial dubstep to deep melodic electronica. Past releases 'Blood Line' on Planet Mu and 'Deep Pools' EP on Square Records both in 2007.Read More...
iTAL tEK's debut album 'Cyclical' was released on Planet Mu records in May 2008, since he has been working on new material and released Massive Error EP in May 2009.
October 2009 also marks the launch of iTAL tEK's own label Atom River, used as a vehicle to independently release his own music, starting with 'Mako EP'.
More info and a free download of the track 'Lightning Fields' can be found at http://www.atomriver.co.uk/
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Top SongsTotal plays on Last.fm over the last 6 months
- White Mark - 95,570 plays
- Cyclical - 87,654 plays
- Pins - 63,402 plays
- Bloodline - 58,554 plays
- Deep Pools - 63,078 plays
- Tokyo Freeze (Remix) - 55,062 plays
- Still Shores - 51,268 plays
- Red Sky - 48,225 plays
- Insomniac - 39,947 plays
- Versus - 40,711 plays


text:
Hey! It's a F.A.Q.! I've always wanted to do one of these.
How do you pronounce your name?
I'm so glad you asked. Maryn rhymes with CAR-Inn. Not Karen.
Where are you?
I live in Utah. I grew up in Northern California but ended up in Utah and kinda like it here.
I've got a great idea for a children's book. Will you illustrate it for me?
Why the harsh vibe?
Yeah, just no.


text: Home / Paintings / Lily Lily by Scott Fischer Lily is a linear exploration on Grafix Duralar, working the front and back surfaces to take advantage of the translucency. The medium is FW Acrylic Ink and Liquid Gold Guilding. 6X8, ships in the frame shown. $425 $425 Out of stock More by Scott Fischer


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I Love Frasier!!
Hey, I'm watching Frasier right now!! Its my favourite tv show...well, to be completely honest, its the only form of television I watch. Its so funny! I think that overall Roz and Martin are my fav characters, but I really like all of them. Love the Niles and Daphne situation, its so romantic. Roz is one of my heroines, ever since I first saw Frasier I've tried to be like her. Its such a shame they've stopped filming it...
Bowmanel9994 13-15 1 Response 0 Mar 25, 2009
i love roz too! she's the best. i'd love to be like her myself. she's an awesome character. :)


text:
A Good Day To Die (Hoka Hey)
Director: Harold Monkfils
Cast: Jason P Howe, Tim Page, Catherine Philip, Jerome Starkey, AJ Vickers
Genre: Documentary
Language: English, Spanish with English subtitles
Country of Origin: New Zealand-Malaysia-Netherlands-Canada 2016 87 mins. (15)
Released by Bulldog Film Distribution
Writer-director Harold Monkfils documentary on Jason P. Howe picks up in 2001 with the brutal civil war between Columbia's FARC guerrillas and the Paramilitary as his baptism to the world of the war photographer, which included a liaison with with Marilyn, a paramilitary assassin for a paramilitary death squad. Iraq, Lebanon with the 'Paparazzi for the dead and dying' - photojournalists just out of journalist's school, a return to Colombia to find that Marilyn had been executed and then Afghanistan which saw a tangle with the MOD bureaucracy. When images of Private Bainbridge, critically injured in Afghanistan were published with his permission in the mass media, the MOD unofficially banned Jason Howe from returning to the front line for going against their wishes. Keep reality away from the public, keep war as a 'clean' game.
Breaks in Thailand on a drink, snort and f... bender filled the gaps between conflicts when as a war photographer you're immersed in the rarely talked about buzz of war. Now in Andalusia with his dogs, it's a time for Jason Howe to reflect on 'the damage that happens to the soul when one is exposed to the horrors of war on the front line for 12 years.'
Contributions are made by Catherine Philip (foreign correspondent), Hector Emanuel (documentary photographer), Jerome Starkey (foreign correspondent), Matthew Fearn (Telegraph picture editor), Roger Arnold (cameraman, photographer), Thomas Harding (defence correspondent) and Tim Page (photographer).


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1111 East State Highway 114
Grapevine, TX 76051-0000
Sales: (817) 912-4500
This Certified X3 comes equipped with XLINE PACKAGE, DRIVING ASSISTANCE, AND TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE! These are just a few of the additional features offered on this exceptional 2017 BMW X3 being presented for sale at Sewell BMW of Grapevine. This vehicle has been taken through our BMW Service Center, and has undergone a comprehensive inspection by our certified BMW trained technicians. In over 100 years of business, the Sewell family of dealerships have been committed to offering exceptional vehicles, coupled with world-renowned service. This combination is what compels our customers to purchase a Sewell vehicle year after year, and generation after generation. Please call or email us to make a reservation, so we can show you why Sewell customers are Customers For Life !Our pricing is based upon current market conditions and will change periodically. The current advertised price is available for today only.
1111 East State Highway 114
Grapevine, TX 76051-0000
(0 Miles)
Sales: (817) 912-4500
Year: 2017
Make: BMW
Model: X3 xDrive28i
Price: $46,288
Mileage: 6,516
Engine: I-4 cyl
Transmission: AUTOMATIC
Exterior Color: Alpine White
Interior Color: Black Nevada Leather
Fuel Type: Other
Stock #: 5005193
City MPG: 21
Hwy MPG: 28
Featured Options
Cold Weather Package
Driving Assistance Package
Lighting Package
Premium Package
Technology Package
Fineline Light High Gloss Wood
Harman Kardon surround sound
Apple CarPlay Compatibility
Included Packages
Cold Weather Package
Driving Assistance Package
Lighting Package
Premium Package
Technology Package
Additional Options
Harman Kardon surround sound
Apple CarPlay Compatibility
CO2 relevant vehicles
Automatic Start/Stop function
Brake Energy Regeneration
Multifunction steering wheel
Tire pressure monitor
Alarm System
Power tailgate
Universal garage-door opener
Roof rails in Satin Aluminum
Privacy glass
Floor mats
Auto-dimming driver mirror
Auto-dimming rearview mirror
Power Front Seats
Split fold-down-rear seat
Storage package
Black high gloss instr panel
Automatic climate control
Dynamic Cruise Control
Ambient Lighting
LED Fog Lights
DVD Area coding, North America
BMW Assist eCall
BMW TeleServices
Enhanced USB and Bluetooth
Oil Chg 10,000 mls/12 months
Variable Light Decoding
Daytime driving lights
Transport protection
Connected App Compatibility
Tier 2


text:
Do you make the time each day to be a channel to tap into your creative source? As a being which comes from some unlimited creative source, that infinite power is within you. We all express it in different ways: music, writing, or painting; but the vital key is connecting to the creative energy each and everyday.
About a week ago, I finally downloaded Spotify and began listening to the Hamilton Musical by Lin Manuel Miranda. To hear this story of Alexander Hamilton's life through the lens of Miranda is one of truest expressions of creative source I have ever experienced. Talk about doing your work. This is a masterpiece of true Broadway proportions. Within the first lines, I was hooked. I have since been inspired to create on many different levels. I wrote a song the other day and was led to other works I had written in old journals. I even turned some poetic release into a beautifully flowing rap sonnet.
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished,
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?- Opening line of Hamilton
Since this work has come onto my "most played" list on Spotify I wanted to make a Creative Playlist for you all to get inspired. With perfectly placed music references from Biggie, Mobb Deep, Continue reading "Creative Inspiration: Connecting to Source Energy Through Music"


text:
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Latest: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a Quantitative Method: Webinar Highlights
Latest: 9 Top Reasons to Become a SelectScience Member
Latest: See the Latest X-Ray Analytical Technology at MS&T17
Webinar Highlights: Solve Any Separation Challenge Easily with 2D-LC
Previously Undetectable Proteins Can Now be Quantified
Dynapro™ DLS Plate Reader From Wyatt Technology Provides Rapid Detection and Characterisation Of...
Fluidigm to Unveil High-Parameter Tissue Imaging System
9 Top Reasons to Become a SelectScience Member
Top 10 Mass Spectrometry Downloads for Clinical Scientists
Optimizing Metal Powders for Additive Manufacturing
Rapid and Multi-Analyte Diagnostic Microarrays
Establishing an Analytical Toolkit for the Optimization of Li-ion Battery Electrode Manufacturing
DNA Microanmodirrays on Unmodified Polymer Supports Using sciPOLY3D - Comparison of sciPOLY3D and...
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High performance WDXRF for rapid quantitative elemental analysis Read more...


text:
To use a translation, you must have both the .po and .mo files of a language.
.po files can be downloaded from the project page on Transifex.
Once you have them, you must place each one on the corresponding folder:
If you don't have the .mo file (the compiled version of the .po), you need to download the small but awesome software Poedit.
With Poedit you can open the .po files. As soon as you save, the .mo file is generated automatically on the same folder as the original .po.
Example of poedit with the spanish file open (es.po)
Now that you have every .mo file generated, you need to tell ProjectSend to use it.
To do it, open the file /includes/sys.config.php with a text editor of your choice.
There, find the line that reads something like this:
And change the value to the name of the file of your language minus the file extension.
For example, if you want to use the French language, change it to
If your language is localized, like in the case of Portuguese (which has the Brazil and Portugal variations), be sure to include the full name. For example, for Portuguese (Brazil), use
That's it! The next page you load should be in your new language.


text:
After allegations on Hindu community to desecrated the Holy Quran, angry crowd have torched a Hindu community centre in Larkana, a city of sindh province in Pakistan. The incident took place overnight when some people said they saw burned pages of the Holy Quran in a garbage bin near the home of a Hindu man. Police official said that a crowd of about 200 angry people were gathered and attack on a Hindu community centre near a temple. Official said the building was partially damaged, while the Hindu family was taken into protective custody. The Police officer of the area said that the house was property of a Muslim family and was rented to a hindu, who have cleaned it before shifting. He may have burned the holy book unintentionally, during he clean the house. The alleged man under custody of police, Sangeet Kumar, 32 , was found in intoxication of liquor when he desecrate the Quran. After the incident hundreds from local Islamic seminaries attacked the temple. Police arrived quickly to protect suspect family from the angry crowd. Nearby towns of Usta Muhammad, Dera Allah Yar and Sohbat Pur, also effected by the incident where crowed also attacked Hindu property but they were dispersed by police, Ashfaq Anwar, a senior officer of Police said. Provincial Government took notice of the tense situation in the area and directed the authorities to expedite steps to handle the situation..Tags: #
ISLAMABAD: The joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Sharif family's business dealings abroad has summoned finance minister Ishaq Dar to appe... More
Islamabad, Pakistan - Thousands of protesters in the northwestern Pakistani city of Parachinar have ended a week-long sit-in following twin blasts tha... More
BAHAWALPUR: Collective funeral prayers for the victims of Bahawalpur oil tanker fire was held in Ramzan Joiya village, Ahmedpur East, here on Tuesday ... More
At least 123 people have been burnt alive and dozens of others injured after an oil tanker caught fire and exploded near Bahawalpur in Pakistan's ... More
Qatar has dismissed a list of demands submitted by four Arab nations as neither reasonable or actionable. This list of demands confirms w... More
At least 26 people have been killed and 75 others wounded when twin explosions ripped through a crowded market in northwest Pakistan, according to off... More
At least 34 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Thursday. The bombing targeted Afghan troops ... More
NEW DELHI: Indian police have in remission fifteen Muslims and filed offence charges against them for celebrating Pakistan's triumph against Ind... More
KARACHI: Seldom have we waited for a sporting milestone with such eagerness, and anxiety, as we did for master batsman Younis Khan to complete 10,000 ... More


text:
A picture of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz lies amidst the debris at the damaged headquarters of the Saudi Cultural Center. The damage to the building was caused by an April 20 airstrike that also hit a nearby army weapons depot, in Sana'a, Yemen, April 21, 2015.
Abdulrahman Al-Banyan (2nd right), Saudi Arabia's Chief of Staff, arrives at the Arab League headquarters to attend the Arab defense ministers meeting in Cairo, April 22, 2015.
A boy finds an artillery shell on a street that was hit by an April 20 airstrike. The strike hit a nearby army weapons depot, in Sana'a, April 21, 2015.
A Saudi soldier fires a mortar toward the Houthi position, at the Saudi/Yemen border, April 21, 2015.
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Fucks super hot blonde Tumbarumba
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Just enjoying one of your vanilla slices, came in today for the first time. Bread is amazing too, yum! : )
Copyright all content and material Stone Baked Limited Stone Baked Artisan Bakery 2013 - 2015
Stone Baked Limited - Co reg No: 08345190 - Registered Office address: 28 High Street, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 8AW


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Top Places To Visit in California
Hotels and Homestays in California
About California
Today was also focused on energy because of what the California landscape had to offer us. Driving along back-country roads through California's central valleys, we passed through a town called Lost Hills, which seemed to be nothing other than one large oil field. Oil rigs littered the landscape as far as the eye could see, north and south across the pancake-flat valley floor. It was a harsh and uninviting landscape, but what seemed most odd about was its proximity to rich agricultural lands. The oil fields were surrounded by almond groves and dairy farms, which gave way in each direction to other crops such as cotton, leafy greens and vineyards full of wine grapes. In some areas, mounds of freshly harvested almonds seemed literally piled up alongside oil wells – something to think about next time you bite into a plate of almond-crusted halibut.As dramatic as the oil fields were, so was California's next big display of energy. Just east of Bakersfield, on the mountain pass into the Mojave Desert, lies hills littered in wind turbines. Thousands of them dot the landscape, twirling away in the breeze while providing a hopefully cleaner alternative to the State's energy needs. We were joined on Twitter at the time by Tom Gray, who informed us that the two distinct types of wind turbine we were seeing represented varying stages of technology. The smaller, meshed looking turbines have been in place since the 80′s, while the larger, more cost effective jumbo-size turbines are the industry standard today. Somewhat ironically, the contrast between these two forms of energy was reflected in the environmental health of the State's ecosystems we passed through. Whereas the clear and sunny day on the Monterey Bay revealed forest-covered hills, rich marine life and unpolluted skies, the air above and around Bakersfield was the exact opposite. A thick smog hung over that city like an evil gloom, and the entire ride through smelled of fumes and toxins. And then in the end we escaped that foul air, into the crisp, dry and mystically beautiful wilderness expanses of the Mojave, where we sleep tonight. Resting peacefully, looking forward to more of Big America tomorrow.October 16thToday was a day of crossing deserts and state lines. Parched, dry landscapes and obscure Americana dominated our voyage east on this leg of our cross-country journey. Escaping California offered little relief in terms of change of barren landscapes, although the appearance of giant solar farms was a welcome first. From the Mojave to the Hoover Dam, and finally the Grand Canyon, some of the south-westernmost stretches of the United States are as filled with historic iconography as they are beautiful expanses of desert wilderness.
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Arata Pumkin Farm
185 Verde Road, Half Moon Bay, C
McGrath Family Farm
1012 West Ventura Blvd, Camarillo, CA 9301
Avila Valley Barn
560 Avila Beach Dr., San Luis Obispo, C
Old Fliegler's Farm
4332 Los Vecinos, Fallbrook, CA 9202
Rileys at Los Rios Rancho
39611 Oak Glen Rd., #13, Oak Glen, CA 9239
Bennett's Honey Farm
3176 Honey Lane, Highway 126, Fillmore, CA 9301
Quicksilver Ranch
1555 Alamo Pintado Road, 918 D Avenue, Solvang, CA 9346
U-Pick Carlsbad Strawberry Company
Cannon Rd., Carlsbad, CA 9201
Forneris Farms
15200 Rinaldi Street, Mission Hills, San Francisco, CA 9134
Marin French Cheese Company
7500 Red Hill Rd, Petaluma, CA 9495
Tara Firma Farms
3796 I st EXT, Petaluma, C
Impossible Acres
26565 Road 97D, Davis, CA 9561
Abel's Acres
Placerville, C
Villa Del Sol Sweet Cherry Farms
6989 Elizabeth Lake Rd, Leona Valley, CA 9355
Cool Patch Pumpkins
6585 Milk Farm Road, Dixon, CA 9562
Andre Organic Lavender
926 West Highway 246, Buellton, C
Historic Orchard
Taylor St and Spring St, San Jose, CA 95110-270
Gopher Glen Farms
2899 Gopher Glen Way, San Luis Obispo, CA 9340
J&K Farley Farms
512 N.7th Ave., Kingsburg, CA 9363
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210 Burnham Road, Oak View, CA 9302
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1075 The Pike, Arroyo Grande, CA 9342
Retiredice Alpacas
6899 Mt. Aukum Road, Fair Play, CA 9568
Hale's Apple Farm
1526 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol, CA 9547
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9706 Harry Cash Rd, Montague, C
Greenspot Farms
10133 Ward Way, Mentone, CA 9235
Keys Creek Lavender Farm
12460 Keys Creek Rd., Valley Center, CA 9208
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5696 Los Angeles Avenue, Somis, C
Riley's Apple Farm
12201 S. Oak Glen Road, Oak Glen, CA 9239
Return to Freedom, American Wild Horse Sanctuary
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The Farm
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Enos Family Farms
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ShangriLlama- MOVED
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Otow Orchard
6232 Eureka Rd., Granite Bay, CA 9574
Stone Farms
9928 Protea Gardens Rd, Escondido, CA 9202
The Gentle Barn
15825 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita, CA 9139
Plubell's Orchards
Placerville, C
Petaluma Creamery
621 Western Avenue, Petaluma, CA 9495
Ardenwood Historic Farm
34600 Ardenwood Blvd, Fremont, CA 9455
The Luffa Farm
1457 Willow Road, Nipomo, C
The Olive Press
24724 Hwy 121, Sonoma, CA 9547
Bellwether Farms
9999 Valley Ford Road, Petaluma, CA 9595
O'Dell's Organic Orchard
1095 Julian Orchards Drive, Julian, CA 9203
Il Fiorello Olive Oil Company
2625 Mankas Corner Road, Fairfield, CA 9453
Providence Farm
40376 Brookside Avenue, Cherry Valley, CA 9222
Underwood Family Farms - Moorpark
3370 Sunset Valley Road, Moorpark, CA 9302
Lovepatch Farms
405 Gage Lane, Novato, CA 9494
Chaffin Family Orchards
606 Coal Canyon Rd., Oroville, CA 9596
Moms Country Orchards
38695 Oak Glen Road, Oak Glen, CA 9239
0 Hotels found


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The Haygoods take the country roads from Branson, Missouri to get to the Qingdao Grand Theatre on January 20. Come out to enjoy wholesome American family entertainment right here in Qingdao with an ensemble cast of 8 performers on 20 different instruments. Tickets range from 100 to 480 yuan (RMB). Get more info on The Haygoods website.
When: January 20, 7.30 pm
Venue: Qingdao Grand Theatre / 青岛大剧院
Location: 5 Yunling Lu, Laoshan district / 云岭路5号
Tickets: 100-4000 yuan (RMB) / 100-400 元
More Info: 8066.5555
Relevant Links:
The Haygoods Official Website
Qingdao Grand Theatre Official Website (Chinese)
More Info on Qingdao Grand Theatre


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I regularly had a "press The lord to the limit" kind of relationship along with Him. , if I wasn't happy along with God I had not been reluctant to allow Him know what I presumed of Him or His planning.. Down by means of the years I will "have it out along with Him" as well as would certainly say factors to The lord that "excellent" Christians weren't expected to mention to God, until that involved the time I finally told Him in order to get the hell away from my lifestyle … FOR GOOD!
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Rehab facilities that claim all kinds of success rates may be actually confusing. In various other words, perform they believe that an individual simply completing their course is a success? Or even much worse, do they actually put all of them on some style from addicting substitute drug as well as still think that is an excellence?
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Decoding 666
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The Magi Report Vol.1
In this report the mysterious Revelation 13:18 passage is decoded and examined phrase by phrase revealing the deep and seemingly hidden truths in Scripture, such as the frightening significance of being "numbered," the meaning of 666, how the number will be counted and its shocking role.
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The Sun Station officially released in May 2013. As a new product, right out of the gates the Sun Station grew at a moderate rate, seeing primarily international sales the first year (balanced between the U.S., Canada, and Singapore). In May of 2014 however, Sun Station sales really took off here in the States, with month over month growth rates at over 86% (until we quickly ran out of inventory at the start of June). Amazon was responsible for much of the growth, whereupon reviews have been incredible (with a seller rating at over 95%) and product returns very minimal. Taking into account the fast growth rate and valuable Customer feedback, The All Outdoors is re-investing here in the off season toward additional R&D for accessory development and a stronger web presence for a larger 2015 product release. By reserving a Sun Station here, we are guaranteeing today's pricing on the first 1000 units sold. We sincerely thank all of you for embracing the Sun Station's first year on the market. It's because of you that we continue to grow and improve. Thanks again.


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Cant Wear OneI have a thing about being on time,If I am just five minutes late,my blood pressure actually goes up.So I decided to not wear one so I cant stress out as much,and it is working so far.
I have worn one a couple of times, for a few months, then usually it gets busted up against something, or if i wear it on the inside of the wrist, i scar it up holding things at work. i gave up. no sense in it. as for being late, i don't get frustrated by it, and i am late for everything. by now, people just expect it of me,and that's ok with me.

can't start something till you get there, and so many people get there early and stand around gabbing till long after the time they were due, so what is the loss? none.

computer clocks, car clocks, digital radios with clocks, they are all around us, why carry a spare one. even the phones have a clock built in most of the ones i have seen ,that is. i don't own a cell phone, either, but that is another matter.
how i'm watsh the videos
Type your comment here...
I hate wearing watches as well. I really do not want to know the time because it reminds me of all the things I still have to do that aren't done. Now, I've been like this since I was 12, every year without fail my mother buys me a watch. And she wonders why we don't have a good relationship?


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- Madd Max Auto Restoration TC Wrecker The Worst and uneducated people in Houston! No Contracts or argeements but ready to repo! houston, Texas
- Madd Max Auto TC Wrecker Sale Internet
- Anastocio Galvan Jr. Stocio, Coach or Cuz Lied and stole a computer form us and used it to file false complaints against us! San Antonio, Texas
- Bill Heard Chevrolet ripoff fraud to consumers Scottsdale Arizona *UPDATE! ..It's not illegal until you get caught! MSRP's removed in violation of Federal Law. *EDitor's investigation see photo's
- Walmart Husband arrested even though he had RECEIPT! abused & mistreated Chico California *UPDATE ..GUESS My husband isnt the only one that has been a victim of your quotas!
- Q4 Marketing AKA Cydcor AKA DS Max ripoff Super deceptive company Concord California
- Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #1164 Shoplifting: Falsely Accused of Eating Food And Not Paying! Columbia South Carolina
- Donald Reed Powers Dead Beat Dad *Consumer Suggestion *UPDATE he just moved from Idaho to Troutdale, Oregon *REBUTTALS
- Bank Of America Overdraft Fee Scam Ripoff Class Action Lawsuit Please! Tampa Florida
- Richard John Santerre Jr. Deadbeat non-custodial parent not paying child support Manchester Connecticut
- Elite Marketing - Atlantic Consultants - KGV Advertising - WRS Promotions This ripoff company goes by many names, they are a part of DS-Max, Quantum, Innovage, Cydcor, and Granton, employment search for jobs ripoff too many to list! Livonia Michigan
- Report: #1047536
The Dry Cleaners by Val
The Dry Cleaners by Val5 Crescent Ave Suite 11 Woburn, Massachusetts USA
The Dry Cleaners by Val This is the biggest rip off business I have ever dealt with. I called because I had must moldy clothes. I was very specific to ask price for pick up & delivery. Jennifer said no cost. I asked what happens if I don't use them after estimate. She said no charge. But as I am an honest person I expected a fee. After picking them up 2 days later Rich called with an estimate. 53 hanging clothes mostly jeans & sweat. 6 nightgowns 12 pair of shoes and about 12 clutch purses. The estimate was $1600. I discussed with my landlord because of mold in my apt he agreed to take care of it. I thought it was completely out of line so I asked for the clothes to be delivered. Rich said he would call me back with estimate. After arguing with him about what estimate? He finally called me back. The bill was $500 cash. I guess he was afraid I would cancel check or credit card YUP I would have. I said I would pick them up, answer $500. They delivered them and after I handed the driver $500 cash he brought my clothes in. I looked at the bill. $110 delivery to & from, & $55 an HR for 11 hrs for looking at clothes. 11 hrs, they must be on crack lite. I washed my clothes with vinegar in 13 loads. Sprayed my shoes & purses. DONE! What a thief, liar, & rip off business. DON'T EVER GO TO ANY CLEANERS BY VAL ! Use vinegar to clean clothes or Fabreze. All I can say is,see you in court & KARMA. Woburn Massachusetts
*General Comment: BEWARE DONNA CHAET COMPLAINTS
*Consumer Comment: I can help you Donna!
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This is the biggest rippoff business I have ever dealt with. I was referred by Serv Pro a mold co. I was very specific to ask prices for pick & delivery. I spoke to Jennifer. I asked what happens if I don't use them after estimate. She said no charge.But as I am an honest person I expected a small fee.After 2 days Rich called me back. The estimate was $1600.There were about 53 hangers worth of clothes, mostly jeans & sweats. There were 6 flannel nightgowns a dozen pair of shoes and 1 dozen little purses. I discussed it with my landlord as he was paying because of mold in my apt. I thought it was so out of order in price we both agreed not to use them. I called back and Rich said he would have to call me back with an estimate. 2 days later he called and said it would be $500 cash only. I then knew he was ripping me off. They delivered the clothes and only after I handed driver the cash I had him sign a receipt and clothes were brought back in the plastic bags they took them in. When I looked at the bill it said $55 an hr for 11 hrs for estimte. What a liar, thief and a rippoff. I washed my clothes in vinegar and I did about 13 loads in a laundry mat. They have many locations and I have found out they have done this before. Don't ever use any of thier cleaners. Rip off is to good for them, stealing is more like it. All I can say is Karma.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 04/30/2013 11:32 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/the-dry-cleaners-by-val/woburn-massachusetts-01801/the-dry-cleaners-by-val-this-is-the-biggest-rip-off-business-i-have-ever-dealt-with-i-1047536. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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#1 General Comment
AUTHOR: Bela - ()
SUBMITTED: Friday, December 12, 2014POSTED: Friday, December 12, 2014
We have had previous difficulties with Ms. Chaet and she has a history of suing people to make a living as she doesn't have a job. A rational discussion can not be had - she intimidates, threatens and tyrannizes to get her way - her use of foul language clinches the deal. I feel sorry for Val Cleaners and also her landlord having to put up with her bullying and perceived injustices. I would remove her complaint.
Are you an owner, employee or ex-employee with either negative or positive information about the company or individual, or can you provide "insider information" on this company?
#2 Consumer Comment
I can help you Donna!
AUTHOR: Jeff Sousa - ()
SUBMITTED: Thursday, June 27, 2013POSTED: Thursday, June 27, 2013
Donna, I can help you, especially if you're bringing this to court and doing something about it. Please contact me or have your lawyer do so. I'm not asking for anything, aside from you allowing me to help you. It's not right what they did to you. To remain somewhat anonymous, I'm not putting my contact information here, aside from my name and town, but contact me through this website and I'll do what I can to aide in your case against them. Also, you might want to edit the name of the company, because anyone who is trying to search for it by spelling it correctly, will not find this report. It's The Dry Cleaner by Val, not Dry Cleaners by Val.
Are you an owner, employee or ex-employee with either negative or positive information about the company or individual, or can you provide "insider information" on this company?
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Why a MS in Sustainability/MBA Dual Degree?
SLU sustainability students take a tour of the 100 kilowatt solar panel array on top of the warehouse at Walsh and Associates, a local chemical distribution company focused on "greening" their business.
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