text:
The last few days, I have spent some time playing around with Docker's
<none>:<none> images. I'm writing this post to explain how they work, and how they affect docker users. This article will try to address questions like:
- What are
<none>:<none>images ?
- What are dangling images ?
- Why do I see a lot of
<none>:<none>images when I do
docker images -a?
- What is the difference between
docker imagesand
docker images -a?
Before I start answering these questions, let's take a moment to remember that there are two kinds of
<none>:<none> images, the good and the bad.
The Good <none>:<none>
To understand this, we need to understand how Docker's image file system works, and how the image layers are organized. For the purpose of this article we will be using a Fedora image as an example. The Docker daemon is running on my laptop, and I am going to pull a fedora image from docker hub.
As you can see in the above screenshot,
docker images just shows
fedora:latest however
docker images -a shows two images
fedora:latest and
<none>:<none>. As a Docker user you'll observe that these
<none>:<none> images grow exponentially with the numbers of images we download.
What do these
<none>:<none> images stand for? To understand that let's dive into how Docker's file system layers are organized. Each docker image is composed of layers, with these layers having a parent-child hierarchical relationship with each other. All docker file system layers are by default stored at
/var/lib/docker/graph. Docker calls it the graph database. In this example
fedora:latest is composed of 2 layers which we can find at
As you can see the
IMAGE ID corresponds to the layers in the
/var/lib/docker/graph directory. When I did
docker pull fedora, the image was downloaded one layer at a time. First docker downloaded the layer
48ecf305d2cf and named it
<none>:<none> since this is only one of the layers of the complete image
fedora:latest. Docker calls this an intermediate image hence the flag
Next it downloaded the layer
ded7cd95e059 and named it
fedora:latest. The fedora:latest image is composed of both these layers, forming a parent child hierarchical relationship as shown below.
Just to double check that we got the parent-child relationship right, we can check the JSON file of the layer
All right! So we got that right. Now we understand what these
<none>:<none> images stand for. They stand for intermediate images and can be seen using
docker images -a. They don't result into a disk space problem but it is definitely a screen real estate problem. Since all these
<none>:<none> images can be quite confusing as what they signify.
We have already covered points (1), (3) and (4). Lets throw some light onto point (2).
The Bad <none>:<none>
Another style of
<none>:<none> images are the dangling images which can cause disk space problems.
In programming languages like Java or Golang a dangling block of memory is a block that is not referenced by any piece of code. The garbage collection system of those languages periodically marks the dangling blocks and return it back to the heap, so that these memory blocks are available for future allocations. Similarly a dangling file system layer in Docker is something that is unused and is not being referenced by any images. Hence we need a mechanism for Docker to clear these dangling images.
We already know what
<none>:<none> in
docker images -a stand for. Those are the intermediate images as described above. However if I do
docker images and see
<none>:<none> images in the list, these are dangling images and needs to be pruned. But where do they come from?
These dangling images are produced as a result of
docker build or
pull command. To give a more concrete example,
Let's build a
hello_world image using our fedora base image that we downloaded earlier. We will build the
hello_world image using a Dockerfile.
As we can see in the above screenshot, we were successfully able to build our
hello_world image using the Dockerfile.
A month has passed after building our
hello_world image, and a new version of Fedora is available. So Let's pull this new Fedora image.
I got my new Fedora image. Now I would want to build my
hello_world image again with this new Fedora. So, let's build the image again using the same Dockerfile.
If you go back and check, the old Fedora image had an IMAGE ID (
ded7cd95e059) and the new Fedora image in the above screenshot has an IMAGE ID (
5c6d07393f9f), which means our Fedora image was updated successfully. The important thing that we need to look for in the above screenshot is the
<none>:<none> image.
If you remember
<none>:<none> images listed in
docker images -a are intermediate images (The good ones), but this
<none>:<none> image is being listed as part of docker images. This is a dangling image and needs to be pruned. When our
hello_world image was rebuilt using the Dockerfile, its reference to old Fedora became untagged and dangling.
The next command can be used to clean up these dangling images.
docker rmi $(docker images -f "dangling=true" -q)
Docker doesn't have an automatic garbage collection system as of now. That would definitely be a nice feature to have. For now this command can be used to do a manual garbage collection.


text:
Dairy foods are popular among consumers, and sales gross more than $125 billion per year (IDFA, 2017). With dairy product popularity comes new demands from consumers for healthier, low-calorie products that taste the same as their higher calorie counterparts. In a report published in the Journal of Dairy Science researchers review the options available to the dairy industry to reduce sugar in products such as ice cream, yogurt, and flavored milk without sacrificing flavor.
The public health and consumer focus on health has increased in the past 20 years, leading to a significant push for healthier food choices including dairy products. Overconsumption of sugar, for example, can contribute to a host of issues such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dental cavities.
"Dairy foods represent a large market," explained lead investigator MaryAnne Drake, PhD, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. "The dilemma of how to reduce sugar content without sacrificing flavor and negatively affecting product sales is challenging, as sugar plays an important role in dairy foods, not only in flavor, but also in texture, color, and viscosity. Replacing sugar can have negative effects, making substitution inherently difficult."
Dairy products like ice cream, yogurt, and flavored milk are potentially high in unwanted added sugar. Some of the standard processes for developing healthier food products, such as fat, sugar, and salt reduction, result in an unacceptable flavor. Sweet taste perception can also be affected by texture of the food matrix and the presence of fat. Other sugar reduction techniques include hydrolysis of lactose, ultrafiltration, and direct reduction. In this review, researchers review recent studies to assess the role of sugar, alternative sweeteners, and sugar reduction in ice cream, yogurt, and flavored milk and discuss the options available to the dairy industry.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Radio HRExaminer
HRExaminer Weekly Edition v6.37 October 2, 2015
We're featuring the radio shows of HRExaminer this week with five great interviews of HR movers and shakers and the latest industry news and insight from HR Tech Weekly. Tune into Radio HRExaminer.
This Week's Articles
|HRExaminer Radio: Episode #112: Jason Corsello
John Sumser chats with Jason Corsello, the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Marketing for Cornerstone OnDemand.
Listen Now »
|HRExaminer Radio: Episode #113: Carmen Hudson
Join host John Sumser as he speaks with Carmen Hudson, Principal Consultant, Recruiting Toolbox.
Listen Now »
|HRExaminer Radio: Episode #114: Cary Schuler
In this episode, HRExaminer Radio interviews Cary Schuler, Co–Founder and Chief Executive Officer of cfactor.
Listen Now »
|HRExaminer Radio: Episode #115: Don Weinstein
John Sumser talks with Don Weinstein, the Senior Vice President of Product Management at ADP.
Listen Now »
|HR Tech Weekly: Episode #38: Stacey Harris and John Sumser This week: Dreamforce '15, The IRAM Technology Conference, Oracle Cloud SaaS and PaaS Revenues up 34%, OneSource Virtual receives $150 Million investment, ERE and JIBE create ERE's talent acquisition benchmarking, and how new data–collection technology might change office culture. Listen Now »
From KeyInterval Research
|HR Tech Report: Optimal Tech Stack You'll discover the optimal way that companies assemble their HR Technology. The report documents the way that practitioners view each of thirteen categories of HR software. We use our sample set of 785 HR practitioners to give you insight into every possible niche. Learn More »
Live and Upcoming Events
- HR Tech 18 Las Vegas, NV October 18, 2015 – October 21, 2015 Add to Calendar
- LinkedIn | Talent Connect San Francisco, CA, October 20, 2015 – October 22, 2015 Add to Calendar
- Oracle User Conference | OpenWorld San Francisco, CA October 24 – October 29, 2015 Add to Calendar
- HR Tech World Congress | Paris Paris, France October 27 - 28, 2015 Add to Calendar


text:
Dreambaby® Baby Manicure Sets are strong, safe and easy to clean. Ideal for both home and holidays!
- Four baby-soft emery boards.
- Safety scissors with comfortable handles and rounded tips for extra protection.
- Nail clippers with curved edges for safer trimming.
- Available in blue and yellow.
- Everything you need to maintain and groom your child's fast-growing nails.


text:
Kim in Baltimore protecting my eyes from the eclipse.
Nat King Cole sang about those lazy, hazy days of summer as Nana cooked in the kitchen. I could hear the music as I played in the yard. The windows were wide open despite the muggy heat of a Baltimore summer and the fact that Nana had a brand new air conditioner. She refused to turn it on no matter how hot the temperature.
I lounged in a tiny pool that Pop-Pop used a bicycle pump to inflate. Nana had put several throw rugs and an old comforter to protect the bottom of the pool and to cushion my feet from the hot cement.
Sometimes my friend Valerie from down the street would come over to sit in the cool water with me, but most often it was my dog Rikki who kept me company. He stayed in the shade under our picnic table watching over me as Pop-Pop sat dozing in his lawn chair with a transistor radio to his ear listening to the Oriole game.
This is how I remember the summer days of my youth. Baseball games, steamed crabs on Sundays, snowballs at night. I can close my eyes and conjure up the smell of Nana's rose garden after an afternoon storm and hear the whistle of the trains passing the house and smell the tar of the street that was too hot to walk across in bare feet.
I tried to recreate those summers for my own children; the freezer stocked with juice pops, a wading pool in the yard, a gentle dog to keep watch. I have an air conditioner in the window I rarely use. When we first moved to the house we only had a few fans. In the morning I'd strip the beds and load all our sheets in the freezer for the day. At bedtime we'd grab them out and run as if the devil chased us up the stairs, throwing ourselves onto the sheets not even bothering to smooth them out or tuck them in. We just wanted to enjoy those few moments on the icy bed.
The coolness of the sheets was as brief as those summers that we remember not so much for the warmth of the days, but the happiness of being together.
Readers: What are your favorite childhood summer memories?


text:
This post first appeared at Fellowship of the Minds
Remember this?
According to an AFP news report of the July 13, 2018 anti-Trump protest in London — where a giant balloon of Trump as a baby wearing a diaper flew over the British parliamentary building — the march was organized by the Stop Trump Coalition, "a network of grassroots campaigns, unions, NGOs and politicians formed for the event". One of the politicians is "veteran civil rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who marched alongside former Labour leader Ed Miliband."
Will the 2nd Amendment Be Destroyed By the Biden Admin?
Tatchell — who is a "gay advocate", former Labour Party parliamentary candidate, now with the Green Party — said about the anti-Trump protest: "It's an incredible turnout of people from all walks of life. Today's protests send a signal to Donald Trump. He'll get the message. He may not admit it publicly but he's certain to be affected by this outpouring of opposition."
Surprise! (Not). It turns out Peter Tatchell, 66, is a pedophile.
Peter Hitchens writes for the UK Daily Mail, September 12, 2010, that on June 26, 1997, Peter Tatchell wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper, defending an academic book about "Boy-Love" against what he saw as calls for it to be censored. Calling the book "courageous", Tatchell said the book documented "examples of societies where consenting inter-generational sex is considered normal," such as a New Guinea tribe where "all young boys have sex with older warriors as part of their initiation into manhood" and (allegedly) grow up to be "happy, well-adjusted husbands and fathers".
Tatchell concluded:
"The positive nature of some child-adult sexual relationships is not confined to non-Western cultures. Several of my friends – gay and straight, male and female – had sex with adults from the ages of nine to 13. None feel they were abused. All say it was their conscious choice and gave them great joy…. [I]t is time society acknowledged the truth that not all sex involving children is unwanted, abusive and harmful."
Tatchell also contributed a chapter to a 1986 book, The Betrayal Of Youth(BOY), which was edited by a convicted pedophile, Warren Middleton (aka John Parratt), who is a former vice-chairperson of Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) — an organization in favor of legalizing pedophilia. The book's stated goal is the abolition of the age of consent, which would make children, toddlers and even babies fair game for pedophiles.
Today, Tatchell continues to advocate lowering the age of consent to 14. (Source: Matthew Hopkins)
Your Daily Briefing:
Fight Online Censorship!
Get the news Google and Facebook don't want you to see: Sign up for DC Dirty Laundry's daily briefing and do your own thinking!


text:
We were invited up to Magic Mountain to get some camera mounted reverse POV footage yesterday. It was also our first chance to look at what the park is doing to send Colossus off with a bang.
Unlike the closure of Log Jammer which upset some fans due to getting no notice, the park is more than making up for it with Colossus. Fans have PLENTY of notice and the park is having a little fun with the history of the ride in the process.
While we don't have all of the specific plans for the rides last weekend of operation (August 15 and 16) we are sure it's going to be great.
Just a few pictures of the ride today as well as our video featuring reverse POV and a full POV in Maintenance Mode (no slow down on the lift hill and no Mid-Course Brakes). Enjoy!!
Colossus in action as seen from the parking lot.
Banners at the front of the park announcing rides closure
Once inside the park there are a couple of photo op's that should feel pretty nostalgic for most of you.
One of the moose's from Mooseburger has been re-purposed as Marty Moose from the first Vacation movie.
Not the actual Family Truckster (due to licensing reasons). But it does get the message across and is a nice touch.
Take a picture as the Griswolds
A list of all of the Movies and TV Shows Colossus has been a part of
Another photo op is near the old Colossus Cookery/Ben and Jerry's location
Even the ride entry sign has joined in on the fun
That's it for this short update. Make sure you get up to the park to ride Colossus before it closes on August 16. All rumors point to the rides replacement/enhancement being announced on August 28. We should also hopefully have the closing weekend schedule for you soon.
We'll be back at the park tomorrow for the opening of Speedy Gonzales: Hot Rod Racers as well as the rest of the Bugs Bunny World improvements.
Comments are closed.
October 2023


text:
on Facebook here, and more pictures of my entry are in this post. Looking at the other pictures on facebook, mine seems rather dark. I need to work on my photography setup!
This month's challenge is as follows:
* Un peu d'espoir, ou de bière ! *
Le printemps débute officiellement pendant le mois à venir. Avec lui devrait en théorie venir les premières pousses vertes. On sait bien que ça peut prendre un peu plus longtemps avec notre climat, mais la Saint-Patrick nous offrira notre touche de vert pour le mois, si jamais la neige ne part pas. Pour le mois de mars, nous vous invitons à peindre un modèle contenant du vert, signifiant le renouveau,... ou alors un modèle festif, un peu porté sur la boisson.
* A little hope, or beer! *
Spring officially begins in the month to come. With it should come first green shoots in theory. We know well that it may take a little longer with our climate, but St. Patrick's day give us our touch of green for the month, if the snow doesn't leave. In March, we invite you to paint a model containing green, signifying renewal, ... or a festive model, a little worn on the drink.
So, what to go with? I can't think of any minis I have that have a beer or drinking theme, so I'll go with green. I'm unlikely to get one of my casters to fit this scheme. There is a bit of green on the Butcher model I'm finishing off, but he was mostly painted a long time ago, so I'm not going to enter him here. I pulled out a couple of other minis that I had started in green, so maybe one of those will be finished off...


text:
Stability and assignment of spectrum in systems with discrete time lags
MetadataShow full item record
Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2006 : (2006) // Article ID 76361
The asymptotic stability with a prescribed degree of time delayed systems subject to multiple bounded discrete delays has received important attention in the last years. It is basically proved that the alpha-stability locally in the delays (i.e., all the eigenvalues have prefixed strictly negative real parts located in Res <=-alpha < 0) may be tested for a set of admissible delays including possible zero delays either through a set of Lyapunov's matrix inequalities or, equivalently, by checking that an identical number of matrices related to the delayed dynamics are all stability matrices. The result may be easily extended to check the epsilon-asymptotic stability independent of the delays, that is, for all the delays having any values, the eigenvalues are stable and located in Re s <= epsilon --> 0(-). The above referred number of stable matrices to be tested is 2(r) for a set of distinct r point delays and includes all possible cases of alternate signs for summations for all the matrices of delayed dynamics. The manuscript is completed with a study for prescribed closed-loop spectrum assignment ( or "pole placement") under output feedback.


text:
I Think About This a Lot is a series dedicated to private memes: images, videos, and other random trivia we are doomed to play forever on loop in our minds.
There are many beloved episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Hush," the silent episode; "Once More With Feeling," the musical episode; "Beer Bad"* the episode where beer turns people into literal Neanderthals. But the scene that's stuck with me the most is from an unloved episode that's the culmination of a notoriously unlovable plotline: the one that gives the coup de grâce to the chemistry-free relationship between Buffy and super soldier Riley Finn.
"Into the Woods" begins with Buffy discovering that Riley has been paying female vampires to suck his blood, a plot development so embarrassing that, in fact let's hurry past this and never mention it again. Scenes ensue in which characters tediously theorize about what made Buffy and Riley's relationship so bad that he was driven to the thing we're not mentioning. Primarily, Buffy's assumed to still be hung up on her old flame Angel, who was tragically spun off into his own series at the end of season three. As vampire sidekick Spike tells Riley, "You're not the long-haul guy. The girl needs some monster in her man." In his confrontation with Buffy, Riley gives her an ultimatum: Unless she swears to change, he's departing that very night for a secret government demon-hunting mission in Belize, "deep undercover, no contacts with civilians."
Meanwhile, the viewer knows the real reason their relationship is doomed is that fans found Riley boring, lame, and about as sexy as hold music. He was the human incarnation of "nice, but." Plus, shortly after his plotline appeared, it began to meander erratically — and not to fun places either. In all these respects, Riley is uncannily like a dud boyfriend in real life. Not a horrible, abusive boyfriend, just the kind who seems good on paper, but being with him is like being in a meandering subplot of a TV show's fifth season. You may like all the same things, but when he talks about them it's mysteriously irritating. He may be ridiculously good-looking, but when you have sex, you can almost hear a voice saying, "Your call is important to us, so please stay on the line." There is no buzz he cannot kill: Even when he's not there, you end up tediously theorizing with friends about what makes the relationship so bad. When he finally leaves you (somehow you will never beat him to the punch), it will mostly be a relief.
And yet, in 90 percent of these cases, you try to stop him from leaving. This is because there's a voice in your head that tells you that the only reason you don't appreciate this perfect man is that you're immature and neurotic, and you better step up because this is your last chance at love. In "Into the Woods," this voice is personified by Buffy's friend Xander, who tells her, "You've been treating him like the rebound guy, when he's the one who comes along once in a lifetime … if you're ready for real love, think about what you're about to lose."
Now for the moment that's engraved on my heart. Moved by Xander's pep talk, Buffy sprints off to catch Riley before she loses him forever. Cue several scenes of Buffy photogenically sprinting, intercut with scenes of Riley photogenically waiting for Buffy, then photogenically giving up and turning to climb into a government helicopter. It's the time-honored rom-com trope in which the protagonist races to the airport to catch a boyfriend/girlfriend and tell them, "I have magically overcome my commitment issues and now I realize you are the One."
What happens next is an inspiration to everyone who's ever been in a shitty relationship. Riley ducks into the whirring helicopter. There he sits gazing moodily into space as Buffy comes pelting into the shot. She stands just out of reach of the whirring helicopter blades, waving her arms and screaming his name. She's ready for real love! He is the One! But — uh oh! — Riley can't hear her over the helicopter noise. And the helicopter … just … flies away.
In that moment, every wooden moment of the episode is redeemed. Yes, the whole thing felt weirdly forced — like a bad relationship. Yes, it made you keep wanting to turn it off from profound embarrassment — like a bad relationship. The weird mediocrity of the episode is what makes the fuck this ending so cathartic.
Because — and this is why that scene has remained clear in my mind long after the guy I first saw it with is forgotten — this is how all bad relationships should end. No ugly crying and makeup sex. No reliving the worst scenes and arguing about whose fault they were. No getting back together and breaking up again. Just: helicopter. Credits. No contact with civilians.
It's fine if (as Riley does) the boyfriend returns for a guest appearance in the next season, when you've had time to really not miss him. But, at the point of breakup, there should be a branch of government that flies your ex to a secret location in Belize, and leaves you to get over it alone.
*This article has been updated with the correct name of the episode.


text:
Click here to view the Aetna Medical Policy Updates » February 2023 Aetna Medical Policy…
Regence BCBS Medical Policy Updates – May 2019
Click here to view the Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield Medical Policy Updates »
May 2019 Medical Policy Updates:
- Analysis of Proteomic and Metabolomic Patterns for Early Detection of Cancer
- Applied Behavior Analysis for the Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Artificial Intervertebral Disc
- Auricular Electrostimulation
- Blepharoplasty and Brow Ptosis Repair
- BRAF Genetic Testing To Select Melanoma or Glioma Patients for Targeted Therapy
- Carrier Screening for Genetic Diseases
- Chemical Peels
- Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Cytochrome p450 Genotyping
- Dermabrasion/Microdermabrasion
- Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells in the Management of Patients with Cancer
- Eating Disorder Inpatient Treatment
- Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient
- Eating Disorder Partial Hospitalization
- Eating Disorder Residential Treatment
- Evaluating the Utility of Genetic Panels
- Expanded Molecular Testing of Cancers to Select Targeted Therapies
- Gene Expression-Based Assays for Cancers of Unknown Primary
- Genetic and Molecular Diagnostic Testing
- Genetic Testing for Alzheimer's Disease
- Genetic Testing for Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
- Genetic Testing for FMR1 Variants (Including Fragile X Syndrome)
- Heart Transplant
- Heart/Lung Transplant
- In Vitro Chemoresistance and Chemosensitivity Assays
- Islet Transplantation
- KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF Variant Analysis in Colorectal Cancer
- Laboratory and Genetic Testing for Use of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) in Patients with Cancer
- Laboratory Table of Contents
- Laser Treatment for Port Wine Stains
- Liver Transplant
- Mastectomy as a Treatment of Gynecomastia
- Molecular Analysis for Targeted Therapy of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer NSCLC)
- Molecular Testing in the Management of Pulmonary Nodules
- Oscillatory Devices for the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis and Other Respiratory Conditions
- Panniculectomy
- Pectus Excavatum
- Percutaneous Intradiscal Electrothermal Annuloplasty, Radiofrequency Annuloplasty, and Biacuplasty
- Preimplantation Genetic Testing
- Psychiatric Inpatient Hospitalization
- Psychiatric Intensive Outpatient
- Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization
- Psychiatric Residential Treatment
- Rhinoplasty
- Rhinoplasty
- Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) of the (DXA)
- Small Bowel/Liver and Multivisceral Transplant
- Supplement to MCG™ Discharge Criteria for Residential Treatment
- Suprachoroidal Delivery of Pharmacological Agents
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a Treatment of Depression and Other Disorders
- Tumor-Treatment Fields Therapy for Glioblastoma
- Urinary Tumor Markers for Bladder Cancer
Click here to view the Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield Medical Policy Updates »
Policy Alerts monitors Commercial and Medicare medical policies for changes. While medical Insurance carriers typically update medical policies annually, there are many reasons why they might review or update a policy. When reviews occur out of cycle they often go unnoticed. Policy Alerts keeps you updated when Payers make coverage changes to medical policies affecting your business.
Policy Alerts continuously monitors Commercial and Medicare Payer coverage information to keep you up-to-date on medical Insurance decisions in real-time. When changes occur, instant email alerts are delivered to your inbox. Clients have access to detailed coverage reports and medical policies through the interactive Policy Alerts Dashboard portal. Save time each month and keep focused on important Payer medical policy reviews and coverage decisions affecting your business!
Policy Alerts takes a client-focused hands-on approach and is constantly working to provide our customers with helpful insights and actionable analytics. We understand what our clients need and are dedicated to providing timely, accurate, and always up-to-date reports.
Health economic and reimbursement information provided by Policy Alerts is gathered from third-party sources and is subject to change without notice as a result of complex and frequently changing laws, regulations, rules and policies. All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. This information is presented for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute reimbursement or legal advice.


text:
You are here: Start » AVL.NET » Getting Started with Aurora Vision Library .NET
Getting Started with Aurora Vision Library .NET
Aurora Vision Library is designed to be a part of applications working under control of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Supported versions are: 7, 8/8.1 and 10 as well as corresponding embedded editions. To build an application using Aurora Vision Library under Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Visual Studio environment is required. Supported versions are: 2015, 2017 and 2019.
SDK Installation
The installation process is required to copy the files to the proper folders, set necessary environment variables and facilitate license loading with License Manager tool, available in the Start Menu. It also helps creating Microsoft Visual Studio applications referencing AvlNet.dll assembly.
Aurora Vision Library .NET is distributed as a managed assemblies (*.dll), available in two versions: for 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Assemblies are located in following directories:
where %AVL_PATH5_3% is an environment variable set during Aurora Vision Library installation.
Creating New AVL.NET Project With Project Template
Once the Aurora Vision Library is installed, a new Microsoft Visual Studio project template - AVL.NET Project - appears in the Microsoft Visual Studio New Project and Add New Item dialog boxes (Visual C# » AVL » AVL.NET Project). It is a recommended way of creating a new .NET project that will reference AvlNet.dll assembly since all required configurations are set automatically and the application is ready to be compiled targeting both x64 (64bit) and x86 (32bit) platforms.
Creating New AVL.NET Project Manually
It is most important thing when referencing AvlNet.dll assembly to choose appropriate library bitness. There are two versions of the AvlNet.dll assembly:
one for x64 platform and one for x86 platform. Taking that, application must know which assembly to take in all of its configurations.
Unfortunately Microsoft Visual Studio in its IDE does not provide conditional referencing of the assemblies and it must be defined manually in
application configuration file (*.csproj), e.g. using
Condition attribute of the
Reference element:
<Reference Include="Avl.Net" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x64'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\x64\Avl.Net.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net.TS" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x64'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\x64\Avl.Net.TS.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net.Designers" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x64'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\x64\Avl.Net.Designers.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net.Amr" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x64'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\x64\Avl.Net.Amr.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x86'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\Win32\Avl.Net.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net.TS" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x86'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\Win32\Avl.Net.TS.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net.Designers" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x86'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\Win32\Avl.Net.Designers.dll</HintPath> </Reference> <Reference Include="Avl.Net.Amr" Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x86'"> <HintPath>$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\Win32\Avl.Net.Amr.dll</HintPath> </Reference>
To have the built application work properly, besides AvlNet.dll assembly there must be also native AVL.dll library present in the application directory. This can be achieved with PostBuildEvent which will copy appropriate version of the AVL.dll library:
<PostBuildEvent Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x86'"> xcopy /D /Y "$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\Win32\avl.dll" "$(TargetDir)" </PostBuildEvent> <PostBuildEvent Condition="'$(PlatformName)'=='x64'"> xcopy /D /Y "$(AVL_PATH5_3)\bin\x64\avl.dll" "$(TargetDir)" </PostBuildEvent>
|Next: Relation between AVL.NET and AVL/C++


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Maine West race past Marist in regular season finale
With seeds set and conference standings decided, top teams in the area turned to last minute non-conference matchups for a playoff tuneup.
One such matchup was between top ranked Maine West, and number 13 Marist on a Thursday night matchup on the Southside of Chicago.
Maine West utilized their speed and mix of defenses to defeat Marist 64-44 and finish their regular season with a flawless 28-0 record.
"These games get you our of your comfort zone, out of your normal gym, different officials, that all have different MOs then what were used to in the CSL," said Maine West head coach Kim deMarigny. "It's good, we enjoy it all and want to prepare for playoffs."
"The benefit of these games just get us ready for those tough games in playoffs," added Maine West junior Dylan Van Fleet. "The playoffs is where it really matters and it's where we're going to face the hardest teams."
Despite the Warriors cruising to a comfortable 20 point victory, Marist came out as the aggressors, unafraid to get to the basket and keeping step in step with Maine West.
Sophomore Sydney Afolter forced the issue early, getting to the free throw line for nine of her team high 15 points in the opening quarter before Maine West's Rachel Kent kept her in check for the rest of the game.
"She's a great player, and only a sophomore, so wow," said deMarigny. "You know Rachel, she's one of the best defenders in the state but if she gets picked off, we've got other people who are not afraid of getting in her face this year. We know we have to work together, that's the only way we can make this work."
After the opening 18-18 frame, the Warriors proceeded to go on a 16-2 run behind great great defense and a transition offense led by Van Fleet who finished with 15 points, seven steals, and five rebounds.
From halftime on, Maine West continued to extend their lead. Highly rated junior Angela Dugalic started to assert her will to the tune of 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Perhaps more importantly though, was Dugalic's improvement upon her previous seasons. Dugalic was excellent passing out of double and triple teams to find her teammates, while drastically reducing her tendency to pick up unnecessary fouls.
deMarigny said: "Last year she kind of panicked and turned it over but that comes with maturity, and i like to think she's maturing."
The Warriors continued to hold their lead throughout the fourth quarter while extended their lead to as much as 26 points before both benches were cleared to put a cap on their undefeated regular season.
Both teams now move onto their respective regionals and both expect big things during the month of February.
Maine West especially, who only return two contributors from last years third place team, are one of the favorites in class 4A thanks in large to the experience gained by just being around last years squad.
"Being around the team last year you got to see the atmosphere of a winning team that you want to copy," concluded Van Fleet. "Last year was also really good for getting us ready for this season too because we have the flow, we know what we need to do and last years great players helped us get ready for this run."
Both teams will kick off their playoff runs next Tuesday with Marist hosting the winner of Crete Monee and Eisenhower, and Maine West facing the winner of Taft and Lane Tech, at Lane.


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By Katherine Long | Editor
Volunteers, contractors and generators buzzed around a lot on Rose Avenue in Syracuse last week as construction on two tiny homes for the homeless continued.
The homes are the first to be built by A Tiny Home for Good, Inc., a local organization with a straightforward and ambitious mission: Build and manage tiny homes, then rent them to individuals who have faced homelessness.
In 2015, after launching A Tiny Home, Executive Director Andrew Lunetta told the Sun his "work with the homeless showed me that there is a need for affordable and dignified housing…. I want to offer housing to individuals so they'll have a warm place to sleep, a place to get on their feet."
The organization is now very close to doing just that. Last week, Lunetta gave the Sun a tour of the adjoining, framed-out homes: Each unit measures about 300 square feet, with a main room for living and sleeping, a kitchen area, and a bathroom. Once completed, the units will be furnished. The homes will be rented to individuals who have faced homelessness, with the rent amount determined by his or her income. The first five homes built by the organization will be rented to veterans facing homelessness. Lunetta hopes to have construction finished by the end of May.
Each unit costs about $22,500 to build, and the Rose Avenue homes have been funded through private contributions and a small amount of grant support, Lunetta explained. A Tiny Home has also had help from some friends.
Local organization Operation Northern Comfort has been "absolutely dynamite," Lunetta said, providing A Tiny Home with monetary support, volunteers, and some professional contracting supervision.
Students from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry also lent their hands, spending part of their spring break service trip helping A Tiny Home. And even though spring break had ended, SUNY ESF students were still on hand last week, hammering nails and sawing boards. Student Luella Bond said she's taken the cause on as her own and that she'll definitely keep helping the organization build.
Lunetta said A Tiny Home's role will extend beyond just housing a person and managing that property, however. "I think it really comes down to being able to share the stories of our residents and being able to try to change the stigma that surrounds homelessness," he said.
To learn more about A Tiny Home for Good, Inc., visit atinyhomeforgood.org.


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Indian Banking Sector: Getting To Newer Horizons in 2015
The Indian Banking Sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. With steady rise in disposable income of individuals in the country and increasing transactions through ATMs, Internet and Mobile Banking, the Indian Banking Industry is all set to face 2015 with new policies and key changes.
Looking back at the year 2014, we see unstable markets, high interest rates and low investor confidence, resulting in shrinking investment and GDP growth. The underlying growth trends remained weak, and high and continual inflation remained a key challenge and hence layoffs were on a rise. But with a sense of optimism slowly creeping in, the banking industry is hopeful that 2015 will bring better growth prospects.
The Narendra Modi government's growth push is expected to boost hiring by at least 25% as compared to the previous year. This year there are going to be a plethora of opportunities for job seekers. Studies conducted by various firms suggest that the Banking and Financial sectors will also see a considerable rise in hiring. With less than 30% of the Indian population having access to bank accounts, top banking firms are looking to expand and venture into the untapped rural markets which hold great prospect in boosting market growth and creating new job opportunities.
The RBI has granted licenses to new private banks and is in the process of granting licenses to small payment banks. The final license for niche banks is likely to be issued in the first quarter of 2015-2016. Consequently, new jobs will be created as per requirement.
According to HR Services major, Randstad India, the banking sector will generate 7-10 lakh jobs in the coming decade and the banking sector would be among the top job creators in 2015. Hiring in banks is expected to increase owing to expansion of banks into new cities and rural locations.
Recruitment in banks all over the world remains quite a challenge for HR Directors with respect to regulation, remuneration etc. But, with proper measures the best candidates can be chosen.
Around 24,091 vacancies have already been created for various positions in different banks in 2015. The hiring trend may get a further boost from public sector banks with many of them in need of fresh talent as most of their employees are scheduled for retirement in the next couple of years.
With an increase in job opportunities, the employees of the Banking Sector can also expect a rise in their pay scales. According to a survey by Watson Towers, Indian employees are expected to see a salary hike of 10.8 % in 2015. The Banking and Financial sectors in India have traditionally seen higher comparative pay increases, but at a modest 10%, the projected salary increase for 2015 is comparable. Discussions have been conducted to regulate bankers' compensation, especially for those whose daily job involves taking risks that can have a significant financial impact on the Banking Industry. National Organization for Bank Workers demanded a 19.5% increase in salary. The All India Bank Officers' Association agreed on a 13.5% increase. If the economy continues to move in the positive direction, the employees in Banking Sector may actually see the promised increment. Now wouldn't that make 2015 a truly prosperous year!
Read more about Indian BANK :
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MongoDB and Hadoop can work together to solve big data problems facing today's enterprises. In this video, we will take an in-depth look at how the two technologies complement and enrich each other. Learn how to make complex analyses with greater intelligence. We will take a deep dive into the MongoDB Connector for Hadoop and how it can be applied to enable new business insights with MapReduce, Pig, and Hive. Finally, we'll demo a Spark application to drive product recommendations.
Companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s choose MongoDB to build, improve, and innovate:


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Updated at 3:27 p.m. with additional comments from legislators
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has vetoed legislation that would have loosened the state's affordable housing standards. It is Malloy's first veto of the session.
The bill would have modified the state's 8-30g law, which pushes – but does not require – all municipalities to have 10 percent of their housing stock deemed affordable.
Until that threshold is reached, developers building affordable units are allowed to bypass local zoning laws, which has led to resistance and backlash from some municipalities, many of them suburban.
This legislation would have made it easier for cities and towns to reach the threshold necessary to halt unrestricted development by qualifying for multi-year moratoriums. It received wide bipartisan support in the General Assembly, passing the House by a vote of 116-33 and the Senate 30-6.
Malloy, in a three-page veto message, said the legislation would "perpetuate the harmful effects of bad economic policy and institutional segregation, damaging our state's economy and its moral foundation."
"This would roll back the tools that we have effectively used to have communities understand that everybody plays a role," Malloy said told reporters. "The message speaks for itself."
The vote margins in both chambers were wide enough to override a governor's veto. House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said he expects the legislature to consider taking up an override.
"This is an issue that is important to many legislators as evidenced by the strong support the bill had in both the House and Senate," Aresimowicz said. "I fully expect it will be discussed as a potential action for the veto session, as well as around ongoing budget negotiations."
Adam Joseph, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said the Senate Democrats would not begin considering which bills to bring up in a veto session until after the governor has signed or vetoed all legislation sent to his desk.
Malloy's veto drew mixed reactions from legislators. Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, one of the bill's major advocates, called it "shortsighted."
"People in Milford and across Connecticut have been calling for common-sense reforms to our affordable housing statutes, and I am deeply disappointed that Gov. Malloy has chosen to ignore them," Slossberg said. "The governor's veto message shows a real lack of understanding of the specific workings of this statute and of the need for reform.
"Connecticut is the only state that allows private developers to site their developments wherever they choose. States that do not give this disproportionate power to housing developers have been much more successful than Connecticut in developing affordable housing," she added.
Rep. John Frey, R-Ridgefield, urged legislative leaders to allow a vote to override the veto, saying he "will not be deterred on this issue."
"I consider this an outrageous move by the governor," Frey said. "The bill he just vetoed was the product of bipartisan discussion and mutual compromise, and it took hard work to pass the House and Senate as broadly as it did.
"If the governor won't accept the careful and prudent ideas in HB 6880 to provide fairness and contemporary changes to the 8-30g statute, then he has truly given up trying to help municipalities. I'm really not sure what else we can do to get his attention about how serious of a problem this is," he added.
Sen. Douglas McCrory, D-Hartford, said in a statement included in Malloy's news release that he stands by the governor's decision.
"I had serious concerns with the potential for this bill to reduce access to safe and affordable housing for thousands of Connecticut residents, so I am happy that the governor vetoed it," he said.
Outside the legislature, the decision received praise from advocacy groups fighting homelessness.
Two of the state's largest groups – the Partnership for Strong Communities and the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness – applauded Malloy's veto in a joint statement.
"Time after time, Gov. Malloy has demonstrated he understands that a safe, secure and affordable home is the foundation of opportunity," the statement said. "The 8-30g statute is a vital tool in expanding such opportunity for workers, families and young professionals in municipalities across Connecticut."
"A larger supply of affordable homes is essential for maintaining Connecticut's progress in fighting chronic homelessness and ending homelessness for families with children by the end of 2020 – our current statewide goal," it continued.
The Regional Plan Association, an urban research and advocacy organization that operates in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, also voiced its support for Malloy's decision.
Melissa Kaplan-Macey, the organization's director in Connecticut, called 8-30g "one of the state's best tools for addressing a real and growing housing crisis."
"If Connecticut municipalities don't create more housing for more people, they will continue to face shrinking grand lists and increasing property taxes. This isn't a sustainable trajectory for individual communities, and over time it will critically compromise the state's already faltering economy," Kaplan-Macey said.
Reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas contributed to this story.


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Colony Park, PA
Colony Park is located in east Pennsylvania. Colony Park has 0.38 square miles of land area and has no water area. As of 2010-2014, the total Colony Park population is 1,093. Colony Park median household income is $95,057 in 2010-2014. Colony Park median house value is $240,600 in 2010-2014. On average, the public school district that covers Colony Park is much better than the state average in quality.
Hot Rankings


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Last years football team won the Division 2 Championships, making history for the school and bumped themselves into Division 1. Due to this accomplishment, the season brought a lot of weight on the new and returning players and created anticipation for the fans.
This years football team is ranked number 54 in the Los Angeles City Section Division One Football standings.
The season started in August and the team made it to playoffs. The football team had a total of 10 games this season in which they played against other Division 1 high schools such as, Rosemead, Jefferson, Warren, Reseda, Legacy, Bell, Southeast, Roosevelt, Garfield and South Gate.
Their first playoff game was against Dorsey High School on November 2. Unfortunately, they lost 38-0 and that wrapped up the season.
Out of the 10 games, the football team won only 1 against South East High School with a score of 12-0. South East did not score any points throughout their whole season.
Many of the football players were disappointed in the outcome of the season. Earlier this semester, it was reported that the football field had been closed due to new repairs and that may have caused the football team to underperform.
Senior football player, Patrick Poun commented, "The outcome wasn't as expected. We had high hopes this year but we failed to meet expectations. Our team did the best they could. Playing in a higher division makes us play better competition. The absence of a field shook us deeply. The spirit of us and the home games weren't alive. Going into a game we always felt rushed and tired"
Not only was their problems due to the absence of the field, but the varsity football team consisted of many new inexperienced players since others graduated last years and many returning ones quit.
"The reason the team underperformed was that there was a lack of players on the team. Another reason was because this was a young team." Matthew Mendoza, senior football player.
Coach Vince Gallegos has high hopes for the next season.
"This year wasn't the best year for us but I'm still proud of the guys because they didn't quit; I just hope they learn from this and continue to not give up when things aren't going their way." Coach Vince Gallegos
Now that the football field has been repaired, the football players can have more practice and build more experiences in order to excel in the next season. He also expects to gain new coaches to help improve the team's plays.
By Staff Writer


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He's Got a Cousin in the Furniture Business
"They will involve difficult but necessary changes to bring Michigan's budget into structural balance. There will be shared sacrifice, but through that shared sacrifice, Michigan will emerge as a stronger and more vibrant state." –Governor Rick Snyder's Executive Budget: Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013.
When he first came into office, Governor Snyder claimed that cuts to education, tax increases for seniors and other "shared sacrifices" were necessary to "reinvent" Michigan.
Before his first budget presentation, the Governor described his vision for Michigan: "We're getting rid of all of the special-interest kind of items," he said.
Despite Snyder's public statements, it came to light last week that Gov. Snyder's cousin, George Snyder, used contacts within the administration to save his exclusive contract providing new furniture to state offices.
In 2011, the State Senate planned on reducing the amount of money available for the state to purchase new furniture to $1 million – still a large amount, but well shy of the $19 million contract George Snyder had on the line. Emails released this week suggest that with one email George Snyder was able to get his cousin's administration to help protect the $19 million contract.
Not only did he manage to do that, the contract grew to $41 million in the most recent budget. It pays to have family in high places.
That's right: In Rick Snyder's Michigan, schools, cities and retirees are "special-interest kind of items," while a $41 million contract for new furniture purchased from his cousin are protected. With these kinds of priorities it's not surprising that a majority of Michigan voters view Rick Snyder as 'out-of-touch'.
After all, who needs money for roads, schools and public safety when you can have $41 million worth of office furniture?


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Please call 020 8811 8812 or email [email protected] to make suitable arrangements.
You will need to download and install software to enable Holland Park Computers remote access of your computer.
Download Windows Remote Software
Terms & conditions apply. All Rights Reserved.


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Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies are trying to figure out what motivated a man to fire a crossbow and hit someone else in the head with an arrow in downtown Guerneville.
James McNeil says he was sitting in a convertible car Tuesday when he saw a man fire the arrow from a third-story balcony.
McNeil says the arrow went through the roof of the convertible and hit him in the back of the head.
Residents of the Mill Street residence said the shooter recently purchased a firearm, Sheriff's Capt. Matt McCaffrey said.
Homes in the immediate area were evacuated for a time, McCaffrey said.
"There are no hostages. We're in no hurry to bust the door down. Time is on our side," McCaffrey said.
The shooter faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder, McCaffrey said. It's unknown, however, whether the shooting was intentional, McCaffrey said.


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Roland Berger's study "Future of health 4" examines tomorrow's patients – their attitudes to innovation, trust in healthcare participants and willingness to pay.
Pharma & Healthcare
We support life science companies and health insurers in mastering the challenges of tomorrow
In a world where healthcare is the most indispensable industry of all, Roland Berger advises companies that care about our health.
Healthcare companies are facing a changing environment: new, disruptive technologies are entering the market, new levels of treatment individualization are being achieved by means of stratified medicine, digital technologies allow the creation of new opportunities to demonstrate the practical effects of pharmaceutical treatment methods and medical technology companies are being challenged by increased regulatory and market access requirements. At the same time, manufacturers and suppliers are under great cost pressure. Digitization enables health insurance companies to take advantage of new opportunities to design care pathways and strengthen their customer relationships.
At Roland Berger, we help navigate the industry through these problems and move it forward. We focus on innovative market strategies and international expansion as well as careful management of the supply chain and production sites, enabling the transition to individualized medical care with the patient at the center.
Customer-oriented and lean processes are the key to future growth and yet, many companies operate on a country-specific basis with little external benchmarking or independent supervision.
Roland Berger works with your company to develop suitable commercial operating models that standardize processes for all key levers and functions. These include segmentation and value proposition development, execution quality, organization and internal collaboration, KPI, people and performance. Through our experience with clients from around the world, we have a proven assessment approach and understand how individual strengths and weaknesses can be effectively leveraged. We are ready to apply our long years of experience also for your company.
Competition between the various pharmaceutical segments is increasing, with greater pressure on profit margins. Consisting of the process steps "procure - make - deliver - plan", the "integrated supply chain" has become the focus; an area in which Roland Berger has a long track record of successful projects in the pharmaceutical industry. We can combine this concept with best practices from other step-by-step industries to strengthen your position.
Developing a new drug is expensive and regulations are strict – circumstances that put great pressure on R&D. New technologies and players are constantly emerging. Innovation processes have changed. To plan a successful R&D strategy, it is therefore not enough to know what the market currently demands. Imagination and lateral thinking about how the market will develop are just as important. What will drive the pharmaceutical industry in 20 or 30 years? When so much of your investment is tied up in R&D, your company cannot afford to make misjudgments about the future.
We have decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. It is true that the past cannot provide reliable guidance for the future. But this experience has equipped us with important analytical skills. We have seen trends come and go and observed how products become successful or fail. We have studied in detail how management strategies work and understand why they sometimes do not work. If you work with us, we can put this knowledge to work for you.
Continuous cost pressure in the healthcare system is making it increasingly difficult for MedTech companies to achieve the traditionally high growth and profitability figures. At the same time, the increasing challenges that hospitals are facing and the digitalization offer vast opportunities for MedTech companies. These are just some of the reasons why MedTech companies have to constantly question their business models and take on the role of healthcare providers, for example by extending their value chain towards the patient. At the same time, these trends mean that the performance of all corporate divisions, from development to production and sales, is becoming increasingly important.
Roland Berger regularly assists MedTech companies with our comprehensive functional know-how and our deep understanding of customer needs to meet the following challenges, among others.
The overall market growth in the MedTech industry is slowing down, but there are opportunities for growth in many areas and regions. We will work with you to find these opportunities, match them with your core competencies and thus realize profitable growth together. In this context, we often accompany our clients in the development of new (regional) markets and the acquisition and integration of M&A targets.
Permanently accelerating innovation cycles and more individual customer requirements are increasingly challenging the "classic" R&D process of MedTech companies. With our customer understanding and access, we can help you to align product development closely with the customer and thus efficiently develop innovations demanded by the customer. At the same time, we can bring new impulses to your company by integrating young companies and thus further expand your innovative power.
Stagnating growth and rising costs are putting the traditionally high margins of MedTech companies under pressure. As the market leader in restructuring, Roland Berger brings extensive experience in improving economic results and regularly achieves sustainable success with our clients. We usually focus on sustainable optimization across all value-added stages - for example, optimizing production, sharpening the product portfolio or increasing sales efficiency.
You can measure our jointly developed strategies by the results achieved. From the strategic decisions we have made, we derive precisely the organizational and process changes required. By closely monitoring the organization, we then help to turn these into reality. Our clients regularly confirm in independent surveys that this leads to sustainable implementation success.
Digitization is a constant companion and an essential lever of our cooperation. How can new business models and added value for customers be derived from all the generated data? Where can RPA solutions enable significant short-term efficiency increases? We know where digitalization can support and how and we use it for our clients in multiple ways.
Beyond the numbers: Key characteristics of successful pharma companies
Unveiling pharma industry winners! Roland Berger's Global Pharma Study 2023 reveals key traits shared by high-growth, high-profit companies.
Can the MedTech sector keep outperforming?
The Roland Berger Global MedTech Report 2022 shows that medtech "winners" are highly profitable companies with strong growth and on average invest more in research and development than "underperformers". Winners are significantly more efficient in capital allocation and had on average twice the market capitalisation of underperformers. Medical technology companies from the USA are thus the most profitable, which is mainly due to better access to the lucrative US market.
How the phygital model is going to transform healthcare
The coming together of the physical and digital worlds is giving a new boost to innovation in healthcare. How will that impact markets, players and patients?
Healthcare and Hospitals
The landscape of service providers in the health care sector is subject to increasing dynamics, especially considering the constantly changing regulation. Market conditions for healthcare providers are generally considered favorable. The healthcare market is growing steadily due to increasing patient numbers and higher per-patient expenses. But in many countries, we have been seeing sustained economic pressure on hospitals and a high investment backlog for years. This economic and financial pressure is further intensified by increasing outpatient care and a multimorbid patient structure. This patient structure also affects nursing home operators, who must ensure the care of people in need of nursing care while being challenged by staff shortages and increasingly strict minimum legal requirements.
Roland Berger has many years of experience in healthcare consulting to help your company navigate through this complex landscape. We offer a comprehensive range of services and support you in various areas.
Strategy development
We help service providers to solve the most diverse strategic problems. Against the background of a changing regulatory environment, which also creates new competition, we advise service providers in questions of medical strategy. Within the environment of location, network strategies and structural assessments, we analyze to what extent a consolidation of locations or the establishment of centers with selected medical specializations can be beneficial. In this process, the challenge of a very high investment requirement often arises. In this case, we also advise together with our partners in the areas of construction and investment strategy. We also advise university hospitals in particular on the development of a targeted research strategy. Digitalization is also becoming increasingly important for healthcare companies. With our digital experts, we are on the forefront of digitization and advise on various issues across the entire value chain.
Performance improvement
In hospitals, personnel and material costs increase often faster than the fees generated by patients. Hence, many healthcare providers are under an increased cost pressure. Roland Berger therefore supports healthcare providers in profit improvement programs. To achieve sustainable effects, we take a holistic view of hospitals in a contribution margin logic and optimize everything from medical services (e.g. optimizing length of stay), medical services (e.g. optimizing operating rooms) and non-medical services (e.g. cleaning and catering) to administration.
In the event of acute liquidity crises, we also carry out restructurings as well as reorganization reports. Within the scope of this we consider liquidity optimization measures as well as economic and financial restructuring measures.
The healthcare market offers attractive investment opportunities even as consolidation increases. Here we bring transparency to the upcoming transaction in the context of vendor commercial due diligences and commercial due diligences or support the purchase or sale process in a leading role. After a successful M&A transaction, we help healthcare companies to smoothly integrate the acquisition in the sense of a post-merger integration (PMI), so that after successful integration not only the economic result is right, but also the new corporate culture wins over employees.
In addition, we help service providers to adapt their organization to the new environment even after a transaction, growth or consolidation phase. Both on the operational and on the management level.
With sustainable change management and coaching, we also ensure that our work is sustainable and that knowledge is transferred into the organization.
Hospitals in many countries are under ongoing cost pressure and legal cost-cutting measures in the health care system will sometimes exacerbate the general conditions. While staff shortages and the associated collective bargaining negotiations will lead to a further increase in personnel expenses, medical progress and digitization will require high investments, revenue growth is often significantly slower. Additional pressure results from a multimorbid patient structure and a shift towards chronic diseases, coupled with a growing awareness of the need for high quality care.
In order to meet these challenges and to cope with the pressure on costs and earnings, hospitals must not only continuously improve their operating performance but also position themselves optimally in the market from a strategic point of view. With this in mind, Roland Berger works with service providers of all sizes and all sponsors. Roland Berger supports private, public as well as general and specialized hospital operators in questions of strategic medical development, performance improvement and cost-cutting measures, including procurement optimization and digitization initiatives.
The outpatient sector is the largest or second largest area of health expenditure in many countries. In addition, the outpatient sector has been growing disproportionately fast compared to the inpatient health market in many European countries for years.
The main drivers of outpatient care are, in particular:
- Patient needs: In case of doubt, patients prefer outpatient operations to inpatient operations because they do not need to stay in hospital
- Cost advantages: In a direct comparison, outpatient procedures are usually less expensive health insurance companies are therefore interested in more outpatient treatments
- Medical progress: Treatment options are constantly evolving, and many interventions are increasingly standardized, minimally invasive and have lower-risk
After hospitals and outpatient medical care, the nursing sector is usually the third largest segment of many health care systems. This development is the result of strengthening and slowing trends that can be grouped into seven influencing factors. More elderly people and thus people in need of care are confronted with more prevention and thus, less need for care. In addition, there is more need for professional nursing care on the one hand but fewer available personnel on the other. Finally, there is a high investment backlog and, more outpatient care.
A high degree of regulation and the changing needs of the people to be cared for and their relatives increasingly ensure a more varied range of care services. In addition to the "classic" old people's homes, new living concepts such as assisted living, nursing shared flats and neighborhood concepts are being added. An adapted, varied range of nursing care that takes these needs into account is thus becoming increasingly important for nursing home operators.
Nursing home operators have a limited scope of action in the context of a highly regulated environment. Roland Berger can help you actively shape this room for maneuver, whether it's growth ambitions, which are often slowed down by acute staff shortages, efficiency gains through digitization initiatives or other strategic issues.
Homecare companies that provide patients with medical aids in their own homes or in nursing and old people's homes are in a challenging market environment. Historically, the sector has been characterized by high competition and strong price pressure from health insurance companies. Now, medical technology companies are also developing further along the value chain, closer to the patient, and are thus moving from supplier to competitor. The increasing demands of the patients cared for in terms of service levels and the individuality of the therapy are creating additional complexity.
We help Homecare companies to formulate the right answers to these challenges and turn them into reality. We regularly supplement classic levers such as the optimization of processes and service levels with innovative, digital solutions.
Hospital advice: Shaping the future successfully
The health sector is currently facing some challenges, especially from a financial perspective, which is why a digital transformation is necessary.
The pandemic and staff shortages have Germany's hospitals fighting for survival
The Hospital Study 2022 shows: Dealing with COVID-19, shortage of skilled workers and outpatientisation is becoming a question of existence for hospitals and thus entails significant changes and challenges.
Health insurance
With digitization, health insurance companies can accelerate their transition from payor to player and intervene even more actively in care: In the course of innovations, such as electronic patient files or apps for care and service, ecosystems are created at the interface between insurance and the insured, in which classic and digital care interact.
All functions of health insurance are changing, from digital contact in sales to invoice verification with Artificial Intelligence or the digital coaching of chronically ill patients. A large number of digital services, optimized patient pathways and other care offers need to be developed and implemented. At the same time, and for this to be successful, internal development processes must be modernized and organizations made fit for digital forms of work.
Roland Berger advises and accompanies health insurers in the development of digital strategies, in the implementation of projects such as patient files or the introduction of apps and digital services, as well as in internal cultural and structural changes. We draw on decades of project experience and constantly adapt our methods to new trends and developments. We develop our measures in constant dialog with our customers. The team combines a wide variety of skills and focuses: doctors, economists, experts in the field of digitization and IT, and data scientists.


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When do you use in and when at the flat, in English? Can I say both
I live in the flat.
I live at the flat.
Here's what prompted this question; a passage from a textbook goes like this: A girl arrived in a city where she was going to live for a while, in a new flat. Her friend picked her up at the airport.
She: ´How is your wife?´
He: ´She is fine, she is at your new flat.´
Which means, if somebody stays in a flat which is not his/hers, then he/she is AT someone´s flat, not IN someone´s flat?


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Constellary Tales is a pro market for science fiction and fantasy. Submissions are currently CLOSED but will reopen in 2020 (date tbd).
- Read our welcome editorial for an idea about the kind of stories we want
- We welcome stories from authors — and about characters — of all backgrounds
- We will consider stories from 1,000 to 3,500 words in length
- Please wait two months before querying
- We pay US $0.08 per word upon publication for first publication rights (print and audio) and nonexclusive reprint rights
- Submit stories in William Shunn manuscript format
And a short list of no's
- No simultaneous or multiple submissions
- No stories published elsewhere (including anywhere online)
- No stories without a necessary speculative element
- No horror stories
- No stories set in someone else's intellectual property (i.e., no fan fiction)
- No email submissions; if the submission form is not available on this page, then submissions are currently closed


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The man realised his mistake only after reaching home in suburban Palavakkam when members of his family questioned him about his car.
Chennai: In a bizarre incident, a man mistook an ambulance parked near his Audi and took it home.
Police suspect that the man, in his thirties, might have mistaken the ambulance for his high-end vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Narrating the strange sequence of events, the police said a businessman visited the hospital early on Sunday to drop his friend who had sustained some injuries.
The keys of the Maruti Omni ambulance were left in the vehicle and the businessman drove it away thinking it was his car.
He realised his mistake only after reaching home in suburban Palavakkam, about 15 km away when members of his family questioned him about his car, police said.
The man immediately asked his driver to take the ambulance back to the hospital.
Meanwhile, hospital personnel alerted the police about the missing ambulance.
Even as the local patrol team arrived, the businessman's driver drove in with the missing ambulance.
He apologised to the hospital authorities and police on his owner's behalf and explained that the incident was a case of "mistaken identity."
The hospital authorities decided to settle the issue and not to lodge a police complaint.
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Drachenwald Awards
The typical Drachenwald Awards are explained below. More information about them can be found in the laws of Drachenwald. Drachenwald has three awards that confer an Award of Arms upon the recipient if they are not yet armigerous. These are Orden Des Lindquistringes, the Order of the Panache and the Order of the Silver Guard. These three orders rank equally. The Order of the Edelweiss (formerly Marguerite), the Order of the Rose, the Order of the Dragon's Steel, and Ordo Annuli are also armigerous. The Order of The Dragon's Steel and Ordo Annuli confer a Grant of Arms.
Ordo Annuli or Ordo Annulorum
Ordo annuli (the Order of the Ring) or the Ordo annulorum (the Order of the Rings). The Ring is an order dedicated to excellence and example at an extraordinary level. The Order is in the gift of the Crown and, while wise monarchs seek and use the advice of their court, there is no poll of current members before an appointment is made.
When the Crown appoints someone to the Ring, the new companion's arms are confirmed by grant of the Crown.
The Ring comprises three orders or companies: Ordo alae, Ordo cygni, and Ordo hirundinis.
Ordo Alae
In the lands of Drachenwald before there was a kingdom, the cavalry of Roman armies were called the 'allies': they fought close on the wings (alae) of their companions. Companions in Ordo alae (the Company of the Wing) have displayed superior abilities in their fields of martial activity in Drachenwald. All Drachenwald's practitioners of the arts of combat who show high prowess in the eyes of the Crown are united in this order, without distinction among steel fighters, baton fighters, archers and their other companions in arms.
The badge of this company of the order is (fieldless) a wing terminating in a hand gules sustaining a sword fesswise reversed proper.
Ordo Cygni
The Roman poet Juvenal wrote, 'rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno': a rare bird indeed, in the world, is the black Swan. The rare companions in Ordo cygni (the Company of the Swan) have distinguished themselves by superior achievement in scholarship, the arts and the advancement of beauty and knowledge in Drachenwald.
The badge of this company of the order is (fieldless) a swan sable.
Ordo Hirundinis
Artemidorus of Daldis, the 2nd Century Greek diviner, wrote that dreaming of a swallow was a good omen for work (and business and marriage). In classical literature and art the Swallow's song was paired in chorus with that of the nightingale, each as beautiful as the other. Those who labour to enable the special beauty that is Drachenwald, and thereby create beauty of their own; are brought together as Companions of Ordo hirundinis (the Company of the Swallow) because they have distinguished themselves by superior service within the Kingdom.
The badge of this company of the order is (fieldless) a martlet volant Or.
The King's Order of the Companions of Albion, also The Royal Order of the Companions of Albion
Formerly the Prince's Order of the Companions of Albion The Albion is one of the most prestigious awards in our Kingdom. It is given for "untiring service, courtesy and devotion to the needs of others". It is recommended that it only be given once a reign. It became the King's order when Drachenwald became a Kingdom. The Companions of this Order have the right to display the regalia of the Order, which shall be (fieldless) a dragon's claw inverted sable within and conjoined to an annulet per pale Or and gules. (Read the story of Albion)
Queen's Order of Courtesy
(and formerly ) Princess' Order of Courtesy, This "Queen's" award is awarded for "untiring devotion to the ideals of courtesy and for consistent consideration of the needs of others". It became the Queen's order when Drachenwald became a Kingdom. The symbol for this award is an Edelweiss with a red center to be worn on a pin or silver chain.
Order of the Dragon's Bowle
The Order of the Dragon's Bowle is awarded at the discretion of the Crown to those who have displayed notable attention to authenticity. The symbol of this Award is (Fieldless) a dragon passant coward sable charged with a bowl per pale Or and gules.
Order of the Dragon's Jewel
This award will be given to children (under 12 years of age) who have distinguished themselves through exemplary behavior or service.
Order of the Dragon's Pride
This award will be given to children (under 12 years of age) who have distinguished themselves through exemplary work in the arts and sciences.
Order of The Dragon's Steel
This award is given to "those members of the foil, epee and schlager fighting community, who exemplify courtesy, chivalry, dedicated patronage to the arts and sciences and show continual service to local branches and the Kingdom of Drachenwald and who shall have displayed superior abilities in light weaponry". It carries with it a Grant of Arms. Before creating a new member of the Order, the Crown must consult with the Order. The badge of the order is Or, three pine trees in fess eradicated gules, overall a dragon passant coward sable, and on a chief gules a rapier argent.
Order of the Dragon's Tears
This Award is given at the discretion of the Crown to the host(s) of an extraordinarily successful event. This Award can be received more than once. Recipients of this Award may be styled, "Holder of the Dragon's Tear" (or, if they have more than one, "Holder of the Dragon's Tears"). The symbol of this award is (Fieldless) on a goutte per pale Or and gules a dragon passant coward sable.
Order of the Edelweiss (formerly Marguerite)
This Order is closed. It was bestowed upon former Consorts of the Principality of Drachenwald at the end of their first reign. Companions of this Order may be styled "Lord/Lady of the Edelweiss" as appropriate. Stefan Wasniewski Ste'Kolm is the only Lord of the Edelweiss. The symbol of the Order is (Fieldless) an edelweiss Or, seeded gules, within and conjoined to an amulet argent. Now our consorts become members of "The Order of the Rose". This is a society wide order for former Consorts.
Order of the Hospitallers of Albion
The Hospitallers of Albion are those gentles (or groups) in distant lands who make great sacrifice to render aid and support to the Crowns of Drachenwald when they are travelling. The symbol of the Hospitallers is (Fieldless) on a dragon passant coward sable a wake knot argent. Only those persons/groups residing or based outside the Kingdom of Drachenwald may become Hospitallers of Albion.
Orden des Lindquistringes
This order was established to honor a former member of the Principality/Protectorate, Fahrquar Finley Fahrquarson (John Lindquist). It is now presented to those people who have distinguished themselves by long and extraordinary service to the Kingdom. The badge of the order is '(fieldless) a ring formed of a wingless dragon in annulo widdershins Or, maintaining in chief with all four legs and mouth a gem gules'.
Order of the Panache
The Panache is the awarded to those who have distinguished themselves by long and consistent excellence in the Arts (and Sciences) and who have also constantly made their expertise available to the various members of the Kingdom. The symbol of the Order is (Fieldless) issuant to chief from a torteau charged with a bezant pierced sable three feathers gules, Or and Sable.
Popular Company of Sojourners (PCS)
Formerly it was the Principality Company of Sojourners. Presented at the discretion of the Crown to those members departing the Kingdom, who have contributed to Drachenwald. The members may bear the badge of the company: "Barry wavy argent and azure, two flaunches vert" in whatever manner deemed appropriate to signify membership. They are expected to recall to all and sundry tales the recipient has to tell of the Lands of Drachenwald.
The Sigillum (Sigillum Coronae) is given by the King or the Queen, (formerly by the Prince or the Princess), or by both of them together. This is shown in the name. When it says "Sigillum Coronae" only, it is unclear who has given the award. The Sigillum are awarded for personal service to the Crown(s) that far exceeds any expected measure. The number given during a reign is generally limited to three. This award can be received more than once. The many variations and their badges are:
- Sigillumn Regis (Sigillum Coronae King) - A black dragon's head charged with the sigils of the King bestowing it
- Sigillum Regina (Sigillum Coronae Queen) - A white edelweiss charged with the sigils of the Queen bestowing it
- Sigillum Regis et Regina (Sigillum Coronae King and Queen) - A white edelweiss surmounted by a black dragon's head bearing the sigils of the Crown bestowing it.
- formerly Sigillum Principae
- formerly Sigillum Principessa
- formerly Sigillum Principis
Order of the Silver Guard
The Silver Guard is presented to those members who have distinguished themselves by chivalry and prowess at arms. Although most of the members of the order are heavy weapon fighters there are fencers and archers among them as well. The badge of this Order is (Tinctureless) a silver wrist-guard bearing a dragon passant coward, wings addorsed, maintaining in dexter forepaw a sword erect. The dragon which goes on the silver wrist guard can be seen at the right.


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text: Spammers revived some old scams during the first three months of the year to wrap their tentacles around unsuspecting netizens, according to junk mail fighters.Meanwhile, spam volumes during the time frame remained flat when compared to the previous quarter.One technique that saw a resurgence during the March quarter was the use of "white text," according to Kaspersky Lab's Q1 2013 Spam Report.[See also: Cybercriminals are just businessmen at heart]The method embeds random pieces of text in the spam message. The insertions are typically in a light gray font against a gray background and are separated from the main text of the spam ad with a lot of line breaks."The scammers expect content-based spam filters to regard these emails as newsletters and, besides, the use of random news fragments makes each email unique and thus difficult to detect," Kaspersky reported.The technique also exploits the fact that anti-spam solutions are designed to block newer spam tricks instead of older techniques, added Kaspersky senior researcher Roel Schouwenberg. "Their detection rates of spam messages from months or years ago may actually decrease," he said in an email. "This is why we see a resurgence of old techniques occasionally."Record performance by the Dow Jones Industrial Average appeared to put new life into "pump and dump" schemes during the quarter. In that scam, an online grifter will buy some "penny stocks" and flood the Net with spam about what a great investment the stock is. The idea is to get investors to buy the stock and send its price higher."People do respond to these things and pump the price up," Troy Gill, a senior security analyst with AppRiver said in an interview. "If it goes up just 10 cents, these guys can make a pretty decent margin.""That's something we used to see a lot of in 2008-2009," he added. "We really didn't see much of it for a long time, but it's been happening quite a bit this year."In the SMS spam sphere, another old standby has shown some growth over the last two quarters: work-at-home scams. "We're seeing it in email as well," Andrew Conway, a threat researcher with Cloudmark, said in an interview.The scam is primarily used to recruit money mules, he explained. After being recruited through a spam message, the "mule" is told they'll receive a sum of money in their bank account -- typically under $10,000 to avoid being flagged for federal regulators. The mule then wires the money -- minus a handling fee of eight percent or so -- to an offshore spammer.In April, 96 money mules were used to fleece a hospital in Washington state of $1 million. The attack could have been worse, but the attackers ran out of money mules to launder the money, according to cyber security columnist Brian Krebs."Coincidently with that attack, we saw an uptick in both SMS and email spam trying to increase money mules," Conway said.A more recent spam trend involved the use of links to brand-name services to obfuscate malicious links, Kaspersky reported. The malicious link is masked by two legitimate ones, with spammers using the Yahoo URL shortening service and then processing the subsequent link through Google Translate.The combination of these techniques makes each link in the mass mailing unique. In addition, use of the two well-known domains adds "credibility" to the links in the eyes of the recipient."These are legitimate services," Schouwenberg said. "So the domains themselves are trusted, even if the ultimate URL shouldn't be.""For anti-spam solutions that don't perform any deep analysis, it will look like these messages are clean," he added.Kaspersky also noted that spam volumes were flat during the quarter, increasing just over half of a percentage point over the previous quarter. On average, it noted, 66.55% of the email on the Internet on a daily basis during the time frame was spam."The percentage of spam in email has slowly been declining," Schouwenberg said. "It's unlikely that trend will suddenly reverse."


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Thanks to its convenient location a mere 20 minutes from Cape Town, the wine-producing Constantia has become the Mother City's unofficial backyard vineyard. This lush valley is home to the country's oldest wine estates and to Cape Town's oldest suburb.
With a history dating back over 300 years, the Constantia Valley is the birthplace of the South African wine industry and the region is dotted with several award-winning estates offering daily wine tours and tastings. But vino isn't all Constantia's vineyards and Cape Dutch houses have to offer: dine on fine cuisine at Silvermist Wine Estate's celebrated La Colombe restaurant, practice your swing at Steenberg's 18-hole golf course, or combine a spa day with your sauvignon blanc at Constantia Uitsig.
It is, however, pointless to visit Constantia without trying a tipple. The region is especially renowned for its white wines and dessert wines. Be sure to taste Klein Constantia's Vin de Constance (previously known as Muscat Capp Constantia), a dessert wine that enjoyed international popularity in the 18th and 19th century and was a favourite of Jane Austen, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Charles Dickens.
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The hunt is on for seven men. Seven murderous rogues who robbed a Welles Fargo freight station of 20,000, killing a clerk in the process. Ex-lawman Ben Stride (Randolph Scott) is the man determined to track down those seven men, for it was his beloved wife who was murdered during the heist. During his quest, Stride encounters a struggling, California-bound pioneering couple (Walter Reed, Gail Russell) as well as an old nemesis, Masters (Lee Marvin), with whom Stride shares an uneasy alliance. All will find themselves swept into the drama of Stride's search for frontier justice. Guns blaze and deceptions abound in this rugged drama, with Scott perfectly cast as the stoic, no-nonsense Western hero.
- Length
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text:
"Prepare the way of the Lord" (Luke 3:4). These words of John
the Baptist echo throughout the season of Advent. His words
come as a wake up call. They remind us to step up our efforts
in making the world ready for Christmas so that once again
Jesus will be born in each one of us and we will be prepared to
greet him when he comes in glory.
Even without John the Baptist's reminder, we intuitively
know that Advent is the time to prepare. We know that in the
weeks ahead we have much to do to get ready, preparing our
hearts and our homes. We look forward to Christmas and to
the second coming of Christ. A kingdom built on service, selfsacrifice,
peace, and justice. Advent brings out the best in us as
we make haste to prepare. We look at the world with fresh eyes
and search out ways to help those we see who are in need. Many
parish communities respond to this readiness by increasing
their commitment to providing service and outreach. These
acts of service and charity do not only bring us a change of
heart; they remind us that we need faith in action to be part of
our preparation for the coming of the Christ Child.
But even when it comes time to pack away the rituals and
symbols of Advent and Christmas, we do not want to pack
away its essence. For the challenge in every parish community
is to continue fostering the kingdom building that takes root in
these most holy of seasons. Moreover, it is the very mission of
the Church to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us by
using them for the good of the world.
With a desire to continue the spirit of kingdom building
each and every day, St. Bartholomew Catholic community in
Wayzata, Minnesota, gave its parishioners a "kingdom assignment."
Based on the Gospel of the parable of the talents
(Matthew 25:14 - 30), Father Michael Redding asked the congregation
at all the Masses one weekend, "Who will volunteer
for a kingdom assignment?" Then as the volunteers came forward
he gave each of them a $100 bill along with three key
points: "First, this is God's money. Second, you need to use this
$100 to build the kingdom of God beyond our church walls.
Third, in 90 days you will be asked to settle your account and
report your results."
The results of the kingdom assignment were phenomenal.
Without a doubt the kingdom assignment had ignited a
flame at St. Bartholomew. Of those who had received the $100
bill, some knew right away what they would do, while others
were overwhelmed with the challenge of God's money. But the
message was clear: do something with your master's money.
And so, one by one, the assignment took root and the original
$10,000 entrusted to the 100 volunteers grew into over
$105,000. The stories of good works also multiplied as individuals
found ways to use their time and talent for the good of
others. One teacher used her money to build a library at a local
homeless shelter, while a high school senior used hers to train a
guide dog for assisting individuals with a disability to live independently.
Another volunteer used his money to build birdhouses
and grow plants and then sold them, donating the
profits to a local service agency that provides food, shelter, and
other services to those in need.
The spirit of these and many other kingdom assignments
continues to catch on as others beyond the original 100 volunteers
elected to begin their kingdom assignments. It even began
to spread beyond St. Bartholomew as the kingdom builders
went about their work. Calls started coming into St.
Bartholomew asking for more information about this kingdom
assignment project. In the end, the kingdom assignment has
brought a new understanding to all who experienced it,
reminding us that the spirit of kingdom building isn't just a
seasonal mandate, but one that is our lifelong mission. So that
someday when we meet our Master we can rejoice in the words
"Well done, my good and trustworthy servant."
The original idea for the kingdom assignment came from a member
of the St. Bartholomew Social Justice Commission after she
read The Kingdom Assignment by Denny and Leesa Bellesi.
More information about this book can be found on their website at
www. KingdomAssignment.com.
© 2013 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications,3949 South Racine Ave, Chicago IL 60609


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