text:
If you want to see beauty and elegance in the same place, you must meet our Kullu escort service. They are incredibly effective in their field and they are also very dedicated. His only motto is to make you happy, whatever the cost. They will do their best for your happiness and provide you with all the necessary pleasure. You do not have to worry about anything when you spend time with them. Everything will be done on your side.
All you have to do is tell them what you want from them and they will take over from there. The best part about our independent Kullu escorts is that they are familiar with male psychology. They know what to do to satisfy you. After visiting our girls, you should sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty of our Kullu call girls. All the girls on our list can bring you maximum happiness. Therefore, if you live in this city and are unaware of our existence, please do our service.
We provide the best hi class and Russian call girls and escort service in Kullu with hotel rooms. Hire Indian Russian Asian quality call girls Whatsapp numbers.
Why is Kullu Escort Service popular?
We are very aware of the fact that each man has a different psyche. Because of this, a different type of girl quenches his sexual thirst. Because of this, we have created our list in a way that will flood him in the right way if he visits us. There are no female escorts that you cannot find on our list. All you have to do is visit us. Next, we will provide you with our extensive catalog of girls, and from there you have to choose your girl according to your preferences.
Our list of call girls in Kullu escort service consists of redheads, brunettes, housewives, actresses, models, hostesses, college girls, and cougars. All of them are incredibly trained and will take your sexual experience to a whole new level. You will feel like you are walking through the land of utopia where you can unleash all your bound desires. Our Kullu call girls will treat you like their Kings and will do whatever you want. So if you are in the town, do not forget to knock on our doors for fun. The official state language of Himachal Pradesh is Hindi. The other most popular language of Himachal Pradesh is Pahari.
Categories of Call Girls service in Kullu
You are single? Are you depressed about not having a girlfriend? Then you should visit our Independent escort service in Kullu. They will make you feel like your girlfriend. They will do their best to make you feel special so that you are not disappointed in being single. We will do all the things a bride does for the happiness of her friends. They will accompany you to the movies, they will accompany you to dinner and they will also be by your side when no one is around.
We know that sex is very important to achieve happiness in life. But there are also many other things, which are also essential when it comes to satisfaction. Whenever you feel lonely, our Kullu Call Girls will make you listen, and they will listen to you without judging you. Also, when you spend time with them, you do not need to worry about the associated restrictions. They won not stick to you. Then, Kullu is your place, if you want to spend a sensual time with the most beautiful Kullu call girls in the world.
What are the services available under Kullu escorts?
There are countless people in this world who are obsessed with travelling. Nothing is more important to them than travelling. They travel the world in search of comfort. You are one of them? Do you want your trip to be more pleasant? Then you can travel with the Russian escort service in Kullu. Kullu call girls are also very adventurous and will provide you with an exciting escorts agency TawkGirls. Imagine that you are exploring the most impressive landscapes in the world, and there is a beautiful Russian girl behind you, who keeps you company. Sounds interesting right?
Now, what if we said they would take care of all your sensual desires? Yes, while travelling, they will provide you with all sexual pleasures. It will not only make you physically happy but it will also make you mentally happy while travelling with them, you will forget all the negative aspects of your life and you will be able to enjoy your trip to the fullest. So when you are in here, do not forget to visit the Kullu escort service. We will bring you some pleasant memories that you will remember for the rest of your life. Also, we will show you the meaning of absolute happiness.
Qualities that define Kullu call girls
We have already commented that different men have different psyches. That is why there are countless men who love to create the atmosphere while making love. Without a proper environment, it is difficult for them to achieve peak levels of sexual pleasure. The atmosphere acts as a catalyst for their excitement so they can make love peacefully. For example, some men like to have Anal Sex Safety with women with familiar feelings. For them, our escort housewife Kullu provides a homely atmosphere. While spending time with them, you will feel like you are making love in the comfort of your home.
Safety and confidentiality are a concern for all men considering hiring Kullu escorts. With all due respect for your apprehension, we carefully take all necessary steps to provide a safe time with our high-profile Kullu escort service. We offer fully certified escorts who know how to protect your health and confidentiality. With our experienced and trained escorts, we guarantee girls a completely protected intimate pleasure without putting their lives at risk.
Since our inception, we have always aimed to provide our clients with maximum sexual pleasure through specially designed services. Our daring escort service in Kullu ensure that all your fantasies are fulfilled from privacy or outing. Saddle Masturbation, Oral Sex Only, Fingering, Cum on Face, Mouth Bang, Lots of Balls, Shooting Only, From High-Level Foreplay Services Like BSDM, Unprotected Oral Sex, Role Play, Genital Sex, threesome, organs, genital friction, the spoon, and the list goes on and on because the creativity and talent of our partners are endless.
Share your wishes, share your expectations, disappointments, and joys with our children to have fun and have fun. Kullu escort service is generally limited to acts of sexual intercourse, but we know that clients do not always want sex. For these needs, we offer different types of escorts to meet your needs. We also offer intimate dancers, party strippers, escort tours, evenings, and parties to bring you the joy you desire. Our Kullu escorts are versatile, dynamic, and daring, so put any challenge ahead of them and have a great experience with Kullu Escort Service.
Exciting and affordable Kullu Call girls at 5star Hotel Booking
Kullu escort service is a high-level solution to many problems that the client or facilities may face, thus providing comfortable and pleasant escort services for both parties involved. Escorts budgets cannot be overlooked, and we offer escort service at preferential rates to obtain escorts within the limits budgets of clients. Please note that the pricing criteria are based on the services and experience of the escorts. Regardless of the escort rate, all of our Kullu escorts is highly esteemed and guarantee maximum satisfaction and a quality experience for everyone.
Kullu escort services are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at reasonable rates available 24 hours a day. Even when the world sleeps, our Kullu escorts are active and busy competing for the lives of many of their clients. For those who are in the mood for lovemaking or just need an escort to get rid of their loneliness, our Kullu escorts are the best way to indulge Call Girls in Kullu who are beautiful, sexy, considerate, and skilled. Our children are charming and their beauty gives an intense fight to the famous beauties of the world of lights. Let Kullu escort service know that you want to imitate any intimate scene from a movie, find a girlfriend or a housewife, or try an anaerobic massage.
We present the website to give you a clear idea of what Kullu escorts are. You can also take a look at the beauty of our facilities through a gallery page decorated with their photos and profiles. Share your requirements, needs, and fantasies with our team right away to help you choose the right girl or you can also choose any girl on the site. Kullu call girls are very popular with men, cats, politicians, etc. Notable for their unbeatable charm, hypnotic and uncompromising professional flaws.
In short, call the escorts on our phone number, what is the application, or just send us an email to book your meeting in advance. You can also call us at the official number of the Kullu escorts. You can also hire a concierge service that will get you companions in less than an hour. For that, share your location and get a girl on your site as we provide escort services all over the city. Enjoy a wonderfully intimate moment from showers to sex with the best accompaniment of Kullu escort service.
What is so special about Independent Call Girls in Kullu?
Our independent escort girls or Kullu Call Girls are super friendly and the professionals provide you with an unbeatable way to soak up the lustful desires of your body and mind. We know how to have a good time with you so that we do not forget to meet again, be it visiting Kullu or inviting us to other cities in India. When you are in Kullu, you may be eagerly waiting to meet someone special so that you can enjoy your fun time more.
We know all your requirements once we meet her, then we take care of you kindly so that you fall in love with us. We are Indians and Russians, real class Independent Kullu escorts provide an amazing experience for you to remember for a long time. Perfectly proportioned body, sweet personality, smiling approach, well dressed and fluent in English, sexy and hot women know how to be with you and give you a warm session that you cannot erase our meeting from your mind. Females are so beautiful that you can rarely find them in the industry of any city. We are the perfect friend for any occasion to bring you some warm and elegant feelings to make our session so enjoyable.
The true degree of Russian and Indian Kullu escort service is to serve you at your home and Kullu hotels. All of these models are well-mannered, smart, sassy, sexy, hot, and well-versed in speaking English. They are smart enough to handle all your demands without expressing them. They are smart enough to handle all of your naughty and wild demands with ease.
You may be staying in a 5-star hotel and thinking of a classy model for your room and worrying about the standard of girls, this place is the perfect place to order a real class in Russian and Indian style. From the first meeting to the end of the session, you will not have the opportunity to complain about your services again. Once you meet our females, you will notice the real difference between us and others because we dress perfectly and make sure to behave, but we are very naughty in bed. We are the adorable contact girl escort service in Kullu to suit you on every occasion as per your requirements.
There are beautiful, independent, and respectable college girls who can provide freelance services to you in your niche. Typical North Indian and North Indian girls who study here while at their universities work during their free time. They need an appointment a little bit in advance for the meeting. They are free enough to travel at any time throughout the day. Kullu call Girls Located in Hostels or PG residency colleges or universities are transferable at any time. Many people demand to meet real Kullu call girls, we are here to fulfill all their demands. If you want to verify our authenticity, we can also have our identification card. We are so naughty girls that we can also meet as a group. If you want to meet in a group, we have ours and we can have fun with a group too.
Why Choose TawkGirls Escorts Agency in Kullu?
Being in the Female Kullu escorts and meeting a woman from North India is the dream of everyone. Here you can find us with her clothes from North India that are rarely seen. Not only North India but also hot and sexy Indian women whose husbands can not please them are here to be with you. They are looking for hot and sexy Hunk men who can satisfy their long-time hunger for sex. If you are one of them who could be their friend for a long time, do not move. Typical North Indian and Punjabi housewives are also here to give you a long and unforgettable experience.
You can even have super Sexy Bhabhi for your naughty fantasies. Bengali housewives who provide a dream experience will repeat it when you visit here. You can even meet typical women in attire. Once we meet, make sure you do not go anywhere next time. Escorts Agency in Kullu We are so kind and respectful of our nature that you will love us very much. If you want to find out what audacious situations they are in, you have to meet us at least once. We are wild animals who are so sexy in bed that we are given rare opportunities to move.


text:
Sorting device for analyzing biological reactions puts the power of a lab in a researcher's pocket (w/ Video)
Fictional candy maker Willy Wonka called his whimsical device to sort good chocolate eggs from bad, an eggucator. Likewise, by determining what enzymes and compounds to keep and which to discard, scientists are aiming to find their own golden eggs: more potent drugs and cleaner sources of energy.
Toward that end, Harvard researchers and a team of international collaborators demonstrated a new microfluidic sorting device that rapidly analyzes millions of biological reactions. Smaller than an iPod Nano, the device analyzes reactions a 1,000-times faster and uses 10 million-fold less volumes of reagent than conventional state-of-the-art robotic methods.
The scientists anticipate that the invention could reduce screening costs by 1 million-fold and make directed evolution, a means of engineering tailored biological compounds, more commonplace in the lab.
"Our finding is not so much a scientific discovery, but the first demonstration of a new technology," says project leader Jeremy Agresti, a former research associate in the lab of co-author David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Department of Physics. "What limits new areas of research in biology and biotechnology is the ability to assay or to do experiments on many different variables in parallel at once."
The team's technology, first reported in the February 8th online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bypasses conventional limitations through the use of drop-based microfluidics, squeezing tiny capsules of liquid through a series of intricate tubes, each narrower than a single human hair.
"Each microscopic drop can trap an individual cell and thus it becomes like a miniature test tube," explains Amy Rowat, a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS. "The drops are coated with a surfactant, or stabilization molecule, that prevents the drops from coalescing with each other and also prevents the contents from sticking to the wall of the drops."
To sort, the system removes inactive and unwanted compounds, dumping the drops into a "bad egg" bin, and guides the others into a "keep" container. Specifically, as the drops flow through the channels they eventually encounter a junction (a two-channel fork). Left alone, the drops will naturally flow towards the path of least fluidic resistance, or the waste channel.
The device identifies the desired drops by using a laser focused on the channel before the fork to read a drop's fluorescence level. The drops with greater intensity of fluorescence (those exhibiting the highest levels of activity) are pulled towards the keep channel by the application of an electrical force, a process known as dielectrophoresis.
"Our concept was to build a miniature laboratory for performing biological experiments quickly and efficiently," explains collaborator Adam Abate, a postdoctoral fellow in applied physics at SEAS. "To do this we needed to construct microfluidic versions of common bench-top tasks, such as isolating cells in a compartment, adding reagents, and sorting the good from the bad. The challenge was to do this with microscopic drops flowing past at thousands per second."
"The sorting process is remarkably efficient and fast. By shrinking down the reaction size to 10 picoliters of volumes, we increased the sorting speed by the same amount," adds Agresti. "In our demonstration with horseradish peroxidase, we evolved and improved an already efficient enzyme by sorting through 100 million variants and choosing the best among them."
In particular, the researchers were struck by the ability to increase the efficiency of an already efficient enzyme to near its theoretical maximum, the diffusion limit, where the enzyme can produce products as quickly as a new substrate can bump into it.
Using conventional means, the sorting process would have taken several years. Such a dramatic reduction of time could be a boon for the burgeoning field of synthetic biology. For example, a biofuels developer could use the device to screen populations of millions of organisms or metabolic pathways to find the most efficient producer of a chemical or fuel. Likewise, scientists could speed up the pace of drug development, determining the best chemical candidate compounds and then evolving them based upon desired properties.
"The high speed of our technique allows us to go through multiple cycles of mutation and screening in a very short time," says Agresti. "This is the way evolution works best. The more generations you can get through, the faster you can make progress."
Provided by Harvard University

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A box has faces with areas 3, 12 and 25 square centimetres. What is
the volume of the box?
According to Plutarch, the Greeks found all the rectangles with
integer sides, whose areas are equal to their perimeters. Can you
find them? What rectangular boxes, with integer sides, have their
surface areas equal to their volumes?
This jar used to hold perfumed oil. It contained enough oil to fill
granid silver bottles. Each bottle held enough to fill ozvik golden
goblets and each goblet held enough to fill vaswik crystal spoons.
Each day a spoonful was used to perfume the bath of a beautiful
princess. For how many days did the whole jar last? The genie's
master replied: Five hundred and ninety five days. What three
numbers do the genie's words granid, ozvik and vaswik stand for?


text:
0 Items (Empty)
Recently Viewed Items
Your Shopping Cart
Your shopping cart is currently empty. If you would like to make a purchase today, add items to your shopping cart.
Here is a list of fireworks demo nights with a sample issue of AFN
Here is a list of fireworks demo nights for 1.4 and 1.3 fireworks around the US with a free sample o...
|View All
|RSS Feed
The following 8 publications are now available in one book in pdf format on a CD-R, which is actually less than purchasing the individual publications. The large, format e-book contains 950 pages, and it includes a keyword index to the various articles.To see the contents, select from the following 8 entries. The pdf format is searchable using most pdf reader software.
Selected Pyrotechnic Publications of K.L. and B.J. Kosanke,


text:
The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the United States, accounting for about 25 percent of the country's population.
The Church continues to grow and many people have chosen to convert to Catholicism. The Church is a vibrant, active community of believers which continues to have a positive influence on the lives of many people. However, there are people who for one reason or another have stopped actively participating in the Church and attending Mass. We live in a busy culture and society. There are many demands that are placed on us. Yet people are searching for a deeper sense of meaning, for a closer relationship with God, and for a more authentic spiritual identity.
Since the Church is a family, we miss those Catholics who may have left the Church or who have stopped participating in its vibrant liturgy and sacramental life. Perhaps you or someone you know are in this situation and do not know how to come back or how to become active again. The first thing you need to know is that you are always welcome back. The Church misses you and hopes that you will choose to come home as an active member.
We want to invite inactive Catholics, and others searching for a faith home, to the Catholic faith. We invite you to be part of the St. Mary's Catholic family, and we pray that through this family, you will also find more peace, real answers, and true happiness through the gift of faith.
Contact us at 903-757-5855 or email firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
This is a special guest contribution by Sean Surdovel, Content Strategist at Taboola
High-growth ecommerce businesses are adept at using search, social, and display to bring shoppers in the door … and get them to check out.
But once you've pushed those channels to their limits, what's next? How do you continue to grow your customer base by connecting with new audiences?
Native distribution of content marketing is rapidly becoming the fourth vital leg of the ecommerce stool offering a powerful way to engage a different segment of consumers in a different online mode.
In fact, eMarketer's most recent forecast estimates that US native digital display ad spend will grow 36.2% this year to reach $22.09 billion. At that level it will make up 52.9% of all display ad spending in the US.
Our own research indicates two leading benefits of native advertising for ecommerce companies scaling beyond $5-10 million in annual revenue:
- Increase in awareness and conversion rates
- Decrease in CPA and time-to-purchase
Before you jump in, it pays to understand the unique mindset of your target consumer in the native context.
Think About Why People Go Online
Search users are typically looking for something specific—a product, category, or solution to a precise problem.
They have a goal in mind and want the quickest, most efficient way to get there, so your top-ranked page-one ad is going to get precisely the attention you want.
On the other hand, social users are interested in what social communities or their peers are doing, saying, buying or debating. They may not have a specific product in mind, but capturing their interest requires a relevant social context.
In the content realm, on the other hand, your target audience is open to all suggestions. They are users in exploration mode, ready and willing to engage with something of interest, whether it's news, opinion, advice, or simply a fun new topic to explore. They are looking for what to do next.
Engaging a discovery-minded audience lets you reach consumers you wouldn't have found otherwise.
These discoverers haven't directly sought out your product and may not be in decision-making mode yet, but they are open to trying something new, and that's what makes native marketing so valuable.
Even among discovery-minded web users, there are some individuals who are more impressionable than others.
Some users are very purposeful. These readers who arrive on a publisher page and immediately engage with content, perhaps even top to bottom. This group comprises about 34% of today's internet users, and that percentage is shrinking.
Content skimmers, on the other hand, are opportunists. They scan the page, skim a few paragraphs, and then decide if they want to engage. 43% of people admit to scanning content. These content consumers represent about 66% of today's internet users, and when it comes to native advertising, this is your sweet spot.
Native advertising is all about resonating with these ready-for-anything users, which means you'll have to think about your online campaigns in a new way. At Taboola, our business is focused on reaching and engaging this kind of user and guiding them efficiently to the key performance indicators (KPIs) of our ecommerce clients.
Here are some of the most important guidelines to follow for making native marketing work for you—not only to drive traffic to your site, but also to acquire new customers and generate new sales from an untapped segment of internet users.
The Native Advertising Funnel in Ecommerce
How far can you move a user down the funnel using just a single piece of content? Not very far. That's why discovery marketers must treat each phase of the shopping funnel—awareness, consideration, and decision—as a distinct opportunity for conversion.
Each piece of content you distribute with native should be mapped to a stage of your funnel and measured accordingly. Most importantly, your content must align with the user's position in the funnel and meet their expectations.
This brings us to the fundamental commandment of discovery marketing…
Give the consumer the content they expect because misleading ads do not convert well.
It even pays to set user expectations for what will happen after they click. For example, words like "watch," or "video," in the title lets them know they're about to see a video.
1. Awareness: Drive Qualified Traffic
Here you want to capture interest in your product from people who never gave it a thought before. Your content — the image and headline — must qualify your audience to move onto the consideration stage, so it must be related to your product category and content purpose.
For example, "10 Tips to Impress on a First Date," will not convert as many users as "8 Reasons to Try Online Dating," in the awareness stage. Other qualifying content might include:
- 3 Lighting Tips to Make Your Small Space Larger
- How to Get Your Kids' Wardrobes Ready for Winter
Beyond clicks, your KPIs are things like page views and time on site.
2. Consideration: Capture an Email Address
These consumers may have a need related to what you offer, but they have yet to identify you as a candidate. Here you want to emphasize your value, personalize your qualification process, and incentivize your content consumer to hand over their email address.
The most effective incentives involve either a significant discount or a quiz funnel:
Quiz pages convert around 5.97% while landing pages hover at 1.70%:
In the consideration stage, you want to further qualify users with content that's directly related to your product and give them real value in exchange for their information, such as:
- Take This Quiz to Find Your Perfect Winter Look
- How Men can Dress Well Without Actually Trying
Here, you'll measure your success in terms of lead capture metrics.
3. Influence: Getting the Purchase
Consumers at the decision stage most likely both know your brand and are ready to make a purchase; you just have to put the two together. This is where retargeting will increase ROI for your native campaigns.
At this stage in the funnel, use content that directly relates to your products — and retarget using content that invites the user to close the deal, such as:
- 7 Gifts Your Man Will Love
- See Why So Many People Are Upgrading to This Wine
Building Native Advertising Landing Pages that Convert
Once you've gotten that discovery-minded consumer to engage with your ad, your landing page must keep them on the right path.
Content should be precise — inform first, and sell second — with page design that makes it as easy as possible for the user to stay engaged.
The Perfect Native Campaign
- Test multiple creatives at once, at least two images and five titles per URL
- Optimize by platform because mobile and desktop behavior are very different
- Experiment with new formats whenever possible: videos, photo galleries, quizzes, and other distinctive content types
- Use people in your imagery, ideally at medium zoom from the shoulders up or closer
- Use colorful photos to catch the user's eye, but keep images clean and uncluttered
- Avoid using clip art or pop-ups
- Call out your audience or product in your titles: "Here's Why Parents Love This New Video Streaming Service"
- Use numbered lists when relevant: "5 New Features You Can Find on Your Smartphone"
- Create intrigue and mystery: "The Real Secret to Happiness May Surprise You"
- Finally, use initial caps (e.g., title case) in your titles
The Perfect Native Landing Page
- Keep it between 400—600 words, clean with a simple black typeface, and easily readable with distinguished headers
- Give the user an incentive to take action: discount, demo, price quote, or some other added value will help increase conversions
- Use precise action-oriented language like "buy" or "sign up," rather than more generic language
- A/B test elements of your page regularly to keep it optimized
- If you must link outside of your site, make sure the link opens in a new window
Search, social and display marketing remain vital tools in the ecommerce toolbox, but to keep your pipeline fresh and flowing, native advertising belongs in the mix.
Use these guidelines to start off strong, and you'll create a valuable new stream of customers who are ready to discover what you have to offer and become tomorrow's loyal customers.
Drive traffic to your site, blog or video, or monetize your site with the largest platform for content recommendation, audience acquisition, and native advertising.
Read More
- Hypefest 2018: O2O Examples from the Forefront of Marketing & Retail
- 5 Easy Tips For Getting Started With Conversion Rate Optimization
- Scaling a Global Ecommerce Business: Three Keys from $100M+ Enterprises
- 15 Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies from the Top Fashion Brands
- Decoy Pricing: Secret Strategies Your Competitors Use to Get Customers to Spend More
- A Crisis Communications Plan for Brands
- 10 Segments to Make More Money with Your Black Friday, Cyber Monday Emails
- Ecommerce Site Search Best Practices: How to Sell More to the People Who Want to Buy Now


text:
|laziness, impatience, and hubris
FindBin is broken (RE: How do I get the full path to the script executing?)by tye (Sage)
|on Nov 13, 2000 at 00:10 UTC ( #41213=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
Well, I've complained about this particular module before because I think the perverse way in which it was implemented is quite unfortunate because it makes it nearly impossible to use it for lots of useful things like finding other programs that might be on your PATH. (After all, it is called FindBin and $0 is a script, not a binary.)
But when this question came up in chatterbox, I did some checking and it appears to me that the correct answer for the full path to the current script is simply:
as another answer mentions.
For those that don't know, the (perverse) FindBin module goes through some effort to search $ENV{PATH} trying to find your script. However, I can't come up with any situation in which the script would have been found on the $ENV{PATH} but that $0 would not contain the (full) path, so the module appears to be pretty useless.
Now, the closely related problem of finding the full path to the current executable of, for example, a C program, is solved (as best as is possible) via a method very similar to what the FindBin module does. However, this isn't the same problem.
Now, a C program's value of argv[0] can be whatever the invoking program wanted to pass to exec(), including something completely unrelated to the name of the executable file. For the common case where argv[0] is set to the base name of the executable, searching $ENV{PATH} makes sense. For other cases, it may be impossible to determine the path to the executable. But, for a Perl script, the value of $0 is set by Perl and Perl doesn't set it to strange values (so we don't have these cases where we can't determine the full path) and often sets it to the full path for you.
Okay, I can think of two cases where $ENV{PATH} is searched in order to find a Perl script. First, the kernel (or any other program such as a shell or a web server) might search the path to find "script" and then, reading the "#!/usr/bin/perl" line of "script", it would then invoke "perl", telling it to read the script.
So, the kernel (or other program) will run "perl", passing the name of the script to be executed. Will it expect "perl" to search the $ENV{PATH} in order to find the script? No. So it will pass the full path to the script (or a path relative to the current working directory if there is one and the program feels like doing that work -- which some of them do). "perl" will just set $0 to whatever it was given so we'll either get 1) the full path to the script or 2) a path relative to the current directory. We don't need to search $ENV{PATH}.
Second, you can do "perl -S script" to tell "perl" to search $ENV{PATH}. What does $0 get set to in this case? Well, my testing on multiple platforms shows $0 gets set to the full path.
So throw in the third case of the user doing "perl script" or "perl subdir/script" and you see that $0 is always set to either 1) the full path or 2) a path relative to the current directory. So FindBin can give you the wrong answer and goes to lots of work (in a perverse way) in order to do it.
Did I mention that I think FindBin is perverse? (:- tye (but my friends call me "Tye")
In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom


text:
With Master RKC, Andrea Du Cane
DVD 2 hours 50 minutes
Nothing ages us faster than the lack of regular, effective exercise. Muscles melt away, bones go brittle, posture stoops, skin sags, flab hangs—and joints creak. Pain, fear and fatigue become our constant companions.
The good news is that there is one form of exercise which can give you immeasurable health benefits, whatever your age. Regular, well-designed kettlebell workouts may not only reverse many symptoms of aging, but will actively contribute to building your strength and power well into your 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Andrea Du Cane's Kettlebell Boomer presents a complete De-Aging Masterplan, that gives everyone from the raw novice to the experienced athlete an opportunity to defy physical decline and hone themselves—safely, simply and progressively—into the muscular, energetic, magnetic specimens they deserve to be.
Nothing ages us faster than the lack of regular, effective exercise. Muscles melt away, bones go brittle, posture stoops, skin sags, flab hangs—and joints creak. Pain, fear and fatigue become our constant companions.
The less you exercise, the faster you decline. However, not all exercise is created equal. Many forms of exercise may at best put you in a holding pattern, while other forms of exercise might even exacerbate your health issues.
The good news is that there is one form of exercise which can give you immeasurable health benefits, whatever your age. Regular, well-designed kettlebell workouts may not only reverse many symptoms of aging, but will actively contribute to building your strength and power well into your 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Kettlebells are the only handheld weight that allows you to exercise aerobically, for cardio as well as anaerobically, for strength training. The kettlebell is the unique "gym in your hand" that can reward you with decades of high-yield health benefits.
Andrea Du Cane's Kettlebell Boomer presents a complete De-Aging Masterplan, that gives everyone from the raw novice to the experienced athlete an opportunity to defy physical decline and hone themselves—safely, simply and progressively—into the muscular, energetic, magnetic specimens they deserve to be.
Kettlebell Boomer provides everything you need to start training with kettlebells—with full instruction plus follow-along workouts. You will discover two main workouts, one with a strength focus and the other cardio. Watch four different people doing the workout, each representing a different level. Pick the right level for you and follow that person through the entire workout. Or you can switch between levels for different exercises.
Bonus sections cover warm-ups, joint mobility, balance and stability—to ensure your anti-aging kettlebell program covers all the essential elements for a long, active, safe and pain-free life. Enjoy!
"Why do so many people, once they reach some arbitrary age, relax into middle age and stop being men and women?
Youth is a choice. There are dull-eyed twenty some year olds ready for rocking chairs. And there are youths who have been getting their Social Security checks for some time. Years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Milton, an eighty year old gent with the fiery gaze of a young warrior. The first time he saw the deadlift, this man walked over to the bar and literally ripped 225 pounds off the ground. Assuming that a retired man would play golf I told him that this exercise would improve his game. Milton gave me a furious look. "Golf?! I don't play golf. It's for old people.'
With the right attitude and the training methods we have today, it is a shame not to be young. In the best tradition of Russian ballerinas, Andrea Du Cane keeps getting younger. She could be a boomer's daughter, but a boomer herself?—No way! Andrea has found the secret of never ending youth and a big part of it is the Russian kettlebell.
I keep hearing this story over and over from our RKC kettlebell instructors. Former athletes in their forties and fifties take up kettlebells, decide to give their old sport another go, and within months outperform their twenty-year old selves! Fifty-two year old David Zaharik, Canadian full contact karate champion in the 1980s, wrote in our magazine Hardstyle: "One of the amazing things about training with kettlebells is that after not training in my martial art for over two years, I have actually increased the speed of my strikes and the power and speed of my kicks! I go and grapple with my old buddies who train this stuff everyday and I hold my own very well. And I getting comments back like … man you are strong… oh, by the way, these guys are 20-25 years younger than me.'
If you choose to reclaim your youth, look no further than Kettlebell Boomer. Andrea Du Cane has been kettlebelling since the very first days of the Russian kettlebell invasion we started in 2001. The Kettlebell Goddess possesses a razor sharp mind and the kind of attention to detail that separates the high-end professionals from the also-rans. Which shall become obvious once you watch her DVD.
—Pavel Tsatsouline, author of Enter the Kettlebell!
Have you ever wondered how to overcome your physical limitations (or your clients) to optimize your performance and get real results from your kettlebell workouts?
When I owned my gym, 90% of my clients were boomers who came to me with some sort of pre-existing injury or impingement that limited the progress we could make together. Of course as an RKC, I had some tools in my toolbox to help them make breakthroughs, but I didn't have The Kettlebell Boomer. I remember both of us walking out of some training sessions frustrated that we didn't make the progress we intended to make. Has this ever been you?
If the answer is yes, you have to watch The Kettlebell Boomer with Master RKC, Andrea Du Cane. Du Cane's DVD is one of the most important kettlebell DVD's available for both trainers and kettlebell enthusiasts- here is why:
Students in the DVD are varied in their limitations you will find either yourself or your client in this DVD
Du Cane teaches you with sound methods how to work within and even overcome limitations
You will learn how to reverse the effects of aging in a easy to understand format- Du Cane is professional and engaging
Complete and thorough instruction on how to adapt certain exercises to specific limitations
Du Cane demonstrates how to shatter plateaus, boost performance and maximize results!
Did you know boomers are estimated to be 80 million strong by 2020? As a trainer you must know how to train this group of people and as a boomer you should know that you don't need to be limited in your kettlebell training.
What was the experience you had recently that left you feeling frustrated after a training session? I am willing to bet that after you watch The Kettlebell Boomer DVD you will no longer feel like you (or your client) just didn't do enough or that you (or your client) just can't perform certain kettlebell exercises. Get The Kettlebell Boomer now!
I bought her book "The Ageless Body" first. An excellent book with a work your way up schedule that was just what I was looking for. The problem with books about how to move (try learning Taiji from a book) is that you can't see the flow. This video fixes that. It shows how to properly (and that's important) perform the movements and also has a "class" where four people are performing the exercises at each of the four ability levels. You can join the class and do the version that is right for you.
It's well done. I do recommend that you also have the book that I mentioned first for the schedule if you are starting out way out of shape and are new to kettlebells. It's worth it.
The routines seem well worked out for the intended audience. So many exercise videos have young strong people doing routines that are inappropriate for boomers and seniors. I'm glad that I bought this and am well satisfied with how it's going.
I was looking for a DVD on the use of kettlebells for someone in my age bracket (60); that is a beginner; and that would take into consideration the physical limits that often comes with age and prior physical injuries. This DVD is it! Andrea Du Cane did an excellent job on this DVD. When a couple of questions popped up, I e-mailed Andrea and had my questions answered with 24 hours. Way to go Andrea!
I'm an Occupational Therapy Assistant and I work in a Transitional Rehab Facility. I have a wide variety of clientele , but I can always use the kettlebell for functional training, which is what my job is! I really liked the accommodations, it gave me a lot of great ideas. From this video I also felt confident enough to share my love of kettlebells with my co-workers, and now we have a small group that works out at lunch time. I was also impressed with the amount of time that was spent on form, that's another thing that us therapists like to instill is proper form! Very nice DVD.
Recently, I did a kettlebells dvd (with a 9# kettlebell), and I was appalled with how the workouts were set up, the moves done. I did a short workout on it (21 minutes with warm up, and cooldown). I attempted to add on another short workout from this dvd; gave up and put in Andrea's Ageless Body dvd and did the cardio workout. What a difference! Andrea is very keen on form, safety, and doing the moves, but NOT hurting yourself. There ARE kettlebell dvds which ought to NOT be on the market. I heartily recommend Andrea's.
I felt compelled to watch this dvd and even more compelled to write this review. Watching it reminded me of my parents and the necessity to get the transformative power of the kettlebell into the hands of the Baby Boomer Generation. This dvd will do just that.
The most amazing thing about "The Kettlebell Boomer" is not just Andrea's 4-stage breakdown of the exercises for just about anybody at any age level, but was actually watching two men - 58 and 63, and two ladies, 60 and 65 - gracefully take their kettlebells through their paces.
"The Kettlebell Boomer" truly demonstrates that kettlebells are for EVERYBODY and no bodies need it more right now than the Boomers. This dvd is the solution to aging gracefully and it couldn't come at a better time than now. My hope is that members of the Boomer generation, with the help of my generation (Gen-X), experience what we already know - that "when we say kettlebells, we mean strength. And when we say strength, we mean kettlebells."
Andrea DuCane is not a Master Instructor for nothing. She has been there from the beginning of the Kettlebell Invasion and is still leading from the front. In fact, she was my Team Leader when I got certified in 2005 and was a tough, fair and exacting instructor.
She only wanted you to do things technically correct so that you could make the best progress you could,safely. Her emphasis on technique and execution over sheer loads makes a big difference,especially when on is in the second half of their journey.
Her interest in working with the general population lead her to always emphasize corrective drills, stretching, mind body connection and safety first, way before it became so popular.
Her newest DVD Kettlebells for Boomers is perfect for those that want a solid introduction to all the basic kb exercises as well as progressions and techniques that let them go slowly into this brave and perhaps scary new world of the kettlebell.
Given that there are 76 million people in this age range this is a product that needed to be made.
One of the charges we ask of ourselves when certifying potential RKC's is whether we would feel safe having them train our Mothers. With this DVD any instructor will have even more tools to safely bring deconditioned, older people into the kettlebell community with confidence.
Well done Andrea, this is a fantastic DVD!
"Kettlebell Boomer DVD by Andrea DuCane is full of excellent progressions, variations and techniques targeted at the "senior" population.
Trainers will want this product so they can effectively integrate the Kettlebell into the routines of their "senior" clients and Seniors will want this product to enhance their own Kettlebell practice or to enter into Kettlebell training. With 4 experience levels, the "self screen" and the variations and progressions provided, this DVD can open the world of KB training to the older clientele."
Brett Jones, Master RKC, CSCS, CK-FMS
I have Tracy Riefkind's swing DVDs. With Kettlebell Boomer, My basics are in place. Andrea is an excellent instructor. No RKC or HKC within 75 miles of my residence. I am grateful for these 3 DVDs to help master the basics since no certified instructors are close to home. By the way, I celebrate 68 yrs. 2012.
As an Instructor, I want nothing more than to be able to help my family as I do my clients. However, they live out of state and only seem to remember so much from each visit. But now with this fabulous new BOOMER DVD, I am excited that they will be able to continue learning.
Andrea did a tremendous job. The Introduction is very thorough. The Self Screen is very simple, clear to understand and extremely important for those who do not have an instructor near by. Each exercise is explained in great detail and easy to follow. I think having different levels of athletes to follow was brilliant and gives each person room to grow with this one DVD.
The background is soothing and the music doesn't over power. Andrea's approach and progressions will make everyone feel comfortable. And the Athlete interviews show REAL people moving well and proves that at any age you too can gain strength and defy the aging process. Why not start now?
I am looking forward to taking this DVD home for the holidays to get my family following along with Andrea's Boomer Athletes.
You are leaving Dragon Door Direct and going to DragonDoor.com.
DragonDoor.com uses a separate shopping cart and unique usernames and passwords. Changes made on one site will not affect the other.


text:
One of seven children, Paula was raised on the mission field. She witnessed her parents live by faith and sacrifice a normal family life and worldly possessions for the sake of the gospel. She grew up following their example of loving Jesus and committing her life to Him in service. In Bible College she met Steven. He, too, had a fervent and growing faith. The two of them fell in love and embarked on a life-long journey together in ministry.
Paula never saw it coming. At the time, Steven was the beloved senior pastor of a 1,000 member church. They had a 7 year-old daughter. Paula says there were no outward signs that pointed to a homosexual struggle in Steven, just a growing uneasy feeling inside of her. Paula held Steven up before the Lord and prayed fervently that God would reveal what was wrong with her husband. She believes that God told her through prayer that Steven struggled with homosexuality.
Her worst fears were confirmed when Steven was spotted in a gay bar. Paula's world collapsed.
Perhaps you have an uneasy, sick feeling that something is wrong with your marriage. Perhaps communication has broken down between the two of you and you suspect infidelity. And perhaps you have discovered questionable e-mail, or sexually explicit ads pop up when you're surfing the Internet.
Pam Burnett realised something was amiss when her husband began spending more and more time away from home, distancing himself from her and the kids. She says he also took up running and started to pay an inordinate amount of attention to his physical appearance.
But for Pam, Paula and others there could have been red flags all along. In his book When Homosexuality Hits Home, Joe Dallas says that many women are attracted to the sensitivity, astute communication skills, vulnerability and easily expressed emotions that often embody temperament commonly found in homosexual men. And that the lack of sexual aggression first seen as a desirable trait may just be a lack of normal sexual interest.
A homosexual struggle may take years to manifest within a marriage. Dallas casts the final stages as absence, secrecy and final discovery. He says that most often the spouse is exposed in response to the prayers of a confused partner or family member.
Not Just Husbands
At Focus on the Family we regularly hear from women who fall into lesbianism when emotionally unhealthy relationships with other women become sexualised.
Mike knows the pain involved in finding his wife involved with another woman. "Jane still lived in the house with me and the kids, but she became someone I didn't know. The sweet girl I married became a creature of deep, seething, unpredictable rage. We fought loud and often. She worked long hours and often didn't come home. She began a 'ministry' at the gay bar three blocks from the hospital where she was charge nurse." Jane's unrest at home, and unresolved issues from her past, deteriorated into submersion into the gay lifestyle.
Final Discovery: Tangible Signs
In addition to the ominous feeling that something is wrong, there are a number of telltale signs that your partner might be struggling with same-sex attraction or having a homosexual affair:
- Growing emotional distance between you and your spouse
- Decreased sexual interest in you over time
- Behaviour that does not add up; inconsistencies in details
- Withdrawn, depressed, moody, outbursts of anger
- Spend late nights or great amounts of time on the Internet
- Internet web browser history lists unusual sites
- Preoccupation with physical appearance that has nothing to do with you
- Eyes meet with those of strangers in public
- Claims of working long hours at work or periods of unaccounted time
- Secretive with mobile phone. Looks for incoming calls at odd hours.
- Becomes defensive when you ask questions about time or whereabouts
- Unexplained payments on bank statements.
- Asks about your schedule more than usual
-Phone records disappear, bank and credit card statements redirected to work address
Now that you've hung a label on your suspicions, you may be feeling a deep sense of betrayal, sorrow, and fear. It's time to confront your spouse and find out the truth.
© 2007 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Originally published at focusonthefamily.com.


text:
It 's the biggest, toughest and most outrageous 24 hour race in the world happens May 24th and BMW will be debuting the new BMW M3 GTA race car. Based heavily on the stock M3, the race car will be offered through BMW normal Customer Racing Program throughout the world for the SP10 division. Imagine the sound of one of these V8 M3 's rumbling through the woods of the 'Ring at 2am as you sit around a camp fire with friends. Now imagine driving one…
Official Release: The BMW works drivers Augusto Farfus (BR), Jörg Müller (DE) and Andy Priaulx (GB) will line up at the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring's Nordschleife on 23rd/24th May 2009. This will also mark the debut of the BMW M3 GT4 at this legendary endurance race.
Müller and Priaulx will be behind the wheel of the BMW M3 GT4 when they race for Schubert Motorsport in the Eifel region. The two drivers, who are normally involved in a battle for glory for BMW in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), will join forces with motor racing journalists Marcus Schurig (DE) and Jochen Übler (DE). The editors of the specialist "sport auto" magazine in Germany have many years of racing experience behind them, and have entered the "Green Hell" numerous times in the past. Together with tyre partner Dunlop, this quartet of drivers has its sights set on a top position in the SP10 class.
BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, says: "Although we will not be represented by a works team at this year's 24-hour race, our Customer Racing programme ensures that our fans will still see plenty of BMW racing cars and BMW works drivers. We will be particularly interested in how the new BMW M3 GT4 performs, which is fielded by Schubert Motorsport in cooperation with 'sport auto'. Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx are two former overall winners in the Eifel. Spectators can certainly look forward to an exciting weekend."
The BMW M3 GT4, the youngest addition to the Customer Racing product range offered by the BMW Motorsport Distribution division, made its debut on the legendary Nordschleife in front of many BMW fans at last weekend's 56th ADAC Westfalenfahrt. After four hours, Müller and Übler were victorious in the SP10 class, and finished 30th overall.
The Nordschleife at the Nürburgring has played a very special role in the history of BMW. BMW drivers have enjoyed countless successes there since the first 24-hour race was held in 1970. Last year alone, one third of the 150 cars that completed the 24-hour race were BMW made. With 114 class victories, BMW is by far the most successful manufacturer in the history of the event.
To date, the marque has 18 overall victories to its name, and has even achieved a one-two on eight occasions. Most recently, the BMW M3 GTR enjoyed double success in 2004 and 2005. Jörg Müller was a member of the winning team back in 2004, while Priaulx was triumphant in 2005.


text:
The Director-General of UNESCO voices his alarm over the resumption of tensions in the Old City of Jerusalem
On Tuesday 8 February 2007, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, expressed his "deep concern over the work initiated by the Israeli authorities on the site of the Old City of Jerusalem, which is protected by the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972). By virtue of this Convention, the site is inscribed on the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger".
In his statement, the Director-General particularly recalled the decision reached by the World Heritage Committee at its last session in Vilnius (Lithuania), in 2006, in which the Committee declared its "concern as to the obstacles and practices, such as archaeological excavations or new constructions, which could alter the outstanding universal value of the cultural heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem, including its urban and social fabric as well as its visual integrity" and requested "the Israeli authorities to provide to the World Heritage Centre all relevant information concerning the new buildings planned in and around the Western Wall Plaza, including the plans for the reconstruction of the access leading to the al-Haram ash-Sharîf".
In order to ensure that the work undertaken - the plans of which have not been forwarded to UNESCO - does not, in any way, undermine "the outstanding universal value of the Old City of Jerusalem", the Director-General has also written to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to express his serious concern and has asked him to provide UNESCO with information related to the work.
In his statement Mr Matsuura also underlined that: "The distinctive character of the Old City of Jerusalem derives, in particular, from the close relationship between the historical and religious buildings and the peoples living with them". The Director-General added that "Interfering with the delicate balance among the symbols of the three monotheistic religions would entail running the risk of undermining the respect for sacred beliefs."
For this reason, the Director-General has launched "a vigorous appeal to all people of good will to cease any action that could lead to tensions, whose magnitude can not be foreseen at this time. The wisest course would be to suspend any action that could endanger the spirit of mutual respect until such time as the will to dialogue prevails once again."


text:
- Log into your Media Temple Account.
- Click the blue ADMIN button associated with your Shared Hosting server.
- In the upper-left corner of the account Dashboard, select FTP Manager.
- In the cPanel FTP Accounts page, complete these fields:
- Log in: The first part of your username. The full username includes @[your account's primary domain name]. So if your primary domain is coolexample.com, and you enter ftpuser, then the full username for FTP will be firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Password: The password for this FTP user.
- Directory: The directory this user can access. To give this user access to the entire account, enter nothing but a forward slash (/).
- Quota: Total size of the files (in MB) this user can upload to that directory. Select Unlimited for no limit. Existing files in a directory count towards the quota.
- Click Create FTP Account.
Editing Existing Users
Scroll down to the FTP Accounts section and select an option under the Actions section:
- Change Password: Update the password for this FTP user.
- Change Quota: Update the quota for this FTP user (MB).
- Delete: Remove this user.
We recommend leaving Delete the User's Home Directory unchecked, unless you are certain there is no desired data in the user directory.
- Configure FTP Client: View the manual settings or download a configuration file for FTP clients. We also recommend reading our article on third-party FTP applications here.
This article shows you how to add FTP users to your server. You have the ability to grant custom access to each user. These users can also have SSH and SFTP access, but only to their own home folders.
Instructions1. Sign into the Account Center.
2. Depending on when your Grid server was provisioned, you will either select Add/Edit Users from the Server Settings panel or for legacy Grid servers, select Add/Edit FTP & SSH Users. Only one of the options will be available. The rest of the instructions will be the same regardless of which option was available.
Older Grid servers may not see the option above and will instead select Add/Edit FTP & SSH Users:
Then click on in the top right corner.
- If editing an existing user, click the edit icon.
3. Fill out the form for the new user. Use the drop down menu to the right of the username to assign the new user to either a particular domain or all domains.
4. Give the user SSH and/or FTP access using the check boxes. SSH (Secure Shell) is for general administration. FTP/SFTP is specifically for uploading and downloading data. For more information, refer to these helpful resources, or contact our 24/7 support.
- SSH will only give the new user access to their home directory.
- FTP has the following access controls to choose from:
- /users/username - This option grants the most restricted FTP access, limited to the user's home folder. This is useful if someone just needs a personal storage location. This option also grants access to the email files for that user, which are stored in a folder called Maildir. Be careful about changing files in the Maildir folder.
- /domains/ - This option grants access to all of your domains.
- /domains/ with dropdown - This option grants access to a specific domain, chosen from the dropdown menu.
- custom - You can grant access to any existing folder on the server with this option. It can be very permissive (example: / grants the same access as the main user) or very restrictive (example: /domains/example.com/html/subfolder/ grants access to a limited folder).
- If you get the error: "The directory that you have set for your FTP user does not exist", this means you need to add the folder first. You can do this with the main FTP user, or through the File Manager.
- Decide whether you also want to grant SSH/SFTP access. SSH is command line access. SFTP is Secure FTP. Both of these options work for ONLY the user's home directory. The main user, serveradmin, is the only SSH/SFTP user available for general server use. If you do want to grant access, select the Enable SSH access option.
The main user, serveradmin, is the only SSH/SFTP user available for general server use.
Here's how your user will connect to your Grid via SSH:
- Username: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Password: user password that you assigned.
- SSH login syntax (Terminal on Mac):
- (Note that the username uses % rather than @. @ is used right before the server name, which can be your domain or your access domain.)
ssh username%example.com
For more information, please see: Connecting via SSH to your server.
- Click UPDATE USER at the bottom.
That's it! You should be able to log into the server with this user with any standard FTP client or terminal program.
FTP user limit
You can create up to 1000 FTP users on the Grid.
This guide will help you create additional FTP users on your DV. You will find instructions below for both the cPanel and Plesk interfaces.
cPanelWhen a new cPanel account is created in WHM, an FTP user is created for the account. However, you may also create additional FTP users once you have logged int cPanel. This guide will take you through the steps to add additional FTP users.
- Log into cPanel for your domain.
- Click on FTP Accounts in the Files section of the panel.
- Next, choose a username, password, directory, and quota for this FTP user. Once this is done, click the Create FTP Account button.
- You're done setting up your new user!
Add a New User
Plesk allows you to enable SSH for the main FTP user for each domain. The first section explains how to do this. The second section shows you how to create additional SSH users for any subfolder under a particular domain, or a high-level SSH user.
These screenshots are for DV 4.0 and Plesk 11. If you are on DV 4.0 and are running Plesk 10.x, please see this article for upgrade information: How do I upgrade Plesk?
- Log into the Plesk Control Panel for your domain.
- From the Home page, click on Domains. Then click on the desired domain.
- Next, click on FTP Access.
Click on Add an FTP Account.
- Enter a username, custom home directory, and password. Then click OK.
- FTP account name: This is the FTP username.
- Home directory: Click on the folder to navigate to the desired directory, or leave it with just / to grant access to all domains in that subscription.
- Password: This will be your FTP password. Please choose a strong password.
- You're done setting up your new user! Your FTP username and password will now work.
Edit an existing user
Follow steps 1-3 above to get to your list of FTP users. To edit the details for an existing user, click the user's name to edit.
Enable SFTP
To enable SFTP, you'll have to enable SSH access for the primary FTP user for this subscription. SFTP is available only for the primary user.
- Click on your FTP user as shown above.
- Next, select /bin/bash (chrooted) from the dropdown menu (unless you want a different kind of SSH access).
- Finally, click OK.
If the SSH option is grayed out, complete one of the following.
- Log into Plesk with your admin user and then warp to the Control Panel, where you will now be able to edit this setting.
- Enable the option for a customer to set SSH access for a user within the subscription settings for that domain (see Create your subscription to access your settings - click on the subscription, then go to Customize, then Permissions).
Your primary FTP user also allows you to view your IP address and your current SSL Certificate. You can also set a disk space limit for the subscription.
- Your IP address is a great way to access your server if your domain doesn't point here yet.
- For more details on using this tool to create an SSH user, see the section below: Command-line method to add a new user.
Command-line method to add a new user
You can create a Linux user with fully customized access to your server via command line.
In the first example, you will create an additional user on your server with SSH and FTP access. This user will have access to a subfolder in one of your domains. The main point of this is to create a sub-SSH user. If you just need an FTP user, just follow the above instructions.
In the second example, you will make an SSH user with higher-level access. It is not recommended to make an FTP user with a higher level of access, because then you will run into permissions issues with uploaded files.
This article shows you how to modify high-level configuration files on your server. Please consider making a backup of your DV server before making the changes shown in this article, or at least back up your /etc/passwd file. (mt) Media Temple does not support modifying your default server configuration.
Instructions for FTP/SSH user
- Log into your server via SSH or FTP as the main FTP/domain user. In this example, the main domain user will be called "alpha."
- Create the desired home directory for your new FTP user. In this example, the directory for the new user will be example.com/httpdocs/beta_directory.
- Log into your server via SSH as the root user.
- Check your /etc/passwd file for the user ID (UID) of your main domain user. alpha is used as an example.
egrep "alpha" /etc/passwd
This will return a line like this.
The UID is the number after the x. We will be using this UID in the next step. In our example, the UID is 10001. So, when you write the below command, the UID you type out must match what came up in the /etc/passwd search results above. i.e. If the UID is 10000, then use 10000. If it is 15000, then use 15000.
- Run the following command to create the new user. The new user in this example is called beta. Remember to match the UID.
useradd -d /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/beta_directory/ -ou 10001 -g psacln -s /bin/bash beta
You should see output similar to the following.
useradd: warning: the home directory already exists. Not copying any file from skel directory into it.
Notes on this command.
- -d designates the home directory for the new user. It should be the directory to which you want to grant FTP access.
- -ou designates that the UID for the new user will NOT be unique, and then specifies the UID. You should replace 10001 with the UID from your /etc/passwd file in Step 4.
- -g specifies the group for the new user. psacln is correct for all DV servers with Plesk.
- -s describes the type of SSH access. /bin/false disables SSH access. Use /bin/bash or any other desired shell if you want to grant SSH access.
- Set a password for your new user.
passwd beta
You will be prompted with the following.
New UNIX password: Retype new UNIX password:
Type in your new password twice. You will not see your cursor moving. You should get the following output.
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
That's it! You can now log into FTP and SSH with your new user. When you create or upload files with this user, they will belong to the main domain user ("alpha" in the example), so you will not run into any permissions problems. This user will also be limited in access to their home directory.
Instructions for High-Level SSH user
This example will create an SSH user with access to the /var/www/vhosts/ directory, which is where all of your website files are kept.
- Log into your server as root or a sudo user via SSH.
- Run the following command to create a user called beta.
useradd -d /var/www/vhosts/ -s /bin/bash beta
You should see output similar to the following.
useradd: warning: the home directory already exists. Not copying any file from skel directory into it.
Notes on this command.
- -d designates the home directory for the new user. It should be the directory to which you want to grant SSH access.
- -s describes the type of SSH access. /bin/false disables SSH access. Use /bin/bash or any other desired shell if you want to grant SSH access.
- Set a password for your new user.
passwd beta
You will be prompted with the following.
New UNIX password: Retype new UNIX password:
Type in your new password twice. You will not see your cursor moving. You should get the following output.
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
You will now be able to log into your server via SSH with your new username and password. You will be placed in
/var/www/vhosts/ by default.
Modify User
The usermod command allows you to change basic settings for any user. It is very similar to the useradd command shown above, except that it changes settings instead of setting them for the first time. For example, you can use this command to modify the user's home directory.
usermod -d /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/new_directory/ beta
- For more information on usermod, you might want to check the documentation at die.net.
Delete User
If you want to delete one of the users you have created, you can execute the following command in SSH.
userdel olduser
You should replace olduser with the name of the user you want to delete. If you want to also remove that user's home directory and all its contents, execute this command.
userdel -r olduser
Do not use this to remove users that you (or another human) did not create. If you accidentally delete a system user, your server will not work properly and you may need to revert to default.
- Some basic information on userdel from die.net.


text:
Dark Places: A Novel (Paperback)
Backordered - Subject to Publisher Availability
May 2009 Indie Next List
"Once again, Gillian Flynn focuses on a deeply flawed protagonist. This time it's 32-year-old Libby Day, who is searching for the person who killed her family 25 years ago. Told alternatively in the present and in flashbacks to the events leading up to the horrific event, this compelling story mesmerizes even as it horrifies. Flynn exceeds the promise shown in her first novel, Sharp Objects."
— Joe, Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, IL
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl, and the basis for the major motion picture starring Charlize Theron
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas." She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She'll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby's search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.
About the Author
Gillian Flynn is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Gone Girl, for which she wrote the Golden Globe–nominated screenplay; the New York Times bestsellers Dark Places and Sharp Objects; and a novella, The Grownup. A former critic for Entertainment Weekly, she lives in Chicago with her husband and children.
Praise For…
Named one of the Best Books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly
A Weekend TODAY "Top Summer Read"
The New Yorker's Reviewers' Favorite from 2009
A 2009 Favorite Fiction Pick by The Chicago Tribune
"[A] nerve-fraying thriller."
—New York Times Book Review
"Flynn's well-paced story deftly shows the fallibility of memory and the lies a child tells herself to get through a trauma."
—The New Yorker
"Gillian Flynn coolly demolished the notion that little girls are made of sugar and spice in Sharp Objects, her sensuous and chilling first thriller. In DARK PLACES, her equally sensuous and chilling follow-up, Flynn…has conjured up a whole new crew of feral and troubled young females….[A] propulsive and twisty mystery."
—Entertainment Weekly
"Flynn follows her deliciously creepy Sharp Objects with another dark tale . . . The story, alternating between the 1985 murders and the present, has a tense momentum that works beautifully. And when the truth emerges, it's so macabre not even twisted little Libby Day could see it coming."
—People (4 stars)
"Crackles with peevish energy and corrosive wit."
—Dallas Morning News
"A riveting tale of true horror by a writer who has all the gifts to pull it off."
—Chicago Tribune
"In her first psychological thriller, Sharp Objects, Flynn created a world unsparingly grim and nasty (the heroine carves words into her own flesh) written with irresistibly mordant humor. The sleuth in her equally disturbing and original second novel is Libby Day....It's Flynn's gift that she can make a caustic, self-loathing, unpleasant protagonist someone you come to root for."
—New York Magazine
"[A] gripping thriller."
"Gillian Flynn is the real deal, a sharp, acerbic, and compelling storyteller with a knack for the macabre."
–Stephen King
"Another winner!"
–Harlan Coben
"Gillian Flynn's writing is compulsively good. I would rather read her than just about any other crime writer."
–Kate Atkinson
"Dark Places grips you from the first page and doesn't let go."
–Karin Slaughter
"With her blistering debut Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn hit the ground running. Dark Places demonstrates that was no fluke."
–Val McDermid
"DARK PLACES' Libby Day may seem unpleasant company at first–she's humoring those with morbid curiosities about her family's murders in order to get money out of them–but her steely nature and sharp tongue are compelling. 'I have a meanness inside me,'she says, 'real as an organ.'Yes she does, and by the end of this pitch-black novel, after we've loosened our grip on its cover and started breathing deeply again, we're glad Flynn decided to share it."
–Jessa Crispin, NPR.org
"Flynn returns to the front ranks of emerging thriller writers with her aptly titled new novel . . . Those who prefer their literary bones with a little bloody meat will be riveted."
—Portland Oregonian
"Gillian Flynn may turn out to be a more gothic John Irving for the 21st century, a writer who uses both a surgeon's scalpel and a set of rusty harrow discs to rip the pretty face off middle America."
—San Jose Mercury News
"The world of this novel is all underside, all hard flinch, and Flynn's razor-sharp prose intensifies this effect as she knuckles in on every sentence. . . . The slick plotting in DARK PLACES will gratify the lover of a good thriller–but so, too, will Flynn's prose, which is ferocious and unrelenting and pure pleasure from word one."
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Gillian Flynn's second novel, DARK PLACES, proves that her first – Sharp Objects – was no fluke. . . . tough, surprising crime fiction that dips its toes in the deeper waters of literary fiction."
—Chicago Sun-Times
"Flynn fully inhabits Libby—a damaged woman whose world has resided entirely in her own head for the majority of her life and who is prone to dark metaphors: 'Draw a picture of my soul, and it'd be a scribble with fangs.' Half the fun of DARK PLACES is Libby's swampy psychology, which Flynn leads us through without the benefit of hip waders."
—Time Out Chicago
"Clever, engrossing and disturbing….[DARK PLACES] should cement [Flynn's] place in the great authors of crime fiction."
"[D]eliciously creepy...Flynn follows 250-some pages of masterful plotting and character development with a speedway pileup of pulse-pounding revelations."
—Chicago Reader
"A genuinely shocking denouement"
—Romantic Times
"Sardonic, riveting . . . Like Kate Atkinson, Flynn has figured out how to fuse the believable characters, silken prose and complex moral vision of literary fiction to the structure of a crime story. . . . You can sense trouble coming like a storm moving over the prairie, but can't quite detect its shape."
–Laura Miller, Salon.com
"These characters are fully realized—so true they could step off the page….hints of what truly happened to the Day family feel painfully, teasingly paced as they forge an irresistible trail to the truth….Could. Not. Stop. Reading."
"Libby's voice is a pitch-perfect blend of surliness and emotionally charged imagery. . . . The Kansas in these pages is a bleak, deterministic place where bad blood and lies generate horrifically unintended consequences. Though there's little redemption here, Flynn manages to unearth the humanity buried beneath the squalor."
"Set in the bleak Midwest of America, this evocation of small-town life and dysfunctional people is every bit as horribly fascinating as Capote's journalistic retelling of a real family massacre, In Cold Blood, which it eerily resembles. This is only Flynn' s second crime novel–her debut was the award-winning Sharp Objects–and demonstrates even more forcibly her precocious writing ability and talent for the macabre."
– Daily Mail (UK)
"Flynn's second novel is a wonderful evocation of drab small-town life. The time-split narrative works superbly and the atmosphere is eerily macabre—Dark Places is even better than the author's award-winning Sharp Objects."
—The Guardian (UK)
"A gritty, riveting thriller with a one-of-a-kind, tart-tongued heroine."
—Booklist, starred review
"Flynn's second crime thriller tops her impressive debut, Sharp Objects…When the truth emerges, it's so twisted that even the most astute readers won't have predicted it."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The sole survivor of a family massacre is pushed into revisiting a past she'd much rather leave alone, in Flynn's scorching follow-up to Sharp Objects . . . Flynn intercuts Libby's venomous detective work with flashbacks to the fatal day 24 years ago so expertly that as they both hurtle toward unspeakable revelations, you won't know which one you're more impatient to finish. . . . every sentence crackles with enough baleful energy to fuel a whole town through the coldest Kansas winter."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Once in a while a book comes along that puts a new spin on an old idea. More than 40 years ago, Truman Capote took readers inside the Clutter farmhouse in Holcomb, KS, to show them what it was like to walk in a killer's shoes. Flynn takes modern readers back to Kansas to explore the fictional 1985 Day family massacre from the perspective of a survivor as well as the suspects. . . . tight plotting and engaging characters."
—Library Journal


text:
Gamer2009 Action/Adventure | Suspense/Thriller | SciFi/Fantasy
"Gamer" is a high-concept action thriller set in the near future, a time when mind-control technology has taken society by storm. Humans control other humans in a mass-scale, multiplayer online game. Reclusive billionaire Ken Castle has created the controversial form of entertainment, "Slayers," a hugely popular game that allows millions to act out their innermost desires and fantasies-online--in front of a global audience. Gaming has evolved into a terrifying new dimension...mind control...manipulation...people playing people! At the center is Kable, the superstar and cult hero of "Slayers," the savage, ultraviolent first person shooter game. Kable is controlled by Simon, a young gamer with rock star status who continues to defy all odds by guiding Kable to victory each week. Taken from his family, imprisoned and forced to fight against his will, the modern day gladiator must survive long enough to escape the game to free his family, regain his identity and to save mankind from Castle's ruthless technology.


text:
Independent Lens
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook school, the town takes action against gun violence.
On the eve of the 2008 election, a town in Tennessee finds itself grappling with what it means to be American.
Kim A. Snyder's film Welcome To Shelbyville was a recipient of a Gucci-Tribeca Documentary Fund grant, an official selection of the US State Department's American Documentary Showcase, and was nationally broadcast on PBS's Independent Lens in 2011. In 2007, Snyder co-founded the BeCause Foundation to direct and produce a series of socially conscious… Show more documentaries, which have won numerous awards with campaigns furthering the work of the social innovators they highlight. She directed and produced the award-winning documentary feature I Remember Me, which was theatrically distributed by Zeitgeist Films. In 1994, Kim associate produced the Academy Award-winning short film Trevor which became the cornerstone of The Trevor Project, a national organization dedicated to suicide prevention among gay youth. She has served on the admissions review committee for NYU's Graduate Film Program and graduated with a Masters in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Show less
Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.
Welcome to Shelbyville is a glimpse of America at a crossroads. In this one small town in the heart of America's Bible Belt, a community grapples with rapidly changing demographics. Just a stone's throw away from Pulaski, Tennessee (the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan), longtime African American and white residents are challenged with how best to integrate with a growing Latino population and the more recent arrival of hundreds of Muslim Somali refugees.
Set on the eve of the 2008 Presidential election, the film captures the interaction between these residents as they navigate new waters against the backdrop of a tumultuous year. The economy is in crisis, factories are closing, and jobs are hard to find. The local Tyson chicken plant is hiring hundreds of new Somali refugees, and when a local reporter initiates a series of articles about the newcomers, a flurry of controversy and debate erupts within the town.
Just as the Latino population grapples with their own immigrant identity, African American residents look back at their segregated past and balance perceived threats to their livelihood and security against the values that they learned through their own long struggle for civil rights. As the newcomers — mostly of Muslim faith — attempt to make new lives for themselves and their children, leaders in this deeply religious community attempt to guide their congregations through this period of unprecedented change. Through the vibrant and colorful characters of Shelbyville, the film explores immigrant integration and the interplay between race, religion, and identity in this dynamic dialogue. The story is an intimate portrayal of a community's struggle to understand what it means to be American.
We'll send you funding deadlines, events, and film news.
Connect with us now at email@example.com.


text:
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Foreign Policy Shift
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. His agenda has been too reduce government's role to the basics, leaving the more 'pedestrian' issues to the provinces.
I guess the issue isn't that he has a hidden agenda, the issue is it's been in plain view, but too few Canadians understand or have been given an explanation of it's implications.
6 comments:
- HearHere said...
I thought that our policy on the current issue was the same as the concensus reached by the G8 and the entire European Union.
And, our additional foreign policies hinge on our membership in NATO and we also get requests by the United Nations and that we do not support groups whose primary motive is terrorism or anarchy, like Hamas, Hezbola, Tamil Tigers, Taliban, etc.
Do you think that should change?
- 2:51 p.m.
It is far too simplistic to hang the title "terrorist". Canada has had a 2 nation policy in the middle east for decades. HArper has shifted our role from neutral peace broker to backing Israel. Surely, Harper can find a less costly brutal way to suck up to the Montreal jewish community.
- 4:23 p.m.
- Karen said...
I suspect that Harper had little choice but to capitulate, re' the G8 concensus.
He jumped the gun by using his 'measured' comment. At the time that he said that, Israel had already targetted the civilian infrastructure. It's clear where he stands and this has not been our position in the past.
We may have been a small player in the Middle East, but we were able to act in a diplomatic fashion. his stance shifts that.
What if, through NATO, we're asked to man/guard the 'buffer zone'...how will the surrounding nations, (Israel excluded), react?
We're walking toward a dangerous place, in my opinion.
- 5:31 p.m.
- wilson said...
What has changed since 2004 ???:
PM (Paul Martin) speaks at inaugural Israel advocacy conference.
"I want to let you know that in Canada we will not, nor will we ever, waiver in our support of Israel," said the prime minister to a standing ovation. "We believe strongly and incontrovertibly in Israel's right to protect itself from people bent on destroying it."
About a year ago, Owen and about two dozen other Liberal MPs formed Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel, which is now an official caucus committee.
Along with Owen, other cabinet members who belong to the pro-Israel group include Ontario MPs Joe Volpe , Carolyn Bennett and Jim Peterson .
"I have not heard one thing in three years [from other Liberal MPs] that would contradict the thrust of [the committee's views on Israel]," Owen said. "It's not as if there is an acrimonious debate, or any debate, going on."
- 8:32 p.m.
- EX-NDIP said...
Under the LPC there was no foreign policy, most of them still have the fence posts stuck in their asses for sittling on it for so long . . . what is complicated about a soverign nation being attacked by a terrorist organization that has publicly stated that is wants to obliterate said state . . . only the most twisted, confused mind could see a problem. Israel has every right to defend its borders.
- 2:55 p.m.
- Karen said...
wilson61, Martin said we would not waiver in our support. We haven't. He did not say, we'll give Israel a blank cheque to proceed indescrimanently.
I understand your desire to support Israel and respect your right to your opinion. I just think you're conflating two issues.
One is Israel's rights, the other is the right's of the Lebanese people. Not hezbollah...the Lebanese people.
- 6:30 p.m.


text:
Bungie Trademarks "Aerospace" and "Marathon"
The first filing is for "Bungie Aerospace", which Joystiq speculates could be linked to a re-branding of the studio following its split from Microsoft. Other speculation points to a piece of technology, which might be licensed out to other developers.
The second filing, made on March 8th is for "Marathon", the title of Bungie's second game and first hit. Halo fans will be the first to note that Halo and Marathon most likely occur in the same overall universe.
The upcoming Halo: Reach should be Bungie's last entry in the series, which is owned by Microsoft, before it transfers over to the Microsoft-owned 343 Industries. Bungie does, however, own the rights to Marathon. Could Bungie be gearing up to develop a new Marathon or is this just a re-filing to secure the trademark?
Update: To both filings, Bungie's community director Brian Jarrard told Shacknews, "No comment".
The two are so similar anyways. I like the locations, slower pace and tightness of Marathon compared to Halo's fast outdoor world but I feel so much of Halo could be filed under "shit we couldn't do in Marathon" that taking all that out to do something like the original Marathon games would feel like a bit of a step back.


text:
Only that's shortchanging it. Directed and co-written by Pawel Pawlikowski (a Pole working in English), My Summer of Love is the kind of film that rises above its particulars. Its immediate subject is a few months of heated passion between two girls, but it's really about the psychology of need, and of want, and of abandonment -- especially for adolescents whose parents are, in one form or another, elsewhere. What's so lovely about Pawlikowski's style is that he marshals nearly every tool in the box -- character, action, setting, dialogue, lighting, camerawork, music -- to create something both recognizable and new. It's a fantastic level of commitment, and the result is a mood movie that sweeps you into its infatuation and holds you there.
The protagonist is Mona (Natalie Press), a West Yorkshire lass who is down on her luck. She is first seen in a fever of scribbling, drawing the face of a girl on her pocked bedroom wall, framing it in flaming-red marker. We don't know why she's doing it, but her desperation is easy enough to read; in the next scene, as Mona pedals a moped down a gravel road, we get another image of roughness (the road, like the wall) and of hardship. Mona never knew her father, her mother died of cancer, and her brother Phil (In America's Paddy Considine), once the violent owner and operator of the pub they live above, has turned to Christianity. "He went inside, and he came out funny," Mona says of Phil's transformation. "Inside" is a reference to prison, but it seems to refer to his emotional interior as well.
Natalie Press is essentially an unknown to anyone who missed this year's program of Academy Award-nominated shorts. In Wasp, the winner for live-action, Press gave a harrowing performance as a 23-year-old mother of four, a fraying girl-woman who deposits her children outside a pub for untold hours while she's on a date. Press's Mona is of the same world as that mother, only younger, and the impression in both films is indelible: These women are bereft. They lack the basics, and they seem on the verge of falling over a cliff. "I haven't got any family," Mona says to Phil, begging him to return to the way he used to be. "Nobody fancies me."
That's when Tamsin (Emily Blunt) saunters in on a white horse, like a fairy-tale knight. She is home early from school, suspended for being a "bad influence," and she's bored. She invites Mona to come around. When Mona does, she discovers an ivy-covered English estate like something out of an Evelyn Waugh novel -- only this one is in a romantic state of semidecay, with spookily empty rooms and grass growing tall on the tennis court.
Tamsin is a beauty as well as a romantic. She discusses Nietzsche and Freud as only an adolescent can (with enthusiastic agreement) and loudly plays Piaf while discussing the singer's life. Of Piaf's supposed third husband: "The last one was a boxing champion, and she killed him with a fork. She didn't even go to prison, because in France, crimes of passion are forgiven." It's not hard for an adult to see the theater in this, and to suspect Tamsin of self-dramatization, but Mona is smitten. She has never met anyone like this sophisticated sylph, and besides, Tamsin is suffering losses. Her sister died of anorexia, and her father is shagging his secretary in a tasteless housing development.
Ryszard Lenczewski's camerawork is both close and shaky, almost feverish in its gaze. Using a hand-held camera, he zooms toward the faces of the actors, slicing off a chin or a forehead, gulping in the girls as well as the landscape. Everything feels urgent, important, unquenchable. There's also the delicious juxtaposition of English pastoral and contemporary adolescent anomie -- the girls with their midriff-baring shirts, bottomless glasses of wine, and ubiquitous cigarettes, lying listless in a field or under a canopy of trees. We see them as Mona sees them, sexy and grand.
In the end, My Summer of Love has a surprise for Mona, if not for the attentive viewer. It's a sad one, but very real, and Pawlikowski allows Mona a final act of dignity. For that, and for this film, we thank him.


text:
Can we?
I was in a miserable mood for weeks—regular readers will know that, for whatever reason, I go through these moods from time to time—and, strangely enough, a key to getting out of it seems to have been watching the Democratic convention and reading Obama's two books. I'm not saying this ought to have helped, only that it did. Why? Well, I can think of three possible reasons:
Firstly, it's a truism that the cure for misery is to find something greater than yourself to worry about. (Quantum complexity research used to fill that role for me, and will hopefully do so again in the near future.) For someone who's spent so much of his life inside his own head, it's fascinating to watch people actually going out and doing something that while often corny and cringe-inducing also bears some recognizable relation to the public good. What a strange, novel idea! What's even stranger, they might even succeed this year. Of course, there's a paradox at the heart of this philosophy: if you only worry about something greater than yourself because it distracts you from the tragedy of your own existence, then are you really worried about it in the first place? But this is no more paradoxical than so much else about the human condition. The hope is that caring about something greater than yourself will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Secondly, there's the fact that a man whose writing demonstrates a finely-developed capacity for introspection, self-criticism, and doubt might become the Leader of the Free World in two months. Reading Obama's books, this introspectiveness—which is difficult to fake, and which probably doesn't help him with most voters anyway—struck me as his most endearing quality. (Of course, Obama also possesses a finely-developed capacity to suppress his capacity for introspection. If he didn't, then he'd still be an obscure instructor at the University of Chicago rather than a rock-star messiah.) I'll freely confess to bias in this matter. I'm sure part of the reason why I've never been able to identify with the Republican Right, the Chomskyan Far Left, or the Libertarian Outwards—besides my actual disagreement with those philosophies—has been the serene confidence of those philosophies' major proponents. Any worldview that isn't wracked by self-doubt and confusion over its own identity is not a worldview for me.
Thirdly, seeing President Clinton in his stride always cheers me up a little.
Given the above, I'd like propose the following question: what non-obvious things can nerds who are so inclined do to help the Democrats win in November? I'm not talking about voting, donating money, licking envelopes, or standing on street corners "Baracking the vote": the first two are easy and obvious while the second two are unsuitable for nerds. The sorts of ideas I'm looking for are ones that (1) exploit nerds' nerdiness, (2) go outside the normal channels of influence, (3) increase nerds' effective voting power by several orders of magnitude, (4) are legal, (5) target critical swing states, and (6) can be done as a hobby.
Do such ideas exist? Well, the prototype for such an idea is Nadertrading, which I was involved with in the 2000 election cycle (see here). Before the main Nadertrading sites were shut down by Republican state attorneys-general (on doubtful legal grounds), we Nadertraders had convinced several hundred Nader supporters in Florida to commit to voting for Gore, in exchange for Gore supporters in safe states voting for Nader on their behalf. Had Nadertrading been allowed to continue just a couple weeks longer, it might have prevented Bush from taking power and thereby changed the history of the world. I'm looking for the Nadertrading of 2008, and I haven't found it yet.
A few possibilities:
- Nadertrading Redux. Ralph is running again, and it might be worthwhile to try and reduce his influence in swing states once more. The trouble is that, after 2000, anyone who would still vote for Nader is likely beyond the reach of any outcomes-based consideration.
- Lobbyists for McCain. In 2004, I participated in a Billionaires for Bush march in NYC, and can testify that it was a blast. It seems the 2008 analogue is Lobbyists for McCain. Downsides: (1) this joke has been done before, and (2) it's not clear to me that satire, even when amusing and well-executed, actually changes anyone's mind about anything.
- Publicize and correct voting machine flaws. Researchers have demonstrated that a voting machine virus would be almost trivial to install and could go completely undetected by poll workers. And while some might find such a scenario implausible, it does seem likely that more mundane voting machine problems—system crashes, dropped and lost votes, confusing interfaces, etc.—will determine the outcome this year, exactly as they did in 2000 and possibly in 2004. These irregularities have, for whatever reasons, been far more likely to favor Republicans than Democrats. To their credit, computer scientists have been at the forefront of studying and publicizing these voting machine flaws, and have even succeeded in improving election procedures in California. The downsides? Firstly, it's probably already too late to do much before November; secondly, computer scientists have been screaming about these problems for years and yet depressingly little has changed in the swing states.
- Build a database and/or statistical model for identifying "problem precincts". Wouldn't it have been helpful if, before the 2000 election, prominent Democrats had known about Theresa LePore, and the possibility that her butterfly ballots flapping their wings in Florida would cause the destruction of New Orleans five years later? Or if before the 2004 election, they'd known to concentrate their monitoring efforts on particular counties in Ohio? (A side note: improving the Democrats' ability to challenge results after the election is over strikes me as a complete waste of time. Whoever the networks announce as the presumptive winner on election eve, that's who the winner is going to be.) I don't know how to predict 2008's likely trouble zones, and even if I did, I don't know what I would do about them. But this still strikes me as the most promising of the four listed directions.