text:
Legacy Fly Postgres Clusters
This document applies to all Fly Postgres clusters created using flyctl versions < v0.0.412. These run on our Apps V1 architecture (orchestrated by Nomad). Docs for newer Fly Postgres clusters live at Fly Postgres
Postgres, or PostgreSQL, is a powerful open-source object relational database system.
About Fly Postgres
Fly Postgres is a regular Fly.io app, with an automated creation process and some extensions to simplify management. It relies on building blocks available to all Fly apps, like
flyctl, volumes, private networking, health checks, logs, metrics, and more. The source code is available on GitHub to view and fork.
About Free Fly Postgres
You can use Fly.io's free resource allowance in one place, or split it up. The following Postgres configurations fit within the free volume usage limit:
- single node, 3gb volume (single database)
- 2 x 1gb volumes (database in two regions, or a primary and replica in the same region)
- 3 x 1gb volumes (database in three regions)
If you want to keep your whole project free, save some compute allowance for your other apps.
See also How to convert your not-free Postgres to free Postgres.
Creating a Postgres app
To create a Postgres cluster, use the
flyctl postgres create command. The command will walk you through the creation with prompts for name, region, and VM resources.
flyctl postgres create
? App Name: c-pg-test
Automatically selected personal organization: Chris Nicoll
? Select region: [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> ams (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
cdg (Paris, France)
dfw (Dallas, Texas (US))
ewr (Secaucus, NJ (US))
fra (Frankfurt, Germany)
gru (São Paulo)
? Select region: mia (Miami, Florida (US))
For pricing information visit: https://fly.io/docs/about/pricing/#postgresql-clusters
During this process, you get to choose from several preset resource configurations for the app:
? Select configuration: [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> Development - Single node, 1x shared CPU, 256MB RAM, 1GB disk
Development - Single node, 1x shared CPU, 512MB RAM, 10GB disk
Production - Highly available, 1x shared CPU, 256MB RAM, 10GB disk
Production - Highly available, 1x Dedicated CPU, 2GB RAM, 50GB disk
Production - Highly available, 2x Dedicated CPU's, 4GB RAM, 100GB disk
Specify custom configuration
The "Production" options give you a two-node cluster in a leader-replica configuration. A single-node "Development" instance can readily be scaled and expanded to more regions.
Creating postgres cluster c-pg-test in organization personal
Postgres cluster c-pg-test created
Username: postgres
Password: 8a93cbc09798f3805056333072bd2b35be7eb634b13a05c3
Hostname: c-pg-test.internal
Proxy Port: 5432
PG Port: 5433
Save your credentials in a secure place, you won't be able to see them again!
Monitoring Deployment
1 desired, 1 placed, 1 healthy, 0 unhealthy [health checks: 3 total, 3 passing]
--> v0 deployed successfully
Connect to postgres
Any app within the personal organization can connect to postgres using the above credentials and the hostname "c-pg-test.internal."
For example: postgres://postgres:email@example.com:5432
See the postgres docs for more information on next steps, managing postgres, connecting from outside fly: https://fly.io/docs/reference/postgres/
After answering all the prompts, you'll see a message saying that the cluster is being created, followed by a deployment monitor watching as the app is launched. Take heed of the reminder to save your password in a safe place!
Your new Postgres cluster is ready to use once the deployment is complete.
Before we get any further, note that the automated Postgres creation process doesn't generate a
fly.toml file in the working directory. This means that when you use
flyctl commands with Fly Postgres apps, you'll have to specify the app, like so:
flyctl <command> -a <postgres-app-name>
Connecting to Postgres
How you connect to Postgres depends on the tools you're using. Connection string URIs are a common way to describe a connection to a postgres server.
Connection strings have the following format:
The output from
flyctl postgres create contains all the values you need to make a connection string to your database.
Connecting to Postgres from within Fly
As a Fly.io application, your Postgres app is accessible through Fly private networking. This means applications within the same organization can look up the app at
appname.internal. This name, when looked up, can return one or more IPv6 addresses.
Connecting to Postgres from outside Fly
On a machine with
flyctl installed
To connect to your Postgres database from outside your Fly organization, you need a WireGuard connection. However,
flyctl on your local machine can connect using user-mode WireGuard magic, without you having to set up your own WireGuard tunnel.
For a
psql shell, you can just use the
flyctl postgres connect command:
flyctl postgres connect -a <postgres-app-name>
You can also forward the server port to your local system with
flyctl proxy:
flyctl proxy 5432 -a <postgres-app-name>
Then connect to your Postgres server at localhost:5432. Using
psql again, as a trivial example, it would look like this:
psql postgres://postgres:<password>@localhost:5432
If you already have something else listening on port 5432, you can run this instead:
flyctl proxy 15432:5432 -a <postgres-app-name>
Then connect to localhost:15432.
As with all your Fly.io apps, you can get a root console on your app's VM using flyctl ssh.
With your own WireGuard tunnel
If you have an active WireGuard tunnel to your organization on our private network, you can connect to your Postgres cluster the same way you would from a Fly app within the same organization. For example, the following command would start an interactive terminal session on the cluster leader with
psql postgres://postgres:firstname.lastname@example.com:5432
Attaching an App to a Postgres app
Using the superuser credentials, you can create databases, users, and whatever else you need for your apps. But we also have the
flyctl postgres attach shortcut:
flyctl postgres attach --app <app-name> <postgres-app-name>
When you attach an app to Postgres, a number of things happen:
- A database and user are created in the Postgres App. If the attached app is named "myapp", both the database and the user are named "myapp" too.
- The user is allocated a generated password.
When the Attached app starts it will find an environment variable
DATABASE_URL set to a Postgres connection URI with the username, password, host, port and dbname filled in.
Detaching an App from Postgres
flyctl postgres detach to remove postgres from the app.
flyctl postgres detach --app <app-name> <postgres-app-name>
This will revoke access to the attachment's role, remove the role, and remove the
DATABASE_URL secret. The database will not be removed.
High Availability
Fly Postgres uses stolon for leader election and streaming replication between 2+ postgres servers. It provides a number of things, including a "keeper" that controls the postgres process, a "sentinel" that builds the cluster view, and a "proxy" that always routes connections to the current leader.
5433 is the port the keeper tells postgres to listen on. Connecting there goes straight to Postgres, though it might be the leader or the replica. Since clients need writes, the proxy is listening on the default 5432 port so clients are connected to the current leader.
If the leader becomes unhealthy (eg network or hardware issues), the proxy drops all connections until a new leader is elected. Once it's ready, new connections go to the new leader automatically. The previous leader's VM will be replaced by another VM which will rejoin the cluster as a replica.
In general, your clients should connect to port 5432.
Users / Roles
A Postgres cluster is configured with three users when created:
postgres- a role with superuser and login privileges that was created for you along with the cluster. Since the
postgresrole has superuser rights, it's recommended that you only use it for admin tasks and create new users with access restricted to the minimum necessary for applications
flypgadmin- this role is used internally by Fly.io to configure and query the postgres cluster
repluser- this is the user replica servers use for replication from the leader
You can view a list of users using
flyctl postgres users list c-pg-test
Running flyadmin user-list
flypgadmin true postgres
postgres true postgres
repluser false postgres
One Postgres cluster can host multiple databases
Listing Databases
You can view a list of databases with
flyctl postgres db list c-pg-test
Running flyadmin database-list
postgres flypgadmin,postgres,repluser
Connection Examples
Connecting with Ruby (docs)
Ruby apps use the
pg gem to connect to postgres.
require 'pg'
# Output a table of current connections to the DB
conn = PG.connect("postgres://postgres:email@example.com:5432/yourdb")
conn.exec( "SELECT * FROM pg_stat_activity" ) do |result|
puts " PID | User | Query"
result.each do |row|
puts " %7d | %-16s | %s " %
row.values_at('pid', 'username', 'query')
Connecting with Rails (docs)
Rails apps automatically connect to the database specified in the
DATABASE_URL environment variable.
You can set this variable manually with
flyctl secrets set
flyctl secrets set DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:email@example.com:5432/yourdb
or by attaching the postgres database to your Fly app.
Connecting with Go (docs)
pgx is the recommended driver for connecting to postgres. It supports the standard
database/sql interface as well as directly exposing low level / high performance APIs.
First, add
github.com/jackc/pgx/v4 as a module dependency.
go get github.com/jackc/pgx/v4
The following program will connect to the database in
DATABASE_URL and run a query.
package main
import (
_ "github.com/jackc/pgx/v4/stdlib"
func main() {
db, err := sql.Open("pgx", os.Getenv("DATABASE_URL"))
if err != nil {
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Unable to connect to database: %v\n", err)
defer db.Close()
var greeting string
err = db.QueryRow("select 'Hello, world!'").Scan(&greeting)
if err != nil {
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "QueryRow failed: %v\n", err)
Connecting with Node.js (docs)
You'll use the
pg npm module to connect to postgres from a node.js app.
const { Client } = require('pg')
const client = new Client({connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL})
await client.connect()
const res = await client.query('SELECT $1::text as message', ['Hello world!'])
console.log(res.rows[0].message) // Hello world!
await client.end()
Connecting with Prisma – Node.js (docs)
Prisma is an open-source object-relational mapper (ORM) for Node.js and works with both JavaScript and TypeScript. It consists of 3 components:
- Prisma Client - a type-safe query builder
- Prisma Migrate - a data modeling and migration tool
- Prisma Studio - a modern intuitive GUI for interacting with your database
Set up Prisma in your project
Install the Prisma CLI and Prisma Client dependencies in your project
npm i --save-dev prisma
npm i @prisma/client
Initialize Prisma in your project:
npx prisma init
This command does the following:
- Creates a folder called
prismaat the root of your project
- Creates a
.envfile at the root of your project if it doesn't exist
- Creates a
schema.prismafile inside the
prismafolder. This is the file that you will use to model your data
Update the
DATABASE_URL in the
.env to your PostgreSQL database
If you are working in a brownfield project, you can introspect your database to generate the models in your
schema.prisma file:
npx prisma db pull
Assuming you have the following model in your
schema.prisma file:
Add a model to your
schema.prisma file:
datasource db {
provider = "postgresql"
url = env("DATABASE_URL")
generator client {
provider = "prisma-client-js"
model Post {
id Int @id @default(autoincrement())
title String
content String?
You can query your database using Prisma as follows:
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
const prisma = new PrismaClient()
async function main() {
const posts = await prisma.post.findMany()
const newPost = await prisma.post.create({
data: {
title: 'PostgreSQL on Fly.io',
content: 'https://fly.io/docs/reference/postgres'
.catch((e) => {
throw e
.finally(async () => {
await prisma.$disconnect()
You can use
flyctl status to see a list of VMs and their status. The output for each VM includes it's role within the cluster.
$ flyctl status
Name = test-postgres
Owner = superfly
Version = 6
Status = running
Hostname = test.fly.dev
Deployment Status
ID = 044e9269-fabb-27a6-9d53-b25cd2f2e4c2
Version = v6
Status = successful
Description = Deployment completed successfully
Instances = 2 desired, 2 placed, 2 healthy, 0 unhealthy
6b97fa06 6 iad run running (replica) 3 total, 3 passing 0 2021-02-10T23:31:49Z
da8141e7 6 iad run running (leader) 3 total, 3 passing 0 2021-02-10T23:21:21Z
To view the status of an individual VM:
$ flyctl vm status da8141e7
ID = da8141e7
Version = 6
Region = iad
Desired = run
Status = running (leader)
Health Checks = 3 total, 2 passing, 1 critical
Restarts = 0
Created = 2021-02-10T23:21:21Z
Recent Events
2021-02-10T23:21:18Z Received Task received by client
2021-02-10T23:21:48Z Task Setup Building Task Directory
2021-02-10T23:21:49Z Started Task started by client
vm app critical [✗] system spent 31.9 of the last 10 seconds waiting for cpu
[✓] 20.53 GB (83.9%) free space on /data/
[✓] load averages: 0.29 0.35 0.50
[✓] memory: 0.9s waiting over the last 60s
[✓] io: 0.0s waiting over the last 60s
pg app passing [✓] replication: currently leader
[✓] connections: 37 used, 3 reserved, 100 max
role app passing leader
Recent Logs
2021-02-19T22:53:35Z [info] [HEALTHCHECK] [vm: failing] [✗] system spent 6.3 of the last 10 seconds waiting for memory↩[✗] system spent 27.5 of the last 10 seconds waiting for cpu↩[✓] 20.53 GB (83.9%) free space on /data/↩[✓] load averages: 0.29 0.35 0.58↩[✓] io: 0.1s waiting over the last 60s↩
2021-02-19T22:54:35Z [info] [HEALTHCHECK] [vm: passing] [✓] 20.66 GB (84.4%) free space on /data/↩[✓] load averages: 0.28 0.31 0.28↩[✓] memory: 0.7s waiting over the last 60s↩[✓] cpu: 8.6s waiting over the last 60s↩[✓] io: 0.1s waiting over the last 60s↩
To view a list of health checks for a Fly Postgres app, run:
flyctl checks list -a pg-app
Health Checks for pg-app
vm passing 6b97fa06 iad SCRIPT 1m12s ago [✓] 20.68 GB (84.5%) free
space on /data/ [✓] load
averages: 0.00 0.00 0.00 [✓]
memory: 0.0s waiting over the
last 60s [✓] cpu: 0.4s waiting
over the last 60s [✓] io: 0.0s
waiting over the last 60s
pg passing 6b97fa06 iad SCRIPT 5m36s ago [✓] leader check:
connected [✓] replication lag:
246µs [✓] connections: 7 used, 3
reserved, 100 max
role passing 6b97fa06 iad SCRIPT 2021-02-15T22:49:36Z replica
vm passing da8141e7 iad SCRIPT 14s ago [✓] 20.66 GB (84.4%) free
space on /data/ [✓] load
averages: 0.31 0.37 0.32 [✓]
memory: 1.1s waiting over the
last 60s [✓] cpu: 9.4s waiting
over the last 60s [✓] io: 0.1s
waiting over the last 60s
pg passing da8141e7 iad SCRIPT 2m53s ago [✓] replication: currently
leader [✓] connections: 31
used, 3 reserved, 100 max
role passing da8141e7 iad SCRIPT 2021-02-15T22:49:38Z leader
Fly Postgres apps run several processes inside each VM, including postgres, stolon keeper, stolon sentinel, stolon proxy, and postgres_export. Each of those processes redirect STDOUT and STDERR to logs which you can view with
flyctl logs.
Fly Postgres apps export metrics to prometheus which can be seen in the Metrics UI or queried from grafana.
The available metrics are
Scaling the Postgres Cluster
Scaling Vertically - adding More VM Resources
You can change VM resources with the
flyctl scale vm command:
$ flyctl scale vm dedicated-cpu-2x
Scaled VM Type to dedicated-cpu-1x
CPU Cores: 1
Memory: 2 GB
See Scaling VM Resources for more.
Scaling Horizontally - adding more replicas
flyctl volumes create pg_data --region syd --size 10
flyctl scale count 3
Replicas can be added in any region, but an instance outside the leader's region will be read-only. See Multi-region PostgreSQL for more.
Upgrading the Postgres app
You can update a Postgres cluster, installed with
flyctl postgres create, to the latest release using
flyctl image update.
Check your current image with
flyctl image show:
flyctl image show -a <postgres-app-name>
And upgrade with:
flyctl image update -a <postgres-app-name>
Snapshots and restores
Fly.io performs daily storage-based snapshots of each of your provisioned volumes. These snapshots can be used to restore your dataset into a new Postgres application.
Listing snapshots
Snapshots are volume specific, so you will need to first identify a volume to target. You can list your volumes by running the
volumes list command with your Postgres app name.
fly volumes list -a <postgres-app-name>
vol_x915grn008vn70qy pg_data 10GB atl b780ce3d 2 weeks ago
vol_ke628r677pvwmnpy pg_data 10GB atl 359d0e24 2 weeks ago
Once you have identified which volume to target, you can go ahead and list your snapshots by running the following command:
fly volumes snapshots list <volume-id>
vs_2AjJ4lGqQwDbRfxm 29 MiB 2 hours ago
vs_BAARBQxZKl6JKU04 27 MiB 1 day ago
vs_OPQXXna6kA2Qnhz8 26 MiB 2 days ago
Restoring from a snapshot
To restore a Postgres application from a snapshot, simply specify the
--snapshot-id argument when running the
create command as shown below:
fly postgres create --snapshot-id <snapshot-id>


text:
Roger Hoare (11 Apr 1938- 25 Jan 2010)
The Funeral Service
Obituary by Donard Baird (slight editing by Ralph
D. Gee). Roger passed away on 25th January 2010 aged 71 from stomach cancer.
On Roger's life I don't know if I know more than you (Ralph D. Gee). He lived at Ruislip at the time of his coming to Red Hill. He told me once that he had played truant a lot, and school refusal, and had ended up at a kind of loony bin for young people which he said was a terrible place (before RHS). After RHS he had several jobs - one of which was a storeman in the George Cohen Group before joining London Transport Underground where he worked for some 32 years - first as a guard; then as a driver on the Central Line; then as a Station Master at Brixton - and finally as a Station Inspector. He was married for most of that time to Margaret and had one daughter, Mary.
At Red Hill he had, with the help of Otto Shaw, become a Roman Catholic - which was a big and important thing to him for the rest of his life. He had interests in all sorts of bizarre subjects - for instance who was in line for the British throne, which ran into hundreds down to some obscure village squire in Lower Saxony - but his great interest was, of course, railways; followed by buses and bus routes, etc. His memory of all things about Red Hill was immense. What happens at the moment of death? Does all this vast knowledge disappear - like a computer, I suppose.
Roy Clark told me that he lost contact with Roger for years, but then one day on joining a ticket collectors' club he noticed Roger's name on the list of other members; and it was only through contact with Roy that I was able to make contact with Roger again. He was a heavy smoker and went down to the pub most days. He also did a lot of free work for his local church, and his house was filled with stuff - books from floor to ceiling. He was very good at interesting conversation.
I used to belong to a Dyslexia Association {thus RDG's self-assumed editorial licence}, and Roger would put me up overnight when I went to their Annual General Meeting. Then we would go on a day's outing of the London railway system - with a £5 ticket you could go anywhere for 24 hours - and we would go off on a vast tour of rail yards; stations; routes and lines all over London. Roger was a lifelong member of the Labour Party and had travelled around eastern Europe in the days of Communism. In his house he had a huge life-size crocodile made of old carpets and also some battery-powered plastic dogs that barked if you went past them; and also about ten battery-powered cats that sat on a long shelf and gave Chairman Mao salutes. Also, clocks that all chimed the hour - 24 hours a day. This is what happens to Old Red Hillians!
He would never go to the doctor about anything - but there are vast sections about Roger's life that I don't know.
Donard Baird February 2010
By Andrew Cleare - my school memories of him were his studies of "Bradshaw", the big paper back national railway time table books with which he would plan rail journeys between obscure stations at opposite ends of the country. He came from Ruislip from where he would explore the length and breadth of the underground. He tried, but failed, to get a ticket from Ruislip to Ruislip West. These stations are quite close together, but on different tube lines. The journey would have required going to central London to change trains. He was fond of Dr Brown's beer, not allowed of course at RHS at the time. He was sick on one occasion and MoF transfered him to the office dorm, displacing me to his chalet. I tidied it up a bit and imposed some semblance of order for the few days I was there. On his return I proudly showed off my handy work, at which point he tipped over the book case across the floor, admired the effect, and remarked "Ah that's better!" - Andrew (February 2010)
Click on the thumbnails below for early photos of Roger - with Roy Clark & Andrew Cleare (one at RHS, other taken after)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Yoga Teacher Training Forum
Welcome to The Yoga Teacher Training Forum Archive - A Collection of Various Yoga Topics
The Forum is Now Closed and Will Remain as an Information Archive.
For New Updates and Conversations, We Now Have a Public Facebook Group Located Here
Please consider registering
April 27, 2015
Hi Deb,
Apparently Zazen is studying but not watching the forum. I can tell you that i researched all of the online sources for yoga certification. I chose aura because I was getting a full course (not just fitness). I am so glad I did, because I referred some of the fitness yoga teachers i work with to aura too. One of them had 50 hours of training and knew 24 postures - that's it!
Paul has been aroiund for decades. He has been training teachers in the boston - providence area. He is an authorized yoga teacher trainer (E-RYT 500) with yoga alliance. His studio has been recognized by the international yoga federation. You can't go wrong.
Most Users Ever Online: 340
Currently Online:
9 Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Priyah: 156
laparadis: 146
Yoga Paul: 138
ashmin: 98
Parell: 82
Gator: 77
diedwardo7: 77
Traci: 73
Yogi: 70
Don Briskin: 69
Newest Members:
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 24
Topics: 2814
Posts: 4301
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 43
Members: 1996
Moderators: 1
Admins: 3
Administrators: Meredith, Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, Paul
Moderators: techsupport


text:
YP Skills Seminar: Be the Manager Employees Want to Follow (9a-11a)
YP Skills Seminar: Be the Manager Employees Want to Follow
Presented by the Young Professionals of the BIA Bay Area
Keep Top Talent
Are you a manager who lost some of your best talent? According to a recent, preliminary report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.5 million American workers willingly left their positions. Why are so many employees willing to leave their employers? Are they leaving because of their managers? By improving your management and leadership style, you will be able to keep your top talent. Yes, you can change how they feel about YOU, the manager. Small things make a big difference in how employees feel about their manager.
There is no such thing as the perfect manager
But this seminar will help you come close. Learn the skills you need to keep employees engaged at work. Gain perspective on how to develop your management style to harness the power of widespread employee engagement. Expand your knowledge, skills and abilities with insightful approaches and strategies that your employees will notice immediately.
Don't Let this Happen in Your Organization:
• Your top performers leave
• Infighting, mistrust and lack of engagement plague what might otherwise be an amazing group of people
• Your team hides mistakes and errors because of your prior negative reactions and responses
• Your career stagnatesYP Skills Seminar: Be the Manager Emp...
Date and Time
Friday May 20, 2022
Via Zoom Meeting
No fee, but registration required.
To register as a BIABA member, please login.


text:
The news of Andre the Giant's forthcoming documentary led Tampa Bay Times writer Paul Guzzo to reach out to the WWE legend's former peers for some fun memories. Lanny Poffo explained why his late brother Randy Savage didn't get along with the giant. "Andre hated baby oil," Poffo recalled. "But Randy wouldn't stop wearing it. He stubbornly said Andre's gimmick is being a giant and mine is baby oil. He never backed down from Andre and they never got along because of it." Read the full story at TampaBay.com
Powell's POV: Lanny had plenty of good things to say about Andre and recalled his tearful reactions to being given a deck of cards as a gift. Brian Blair told a hilarious story that is definitely worth checking out. Lanny may have laid it on a little thick as he spoke about Andre never taking advantage of anyone physically. That's one that the late Big John Studd and others would dispute.


text:
I have worked with Pro Tec for quite a few years. Fast service and response. Would HIGHLY recommend!
Protec service has been amazing. Very thorough workmanship. Would recommend every time!!
Great service! Friendly, prompt, and successful! Got rid of major bedbug infestation in 12 suite apartment using strict protocol and steam! Thank you.
Excellent service! Very trustworthy. Can leave the keys and go. Always gives you a call before showing up and our fellow, Mike, is friendly and professional. I would highly recommend them for all your pests! They take care of ants, wasps, mosquitoes, and spiders for us and we get to enjoy our yard. Thanks Mike and thanks Protec!!
Kent came out to the house and worked his magic on the numerous fly nests we had living in our roof. After 24 hours I came back to the house to only have to vacuum up the flies that had all been killed. Not a single fly was outside. After years of not knowing what would solve the problem I'm glad we called ProTec to come out and spray. It 100% works. Recommended.


text:
A record number of runners and walkers are registered early as the Oak Bay Half returns to Windsor Park.
More than 1,400 walkers and runners, hailing from as far afield as the U.S. and Alberta, are already registered for the event that was cancelled in 2020 and went virtual in 2021. This year, race day is May 29 and includes a half marathon, 10k, a four-person relay and a 1k kids run.
Event director Louise Hodgson-Jones figures it'll follow the trend of the recent Vancouver Marathon that sold out.
"We're getting people asking when they can pick up their packages and bibs and stuff… I think people are just itching to get back to racing," she said.
While there's a record number of participants, a shortage of volunteers could present some challenges.
They need helpers for on-the-course marshalling and operating water stations as well as helping out with the festivities at Windsor Park. With the entire event generally wrapped up in a four-hour time commitment.
"There are always tasks, we'd just like to have some enthusiastic people out there. It's a fun way to come out and cheer everyone on," Hodgson-Jones said.
She isn't overly worried about the lack of volunteers, some groups come on in exchange for a fundraising honorarium, and in a place like Greater Victoria runners and helpers tend to wait until the last minute to sign up.
All the races start and finish in Windsor Park. The half marathon winds its way through historic residential neighbourhoods in a course that loops out and back along the scenic seaside route of Beach Drive to Loon Bay Park.
The 10k follows the half marathon route before turning back along the water to a shortcut back to the finish line.
There is also a kids' 1k challenge for those 14 and younger where participants receive a race T-shirt, ribbon and fun post-race party with some special guests. More than 100 kids are already signed up with 80 teams in the relay, 750 in the half and 500 in the 10k.
Race registration starts at $10 with proceeds going to Santas Anonymous.
Visit oakbayhalf.com to register or volunteer.


text:
Best Undrafted Players in the League
Not being picked in the draft isn't the end of the world. These players, who all didn't hear their name called on draft night, all managed to make it into the NBA, and make a name for themselves.
Robert Covington
Covington managed to make a name for himself as a 3-and-D player for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 'Process' era. He was one of the players that survived and managed to grow during the dark days in Philadelphia.
A lot of people were probably skeptical when the 76ers offered him a 4-year, $62 million deal, but Covington managed to become a player worthy of his contract.
To be fair, it's quite funny that Covington is praised because of his work on the defensive end, as the reason that NBA teams didn't draft him was his 'lack of defensive skills'.
Joe Ingles
Ingles went undrafted back in 2009, and it took another five years before he found his way to the NBA. Back in 2009, the Australian still played in the NBL for the South Dragons, but the club folded due to financial problems. Then, Ingles decided to go overseas to Europe, and joined Granada in Spain, but soon after signed a club with FC Barcelona. His last club before joining the NBA would be Maccabi Tel Aviv, where Ingles became Euroleague Champion.
The Utah Jazz wasn't Ingles first team in the league, as he originally joined the LA Clippers in the pre-season, but was sent to the Utah Jazz before the season began. Only two days later, Ingles made his debut. In his first season, he already played 79 games and averaged more than 20 minutes per game.
Fred VanVleet
VanVleet was a strong force on the Raptors' team in last year's Championship run. After a slow start in the playoffs, he was a key factor, together with Kawhi Leonard, to get them into the Finals.
His career started went he went undrafted, as he declined offers to play in the G-League for $20.000. That turned out to be a great choice for him, as he joined the Toronto Raptors in the Summer League, and earned himself a spot on the roster. The Raptors even signed him to a multi-year contract. In that first year, he did have some assignments to the Raptors 905, but he did play 37 games in the NBA. That would be his only season in the G-League, as he developed into a key player off the bench for the team.
Quinn Cook
Cook is probably underrated in the NBA, but he has managed to have quite a good run with the Warriors, before signed with the Lakers this off season.
Cook didn't immediately got a contract offered to him after he went undrafted, as he joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Summer League. Then, things started to look up, as he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he was waived after a couple of pre-season games. Then, he spent two seasons with the Canton Charge, followed by a ten-day contract with the Mavericks, and a rest-of-the-season contract with the Pelicans.
His breakthrough moment in his career came when he signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors. He turned out to be a key factor to replace Steph Curry whenever he was injured, and he even won an NBA championship with them.
Aron Baynes
Baynes only joined the NBA five years after he originally went undrafted. He ended his European career with Union Olimpija in the Euroleague, but left them, as he wanted to find a team in the NBA.
He found that team in the San Antonio Spurs, and ended up playing 16 games in the NBA that season. The interesting thing was that he did get to start a game in the playoffs, as they needed him to guard Dwight Howard.
After a successful few years, two years with the Detroit Pistons, two years and several highlights with the Boston Celtics, Baynes was traded to the Phoenix Suns.


text:
The Honor of Exile
The Romanian sculptor Brancusi once said that when the artist is no longer a child, he is dead. I still don't know how much of an artist I have become, but I grasp what Brancusi was saying. I can grasp - even at my age - my childish enduring self. Writing is a childish profession, even when it becomes excessively serious, as children often are.
My long road of immaturity began more than half a century ago. It was July 1945, a few months after I returned from a concentration camp called Transnistria. I lived that paradisiacal summer in a little Moldavian town, overwhelmed by the miraculous banality of a normal, secure environment. The particular afternoon was perfect, sunny and quiet, the room's semi-obscurity hospitable. I was alone in the universe, listening to a voice that was and wasn't mine. My partner was a book of Romanian fairy tales with a hard green cover, which I had been given a few days before when I turned the solemn age of 9.
That is when the wonder of words, the magic of literature started for me. Illness and therapy began at the same time. Soon, too soon, I wanted myself to be part of that family of word wizards, those secret relatives of mine. It was a way of searching for ``something else'' beyond the triviality of everyday life, and also of searching for my real self among the many individuals who inhabited me.
To continue reading, register now.
Already have an account? Log in


text:
"Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skilled execution.
It represents the wise choice of many"
Author Unknown
2003-2006 Testimonials are archived.
Ask us about:
"Don't just meet the minimum state regulations regarding dementia education...exceed them!"
Patrick Smith, Chief Executive Officer NCCDP
Lynn Biot Gordon, LCSW CDP CADDCT CFRDT CMDCP, Co-Founder NCCDP
Sandra Stimson, CADDCT CALA, ADC, CDP, CDCM, Co-Founder NCCDP


text:
Spend more time interacting with baby using these fun and whimsical pieces from the Mommy & Me Activity Collection. Whether it's bath time or dinner time, these engaging items keep the baby entertained while you take care of necessary tasks. Each piece is made from soft, colorful fabric and designed by Artist, Jennifer Heynen. Her wearable designs are inspired by the experience of raising her own children. This wearable Mommy & Me Activity Scarf - Jungle features a gray/green fabric with beige pocket containing a round ornament. On the edges of each side are small sewn-on fingers made from different colors and patterns of fabric. Some of these fingers are decorated with different jungle themed designs. Some of the activities and designs on this scarf include tigers, hippos, and reflective surfaces. The Activity Scarf is perfect to wear during bath time, dinner time, or while chatting with friends while holding the baby.
Mommy & Me Jungle Activity Scarf
- Size: 9.5"w x 52"long
- Materials: plastic, polyester
- Includes built-in rattle, squeak toy, pocket and various textures
- Care Instructions: Machine Wash - Cold, Hang to Dry
- Sentiment: Love You
- Copyright: © 2019 Jennifer Heynen for DEMDACO


text:
Yesterday, NetElixir hosted our third installment on our updates on coronavirus impact webinar series. We share the real data regarding how seven retail industries are affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Overall, our data shows that ecommerce sales have continued to increase during the coronavirus outbreak for the majority of retail categories within our dataset. Below is a summary of the information presented by NetElixir's Founder and CEO, Udayan Bose, regarding the real-time data the NetElixir Intelligence Lab has aggregated and analyzed.
Our analysis has now spanned nearly two months and we divide the data into the following two week periods:
- The Beginning, from February 9 to February 22
- The Spike Starts, from February 23 to March 7
- The Outbreak Spreads, from March 8 to March 21
- The Second Spike Starts, from March 22 to April 4
We analyzed the daily data of ecommerce sales, online shopping behavior, and ad spend for these time periods, comparing the data of 2020 to 2019 to see any year over year changes. The retail categories we considered in our dataset were: Apparel, Home Decor, Tools and Hardware, Food, Gifting, Pet Supply, and Home Furnishing.
Gifting in the Time of Coronavirus
The gifting retail category had an inspirational increase in year over year ecommerce sales between March 22 and April 4, 2020 when compared with the 2019 data. Overall, gifting saw over an 80% year over year growth.
New shoppers continued to increase for the gifting category as well. Gen Z in the age group of 18-24 had a 4% increase in the amount of new online shoppers, while Millennials in the age group 25-34 had a 3% increase in new shoppers. Older aged groups decreased slightly. During this time of uncertainty, with coronavirus disproportionately affecting older people, we can infer that people are buying gift baskets and greeting cards for their parents and grandparents to send support and well wishes. Compassion and small gifts go a long way in keeping us connected.
Bose notes that we are seeing a "fundamental shift in how people search, shop, and buy." We are seeing families and loved ones come together during this time of crisis.
For these new, compassionate shoppers, latency dropped 10 hours within a month. Latency measures the time span between initial website landing and first purchase. Shoppers are taking less time to complete their paths to purchase, meaning they are spending less time comparing and researching different options.
The South and Midwest sections of the United States are contributing to the highest percentage of these new online shoppers to gifting. The Midwest specifically had the highest growth rate in year over year new shoppers. During this time of crisis, we see shoppers turning to faith and compassion products.
If we consider the Elements of Value Pyramid from Bain and Company, we can surmise that gifting and greeting purchases fulfill the emotional aim of reducing anxiety and the life changing aim of providing hope.
Updates on How the Coronavirus Impacted Online Shopping Behavior
Shoppers are continuing to make their purchasing decisions more quickly. Marketers and retailers who rely on real time data and updates should invest in winning new customers because new customers have a higher chance of converting to shoppers more quickly.
For all retail categories, except apparel, conversion rates have increased when compared to 2019. The food retail industry specifically has seen a dramatic increase of two to four times the 2019 daily conversion rate over different days throughout the course of the outbreak.
The question remains, however, if once the coronavirus crisis subsides, will we see these shifts in consumer searching and buying behavior result in permanent shopping habits?
Updates on How the Coronavirus Impacted Ecommerce Sales
March 8 to 22 was perhaps the most influential period for online shopping behavior. This week saw an enormous jump in the number of orders by new online shoppers. This was the week where most non-essential brick-and-mortar stores were shuttered and social distancing measures went into effect across states. The Western Hemisphere saw the number of coronavirus cases spike and Italy had seen nearly a week of lockdown. Based on our data, most retail categories may have had the highest percentage of regular brick-and-mortar shoppers turn to online shopping during the third period (March 8 to 22) in our study.
Since then, the percentage of orders coming from new shoppers to the website have held steady:
With the exclusion of the Apparel retail industry, ecommerce sales continue to grow at a rapid pace across categories. Food, specifically, has seen an explosion in sales, with year over year growing nearing 580%. Ecommerce sales for Gifting, Tools and Hardware, and Pet Supplies retail categories also grew at a significant rate, experiencing high double digit year over year growth.
Updates on How the Coronavirus is Impacting CPC and Ad Spend
CPC is in constant decline across all retail categories within our dataset. Home Furnishings and Tools and Hardware retail categories saw their first negative year over year change.
Data-driven marketers who rely on real time insights increase their ad spend. There is an opportunity to win new online customers from a mixture of high conversion rates and historical low CPC.
Given the circumstances, smart marketers need to be nimble.
April Forecast Update
During our previous webinar on March 26, NetElixir forecasted how the retail categories within our dataset would grow over April. Data for the first week of April reveals that we have been too conservative in our estimates.
Additional Insights: Get the Real Data on Coronavirus
We will recap what advice and insights our Retail Superhero presented in Monday's blog. NetElixir was privileged to have UPS as our Retail Superhero, represented by Gerard Gibbons, President of SMB and US Marketing.
You can catch up on the entirety of our webinar updates from yesterday below.
While we have covered an extensive dataset, it is by no means exhaustive. If you are interested in discussing specific insights for your category, please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
You can watch our March 11 webinar here, which was the first of the series on tracking the impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales and online shopping behavior.
Our March 26 update webinar featured our first Retail Superhero and detailed over a month's worth of research.
For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:
- What is COVID-19's Impact on Retail Ecommerce?, from Wednesday, April 8
- Coronavirus Relief Beyond Online Shopping, data from Monday, April 6, published Wednesday, April 8
- March 2020 – Impact of Coronavius, from Wednesday, April 1
- Food Retail Ecommerce During the Coronavirus Outbreak, from Monday, March 30


text:
April 2/Psychology & Psychiatry Journal -- Most people consume far too much salt, and a University of Iowa (UI) researcher has discovered one potential reason humans crave it: it might put them in a better mood.
UI psychologist Kim Johnson and colleagues found in their research that when rats are deficient in sodium chloride, common table salt, they shy away from activities they normally enjoy, like drinking a sugary substance or pressing a bar that stimulates a pleasant sensation in their brains.
"Things that normally would be pleasurable for rats didn't elicit the same degree of relish, which leads us to believe that a salt deficit and the craving associated with it can induce one of the key symptoms associated with depression," Johnson said.
The UI researchers can not say it is full-blown depression because several criteria factor into such a diagnosis, but a loss of pleasure in normally pleasing activities is one of the most important features of psychological depression. Plus, the idea that salt is a natural mood-elevating substance could help explain why humans are so tempted to over-ingest it, even though it is known to contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems.
Past research has shown that the worldwide average for salt intake per individual is about 10g per day, which is greater than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended intake by about 4g, and may exceed what the body actually needs by more than 8g.
Johnson, who holds appointments in psychology and integrative physiology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and in pharmacology in the Carver College of Medicine, published a review of these findings in the July issue of the journal Physiology & Behavior with Michael J. Morris and Elisa S. Na, UI graduate students. In addition to reporting their own findings, the authors reviewed others' research on the reasons behind salt appetite.
The body needs salt and knows how to find it and how to conserve it. However, scientists are finding evidence that it is an abused, addictive substance -- almost like a drug.
One sign of addiction is using a substance even when it is known to be harmful. Many people are told to reduce sodium due to health concerns, but they have trouble doing so because they like the taste and find low-sodium foods bland.
Another strong aspect of addiction is the development of intense cravings when drugs are withheld. Experiments by Johnson and colleagues indicate similar changes in brain activity whether rats are exposed to drugs or salt deficiency.
"This suggests that salt need and cravings may be linked to the same brain pathways as those related to drug addiction and abuse," Johnson said.
From the April 13, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition


text:
When it comes to the world of bodybuilding, it is quite impossible to get through a day without hearing the word "steroids". There are a lot of bodybuilders worldwide who are trying to get the best muscle build with these substances. If you are a bodybuilder who is always seeking for that extra edge in bodybuilding, then you are on the right website. Here at MAXLABS, we offer a wide range of steroids that would help you achieve your bodybuilding dream.
What are anabolic steroids?
Anabolic steroids are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, a male sex hormone that is produced during the process of sexual maturation and is essential for bodybuilders who want to increase muscle mass.The use of anabolic-steroids, has been associated with a high incidence of side effects such as aggression, reduced fertility and increased risk for heart attack and stroke.
Bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids often gain large muscles and are usually shorter in height. Corticosteroids have been used to reduce inflammation, prevent the rejection of transplanted organs and treat the complications of long-term corticosteroid therapy. They are often prescribed for people with asthma, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis or other inflammatory conditions.
When used properly, you can expect to see most of these positive effects. But when abused, corticosteroids can cause several harmful health effects, such as high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, osteoporosis and cataracts.
Different kinds of steroids
There are different categories of steroids that can be found in stores, or online. There are injectable steroids, oral steroids, PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) steroids, and non-steroid alternatives. The most common for performance enhancers are the injectable and oral steroids.
Injectable Steroids
Injectable steroids are substances or drugs that require the use of needles and are administered to the user through injection. They have been used medically to treat an extensive number of medical conditions in the past, but are most commonly used illegally by athletes who want to improve performance in a short period of time. The only times that they are allowed to be legally taken outside of a medical setting is when they are prescribed as part of a form of hormone replacement therapy and in the case of those who have undergone complete androgen deprivation surgery, but this is rare. The most common types of injectable steroids include the anabolic steroid methandrostenolone, which has been popular in use since the 1960s, as well as nandrolone, stanozolol, oxandrolone and testosterone enanthate.
Oral Steroids
On the other hand, oral steroids are drugs, often found in the form of pills, that are administered orally. This type of steroids is taken every day or several times a day. There are four common types of oral steroids:- Anabolic steroidoids: These are the most commonly used oral steroids because they can produce muscle gains, increase strength, and build lean mass. They may cause male breast development and deepened voice in men and clitoral enlargement in women. The side effects associated with oral steroids are usually not severe unless the steroid dosage is high.
PCT (Post Cycle Therapy)
Post Cycle Therapy is the process of stopping a steroid cycle, shedding stored muscle mass, and re-building lean muscle. During post cycle therapy, the bodybuilder stops his steroid cycle and proceeds to recover from the effects of the drugs. This can take some time depending on the extent of steroid use. The drugs that are often used in PCT include clomiphene citrate, HCG, and Tamoxifen. These products are often paired with a diet that is high in protein, low in carbs and fats.
Buying steroids from MAXLABS.co
Buying steroids from MAXLABS.co is simple and easy. You just need to fill out a form, submit it, and wait for your order to be processed. This is a legal and safe way to buy steroids in USA. MAXLabs.co is dedicated to providing safe products that don't have harmful side effects.


text:
We cannot deny that our health is important, and we should be willing to do all we can to protect it. This includes exercise, whether walking or stretching, to elevate the heart rate and keep muscles limber. But squeezing in the time to complete a workout can be tough.
Is Walking Enough?
We're happy to report that, yes, walking is enough to maintain your health. It even comes with the advantage of being readily customized; you can easily change pace, intensity, and distance covered. Using hiking sticks can incorporate the upper body, and moving on different gradients or surfaces can add breadth and challenge.
To get the most benefit, we recommend you engage around 30 minutes a day. You can do it all at once or break it into intervals of 10 or 15 minutes each. A brisk pace of three to four miles an hour will keep the heartbeat up, but a slower pace will give you plenty of benefits as long as you stick to it.
The Power of Stretching
This exercise is often dismissed as unimportant, but it is, in fact, a vital form of body maintenance. Flexibility is a specific component of fitness and is designed to target the body's range of motion. In total, it helps muscles heal, prevents aches and pains, and improves everyday movements.
In addition, this particular exercise helps resolve the tension in the body. In turn, muscles get the circulation they need for normal functioning. Circulation is critical in all body tissues because it distributes nutrition.
Recommended Frequency
Stretching is crucial to your health and should be incorporated into any exercise plan you undertake, whether that is running, walking, swimming, or cycling. As a general rule, engage every time you exercise; if you don't regularly exercise, stretch at least three times a week to maintain flexibility.
The Right Amount of Exercise
It's hard to pinpoint exactly how much exercise each person needs. We recommend around 30 minutes a day, but even 10 or 15 minutes is beneficial.
The truth is that only you know how much exercise you need, depending on your reasons for getting active, your current fitness level, and how quickly you want to achieve your goals. In addition, the exercise you choose will reflect your personal abilities and preferences, your schedule, and whether you exercise at home or in a workout facility like a gym.
Achieving the Best Results
A baseline recommendation is this: shoot for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity. You could also do a combination of the two. Moderate intensity means you can speak a few words while engaging. Vigorous intensity, on the other hand, means you need a breath between even a few words.
We also recommend that you mix formal workouts with daily activities to get the healthy exercise you need. Keep in mind that just 30 minutes of all combined activities – including taking out the dog, cleaning, and shopping – can help you stay healthy. Add some strengthening activities two or three times a week to stay in peak condition.
Defining Strengthening Activities
Movements under this category involve working with exercise bands, doing sit-ups and pushups, and lifting weights. We recommend you choose activities that each focus on different parts of the body. Try to repeat the exercises associated with each muscle group 8 to 10 times per session.
Make Movement a Priority
Another basic recommendation is that you move more and sit less throughout the day. Keeping this simple goal in mind will help you create a more active lifestyle and boost your health.
Movement can be achieved in different ways for different people. Some suggestions are to park further away when you go out, take 15 minutes of your lunch hour and go for a stroll, dance while you listen to music, and tidy your house every chance you get.
Spend More Time Outdoors
Going outside can help you find new ways to exercise. Use this time to pull weeds, practice your golf or tennis swing, bicycle, or look for unusual birds. Any activity in which you're standing and moving will help you stay healthy.
The minimum exercise you need to stay healthy is that which affords you more movement. Walking and stretching are both simple and effective ways to work your body, but we recommend finding additional ways to move throughout the day. This will ensure that you stay as active as possible. For more tips, visit us at Aging Healthy Today regularly.


text:
HORSE RACING | World Premiere Outclasses 17-Horse Field to Win Tenno Sho
World Premiere, guided by jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, found his way to the front of the pack with 100 meters remaining and held off race favorite Deep Bond to win by 3/4 lengths.
World Premiere has a name that reminds you of a Hollywood extravaganza.
The 5-year-old dark colt also possesses plenty of speed and moxie, too.
Speed, after all, was the name of the game in the closing seconds of the Tenno Sho (Spring) at Hanshin Racecourse on Sunday, May 2.
World Premiere, a son of Deep Impact, the 2005 and '06 Japanese Horse of the Year, wasn't the pace-setting thoroughbred when the 3,200-meter race started at 3:40 p.m.
But World Premiere, guided by jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, found his way to the front of the pack with 100 meters remaining and held off race favorite Deep Bond, ridden by Ryuji Wada, to win by 3/4 lengths in a time of 3 minutes, 14.7 seconds in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture.
Curren Bouquetd'or (Keita Tosaki), also sired by Deep Impact, finished third, two lengths off the pace in the 17-horse field. Watch a replay of the race here.
French jockey Christophe Lemaire steered Aristoteles, the second favorite, to a fourth-place finish. A strong push at the finish was not enough for Aristoteles to overtake Curren Bouquetd'or as he was a neck's length behind.
The next G1 race on the Japan Racing Association calendar is the NHK Mile Cup on Sunday, May 9 at Tokyo Racecourse.
After the Grade I race, Fukunaga acknowledged that World Premiere, who is 5 years old, didn't have the tone-setting start that he had hoped for.
"We had a weak start but recovered well since, with the advantage from breaking from stall No. 1, and kept our eyes on the favorites from behind throughout," said Fukunaga, who earned his 29th career JRA G1 win.
"I shifted him outside a little earlier than planned to secure a good striking position. He responded incredibly with a good turn of foot. It's a great honor to have won such a prestigious race like this."
As the race got underway, Deep Bond and Curren Bouquetd'or set the pace.
Near the midway point, World Premiere was near the middle of the pack, with Deep Bond, Arisoteles, Win Marilyn, Diastima and Shironii among the horses that Fukunaga's ride had to navigate past.
As the crowded pack galloped past the final turn, Diastima led, followed by Curren Bouquetd'or, Jako Maru and Deep Bond. World Premiere was in seventh place.
With around 400 meters remaining, Curren Bouquetd'or was the front-runner, with Diastima a close second, but World Premiere's terrific closing speed paid dividends.
From his ideal position on the outside, World Premiere had ample room to pick up the pace. With a dramatic flourish, he moved past several foes and defeated Deep Bond at the finish line.
Before exhibiting his closing speed in the Tenno Sho, the brown colt finished third at the Nikkei Sho, a 2,500-meter Grade II race, on March 27 at Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
For trainer Yasuo Tomomichi, Sunday's Tenno Sho victory was his 13th JRA G1 win. World Premiere gave Tomomichi his most recent G1 victory on October 20, 2019, by winning the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Ledger) at Kyoto Racecourse.
Yoichi Fukunaga, Yuichi's father, triumphed at the 1976 Tenno Sho (Spring) aboard Erimo George.
Author: Ed Odeven
Follow Ed on JAPAN Forward's [Japan Sports Notebook] here on Sundays, in [Odds and Evens] here during the week, and Twitter @ed_odeven.


text:
Level 2
CodeGym — Learning to program in Java
What about a completely new approach to learning programming and education in general? Nothing like anything you've seen before. What about learning that has a goal, tools, and results?
I'm pleased to introduce a new online course for Java programming.
1. The learning is baked into an online game
You perform tasks and receive rewards. Nothing confusing or unusual here. The tasks include a lot of variety: reading code, solving problems, educational videos, fixing mistakes in code, adding new features, big tasks, writing games, and much more.
You might also have to write programs for your robot to fight with your friends in an "arena" or something.
2. Only the essential
To avoid making the course drag on for five years, I mercilessly eliminated everything merely useful and left only the absolutely essential. I analyzed dozens of job openings. The course includes everything that a Junior Java Developer needs to know to get a job.
3. Comprehensive training
The complete course consists of 500 mini-lessons and 1200(!) exercises. The tasks are small, but there are lots of them (lots and lots). In fact, it's the minimum you'll need to do to gain valuable experience.
There is also work in pairs, various games, big tasks, real projects, and other types of practice.
4. You can't complete the game without becoming a programmer
The course is divided into 40 levels. You can advance to the next level only if you have completed most of the tasks in the current level. From the small and easy to the big and very useful. Anyone who reaches the end will have accumulated 300-500 hours of practical experience. That's a serious bid for victory. And for employment.
5. Targeted preparation for a job interview
The last 10 levels are dedicated to resume writing, preparation for a job interview, and developing skills required for teamwork.
You may also be interested in the "five-year plan for programmer progress" and the "five-year roadmap for programmer possibilities".
6. You can perform the tasks right on the website
This is very convenient and efficient. As soon as you've figured out a new task, you can immediately start completing your own by analogy. If you want to perform the tasks in an IDE, there's a plugin that lets you get a task in two clicks and submit it for verification in one click.
A lesson, plenty of examples, the ability to complete tasks right on the website or in an IDE – the gap between theory and practice has never been so small.
7. Instant task verification (less than a second)
Have you submitted work for review and had to wait a week because the person who had to check it is busy?
On CodeGym, you press "Run/Check" and get compilation results and/or task verification results in less than a second.
8. CodeGym loves it when you're on Facebook while you study
We have a CodeGym Facebook group, where you can discuss tasks, share your achievements with friends, watch educational videos, and ask for help.
9. Full coverage of the material
Our lessons include many links to various websites where you can read others' explanations. My goal is to be sure you understand the material, and not to make you just listen to me.
10. To become a programmer, all you need is your brain and a computer
It will take from 3 to 6 months, depending on how much time you dedicate to the exercises.
11 Support
As you complete thousands of tasks, you'll definitely have questions. To help, we've created a special "Help" section, where you can ask your questions about tasks. Other CodeGym students, moderators, volunteers, or the website's founders will answer your questions.
12. Community
We believe there is power in unity. That's why we created a "Groups" section, where you can ask questions, discuss different topics, and share articles.
What's more, our community is the perfect place to find a job among people you know. Don't hesitate to ask smart questions and get smart answers. The more active you are in helping others, the better your chances that another community member will invite you to join his or her project.


text:
Synchronized Traffic Lights Could Help Our Air Quality
This year will go down as one of the worst air quality years in the valley on record.
One of the reasons is that our valley is like a huge sack which allows the air in but won't turn it loose.
There are other reasons. The fire smoke has been non-stop, and there is no let-up in sight.
The second thing is the dust created by agriculture. It is harvest season and there is no way of getting around it. This valley makes its living by agriculture.
The third reason, and the greatest factor, is the automotive pollution which comes down from the north bringing the toxic mix which we breathe. You can't stop trucking because that is vital, and the personal automobile, humans will never part with. Rail is a "wait and see" proposition, and very, very expensive.
There is something else which eludes government and our local Air Quality Control District. And that is the pollution coming from cars waiting at stop lights.
Why aren't city lights synchronized? A few are, but by and large, most are not.
In this day and age when the human mind can develop a wristwatch to do such amazing things, we still have many busy streets which do not have synchronized lights. Government engineers say, in some cases, "It can not be done."
What they are saying is that not enough revenue is being spent to have it done.
State and federal government is splashing around trillions for everything from soup to nuts, and yet synchronized lights to move traffic more quickly, is not at the top of the list where it should be.
So here is our solution. Take some of the billions being spent annually on High Speed Rail and redirect it to solve the problem of our lack of synchronized lights. This will effect the quality of air in this valley, which everyone wants.
It will also shorten the time it takes to come and go to work, which everyone wants.
It is a win-win situation, but will our government and specially the Air Quality Control Board, which is more concerned with switching gas powered lawn mowers to electric, do something that would really make a difference in our air quality?
Think big Air Quality Control Board. Open your eyes state legislators.
Raise the cry for better air. It can and should be done.


text:
Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were shot dead 30 years ago as another of the Communist states in Europe collapsed. We meet the executioner who killed them both.17 December 2019
Ionel Boieru can vividly recall the day Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu died thirty years ago – because he shot him dead.
He is proud of what he did, believing his actions helped end Communist domination of Eastern Europe. The killing ended a brutal regime whose notorious security police killed thousands.
It was 29 bullets from his AK-47 rifle that killed the president and his ruthless wife Elena, says Boieru, then part of an elite paratrooper unit in the Romanian army.
The couple had been walking at gunpoint towards a courtyard wall but a proper firing squad had not yet been formed when Boieru began his fusillade of bullets.
Captain Boieru remembers how the 71-year-old tyrant was smartly dressed and wreaked heavily of aftershave. In contrast, he says, Elena Ceausescu smelled badly of body odour.
"Ceausescu's last words were 'Long Live the Socialist Republic of Romania, independent and free'," says Boieru. It was one of Ceasuescu's often-recited slogans.
His wife's last words were far from statesmanlike. "She yelled at a soldier, 'You motherf****er'," Boieru says.
Now 61, Boieru rarely talks about what happened on Christmas Day 1989.
He waited till she was nine before telling his youngest daughter Andria he was the man who killed the Ceausescus.
He returned to Ceausescu's grave with correspondent.world, working with the Daily Mirror, for a rare visit.
He has been there only twice before.
Looking at the gravestone he says quietly: "I have no regrets, no regrets at all. Yes, I'm sure it was my bullets killed them both.
"It is not a thing of pride, but it is what happened."
It all came, though, at a heavy price. Being known as the executioner came cost him his peace of mind, and, he says, his marriage: his wife continually felt deeply concerned over whether someone would take revenge.
Then, in extraordinary detail, Boieru described what happened that bitterly cold overcast day back in 1989, much of which has never been told before.
The fall of the Communist Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe began in 1989 when an electoral victory by Solidarity in Poland led a wave of peaceful revolutions in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
Only in Romania did a demand for democracy result in bloodshed. Ceausescu personally ordered troops to open fire on demonstrators and actually had his own defence minister shot dead, hours before he was forced to flee from the Communist Party headquarters by helicopter.
It was a top defence official Gen. Victor Stanculescu, who I met three days later, who had ordered the helicopter to pick him up, and who ordered his eventual arrest.
More than 1,100 were killed in three weeks of revolution that December before the tyrant was toppled. He had been head of state and of the Communist party for 22 years.
Now fearing for their lives, the helicopter carrying Ceausescu and his wife made it as far as Tergoviste, a small town 50 miles north of the capital Bucharest. They landed in a field and at gunpoint the pilot commandeered a passing private car. Tricked into taking refuge in an agricultural technical institute, they were locked in and arrested.
The Ceausescus appeared to believe that a group of renegades had taken over his headquarters, and that his own loyal troops would regain control.
That showed how much he and his wife and lost touch with reality.
Three days later Boieru, then aged 31, was one of only 15 people inside a tiny makeshift courtroom at Military Base 01417 in Tergoviste as the Ceausescus faced a secret military trial.
They were accused of ordering the deaths of 60,000 people – actually a false and vastly inflated figure – and corruptly stashing up to a billion dollars in foreign bank accounts. They were also accused of 'crimes against humanity'.
Minutes before the court martial was due to begin, Boieru had received an order. It came in person from the new commander of the Romanian armed forces General Victor Stanculescu, who was setting up the trial room inside the military base. He and the new leaders of the revolution had already decided what the outcome had to be.
Only four days before, Boieru's unit had been obliged to swear an oath of loyalty to Ceausescu. Now the unit was told it had been assigned to kill their leader who, just days earlier, had been Romania's absolute ruler and their commander-in-chief.
"The minister asked me: 'Captain, can you do this?' I said, 'Yes'. What could I say?"
The unit was rushed to the military base.
The trial began. "Ceausescu said he was betrayed by his generals. They looked bored at times – one of them [Elena or Nicolae] was making a paper aeroplane.
"I remember him [Ceausescu] being asked where his bank accounts were, where he kept his money. He said that he didn't have any."
Boieru said: "In the courtroom, "I had my gun by my chest – I was watching them at all times. I had orders to execute the Ceausescus [on the spot] if there was any attempt to rescue them.
"When the judges were deciding the verdict and during the deliberations, I was eavesdropping.
"Ceausescu said to his wife he believed they would be acquitted. He kept looking at his watch. They were speaking very softly. He was often touching or stroking her leg to reassure her. They still seemed to be in love.
"Then the judges came back and said they were guilty. They delivered the sentence: 'Capital Punishment'. Then they left."
Boieru knew the sentence would have to be carried out at once.
"Now there were just three of us in the [trial] room," recalls Boieru.
Bizarrely a colonel then brought in shots of insulin for Ceausescu, a diabetic.
"That was strange when he was about to be killed," says Boieru.
"His wife sneered: 'What's he going to do with them now?'
"I was ordered to take them out separately and shoot them. But they asked me to die together and this request was accepted.
"Three soldiers came in with rope and tied their arms behind their backs.
"I and another soldier took Ceausescu, and two others took his wife. We went outdoors, first with Ceausescu, and turned left to get to the execution point.
"We were halfway there when he stopped and started to mumble and sing the first verse of the Internationale.
"Then he shouted [repeating one of his old propaganda slogans]: 'Long Live the Socialist Republic of Romania. Independent and Free.' "
Boieru added: "A serviceman who was nicknamed 'Little Car' yelled at Ceausescu's wife and she said, "Mother-f***er.
"I took him to the wall, we turned, took six steps back then turned around – and we noticed one soldier had stayed behind next to the Ceausescus.
"He didn't [at first] seem to realise what was going to happen. Then he quickly got out the way!
"I wanted to make sure I had bullets in the barrel so I checked and one came out.
"So I knew I had 29 bullets left. I reminded the guys to put the guns on automatic and I gave the order.
"I fired the first shots – three bursts of my AK-47. During the first burst I saw Ceausescu fall on his knees and topple backwards.
"The first bullets went into his legs and as the gun went up they went into the upper part of his body.
"I fired the next burst at her. She fell to her left. One of my colleagues forgot to switch to automatic and fired only a few single bullets.
"And the other didn't fire until later when they were already on the ground. I think he was traumatised.
"So I am certain it was my bullets that killed them both."
As the couple lay dead Boieru heard shooting from other soldiers standing nearby, and realised there was a heavy machine-gun only a few yards behind him.
"I feared I was going to be shot next," he said.
This bizarre-sounding but deep worry reflected a deep 'conspiracy theory' fear – that some of the soldiers in the parade ground might have remained loyal to Ceausescu, or that whoever was behind Ceausescu's overthrow would want to eliminate those who killed him.
"I raised my gun in the air and shouted: 'This is for my colleagues in Bucharest and all of those in Timisoara', where many people had been killed.
"I said this out of shock and fear."
To his immense relief, it immediately became clear that the other soldiers were just firing at the corpses. The couple were then stuffed into bodybags and carried to a helicopter.
"I feel by shooting the two together, as they requested, and by killing them quickly, I gave them their last wish, and helped them to die without unnecessary dread and suffering," Boieru said.
On the flight back from the trial and execution site, the helicopter was crammed with prosecutors, judges and top military brass.
"There was no room in the helicopter so Dorin Cirlan, [one of Boieru's two fellow-executioners] had to sit on the bodies.
He had been one of the three executioners. Sitting on the corpses may explain why Cirlan was "the most traumatised of us three", said Boieru.
Blood from the Ceausescus' bullet wounds seeped onto Boieru's uniform.
On a road journey with the bodies, gunfire rang out and three soliders died, adding to a sense that counter-revolutionaries were at work.
Eventually they reached a pre-arranged facility and managed to hand over the two bodies to other soldiers – though not before one of the Ceausescus' bodies fell off the stretcher – and return to their base.
The country was in turmoil – with periodic shooting in the streets – and Boieru feared he could be killed at any time.
"It was supposed to be a secret what had happened but when we got back to the base, everyone knew," he says.
"It was Christmas night so we were allowed a drink. I was given a bottle of Romanian cognac.
"I drank it almost in one gulp. Then I went to bed. I only slept two or three hours, then woke up for dinner. It wasn't very jovial. We also drank vodka, which was usually forbidden."
This then the untold story of the dictator's end, after decades of vainglorious and increasingly autocratic rule.
Pictures and video footage of the bullet-riddled bodies of the Ceausescus caused a sensation around the world that Christmas.
Boieru left the army in 2002 and now lives in a small town 40 miles from Bucharest. He is a father of three.
His elder daughters Ilona, 36, and Maria, 34, who has worked in the tourism industry in London, are from his first marriage, which broke up after the execution.
"My first wife never agreed to what happened," he revealed. "She was afraid there would be revenge. It was a major reason for our marriage splitting up.
"I married again. [For many years] my wife was scared about me telling our daughter about what I did…about how our daughter will react."
Boieru says, though, that his decisive action in the bloody execution turned out to be good for his career.
"I was promoted from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel and everyone was jealous."
"Everyone wanted to be in our place then," remarked Boieru. "Now, no-one does."
The executions continued to haunt him for much of his life.
"I still get nervous talking about this," he said, cradling a glass of brandy. "It's two lives that I ended. It is a big deal. In a war it's okay, but when you kill unarmed people it's more difficult.
"I wouldn't wish this on anyone, even though my job is killing people."
Yet his own wider family were among many hundreds of thousands who were repressed and persecuted by the regime's internal security services.
"My grandfather was a priest, a liberal, and he was put in prison for a lot of his life," Boieru said.
"He was really happy after those events, happy that the regime had changed, that Ceausescu died, and he told me: 'Don't worry, I take all your sins upon myself.'"
Echoing the kind of Marxist-Leninist slogans all soldiers learned in their Communist indoctrination classes, Boieru went on: "Any revolution demands blood. And also the revolution eats its heroes. You cannot forget this," he said.
Even though the executions, and especially the 'fake' secret military trial, have also been widely condemned inside Romania, Boieru is (at least to an extent) pleased he was part of history.
"All in all, I'm proud that I played a role in the revolution," he says.
NOTE: Ghencea Cemetery. Large numbers of pensioners gather here on January 26th, the dictator's birthday. The Ceausescus' bodies were exhumed then reburied after DNA tests rebutted conspiracy theorists' claims that the couple were not executed on Christmas Day 1989. Their son Nicu Ceausescu's grave – he died of liver disease caused by alcoholism – is topped with a grandiose, white and black marble tomb.


text:
Soft sole Davina Superwide slipper for swollen feet
Low-top superwide velcro slipper for swollen feet, with a sewn-in insole to allow washing. Made with a Comfylux soft sole.
Similar to Diana, except that it is made on a wider more extended last, and similar to Betty, except that it has a low top.
Warning: Last items in stock!
Availability date:
pack ■ 0.75 kg, ↔ 20.0 cm, ⤢ 30.0 cm, ↕ 15.0 cm,
In the UK we can probably send heavier parcels for the same price by courier.
More info
Manufacturer's diagram of slipper construction:
Comfylux slippers have different degrees of foaming in different parts of the rubber sole, so there it gives a little under-foot as you walk, but the outer part of the rubber is still hard enough to use indoors.
The heel support is part of the same rubber, and pops-up however many times you step on it, making this a safe brand of slipper to wear as well as a comfortable one.
Made in Alicante, Spain, a democratic welfare state, after years of production at Union Mill, Backup, Lancs. The problem with UK production was getting cheap bulk rubber.
Data sheet
|velour fabric on a layer of foam with fabric lining. Nonleather so vegan of course.
|Size System
|English third-inch lengths. One smaller than US mens. Euro translations on the left.
|Size System Name
|Size System Gender
|Gender, fit
|Womens narrow heel shoe boot slipper or sandal
|Soft mid-sole
|Stiff foam layer from front to back
|Fabric on foam, sewn-in at the edges to the insole stays in place when washing.
|Toe Cap
|No toe puff so more breathable. If your toes stick-up, you can add elastoplast inside slippers to stop your toes wearing-through.
|touch fastening, hook & loop
|gentle machine wash 40°. Shoes are best put in a pillowcase to save them marking anything. Instinct, risk & thought apply.
|towel-dry the inside toe area and leave in a warm or windy place for several hours
|no - but some Veganline.com shoes last a long time
|Printed Cardboard is recycled and recyclable. Boxes may be posted in scrap paper to make returns & re-sale easier.
|Comfylux sole, Veganline
Colour: Blue
Size System: EN Female
Brand: Comfylux sole, Veganline
Upper Material: velour fabric on a layer of foam with fabric lining. Nonleather so vegan of course.
Google Product Category:


text:
Committed To Our Future
Posted by Anthony G. ~ Graphics on Jun 29th 2018
We are doing our small part to make it easier for businesses and individuals alike to fill all of their cleaning needs with products from one of the most trusted names in the industry. For decades SAIL has been committed to providing our customers with quality, affordable products that help preserve our earth for generations to come. Our high standards bring to our customers the safest, earth friendly, and natural products on the market. Be a part of the future. Be a part of the family. Be a part of SAIL.