text:
Datalicious necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 14 diseños de 6 diseñadores freelance.
We're a data agency that likes to do planning, optimisation and other acquisition strategies to clients that have lots of money and want lots of new customers.
Advertising, digital media, analytics and other professionals who want their powerpoints to look better, and themselves appear smarter.
Produce a series of simple symbols or clip art that can be used by advertising and analytics people in powerpoint and other office products.
Should support the Datalicious colours and branding, however this should not limit the palette and it just needs to be able to coexist with the brand as a minimum requirement.
Please pick 25 of the symbols to demonstrate you are able to do the job - the prize will be awarded based on this.
As per the comments, there would be an expectation to agree on a price no less (correction) than the prize amount for the remaining symbols (following winning) and complete within 2 weeks.
Media Elements
- leaderboard banner(s)
- Static Banner (with/without text)
- Sponsored Search Ad
- Email Sales
- Email Info
- Email
- Radio
- Television
- Newspaper
- Call Centre
- Retail Store
- Viral Icon
- Social Media Icon
- Shopping / Comparison Website Icon
- Sale sign blank
Website Elements
- Landing Page Big Offer
- Landing Page Lead
- Stacked web page
- Buy now button
- Checkout button
- Search box
Online Providers
- Google Logo
- Omniture
- Core Metrics
- Apple
- Other Analytics, technology logos
- Young Person
- Shopper
- Browser
- Guy
- Girl
- Family
- Laptop
- Computer
- Smartphone
- Wifi Router
Omniture & Analytics Related
- Cookie 1st Party
- Cookie 3rd Party
- Data Mining
- Random Sample (pie, square root etc)
- File Formats (excel, xml etc)
- Calculator
- Chart
- Dashboards Icon


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Hours before he was to be executed, Afzal Guru penned his last letter to his wife, Tihar Jail officials said Monday. The letter, written in Urdu, was posted Saturday but is yet to reach his wife in Kashmir.
Speaking to IANS, officials at Tihar jail said that Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the 2001 parliament attack, was told Feb 8 evening that he would be hanged the next morning.
"When he was told about his execution, he was cool and calm. He just expressed his wish that he wants to write a letter to his wife. The jail superintendent gave him a pen and paper," an official told IANS under condition of anonymity.
"He wrote the letter in Urdu, which was posted to his family in Kashmir on the same day," the official said.
But when IANS contacted the family, who live in Sopore, they said they are yet to receive it.
"We haven't received this letter. Maybe like the letter that we got today about his hanging, we will get it later," Yaseen Guru, Afzal's cousin, told IANS on phone.
Afzal Guru was hanged Feb 9 at 8 a.m. in the Tihar Jail complex where he had lived in a solitary cell for many years.
His family has demanded that they be allowed to conduct his last rites.
"The government will take a decision in this regard," another official told IANS.
Afzal Guru, who used to spend his time in the jail by reading and writing, has left behind many books and hand-written articles.
The family has asked the jail authorities that all his belongings should be returned to them.
"The government will have to take a decision on this issue," the official added.
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subset: commoncrawl


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17 July 2014
The shape of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is particularly unusual; these 36 combined and interpolated images were acquired by the OSIRIS camera on 14 July 2014 at intervals of 20 minutes and show that the comet consists of two interconnected parts.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA.
These 36 images were acquired by the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta spacecraft on 14 July 2014 at intervals of 20 minutes. The images have been processed to smooth the still pixelated view. Nevertheless, the recordings give a first impression of what the Rosetta Lander, Philae, will encounter at its destination.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA/Montage: DLR.
Comets have irregular and rather potato-like shapes – this is a well-known fact. But the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, on which the Philae lander is scheduled to descend in November 2014, has an unexpected shape. The pictures acquired by the OSIRIS camera on board the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft – just 14,000 kilometres from its target – show that the comet is a contact binary, consisting of two parts in close contact. "This shape is most surprising," says comet researcher Ekkehard Kührt from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). For 30 years, the project leader has been studying these celestial bodies for scientific experiments on the probe and lander. "But it is not unlikely. Comets were formed by the collision of small building blocks far away from the Sun during the emergence of the Solar System." The effect of the comet's unusual shape on the landing cannot be estimated yet.
Fused together 4.5 billion years ago
Rosetta and the Philae lander are currently less than 10,000 kilometres away from their destination. So far, Churyumov-Gerasimenko has been an enigma for scientists: only recordings from a distance, such as those from the Hubble Space Telescope or the first images of OSIRIS as well as the navigation camera provide clues of what the orbiter and lander will encounter. Previous observations estimated the comet to be about three by five kilometres in size. The fact that two clearly distinguishable parts make up Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a surprise. "The two blocks likely formed 4.5 billion years ago, collided at low speed, stuck to each other and have since been moving together," says Kührt. "Scientifically, it is now of course very interesting to find out whether the two components differ in their composition." If the two parts are from different regions, their structure might also differ.
Waiting for details
In the coming months, as the spacecraft get closer to their target, the scientists will learn more about the comet. "For the landing, it is especially important to have a detailed view of the comet and understand how the two parts are connected," says Koen Geurts, an engineer at the Lander Control Centre at DLR in Cologne. This information will be incorporated into the planning of the trajectory of Rosetta spacecraft – and its course and height in turn has an impact on the landing of Philae, as it is the first time that a lander touches down on a comet and performs in situ measurements. "So far, it looks as though there are large flat regions on the comet." The location where the two parts are connected will likely not be considered as the landing site. In addition to being a suitable, reasonably flat terrain, the landing site should also have a day-night cycle so that the Philae lander can cool down out of the sunlight and so that scientific research can be carried out under different conditions. Regular communication with the Rosetta spacecraft is necessary for the lander team to send the recorded data to Earth and empty the data storage. "These aspects are currently still hard to assess."
About the mission
Rosetta is a European Space Agency mission with contributions from its Member States and NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander has been contributed by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), and the Italian space agency, ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana).
The OSIRIS camera system was developed by a consortium under the leadership of MPS (Germany) in cooperation with the Center of Studies and Activities in Space (Centro Interdipartimentale di Studi e Attività Spaziali; CISAS) at the University of Padua (Italy), the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM) at Aix-Marseille University (France), the Andalusian Institute of Astrophysics (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía) of the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; CSIC), the ESA Scientific Support Office, the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial; INTA), the Technical University of Madrid (Spain), the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University (Sweden), and the Institute of Computer and Network Engineering the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany). OSIRIS has been financially supported by the national agencies of Germany (DLR), France (CNES), Italy (ASI), Spain (MEC) and Sweden (SNSB), and by ESA's Technical Directorate.
Last modified:04/08/2014 10:43:40


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A common refrain of those who object to new gun control laws is that authorities could do much to keep firearms out of the wrong hands and reduce violence by simply enforcing the laws that are already on the books. In the case of gun trafficking, this line of reasoning is a bit like asking why authorities don't tackle the problem of traffic safety by busting jaywalkers. Under current law, the burden of proof is too high and the penalties are too low to make it worth prosecutors' time, and so few resources are put into going after those who buy guns on behalf of people who cannot legally do so on their own.
Rep. Elijah Cummings and a group of representatives from both parties are seeking to change that. In a rare bit of bipartisan agreement, a handful of members of the House of Representatives from both sides of the aisle are sponsoring a bill to create a federal statute outlawing gun trafficking — astonishingly, there isn't one already — and stiffening penalties for straw purchases of guns to as much as 20 years in prison. The bill is similar to an effort in the Senate that has also garnered bipartisan support, and the issue was highlighted recently by President Barack Obama in a speech about gun control in Minnesota. Republican House leaders have been noncommittal about whether they will bring the bill to the floor, but it has the strong support of national law enforcement groups.
The bill would make it illegal for an individual to "receive, or to transfer, or to otherwise dispose of" two or more firearms that have been "shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce" to someone who is ineligible to buy a gun under existing statutes or someone who intends to use the weapon in a crime. The bill establishes even stiffer penalties for the organizer of such a scheme.
Under current law, the only way federal authorities can go after someone for a straw purchase is to prosecute them for semi-related offenses, like lying on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form. Such prosecutions are exceedingly rare because the crime, in most cases, amounts to a misdemeanor.
Mr. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, and his co-sponsors have pitched the bill as a way to crack down on the large-scale gun trafficking that helps arm drug cartels in Mexico and elsewhere, but it could also have a significant impact on the kind of gun violence common in cities like Baltimore. Street criminals get guns in a variety of ways, including through gun shows and private sales in other states that do not regulate such transactions. But straw purchases are the easiest and most attractive way for those with criminal convictions to get guns — no need to go out of state or to take whatever is available on the black market.
However, the bill could be strengthened. Maryland already has a law against straw purchases, but it is rarely used for reasons that should inform the federal effort. It has proved difficult for prosecutors to prove that a gun was purchased with the intent to transfer it to someone who is not eligible to own a gun, and prosecutors have had difficulty establishing that a weapon has been "transferred," in the legal sense, to such a person. Accused straw purchasers have successfully argued that they were merely loaning the guns to someone else. The bill's authors should consider the experience of Maryland prosecutors and seek amendments to make their proposed statute more useful.
That said, the Cummings proposal would work well in concert with President Obama's proposal to extend background checks to private sales and Gov. Martin O'Malley's effort to create a state-level licensing system for handgun purchasers. Despite the objections of the National Rifle Association, there appears some bipartisan support for closing the so-called "gun show loophole," which allows as many as 40 percent of gun sales to occur outside of the background check system. Even House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a leader in his party's conservative wing, has expressed a willingness in recent days to beef up background checks, though he has not specifically endorsed the president's proposal.
Mr. O'Malley's legislation, though, appears to be in trouble in the face of skepticism from conservative Democrats, who are pushing to break up the various elements of the governor's bill rather than voting on them as a package. In an odd twist on the politics of guns in Washington, where an effort to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines is proving most controversial, some Democrats in Annapolis seem to want to get a chance to vote for an assault weapons ban without having to support licensing. Drawing such a distinction between one part of the bill and another makes little sense in terms of politics or policy. Staunch gun control opponents won't be mollified, and if Maryland lawmakers are concerned with taking steps that will actually reduce gun violence here, licensing — which creates accountability for those whose guns wind up in the wrong hands — is far more significant than banning assault weapons.


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Family code of conduct: Getting everyone together to listen, learn, and grow
A family is a delicate edifice with a natural tendency to fragment, split, and move in different directions over generations. New people enter as spouses and children with their own interests, preferences, and lifestyles. But when a family shares ownership, oversight, and dependence on shared investments, they challenge this tide. Such connected, "enterprising" families must work continually to head off and manage conflict between an ever-enlarging pool of family members, who share blood but know each other less.
They often fear conflict because they are more of a mystery to each other. While a second generation of brothers, sisters, and cousins know each other while growing up, as they get older, they tend to grow apart and see each other only at rare and restrained family gatherings.
They may be relative strangers, but they could share ownership and potential ownership in significant businesses, investments, real estate, and philanthropic assets. Because of the deep emotional family history, they cannot just be business partners coming together to exercise rational self-interest. Other ties must be taken into account, like whose uncle did what to your father or how your siblings are being treated in a business. Actions that are "just business" can hurt personally, and the personal hurt can lead to anger and conflict in other areas.
So a family that remains together as partners over three or more generations should always put family communication, conflict resolution, and alignment of interests at the top of their list of critical challenges. They should look for professional help to anticipate or deal with their differences.
The professional often tries to help by convening a family meeting, like a focused gathering of family members (defined in various ways, depending on the context) to discuss the conflict, provide alternatives, and take action on troubling issues. This seems reasonable and simple, right? Yet, I hear many stories where getting together was not just not helpful but led to feelings that make further contact even less likely while the problems remain simmering.
"We had a family meeting, and it was terrible."
"No one wants to get together a second time."
"Things came out that were better left alone."
"Dad (or Uncle Jerry, or cousin Bob) had a meltdown and walked out."
"No one listens to me because…."
Poorly planned and executed family meetings can further traumatize a family even when a professional brings them together with the best intentions.
Setting the stage for a family meeting
Nothing is as difficult as the first moments when an intergenerational family comes together as a whole.
While not total strangers, they are a collection of differing styles, viewpoints, values, ages, genders, and often ways of living and working. Their whole lives may be formed regarding the benefits of this legacy, but it does not change the reality that they may be strangers to each other.
Even smaller family meetings—such as of parents and their adult children—share this anxiety about starting. The feeling of awkwardness or the fear that one person will dominate, that others will not be heard, or that a business issue will trigger deep family emotions may lead to avoidance. A family expresses this by finding it difficult to schedule the meeting, postponing it, or limiting the time together.
The problem is that family members may not know how to create an environment for effective communication. They enter a strange environment without knowing how they can act to overcome the emotional traps and bad habits that they have eluded over time as a family. The first family meeting must make people feel safe to talk to each other in a respectful way and to be listened to by others.
One way to create a safe harbor in the meeting is to start by having the family create what we call a code of conduct that is about how they will talk to each other, not what they will talk about.
A code can be a guide to the difficult process of communicating in a fair and safe manner. It is a list of rules (or expectations) for communication that everyone agrees to hold each other to when they meet or interact as a family. Often a family has many bad habits—dominating, interrupting, blaming—that inhibit communication. A family meeting must begin by confronting these bad habits and deciding to help each other change. They are like addicts who have to support each other to make difficult changes. The regular family "rules" used to deal with personal relationships and emotional realities may be counterproductive for a family meeting. The family rules need to change or adapt to meet the difficulties of family members defining their future and agreeing on policies.
Creating the code of conduct
Developing a family code of conduct might start with each family member sharing something that they feel the family has to agree on in order to have a safe harbor for communication at the meeting. This gives each person a chance to share their anxieties before things start. It is not hard for a family member to begin to talk about things that inhibit communication.
The first things that inevitably come up are things like "Don't interrupt," "Get everyone to talk, not just the people who always dominate," or "Talk about yourself without blaming others." Each of these can be discussed and defined by the family as a principle of communication. When the family is done, they should write the principles on a large piece of paper and place it on the wall so that everyone can see them through the entire meeting. The more each family member can express concerns and feel that others have heard them and that the code reflects their own family, the more committed the family will be to them. They understand that the code marks the family's entry into a new way of working together, which will be difficult for them as it means overcoming earlier habits.
Some facilitators begin the discussion with a list of behaviors for good communication. For example, many use the four principles defined by anthropologist Angie Arrien as a guide, which echo another set by Steven Covey:
- Show up.
- Pay attention.
- Tell the truth, without blame or judgment.
- Be open to outcomes, not attached to an outcome.
This is helpful only if family members have a chance to talk about how each rule would look if it were practiced by their family. They are deceptively simple and easy to think up but hard to practice. The point is to actively engage them and move them from good ideas to practical tools to guide behavior that they accept.
After such a discussion, the family will come up with a set of ground rules for communication that they agree will make them more effective. Setting up (or reminding people about) rules or a code of conduct should always be the first topic on the agenda of a family meeting (even if the meeting consists of three people). The family may define a code that they use for every meeting, but at the beginning, they need to be reminded of it. Each person will come into a family meeting with fears about talking and concerns that what he or she wants to share will not be heard or respected.
There are many types of statements in a family that act as "emotional triggers" that give rise to memories of other events that were hurtful. These memories may bring upset feelings or anger to the surface. Rules about behavior can't always stop these triggers or the eruption of feeling the triggers generate, but they can limit them. At their best, rules can help a family consider other ways to deal with being upset. Also, the presence of other family members at a meeting can sometimes help two people who are upset over something take a step back and look at what is actually happening.
So when there is a code of conduct, who is in charge of policing it? And what happens if someone doesn't follow it? This role can be jointly handled by a facilitator, the person—a family member or outside helper—whose role is to make sure the meeting goes well for all family members.
A family often allows anyone to break in and observe that someone is not observing the rules. For example, a working family may find family members making comments like "He isn't finished" or "Let's slow things down. People seem to be getting upset." These process comments show that all family members feel responsible for adhering to the rules and are able to call each other to account.
Core purpose
A second element of the family code of conduct is setting clear expectations for its purpose, what the group is doing, and when or how decisions will be made.
Each meeting should have a core purpose or a focus that guides the conversation. This might be to learn about the structure of the family trusts, to learn what we all want for our family philanthropy policies, or to plan for the new family leadership. Having a focus helps make the meeting safer in that there is a sense of what will be off-limits or what issues can be shared. Sometimes the agreement is that a person can raise an issue, but any individual can decide that they don't want to talk about it. Or, there may be an agreement that decisions will not be made and that the purpose of the meeting is to learn about each other.
These understandings about the nature of the meeting and its focus are part of the code of conduct and allow family members to feel comfortable with what will and will not be talked about. This sort of understanding is often critical to having one or more individuals decide to participate in the meeting.
Beyond the family meeting
In summary, a family code of conduct is a set of agreed-upon rules and understandings that a family creates to make a safe, comfortable, and positive setting for family communication in a meeting. A family often has one general code of conduct that they adopt for all meetings, and they may also have some agreements about the purpose they add for an individual meeting. Each meeting begins with a discussion of what the ground rules for that meeting are, beginning with the general code the family has drafted.
The family that adopts a code for behavior in a meeting may decide that the rules are important not only in meetings but in their relationships in general. The whole family may agree to strive to adopt these standards for all their communication and behavior together. The code of conduct may become part of their family mission, vision and values, and their family constitution.
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text:
WSGI, Web Frameworks, and Requests: Explicit or Implicit?
In Python web programming and frameworks, there is a constant juggling act that takes place between "explicit" and "implicit". Too explicit, and the code may get too verbose or unwieldy. Too implicit, and the code may lose clarity or maintainability.
And nowhere can this tension be more clearly seen, than in the area of "request" objects. After all, nearly every web programming framework has some notion of a "request" at its core: usually some sort of object with an API.
Now, as you may recall from my previous article, the Web-SIG originally set out in 2003 to standardize a universal "request" API for Python, but I diverted this effort towards a different sort of request API -- the WSGI "environ" object.
Where web framework request APIs usually emphasize methods and properties, the WSGI "environ" object is just a big bag of data. It doesn't have any operations or properties.
But the upside to this downside, is that the enviornment is extensible, in a way that a request object is not. You can add whatever you want to it, and you can call functions on it to do things that a request object would do with methods. (Yay, freedom!)
But the new downside to that upside, is that if you want to use library functions on the environ instead of framework "request" object methods, you now have to pass the environ back into the library functions! (Boo, hiss.)
Binding To The Environment
So, WSGI-era web libraries (like WebOb and Werkzeug) tend to define their next-generation "request" objects as wrappers bound to the environ. As Ian Bicking put it:
"Everything WebOb does is basically functions on the environ"
Of course, this isn't the only strategy for managing request information. Some web app frameworks dodge the argument-passing issue by using thread locals, or worse yet, global variables. But they're still trying to solve the same problem: connecting actions that a web application needs to perform, with some notion of the "current request".
And in both cases, a key driver for the API design is brevity and ease-of-use (implicit) vs. clarity and consistency (explicit).
On the explicit side, It's annoying to be constantly saying "foo = bar(environ, etc)", if only because it somehow looks less Pythonic than "foo = request.bar(etc)".
So in effect, what we want in our frameworks is a way to (implicitly) bind operations to the "request", so that it isn't necessary to explicitly spell out the connection in every line of code. (Even if we're still explicitly referencing the request object.)
In fact, we don't even want to have to include boilerplate like 'request = Request(environ)' at the top of our apps' code, and so we'd much rather have this binding take place outside our code entirely.
Now, this is where things get really interesting! In order to get rid of this boilerplate, web libraries and frameworks will usually do one of two things. Either:
- They provide a decorator to change the calling signature while keeping external WSGI compliance (like WebOb), or
- They ditch WSGI entirely and use a different calling signature (like Django)
And in either case, we're now more or less back where we started, pre-WSGI, as you are now writing code with a calling signature that's implicitly coupled to a specific library or framework.
Sure, you get certain benefits in exchange for making this commitment, and you're less tightly coupled to libraries using option 1. But it's still a pretty exclusive commitment. If you want to use code from more than one library, you're going to have to write the boilerplate for each of them, except for whichever one you choose to be your "primary" - the main one that calls you and/or decorates your code.
The Original Goal Of WSGI
Now, the original idea for WSGI (well, my original idea, anyway) was that by letting "request" objects wrap the environ, and using "functions on the environ", we could get out of this situation. As I wrote in the original PEP 333 rationale section:
"If middleware can be both simple and robust, and WSGI is widely available in servers and frameworks, it allows for the possibility of an entirely new kind of Python web application framework: one consisting of loosely-coupled WSGI middleware components.
"Indeed, existing framework authors may even choose to refactor their frameworks' existing services to be provided in this way, becoming more like libraries used with WSGI, and less like monolithic frameworks. This would then allow application developers to choose "best-of-breed" components for specific functionality, rather than having to commit to all the pros and cons of a single framework."
But what I didn't understand then, was just how annoying it is to have to explicitly pass the environ into every library function you wanted to use!
(Actually, it's not just that it's annoying from a number-of-keystrokes point of view, it's also more foreign to a Python programmer's sensibilities. We don't usually mind receiving an explicit "self", but for some reason, we seem to hate sending one!)
And that (in a somewhat roundabout way) is how I ended up adding the experimental "binding" protocol to WSGI Lite.
Specifically, what the binding protocol provides, is a way to generically bind things to the environ dictionary, and pass them into your application's calling signature, while retaining WSGI compliance for any code that calls your function.
In other words, the binding protocol is a way to make it so that you can use as many libraries, functions, or objects for your request as you want, without needing to pass an 'environ' parameter to them over and over.
Now, in the simplest case, you can just use the binding protocol as a generic way to obtain any given library's request objects. You can say, "my 'request' parameter maps to a WebOb request", for example.
But the really interesting cases come about, when you stop thinking in terms of "request" objects, and start thinking about what your application reallly does.
The Meaning of "Lite"
For example, why not bind a session object to your function's 'session' argument? Or maybe what you really want is to just receive an authenticated user object in your 'user' parameter, and a cart object in your 'cart' parameter, instead of first getting a session, just so you can get to the user and cart.
In other words, what if you made your application goals more explicit?
Now currently, getting access to such application-specific objects requires either painfully-verbose boilerplate off of a raw WSGI environment, or an increasingly tight coupling to an increasingly monolithic framework that does more of the work for you.
But, with the Lite binding protocol, you can now represent anything that's tied to "the current request", just by creating a callable object that takes an environment parameter.
Which means you don't really need "request" objects any more in your main code, because you can simply arrange to be called with whatever objects you need, to do the thing you're actually doing.
And so your application code stops being about manipulating "web stuff", to focus more on whatever it is that your app actually does... while still being just a WSGI app from the point of view of its caller.
(This by the way, is part of why I dubbed the concept "WSGI Lite", despite the fact that it adds new protocols to WSGI: it effectively lets you take most of the "WSGI" out of "WSGI applications".)
The Great "Apps vs. Controllers" Debate
Now, if you look at how non-WSGI-centric, "full-stack" frameworks (like Django, TurboGears, etc.) operate, they often have things they call "controllers": functions with more specialized signatures for doing this kind of "more app, less web" kind of stuff. However, these frameworks tend to end up being very un-WSGI internally, because plain WSGI doesn't handle this sort of thing very well.
However, with the WSGI Lite binding protocol, you can write controllers with whatever signature you like, while remaining "WSGI all the way down". Anything you want as an argument, you can just create a binding rule for, which can be as simple as a string (to pull out an environ key) a short function that computes a value, or a tiny classmethod that returns an object wrapping the environ.
And, if it's a callable (like a function or a method), it too can use the binding protocol, and ask for its arguments to be calculated from the request.
And that means that you can take, say, a generic binding rule that fetches a parsed form, and use it to write an application-specific binding rule that looks up something in a database.
At which point, you can now write a controller that uses that binding rule to get something it needs as an argument.
Where All This Is Going
Now, if you look at where all this is going, you'll see that you're going to end up with a very small application body: just the code that actually does things with the information that came in, and decides what to send back out.
Something, in fact, that looks very much like a "controller" would in a non-WSGI, full-stack web framework... yet isn't locked in to one particular full stack framework.
Now, I don't know how clear any of the above was without code examples. (Probably not very.) But the endgame that I'm trying to describe, is a future in which both "full stack" and "WSGI-centric" frameworks use a common protocol to provide their features to applications.
And, more importantly, a future where full-stack features do not require learning a full stack framework.
And where every application is its own framework.
In effect, the binding protocol is a tool that allows every app to define its own embedded DSL: the set of high-level data objects and operations that it needs in order to do whatever it does.
And these high-level, application-specific objects and operations are composed of lower-level, domain-generic objects and operations (such as form parsers and validators, URL parameter extractors, session and cookie managers, etc.), obtained from libraries or frameworks.
And all of these objects are passed around via the environment and binding rules, while retaining WSGI Lite calling signatures... making the entire thing "WSGI all the way down".
And yet, the code contained in those applications would not look like "WSGI" as we know it today. For example:
@lite( user = myapp.authorized_user, output = myapp.format_chooser, ) def todo_list(environ, user, output): return output(user.todo_items())
Or, perhaps the Python 3 version would look like this:
@lite def todo_list( environ, user: myapp.authorized_user, output: myapp.format_chooser ): return output(user.todo_items())
Neither of these looks anything like "WSGI" code as we know it today - it's more like a full-stack framework's code. But, where the bindings in a full-stack framework are implicit (like automatically formatting the output with a template or turning it into JSON), all of the bindings here are explicit.
And not only is explicit better than implicit, but...
Readability Counts!
You can see right away, for example, that this app is using some sort of chooser to render the output in some request-determined format, and you can track down the relevant code, without having to first learn all of the implicit knowledge of a particular framework's construction.
And, the point of this app function is immediately obvious - it displays a user's todo list. (Something that would otherwise be hidden under a pile of web I/O code, if this were written to plain WSGI or with a WSGI-centric library or framework.)
And what this means is, if this approach becomes a focal point for Python web development, then being a Python web programmer would not be a matter of being a "Django developer" or "TurboGears developer" or "Pyramid Developer" or any other sort of developer...
Other than a Python developer.
Because any Python developer could pick this up, without having to have all the implicit, framework-specific knowledge already in their head.
And hopefully, this will help get us to a situation where, instead of people saying, "you should use Python for your web app because framework X is great"...
People will say, "you should use Python for your web app because it lets you focus on what your application is really doing, and no matter what libraries you use, your code will be readable and maintainable, even by people who haven't used those libraries."
Or maybe just, "you should use Python for your web app because it's a great language for web development!"
Plumbing The Pipe Dream
Now, is all that just a pipe dream?
Maybe so. After all, there are still a lot of hurdles between here and there!
(For starters, I think that the actual binding protocol probably still needs some work!)
But if you want to make a "pipe" dream real, you've got to start with the requirements for the plumbing.
So right now, I'm collecting use cases from frameworks as I encounter them, to see what services the popular frameworks provide, and how they could be expressed as bindings.
But I'm also really interested in the problems that such frameworks have, in terms of how they currently communicate state, configuration, and other information to user code. Are there any open issues the binding protocol could solve now, or could solve with some additions?
Because that's what's really going to make the difference to adoption here. The authors of established libraries and frameworks aren't going to change things just beacuse I said this is a neat idea!
But if we can make the protocol solve some existing problems -- like helping to get rid of thread-local objects, for example -- then folks have another reason to get on board with a common protocol, besides it being a common protocol.
So, that's the interesting question that lies ahead:
Do you have any warts in your current app, library, or framework that this might help you solve? Or a feature you think it could help you add?
Leave me a comment here, or drop me an email via the Web-SIG!


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - Pricing of Michael Whelan's originals... Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Random Musings View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "Pricing of Michael Whelan's originals..." LunatiquememberMember #Joined: 27 Jan 2001Posts: 3303Location: Lincoln, California Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:52 pm http://www.theiogallery.com/artists/artist_gallery.php?artistID=47 Is it just me, or are the prices for Whelan's paintings a bit high for what they are? I've never cared much for commenting on what other artists charge for their artwork, but in this case, it just seems a bit odd to see this style of artwork commanding that much money, regardless of Whelan's reputation as a sci-fi/fantasy artist. Seriously, that's some good advertising and promotion skills right there to end up where he's at over the last 10 years or so (his Glass Onion operation's been at it all that time), doing the whole "I'm now a fine artist" approach but essentially still painting in that somewhat plastic and sterile commercial style he's always painted in (and not much different from his commercial book covers of the past). It's easier for me to understand how someone like Pino could end up where he is, since the fine art stuff he does is not like the commercial book covers he did during his illustration days. Anyway, I just got that link in my email and found it slightly amusing, that's all. Back to top JimmyjimjimmemberMember #Joined: 12 Dec 2002Posts: 459 Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:44 pm Interesting link, thanks! Yeah, I kind of second the idea that they're a bit overpriced. There's a lot of craft there, though. I might expect those kinds of prices for an exceptionally known artist I guess, given that Thomas (:::BARF:: Kincaid gets much, much higher. Is Michael Whelan particularly well known? Back to top DrewmemberMember #Joined: 14 Jan 2002Posts: 495Location: Atlanta, GA, US Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:13 pm Lunatique wrote: Is it just me, or are the prices for Whelan's paintings a bit high for what they are? Are you trying to suggest that the skill of the artist has anything to do with what people will pay for their work? As you should know, they're worth as much as people will pay for them. If they don't sell at those prices, he can always lower them. Back to top MiscmemberMember #Joined: 04 Jun 2004Posts: 475Location: Sweden Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:23 am I think it's good that people try to charge as much as they possibly can. It should be beneficial for everyone trying to sell their art. It is such a luxury product with basically no objective practical use, which means that the price has no limit Back to top Mikko KmemberMember #Joined: 29 Apr 2003Posts: 639 Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:18 pm Just had a conversation about this here at the office, and the conclusion I got to was that people with money can pay those prices easily if they feel emotional connection to the artwork. Someone might see it as an investment and expect the value to go up in future, and it might also reflect their status - someone might want to go on MTV cribs and show off this stuff with a 75k price tag. Celebrities pay millions just for jewelery, so why not art as well. Back to top JabomemberMember #Joined: 25 Jul 2002Posts: 467Location: Germany Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:01 pm If I had the money, I'd buy so many pieces of art ranging from Rembrandts to the smaller every day artists around the web... I just can't frown this. The first piece on the page, "Wave", maybe it's not worth 75000 dollars, but I'd pay if I could. Seeing that the price is so high, probably some people can._________________CA SB|Flickr Back to top [Shizo]memberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 3938 Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:52 am I'd give all my money for the original Quake Rally artwork. I feel very emotionally connected to it. Back to top SumalethAdministratorMember #Joined: 30 Oct 1999Posts: 2896Location: Australia Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:55 am [Shizo] wrote: I'd give all my money for the original Quake Rally artwork. I feel very emotionally connected to it. I don't believe you! _________________Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials Back to top jrmemberMember #Joined: 17 Jun 2001Posts: 1046Location: nyc Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:46 am he should charge as much as he could for his paintings, and if people buy them, even BETTER_________________ Back to top LunatiquememberMember #Joined: 27 Jan 2001Posts: 3303Location: Lincoln, California Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:22 pm I certainly agree that creative people should try to get as much for their works as possible. It wouldn't make any sense if I didn't feel that way, since that would contradict my entire career path. I just thought it was a little odd that's all. From what I can remember, only classic illustrator's of the golden age commanded that kind of price (and only after their death). Whelan's "fine art" stuff still looks like typical sci-fi illustrations to me, so it's hard for me to associate with fine art prices. Back to top SumalethAdministratorMember #Joined: 30 Oct 1999Posts: 2896Location: Australia Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:22 am Calling Whelan "typical sci-fi" is a bit cheeky. I'd love a Whelan original on my wall. Right up to the point I sold it and bought a country._________________Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials Back to top LunatiquememberMember #Joined: 27 Jan 2001Posts: 3303Location: Lincoln, California Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:33 pm Oops, I meant typical for what Whelan had been doing during his commercial illustration days. He's done these surreal fantasy/sci-fi kind of images for book covers even before he went the way of fine arts. Back to top SumalethAdministratorMember #Joined: 30 Oct 1999Posts: 2896Location: Australia Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:50 pm Fine-art is just illustration with no artificial time limits, and without "someone else" being the majority creative shareholder. I suppose he could have completely changed direction and started painting abstract or something, but I'm not at all surprised that his fine-arts work followed on naturally from what he was doing as illustration._________________Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Random Musings All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


text:
Aban84 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 165 diseños de 38 diseñadores freelance.
The Right Dating Site
"The Right Dating Site" is a new online service that categorizes, identifies, and rates online dating websites. One of the key features that will distinguish us from competitors is that users will be given useful articles, detailed reviews, and most importantly, a matching wizard which will help users find The Right Dating Site!
This is a brand new company and the logo / branding is critical to our overall project. It is important to note that our entire site design will be based on how sexy / user friendly this marketing peice is made. We are 100% online, so the logo must be the quintessential component of our business.
Online dating sites have been growing in popularity recently. They are no longer just for users who are 30+ and above. In fact, our demographic ranges from 23 - 50+. Therefore, with the right logo it will need to look professional, yet sleek. It should help us, as mentioned above, drive the overall layout of our site.
We are looking for a design that tells the value of simplicity, innovation and easiness. There are no real requirements outside of making sure that it adheres to most new Web 2.0 company logos and has a sleek design the includes our entire company's name: "The Right Dating Site"
This may or may not help with the logo design, but part of the idea for the site is to make sure that after filling out 10 simple questions we can match you with the best online dating site.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
This picture is probably of the family of William B. Pulsifer (1848-1903), who had married Nettie Wilson of Shelburne in 1875 and had four children with her, only two of whom survived infancy. The boy sitting on the grass is probably Leon Wilson Pulsifer (b. 1888), and the woman standing next to the tree is probably his other surviving child, Loula May Bates (b. 1881). The Pulsifer home was located in Conway center, near the Baptist Church, and probably was the home owned by his father, Joseph R. Pulsifer. William's wife, Nettie, died in 1898, and when he died in 1903 his children were left orphaned.
This photograph comes from the Howes Brothers collection of photographs. The Howes Brothers, based in Ashfield, Massachusetts, made more than 20,000 images of New England rural life from 1890 to around 1910, offering a glimpse into the lives of people rarely visible in history.
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text:
Day 1b of the World Poker Tour Malta Main Event has drawn to a close after eight action-packed 60-minute levels were completed inside the vast Casino at Portomaso. A number of notables took to the felt during the course of Day 1b, but Jackson Genovesi had out-chipped everyone by the end of the night. In fact, he has more chips than anyone still in the tournament.
Genovesi didn't have the easiest of tables when Day 1b began because Table 3 was home to Steve van Zadelhoff, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ronnie Bardah, Fabrice Soulier, and PartyPoker Pro Kara Scott. Genovesi didn't let the fact he was surrounded by stars faze him, though. If anything, quite the opposite was true.
During the fifth level of play, with blinds at 150/300/25, there was a raise to 700 and four callers before Scott stuck in a raise of her own and made it 2,300 to play from the small blind. Both Bardah and Genovesi made the call, and the dealer fanned out the flop. Scott continued her aggression and led out for 5,000 only to see Bardah raise to 18,000. Genovesi then flat-called Bardah's raise, Scott also called, and action was three-handed to the turn.
"What is going on in this hand?" shouted Bardah as he looked up to the heavens, "You just flat 18k?" he motioned to Genovesi, "I have been in some tough spots before, but this is one of the toughest…I have put over 20,000 of my chips into this pot and I have to fold…I have outs too," said Bardah before finally folding his hand. Genovesi then pretended to fold and the whole table burst into raptures and laughter at the reaction on Bardah's face. Genovesi pulled his cards back and called.
Scott showed and needed a queen or a seven to survive because Genovesi held for the nut flush. The was not one of Scott's outs and she headed to the sidelines while Genovesi became the new chip leader with 110,000 chips and from that moment, the young Italian never looked back.
For Bardah's take on the hand, check out this video.
As mentioned, among the 105 entries were some of poker's most familiar names and some of those who made it through with chip stacks intact included Giovanni Rizzo (95,800), Alessio Isaia (77,500), Erik Cajelais (74,800), Ilan Boujenah (62,100), Jason Mercier (56,600) and Fabrice Soulier (49,500). Vanessa Selbst (29,500), Tony G (17,600), Andrew Badecker (15,700), Marvin Rettenmaier (13,375) and Anton Wigg (12,700) also made it through but will have a little more work to do when play restarts.
Play resumes at 1300 CET (0400 PDT), and we are told the plan is to play between five and six 90-minute levels, depending on how quickly the field thins early on. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be there to bring you all of the action as it unfolds.
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text: Hi, Interested in getting started and trying to figure out which distro would allow me to use all features like the multiserver. I see various distro installs for ISPconfig on separate servers, but it seems like the multiserver articles refer only to Debian. I have only used Centos before but if something is better to ensure success with ISPconfig I would appreciate some input before I get going. I like the concept of a centralized multisever setup and since I use xenserver this would be a good fit. Thanks


text:
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are spicing up the holidays with the introduction of the Jalapeño Turkey Burger.
At just 490 calories, the newest addition to the award-winning line of Charbroiled Turkey Burgers offers indulgently spicy taste and a leaner, lower-calorie meal option this holiday season and into the New Year.
The Jalapeño Turkey Burger is available now at all Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants.
The charbroiled Jalapeño Turkey Burger features sliced jalapeños, Pepper Jack cheese, and creamy Santa Fe sauce, served on a whole-wheat bun with sliced red onion, lettuce, and tomato.
The Jalapeño Turkey Burger is available starting at $3.49. Prices may vary by location.
"Carl's Jr. and Hardee's were the first fast-food chains to introduce turkey burgers across the nation and they are still very popular almost two years later," says Brad Haley, chief marketing officer at CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brands.
"Their popularity stems from the fact that they still offer the kind of great taste and indulgence that all of our burgers are famous for but, because they are charbroiled turkey burgers, they also offer a lighter, lower-calorie alternative to beef burgers," he adds. "Our latest addition to the line, the new Jalapeño Turkey Burger, is no exception. With sliced jalapeños, Pepper Jack cheese, and our famous Santa Fe Sauce, you don't have to give up anything on taste while giving up calories."
The five times weekly e-newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest industry news and additions to this website.


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Having established itself as one of the biggest Ibiza boat parties, with a reputation for unadulterated fun (check their TripAdvisor and Google reviews!), a high-energy soundtrack and a crew that gets involved in the party, Oceanbeat Ibiza is back for an even better 2018 season! On top of the popular soundtracks, Oceanbeat Ibiza revellers can enjoy live musical performances, sexy dancers and other talented artists, giving the four-hour boat party a real carnival feel.
This boat party is one of the most popular on the island and the fun doesn't stop when you reach dry land. For those that are not ready to go home early your ticket also gives you up to 3 entries to some Ibiza's biggest and craziest clubs: Privilege, Sankeys, SWAG, Es Paradis, Eden and Ocean Beach completely free!
- Cris Ruiz (Resident DJ); International guest DJs; Surprise guests and performances
Music Style:
- EDM, House, Balearic Sounds
** Your Oceanbeat Ibiza Ticket Includes **
• 4 hours nonstop all-inclusive open bar (beer, sparkling wine, sangria and soft drinks)
• 1 free entry to some of Ibiza's biggest and craziest superclubs like Sankeys, Eden, Privilege, Es Paradis, Swag or Oceanbeach
• Special Oceanbeat cocktails like Slush Puppies and Mojitos
• The craziest and biggest Champagne Showers of Ibiza
• Champagne breakfast with muffins and brownies
• The biggest all-inclusive Boat Party on Ibiza with up to 300 party people!
• 2 Areas: 1 open air dance-floor and 1 chillout area with canopied bar
• Mega cocktail made from a fresh giant watermelon!
• Sexy Ibiza dancers and amazing animation team
• Swim-stop in turquoise blue water of the Mediterranean ocean
• Professional photographers (of course!)
• Fresh fruits and many other surprises
• After-boat party in one of Ibiza's world-famous locations from 18:00 - 0:00
** Ticket Rules **
• Your ticket includes the all-inclusive boat party AND 1 free club entry to some of Ibiza's biggest and craziest clubs!
• The boat party runs from 13:30 - 17:30 (approximately)
• Meeting point is at 12:30pm at the Playa d'en Bossa pier, in front of Cafe Albatros. Please arrive at meeting point early, with your printed ticket and ready to board. You must exchange your ticket for a wristband by 12:45 latest. Boarding is from 13:00 sharp.
• The boat party includes open bar (soft drinks, beer, cava and sangria) as well as a swim stop (professional life guards on duty).
• Once the boat is back, the party continues into the night at one of Ibiza's world-famous locations!
• Oceanbeat Ibiza reserves the right to reschedule the boat party to another time within 24 hours with no refund, due to weather or mechanical problems.
• Excessive drinking on a boat is dangerous. Oceanbeat Ibiza is committed to promoting responsible alcohol consumption. Any use of drugs won't be tolerated. Anyone not adhering to this will not be allowed to board the boat, attend the after party or receive a refund.
• Travel on the boat is at your own risk. The vendor accepts no responsibility for any injuries sustained while on board, although the boat is insured under Spanish law.


text: Wheat Supply and Demand Balance Improving February 11, 2013 11:00 PM Tweet TAGS: Marketing, Overseas December 18, 2014 By Fran Howard AgWeb Contributing Writer Email Feeding of wheat by livestock producers remains strong while persistent drought in the Great Plains continues to threaten prospects for the nation's hard winter wheat. So why are wheat prices falling? The projected world wheat crop is larger than expected and exports out of the Ukraine are expected to increase. "With a decent wheat crop, we don't need to have wheat prices at this level," says Jerrod Kitt, director of research with the Linn Group, Chicago. Currently, he says, the price momentum for wheat is to the downside. Looking first at the domestic numbers, USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) released Feb. 8, showed lower U.S. wheat ending stocks for the 2012-13 crop year. USDA U.S. cut ending stocks by 25 million bushels to 691 million bushels due to higher feed and residual use as low wheat prices relative to corn continue to attract buyers in the livestock sector. "Wheat is working pretty good into western feed rations, primarily cattle," says Kitt. "U.S. soft red winter wheat is the cheapest in the world, no doubt about it." Yet despite low prices, export sales have been disappointing. Drought continues to be a major concern in the hard red winter wheat-growing region of the Great Plains, but that doesn't mean the region will have a poor wheat crop. "With good spring rains, we could get a good crop," says Kitt. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, severe to exceptional drought completely blankets Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, and the vast majority of South Dakota. The eastern soft red winter wheat crop, however, entered dormancy in good condition despite early concerns about lack of snow cover. "The plant was so bushy that it sort of formed its own 'snow cover,' " Kitt notes. USDA narrowed its projected U.S. seasonal-average farm price for wheat by 5 cents on both the low and the high end of the range to $7.70 to $8.10 per bushel, but analysts expect prices to continue to weaken, particularly if USDA does not reduce its forecast for world wheat production. Surprise! Argentina Output Unchanged USDA left global wheat supplies for 2012-13 nearly unchanged—despite expected declines in Argentina. The department lowered projected global wheat production by only 0.7 million tons to 653.61 million metric tons. Global wheat consumption was also virtually unchanged at 673.43 million metric tons. However, global consumption is projected to be 24.6 million tons lighter in 2012-13, compared with the 2011-12 crop year, as feed use moderates. "I was disappointed that USDA didn't true up the world stats," says Kitt. "I expected USDA to take 1 million to 2 million metric tons out of Argentina." USDA left Argentina's projected wheat production unchanged at 11 million metric tons. "Most of the private trade expects a wheat crop in Argentina of 9 million to 10 million tons," says Kitt. World wheat ending stocks for the 2012-13 crop year were also basically unchanged at 176.7 million tons. Lower projected ending stocks in the United States and Morocco offset higher stocks in Iran, South Korea, and Ukraine. In other news, the CME Group plans to end pit trading at the Kansas City Board of Trade on June 28. Open outcry trading for the hard red winter wheat contracts will move to Chicago, pending regulatory approval. ………………………… Coverage, Analysis of the Feb. 8 USDA Reports See all of the data, coverage and analysis of the Feb. 8 WASDE and Crop Production reports. Back to news


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Education Calendar
Schwarzkopf - Fit for Highlighting
May 4, 2014
About the Event
An introductory highlighting workshop, using various highlighting tools. Learn how to create stunning blonde highlights every time. Understand how to address dry, damaged hair and offer solutions to clients interested in permanent, demi-permanent, and semipermanent highlights.
Schwarzkopf - Fit for Highlighting
Tarzana, CA
Tarzana, CA
763.546.9500 / 800.6