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Custom Web Design for Animators
Animators and Proweaver
Are you perhaps looking for a job as an animator or a platform to showcase your skills in animation, editing, character design, and many more? Do you keep on posting your marvelous works in all of the social media available for various people to discover you and eventually hire you?
Having an account and being active in the social media spells different from professionalism. Everyone, from amateurs to professionals, babies to golden agers, and many more brackets, can post in these social media account. So if the employer would, by any chance, discover you through your social media account, what difference does it make with finding a typical guy or lady who is just interested in making animation-related things?
Your Proweaver Experience
When you are in the real world, you need our custom web design for animators in order to grow and be discovered by millions of people within and even outside the country. What is it you say? What can Proweaver's custom web design for animators do to your trade in animation? Well friend, the only definite answer we can tell you is: a ton.
To give you some of the things we can do to improve yourself and your experience in the imaginative world of animation, allow us to elaborate and to give you examples.
With our cutting edge custom web design for animators, you can be whatever you want to be and you can do whatever you want to do!
Imagine this: You just finished school and all the necessary educational requirements to be trained holistically. Then you get to show your employer your hard work through your portfolio. Compiling all in a single envelop may give you numerous risks which are: (1) something may happen to it like it may be lit on fire or (2) it may be lost. With our digital world today, you can keep copies of your work online without worrying it may be lost any time from now. Once you post it in the internet, it will always be there. This is how a custom web design can benefit you and yes, forget about social media.
Proweaver can let you showcase your amazing designs without even wasting paper. How cool is that!? You get to show off your cool stuff without risking the next generations to come. It is like you are not only making something creative but you can also get to contribute something to the society which is letting the next generation experience trees and everything mother nature has to offer.
We guarantee to you that the custom web designs made by yours truly is professional and accompanied with a bunch of other stuff. We make it for certain that our custom web design for animators are:
- Affordable
We believe you have the right to be provided with the best website in the most reasonable price. Collaborate with Proweaver's team of experts dedicated to making only the website that is made for an animator.
- Exclusive for animators
Websites can serve and have many purposes. You may find a website suitable for blogging, a website that serves as one's bulletin, a website that enables the owner to display a gallery of his or her works and many more to mention. But an animator needs a website that does not only serve as a blogging website, a bulletin or a gallery. You, an animator, need all of this function in a website. Can Proweaver make an effective layout that caters all of these functions? With our team of professionals that produce functioning custom web designs, we can help you propagate your distinctive trade.
- Expertly tailored
One of the promises we indubitably see to is guaranteeing that our custom web design for animators speak of professionalism in the field of animation. With our fully custom-designed layouts made only by professional web designers, we make sure that all of your animation needs are met in a single design. Your client's experience in your website should be like a story that leads them from one event to another. We make your client's navigation of your website smooth, one that follows a flow, so that they will be lead to the exact information they need.
- Full of content
Content is very important in your website but how will you know if readers found your website unreadable because of the cluster of information standing erect in each of your website's page? If you are worrying about this, we tell you right now to forget those worries because our creative writers' ways unite in order to provide you with the best and useful content.
With Proweaver, experience only the finest services for your creative trade.
Custom Web Design for Professionals: I am an Animator
Animators are thought to be artistic individuals who bring life to images with the use of sophisticated, natural or quirky artistry and technology. These are the people who make all kinds of things possible from flying houses to talking insects and many more! Are you one of the many gifted animators who are currently unveiling the vast potential animation has to offer? Well then friend, this is the right site for you.
Animators like you make the world a place where art is limitless and possibilities, defied.
- You are the ones responsible in giving us the cartoons we enjoyed as a kid and even as a grown up.
- You make visual effects that create a suspension of disbelief for movies to look real no matter how much a fantasy their plot, background and storyline is.
- You liven up commercials and advertisements on the big screen or the regular household and help out entrepreneurs in marketing their product.
- You help perfect an animation piece in collaboration with designers, photographers, directors, producers, and many more.
- And the most important of all: you help bring inspiration to other people; most especially the future generation.
Unlike most cliché jobs and professions around the world, animation offers a different perspective of the definition of "job". An animator does not need to dress up and being one does not need to have a uniform. Some do not even have to go out of their houses and enjoy the morning traffic just to work. Yet their expertise in the field of art, most especially the digital arts, is very much in demand in today's contemporary society.
Living in this contemporary world gives you not only a chance to defy natural laws through the integration of technology but also it gives you more room and chances to experience and suffer competition. That is why creating a website for your unique profession is one thing that you must consider done. Why? Here are the following reasons why you need to establish a website:
The job of animators is mostly part-time contract, freelance or temporary contact
If you are a veteran to this line of work, you may already be very much aware that animators mostly work part time, freelance or contractual. It is good for experienced animators to make a good impression to their clients because of their finished works and notable experiences but how about the newcomers who have just finished their degree?
With the help of a website, you can actually help clients find and employ you. It can help lead potential customers to your home in the internet. A website can make you work for another when your task is finished with your previous client. It creates a continuity of your employment.
Being an animator is a competition by itself
One thing that is very common in the field of animation and the rest of the profession is the presence of competition. Your employment depends on your skill, your flexibility and your skill to endorse your own self. Having a website lets you rise above your fellow competitors therefore giving you more chances to sharpen your skills through learning from others in the work field.
You need a website to sell yourself
How a client chooses you depend solely on how you present yourself but most client prefers to employ you if you have the credibility and competence. Use your own website to help you sell out yourself to as many clients as possible giving you a wider options and opportunities to work and improve your skills and knowledge on animation.
When we are living in this modern and technologically-driven world, we need to keep in line with all the advancement that is happening around us and help us to be a well-rounded individual. The most effective way to do that as an animator is to build your own website.
Do you need a partner who will help you gain clients?
Because we know that venturing on animation as a profession requires more than flattery, you need a partner. One who is professional enough to help you gain clients or get you what you need. Proweaver can be of help and is more than willing to be your partner. With a team of experienced and dedicated web developers, web producers, and content writers, Proweaver enables you to reach to nearby to faraway clients to help in your endeavors.
Our web designers and producers make your website:
- Attractive
- User-friendly
- Fast-loading
- Consistent
While our content writers make sure that your website is:
- Full of content
- Can satisfy your client's
- Reader-friendly
- Search engine optimized
With Proweaver, we guarantee that only your wishes should be realized. You know more about the field of animation better than we do so you know what is best for you and your trade. We help realize your dreams into a reality.
Do you need a portfolio that showcases your previous animation project?
Proweaver has been designing websites for the benefit of various clients from all over the United States of America and is now extending her services to the United Kingdom. We have been displaying the best features of our clients. In animation, your animation piece or art samples are the best representation of your expertise.
To address your needs of showcasing your best artwork, we launch our Custom Web Design for Animators. The make certain that the designs we make in Proweaver is more than good. We make designs that show off the finest beauty and the skills of our every client.
Custom Web Design for Animators allows you to express yourself as an animator by voicing out your skills to the rest of the world in your behalf and give you the privilege to work with the finest co-workers under the best employer.
Avail our Custom Web Design for Animators. Animate your life with Proweaver.


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|Hey Mom! Learn more about the Gerber Life Insurance Grow-Up Plan!
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Banned for 6 months for ignoring repeated request to attempt to be polite/respectful.
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,142
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
Agreed. But I don't believe that smoking pot has ZERO side effects.
Banned for 6 months for ignoring repeated request to be polite/respectful.
Registered Users
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
Of course, if you're buying from a legal dispensary... the odds you will be sold laced marijuana are slim to none. And really, the risk is pretty low period. There, yes... but low.
I have no issues with Marijuana at all and if it were legal in our state, I would definitely smoke it (while not pregnant, just not personally comfortable smoking while pregnant.) to help with my anxiety. Since it is unfortunately illegal in our state, I don't mess with it because it's not worth the risk of getting in trouble, IMO.
I'm Julie. I'm a lucky wife to Micheal and a SUPER blessed mama of 5! Jordyn (12.21.04) Preston (4.10.06) Kyson (6.24.07) Gavin (12.18.08) and Londyn. (4.19.10)
Expecting Emersyn Jewel in March 2013!
Last edited by mommajewels; 02-04-2013 at 06:55 AM.
Banned for reasons unrelated to transactions
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
In the 25 years I have been around smokers I have never once known someone to buy laced pot. I have heard a few "cousins brothers sister-in-laws mom" stories over the years.
It really makes no sense that a dealer would lace pot (cheap) with a drug like coke, heroin or PCP (expensive) and I don't know a single smoker that would return to someone who did that. I have heard of a shady dealer adulterating the pot with grass though LOL (yes grass like from your lawn) that was a friend in college who bought from a guy on the corner LMAO
Banned for reasons unrelated to transactions
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
This is about the study from Jamaica
And a written summary of Dr. Drehers study
It's interesting reading for the curious
Here is a quote:
"Although no positive or negative neurobehavioral effects of prenatal exposure were found at 3 days of life using the Brazelton examination,there were significant differences between the exposed and non-exposed neonates at the end of the first month.
Comparing the two groups, the neonates of mothers who used marijuana showed better physiological stability at 1 month and required less examiner facilitation to reach an organized state and become available for social stimulation.
The results of the comparison of neonates of the heavy-marijuana-using mothers and those of the non-using mothers were even more striking…
The heavily exposed neonates were more socially responsive and were more autonomically stable at 30 days than their matched counterparts.
quality of their alertness was higher;
their motor and autonomic systems were more robust;
they were less irritable;
they were less likely to demonstrate any imbalance of tone;
they needed less examiner facilitation to become organized;
they had better self-regulation;
judged to be more rewarding for caregivers than the neonates of non-using mothers at 1 month of age
Last edited by Joyful Tie Dyes; 02-04-2013 at 09:18 AM.
Registered Users
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
Abourt the getting in trouble aspect in my state anything under a very large amount is just a ticket like speeding with a fine. Also the op said that she will be home birthing so she wont be tested for anything therefore can't get her kid taken away like some people said even tho they don't take your lid away for pot. I am so surprised that people on here seem like they are stuck in like 1950. Where do you people live? I didn't realise how progressive my area is bc every educated person I know even I'd you sdont smoke you know that its not bad. I mean I'm talking lawyers authors both my parents other friennd theirs with prominent jobs. Smoking a little tiny bit every say doesn't make me incapable ofbeing a good mom either it makes me more empathetic, creative patient. Also other people say they
Wouldn't tale anything over the counter while pregnant. I wouldn't either and I only eat organic whole foods my kids also don't take medicine or eat anything processed or with
Anything bad in or on it. So I am very careful and I have researched this topic very deeply and. Still haven't heard any reasons why it could hurt a person either full grown or forming?
Registered Users
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
It seems like people that answered know nothing about pot and so they shouldn't have answered. This wasn't an opinion poll would you smoke while pregnant it was will this help my morning sickness and the answer is yes it will it will completely disappeared. Is it safe yea the studies I have read say so.also everyoneI know irl that h as smoked has healthy happy smart children. That's proof enough for me
Registered Users
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
Last edited by LaurenAppenzeller; 02-04-2013 at 09:52 AM.
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
I have a friend that had really severe HG and it was truly the only thing that helped her. She was thin to start with and she was just totally wasting away and not able to keep even fluids down. It was really bad and they had tried everything else they could think of. She had a clean source of it and it totally did the trick. She had a very healthy full term baby and he is actually quite ahead of typical milestones. Also...I'm pretty sure my MIL did the same thing during her pregnancies and both her children (my DH being one of them) have no major health issues and are above average intelligence. Personally I don't have a problem with it if you are in a state that isn't going to go after you.
Registered Users
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
Oh and the people that run the Montessori school here are pot smokers and they are THE BEST teachers I've ever seen in action I used to work there and my son starts April 1st
Registered Users
Re: cannibus (pot) for morning sickness
well it looks like this may be a great solution to those who have morning sickness and not one person who has said they know if anyone or did themselves take it and it NOT work. I am not saying that there isnt a risk. heck there is a risk to driving my car in the snow today, there is a risk if I take a plane, an over the counter med I may not have used before and may be allergic to (this has happened to me)
there is a risk to a homebirth or a hospital birth, heck there is a risk to send my kids to school these days!!
but there is also a major risk of getting so sick you dont gain or lose weight, that you get so depressed you cannot stand being pregnant or alive for that matter, there is a risk the baby will be underweight or that drug you try to help with sickness or depression will make baby addicted or have a birth defect. there are ALWAYS risks. you just have to take the information you have and decide what YOU are willing to do or not.
for me, I am NOT willing to go into another pregnancy and not be able to get off my couch or 2 months, not take care of my family or be so mean and crabby everyone hates me including myself. it doesnt mean I am puking everyday- not even close but i cannot fathom sleeping 14-16hrs a day, feeling like I am dying and so unhappy about life cause of that constant sick feeling... that I will continue to look into all my options and it seems cannibus is my top thing to keep in mind.
I thank you for all your stories and personal accounts. nice to see others w open minds and just that YOU found relief
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This was a tough read
EmptyIt almost feels like Barack Obama lost the election.
When the Oscar nominations were announced Thursday morning, the disappointment was palpable among my general demographic, men in their 20s and 30s, that "The Dark Knight" -- the popular, sexy and Internet-fueled choice of a young generation -- was overlooked for best picture.
These men aren't fanboys, strictly speaking. These are members of the media, entertainment and other industries who during the past few months had developed a strange sense of investment in the on-again/off-again chances of the Chris Nolan superhero picture. Its emergence as an awards season contender sparked the hope that the Academy's preferences, whether because of shifting demographics or astral coincidence, was finally coming into alignment with their own tastes.
That the so-called fifth slot went to the Weinstein Co.'s "The Reader," the Stephen Daldry film whose themes and sensibility haven't resonated that way with younger filmgoers, compounded the befuddlement. To this group, it was as if an old reliable -- like, say, John McCain -- had roared back from the brink to best their candidate.
I happen to like "Dark Knight" and thought it would have been a respectable choice. But I also don't share my contemporaries' sense of outrage about its omission (and at the same time happen to deeply admire the clean storytelling and moral ambiguities that fill "The Reader").
Yet the indignation is telling. The Academy for years has been talking about getting in tune with a new generation, and its determination to go so classic when something so young-skewing was sitting right there would seem to indicate a return to traditionalism.
Or did it?
Probably the only thing more traditional for the Academy than a post-Holocaust movie like "The Reader" is a Clint Eastwood nomination. Three of the past four pictures he directed were nominated, and this year was supposed to be bring his swan song as an actor. And yet whether because of mixed reviews, a late release or other factors, "Gran Torino" got nada.
As one awards consultant said, "There's a cult of Harvey and a cult of Clint, but only one was worshipped today."
Other Academy choices were not exactly traditional either. Two of its acting spots went to Melissa Leo and Richard Jenkins, Hollywood outsiders starring in word-of-mouth festival films. Members also went for a performance in a $100 million summer comedy in its nod to Robert Downey Jr. And it recognized a blood-spattered, darkly ironic Sundance opener with an original screenplay nom for "In Bruges" (to go along with one for "Frozen River"). The Academy chose some serious films, but it's not like voters went with "Ben-Hur" and "Lawrence of Arabia."
As it happens, even the five noms for "The Reader" -- including a best actress slot for Kate Winslet in a category Harvey wasn't even pushing for -- might have been fueled by something other than tradition.
Part of the reason voters went for "The Reader" is no doubt their love for the movie's intimacies as well as its European sense of structure. Part of it might be an affection for its two late producers, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella. But part of it might also be its backstory, which like a good political ad at least drew attention to a movie that might have been lost in the crowd.
First the film's original star, Nicole Kidman, fell out. Then two of its champions and producers, Minghella and Pollack, died before the movie was completed. And to top things off, Weinstein and producer Scott Rudin were fighting as recently as October over whether the movie would even be released this year, a situation that resulted in Rudin taking his name off the film and which Weinstein on Thursday colorfully dismissed as "the harking and barking" of the fall. (The movie's producer credits are listed by the Academy as TBD, but that's about whether a fourth credit for line producer/producer Red Morris will be allowed to accompany Pollack, Minghella and Donna Gigliotti, who stepped in during the summer.)
Weinstein was back to his awards-season brio Thursday. "If people watch 'The Reader' again, it's a wide-open race," he said. "I know what the common wisdom is, but I knew what the common wisdom was 24 hours ago: 'The Dark Knight.' "
As he and a host of miffed young men are finding out, when it comes to the Academy, sometimes the wisdom is uncommon. There is, after all, no popular vote.


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I am so happy I finally found a flannel! They really are the best for layering. Even better, this one was free! I love that even my guy friend's closets have stuff to offer. I was feeling lazy today and with laziness usually comes a grunge outfit because one can look stylish but be comfortable at the same time, which in my world, is rare.
Dress: Goodwill
Boots: Sketchers, Timberland knock offs from Goodwill
Flannel: Gift from my friend Brandon
Choker: Given to me by The Cobra Snake


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Read: Psalm 54
Key Verse: "I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good." Psalm 54:6
How willing are you to serve God and praise Him? Do you hold back because of pride, fear of what people will think about you, or distorted priorities? Many people will serve God is there is a paycheck, enough applause, or a nice title to a position. What if there are no earthly rewards?
Being willing includes making the time and effort. Making excuses means excusing yourself from something God wants you to do. A willing heart is teachable. A willing person is available and easy to approach. A willing servant is eager to say yes when asked. We do have limits and boundaries, but a willing follower of Jesus will be exalted by God because of their humility.
For more from Pastor Jesse Bradley and Activate Media Ministries, visit www.activatelife.org


text:
Christmas Time at home. Mountains around
Extra week and a half off at work.
On my way home (Krakow-Jelenia Góra) I am visiting friends and family in Warsaw (where I had stayed for a period of 10 years...).
It's terrible to schedule meetings with friends and close ones, give us limited time for chatting, being together, absorbing common air, atmosphere...but... this is the only reasonable solution to be able to meet them all in one short weekend.
I manage do it.
Then I continue travelling home in excellent mood, strenghtened with the energy of joy, creativity and vitality.
At home I decide to dedicate myself completely into family matters, stay with just beloved ones, experience Christmas time and everything associated with it with 100% engagement.
It means - unfortunately - cessation of my daily rituals connected with eating and excercising.
Here I have completely different conditions and choose to talk with my inmates more instead of focusing on things and activities connected with myself directly ( I think that if I used to do "my rituals" every day or very often - this one week negligence will not change anything).
How greatly mistaken was I!
Second day - contraction of my stomach. But it's passing after 2 hours of drinking hot water.
I understood - I hate creams and have "internal alergy" to them (I am aware how tricky - greasy they are). But they are good. Especially when made by mummy!
Can I refuse her or make her upset?
Of course not! I want her to see me glad and happy when eating her specialties!
It's been a long time since I last was at home...
So I am trying a piece of gingerbread with plum jam and the mass of puddings. Doesn't it sound great?
But my body is always right. Reaction is really sharp and quick.
Fortunately I understand it and hot water saves me from the grief...
In the middle of my stay I become feeling terribly tired.
I am sleeping really many hours and I feel so huge lack of energy.
And this is another signal from my body.
The food you eat is not supplying you with the energy.
You eat empty calories. It doesn't matter how tasty it is for your taste buds.
For internal organs which needs to be fed it's not enough.
What I do not like is that the more lazy time I am passing - the more reluctant to energizing exercises I am becoming.
And after the first degree of Bronnikov method course - I managed to energise myself before work - what increased my energy potential for the whole day!
Listening to my whims ended tragically - I lost the ability to notice when my stomach is full and I was not able to stop eating when I saturated the hunger.
It was really bad - as then you don't have great connection to your body and can't distinguish the subtle differences between the signals it is sending. You don't know when finish eating. You don't feel bad if accepting another portion of carbohydrates you really do not need.
What is it for?
Clean body, as mine was before coming here, reacts drastically to the diet change - horrible fatigue, blunting of the mind, heaviness, slower speech and movements.
I don't feel myself at all.
My creativity is falling asleep. I am started thinking only about every day things like - eating, reading magazines (not so ambitious), watching TV, talking but not too much, going for a walk but not so long and not so strenuous, cleaning dishes, making tidings.
Nothing else.
It's scary.
I realize - that thousands of people can be living similar path of life as I am during in this short period of time...
And it is not so hard to change the habits connected with taking care about the body (food, gimnastics, mental hygiene).
And it brings really great fruits!
In my last day of staying home I got the terrible headake.
It's my first such disease ever.
But I am not looking for the pain killers. I am looking deeply inside of me, listening what my body wants to tell me...
And I got the answer.
The body wants to wash out all toxines and not to take them in excession any more...
A week before leaving for my hometown I am reading a book regarding the word with inner child. The great one. It illustrates how much we stray from our core/ our soul/ our most fragile, creative and energetic part/ our inner child.
If only we are acting not accordingly to the internal convictions then the body sends signals - e.g. the pain. Or it provokes "situations" - we find a book where are hints or ready solution, "incidentally" listen to the program on the radio touching the subject connected to "our" matters, meet a "right" person or have accidents, limbs breakages, etc...
Those cases always have the reason for that to happen.
If you examine the way you are living your life or look at it from the distance - you can find the dependencies between the way you feel inside (frame of mind, mental health) and what is "strange" happening to you from outside. And compare it to the physical well-being.
If the discrepancy is too big - then the internal "scream" is getting bigger and bigger. And you can not shut its mounth by eating pain killers. This works only temporarily.
What I do in such cases - I am trying to talk to myself, find the real reason, analyse it, and change the sourse cosing each state which is not regular to me. I call it - balancing myself on each levels. What helps - it's a peaceful, balanced mind...
For the last 10 years - I learned to know my body pretty well.
I created my own dictionary of meanings of particular illnesses like sore throat, cough, back/neck ache, head ache, migraine, etc...
But each time it can mean something else.
Then its better to come into tone of your body, start speaking with its language - its the only one in which it can communicate with you.
So... I understood that my body protests and doesn't like the break in excersises the body, mind, soul, doesn't accept the quantity of meat meals, lack of groats I used to have every day, doesn't want to eat so many cakes and other not healthy things (and also bad combinations of food groups like carbohydrates + proteins).
They maybe are nice for the palate but have nothing nutritious for our body.
So why do we have to eat them?
Because it is time for it? Because it's Christmas time and we have to eat all those things prescribed by our tradition?
What a nonsense.
Where is the free will?
Why it's not quite to decide what you really want to eat and choose what you really want instead of adjusting to what's served and already cooked by our mothers!
My body needs many days to recover after staying at home at "regular or more Christma" diet only for a week.
Isn't it funny - that when you learn your body asks for what it needs - it will always ask for alimentary stuff but ONLY if you succumb the temptation - then it's cool for this short moment but afterwards it reflects somehow in your body.
The quantity is important as tiny amounts doesn't matter.
But I mean the case when we do things as often as habits.
My remark is - the more easy food you eat (unprocessed food) - the better contact you have with your body. You can diagnose the reason of the pain easily if it appears.
If you eat more chemistry or simply doesn't care what you put inside of you - your stomach (and later on your mind) become sort of garbage. It is much harder then for your body to inform you promptly if there is something wrong. The quality of food affects also the quality of thoughts...So the body is looking for different ways to talk to you. And then the "weird situations" may happen.
..... ..... ....
Coming back to my story and the headache - I was drinking just hot water and put my mind in the state of relaxation - so I managed to fall asleep. In the meantime I awoke and was drinking again hot water with small sips. I felt really very weak, almost like poisoned.
The only thing I could do - was to wait.
The process of cleaning myself took 8 hours - then the pain was gone.
It was 3.30 a.m.
No sensations in my head but ... still 3 kilos to lose.
To avoid the decrease of energy and bad moods - like in winter time - depressions or melancholy - it's so important to keep the discipline and consequence in every day rituals adding you energy and keeping body and mind in good condition.
I will recover but thanks to all of this I have the conclusion that it pays to keep your rules and do only really very tiny concessions.
to be continued...


text: Hello, I am getting an iPod Touch 5th Gen. I am planning to restore from an iPhone 4 backup. Is this possible and will there be any problems or differences? I just want to get all my apps from my iPod to iPhone. Has anyone done this successfully? Thank you very much.


text:
Looking back, Steve Ballmer never should have laughed off the iPhone. Or at least that's the subtext of a recent CBS interview in which Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates says that his company made "mistakes" in mobile that allowed Apple and Google to emerge. Today, they're two of the world's dominant suppliers of smartphone operating system software.
Meanwhile, Windows Phone remains in the formative stages with hopes that a wide-ranging partnership with one-time smartphone leader Nokia (NYSE:NOK) will pay off. Do the odds favor Mr. Softy? Or have Apple and Google grown too big, too fast?
The Motley Fool's Alison Southwick asks Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova for his perspective in the video below. Please watch, and then leave a comment to let us know what you think.
Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of Apple and Google at the time of publication. Check out Tim's web home and portfolio holdings or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.
The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Google. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spreadw position in Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.


text:
The Lancet (free registration required) has published a study of mortality in Iraq before and after the 2003 invasion. This study concluded that 100,000 extra deaths had occurred, mainly due to the violence, a figure that has been widely reported in the media.
However it seems to me the study is seriously flawed.
Take the reported excess of deaths. They estimate roughly 98,000 excess deaths in the post war period. But the 95% confidence interval for this estimate is 8,000 to 194,000 deaths! (See page 5, column 2, second paragraph). That is a huge level of uncertainty. The range of this confidence interval is 186,000, almost twice the stated estimate itself. The actual number of excess deaths could be as low as 8,000, or as high as 194,000, and still be consistent with this study!
Then there is the methodology (from page 2, column 1, second paragraph):
``We obtained January, 2003, population estimates for
each of Iraq's 18 Governorates from the Ministry of
Health. No attempt was made to adjust these numbers
for recent displacement or immigration.''
Thus we have them using pre war data provided by Saddam Hussein's government, hardly the most trustworthy source, and no attempt to assess whether there was any migration between January and the time of the study.
Moreover, they interviewed 988 households and asked them about deaths. However they only attempted to corroborate the reported number of deaths by asking for a death certificate in 78 households, and only actually obtained a death certificate in 63 of the households. In the vast bulk of households there was no corroboration of the reported deaths. Given that this a population that lived under tyranny for decades and may be wary about what they tell people lest it gets them into trouble, and people may also lie if they have strong (pro or anti) views/feelings about the occupation, the failure to verify the bulk of these deaths is yet another source of error.
Then there is the method of sampling used. They used cluster sampling. According to this critique of the article, this can exaggerate figures if there is a skewed distribution of deaths. Yet most of the violence is concentrated in a few areas such as the so-called "Sunni triangle". Several clusters fell inside the Sunni triangle.
Returning to the pre-war estimates of mortality, the study gives a figure of 29 deaths per 1000 live births for infant mortality, rising to 57 deaths per 1000 births for infant morality. Yet earlier studies of infant mortality in Iraq give higher pre-war levels than this. For example, UNICEF reported a 1999 figure of 108 deaths per 1000 live births for infant mortality, implying that if the study is correct, the post war infant mortality rate is still an improvement on 5 years ago, despite the invasion and continuing violence, damaged infrastructure, etc.
An estimate for 2002, from the CIA world factbook puts the infant mortality rate at 57.1 per 1000 live births, about the same as the post war infant mortality the Lancet study gives. My point here is that the Lancet study appears to have used an optimistic estimate of the pre war Iraqi infant mortality rate. Certainly there's no obvious reason why the infant mortality rate in Iraq would have dropped sharply (from 57 per 1000 down to 29 per 1000) between 2002 and Jan 2003, whilst the country was still under sanctions.
In conclusion, it seems to me this study is pretty worthless. Even taken at face value, the reported figures include such a high degree of uncertainty as to be worthless.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Lancet study claims 100,000 extra deaths due to Iraq war: but is it flawed?
The Lancet (free registration required) has published a study of mortality in Iraq before and after the 2003 invasion. This study concluded that 100,000 extra deaths had occurred, mainly due to the violence, a figure that has been widely reported in the media.


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a central point for collection of information as it relates to cloud computing in the government
Virtualization Commentary
This topic contains 0 replies, has 1 voice, and was last updated by Henry Brown 9 years, 5 months ago.
July 8, 2009 at 2:53 pm #75429
Henry BrownParticipant
Virtualization: CIOs Find Benefits Beyond Savings
Jul 8, 2009, By Jim Russell
As budgets tighten and public-sector agencies face increased scrutiny due to spending, virtualization is transforming the endpoint and data center by increasing utilization rates, reducing energy consumption and driving down costs.
As a result, many public-sector agencies are moving outside their comfort zones to explore virtualization as a viable alternative. The goal of virtualization and other emerging technologies is centered on doing more with less – a promise that is hard to ignore in these economic times. The following are benefits government agencies can expect when implementing virtualization:
1. Increasing Cost Efficiency
Server and endpoint virtualization offers government agencies a streamlined, automated and cost-effective way to deploy and support both computing resources and users, while also meeting regulatory requirements for privacy and reporting.
A recent study by MeriTalk, a federally focused, online IT network, found that virtualization could bring $13.3 billion in savings, including $1 billion from the U.S. Army, $880 million from the U.S. Department of Justice and $592 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In addition, Andi Mann, research director at Enterprise Management Associates, noted that 90 percent of enterprises report real and measurable return on investment (ROI) from virtualization in general. This translates into renewed opportunity for agencies to leverage virtualization as a cost-saving measure.
However, simply saying virtualization helps users be more productive and reduces IT management costs doesn't mean it actually does. Below are some examples of how virtualization technology can help businesses save money today:
* Optimizing license management: Tracking license compliance and reharvesting unused licenses can be a significant drain on IT resources, and allowing unused licenses to sit idle can be even costlier. Endpoint virtualization, in addition to providing all the benefits of virtualization, can also give IT the ability to centrally manage and dynamically track licenses and ensure license compliance.
* Reducing user downtime related to application conflicts: Because virtualized applications are isolated both from other applications and the underlying operating system, the need for predeployment testing is eliminated, and the processes associated with application deployment, version changes and updates are significantly accelerated. All of this equates to improved application maintenance, reduced supporting costs and also increased user productivity due to less downtime waiting for IT to update applications and solve conflicts.
* Lowering user downtime due to application recovery: Occasionally an application crashes despite being isolated from the rest of the system due to an outside cause. For example, a Web browser that encounters an issue while being used to do research online. With endpoint virtualization, that Web browser can be virtualized so that the problem that application encounters will not affect the rest of the system. Additionally the program can simply be reset and returned to the normal operating state without having to be reloaded. This can even be done by the end-user, allowing instant self-remediation.
2. Mitigating Vulnerabilities Through Better Security
The ability to telework assists government agencies in becoming more efficient. According to a December 2008 government study on telework, most federal agencies' telework programs have either expanded or held steady since 2006.
However, this same ability can pose security challenges. As agencies across the government are directed to keep their communications transparent, they must find a way to keep the information secure.
Agencies are finding that a well managed workspace is a secure workspace. Technology such as virtualization helps IT departments in the public sector set up solid endpoint controls. Leaving security to users can be dangerous so having controls in place to secure agency information is essential.
However, protection solely on the endpoint is comparable to one hand clapping. We must protect the information and sensitive data that resides on servers as well as endpoints. Data lossprotection (DLP) technology can help protect sensitive information from leaving an agency's or organization's enterprise.
3. Improving Agility
Virtualization helps workers in government agencies become more agile by providing the ability to telework from any location. With streaming technology, government employees can access their applications anywhere, anytime, on-demand. That access drives agility and is a direct contributor to an agency's top line. This approach, which requires only a single connection and efficiently utilizes server and connection resources, ensures that users obtain consistently reliable access to an agency's applications and data.
IT can also ensure consistent user experiences regardless of what device is being used. Follow-me capabilities tie workspaces to users instead of devices. This enables IT to efficiently deliver tailored workspaces to all of its users.
4. Using IT Hours More Efficiently
For teleworkers, it is essential that they have easy desktop access and management capabilities. In the past, managing this access was tedious and time consuming. Now, many government agencies have eliminated much of the manual work associated with application management by deploying virtualization technologies, saving thousands of technician hours each year.
An aspect of virtualization that has saved IT hours as well as help agencies stay in line with their budget initiatives is central management. Central management lets government IT professionals service users and devices while minimizing desk-side visits. For example, centralizing control and enablement of single sign-on, automatic password rollover and self-service password maintenance options help IT resolve password issues more quickly and easily.
Centralization also enables IT to quickly resolve any locked desktop issues that may arise. IT can instantly terminate the user's session, and the user can then simply re-authenticate. In addition, location awareness capabilities ensure that documents will always print on a printer close to the workstation, avoiding help desk inquiries and increasing user productivity.
In addition to centralization, storage management is another avenue for saving agencies time and money. There are many benefits to storage virtualization which can help government agencies to:
* reduce data center complexity and improve IT productivity by managing multiple physical resources as fewer virtual resources;
* meet rapidly changing demands by dynamically adjusting storage resources across the information infrastructure;
* increase the efficiency of storage by letting files be stored wherever there is room rather than have some drives go underutilized;
* guarantee anywhere access for disaster recovery applications;
* spend less time managing storage devices since some chores can be centralized; and
* provide one view into the data center.
5. Simplifying IT Initiatives
Virtualization, both at the endpoint and in the data center, can simplify the workspace and server environments while allowing government agencies to focus on strategic initiatives and information assurance. By streamlining daily tasks, less time will be spent managing endpoint and storage devices, and more time can be spent addressing agency needs.
Many enterprises are well known for having complex, heterogeneous IT environments, and government agencies are no exception. There is tremendous opportunity for agencies to simplify and benefit from virtualization.
In tough economic times, efficiency is essential. Virtualized environments will free IT resources from the many challenges that plague traditional desktop environments and allow more productivity and better ROI from your existing IT investment. Virtualization also has a positive impact on an agency's IT budget. By using virtualization, government agencies can make a sizable dent in escalating IT costs while improving server manageability as well as transparency and security.
By decoupling the user experience from the underlying computing environment, virtualization can help organizations reduce costs. This separation makes it easier for IT to manage and troubleshoot problems. It also lets users be more productive by removing the tether binding them to one device. In addition, when problems occur, virtualization reduces the time it takes to get users back online and functioning.
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Glasgow and Edinburgh-based MacRoberts was one of the first firms to attempt to pick up PFI work.
It has built a reputation for work in this area, and has handled some very large transactions in the past 18 months. In July 2000, a 26-strong team acting for the preferred bidder completed the £400m PFI agreement with Glasgow City Council. This is the biggest PFI deal ever done in Scotland and is believed to be the biggest educational PFI project in the UK. Since then, deals the firm has completed include two waste water projects – the Tay, worth £100m, and the Moray at £80m.
MacRoberts is currently acting for Amey on an Edinburgh schools PFI and the Royal Bank of Scotland on a Ministry of Defence Bristol and Bath housing agreement worth £100m. This involved project partners visiting Scandinavian and German firms. MacRoberts also has an understanding with Melbourne firm Maddock Lonie & Chisholm to carry out PFI work on a joint-venture basis.
Managing partner Lindy Patterson is delighted with the growth the firm has experienced: "We've been very strong in other areas for some time but we've had outstanding success in PFI for the last three years or so."
The firm now has 20 lawyers in that department and 31 partners in total. Employment is doing well, having trebled in the past three years and construction has grown by around 35 per cent.
This growth has been supported by several lateral hires, but Patterson is keen to redress the balance with more organic growth and is protective of the firm's ethos. "We've a hell of a lot of fee-earners [141], but partners are very much involved in driving deals forward. That may well be a function of our size, but it is also part of our philosophy. I was surprised when I first came here by the amount of chargeable time the partners do."
"It's not acceptable any more just to be a lawyer – you've got to be much more than that"
Lindy Patterson, MacRoberts
Corporate partner David Davidson joined from Berwin Leighton Paisner on 24 September. Projects partner Andrew Orr came from McGrigor Donald a year ago, and partner Keith Patterson joined from McClure Naismith. Joanne Boag-Thomson left the firm to move to Shepherd & Wedderburn. She was one of the younger partners and was given the opportunity of heading a team there.
Patterson is conscious of the need to monitor closely the developments of the changing Scottish markets. "We need to look ahead and anticipate shrinking and developing markets. The Scottish parliament has had a bit of an impact, but I think the true impact will come in the next term of parliament, after the next election.
"The other issue is the continual search for the provision of the best possible service. It's not acceptable any more just to be a lawyer – you've got to be far more than that."
There are no specific plans for expansion but Patterson does say that she is always looking south of the border: "It's something that we have under constant review."


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In my last post, I began to apply the tensions in Calvin's hermeneutic to science/faith issues. Calvin expressed both a historical sensitivity for reading the Old Testament in its original context and a theological sensitivity for reading the entire Bible in light of God's climactic revelatory act in Christ.
The tension for Calvin was that historical sensitivity to the Old Testament context and how the New Testament authors handled the Old Testament do not always align very well—and in fact sometimes the two bring readers to very different interpretive destinations. Biblical examples abound, and one example Calvin struggled with is Paul's use of Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17. Calvin recognized the disparity between what Habakkuk meant and how Paul handled Habakkuk's words. Calvin resolved this dilemma by saying that the New Testament here must inform us of what the Old Testament writer may have understood and intended. We see the difficulty of the hermeneutical tension by the fact that Calvin simply ceded hermeneutical control from the Old Testament context to the New Testament.
That tension is still very much a part of modern biblical interpretation for Christians who share Calvin's two hermeneutical commitments—as is the case, generally speaking I would say, among Evangelicals. (And I would repeat here that some of modern Evangelicalism's hermeneutical trajectories can be traced to the influence of Calvin and the Calvinists, which we will look at soon.)
An added tension for contemporary Christian readers, particularly those who are working out matters of science and faith, concerns the issue of historical context. Calvin'sRenaissance humanistic training drove him to interpret a text according to its original intention, and this is an approach we today quickly recognize as part and parcel of responsible biblical interpretation.
(Although, to round out the picture, privileging historical context as Calvin and other reformers did has not been shared universally by the Church throughout its history, namely in the early and medieval church. Readers today would do well to avoid simplistic dismissal of the various other methods that have characterized God's people through history, but that is beyond our topic here.)
How Far to Take Grammatical-Historical Interpretation?
But, the acute problem today is that the trajectory of Calvin's historical instincts has gone in directions that he never could have envisioned. We know much more today about past history than Calvin did, and much of what we know does not line up well with what Calvin or others thought about Scriptural interpretation.
As is widely known, the study of ancient history over the past two centuries, particularly through archaeology and modern scientific investigations beginning with Galileo, has called into question the historicity of the creation story in Genesis. These disciplines have painted a very different picture of the historical context of Scripture than Calvin knew.
For example, Calvin knew that there was never physically a firmament as Genesis 1:6 describes. Rather, Calvin attributed this to Moses' accommodation to the common people, who looked up and saw what appeared to be a solid dome overhead holding back the waters.
Calvin's historical instincts here are spot on, in my opinion. He interpreted the firmament in terms of what common people would deduce based on their limited (actually, non-existent) scientific knowledge.
Today, however, we know that the Israelites were not the first to make this deduction, but Babylonian and Egyptian stories were there long before. The point is that the Israelites were describing the sky overhead not simply "as they saw it," but within the context of the religious environment they shared with their influential, super-power neighbors. This, of course, raises the perennially troubling issue for some: that Israel's Scripture contains ways of thinking that it shares with pagan religion.
This raises very practical questions, certainly for some Calvinists but for others as well:
How far do we follow through with the principle that Scripture should be interpreted in its historical context? What do we do if our study of historical context runs up against traditionally held interpretations? And, what do we do when our understanding of Genesis in its historical context runs up against what the New Testament says about those very same passages.
Biblical Origins and Historical Context
Calvin's trajectories and the tensions that result come to a head when we enter the conversation between evolution and Christianity. (To be clear, in what follows, my intention is not to work toward a solution but to lay out the clear and unavoidable hermeneutical issues.)
How one today interprets the story of Adam in Genesis is greatly affected by the two factors that are in tension with each other in Calvin: historical context and canonical (between the New and Old Testaments) context.
As to historical context, our understanding of Genesis is now invariably set against the backdrop of our growing understanding of Israel's faith in its own religious context (via biblical archaeology), and our scientific knowledge of the age and evolutionary development of the cosmos, our planet, and life on it.
The perennial hermeneutical question asked by Christians who look to Scripture as God's word and who accept these historical evidences is: How does what we have come to know impact how we now read the Bible?
For some, the answer is to dismiss the challenge entirely—extra-biblical evidence, whether archaeology or science, has no place in biblical interpretation. Scripture, as God's word, only interprets itself and no help is needed from the outside. This amounts to a rejection (or at least selective application) of Calvin's hermeneutical trajectory. Others work through the data and interpret them differently, in ways that create less of a tension between the biblical and archaeological/scientific portrait, and that is another issue altogether. Here, the principle of grammatical-historical interpretation is still valued. The question is how to interpret the historical data and their value.
What brings the matter to an even more interesting level, however, is the second of Calvin's principles: the role of the New Testament in how we understand the Old. The view of creation expressed in the New Testament is, not surprisingly, silent on the evolution of the cosmos. It speaks of a beginning in John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, and Hebrews 1:2, but is silent on what happens after the beginning. Paul, in Romans 5:12-21 and I Corinthians 15:21-49) does address the question of human origins. Paul clearly believed in a historical Adam as the first man with no hint of an evolutionary origin of humankind. We now know, however, that there was never a time when there was a single primordial couple who were the sole genetic progenitors for the entire human race.
Would Calvin have allowed this fact to influence his understanding of the New Testament writings? Would Calvin have placed Paul in a particular cultural context such that the question of whether Adam was the sole male genetic progenitor of humankind was beside the point? If so, what would Calvin have done with Paul's understanding of "…by one man sin entered the world?" Calvin never had to address that question. However, those who follow in his hermeneutical footsteps do.
In his day, Calvin worked hard to resolve hermeneutical tensions. How do we resolve Calvin's tension here today, particularly in view of the fact that the tensions are much greater than Calvin envisioned?
In my opinion, these are the central and inevitable hermeneutical questions before us in the science/faith conversation. These trajectories were already in place with Calvin and continue today. In my next post, we will look at how later Calvinists worked out this tension, and the broad influence they have had on subsequent interpreters.


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Fun With Word Search
In the village where I live we get a free magazine each month with news of what's happening locally (My favourite column is the one which tells you what the weather has been in the previous month!).
There also usually a Word Search puzzle. Sounds like a great job for APL!
Here's one from last month's magazine (Horam Village Diary, March 2009):
Constructing the test data
First the easy bit. Here are two functions to use when testing the solution...
∇R←MakePuzzle [1] R←⊃'AATNEMNREVOGSLAOG' 'NSISEHTOPYHEWFHGR' 'OGGENERICIENJLCEM' 'INOITALFNIREPYHAB' [2] R←R⍪⊃'TIVBHXJEUISTVSHRE' 'AKIMGVHTMDWIHUZIM' 'SRXVADDANAPCARUNQ' 'IOGGULSMOFRAPEYGQ' [3] R←R⍪⊃'LWLRZAGIRHCLLTUMW' 'AEOONROTYRILLNGAS' 'BMBSZEPSUTFYIUNDX' 'OOASTNUSUPWRWHISH' [4] R←R⍪⊃'LHLNCEOEQHWEDDGTH' 'GOAYEGRUEGEOOADLM' 'HREPTTGGCBBCOEEIU' 'GHOMOGENEOUSGHHGU' [5] R←R⍪⊃'JPLTMIVVDCBBFRFOG' ∇ ∇R←MakeWordList [1] R←'GEARING' 'GENERAL' 'GENERIC' 'GENETICALLY' 'GILTS' 'GLOBAL' [2] R←R,'GLOBALISATION' 'GOALS' 'GOODWILL' 'GOVERNMENT' 'GRANT' [3] R←R,'GROSS' 'GROUP' 'GUESSTIMATE' 'HEADHUNTER' 'HEDGING' 'HOMEWORKING' [4] R←R,'HOMOGENEOUS' 'HYPERINFLATION' 'HYPOTHESIS' ∇
Searching from left to right
APL has a very useful primitive function called Find (⍷) which lets you search for instances of the left argument in the right argument. It's used in the following function (explained below):
∇R←puzzle SearchAcross word;numSquares [1] [2] ⍝ Find all the squares where the word occurs [3] ⍝ (May be more than one) [4] [5] numSquares←×/⍴puzzle [6] R←(,word⍷puzzle)/⍳numSquares [7] [8] ⍝ Return result showing word in otherwise blank array [9] ⍝ (More than one array if word found more than once, [10] ⍝ or entirely blank if not found at all) [11] [12] R←,(⊂⍴puzzle)⍴¨(⊂numSquares)↑¨(-(R+⍴word))↑¨⊂word ∇
Here's an example of the function being used to search the rows of the puzzle for 'GENERIC'. (I've used DISPLAY to make the shape of the result clearer. DISPLAY is available in Dyalog. other APLs usually have also have a DISPLAY function but you may need to copy it into your workspace).
⎕DISPLAY MakePuzzle SearchAcross 'GENERIC' ┌→────────────────────┐ │ ┌→────────────────┐ │ │ ↓ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ GENERIC │ │ │ │ │ │ ... ...[snip] │ └─────────────────┘ │ └∊────────────────────┘
Line [6] of the function first looks for the word in the puzzle (word⍷puzzle). This will produce an array the same shape as the puzzle, with a '1' in each location where the word starts. This array is then used to produce a list of the square-numbers of the squares where the word begins.
To understand Line [12], first consider the following simplified form, which will only work if the word was only found once:
This starts by doing a take (↑) on the word using a negative number, to put spaces at the start of the word. It then does a second ↑ to put more spaces on the end, and finally does a reshape to convert the result into an array of the same shape as the puzzle.
The actual Line [12] is just a generalisation of this to handle the fact that the word might occur more than once, so that R is a vector of the numbers of all the squares where the word starts. The Each operator (¨) is used to apply the logic to each number in the list.
Searching in other directions
We can use the SearchAcross function as the building block for our complete solution:
∇R←puzzle SearchAll wordList;numWords;shift;shape;idx;word;where; modifiedPuzzle;found;wordMasks;overlap;badMatches;⎕IO [1] [2] ⎕IO←0 [3] R←found←⍬ [4] [5] ⍝ If we're given a single word, make it a one-element list [6] :If 1=≡wordList ⋄ wordList←,⊂wordList ⋄ :EndIf [7] [8] numWords←⍴wordList [9] shift←⍳1↑⍴puzzle [10] shape←⍴puzzle [11] [12] :For idx :In ⍳numWords [13] word←⊃wordList[idx] [14] [15] ⍝ Search from left to right [16] where←puzzle SearchAcross word [17] [18] ⍝ Right to left [19] modifiedPuzzle←⌽puzzle [20] where←where,⌽¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [21] [22] ⍝ Down [23] modifiedPuzzle←⍉puzzle [24] where←where,⍉¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [25] [26] ⍝ Up [27] modifiedPuzzle←⌽⍉puzzle [28] where←where,⍉¨⌽¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [29] [30] ⍝ Diagonal top left to bottom right [31] modifiedPuzzle←shift⊖(2 1×shape)↑puzzle [32] where←where,(⊂shape)⍴¨(⊂-shift)⊖¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [33] [34] ⍝ Diagonal bottom left to top right [35] modifiedPuzzle←(-shift)⊖(2 1×shape)↑puzzle [36] where←where,(⊂shape)⍴¨(⊂shift)⊖¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [37] [38] ⍝ Diagonal top right to bottom left [39] modifiedPuzzle←⌽shift⊖(2 1×shape)↑puzzle [40] where←where,(⊂shape)⍴¨(⊂-shift)⊖¨⌽¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [41] [42] ⍝ Diagonal bottom right to top left [43] modifiedPuzzle←⌽(-shift)⊖(2 1×shape)↑puzzle [44] where←where,(⊂shape)⍴¨(⊂shift)⊖¨⌽¨modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word [45] [46] ⍝ Did we find the word somewhere? (Maybe more than once, maybe not at all) [47] R←R,where [48] found←found,(⍴where)/idx [49] :EndFor [50] [51] ⍝ Now eliminate words which were found entirely within [52] ⍝ longer words, e.g. GLOBAL in GLOBALISATION [53] :If 0≠⍴R [54] wordMasks←R≠' ' [55] overlap←wordMasks∘.^wordMasks ⍝ Every mask ANDed with every other mask [56] (0 0⍉overlap)←0 ⍝ Set diagonal to 0 [57] badMatches←((,overlap)⍳wordMasks)<(⍴,overlap) ⍝ If mask still found, word contained within another [58] R←(~badMatches)/R ⍝ Strip out the bad matches [59] found←(~badMatches)/found [60] :EndIf [61] [62] ⍝ Now include list of what was not found, and format results for display [63] R←(R,⊂'***NOT FOUND***')[found⍳⍳numWords] [64] R←⍉wordList,[¯0.5]R ∇
The heart of this routine is a loop which considers one word at a time, searching for it in all directions (left, right, down, up and diagonally).
It's easy to see how the code searches from right to left (Lines [19] and [20]). It just flips the puzzle using the Reverse function (⌽), searches the modified puzzle from left to right, and flips the answer(s) back again. Similarly, searching downwards can be achieved using Transpose (⍉) to exchange rows with columns, and searching upwards can be done with ⍉ followed by ⌽.
Searching diagonally is only a little trickier. The First-axis Rotate function (⊖) is used, but with a left argument which specifies how much to rotate each column by:
Here you can see that the word DOG on the diagonal has been transformed into DOG on the first row. However, we need to be careful about BAD on the third row. It's not in the original TEST array: the problem is that the columns have wrapped around. The solution is to tack spaces onto the bottom before doing the rotate:
Line [32] might be easier to understand by first considering the following simplified form. The actual version used in the function listing above is the same except that it can handle cases where the word was found more than once.
shape ⍴ (-shift) ⊖ ↑modifiedPuzzle SearchAcross word
After the main loop completes and we've found all the words, we need to take care of one last problem. The word GLOBAL has been found twice, once in its correct location and once at the start of GLOBALISATION. The solution used in shown in Lines [53] to [60].
At the start of Line [53], R is a nested vector in which each element is an array the same size and shape as the puzzle, but containing blanks except where the word occurs (i.e. the format returned by the SearchAcross function).
We first convert each element into a boolean mask with a '1' in every non-blank position (Line [54]).
If you were to AND two masks together you would get a '1' only where the two words crossed or overlapped. If one word is completely contained within another, like GLOBAL in GLOBALISATION, then AND-ing with the longer mask will have no effect on the shorter mask.
Line [55] uses APL's Outer Product operator to compute the AND of each mask with every other mask (∘.^) and put the result in overlap. Line [56] then sets the diagonal of overlap to zero, since we know that a word completely overlaps with itself! Finally, Line [57] checks whether any words completely overlap with any other: If they do, the overlap array will still contain the mask for the word and so the Index (⍳) function will find it. Lines [58] and [59] strip out the unwanted words, and the function finishes by tidying up the result and reshaping it for easy display.
Displaying the result in a GUI
Finally, here's a little pair of functions to display the result in a GUI window. You can see a screen snapshot at the start of this page. When you click on a word on the left, the word is shown in the grid on the right.
Up until now all the code listed above should work in any APL2-compatible APL interpreter, but this function requires APLX (not under development any more).
The main function ShowResults creates a window with a list box on the left and a grid on the right. It puts the word list in the list box, fills the grid with the letters of the puzzle, and then sets up a callback function ShowWord which executes each time a new word in the list is selected.
ShowWord just recolours the backgrounds of the squares to show the selected word in red.
∇puzzle ShowResults res;black;white;red;numRows;numCols;cellSize;win;squares;⎕IO [1] ⎕IO←1 [2] [3] ⍝ Set up some useful colours [4] (black white red)←256⊥¨(0 0 0)(255 255 255)(0 0 255) [5] [6] ⍝ Create the window [7] (numRows numCols)←⍴puzzle [8] cellSize←30 [9] '⎕' ⎕wi 'scale' 5 [10] win←'⎕' ⎕new 'window' ⋄ win.title←'Word Search' [11] win.doubleBuffered←1 [12] [13] ⍝ Create the list used to select words [14] win.list.New 'List' ⋄ win.list.where←0 0 50 200 ⋄ win.list.align←2 [15] win.list.font←'Helvetica' 15 [16] win.list.List←⊃res[;1] [17] [18] ⍝ Add a splitter to allow the word list to be resize [19] win.splitter.New 'Splitter' ⋄ win.splitter.where←0 200 50 5 ⋄ win.splitter.align←2 [20] [21] ⍝ Create the grid used to show the puzzle [22] win.grid.New 'Grid' ⋄ win.grid.align←¯1 [23] win.grid.autoeditstart←0 ⋄ win.grid.style←16+64 [24] win.grid.rowsize←(0)(,cellSize) ⋄ win.grid.colsize←(0)(,cellSize) [25] win.grid.rows←numRows ⋄ win.grid.cols←numCols [26] [27] win.grid.headcols←win.grid.headrows←0 [28] win.grid.textalign(⍳numRows)(⍳numCols)(4+32) [29] win.grid.text←(⍳numRows)(⍳numCols)puzzle [30] win.grid.font←'Helvetica' 24 [31] [32] ⍝ Resize window to fit [33] win.where←40 40,(20 25)+(0 win.list.size[2])+cellSize×⍴puzzle [34] [35] ⍝ Set function to run when word list clicked... [36] squares←⍬ [37] win.list.onChange←'ShowWord' [38] [39] ⍝ Show first word in list [40] win.list.value←1 [41] [42] ⍝ Add one extra very thin row to hide selection [43] win.grid.rows←win.grid.rows+1 [44] win.grid.rowsize←(,win.grid.rows)(,0) [45] win.grid.selection←win.grid.rows,1 1 1 [46] [47] ⍝ Process events until window closes [48] 0 0⍴⎕WE win ∇ ∇ShowWord;found;idx [1] ⍝ Erase last word shown (if any) [2] :For idx :In ⍳¯1↑⍴squares [3] win.grid.colorback←(,squares[1;idx])(,squares[2;idx])white [4] :EndFor [5] [6] ⍝ Where was the new word found? [7] found←↑res[win.list.value;2] [8] squares←(1 1)+[1](⍴found)⊤¯1+(,found≠' ')/⍳×/⍴found [9] [10] ⍝ Show the new word by colouring the squares red [11] :For idx :In ⍳¯1↑⍴squares [12] win.grid.colorback←(,squares[1;idx])(,squares[2;idx])red [13] :EndFor ∇
Author: SimonMarsden


text:
|Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
From SI:
On Saturday night after the Heat's 105-89 home victory over the Utah Jazz, James ended all speculation about him competing in the (Slam Dunk) contest. When asked, if he would ever compete, James said:
LeBron is currently in his 10th season, he is 29 years old and did this last year."No,'' said James to Fox Sports Florida. "It's over with. I'm getting too old… It's a taxing season. A lot of stars play a lot of the bulk of the minutes. So they got to protect their body and understand that they got to do what's best for them. There were times when I wanted to do it. But I came into All-Star Weekend a few times banged up and I didn't want to risk further injury."
What was even more amazing than that dunk was that he managed to dodge the contest for this long. He entered the league at 19, and dominated right way with pure athletic ability (and the right amount of playmaking). According to NBA history, these kind of guys can't escape the beloved event of the All Star weekend. Hey Mr. David Stern, maybe you can do this one last thing for the fans before your retirement, we promise to hate you a little less.
LeBron, please give us an answer. Because winning the Slam Dunk contest was every child's dream and I can't imagine you to think differently. I still practice on my Nerf hoop to this day awaiting for my invite (my 360-through-the-legs is legit). I just don't get it, look at what he could do back in Cleveland and tell me how he could possibly lose to Nate Robinson (his 3-peat is a joke).
The worst thing about all of this, was that he lied. He declared for the 2010 Dunk contest and toyed with our hearts.
Thanks for crushing the souls of millions, again.


text:
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Bear Went Over the Mountain: A sweet book for kids
A bear goes over the mountain to see what he can see, hear what he can hear, smell what he can smell, touch what he can touch, and taste what he can taste; what a busy bear! When he sets out on a sunny morning in spring he uses all five of his senses to explore the world around him. He smells a skunk (yuck!) and sweet honeysuckle (yum!). He sees dragonflies and fuzzy ducklings, he hears crickets chirping, he touches a soft flower blossom, and more! When the chill of autumn comes creeping up over the mountain, he goes back to his cave for a snuggly sleep.
The Bear Went Over the Mountain is a sweet book that was sent to me for this review. My 7 1/2 year old daughter enjoys this book and loves to read it to me.
This hardcover book is written and illustrated by the talented, Iza Trapani. The watercolors throughout the book are so bright, colorful, and beautiful. I love that this playful book encourages adventure and exploration! My daughter loves nature, and this book is right up her alley.
To get one of your own, visit Amazon.com here.
Complimentary product was provided to me from Sky Pony Press for this review. All opinions are my own.
Posted by The Funky Monkey at 9:26 AM
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text:
Lessons in Democracy Promotion from the Gambia's Constitutional Crisis
On January 19, 2017, Adama Barrow, the president-elect of the Gambia, was sworn in with one minor complication—his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, had yet to cede power after declaring Barrow's election unfairly won. Though it may seem like just another example of the disorder and de-democratization of West African governments, the Gambian presidential crisis was resolved in a markedly different and more successful way.
On the same day, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution endorsing efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to effectively remove Jammeh from the presidency and instate Barrow. Hours after the issuance of this resolution, Senegal, which surrounds Gambia on all three sides, launched an invasion. A day and a half later, Jammeh stepped down, going into exile, and Barrow, who had fled to Senegal in the wake of Gambia's crisis, returned to the Gambia five days later
In one week, regional allies of a nation in a constitutional crisis were able to resolve a potential civil war and reinstate democracy via an effective, internationally sanctioned, and bloodless (zero casualties reported) military offensive. Achievements of this magnitude are unusual in Africa, to say the least. Looking back several weeks later, can we understand what led to this success story for democracy promotion and regime change?
The Jammeh Era
Yahya Jammeh rose to power with the promise that he would re-democratize the Gambia, deposing its then leader, Dawda Jawara, in a bloodless military coup in 1994. The government, Jammeh claimed, was no longer a democratic one, and rather than representing the people of the Gambia, it was plagued by corruption and nepotism. Granted, these noble sentiments may not have constituted his chief impetus, as members of the military faction behind the coup were simultaneously seeking an upgrade in their personal wealth. Nonetheless, democratization was, at least in the public eye, what legitimized his coup.
A particularly eccentric character, Jammeh was known for his outlandish remarks, ranging from his claim that he would "rule this country for one billion years … if Allah says so," to that he could cure AIDS with a herbal concoction of his invention, or his demand that he be referred to as "His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili Mansa."
His rule was marked by active repression of his country's people. Jammeh restricted the freedoms of the press, murdered journalists, gunned down demonstrating students, imprisoned thousands without warrants, and led a literal witch hunt during which a thousand Gambians were imprisoned and poisoned on suspicion of being witches. All of this was done with what was called "one of the most feared intelligence agencies in Africa, with its tentacles spread across the country." Unsurprisingly, the five elections held during his tenure were widely regarded as rigged.
Jammeh's Fall
The Gambia's 2016 election was expected to be a surprise to nobody. After a campaign marked by the arrest of an opposition leader, the death of another, and arrests of dozens of other dissenting voices, it was widely thought that this election cycle would treat Jammeh no differently than the last several. However, when Adama Barrow, a moderate candidate backed by a coalition of seven opposition parties, was able to defeat Jammeh by almost four points, Jammeh initially conceded.
Ten days later, however, Jammeh chose to "annul" the results of the election, an act prohibited by the Gambia's constitution. While calling for this annulment, Jammeh proclaimed that the only credible reason for Barrow's victory was the presence of "unacceptable abnormalities" in the election system—mass voter fraud, for instance. He offered no reliable evidence for these claims.
Jammeh sought out support from his Supreme Court in order to force the passage of a resolution through the parliament that would extend his presidency by several months. Neither institution would fully support him, however, and only the military remained loyal to him.
There was an immediate outcry as international bodies called for the results of the election to be respected. Despite the rhetorical outrage, only one country, Senegal, took concrete steps to effect change.
The International Response
From the United Nations Security Council to the US State Department to the foreign ministry of the United Kingdom, the international community offered full-throated support for a peaceful transition of power in the Gambia. Generally, international bodies demanded that all parties pursue a bloodless, diplomatically negotiated settlement before resorting to more violent means.
Senegal, however, had other ideas. The Senegalese government was able to effectively persuade ECOWAS to back an air and ground invasion of the Gambia for which the Senegalese military would take primary responsibility.
Jammeh was given an ultimatum by ECOWAS: either he would step down on January 19, when Barrow was set to become president, or ECOWAS would invade. Jammeh resolved to stand his ground, and the following day, Senegal led the invasion.
As the invasion proceeded, Jammeh continued to maintain his post. In a last-ditch effort to attain a thoroughly diplomatic resolution to the crisis, Senegal temporarily halted the movement of its troops. But, in the face of a stubborn Jammeh, the troops advanced again on January 21. Jammeh quickly ceded power and fled to Guinea. Barrow, who was sworn in as president in Senegal, was able to return to the Gambia shortly thereafter and take his seat, much to the relief of the developed world and West Africa.
Attempts by foreign bodies to interfere with local African institutions in the name of democracy are extremely rare and seldom successful. Why was this response so effective, how did this invasion defy stereotypes about failing democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa, and how can studying Gambia's experience help us to peacefully resolve future crises?
How did democracy triumph?
There are two readily apparent reasons for this unusual democratic success: first, the particular motivations for Senegal to be active in the Gambian transition of power, and second, the ability of the Gambia's civil institutions to check Jammeh's authoritarian power.
To understand Senegal's decision to strike as it did, we must first understand the history of the country's relationship with the Gambia. At times, this rapport has been one of companionship and at others one of Senegalese paternalism, but it has never been adversarial. An old adage in the region goes, "Senegal ak Gambie benna bopa la ken manu kor haaj nyarr"—"Senegal and the Gambia are but one head that can never be split into two." Both occupy the same region and share cultural and ethnic ties across each other's borders.
Senegal's geography, naturally, is a driver of the paternalistic side of the relationship. The Gambia is functionally enclaved by Senegal. True enclaves and semi-enclaves alike tend to enjoy security from and partnership with the state that surrounds them, as with the Vatican City and Italy, Lesotho and South Africa, and Portugal and Spain. As such, Senegal felt responsible for ensuring that the Gambia remained stable and democratic.
Additionally, Senegal had a strong geostrategic incentive to stabilize the Gambia. Both countries enjoy unusual amounts of peace and stability relative to other countries in the Sahel, such as Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Sudan. Both are generally more democratically organized and so are more attractive to European tourism and investment than their neighbors.
Given the particular risk of conflict in the Gambia—as Jammeh was able to divide factions of the military either in support of his stubbornness or against it—Senegal would have faced an especially large risk of spillover if a civil war had broken out. Violence in a semi-enclave of Senegal would be functionally very similar to a civil war in Senegal. Additionally, this conflict would run the risk of becoming an interstate one, insofar as Senegal professed its support for Barrow over Jammeh so as to actively inject itself into the crisis.
Senegalese president Macky Sall has made it clear that investment from the West and from the developed world at large is a particular priority of his. In his campaigns for office, Sall promised a project which he referred to as "Plan Senegal Emergent," and for which he was able to secure a $7.5 billion investment from the IMF in 2013. This plan would develop Senegal into an emergent market by 2035, and its goals include attracting foreign investment and more private development.
Research has shown that higher rates of instability and conflict deter the foreign direct investment that Sall requires to put Senegal on the global economic map. Investors are fundamentally risk-averse. With this in mind, Sall's economic agenda gave him a powerful incentive to act swiftly, decisively, and bloodlessly to quash the risk of a Gambian conflict. International bodies that Senegal wanted investment from, from nations to corporations, also had an incentive to support the invasion, since they would prefer their investments in Senegal to remain profitable.
Thus the incentives that prompted international actors to resolve the conflict swiftly are highly intuitive. What is less apparent, however, is the way in which the Gambia had the internal capacity to stifle Jammeh's attempts to hold onto power.
Most dictators of sub-Saharan African countries, once in power, look to amend their nation's institutions to tighten their holds on power. Once in control, they tend to delegate military and administrative authority to individuals from their own ethnic or religious groups, and they quell opposition as soon as they are able to while claiming control over the nation's judicial institutions. This was the path that sprung Sudan into civil war, South Sudan into its current state of genocide risk, and the Central African Republic into its civil war, to name a few among many.
Jammeh, however, was unable to accomplish these aims following his coup. Though he suspended the Gambia's constitution once he wrested control of the nation from its first president and declared a temporary state of emergency; though he was notorious for his draconian suppression of those who opposed him and for mysterious deaths of journalists and explicit murders of students; though he often intimidated voters; and though his intelligence agency was expansive, he made several fundamental mistakes that Dictatorship 101 would have taught him to avoid.
The first of these mistakes was allowing the Supreme Court out from under his thumb. Shortly after demanding that the election be annulled, Jammeh's plea to the Supreme Court's chief justice to rule on the matter went disregarded. Although he fired and replaced six of his justices, his Supreme Court would still refuse to hear the case in a timely manner. Thankfully, one of the few justices whom he had not replaced was the chief justice who would not take his side.
Jammeh's parliament, too, would not unify behind him to the fullest extent. Though he was granted a three-month extension by his parliament (which the ECOWAS invasion cut short), the Gambian national assembly stayed largely quiet on the issue of succession. This three-month stay was due to security risks that Jammeh convinced the parliament were real, so the parliament did nothing more than declare a common state of emergency.
Generally, however, Jammeh's tactics for remaining in power relied upon intimidation. The process by which Gambians voted was observed by the African Union and seemed to be conducted fairly. Jammeh had hoped that he could remain in power if he created an atmosphere of fear by killing journalists, jailing protesters, and threatening his political opponents. This technique failed in the 2016 election, as public awareness of Jammeh's methods and more frequent civil demonstrations drew attention to the fact that Barrow could win honestly.
Lessons for democracy promotion
A litany of factors, interests, and institutions, all of which can be generalized to apply to future crises, aligned to ensure that the resolution to the Gambia's conflict would be relatively peaceful and democratic.
First, the foreign intervention clearly respected the will of the Gambian people. Foreign interventions in domestic affairs tend to completely replace political figureheads and actively support certain political candidates that foreign nations believe will best suit their vision of what would be effective for the country in which they intervene. This is often ineffective—as in the cases of Western interventions in Iran in the 1960s and Afghanistan and Iraq over the course of the last decade.
In this case, foreign support was for a candidate behind whom the people had already unified. This ensured that the existing system of government was not abused or managed from afar in a way that would suppress the will of the people. As such, intervening in this way was a more equitable and just way of promoting democracy, as it showed a respect for and deference to internal democratic choices.
Second, international bodies united in support of a common goal and a common method that limited external interference. The United Nations and other non-African associations of governments generally deferred to ECOWAS, allowing regional allies to come to the aid of their partner nation. This, too, was a strategic choice. Political intervention by a faraway nation or coalition that fails to understand regional customs, modes of living, and political will and interests of locals is often ineffective and imperialistic. There exist, of course, circumstances where outside assistance can be necessary to defend or mediate in favor of a certain strongly disadvantaged body, but these are rare and responses should be moderate when they are necessary.
Third, the existing political institutions in the Gambia were respected. Rather than attempt to dramatically reform the nature of the Gambian democracy, interfere with local election systems, or force structural adjustments or judicial reforms, the scope of the intervention was limited to the assurance that the democratically elected president—one chosen via institutions that would be kept in place—would be given the seat to which he was legally entitled. This is to say that the intervention concentrated only on the presidency rather than on a long-term reformation of Gambian policy and governance. Forced economic and political changes are often part and parcel of global democracy promotion, in which nations often push policies like trade liberalization and widespread federal bureaucratic changes that seldom align with local interests (but frequently align with the interests of the democracy-promoting nation).
Instead, acknowledging the validity of local institutions and attempting to implement gradual and marginal change rather than a forcible overhaul of government is a reliable way to ensure that popular support exists for a status quo system of government. In this case, a dictator abused institutions that were intended to be democratic; to conflate this with a dictator operating institutions that were intended to be authoritarian would be a mistake. Recognizing that it was the individual president who was flawed, rather than attempting wholesale changes to the government at large, was a critical nuance.
Democracy promotion is a tricky business. When foreign states see it as incumbent upon themselves to engineer democracies in other states, whether for economic, humanitarian, or ideological reasons, these new governments often quickly devolve into undemocratic ones or are created in an undemocratic way. Looking at a successful example of interventions of this nature—as in the Gambia—should give foreign states an idea not only of when, if ever, they should intervene, but also of how to do so in the least invasive and most democratic way possible.
The image featured in this article is licensed under Creative Commons. The original image can be found here.


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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – C.J. Sapong still isn't 100 percent recovered from the hip flexor strain that has sidelined him for Sporting Kansas City's last three MLS matches.
But as manager Peter Vermes looks at his roster and considers the aftereffects of Wednesday's grueling US Open Cup final victory, he could call on the center forward to play a significant role in Saturday's home meeting with D.C. United (8:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
"C.J.'s probably 80 percent," Vermes said after Friday's training session. "He's still working back from where he was. It's probably a combination of things. It's the injury. It's the fitness. It's his timing. It's everything. He'll be available for tomorrow. I'm just not sure how I'll use him."
Suiting up and waiting has been the story of late for Sapong, who has five league goals and seven across all competitions this year for Sporting.
He was in the 18 for two of the three league matches in which he didn't play, the exception being Sporting's 1-0 win at New England last Saturday. In the Cup final, he replaced Teal Bunbury in the 89th minute and stayed on through overtime, but did not figure in the decisive penalty shootout.
"I'm still pretty sore," Sapong told MLSsoccer.com on Friday, "but it's nothing that I wouldn't be able to get through. I feel like nobody this season is working on 100 percent anyway. I've just got to be mindful of it, get my treatment in and get back to 100 percent as soon as possible."
The injury came in a training session in late July, as Sapong went to shoot.
"I took the shot wrong a little bit and just tweaked it," he said. "It was at a time when we were playing a lot of games, so my body was probably deteriorated a little bit. You get injuries like that when you're playing a lot of games."
Sapong's place in the game plan isn't the only thing Vermes has to assess going into Saturday's match against a United side that sits fourth in the Eastern Conference standings – but only four points back of co-leaders Kansas City and Houston, with two games in hand on both.
"It's one part the physical side," Vermes said. "The other part is mental and emotional. I'm going to spend some time this afternoon talking to a bunch of guys before they go, so I can get a good feel for that. It's not a letdown. It's whether they have enough in the tank to really do it."
In the only previous meeting this year between Sporting and United, Sapong came on as a second-half sub to head in the game-winner in a 1-0 season-opening victory at D.C.
"I always look forward to playing them, because it's my hometown team," he said. "But as a forward, any time you can score goals – no matter what the circumstances are – you're happy."
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.


text: Rudi has been with the team since 2005 and has always been interested in coaching. Rudi describes himself as an open and honest guy who is able to react directly and clearly. His favourite place to be is in the German hills and he enjoys building and renovating houses. On his days off you can find Rudi with his friends, or spending time on his farm.


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15 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About 8 Mile
- Published
People were generally a bit sniffy when rapper Eminem decided he was going into movies, expecting something a bit Ja Rule or Vanilla Ice. But he showed them, with a critical hit, a box office smash and an Oscar.
How much do you know about 8 Mile? We were going to do a rhyme here but any attempt at rapping would have just been mortifying for everyone, so let's just get on with the list shall we?
(Images: AllStar)
Eminem lost 24lb for the role.
Eminem was asked by director Curtis Hanson to dye his hair back to its natural brown. He didn't want people thinking he was just playing his stage persona.
Danny Boyle was in early discussions to direct but his vision for the film didn't match Eminem's as well as Curtis Hanson's did. Quentin Tarantino was also approached.
In the original script B-rabbit worked at a hotel carrying rich people's bags and had a lot of problems with his boss.
The title was only decided on at the end of filming. Before that it was only known as UDP: Untitled Detroit Project.
Lose Yourself was the first rap song to ever win an Academy Award. Eminem didn't show up to collect it because he thought he had no chance of winning.
Gary Sinise was the first choice to play Greg, the boyfriend of Jimmy's mother (Kim Basinger). The role was won by Michael Shannon.
So busy was he during the time of production, the only time that Eminem could write the songs for the film was during breaks between scenes.
When the piece of paper on which Eminem wrote the lyrics to Lose Yourself was put up for auction it made over $10,000.
The film made a massive $51 million on its opening weekend. Its production budget was $41 million.
Along with Sons of Anarchy director Kurt Sutter, Eminem planned what Sutter called a metaphorical "continuation of the 8 Mile story". In Southpaw, Eminem would have played a boxer who hit the big time but gradually lost his way. As 8 Mile was a reflection of Eminem's early days, Southpaw was to be an echo of his struggles at the top. It never got beyond development.
Prints of the film were sent to cinemas labelled as The Mars Project.
The film marked the first screen appearance by Anthony Mackie, who plays Papa Doc.
Mekhi Pfeiffer nearly passed on the movie because he was asked to fly to Detroit two days after the 9/11 attacks in New York.
The atmosphere in the rap battles was so intense and went on for so long that several extras passed out or threw up during filming.


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The fastest, the most powerful, the most cunning, the most voracious . . . the hunt is on to find the world's most deadly natural born killers. Steve Leonard runs the gauntlet through air, land and sea to find them.
Add this show to your queue to receive more information about
Ultimate Killers and we will let you know when it becomes available.


text:
Budget Hotel Tourist-Inn
Spuistraat 52
1012 TV Amsterdam
Telephone: +31 (0)20 4215 841
Fax: +31 (0)20 427 09 00
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
By train:
The easiest way is to take a train. It will take you about 17 minutes to get from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Central station. Then, you are just a 8 minute walk-away from our hotel. You can book the train tickets at a ticket booth at the airport, or also online at www.ns.nl.
One-way ticket: € 5.20
By Shuttle-bus:
Would you like to book your transfer from Schiphol Airport to our hotel in advance? The Shuttle-bus service will bring you straight to our hotel. Book your ticket on www.schipholhotelshuttle.nl
One-way ticket : € 17,-
Return ticket : € 27,-
By Taxi:
Prefer a taxi pick-up from the airport? We can arrange this for you. All we need to know is the arrival time and your flight-number.
The costs for a pick-up:
Up to 4 persons: € 50,-
Up to 8 persons: € 60,-
You can also book your own taxi at reduced rates using Taxi Electric.
Hotel Brian is now part of Low Budget Hotel Tourist inn.


text:
One of the most iconic performance Mustang nameplates of all time, the all-new Shelby GT350R, is here, along with the GT350. The pony cars started rolling off the production line Thursday at Ford's Flat Rock Assembly Plant. The very limited edition models will hit showrooms in the fall.
"This is a special day for all Mustang enthusiasts," said Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company. "We have taken the GT350 formula to the next level of innovation, style and performance. Today the legend continues."
Both Mustangs are powered by a 5.2-liter flat-plane crankshaft V-8 that delivers 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque. And yep, that's Ford's most powerful naturally aspirated production engine ever.
The GT350R is track-ready, but the street-legal performance car drops a number of amenities, like air conditioning, in the pursuit of reducing weight. Ford does offer an electronics package that does include some of those amenities.
"Fans of the Shelby brand are among the most passionate in the automotive industry," said Henry Ford III, Ford Performance marketing manager. "To honor the passion of our fans for Shelby GT350's 50th anniversary, a limited run of GT350 models will be built in 2015; these cars will be highly coveted by both Mustang and Shelby enthusiasts alike."
By limited edition, we mean Ford will only build 100 2015 GT350s and build just 37 GT350Rs in Carroll Shelby's memory.
The basic GT350 starts at $49,995 (including freight and gas-guzzler tax), confirming information that leaked early this year. The track-focused GT350R package commands $63,495.
Ford plans to up production for the 2016 model year.
Photo Credit: Ford


text:
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine
One page of the issue dated July 1884, apparently as Vol. VIII, No. 8
|First issue
|Final issue
|J. B. Lippincott & Co. (to 1914)
|United States
|Based in
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine was a 19th-century literary magazine published in Philadelphia from 1868 to 1915, when it relocated to New York to become McBride's Magazine. It merged with Scribner's Magazine in 1916.
Lippincott's published original works, general articles, and literary criticism. It is indexed in the Reader's Guide Retrospective database, and the full-text of many issues is available online from Project Gutenberg, and in various commercial databases such as the American Periodicals Series from ProQuest.
Lippincott's was published by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia until 1914, then by McBride, Nast & Co. There were 96 semi-annual volumes. From 1881 to 1885 they were issued as vols. 1 to 10 "New Series" or "N.S." (see image) and bound such as "Old Series, Vol. XXVII – New Series, Vol. I" (January to June 1881) but the old series was resumed with January 1887 issued as volume 37, number 1. Joseph Berg Esenwein was editor from 1905 to 1914.
Early names[edit]
- 1868–1870: Lippincott's Magazine of Literature, Science and Education
- 1871–1885: Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science
Lippincott's published several notable authors of the day, including:
- Willa Cather
- Florence Earle Coates, Philadelphia poet whose poetry was featured nearly five dozen[1] times in Lippincott's between 1885 and 1915.
- Arthur Conan Doyle: The Sign of the Four (February 1890)
- Rudyard Kipling: The Light that Failed (January 1891)
- Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray (July 1890)
- Gertrude Atherton: Doomswoman (1892)
- Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Sport of the Gods (1901)
- Louis Sullivan: The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896)
- Anthony Trollope: The Vicar of Bullhampton (serialized starting in July 1869)
- Emma Lazarus (over 40 poems in the 1870s)
- ^ Bohm, Sonja N., comp. The Published Works of Florence Earle Coates (Magazines). 2009. Print.
Further reading[edit]
- Publication history from OCLC's WorldCat Database and American Periodicals Series (APS) Online.
- Science in the Nineteenth-Century Periodicals
External links[edit]
- Lippincott's at Project Gutenberg
- Many volumes and more at HathiTrust, with more in the "Similar Items" menu
- UPenn Library listing of online volumes
- Volume 38 (July - December 1886) (among other volumes on Google books)
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