A self-dividing number is a number that is divisible by every digit it contains.
For example, 128 is a self-dividing number because 128 % 1 == 0, 128 % 2 == 0, and 128 % 8 == 0.
Also, a self-dividing number is not allowed to contain the digit zero.
Given a lower and upper number bound, output a list of every possible self dividing number, including the bounds if possible.
The boundaries of each input argument are 1 <= left <= right <= 10000.


"Click the 'Settings' button on tab bar at the bottom, then the Settings page shows up. After pressing 'Configurations' on Settings page, page on which user would enter phone number shows up. After inputting the right phone number, system would automatically determine the mobile phone location."
For supplement instructions of manual and automatic configuration, please check the following paragraph.
'Verify Prefix' page appears after clicking 'Continue'. The initial value appears in the 'Verify international Prefix' input field automatically, which is based on the country code of the phone number inputted by user. For example, the initial value of the United States is '011', which is '00' in mainland and '002' in Taiwan. As shown in page specification, users usually use the initial value.
There is another ticking option of 'Keep international prefix when dialing', which is used to determine whether the 'international prefix' should be added before the international call number to form the right 'calling string'. 'International prefix' will be added in the 'calling string' if user selects this option.
Access number is the headmost component of calling string.
In accordance with the instructions on purchased calling card, user input the access number for manual configuration. Incorrect input or invalid number shall cause the failure of international calling. According to users' demand, user can input '+' on the input keyboard page in version 3.0.1 for Iphone.
There are three mutually-exclusive options on the Separator page, of which user can select one or input information respectively. The option selected by user when pressing 'Continue' button is the verified value. The other two options will not be used.
If one of the following situations occurs, the '#4 separator' page as shown in Figure 4-1 user entering would be default page.
③ User chooses 'Advanced Setup' and input ',,' in the input box in the last configuration.
Only under the circumstance of user selects 'With PIN' in the last configuration (including automatic configuration), page as shown in Figure 4-2 would be default page of #4: separator. User input pin code according to the calling card information.
If user select 'Advanced setup' for the last configuration, and the input value is not ',,', the page shown in figure 4-3 would be default page of #4: separator. User can input any appropriate string to satisfy the needs of the Separator when above two options can't meet the setting of the Separator.
The general input value is '#' on the last page of manual configuration as shown in Figure 5. Whatever, the user can input any value if needed.


My job: "I'm responsible for ensuring that the actors are dressed properly for their scenes and the clothes are in good condition. I ensure continuity – so the actors look as they should, shot to shot, which means paying constant attention to what's going on."
How I got here: "I studied fashion abroad, and like most people in the industry, worked my way up from the bottom. I sent my CV out to everyone I could think of."
My working day: "I'm on set by 6:30am to ensures the costumes are ready. I usually have a 14-hour day – but it could be longer!"
Salary: "It depends on the type of production you're on, so it's anything from £250 a week to £250 a day."
My job: "I assist the first and second Assistant Directors, by telling runners and extras what to do and making sure everyone in shot is doing what they should be. I'm constantly on radio link so I have directions to follow – I boss people around a lot!"
How I got here: "I studied TV at university and started my career as a runner – which is the general dog's body on set. My first feature film was The Damned United, starring Michael Sheen."
My working day: "I'm on set by 5:15am to make sure the actors are in costume and the extras are ready. The days are long, but you're so busy you never get bored."
Salary: "From £750-1000 a week but you never know where your next job is coming from."
My job: "I play the lead role of Eva in StreetDance 2. My character is a fiery salsa dancer who falls in love with the male lead when he recruits her into his new dance crew."
How I got here: "I danced throughout my childhood, but when I was a little older I joined a hip-hop crew and in 2006 we won the World HipHop Championships. I also studied music; it's always good to have a qualification. As an actress and dancer, you live a life of auditions. I also danced on Madonna's Confessions tour."
My working day: "I have to be on set at 6am to go into hair and make-up. As a dancer I have to stay fit and flexible, so I always fit in a workout during the working day."
Salary: "You can earn from £60 a day to £16million for a movie. A lot of people have second jobs like waitressing just to pay the rent in this business."
StreetDance 2 3D is in cinemas now.
Cosmopolitan's Careers Masterclass - buy tickets now!


¿Aumenta el riesgo de cáncer el tratamiento con biológicos?
• En primer lugar, es muy complicado establecer una relación entre una enfermedad tan frecuente como el cáncer y el tratamiento con biológicos. Los motivos son diversos, pero entre ellos hay que destacar los distintos factores exógenos y genéticos que están relacionados con el origen de la enfermedad tumoral y la dificultad que existe para deslindar éstos del efecto causal de un determinado medicamento, como en este caso serían los biológicos. Si a esto le sumamos, que cualquier factor externo causal de un tumor, puede desarrollar la enfermedad muchos años después de haber sido eliminado (el mejor ejemplo es el tabaco, ya que se estima que desde su suspensión y aunque la probabilidad de desarrollar un cáncer va disminuyendo de forma paulatina, el riesgo de padecer un cáncer, probablemente, siempre será algo superior que el de la población que no fue fumadora), las conclusiones se complican aún más.
• Con respecto a las enfermedades autoinmunes y cáncer, hoy parece establecido, que algunas de ellas ya tienen per se mayor probabilidad de desarrollar un tumor, al margen de la terapia. El ejemplo más representativo es el linfoma no Hodgkin y la artritis reumatoide. Hoy está aceptado que esta enfermedad cuando no se controla adecuadamente, tiene un riesgo superior a desarrollar este linfoma que la población general. Sin embargo, y aunque existen estudios contradictorios, la inmensa mayoría de los metaanálisis y estudios de registros, no han podido demostrar que la terapia biológica aumente ese riesgo. Si el etanercept, el único anti-TNF que no es un anticuerpo monoclonal, tiene menos riesgo para desarrollar linfoma que los anticuerpos monoclonales, sigue siendo tema de debate, aunque los estudios de autores franceses y británicos apuntarían en esa dirección.
SAN DIEGO – A new study offers a double message about the potential impact of obesity on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in women: Excess pounds are linked to a higher risk of patient-reported outcomes such as pain and fatigue, and body mass index may be an appropriate tool to study weight issues in this population.
Researchers found “a strong relationship between body composition and worse outcomes,” Sarah Patterson, MD, a fellow in rheumatology at the University of California, San Francisco, and the lead study author, said at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.
While researchers have linked excess weight to worsening outcomes in a variety of rheumatic disorders, there have been few studies examining obesity in SLE. Small studies in 2005 and 2012 linked obesity to less functional capacity, and the later study also linked it to decreased quality of life (Arthritis Rheum. 2005 Nov;52:3651-9/ Int J Rheum Dis. 2012 Jun;15:261-7).
For the new study, Dr. Patterson and her colleagues analyzed findings from surveys of 148 participants in the Arthritis Body Composition and Disability study. All participants were women with a verified SLE diagnosis.
About two-thirds of the sample were white, 14% were Asian, and 13% were African American. The average age was 48 years, the average disease duration was 16 years, and 45% took glucocorticoids.
Researchers used two measurements of obesity: BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater and fat mass index (FMI) of 13 kg/m2 or greater.
They calculated FMI with data collected via whole dual x-ray absorptiometry. Of the participants, 32% and 30% met criteria for obesity under FMI and BMI definitions, respectively.
Researchers also collected survey data regarding measurements of disease activity, depressive symptoms, pain and fatigue.
The study authors controlled their results to account for factors such as age, race, and prednisone use. They found that those defined as obese via FMI had more disease activity and depression than did nonobese women: 14.8 versus 11.5, P = .010, on the Systemic Lupus Activity Questionnaire scale, and 19.8 versus 13.1, P = .004, on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale.
On two other scales of pain and fatigue, obese patients scored lower – a sign of worse status – compared with nonobese women: 38.7 versus 44.2, P = .004, on the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey pain subscale and 39.6 versus 45.2, P= .010, on the SF-36 vitality subscale. The researchers reported similar findings when using BMI to assess obesity.
It’s not clear why obesity and lupus may be linked, Dr. Patterson said, though she noted that inflammation is a shared factor. “People with lupus have arthritis and chronic pain, so there may be this vicious feedback cycle with hindrances to be able to live healthy lifestyles,” she added.
The study has limitations, including that the sample is largely white, while lupus is more common among minority women. In addition, the study does not include underweight patients or track patients over time. “It will be important to look at obesity and patient-reported outcomes to determine whether weight loss results in better outcomes,” Dr. Patterson said.
The study does provide an extra benefit by suggesting that BMI is not an inferior tool to measure the effects of obesity in the SLE population, Dr. Patterson said. BMI has been criticized as a misleading measurement of obesity. But the BMI and FMI measures produced similar results in this study. “That’s really good news in a way for the practicalities of using this information,” she said.
But FMI may still be a better measurement of obesity in the general population, where BMI may be more likely to be thrown off by high muscle mass.
It may seem obvious that obesity is linked to worse lupus outcomes, but rheumatologist Bryant England, MD, of the University of Nebraska, Omaha, said that this research is noteworthy because it highlights the importance of focusing on obesity in the clinic.
Rheumatologists shouldn’t leave obesity to primary care physicians but instead confront it themselves, said Dr. England, who moderated a discussion of new research at an ACR annual meeting press conference. But he cautioned that prudence is especially important when talking about obesity with lupus patients because they may be sensitive about medication-related weight gain.
Dr. Patterson and the other study authors reported having no relevant disclosures. Dr. England also reported no relevant disclosures. The study was funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.


A ban on spitting pan in public places - who enforces it?
It was a beautiful and pleasant evening. I had taken my daughter to a nearby park. The park wasn't very busy, but had decent number of people. There were all kinds of people ... of different age groups and economical background. There were people sitting on benches talking to each other, people walking around the park to burn calories, and little kids playing on the play structures. My daughter enjoyed playing in the park ... on the sliding board, merry-go round, and swings. She climbed over all the play structures.
We had spent quite some time in the park and were about to leave. Two teenage boys entered the park and sat on an empty bench. The guys looked somewhat rough and were talking in 'Chennai Tamil'. They were chewing pan, and constantly spitting near the bench they were sitting on. I was noticing this for a while. I was tempted to go to them and ask them not to spit in the park. The teenagers looked rough and hence, I was contemplating whether to do that or not. Finally, I developed some courage and decided to advise them. I went to them and asked "If you don't mistake me, can I tell you something?". They gave a puzzled look not sure about what was I going to tell. "I have been noticing that you were spitting in the park. I'm not sure if you are doing that intentionally or unintentionally. There are so many kids playing in the park with the sand. In the best interest of the kids, can you please not spit in the park?" I was surprised on seeing their reaction. "Sir ! We didn't do it intentionally. We'll not do it from now on. Thanks for pointing this out".
The second instance happened in CBE (during my visit to Infoquest 2010). We were waiting in CBE bus stand for our bus to Chennai. There were long rows of chairs for the passengers to wait/relax. I saw a family of 6 people, occupying the row in front of us. The head of the family was a gigantic man, chewing pan. He was constantly arguing with his family members and irritating them. I didn't pay much attention to their conversation. However, the gigantic man got my attention when he spit pan over the tiled floor. He did it a couple of times and wasn't sensible to the menace he was causing. I took the courage to talk to him. I told "Sir ! If you don't mistake me, can I ask you not to spit here on the floor?". He immediately said "Sorry Sir ! I won't do it". He stopped doing that, after that.
Also read: Skywalks in Train Stations - What are they for?
Irrespective of where you go, it is very common to see people spitting pan on the streets/roads. It is very common to see that in shopping malls, cinema theaters, walkways and even in temples. People do not realize the health hazards of spitting on the streets. The educated folks do not even make an attempt to correct them. They just mind their own business and go on. Of course, "Not everyone is alike" and you may even run into people who may cause physical harm to you. I believe that "If told politely, and if you don't touch their egos, you'll get a proper response". You shouldn't try to prove that you are 'more socially responsible' than the other person. Your objective should be to just educate them. Today, smoking & spitting are prohibited in all public places. However, it should be enforced and followed religiously.


Crumbs and Cookies: matcha chocolate babka.
The matcha ideas never seem to stop coming! I guess this is to be expected - after all, where else but the home to enough matcha lattes to supply an asian parallel of Willy Wonka's chocolate river would have the capacity to inspire a limitless amount of matcha creations with it's own impressive assortment?
To begin with, I would like to say that my initial plan was to do more than just adding matcha powder to the dough. I also wanted to incorporate into the filling some matcha chocolate that I can say with absolute confidence existed, but was nowhere to be found when I really needed it. There just has to be some sort of theory explaining this phenomenon, like a more specific version of Murphy's Law.
My attempt at spreading the chocolate paste evenly and braiding the loaf was somewhat disastrous and that resulted in rather weirdly interspersed pools of chocolate as opposed to the uniform swirls I was trying to achieve, but who would deny teeth-staining mouthfuls of chocolate right? And besides, brown lipstick is making it's comeback.
First babka down, many more to come.
Make the dough: Combine the flour, matcha powder, sugar and yeast in the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs and water, mixing with the dough hook until it comes together. With the mixer on low, add the salt, then the butter a spoonful at a time, mixing until it's incorporated into the dough. Mix on medium speed for 10 minutes until the dough is completely smooth.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Leave in fridge for at least half a day, preferable overnight. If you want to speed up the process, let the dough double at room temperature then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for the dough to firm up. This makes the shaping process considerably easier and less messy.
Make the filling: Melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar and cocoa powder; mixture should form a spreadable paste.
Assemble the loaf: Coat a 9 x 4 inch loaf pan with oil or butter and line the bottom of each with a rectangle of parchment paper (which I didn't - oops). Retrieve dough from fridge and roll out into a rectangle of roughly 10 by 12 inches. Spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border all around. Roll up the dough into a log and trim the last 1/2 inch off each end of the log. Slice 1/2 inch off each end of the log and slice it into half lengthwise. Lay the halves next to each other on the counter; pinch the top ends gently together. Lift one side over the other, forming a twist and trying to keep the cut sides facing out. Transfer into the prepared loaf pan.
Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for another 1 to 1/2 hours at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for roughly 30 minutes. If the babka browns too quickly halfway through baking cover with foil.
While the babka is baking, make the syrup: Bring sugar and water to a simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside to cool somewhat. As soon as the babka leaves the oven, brush the syrup all over. Let the babka cool halfway in the pan then transfer to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way before eating.
cheesecake brownie "ice cream" pops.


How does a therapist decide what modality to use or which theoretical orientation to follow? Research has shown that Emotionally Focused Therapy works well with couples. I have been using this modality for the past few years and have found it to be very effective in helping couples regain their closeness.
I started using Emotionally Focused Therapy because it is a highly researched, effective and evidence based therapy. It helps partners learn to reach out to each other more effectively, increasing openness, empathy trust and connection.
"Do I matter deeply to my partner?"
"Will he or she be there for me when I need them most?"
"Do I fee safe and secure enough in this relationship to be my full and authentic self?"
These questions are often at the root of what couples fight about - the emotional bond and the safety and security of the relationship. When we feel that the answer to one of the above questions may be "No" it can cause us to feel isolated and afraid.
8 sessions expire 12 weeks from date of purchase.
Insurance will not cover this service.
Emotionally focused therapy doesn't have to be with a 'couple' only. A mother and daughter or family group, even friends or business partners who are having trouble communicating can benefit. Statistics show that this type of therapy has a success rate of up to 70%.
We learn how to create a safe environment so we can talk about what's going on inside of us... to share our inner world with our partner. We also learn how to express ourselves more effectively so that we feel 'heard' and the other person doesn't feel attacked. When this is working, we dare to come close again... we feel like our partner 'gets' us.
The next part is key... We also learn how to replace criticism and blame with appreciation and negotiation. You'll be surprised at how easy this might be for you and how much better you'll feel.
At one time you had a great positive feedback loop going. We can try to get that back for you.
New skills and habits can be developed. You can be happier.


"They use more data" was the justification given by ISPs, but let's say your accusation is correct.
They already charge based on data use and always have (even with net neutrality being mandated), as ar the people who use netflix (we pay more for 750 GB of data than we did for 250, for example), because that's the basis of how it works, so their argument doesn't really make sense. They're already being paid more on both ends for having to transmit more data.
If so, it's not a serious justification for regulatory intervention. As you've expressed it, it's virtually tautological; darn near anything any business does for any reason would be an adequate excuse for nationalizing everything. That can't possibly be a good idea, or Venezuela would be the economic envy of the world.
How is a regulation forbidding price discrimination for this specific service nationalisation? The government isn't taking over the ISP's - only laying down market rules, just like there are plenty for physical goods.
How is "you don't get the service you already pay for unless you pay even more" not coerced if there is no other option than using their service?
I generally agree with this statement, but I think (and history has proven) that a completely free market without any playing rules doesn't work. There are cases in which a completely unregulated market can slide or be pushed into a ad status quo that is inherently bad. For example, a company with larger funds can buy or put out of business all its competitors, resulting in a monopoly. This negates the normal capitalistic principle of "if you don't like the offer, you can go get your product or service somewhere else and this competition keeps prices reasonable". And that's why there are antimonopoly laws.
Similarly, there is the Robinson-Patman act which forbids price discrimination for physical goods, because price discrimination means the price is not about selling goods at acceptable prices, but about getting as much profit out of consumers as they can get.
It's not about direct government interference. It's about setting up rules about what you can and cannot do.
-For the same reason doing charging different customers different prices for the same physical product is illegal.
-Unlike what is supposed to happen in a capitalised system, a lot of the ISP's have no local competitors and have basically a monopoly, which means you don't have the option to pick the more competitive offer their competitor offers. This means there's no system to keep prices in check - if they want you to pay extra, you can either pay up or... not have any internet. There is nothing that keeps the prices fair for the customers. So either there needs to be honest competition, or there needs to be regulation, or there is nothing stopping them from screwing over customers for money.
Capitalism only works if the customer actually has the option to not buy the service from a specific company.
In this case, there is no, as you said "creating and selling desirable goods and services at acceptable prices" or "free negotiation between producer and consumer" - there are demands from the producer and the option to accept them or have no service.
-Conflict of interest: a lot of the ISP's have subsidiaries that are direct competitors to their own clients. If price discrimination of their service is legal, they can (and have proven that they will) increase prices for those clients, leading to monopolisation and stiffling of startups, which is against the spirit of anti-monopolisation and free competition.
How does a regulation on the price of a service give the government any access to the content of the data in the first place? I really don't see what they have to do with one another... Our national post is even owned by the government, but that still doesn't mean they can legally open my mail.
ISPs charge their clients for putting data into the network, or for pulling data from the network. In a neutral network, the ISP does not discriminate between a given source or destination for that data; the price has already been paid by the bandwidth fee. In a… polar? charged? network, the ISP might throttle data related to one client (e.g. Netflix) on the other client's end.
The neutral network charges for data in and data out, without changing behavior based on the origin, destination, or kind of the data. The other one does change its behavior.
Interestingly, a neutral ISP has no reason to examine your data except to route it. A non-neutral ISP could argue for inspection to, for example, ascertain whether your data is from Netflix and thus decide whether to throttle or charge. So, in a way, net neutrality could have some security arguments in its favor.
Also, I am somewhat concerned regarding the possible repercussions to users running home services. I don't think I could justify a domain name for the stuff I run, let alone a spot on my ISP's whitelist, but my little game server and IRC bouncer might suffer from arbitrarily-severe throttling or even blockage. You might argue that I'm a cheapskate, but I've already paid for my connection to the internet.
because ISPs have no stake in playing fair.
and letting them play with no rules wont foster innovation.
because they already tried to cut down services that competed with their own.
"hey that special doesnthavewhatyouwant video service (which totally doesnt belong to us by the way) is cheaper than netflix with the additional fees we put on netflix!"
edit: also what narwhalz said. allowing and mandating deep inspection of packets wont increase speed nor safety of the service.
and if at all will slow down services in general (or make them more expensive) and will stifle encryption and data compression efforts.
because every packet that the ISPs cant inspect is going to be throttled.
I honestly did not read the whole argumentations, but I think this is the key.
Indeed, as a libertarian, I am on principle against any regulation. A law (thus a limit to freedom) should only exist if its absence has more risk to infringe our freedom. As an example, a law against thieving (limiting my options!) is acceptable, because otherwise I could not enjoy the freedom to have property in peace. From this perspective you can go more or less far (i need roads to have freedom of movement, I need police... so some form of tax is legitimate... and so on; but we should always keep in mind that any law is an aggression against our freedom).
So if the market would be fully open, net neutrality would not be important, because if any ISP go against it and angers its customers, another ISP would launch on the market to profit of the opportunity to get all those unhappy customers; thus an equilibrium would be reached with some people being in neutral internet, and some people on a controlled one (probably for less costs, or with a more attractive interface, but with less options). So we would not risk loosing freedom... this is why, for example, there is no need for a law forbidding radio that receive only selected FM frequencies - thousands of companies provide radios, so if a company build a limited model, this does not threaten our freedom.
But the market is not so open. It requires billions of investment to build up an infrastructure allowing to have a coverage and a size that make you a reasonable competition to established ISP. So basically, like it has been for operating systems (Microsoft) or energy (Standard Oil) before, we have a situation closer to an oligopoly than a free market. And in such a situation, laws are required to avoid that companies misuse their dominant position on a market. Because it is a logical economic behaviour to misuse of your power - in order to maximise earnings (it's actually something you MUST do for your shareholders!), and in order to grow in new markets: as the pure ISP market has limited growth (everybody is connected, where do you want to grow?), controlling content (paid or as a platform for ad revenue) is a logical way to grow. And how to make sure your content (your ad platform) gets lot's of users? The difficult way is to offer a superior service; but the cheap easy way is just to slow down, decrease the ease of use or increase the access cost for your competitors!
Logical evolution of the system: I have a choice of few ISP each with its (not my) preferred services, so I lost my liberty to do what I want online.
Those solutions have been tried in different situations, as far as I know; the first one seem to be the least damage to entrepreneurial freedom.
Well, the FCC is making the decision today, so I guess we'll see how that goes.
Ajit just doesn't care. Polls show 83% of the US population in favor of keeping the internet as a utility. I imagine Pai is making far too much money off of this to care about the American people. I can only hope congress steps in to do something... but that's seeming like it'll be difficult to make happen.
The United States isn't a democracy and hasn't been for some time. It's an oligarchy.
Ps. the USA is a Republic.
Actually, no, it's not. There were net neutrality rules in place then, too. They only rebranded it as "Net Neutrality" (capitalized) in 2015, but net neutrality (lowercase) laws have been around since 2005, and before that it was lumped in with telephone laws. In essence, this is the first time in its history the Internet in the US has ever not been neutral. I can fetch sources if you'd like, too.
As to whether the US is a republic, ideally, yes, the US is a republic/democracy. However, in reality, politicians are given "donations" by the wealthy to enact laws and bills. No politician would (or could) refuse to accept donations because the system isn't set up for them to make much money otherwise. They are for sale to the highest bidder, provided they can still get re-elected afterwards. Functionally, the US is an oligarchy: the wealthy hold the power, and the politicians are just puppets.
The US is a republic. Though you can reasonably posit that the political system (or process) is dysfunctional and corrupt, that does not negate what it is.
As far as Net neutrality, I was and am wholeheartedly for it.
In my view, the negative effects of its repeal will overwhelmingly fall on smaller and more marginal content providers. Amazon, Apple, and Google all have larger market caps than AT&T and Verizon put together. Disney and Netflix are significantly larger than all of the other telecoms. Google has already rolled out Google Fiber in a number of markets. If push came to shove Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Disney et al. could follow suit. They could just as easily buy a carrier (some of which are financially distressed) or, more likely, form a strategic partnership with one. As an example, CenturyLink has one of the largest fiber networks in the world. It's stock has been under duress during one of the biggest bull runs in the history of US markets. It would be a perfect candidate for a 'strategic' partnership (investment, bailout, call it what you will).
This does not make me feel any better about the fallout from the repeal of Net neutrality in the US. I doubt, however, that we need to worry too much about Amazon or Netflix, they'll be just fine.
I don't think it's correct to say that some "net neutrality" regulations meaningfully similar to those applied over the past 2 years were in effect earlier. If that were true, then there would have been even less justification for the FCC to impose 1934 POTS-era rules on Internet providers.
What did exist prior to 2015, and what will exist now, is regulation by the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit deceptive practices and to penalize anti-competitive ISP actions, encouraging both new content providers and more responsive ISPs to enter the market to the benefit of consumers. This system worked well enough to enable content providers -- Netflix, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and many others -- to be created and to thrive prior to 2015. There is no hard or even persuasive evidence to support declaring with certainty that these providers will now be put out of business (or some of the crazier things that were said today) just because the rules go back to what they were when these businesses were growing.
Asking those who use more of a finite service to pay more is a good policy. When those who want more pay more, they help to keep prices down for everybody else. If you've ever used a toll road, if you've ever used an express mail service instead of regular shipping, then you have supported this "use more, pay more" policy. Today's rule change allows Internet providers to be able to once again apply this sensible policy.
I understand if some still choose to believe that today's action will make things worse. I guess we'll see.
Asking those who use more of a finite service to pay more is a good policy.
And where arent they already doing that?
Or does every connection speed rating with any data cap cost the same where you are?
Most people that get their internet through a wireless devise are all ready seeing caps, limits, down throttling, and other restrictions.


Can Huawei convince the U.S. to care about unlocked phones?
The Huawei P8 Lite is an Android phone with decent specs that costs just $249.99.
When it comes to smartphones, everyone has suddenly fallen in love with America.
From ZTE to Xiaomi to Alcatel, overseas brands who previously had little to no presence in the U.S. are now pushing hard to make inroads. The interesting part is how they're doing it — not with ultra-powerful flagships loaded with features but with models that target the middle to low end, hoping to appeal to new buyers with the feature that rings universal: value.
It costs just $249.99 (which you can even pay in installments over 3, 6 or 12 months).
Huawei is only selling it unlocked.
The company hopes the combination of those two factors — along with the fact that the P8 Lite doesn't feel as cheap as its price might imply — will give the phone (and Huawei's mobile brand) some needed recognition in America.
Customers looking for value could do a lot worse than the Huawei P8 Lite. At the company's launch event, I had an opportunity to see what the phone could do, and it's a nice little Android device. Well, not that little: The display is 5 inches, and it has crisp 1080p resolution.
It's powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 Processor with 2GB of RAM, which is plenty up to snuff for browsing the web, getting your social on and most other day-to-day tasks. It has a 13-megapixel camera in back and a 5MP camera in front. There's only 16GB of storage, but you can augment that with a microSD card. Huawei is also throwing in a popular feature from overseas: dual SIM card slots, which will let users switch between two networks seamlessly (provided you have two service plans).
The Huawei P8 Lite has a 5-inch 1080p display.
"From our point of view, we have all the technology," Zhiqiang Xu, president of Huawei USA, told Mashable. "We're leading in telecommunications. In LTE, we own 25% of the core technologies."
The P8 Lite is no flagship, though, and it lacks some of the bonus features found in many top-tier phones: There's no fingerprint reader, no wireless charging, no NFC for mobile payments. It ships with Android 4.4 KitKat, and although Xu said the intent is to offer a Lollipop upgrade and eventually one for Android M, there's no firm commitment.
But the lack of high-end features isn't really the problem. Huawei has an uphill battle to get U.S. consumers to even recognize the brand, much less equate it with unlocked phones. It's also going to end up duking it out with the likes of ZTE, OnePlus and eventually Xiaomi in the "affordable" tier of phones.
"It's a matter of execution and delivery," says Xu. "We're positioning ourselves in the middle-to-premium part of the market. The best marketing is to deliver the product into customers' hands."
At least Huawei has a little help: It's partnering with Jawbone to sell the TalkBand B2, the first fitness tracker not made by Jawbone to tie into the company's UP wellness platform. It has a tiny screen for checking steps and is capable of relaying calls and SMS text messages. The wearable was first announced back in March and goes on sale alongside the P8 Lite.
The P8 Lite will also be relatively easy to find. Along with Huawei's website and Amazon, it'll be available at brick-and-mortar retailers including Best Buy, Target, B&H and Fry's.
It's hard not to root for Huawei's strategy with the P8 Lite. More unlocked phones in the market means more consumer choice, and if recent rumors about AT&T and Verizon ditching phone subsidies altogether are true, it means those fake cheap prices might be going away. That's great news for the P8 Lite, whose $250 price tag will look a lot more attractive next to the $650 sticker on the Galaxy S6 or iPhone 6.
Value has always had power — especially in electronics — with brands like Vizio and Apex crushing much more moneyed rivals in U.S. markets by delivering on the promise of as-good products for much lower prices. Does that same equation apply to smartphones? 2015 is looking to be the year we find out.


"Like the Rain" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Clint Black. It was recorded as one of several new tracks for his 1996 Greatest Hits package. Released in September 1996, the song became his 23rd chart single, and in October of that year, it became his tenth Number One hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. It held that position for three weeks. At the 1997 Grammy Awards, "Like the Rain" was nominated for the Best Male Country Vocal performance. The song was written by Black and Hayden Nicholas.
"Like the Rain" is a country ballad, backed mainly by acoustic guitar and piano, with heavy snare drum accents. The narrator tells of how he "never liked the rain" until he walked through it with his lover. In the chorus, he adds that he "can't believe [he] never liked the rain", and then elaborates that he is "falling for [her] now, just like the rain". The album version features the sounds of rain and thunder at the beginning and end. These sound effects were removed from the radio edit.
The Rain were the Manchester band that eventually evolved into Oasis. The band formed in Manchester, England in 1991, taking their name from The Beatles' B-side, "Rain". Founding members were Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Chris Hutton (vocals). Drummer Tony McCarroll joined shortly after the band formed to replace their drum machine and Hutton was replaced as vocalist by Liam Gallagher, who became the band's songwriter, in partnership with Arthurs. In this partnership, they wrote several songs including "Take Me" and "Life in Vain". The band rehearsed only one day a week and did not perform at shows often.
Shortly after Liam joined, the band was renamed Oasis, at his suggestion. Various explanations of the origins of the name have been offered, however, it came about when Liam’s older brother Noel roadied for the Inspiral Carpets at a venue in Swindon called the Oasis Leisure Centre. Liam reportedly liked the name's "resonance of imagery."
One day in August 1991, Noel, having recently returned from the Inspiral Carpets' tour of the U.S., went to watch his brother's band perform at the Manchester Boardwalk, supporting a band called Sweet Jesus. Noel offered to join, reportedly on condition that he would be the lead guitarist and they would perform only his songs. Noel made an instant impact on the band, he began to introduce new sounds and ways of creating music. After a few small warm up gigs in towns such as Middlesbrough, the band decided to produce Definitely Maybe, under the name of Oasis.
The Rain were a band from Manchester, England, that eventually evolved into Oasis.
"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" is a 1997 hit song recorded by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and composed by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller, Elliott, and producer Timbaland for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and contains a sample of Ann Peebles' 1973 single "I Can't Stand the Rain", whose lyrics serve as the chorus.
The song was released to U.S. radio stations on May 20, 1997, and the Hype Williams-directed video was released to video shows starting June 3, 1997. The song entered the Hot R&B Airplay chart in mid-June, and peaked at #6 the week of August 9, 1997. It peaked at #51 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart the following week.
The song was released as the album's lead single on July 2, 1997 (see 1997 in music), and reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. VH1 ranked the song 99th on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s. And in 2010 Pitchfork Media included the song at number 33 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s. In 1998, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" was named the fourth-best single of 1997 by the The Village Voice's annual-year end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.


Can I claim for three car accident as I was rear-ended by the middle car in the crash and hold no responsibility?
You should be able to claim for three car accident as it seems as though you have been involved in the most common type of three car crash – when a vehicle hits a car in front and the car behind is unable to brake in time causing another collision. Although it is possible for any of the three cars to blame, the driver who caused the rear end shunt is usually rendered the party responsible for the accident occurring. Despite the fact that you consider yourself blameless, establishing blame in cases such as these can be extremely complex, particularly when the version of events relayed by each separate driver is different.
Therefore, it is highly important that the correct procedures are completed following a three car collision as a neglect to do so may put your eligibility to claim compensation in jeopardy. Your first priority should always be your health and safety and you should have sought prompt medical treatment for any injuries that you suffered. Not only will this benefit your wellbeing, but an essential aspect of any personal injury* claim is that an injury was in fact sustained, and without proof – notes made in your medical records – no claim can be pursued.
Similarly, the report you made to the Gardai at the time of the accident will also have a significant bearing on the outcome of your claim for three car accident. If the accident was serious enough to require Garda presence, they would have made their own report and taken statements from all involved, including witnesses. However, if your injuries did not permit, or if no Gardai were present at the accident scene, you should attend the local Garda station to submit your version of events of the accident to their Accident Report Book as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.
Another advantage to your claim for the three vehicle crash injuries you sustained would be if you had exchanged the contact details, vehicle registration number and insurance details of all drivers involved in the accident.
However, even if you had not already completed all of the standard procedures mentioned above, you would still be strongly advised to seek the assistance of an experienced personal injury* claims solicitor. Because of the complex nature of claims for accidents involving more than one car, the expertise of a qualified solicitor could prove to be invaluable.
Establishing the degree of contributory negligence can be complicated, especially when three insurance companies have entered negotiations to settle compensation for three vehicle crash injuries. The presence of a solicitor who knows all of the specifics of your case could make all the difference in your claim for three car accident.


Let's talk about pushing the limits of search engine scalability — especially for very large databases.
There is really only one dimension of size: The total count of documents in the system. Other dimensions of size (very large queries, very large documents, etc.) typically do not significantly affect performance or scalability.
I would say that 95% of systems are small — meaning that they have less than 2 million documents. Such systems can be easily handled with a single machine.
Next up are medium systems, those in the 10 million to 100 million document range. If these systems have any kind of query or index performance requirements — for example, it is a public web site with 10-30 queries per second, or that new documents arrive at a rate of 10 documents per second — then you will likely need an array of machines to handle your needs. Search Technologies has installed and integrated dozens of such systems, and they typically require anywhere from five to 20 machines in a search cluster.
Finally, we have large and very large systems. Large would be 500 million to 1 billion documents, and very large would be 2 billion to 10 billion documents or more.
Search Technologies has experience with extremely large database sizes. We've architected systems approaching 1 billion documents, and expect to be involved with systems with 10 billion to 20 billion documents. Such systems require large data centers with many servers, but are do-able with today's technology, even by organizations of modest means.
Architecting a search system for such enormous amounts of data requires creating replicable, modular, search "units" that can be scaled hierarchically, and it also requires paying attention to both ends of the spectrum — the performance of a single machine, as well as how that machine interacts with others at all levels.
To architect a system for 10 billion documents, you must approach the problem from bottom to top, as follows.
Most search engines recommend a maximum of 10 million documents on a single computer. For a 10 billion document database, that would require 1,000 computers! Clearly, that approach will not be feasible for most organizations.
However, if configured and tested properly, this number can be dramatically increased. This requires 1) creating multiple "virtual search nodes" on a single physical computer, and 2) creating "read only" search nodes — which are only for search and do not perform real-time indexing.
One of the secrets of text search is that indexing is enormously expensive. If you can carefully control the indexing process such that only a single indexer is running on a node at a time, then you can pack a much larger number of documents for search onto a single search node.
Even better, if you are able to perform indexing off-line in large batches, not only will indexing be much more efficient, but then your entire search node can be used for searching.
Using these techniques, one can increase the number of documents per node from 10 million to at least 50 million, and possibly 100 million (depending on the amount of RAM, cores, and query features required). Such increases dramatically reduce the number of computers required, from 1,000 computers down to 100 to 200 computers, a much more manageable number.
The next breakpoint in scalability will be encountered when you get to around 50 to 100 computers in a search cluster.
Each search cluster has a process that distributes a search to multiple machines, each of which searches its part of the database in parallel, and then merges the results. As you get to a very large number of search nodes (and remember, each machine may have multiple, virtual search nodes), one begins to encounter scalability issues with these "distribution and results merging" processes.
Usually, you want to keep the number of virtual search nodes to less than 256 (or so). Some search engine systems allow for multiple layers of results distribution and merging, and these should be leveraged where possible. For example, the first layer can distribute and merge results across 16 nodes, and then the second layer can distribute and merge results across 16 groups, giving a total of 16x16 or 256 nodes.
Disaster recovery testing is critical for creating large, reliable clusters. One cannot depend on vendor guidelines; failure modes must be anticipated, tested, and recovery plans documented.
A key method for improving reliability is to use Storage Area Networks. SAN can be easily reconfigured and targeted toward multiple machines, and contain built-in disk reliability with RAID 5 or RAID 6. Note that, since the large majority of our search nodes will be read-only (see above), any performance penalty for disk writes in RAID configurations will further be minimized.
Search Technologies has extensively tested SAN storage and text search performance. When configured properly, the two technologies work very well together. Using proper amounts of RAM and search index caching, the difference between using SAN storage and Local, Direct Attached Storage (LDAS) can be as low as 3-5% for most text search applications.
Using SAN allows for hardware failures to be quickly overcome. Since the indexes are all on SAN, quick configuration changes are all that's required to replace a failed server node. Pre-configuring off-line nodes can further improve the speed of failure recovery so they can be very quickly swapped into place.
The above configuration allows for a maximum database size of around 2.5 billion documents. Very large indeed.
But to get to 10 billion documents and above, one will need to replicate multiple 2.5 billion document clusters, in a federated environment.
Most search systems contain some element of federation, either built into the product, or as an add-on feature. Federation allows for a search to be sent to multiple search engine clusters — each of which will search in parallel — and then the results are merged when presented to the user. Depending on how the documents are distributed amongst the clusters, the federator may wait for all searches to complete or it may present the results as they are completed.
The primary purpose of federation is to allow for unlimited growth in database size by using multiple search clusters with familiar performance and reliability characteristics. Further, it limits the impact of cluster failure. If any single cluster fails, the other clusters are untouched and can continue to return search results, providing a graceful degradation in performance even in the face of severe hardware problems.
I hope this discussion has been illuminating. Just a few years ago, I would never have considered that such large search databases could be created with off-the-shelf components.
But software, hardware, storage, and search technologies all have improved to the point that search engines for large databases can be and are being created within predictable cost and schedule estimates.


+ 2° (+$14.00) + 1° (+$14.00) Standard - 1° (+$14.00) - 2° (+$14.00) What lie should I select?
Available in right hand: 4-PW, SW, GW.
Available in left hand: 4 - PW, GW, SW.


Politicians always like to give things to small businesses (many of which seem to be quite large). While the economics makes no sense, there is great politics to taxing workers to give even the most incompetent, greedy and corrupt people money, if they happen to own a business.
This is fairly obviously the logic of a Republican tax cut bill approved by the House which would give some small businesses a tax cut of 20 percent. While the bill was obviously a political gesture in an election year, since there was no chance that the Senate would approve it or that President Obama would sign it, it still have been useful for the media to provide some explanation of what the bill would do.
The Post failed in this task, most importantly by not pointing out that the bill would only reduce taxes on businesses that are incorporated as separate entities and therefore pay the corporate income tax. This is important because the vast majority of small businesses are proprietorships or partnerships that do not pay the corporate income tax. These small businesses would not benefit from the Republican tax cut.


Positively Outspoken Negativland : Pop music: The band takes to Bogart's the kind of electronic message of artistic freedom that got it into legal trouble with U2.
Negativland learned the hard way: Actively subverting the pop music establishment can make it rain lawyers.
The Bay Area foursome has been sued twice in the past 18 months, but if members are eager to put those woes behind them, it wasn't evident at an appearance Thursday at Bogart's in Long Beach. The rare live show, closer to performance art than a typical pop concert, constantly came back to the band's legal entanglements and the larger issues behind them.
Negativland uses appropriated snippets of speech, song and commercial advertising in building complex soundscapes that operate as media satire and commentary. The sonic equivalent of collage, the technique falls into a gray area of federal copyright laws, but the band was apparently beneath the notice of corporate legal types for the first 11 years of its existence.
That changed dramatically in the fall of 1991, when Negativland released a 15-minute single on SST Records titled "U2" that parodied "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and included outtakes of disc jockey Casey Kasem cursing his underlings while fumbling through an introduction of the U2 song for his "American Top 40" program.
The CD cover, with "U2" displayed prominently, caught the attention of attorneys at Island Records, which was getting ready to release "Achtung Baby." Even though fewer than 8,000 copies of the Negativland record were shipped, Island later said it feared that buyers would confuse it with the coming U2 album (which went on to sell 295,000 copies in its first week of release).
That's when, in band member Mark Hosler's words, "someone turned on the lawyer faucet." Island obtained a temporary restraining order against the record and went on to sue for copyright infringement (music publisher Warner/Chappell joined the action). It could have been a classic David and Goliath story, with a giant record label trying to squash a fringe band that had never sold more than 15,000 records, but this time Goliath won.
The giant came away bloodied, though, at least in image. The media picked up the story, painting U2 as the bad guys, although they reportedly had nothing to do with initiating the action.
"They're not directly responsible for what happened," Hosler said from his Contra Costa County home last week, although he says the record label should have realized a lawsuit would reflect badly on the band.
Pressed by the bad publicity, Island settled with SST, but that's when things got really complicated. SST pressed Negativland to come up with the full $90,000 in legal fees incurred in the case, citing a contract clause under which the band took legal responsibility for the contents of its recordings. Negativland proposed a 50/50 split, public finger-pointing followed, and the band got sued a second time, this time by SST.
That suit, scheduled to go to trial next spring, came shortly after the band published a 96-page book called "The Letter U and the Numeral 2," which reproduces the original lawsuit as well as all the correspondence that ensued. (The funniest bit: a reproduction of an interview with the Edge in Mondo 2000, in which the unsuspecting U2 guitarist was ambushed by Negativland members who asked for a $20,000 loan. He laughingly declined.
Overall, it's a fascinating document, one that amply supports Hosler's contention that the music industry is dominated by corporate lawyers.
"We put out the book because there's no way we could trust the media to relay the tale," Hosler said. "You get to see up close how dirty and stupid it all is."
At Bogart's, the last show of its tour, Negativland performed the "U2" song and other works relating to the case, often with U2 concert footage projected onto the stage. The appropriated snippets are recorded on tape "carts" of the type used by radio stations, played DJ-style by Chris Grigg; Hosler and Don Joyce added guitars, keyboards and occasional vocals, mostly for atmospheric effect. Fourth member David Wills, a.k.a. "the Weatherman," appeared only on videotape.
While the U2 obsession sometimes veered close to portraying a band with a serious martyr complex, the final effect was a very funny and trenchant media spoof that drove home a political point near to the band's heart: The members want to broaden the interpretation of the Fair Use Doctrine of federal copyright laws to allow sampling of recorded materials for parody or commentary.
"We've been using bits and pieces of the media as long as we've been around. . . . The bits and pieces that we use are our choices of color, our palette," Hosler said last week.
Getting prior permission for each piece of appropriated material is impractical when up to 100 sources might be culled for a single musical piece, Hosler said. But he says he feels strongly enough about the form to forge ahead.
The band considers the samples part of the pervasive cultural environment and thus fair game for comment. Besides, it's what the members like to do. "I don't understand why people spend so much time doing love songs," Hosler said. "There are enough of those."
A newly released album, "Free," is again heavy in appropriated samples. The album is a pointed critique of America's celebrated freedom, born in the band's disgust over the Persian Gulf War. Sometimes devastating, sometimes hilarious, often both, the album anchors the usual sound bites to minimal musical touches, primarily keyboards and percussion.
While the U2 controversy didn't affect the recording of the new album--it was in the works before the legal actions started--Hosler wonders if the hassles and the lawsuits will have a chilling effect on future efforts, forcing the group to disband because it can't afford the legal fight for art and justice.


The meaning of the given name Darian represents intuition, enlightenment, dreams, incoherence, anxiety, charisma and a timid persona.
❶ What Does Darian Mean?
❷ What Is The Meaning Of Darian?
In summary achieving balance for Darian means discovering a purpose. A goal that truly motivates and uses your talents, so that you can finally take advantage of your many gifts. Achieving this is never an easy task and only few succeed in resolving their internal contradictions in the early stages of their youth.


What are the reasons for the growth in the worlds major urban centres in the twentieth century? Are the reasons for the growth similar to those that explained urban growth in the developed countries?
Modern historyWhat are the reasons for the growth in the worlds major urban centres in the twentieth century? Are the reasons for the growth similar to those that explained urban growth in the developed countries?
While the origins of cities go back to over five thousand years, urbanization; the process of population concentration into urban areas is a recent phenomenon dating back to the 18th Century when cities began growing in the now developed world. As Davis puts it, ?before 1850 no society could be described as predominantly urban. Today, all industrial nations are highly urbanized, and in the world as a whole the process of urbanization is accelerating rapidly.?
Davis's observations are substantiated by Todaro's findings on the global rate of urbanization, which the reports rose from 29 in 1950 to 50 in 2007. Despite having stabilized in the developed countries, the process of urbanization continues to increase throughout most of the developing world, where 75% of the world's increase in urban population is projected to occur. What are the driving forces behind this trend? Is the urban explosion happening in developing countries in the 20th Century simply a linear extension of the urbanization of the now-developed countries in the 19th Century? To answer these questions, I will first discuss the role of cities and the demographic trends in both sets of countries, then I will analyze the relative importance of industrialization and the informal sector, and finally, I will assess the similarities between the developed world's and developing world's experiences. I will attempt to show that despite some overlap between the two urbanization experiences, there are important quantitative and qualitative differences. While urbanization in today's developed countries was influenced mainly by an influx of migrants from rural areas driven by industrialization, in developing countries it is primarily the result of the natural increase of urban populations and their reliance on the informal sector.


Just luck, or mercy of the Lord?
Like the biblical Enoch, father of Methusalah, who did not die but was taken by God, Dennis Hale lived for nearly half a century after he cheated death in Lake Huron in 1966.
Hale died last Wednesday at age 75 of cancer at the home of a daughter in his hometown of Ashtabula, Ohio.
The story's Bay City connection is inherent in the ship that spelled doom for 28 sailors but spared 26-year-old Hale: it was the Daniel J. Morrell, built by the Wheeler yard here in 1906.
The 603-foot freighter Morrell, steel hull brittle after 60 years afloat, snapped in two in a raging storm 20 miles northeast of Harbor Beach on the night of Nov. 29, 1966.
Hale survived a day and a half freezing on a pontoon liferaft bounding on 30-foot waves driven by 65-mile-per-hour winds in a snowstorm, as his three raft mates died -- a tale recounted several times in Bay City venues.
*Why did he live when at times he wanted to die?
*What physical phenomenon caused him to live 38 hours aboard a raft in icy temperatures while others quickly perished?
*What happened to three of the 29 shipmates who disappeared without a trace?
*Why did the Leviathan, one of the longest ships on the lakes, snap in two?
*Why didn't residents of a nearby farm house on the shore in Sanilac County not see one of the six flares he fired from the raft?
*Was he saved to tell his story and give faith to other humans in distress?
*And, most of all: who was that strange, white, bearded ghostly figure who gave him advice after three companions on a small raft had frozen to death? The man had bushy eyebrows, a white complexion with a bluish tint and a neatly trimmed white moustache, he recalled.
The ghostly apparition told him not to eat the ice off his jacket, explaining that would lower his body temperature dangerously.
He theorized that he was near death when in his mind he was hovering above the raft looking down at his body and those of his dead shipmates.
"Suddenly I was spinning and very happy; I felt surrounded by love and was pulled backward into a bright light. There was a vivid green field and his mother beckoned him over a footbridge toward a fence where his relatives waited.
One dreamlike figure wearing a crown said: "Let's see what you learned," he heard them say. My whole life passed before me. My mother told me "I have waited so long to meet you." Shipmates also were at the bottom of a hill, "so innocent and childlike, laughing, crying and hugging me."
A Bay City Times reporter was on hand at Harbor Beach Community Hospital to hear the thawed out Hale ask Father Cornelius McEachern, a priest, "Why am I alive?" The priest responded: "Because God wants you to be alive."
His skin was blue with purple splotches, he was given the last rites of the Catholic Church and the priest heard his confession three times.
Doctors told him his heart was 94 degrees -- the same temperature that causes stoppage. You can't get closer than that to death.
Hale theorized that while God may have had a hand in it, his survival may have been due to a more mundane twist of fate: since he had no pants on, as his crewmates did, his legs didn't freeze -- lowering his body temperature -- as happened to the others, contributing to their demise.
When Hale clambered aboard the four foot by eight foot raft he was wearing only his undershorts, a Navy pea coat and a life jacket. The heavy kapok of the life jacket and the pea coat kept his lungs from freezing, as he thought killed his mates on the raft.
As it was, he lost a couple of toes and part of his left foot from frostbite.
Despite surviving the ordeal, he later questioned his faith because the priest who heard his confessions told him not to talk about his out-of-body experiences.
Thankfully, he ignored the priest's admonition, so now we know more of the tenuous connection and the feelings we all some day may experience in the netherworld between life and death.


There is generally no platform which allows the women or children to escape and fight for their civil and human rights in African nations of the Cocoa Belt.
In the absence of organized labour and unions, non-profit groups dealing with this and other peripheral issues are taking a stand. Some include: http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign an organization advocating on an international level for labor rights worldwide.
Such groups, large and small, working to put an end to human trafficking, are among the groups of growing force, raising awareness of such issues in and outside of Africa, in the U.S. and abroad. Archived stories and scholarly research abound about the atrocities of child labor and human trafficking associated with Cocoa production: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/CoteD%27Ivoire.htm.
However in the countries in question, often grassroots, start-ups and Non-Government Organizations, (NGOs), particularily those of an by indigenious groups of the area, are a burgeoning force also speaking out which can become even stronger advocates for the people directly effected.
One such organization is the Green Village Foundation, http://greenvillagefoundation.com/. Founded in 2009 by Dr. Theo Vodounou, Green Village Foundation is a grassroots, non-government organization (NGO) which includes in its cause, bringing help to victims of labor abuses in their emancipation by promoting education in rural societies, providing micro-finance opportunities to small businesses, as well as protecting women and children against myriad forms of domestic violence, the tactic most commonly used to force children into labour.
In a recent interview, a spokesperson for the organization and son of the foundation's founder, Thierry Vodounou spoke about the implications of the current political strife and how the organization plans to achieve its goal of affecting real changes.
Valerie's Vignettes Question: What are the specific activities the Green Village Foundation is conducting?
Green Village Foundation's Answer: Green Village Foundation (GVF) is a non-governmental and non-profit organization which partners with African communities for the betterment of the people's lives through sustainable development. GVF's method is to empower the least privileged by teaching them to take care of themselves. Our projects have included providing potable water, promoting girls' literacy, providing micro-finance loans to small businesses, donating machinery to farmers in order to improve productivity, and reducing desertification.
Q: What is your experience with these issues?
A: Having lived in and traveled to several African countries, I have seen that poor health and education conditions contribute to poor economic development. When people do not know how to escape their situations, they will learn to be content with it. That's why I believe that providing the proper resources to communities is the first steps to contribute to their sustainable development. However, this assistance must be done in a partnership and not by patronizing the communities. I have also learned that it is important to teach someone how to fish instead of them giving a meal constantly.
Q: What type of resistance does your organization face in Africa?
A: The first resistance is political: no organization can succeed in Africa without working closely with governmental agencies. But with the level of corruption in the governments, one has to develop reliable connections. Other resistances include people's fear of changes for psychological or traditional reasons.
Q: What are the latest developments in the political situation and Cocoa Industry in the Ivory Coast?
A: Currently, the Ivory Coast is in an unusual post-electoral situation where the two presidential candidates declared themselves winners, and therefore are governing with two separate cabinets. However, the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who, according to the official results acknowledged by the UN and the international community, lost the election, is the one who controls the national army. The official winner Allassane Ouattara also has a smaller army on his side. The two groups have lately been engaging in military conflicts, which hurt the civilians. In addition to the economic embargo on oil, cocoa and cafe, one of the strategies employed by Ouattara to push Gbagbo out of power is to asphyxiate him economically. If Gbagbo is no longer able to afford paying the state workers and the military backing him, he will be pushed out eventually. Thus, Ouattara has banned the export of cocoa out of the country since January 23rd. This is significant to the world cocoa markets as the Ivory Coast is the world top producer with 40% of the global production. If the stalemate continues, the cocoa price will continue to trend higher. Today the cocoa futures for May delivery rose to $3,858 a metric ton. This commodity price has surged over 28% since the November 2010 election. In addition, there are major concerns of cocoa smuggling across the borders into Ghana in order to sell the product.
Q: Please explain what a nationalized Cocoa industry will do for Ivory Coast and the Region of exporters?
A: With all the uncertainty around the cocoa markets it's hard to predict exactly what will happen with this recent decision by the incumbent president Gbagbo to nationalize all cocoa trade activities. There is no indication of how Gbagbo's government will finance those buy-sell transactions, since his government is not officially recognized globally. Essentially, the state will carry the trades that were done by the multinationals. The cocoa industry is a $4.5 bln one in the Ivory Coast. It will be challenging for the incumbent's government play the role of a vibrant private sector. Will traders on the other side be sanctioned for doing business with his government? We know that this decision will not stop the increase of the cocoa prices in financial markets. In the meantime, cocoa is being traded in other producing countries in the Cocoa Belt.
Q: As a financial analyst and treasurer of your organization, what are your thoughts on current and future impact the cocoa embargo will have on development in the area?
A: Farmers in the Ivory Coast are negatively affected as they are not able to liquidate their crops. Traders and observers are concerned that if the embargo lasts into the next harvest season which begins in May, there will be higher risk and volatility in the cocoa markets worldwide. I believe that the cocoa export ban will increase trade volumes in Ghana, which borders the Ivory Coast. However, they will be increased smuggling of cocoa across borders. The global cocoa industry is suffering from this crisis as major chocolate processors are affected by the 32 year-high in the cocoa price. Further, the crisis will benefit neighboring countries as the two major Ivorian ports, San Pedro and Abidjan banned from trading activities. The ports in Ghana, Togo and Benin will continue to see increased volume in business and thus help the respective economies.
Q: What agribusinesses exist in Africa?
A: The agribusiness is developed in Africa, but it is dominated by multinational corporations, mainly American, European and Asian ones. The African players are not strong enough to impose themselves or move the markets. Some African-owned firms include Emvest of South Africa, Wilbahi Investments Ltd of Nigeria, Export Trading Company Ltd. of Kenya and Giwa Farms Ltd. of Nigeria. The large corporations like Nestle, Cargill and Kraft dominate the agribusiness in Africa.
Q: More, how do you think the issue will shape regional and global politics in the immediate future?
A: Traders will continue to speculate on the prices of the cocoa commodities securities as the crisis persists. International buyers will change their strategies to hedge their losses. This could mean executing commodity risk management strategies, buying cocoa from other countries with less political risks. That would also affect revenues and production if buyers have to modify their chocolate processing based on the types and quality of beans they were inputting before the crisis. However, the Ivory Coast has enough stock of cocoa for probably the rest of the year, and that could be sold once the export ban ends. Politically, the Ivory Coast is in a difficult position as it has in a way isolated itself. Neighboring countries are treading carefully as they are afraid to take sides given vis-à-vis the two presidents, even though the African Union has officially recognized Ouattara and asked Gbagbo to step down. In this crisis, the Ivorian economy has lost at least 10 years of development since the crisis started in 2000. This political instability puts the country, which has always been a respectable economic power in the region, in a place where other regional nations will question its political power and relevance. Some African leaders are quiet of the matter because they see themselves as potential usurpers of power, just like Gbagbo. On the global scale, the international community includes the E.U. and the U.S. have clearly shown their supports for Ouattara. Bilateral affairs with the countries will be halted until the crisis ends, i.e. Gbagbo is ousted. Given that the Ivory Coast is a significant partner in the region and in the world, the foreign ties will be restored adequately after the crisis.
Q: How does the issue and current situation in Egypt and Libya impact the cocoa issue?
A: I think that current political situations in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have shown the world and Africans in particular, that the people can shift political power with their voices. We have yet to see if the energy seen in Northern Africa can be seen in countries like Ivory Coast, where people take on their oppressing governments regardless of the violence and abuse exercised on them.
Q: Why hasn't more attention been paid in the U.S. to this issue, in your opinion?
A: I think the U.S. takes position based on its political and economic interests around the world. More attention has been devoted toward the Northern African crises because of the U.S. ties to the Middle East in the case of Tunisia and Egypt, and because of the oil and Qadaffi in Libya. Of course the Ivorian crisis is one of concern to the U.S. because of its impact in the region, but its significance is not like that of the Northern African situations.
Q: There are by and large few if any African Companies involved in the actual business of chocolate manufacture.
A: That is correct. Most of the chocolate manufacturers are based in South Africa, but others are in West Africa. However, they are not large corporations like multinationals.
Q: What is the presence of African based agribusiness in West Africa?
A: There are some small to mid-size companies in the Ivory Coast like Sidcao, ETS Nouriat, Cabinsi; in Ghana like Afua Kds Enterprise; others in Benin and Togo. Most of those companies make candies, cocoa butter and cocoa cakes. Few of them make chocolate like the large multinational firms.
(c) 2011 Valerie Williams-Sanchez. All rights reserved.


Margin analysis. Determining the amount of profit or cash flow that a business generates from a specific product, product line, customer, store, or region.
Break even analysis. Calculating the mix of contribution margin and unit volume at which a business exactly breaks even, which is useful for determining price points for products and services.
Constraint analysis. Understanding where the primary bottlenecks are in a company, and how they impact the ability of the business to earn revenues and profits.
Target costing. Assisting in the design of new products by accumulating the costs of new designs, comparing them to target cost levels, and reporting this information to management.
Inventory valuation. Determining the direct costs of cost of goods sold and inventory items, as well as allocating overhead costs to these items.
Trend analysis. Reviewing the trend line of various costs incurred to see if there are any unusual variances from the long-term pattern, and reporting the reasons for these changes to management.
Transaction analysis. After spotting a variance through trend analysis, a person engaged in managerial accounting might dive deeper into the underlying information and examine individual transactions, in order to understand exactly what caused the variance. This information is then aggregated into a report to management.
Capital budgeting analysis. Examining proposals to acquire fixed assets, both to determine if they are needed, and what the appropriate form of financing may be with which to acquire them.
Given the broad range of investigative and analysis activities noted above, we could state that managerial accountants acts in an advisory role, to warn managers of impending issues and to direct their attention toward possibly profitable opportunities.
The other type of accounting is financial accounting, which is concerned with the proper recordation and reporting of accounting transactions to be in compliance with the applicable accounting framework (such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or International Financial Reporting Standards). The primary output of financial accounting is the financial statements.


Ezra's Story: Ezra was taken to a vet to be put to sleep after 'nipping' during rough play. The family had only had him two weeks. The vets refused to put him to sleep and sorted out a Rescue place with us. They also neutered, chipped and vaccinated him before he came to us. Rescue Remedies offered an emergency Rescue place saving his life. Ezra was in boarding kennels near Gatwick whilst he awaits his new family.
Ezra's progress through our Rescue is below.
Ezra is very confused and worried at the moment having just found himself in rescue. I met him out walking with Sarah this morning and he shows his feelings in his worried little face. He was happy to accept comforting cuddles from Sarah and to make friends with me too. Early days for this little chap but he has a lovely gentle vibe and hopefully he will settle and won't have to spend too long waiting for his new forever home.
We were in one of those obedience shows! I also nearly tripped over him a few times as he was so close, bless him. Ezra is now a fan of the poets hut, and he was straight in my lap, kissing me and giving me cuddles. We sat for ages like that. He is a soft and gentle boy and very in tune with me. He is a darling baby who needs an owner who knows how to raise a puppy! I hope this is soon because kennels is no place for this sweetheart.
Ezra is a special soul. He hid in his bed again this morning when I went in to see him. He was happy to accept cuddles and tummy rubs and after a while I coaxed him out for a walk. Once out, he trots along happily but his favourite thing is cuddles and we sat on the bench in the woods and Ezra cuddled up close. We could have sat like that all day, he is so warm and cuddly and snuggly. Ezra is one of those dogs you lose your heart to and I hope he is snapped up into his forever home quickly, away from the stress of kennels which he is finding so difficult.
So I got to take the adorable Ezra for his Christmas walk today. It was the first time I’d met him but he was so happy to see me (and my cheese) he greeted me like a long lost friend and we were quickly off on our walk. The walk however did not last long as Ezra spied the poets hut and made a beeline for it knowing he’d get cuddles which are clearly his favourite thing. All Ezra wants to do is get as close to you as possible and the moment I sat down he squashed himself in close and he would have been very happy to stay there all day.
To say this boy is terrified of the noise in kennels is an understatement. At the end of our walk on returning him to the kennels he was so scared of the noise he tried to bolt in the other direction.
Ezra is still nothing more than a puppy and is not wise in the ways of the world at all. I actually bought this gorgeous boy home with me as he tugged on my heart strings so much. Unfortunately whilst one resident dog Jessie was prepared to give him a go Roscoe took an unusual but instant strong dislike to Ezra and so it was with a very heavy heart I had to take him back to the safety of a quieter kennel.
From Ezra’s brief visit I can say though that I’m not sure he has spent much time in a home as he was very hyper and also scared of many normal household items such as mirrors (he kept barking at his reflection), sofa’s being alone etc. So much so he even joined me in the shower rather than being apart from a human. Ezra is an intelligent boy who bonds quickly and despite his hyperactivity still listens nd responds to some basic commands, like wait, stop, sit.
It would be so amazing to see this boy in a home as with training he will make an amazing addition. Despite his incoming story I didn’t see a boy wanting to nip but instead just a puppy not yet knowing the boundaries of play and so I really hope his special human comes real soon. The only real negative I would say I saw is he’s too interested in cats as we saw several today and he was far too interested in all of them.
Ezra is a very lovely dog indeed. He is in a kennel away from the block now, so is not hiding in his bed anymore. He was happily playing in his run when I went to him today and was met with the most lovely cuddles. I could sit and cuddle Ezra all day, he is such a sweetheart. We went for a long walk with Kim and Daisy today. When Ezra first saw Daisy he acted a bit sill at first, jumping all over the place but soon settled as we walked on and the two dogs walked side by side with no issues and had a couple of nose meetings. After that, each dog we met, Ezra had no reaction to. He walks beautifully on the lead and is very in tune when you speak to him and is willing to please. The right home will get a very nice dog who is trainable and affectionate.
We headed off on the woodland walk and Ezra wanted to go into the poets hut for some cuddles, who was I to say no !!!
I haven't met a single person who has met Ezra and not fallen for him. He really is a darling dog and still just a puppy. I took him to the paddock today where he loved having a good sniff around. Bearing in mind he is very young, I played with him and tried to see if he would get too excited or rough (or even nippy)!!! I honestly could not get him to play rough , he is just so gentle and calm. I have put my hands in his food and on toys he was playing with and there is no malice in this lovely boy, no guarding or snatching. All he wants to do is cuddle. Ezra is a very easy dog to walk, he doesn't pull or misbehave. I cannot fault him. He needs his family now, a family who will let him be a dog and just love him and show him the world.


How effectively can be survive and thrive in space? Does long exposure to micro-gravity affect our mental and physical capabilities? To understand this, NASA has completed a fascinating study on twins.
Melbourne	- "Cheeky" Bhutanese conjoined twins who were successfully separated after a marathon operation in Australia left hospital Monday, with doctors saying they had made an excellent recovery and were starting to act independently.
Melbourne	- It took six hours for doctors to separate conjoined Bhutanese twins Nima and Dawa last week, but nurses said Thursday the recovering girls are still not ready to go their own ways.
Melbourne	- Australian surgeons on Friday successfully separated 15-month-old Bhutanese twins, Nima and Dawa, who had been joined at the torso.
New Delhi	- Doctors in India have successfully separated conjoined twin boys who were attached at the skull in a marathon surgical procedure that lasted more than 36 hours and involved 40 doctors.
Dhaka	- Ten-month-old Bangladeshi siamese twins were recovering in hospital Wednesday after what surgeons hailed as the country's "groundbreaking" first successful separation operation on conjoined siblings.
Hanoi	- Vietnam has identified an extremely rare case of bi-paternal twins -- twins with different fathers -- a professor at a DNA testing lab in Hanoi told AFP Tuesday.
KSL-TV in Utah reported a double whammy of a story this week when they told the tale of identical twins Kerri Bunker and Kelli Wall. Each of them have given birth to twins already and now of them are pregnant again - with twins.
London	- A pair of twins in the UK beat one-in-a-million odds to be born with different color skin. The boys were born around 30 minutes apart.
Why do some people attract mosquitoes more than others?
Been sitting outside with a group and wondered why some people are bitten more often than others by mosquitoes? The answer lies in the genes, resulting in some people being ‘super magnets’ for the buzzing nuisances.
When three friends decided to make a bet to see who would first find, their ‘twin-stranger’ from across the world, little were they expecting that their quest would in fact yield results.
Irkutsk	- The recently exhumed skeletons of a young mother and her twins who died around 7,700 years ago are the oldest set of confirmed twins ever discovered, says the bio-archaeologist who discovered them near Lake Baikal in Siberia.
Proving that truth is stranger than fiction, twin brothers have become fathers on the same day. They each had a son that was born in the same hospital and delivered by the same midwife.
Tucson	- Scott Kingery knows that turning double plays in the field can increase the connection between teammates, especially when the player you are flipping them with is your twin brother.
In a rather rare occurrence this New Year's, two sets of twin babies were born in separate years, in two different countries. There will be no fighting over birthdays in these two families.
A woman in China who gave birth to twin girls after an IVF treatment at the age of 60 in 2010 following the death of her only child has commented to the media on the birth. She may be the oldest person in the country to give birth.
As the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals play almost back-to-back series against one other, some players have made amazing catches. Last night, the Twins' third baseman Trevor Plouffe made an incredible catch as he flipped into the dugout.
Washington	- This past weekend the Minnesota Twins were in Washington to play the Nationals. While Twins took Game 1 on Saturday, the Nationals pulled back ahead and got the win in Sunday's doubleheader games.
A 41-year-old Scottish woman has pulled off a feat of motherhood so rare it is estimated to be at 500,000 to one odds. Karen Rodger had her third consecutive set of twins. She already had two sets of boys, 14 and12, and this time had girls.
Daniel and María joined hands shortly after their birth in a hospital in Guipúzcoa in the Basque Country of Spain. The result of this union took the Internet by storm.
Pico Truncado	- What would you do to a man convicted of killing your twin sister? Beat him, want to kill him or perhaps marry him? Yes marry him.
Brussel	- A case involving two identical twin brothers who requested to be euthanized by doctors in Brussels prompted officials with the Belgium government to postpone a proposed amendment to the country's euthanasia laws.
Los Angeles	- Today the rumors are flying fast and furious about a false meme that the former TV friend is pregnant with twins from her fiancee Justin Theroux.
London	- A fascinating video shows a pair of twins "fighting" inside the womb before they were born. The remarkable footage, captured by the Imperial College London's fetal care center, is the raw unprocessed movie image taken by the cinematic-MRI machine.
Santos	- After a decade of frustration and disappointment, a Brazilian woman received a belated birthday gift that she will undoubtedly treasure for the rest of her life.
Watch 22-month-old twins MJ and AJ, fall asleep face-first into their plates of spaghetti in sheer exhaustion after a day at the beach swimming and building sand castles.
Twins Louise and Martine Fokkens, both 70-years-old, worked as prostitutes for about 50 years, and now they are getting ready to release a tell all book.
Lehi	- A woman was observed potty training her twin girls at a table in a popular Utah eatery. Another patron took a photo, which later made the social media rounds before being taken down due to policy violations.
A six-year-old giant panda, Sixue, gave birth to twin panda cubs, a male and a female, in China's southern Sichuan province, and it was all caught on video.
The famous conjoined twins Abigail and Brittany Hensel will appear in their own reality TV show that chronicles the story of their lives after graduation from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, their job search and travels through Europe.
Daniel and María joined hands shortly after their birth in a hospital in Guipúzcoa in the Basque Country of Spain.
Lindsay Sagueiro's fraternal twin baby girls born in 2013 and 2014.
The Veronicas rock band - twin sisters, at the Australian premiere of the movie Snow White and the Huntsman.
Two sets of twins were born in two separate years over New Year's Eve/morning - Yaleni Santos Taholino and Warren Begazo with their twins.


How do I run multiple GenRocket Partitions?
This article describes how to run multiple GenRocket Partitioned instances.
The partition engine runs from within the GenRocket Realtime REST Engine; so, the first step, is to open a command line terminal and launch the GenRocket Realtime REST Engine.
If partitions need to be launched from a command line script, then using a curl command on Linux and Unix machines is a good solution. The following example shows the partition engine being launched using a curl command (you'll want to copy and paste the curl example into a local editor to get a full view of the one line command).
Use the web developers helper program of choice, The Advanced REST Client (ARC), or any other REST client to send a request to the GenRocket Realtime REST Engine to launch a set of partitions.
Example: Using ARC and a Mac computer.


Has Milton's invocational language, for instance "there plant eyes... that I may see and tell of things invisible," ever been identified as gnostic?  Is he asking the holy light, the "coeternal beam," to beget here, to "plant" (like the Spirit brooded on the vast abyss, making it pregnant), a new creature, a poet with super-mortal powers of gnosis?
Thanks much for the response, Jameela.  I think the problem is that of contemporary vs. Renaissance/Restoration uses of the word "Gnosticism" (and for that matter, theological uses of the term vs. a historian's (such as Jonas) use of the term).  In theological circles and yes, probably to Milton, the word "gnostic" means "Christian heresy."  Contemporary writers have broadened the meaning; Eric Voegelin would probably say Milton was a gnostic at heart although I'm sure Milton himself would balk at the idea.
I wish I could address Mr. Kinder's question -- that requires more technical knowledge of Milton than I have.


is "meta programming" the answer ?
Consider a file. The file is a bunch of records, each with some predefined size, say 128 bits. The bits in each record hold information. For instance, bits 0-5 hold "foo" and bits 123-127 hold "bar". The records follow one another in the file in chronological order. If record B comes after record A, than "foo" had first its value in A and then its value in B, etc.
What I need to do is to decode such files, according to scenarios. The scenarios are similar in many ways, but also different in several ways. An example scenario is - look for "baz" throughout the file, and if it changed from X to Y, report something. Etc. For different scenarios, "foo", "bar", X, Y are all different, sometimes in subtle ways.
For now I have 4 scenarios, and my implementation is extremely ugly - a whole function for each scenario. There's a lot of duplication in there... Many more scenarios will be added, and I fear that my code will turn into a ball of mud. Therefore, I'm trying to think of some advanced solutions.
What I have in mind at the moment is some form of meta-programming. That is, to define some language that describes these scenarios, and write just one program that reads a "scenario", takes a file and runs the scenario on it.
This way I will have just one generic scenario running code, and multiple scenario description files, with minimal duplication between them.
Defining the "scenario description language". A config file ? A simplified programming language (I will need IFs and stuff...) ? This may be quite complicated.
How to reflect the subtle differences between the scenarios... This is very task specific, and I fear that even if I define the language, I will have to constantly adjust it as long as scenarios with new complications appear.