David’s Haunted Library: Monsters In Our Wake and Beatrice Beecham’s Cryptic Crypt

Some people think of space as the final frontier but we have another unexplored area that is a lot closer to us. The deepest part of the ocean is still a mystery and who knows what kind of creatures live down there. In the deep waters of the South Pacific an oil drilling ship is about to find what lurks bellow and they will be very sorry they disturbed it. The ship lowers its drill into the territory of  a family of Nokkens who hate humans with a passion.

The Nokkens are more intelligent than humans think and in their minds its the humans who are the inferior creatures.  In retaliation for invading their space, one of the Nokkens attacks the ship leaving it disabled and thousands of miles away from anyone who can help. Now the humans are starting to turn on the lone woman on the ship, marine biologist Flora Duchovney Flora begins to wonder if the worst monsters are on the ship or in the depths of the ocean.

The first thing that sticks out about Monsters In Our Wake by J.H Moncrieff is that the book starts from the monster’s point of view. Right off the bat that made this book better than your average horror novel. The point of view shifts from the Nokken to Flora, to the members of the ship’s crew. The big question in this book is who really is the monster? The Nokkens, the humans, or both.

The who is the monster theme lasts throughout this book. We get to hear about how the Nokkens hate the humans because of the damage they have done to the ocean and its creatures. Another reason why the Nokkens think of humans as monsters is because they kill each other, which to them is insane. We see this start to play out on the ship as well when the crew become desperate. The Nokkens show how they can be monsters too though as they teach the humans lessons in respect.

Flora was my favorite character in the book because despite things being bad for her she is the strongest character. When things go wrong she takes the blame whether it was her fault or not and at one point she even gets labeled as a witch because the rest of the crew believes she summoned the monster. What I found most interesting about her though is when we see her having an anxiety attack as she wonders about how she will survive and get back to her son at home. Though when things get worse on the ship she does what she needs to do and has no problem with her anxiety.

There was a lot to like about Monsters In Our Wake, the book is a lot of fun. While it’s mostly a horror novel with a deep meaning to it, it has a little humor to it also. There are some unanswered questions about the creatures that I would like to know, but it didn’t take anything away from the overall story. The characters have a lot of depth to them, they are shades of gray instead of black and white. The Nokkens have done some terrible things to the humans, but also show compassion. On the other hand, some of the humans have shown that they have a heart but do some evil things as well. The only one who can be described as good is Flora and she comes across as the most interesting character in the book. Despite some minor flaws, this was an entertaining read and I’m hoping to read more from J.H. Moncrieff in the future.

Dorsal Finn is a strange place sitting on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Weird things seem to happen there and it has its fair share of odd characters. For one thing, there is a dark entity living under the bizarre little town and it seems to have created a magnet for people who have evil agendas. Luckily, 15-year-old Beatrice Beecham and her friends are on the scene and ready to solve mysteries and stop evil, dead in its tracks. Beatrice and her friends call themselves the Newshounds and they are a force to be reckoned with.

This adventure has its beginnings way back during World War 2 when two young girls rescue a German scientist who is working on an invention to change the world. The scientist didn’t survive the war but a part of him may have. Flash forward to the present, one of the young girls who saved him is now an elderly woman and is hearing the scientist’s voice in her hearing aid. Underneath the Dorsal Finn Library lies something that can change the world and someone sinister is looking for it. To make matters worse, an organization called the Blue Thunder Foundation is having a strange effect on the town. It’s up to Beatrice and her friends to figure out what’s happening in Dorsal Finn.

Beatrice Beecham’s Cryptic Crypt by Dave Jeffery is a complex supernatural mystery novel aimed at a Y.A. audience. There is so much going on in the plot that its hard to describe it without leaving things out. This is a book that both adults and kids will like and it will really test your ability to pay attention. Because if you blink you will miss something. What I really enjoyed about this book was how the senior citizens and the kids work together to save their town. I also like that there is a historical fiction aspect to the book as it gets into the history of the Nazis and their dealings with the occult.

This book has several themes running throughout it and most appealing is the importance of friendship and how to deal with bullies. There were a couple of scenes where Beatrice and friends stand up to adult bullies and bully their own age. In one case the newshounds help a deaf girl who is being mistreated by the town bully and accept her into their group despite her differences. It doesn’t work out as they planned which was my favorite part of the book that I don’t want to give away, but the main point is that nothing keeps true friends apart.

The only problems I had with this book was I kept wondering if kids are really this nice, some of their conversations are so nice that it seemed unreal to me. Also, there was a point about half way through the book where I felt the author was adding way too many complex ideas to the story and he really needed to add a little suspense. The suspense comes though in the last third of the book as the story goes from historical mystery to action adventure. Beatrice Beecham’s Cryptic Crypt is a good book to give to a teenager who doesn’t like reading. With the great adult and kid characters and the excellent story, it’s almost guaranteed to get a non reader to start a love of reading.

David’s Haunted Library: Midway and Mooner

25321000Sam Berlitz wanted to prove he could do the impossible. He joined a British long distance swim team and is in the process of swimming across the Atlantic Ocean. Each member of the team takes a turn in the ocean while the rest stay on the ship. On Sam’s latest turn he looks up from his swimming and is surprised to see that his ship and teammates have disappeared without a trace. He is now alone in the ocean without food or fresh water. Or is he? Something large is stalking him in the water and  Sam can’t escape it. Sam slowly starts to lose his sanity as he realizes that he will soon become dinner to whatever creature lurks in the ocean below.

Midway by Nathan Robinson is a thriller about survival in a desperate situation. This book is a journey into a man’s mind as he realizes that he has little hope for a happy ending. He thinks of things such as who will attend his funeral, what exactly happened to his crew and he also thinks about the beauty he sees around him. He describes the water around him, the sunset and the sunrise and he goes through a wealth of emotions.  The best way to describe this book is as a psychological horror novella that reminded me a lot of the movie Open Water.

In addition to the horror of what’s going on in Sam’s mind, there is a very real monster stalking him, which added another level of suspense to the story. I loved how the monster is revealed slowly. You catch glimpses of it before the big reveal and then you are left to wonder if he will die from the monster eating him or from being lost at sea. We also have the mystery as to what really happened to his ship. Is the monster strong enough to pull the ship down? For this being a short read there is a lot going on and it’s all told from the thoughts of one man who has little hope left.

This is the second book I’ve read by Nathan Robinson and one thing I like about his work is that the story starts to go in one direction and then at some point it takes a turn and goes somewhere totally different. What impressed me about Midway is that I felt like this is really what someone who is about to die would feel. In the beginning you don’t really like Sam much, he seems kind of shallow and egotistical but as you get into his fearful thoughts on dying you start to feel for him. Midway is a good horror novella that may scare you out of swimming in the ocean.

22507616Another short story I read recently is Mooner by Selah Janel. This is a historical horror story set in an 1800’s saloon and centers on a worker in a logging camp named Bill. Bill is trying to make enough money to start a new life and his path to doing that is a hard job that many men can’t handle. His role model is Big John and after a hard day’s work they head up to the bar, but what they don’t know is that someone else has plans for them. The setting really comes to life in this one, as the story begins you really feel like you are in an 1800’s bar. The description of it and the language used really adds to the atmosphere and you feel like you are in a different time. To show how much research went into this little vampire tale, there is even a little glossary of terms in the back. It amazes me how much research went into this little tale and the payoff is a horror story that sticks with you.

You really feel for Bill in this story as you get the impression he doesn’t fit in at the bar and he is the only one that pays for his drinks. Even without the vampire element you get the impression that this would be good historical fiction and it has some great characters. There is a sense of building dread as a stranger comes into the bar and only three people seem to understand what’s happening as the other patrons get the stranger to perform tasks for drinks. This is a masterfully told story that had me thinking of the old Tales From The Crypt comic. The vampire is terrifying and sympathetic and for a short story it still has a couple of great twists, this is a must read for horror fans. Considering how good Mooner is I would love to read a  longer historical horror novel from Selah Janel.

Book Review: Insurgent Z

23929492Botte Louisiana is just a little fly spec on the map. The weather is almost always hot and life is pretty laid back in this small town. Things are changing quickly though, the military has its eyes on Botte and they want to do some experiments on prisoners at the local prison which is referred  to as Paradis (French for Paradise). The hope was to create an army of super soldiers but not surprisingly, things don’t work out.

Sheriff Mason Guillot is used to work being easy in his town but now he is in the middle of a zombie outbreak and forced to confront his dark past. Eight years ago he was a soldier and his superior officer Jonathan Hart led him into a trap that caused two people to die. Hart is in charge of the experiments at the prison and Mason must face the man he never wanted to see again. Mason must defeat his personal demons and let go of the past in order to help the people in his town survive the zombie uprising.

Insurgent Z  by Mark C. Scioneaux and Dane Hatchell starts off as a military thriller and then turns into a horror novel. The beginning of this book led me to believe it was going to be a very different kind of novel. It starts in the middle east and gives us some background on two of the main characters before it gets into the zombie story line. The opening of this book was fantastic and I loved the dialogue between the soldiers who are being held prisoner in an enemy camp and their torturer, a man they call scarface. This book starts off with a dose of real life horror and then you see how this real life horror shaped Mason before the zombie outbreak 8 years later.

Mason is a man who has gone through hell  and you root for him because he still tries to do the right thing even after he has suffered. I liked how this book gets deep into what makes all the characters tick. Even  the supporting characters are given back stories, two people in the book, a young couple named Ryn and Deb have had a rough life. They are married and nothing turned out how they planned. Ryn became a drug dealer and Deb works with hospice patients. You see that their relationship is strained but as zombies stumble on to their property, you see them work together to survive. I loved their story and it was one of the scariest parts of the book when they have to fight to survive.

Insurgent Z is everything you would expect in a zombie book. You have interesting characters, flesh-eating monsters, science experiments gone wrong, old school zombies(read it, if you know about the history of zombies you’ll know what I mean.) and lots of action. The characters are what really makes this book worth reading though. Even people who aren’t in the story very long get a back story and the authors make you care about them. This is what makes this book horrifying, you care about the people and you want them to get a happy ending. Insurgent Z is a simple story with complex characters and is a good example of how zombie fiction never gets old.


US charges two Russian spies in massive Yahoo cyberattack

Rob Lever
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Russian agents Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, indicted in the US over a massive Yahoo hack, were part of the successor to the KGB

Two Russian intelligence agents and a duo of hackers were indicted Wednesday over a data breach that compromised 500 million Yahoo accounts in one of the largest cyberattacks in history.

The indictment announced by the US Justice Department links Russia's top spy agency, the FSB, to the massive hacking operation which began in 2014 with the twin goals of espionage and financial gain.

It comes amid a high-stakes investigation into Russian cyber-meddling in the US election, potentially aimed at boosting the campaign of President Donald Trump.

The Russian agents were identified as Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, both members of the successor agency to Russia's KGB.

Dokuchaev was an officer in the FSB Center for Information Security, known as "Center 18," which is tasked with investigating hacking and is the FBI's point of contact in Moscow for cyber crimes.

The 33-year-old Dokuchaev was reported to have been arrested in Moscow earlier this year on treason charges. He is accused of directing the Yahoo hack along with his superior, the 43-year-old Sushchin.

The two officers "protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and elsewhere," acting assistant attorney general Mary McCord told reporters.

They are accused of hiring hackers Alexsey Belan and Karim Baratov to carry out the attacks, which continued until late 2016.

Targets of the Yahoo breach included both Russian and US government officials, including cyber security, diplomatic and military personnel, according to McCord, who said it aimed to gather information "clearly some of which has intelligence value."

She added that "the criminal hackers used this to line their own pockets for private financial gain," seeking to cash in on the breach by accessing stolen credit or gift card numbers, and through a series of spam marketing schemes.

- Journalists, diplomats targeted -

The US indictment includes 47 criminal charges including conspiracy, computer fraud, economic espionage, theft of trade secrets and identity theft.

Asked if there were any links between the Yahoo hack and the wider question of Russian interference, McCord said, "We don't have anything that suggests... any relationship," but added that the election case "is an ongoing investigation."

The US statement said some targets were "of predictable interest" to the Russian spy agency including Russian and US government officials and employees of a prominent Russian cybersecurity company.

The Yahoo breach, McCord said, "also targeted Russian journalists; numerous employees of other providers whose networks the conspirators sought to exploit; and employees of financial services and other commercial entities."

Other accounts compromised by the hackers belonged to employees of commercial entities, such as a Russian investment banking firm, a French transportation company, US financial services and private equity firms, a Swiss bitcoin wallet and banking firm and a US airline, according to the Justice Department.

Baratov, a 22-year-old Canadian-Kazakh national, was arrested this week on a US warrant in Canada, she said.

Belan, 29, has been indicted twice in US cases involving the hacking of e-commerce companies, and is listed as one of the FBI's "Cyber Most Wanted criminals."

- 'State-sponsored' -

FBI executive assistant director Paul Abbate said the agency has asked Moscow for assistance in apprehending the suspects but noted that "we have had limited cooperation with that element of the Russian government."

In Russia a high-level official quoted by Russian news agencies said that "Washington did not communicate with Moscow about this issue through the available channels set up to address issues related to cybersecurity."

The source added that "the absence of specifics in this case suggests this is the latest twist in the use of the subject of Russian hackers in the internal political struggle in the US."

The attack on Yahoo, disclosed last year, was one of the largest ever data breaches and at the time was blamed on a "nation-state" attacker.

Yahoo's assistant general counsel Chris Madsen said in a statement that the indictment "unequivocally shows the attacks on Yahoo were state-sponsored."

Chief executive Marissa Mayer tweeted that Yahoo was "very grateful to the FBI & DOJ" for their work.

The internet pioneer, which is in the process of selling its core assets, has been rocked by the disclosure of the breach and a separate case that affected one billion users.

- Cookies, erectile dysfunction -

The indictment unsealed in federal court in San Francisco showed a series of techniques used by the hackers in accessing user accounts.

In some cases, they used emails disguised as legitimate messages, a technique known as "phishing."

Another scheme directed users searching for erectile dysfunction medications to a fake website that included malicious software.

The hackers were also able to produce forged "cookies" or bits of software used to authenticate users, and used stolen Yahoo credentials to compromise accounts of other webmail providers, including Google.

These efforts enabled the hackers to obtain a backup copy of Yahoo's user database and eventually its "account management tool" that controlled passwords and other personal information, the indictment said.


Apple brings Google-style machine learning to ‘Photos’

Apple brings Google-style machine learning to ‘Photos’

Today at WWDC, Apple brought machine learning to Photos to help you find, discover and share your images in a more intuitive way than ever before. The features borrow some of the best features from Google Photos, like re-surfacing memorable events, creating albums based on events, people and places, and using deep learning to help find images in a more intuitive way.

The new algorithm uses advanced computer vision, a group of deep learning techniques that brings facial recognition to the iPhone. Now, you can find all of the most important people, places and things in your life in with automatically sorted albums. It’s essentially facial recognition that works on places and objects as well.

Photos now offers up new ways to re-surface forgotten photos too — much like Google Photos. Now, instead of periodically sorting through old photos, Apple brings these memories to life with a new feature called… wait for it… ‘Memories.’ Inside Memories, Apple pre-sorts photos and video based on specific trips, events, or your favorite people into albums like ‘last weekend’ or ‘best of 2016.’

Overall, the new features should greatly improve a problem that nearly all of us have: taking a lot of photos and really having no idea what to do with them. For most of us, these photos sit in Photos, Google Photos, or on Facebook and we rarely come back to them. Being able to re-surface images based on advanced machine learning and facial recognition should be the kick right in the nostalgia that most of us need to dust off those old photos and revisit some of favorite moments.

Read next: Apple Maps is finally useable for everyone (because it's more like Google Maps)


Most people (80%) do not have any symptoms when ]]>gallstones]]> are present in the gallbladder. However, when gallstones grow large, they can travel to and block narrow passages (ducts) meant only for liquid bile. This blockage is called choledocholithiasis. When this happens, abdominal pain is usually the most common symptom. It can be constant pain or pain that comes and goes, especially after meals. Other commonly associated symptoms include intolerance to fatty meals, bloating, belching, and indigestion.

The cystic duct drains bile from the gallbladder. The hepatic duct drains bile from the liver. The hepatic duct and cystic duct join to form the common bile duct which carries bile to the small intestine. When gallstones block these ducts, they may lead to the following more serious conditions:

Biliary colic—right upper quadrant pain and cramping due to the gallstone blocking the cystic duct

Acute cholecystitis—inflammation of the gallbladder that occurs if the gallstone gets lodged in the cystic duct without passing into the common bile duct

Cholangitis—a serious infection and a medical emergency that can result if the common bile duct remains blocked by a gallstone, allowing bacteria to be trapped

]]>Pancreatitis]]>—inflammation of the pancreas that occurs as a result of gallstones blocking the lower part of the common bile duct

These conditions are likely to cause some of the following symptoms:

  • Abdominal pain (usually recurrent right upper quadrant pain, especially in response to fatty foods)
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • ]]>Jaundice]]>
  • Fever
  • ]]>Heartburn]]>
  • Excess gas or flatus
  • Clay-colored stools

If you experience any of these symptoms do not assume it is due to gallstones. These symptoms may be caused by other health conditions. If you experience any one of them, see your doctor.


Wordpress cache / CDN / browser language detection issue

I have a wordpress server which is multilingual. It detects the language from the user's browser and displays it on the site. However caching (somewhere!) is causing the language to mostly default to english. The hosting is on Cloudways, with Amazon AWS and uses varnish. It also has cloudflare CDN and a wordpress caching plugin called Breeze (I previously had w3 total cache, the outcome was similar).

I'm pretty technical and I am unable to reliably reproduce this issue. I just know that language detection isn't consistent. I'm very interested in hiring a tech guy that is highly experienced in debugging these kinds of issues and available right away.

技能： 亚马逊网络服务, HTML, Nginx, PHP, WordPress

查看更多： browser language detection, wordpress google cdn, expressionengine browser language, wordpress plugin content browser, wordpress theme compatible browser, html redirect based browser language, browser button detection, magento browser language, drupal automatic browser language detection, wordpress sites incompatible browser, wordpress nextgen image browser php numbers, detect browser language drupal, wordpress custom image browser, wordpress shopping cart multi language, jquery browser size detection

( 7个评论 ) Miami, United States

项目ID： #15247331

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Hi, I have checked the website and understand the issue. We have to check the plugin and also the theme if there is anything conflicting that prevent the checking . OUR DEVELOPED RECENT WORDPRSS SITE LINKS: 更多

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What Habits Do Happy Couples Have?

Is it really that hard to be in a happy and healthy relationship? Knowing the answer to this question means that you should also learn the answer to this one: ‘What habits do happy couples have?’ So if you and your partner are working to improve your relationship, make it stronger, and be more satisfied, here are the habits that both of you should develop and nurture.

Go to Bed the Same Time

Happy couples go to bed the same time as much as they can. They can’t wait to be with each other in bed and feel one another’s touch and skin. This is possible to do, even if one has to stay at work later than the other. This is also something that both you and your partner can do even if the other has to wake up earlier. The important thing is: you go to bed together and fall asleep holding each other.

Share and Support Each Other’s Interests

Happy couples do not restrict each other when it comes to interests and hobbies, as long as these things are productive rather than destructive. While it is common not to share the same exact interests and hobbies, you should still support each other. In other words, cultivate each other’s similarities and show not only support, but also interest in those that you do not share.

Walk Side by Side

Have you noticed how happy couples are always walking side by side, and in many situations, holding each other’s hands? This is because they are comfortable with each other and they are happy and proud to show it to the world. They enjoy the sights together and they share this positive emotion. In fact, to them, the things that they see are even much more beautiful and magnificent because they are in the presence of each other.

Trust and Forgive

Whenever happy couples get into a fight or a disagreement, they resolve it as soon as they can instead of going to bed without making up. In the event that they cannot resolve the problem, they just trust and forgive instead of feeling begrudging or distrusting. However, you should also avoid not talking about relationship problems. Just make sure though that you will do so in a mature manner.

Focus on the Things your Partner Does Right

People who are in a healthy and happy relationship focus on the good things that their partners do. They do not make it a habit to look for the bad, because they know that this will just elicit more problems. What they do instead is to accentuate the positive and talk about the negative in a way that adults should – through proper communication.

These are the top 5 habits that happy couples have and consider the most important in their relationships. Do not look at them as if they are impossible to do: if people who are in happy and healthy relationships can, then you and your partner can too. If you still can’t, then one or both of you probably already has a problem.


United States Patent is essentially a "grant of rights" for a restricted time period. In layman's terms, it is a contract in which the United States government expressly permits an individual or organization to monopolize a certain concept for a limited time.

Typically, our government frowns upon any sort of monopolization in commerce, due to the belief that monopolization hinders cost-free trade and competition, degrading our economy. A excellent example is the forced break-up of Bell Telephone some years ago into the several regional cellphone companies. The government, in distinct the Justice Department (the governmental company which prosecutes monopoly or "antitrust" violations), believed that Bell Phone was an unfair monopoly and forced it to relinquish its monopoly powers more than the telephone industry.

Why, then, would the government permit a monopoly in the kind of a patent? The government can make an exception to motivate inventors to come forward with their creations. In doing so, the government truly promotes developments in science and engineering.

First of all, it need to be clear to you just how a patent acts as a "monopoly. "A patent permits the owner of the patent to prevent anybody else from creating the product or employing the procedure covered by the patent. Think of Thomas Edison and his most renowned patented invention, the light bulb. With his patent for the light bulb, Thomas Edison could avert any other person or organization from making, employing or offering light bulbs with out his permission. Primarily, no one could compete with him in the light bulb business, and consequently he possessed a monopoly.

However, in order to get his monopoly, Thomas Edison had to give something in return. He essential to completely "disclose" his invention to the public.

To obtain a United States Patent, an inventor need to totally disclose what the invention is, how it operates, and the ideal way acknowledged by the inventor to make it. It is this disclosure to the public which entitles the inventor to a monopoly. The logic for carrying out this is that by promising inventors a monopoly in return for their disclosures to the public, inventors will continually strive to produce new technologies and disclose them to the public. Delivering them with the monopoly allows them to revenue financially from the invention. With no this "tradeoff," there would be handful of incentives to build new technologies, because with no a patent monopoly an inventor's tough perform would bring him no fiscal reward. Fearing that their invention would be stolen when they attempt to commercialize it, the inventor might by no means inform a soul about their how to obtain a patent invention, and the public would never advantage.

The grant of rights beneath a patent lasts for a limited time period. Utility patents expire idea for a product twenty many years following they are filed. If this was not the situation, and patent monopolies lasted indefinitely, there would be severe consequences. For example, if Thomas Edison nonetheless held an in-force patent for the light bulb, we would probably need to pay out about $300 to purchase a light bulb today. With no competition, there would be minor incentive for Edison to enhance on his light bulb. As an alternative, once the Edison light bulb patent expired, absolutely everyone was free to manufacture light bulbs, and many firms did. The vigorous competitors to do how to patent an idea just that right after expiration of the Edison patent resulted in much better top quality, lower costing light bulbs.

Types of patents

There are in essence 3 types of patents which you should be aware of -- utility patents, style patents, and provisional patent applications.

A utility patent applies to inventions which have a "functional" aspect (in other phrases, the invention accomplishes a utilitarian outcome -- it truly "does" anything).In other words, the point which is different or "special" about the invention should be for a functional purpose. To be eligible for utility patent safety, an invention should also fall within at least one particular of the following "statutory classes" as essential below 35 USC 101. Hold in thoughts that just about any physical, functional invention will fall into at least a single of these categories, so you require not be concerned with which category greatest describes your invention.

A) Machine: feel of a "machine" as one thing which accomplishes a activity due to the interaction of its physical components, such as a can opener, an car engine, a fax machine, and so forth. It is the combination and interconnection of these physical parts with which we are concerned and which are protected by the patent.

B) Post of manufacture: "articles of manufacture" need to be imagined of as issues which complete a process just like a machine, but without the interaction of various bodily parts. Although posts of manufacture and machines might appear to be comparable in numerous instances, you can distinguish the two by pondering of articles or blog posts of manufacture as much more simplistic issues which generally have no moving components. A paper clip, for example is an article of manufacture. It accomplishes a activity (holding papers with each other), but is obviously not a "machine" considering that it is a straightforward gadget which does not depend on the interaction of various elements.

C) Process: a way of doing some thing by way of a single or much more measures, every single phase interacting in some way with a physical element, is known as a "process." A process can be a new method of manufacturing a recognized product or can even be a new use for a recognized product. Board video games are typically protected as a method.

D) Composition of matter: typically chemical compositions such as pharmaceuticals, mixtures, or compounds such as soap, concrete, paint, plastic, and the like can be patented as "compositions of matter." Food items and recipes are frequently protected in this manner.

A style patent protects the "ornamental visual appeal" of an object, rather than its "utility" or perform, which is protected by a utility patent. In other phrases, if the invention is a beneficial object that has a novel form or total look, a design patent may possibly supply the acceptable safety. To keep away from infringement, a copier would have to make a model that does not search "substantially related to the ordinary observer." They can not copy the form and total appearance with out infringing the design patent.

A provisional patent application is a phase toward getting a utility patent, where the invention may not yet be prepared to get a utility patent. In other words, if it seems as although the invention cannot yet get a utility patent, the provisional application might be filed in the Patent Office to create the inventor's priority to the invention. As the inventor continues to produce the invention and make additional developments which permit a utility patent to be obtained, then the inventor can "convert" the provisional application to a complete utility application. This later on application is "given credit" for the date when the provisional application was 1st filed.

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Famous Art Facts: Mona Lisa.

While some claim that Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting is a self-portrait of the artist himself dressed as a woman, research has concluded it is likely a portrait of a woman named Lisa Gherardini, a member of a prominent Florentine family and wife of a wealthy silk merchant. Leonardo’s father allegedly knew Gherardini’s father very well, and the painting was possibly commissioned by him. The Mona Lisa was painted between 1503 and 1506, although some think that da Vinci continued to work on it until 1517. Da Vinci started the painting in Italy, and he finished it in France. The Mona Lisa is on display at the famous Louvre museum in Paris in a climate-controlled room with bullet-proof glass.

Nimbus Frames allow you to choose digital art from thousands of artists and art collections around the world, as well as upload your own digital art and photographs. The Nimbus Frame is a large wall-mounted WiFi digital art frame.


Dialogue between the sun and the moon

I am all absent femininity, left behind on ancient shores, says the night.
Night opens its immense ass, where the forgotten day will bury itself.
THE SUN: the day.
THE MOON: the night, devouress...
THE SUN: a day passes...
THE MOON: night dwells.


Prohormone & Supplement Ingredients:

17beta-Hydroxyestr-4-en-3-one 17-decanoate

Best as I can determine, 17beta-Hydroxyestr-4-en-3-one 17-decanoate is AKA 19-Nortestoterone decanoate, AKA 19-nortestosterone, AKA Nandrolone decanoate, AKA Deca.

The positive effects of the drug include muscle growth, appetite stimulation and increased red blood cell production and bone density.

Because nandrolone is not broken down into DHT, occurence of common sides such as hair loss, oily skin and acne are lessened to a degree. The lack of alkylation on the 17a-carbon drastically reduces the liver toxicity.

Estrogenic effects resulting from reaction with aromatase are also reduces due to lessened enzyme interaction, but effects such as gynaecomastia and reduced libido still occur in larger doses.

Deca is 19-nor-testosterone with an decanoate ester, or phenylpropionate ester. Decavol from AMS contains 19-nor-dhea, which can ultimately be converted into nandrolone AKA 19-nor-test minus the ester.
Supplements with this ingredient:
None (for now)

Links to additional information on 17beta-Hydroxyestr-4-en-3-one 17-decanoate

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only members can suggest new info links


Validating xslt

Lures XML simply defines a means for defining various types of lures that are offered on your Web site.First, you create an XML schema that defines what the XML document should look like, as in Listing 1.), not an integer.A person can verify if the documents adhere to a set conventions about how vehicle elements should be used.For example, a person can tell that the this XML instance is invalid: We know that a motorcycle typically has two wheels and doesn't have a sunroof.

validating xslt-31validating xslt-67

It was used to validate input data in Render X XEP versions 1 and 2.The result is a previously un-typed XML sub-tree in the Xml Document replaced with a typed sub-tree.The following are important notes to consider when using the method.If you point at one of these icons with your mouse, the error is desribed in a popup window: If you would like to see how works, but don't have an XML file to use for testing, you can use this example. November 22, 2000 Chimezie Ogbuji Schematron is an XML schema language, and it can be used to validate XML.


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Conference Presentations

Conference Presentations

The 34th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology

Correlation between measure of pigmentation and water content in epidermis

Saori Narikiyo, Akihiro Aioi
Laboratories for Bioscience, Septem Soken Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan
Yoko Kawanishi, Keiji Takano
DRC CO., LTD., Osaka, Japan
Kanoko Honma
R&D Laboratory, Septem Soken Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan
Howard Maibach
Department of Dermatology, UCSF, San Francisco, USA

< Abstract >

Brightening or whitening is the most required effect of skin care products, because freckle ranks among the common problems for women. However, we had a basic question why freckle remains for years without changing shape. To explore this, we measured bio-parameters and examine the skin characteristic of freckle.
Bio-parameters were measured in 26 healthy female volunteers (32-47 years old, mean age 39.5 years). Bio-parameters were measured seasonally from July 2008 to April 2009. ⊿Value was calculated by the following formula.

⊿value = value (freckle) - value (adjacent skin)
There were significant differences in L* value (L*) and melanin index (M), but not in capacitance (W) between freckle and adjacent skin.
⊿L* in summer was significantly smaller than other seasons, and showed a significant correlation with ⊿W. On the other hand, ⊿M was unaffected by seasons, correlating inversely with ⊿W through the experimental period.
Freckle is characterized by impaired water holding property compared to the adjacent skin.

This effect is not clear why freckle remains for years without changing shape. Nevertheless moisturizing reagents can be useful for anti-freckle skin care as well as whitening reagents.

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Voices from Accenture Public Service

Artificial Intelligence promises to change the world – yet the current implementations are substantially constrained and still a long way from replicating human intelligence. How can we make the best use of the technology?

AI is good at somethings – but currently very poor at others. I characterize current AI as being good at making constrained atomic decisions based on extended learning. What this means in practice is that AI is good at things like language translation – it can take a sentence and generally convert it with reasonable accuracy. It is extremely poor though at writing books or poetry. Similarly, it is able to make medical diagnosis based on a collection of evidence, yet I would not be able to talk to the AI about treatment plans or managing my disease.

The nature of AI means it will continue to dominate in the space of constrained atomic decisions – these are short term and relatively straightforward (atomic), constrained (within a specific domain) and learned (where we have volumes of both input and output data to train the AI).

At this point AI can’t explain its own decisions. Training AI is an art where the analyst needs to define the right abstractions at each layer of the deep learning model, and also prune out anomalies where the AI can be over-trained to the input data and fails to work well with new inputs. The analyst can’t always explain why the AI made a particular decision – the training is far too complex and specifically avoids logical induction in favor of data driven decisions. In most cases we as humans expect logical induction/deduction to explain something.

AI is an attempt to replicate human thought – and there are some specific considerations that mean this is much more challenging. Firstly, our brains are much more complex than any deep learning AI – we have many more neurons and it will be at least 20 years before we could get close to matching our brain neuron capacity. Secondly, the structure in our brains is still poorly understood – we have only just discovered extended neural links that connect across various parts of our brains in ways we did not know a few years ago. Thirdly, it is hypothesized that our brains may actually work on a quantum level – meaning that any neural simulation model will always come up short.

Interestingly our own brains work to ‘logically justify’ decisions even when those decisions are clearly influenced or not based on inductive or deductive logic. This self-actualization may be unique to humans and our own self-awareness and consciousness, but it appears that the explainability of our decisions is foundational to our psyche.

AI is set to change our world enormously – yet we are not ready to embrace and govern this change in society. AI is open to abuse and bias that we may not understand until it’s too late and does significant damage. We clearly need to embrace this innovation – but need to make sure we put in the controls to protect us.

See this post on LinkedIn: Do we really understand artificial intelligence?

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Blower Door Testing

Blower door testing is a way to test the "leakiness" of your home. By depressurizing your home and measuring the rate at which air infiltrates through imperfections in the building envelope, we're able to assess how much energy (and money) is escaping through air leaks, and how much you're likely to save by fixing those leaks.

As part of this process, we will inspect the house with a smoke stick to pinpoint potentially hidden air leaks (making it much easier to address them when the time comes to get to work). We also offer blower door testing as an isolated service to test the effectiveness of improvements that have been made to a home, and to provide homeowners and contractors with a roadmap to further improve a home's efficiency moving forward.

In addition to being a critical component of a whole house energy audit, blower door testing is required for many green building and energy efficient building standards nationwide.

For more information about blower door testing, or to schedule a free phone consultation today, contact us here!


Taizhou Kaiji Plastic Mould Co.,ltd

Home > News > Content
Pipe Fitting Mould In The Industrial Development Of The Status Of Growth
- Oct 09, 2017 -

Pipe mold processing generally need to go through the processing of CNC milling, EDM,Pipe Fitting Mould wire cutting, carving, drilling, grinding machines, etc., according to the requirements of the mold processing process are not the same, some customers have special requirements on the surface of the product We have to consider which process will meet the requirements of customers, but basically the domestic mold are almost, in addition to the national standard is the enterprise standard, the national standard mold are fixed specifications in accordance with national standards to do, and the enterprise standard is not the same, This is entirely based on the needs of customers to develop, and some customers in order to save costs to consider these! Many types of pipe fittings, Pipe Fitting Mould such as the material to the sub-there are many types of each category can be subdivided a lot of specifications.

The mold forming process, the mold structure and the production process of the pipe mold are analyzed. To ensure that the die mold life of up to 50 million times; must design a complete mold structure and processing parts, and put forward the assembly requirements and injection molding process requirements; Pipe Fitting Mould resulting in plastic parts appearance quality defects (such as shrinkage) or mold structure problems (such as sub-surface settings , Gate settings, die life can not be guaranteed and so on).

1, pipe mold appearance: pipe mold mold appearance must ensure that no rust, no collision marks, no residual defects and other modules defects;

2, pipe mold transport: mold transport must be installed on the mold, packaging, solid, rust;

3, pipe mold material: in the mold delivery at the same time, Pipe Fitting Mould must provide a set of mold wearing parts and maintenance reference material.

Pipe mold to drive the proportion of its related wealth is about 100, that is, die mold growth of 100 million yuan, can bring the relevant wealth of 10 billion yuan. Selection of the scale of the mold point is: to determine the combination of mold form to determine the cavity wall thickness of the cavity model Zhou Honggou template perimeter to determine the thickness of the template to choose the size of the mold frame honing the suitability of the selected mold. Some plastic parts because of the shape and plastic varieties and other factors need to use a high injection pressure to proceed as a result of this selection of injection needle injection pressure must be larger than the need for forming the injection pressure: that should be satisfied with the following formula p Note = to make. Pipe Fitting Mould The main business scale is as follows:. p  Note  ---- the choice of the injection machine of the largest injection pressure  kg / cm ?? ⊕. Note . Unitized design. The The 1 plastic parts of the forming process analysis of plastic parts name: product material: abs (impact) plastic parts quality :. According to other classification. Engaged in stamping, plastic molding equipment operation and maintenance work; .. 6 sample honors statement. Pipe Fitting Mould The 5 sample honing application form. Three craft comparison. 90: What is the relationship between plate thickness and rivet diameter? A: single row and double row overlap when the rivet diameter to take twice the thickness; single row and double row double cover plate when connected, the rivets diameter to take.


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Diet ABC...a New Year's resolution?
January 2, 2010
11:52 am

As I was both fat and somebody who specialised for many years in British psychiatry, I decided one day to use my knowledge of the human psyche to help myself get slim. I soon realised, that the main two obstacles in keeping a fat person’s weight down were, on one hand, the horrible sensation of hunger and on the other hand, the understandable rebellion against the lack of freedom to eat anything edible and available, but fattening, when one is on a diet. The average fat person tends to think along the lines of “I’d rather be fat but happy , than thin and miserable” or “why should everybody at this lavish party enjoy every food they lay their eyes on and here I am, practically ostracised, being forbidden to have any of the fattening, but otherwise very tasty stuff on display?”
The solution became obvious: a diet that helps you slim, but without feeling hungry and without any forbidden foods associated to it.
I thought to myself, having received the basic training in food hygiene and dietetics during my medical training, that one should not feel hungry if one were to be allowed to eat plenty of ABC food, which is inherently low in calories. Cutting a long story short, A stands for apples or any fruits, B stands for beans or any vegetables and C for chicken or any lean meat. It goes without saying that I mean fresh fruits, not fruits in syrup or fruits in marmalades or jams. Amongst the vegetables section I mean lettuce, mushrooms, cabbage, radishes, peas, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers or gherkins, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels’ sprouts, asparagus, onions, carrots and of course beans, both green or baked, but surely not chips, i.e. French fries, because of the fat they are soaking up, let alone the carbohydrate content! Lean meat, in my dictionary, means chicken without the skin, any beef, pork or lamb, but without the fat bits, plenty of fish, but obviously not fish covered in batter, as in the typical fish&chips shops. Funnily enough, I managed to order recently some lean oven-cooked fish, rather than fish in batter, from a local take-away fish&chips shop! With pork one has to be careful, as even removing the obvious fatty bits, the meat will still have a high fat content.
Here comes a funny story about beans. I realised a while back that baked beans are ideal for slimming purposes as they are relatively low in calories and cause some (infamous) bloating which relieves the sensation of hunger quicker than other meals. I officially contacted Heinz at the time, arguably the most famous brand commercialising baked beans and explained to them that I have some bright ideas how to increase their sales, bearing in mind the usefulness of beans in dietary schemes, but Heinz responded, foolishly in my opinion, that they were simply not interested in my proposals, even before trying to find out the details. This is simply akin to a scenario I quoted in the past a few times before; say you walk on the pavement, having just had a lovely ice-cream as dessert, and some stranger offers you another one, for free. You politely refuse, but the stranger will wonder forever, how come somebody refused a free lovely ice-cream? In other words, either Heinz is satisfied with their sales figures as they are, or maybe they did not trust me to come with a clever enough idea to increase them…but who gives a monkeys?
And finally, here comes the “Law of One”:
You can have any of the traditionally “forbidden food”, such as butter, sugar, cream, cheese, eggs, chocolate, cake, ice-cream, bread, pasta, pizza, etc. , as long as you have it only as a one-off, small sized helping.
If you are very strict with the “Law of One”, you will lose approximately 2 pounds per week in weight, but should you be less strict, you will still lose approximately 2 pounds per month, without feeling hungry or feeling ostracised for having no access to “forbidden fattening food”. Alcohol is allowed, in moderation and exercise is, of course, encouraged, although my own experience is that dieting is much more efficient when it comes to slimming, compared to exercising.
I am living proof that this ABC diet does indeed work, so may I wish you all best of luck with it, should you be as unlucky as to need to go on a diet in the first place…

© Copyright Claudiu Dragos Carmaciu 2010

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Knowing is half the battle.  ZeroFoodprint empowers chefs and restaurants by helping them understand the climate impact of various products, equipment, and methods.

ZeroFoodprint works with restaurants to help them drive down their foodprint by taking actions on operational efficiency, ingredients, and carbon offsets.

We continually study the links between food and climate change, and freely distribute our findings, in order to arm the restaurant industry and diners with the best possible information.

ZeroFoodprint Restaurants

ZeroFoodprint works with restaurants all over the world that are committed to fighting climate change. Here are the restaurants that have made the commitment to being ZeroFoodprint:

noma, Copenhagen

Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco

benu, San Francisco

Pistola y Corazón, Lisbon

Monsieur Benjamin, San Francisco

in situ, San Francisco

Amass, Copenhagen

The Perennial, San Francisco

Lord Stanley, San Francisco

flour + water, San Francisco

Metta, Brooklyn

SHED, Healdsburg

State Bird Provisions, San Francisco

The Progress, San Francisco

Fine and Rare, San Francisco

Metal + Match, San Francisco

2018 Earth Day Participants

This list will be updated as our campaign continues! Click here to add your restaurant to the list.

What's the Value of a Carbon Neutral Meal?

Zero Foodprint restaurants have pledged to be carbon neutral every day. Together, we're creating a sustainable restaurant movement, but we need your input:

As a diner, how much more would you be willing to pay for a carbon-neutral meal?


Valuation Score Card in Review for Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM)

The ROIC Quality of Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM) is 2.245274.  This is calculated by dividing the five year average ROIC by the Standard Deviation of the 5 year ROIC.  The ROIC 5 year average is calculated using the five year average EBIT, five year average (net working capital and net fixed assets). The ROIC is calculated by dividing the net operating profit (or EBIT) by the employed capital.  The employed capital is calculated by subrating current liabilities from total assets.  The Return on Invested Capital is a ratio that determines whether a company is profitable or not.  It tells investors how well a company is turning their capital into profits.

Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM) has a Price to Book ratio of 2.001489. This ratio is calculated by dividing the current share price by the book value per share. Investors may use Price to Book to display how the market portrays the value of a stock. Checking in on some other ratios, the company has a Price to Cash Flow ratio of 12.05588, and a current Price to Earnings ratio of 77.20113. The P/E ratio is one of the most common ratios used for figuring out whether a company is overvalued or undervalued.

Watching some historical volatility numbers on shares of Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM), we can see that the 12 month volatility is presently 52.6173. The 6 month volatility is 49.7268, and the 3 month is spotted at 62.7127. Following volatility data can help measure how much the stock price has fluctuated over the specified time period. Although past volatility action may help project future stock volatility, it may also be vastly different when taking into account other factors that may be driving price action during the measured time period.

Price Index
We can now take a quick look at some historical stock price index data. Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM) presently has a 10 month price index of 1.08031. The price index is calculated by dividing the current share price by the share price ten months ago. A ratio over one indicates an increase in share price over the period. A ratio lower than one shows that the price has decreased over that time period. Looking at some alternate time periods, the 12 month price index is 1.14954, the 24 month is 1.154, and the 36 month is 0.91785. Narrowing in a bit closer, the 5 month price index is 0.77557, the 3 month is 0.72112, and the 1 month is currently 0.71655.

The Gross Margin Score is calculated by looking at the Gross Margin and the overall stability of the company over the course of 8 years. The score is a number between one and one hundred (1 being best and 100 being the worst). The Gross Margin Score of Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM) is 30. The more stable the company, the lower the score. If a company is less stable over the course of time, they will have a higher score.

The MF Rank (aka the Magic Formula) is a formula that pinpoints a valuable company trading at a good price.  The formula is calculated by looking at companies that have a high earnings yield as well as a high return on invested capital.  The MF Rank of Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM) is 9706.  A company with a low rank is considered a good company to invest in.  The Magic Formula was introduced in a book written by Joel Greenblatt, entitled, “The Little Book that Beats the Market”.

The Shareholder Yield is a way that investors can see how much money shareholders are receiving from a company through a combination of dividends, share repurchases and debt reduction.  The Shareholder Yield of Ferroglobe PLC (NasdaqGS:GSM) is 0.028483.  This percentage is calculated by adding the dividend yield plus the percentage of shares repurchased.  Dividends are a common way that companies distribute cash to their shareholders.  Similarly, cash repurchases and a reduction of debt can increase the shareholder value, too.  Another way to determine the effectiveness of a company’s distributions is by looking at the Shareholder yield (Mebane Faber).  The Shareholder Yield (Mebane Faber) of Ferroglobe PLC NasdaqGS:GSM is 0.07001.  This number is calculated by looking at the sum of the dividend yield plus percentage of sales repurchased and net debt repaid yield.


 Maternity – CRS Photography

Maternity sessions are more suitable, but not limited to, women in the third trimester of pregnancy, unless you’re looking for multiple shoots throughout the pregnancy to show time progression. These sessions can be held either in a studio or in an outdoor location of your choice. However, being outdoors gives us the freedom and space to achieve more creative outcomes.  Also, you don't have to come alone. Feel welcome to bring along a few people, such as family, other children, or friends that you want to share this unique experience with. A discount will be offered if you book a newborn shoot at the same time.

If you have any specific requests for the shoot, we can discuss them beforehand. A consultation meeting will be offered if you want to discuss anything. I will create an action plan before the day and will be ready and prepared with lots of creative ideas for when you arrive. If you have chosen your own location, I will visit beforehand to scope out potential areas where we can get better photos. This would be where the lighting is the best and the scenery looks the most attractive. No matter what the weather, I will still be fully prepared. Even if it's a rainy day, we can get creative and use it to our advantage.

To really get the best end result possible, I will use multiple digital editing techniques to enhance all of the photographs I take. This can include adding certain elements to create effects that you can't achieve in reality. I will also make colours more vibrant and highlight specific parts of an image to make it stand out. The final images will be presented to you digitally on either a disc or a USB stick, depending on which you would prefer. I can print your favourites at an extra cost.


There are currently no known treatment options that actually halt or permanently reverse the pathology evident in any neurodegenerative condition. Arguably, one of the most promising avenues for creating viable neuronal treatments could involve the combined use of cell replacement and gene therapy. Given the complexity of the neurodegenerative process, it stands to reason that adequate therapy should involve not only the replacement of loss neurons/synapses but also the interruption of multiple pro-death pathways. Thus, we propose the use of stem cells that are tailored to express specific trophic factors, thereby potentially encouraging synergistic effects between the stem cell properties and those of the trophic factors. The trophic factors, brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), glial cell-derived neurotropic factor (GDNF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 2, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1, in particular, have demonstrated neuroprotective actions in a number of animal models. Importantly, we use a nonviral approach, thereby minimizing the potential risk for DNA integration and tumor formation. The present study involved the development of a nonviral reprogramming system to transform adult mature mouse fibroblasts into progressive stages of cell development. We also tailored these stem cells to individually express each of the trophic factors, including BDNF, GDNF, FGF2, and IGF1. Significantly, central infusion of BDNF-expressing stem cells prevented the in vivo loss of neurons associated with infusion of the endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This is particularly important in light of the role of inflammatory processes that are posited to play in virtually all neurodegenerative states. Hence, the present results support the utility of using combined gene and cell-targeting approaches for neuronal pathology.

Additional Metadata
Keywords Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), Endotoxin, Fibroblast, Neurodegeneration, Stem cells
Persistent URL
Journal Molecular Neurobiology
Liu, G, Anisman, H, Bobyn, J., & Hayley, S. (2014). Interaction Between Nonviral Reprogrammed Fibroblast Stem Cells and Trophic Factors for Brain Repair. Molecular Neurobiology, 50(2), 673–684. doi:10.1007/s12035-014-8680-2


Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

imageWritten as one long letter to his son, Between the World and Me is an elegant, powerful, necessary examination of race in modern America.  By weaving together his own experiences growing up in Baltimore with history and theory, Coates examines what it means to live within a black body and the confines of a society built on inequality.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an American educator; journalist; and the author of Asphalt Sketches, The Beautiful Struggle, and Between the World and Me.  Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he now lives in New York.  In 2015, he was awarded the MacArthur “Genius Grant.”

Published:  2015
Length:  152 pages
Set in:  Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Book Depository


When Editors Eat Robots

One way of looking at the political economy of publishing is to look at the labor economics and there’s a rather useful new study from everyone’s favorite consulting firm McKinsey on workplace automation (“The Four Fundamentals of Workplace Automation“) from which we might glean some useful perspective on the future of editing.

Capabilities such as creativity and sensing emotions are core to the human experience and also difficult to automate. The amount of time that workers spend on activities requiring these capabilities, though, appears to be surprisingly low. Just 4 percent of the work activities across the US economy require creativity at a median human level of performance. Similarly, only 29 percent of work activities require a median human level of performance in sensing emotion.

While these findings might be lamented as reflecting the impoverished nature of our work lives, they also suggest the potential to generate a greater amount of meaningful work. This could occur as automation replaces more routine or repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus more on tasks that utilize creativity and emotion. Financial advisors, for example, might spend less time analyzing clients’ financial situations, and more time understanding their needs and explaining creative options. Interior designers could spend less time taking measurements, developing illustrations, and ordering materials, and more time developing innovative design concepts based on clients’ desires.

And, you know, editors might edit. Actually, though, no, I’m not going to go down the irritating “do-they, don’t-they” of whether editors these days edit or not. (I suspect the answer is, they edited less in the past than it is made out to be, and edit more in the present than is made out to be.) However it is true that many editors have been laid off in the past twenty years and shifted to freelance mode, and it may be that that was the most self-defeating move the industry made in the past twenty years. Because the least automatable bit of the entire publishing supply chain is the editor-as-shrink bit. You attend any self-publishing conference and you don’t hear any shit get talked about their editors, no, the shit-talking is reserved for the marketing and business side.

Further to this, you might enjoy Porter Anderson’s account of a talk I gave in 2014 in Stockholm. (Slides here. Quotes courtesy of Porter’s prodigious ability to live tweet a talk.)

“I changed my title five seconds ago from ‘Editors Beat Robots’ to ‘Editors Eat Robots,’ partially because I don’t believe in neat oppositions of editor versus robot, book versus transmedia, print versus digital. I believe in hybridization, which happens when things get combined. In a certain sense, I could say, ‘Editors Fuck Robots,’ and not in the aggressive sense but in the reproductive sense. What happens when editors combine themselves with robots?”

What is key though is that the business model would need to evolve, away from hit-picking, towards talent support.

“When you understand editing as a service, as opposed to a process of picking products that may or may not sell, your value is defined by how good you are rather than how lucky you are. Which suggests that editors, when they eat robots, when they use tools, when they use data, when they embrace a post-industrial mode, can be the entities that are attracting the value.”

Or, you might say, editors beat publishers.


Generation Standstill

The war in Syria forced millions of civilians to flee their homes. Many of them crossed the border into Lebanon. But even though they are out of the war zone, they have to fight for their lives more than ever. They often live in unsafe accommodations, they have limited access to medicine and their children have to be their families’ main breadwinners. Now all they dream of is returning to their homeland.

Watch “Generation Standstill” on the RTD website and on RT’s live feed. The time of the broadcast is available on RT’s schedule page.


Maximising Production from each Season

The long-term operational strategy for a livestock enterprise should be well defined for each year however, as the season progresses often a range opportunities and challenges are presented which require some change to the original plans. These changes can help mitigate risks, as well as capitalising on opportunities that are presented. Given the current seasonal conditions there are several opportunities and challenges that should be considered.

Assessing what opportunities and challenges may exist in terms of pasture production is one of the most important aspects to consider as it impacts on profitability this year and potentially next year if it is not managed correctly. There are a myriad of pasture and feeding options that can be considered at any one point and to assess the value of each requires a clear understanding of how each option can fit within your enterprise.

We are often keen to explore new pastures or grazing crop options that produce large amounts of feed, however we must ensure that the timing of the feed production is appropriate. For example, considering many traditional forage brassica varieties for autumn lambing flocks seeking feed options for winter and early spring should not be high on the agenda, as whilst they can produce a huge amount of feed they are typically best suited to spring and summer production. Additionally, it is important to consider where many of these pastures are best suited geographically. South Australia has winter dominant rainfall pattern and many pastures originating or promoted from central or northern areas of Australia will struggle to produce the amount of feed suggested in this environment.

Most areas of South Australia have experienced above average rainfall for 2017 allowing a good profile of soil moisture compared to many other seasons. However, medium term forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology are indicating a warm dry winter. Given the current seasonal conditions utilising sown cereals, even with the addition of vetch for improved feed quality could be a great way to boost feed production as they will grow early and utilise the current moisture available. It is critical to convert moisture to feed at every opportunity. Sown feeds that are conserved throughout winter can also provide a valuable feed resource for young stock later in the season, even as a standing crop in summer.

To identify the amount or area of feed required for different classes of stock requires a feed budget. Feed budgeting is a proactive tool that can allow you to forward plan feed resources and have confidence that stock numbers and estimated feed availability align properly. It can also allow you to compare different scenarios depending on the seasonal forecast, for example whether stock numbers should be increased or reduced, whether to reallocate the current area of crop or whether an opportunity exists to trade stock. For many producers conducting feed budgets earlier this year was the trigger to confidently put ewes into containment and conserve paddock feed for grazing now.

To capitalise on the best opportunities and manage challenges in our system requires a good understanding of our enterprise demands and what value a change will provide. Most importantly, we must also have a system in place for measuring the performance of the enterprise to review and learn from the decisions made.

Details: Hamish Dickson, Livestock Consultant, AgriPartner Consulting. P: 0427 446 499, E:


Transparent pushing barriers for Amazon

Lifestyle Editor

Socially progressive shows like Girls and Orange is the New Black are dominating the networks and awards shows alike, but Transparent, an Amazon original series, is quickly surpassing them all.

The cast and crew of this unique show have proven they have the skill and prowess to make it in this fast-paced digital-viewing era with only one season (10 episodes) under their belts.

Transparent takes place in modern-day Los Angeles with some minor flashbacks. The show focuses on a family of three children and two divorced parents. This may sound incredibly dull and overdone—something one would expect to see running on some off-brand network with a weak and repetitive storyline.

However, Transparent is apparently immune to the potential to be just another show about families.

The children are 20-somethings attempting to live life in the best way they know how when their world is quickly rocked by a dramatic and rapid change. Cue the dramatic plotline.

This particular plotline, however, evades the repetitive themes seen throughout many television shows today.

This show centers on the patriarch of the family coming out as a transgender woman, hence the name Transparent.

Transparent is the first show centered on transgender issues. It is a foreign topic for most viewers and can be difficult for some to understand. The show portrays the experiences of trans individuals in an honest way.

The minds behind the show have included a unique element to ensure the story is told in the most accurate way possible.

Transparent creators hired Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst, two young trans artists, to serve as consultants behind the scenes.

The inclusion of these two individuals ensures the honesty of the show.

They provide a voice and information to keep the show as honest in its storytelling as possible. They provide authentic knowledge of transgender issues and struggles.

Transparent is beyond any show I have seen, largely due to its sincerity. Yes, Girls and its portrayal of the various types of white women is honest, graphic, moving and entertaining. Yes, Orange is the New Black is phenomenal in its ability to tell diverse stories with intertwining tragic and comedic performances.

The element that makes Transparent stand out is the truth within its characters.

Storytelling with characters is often redundant. I do not mean the same characters exist throughout television, but development can be painstakingly unnoticeable in various shows.

If I hate someone in the first season, odds are I will hate them at the end. This is largely due to the fact that the characters stay the same throughout the series.

I hated the children in Transparent. All three of the 20-somethings are loathsome in the early episodes.

However, I do not hate them anymore.

The development lets viewers understand characters as complex human beings. It allows people to see the characters in the same way they would see their friends.

I love my friends dearly, but I will combust if they smack their gum even slightly in my vicinity. They show traits I admire and some that drive me moderately crazy, but they are my friends and I love them despite those things.

The ability to relate to characters is determined by how they are presented. Transparent allows the characters to evolve into three-dimensional human beings.

The show has appeared at a crucial time for society. It is a TV show that has established itself as a force to be reckoned with through its brutal honesty and ability to keep the viewer’s eyes glued to the screen.

Transparent is a good bet for binge-watching and has the potential to open viewers’ eyes. Transparent made waves, winning two awards at the Golden Globes, but no number of awards could explain this show’s impact. Only watching can do that.


The secret of the birth of the fiery crown of the Sun is revealed

The Sun’s crown warms up to ultra-high temperatures not only due to large flares and plasma emissions, but also due to the birth of millions of nanoscale invisible to us, astronomers state in an article published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“We were able to fix the birth of hot plasma at those points in the atmosphere of the sun where there are no spots and where the luminary remains calm.” In the future, we hope, we will be able to make longer observations and understand what proportion of the corona heating falls on such nanosplashki, write Juliana Vivering (Juliana Vievering) from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (USA) and her colleagues.

The sun is a ball of red-hot plasma, the upper layers of which are constantly mixed, which in combination with the high electrical conductivity of the solar plasma creates a strong magnetic field. Lines of the magnetic field often go beyond the denser layers of the Sun, and this leads to the appearance of spots and powerful coronal emissions, potentially capable of destroying civilization and all life on Earth.

The high temperature of the corona, the uppermost layer of the solar atmosphere, is still a mystery to astrophysicists. The underlying layers of the Sun, the chromosphere and the photosphere, are heated to a temperature of 6-10 thousand degrees Kelvin. In the boundary layer between the corona and the photosphere several kilometers thick, this temperature increases sharply – hundreds of thousands of times, reaching about one million degrees Kelvin.

A full explanation of this phenomenon, in whose existence scientists do not even doubt, does not exist yet. Many astronomers believe that the atmosphere of the Sun is heated up by powerful plasma outbursts and flares that periodically occur on its surface, but unequivocal evidence of this has not been found.

Vivering and her colleagues found the first “material” hints that it was not so, studying the data collected by the unique X-ray telescope FOXSI, designed to observe the activity of the Sun in the x-ray range. In fact, it is a “ground” analog of one of the tools of the Japanese orbital telescope Hitomi, which exploded in March last year.

The atmosphere of the Earth prevents such observations of the luminary and other stars, so American and Japanese scientists are forced to launch this device in its upper layers on special rockets that allow FOXSI to conduct research for several tens of minutes before the telescope begins to return to the atmosphere .

These short observations, as Vivering tells us, were enough to understand in which regions of the sun there are outbursts of hard X-rays that indicate the beginning of the warming up of its crown, and compare them with the location of large flares, followed by the satellites of ESA and NASA.

As it turned out, most of the foci of the most high-energy X-ray bursts were not in the vicinity of sunspots and recent outcrops of coronal matter, but in “quiet” regions of the sun, which do not show visible activity. As scientists suppose, in these corners of the Sun there are original nanospyshki, invisible to our eyes and instruments of probes, but at the same time warming up the crown to a temperature of tens of millions of degrees Kelvin.
Meanwhile, the stains themselves produce much less rigid X-rays than quiet regions of the Sun, that is, they quite weakly warm up the crown of the star. All this, according to the researchers, indicates that nanospisks, and not the powerful outbursts of coronal matter, are the main mechanism for heating the solar atmosphere.

Interestingly, a similar idea has already been presented by Russian astrophysicists who studied data on weak flares collected using the first Russian solar probe “Coronas-Photon.” They found that a large number of these flashbulbs are enough to fully explain the anomalously high temperatures of the solar corona even if large flares do not occur at all.


Beyond Bulls & Bears

Europe’s Main Event: Economics vs. Politics

European equities have been in the tank for years, as the region has struggled with lackluster growth since the 2007-2008 financial crisis. But just as it appears that European stocks may be poised to benefit from higher global economic growth levels and an uptick in earnings, potential fallout from national elections—both in the region and from abroad—may impact their progress. Here, Philippe Brugere-Trelat, executive vice president and portfolio manager, Franklin Mutual Series, discusses the competing forces at work in likely determining how the European economy and its equities fare this year.

This post is also available in: French German

After a tumultuous 2016, European equities may be in for a relatively smoother ride in 2017. Economically speaking, the outlook for Europe is improving, in my view, and the most recent data shows economic confidence is at its highest level since 2011.1

As 2017 unfolds, I believe European equities may benefit from two factors. First, the recent acceleration in global economic growth will likely increase demand for Europe’s exports. Exports comprise about 27% of the eurozone’s gross domestic product,2 and that percentage is even higher for Germany.

The second factor, which is likely a consequence of the first, is the inflection point we have seen in European corporate earnings. Corporate profits in Europe have risen since their trough in July 2016, and for the first time in several years, on a year-on-year basis, earnings growth has risen above zero. European earnings had languished for years because, by and large, European companies have been price-takers (companies that have little influence on the prices they charge) rather than price-setters, and were hampered by concerns about deflation and anemic economic growth in the region. With the pick-up in global economic growth, we are even seeing some signs of inflation, which should have a positive impact on pricing and, by extension, on European companies’ margins.

Political Uncertainties

Although the economic picture appears brighter, the political outlook has become cloudier. First, there’s the fallout from the United Kingdom’s vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union (EU). Since the vote took place, the United Kingdom has been in a kind of suspended animation, and very little has happened, although behind-the-scenes positioning has taken place between the United Kingdom and the EU regarding how to pursue future negotiations.

Even if the plans to implement “Brexit” start in March, as indicated by UK Prime Minister Theresa May, the process will likely be long and drawn out, which in and of itself generates uncertainty. The negotiations could become acrimonious, which may put the United Kingdom in a difficult situation. I believe the economic impact of a “hard Brexit” (where the United Kingdom gives up full access to the single market and the customs union with the EU), would be much harsher on the UK economy than on the EU’s, but it would not inspire confidence in the rest of Europe.

Second, it’s possible that national elections occurring this year may propel populist, anti-EU parties to power. I believe the prospect for that in France is limited, and even less so in Germany, but I would not say it does not exist.

On the other hand, a populist party may gain traction in the next Netherlands elections, although I doubt that it would get enough votes to form a majority government by itself. In Italy, we still do not know whether there will be an election this year, because the main objective of the current temporary government is to reform the electoral law so that the populist Five Star party cannot benefit from the law’s current form.

Looking across the Atlantic, it’s difficult to predict how US President Donald Trump’s policies will affect the world—and Europe in particular. Trump’s trade policy, for one, is not clear. At the moment, he seems to be focusing his attention on Mexico and China.

I believe the concerns Trump has regarding trade relations with Mexico and China would not apply to Europe. Europe is not a low-cost area in terms of wages or taxes (with the possible exception of Ireland, which is already in the crosshairs of the European Commission for lowering its corporate tax rates to attract US multinationals). So, in my view, the European economic structure offers no unfair advantages that would draw the ire of the new administration in Washington.

From a different angle, since the United States is the largest market for European—far larger one than China, contrary to popular belief—tensions that may arise from an aggressive Trump global trade policy could have a negative effect on Europe’s economy. However, I believe an important offset exists: Europe already has a very large economic presence in the United States in manufacturing and services, with most of the trade done by European companies through a US domestic platform.

Regarding an issue that I don’t believe is fully understood by many investors, the Trump administration also has proposed reforms that could transform the way US corporate taxes are calculated. If the ideas being floated become reality, the United States will install an entirely new tax system, which instead of taxing on the point of production will tax on the point of consumption (i.e., will tax US imports and not US exports). Simply put, domestic manufacturing and whatever is exported will be favored, while imports will be penalized. This change could have a significant impact on existing US trade relations with the rest of the world.

That said, I don’t believe we are going to have a trade war, simply because the US Congress would have to vote on any broad trade barriers; Trump cannot act unilaterally, but there could be some tension in Washington, DC.

Favoring Financials

Continuing on Trump’s policies, his call for less regulation and lower tax rates may benefit a sector that we have favored for quite a while: US banks. We at Mutual Series believe US banks have been successful in resolving most of the challenges that arose from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. The other side of the coin, however, is that US bank shares have generally become fairly valued. Although I wouldn’t jump into the sector with both feet at current price levels, I believe that if the economic growth expected under a Trump administration does occur, US bank stocks may still offer attractive upside growth opportunities.

We are, however, much more cautious about European banks. Many European banks have not fully addressed and resolved the issues that originated from the global financial crisis, which include a still relatively high level of nonperforming loans, inadequate capital ratios and dilutive fundraising operations. Additionally, European banks operate in a regulatory environment that is unlikely to be as lenient as the one expected in the United States, in our view. European banks also are still feeling the negative side effects of the European Central Bank’s protracted negative interest-rate policy.

Overall, we prefer insurance companies over banks at the moment because of their generally healthier capital structures, risk-management abilities and the fact that a large number of them have a restructuring story already underway.

Ultimately, when we say we favor a certain sector, we don’t necessarily like every company in that sector. We are stock pickers—bottom-up investors who seek companies that are trading at market prices that are below our assessment of their intrinsic value. Overall, despite potential political volatility and headlines, we maintain a positive view on Europe as 2017 begins. We are not raging bulls, but we are optimistic that the region has entered a phase of accelerating economic growth.

The comments, opinions and analyses are the personal views expressed by the investment manager and are intended to be for informational purposes and general interest only and should not be construed as individual investment advice or a recommendation or solicitation to buy, sell or hold any security or to adopt any investment strategy. It does not constitute legal or tax advice. The information provided in this material is rendered as at publication date and may change without notice and it is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market or investment.

Data from third-party sources may have been used in the preparation of this material and Franklin Templeton Investments (“FTI”) has not independently verified, validated or audited such data. FTI accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss arising from use of this information and reliance upon the comments, opinions and analyses in the material is at the sole discretion of the user. Products, services and information may not be available in all jurisdictions and are offered by FTI affiliates and/or their distributors as local laws and regulations permit. Please consult your own professional adviser for further information on availability of products and services in your jurisdiction.

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What Are the Risks?

All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Stock prices fluctuate, sometimes rapidly and dramatically, due to factors affecting individual companies, particular industries or sectors, or general market conditions. Value securities may not increase in price as anticipated or may decline further in value. Special risks are associated with foreign investing, including currency fluctuations, economic instability and political developments.

1. Source: European Commission, report dated January 6, 2017.

2. Source: European Central Bank, as of 2015.


Esanju Maseka

Short Biography

Esanju Maseka, a graduate in the field of economics, has a strong passion for development oriented work and is more focused on youth development. She has served as a volunteer youth worker since 2011, filling a variety of roles as different opportunities were presented to her.

Ms. Maseka has worked with The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award-Zambia, a non-formal education program focused on the self development of young people. Furthermore, she has been involved in social media advocacy with Ignite The Youth Africa and her most recent engagement involves serving as the Projects and Events Coordinator for the Commonwealth Youth Human Rights and Democracy Network. She adds, “What drives me is the desire to see other young people given a platform to reach their potential considering that the wealth of experiences I have had, are as a result of other people who believed in me.”

How do you motivate the youths living in developing world for the better future?

When you look at the developing world, motivating young people can often prove to be a challenge, depending on the particular context of young people you are dealing with. There are young people who have been displaced from their homes due to war, there are other young people who have access to limited amenities due to the rural nature of where they stay and then there are young people who have no reason to strive for anything because their parents provide them with everything. This provides an example of the different situations that can be found. I believe, at the end of the day, motivating young people is about helping them to see the bigger picture. Helping them see that their actions or inactions don’t only affect them, but the wider community around them and eventually their nations and the world at large.