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Stalking and Spamming in Lebanon’s Smartphone Age

You’re a driving on the highway calmly, focusing on the road and the barrage of cars trying to violate your vehicle’s space. You look around to the motorcycle trying to block you and you see a guy is driving. Coincidentally, you happen to be a girl. He looks at you intently. You cross eyes for a second and then look away.

You thought that was it.

The next day, your phone starts buzzing. You look down – an unknown number is calling. A slide to answer later and it’s a voice you definitely don’t recognize.
– Are you [insert name] and were you driving a [insert car color and brand] around [insert time] on the highway at [location]?
– Excuse me?
– I’m the guy who was driving the motorcycle next to you. Don’t you work at [insert job], your dad’s name is [insert name], are originally from [insert town]?
– What the hell?
– I’m a really nice guy who would like to keep talking to you. Do you mind?
– Of course I do!
– I am persistent…

You hang up. But it doesn’t stop there. Next thing you know, your phone is buzzing again. This time, it’s whatsapp. You open the app and immediately block the number. A few seconds later, the same number is calling you from viber. You end up deleting the app.

The above story is not fiction – it happened with a friend of mine recently. And she’s not a lone example.

Another friend of mine – who also happens to be a girl – had a similar scenario happen to her as well. She was lucky enough to have her father answer the call and gave the caller a piece of his mind.

I am certain those are not two standalone incidences. In the time and age of apps that allow strangers access to your private information with a few clicks, whose job is it to draw the limit?
The problem isn’t with apps such as Tru-caller and address book which outsource their data to their users who willingly share their entire address books with the companies. If you’re worried about your privacy because of such apps, simply don’t use them.

It’s about the other apps that require a source inside some governmental headquarters to fill them in with all the necessary information about license plates and user information.

Should we be also worried about out-of-nowhere stalkers now whenever we buy a new car?
“You get a free freak with each car purchase.” Perhaps ad companies should use that tagline as well?

Our spamming and stalking situation isn’t restricted to sexually-oppressed people. More often than not, I’m finding myself in whatsapp groups filled with numbers similar to mine whereby someone is advertising something. I exit the group, block the group creator and believe that’s the end of it.
But they keep coming back: be it those who text me to buy phone numbers that hold some resemblance to mine or the companies you don’t even know existed who text you about their new offers or even getting some notifications from certain banks you had never set foot in that a credit card was used on your account.

What account is it again that I have so much money in without knowing?

On top of it all, a lot of people I know – including yours truly – are receiving calls recently from either blocked numbers which could be Israelis (it happened before) or international numbers originating from Algeria, Mali or some other place in Africa and sometimes Europe we are more than positive we have no relation with.

I once answered one of those calls – static is all you hear before the call is dropped.

The truth is that the political debates surrounding your “private data” which are used quite often to rally the masses are becoming more and more meaningless since a lot of your data is not only available for security personnel to use but from random people on the street who can pull up your number and make your life a living hell if they want just by writing down your license plate number.
How are entities in Algeria getting our phone numbers and calling us often in the first place? And what is the governmental source of those apps that give strangers unlimited access to part of your information? And when will we have control over the spam text messages and calls we are getting in increasing numbers lately?

Perhaps in the time and age of smartphones and apps, some leeway regarding some aspect of your privacy is needed. But I’m certain the current situation in Lebanon is not acceptable.

Hold on, a +213 number is calling me.


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High school English, DIY-style

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My sister is now a 10th grade English teacher. Of all the people on the planet to end up as an English teacher, my sister is not high on the list of names I’d predict, for a few reasons:

  1. She hated school.
  2. She really hated English.
  3. She doesn’t read or write all that much.
  4. She really, really hated school.

However, there are a few reasons that I am also not surprised by this new career:

  1. When she sets a goal, she meets it.
  2. She’s one of those super annoying people who is good at everything, even on first attempts.
  3. She’s always been excellent with kids of all ages.

Now there are two of us literary types in the family. We came up with some fun ideas to decorate her classroom, including my contribution – the book map.

I would have totally geeked out over this map in high school. My book club geeked out over the idea and helped me come up with titles. It’s been an English geek fest! (For everyone except the students, anyway… they aren’t terribly impressed so far.) Unfortunately, some of the titles I’d chosen for stories in Central and South America, Canada and the Middle East didn’t print well, so there are holes in the map. Also I realized I’ve read a woeful lack of almost anything that takes place in the Orient. But these things can always be added, and suggestions are welcome!

For the other decor, my sister and mom channeled their inner Native Americans and used every last piece of the carcasses of murdered buffalo books to create window banners out of pages and a mobile out of spines. A few inspirational posters and writing guides, and the room is good to go. It’s not as decked out as some of the other teachers’, but I like its minimalism. It keeps the important things in focus – reading, writing and awesome maps!

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Community, Philosophy, Politics, World

Sermon in the hacienda

I decided to repost this article which I wrote in May 2010. It was also published in the Micah Mandate

“Mandate” is a powerful word, but it is also a popular word today. My best friend Joshua, who is reading theology at Trinity Theological College told me once that a mega-church in Singapore is “hot on cultural mandate”. And one of its pastors, when asked what did the church mean when talking about “cultural mandate”, said, it is “being relevant to culture by the casual clothes the pastors wear, the persona style they adopt, the contemporary worship songs” (Quoted from Joshua’s blog).

That’s one of the many forms of “mandate” we hear these days in churches.

But it took a trip to a distant country for me to hear a fresh perspective about “mandate”.

I was in the Philippines from May 6-15, as part of an international team of observers to the country’s 2010 Election. When I was there, I went to Pulupandan, a small town on the western coast of Negros Occidental, an hour’s flight from Manila. The township has a little more than 25000 people, a local leader told us that they were an ageing community. Most of the younger people either migrated to the capital or the more vibrant nearby city of Bacolod.

The election campaigning in Bacolod City was festive-like. There were three main teams, including the incumbents, vying for the mayoral and local government positions. The campaigning in Pulupandan was, however, quieter, and understandably so. But beyond the surface of peaceful calmness, there was a tortured silence. A local resident told me, silence did not always mean peaceful. It was a silence of being subdued, a silence of fear. Indeed when 80% of the land and most of the major industries in a small town of 25000 people belonged to the same family who was also holding much of the political power there, it was hard not to have images of powerful dictators compelling people to toe the line. Truth to be told, there were people who happily sing the praises of the incumbent government, although as one of my colleague from Australia observed, the compliments were almost scripted, repeated and repeated again by different people. But praises aside, the images of powerful dictators running the town are not too far from reality.

When I questioned him whether the family’s ownership of land and control of economy will affect voters’ liberty to vote for the opposition, the incumbent vice mayor asked me, “What will your boss do if you voted against him?” I think it’s safe to say that he took their votes for him as only reasonable.

There was one opponent who contested the incumbent mayor in the 2010 Election; he was a former mayor. But after he announced his candidacy in February, he was shot dead, while walking out of a church. His running mate, for vice mayor’s position was his sister, Gina. After her brother’s death, she persisted in the contest, against the incumbent vice mayor, who is the bro-in-law of the incumbent mayor, who had asked me earlier, “What will your boss do if you voted against him?”

I spoke to Gina, a bulky rugged dark-skinned woman. She looked more like a farmer of the sugar cane hacienda (”estate”) than a vice mayoral potential. When I was at Gina’s large-compound home in Pulupandan, there were more than a handful of villagers who took shelter in that place after they were being evicted from their homes, which stood on, the lands of the ruling family, who, I must say it again, owned 80% of Pulupandan. A Catholic priest who was actively advocating the rights of the squatters was reported to be incommunicado.

The evicted villagers were supporters and beneficiaries of Gina’s family, and they claimed that that was the reason why they were being disenfranchised. On election day, when we went to monitor the polling activities, some of them actually discovered that their names were struck off the voters’ list, with red pen and a note saying something about them not being allowed to vote “per court order”.

Our interview with Gina lasted about an hour or so, beginning with a brief chat with her sister-in-law, the wife of her late brother. Towards the end of the interview, I asked Gina, almost nonchalantly, “are you afraid?” It was quite a stupid question, given that her brother was murdered almost possibly for contesting (the case is still pending investigation though). But on one hand, I was intrigued by her persistence to continue the campaign – she even campaigned for her dead brother to be voted – and on the other hand, I was really curious whether she felt any fear at all.

“Are you afraid?”

And almost without warning, Gina looked straight into my eyes, her dark skin further darkened by the shades of dusk, and said to me:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to bring the good news to the poor,

to set the oppressed people free,

to declare the year of the Lord’s favour”.

I was unprepared for anything like that. I had expected something more, “political” or “human right-ish” at best. But this was too much for me, because like a pastor exegeting my favourite text, Gina brought Jesus’ words in Luke 4 to life. Biblical text yes, but where was the sermon? The biblical text was wrapped around the watchful eyes of peasants seeking shelter in Gina’s house, by the cheerful wife of the dead mayor, Gina’s sister-in-law, by Gina’s rugged determination to continue this war against terror and oppression. That was a breath-taking sermon, you bet.

I shuddered at the newly expounded meaning of “mandate” in Gina’s sermon. Have I been trivializing God’s charge to me and imagining grandeur in my own little vocation, when it was much much easier to be in my shoes than in Gina’s?

I do not want to romantize Gina’s struggle. There were bad things said about her family as well. Her late brother was accused of orchestrating an ambush against the incumbent mayor when the latter won in 2007 (the communist rebel army had since confessed that they were the mastermind, but the mayor still believe Gina’s brother was somehow involved). I do not want to romantize the evicted squatters and the poor, I know when one is poor, heroism, moral and values are the last thing in one’s mind.

But as the late Archbishop Oscar Romero said, the glory of god is in the living poor. God chose to identify with the “ugly of this world”, both in appearance – the poor have no silks on their back – and in cultivation – the ugliness of human nature is more prone to surface against the backdrop of poverty. It was never easy to go into the world of the “ugly”, much less to love the “ugly” and to restore their dignity. But in Gina’s sermon that day, she made it clear, it was not easy, but a mandate nonetheless.

Gina ended her sermon by saying, “this is not just a battle here, but a battle ‘up there’ as well, it is a spiritual fight and we need faith”. I wanted to shout “amen! and amen!” but for the fact that, alas, I was not in Church. It was a sermon in the hacienda.

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Real Housewives of New Jersey TERESA GIUDICE to Sell Marble Mansion

Teresa and her husband, Joe Giudice plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges last month. Since then, money has been tight as the Giudices have been ordered to pay the creditors they owe.

“Teresa has hardly any income coming in because of her guilty plea in the federal fraud and conspiracy case,” a source told Radar. “If it weren’t for the money she’s made from Real Housewives of New Jersey, she would be in serious financial trouble right now.”

“Her book sales have been very low, and Teresa hasn’t been offered any gigs for paid promotional appearances either,” the source continued. “It’s a foregone conclusion, Teresa absolutely will have to sell her beloved New Jersey mansion. She’s terrified she could end up homeless.” Per a source close to the Giudices.

The Giudices have only been ordered to pay back $7,500 so far of the $13 million debt they cited in a 2009 bankruptcy filing and their creditors are angry.

“We just want the money she owes us,” an employee of the North Hudson IVF fertility clinic, one of the Giudices’ creditors has recently expressed. Teresa, 41, had fertility treatments there in order to conceive their youngest daughter.

The Giudices owe the clinic $11,765.59 for their services, and the employee says the couple’s refusal to pay is simply unfair, insisting, “We’re just a company that helps people.”

Teresa could get up to 27 months in prison while Joe Giudice could face 46 months of prison after pleading guilty to 41 counts of mail, wire, bank and bankruptcy fraud. Their sentencing will be announced on July 7th.

home of the rich

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• Replaces OEM unit single-pass design and plastic shroud with a unique top/bottom dual-pass
    design for maximum surface area and flow.
  • “Drop-in fit” requiring no modifications to install. Accepts factory oil-line connections
  • Fully TIG-welded extruded-endtank design vs. OEM mechanically jointed and tack-welded design for
    superior reliability & durability
  • Fits precisely with the contour of the OEM bumper. No issues with aftermarket splitter
    attachement either
  • Turbulated heavy/duty bar/plate design for the most reliable & durable oil cooler available
    for the platform
  • 8 rows of maximum cooling with a high density multi-louvered fin pitch design
  • Designed to work with OEM radiator brackets or CSF’s all-aluminum triple-pass radiator (CSF
  • Motorsport silver finish


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Ksport ProComp Big Brake Kit 1992-1995 Honda Civic DX, LX, HB (8 Piston, 14"x356mm)

Ksport ProComp Big Brake Kit 1992-1995 Honda Civic DX, LX, HB (8 Piston, 14"x356mm)

Item# BKHD020-841SO

MSRP: $ 2,100.00

$ 1,995.00

Buy Now & Get a $20.00 Gift Card

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Caliper Color: Ksport Orange
Calipers: 8-Piston
Position: Front
Rotors: 14" / 356mm 2-Piece
Style: Slotted
Pads: Street Pads

Ksport big brake kits provide the ultimate in stopping power for your vehicle. Integrating new brake technology into the design of the kits allows for a kit that highly reduces brake fade and continually cools and refreshes the brake pads surface under braking. These brake systems are designed for easy installation with minimal tools required (in most applications).

Our extreme lightweight caliper comes in differential bore configuration. It is machined from aircraft quality billet, weighs just over 5lbs. each, and has machined in protection grooves for the bridge tubes. Aluminum pistons, high temperature seals, and stainless steel brake pad wear plates are also standard on each caliper design. The opposed piston caliper design greatly improves pad wear and caliper rigidity over the OEM design. The stainless steel brake lines stop expansion under pressure.

Most applications utilize the 2-piece floating disc assembly, which reduces weight both rotating and unsprung. The floating disc also stops thermal stresses of extreme heat from warping the disc or cupping the braking surface. The unique slot design on the rotor greatly reduces braking noise and expels gas and pad debris faster than conventional slot designs. Every rotor is always heat treated and balanced before shipment for the best possible performance. Cross drilled rotors tend to run cooler than slotted and are recommended for daily driven vehicles. Slotted rotors are recommended for vehicles that will be seeing more track use than daily driving.

Year Make Model Trim
1992 - 1995 Honda Civic DX, LX, HB

International Shipping

Additional shipping charges may apply for orders being shipped outside the continental U.S. Please email us at info@drift-connection.com for a ship quote, or call us at 626.329.8425.

Alternatively, you may also place your order first and we will contact you with any additional shipping charges if they apply.

Some restrictions apply. Large items will not be shipped due to the high cost of international freight charges. This will include items such as hoods & other aero parts, one-piece exhaust systems, etc.

Please Note: The buyer is responsible for any currency conversion fees that may be applied to the transaction, as well as any import taxes, brokerage fees, VAT (where applicable), customs fees, storage fees (if you delay paying), delivery fees to your door (if you choose airport delivery from DC Auto Parts), airport handling fees, paperwork fees, and any and all other charges and fees in regards to clearing your parts through customs of your country and paying your countries related taxes.


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Fig Tree & Co.

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Amelia & Me

Our Price: $6.95

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...sun hats for kids & moms alike! These fun, charming floppy sunhats are simple enough to finish in a weekend and classic enough to make again and again in various color combinations and fabric styles. Perfect for a sunny afternoon, or try them in wool for a beautiful winter accessory. Pattern includes many diagrams, simple instructions and sizes for both child and adult.
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24th Jun, 2017

Warwickshire paddlers star at successful World Championships

Stratford Editorial 8th Sep, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016

SUPPORTERS were treated to some superb displays from the Great Britain teams at the 2016 Canoe Polo World Championships in Syracuse, Sicily.

British fans included parents, grandparents and friends who had flown out to support the GB squad at the event, which was held on the sea in the narrow dock area between the city of Syracuse and the island of Ortygia in Sicily.

This gave excellent viewing from the grandstands erected on the dock side. Unusually, the canoeists were paddling in Mediterranean salt sea water.

Special thanks must go to the Italian security who, following the events in Nice, France, guarded competitors and their friends and relatives throughout.

Highlight for the GB supporters was the fantastic skill of the U21 GB men who did not lose a single game and won the gold medal to become 2016 world champions.

Their speed of paddling and accuracy in passing and shooting was a delight to watch.

GB beat the usually dominant Germans 5-4 in an exciting final – the first time the Germans have lost for some time – having previously defeated Italy 4-3 in the quarter-finals.

The GB U21 women, who had trained hard and improved considerably during 2016, won through to the semi-finals before eventually finishing fourth after losing 6-2 to New Zealand in the last four.

This was a good end to a hard season of training and competition for the GB U21 women. It was a satisfying competition for them and their coaches, which included canoeist and canoe designer Peter Howard from Compton Verney.

The senior GB women attained their target position of top six in the championships.

They narrowly missed out on the semi-finals as they were beaten in the quarter-finals, before losing 4-1 to Italy in the 5th/6th place play-off.

The team included Stratford siblings Danielle Brain, 19, and Nicole Brain, 23, who is swim manager at Stratford Leisure Centre. The senior women’s coach is Stratford’s 1992 C2 canoe slalom Olympian Paul Brain.

The senior GB men’s team had mixed results throughout the championships as they exceeded expectations.

They managed a good seventh position out of 24 teams after beating Denmark 7-3 in the 7th/8th place play-off.

The senior men’s team included Leamington-based Matt Blackmore and Martyn Pearson.

Also coaching at the championships was Paul’s 1992 Olympic C2 partner, Stratford’s Chris Arrowsmith, who was coaching the senior Canadian women’s team.

The Canadian women met GB in the group play-offs for fifth to eighth places and GB, who eventually finished sixth, won 8-4. The Canadian women ended the championships in eighth place.


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The Gibbon experience

The Gibbon Experience is an eco tourism forest conservation project. The project funds forest protection and community projects in Bokeo Nature Reserve, Northern Laos. You get to stay in tree houses and use the zip line cable gliding network to scour the primary forest in search of the illusive Black Gibbon. And he was very illusive, we didn’t see any!

However it really didn’t matter as the over all experience was really very good. We started on the Sunday, with a briefing on how it all works, especially the safety side of zip lining. We then set off in two 4×4’s towards the Bokeo nature reserve. It was a two hours journey, about 45 mins of that was driving into the jungle, through dirt tracks and streams.

We arrived at the village and split into two groups, once again I was very lucky with my group, 3 Canadians and 3 French et moi! We had all chosen the waterfall option so that meant the first day had a smaller amount of trekking and plenty of zip lining and the second day a trek deeper into the jungle to a beautiful waterfall, where we swam, yes it was cold! and then continued to trek.

This was actual jungle we were in, and the trekking was sometimes a little bit tough as we were going up and down hills, relieved then to see another zip line which would carry us a great speed along the zip lines that ranged from between 250 meters and 550 meters! And what a view, quite stunning, and from a view-point you could only dream of. On the two nights we stayed in two tree houses, standing between 40 and 50 metres up in the trees We were supplied with a rubber mattress a warm duet and mosquito nets. Have a look at the pic of the toilet, next to that was the shower. You literally shower facing out into the jungle, nothing between you and jungle, what a way to shower, it was so cold, but quite liberating! Many that’s why we didn’t see any gibbons, they got an eyeful of me starkers in the shower.

The tree houses apparently take up to a year to construct and they replace the roof very year. You can only imagine how they construct them. Boun our guide was also on the construction team, the roof they can actually change in a day! These guys are very comfortable in the air, they fly out of the tree houses backwards holding  a steaming hot kettle, with Boun singing One direction, it was great fun.

What else can i say I would highly recommend it, it was hard work but so rewarding, and so beneficial that these national forests are being taken care of, well this one at least with the company employing one hundred people and profits being fed back into reforestation. Any way have a look at the pics and the videos to give you a sense of me flying through the trees!

The group.

IMG_7431 IMG_7440

The view from our Tree house

Toilet and shower…what a view!

The morning view

IMG_7457IMG_7481IMG_7483IMG_7488 - Version 2

Me Zip lining! And Betty from Canada straight behind…

I have more photos and some great videos but they’re taking so long to upload, Ive given up for now…..I will try again in Chiang Rai

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Free Secondary Education in Kenya - Case Study Example

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Author : norris79

This research paper seeks to explore whether the "free secondary education" in developing this case Kenya,is realistic or a mere rhetoric in the face of the political, gender and economic hurdles being faced by the country.Currently Kenya like most of its East African counterparts,barely emerging from the shackles of the colonial era and moving towards a transition of democratic regimes ,has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, committing itself to the basic education of its juveniles.According to Hellen Obande the free primary education policy was introduced in the January 2003 but she has commented …

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Free Secondary Education in Kenya

ade schooling unaffordable, and pushed many children out of school and into work.
According to Damiano (2004) the current issues of transition are of great concern and it is possible to see that the large numbers of children are unable to proceed with.Obande (2007)) also states that "Just over half a million candidates sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations (KCPE) at the end of 2003, yet only 46 per cent had the chance to proceed to secondary schools.Although the number of candidates enrolling for primary level examinations has steadily risen, the number of secondary schools has ...
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Aristotle Quote - Essay Example

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Author : bcormier

For Aristotle moral values such as temperance, justice and courage are part of an individual's social behavior and should be dealt with as complex social skills that should be mastered in order to achieve success. For an individual the satisfaction of a good life comes mostly from the relationship with the society and the individuals who form it…

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Aristotle Quote

Aristotle implies that every person should carefully analyze the circumstances of each situation and apply this advice, seek for an even solution. What is important is finding a mean of solving a situation, not necessarily by following blindly the general moral principles, but by carefully equilibrating one's hopes and desires in relation with the social demands.
Aristotle suggests that circumstances dictate and sometimes even stand as an excuse for our behavior, but passion should not influence the core values of courage or boldness, depending on the case. Emotions and passions cannot be silenced and they do shape our life as humans, but the deliberation over a situation in a reasonable manner grants, if not always a clear solution, at least a better and, certainly ethical, aim in life; that aim is to make the best of our 'practical reason' that we can only acquire by learning how to act far from anxiety and pure instinct, under the influence of ethical values.
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Aristotle argues that genuine understanding of a thing requires a grasp of why that thing is necessarily as it is. Such understanding is best facilitated by or represented in a demonstrative argument. We must proceed deductively from premises more absolutely intelligible than the conclusion to the conclusion by way of a causally explanatory middle term. The premises of demonstrations are themselves indemonstrable and serve as starting points or first principles (archai) within the given domain of inquiry. According to Aristotle, we arrive at these principles by direct derivation from…
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Secondly is Pathos means Emotional appeal based on reader’s emotions. Pathos are used to persuade effectively to affect the audience’s emotional response, and emotional appeal to enhance an argument. Thirdly, Logos or (Logical) “word,” “speech,” “reason”, the science dealing with the principles of valid reasoning and argument. According to Fahnestock, “This study determines the conditions under which one is justified in passing from given statements, called premises, to a conclusion that is claimed to follow from them. Logical validity is a relationship between the premises…
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He went on to found his own school, which he named the Lyceum.…
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Rotted Capes RPG

$ 39.99

The Golden Age of Superheroes has ended, not with a BANG but with a BITE!
The Dead have overrun the world and humanity's protectors are either missing, dead or worse yet, Z'ed! Dismissed as the Poor Man's Super Hero, you are mankind's only hope for survival in this horror-filled world where the greatest threat is not the Living Dead, but the Super Zombies that sit at the top of the food chain looking hungrily down upon you!
Rotted Capes is a cross genre Role-playing Game where the gleaming world of Superheroes crashes headlong into the gritty and horror-filled world of Zombies! Using a streamlined version of the Arcanis RPG system, Rotted Capes is a fast paced game which can be played in which ever style best suits your group - Campy or Horrific seriousness! It's the near future and Z-Day has come and gone. No one knows how or where it started, but when the dead started attacking the living, the populace turned, as usual, to its Super Heroes! But this was a threat unlike any other and the unthinkable happened: their Heroes failed!
As one of the B-listers, men, women (and aliens) who were sidekicks or low powered superheroes or villains, you're all that stands between the ravening hordes of the Unliving and humanity's total extinction. But as if mindless zombies weren't enough to deal with, many of those Heroes everyone looked up to have been Z'ed! Now they too hunger for flesh and with their super powers and inhuman cunning and intelligence, they may be unstoppable!
No one ever said being a Hero was easy!


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Where Dark Elves Rule (d20) PDF

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Created by Steven Creech

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Suburban Assault

Old British Transportation Films – Cyclists’ Special

with 2 comments

Suburban Assault friend Jenny had posted these on Facebook. They’re a fantastic glimpse of what cycling was like in England, back in the 1950s. It’s cool to see how some of the earlier Suburban Assaults were done, and I would love to have this sort of bicycle outing around here. Enjoy:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Written by dickdavid

August 20, 2011 at 6:28 am

2 Responses

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  1. Well, I am hoping to do one of these trips soon, will take the A train to Denton, bike around on the rail trail that goes to the lake, and have some ice cream.

    Besides the sense of adventure in the videos, for me it was really great to see the women cyclists taking an equal part.

    Jenny R

    August 20, 2011 at 5:06 pm

  2. That was great.

    August 22, 2011 at 10:51 pm

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SLES Podcast Episode 1: An Introduction to Cheryl and the Company

This is the very first Successful Learning Educational Services Podcast.  We will start at the very beginning by introducing you to our owner, Cheryl Anthony.  She will share her journey into how she became passionate about tutoring for people with learning disabilities.  She has a lot of information to share, so I am excited to get started.

Show links:
International Dyslexia Association
Learning Disability Association
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Decoding Dyslexia

Music credited to  -Tenderness


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Sudhindra Kovalam's Blog

My Geeky Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Azure

Techstart Grand Finale on December 21,2009

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About the Techstart Program
The Techstart program was conceived to address the unique situation that the Computer Science class of 2009 found itself in. Conceived by Dr. Anand Deshpande,(Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems Ltd.) inspired by a similar highly successful experiment at Stanford, sponsored by Microsoft and supported by multiple organizations and individuals, Techstart was designed to provide these students with training on Windows Azure development, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, through a community effort.
About 200 students brushed up on the basics of .NET development followed by over 8 weeks of intense training on the Windows Azure development platform from industry experts. The training culminated in a competition that showcased this newly acquired knowledge in the form of group projects hosted on Windows Azure.
Teams from these groups also participated in the national level Cloupdapp competition hosted by Microsoft India, One of the teams has won the first prize in the student category.

Please join us in applauding the students and volunteers that made this event a huge success and
for a technology-filled evening. To Know more visit :

My experiences during the Program

Running this program was amazingly cool, It was fun, a great learning experience for the trainers as well as the participants.

We would take turns on who would teach what? (Teach as in , give the participants a brief overview of the concept, how it can be done, and a small sample demo (Usually the demos from the Windows azure training kit would suffice 🙂 )

We had provided them all reference stuff, Right from Windows 7 RC DVDs to Visual studio express editions, to the SDK and training kit. These were some very large downloads so, Courtesy PSL and MSFT, we arranged for some DVD sets which had all these installers.

In July 2009, There was a “swine flu” scare in the city, so we had to stop the program for some time but once we started again, every participant turned up enthusiastically to learn the technology.

I must applaud all the students/ participants of this program who have really shown keen interest in the technology, Their Curiosity/Interest in learning azure was so motivating that some one like me, who still has stage fright, managed to take a couple of sessions. in front of 150 people audience.(Thank you for helping me get rid of some of the stage fright i have. 🙂 )

Also the questions ,all of them asked used give us an opportunity to look deeper and even learn stuff which we might have missed out … (Thank you again 🙂 )

This program helped me meet some amazing people , who volunteered to take some training sessions in this program. I would like to thank them too. Some of them are:

  1. Matin sayed
  2. Mahesh Mitkari
  3. Mayur Tendulkar
  4. Brihadish Koushik
  5. Prasad Chitale
  6. Saranya Sriram and off course,
  7. Monish Darda (Who BTW is the event jockey on the 21st night 🙂 )

(I apologize if i have missed out some of the names)

An amazing Co ordination by Mr. Shekhar Sahasabudhe and Mr. Kaustubh Bhadbade, took care of the arrangements needed ,such as the venue etc. I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one in the admin team @ Bhagirath (who helped us with all stuff , like setting up the projector, mic. etc. and other such logistics)

And last but not the least (How Can i forget them!!), the duo from Microsoft

  1. Vikram Rajkondawar
  2. Mark D’Souza

who helped us a lot and also were a driving force in the program, right from providing us azure tokens on short notice to helping us iron out any difficulties we had… BTW when Mark and Vikram were here in Pune , for TechStart, they too delivered some amazing sessions and showed us some amazing Microsoft demos .(Many more awesome demos in the pipeline for the event. Be there to check ‘em  out, They will enthrall you 🙂 )

Thank you one and all for making this event a grand success….

And now time for some shameless publicity stunt:

The website is designed /developed by me (With the help of Ritesh, a friend of mine who developed a POC for me  ) 😀

Written by sudheerkovalam

December 17, 2009 at 1:17 am

An Interesting Notification from Windows Azure Team

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Just got an email from the windows azure team saying that

in PDC ‘09 , Windows Azure goes live with a lots and lots of new features.

However the free access ( to the new feature set ) will be available to the existing users till December 31st

allowing you to experiment with the full feature platform.

Come January 1, 2010 we can sign up for an offer

where first month bill will be of 0$ and from February 1 2010, we will be billed for our usage on Windows azure…   😀

Ain’t that cool..

We get to play around with the live azure features for little over 3 months  for free  and i guess it is affordable for everyone to opt for that offer 🙂

Hope this article helps  🙂

Written by sudheerkovalam

October 30, 2009 at 1:08 am


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Archive for the ‘arriere-pensee’ Category

True beauty…

July 8, 2014 Leave a comment
Categories: arriere-pensee, Poetry

The Rape Culture….

December 19, 2012 Leave a comment

The recent Rape of a Delhi Girl and the subsequent outrage in the sections of the society is something that we have got used to. Our general fear and subsequent apathy to the such crime has become so deep rooted into our culture, it seem routine. I have found the below article online and it is one of the best essays on the subject. I hope it will help us be more sensitive and one day we will do something more concrete about it.

New Delhi: There has been a slew of responses to the recent rape of a woman in Delhi and the brutal attack on her male friend. Derek O Brien expresses fear for his daughter’s safety, Salman Khan at a press conference to promote his latest film says that he thinks the rapists should be killed, and parliamentarians demand the death penalty for rape. However, these responses and the media coverage on the incident seem to be marked by a refusal to think about the conditions that allow for rape to happen and how we even think of ‘rape’ itself.

It is almost as though the rape legitimates increased control by the family, community and other custodians of women as it brutally enacts the fantasy of a dark and unsafe city where a woman cannot negotiate the streets without being gruesomely violated.

The continuum between the family (the place of safety for women, the home where one is taken care of) and the rape have to be stressed: both are fantasies of control, of doing whatever it takes to keep women in their place, wherever that place is. The elaborate everyday control of women’s lives by families and institutions (both will find increased legitimacy because of the rape) is as systematic, planned and violent as this rape was.

An image of an uncontrolled horde is brought forth by a gang rape – but other groups – families, religious groups, communities that police sexuality are seen as the very essence of civilisation and civility.

The rape of women is seen as aberrant, as outside of the framework of what can be thought, thus the continuous comparison of rapists with animals. However, this very construction of the rape as an event that cannot be understood shows the refusal to see, or act against, brutal everyday forms of control.

We need to stress the continuum between people who rape, people who judge those who get raped, and people who try to protect the women in their lives from getting raped by imposing structures of control. The portrayals of the rape of women allow for those men who want to understand themselves as protectors or avengers to do so, they allow for patriarchal structures of control to strengthen themselves and, crucially, they create women as the ‘legitimate’ subjects of rape.

Why is the rape of women not seen in relation to the rape of men and hijras? Even amongst the rapes of women, it is certain kinds of cases that attract attention: marital rape, date rapes and the sexual violence that takes place within the family are systematically ignored.

Sex workers and domestic workers are at the receiving end of systematic sexual violence but the violence faced by them is normalized in the structure of our society, just like certain continual forms of sexual harassment on metros, public transport, schools and universities are seen to be so routine that it is seen to be in bad form to respond to them. Everyday, routine, ‘normal’ sexual practice hardly involves the discussion of consent or what might constitute a violation.

The fantasies of heterosexual love in our popular cultures are fantasies of dominance and submission, our idea of ‘romance’ sexist to say the least. Our idea of sex is so completely dominated by the vision of a penis penetrating a vagina that other kinds of forced penetration and violation do not even get the kind of limited response that such a rape does get.

The fervent responses to those rapes which even become the subject of public/ political discussion, such as demands for violent retribution to be visited upon the rapists are actually more a sign of unconcern rather than an expression of an angry will to change the structures we live in.

They manifest the desire to witness and enact violence (what better when this enactment of violence is legitimated by public discourse). The slow, difficult thinking through, the rigorous and exhausting work required for changing the psychical, economic and social conditions which create the conditions for rape demand much greater commitment and strength than wishes for public lynchings. The danger of feeling legitimated in performing violence on someone else has to be stressed. The rapists also felt ‘outrage’ at the behaviour of woman and her companions, they felt their positions to be legitimate.

We need to move outside the frenzy around rape in order to be able to think about it. The demand for “speedy justice” that is being made can never be effectively satisfied by a police force, government or court because these entities are not outside of or separate from family and community structures that legitimise rape in the first place.

Cases of rape committed by army and police force members, or the impunity afforded by the AFSPA show how they themselves are involved in perpetrating sexual and other violence. The police and the judiciary cannot be given up as structures we turn to with our demands for justice but they will not be the bringers of the transformation we need.

To change the manner in which people occupy public space we need sustained effort and political will. Rape creates many victims – women whose lives will be policed more, public spaces that will exude more fear and threat. We have to take responsibility for being complicit in this through our refusal to question what we cherish – family, heterosexuality, marriage, romance.

In our desire to blame the violated woman who was out after dark watching a film, we forget the gay man who picked up a fuckbuddy and gets robbed by him, the sex worker simply because she or he is one, the migrant worker, the Dalit being put in her/his place, the adivasi resisting mining corporations, the Muslim. Their violation seems so routinised that we even forget to ask why let alone call for public lynchings. We are all rapists of one kind or another, complicit with the rape culture we have created, legitimised and contained through a convenient condemnation of one manifestation of it.

Source SIFYBy Akshi Singh

A street Fight gone wary…Mamta Banarjee

August 30, 2012 2 comments

A street Fight gone wary…Mamta Banarjee

For me Bengal always has a special place. Having lived for a small time in a quiet town Balasore, on the eastern cost of Orissa (which has a sizable Bengali population), I was extremely influenced by it and its culture. I was able to pick Bengali, loved their cuisine, stories and movies; thanks to all the wonderful people who lived around and helped me during my formative years. What fascinated me was the abundance of culture and history they had and their fascination to ensure that the legacy continues. It awed me that Bengal produced more leaders of independence movement than the entire India combined. It was a state which was considered the harbinger of new era intellectualism and gateway of India for trade, education, international collaborations. Calcutta was erstwhile capital of British India and was destined to be the cultural capital of the world once India got its independence. I loved it when I was still living in my own ivory tower. Then it all dawn upon me. Today the state is in shambles, with nothing more to be proud of other than their past legacy; Bengal has been relegated to backwardness and darkness that would have shamed even some of the failed states of the world.

It would not take enormous intellect to evaluate what went wrong, three and half decades of misplaced communist ideology and dysfunctional governance. Unruly and pampered labour unions, without a social agenda but a penchant to go on strike for all petty and political reasons; terrorizing the industries to complete nonexistence. If that did not take away what mattered to progress into a new era, the cultural and social fabric of the state was hijacked by the political l nincompoops and their petty goons.

The Porivartan

The average Bengali understood the issue but continued to opt the same ideology and ensured CPI(M) to be in power for almost an entire generation. There have been intellectual debates of what is going wrong in the armchairs of private households and intellectual clubs, but it never transcended beyond the four corners of the brick wall. There was an undying hope that someone will do the needful. Over the years entire state hoped that their beloved Didi with her porivartan agenda would bring the state out of the clutches of desperation. They banked their life and the future of their children in the rhetoric of a street fighter who promised CHANGE. It was a promise to bring porivartan (Change) in everything that has gone wrong in the last few decades. It was a dream to bring the past glory back to the people and set Bengal on the track of its destiny. A powerful populous election manifesto, fueled by the growing desperation of the aam Bengali, ensured rout of what was left of the left in the last election by the Trinamool juggernaut.

But the new porivatan has done little to bring about the salvation of the state. While CPI(M) has a failed ideology, one that is no longer relevant in the present economic scenario, the Didi phenomena has no ideology at all. The entire political career of Mamta Banarjee has been based on whining, with little or completely absent economic intellect. It is based on showing a dream, one that says “I will, I can, I want to…but”. When it is time to realize it, action it, there is nothing but ghastly smoke of nothingness. It is what I call the cry baby phenomena. When a toddler wants a toy and he is refused he wails, cry’s and creates a tantrum. When he finally gets it, he gets bored with it in less than an hour and refuses to play with it.

What  have we seen in the last one year in west Bengal?

We have seen nothing more than whiffs and puffs of development and holding the center at Ransom.

The curious Episode of Dinesh Trivedi:

We have seen the bizarre episode of Railway budget and a poor Dinesh Trivedi, who faced the ire of the national cry baby for suggesting to do what is the need of the time. The rail fare had not been hiked for nearly a decade putting Indian Railways in ICU as far as its financial viability was concerned. The proposed fare hike would have added 4200 crores to railways income, which while paltry compared to its expenses, would still have saved railways from becoming bankrupt. The budget received enthusiastic support from a wide cross section of society including the general public, industry groups and all five Rail Unions. However, the fare hike proposal in the budget was fiercely opposed by Mamata Banarjee. Although Trivedi initially tried to defend the budget by pointing out that it was necessary for making Indian Railways stronger, Mamata Banarjee forced him to resign as Railway Minister on 18 March 2012. The fact that the central government let it happen is another story altogether. There were some sharp reactions to this from the general public and industry stalwarts some of them are below.

Chairman & MD of Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw tweeted that

“Mamta is a dangerous, populist demagogue: economically illiterate but politically astute – deadly combo!” She added that “Mamta is a sad reflection on just how feudal our society and culture is – talk of human rights!” and “Mamata is behaving like a mad despot. Political leadership is in deficit with such irrational behaviour that can only harm the poor.”
Source : IBN Live ,

Industrialist Rahul Bajaj opined that “”It was a very bold budget and he is a brave man to take such a tough call of increasing fares after ten years. I would have wished to see him around as the Railways Minister. However, it is very unfortunate that his own party is now distancing him.”
Source : IBN Live ,

Veteran journalist, Vivian Fernandes reported that, “It is getting clearer by the day that Mamata Banerjee’s poribortan is not a change for the better. Like the communists, she can only tear, not build.”
Source : IBN Live,

Trinamool MP Kabir Suman came out in open support for Trivedi and expressed his solidarity with him, saying “My respects for the Chief Minister and other party leaders notwithstanding, I must say that it defies parliamentary decorum to get a Railway Minister removed simply because he has acted in the country’s interest.”
Source: “Cong playing un-fare games, cries Mamata”. IBN Live.

Does it not answer the question why Indian railways is losing money in the first place,  Mamta inherited a profit making enterprise from her predecessor? It was an amazing turnaround  that is still being discussed in major business school of the world. Lalu prasad Yadav did manage to make it a profitable venture during his tenure, just to be fizzled away by the whims of an eccentric leader. Under Mamata Banerjee’s watch, the railways saw the worst operating ratio of 98 per cent: only two rupees were left in every hundred earned after operating expenses and appropriations for pensions and asset wear and tear. It was a funny incident which underestimates the basic federal structure of Indian government: A state minister was able to influence the national policy based on her whims and fancies without any national debate.

The king shall be mine

Out of nowhere there was an entire hallabulla about the presidential election. It made a complete mockery of the entire institution. Even for a layman like me it seemed evident that Pranab Da’s presidency was eminent. He had the majority support of the Electoral College and there was no strong opposition other than the wimpy Sangama playing the minority card. Even BJP was in a state of confusion because there was no viable alternate candidate. Mamta played her populist card of nominating APJ as her candidate. The funny part was Dr Kalam had not even confirmed his candidacy. She knew APJ was someone people wanted as president so she played it and came out looking like a political novice in professional ring with stars like Mulayam and Sonia on one side of the court. After holding the UPA to ransom for more than three years since its inception, Mamata Banarjee finally got the jolt from the Congress, and was shown its (Mamta’s) ‘irrelevance’ for the ruling dispensation in the Presidential election. The prize….Bengal lost a lot of clout in the center and the aid that it could have mustered had Didi played her cards rationally.

Porivartan…but no reforms

We oppose, because that is all that we know…. seems to be the philosophy of the Mamta Banarjee and her party. In the current bleak economic scenario, foreign investment which had been driving Indian dream has been progressively drying up. It is a prudent economic decision to ensure that we open new sectors in the economy to rejuvenate the sagging economy. While making a note that Indian entrepreneur should be protected, opening up Retail, Insurance, aviation and Pensions is the next logical step. But like a Saindhav in Mahabharata, Mamta blocked all economic reform at national level. TMC has emerged as a major stumbling block for the government, forcing it to backtrack on several reform proposals. More than 30 legislation proposals are pending in Parliament. The move to raise the FDI limit in the insurance sector to 49% from 26% and open up the pension sector has faced political roadblocks for several years now. Result a complete policy paralysis at the center when it comes to FDI.

“We are not in favor of FDI in retails and all this… insurance and pension. We are not in favor of FDI in aviation also. Always, we are in favor of common people,” Banarjee told reporters after her meeting with Chidambaram.
Times of India, Aug 24, 2012

If you are really in the favor of common people, the state should know economic development is the only way to elevate the life style of the masses. Have a pro industry economic policy, get the industry into the state and generate employment… let people live. Didi, your stand on FDI rings more like CPI(M) than Trinamool ideology. STOP and STAGNATE

Thou shall not question me!

Finally what irked me to write this article? Mamta Banarjee has been a failed administrator, in whichever capacity she has worked. But she is absolutely intolerant to criticism. Her ascent to CM of Bengal made her extremely visible and when you are visible, you have to answer your critics. But like a toddler with a bamboo stick she wants to hit at everyone who points out where she is going wrong and there have been far too many incidents to ignore her fascist behavior

Law and order…that is just fine.

It all started in Feb 2012 with an unfortunate incident of rape in the upmarket Park Street in Calcutta or Kolkata if you prefer. It was an eye opener to the rest of India of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. But instead of addressing the core issue, Ms Banarjee had reportedly said the rape of an Anglo-Indian woman was a “fabricated story” intended to malign her government and had blamed some TV channels for airing reports on the incident. In a few weeks the police were able to apprehend the perpetrators putting the govt. in an awkward situation. In an Indian Express article on April 4th it was mentioned that the Irked Mamata govt. transferred IPS officer who cracked rape case

In another bizarre incident, reminiscent of a dystopian state, a professor of the city’s Jadavpur University was arrested for forwarding e-mails with humorous reference to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banarjee replacing Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi with Mukul Roy. The arrest according to me is not only childish, but is a serious infringement of Freedom of speech. It is a jolt to the basic fabric of democracy. The action is authoritarian and completely undemocratic. The govt. faced a setback when the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) recommended departmental proceedings against two police officers connection with the arrest of Ambikesh Mahapatra, his neighbor Subrata Sengupta. But how many cartoonists can be arrested. I have curated some of the many cartoons that are doing rounds in the print media and internet below.

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Maoist Farmer

The bouncer attitude continued when a framer was arrested for questioning the government’s policy on farmer. In a public rally he stood up and asked what Banerjee’s government was doing for the farmers as they are dying because they have no money. The CM immediately labelled him as Maoist following which he was detained, quizzed and later arrested by the police. He was remanded to the judicial custody for 14 days.

Maoist Youth

The childish, immature and fascist attitude of Mamta Banarjee continues. In a more public display of erratic behaviour she walked out of a recent televised public interactive session blaming the audience to be moist. Well they were students from local university. In the video below you will witness the anguish of a leader who can whine but not debate. You will also witness a leader who does not have the clarity or the vision to run a political office. It also is a clear case of lack of respect for the people who have elected her to power.

Maoist judiciary

More recently Mamta Banarjee was under attack from political parties and eminent lawyers for alleging there were instances when court judgments have been delivered for money. Speaking at a seminar in the House on the platinum jubilee of West Bengal Assembly Didi said;

“Why will judgments be given only in favour of those who offer money? I am sorry to say this; people can condemn me for this. I can be arrested and put in jail for this, but somewhere I will have to express my opinion,” Ms. Banarjee said. She was speaking at a seminar, ‘Executive Accountability to the Parliament/Legislature,’ on the occasion of the Assembly’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
Source :

Didi wants to make a strong statement about what is going wrong in the judiciary, she lives in a democratic country and she has absolute right to show discontent, but i wonder why this privilege is only restricted to her, when other did the same they get to face the wrath of the state mechanism…is it not a tiny bit hypocritical…?

Eminent lawyer Soli Sorabji, posed an interesting question reacting to Banerjee’s controversial statement.

“…What about the cases, she has won in court? Who paid the judges? Mamata? This shows the absurdity of the allegations. I mean, one expects a mature reaction…I am very very disturbed,” Sorabji said.

Well the layers did what they are really good at, filed a contempt of court petition on Mamta for her unbridled rhetoric, I guess she not a tiny bit worried, she must be assuming she can buy this judgment too.

This is just the first year and there will many more to come. I do feel sad… Mamta Banarjee was a leader I really liked. She was a street fighter, though an emotional one, fighting for her people trying to break the shackles of a dysfunctional government. Somewhere in midst of the fight things have gone wary. The fighter is fighting the audience while the opponent sits calm waiting for the right time to hit, for that decisive Knockout. Mamta Didi do remember we are a democracy and there will elections in just about four years’ time.

A land of dreams…..

In a land where I live,
to my people I shall give,
a life of bliss,
that none shall miss,
but my hands are tied,
The media has lied,
the judge was bribed,
the Maoist have tried
rains have failed
Trains derailed
Forget not your horrid past
remember my dream, that shall long last

O my fellow Bengali, dream a dream
wake-up not from its sombre scheme
………………………………….sunil varma

I leave you with a very nice rendition of What is happening in Bengal with a viral video by Kabir Suman,a Trinamool MP. It is called SHILADITYO — WITH AN APOLOGY TO RABINDRANATH. It is a good song, do watch it. if someone can do a good translation do put it in comments, I will add it below.

Colors Of The Rain

July 22, 2012 Leave a comment

Life as is…

April 4, 2012 4 comments

Life As is……..

Life so curt, it would seem to pass,
the flowing sand in an hour-glass.
Like the promise of a day-dream,
a bubble in a nimble stream,
I try to hold, but I never can,
my little tyke, oft you ran.

Rope your fiery pace I did try,
you wouldn’t stop, I sorrowed why?
Blooming years but of so short length,

all those years and my fading strength,
As friends and kin leave my sunset bay,
I have but nothing more to say.

With my heart weak wet and ceding
wish me leave, as I lived speeding.

Sunil Varma

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The Pup and Me!

January 23, 2012 4 comments

Yes! You Can

January 10, 2012 4 comments

There are three kinds of stories in the world. The ones that make you laugh, but these last the least. We forget them as quickly as we read them. Then there are those that make you smile. We pass these on to friends and kin, to spread the smile around. But once in a while, you would come across a story that would make even the most stony-eyes brim with tears. These are the stories that would cling on to your soul and remain there, till the time you close your eyes for one last time. The effect of these stories is exemplified when they are stories of people who live around us and lead lives similar to us. Stories from real life.They make you see world in a new light and force you to think. These stories will lend us an experience so profound that it may alter the way you want to lead the rest of your life.

The Story of Hoyt Pair is one such story that I came across by pure accident but it makes me heavy every time I read it. But it is a story of story of hope, courage and to working real hard for what you believe and most importantly love. I want you to read it, to experience emotional euphoria it brings along with it.

Watch the video and then go on to read the story behind it..

Rick was once asked, if he could give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to sit in the chair and I would push him for once.”

It was Winchester, Massachusetts, 1962, an unruly umbilical cord wrapped around the neck of an unborn child; chocking him off vital oxygen became the first struggle of life for Rick Hoyt. Against all odds of survival Rick made it to this world. The lack of vital oxygen for those precious moments before birth had left permanent scars on his neonatal brain, rendering him incapable of leading life as we see it.

The doctors told Ricks parents, Dick and Judy Hoyt, that the brain damage is permanent and Rick would be a in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. They recommend that Rick be institutionalized, for there was no hope of recovery and no chance for him to lead a normal life. Dick Hoyt was in no mood to accept the doctor’s prognosis and this started the beginning of Dick and Judy’s quest for Rick’s inclusion in community, sports, education and one day, the workplace.

There was something about Rick’s ability to fight, in the ensuing years he was able to communicate to his parents with his expressive eyes and Dick and Judy did their very best trying to provide him education. Rick was able to learn basic words and alphabets. But with the aim to integrate Rick in to public school system, Dick and Judy had to prove Rick’s intellect and a way for Rick to communicate on his own.

Rick finally received a way to express himself in 1972, thanks to a skilled group of engineers at Tufts University and an interactive computer. This computer consisted of a cursor being used to highlight every letter of the alphabet. Once the letter Rick wanted was highlighted, he was able to select it by just a simple tap with his head against a head piece attached to his wheelchair.

Rick surprised everyone with his first words. Instead of saying, “Hi, Mom,” or “Hi, Dad,” Rick’s first “spoken” words were: “Go, Bruins!” The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season. It was clear from that moment on, that Rick loved sports and followed the game just like anyone else.

This is not a story of Rick as it sounds until now. It is story of Rick and his dad and it all started In the spring of 1977 about 2 years after Rick started public school one of his classmates was paralyzed in an accident and a five mile benefit run was being organized. That night Rick told his father “Dad, I want to do that”

For Dick, who never ran a mile in length, running with his son in the wheelchair was a challenge. Still, he tried. He agreed to push his son all the five miles; they came next to the last but still managed to finish the race. But what changed Dick’s life forever were a simple set of words that made a whole lot of difference for him

That Night Rick said, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

That sentence marked the beginning of a father son phenomenon, and a beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Iron-man competitions). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days. They are now popularly known as Team Hoyt.

After high school, Rick attended Boston University, and he graduated with a degree in Special Education in 1993. Dick retired in 1995 as a Lt. Colonel from the Air National Guard, after serving his country for 37 years and they have been running marathon after all these years. In 2009 Boston Marathon was officially Team Hoyt’s 1000th race and Dick is 70 in 2011 and they are still running. They continue to tour across the country and address a varied audience to deliver one message Yes! You Can.

This is a story of hope, courage and to work hard for what you believe in.

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text:
Election lawyers say super PACs should shift strategy

Given the underperformance of many outside spending groups in this year's election, some election lawyers suggested they shift strategies to focus more on mobilizing voters on the ground rather than TV ads in a panel discussion today.

The discussion took place at George Washington University Law School during a conference analyzing the 2012 campaign.

Super PACs that spent the most put their money into TV ads, noted Monica Yuan, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. In contrast, unions and union-affiliated super PACs put much of their resources into get-out-the-vote efforts. The union groups were relatively successful compared to other super PACs, and President Barack Obama’s victory has been partially credited to his own campaign’s sophisticated ground game.

A relatively little commented-upon result of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling that opened the door for super PACs is that it also opened the door for unions to turn their well-oiled political communications machines, previously restricted to targeting just union members, onto the general public. Likewise, corporations no longer have to restrict their communications efforts to just employees.

Youn said it would be interesting if corporations and unions can further develop this ground game effort.

But Sam Issacharoff, an Obama campaign legal advisor and professor at New York University Law School, said he does not think groups like the Karl Rove-led American Crossroads shifting to a ground game is realistic.

“I am extremely skeptical from what I’ve seen inside the campaign that outside groups can mobilize the ground game in any meaningful way,” he said.

Nathaniel Persily, a professor at Columbia Law School, seemed to agree, saying that coordination is needed to build a successful ground campaign, and super PACs are barred from coordinating political expenditures with the candidates they are helping. For all the skepticism about the effectiveness of the rules barring outside groups from coordinating with the candidates they are trying to help, Persily said, “the coordination rules do have bite.”

Issacharoff saw the super PACs’ ineffectiveness in the presidential race as putting pressure on donors to give money to the candidates’ campaigns, where he said it is more efficiently used: He advocated raising the current contribution limits as “an easy way to redirect money to the candidates.”

Regardless, Issacharoff and Persily agreed that super PACs and outside groups should change their strategies to adapt to the current media landscape.

Political consultants “haven’t figured out a way to charge their clients for anything but TV buys,” Persily said.

He said the future will be more about voters watching movies such as “Hillary,” produced by the group Citizens United during the presidential primaries in 2008. The federal government did not allow the movie to air on cable TV as a video-on-demand because of a ban on corporate spending around the time of elections. But the group later challenged the ban in court and it was overturned by the Supreme Court in its Citizens United ruling.

Issacharoff added that super PACs are following an “old fashioned model” by running TV ads when young people are more active on the Internet.


text:
Custom Variable Length Binary Protocol

Apr 27, 2012 at 4:38 PM

I'm attempting to use SuperSocket with my own custom variable length protocol.  I prefer to use a state machine to process the incoming buffers, but I'm running into a problem.  I would like each of my states to be responsible for parsing a certain portion of the packet.  I also strongly prefer to process one state per call to FindCommandInfo.   In my case, the first state, simply waits for a start character while the second waits for the fixed length header that has the length parameter.  At the moment, I have each state read the number of bytes it needs to do its job and set the out left parameter to the readBuffer length minus the number of bytes that was just processed.  In the case of my first intermediate steps, I then return null because I have not gotten enough information to process a packet yet.  It appears to me that the out left parameter is only doing anything when I return a command other than null.  Even though I have told it I have not processed all of the bytes in the read buffer, if I return null (no command yet), then it never goes back into the FindCommandInfo function until more data arrives, and then I only have the new data that was just sent (not the leftover data).  Is this expected behavior or a bug?

Here is the code I have written if it helps illuminate what I'm attempting to do.  I'm also open to alternative suggestions as well to accomplish the same thing:

Apr 27, 2012 at 5:39 PM
Edited Apr 27, 2012 at 6:19 PM

Here is a (preliminary) modification to AsyncSocketSession.cs that appears to accomplish what I'm after.  Not sure how much else it breaks at this point, but my tests so far are working.

The changes are lines 21 - 29.

Apr 28, 2012 at 1:38 AM

No, you needn't do it like that.

If you set left > 0, the find command will be executed again before the other bytes received.

The sample project "CustomProtocol" in QuickStart demonstrates how to implement a variable length protocol.

May 7, 2012 at 5:23 PM

You are correct that I do not need the modification I mentioned earlier since the ProcessReceive method in AysncSocketSession.cs has:

while (bytesTransferred > 0)

bytesTransferred = left;

The problem is that in that loop, the method exits if the FindCommand method returns null.  I do not believe I can use the methodology used in your examples to process my custom protocol.  Instead, I prefer to use a state machine to reliably parse the various segments of my incoming packets.  The cleanest way for me to accomplish this is to have the FindCommand function continue to be called as long as left > 0, even while FindCommand returns null.  As it is now, the left parameter is only good for preserving the bytes that are the start of the next command.  If you do not return a valid command (because you are still in the middle of determining the command), even if left > 0, the FindCommand method will not be called until new data comes in on the port.

May 8, 2012 at 11:52 AM

You can do it by yourself in the class of your command reader.

May 18, 2012 at 10:32 PM
Edited May 18, 2012 at 10:59 PM


text:
FIX: You may receive the "Access reserved error - 7711" error message when you try to run the Make-Table query or the Append query on a linked ODBC Sybase table in Access 2002 or in Access 2003

When you try to run a Make-Table query or an Append query on a linked Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) Sybase table in Microsoft Access 2002 or in Microsoft Office Access 2003, you may receive the following error message:
Access Reserved Error - 7711: This error has no definition.

This problem occurs when the Select method is set to 1 - Direct in the ODBC Sybase Data Source Name (DSN).

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

For additional information about this hotfix, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

870753 Description of the Jet 4.0 Database Engine post-837001 hotfix package: July 21, 2004

To work around this problem, set the Select method to 0 - Cursor in the ODBC Sybase DSN and then re-link the Sybase table. To change the Select method, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type Odbccp32.cpl, and then click OK.
  2. In the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog box, click your Sybase DSN, and then click Configure.
  3. In the ODBC Sybase Wire Protocol Driver Setup dialog box, click the Performance tab.
  4. In the Select Method box, click 0 - Cursor, and then click OK.
To re-link the Sybase tables, follow these steps:
  1. Start Access. Open the Access database.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Database Utilities, and then click Linked Table Manager.
  3. In the Linked Table Manager dialog box, click the linked Sybase tables that you want to update, click to select the Always prompt for new location check box, and then click OK.
  4. In the Select Data Source dialog box, click your Sybase DSN, and then click OK.
  5. Complete the log on information in the Logon to Sybase dialog box, and then click OK.
  6. In the Linked Table Manager dialog box, click OK.
Note The previous steps may be different in your environment. This depends on the version of the Sybase ODBC driver that you use. The ODBC Sybase DSN can be any one of the following:
  • User DSN
  • System DSN
  • File DSN

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

รหัสบทความ: 884404 - การตรวจสอบครั้งสุดท้าย: 17 ก.ย. 2011 - ฉบับแก้ไข: 1


text:
Upgrading to version 4.9.3 of Enterprise TV Link

Instructions for upgrading SnapStream Enterprise TV Link software to the latest build of version 4.9.3. See Upgrading to version 4.9.3 of Enterprise TV for instructions on upgrading the SnapStream Enterprise Server.

If you experience any problems, please contact SnapStream Enterprise Support.

1. Exit Programs. Save any open documents and exit all open programs, including SnapStream software. The Enterprise TV Link update may require you to restart your computer.

2. Download and run. Download the upgrade installer.

Then run the upgrade installer by double-clicking on its desktop icon.

Insert the SnapStream Link CD into your computer's CD drive. The update should begin automatically. If it does not, open Windows Explorer and navigate to your CD drive, then double-click on the upgrade installer setup.exe to start the upgrade.

3. Installation of prerequisites.Before installing the update, the installer will check for prerequisite Windows components. The major component that may require an update is the Microsoft .NET framework. You may see the following screen for several minutes:

Please allow installation of the .NET framework to complete without interruption. After this step is complete, you may see the following window:

Select Yes to allow the system to restart. Once Windows has restarted, please log in to Windows. The installation should continue automatically. If it does not, double-click the following icon:

4. Perform the upgrade. Follow the onscreen instructions.

The installer should automatically detect your Enterprise TV Link Product Key. If it does not, you will see a screen similar to the following.

Your key should be available in the System Information section of the Enterprise Server's print documentation. This documentation should be available from your network administrator or IT department.

5. Finished! You may now connect to your SnapStream Server.

Have more questions? Submit a request

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