text:
Posted on Tuesday January 24, 2012

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I recently came across a new client-server technology that really fascinated me. Through my meddlings with CirrusNote, I know that 49% of the effort of writing a good API is coming up with standards (XML formats, rules, schemas etc.), 49% is writing boilerplate code (XML parsing, schema validation etc. etc.) and the other 2% is spent actually writing interesting code like database interaction and cool client-side stuff.

What is Apache Thrift?

  Thrift is a software framework for scalable cross-language services development. It combines a software stack with a code generation engine to build services that work efficiently and seamlessly between C++, Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, Erlang, Perl, Haskell, C#, Cocoa, JavaScript, Node.js, Smalltalk, and OCaml. - From the Apache Thrift website.

That sounds great. Reading the documentation (if you can find it) and browsing through the tutorials made me even more excited about Thrift. Some of the testimonials were also pretty inspiring (Evernote, Last.fm, Facebook (who actually invented Thrift) to name a few).

How does it work?

If you’re familiar with the concept of Interfaces in obejct-oriented programming, then you’ll have a pretty good grasp of how Thrift works already. The idea goes like this:

1.  Define your object types, constants, enums, services and methods in a special .thrift file
2.  Let thrift generate the server _and_ client code for you
3.  You’re done.

Holy crap, I just gained 98% of my time back by not having to spend ages fixing stupid null pointer exceptions that are buried somewhere deep inside my XML parsing logic.

Okay, so I simplified it a little bit, however Thrift _does_ do all of the heavy lifting for you leaving you free to concentrate on writing _actual code_ instead of boring boilerplate junk.

Once you have completed step 2, you will be left with function stubs on the server side, allowing you to just fill in the blanks. On the client side, you will be left with an awesome, super-easy to use library that talks to your server seamlessly. When I say seamlessly I mean _seamlessly_. It’s as if you’re just calling methods inside some other class in your app.

The way I like to describe it is this: THRIFT ALLOWS YOU TO COMPLETELY IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE CLIENT AND SERVER ARE SEPARATED BY THE INTERNET.

Getting down to code

To demonstrate the awesome power of Thrift, I’m going to implement a simple service on my web server (using PHP). Then I’ll show how to interact with that server from a basic client written in Python.

NOTE: A very basic knowledge of Thrift is useful to read/do this tutorial (i.e. read this, this and this)

The Hello Service

The example I will use is a very simple service that just says Hello World in a few different ways.

First things first, we need to create a simple ENUM and a ** service**. Open up a new file and call it Hello.thrift

    enum HelloLanguage {
            ENGLISH,
            FRENCH,
            SPANISH
    }

    service HelloService {
            string say_hello(),
            string say_foreign_hello(1: HelloLanguage language),
            list<string> say_hello_repeat(1: i32 times),
    }

FUN FACT: When Thrift generates your code for you, STRUCTS are typically translated into classes, ENUMS are usually translated into enumerated types and SERVICES are translated into interfaces.

Our new service interface describes 3 simple methods:

-   say_hello - this method will just return “Hello World!”
-   say_foreign_hello - this method will take a HelloLanguage and return a “Hello World!” in the appropriate language.
-   say_hello_repeat - this method will take an integer value and return a list of strings. The number of strings will depend on what you pass in.

For now, we’re done editing our thrift file. Honestly, that’s about 75% of the work done for creating a new API. Exciting stuff.

Generating the code

Now, we’re going to use thrift to generate the server code for us:

    thrift --gen php:server Hello.thrift

Running the thrift code generator leaves us with a gen-php directory, which in turn contains all of the generated code. Because I specified the :server modifier on the thrift command, it also generated method stubs for our new service.

The code generator generates an interface. All we have to do to make the service work, is implement the interface, and override the methods.

In your web root, create an index.php with the following code in it:

    <?php
    $GLOBALS['THRIFT_ROOT'] = 'lib/php/src';

    require_once $GLOBALS['THRIFT_ROOT'] . '/Thrift.php';
    require_once $GLOBALS['THRIFT_ROOT'] . '/protocol/TBinaryProtocol.php';
    require_once $GLOBALS['THRIFT_ROOT'] . '/transport/TPhpStream.php';
    require_once $GLOBALS['THRIFT_ROOT'] . '/transport/TBufferedTransport.php';
    require_once $GLOBALS['THRIFT_ROOT'] . '/transport/TFramedTransport.php';

    $GEN_DIR = 'gen-php';

    require_once $GEN_DIR . '/Hello/HelloService.php';

    class HelloServiceImpl implements HelloServiceIf {
            public function say_foreign_hello($language) {
                    switch($language) {
                            case HelloLanguage::ENGLISH:
                                    return "Hello World!";
                            break;
                            case HelloLanguage::FRENCH:
                                    return "Bonjour tout le monde!";
                            break;
                            case HelloLanguage::SPANISH:
                                    return "Hola Mundo!";
                            break;
                            default:
                                    return "You didn't specify a valid language!";
                            break;
                    }
            }
            public function say_hello_repeat($times) {
                    $hellos = array();
                    for($i=0;$i<$times;$i++) {
                            $hellos[] = "$i Hello World!";
                    }
                    return $hellos;
            }

            public function say_hello() {
                    return "Hello World!!!!!!!!";
            }
    }

    header('Content-Type', 'application/x-thrift');

    $handler   = new HelloServiceImpl();
    $processor = new HelloServiceProcessor($handler);

    $transport = new TBufferedTransport(new TPhpStream(TPhpStream::MODE_R | TPhpStream::MODE_W));

    $protocol = new TBinaryProtocol($transport, true, true);

    $transport->open();
    $processor->process($protocol, $protocol);
    $transport->close();

Now we have a fully functioning HelloService implementation on our web server. Looking at the code you can see that I filled in the 3 methods I described earlier to produce the expected results.

Writing the Client

Our HelloService implementation is up and running, now we have to create a client to interact with it. I’m going to demonstrate in Python because it requires the least effort to get it going. I created a file called client.py and filled it with the following contents:

    #!/usr/bin/env python

    import sys
    sys.path.append('gen-py/Hello')
    import HelloService
    from ttypes import *
    from thrift import Thrift
    from thrift.transport import TTransport
    from thrift.transport import THttpClient
    from thrift.protocol import TBinaryProtocol

    try:
        host = "localhost"
        port = "80"
        uri = "/thrift/hello"

        transport = THttpClient.THttpClient(host, port, uri)
        transport = TTransport.TBufferedTransport(transport)
        protocol = TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocol(transport)

        # create a new HelloService client
        client = HelloService.Client(protocol)

        # connect to the service
        transport.open()

        e = client.say_hello()
        print "say_hello() = %s" % e

        e = client.say_foreign_hello(HelloLanguage.SPANISH)
        print "say_foreign_hello(HelloLanguage.SPANISH) = %s" % e

        e = client.say_hello_repeat(10)
        print "say_hello_repeat(10) = %s" % e

        # close the connection
        transport.close()

    # catch any errors
    except Thrift.TException, tx:
            print "ERROR: %s" % (tx.message)

Using your service is as simple as creating a new client object, and calling the desired method. To run the client, we just execute the file and the following output is produced:

        ~/thrift/hello$ ./client.py
        say_hello() = Hello World!!!!!!!!
        say_foreign_hello(HelloLanguage.SPANISH) = Hola Mundo!
        say_hello_repeat(10) = ['0 Hello World!', '1 Hello World!', '2 Hello World!', '3 Hello World!', '4 Hello World!', '5 Hello World!', '6 Hello World!', '7 Hello World!', '8 Hello World!', '9 Hello World!']

You can see that the first 2 methods just returned strings, and the third returned a list with 10 strings in it (because we specified 10 in the method call).

Conclusion

The HelloService is an extremely simple example, but it demonstrates how easy it is to call remote functions from a simple client with very little coding required. I barely scratched the surface of what Thrift is capable of. To see an example of a very complex thrift service definition, I suggest you check out the Evernote API reference. They make full use of namespacing, custom types, complex structs and so on.

Thrift makes cross-platform development very simple as well. Want to create a HelloService android app? Just run the thrift code generator to generate the Java code, and now you have access to all the service methods and types in your app. Want to write a Mac OS X client? Just generate the cocoa code and you’re able to call your services really easily with very little effort.

Further reading

-   Apache Thrift Wiki - http://wiki.apache.org/thrift/
-   How to design a good API and why it matters (PDF) - http://lcsd05.cs.tamu.edu/slides/keynote.pdf
-   Evernote API: All Thrift declarations - http://www.evernote.com/about/developer/api/ref/
-   Apache Thrift: The missing guide - http://diwakergupta.github.com/thrift-missing-guide/thrift.pdf

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Length: 1306 words or 7 min Tags: coding, projects, php, python

question: What is Apache Thrift?

answer: Apache Thrift is a software framework for scalable cross-language services development.

question: How does Apache Thrift work?

answer: You define your object types, constants, enums, services, and methods in a .thrift file, and then proceed to let thrift generate the server and client code.

question: How does Thrift work with cross-platform development?

answer: Thrift makes cross-platform development easy, as it can generate code in whatever language you need.

question: How does the author of the article describe Thrift?

answer: The author describes Thrift as: "THRIFT ALLOWS YOU TO COMPLETELY IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE CLIENT AND SERVER ARE SEPARATED BY THE INTERNET."

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Apache Thrift, a software framework for scalable cross-language services development.


split: train

text:
BIGNA SAMUEL (born 9 November 1965) is a Vincentian middle distance runner who competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain,[1] and also competed in three IAAF World Championships.[2]

Career

Samuel competed at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in the 1500 metres and she came 8th in her heat and failed to advance to the final.[3] Eight years later at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics Samuel competed in two events, first up was the 3000 metres and she came 11th in her heat out of 14 runners,[4] then five days later she competed in the 1500 metres where again she finished 11th in her heat and failed to advance to the final.[5]

The following year Samuel was picked to represent Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 1500 metres, she ran in the first heat and after running a time of 4:33.41 she finished 13th out of 15 starters in her heat so not advancing to the semi-finals.[6]

In 1995 Samuel competed in her third IAAF World Championships in Athletics when she traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden, she again competed in the 1500 metres, although she finished 9th in her heat she was less than seconds behind from qualifying for the next round.[7]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

title: Bigna Samuel

question: Who is Bigna Samuel?

answer: Bigna Samuel is a middle distance runner who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and three IAAF World Championships.

question: What is the IAAF?

answer: The answer isn't stated in the article.

question: Which events did Bigna compete in during the 1991 Championships in Athletics?

answer: 1500 metres and 3000 metres.

question: For which country did Bigna compete?

answer: She represented Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Bigna Samuel is a middle distance runner who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics representing Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three IAAF World Championships.


text:
JOHN EASTON (16 February 1895[1] – 1967[2]) was a printer and philatelic author who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1960.

Works

Easton wrote _The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855-1901_ for which he received the Crawford Medal from the Royal Philatelic Society London in 1958, and with Arnold M. Strange he edited _Perkins Bacon Records_ based on the work of Percy de Worms.

The London printing works of De La Rue were destroyed on the night of 29 December 1940 during a World War II air raid.[3] The Day Books and Correspondence Books of the firm survived however and after the war the Royal Philatelic Society London was granted access to the records in order to compile a philatelic history of the first fifty years of De La Rue. John Easton, with assistance from the firm, converted those records into _The De la Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855 to 1901_ with each transaction at the firm described in the order in which it was entered in the company's books. His work has become an essential reference for philatelists interested in stamps of the nineteenth century.

His re-working of Melville's _Postage Stamps in the Making_, however, has been criticised for containing serious errors in describing processes.[4]

Selected publications

-   _British Postage Stamp Design_, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 1943. (4th Edition; 1946)
-   _Postage Stamps in the Making: rewritten and completed by John Easton_, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 1949. (A revision of Fred Melville's 1916 book of the same name)
-   _The Engraving Methods of De La Rue_, R.P.S.L., 1950.
-   _Perkins Bacon Records: extracted with a commentary by the Late Percy de Worms_, The Royal Philatelic Society, London, 1953. (Editor and writer of the introduction with Arnold M. Strange).
-   _The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855 to 1901_, Faber & Faber for the Royal Philatelic Society, London, 1958.
-   _The Postage Stamps of Great Britain, Part III: The Embossed and Surface Printed Issues of Queen Victoria, The Surface Printed issues of King Edward VII_, revised edition, The Royal Philatelic Society, London, 1964. (Editor with K.M. Beaumont)
-   _The Postage Stamps of Great Britain Part I: Introduction to the line-engraved issues, the imperforate line-engraved issues_, J.B. Seymour and Clive Gardiner-Hill, third edition, Royal Philatelic Society London, 1967. (Editor)
-   “The Perkins Bacon Engraving Books 1899 to 1935: Newfoundland.” in _The London Philatelist_, Vol.73, No.855, pp. 44–48. (and many similar articles published from 1963 to 1967)

[1] Bateman, Robert. _Stamp Collectors' Who's Who_. London: Stanley Gibbons Ltd., 1960, p.32.

[2] Profile at _Who Was Who in British Philately_ Retrieved 29 March 2011.

[3] Easton, John, _The De la Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855 to 1901_, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 1958, Introduction, p.xi.

[4] Presentation by Dr Geoffrey Eibl-Kaye FRPSL to The Royal Philatelic Society London 13 November 2008.

title: John Easton (philatelist)

question: Who was John Easton?

answer: He was a philatelic author.

question: Why did he receive the Crawford Medal?

answer: Easton received the Crawford Medel for writing The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855-1901.

question: What had happened to the printing works of De La Rue?

answer: They were destroyed during a World War II air raid.

question: Why has Easton's re-working of Melville's Postage Stamps in Making been criticized?

answer: His work has been criticized for containing serious errors in describing processes.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
John Easton was a philatelic author. He received the Crawford Medal for writing The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855-1901. The work had been destroyed in a World War II air raid.

Easton's work has become an essential reference for philatelists interested in stamps of the 19th century.

His re-work of Melville's "Postage Stamps in the Making" has been criticized for containing serious errors in describing processes.


text:
[Parking crime]

Source: Splash News / Splash News

Drivers out there understand that when it comes to the rules of the road, there are some things that are written and some things that are unwritten.

Usually, the unwritten rules are around courtesy, honesty and just being a decent human being.

But unfortunately, there are some evil-doers out there who will quickly toss _all_ rules out the window before they give up a good parking spot.

This was clear in a video and Twitter thread that went viral when two cars were trying to parallel park in Koreatown, L.A. According to ABC 7, a black sedan faced off against a silver car for a curb spot in the busy area.

The standoff continued for OVER AN HOUR.

Twitter user Mariah Flores peeped the whole scene from her apartment window, and she provided photos and videos to her Instagram Story and Twitter followers. Her coverage of the “event” went viral and soon, many folks were taking sides in the “Car War.” Check out the situation below…

The person driving the black sedan had apparently driven past the available parking space only by a few feet, which supposedly meant that they were about to back into the space.

But the silver car was like nah.

They pulled right up behind the black car, supposedly with the goal to PULL INTO the parking space.

Flores started recording the standoff around 6:30 p.m. and as time was nearing seven o’clock, the two vehicles were still facing off.

They were even causing disruption in traffic, but they could care less.

P   E   T   T   Y.

While the drama persisted, Flores continued to survey her followers, asking if they were “Team Black Car” or “Team Silver Car.” Things got pretty heated…

  #TeamSilverCar the black car missed their chance and now wants to act brand new like reversing is just accepted and has right of way…. bih plz

  — Lucky Strike (@me0wstic_) April 3, 2019

  Do you drive? The black car was parallel parking the correct way. You drive past the spot and back in.

  — Tori Nov (@tori_nov) April 3, 2019

  With a signal yes but the poster said they did a hard stop and tried to pull a fast one. If they had signaled beforehand then yes I would agree with you, but I’m just going off what the poster said.

  — Lucky Strike (@me0wstic_) April 3, 2019

Even celebs like CHRISSY TEIGEN jumped into the debate….

  black car wasn’t just driving then saw in his rear view mirror there was a spot behind him. He passed it on purpose. TO PARALLEL PARK. anyone saying silver car – U ARE A MEAN AND BAD DRIVER!

  — christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 3, 2019

Eventually, the whole ordeal stretched on for more than an hour. The sun went down and the two drivers were still sitting pretty in their car…waiting for that parking spot. Flores told ABC 7, “They were just on their phones, sitting there being patient. It was like a really beautiful display of patience.”

After a long saga, a miracle finally happened.

A car parked nearby pulled off, and two parking spots were now available for the black and silver car.

Both vehicles parked alongside the curb, and everything was beautiful.

However, the two drivers seemed to be quite comfortable sitting in their rides now because it took ANOTHER couple minutes for either driver to leave their car. Eventually, the driver from the silver car left their ride, and the intense episode came to an end.

Flores was so moved by the situation, she decided to leave a note for both cars.

On the silver car’s windshield, her note read “Your resilience is inspiring. Thank you for the hour & a half of entertainment. I’ll never forget you. I hope you & black car can be friends after this.”

On the black car’s windshield, her note read, “I was always on your team, I really thought you would win, but am happy with the way things turned out. Everyone on my Instagram said you deserved the spot.”

Luckily, the parking spot fiasco didn’t turn violent.

Only question is…would you have the saintly patience of the black and silver car?

Hit the next pages for more reactions on who’s #TeamBlackCar and who’s #TeamSilverCar!

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Next page »

Also On Global Grind:

question: Why did Flores leave notes for both the drivers?

answer: Flores had enjoyed an hour and a half of watching and filming the standoff between the two cars. She had also enjoyed the feedback from social media. She admired the resilience of the drivers and wanted them to know that they had kept her amused.

question: Why did the two drivers standoff?

answer: Two cars were vying for the same parking space in Koreatown LA. A person driving a black sedan faced off against another driving a silver sedan. the black sedan had passed the vacant parking space and meant to back into the space. The driver of the silver sedan planned at the same time to pull into the parking. Neither would let the other in.

question: Did the drivers know each other?


text:
This is my first story, so sorry if it's bad!

You guys have been asking for it. So here it is. My story.
On September 19, 1998, Kathy Logan gave birth to a girl named Amy. That girl was me. Or so I thought. Though I shouldn’t get to that until later, I don’t want to confuse you.
Under the care of Kathy and her husband Jake, I lived happily for 14 years. Nice house, always fed, given many things. I was very spoiled..
School was never a huge problem for me. It is a preppy private school. I wasn’t popular, but I wasn’t a loser either. I was kind of just average. I had a group of very close friends, and we were all very happy. We did some things I am not very proud of, like bullying the scholarships and playing pranks on teachers. If I had known what I have felt like in the past year, I would have stopped. I thought my friends and I stuck together through everything, no matter what.  I was wrong, because when I hit 15, everything changed.
This isn’t an average story about a girl who went to high school, and suddenly “her life changed, and everything was different.” This is a story about a girl who found out her whole life was a lie. One lie so big it had to be kept from everyone, because if it wasn’t, the world would know the real truth. So a lie turned into a secret. And this secret was one that could get anyone involved in a lot of trouble. One secret so big, yet so small, because only two people were in on it. And 2 can keep a secret if one of them is dead, right? My (fake) father certainly thought so.
Now I have to confess something. I told everyone reading this a lie. That’s right, remember the first paragraph where it said that Kathy Logan gave birth to me? Well that isn’t the truth. Kathy Logan didn’t exist until after I was born. And neither did Jake.
The truth is that my birth mother gave birth to me on September 19, 1998. But that was not her first birth. She had had not one, not two, not three, but five other births. And I would be the last one.
I was with my birth parents and siblings for six months. Six months of normality and of truth. Unfortunately that is the only amount of time I’ve ever had my life like that, and I barely remember it.
On October 14, 1999, my mother told me to go play outside. With me refusing, she put me out there saying that I needed fresh air, and I hadn’t had any that day when my siblings already had. We had a large backyard apparently, and in my anger I went to the far corner of the yard. It was from there I watched my house burn down.
I didn’t remember this until I was told it. I now remember sirens, and smoke, and I didn’t comprehend much more than that. But then I remember a man picking me up. And it wasn’t a firefighter. It was the man who started the fire, along with his wife. They adopted me as their own, renamed me Amy, and changed their names to Kathy and Jake Logan. That’s right, I don’t know my actual first or last name.
But as I said before, I was never told this. My life was a lie. I didn’t find out by somebody telling me. I found out by another death. The death of Kathy Logan.
Behind every death is a motive. I have mentioned two killings already. And those motives were the two most common motives out there. Money and disagreement.
I never knew why my (fake) parents had so much money. They didn’t seem to work that hard. I didn’t find it odd. But it was. And my “close” friends noticed.
My birth parents had money. I don’t know much about them, not even their names, but money is the one thing I do know about them. Because it was not our priceless pictures or our clothes that were saved from the fire. It was our money. And it was saved by – you guessed it – Jake and Kathy Logan.
So then why did Kathy die? I said disagreement but that doesn’t give much away. It was because Kathy, even though she had done some horrible things in her life, cared about me. Had some good in her. Jake on the other hand did not.
Kathy wanted to tell me. Everything. She thought I cared about them too much to tell. And if I hadn’t known that she was going to tell me, I might have told the police. But I have some forgiveness in me.
So Jake choked her to death. And covered his tracks perfectly by staging a hanging. Said there was too much pressure on her at work, and nobody suspected a thing. Because little did he know I was a witness. Of both of his killings. Another thing he didn’t know is that Kathy wrote a letter to me in the event that this would happen. She made sure Jake wouldn’t get it and it would go directly to me. And that is how I found out about what happened.
After that, everything changed. I became depressed, heartbroken, and I could barely look at my father. My friends also started to neglect me. I don’t know why, I didn’t tell them anything, but they started to think I was broke because I was depressed. I wasn’t rich, which apparently I had to be to be their friend. They left me at the time I needed them most. And so I got lonely.
I told another lie. The first line of this book was “You guys have been asking for it.” But there is no “you guys.” It’s just me, myself and I. And so I’m faced with the decision whether to do Kathy good and not tell on Jake, or tell on him and have the satisfaction of seeing him get locked up.
Last night I had a dream. I was playing chess with Jake. The pieces on my side were my birth family and Kathy, and me as the king. He took every one of my pieces, and put his piece in the perfect position to beat me. It felt like hours passed and I couldn’t decide what to do. He started to get impatient. Finally he smiled coldly and said, “Your move, Amy.”

title: Lies

question: What does the dream about the chess game represent?

answer: The dream represents the fact that Amy is the one who ultimately gets to decide on her next move: whether she reveals what she knows or keeps it a secret.

question: How could Kathy have avoided being killed?

answer: By not deciding to tell Amy the truth.


text:
 Average rating 4.15  ·

 ·  7,001 ratings  ·  442 reviews

 |

[]

Start your review of Dragon's Egg (Cheela, #1)

[Bradley]

 Classic Hardcore Hard-SF. :)

Really hardcore, even, written by an astrophysicist and wild with the worldbuilding. :) It's the concept that shines. Think about the extended growth of a people from hunters and gatherers all the way to a massively accomplished civilization in the space of a single novel and add a little wrinkle: this happens in the space of how long it takes us for apes to notice a neutron star passing through our Solar System, to put together an expedition, and then to throw scient

...more

[Manny]

 TIME: 06:32:46.1 GMT APRIL 1 1978

"I have researched it in every detail!" t'trummed Sky-Talker, as she waved her front manipulators impatiently. "For five greats of turns, I have done nothing else! You say that there is no way to communicate with the Slow Ones? Well, you are wrong!"

"But I still don't understand," answered Cautious-Careful. "This plan of putting a - what's it called, 'novel'? - in the mind of a Slow One... I'm sorry, it won't work! They will never understand our world. Our nucleo

...more

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

 [9/10]

Whose afraid of the 'science' part of the science-fiction equation? If you liked "The Martian" for the way Andy Weir communicates his enthusiasm for technology and science, get ready to (re)discover a hardcore classic of the genre. How hard? you might ask.

ALTHOUGH MANY TIMES HOTTER THAN THE SUN, THE NEUTRON STAR WAS NOT A HOT BALL OF GAS. INSTEAD, THE 67-BILLION-GEE GRAVITY FIELD OF THE STAR HAD COMPRESSED ITS BLAZING MATTER INTO A SOLID BALL WITH A THICK CRUST OF CLOSE-PACKED, NEUTRON-RI

...more

[Robert]

 Dragon's Egg has nothing to do with dragons -- the dragon's egg is a neutron star being visited by humans who are suspending themselves in a stationary orbit by means of a propulsion laser.

The laser light falls to and illuminates a small portion of the surface of the star. As it happens, the surface of the star has a "crust" of highly degenerate nuclear material, at densities and pressures that enable exotic nucleochemistry to occur -- nuclei with extended shape and structure that are "weakly" b

...more

[Liz Janet]

 Of all of the greatest science-fiction books written at the time of this novel, this one seems to be one that is not as popular, or as read as it should be. It is a novel that explores so much more than many popular series.
Now that that is out of the way let us get something else out of the way too, this book is neither about eggs, nor is it about dragons, it is about a scientific discovery of a race called the cheela who live in a neutron star, the surface gravity it has, leads for them to be ...more

[Manuel Antão]

 If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

High Gauss EM Field: "Dragon's Egg" by Robert L. Forward

(Original Review, 1991)

I just got around to reading DRAGON'S EGG. It is probably one of the best hard science fiction novels I've ever read. I thought the human characterization was weak in places (not enough introspection, lack of diversity of characters), but clearly Bob knows about the scientific establishment! Actually, I thought that the alien characters were better drawn.

[20

...more

[Toby]

 Once in a while, a novel appears that has everything unique to science fiction - a brilliant new idea, honest extrapolation of real science, a gripping story with fascinating alien characters, and the indefinable but essential sense of wonder. Not my words, an unattributed quote on the back on my paperback, but between that and Arthur C. Clarke's pull quote on the front, "Forward's book is a knockout. In science fiction there is only a handful of books that stretch the mind - and this is one of ...more

[Lucie Simone]

 I don't read much Sci-fi, but my brother bought me this book for my birthday, so I gave it a go. Aside from the setting being on a distant star and the main characters being tiny alien creatures, this book is really a study about the evolution of a species and its society. I was rapt by the developments these beings made as they progressed through their ultra short lifespans, creating religions, laws, philosophies and superstitions. A fascinating read!

[Adrian]

 On the one hand, here we've got an extremely interesting high-concept sci-fi story — quite "hard" sci-fi up until they get so advanced as to be incomprehensible — written by a real physicist and aerospace engineer.

On the other hand … well, it also _reads_ like it was written by a physicist, and not by an author. Every sentence is short and simple (unless it's detailing a scientific concept), to the point where I felt the need to check to make sure this wasn't meant to be a book for young children.

...more

[notgettingenough ]

 New Year Resolution
2018

Avoid Roger Penrose's 'I loved this' shelf.

I dare say all the positive reviews of this are right, but it's not for me.

[Daniel]

 My favorite aspect of this book is the time compression between the humans and the Cheela. It reminds me of a passage in The Indian in the Cupboard where "normal" sized Omri prepares a campfire for the tiny Indian with which to warm himself and to cook a tiny chunk of meat. As an eight-year-old child, I was bothered by this because I had a good idea that the tiny size of the fire meant that it would burn out quickly, e.g. it wouldn't burn all night long or for a period of time suitable for its i ...more

[Philipp]

 Humankind discovers a close neutron star where extreme gravity rules, and intelligent (small) life has developed. Since the star spins so fast, "time" on the star progresses faster for the lifeforms - about 15 human minutes are one of their generation. A large part of the book focuses on the developments on the planet, and how the Cheela develop from stone age-like warriors to space-travellers surpassing humans.

This is hard SF with a focus on physics, and by hard I mean _hard_ to the point of unr

...more

[Michael]

 Alright, here's the basic gist: intelligent life lives on a planet that rotates five times per second. Because of the speed of rotation, gravity is very strong, and the life forms come out very unusual. Meanwhile, we Earthlings have discovered this asteroid, and send a research team to check it out.

The thing is, not only do these creatures live on a quickly spinning planet, they LIVE faster than we do. They think faster, age faster, and develop faster. For each Earthling 15 minute period, a gen

...more

[Amun (Mohamed Elbadwihi)]

 _“GO IN A DIRECTION OTHERS DO NOT GO.”_

I'm ashamed to say that I'd never heard of Robert Forward before being introduced to this wonderful book. Huge thanks to my friend Cassy for dragging me out of that hole of ignorance!

Dragon’s Egg is the story of the cheela, a civilization of tiny beings that evolved on the surface of Egg, a neutron star.

The 67-billion-g surface gravity of Egg and its spin rate of over 1000 revolutions per second pose unique difficulties for the inhabitants of the star. We

...more

[Laura]

 This book is a fascinating, serious consideration of what life would be like on a neutron star. Given the gravity in such an environment turns everything into degenerate matter, molecules complex enough to support biology form by atomic nuclei sharing neutrons rather than electrons. Furthermore, the author postulates that in this high energy/density environment the creatures that have evolved here have a much higher rate of metabolism. One million times ours in fact - so that we get to see in ju ...more

[Steve Walker]

 A classic "hard" sf novel and a very unique first contact novel. Over 30 years old it is still an amazing read.

[Jared Millet]

 Oh that was painful, but I finished it for my book club, and for science. And make no mistake: the science in this book is mind-bendingly excellent. Robert L. Forward's ideas (life on a neutron star, contact between cultures who exist at different time-scales, etc) are the kind of top-notch speculation that makes science fiction great.

But his writing is dreadful beyond belief.

I have never come across a writer in such desperate need of a co-author. Seriously, this book reads as if it were written

...more

[Andrej Karpathy]

 This book must absolutely be commended for its inventiveness, while staying within the limits of the scientifically plausible. Overall a very enjoyable hard scifi read, but if I had to critique some things, it would be: 1) the aliens are slightly annoyingly too human-like (would have appreciated an attempt at something more perplexing / foreign), 2) some parts of the book drag on for a very long time without being interesting (e.g. the various escapades of the cheela that take up a large portion ...more

[David]

 I read this book probably 20 years ago (funny how I keep remembering books I read a long time ago as I try to catalog them all on Goodreads). I can't say I remember the plot in detail, but it was a really fascinating hard SF novel about intelligent life forms who live on the surface of a star. They were very alien but still believable -- Robert L. Forward did a great job of describing their environment and how the incredible heat and gravity affected them. Because of the gravitational effects, t ...more

[Kaila]

 This was such a surprise! One of the major benefits of being in a book club - I read books I would never have picked up on my own. I've already recommended it to a few people.

The alien society was a little too "human" for my taste, but the concept was intriguing and executed perfectly. At one point a human on the spaceship, Amalita, says something like "These 15 minute friendships really do a number on the emotions." And they really do. Apparently, the humans in this future have never heard of t

...more

[Gendou]

 This is "hard" science fiction, my favorite kind.
The plot is driven by believable, yet imaginative, consequences of physical laws.
What's important to me in an SF novel is that things make sense.
I love it when I get the feeling that the story is how it _has to be_.
This book is a perfect example.
Astrophysics sets the scene, and the characters do the discovering along side the reader.
It's so much fun!

[Barry]

 Thank you Mr. Forward for creating this an amazing world. The Dragon's Egg, a dense neutron star with a 20-km radius, whose gravity is 6.7 billion G. Imagine how life might evolve in an extreme environment like that. That is the essence of this book : to imagine how life might evolve in the Dragon's Egg and how it might interact with human contact.

The events depicted in this book is plausible. I can imagine the Cheela to be how they are in this book. I can imagine how they evolve and how they i

...more

[Anny]

 Discovery of a neutron star and discovery of alien that is unique in a very extreme way. Is it possible for life to form in an environment with a few BILLION Gs? It is apparently. I must say I'm very impressed by the author's creativity.

[Alexander Temerev]

 A stereotypical “hard sci-fi”, more interesting for the ideas and the exploration of physics than the plot and its progression. Somewhat flat, but it is this book that defined the genre, so I was happy to read it.

[Neil Fleck]

 Maybe the best hard scifi I've ever read. Starts off a bit slow, but the crazy, well thought out detail of the alien world is downright exhilarating by the end.

[Chintogtokh]

 Great concept but the clunky writing and a gloss over of how exactly human language could be deciphered irks me just a bit.

[Rindis]

 Dragon's Egg is a story assembled out of a few disparate parts. There's the formation of a neutron star from a supernova, the discovery of said star by astronomers in 2020, an expedition to said star... and then there's what's happening on the surface of the neutron star, which proceeds through several different arcs.

That last, of course, is where the main imaginative elements of the novel come from. Incredibly, this is an exercise in hard SF, with the main speculative part dealing with the idea

...more

[Elgin]

 This book really blew me away. It is one of the most imaginative and amazing stories I have read. Furthermore, Forward is a scientist with JPL so his science in the story is right on. His follow up, Star Quake was also pretty good, but nothing he wrote after that did much for me.

[Ami Iida]

 Reading twice, finally it's intriguing!

[Tristan]

_This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here._

question: What book is being reviewed?

answer: Dragon's Egg.

question: What series is the book part of?

answer: Cheela.

question: What number in the series is the book?

answer: It's the first book in the series.

question: What is the Dragon's Egg?

answer: It's a neutron star being visited by humans.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text is a set of reviews for the science fiction novel "Dragon's Egg" about a neutron star and the humans who explore it.


text:
Before actor John Boyega was the face of the newest _Star Wars_ film, he was the face of college-bound teens in stock photos for Getty Images.

London-based photographer Chris Schmidt, who took the pictures, posted a link to one on Facebook last week and marveled at how far his former model had come.

Another image in the collection appears in an ad for career services at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, according to an image uploaded Thursday to the photo-sharing site Imgur by a user who claims to attend the school. (As one Redditor joked, “This advertisement is right up there, it is of the highest order. You might even say _the first order,_” referring to the group Boyega’s _Force Awakens_ character defects from to join the Resistance.)

On Twitter, the actor chimed in on the news, reported by _Mashable_ and _The Huffington Post,_ and said he spent the money he earned from the shoot on a new pair of sneakers:

Here are the images featuring Boyega from the collection “further education”:

A group of 5 late-teenage school friends in a line with bright smiles and eye contact for the camera.

Getty Images

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WRITE TO Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com.

question: Who is John Boyega?

answer: An actor.

question: What is he in?

answer: Star Wars.

question: How did the actor say he spent his money from acting and modeling jobs?

answer: Buying a new pair of sneakers.

question: What has he allegedly modeled in?

answer: A stock image that ended up being used for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: John Boyega, the actor known most recently for his character in the newest Star Wars films, has a past in modeling. Reddit users have identified him in stock images used for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. On Twitter, Boyega said he used the money from that shoot to buy sneakers.


text:
The SHIRE OF WOONGARRA was a local government area located to the south and east of the regional city of Bundaberg. The shire, administered from Bundaberg itself, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1885 until 1994, when it amalgamated with Gooburrum to form the Shire of Burnett.

History

[Map of Barolin Division and adjacent local government areas, March 1902. Legend: Bundaberg Municipality (1), Woongarra Division (19)] The Barolin Division was established on 11 November 1879 under the _Divisional Boards Act 1879_.[1] On 30 October 1885, part of Barolin Division was separated to create Woongarra Division to serve the region south of the Burnett River.[2][3][4]

With the passage of the _Local Authorities Act 1902_, Woongarra Division became the Shire of Woongarra on 31 March 1903,[5] while Barolin Division became the Shire of Barolin.[6]

In 1909, the Woongarra Shire had an area of 35½ square miles, with a population of 3200, with 736 ratepayers and a capital value of properties totalling £206,736. The rates collected in 1908 totalled £2378, and the loan indebtedness is £4956 9s 9d.[7]

On 21 December 1917, the Shire of Barolin was dissolved and its area was split between the City of Bundaberg and the Shire of Woongarra.[8][9]

[Barolin Chambers, Woongarra Shire Office, 1928 (built in 1913)] The Shire's offices were located in 9 Barolin Street, Bundaberg.

On 21 November 1991, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, created two years earlier, produced its second report, and recommended that local government boundaries in the Bundaberg area be rationalised. The _Local Government (Bundaberg and Burnett) Regulation 1993_ was gazetted on 17 December 1993, and on 30 March 1994, the Shire of Woongarra was amalgamated with the Shire of Gooburrum to form the Shire of Burnett.

Towns and localities

-   Alloway
-   Ashfield
-   Avoca
-   Bargara
-   Branyan
-   Burnett Heads
-   Calavos
-   Coonarr
-   Coral Cove
-   Electra
-   Elliott
-   Elliott Heads
-   Givelda
-   Innes Park
-   Kalkie
-   Kensington
-   Kepnock
-   Kinkuna
-   Millbank
-   Mon Repos
-   Pine Creek
-   Port of Bundaberg
-   Qunaba
-   Rubyanna
-   South Bingera
-   Thabeban
-   Windermere
-   Woongarra

Population

  Year   Population
  ------ ------------
  1921   2,513
  1933   3,287
  1947   3,345
  1954   3,704
  1961   4,149
  1966   4,934
  1971   5,150
  1976   8,791
  1981   9,865
  1986   11,915
  1991   16,491

Chairmen

-   1885–1886 John Cran [10][11]
-   1887-1889: J. Y. Walker [12]
-   1890–1893 John Cran (again)[13]
-   1894–1895 T. Williams [14]
-   1897: John Cran (again)[15]
-   1898: G. A. Waite [16]
-   1905: W. J. Clements[17]
-   1927: Robert Oswald Nowell Strathdee [18]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9] _Queensland Government Gazette_, 21 December 1917, Vol. 109, p.2029.

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

title: Shire of Woongarra

question: What does the text say about the area in the 1990s?

answer: In 1991, the population of the Shire of Woongarra was 16,491. In the same year, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission produced its second report, which recommended that the local government boundaries in the Bundaberg area be rationalized. The Local Government (Bundaberg and Burnett) Regulation 1993 was gazetted in 1993, and in 1994, the Shire of Woongarra was amalgamated with the Shire of Gooburrum to form the Shire of Burnett.


text:
The MONTANA FREEMEN was an anti-government militant “Christian Patriot movement” based outside the town of Jordan, Montana, United States. The members of the group referred to their land as “Justus Township” and had declared themselves no longer under the authority of any outside government. They became the center of public attention in 1996 when they engaged in a prolonged armed standoff with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Philosophy

The Montana Freemen espoused belief in the doctrine of individual sovereignty and rejected the authority of the federal government of the United States. On March 2, 1995, William Stanton, a Garfield County rancher, became the first Montana resident ever convicted of terrorism; District Judge Kenneth Wilson sentenced Stanton to 10 years in prison (the maximum penalty) for using violence for political ends. The following day, four armed men who styled themselves the “Garfield County Freemen” were arrested when they entered the Musselshell County Courthouse and tried to file papers protesting the seizure of Rodney Skurdal's house by the Internal Revenue Service.[1]

Liens

The Freemen, led by LeRoy M. Schweitzer,[2] used _inter alia_ _Anderson on the Uniform Commercial Code_ and _Bankers Handbook_ to draw notices of lien against public officials. The liens were then allegedly sold to generate equity to fund an effort to make a “firm offer to pay off the national debt.” The Freemen claimed that the liens conformed to the Uniform Commercial Code and that their township's court had an interest in a tort claim for damages incurred by the named public officials for violations of their oaths of office. They also claimed that support of the corporate credit system was an unconstitutional and corrupt act which has throughout the last half of the twentieth century “...[deprived the majority of Americans] of their property until [their] posterity wakes up homeless...”, a paraphrased quotation attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

Bank fraud

The Freemen were known to produce their own very realistic counterfeit checks and money orders, sometimes ordering items and deliberately overpaying so they could demand refunds. The president of one bank reported that over an 18-month period his bank received two to five complaints a week about Freemen checks. In 1995, members wrote a fraudulent check to try to purchase $1.4 million worth of firearms, ammunition, and bulletproof vests.[3]

Standoff

In late 1994, foreclosure proceedings were initiated against the farm that contained Justus Township. The Freemen refused to be evicted from the land. They had also conducted their own mock trials of numerous public officials, and issued their own writ of execution against a federal judge. The FBI investigated the group and initiated a sting operation aimed at one of the Freemen's financial programs, which led to the arrest of two members of the group in March 1996. The FBI also had warrants for eight other persons suspected to be in the farm, but before they were able to arrest them an armed confrontation developed and the FBI withdrew to a safe distance to avoid violence. The similar 1993 standoff in Waco, Texas involving the Branch Davidians, as well as the 1992 incident between the Weaver family and the FBI at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, were still fresh in the public mind, and the FBI was extremely cautious and wanted to prevent a recurrence of those violent events.[4] After 81 days of negotiations, the Freemen surrendered to authorities on June 14, 1996.[5]

Aftermath

LeRoy Schweitzer was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, false claims to the IRS, interstate transportation of stolen property, threats against public officials, armed robbery of a television news crew, and firearms violations. He received a 22-year sentence for 25 convictions in a South Carolina federal prison. After Ervin Elbert Hurlbert and Donald Little, who identified themselves as “Montana Marshals”, attempted to free Schweitzer from the prison, he was moved to the Administrative Maximum (ADX) facility at the Florence Federal Correctional Complex at Florence, Colorado, in 2006.[6][7] Schweitzer died, aged 73, in ADX Florence on September 20, 2011.[8][9]

Members of the Montana Freemen and their sentences

-   LeRoy M. Schweitzer – 22 years. Died in federal prison on September 20, 2011, of natural causes, at age 73 years.[10]
-   Emmett Clark – Pled guilty[11] and sentenced to time served plus 3 years under supervision.[12]
-   Richard Clark – 12 years.[13]
-   James Hance – 5 years, 7 months.[14]
-   Lavon T. Hanson – Pled guilty under plea bargain and sentenced to 1 year, 1 day.[15]
-   Dana Dudley Landers – Pled guilty[16] and sentenced to 1 year, 9 months with credit for 2 years, 3 months already served.
-   Russell Dean Landers – 11 years, 3 months; later extended an additional 15 years (see below).[17]
-   Daniel E. Peterson – 15 years (see below).[18]

On April 7, 2008, Russell Dean Landers had his sentence extended by 15 years for attempting to extort his release from prison. He and two other inmates at the federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma had demanded millions of dollars from officials for the use of their names, which they claimed were “copyrighted”. They were found guilty of “conspiring to impede the duties of federal prison officials and extortion in (their) efforts to gain release from prison by making financial demands on prison staff and attempting to seize their property.”[19][20][21]

On April 6, 2010, Daniel E. Petersen was sentenced to additional time for filing bogus liens from prison against three federal judges. One of the judges targeted was the judge who sentenced Petersen to prison originally. Petersen was sentenced in 1996 to 15 years. He was convicted on 19 of 20 counts, which included bank fraud and armed robbery. While serving his sentence in a federal prison in Minnesota, Petersen devised a scheme in which to retaliate against three judges in his case. Federal prosecutors, after investigating, found that Petersen invented a company that supposedly held assets that included a $100 trillion default judgment against the United States. He then sold “shares” of the phony company to fellow inmates and others. He claimed these shares were backed by “redemption certificates” to be redeemed when the judgment was collected. The judgment he referred to came from a self-created court, after former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declined to respond to his demands. He was demanding $100 trillion, as well as $1 billion per day in interest for unlawfully confining him. Petersen followed up by filing liens against property owned by the three federal judges, as well as by offering bounties for the arrest of the same judges. The purpose was to entice someone to bring the three judges to Minnesota in order to respond to his liens.[22]

Scott Roeder, convicted for the 2009 murder of physician and abortion provider George Tiller,[23] was also reportedly involved with the Freemen.[24]

A 2011 National Public Radio report claimed that some of the people associated with the Montana Freemen were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit.[25]

[1]

[2] See generally _United States v. Hanzlicek_, 187 F.3d 1228 (10th Cir. 1999), at 1.

[3] Tom Kenworthy and Serge F. Kovaleski “`Freemen' Finally Taxed the Patience of Federal Government”. _Washington Post_. March 31, 1996.

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8] Leroy M. Schweitzer, prisoner number 02144-046, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Dep't of Justice, at [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Leroy&Middle=&LastName=Schweitzer&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=98&y=22].

[9] Former head of anti-government group found dead in Supermax prison cell, at 2.

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13] Montana Freemen leaders receive long prison sentences _Seattle Times March 17, 1999_

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25] DATA & GRAPHICS: Population Of The Communications Management Units, Margot Williams and Alyson Hurt, NPR, 3-3-11, retrieved 2011 03 04 from npr.org

title: Montana Freemen

question: In brief, explain why numerous Montana Freemen have been convicted of various offences?

answer: The Freemen's philosophy rejects the authority of the US federal government, and they appear to operate under the belief that they can oppose or undermine the government by counterfeiting and conducting armed robbery. They also engage in armed conflict with authorities.


text:
[]

SURINDER SINGH (born 12 July 1973) is a former Indian football player and was last the head coach of Indian I-League side Minerva Punjab.

Coaching career

Born in Chandigarh, Singh began his coaching with the All India Football Federation, working with the national federation's various youth teams.[1] Prior to working with the AIFF, Singh was head coach of the St. Stephen's Football Academy for 16 years, working with future India internationals such as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sandesh Jhingan, Anirudh Thapa, Mohammad Sajid Dhot, and Johny Chand Singh.[2] On 25 December 2011, it was announced that Singh would become the assistant coach of Pailan Arrows of the I-League.[3]

In 2015, Singh became the head coach of Minerva Punjab during the I-League 2nd Division campaign.[4] He led Minerva Punjab to second place in the league, missing promotion over Dempo.[5] In December 2016, it was announced that Minerva Punjab would gain direct-entry into the I-League and that Singh would remain head coach.[6]

After the 2016–17 season, Singh was relived of his duties as head coach. 2017-19 Surinder Singh was appointed as Technical Director of Minerva FC.[7]

Statistics

Managerial statistics

.

  Team             From   To   Record
  ---------------- ------ ---- -------- -------
  G                W      D    L
  Minerva Punjab
  Total

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

title: Surinder Singh (footballer)

question: What is Singh's job?

answer: He is a former Indian football player and was last the head coach of Indian I-League side Minerva Punjab.

question: Where was Singh born?

answer: He was born in Chandigarh.

question: What happened in the 2016-17 season?

answer: It was announced that Singh would become the assistant coach of Pailan Arrows of the I-League

question: What happened on 25 December 2011?

answer: Singh was relieved of his duties as head coach of Minerva Punjab

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses Surinder Singh and his coaching career. He is a former Indian football player and was last the head coach of Indian I-League side Minerva Punjab.


text:
"Don't think about it too much. Don't think about anything too much."

He concentrated on the man that had two lines crossed over him. The useless chatter from his partner was beginning to make him lose concentration.

"If you think about things too much, you'll begin to realize that none of them really matter. Just shoot the fucker and be done with it."

He adjusted his scope to get a closer image of the target.

"Ya know what I'm sayin'? Things really don't have any inherent meaning do they? It all really comes down ta some value system or another."

He grunted an acknowledgement hoping that would shut his assistant up. It didn't.

"Like this lil fuck right here that you're about ta end, his life is ultimately meaningless. So is mine I spose. It isn't ta me though, because I value it, ya know?"

"All that matters to me at this point is that I get paid," he responded, again hoping this response would work out better than previous efforts.

"See right there, his life does have value ta ya, as long as it ends. You get paid. Is that really wrong? Ya only looking out for yaself."

"Right, don't think about the human life I'm about to end, its me or them, yadda yadda its my only choice and I have to look out for myself. Got it. Now shut up."

"Sorry boss, just doin some philosophizin before we end this poor fucks life. That makes me wonder, do ya think we only philosophize to justify our own actions?"

"I. Don't. Know. Just hand me my cell." His assistant began rummaging through the rucksack. It still didn't shut him up.

"Like this philosophy of just lookin out for myself, maybe thats not the best thing ta live by and its just me making sense of why I do the things I do."

"Sure." He had given up trying to get him to be quiet.

"Heres the celly, call it in I spose. But wait justa minute, maybe it is the right thing and I'm just goin bout it the wrong kinda way."

"What could you possibly mean by that?" He had his contacts number on speed dial but he held off to hear his assistants response.

"Like maybe it's in my best interest ta not be killin people. Even if I don't have any other decent livin, it'd be better than prison or worse. Maybe I am just committing myself ta an endless cycle of always lookin over my shoulder when I could escape it."

"But everything is meaningless so it doesn't matter." How, he thought, how was he able to suck me into this?

"Things are not and are meaningless at the same time, its all about the value system. Why not value meaning then? Ya know? Live and let live and not be caught up in an endless cycle and give meaning to things that are in my self interest."

He dialed. The voice on the other end was annoyed. "You're late," it said. "I know." "It doesn't matter you still have time, send me the picture." He pressed send.

"So that leads me to believe morals are just some kinda value system ya know?"

"Yeah, gotchya." His concentration moved back to the target. The voice buzzed through his cellphone, "Thats him, you're clear. Do it and get out."

He didn't hesitate, he squeezed the trigger without thinking. He might as well have shot a bag of lifeless money. Actually that would be worse, at least the cash could be spent.

His assistant jumped not ready for the sound. "Morals..." he repeated trailing off.

He got up from his crouched position, leaned over his assistant and pressed a handgun to his forehead.

"You shouldn't think about things too much," he said and he pulled the trigger.

title: [MF] First Short Story Feedback Would Be Nice

question: What does the story say about the protagonist's relationship with his assistant?

answer: The protagonist and his assistant are about to shoot someone, and the assistant is talking all the time, making the protagonist losing concentration. The protagonist is trying to quiet the assistant down, but he is keeping philosophizing about the meaning of life. Finally, the protagonist gives up trying to get his assistant to be quiet and kills him.

question: What does the story about the man the protagonist and his assistant kill?


text:
The sheets were warm underneath as December seeped through the cracks between the windows and walls. The lights within their room shone bright and they wore clothes this night, these lovers, and were as sober as children should be. There were milk and cookies beneath the polaroid, and the radio sat silent.

Adam, in his pajamas, sat waiting, a stack of pillows supporting his back as Kate slid upon the bed. She crossed her legs under her, pulled up her hair and tied it.

“Come now, get to it,” he said, eager.

“Do be patient.” She whipped out a book from behind her, and Adam made himself comfortable.

Taking out the bookmark, she picked up where she had left of.

Adam was read to of the boy who wouldn’t grow up. They flew, these children; their thoughts much as what he felt now. Adam had read this story before. He would not pass up, however, how she looked when she read. He liked her gesturing and intoning during the exciting bits; her melodramatic whispering and her sudden sullen air during the sad parts. He dipped a cookie in milk as she told him of the ticking, and the clock ingested.

She would, at times, act out scenes she knew well with fervor and passion — he thought her pretty when she did. It was a sight he very liked to behold, that, and she does not notice when she does it.

I have a place where dreams are born
And time is never planned.
It’s not on any chart;
You must find it with your heart,
Never Never Land.

Kate held the book in one hand as she moved and swayed, telling the story. She was entirely aware of Adam and his knowledge of this story. How could he not? Kate had often badgered and blustered him to bury his face between the pages of her favorite books. She would not pass up, however, how he looked when he was read to. She liked how his jaw hung slightly open as she gestured and intoned during the exciting bits; how he edged ever so slightly closer as she whispered melodramatically, with a sudden sullen air, during the sad parts. He would fold his toes and tug his legs towards him as she spoke.

She would see him thoroughly crestfallen as Wendy implored not to be forgotten — she thought him adorable when he did. It was a sight she very liked to behold, that, and he does not notice when he does it.

“You won’t forget me, will you Peter, before spring cleaning time comes?”

She slipped beside him as he placed the book beside the empty plate of cookies.

“Well, that’s enough adventures for one night.” He placed an arm around her.

Oh, I think we can afford one more before we go to bed,” she said, looking up at him.

He grinned. “Do tell.”

“This adventure I have in mind, it shall invite a need of your lips, and mine, of course. A task too great, I think — even for one such as you.”

“Really now? I will have to be very courageous then.”

“That, you would. But, before this grand undertaking of ours,” she said, pushing herself off of him. “You must first brave the frigid air, journey to a far, far away land, and tidy those teeth. Cookie bits plague them.”

He laughed. “And then the adventure?”

“An awfully big one, I imagine,” she said, amused by him.

He flew, her Adam, towards the sink and was swift in his return. He stood there, his eyes on her.

“Hello there,” he began, as he sat on the bed. “Now there’s a sight to make me fly.”

“Oh, you’ll do nothing of that sort,” she said, pulling him in. “I’d rather like you to stay here, and I’d rather you’d stay with me tonight.”

She had him sit in front of her; she held his face in her hands and said, “You won’t leave me, will you Adam, before spring cleaning time comes?” Her eyes met his.

“Leave you at spring? We don’t have spring where we live, Kate.”

She smiled. “Precisely.”

Of course Adam promised; and then he flew — or, at least, that was what he felt, as her lips met his.

title: Adam & Kate #019

question: Who are the lovers?

answer: Adam and Kate

question: Where and when is this all happening?

answer: December, somewhere where spring (the season) doesn't come.

question: What story or book are they reading?

answer: Peter Pan

question: Can Adam really fly?

answer: No

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: On a December night, lovers Adam and Kate pretend to be children, eating cookies, drinking milk, and enjoying a bedtime story. Kate reads to Adam "Peter Pan," a book he knows well and loves. Adam likes how Kate reads to him, acting out the scenes with a passion, and she loves his expressions, especially when he looks crestfallen towards the end of the story where Wendy asks Peter not to forget her before spring cleaning time comes. When the story ends, they make love, and Adam feels like he's flying like Peter when their lips meet.


text:
Published
    31 December 2012

A BUSINESS LOBBY GROUP HAS UNVEILED PLANS FOR £200M CARDIFF "CROSSRAIL" THAT IT SAYS IS NEEDED TO HELP THE CITY COPE WITH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

Metro Consortium says tram-trains which run on both roads and rails are the way ahead after the planned electrification of south Wales' rail lines.

It proposes crossrails east-west from St Mellons to the M4 at Creigiau and north-south from the M4 to the bay.

Lobbyist Mark Barry said: "Transport is the backbone of regional development."

In July this year, the UK government confirmed it would extend the planned electrification of the south Wales main line to Cardiff to Swansea and the south Wales valleys.

Mr Barry said the electrification work, expected to start sometime between 2014 and 2019, would make Cardiff easier to reach from outside than it would be to travel across it by rail.

He suggests a network of continental-style tram-trains as part of a "Cardiff crossrail".

It would mean new stations places like Ely Bridge, St Mellons, Crwys Rd, Wedal Road [for University Hospital of Wales], Rover Way, Splott and Waterhall, phased over 10 years.

The scheme would attract new rail customers and encourage economic regeneration locally, bringing a higher density of mixed-used growth in those areas, he said.

A crossrail running from St Mellons to junction 33 on the M4 would use the electrified relief lines east of Cardiff Central railway station, the city line and the reinstatement of the old track from Fairwater to Creigiau.

A north-south crossrail would run from junction 32 of the M4 on the Coryton line to the bay. There would be an interchange with the east-west line at Callaghan Square.

Mr Barry said: "There are major development sites in the city, existing and new, which are not connected to the regional rail network.

"It's not a really clever, coherent strategy where most of your major sites do not connect to your regional transport network.

"Transport is not the be-all and end-all. It should be an enabler of development at key locations."

He said improving transport connections within Cardiff would also help unleash economic growth potential across the region as more towns and businesses become accessible by the city's growing population.

He said: "By better connecting Cardiff, you are also increasing the travel-to-work area of places like Newport, Pontypridd, and Caerphilly, which will allow them to play a more prominent regional role."

'Metro' rail network

His report states: "Whist this project is costly [perhaps £150m-£200m] it is affordable and can be delivered incrementally.

"For example, when one considers that 40,000 new homes in Cardiff could secure a sales value of £6bn (at £150k per residence) then it would not appear unreasonable or unrealistic to secure a proportion of this value to contribute to the overall costs of the Cardiff Crossrail project."

Mr Barry is an advisor for Metro Consortium, a group of business leaders, employers and developers, including Cardiff Business Partnership.

Last year the consortium called for a £2.5bn over 10 years to connect Cardiff, Newport and the valleys with a "metro"-style rail network.

Mr Barry's proposals are backed by Cardiff South and Penarth AM Vaughan Gething, chair of the assembly's cross-party group on rail.

-   -   -   -   -

question: Where is the article set?

answer: The UK.

question: What is one thing lobbyist Mark Barry said?

answer: "Transport is the backbone of regional development."

question: How much will the Cardiff crossrail cost?

answer: 200 million pounds.

question: When was the article published?

answer: 31 December 2012.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The article is about new investment in Wales. There is a new metro line coming into Cardiff.


text:
TRINOMA (stylized as TRINOMA, abbreviated from the first syllables of each word of “Triangle North of Manila”[1]) is a large shopping mall in Quezon City, Philippines, owned by property development firm Ayala Land. Opened in 2007, the mall is located on the side of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, east of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in Quezon City, giving significant market competition to the nearby SM City North EDSA as one of the largest malls in Metro Manila.[2] It is also one of two malls that will be serving Ayala Land's Vertis North township, which is located beside the mall, along with a new lifestyle block mall Ayala Malls Vertis North, similar to Greenbelt in Makati, which was also developed by Ayala Malls.

History

The site of Trinoma used to be the location of “People's Park”, a flea market built by former Mayor Brigido R. Simon, Jr. as a livelihood project for the City's nearby informal settlers (the actual market's size, though, only covered what is now Trinoma's public transportation terminal and outdoor pay parking). The park was opened at the time of Corazon Aquino's presidency. It was closed in 1995 by then-Mayor Ismael A. Mathay, Jr. to give way for the construction of the Line 3 depot to service commuters along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).

The Line 3 consortium composed of Fil-Estate Holdings and Ayala Land decided to make the depot underground rather than a regular depot similar to Line 1 due to its commercial viability as a shopping mall. When the Line 3 began operations on December 1999, the construction of the mall was not immediately undertaken due to lack of funding. The North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation was incorporated in 2001 with Fil-Estate spearheading the development and Ayala Land as minority stockholder.[3]

From December 1999 to December 2004, the depot was idle space until an agreement was signed between Ayala Land and the Fil-Estate Group with the former buying the latter's 30.89% stake in the North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation for P600.1 million, and in exchange a land situated along Ayala Avenue, Makati and other shares.[4][5]

Ayala Land started constructing Trinoma on June 2005 with the retail development initially known as the North Triangle Commercial Center[6] or North Triangle Mall.[7] The name of the mall was later changed to “Trinoma” inspired by the redevelopment of industrial district TriBeCa.

Trinoma was officially launched in a private ceremony on April 25, 2007. It was inaugurated by officials of Ayala Land, and authorities of Quezon City, led by then-Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Jr..[8]

The soft opening was originally slated for May 3, 2007, but was delayed by structural elements that were yet to be finished. It finally opened to the public on its soft opening on May 16, 2007. The 3.5 billion peso mall was opened on its grand opening on October 16, 2007 by then president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then vice president, Noli de Castro.

The mall was the first building constructed in the 62.3 hectare Triangle Exchange district of Triangle Park and of Ayala Land's Vertis North project. Vertis North is within the 250.6-hectare Quezon City Central Business District (also known as Triangle Park) to redevelop the areas of North Triangle (North Avenue, EDSA, Quezon Avenue), East Triangle (East Avenue, EDSA, Quezon Avenue) and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) property (North Avenue).[9]

The mall's North Avenue Wing will be expanded in line with the construction of the North Avenue Grand Central Station, which will soon connect LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7, and the Metro Manila Subway.

Facilities

[The Trinoma facade from North Avenue] Trinoma is located at the corner of EDSA and North Avenue in Quezon City. Located in “North Triangle”, the mall is bound by three major thoroughfares, namely, North Avenue, EDSA and Mindanao Avenue Extension. Located on a 20-hectare parcel of land, Trinoma has a gross leasable area of 195,000 square meters, which includes the mall's major anchor, The Landmark Supermarket and Department Store.

It is directly connected to the North Avenue MRT Station as the mall itself sits atop the Line 3 Depot. It will be also be connected to the future North Avenue Grand Central Station. A pedestrian overpass has also been constructed to connect with SM City North EDSA.

The mall is composed of four major levels with two minor ones on ground and on grade. The mall is characterized by alfresco areas punctuated with water features and landscaping. These water features flow into pools at the Trinoma Park, a green area that sits atop the mall. The Trinoma Park is a two-level park spanning a total of one hectare. It is home to an array of restaurants offering varied cuisines. The Park also houses a stage, surrounded by pools of water, for performances and shows. The Trinoma Park is linked to the mall's 3rd level. The mall has two parking buildings, North Ave Parking Building and Mindanao Parking Building. Parking is also available in open areas.

Incidents

-   On March 13, 2017, a fire broke out in TriNoma Mall in Quezon City on Monday afternoon. The fire was first reported at around 2:25 p.m. and was raised to 2nd alarm as of 2:34 pm, according to an update by TxtFire Philippines. FO1 Joan De Luna of the Tandang Sora fire substation said the fire reportedly started at an appliance warehouse near the MRT station.

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title: Trinoma

question: What sorts of political climates might lead to a bazaar or marketplace's being developed into a more commercial store setting?

answer: There might be a focus on stronger government with less nuanced mandates that result in imposing tighter regulations on commerce and squeeze out independent vendors who cannot meet standards.

question: How do you know who pulled the strings and allowed this development to happen?

answer: Follow the money-whoever paid for it and has a stronghold on the country's financial prospectus has a greater say.

question: What sorts of events are not mentioned in this article, but could be held at this shopping mall?

answer: With stages and outdoor space, one could surmise that you could have concerts and meet-and-greets with popstars.

question: What is a new source of revenue that has to do with the location of this mall center?

answer: Since new lines were added, the government stands to make more money on commuters' traveling to the new mall.


text:
In molecular biology, MOBIDB[1][2][3] is a curated biological database designed to offer a centralized resource for annotations of intrinsic protein disorder. Protein disorder is a structural feature characterizing a large number of proteins with prominent members known as intrinsically unstructured (or disordered) proteins. The database features three levels of annotation: manually curated, indirect and predicted. By combining different data sources of protein disorder into a consensus annotation, MobiDB aims at giving the best possible picture of the “disorder landscape” of a given protein of interest.

MobiDB data sources

Curated data and additional annotation

Curated data for MobiDB is obtained from DisProt[4] database giving information and disorder annotation manually extracted from literature. In order to complement disorder annotation, MobiDB features additional annotations from external sources:

-   UniProt: Annotations from the UniProt database include organism, subcellular location, tissue specificity, function, relevant sites, relevant regions, post-translational modifications, and linear motifs.
-   Pfam: protein domain annotations are displayed in graphical form and are link-enabled, allowing the user to visit the corresponding Pfam page for further information.
-   PDB: Secondary structure is extracted from the PDB whenever available, and displayed in graphical form and in 3D.
-   STRING: Known interactors with evidence in “database” and “experimental” are displayed in a sortable table.

Indirect sources

-   PDB X-ray: When a crystallographic experiment is done to try and resolve a protein's structure, there are cases where the position of certain residues can not be accurately determined. One of the possible causes of this is that the residue is part of a flexible/disordered region. For this reason missing residues in PDB experiments are considered an indication of intrinsic disorder.
-   PDB NMR: Deposited files of NMR experiments for protein structure resolution often contain multiple models, representing different conformations of the same protein. By calculating the differences between the positions of each model's residues, one can measure the degree in which this positions change. This change can be interpreted as a measure of how flexible or disordered a protein is. The MOBI web server (from which the name of this database was derived) automates this calculations taking as input a PDB formatted file.

Predictions

A great variety of intrinsic protein disorder predictors have been trained in the last decade. The bulk of them are trained to mimic the nature of the annotations previously described. Since MobiDB currently covers the full set of UniProt sequences, the included predictors need to be extremely fast. Ten predictors currently included (ESpritz in its three flavours, IUPred in its two flavours, DisEMBL in two of its flavours, GlobPlot, VSL2b and JRONN) enable MobiDB to provide disorder annotations for every protein, even when no curated or indirect data is available.

MobiDB consensus

In order to provide the best possible annotation for a given protein, MobiDB combines all its data sources into a consensus annotation. This annotation differs from the ones belonging to the sources themselves in that it features a third state, in addition to “structured” and “disordered”: when two authoritative sources disagree, it displays the region as “ambiguous”. With the currently available annotations, this conflict arises when a manually curated source annotates a certain region as disordered, and yet there is a PDB structure available for that same region.

Website

MobiDB website provides users with an interface to search by UniProt ID, protein name or free text. Following the submission, users are presented with a list of proteins each one annotated with disorder information integrated from various sources including consensus disorder prediction.

MobiDB web-server exposes some RESTful endpoints allowing programmatic access to MobiDB and retrieval of different data types. Available GET routes provide access to UniProt, STRING, Pfam and disorder data in JSON format.

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title: MobiDB

question: What is MOBIDB?

answer: A curated biological database designed to offer a centralized resource for annotations of intrinsic protein disorder

question: List the levels of annotation used in MOBIDB:

answer: manually curated, indirect, and predicted

question: Who created MOBIDB?

answer: There is insufficient information to answer the question.

question: What is a "disorder landscape"

answer: There is insufficient information to answer the question.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article summarizes details about MOBIDB, a biological database that stores information about protein disorders. It lists information about the different sources contributing to the database and describes annotation conventions.


text:
**The Theater**

While I was sitting outside the coffee shop across from the theater, I overheard a woman’s conversation with what appeared to be her boyfriend. I was waiting for my ride home, so I decided to people watch to pass the time. This woman’s conversation kept catching my ear, however, and I decided to listen for a bit.

The woman spoke to her boyfriend about her children, telling him how one of them is just so funny when you get him talking about something he’s interested in, and how smart her daughter is. She told him about how her children were doing in school, how she loved them so much, and how they were growing up so fast. The man laughed along and nodded in all the right places, and they seemed to be having a nice time together.

Having heard enough of their conversation to satisfy my curiosity, I looked over at the theater. I admired all the arches and pillars and lights that made up the face of the building, and warmly remembered the theater’s opening week. People crowded the stairs, cars filled the parking lot and the outer walls were immaculate white, red letters shining from above the crystal clear glass of the windows that lined the massive, shining glass doors. Now, looking at the theater, I notices streaks of gray stained down the tops of the walls and dull spots on the windows, dimmed lights where the theater’s name used to shine so brightly.

Although it was a warm June day, the sky was filled with clouds and there was a strong wind. Gulls stood on the light fixtures above the flapping movie banners that hung on the theater’s wall, watching the occasional car meander through the parking lot. Other birds flew through the sky, catching the wind when they could and diving down to the ground before rising back into the sky. I watched them flying and felt happy that birds could be so happily excited by something that they were given by nature. In our own way, humans aren’t so different from the birds. Birds were naturally given flight, and humans were naturally given the tools to create.

I saw a group of children playing on a horizontal column of basalt, playing chicken and pretending the ground was lava. They laughed and smiled, having fun in the warm wind as I observed from a distance. The children were supervised by one of their fathers, and although there was so much fun being had around him, he looked bored as he sat watching on the bench carved from basalt across from them.

I looked back at the chatting couple sitting near me and found them kissing. In the moment before I shifted my gaze back to the theater, I caught a flash of gold from the woman’s hand. The ring on her hand had no gem, and was dulled with age. Despite the fact that I didn’t have all of the background on their story, my heart sank at this small detail. I had felt joy at watching a woman who was, to the extent of my knowledge, having an affair with this man.

I glanced back to the theater, gloomily looking at the grayed stairs, disenchanted from the realization that the happy couple was really just a display of infidelity. I saw that the escalators I had once ridden to the gleaming glass doors of the theater were now blocked by yellow tape and perfectly still. The glass roof over the escalators was dulled by rain and sun over the years, making its slow journey to opaqueness. The walls were spotted with brightness in places that were once covered by light fixtures that had long fallen off of it. My eyes slowly rose to the top of the building, where two metal spires reached into the sky, holding in place a great metal circle through which the spot of sun in the clouds shone.

I realized at that moment that I was seeing the building exactly how its imaginer had intended it to be seen, with the sun shining through the centerpiece of his wall. I widened my view to see the whole face of the building as one, rather than as individual, flawed pieces. I was amazed to see how beautiful the building I had been looking at was, and how all of the flaws disappeared when you looked at it all together.

Momentarily in awe, I looked around at all of the people around me.
I caught a glimpse of the couple holding hands, and noticed that the man had a ring to match the woman’s. Along with that, I heard the woman say with a shaky voice how sad she would be when he had to return to serve in the military.

When I looked over to the group of children, I saw the man supervising them smiling and laughing with the children while rounding them up and taking them to his vehicle. I saw the van pull away, carrying the group of children to their little league game.

Then, I heard a tapping sound to my right and saw that a gull had landed on the table next to mine. He pecked up the crumbs left over from the coffee shop’s earlier customers, and flew off again, dipping and rising in the wind.

My ride pulled up in front of the theater and I began walking toward it. I then caught another glimpse of the theater, and was happy to see that it was still as beautiful as it had been during its opening week. My eyes drifted higher and I saw that the sun had slipped from its socket atop the theater, and I smiled, feeling like I had shared a secret with the person who had envisioned the theater.

Although I only rarely see the theater now, I always remember how I felt when I stepped back and saw it for what it really was. I now realize that everything is worth looking at more than once, and that the way you first see things isn’t always how they truly are.

title: My cheesy first short story

question: What was the woman talking about to her boyfriend?

answer: The woman is talking to her boyfriend about her children. She narrates how her son is so funny when you get him to talk about something that interests him and how smart her daughter is.

question: What thoughts and emotions cross the woman's mind watching the birds?

answer: The woman watches the birds fly high in the sky and then diving back to the ground before flying again. Watching the birds fly made the woman happy wondering how they were excited about something gifted to them by nature. She wondered how humans aren't too different from birds.

question: What does the narrator think of the woman with her boyfriend?

answer: The narrator notices the woman's dull gold ring and realizes that she was having an affair with this man. Her heart sank knowing this tiny detail.

question: Describe the theater from the narrator's sight.

answer: When the narrator saw the theater in parts, it looked dull and gloomy. The doors were blocked by yellow tape, the glass roof dulled by rain, and the light fixtures fallen. The narrator then realizes that the building had to be seen as one instead of in parts. She is amazed by how beautiful the building looked and how all its flaws had disappeared when you looked at it together.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator is sitting outside a coffee shop waiting for her ride. She overhears a couple conversing and later realizes that they are having an affair. She then gazes at the theater in front of her and thinks about how the once crowded place now stood empty. She watches pieces of the theater and ultimately realizes how beautiful the structure looks when seen together. She watches the kids play in the park and the birds fly high in the sky.

Her ride pulls over and she catches a final glimpse of the theater.


text:
For people in California and throughout the country who are suffering with HIV and AIDS, the treatment protocol has improved markedly in recent years. Unfortunately, these new treatment protocols do not diminish the possible problems victims still face. Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits for illnesses can provide those afflicted with HIV and AIDS some relief, at least financially. Understanding the rules and criteria for being approved, however, is the key to attaining benefits.

HIV and AIDS patients are unable to work, and as a result, they could qualify for SSD benefits. The issues surrounding the HIV or AIDS must be expected to last for a minimum of one year or end in the claimant’s death. They must also be severe enough to prevent the ability to do substantial gainful activity. There are two available programs for people with HIV or AIDS.

First is Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for those who worked and paid into the program through taxes. Second, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is for those with limited income and resources. In some situations, patients might be able to receive benefits from both.

People who are suffering from HIV or AIDS will have their case processes as rapidly as possible. While the case is in process, the Social Security Administration (SSA) can pay SSI benefits for as much as six months before the case is approved or denied. But, the claimant not be working, meet the criteria for income and resources and the doctor or other medical information must verify that there is an HIV infection that is severe enough to meet the requirements. The claim can be expedited by providing the SSA with all the necessary information, including the Social Security number, birth certificate, a recent W-2 tax form and other personal information.

Disclosing medical information, such as treating doctors, statements as to how the infection of HIV or diagnosis of AIDS and its aftereffects have been an influence on the ability to function and the types of jobs that were held over the previous 15 years will also help. Since the entire process of filing for SSD benefits can be complicated, and any illness can lead to the need for long term care and the accumulation of medical expenses, it is imperative to seek help from a legal professional.

SOURCE: SSA.gov, “Social Security For People Living With HIV/AIDS,” accessed on Sep. 7, 2015

question: What kind of problems might people suffering from HIV and AIDS face in getting treatment?

answer: Financial

question: What programs do individuals possibly have access to to surmount the financial burden of treatment?

answer: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security  Income (SSI).

question: What can be done during the wait while a claim is being processed?

answer: The Social Security Administration can pay SSI benefits as much as six months before a case is approved or denied.

question: Can a claimant handle the process on their own?

answer: Seeking professional legal advice is recommended.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: For people with HIV and AIDS, acquiring treatment can be a difficult endeavor. But they can also face financial hardship as a result. In order to facilitate treatment these individuals, the Social Security Administration (SSA) offers to possible support programs: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security  Income (SSI). What's more, the SSA can pay for treatment up to 6 months before a claim is approved or denied in the interim. The claim can be expedited with the right paperwork. The process is long and difficult and it is recommended those interested pursue help from a legal professional.


text:
AVVO.COM is an online marketplace for legal services, that provides lawyer referrals and access to a database of legal information consisting primarily of previously answered questions. Lawyer profiles may include client reviews, disciplinary actions, peer endorsements, and lawyer-submitted legal guides.

History

Avvo was founded in Seattle, Washington in 2006 by Mark Britton, a former legal counsel for Expedia, Inc. Britton said he developed the idea while vacationing in Italy and was still receiving inquires from friends and colleagues seeking legal advice. Rich Barton, the founder of the Expedia, Inc. and real-estate database Zillow.com, was a key advisor during the initial ideation stages and still serves on the board of directors. Avvo was derived from _“avvocato”_, the Italian word for lawyer.[1]

The company was initially financed with $13 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital and Ignition Partners.[2] Subsequently, Avvo raised $71.5 million in financing in 2015, which brings the company's total financing to $132 million.[3]

In January 2018, Avvo entered a deal to be acquired by Internet Brands.[4]

Business model

Avvo generates revenue by selling legal services, advertising, and other services primarily to lawyers. Avvo operates as a scraper site to generate its lawyer listing pages causing the District of Columbia Bar Association to specifically object to its business practices.[5] An additional source of revenue for Avvo is through a $49.95/mo subscription service called “Avvo Pro” which allows lawyers to remove advertisements from their profile, including advertisements by competing lawyers which may appear on non-“Avvo Pro” lawyer profiles.

Avvo also connects consumers directly with lawyers for telephone consultations and for a limited assortment of flat fee legal services. Service availability may vary by state.[6]

Lawyer directory

According to the website, the directory provides comprehensive profiles, client reviews, peer endorsements, and its own proprietary rating for more than 97% of all licensed attorneys in the United States. Avvo lawyer profiles are aggregated from public records provided by state bars and additional attorney licensing entities. Avvo will not delete any lawyer's profile,[7] and has been criticized for including profiles of deceased lawyers.[8][9]

As of 2010, Avvo's directory includes ratings of lawyers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.[10] The District of Columbia Bar Association released its position about Avvo:

  The Bar has not entered into any agreement with Avvo; instead, Avvo has obtained Bar member information directly from the Bar’s Web site, in violation of our restrictions on use, and used that information for its own commercial purposes. The Bar has asked Avvo to remove all improperly acquired D.C. Bar member information from its Web site, cease all attempts to acquire such information from the Bar’s Web site, and cease using improperly acquired information for any commercial purpose.[11]

Lawyer ratings

Avvo presents ratings of lawyers that are included in its directory, based upon a proprietary algorithm. Avvo cautions users that a rating “is not an endorsement of any particular lawyer, and is not a guarantee of a lawyer's quality, competency, or character. Nor is the Avvo Rating a predictor of the outcome of any matter in which such lawyer is involved.”[12]

Avvo's rating system has been criticized and has inspired some controversy.[13] When sued by lawyers who object to the ratings, Avvo has successfully defended against the lawsuits by asserting that the ratings constitute a constitutionally protected opinion.[14][15]

Browne v. Avvo

A lawsuit was filed on June 14, 2007, nine days after Avvo's launch, by Seattle attorneys, John Henry Browne and Alan Wenokur. The suit alleged that Avvo's rating system made false claims of being factual and was therefore deceptive and libelous and violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act.[16][17] United States District Court Judge Robert Lasnik ruled that the rating system was only an opinion and was thus protected by the First Amendment right of free speech.[18] The judge wrote, “Neither the nature of the information provided nor the language used on the Web site would lead a reasonable person to believe that the ratings are a statement of actual fact.”[19]

After the ruling, an editorial in _The Wall Street Journal_ endorsed the website for providing “at least some measure of transparency” of the legal profession.[20]

New Jersey

The New Jersey State Bar Association sent an inquiry to the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics asking if New Jersey attorneys may participate in certain online, non-lawyer, corporately owned services specifically naming Avvo and other online services.[21] As a result of that inquiry, the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, Committee on Attorney Advertising, and Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law issued a joint opinion. The joint opinion stated that New Jersey attorneys may not participate in Avvo services as it is against the rule of professional conduct.[22][23][24][25]

Doctor directory

The doctor directory launched on November 1, 2010.[26] Avvo's health business was sold to HealthTap on November 29, 2012.

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title: Avvo

question: What does the article say about the history of the company Avvo?

answer: Avvo is founded in Seatlein 2006 by Mark Britton, a former legal counsel for Expedia, Inc. It was initially financed with $13 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital and Ignition Partners then Avvo raised $71.5 million in financing in 2015. Avvo entered a deal to be acquired by Internet Brands in January 2018.

question: What does the article say about Avvo's lawyer directory?

answer:
Avvo's lawyer directory provides profiles, client reviews, peer endorsements, and its own proprietary rating for more than 97% of all licensed attorneys in the United States. It includes ratings of lawyers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
However, the District of Columbia Bar Association has not entered into any agreement with Avvo about sharing Bar member information and has asked Avvo to remove all improperly acquired D.C. Bar member information from its Website.

question: What does the article say about what kind of health business Avvo stated?