text:
DOC. DR. ING. VLADIMÍR VALACH, CSC. (born 26 April 1937 in Tekovské Nemce, Slovakia - died 5 March 2006 in Bratislava, Slovakia) was a Slovak diplomat, economist and writer, who significantly contributed to the development of Slovak banking sector and French-Slovak relations.

Vladimír Valach studied at the University of Economics in Prague (1955 to 1960). Between 1968-1976 he worked as a branch manager of the Czechoslovak commercial bank in Bratislava. Subsequently he held the post of a deputy general director of the Czechoslovak National Bank. In the 1990s, Valach capitalized on his experience in the field of banking and monetary policy, when he was named the first vice-governor of the CNB's Emission bank in Prague. He contributed to the transition process of the Czechoslovak koruna to a currency with internal and later external convertibility (3 devaluations of koruna at the beginning of the 1990s), as well as during the separation of currencies after the break-up of the federation and the subsequent creation of Slovak koruna.

In the 1990s he was involved in the creation of the Slovak Guarantee Bank as a first bank of its kind in the ČSFR. He also participated in the creation of Credit Lyonnais Bank Slovakia, became its general manager and at the same time the president of its Board of Trustees. Vladimír Valach was a founding president of the French-Slovak Chamber of Commerce and was able to utilize his positive relation with France in 1997, when he was made the Slovak ambassador in Paris. For his work and contribution to the development of Slovak-French relations he was awarded the title of the Knight of Légion d'honneur of the French Republic. In Slovakia he continued working towards the development of the country's banking sector and at the beginning of the 21st century Valach held the position of the Director of the Slovak Bank Association, which contributed to his position as an expert on Slovak economy. At the same time he dedicated his time to lecturing on diplomacy at the School of International Relations of the University of Economics in Bratislava and literary work.

Vladimír Valach died on 5 March 2006 in Bratislava.

Works

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

-   Nové dimenzie rizík na zahraničných trhoch a devízová návratnosť (New dimensions of risks in foreign markets and return of foreign exchange), 1981
-   Riziká na zahraničných trhoch a devízová návratnosť (Risks in foreign markets and return of foreign exchange), 1986
-   Adaptácia - kritérium úspešnosti ekonomiky (Adaptation - a criterion for the success of economy), 1990
-   Medzinárodné hospodárske vzťahy v kapitalizme (International economic relations in capitalism), 1986 - coauthor
-   Medzinárodný platobný styk a menové vzťahy (International payment and monetary relations), 1997 - coauthor

OTHER

-   Paris - Bratislava, alebo, Prečo mám rád Francúzsko? (Paris - Bratislava, or why I like France), 2002
-   Paris - Bratislava, ou, Pourquoi j'aime la France? (Paris - Bratislava, or why I like France), 2005

title: Vladimír Valach

question: What does the text say about Vladimír Valach's personal life?

question: What does the text say about the Slovak banking sector during Valach's time?

answer: The (Russian) federation had not broken up yet when Valach started his career in the banking sector of then-Czechoslovakia. There was a transition process involving the Czechoslovak koruna to a currency with internal and external convertibility. The koruna underwent three devaluations during the beginning of the 1990s. After the break-up of the federation, there was a separation of currencies and the Slovak koruna was created.

question: What does the text say about Valach's notable achievements?

answer: He served as a deputy general director of the Czechoslovak commercial bank in Bratislava. In the 1990s, he was named the first vice-governor of the CNB's Emission bank in Prague. Valach contributed to the transition process of the Czechoslovak koruna as well as the separation of the currencies (and the creation of the Slovak koruna) after the federation break-up. Valach was involved in the creation of the Slovak Guarantee Bank and participated in the creation of the Credit Lyonnais Bank Slovakia. He was a founding president of the French-Slovak Chamber of Commerce and became the Slovak ambassador in Paris. For his work, he was awarded the title of the Knight of Legion d'honneur of the French Republic. At the beginning of the 21st century, Valach was the Director of the Slovak Bank Association.


split: train

text:
807 NAVAL AIR SQUADRON (807 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy.

Second World War

807 Squadron was formed at RNAS Worthy Down in September 1940, equipped with Fairey Fulmar Is. Three were embarked on HMS _Pegasus_, where they remained until February 1941, when the entire squadron embarked on for convoy duties. Re-equipped with Fulmar IIs in April 1941, 807 Squadron joined and saw action defending the Malta convoys between July and September. Many of the squadron's aircraft were lost in the sinking of _Ark Royal_ in November 1941. Four surviving machines were flown off to North Front, Gibraltar. The squadron was gradually re-equipped with replacement Fulmars, which were joined by Sea Hurricanes, after which the squadron joined . In June 1942 the squadron flew off the carriers HMS _Argus_ and to cover Operation Harpoon.

807 Squadron received Supermarine Seafires in June 1942, and rejoined HMS _Furious_ in August. They took part in Operation Torch, the North African landings, and by March 1943 were back in the UK. By May 1943 the squadron had been assigned to and provided cover for the Allied invasion of Sicily. _Indomitable_ was damaged by a torpedo in July, causing 807 Squadron to transfer to , from which they supported the Allied invasion of Italy. The squadron returned to Britain aboard , subsequently joining the 4th Naval Fighter Wing.

Elements of the squadron were lent to the Desert Air Force serving in Italy for several weeks in April 1944, with the entire squadron flying off HMS _Hunter_ to support Operation Dragoon, the landings in the South of France in August 1944. In March 1945 the squadron joined the Eastern Fleet aboard HMS _Hunter_ and provided cover during the re-occupation of Rangoon, and attacks on enemy shipping in the Andaman Sea.

Recommissioning

The squadron was recommissioned on 1 October 1958 at RNAS Lossiemouth under the command of Lieutenant Commander Keith Leppard. 807 NAS immediately began a hectic work up period and participated in a major exercise 15 days after commissioning. 807 remained at Lossiemouth throughout 1959, working up and taking part in exercises and trials.

Aerobatic displays

In September 1959 the squadron performed in front of thousands of spectators at Farnborough Airshow with a display of formation aerobatics. The naval aviators began their display with a six stream takeoff to form a four aircraft aerobatic team and two soloists. One of the singletons performed a target banner pick up using an extension fitted to its deck arrestor hook. Meanwhile, the four aircraft formation returned for a transonic pass at 700 mph followed by a short aerobatic display devised by Keith Leppard.

Included in this sequence was what the Naval commentator described as an 'original manoeuvre', a fast pass in open box formation with a rapid individual roll by each Supermarine Scimitar; the _Twinkle Roll_ was created. The two singletons touched down from the left and immediately folded their wings whilst one aircraft from the other four detached and approached from the right, landing head on between them.

Ship-based service

On 10 November 1959 Lieutenant N. Grier-Rees RN carried out a successful ejection from a Scimitar when his flying controls locked. The squadron finally embarked on HMS _Ark Royal_ on 3 March 1960 where it remained for the next year, taking part in major exercises and carrying out cold weather trials in the Arctic Circle. In March 1961, 807 transferred from _Ark Royal_ to HMS _Centaur_. Scimitar operations from this ship proved difficult due to her small size and slower speed than _Ark Royal_, resulting in restrictions on launch and recovery weights. This prevented them from being used to their limits; problems that became more acute in tropical climates with little or no natural wind.

Before leaving for the Far East in October 1961 the aircraft were modified to carry AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-ground missiles. The latter were command guided by a joystick in the cockpit of the launching aircraft. Flight refuelling capability was also added at this time. On 21 October 1961 Lieutenant P.M. Hessey fired the first successful live Sidewinder from a British aircraft when he destroyed a meteor target aircraft over the Aberporth Ranges. After seven months in the Middle and Far East 807 NAS disbanded aboard _Centaur_ in Portsmouth on 17 May 1962.

title: 807 Naval Air Squadron

question: What does the text say about the evolution of aircraft technology in the 20th century?

answer: Aircraft robotics significantly improved over the first half of the 20th century. In the second World War, many squadrons went down during air strikes when they embarked on convoy duties a number of times. After they were re-equipped with Fulmars, they seemed to fare better in combat situations, considering the success of African dispatches following the sinking of the Ark Royal. By the 1950s, the planes were used for entertainment purposes, such as aerobatic displays for large crowds of spectators at airshows in England-such as the Farnborough Airshow. It seems that the public had developed a more ubiquitous fascination with the mechanical aspects of aircraft carriers and their deft maneuvering techniques. As the 807 Naval Air Squadron was basically retired after the 1960s-or so it seems based on the ending of this article-it's hard to say how this one squadron uniquely shaped all of the evolution of aircraft technology in all of the 20th century.

question: Summarize the importance of the 807 Naval Air Squadron in WWII within a global context.


text:
Teacher asked for a story about a clementine.

Upon entering the cafeteria a familiar soft voice fills my ears, “Hey, you! I bet you’ll fail your next test because you’re an idiot!”
“Not again…” I thought to myself nervously. This had been happening on and off for a week now and I had never been able to work up the courage to stand up for myself before. Today was different; I felt confident and decided to put a stop to the harassment.
	My eyes scan the nearly vacant tables looking for the owner of the voice. My eyes lock onto the bowl of fruit nearby when I hear it again; the soft voice whispering insults. I walk angrily towards the bowl of colorful fruit. I plunge my hand into its depths grasping at the first thing I felt. As I pulled my hand out of the bowl I felt a strange squirming sensation between my fingers. In my hand sat a bright orange, perfectly round clementine. Everything about it was impeccable, until it shrieked, “Put me down you MONSTER!”
	It was at this very moment I realized who had been making fun of me just a few moments before. Knowing that this was my culprit I dug my finger into the flawless orange skin and began slowly peeling it away. My victim let out a scream of pure pain and horror as I continually stripped it of its skin. I tore a triangular chunk out of the now naked fruit. The juices streamed through my fingers and onto the floor. I triumphantly took my first bite. The sour juice of the clementine flowed over my taste buds making my lips pucker. I was extremely satisfied with myself when I heard a muffled yell from the fruit bowl just as I was raising the next bite to my mouth. “Stop hurting my baby! Please stop!” It appeared to be a mother clementine begging for mercy. I thought about this for a moment, and wondered what it would be like had my mother spotted someone eating me. For a second I felt bad for the mother clementine but it was a short lived feeling.  From the palm of my hand I could hear the raspy, dying voice of the baby clementine still calling me names and being rude. I brushed off the words of the mourning mother; I wasn’t about to let her stop me so I continued chewing on her baby.
When I had finished licking the excess juices from my finger I stooped to the ground to pick up the remainders of the bright orange peel that had fallen. I felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction that I had just stood up to my bully. I walked over to the fruit bowl and whispered, “I’ll be back tomorrow Mrs. Clementine, you’re next!”
She whimpered but said nothing as I left the cafeteria with my head held high, knowing that this would be the last day a clementine would ever mess with me.

title: The Sour Bully

question: Who is making fun of the narrator?

answer: A clementine.

question: How does the narrator get revenge on the clementine?

answer: By eating it.

question: Who is upset when the narrator eats the clementine?

answer: The clementine's mother.

question: How does the narrator stand up for themselves?

answer: By eating their bully.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator walks into the cafeteria and hears someone insult them. They realize it was a clementine who insulted them and decide to eat it. As they eat the fruit, the clementine's mother begs them to stop. They do not stop, and after finishing it, they go to the mother clementine and tells her she is next. Then they leave the cafeteria.


text:
## The Mountain

He was tired. He had been tired for as long as he could remember, swaddled gently, almost protectively, in a deeper, more profound fatigue than the fatigue that comes of hard labor. He had been born tired, his mouth already yawning before he had even seen the world for the first time through heavy-lidded eyes, had taken in the dust and the leaves that settled heavily on the bed as though they had been planted and taken root and had grown wild. Even then, even when his experience with the world was nothing and he was not anything but could be everything and yet was incomplete he did not sleep. He rested. Never long enough he rested, but he lay alone and let the darkness rush in upon him. Darkness did not fear him and he did not fear darkness. Once he could walk his world expanded, in the same way the world expanded and shifted itself when he discovered how to make the noises that everyone else made, the wondrous noises that made him like everyone else but also made him aware of his difference from the others. They feared the darkness. They feared it because they could not see     , had never felt     , did not know     . But they saw it in his eyes, and they feared him.

---

The mountain had existed long before him, and will continue to exist long after his time on this earth is over, but it did not exist and he did not exist until he saw it for the first time. He was walking in the forest and suddenly became aware of it. There it was, looming up out of the land, fighting against and up and out of the land. He saw it and it saw him. He started coming back to the clearing each day and night to watch the mountain. It stood, massive, unknowable and known, through sun and moon and dry and wet. He stood, watching. It was of itself, he was of himself, they were almost one.

---

He was going to build a road. He was going to build a road up the mountain. His mountain. He worked first as a logger, venturing deep into the forests with the strong hard men that had walked this path every day of their lives since they were ten, that had become a part of the forest, moving within like a part of the whole, at ease among the towering giants, looking upon them as they would look upon an old friend. "I'm goin' to build a road" "Where" The question was asked during lunch. "Over the mountain" At that they stopped eating and stared at him. He sat, unaware that he had had said something out of place, so sure of himself, sure of his goal his purpose that nothing could stop him that the older men who had grown so used to the way that life worked that they could no longer remember a time when anything was possible. They recognized in him a vibrant solemnity and so they left him be, just as they left him be when they saw him pause and stare into the forest, face taut, his eyes searching for something only he could see, just as he left them when he had learned how to fell trees with a single mighty blow of his axe. He left, and he bought two horses to haul the wood. They had never seen him sleep.

---

He left them there, and went to the mine. The first time he entered he felt that he could not breathe, the familiar darkness unfamiliar and enveloping him and the mountain bearing down on him. His mountain. But he was stronger than his fear and so he pushed on, learning how to listen for the whispers of the rock. "I'm goin' to build a road" The miners did not laugh at him for they had seen the way he looked at the mountain each morning as they descended. They had seen his eyes, eyes filled with     . He knew every tree that had ever grown on it, every stone that had torn loose or been removed, every crack in its face that had been there since before his birth. He surpassed the miners, learning the secrets of the mountain, his mountain, the twistings and turnings of the rock.

---

He woke the next day, feeling rested for the first time in his life. *The road* He made his breakfast, moving quietly. His tools were heavy in his hands as he carried them carefully to the chest. The horses outside stamped their hooves. *I am ready ready am I ready My hands are my own and my hands know how to do what hands do, but how do I know how to do what hands do* He lifted the chest onto his shoulder, not even noticing the weight, not bothering to close the door after his passage. The horses' breath hung heavily, mixing with his own breath as he heaved the chest into the wagon, only after feeling the burn in his muscles. He turned. The mountain, his mountain, loomed above him. *I hear the horses I hear the trees I hear the land I hear it hear the mountain hear you* The horses moved forward steadily. Behind him the house retreated, fading from view and memory as if finally surrendering to something greater than those that built it, greater than the mountain, greater even than memory. As he reached the base of the mountain, the horses suddenly stopped and stamped their feet, mouths foaming and eyes rolling, and refused to travel any further. Once again he stepped down onto the dirt, placing one foot deliberately and then the second. Once again he walked to the back of the wagon and hoisted his precious chest on one large shoulder. Leaning slightly to compensate for the load, he continued toward his mountain. It was still several miles distant, but he could see the clearing where he would begin. He continued walking towards the mountain, into the land, into     , and vanished. *The road road the road the*

title: The Mountain - a short story in Faulknerian style

question: Summarize everything to do with the road.

answer: The man looks at the mountain every day. He decides to build a road over the mountain. He tells his lumberjack friends, who are older than him. They stare in disbelief but they do not protest. He tells the miners as well. He spends a long time logging the wood to prepare for the road. As he walks towards the mountain to build his road he vanishes.

question: Summarize everything to do with fatigue.

answer: The man is born tired. He never sleeps, and always remains tired. He does not fear the darkness of night in the same way he does. The other men have never seen him sleep.


text:
Many of us have a favorite teacher who helped shape who we are today. The Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher Contest asks students to tell us in their own words (a letter, a poem or an essay) about the teacher who influenced and inspired them the most from kindergarten to now for a chance to win $5,000 for the teacher and $5,000 for the school.

Who Can Participate: High School Students age 14 years and older

Here's How It Works: Students write an essay, poem, or thank-you letter (500 words or less, in English) sharing how a teacher has influenced their life and why they appreciate and admire them. Entries were taken online or at a local Barnes & Noble store.

This contest ran for the month of February 2020. Please check back for details on future contests.

What Teachers Get: The winner of the "Barnes & Noble Teacher of the Year" award received $5,000 and the winning teacher's school received $5,000.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The contest is complete for 2020

2020 National Teacher of the Year

[]

2020 National Teacher of the Year winner Jason Zembuch Young (right) with student Chase Dietrich (left) who wrote the 2020 winning essay. Mr. Zembuch Young received $5,000 and the title of Barnes & Noble's Teacher of the Year, and his school, South Plantation High School in South Plantation, Florida, was also awarded $5,000.

question: Who can participate in the contest?

answer: High School Students age 14 or over.

question: What are the prizes?

answer: The winner of the "Barnes & Noble Teacher of the Year" award received $5,000 and the winning teacher's school received $5,000.

question: What did the students have to do?

answer: They had to write a 500 words or less text (essay, poem) sharing how a teacher has influenced their life and why they appreciate and admire them.

question: When did this contest run?

answer: For the month of February 2020.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text is a description of a Teacher of the year contest.


text:
A young boy asked his mother, "Where do trees come from?"
His mother replied, "God put them there."
The same boy asked is father, "How do birds fly?" To this, his father said, "God made them that way."
The young boy never questioned anything again for the rest of his life, because he already knew the answer.

title: I wrote what I like to call a very short story. Hoping for feedback.

question: What are the questions the boy in the story asks?

answer:
Where do trees come from?
How do birds fly?

question: What conclusion does the boy come to?

answer: He never questions anything again, since God is the reason for everything.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A young boy concludes that everything comes from God after asking his parents where trees come from and how birds fly.


text:
Let me tell you about a friend of mine...

Let's just call him “Joel.” At a very young age, Joel realized that he preferred playing with barbie dolls over playing with action figures. When puberty hit, he realized that he wasn't interested in girls the way his male peers were. Shortly thereafter, things added up and Joel realized he was gay.

Joel grew up in small town in rural Georgia, in a conservative family that attended a baptist church every Sunday. Joel knew that to be himself would mean to be ostracized, so he hid his sexuality.

Joel moved to Atlanta to attend college. He discovered that he wasn't alone in being gay. He began having one night flings with men he met at clubs and on the internet, remaining in the closet the whole time. He continued going to church throughout his college years.

One day, Joel confessed to his pastor that he was gay. His pastor told him that it was okay. He said that he could help him. He would teach him to “pray the gay away.”

Joel spent years asking God to remove his homosexuality. He prayed that God would make him straight so he could have a family and be just like his fellow church-goers. It seems that God had other plans for him.

Eventually, Joel gave up trying to change who he was. He had always believed that God loved him no matter what, and that God had made him in his own image. Why would God want him to conceal his true feelings--feeling that were given to him by God in the first place? Why would a loving God want him to be someone he wasn't? Was God just a Supreme Prankster?

Joel didn't think so, so he came out of the closet. He eventually fell in love with a man much like himself who shared his faith. The two have been together ever since and have worked together on building a fellowship of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians in the greater Atlanta area.

I'm not religious, and I don't like to way in on the topic of God, but, Joel's story makes me wish I could have the faith that he has, to believe in a loving God who wants us to be just the way He created us. What does it say about some people's view of themselves and the world when they worship a Supreme Creator who doesn't want some people to be happy with the way God created them? I don't know about you, but I prefer Joel's God over those other people's God.

title: Pray the Gay Away

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: A friend of Joel

question: What religion is Joel raised as?

answer: Baptist

question: Where does Joel live?

answer: Atlanta, Georgia

question: What does Joel study in college?

answer: That information can't be found

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Joel is raised in a conservative family that attends a Baptist church. Joel realizes he's gay and attends college in Atlanta, meeting other gay men there. He comes out to his pastor, who tells him to "pray the gay away." Joel tries, but eventually gives up and resolves that God doesn't want him to change or hide who he is. He comes out, get married, and builds a community of LGBT Christians in the greater Atlanta area.


text:
Thieves who used relay boxes to trick a keyless entry Mercedes into opening its doors have been caught in the act on camera.

Watch these thieves steal a late model Mercedes in less than a minute. The technology savvy thieves exploit the car's keyless technology to gain access to the car and drive it away all while the owner is sleeping inside the house. Dubbed a ‘relay crime’ by police, the theft works by using relay boxes to pick up and carry signals. In this case, each thief had a box; one was pressed up against the exterior wall of the house and the signal from the keyless car fob was detected, it was then relayed to the second box that was making contact with the car. The fob opened the car and allowed the ignition to start. The clever and swift robbery was captured by the car's owner's CCTV and published this week by the West Midlands Police Department in an attempt to educate owners of the risks of keyless technology.

The thieves pictured in the image are still at large and police warn owners must take precautions to avoid being victims of similar crimes. Police recommend either using a tracking device on your car or equipping it with additional manual safety precautions like steering or wheel locks. Mark Silvester, from the West Midlands Police crime reduction team, said: "To protect against this type of theft, owners can use an additional tested and Thatcham-approved steering lock to cover the entire steering wheel". The footage is believed to be the first time that such a relay theft has been captured on video.

Via: _West Midlands Police_

_[Tech-Savy Thieves Steal Mercedes in Under a Minute Using Relay Box]_

question: What is relay crime?

answer: It's auto theft using relay boxes. One box picks up the signal from the keyless fob, the box flush against the owner's house wall, and other thieves relay the signal to the car with their boxes. This allows them entry to the car and starts the ignition.

question: What do the police recommend?

answer: They recommend extra safety precautions like steering or wheel locks.

question: What happened to the stolen Mercedes?

answer: It's still missing.

question: Were the thieves caught?

answer: They were caught on camera but not by the police.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Watch tech-savvy thieves steal a late model keyless Mercedes. The thieves caught on camera by the owner's CCTV are shown to the police for education. The thieves carry a box each; one of them is pressed against the exterior of the house to pick up the keyless fob's signal. This is relayed by the boxes of other thieves, opening the car's door and starting the ignition. The police recommend to "use tested and Thatcham-approved steering lock to cover the entire steering wheel".


text:
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News in Science

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merging stars Strange red glowing lights in deep space may be caused by pairs of stars getting so close to each other they share atmospheres.

The new hypothesis, by researchers including astrophysicist Dr Natalia Ivanova from the University of Alberta could explain mysterious objects called intermediate-luminosity red transients.

These outbursts can last for a few days or many months, and appear brighter than novae explosions, but not as bright as supernovae.

A nova occurs when a dead star called a white dwarf draws too much gas from a companion star, causing a thermonuclear explosion on the white dwarf's surface.

A supernova occurs when a star blows itself apart.

But the origin of intermediate-luminosity red transients such as V838 Monocerotis has long puzzled scientists.

Theory and observation

Ivanova and colleagues modelled what would happen when two stars in a binary system get close enough to merge their atmospheres.

"These phenomena known as common-envelope events have been theorised but never observed directly," says Ivanova.

"It could happen in a range of close binary systems, such as a white dwarf and a normal star, X-ray binaries or even double-neutron stars."

According to Ivanova and colleagues, the common envelope shared by the two stars comprises super-heated ionised plasma.

"This cools down as it's ejected from the binary system, allowing electrons and protons to recombine, forming neutral gas which is really bright," says Ivanova.

"That's what creates the light we see as red transients."

Writing in the journal _Science_, Ivanova and colleagues say about half of these events could result in the two stars merging into a single stellar object.

Smoking gun

The team then searched for objects matching the properties theorised for common-envelope events, and were surprised to discover several red transients that fitted their predictions.

"It felt really good to find these objects which matched the theory," says Ivanova.

"It's not very often you get the chance to explain something which is unknown. It's a nice feeling."

Based on their model, the researchers suggest that many red transients result from common-envelope events, and that red transients represent their long-sought signatures.

Ivanova now wants to focus on unravelling the physics that causes the common-envelope to be ejected from the binary star system in the first place.

TAGS: astronomy-space, physics, stars

question: What is the difference between a nova and a supernova?

answer: A nova occurs when a white dwarf (a dead star) draws too much gas from a companion star and causes a thermonuclear explosion on the white dwarf's surface, while a supernova occurs when a star blows itself apart.

question: What causes red transients?

answer: Red transients occur when pairs of stars get so close to each other they share atmospheres.


text:
"Don't Panic", the opening track of Coldplay's first album, drew its title from the famous motto of Douglas Adams' _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novels. Two albums later, it seems they chose the wrong Adams catchphrase; most of their recorded output is better exemplified by the Guide's description of Earth: "Mostly harmless." In their seven years together, Coldplay have risen to monumental levels of popularity on a potent mixture of nice-guy charm, serviceable songwriting, and general inoffensiveness. Unfortunately, these aren't the kind of traits that often lead to interesting music. Not that the band hasn't taken the occasional stabs at creativity and innovation; it's just that those attempts have always been carefully measured, or even nervously self-conscious._

Coldplay have never seemed intent on world domination, but as their early singles caught on, journalists came waving raves. Then, with nearly 5 million copies of _Parachutes_ sold worldwide and their popularity on the upswing, the band's sophomore album, _A Rush of Blood to the Head_, found the band unsure of how to advance. Luckily for them, their decision to virtually recreate _Parachutes_ on a larger budget paid off commercially: The album got them tagged as "the next U2," a ridiculously off-base coronation that ignores the fact that U2 recorded "I Will Follow", "New Year's Day", "Bad", and _The Joshua Tree_, among others, before _they_ wandered off into the MOR wilderness.

Coldplay, meanwhile, started in the middle of the road and haven't strayed since. Granted, they've produced a handful of good songs-- "Don't Panic", "Shiver", and "The Scientist" are all fine achievements, while "Clocks" remains a great piano part in search of an equally great melody-- but their albums have yet to justify the critical hyperbole, and their third full-length, _X&Y;_, isn't going to be the one to lock that down. Though dressed to the nines in big guitars and faultless musicianship, _X&Y;_ is unable to lay claim to even a single song equal to any of the high points from their first two albums, and the band's obvious desire to be all things to all people doesn't help: They long to be huge and expansive, in _The Unforgettable Fire_ mode ("A Message"), tear-jerking AOR balladeers ("Fix You"), and hip, Kraftwerk-referencing aesthetes ("Talk"), but at heart, they're really built for easy listening, which makes their rockers feel cursory and their ballads simpering.

_X&Y;_ is sequenced fast-song/slow-song through almost its entire running order, which means those of you uninterested in wading through doe-eyed love songs based on lazy rhyming couplets and trite resolutions have already lost half a disc's worth of music. You'll "go backwards and then/ You'll go forwards again." You'll "get lost and then get found." You'll notice that the first verse of "Swallowed in the Sea" ("You cut me down a tree/ And brought it back to me/ And that's what made me see/ Where I was coming from") is somehow meaningless, yet also cliched. Had Coldplay accompanied these lyrics with remotely interesting or memorable music, this could be somewhat overlooked; sadly, "Swallowed in the Sea" is one of several _aggressively_ banal ballads that sink this album into a sort of neo-Carpenters abyss.

The more uptempo tracks here tend to be light years better than their leaden counterparts, if only because the louder accompaniment manages to drown out more of Chris Martin's lyrics and bring the focus to his pleasant if unspectacular vocals. Guitarist John Buckland does his part to bring life to the proceedings: He's an encyclopedia of Will Sergeant and Johnny Marr-isms, and even if most of his window dressings are little more than a distillation of tricks learned from better bands, he does a nice job of providing the illusion of a grand gesture for songs like "Square One" and "White Shadows". Martin's vocals, meanwhile, rarely command attention, content to melt into the string synthesizer and guitar reverb as if he hopes he's not imposing on you. Listening back to an earlier track like "Shiver" proves he's capable of more.

Lending to the uninspired nature is lead single "Speed of Sound"'s uncanny resemblance to "Clocks". Certainly, it rarely hurts to stick with what works, but this is not just a near-exact replica of its successful predecessor; it's also a less memorable song riding a piano hook that has so deeply infiltrated the pop-culture landscape that I've become numb to it. In fairness, the track's vocal melody outperforms the one from "Clocks" by a hair, but without a strong hook, the song fails in the one category it needs to succeed in: replay value. It's symptomatic of the rest of the album, and indeed, much of the band's catalog to date: Like Coldplay's two previous albums, only more so, _X&Y;_ is bland but never offensive, listenable but not memorable. It may be pointless to hate them, but with this album, they've almost certainly become the easiest band on the planet to be completely indifferent to.

question: What's the opening track of Coldplay's first album?

answer: "Don't Panic"

question: Who writes the lyrics for Coldplay usually?

answer: Chris Martin.

question: What does the narrator think of the song "Speed of Sound"?

answer: That it is very similar to "Clocks"

question: What's the narrator's opinion on Coldplay?

answer: That Coldplay is the easiest band on the planet to be completely indifferent to.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This text describes why the narrator thinks Coldplay is not a successful music band and is at most a band to be indifferent to.


text:
Justice Party}} JUSTICE PARTY () was a political party in Iran, led by Ali Dashti who co-founded it with other intellectuals who had participated in the politics of the early 1920s.[1] Other prominent politicians include Jamal Emami, Ebrahim Kajanouri, Farajollah Bahrami, Jamshid Alam and Abulqassem Amini.[2]

The party was “an association somewhat resembling a private club, with little organizational cohesion or collective sense of identity”. Idologically, its character consisted of a centre-right nationalism and advocated general reforms in the administration and legal and educational systems.[3]

The party opposed the Tudeh Party and supported a constitutional monarchy in Iran.[4] According to Hossein Dadgar, a leading member of the party, it was formed “to counter the 'Fifty-three' communists who had founded the dangerous Tudeh party.”[5]

They backed Mohsen Sadr's government and were considered opposition to the governments of Ahmad Qavam and Ali Soheili.[6]

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title: Justice Party (Iran)

question: When did the Justice Party cease to operate?

answer: That information can't be found.

question: Name a key figure of the Justice Party.

answer: Ali Dashti, the co-founder and leader

question: Describe the Justice Party's platform.

answer: The party supported centre-right nationalism and advocated for general reforms in the administration and legal and educational systems.

question: Describe the Justice Party's relationship with the Tudeh Party.

answer: The Justice Party opposed the Tudeh Party. They were formed to counter the Justice Party, according to Hossein Dadgar, who found the Tudeh Party dangerous.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Justice Party was a political party in Iran, co-founded and led by Ali Dashti. They stood in opposition to the Tudeh Party and supported centre-right nationalism, advocating for general reforms in the administration and legal and educational systems.


text:
 My Chinese family-- By Kavita Dattani

Views：752 Time:1/24/2018 10:42:16 AM

(Kavita Dattani is a recent graduate from Britain, currently studying Chinese language at Tsinghua University in Beijing.)

[]

As I followed my usual Beijing daily routine of coming home from University, buying groceries, and heading up to my apartment, I was lucky enough to experience a friendly encounter. When entering the elevator I heard 'deng yi xia! deng yi xia!' meaning 'wait! wait!', and as I held the elevator doors open, a woman swiftly entered and thanked me. When I replied to her thanks in Chinese, she was surprised. The elevator made its way up, and we carried on our conversation. She offered to help me improve my Chinese, as she said teaching Chinese was a hobby of hers, and we then went on to exchange names and numbers (all of this in one elevator journey? Living on the 22nd floor has its advantages). I didn't think much of this encounter as I have, on many occasions, come across Chinese people who enjoy speaking with foreigners and offering their assistance, but it usually never goes further than a mere few words. What's more, coming from England, I am always a little skeptical that I am just being used for an opportunity to practice oral English.

A few hours later I received an SMS from the woman and we had a short conversation consisting of general introduction chit-chat. As I told my flatmates about the experience and narrated the text conversation aloud, they didn't hesitate to express their concern. From a western perspective, experiences like these are dangerous, and a little strange to say the least. Yet, I pushed their worries aside, and in my attempt to try and be 'more Chinese' I stayed in touch with my new elevator friend. Additionally, it is surprisingly hard to meet Chinese people in Beijing, as being a Chinese language student means that most of the time I am surrounded by my foreign classmates.

The following week she invited me to go for milk tea with her and her 13 year old daughter, and at this point I was almost sure that the prime reason was so that her daughter would have the perfect opportunity to practice her English. Regardless of this, I still went because I thought that I would be able to squeeze in some of my own Chinese language practice at the same time. As we drank our tea and chatted about various things, I soon came to realize that my skeptical pre-assumptions were indeed wrong. Most of our conversation was in Chinese, and even though it would have been much easier to speak in English, as my Chinese level is still only intermediate, they went to great lengths to try and help me practice and even teach me new words. I was not only shocked, but still questioning why they would be so kind to a complete stranger.

(Kavita Dattan)

Our next encounter was when they invited me to their apartment to make dumplings. We spent the whole afternoon chatting, joking, cooking and looking at old photos of their family. They made me feel completely at ease in their home and I genuinely felt like I was back in England with my own family. We ate a huge meal and over dinner they mentioned that they rarely invite people to their home because of the pressure of Chinese ideals, but in my case, as I was a foreigner, this pressure didn't exist. Later, they told me to relax and act as one of them rather than a courteous guest.

After these initial meet-ups I have spent a lot of time with the family, and I feel that they have become my own family abroad. They have persisted in helping me with my Chinese studies, while also assisting me with overcoming any other troubles that I have come across. My initial doubts were wrong and I feel guilty having had them, yet they made me realize the extent of the existence of hostility between strangers in the west. I don't know for what reason this family were so nice to me - maybe because they wanted to have a foreign friend, maybe because being only allowed one child, they wanted the feeling of more young people in their home, or maybe there is no reason at all. But, the fact that both me and my western friends thought that it was so odd that a stranger would be so kind and compassionate to another without gainful intent is sad. This experience, and meeting these people has made my time in China unforgettable, and I dread to think of if I had let my western cynicisms act as a barrier. I feel like this simple difference in attitude is something that we in the west can learn from Chinese culture, it not only opens up more opportunities, but also seems a more natural and social way of living life.

Sauce: chinadaily.com.cn

question: What does the story say about life in Beijing?

answer: Kavita is a student of Chinese language in Beijing where she has experienced doubt regarding the intentions of a woman who offered to help her with her language. Kavita suggests surprise at how her new friend embraced her without expectations and how she became a part of her family. She felt it was hard to ingratiate herself into the culture as a student it was hard to meet Chinese people.

question: Why does the narrator seek to be 'more Chinese'?

answer: Kavita wishes to be more cinese for the purpose of her education. She is living in Beijing and surrounded by students of a variety of cultures, but has not met many Chinese people. Kavita feels that when she became a part of a Chinese family she learnt a lot about their culture, expectations of each other and improved her language as a consequence too.

question: What comparisons are made between western and Chinese expectations of what it means 'to help'?

answer: Kavita and her friends have a western attitude that reflects in their cynicism when she is offered help. When Kavita finds herself in a Chinese home, these expectations are shattered since the people there genuinely want to help her and are happy to do so. Kavita also learns that her presence allows the family to relax, as the expectations of other Chinese people are a lot of pressure.

question: Does the author feel about the communist state in China?


text:
RONALD JAMES RÁBAGO[1] is a retired United States Coast Guard Rear Admiral who in 2006 became the first person of Hispanic American descent to be promoted to flag rank in the United States Coast Guard.[2] He retired as the Assistant Commandant for Engineering and Logistics and the United States Coast Guard's Chief Engineer in 2014.

Early life and career

Rábago, was born in Germany and entered the United States Coast Guard Academy upon his graduation from high school in Laredo, Texas. In 1978, he graduated from the academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ocean Engineering and was commissioned as an Ensign. His first assignment was aboard the Honolulu-based USCGC MELLON as a Student Engineer.[3]

USCG Assistant Commandant for Engineering and Logistics

Rear Admiral Ronald J. Rábago was the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Engineering and Logistics (CG-4). As the Coast Guard’s Chief Engineer, he was responsible for all naval, civil, aeronautical, and industrial engineering, logistics, and environmental and energy management programs for the Coast Guard's $22 billion capital plant which includes 23,000 facilities, 250 ships, 1,800 boats, and 200 aircraft. Responsible for executing an annual budget of $1 billion, he also led over 5,000 personnel at Coast Guard Headquarters and the three Coast Guard Logistics Centers: the Aviation Logistics Center (ALC) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina; the Shore Infrastructure Logistics Center (SILC) in Norfolk, Virginia; and, the Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC) in Baltimore, Maryland.

Past Assignments

[USCGC Tampa] Rábago’s other assignments included the following:

-   Engineer Officer on board the CGC TAMPA; and engineering and deck Marine Inspector at the Marine Safety Office Port Arthur, Texas.
-   Port Engineer at the Ship Repair Detachment in Portsmouth and later as Executive Officer of the Naval Engineering Support Unit (NESU), at Portsmouth, Virginia;
-   Executive Officer of the CGC BOUTWELL, in Alameda, California; Type Desk Manager in the Vessel Repair Division of the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic on Governors Island, New York;
-   Commanding Officer CGC TAMPA from 1997-1999;
-   Chief of the Fifth District Law Enforcement Branch; Commanding Officer of USCGC _TAMPA_, in Portsmouth, Virginia;
-   Industrial Manager and then the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland. Rabago assumed command of the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. He assumed command of the yard, following the retirement of Captain William S. Cheever.[4]
-   Deputy Commander of the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia;
-   Rábago served as the Director of Personnel Management at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C..[5] In 2006, Rábago became the first person of Hispanic descent to be promoted to flag rank in the United States Coast Guard.[6]
-   On July 13, 2007, became the program executive officer of the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest recapitalization and modernization initiative, the $24 billion, 25 year programmed Integrated Deepwater System Program. The Integrated Deepwater System Program (IDS Program), or DEEPWATER, is the 25-year program to recapitalize the United States Coast Guard's aircraft, ships, logistics, and command and control systems. The $24 billion program includes equipment that will be used across all missions.[7] Rábago not only acted as program executive officer of Deepwater, but also later as director of all Coast Guard acquisition programs. His office will oversaw all major acquisitions of cutters, aircraft, C4ISR and boats.[8]

Academic education

In 1983, he attended the University of Michigan and earned Masters of Science Degrees in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. In 1995, he was named the Coast Guard’s “Engineer of the Year” and in 1996, he attended the Naval War College, where he earned a third master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. Licensed Professional Enigeer. Certified Level III DHS Program Manager.

Written work

“Joint Migration Operations: A Growing Mission Area”; This paper explores the growing Joint mission area of migrant and refugee operations both as a single mission Joint Task Force (JTF) and as part of existing JTF Operations. Authors: Ronald J. Rabago; NAVAL WAR COLL NEWPORT RI [9]

Memberships

Member — American Society of Naval Engineers Organization Council of the Society.[10]

Military awards and recognitions

Among Rábago's military awards and recognitions are the following:

-   []  Legion of Merit w/3*
-   []  Meritorious Service Medal w/2*
-   []  Coast Guard Commendation Medal w/1*
-   []  Coast Guard Achievement Medal
-   []  Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon
-   []  Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award
-   []  Coast Guard Unit Commendation
-   []  Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation w/2*
-   []  Meritorious Team Commendation
-   []  Coast Guard "E" Ribbon w/2*
-   []  Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation
-   []  National Defense Service Medal w/2*
-   []  Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
-   []  Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
-   []  Armed Forces Service Medal
-   []  Humanitarian Service Medal
-   []  Special Operations Service Ribbon
-   []  Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon w/2*
-   []  Coast Guard Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon
-   []  Coast Guard Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon

BADGES

-   []  Cutterman Officer Badge

[1]

[2] HISPANIC AMERICANS IN THE COAST GUARD

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[4] Shipyards

[5] USCG Bio

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[7] Integrated Deepwater System Program

[8] RÁBAGO TAKES OVER DEEPWATER PROGRAM

[9] Pentagon reports

[10] Naval Engineers Organization

title: Ronald J. Rabago

question: What does the article say about Rabago's wartime record?

question: Summarize Rabago's education.

answer: He entered the US Coast Guard Academy after finishing high school. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Ocean Engineering in 1978. In 1983, he attended the University of Michigan and earned two Master's degrees, one in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering and another in Mechanical Engineering. He obtained a third Master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies in 1996 from the Naval War College.

question: What amount of budget does Rabago work with throughout his career?

answer: The article doesn't mention anything related to budget about his early career. He worked with approximately $1 billion per year in his later career. The two projects he oversaw both had budgets of more than $20 billion.


text:
[The Velaires]

THE VELAIRES were an American rock and roll band from Sioux City, Iowa.

Early years

[The Velaires] The group began as The Screamers in 1958. Founding member Don Bourret explained the origin in a 2013 newspaper article:

  We were the Screamers in 1958 at Central High School. Truth be known — we actually got our start as a group of mostly swimmers who liked to sing in the shower. So we decided to enter the Central High School talent show. The singers were Denny Wurster, Jerry DeMers and Jeff Lockhart and musicians Bob Dawdy, Roger Hughes and myself. Our sextet performed “Bebopalula”.[1]

They soon after changed their name to The Flairs (not to be confused with the doo-wop group The Flairs based in Los Angeles). However, after playing in the legendary Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, and with numerous groups on the scene with that same name, they became The Velaires.

Personnel

[Danny and the Velaires. In the photo are the original members, left to right: Bob Dawdy, guitar; Gary Kimble St. Martin, drums; George Norman, bass; Danny Matousek, guitar and lead vocals; Carolyn Chipman (later, Carolyn Matousek), vocals.] The band consisted of Daniel Matousek on rhythm guitar, Bob Dawdy on lead guitar, Jerry DeMers on bass and Don Bourret on drums.[2] The fifth Velaire was their full-time manager and booking agent, Dan's older brother, Richard "Dick" LaMiere Matousek.

First group

In 1961, as THE FLAIRS, they released their cover of Chuck Berry's classic, “Roll Over Beethoven” on Palm Records. Later in 1961, as The Velaires, they signed with Jamie Records and again released “Roll Over Beethoven”.[3]

The record leapt onto the _Billboard_ charts rising to No. 51 nationally[4][5] and reaching No. 1 in Los Angeles. It is reckoned to be the highest selling cover of “Roll Over Beethoven” ever.

Bourett said that the name change from The Flairs to The Velairs resulted from a problem with a recording company contract. When they needed to make a change, he explained: “We had just played the Vel Air Ballroom in Des Moines, so we said, 'Hey, let's become the Velaires!', a slight difference in spelling of the ballroom, and, that has stuck ever since.”[6]

While “Roll Over Beethoven” was on the charts, The Velaires had the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark’s _American Bandstand_ in Philadelphia being the only-Iowa based group to have ever done so.[7] They also joined the Caravan of Stars for a time.

They would follow “Roll Over Beethoven” with eight more releases on such labels as Jamie Records, Mercury Records, Palm Records, Ramco Records and Brent Records. Other releases on Jamie Records included their cover of “Dream” (Johnny Mercer) and “Ubangi Stomp” (Earl Bostic).

Re-formed group

The original members would stay together until 1963 when Dan Matousek would reform the group and continue on until 1970 under the name of Danny and The Velaires.

This band recorded in 1966 in Omaha several originals that received ample airplay, but never charted after “Roll Over Beethoven.” Gary Kimble St. Martin left in 1967 to join Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame group, Greg Scott and The Embers.

In 1997, much-deserved recognition came their way when Germany’s Bear Family Records released on CD their Greatest Hits/Anthology, _The Screamers To Flairs To The Velaires: Sioux City To Phoenix_.

Later years

The Velaires continue to tour with drummer Bourret, keyboardist Gene Ambroson, bassist Mike King, guitarist Bill “Chopper” Pelchat and saxophonist Dave Napier.[8]

Recognition

The Velaires are in two state rock and roll halls of fame. They were inducted into the Iowa Rock n Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame in 1997[9] and into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame in 2013.[10]

Deaths of members

Daniel Matousek died in May 1998 just a few days prior of a scheduled performance of the group at the DanceMor Ballroom in Swisher, Iowa.

Dick Matousek died on October 24, 2011, at home, in Sioux City, Iowa. He was 74.

Bob Dawdy died on January 21, 2013, at home, in Sioux City, Iowa. He was 70.

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title: The Velaires

question: What does the text say about Danny and The Velaires?

answer: Danny and The Velaires is the name of the group formed by Dan Matousek. Matousek was an original member of The Velaires. Danny and The Velaires performed from 1963-1970. Their original songs never charted the way The Velaires' first single (a cover) had.

question: Summarize the original band's name changes.

answer: The band is known as The Velaires. They were originally The Screamers, and then changed their name to The Flairs. 'The Flairs' was a popular band name at the time and there was a recording contract issue, so the name was changed once again to The Velaires, after the Des Moines venue the Vel Air Ballroom.

question: What does the text say about intellectual property?

question: What does the text say about George Norman's death?


text:
POOLSTOCK STADIUM was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium on Park Street in Poolstock, Wigan, Greater Manchester

Origins

The stadium was constructed in 1932 on a plot of land on Cromwell's Ditch, west of Park Street and Baker Street and east of Poolstock Brook.[1]

Opening

The stadium situated on a ten-acre site opened on 9 March 1932.[2]

Greyhound racing

The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club). Five dog races were held on Saturday nights at 7.30pm on a track that had grass straights and sanded bends. Race distances were 314, 525 and 750 yards behind an 'Inside Sumner' hare system.[3]

Speedway

Speedway took place from 1947 to 1960. Laurel and Hardy made a personal appearance at a meeting in 1947.[4]

Closure

Planning permission for 130 homes to be built was given to John Maunders Construction Ltd in early 1973. Racing finally stopped on 28 February 1973 and the track was demolished. The site today is an extension of the housing on Baker Street.[5]

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title: Poolstock Stadium

question: Where is the Poolstock stadium?

answer: It's located on Park Street in Poolstock, Wigan, Greater Manchester in England.

question: When was the stadium constructed?

answer: 1932

question: Describe greyhound racing at the stadium.

answer: The racing was independent and dog races were held on Saturday nights on a track that had grass straights and sanded bends with distances of 314, 525, and 750 yards.

question: Why did the stadium close?

answer: The article is not clear why the stadium closed beyond the fact that there was permission to build 130 homes there.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses the Poolstock stadium in Poolstock, Greater Manchester in England. It was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium that opened in 1932 and closed in 1973.


text:
BRIDGER is a census-designated place (CDP) in Gallatin County, Montana, United States. It comprises the Bridger Bowl Ski Area and some nearby residences on the eastern side of the Bridger Range in southwestern Montana. As of the 2010 census the Bridger CDP had a population of 30.[1]

Montana Highway 86 forms the eastern edge of the CDP, leading north and east to Wilsall and south and west to Bozeman. Bridger Creek, a tributary of the Gallatin River, flows southwards through the eastern part of the CDP.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bridger CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.16%, is water.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: Bridger, Gallatin County, Montana

question: What is a census-designated place?

answer: This information is not given in the text. It is possible that it is an unincorporated place that is statistically significant.

question: Summarize the contents of Bridger, Gallatin County, Montana.

answer: Bridger has a population of 30 people. It comprises the Bridger Bowl Ski Area and some nearby residences. Bridger Creek also runs through this area. Bridger Creek is a tributary to the Gallatin River.

question: What part of Bridger, Gallatin County, Montana is covered with water?

answer: 0.16%

question: What significance does Bridger, Gallatin County, Montana have?

answer: The Bridger Bowl ski area should be a tourist attraction.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Bridger, Gallatin county, Montana is a census-designated place with a population of 30 in rural Montana.


text:
WILLIAM QUINTIN HAYES (born May 2, 1985) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Winston-Salem State.

Early years

A native of High Point, North Carolina, Hayes is a 2003 graduate of T. Wingate Andrews High School where he was a member of the Raiders' Mid State 2A Conference Championship football team in 2003.

College career

2003 season

He redshirted in his first season at Winston-Salem State. Before he attended Winston-Salem State, he was also redshirted at Barber-Scotia College before the school lost accreditation.

2004 season

In 2004, he appeared in five games for the Rams, starting in two, making eight total tackles. He tallied three solo tackles and five assisted tackles. He recorded one tackle for a loss of one yard and broke up one pass.

2005 season

In 2005, he appeared in three games for the Rams, starting two making seven total tackles with four tackles for a loss of five total yards.

2006 season

In 2006, he became one of the team's top defensive players last season, playing in all 11 games with nine starts after he appeared in all 11 games last season and made 57 tackles with (25 solo) and led the team in sacks with 6.5 yards and total tackles for a loss with 13 for a loss and he even added an interception and also added four pass breakups and even had two quarterback hurries and two fumble recoveries.

2007 season

In 2007, he appeared in 11 games for the Rams with 11 starts and recorded 78 tackles, tallied 46 solo tackles and 32 assisted tackles with 19 tackles for loss, and a team-high 8.5 sacks. He also forced a team-high seven fumbles and recovered four fumbles, one of which he returned six yards for a touchdown versus Delaware State University, one of his two touchdowns on the season he recovered another fumble in the Rams' last game of the season and returned it 16 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. He hurried opposing quarterbacks 12 times and broke up three passes on the season.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Hayes helped his draft stock considerably when he was clocked at 4.59 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day at Wake Forest University in March 2008.

Tennessee Titans

Hayes was drafted by the Titans in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He signed a minimum salary contract over the next four years and a $500,000 signing bonus totaling $1.8 million. In his rookie season he made 13 tackles and one sack as a reserve defensive end for the Titans. Once Jeff Fisher benched veteran starter Jevon Kearse in Week 10, Hayes became the starter.

St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams

Hayes signed a one-year, $900,000 with the St. Louis Rams on April 6, 2012.[1] Hayes played backup defensive end and also played defensive tackle in Rams nickel defense in 2012 and was third on team with 7 sacks.

On March 12, 2013, he signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract extension that includes $5.75 million in guarantees.[2] On March 9, 2016, Hayes re-signed with the Rams to a three-year $21 million contract.

Miami Dolphins

On March 9, 2017, Hayes was traded to the Miami Dolphins along with a seventh round draft pick in the 2017 NFL Draft for Miami's sixth round selection in the draft.[3] He was placed on injured reserve on November 28, 2017 with a back injury.[4]

On March 14, 2018, Hayes signed a one-year contract extension with the Dolphins.[5]

In Week 3 of the 2018 season, Hayes suffered a torn ACL while sacking Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr, and was ruled out for the season.[6][7]

Mermaids and dinosaurs

In December 2015, Hayes received media attention for his disbelief in dinosaurs. He claimed, “No, I don't believe dinosaurs existed. Not even a little bit.” He continued, stating “I believe there is more of a chance you will find a mermaid than you will a dinosaur because we find different species in the water all the time.”[8] According to his former teammate and friend Chris Long, “He thinks archaeologists place bones underground like a parent would place Easter eggs. They just planted them. It's some large conspiracy. He does not believe that dinosaurs ever existed and he thinks that mermaids are real. I love dinosaurs, so we have a big point of contention.”[9]

In a 2016 segment on HBO's _Hard Knocks_, it was revealed that Hayes is a firm believer in mermaids. According to head coach Jeff Fisher, “I remember him getting really excited about the potential for moving out here [from St. Louis to Los Angeles] because he knew he would be closer to mermaids here on the West Coast.”[10]

On an episode of _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ in November 2016, Hayes toured the Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County with Kimmel and a paleontologist, Daniel Caballero. He claimed that all of the skeletons and fossils were fake and had been planted by people in order to allow for the supposed discovery of the fossils by paleontologists. This visit further solidified his denial of the existence of dinosaurs. However, the visit reinforced his belief in the existence of mermaids after a short discussion about the potential for the future discovery of the species. He also briefly discussed his belief of unicorns in the episode.

[1] Rams agree to one-year deal with Hayes

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title: William Hayes (American football)

question: What does the text say about William Quintin Hayes?

answer: William Quintin Hayes is a former American football player who was once drafted by the Tennessee Titans. He was born on May 2, 1985.

question: What does the text say about Hayes' early years?

answer: Hays is a 2003 graduate of T. Wingate Andrews High School where he was a member of the Raiders' Mid State 2A Conference Championship football team.

question: What does the text say about Hayes' college career?

answer: In the 2003 season, he redshirted in his first season at Winston-Salem State. In 2004, he appeared in five games for the Rams, starting in two, making eight total tackles. Then in 2005, he appeared in three games for the Rams. In the 2006 season, he became one of the team's top defensive players and finally, in the 2007 season, he appeared in 11 games for the Rams.

question: What does the text say about Hayes' professional career?

answer: He has played for a total of three teams throughout his career. His teams being Tennessee Titans, St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, and Miami Dolphins.


text:
The director’s face was the first I saw upon returning. I had hoped it would be my mothers. His bifocals were constantly sliding down that pointy nose, and I could tell he was nervous from the constant smoothing of the stringy hair around his ears. Several emotions flickered across his face at once: fear, joy, excitement, jealousy. The last made me uncomfortable, and I shifted under the large man’s eager stare.

“Well… what did you see?” he asked, rubbing his forehead with a handkerchief. His voice was higher than normal; normal being already slightly feminine. The others in the room stared expectantly, pen and paper ready in each pair of hands. Reporters, news camera crews, journalists, and anyone else who wanted exclusive information was jammed into the already cramped room. If I had more of an ego, I may have enjoyed the attention. Perhaps even more so if I had anything to tell them.

They thought I was the perfect candidate, considering my experience. Every trip to the past had included me, either on my own or accompanying a person or group. They thought that I was good luck. I knew better, knew that I was the opposite. The first time, I had caught cholera, and had nearly died in Nottingham. The second, a stray Mongol arrow had all but pierced my heart. The rest are a jumble of disease, famine, natural disasters, and war casualties. Each time, as I was about to die, I was brought back to the present and the ailment cured. They told me it was worth it, for science and history. None of them ever volunteered to join me.

If it hadn't been news of the meteor, I may have continued my disastrous missions into history. It had been kept quiet at first, but news leaked out, as it always does. People began to panic, rioters hit the streets, and religious extremists gained billions of followers. Of course, nobody knew if the meteor would actually hit; it all depended on the timing. Either a direct collision, pulled by our gravity, or else it will pass extremely close and shoot towards the sun. Impossible to tell.
Then the director had his brilliant plan; if we could see the past, why not the future?  In the state of panic, everybody jumped on board. The director became a sort of celebrity, and funding was raised quickly. And who better, he asked, to lead this mission, but the one who had been a part of all previous missions. I tried to oppose, of course, but they wouldn't hear it. I was going.

I knew all along there was nothing to be seen. Even as they were inputting the coordinates, I was trying to decide what to say. You cannot predict the future; you cannot know it, because it does not yet exist. There are many possibilities, many different ways it could run. Astrologists and prophets appear successful, because they predict the most likely outcome, and brag intelligence or giftedness when it comes about. But there was no likely outcome, no easily discernible pattern to follow. It was one or the other, left or right, death or life. Heads or tails.

I glanced down, as the face of George Washington stared mockingly up at me. With a practiced smile and show of relief, I proclaimed that we would survive; the meteor will pass close enough that offshoots will create much damage, but Earth will remain intact.

Celebratory whoops and hollers filled the room, and the director did something of a dance. I smiled, shaking hands and giving hugs as everyone came to congratulate me. There was no happiness, no excitement, as I wait until the day the meteor would arrive. If I were to be honest with myself, I hope it hits us.

Nobody will judge you when you are dead.

title: Our Future, or Lack-Thereof

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: Some kind of time traveler

question: List the main characters.

answer: The narrator and the director

question: Where is the story set?

answer: At some place that works with time travel

question: What is the narrator's job?

answer: They travel to the past and bring information back to the present

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator returns from a time travel assignment. They usually travel to the past and collect information for science and history, but this time they were sent to the future to see whether a meteor would destroy earth. However, it is impossible to see the future, so the narrator flips a coin and tells everyone earth will be safe. The narrator secretly hopes the meteor will destroy earth.


text:
ROUNDUP Earlier this year, _The Register_ observed that the less-lame replacement for WPA2, WPA3, should start landing in user devices this year.

That prediction got a kick along this week from Qualcomm, which announced it's going to roll WPA3 out on all wireless product lines.

The company told us in February the security standard would be implemented in its WCN3998 chipset.

Qualcomm's announcement name-checks the 2017 KRACK attack as driving the decision.

The chips will also carry OWE (Opportunistic Wireless Encryption) into more products to improve user protection when a hotspot only supports WPA2, the company said.

Wi-Fi mesh standard gets certification

The Wi-Fi Alliance is now putting its stamp on kit that conforms to its EasyMesh solution, which it expects will make mesh networking easier for ordinary users.

Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh lets access points “self-organise”, the organisation said this week, as well as monitoring and self-adapting to network conditions, and connected devices like smartphones and tablets are guided to the optimal access point in the mesh – a particular attraction for in-home applications.

Sixteen candles to blow out from Cisco

Cisco's issued 16 patches, the silliest of which is CVE-2018-0222 because it's a hard-coded password in Switchzilla's Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Center.

"The vulnerability is due to the presence of undocumented, static user credentials for the default administrative account for the affected software," Cisco's admitted.

As you'd expect, "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the account to log in to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to the affected system and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges."

Oh great.

Cisco's been here before, with its Aironet software. And who could forget the time Cisco set the wrong default password on UCS servers? Such good times.

The company's also reported a critical vulnerability in the way the same product runs Kubernetes and a nasty flaw in its network function virtualization infrastructure.

F5 gets the blues with Azure Stack

F5 Networks has announced it's adding Azure Stack support to its multi-cloud services.

The company said its Big-IP Virtual Edition will run identically in Azure and Azure Stack, for customers who want to develop in one environment and deploy to another.

The Big-IP VEs will start supporting 3 Gbps of throughput in Azure Stack, and are offered as subscription, enterprise license, or perpetual license.

Political correctness is going mad, MAD we tell you

Let it not be said that _Vulture South_ is ignorant of the day's important issues.

A discussion on a network operators' forum (whose terms forbid linking) raise the vital question of how to describe “man-in-the-middle” attacks in the more enlightened world of 2018.

The thread kicked off with the (correct) observation that the network admin world has a “clear gender imbalance”, and suggested moving away from "gender discriminatory terminology" since an attack perpetrator could easily be a woman. The post suggested “person-in-the-middle” be substituted for “man-in-the-middle”.

He's right: many hypothetical PITM attack scenarios explicitly acknowledge this, in so far as the “man” in the middle between Alice and Bob is, in fact, Eve (only, regrettably, as a passive listener – an active attacker is conventionally called the moderately-genderless Mallory).

“Man in the Middle is a purely technical concept, where there is no place for gender specification and serves no purpose but to perpetuate gender stereotypes”, the poster added.

Hedy Lamarr Female Tech Pioneer for 2018: Dr Jennifer Andreoli-Fang

On a more serious note, even though the award is sponsored by our colleagues at LightReading, we don't mind making mention that the 2018 Hedy Lamarr Female Tech Pioneer is prominent networking expert Dr Jennifer Andreoli-Fang.

Dr Andreoli-Fang, a distinguished technologist for CableLabs, was recognised for contributions to unlicensed mobile technologies, LTE, cable Wi-Fi, DOCSIS 3.1, and Full Duplex DOCSIS. ®

question: What got a certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance?

answer: The EasyMesh solution.

question: What does the EasyMesh solution do?

answer: Makes networking easier for ordinary users.

question: How many patches did Cisco issue?

answer: 16.

question: When has Cisco has a similar problem with security vulnerabilities?

answer: With its Aironet software, and the time it set the wrong default password on UCS servers.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article summarizes a series of new developments in tech and security: Qualcomm, Wifi Mesh, Cisco security issues, the F5 Azure stack and the inner of the Hedy Lamarr prize for 2018.


text:
Objectivity & Authenticity: “(Fe)male bodied” / “(Fe)male identified” (Language Politics)

July 31, 2009

Recently I’ve heard a lot of trans people using the phrases “male bodied” and “male identified”, and been kind of thrown.

Most of the problems with “(fe)male bodied” would be pretty apparent from my post about “biological”, but I think that it’s worth discussing here specifically in its contrast to “(fe)male identified,” and “(wo)man identified.”

The problem with ____-identified is that it’s not just _____; what the hell is the point of saying “woman-identified-woman” unless a)you mean a political lesbian (the original meaning of the term) or b)not all women are “woman-identified” or not all who identify as women really _are_?

This is, I suspect, the exact opposite of what those who use the phrase intend to be conveying–which is, to be clear that they are legitimating the person’s identity, not using “male” and “female” coercively. But its use, like “gender identity” (“we can’t discriminate against trans women because, unlike other men, they have this weird internal identity as women that’s legally protected” as opposed to ‘the right to define one’s own gender is federally protected, and one cannot discriminate on the basis of the reasons underlying that definition’) reserves the unmodified term for other use, rather than using the unmodified term and clarifying if need be (for example, for advertising a woman-only space, ‘questioning the legitimacy of any participant’s womanhood and all other acts of gender policing are unacceptable in this space.’).

“(Fe)male bodied,” on the other hand, is used supposedly as a means of talking about a person without making a judgment on hir identity. But there are two problems: who does “male bodied” refer to, and how do we know?

It’s not always clear, when someone says “male bodied,” whether or not they mean to include me. As I wrote in Biological, it makes no sense to refer to me as “male bodied,” because
1)I identify & define my body as female
and
2)while some characteristics of my body would be read male under a coercive, “objective” scientific lens, others (e.g. hormone levels; softness, dryness, and depth of skin; breasts; fat distribution, the smell of my sweat) are pretty clearly female.

What “(fe)male bodied” does is try to avoid the messiness of respecting our identities and categorizing us solely that way and find an “objective” way of talking about people that you can use just by looking at them or by knowing their histories. But this Cartesian mind-body dualism is bunk–my body is still _my_ body, and defining it was male or female is still defining _me_ as male or female, and my body is not this thing that exists wholly separate from my mind, that cannot know or feel things or from which my sense of self can be divorced. My sex and my body are my self determination, don’t try to pry in with the crowbar of coercive language.

Part two is that not only do some people use the term to classify me as “male bodied” and others use it to classify me as “female bodied”–but that there’s a reason for this ambiguity. This “objective” “neutral” “real” body that they want to jump to just isn’t there. Some people mean chromosomes, some mean presence or absence of a penis (cunts don’t count y’all), some people mean hormone levels and how your body appears socially, some people just aren’t thinking about trans and intersex people’s bodies. But the assumption of using the phrase is that people will have half a clue of who you mean, which positions all bodies as belonging to pre-acknowledged sexed categories unambiguously and objectively. Regardless of what categories persons are placed in and how transphobic that placement is, by “empowering” the listener to do the placing, the term nullifies self-definition of sex/embodiment, and undermines resistance to the binary medical model for being trans.

So while I fully support all people speaking of their bodies as male and/or female (and/or other possibilities), don’t use “(fe)male bodied” as a category of people (based on body parts) as opposed to an individual’s self definition–even if you’re trans.

My body is my identity, my identity is my body. Don’t try to separate them, I went to a lot of effort to help them learn to play nice with each other.

question: What sorts of phrases regarding gender are confusing to the author?

answer: "Male-bodied" and "male-identified" (it is assumed the term "female" is interchangeable.)

question: What is the author's primary issue with this phrasing?

answer: The utility of the term "identified" seems to politicize a statement, therefore politicizing gender.

question: What is the author's issue with the term "bodied"?

answer: We can't know someone else's body (hormones, genitalia, etc.).

question: What is the author's conclusion?

answer: Her body is her identity, and her body is her identity-any attempt to separate out the two is a tautology.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The author tries to undermine the reasons for transgender, gender-fluid, and nonbinary gender identities by pointing out that humans have sets of biological traits that rigidly define our genders. Furthermore, there's no way to know what someone else's chromosomes, hormones, and genitals are and do.


text:
I realize I'm looking out a car window. I'm looking at the occasional driver in the right lane as we pass by, but their forms are obscured by the rain. I'm staring off into the woods bordering the highway, ignoring the conversation between the people in the front seats. I watch a single drop streak down the glass and try not to wonder why I have this feeling of shame gnawing at my stomach.

"Hey you alright bud?"

My head bounces gently on the window. It's not nearly as uncomfortable as the overwhelming sense of contempt that's boiling in my blood. Not for any one thing in particular, save perhaps myself and whatever misdeeds I committed tonight, but for all things.

The other passengers are silent now. I listen to the wipers scrape across the windshield. My mouth is dry and stale from cheap beer. I'm not nauseous, but I want to vomit up every last thing I have, to spew out everything toxic inside of me on side of the road.

"He's passed the fuck out," whispers the driver.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," whispers the passenger.

EDIT: formatting

title: Not really quite a story, but I wrote something

question: What is the relationship between the narrator and the driver?

answer: Unclear.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator realizes he is looking out of a car window and doesn't feel well. A feeling of shame gnaws at him. The driver asks if he is alright then realizes he's passed out. The passenger assures the driver that the narrator will be alright.


text:
The last two years in _EVE Online_ have seen an increase in the challenges faced by CCP's security and customer service teams in combatting real money trading (RMT) and associated ills such as botting. From the introduction of skill point trading (February 2016) to the introduction of Alpha clones (November 2016) to the expansion of the Alpha clone skill set (October 2017), _EVE's_ black/grey markets experienced growth due to either new products to sell or the acquisition of ISK becoming easier. Throw in the development of bots from new developers using modern operating systems and CCP has its hands full.

I don't want to diminish the problem in any way. To give some sort of scale to the problem, I'll bring up some numbers I collected in 2017 from a popular site that sells virtual currencies in online games, Player Auctions. While the final numbers are not in yet, and I know I missed some transactions, the site will have done between 48-50 trillion ISK in sales and sold 22-23 billion skill points last year. Add in things too difficult to reliably track, such as PLEX, characters, and supercapital-class (titans and supercarriers) ships, and the figure might reach $500,000 USD in sales for the year. More significantly, while Player Auction is a large site, players can find many more places to buy ISK, skill points, etc, on _EVE's_ secondary markets.

  --------------------------------------------
  []
  Preliminary Price Data: January 1-15, 2018
  --------------------------------------------

CCP appeared to want to begin 2018 with a bang on the RMT front. The security team has a history of performing crackdowns against RMT operations right before an update. Looking at the price history I compiled for Player Auctions indicates some sort of mass interruption in the supply of ISK occurred at the beginning of the month. On 5 January, the price of ISK sold exceeded $5 and has continued through yesterday. On 6 January, only 5 sellers advertised ISK for sale, another indicator of a restricted supply. Cynics may point out that 6 January was Orthodox Christmas, but the presence of the holiday has never mattered before. By 13 January, the 7-day average for the price ISK sold on PA rose to $5.94/billion ISK, a rise of 29.1% over the price at the start of the year.

The hallmark of a classic CCP anti-RMT push is to follow-up the initial crackdown before a release with new detection methods introduced during the release. According to information gathered from botting forums, such a crackdown occurred.

The following comes from the forums of a series of bots called Eve Pilot, Eve Miner, Eve Hunter, and Eve Trader. These bots once were very popular with western players but now the forums mostly see posts in Russian. I tried translating the posts as best I could. I think I came close. I will list the posts with both the original Russian and my translation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LEOKRS : 10 JANUARY 2018
Вчера волна банов прошла за макроюзинг курьеров торгашей побанили, кого нибудь еще зацепило?

_Yesterday, a wave of bans went for macro-trading couriers tradesmen, who else was caught?_

ZLOISET: 10 JANUARY 2018
3 часа назад, -18

_3 hours ago, -18_

TIKNEL1: 10 JANUARY 2018
да,3 бана прилетело тоже за макросы

_yes, 3 bans flew too for macros_

[]

ZLOISET: 12 JANUARY 2018
ееее 2-я волна, сегодня банят за продажу
Итого : - 36 акков . Кстати передача через аук маленькими партиями где то 66% живых. Но тоже банится. Чет я уже даже хз как иски продавать

_Eeee 2nd wave, today banned for selling_
_Total:-36 accounts. By the way, I was banned even though I transfer through the auction in small batches that were 66% of the living. I now even sell claims._

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: Here's a better translation from Sarmatiko via Twitter:

  Great article as always. But "Чет я уже даже хз как иски продавать" translates as "Somewhat I don't even know how to sell ISK now". "хз" - short internet slang term equivalent to "I don't know".

  — Sarmatiko (@myronik) January 18, 2018

Admittedly, my translation of the last entry isn't the greatest (see the above update with a better one). But I think I made my point. The bot bans began on 9 January, patch day. According to CCP Falcon, the number of banned accounts had reached just under 1000 by the time the CSM Summit began yesterday.

CCP also added some code to make the lives of botters a bit more, shall we say, interesting? Most people assume the change that affected bots involved adding the chat bubbles to the portraits in local. If I read the botting forums correctly, however, the following UI changes are associated with a problem:

  _NPC Bracket Colors have been reworked._

  -   _The color of the NPC bracket will now reveal the hostility intent of the NPC._
  -   _Blue indicates a friendly NPC either by nature or due to your standings with their faction. Blue NPCs may assist or aid you in combat._
  -   _Note: The automatic response force from Empire/Faction Police against low Security Status players will still appear to be Blue even when they are spawned as aggressive to the player. This will be resolved in a later patch._
  -   _White indicates a neutral NPC. These NPCs will ignore you, but may retaliate if attacked._
  -   _Note: The automatic response force from Faction Navy against an enemy militia target will now appear white instead of the previous 'Blue' friendly color. In a later patch they will appear Red/White/Blue depending on the Factional Warfare status of the player._
  -   _Red indicates a hostile NPC. These NPCs are aggressive towards you, and will in most circumstances attack you on-sight._
  -   _The warning message for attacking a Peaceful entity will now appear only if the NPC is not aggressive towards you._

According to a post on the forums of another older bot (H-Bot), the bot cannot handle the change. Or perhaps the bot cannot handle the UI change plus a change in NPC behavior.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

KALITAREV: 11 JANUARY 2018

_Hi,_
_
_ _I'm loss two ships in two days...How to avoid this NPC? NPC Macharial and NPC Cynabal..... why they attack me...they even are not in my overview..I also didn't attack the mining fleet..they also not are in my overview_
_
_ _what is going on?_
_
_ _Edit: Now the problem is bigger because this NPC will attack you anyway no matter what standing you have._
_
_ _Also they can come on belt when you still shooting some normal NPC. H-BOT is not making another keyword check to avoid them so basically this will be a big problem - no more belt bot :(_

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Normally I would try to come up with a fitting conclusion, ending with a warning not to bot or purchase dirty ISK. Instead, I'll let a botter who has made botting guides make the argument for me. From the Eve Pilot forums:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

INNOMINATE: 16 JANUARY 2018

_So, 8 botting Nyx... Bravo to that developer for making a carrier bot, but I hope he fixes the fact that it can't deal with bubbles. I suspect that bubbles will be used a lot more often to catch bots and as proof that they are in fact bots... (Will EP ever be able to detect bubbles?)_
_
_ _Everyone be more careful now. The witch hunt has already started._
_
_ _Obligatory, "Don't RMT people..." Sooner or later all of your accounts will get banned, along with your computer hardware identifiers._
_
_ _I wonder why those accounts haven't been banned yet... To me, the only reason that makes sense is that CCP hasn't yet figured out how that much isk is getting to the buyers without CCPs detection code flagging the event. I'll bet CCP hopes that the botter is stupid enough to sell his isk to someone like a wholesaler so that CCPs detection software can be updated to see what the blindspots are. The botter should trash his bots and start over with another group instead of giving up his methods and burning their RMT wholesaler... I hope that the wholesaler knows not to buy from this guy... This incident has put every past and future RMTer at severe risk of discovery. (Not to mention the botting witch hunt that's about to happen.)_
_
_

[]

question: What is EVE Online?

answer: It's not clear, but it may be a gaming site.

question: What problem does the author not want to diminish?

answer: EVE Online has seen an increase in the challenges faced by CCP's security and customer service teams in combatting RMT and associated problems like botting.

question: How did CCP want to begin 2018 with a bang on the RMT front?

answer: CCP has a history of performing crackdowns against RMT operations right before an update, which the author notes they may have done at the time of this document. Following these crackdowns, new detection methods are released.

question: What is RMT?

answer: It stands for real money trading.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: At the time of this document, the author discusses a new crackdown from the CCP on real money trading and botting in EVE Online, and provides some data on CCP crackdowns. The author also provides forums from a series of bots on EVE to further their point that the CCP is doing a crackdown before a new release.


text:
TUNIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of women took to the streets in the Tunisian capital on Saturday to demand equal inheritance rights as men, a subject often seen as taboo in the Arab world.

The North African Muslim country grants women more rights than other countries in the region, and since last year has allowed Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men.

But the protestors marching to the parliament building in Tunis on Saturday said they wanted to be compared with European women and to be entitled to the same inheritance rights.

Joined by some men, they carried slogans such as “In a civil state I take exactly what you take”, demanding an end to inheritance laws based on Islamic law. This usually grants men the double of what women get.

“It is true that Tunisian women have more rights compared to other Arab women but we want to be compared with European women,” said Kaouther Boulila, an activist.

“We just want our rights.”

In August, President Beji Caid Essbsi, a secular politician, set up a committee to draft proposals to advance women’s rights.

Tunisia has been hailed as the only “Arab spring” success story following political freedoms introduced after the ousting of autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

Economic growth has been disappointing, however, with high unemployment driving many young Tunisians who had joined the uprising, abroad.

Editing by Ulf Laessing; editing by Clelia Oziel

for-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up

question: What is the reference comparison Tunisian women use in demanding their rights?

answer: They want to be compared to European women.

question: What is the general state of women's rights in North Africa?

answer: Due to Islamic law, women have far fewer and more restricted freedoms compared to men.

question: Explain the reason behind people immigrating away from Tunis.

answer: The economy of the country isn't improving.

question: Summarize everything related to the Arab Spring.

answer: It's the political freedoms established after the ousting of autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Tunis is considered the only success of the Arab Spring.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Hundreds of women marched in the Tunisian capital to demand equal inheritance rights as men. While Tunis grants more rights to women than any other country in the region, an activist explained that they want to be compared to European women regarding their rights.


text:
CLASS A MISDEMEANOR
Maximum jail time: Up to one year in jail (either a county or city jail)
Maximum fine: Up to $2,000

CLASS B MISDEMEANOR
Maximum jail time: Up to six months in jail (either a county or city jail)
Maximum fine: Up to $1,000

CLASS C MISDEMEANOR
Maximum jail time: Up to three months in jail (either a county or city jail)
Maximum fine: No specified maximum (fines are uncommon Class C misdemeanors in Alabama)

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Basically it means that if you are sentenced of any of these misdemeanors in Alabama you won't serve more than the max time listed here. In fact, in general you will serve less time because the jail may release you early on good behavior or the judge might actually specify less jail time during sentencing.

CONCURRENT OR CONSECUTIVE?
This is the big question - if you have multiple charges, does the judge specifically say that they are to be served consecutively? If so then you will do the sum of all time from all charges - so if you receive two Class A misdemeanors with 1 year each and they are run consecutively, you will serve 2 years in jail.

If the judge doesn't specify that the sentences are to run consecutive they will run concurrent, meaning you serve each of your sentences at the same time. Using the above scenario, if you are sentenced to serve 1 year each on two Class A misdmeanors, you will actually only serve one year in jail.

question: What is a Class A Misdemeanor?

answer: That information can't be found in the document, but if you are charged with this you can spend up to one year in jail and can pay a fine up to $2000.

question: What happens if the judge doesn't specify that the sentences are to run consecutive?

answer: The sentences will run concurrent, which means they they are served at the same time.

question: What is the maximum fine of a Class C Misdemeanor?

answer: There are no specified maximums.

question: Why will you serve less time if you have any of these misdemeanors?

answer: The jail may release you early on good behavior or the judge may specify less jail time during sentencing.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This document describes Class A, B, and C Misdemeanors in the state of Alabama.


text:
_ALCHEMILLA DIADEMATA_, also known as the DIADEM LADY'S MANTLE[1] (), is a species of the genus _Alchemilla_ endemic to Lebanon.[2][3][4] The plant has been commonly used in folk medicine in Lebanon and its promising bioactive properties have been subject to a number of studies.[5][6]

Description

_Alchemilla diademata_ has an erect high stem. The stem is highly pubescent at the base, the trichomes become less dense at the tips. The leaves are basal and measure wide and wide; they resemble lobed kidneys with an oval with an inward curve on one side The leaves are incised to the third into 7 to 9 lobes, each of them fringed by 6 to 7 teeth on each side of the lobes. The teeth end with bristles and are slightly connivent. The leaf underside is hispid and its sinus is cordate. The plant has long, membranous and brownish stipules; it has a yellow-green pedicellated and glabrous inflorescence. The ovoid flowers appear from May to July, they produce ovoid and urn-shaped fruits.[7][8]

Distribution and habitat

The plant is only found on the slopes of Mount Sannine in the Mount Lebanon range; it favors humid sandstone.[9][10][11]

Research and uses

Medicine

A 2004 screening of Lebanese indigenous plants that have historically been used in folk-medicine conducted in the American University of Beirut Nature Conservation Center laboratories showed that _A. diademata_ extract had an antimicrobial activity against _Staphylococcus aureus_.[12][13] Later studies showed that the plant also has anti-fungal activity against _Candida albicans_.[14]

Biological pest control

A 2014 study investigating the biological activity of Lebanese indigenous medicinal plants showed that whole plant extracts of _A. diademata_ has a significant repellent effect against the adult silverleaf whitefly, an important invasive agricultural pest.[15]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

title: Alchemilla diademata

question: What is alchemilla diademata called in English?

answer: Diadem Lady's Mantle.

question: Where is alchemilla diademata endemic to?

answer: Lebanon.

question: What mountain is the plant found on?

answer: The slopes of Mount Sannine.

question: What stone does the plant favor?

answer: Humid sandstone.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about the plant alchemilla diademata. It discusses where it is endemic to in Lebanon and describes the physical characteristics of this plant.