WARNING: Approach With Caution Trucker Hat - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Button - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Round Magnet - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Rectangular Magnet - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Oval Sticker - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Rectangular Sticker - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Calendar Print - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Journal - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Mini Poster Print - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

WARNING: Approach With Caution Small Poster - Let other people know that you need to be approached with caution with the "WARNING: Approach With Caution" 3D Industrial Metal Looking Sign Mega Cool Shirts, Sweatshirts, Clocks, Stickers, Mugs And More. Makes an excellent gift for those that are slighty tempermental too!

Describes benefits of eating organic meat and dairy products and practical advice on limiting exposure to anti-biotics, growth hormones, and heavy metals.

Describes the benefits of eating organic produce and practical advice on limiting exposure to pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

Why a lot of stay-at-home moms and dads want to solfege!

The “Sagip-Tingin” Project aimed to provide free eye screening and eye check-ups to the residents of Catubig, especially those from former conflict-affected barangays and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO II) Alfonso Catorce officially assumed office as the new head of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Eastern Samar.

Published at LXer: We are very fortunate to have some really cool organizations like Proton, Tuta, Mullvad VPN, and others that have been consistently working on providing privacy-focused products...

Published at LXer: Amarok 3.1.1, a free and open-source music player, has been released with enhanced toolbars, track editor fixes, and more. Read More......

Published at LXer: The HiFiBerry DAC8x and HiFiBerry Amp4 Pro are two significant upgrades for enhancing audio capabilities on the Raspberry Pi 5. These devices expand the audio options for users...

Published at LXer: The x86 platform driver changes that were merged last week for the Linux 6.12 kernel continue to be quite lively with changes for enhancing Linux laptop support along with other...

Published at LXer: Have an NVIDIA GPU? Use GE-Proton? You should probably make sure you're on GE-Proton 9-15 which was just released. This is a "hotfix" build to clear up some problems from the...

Published at LXer: The HardenedBSD Foundation has partnered with Protectli, a manufacturer of open-source firewall appliances, to develop a censorship- and surveillance-resistant mesh network. ...

Published at LXer: FFmpeg 7.1 "Peter" debuts with full Vulkan encoding pipelines, enhanced AAC decoding, MV-HEVC support, and more. Here's what's new! Read More......

Published at LXer: The Audacious open-source audio player, a descendant of the XMMS media player, has been updated to version 4.4.1, a release that introduces several new features and improvements....

Published at LXer: Linux Mint unveils a darker, modern theme with rounded objects and redesigned dialogs for the upcoming Cinnamon 6.4 desktop environment. Read More......

Published at LXer: PyBonsai is a Python script that generates procedural ASCII art trees in the comfort of your terminal. This is free and open source software. Read More......

Published at LXer: There are plenty of people who do not actually understand AI and open-source (or its licensing). But, they choose to jump on using those terms to market their products somehow...

Published at LXer: The NanoKVM-PCIe is a recent solution from Sipeed, designed to simplify remote management of ATX PC cases and 2U servers. Built on the RISC-V architecture, it offers low power...

Published at LXer: Audacious 4.4.1 builds on the changes introduced in Audacious 4.4 (a release that brought GTK3 and Qt6 UI choices, the return of a dedicated lyrics plugin, and better...

Die Umschau ist das älteste, regelmäßig erscheinende Magazin im deutschen Fernsehen. Die Sendung hat eine bewegte Geschichte: Das einstige DDR-Wissenschaftsmagazin, das mit revolutionären Themen Furore machte, läuft heute als Wirtschaftsmagazin mit Schwerpunkt Ostdeutschland im MDR . Die Zuschauer sind ihm treu geblieben.

Am 5. November 2015 begann in der italienischen Hauptstadt ein großangelegter Prozess gegen die Mafia. Im Mittelpunkt steht Massimo Carminati, der im Dezember 2014 verhaftet worden war. Aus Sicherheitsgründen erscheint er nicht persönlich, sondern wird per Videoübertragung am Prozess teilnehmen. Die Angeklagten sollen Bestechungsgelder bezahlt haben, um staatliche Aufträge bei ...

A couple of lovely people I know have suggested that some of the Olympic disciplines are not “proper sports”. This sentiment is one frequently echoed by compatriots of losers, stand-up comedians and miserable bastards the World over.

It has now seeped into the social consciousness and zeitgeist to the extent that many people mistakenly think “sports” are one thing - typified by physical endurance, stamina, or skill - and “games” are things anybody can do really, probably whilst having a pint at the same time.

Let’s put to one side that “the Olympics” are actually called “the Olympic Games” (or in French, “Jeux olympiques”), and just assume the “point” of the Olympics is to promote “sporting disciplines”.

Why do I feel certain that every single one of the Olympic disciplines is worthy of the name “sport”?

Even archery, which I reckon I could have a good bash at it with the right kit despite being a perfect example of how bad Guinness can be for your waistline, or boxing which is standing around and punching people when they didn’t even borrow that DVD off you in the first place.

Yes, I’d even include dressage where the horse is the one actually doing the moving about, whilst the “competitor” sits atop in a fine hat looking more English than a teapot in a red phone box (even when the competitor is French, which must be embarrassing for them).

All of these can be - and in the context of the Olympics, most definitely are - sports.

To explain, let’s just focus on what makes something nothing more than “a game”.

Any activity can be made into a game. All you need is a way to keep score and some rules to make sure the scores actually mean something. Staring at a wall: how long for without looking away? Making a cup of tea: judges could taste-test quality, or there could be speed trials. Having a nice sit down and a biscuit: how few crumbs can be counted on your lap afterwards?

Most games are obviously a bit more involved and preferably prefer people either getting naked or putting things onto a spring-loaded donkey (or both!), but the point is I could make a game out of writing this very post if I wanted. Or even this sentence. (4 words, 0.6 seconds, 100 words/minute, if you’re interested).

“Gamification” is a major social force in the web application industry right now, to the point where sitting in your office and pressing a button in an app on your phone can make you “Mayor”, which is why I don’t use FourSquare: I might become an annoying prat who asks for a third of a Londoner’s council tax to spend on bicycles and zip lines or whatever.

Games are obviously more fun when there is a degree of competition, and therefore the scores must be fairly comparable. You and I might decide to play pooh-sticks for example, and we will have a grand old time as I crush you and claim glorious victory and then we’ll go and get an ice cream or something. The fun is in me beating you without “cheating”. Or you usurping me and claiming a surprise victory, perhaps (like that’s ever going to happen, you fool), all whilst not kicking me in the head as I sing “We are the Champions”, etc.

This is a game: any activity at which there are some established rules allowing the participants to keep score, and where the point of the rules is to make different participants scores comparable with each other.

Cheating isn’t just “naughty” - it stops it becoming a game, because the scores are no longer comparable. If I turned up to pooh-sticks with laser-guided remote-controlled precision sticks with outboard motors on them, I can’t claim a fair victory when you’ve just picked up that stick with a leaf on it next to that weird moss on that rock, no not that one, that one over there, no, there you moron… yes, the bent one! 

Providing the game is fair then, I would argue that any game can become a sport. How? Other people caring about the outcome.

If whilst I am thrashing you at pooh-sticks, a small crowd appears and starts cheering one or the other of us on (hint: I’m very charismatic, they’ll be cheering for me mostly), then we have a sport. The number of people who care about the outcome or who want to have a go themselves determines how “sporting” it is. Once we start keeping World Records, or we meet regularly to do contest on a schedule we share with non-participants, and arrange ourselves into leagues, and perhaps start making money from the gullible fools who fawn in my pooh-stick abilities, then we have a moderately successful sport.

Sport is, I think, simply any game, where non-participants care about or are interested in the scores and who wins.

If the dressage, archery or boxing events at the Olympics, it’s pretty clear there were non-participants who cared about the outcome. In some cases, they really cared to the point where they flocked to Twitter, barely able to type through their blubbering tears about how wonderful and marvellous it is that somebody they’ve never met who happens to be considered by International Law to be a citizen of the same part of the World as them despite living 3,000 miles away, beat somebody who lives 300 miles away who they do not share such a close bond with due to them suffering the genetic disadvantage of being French.

So, here’s my cut-out-and-keep guide:

1. In both games and sports, people keep score somehow
2. In both games and sports, rules ensure the scores of different participants are fairly comparable
3. In games only the participants care about the comparison, in sports there are non-participants who also care

If this still doesn’t make sense to you, think about what sports would become if nobody cared? Or even if the outcome wasn’t scored or measured? What exactly would those footballers be doing if nobody nobody cared about the score? What would the by doing if they didn’t bother keeping score? Just what is it that Usain Bolt would be proving by running really quickly if nobody was watching? Or some people were watching, but were not measuring how fast he was running?

So the next time you hear somebody say “that’s not a real sport”, despite there being a clear loyal following of non-participants, maybe point out that it might be an activity whose outcome they don’t care about, so that can mean it’s not a sport to them.

But to the participants and to their followers, and to the people around them, it is very much a sport. And what they’re saying is a smidge hurtful to all of them, even if it’s just pooh-sticks. So, you know, try not to say that. It makes you sound a little bit mean.

In recent weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about this site, and it’s sister blog p7r.io and deciding what to do next with one or both of them.

The problem with blogs is that it is so easy for them to die. A few weeks of negligence, and they lose their vibe. Also, I’ve struggled to identify what content is most suitable in both places, because whatever content I think of requires a slightly different format.

Last week as I sketched out various ideas, a phrase hit me out of the blue: “Projects not Posts”.

I don’t want to write posts. I want to work on projects. I am a developer, data miner, machine learning scripter, meta-programming type of guy with a deep interest in writing fiction, public policy, politics, technology, teaching coding, entrepreneurship, agile and lean methods and a whole load of other stuff besides.

I frequently think “I should do something around ‘x’” only to realise it doesn’t fit into a blog narrative, nor does it really suit a blog of its own, and so it gets dropped.

Why? Why not just drop the blog structure entirely? Why not go back to a traditional “personal website” structure? It might sound ridiculous to go back to some Geocities-era concept, but I’ve come to realise short-form writing doesn’t allow me to do what I actually want, and I spend more time thinking about what a blog “should” be rather than just sharing cool stuff.

Also - and here’s the killer - I want to work on much bigger projects than any blog can reasonably accomodate. I want to roll out applications, publish long-form writing, and other forms that don’t “fit” the blog format. That leads me to thinking that in this renaissance age of self-publishing I should be looking at playing with structure, and other forms of output (possibly even, dare I say it, books…)

You know what makes blogging work? RSS. However I can still maintain an RSS feed, and most people now “subscribe” to content via Twitter or Facebook if they’re interested. And everything else? For me it’s a block.

So, some 11 years after the original incarnation of iconoplex and 6 months after the first incarnation of p7r.io, I’ve decided that they will “merge” (both domains will point to the same content), and the content they hold will be… different.

I’m going to spend the next month starting a few projects and getting some content ready for “launch”, but for now it seems, blogging is over for me. Something much more exciting will follow.

Muchas empresas se dedican a ofrecer posicionamiento, pero gran parte se caracteriza por la falta de sinceridad hacia el cliente, al prometer cosas que no están en sus manos por el afán de ganar clientes. Pecan también algunas de estas en abuso de herramientas automáticas que no son capaces de sustituir la inteligencia humana, y de la falta de actualización en el tema o abuso de métodos que llevan a los robots de búsqueda a penalizar el sitio...

La información de tráfico de Alexa es a menudo un valor llamativo cuando deseamos analizar el éxito de un sitio por la cantidad de visitantes que posee. Sin embargo este es un valor al que se le concede en múltiples ocasiones más importancia de lo que realmente debería representar, o más bien se podría señalar que no siempre es interpretado de forma correcta. ¿Como lograr aparecer en el ranking de Alexa ? ¿Como mejorar el raking en Alexa? ¿ Como interpretar y usar el valor del ranking de Alexa ? Estas son preguntas comunes...

When developing software for Node.js, I use the n package manager to manage and switch between Node versions. Recently, I needed to update my installed Node version (9.2.1) to something more recent. I ran $ sudo n latest to install 13.1.0. But after the upgrade, npm installations stopped working. Any use of npm i would […]

About a year ago, Sept 2014, during a violent Austin thunder storm, a rental property I personally own in SW Austin was struck by lightening and caught fire in the attic. As the thunderous flash of light, noise and immediate smoke jolted the tenant out of bed at 2:30AM, he quickly realized that he was standing in water. The home was flooding, and also on fire, simultaneously. Wow! Wake up!! His elderly mother was visiting and he was able to get her and his son out quickly as the house filled with smoke. Then he called 911. Then me. I showed up around 3:15AM, sloshed through about 18 inches of water at my driveway, as about 6 firetrucks were on the scene. It was an apocalyptic scene, like out of a movie. But everyone was ok, and the fire was contained to mostly the attic and three bedrooms. But the ... Read more

I attended the Presentation in Austin this week announcing the Beta rollout of Realtor.com’s new Agent Profiles. Austin is the only city in the US with this live, though it will soon also be turned on in the state of Rhode Island. Though not fully baked, I’ve set up my profile. The “Sold Listing are not yet populating, but should be on the map by mid October. There will also be a Team Profile. Here is what it will look like when viewing a map of Sold Listings in Austin. Pretty cool, right? Are Realtors happy about this? Many are not. The Realtor online forums are ablaze with ignorant complainers, moaning and griping about this, and how it’s “unfair” to populate Realtor profiles or Sold Maps with actual closed sales because it makes the Newbies and part timers look bad. Those of you agents complaining are missing some important data ... Read more

Should you enroll in a Real Estate investment seminar in Austin or your home town? Be very careful if you do. Understand the risks and what you are paying.

I’ve been protesting property tax values with Travis County for 30 years. Not only for myself, but back in the 1990s, into the 2000s for my property management and real estate clients as well. And also assisting by providing market information to clients and others who ask for help from our Free CMA page, which I think I first put up in 2005. For 2023, TCAD valued a property I owned in Southwest Austin in Legend Oaks neighborhood at $677k. This was excessively high, by more than $100k, but I was unsuccessful at the ARB Hearing (Arbitration Review Board), despite presenting clear objective data. They did lower it to $651k though, still about $100k too high. So for the first time ever, I filed for a Binding Arbitration hearing, paid the $500 deposit, and hired an appraiser to value the property for me as of Jan 1, 2023. TCAD generally ... Read more

The Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down the “Chevron decision” heralds what could be the end of the absurd Emotional Support Animal (ESA) scams that have plagued landlords and property managers since HUD administratively stretched Fair Housing laws to include anyone claiming “anxiety” or “whatever”. This administrative rule—not a law—created a loophole that tenants have widely exploited. By purchasing a bogus $50 “doctor’s note” online, tenants can present themselves as “disabled” applicants and scare landlords and Property Managers into granting their “request for reasonable accommodation” for their 100-pound pit bull, under threat of a HUD lawsuit for “discrimination.” We are not talking about legitimate Service Animals, such as seeing-eye dogs for the blind or extensively trained PTSD alert dogs for combat veterans. Those are 100% legitimate disabilities and those specially trained animals should never be declined by any landlord, under actual law. Instead, we’re addressing self-proclaimed “disabled” tenants who ... Read more

The US oil and gas industry is experiencing a paradoxical trend: record-breaking production levels coupled with a significant decline in employment. Despite the United States achieving unprecedented oil and gas output, the number of jobs in the sector has been steadily decreasing. This decline is not driven by climate policies or the rise of clean energy but rather by the industry’s relentless push for efficiency and the cyclical nature of the market. According to recent data, oil production in the US has increased by 5% since 2019, reaching an average of 13.4 million barrels per day. However, employment in the oilfield sector has dropped nearly 20% from pre-pandemic levels. The oil and gas extraction industry employed approximately 112,000 people in 2022, a significant decrease from previous years. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this trend, leading to a loss of nearly 200,000 jobs in the sector, a 20% reduction in the total workforce. Although there are signs of recovery, with projections suggesting a rebound in employment levels by 2027, the current job market remains challenging for many workers. The industry’s focus on efficiency means that fewer workers are needed to produce more oil. This shift has resulted in job losses across various...

In 2024, Libya’s oil industry is navigating a complex landscape marked by both significant challenges and promising opportunities. The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) has set ambitious goals to increase production capacity to two million barrels per day within the next three to five years. Currently, the country produces approximately 1.3 million barrels per day, with plans to boost this by an additional 100,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. Despite these aspirations, Libya’s oil sector continues to grapple with political instability. The country faces ongoing clashes between rival governments, which have historically disrupted oil production and exports. In recent years, these conflicts have led to the shutdown of key oil fields and ports, severely impacting the nation’s oil output and revenues. However, there are signs of recovery and growth. The NOC is preparing to launch its first oil and gas licensing round in nearly two decades, aiming to attract international investment and revitalize exploration activities. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to enhance production and reduce the burning of associated gas by 83% by 2030. Additionally, Libya is making strides in infrastructure development. A notable project is the $600-million oil refinery near the El...

The most useful tools that every programmer should know and use. These tools are essential to every coding working and also increase productivity.

The post The Essential Tools for Programmers appeared first on Digital Inspiration.

Learn how to sell digital products like PDF ebooks, photos, music, videos and other digitally downloadable files through Google Drive and PayPal. Customers can buy your product through 1-step checkout and the files are delivered to them by email.

The post How to Sell Digital Products Online with Google Drive and PayPal appeared first on Digital Inspiration.

Web Certain brings a new facility to online property marketers - news from around the web relating to property marketing - enjoy!

Suffolk estate agents, Bychoice, have incorporated a Suffolk property marketing blog into their range of services. The blog discusses all news which could impact on property values - or on the issues which affect property buyers and sellers.

I have posted a "super-short" survey regarding the next release of IP Locator. Please take 5 minutes to help me make it the best geolocation widget out there. Thanks!

I blogged today about the imminent release of PHP Function Reference 1.0 (and it’s about time!). PHPfr has been stuck at version 0.9.6.2b for over a year now, but the project is fast approaching this important milestone. There are some great new features and it’s localized in English, German and Romanian so far, with more to come. Watch this space for the big announcement sometime (hopefully) in the next week!