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iamnightduchess · 4 years ago

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ReinerxMikasa (ReiKasa) Extremely Kinky A to Z Ask Game (R20+) Headcanon #19

*Update: 24 March 2021

A continuation of this ask & inspired by this original post. Dedicated to @xrocketmanx for their amazing 💖 on my ko-fi page!

(A/N: ‼️WARNING‼️Graphic description of very explicit smut with potentially provocative images ⛔ Please don't click Keep Reading if you're below 20 🙅‍♀️ Sorry kiddos! To my more adult readers, please absorb this post's content with appropriate discretion & maturity)

(In complete Alphabetical Order)

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

People expect Reiner to be the one who would jump off the bed immediately soon after when they’re done but on the contrary, he just loves lying there and holding Mikasa in his arms post-coitus. Although, they do sleep with Mikasa lying on his chest most nights. Mikasa wasn’t used to be held intimately in the first few months of their relationship, so the first time they made love, Reiner gave her the space that she needed before, during and after. It was Mikasa who finally initiated their first cuddle post-coitus after the next several weeks.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Reiner: Very confident of his physical appearance and in his skin. He really loves everything on and about Mikasa. He loves her body type the way she is - to him, hers is just perfect. But, his most favorite body part of hers he'd like to touch first every time he could is her hands. He just like holding her hands when he wakes up, winding down for the night & even when he's asleep.

Mikasa: This woman, despite having a bombshell athletic figure, still secretly feels insecure of the way she looks. She loves Reiner's biceps the most - at home, she'll sneak a quick peck or a nibble on his biceps when he's doing the dishes or making dinner. She also likes to snuggle up to him on the couch with his arm draped around her shoulders, sometimes until she falls asleep.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… lol)

She...swallows? 🙈 (holy shizz i'm not so sure of this one. Can't think of a suitable answer without being cringey 🤣)

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Reiner & Mikasa once had a quickie inside the changing booth during a beach trip with their friends. Reiner had also went down on Mikasa after dinner at his mum's place, right in Karina's laundry room because he 'accidentally' spilt some wine on her dress & wanted to get her dress cleaned up. He ended up having her as dessert on top of the moving dryer & she left her underwear there by accident.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

They were both not each other’s first lovers but when they first got together, the experience is like being with no other. They discovered new parts & points of not only their significant other’s physical & spiritual strengths but also their own respective preferences as well. Reiner’s quite a ladies’ man during his early years in the military but after a while, he got bored of the game. Meeting Mikasa, he realised he wants to play the game again but this time to win it for good. Mikasa has only been with one boyfriend since college & being with Reiner opened her eyes up to vast possibilities.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

No, Reiner doesn't do the Military Style despite being a military man 🤣 Missionary & Cow Girl are their standard starting positions. Despite Mikasa being very flexible, which gave them more advantage in attempting the more physically-challenging positions, but the following are their more favorite experimental ones:

Oasis

Basket

Watering Can

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

A little bit of both, no doubt. Reiner has a dorky sense of humor & Mikasa's odd humor makes for a good tension-breaking combination. Their foreplays always begin with a good laugh - with Reiner ghosting his teasing touches on her love handles. Gets her in the mood for some serious sexing every time.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

For both, the carpets matched the drapes. Mikasa tried Brazillian wax once and uhh...Reiner abstained for a week & a half because he prefers her au naturalé 🙈 He said it felt odd from what he's used to haha

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

There are days they’ll just have a quickie if they get in the mood while just chilling, watching TV together after dinner. Before the children came, they would always have slow, intense eye-gazing, tantric, unrushed lovemaking. After the twins came into the picture, they’ll be lucky if they can even have cuddle time together >D Mikasa doesn’t say “I love you” out-loud but showed it in the way she touches & kisses Reiner’s arm when he’s in the kitchen making dinner or when he’s giving the twins a bath.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Oooh...Reiner rarely does this after he dated Mikasa & married her. But he loves getting her to touch herself in the showers. While he watches.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Did i tell you about their muscle kink & how much they love each other’s muscles?? Roleplay :) They like to pretend they’re strangers meeting in a cafe or a hotel bar and later have a ‘pretend one-night stand’ with each other haha It keeps the flame burning! (i posted a oneshot on this.)

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Home: bedroom, kitchen and in his home office. In the showers too!

They're not one to do it in public but they did have several outdoor trysts on the back of his 4WD while having a romantic night under the stars.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going) haha can't help not including this gif

When Mikasa rubs one of Reiner's thighs, rest assured that his gears will be running. Meanwhile when Reiner nuzzles her neck and started caressing her abs, oh it's an on for her alright.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

⛔ Backdoors are a big N.O ⛔

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

They're both amazing givers... You know what it means: 34 + 35 🤫 Reiner would sometimes initiates when Mikasa's already asleep. Remember that Zoom Conference & online gaming session? Mikasa likes to get back at Reiner when he least expects it.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Both depending on their moods...quickies are usually fast pounding yet not too rough, Reiner respects Mikasa too much to ever be at risk of hurting her. Usually their lovemaking would be sensual & soul-bonding at the same time.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Mikasa prefers to wear pants when they ever go for outings, movie trips, hiking trips. But, she wears skirts when they're visiting their families for a reason: smoother access for quickies. The moment she walks down the stairs in a beautiful dress before they head to his mum's or her aunts', Reiner already knows it. They be getting freaky with a quickie later 🙈

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Reiner & Mikasa are very experimental in the bedroom. Sure, they don’t have frequent lovemaking but when they’re in the mood, fireworks are a guarantee throughout with different new positions ;) Risk-taker? Let’s just say Reiner’s virility and Mikasa’s flexibility provided a lot of perks in their love lives together (and some pregnancy scares too! before they were ready to conceive) Mikasa once gave Reiner head while they're stuck in traffic heading into a road block. He'd finished just before the the car in front of them pass the inspection 🙈

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Ooh boy, all night haha Rounds: 2 max at one time. Duration: At least 1.5hours X) They both are super fit, athletic people so one can expect their staminas to be nothing less than subpar. *cough* In Canon AU: Max 4 times or 1/3 of the night *winks* because supernatural & acker powers!

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

No, they don't 🙈

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Goes without saying: a lot. Mikasa likes to wear Reiner's tshirts/ dress shirts at home to tease him. While Reiner likes to wear his reading glasses a lot at home because that is one of her biggest turn ons from him.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Mikasa's the quiet one between the two and the loudest she'd ever been was just a deep, heavy whimper. Reiner's the louder one that sometimes Mikasa would have to smother him when they're having a quickie 🤣

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Even after more than 20 years together, Reiner and Mikasa still make out like they're teenagers - pretending to sneak around and grinding in hidden, cramped spaces away from their kids.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Mikasa : Dynamite & powerful grip - thighs and you-know-what (even after 3 kids!)

Reiner : Thicc - ass & this man is packing. He has girth!

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest: 15 🤣 There's something about getting Mikasa to relax and laugh during their chill time, that just instantaneously revved up their engines at the same time. Reiner is a very tender, romantic person & Mikasa cannot resist it when he starts to tell her how much he loves her & appreciates her. He likes to kiss her hand when they're just hanging out even with friends. Everything Reiner does is genuine & that warms her heart everytime.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Reiner would be the first to go out like a light & Mikasa just likes to rest her head on his chest and hear his beating heart & relaxed breathing. Mikasa thinks Reiner's little snores are adorable. But when they're just cuddling on the couch, Mikasa would fall asleep first & Reiner would carry her to the bed.

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A/N: I had a lot of fun with this & I hope you'll enjoy it too! Thank you so much for the support & love 💖 xoxo More asks to come!

#ReiKasa #ReiKasa ask game #ReiKasa headcanons #ReiKasaverse #ReiKasa modern au #reiner x mikasa #reiner braun #mikasa ackerman #snk headcanons #aot headcanons #ReiKasa reimagines #ReiKasa sexy headcanons

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minnesotaprelawland · 4 years ago

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Trump Administration Rescinds Order Deporting International Students Taking Online Classes

By Brendan Connolly, St. Olaf College Class of 2021

July 24, 2020

On July 6th, Donald Trump’s administration issued an order that modified the temporary exemptions enacted during the Spring 2020 semester that allowed international students studying in the US to remain in the country–despite not taking in-person classes–in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new order would have forced international students in the US to leave the country if their Fall 2020 course load moved entirely online. The higher-education community vehemently rejected the decision by acting swiftly tooppose Trump’s order formally.Harvard and MIT were the first to file a lawsuit against ICE’s order, joined by over 200 colleges and universities filing briefs supporting the lawsuit.[1]In addition, 21 states, Washington D.C., Johns Hopkins University, the Regents of the University of California, University of Oregon, and a group of seven graduate students from various University of California schools filed lawsuits challenging the order.[2]On Tuesday, July 14th, there was an emergency hearing scheduled for the Harvard/MIT lawsuit. According to US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, the two parties reached an agreement less than five minutes into the hearing, concluding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)would rescind the order preventing international students from taking an online course load during the fall semester of 2020.[3]

The policy reversal was surprising.The Trump administration’s history of stubbornly sticking to policies in the face of widespread criticism and questions about legality caused many to predict that the lawsuits against DHS would be adjudicated. Judge Burroughs said before the hearing, “We’ll go as late as we need to go,” insinuating that an arduous legal battle was not out of the realm of possibility.[4]

However, there is speculation that the war might not be over. A senior DHS official has stated that the administration intends to issue a new regulation in the coming weeks regarding international students taking online classes.[5]Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Harvard University, similarly alluded to future legal battles in a statement following the order’s rescission. “While the government may attempt to issue a new directive, our legal arguments remain strong and the Court has retained jurisdiction, which would allow us to seek judicial relief immediately to protect our international students should the government again act unlawfully,” Bacow wrote.[6]

Bacow referenced how the Court retained jurisdiction in the case. When the order was rescinded, it mooted the conflict; however, US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs noted that she would keep the case on her docket pending further motions from the parties.[7] If the Trump administration goes back to the drawing board and issues new regulations, this allows the Court to revisit the issue without restarting the legal process.

This means that the two parties’ arguments are still relevant and will potentially re-emerge in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the decision to rescind the order provided immediate relief as the order left schools and students in precarious positions given how much is still up in the air for the coming academic year.

History of International Student Regulations

The United States has over forty nonimmigrant visa categories. Three of these are for students: F, M, J. F-visas are the most common student visas because they cover a broad range of programs. Students apply for an F-1 visa if they want to come to the US to attend a university/college, high school, private elementary school, seminary, conservatory, or another academic institution or language training program.[8] M-visas are intended for students attending a vocational or other recognized nonacademic institution that is not a language training program.[9] Finally, J-visas are for “exchange visitors.” Individuals with a J-1 visa could be in the country for various reasons ranging from student or working exchange programs, temporary jobs or internships, or studying at a university/college.

The critical difference between F-1 and J-1 students at a university/college is that J-1 students have a cultural component to their program in addition to their academic work.[10]Another difference is that J-1 visa holders need to fund a substantial amount of their studies through outside sources such as government scholarships, international organizations, or a Special Education Exchange Program.[11] In comparison, F-1 visa holders simply need to prove that they have the resources to pay for the first year of education.[12]

Students with F-1, M-1, and J-1 visas are expected to maintain a full course of study to retain their student visa status. The standards vary for the different visa categories, but students are expected to take the full course load as certified by their institution.[13] F-1 students can take one online or distance learning class as part of their full course of study during each term/semester.[14] M-1 and J-1 students generally cannot take online courses as part of their full-time course load.[15]

The numbers that accompany the visa classifications distinguish between different purposes of being in the United States. For example, an F-1 visa is for the person attending school in the US An F-2 visa is given to that student’s spouse or child.

F, M, and J visa categories are part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) run by the DHS. The SEVP administers the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS serves as an online database that collects and maintains information on international nonimmigrant students for national security and recordkeeping purposes.[16]

Modifications to International Student Regulations During COVID-19

On March 13th, as colleges and universities around the country were moving classes entirely online for the rest of the spring 2020 semester, ICE issued temporary exemptions to international students’ standard regulations. These exemptions provided flexibility for students and schools as the pandemic emerged as a global threat. F-visa students were allowed to return to their home country to complete the semester without sacrificing their visas’ active status.[17]F and M students were allowed to count their online classes towards their full course of study requirement.[18]Additionally, international students who were not allowed to stay in on-campus housing were allowed to find off-campus housing and stay in the United States for the spring and summer terms.[19] ICE made it clear that these temporary exemptions would last for the “duration of the emergency.”[20]

It was an unexpected move when ICE revoked the temporary exemptions as the pandemic is far from over. As of this writing, the US has nearly 4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, over 140,000 deaths, and continues to set daily records of new cases.[21]

The July 6th order revoked the temporary exemptions enacted in March. The new order would have forced F-1 and M-1 students to transfer or leave the country if they were attending a school that have moved entirely online.[22] F-1 students attending a school that operating normally in-person would return to the traditional regulations for F-1 students outlined above.[23] Finally, F-1 students attending a school with a hybrid model of in-person and online classes would be required to have at least one in-person component to their course load.[24]

Why was the July 6th order so controversial?

In 2018, the US had over 1.5 million F-1 and M-1 international students for 8,936 SEVP-certified schools.[25]According to an ongoing study conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education, only 52% of colleges/universities in the country plan to have entirely in-person classes in the fall.[26] 33% are planning on a hybrid model, and 11% will be entirely online. The remaining schools are waiting to decide. The July 6th order would have immediately impacted any student attending a school with a hybrid or online model. There is certainly a possibility that the pandemic forces in-person classes to shut down as it did in the spring.

The order came amid political turmoil for President Trump, who is trailing in the polls.[27]Trump has been clear that he wants schools to open in the fall, regardless of the public health concerns. He has been critical of Harvard’s decision to move classes online for the fall, describing it as the “easy way out.”[28] It is evident that the July 6th order was a political move to pressure universities to open up with complete disregard for public health and the law. The Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli even admitted as much by saying order’s purpose was to “encourage schools to re-open.”[29]

The Economic Consequences of a Similar Order would be Profound

Using the higher-education industry as a pawn in his political games is wrong, and many experts believe it will be a “self-inflicting wound.”[30]For a President who hangs his hat on the economy he has “built,” as he likes to say, it is curious that he would want to risk losing a portion of a market share that supports more than 450,000 US jobs and contributes over 40 billion dollars every year to the US economy.[31]

International students also provide tremendous benefits to the schools they attend. Aside from the immense value they bring to the classroom, many international students pay full tuition at their schools, which provides a significant source of revenue to the institutions.[32]According to the Brookings Institution, international students account for over 2.5 billion dollars in tuition and other revenue to American colleges and universities.[33]Like most businesses, colleges and universities have suffered tremendously from the consequences of COVID-19.

It should be noted that even before the controversial July 6th order, the Trump administration issued a ban on J-1 and H-1B (specialized workers) visas on June 22nd to expedite economic recovery for American citizens as the country re-opens.[34] However, many have criticized that decision as many industries rely on J-1 and H-1B individuals. For example, the skiing industry expects to suffer from the visa restrictions as they rely on temporary foreign workers during the winter months to operate the ski resorts.[35] Additionally, experts are expecting universities and colleges around the country, but especially in Texas, will suffer from the J-1 and H-1B restrictions.[36]

Trump’s pattern of ostracizing immigrants and foreign nationals threatens the long-term strength of the American economy. Sara Wallace Goodman–a political science professor at UC Irvine–says, “[International students] make our research better. Businesses rely on this talent to be competitive. It is a net gain for everyone.”[37]The US’s prestigious colleges and universities have always drawn the globe’s top talent. However, many international students have opted to further their education in other countries since Trump has taken office. Since 2009, China has been the largest source of international students in the United States.[38] Four years ago, Chinese students dramatically preferred the US to continue their schooling; however, Britain has now surpassed the US as Chinese students’ preferred destination.[39] If the US stops attracting the best and the brightest to our schools, our country will suffer.

The Legal Implications of International Student Restrictions

Most legal experts believed Trump’s action was illegal, perhaps explaining why the administration was quick to rescind the order. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement after filing a lawsuit against ICE, “What Donald Trump has tried to do in this regard will fail, because it is against the law.”[40]

Harvard and MIT argued that the order violated the Administrative Procedure Act 5 USC. § 706 (APA)because that it was “arbitrary and capricious” without considering the effects of the policy.[41] The schools also argued that ICE violated the APA because it did not provide any “reasoned basis that could justify the policy.” In Motor Vehicle Manufacturer’s Association of the United States v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. (1983), the Court held that an agency issuing a directive must “cogently explain why it has exercised its discretion in a given manner.”[42] Finally, the schools contended that the order violated the notice-and-comment rulemaking procedure of Section 553 of the APA, which requires the public to have an opportunity to comment on a rule before it takes effect.[43]

Natalie M. Gomez-Velez, a law school professor at the City University of New York, believed that DHS and ICE acted illegally in issuing the July 6th order.[44]APA cases have become increasingly common during the Trump era. The Supreme Court ruled last month in DHS v. Regents of the University of California (2020) against Trump’s attempt to end DACA because the administration failed to provide adequate reasoning to end the program.[45] Similarly, the Court ruled against a citizenship question on the 2020 Census in Department of Commerce v. New York (2019).[46]

Gomez-Velez described how Trump’s affinity for acting carelessly prevents his policies from standing up in court.[47]However, APA cases do not provide long-term consistency. This means that even when an agency is found to have acted illegally, they can go back and correct their mistake.[48]

Trump is already rumored to be working on a new attempt to end DACA in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling.[49] Given how quickly they rescinded the July 6th order, it is likely that Trump’s administration will craft new international student regulations that will make it harder for colleges and universities to challenge.

________________________________________________________________

Brendan Connolly is a rising senior at St. Olaf College pursuing a double major in Political Science & Economics with an emphasis in finance. At St. Olaf, Brendan is the Co-Captain of the basketball team, a Contributing Editor at Rebuttal, and a member of the Director’s Council for the Institute for Freedom and Community. After graduating, Brendan hopes attend law school and pursue a career in public policy.

________________________________________________________________

[1]Binkley, Collin. “More Than 200 Schools Back Harvard/MIT Lawsuit Over Foreign Student Rule.” More Than 200 Schools Back Harvard/MIT Lawsuit Over Foreign Student Rule | Edify, WBUR, 13 July 2020, wbur.org.

[2]Hawkinson, John. “ICE Says Harvard, MIT Not Harmed by New Rule as Eight More Lawsuits Filed over Student Visas.” Cambridge Day, 14 July 2020, cambridgeday.com.

[3]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “DHS and ICE Rescind Policy Barring International Students Taking Online Courses: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 14 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[4]Andersen, Travis, and Jeremy C. Fox. High-Stakes Hearing Set for Tuesday in Harvard, MIT Lawsuit Challenging ICE Rules on International Students - The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe, 10 July 2020, bostonglobe.com.

[5]Rosenberg, Mica. In Surprise Move, Trump Administration Reverses Course on barring Many Foreign Students. Thomson Reuters, 15 July 2020, reuters.com.

[6]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “DHS and ICE Rescind Policy Barring International Students Taking Online Courses: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 14 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[7]Carney, Todd, and Patrick McDonnell. “A Summary of ICE's Reversal and Re-Reversal on Online Class Policy for International Students.” Lawfare, 17 July 2020, lawfareblog.com.

[8]“Student Visa.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, travel.state.gov.

[9]“Student Visa.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, travel.state.gov.

[10]“Studying at U.S. Universities and Colleges: F-1 Versus J-1 Visas.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, j1visa.state.gov.

[11]Pedraza, Jessica. “Understanding the F-1, J-1 and M-1 Visas.” Leading U.S. Education Guide for All International Students, Study In The USA, 15 July 2016, studyusa.com.

[12]Pedraza, Jessica. “Understanding the F-1, J-1 and M-1 Visas.” Leading U.S. Education Guide for All International Students, Study In The USA, 15 July 2016, studyusa.com.

[13]“Full Course of Study.” Study in the States, studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

[14]“Full Course of Study.” Study in the States, studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

[15]“Full Course of Study.” Study in the States, studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

[16]“Student and Exchange Visitor Program.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ice.gov.

[17]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[18]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[19]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[20]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[21]“COVID-19 United States Cases by County.” Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Johns Hopkins University, 21 July 2020, coronavirus.jhu.edu.

[22]“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , 6 July 2020, ice.gov.

[23]“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , 6 July 2020, ice.gov.

[24]“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , 6 July 2020, ice.gov.

[25]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. SEVIS By The Numbers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2018. ice.gov.

[26]Staff, Chronicle. Here's a List of Colleges' Plans for Reopening in the Fall. Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 July 2020, chronicle.com.

[27]“Latest Polls.�� FiveThirtyEight, 22 July 2020, projects.fivethirtyeight.com.

[28]Andersen, Travis, and Jeremy C. Fox. High-Stakes Hearing Set for Tuesday in Harvard, MIT Lawsuit Challenging ICE Rules on International Students - The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe, 10 July 2020, bostonglobe.com.

[29]Davis, Kailey. “AG Ferguson Lawsuit: ICE's International Student Rule Violates the Law.” NBC Right Now, 10 July 2020, nbcrightnow.com.

[30]Mackinnon, Amy, and Augusta Saraiva. “ICE Restrictions on International Students a 'Self-Inflicted Wound'.” Foreign Policy, 10 July 2020, foreignpolicy.com.

[31]Mitchell, Ted. “Statement by ACE President Ted Mitchell on ICE Guidance on International Students.” ACE, American Council on Education, 6 July 2020, acenet.edu.

[32]Hartocollis, Anemona, and Miriam Jordan. “Harvard and M.I.T. Sue to Stop Trump Visa Rules for Foreign Students.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 July 2020, nytimes.com.

[33]Startz, Dick. “Coronavirus Will Harm America's International Students-and the Universities They Attend.” Brookings, Brookings Institute, 17 Mar. 2020, brookings.edu.

[34]United States, Congress, President of the United States, and Donald J Trump. Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak, 22 June 2020. whitehouse.gov.

[35]Higgins, Sean. “Trump's J-1 Visa Restrictions Could Be A Big Problem For The Ski Industry.” KPCW, NPR, 7 June 2020, kpcw.org.

[36]Oxner, Reese. “Trump's Ban on New Visas Will Hurt Texas Universities, Experts Say.” The Texas Tribune, The Texas Tribune, 12 July 2020, texastribune.org.

[37]Lev-Ram, Michal. “Professors and Universities Find Creative Solutions to Keep International Students from Getting Deported.” Fortune, Fortune, 9 July 2020, fortune.com.

[38]Chinese Students Turn Away from US Universities. Bangkok Post, 19 July 2020, bangkokpost.com.

[39]Chinese Students Turn Away from US Universities. Bangkok Post, 19 July 2020, bangkokpost.com.

[40]Kroichick, Ron. California Sues to Stop Trump Effort to Bar International Students amid Pandemic. San Francisco Chronicle, 10 July 2020, sfchronicle.com.

[41]United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. President and Fellows of Harvard College; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology v. Department of Homeland Security. 8 July 2020, harvard.edu.

[42]The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia Circuit. Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Assoc. of the United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. 24 June 1983, casetext.com.

[43]Carney, Todd, and Patrick McDonnell. “A Summary of ICE's Reversal and Re-Reversal on Online Class Policy for International Students.” Lawfare, 17 July 2020, lawfareblog.com.

[44]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “Experts Link Harvard ICE Lawsuit to Recent SCOTUS Precedents on Procedural Issues: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[45]Supreme Court of the United States. Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California. no. 18-587, 18 June 2020, supremecourt.gov.

[46]Supreme Court of the United States. Department of Commerce v. New York. no. 18-966, 27 June 2019, supremecourt.gov.

[47]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “Experts Link Harvard ICE Lawsuit to Recent SCOTUS Precedents on Procedural Issues: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[48]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “Experts Link Harvard ICE Lawsuit to Recent SCOTUS Precedents on Procedural Issues: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[49]Porter, Tom. “Trump Is Considering a Loophole, Which He Found in a Conservative Magazine Article, to Bypass Congress to Impose New Immigration Policies.” Business Insider, 20 July 2020, businessinsider.com.

Photo Credit: Vrenibean

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decodealin · 4 years ago

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7 Top Strategies For Choosing The Perfect Wardrobe

Possessing appropriate storage is absolutely key to turning your bedroom into a clutter-free sanctuary, along with a carefully selected wardrobe is the thing of furniture most likely to provide scope for more organized living.

Below are some top tips for your most important things to consider when putting together your apparel wish list...

Top Tip 1) Use

There are hundreds of different Wardrobe Accessories Online on the current market, from two-door, three-door, sliding, mirrored, freestanding and fitted. And that's just the frame -- after you open up the doors you will find infinite options regarding the combination and setup of hanging space, drawers, shelves and shoe racks that may be incorporated inside.

So, to start with, the very first question to ask yourself is what type of storage space do you mostly need? Hanging space for clothing, shelves for shoes, drawers for smaller clothes products, cosmetics or other Wardrobe Accessories India, or a mix?

Once you've set out exactly what your wardrobe will be used for, you can consider the functionality it needs to offer, which will help guide both the exterior and interior specification you need it to match.

Top Tip 2) Functionality

Knowing the duration of hanging space you will roughly have to have in proportion to the kind of clothing you have is important. If you are going to store long coats, evening dresses and dressing gowns in the wardrobe rather than elsewhere in the home, you'll almost certainly require accessories which optimise the entire height of the apparel, although suits, short dresses and jumpers can hang comfortably on half-height railings, which instantly doubles the amount of hanging room.

When it has to do with drawers and shelves, again think carefully about everything you will, mostly, be storing on them. Many dividers today offer super-innovative interior designs with built-in shoe racks, jewellery drawers, and adjustable cubbyholes that enhance organisation options, reduce clutter and possibly eliminate the need for additional furniture in the bedroom. And many equipments are easy to buy. Because decodeal are offers Pull Out Pantry, Pull Out Kitchen, etc.

The thickness of shelves is also a consideration -- past a certain stage, having a deeper shelf produces a black hole where clothes disappear, which means that you may struggle to find things right at the back!

Best Tip 3) Size

Consider precisely where on your bedroom the wardrobe is going to proceed, and be very sure of this; a large piece of furniture is often difficult to move around (and impossible if it's a fitted layout -- obviously!) And many rooms only have one suitable location for a product of this size, therefore it ought to match perfectly.

Most manufacturers make wardrobes to get at least 45cm of thickness, that should be enough to give you the choice to possess ample shelf, hanging and drawer space.

If your budget permits, my tip would be to go as large as possible however -- you can never have enough storage space -- but in sensible limitations, so think almost about if there'll be sufficient clearance space to easily open doors, walk around and match your additional items of furniture in comfortably.

Also go as tall as you can towards the ceiling to increase storage. This space can be useful for stashing spare bedding, seasonal or occasional things which don't need daily usage.

Best Tip 4) Forms of Clothing

As soon as you've pinpointed your performance requirements, you should begin considering the varieties of wardrobe which are available.

Fitted designs are fantastic for rooms with strange angles, awkward alcoves, or sloping ceilings; available from specialist suppliers, they are normally custom-made and much more expensive.

Free-standing wardrobes are versatile when considering design and cost; they're often available for quicker delivery and can be moved from room to room, or house to house, if needed. The Principal types to choose from are:

Two-door panel dividers: these generally follow a pretty standard design in which the inside is divided in half with one side as drawers and another with rails.

Three-door panel wardrobes: offering a bit more space, this layout comprises another compartment of railings or shelving.

Hinged doors are more common though, and imply that you could mount a mirror or additional hooks/ racks around the interior.

Doorless: a frame-stand lets you make a display as well as shop clothing. Easily collapsible and movable, standalone rails can be used in addition to a traditional wardrobe, but do appeal to quite a specific,'on-trend', flavor.

Best Tip 5) Design

As a larand dominant piece of furniture, the design of this wardrobe contributes greatly to the overall theme and taste of the bedroom.

The different styles available are endless, from timeless, versatile classics, to high-gloss, slick modern; from ornate French boudoir to minimalist Scandinavian chic.

Little touches like the grips can have an impact on the wardrobe's overall appeal; whether you go for elaborate glass knobs, slim brushed-chrome handles, cupped insets or ring pulls, and these delicate accomplices can be customisable and help to hone the overall stylistics.

Also think about if you would like to match your wardrobe with other pieces of furniture such as a bedside cupboard, chest of drawers or vanity. Should you prefer these to be matching, check if the apparel is part of a suite.

Best Tip 6) Material and Finish

The material, color and surface finish of your wardrobe is a massive contributor to its design and also the amount of practicality it can offer. There are many choices available, such as modular options which means that you can mix and match to create a bespoke look unique to you!

Strong wood: one of the most used materials, strong wood is solid and solid, with each kind bringing a different feel and effect.

MDF or particleboard: common options these days, they're cost-effective, inexpensive and reasonably durable wardrobe materials.

High gloss finish: showcasing a sleek, modern look to your room, this glistening finish is mainly available in either black, white or very light colours.

Glass and mirrors: through reflecting the light, opaque glass or mirror adds an additional dimension to the room, making a glowing impact which complements most interior décor.

Painted finish: readily available in many colours, painted wardrobes can also be treated with different distinct finishes, tailoring it to exude a rustic, refreshing, elaborate or boho look, based upon your design preference.

Top Tip 7) Practicality

As a bulky item of furniture with features that can vary greatly from product to product, there are some other logistical factors on the'ideal wardrobe checklist' that I would highly recommend considering before you make a purchase:

Double check sizes and dimensions: it's very easy to underestimate how much space a bit of furniture like this can take up, therefore check and check again when it comes to measuring measurements and the total amount of clearance space needed. Plotting the shape out on the floor with masking tape is obviously helpful as you want.

Delivery: check with the retailer if shipping costs are included, and that this includes carrying the dresses to the last destination in the area -- you do not need it left unattended when it ought to go into a third-floor bedroom! Quantify halls, stairs and doors to make certain you can fit the wardrobe through comfortably; if the space is quite limited you might have to take into account a flat package.

Meeting: wardrobes are usually heavy and bulky, so you can require assistance (and patience!) To build. Pre-assembled products will save yourself time but are usually pricier, and more challenging to manoeuvre into place.

Safety: as a tall, freestanding item, ensure that you are able to securely fasten the wardrobe to the wall or anchor it to the ground when you've got young kids who are tempted to use it as a climbing frame!

#Pull Out Pantry #Pull Out Kitchen #Wardrobe Accessories India #Wardrobe Accessories Online #Kitchen Organiser Rack

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alexneon-posts · 5 years ago

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Academic Writing Services in UK

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your dissertation? Don't let it intimidate you. Read on for a few dissertation writing strategies that will turn your dissertation from a monster into something a lot more manageable.

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This will lower your stress levels considerably, which should help you complete your dissertation.

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ieltsxpresscom · 5 years ago

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IELTS Practice Cambridge Book 8 Academic Reading Test 1 C8T1

IELTS Practice Cambridge Book 8 Academic Reading Test 1 C8T1. Practice IELTS Reading practice online our website to score higher bands in your reading exam.

A Chronicle of Timekeeping A According to archaeological evidence, at least 5,000 years ago, and long before the advent of the Roman Empire, the Babylonians began to measure time, introducing calendars to co-ordinate communal activities, to plan the shipment of goods and, in particular, to regulate planting and harvesting. They based their calendars on three natural cycles: the solar day, marked by the successive periods of light and darkness as the earth rotates on its axis; the lunar month, following the phases of the moon as it orbits the earth; and the solar year, defined by the changing seasons that accompany our planet’s revolution around the sun. B Before the invention of artificial light, the moon had greater social impact. And, for those living near the equator in particular, its waxing and waning was more conspicuous than the passing of the seasons. Hence, the calendars that were developed at the lower latitudes were influenced more by the lunar cycle than by the solar year. In more northern climes, however, where seasonal agriculture was practised, the solar year became more crucial. As the Roman Empire expanded northward, it organised its activity chart for the most part around the solar year. C Centuries before the Roman Empire, the Egyptians had formulated a municipal calendar having 12 months of 30 days, with five days added to approximate the solar year. Each period of ten days was marked by the appearance of special groups of stars called decans. At the rise of the star Sirius just before sunrise, which occurred around the all-important annual flooding of the Nile, 12 decans could be seen spanning the heavens. The cosmic significance the Egyptians placed in the 12 decans led them to develop a system in which each interval of darkness (and later, each interval of daylight) was divided into a dozen equal parts. These periods became known as temporal hours because their duration varied according to the changing length of days and nights with the passing of the seasons. Summer hours were long, winter ones short; only at the spring and autumn equinoxes were the hours of daylight and darkness equal. Temporal hours, which were first adopted by the Greeks and then the Romans, who disseminated them through Europe, remained in use for more than 2,500 years. D In order to track temporal hours during the day, inventors created sundials, which indicate time by the length or direction of the sun’s shadow. The sundial’s counterpart, the water clock, was designed to measure temporal hours at night. One of the first water clocks was a basin with a small hole near the bottom through which the water dripped out. The falling water level denoted the passing hour as it dipped below hour lines inscribed on the inner surface. Although these devices performed satisfactorily around the Mediterranean, they could not always be depended on in the cloudy and often freezing weather of northern Europe. E The advent of the mechanical clock meant that although it could be adjusted to maintain temporal hours, it was naturally suited to keeping equal ones. With these, however, arose the question of when to begin counting, and so, in the early 14th century, a number of systems evolved. The schemes that divided the day into 24 equal parts varied according to the start of the count: Italian hours began at sunset, Babylonian hours at sunrise, astronomical hours at midday and ‘great clock’ hours, used for some large public clocks in Germany, at midnight. Eventually these were superseded by ‘small clock’, or French, hours, which split the day into two 12-hour periods commencing at midnight. F The earliest recorded weight-driven mechanical clock was built in 1283 in Bedfordshire in England. The revolutionary aspect of this new timekeeper was neither the descending weight that provided its motive force nor the gear wheels (which had been around for at least 1,300 years) that transferred the power; it was the part called the escapement. In the early 1400s came the invention of the coiled spring or fusee which maintained constant force to the gear wheels of the timekeeper despite the changing tension of its mainspring. By the 16th century, a pendulum clock had been devised, but the pendulum swung in a large arc and thus was not very efficient. G To address this, a variation on the original escapement was invented in 1670, in England. It was called the anchor escapement, which was a lever-based device shaped like a ship’s anchor. The motion of a pendulum rocks this device so that it catches and then releases each tooth of the escape wheel, in turn allowing it to turn a precise amount. Unlike the original form used in early pendulum clocks, the anchor escapement permitted the pendulum to travel in a very small arc. Moreover, this invention allowed the use of a long pendulum which could beat once a second and thus led to the development of a new floor standing case design, which became known as the grandfather clock. H Today, highly accurate timekeeping instruments set the beat for most electronic devices. Nearly all computers contain a quartz-crystal clock to regulate their operation. Moreover, not only do time signals beamed down from Global Positioning System satellites calibrate the functions of precision navigation equipment, they do so as well for mobile phones, instant stock-trading systems and nationwide power-distribution grids. So integral have these time-based technologies become to day-to-day existence that our dependency on them is recognised only when they fail to work. Questions 1-4 Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1- 4 on your answer sheet. 1 a description of an early timekeeping invention affected by cold temperatures 2 an explanation of the importance of geography in the development of the calendar in farming communities 3 a description of the origins of the pendulum clock 4 details of the simultaneous efforts of different societies to calculate time using uniform hours Questions 5-8 Look at the following events (Questions 5-8) and the list of nationalities below. Match each event with the correct nationality, A-F. Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet. 5 They devised a civil calendar in which the months were equal in length. 6 They divided the day into two equal halves. 7 They developed a new cabinet shape for a type of timekeeper. 8 They created a calendar to organise public events and work schedules. A Babylonians B Egyptians C Greeks D English E Germans F French Questions 9-13 Label the diagram below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.

Download All Cambridge IELTS Books Pdf + Audio For Free Cambridge 1-14 (Free Download) AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL IN THE USA A An accident that occurred in the skies over the Grand Canyon in 1956 resulted in the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate and oversee the operation of aircraft in the skies over the United States, which were becoming quite congested. The resulting structure of air traffic control has greatly increased the safety of flight in the United States, and similar air traffic control procedures are also in place over much of the rest of the world. B Rudimentary air traffic control (АТС) existed well before the Grand Canyon disaster. As early as the 1920s, the earliest air traffic controllers manually guided aircraft in the vicinity of the airports, using lights and flags, while beacons and flashing lights were placed along cross-country routes to establish the earliest airways. However, this purely visual system was useless in bad weather, and, by the 1930s, radio communication was coming into use for АТС. The first region to have something approximating today’s АТС was New York City, with other major metropolitan areas following soon after. C In the 1940s, АТС centres could and did take advantage of the newly developed radar and improved radio communication brought about by the Second World War, but the system remained rudimentary. It was only after the creation of the FAA that full-scale regulation of America’s airspace took place, and this was fortuitous, for the advent of the jet engine suddenly resulted in a large number of very fast planes, reducing pilots’ margin of error and practically demanding some set of rules to keep everyone well separated and operating safely in the air. D Many people think that АТС consists of a row of controllers sitting in front of their radar screens at the nation’s airports, telling arriving and departing traffic what to do. This is a very incomplete part of the picture. The FAA realised that the airspace over the United States would at any time have many different kinds of planes, flying for many different purposes, in a variety of weather conditions, and the same kind of structure was needed to accommodate all of them. E To meet this challenge, the following elements were put into effect. First, АТС extends over virtually the entire United States. In general, from 365m above the ground and higher, the entire country is blanketed by controlled airspace. In certain areas, mainly near airports, controlled airspace extends down to 215m above the ground, and, in the immediate vicinity of an airport, all the way down to the surface. Controlled airspace is that airspace in which FAA regulations apply. Elsewhere, in uncontrolled airspace, pilots are bound by fewer regulations. In this way, the recreational pilot who simply wishes to go flying for a while without all the restrictions imposed by the FAA has only to stay in uncontrolled airspace, below 365m, while the pilot who does want the protection afforded by АТС can easily enter the controlled airspace. F The FAA then recognised two types of operating environments. In good meteorological conditions, flying would be permitted under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), which suggests a strong reliance on visual cues to maintain an acceptable level of safety. Poor visibility necessitated a set of Instrumental Flight Rules (IFR), under which the pilot relied on altitude and navigational information provided by the plane’s instrument panel to fly safely. On a clear day, a pilot in controlled airspace can choose a VFR or IFR flight plan, and the FAA regulations were devised in a way which accommodates both VFR and IFR operations in the same airspace. However, a pilot can only choose to fly IFR if they possess an instrument rating which is above and beyond the basic pilot’s license that must also be held. G Controlled airspace is divided into several different types, designated by letters of the alphabet. Uncontrolled airspace is designated Class F, while controlled airspace below 5,490m above sea level and not in the vicinity of an airport is Class E. All airspace above 5,490m is designated Class A. The reason for the division of Class E and Class A airspace stems from the type of planes operating in them. Generally, Class E airspace is where one finds general aviation aircraft (few of which can climb above 5,490m anyway), and commercial turboprop aircraft. Above 5,490m is the realm of the heavy jets, since jet engines operate more efficiently at higher altitudes. The difference between Class E and A airspace is that in Class A, all operations are IFR, and pilots must be instrument-rated, that is, skilled and licensed in aircraft instrumentation. This is because АТС control of the entire space is essential. Three other types of airspace, Classes D, С and B, govern the vicinity of airports. These correspond roughly to small municipal, medium-sized metropolitan and major metropolitan airports respectively, and encompass an increasingly rigorous set of regulations. For example, all a VFR pilot has to do to enter Class С airspace is establish two-way radio contact with АТС. No explicit permission from АТС to enter is needed, although the pilot must continue to obey all regulations governing VFR flight. To enter Class В airspace, such as on approach to a major metropolitan airport, an explicit АТС clearance is required. The private pilot who cruises without permission into this airspace risks losing their license. Questions 14-19 Reading passage 2 has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A and C-G from the list below. Write the correct number i-x in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet. List of Headings i Disobeying FAA Regulations ii Aviation disaster prompts action iii Two coincidental developments iv Setting Altitude Zones v An oversimplified view vi Controlling pilots’ licence vii Defining airspace categories viii Setting rules to weather conditions ix Taking of Safety x First step towards ATC Example – Paragraph B x 14 Paragraph A 15 Paragraph C 16 Paragraph D 17 Paragraph E 18 Paragraph F 19 Paragraph G Questions 20-26 Do the following statements agree with the given information of the reading passage? In boxes 20-26 on your answer sheet, write: TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 20 The FAA was created as a result of the introduction of the jet engine. 21 Air traffic control started after the Grand Canyon crash in 1956. 22 Beacons and flashing lights are still used by the ATC today. 23 Some improvements were made in radio communication during World War II. 24 Class F airspace is airspace which is below 365m and not near airports. 25 All aircraft in class E airspace must use IFR. 26 A pilot entering class C airspace is flying over an average-sized city. Telepathy Since the 1970s, parapsychologists at leading universities and research institutes around the world have risked the derision of sceptical colleagues by putting the various claims for telepathy to the test in dozens of rigorous scientific studies. The results and their implications are dividing even the researchers who uncovered them. Some researchers say the results constitute compelling evidence that telepathy is genuine. Other parapsychologists believe the field is on the brink of collapse, having tried to produce definitive scientific proof and failed. Sceptics and advocates alike do concur on one issue, however: that the most impressive evidence so far has come from the so-called ‘ganzfeld’ experiments, a German term that means ‘whole field’. Reports of telepathic experiences had by people during meditation led parapsychologists to suspect that telepathy might involve ‘signals’ passing between people that were so faint that they were usually swamped by normal brain activity. In this case, such signals might be more easily detected by those experiencing meditation-like tranquility in a relaxing ‘whole field’ of light, sound and warmth. The ganzfeld experiment tries to recreate these conditions with participants sitting in soft reclining chairs in a sealed room, listening to relaxing sounds while their eyes are covered with special filters letting in only soft pink light. In early ganzfeld experiments, the telepathy test involved identification of a picture chosen from a random selection of four taken from a large image bank. The idea was that a person acting as a ‘sender’ would attempt to beam the image over to the ‘receiver’ relaxing in the sealed room. Once the session was over, this person was asked to identify which of the four images had been used. Random guessing would give a hit-rate of 25 per cent; if telepathy is real, however, the hit-rate would be higher. In 1982, the results from the first ganzfeld studies were analysed by one of its pioneers, the American parapsychologist Charles Honorton. They pointed to typical hit-rates of better than 30 per cent – a small effect, but one which statistical tests suggested could not be put down to chance. The implication was that the ganzfeld method had revealed real evidence for telepathy. But there was a crucial flaw in this argument – one routinely overlooked in more conventional areas of science. Just because chance had been ruled out as an explanation did not prove telepathy must exist; there were many other ways of getting positive results. These ranged from ‘sensory leakage’ – where clues about the pictures accidentally reach the receiver – to outright fraud. In response, the researchers issued a review of all the ganzfeld studies done up to 1985 to show that 80 per cent had found statistically significant evidence. However, they also agreed that there were still too many problems in the experiments which could lead to positive results, and they drew up a list demanding new standards for future research. After this, many researchers switched to autoganzfeld tests – an automated variant of the technique which used computers to perform many of the key tasks such as the random selection of images. By minimising human involvement, the idea was to minimise the risk of flawed results. In 1987, results from hundreds of autoganzfeld tests were studied by Honorton in a ‘meta-analysis’, a statistical technique for finding the overall results from a set of studies. Though less compelling than before, the outcome was still impressive. Yet some parapsychologists remain disturbed by the lack of consistency between individual ganzfeld studies. Defenders of telepathy point out that demanding impressive evidence from every study ignores one basic statistical fact: it takes large samples to detect small effects. If, as current results suggest, telepathy produces hit-rates only marginally above the 25 per cent expected by chance, it’s unlikely to be detected by a typical ganzfeld study involving around 40 people: the group is just not big enough. Only when many studies are combined in a meta-analysis will the faint signal of telepathy really become apparent. And that is what researchers do seem to be finding. What they are certainly not finding, however, is any change in attitude of mainstream scientists: most still totally reject the very idea of telepathy. The problem stems at least in part from the lack of any plausible mechanism for telepathy. Various theories have been put forward, many focusing on esoteric ideas from theoretical physics. They include ‘quantum entanglement’, in which events affecting one group of atoms instantly affect another group, no matter how far apart they may be. While physicists have demonstrated entanglement with specially prepared atoms, no-one knows if it also exists between atoms making up human minds. Answering such questions would transform parapsychology. This has prompted some researchers to argue that the future lies not in collecting more evidence for telepathy, but in probing possible mechanisms. Some work has begun already, with researchers trying to identify people who are particularly successful in autoganzfeld trials. Early results show that creative and artistic people do much better than average: in one study at the University of Edinburgh, musicians achieved a hit-rate of 56 per cent. Perhaps more tests like these will eventually give the researchers the evidence they are seeking and strengthen the case for the existence of telepathy. Questions 27-30 Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A —G, below. Write the correct letter, A—G, in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet. 27 Researchers with differing attitudes towards telepathy agree on 28 Reports of experiences during meditation indicated 29 Attitudes to parapsychology would alter drastically with 30 Recent autoganzfeld trials suggest that success rates will improve with A the discovery of a mechanism for telepathy. B the need to create a suitable environment for telepathy. C their claims of a high success rate. D a solution to the problem posed by random guessing. E the significance of the ganzfeld experiments. F a more careful selection of subjects. G a need to keep altering conditions. Questions 31-40 Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 31-40 on your answer sheet.

Show Answers 1. D 2. B 3. F 4. E 5. B 6. F 7. D 8. A 9. (ships’s) anchor 10. (escape) wheel 11. tooth 12. (long) pendulum 13. second 14. ii 15. iii 16. v 17. iv 18. viii 19. vii 20. false 21. false 22. not given 23. true 24. true 25. false 26. true 27. E 28. B 29. A 30. F 31. sender 32. picture/ image 33. receiver 34. sensory leakage 35. fraud 36. computers 37. human involvement 38. meta-analysis 39. lack of consistency 40. big/ large enough Read the full article

#academicreading #c8t1 #cambridge8 #cambridgeacademicreading8 #ielts8 #ielts8reading1 #ieltsacademicreading #reading

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safety-blocks-pub · 5 years ago

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Midsem Exam Solutions

Here’s the solution for the midsem exam, credit to my tutor Andrew:

= COMP6[84]41 Midsemester Exam : 2019t2 = == Total number of marks: 55 == == Total duration: 55 minutes + 5 minutes reading time ==

This is a closed book exam. The class textbook is not provided for this exam.

There is one mark for following the examination instructions.

A result of 50 marks will be scaled to be full marks so you can skip 5 marks worth of questions in part A and still get full marks. I suggest you skip the final question in part A if you are tight for time as part B is worth much more.

If you are doing a pen and paper version of the exam write you name and student number here and sign it

{{{ Name: Student Number: Which course: COMP6441/COMP6841 (cross out the wrong one) Signature: }}}

If you are doing the exam on a terminal your answers can be submitted by pressing save on this application. You may submit your solutions as many times as you like. The last submission ONLY will be marked.

Write your name and student number on the top of each sheet of any rough working paper you use, this will not be marked, and write your answers in the computer files as directed in the exam instructions.

You must hand in ALL writing paper at the end of the exam.

Once the exam has commenced you may not leave the exam.

You may only use the viewer, GUI calculator, and the decoding app supplied for the last question. Other programs including scripting or interpreted languages may not be used. We are logging all activity and use of other software etc will result in 0 fail. If you are unsure ask the supervisor.

If no answer seems perfect, or if more than one answer seems correct then give the answer which you think best answers the question.

The use of Top Men, misdirection, or social engineering is prohibited. Strict exam conditions apply, including that you may not attempt to communicate with any other person, or access other computers or external data/information or any internet resources.

If you do not follow these instructions you will get zero marks for the exam and a possible zero marks for the course or a charge of academic misconduct.

Phones must be turned off and not visible, either left outside the room in your bag or sealed in an opaque bag placed under your seat.

v1.4

==== Part A ====

This part is worth 39 marks and consists of 13x3 mark questions.

=== Question 0 === (3 Marks)

You are setting the password policy for your company. What is the best policy according to NIST?

.[A] Users must change password every 6 months .[B] Require passwords to satisfy structural rules such as "at least one uppercase letter, one digit, and one non-alphanumeric symbol" .[C] Passwords must not be on a blacklist of common passwords .[D] Passwords must be of a minimum length .[E] Use a set of personal questions as challenges rather than passwords eg "What was the name of your first teacher" .[F] Generate the password randomly for the user and don't allow them to change it.

=== Question 1 === (3 Marks)

The modulus of a particular RSA key is generated by multiplying two different prime numbers, each having a length of 20 decimal digits (there are about 2x10^18 such primes). The modulus is public, the two primes which produced it are secret. All you need to know about RSA is if an attacker can ever find the two prime factors they can find the private key, and so break the code.

If it takes 8 bits of work to test if one number divides into another how many bits of work would it take on average to brute force one of the two factors of the modulus by repeated trial divisions?

.[A] 0-19 bits of work .[B] 20-29 bits of work .[C] 30-39 bits of work .[D] 40-49 bits of work .[E] 50-59 bits of work .[F] 60-69 bits of work .[G] 70-79 bits of work .[H] 80 or more bits of work

=== Question 2 === (3 Marks)

In a hypothetical electronic voting system the candidate names are "Putin", "Trump", "Xi", "Ahern", "Johnson", "Duterte" and "Trudeau". Candidates vote by encrypting their selected candidate's name, and posting the resulting encrypted candidate name on a public bulletin board which is tamper evident. The ID of the voter is shown alongside their encrypted vote on the bulletin board so everyone can check that no one voted twice, and that only eligible voters voted.

ASSUME THAT ELECTORAL OFFICIALS CAN BE SAFELY TRUSTED i.e. don't consider insider attacks in your answer. For each of the following encryption/hash schemes state whether or not it could safely be used to encrypt the candidate names in order to ensure that no candidate can view the bulletin board and learn who did, or who didn't, vote for them.

Vignere Cipher (each individual voter has a unique key also known to electoral officials) .[Yes] Safe to use .[No] Not safe to use

2048 bit RSA (encrypted using a publicly known public key, only the electoral officials know the private key) .[Yes] Safe to use .[No] Not safe to use

SHA256 .[Yes] Safe to use .[No] Not safe to use

One Time Pad (each individual voter has a unique key also known to electoral officials) .[Yes] Safe to use .[No] Not safe to use

=== Question 3 === (3 Marks)

You encode your favorite quote using METHOD A and paste the cipher text at the end of a long email to your friend - and then you encrypt the whole email using METHOD B before you send it. So the quote has been encrypted twice.

Roughly how much work will it take to find the decryption of the quote if it takes 30 bits of work to decrypt METHOD A and if it takes 30 bits of work to decrypt METHOD B?

.[A] 30 bits .[B] 60 bits .[C] 90 bits .[D] 900 bits .[E] A good quote by Goethe is "You can easily judge the character of a person by how they treat those who can do nothing for them" - however it's not the one you encrypted.

=== Question 4 === (3 Marks)

The following question relates to the Houdini case study done in your analysis group.

The object of the case study was to devise a protocol for Bess to follow. What are the two most important properties the protocol needed to have?

Most important property (use between 4 and 20 characters in your answer) (hint: it is one of the CIA properties) Authentication_____

Second most important property (use between 4 and 20 characters in your answer) (no hints for this one) Non-repudiation ______

=== Question 5 === (3 Marks)

Suppose the president of a country is the only one who knows the 10 digit pin needed to arm the country's nuclear weapons (to prevent unauthorised launches). If you were the country's head of military security what would you be most worried about in this scenario:

.[A] Integrity .[B] Authentication .[C] Security Engineering .[D] Proof of liveness .[E] Security by obscurity .[F] Type I/Type II error tradeoff

=== Question 6 === (3 Marks)

What sort of attack would the following most likely be used in?

.[A] Bump .[B] Rake .[C] Shim .[D] Brute force .[E] Impressioning .[F] Social Engineering

=== Question 7 === (3 Marks)

A locksmith uses the tool below to pick a tumbler lock with 6 pins and 6 possible pin heights. Suppose she already knows the correct sequence in which to try the pins. How many combinations will she have to test in the worst case?

.[A] 6 .[B] 6+6 .[C] 6*6 .[D] 6^6 .[E] 2^(6+6)

=== Question 8 === (3 Marks)

Suppose your company has been hit by a ransomware attack. What is the most likely to have been used in the attack?

.[A] Corrupt Insider .[B] Social engineering .[C] Memory corruption .[D] Brute force .[E] Rainbow table .[F] Security by obscurity .[G] 0-day .[H] Integrity .[I] Confidentiality .[J] Proof of Liveness

=== Question 9 === (3 Marks)

On average how many hashes would be required to succeed in each of the following attacks against SHA-256? You may assume SHA-256 has not yet been broken. Write your answer to the nearest power of 2 eg if you think the answer is 250 enter "8" as your answer (since 2^8 is 256)

Preimage: 2^ 255 hashes

Second preimage: 2^255 hashes

Collision: 2^128 hashes

=== Question 10 === (3 Marks)

Lachlan and I are going to use going to use Merkle Puzzles to securely discuss the exam questions on Friday the day before the exam runs (because he loves Merkle Puzzles). I'll send him 1,000,000 encrypted mini-messages of the form:

{{{ ... ... This is puzzle two hundred thousand and seventeen, the key is jHg4t5ct&rqSg This is puzzle two hundred thousand and eighteen, the key is 3pojygv3x%wD? ... ... }}}

What cipher/hash would be best to use to encrypt these mini-messages?

.[A] One Time Pad .[B] Ceasar .[C] Vigenere .[D] RSA 64 bit modulus (encrypted using my public key) .[E] RSA 2048 bit modulus (encrypted using my public key) .[F] SHA256

=== Question 11 === (3 Marks)

A confident sounding comment about passwords posted on the internet: {{{ I’ve moved to using three word passphrases that use Subject->Action->Object format. They need not be sensible though. Things like:

Obama Punting Cornflakes

Grandma Curling Pumpkins

Both of those are over 80 bits, and you’ll never forget them. In fact, if you read this, you’ll never get the image of Obama punting a box of cornflakes out of your head."

- Jonathan Beerhalter 2012-03-08 }}}

Most people have a vocabulary of between 20,000 and 40,000 words that they use or can recognise.

Assume that the three words in each passphrase are randomly chosen from three dictionaries of 10,000 familiar words each (one of Subject words, one of Action words, one of Object words) and are written separated by a space, first letter uppercase, remaining letters lowercase, and that it takes one bit of work to test one passphrase.

How many bits of work would it take on average to break one of Jonathan's passphrases?

.[A] Around 40 bits .[B] Around 50 bits .[C] Around 60 bits .[D] Around 70 bits .[E] Around 80 bits .[F] Around 90 bits .[G] Around 100 bits or more

=== Question 12 === (3 Marks)

I suggest you don't do this question until and unless you have finished Part B below - it is probably not worth it. Remember you can skip 5 marks in Part A and still get full marks.

The ciphertext below has been produced by a Vignere cipher.

OUEYZLWCFMGYOULHEXWWRISCGHGADLWZBKDCXUOEDUHJRTQOFUOEDCXUPMHP WUCIDUJCATBNAPRBEHWUETOJWUEYZLAZSTQUHJRTQHWUEBESGOEXMYECRLGU NYNWUUFNNZDVSCGMGYECSMGYQUEXBIFZHLDXUUCMTLWNUXLCXNUXXUJYANLY JIHLOLWJNKDZGLGADGAZGADSSLRLSLGHTTUIAXGADGAZGADSSLRTMAJSVLSO JVGADGAZGADSSLRATGTFRFZEWNUXLBSOTASSAZGADSSLRKDFSRRWSIAFGADG AZGADSSLRTKFMHVMDXKYCTQULYGADG

What is the likely period of the cipher? (ie length of the cipher key)?

_6_

==== Part B ====

This part is worth 15 Marks and consists of one question.

=== Question 13 === (15 Marks)

Decode the ciphertxt in the NSA app (which is in a tab in your web browser). If you close it by mistake you can reopen it by right clicking on the desktop, or ask the exam supervisor for help.

The message has been enciphered using a monoalphabetic substitution cipher.

Write the deciphered plaintext below, use ? symbols for undecrypted letters, partial marks for partial decryptions so long as it is clear.

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leftpress · 8 years ago

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Endangered Species Under GOP? Climate Change Information on the Web

A recent reworking of language concerning climate change on a Wisconsin government website could be replicated under a Trump administration.

Andrew Revkin | Jan. 4, 2017, 3:11 p.m.

James Rowen, a longtime Wisconsin journalist and environmental blogger, recently discovered a stark remaking of a state Department of Natural Resources web page on climate change and the Great Lakes.

Until December, the page, dating from the Democratic administration of former Gov. James Doyle, had this headline — “Climate Change and Wisconsin’s Great Lakes” — and a clear description of the state of the science, including this line reflecting the latest federal and international research assessments: “Earth’s climate is changing. Human activities that increase heat-trapping (“green house”) gases are the main cause.”

The page described a variety of possible impacts on the lakes and concluded, “The good news is that we can all work to slow climate change and lessen its effects.” Nine hyperlinks led readers to other resources.

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While the web address still includes /greatlakes/climatechange, the page, managed under agency appointees of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, now has this headline: “The Great Lakes and a changing world.” It now says this:

As it has done throughout the centuries, the earth is going through a change. The reasons for this change at this particular time in the earth’s long history are being debated and researched by academic entities outside the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The effects of such a change are also being debated but whatever the causes and effects, the DNR’s responsibility is to manage our state’s natural resources through whatever event presents itself.

There are now just two hyperlinks, one of which goes to a University of Wisconsin website about the environment and climate in the Yahara River watershed, which is not even connected to the Great Lakes. The other goes to the main page of the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin. One has to poke around a while to get back to the issue at hand — the impact of global warming on the Great Lakes.

James Dick, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, sent a response explaining the changes on the web page, asserting that the page “does not say the cause and effects of the change in climate are debatable.”

“It says they are being debated. There’s a difference,” Dick said. “Many scientists may be in agreement but this topic is still the subject of much debate and discussion among the general public.”

It’s not unusual for elected state or national leaders to filter or shape government sources of information on contentious topics, including climate change, to suit their particular policy goals. Climate scientists decried such efforts through much of the presidency of George W. Bush, particularly when handwritten edits of government climate reports by political appointees were leaked in 2005.

Under President Obama, websites highlight points that supported his carbon-cutting plans, while findings that might point to different policies tended to stay deep in the body of reports.

One example is the treatment of hurricanes in the 2014 National Climate Assessment. The prominent text blurb of the report home page is, “The intensity, frequency, and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as the frequency of the strongest hurricanes, have all increased since the early 1980s. Hurricane intensity and rainfall are projected to increase as the climate continues to warm.”

Buried in the report, there’s this line, which seems to qualify the actual threats previously highlighted: “[F]ewer storms have been observed to strike land during warmer years even though overall activity is higher than average, which may help to explain the lack of any clear trend in landfall frequency along the U.S. eastern and Gulf coasts.”

And so it’s entirely likely that the recent web revisions in Wisconsin portend what’s to come in Washington, given how Walker’s approach to climate change and industry resonates with that of many people in President-elect Donald Trump’s circle of advisers.

In a phone interview, the Wisconsin blogger Rowen said he certainly suspects that his state’s experience is a troubling template for what could happen now at the federal level. “If you have one-party control over all units of government and that party has a pro-corporate, anti-environment mindset, everything will be coordinated, whether in law, executive action or judicial review,” he said.

Parties on all sides of the climate policy debate are now watching closely to see what happens to a vast array of web pages on climate change created during the Obama administration as Trump’s fossil-fuel friendly Cabinet choices and environmental teamget to work.

Early signs, including a 74-question survey sent to Department of Energy employees(which the Trump transition team quickly disavowed as unsanctioned), had environmentalists and scientists deeply worried.

Some scurried to set up independent archives for potentially vulnerable climate data, with a repository established by the Technoscience Research Unit at the University of Toronto.

With Republicans in control in most states, and with the incoming White House and Congress committed to undoing President Obama’s climate policies, the “uncertainty” theme around climate change appears likely to become popular.

To be sure, enduring uncertainty does surround many of the most consequential aspects of global warming, like the speed of sea-level rise and extent of warming in this century. But for decades risk experts and economists with a varied range of political views have agreed that uncertain, but momentous outcomes are the reason to act — not a reason to delay.

And the data continue to accrue, with 2016 now set to be the warmest on Earth since at least 1880, when thorough temperature record keeping began, and a new study finding that, if anything, warming has been underestimated in recent years because of imperfect analysis of ocean data gathered by ships and buoys.

Lately, the wider climate-skeptic chorus has been dominated by Walker-style references to uncertainty or complexity in climate science, crystallized by phrases like “I’m not a scientist” and “the climate has always changed.”

When we wrote to Wisconsin officials seeking an explanation for the changes on the website, Dick, the natural resources department spokesman, sent the following email:

As we do from time to time with other website pages, we updated a web page that had not been updated in several years. The update reflects our position on this topic which we have communicated for years — that our agency regularly must respond to a variety of environmental and human stressors from drought, flooding, and wind events to changing demographics.

Our agency must be ready to respond to each of these challenges using the best science available to us. That is our role in this issue. Adaptation has been our position on this topic for some time. The recent update to one single webpage on our website was intended to reflect this perspective and approach to the topic.

The updated page does not deny climate is changing and it does not challenge the dedicated work of the scientists who are working on this issue. In fact, this updated page links to U.W.-Madison programs that include climate change in their research. It also does not say the cause and effects of the change in climate are debatable. It says they are being debated. There’s a difference. Many scientists may be in agreement but this topic is still the subject of much debate and discussion among the general public.

The last line raises a question about the role of government in helping explain to the public what many scientists agree on.

One thing that seems true is that so much information has accrued around climate change science and what it means for policy in recent years that partisans seeking to purge government websites have their work cut out for them.

If you search the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website, for instance, for the phrase “climate change” there are still some hits, including an educational resource for kids titled, “Global Warming is Hot Stuff!”

There’s still an article posted from the February 2011, issue of the magazine of the natural resources department, in which Jack Sullivan, then the director of the agency’s Bureau of Science Services, said, “We need to think about what climate change means for our natural resources and get out ahead of this problem, and we’re working hard to do that.”

Sullivan, however, retired in 2015, when the agency’s science budget was deeply cutunder Walker and a Republican-dominated Legislature.

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marymosley · 4 years ago

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Doubling Up: Federal Circuit Mischaracterizes both its own Precedent and the Lower Court Ruling

by Dennis Crouch

I am struggling somewhat to wrap my head around the Federal Circuit’s recent claim preclusion decision in Sowinski v. California Air Resources Bd. (CARB) (Fed. Cir. 2020). I believe that it turns out to be a really poor decision — probably prompted by poor lawyering in the first-place. In particular, the court reaches its result here only after mischaracterizing both (1) the lower court holding and (2) its own prior precedent.

Claim preclusion always involves (at least) two lawsuits. Here, Sawinski’s first lawsuit against CARB was dismissed “with prejudice” for lack of subject-matter-jurisdiction based on sovereign immunity (12(b)(1)) and also for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted (12(b)(6)). Sowinski later re-filed his lawsuit — but focusing on subsequent acts of alleged infringement that occurred after the prior case ended. The district court dismissed on res judicata and the Federal Circuit here affirms.

Sowinski’s Patent No. 6,601,033 claims a pollution credit system that he argues is infringed by California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.

Sowinski originally sued CARB (and others) for patent infringement in California state court. The defendants first removed the case to Federal Court and then moved for dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. One minor note about that filing is that Kamala Harris represented CARB in her role as California AG.

After some wrangling, Sowinski failed to respond to the motion to dismiss and the district court subsequently dismissed the case. In dismissing, the C.D.Cal. court pointed to a local rule that “failure to file any required document, or the failure to file it within the deadline, may be deemed consent to the granting or denial of the motion . . . .” And, the court dismissed the case “with prejudice.” That dismissal was affirmed by the Federal Circuit back in 2017 — with the court noting that Sowinski had recognized that the Motion to Dismiss was potentially dispositive but still failed to oppose.

Sowinski then re-filed the lawsuit which was dismissed on res judicata grounds. On appeal, Sowinski raised two arguments.

[Sowinski] raises two principal arguments:

(1) that res judicata does not apply because his present complaint seeks damages only for infringement that occurred after conclusion of his prior suits and

(2) that res judicata does not apply because the prior suit was resolved on procedural grounds, without reaching the merits of infringement.

Failure to Prosecute Was not the Reason: Taking these grounds in reverse-order. In its decision here, the Federal Circuit characterized the original court’s dismissal as one of failure-to-prosecute. And, there is prior precedent supporting claim preclusion following from dismissal on those grounds.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) provides that a dismissal for failure to prosecute “operates as an adjudication on the merits,” with exceptions not here applicable

Slip Op. The problem with the court’s holding here is that it somehow failed to delve into the details of the three-page dismissal order. [DismissalOrder].

Contrary to the appellate panel’s statements here, the original case was not dismissed for failure to prosecute. Rather the case was dismissed for failure state a claim and lack of subject matter jurisdiction. But, those motions were granted because of Sowinski’s failure to oppose. The distinction is appropriate because R.41(b) (quoted by the Federal Circuit in its decision) distinguishes between the two scenarios: Dismissals for failure to prosecute are treated as “adjudication[s] on the merits.” Dismissals for “lack of jurisdiction” are not treated as such. FRCP 41(b). The court should pick-up this case a second time and consider the impact of lack-of-jurisdiction on the res judicata question or else explain how the issue was waived (and is waivable).

Later Infringement: The court also held that Sowinski was barred from pursuing action against post-judgment infringement — so long as the infringing activity was the same. The court quoted a 10% rule of thumb from the 9th Circuit:

[T]he plaintiff alleges facts which by the defendants’ own concession are at least 10 percent different from the facts alleged in Harkins I, and, of course, the plaintiff alleges conduct that occurred in a different time period.

Harkins Amusement Enters., Inc. v. Harry Nace Co., 890 F.2d 181 (9th Cir. 1989) (finding no preclusion).

Here, Sowinski did not allege any different behavior by the defendants except that it occurred after the original lawsuit. So — less than 10% difference. The oddity of the decision is that it then draws in what seem to be issue preclusion and Kessler doctrine principles:

[W]hen the act has been adjudged not wrongful, its repetition cannot be challenged in a subsequent suit. . . .

Here the accused CARB activity had been held not to be infringing, for Dr. Sowinski’s failure to respond to the motions to dismiss was treated as a judgment on the merits.

Slip Op. I’ll note here that the district court did not actually make any ruling regarding infringement, but instead dismissed the case on other grounds. Thus, while the infringement claim may have been dismissed on the merits, it is entirely improper to state that there was any holding of “non-infringement.”

The appellate court goes-on with this point by citing to Brain Life, LLC v. Elekta Inc., 746 F.3d 1045 (Fed. Cir. 2014). The panel applied Brain Life as follows:

[T]he [Brain Life] court considered the effect of a prior judgment of non-infringement; the court explained that preclusion does not apply to new or changed products or methods, but does apply when the accused products or methods are essentially the same.

Slip Op. Citing Brain Life at 1054. It turns out that Brain Life actually holds the opposite.

[W]e find that Brain Life’s second suit is not barred by claim preclusion—regardless of whether the same transactional facts are present in both suits—to the extent Brain Life’s current infringement allegations are temporally limited to acts occurring after final judgment was entered in the first suit. . . .

[T]raditional notions of claim preclusion do not apply when a patentee accuses new acts of infringement, i.e., post-final judgment, in a second suit—even where the products are the same in both suits.

Id. at 1054. The holding here is completely the opposite to what .

Now, the court in Brain Life does go on to apply the Kessler Doctrine to prohibit re-litigation of the infringement question for post-judgment products, but only after holding particularly that its decision is outside of the traditional bounds of claim preclusion. In Sowinski, the court does not cite the Kessler Doctrine as the basis for its decision, but rather misapplies the court’s claim preclusion precedent.

= = = = = =

In the end, Sowinski probably should lose anyway – because the patent is invalid under contemporary eligibility analysis.

1. A data processing apparatus for establishing one of a pollution offset and tax offset, for a seller using gas within gas distribution system of a home, business or the like, to bring about a reduction of known pollutants being emitted into the atmosphere associated with said seller’s home, business or the like, on a day-to-day basis or on a catastrophic basis, comprising:

(a) a central controller including a CPU and a memory operatively connected to said CPU,

(b) at least one terminal adapted for communicating with said central controller for transmitting thereto, pollution credit or tax credit information to gain a conditional pollution reduction credit (“CPRC”) for said seller,

(1) authenticating legal basis of the energy efficiency means employed against a data base of eligible energy efficiency means,

(2) authenticating the eligibility of the seller against a data base of eligible sellers,

(3) if the energy efficiency means relates to non-filtering of pollutants, generating a CPRC for tax credit offset purposes for said seller as a function of a seller identifier,

(4) if the energy efficiency means relates to filtering of pollutants, determining the eligibility of each pollutant against a pollutant data base,

(5) determining the amounts of reduction of each eligible pollutant normalized to a standard time duration;

(6) generating a CPRC for each pollutant based on (5), and

(7) storing each CPRC generating at (3) and (6) as a function of a seller identifier which may include a seller’s credit card number,

whereby economic incentive has been provided to said seller to bring about a substantial reduction of emission of pollutants to the atmosphere whether on a day-to-day basis or on a catastrophic basis.

Dr. Sowinski is the listed inventor on a number of other patents that all relate to technical aspects of gas and gas distribution. In a separate lawsuit, Sowinski sued cereal manufacturers Post, General Mills, and Kellogg– arguing that their products should include a Cancer warning under California’s Proposition 65 because of their acrylamide content. That case was dismissed on preemption grounds. In particular, the California appellate court found the existence of a comprehensive federal scheme promoting consumption of whole grains to preempt the marking requirement. Post Foods, LLC v. Super. Ct., 235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 641, 644 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2018), as modified on denial of reh’g (Aug. 15, 2018), review denied and ordered not to be officially published (Oct. 31, 2018).

Doubling Up: Federal Circuit Mischaracterizes both its own Precedent and the Lower Court Ruling published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

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businessliveme · 5 years ago

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‘An action plan could help consumer goods companies navigate Covid-19’

Tom De Waele, a partner with Bain & Company and the Managing Director of Bain Middle East, says an action plan can help consumer goods companies navigate uncertainty—and be a visible, positive face of the crisis response.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a crisis unlike any the world has experienced in several generations—and one of uncertain duration. The process of slowing the spread of the coronavirus is itself disrupting many aspects of life, and anxious customers and employees are looking for reassurance and support as their needs change radically. Consumer products companies have a significant role to play in providing both, communicating that protecting people—employees, partners, customers and so on—is their priority as they try to furnish goods in as normal a way as possible during an extraordinary time.

Beyond the mounting human toll of the pandemic, it has become clear that the economic consequences will be profound. If you’re a consumer goods company executive or part of a leadership team, note that it is the efforts of employees and the loyalty of customers that will see a company through. As such, job No. 1 is to do everything possible to make sure that people are taken care of.

That principle is among the top priorities in the action plan laid out below. This is the time to think about what the future will look like, of how the lives of employees and customers will be changed and what your consumer goods company will need to do to meet their new needs.

The specific operational changes demanded are vast, encompassing urgent and sweeping matters of supply continuity, distribution and logistics, evolving customer relationships, and more. The outbreak also underscores the importance of preparation, rapid response, continual learning, adaptation and communication in contingency planning. Above all, the safety of employees, customers and business partners is and will remain, the highest priority. We recommend the following checklist as a way of helping leadership teams frame their multiphase response in the short term.

Tom De Waele

1. Set up and empower an emergency response team If you haven’t done so already, immediately set up a cross-functional emergency response team attached to the office of the chief executive, the chief financial officer and the chief risk officer—potentially in a war room that operates virtually, given office closures, social distancing and the global nature of the team. Give the team direct access to key executives and empower it to make cross-functional recommendations based on a rapid assessment of risks in critical areas related to workforce, supply, inventory and consumer sentiment. Outline clear daily responsibilities for the team in three areas: managing internal and external communications; tracking, reviewing and adjusting the emergency response; and reporting internal key performance indicators.

Where relevant, set up local emergency response teams (e.g., by region, country, business unit, manufacturing facility, distribution centre or function). Moreover, you should give at least one person the full-time job of scanning relevant information on the spread of the virus, its impact on consumer demand, retailer reactions and actions by other consumer products companies.

2. Protect people as the utmost priority Companies should protect their employees, customers, suppliers and other partners by communicating with local authorities and quickly transmit their recommendations across the organisation to ensure compliance with the latest guidance.

Quickly identify and nominate backup options for business-critical executives or function leaders. If one person is infected, the other person can step in to backfill. Cancel gatherings of 20 people or more that are not operationally critical. Prepare for work-from-home requirements, ensuring technology solutions are in place for employees to work from remote locations.

Reduce or eliminate nonessential travel. This includes third-party visits to your office. Move to video or conference calls for employees who visit customers (e.g., key account managers) and for salesforces if store visits are not required.

3. Review and adjust your production plan and inventory management Determine your supply chain’s weakest links in terms of resiliency—workforce, raw materials, packaging, warehouse space, health and sanitary supplies, access to transportation—and address them in order of priority. Accordingly, you can quickly adjust production plans based on your product category exposure. Scale up for categories in high demand; slow down for categories seeing or anticipating a temporary decline.

Look into the diversification of manufacturing as a risk arbitrage measure. Split production across countries, plants and teams, ensuring that, in cases of rapid outbreak or transmission, business-critical tasks are uninterrupted. Stay close to raw material suppliers, and vigilantly watch for increasing lead times. Put into place contingency plans for alternative raw materials or input sourcing (or excess sourcing in advance of production) should raw material production facilities grind to a halt.

4. Turbocharge logistics flexibility Work with authorities to understand potential lockdown areas and how you will be able to deliver in those areas. Revisit your transport and delivery plan with a focus on getting stock as close to stores as possible. You may need to switch tactics completely, by delivering directly to stores vs. distribution centres, for example.

Free up freight capacity by stopping planned deliveries of nonessential categories and aggressively enforcing minimum order quantities for freight. If short on capacity, work with retailers to see if near-term backhaul or customer pickup opportunities are available. Work with your logistics providers, or even your competitors, to leverage joint capacity, including exploring third-party on-demand logistics providers or less-than-truckload (LTL) flexible distribution options.

5. Stay close to customers while adjusting to demand Shift the focus of key account management from traditional buying negotiations to ensuring the continuity of supply. For the most critical categories and customers, this could mean making temporary compromises, such as loosening accounts receivable terms. For retailers, this could mean adjusting to short-term measures, such as lifting on-time, in-full fines. Work within agile, multifunctional teams (virtually, if in-person colocation becomes impossible) to quickly resolve pain points and bottlenecks and offer creative, resourceful solutions to clients.

It is key to accelerate online retail. Categories moving online during the outbreak are likely to move there for the long term. This means shifting toward pack sizes that are fit-for-purpose for online sales. At the same time, repurpose time and energy that you might have spent on pricing and promotion conversations to broader supply-focused topics. Doing what it takes to help often-vulnerable retailers succeed and maintain stock during the crisis can pay dividends in future customer relationships.

6. Adapt your marketing tactics and messaging De-emphasize non-mission-critical marketing spending and activities. This will help free up the budget for mission-critical activities and for short-term improvements to cash and working capital. Adapt content and messaging to be timely, relevant and appropriate in the context of the pandemic. Broader health and safety messages—even if you do not play within the space—can signal a commitment to consumers. Cancel campaigns that could be found tone-deaf in the face of the crisis, harming brand equity.

7. Keep an eye on cash flow, capital and M&A During times of crisis, it is critical to closely manage working capital and evaluate capital spending to cut or delay nonessential or nonstrategic projects. This is relevant for all consumer products companies, as a squeeze effect is possible across the board. A variety of working capital enhancements are possible, such as measures to accelerate cash conversion—increasing inventory turns through markdowns on slow movers, for example. If necessary, companies can also reduce their overhead costs by cancelling training that is not operationally critical and paring marketing spending in relevant areas.

8. Communicate and collaborate Consumer products companies play a vital role in supporting society through crises such as the Covid-19 outbreak. It is essential that senior executives maintain open lines of communication with the authorities in their markets. That means staying up to speed on the latest government thinking about curbing panic-buying and shortages, or about potential lockdown areas that could be the next to face logistical constraints. These efforts can create goodwill when products are available against the odds. However, the reputational harm can be severe if companies do not follow the precautions and health guidelines recommended by the authorities.

All employees—from the most senior to the most junior—want to hear important internal news from their leaders first, rather than through hearsay. Communication designed to reassure the workforce on safety should deal in specifics rather than generalities, highlighting concrete measures taken to protect personnel. Employees want to feel that the company empathizes with the personal cost of the pandemic.

9. Look beyond business The simplest and most common action is to donate to hospitals and medical institutions. Brands can go one step further by leveraging their resources and capabilities to provide tangible disaster support and relief. Consumer goods companies can be a highly visible, branded face of the crisis response; a positive contribution can create deep loyalty and brand equity over the long term.

Path to recovery At moments of such strain, it can be hard to keep up with all the immediate challenges, let alone maintain focus on the medium and long term. Yet, leadership teams in consumer products know that they cannot afford to lose sight of their broader goals during the turbulence created by Covid-19. They need to plan for the eventual recovery. You’ll gradually wind down resources and teams dedicated to managing the crisis, but only after conducting a postmortem on lessons learned. Then, codify your approach for the next, similar crisis and ensure that an emergency response team can be activated quickly. Recovery also means resetting and restarting the plan for 2020 with new objectives, budgets, forecasts and operational plans.

The post ‘An action plan could help consumer goods companies navigate Covid-19’ appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

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calisthenicsandstrength · 5 years ago

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Top Reasons Why You Should Start Doing Bodyweight Exercises

Getting fit does not have to be complex. Straightforward bodyweight exercises may be an excellent option to improve well-being & physical performance. On top of that, they do not cost a thing, and you can do them nearly everywhere. We have 13 reasons.

Why Bodyweight Coaching Is the Ideal 1. It is a workout. Research indicates high-output, bodyweight-based exercises such as plyometrics yield amazing physical fitness benefits in brief durations. Effects of 6-Weeks Resistance Training Combined With Plyometric and Rate Exercises on Actual Performance of Pre-Peak Height Velocity Soccer Players. Intensity and activation enhance during concentric, isometric and eccentric contractions. Behrens M, Mau-Moeller A, Mueller K. Journal of medicine and science in sport / Sports Medicine Australia, 2015, Feb.;-LRB-):1878-1861."> Outcomes of Resistance Training and Rate and Plyometric Exercises Combined together on Actual Performance of Pre-Peak Height Velocity Soccer Players. Rodriguez-Rosell D, Franco-Márquez F, Pareja-Blanco F. International journal of sports physiology and functionality, 2015, Jul.;-LRB-):1555-0265. Intensity and activation enhance during concentric, isometric and eccentric contractions. Behrens M, Mau-Moeller A, Mueller K. Journal of medicine and science in sport / Sports Medicine Australia, 2015, Feb.;-LRB-):1878-1861. Bodyweight workouts make it effortless to transition from 1 move, As there's no gear involved. And you have likely already heard that these short-but-intense HIIT workouts may yield significant results. Eight months of a blend of high-intensity interval training and traditional coaching decrease visceral adiposity and improve physical fitness: a group-based intervention. Aphamis G, giannaki CD, Sakkis P. Fourteen days of a blend of high-intensity interval training and training enhance physical fitness: a group-based intervention and decrease adiposity. Aphamis G, giannaki CD, Sakkis P.

2. It can combine strength and aerobic training Performing rapid aerobic exercises (for example 60 minutes of burpees or high-knees) involving intensity moves (for instance, a pair of push-ups or workouts ) will continue to keep your heart pumping while encouraging strength and muscle development. Extremely low quantity, whole-body aerobic-resistance training improves aerobic fitness and muscle endurance in females. Payne A, McRae G, Zelt JG. Small reps, exercise improves endurance and aerobic fitness in females. Payne A, McRae G, Zelt JG.

3. Fat is burnt Only a couple of minutes of a weightlifting circuit training may have a significant effect on the human body's metabolism. The evidence established exercise -- clinical advantages of high-intensity interval training. Proof based exercise advantages of high-intensity interval training. Shiraev T, Barclay G. Australian family doctor, 2013, Nov.;41(12):0300-8495. If you have ever heard of this afterburn impact, you realize that even if your workout is finished, your body may nevertheless be revved for hours to come. A 45-minute vigorous exercise bout raises metabolic rate for 14 hours. Knab AM, Corbin KD, Shanely RA. A workout bout that is vigorous raises rate for 14 hours. Knab AM, Corbin KD, Shanely RA.

4. At any fitness level, it is challenging. Exercises are excellent since they altered to challenge anybody. Adding additional repetitions, doing the activities quicker or super gradually, taking shorter breaks, or including a ballistic movement (such as a clap on the peak of each push ) are only a couple techniques to produce the most comfortable workout harder. With every extra modification, your advancement is apparent.

To learn to think out of the box more check out this article on fitnesspointr.

You will acquire strength. Your heart is over merely abs. In reality, at least muscles constitute the body's back, and simple bodyweight movements may be utilized to engage all them. These exercises will not only provide you with tighter abs, so you will also achieve better posture, relieve lower back strain, and enhance general performance. Optimizing performance by enhancing core stability and core strength and optimizing performance by improving core strength and core stability.

6. It may improve your flexibility. Not everybody who does resistance training must wind up with rigid joints and muscles. Training may go hand-in-hand with flexibility and building strength. Completing exercises ensures that your joints are moving. Additionally, it can result in improved posture and may lower the opportunity of an exercise-related injury. Basic principles about stamina, flexibility, and stability exercises. Micheo W, Baerga L, Miranda G. PM & R: the diary of harm, perform, and rehab, 2013, May.;4(11):1934-1563. The effects of training on limb versatility: a review. Meditation, the fave no-equipment exercise for most, is just another fantastic way to improve flexibility while also significantly enhancing strength. Bikram yoga practice and physical fitness in healthy young adults. Hart CE, Tracy BL. Yoga practice and fitness in adults. Hart CE, Tracy BL.

There is never an excuse not to work out. Ask someone why they do not exercise, and odds are they have"no time", or it is"inconvenient." Bodyweight exercises remove those hurdles that are frequent. It's easy to squeeze in workouts, you're If you need a distance. Exercising without gear may also be utilized as a stress reliever, whether you are working at home or on the street.

8. You will achieve a better equilibrium. Occasionally immunity means raising equilibrium In regards to this form of training. By way of instance, a typical squat may be summed up by swapping into a single-leg squat (a.k.a. a pistol squat). You can improve motions like that balance through management and body awareness.

9. You will never get tired. Additionally, it can be easy to become stuck in a workout rut of bench presses, bicep curls, lat pull-downs, and treadmills. Why bodyweight training may be refreshing, that is: There are. Working with several exercises not only boredom, but it also provokes progress and may help break plateaus.

10. Mixing your work out up is simple. Indoor exercise is not for everybody. You can perform these motions indoors or outside, with a bunch of buddies or independently. Consider adding some power moves or completing a session using a bodyweight circuit that is fast to help keep things interesting.

11. It is free. Boutique courses and memberships can add up, but bodyweight training is entirely free. Experts cite the price of training as crucial.

12. It can assist with injury prevention. Injury is one of the reasons people stop, therefore preventing those aches and pains ought to be a priority. Exercises are secure for any exerciser irrespective of physical fitness level, or expertise, age. Many natural bodyweight movements can be an excellent choice for rehab, even for people who have significant impairments. The efficacy of human anatomy weight-supported gait training and ground are walking in patients with chronic stroke. The potency of human anatomy weight-supported flooring and gait training walking in patients with stroke.

13. You will see the results. Bodyweight exercises get outcomes because they involve chemical moves --significance muscles and joints are engaged in every movement. Compound exercises, for example, push-ups and lunges, are proven to be quite powerful for strength increases and functionality improvements. Kinetic evaluation of many variants of push-ups. Wurm B, ebben WP, VanderZanden TL. Lunge: a study of the lower limbs of exercises. Analysis of push-ups of options. Wurm B, ebben WP, VanderZanden TL. Lunge: a study of the lower limbs of exercises. And research shows improved core power (see No. 5 over ) translates into enhanced strength gains during the whole body. Effect of core power on the degree of electricity from the extremities. Nesser TW, Shinkle J, Demchak TJ. Impact on the degree of heat of core power from the extremities. Nesser TW, Shinkle J, Demchak TJ.

While there is no universal"best" method to work out for everybody, bodyweight movements provide a lot of advantages, particularly if you're brand new to resistance training. Whether you are in the gym, at home, or perhaps in a resort room, bodyweight training is.

Sources:

- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/exercises-bodyweight-training_n_2543656?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9hcHAucXVldGV4dC5jb20vcmVwb3J0LzdhZjIzNzczOWMxZGMzNzdlMDlh&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABuE3_gXrJv6k9qCpwCNKPrIZaJWKTtrqWCZAhujgHEYJbNVNNulWqFrhXMqWFWPqm6j8gmFawwzpcXuPJ4v-foioJAAK5mzZ1lAQqVaIHwJc2CM-vrhsUC9CknQY5gXnrAsUGMtgRrf5Tr7CPipTRa7YGnhdWoMsTr4gPIHU7b-

- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176976

- https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Whole-body-aerobic-resistance-training-circuit-and-Myers-Schneider/04abbfc6663870b83ee6aa18d315e21c2ae97570

- https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/a-45-minute-vigorous-exercise-bout-increases-metabolic-rate-for-14-hours-research-review

- https://www.academia.edu/21652763/Basic_Principles_Regarding_Strength_Flexibility_and_Stability_Exercises

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lauramalchowblog · 5 years ago

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Microworkouts: Effective, At Home Workouts In Two Minutes or Less

A lot of us get hung up on this idea of what an exercise session is supposed to look like. We think about driving over to the gym, squeezing into a crowded class, or working through a room full of complex contraptions, machines, and heavy plates. In our minds, it has to be a certain duration or intensity, or it doesn’t count. It has to have a warm-up and a cool-down, and we’re supposed to sweat so we’ll need to shower when it’s over. That mindset turns the simple act of moving your muscles into something you don’t have time for, something you’re too tired or sore to do today, something that seems too overwhelming for the moment you’re in right now. Don’t underestimate the power of short, at home workouts.

I’m challenging you to change your mindset, emerge from our flawed, dated and narrow approach to fitness and step into a much broader perspective about what it means to be fit. The concept of microworkouts is taking hold, and being touted by emerging science, respected coaches, trainers and elite athletes. I’m seeing a shift in the way people think about how to get fit: we’ve had enough with making the same mistakes over and over.

Microworkouts: Reframing our Approach to Exercise

The revolution is definitely a work in progress, and I still see misguided and destructive marketing messages and programming being thrust upon well-intentioned fitness enthusiasts. I still see the “no pain, no gain” approach being encouraged by fitness personalities and celebrated on social media.

For those of us willing to examine outdated beliefs and behavior patterns, and replace them with simple ways to get fitter, healthier, and happier, together we can help usher in a New Fitness movement.

I can attest that things like frequent traveling, minor aches and pains limiting certain activities, or hectic periods of work can throw me off even the most regimented fitness devotee. Often I won’t even realize that my routine has been slipping until I review my workout journals and realize I haven’t bagged a formal sprint session in three weeks.

Enter microworkouts.

What are Microworkouts?

Microworkouts are quick strength moves that you do throughout the course of the day. They can take a few seconds or a few minutes, they can be structured or unstructured, and you can roll them into the more mundane parts of your day, like waiting for your morning coffee to brew or going out to get the mail. These brief, at home workouts don’t seem like much while you’re doing them, but the effects compound over time.

Some examples of microworkouts:

Doing calf raises every time you climb the stairs in your house

Holding a plank while you’re waiting for your smoothie to blend

Ripping out a quick set of tricep dips at your desk before every meeting

The key is that you don’t overthink it. You do it, and then it’s over until you decide to do another microworkout. Even though they involve true energy expenditure, microworkouts seem effortless. The benefits compound over time, and you don’t feel like you’re disrupting the flow of your day at all.

In Keto For Life, we call it JFW, or Just F—ing Walk. Quick, at home workouts or microworkouts outdoors might sneak in there next. If it stops there for the day, great. Or, you may be up for that long-standing foundation of structured cardio, resistance training, or sprint workouts.

Reference the Primal Blueprint Fitness Pyramid recommending 2-5 hours per week of cardio at aerobic heart rates (180 minus age in beats per minute or below), two strength sessions per week lasting 10-30 minutes emphasizing functional, full-body movements, and one sprint workout every 7-10 days featuring all-out efforts lasting between 10-20 seconds with full rest between. These are simply guidelines. Life happens, and microworkouts are there to fill the gap.

Mark’s August 2019 post on microworkouts attracted a ton of feedback from readers. Clearly, this concept is taking hold in the fitness scene and is poised to become a major stand-alone element of a well-balanced program. Devoted MDA reader, Primal Health Coach, and 50+ athletic wonder Stephen Rader wrote a nice article with photos here. Rader mentions that microworkouts are great for skill acquisition because they don’t wear you out and can be performed frequently. He also pointed out that the Blue Zone research is touting the concept as a winning longevity component. Here’s a helpful podcast/video from Matt Schifferle at the Red Delta Project on the subject. He makes an excellent point that frequency and consistency are fitness essentials, and it can often be difficult to achieve those with a formal workout routine.

Matt makes the clever comparison that a microworkout is like chillin’ at home and watching Netflix, or watching a quick video on your mobile device, versus a proper evening out at the movie theaters. A theater experience is still fantastic (as is a full-length workout at the gym), but it’s not always practical, and it’s often less appealing than a micro-entertainment experience at home.

Thanks to forward thinking fitness leaders like Angelo dela Cruz, Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece, Joel Jamieson, Brian MacKenzie, Dr. Craig Marker, and Dr. Kelly Starrett, we have things like mobility/flexibility training, recovery-based workouts, cold exposure and heat exposure, breath work, and High Intensity Repeat Training adding variety into our fitness plans.

How to do Quick and Effective at Home Workouts (With Video)

The possibilities for microworkouts are infinite! All you need is some creativity and a way to put your body under some form of resistance load. The most important success factor for microworkouts is to adopt the proper mindset and commitment to the project. This is the difficult part, because we have been socialized to view workouts as a big production, requiring significant time, energy, and logistics. The truth is, home workouts can be just as effective.

This all-or-nothing mindset can make you resistant to hauling off a single set of deep squats during a busy workday, because you might think, “what’s the point?” It’s important to embrace the idea that engaging in any and all manner of physical movement throughout the day is essential to your general health, particularly for fat burning and cognitive performance. Recall that sitting for as little as 15 minutes can deliver a significant decline in glucose tolerance and increase in insulin resistance. Simply standing up at work increases caloric expenditure by 10 percent. Talking a leisurely 15-minute walk after a meal lowers the insulin response by half. Walking every day is directly correlated with a boost in brain function.

Little things make a big difference. When some of your movement breaks include brief, explosive microworkout efforts, you enjoy not only the general benefits of movement, but also achieve a significant fitness benefit over time. If you start doing a single set of pull-ups here, a single set of deadlifts there, two years from now you will have hundreds of thousands of pounds and thousands of reps in the bank.

Here are four microworkouts that I do at home, including three that I have set up right in my home office.

Microworkout 1: Air Squat

youtube

Microworkout 2: Pull-ups, or Chin-ups

youtube

Microworkout 3: Stretch Cord Circuit

youtube

Microworkout 4: Hexbar Deadlift

youtube

Let’s take a three-step approach to excelling in microworkouts:

Commitment: I know your fitness to-do list is already long, not to mention your overall life to-do list. However, adding microworkouts into the mix is arguably the easiest way to boost your fitness. You don’t have to schedule time on your busy calendar, nor line up child care to escape for an hour to the gym. You simply have to acknowledge the importance of movement, and the incredible cumulative benefit of brief, explosive bursts, and make a sincere commitment to a microworkout program.

Environment: It’s essential to set yourself up for success with cues, triggers, implements, and apparatuses that make microworkouts compelling and impossible to ignore. The videos accompanying this piece offer some clever suggestions to help you get into the groove. Making a minimal investment in some Stretch Cordz gives you a ton of options to work different muscle groups. Ditto for installing a pull-up bar, a TRX kit, or having a kettlebell nearby. Beyond actual equipment, there are other environmental cues you can associate with microworkouts. For example, if you mount your pullup bar in your closet door, entering the closet is call for a set of pullups. Ditto for my hex bar located on the route to the garbage barrel. Put your microworkout triggers in plain sight, begging you to engage. If the example is doing a set of deep squats at your work desk, write a sticky note or use an app to generate a reminder every two hours. Alas, dialing in your environment will not automatically lead to success unless you integrate the next objective…

Incentives, Rewards, and Benchmarks: Establish some minimum standards to accomplish each day, such as one set of deep squats, one set of Stretch Cordz, and one additional effort choosing from pull-ups or kettlebells. Enter it into your calendar or display a simple sticky note. Don’t break for lunch or leave the office for the evening until you have completed your bare minimum objectives. When I finish a thoughtful email, hang up a lengthy phone call, or reach a natural breaking point in my writing, I’ll reward myself with a cognitive break in the form of a microworkout. If you can enroll a partner in your microworkout journey, this is the best source of inspiration and accountability. Perhaps you can meet in the building stairwell for a quick sprint up two flights of stairs at least once a day, or more by invitation. If you enjoy relaxing in the evening with digital entertainment, establish a rule that you’ll do at least one set of something during each episode of your binge-watch. There are many more ideas of this nature to consider, but it really helps to put some structure into the picture and take it seriously. Seriously, don’t leave the office, ever, until you do at least one set of deep squats every day.

Hopefully the videos will create some inspiration and momentum for your at home workouts. Let me know how microworkouts are going for you, and perhaps share some of your clever ideas for environment, incentives, rewards and benchmarks with the community. Good luck!

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jesseneufeld · 5 years ago

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Microworkouts: Effective, At Home Workouts In Two Minutes or Less

Microworkouts: Reframing our Approach to Exercise

Enter microworkouts.

What are Microworkouts?

Some examples of microworkouts:

Doing calf raises every time you climb the stairs in your house

Holding a plank while you’re waiting for your smoothie to blend

Ripping out a quick set of tricep dips at your desk before every meeting

How to do Quick and Effective at Home Workouts (With Video)

Here are four microworkouts that I do at home, including three that I have set up right in my home office.

Microworkout 1: Air Squat

youtube

Microworkout 2: Pull-ups, or Chin-ups

youtube

Microworkout 3: Stretch Cord Circuit

youtube

Microworkout 4: Hexbar Deadlift

youtube

Let’s take a three-step approach to excelling in microworkouts:

The post Microworkouts: Effective, At Home Workouts In Two Minutes or Less appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Microworkouts: Effective, At Home Workouts In Two Minutes or Less published first on https://drugaddictionsrehab.tumblr.com/

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kkatot · 6 years ago

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Syllabus, Digital Cultures

Sharing is caring, vol 2. This is the syllabus for Digital Cultures (teaching it at Tallinn Uni for MA students starting November 1). I am grateful to everyone, who shared their syllabi with me, and to my guest lecturers for their recommendations. The component-logic of the digital culture experiment is based on an inspired auto-ethnographic exercise and its “building block system” that prof. Annette Markham has developed, and which I’ve had the privilege of implementing in the past couple of years at Aarhus University.

If you’re into PDF’s, this is for you

Digital Culture, BFR7004.FK, Tallinn University

Katrin Tiidenberg, PhD

Course objectives: While an exhaustive overview of what counts as digital culture or how digital culture is researched is impossible to give, this course aims to introduce students to both a cultural studies (digital humanities) and social studies (media and communication research, media ethnography) approach to making sense of digital culture. Active participation in the course should leave the students with an adequate overview of current definitions and relevant concepts of, some excellent recent studies about, relevant scholarly debates regarding and approaches to studying digital culture.

The course consists of lectures, seminars (reading discussion) and workshops (discussion and exercises / experiments). The course is taught by Katrin Tiidenberg and the following guest instructors: Indrek Ibrus, Mikhail Fiadotau, Maarja Ojamaa, Marek Tamm

Learning outcomes: The student, who has passed this course will be able to discuss the following topics in an educated manner, well-situated in extant literature: • What is digital culture, how is it defined, how is it historically situated in the developments of communication technologies, how is it often studied, and what are the central concepts utilized to discuss it in academic debates? • How to make sense of on utilize key concepts in studying digital culture (i.e. intertextuality, remix, bricolage, virality, participation, collaboration, audiences etc)? • What are the implications and relevance of data and datafication on cultural life? • How are meanings made within culture(s) and how can it be studied?

Students will explore how digital culture phenomena (i.e. fandoms, gaming, selfies, influencers) are studied and what is being highlighted about them in relevant academic discussions, and be able to distinguish sensationalist, moral-panic driven interpretations of these phenomena from nuanced, educated ones. The student will analyze how networked communication technologies impact cultural practices, and their own everyday life, interactions and identities, and develop a voice for addressing issues and controversies of digital culture.

Assessment method:

Grades. 30% participation and in-class engagement. 35% digital culture experiment – timely submission of 3 component tasks. 35% final write up of the digital culture experiment

The digital culture experiment is an auto-ethnographic independent experiment with digital culture engaged with for the duration of the class. Timely submission of 3-COMPONNENT TASKS is a pre-requisite to be able to submit the final write-up. The final write up functions as an exam.

COMPONENT TASKS: 1. Create an observation plan. You need to observe your own participation in a particular digital culture phenomenon (i.e. pick a practice, a group, a community, a game, a space that you have pre-existing experience with, or that you are super interested in). Focus on YOUR OWN participation - your own engagement, interactions, reactions, and practices are your research focus. You are your own subject. You will explore and explain this culture from the first-person perspective of a member. a. Create an observation plan – write out a plan of what, where and how you will observe. How often and for how long will you “do observation”? How will you take notes? What is the best field-note taking system for you – do you need to combine notes, screenshots and brief spoken memos you dictate into your phone? Do you need to sometimes film yourself (and your screen) while you are participating? What are the important observations to include? (i.e. location, how you felt, what you were doing, how other people acted, what interactions were had, what you noticed about other people, patterns of use, intentions of participation, unintended consequences of participation etc). If you have never done observation-based, ethnographic research you need to read these pieces. These are in a folder called “Methods texts” on Moodle, within the “Mandatory readings” folder • James Spradley Step 2, Step 3, Step 4 • Nicholas Wolfinger, On writing fieldnotes • Annette Markham, Ethnography in the Digital Internet Era – From fields to flows, descriptions to interventionsb. Observe your chosen digital culture phenomenon for a week. Be honest, be thorough. Try different strategies for gathering data, logging data, taking notes. c. Revise your observation plan based on your weeklong experience – adjust the plan so it serves you better. It is possible you will decide to significantly narrow your focus here. SUBMIT REVISED PLAN via MOODLE ON November 19 (this is component 1). Add brief (~ 200 words) commentary on how you adjusted your plan compared to its first version.

2. Observe your own participation in your chosen digital culture phenomenon for a month (Nov 19 – Dec 19) a. Based on the revised plan observe and track your participation in the digital culture phenomenon during the period of 1 month. If you feel the need to, you can “interview” someone who shares the experience with you, or have them interview you, but your analytical focus should remain on your own experiences. Keep taking detailed field-notes and logging your experience in various ways. b. Write at least three brain dumps during this period. A brain dump is when you set a timer for 15 minutes, turn your ink white in your word processing software and just write whatever comes to mind about your particular experience and observations. When you get stuck hit “enter” twice and keep writing. If you have a hard time starting at the beginning of the 15 minutes, start with “I have to write this braindump, I am not sure what to write, etc until more interesting stuff starts pouring out of your brain. You will use these braindumps as data, you will later code the brain dumps to come up with your arguments. SUBMIT via MOODLE THE THREE BRAIN DUMPS ON DECEMBER 19. This is component # 2.

3. Start analyzing your digital culture experience a. Gather up everything you have so far that can serve as ‘data’. Is it in a format that allows coding (sorting the data to lift out relevant bits)? If it is video or audio, do you need to transcribe it? Organize it so you can code it. If you have never qualitatively coded material/data you need to read Sarah Tracy, Chapter 9 (Data Analysis Basics). It is in the “ Methods texts” subfolder on Moodle. If you need further help with coding, consult Johnny Saldana’s book The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers b. Start coding. Identify any gaps in the early patterns. Do you need to go back to the “fieldsite” to gather stuff to fill those gaps? Do you see any emerging patterns? Does it seem like if you look at these patterns through the lens of the class readings and theoretical or conceptual frameworks you can make an interesting argument? c. Write a short reflection piece (~ 1000 words) – reflect on your process of data collection, coding, thinking, your attempts at making arguments. It is fine if this is messy, you can include snippets of your “thinking” including images if you’ve been mapping, diagramming or coding by hand. SUBMIT via MOODLE ON January 7 2019. This is component # 3 (this is also a dirty draft of the ‘c’ section of your final write up). Final write-up of the experiment (submit via Moodle, due January 17). This should be 8 – 10 pages font 12, 1.5 spaced without Appendixes and Bibliography. Feel free to add illustrator screengrabs, examples of coding, quotes or other snippets of text etc. a. Title, author’s name, b. description of the central topic c. description of the auto-ethnographic process, description of your process of analyzing it d. explanation of your digital culture participation utilizing some concepts and theoretical frameworks covered in class (use at least three assigned or suggested texts here). Describe not only what happened, but also your feelings, shifts in your own perceptions. Include snippets from your braindumps or your field-notes, screengrabs, etc as illustrations e. discussion of your experience, make an argument f. Possible implications of your analysis (what does it contribute to ongoing discussions about digital culture) g. Bibliography h. Appendixes (the more Appendixes the better, add your braindumps, examples of coding, reflections etc).

Course schedule and description, week by week:

WEEK 1, A

Introduction to course and topic (lecture + seminar)

What is culture? What is digital? What is digital culture? How is meaning made in the context of digital culture?

Culture of connectivity, mediatization of culture, visual culture, search culture, algorithmic culture, internet cultures etc

Introduction of the digital culture experiment and the building block system, division into A, B, C, D groups

WEEK 1, B

Digital archival and preservation (lecture + workshop), taught by Mikhail Fiadotau

The class will be structured as a short lecture followed by a workshop. The lecture will outline the key challenges in digital preservation, as exemplified by videogames: technological obsolescence, “bit rot” of storage media, and the logic of instant obscurity in the oversaturated media environment. The lecture will also introduce, and reflect on the work of some archival initiatives, from physical archives such as the National Videogame Arcade in the UK to online resources such as Archive.org’s Wayback Machine. The workshop following the lecture will be a group exercise inviting students to discuss and devise solutions for the archival and preservation of web games for discontinued platforms, with a particular focus on Macromedia/Adobe Flash.

WEEK 2, A

Making sense of digital culture from the perspective of Digital Humanities (seminar + lecture), taught by Indrek Ibrus and Maarja Ojamaa

Introducing concepts: Remix, Bricolage, Intertextuality, Virality, Multimodality, Interactivity, Memory

Introducing cultural studies approaches: media archeology, (new/digital) materialism, software studies

Read: Irvine, M. (2014). REMIX AND THE DIALOGIC ENGINE OF CULTURE, A Model for Generative Combinatoriality.

WEEK 2 B

Historicizing the internet (lecture), taught by Indrek Ibrus

History of the internet and mobile communication. Temporality and materiality of communication technologies and networks. Milestones of computerizing the culture.

WEEK 3 A

Making sense of digital culture from the perspective of communication studies and audience research (lecture)

Introducing concepts: Participation, Collaboration, Audiences, Rules, Community, Belonging, Intimacy

Introducing communication and audience research approaches: ethnography, audience studies, platform and app studies

Introduce situational, relational and concept mapping

WEEK 3 B

Paratextuality and videogames [seminar], taught by Mikhail Fiadotau

The discussion will revolve around paratexts’ propensity for extending digital media, but also subverting their normative significations, both shaping the audience’s experience and offering creative and interpretive agency to fans. Suggested articles also touch upon the issues of materiality, interpretive communities, as well as fan practices and their ethics.

Read: Peters, I.M. (2014) Peril-sensitive sunglasses, superheroes in miniature, and pink polka-dot boxers: Artifact and collectible video game feelies, play, and the paratextual gaming experience. Transformative Works and Cultures, 16. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2014.0509

WEEK 4 A

Form, aesthetics, genre, materiality (lecture), taught by Indrek Ibrus

How can the digital be material? Is the digital culture a material culture? What are the aesthetics, forms and genres of digital cultures? What is remediation? How can archeology help us make sense of the materialities and aesthetics of digital culture.

WEEK 4 B

Collaborative work on your digital culture experiment (discuss what you have, what you are stuck with and what you are confused about with your colleagues in the small A, B, C, D groups. Help each other.

WEEK 5 A

Meaning making, groups, norms and digital objects (lecture + workshop)

How do digital objects gain meaning? What are the socio-cultural functions of digital objects? Online communities, groups, practices and emergent norms. Case: Selfies

WEEK 5 B

What is subculture, what are paralanguages? Identities, identifications and self-presentation (seminar)

Discussion: Antagonistic behavior and ambivalent internet (i.e. the subcultures of trolls and flamers).

Read (in pre-assigned groups, so every person reads one article)

Group A: Coleman, G. (2015). On Trolls, Tricksters, and the Lulz, in Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. London: Verso books.

Group B: Massanari, A. (2015). "# Gamergate and The Fappening: How Reddit’s algorithm, governance, and culture support toxic technocultures."New Media & Society.

Group C: Seta, G. de. (2018). Trolling, and Other Problematic Social Media Practices. In J. Burgess, A. Marwick, & T. Poell (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Social Media (pp. 390–411).

Group D: Phillips, W. (2015). Dicks everywhere, in This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. Cambridge: MIT Press.

WEEK 6 A

Attention, reputation, commodification (lecture + seminar)

How does attention work online? Reputation as capital. Commodification of attention and reputation. Celebrity practices.

Discussion: Internet celebrity, influencers and microcelebrity

Read (in pre-assigned groups, so every person reads one article)

Group A: Abidin, C. 2016. “Visibility labour: Engaging with Influencers’ fashion brands and #OOTD advertorial campaigns on Instagram.” Media International Australia 161, 86-100.

Group B: Senft, T. (2014) Microcelebrity and the Branded Self. Companion to New Media Dynamics. Ed John Hartley, Jean Burgess, Axel Bruns. Blackwell.

Group C: Abidin, C. Communicative Intimacies: Influencers and Perceived Interconnectedness https://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/

Group D: Susie Khamis, Lawrence Ang & Raymond Welling (2016): Self- branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers, Celebrity Studies.

WEEK 6 B

Participation, collaboration, production & consumption (lecture + workshop)

Participation and collaboration within digital cultures. “Spreadable media”. Sharing / collaborative economies. Consumption, production, produsage. Case: fandom

WEEK 7 A

Data and culture, datafied culture, cultural analytics (lecture), taught by Marek Tamm

What are cultural data? What does the datafication of culture and society mean? What is cultural analytics? What is culturomics?

WEEK 7 B

Post-digital, post-internet, post-human culture? The non-human turn. (lecture + workshop)

Imagining a better internet.