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The 50th Anniversary of GPS: New Avenues for Cooperating with Europe's Galileo

This paper delves into the evolution and future prospects of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), with a particular focus on the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS) and Europe's Galileo. As GPS celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is a timely moment to assess its historical trajectory, current status, and future directions, especially considering the emergence of new competitors like China's BeiDou. Based on interviews with two GNSS experts from the European Commission, this study aims to analyze the potential for cooperation between GPS and Galileo, exploring avenues for collaboration and mutual learning.




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Mapping a Way Forward with African Businesses in a Globalized World

Africa is home to approximately 1.4 billion people[1], about 16 percent of the world’s population, yet its continental share in global trade remains below 3 percent[2], according to the World Trade Organization (WTO). This suboptimal proportion of world trade is compounded by Africa's limited intra-continental trade. During the 26th Africa Business Conference (ABC) held at Harvard Business School (HBS) on the 17th of February 20, 2024, industry experts, policymakers, students, faculty members, and entrepreneurs converged to interrogate these concerns and explore opportunities for improving intra-African trade. 




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Why Realists Oppose the War in Gaza

Stephen Walt argues that realists oppose Israel's actions in Gaza (and U.S. complicity in them) because the combination is undermining the United States' global position and bringing the United States precisely zero strategic benefits.




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Morality Is the Enemy of Peace

Stephen Walt argues that once governments use moral arguments to justify their positions in international disputes, cutting a deal becomes much harder, even when it would be in everyone's interest.




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The Trump/Vance Unilateralist Delusion

Stephen Walt argues that if Trump and Vance win in November, it will do enormous long-term damage to America's global position.




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Is Fusion Commercialization in Sight? Not Yet, Says John Holdren

Great progress on nuclear fusion has been made, but commercialization of the technology before 2050 is unlikely, said John Holdren during a United States Energy Association press briefing. 




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CrissCross Expands Representative Payee Services to Serve as a National Resource for Qualified Beneficiaries - CrissCross Representative Payee Services

CrissCross Representative Payee Services





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Institutional investors' shifting allocation strategies are driving hedge funds towards new products - EY�s Natalie Deak on how hedge fund managers are pursuing growth

EY�s Natalie Deak on how hedge fund managers are pursuing growth





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Plan for What "will" Happen, not What "might" Happen - Alien Invasion Might Happen

Alien Invasion Might Happen




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[ yellow tail ] Celebrates the Holidays with Ali Fedotowsky and the 12 Days of Giveaways - Kicking off the 12 Days of Giveaways

Former star or ABC�s The Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky and [ yellow tail ], America�s go-to holiday wine, team up to Spread Holiday Cheer in New York City to kick-off [yellow tail ] wine�s 12 Days of Giveaways. Starting Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, people can visit Facebook.com/yellowtail to find out more ways to win exciting prizes.




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Australia Launches New International Tourism Campaign - 3 minute aquatic and coastal film

3 minute aquatic and coastal film





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Huangling Village Launches Helicopter and Virtual Reality Tours as Rapeseed Flowers Reach Full Bloom - A Panoramic View of Huangling Village

Praised as the most beautiful countryside in China, the unique view of shaiqiu can only be found in Huangling village where baskets of colorful harvest bask in the sunshine.





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Jedi Performers Engage in Epic Lightsaber Challenge at the Top of the World's Tallest Building - Dubai's Burj Khalifa - as Star Wars: The Force Awakens Becomes Available for Digital Download - Two Jedi performers ascend the world�

Two Jedi performers ascend the world�s tallest building




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Ondori Asian Kitchen, A Delectable Duality of Chinese and Japanese Cuisines, Now Open at The Orleans - Ondori Asian Kitchen

Special guests helped celebrate the opening of Ondori Asian Kitchen, a distinctive new dining concept at The Orleans Hotel and Casino, on March 2, 2016.




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Natalie Morales Of NBC's TODAY Show, Erica Hill Of NBC News, And Carolyn Manno Of NBC Olympics To Host 2016 More/Shape Women's Half-Marathon - 2015 MORE/SHAPE Half-Marathon BTS

Behind the scenes with Natalie Morales and Erica Hill at the 12th Annual MORE/SHAPE Women�s Half-Marathon on April 19, 2015.





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El Proyecto Alimento: Leche para America hace un gran impacto al proporcionar leche rica en nutrientes a los bancos de alimentos del país - Barbara Bermudo nos habla sobre el regreso al colegio y la importancia de donar leche

Barbara Bermudo nos habla sobre el regreso al colegio y la importancia de donar leche





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Abbott's iDesign System Creates 3-D Map of the Eye for Precise, Personalized LASIK Vision Treatment - NASA�s Newest Space Telescope is Calibrated by the Same Technology Used in LASIK

Years ago, NASA�s Hubble Space Telescope launched with an error in the telescope�s mirror, which blurred its images for its first years in orbit. For NASA�s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope that is traveling much farther out in space, there can�t be a mistake. Abbott scientists created a technology to calibrate the mirrors on NASA�s new James Webb Space Telescope, which is now the same technology used in the iDesign System that allows ophthalmologists to map the human eye with great precision for a highly personalized LASIK treatment.




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Cardinal Health Introduces Hospital Quality at Home� Products - Say Hello to Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, which provides medical products and services to many of America�s most prestigious medical institutions, introduces the Hospital Quality at Home� brand.




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Tickets on Sale: Keep Memory Alive's 20th Annual Power of Loveâ„¢ Gala Celebrates 90th Birthday of the Legendary Tony Bennett, May 21, 2016 - Tony Bennett on Keep Memory Alive

Tony Bennett talks about what it means to have Keep Memory Alive�s 20th annual Power of Love� gala honor him with a 90th birthday celebration on May 21, 2016




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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® to honor legendary Hispanic TV personality Cristina Saralegui at upcoming FedEx/St. Jude Angels and Stars Gala - Celeb Gala B-roll

Miami Gala celebrity B-roll for download




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Mandatory additional qualifiers in import/export declarations inrespect of Synthetic or Reconstructed Diamonds

Government of IndiaMinistry of FinanceDepartment of Revenue(Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs)North Block, New Delhi. Dated:30th October, 2024To All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chi




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Clarification on Insurance Amount and Bond Value for CCSPs andvalidity of Bond for AEO-LO-reg

Government of IndiaMinistry of FinanceDepartment of RevenueCentral Board of Indirect Taxes and CustomsCustoms Policy Wing**** Room No. 252A, North Block, New Delh




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Top Digital Marketing Agency in Australia

If you're searching for a trusted digital marketing agency in Australia, Abhiwan Technology is here to elevate your online presence. Specializing in SEO, social media marketing, content strategy, and PPC, Abhiwan Technology tailors its approach to




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How to Buy Signed/Personalized Copies of My Books

Hi everyone! Just checking in with a nice announcement: I am once again signing/personalizing books via my local indie, Harvard Book Store

I no longer live around the corner from the store, so I expect to go in for signing and personalizing only about once a month or so — so please order ahead if you anticipate wanting something! Once I have more info about holiday deadlines, I'll come back and blog about that. In the meantime, feel free to go ahead and start ordering. Here is the link: https://shop.harvard.com/kristin-cashore-signed-copies

Notice the instructions at the top: When checking out, indicate in the comments field that you would like a signed copy. Include any personalization you'd like as well. I'm happy to honor requests to wish someone a happy birthday, good luck with their writing, etc., but please do note that if you ask me to write something I'm not comfortable signing my name to (!), I won't honor those requests. (Yes, I've occasionally been asked to write some head-scratchers...) ????

Hope everybody is doing well. I'll be back very soon with info about upcoming online events for Gareth Hinds' graphic novel adaptation of Graceling, which releases on November 16! And now I'll send you off with a picture from today, in Mount Auburn Cemetery.






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Provisional Attachment under Section 83 valid when prima facie view arises that attachment is necessary to protect revenue interest

The Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of JV Creatives (P.) Ltd. v. Principal Additional Director General, DGGI, Gurugram Zonal Unit [W.P. (C) No. 10042 of 2024 dated July 23, 2024] dismissed the writ petition filed against the order of provisional attachment passed under Section 83 of the Central




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November 5, 2024: INaturalist

Have you ever wished you knew the name of a strange plant on your local hiking trail, or the unassuming snake that's hanging out on the pavement? If so, consider downloading iNaturalist, an app that helps you identify local flora and fauna using a combination of AI and crowdsourcing.
 
The app is pretty simple to use. After creating an account, you can use iNaturalist to take photos of plants, animals, insects, and fungi. You'll then be prompted to identify what you saw based on some recommendations. Once you've made your selection, your photo is entered into a database that other citizen scientists can view. They'll refine your initial identification to make sure it's correct. Once there is general consensus about your observation, it earns "research grade" status and can be used by local researchers or conservation groups to help catalog biodiversity in the region.
 
I've always been fascinated by people who can identify their local flora and fauna, and iNaturalist has helped me refine my skills in this area. The app does have some limitations. It won't automatically identify poisonous plants or dangerous animals, for example. There is also a lag between initial identification and crowdsourced answers, so it shouldn't be used as an aid for wild foraging.  (Never, ever trust AI or an app to help you identify edible plants or mushrooms – just don't.) Despite these very minor drawbacks, I think that iNaturalist may be one of the best apps out there to help you learn more about the natural world outside your door. Give it a try!


Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: An Era Of Gaming Goodness

From 1980 through 1985, Steve Jackson Games published The Space Gamer, chock full of articles, reviews, insight, and games. Now, The Space Gamer Bundle is available with all 50 issues from that era in a downloadable bundle at a great price. The past awaits at Warehouse 23!




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November 10, 2024: The Reality Of Tariffs In Tabletop Gaming

Over the next few weeks and months, you'll see social media posts discussing how companies cannot offer holiday bonuses or will have to cut employees due to Trump's tariffs (proposed or enacted).

 

Some of these stories may be fiction or cautionary tales that illustrate the price the average American pays for a politician's decision.

 

But I can 100% tell you this is a reality many business owners in the manufacturing sector now face.

 

If you aren't aware of how tariffs work, it's relatively simple. The company importing the goods from a foreign country pays the fee. If a company has to pay 20%, 60%, or 200% more to bring that item into the United States, who ultimately bears that cost? The American people.

 

Over the last few days, I have been talking at length with my factory representatives, figuring out how much of an item I need to order now to offset any expanded costs later. In addition, we are looking at where we can move manufacturing to outside of China (hard mode, not a lot of places outside of China or Europe produce boardgame components at the scale our industry uses).

 

I've been speaking with my shipping representatives about the increasing freight costs we expect to see with a rise in tariffs. We're already paying extreme freight prices, which will only go up as demand increases. The last time tariffs were levied on Chinese manufactured goods, freight costs went up.

 

Now I am in a position that forces me to examine how much we may need to raise prices if the most extreme of the proposed tariffs goes into effect.

 

I'm also trying to do right by my staff. But I can only do so much, you know? How long can business owners incur these costs, protect our staff, and not have consumers pay through the nose? Can I accept breaking even for the time being to keep my people employed and our games affordable? But what happens when the company starts losing money?

 

Many CEOs and business owners are staring down this reality right now. This isn't just a theoretical exercise. We have to plan for the worst.

 

So, what do I plan to do about this? I will be even more present in my local and state business associations that have direct links to policy makers in D.C. I will take every opportunity to speak directly to those who have a say in this new administration about why this isn't good for the economy. I'm just a tiny player in the world of manufacturing. But I do know the power of my voice. And more importantly, I know the power your voice holds as well.

 

You can start putting pressure on your elected (or newly elected) officials by writing, calling, or contacting them through their open channels (many of them love social media). Tell them you do not want these proposed tariffs, and let them know how these cost increases will impact you. Hold them to their promises. Make your voice heard. 

We are all in this together. 


Meredith Placko

Warehouse 23 News: A Great Deal Of Adventure!

Excitement is in the cards with the Decks of Destiny for The Fantasy Trip. This collection of resources and reference material contains adversaries, rumors, combat options, and more to make your games of TFT fast and furious. Download this set today from Warehouse 23!




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ATA has ‘grave concerns’ that EPA may allow California-type air quality rules on heavy trucks

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) expressed what it called its “grave concerns” about media reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be on the verge of granting the state of California waivers to implement potentially harmful and unrealistic emissions rules on the industry. Under California rules, new Class 8 heavy truck models would be zero-emission next year. Diesel and gasoline-powered drayage trucks must retire after 18 years to guarantee that they meet a zero-emission requirement by 2035.




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Una temporada de incendios sin precedentes arrasa uno de los puntos calientes de biodiversidad de la Tierra

En Colombia han ardido más de 500 incendios, incluso en sus delicados y únicos humedales del altiplano, uno de los ecosistemas de más rápida evolución de la Tierra





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CodeSOD: Uniquely Validated

There's the potential for endless installments of "programmers not understanding how UUIDs work." Frankly, I think the fact that we represent them as human readable strings is part of the problem; sure, it's readable, but conceals the fact that it's just a large integer.

Which brings us to this snippet, from Capybara James.

    if (!StringUtils.hasLength(uuid) || uuid.length() != 36) {
        throw new RequestParameterNotFoundException(ErrorCodeCostants.UUID_MANDATORY_OR_FORMAT);
    }

StringUtils.hasLength comes from the Spring library, and it's a simple "is not null or empty" check. So- we're testing to see if a string is null or empty, or isn't exactly 36 characters long. That tells us the input is bad, so we throw a RequestParameterNotFoundException, along with an error code.

So, as already pointed out, a UUID is just a large integer that we render as a 36 character string, and there are better ways to validate a UUID. But this also will accept any 36 character string- as long as you've got 36 characters, we'll call it a UUID. "This is valid, really valid, dumbass" is now a valid UUID.

With that in mind, I also like the bonus of it not distinguishing between whether or not the input was missing or invalid, because that'll make it real easy for users to understand why their input is getting rejected.

[Advertisement] ProGet’s got you covered with security and access controls on your NuGet feeds. Learn more.





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Data centres may soon burn as much extra gas as California uses daily

In support of their AI ambitions, tech companies are rapidly expanding US data centres, and this growth is on track to significantly increase US gas demand by 2030




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24 Wholesome Happy Cats Healing Even Your Worst Workday With Purr Joy for the Soul

There is some sort of smear campaign going on against cats, and we're here to dispel it. Cats are not emeowtionless creatures, they are full of love, joy, and funny facial expressions! Our cats have been more connected to us than most hoomans (although the bar is not set very high for hoomans, unfortunately), and if we're being purrfectly honest, our cats do a lot more things that make us smile than our fellow sapiens. Fur example, just watching them smile makes us smile, as simple as that.

It also makes us smile when they fall asleep in a silly pawsition, when they do a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig stretch after waking up for a nap, or when they run to greet us when we come home from work. Cats are so full of love and pawsitivity that they have the power to heal even our worst workday. No matter what may have happened at the office, as soon as we see their purrfect little faces, we furget everything bad that happened and we can only think of one thing: how much we love our awwdorable little fur babies.




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Generalized Human Experience

This is a term I’ve heard often, as one of the goals of art, without really understanding it. I think I’ve figured out at least some of it now. Stay with me. I think I was 22 or so when my daughter, Carolyn, became seriously ill (and thank you Dr. Edlavitch!). My wife and I … Continue reading Generalized Human Experience




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Stayin’ Alive – DORK TOWER 08.11.24

This or any DORK TOWER strip is now available as a signed, high-quality print, from just $25!  CLICK HERE to find out more! HEY! Want to help keep DORK TOWER going? Then consider joining the DORK TOWER Patreon and ENLIST IN THE ARMY OF DORKNESS TODAY! (We have COOKIES!) (And SWAG!) (And GRATITUDE!)