After 15 incredible years, Feministing is shutting down. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to the readers who joined us for this journey. As digital media has become corporatized, many independent news sites and blogs have been forced to shutter. As the New York Times reports today, unfortunately, we find ourselves among these. […]
Dork Tower is 100% reader supported. Join the Army of Dorkness today, and help bring more Dork Tower to the world! By becoming a Dork Tower Patreon backer, you get our everlasting gratitude (and also swag, commentary, bonus strips, and even more swag), but, critically, you’ll help us reach our next goal – three comics a week! HINT: […]
Televised broadcast includes extracts from Churchill’s historic victory speech
The Queen led tributes to the wartime generation on Friday night, recalling the “never give up, never despair” message of VE Day as the country marked the 75th anniversary of victory in Europe.
In a special broadcast, on a unique day of remembrance, reflection and celebration taking place during the coronavirus lockdown, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.
Continue reading...
Half-time advertising break.
And that’s the end of the first 45. Plenty of thinking to do for Kenny Dalglish, Bob Paisley and the rest of the Liverpool management team. Everton took a while to get going, but they eventually assumed control and have been much the better team since. Peter Reid, Kevin Ratcliffe and Gary Lineker have been the standout turns. They deserve their lead. Unless there’s a seismic shift in momentum, Everton will be drinking from the cup of redemption in about one hour’s time!
Continue reading...Systemic flaws within Glynn county’s district attorney offices led to a lack of action against the men involved in this ‘modern lynching’
In the days and weeks after Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed, multiple Glynn county law enforcement officials failed to thoroughly investigate his death and, in one case, refused to allow police officers to make arrests, the Guardian has learned.
Related: Ahmaud Arbery is dead because Americans think black men are criminals | Benjamin Dixon
Continue reading...Britain is a latecomer to decarbonising transport but changes under lockdown and initiatives abroad could spark a revolution
It was a grim irony that the best transport news in ages was buried in the first few days of the coronavirus lockdown. On 26 March, the government published a document, Decarbonising Transport, which went further in facing up to the problem of emissions from air and vehicle traffic than most campaigners had dared to hope for.
The challenge is enormous. In 2016, transport overtook energy to become the single biggest source of domestic emissions. Motor vehicles on their own are responsible for around a fifth of the total. On aviation, the UK is the world’s third-worst polluter, behind China and the US.
Continue reading...Once the coronavirus pandemic is over, we must work out how to stop the spread of poor information that has helped make a bad situation that much worse
Like Minneapolis, the city of Mississauga is allowing mosques to broadcast the call to prayer during Ramadan, which seems reasonable, since 12% of the population is Muslim. The only problem is that some people are objecting, for bogus reasons. An open letter attached to three petitions, two of them hosted on Change.org, calls on Mississauga […]
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he had signed an executive order to mail ballots to the state’s 20.6 million registered voters, citing potential health risks due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.“There’s a lot of excitement around this November’s election in terms of making sure that you can conduct yourself in a safe way, and make sure your health is protected,” Newsom said Friday. In March, the state allowed ballots to be mailed in for its primary, which saw a record-high of 72 percent of all ballots that were cast by mail.California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who heads the state’s elections, commended the move “It’s great for public health, it’s great for voting rights, it’s going to be great for participation,” he said. California already allows for generous absentee voting, passing a 2002 decision which gives voters the option to request permanent voting by mail, regardless of the reason.While Newsom’s decision applies only to the November election, it could set a precedent for other Democratic states, with voting by mail quickly becoming a partisan issue. It comes after the state’s lawmakers and local officials requested the measure, saying coronavirus will severely hamper voting efforts, a complaint echoed by prominent Democrats.“Why should we be saying to people, ‘Stand in line for hours,’ when we don’t even want you leaving the house?” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in April. But President Trump has repeatedly slammed calls for mail-in voting, saying last month that it lets “people cheat” and involves “a lot of dishonesty.”Newsom said that his order would still allow an “appropriate number” of in-person voting sites, saying that some voters, including those that are disabled, require technological help to cast a ballot.
Former director of national intelligence James Clapper in 2018 said that he hadn't seen evidence that the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 general election.Clapper was responding to a query from then-representative Tom Rooney, a Florida Republican, during an interview before the House Intelligence Committee. The transcript of the interview was released on Thursday."I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting [or] conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election," Clapper said."That's not to say that there weren't concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence…[redacted]," Clapper added. "But I do not recall any instance when I had direct evidence of the content of these meetings. It's just the frequency and prevalence of them was of concern."Rooney then asked Clapper, "At what time is collusion collusion, and at what time is it just people that may have an affiliation with the campaign meeting or talking with… the Russian ambassador or somebody that's of Russian origin, and when should that be taken as something that rises to the level of an Intelligence Community concern?""I really can't answer it other than the sort of visceral reaction to why all these meetings with the Russians," Clapper responded. Clapper admitted that it would be "legitimate" for incoming Trump administration officials to meet with representatives of Russia, "but I think there is a line…between that and violating the principle that in this country we traditionally have one President and one administration at a time."The interview was part of a set of 53 transcripts of interviews held by the House Intelligence Committee as part of the Russia investigation. Current committee chairman Adam Schiff had called for the release of the transcripts in 2018.However, after 43 transcripts had been reviewed and redacted by intelligence agencies as of June 2019, Schiff refused to relase the completed transcripts to the public. Current acting DNI head Richard Grenell informed Schiff on Wednesday that all the transcripts were ready for publication.
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's decision to drop the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, even though he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, was extraordinary and had no obvious precedent, a range of criminal law specialists said Thursday."I've been practicing for more time than I care to admit and I've never seen anything like this," said Julie O'Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches criminal law at Georgetown University.The move is the latest in a series that the department, under Attorney General William Barr, has taken to undermine and dismantle the work of the investigators and prosecutors who scrutinized Russia's 2016 election interference operation and its links to people associated with the Trump campaign.The case against Flynn for lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador was brought by the office of the former special counsel, Robert Mueller. It had become a political cause for Trump and his supporters, and the president had signaled that he was considering a pardon once Flynn was sentenced. But Barr instead abruptly short-circuited the case.On Thursday, Timothy Shea, the interim U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, told the judge overseeing the case, Emmet G. Sullivan, that prosecutors were withdrawing the case. They were doing so, he said, because the department could not prove to a jury that Flynn's admitted lies to the FBI about his conversations with the ambassador were "material" ones.The move essentially erases Flynn's guilty pleas. Because he was never sentenced and the government is unwilling to pursue the matter further, the prosecution is virtually certain to end, although the judge must still decide whether to grant the department's request to dismiss it "with prejudice," meaning it could not be refiled in the future.A range of former prosecutors struggled to point to any previous instance in which the Justice Department had abandoned its own case after obtaining a guilty plea. They portrayed the justification Shea pointed to -- that it would be difficult to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the lies were material -- as dubious."A pardon would have been a lot more honest," said Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches criminal law at Duke University.The law regarding what counts as "material" is extremely forgiving to the government, Buell added. The idea is that law enforcement is permitted to pursue possible theories of criminality and to interview people without having firmly established that there was a crime first.James G. McGovern, a defense lawyer at Hogan Lovells and a former federal prosecutor, said juries rarely bought a defendant's argument that a lie did not involve a material fact."If you are arguing 'materiality,' you usually lose, because there is a tacit admission that what you said was untrue, so you lose the jury," he said.No career prosecutors signed the motion. Shea is a former close aide to Barr. In January, Barr installed him as the top prosecutor in the district that encompasses the nation's capital after maneuvering out the Senate-confirmed former top prosecutor in that office, Jessie K. Liu.Soon after, in an extraordinary move, four prosecutors in the office abruptly quit the case against Trump's longtime friend Roger Stone. They did so after senior Justice Department officials intervened to recommend a more lenient prison term than standard sentencing guidelines called for in the crimes Stone was convicted of committing -- including witness intimidation and perjury -- to conceal Trump campaign interactions with WikiLeaks.It soon emerged that Barr had also appointed an outside prosecutor, Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, to review the Flynn case files. The department then began turning over FBI documents showing internal deliberations about questioning Flynn, like what warnings to give -- even though such files are usually not provided to the defense.Flynn's defense team has mined such files for ammunition to portray the FBI as running amok in its decision to question Flynn in the first place. The questioning focused on his conversations during the transition after the 2016 election with the Russian ambassador about the Obama administration's imposition of sanctions on Russia for its interference in the American election.The FBI had already concluded that there was no evidence that Flynn, a former Trump campaign adviser, had personally conspired with Russia about the election, and it had decided to close out the counterintelligence investigation into him. Then questions arose about whether and why Flynn had lied to administration colleagues like Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the ambassador.Because the counterintelligence investigation was still open, the bureau used it as a basis to question Flynn about the conversations and decided not to warn him at its onset that it would be a crime to lie. Notes from Bill Priestap, then the head of the FBI's counterintelligence division, show that he wrote at one point about the planned interview: "What's our goal? Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"Barr has also appointed another outside prosecutor, John H. Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to reinvestigate the Russia investigators even though the department's independent inspector general was already scrutinizing them.And his department has intervened in a range of other ways, from seeking more comfortable prison accommodations last year for Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, to abruptly dropping charges in March against two Russian shell companies that were about to go to trial for financing schemes to interfere in the 2016 election using social media.Barr has let it be known that he does not think the FBI ever had an adequate legal basis to open its Russia investigation in the first place, contrary to the judgment of the Justice Department's inspector general.In an interview on CBS News on Thursday, Barr defended the dropping of the charges against Flynn on the grounds that the FBI "did not have a basis for a counterintelligence investigation against Flynn at that stage."Anne Milgram, a former federal prosecutor and former New Jersey attorney general who teaches criminal law at New York University, defended the FBI's decision to question Flynn in January 2017. She said that much was still a mystery about the Russian election interference operation at the time and that Flynn's lying to the vice president about his postelection interactions with a high-ranking Russian raised new questions.But, she argued, the more important frame for assessing the dropping of the case was to recognize how it fit into the larger pattern of the Barr-era department "undercutting the law enforcement officials and prosecutors who investigated the 2016 election and its aftermath," which she likened to "eating the Justice Department from the inside out."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
The NI Executive says agreeing how to relax measures is the most crucial decision it will ever make.
In states like Texas, malls can operate at a 25% capacity and for some, it's a reason to get out of the house.
React Native continues on a development spree in late 2016. With an ambitious two-week release cycle, the framework makes rapid progress towards feature and performance parity with its native Android and iOS equivalents. At the same time, these quick release periods frequently introduce breaking changes, difficulty with setup, and challenges with basic configuration.
Enter Exponent, a tool that promises easier setup, development, and deployment of React Native applications. Rather than being a replacement for React Native, as it is sometimes confused, Exponent augments React Native by dramatically simplifying the development and deployment processes. Whereas basic setup with an Android environment to develop with React Native can take over an hour by hand, even for experienced engineers, Exponent shortens the time to start to “Hello World” to a handful of minutes.
React Native continues on a development spree in late 2016. With an ambitious two-week release cycle, the framework makes rapid progress towards feature and performance parity with its native Android and iOS equivalents. At the same time, these quick release periods frequently introduce breaking changes, difficulty with setup, and challenges with basic configuration.
Enter Exponent, a tool that promises easier setup, development, and deployment of React Native applications. Rather than being a replacement for React Native, as it is sometimes confused, Exponent augments React Native by dramatically simplifying the development and deployment processes. Whereas basic setup with an Android environment to develop with React Native can take over an hour by hand, even for experienced engineers, Exponent shortens the time to start to “Hello World” to a handful of minutes.
Exponent’s prime feature is revealed as it’s namesake IDE. The Exponent IDE is development platform for not only developing apps to test in their respective environment simulators, but also simplifies testing them on real devices.
One of the cofounders of Exponent, Charlie Cheever, agreed to answer a few questions about Exponent and its purpose in the community.
Hi, Charlie. Congrats on the release of Exponent! One of the toughest aspects of Exponent is understanding what its purpose is. What is the primary goal of Exponent?
Thanks :)
Before I worked on mobile software, I spent about 15 years making websites. When I started working on the Quora iPhone app and Android app, it felt like time traveling back to 1993. So many things to worry about that have nothing to do with the product you want to build.
One thing we’re trying to do with Exponent is making it as easy to develop native mobile apps as it is to make websites, or even easier! I think about how I learned to build software as a kid–making games on my TI-85 and making Hypercard stacks–and I want to make it so that the middle school kids of today can make cool stuff for themselves and their friends.
Basic environment setup of the iOS and Android simulators for developing React Native apps is commonly cited as a headache by new developers. What does Exponent do to alleviate this pain?
The biggest thing that Exponent does is take care of everything related to native code for you. So you don’t need to know Swift/Obj-C/Java or even have Xcode or Android Studio to be able to write React Native apps. You write just JavaScript and Exponent has everything else already setup for you.
Since you don’t write any native code with Exponent, just JavaScript, Exponent has a lot of the most popular native modules built in. Native maps, push notifications, Facebook and Google login, camera and camera roll access, contacts, TouchID, and a native video player are all included among other things. We’re always adding more of these as well. We just added full OpenGL support last week and did a game jam and made some mini games with it and are adding sound soon.
We sometimes talk about Exponent as being like Rails for React Native. You could write a website in Ruby on your own. but Rails sets up a bunch of sensible things right off that bat that work together in a coherent way and we kind of do the same thing for React Native. Exponent includes instant app updating as a default, so you can deploy new code and assets with one command in seconds, even faster than most websites can be deployed.
Even after getting set up with the Android and iOS simulators, testing a React Native app on a real phone can still be a challenge. How does Exponent make it easier to share apps in progress with would-be users?
You can actually open any Exponent project that you’re working on in our development app right away. When you develop with Exponent, you get a URL for your project, and you can open that URL on any phone with the Exponent developer app which you can download from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. You don’t need to jack your phone into your computer–just open the URL.
Another really cool thing about this is that, if you’re working with someone else, you can just send them the URL and they can open it on their phone as well, even if they are halfway around the world.
We’ve done a bunch of work to make this pretty nice, like having console.log work even if the phone running your code isn’t plugged into your computer. And you can, of course, open your project on the iOS Simulator or an Android Emulator as well if you prefer.
I know you mentioned a lot of people have trouble getting React Native setup on Android especially. With Exponent, every project works on both iOS and Android from the start and you never have to deal with Android Studio, so the process of getting going is much easier.
What type, or genre, of application would be a good fit with React Native and Exponent?
I would actually use React Native for almost any mobile app at this point. Doing development the traditional way (writing Swift/Java/Obj-C code) is just too hard to iterate on when you consider the slowness of the code-compile-copy-run loop and the fact that you have to write your app twice (and then keep it in sync!). The other thing that is an absolutely huge deal here but is sometimes overlooked is the layout engine. It’s much easier to build and change a layout in React Native’s Flexbox than any of the UI libraries that I’ve seen for Java/Swift/Obj-C.
And if you need to do something really intense, like Snapchat live video filters, you can just write your own code as a native module and write the rest of your app in JS.
I would use Exponent for anything I could because it just saves a lot of time and headaches since you don’t need to deal with Android Studio or Xcode. Some people don’t know that you can turn an Exponent project into an app store app for iOS or for Android with just one command.
In general, Exponent will work for you in pretty much every case where just having a mobile website is one of the things that you’re considering. The features are pretty equivalent except that Exponent apps feel like native apps and mobile apps still feel like mobile web apps.
The main reason not to use Exponent is if you have some custom native code that you need that isn’t included with Exponent. The most common reasons that people can’t use Exponent are if they need use Bluetooth or HealthKit or something else low level that isn’t built in to Exponent; or if they need to integrate into an existing project (though we are working right now on a solution that will let you do this).
The exception to all this is games. If you are making a mobile game, Unity is probably the best choice for you. But we did add OpenGL support to Exponent recently and had a game jam and I was surprised at how good some of the entries were, so I think that might change.
TL;DR: For apps that aren’t games, always use React Native (if you need to do something super custom, just do it as a native module). If you can, use Exponent (you can most of the time but check our docs to make sure we’re not missing anything you need).
One aspect of React Native that seems to be undergoing constant flux is its solution for navigation. Between the built in Navigators and open source solutions, do you have any thoughts on an ideal solution for navigation?
Short version: I think you should use Ex-Navigation that Adam Miskiewicz (skevy) and Brent Vatne on our team wrote. Skevy in particular has been thinking about navigation in mobile apps and React Native for a long time. Using Ex-Navigation is definitely a better idea than Navigator or NavigatorIOS.
To make things confusing, there is also NavigatorExperimental (yes, that’s different from Ex-Navigation) and ExNavigator (which was made by James Ide and Ex-Navigation is based on). The good news is that everyone working on these problems got together and decided to merge them all together. I don’t know how long that is going to take but it will probably be released sometime in the next few months under the name React Navigation, and that should unify everyone’s efforts!
There is also this other school of thought where some people like to use the platform-specific native code for navigation which is the approach that the Wix Navigator uses. I have a strong personal view that its preferable to write UI components like this in JS because I actually think you want your app to be the same across iOS and Android (they are both just black rectangles with touch screens!) and JS tends to make your code more composable and customizable.
Use Ex-Navigation and keep an eye out for React Navigation! Use JS instead of native for this UI code!
Given the increasingly fast development and deployment times, handling API setup for dealing with data is becoming a large obstacle to React Native apps. Do you have any thoughts about the use of Backend-As-A-Service solutions like Firebase compared to rolling your own API with Node/Express, Rails, or similar?
I don’t have a strongly held view on this right now. There are so many solutions that fit the use cases of people with different needs. We’re seeing things getting easier and easier in every direction that you look.
If you want to write your own code and you’re using JS, you can use something like Zeit’s new now stuff to deploy essentially instantly. If you want a more general purpose solution, Heroku is also really easy. And then of course there is AWS and Google Cloud, etc.
It’s trivially easy for React Native apps to communicate with essentially any backend that uses HTTP/JSON since fetch and JSON.parse are built-in.
If you don’t want to write any code, it seems like Firebase has become the most popular solution since Parse announced its shutdown. One nice thing about Firebase is that you can use their hosted database stuff with React Native using just JS, which means it works just fine with Exponent. Someone wrote up a guide to how to do this here: https://gist.github.com/sushiisumii/d2fd4ae45498592810390b3e05313e5c
Longer term, it seems like something like GraphQL/Relay should become really popular, but that stuff is too hard to setup and use still to be mainstream just yet. I’m not sure whether it will be GraphQL/Relay maturing and getting revised that wins or something else that is slightly different and easy to think about as a developer that comes and beats it, but directionally, it’s definitely right. We built something like this at Quora and it saved a ton of development time.
I would just use whatever you are most comfortable with – almost anything will work! React Native is really similar to the the web in terms of its client capabilities and so I would just think about a React Native or Exponent app as being mostly like a website.
React is a good tool when it comes to building flexible and reusable UI components. However, it’s “one of those libraries” that cannot handle all the tasks involved in building a full fleshed UI project. Other supporting tools - such as a recently announced React SDK from Cloudinary - are available to provide solutions that the React core cannot.
In such cases where media (images and videos) becomes a heavy task to handle, Cloudinary simplifies the process with the new React SDK. Let’s build and image library with Cloudinary and React using the Cloudinary’s React SDK.
The only requirements for using Cloudinary in your existing React project are to install the React SDK and the upload widget. If you do not have an existing React project and want to try these examples, take the following steps:
We need a minimal amount of dependencies so we can focus on building a media library and not structuring a React app:
{
"name": "img-library",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"watch": "webpack -d --watch",
"build": "webpack",
"serve": "serve ./public"
},
"author": "",
"license": "MIT",
"devDependencies": {
"babel-core": "^6.18.2",
"babel-loader": "^6.2.9",
"babel-preset-es2015": "^6.18.0",
"babel-preset-react": "^6.16.0",
"serve": "^1.4.0",
"webpack": "^1.14.0"
},
"dependencies": {
"axios": "^0.15.3",
"cloudinary-react": "^1.0.1",
"react": "^15.4.1",
"react-dom": "^15.4.1"
}
}
React (and React DOM) must be used since we are making a React app. The cloudinary-react dependency is Cloudinary’s React SDK, which we will soon see how it works. axios is a tool for making HTTP requests and, in our case, we will use it request images from the Cloudinary server.
# Install dependencies
npm install
Webpack is our build tool. Only minimal settings are required to have a build running and our React app compiling:
// ./webpack.config.js
var webpack = require('webpack');
var path = require('path');
var BUILD_DIR = path.resolve(__dirname, 'public');
var APP_DIR = path.resolve(__dirname, 'src');
var config = {
entry: APP_DIR + '/index.jsx',
output: {
path: BUILD_DIR,
filename: 'bundle.js'
},
module : {
loaders : [
{
test : /.jsx?/,
include : APP_DIR,
loader : 'babel'
}
]
}
};
module.exports = config;
Basic configuration - an entry, output and loaders to handle the React .jsx files.
We need to create an entry point, as we specified in the Webpack configuration, and another entry point for the browser, which is an index.html file:
// ./src/index.jsx
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { render } from 'react-dom';
class Main extends Component {
render() {
return (
<div className="main">
<h1>Scotchage</h1>
</div>
);
}
}
render(<Main />, document.getElementById('container'));
<!-- ./public/index.html -->
<html>
<head>
<!--Stylesheet-->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
</head>
<body>
<!--Container for React rendering-->
<div id="container"></div>
<!--Bundled file-->
<script src="bundle.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
You need a Cloudinary account to continue with these examples. Sign up for free and store your credentials safely as shown on the dashboard:
Before using the React SDK to deliver images from the Cloudinary servers, let’s use the awesome Cloudinary upload widget to upload images. First, we need to add this widget to our index.html:
<!-- ./public/index.html -->
<html>
<head>
. . .
</head>
<body>
. . .
<!-- UPLOAD WIDGET -->
<script src="//widget.cloudinary.com/global/all.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="bundle.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Next, we create a button, attach an event to it and upload an image once the button is clicked:
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { render } from 'react-dom';
class Main extends Component {
uploadWidget() {
cloudinary.openUploadWidget({ cloud_name: 'CLOUD_NAME', upload_preset: 'PRESET', tags:['xmas']},
function(error, result) {
console.log(result);
});
}
render(){
return (
<div className="main">
<h1>Galleria</h1>
<div className="upload">
<button onClick={this.uploadWidget.bind(this)} className="upload-button">
Add Image
</button>
</div>
</div>
);
}
}
render(<Main />, document.getElementById('container'));
The uploadWidget member method is the handler invoked by the click event to handle our image upload by calling cloudinary.openUploadWidget. openUploadWidget takes a config object and the upload callback handler. The config object must have at least cloud_name and upload_preset properties with valid values. You can read more about Cloud Names and Upload Presets.
The Cloudinary React SDK has three major components, Image, CloudinaryContext and Transformation:
Image.Image component. This can be tedious when you are dealing with multiple images. CloudinaryContext allows you to apply configuration to a group of Images.Most times you would end up with a structure like this:
<CloudinaryContext>
<Image>
<Transformation />
<Transformation />
</Image>
<Image>
<Transformation />
</Image>
</CloudinaryContext>
Back to our demo app, we can request an image from the Cloudinary server and display it with the following components:
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';
import { CloudinaryContext, Transformation, Image } from 'cloudinary-react';
import { render } from 'react-dom';
class Main extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
gallery: []
}
}
componentDidMount() {
// Request for images tagged xmas
axios.get('http://res.cloudinary.com/christekh/image/list/xmas.json')
.then(res => {
console.log(res.data.resources);
this.setState({gallery: res.data.resources});
});
}
uploadWidget() {
// . . .
}
render(){
return (
<div className="main">
<h1>Galleria</h1>
<div className="gallery">
<CloudinaryContext cloudName="CLOUDNAME">
{
this.state.gallery.map(data => {
return (
<div className="responsive" key={data.public_id}>
<div className="img">
<a target="_blank" href={`http://res.cloudinary.com/christekh/image/upload/${data.public_id}.jpg`}>
<Image publicId={data.public_id}>
<Transformation
crop="scale"
width="300"
height="200"
dpr="auto"
responsive_placeholder="blank"
/>
</Image>
</a>
<div className="desc">Created at {data.created_at}</div>
</div>
</div>
)
})
}
</CloudinaryContext>
<div className="clearfix"></div>
</div>
</div>
);
}
}
render(<Main />, document.getElementById('container'));
Take one more look at the upload code:
cloudinary.openUploadWidget({ cloud_name: 'christekh', upload_preset: 'idcidr0h', tags:['xmas']},
function(error, result) {
. . .
Each image is tagged with xmas, which serves as a way to request images with this tag as a collection. This is exactly what we are using the axios library to do when the component mounts:
axios.get('http://res.cloudinary.com/CLOUDNAME/image/list/xmas.json')
.then(res => {
console.log(res.data.resources);
this.setState({gallery: res.data.resources});
});
axios uses promises, so whenever the promise resolves in our case, we have a payload of images. We take advantage of React state to update our UI with the fetched resources.
Down to rendering, we configure the CloudinaryContext with our cloud_name, iterate over the gallery state that stores the images and displays them using the Image component. We also apply few transformations using the Transformation component.
For security reasons, Cloudinary will not allow you to make such request from the client unless you tell it to. The best way to go is to use the admin API via a backend SDK and then send the resource list to the client.
We are able to upload images and request for images to be displayed on the user’s browsers. Here is how we update the displayed images instantly when the user uploads a new image:
uploadWidget() {
let _this = this;
cloudinary.openUploadWidget({ cloud_name: 'CLOUDNAME', upload_preset: 'PRESET', tags:['xmas']},
function(error, result) {
// Update gallery state with newly uploaded image
_this.setState({gallery: _this.state.gallery.concat(result)})
});
}
Rather than logging the uploaded image information to the console, we update the gallery state, which bears the list of requested images, by concatenating the uploaded result to the gallery.
Image uploads, transformation and delivery has never been easier. These tasks have been a serious challenge for developers. Cloudinary has created a way to abstract all this hard work, enabling you to simply plug and play.
Fact that Aparshakti Khurana has emerged as one of the ultimate social media buzz makers amidst the lockdown. After initiating digital antakshari, he started interactive Instagram Lives, brand collaborations, musical series called #InstaMusic and even featured in a special Lockdown Anthem video alongside various YouTubers.
With so much on, it won't be wrong to call Khurana the most entertaining and engaging celeb on social media currently. Taking his creativity to another level this time around, Aparshakti has shared his first-ever audio short film - Hisaab Barabar on Instagram which he wanted to present back from his Radio days.
The plot revolves around a girl called Suhani and her schoolmate Rinku, revealing how after disliking each other all these years during school, they end up falling in love with each other. Hisaab Barabar is already winning hearts, thanks to its beautiful storyline and Aparshakti's brilliance at storytelling. He does not just leave you smiling but makes you believe and see these two characters when you're just hearing about them. Well, that truly is the real art of narrating stories on audio.
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The multi-talented star shared Hisaab Barabar on his handle saying, "For those who don’t know, I was working at a radio station 5 years ago and was working on a pilot of my new audio show but destiny had other plans and Dangal happened (which I am grateful of till date), because of which I had to leave the pilot midway. The idea of this audio show was so close to my heart that it continued to linger in my mind for the last 5 years. One of the segments was to be called YEH DILLI HAI MERE YAAR, where in I would have released one audio short film every Friday. Coming up is a story called Hisaab Barabar which is written and voiced by me. Just FYI, I might not have patience and energy to write and voice more stories but I shall try only if you like this one [sic]."
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Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Bollywood celebrities have taken up the responsibility to appeal to everyone to stay safe, take precautions, stop panicking and refrain from spreading rumours. Ajay Devgn too joined the bandwagon and made an emotional appeal to his fans to stay at home by launching a special song titled Thahar Ja.
Watch the song here:
The video has been sung and composed by Mehul Vyas and penned by Anil Verma. In the video, an emotional Devgn appeals to people to stay inside their homes and take a break from their regular activities for the sake of their families. His son Yug also makes an appearance at the end of the music video.
Sharing the video on his Instagram handle, the Singham actor wrote, "Pause. Reflect. Pray. We will weather this storm together. Stay safe, Stay Happy. Apno ke liye #ThaharJa #IndiaFightsCorona (sic)."
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Before this, Akshay Kumar came up with a special version of the song Teri Mitti, from his film Kesari, to show his gratitude to the doctors and policemen working selflessly during these testing times.
Salman Khan too gave us a spirited 'Pyar Karona' song that encourages us to fight the Coronavirus pandemic together. This was the superstar's first solo music album.
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The pandemic has truly bought the world to a standstill and staying at home is the need of the hour. However, some people are still working outside the comfort of their homes in order to fight against Covid-19. Sanya Malhotra expresses her gratitude towards them.
Sanya shares, "All those frontline workers, doctors, nurses and essential service professionals who are putting their lives at stake for us, I salute your efforts and determination towards the citizen and the nation."
Adding a social message for one and all Sanya further adds, "This only goes on to bring us a message that we must cooperate with all these workers and stay at home, until this pandemic is eradicated".
During these tough times, we need to work as one and fight together to eradicate the problem from its roots. This is the time where the the quote "United we stand, divided we fall" fits the situation and we must be one. Sanya Malhotra is putting out a strong message and using her influence in a positive manner.
On the work front, Sanya has a stellar line ups of projects being 'Shakuntala Devi' where the actress will be playing Anupama Banerjee while sharing the screen with Vidya Balan, Guneet Monga's Pagglait and Anurag Basu's Ludo.
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It has been seven years since Mohit Suri's Aashiqui 2, starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor came out. It made the actress an overnight star and sensation, and her character, Aarohi, still continues to be remembered for her piquancy and innocence, and of course, singing.
Every year, the actress does something special on this day to mark this musical blockbuster's anniversary and this year was no exception. She not only changed her Instagram name to her screen name from the film and upload a new photo from one its stills, but also uploaded a collage of some of the film's scenes to create one beautiful picture.
This is truly an innovative and imaginative way to celebrate your film, don't miss this post:
Shraddha Kapoor is well known for always delivering hits along with a new character and fresh content with every project. Shraddha being a lover of always wanting to try something new has been unstoppable ever since Aashiqui 2.
After Aashiqui 2, taking no breaks, Shraddha was seen in Ek Villain, where the character of being full of life was super fresh. Not forgetting ABCD 2 where Shraddha's dance totally stole hearts. Shraddha showed her versatility factor and the audiences were stunned on how the actress can mould herself in every way possible.
Moulding herself into another new character, Shraddha was seen doing some kicks and punches in Baaghi. The actress has given a carousel of hits and is a roll as the actress chooses quality projects over quantity and this totally sets her apart. Shraddha knows how to treat her fans with the best of characters, where fresh content always hunts Shraddha.
On the work front, Shraddha will be seen in a Luv Ranjan directorial alongside Ranbir Kapoor. The actress is basking in the success of Baaghi 3. Truly we can't wait to see what this fresh pair has brewed for us!
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Researchers have found that a common antibacterial substance found in toothpaste may combat life-threatening diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF) when combined with a drug.
The study, published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, found that when triclosan -- a substance that reduces or prevents bacteria from growing -- is combined with an antibiotic called tobramycin, it kills the cells that protect the CF bacteria, known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by up to 99.9 per cent.
CF is a common genetic disease with one in every 2,500 to 3,500 people diagnosed with it at an early age. It results in a thick mucus in the lungs, which becomes a magnet for bacteria.
These bacteria are notoriously difficult to kill because they are protected by a slimy barrier known as a biofilm, which allows the disease to thrive even when treated with antibiotics, the researcher said.
"The problem that we're really tackling is finding ways to kill these biofilms," said lead author Chris Waters, Professor at the Michigan State University.
According to the researcher, there are many common biofilm-related infections that people get such as ear infections and swollen, painful gums caused by gingivitis.
But more serious, potentially fatal diseases join the ranks of CF including endocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, as well as infections from artificial hip and pacemaker implants, the researcher added.
For the study, the researchers grew 6,000 biofilms in petri dishes, added in tobramycin along with many different compounds, to see what worked better at killing the bacteria.
Twenty-five potential compounds were effective, but one stood out, the researcher said.
"It's well known that triclosan, when used by itself, isn't effective at killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa. But when I saw it listed as a possible compound to use with tobramycin, I was intrigued. We found triclosan was the one that worked every time," said Alessandra Hunt from the Michigan State University.
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Washington D.C.: Intermittent fasting diets could increase diabetes risk, suggests a study. These findings suggest that fasting-based diets may be associated with long-term health risks and careful consideration should be made before starting such weight loss programmes.
In order to investigate whether an intermittent fasting diet could also generate damaging free radicals, Ana Bonassa and colleagues, from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, examined the effects of fasting every other day on the body weight, free radical levels and insulin function of normal, adult rats, over a 3-month period.
Although the rats' body weight and food intake decreased as expected over the study period, the amount of fat tissue in their abdomen actually increased. Furthermore, the cells of the pancreas that release insulin showed damage, with the presence of increased levels of free radicals and markers of insulin resistance were also detected.
Ana Bonassa commented, "This is the first study to show that, despite weight loss, intermittent fasting diets may actually damage the pancreas and affect insulin function in normal healthy individuals, which could lead to diabetes and serious health issues."
Ana cautioned, "We should consider that overweight or obese people who opt for intermittent fasting diets may already have insulin resistance, so although this diet may lead to early, rapid weight loss, in the long-term there could be potentially serious damaging effects to their health, such as the development of type-2 diabetes."
The findings were presented at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2018.
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In Mumbai and all over India, today 6th April marks the traditional New Year for Maharashtrians which signifies the welcoming of the spring. As people welcome the New Year with much fervour and enthusiasm, thousands of men and women in Mumbai take to the streets and participate in Shobha Yatras. One such yatra is that of Girgaon Padwa Shobha Yatra, one of the biggest and oldest Shobha Yatras in Mumbai. Every year, the highlight of this Shobha yatra is Dr. Aparna Bandodkar, and her bike 'Bijli; together they have become the face of the Girgaon Padwa Shobha Yatra. Since 2013, Bandodkar has been actively participating in the Girgaon Padwa Shobha yatra and riding her motorcycle with varied themes, thereby promoting the Maharashtrian culture and ringing in the New Year in style.
Also Read: Gudi Padwa 2019: All you need to know about the festival
Just as the people welcome the New Year across Mumbai, Maharashtra, we had the opportunity to interact with Dr. Aparna Bandodkar who in a candid conversation talks about the Girgaon Padwa Shobha yatra and more.
Aparna Bandodkar and other women ride motorcycles during the Girgaon Padwa Shobha yatra
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Since how long have you been taking part in the Girgaon Padwa Shobha yatra. How has the journey been so far?
I have been taking part in the Girgaon Padwa Shobha Yatra since 2013. After I had my own bike, the very first thing that I wanted to do was ride inter-state and complete a part of my bucket list i.e. wearing a nine-yard sari and going to Girgaon. The Girgaon padava celebration started in 2002 and back then I used to see pictures of ladies who used to take part in the yatra. That's how I went to girgaon and they wholeheartedly welcomed me with my bullet. Post that, it became a ritual and this will be my eight year at Girgaon padwa celebration.
I started riding bullet at the Girgaon Shobha yatra in 2013 but before me, there were other women with different types of scooters and bikes who took part in the rally. It was the media who hyped it as I was the first woman to ride a bullet at the Girgaon Shobha yatra. Back then, a woman on a bullet was something new and at the time there were very few women riders. Now, the number of women riders is ever increasing. Today women ride heavier and meaner machines.
How has the Girgaum Padwa Shobha yatra changed since the time you took part back in 2013?
At that time, the Girgaon padwa was not so glamorous as it is now. It was a very low key affair but today it is celebrated on a grander scale.
When I joined in 2013 there were about 15 women bikers and slowly and steadily the number has increased over the years. Today the majority of the women are on geared motorcycles and then there are scooters, vintage bikes and much more. Last year there were about 80-to 85 women taking part in the Shobha yatra on the bike. Women come far off from Vasai, Mulund, New Bombay to take part in the Gudi padwa celebrations. People are willing to travel and come and take part in the rally. There are a couple of women who even ride Harley Davidson bikes for the rally", says Bandodkar when asked how the Girgaon Shobha yatra has evolved over the years.
Aparna Bandodkar dons biking shoes on her traditional attire during the Girgaon Shobha yatra
Can you share a funny incident that took place with you during one of the Shobha yatras?
The very first day I took part my slippers broke when I tried to kickstart the bike. I was left with no choice but to take out my biking shoes and wear them with the nine-yard sari.
What kind of impact do you feel the Girgaum Padava Shobha Yatra has created?
Once you take part in the Girgaon Padwa Shobha yatra, you get confidence and you are not the same person anymore. Many more women come to the rally and then they realise their potential. Taking part in the yatra also boosts your confidence as you see more women taking part and breaking stereotypes.
Also Read: Urmila Matondkar spotted at Gudi Padwa bike rally in Mumbai
Such is the impact that, Aparna had seen a video where Indians who are staying abroad are seen celebrating Gudi padwa and had trained themselves in dhol Tasha Pathak and even replicated the whole parade in the western country.
What has been your fondest memory till of Girgaon Padwa Shobha yatra?
Recalling it quite vividly, Dr, Bandodkar says, "My fondest memory is that of a girl coming to me during the 2015 padwa rally and was all in tears. She started thanking me and said that 'You don't know what have you done'. She revealed that her parents never wanted her to ride a motorcycle but after the saw Dr. Aparna Bandodkar's Shobha yatra video on National television, they allowed her to ride her motorcycle to her workplace and that she was really happy about it. While speaking to me she was in tears and this brought tears into my eyes as well."
View Photos: Gudi Padwa: 10 authentic Maharashtrian dishes to try out
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya (CSMVS) will host the first-ever guided tour of its space and precincts led by eminent conservation architect Vikas Dilawari, who is also involved in the conservation of the museum, a Grade 1 building in the UNESCO World Heritage Precinct. Later in the evening, a panel discussion will be held on The Craft of Architecture.
Vikas Dilawari
Pop quiz
1) Originally called the Church of St John the Evangelist, its steeple was used as a landmark for ships entering Bombay harbour. Name this church.
2) Inside which building in Fort can you spot a splendid stained glass design of the 12 zodiac signs?
3) From which famous landmark did the last British troops leave India after Independence, in 1948?
Answers:
1) Afghan Church;
2) Convocation Hall inside University Library;
3) Gateway of India
ON Today, 11 am (guided tour); 6.15 pm (panel discussion)
AT Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda.
CALL 22844484
FREE
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Gauri Khan was spotted at Mumbai airport by the paparazzi, and once again, the interior designer has proved that she's got all the right fashion moves.
Gauri opted for a casual look - a black blazer, paired with a white top, basic blue denims, and thigh-high black boots for the outing. Doesn't she look gorgeous? If you're planning to upgrade your wardrobe with something similar, take a cue from Gauri to wear it in the best way possible and ace the airport look, or even a casual one, like a fashionista.
Gauri Khan/picture courtesy: Yogen Shah
Black blazer: You can buy Ambrosial women single breasted formal blazer at the discounted price of Rs 649 only. Get Gauri Khan's airport look without burning a hole in your pocket. Shop here.
White top: Buy Acanthus Women's V Notch Front Scallop Trim Top at the discounted price of Rs 399 only. Shop here.
Blue denim: Raiter Super Skinny Jeans for Women and Girls Size will help you flaunt your legs! Get your pair at the discounted price of Rs 499 only. Shop here.
Black boots: Buy Kotak Sales Stylish Knee Length Boots at the discounted price of Rs 795 only. Shop here.
Tote bag: Get Kanvas Katha Women's Handbag at the discounted price of Rs 531 only. Shop here.
Also Read: Here's how you can get Malaika Arora's monochrome gym look right
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San Francisco: Global wearable brand Fitbit has announced to use Google's new Cloud Healthcare API to help the company integrate further into the healthcare system, such as by connecting user data with electronic medical records (EMR). Combining Fitbit data with EMRs can provide patients and clinicians a more comprehensive view of the patient profile, leading to more personalised care, the company said in a statement late Monday.
"Working with Google gives us an opportunity to transform how we scale our business, allowing us to reach more people around the world faster, while also enhancing the experience we offer to our users and the healthcare system," said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit.
"This collaboration will accelerate the pace of innovation to define the next generation of healthcare and wearables," he added.
The companies will also look to help better manage chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension by using services such as Fitbit's recently acquired "Twine Health".
Using Google's Cloud Healthcare API, "Twine" can make it easier for clinicians and patients to collaborate on care, helping lead to better health outcomes and positive returns for employers, health plans and hospitals.
"At Google, our vision is to transform the way health information is organised and made useful. By enabling Fitbit to connect and manage key health and fitness data using our Google Cloud Healthcare API, we are getting one step closer to this goal," said Gregory Moore Vice President, Healthcare, Google Cloud.
"Together, we have the opportunity to deliver up-to-date information to providers, enhancing their ability to follow and manage the health of their patients and guide their treatment," he added.
Google Cloud will provide Fitbit with next-generation cloud services and engineering support, allowing Fitbit to scale faster.
Fitbit products are carried in over 45,000 retail stores and in 86 countries.
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Smeetha Bhaumik
The poet-artist, for whom this is the second Glo/NaPoWriMo attempt, says, "Platforms like these are precious to a poet, because of the sense of community and writing in unison that they offer. Writing to new prompts every day is a challenge in itself, and an exciting one; I say this because I have seen unexpected beautiful verses emerge out of my pen [or mouse]." For Bhoumik, it's tough to pinpoint where her tryst with poetry began, "I have grown up with poetry as a background motif in an environment of science and engineering that dominated my Bengali household. So, its aesthetics have been with me all along. Though I took up writing much later, it was as if I had written it all my life. It just flowed," she says.
Moonlit haibun writes itself,
silver crescents that speak to silence
often.
On the walls trellises of poetry,
On the night:
Shadows
Of poems
To come
Ritu Poddar
A NaPoWriMo novice, Poddar says for her, the takeaways are many. "This has been the most productive and creative month of my life so far. I learnt that passion alone cannot take you anywhere but, passion combined with discipline can," she shares. Speaking of the challenges she faced, Poddar says, "There were days when I would easily find inspiration or an idea to write about. But on others, even the prompts could not help. I have stayed up all night to ensure I don't break the chain of writing continuously."
Collecting from every corner of my body
Debris of past heartbreaks,
Stench of hoarded guilt,
Leftovers of repeated mistakes,
Scraps of untreated anguish
Digging hard to pull out weeds of hurt
Rooted deep into the memory bed.
Cutting cobwebs of relations I weaved,
Which had turned into fetters.
When Washington-based poet and publisher, Maureen Thorson began the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) in 2003, little did she realise that it was going to turn April into the busiest month for poets across the world? The objective is to pen down 30 poems in 30 days — spurred on by prompts (available on the official NaPoWriMo blog) and a general camaraderie that allows you to find the much sought-after inspiration writers are constantly pining for. Today, this has become a global community, with most preferring to call it Glo/NaPoWriMo. It has found its way into the lives of many Indian poets. We speak to four of them as the month comes to an end.
Rakhee Panth
Panth quit her job as a school teacher to pursue writing full time. This was her first NaPoWriMo attempt and she says the experience was exhilarating. She began writing when she was 11 and published her first short story at 14 in Children's World Magazine. "Writing is a lonely profession. This forum encourages writers across the world to stay inspired and motivated as a community [albeit virtual]. It is believed that creativity often follows its own graph but NaPoWriMo pushes you to harness your creative energy every day and expand your horizon in a guided manner — something that many writers are hungry for in our country. It helps inculcate discipline and is a creative and fun alternative to structure your writing process," she says.
When rain finally falls
And takes with it
The earth's sorrow,
Winnows its way
Into her heart
And stays,
I will call to you then
When eternity stops
And time stands still
I shall have dissolved you in me
Aashish Vaidya
The blog, which is maintained by Thorson features a participant every day. Aashish Vaidya was one of the few Indians to be named. Originally from Vadodara, Gujarat, Vaidya says that his foray into poetry was encouraged by his grandfather, and began with their affinity for Hindi ghazals. "Ghazal singing is that beautiful confluence of good poetry, good singing and good music. I wrote poems and articles sporadically in high school, and in college, for newsletters and community magazines. But, I can relate to Picasso's quote 'Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.' So for many years, the desire to write lay dormant, as the proverbial life happened," he says. Vaidya, who is participating in the challenge for the fourth time, believes its significance is manifold. "It provides this huge nudge to write. And if you tap into the NaPoWriMo blog community, you can also find other individuals around the globe, who are writing. And in many cases, they are struggling to write, like you, at this maddening pace." he says.
But, talking anything rational with them is more
Like 'burning daylight,' or 'whistling up the wind.'
I mean it takes a special someone with,
'Too many cobwebs in the attic,' to believe someone who is
'Slicker than a slop jar or a boiled onion.'
I mean, come on y'all, howdayya believe someone who,
'Knows more ways to take your money than a roomful of lawyers.'
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Are you someone that likes living life on the edge, from salary to salary, buying something as and when you set eyes on it, without worrying about your savings, and a "dekha jayega" attitude? That may seem cool -- but it's also a short cut to financial disaster. Walnut App CEO and Co-Founder Patanjali Somayaji lists five ways to ensure you don't go broke. Ever.
Download a money management app to track your expenses
If you have never been the type to track your expenses, now is a good time to start. You can download an app that tracks your spends and set a budget, keep a watch on your upcoming credit card and utility bill payments, as well as see how much you owe or have to get from others. This is the first step to getting your finances streamlined.
Make a plan and set goals for yourself
Set short-term (a few months ahead) and long-term (a year and beyond) goals. It could be anything from taking up a new hobby like learning the guitar, to buying a new phone/laptop/camera, getting married, buying a new house or being debt-free by a certain date, and so on. Based on the plan, break it down into quarterly and monthly goals so you know how much to save, how much is safe to spend and so on. Having a plan will give you an overview and much better control of your finances.
Set up an emergency fund
Once you're tracking your spends and have set goals, you know how much money you need to allocate to each of them. You would also get an estimate of your spending pattern and expenses for each month. Based on this, have an emergency fund in place that will take care of at least 6-8 months' worth of living expenses so that in case of a mishap or a loss of job, you don't go broke, and have something to fall back on. You can set it up so that a certain percentage of your salary/income each month is automatically transferred to this fund. It could be in a different bank account, a fixed deposit, or even a liquid fund -- and most importantly, it should be accessible easily and quickly when needed urgently.
Set limits for your spend categories
Take a look at your spends in greater detail to understand where the money goes each month. Assign limits to each of these categories for the month and see how you're doing at the end of the month. This will give you an idea of your lifestyle and if you're spending more than you earn, as well as where you can cut down on unnecessary spends.
Stay debt-free
Credit cards can be extremely useful -- for regular spends as well as during emergencies, and over time, with a good payment history, can boost your credit score too. However, if you're the type of person who cannot pay off credit card bills in full each month or who just pays the minimum amount due, stick to using your debit card or cash, or even a Line of Credit, which has a lower interest rate. Revolving credit on a credit card can be dangerous for your finances, and it can take you several years to repay the entire outstanding amount.
There will always be changes in situations, your current needs and requirements as well as your cash flow, so every 3-6 months, you should re-look at your plan and goals, and modify as needed to stay on top of your finances.
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Voting day is here, but not all of us remember how exactly to go about it. Don't worry, mid-day's refresher has it all covered. Among the most important things to remember is to not forget to carry any one of the 11 accepted identity proof documents (see: Valid proof of identity) and to not use your mobile phone in and around the polling booth. Voting begins at 7 am sharp and will last until 6 pm.
While some of us may have got the voting slips, those who haven't got theirs need not panic. All you need to do is go up to one of the helpdesks set up at street corners and look for your name. If your name is on the list, the corresponding voting booth number and other details will be mentioned there. You can also look for your name online before leaving the house on https://electoralsearch.in. If your name is not on this list, you cannot vote. No argument. Do remember to register yourself on https://www.nvsp.in before the assembly elections.
Police officers being briefed about bandobast duty a day before voting day in the city. Pic/Sameer Marakande
Mobile phones cannot be used within 100 metres of the polling booth, but for the working population of the city, who either votes on its way to or from work, you may carry your phone with you but must remember to either switch it off or keep it on silent mode. Cars and bikes, too, will have to be parked 100 metres away from polling booths. Only designated vehicles carrying people with disabilities will be allowed close to polling booths.
Please remember that the voter slip is not proof of identity. You have to also carry any one of the 11 identity cards. If you have none of them, once again, you cannot vote.
Please do not argue with the election duty staff, they have no role to play in this.
Shivaji Jondhale, Mumbai City Collector, said, "If there is no name on the electoral list, then people cannot vote. It is very important to be a registered voter. Further, if there is no voting slip but your name is on the electoral list of the Election Commission and you have a valid ID card, then by checking with the help desk you can find out the polling station and can exercise your right to vote."
The confusion about the long press while registering your vote on the electronic voting machine was cleared by Collector officials. They said your vote is considered registered once the long beep is heard. Do keep your finger pressed on the button until you hear it or your vote will not be registered.
Live Blog: Elections 2019 Phase 4 Live Updates: Anil Ambani, Rekha cast their vote
The Election Commission has taken various measures to ensure citizens come out and vote. The total number of voters in the city, is 96.39 lakh. The EC and Collector offices of the city are aiming at a voting percentage of at least 61% this time from 41% in 2009 and 51% in 2014.
Citizens, too, have come forward to help increase voter turnout. An ALM from Juhu has organised a pick-up for senior citizens to the polling booths. The EC, too, has organised help for people with disabilities. Further, in order to ensure proper transport system during the voting process, the Collector offices have organised 2,985 vehicles in Mumbai suburban district and 1,769 vehicles in Mumbai Island City.
There is a staff of 15,000 working in the island city and over 60,000 in the suburbs on election duty. There are 2,601 polling stations in the island city which has two constituencies, and 7,472 polling stations in the suburbs that have four constituencies, said officials.
Also read: Elections 2019: Mumbai Police to deploy 40,000 cops on election duty; issue guidelines
This year, the EC and government officials have been explaining the electoral process to young students in the hope that it reaches their parents at home. One of the initiatives is the 'selfie' movement, where students have been urged to take their parents to polling booths and put up selfies on social media with their parents after voting.
96.39l
No. of voters in Mumbai
61
Voting percentage that the Election Commission is expecting in Mumbai
Also read: Elections 2019: 422 polling stations in Mumbai declared 'critical'
Also read: Elections 2019: Popular politicians and key battles in Mumbai
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The city's battle against the COVID-19 has finally started to show some positive results with the doubling rate of positive cases increasing from 8.3 days to 10 days. According to findings of the Central Committee, the doubling rate of cases was recorded between April 7 and April 17, which indicates that cases might now increase at lesser speed. While the doubling rate period at the national level is 9.5 days, the same in Maharashtra was 8.9 days.
Noting this, the Central Committee has lauded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC's) preventive measures, said a senior civic official.
Mortality rate decreases
In its findings, the Committee has analysed the number of infected patients and observed that the mortality rate among them in the BMC area was lower compared to that of the state. At the state level, an average of 4.3 patients are dying per 100 infected patients and in the BMC area, an average of 3.9 patients are dying every 100 infected patients. A civic official said that few days ago the average mortality rate of infected cases in the BMC area was 6.3 per cent, which too had reduced.
However, BMC now faces the challenge to cater to areas where earlier the rate of doubling of cases was low but has increased in the last couple of days. Wards like G South, G North and E, which have been reporting a high number of cases, are seeing an increase in the doubling rate period.
Earlier, on an average the cases used to double every 10.6 days in G south but now it has gone up to 17.6 days. But R central ward has seen a reverse trend. Its doubling rate period has gone down to 5.5 days from 16.9 days.
Contact tracing
The first COVID-19 positive case was detected on March 11, and since then the civic body has been tracing contacts of positive patients. Till April 26, as many as 1,29,477 were found through contact tracing, of which 21,053 were high-risk group contacts and 1,647 cases were positive.
The BMC, however, claimed that they were being able to control the number of cases due to the containment zones as people cannot move from one area to another and spread the infection. An analysis of the statistics of medical tests conducted across the country reveals that comparatively most number of the tests had taken place in the BMC jurisdiction. As many as 66,000 tests have been conducted in the city so far, an official said.
Containment efforts
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior civic official said, "The doubling rate period of 10 days is better than the national average of 9.5 and the mortality rate of 3.9 is better than the state as well as national figures. This has been done through containment efforts and aggressive contact tracing and quarantining."
He added, "Today, the battle against Coronavirus is being fought with the active cooperation of the municipal corporation, police, various government departments, private hospitals and many others. We once again appeal to the citizens of Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation to follow the guidelines."
21,053
No. of high-risk group contacts found till April 26
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All celebrity deaths aren't the same. Some are more equal than others. A chosen few are fine career moves; many more, simply indelible stamps to seal fading public memories. Even while so much of journalism involves telling readers that dear Ramesh is dead, when nobody knew dear Ramesh was alive.
Who's a celebrity, anyway? A neighbour we never had, in the form of an acquaintance we all do. We know them through their work (in varied fields), and therefore their passing on offers us a moment to collectively acknowledge/grieve the idea of death itself: "Oho he died is it? Sad." In the same way that we casually respond to vague, distant relatives passing away.
Ideally, I'd continue to believe the person is alive. It's not like I would've met them often, if at all, in any case. And they live on through our knowledge of their contributions. But that's an entry-level celebrity.
The expert level consists of what's called stardom, that mainly emanates from popular culture, involving entertainers and artistes, whose works and general personae draw us closer and closer, almost akin to owning them in a way that we do immediate family. Or more so school/college friends, since stars that appear closest are ones saved as childhood memories first.
There's also that sexual rite of passage that we attribute, in particular, to hot movie/rock-stars of our teens — a phenomenon that acceptably continues well into old age. No wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend ever felt jealous about their significant other, openly, obsessively lusting/thirsting for a famous actor/musician in general chit-chat. It's passed off as 'celebrity pass' (try going like that about your neighbour!). Maybe it's a necessary valve for sexual expression in a society that can be deeply prudish on such matters otherwise.
Where do these stars come to us from? Mainly, the screen. The fame which has been the monopoly of films and television (including live sports) — at least since the '70s and '80s, and up until user-generated social-media, spawning self-styled and home-made influencers.
Can't speak for the latter, but a deeply-felt obituary, more so mass-hysteria surrounding deaths of these stars from another sky, would please the recipients no end. It's the ultimate validation that artistes seek from the same humans who, through their art, they often pretend to hate!
And it is this final prize that masses feel naturally compelled to collectively award to an individual they feel deserves it, after all — not for something they did yesterday, day-before or even recently. They could be 'has-beens'. Which is, equally, to suggest that they 'have been'. The community outpouring is to acknowledge just that, for others to aspire for it as well.
The tragedy with such warm tributes is that they are delivered posthumously, having altogether lost value for the actual/ideal addressee. Sportspeople probably get the worst end of this stick. They peak before most careers formally begin. And from that point onwards, it's professional-fame only going downhill towards complete ignominy, until their death resurrects them into public imagination, while they aren't around to experience any of this lovely, concluding chapter of their own life!
This mass appreciation, of course, takes on a whole new meaning in the context of mainstream stars of Indian cinema. They're not just actors, who by my definition are professionals paid to exhibit temporary conditions of 'controlled insanity' — behaving like strange people, in stranger circumstances — and repeatedly returning to who they are.
But in doing so as lead actors, they become the all-purpose face of everything that we have loved about a film — its script/story and songs, choreography and musical compositions, genre and direction, cinematography, production design and editing… Not just the whole point, but the entire space a picture occupies in our collective nostalgia.
Every other artiste — musician, writer, painter — pretty much gains credit only for their own work. That's not true for a desi mainstream actor, on whose rockstar face has traditionally rested the full weight of India's popular culture. It's a huge burden to carry. Which explains the release that follows.
The image sometimes even dictates their whole life, while some spend a fair portion protecting it. No wonder, say a Suchitra Sen never stepped out of home at old age. Raj Kapoor, having learnt of his massive appeal in China only much later, chose never to visit, assuming he might disappoint fans who remembered him as the young man from Awaara or Shri 420.
Likewise, actor Amrish Puri, 72, told no one (in the public domain) that he was suffering from a rare form of blood cancer. I know this because he told me he was fine, killing off rumours to the contrary. His sudden death messed with nobody's memory of Mogambo.
The unparalleled public grief surrounding deaths of the new-age Irrfan, 53, and the old-world Rishi Kapoor, 67, in quick succession, while they had been ailing for a couple of years, has little do with any of what I've mentioned above.
It's do with a kite cut off, mid-flight — a great film stopped short of its crucial climax. Rishi Kapoor 2.0, as both actor and media presence, seemed dramatically more relevant than Rishi Kapoor 1.0. Irrfan was at the cusp of Hollywood royalty! Hurts more — especially once you imagine either as virtual family.
Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture. He tweets @mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper
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With more than 9,000 COVID-19 positive cases registered in the city, starting May 5 the Mumbai police imposed Section 144 from 8 pm to 7 am. By this order, people won't be allowed to venture out of their homes between the decided timeframe except for medical emergencies and other essential services. However, the lockdown guidelines will remain the same for the rest of the day, as residents will be able to come out for purchasing essentials.
Even though the lockdown has been extended till May 17, the number of containment zones in the city continues to be on the rise. Cops have been noticing violations in terms of people coming out for non-essential work and crowding at various places. In a bid to curb this, the city police have imposed the prohibitory order and those violating it will be punished under the Indian Penal Code.
Crowd seen outside a liquor shop in Mumbai. Pic: Syed Sameer Abedi
The order states, "All movement of one or more persons for non-essential activities, except for medical reasons, is prohibited from 8 pm to 7 am. Speaking to mid-day, Pranaya Ashok, DCP (PRO and Operation), said, "The implementation of this new order is crucial in terms of Mumbai's well being. The motto is to reduce crowding on road for as much as 11 hours. Hope Mumbaikars follow this for their own benefit."
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The nationwide lockdown imposed by the government due to the coronavirus outbreak has improved the air quality of some cities in the country. Days after a picture of the Dhauladhar Range in Himachal Pradesh being visible from Jalandhar in Punjab created a buzz, another similar picture has been doing rounds on the internet recently.
Residents of Singhwahini village in Sitamarhi district woke up to a stunning view of the Himalayan Range from their houses. The picture that went viral was posted by Twitter user Ritu Jaiswal, the Mukhya of Singhwahini Gram Panchayat who claimed that the picture was of Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world in Nepal, which was visible from the village.
In the caption, Jaiswal said that she saw Mount Everest from the rooftop of her home in the village for the first time, even though the other ranges in Nepal are usually visible in clear weather.
She tweeted in Hindi, saying that Mount Everest is visible from the roofs of the houses in Singhwahini village in Sitamarhi district, adding that nature was balancing itself, and she attributed the improvement in air quality due to the lockdown.
Ritu Jaiswal's post
हम सà¥Âतामढ़à¥Â à¤Âिलà¥Â à¤Âà¥Â à¤Â पनà¥Â à¤Âाà¤Âव #सिà¤Âहवाहिनà¥Â मà¥Âà¤Â à¤Â पनà¥Â à¤Âत सà¥Â #MtEverest दà¥Âà¤Â सà¤Âतà¥Â हà¥Âà¤Â à¤Âà¤Â। पà¥Âरà¤Âà¥Âति à¤Âà¥Âद à¤Âà¥Â सà¤Âतà¥Âलित à¤Âर रहà¥Â हà¥Â। नà¥Âपाल à¤Âà¥Â नà¤Â़दà¥Âà¤Â वालà¥Â पहाड़ तà¥Â बारिश à¤Âà¥Â बाद साफ मà¥Âसम मà¥Âà¤Â à¤Âà¤à¥Â à¤Âà¤à¥Â दिà¤Â à¤Âातà¥Â थà¥Â। à¤Â सल हिमालय à¤Âà¥Â दरà¥Âशन à¤Â पनà¥Â à¤Âाà¤Âव सà¥Â à¤Âà¤Â पहलà¥Â बार हà¥Âà¤Â।#NatureisBalancing@KashishBihar pic.twitter.com/Ss3UHAzxWN
— Ritu Jaiswal (@activistritu) May 4, 2020
When Jaiswal was questioned by a user about how she could be certain that the peak seen in the picture was of Mount Everest, she said that her husband could see the peak from the village when he was a child back in the 1980’s. She went on to explain that highest snowy peak of the Himalayas can only be seen and Everest is in the north east of our village and this pic is of the north east (sic)," she said in the comment.
Becasue definitely when we can see snowy peak of the Himalayas, the highest ones can only be scene and everest is in the north east of our village and this pic is of north east. And my husband in their childhood used to see everest in 80s. So we are sure that its the same.
— Ritu Jaiswal (@activistritu) May 5, 2020
The post, shared on May 4, garnered more than 4,500 likes and was retweeted 947 times. The picture was also shared by forest officer Parveen Kaswan who wrote that Mount Everest was seen from Bihar after decades.
When people of Singhwahini village, Bihar saw Everest from their own houses. They say this happened after decades. Courtesy @activistritu. pic.twitter.com/X0SQtZe22T
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) May 5, 2020
Here’s how the Twitterati reacted on the picture:
I am just waiting for the day when I will be able to see Himalayas from MumbaiðÂÂÂ
— Hemant Jainð®ð³ (@hemant6479) May 5, 2020
If we really belonged to the planet and the way we lived was natural to this planet then our locking ourselves up shld have upset the balance not repaired it. However superficial or temporary the effect.
— Anku Pande Chibb (@ankupande) May 5, 2020
Guess they must have experienced change in temperature also .âºï¸Â
— Thakur ji (@Thethakurji) May 5, 2020
Wow... !
— Sravani (@sravani950570) May 5, 2020
What a view sir.. ðÂÂÂðÂÂÂ
What do you think about the picture?
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Every girl dreams of her very own moment in the spotlight, where all eyes stay on her. With the party season around the corner the pressure to look nothing but the best, is real but this season worry no more. Lakmé beauty expert Donald Simrock and TIGI Educator Audrey D'Souza share some of the simplest yet best kept party beauty secrets that will make sure, this December you are the life of the party.
1. Let your eyes do the talking:
Preparation: Start by moisturizing and nourishing your skin
Eye: Dab a subtle shade of eyeshadow from the Illuminate Royal Persia palette, and then use the Kohl to smudge the corner of the eye to give a smokey effect.
Pout that lip: Use a nice nude matte on the lip
Hair: Cleanse your hair with a volumizing shampoo and conditioner for that extra dose of moisture and protein to the hair. Add a dollop of smoothening serum for that silky-smooth finish on semi dry hair. Using a curler, take even horizontal sections of hair and wrap these sections around the tong. Once the hair is hot, remove the curler and leave it for a bit to cool. Continue this process over until you have completed the entire head then the curls lightly to get those perfect soft curls. Finish off by adding a hairspray to keep them in place.
2. The girl next door look:
Preparation: Moisturize your skin.
Eye: A winged eye is always in style.
Get Cheeky: A hint of colour from a blush never goes wrong.
Pout that lip: Use the same lip and cheek tint for this as well.
Hair: Shampoo and condition your hair with a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, and towel dry. Use a brush to smooth strands. Gather your hair right below the crown of your head, smoothing the front and sides as you brush your hair back. Apply smoothening serum to reduce frizz and add texture. Still holding your hair with your right hand, apply a quarter-size amount of hair gel onto your fingertips, and then spread it all over your hair, starting a half of an inch back from your hairline to give it that wanted sheen. Spritz on some hairspray, which will provide an extra hold. Secure your ponytail with a bungee. After your ponytail is secure, take a section of hair from underneath it and wrap it around the bungee with bobby pins, for a chic, pulled-together look.
5. Play it simple:
Preparation: Give your skin an effortless glow by finding yourself the perfect shade.
Eye: Try the shimmer bronze from the shine line collection and get the metallic effect on the lids, don't forget the flutter secrets mascara to up the glam quotient.
Pout that lip: Try a gorgeous bold shade.
Hair: Spray some volumizing hair mousse on damp hair from root to end. This will help pump up the volume. Blast dry using a wide paddle brush. Curl your hair with a curling iron, working one-inch section. Make sure you leave about one or two inches of the ends untouched for a more natural feel. Tie your hair into buns and let them stay so for about 30 mins. Open them up and spot spray with hair spray to keep those waves in place