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Learn About Social Media Algorithms, Augmented Reality and More Changing Business Trends

The tools, platforms and methods you use to grow your business are constantly changing. So you need to keep up with all the latest updates and trends. Members of the online small business community have some great insights about these changing tools and trends, ranging from social media algorithms to augmented reality. Read on for some helpful tips.

complete article




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5 Reasons Social Responsibility Is a Step in the Right Direction for Small Business

The business terrain is one that changes much faster than most -- basically because the way business is done evolves based on cultural changes, changes in technology and even generational changes. It is safe to say that at all times, at least one of these things is changing.

We are in the era of giving back and social impact. Businesses should face this, and stop using the fact that they are not yet big businesses as an excuse for boycotting charitable involvements or social responsibility. Businesses that do this are missing out on the great benefits hidden on the other side of socially responsible companies.

complete article




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15 Examples of Augmented Reality to Inspire Small Business Owners

Incorporating augmented reality (AR), whereby an interactive experience of a real-world environment is created by computer-generated perceptual information, into business operations, marketing and functions, is not confined to big businesses with big budgets to play around with.

On the contrary, many small businesses are jumping on the burgeoning AR bandwagon, as a means of attracting new customers, retaining existing ones, and ultimately becoming more competitive and profitable.

complete article




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How Accessibility Can Make (or Break) Your Small-Business Website

Web accessibility may not be the first thing you think of when designing a website for your small business, but in the long run, few things could prove more important. Just like how a brick-and-mortar store must comply with ADA guidelines to ensure that all individuals can access their facilities regardless of whether they have a disability, business owners, as well as web design and digital agencies, must also ensure that those with disabilities have equal access to web content. Failure to make web accessibility a priority when designing your website could have significant long-term consequences.

complete article




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How Mobility Is Helping Three Small Businesses Stay In Business

When it comes to turning business challenges into opportunities, small business owners are quick, nimble, and creative. With state governments around the country shuttering all non-essential businesses to combat COVID-19 still in full swing, this is truer than ever.

But, unlike years past, where such an unprecedented closure would have put many small businesses out of business permanently, today they’re turning to mobility and connectivity in large numbers to keep their doors open—if only virtually.




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Immutability and Safety

Work in clojure for any length of time, and you must get used to the idea that data structures are immutable. For programmers coming from imperative languages this can be jarring, (no loop counters? recursion? wtf?) but after a while, you start to get it, then you start to like it, then you start to rely on it - or at least I have.

To such an extent that it's jarring not to have them. After a recent javascript coding session, I tweeted: "clojure's immutability has forever spoiled me - destructive operations in other langs feel like bugs now."

This prompted Joshua Kerevsky to ask me via email to elaborate, as he has been talking about safety in programming lately. This is a revision of my answer...

Clojure1 is safer (in this sense) because there are never any side-effects when working with data. Languages with side-effects on data (i.e. pretty much every other language I've used) require the programmer to keep a mental model of application state and/or adopt defensive programming styles to avoid bugs caused by them.

The idea is illustrated by these two examples (I used chrome console and the leiningen repl to run them):

javascript:

clojure:

Javascript arrays are mostly (but not always) manipulated via destructive operations such as sort(), while in clojure, the js array's closest analogue (a vector) is never changed by functions that consume it. It's this "mostly" vs "never" distinction that gives rise to a paranoid feeling that I might be breaking things if I forget something in javascript. I also need to learn more "tricks" to get things to work as I expect. To get the javascript version to behave like the clojure one, we must explicitly copy the array e.g. like this:

(bonus: try leaving the var off in front of the concat expression and see how "safe" this version is)

One could argue that it is simply bad form to write javascript and expect it to behave like clojure, but entire books have been written to explain to programmers how to avoid side-effect pitfalls in javascript - and the language is almost unusable without them.

In clojure, there's much less need2 for this kind of "meta language documentation" - and none for protecting data. It's guaranteed not to change. In the example above, the most likely thing to trip up a programmer new to clojure is the need for doall (leave it out and nothing prints since map is lazy - in the repl you'll need to assign the output to see the difference - e.g. (def foo (listFruits fruits)). This is still a bug, but it's one limited to the function in question, not the entire code base.

So my conclusion is that clojure is safer because it has fewer (and much less dangerous) gotchas, the impact of mistakes is limited to the scope of the offending line of code (which will likely be a function or even a let block) and you never3 have to keep a mental model of how state is changing as the instruction pointer advances. It's all right there in front of you.

We all make mistakes, but in clojure, mistakes are limited to the context of the function and never due to implicitly mucking about with application state. This adds confidence when making changes, that is simply not there in languages that cannot make such guarantees.


[1]Clojure is not the only language that features immutability of course - it just happens to be one I use a lot, and like programming in; nor is js alone in having side-effects; i.e. this isn't about championing clojure (or bashing js) it's about immutability, so feel free to substitute your [least] favorite languages as you see fit.

[2] So far at least. Clojure is still young yet, but I don't expect it'll gain this kind of cruft, if for no other reason than because it won't share javascript's experience of being in the front-line of the browser wars.

[3] Wanton use of clojure constructs such as ref, atoms & agents can of course lead to such an environment; however even so, clojure provides well-defined protocols for managing change. If the programmer still creates a state-management hell, that's on the coder - as are most problems in coding; no language can enforce safety, only make it easier or harder.




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Little, Big

Web Goblin here.

Two years and five blog posts ago, we were introduced to the 25th Anniversary edition of Little, Big or, The Fairies' Parliament, by John Crowley, with art by Peter Milton.

At the time, there were 300 numbered editions, all of which had been pre-sold some dozen years earlier. Deep Vellum has since managed to produce another 65 copies of which around 40 are available for purchase.

Additionally, around 200 copies of the trade hardcover are still available. This is the "green edition" featuring a dust jacket containing an essay by Mr. G.

Deep Vellum is offering a 10% discount code, "littlebig40", which can be used for the trade edition, numbered edition, and/or for a poster between now and the equinox, September 21.

More details here.




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Bad Breath (Halitosis)

Title: Bad Breath (Halitosis)
Category: Diseases and Conditions
Created: 12/31/1997 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/27/2022 12:00:00 AM




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UAV (Drone) Navigation System Market Forecast to 2030: Growth Driven by Military, Commercial, and Technological Advancements

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 31, 2024 ) The UAV-Drone-Navigation System Market is expected to grow from USD 960 million in 2024 to USD 1,520 million by 2029, representing a CAGR of 11.2%. The increase in demand for UAVs across sectors, including commercial applications, military operations, and public...




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Europe Wireless Headphones Market Expands as Demand for High-Quality Audio and Mobility Grows, as per Maximize Market Research.

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 01, 2024 ) The Europe Wireless Headphones market is experiencing substantial growth, driven by rising consumer preference for high-quality audio and seamless mobility. With advancements in noise-canceling technology, battery life, and Bluetooth connectivity, wireless headphones...




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Facility Management Market worth $94.8 billion by 2028

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 01, 2024 ) The facility management market is estimated at USD 49.6 billion in 2023 to USD 94.8 billion by 2028, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.8%. Organizations across various industries are increasingly adopting facility management solutions as they play pivotal...




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Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market Expands as Need for Effective Infection Control Rises, as per Maximize Market Research

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 03, 2024 ) The Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market is experiencing growth due to rising concerns over antibiotic resistance and infection control. AST systems help healthcare providers determine the most effective treatments for infections, improving patient outcomes....




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Military Platforms Market Size, Share, Trends and Growth Analysis 2030

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 08, 2024 ) The Military Platforms Market will grow tremendously from 2020 through 2030, based on the increase in defense spending, escalations in geopolitical tensions, and needs for advanced border security and early warning systems The military platforms market is projected...




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Industrial Utility Communication Market worth $4.2 billion by 2028

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 11, 2024 ) The report "Industrial Utility Communication Market by Technology (Wired, Wireless), Component (Hardware, Software, Services), End-use Industry( Power Generation, , AC Transmission, Oil & Gas, Transportation), and Region - Global Forecast to 2028" The global Industrial...




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Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market worth $5.68 Billion by 2029

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 13, 2024 ) The global Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market is projected to reach USD 5.68 billion by 2029 from USD 4.45 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 5.0% % during the forecast period. Major driving factors for antimicrobial susceptibility market growth come...




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***** Home - Building Maintenance and Facility Services (rank 20)

We care for facilities from the parking lot to the rooftop, with enhancements like cleaning, 24/7 security, aviation services, data centre maintenance, and technical services—all aligned to meet the unique needs of your organisation. ... ABM Aviation UK Limited (Company number 04900961) and ABM Group UK Ltd (Company number 02078208 ...




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Beate Raudies: Die schwarz-grüne Sparpolitik ist zum Scheitern verurteilt




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Landesbeauftragter für politische Bildung, Aktion Kinder- und Jugendschutz SH und Offene Kirche Sankt Nikolai holen Anne-Frank-Ausstellung 2025 nach Kiel und erinnern mahnend an Novemberpogrome




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Landesbeauftragter für politische Bildung: Alle Stolpersteine in Schleswig-Holstein jetzt in der App "Stolpersteine Digital" verfügbar




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Christopher Vogt: Landesregierung muss dringend wirtschaftspolitische Impulse setzen




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Musically Political

(Note: the following is political, so if that’s agitating, concerning or upsetting, please don’t read it. This is not an endorsement of any candidate. It is not a solicitation for membership in the UAW or other trade union. No matter your position, on November 5, 2024, vote.)

 

The Chicks performed at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week; they sang the National Anthem.

As you may recall, they used to be known as the “Dixie Chicks.” But they dropped the adjective in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, recognizing that the term had associations with the Confederacy and connotations of racism.

One can imagine that they lost some sales as a result of that.

But one knows that in 2003 the group lost sales and fan support when lead singer Natalie Maines said during a concert in London, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” She was referring to George W. Bush. She said that in relation to the impending war in Iraq. Nine days after she made the statement, the invasion occurred.

Read more at Glorious Noise...




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Political Mood 2024: None More Black

POLJUNK, the National Affairs desk of Glorious Noise

Here we are again. In the year of someone’s Lord 2024, we are back in time. We had a slight reprieve with four years of competent governing that resulted in record economic growth, withdrawal from historically disastrous military entanglements in the mideast (brought to you by the formerly worst president in US history), and at least some sense of normalcy, but I guess we are going back. This was after what many thought was an aberrant Trump presidency–surely that was a blip in the American experience, right? As it turns out, the aberrant is the accepted. It’s America’s true face, one we occasionally veil but never actually change.

I could list all the reasons Donald Trump is a terrible person and worse “leader,” but we all know them. And that’s the point: This isn’t some unknown or misunderstood element. This is Donald Trump. We know him and unfortunately, he knows us. Better than many of us know ourselves.

Trump isn’t some genius, he’s just a guy who is willing to do what others won’t because most of us live between imaginary lines of decency.

Read more at Glorious Noise...




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Glary Utilities Free 6.18.0.22 (Freeware)

Glary Utilities Free is an all-in-one package that includes a variety of system tools to help you clean your PC from junk files, remove Internet traces, find invalid registry entries, manage startup ....




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The Groovy Little Numbers, "A Place So Hard to Find"

Always a sucker for late-80s pogo-stick guitar pop from Scotland, I cannot resist the Groovy Little Numbers, yet another late-80s pogo-stick guitar-pop outfit from Scotland.

They're noteworthy—or at least more of a curiosity than others—and differentiated from contemporaries in a few ways, however. Lead vocals were often shared by Catherine Steven and Joe McAlinden, who started the band and seem to be considered the only core members, and this boy-girl tag-team adds a twist the Pooh Sticks, Close Lobsters, the Soup Dragons, the Hepburns, and most the rest in the scene didn't have.

Additionally, while trumpets were certainly a feature of the post-Postcard Scotish sound, the way these guys laid it in was gentler, sweeter. Generally, they were gentler, sweeter, more reserved Burt Bacharach than twitchy Violent Femmes.

As you might expect, this two-singles group was a sort of power-pop incubator for at least a couple of those involved: McAlinden started Superstar and was in BMX Bandits; Gerard Love got in with Teenage Fanclub at the onset.




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Gonzo PostScript Utilities Guide




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Some Little Known Gila Valley Dayhikes




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The Holy Spirit Pt10: The Fruit Of The Spirit - God's Personality

In this introduction to a sub-series in our wider study on 'The Holy Spirit', we consider: what exactly is the Fruit of the Spirit? Whose life is it anyway? Here in 'The Fruit Of The Spirit - God's Personality' we find the answer to why the Christian life is impossible to live in the flesh. This sermon is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format and in HD video on our YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/PreachTheWord)...



  • Religion & Spirituality

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Helping Others To Freedom Pt9: Practicalities And Mysteries Of Healing And Deliverance

In Session 9 of 'Helping Others To Freedom', David addresses many practical questions that often arise around healing and deliverance, also considering some of the mysterious matters that can confuse people. This episode on 'Practicalities And Mysteries Of Healing And Deliverance' should be extremely useful for anyone engaging in prayer ministry. This session is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format and in HD video on our YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/PreachTheWord)...



  • Religion & Spirituality

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Practicalities Of Prayer

All of us are learners when it comes to prayer and praying better. So whilst we must beware of gimmicks and quick-fix formulae, we also must recognise some helpful disciplines of prayer - ingredients that can help us 'arrange' our prayers better. Here in 'Practicalities Of Prayer', David shares some valuable and practical pointers to refresh our prayer lives. This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format and in HD video on our YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/PreachTheWord)...



  • Religion & Spirituality

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High Court rules Work Capability Assessment arguably unlawful

This is a press release from earlier this year about the judicial review that is due to be heard at the Royal Courts Of Justice on the 15th, 16th and 18th of January 2013. Lets pray it goes in our favour as it will open the floodgates for legal action over the WCA if it does. 

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The High Court has today granted permission to two disabled people to bring a claim for
judicial review against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to challenge the
operation of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
WCAs are face to face interviews carried out by healthcare professionals (HCPs)
employed by Atos Healthcare (a private contractor), to assess disabled people’s
entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (a sickness benefit that has replaced
the old Incapacity Benefit). Each existing recipient of Incapacity Benefit is now being
assessed for eligibility for ESA, at the rate of some 11,000 people per week. WCAs have
been the subject of serious criticism by all relevant stakeholders in civil society including
doctors and NGOs working on behalf of disabled people.
The present case concerns some of the problems with the system as experienced by
people with mental health problems. Although medically trained, Atos HCPs typically
have very limited knowledge of mental health. The interviews are often hurried, and rely
on applicants to explain the limitations on their ability to work.
This is a serious problem for people with mental health conditions who lack insight into
their conditions, whose conditions fluctuate in seriousness, or who cannot easily talk
about their disability. Such people are placed at a substantial disadvantage in navigating
the system. Even if they appreciate the need to get expert medical evidence for
themselves, they are often less able to navigate the system successfully and to obtain
the medical report that they need. The Equality Act 2010 requires the DWP to make
reasonable adjustments to avoid such disadvantage.
The reasonable adjustment to the process that the claimants seek is for medical
evidence to be sought by the Atos HCP and the DWP at the very outset of the claim.
This would ensure that very sick people for whom having to go through a WCA would be
extremely distressing are exempted from the process, and for those that do attend a
WCA, the assessment of fitness to work takes place in the correct medical context, so
that dangers associated with forcing people back to work are correctly identified.
At present, the DWP do not routinely ask for expert medical report from an applicant’s
community-based doctor. The judge has held that it is arguable that this failure is a
breach of the duty to make reasonable adjustments, and is therefore unlawful.
In granting permission to apply for judicial review, the judge stated:
“I consider that it is reasonably arguable that the reasonable adjustments
required by the [Equality Act 2010] include the early obtaining of independent
medical evidence where the documents submitted with the claim show that the
claimant suffers from mental health problems and that this has not been done, or
at least not done on a sufficiently widespread basis”.
The claimants, known as MM and DM, were granted anonymity by the court. Their
solicitor, Ravi Low-Beer of the Public Law Project said:
“The present system results in many thousands of unnecessary appeals at great
public expense, with a high success rate. What is not counted is the cost in
human misery for those people who should never have had to go through the
appeals process in the first place. This could be avoided if doctors were involved
in the assessments at the outset. The Government’s policy of by-passing doctors
is inefficient, unfair, and inhumane. We gain heart from the court’s finding that as
a matter of law, it is arguable that something has to change.”
For further information contact Ravi Low-Beer on
r.lowbeer@publiclawproject.org.uk/0845 543 5944
or Adrian Lukes on
a.lukes@publiclawproject.org.uk/0845 543 5946.
Public Law Project (PLP)
PLP is an independent, national legal charity which aims to improve access to justice for
those whose access is restricted by poverty, discrimination or other similar barriers. To
fulfil its objectives PLP undertakes research, policy initiatives, casework and training
across the range of public law remedies.
For more information on our work, events and publications: www.publiclawproject.org.uk




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Des militaires français soupçonnés de viols sur des enfants en Centrafrique

Un document confidentiel de l'ONU, qui fait état de viols sur mineurs par des soldats français, a été transmis par un employé des Nations unies aux autorités françaises. Une enquête préliminaire a été ouverte ainsi qu'une "enquête de commandement" au...




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Les �changes culturels entre les deux rives du d�troit se poursuivent malgr� les obstacles politiques

Une porte-parole de la partie continentale de la Chine a condamn� mercredi les politiciens du Parti d�mocrate progressiste (PDP) dans la r�gion de Taiwan, qui tentent de faire obstacle aux �changes normaux entre les deux rives du d�troit de Taiwan...




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La Chine adopte des politiques fiscales pour soutenir le march� de l'immobilier

La Chine a promulgu� mercredi des politiques fiscales pour soutenir le d�veloppement stable et sain du march� de l'immobilier. Le minist�re des Finances a d�clar� que le pays augmenterait les incitations en termes de taxe sur les actes pour...




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Hostname/IP Address Resolution Utility Released

A new utility that resolves an IP address from a given hostname (and vice versa) has just been released.




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Excel Spreadsheet Unlocking Utility Released

Sometimes Excel spreadsheets contain locked sheets that cannot be updated without entering a password. This free online utility removes the password protection from any Excel spreadsheet.




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Three impossibilities with partitioned indexes

articles: 

There are three restrictions on indexing and partitioning: a unique index cannot be local non-prefixed; a global non-prefixed index is not possible; a bitmap index cannot be global. Why these limitations? I suspect that they are there to prevent us from doing something idiotic.

This is the table used for all examples that follow:

CREATE TABLE EMP
      (EMPNO NUMBER(4) CONSTRAINT PK_EMP PRIMARY KEY,
       ENAME VARCHAR2(10),
       JOB VARCHAR2(9),
       MGR NUMBER(4),
       HIREDATE DATE,
       SAL NUMBER(7,2),
       COMM NUMBER(7,2),
       DEPTNO NUMBER(2) )
PARTITION BY HASH (EMPNO) PARTITIONS 4;

the usual EMP table, with a partitioning clause appended. It is of course a contrived example. Perhaps I am recruiting so many employees concurrently that a non-partitioned table has problems with buffer contention that can be solved only with hash partitioning.

Why can't I have a local non-prefixed unique index?
A local non-unique index is no problem, but unique is not possible:

orclz> create index enamei on emp(ename) local;

Index created.

orclz> drop index enamei;

Index dropped.

orclz> create unique index enamei on emp(ename) local;
create unique index enamei on emp(ename) local
                              *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-14039: partitioning columns must form a subset of key columns of a UNIQUE index

You cannot get a around the problem by separating the index from the constraint (which is always good practice):

orclz> create index enamei on emp(ename) local;

Index created.

orclz> alter table emp add constraint euk unique (ename);
alter table emp add constraint euk unique (ename)
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01408: such column list already indexed


orclz>

So what is the issue? Clearly it is not a technical limitation. But if it were possible, consder the implications for performance. When inserting a row, a unique index (or a non-unique index enforcing a unique constraint) must be searched to see if the key value already exists. For my little four partition table, that would mean four index searches: one of each local index partition. Well, OK. But what if the table were range partitioned into a thousand partitions? Then every insert would have to make a thousand index lookups. This would be unbelievably slow. By restricting unique indexes to global or local prefixed, Uncle Oracle is ensuring that we cannot create such an awful situation.

Why can't I have a global non-prefixed index?
Well, why would you want one? In my example, perhaps you want a global index on deptno, partitioned by mgr. But you can't do it:

orclz> create index deptnoi on emp(deptno) global partition by hash(mgr) partitions 4;
create index deptnoi on emp(deptno) global partition by hash(mgr) partitions 4
                                                                *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-14038: GLOBAL partitioned index must be prefixed


orclz>
This index, if it were possible, might assist a query with an equality predicate on mgr and a range predicate on deptno: prune off all the non-relevant mgr partitions, then a range scan. But exactly the same effect would be achieved by using global nonpartitioned concatenated index on mgr and deptno. If the query had only deptno in the predicate, it woud have to search each partition of the putative global partitioned index, a process which would be just about identical to a skip scan of the nonpartitioned index. And of course the concatenated index could be globally partitioned - on mgr. So there you have it: a global non-prefixed index would give you nothing that is not available in other ways.

Why can't I have a global partitioned bitmap index?
This came up on the Oracle forums recently, https://forums.oracle.com/thread/2575623
Global indexes must be prefixed. Bearing that in mind, the question needs to be re-phrased: why would anyone ever want a prefixed partitioned bitmap index? Something like this:

orclz>
orclz> create bitmap index bmi on emp(deptno) global partition by hash(deptno) partitions 4;
create bitmap index bmi on emp(deptno) global partition by hash(deptno) partitions 4
                                       *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-25113: GLOBAL may not be used with a bitmap index

orclz>

If this were possible, what would it give you? Nothing. You would not get the usual benefit of reducing contention for concurrent inserts, because of the need to lock entire blocks of a bitmap index (and therefore ranges of rows) when doing DML. Range partitioning a bitmap index would be ludicrous, because of the need to use equality predicates to get real value from bitmaps. Even with hash partitions, you would not get any benefit from partition pruning, because using equality predicates on a bitmap index in effect prunes the index already: that is what a bitmap index is for. So it seems to me that a globally partitioned bitmap index would deliver no benefit, while adding complexity and problems of index maintenance. So I suspect that, once again, Uncle Oracle is protecting us from ourselves.

Is there a technology limitation?
I am of course open to correction, but I cannot see a technology limitation that enforces any of these three impossibilities. I'm sure they are all technically possible. But Oracle has decided that, for our own good, they will never be implemented.
--
John Watson
Oracle Certified Master DBA
http://skillbuilders.com




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D.A.M Litanium Mactron 15.00/13.00

•Mooie allround stok met 3 kits Hengel 13.00 mtr/ 11.50 mtr 5 delig ( 6.00 mtr ) topset 4 delig ( 4.70 mtr ) topset 3 delig ( 3.00 mtr ) topset Onze prijs € 289.00 13.00 meter Onze prijs € 259.00 11.50 meter




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Political FootBall Headlines

SHOULD BE an interesting contest someday. Schwarzenegger and Affleck both vieing for the presidency. Ben Affleck is rumoured to be running for senator in Virginia next year. His spokespeople deny it, but in the next breath also say "he would be a superb candidate for public office in the future"...

IS IT A COINCIDENCE that Brown criticizes everyone else except himself or Bush and is still on the FEMA Payroll...

FEMA REINVENTS the word "charity" and plans to use taxpayer money to reimburse churches and other religious organizations that provided shelter, food and supplies to survivors...

FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR Michael Brown blames others for most of the government failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina, especially Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin...

RESIDENTS OF the Texas refinery towns hit hardest by Hurricane Rita are blocked from returning to their homes because of danger from debris-choked streets, toppled power lines and a shortage of ice and generators...

DONALD TRUMP'S EMPIRE continues to expand, but his newest addition is on the home front. The 59-year-old real estate mogul and TV reality star's wife Melania, is pregnant...

CHINA DEFENDS its new restrictions on online news content, saying that every country regulates the Internet...

UNIVERSAL, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and local subsidiaries have entered into mediation with Baidu.com, China's largest Internet search engine, over the recording companies' claims of copyright infringement....

MORE HEADLINE NEWS at News Blog.




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FeedBlitz eMail Subscription Service:

We've moved our newsletter email subscription service over to FeedBlitz. Don't worry, FeedBlitz made the migration process painless, so if you already have a subscription there's nothing more you have to do. You will still receive our newsletter every day.

So why would you want to subscribe to our email newsletter? And is it safe? Read the FeedBlitz faq to find the answer.

Why the switch from Bloglet? Well, for starters Bloglet hasn't worked most of this past year. Emails go unanswered and it looks like the owner's heart isn't into maintaining it any longer. We appreciate the service all these years but it's time to move on.

FeedBurner has also partnered with FeedBlitz, and if it's good enough for them then it's good enough for me. FeedBlitz offers superior service and features, so for us the move was a no brainer.




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'Pajamas Media' Network for Elitist Bloggers only:

The innocence of its name belies the true nature of this new virtual organism.

Meaning? PJs is a powerplay by a handful of elitist bloggers to carve out a new media empire for their personal (and financial) gratification.

"Pajamas Media, a new blogging venture designed to bring together top online writers, journalists and commentators under a single umbrella, today unveiled its editorial board as it prepares for its formal debut next month.

The announcement comes as Pajamas Media further realizes its vision of coalescing the internet's brightest minds and most compelling content into a single source that will, in turn, complement and re-define journalism in the 21st century."

So there you have it folks. The brightest stars in the virtual firmament who are going to "re-define journalism in the 21st century".

Can you believe the hype? The kahunas! A bunch of pompous self-serving goofballs if there ever was.

And speaking of balls, here I thought re-defining journalism is what the blogosphere is all about, even without the help of PJs et al. Silly me.

They are touting Glenn Reynolds as one of their greatest acquisitions. I must confess that I am all the more enlightened from his inspired and in depth analysis. Spewing his best Spock impersonations such as "indeed" and "indeed", or one of my personal favorites... "indeed".

Do you think perhaps they might (hopefully) consider (God willing) allowing us insignificant pee-ons add our (albeit smallish) comments to their omnipoobah flatulation? Well try this one on for size:

"Golly gee Instapundit, you sure are great. I was really hoping that if you might possibly consider linking to me some time. Pretty please, and I promise to forever be your grovelling fan... pant, pant, drool."

Or will it be the same old droning monologue we're all accustomed to - the sermon from the mount a la Instapun style.

Hell, if we wanted sermons we can always watch Anderson Cooper 360 report to the CNN situation room. So much for a blogging community folks.

Guys, you've got it all mixed up. If you want a one-sided conversation find a soap box and run for public office. Or better still make an application to CNN.

If you want to write a book then write the stinkin' book. If you want to build an exclusive empire so you can call the shots, give Bill Gates a call. But if you want to blog, join the community.

BUT damn it choose, because they're different. Got it? (Are you listening Glenn)?

Can somebody please explain to me how all this nonsense benefits the blogosphere? Oh yeah right, I forgot - it doesn't.

It sounds more like Al Gore's reinvention of the internet than anything else. So let's be clear boys and girls - it is the technology and all of our collective efforts that has re-defined journalism. Not just a few arrogant twits.

Not since the invention of the printing press has so much been given to the common folk. It is its inclusive, collaborative nature and community spirit that gives blogging its influential power.

HELLO! Are you listening? The blogosphere is not the exclusive playground of an old-boys network trying to elevate itself above the rest of us mere mortals.

That is bass-ackwards thinking, destructive and the last thing we need. Another media empire of self-important opportunists believing in their own press, shovelling verbal poop down our collective throats.

Think about it. Did we take down Dan Rather just to create a job opening for Reynolds? I don't think so. Personally I'd rather have Dan back (no pun intended). And for that matter I hear he's looking for work. Any takers?

It's the same old story. If it becomes popular the politicians have to control it, and the capitalists want to exploit it.

Not that I object to making money from blogging. God knows I could use the extra coin. But it is their elitist business model and its ominous implications that I find offensive.

It's called good old fashioned exploitation. The great American way. Look out Weblogs here we come.

Mark my words. The blogosphere is on the fast track to being hijacked by the control freaks and big business interests.

More restrictive laws and government intervention. Acquisitions and mergers, IPO offerings, get-rich-quick dot-com scam artists, media moguls, ABC, MSNBC, FOX, Pajamas party, whatever.

Sounding all too familiar? PJs is a cash grab. Plain and simple. And for whose benefit? The way it reads right now PJs will benefit only a few elitists, that's who.

Perhaps it got lost in the translation, but until they can find a more inclusive model the blogosphere needs this shite like a hole in the head.

```
UPDATE: An Open Letter to Roger Simon

Source: daily FISK!




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Say hello to my little friend!

In the iconic movie Scarface from 1984, Tony Montana (played by legendary actor Al Pacino) wore a very unique and today discontinued 28mm quartz Omega ‘La Magique’ limited to only 261 pieces worldwide. The watch was released one year before the movies premiere. The “La Magique” is an 18k yellow gold timepiece, with sapphire crystal, and...




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Österreich: Dreier-Koalition nimmt Gestalt an

In Österreich kommt Schwung in die Regierungsbildung. Kanzler Nehammer will neben der SPÖ auch die Liberalen in Sondierungen mit seiner ÖVP einbinden - und die Chancen einer ersten Koalition mit drei Partnern ausloten.




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Kommentar zum Wahltermin: Zeichen der Stabilität in unruhigen Zeiten

Deutschland steckt in einer Regierungskrise, die schnell beendet werden sollte, meint Mario Kubina. Der parteiübergreifend gefundene Termin sorgt nun für Klarheit und bevorteilt weder SPD noch Union.




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Nahost-Liveblog: ++ US-Militärhilfe wird nicht eingeschränkt ++

Die USA werden ihre Militärhilfe für Israel nicht einschränken. Washington hatte dies vor einem Monat angedroht. Israel will offenbar erneut Einberufungsbefehle für Ultraorthodoxe ausstellen. Die Entwicklungen vom Dienstag zum Nachlesen.




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Liveblog zu Neuwahlen: ++ Merz fordert grundlegende Politikwende ++

CDU-Chef Merz hat die Regierungserklärung des Bundeskanzlers scharf kritisiert und sich für ein Umsteuern in der deutschen Politik ausgesprochen. Scholz bestätigte den Zeitplan für die Vertrauensfrage. Die Entwicklungen im Liveblog.




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The Duality Of Internet Network Marketing

(This is an extract from our newsletter - if you would
like to find out more check out the resource box)

It's a beautiful morning here in Washington DC. I woke
up and went out side and just sat there for a few
minutes to listen. There's a light breeze and just
hearing the rustling of the leaves as gentle wind blows
on them is a powerfully calming feeling.

As I sat there I thought about the Internet and how we
use it. As I watched the leaves blow from one direction
to the next an extremely important principle popped
into my mind. Something I've never thought about
directly, but just as that gentle wind blew the leaves
from direction so does this affect your business, maybe
without you even knowing about it.

This may be one of the most important emails that I
ever send to you. If you can understand what I am about
to say you'll understand the true fabric of both the
Internet and using the Internet to grow your network
marketing business.

Understand this . . .

Just as there are two sides to everything, a ying and
yang to say, so are there two sides to your internet
business and many make the mistake by not taking note
of this.

There are several things that you can do to generate
targeted traffic to your site and for each and every
single one of them there are about 50 guys with
products telling you and me how to do them the best.
That's fine and it's actually a good sign because it
means there truly is more than one way to skin a cat
with any given traffic generation technique, but unless
you realize what you're doing you can put a great deal
of undue stress on yourself.

I don't mean know what you're doing in terms of being
an expert in any of this stuff, I mean a goal, a vision
of what your business is going to look like one year
from now, and then 5 and 10 years from now.

Without this you can easily put yourself in a position
where you're doing far too much for little to no
appreciable result and a mind full of mixed emotions
and fear.

Quite a few of the people that email me fall into this
trap. (It's not their fault, it just happens to us a
people if we're not aware of what's going on in our
mind and let our emotions lead us.)

Their emails go something like this . . .

"John I've been doing xyz and I've generated some
traffic, but no one is buying anything I'm scared,
frustrated, and I think I'm going to quite."

What you think is what generally happens so when I read
these words I can literally see the little spark that
started their business start to flutter out.

Further . . .

Even putting things like this into writing is the wrong
idea because it creates and transmits the wrong mental
vibe for success, and mostly likely will send you on a
downward spiral towards a negative outlook on your
business. And if you're not positive about your
business you're on the way out.

It's reactionary in nature. Entrepreneurs don't react
they create.

And all this happens because most don't really know
what they are doing. They have a vague idea that they
want more money right now and they've found a business
with an opportunity to fulfill that, but they don't
think past it.

This happened to me when I began and it left me open to
self victimization. Anything that promised me money now
I bought

and subsequently failed.

Understand this about the internet . . .

There are things that you can do that are quick fixes
and others that will build a foundation so that your
business continues to grow for years to come.

I chose to do the later, after trying the other way.

The strategies and the mental focus differ
significantly.

If you think I need to set up a PPC campaign so that I
can get people into my business today because I need
money right now then you'll most likely do the
following.

You'll find the quickest and easiest way to put up a
vaguely targeted Google Adwords campaign and just throw
it out there to see what sticks.

Most of the stuff won't. And you'll say I generated
some traffic but nothing is happening.

On the other hand, if you think with a long term
perspective in mind on your business when you approach
your marketing, even with that same exact PPC campaign
you'll do things totally differently.

You'll say I want this campaign to still produce
targeted traffic a year from now and I don't want to
have to keep updating it all the time so let me make
sure when I do my research I do it thoroughly so I
won't have to do it again.

It will take longer to do, but the results are much
much better both in the short and long term.

Do you see what I'm saying here?

It's where you focus you mind in your marketing that
will dictate your results.

Think first of what you want and then create your
internet advertising campaign around that, and what you
want has to be more specific than just some targeted
traffic and some leads and some people in my business
so that I make money now.

Have a real defined end in mind before the game begins.

And don't think this faulty mindset is something that
only happens to us as marketers. It happens to owners
of network marketing companies that go out of business
in just a few short years and those guys launching
product after product just to see what we will buy.

These people also have a frantic "now now now" frame of
mind.

Think about the type of people and companies you are
dealing with just as much as yourself when doing your
marketing.

Stay as far away from those with vaguely defined goals
and visions of what they want no matter if they are
your upline leader, company owner, or the guy you're
thinking about buying an eBook from.

Why?

Well remember how I said I was listening and watching
the leaves blow in the wind?

If you or you follow the advice of a person who only
thinks about right now well then you become just like
those leaves. You leave yourself open to whatever
weather blows you're way.

If you plan and set out only to do those things that
fit your plan you root yourself deep into the ground
like a sturdy oak tree that ain't moving.



Internet Network Marketing is about creating long term
stable wealth online, not vague ideas on how to get
rich quick only to be left broke. If you'd like to
learn the real secrets to creating a long term stable
online business that will allow you retire on here's
where to learn it live and in person:
==> http://www.opportunity-waits.com




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KOTV engineer Neil Willits passes

Neil was one of the original KOTV engineers who put the station on the air in 1949. Tulsa World obit link in GroupBlog 330.




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Augmented Reality: Connect and Engage Using New Touchstone Technology

Augmented Reality: Connect and Engage Using New Touchstone Technology from Lynne d Johnson Presetned at PRSA Digital Impact Conference June 28, 2013 #PRSADIConf - Augmented Reality lets you overlay digital images and information on smartphone screens or computer monitors....




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21 municipalities in Eastern Visayas attains Stable Peace and Security Status

A total of 21 Local Government Units in Eastern Visayas have been declared with a Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) status, showcasing significant advancements in the region's anti-insurgency efforts.




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Another municipality in Samar now NPA-free

The people of Talalora in Samar declare their town in a state of Stable Internal Peace and Security Condition (SIPSC) on June 21, 2024.