Wired had a chance to play with what looks like one of the most entertaining but dangerous-looking contraptions you can easily get your hands on. Designed for use by responsible professionals like doctors, researchers, and even avant-garde chefs, the Brymill Cry-Ac 3 is capable of firing a blast of liquid nitrogen that instantly freezes its target to 320 degrees below zero. Cue a mad scientist-esque laugh.
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Hello, I am writing some code where i want user to enter the date in format(dd/mm/yyyy). how can i cross check if user has entered the date in correct format? second question, how can i split the date and store it in different variables? Example: let say user entered 26/05/2013 values should be stored like this in different variables int dd = 26 int mm = 05 int yyyy = 2013
Thank you
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Replies To: how to format and split date?
#2 andrewsw ?
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Posts:3,418
Joined:12-December 12
Re: how to format and split date?
Posted Today, 06:15 AM
Quote
So presumably you have some code to show us? What have you attempted so far? Otherwise it seems that you are just asking someone to provide the entire solution for you.
#3 NDragger ?
Reputation: 2
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Joined:10-August 11
Re: how to format and split date?
Posted Today, 06:28 AM
DateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy"); format.parse(date1); System.out.println("Date " + date1 + " is not valid according to " + ((SimpleDateFormat) format).toPattern() + " pattern.");
the above code always throws an exception "not valid according to the format", whatever be the date. i need the tip/hint for the second question not the entire code />
This post has been edited by NDragger: Today, 06:29 AM
#4 andrewsw ?
Reputation: 1096
Posts:3,418
Joined:12-December 12
Re: how to format and split date?
Posted Today, 06:42 AM
The date format "dd-MM-yyyy" is not the same as the date format given in your first post.
Does it throw an exception, or does it just display the message that you have told it to display?
This line:
format.parse(date1);
does nothing as you do not assign the result to anything.
This post has been edited by andrewsw: Today, 06:42 AM
With $671,400, you could buy roughly 2,040.7 base-model iPad minis before taxes. One unnamed buyer, however, just laid that amount out for a single Apple 1 from 1976. Auctioned through a Germany-based Sotheby's Uwe Breker, The New York Times Bits blog notes the price beats out the firm's $640K record from another unit last November. Interestingly, the seller refurbished this latest Apple 1 to working condition, after paying only $40K for it privately. While it doesn't seem to have the original enclosure, we'd be remiss not to mention that the seller also had Steve Wozniak grace the motherboard with his signature. You'll find more info at the source, while we wrap our heads around how this makes last summer's Sotheby's auction price of $374.5K look like a relative steal.
Update: We initially reported that the auction was held through Sotheby's, when it was actually done by Uwe Breker. We've corrected this in this post.
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Boston or the New York Rangers? To be honest, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson doesn't think it matters who the Pittsburgh Penguins face in the Eastern Conference finals.
At the moment, Alfredsson believes the Penguins are a cut above.
"I think they would be the favorite to play either of those two teams," Alfredsson said. "They have skill, speed, they're well-coached and a lot of experience as well. So they're going to be a tough team to beat."
Certainly too tough for the Senators.
James Neal recorded his first playoff hat trick and Pittsburgh reached the conference finals for the first time since 2009 with a 6-2 dismantling of Ottawa on Friday night, winning the best-of-seven series in five games.
The Penguins improved to 8-3 in the postseason. Eight more wins and they'll hoist the Cup for the fourth time in franchise history.
"The further you go, the tougher it gets," Penguins defenseman Doug Murray said. "Every player starts smelling the end result."
Certainly it's wafting through the Pittsburgh dressing room after the Penguins dominated one of the NHL's best defensive teams, rolling up 22 goals in five games, including 12 in the last five periods.
"We got to our game a lot," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "The depth we showed, different guys chipping in. The whole way through we didn't have many lulls where we lost momentum at any point."
Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Brenden Morrow also scored, and Tomas Vokoun made 29 saves as top-seeded Pittsburgh ended Ottawa's season for the third time in five years.
Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots, but Ottawa simply couldn't keep up.
"I hope (the Penguins) don't bill us for the clinic," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "But they really showed the step you have to take to continue to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs."
The Penguins expected desperation from a team trying to extend its season for at least another 48 hours. Instead, the Senators offered only resignation.
Outskated, outshot and outworked from the opening faceoff, Ottawa put up little resistance.
"We gave them too many freebie chances and you're not going to beat a team like that when they get as many chances as they had," Senators forward Jason Spezza said.
The series win was the seventh for the Penguins under coach Dan Bylsma but the first deciding victory to come on home ice. Pittsburgh had gone 0-6 at home in potential series enders, something Bylsma's players insisted was an anomaly.
Pittsburgh made sure a trip to Canada for Game 6 wouldn't be necessary, turning Alfredsson into a prophet of sorts. The NHL's longest-tenured captain said the Senators "probably" couldn't rally to win the series after a 7-3 home loss in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
Alfredsson clarified his remarks Thursday, insisting his team still had a chance, but it didn't take long Friday night for slim to turn into none.
"We weren't able to slow them down," Alfredsson said.
Sluggish from the opening faceoff, the Senators slogged through the game's first 10 minutes, long enough for Morrow to pay immediate dividends in his return to the lineup.
The veteran forward was scratched from Game 4 in favor of rookie Beau Bennett but appeared re-energized after the night off. He got his second goal of the playoffs 6:25 into the first period, scoring the type of goal the Penguins expected when they acquired the 34-year-old from Dallas just before the trade deadline.
Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke beat a Senator to a loose puck along the halfboards then zipped a cross-ice pass to defenseman Mark Eaton. Morrow skated to the net and lifted his stick up to draw Eaton's attention. Eaton patiently waited for Morrow to get in front of the crease before throwing a puck toward the net that deflected off Morrow's skate and into the net.
The goal was held up on review and the Senators found themselves in familiar position: trailing.
Ottawa came into the game having led for just 17 minutes in regulation during the entire series, all in Game 4 before Pittsburgh buried the Senators with a four-goal outburst in the third period.
This time, the deluge came a little earlier.
Neal scored for the third time in two games when he poked in an idle rebound on the power play to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 7:38 into the second period. Letang followed with a wrist shot over Anderson's glove at the end of a 3-on-2 break to make it 3-0.
Michalek briefly made it competitive with a beautiful deke around Vokoun to pull the Senators to 3-1 with 3:48 left in the second but Malkin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs on a breakaway just before the intermission to restore the three-goal lead.
Ottawa hadn't overcome a deficit bigger than one goal in the postseason and Neal ensured there would be no meltdown by the Penguins. A pair of sizzling wrist shots in the third period gave him his first career playoff hat trick and sent the Penguins roaring into hockey's final four.
NOTES: Pittsburgh went 1 for 3 on the power play and improved to 6-0 when it outscores an opponent on special teams in the postseason. ... Ottawa is 0-6 in franchise history when it falls behind 3-1 in a series.
A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study.
This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain's unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose brains are better at automatically suppressing background motion perform better on standard measures of intelligence.
The test is the first purely sensory assessment to be strongly correlated with IQ and may provide a non-verbal and culturally unbiased tool for scientists seeking to understand neural processes associated with general intelligence.
"Because intelligence is such a broad construct, you can't really track it back to one part of the brain," says Duje Tadin, a senior author on the study and an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. "But since this task is so simple and so closely linked to IQ, it may give us clues about what makes a brain more efficient, and, consequently, more intelligent."
The unexpected link between IQ and motion filtering was reported online in the Cell Press journal Current Biologyon May 23 by a research team lead by Tadin and Michael Melnick, a doctoral candidate in brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester.
In the study, individuals watched brief video clips of black and white bars moving across a computer screen. Their sole task was to identify which direction the bars drifted: to the right or to the left. The bars were presented in three sizes, with the smallest version restricted to the central circle where human motion perception is known to be optimal, an area roughly the width of the thumb when the hand is extended. Participants also took a standardized intelligence test.
As expected, people with higher IQ scores were faster at catching the movement of the bars when observing the smallest image. The results support prior research showing that individuals with higher IQs make simple perceptual judgments swifter and have faster reflexes. "Being 'quick witted' and 'quick on the draw' generally go hand in hand," says Melnick.
But the tables turned when presented with the larger images. The higher a person's IQ, the slower they were at detecting movement. "From previous research, we expected that all participants would be worse at detecting the movement of large images, but high IQ individuals were much, much worse," says Melnick. That counter-intuitive inability to perceive large moving images is a perceptual marker for the brain's ability to suppress background motion, the authors explain. In most scenarios, background movement is less important than small moving objects in the foreground. Think about driving in a car, walking down a hall, or even just moving your eyes across the room. The background is constantly in motion.
The key discovery in this study is how closely this natural filtering ability is linked to IQ. The first experiment found a 64 percent correlation between motion suppression and IQ scores, a much stronger relationship than other sensory measures to date. For example, research on the relationship between intelligence and color discrimination, sensitivity to pitch, and reaction times have found only a 20 to 40 percent correlation. "In our first experiment, the effect for motion was so strong," recalls Tadin, "that I really thought this was a fluke."
So the group tried to disprove the findings from the initial 12-participant study conducted while Tadin was at Vanderbilt University working with co-author Sohee Park, a professor of psychology. They reran the experiment at the University of Rochester on a new cohort of 53 subjects, administering the full IQ test instead of an abbreviated version and the results were even stronger; correlation rose to 71 percent. The authors also tested for other possible explanations for their findings.
For example, did the surprising link to IQ simply reflect a person's willful decision to focus on small moving images? To rule out the effect of attention, the second round of experiments randomly ordered the different image sizes and tested other types of large images that have been shown not to elicit suppression. High IQ individuals continued to be quicker on all tasks, except the ones that isolated motion suppression. The authors concluded that high IQ is associated with automatic filtering of background motion.
"We know from prior research which parts of the brain are involved in visual suppression of background motion. This new link to intelligence provides a good target for looking at what is different about the neural processing, what's different about the neurochemistry, what's different about the neurotransmitters of people with different IQs," says Tadin.
The relationship between IQ and motion suppression points to the fundamental cognitive processes that underlie intelligence, the authors write. The brain is bombarded by an overwhelming amount of sensory information, and its efficiency is built not only on how quickly our neural networks process these signals, but also on how good they are at suppressing less meaningful information. "Rapid processing is of little utility unless it is restricted to the most relevant information," the authors conclude.
The researchers point out that this vision test could remove some of the limitations associated with standard IQ tests, which have been criticized for cultural bias. "Because the test is simple and non-verbal, it will also help researchers better understand neural processing in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities," says co-author Loisa Bennetto, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Rochester.
###
University of Rochester: http://www.rochester.edu
Thanks to University of Rochester for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - France's foreign minister on Saturday ruled out Iran taking part in a proposed Syriapeace conference, saying Tehran was involved in the conflict and had no desire for peace.
Laurent Fabius will host Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a dinner on Monday to discuss how to nudge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition into the talks in Geneva.
Speaking aboard a French aircraft en route to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Fabius said there was no "magic wand" to get warring parties to the negotiating table even though it appeared Assad's government had agreed to attend.
Russia has said Iran must be included in the peace conference, which was jointly proposed by Moscow and Washington and could convene in the next few weeks.
But Fabius said Iran's presence in Syria through its officers who were "directing operations" and through its Hezbollah proxy demonstrated that it had no place at the negotiating table.
"Yes the Russians want Iran to take part in Geneva, but we're opposed because Iran is not after a political solution and on the contrary has thrown itself directly into that battle."
Iran has denied it has forces in Syria supporting Assad's army, saying the accusations were invented by the "true enemies of Syria".
Fabius also said that with complex negotiations coming up later in the year between major powers that include France, U.S. and Russia over Iran's nuclear program, allowing Iran to take part in the Syrian conference would complicate those talks.
The United States and European Union have so far shied away from directly arming the rebels, but have given them "non-lethal" support, while Arab backers like Qatar and Saudi Arabia send them weapons.
Fabius is due to meet UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan for talks on Saturday. The crisis in Syria and Iran's nuclear program will top the agenda, given Gulf Arab states' accusations about Tehran meddling in their affairs by stoking unrest.
Hey guys. There was a new Xbox revealed this week. Oh you heard? We'll we've got some nice icing to put on that cake. And along with it we've got gems like the world's largest Lego model, the Subway worker who made a massive math innovation, how sunscreen actually works and much much more.
It's an intriguing premise: Are Germans ready to elect a Jewish politician chancellor? British journalist David Crossland has written a novel exploring themes of racism and neo-Nazi violence in Germany. The Local has excerpts.
David Crossland was born in 1967 in Bonn, then the capital of West Germany, where his father was a foreign correspondent. He was educated at German schools until he was 16, and then attended a school in Bristol before studying politics and economics at Exeter University.
He has been a journalist for over 20 years, working for Reuters from 1994 until 2004, first in Frankfurt where he covered financial and economic affairs including the wrangling that preceded the launch of the euro, and then in Berlin as chief political correspondent, in charge of covering news from Germany. He has worked for Spiegel Online International since 2005 and also freelances for other publications.
He has written extensively about the growing threat posed by neo-Nazis in the former communist east, and has tracked the country's probing search for a new, bolder role in the world as new generations throw off the chains of guilt. "The Jewish Candidate" is his first foray into fiction.
The Local: Why did you write a book on this theme?
David Crossland: In the many years I have been reporting about Germany I have been struck by how indifferent the authorities are to the problem of neo-Nazi violence against immigrants. Experts have been warning for years that the extreme right is being underestimated. The NSU case has proven them right. The combination of well-armed racists, official inaction and the backdrop of Germany striving to be a normal country again and put the Holocaust behind it, struck me as potent material for a political thriller.
TL: Do you think Germany is ready for a Jewish chancellor?
DC: In theory, yes. But I think he or she would have to be an extremely gifted politician to stand a chance. He would have to suppress his Jewish identity to overcome public doubts about his loyalties. And he would get a lot of hate mail. But given the dearth of Jews in German politics at the moment, I think it's unlikely anytime soon. The rebirth of Jewish life in Germany is much-hyped, but I don't see much real evidence of it.
TL: To what extent is the far a threat in Germany?
DC: This country is too enlightened to vote them back into power again. I think the NPD and their ilk will remain negligible as a nationwide political force. The threat is to people on the street, in trains, on buses, getting harassed and beaten up or worse. And the threat is to Germany's reputation as a civilized nation, which will suffer unless it gets tougher on far-right thugs and tackles blatant institutional racism in its police -- as Britain has tried to do.
TL: You grew up in Germany. What's your view on it?
DC: I hope my affection for Germany and the Rhineland in particular, and for its beer, comes through in the book. It has so much going for it. But I?m disappointed at how immigrants are still viewed as foreigners even after decades living here, and at the general complacency about neo-Nazism. You get racists and far-right whackos everywhere. But Germany, which perpetrated the Holocaust, should have a zero tolerance policy here.
Click here for the prologue.
Click here for the first chapter.
"The Jewish Candidate" is available as a Kindle e-book here.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Novo Nordisk, the world's biggest insulin producer, said Phase III study results had shown people treated with its liraglutide drug had an 8 percent weight loss. "These data, together with previously reported Phase III trials, consistently demonstrate clinically significant weight loss and??
Canada is lifting a lifetime ban that had prevented gay men from donating blood; but some restrictions will still be enforced.
The non-profit Canadian Blood Services, which manages the country's blood supply, announced Wednesday that the policy banning gay men from ever donating blood will end by summer 2013. The organization released a statement saying Health Canada, the national public health department, gave approval for the lifetime ban to be lifted and replaced with a five-year deferral period. Thus, gay men can donate blood so long as they haven't had sex with another man within the last five years.
?Recent scientific data and advances in transfusion safety led us to review the exclusion of men who have had sex with another man. This change is scientifically justified and will in no way endanger the high degree of safety of blood products,? Dr. Marc Germain, vice president of medical affairs at non-profit blood management organization H?ma-Qu?bec, said in a separate news release.
According to H?ma-Qu?bec, there is still the need for an exclusionary period, due to the fact that some groups are "at risk of infections that can be transmitted through transfusion." The organization went on to say, "The frequency of HIV transmission among men who have had sex with other men (MSM) is still higher today than in the general population." In 2011, approximately 46.7 percent of people living with HIV in the country were MSM.
One Blood Services executive acknowledged that some might have a problem with Canada's new MSM waiting period.
?We recognize that many people will feel that this change does not go far enough, but given the history of the blood system in Canada, we see this as a first and prudent step forward on this policy,? Dr. Dana Devine, vice president of medical, scientific and research affairs at Canadian Blood Services, said in a stement released by Canadian Blood Services. ?It?s the right thing to do and we are committed to regular review of this policy as additional data emerge and new technologies are implemented.?
CTV notes that multiple countries already permit gay men to donate blood, and some even have a shorter deferral period than Canada. In Britain and Australia the deferral period is one year, while in South Africa it is six months.
In the U.S., however, gay men remain prohibited from donating blood.
As of 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has barred any gay man who has had sex with another man since 1977 from donating blood. The FDA considers 1977 the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., and this donation policy was enacted during a time when doctors were still unsure how AIDS spread, CNN notes. At that time, there were no legitimate tests to check for HIV in the blood, and infected blood was finding its way into the nation's supply.
Over the years there have been numerous petitions to lift this restriction. Most recently, students from Sarah Lawrence College and San Jose State University teamed up in March to petition for the FDA to change its policies on MSM donations.
I?ve just come across an article on the HomeAway web site that I can?t decide whether I love or hate. Suppose I?m conflicted as some of it I agree with but much of it I don?t. Let?s go through the supposed 8 ?powerful? trends one by one and see what we think shall we?
1. Prepare for growth: The vacation rental industry is in the second inning of a 9-inning baseball game and 2013 will see some fireworks in terms of growth. As more and more travelers will demand alternative lodging, the supply side (property owners and marketing companies) will make enormous strides in 2013. Those who get out in front first may be able to ride the wave and oppositely, vacation rental owners who were used to full occupancy with little effort will be increasingly under the gun.
The vacation industry is in the second inning is it? I don?t think so. We?re much further advanced than that in my opinion, particulalry in Central Florida. The vacation rental industry has been around for over two decades now and in both Osceola County and Polk County we contribute the most in terms of Tourist Development Tax. That would indicate that vacation homes are very much the choice of astute travelers visiting our area. So no, we?re not in the second inning, more like the sixth although I do agree there is plenty of growth to come, particularly for the right type of vacation homes. By that, I don?t mean the cheap and cheerful junk that the tour operators offer and that some management companies think is the way to sustain a business.
2. The ?hotelization? of vacation rentals: The vacation rental industry is relatively new and one of its biggest flaws ? inconsistency ? will start to rear its ugly head in 2013 more than ever before. Owners will need to start focusing more on the ?hotelization? of their rental: in other words, streamlining their operations process to be more professional, consistent, and hotel-like. 2013 will probably see a few fiascos (like the great AirBnB robbery of 2011) that will highlight a need for more regulation and formalization in an otherwise Wild Wild West industry.
Have to say, this is the one that annoys me the most.? The quickest way to kill our industry, in my opinion, is for vacation rental managers to try and operate as hotels do. Travelers have steered away from hotels in recent years because they are sick and tired of 400 square feet box rooms where every conceivable amenity is charged as an extra. Vacation rentals are not inconsistent either. Like everything, if you know what you?re looking for you can find it. Sometimes the search may take a little longer but when you do find the right vacation home, your search will be well worth it. It?s much like the search for a boutique hotel versus the big brand name. No different.
Further, while there are attempts to ?hotelize? our industry by some who should know better, our competitive edge is in the very fact that each home can be different from the next according to the owners tastes. Why on earth would be want to throw away that competitive edge?
I note that the author of the article talks about streamlining the operations side of the business to make it more professional and consistent but I?m sort of wondering which cloud he?s living on to make a statement such as that. Does the author not know that some of us have actually been approved by companies like Walt Disney World in our methods of operation? A bigger testimony you won?t find.
I can make you a promise now, in no way will we at Florida Leisure Vacation Homes compromise on becoming like a hotel. Not a chance. We believe we are the best at what we do and that?s why we have the best part of 4,000 guests returning to stay in our homes every year. No way do we need to devalue our product and our service as the hotels do by lining up on the same web sites to compete on price. Our guests want more than a hotel. In fact, they deserve more than a hotel. We know that, we understand that and that?s what we deliver. Become like a hotel? You?re having a laugh to even suggest it.? (And, dare I add, that?s why companies like HomeAway will never really get our industry. All they see is volume.)
3. More mobile bookings: As 2013 surges onward, discounting mobile platforms will be more and more of a mistake for vacation rental owners with their own websites. Record numbers of Internet users are on mobile devices as a whole, and this trend is accentuated in the vacation rental industry, which is notorious for it?s stunted technology. In addition, owners will need to learn to write better descriptions to convert these mobile users into paying guests.
I?m conflicted on this. Sure mobile use is increasing but as a vacation home owner or vacation rental manager, is this really the best environment to be selling a luxury vacation in? Do people really go to their mobile device and book a vacation? I?m not sure they do. In fact my experience tends to suggest they?ll do some research online but when it actually comes to making a reservation, they much prefer to speak to a human being. It?s why we continue to man our phones instead of diverting them to some call center far away. Real people dealing with real people.
4. Live or die by reviews: As reviews have become the de facto influence in the hotel industry, traveler reviews of vacation rentals will follow suit in 2013. Because traveler reviews equate to more original content, the major listing sites will try to replicate the success of TripAdvisor in soliciting as many reviews as possible. Slowly but surely, this will result in good vacation rental owners (the ones who go above and beyond) superseding their less-invested counterparts once and for all.
And this is nonsense and utter garbage too! Sure, I get that reviews are somewhat important for the first time guest unsure of what they may be getting but not everyone is, in fact, a first time guest. Our customers repeat for one reason only; they enjoy themselves. They then tell friends and family and refer them. They rarely write a review about us?? don?t believe me? Try finding one. We have. Few exist. Which leads me to why I think this advice is garbage. Frankly, I think it?s just a big company simply trying to position themselves in the market by asking visitors to fill some online form in, in the guise of helping others, while at the same time data mining that reviewers information.
5. Be gay friendly: 2013 will be a very competitive year for vacation rental owners trying to get a leg up on their competition and perhaps the #1 swing segment that owners will be vying for is gay travelers. Gay travel websites like Purple Roofs and Gay Journey will see vacation rental listings boom as owners realize the high quality of gay guests. Capturing even a tiny segment of gay travelers in any given region will be a game changer.
Are they serious? Why on earth would they even mention this? All that gay travelers want is to be treated and accepted like everyone else. They don?t want special attention bringing upon themselves. We understand that and we?re happy to welcome all guests regardless of their sexuality. We scoff at the idea that marketing to gay guests is a trend that will shape our industry. It won?t. Let?s get back to marketing to people and giving them the things they want on vacation.
6. Experiential travel: While travel in general will continue to edge towards experiential travel and away from generic, big-box, all-inclusive, air-conditioned-tour-bus-style hotels, vacation rentals will emerge as the perfectly-poised solution thanks to their affordability and growing supply. Rental owners able to articulate their authenticity (thus effectively overriding the same old hotel world everyone is bored with) will skyrocket in 2013. The use of a powerful vacation rental blog will emerge as perhaps the most popular trend.
We can agree with most of this? except the vacation rental blog bit. Yes, we know you?re on one right now so this may seem a little odd but the fact is, a blog is NOT going to shape a trend. Never has and never will. A blog can certainly provide more information with which to make decisions but not for one minute are people going to visit a blog in order to book their next vacation.
7. Hotels will get feisty: As the vacation rental industry continues to mature and steal hotel market share, hotel lobbyist groups will get more organized and aggressive in 2013 pushing hard for city and state legislature to outlaw short-term rentals. From here, it is inevitable that stricter regulations will be formulated. After all, the vacation rental industry DOES need more formalized regulations. The densest vacation rental regions will also lead the way as owners join to form a unified voice in opposition to the hotel oligarchy. If they don?t, more bans (and huge losses) like this in Manhattan will unfoil.
So hotels will get feisty will they? Good luck to them if they do. One thing?s for sure though, they still won?t be able to offer a private home with 2000 + square feet as well as the kind of amenities our industry can. How many hotels offer their guests a private pool each? How about a full size kitchen? A movie room? A games room? I could go on but you get the point. To pay for the very top suite at a hotel that might, just might, have all this would cost thousands.
All I can say is good luck to them in their quest. They?ve tried it for the last two decades in one guise or another but in our area tax dollars count more than anything else. And we have the market share. Put that in your pipe and go smoke it.
8. New services will turn the art of managing a vacation rental into a science: Up until very recently, the vacation rental industry has been a jerry-rigged one, comprised of part-time owners, band-aid solutions, and makeshift excel documents serving as occupancy calendars. 2013 will mark one of the most evolutionary years for the industry as more companies (than ever before) will enter the market to make things easier for the first-time owner. These services, competing for the loyalty of the almighty client, will start lowering their prices and offering their free tools to capture market share.
What a load of condescending nonsense. I mean, it really is. Has the author ever met a vacation rental owner or vacation rental manager? Seems HomeAway want to portray our industry as being close on illegal, unethical and unprofessional. In doing so, they cause great harm and damage to our industry with such junk. Sure, our industry hasn?t always been the most well organized and methodical but we?ve come along way in recent years. If someone had done some research they might have actually come across some real facts like the economic impact the industry has in certain areas? you know, numbers like $1.6 Billion in Osceola County alone?for instance.
Conclusion: 2013 will be a year of turmoil (both good and bad) for the vacation rental industry. At it?s most fundamental level, this coming year will set the stage for performance-based rewards for owners: no more will it be enough to simply buy a listing with VRBO. Owners will need to start getting proactive and persistent: that or watch their competitors emerge victorious.
And so we come to the conclusion. Seems the author is hedging his bets somewhat. I think I?ll end my little rant by simply saying we?re having our best year ever. There?s probably a reason behind that!
Contact: Julie Gazaille j.cordeau-gazaille@umontreal.ca 514-343-6796 University of Montreal
University of Montreal researchers discover how drug prevents cancer progression
This news release is available in French.
University of Montreal researchers have discovered a novel molecular mechanism that can potentially slow the progression of some cancers and other diseases of abnormal growth. In the May 23 edition of the prestigious journal Cell, scientists from the University of Montreal explain how they found that the anti-cancer and anti-proliferative drug rapamycin slows down or prevents cells from dividing.
"Cells normally monitor the availability of nutrients and will slow down or accelerate their growth and division accordingly. A key monitor of nutrients is a protein called the Target of Rapamycin (TOR), but we do not know the details of how this protein feeds signals downstream to control growth says Dr. Stephen Michnick, senior author and a University of Montreal biochemistry professor. He adds that, "we were surprised to find that TOR hooks up to a circuit that controls the exit of cells from division which in turn modulates the RNA message that codes for a key cell cycle regulator called B-cyclin".
In collaboration with Daniel Zenklusen, also a University of Montreal biochemistry professor and lead author and doctoral candidate Vincent Messier, discovered that when cells are starved for nutrients TOR sends a signal to shut down production of a chemical message in the form of RNA to synthesize B cyclin ", Dr. Michnick explained. "We also found that TOR acts through a previously unforeseen intermediary, a protein that makes small chemical modifications to proteins normally stabilize B cyclin ", he added. "We have known that starvation and a drug that mimics starvation, rapamycin, affects B cyclin synthesis, but we didn't know how. Our studies now point to one mechanism", noted Dr. Messier.
Dr. Zenklusen emphasized that, "this is an important finding with implications for our understanding on how the normal organism interprets its environment to control growth and it was a surprise to find a mechanism that works through the RNA that codes for a regulatory protein. Dr. Michnick adds, "rapamycin is a promising therapy for some cancers and other devastating maladies such as the rare lung disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). It remains to be seen whether the pathway we have discovered might be an alternative target for the development of therapeutics against these diseases."
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Contact: Julie Gazaille j.cordeau-gazaille@umontreal.ca 514-343-6796 University of Montreal
University of Montreal researchers discover how drug prevents cancer progression
This news release is available in French.
University of Montreal researchers have discovered a novel molecular mechanism that can potentially slow the progression of some cancers and other diseases of abnormal growth. In the May 23 edition of the prestigious journal Cell, scientists from the University of Montreal explain how they found that the anti-cancer and anti-proliferative drug rapamycin slows down or prevents cells from dividing.
"Cells normally monitor the availability of nutrients and will slow down or accelerate their growth and division accordingly. A key monitor of nutrients is a protein called the Target of Rapamycin (TOR), but we do not know the details of how this protein feeds signals downstream to control growth says Dr. Stephen Michnick, senior author and a University of Montreal biochemistry professor. He adds that, "we were surprised to find that TOR hooks up to a circuit that controls the exit of cells from division which in turn modulates the RNA message that codes for a key cell cycle regulator called B-cyclin".
In collaboration with Daniel Zenklusen, also a University of Montreal biochemistry professor and lead author and doctoral candidate Vincent Messier, discovered that when cells are starved for nutrients TOR sends a signal to shut down production of a chemical message in the form of RNA to synthesize B cyclin ", Dr. Michnick explained. "We also found that TOR acts through a previously unforeseen intermediary, a protein that makes small chemical modifications to proteins normally stabilize B cyclin ", he added. "We have known that starvation and a drug that mimics starvation, rapamycin, affects B cyclin synthesis, but we didn't know how. Our studies now point to one mechanism", noted Dr. Messier.
Dr. Zenklusen emphasized that, "this is an important finding with implications for our understanding on how the normal organism interprets its environment to control growth and it was a surprise to find a mechanism that works through the RNA that codes for a regulatory protein. Dr. Michnick adds, "rapamycin is a promising therapy for some cancers and other devastating maladies such as the rare lung disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). It remains to be seen whether the pathway we have discovered might be an alternative target for the development of therapeutics against these diseases."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 23-May-2013
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