#react native developers in miami

[suispiria]

ive seen that sentiment so many times about how a character "hasnt been developed", not just with anora but other films ive enjoyed. usually people only have this critique about main characters, but i think the issue is that those viewers are unable to separate the plot from the character, which isnt inherently the fault of the film. they see them as one entity instead of recognizing that without the character (anora in this case) and their personality and desires, there would be no movie!!

I do think you’re onto something but w this one it’s like. You saw her home, you saw her sister and how the sister reacted to not having milk. the same sister that was doing fuck all in the middle of a tuesday. she says her mom is in miami with “her man”, her grandmother was an immigrant who refused to speak anything other than her native language. it all paints a picture of who she is to me. she has a single friend, who happens to be her coworker, but instead of seeing her loneliness as intentional it’s taken as an oversight or a sign of disinterest in exploring her

[subcodevs0]

ReactJS Development in florida

As an established React JS development company in florida, we leverage the dynamism and flexibility of React JS. SubcoDevs has excelled in delivering world-class React JS development services. We are globally implementing new technologies, and turning it into business-driven applications for our clients.

[qsstechnosoft]

10 Famous Apps Built With React Native

In the world of mobile app developments, we’re always looking for swift development cycles, faster time to deployment, and greater app performance. With two operating systems dominating the landscape, enterprises creating mobile apps often face a compromise: apps that give a better user experience, or apps that are faster to develop and run on more platforms and devices?

The concept of creating apps using only one paradigm for all platforms sounds a bit unbelievable. However, React Native, despite its immaturity, allows to accelerate the process of building apps across different platforms, thanks to the likelihood of reusing most of the code between them.

What is React Native? React Native is a native version of the popular web library of the same name and its main purpose is to bring the power of React to native mobile apps development.

React Native components are pure, side-effect-free functions that return what the views look like at any point in time. For this reason it is easier to write state-dependent views, as you don’t have to care about updating the view when the state changes since the framework does this for you.

The UI is rendered using actual native views, so the final user experience is not as bad as other solutions that simply render a web component inside a WebView.

What reason are the largest companies using React Native for?

#1 Facebook & React Native React Native commenced as Facebook’s hackathon project developed in response to the company’s needs. Facebook wanted to bring all the advantages of web development — such as quick iterations and having a single team develop the whole product — to mobile. That is how React Native was brought to life and leveraged in mobile app development for both iOS and Android apps.

Why did they choose React Native? Originally, Facebook only developed React Native to support iOS. However, with it’s recent support of the Android operating system, the library can now provide mobile UIs for both platforms. Facebook used React Native to develop its own Ads Manager app, creating both an iOS and an Android version. Both versions were created by the same team of developers.

Facebook also made React Native open-source, with the idea that compatibility with other platforms like Windows or tvOS could be operated on by the development community, so stay tuned.

Results Performance improvements: Events Dashboard startup is now twice as fast. Most of the advances made were done at the framework level, which determines your React Native app will automatically benefit when transferring to the latest version of React Native app.

#2 Facebook Ads & React Native The social networking platform isn’t the only React Native application that was produced under Facebook’s roof. Facebook Ads was the first React Native app for Android and, the first completely React Native based, cross-platform app built in the company. The framework seemed absolutely suitable for the lot of complex business logic required to accurately handle differences in ad formats, time zones, currencies, date formats, currency conventions, and so on, particularly that a big chunk of it was already drafted in JavaScript.

Why did they choose React Native? From a design viewpoint, the interface is clean with intuitive UX and simple navigation. The animations and transitions are perfect; they do not feel unnatural or buggy at any point. The overall experience is brilliant, and if your marketing team isn’t using the app, Facebook strongly recommend them to start.

Results The first thing you will notice is that the app is lightning faster, regardless of the operations you want to perform; from checking the status of a current campaign to building a new one, all it needs is a second or two at most to navigate to the next level or access the data with ease.

#3 Walmart & React Native Walmart has already proved its innovative attitude introducing Node.js into their stack. A few years later they also revised their mobile app into React Native.

Walmart managed to improve performance of the app on both iOS and Android by using less resources and within shorter time span. 96% of the codebase was shared between platforms while skills and experience of developers were leveraged across the organization.

Why did they choose React Native?

Walmart aims really high, striving to become the world’s largest online retailer. With such big goals the company needs to take bold moves that involve higher risk in order to gain a competitive advantage. That is why they always seek the ways to improve customer experience by trying new technologies.

Results React Native allows for great performance, nearly identical to native apps, and extremely smooth animations.

#4 Bloomberg & React Native Bloomberg’s new consumer mobile application for iOS and Android gives clients a streamlined, interactive experience with simple-to-access personalized content, videos and live feeds featured across Bloomberg’s Media. To develop the application, the company employed a unique mobile app development framework. An engineering team at Bloomberg’s NewYork City headquarters produced the app using React Native app development technology, the primary tool that actually delivers on the promise of cross-platform native app development.

Why did they choose React Native? The consumer mobile app was huge endeavor because we had to transition the entire organization to React Native“ says Gabriel Lew, a senior application engineer at Bloomberg office who led the development team’s effort. (source)

Another advantage of React Native is that it automates code refreshes, accelerating the release of new product features. Instead of recompiling, your app reloads instantly.

#5 Instagram & React Native

Instagram accepted the challenge to integrate React Native into their existing native app beginning from the simplest view you can imagine: the Push Notification view which was basically implemented as the WebView. It did not require building navigation infrastructure, as UI was quite simple.

Why did they choose React Native? The dev team at Instagram faced a few problems on the way, but they substantially improved developer velocity. 85% to 99% of code was shared between Android and iOS apps, depending on products, thus the team was able to deliver the app much faster than they would have with a native solution.

#6 SoundCloud Pulse & React Native SoundCloud Pulse is an application for creators that helps them manage their accounts and keep their community humming. When the company started designing the second set of native apps, they faced a few obstacles. iOS developers were impossible to find and they didn’t want to have a huge gap between the iOS and Android releases. Therefore, an independent research team started to run user-testing sessions with React Native based prototypes.(learn more: IT Team Augmentation)

Why did they choose React Native? Their experience with the framework was generally positive. Developers found it easier to work on a React Native-based application than on a native application. Moreover, they were capable of building the application by themselves without frequent input from specialised mobile developers.

#7 Townske & React Native Townske aims to be your travel inspiration city guide on your next trip. The app connects you with locals to get a list of their favorite places and creates a curated list of places to explore and experience as locals do. It’s not mandatory for users to have an account, which is great, as it allows you to quickly find the next location you want to visit.

Imagine that you have low Wi-Fi connectivity, or that your battery is running low — in these cases, it’s a neat feature to have. ( See more: Famous apps using electron)

Why did they choose React Native? React Native is focused solely on building a mobile UI. Compared with JavaScript frameworks like AngularJS or MeteorJS, React Native is UI-focused, making it more like a JavaScript library than a framework. The resulting UI is highly responsive and feels fluid thanks to asynchronous JavaScript interactions with the native environment. This means the app will have faster and smooth load times than a typical hybrid app, and a smoother feel.

#8 Gyroscope & React Native Gyroscope enables you to see the complete story of your life; it’s the health app on steroids. Not only can you track steps, your workout, or your heart rate, but with the dozens of integrations you can also track activities like productivity on the computer, or use sleep tracker and automatic Ai to make sure you get enough sleep.

Results All the data is exhibited in two attractive, well-designed views: Simple and Cards mode. All tracked data is aggregated in daily/weekly/monthly statements, and you can also easily deep-dive into it and pick on which things you want to focus next.

#9 Wix & React Native Started in 2006, Wix is an online company that provides web hosting and website design services. Users can design and build their sites in HTML5/CSS, as well as mobile websites, using drag and drop utilities. Two popular features of Wix are that developers can create their own web applications to market to other users, and that users do not need to know any coding to create a website. There are several navigation options available for handling navigation in react native apps like React-native-router-flux, react-navigation,airbnb-native-navigation and wix-react-native-navigation out of which I prefer to use react-native-navigation because of its extremely configurable navigation and screen options along with properly maintained and updated codebase. ( See more: Famous apps built with Node.js)

Why did they choose? Whereas native app development is usually linked with inefficiency, less developer productivity, and slower time rate to deployment, React Native is all about delivering the speed and agility of web app development to the hybrid space — with native results. See the project on Github.

#10 Delivery.com & React Native Delivery.com empowers the neighborhood economy by enabling customers to order online from their preferred local restaurants, grocery stores, wine and spirits shops, and laundry and dry cleaning providers. Every day more than one million delivery.com customers explore their areas and order from more than 10,000 regional businesses while at home, at work, or on the go. With headquarters in New York and an expanding presence throughout the U.S., delivery.com offers e-commerce an integral part of local everyday life, helping customers shop, businesses grow, and neighborhoods thrive.

Why did they choose? React Native allows you link the plugin with a native module, so you can connect the map up with the device’s functions like rotate, zoom, and the compass, while utilizing less memory and loading faster. If your app supports previous operating systems (and older devices), this can help you keep the app running smoothly.

[stophfoot]

QB Fundamentals

After a two-year stint running Alabama’s offense, Doug Nussmeier took over as offensive coordinator at Michigan in 2014. His SEC experience was highlighted by a BCS Championship in 2012, and the development of quarterback AJ McCarron into an All-American and NFL draft pick. His offenses have produced prolific passers and six thousand-yard rushers during his career; including two, Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon, at Alabama.

Nussmeier drills his quarterbacks with a center to work on ball security and the exchange. He recommends daily reps in practice from ‘under center’ and/or the shotgun or pistol. He also gives the quarterbacks a play to run in order to take advantage of ‘metal reps,’ and will also call different formations for the QB to process as he goes through his progressions. Nussmeier doesn’t have a preference as to how many fingers (one or two) that his QBs have on the laces of the ball. But it is absolutely critical, he believes, that when they grip the football that there is space between their hand and the ball. If not, the QB is palming the ball and needs to be corrected. When the ball is thrown it is important that it spins off the middle and index fingers, and is guided by the thumb and two little fingers, and doesn’t ‘duck’ in flight. The QB should snap his wrist when releasing the ball, and then use his elbow and wrist to follow through. To practice grip and release, Nussmeier does a drill in which the quarterback grips and throws the football in a rapid-fire sequence at a stationary target (such as a large tire used for conditioning). The emphasis is placed on a quick release, even if the QB throws without gripping the laces, which could become necessary under pressure in a game. To work on a quarterback’s footwork, timing and technique after he takes a snap from under center, or in shotgun or pistol, Nussmeier does a drill that’s de- voted exclusively to the drop. With ‘drop drill’ reps, a quarterback can improve on footwork quality and effectiveness, which will help him get to the launch point and release the ball faster. The first step should be straight back at 6 o’clock. Nuss- meier recommends putting quarterbacks on a yard-line to gauge if they’re dropping straight back to 6 o’clock. He does not teach his QBs to use a ‘punch step,’ which means the quarterback has one foot already back before the snap.

As he drops back, the quarterback’s shoulders and hips should be horizontal to the line of scrimmage. He should be balanced at the top (head and shoulders) and avoid bouncing. After he ‘sticks’ his back foot after reaching the proper depth and alignment, the QB is ready to deliver a pass. Nussmeier recommends that shotgun and pistol offenses also do ‘drop drills’ by modifying the under center drill. For example, Alabama runs from under center and the shotgun, so for a 5- step drop drill from under center, Alabama quarterbacks do a 3-step drill from the ‘gun. Until it is thrown, the ball should be held with two hands ‘on the shelf’ (chest high), Nussmeier teaches. He also believes progression drills should be con- ducted daily. Quarterbacks must have quick feet and eyes as they read their first, second and third routes. For right-handed passers, their left shoulder should be pointed at the target, with their weight shifted forward towards the receiver. The hips and shoulders are also in-line. A quarterback should always be watching the target, not tracking the ball, and finish the pass with his throwing shoulder and back hip pointed at the target. To simulate a screen pass, or when protection breaks down and a quarterback has to improvise, Nussmeier runs a drill to simulate what a QB has to do when the defensive line is applying pressure and he has to go to his checkdown route. When the quarterback can’t plant his feet in the ground, he must get in position to see his target at close range. He then plants his right foot, and brings his butt and elbow up, as he ‘climbs’ with his back leg and hip, following through over the top. Nuss- meier over-emphasizes following through over the top in order to get the nose of the ball down for accuracy. The ‘slide drill’ is all about horizontal movement when the pocket collapses. With the ball on the shelf, the QB leads with his back foot to move around and find a passing lane. Nussmeier coaches his quarterbacks to move around the pocket with small steps that he calls ‘half-man’ movements. He emphasizes small move- ment in order for the QB to not step into pressure while trying to avoid it. While moving in the pocket with half-man steps, the quarterback continues to search downfield for an open receiver. One of the basic plays in Nussmeier’s play-action scheme is a play he calls Deep Over. The play is designed to flood the boundary (short) side of the field. The H-Back is the primary target in the deep over. He runs an ‘over’ route to a depth of 12 yards, at an 18-to-22-degree angle. To get separation from tight man-to-man cov- erage, the H-Back executes a ‘stair step,’ which is a quick step up field before resuming the over route at a deeper angle. The X receiver runs a post route. Against Cover 3 or quarters (quarter, quarter and half deep zones) defenses, the X should run through the inside hand of the corner and set a high angle to the goal post. The QB is instructed to use the near- est upright as a reference point for a post route. Against Cover 2, receiver X, who can’t be jammed by a corner, should use an inside seam release and run for the in- side shoulder of the safety, which forces the corner to make a decision that can be exploited. Against inside-technique press coverage the X can release outside and run a ‘go’ route. The Z receiver runs a deep ‘in route’ at 18-20 yards, but Nussmeier advised that the route is rarely open, except for Cover 2, when the corner plays soft and the strong safety is running with the X receiver’s post. The checkdown route is to the running back in the flat, after he accounts for the Will linebacker in ‘check’ protec- tion. Nussmeier was a four-year starter at the University of Idaho, and then an NFL backup for five seasons. As a collegian, he’s one of only four QBs in the history of college football to throw for more than 10,000 yards and run for another thousand. After his NFL career ended after the 1998 season, he played one year in Canada with British Colombia. When he retired from playing in 2000, Nussmeier was BC’s quarterbacks coach the next season; then served in the same capacity with Ottawa in 2002. From 2003-05 he was in the Big 10, coaching quarterbacks at Michigan State; then coached QBs with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams for two seasons. In 2008 Nussmeier became offensive coordinator at Fresno State, then moved on to the PAC 12 at Washington as the OC/quarterbacks coach from 2009-11. Nussmeier, a native of Oswego, Oregon, became Alabama’s OC and quarterbacks coach in 2012; where he remained two season before heading to Michigan.

Pass Reads

Florida State University’s explosive offensive system has produced three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and several other NFL 1st Round Draft picks. Along with outstanding defense, the Seminole offense won legendary coach Bobby Bow- den 304 games and two national championships at FSU from 1976-2009. With only a few tweaks put in by Bowden’s successor, Jimbo Fisher, the Seminoles con- tinue to have one of the most explosive offenses in the country. In 2013 Fisher’s offense registered both a BCS title and Heisman-Trophy win- ner in quarterback Jameis Winston. Like most prolific offenses, FSU spreads the field with elite receivers and has a quarterback that can read coverages then make quick, accurate throws. However, the Seminoles don’t just train their QBs with offensive fundamentals, techniques and schemes. They provide extensive coaching on defensive techniques and alignments in order for them to recognize and react quickly to different coverages. Before moving to Auburn in 2013, Dameyune Craig taught FSU’s quarterbacks both fundamentals/techniques and defensive strategy. Craig, former quarterbacks coach and Recruiting Coordinator at FSU, was a record-setting quarterback himself at Auburn. He was also an NFL backup for four years until he suffered a career- ending injury. He first coached as an assistant at Blount High School, his alma mater near Mobile, Alabama, in 2003. To learn more about the defensive side of the ball, he spent two seasons with Nick Saban: as a graduate assistant (DBs) at LSU in 2004, and then a special teams assistant with the Miami Dolphins in ‘05. He then coached QBs at Division II Tuskegee (2006-07) and wide receivers at South Alabama (2008-09), before joining Fisher at Florida State. Craig schooled his FSU QBs on base Cover 2, Cover 3 and Cover 4 defenses, as well as all of their variations. He also gave insight on Cover 0 and Cover 1, but 2, 3 and 4 were the three primary coverages that the Seminoles faced in the ACC. They were trained to key the free safety to determine coverage. The depth of the safety is a primary factor in reading coverage. If two split safeties are deployed deep the de- fense is usually in Cover 2. However, one high safety is not read as quickly. One safety in the middle of the field pre-snap could be Cover 3 Zone, with the free safety and corners responsible for deep thirds. Or it could reveal Cover 1 Man, with one safety in the deep middle. Being that there could be variations in defensive alignments from team-to-team, it is important to study film of an upcoming opponent to facilitate an accurate read of the free safety’s depth on different coverages. Craig taught his FSU quarterbacks to not be concerned with the defense shift- ing pre-snap or overloading strong or weak side. Once the ball was snapped, FSU’s quarterback read one player, on one side of the field, for all pass plays. That one player could have been a strong safety or linebacker, but was most-often a corner- back. The leverage of a cornerback on a receiver is a key to reading coverage post- snap. If the corner is aligned head-up, seven yards off the receiver, and back ped- dles at the snap, he’s probably in zone coverage. A corner that plays a receiver tight with inside leverage is usually in man-to-man coverage. Florida State quarterbacks were taught progression and reaction as two sepa- rate functions. Progression is reading the coverage on the first, second and third routes. Reaction is the quarterback’s ability to exploit a particular situation he sees in his progression. For example, a pass defender’s shoulders can dictate if a route is open or not, Craig instructed. If the angle of a defender’s shoulders is turned in- ward, an out route will be open. If the shoulder angle is outward, an inside route such as a slant will probably work. And if a defender is facing the quarterback and his shoulders are square, Craig instructs his QBs to throw the ball over his head. The defender won’t have time to turn around, run to the ball, and then make a play. If a defender had his shoulders turned at an angle to defend both a deep and a mid-range route such as a ‘dig,’ FSU’s quarterback threw the dig, even though it appeared to be defended. The rea- son, Craig teaches, is because once a defender sees a QB release the ball, he’ll take a few steps back to defend a deep route first, before reacting to a shorter pass. An- other key to reacting to coverage is alignment. If a defensive back is standing out- side of the hash, an inside route probably works best. If the defender is on the hash, the quarterback knows to go with an outside route. In addition to knowing how to key the free safety to determine coverage, or the leverage of a corner, Craig identified dead spots in a defense for the quarterback to exploit. For Cover 2, which is a zone defense with man-to-man, trap, max and fire-zone variations, there are seven Dead Spots for a quarterback to find an open receiver. Dead Spot One is in the left flat outside of the hash mark. Spots Two and Three are in the middle of the field, between the linebacker and safeties. Spot Four is the right flat, outside the hash (the opposite of Dead Spot One). Dead Spot Five is the left deep section of the field, outside the hash; Spot Six is the deep middle; and dead Spot Seven is outside the hash on the deep right side of the field, similar to Dead Spot Five.

[ativabiz01]

Mobile Application Development Agency In Miami

In today's digital world, Mobile Application Development Agency In Miami' success. Whether you are a startup or an established enterprise, having a mobile app can significantly enhance your reach and customer engagement. However, developing a high-quality mobile app requires expertise and experience.

This is where a reliable mobile application development agency in Florida can be your ideal partner. In this blog post, we will discuss five essential tips to consider when choosing a mobile application development agency in Florida. Evaluate Their Portfolio: Before finalizing an agency, thoroughly review their portfolio of previous projects.

Look for diversity in their work, including different industries, app types, and designs. By assessing their portfolio, you can get a clear understanding of their capabilities and the quality of their work. Additionally, consider checking the user experience and interface of their apps to ensure they align with your expectations.

Check Client Testimonials and Reviews: Client testimonials and reviews provide valuable insights into the agency's reputation and client satisfaction. Look for testimonials on their website or ask for references to contact directly. Additionally, browse online platforms, such as Clutch or Google reviews, to gather unbiased feedback from previous clients.

Pay attention to the overall satisfaction level, communication skills, adherence to timelines, and post-launch support mentioned in the testimonials. Technical Expertise and Skills: Mobile application development requires a strong technical foundation.

When selecting an agency, ensure that their team possesses the necessary skills and expertise to handle your project. Consider factors such as the agency's experience with various platforms (iOS, Android), proficiency in programming languages (Swift, Kotlin, React Native), and knowledge of emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) or machine learning (ML). A technically competent team can deliver a feature-rich and well-performing mobile app.

[dipulb3]

What we know about the Florida raid that led to 2 FBI agents' deaths

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/what-we-know-about-the-florida-raid-that-led-to-2-fbi-agents-deaths/

What we know about the Florida raid that led to 2 FBI agents' deaths

David Huber, 55, of Sunrise, died in Tuesday’s incident, but authorities have not said what led to his death.

Killed were Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, the FBI said.

Here’s what we know about the incident so far:

What happened during the shootout

A team of law enforcement officers went to the Water Terrace apartment complex, an upscale gated community outside Fort Lauderdale, to serve the search warrant Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The FBI hasn’t said much about the warrant, other than it was ordered by a federal court relating to a case of violent crimes against children.

The FBI Agents Association said the search warrant was related to suspected possession of child pornography.

Sunrise police have said the shooting happened at the apartment complex at 6:04 a.m. Details about the exact sequence of events haven’t been released, but here is a summary of key known developments:

• The person officers were looking for had barricaded himself, Sunrise police spokeswoman Otishia Browning-Smith said.

• The suspect opened fire, Special Agent in Charge George Piro said. Details about who fired first, or what led to the gunfire, weren’t immediately available.

• Alfin, 36, and Schwartzenberger, 43, were shot dead, the FBI said.

• Three other agents were wounded, the FBI said. Two were taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and have been released. The third agent was treated at the scene.

So that the wounded agents could be pulled away, a SWAT vehicle had to be crashed into the building to provide cover, a law enforcement source familiar with the shootout said on condition of anonymity.

The FBI said its Inspection Division is investigating the shooting. “The review process is thorough and objective and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances,” the FBI said.

Crime scene tape was still up Wednesday as FBI agents were still gathering evidence, and the entrance to the apartment complex where the shootout occurred was still being guarded by police.

Alfin’s work helped lead to hundreds of child pornography arrests

Alfin and Schwartzenberger worked at the FBI’s Miami office in a unit that investigates crimes against children. That involves crimes including online predators, sexual abuse, kidnappings and violent attacks.

Alfin, a New York native, had joined the FBI’s Albany office in 2009 before coming to the Miami office in 2017.

And he once played a critical role in an investigation that led to hundreds of child pornography arrests, the FBI has said. In that case, Alfin investigated an online network called Playpen, through which users could “communicate anonymously through ‘hidden service’ websites,” the FBI said in a May 2017 statement.

The investigation led to the arrest and conviction of the man who created the network in 2014 and a takedown of the site itself, the FBI said.

But it also launched “thousands of follow-up investigations,” becoming a case “unprecedented in its scope and reach,” the FBI said.

By May 2017, the investigation had resulted in the arrests of at least 350 people based in the US, the prosecutions of 25 producers of child pornography, the arrests of 51 “hands-on abusers” and the identification or rescue of 55 American children, the FBI said.

Abroad, the investigation led to 548 arrests and the identification or rescue of 296 sexually abused children, the FBI said.

In 2018, federal officials honored Alfin, two assistant US attorneys and a federal trial attorney for their work on the case. At a wider award ceremony held by the Executive Office for US Attorneys in Washington, DC, they received a director’s award for superior performance by a litigative team.

Alfin is quoted in an 2017 FBI statement about the case.

“It’s the same with any criminal violation: As they get smarter, we adapt, we find them,” he said. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game, except it’s not a game. Kids are being abused, and it’s our job to stop that.”

According to federal court documents unrelated to the 2017 case, Alfin said he is “recognized as an expert in federal court in areas relating to computer forensics and the investigation of child exploitation crimes.”

The documents added that he had testified on more than 20 occasions as a witness, across more than 10 federal jurisdictions.

He was married with one child, the FBI said.

Schwartzenberger spent years working to keep kids safe

Schwartzenberger, a Colorado native, had been an agent since 2005 and moved to the Miami bureau from the FBI’s Albuquerque, New Mexico, office 11 years ago.

She worked on cases of crimes against children for more than seven years, the FBI said.

Schwartzenberger recently had a special connection with a Miami middle school, where she gave presentations to students in a law studies magnet program in the last five years.

The school offered its “deepest condolences to her family” and the FBI, and praised her impact on students in a statement posted on Twitter.

“As an FBI agent, Laura taught our students each year about the dangers of social media and much more. She would always say, ‘I feel that coming here and talking about the hard stuff means that I won’t see you guys on my end.’

“With her presentations, students would gain an awareness of online safety, cyberbullying, and experience the evidence response process of an FBI agent.

“She would always answer all the students’ questions directly with care, but with firmness, to always remind them of the real world.”

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wrote that Schwartzenberger “sacrificed her life to protect youth.”

“From speaking to @rmsfalcons students about cyber safety, to fighting crimes against children, @FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger was deeply devoted to her work,” Carvalho posted on Twitter. “Our hearts go out to her family, as well as that of SA Daniel Alfin.”

She is survived by her husband and two children.

On-duty deaths of FBI agents in shootings are rare

Tuesday’s shooting marks the first time since 2008 that an FBI agent was fatally shot on duty.

In that case, Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks was shot and killed while trying to serve an arrest warrant in a drug trafficking case at a home near Pittsburgh.

The Sunrise shooting is similar to another deadly firefight 35 years ago outside Miami that was a turning point in the FBI’s history. On April 11, 1986, two violent bank robbers being pursued by FBI agents opened fire with high-powered firearms, killing two agents and wounding five others before the suspects were killed.

In the aftermath of the shootout, the FBI issued special agents with semi-automatic handguns rather than revolvers, changed its firearms training, and studied the psychological impacts of being shot at, former FBI deputy director John S. Pistole said in 2006.

In 2015, a new federal building in Miramar, Florida, housing the FBI Miami Field Office was dedicated the Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building, named for the two agents who died that day.

How FBI and other officials have reacted

President Joe Biden expressed his condolences to the families of the victims Tuesday.

“My heart aches for the families,” he said. “They put their lives on the line and it’s a hell of a price to pay.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Alfin and Schwartzenberger “exemplified heroism … in defense of their country.”‘

“The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery,” Wray said.

South Florida US Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan said the “tragic events remind us of the bravery of federal agents, who risk their lives to protect our communities and our country.”

“We must never forget that, just as we will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by Special Agents Alfin and Schwartzenberger,” the US attorney’s statement reads.

The FBI Agents Association also offered condolences.

“These agents were working to protect the most vulnerable in our society. FBIAA stands with the agents’ families and pledges our support to them during this difficult time,” President Brian O’Hare said.

Appradab’s Steve Almasy, Josh Campbell, Eric Levenson, Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt and Christina Carrega contributed to this report.

[charlieharry1]

Studies famous what makes an effective fb advert

Facebook advertisements are an vital virtual advertising method to improve your income performance. While carried out effectively, it could be a sport-converting strategy to make your logo Digital Marketing Agency in Southampton    exceptional on-line. However, it's a bit complex to release a facebook advertising campaign. If you do not understand a way to goal your audience successfully, you may now not get the expected outcomes. So in this text, i am going to proportion with you all you need to understand approximately fb commercials. I'm able to also share with you what makes an effective facebook advert in accordance to investigate. How does facebook commercials paintings? They're distinctive components of fb ads, depending on what you need to acquire. You could use it to promote your page, get users to react on your posts, and even use it to sell your internet site. Even though facebook's essential cognizance in recent times is on native commercials and preserving visitors on its internet site, you could still send users in your internet site from facebook in case you apply the proper approach. One of the reasons fb advertisements are popular amongst marketers and brands is that it's specific. It permits you to goal your campaign primarily based on demography, vicinity, profile records, and so forth. For instance, if you are promoting a particular product to bachelors living in miami, u. S.. You may quickly release a facebook marketing campaign the usage of region and demographic. Generally, fb advertisements aren't for each commercial enterprise. And this is one of the motives why this social media advertising marketing campaign every so often fails. Before you use the platform for launching any marketing campaign, do your research to make sure that the network is in alignment with your business model. Not like most different social media structures, users on fb are there to hook up with their buddies and now not locate merchandise. So, the ads' nature is extra of a show than a seek. So, the platform works higher when used to generate needs, no longer to satisfy it. Critical stuff you must realize before you release a facebook advert

fb advertisements aren't like different social media marketing techniques. Before you release facebook advertising campaigns, recall these matters;

 low-friction conversions

in case you want your facebook advertising campaign to achieve success, you need to use low-friction conversions. What this indicates is that your campaign should not be tailor-made in the direction of income. Alternatively, awareness on getting your target audience to carry out a selected non-income movement like signing up for your e-newsletter or e mail list. Permit me come up with a good example. A facebook user who got here to your internet site via clicking on your advertisements wasn't searching out your product. And if you anticipate such someone to buy your product to growth your ads roi, you aren't likely to get such income. Do you realize why? Maximum fb users are fickle and are probable to return to fb if you want them to take on the spot buy action. But in case you stick with non-income conversion like signup for your service, fill out a quick lead form, or submit an electronic mail cope with, you are likely to make income in the long run. How? You may continually upsell such people via e-mail advertising. However it depends on how innovative you are with your emails. Once more, if you are too busy to deal with your e mail marketing sports yourself, you can hire a number of the satisfactory email advertising carrier providers online. If you are frequent on fb, you will see the fb campaigns of manufacturers like groupon, appsumo, fab, and so on. After you click on on their ads, they don't sell whatever to you straight away. All they do is ask in your electronic mail. However they may upsell you with a deal later. And ultimately, you may patronize one in all their services. Enterprise version

you want to analyze your enterprise model and spot if it aligns with facebook commercials. From revel in, the enterprise models that work quality for facebook commercials do not earn sales from ads right now. However they earn it through the years. So, continually look at the larger image whilst going for walks a facebook advert campaign. Don't depend on fb to get one massive purchase. Rather, use it to generate numerous smaller purchases. Strategic methods to target fb commercials

facebook ads are all about focused on. And if you are not concentrated on your advertisements correctly, there may be no way it could attain the predicted end result. Beneath is how you goal users on fb;

 gender

age

hobbies

places

courting popularity

languages

place of work

training

earlier than you release your marketing campaign, examine every of these segments, and target those which are maximum relevant in your best target audience. For instance, in case your present clients are women among the ages of 25 and forty one, you have to base your focused on on age and gender. And if it seems profitable, you could amplify it as a consequence. In addition, place enables you to target customers based totally on the u . S . A ., kingdom, and even zip code which you service. Interest targeting

hobby focused on is one of the handiest fb ads features. However wager what? Marketers often misused it, for this reason no longer getting the desired result. Usually, you've got two options (broad classes and precise interests) to choose from whilst developing a fb advert. If you do not have fb commercials enjoy, you might imagine vast hobby is an efficient manner to reach a bigger target market. However it is now not actual. Vast interest users are extra steeply-priced to acquire and always spend less in comparison to others. For higher consequences, try to avoid wide categories. But, in case you paintings with specific interest focused on, you may target your fb advertisements based at the information on customers' profiles. The records includes; their listed likes and pastimes, the pages they like, the apps they're the use of, etc. You'll always get a high roi in your fb ads marketing campaign whilst you operate particular interest focused on. Once you installation your campaign, the next thing you should do is to write an incredible fb ad copy. Most instances, your ad copy can go a protracted way to convince users to do so. If you assume the method is too complicated, you could rent some of the fine fb advertising organizations online that will help you along with your fb ad campaign. What makes an effective fb ad

facebook is one of the maximum regularly used social media platforms for advertising and marketing campaigns. Daily, numerous brands and man or woman marketers worldwide use the platform to generate more leads, sell their products, and typically improve their backside line. You can use this sort of pinnacle-rated lead capture softwares to seize leads from fb ads. However, the growth within the call for for facebook has made it greater aggressive and luxurious. If you aren't strategic approximately your facebook advertisements, you could just be throwing your cash away. Here is a new file from adespresso and hubspot. The file analyzed over 100,000 fb commercials from one thousand distinctive groups. The essence of the analysis is to test what works best on facebook. Most famous commercials

Read Also:-  Top 12 free SOaudit report tools you must have to try

the 111,800 fb commercials analyzed, 74. Eight% have been hyperlink advertisements, 15. 1% video advertisements, eight. 2% photograph advertisements, and 1. 9% were other sorts of ads not precise. From the facts, you may see that the majority select "paid post link ads." paid publish link commercials are a type of facebook advertisements campaign in that you put up a link with text, and a preview is generated primarily based to your website. If your marketing campaign's reason is to pressure clicks in your website, that is a perfect campaign for you. However, picture ads aren't popular amongst fb advertisers due to the fact you cannot include a cta button. It is essentially to tell the audience. However if the purpose of your advertising and marketing marketing campaign is to have interaction your target audience, no longer simply send clicks in your website. Video ads are the ideal preference for you. That explains why they're turning into very popular nowadays. What must be the correct length of your ad headline? There are lots of critiques about the precise period of a facebook ad. A few human beings think it should be brief and appealing. Even as others consider it need to be lengthy sufficient to highlight your merchandise' blessings. However, the industry common for a headline period is four words. Of direction, it is able to no longer be sufficient to get your message throughout. But it's going to inspire interest and clutch attention; this may absolutely get humans to click to research more. Show sentiment or impartial? The sentimental evaluation changed into achieved on the 111,800 ads analyzed via adespresso and hubspot, and it turned into determined that maximum marketers use slightly fantastic and impartial tones for facebook commercials. There may be several motives for this - it is able to be that neural ads work higher on fb, or advertisers are adopting danger sensitivities strategies. Once more, studies show that fb customers tend to remember emotional content material without difficulty. So, it's encouraged you break up a 70:20:10 between secure, moderately volatile, and without a doubt risky content material. Furthermore, you can use arguable content due to its ability to generate huge quantities of publicity. Whilst used strategically, it may be very powerful. But don't be too extreme with debatable  Digital Marketing Agencies in Southampton content. In any other case, the complete campaign could emerge as counterproductive. Add your area url

fb advertising and marketing campaigns are an amazing opportunity to sell your logo and domain. Maximum fb advertisers use this method to create cognizance for their manufacturers. And 11% of advertisers use the textual content alternatives at the area url to similarly consist of text or tagline. This could have a wonderful effect in your ad. However 25% of advertisers don't encompass area on their advertisements. Lamentably, that is a terrible mistake that could make you lose out from incomes opportunities.

[workfromhomeyoutuber]

HocNest: Remote Contract Senior Rails / React

Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale URL: http://hocnest.com

We are looking for a senior full stack engineer with Ruby on Rails and React experience to join our team. HocNest is based out of South Florida (Miami / Fort Lauderdale). However, the entire company is distributed. We believe team members should spend less time commuting and more time with their families.  HocNest is a product studio specializing in full-stack engineering, design, and product strategy.  We partner with startups and corporations to help them deliver scalable solutions. We also build and launch our own products. This is a contract opportunity that can be worked part-time. If you are only interested in FT but you think you'd be a great fit, please still reach out!

Qualifications - Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, MIS/CIS or equivalent work experience - 6+ years of professional Ruby on Rails experience - 2+ years of React experience - Advanced skills in SQL and database design - Proficiency in: JavaScript, React, React/Redux 

Nice to have's - Experience with Elasticsearch, AMQP, Redis - Cross platform mobile development with React Native - Experience with Docker in production environments.  We are accepting applications until May 4th. All submissions before the deadline are evaluated equally. 

Please apply via email at jobs@hocnest.com. Send us your resume and include anything else you think we should see.  Please, No Agencies. Job Types: Part-time, Contract

To apply: jobs@hocnest.com

from We Work Remotely: Remote jobs in design, programming, marketing and more https://ift.tt/34J8RgC from Work From Home YouTuber Job Board Blog https://ift.tt/2KbUUhE

[subcodevs0]

React Native App development in toronto

SUBCODEVS is a prominent React Native App Development Company in US Having adeptness with most recent web and mobile app technology. It is one of the rapidly growing programming language and popularly adopted by developers all across the globe. We provide the best features to deliver cutting-edge mobile app and React Native app development solutions. AT SUBCODEVS, our proficient team of React developers comprises in-depth knowledge to develop intellectual mobile apps best suits to drive your business, competently. React Native allows code re-usability for mobile as well as web platforms. With reusable components, it makes possible for a hybrid application to render natively just by compiling to native.

[vacationsoup]

New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/falling-iguanas-in-florida/

Falling Iguanas in Florida?

"Falling Iguanas in Florida Tonight" was the weather alert on the evening news yesterday in New Smyrna Beach. The National Weather Service in Miami actually predicted falling iguanas. I am not kidding!

I will say that watching the local news in Florida is entertaining for this Virginia snowbird. You never know what you are going to see. But falling iguanas in the weather forecast?

Raining Iguanas

“Don’t be surprised if you see iguanas falling from the trees tonight as lows drop into the 30s and 40s,” it cautioned. “Brrrr!”

But watching lizards seemingly fall out of the sky is nothing new for Floridians, many of whom are used to seeing the reptiles drop from trees when the temperature dips.

Iguanas climb trees at night to roost, Ron Magill, communications director for Zoo Miami, told The New York Times in 2018. But when there are low temperatures, “they literally shut down, and they can no longer hold on to the trees.”

“Which is why you get this phenomenon in South Florida that it’s raining iguanas,” he said.

Frozen Iguanas are not dead

Iguanas, which can grow to be more than five feet, are not native to South Florida and are susceptible to the cold. Low temperatures can stun the lizards without necessarily killing them, but they can be reanimated by warmer weather.

Even if they look dead as a doornail — they’re gray and stiff — as soon as it starts to heat up and they get hit by the sun rays, it’s this rejuvenation.

Immobilized iguanas might look like iguana popsicles, but they're not really frozen. They can be pretty feisty when they come back to life, as one South Florida man reportedly discovered when he loaded a bunch of cold-stunned iguanas into his car to try and save them.

Invasive Species

Green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are an invasive species in Florida and are not native to our state. The native range of green iguanas extends from Central America to the tropical parts of South America and some eastern Caribbean islands. Learn more about green iguanas.

Green iguanas were first reported in Florida in the 1960s in Hialeah, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne along Miami-Dade County’s southeastern coast. Green iguana populations now stretch along the Atlantic Coast in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties and along the Gulf Coast in Collier and Lee Counties. There have also been reports as far north as Alachua, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River and St. Lucie Counties. In cleared habitats such as canal banks and vacant lots, green iguanas reside in burrows, culverts, drainage pipes and rock or debris piles. South Florida’s extensive man-made canals serve as ideal dispersal corridors to further allow iguanas to colonize new areas.

However, individuals observed in more northern counties are likely escaped or released captive animals and are unlikely to establish populations, as iguanas are not cold hardy.

Green Iguanas in Florida

Male green iguanas can grow to over five feet in length and weigh up to 17 pounds. Females can also reach five feet in length but usually do not exceed seven pounds.

Green iguanas can live on the ground, in shrubs, or in trees in a variety of habitats including suburban developments, urban areas, small towns, and agricultural areas. They are excellent swimmers, tolerating both salt and freshwater and can submerge themselves for up to four hours at a time. Green iguanas feed on a wide variety of vegetation, including shoots, leaves, blossoms and fruits of plants such as nickerbean, firebush, jasmine, orchids, roses, Washington fan palms, hibiscuses, garden greens, squashes and melons. Their tendency to eat ornamental plants can make them a nuisance to homeowners. Adult green iguanas can also feed on bird eggs and dead animals. Juvenile green iguanas feed on vegetation, insects and tree snails.

Nuisance, Damage, Health Threat

Green iguanas cause damage to residential and commercial landscape vegetation and are often considered a nuisance by property owners. Iguanas are attracted to trees with foliage or flowers, most fruits (except citrus) and almost any vegetable. Some green iguanas cause damage to infrastructure by digging burrows that erode and collapse sidewalks, foundations, seawalls, berms and canal banks. Green iguanas may also leave droppings on docks, moored boats, seawalls, porches, decks, pool platforms and inside swimming pools. Green iguanas can also transmit the infectious bacterium Salmonella to humans through contact with water or surfaces contaminated by their feces.

Are Iguanas Dangerous?

Iguanas do bite, especially if threatened. With his powerful jaws and sharp teeth, an iguana can deliver an extremely dangerous bite Male iguanas in particular can be very territorial and aggressive, presenting a threat to humans and pets. Learn more about biting iguanas.

An iguana has anywhere between 80 to 120 serrated teeth in his jaws. While not all iguanas indicate when they feel threatened, a common sign is the emergence of the dewlap, a flap of skin under his chin that inflates with air to make him look bigger and more intimidating. The pupils of the eyes contract and dilate as the iguana calculates the distance between himself and the threat. When his mouth opens, he is indicating that he is ready to bite. An iguana can move quickly and attack before a human has a chance to react - with or without warning signs.

If you leave iguanas alone, they usually will not approach you or threaten you or your pets. However, if you corner them, they may bite, scratch, or whip you with their tail in self-defense.

Both males and females are territorial and will defend the trees they live in and the area around them--including your entire backyard. If you dispose of an iguana in your backyard, another will come to take its place.

Iguanas can also be a danger to pets if a pet bites the iguana. Bacteria on the iguanas crusty skin has lead to botulism poisoning and death to dogs in Florida.

Menu at Mio Restaurant in Washington DC

Eating Iguana

Iguana is a very lean protein, and not uncommon in Central and South American diets. Care must be used to prevent Salmonella poisoning.

Falling Iguanas in Florida

No, it's not raining men, it's raining iguanas here in Florida when the temperatures dip into the 30's and 40's. Which isn't that often thank goodness. The average temperature in New Smyrna Beach in January is 71. Just last week, it was the mid 80's. Now it's raining iguanas....

[uomo-accattivante]

[donalsgirl]

Irish Independent interview with Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac on the Coen brothers: 'They've been like godfathers to me'

Oscar Isaac tells our film critic about his special relationship with the Coen brothers and why he wished he had been able to film some of his Star Wars scenes in Ireland

Three years ago, Oscar Isaac was an obscure actor in his mid-30s who didn't seem to be going anywhere very fast. Small parts in films like Che, Robin Hood and Madonna's disastrous Wallis Simpson biopic W.E. hadn't attracted much notice, and he was still auditioning for theatre plays and TV shows when the Coen brothers asked him to try out for their 2013 film Inside Llewyn Davis.

A wry drama set in 1960s Greenwich Village and telling the story of a struggling folk musician, it was a role tailor-made for Issac, who's a musician himself and still regularly performs. He got the part, was nominated for a Golden Globe and suddenly every casting agent in Hollywood was interested in him.

He's chosen his subsequent projects well. After an eye-catching turn in Hossein Amini's underrated Cold War thriller The Two Faces of January, Issac co-starred with Jessica Chastain in JC Chandor's gripping 1970s thriller A Most Violent Year, giving a performance so intense some likened him to a young Al Pacino.

He played a creepy inventor obsessed with creating the perfect sentient robot in Alex Garland's beautifully orchestrated science-fiction chiller Ex Machina, then turned up in the most celebrated sci-fi franchise of all, starring opposite Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a daring rebel fighter pilot who takes Daisy Ridley's character under his wing.

He has had luck, which he acknowledges, but also the courage to tackle demanding roles, and his latest film plumbs the horrors of the Armenian genocide during World War One. In Northern Irish director Terry George's drama The Promise, which opens here next Friday, Isaac plays an ambitious young Armenian from a small country town who arrives in Istanbul to study medicine on the eve of World War One. The Ottoman Empire enters that conflict with typical bluster, but within a year, the Turkish government begins a covert attempt to annihilate its Armenian minority. "To my great shame, I didn't know much at all about it," Isaac tells me. "I'd heard about it vaguely, but had no idea of the scale so when I read more, I was surprised, shocked, appalled, moved, and wondered why it was so unknown. It's so close in a way, and yet so on the cusp of being lost to history so I felt like it was extra special to be part of a film being made about this subject, you know?"

His character, Mikael, arrives in Istanbul with high hopes for a future that's about to be taken away from him in the most brutal and unexpected way. But he's no saint himself: he's engaged to a girl from his village whose dowry is helping pay his college fees, but falls in love with a glamorous society beauty played by Charlotte Le Bon.

"I think the hope in creating these fictional characters," Isaac says, "and this love story in the middle of it all, was that they're very relatable things.

"The idea of coming from a small town and wanting to go to the big city and make something of yourself, and you fall in love with someone that maybe you shouldn't, these kind of things happen to people every day all around the world.

"And then within that, to have those things stripped away by these horrible events, I think that is hopefully what allows people to make parallels to what's happening now. It becomes not abstract, but very personal.

"Mikael just kind of gets buffeted by the winds of fortune, and he reacts to them in much the same way the average person would. And it's just a reminder that things like this are happening right now."

The Promise is unlikely to get a release in Turkey, however, as Ankara has never formally acknowledged that the genocide happened, or taken any responsibility for it. "It's unfortunate," Isaac says, "and it's a tactic we still see today with a lot of governments, you know, admit nothing, deny everything."

The Armenians had always been second-class citizens in the Ottoman Empire, despised for their Christian faith and distinctive customs, but in the spring of 1915, while the rest of the world was distracted by the Great War, the Turkish authorities began a covert and systematic campaign of terror and repression that seemed consciously designed to wipe the Armenians off the face of the earth.

Able-bodied men were either massacred on the spot or slowly worked to death in forced labour camps, while women, children and the elderly were marched into the Syrian deserts to die. Between 1915 and the early 1920s, it's estimated that about half of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian population, or 1.5 million people, were wiped out - and many others fled to the US and elsewhere to survive.

In approaching this enormous, daunting subject, Issac tried to focus on his own character first because "that's where everything starts for me".

"I needed to figure out what does he have to know, and what do I need to know about living in a small village in the Ottoman Empire around this time, what of the relationships between Turks and Armenians - what was it that went so horribly wrong?

"The scene that hooked me into the project in the first place was the one in the forest when Mikael finds his family and his entire village slaughtered: every time I would read that, it was very moving for me, so then it was like, well, what will allow that to happen. And so I listened to recordings of the survivors of the genocide recounting their stories, where they'd talk about their grandmothers being bayoneted to death by the gendarmes, babies being left under trees and marching out in the desert to die of thirst.

"All that kind of stuff you have swirling around inside your head so then when you're in that moment, and you see those people, you don't have to stretch so hard, you know."

The shoot, he says, was tough going. "I think there was something like 18, 19 different cities and towns that we shot in throughout Spain, in all kinds of conditions, and it was exhausting. It was one of the most challenging films I've been a part of on a physical level, but also emotionally."

But his performance holds the film together, and demonstrates once again why Issac is one of the most sought after leading men in Hollywood.

Handsome but not especially tall, Oscar has a kind of everyman quality, and an ability to move easily between very different types of role.

Raised in Miami and trained at the exclusive Juilliard School, he made his professional acting debut at 19 in a forgettable film called Illtown. TV and theatre work followed, and in 2005 he played Joseph in Catherine Hardwicke's controversial biblical drama Nativity Story. But the 2000s were slow for the young actor: he was almost too versatile, too good at disappearing into forgettable character roles. Well-received appearances in Robin Hood (as the villainous King John) and Nicolas Winding Refn's thriller Drive were a step in the right direction, but it was the Coen brothers who really changed everything for Isaac.

The Coen brothers had a very hard time casting the role of Llewyn Davis, the earnest folk singer whose attempts to breakthrough in early 1960s Greenwich Village will be entirely overshadowed by the arrival of Bob Dylan. In fact, according to Ethan Coen, they were "screwed until Oscar showed up".

The character of Davis was partly inspired by the 1960s singer Dave Van Ronk, and Isaac's initial audition involved performing one of his songs.

"I sent them a video of me playing a Van Ronk song," he recalls with a smile, "and based off of that, they decided to bring me in. So I auditioned in front of them, and about three weeks later I found out that I'd got the part."

The role might have been written for him, combining the kind of intense character he excels in playing with plenty of singing and guitar playing.

"It was the crowning achievement for me that I was able to do that," he says, "not only because it involved all of the things that I love, but because out of that, I developed a friendship with Joel and Ethan. They've been kind of like godfathers for me with everything I've done post-Llewyn, and it's such a special film for me.

"Doing Inside Llewyn Davis opened up so many opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise, and I've been working more or less non-stop ever since."

Oscar's ascent continues apace: later this year he'll star in the George Clooney/Coen brothers comedy Suburbicon, and after that he'll resume his collaboration with Alex Garland in the eagerly anticipated sci-fi thriller Annihilation. And then there's the little matter of The Last Jedi, the next instalment of the Star Wars franchise that's out at Christmas and is likely to be the biggest film of the year.

"My whole family were huge Star Wars fans," he says, "so doing the first one was a surreal experience. Unfortunately, I didn't get to shoot in Ireland for this one. I've never been, but I'd really love to."

Source

[orbemnews]

What we know about the Florida raid that led to 2 FBI agents' deaths David Huber, 55, of Sunrise, died in Tuesday’s incident, but authorities have not said what led to his death. Killed were Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, the FBI said. Here’s what we know about the incident so far: What happened during the shootout A team of law enforcement officers went to the Water Terrace apartment complex, an upscale gated community outside Fort Lauderdale, to serve the search warrant Tuesday morning, authorities said. The FBI hasn’t said much about the warrant, other than it was ordered by a federal court relating to a case of violent crimes against children. The FBI Agents Association said the search warrant was related to suspected possession of child pornography. Sunrise police have said the shooting happened at the apartment complex at 6:04 a.m. Details about the exact sequence of events haven’t been released, but here is a summary of key known developments: • The person officers were looking for had barricaded himself, Sunrise police spokeswoman Otishia Browning-Smith said. • The suspect opened fire, Special Agent in Charge George Piro said. Details about who fired first, or what led to the gunfire, weren’t immediately available. • Alfin, 36, and Schwartzenberger, 43, were shot dead, the FBI said. • Three other agents were wounded, the FBI said. Two were taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and have been released. The third agent was treated at the scene. So that the wounded agents could be pulled away, a SWAT vehicle had to be crashed into the building to provide cover, a law enforcement source familiar with the shootout said on condition of anonymity. The FBI said its Inspection Division is investigating the shooting. “The review process is thorough and objective and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances,” the FBI said. Crime scene tape was still up Wednesday as FBI agents were still gathering evidence, and the entrance to the apartment complex where the shootout occurred was still being guarded by police. Alfin’s work helped lead to hundreds of child pornography arrests Alfin and Schwartzenberger worked at the FBI’s Miami office in a unit that investigates crimes against children. That involves crimes including online predators, sexual abuse, kidnappings and violent attacks. Alfin, a New York native, had joined the FBI’s Albany office in 2009 before coming to the Miami office in 2017. And he once played a critical role in an investigation that led to hundreds of child pornography arrests, the FBI has said. In that case, Alfin investigated an online network called Playpen, through which users could “communicate anonymously through ‘hidden service’ websites,” the FBI said in a May 2017 statement. The investigation led to the arrest and conviction of the man who created the network in 2014 and a takedown of the site itself, the FBI said. But it also launched “thousands of follow-up investigations,” becoming a case “unprecedented in its scope and reach,” the FBI said. By May 2017, the investigation had resulted in the arrests of at least 350 people based in the US, the prosecutions of 25 producers of child pornography, the arrests of 51 “hands-on abusers” and the identification or rescue of 55 American children, the FBI said. Abroad, the investigation led to 548 arrests and the identification or rescue of 296 sexually abused children, the FBI said. In 2018, federal officials honored Alfin, two assistant US attorneys and a federal trial attorney for their work on the case. At a wider award ceremony held by the Executive Office for US Attorneys in Washington, DC, they received a director’s award for superior performance by a litigative team. Alfin is quoted in an 2017 FBI statement about the case. “It’s the same with any criminal violation: As they get smarter, we adapt, we find them,” he said. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game, except it’s not a game. Kids are being abused, and it’s our job to stop that.” According to federal court documents unrelated to the 2017 case, Alfin said he is “recognized as an expert in federal court in areas relating to computer forensics and the investigation of child exploitation crimes.” The documents added that he had testified on more than 20 occasions as a witness, across more than 10 federal jurisdictions. He was married with one child, the FBI said. Schwartzenberger spent years working to keep kids safe Schwartzenberger, a Colorado native, had been an agent since 2005 and moved to the Miami bureau from the FBI’s Albuquerque, New Mexico, office 11 years ago. She worked on cases of crimes against children for more than seven years, the FBI said. Schwartzenberger recently had a special connection with a Miami middle school, where she gave presentations to students in a law studies magnet program in the last five years. The school offered its “deepest condolences to her family” and the FBI, and praised her impact on students in a statement posted on Twitter. “As an FBI agent, Laura taught our students each year about the dangers of social media and much more. She would always say, ‘I feel that coming here and talking about the hard stuff means that I won’t see you guys on my end.’ “With her presentations, students would gain an awareness of online safety, cyberbullying, and experience the evidence response process of an FBI agent. “She would always answer all the students’ questions directly with care, but with firmness, to always remind them of the real world.” Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wrote that Schwartzenberger “sacrificed her life to protect youth.” “From speaking to @rmsfalcons students about cyber safety, to fighting crimes against children, @FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger was deeply devoted to her work,” Carvalho posted on Twitter. “Our hearts go out to her family, as well as that of SA Daniel Alfin.” She is survived by her husband and two children. On-duty deaths of FBI agents in shootings are rare Tuesday’s shooting marks the first time since 2008 that an FBI agent was fatally shot on duty. In that case, Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks was shot and killed while trying to serve an arrest warrant in a drug trafficking case at a home near Pittsburgh. The Sunrise shooting is similar to another deadly firefight 35 years ago outside Miami that was a turning point in the FBI’s history. On April 11, 1986, two violent bank robbers being pursued by FBI agents opened fire with high-powered firearms, killing two agents and wounding five others before the suspects were killed. In the aftermath of the shootout, the FBI issued special agents with semi-automatic handguns rather than revolvers, changed its firearms training, and studied the psychological impacts of being shot at, former FBI deputy director John S. Pistole said in 2006. In 2015, a new federal building in Miramar, Florida, housing the FBI Miami Field Office was dedicated the Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building, named for the two agents who died that day. How FBI and other officials have reacted President Joe Biden expressed his condolences to the families of the victims Tuesday. “My heart aches for the families,” he said. “They put their lives on the line and it’s a hell of a price to pay.” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Alfin and Schwartzenberger “exemplified heroism … in defense of their country.”‘ “The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery,” Wray said. South Florida US Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan said the “tragic events remind us of the bravery of federal agents, who risk their lives to protect our communities and our country.” “We must never forget that, just as we will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by Special Agents Alfin and Schwartzenberger,” the US attorney’s statement reads. The FBI Agents Association also offered condolences. “These agents were working to protect the most vulnerable in our society. FBIAA stands with the agents’ families and pledges our support to them during this difficult time,” President Brian O’Hare said. CNN’s Steve Almasy, Josh Campbell, Eric Levenson, Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt and Christina Carrega contributed to this report. Source link Orbem News #Agents #deaths #FBI #FBIagentskilledinFloridashooting:Whatweknow-CNN #Florida #Led #raid #us

[wemahboob-blog]

What Digital Planning is Not

A few days ago, I was chatting with a former colleague in San Francisco, California - he works in the planning department of a prominent advertising agency in Lagos, and was vacationing in the U.S. for the summer. Naturally, our gist had revolved around current events and trends in the Nigerian media and advertising industry, especially given the country's poor representation at the recently concluded 57th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

He revealed how his agency was still trying to come to terms with successfully integrating digital offerings in their brand proposals to clients. Marketers were not buying these 'digital recommendations', and had told the agency to stick to what they knew best - strategic implementation that was focused on the utilization of traditional media channels - TV, print, radio, and in-store media. One client in particular, had explained their position was borne out of a research they had conducted recently; to gauge the impact of digital advertising on consumers, and that only a fraction of the target market in the research poll had reacted to online advertising. Fewer still had gone on to purchase a product or recommend it based on some digital influences.

I had probed further to understand what the issues were, and was shocked to find out that in this time and age of prospers, conversations, engagement, social inter activism, and digital ecosystems, some agencies and clients still don't get it. The blame went to the agency because they were supposed to act as change agents for marketers, consumers, and the industry, and yet, they were proffering outdated digital models, and exporting platforms and concepts that were not resonating with consumers in the Nigerian market.

They have to understand that in the industrialized world, and supposedly, digitally developed countries, agencies and marketers are still trying to cut their teeth in this space. The digital world is continually evolving, and moving at a pace faster than we are at understanding digital natives [the internet generation that grew up surrounded by digital technologies].

What Digital is not

Digital is not about taking a big idea that was successful some place and localizing the concept for other brands

Digital is not about packaging a cool concept wrapped up as product ideas to sell to clients [no smart client will go for that nor will it have any meaningful impact for their brands]

Digital is not about developing an online presence, Facebook campaign or Twitter app, and expect consumers to love your brand because you have attempted to inhabit their space

Digital is not about websites, or developing cool slogans and images on moving media platforms

Digital is not about setting up a unit with planners, and calling them 'digital strategists', and expecting them to come up with 'digital ideas' for brands

What then is digital? What does digital planning entail?

I do not claim to know all of the answers, as I am still understudying cultural insights, digital planning models, and brand engagement tools that have been used successfully on digital natives in the past five years. However, I know that digital should combine the following:

User insights, design thinking, entertainment, information architecture [IA], social chatter, content strategy, user experience [UX], mobile and data analytics, media and connections planning, and innovative use of offline channels

Simple put: Digital planning is about platform ideas not channel tactics.

Stefan Lander, Global Director of Brand Connections at Nike states:

"The digital world permeates consumers' lives, but they never think of it as technology - it's just another tool of convenience. So rather than viewing it as 'new media' and a vehicle to fire messages at the consumer, we use it to service a need. As we move from passive one-way communications to a two-way conversation, we give our consumer a voice by listening, sharing, and co-creating and, above all, by enabling meaningful solutions."

The whole idea of inter activism and utilization of digital media stems from the notion of offering real value and meaning to people's lives for a longer period of time by creating "tangible and real assets that transcends mediums to an engaging platform that people are eager to own" [Tom Whimper].

Check out the following case studies, and try to understand the mindset of the agencies that developed these award-winning concepts for their clients:

* Taxi - MINI * R/GA - Nike+ * SS+K - MSNBC.com * Tequila/Hong Kong - Levi's World * Far far - Diesel [Heidi's] * GT - Microsoft [Big Shadow] * Kurt Dunn & Associates - Lincoln [Dreams] * Kookaburra Goteborg Sweden - Wrangler Blue Bell Jeans * Mobile Dreams Factory Madrid - IKEA * Crisping Porter + Bogus - Burger King [Subservient Chicken]

Wrangler Blue Bell Jeans

IKEA interactive Catalog

Nike Plus

From the above case studies [including works researched in the past year from agencies in Johannesburg, London, Paris, Miami, Hong Kong, Brussels and Sydney, Australia], and ongoing conversations had with some marketers [Nokia, VW, Charles Schwa, HP], I believe we have not yet scratched the surface. We are going about it wrongly, and we need the support of clients in the industry to make any headway.

Digital Planning goes beyond planners who get it sitting down in an intelligent hub, crafting proposals and partnering with media vendors that have purchased rights to already existing digital models, and packaging them as innovative, ground-breaking concepts for clients. And they wonder why clients don't fall over themselves to utilize their ideas?

[thisdaynews]

A rap legend ripped Kamala’s marriage to a white man. Then she won him over.

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/a-rap-legend-ripped-kamalas-marriage-to-a-white-man-then-she-won-him-over/

A rap legend ripped Kamala’s marriage to a white man. Then she won him over.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

2020 Elections

The California senator has a ways to go to win over African American voters. This is the story of how she converted one prominent voice.

Luther “Luke” Campbell, the former 2 Live Crew frontman and “original bad boy of hip-hop,” absolutely torched Kamala Harris a few weeks after she announced her bid for president.

Writing in the Miami New Times, Campbell argued many blue-collar African Americans, especially men, had made up their minds not to vote for the onetime prosecutor. He lumped her in with politicians who have denied defendants rehabilitation and targeted innocent people.

Story Continued Below

And in a riff that critics slammed as sexist, Campbell questioned Harris’ marriage to a white man. He even suggested she used a romantic relationship with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to advance her career.

“Like everyone else, black voters want help from one of their own,” Campbell wrote, slipping in that Harris’ mother was from India. “The Bushes made sure their people got oil money. Bill Clinton let the telecommunications industry gobble up small radio and TV stations. And Donald Trump is looking out for his developer buddies through a tax cut and opportunity zones that gentrify minority neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Harris has let black people know they can’t count on her.”

So it was more than a little curious when Campbell announced very publicly he’d changed his mind. In an Instagram video last week, he said he and Harris had recently talked on the phone about her record and presidential priorities, from gun control to the rehabilitation programs she started. Campbell said he wanted to determine whether she’s a “real sister.”

“I went back and looked deeper at the record,” Campbell said in an interview with POLITICO.

But the story of Campbell’s about-face isn’t so simple: It’s a window into how Harris is working to allay skepticism of her among African Americans — particularly black men wary of her background in law enforcement — and of how far she has to go to make inroads with a critical constituency that Joe Biden so far is dominating in the polls.

Harris and her surrogates routinely reach out to black influencers like Campbell, in most cases before they might publicly air any concerns. The campaign at times dispatches its chairman, the candidate’s sister, Maya Harris, whose background in criminal justice reform and close relationship with the senator help provide insight only she could.

That Campbell could make the unexpected turn gives hope to an underlying theory Harris advisers have: that her courtroom experience will prove more of an asset than an anchor. But people on the outside involved in the discussions with Campbell stress that his hesitation underscores the work Harris must do to introduce herself while fleshing out her motives as California’s attorney general and the district attorney of San Francisco.

“She obviously has bona fides in certain parts of the black community: She’s an HBCU graduate, an AKA. She is a black woman in every sense of the word,” said Tiffany Cross, founder and managing editor of the Beat DC, a newsletter on the intersection of politics, policy and people of color, referring to Harris’ time at Howard University and in the oldest African American sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.

“But the black community is not a monolith,” Cross added. “In certain parts of the black community, HBCUs and AKAs just don’t resonate. And, when people only hear whispers that you were the prosecutor who locked up black men, that’s something that’s an uphill climb. The campaign is trying to combat it, and trying to address it, but they have a long way to go.”

To Harris, Campbell represents a hard-to-reach demographic she’ll need to convince. Campbell, whose raw lyrics and videos with scantily clad women put him at the center of free speech fights decades ago, calls it the “silent majority” that powered Barack Obama.

Campbell’s evolution on Harris unfolded over many months. It started with calls from a surrogate and ended with Harris herself. In between, the rapper said he heard from a Florida congresswoman who endorsed Harris. He got beat up in testy interviews and at home: His wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law are AKAs. He said they all really like Harris.

***

Campbell’s New Times column landed online like a thunderclap. Symone Sanders, then a free-agent Democratic strategist who later took a job with Biden, essentially told Campbell to shut up.

“Uncle Luke is no political mastermind or strategist,” Sanders tweeted at the time. “Why do black men keep popping up with their unsolicited opinions about Kamala Harris?”

But Cross, who brought up Campbell’s piece on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show, gave it more credence. In an interview, she said critics need to consider that Campbell is viewing Harris through the lens of black men who are disproportionately affected by the justice system.

Behind the scenes, Harris surrogates were treating the put-downs seriously. Bakari Sellers, a former state lawmaker from South Carolina, immediately reached out to Campbell. Democratic activists have said Campbell is a respected and even feared voice in Florida politics and has an extensive following among middle-aged African American men nationally.

“He’s someone that you want on your side,” Sellers said when asked why he took it upon himself. “Luke can have the conversations that you can’t have.”

Days after connecting with Campbell, Sellers appeared as a guest on the musician’s podcast. Campbell still seemed indifferent toward Harris, even after Sellers touted her advocacy for women and children who suffered from abuse.

Then, last month, thousands of African American journalists arrived in Miami for the National Association of Black Journalists conference. Campbell sat for an interview with Cross. She brought up his column about Harris, noting a lot of people considered it sexist.

“He was like, ‘Oh, God. Here we go,’” Cross recalled.

In his piece, Campbell had taken issue with Harris’ marriage to Doug Emhoff, describing him as “a rich white lawyer.” He also called her a “mistress” of Brown, “a powerful black man.”

Cross wanted to know when he became the moral authority on relationships.

“I mean, should we revisit ‘As Nasty As They Wanna Be,’ and all the albums and things you put out about women?” Cross asked. She said it was fair game to probe Harris’ record, but the personal shots went too far.

When it was over, she texted a contact at the Harris campaign. Cross felt like Campbell was open to persuasion.

“It wasn’t combative, but he didn’t have a counterpoint to a lot of the things I raised with him,” she said.

Campbell did another long interview at the Miami event, this one with The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill, who previously had Harris on her show. Late in the podcast, the senator came up again. Hill argued Harris had created one of the most progressive prisonerreentry programs in the country. Hill also told Campbell he should pay attention to Biden for not apologizing for his tough-on-crime record.

Campbell’s aversion to Harris was melting.

“Out of all the candidates, I really like her the most,” he eventually told Hill. But Harris needs to overcome the perception of being a powerful black woman who went after black men to prove herself, he said. On the show, Campbell mimicked black politicians who avoid advocating a black agenda.

“I get so sick of that shit. ‘Oh, I’m for everybody,’” he said. “No, you black. You need to be for us.”

Hill wrapped with a promise to her listeners: “Kamala fans,” she said, “I got him. As soon as we stop taping this podcast, I got Luke. I’ma bring him over. Don’t worry about him.”

By the time Harris reached out to Campbell, on Aug. 15, the previous conversations had left such an impression that he’d come around to her.

Campbell told POLITICO Harris talked about her reentry initiative to lower recidivism among low-level drug offenders. She said she wants to change how credit scores are calculated to boost black homeownership. He told her he supports allowing law-abiding people to keep guns for protection. Harris volunteered that she has a .45-caliber gun herself — for protection, Campbell said.

The fact that Harris came to him even after his personal attacks made a big impression.

“That got me more than anything. That I could write all those tough words … that I could say what I did on those interviews, and she’s woman enough to say, ‘Let’s have a conversation,’” he said. “Most men, they take it personal, take their little toy and they go sit down.”

Before deciding on the endorsement, Campbell said he kept reflecting on the first Democratic debates, thinking who could really take on Trump. Biden, he said, is too old. Bernie Sanders “is just going to go up there and start screaming.” He believes Elizabeth Warren reacted “in a little fragile way” by releasing a DNA test to prove claims to Native American ancestry. Her support for reparations for descendants of slaves didn’t help, either. “We as African Americans know that’s not going to happen,” he said.

And Campbell said he doesn’t think Cory Booker’s message is resonating: “He gives us a black history lesson every time he talks.”

So, it’s Harris.

“I’m a man,” Campbell said. “I can say I made a mistake.”

Read More

[ntrending]

Florida is a preview of our climate change future

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/florida-is-a-preview-of-our-climate-change-future/

Florida is a preview of our climate change future

The Florida Problem: A Special Report. Struggling crops. Salty aquifers. Invading wildlife. Piles of dead fish. The Sunshine State feels the squeeze of environmental change on its beaches, farms, wetlands, and cities. But what afflicts the peninsula predicts the perils that will strike north and west of Apalachicola, and so it demands our attention. If Florida is in trouble, then so are we all.

Overcrowding (Popular Science/)

Making room for everyone

Elizabeth Fleming, Senior Florida Representative of Defenders of Wildlife. As told to Kaitlin Sullivan.

Florida is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Over the past 30 years, the population—up by nearly 2.5 million since 2010—has spurred developers to convert forests and wetlands into suburbs, airports, and universities. These new hardscapes, which are most prevalent in Collier County on the southwestern shore, threaten biodiversity, increase flood risk, and squeeze endangered species like the Florida panther into tight quarters with humans. As a conservationist, I’ve been fighting for years to protect the cats’ territory so their numbers can expand.

Until the mid-20th century, the public saw the wildcats as vicious predators, so the state issued a $5-per-head bounty. Their tally dwindled as low as 20; today, a recovering pride of about 230 lives on the southern tip of the state. But as Florida grows, developers and the government consider where to put people, not panthers. On the Gulf side, suburban blocks abut the wilderness. The planning is so poor that I’ve seen big-cat crossing signs between Walmarts and subdivisions; it’s no surprise that cars are the species’ top man-made killer.

A patchwork of public and private acreage farther inland might be the only place the cats can go to thrive. But the region isn’t a safe haven: Owners stand to turn a profit by converting it to farms or houses.

In 2005, as predicted, developers started chipping away. First, the government approved the Ave Maria planned community. We responded with a lawsuit, attempting to preserve the area for the panther and 18 other species, including the eastern indigo snake and the sandhill crane. Rather than get held up in court, the contractors wanted to work with us.

We’ve partnered with the 11 landowners to draft a long-term building blueprint for a 152,000-​acre chunk in central Collier. The plan will allow for more roads—but also wildlife bridges. And owners will develop only 45,000 acres, leaving 107,000 acres of open neighborhoodless land.

If we can’t strike the right balance here, the mistake could have ripple effects because some of these property owners also have land elsewhere in Florida. If this isn’t a positive experience for them, they could back out entirely or stop us from protecting other areas crucial to the fragile panther population.

Invasive Species (Popular Science/)

Why did it have to be snakes?

Ian Bartoszek, Wildlife Biologist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. As told to Jessica Boddy.

Burmese pythons have invaded South Florida. In the five years between 2013 and 2018, my team of biologists removed more than 500 snakes (some 12,000 pounds worth) in 55 square miles of wilderness outside Naples, which sits on the Gulf side of the state, not far from the Everglades. The reptiles, primarily the offspring of escaped pets, have made it as far as the Keys and are slithering their way up to the central part of the state, disrupting ecosystems as they go. All our native fauna is on their menu. No one really knows what the future of the Everglades—and beyond—looks like if we can’t get these predators in check. But first, we need to get a sense of how much wildlife they consume as they spread.

The state does send some bounty hunters into the Glades after the snakes, but that won’t solve the problem. We need to know where they are, what they eat, and how much havoc they wreak on food chains so the state can develop a plan to mitigate their impact. Unfortunately, the reptiles are perfectly adapted to Florida’s environment: Their cryptic coloring makes it easy for them to hide among the thick and wild flora. You could be standing next to a 100-pound snake coiled up under the grass and never know it was there. So we’ve enlisted some two dozen male pythons, with surgically implanted homing beacons, to lead us to nests of females.

We euthanize some of the ones we trap and cut them open to catalog their diet. It’s like a crime scene. I’ve gone into one’s stomach and had a dozen bobcat claws spill out into my hands. Inside another we found a gator—and with it the remnants of a turtle and snail that had been the gator’s own supper. We have evidence of the snakes eating more than 24 species of mammals and 36 types of birds.

Seeing them feed is even more gruesome. I once came across a small, 31-pound female devouring a 35-pound fawn. It was hard not to look away, but we had to consider: If an animal of this size is downing such large prey, what could a bigger one do? Burmese pythons can grow to around 20 feet long and weigh in excess of 200 pounds. They even feast on other natural predators. It’s only a matter of time before we find one with an endangered Florida panther in its belly.

Failing Crops (Popular Science/)

A fresh-squeezed nightmare

Gee Roe, Assistant Director of Agriculture Operations at W.G. Roe & Sons farm. As told to Corinne Iozzio.

The 2017-18 season was set to be a bounce-back year for Florida oranges. We’d had almost a decade of decline due to a bacterial infection called citrus greening, which clogs the veins of the plant and stops nutrients from reaching the fruit. But tweaks to irrigation and nutrition seemed to be yielding a healthier crop. Then, Hurricane Irma took the most destructive path possible: through the center of the state, the heart of the industry. My ­family’s been growing since 1920, and it was by far one of our worst years.

Greening stresses trees. They seem to react by producing way more fruit than they’re capable of, and wind up ditching part of the payload about a month before harvest. In the end, we’ll get about half of what healthy plants would bear; what’s left is smaller, contains 10 to 20 percent less sugar, and has a greenish tinge. For sick trees, adversity—like cold weather or dry soil—​has an amplified effect.

When Irma came through in September 2017, the crop was only about two months from harvest. After the storm, fruit and leaves blanketed the ground. One grove lost about 75 percent of its yield. Even our farms farther north, which didn’t take a major blow from Irma, had an off year: A couple of months later, a freeze killed a big chunk of the late-season crop.

Between fruit loss, care upgrades, and the threat of more and worsening storms, we can barely break even. Spotty quality hurts our economic prospects more, causing the state to lose market share to places like California. Botanists are working hard to mitigate greening. But some farmers have already sold their land and fled the industry before losing everything.

Unsafe Water (Popular Science/)

Salt in an open aquifer

René Price, Hydrologist and Chair of the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. As told to Eleanor Cummins.

The 21 million residents of Florida get the vast majority of their drinking water from two aquifers: The Biscayne, which sits below the Everglades, feeds the south, and the larger Floridian aquifer system supplies areas north of that. If the flow were working properly, the ground would filter rainwater, and the purified liquid would land in our subterranean reservoirs, which humans would then reach via wells and pumps.

But our fresh water faces many stresses. A booming population overtaxes wells, and sudden downpours spread pollutants like fertilizer runoff into the supply. All the while, the ocean has advanced farther inland than ever before, pouring saltwater into these struggling reserves. The trend impacts the whole state, but most urgently, it threatens those who tap the Biscayne—the 2.5 million residents of Miami-Dade County.

Since moving to South Florida in 1997, I’ve completed three surveys of the sea’s advance into the Biscayne aquifer. We analyze well-water samples for chemical signatures indicating salinity, and then map how far the salt water moved. From 2001 to 2011, the creep was slow and steady, but its clip has doubled, totaling almost 4 inches since 2011.

It will take major work to restore fresh water or keep what we have. The South Florida Water Management District uses our reports to help monitor the wetlands and pull levers to control the supply. For example, they can trap excess rain in ditches to have on standby. Or they can rehab mangroves in the Glades, which might help gird against saltwater. It’s a big job, but I’m optimistic, though we have a lot to figure out.

Written By PopSci Staff