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A goat, some flowers, some kimchi, and me convincing a 55-year-old farmer fella to take a picture of him pulling me around in a Korean wheelbarrow. Erh?
Welcome my week of May 7-12th. Gupo, just outside of Busan. What to say?
WWOOFing stands for "WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms." It exists in many, perhaps even most, countries. The essentials are that you join the organization buy buying a membership (the money goes to support WWOOF infrastructure, personnel costs, publications, etc), and then you receive a directory listing various organic farms and farm-like places where you can sleep and eat for free in exchange for a few hours of work. Sounds like a fauxbo's dream, right? Cheap food and lodging, a chance to interact with locals on a non-financial level, stuff to do other than visit famous places and fatten up your scrapbook (I know, I'm no saint in this respect), a real opportunity to learn something non-trivial about life in foreign lands.
Blessed with 2 weeks of vacation (interrupted by one mandatory school festival) in the middle of May, I headed down South all full of fantasies. Mmhhmm. This WWOOFing trip is going to get me jump-started on my PATH TO SUSTAINABLE AND CRUELTY-FREE LIVING (TM). I am going to learn all about permaculture and independence and the ways of the ancients and what the world was like before plastic. It will help me to begin to find a way out of this lifestyle in which almost everything I do requires or presupposes or causes or encourages environmental damage, violence in and occupation of 3rd world countries, and other big, vague nasties.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it turned out to be more like a pleasant week spent with an aunt and uncle out in their country home. Highlights include:
- Wandering around looking at all the wonderful edible-bearing vegetation. Pear trees, fig trees, pepper plants, tomato houses (next door), herbs out the wazzoo.
- Sitting in the gazebo reading Derrick Jensen (A Language Older than Words) and smelling rosemary.
- Seeing for the first time a flourishing rosemary shrub. Did you know that they have periwinkle flowers, shoot their limbs all out from one central spot, and make branches about 3 or 4 feet long?
- Rearranging and partitioning raised herb beds with Elder Sister, who says to me, more or less out of the blue, "I don't think I could become friends with someone who can't appreciate a fart."
- Sitting down in twilight silence with a goat on a back country road for about 30 minutes.
- Barefoot mountain-strolling. After our descent, Elder Sister points to the summit and says "Our little feet took us all the way up there! How cool!"
- Nearly fainting from the splendid smell of Thyme while weeding.
- Putting two and two together and coming to understand that the Korean word for" weed" actually means "miscellaneous plant." I don't like our word "weed," which seems to me to demonize a plant for just trying to grow. What else do you expect? At least the Korean word reflects the fact that "weed" status is subjective, dependent on what people are trying to do with a certain piece of land.
- A moment straight out of Quine's Two Dogmas of Empiricism (forgive the ostentatious reference) (also forgive the subsequent subtle philosophy of language pun that I'm not expecting anyone to get.) While hanging up some netting related to making a Chicken coop, the farmer asked me to go get the "sadari" (four-legs). I didn't know what it meant, so he pointed to the ladder. It had five rungs, so I thought it was pretty cool that the word for "ladder" specified how tall it was, though slightly odd that for some reason the top rung didn't get counted. There was another ladder that we were also using, with only 3 rungs, so I kept saying things like "Do you want me to bring the samdari (three-leg) over?" He kept correcting my pronunciation, telling me to say "sa" (four) instead of "sam," (three) until it dawned on me that actually the name had nothing to do with rungs and everything to do with...well...the ladder's 4 legs. (It's a great joy to explain something like this to a Korean, who will then often say something to the effect of: "Oh, my. Korean is much more complicated than I had realized!")
- Listening to Elder Brother go on and on about the virtues of Makkeoli, a type of Korean rice wine that in the past was referred to as "Farmer's Booze." Supposedly keeps you cool and content while you're out working. A cup at breakfast, a cup at lunch, a cup at dinner, a cup on the way up the mountain, a cup at the summit, a cup at the restaurant. I asked him if he drank so frequently while working in the government tax office, and he said that it wasn't allowed. So I asked him if he had become a farmer mostly to give himself an excuse to have rice wine at breakfast and lunch. He very much enjoyed my snark!
- Observing a pair of ducks that the farmer kept in a pen. The lady duck always follwed the dude around, even though their pen was only about 3 x 4 feet. They would just waddle around in circles, or back and forth, but she'd almost never lead.
- Noticing that the the sound of ducks drinking water from a wooden bowl and the sounds of ducks defecating their are almost indistinguishable.
- Eating eggs for the first time for the first time in the while. Thanking the nice, happy-looking ducks. Surprised to think about how I really don't miss eggs as much as I thought I would.
- Picking chives from the garden and making enough chive pancakes for 3 days. Picking some little greens from the garden, adding some red pepper and vinegar paste, and having great salads for the next 10 meals.
- Chatting at mealtime about meat, farms, the environment, health, the good life, eating out of the same dishes, and more.
- Having enough time to read Derrick Jensen's "A Language Older than Words." Wow. Moving stuff.
- And probably some more.
The only disappointing thing about the visit was that I didn't get to work hard enough. Elder Bro and Elder Sis aren't aiming at self-sustainability, they're just looking to have a nice, quiet life in the country. Grow some nice herbs and other decorative plants, just for the love of watching nature run its course ans sniffing nice stuff. So I haven't quite learned everything I need to know to renounce the civilized world. I guess that means more blogs for the time being. Lucky you!
In 2006, I flew from West to East. Now I'm headed homewards. By bicycle. On veggie power.
Friday, May 21, 2010
WWOOFing, Part 1
Just a few pics from the album I just put up. Go to the photo site to see 'em all.
Proper post in the works.
Proper post in the works.
|From 2010-05-07 WWOOFing
|From 2010-05-07 WWOOFing
|From 2010-05-07 WWOOFing
|From 2010-05-07 WWOOFing
|From 2010-05-07 WWOOFing
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text: I wish I could find the posts from the two guys that have "friends" at Google, that had given them a little info before (like the January release date before there was official word elsewhere). Time to bug them again and ask one simple question.... IS THE NEXUS THE PASSION OR NOT? The suspense is killing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

subset: commoncrawl


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By Mark J. Donovan
Last week I was in the San Francisco area visiting various tourist sites and checking out the home and housing markets. I also had a chance to meet up with an old friend and get his perspective on the housing market. As the rest of the country, the San Francisco housing market is still very soft.
I also had a chance to visit a few vineyards in the Napa Valley area including Robert Mondavi, Beringer Vineyards, and Sutter Home Winery. I took the tours at Robert Mondavi and Beringer Vineyards and got inspired on trying to make my own wine. I've already made my first batch of "Must" and am in the process of fermenting it. In a week I'll rack it for the first time and transition it to a carboy for further fermentation and aging. I will rack it again three weeks later and then most likely bottle it in a couple of months.
While touring San Francisco I got to see a number of unique homes in the area and took a slew of pictures. Most interesting to me was some of the ornate fireplaces and interior trim work I observed.
I also had a chance to tour Muir Woods and get an idea and better appreciation of Redwood trees. They were absolutely giant and gorgeous. Some of the trees were well over 1,000 years old.
I also visited the Silicon Valley area and checked out some of my old haunts when I worked for a company located in the area. Not much has changed. Silicon valley is still filled with young high tech company's looking to get rich quick, and add some value to the world – in that order I must add. Traffic is still a snarl during much of the day and early evenings.
Silicon Valley traffic aside, the trip was great. I got to see a lot of the area this time without having to visit customers and deal with pushy corporate management. I can't wait to visit again.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
San Francisco Trip - Homes and Napa Valley Vineyard Tours
By Mark J. Donovan
Posted by Unknown at 12:28 PM 0 comments
Monday, June 13, 2011
Time to Install the Portable Air Conditioners
By Mark J. Donovan
With summer getting into full swing it's time to pull out those portable air conditioners, clean them up a little, and install them. Portable air conditioners are perfect for cooling rooms and even entire homes, albeit with multiple units installed in the case of cooling an entire house. However, it's important to install portable air conditioners in or near windows so that that the condensed hot air and moisture that is pulled from the home can be vented outdoors.
When preparing to install your portable air conditioner check the filters and clean or replace them if necessary. Often all you need to do to clean the air filter is to soak it in some warm soapy dish detergent water and gently scrub it. Let it fully dry, however, before installing it back into the portable air conditioner. Also make sure the air conditioner chassis vents are free of dust and lint. A clogged air filter not only causes the air conditioner to work harder, it also prevents the air conditioner from cooling off the room or home quickly. Also, if your portable air conditioner has a drain hose make sure it is free of debris that could cause it to clog.
If the portable air conditioner doesn't seem to produce and/or blow out cold air after doing these few simple maintenance tips it may be wise to simply replace it, particularly if the fan or compressor is no longer working. The cost of portable air conditioner repairs are often as much as buying a new one.
Posted by Unknown at 1:53 PM 0 comments


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Coastal Grand Mall is a large shopping and entertainment center in Myrtle Beach. It has over 100 stores and many different dining choices. Shop for anything from sporting goods to clothes and shoes or take in a movie at the theater. Restaurant choices include Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries, Texas Roadhouse Grill, and Red Lobster.
Marriott's OceanWatch Villas at Grande Dunes offer beautiful views of the ocean from your balcony. The rooms in the oceanfront Island Vista Resort, only six miles from the mall, overlook the water. Bluegreen Vacations Harbour Lights is less than a mile away from the mall and offers a great location on the Intracoastal Waterway where you can watch the boats go by.
Hotels near the Coastal Grand Mall are also near many restaurants and just a few miles from the beach. Hotels right near the mall are not on the water so if you are looking for a beachfront experience, a hotel a few miles closer to the ocean is a better choice. The Comfort Suites Myrtle Beach is right near downtown with easy access to restaurants and other attractions in the area.
The mall opens at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at noon on Sundays. Stroller rentals and wheelchairs are available. The customer service center has information about area attractions and sells tickets to make planning an excursion quick and easy.
© 2019 Hipmunk® and Concur® Hipmunk® are trademarks of Hipmunk, Inc. and Concur Technologies, Inc.
© 2019 Hipmunk® and Concur® Hipmunk® are trademarks of Hipmunk, Inc. and Concur Technologies, Inc.


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text: Sanghyeon Seo wrote: > 2008/7/2 Curt Hagenlocher <curt at hagenlocher.org>: >> The requirement for PyCrypto means that this won't work as-is under >> IronPython. Although Paramiko itself is pure Python, PyCrypto is a C >> extension. It's possible that you could get something going with the >> IronClad project (http://code.google.com/p/ironclad/) which aims to allow >> you to use C extensions with IronPython. > > Or FePy project has a reimplementation of PyCrypto for IronPython. FYI, you can find that here: http://fepy.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/fepy/trunk/fepy/cipher.py?view=log -Doug


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Oakley Court Hotel – Windsor
Welcome to The Oakley Court, the renowned country house hotel on the outskirts of Windsor.
Weddings & Celebrations What could be a more perfect a venue for your wedding day or special celebration than a beautifully historic and photogenic country house on the banks of the River Thames?
The character and charm of the house have captivated guests for decades, and you can be assured that we'll take the hassle out of your special day to ensure you have happy memories and a beautiful occasion from start to finish.
Our extensive experience means that celebrations from 18 to 200 people run smoothly and hitch free from the first contact to the end of the day itself, and can be carefully tailored to your exact requirements.
The Oakley Court is licensed for civil marriage and partnerships, and more and more couples now choose to marry and hold their reception at the same venue. The Gloucester room can comfortably cater for wedding ceremonies and civil partnerships of up to 120 people, plus the Conservatory, Library and Sitting Room are offered for more intimate ceremonies.
For more than 170 guests the Walled Garden on the banks of the Thames can cater for up to 500 with full facilities available through our Wedding and Event partners.
Additional Information
Venue Capacity: Chi Marquees - for up to 500 guests.
Accommodation: 118 bedrooms! – You really do have plenty to choose from, so take your pick.
Dining Options: Our chefs relish in every opportunity to get creative in the kitchen. When it comes to cooking up a delicious wedding breakfast, there's no holding him back.
Exclusive Use: Yes
Swimming Pool Indoor Swimming Pool
Fitness Center Relaxation comes easy to our guests. It may be the stunning setting, with over 33 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, leading down to the secluded banks of the River Thames, or perhaps the range of leisure activities on offer at The Oakley Court
The Oakley Court
Windsor Road Water Oakley
Windsor, Berkshire, England SL4 5UR
United Kingdom
- Gym
- Indoor Swimming Pool
- Tennis Courts
- 9 Hole Par 3 Golf Course
- Steam Room
- Sauna
- Jacuzzi
- Complimentary Bike Hire
- Snooker Room
- Enrolment to our Loyalty Club


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What does fact checked mean?
At SportsRec, we strive to deliver objective content that is accurate and up-to-date. Our team periodically reviews articles in order to ensure content quality. The sources cited below consist of evidence from peer-reviewed journals, prominent medical organizations, academic associations, and government data.
- American Journal of Health Promotion: A Comprehensive Review of Health Benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi
- American Journal of Health Promotion: A Comprehensive Review of Health Benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi
The information contained on this site is for informational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of a professional health care provider. Please check with the appropriate physician regarding health questions and concerns. Although we strive to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, no guarantee to that effect is made.
Tai Chi Exercises and Movements
Tai chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, combines systematic breathing with slow, specific movement to enhance balance, range of motion and relaxation. A 2010 review of studies published in American Journal of Health Promotion concluded that among its numerous benefits, the regular practice of tai chi improves bone density, provides heart protection, reduces falls in the elderly and bolsters immune function. The best way to learn tai chi is to work with a master in a class or through one-on-one sessions; DVDs are another way to visually understand this moving meditation. Precision and patience are required as you develop the moves.
Movement Principles
Tai chi intends to help the practitioner feel grounded, which helps promotes stability and balance. Many movements sink you toward the ground and focus on proper body alignment. One movement flows into the next, as you shift your weight from leg to leg. The names of moves are often inspired by animals and birds. Complex classes can contain dozens of movements, while simple, beginning classes focus on 13.
Meditation and deep breathing are intrinsic to the practice of tai chi. This encourages internal calming and peacefulness as well as the cleansing of stale air. In addition, these techniques help your muscles relax and release tension.
Yin and Yang
A full understanding of the principle of yin and yang is required for tai chi practice. Yin and yang simply means the practice of opposites. Yin refers to qualities of water, such as coolness or stillness, while yang is more aggressive and powerful, like fire. To be healthy, your yin and yang should be in balance -- and tai chi aims supports this. In tai chi, yin and yang practice shows up as stepping forward and then backward, or to the right and then the left. Tai chi postures also open and close or move up and down. Sometimes, depending on the class and the teacher's evaluation of the students' needs, a class may be more yin in nature, or more yang.
Sample Moves
Most tai chi sessions begin with the opening stance, which has you stand with the feet hip distance and arms draped toward the floor, palms facing the thighs. Here, you settle into the breath and mindset needed to move on. The stance may seem simple, but requires observation of your posture and complete release of tension. After this, you move into positions such as "part the horse's mane," "white crane spreads it's wings," "play the lute," and "retreat and repulse monkey."
Tai Chi is based on eight precise movements called Bamen Wubu. "Bamen" means "eight doors" or "eight gates," and "Wubu" means "five steps." These movements are: ward off, roll back, squeeze and push, pluck and split, and elbow strike and bump. Because of the precision of each, work with an experienced practitioner to master each.
Tai chi variations and methods of practice can vary wildly. Some classes incorporate the principles of qigong, a slower and simpler practice of breathing and less-precise movement that also hails from China. You're encouraged to watch a class first, before joining, to see if the particular practice is right for you. For many people, it takes time to appreciate the quiet, measured pace of tai chi.
- Plush Studios/Blend Images/Getty Images


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This is just a reminder that on Wednesday 9 July we'll be chatting with local organization network CAG Oxfordshire, accompanied by a bring-and-share meal. The meeting will be at St Mary's Church, on the Leys end of Church Green. All are welcome! We start at 7:30pm.
It will take place at St Mary's Church on Church Green in Witney, and we hope to have a bring-and-share meal beforehand, so do bring some food if you're interested. More details on the event's own page.


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Organized by Comexposium, SIAL China is the biggest food and beverage show in Asia and an integral part of the SIAL Network, the leading global network of shows dedicated to the food and beverage industry, with seven shows (SIAL Paris, SIAL Canada, Montreal and Toronto, SIAL China, SIAL Middle East, SIAL ASEAN Manila and SIAL Interfood in Jakarta) that bring together 14,000 exhibitors and 330,000 visitors from 194 countries.
As the 4th biggest food innovation exhibition in the world, SIAL China is set to welcome international and domestic exhibitors and visitors to Shanghai for its annual exhibition from 16-18 May 2018.
SIAL China 2017 concluded at Shanghai New International Expo Center on 19 May 2017 with a record number of visitors, exhibitors and exhibition squares. Altogether, 3,200 exhibitors (+10% vs 2016) presented their latest products and food trends from 67 countries all over the world, attracting 101,134 professionals (+31% vs 2016).
SIAL China events are important platforms to showcase the latest international trends and products, receiving huge attentions from both domestic and international participants.
Please contact Carla Ambrose on 8303 9423 or via email if you would like to exhibit at the 2018 trade show.


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Management Development
Do you feel you have the weight of your business on your shoulders? Would you like to be able to share some of the load with other people within your organisation who show potential? Do you have people in a management role already who need some support and development? Do they need to become more commercial?
Areas we can help you with include:
- Taking action and getting clients
- Working on the business not in the business
- Thinking commercially
- Introducing appraisals and skills training
- Recruiting the right person, first time, every time
- Managing staff for optimum performance
- Improving communication
- Dealing with difficult people
- Interviewing skills
- Delegation and motivation
- Time management
: , ,
With fully trained managers, you will feel less stressed, less over-worked, you will be able to delegate more knowing that the job will be done well and you will have more time to work on the business rather than in the business, thus allowing you to take it to the next level, making it stronger and ultimately, more profitable.


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Upper Wandle House SW18
Project: Two new build houses
Location: SW18
Size: 405m2
In Association with: www.mgarchitects.org
Upper Wandle House was a developed purchased with the intent to create two separate houses. These comprised of four double bedrooms, 4 bathroom, a beautiful open plan ground floor, entertaining areas leading out through bi-folds to the enclosed courtyard. They have private parking to the rear. Roof terraces were created off the master bedrooms and a separate home cinema/games room was created in the basement.


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Creative Lifestyle Blog | London, UK
Art Blog of Maryanna Hoggatt
Inspirational & creative ramblings of a self-confessed geek - Things I like, things I find and things I'm doing.
Art & Design Choice Cuts
Writer. Story geek. Travelling the world while writing a book.
A wildlife filmmaker in Africa
The Alchemy of ME
The Art and Craft of Blogging
The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.


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Oct 13, 2012
Birds of Cameron Highlands
Posted by Henry Goh at 4:47 PM
2 comments:
Hi HenryReplyDelete
The leaf warbler in this post is not Mountain Leaf Warbler (it has a wingbar). Can you send me a full res version of this photo and any others you have of this bird (digdeep1962atyahoodotcom) so I can try to identify it? Many thanks, Dave.
Hi HenryReplyDelete
I'm interested in your 'Mountain Leaf Warbler'. Could you send me this pic and any others you have of this bird? Many thanks, Dave (digdeep1962atyahoodotcom)
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ATTENTION: Reporters covering higher education, engineering and technology, and general assignment beats; weekend, photo and TV news assignment desks
The University of California, Berkeley's Commencement 2011 honoring all graduating seniors. More than 2,400 graduates in caps and gowns are expected to process across the stage at Edwards Track Stadium to "Pomp and Circumstance." At least 15,000 tickets have been distributed for this sold-out event, which includes speeches, awards and faculty in colorful regalia.
An estimated 7,000 students will earn undergraduate degrees this academic year, of which at least 4,700 are graduating this spring. No diplomas are awarded at Commencement, but the names of all participating graduating seniors are called out as they cross the stage to receive a bear pin.
When his name is called, Austin Whitney, a graduating senior paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2007, plans to rise from his wheelchair and walk across the stage wearing a robotic device on his legs known as an exoskeleton. Click here for details about Whitney's amazing journey.
This Saturday, May, 14, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Edwards Track Stadium on the southwest corner of the UC Berkeley campus. See campus map. The entrance for credentialed news media is on Frank Schlessinger Way, which intersects with Oxford Street near the campus's West Gate.
This year's keynote speaker is Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm Inc, a mobile communications research and development company, and a Cal alumnus. During his speech, Jacobs plans to engage the audience with some innovative mobile applications, including a demonstration of "Augmented Reality," a feature now available on Android phones.
Also delivering a speech will be Aaron Benavidez, this year's top graduating senior. Benavidez, a double major in sociology and rhetoric from Stockton, Calif., will receive the University Medal for his scholarship, public service and humanity. Click here for more about Benavidez.


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"A best seller was a book which somehow sold well simply because it was selling well." - S. Boorstein/
I tried.
I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair - it just won't behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I should be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am trying to brush my hair into submission. I must not sleep with it wet. I must not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra several times, I attempt, once more, to bring it under control with the brush. I roll my eyes in frustration and gaze at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too big for her face staring back at me...
That's where I stopped.
I didn't even make it to the end of the first paragraph.
That's all I needed to prove to me that Fifty Shades of Gray is as poorly written as many said.
I could forgive that horrible, no good, very bad first sentence. But, what I cannot forgive is looking in the mirror and describing yourself. Avoiding that is in the top ten rules of writing. Maybe the top five. It's lazy, trite and amateur. I would be impossible for me to read this book and the writing not get in the way of my enjoyment.


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The drone technology
Drones have been around for some time now, but the kind of technology and purpose of use keeps changing every single day. They would be a vital part of the construction industry in the coming years because of the capability they present to architects. Drones help in collecting data, executing sophisticated design strategies and accurate data transmission needed by engineers. The construction of complex drones would become active in downtime reduction, it will cause lesser accidents and enhance faster workflow at construction sites.
3-D printing
In the recent past, 3-D printing would only have the ability to perform small projects but currently, and in coming years, this technology would become useful in larger projects. Architects would have the chance to use this technology to create actual materials needed on the construction site to improve communication. In major development projects, planning a sequence of complicated designs is a real scare and this is also to the expert designers. However, 3-D technology simplifies all these complexities and offers easy ways to perform impossible assemblies.
Green building
The world's human population increases every year at alarming rates and because of this reason, its resources become insufficient to sustain the entire human race without feeling the choke. Green building addresses this issue with a solution-based approach including recycled construction material, organic paint and reclaimed lumber. This form of construction is eco-friendly and environmentally secure.
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)
This technology incorporates laser technology to come up with special 3-D designs that architects need when they want a given design in construction. LIDAR technology uses laser illumination to analyse exact dimensions of an object or distance. This technology would change the amount of time taken in many construction projects because it is efficient and fast. In the next 50 years, LIDAR technology would evolve into a more complex design mechanism that is affordable and accurate for architects and other engineering experts.
Better than robotics equipment
Another big possibility that technology would bring is the application of virtual equipment in the construction industry. Lifting heavy material over a 50-level building is not an easy task even with heavy equipment, but in the coming years, specially designed technology would make this problem an easy endeavor. For instance, high-end cameras would enable machine operation through simple spoken commands rather than manual simulation.
To sum it up, the construction industry will experience technological advancements in the next 50 years from now because of the fast-evolving technology. There will be efficiency and accelerated construction thanks to the new trends in technology.
Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Federal Steel Supply, Inc.


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Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro EF Lens Mount
The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro EF Mount lets you choose from an incredible selection of high quality photographic lenses from manufacturers like Zeiss, Canon, Sigma and more. Because EF lenses are used on high resolution DSLR cameras they have incredibly precise optics that can handle the high resolution of the URSA Mini Pro's 4.6K sensor.
- 3.15" x 1.08" x 2.93"
- 2.82 oz
What's Included:
- Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro EF Mount
- Moulded Mount Case
- Shim Set
- Baffle Tool
- Spare Mounting Screws
- Printed Instructions
- 12 Month Limited Manufacturer's Warranty


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Infectious Diseases - Introduction
Studying disease-causing microbes and finding ways to thwart them
Advances in genomics are revolutionizing infectious disease research, with sequencing speed reaching the point at which scientists can apply genomics to disease outbreaks as they occur.
IGS investigators are at the cutting edge of that research, using the latest technologies to study pathogens, and shed new light on infectious diseases. Genomics is helping scientists develop diagnostic tests, understand how pathogens evolve, and identify targets for drugs and vaccines. In addition to their genomics expertise, many of the IGS researchers have backgrounds in microbiology, infectious disease, and/or epidemiology, and are primary faculty in those departments at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Single celled eukaryotic parasites and multi-cellular pathogens
Using a combination of population genomics, parasitology, immunology and bioinformatics, IGS researchers are studying several protists - including the causative agents of malaria, babesiosis, East Coast fever and cryptosporidiosis (J. Carneiro da Silva research) - with the goal of identifying genes responsible for drug resistance or vaccine evasion. Similarly, they are analyzing the whole transcriptome of Candida albicans (V. Bruno, J. Schwartz research), the major invasive fungal pathogen of humans, as it interacts with host cells to understand the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis. In a different study design, IGS researchers are identifying bacterial genes horizontally transferred to the chromosomes of filarial nematodes, which cause lymphatic filariasis and river blindness (J. Dunning-Hotopp research), to identify novel pathogen-specific drug targets.
Bacterial pathogens
IGS scientists are conducting extensive analyses of Escherichia coli and Shigella species, the major bacterial pathogens that contribute to diarrheal disease, including recent outbreaks. Those projects add the power of genomics and transcriptomics to epidemiological studies to identify molecular markers for lethal diarrheal isolates, emerging groups of pathogens and to elucidate their population structure.
Other IGS research projects on bacterial comparative genomics, transcriptomics, evolution and host-pathogen interactions focus on a diverse array of pathogens causing meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis) (J. Dunning-Hotopp research), plague (Yersinia pestis) (H. Tettelin research), pneumonia, otitis media and strep throat (Streptococcus pneumoniae and other streptococci) (H. Tettelin research), cholera (Vibrio cholerae) (J. Ravel research), typhoid fever (Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi) (H. Tettelin research), non-typhoidal Salmonella infections (W.F. Fricke research), gastritis (Helicobacter pylori) (W.F. Fricke research), Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdoferi) (research of C. Fraser and E. Mongodin), hospital acquired infections (Staphylococcus aureus) (E. Mongodin research), mucosal infections (Chlamydia sp.)(J. Ravel and G. Myers research), colitis (Clostridium difficile) (research of W.F. Fricke and D. Rasko), pulmonary infections (Mycobacterium abscessus) (H. Tettelin research), and more.
Viral pathogens
IGS scientists are investigating the diversity and evolution of the human rhinovirus (HRV), which causes the common cold. They are trying to find out if there are specific strains, clades, or sequence motifs in the virus that are related to the intensity of the respiratory disease. To that end, IGS is sequencing and analyzing about 3,000 HRV isolates from children during several seasons of the common cold. (research of C. Fraser). Investigating viral replication and host responses is important for understanding and controlling these major pathogens. To this end, IGS scientists are measuring the global transcriptional response of human lung epithelial cells to infections by paramyxoviruses (through GSCID projects). They are also assessing the in vivo variation of a candidate lassa fever virus vaccine strain, a zoonotic pathogen that infects rodents but is sometimes transmitted to humans, where is it often fatal (G. Myers research).
In addition to genome sequencing projects targeting specific pathogenic species, IGS researchers also are exploring the human microbiome in the context of infectious diseases through the application of metagenomics.
Clinical trials
Furthermore, the Institute is strategically positioned within a hub with internationally renowned infectious diseases research centers at the medical school - the Center for Vaccine Development and the Institute for Human Virology. This close proximity is fueling large-scale collaborative research to address the challenges posed by global infectious diseases.


text: Giant figures of, from left to right, Emmanuel Macron, Francois Fillon and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen, before a carnival parade in Nice [Eric Gaillard/Reuters] Scattered across the globe, thousands of miles away from the mainland, France's overseas departments are often sidelined by the country's politicians - except during the run-up to presidential elections. In November, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, visited Reunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, then French Guiana in the Caribbean in December. The same month the independent far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon and socialist break-away Emmanuel Macron both touched down in the Antillean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Despite representing only 4 percent of the electorate, a tour of the overseas departments and territories has become obligatory for French presidential hopefuls. This year, following riots in Mayotte last summer and a government bill to bring "real equality" to the overseas regions, these often forgotten parts of France have risen even higher up the agenda - especially for Le Pen. "L'Outre-mer [the overseas], at the heart of the project for France," is the title of the National Front's overseas programme, which Le Pen unveiled during her Reunion visit. Historically, the National Front has performed badly among the overseas departments, in 2007 receiving an average of 5 percent of the vote, compared with 17.9 percent nationally. Yet, in 2012, while Le Pen's share of the vote remained around 5 percent in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Mayotte, in Reunion it shot up to 10 percent. Since then, the anti-immigrant Eurosceptic, who is facing both legal and financial woes at home, has seen another unexpected surge in popularity in this far-flung island. In 2012, Le Pen's visit to Reunion prompted demonstrations. In November, however, her trip passed with scarcely a heckle. According to a survey conducted last year 25 percent of Reunion's electorate plan on voting Le Pen in the presidential election, to be held in two rounds in April and May. Jean-Claude Otto-Bruc, leader of the Reunion branch of the National Front, believes it will be closer to 50 percent. His may be an optimistic estimate, but, nonetheless, Le Pen's growing popularity in Reunion should trouble mainstream politicians. Cries for change are mounting in the island and elsewhere across France's overseas departments. READ MORE: UNESCO status forces change on Reunion island farmers Historical inequalities In 1946, under the "departmentalisation law" former slave colonies, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Martinique in the Caribbean, and Reunion in the Indian Ocean were given the same political status as mainland departments. The law's advocates, most prominent among them the Martiniquais writer and politician Aime Cesaire, hoped departmentalisation would put an end to "master-slave relationships." In the 70 years since, however, the French government has failed to lessen the social and economic inequalities between the overseas departments and the mainland. I'm worried for Reunion. If Le Pen wins she might withdraw France from the European Union and that would be a disaster for people here. Fabien Guerrero, teacher In Mayotte, which graduated from an overseas territory to a fully-fledged department in 2011, riots against the French state lasted for more than a month last summer. Since its change of status, joblessness, now at more than a third, has failed to fall, and 84 percent of the department's 220,000 people still live below the poverty line, compared with 16 percent in mainland France. Taxes and living costs have also increased: prices are 7 percent higher than in the mainland. The situation differs little in the four original departments. In 2009 demonstrations against the French state started in Guadeloupe and spread to French Guiana and Martinique before reaching Reunion and Mayotte in 2011. Demonstrations and even riots have erupted since then. In 2012 and 2013 young Reunionnais clashed with police as they protested against the high living costs and lack of job opportunities. Unemployment has risen in recent years, with the average across Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion and French Guiana now above 20 percent, double the mainland average. Almost 30 percent of Reunionnais are unemployed. Prices are between 7 percent and 12 percent higher than mainland France. In 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, all the islands, except Martinique, saw exports fall and imports, already high, rise further. Exports represent only 7 percent of Reunion's trade and imports 93 percent, amounting to more than 4.5 billion euros ($4.85bn). The problems in France's departments go all the way back to their change of status 70 years ago. Departmentalisation brought few successful efforts to diversify the mono-economies of the plantation colonies. It also failed to turn the social order on its head. The minority ruling elite - white descendants of slave-masters and plantation owners, known as Bekes in Guadeloupe and Martinique and Gros Blancs in Reunion - gave up political control in 1946 but maintained their grip on the economy. During the 2009 protests anger was directed at the French state but also at the Bekes and their abuse of economic power. In Martinique's capital, Fort-de-France, 2,000 people, nearly all of whom were black, marched, chanting slogans such as: "Martinique is ours, not theirs!" READ MORE: Black France 'People want change' The government's bill for "real equality", put forward in August 2016 in response to the riots in Mayotte, proposes to reduce both the disparities between mainland and overseas France and the internal inequalities within the departments themselves. It includes plans to bring state welfare in the departments in line with mainland France. This would mean, for example, an increase to the pensions of stay-at-home parents. Deputies in the French National Assembly passed the bill in October, increasing the text from only 15 articles to 116. Yet, earlier this month, despite passing the bill, senators stripped back some of its most far-reaching proposals. For example, the "Small Business Act", which would reserve a third of public markets for local small and medium-sized businesses, was removed. The revised bill still has to be put to the the Joint Committee in February and then back to the National Assembly in March. Even if the deputies there manage to reinstate some of the more important articles for many overseas voters the bill is too little, too late. "People want change, and they want it now," says Otto-Bruc. This, he argues, explains Marine Le Pen's increasing popularity among the Reunionais. "Unlike other politicians, who have simply made promises they have no intention of keeping," he adds, "Marine is a woman of honour." Le Pen's plan Le Pen's overseas programme lays out plans for the creation of a new ministerial post for Overseas France and the Sea, an extension of the current Minister's remit. "Energy, transport, security, the sea offers it all," says Otto-Bruc. "The sea is how we will develop the overseas departments and bring them out of the current crisis." Le Pen plans to attract investment to develop maritime industries by reducing taxation and the creation of "French overseas zones of priority investment". She also pledges to get rid of additional pay for civil servants who work in the overseas regions, and to give overseas citizens preference for local jobs. Fabien Guerrero, a teacher from mainland France who has been working in Reunion for 10 years, would lose his 30 percent additional pay under such plans. "I'm not worried for myself, though," he says, "I'm worried for Reunion. If Le Pen wins she might withdraw France from the European Union and that would be a disaster for people here." Guerrero believes that the National Front is capitalising on Reunion's employment crisis. "For years left and right-wing governments have failed to provide the right training for Reunion's young people, leaving them with no job opportunities and reliant on state handouts," he explains. "It has been a way of controlling the population. Now Le Pen is promising to give them jobs and give them back control - it is a very clever strategy." Other popular measures proposed in Le Pen's Outre-mer programme include a promise to reduce living costs through large reforms to the tax on Outre-mer products - the current tax system, Le Pen argues, causes inflation and, therefore, higher prices - and a commitment to make the education system, burdened, according to Le Pen, by immigrants, "a national priority." OPINION: Making France Great Again: Fillon on Trump's footsteps? Anti-immigration Immigration is central to Le Pen's overseas programme. She wants to stem the tide of immigrants arriving in the departments and to revoke the the law by which anyone born on French soil has the right to French citizenship. Reunion, in particular, has attracted illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries such as Madagascar and the Comoros as well as immigrants from Mayotte. For Sylvie, a Reunionnais teacher, this is why the National Front has appeal in the island more so than the other overseas departments: Le Pen says what people want to hear, but also "what they themselves do not dare say about immigrants." Al Jazeera World - Mayotte, Island of Death (47:07) "For a lot of Reunnionais, the people from Mayotte and the Comoros are invading. They are Muslim, they haven't the same way of living, they haven't the same culture as us. In a family, you'll have one man and four or five wives," she explains. " Many Reunnionais don't like what they don't know. They can be quite traditional, quite conservative," says Sylvie. Nationally, Le Pen has also taken the lead recently, surpassing scandal-hit Republican candidate Francois Fillon in the polls. Among overseas citizens, the former prime minister caused consternation last year with his comments about colonisation. "No, France is not guilty for wanting to share its culture with the people of Africa, Asia and North America," Fillon said during a speech in August. He has since, when asked about his plans for France Outre-mer, replied: "We are all French. We are an indivisible republic." More socially and fiscally conservative than most of his Republican rivals, he plans to implement a nationwide programme of austerity to reign in France's deficit. Macron, leader of the breakaway En Marche movement, also seems reluctant to increase the budget for France's overseas regions, saying there is no "magic solution" for their problems. During his visit to Martinique and Guadeloupe, though, the former socialist finance minister emphasised the need to invest in tourism sectors to create low-skilled jobs and pledged that laws governing France's overseas regions would recognise their diversity. "A rule of law made in Paris cannot be applied to everyone and everywhere in the same way," the centrist candidate said. Among Macron's former party, Manuel Valls, who served as prime minister in Francois Hollande's government before his bid for president, has been a strong proponent of the bill for "real equality". He was, however, unexpectedly beaten by Benoit Hamon in the socialist party's primaries on January 29. Further to the left than Valls, Hamon plans to introduce a universal basic income across France, including the overseas departments. So far, his proposals specific to overseas France are limited, but include developing the digital economy, increasing overseas police forces and reducing class sizes in schools. "We've heard it all before, though," says Sylvie, who voted Socialist in 2012. Like a lot of Reunionnais, she is disappointed with mainstream politicians and their "false promises", which "never materialise" once the campaign is over. While disillusionment has pushed many Reunnionais towards Le Pen and her far-right policies, Sylvie believes the majority will never vote for the National Front "because of our roots as slaves, because of colonialism, because of the colour of our skin". For many of France's overseas citizens, however, this colonial heritage - still alive and well 70 years on from decolonisation - is itself a driving force to seek change, by whatever means necessary. "I'm voting Le Pen," says Amedeo Hatchi, a 90-year old farmer from Guadeloupe whose state pension of France 400 euros ($431) a month has not allowed him to give up work, "the worst for the worst." "Departmentalisation didn't go far enough. We [overseas citizens] need a revolution," says his neighbour and trade-union activist, Madlys Lefort, "some of us will even consider voting Le Pen to get it." Susannah Savage SOURCE: Al Jazeera Politics Europe France


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Modern Cotton Bandana - Navy Fabric with White Armadillo
per item
An oldie but goody - the classic armadillo bandana. This 100% hemmed cotton bandana this is not your dime-store version - it is hand dyed a lovely navy blue and printed with a very soft & lightweight water-based whit-ish ink - ready to ride the dusty trail. Wear it as a scarf, use it as a hanky -- or a napkin. Original image by Her. Approximately 20" square.
Care & feeding: Wash and dry on regular cycles - this bandana is built for the real world. You can iron; we don't.


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Everyone loves chocolate.
Today's choices are more varied than ever, with all sorts of tempting sweet confections from rich truffles to bittersweet bonbons, organic dark chocolate bars to creamy ganaches.
These are the fifty best chocolate makers, listed alphabetically from 12 different countries and 11 states.
Amedei Italy
Anna Shea Chocolates Tarrytown, New York
Antidote New York, NY
Boissier Paris, France
Charles Chocolates Emeryville, California
Chocolat Moderne New York, New York
Chocolates El Rey Venezuela
Christophe Roussel Paris, France
Chuao Chocolatier Carlsbad, California
Comptoir du Cacao Betz, France


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The next two photos are of embroideries that I have been wanting to do for quite some time. Both are done on a flannel background with cotton batting used as a stabilizer. Both pieces were coffee-dyed after being stitched out and before they were framed. Loved the way the flannel coffee-dyed! Both framed pieces are 8" x 8". They will be hung in the same room as the Spring Sampler.
The last 3 pictures are of the first 3 blocks from my newest quilt project "Sheep in the Willows thru the Year" (by the American Fiber Artist S. West - Buttermilk Basin). They are being stitched on a coffee-dyed linen background using "upcycled" wool....some of which I have hand-dyed/overdyed myself. I've had these patterns for quite some time (years) and it has been a sheer joy to finally be able to make this quilt. My apologies for the coloring of the last block photo. It was up higher on my design wall so the lighting was off when I took the picture. These blocks are measuring 10" square (unfinished size).


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By Clare McCabe
Artist: KISS
Date / Venue: Friday October 16th, 2015 - Vector Arena, Auckland
You may or may not have been at Vector last night. But if you were, you probably left with confetti in your hair. Yes there were confetti cannons. There was blood. There was a flying Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on a zipline. There were flames and fireworks that co-ordinated with the songs. There was Paul Stanley's tasselled trousers and Gene's top-knot. Oh and the BOOTS on those guys. How is it even possible to walk on those platforms? So much to see. But I am getting ahead of myself....
Out front before the show I bumped into my 8-year-old friend Jakob. He was super excited that Kiss was going to his first concert (as you would be). Best dad ever I said to him. And to be honest there were a lot of kids in attendance. Minds must have been blown everywhere.
First up on support were the Dead Daisies with John Corabi (ex-Motley Crue) on vocal duties. They burned through a tight short set and finished with a great cover of Helter Skelter. Nice choice guys.
And then... You Wanted The Best. You Got The Best. The Hottest Band in the World. KISS. And they're straight into Detroit Rock City, fireworks and flames galore. The Demon and The Starchild are in the house and they are ready to rock n roll.
We get synchronised guitar moves (who doesn't love that?) Gene prowls around the stage with great swagger. Paul dances like its 1977. War Machine ends with some sort of smoking dagger arrangement. The big screen shows a fabulous vintage video/photo montage of Kiss members, masked and unmasked.
There are drum and guitar solos from Eric and Tommy. Gene and Paul take turns singing their hits. Dr Lovemakes an appearance and one of my faves, Lick It Up. Gene bleeds as only he can and is hoisted up to the top of the Spider for God of Thunder. Frightening stuff.
We are treated to lots of chat from Paul in between songs in that great New York accent. Then he hops on his zipline and swings out onto the little mini-stage in the middle of the arena for Love Gun and a few more chances to show off his fabulous dance moves. Glitter balls turn and the crowd goes wild. He returns to the stage for a little mini rendition of Shandi and then the evening goes crazy and the grand finale kicks off withShout It Out and good old I Was Made for Lovin You.
But the best is saved for last. The closing song is, of course, Rock and Roll All Nite, and you can barely see the crowd for the confetti. Flames shoot in the air. Guitars are smashed. Minds are blown.
We love you, goodnight, screams Paul. Actually I think the feeling was mutual at Vector last night. The crowd loved Kiss. End of.
Hey they might not to be everybody's taste but we sure enjoyed the extravaganza that is a live Kiss show. I may have seen Kiss many times in my life, but each time has been outstanding. Do yourself a favour and grab a ticket next time. Or perhaps book yourself onto the next Kiss Kruise?
Thanks for the evening guys. Do come again.


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Celine Love is a young talented singer with guitar in her hand and heart in her voice.
Her powerful vocals and energetic performance brings a lot of soul and a good time to the stage. Celine has an American, Jamaican and German Background and grew up in Hamburg Germany. Currently she is studying Songwriting at the British Institute of Modern Music in London with a full scholarship.
Celine gives songs her own Acoustic ,R&B and Soul twist which adds a fresh nuance to your favorite songs. Her repertoire reaches from Alicia Keys , Beyoncè and Stevie Wonder to Hozier or Alanis Morrisette, always adding a hint of herself.
She has been performing at various events, festivals and venues throughout Germany since she was 15 , including supporting The UK bases Electro Pop Band Years & Years in Hamburg. Now is she expanding her experience in London.
Both her parents are musicians and Celine has always had music around her which has led her to be professional from a young age.
Her bubbly and outgoing personality and strong performance will make sure your event is a special one.


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Watch this 11-year-old who just became a world champion whirl and spin in a routine of exacting Taekwondo movements. Now, imagine he has autism.
Ethan Fineshriber was diagnosed with that condition when he was three years old. Eight years later, the boy from Sandy, Utah not only won the title at the ATA World Championship, he received a perfect score from the judges.
WATCH: Gymnast Falling on Her Head Saved By Coach With Ninja Moves
Three years ago, after winning national titles, Ethan decided he wanted to compete in a world championship, and never lost his focus on the goal.
"I felt nervous that I wasn't going to win," Ethan told KSTU News, "But the judges called the number and everybody around me went insane."
RELATED: Autism-Friendly Clothing Dumps Zips, Buttons and Tags, Offers GPS
His mother remembers when he was named champion, his team lifted Ethan onto their shoulders and everything came to a halt as people rushed onto the ring to celebrate. The boy proved what can be accomplished even with autism—or perhaps, because of it.
(WATCH the video below from KSTU News) — Photo: KSTU
Kick This Story To Your Friends, Share It….


text:
For an Academic Use Licence, please visit: brain-development.org
The Hammers Brainatlas is a three-dimensional maximum probability map, manually constructed using MRI scans from 30 healthy volunteers in the young adult age range. The map defines 83 regions of interest in standard sterotaxic space (Fig 1).
The map can be used to automatically label new scans and to detect anatomical abnormalities in patients. It can also be used for group studies, enabling automated coregistration with functional imaging data.
This product does not yet have a pre-set licence agreement attached it. To discuss licensing the product, please contact: Jonny GibbonsYou may also use the contact us form, or add the product to your basket and begin the checkout procedure.
Internal case number: 2523
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text:
|Source and function notes
|Heme iron (from animal tissue) is best source as non-Heme iron from vegetable sources is not very absorbable
|Vegetable sources
|Kelp; parsley; Jerusalem artichoke; beet greens; Swiss chard; dandelion greens; green peas; artichoke; broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus
|Fruit sources
|Dried prunes, Raisins, Dates, Currants, Strawberries, Blackberries
|Nut and seed sources
|Pumpkin and squash seeds, Sunflower seeds, Almonds, Cashews, Brazil Nuts, Walnut, Sesame seeds, Pecans, Peanuts, Ripe olives
|Absorption factors
|Spice and herb sources
|Deficiency factors
|Toxicity and dangers
Adapted from:
Murray, M. (2005). Encyclopedia of Healing Food. New York, N.Y.: Atria Books
Bland, J., Costarella, L., Levin, B., Liska, D., Lukaczer, D., Schlitz, B., Schmidt, M., Lerman, R., Quinn, S., Jones, D. (2004). Clinical Nutrition: A Functional Approach, Second Edition. Gig Harbor, WA: The Institute for Functional Medicine.
National Institute of Health Fact sheet on Iron
Resume of Penn State University study on polyphenolic foods and decreased iron absorbtion
Penn State study paper on polphenolic foods inhibitory action on iron absorbtion being offset by ascorbic acid


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SIMON Help Topics
Type a partial address into the search box at the top, eg Magdalen House or Trinity Road or L20 3NJ, then press return.
You will be presented with one or more addresses, click on the one you want or click the More link to see more addresses.
The map will now display at your chosen location.
To clear your address text, click the X button.
If you are unable to find an address, please report this at https://forms.sefton.gov.uk/contactform/ Select Missing Address from Website in the enquiry relates to box.
The background mapping can be displayed in either colour or greyscale.
Click the box next to ColourMapping, you will see choice of either ColourMapping or GreyscaleMapping, tick the box next to these options to display your choice.
To zoom in on the map click on the blue + button in the bottom right of the window.
To zoom out on the map click on the blue - button in the bottom right of the window.
To move the map around click with the left-hand mouse button and drag the map to the required location.
The mouse wheel can also be used to zoom in and out on the map.
Click the small black button at the right side of the map if you wish to see the overview map. This shows the current map window and its location in Sefton.
Clicking on this gives a number of options.
Choose Map Layers - enables you to select the features that you wish to see on the map.
Local Knowledge - provides information relevant to the property and the area you have selected.
Search By Area - allows you to select all features within your chosen area of interest.
Measure - enables you to measure areas and distances from the map.
This option allows the user to select what data they wish to see on the map. The list is divided into themes. Each theme contains one or more data layers.
By ticking the grey box next to the name, eg Planning applications, you will display all data under this theme
If you want to see the data under each theme, click on the black triangle next to the theme name. This will expand the theme. You can then tick individual layers to display. To switch off the display of any layers, just untick the relevant boxes.
To view information at aspecific location, please click on the map at the place you are interested in. The information will then be displayed, but only for the layers that you have selected to be visible.
Please be aware that not all layers will display at all zoom levels. You may need to zoom in to see some detailed information such as planning applications.
Selecting the Local Knowledge option will display information relevant to the location of the blue pin on the map, that is, your address search location. If you move around the map from this pin, Local Knowledge will still return results based on the pin location, if you want information for another address, you need to relocate on this using the search box. If you haven't searched for an address, Local Knowledge will show information relevant to the centre of the map.
Use this option to choose information you are interested in, then draw a search area on the map. This will return a list of all the information from your selected layers found within your search area.
Use this option to measure areas and distances on the map. You can select which units you would like to use. Draw your area or line on the map and double click to complete. The area or distance measurement will appear in the boxes.
The various tool buttons at the top right of the map have the following functions:


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The terrorist attack in Beslan in Russia's North Caucasus was not only bloody but viciously sadistic: the children taken hostage by pro-Chechen terrorists were denied food and drink and even forbidden to go to the bathroom, then massacred when the siege was broken. It is proper for the civilized world to express outrage and feel solidarity with the Russian people. But to say this is not necessarily to agree with those -- including President Bush and President Vladimir Putin of Russia -- who would equate the massacre with the 9/11 attacks and Islamic terrorism in general.
In his post-Beslan speech, Mr. Putin all but linked the attack to global Islam: "We have to admit that we have failed to recognize the complexity and dangerous nature of the processes taking place in our own country and the world in general." Reports that some of the terrorists were Arabs reinforce that line of thinking. But the fact is, the Chechen cause and that of Al Qaeda are quite different, and demand very different approaches in combating them.
Terrorism is a means to an end: it can be employed for limited ends as well as for unlimited destructiveness. The terrorists who blew up the train station in Madrid just before the Spanish election this year had a specific goal in mind: to compel the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq. The Chechen case is, in some respects, analogous. A small group of Muslim people, the Chechens have been battling their Russian conquerors for centuries.
At the close of World War II, Stalin had the entire Chechen nation exiled to Kazakhstan for alleged collaboration with the Nazis. Khrushchev allowed them to return to their homeland but they continued to chafe under Russian rule. Because Chechnya, unlike the Ukraine or Georgia, had never enjoyed the status of a nominally independent republic under the Communists, the Chechens were denied the right to secede from the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And so they eventually resorted to terrorism for the limited objective of independence.
A clever arrangement secured by the Russian security chief, Gen. Alexander Lebed, in 1996 granted the Chechens de facto sovereignty while officially they remained Russian citizens. Peace ensued. It was broken by several terrorist attacks on Russian soil, which the authorities blamed on the Chechens (although many skeptics attributed them to Russian security agencies eager to create a pretext to bring Chechnya back into the fold). A second Chechen war began in 1999, of which there seems no end in sight.
This history makes clear how the events in Russia differ from 9/11. The attacks on New York and the Pentagon were unprovoked and had no specific objective. Rather, they were part of a general assault of Islamic extremists bent on destroying non-Islamic civilizations. As such, America's war with Al Qaeda is non-negotiable. But the Chechens do not seek to destroy Russia -- thus there is always an opportunity for compromise.
Unfortunately, Russia's leaders, and to some extent the populace, are loath to grant them independence -- in part because of a patrimonial mentality that inhibits them from surrendering any territory that was ever part of the Russian homeland, and in part because they fear that granting the Chechens sovereignty would lead to a greater unraveling of their federation. The Kremlin also does not want to lose face by capitulating to force.
The Russians ought to learn from the French. France, too, was once involved in a bloody colonial war in which thousands fell victim of terrorist violence. The Algerian war began in 1954 and dragged on without an end in sight, until Charles de Gaulle courageously solved the conflict by granting Algeria independence in 1962. This decision may have been even harder than the choice confronting President Putin, because Algeria was much larger and contributed more to the French economy than Chechnya does to Russia's, and hundreds of thousands of French citizens lived there.
Until and unless Moscow follows the French example, the terrorist menace will not be alleviated. It is as impossible to track Chechens scattered throughout Russia as it is to intimidate the suicidal fanatics among them. Worse, the continuation of Chechen terrorism threatens to undermine the authority of Mr. Putin, whose landslide victory in last spring's presidential election was in good measure due to the voters' belief that he could contain the Chechen threat. Russians respect strong authority, and there are new signs that Mr. Putin's inability to wield it over Chechnya makes them wonder whether he is fit to rule them. After the school siege, there was much muttering in the streets that under Stalin such atrocities would not have occurred.
Unfortunately, he seems determined not to yield an inch. "We showed weakness, and the weak are trampled upon," he said on Saturday. This may seem like a truism to Russians, but in this case it is wrong. Russia, the largest country on earth, can surely afford to let go of a tiny colonial dependency, and ought to do so without delay.
Op-Ed Contributor Richard Pipes is an emeritus professor of history at Harvard and the author of "A Concise History of the Russian Revolution" and, most recently, of "Vixi: The Memoirs of a Non-Belonger."


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- Cooking spray
- 1 loaf (16 ounces) French bread, cut into 20 slices
- 1 block (8 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 3 cups liquid egg substitute
- 2 cups skim milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sugar-free, maple-flavored syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Coat a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray. Layer 10 slices of bread in the bottom of the baking dish (you may need to cut some slices to fit). Top evenly with cream cheese slices, then remaining bread slices.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg substitute, milk, vanilla extract, syrup, and cinnamon. Pour over bread, coating all the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or 8 hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 15 minutes while oven preheats to 350ºF. Bake 1 hour, or until all liquid is absorbed and the French toast is set in the center. When the top begins to brown slightly, lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the baking dish.
Cut into 12 pieces and serve with Rise-n-shine raspberry syrup.
Yield: 12 servings.
Serving size: 1 slice (approximately 3 inches x 3.25 inches).
Nutrition Facts Per Serving:
Calories: 183 calories, Carbohydrates: 24 g, Protein: 15 g, Fat: 3 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Sodium: 486 mg, Fiber: 1 g
Exchanges per serving: 1 1/2 starch, 1 lean meat. Carbohydrate choices: 2.
This recipe was developed by Tami Ross, a Diabetes Nutrition Specialist and Certified Diabetes Educator in Lexington, Kentucky.


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Daniel Jacobson focuses his practice on appellate and complex civil litigation, as well as privacy and data security matters. Mr. Jacobson has litigated a wide range of constitutional challenges, particularly under the First Amendment, and has briefed cases and offered strategic counseling on a host of cybersecurity, privacy, and other technology related issues. Mr. Jacobson also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on voting rights litigation. He served as one of the leaders of the landmark gerrymandering challenge to Pennsylvania's congressional districts, which resulted in the implementation of a new congressional map for the 2018 elections.
Before rejoining the firm in 2017, Mr. Jacobson served as an Associate Counsel in the White House Counsel's Office under President Barack Obama. In that role, Mr. Jacobson served as the primary legal counsel to the White House information technology and digital strategy offices, advising staff on legal issues relating to privacy, network defense, intellectual property, the adoption of cloud-based tools, and the first-ever transition of social media assets across administrations. Mr. Jacobson also provided legal guidance to White House policy offices on public-private partnerships relating to cybersecurity, open data, and broadband connectivity, and he advised White House staff on general ethics and compliance matters.
- Smartphone manufacturer in consumer class actions in California, New York, and Pennsylvania relating to alleged product defect.
- Media organization providing legal support to government contractor accused of leaking classified document regarding hacking of electoral systems.
- One of nation's largest cable companies in patent litigation concerning VoIP technology.
- Fortune 200 company in successful state supreme court appeal vacating $10 billion verdict for alleged false advertising.
- Largest US steel producer in successful Fifth Circuit appeal reversing $150-million verdict in antitrust matter.
- Plaintiffs in successful gerrymandering challenge to Pennsylvania's congressional districts before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
- Non-profit organization in lead lawsuit against the Presidential Committee on Election Integrity under the Federal Advisory Commission Act.
- JD, Harvard Law School, 2011, magna cum laude
- BA, Economics, Yale College, 2006, magna cum laude
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Associate Counsel, Office of the White House Counsel (2015-2017)
- US District Court, Southern District of New York, The Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald
- United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, The Honorable A. Wallace Tashima


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A Blog Reflection on the trip to Bangladesh
Bangladesh: the context for transformative development
To understand the context in which transformational development is taking place as well as appreciating its impact at the community level, a brief description of Bangladesh is necessary. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It has a population of 160 million people in country that is slightly smaller than Iowa covering an area of 143 990 sq. km. 98% of the population are Bengalis while the rest are indigenous people commonly referred to as the tribal people. These are the minority ethnic groups living mainly in the country's areas bordering India and Myanmar. There are 45 different ethnic minority groups that in total constitute about 3% of the entire population. Much like the indigenous people of Canada, the tribal groups have historically been subjected to discrimination, violence, exclusion, and denial of their rights. Most have been edged out of their lands causing some to flee to India. Their suffering has not abated very much in the recent years prompting various groups including CRWRC to work towards justice and upholding of human rights for such groups.


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Written on:
18 July, 2017
List of Sugar & Carb Grams in Foods
Eat your carbohydrates for fuel, and improve your fitness and sports performance. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate found in fruits as fructose, in grains as glucose, in milk as lactose and in cane sugar as sucrose. The sugar content in a food is listed separately on the food label and it is also included in the total carbohydrate of the food. Each gram of carbohydrate, including sugar, has four calories, according to the book "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance."
Instant Oatmeal
Instant oatmeal is typically sweetened with sucrose in addition to the natural glucose in the oats. One packet of fruit and cream oatmeal has around 130 calories with 12 g of sugar and 27 total grams of carbs. If you eat two packets of oatmeal, 83 percent of the calories will come from carbohydrates. If you include one whole, boiled egg and 1 cup of skim milk you will have longer-lasting energy for 295 total calories and 38 total grams of carbohydrates; 52 percent of the calories come from carbs. There is no sugar in the egg though the milk adds 11 g of lactose for a total sugar content of 35 g.
Whole Wheat Bread
Two slices of whole wheat bread has 3 g of sugar and 22 total grams of carbs. If you had plain toast and black coffee for breakfast, you would only consume about 120 calories with 73 percent of your calories from carbs. Make this a more nutritious meal by spreading 1 tbsp. of natural peanut butter over each slice of toast. Include a medium, peeled orange. The peanut butter contributes 1 g of sugar while the orange adds 12 g of sugar. This meal has about 394 calories, 16 g of sugar and 45 total grams of carbs; 46 percent of the calories come from carbohydrates.
Low-Fat Yogurt
Low-fat yogurt has an average of about 110 calories per half cup or 4 oz. serving including 15 g of sugar and 22 total grams of carbohydrates. Eaten alone, 80 percent of the calories in yogurt come from carbs. Pair the yogurt with 1 oz. or ¼ cup of almonds and 1 oz. or one-eighth of a block of whole-milk cheese for a more substantial meal. The almonds and cheese add a negligible amount of sugar and only 6 g of carbs. The total calories come to about 402 calories, 28 percent of which come from carbs.
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
- "The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts"; NutriBase; 2001
- Kathleen Brennan/Photodisc/Getty Images


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Race Car Preparation
Race Calendar
Arrive 'N' Drive
Road Engineering
The friendly and competitive nature of the Volkswagen Racing Cup is an ideal place for the newcomer to racing to feel welcome, quickly learn the ropes and come up to speed alongside a mixture of novices and very experienced drivers. We list some pointers here... For the full story check out the
Go Motorsport
The first thing you will need is your competition licence. The category required by the Volkswagen Racing Cup is a Race National B. Apply to the
Motor Sports Association
to receive your 'Get Started in Motorsport' pack. This will provide you with all of the paperwork you need, along with a useful DVD. Watching this DVD a few times will be an excellent start to understanding just what you are embarking on. Then get your GP to complete the medical form (normally for a charge). These are mainly routine checks.
You then need to book your ARDS test at a racing school. ARDS stands for the Association of Approved Racing Drivers Schools. The ARDS test has been compulsory for first-time applicants for racing licences for several years in order to try to introduce a minimum competence level across all newcomers to motorsport. The test is made up of a written test examining flag usage and race procedures, and a driving test to establish that the basics are understood. Your personal preparation for the written test will be explained in the DVD enclosed in the pack, which you should watch through a couple of times. You will need to go through the ARDS notes, together with a read-through of section J of the Motorsports Association (MSA) Blue Book. The written flags test must be passed, so you will need to spend a little time beforehand to learn these thoroughly. The test will take around three hours.
For the driving section, you will receive time with an instructor in a road car, during which he will decide on whether you pass or fail on driving competence. He will be looking for you to demonstrate adequate vision ahead of you, and to judge that you are travelling at a reasonable pace for the circuit. There is no element of timing or any speed requirements. But crucially, you must stay on the track at all times, and be able to string at least two laps together consistently.
With medical, ARDS test and a cheque written, post it all off to the MSA, and your Race National B licence will be in your hands about a week later. You are now entitled to drive on test days on circuit, but before you can actually enter a race, you will need to join a club and register for the championship.
The club that administers the Volkswagen Racing Cup, and much of British circuit racing, is the British Racing and Sports Car Club, the
. Contact the BRSCC to get the membership application forms. You will need to become a 'Racing Member'. Finally, you need to register with Volkswagen Racing for the Volkswagen Racing Cup. This will entitle you to enter the races, and all of the associated benefits.Before you enter your first race, it is always a good idea to get a few test days under your belt. Not only will this get you used to handling your car, you will also become aware of other cars up close around you at speed.
Check out the RacingLine '
Arrive & Drive
' packages
Tweets by @Slidesports
7/8 Apr - Round 1&2
Brands Hatch Indy
28/29 April - Round 3&4
Donington Park
12/13 May - Round 5&6
Monza (I)
09/10 June - Round 7&8
Oulton Park
28/29 July - Round 9&10
25/26 August - Rounds 11/12
15/16 September - Round 13/14
29/30 October - Round 15/16
Brands Hatch GP
Click here
for more information.
© SlideSports Ltd | Site Design and Production
AP Media


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What This Father Did For His Daughter Broke Me Down. Just Watch.
Kenzie Carey was almost two years old when she was diagnosed with life-threatening Mitochondrial disease. The disease damages the cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney and the endocrine and respiratory systems. Kenzie can't walk or speak, but she understands everything that is said to her.
Her dad, Mike Carey, got on stage with her for a summer pageant. This heartwarming performance will bring tears to your eyes. Look out for her smile at 2:30 and all the way 'til the end.
To find out more about Kenzie and how you can help her and her family, see Go Fund Me.
This deserves to be shared a million times! HELP make Kenzie's video go viral!! Just CLICK the SHARE button below.
Source: Kenzie Carey


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There is an absolute plethora of coffee beans available on the market. This provides a huge range of choice that is great for consumers in one way, but in another way, such an array of beans can be daunting. Which ones should I buy? Are these good or are they trash? HELP ME!
Never fear – we are here to give you a helping hand. We drink a lot of coffee thanks to our roles here as coffee blog snobs at The Coffee Bazaar, and have tried a huge range of different beans – so we believe we are pretty well qualified here.
Below we have selected our 7 favourite arabica beans of 2018 and 2019 so far and tell you why we think they are so good. We have selected only roasted whole beans here, so if you are looking for pre-ground coffee you'll be disappointed (although if you are a coffee nut then you really should get a grinder and be grinding your own beans at home). If you want to learn a little more about what to look for in a coffee bean then you can click here to take a look at our guide at the bottom of the page.
So in no particular order, here are our eight favourite coffee beans for 2019. Quick summary table at the top, followed by more detailed reviews below.
Quick Summary Table
|Coffee Name
|Our Review
|Check Price
|Gökotta Coffee
|Lyft Espresso
|Read our review »
|Check price at Gökotta Coffee »
|Orangutan Coffee
|Read our review »
|Check price at Amazon »
|Union Coffee
|Read our review »
|Check price at UnionRoasted.com »
|Spiller & Tait
|Pure Colombian Huila
|Read our review »
|Check price at Amazon »
|Guatemala Elephant
|Read our review »
|Check price at Whittard »
|Cuttlefish Coffee
|Read our review »
|Check price at Amazon »
|Café Saula
|Read our review »
|Check price at Amazon »
|Sacred London
|Read our review »
|Check price at Amazon »
Gökotta Lyft Espresso
A new entry to our best beans list, but straight in as our favourite coffee of 2019. This Lyft Espresso from artisans Gökotta Coffee (apparently a Swedish word for "getting up early in the morning to listen to the birdsong") is rich and deep with toffee and caramel notes and an incredible aroma. It's relatively well priced too, given the quality of the beans.
The packaging is a little bit rustic, but this adds to the charm, and the coffee is top-notch – which is the main point anyway right? We heartily recommend you give this a go!Check price at Gökotta Coffee »
Orangutan Coffee
This single origin, single estate coffee from Sumatra in Indonesia not only tastes great but it also supports a very noble cause. Sales of the coffee help support farmers to produce ecologically friendly plantations without deforestation. As far as the taste goes, the flavour notes say cherry and chocolate – and that is exactly right! The flavour is deep and rich and very pleasant. And all while supporting a good cause. What's not to like?Check price at Amazon »
Union Coffee – Liberacion
We're big fans of Union Coffee and this Liberacion is our favourite of theirs. The beans are grown in Huehuetenango, Guatemala at altitudes of nearly a mile high, and less than half of the beans produced are actually purchased by Union to ensure that only the highest quality beans go into the coffee (if you are wondering, the remaining half is sold at local markets). This is a medium roast and has some lovely clean, chocolatey notes.Check price at UnionRoasted.com »
Spiller & Tait – Pure Colombian Huila
Spiller and Tait are another excellent coffee producer, roasting beans in small batches to ensure consistent quality. This coffee originates from Huila in southern Colombia and is a medium strength, medium roast. What stands out about this coffee is the complete lack of any acidity, which coupled with fruity flavours makes for a delicious cup.Check price at Amazon »
Whittard – Guatemala Elephant Coffee
As the name suggests, this coffee comes from Guatemala, where the beans are grown in the fertile volcanic earth around Lake Atitlán. The beans themselves are Maragogype beans which are three times the size of 'normal' coffee beans and the roast is medium dark. All of this makes for a very bold flavour – extremely smooth with deep tones. A perfect breakfast coffee.Check price at Whittard »
Cuttlefish Coffee – Yirgacheffe
The name 'Cuttlefish Coffee' might conjure up images of ground up treats from a budgie cage, but nothing could be further from the truth here. The beans are Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia and the taste is extremely well rounded with blueberry notes at the top end. Works well across a variety of different brewing methods (chemex is our favourite here) and really delivers an incredible tasing cup.Check price at Amazon »
Café Saula – Premium
Café Saula is a blend of four different arabica beans, harvested by hand in Spain. This medium roast coffee has won two double-gold awards and really stands up to it's reputation with rich, complicated flavours yet still creamy and smooth. It is great drunk at any time of the day and produces a really quality cup of coffee.Check price at Amazon »
Sacred London – Auckland Coffee
This coffee from Sacred London is a blend of arabica beans sourced from Honduras, Ethiopia and Brazil, and hand-roasted right here in the UK. This blend gives the coffee a deep nutty flavour with light acidic and fruity overtones. Sacred serve this coffee in their gourmet coffee shops in London, and now you can make it in your own home.Check price at Amazon »
What to look for in a coffee bean?
Bean type
There are three main types that coffee beans are available in – Arabica, Robusta and a blend of Arabica and Robusta.Arabica
These are the highest quality beans available (hence why all of the coffees we've included on this list are 100% arabica).Robusta
Robusta beans have a higher caffiene content so are typically used in stronger coffees (you'll find most of the strongest coffees you can buy use robusta beans). But they typically are not as high quality in terms of flavour.Robusta/Arabica blend
Naturally, some producers who are looking to make a strong coffee but don't want to sacrifice flavour too much, may blend the two beans together to provide a reasonable balance.
Some coffees use beans sourced from a single location (or single-origin coffee), some use a blend of beans from different locations. Neither is really 'better' than the other, because as long as all the beans are arabica and created by an artisan roaster rather than cheaply mass-produced, they will generally speaking taste good.
It really depends on your preference. If you are looking for a specific flavour (for instance, deep and dark) then you may want to go for a single origin coffee from Brazil. But if you are looking for a more complicated flavour profile, a blend may be right up your street. The best thing is to experiment to find what you like – and indeed, isn't trying lots of different coffees to hone in on your favourite one of the most compelling things about the drink?


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Self-storage goes urban: 'It's a much sexier building'
Millennials are living in small apartments for longer and empty-nest Baby Boomers are downsizing, but apparently neither group has stopped accumulating stuff – fueling a boom in the local self-storage business.
And a rule change approved in November by Charlotte City Council allows new self-storage facilities to be built in more urban, residential areas, instead of the industrial and warehouse districts where they've traditionally located. There are two self-storage facilities planned just east of uptown, on 10th Street and Central Avenue, another planned on West Morehead Street in uptown and a fourth near new houses and upscale stores at Prosperity Church Road and Interstate 485.
But these aren't the single-story, industrial, block buildings with roll-up metal doors you're used to seeing. The new breed of self-storage buildings are four, five, even eight stories tall, with restaurants and offices on the ground floor. They're designed to look like office or apartment buildings, and operators hope they can change the perception of self-storage.
"We're trying to put together mixed-use buildings that do not look like self-storage," said Joshua Davis, Charlotte-based vice president of Pamlico Investments. He's seeking City Council approval to build a five-story self-storage business at 10th Street and Seigle Avenue, combined with ground-floor shops, offices and restaurants.
The booming apartment market is one of the trend's major drivers. Developers are building more than 1,000 new apartments along the Central Avenue corridor in Plaza Midwood, and many of those new residents will need extra square footage to stash a few things before or after a move.
"We're trying to centrally locate ourselves into multifamily and business corridors," said Davis. The big numbers of new apartments in close-in, urban neighborhoods near uptown make those sites more attractive for self-storage operators. "It really acts as an extra closet for a lot of these people."
Such sites come with higher land costs though – and that means self-storage companies have to find a way to get more square footage they can rent out than traditional single-story designs allow.
"You couldn't build enough single-story storage on an urban plot of land to work. You have to get enough square footage to overcome the cost of the dirt," said Chris Gilbert. He's vice president of engineering at BETCO, a Statesville-based company that builds self-storage facilities. Last year, the company opened a new, satellite office in Charlotte devoted to planning multistory self-storage buildings.
Gilbert said the industry still has to overcome a perception problem as self-storage moves into more urban environments.
"People kind of get a frown on their face," he said. "They're thinking of that old, industrial park-looking project where you see a lot of low, squatty buildings."
"It's a much sexier building than it used to be," he said of the new type of projects.
Dave Benson is president of Morningstar Properties, a Matthews-based self-storage company that opened a five-story facility on South Tryon Street near Clanton Road last year. He said the new multistory buildings allow apartment dwellers and others who need nearby access to self-storage to get to their units quickly, since they don't have to be built in fringe industrial areas.
"This new style of construction allows us to get closer to the user," said Benson. He said some customers come multiple times a week, and use the storage units for things they just can't fit in small apartments but still need regular access to, such as a mountain bike.
Even though the city's changed zoning rules allow new self-storage in more places, Benson said he doesn't favor the mixed-use developments.
"We'd rather have a strictly storage development," said Benson, who said storage facilities are quiet and can be integrated well into neighborhoods without worries about noise, parking or traffic. Putting a restaurant or bar in there could complicate that.
He also worries that the current interest in self-storage could lead to overbuilding in Charlotte. That, in turn, could lead to lower rents and a harder time leasing out units. Benson said his company has counted 32 projects underway or under consideration in Charlotte, potentially adding some 2.5 million square feet of storage space.
"I think we're in for a glut," he said. "We're absolutely holding our breath to see how many of these come to fruition, and what the market does."
Rising rents raise interest
One reason self-storage has become a more attractive industry for investors: Increasing demand means operators can charge more. Financial results at large, publicly traded companies paint a rosy picture.
Public Storage, which operates almost 2,300 self-storage facilities in the U.S., reported that it raised its average rent-per-square foot by 6 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Its storage facilities were almost fully occupied, at 95.3 percent full. Extra Space reported that its North Carolina facilities were 92.4 percent leased at the end of September, up from 90.2 percent at the same time last year. The company increased its rental rates by 7 percent.
Those factors are attracting more investors, with money to fuel new development.
"People like the fundamentals, and they're coming in whole hog," said Benson. In 2014, his company raised $77.5 million worth of funding for acquiring and developing storage facilities, and Benson said they plan to raise more when they've used that money.
Locally, more parts of Charlotte are now open to new self-storage facilities. Before November, the city's zoning code allowed self-storage on sites designated for warehousing and industrial uses. City Council voted to allow new self-storage facilities to be built in mixed-use development districts, which are typically dense and urban. An affiliate of Florida-based Budget Self Storage proposed the change.
Now, Budget Self Storage is planning to build a five-story facility at 600 West Morehead Street, directly across the train tracks from Bank of America Stadium, with offices on the ground floor. The site is zoned for mixed-use development.
Jonathan Dorman, president of Budget-affiliated company StorCon Development, said the company pushed for the rule change because there wasn't an option under old zoning laws that allowed building self-storage in most of the high-growth areas where apartments have sprouted.
"People want to store where they live," said Dorman. Despite the opportunities multistory self-storage buildings offer, Dorman said they can be harder and more expensive to develop, especially since multistory construction with heating and air conditioning is much more expensive than single-story concrete boxes with roll-up metal doors.
"It's not without it's challenges," he said. "The cost to the project goes up significantly."
The new rules require all new urban, mixed-use self-storage facilities to be fully enclosed – no roll-up metal doors allowed. The ground floor must be at least 50 percent "active" space, with uses such as offices, shops, restaurants or even breweries built in to make the buildings more engaging and different from the suburban self-storage you're probably picturing.
David Walters, an urban planner and professor emeritus at UNC Charlotte, said he thinks new, urban self-storage projects will help cut down on long drives to the suburbs for people who need to store items. He worries, however, that developers will slap unappealing buildings above token retail on the ground floor, however, rather than well-designed buildings.
"It's in the details," said Walters. "That's my worry, that it will be a sort of not-very-well-designed box above the one level of retail."
Still, he's encouraged by the trend towards mixing uses and cutting down drive times.
"Overall, I think it's a positive thing. At the very least it introduces a needed facility within a short distance of where people live," Walters said. "It gets the storage within a better building type. Anything that has retail and offices at the sidewalk instead of blank walls is good."
Ely Portillo: 704-358-5041, @ESPortillo


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Watch out NDTV, CNN IBN – BBC World News service will soon launch an India focused news program on BBC World News service that will air prime time at 9:30 PM.
BBC is considered to be the most watched 'news' channel beating CNN and Al Jazeera English.
The Indian edition of BBC news will be hosted by Nik Gowing.


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Shop the Post
Happy Friday guys! It's an extra busy time of life over here and it's not showing signs of slowing down. We've been prepping for a huge vendor event called Holiday Mart for weeks now and it's finally here. Our booth turned out exactly how we wanted and it's always fun to sell earrings in person. Thankfully my MIL is back and we couldn't be working or hustling like we are without her. God knew we would need the extra hands and he certainly sent them.
We shared an update to our baby journey on social media this week and I have all kinds of feelings and thoughts to share. I'm hoping to get it all into a blog post next week when I have more time to breathe. Head to FB or IG for the latest news. Thanks for your comments, prayers, and well wishes. We read and appreciate all of them.
Fit details on today's outfit:
SWEATER- This one is sold out, but I found two similar sweaters and if you know me at all, you know I can't pass up an olive sweater. This one and this one both look awesome.
JEANS- These are my favorite non-maternity jeans. They fit so well, never stretch out, and although they are an investment- they last.
BOOTS- These boots are such a pretty pair of boots. They are tall, but not OTK. They fit TTS and the suede is so luxe.
JACKET- This is my favorite basic military jacket. Fits mostly TTS. I'm wearing an XS and it's slim fitting. Typically I wear XS at Madewell, but maybe a Small would fit better in this one- at least for wearing over sweaters.
Have a great weekend and if you are in KC- come see us at Holiday Mart at Bartle Hall!


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Joel A. Sutherland is the Silver Birch and Hackmatack Award-winning author of Be a Writing Superstar, Haunted Canada 4 to 8, and Summer's End (a Red Maple Award Honour Book). His new series, Haunted, including The House Next Door, Kill Screen, Night of the Living Dolls and Field of Screams, has been praised by Goosebumps author R.L. Stine. Joel's short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and magazines, including Blood Lite II & III (Pocket Books) and Cemetery Dance Magazine, alongside the likes of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman.
He is a two-time juror for the Bram Stoker Award, the John Spray Mystery Award, and the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction & Fantasy. He is also the founder of the DarkLit Fest, a literary event that has welcomed Guests of Honour Kelley Armstrong and Joy Fielding.
Joel appeared as "The Barbarian Librarian" on the Canadian edition of the hit television show Wipeout, making it all the way to the third round and proving that librarians can be just as tough and crazy as anyone else. He has a Masters of Information and Library Studies from Aberystwyth University in Wales and lives in southeastern Ontario with his family, where he is always on the lookout for ghosts.


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Funeral Collections and Gifts In Lieu of Flowers
If you are arranging a funeral or memorial service you may want to encourage friends and relatives to make an In Memorial donation to the Tuberous Sclerosis Australia. Requesting donations in lieu of flowers is a wonderful way to honour the memory of friends or loved ones.
We can provide you with donation forms and envelopes to distribute at the service. Contact us or ask your funeral directors to do so.
You may want to include this request in the death notice: Donations in lieu of flowers to Tuberous Sclerosis Australia, c/- 21 Fullers Rd, Chatswood NSW 2067 or www.tsa.org.au


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Mafia II shots show off PhysX tech
2K Games and NVIDIA are bringing PhysX technology to all versions of Mafia II, and the PC version will feature both PhysX and Vision tech.
According to the firms, Mafia II will be "the first Windows PC game ever to utilize the NVIDIA APEX Clothing module, providing an immersive gameplay experience in the world of 1940s and 1950s Americana".
Alright, wanna see proof in the pudding so to speak? Check out the screens below then – well, not of the 3D tech, anyway.
Mafia II's out August 24 in the US and internationally August 27.