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Welcome to Avant Garde Church Street, formerly Peter Prosser
Avant Garde - Church Street, was previously the award-winning Peter Prosser Salon. With it's very own Artistic Team, super talented team of stylists and a fantastic reputation, Avant Garde have simply pushed the salon to the next level with an enhanced customer experience, booking system and of course the top-to-toe massage chairs all Avant Garde salons have. We pride ourselves on providing all clients with a memorable, relaxing and indulgent visit, and the team will work with you to ensure you have just that.
Our team are trained to perfection, meaning no matter what type of hair you have, what look you are going for and what budget you have; we can match you to the perfect stylist!
Our opening times
- Monday
- 09:00 - 17:00
- Tuesday
- 09:00 - 17:30
- Wednesday
- 09:00 - 17:30
- Thursday
- 09:00 - 17:30
- Friday
- 09:00 - 18:30
- Saturday
- 08:30 - 17:00
- Sunday
- Closed


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I didn't have to breath hold either, Sunflower. I did check & was told it wasn't necessary. Thinking back, I think the radiotherapy suite had been recently upgraded.
ann x
Of course you can join us Sunflower
I'm afraid I can't help you regarding the machine being used for your radiotherapy as I'm doing the breath holding. I'm surprised that it's not being used at the hospital where I'm having mine though as the unit is only a year old and it's part of Guy's Hospital.
Hope you found you're planning session reassuring yesterday x
Sooooo very grateful for the weekend!
Enjoy the break if you have the weekend free, and I hope you're not suffering too many side effects!
Hi Hanbagaddict
Loved your story about getting measured up for booster sessions. I had something similar but it was pretty weird as well. Again, after my normal session I was asked to go round to another area to wait for the consultant to measure me for the booster sessions. This turned out to be a corridor, with staff passing backwards and forwards and me in my dressing gown. Didn't particularly enjoy this. And I waited… And waited… And waited! After 45 minutes I managed to catch one of the radiotherapist to ask where the specialist was. She went to find someone to tell me and when he came he looked all embarrassed and said "we think he might be in clinic. We're trying to find him".! I then realise there were three other women all waiting to see him. He finally arrived an hour and a half later. By then I was not only freezing but stretched flat in the usual uncomfortable position with my arms above my head circled by two nurses on tiptoe obviously on tenterhooks waiting for him to arrive. Finally he came into the room. greeted me cheerily and explained he was going to measure me up. I thought this was going to be really complicated but all he did was look at my breast, ask for a plastic disk, round which he drew with a felt tip pen and then disappeared. No apology for the long wait which made me really annoyed. After that the nurses carefully used tracing paper to trace round the marks he had made and that was it. Really 21st-century. I discovered the next day that the poor women waiting after me had to wait even longer because he then disappeared off somewhere else and had to be found again.
Morning all. Session 6 today and one of the most weird yet. Normal treatment went fine and then I got measured up for my booster sessions. Cue 3 x radiographers and 1 x student all standing over me (whilst completely naked from waist up) discussing positioning, marking me up with black pen and taking photos! They don't do tattooing anymore where I have treatment, hence this novel approach! Very surreal!
Anyway, holding up well generally and no side effect to be seen so far. I am being very careful on skincare and drinking what seems like gallons of water......
Good to see you Vonne, hope you are getting into the swing of things. It will be number 10 of 15 for me today, can't believe two thirds through already.
All the staff are amazing, so respectful and gentle.
Luckily for me a friend gave me a heads up for free parking opposite hospital, down some side roads. Sometimes have to drive round a little but manage to find space eventually.
Have a good day everyone!
I agree Helena and Fenouillard, here our car parking is free but that attracts people from all over the city to park there and then take a bus or short train ride to work!
Today was hard enough, but tomorrow is going to be much neater for time for me.....I wonder what excitement I'll be having then?! 😅
What a lovely lovely post.
I can so sympathise with you on car parking, it was the bain of my life when I was having them, having to allow an extra 30 minutes so that you can try and get parked, the one day I actually rang my team from the car to let them know I was there but could not find a parking space, they just said not to get stressed and get there whenever I could, the rads teams are little angels I am sure, they just do everything they can to make you a comfortable and reassured as possible.
Helena xxx
Hi Vonne
I do so sympathise! Our carpark is never big enough and we always have to queue. The other day we had been waiting for about 20 minutes or so when a space became free just behind us but as we started turning a newly arrived car nipped into it. When I remonstrated the woman driver simply said airily "oh that's happened to us too and we were nearly late the for appointment". Why on earth would she want to inflict this on someone else?
Day 3.
Am sitting in my Treatment Room and as usual they're running a little late, but I'm incredibly grateful for that because there are simply not enough places at the hospital to park. After the long drive I spent 35 minutes circling round trying to beat others into the potentially vacant space of a poor, reluctant, harassed driver. Other hawk-like drivers' eyes spotted him exiting the doors of the unit first and stalked him!
As I kept losing out, (the other birds of preys are more mature in treatment than me and have learned to pounce faster), I instead circled around the lone parking attendant who was 'in hiding' near the bushes! A few tears and pleading later and I was parked on a pavement and running.
Now, I'm still waiting to bare all.....but had enough time to calm down and am extremely grateful to that wonderful parking attendant who rescued me from my worst self of emotionalism!
Good mornng,
have just read your post. I actually finished my rads last June 2017 but just wanted to say i used Aveeno right thru my treatment and for 3 months after with no problems. I did have a real itchy nipple/area but dr said to use a little steroid cream which i did n sorted in 4-5 days.
good luck with your continuing treatment. ❤
Well done Vonn for getting the first session done. To be honest, I think that's the hardest one, as until you have to do it, you dont really know what to expect in terms of atmosphere of the room, noises, movement of the bed, the manhandling, etc. to ensure you;re in the right position. It really does get easier each time.
Having said it gets easier though, had a nightmare yesterday on session 4 with my breath hold as for no reason, I was really struggling to get my lungs unflated enough. i did it in the end, but it took a few goes. Sessions 1, 2 and 3 had been fine. Got a big apology from the radiogrpaher this morning as they confessed that they'd forgotten to give me a nose peg (and i hadnt realised either). Then said that they were impressed that i'd actually managed to hit all the levels despite not having one!
Today's mishap in session 5 was the machine getting stuck on some cables post the minin CT scan and setting loads of alarms off. Cue what felt like a million people running in the room at once to try and sort it out. Still makes it all a bit more interesting i suppose.
Loving my radiography team too. They really do make such a big effort to make the process as 'enjoyable' as possible.
That's a lovely post Vonne and you are so right about the volunteers. They made such a difference when I was having chemo coming round with hot drinks and stopping for a chat x
Day 1 of rads yesterday and I discovered 'The Walled Garden' in the grounds of the hospital! I sat there in the sun feeling empathy from the shrubs and trees and just let my emotional tears stream down my cheeks! Thanks volunteers for everything you've done in the garden, you helped me feel more calm after my first session!
Day 2 today and I sat drinking a regular size hot chocolate at the lovely little volunteers cafe, which I'm convinced acts a bit like a therapy centre for a lot of people!! The light in this cafe is bright but at the same time it's very warm and homely so it's the kind of place where you can just sit, relax, and prepare for "the big room with the big machine!!!"
To volunteers everywhere....you do a great job and right now I feel you have been doing it all just for me!!! Thanks!
What a beautiful morning! Had an really early session today. No 3 of 20. In and out within 15 mins and it really does get easier every time....... Still drinking stacks of water. My skin (face) is going to end up looking fantastic by the end of it all given the fluids I'm taking on.
Hope everyone else is OK and enjoying the sushine today....albeit from underneath a sun umbrella perhaps..... .......
I started rads last Monday, 5 done, 20 more to go! I've been posting on the April rads, but thought I'd pop onto here too as apart from the first one, all my rads are in May! (plus a few in June)
Dramajo, glad everything is going well for you x
Hope you're all having a lovely weekend x
Evening ladies, just had my 7th of 15 rads today. Must say, the first week has gone very smoothly, wonderful staff, feel I am in the swing of things now. Looking forward to a long weekend.
Skins looking ok, moisturising 3 times a day and drinking plenty of water.
I hope all you lovely ladies get a chance to enjoy the weekend and enjoy the sunshine!
Love to all
I could not have done without having the wonderful support from this forum when I was going through mine, it was so reassuring to post about something and then have so many others come back to say it is quite normal.
I finished rads in January 2017, it seems like a distant memory now xxx
Thank you Helena, it's so reassuring being on this site, really makes a big difference,
Have a fantastic weekend.
Elaine xxx
Yay you are nearly there and soon not to have to do those 6am starts, no wonder you are tired xx
Enjoy your long weekend break from rads, enjoy the rest and hopefully a bit more sleep
Helena xxx
Hi lovely ladies
i had my 10th rad today, only another 5 to go. Getting red and sore now been using aloe Vera and bio oil and notice some of you are using aveeno, so think I'll give that a try. The staff have been amazing and I've got to know the others in My time slot, there's been lots of banter and laughs, even talking of a future reunion. I am really tired now but been getting up at 6 for my rads and not always sleeping well. Hope you lovely ladies have a great weekend and enjoy this lovely weather.
ticking them off lady 🙂 you will soon be at the end of them.
Just a suggestion are you taking in enough fluids, it could be that your headache is down to dehydration, and that can be made worse because of the rads?
I was 6 weeks post surgery before I plucked up the courage to post, never done anything like it before, and over the last 18 months it has been a godsend to me.
Helena xxx
Session 2 of 20 all done. I have to say that all the staff - right through from the receptionists through to the radiographers - do try to make the process as painless as possible. Male radiographer threw me a bit today, but he was lovely - just had cold hands !! Come away with a small headache each time but i think this is because I'm tensing up / biting down onto the mouth piece for the breathing thing when holding my breath......
Hope everyone else is OK and lovely to 'meet' some of you.
To the point made earlier about the forums being of comfort and helpful. You are absolutely right. I've been lurking and reading for a couple of months and you would not believe how helpful i have found everyones comments and the sharing of experiences.
Have to say that has gone really quickly I cant believe it is already the day before your last rads.
I am going to look forward to ringing the bell for you tomorrow.
Helena xxx
Thank you so much for starting the May thread, I have suddenly realised today that it was the 3rd of May and I hadnt done it.
You will get loads of help and support form the wonderful ladies on here and those who have already finished their rads.
Glad today went well, yep we are a bit exposed arent we but it will not be long before you will be finished.
Helena xxx
Just joined the forum but have been reading for a couple of months. Had my first radiotherapy session today - no. 1 of 20 (15 normal and then 5 boosters). Since it's May, thought I'd start a new thread for anyone else staring radiotherapy this month. Hope you don't mind!
History wise, got diagnosed with a grade 2 mucinous carcinoma (18mm) on the left side at the beginning of March. Had a WLE and SNB at the end of March. 2 nodes removed. All clear and margins clear too. So now onto Radiotherapy and I will start tamoxifen after rads haven finished.
First rads session went OK. I don't find the breath hold thing particularly hard. Worst thing is the feeling of being so exposed whilst they sort themselves and the equipment out....oh and the itch I got on my shoulder blade which was driving me nuts. I'm sure it's a bit like being pregnant / childbirth though in that by the time I get to the end of it, I really won't care at all :-).

subset: commoncrawl


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theatre in education company, theatre in education companies, key stage 2 history, key stage 1, fairy tales, traditional tales, christmas show, schools panto, touring schools theatre, stone age, egyptians, greeks, romans, vikings, tudors, victorians, wwii.
In Britain we still have the straight Roman roads that lead all across the country.
The Romans also left us with the first sewage drainage and water supplies such as aqueducts (big water pipes that flow downhill to towns over arched bridges).
The Romans also invented central-heating!
They left gaps underneath their tiled floors and walls in their houses so that hot-air from big fires could travel around and keep them warm - this is called a Hypocaust.
The Romans built Britains first cities – such as Londinium (London,) Mamucium (Manchester) and Eburacum (York.)
One thing the Romans did not give us however was our language.
English is mostly derived from the languages of the later Saxon and Norman invaders and not Latin like a lot of other European languages.
The Romans gave us most things but they didn't give us our language.
Hypocaust channels in an excavated villa in France
Straight Roman road


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Jeff and I are headed to Shelby, NC this afternoon. The annual "Treasures of the Earth" pottery show and sale opens tonight. If you are in the area stop in at Cleveland County Arts Council, see the show and buy some new pots for your collection. The exhibition runs through March 5, 2015.
It's been a super busy week for us. I have spent time traveling back and forth from the bank and attorney's office... which means we are getting closer to purchasing a new place! It is starting to seem a little more real. Keep sending good energy our way! Tuesday afternoon we drove to NC State in Raleigh to give a presentation and demo to the Triangle Potters Guild. Jeff demonstrated some of his throwing and altering techniques, while I did some sgraffito... which is sort of like watching grass grow. The guild has a great group of members and we really enjoyed the evening.


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Desire2Learn Inc
This case study outlines BDO's implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP for Desire2Learn Inc.
Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn Incorporated (D2L) is a leader in innovative eLearning solutions for academic and other organizations around the world. D2L is known for its focus on research and development, as well as client service and support.
D2L's rapid growth means they had outgrown Simply Accounting for some time. This left the company with a myriad of Excel spreadsheets and manual processes to track contract invoicing, deferred revenue, revenue recognition and fixed assets. D2L also had demanding requirements for management reporting information that its current system was not able to handle. Furthermore, D2L has global operations and consolidated financial statements in Canadian dollars were being produced manually in Excel on a quarterly basis.
BDO implemented Microsoft Dynamics GP, providing a fully integrated system including a robust and flexible Contract Administration module that handles revenue deferral, revenue recognition and recurring billing and more. Some other benefits include:
- Contract data is entered only once and all revenue deferrals/recognition and recurring billing are easily driven from this module
- Expenses can be recorded to client markets and to specific initiatives to facilitate management reporting without requiring an expanded formal chart of accounts
- Translated financial statements can be produced at any time in FRx with the click of a button eOne's SmartConnect facilitates the automation of payables and expense entry, allowing the finance team to focus on other accounting tasks and analysis
- Users have tremendous reporting flexibility to view and interact with system data within GP in the form of inquiries, reports and lists, as well as outside GP in Excel or via SRS reports


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Building RED Epic Dragon in the office today for our 3 day green screen FX shoot in Baltimore. 6K Cinema visual effects.
We have a new DSLR 4K camera package here at JSS Productions, Inc. Includes 4 x Rokinon Cine DS lenses, lighting gear, sound package, slider and more. Great for a day of shooting at your next event. Shoot packages starting at $1,000 per day. #videoproduction #4Kcamerapackage


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Roine Stolt, although not perhaps widely known outside his native Sweden or the halls of 'Progdom', must be one of the hardest working musicians around. Alongside his major musical project, the Flower Kings, he has also in recent years produced music with Agents of Mercy, Karmakanic and prog 'super group' Transatlantic. His 'baby', The Flower Kings, have been in a state of hiatus for five years - since the release of 'The Sum of No Evil', which has given him space to explore these other musical avenues, but now that hiatus is over with the release of 'Banks of Eden'.
If you include Stolt's debut solo album 'The Flower King', this is the band's twelfth studio release since 1994. It contains all the characteristics of a Flower Kings offering: keyboard and guitar-driven tunes; lyrics laced with spirituality and a thinly-veiled dose of hippy idealism of love, peace and universal harmony; soaring solos, symphonic forms and an opening track of epic length. This is what Stolt & the Kings do well, and this latest collection, I'm sure, will not disappoint.
The Flower Kings seem to major in epic songs: their albums have never failed to include at least one song of 10 minutes plus - usually more than one, and sometimes of 25 minutes and more. The opening track, 'Numbers', clocks in at 25:27 and picks up musical themes that are developed later in the piece. The musicianship throughout is of the consistently high standard that one has come to expect of this collection of fine musicians, with Stolt, Jonas Reingold, Tomas Bodin, and Hasse Fröberg weaving their magic alongside drumming newcomer Felix Lehermann. Interestingly (for me anyway) this is the shortest of the albums produced by the group - the only one clocking in at under an hour in length. But what we have is quality material, and underlines their place as one of the finest exponents of Progressive Rock music today.


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Online registration is now closed for this event. If you wish to attend please telephone 0207 713 0273.
HIS runs a structured trainee education programme specifically for medical microbiology, medical virology and infectious diseases trainees which is aligned to the RCPath curricula.
The programme comprises a series of three, independent, one-day training sessions per year (in February, July and October/November), over a three-year period. This day on IPC in non-acute settings is one of the 9 trainee education days in the programme. An example programme for the day can be viewed here.


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When we had one TV channel, we all sat and watched the only programme, whether it was good or bad. When the only way to know what the hottest music was, meant watching one show once a week and then listening to the top 40 on a Sunday evening, which always clashed with Sunday dinner, so you recorded it and listened to it all week. OK, so we did forward the odd painful track like the Osmonds and there was only so much Barry Manilow any human could endure before poking your eyes out to have a lesser pain.
On average we watch 3-4 hours a day of YouTube, Netflix, TV etc. That's a quarter of our waking hours and then we moan we do not have enough time. TV used to be limited and often crap so we did other things like talking, going out for a bike ride, painting, playing music, making things and importantly, daydreaming.
But it brought people, families, friends, even strangers, together for shared experiences, good or bad, you could not fast forward and skip the ads, you had to watch them, the shit ones too, but now we can reminisce about the shit ones and laugh.
Life was connected because it was simple. Now we have more complexity, we are strangely more connected but in fact totally disconnected, cellular, we are in our silos, we are depressed, lonely, lost, overwhelmed and searching for worthiness on Facebook, Instagram, snap chat, or shit chat or any other life/time-sucking platform.
Ironic to write that as I post this blog on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. You can always subscribe via the ancient art form of email to never miss another thrilling post.
We need to go back to simple, we need to go back to connecting with real people, like our families, our neighbours, our real friends, that is people who we actually physically meet and talk to. Nothing in the digital world can replace that. Even the 'digital natives' deep down know that.
We are not meant to be alone, with the only interactions being digital, we are not meant to watch a film on our own on Netflix while the other members of our family sit in different rooms of the house watching YouTube, playing PS4 or watching iPlayer. We are meant to sit and talk, discuss, listen to music together, watch something together, laugh, chat, disagree, hug, love each other, cry together, whatever it is, real is better than virtual.
The instant gratification culture came from endless choice, it meant we no longer had to stick with something, even as simple as a film, tv show, a game, whatever, we can always click on something else, endlessly.
Sure it's great that we have choice, but it is also harmful in a far bigger way to be totally disconnected, lonely and overwhelmed.
We all quit our jobs to be self-employed and free, yet most freelancers sit at home rearranging their self-help books and polishing their Mac books sitting at their desks, lonely and depressed, missing the companionship of work colleagues. Yet we tell ourselves we are free.
We are free, free from human interaction which goes completely against all that humans have done for the entire time we have been on this planet.
The internet has created the ultimate choice, the ultimate connection. So why are so many lost and miserable? Well, it is because we are not connecting enough with real humans. We are not connecting with even our own family, let alone the neighbours, and even dare I say it, strangers. We actually spend so little time connecting with ourselves, instead, we surf through endless amounts of click bait, you know the ones that tell us what film star we look like and it always comes up with Angelina Jolie or George Clooney.
This weekend my mate Bernie, that is the 3rd mention in a row, shit I need to have more friends to talk about, maybe I could get off the internet a bit more and go and connect with real humans!!
So back to the weekend with Bernie, our joint families took a trip on the Bluebell railway, this is a tourist steam railway and the carriages were built in the 1800's, so each compartment was self-contained, so you need to share with a few other strangers. OMG, a Gen Y/Z panic attack would erupt, to sit with people we do not know, are you kidding me? None of us had phones, OMG what?? So we were completely disconnected, I couldn't even sit and scroll through all my social media apps to avoid eye contact or conversation.
Both journeys up and down the line led to an interesting discussion on whether there were other English words like Polish and polish, which are spelt the same, but sound different, answer on a postcard if you know of others, please. Then on the way back, unbelievably, Bernie and his wife Lorena, who met in and love Poland, got chatting to a Polish guy.
Then we spent the weekend listening to vinyls, doing art, walking in the woods, and connecting to real people, we went for Sunday breakfast at the local cafe, chatted to the owner, listened to one of the customers play Einaudi on the piano and we all left the internet behind.
No one died in the making of that weekend and we all felt like we had returned to a simpler connected world.
The Bluebell railway and real people make for happiness, inclusion, love and connection that is the perfect antidote to being together alone.
Polish or polish not click bait and loneliness. I can happily say that it is two years ago, nearly, I switched off every single notification on over 50 apps on my phone and never looked back. Well, it is still a painful process at times and I still suffer a bit of loneliness and surfing the net to soothe it. But the journey continues to even better.


text: Our comprehensive breakdown on cannabis branding is a how-to guide for finding your lane, building your cannabis brand, and staying in it for the long haul. With new businesses entering the cannabis industry every day, understanding the importance of branding and executing on it properly is critical to your success. In our cannabis branding guide you will learn the skills needed to:


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Leeds based Office support recruiter, Lucy Walker Recruitment, has walked away from a large contract with a national Managed Service Provider, believing that these arrangements are both "unworkable" and ultimately "unsustainable" in their ever evolving business model and proposition to Clients.
"A significant focus of our business is increasingly aimed at more specialist roles and the higher end of our market including Managerial and Director-led roles where our clients are working in strategic partnership with us and are investing both time and significant monies in the technologies and processes we are introducing to them through formats such as our engage process," Director Mark Woffenden explained.
"This is where we find there is real and significant buy-in to a partnership philosophy, where our clients are prepared to invest in finding the right candidate to take their business forward in the long term. This is where they want to and are prepared to tap into our detailed knowledge of differing business sectors, other recruitment models, the job market, available candidates and workable skillsets," he added.
Lucy Walker
"We can and have successfully done the transactional style requirement via intermediaries for many years but this predominantly price-led solution of recruitment, can be a huge drain on many resources and doesn't build the level of relationship that the end Client needs from their interaction with a recruiter in our eyes. To play to our many strengths, where we see ourselves adding greatest value in the market to clients, the partnership philosophy is key and why we are now walking away from all M.S.P propositions," added Managing Director Lucy Walker.


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Selling, convincing, persuading – As a conscious entrepreneur you're often required to do all of these, sometimes all at once and other times simply to share your message. Most people know that the best way to convince someone of your message is to use story. Stories have the ability to grab attention, elicit emotion, which is what is needed to trigger people's reptilian brain, (the part of the brain responsible for snap judgement and survival) and move them to action. But how can you tell a more authentic story, that doesn't feel like pushy marketing?
What is the Reptilian Brain?
The reptilian brain is the part of the brain that is responsible for instinct and survival. It's main focus is to avoid pain and it is the part of the brain that makes the decisions. Other parts of the brain such as the limbic brain makes the value judgements. It is the part of the brain that is most responsible for your emotions. The third part of your brain is the neocortex which is most involved in processing the written language, complex thinking, calculating, and rationalizing your decision.
You need to first engage the reptilian brain before the other parts of the brain get involved.
So what does this mean for marketing and telling a good story?
5 Keys to Telling a Compelling Story
Every story needs a story arc – that is a beginning, middle and end that captures your customer's attention and convinces them of the argument you are trying to make. You story arc must then start with an opening that grabs their attention.
1. Speak to a Pain Point
The lizard brain wants to avoid pain, more than seek pleasure. Grab your customer's attention by speaking to a pain point. What are they suffering from? How does that problem make them feel? By zoning in directly on how your solution solves this problem they have, you speak directly to that reptilian brain which immediately grabs their attention. This may seem like a slimy marketing move but think of it as a call to attention to get people to stop scrolling or zoning out.
You need to remember that people don't care about the features of your product or service, or how your product works, they just want to know that you can solve the problem they have and the pain that they are in. Your story should begin by appealing to the thing they are struggling with the most, for example, maybe it's feeling busy or overwhelmed. You want to describe the feelings that the problem and pain they are in is causing them, not the actual problem itself. For example, you want to lead with the feelings of frustration or confusion, instead of the actually problem they have which may be that they don't have enough customers or that they don't have a plan or schedule for managing their business.
2. Create a Personal Invitation for the Adventure
You then want to create a call to adventure, which is the invitation to stop suffering and choose your solution. Your invitation needs to be personal, as if you are speaking directly to them. Appeal to the ego by using the word 'you' in your invitation to them and help them envision the reality that is possible for them. You are creating the idea that these results are exclusively for that individual, which appeals to the selfish nature of the ego but also the humanity of people. This invitation maybe in the form of the vision you want to create, and you are inviting them to be a part of that adventure.
3. Use Contrast to Paint the Picture of Now and Future
Your personal invitation should be followed up by contrast to show them what kind of pain and suffering they might remain in, and what kind of pain-free, struggle-free future they could have. Contrast what is happening in their current reality with what life could be like with your solution and help them envision what their future could be like. Contrast helps the customer better understand the possible future, and what they may be missing out on by continuing to not do anything.
4. Use an Example to Make it Emotional
Make the story tangible by using an example, your personal example or someone else's story. This is the part that creates the emotional connection with the customer, because it brings alive the feelings and idea that the same future is possible for them.
5. Create a Call to Action
Every good story needs a call to action, this is simply what the customer needs to do in order to experience the same euphoric outcomes that you have offered in your story.
A good story has a story-arc, the attention grabber, the personal invitation, the vision, the emotional connection, and call-to action. Using these elements in a heart-driven, authentic way can be powerful and doesn't have to be icky at all. It isn't about following a formula for a social media post, so much as having a story arc that is compelling.
If you're looking for a great story-telling framework reach out to me and I'll send it to you!


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(No new sermon this week.)
I just endured a substantial loss; the woman I was by far the closest to in my church, one of the people that I have been the closest to, who has done the most for me, and has meant the most to me, in my entire life, and was by far the closest person to me within my part of the country, has just moved away. She even moved back several months earlier than she had originally planned. Given my catastrophic loss several years ago, by either death or desertion, of all of the most important people in my life, you can imagine what the loss of my new most important person, and most important relationship of the past 3 years, feels like.
She didn't want to go. She was caught in the middle, because her family does not live in this area, and she naturally wanted to be with her children and grandchildren, but her heart is in this city with our church. She has repeatedly proclaimed the years that she spent here to have been the best of her entire life, even though she was so far from her family. If God had given her the slightest indication that she should not move away, she would have stayed. We were certainly all praying that this would happen, because she was a pillar of the church, and we didn't want to lose her. She has an ability to help people, love, support, encourage, comfort people, in a way that few can match, and she works tirelessly to do all of these things for everyone within her orbit. I'm not the only person in our church who has really needed and benefited from that, and no words can describe the service that she gave to the church in general.
Why would God take from me, and from my church, a person who we loved and valued so greatly, and certainly still needed, someone who was pretty much ASKING for Him to give her the ok to stay? Usually, we don't get to see why God does the things that He does, but sometimes He DOES let us see, so that we have a fresh example of His infinite wisdom:
Even if you don't live in the United States, you probably know from endless news reports where the most devastated part of the nation is right now; Houston, Texas. The destruction that hurricane Harvey left behind has wrecked countless lives; people lost their homes, lost their businesses, lost everything, and there were 83 deaths as well, leaving grieving loved ones behind. The economic damage is estimated to be as high as $200 BILLION, with a lot of that from uninsured homeowners who have no way to recover what they lost. Imagine the grief, the pain, the suffering, of so many thousands of people in Houston.
Have you guessed where my friend has moved to? HOUSTON!
After Harvey hit, once we overcame the original shock and horror of it, and had a moment for something other than desperate prayers on behalf of the people of Houston, we understood that THIS was why God had pointed her unwaveringly back there; He needs people there who can reach out with their whole hearts to help people rebuild their shattered emotions and lives, and there is no better person for that job than my beloved friend.
I'm still brokenhearted that she is gone, but it brings me great peace to know that she has gone where she is so desperately needed. She will be able to serve God and His children in far greater ways there than she would ever have been able to do here, and this service is the central focus of her life, after her worship of God Himself. I'm so incredibly grateful that God caused her to change her original departure timing, even though that meant my losing precious months with her, so that she can be in Houston sooner rather than later. And equally grateful that in doing this he let us see WHY she had to go, so that we could be comforted in our grief knowing with total certainty what His plan for her is… that's a rare and precious gift from the Lord.
Most of the time, of course, we will not understand why we have losses. Sometimes, years later, we might be able to look back and see how that loss was ultimately to our benefit… And sometimes we will not know this side of heaven. I wanted to share this difficult story to help you be encouraged the next time someone moves out of YOUR life; whether or not you can see it at the time, God has something waiting for them at their new location… and something new waiting for YOU to fill that gap where the other person used to be.
That's my challenge now; I need to keep my eyes, mind, and heart open for the new things that God is about to do and bring me. I will continue moving forward with a positive attitude, ready to embrace the new, rather than looking back and dwelling on the old. This is a pretty deep valley, but that means that the next mountain peak will be a high one!


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Decidedly not a thrilling Russian submarine film, The Widowmaker documents the story of another vessel dwelling beneath the surface: the human heart. This most vital organ is under attack — heart disease is the nation's biggest killer, with over 600,000 deaths yearly, greater than every cancer combined.
Director Patrick Forbes's film, narrated by the cool voice of Gillian Anderson, traces the modern history of how medical science has attempted to combat the disease. Forbes's interviews with key figures in this battle reveal a political and financial war that has prevented a rational solution from being administered as the death toll continues to rise. The Widowmaker establishes an emotional connection to the epidemic of heart disease through a series of anecdotes from both surviving family members and survivors, including Larry King.
Particularly affecting is the story of 56-year-old David, who was told, despite years of exercise and intense dieting, that he had the arteries of an 82-year-old. 911 recordings played over aerial images of San Francisco reinforce that heart attacks can strike anyone, at any time, and without warning. The film traces the invention of preventative coronary artery scanning technology and its disastrously slow adoption by the American Heart Association.
The Widowmaker gets tangled in industry jargon that will likely turn off the layperson in its second half, when the film relies too heavily on doctoral testimony. When the acceptance of the controversial scan is finally achieved, the film presents it suddenly, without context, and robs the story of an emotional climax. Still, The Widowmaker is important and terrifying, enough that I became nervously aware of my heartbeat throughout.


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I'm back!!! Sadly, I was not on vacation, just swamped and unable to post this week. But happily, I have been drinking tons of tea and swapping with my tea swap partners. Nevertheless, after "much" vacillation over which tea to resume my reviews, I decided on Ginger Pu-erh. Don't worry, I'm not so busy that I am duplicating a previous review on Ginger Pu-erh. I was just lucky enough to get my hands on yet another.
Instead of rambling on and on, I'll start talking about my most recent Pu-erh experience.
Composition: Shu pu'erh tea blended with zesty orange peel and organic ginger.
Dry Visual: Very dark reddish brown twisted tea leaves with large orangy bits of dried orange peel and creamy bits of ginger. Thanks Ocean of Tea for the picture.
Dry Aroma: Ginger Pu-erh smells delicious! A bold ginger fragrance combined with the spicy earthiness characteristic of Pu-erh.
Flavor: Having tasted and reviewed Ginger Pu-erh by Rishi Teas, I had high expectations for this Ginger Pu-erh by Ocean of tea. For the record, I was not disappointed, Ginger Pu-erh by Ocean of Tea is delicious! The two distinct flavors – ginger and pu-erh create a unique tasting tea. First you get the taste of the pu-erh that is both earthy and smokey. This taste is what I love about pu-erh that you don't find in other teas. Blended perfectly with the pu-erh is the taste of ginger – ginger with its spiciness adds character to Ginger Puerh. Ironically, I was unable to taste the orange when I tasted the Ginger Pu-erh by Rishi Teas; however, there is a faint hint of orange in this wonderful Ginger Pu-erh by Ocean of Tea. The blend of all three flavors – Pu-erh, ginger, and orange, make this Ginger Pu-erh quite complex.
Ginger Pu-erh is not bitter nor dry. However, it is a very robust tea which I love as well as pretty thick in the mouth.I was very impressed by the smoothness of this Ginger Pu-erh. Even as we speak, I am boiling water to make another cup.
Liquor: A rich, dark, reddish-brown color.
Brewing Time: It is recommended that Ginger Pu-erh is steeped for 5 minutes. I steeped the recommended 5 minutes.
Manufacturer: Ocean of Tea
Caffeine: Yes
If you have enjoyed a cup of Ginger Pu-erh by Ocean of Tea, stop by and share your experience. Mine was absolutely wonderful! Until then… Happy Tea Drinking!


text: WOLF ROSE GODDESS PENDANT FOSSIL IVORY EARTH SHAMAN CARVING JEWELRY ~ Amazing carved detail, we are offering a wonderful Wolf Rose Shaman pendant ~ Master Carved all Sides , Carved from Rare Ancient Fossil Walrus Ivory. It's Beautiful Variegated Cream color is the result of mineral absorption from the frozen ground and fossilization over the centuries. Fantastic Detail {PLEASE Note Size} Carving Measures 2-3/4" long. With the ¼" Sterling Silver Bail. X 5/8" Wide X 5/8" Thick X Weight 8 Grams Great Texture and Color, A very Magical Pendant ~ We Offer the finest Quality Hand Carved Ancient Fossil Ivory on the Internet. NO animal was killed or Harmed for this carving. All material is from Extinct Species, thousands of years old. We DO NOT buy or sell Elephant Ivory of ANY age. NO exceptions. ~ ACCEPTED PAYMENTS: CASH, CHECK, POSTAL MONEY ORDER, or Paypal, payment address to send checks or Money Orders, Cash. ~ FREE Shipping with tracking in U.S. ONLY.. WE COMBINE SHIPPING {at no extra mailing cost} ON MORE CARVINGS and SMALL SILVER LTEMS ~ Questions Please Email Eric at firstname.lastname@example.com or Call 330- 434 -1010 Ages Tribal Arts Gallery 194 Myrtle Place Akron Ohio, 44303 USA ~~~~ TOTEM AMULET TALISMAN ~ VIEW OUR FANTASTIC COLLECTION of RARE FOSSIL MAMMOTH and Ancient WALRUS IVORY Spirit BEADS ~ GREAT FOR BEADING PROJECTS


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In the 2018 State of Theology Study sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, LifeWay Research polled 3,000 Americans and asked them a number of questions about God, Christian ethics and religion in general.Read More
American Views
Evangelicals Are Passionate About Politics, But Mostly Open to Opinions of Others
Politics is important for most evangelicals, but not so important that they question the faith of those who vote differently from them. A new survey from LifeWay Research and sponsored by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College explored the voting habits and political motivations of three groups of Americans: evangelicals by belief, self-identified evangelicals and those who are not evangelical by belief or self-identity.Read More
Americans' Theology is a Mix of Orthodox Belief and Shifting Opinions
Six in 10 Americans say religious belief is a matter of personal opinion. For 7 in 10 Americans, such religious beliefs include one true God existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And a similar number who say God is perfect. But an increasing majority of Americans deny Jesus has always existed and many say the Holy Spirit is a force rather than a personal being.Read More


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Virgin Atlantic has launched special Bank Holiday deals with decent prices in Upper Class and Economy.
Until Tuesday 28th May you can find reduced fares on flights to the US and the Caribbean this Summer.
There are also special fares out of Manchester to the US which you can book until Friday 31st May.
Full details are on this special Virgin Atlantic website.
There are also 'flight and hotel' deals which can be found here – the advertised saving is '10% off' packages.
Looking at Upper Class, there are some deals available for travel during July and August (Sunday night stay required):
Upper Class prices out of London are:
New York from £1,881 return
Washington from £1,631 return
Boston from £1,856 return
Upper Class prices out of Manchester are:
New York from £1,560 return
There are also some decent lead-in deals in Economy to the US and the Caribbean.
Return flights from London Gatwick to the Caribbean include:
Barbados from £426 (£399 from Manchester)
St. Lucia from £468
Jamaica from £520
Grenada from £435
Tobago from £455
These flights have to be booked by Tuesday 28th May for travel between 1st July and 31st August.
Economy flights from London and Manchester to the US have to be booked by Friday 31st May. Travel dates vary by city but you are generally looking at Autumn or early 2020 travel to get the prices below.
Return flights from London to the US include:
Boston from £267 return
New York from £267 return
Orlando from £270 return
Los Angeles from £316 return
Miami from £277 return
Return flights from Manchester to the US start at £345 return:
Boston from £370 return
New York from £346 return
Atlanta from £399 return
Orlando from £350 return
Las Vegas from £497 return
Los Angeles from £350 return
Full details of the deals available can be found on the Virgin Atlantic flight deals website here. You need to book by Tuesday for London departures and next Friday for Manchester departures.
To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is one of the two Virgin Atlantic Reward credit cards. These earn double miles (3 per £1 on the paid card or 1.5 per £1 on the free card) when you book at virginatlantic.com or via Virgin Holidays. Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.
How to earn Virgin Atlantic miles from UK credit cards
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Flying Club miles from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Flying Club miles. That page is regularly updated with the latest special offers and will still be accurate even if you are reading this article months after publication.
To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is one of the two Virgin Atlantic Reward credit cards. These earn double miles (3 per £1 on the paid card or 1.5 per £1 on the free card) when you book at virginatlantic.com or via Virgin Holidays. Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency, because it triggers both the 'double points for airline spend' and the 'double points for foreign spend' bonuses.
(Want to earn more Virgin Flying Club miles? Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)


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Kitano 北野町
The district of Kobe Kitano is characterized by its many Western-style houses.
Credit: 663highland
The interior of one of the European houses that are at Kitano (Kobe).
Credit: Stéphane D
A piece of Europe
For a long time, Kobe was the only port of entry to Japan for the rest of the world. In the nineteenth century, many foreigners, traders and diplomats lived there. Today, in the district of Kitano, their homes, in a purely Western-style, remain a vestige of that era.
The Kitano district is also called Kitano Ijinkan. This term, ijinkan, is a reference to the European-style houses that stil stand in this neighborhood.
Thirty European houses dot this neighborhood in the hills of the city, not far from Nunobiki park. Visit one of them and take a step back in time. Most are open to tourists and offer small activities. The house of Austria hosts a permanent exhibition dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, while the Dutch pavilion is dedicated to the Vikings.
Other mansions have been converted into restaurant or coffee shops, while retaining the specifics of their country of origin. Enjoy some cheese fondue in the Swiss Chalet, or drink a beer in an English pub... even if the prices are quite high.
Each house has its own style, making Kitano probably the most cosmopolitan area of Japan.


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By : Richard Williams
MITRA Association and AIYA Chapter East Nusa Tenggara successfully held a joint seminar with the theme International Opportunities for Youth .Taking place on Saturday April 2nd 2016 at the University of Nusa Cendana, 14 East Nusa Tenggara youth were brought as the speakers where various information about youth exchange programs, international conferences, leadership programs, internship programs, and youth forums were presented in front of more than 100 attendees who were very enthusiastic to follow the presentation of each panel session. The conducting of this seminar is hoped to give valuable information to all of youth in Eastern Indonesia, the youth of NTT in particular, as the intention is not only to disseminate the information but also to help empowering the youth themselves.
The seminar was opened by Mrs. Yunita Reny Bani Bili Murray on behalf of AIYA NTT and the 3rd vice chancellor of Nusa Cendana University. In her speech, she said that this seminar needs to be highly appreciated as an event like this seminar is still rarely found in East Nusa Tenggara.
The session began with Mrs. Reny Murray and Diyanti Koroh presenting and promoting AIYA NTT and University BRIDGE Project. Following this session was the 2nd panel session of Forum Muda Indonesia, Maks Fioh, BEYOND ASEAN program by YSEALI, Emiati Lomi Wadu, Medical Student Exchange Program of University of Tasmania alumnae Fivilia Bora, and Asia Pasific Week Conference at the Australian National University by Ananias Bees, the founding president of MITRA Artha Wacana Christian University Kupang. These speakers explained the uniqueness of each program they have joined and they also drew attention on the significance for youth to note that doing follow up activities after joining such programs is the most important thing as the goal of every program presented in this seminar is not only about self-capacity development but more than that, youth as change makers need to give something to the society.
During the 3rd panel session, the presentation from Australia Awards Scholarships and LPDP Scholarships received zestful response from the audience. Ms Leni Amelia Suek and Mr. Selus Fahik delivered fruitful explanation to the audience about the scholarships. They didn't forget to provide tips and tricks for future applicants. In the meantime, the two leaders of MITRA, Albert and Ria, who were just selected to receive LPDP scholarship were present to share their experience in chasing their dreams during the selection. They didn't only give overviews about the scholarships but they also pointed at the strengths that the scholarships has and give depiction on how to go through the selection steps.
The last two sessions continued with the presentation from Young Leaders for Indonesia (YLI) and MITRA Association. Albert who is a former president of MITRA Undana went through a presentation about how YLI can benefit the youth to be autonomous while Alfanthy Octavianus who represented MITRA presented the association's vision and mission along with the programs and the advantages gained from the association. Coming up was the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association – Australia-Indonesia Pastoral Student Program where Oemboe Bintang and Ambu Kapuru shared their internship and working experience in Darwin, Australia.
The information about Pertukaran Pemuda Antar Negara (PPAN) was presented after CAMP EPIC U.S. Embassy information sharing by Ria Seran. PPAN, which is conducted under the authority of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Indonesia offers some programs which enables youth across Indonesia to go to different countries. In this session Adren Nenobesi, the alumnus of Indonesia China Youth Exchange Program (ICHYEP) and I myself as the alumnus of Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) explained about the advantages offered by the youth exchange programs we have joined and also other available youth exchange programs such as Indonesia Korea Youth Exchange Program (IKYEP), ASEAN Students Visit India (ASVI), Indonesia Malaysia Youth Exchange Program (IMYEP) and Ship for South East Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP). In the very last information session, I also delivered a presentation on Model United Nations (MUN).
Upon closing the seminar, the head of the committee Steven Parera noted that on behalf of the committee, he hopes that this seminar can help the youth of East Nusa Tenggara to build their confidence and grab the opportunities both in national and international level . This seminar would have never been conducted if not by the funding from Australian Government, Australia Indonesia Institute at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia and Australia Indonesia Center as sponsors, with the cooperation of University of Nusa Cendana and Forum Indonesia muda (FIM) Sasandu as collaborating partners and also all of the hard work from the rest of the committee.


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Daisy Is Safe!
Daisy is Safe! Every year, usually after Memorial Day, it gets a little crazy with dogs needing to be rescued or re-homed. This year, we have been notified, on average, of a dog in need approximately once a day. Some of these are emails from owners who, while getting ready for summer vacation and other plans, decide it's time to re-home their dog. The "family dog" that in all likelihood has lacked attention for several months if not years. An inconvenience that requires feeding and water. While some individuals contact GSP Rescue directly, others, out of convenience or not knowing about GSP Rescue, take their dogs to the local shelter. Who knows what they are thinking will happen to their dog when most shelters struggle with managing the limited space for strays and other unwanted dogs. Are they aware that there isn't a mandatory holding period for dogs that are relinquished to animal shelters and that the dogs can be put to sleep at anytime?
A few weeks ago Daisy was relinquished to a local shelter. Fortunately, California GSP Rescue was notified about her and didn't waste anytime getting her from the shelter. The same morning we were notified, a volunteer made their way to the shelter to make sure Daisy was safe.
After getting Daisy from the shelter, for the few weeks we have had her, we're amazed. Who gives up dogs that have so much potential. If the owner had just provided a little exercise and attention, they might not have needed to taken their dog to the shelter. While she does appear to be a little more energetic than some of the other dogs her age, she just requires a little more exercise.
Here's how you can help. Everyone reading this post can share it on Facebook or other social media. That's easy and we appreciate you helping get the word out. If you can spare $20, consider sponsoring Daisy. Your donation will help buy food for Daisy and the other dogs. We don't think she'll be with us long as dogs like her are usually adopted rather quickly, but while she is with us, your support is greatly appreciated!
[donate_button button_type="default" title="Sponsor Daisy" description="Daisy is a young female GSP that was rescued from a local shelter. You can help by making a small donation to sponsor her. " style="wdf-fresh"]


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Dec 18, 2017
Enjoy the last GOAT of 2017 as Ed and Ron welcome Vanessa Gritton to talk about her Nerd GOAT, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye!
Vanessa is a comedian and the host of the "Take A Walk" podcast. Find her @nesGritton.
"He appeals to that thing in all of us where we feel like an imposter even if we're doing well."
"Oh, I coulda learned how to cure cancer or something about physics? Nope. Dick jokes."
"Rambo won Vietnam with a bow and arrow, so I've always respected the bow."
"I feel like Pizza Dog is gonna end up being my character."
"My pitch to Marvel: Come up with a Freaky Friday villain!"
Please subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or any podcast app.
Follow Bail Bonds Media on Instagram!


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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. This week's TPS reports come to us from Lisa of Privilege, who has guest posted with us before. Thanks for sharing your picks with us this week, Lisa!
I find bootcut jeans in a dark wash to be the most useful pants for a casual but authoritative office look. To be sure, jeans are personal, like kissing. Everyone's got a different take. My favorite bootcuts had always been 7 for Mankind, but recently I tried on a pair of AG Jeans and liked what I felt. They're soft. Forgiving. These "Angelinas" do have a little whiskering — your office mileage may vary for distressed denim tolerance — but the petite version is a nice option to avoid hemming. AG also makes a great skinny — you can go for a high waist if you dare.
I think I would. All three are available at Nordstrom for $175 and up. "Angelina" Slim Bootcut Jeans, Media (Petite); "Angelina" Bootcut Jeans, Crest Blue (Petite); "Farrah" High Rise Skinny Jeans (Raven)
Seen a great piece you'd like to recommend? Please e-mail [email protected]


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A planet with conditions that could support life orbits a twin neighbour of the sun visible to the naked eye, scientists have revealed.
The world is one of five thought to be circling Tau Ceti, a star just 12 light years away that is almost identical to the sun.
Astronomers estimate the Tau Ceti planets to be two to six times bigger than Earth. One of them, with five times the Earth's mass, lies in the star's "habitable zone".
Also known as the "Goldilocks zone", this is the orbital region that is neither too hot nor too cold to allow liquid surface water and, potentially, life. Details of the discovery are to appear in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Because of the difficulties involved in detecting extra-solar planets, most found so far have had high masses. The Tau Ceti planetary family is thought to be the lowest-mass solar system yet detected.
Scientists found the planets using a highly sensitive technique that combined data from more than 6,000 observations from three different telescopes. They used the radial velocity method, which looks for "wobble" in a star's movement caused by the gravitational tug of planets.
Dr James Jenkins, a member of the international team from the University of Hertfordshire, said: "Tau Ceti is one of our nearest cosmic neighbours and so bright that we may be able to study the atmospheres of these planets in the not-too-distant future.
"Planetary systems found around nearby stars close to our sun indicate that these systems are common in our Milky Way galaxy."
More than 800 planets have been discovered orbiting stars beyond the sun since the 1990s. Those found around the nearest sun-like stars are the most interesting to astronomers.
Professor Steve Vogt, another team member, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, said: "This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets. They are everywhere, even right next door."
Professor Chris Tinney, an Australian member from the University of New South Wales, said: "As we stare at the night sky, it is worth contemplating that there may well be more planets out there than there are stars, some fraction of which may well be habitable."
Jenkins is a visiting fellow at the University of Hertfordshire who is based at the University of Chile.


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Over the last 30 years, Beretta USA Corporation has delivered over 600,000 M9 pistols (the sidearm of the U.S. Armed Forces) to the Department of Defense (DoD), all of which have been made in the U.S.A. by an American Workforce. On 10 December 2014 Beretta USA submitted to the U.S. Army the new pistol M9 ECP (Engineering Change Proposal) that identifies major improvements to the M9 to increase the operational effectiveness and operational suitability of the weapon. These improvements consist of design and material changes resulting in increased modularity, reliability, durability, and ergonomics.
Beretta USA has also identified a solution to upgrade the existing M9 to an M9A2, nearly replicating the M9A3. The M9A3 features a thin grip with a removable, modular wrap-around grip, MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail, convertible safety/decocker lever to decocker-only lever, removable front and rear tritium sights, extended and threaded barrel for suppressor use, 17-round sand resistant magazine, and numerous improved small components to increase durability and ergonomics, all in an earth tone finish.
The M9A3:
- requires no new training for users;
- is compatible with numerous, already-in-service accessories and training systems;
- minimally impacts the current Integrated Logistics Support Plan (ILSP) for the M9;
- is more reliable, capable, and durable than the M9;
- depending on quantities, will cost less than the current M9.
New, enhanced 9 mm ammunition is available on the market today. This ammunition, along with any developmental 9 mm ammunition, should be evaluated for use with the M9A3. In the U.S. Army's own survey of M9 users, 74% offered recommendations for improvements to the pistol – improvements that are available on the M9A3 today. Small arms program representatives of the U.S. Army have identified and verbalized several concerns regarding ergonomics and performance aspects of the M9; Beretta USA has listened and delivered the M9A3.
Caliber: 9 mm Luger (9×19 mm Parabellum)
System of operation: Short recoil, semiautomic, double/single action
Magazine capacity: 17 rounds standard. Optional 15, 20 and 30 round magazines available
Magazine: Sand-resistant magazine with PVD coating
Front sight: Blade, dovetailed to slide, tritium dot
Rear sight: Notched bar, dovetailed to slide, tritium 2-dot. Adjustable for windage
Safety features: Decocking/safety lever, automatic firing pin block, loaded chamber indicator, external hammer, half-cock notch, double action first trigger pull (Type F configuration)
Locking system: Tilting locking block, «3rd Gen» design for increased service life
External hammer: Provides the energy to the firing pin, virtually eliminating the possibility of misfires due to light primer strikes, even in adverse conditions. Also provides an immediate visual and tactile indicator as to the cocked/uncocked status of the pistol
Finish: Flat Dark Earth. CerakoteTM, anodizing, Bruniton, black oxide, PVD. Advanced coatings provide high lubricity, corrosion resistance and excellent wear resistance. Reduced visual and IR signature. Chrome lined bore and chamber
Accessory rail: Three slot MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail
Barrel thread: 1/2″ X 28 standard thread on extended barrel, with thread protector
Accessories: Wrap-around backstrap grip unit for larger handed shooters
Grip/frame: «Vertec» style smaller gripped frame with straight backstrap and thin plastic grips
Additional features: «Universal» slide design to allow Armorer conversion to «G» decocker-only operation using Conversion Kit. «Over-center» safety lever to prevent inadvertent engagement of lever. Oversize beveled magazine well
Overall height: 5.4 in/13.7 cm
Overall width: 1.5 in/3.8 cm (1.3 in/3.3 cm at grips)
Overall length: 8.7 in/22 cm
Barrel length: 5.1 in/13 cm
Sight radius: 6.3 in/16 cm
Weight unloaded: 33.3 oz/944 g


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Member of the Investment Committee
Dirk is a member of the Investment Committee of Smile Invest. Before that he was independent board member at Gimv, where he also was CEO between 2001 and 2008 and member of the Executive Team as head of Venture Capital from 1989 until 1998. From 1998 to 2001 Dirk was CEO of the Belgian construction group CFE. Dirk is an active board member of numerous companies.
Former experience
Board representation


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19:30, Tue 17th Dec 2019
Parish Events presents... Liimo
Plus special guests
Tuesday 17th December 2019
The Parish, Huddersfield
Doors 7.30pm // £6 advance // 14+ with Adults
Tickets on sale now via seetickets.com / Parishpub.co.uk.
Around the world we're obsessed with the virtual endless scroll. Collectively, we now spend more time than ever processing, reacting to and sharing images that make us laugh or cry. We're served up a dopamine rush that provides fleeting, addictive, disposable highs. Don't we all deserve a little better than this? Liimo seem to think so.
The pop trio's music revels in these complex times, as they provide aspirational anthems that'll implore you to reconnect with the world around us a little better. With each song, Liimo have created an intoxicating sound where sweet melodies rub shoulders with idyllic, dreamy lyrics.
It all starts with the name, says lead singer Kieran. "Liimo is an abbreviation of 'little more'. The thread between our lyrics is that we aspire for a touch more of everything; a little bit more time, a little bit more money, a little more indulgence, a little more love. Sometimes these things aren't the answer, but we'd sure like to try it out ourselves." They dream of a better world and are now doing their best to will it into existence.


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I had been invited up to a friends for Chinese New Year in Manchester. I had booked the Friday off as A/L anyway so took advnatage of a lazy day and picked a friend up from work@4. What should have been a relative easy journey, turned into a two hour marathon just to get around Oxford. We should have been there by 7 at the latest we crawled in at 9. We still managed to get to Sam's chop house www.samschophouse.co.uk is a great place to eat and we had a really nice meal even though I was really tired from the travelling. Even the waitress staff(Dina) was really good and we ended chatting to her for a while until her boss told her off for nattering and not serving.
After being generally lazy and catcing the rugby in the pub. We spent the afternoon preparing the meal, in fact I stayed out of the way as my contribution and acted as dogsbody. The food was divine 8 various dishes including lamb, beef , chciken, fish etc It was a great evening with freinds of freinds I had heard about and never met and 0thers was a bit if a catch up. I am a light weight so I slunk off to bed just after midnight, it seems the witching hour is my down fall.
Two blog entries in two days, it does make a difference having a computer handy. Anyway prob going off to the Chinese Quarter to watch the parade TTFN
Blogger! - Inside Blogger I see this message:- In July, the new Blogger interface will become the default for all users. The legacy interface will still be available ...
3 weeks ago


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Innovation & Mobility blog by af83
"Garage Libre" with af83
Today is the "Garage Libre" grand opening! 4 days organized by XYT to talk about the future of mobility… And the future of transportation begins now… This is precisely why we are XYT innovation partners on this event. This "off" event during the Mondial de l'automobile is all about building [...]Alban Peignier


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Sun plans channel overhaul
Sun Microsystems is discontinuing its SunFund MDF scheme ahead of a total revamp of its existing iForce channel programme, planned for September 2005. Sun has also confirmed its intention to appoint a volume-focused distributor in the Middle East to complement the value-added distribution activities of Tech Access.
Sun Microsystems is discontinuing its SunFund marketing development fund (MDF) scheme ahead of a total revamp of its existing iForce channel programme, planned for September 2005. A brand new MDF fund will go live for partners in February 2006.
Sun has also confirmed its intention to appoint a volume-focused distributor in the Middle East later this year to complement the value-added distribution activities of Tech Access, which currently serves as the vendor's exclusive distribution partner in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Sun's channel overhaul promises an even greater focus on vendor alliances, independent software vendors (ISVs), systems integrators and developers. The vendor has set up a new partners and alliances sales organisation (PASO) to reflect the proposed change in channel emphasis. Bruno Haubertin, previously channel sales manager at Sun MENA is now heading up the PASO team in the region.
"The iForce partner programme that we have run so far was more targeted at resellers," said Haubertin. "Somebody has taken a step back and said let's look at the resellers, but let's also try to have a real partnering and alliance programme that also touches the ISVs, the systems integrators and the other complementary vendors and suppliers."
The replacement for the iForce channel programme is expected to introduce more partner categories into Sun's go-to-market model. iForce itself could even be dropped as the brand name for Sun's global channel engagement model.
The discontinuation of the SunFund programme and recruitment of staff for the dedicated SAPO unit in MENA will also allow Sun to achieve better understanding of their share of wallet with individual partners in the region, according to Haubertin.
Under the terms of the SunFund, partners accrued MDF on a six-monthly basis in relation to sales achieved. Partners can continue to accrue benefits until 1st October 2005. They will then have until the end of January 2006 to spend the funds allocated before a new scheme is introduced in February 2006. Some 60 partners across MENA had been participating in the SunFund programme.
"The reason to discontinue the SunFund was based on partner feedback," added Haubertin. "Most of the partners felt that this mechanism did not ensure proper coverage in terms of demand generation programmes."
Sun's channel changes in the MENA region will also encompass its distribution line-up. While the existing Channel Development Provider (CDP) model stays in place, the vendor plans to add a volume channel distributor to complement the activities of Tech Access, Sun's existing value-added distributor in MENA.
"We will have a specialised partner in the near future in MENA with a focus on moving volume product. This model has not been introduced in this region yet but has already proven very successful in Eastern Europe and in a number of countries including Greece, Turkey and South Africa," added Haubertin.
The appointment of a volume-oriented distributor — pencilled in for September or October 2005 — coincides neatly with distribution giant Tech Data's plan to launch its midrange distribution business unit in the Middle East. Haubertin admits that Tech Data is under consideration for the role.
"Today we have the product range in that space but we do not really have the channel. Tech Access is a value distributor and it would be sensible to have a distributor focused on volume as well," he said.
Sun's structural channel overhaul bodes well for stronger engagement with both partners and customers in the MENA region. "All of the changes that occur between now and February 2006 are aimed at creating better ways for Sun to work together with partners," concluded Haubertin.


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We look forward to seeing you all after a lovely holiday on Monday 30, October 2017.
School Ambassador
After today's election Codie, Kaylin, Chloe, Rebecca and Dominic have been elected as School Ambassadors. Congratulations!
Book Swap
We have a new book case in the school office which is for you to come and take a look, if you see a book you like you may take it and all we ask is that you replace it with a book of your own that you have already read for someone else to enjoy.
Pupil Voice
Pupils in La Classe Marron (Class 7) received Restart a Heart training. They were asked 'what did you think of your Restart a Heart training?' and this is what they said…
Macey said 'It was fun but a bit embarrassing when you had to talk to the dummy. It was very useful training. The names of the dummies are Agnus, Seagull, Postman Pat and Charlie. I worked on Postman Pat.'
David said 'It was fun, exciting and I will find it very useful for the future.'
Three pupils from our school attend the Foodbank warehouse. They were asked 'what did you think about your trip to the Foodbank warehouse' and this is what they said…..
Anthony said 'It was cool, awesome in fact. It surprised me that there was only 2 rooms, I expected it to be bigger.'
Naomi said 'I felt lucky to be chosen because only 3 pupils went from the whole school. It was very organised but it is quite hidden. There is lots of different foods, there are breakfast, lunch, dinner and pudding foods.'
Thalia said 'The trip was fun. I thought it was very well organised but small. The room with the food that comes in and out was full but the room with food that doesn't go out of date until 2020 was pretty empty.'
Celebration Assembly
Luke for connecting with our learning and using lots of language at home. Well done!
Jessica for connecting with our language and using lots of language at home. Well done!
Curtis for connecting with our learning and using lots of language at home. Well done!
Aaric for making connections in theme lessons and using these ideas to produce a great leaflet about the Philippines.
Rebecca for making connections in theme lessons and using these ideas to produce a great leaflet about Egypt.
Kieran for persevering to improve your handwriting. The difference is amazing!
Taylor for being resourceful in Mathematics and giving yourself a challenge. Well done!
Layla for resilience when completing tricky tasks. Betsy for participating in group discussions about earthquakes.
Riley for connecting with our learning and using lots of language at home. Well done!
Simona persevering in all of our learning this week and writing an impressive Newspaper recount.
Mackenzie for persevering in our Mathematics column subtraction with 4 and 5 digit numbers.
Jade for writing an expert Newspaper article and reflecting to improve and redraft her writing. Well done!
Lacey for answering copycat questions expertly and helping others to hunt for the answers. Well done!
Blaise for excellent answering of text detective questions and expressive reading of The Firework-Maker's Daughter.
Ella for your eagerness to share your opinions in guided reading, supporting them with evidence from the text.
Macey for retrieving answers using evidence from the text in guided reading.
Nirubiga for supporting your answers with evidence from the text so well in guided reading.
Oscar for having a great term 1 at Aycliffe School.
Mia for a great attitude to learning which has enabled you to produce some very good work.
David for demonstrating clearly this term that possess all of our learning values. Well done!
Year 6 Pupils
Dover Christ Church Dover Christ Church are offering a grammar stream taster day to Year 6 students. This will be taking place on Monday, 30 October 2017. Parents can sign up via an online form. Please use this link provided:- https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2017_Grammar_taster_day
After school sports clubs
After school clubs are running. If you would like to your child to attend, please contact the school office.
Monday - Multi-Sports for Years 1 - 6
Tuesday - Take Action for Years 2 - 6
Wednesday - Football for Years 2 - 6
Thursday - Gymnastics for Years 2 - 6
Friday - Street Dance for Years 2 - 6
All sports clubs finish at 4.15pm and all children must be collected by an adult.
The whole-school target for our attendance is 96%, which would mean that your child would be away for only 7 days in an academic year. Every day at school matters.
1st place - Vert / Blanc - 96.4%
2nd place - Jaune - 95.1%
3rd place - Violet - 94.9%
4th place - Marron - 94.6%
5th place - Rouge - 94.2%
6th Place - Noir - 90.2%
Whole-school attendance - 94.5%
The old £1 coin
On the 15 October all the old £1 coins are being withdrawn. Please be aware that we will not be able to accept any old £1 coins after this date.
School Angel fund raising http://www.schoolangel.org.uk/aycliffe-community-primary-school.html
Home Start
We have a parent and baby/toddler group which runs every Wednesday here at school from 09.00 - 11.15am. All welcome.
Free School Meals
If you have access to the internet and would like to apply online for Free School Meals, please use the following website: http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/free-school-meals.
PE Kits
Could parents please make sure that all pupils have their PE kits ready and in school. Each pupil has their own locker where their PE kits can be kept during the school term.
Late arrival at school
When your child arrives late at school, he/she misses the teacher's instructions, their morning task and possibly the introduction to the mathematics lesson. Your child may also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late. School begins at 09.00am. Please help your child to be punctual.
School Lunch Payments
If you pay for your child's school dinner online you can use the link below and follow the link for Kent Schools Pay Online. www.principals-catering.com
School opening hours 08.50am - 3.15pm
School Office opening hours 08.30-12.30 13.00-15.30


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As if there aren't already enough things glittering in the cosmos, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck just blasted a disco ball out there. Literally.
When his Electron two-stage rocket (appropriately named Still Testing) took off from its New Zealand launch pad with three Cubesats, it was also flying something unexpected into space—a carbon-fiber geodesic sphere otherwise known as the Humanity Star.
While its 65 reflective panels make it look like something that could have lit up Studio 54, the reason for the Humanity Star's retro look is to to make this artificial "star" twirl around and reflect Earth's surface after dark as it zooms around the planet every 90 minutes at 27 times the speed of sound. Despite being a fraction of the size of those giant balls of burning gas it will twinkle beside, its luminosity slightly outshines actual stars and satellites. It should if Beck wants anyone to get even a glimpse of it at night. We already have enough light pollution.
So why launch an enormous disco ball into the sky? Beck's dream is for everyone to join the party when it comes to pondering the potential of humanity, which is why he designed it to flash brightly enough for the naked eye to see from anywhere on Earth.
"The Humanity Star is designed to be a bright symbol and reminder to all on Earth about our fragile place in the universe," Beck quotes on his website.
The tech mogul wants us all to take a moment, look up, and just try to fathom how we are really just specks of cosmic dust in the vast expanse of the universe. He sees it as something that could inspire people to change how they think about their lives. His vision is for it to be a symbol of unity that sparkles with hope in the eyes of anyone who is able to see it among the stars and feel a connection to any of the seven billion other human beings who exist, which may be a bit ambitious considering how much light is already beaming down from the infinite objects in space.
"No matter where you are in the world, rich or in poverty, in conflict or at peace, everyone will be able to see the bright, blinking Humanity Star orbiting Earth in the night sky," Beck says dreamily.
However surreal this sounds, there are places in the world where you will be able to see it best during its nine-month journey (scroll down on the site to track it). Anyone stargazing from Australia or New Zealand will get a prime view over the next six weeks. Those of us in North America will have to wait until March to see if we can make it out among all the other shiny things.
There might be an ulterior motive behind Beck's publicity stunt. His company is that much closer to sending out commercial satellites after this launch, and if the public is mesmerized enough by the Humanity Star, he may pull an encore after this one burns up in the atmosphere. Best airborne ad ever.
(via Gizmodo)


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One week ago, Nomura's cross-asset expert Charlie McElligott observed that following the market's sudden surge from its October lows, it appeared as if there was a source of "short gamma", forced to levitate risk assets. This morning, Charlie is back with his "elections, schmelections" post-mortem, in which he writes that last night's events - which were largely a distraction for traders - notwithstanding, he continues to expect a "near-term tactical pain-trade HIGHER for U.S. Equities, almost entirely due to the past month's gashing of "market" exposure from the fundamental community throughout the performance drawdown," which forced "net-down" / "gross-down" / "beta-down" behavior, and which accelerated particularly over the final week of October.
To underscore this point, he observes that since the start of October, his hedge fund L/S model has seen at least 9 sessions of greater than 50bps of underperformance vs SPX out of a total of 27 trading days, confirming that for hedge funds the latest market whipsaw, first sharply lower then higher, has been pure torture.
And it's not "just" a Hedge/Leveraged Fund struggle: overall Asset Managers have sold down -$91B between SPX-, NDX- and Russell- futures over the past month, shown in the charts below, amid a near record deleveraging/degrossing.
Asset Manager total equity futures cumulative position (SPX, NDX, Russell) since 2006
Asset Manager equity futures net position reduction YTD:
This is the same "risk off" response that led pensions funds to buy a record amount of STRIPs in October as they panic-sold risk assets, as we observed last night.
McEllgiott then picks up on his point from last week, and writes that in the context of this lagging underperformance by active managers, the "fundamental" active equities universe "has essentially become a source of synthetic "short gamma" in the market, as with any rally in stocks, said performance-burned funds effectively "get short-er" the higher Equities travel, in-turn contributing to these violent bear-market rallies on "up" days, with funds grabbing exposure "dynamically hedging" futures on said move."
So looking at today's market reaction to the midterm election results, the Nomura strategist writes that it feels like one of those "it's so obvious that it has to work" moments, in which we preemptively traded higher into the Election results as a "tell"—regardless of outcome—due to the masses "not being there."
As a result, he thinks it is likely that today we will pile-on "melt-up fuel" as the election hedges are unwound thereafter, and notes that the 2800 strike still matters the most from a gamma hedging perspective, i.e., the market will likely be chased higher for another 20 or so ES points.
However, as we discussed two weeks ago, funds remain boxed in the current upswing, as existing shorts continue to outperform longs, resulting in even more pain as they scramble to relever. McElligott explains:
The challenging part for the single-stock world is that we continue to see "shorts outperforming longs" on the "up" days, due to forced de-grossing with longs- and shorts- exceeding risk budgets (too much $ exposure so longs are sold / shorts are covered), ESPECIALLY as the legacy portfolio construction as noted so often here is long "Growth," short "Value." We saw that again yesterday with "Value" market-neutral strategies generally +1SD on the session, with "Growth" factor m/n strategies again lower. This dynamic will remain a performance headwind "under the surface" until both legs of the trade get "cleaner."
This is shown below.
What is most important according to the Nomura strategist, however, is that the S&P has shown us that throughout the 2.5% MTD rally in minis that the market can "work" with "Value" leading—4 of the S&Ps top 5 sectors so far in November are Materials, Industrials, Energy and Financials.
And even though Charlie expects the resumption of TSY curve flattening - "via the ongoing deficit-funding "supply shock" story and market slowly again pricing-in additional Fed hikes through 2019" - to take some wind out of the "Value" sails and instead provide some relief for "Growth", this will again allow "all parts" of the market to participate as exposure is rebuilt into year-end.
In short, "expect a broad based rally over the next month, as it is once again the course of "max pain."


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So why do some people become defensive and up in arms if someone were to say that parenting children that are adopted vs. parenting children one gave birth to, is different? I see nothing to get defensive over. Each path is different and parents have to deal with and help their children become productive members of society. It is not a sin to say that there are different aspects to parenting your adopted child. The differences can come in a variety of ways, some of which I've blogged about briefly
- race (transracial adoption)
- discrepancy in medical history
- attachment parenting


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Strategic analyst to help develop roadmap for 2019 goals
- Project status
- • Cancelled
- Project start date
- Not specified
- Project posted
- 30 Sep 2016 09:54
- Project duration (approx.)
- 6 Weeks
- Budget (approx.)
- US$720 / day
- Industry
- Consulting, Private Equity
- Area of expertise
- Market Analysis, Strategy, Data Analytics
- Location
- On-site in United States
- Languages
- English (Essential)
Objectives and Key Deliverables
PE portfolio company specializing in project management training and certifications is creating business goals into the year 2019, and is looking for analytic support to frame strategic options on what needs to be done in 2017 in order to accomplish those goals.
This project will be fairly analytical and will involve understanding the details of what the business needs to do in order to accomplish its 2019 goals. This is a strong focus on EBITDA.
This is an urgent project looking to start ASAP.
The consultant will work in conjunction with the leadership team and a fellow strategy consultant to deliver a clear articulation of what the business needs to do in 2017 to accomplish its longer term goals. Tasks include running through details and assessing the potential of moves with EBIDTA in mind.
Tangible deliverables include a strategic plan, economic modeling, and market analyses to validate assumptions.
>3-5 years' experience in banking or strategy consulting with a top tier firm
>Expertise in analytics and modelling
>Strong ability of asking strategic questions around viability
>Familiarity with the corporate education space is a nice to have
Must be within reasonable commutable distance of Alexandria, VA (e.g. East Coast USA, New York, North Carolina, Washington).
The client is willing to pay reasonable travel and expenses to bring the consultant to Alexandria (e.g. from East Coast, New York, etc.)
On-site is required 2-3 days per week with the rest of the work possible to do off-site.


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Tesla has gone from a relatively unknown car marker to redefining the automobile industry in just a few years. The company is now considered as one of the most sought after places to work for in Silicon Valley, which is why more than 150 former Apple employees have joined the car maker since 2013.
Most of Apple's former employees joined Tesla because of the company's car and its CEO Elon Musk, who is known for being obsessed with attention to detail like Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs. Musk states that Tesla attracts a lot of former Apple employees because the design philosophies of both companies is very closely aligned.
According to LinkedIn profiles, former Apple employees at Tesla now include: Rich Heley who joined Tesla in 2013 as senior director for manufacturing technology and is now vice president for product excellence; Lynn Miller, hired last year as associate general counsel; Beth Loeb Davies, director of training programs since May 2011; and Nick Kalayjian, a director of power electronics who has been awarded several patents for his work at Tesla, which he joined in 2006.
In fact, Apple's influence in Tesla's car is already evident. The 17-inch touchscreen display on the Model S, which can be used to control nearly every aspect of the car, was developed by a former Apple designer along with a team of Apple alumni.
According to car analyst Adam Jonas at Morgan Stanley, with cars becoming more computer like in the future, Tesla's ability to attract talented software engineers is going to give it an unfair advantage over others. Jonas added that Elon Musk explained to him that hiring anyone from Apple is easy for him, because "when he does the interview process for a serious software engineer—a big human asset—he'll meet with the person and geek out with them."
Tesla is not the only one trying to poach employees though as Apple is also trying to do the same thing. The Cupertino company is offering Tesla employees signing bonus of $250,000 and 60 percent salary increase, but it has only been successful in recruiting very few people till now.[Via Bloomberg]


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Manages and Optimize Cash Needs
Streamlining operations is the goal of any financial institution. A critical area to review is cash operations. Cash is not just a non-earning asset, it represents labor, time and expense. Cash is touched by multiple people, from your tellers to finance managers. Are they doing it effectively?
An effective cash management process considers all demand, expense and service drivers. The alignment of these dynamic cash factors is a challenge for branch personnel and ATM mangers to deliver.
mCash overview
• Accurate cash order and deposit recommendations by denomination.
• Forecast cash needs based on complex analysis of historical cash usage.
• Cash management process improvement for de-centralized and centralized operations.
• Optimize cash levels, reduce transport and money cost
• Improves communication between branches and operation departments.
• Integration options with correspondent banks, corporate credit unions, armored car carriers and the national banks
• Audit features to monitor order and deposits and automated notifications for limit adherence.


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The GAA is a portfolio of student work that enables the demonstration of achievement and progress relative to selected skills. The portfolio is used to capture student learning and achievement/progress in four content areas: English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.
This assessment is typically given from September to March.
Special Education students with significant cognitive disabilities in K-12.
Students receive scores for each subject area. The score will indicate whether or not they have passed. Score(s) of "Established (level 2)" and "Extending (level 3)" are considered passing.
Kindergarten assembles a portfolio for English/Language Arts and Math. Grades 3-8, 11 assemble a portfolio for: English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
Pass for Promotion/Graduation?
Only special education students in high school seeking a regular education diploma are required to pass for graduation.
Special education students seeking a special education diploma are not required to pass for graduation.
Samples/Study Guide
Link to Elementary Sample Task Resource Guide
Link to Middle Grades Sample Task Resource Guide
Link to High School Sample Task Resource Guide
Need a Retest?
ONLY students in High School seeking a regular education diploma may retest in content area(s) which they did not receive a proficient score. Students seeking a Special Education diploma are not required to retest.
Gwinnett's District Summary
Not available


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Samsung Wins $2.1 Billion Order in KSA
South Korean builder Samsung C&T said on Thursday it has secured a $2.1 billion deal to build a thermal power plant in Saudi Arabia.
Samsung said it would build the 4,000 megawatt plant in Qurayyah by 2014. The deal was part of a Saudi project to build six power plants by 2018.
Samsung formed a consortium with Saudi developer ACWA Power International and MENA Fund, a private equity fund in the United Arab Emirates, to operate the plant and supply electricity to Saudi Electric Co.
The builder said the Saudi firm would take a 50 percent stake in the consortium.
In March Samsung signed a $2.76 billion deal to build a liquefied natural gas complex in eastern Saudi Arabia by June 2014.
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Doing your taxes online in Estonia: A mini guide
I just did my taxes online, and I think I may have found Estonia's most effective, most efficient digital system.
After the headache of registering my address with the population register and getting free public transport, I'd lost faith in digital Estonia. One of my favourite topics of conversation with Drew, other expats, and locals was how analogue Estonia was in reality.
"Australia's more digital than this!" I would exclaim, "we just don't make a big song and dance about it."
One of the big selling points of digital Estonia, or e-Estonia, is the ability to do your taxes online. At this, I snorted. I started doing my taxes online in Australia since 2005 – big deal.
However, I might need to admit that I was mistaken. Doing my taxes online in Estonia may be the simplest digital process I've ever had to follow.
How did it work? Read on.
My first time declaring my income tax in Estonia
In Estonia, people are able to declare their income tax online from February 15th. So it only took three days for one of the other expats in my office to send a message to HR asking if they could take us through it.
Rather than wait for a group workshop to be set up, I decided to see how far I'd get on my own, expecting that I'd quickly run into a roadblock.
I popped onto the Estonian Tax and Customs Board website and clicked the 'Declaration of Income' link in the menu. From here, I clicked 'Submission of income tax returns for 2018.'
From here I clicked a link to the E-Tax/E-Customs portal where I had the option of using my ID card, mobile ID or internet bank to login.
I've given up on using my ID card to get access to online services – the problem is that I always need to enter one of my two PINs as well, and I can never remember them. However, I always remember my online banking ID (that, after all, is where the money is), so I chose that option.
Like logging into my online bank, I entered my User ID and validated it with the Smart ID app on my phone. My browser opened an 'additional services' page, where I chose the Tax and Customs Board.
Unfortunately this was the point when there stopped being an English-language version of the portal available, but I guessed that the option that said 2018 would send me to the right place.
Here I got a little stuck – first, I missed that there was now an English option again, which means I was translating one line at a time with Google Translate. Then, when I realised there was an English version, I started with the 'my income' link, which just listed my liabilities (€0 for 2018).
It wasn't until I saw the 'declarations' tab in the menu that I ended up in the right place.
From here, I was prepared to gather up my payslips from 2018, add up the totals (net, gross and tax) and enter them in to an online form. Instead, I was surprised to discover that my data was already in the system – my employer and the amount I had been paid in 2018 were all inputted into the form.
Since I don't have any business income in Estonia (Grammar Factory is based in Australia), all I had to do was click 'next', and then entering my bank account number for my refund.
Even with my initial faffing around, I got through the entire process in about five minutes. (Take that, MyTax!)
How to use Estonia's e-Tax portal
- Navigate to the e-Tax portal – https://www.emta.ee/eng/emta_login/nojs
- Log in using your ID card (you'll need your PIN 1), your mobile ID or your bank details (with Smart ID). If you log in via your bank, you'll need to choose 'Tax and Customs' from the additional services available.
- Click '2018 aasta tuludeklaratsioon'. (Or 2019, or 2020, if you're reading this from the future.)
- Change the language to English.
- Click on the 'Declarations' link in the menu.
- Verify that the pre-populated information is correct, and add any additional income or deductions.
- Enter your bank details, and confirm the amount that you would like to be transferred to your account from the available rebate!
1 Comment
Drew2020-02-17 at 16:44
this is actually outdated now 🙂


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Dear brand
Are you still upset?
Central Kitchen
We can let you know!
You know the plan
Highlights central kitchen do?
Central Kitchen Planning Point 1
The size and function of the central kitchen must be guided by the market, follow the appropriate scale, investment principles modest.
Central Kitchen Planning Point 2
In the planning stage, priority should be given to varieties, yields and processes. What are you going to do clearly? How to do? What to do? Make clear the needs, do a good job in product design, and be targeted.
Central Kitchen Planning Point 3
Establish a rational portfolio structure, and decomposition products for a variety of standardized modules, different combinations to form a series of products and product family to achieve product diversification, production fast, simple innovation of purpose
Success case
Large group company meal
College meal
Social group meal
Student nutrition meal
Jinrui Central Kitchen
Turnkey projects
Expert team
Service Process