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Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Expert Floor Sanding Services Near You – Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Home and business owners around the world are clamouring to get wood flooring for their establishments- and with good reason. Wood comes with a wide array of positive attributes, which enhance the value of the property, making elegant and conducive living and working conditions. Takes its beauty for instance, one of the core factors behind the surge of its popularity. There are different types of wood available, and each come with its colourations, grain patterns and designs that add character to the interior space. You get to select the option that matches your individual taste for your establishment, and have more room to be creative with the layout on your floor. Add to that the numerous choices of wood stains, varnishes and other treatment options, the scope is further widened addressing diverse consumer needs and desires. Whether you want light colours that make your space look bigger, brighter and more open, grey hue that is neutral and has a calming effect, or a rustic tone with a medieval feel, you can be able to set it up. You can even get an installation done with reclaimed wood, with each plank telling a story. Moreover, it's a timeless appeal. Other flooring types go in and out of fashion depending on the prevailing trends, but the wood remains stylish. Durability also factors in. Wood floors can stand up to any lifestyle, from the busy family life young children and pets, to the heavy consumer traffic in restaurants and shopping malls. It just needs to be properly maintained, with finish coats being applied. When the old coats wear out and it's time to refinish the surfaces, turn to the floor sanding professionals to give you a fresh start. The wood floor can last as long as the building itself. There have even been recordings of installations going strong for centuries, with the establishment being handed down from one generation to the next. The longevity of the wood flooring also makes it an eco-friendly option. This is because less natural resources and energy are required to manufacture and sustain them. Moreover, it is a carbon neutral product, partly because during the growth of the trees it took in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produced oxygen, and also because the carbon in it is stored throughout its service life, further enabling you to reduce your carbon footprint. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
The wood adds to the warmth of the interior space. Not only is it an insulating material that retains the heat from your air conditioning and natural sunlight, but it also provides a superb medium for installing under floor heating. Then there's the convenience attributes. Wood does not have an electromagnetic surface. This means that you won't need to keep worrying about it attracting particles such as dust and pet dander to its surface. Certainly, there will be those that wind up on it due to gravity or blown onto it by wind, but the surface itself doesn't hoard the particles, making the cleaning process easier. A simple sweep or damp mopping and you'll be good to go. This has the welcome bonus it terms of hygiene, since the wood does not support accumulation of the particles, which are also allergens. In order to enjoy the full range of benefits of the wood floor, it needs to be properly maintained. This involves everything from the regular cleaning to refinishing to touch it up when the surface treatments begin to wear down. When time for the floor restoration beckons, book a floor sanding session with the professionals. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Factors Affecting Your Wood Floor – Floor Sanding Services Dublin
The loss of beauty of your wood floor is a cumulative effect of different factors. These include:
Traffic This is broad, referring to the people walking around your commercial premises-from the customers purchasing your products and services to the employees catering to their needs, in retail, corporate, healthcare, education or hospitality spaces, to your family members at home. Do you have kids? Chances are high that your floor has scratches from the plastic wheels on their high chairs, ride-on vehicles, push toys plus the incessant hot-wheel races they like playing. Motorized carts, people carrying suitcases, those using wheelchairs, etc., all put different amounts of pressure on the surface. Then there's the debris that gets tracked in from the outside and dumped onto the floor. This, together with other dirt particles, gets grinded against the surface under people's shoes. The gunk ranges from the soiling to food smudges, all through to pet fur and dander. It's like sandpaper, leading to abrasion of the surface finish. Highly trafficked sections of your floor tend to have a different colouration compared to other areas, further making the effects more prominent. Take the greeting areas in retail establishments for instance- the section where the store greeters stand to welcome passers-by into the shop. Continued standing on the same place, with the shuffling of feet on a limited area, leads to accelerated deterioration of the surface. Do you have traffic lanes in your establishment? These are paths that form on the wood floor showing how people walk around the premises. Entrances and exits, hallways and corridors, and common areas such as waiting rooms, cafeterias and lobbies are some of the most heavily travels areas within a space. The higher the numbers of people frequenting your establishment, the more the finish breaks down, necessitating repairs. Even footwear factors in. Issues like spiked shoes causing scratches, high-heeled stilettos creating huge loads of pressure on the surface as people walk around add to the abuse being meted out on your floor. Floor sanding will enable you to get to the bare wood in order to apply a fresh protective coat to reverse the effects of the wear and tear. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Moving heavy items When shifting furniture and appliances like the freezer- like when one is rearranging the house or doing some redecorating- they can leave scratch marks on the floor. Failing to lift and move, and simply dragging them across the surface, causes scuff marks to develop, or gorges to form on the floor. Sometimes the feet of the furniture may have become worn and rough, and scratch the floor with the slightest of disturbance. It can even have padding, but due to the hurry of the move, the furniture slides off the padding, causing the very problem you were trying to avoid. Even those bits of gravel and debris that have built up under the furniture can wreak havoc when caught between the heavy item and the floor. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Stains These cause unsightly patches all over the floor surface. A common cause is drink spills that weren't cleaned up soon enough, causing the substances to set into the finish. Coffee and tea from breakfast at home, or spills in the employee lounge at the workplace during coffee break, fruit juice and beverage spills during a party at your residence, urine accidents from your furry friend, red wine due to the glass tipping over in the middle of the excitement of hosting your dashing date, ball point pen and marker ink especially when your kids decide to showcase their artistry skills on your wood floor, thus ruining the surface, all through to vomit when that drunk friend comes over from a night out and slouches on your sofa, and even residue from cigarette burns- stain sources are plenty. Over time, the build-up of stains will necessitate a thorough floor sanding to be done to remove the ruined finish, and new coats applied to restore the elegance of the premises. There are also those cases when one cleans the wood floor with substances such as vinegar and ammonia, which actually break down the finish causing the surface to lose its shine and dull faster. More damage is caused if the acidic solutions get to the underlying wood itself. The floor sanding professionals will enable you to give the surface a new beginning, and apply the treatment coats you desire. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Natural elements Wood, like skin, is sensitive to sunlight. The ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) rays affect the surface due to the light and heat respectively. The tissues can either bleach and fade, or form darker tints. It depends on the specific wood species, much like how people themselves tan, get sunburns and other different effects at varying rates on exposure to the sun. For instance, while the Maple will lighten and fade, the Brazilian Cherry will darken. The radiation affects the finish, and the wearing down due to other effects mentioned above causes the sun's rays to have more effect on the underlying wood. Again, comparing with the skin, it's like when one does not have sufficient lotion or sunscreen protecting them, whether it has been rubbed off or washed off after a swim. The rays react with the finish, causing a yellow tint that goes in stark contrast with the colouration that you had had it installed with. This ruins that ambience of the interior space. One can notice huge discrepancies when comparing surfaces of the floor that have been covered with furniture or rugs, and those that are in the open. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
DIY refinishing errors Failing to observe correct procedures when applying the treatment coats onto your floor will cause problems right from the start. For instance, not ensuring that the floor has been properly cleaned. Particles like dust and hair getting stuck on the lacquer coats will stick out like a sore thumb once the finish dries and cures. Using dirty tools contaminates the lacquers and varnishes being applied, affecting the quality of the results. When left with substandard coats, one is forced to redo the processes sooner than had been anticipated. There are also those cases when one rushes through the coats, without allowing sufficient drying time in between. This lengthens the curing time, and the outcome will still be drabby. You end up with a floor with both dull and shiny areas, and the only solution will be to go back to the beginning. There are also those who force the coats to dry fast, such as by pointing a fan directly to the surface. Even allowing traffic onto the treated area, or moving in too soon before the coats harden properly, will create permanent marks in the finish. Stories have been told of furniture sticking to the floor after being placed on it before it had dried. Forcing it off creates ugly scars on the surface. However, you can always bounce back and fix your floor with thorough and professional floor sanding services. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Risks Of DIY Floor Sanding – Floor Sanding Services Dublin
The DIY floor sanding job is fraught with risks that could ruin your investment. There are different factors to consider, ranging from the equipment that is rented to how it is used. And that's not even including the amount of time and energy spent with the project. You need to do plenty of research on the machinery that is suitable for your situation, where to rent it from, stand in line at the store to get it, and pay a hefty amount. Note that in case damage that happens to the equipment while it's in your possession, you will be held liable. All that pressure and frustration, and you haven't even gotten to the job itself.åÊ Getting low quality equipment doesn't bode well for your floor sanding project. At best, it means that the process will take longer due to the reduced efficiency and power being delivered. At worst, it will damage the floorboards themselves. Take for instance the sander. It can be out of balance, have worn pulleys, bad bearings in the fan housing, or even poor seams on the abrasive, which can lead to unsightly marks forming on the floor, from scratches, drum marks, to swirl and stop marks. When the drum sander is out of round, or due to the before-mentioned faults in the machinery, it can also lead to chatter marks forming. There are consistent imperfections running across the grain of the wood, and can be up to an inch apart. They appear as wave marks, ruining the balance in level of your floorboards. The chatter marks can also be caused by imperfections which were already present on the floor, and that were transferred to the wheels of the sander during the sanding project, or even undulation of the floor due to joist truss deflection. One has to determine the exact cause of the problem created, and it needs to be fixed. This is an additional burden to your project, one that you could have easily avoided by relying on the floor sanding specialists. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
It's not just about the machinery. Skill is also required during the floor sanding. This ranges from installing the sandpaper in the sander, all through to how one manoeuvres it across the floor. For instance, leaving the sander on one spot for longer than is needed will lead to dent formation. You don't want to be creating depressions all over the floor surface. Ruining the decor of your establishment will be the least of your problems. Fixing the dents can require you to do a deeper sanding of the surrounding boards, or replace the affected ones, and it even increases the chances of water damage, since the depressions will form collection sites for spills that occur, affecting the moisture balance within the wood. Sanding too much into the wood also reduces the number of times that it can be refinished, slashing down on the life of your investment. On the other side of the scale, you can make quick passes over the floor surface, due to being too wary about eating too much into the wood. This leaves behind patches of previous finish on the wood. Consequently, the new coats that will be applied won't be able to bond well with the surface, affecting the quality of the results. Even improper electrical hook-up, fixing the sander to a voltage that is too high or low can result in the marks forming on your floor. Using the wrong angles while working with the sander can also result in dishouts forming. These are spots on the softer parts of the wood that will appear more sanded or hollowed out compared to other sections. This is especially for those wood species that have both hard and soft pronounced grain patterns. What of the dust? How do you deal with the loads that will be created during the process? The sanders rented from the store usually come with collection bags. These are barely sufficient to cover the amount of sanding dust created when working in your establishment. Moreover, the vacuuming power may not provide the required suction to collect the coarse and fine dust particles. The last thing you want is the items in your establishment being blanketed in dust that will take ages to clean off. It's not just about the convenience. The particles can wind up in your HVAC and plumbing systems, clogging them up. There's also the risk of fires. Not only is the dust from wood flammable, but it is also mixed with compounds from the finish that can be easily oxidized in case of a fire incident, which will result in a raging inferno. You don't want to put your property at risk due to insufficient dust control mechanisms. Neither do you want to be forced to endure all these risks plus the frustrations that come with the workload, considering that the floor sanding is the first step of the refinishing process. You've still got the sealing, staining and applying of the lacquers, varnishes and topcoats to follow. Get things started on the right track by turning to the floor sanding professionals. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Benefits Of Relying On The Floor Sanding Experts – Floor Sanding Services Dublin
1. Powerful machinery Floor finishes are designed to withstand abrasion. On top of that, multiple layers of treatment coats are applied onto the floor. Loads of power are needed to break through to the bare wood. That's exactly what out floor sanding team comes on site with. The industrial-grade floor sanding equipment is well maintained and delivers the power that is needed to chomp through those old treatment coats on your floor, and expose the underlying wood. They are highly efficient, ensuring that the task is carried out in minimal time without faltering on the quality of the results. Since the pores of the wood are opened up, it will be able to absorb the new wood stain and lacquers better, creating a firm, strong surface, which adds more character to interior space. Moreover, a smooth surface is formed, enabling uniform coats to be applied. It even makes future cleaning tasks easier, since the grooves and dents will have been removed. Your floor gets a new beginning, which also improves the lighting of the room. Making the floor even also means that you can safely set the furniture and accessories in the room. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
2. No worrying about dust One of the major drawbacks about floor sanding is the dust created. That's why DIY projects end up being so messy. Even the normal dust collection bag that comes with the rented sanders is not usually adequate to take on the load. Not only are the coarse particles left on your items, but there are also that fine dust that ends up airborne. Note that the dust itself is a mixture of particles from the wood, plus other treatments that had been applied on the floor. This means that allergic reactions are not the only concern. The chemicals inhaled from the previous finishes can lead to serious damage to your organs. Our floor sanding systems use suction tubes connected to powerful vacuum systems that direct the particles right out of your property into collection units. Your furniture, upholstery, cabinets, electrical appliances and indoor air are safe. That way you will not have to worry about being left with a tonne of cleaning to do after the floor sanding process is complete. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
3. Residential and commercial floor sanding services Whether it's a floor sanding project in your townhouse, apartment block, or condominium, all through to businesses in the hospitality space such as restaurants and hotels, entertainment centres like bars and dance halls, fitness studios, art galleries, school class rooms and cafeterias, retail stores and malls, churches, nursing homes and drug stores, and even government institutions, our floor sanding team has got you covered. Regardless of your floor type, be it Pine, Birch, Tigerwood, Maple, Cypress, Cherry and even Oak, the floor sanding process will be carried out within the set schedule, to enable you to continue with the floor restoration process. The sanding process enables the floor restoration to go on track, and achieve the desired results. This takes away the frustration of having to live and work surrounded by a flooring with scratches, dents, and a dilapidated finish. In addition to increasing the real estate value of the residential or commercial property, the floor restoration processes will enable you to protect your investment. By protecting the underlying wood, its life is increased, and you also won't find yourself in a situation where you need to rip out the floorboards and replace them. This reduces your maintenance costs, and enables you to make more savings down the road. Your living and working conditions also improve. The enhanced ambience has a therapeutic effect, providing a calming environment for persons in the premises. You'll no longer come home to be greeted by scuffs and dents on the floor, or spend your weekends surrounded by a finishing that is peeling off the surface. You'll feel more confident to host guests, and not keep postponing visits by your in-laws due to the state of the house. In business premises, your employees will feel rejuvenated by the enhanced flooring that spruces up workspace, which increases their productivity further bolstering your business endeavours. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
4. Timely convenient With the rush of today's world, every second counts. You may have recently bought a house and you want to have it ready for you to move in by the end of the month, in time with your end of lease. Perhaps you're a business owner changing locations, and you're planning a grand opening ceremony to market your products and inform your clients of your new premises. You don't want mistakes in the floor sanding project that will force you to reschedule and mess up your plans. For those who are moving, there are other formalities too that you are dealing with, ranging from changing billing addresses, informing your bank and insurance companies, finding doctors in the new location, getting that good school to enrol your kids into, dealing with the end-of-tenancy agreement with your current landlord, packing your items, all through to finding a moving company and planning on dates for your items to be transported- you don't want floor sanding the new house to also be on your to-do list. It's not just about finishing new installations. There are those home and business owners who want to restore the floor in their current establishment. You don't want the inconveniences that come with a DIY job. Spending weeks dealing with just the living room was not what you signed up for. You'd rather take that time doing the things you enjoy, from hanging out with your friends and family, catching the league games, engaging in thrilling outdoor activities, or even working on that project from work that is almost due for presentation. For business owners, you don't want customers coming to your commercial establishment being inconvenienced from accessing specific areas, for longer than is necessary. Worse is when mistakes are made during the DIY or rookie project, which cause damages that will take longer to be repaired. All that while the floor will be out of commission. How long will you be unable to use the different rooms in your house? No one wants to take weeks crammed into tiny fractions of the premises before the restoration job is complete. There are those who move out during the process- be it to hotels or temporary rentals- and you don't want to spend more money and time than you had budgeted for. Those in the property market are also time conscious. Planning an open house? Have you sold apartments and promised the new owners that they will be able to move in within a specified time? You don't want to lose customer trust. Delays will reflect poorly on your business, damaging your brand image. You end up losing potential buyers and tenants to rival firms, since your reliability will have been tainted. All because the DIY job took longer than anticipated- which is almost always the case. You don't have to risk it. Free yourself from the hustle by letting our floor sanding professionals take care of the project for you. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
5. Team you can trust These are our own crew. Fully trained and with years of experience, you can rest assured that your floor sanding project is in capable hands. The personnel will show up at your home or business premises in time, and will explain the entire operation as pertains to your specific job, from start to finish. Your queries and concerns will be professionally handled, and they will even point out related and unrelated issues on your property that are affecting your floor, so that you can have them attended to prevent future damages. Our floor sanding team are also courteous, to enable you be fully satisfied with our services, and in order to win your loyalty. After all, the success of our operations depends on it. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
6. Budget friendly Everyone is unique, and so is your establishment. You have individual needs, such as the floor type that you want sanded, the number of rooms involved, and the size of the project. Even timelines come into consideration. You may want scheduled services that fit into your daily and weekly plans, or emergency services to get that floor restoration project started quickly. Either way, we've got you covered. In addition, our floor sanding processes are suitably priced, to deliver affordable services without compromising on the quality. You won't have to fret over hidden charges that will pop up in the course of the process- there are none. Floor Sanding Services Dublin
Give us a call Our friendly customer service personnel are waiting to answer your queries. Get in touch with us today and book your floor sanding session.
For all your floor sanding needs contact Dublin Floor Sanding!
Floor Sanding Services Dublin


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In a stunning blow to the defence's theory that another man killed Ashton Kutcher's ex-girlfriend, testimony in the shocking murder trial revealed the man who had sex with Ashley Ellerin the night before she was found bludgeoned to death claimed he did not kill the blond beauty.
One day after Kutcher took the stand and said he "freaked out" after realizing that his own fingerprints were at the murder scene, Mark Durbin testified at a Los Angeles court as a prosecution witness about his sexual relationship with Ellerin. Michael Gargiulo has been charged with Ellerin's murder and the deaths of two other women.
On Thursday, May 30, defence attorney Dale Rubin hammered Durbin on details about his sexual encounter with Ellerin on Feb 21, 2001 — the night before the 22-year-old was found stabbed death 47 times in her Hollywood apartment.
When Rubin asked Durbin if he killed Ellerin, he said, "No, I did not."
Durbin, who managed the bungalow where Ellerin lived, said he was "just hanging out" with Ellerin that night from about 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Durbin said at some point, Ellerin took a shower while he was still there.
Durbin said shortly after, their encounter turned physical.
"Our faces were close to each other… there was a certain electricity," Durbin said in describing the tryst. "I don't remember if I kissed her first or if she kissed me, but it was a mutual thing."
Durbin said they made love for about 15 minutes and he left Ellerin's apartment shortly after because he was expecting his own girlfriend to arrive at the nearby apartment.
When Rubin asked Durbin if he remembered making a statement to police that Ellerin was on the phone with another man and making arrangements for a date later that night, a visibly angry and frustrated Durbin answered yes.
On May 29, Kutcher testified that he spoke to Ellerin on the phone at 8:24 p.m. and made arrangements to pick her up at her apartment later that night. Kutcher said he got to Ellerin's apartment at about 10:30 p.m. or 10:45 p.m., but Ellerin never responded to his calls, or when he knocked on her door. The actor said he left the area shortly after.
"The phone call that you heard… if it was at 8:24 p.m., how would that affect your time frame," Rubin asked Durbin.
"It certainly would… when I say 8:15 p.m., it could've been 8:25 p.m.," Durbin said.
"The problem is, he doesn't remember which phone call it was," the judge chimed in.
"If that call was made at 8:24 p.m., you still would've been there, right?" Rubin asked Durbin.
"Again, that's possible," Durbin responded.
Rubin also questioned Durbin about a fresh cut that was on his arm that detectives noted on a report.
Durbin said he showed police the wound because he became concerned that he could be suspected of Ellerin's murder.
"Did you tell police that Ms. Ellerin was trying to conquer you," Rubin asked.
"Just that she was very attractive to me and that she wanted me to be a part of her life," Durbin answered.
When Rubin asked Durbin whether he has ever spoke his girlfriend, who is now his wife, about his encounters with Ellerin, Durbin replied, "We never discussed it."
"So, you continued to lie to her all these years," Rubin asked.
"No," Durbin replied quickly.
When prosecutor Daniel Akemon asked Durbin if he killed Ashley Ellerin, Durbin wiped his eyes with tissue and took a deep breath.
"No, I did not," Durbin answered.

subset: commoncrawl


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Culture in Business and Society
This content was COPIED from BrainMass.com - View the original, and get the already-completed solution here!
I need help in answering questions on how cultural variables affect business. How are each of the following components of culture important in the situation questions below: aesthetics, values and attitudes, manners and customs, social structure, religion, personal communication, education, physical environment?
1. Thinking of just the U.S., which two would be the most important in business and why?
2. Thinking globally, which two would be the most important in business and why?© BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com June 4, 2020, 4:20 am ad1c9bdddf
Solution Preview
1. For the U.S., the two most important cultural components that would likely be most important in business would be values and attitudes and aesthetics. Values and attitudes are the shared views of the business held by everyone involved and for the U.S., this can often be displayed through the value on American made materials and the value of those products. The shared values and attitudes that may be in common for this example might be that buying or marketing products to a foreign market would be unpatriotic. "The resistance therefore is not so much to foreign products as to those who produce and market them" (Kahn, 2013, para 26).
In terms of aesthetics, they are a shared understanding of what is acceptable, beautiful, or in good ...
Solution Summary
The cultures in business and society are given. The most important culture in the United States to business are given.


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Many spirits are brighter this holiday season thanks to NexusBC Community Resource Centre.
"The holiday season can be a very tough time, particularly for someone who doesn't have much money or family to spend the holidays with," said Lee Brinkman, seniors services co-ordinator at NexusBC.
"So this Christmas, our aim was to brighten the spirits of seniors in Vernon."
With help from the community and through NexusBC's new Making Spirits Bright Christmas gift campaign, they did just that.
"More than 100 low-income seniors received gifts and hampers this year," said Brinkman.
"On top of the 35 Telus Community Ambassador hampers and a generous hamper donated by On Side Restoration, another 65 seniors received gifts donated by individuals and businesses in the community."
One senior who received a gift card for Walmart said he will use it to purchase a much-needed pair of eye glasses. He tells his donor in a letter that, "it's easy to get down in the dumps but you have lifted my spirits and I'm just so very grateful."
Another said that thanks to his new winter jacket, he won't be cold anymore after not having one for two years.
Yet another said her Christmas is so much brighter now that she can purchase a few extra groceries.
Brinkman says she hopes donors understand the real difference they have made to someone in need.
"There have been tears of joy and heart-warming stories of how these gifts have helped," she said.
"We have such an amazing community that really stepped up this year to help so many in need. Thank you."


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April 9, 2014, posted by Crumbs.
Machine Head are proud to announce the first round of tour dates in 2014 for the UK and Europe. The 15 date "Killers & Kings Tour" will serve as an album primer for more dates in Nov./Dec., but more importantly will hit numerous cities that Machine Head hasn't headlined in for over a decade, or in several cases, never headlined, or even played, at all.
Says vocalist / guitarist Robb Flynn, "In keeping with the intimate club tour-vibe we are doing in the USA this summer, for our first time ever, we decided to blow off 90% of all Euro summer festivals, and hit the nooks and crannies of the UK and Europe as well. We will be doing no major cities in any territories throughout Europe and the UK for this first leg of 2014.
No London, no Berlin, etc, and instead focusing on the die-hard Machine Head fans that who don't often get the chance to see us because the travel is too far or too costly to get the big cities.
I remember when we were out with Metallica doing festivals a few years ago, we played in a small out-of-the-way city in Denmark called Aarhus, we'd never played there let alone, ever even heard of the fucking place. We were all a bit grumbly before the show, and you know what? It ended up being one of the funnest shows we've ever done. Doing shows like this, it creates an energy, it creates a bond, something unbreakable, and it is really fucking fun. It's Machine Head without all the big production, the bells and whistles, stripped down and raw.
What will be really cool is that in the UK, we've never done a club tour, it happened so fast for us there that other than a handful of epically insane, wildly drunken Ten Ton Hammer club shows, we've only played bigger halls, so we are really looking forward to giving our fans something special there. Plus, we've been hearing from our Scottish fans for decades that we need to get to Edinburgh!!! So finally, 21 years into our existence, we're coming, and we're ready to fucking plunder Scotland!!!!
Tue/29-Jul Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
Thu/31-Jul Edinburgh, UK @ Liquid Rooms
Sat/2-Aug Newcastle, UK @ Newcastle University
Sun/3-Aug Norwich, UK @ Waterfront
Mon/4-Aug Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Wed/6-Aug Zwolle, Holland @ Hedon
Thu/7-Aug Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
Fri/8-Aug Den, Luxembourg @ Atelier
Sat/9-Aug Winterthur, Switzerland @ Salzhaus
Mon/11-Aug Dornbirn, Austria @ Conrad Salm
Tue/12-Aug Prague, Czech @ Roxy
Wed/13-Aug Warsaw, Poland @ Palladium
Fri/15-Aug Dinkelsbühl, Germany @ Summerbreeze **
Sat/16-Aug Hamburg, Germany @ Elb Riot **
Sun/17-Aug Herford, Germany @ X Fest **
Tue/19-Aug Aarhus, Denmark @ Train
Thu/21-Aug Stavanger, Norway @ Folken
Fri/22-Aug Gothenburg, Sweden @ Tradgarn
** Part of festival date
Tickets will be available on Friday April 11th. Check out Live Nations website for mor information: http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/machine-head-tickets
Source: Machine Head Facebook
TakeMyScars.com - A Place Dedicated to the Mighty Machine Head!


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The first car pack for GRID Autosport is available to download now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, Codemasters has announced.
The 'Best of British' car pack introduces three new cars - the 1995 McLaren F1 GTR, 2011 Aston Martin Zagato V12 and 2007 McLaren Mercedes SLR 722 - and can be downloaded for £2.39.
Alternatively, if you've already picked up the game's Season Pass you can download it at no extra cost.
The Best of British car pack is the first of three planned car packs for GRID Autosport, with a further three 'mini-expansions' due to follow.
Source: Codemasters


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Bill Tibbs on the fight that all the boxing world wants
What a fight. What a night. We hope…
The two best welterweights in boxing have kept up their part of the equation. Both boxers are sitting with unblemished records, and performances, that have ignited discussion as to whom is the best fighter (at 147-pounds) among boxing fans. The networks want to get the contracts signed and it now seems that we just need to get the promoters together to seal the deal.
However, the competing promoter roadblock scenario, as old as boxing itself, can be problematic on Hatfield vs. the McCoys's-esque levels.
Terence "Bud" Crawford (35-0, 26 KO's) is certainly one of the best welterweights in the world and he might very well be the very best fighter in all of boxing (along with lightweight star Vasiliy Lomachenko). Errol Spence, (25-0, 21 KO's), is undefeated and many are calling him the best welterweight in the game. So, P4P lists aside, fight fans are clamouring for a matchup between these two undefeated, 147-pound stars.
The major hurdle is that Texas' Spence is represented by Premiere Boxing Champions (PBC), and its boss Al Haymon, while Omaha's one-man franchise, Terence Crawford, is handled by Las Vegas-based Top Rank Promotions and its legendary founder Bob Arum.
One would think that when there is a fight that boxing fans are clamouring for, the networks would be thrilled to present, and the predictions for pay-per-view numbers seem very strong, then that event would be a slam dunk.
But folks, this is boxing. Well, let's be fair, it is the business of boxing. And, history has shown that when the boardroom and the boxing ring cross paths things often get complicated.
Arum recently tried to make his case that the only one holding up Crawford-Spence was Haymon. He zeroed in on Haymon naming him as the only thing stone-walling the matchup. Arum recently refereed to Haymon as "scamster" who is only looking to match his welterweight star in-house.
"He's gonna say, 'Spence, listen to me. Don't listen to the white guys (like Arum), because if you listen to the white guys, they're gonna steer you down the road,'" Arum told the writers. "'Listen to me, brother. We're part of a brotherhood. And if I tell you not to fight Crawford, I'm telling you not to fight Crawford.' That's exactly what he will say, "said an agitated and frustrated Arum.
While many people would accuse Arum of the same tactic (always trying to match his champions with contenders also under contract to Top Rank), the reality is that Top Rank is doing shows with many other promoters on a regular basis and has for a long time. Was there a time that Arum always kept it in-house? Perhaps, but that is just smart business if you can do it. But, Arum knows that to make the best fights, and ultimately grow the sport and the Top Rank brand in today's competitive market, he needs to be willing to match his fighters with the best fights out there and be willing to work with a variety of other promoters to do it. Top Rank is doing this on a regular basis and it would be a shame if PBC didn't get on board to make the only fight at 147-pounds that people are really clamouring for. No disrespect to any other contenders and champions out there but any fight at welterweight that isn't Crawford vs. Spence is a consolation prize at best for fight fans.
In a recent interview, Mayweather Promotions' Leonard Ellerbe, said that, in reference to a Crawford-Spence fight in the near future, things don't look good.
"That's fight is not happening right now" he said. "The fans are anointing those two as the best out there but they have to go out there and prove that". When pressed to answer who he would like to see Spence in the ring with next, Ellerbe said, "I would like Errol Spence to fight whomever he wants to fight in his next fight and it's going to be a massive fight", he continued.
"Errol has business right in front of him, they can make a call right now, and the fight is done. Do I have to name the guys? The problem they have (Top Rank) is that they can't deliver a big fight for Terence Crawford or (Vasiliy) Lomachenko. That's what it is, period and point blank. So all this masquerading around with Bob saying 'I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that', that's just Bob doing Bob. And its OK, he's a great promoter who has made a great living and made a great company by doing those kinds of things. But that sh** is old, it's prehistoric stuff, it means nothing in 2019. Nobody is even listening, except the 12 people talking to him at that time. The fighters have a voice, they have a platform and they are very intelligent" he said.
"Spence has a plethora of options right in front of him and we are going to see how it plays out. Each one of the welterweights think they are the best, we soon gonna find out who is the best", he said. "
Boxing's ever changing windows open and close quickly. When there is an opportunity to make a fight that fighters and fans all want, and the fighters are at, or near, their best, it is shame to let it sit until a time when the fight just plain and simply doesn't mean the same. You have to strike while the iron is hot and the Crawford-Spence iron is red hot right now.
Yes, with Haymon having Pacquiao, Thurman and Garcia, among others, under contract he indeed does have numerous big fight options for Spence. But, until he is willing to sit down with Arum and make the Crawford fight, something both fighters have indicated they want, Haymon can make big fights, just not the big fight.


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The button of tap is actually full of bacteria, if you press the button after you washed your hand, your hand is still not clean.
Based on this problem, what if there is a round disc shape sensor on the button of tap, water will be cooler when you move your hand counterclockwise, on the contrary, water will be hotter when you move you hand clockwise. You can adjust the temperature of water and dont have to touch the tap.
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Prismatic Rainbowtheus Wand
Location: Featured Item Showcase - Game Menu
Price: 200 AC
- First 24 Hours: 180 AC
- After 24 Hours: 50 AC
Rarity: Rare Rarity
Base Damage: 27-33
Description: Rainbowtheus has wandered over from OverSoul to paint the town so everything is ready for Lucky Day.
- Paint at the tip is Color Custom to Base Color.
- Also see Rainbowtheus Wand.
Thanks to Lord Vordred 101.


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26 April 2018
Time is running out for young farmers to have their say on the future of British farming as the deadline for submitting views to Defra's consultation on a British Agricultural Policy closes on 8 May 2018.
Defra's command paper "Heath and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit" lays out the Government's views on the future of agricultural policy, and sets out specific proposals and questions for public consultation.
NFYFC's AGRI steering group is responding to the consultation of behalf of YFCs - and has used the NFYFC AGRI final position paper for a future agricultural policy, and findings from the NFYFC Brexit survey 2016 as well as various YFC discussion events to inform its response. The final draft of NFYFC's response will be available from 10am on Friday 27 April and YFC members have until Wednesday 2 May to comment on it by contacting Sarah Palmer or AGRI Chair James Hutchinson.
The deadline for making a response directly to Government is 8 May 2018.
It's worth noting that if you reply via the Citizen Space website: you do not have to reply to all of the questions posed. You may wish to read through the command paper and the NFU's summary before selecting which questions to respond to.
If you are emailing: you can either address the specific questions set out in the command paper, or instead provide more general views and feedback. If you respond providing more general views, stick to the themes and areas of questioning in the paper as much as possible noting that the paper has distinct sections:
You can also help shape responses by emailing your views to NFU HQ team by Friday 27 April 2018. You can also use a simple online form that the NFU has created here for members and a public facing version will also be available on the Countryside website too here.
19 April 2018
Advanced ticket sales to The National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs' (NFYFC) Annual Convention in Blackpool are the highest recorded in the last decade, and organisers are anticipating a record number of young farmers to flock to the seaside town this May.
More than 5,700 tickets have already been sold to the annual event, which will be held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool from 4-6 May for the 24th time, and organisers are predicting more sales on the doors over the weekend. Tickets are no longer available to be purchased in advance and members can now only buy a wristband on the door during registration times at the Winter Gardens.
A record number of YFC members attended the Convention in Blackpool in 2016 with 6,000 young farmers enjoying a weekend of entertainment, competitions and debate. It is now anticipated that this year's event will be even bigger after impressive sales of the early-bird packages.
The flagship event has attracted sponsorship from leading industry organisations, including KUHN Farm Machinery UK, Isuzu and Massey Ferguson.
Farming Today presenter and NFYFC President Charlotte Smith will chair the 86th Annual General Meeting during the weekend. Smith will also facilitate at the AGRI Big Ideas Brunch on the Saturday, where three leading entrepreneurs will impart their advice on establishing a successful future career in the industry.
As well as national competition finals for Pantomime performances, Senior Member of the Year, Jump Rope and Disco Dancing, there are also guest DJs entertaining young farmers in the evening.
Weekend highlights include:
The increase in numbers of members attending the Convention is also good news for a local charity as a donation from every ticket sale will be given to the Lancashire Air Ambulance.
This year, more than 100 Young Farmers are planning to cycle or walk a combined total of nearly 1,000 miles to get to Blackpool – all in aid of raising money for causes close to their hearts. YFC members from Essex, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire are all training for their challenges, which should see them raise more than £10,000 for local causes.
NFYFC Chairman of Council Lynsey Martin said: "It's great that so many YFC members are attending our Annual Convention weekend. It's the highlight of the YFC calendar and a chance for many of our members, who live and work in isolated rural communities, to unite with friends from across England and Wales.
"The weekend is growing in popularity every year and it's due to the range of activities on offer for members across the three days. It's also a chance to acknowledge all of the amazing fundraising work our YFCs do throughout the year to support not only our members but also our rural communities.
"We have built strong working relationships with the police, the local authority and businesses in Blackpool to make sure this year's event is entertaining and safe for young farmers and local residents. Our members really enjoy visiting Blackpool and all it has to offer."
The Annual Convention starts at 1pm on Friday 4 May and closes on the evening of Sunday 6 May 2018.
For more information and to see the full programme of activity about NFYFC's Annual Convention, visit www.yfcconvention.org.uk.
08 April 2018
Members of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (NFYFC) will discuss their hopes and fears for a rural future post-Brexit with Farming Today presenter and NFYFC President Charlotte Smith at the organisation's AGRI Brunch in Blackpool on 5 May.
Joining Charlotte will be a panel of industry stalwarts who have enjoyed successful agri careers. They will offer critical advice to the next generation of farmers on diversifying businesses and tackling the challenges ahead.
The event, called the Big Ideas Brunch, which is sponsored by Kuhn Farm Machinery UK and supported by Defra, will be held on Saturday 5 May in the Pavilion Theatre at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool from 10.30am.
The AGRI Brunch is an important part of the Annual Convention weekend for YFC members and representatives from the agricultural and rural industries. This year's discussion will highlight any concerns that young people are having about working in the industry now that Brexit negotiations are underway.
The panel includes Rob Boole, agronomist, owner of Boole crop specialists and founder of Greenway Training, Sir John Campbell, founder of the multi-million pound business Glenrath Farms and Chris Cardell, a Cornish tenant farmer.
NFYFC President Charlotte Smith, who will be facilitating the session at the Winter Gardens, said: "NFYFC's AGRI Brunch is a great opportunity for young farmers to get a load of insider advice from people who have been there, done it and succeeded!
"NFYFC's panelists will offer crucial advice about developing businesses and embracing change. I can't wait to hear their stories and learn how they have managed their careers."
The AGRI Brunch is organised by NFYFC's Agricultural and Rural Issues (AGRI) Steering Group and a new topic is chosen annually.
AGRI Chairman James Hutchinson, from Wiltshire Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs, said it was important to give young farmers the opportunity to discuss their rural futures with experts who had achieved plenty in the industry.
James Hutchinson said: "There's never been a greater need for a highly-skilled and efficient workforce to keep the countryside thriving, producing great quality food, sustainable tourism and natural habitats - and boosting brand Britain!
"Any YFC members who are into technology and training, food, farming and the countryside should join us for this event to share their views and questions about their rural future. Our panel of experts are a great example of what can be achieved in this vast industry and we hope that everyone will be inspired by their ideas and wisdom."
Kuhn Farm Machinery also sponsor the AGRI Steering Group as well as the AGRI Brunch event.
Siân Pritchard, Managing Director at Kuhn Farm Machinery (UK), said: "As an active supporter and sponsor of the NFYFC Agri and Rural Steering Group, the Big Ideas Brunch is understandably one of the highlights in KUHN's year with NFYFC. It's the perfect platform for young farmers to learn from industry leaders, but also gives them an opportunity to share their point of view on today's post-Brexit environment. We look forward to a lively discussion!"
The AGRI Brunch starts at 10.30am with free bacon rolls and a chance to network with young farmers and industry exhibitors before the debate begins at 11am.
Follow the discussion on Twitter using #yfcagribrunch. To find out more about the event and to see biographies of the panelists, visit the Convention website.
03 April 2018
A huge charity fundraiser is being organised in Lincolnshire after news that its County Chairman Matt Denby needs a kidney transplant.
YFCs in the County are helping to support Matt by selling hundreds of tickets to a dinner and dance on 21 April at Lincolnshire County Showground – and some YFC members have even offered to give him their kidney as Matt searches for a potential match!
Matt's father and uncle are currently undergoing tests to see if either will be a good match but Matt says he's had at least five serious offers from Young Farmers too.
"I'm not at a critical stage of total kidney failure or needing dialysis yet," said Matt who will need a transplant in the next couple of months. "The plan is to hopefully have the transplant from a living donor before I need dialysis."
Matt's failing kidney function made him want to use his YFC connections to raise money for Kidney Research UK. He is now organising the dinner and dance with an aim of raising £15,000 through a raffle and auction that includes a three-day holiday on a private yacht and a bottle of whisky signed by the Prime Minister Theresa May MP among the auction lots.
Matt said: "I quickly realised I would never have such an opportunity again in my lifetime to have the potential to raise as much money as hosting a Charity Ball as the Chairman of Lincolnshire FYFC, with all the communication methods and connections being County Chair brings.
"My personal circumstances triggered the idea of hosting the fundraiser for the great work Kidney Research UK do to increase organ donations and the research and development to cure kidney disease."
Since Matt became Lincolnshire's Chairman, he has been focused on raising awareness of the fundraising work all of the YFCs in the County do for a range of charities. He introduced a County Cup for the most charitable club and the YFCs are taking on the challenge to raise as much money as possible through events and activities.
And the local YFCs have certainly be doing all they can to support Matt's event too with more than 700 tickets currently sold - and Matt's expecting 1,000 by the booking deadline.
County treasurer and Wragby YFC Chairman Alex Olivant completed the #RunForResearch by running a mile each day in January and raised almost £500, the president of the newly reformed Laceby YFC is running the marathon for kidney research and a local Open Farm Sunday is raising money for the charity with YFC helping with games, tombolas, tractor trailer rides and the bar.
"I would like to thank everyone who has kindly donated raffle prizes and auction lots," added Matt. "Without their generosity the event wouldn't have the capability of raising anywhere near as much money."
Anyone interested in buying tickets should contact Lincolnshire FYFC by Saturday 7 April or you can donate to Matt's fundraiser here.
Designed by Kevyn Williams


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Mary Undoer of Knots rosary bracelet
per item
This Mary Undoer of Knots rosary bracelet is made with 8mm Red Creek Jasper gemstones. The beautiful Mary Undoer of Knots medal is 3/4" long and is solid brass. The bar and toggle clasp is antique brass and the 7/8" long Crucifix is solid bronze and is hand cast from antique pieces. Pope Francis has a special devotion to Our Lady Undoer of Knots. As a Cardinal studying in Germany he came across the Bavarian painting of "Holy Mary, Our Lady Undoer of Knots" and took a copy back to Argentina and promoted devotion to Mary under this title. Cardinal Bergoglio also had an image of Our Lady Undoer of Knots engraved into a chalice and presented it to then Pope Benedict XVI.


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Roosevelt's Fireside Chats
President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave thirty different fireside chats between 1933 and 1944. He used the fireside chats to explain his policies and to ask for the American people's support of his policies.
Write 1 - 2 paragraphs for each of the chats below that identifies how the policies discussed in the chat furthered the goals of relief, recovery, and reform.
Fireside Chat 2
Fireside Chat 2. Outlining the New Deal Program. Sunday, May 7, 1933
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/1933-05-08_President_Speaks_To_The_Nation
Fireside Chat 4
Fireside Chat 4. On the Currency Situation. Sunday, October 22, 1933
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/1933-10-23_President_Outlines_Recovery_Progress
Fireside Chat 5
Fireside Chat 5. Review of the Achievements of the Seventy-third Congress. Thursday, June 28, 1934
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/1934-06-27_President_Reports_To_Nation
Fireside Chat 6
Fireside Chat 6. On Moving Forward to Greater Freedom and Security. Sunday, September 30, 1934
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/Roosevelt_Asked_To_Ban_On_Strikes
Fireside Chat 7
Fireside Chat 7. On the Works Relief Program. Sunday, April 28, 1935
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/1935-04-29_FDR_Sees_Fear_Vanishing
Fireside Chat 12
Fireside Chat 12. On Economic Conditions. Thursday, April 14, 1938
Source: http://www.archive.org/details/1938-04-20_World-Wide_News_Events


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In PowerMatching City, the leading Dutch smart grid project, 40 households participated in a field laboratory designed for sustainable living. The participating households were equipped with various decentralized energy sources (PV and micro combined heat-power units), hybrid heat pumps, smart appliances, smart meters, and an in-home display. Stabilization and optimization of the network was realized by trading energy on the market. To reduce peak loads on the smart grid and to be able to make optimal use of the decentralized energy sources, two energy services were developed jointly with the end users: Smart Cost Savings enabled users to keep the costs of energy consumption as low as possible, and Sustainable Together enabled them to become a sustainable community. Furthermore, devices could be controlled automatically, smartly, or manually to optimize the energy use of the households. Quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted to provide insight into the experiences and behaviours of end users. In this chapter, these experiences and behaviours are described. The chapter argues that end users: (1) prefer to consume self-produced energy, even when it is not the most efficient strategy to follow, (2) prefer feedback on costs over feedback on sustainability, and (3) prefer automatic and smart control, even though manual control of appliances felt most rewarding. Furthermore, we found that experiences and behaviours were fully dependent on trust between community members, and on trust in both technology (ICT infrastructure and connected appliances) and the participating parties.
|Originele taal-2
|Smart grids from a global perspective
|bridging old and new energy systems
|Anne Beaulieu, Jaap de Wilde, Jacquelien M. A. Scherpen
|Springer International Publishing Switzerland
|ISBN van elektronische versie
|ISBN van geprinte versie
|Published - 16 feb 2016
Publicatie series
|Power Systems
|ISSN van geprinte versie
- smart grid
- energie
- consumentengedrag
- duurzaamheid
- gebruikersonderzoek
Vingerafdruk Duik in de onderzoeksthema's van 'End user research in PowerMatching City II'. Samen vormen ze een unieke vingerafdruk.
Citeer dit
Wiekens, C. (2016). End user research in PowerMatching City II. In A. Beaulieu, J. de Wilde, & J. M. A. Scherpen (editors), Smart grids from a global perspective: bridging old and new energy systems (blz. 269-283). (Power Systems). Springer International Publishing Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28077-6_17


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2010 English Premier League Preview: Chelsea
We hit the back stretch of the team-by-team EPL preview countdowns. It's week three, so it's about time to start hitting some of the big boys. What better way to start a Monday than with defending league champion Chelsea? Your preview is courtesy of long-time T.O.P. commentor extraordinaire, Ironic Steel Salesman who still waves the Blue Flag in spite of my constant bashing of anything and everything which transpires at Stamford Bridge. He goes beyond the usual, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba are good routine. He does know him some Chelsea. Enjoy it. Follow him on Twitter, too.
Young Man's Blues
By Ironic Steel Salesman
I tried really hard to get creative for this write-up. Honestly, I tried to come up with something deep and meaningful. Maybe put together an allegory-type posting, comparing Chelsea to a pop culture entity or discussing their place in the soccer world at large. Basically, I was trying to live up to the high standard of well-thought out posts that Cardillo has set.
There are a couple of reasons why I was unable to accomplish this. The first being my self-imposed rule that I would only write this preview at work. I thoroughly enjoy reading and contributing to T.O.P., but there is something extra rewarding about stealing company time to write up a season preview for your favorite EPL team. I guess you could call it justice for not letting me take off for USA-Algeria. Second, with the World Cup going on it's been a difficult summer to gauge where teams are exactly. Lack of actual transfers and belated summer holidays have made it difficult to judge what each team will look like come August 14, let alone September 1st. (The third and final reason is I'm simply not that good a writer.)
So, you are going to get stuck with a fairly straight-forward, biased analysis of Chelsea's upcoming season. Given Chelsea's recent record, I think that's pretty appropriate. Aside from dick-stomping a few lesser opponents (and Villa) with the kind of scores you'd have in a game of FIFA, Chelsea's efficient, no-nonsense approach is what has gotten them to their current level. Forget the "champagne football" that Roman Abramovich and the press have been talking about, this side is built to get results.
The question for this season is, can this team play the "beautiful game," get younger, and still win trophies? Basically, can they be Arsenal with a larger wage scale and without an empty trophy case. According to the T.O.P. Guide to Posting, this is the point where I'm supposed to break down the key aspects of Chelsea's upcoming season in a list format:
Frank Arnesen & The Kids -- You probably haven't heard too much about Arnesen at Chelsea, but for better or worse you will. His work as head scout (appointed in 2005) has to start producing players who can play with the first team. To date, only Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel have made any notable first team contributions. This season, you can expect to see Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick Van Aanholt, Nemanja Matic, Gael Kakuta, and Fabio Borini getting some important minutes. If they aren't sold or loaned, you could add Michael Mancienne, Sam Hutchinson, and Jack Cork to that list.
If things get really crazy, you could see England's Next Great Hope -- Josh McEachran. Given Chelsea's recent transfer policy, as well as the league's new squad rules, it's key that the youth team starts to produce guys who can contribute.
Florent Malouda & Ashley Cole -- This is the one area of the field Chelsea have a major advantage over all their rivals. These are the two best left-sided attacking players in England, if not all of Europe. Both were in top form last year, and absolutely dominated almost every game they played. That doesn't even take into account Yuri Zhirkov, who looked excellent towards the end of the season. The right side is not nearly as dangerous, though Jose Bosingwa gives them a similar dimension if he can come back to full fitness.
On a side note, how crazy was it that Malouda didn't start for France? Regardless of personal problems with the manager, I don't think it's unreasonable to think they would have made it out of their group if he had.
Yossi Benayoun, Ramires, and the men they replaced -- You've got to think that Benayoun is going to have a tough time, at least initially. He's replacing Chelsea's most popular player, the one England player to come out of the World Cup unscathed. He's even rocking the No. 10 shirt.
I think all things being equal I'd prefer Joe Cole, but if his wage demands were as high as reported it's good to end up with a class player like Benayoun. I haven't watched Ramires enough to really know what to expect, but I'm excited to see what he'll do if and when he signs for Chelsea.
Other than Joe Cole (who I do think will come back to haunt them at some point), I don't think anyone who left or is rumored to leave is that significant of a loss. Michael Ballack, Juliano Belleti, Deco, and Ricardo Carvalho all are getting up there in years and have had injury/performance issues of late. They've done well for the club, but it's time to move on and give time to some youngsters. I was a little skeptical of the sale of Miro Stoch, but after a lackluster World Cup I think Ancelotti may be correct in saying he's not cut out for the Premiere League.
The Back Line -- The Chelsea back-line right now can best be compared to my fantasy baseball keeper team every year the day of our draft. I'm really excited about the team in general, but there are some guys coming back from injury, some old hands I'm gambling on, and a couple of young guys I'm counting on producing. Like I wrote earlier, Cole is probably the best left back in the country, and Zhirkov provides great cover. Hell, van Aanholt looked damn good in his limited time and did very well on loan at Newcastle.
John Terry can't possibly have a worse season off the field, and hopefully he performs better on it. Alex was man of the match for several games towards the end of last season. It will be interesting to see where the Portuguese players fit in. I would think Bosingwa would start at RB, but Branislav Ivanovic really laid claim to that spot last season. Carvalho is maybe their third (or fourth, if you count Ivanovic) best center back at this point and Paulo Ferreira will have to again be happy as Johnny-on-the-spot across the line. There are a lot of bodies back there; the question will be if they can find the right combination of four to lock down the best England has to offer.
Michael Essien -- No player returning from injury can have as much impact on this title race as Essien. At full fitness, he is one of the best midfielders in the world. He is by quite a ways my favorite Chelsea player, so this could be completely biased, but I don't think unreasonable at all. Keep in mind that he is generally considered a tough-tackling, defensive midfielder, then look at his wrong-footed volley against Barcelona again. Then, look at my personal favorite, the screamer against Arsenal. Since Ghana don't have any competitive tournaments for him to get re-injured in the build up to, I think he should be OK for the season. To get my full feelings on him, watch this YouTube clip, and replace the words "Washington" with "Essien."
Bottom Line -- Last year I thought (and declared on this site) that Chelsea were the definitive favorites to win the league back from Fergie's Jerks. I still think that they are the favorite, but it's not nearly as much of a slam-dunk. Arsenal's youngsters have another year of experience under their belt and continued to improve their side through the addition of Maroune Chamakh and the subtraction of William Gallas. Man City continues to buy every available player that don't go to Real Madrid, and if they can field a team with fewer than five holding midfielders they should be a very serious title contender this year. United are always dangerous, although I still think they are a little light beyond Wayne Rooney, and Liverpool appear to be headed back in the right direction. Not that it's overly surprising, but I'll pick Chelsea to win it all. If they can't reclaim their title, it will be Arsenal.
If not them, probably Blackpool.
T.O.P. EPL Fantasy
Standard League code: 409759-102569
Head-to-Head (limit to first 30): 409759-184681
(Same team can play in both leagues)
In case you missed it:
* Manchester United
* Newcastle United
* Fulham
* Aston Villa
* Birmingham City
* Sunderland
* West Ham United
* Stoke City
* Bolton
* Blackpool
* Blackburn Rovers
* Wolves
* Wigan Athletic
* West Brom


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One of the great strengths of the Bhagavad Gita is its ability to act as a creative synthesis of a number of different streams of philosophy, religion and practical living, providing a new, comprehensive approach that values each one but places it within a larger context and framework within which it obtains new meaning. Two of these paths, Sankhya and Yoga are the subject of this new chapter. Sankhya, which provides an analytical framework for our understanding of the world we live in and its meaning, undergoes some modifications in order to assume its role in the Gita's practical philosophy. Similarly, the Yoga espoused by the Bhagavad Gita also represents a somewhat different approach to the more traditional forms, such as Patanjali's Raja Yoga or what we today in the West know as yoga, namely Hatha Yoga. In both cases, central aspects of each system are adopted and adapted to become part of the wider unifying action the Gita envisions.
Sri Aurobindo clarifies the Gita's direction: "It is in fact primarily a practical system of Yoga that it teaches and it brings in metaphysical ideas only as explanatory of its practical system; nor does it merely declare Vedantic knowledge, but it founds knowledge and devotion upon works, even as it uplifts works to knowledge, their culmination, and informs them with devotion as their very heart and kernel of their spirit. Again its yoga is founded upon the analytical philosophy of the Sankhyas, takes that as a starting-point and always keeps it as a large element of its method and doctrine; but still it proceeds far beyond it, negatives even some of its characteristic tendencies and finds a means of reconciling the lower analytical knowledge of Sankhya with the higher synthetic and Vedantic truth."
Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, First Series, Chapter 8, Sankhya and Yoga, pp. 62-63,


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On the web directories could be very very theraputic for startups and small company organizations. Companies should just know how internet business directories work. On the web directories are web site submitting services which allow businesses' sites become included with specific categories where the web sites come to be possible for interested people to search.
Online directories and their particular value
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Get placed in an internet directory site to boost your online business performance
To help keep it directly, internet business directories can direct individuals any web site which they wish to discover. Folks should just seek out specific categories or several types of categories till they get the particular sites they truly are searching for. An individual browses through an on-line directory site, they will be offered lists of sites which connect with their particular keyword. They will certainly be offered a summary of links towards sites. These links will even have short explanations in regards to the web sites. Folks can go through these explanations and determine which one they wish to select.
On the web reputation is essential any company these days
Publicity is an essential requirement of all kinds of advertising and marketing strategies. Indeed, when anyone tend to be more subjected to a company, they almost certainly will likely make utilization of the company's services. Whenever a company doesn't always have a proper internet based presence and online reputation , even its existence may not be recognized to folks. If this happens, then company has actually great opportunities in order to become a failure.
Detailing businesses' sites in internet business directories will sites in getting visibility. A great deal of internet based site visitors arrive at use these types of directories for finding things that interest them. They're prospect buyers which actively seek out sites that are regarding products or services that one's company might exactly about. Online directories can reveal businesses towards target site visitors. Therefore, web sites are certain to get an increased amount of target online traffic. Apart from getting placed in internet business directories, furthermore very important to businesses to have positive reviews on the web.
Exactly what more you ought to improve your company
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Make sure that your company has actually positive reviews online
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Cash things at the end of the afternoon
There are a lot of on the web directories that can easily be utilized by companies at no cost to list their particular businesses. This really is one aspect which makes internet based directories one most useful advertising and marketing strategies, about running a business successfully. Any small business owner who wants to improve the internet based reputation and presence of his or her company may utilize the service of an internet business directory site.


text: Infrastructure Law firm rolls out WAN acceleration Greg Meckbach @itworldca Published: October 28th, 2009Companies with branch offices should consider consolidating servers and accessing applications over wide-area networks from centralized data centres, says the IT manager of a major Canadian law firm."Any business that has multiple sites should put this technology in without question," said David Komaromi, national manager of infrastructure and network services for Toronto-based Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. "Even if it's two sites you're going to see returns."Since July, lawyers and administrators at the company's Calgary offices have been relying on a national data centre for their IT requirements, including e-mail, voice messaging and an Interwoven-based document management system.FraserMilner Casgrain has about 1,500 employees, including 500 lawyers. During the next year, the company plans to move its Toronto and Vancouver offices and move their servers to its national data centre."Our hope is to reduce our server and rack footprint by 80 per cent," Komaromi said during a conference call, adding the company currently has 250 servers.But users have often complained about application response time, so the company uses wide-area application services (WAAS) equipment from Cisco Systems Inc., hosted by Telus Corp."As we consolidate these services into the cloud we have to be careful that we don't introduce latency into applications," Komaromi said.Komaromi made his comments during a conference call organized by San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco and Vancouver-based Telus.FraserMilner Casgrain has a 100 Megabit per second pipe going into its national data centre and each office gets an Internet connection ranging between 10 and 100 Mbps."We figured that even with WAAS, we wanted to have 30 Mbps of raw bandwidth available that would allow us to consolidate these services," he said. "Once we added WAN acceleration we got a 30 to 85 per cent (bandwidth) reduction for all data types."Komaromi said as his company consolidates services and uses WAN acceleration, this will free up bandwidth for video conferencing.Cisco was selected over Silver Peak Systems Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. and Riverbed Technology Inc. of San Francisco, which makes the Steelhead WAN acceleration devices.Rather than purchase Cisco WAAS devices, Telus is managing the service for FraserMilner Casgrain.Komaromi said after the call the terms of the Telus contract are confidential but confirmed the annual cost is between $45,000 and $65,000. He added over three years, paying for managed services costs less than owning the equipment and FraserMilner Casgrain has the option of changing to a different product as vendors develop new technologies.Companies who consolidate data centres need to install remote monitoring systems, said James Staten, principal analyst with Forrester Research who was also on the conference call.Those tools would monitor bandwidth consumption and determine the performance that users are expecting."If you're going to move an application back to the data centre you want to make sure it delivers an acceptable level of performance back to that user," Staten said. "You want to make sure you don't have to send a truck to or fly someone to the branch to solve it, or train a professional at the branch office to become part of the IT department." Related Download Sponsor: LG LG Business Solutions New technologies can ease the burden on IT departments while enhancing productivity and satisfaction for the end users they serve. Learn More Infrastructure Telus


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During the last week in May, I woke up at 5am thinking that I was in the middle of a war zone (don't worry Mom, this isn't the case). The walls shook when ten huge mortars were launched across the street to signify the start of the dances for each day of the four-day Señor Choquekillka festival. This festival honors a patron saint of our town of Ollantaytambo, but in reality, it is a good excuse for everyone in Ollanta to dance, drink, and eat for 96+ hours. I'm amazed at how each morning (after a hefty night of partying) people are up at 4am preparing food and that the horses living in the same pasture that the cannon resides have not been spooked all the way to Cusco.
I learned how the word "party" means something entirely different in South America a few summers ago when I lived in Ecuador. It is the same here in Peru. Here "party" means that there are dancers parading the streets in elaborate costumes, whiffs of grilled chicken and sugary churros, and of course cervezas galore! This photo below was taken while sitting in the Sacred Valley Health office…like I said, there were random dance groups walking the streets…and sometimes even in rainbow pants.
But despite the constant action, the SVH team still managed to get a lot of work done. I had the opportunity to revisit the small Andean town of Thastayoc on Sunday morning to present our community health worker program to the town president and a semi-large assembly of community members. We took "la selva" (the jungle) bus up 1 1/2 hours worth of switchbacks to what is known as "high point" (~16,000ft). This is an up close view of Veronica, a snowy mountain that is clearly visible from Ollanta.
Upon finishing our presentation, my colleagues Sarah, Leticia (and her 2-year old David), and I hitch-hiked with some mountain bikers back to Ollanta…just in time for the bullfight. Apart from the few drunk matadors, the fights weren't overly exciting. Although I probably shouldn't criticize anyone who would be brave (or crazy) enough to get into an enclosed space with a 2-ton mass of fur and horns.
Since I will be here for at least another year, I made the executive decision that I should dance in the festival next year. A few of the dance groups have caught my eye and upon speaking with my host dad (a big-wig in the community), I should be in. And by next May, I will acclimated enough to handle four days straight of dancing. My recommendation to anyone and everyone interested in visiting Ollantaytambo — come for Choquekillka 2013. If the dancing and drinking isn't attractive to you, then you should come for (possibly) the most exciting fireworks show you'll ever see in your life. For the final night of the festival, nearly every resident Ollantaytino (and a good number of gringo tourists/volunteers) gathered in the plaza to watch the night sky become lit up by a solid (and haphazard) 25 minutes of fireworks. And the display was FAR from mediocre.
I should have expected this, but Peru doesn't have rules about how far a crowd needs to be from where the explosives are lit. So it was pretty surprising when all of a sudden sparklers and huge mortar fireworks were shot less than 100 feet from where I was standing. In addition, it was surprising to see how low the fireworks flew (and exploded) in the night sky. The bright lights and loud noises were so close that they made me (and most of the gringos) jump back and on a few occasions, run for cover. For some reason the whole ordeal was incredibly funny, and my friends and I laughed through the whole show.
Overall, despite all of the random crashes, bangs, and booms, and the similarity this festival bore to a YouTube video my ski coach told me about a few years ago, the festival was unlike anything I have ever experienced… and it definitely adds some boom to the average work week!
Written by Sacred Valley Health volunteer Julia Curry


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The annual winter event in Sapporo "Sapporo Snow Festival" has just finished. Snow statues, made by the city and the participants from all over the world, were broken. The wrecks of those statues have been left on the main street, called Odori Park. The winter festival for this year is now over. This time makes me a bit lonely.
As a person who was born, grew and still lives here, I am thinking of one theme; "can the culture be liven up in a warm place more than in a cold place?" I am not meaning that it is the climate that supports the culture. However, on the other hand, it is possible to make the culture live in a cold place. Because artists cannot do anything outside their works are made indoors. However, when I recall it was Egypt where the world's civilisation started, I always get confused. The reason, why I think such a thing with a cup of coffee, is because it is freezing outside with blowing snow.
Project Cad. This is a creative group founded by members who majored in architecture in the same university. The members got full-time jobs in companies as many students do, but they organised events that displayed their Mac-created images at nightclubs when they were off work. After they continued to do these activities for a while, their chance came. They started to be invited to other nightclubs' events as a VJ and participated in the party, which featured Takkyu Ishino, Fumiya Tanaka and others, as a VJ again.
It was not long before some of the members quit their jobs and started to produce images and web designing as Project Cad. At the same time, they applied to get an office at the Intercross Creative Centre that was built by Sapporo City to support digital contents creators. Fortunately, they passed the examination and got an office that supplies an Internet connection. This is now the base from which they work.
By the way, the workshop of Tomato was held in this centre last year. Moreover, Project Cad has been registered as a corporation as the name of CAD (Coolarchdesign) up to the present.
I have known them since they founded Project Cad and interviewed them for my Sapporo culture site Numero Deux before. Until that time, I got many chances to see them.
The unique point of them is that no basic stance has been changed at all from the time when they were working to the present when they founded their own corporation. I think this must be that they are always keeping their position as an artist, not a vocational technician. Therefore, it is very interesting to talk to them whenever I see them. I like the fact that they still continue to talk about their ideals even as they examine the business aspect in their works. I can still find an amateur taste from them in a good meaning. They like to talk about art rather than about techiniques. Also, they are seeking discussion to find a way that makes culture more interesting. In order to achieve this, they accept collaborations with other artists, which produce a contemporary dancing or visuals for the contemporary music, organising the event to support artists, taking charge at a programme at a local FM radio station, even those works are low merited ones as a business. I think this unchangeable artist temperament can make Sapporo a more exciting city.
Please visit their site, which contains more than a hundred pages, to find out specifically what sort of activities they have done. There is a link banner to the activities that they have done at the bottom of the top page and they are updating day by day. Even if you deplore "Sapporo is freezing", it cannot be helped. Heating up this city's temperature is our part.
Text: Shinichi Ishikawa from Numero Deux
Translation: Sachiko Kurashina


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Elections call for manifestos. Manifestos are typically documents into which the wish lists of all conceivable political communities are inserted. It makes sense politically to promise every religious community, every ethnic group and even every caste, class, age, region, sexual-preference and professional community a piece of the future's pie. Lip service is too often the order of the day.
It is not that people really believe manifestos, but they certainly ought to. And they would if politicians and political parties were; a) serious about statements and promises, and b) scripted manifestos that are wholesome, coherent and serious about plans for the country.
However, what we have had for decades are documents which cut the 21.44 million Sri Lankans into over 700 groups as per the above categories. And, most importantly, nothing gets done for anyone and certainly not for the country as a whole, if one focuses on the health of the economy, status of the natural resource endowment and the integrity of the nation across all such spheres.
Even a cursory examination would reveal that the country's social, economic, political and environmental balance is at tremendous risk. And this in a country which has ample natural resources and human capital.
We need to ask, 'why?'
Sri Lanka is considered one of the world's most beautiful islands and is also among the most vulnerable countries when it comes to the effect of climate change. Approximately 600,000 people are effected by drought, flood, landslides or gale storms annually. Around 200 deaths are caused by these calamities every year. Our seas, lagoons and waterways are polluted. Over two million acres of agricultural lands are polluted or contaminated. In fact, the Global Climate Risk Index put Sri Lanka as second only to Puerto Rico among regions affected. These matters are mentioned in grave tones now and then, seminars and conferences are held, but nothing is done to address the plans and processes that produce them.
Sri Lanka is a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change of 2016, but that's just ink on paper. Absolutely nothing of significance has happened on the ground. Policies are not framed by such frameworks so to speak. Instead such protocols are made irrelevant where plans are made to 'develop' the country.
Our politicians -- presidential hopefuls included -- have been obsessed by the now outdated and so clearly erroneous theories of development based on growth. Neoliberal economics to put it in a nutshell. Candidates talk of and manifestos speak to environmental issues, but they are oblivious to the contradiction of policies that rebel against conservation. We have seen this at least since the 1994 presidential election. 'Environment' is a must-mention in manifesto and speech. It is also a convenient discard thereafter.
Candidates and parties must be made to understand that this country is not just a clod of soil with people on it. It is a country whose overall identity is made not only of the religious faiths and sense of communal belonging but the full complement of natural resources whose sustainability will be the make-or-break of the more popular notions of 'nation'. Development that costs the environment is not development. It is destruction.
It is about the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food that we eat. These things are tied to the health of our natural resource base.
Candidates need to take these matters as integral and not cursory elements when developing manifestos. Correction: candidates must be made to integrate environmental protocols into their respective plans of action. In other words, they have to be made to understand that if their manifestos are not 'greened' then they should not be taken seriously. If they use words such as environment and sustainability but their plans don't even talk about disaster mitigation and conservation or else just stop there, then they are not patriots. They are traitors.
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Credit History: The Changing Nature of Scientific Credit
Chapter in NBER book The Changing Frontier: Rethinking Science and Innovation Policy (2015), Adam B. Jaffe and Benjamin F. Jones, editors (p. 107 - 131)
---- Acknowledgments ----
We thank Susan Scotchmer, Ben Jones and participants at the NBER Changing Frontier conference for helpful comments. Responsibility for all views expressed lies with the authors. The latest version of this paper is available at research.joshuagans.com.
---- Disclosure of Financial Relationships for Joshua S. Gans ----
During the course of this research I worked at Microsoft Research. Microsoft has a broad interest in intellectual property matters but this paper was independent of any work done for them.
Funding from the Sloan Foundation is acknowledged.
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