text:
All expedited delivery parcels are dispatched via Interlink. Upon dispatch, you will receive an email which will contain the tracking code for your parcel.
Interlink parcels normally arrive within 4-7 working days from the date of dispatch, however in the unlikely event your item is not delivered within this timescale; the item is not considered lost until 10 working days has elapsed.
We offer an upgrade to expedited delivery for £20 per order.
Important Information
We cannot be liable for any customs charges incurred once the parcel reaches your country. Any customs charges must be paid by the recipient of the parcel. Glasses Station has no control over these charges as customs policies change frequently. If you have any customs related questions you are advised to contact your local customs office.
A signature will always be requested upon receipt, however if you are not in when the driver arrives they will attempt to leave it in a safe place (i.e. protected from the elements and hidden from sight). If a safe place cannot be located, a card will be left with instructions on how to arrange a redelivery/collection of your order.
We aim to make receiving your item as quick and easy as possible.
If you have any issues, please contact our customer services team on email@example.com or (+44) 0344 848 78 78.


text:
I confess, I'm a tech junkie. I rarely go anywhere without my pads, pods and laptop. One of the things that amazes me about technology is how many things that used to be very expensive are now cheap (or free) because of a Mac app. With the touch of a button I can check the weather, find a restaurant or even figure out where the heck I am.
Financial advisors have seen huge advances in technology, as well. Old-school brokers, back in the day, used a paper ticker tape. Any company information gathered back then was the result of paying a hefty amount for a service or relying on your own company's analysts. Today much of this information can be gathered on the Internet for free. And some of it is even accurate!
With all this free info floating around, investors tired of paying for a broker's advice when they could do all the research they wanted on their own. They just wanted a company to execute the trade. This resulted in the birth of the online brokerage firms and the $20 trade. As more companies jumped on the bandwagon even the $20 charge was too much. Today online companies are giving away stock trades. What was once a mystery, and worth paying for, has now become commonplace and a commodity.
As a result, in the past decade brokerage firms have been dropping like flies. Those that could, merged or got bought by bigger firms. This consolidation is still taking place today. When margins get compressed, everybody in the financial services industry pays for it.
The other day I had lunch with a broker who did a large amount of fee-based business. We had a spirited discussion on the very topic of his worthiness for all the fees he charges. I told him, "You'd better watch out before somebody writes an app that makes you obsolete." He scoffed back, "Hey, I'm worth every penny I charge my clients. They're happy to pay me."
I went on to tell him, all things being equal, I didn't think anyone is happy to pay for something when they can get it for free or really, really cheap. A few rounds later he looked up from his overpriced drink and asked, "You don't seriously think an app will bring down the financial services industry, do you?"
I'm sure Mr. Kodak didn't think the digital camera would kill his business either. "You never know what can happen," I said. "Cheaper and easier is pretty tough to beat."
The broker went on to tell me how valuable he was to his clients and that he didn't think his fees were high. "In fact, I think they are already as low as they can go."
He charges a 1.75% management fee on all his clients' assets. He told me all about the models he uses and how easy it is to reposition his client's assets with just a couple of clicks.
"So, a client with $100,000 pays you $1,750 a year and a client with $50,000 pays you $875, right?" I asked. He nodded. I went on, "Does it take you any more clicks to reposition 100K verses 50K? Is it more difficult?" He replied that it really wasn't.
We talked about how his clients pay ticket charges and, my all-time favorite fee, the confirmation/mailing fee. "Eventually, I have to believe investors will figure out that with stamps selling for around 50 cents, a $12.95 confirmation fee to mail anything could be seen as, well, crazy," I noted.
"Don't you think," I asked, "if you can reposition someone's portfolio to match any given model with a couple of clicks, that eventually the technology will be available for your clients to do something similar?" He took another drink and shook his head.
What do you think? Can technology ever replace someone as valuable as you? While you ponder these deep questions, I'm going to check out the app store and see what's new.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Langland Bay in the Gower, Swansea. Taken during a summers evening and showing the long line of council owned beach huts as well as the small but beautiful beach of Langland that is popular with surfers and body borders.
Wales (Cymru in the Welsh language) is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The major cities are Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Bangor. The city of St. Davids is the smallest city in the UK with a population around 2000. Wales itself has a population of around 3 million. The Welsh language is spoken by around 20% of the population.


text:
GeoTrust Free Trial
Our free GeoTrust test certificate will show you what SSL can do for your website, your business and your customers. You can experience the entire process from application to installation today, without spending a penny or committing to anything.
As well as securing your website with encryption of up to 256-bit*, our free 30 day trial will make you benefit from the reputation and expertize of GeoTrust, the second largest provider of digital certificates in the world. And, of course, you'll also get SSL247®'s highly recommended customer service from our team of friendly and qualified Web Security consultants.
It's free. There's no obligation and no commitment
For 30 days, you'll get:
- Domain validation, issued in 10 minutes and no need for any faxed paperwork/company documents
- A certificate with a chained root
- Compatibility with 99+% of all browsers
- Compatibility with most mobile and smartphone browsers
- Online validation
- Full account management and technical support from SSL247®
- A fully-functional SSL certificate. Although this is a 30 day trial SSL certificate, it comes from the same root as other GeoTrust certificates, not a test root. This means there are no error messages and no 'test only' warnings
- The SSL247® 30 day guarantee
Do you need a long-term, professional certificate?
At SSL247®, we pride ourselves on our customer service, so if you choose to upgrade your free test SSL certificate to the True BusinessID certificate, we'll give you one month for free. With this organisationally validated SSL certificate, your organisation will be authenticated, your website secured and your customers shown that your business is trustworthy. Please click here if you'd like to order this certificate.
+44 (0) 204 519 2097
Remember, our team of friendly Web Security consultants, who are recognized as official SSL experts, are here to help. If you are short on time, our Wizard will provide you with an SSL recommendation in seconds.
Need more info about SSL? Have a look at the SSL certificates section of our Knowledge Base.


text:
"No Pain, No Gain" is much more than a personal exercise motto. In this drawing I am trying to expose this motto as a social demand rather than a purely internal process. This notion in which an individual is expected to suffer in order to gain profit (monitary, physical, social, professional…) is really at the […]
Drafts for the letter N:
Van Gogh was a dog
DRAFT a later version will be contributed to Wikipedia


text:
New Marauder's Map, Diagon Alley Map and More from Noble Collection
Oct 10, 2007
While it is not yet Halloween, Noble Collection has unveiled a batch of wonderful new products due to be released right before the Christmas holidays. Among the new things is an item long requested by fans: a full replica of the Marauder's Map. The description reads as follows: "A detailed full size Marauder's Map replica printed on parchment paper. Measures 15.5×72 inches open, folds to 15.5×8.25 inches." There is no photo yet available of the full map, and there is a separate display case for the map also available, both labeled as "coming soon."
Also new is a Map of Diagon Alley, described as "Replica parchment printed map comes with wooden frame.Measures 21×10 inches." Starting at our favorite pub (and namesake) you can see the various Wizarding establishments of the shopping district, with a closer look at this new item here.
Additional new items include a very cool Lucius Malfoy Death Eater Mask(a paperweight?), nice quality House pins, the Golden Egg pendant, a silver Dumbledore's Army logo necklace, a statue of a Centaur, a "Proclamation Board," a Gryffindor Sword Letter opener, and a statue of a Thestral.
We will update once these become available via our Cauldron Shop.
Thanks to HPANA.


text:
SRD:Rod of Epic Cancellation
From D&D Wiki
|This material is published under the OGL
Epic Cancellation
This rod's touch drains an item of all magical properties, including the magical energy in epic magic items (but not most artifacts). The item touched gets a Will saving throw (DC 26). If a creature is holding the magic item at the time, then the item can use the holder's Will save bonus in place of its own. In such cases, contact is established by making a melee touch attack roll. Upon draining three items, the rod becomes brittle and useless. Drained items can only be restored by wish, miracle, or epic spells specifically designed to restore lost power. A rod of epic cancellation can neutralize a normal sphere of annihilation without itself being cancelled.
Caster Level: 25th; Prerequisites: Craft Rod, Craft Epic Rod, dispel magic; Market Price: 330,000 gp.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Open Game Content → System Reference Document → Magic Items


text:
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central. He was also voted in the UK as the 9th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007, and again in the updated 2010 list as the 8th greatest stand-up comic.
Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. A few years later, they relocated and settled in the working-class area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. His mother, Rosalie (née Tingman), was a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped; his father, Julius Rock, was a former truck driver and newspaper deliveryman. Julius died in 1988 after ulcer surgery. His younger brothers Tony, Kenny and Jordan are also in the entertainment business. His older half-brother, Charles, died in 2006 due to a long struggle with alcoholism. Rock has said that he was influenced by the performing style of his paternal grandfather, Allen Rock, a preacher.
Rock was bused to schools in predominately white neighborhoods of Brooklyn where he endured bullying and beatings from white students. As he got older, the bullying became worse and Rock's parents pulled him out of James Madison High School. He decided to drop out of high school altogether and later received a GED. Rock worked menial jobs at various fast-food restaurants.


text:
Kansas City launches Royals Rewards program
NEW YORK -- The Royals announced the introduction of a brand new program Monday designed to get more fans involved in watching their games. The program will be called the Royal Rewards program, and fans will have the opportunity to win prizes by engaging in social media.
The program, which is free, will encourage fans to interact at royals.com and on the team's official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Fans can enroll in Royal Rewards by creating a profile on royals.com/rewards or by logging in with their MLB.com account information.
Participating fans can earn points by connecting to each of the team's social media outlets. Fans can also win points by purchasing tickets or merchandise at royals.com, and they will be recognized for checking in through MLB.com's At The Ballpark app. Points can be redeemed for virtual tokens used to enter contests, including an opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a game this season.


text:
Executions on hold as Missouri seeks new death drug
State looks for options after Nixon halts use of propofol
Missouri's decision to not use the anesthetic propofol for capital punishment leaves the state with dwindling options as it seeks to execute two convicted murderers.
Gov. Jay Nixon last week halted what was to have been the first U.S. execution to use propofol following threats from the European Union to limit the drug's export. Nixon ordered the state corrections department to come up with a different lethal injection protocol.
Missouri could follow states such as Ohio and Texas that have turned to private compounding pharmacies to prepare new drug formularies. Or it could seek to administer another FDA-approved barbiturate.
Convicted murderer Allen Nicklasson's lawyer has asked the state Supreme Court to not rule on Missouri's request for a new execution date until it selects a new death penalty drug.


text:
Class L: Hand rocks Masuk
Recommended Video:
WEST HAVEN -- About an hour and a half before Masuk and Hand were scheduled to play in the Class L semifinals, a heavy fog rolled into Ken Strong Stadium.
Visibility on the field was so low there was talk, if briefly, that the CIAC might have to delay the 5 p.m. start -- or even move it to Monday in a worst-case scenario.
Undeterred by the elements, the teams kicked off as planned with the thick fog still nestled over the field, making it nearly impossible to see across from sideline to sideline.
As if on cue, the first play from scrimmage saw Hand quarterback Brendan Bilcheck throw a screen across the field to Caleb Ewald, who then ran untouched up the right sideline for a 74-yard touchdown. As luck would have it for the Panthers, almost immediately after the score the fog dissipated.
Not that it mattered much for Masuk, which fell behind 35-0 at halftime en route to a 42-23 loss to top-seeded and top-ranked Hand Sunday night.
"The fog was a good sign, right after that touchdown it cleared away," said Bilcheck, who threw for 259 yards -- all in the first half. "It was a symbol, a symbol we were going to win,"
It was the second straight season the Tigers ended the Panthers' season in the Class L semifinals. Hand (12-0) advances and will take a 26-game winning streak into the finals later this week against No. 2 Windsor.
"They throw a screen, the kid that was supposed to cover it never saw the ball in the air, but they took it to us on both sides of the ball in the first half," Masuk coach John Murphy said. "We knew we had to play a great game to play with them. You can't start like we did against a great team."
It only got worse for the Panthers (10-2) as the first half progressed with Hand piling up over 400 yards of offense. On Masuk's first offensive possession it drove into Hand territory and Peter Kokkoros had what appeared to be a first down catch, only he lost the ball while going to the ground. The Masuk sideline argued he was already down, but it didn't sway the officials and barely three minutes later Hand went up 14-0 on a short run by Ian O'Toole.
Down 28-0 on two more O'Toole touchdown runs, the backbreaker for Masuk came late in the second quarter when Bilcheck went deep and connected with Ewald (5 catches, 182 yards) again, this time for 56 yards and an all but insurmountable 35-0 lead.
"To get where we are isn't easy," said Hand coach Steve Filippone, who earned his 200th victory Sunday. "We've had to knock off a lot of good football teams to get here. Our kids rose up every week and did it. I think that's the difference between us and some other teams. We have truly been challenged every week. I don't think anyone can argue that. Our team has played the best and beaten the best."
To Masuk's credit, the Panthers didn't lay down in the second half.
A penalty in the end zone by Hand gave Masuk its first points on a safety midway through the third quarter. Thomas Milone ran back the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to make it 35-9.
Frank Bacarella (90 total yards) added a late touchdown run, while Milone took in a pass from Malik Cummings (185 passing yards) from 15 yards to cap the Masuk scoring. Milone finished with 65 receiving yards, one completion for 32 yards as well as an interception late in the first half. The UConn-bound baseball player completed his senior year with 36 total touchdowns.
Bryan Monaco also recovered a fumble late in the second half for Masuk.
"Last year and this year were tough, but we'll get over it," Milone said. "We're one big family."
firstname.lastname@example.com; @CTPostCardillo
Class L semifinals
At West Haven
H--Caleb Ewald 74 pass Brendan Bilcheck (Tyler Phan kick)
H--Ian O'Toole 2 run (Phan kick)
H--O'Toole 5 run (Phan kick)
H--O'Toole 26 run (Phan kick)
H--Ewald 56 catch Bilcheck (Phan kick)
M--Thomas Milone 70 kickoff return (Chris Rubis kick)
H--Conor Dowd 6 run (Phan kick)
M--Frank Bacarella 8 run (Rubis kick)
M--Milone 15 pass Malik Cummings (Rubis kick)
Records: Masuk 10-2; Hand 12-0


text:
The yoga blanket is possibly the most multifaceted yoga prop around. It can be used in a multitude of different ways because the shape is easily transformable.
Make it into a mini bolster, head pillow, or fold it up into a zabuton like shape for meditation. The yoga blanket is helpful in alleviating stiff muscles while in seated poses when folded up and placed under your pelvis or folded under your head as a pillow.
It is also commonly used spread out to keep your body warm in Savasana. Yoga blankets are useful outside the studio as well, like on the beach as an extra layer between your beach towel and the sand, or even as a picnic blanket!
Not a fan of squishy mats? Give a yoga blanket a try by using it as your ground instead. The soft material grips sweaty hands and feet without sliding out from under you. Use your Mexican blanket as a way to relieve pressure on joints in poses by tucking a blanket under your heels to slightly change the angle of the pose.
The best reason to get a Mexican blanket? One word: Savasana. It's that time at the end of every studio practice when it's time to reflect on whatever is needed. When I hear it's that time, I pull out a yoga blanket because it's one more way to shut out the outside world. It ends any self-consciousness about my appearance. It gives warmth and respite. It helps focus meditation during that time to the things I feel I must focus on. After all, isn't that what the practice is all about?
All of our blankets are made in fair trade factories with workers that are treated equally and respectfully. It's the only way to do business.


text:
Sofia Vergara has more than just a birthday milestone to celebrate.
The "Modern Family" actress reportedly got engaged to her beau Nick Loeb while celebrating her 40th birthday in Mexico, a source confirmed to Us Weekly.
Loeb, who considered a 2010 run for Florida's state senate, proposed to the actress while visiting Chichen Itza, a collection of Mayan ruins near the resort where Vergara and her group of birthday revelers were staying, Us reported.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
On Monday, a friend of Vergara posted a photo on Twitter of the actress sporting a diamond sparkler on her ring finger. One source told People the couple was engaged, but other sources told the news outlet Vergara did not consider herself engaged.
Vergara and Loeb first met in 2010 at a Golden Globes party, but parted ways in May. According to People, the couple rekindled their romance in June.
This will be Vergara's second marriage. She was previously married to Joe Gonzalez, with whom she has a 20-year-old son, Manolo. Vergara and Gonzalez divorced in 1993.


text:
Contents - Previous
This is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu
Auluciems, A., and J,D. Kalma. 1981. "Human Thermal Climates of Australia." Australian Geographical Studies, 19: 3-24. The Australian. 1979. "Taking Life to the Dead Centre." December 15-16 issue.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 1981. Alice Springs Office. Mimeo.
Australian Bureau of Statistics and Commonwealth Department of Health. 1980. Health Survey. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Barker, R.G. 1979. "The Influence of Frontier Environments on Behaviour." In J.O. Steffen, ed., The American West: New Perspectives, New Dimensions. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.
Barth, F. 1959. "The Land Use Pattern of Migrating Tribes of South Persia." Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, 17: 1 -11.
Bennett, P.H., T.S. Burch, and P. Miller.1971. "Diabetes Mellitus in American (Prima) Indians." Lancer, 2:125.
Blainey, G. 1966. The Tyranny of Distance. Sun Books, Melbourne.
Boaden, N. 1971. Urban Policy-making: Influences on Country Boroughs in England and Wales. Cambridge University Press, London.
Brealey, T.B. 1972. Living in Remote Communities in Tropical Australia. Report TB 27-1, Division of Building Research, CSIRO, Melbourne.
, 1974. "The Remote Community Environment: Can It Be Made to Sustain Stable Populations?" Mine and Quarry Mechanisation, January, 51-56.
, 1974. "Wanted! Pioneers to Populate Australia's Resource Frontier." Man-Environment Systems, 4 (5): 287-292. and P.W. Newton. 1978. Living in Remote Communities in Tropical Australia: the Hedland Study. Division of Building Research, CSIRO, Melbourne.
, and P.W. Newton. 1980. "Migration and New Mining Towns." In l.H. Burnley, R.J. Pryor, and D.T. Rowland, eds., Mobility and Community Change in Australia, 44-66. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Brisbane.
Brownlea, A.A. and G.T. McDonald. 1981. "Health and Education Services in Sparseland Australia." In R.E. Lonsdale and J.H. Holmes, eds., Settlement Systems in Sparsely Populated Regions. The United States and Australia. Pergamon Press, New York.
Burnley, I.H. 1980. "Migration to Larger Country Towns: The Bathurst-Orange Case." In l.H. Burnley, R. J. Pryor, and D.T. Rowland, eds., Mobility and Community Change in Australia. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Brisbane.
, 1981. "Population Change and Social inequalities in Sparsely Populated Regions in Australia." In R,E. Lonsdale and J.H. Holmes, eds., Settlement Systems in Sparsely Populated Regions. The United States and Australia. Pergamon Press, New York.
Burvill, P.W.1975. "Mental Health in Isolated New Mining Towns in Australia." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 9: 7783.
Coates, B.G., R.J. Johnston, and P.L. Knox.1977. Geography and Inequality. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cohen, E. 1977. "Man As the initiator of Arid Zone Development: Social and Cultural Aspects." In Y. Mundlak and S.F. Singer, eds., Arid Zone Development: Potentialities and Problems, 231 243. Ballinger Publishing Co., New York.
Donaldson, B.1973. "An Empirical Investigation into the Concepts of Sectoral Bias in the Mental Maps, Search Spaces and Migration Patterns of Intra-urban Migrants " Geografiska Annaler, 55B: 1, 1333.
Douglas, R.M. and l.D. Riley. 1979. "Pneumococcal Disease and Its Prevention Pneumonococcal Polysaccharide Vaccines-A Review." Australia and New Zealand Journal of Medicine, 9: 327-338.
Drakakis-Smith, D.S. 1979. "Alice through the Looking Glass: Marginalisation in the Aboriginal Town Camps of Alice Springs." Department of Human Geography, Australian National University, Canberra. Mimeo.
, 1980. "Aboriginal Access to Housing in Alice Springs." Paper to 50th Congress of the Australia and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. University of Adelaide, Adelaide.
Duncan, C. 1978. "Mineral Resources and Mining Industries." In D. Jeans, ed., Australia: A Geography, 432-465. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Durkeim, E. 1921. Suicide. Translated by J.A. Spaulding and G. Simpson. Free Press, Glencoe, lilinois.
Fisher, N.H. 1969. "Water Resources." In R.O. Slatyer and R.A. Perry, eds., Arid Lands of Australia, 55-72. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Forbes, D.A., E.T.B. Williams, and W.B. MacDonald.1973. "Morbidity Patterns of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Children Admitted to Hospital." Australian Paediatric Journal, 9: 248.
Frith, N.C., R.G. Hausefeld, and P.M. Moodie. 1974. The Coast Town Project Action Research in Aboriginal Community Health. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Fulcher, G.D. 1974. "Political and Social Constraints on the Use of Arid Lands for Recreation, Wildlife, Water and Livestock Grazing in the United States. In D.N. Hyder, ed., Arid Shrublands, 144-148. Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the United States/Australia Rangelands Panel, Tucson, Arizona. Published by Society for Range Management, Denver, Colorado.
Fyfield, J.A. 1970. "Rural-Metropolitan Aspects." In P.J. Fensham, ed., Rights and Inequality in Australian Education. Cheshire, Melbourne.
Gale, F. 1974. Urban Aborigines. Academy of Social Sciences and Australian National University Press, Canberra.
, 1978. "A Social Geography of Aboriginal Australia." In D. Jeans, ed., Australia: A Geography, 354-365. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Gentilli, J. 1978. "Climate." In D. Jeans, ed., Australia: A Geography, 7-37. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Gibbs, W.J. 1969. "Meteorology and Climatology." In R.O. Slatyer and R.A. Perry, eds., Arid Lands of Australia, 33-54. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Golany, G. 1980. "Policy Trends in and Proposed Strategies for Arid Zone Development." In K.N. Clark and P. Paylore, eds., Desert Housing Balancing Experiences and Technology for Dwellings in Hot Arid Lands, 3-13. University of Arizona, Office of Arid Lands Studies, Tucson, Arizona.
Gordon, L. 1978. "Social Issues of the Arid City." In G. Golany, ed., Urban Planning for Arid Zones, 101-122. Wiley-lnterscience, John Wiley, New York.
Gottmann, J. 1970. "Urban Centrality and the Interweaving of Quaternary Functions." Ekistics, vol. 32.
Gracey, M. 1973. "Malnutrition in Young Australian Aborigines." Journal of the Victorian Diabetic Association (n.v.). and N.E. Hitchcock. 1974. "Dietary Patterns in an Aboriginal Community in Southwest Australia." Unpublished.
Gurvitch, G. 1964. The Spectrum of Social Time. D. Reidell Publishing, Dordrecht.
Hägerstrand, 1970. "What About People in Regional Regional Papers of the Regional Science Association, 24: 7-21.
, 1974. "Ecology under One Perspective." In E. Bylund, H. Linderholm, and O. Rune, eds., Ecological Problems of the Circumpolar Area, 271-276. Norrbottens Museum, Lulea Sweden.
Harvey, D. 1973. Social Justice and the City. Arnold, London.
Heathcote, R.L. 1969. "Land Tenure Systems: Past and Present." In R.O. Slatyer and R.A. Perry, eds., Arid Lands of Australia, 185-208. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
, 1973. "Drought Perception." In J.V. Lovett, ed., The Environmental, Economic and Social Significance of Drought, 17-40. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
, ed. 1980. Perception of Desertification. The United Nations University, Tokyo,
Henderson Report, Australian Government Commission of Inquiry into Poverty. 1975. Poverty in Australia, vol. 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Hetzel, B.S. 1974. Health and Australian Society, 184-185. Penguin, Melbourne.
Holmes, J.H. 1972 "Macrogeographic Analysis of Population Distributions of Australian States." Paper to Conference of the Institute of Australian Geographers, Canberra. Mimeo.
, 1981. "Land of Distant Promise." In R.E. Lonsdale and J.H. Holmes, eds., Settlement Systems in Sparsely Populated Regions. The United States and Australia, 1-13. Pergamon Press, New York.
Hospitals and Health Services Commission. 1974. A Report on Hospitals in Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. 1975. Aboriginal Health in the South-west of Western Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
, 1979. Aboriginal Health Report. Parliamentary Paper No. 60.
Jencks, C. 1972. Inequality. A Reassessment of the Effect of Family and Schooling in America. Basic Books, New York.
Jennings, J.N. and J.A. Mabbutt. 1978. "Physiographic Outlines and Regions." In D. Jeans, ed., Australia: A Geography, 38-52. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Jose, D.G., M. Shelton, G.P. Tauro, R. Belbin, and C. Hoskin. 1975. "Deficiency of Immunological and Phagocytic Function in Aboriginal Children with Protein-Calorie Malnutrition." Medical Journal of Australia, 2: 699.
Kirke, D.K. 1969. "Growth Rates of Aboriginal Children in Central Australia. " Medical Journal of Australia, 2: 1005.
Kneese, A.V. 1978. "The Economic and Economically Related Aspects of New Towns in Arid Areas." In G. Golany, ed., Urban Planning in Arid Zones, 123-140. Wiley-lnterscience, John Wiley, New York.
Kuz, T.J. 1978. "Quality of Life: An Objective and Subjective Variable Analysis." Regional Studies, 12: 409-417.
Lancaster Jones, F. 1963. A Demographic Survey of the Aboriginal Population of the Northern Territory, with Special Reference to Bathurst Island Mission. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.
Laut, P., D. Firth, and T,A. Paine. 1980. Provisional Environmental Regions of Australia, vols. 1 and 2. CSIRO Australia, in collaboration with the Department of Science and Environment, Canberra.
Leighton, P.C., J.S. Harding, D.S. Macklin, A.M. Macmillan, and A. H. Leighton. 1963. Stirling County Study of Psychiatric Disorder and Socio-cultural Environment, vol. 3. Glencoe Free Press, New York.
Linder, S.B 1970 The Harried Leisure Classes. Columbia University Press, New York.
Mabbutt, J.A. 1969. ''Landforms of Australia." In R.O. Slayter and R.A. Perry, eds., Arid Lands of Australia, 11-32. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
, 1972. "Studies of Problems of Urbanisation in Arid Australia." A collated report. School of Geography, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales. Mimeo.
, 1978. "Desert Lands." In D. Jeans, ed., Australia: A Geography, 113-133. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
McGlashan. N.D. 1977. "Spatial Patterns in Cause-specific Mortality in Australia." In N.D. McGlashan, ed., Studies in Australian Mortality, 127. Environmental Studies Occasional Paper 4, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
McKay, J. and J.S. Whitelaw. 1977. "The Role of Large Private and Government Organisations in Generating Flows of Inter-regional Migrants: The Case of Australia." Economic Geography, 53: 28-34.
MacQueen, A.D. 1980. "Groundwater Recharge within the Australian Arid Zone." Paper to Australian Water Resources Commission, Recharge Symposium, Townsville. Mimeo,
Meggitt, M.J. 1962. Desert People. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Moodie, P.M. 1969. "Mortality and Morbidity in Australian Aboriginal Children." Medical Journal of Australia, 1: 180.
, 1973. Aboriginal Health. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
, 1977. "Medical Aspects of Aboriginal Health." Australian Family Physician, 6: 1309-1317.
Montague, M.M. 1980. "Barcaldine: A Queensland Rural Community." In l.H. Burnley, R. Pryor, and D.T. Rowland, eds., Mobility and Community Change in Australia, chap. 2. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Brisbane,
Moseley, M.J. 1979. Accessibility: The Rural Challenge. Methuen, London .
Moser, C.A. and W. Scott. 1961. British towns: A Statistical Study of Their Social and Economic Differences. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.
Neft, D. 1966. Statistical Analysis for Areal Distributions. Regional Science Research Institute, Philadelphia.
New South Wales Health Commission. 1974. Morbidity Survey, Gosford-Wyong and Illawarra.
Newton, P.W. 1978. "Settlement in Australia's Humid and Arid Tropics with Special Reference to New Town Development." Paper presented to United States/Australia Seminar, Flinders University, Adelaide, July 1978. Published in 1981 as "New Towns in Isolated Settings in Australia." In R.E. Lonsdale and J.H, Holmes, eds., Settlement Systems in Sparsely Populated Regions: The United States and Australia. Pergamon, New York.
Northern Territory of Australia. 1977.Northern Territory Medical Service Bulletin, no. 18.
Northern Territory Department of Health. 1979. Maternal and Infant Mortality in the Northern Territory 1974-1979. Supplement to Bulletin No. 26.
, 1979. Submission for Presentation to the Commonwealth Grants Commission.
Northern Territory Department of Health (Southern Region). 1979. Annual Report 1978-1979.
Northern Territory Development Corporation. 1980. Tourism Survey Report. Stage 2, Economic Research Division.
Northern Territory Treasury Department. 1980. Submission to the Commonwealth Grants Commission. Presented on behalf of the Government of the Northern Territory.
Parkes, D.N. 1975. "Urbanism and Aridity-Some Geographical Perspectives from an Urban Viewpoint." In D.N. Hyder, ed., Arid Shrublands. Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the United States/Australia Rangelands Panel, Tucson, Arizona. Published by Society for Range Management, Denver, Colorado.
, and I.H. Burnley. 1980. "People in the Centre and Centres for the People," 1-41. Mimeo. and N.J. Thrift. 1979. "Time Spacemakers and Entrainment." Institute of British Geographers Transactions, New Series, 4: 353-372. and N,J, Thrift, 1980. Times, Spaces and Places: A Chrono-geographic Perspective. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.
Payling Wright, G. and H. Payling Wright. 1945. "Etiological Factors in Broncho-pneumonia amongst Infants in London," Journal of Hygiene, 28: 33.
Petrov, M.P. 1976. Deserts of the World. Translated from Russian by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations Staff. John Wiley and Sons. New York.
Pope, Sir Barton. 1981. The Australian. May 25 issue.
Pred, A. 1977. "A Choreography of Existance: Comments on Hägerstrand's Time-geography and Its Usefulness." Economic Geography, 53: 207-221.
Radford, W.C. 1962. School Leavers in Australia 1959-1960. Australian Council for Education Research, Melbourne.
Rich, R.C. 1979. "Neglected Issues in the Study of Urban Service Distributions: A Research Agenda." Urban Studies, 16: 143-156.
Richardson, A. 1974. British Immigrants in Australia. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Richmond, A.H. 1969. "Sociology of Migration in Industrial and Postlndustrial Societies." In J.A. Jackson, ed., Migration, 238-281. Cambridge University Press, London.
Saarinen, T.F. 1966. Perception of the drought hazard on the Great Plains. Department of Geography Research Paper No. 106. University of Chicago, Chicago.
Saini, B.S. 1971. "Building Design and Planning for Self-sustaining Communities in Remote Localities of Australia's Arid Zone." In W.G. McGinnies et al, eds., Food, Fiber and Arid Lands. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
Schecter, J. 1979. "Research Challenges of Arid Zones: The Israeli Example, " In G. Golany, ed., Arid Zone Settlement Planning. The Israeli Experience, 43-66. Pergamon Press, New York.
Slatyer, R,O. and R.A. Perry, eds. 1969. Arid Lands of Australia. Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Smelser, N.J., ed. 1967. Sociology: An Introduction. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Smith, R.H.T. 1965. "The Functions of Australian Towns," Tidischrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 5613): 81-92.
Sohar, E. 1979. "Man in the Desert." In G. Golany, ed., Arid Zone Settlement Planning. The Israeli Experience, 477-518. Pergamon Press, New York.
Verhoeven, T.J. 1979. "Alice Springs Water Management Study: Modelling the Mereenie Sandstone Aquifer." M, Eng. Sci. thesis, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales.
, A.D. MacQueen, and R.E. Read. 1977. "Alice Springs Water Supply-Future Developments." Water Resource Branch, Department of Northern Territory, Alice Springs.
, and K.K. Watson. (n.d.) "Alice Springs Water Management Study: Modelling the Mereenie Sandstone Aquifer, 49-54.
Walker-Smith, J.A., and R.D.K. Reye. 1971. "Small Intestinal Morphology in Aboriginal Children." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine, 4: 377.
Warren, H.N. (n.d.) "Dr. Bradfield's Scheme for Watering Inland Australia." Report by director of Meteorological Services on rainfall and climatological aspects. Scheme was first detailed in Walkabout, July 1941, by Dr. J.J.C. Bradfield and again in Rydge's Weekly, October 1941.
Watson, W. 1964. "Social Mobility and Social Class in Industrial Communities." In M. Gluckman, ed., Closed Systems and Open Minds, 129-157. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.
Wiens, J. 1977. "On Competition and Variable Environments." American Scientist, 6 5: 590-597.
Willis, R. 1975. "Ear Disease in Aboriginals." The Medical Journal of Australia, 21: 794.
Wilson, A.W. 1976. "The Sonoran Desert: The Impact of Urbanisation." In J.A. Mabbutt, ed., Problems in the Development and Conservation of Desert and Semidesert Lands. International Geographical Union, Moscow, 1978.
Winterhalder, B. 1980. "Environmental Analysis in Human Evolution and Adaptation Research." Human Ecology 8: 135-170.
Wise, P.H., F.M. Edwards, R.J. Craig, B. Evans, J.B. Murchland, B. Sutherland, and D.W. Thomas. 1976. "Diabetes and Associated Variables in the South Australian Aboriginal. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Medicine, 6: 240-249.
Young, C.M. 1976. Mortality Patterns and Trends in Australia, 68-69. Report of the National Population Inquiry, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Young, M.D. 1982. "Relationships between Land Tenure and Arid Zone Land Use." The Future of the Arid Lands. Proceedings of Australian Conservation Foundation Conference, Broken Hill, New South Wales, 21-25 May.
Zelinsky, W. 1971. "The Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition." Geographical review, 61: 219-249.
Recent UNU Publications of Interest
Land Resources of the People's Republic of China
Edited by Kenneth Ruddle and Wu Chuanjun
Papers presented by the Chinese participants in an international conference sponsored by the UNU and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and held in Beijing and Heilongjiang province in 1980. Authors give the physical and biological basis for the division of China into eight principal land-type regions and their agricultural use. Distinction is made between macro- and micro-landforms and other surface features, and the national territory is classified according to suitability, limitations, and potential for development for primary use, as adapted for the 1 :1,000,000 map of China's land resources,
84 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$20
Agro-forestry in the African Humid Tropics
Edited by L.H. MacDonald
A comprehensive view of agro-forestry possibilities and practices in the African humid tropics. The report brings together information from fourteen countries in Africa, both French- and English-speaking. While it concentrates on the African humid tropics, many of the themes are also relevant to tropical Asia and Latin America,
163 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$12
Ecology in Development: A Rationale for Three-dimensional Policy
by Brian Spooner
This monograph urges the integration of social and natural science approaches to ecological problems in development planning. It discusses the current state of ecological knowledge and theory in relation to development, changing perceptions of human beings' relation to nature, and the underlying moral problems of management and welfare.
58 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$9
Transforming Natural Resources for Human Development: A Resource Systems Framework for Development Policy
by Kenneth Ruddle and Dennis A. Rondinelli
This introductory volume to the Resource Systems Theory and Methodology Series presents an original and in-depth study of the relationship between natural resources and human development, summarizing the experiences of the past two decades and offering realistic guidelines for future action. It is concerned with methods of transforming natural resources for human development-an approach that can both generate greater economic growth with social equity and protect and enhance the natural resource base on which social and economic progress depend.
87 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$15
Obstacles to Tree Planting in Arid and Semi-arid Lands: Comparative Case Studies from India and Kenya
by Jeffery Burley
A concise overview of the problems of meeting the growing need for timber, fodder, and fuel in arid and semi-arid lands. The contrast between India and Kenya is quite striking. This publication will serve as a valuable guide not only to technical specialists but to a much broader range of people who are concerned with self-sustaining development, particularly in arid and semi-arid lands.
52 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$7
Compte rendu du Seminaire sur la gestion des terres arides en Afrique de l'Ouest
Edited by Jean Gallais
Bringing together reports (in French) presented at a symposium held in Ouagadougou in 1918, this book reviews ongoing and planned arid land management programmes in the Sahel region. Also covered are strategies for the application of present knowledge, the exchange of traditional methodologies, and problems encountered. Important issues for research are identified, including social, demographic, and environmental changes, and courses of action are recommended.
80 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound. US$9
Social, Economic, and Institutional Aspects of Agro-forestry
Edited by J.K. Jackson
The transfer of agro-forestry techniques to areas that appear biologically suitable may still be hindered by social, economic, or institutional problems. These collected papers examine issues relating to the adoption of agro-forestry systems: cost/benefit analysis, the role of community and governmental organizations, land tenure and land-use planning, legal aspects, and educational requirements. Case studies from several tropical countries are included.
97 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$9
The Impacts of Opencast Mining on the Rivers and Coasts of New Caledonia
by E. Bird, J.-P. Dubois, and J.A. Iltis
Mineral exploitation has been the basis of economic development in New Caledonia during the past century. This study examines the general landforms of the country and the economic factors that have influenced the development and fluctuations in intensity of mining. It then documents the extent of landscape modification caused by mining and its impact on river and coastal resources.
53 pages, 21.4 x 28 cm, paper-bound, US$9
UNU publications may be ordered from the distributors listed below. In countries not covered by any distributor, orders, accompanied by a cheque or money order in either dollars or yen payable to the United Nations University, specifying the UNUP number and the full title, should be sent to the Publications Section, Academic Services, The United Nations University, Toho Seimei Building, 2-15-1 Shibuya, Tokyo, 150, Japan.
The Middle East
Documenta Scientifica, PO Box 5641, Beirut, Lebanon
Heiliger and Company Ltd., 3 Nathan Strauss Street, Jerusalem, Israel
The Kuwait Bookstore Co. Ltd., Thunayan Al Ghanem Building, Kuwait
Asia and the Pacific
Bangladesh Books International Ltd., Ittefaq Bldg., 1 R.K.
Mission Road, GPO Box No. 377, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Hunter Publications, 58A Gipps Street, Collingwood, Victoria 3066, Australia
Kinokuniya Bookstore Co. Ltd., Journal Dept., Odakyu West-Shinjuku Bldg., 1-47-1 Hatsudai, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151, Japan
The Korean National Commission for Unesco, PO Box Central 64, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Maruzen Company Ltd., Import and Export Dept., Dai-3 Maruzen Bldg., 2-16-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103, Japan (for orders from outside Japan)
The Modern Book Company Ltd., 926 Rizal Avenue, PO Box 632, Manila, Philippines
P.T. Bhratara Karya Aksara, 29 JI. 0. Iskandardinata 111, Jakarta-Timur, Indonesia
Tayyab M.S. Commercial Services, PO Box 16006, A-2/3, Usman Ghani Road, Manzoor Colony, Karachi 44, Pakistan
Toppan Company (S) Pte. Ltd., 38 Liu Fang Road, Box 22, Jurong Town Post Office, Jurong, Singapore 22
The Americas
Unipub, Box 433, Murray Hill Station, New York, NY 10016, USA
University of Brasilia Press, CP 15-2772, 70.910-Brasilia, D.F., Brazil
United Nations Bookshop, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva
10, Switzerland
Fritzes Kungl. Hovbokhandel, Regeringsgaten 12, Box 16356, 10327 Stockholm, Sweden
Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Publications Centre, 51 Nine Elms Lane, London SW8 5DR, United Kingdom
Jean de Lannoy, Avenue du Roi, 202, 1060 Bruxelles, Belgium
Jugoslavensa Knjiga Export-Import, PO Box 36-Trg Republike 5/8, 11001 Beograd, Yugoslavia
Keesing b.v., P.B. 1118, 1000 BC Amsterdam, Netherlands
Libreria Commissionaria Sansoni s.p.a., Via Lamarmora, 45, PO Box 552, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Mundi-Prensa Libros, S.A., Castelló 37, Madrid 1, Spain
Trismégiste, 4, rue Frédéric-Sauton, 75005 Paris, France
UNO-Verlag, Simrockstrasse 23, D-5300 Bonn 1, Federal Republic of Germany
Contents - Previous


text:
Last year's youthful baseball team is looking a little more mature this season.
With six seniors on the squad, Morenci coach Adam Foltz expects the Bulldogs to come through with some solid games this year.
"We only had one senior last year," he said. "I think everyone's ready
to go. Everything seems to be coming together and I have a squad I
really like a lot."
The gaping hole on the mound. The changes in position. Question marks all around.
Morenci softball coach Kay Johnson expected the return of an experienced pitcher from last year's young team that included 10 freshmen and five sophomores. Then Jade Pfund began developing shoulder problems.
As it stands now, Johnson will have a freshman on the mound and she's still shuffling players around the field to find the best matches.
Girls track:
Morenci track coach Brad Brown sees some good talent among his girls squad. He's just not seeing enough of it.
With just a dozen girls on the team, the Bulldogs won't be able to compete for the top spot in the league, but he expects Morenci to be able to earn its way into the middle of the pack.
The Bulldogs are thin in the sprints and unable to fill sprint relay teams, but in a change from recent years, the field events look stronger.
"We could come out of the field events with the lead in many meets," Brown said.
Boys Track:
Last year, it was Whiteford on top of the boys track standings in the TCC, followed closely by Morenci.
And this year? It could very well become a repeat.
Morenci coach Brad Brown would like to see the Bulldogs on top this time around, but he lists the Bobcats as the favorites.
Actually, he thinks the Tri-County Conference will be very competitive this season, filled will good talent across the range of schools.
"Obviously we're looking to compete with Whiteford," he said. "We both lost only a couple runners and it could be another good battle."


text:
When you have a garage stuffed with a 1946 MG, a 1957 Thunderbird, an XK Jaguar, a C1 Corvette and a Ferrari Dino what would you drive every day? It's clear from this vintage advertisement that Volvo thought the answer to that question was a 1987 740 Turbo.
The 740 turbo wasn't just the typical Swedish box of safety with a little turbo power—according to Volvo it was "the collector's item you can drive every day". We aren't sure exactly what made Volvo think their boxy sedan was an instant collector's item but we sincerely hope anyone with such an impressive car collection drove something significantly more interesting every day.


text:
Print Recipe
The results for Australia's biggest people's choice restaurant awards are in!
Foxtel's LifeStyle FOOD Channel today announced the results of the I Love FOOD Awards 2014, with over 99,000 votes received. The overall national I Love FOOD Awards 2014 Favourite Restaurant is Lagoon Seafood Restaurant in Wollongong North, New South Wales, which also won Favourite Fine Dining.
Australia's biggest people's choice restaurant awards, the I Love FOOD Awards, reveal and celebrate Australia's favourite places to eat out as chosen by the Australian public. Whether it's a treasured local for a night off from cooking; yum cha with mates; or a five-star restaurant to celebrate special occasions - each has the opportunity to be voted Australia's favourite.
I Love FOOD Awards
Australia's Favourite
Places To Eat Out


text:
Worship Matters
- Bob Kauflin Author
- 2008 1 May
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin (Crossway Books).
Chapter 1: The Important Things
It was my dream job. I'd just become Director of Worship Development for Sovereign Grace Ministries. After pastoring for twelve years, I was now studying worship and training worship leaders full-time.
I was leading worship at a conference and should have been exhilarated. After praying with the worship team I headed up the stairs to start the meeting. The room was overflowing, the atmosphere electric. Every heart was ready to praise God.
Well, almost. From the outside I'm sure no one could tell what I was thinking. That was a good thing.
As I made my way to the stage, I suddenly found myself battling
What difference will this make tonight? Will it have any eternal value? People will sing, raise their hands, get excited . . . and go home. And I'll do this over and over and over again. For the rest of my life.
Suddenly it all seemed empty. Dry. Pointless.
Ever been there? Have you found yourself wondering where your joy went or if what you do really matters?
A friend of mine confided that one of his greatest struggles in leading worship is fighting the feeling that he has to "get up and do it again" for the two-hundredth time. He has to resist going through the motions and simply "mailing it in."
I don't think he's alone.
Don't get me wrong. I think leading God's people in worship is one of the most fulfilling, enjoyable, exciting, sobering, life-changing jobs on the planet. We're helping people connect with the purpose for which they were created—to glorify the living God. We're pointing their hearts toward the Sovereign One who is greater than their trials and kinder than they could ever imagine. We get to display the matchless Savior who died in our place, conquering sin, death, and hell in the process.
We watch in amazement as the Spirit of God transforms lives and gives people a fresh encounter with God's faithfulness, love, and power.
At times like these we think, I can't believe I get to do this. (And if you're on a church staff, you might add, "I can't believe I get paid to do this.")
But then come the times we'd be happy to pay someone else to do this.
- Your lead vocalist is sick, your bass player's out of town, and your keyboardist slept in. And no one called to find a sub.
- A small but influential group in the church just informed your pastor they don't like the songs you've been teaching.
- After two years in your new church, you still don't have a drummer who can keep steady time.
- Your best singer just told you she's not coming to this week's rehearsal unless she gets to sing the solo.
- For the fifth week in a row, your pastor e-mailed to say the music went too long and you talked too much.
Moments like these make you think that leading worship would be a joy if it didn't involve working with others.
But just as often we struggle with our own hearts:
- No one seems to appreciate or even notice that on top of a full-time job you put in at least ten hours each week for the worship team.
- The last time you taught a new song was eight months ago, and CDs are piled on your desk that you still haven't listened to.
- You put off confronting a guitarist whose critical and proud attitude is affecting the whole team.
- You can't remember the last time you prayed more than five minutes, and you feel like a hypocrite as you lead on Sundays.
- You never have enough hours to plan, prepare, study, practice, or work with the music team. Which makes you wonder what in the world you're doing with your time.
And yet . . .
Despite these and other difficulties, you believe the joys of leading worship far outweigh the challenges. You wouldn't think of giving it up.
You just want to do it better. More effectively. More skillfully. More faithfully.
I'm guessing that's why you picked up this book. I hope so because that's why I wrote it.
But I have to confess something.
I didn't write this book simply to help you be a better worship leader. There's more at stake here.
After thirty years of leading worship, I've realized that worship isn't just an opportunity to use my musical gifts. It's more than a heightened emotional experience or a way to make a living. It's way more than what we do on Sunday morning.
Worship is about what we love. What we live for.
It's about who we are before God.
This book is filled with practical ideas for leading worship. But we don't start there. These initial chapters are about the way we think and live. I want to challenge, encourage, and inspire you to live your life for the glory and praise of Jesus Christ. Holding nothing back. Giving no ground. It's the only kind of life that makes sense for someone who leads worship.
But first, a little background.
My first experience of music in a church context came as a Catholic, when I played the organ for Masses, weddings, and funerals. There wasn't much "leadership" involved. I just played what I was told. When I could, I'd sneak in "sacred" versions of Beatles tunes, college fight songs, or nursery rhymes to make it interesting.
In the early seventies, I majored in piano at Temple University in Philadelphia. I became a Christian during my first year and started visiting a Baptist church on campus. When my friends and I noticed we were the only people in the church under sixty, we tried starting our own church in the dorms. That lasted two meetings.
Then someone invited us to a charismatic church in Center City Philadelphia. We heard the meetings were pretty lively, especially when they broke into line dancing around the pews. I helped with the worship team there and eventually was asked to lead, to use the term generously.
Between my junior and senior years at Temple, I came across a small, humble group of Christians in rural Pennsylvania who claimed Scripture as their only doctrine. The women wore head coverings, the men had beards, and they sang without instruments.
My worship world was diversifying.
After getting married and graduating from college in 1976, my wife, Julie, and I spent eight years with the Christian music group GLAD. We traveled across the U.S. learning what worship meant to Baptists, Assemblies of God, Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and a host of nondenominational churches.
Some churches followed centuries-old liturgies. Others were "Spiritfilled" and looked for God to show up in prophetic words, tongues, or some other spontaneous event.
In too many churches we detected a disconnect between the God they worshiped on Sundays and the one they seemed to follow during the week.
I continued to lead worship in my local church when we weren't traveling. But in 1984 I said good-bye to life on the road. I thought I might be called to be a pastor.
The following year I joined the staff of a church related to Sovereign Grace Ministries, led by C. J. Mahaney. I led the worship team there for six years, then helped plant what's now Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. I experienced firsthand the challenges and joys of overseeing a worship team in a new church.
In 1997 C. J. invited me to Covenant Life Church, a congregation of 3,000-plus members near Washington, D.C., to serve in my present role. As you might guess, leading worship in a large congregation is different from a church plant. More people to organize, more songs to learn, more meetings to work around, more equipment to deal with, and more potential problems.
But the important things haven't changed.
This book is about the important things.
Maybe you're just getting started as a worship leader or think God wants you to be one. Perhaps you've been in music ministry for decades and are feeling a little weary. You might be part of a music team or a worship planning committee. Maybe you're a pastor and want to understand more clearly what worship is supposed to look like in your church. Or it could be you're the kind of person who wants to get your hands on anything that feeds your love for God.
Whatever your situation, I want to help you avoid going through what I described at the beginning of this chapter—when I stepped up to lead worship, and it all seemed empty, dry, and pointless. It isn't.
But the Lord graciously reminded me, "That's exactly what it would be like without me—pointless."
Worship matters. It matters to God because he is the one ultimately worthy of all worship. It matters to us because worshiping God is the reason for which we were created. And it matters to every worship leader, because we have no greater privilege than leading others to encounter the greatness of God. That's why it's so important to think carefully about what we do and why we do it.
Discovering what matters in worship is a journey I've been on for thirty years, and one I'll be on for the rest of my life. I'm glad you've joined me.
And if you don't feel adequate for the task ... you're in the perfect place for God to use you.
Copyright © 2008 by Sovereign Grace Ministries; Published by Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. All rights reserved.


text:
Improve the Modern Nzema dictionary to grow the presence of Nzema on the web using KWL.
KWL is a kasahorow format for writing ideas.
"adj:black" means "black" is an idea which is an adjective.
"act:dance" means "dance" is an idea which is a verb.
"nom:dog" means "dog" is an idea which is a noun.
You may make many Nzema proposals for the same KWL idea. For example, different words which mean the same thing can be proposed several times.
Get started. Send us an email.
Thank you very much! Now try the online Young kasahorow Dictionary for Nzema.


text:
Aqua Terra 150M Omega Co‑Axial Day‑Date 41.5 mm
Red gold on leather strap
* Recommended retail price (incl. VAT)
This classic yet robust timepiece represents a tribute to OMEGA's rich maritime heritage. The dramatic and easily-recognisable dial design of the OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M collection recalls the wooden decks of luxury sailboats.
This model features a grey dial decorated with the Teak Concept pattern. Day and date windows can be found at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. A scratch-resistant sapphire crystal protects this unique dial.
The bezel is mounted on a 41.5 mm 18K red gold case on a brown leather strap. This certified chronometer is powered by the OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8612 which can be seen through the transparent caseback.
5-Year Warranty
All OMEGA watches are delivered with a 5-year warranty that covers the repair of any material or manufacturing defects. Please refer to the operating instructions for specific information about the warranty conditions and restrictions.
Label given to a watch which has undergone precision tests and received a certificate from an official body (COSC).
Day-DateApertures which display both the day of the month (numerical) and the day of the week.
Screw-in crown
Self-locking crown, screwed into the tube of the case, used for highly water resistant divers' watches.
Transparent case backA transparent case back - frequently made of sapphire - makes it possible to see the movement inside the watch.
Technical Data
- Between lugs: 20 mm
- Bracelet: leather strap
- Case: Red gold
- Case diameter: 41.5 mm
- Dial colour: Grey
- Crystal: Domed scratch‑resistant sapphire crystal with anti‑reflective treatment on both sides
- Water resistance: 15 bar (150 metres / 500 feet)
A new look for your watch
Your watch and strap should go together perfectly, but that doesn't mean you can't experiment with different combinations. Why not mix things up and see what happens? You may discover a look that's as individual as you are.
Movement CALIBRE OMEGA 8612
Self-winding movement with Co-Axial escapement. Day-date change at midnight with instantaneous jump. Silicon balance-spring on free sprung-balance, 2 barrels mounted in series, automatic winding in both directions. 18 Ct red gold balance bridge and oscillating mass, luxury finish with exclusive Geneva waves in arabesque.
- 55 hours Power reserve
- Self winding
Variations of Aqua Terra 150M Omega Co‑Axial Day‑Date 41.5 mm
Find a store
Order a Catalogue
Get the latest edition of our official Omega catalogue "The Collection".


text:
DeviousAlly video. All videos (2)DeviousAlly webcam
DeviousAlly webcam
Hello, i'm that type of girl who at first sight will seem nice and quiet, that is until you get to know me...I am offering you the unique chance of discovering me, knowing my life, my emotions, my qualities and my flaws. Until then, i will give you a single clue, anything can happen in my private room.


text:
Fruit Of The Loom Kids 65/35 Polo Shirt
Create your personalised clothing in 3 super easy steps...
1. Hit the 'Click here to design' button to access our user friendly online design tool. Create your design by adding text, logos and images.
2. Click 'Buy Now' to save your design and add your order to your basket.
3. Choose your preferred shipping option and checkout. Your creation will be delivered direct to your door.


text:
TRU exclusive set shines with all-new sculpts
For a great selection of film, comic and TV action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, Urban-Collector.com, BriansToys.com, DollsAmerica.com, ClarkToys.com, ToyWiz.com, VNCToys.com, PastGenerationToys.com, MonkeyDepot.com, RPMDiecast.com, HobbyLinkJapan.com, YesAnimation.com, and SuperheroToys.com.
For a great selection of film, TV and pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.
It feels like toys surrounding Disney/Pixar's film CARS have always been around, but in reality it's only been around since 2006. And much like the popularity of the random background characters in Star Wars, CARS collectors cherish and love all the detail that went into this film and Mattel loves putting these obscure characters out there.
Toys"R"Us has an exclusive box set that you won't want to miss: SARGE'S BOOT CAMP. Seen during the end credits of the film, this box set is 80% new which is quite rare for an exclusive box set these days. And depending on when you got involved with CARS collecting, the set might even be 100% new since the character of Sarge was recalled for lead paint in mid-2007 and never re-released until recently.
The box set includes:
- Sarge 1942 WWII Willys Army Jeep
- TJ Hummer H1 Civilian Style New Oversized scale!
- Murphy (orange) Emerycraft Inka New!
- Frank "Pinky" Pinkerton Clebert Battleaxe New!
- Charlie Cargo -- New!
Aside from Sarge, all the cars are brand new sculpts although there have been changes to Sarge around the eyes to be two individual panels rather than one large one. TJ is an all-new larger scale car. He was originally released as a Wal-Mart exclusive so it's great to get the more appropriately sized version in this set. Murphy, Frank "Pinky" Pinkerton, and Charlie Cargo aren't as large as TJ but are larger than Sarge. The set is priced at $30, which isn't bargain priced but it's pretty close to how it would cost if you bought each one separately.
Paint is decent for the most part but a bit sloppy at times. Make sure you take a good look as I've found a few sets where the rear view mirrors weren't properly painted. Another problem I had was with TJ; his side mirror was installed completely wrong so one is facing down. It's glued in pretty good so I can't fix it but I couldn't have avoided this problem if I paid closer attention to what I was buying. But then again, this is a problem that Mattel shouldn't even be allowing through.
Aside from the mirror on TJ and some of the paint, this is a set not to be passed up on if you're a fan of the toy line. Let's see more sets like this, Mattel!
For a complete image gallery tour of the new CARS "Sarge's Boot Camp" set, CLICK HERE!
Review and Photos by David Yeh


text:
Honey, your December noir horoscope is here …
Fate reigns supreme in film noir, but that doesn't mean we don't love us some zodiac fun. Hope your December is full of expensive champagne, exquisite gifts and elegant entrances to parties. And happy birthday, Sagittarius and Capricorn! A special shout-out to Sag stars Julianne Moore (Dec. 3), Kim Basinger (Dec. 8), Brad Pitt (Dec. 18) Julie Delpy (Dec. 21) and Vanessa Paradis (Dec. 22); and super-sexy Caps, the late Ava Gardner (Dec. 24), Sienna Miller (Dec. 28) and Marianne Faithfull (Dec. 29).
Sagittarius (November 23-December 22): Possibility abounds now and in the New Year. Don't concern yourself with what's realistic, feasible or practical. There will be plenty of time for thorough scrutiny later on but, at this juncture, dream big and think boldly. It will come together one piece at a time. On the romantic front, you may be tempted by a coy boy; enjoy the dalliance without rushing into anything. If attached, celebrate your passion, hell, get creative. The holiday-party circuit will keep you extra busy and may open new doors.
Capricorn (December 23-January 20): As usual, hard work often pays off for Capricorns. Diligent portion control followed by triumphant shopping these last few weeks has been well worth the effort. You are being noticed even more than usual so try to be fair and carve out a little time for the slew of people wanting to socialize. That said, it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind. Remember that mid-month when you feel bound to do something simply because of a crossed conversational wire. A brilliant idea occurs to you around the 8th.
Aquarius (January 21-February 19): Why does everyone say "high maintenance" like it's a bad thing? Striving for perfection has its place. Don't lower your lofty standards but remember to cut yourself and others some slack now and then. You rarely act on a whim (except when shoes, jeans, boots, sweaters, purses, scarves, bracelets, fur vests, little black dresses and anything from Anne Fontaine are involved) preferring instead to do your homework and make informed decisions. By-the-book types with no imagination may envy your visionary approach to enjoying life. Let them.
Pisces (February 20-March 20): There is a French proverb that says, "Fortune is a woman; if you neglect her today, do not expect to regain her tomorrow." In other words, find time to nurture your nest egg, even if it feels like a chore. Toward the end of the month, you may receive a flurry of compliments so when someone tells you for 697th time that you're amazing, do try not to yawn. The 21st is a great day to be spontaneous.
Aries (March 21-April 20): Appreciate life's simple pleasures – a flawless manicure, a dress on sale, an alibi that sticks. Make the most of every day and treat yourself to something fabulous for a holiday party. And consider hosting a vintage cocktail party yourself. True, it would be nice to dust a bit and polish the silver but, let's face it, you'll enjoy the party even more if you prepare by sleeping in late, having breakfast in bed and getting a massage and a pedicure.
Taurus (April 21-May 21): According to Vogue's Book of Etiquette, 1948, which provides advice on tipping cigarette girls in nightclubs (10-15 cents), traveling in a Pullman car, and saying good evening at a dance, the word escort "should not be used instead of "The man I was dining with" or, "The man who had taken me to the theater." While this little tidbit will more than likely land in your mental file on useless information, try this month to resist putting labels on any budding relationships. Keep things a bit mysterious and you will be rewarded by magic. Stand your ground on the 30th.More


text:
The word "phocomelia" means seal limb. It describes an extremely rare condition in which babies are born with limbs that look like flippers.
The long bones of the arms fail to develop, but fingers sometimes sprout from the shoulders. In some cases, the legs fail to develop, too. The French anatomist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire coined the word in 1836, and it immediately sank into scientific obscurity for 120 years. And then, 50 years ago, it suddenly became all too familiar.
Doctors began to see more and more cases. It turned out that a drug called thalidomide, which pregnant women were taking for morning sickness, was responsible. Magazines and newspapers ran shocking pictures of seal-limbed children, and the drug was banned in 1962. By then, 10,000 children, mostly in Europe, had been born with thalidomide-induced birth defects.
Despite the notoriety, phocomelia remained scientifically mysterious for the next five decades. Doctors knew all too well to avoid thalidomide, but developmental biologists could not explain how thalidomide made limbs disappear.
Only now are scientists finally starting to solve the puzzle. And by deciphering thalidomide's effects, they are discovering surprising clues about how normal limbs develop. They hope that those fundamental insights will in turn produce a medical benefit.
Thalidomide may be dangerous to developing embryos, but it is very effective for treating diseases like leprosy and some kinds of cancer. By understanding how thalidomide causes limb deformities, scientists may be able to invent safer variations of the drug.
Neil Vargesson, a developmental biologist at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, said that like everyone, he was horrified at children being born with drug-caused defects. "If I can stop that," he said, "that will be fantastic."
When thalidomide first went on the market in 1957, in Germany, it was considered so safe that it was sold over the counter. Drug companies introduced it in 45 other countries. But within a few years, doctors in Germany and Australia noticed a rise in phocomelia and eventually linked it to thalidomide. In the United States, about 40 children were born with Thalidomide-induced defects. When its side effects came to light, it had not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
About 40 percent of babies with thalidomide-induced defects died before their first birthday. Those who survived learned to cope. Survivors who had legs, for example, learned how to use them to dress and feed themselves. "They can do things that ballerinas can only dream of," said Martin W. Johnson, the director of the Thalidomide Trust, which was established to assist Britain's thalidomide survivors.
Unfortunately, as the survivors enter their 50s, the strain they have put on their muscles is taking its toll. "Approximately 50 percent of our people are living with chronic pain every day," Dr. Johnson said in an interview.
Despite the devastation, thalidomide is still in use today. In 1964, Israeli scientists discovered it could control leprosy by reducing the inflammation caused by the disease. In 1998, the F.D.A. approved it for multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells in the blood. Researchers are testing thalidomide in trials for other diseases including H.I.V. and Crohn's disease. Patients are required to take thalidomide under strict supervision. But in South America and Africa, some women taking it are still giving birth to children with phocomelia.
How thalidomide deforms limbs has continued to baffle scientists. In the 1960s, developmental biologists began to inject thalidomide into animal embryos to trigger phocomelia. From those experiments, they developed about 30 theories. Some scientists argued that thalidomide damaged nerves in developing limbs. Others said that the drug triggered cells in the developing limb to commit suicide. And some said that thalidomide slipped into the DNA of cells in a developing limb, preventing the cells from making the proteins they needed.
Unfortunately, the scientists could not put any of those ideas to rigorous tests. They had only a crude understanding of how limbs developed, because they did not know how to track the molecular changes taking place. And so they had no way of knowing how thalidomide disrupted this chemistry.
Thalidomide itself made the puzzle even harder. When a person ingests a thalidomide pill, enzymes start to break it down into simpler forms, called metabolites. Thalidomide can break down into at least 18 metabolites. Each one has a different structure, and, as a result, it may interact with cells in a different way.
The complexity of thalidomide and the obscurity of limb formation left scientists stymied. "It went very quiet," said Dr. Vargesson. "But all of a sudden in the past few years, it's moved forward at a massive rate."
In 2006, he and a team of collaborators began a survey of the metabolites of thalidomide. William D. Figg of the National Cancer Institute purified them, and Dr. Vargesson and his colleagues tested them in chick embryos. As they described in a report last year, they found that only one metabolite they tested, known as CPS49, caused the chicks to fail to develop wings.
The scientists also noticed something else about CPS49: within minutes of being injected into an embryo, it started killing developing blood vessels. Dr. Vargesson and his colleagues proposed that the death of these new blood vessels stopped the limb bud from taking its final shape.
In a healthy embryo, patches of cells along its sides swell into buds that stretch out into arms and legs. The proliferation of the cells triggers genes in the limb bud, which make proteins that sculpt the limb. CPS49, Dr. Vargesson argued, starves the limb, causing many cells to die. The surviving cells do not get the proper signals and fail to develop.
This model could account for how thalidomide could have such a drastic effect on limbs without causing much damage elsewhere in the body. Limbs develop relatively late, beginning about 23 days after the start of pregnancy. An embryo exposed to thalidomide at that point would suffer damage to its limbs, Dr. Vargesson said, while the rest of it would suffer less damage because its blood vessels were already mature.
Even if Dr. Vargesson's model turned out to be right, it was missing some key pieces. In order for thalidomide to do its damage, it must grab on to some particular kind of molecule in the embryo.
To find that target, Dr. Hiroshi Handa of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and his colleagues coated microscopic beads with thalidomide. They then immersed the beads in various proteins. As they report in the current issue of Science, a protein known as cereblon latched on tightly to the thalidomide.
"We were very surprised," Dr. Handa said. While scientists have identified scores of genes involved in the development of arms and legs, no one had ever suspected cereblon of playing a role. In fact, no one was sure what cereblon did.
To investigate cereblon further, Dr. Handa and his colleagues ran experiments on zebrafish embryos. The network of genes that builds zebrafish fins is almost identical to the one that builds human limbs. And, just as humans lose limbs, zebrafish lose fins when they are exposed to thalidomide.
The scientists speculated that thalidomide caused the defects by disabling cereblon proteins. They prevented zebrafish embryos from making cereblon, and, just as they predicted, the zebrafish could not grow fins.
If thalidomide could not bind to cereblon, Dr. Handa reasoned, it might lose its power. He and his colleagues tinkered with the gene for cereblon and discovered that if they altered it in two spots, it made a protein that thalidomide could no longer grab. They injected the altered cereblon into the wings of chick embryos along with thalidomide. The chicks grew relatively normal wings despite the thalidomide.
"This is a very important paper," said Rolf Zeller of the University of Basel in Switzerland. "These findings were completely unexpected."
He said that scientists now needed to see if thalidomide was also binding to proteins other than cereblon. "This study identifies a key piece of the 50-year-old puzzle behind the thalidomide tragedy, but it is premature to say 'case closed,' " Dr. Zeller said.
Now scientists have to figure out if thalidomide binding to cereblon is, in fact, the process that shuts down blood vessels. Dr. Handa, meanwhile, is investigating how cereblon controls the development of limbs.
Dr. Vargesson said the new results may point the way to new forms of thalidomide that can fight cancer or other diseases without attacking cereblon, and send phocomelia back to medical obscurity. "That," said Dr. Vargesson, "would be the golden goal."


text:
This Old House Veteran's Special House Project
THIS OLD HOUSE partners with Homes for Our Troops (HFOT) to build a house for an Army veteran and his family. A specially adapted home for SSG Matt DeWitt, whose injuries in Iraq resulted in the amputation of both arms, will be life-changing. Pictured: The THIS OLD HOUSE crew with the DeWitt family.
Learn more at http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/house-project/overview/0,,20870329,00.html


text:
Shallow Rave
17 January 2014
5 April 2013
Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Black Magic Cannot Cross Running Water
God damn. Can Blackest Ever Black do any wrong? Complementing their existing roster of dark ambient, minimal and industrial artists, their latest release comes from Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement, who's black magic rituals for Hospital Productions so far have been utterly superlative. Stretching synth tones and industrial malfunctions out until they attain monolithic proportions, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement craft a form of ambience that drowns modern electronics in a brutalist swamp of afro-dread. Whilst previous releases have drawn comparisons to Raime, with their skeletal beats and noticeable dub-influence, Black Magic Cannot Cross Running Water is a mostly beatless affair more indebted to Carpenter, Lustmord and Frank Bretschneider - the second track Refugees From Black Magic opens with a strangely ominous patter of rainfall that develops a loping half-rhythm before being subsumed under a wash of crepuscular synth noise. Top quality music.
3 April 2013
29 March 2013
Miles - Faint Hearted
Miles Whittaker, who's had his fingers in acts as diverse as Pendle Coven, MLZ, Millie and Demdike Stare basically gives us massive nerd-boners with every new release, and has chosen to follow up Demdike Stare's obnoxiously heavy Test Pressing with a full-length album under his own name. Boiling down everything from contemporary electronica and techno, to retro Chicago and old-school jungle, it's a seething mass of intricately engineered sounds, smothered in distressing levels of noise - opener Lebensform takes the fairly ubiquitous filter-house / dub techno sound and pushes it to a terrifying level of extremity, dissolving into a wall of white noise and oscillation. It just gets weirder from then on, and definitely takes a good few listens to get into.
Swingfest 2013 London - Free download
In anticipation of Denovali Record's Swingfest, they've put together a 21 track free sampler of something from all corners - Fennez, Andy Stott and Thoms Koner are all favourites, but there's a broad range of artists on the sampler that you've likely never heard much of. From sludge rock and classical piano to techno and industrial, it's a fine mixtape.
28 March 2013
Flying Saucepan Records
Today's recommended listening comes from Flying Saucepan Records, an Ayrshire-based archive label run by an old friend of Shallowrave. Designed to clear hard-drives, catalogue archives and provide an outlet for many projects that never saw the light of day, Flying Saucepan's first release proudly display their mid-90s heritage, channelling acid, rave and the Sheffield warehouse scene. Also rocking out the speakers is the first Panpod, a mix of influential and related projects that joins the dots between electro, industrial, rave and techno, and is really rather kinky.
27 March 2013
Monokrak's latest podcast
We've written more than enough about the genius of Monokrak in the past, so you ought to know what to expect - minimal, deep, twisted techno. This month's podcast was composed by the excellent Floating Mind and is very deserving of your time.
18 March 2013
Bigg Taj FT Dj Bunty - All The Years
We've always loved Bigg Taj, so there's much love for this collab with DJ Bunty. 'Nuff Said.
12 March 2013
Elastic Dreams - A Saggitariun
Today's free listening is on a dark and minimal techno tip. Elastic Dreams mixes it up for Teshcast.
8 March 2013
- THP Orchestra – 2 Hot 4 Love – Butterfly Records
- Marc Houle – On It – M_nus
- Walton – 808 Vybzin – Hyperdub
- Bernard Badie – Overjoyed – Mojuba
- Sweet Exorcist – Test One – Warp
- Karl Krak – Tin Tin – Unknown
- Sweet Exorcist – Mad Jack (Jimi Tenor Remix) – Warp
- Wes Montgomery – Tequila – Verve
- The Slits – Newtown – Island Records
- Psyche – Crackdown – Transmat
- King Midas Sound – I Dub – Hyperdub
- Todd Terje – Swingstar (pt 1) – Smalltown Supersound
- Christian Vogel – Today's Standard Form – Shitkatapult
- Sixties Guns – Lightz – Unknown
- Bering Strait – Surface – Apollo
- Indigo – Sunrise – Apollo
- The Black Dog – Bleep #2 – Dust Science
- Nothern Structures – Session 4 – Sonic Groove
- Andy Stott – Ceramics – Modern Love
- Echologist ft Spaceape – Mercy Beat (Cosmic dub) – Resopal Red
- Alan Backdrop – Ramas – Motoguzzi
- Oliver Deutschmann – Sadness Descends (Hiver Remix) – Vidab
- Black Dog – Bleep #5 – Dust Science
- Space Dimension Controller – Welcome to Microsector 50 – R&S
- Space Dimension Controller – Music for Spaceports - R&S
- Karl Sanders – Luring The Doom Serpent – Relapse
Radiomagnetic link.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Nearly 60 years ago, sci-fi scribe Ray Bradbury put the "lit" in literature when he opened his dystopian exploration of censorship Fahrenheit 451 with the memorable line "It was a pleasure to burn." In the classic fable of a world without books, "firemen" of the future pump kerosene onto pulp, thus keeping dangerous ideas from impressionable minds. (In an ironic turn, Bradbury's book was eventually banned itself.) Now where there's smoke, there's also Amazon's latest addition of its e-reader line of products, the Kindle Fire.
Unlike those in Bradbury's tome, Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos isn't trying to do away with the dissemination of ideas so much as make it easier, or at least make easy money while making it easier, while obviating the need for print editions. Lauded as the first serious rival to Apple's iPad, the Kindle Fire is also a tablet device, competitively priced at around $200, about half the price of an entry-level iPad. This has led some to conjecture that Amazon's device is a loss-leader in the same manner that low mobile-phone prices are subsidized by their calling plans. If this is true, the use of ye olde "give them the razor, sell them the blades" business model suggests that once again content is king.
Using 2010 sales data from major publishing houses, last March, Publishers Weekly released a study that indicated that ebooks are turning as many heads as digital pages. "Many top-selling authors on the 2010 hardcover chart are among the e-book top-sellers, including Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, with electronic sales of 775,000 compared to 1.9 million in print," wrote Daisy Maryles. This bodes well not only for the usual suspects of bestsellers lists but for newbies, who aren't often invited to the print party.
The advantages of e-book publishing are manifold—it's cheap, the barrier to entry is low and there's no dearth of old and new content flooding into the ubiquitous ePub format. A universal electronic text platform, ePub was devised by the International Digital Publishing Forum as a "reflowable" device "agnostic" ebook standard, meaning it formats itself to whatever format one uses, from an Apple iOS device to Google's Android or anything in between. It's the mp3 of books.
Given its price point and symbiotic relationship with the world's largest bookseller, the Kindle Fire and its e-reader brethren are both fanning the flames of retail-reading and hosing some much-welcomed kerosene onto the publishing biz. Surely, print die-hards will balk at the notion of reading on a digital device, but as Robert Frost wrote, "I hold with those who favor fire."
Daedalus Howell's ebook 'Waxing and Wining' comes out in November.


text:
Curtain rod
Looks a lot more expensive than it was. Good quality
Speedy Nikola 28mm straight curtain pole. A modern hand drawn chrome effect metal curtain pole with ball finials. Comes complete with nylon lined square cut rings and wall fix brackets; poles of 240cm and over also include a centre bracket. Please note, poles that measure 240cm and over are supplied in two lengths with a joining piece.
This product is eligible for Standard Delivery.
How much is delivery?
Our delivery charges are as follows:
Delivery charges will be clearly marked on the delivery tab for each product.
How long will my order take to be delivered?
The majority of our standard deliveries are made within 5 working days; Deliveries to UK addresses are made Monday to Friday between 7.30am and 9pm, excluding Bank Holidays.
We will try our utmost to deliver your goods within the timescale of 3-5 working days (7-14 working days for large/heavy items), however this may not always be possible. If there is going to be a delay with your order we will endeavour to contact you via telephone or email to discuss the next course of action.
I am ordering large or heavy item, how will this be delivered and how much will it cost?
All of our larger/heavier items are delivered on a premium 2 man delivery service. These orders usually take between 7 and 14 working days to be delivered. Large or heavy items cannot be delivered to the Scottish Highlands and Islands, offshore locations and Northern Ireland. The premium 2 man delivery service costs £50 and this service offers:
Please Note: As a delivery date will be booked in with you, if there is nobody to take receipt of the delivery there will be a cost to you for a re-delivery to be made.
The product I want to purchase says it is only delivered locally to our stores. What does this mean, how long will it take and how much will it cost?
Not all of our items are suitable for courier delivery however we can offer a local delivery service within a 20 mile radius of our stores. These items are usually delivered within 7 days of the order being placed, but you will be contacted to arrange a suitable day for delivery. This service will be charged at £20.
Looks a lot more expensive than it was. Good quality