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GMC TV's Strongest Ratings Month Ever Moves Network Into Top 40 In Ad-supported Cable
GMC is Cable's Fastest Growing General Entertainment Network
May 01, 2012, 01:39 ET
ATLANTA, May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- GMC TV, America's favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment, announced today that April was the network's strongest ratings month ever, moving GMC into the top 40 among all ad-supported cable networks.
GMC ended April with a total day W25-54 coverage rating of 0.12 (source 1). The W25-54 rating ranks GMC 40th versus all ad-supported cable (source 2).
GMC's W25-54 rating was up 140% from April 2011, making GMC the fastest growing general entertainment network in ad-supported cable for the month (source 3).
In Prime, GMC's household (0.29) and W25-54 (0.18) ratings were the network's best ever, powered by the GMC World Premiere Movie Heaven's Rain, the GMC World Premiere Play "For Richer or Poorer", the Easter holiday week stunt, "Greatest Stories Ever Told" and the GMA Dove Awards (source 4).
GMC's record-setting April comes on the heels of the network's strong first quarter, its highest-rated ever among W18-49 and 25-54, as well as A18-49 and 25-54. The first quarter was the 15th consecutive quarter of year-to-year growth for the network (source 5).
"These latest Nielsen numbers tell a great growth story as we head into the upfront," said Leslie Chesloff, executive vice president, programming. "It clearly demonstrates that television viewers are looking for positive, family friendly alternatives. This reinforces GMC's position as television's leading destination for uplifting entertainment."
GMC (www.watchGMCtv.com) is America's favorite television channel for uplifting music and family entertainment. The Parents Television Council™ has twice awarded its Entertainment Seal of Approval™ to GMC for being "an authentic family-friendly cable network." GMC is the only television network brand to be so honored. GMC can be seen in more than 51 million homes on various cable systems around the country, as well as DISH Network on channel 188, DIRECTV on channel 338 and Verizon FiOS on channel 224. Follow GMC TV on Facebook and Twitter at http://facebook.com/gmctv and http://twitter.com/gmctv.
1. Nielsen LSD M-Su 6a-6a 03/26/12-04/29/12
2. Nielsen LSD M-Su 6a-6a 03/26/12-04/29/12 – time period Coverage AA% rank.
3. Nielsen LSD M-Su 6a-6a 03/26/12-04/29/12 v 03/28/11-04/24/11 – Coverage AA% percent growth versus year ago. Excludes sports networks.
4. Nielsen LSD M-Su 8p-11p 08/27/07-04/29/12 Cov AA% and AA (000)
5. Nielsen LSD 08/27/07-03/25/12 M-Su 6a-6a AA (000) HH, A18-49, A25-54, W18-49 and W2554.


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Accenture Agile Transformation Services help businesses face increasing competition and the threat of market disruption fueled by advances of the digital age.
Being an Agile business goes beyond technology delivery, permeating organizational structures, processes, leadership styles, governance, and product and service innovation. We help companies—from C-suite to individual teams—establish and mature capabilities to deliver fast and responsively, adapt their organizational structure and culture, innovate and disrupt markets, and become learning organizations.
Managing Director, Accenture Technology
Accenture acquired SolutionsIQ, a leading provider of Agile transformation services for business and technology. With the most experienced Agile coaches in the industry, SolutionsIQ has helped organizations apply Lean principles and practices to achieve substantial performance improvements including product and service innovation, enhanced digital delivery effectiveness, improved high-quality software delivery and greater responsiveness to business needs.
Together, Accenture and SolutionsIQ will help organizations drive disruption by accelerating business change.
Business Agility enables organizations to innovate and deliver more effectively than ever—turning market disruption to competitive advantage, while thriving in complex environments.
Business Agility relies on building four essential capabilities:
Deliver fast and responsively to customer and market needs with higher quality.
Innovate and disrupt the market through continuous optimization of products, services and business models to maximize market share.
Shift organization and culture through innovation, learning and adoption of new structures and processes that reduce bureaucracy.
Grow Agile leaders to champion their vision and commitment, creating a culture of continuous learning and evolution.
Accenture and SolutionsIQ can help you master these capabilities to become a highly-adaptive, fast-learning business—capable of delivering customer value rapidly and responsively despite volatile market conditions.
We're continuously innovating to help organizations fast track their way to business agility through our coaching, advisory, learning and implementation services across the domains below. Our approach is designed to help an organization start their transformation journey and develop business agility capabilities at their own pace.
Align your Development and Operations teams
to optimize quality delivery by bringing Lean
principles and practices and automation
together with advanced technologies
and tools.
Enable and implement delivery functions
across your organization—both business
and IT—to adopt an optimal mix of Lean
principles and practices and to foster
engagement and collaboration.
Maximize innovation and business
performance by making technology a
fundamental part of business.

subset: commoncrawl


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Roller Conveyor Curve RM8220
The roller conveyor curves change the direction of transport of the material. The alignment of the material is maintained within the side frames by tapered rollers. The flat belt-driven curve is driven either by an adjacent straight module or by a separate head drive. Accumulation mode is not possible in powered 400-V curves.


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World Bulletin/News Desk
A U.S. appeals court on Monday partially overturned the Guantanamo conviction of an al Qaeda publicist, saying a military commission lacked authority to convict him on two of three charges.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated the conviction of Yemeni prisoner Ali Hamza al Bahlul for providing material support for terrorism and solicitation of others to commit war crimes. It upheld his conviction for conspiracy to commit war crimes.
"The Government offers little domestic precedent to support the notion that material support or a sufficiently analogous offense has historically been triable by a military commission," Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote.
Bahlul acted as a publicist for Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization, making recruiting videos and taping the wills of some of the hijackers who slammed commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
Three months after the attacks, Bahlul was captured in Pakistan and transferred to the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. A military commission later convicted him of all three crimes and sentenced him to life in prison at the detention center there.
The court on Monday also ruled that the solicitation charge against Bahlul "is plainly not an offense traditionally triable by military commission." That charge was based on a violent video Bahlul made encouraging attacks on U.S. targets.
"While we are still reviewing the decision, we are pleased that the Court rejected Bahlul's challenge to his conviction for conspiracy to commit war crimes," Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said in an email.
Bahlul's attorney could not be reached for comment.
Last Mod: 15 Temmuz 2014, 11:57


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Photo Flash: First Look at Josh Grisetti, Alli Mauzey and More in RED EYE OF LOVE Off-Broadway
Amas Musical Theatre in association with North Haven Arts and Enrichment presents Broadway's Josh Grisetti (Broadway Bound, Enter Laughing), Alli Mauzey (Wicked, Cry-Baby), and Kevin Pariseau (Legally Blonde) in the New York Premiere of Red Eye of Love, a new musical (based on the 1961 play by Arnold Weinstein) with book and lyrics by Arnold Weinstein and John Wulp, music by Sam Davis and scenic design by renowned American artist Robert Indiana. Directed by Tony Award winner Ted Sperling, previews began at the Dicapo Opera Theatre (184 East 76th Street at Lexington Avenue) on August 27, 2014. Opening night set for tomorrow, September 4 at 8pm. Performances will continue through September 28, 2014.
BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
Red Eye of Love is a mad-cap musical love triangle that pits a young, forthright idealist against a wealthy, jaded materialist whose department store sells just one product: meat. They compete for the girl they love in a mythic New York City, against a background of 20th Century Boom Time, War and Depression.
Red Eye of Love began life as a straight play by Arnold Weinstein at The Living Theatre in 1961 and earned John Wulp an Obie Award as Best Director. Noted artist Robert Indiana contributed his set designs in 1998 when Wulp restaged the original play in Maine. It is these designs that are used in the current musical production of the play. Weinstein and Wulp began collaboration on a musical version, completing the book and lyrics just before Weinstein's death in 2005. Wulp and director Ted Sperling, whose production of The Other Josh Cohen for Amas in 2012 earned six Drama Desk Award Nominations, brought young composer Sam Davis aboard last year to complete the creative team.
Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg
Daniel May, Daniel Lynn Evans, Tracie Franklin, Sam Tanabe
Katie Hagen, Kevin Pariseau, Katie Chung
Alli Mauzey, Kevin Pairseau
Katie Hagen, Tracie Franklin, Katie Chung, Kevin Pariseau, Sam Tanabe, Daniel May, Daniel Lynn Evans
Dylan Boyd, Alli Mauzey, Katie Hagen (at rear), Josh Grisetti, Sam Tanabe (at rear), Kevin Pariseau, Katie Chung (at rear)
Alli Mauzey, Kevin Pariseau (background)


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Wednesday, December 05, 2012
From Britten's Children to Elgar's Earnings
Book publisher's new title lists are a far more accurate reflection of the classical music zeitgeist than social media chatter. Notable titles in Boydell & Brewer's 2013 list include Richard Wagner's Women by Eva Rieger, and Elgar's Earnings by John Drysdale. The latter title is particularly topical as it "investigates whether Elgar's complaints about a lack of money can be justified by the facts". In a truly accurate reflection of the musical zeitgeist the book's blurb tells us that author John Drysdale is a musicologist and former investement banker, and that its retail price is $90/£50.
Also on Facebook and Twitter. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
3 comments:
- Philip Amos said...
People for whom the English title of Eva Rieger's work brings to mind Jane Glover's Mozart's Women and a light musical read over Christmas will be disappointed and, I devoutly hope, a touch upset with Boydell and Brewer. Rieger is a distinguished academic musicologist, and the German title of her book translates along the lines of 'Ever-radiant Love, Death Laughing: Richard Wagner's Image of the Woman in his Music'. A publisher that turns that into 'Wagner's Women' is thinking more about money than Drysdale did when he was an investment banker.
- 10:12 am
- Pliable said...
Perhaps the title of Eva Rieger's book is a victim of our sound bite culture?
- 10:24 am
- Philip Amos said...
Possibly so, Bob, and your suggestion sent my mind to a tangential question: Is it possible to have a sound-bite culture in German? I rather think not.
- 11:18 am


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Kenyan police assault three journalists, detain one of them
New York, March 21, 2012-Kenyan authorities should hold responsible police officers who assaulted three reporters last week and drop a baseless legal case against one of them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
At least 10 police officers in plainclothes surrounded Suleiman Mbatiah, a reporter for the DailyNation, after he took photographs of an undercover traffic operation in the western town of Nakuru on March 13, according to newsreports. "They came behind me while I was taking photos and grabbed my camera. I thought they were thieves," Mbatiah told CPJ. The journalist said the men roughed him up, injuring his left arm, damaged his camera, and took him in a police van to the station, where they detained him for about nine hours. The police accused him of assaulting and obstructing police officers, resisting arrest, and crossing a highway in an illegal area, according to news reports.
Nakuru police chief Johnston Ipara told CPJ that Mbatiah was accused of assaulting a police officer, after the officer grabbed the journalist's camera, and denied that Mbatiah was assaulted. While not formally charged, the journalist is expected to be arraigned in court this week in connection with the case, Mbatiah told CPJ.
Two journalists who witnessed the arrest, James Gitau with the Kenya News Agency and Sam Kimani of Radio Mwananchi and Kameme FM, said the police did assault Mbatiahandalso said they had been roughed up and threatened with arrest, newsreports said. "They threatened to arrest us after we inquired why they had arrested Mbatiah," Gitau told CPJ.
"The era in which Kenyan police can abuse journalists with impunity must come to an end," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "Police must drop the spurious accusations against Mbatiah and hold to account the police agents involved in this attack."
Gitau and Kimani went to Nakuru's Central Police Station to demand Mbatiah's release, and he was released later that evening, local journalists told CPJ. Journalists in Nakuru are staging a media blackout on police coverage to protest the attack, Kimani said.


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The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is the GSM version of the BlackBerry Bold 9930, and has essentially the same design and features save for a few changes depending on the carrier. The Bold 9900 for T-Mobile lacks the dual-mode GSM/CDMA chipset of the Bold 9930, but it does support T-Mobile's "4G" network. As you might expect, it also includes a few preinstalled T-Mobile applications. The rest of the phone is just as we described in our Bold 9930 review--it boasts a fantastic new design, a great feature set, the latest BlackBerry OS 7, and impressive performance. Unfortunately, T-Mobile has priced the Bold 9900 at a whopping $299.99, and that's after a $50 rebate and two-year agreement.
We won't dwell too much on the design portion of this review, but suffice it to say that the Bold 9900 mirrors the build quality of the Bold 9930. It's a marriage of high-quality plastic and stainless steel curves that results in a sleek and svelte premium handset. It's just as wide as the original BlackBerry Bold, which results in a larger display and roomier keyboard, and the 2.8-inch display is sharper and more vibrant than before. You can read more about its design in our review of the Bold 9930.
T-Mobile packages the BlackBerry Bold 9900 with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a belt holster, and reference material.
The Bold 9900 ships with BlackBerry OS 7, which doesn't look very different from OS 6, but does carry a lot of improvements under the hood. These include a new Liquid Graphics technology that the company says improves graphics and the responsiveness of the touch screen, a speedier Web browser with HTML 5 video support, augmented-reality apps, 720p HD video, voice-activated universal search, and NFC support. You can read more about OS 7 in our review of the BlackBerry Torch 9810.
Many of the Bold 9900's features are the same as the 9930's, so we'll focus on a few software differences in this review. T-Mobile has preinstalled a few apps on the Bold 9900, like the T-Mobile Mall and its own Web2go Web browser. We didn't notice too many differences between the T-Mobile browser and the default BlackBerry one--both loaded pages quickly and efficiently. There are a few menu option differences, but they're essentially the same.
We tested the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900 in San Francisco using T-Mobile. Call quality was good, but not without its flaws. On our end, we heard our callers loud and clear, with no audible background noise. Voice quality was a little bit distorted, however.
Callers could hear us clearly as well, but they reported a similar voice quality issue. They said we occasionally sounded a little crackly, as if we had a terrible sore throat. It was intermittent enough that it didn't bother us that much, but it was certainly noticeable. Speakerphone calls were quite good. Callers did report more of an echo effect, but that's not unusual.


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Canada's Vasek Pospisil falls in Chennai Open semis
Canuck withdraws due to back strain
Stanislas Wawrinka and Edouard Roger-Vasselin registered hard-fought wins to set up the final of the Chennai Open on Saturday.
Top-seeded Wawrinka saw a resurgent Vasek Pospisil of Canada concede their semifinal at 6-4, 5-5 due to a back strain while Frenchman Roger-Vasselin sweated it out against Spanish player Marcel Granollers for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
The eighth-ranked Wawrinka was surprised when Pospisil, the fifth seed from Vancouver, withdrew just after he had struck rhythm following some unforced errors at crucial junctures.
Wawrinka, the only top-10 player in the fray, won the first set as he went a break up in the fifth game when Pospisil made two errors and double-faulted two times.
The script seemed to be following similar lines in the second set as the Swiss managed a break in the seventh game with Pospisil double-faulting twice. But Pospisil broke back for 4-4 but lasted only a few more points.
"It was a really tough match and I felt sorry for him because he was playing very well," Wawrinka said. "My focus is to be aggressive. I'm playing my best tennis since last year and I think it'll be a good final against Edouard, who is a good friend."
Wawrinka and Roger-Vasselin are 1-1 from previous matchups. Wawrinka will be playing for his fifth ATP title, and second in Chennai after victory in 2012. Seventh-seeded Roger-Vasselin seeks his maiden ATP title.
In his semi, Roger-Vasselin made the only break of the first set in the sixth game and faced stiff resistance thereafter.
Granollers went a break up in the third game of the second set and held on, and the decider was also tight.
Granollers broke in the first game but failed to hold his serve in the fourth after warding off four break points. Roger-Vasselin seized the initiative with some surprise forays to the net, breaking serve in the sixth game to go 4-2 up in what was to be a decisive lead.
Roger-Vasselin expressed relief after the two-hour encounter against his sixth-seeded opponent.
"It's great to make the final," he said. "It was a long, tough match both mentally and physically. I'm relieved to have won. It's been a great start to 2014."


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2011 Top 5 NHLers, issues, interviews...
The end of the calendar year always brings with it the temptation to write best-of type lists and this year I'm offering no defense when facing that temptation. Here are a few top-five-in-2011 rankings, some with explanations and others just straight-ahead lists:
Five NHLers I've most enjoyed watching in the calendar year
Tim Thomas. Unpredictable to the point his style can't be taught. In a sport filled with giant goalies with robotic form, Thomas is a thrill unto himself – and still the biggest driver of Boston's success.
Jonathan Toews. With Sidney Crosby sidelined indefinitely, the Hawks captain is the most complete player in the game. His personality is much more Sphinx than Shaq, but his on-ice dominance is so thorough – he's on pace for new career highs in goals and points – it's hard to believe he's just 23 and continuing to improve.
Nicklas Lidstrom. With his 42nd birthday looming in April, he's still the defenseman most NHL people would want on the ice for them in the last minute of a game. And if he continues his current standard of play the rest of the year he'll have my vote for the Norris Trophy, just as he got it last season.
Dwayne Roloson. Now, I haven't enjoyed him during the 2011-12 campaign (in which he's been abysmal), but during Tampa's improbable playoff run last spring, Roloson was a force to behold. Here's hoping he can recapture the magic one more time.
Sheldon Souray. There's not much that's better than a good comeback story and nobody had a better one than the Stars blueliner. The confidence on his face night in and night out was created out of American League bus rides last season – and it's been a pleasure watching him enjoying the fruits of fighting his way back.
Five biggest issues facing the NHL in 2012
1. Headshots/Concussions.
2. New collective bargaining agreement.
3. Downward trajectory of overall goals-per-game average.
4. Hard-shell player equipment.
5. Speed of the game.
Favorite Five Hockey-Related Interviews:
1. Ron Wilson. He gives some local media members conniption fits, but I've found the Leafs head coach to be nothing but engaging, humorous and insightful since he's been in Toronto. His new contract extension and the team's drastically improved talent base will give him a chance to show what he can really do.
2. David Perron. I've talked to the young Blues star a couple times in 2011 and he's always been one of the smartest, most outspoken NHLers when it comes to player safety. Like Mike Bossy, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden, Mario Lemieux and others before him, Perron thinks the game can be better in many regards and has bravely used his platform to question establishment dogma. That's something clingers-to-the-status-quo and hockey exceptionalists should consider before attempting to shout down and arrogantly dismiss those who don't share their views on the game.
3. Jaromir Jagr. When I had 20 minutes with the Czech legend in Buffalo in December, he was as contemplative with each question as anyone I've ever interviewed. Part of that was because he was searching for the words in his second tongue, but also he gave me the impression he wanted to give me a considerate answer. And he did. Small wonder he's become the Flyers' most requested interview in short order.
4. Aaron Ward/Bobby Holik (tie). These two former NHLers, multiple-time Stanley Cup winners and TV analysts aren't beholden to either the league or NHLPA and care deeply about the sport and those who play it. The jury isn't out on either guy – they're both going to be important voices in the hockey world for a long time to come.
5. Jay Baruchel. The Montreal native and actor/writer was a blast to chat with in December regarding his new hockey movie "Goon." Many movie stars before him have used the sport to boost their own fortunes, but it's clear Baruchel wanted to make his film as a tribute to the sport he adores. And you needn't be a media person to talk to him – he's one of the most personable celebrities on Twitter.
Five teams that still need a serious shakeup
1. Calgary
2. Columbus
3. Islanders
4. Anaheim
5. Montreal
Five most inexplicable happenings of the year
1. Virtually Anything Pierre Gauthier Did. Whether it was firing assistant coach Perry Pearn and then head coach Jacques Martin or trading an expiring contract in Jaroslav Spacek for Tomas Kaberle, nothing the Canadiens GM did seemed like part of a bigger blueprint for success. He most likely will be dismissed in the off-season, after which time he can pursue his dream of a career in the media. (Just seeing if you're paying attention.)
2. Darryl Sutter, new Kings coach. The optics of Sutter's sullen demeanor in sunny Los Angeles were odd enough, but the idea his coaching chops are what a young team like the Kings needs is even odder. Let's see how modern and "good" he is with the players after a five-game losing skid.
3. Tomas Kaberle's contract with the Hurricanes. How many times has an NHL GM ever publicly stated he made a huge mistake on a free agent signing the way Jim Rutherford did after he found a sucker…er, I mean, willing trade partner for Kaberle? I can't think of any, but nobody was arguing with the Hurricanes GM when he said it. More evidence a team just can't help itself, internal budget constraints or no internal budget constraints.
4. The Wild's move up the Western Conference standings (well, at least for a while there). Few people I spoke with thought the Wild would be a playoff contender, let alone literally in the West's top position as they were for a short stretch. They've been in a tailspin with seven straight losses since mid-December, but maybe Minnesota isn't as far away from being a post-season franchise as we/I thought.
5. Brian Elliott, world-beater. He appeared destined for lifelong backup status after bouncing between Ottawa and Colorado the past two seasons, but Elliott's fortunes have completely reversed this season: He's first among all goalies in shutouts (four) and goals-against average (1.55) and is tied for first in save percentage (.943). Best of all for him, he's an unrestricted free agent this summer. If he continues to play well, watch for either (a) Philly to sign him to a nine-year, $51-million contract; or (b) Columbus to sign him by giving him half-ownership in the franchise.
Adam Proteau is writer and columnist for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com. His Power Rankings appear Mondays, his column appears Thursdays and his Ask Adam feature Fridays.
For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.


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Daytime Television [73] Stories based on daytime television shows and characters.
Poetry [8]
Primetime Television [130] Stories based on primetime television shows and characters.
Books [24] Stories based on books and their characters.
Movies [37] Stories based on films and film characters.
Original Fiction [902] Original works of fiction.
Music [23] Stories related to musicians or music
Miscellaneous [37] Stories that do not fit under any general category.
Other Results: 2 Series


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Nephew Sues Uncle for Posting Embarrassing Photo on Facebook
Family dinners for one Minnesota clan probably got a lot more uncomfortable after an uncle was sued for posting embarrassing photos of his nephew on Facebook. Unfortunately for the embarrassed nephew, it seems that a district court says the lawsuit has no merit.
Aaron Olson brought the harassment suit against his uncle, Randall LaBrie, after LaBrie posted a childhood photo of the young Aaron posing in front of a Christmas tree along with a snarky caption. LaBrie agreed to untag his nephew from the photo, but refused to take the embarrassing shot down. To add insult to injury, LaBrie told Olson that if he didn't like it, he could just stay off Facebook.
While that certainly won't win LaBrie any Uncle of the Year awards, he's in the clear legally. Judge Natalie E. Hudson ruled that "to constitute harassment, words must have a substantial adverse effect on the safety, security, or privacy of another. Comments that are mean and disrespectful, coupled with innocuous family photos, do not affect a person's safety, security, or privacy — and certainly not substantially so."
We're not sure which is worse: being an insensitive jerk, or being overly-sensitive and litigious. Either way, it's clear now that you can't sue over awkward family photos.
[via Mashable]


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The Mapleson Cylinders - Program Notes
|Massenet: LE CID
|Band 7
Act I: O noble lame excerpt : "[combats gardienne] vigilante" ... "Gloire ŕ Saint Jacques le Majeur!"
Albert Alvarez (t), Rodrigue
Lucienne Bréval (s), Chimčne
Suzanne Adams (s), L'Infante
Charles Gilibert (b), Le Roi
Marcel Journet (bs), Le Comte De Gormas
Edouard De Reszke (bs), Don Dičgue
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra--
Phillippe Flon
February 19 or March 4, 1902 (?)
[Slip, not certainly in LM's hand: "Chorus End of Act I Le Cid organ," but no date. Ascription conjectural, on the grounds that it sounds much too good to have been recorded in 1901, and that the tenor sounds like the authenticated Alvarez on Band 5.]


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Last week most of the european snowboarders met in Biarritz for the We've Got Balls soccer tournament. We are talking about a football World Cup for Snowboarders. The winners received €1000 to give to a charity of their choice. The concept is really fun: each country builds a team of snowboarders and they all play against each other. Switzerland, France, Spain, England, Austria and Locals all came to play in the south west of France.
I was part of the swiss team with my fellow countrymen Romain De Marchi, David Pitschi, Thierry Kunst, Fredi Kalbermatten, Stephan Maurer, Moritz Frey, Stephan Probst, Alessandro Boyens and team Captain Nicolas Mueller.
Each team had to have a girl on the field at all times… Which meant I had no other choice than run all the time. Exhausting! Luckily Hana Beaman accepted to run some for me on the last couple days… That's after loosing my big toe nail, getting major cramps in both thigh, suffering from an eye infection and several crashs at tackling attempts
We played against the Spanish team at first and I was quite frightened by them as their players were all strong and good at soccer. Luckily we made it through with a first victory. Then we got smashed by the Austrian Team… It was pretty fun to play against Lisa Filzmoser and Aline Bock.
My team
I say play against when really on the girls side of the field, most of the action happened right before the game in a fun dance warm up session. And we lost our last game against the frenchies, whom only got lucky the game didn't last a couple extra minutes. On the french side, Margot was running all over the place super into it… So I decided to take advantage of L'Arrogs smoother running skills and who was actually quite easy to dribble.
The next day was a day off, with perfect surf off shore all day, so Vanessa, Margot, David and I, spend the day surfing. 3 sessions of 2.5 hours really didn't give us much rest.
We started the second day playing against the English team which had won all their games until then. Everyone had warned us of their angry way of playing. But somehow against all expectations, we won. We had a pretty good tactic on that game. Romain was in defense blocking anything or anyone who could go through, most guys stayed in defense all the time, but Nicolas and Freddy were always ready to run to the adverse cage and strike.
We played the last game against the locals and my good friend Vanessa was playing in there team after leaving the french team as they never let her play because she was a girl. Well those guys were really fun to play against! They were playing for the fun of it. We won.
After all games, we ended up in second place after the English team. At that point I wasn't even able to walk anymore.
The finals were hold on the last day. We played against the Austrians again, I almost decapitated one of their players by lifting my foot over head trying the reach for the ball when the guy on the other side went for a header. Anyways we won there again and we were up against England in the finals.
The soccer girls
That was a very long game. Tie at the end of the game, tie at the end of the extra time. I hated that game, I ran everywhere and spend the whole time in front of the English's cage, and every time the guys would try to strike, they always chose to kick the ball way off field but never gave me the ball. I had spent the whole week running and hurting my self, and on the last game I was suddenly not worthy of touching the ball anymore. I got really angry and didn't participate to the penalties.
Tie at the end of penalties, and England won at sudden death penalties. Well good on them because they did include both of their female players in the game Jenny Jones and Laura Berry which both did really good. We ended 2nd with lots of sour muscles.
The whole week was really fun, even if no one could walk anymore after the overdose of soccer. I suggest we choose a less violent sport for next year… Who's up for beach volley ball? Because meeting all the snowboarders at the beach is super fun, plus it was for a good cause.
Vanessa was still around for a couple of extra days which we spend surfing at the beach. That was definitely easier on the body than soccer!
Thanks to all the soccer girls for being such good sports mates, Vanessa, Lisa, Hana, Margot, Aline, Jenny, Laura, Alex, I'll see you all next year! Thanks to,Lisa Filzmoser, Yoann Hamonic and Vanessa Andireux for the photos.


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For most people, there is a "lull" of activity at work during this time of year. And if you are unemployed, your activity may have come to a screeching halt. Don't worry though, this may be an excellent time to plan and prepare for the beginning of a new year surge in job search activity. Continue reading 'Holiday Break'
Posts Tagged 'manage'
Holiday BreakPublished December 19, 2016 Employment 1 Comment
Tags: achievable, activity, break, effective, Goals, Gulf Coast, holiday, Houston jobs, important, Job Search Plan, manage, opportunities, path, procrastination, realistic, search, successful, surge, time, urgent, work, Workforce Solutions


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Archive for March, 2010
RepositoryHosting.com backup script
by Sam on Mar.07, 2010, under Scripts
We all know the importance of backups, and backups of backups, but even some of the most respected developers occasionally fail to keep their stuff backed up, as we recently learned… So here's my tiny contribution to the subject, specifically for anyone using the amazingly low-cost RepositoryHosting.com for their SCM (it supports Git, Mercurial and SVN) and project management (by way of Trac).
Whilst RepositoryHosting.com already offers automatic copying of backups to an Amazon S3 bucket, it's always best to not rely on a single backup location, as many stories confirm. In this light, I whizzed up the following script which you can use to pull your backups down to your local workstation or office file server. It's a bit rough around the edges, and doesn't handle errors, so you will have to check the results after each run, but it sure beats logging in and manually downloading the files through your browser each day… (Thanks to Matt White at RepositoryHosting.com for changing the backup URLs to make them more predictable, and suggesting the initial idea that spawned this script.)
This script relies on a Bash shell with cURL available, like the one that comes with msysgit if you're using Windows. You'll also need to make sure you set up daily backups in your RepositoryHosting.com project's settings.
I'm no expert on Bash shell scripting, so if you can think of any improvements (to make the script more concise or handle errors etc.) then please feel free to educate us all in the comments!
Here's the script… (I named it "backup.sh"). See the comments in-line for configuration instructions.
#!/bin/sh # RepositoryHosting.com backup download script # # This script downloads your daily RepositoryHosting.com backups. ################################################################## ## ### Configuration ## # Subdomain of your repository RepoSubdomain=mysubdomain # Local backup directory BackupDir=~/Backups/RepositoryHosting.com # RepositoryHosting.com administrator credentials Username=myadminusername Password=mypassword # List of project names (for naming the backups, the order of these # equate to the project IDs in your RepositoryHosting.com account.) ProjectNames=( MyProject CoolProject OtherProject ) # Backup date formats (e.g. "+%Y%m%d" for YYYYMMDD, or "+%d" for DD) # NOTE: This affects the number of backups that will be kept, e.g. # "+%d" will store a month's worth of backups, each numbered as the # day of the month when it was created, "+%Y%m%d will keep an infinite # number of backups, as each one will be uniquely dated. # # NOTE: This is used only if you specify @Date in the filename format. # FileDateFormat="+%d" # Subdirectory date format (same as above, used only if you specify # @Date in your SubDirFormat). # #SubDirDateFormat="+%m" # Backup subdirectory format. If specified will place your backups into # a separate subdirectory for each project. # SubDirFormat="@ProjectName" # Backup file name format (e.g. "@[email protected]"). # This will automatically be prepended with the $BackupDir/$SubDir/ and # appended with ".tar.gz". # FileNameFormat="@[email protected]" ## ### End configuration (no need to edit past here) ## ################################################################## # Resolve URLs RepoBaseUrl="https://$RepoSubdomain.repositoryhosting.com" SessionStartUrl="$RepoBaseUrl/session" ProjectsBaseUrl="$RepoBaseUrl/projects" # Messages echo -e "\nDownloading today's backups \n\tFrom:\t$RepoBaseUrl"\ "\n\tTo:\t$BackupDir" # Cookie file name CookieFileName="cookies.txt" # Create backup directory if it doesn't exist mkdir -p "$BackupDir" # Go to backup directory cd "$BackupDir" # Login echo -e "\nLogging in..." curl -sS -X POST $SessionStartUrl -d \ "username=$Username&password=$Password" -c $CookieFileName -o /dev/null # Copy project backups ProjectNumber=0 while [ "x${ProjectNames[ProjectNumber]}" != "x" ] do # Specify & create backup subdirectory for this project ProjectBackupSubdir=\ "${SubDirFormat//@ProjectName/${ProjectNames[ProjectNumber]}}" ProjectBackupSubdir=\ "${ProjectBackupSubdir//@Date/`date $SubDirDateFormat`}" test "x$ProjectBackupSubdir" != "x" && mkdir -p $ProjectBackupSubdir && \ ProjectBackupSubdir="$ProjectBackupSubdir/" # Resolve backup filename ProjectBackupFile=\ "${FileNameFormat//@ProjectName/${ProjectNames[ProjectNumber]}}" ProjectBackupFile=\ "${ProjectBackupFile//@Date/`date $FileDateFormat`}.tar.gz" # Copy project backup echo -e "\nCopying ${ProjectNames[ProjectNumber]} backup to "\ "\n\t$ProjectBackupSubdir$ProjectBackupFile" curl -L "$ProjectsBaseUrl/$[ProjectNumber+1]/backups/`date +%Y/%m/%d/00`" \ -b $CookieFileName -# \ -o "$BackupDir/$ProjectBackupSubdir$ProjectBackupFile" ProjectNumber=$[$ProjectNumber+1] done # Delete cookies.txt rm $CookieFileName echo -e "\nFinished downloading backups!"
If you want to launch this easily in Windows, you can use a simple batch file…
REM Start the RepositoryHosting.com backup download script C: "\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin\sh.exe" -login -c /c/Users/Sam/backup.sh


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Clement Clarke Moore
American biblical scholar
Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was a professor of Oriental and Greek literature at Columbia College (now Columbia University) and at General Theological Seminary; but is best known as the credited author of A Visit From St. Nicholas (more commonly known today as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas).
|This article on an author is a stub. You can help Wikiquote by expanding it.
- 'T was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,—not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
- A Visit from St. Nicholas, published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823 and was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached; later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore and included in an 1844 anthology of his works.
- "Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;
"To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
- A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823).
- But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
- A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823).
External linksEdit
- A Visit from Saint Nicholas, courtesy of Poets.org
- Peter Christoph, "Clement Moore revisited", 1982
- Biography of Moore at University of Toronto's Representative Poetry Online.
- Urban Legends - Clement Clarke Moore: The Reluctant Mythmaker
- Free audiobook of Twas the Night Before Christmas from LibriVox
- Works by Clement Clarke Moore at Project Gutenberg
Authority control: PND: 119080710 | LCCN: n/79/131096 | VIAF: 9864972 | BNF: cb12040558z | NLA: 35360503 | WorldCat


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Film Hunting: Where to Buy and Develop Film
Shoot Film, by: Tokyo Camera Style (used with permission)
We have been talking a lot about film and film cameras recently (and have more on the way), but a question that comes up often is where to buy and develop film. Well, if you have any local professional photography labs, those are usually the best places to start for both purchasing film and having it developed. To find them, you can look in the yellow pages, or do an Internet search for pro photo labs + your city, state.
Most professional labs carry multiple types and sizes of film, beyond 35mm color negatives. They also usually have either the equipment and chemistry to develop the film, or have a trusted place that they send their orders out to.
If you are shooting 35mm color negatives, the regular consumer film can be found in drug stores and at places like Walmart. While sometimes having them developed at your local drug store photo lab is fine, I would suggest not to take anything super important there. For one, their abilities are limited since it's all machine fed, and they typically only have the capabilities to develop that one type of film (and can't or won't push or pull it for you). Also, since the general population has switched to shooting their family vacation photos and what not from film to digital, these labs are experiencing far fewer customers coming in for developing. What this means is that there's a greater risk that their equipment and chemicals are not being properly taken care of as often as they should (cleaning, fresh chemicals, etc.).
If you don't have pro photo labs in your town, you still have a few options...
For purchasing film: Find it on the web! There's a ton of places to buy film online, including direct from the manufacturer's websites, Amazon, eBay, and many photographic supply companies.
For developing: If there is a university or arts education center that offers photography, then they may have a lab. It's more typical to have a black and white lab than it is color, so keep this in mind. If there is one of these, some of the centers offer memberships to use their facilities where you could develop your own film, or you could hire a student to do it. Along those same lines, you can fairly easily set up a black and white darkroom at home, or hire a local photographer with an at-home darkroom to develop your film for you.
Your final option is to send your film out. The best thing to do is get online and do a little research about where to send it out, and read any customer reviews you can.
To help in your search, we have included some reference links below for both places to purchase films, and places that develop professional and older, more rare films...
* Freestyle Photographic Supplies (film and supplies)
* Amazon (film)
* The Frugal Photographer (film)
* The Impossible Project (instant films)
* Fujifilm (35mm and instant)
* Digitaltruth Photo (film and supplies, and they have a big list of developing labs)
* Blue Moon (developing)
* Rocky Mountain Film Laboratory (developing)
* Dwayne's Photo(developing)
* Ilford Photo (the site lets you search for places that sell the film and develop it by location)
* International Film Brokers (hard to find 8mm films)
* Richard Photo Lab (developing)
* Old-School Photo Lab (developing)
* International Film Brokers (hard to find 8mm films)
* Richard Photo Lab (developing)
* Old-School Photo Lab (developing)


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web-docs.gsi.de. The pages will be available world-wide as
This location corresponds to the
web-docs/ subdirectory in your home directory (
/u/userid/ or
/misc/userid/), which is in fact a symlink to
/WWW/userid/ that is in turn auto-mounted from the corresponding NFS server.
When you put a html file called
index.html in this directory, it will be automatically accessible as
A good online reference for HTML is http://www.selfhtml.org/ (available in German, French, Spanish and Japanese, but only partly in English).
Windows users may access the Linux
web-docs/ folder via Samba as
//samba.gsi.de/web-docs (see SambaConnection).
web-docs. These scripts will be executed by the web server as long as they have a
.pl or
.py extension and have proper permissions:
web-docs. They will be run with the your own privileges like other CGI scripts.
.htaccess files - webserver config sniplets that apply to the directory they reside in and its subdirectories.
Order deny,allow Allow from .gsi.de Deny from All
AuthType Basic AuthName "Descriptive text shown in the authentication dialog" AuthUserFile .htpasswd Require valid-userThen create the password file
.htpasswd in the same directory with
htpasswd -c .htpasswd username. You'll be prompted for the password.
For further information please have a look at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/howto/auth.html
-- ChristopherHuhn, StefanHaller - 2005 - 2014


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
? - —
Historical Period:
The 20th Century and Beyond
John Blundell is the Director General of the Institute for Economic Affairs in London and a director of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK).


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indevjobs.org only hosts the articles that are submitted to the site and claims no responsibility in the creating and editing of the written works. The author has sole, absolute and complete rights over the written works that he or she submits to the site.
indevjobs.org holds itself free from external links that may be found in the content of these articles.


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Dear HG, What's the difference between dairy milk and all the milk alternatives? There are so many kinds out there -- I just don't know where to start. Tell me everything... SPILL! Mooovin'-On Mary
Dear Mooovin'-On Mary,
As you're well aware, standard dairy milk has got some serious competition these days! Here's an HG guide to help you make your way through the milk aisle... Dairy milk: A cup of the fat-free stuff has around 90 calories, 0g fat, 130mg sodium, 12.5g carbs, 0g fiber, 12.5g sugars, and 9g protein (PointsPlus® value 2*). The biggest benefit here is the protein. It also contains a lot of calcium. However, dairy milk's not the most flavorful. And there are many milk alternatives with lower calorie counts. Still, it is pretty much essential when making instant pudding! Soymilk: Unlike dairy milk, soymilk doesn't have any lactose, which makes it a great choice for folks who are lactose intolerant or have dairy allergies. (The same goes for most milk alternatives.) Light vanilla soymilk is my favorite -- a cup of it has about 65 calories, 2g fat, 105mg sodium, 6g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 5g sugars, and 6g protein (PointsPlus® value 2*). It's easy to find (check the fridge section of the supermarket), it's perfect in recipes, and it generally has a good amount of calcium. Almond Milk: No milk-swap story would be complete without mentioning my FAVORITE, Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze! A cup has 40 calories, 3.5g fat, 180mg sodium, 2g carbs, 1g fiber, 0g sugars, and 1g protein (PointsPlus® value 1*). It's creamy, flavorful, and completely delicious. While almond milk typically doesn't pack much protein, the new So Delicious Dairy Free Unsweetened Almond Plus 5X Protein! has 5g protein (and just 40 calories) per cup. That's HUGE. Almond milk comes in both refrigerated and shelf-stable varieties. BTW, it's a must-have ingredient for HG-style growing oatmeal bowls! Flax Milk: If you're allergic to dairy, soy, or nuts -- or you just don't like the taste of regular milk, soymilk, or almond milk -- definitely check out this stuff. It's one of the mildest-tasting milk alternatives out there. Good Karma Flax Milk is an HG fave -- sweet, creamy, and all-around fantastic. In Unsweetened, Original, and Vanilla, a cup has 25 - 60 calories, 2.5g fat, 80mg sodium, 1 - 11g carbs, 0g fiber, 0 - 11g sugars, and 0g protein (PointsPlus® value 1 - 2*). It has a good amount of calcium, plus the added benefit of omega-3s. And while flax milk generally doesn't have any protein, the new Good Karma Protein+ line has FIVE grams per serving. Yowza! Find it in the fridge section of the store. Coconut Milk Beverages: No, this isn't the super-sweet, thick stuff that comes in a can. And it's not the same as coconut water. These drinks are light with a mild coconutty taste and a creamy texture. I love So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage and Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Breeze Almondmilk Coconutmilk Blend. A cup of either has 45 - 50 calories, 3.5 - 5g fat, 15 - 130mg sodium, 1 - 2g carbs, 0 - 1g fiber, 0g sugars, and 1g protein (PointsPlus® value 1*). The So Delicious stuff is low on calcium, but the Blue Diamond line packs 50 percent more calcium than dairy milk! Coconut milk drinks are generally low in protein, so these aren't your best bet if that's a concern. However, they are a great way to infuse creamy, coconutty flavor into coffee and even cocktails! Look for them in refrigerated and shelf-stable varieties. Phew! Lots of info... You really "milked" your opportunity to get your question answered!
Dear HG, I love seeing you on The Dr. Oz Show! I always try to watch your appearances, but I don't always catch all the recipes. Where can I find all of the amazing recipes featured on the show? Channel-Surfin' Chantel
Hi Chantel,
Thanks for tuning in! I love working with Dr. Oz -- he's the BEST!! Here's a roundup of the HG recipes that have been featured on the show over the past several months... Some of them are exclusives developed just for the show! Craving Busters for Emotional Eaters - This episode featured Swap-tastic Philly Cheesesteaks, Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries, a Freezy Whoopie Pie, Raspberry Kiss Crunchettes (an exclusive!), and Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge. Click here for all the recipes. Super-Simple Dinner Recipes - After chatting about my top grab 'n go pantry essentials, I showed the doc three incredibly easy meals: Spinach Artichoke Chicken, Slow-Cookin' Mexican Beef, and Sloppy Janes. Click 'n chew... Food Expanders - The most recipe-packed episode EVER. This one was all about how to bulk up your portion sizes without adding very many calories. Some of my tricks are using portabellas in meat dishes, adding zucchini to carb-y meals, and stirring bagged coleslaw mix into soup. Click for all ELEVEN recipes. Super-Sized Recipes - Eat twice as much food and still fit into your pants with these large-and-in-charge guilt-free recipes! Mac 'n cheese, lasagna, burgers, apple pies, and more... CLICK! Recipes for Carb Lovers - Satisfy carb cravings without a lick of guilt... Three pasta recipes, a loaded potato, a chicken quesadilla, and carrot fries!!! See all the recipes here. Family Dinner Swap - I made over one family's favorite meals: mac 'n cheese (featuring a boxed mix, with an HG twist), meaty tacos, fried shrimp, onion rings, and chicken nuggets! Click for the recipes. Naughty Foods Gone Nice - In this holiday episode, I whipped up stuffed French toast, jalapeño poppers, guilt-free cocktails, and more. Yum! You know what to do... Click for the recipes! And in one of my first appearances on The Dr. Oz Show, I served up this Shrimptastic Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo. Hope I satisfied your appetite. Stay tuned for more!
Pass along these milk-swap secrets and as-chewed-on-TV recipes... Click "Send to a Friend" NOW!
Today, March 13th, is National Coconut Torte Day. No offense to the noble torte, but we're celebrating with our Crazy-Amazing Coconut Cream Pie!
Have a question for Hungry Girl? Send it in! She answers new Qs each week (but cannot respond to emails personally).
SmartPoints® value not what you expected? Click here for more info on how the values are calculated, plus more FAQs about PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® values on our website.


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Oracle may have had its hands full lately dealing with Java security issues, but the company's acquisition of Java founder Sun Microsystems three years ago this month still has paid off, company President Mark Hurd said. An investment research firm, though, still has listed Oracle's Sun acquisition as reason to sell off Oracle stock.
Asked during a teleconference Monday afternoon whether the $7.4 acquisition had paid for itself, Hurd responded, "Yes -- materially so." Cash flow from the deal, he said, "has far exceeded the purchase price of the acquisition."
[ See InfoWorld's retrospective on Oracle's Sun acquisition one year later. | For more news on Java, subscribe to InfoWorld's Enterprise Java newsletter. ]
Not bad, considering Sun was reportedly losing $100 million a month in 2009 while the sale was still pending. The purchase, Hurd said, had multiple dimensions, including Java, which included both a financial element and an enablement piece relating to Oracle development activities; a support base; and a positive hardware revenue stream. Also, the acquisition helped Oracle develop such products as its Exadata database machine and Exalogic Engineered System product lines.
Hurd did not address the spate of Java security issues of late that Oracle has inherited with its Sun acquisition. The company in recent blogs and during a meeting with Java user groups pledged to be more open about the issue and continue working on the problems.
But Zacks Equity Research, in listing reasons to buy or sell Oracle stock in a late-December report, cites issues with the Sun acquisition as reason to sell. "While the acquisition of Sun makes Oracle the foremost player in the database software market, we remain concerned about the company's integration of Sun," Zacks said. "We believe that it will take years to provide incremental benefit and will come at the expense of relatively lower cash flow due to increased working capital requirements." The integration also pulls Oracle away from its traditional software-only business model, presenting a corresponding negative impact on margins, Zacks said.
Zacks also cites declining hardware revenues, putting pressure on the software segment to drive results. "We believe that lower hardware volumes will continue to hurt top-line growth going forward." Zacks also notes Oracle lost its patent infringement claims case against Google, which involved Java. "Oracle s strategy of earning incremental revenues by licensing the software received a significant blow following the Google judgment."
Countering Zacks, analyst Al Hilwa, of IDC, believes Oracle's Sun acquisition has likely helped Oracle. "I have no precise sense of this, but likely most gains were in the Exa-appliance line, which blends hardware and software in a single offering. Oracle was able to leverage Sun's hardware to create this new space, and from what we are lead to understand during their financial conferences, the revenue streams for these appliances has been on a great growth trajectory." Oracle also has likely been able to cross-sell to Sun customers who had not been Oracle customers, Hilwa said.
This article, "Three years later, has Oracle's Sun buy paid off?," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.


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The Gambling Commission has written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport giving its advice on what should be done about maximum stakes and prizes for gambling machines. The Secretary of State is expected to announce the Government's response to the Triennial Review of Stake and Prize Limits over the summer. The Gambling Commission's advice is disappointing to those of us who have recommended that there should be greater controls on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs, officially known as category B2 machines), either by removing them from high street betting shops altogether or by drastically reducing maximum stakes to bring FOBTs more into line with other categories of gambling machine.
The Gambling Commission makes encouraging noises about adopting 'the precautionary approach' which is set out in its own Statement of Principles for Licensing and Regulation of September 2009. It is good to learn that, 'in interpreting the available evidence, the Commission will take a precautionary approach. For example, caution may be justified where evidence is mixed or inconclusive, and the Commission would not want to restrict its discretion by requiring conclusive evidence that something was unsafe before taking measures to restrict it' (paragraph 4). They could imagine circumstances in which a case could be made for 'some prudential restrictions being imposed' on stake and prize limits (paragraph 12). There is an even clearer statement about 'the precautionary principle' in the advice which the Commission received on the issue of maximum stakes and prizes from the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) in June: 'the essence of the precautionary principle is that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm, but there is no scientific agreement that it is actually causing harm, then the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those wishing to promote that product... [It] shifts the burden of proof away from the regulator having to demonstrate potential harm towards the hazard creator having to demonstrate an acceptable level of safety' (paragraph 11.4).
Despite those encouraging statements, both the RGSB in its advice to the Gambling Commission, and the Gambling Commission in its advice to the Secretary of State, conclude that there is insufficient evidence to recommend taking any action about B2 machines at the moment. They recognise that the high maximum stakes on such machines does mean that comparatively large amounts of money can be lost in a short time and that there is justified concern about them. What is surprising is the lack of any attempt in either of these advice documents to review, or even refer to, the evidence that Gambling Watch UK and the Campaign for Fairer Gambling have drawn on in their evidence to the Government Consultation on stakes and prizes and which has figured prominently in the media in recent months, including the Channel 4 Dispatches and BBC1 Panorama TV programmes. For example, neither the Gambling Commission nor RGSB make any reference to the secondary analysis of the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Survey which estimated that 23% of takings from B2 machines come from people with gambling problems (published in the journal International Gambling Studies, and see also this website: Research/People with Gambling Problems Are Making a Massive Contribution to Gambling Profits). This is all the more surprising in the case of the Gambling Commission advice to the Secretary of State, since it refers several times to the need for exactly that kind of estimate, and in that context refers to an estimate made by the Australian Productivity Commission for high-stakes gambling machines in Australia (paragraphs 14, 16, 22). The RGSB advice refers specifically to a Gambling Commission consultation with an international panel of machine experts which 'produced a consensus that high-stakes machines were associated with problem gambling' (paragraph 9.4). But it immediately dismisses the conclusion that such machines are dangerous on the grounds that this could be explained in terms of problem gamblers being particularly attracted to such machines rather than the characteristics of the machines themselves creating problems. They also fall back on the familiar argument that B2 machines are not a new product; if they were, they would be more inclined to invoke the precautionary principle (paragraph 11.6). But that completely ignores the way in which these machines were introduced into high street betting shops only a few years ago using a loophole in the law followed by a negotiated agreement with the weak Gaming Board in the years immediately before the 2005 Gambling Act.
One of the recurring themes in both the Gambling Commission and RGSB documents is the wish to see greater use made of industry data about the details of gaming machine play. Indeed the RGSB advice document reads more like a case for using such data than a review of current evidence relevant to immediate decisions to be taken about stakes and prizes. There is clearly a belief on the part of both organisations that the future, when it comes to evidence relevant to policy regarding gambling machines, lies with working alongside the industry to make maximum use of industry-held data about player behaviour. Such data are seen as offering boundless opportunities for analysing player data, predicting problematic gambling, providing individualised advice messages and evaluating the effectiveness of attempts at harm minimisation. By comparison all other forms of evidence are treated with suspicion since they do not assess 'real gambling' (RGSB paragraph 10.2) behaviour. A lot of hope is vested in the current scoping study, funded by the Responsible Gambling Trust, which is looking at the feasibility of collecting these kinds of data. This will not only strike many as being over-optimistic, but it also reflects a very narrow approach to policy-relevant evidence which should come from a number of different directions.
One has got to be worried about where these ideas are coming from and whose interests they really serve. There is little acknowledgement in the RGSB document about the source of their ideas about player behaviour data, until comparatively late on in the document (paragraph 10.16) when it is acknowledged that a large amount of the relevant work on this has been undertaken by the Division of Addictions at Harvard. What they fail to say is that this is the group that has become notorious in the USA for working very closely with the gambling industry and which has been widely criticised on grounds of conflict-of-interest and bias (see for example the book by Natasha Schüll reviewed on the Gambling Watch UK website: Important New Book about Machine Gambling). What is of concern to us in the UK now is that these ideas are being strongly promoted by the influential RGSB, which is itself not independent of industry interests. Further troubling is the way in which the Gambling Commission, set up by Government and required to advise it on relevant policy matters, draws so heavily on RGSB advice, agreeing with it in almost every particular and following its lead regarding the relative value of particular forms of evidence.
It is interesting that these documents have been made public in the very same month in which the Government has come in for criticism from many quarters for giving in to lobbying from Big Alcohol and Big Tobacco by pulling back from commitment to minimum unit alcohol pricing and plain tobacco packaging. If Government refuses to use the precautionary principle when it comes to the widespread concern about, and evidence of harm caused by, high stake gambling machines, then accusations of giving in to lobbying by Big Gambling can be added to the list.


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"The legal framework of cooperation between the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and the European Union (EU) is currently being reviewed. It is now the appropriate time to think about how the environment, research, innovation and green growth can be included in this partnership," said Mr Maurice Ponga, Member of the European Parliament, during the seminar "From the Arctic to the Tropics: Green Growth in the OCTs".
Bringing together over 90 participants from OCTs, European Institutions, diplomatic missions, Permanent Representations to the EU and civil society, this seminar discussed the need for greater investments in education, research and development in the OCTs as essential drivers for green economic growth. The discussion also focused on the need to enhance regional cooperation to contribute to the economic, social and environmental development of the OCTs.
It was agreed that the unique and privileged position of the OCTs can act as the model and motor of development in their geographic zones, through innovation and research in the fields of environment, biodiversity and renewable energies. Yet, more financial aid through EU programmes such as LIFE and greater levels of private/public investments are needed in the OCTs in order to break through the dependency cycle.
All speakers during the seminar agreed that this group of islands has enormous assets, such as vast biodiversity and attractive conditions for developing solar energy, wind farms and smart grids that would put a break to their dependence on imports. Yet, the OCTs also face important challenges, such as insularity, that can be overcome through partnerships with the EU, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) and international organisations.
This seminar was held yesterday in the European Parliament (EP) and hosted by MEP Maurice Ponga, co-Chair of the "Islands and Overseas Entities" working group of the EP Intergroup "Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development". It was organised by the Secretariat of the EP Intergroup in collaboration with the Government of Greenland, currently holding the OCTA chairmanship, and with the financial support from the 10th European Development Fund for the OCTs.
The EP Intergroup's Secretariat is run jointly by IUCN and the European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD), an IUCN Member.
The full press release, all speeches, presentations and related documents of the seminar can be accessed on the Intergroup's website; the report will follow soon.
For further information, please contact Ms Kathleen Laissy, the Secretariat of the EP Intergroup.


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Can't Barbie keep a job?
The answer from Mattel CEO Robert Eckert is an enthusiastic, "No!"
Mattel recently asked its fans to vote on Barbie's next career, and after more than half a million votes were tallied, the winner was...news anchor.
Yep, this fall, Barbie will embark on her 125th career, wearing a pink suit, and carrying a microphone with the "B News" logo.
Then, in the winter, Barbie will switch gears and don "geek chic" as she takes on her next assignment: a computer engineer.
I guess in this labor market, it pays to have a back-up plan.
This was the first time ever that Mattel allowed its fans to pick the doll's next career.
Coming out of the 2009 Christmas holiday season, the Barbie brand has strong momentum. Barbie sales were up 12 percent in Mattel's fiscal fourth quarter.
No doubt, Barbie sales have been helped by a consumer shift toward classic toys that can provide children with hours of open-ended play. Barbies also provide an affordable option for parents, with many dolls selling for less than $10.
In recent months, Mattel also has seen strong sales of its Matchbox brand, and its Mind Flex game sold out during the holidays.
Mattel and other toymakers, including Hasbro , will be unveiling new products at Toy Fair, which takes place this weekend in New York. Some of the trends include new versions of popular brands such as Hasbro's "Monopoly" and "Transformers."
CNBC's Co-Anchor Sue Herera had this advice for "News Anchor" Barbie: "It's all about the hair."
More from Consumer Nation:
Questions? Comments? Email us at email@example.com


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Watch CBSN Live
undated photo of French actress Catherine Deneuve.
The star of such international hits as "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,"
"Repulsion," "Belle de Jour" and "The Last
Metro," Deneuve has been lighting up screens for nearly six decades, during which she has
been proclaimed the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, with nary a dissenting
voice from anyone (except herself).
two-time winner of the French Cesar Award for Best Actress, and an
Oscar-nominee for "Indochine," she has made more than 100 films, the latest of
which is "On My Way," about a woman jettisoning her troubled life
and taking to the road.
CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
Credit: Walter Carone/Paris Match via Getty Images
undated modeling photo of French actress Catherine Deneuve.
in 1943 in Paris, Catherine Fabienne Dorleac was the daughter of actor Maurice
Dorleac and actress Renee Deneuve. Catherine took her mother's maiden name
when she began taking small roles in films, at which time the natural brunette became
famously blonde.
Credit: Loomis Dean/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Catherine Deneuve and director Roger Vadim during the opening of Vadim's film,
"Castle in Sweden," in France, 1963.
who starred in Vadim's 1963 film, "Vice and Virtue," gave birth to
their son, Christian.
Credit: Roger Viollet Collection/Getty Images
Credit: Popperfoto/Getty Image
Credit: Pathe
At age 19 Catherine
Deneuve was speeding to international stardom in Jacques Demy's "The
Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964). The musical won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for five Oscars.
She told CBS News correspondent Bob
Simon it was her favorite film -- and that her life changed after it.
Credit: Landau Releasing
Credit: Royal Films
Deneuve starred as an elegant, affluent woman who works as a prostitute in the
afternoons in director Luis Bunuel's "Belle de Jour" (1967). Deneuve
was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, and Bunuel won the director's
prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Credit: Allied Artists
Bob Simon asked Deneuve,
"What was it like for you when you acted in your first really steamy
"What would be a
steamy movie?" she asked.
"A steamy movie would
be 'Belle de Jour.'"
"Ah, Sex. Well, she's
a very restrained, sophisticated person doing things that is a big contrast
with who she seems to be."
"But it was a new
kind of role for you."
"Yeah, but I think
that was part of the attraction to the character."
Credit: Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
Credit: CBS News
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Credit: Lions Gate Films
Credit: Warner-Pathe
Credit: Juergen Vollmer/Redferns/Getty Images
Credit: National General Pictures
Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo in "Mississippi Mermaid" (1969),
Francois Truffaut's adaptation of a Cornell Woolrich mystery about a mail order
bride, blackmail and murder.
the reigning king of French cinema, became Deneuve's lover, and is said to have
broken down in 1970 when she left him.
Credit: United Artists
Credit: Criterion Collection
Credit: Embassy
Credit: GSF
Credit: Horizon Films
A January 1972 photo of
actors Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni. Deneuve was at Mastroianni's
bedside when he died, at age 72, in 1996.
When asked by Bob Simon
what she could say about Mastroianni, Deneuve replied, "Not much. I mean,
not much that I would like to say. A great personality and a very shy, very
modest person with a great sense of humor."
Credit: AP Photo
Credit: 20th Century Fox
Credit: Fildebroc
Credit: Gaumont"
Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve in Francois Truffaut's "The Last
Metro" (1980). She played a Parisian movie theater owner hiding her
husband during the German occupation. Deneuve won the Cesar for her performance.
Credit: United Artists Classics
Credit: France 3
Credit: Summit
Credit: MGM/UA
age 50, Catherine Deneuve played an unmarried plantation owner who raises a
Vietnamese orphan (Linh Dan Pham) in French Indochina, in
"Indochine." She was again awarded the Cesar, and she received her
first (and only) Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Credit: Sony Pictures Classics
Credit: Empire Pictures
Credit: Sony Pictures Classics"
Credit: Fine Line Features
Credit: Focus Features
Credit: Sundance Selects
Credit: IFC
Credit: Shellac
Credit: MPI Media Group
Credit: Wild Bunch Films


text:
Welcome to delux photos- the creation of Brisbane photographer Donna Turner. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Photography from Griffith University in Brisbane. As a photographer for over 20 years, Donna makes the experience enjoyable and memorable. Relaxed, natural photos whilst maintaining professionalism and creating stunning images is her talent.
New born baby images, Pregnant Portraits, Wedding and Events Photography-Donna does them all and more.
Specialising in personalised service and creating excellence sets delux photos apart from the rest. Capture the emotion, the moment, the special time in your life.
And remember all the images captured at your session are all available for you to keep at no extra cost.
Please contact Donna directly for any questions or to make an appointment.


text:
The Challenge and Promise of Using Community Policing Strategies to Prevent Violent Extremism
This report takes a closer look at a set of promising practices which, if applied effectively, can result in increasing trust between the police and the communities they serve.
Explore research on the issue of crime and safety produced by social sector organizations that provide the public with protection and relief from crime, violence, disaster, accidents, and other potential causes of harm. Topics include strategies for working with police and other law enforcement agencies; prevention services for crime, abuse, and accidents; and safety education such as first aid training.
This trend line represents foundation funding for research & publication in this specific issue area. Data are from grants awarded by the FC 1000, a national sample of 1,000 of the largest grantmakers by total giving
Graph represents all funding for this issue area; the highlighted arc represents the proportion awarded explicitly for research and publication.
The Impact of Drug Policies on Children and Young People
May 1, 2020
Publisher(s): Open Society Foundations
An Evaluation of the Safe Harbor Initiative in Minnesota - Phase 3: Evaluation Report
Sep 1, 2019
Publisher(s): Wilder Research
Sexual Exploitation : New Challenges, New Answers : 5th Global Report
Jun 1, 2019
Publisher(s): Scelles Foundation
Stop-and-Frisk in the de Blasio Era
Mar 1, 2019
Publisher(s): New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
The Courthouse Trap: How ICE Operations Impacted New York's Courts in 2018
Jan 29, 2019
Publisher(s): Immigrant Defense Project
Domestic Violence Outcomes Measures Project
Jan 9, 2019
Publisher(s): Loyola University Chicago Center for Urban Research and Learning
Dangerous Speech: A Practical Guide
Dec 31, 2018
Publisher(s): Dangerous Speech Project
Public Opinion and Behaviors Regarding Child Abuse Prevention: 1999 Survey
Nov 1, 1999
Publisher(s): Prevent Child Abuse America
Unlocking Options for Women: A Survey of Women in Cook County Jail
Apr 1, 2002
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Youth On the Streets and On Their Own: Youth Homelessness in Illinois
Sep 1, 2001
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Buying Sex: A Survey of Men in Chicago
May 1, 2004
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Creating a Positive Police and Community Response to Homelessness
Jan 1, 2003
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Expungement: A Beginning to Reduce Recidivism
Apr 1, 2004
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Housing and Homicide
Jul 1, 2004
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Curbing the Demand for Prostitution
Oct 1, 2005
Publisher(s): Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Reframing Child Abuse and Neglect for Increased Understanding and Engagement
Jan 1, 2004
Publisher(s): Prevent Child Abuse America


text:
If the protagonists presented in the works of Michelangelo Antonioni seem almost like apparitions, like figures that hover desolately above and disengaged from some facet of the films' compositional or sociocultural arrangements, it's with good reason: They practically are. Antonioni is one who bequeathed to the cinema gifts of portentous proportion, each of his film a coalesced arras of the cerebral and the majestic. Usually adorned with a centripetal character emphasis—be it consciously acknowledged or insidiously impacting—pieces like L'avventura (or any installment of the "alienation trilogy," really) Il deserto rosso, Zabriskie Point, and The Passenger all establish, at the very least, a communal, baseline dynamism between human ecology and environmental demand. Characters come dressed with varying degrees of self-awareness, sure, but there's always a sense that they're never fully overcome by the gravity of their exacting surroundings.
And yet, each offering portends of different personal and cultural pitfalls, as the director himself constantly adapted his style to epochal permutations and modish social and artistic demands. Antonioni realized that ennui is not simply ennui—that even the individual persona is an ever-evolving mechanism at the mercy of emotion, perception, feeling, and circumstance. It's this notion that propelled some of the (r)evolutionary shifts in the filmmaker's oeuvre, and the results materialized relevant due to his insistence on cultural and formal acuity; his films were those of the moment, both in terms of unseen but omnipresent concerns and his personal synchronization to them. Whereas his masterwork—well, one of them anyway—L'avventura presented pervading malaise and apathy as if they were symptomatic of the bourgeoisie condition, Il deserto rosso, in a leitmotif far ahead of its time, delineated how humans, thanks to the natural perversions accorded by relentless industrialism, have taken over the reigns of our own biological impetuses. The common thread of sweeping change and the individual effect seems to pervade each of his pieces, only in their own organic applications.
But it's Identification of a Woman, a work curious in its fits of ideological spattering, that most deftly elucidates the ineffability of change as a pervasive entity. Staring Tomas Milian as film director Niccolò—who, like photographer Thomas in Blow-Up, isn't defined so much by vocation but instead the lineaments that could accompany such a professionally-granted perspective—the work charts his search for the feminine lead of his next project. Alas, the filmmaker's inquest of finding a proper actress is more episodically Odyssean than initially realized, and the complexity of searching for the "right" woman is something that quickly diffuses into other corners of his life: romantic, familial, and domestic. His story becomes one of an almost investigative quintessence, with his struggle lying primarily in his inability to identify that for which he truly longs; his life, in turn, comes defined by the cultural and introspective forces that disorient his emotional ballasts. But Niccolò is an adult, and an adult character. He experiences, due in part to his occupational proclivities, a certain disconnect from his surroundings, as if a membrane separated the man from experiencing social engulfment—the various constituents that make up his and others' lives come to cleave rather than cohere the director from the world his works supposedly probe.
Not only does Antonioni evince this chasm between the cultural machine and the social vacuum in which his protagonist exists, he makes it a point to compartmentalize public and private facets of life, tethering this combative dichotomy to contemporary class palisades. At one point in the film Niccolò attends a stuffy soirée with his young paramour, Mavi (Daniela Silverio), only to experience a penetrative feeling of detachment from how territorially "cliquish" the upper-class denizens act. Sure, the framework for this interpersonal gesture is socioeconomic, but the idea is universal: letting others into our private atmospheres is a risky investment, one that welcomes the possibility for humiliation and betrayal; the rich and powerful just have, in our social systems of material emphasis, more to lose. And for the sake of extrapolation, Antonioni even carries this concept into realms of personal relativity, as he underscores the contrast between acquaintance and intimacy in everyone that Niccolò encounters—the organic rate of exchange between these two classifications comes to the forefront of the film's interactions. Antonioni, as mentioned above, understands the connate complexity of the individual, and he paints his principal's journey with a complete spectrum of encounters. Even the casual and innocuous moments of public life can elicit shifts that challenge private harmonies, and this accords a happiness-is-elsewhere tenor that feels especially present within romantic realms. A scene exists in which Niccolò describes his perfect relationship with a female as being akin to the quiet, symbiotic dynamic that humanity experiences with nature. This idyllic, idealistic form of coexistence speaks to the character's main shortcoming: Without identifying a realistic goal, for lack of a better word, Niccolò is fated to aimlessly drift through a shifting cultural cosmos, never to achieve contention or self-actualization.
The visual landscape of Identification of a Woman is one germane to Niccolò's social disassociation, as background objects read as, in relation to the director, distinct entities of more decorative than encompassing employment. The characters of this cinematic world seem to ensconce themselves with myriad artistic mediums, caring not how such pieces—which run the gamut from literature to paintings to sculpture to music—are produced or wherein their emotional roots are planted but instead how they fit into often postural social arrangements. This presents the protagonist's crisis as something of a full-circle confinement, for Niccolò is trying to craft something for the consumption of, what he feels is, an unfeeling public. Art, Antonioni suggests, is something that becomes more commodifiable as we venture further up the class ladder, and what's worse, emotionally derived pieces are often positioned in the same context of contemporary cultural signifiers: alarms, phones, sirens and the like. In this, a gaudy contrast comes to materialize in the film that speaks to the emptiness of the space between both people and their environs, which compliments Niccolò's doubts concerning natural tranquility and the modern condition.
As he has in the past, Antonioni takes care in honing the feminine personalities in his work, evoking an appreciation for that which he can't possibly understand. Men, he posits via dialogue in a poolside scene, come acquainted through cultivated social agents—here it's a boxing match, but any similarly testosterone-centric enterprise would also be appropriate, if a bit didactic—whereas his women seem better equipped for grasping empathy and the underlying causes of emotional synergy. Antonioni treats this disparity with a felt sense of reverence, and knows that continuing to strive for life's intangibles, for that which he cannot truly identify, will only dig up larger existential voids. During its clearly Kubrickian denouement, the narrative tangentially diverges into a possible Sci-Fi premise for Niccolò's next film, as the director describes a potential plot to his young nephew. The idea is that humanity will one day be able to more proximally explore the sun, and use any newly accrued information on the subject to better understand the grandeur of the universe. And in one deftly spoken line, the spritely little listener asks a question that sums up the applicative oversight of both our species's and Niccolò's speciously progressive idea of existence: "And then?"
It's only fitting that one of Antonioni's more chromatically expressive films is affixed with such a beauteously fluid digital transfer. Omnipresent is fine object detail, which even highlights the textural constitution of painted canvases, weathered concrete walls, and porous human flesh. Grain is as pervasive and stable as we've come to expect from Criterion, and contrast levels elicit the director's emphasis on particular hues rather well. Depending on the cultural diorama in question, Antonioni seems to favor either hellish warmth or soothing coolness, with the former being especially present throughout a cocktail party for the economically elite. Reds are generally a bit more harsh and persistent, while greens and golds tend to emit a gentler, more congealing radiance. Of course, light sources and the reflective qualities of proximal objects cause discrepancies in how some scenes are lit shot-to-shot, but, as evoked by this representation, each segment comes with a specific, and more importantly realized, visual undercurrent. My only complaint would be a curiously distinct yellow stain around the 1:08:00 mark that appears to hover halo-like on a sheet above a carnally charged Mavi and Niccolò. It vanishes come the next scene.
Aural concerns are equally expressive, even if they carry a bit less visceral immediacy in comparison to the splendid digital imaging because of some light hissing. Dialogue is stable and crisp and I even detected some allocation of certain effects within my rear speakers.
Cue the tumbleweeds. The only supplemental material for this release can be found in the booklet, which offers up an essay, albeit a fine one, by John Powers and a personally telling and contextually insightful interview of Antonioni by critic Gideon Bachmann.


text:
I am pretty new in WordPress world (I came from Joomla) and I have some questions about the use of static pages in WordPress.
I have to use WordPress to implement a mainly static site (maybe in the future I will add some dynamic behavior but at this time I only need some statics pages)
So I have install a WordPress example intallation on my server: http://onofri.org/example/ and I have create a first static page, this one: http://onofri.org/example/?page_id=4
Now I have 3 doubts on how to proceed my work:
How can I say to WordPress to use the previous static page as an HomePage? I would that when the user open my website this page is show as a lassic static homepage, can I do this thing? how?
As you can see in the top of the page (upon the header) there is a menù with the names of my statics page (sample page and my HomePage pages), how can I don't show this menù? Have I to delete it from the code of my template or can I disable it from the WordPress administration pannel?
Can I have a classic menù containing the list of my statics pages in the left column (something like in this site: http://www.saranistri.com/ where in the left column I have a menù with the links to my pages)


text:
What did surprise Wolff was that the day job he'd only intended to keep for a short time culminated in the discovery of his true passion: people and clothing.
"I couldn't live with myself selling something to someone that didn't look good on them," he said.
Perhaps it was his honesty that customers appreciated and which made him the top salesman at the company he worked for, but the part he enjoyed wasn't making the sale. He loved playing with colors and patterns and putting attractive outfits together.
In 2003, Wolff started re-dress™ to help the fashionably challenged business professional, male and female. The mission of redress™ is to revamp a professional's wardrobe using items that are already in his or her closet. Wolff guarantees at least 30 new outfits without breaking the bank.
After the new looks are created, he snaps photos and writes about them, then creates an individual fashion photo diary for each client. That way, they can easily recall what looks were created and track their personal progress.
"By making them look good, it makes me look good because people can say 'Ben dressed me,'" said Wolff.
A good appearance matters now more than ever in an economic recession as throngs of people flock to job fairs looking for employment opportunities, said Wolff. Recruiters talk to hundreds, even thousands of people at these events, but the candidates who look sharpest will be the most memorable ones.
"The ones who are best dressed may not get the job interview, but they're guaranteed to get the first look. I hate to say it, but looks count," said Wolff.
Wolff said re-dress™ has been compared to the TLC show "What Not To Wear," but he pointed out that he doesn't force people to throw out their old clothes and give them money to buy new ones. Quite the opposite, actually.
And unlike the hosts of the show, who often make their clients cry, Wolff takes extra care to be honest but kind to his clients.
"What you choose to spend your money on says something about you. It's a very personal and intimate thing, so that's why I treat it that way," he said.
With that being said, there are several things he stands firm on. He is a huge advocate of tailoring, which can completely transform an article of clothing without costing a lot.
He absolutely detests ties with cartoon characters and sport prints on them, which he believes draws attention away from an outfit and causes it to center on a really loud accessory.
"If you love tennis, bring it up in a conversation," said Wolff. "Don't let it become all about your tie."
He listed the five types of ties that men should consider instead: a solid, a uniform geometric pattern, a narrow striped, a paisley and a power tie.
Wolff works with the clothing life of his clients to achieve looks that seamlessly transition from work to lunch to after-hours social events.
"You can be business without being boring. Classic looks never go out of style," said Wolff. "It's about a little bit of tweaking, and I know all the secrets.
In a move to make his work more accessible to people outside of NYC, he is in talks with producers about creating a reality television show. Share your story with him and it may be featured in a future episode of "Ben Wolff's re-dress."
In the meantime, Wolff offers several services: an in-home re-dress session, assisted shopping and group workshops. For more information, visit www.re-dress.net or call (917) 627-0745 for a free consultation.


text:
Fauna Urbana
- This article is about the website, for the zine see Fauna Urbana (fanzine).
|This article needs copyediting (for correct spelling, grammar, usage, etc.)
For specifics, check the edit history and talk page. Consult the Furry Book of Style for editing help.
|Fauna Urbana
| Admin: Tanuki Gokuhi
|Launch date
|7 November 2009
|Press Website and Social Network
Fauna Urbana, also known as Fauna, is a Portuguese furry news portal and social networking site run by Tanuki Gokuhi, Ekevoo, Aniki Geelong, Jrrhack and Reyres. It is also the home of FaunaCast, the first furry podcast in Brazil.
Fauna Urbana was launched on 2004, founded by Jrrhack label as a fanzine. Production halted after the fourth edition. It subsequently become the name for Jrrhack's blog, leaving the limelight until 2009 when it become a news portal.
The original idea for Fauna Urbana the fanzine was created by Moonsong, Jrrhack label, TameWolf and Isra with support from Hwei Chow, Thassy and Vilani Vila and was a small publication bringing poetry, art and news about the furry community all written in portuguese. All four versions were published for free as PDF and also black and white in printed version, the originals were lost in a hardware crash in 2006.
Fauna Urbana in 2009[edit]
Reyres, Ekevoo and Tanuki Gokuhi had plans to create a news portal around 2008, because Brazil always lacked an unbiased source of news about the fandom. After months of planning, they asked for permission to Jrrhack to christen this new portal Fauna Urbana.
Aniki Geelong was invited to be part of the development team, and helped to convert the portal layouts made by Tanuki Gokuhi to XHTML/CSS. Since July, heavy research was done to choose the best platform. Development work finally ended on 7 November 2009 with the launch of the new website.
Ekevoo was choose to be the hostmaster and proudly hosts Fauna Urbana in a dedicated server located on a strategic backbone. Tanuki Gokuhi was choosen to head of the news portal; all changes, updates and partnerships are his responsibility. Reyres and Aniki Geelong are admins and press leaders. Jrrhack is the patron and still updates his own Fauna Urbana personal blog.
Fauna Urbana in 2010[edit]
Fauna Urbana soon became a sucessful portal to news, entertainment and information about furries for all brazilians, not only for usual people but also for the media, since there was a sudden interest from various media groups on publishing furry related material. The new and revamped portal now hosts writers, podcasts, interviews and links to events and fun, also there is a concern to make search simple and help growing the community.
By August 2010, Fauna Urbana awarded Jao[1]for his first place at the mascot drawing contest, the contest awarded 1 year of VIP subscription at DeviantArt plus various other minor prizes to all other competitors. See contest winner[2] for more details.
Caio is a Brazilian bird (Cyanocorax chrysops) with black feathers and blue features, he is Fauna Urbana official character he always carry with him his red hoodie with Fauna Urbana logo in the back and he has his own blog[3]. Caio is also the official ombudsman for the portal, since he is the impersonation of the whole crew.
Modus operandi[edit]
Fauna Urbana it is a collaborative press website. Visitors can send their articles to Fauna Urbana, and after approval they are published under their names. Everyone can be a contributor. Every article, HQ, comic sent, earns the user points called "Fauna Points", which can be used to trade things on the Fauna Urbana website.
Fauna Urbana Network[edit]
With the huge growing of this community, [4], importance and appearance on media, the group Fauna Urbana started to officially manage Abando in june 2010, that means that from 2008 to 2010 it was an independent move from local furries, it also means that Fauna Urbana has now its own event, maintaining the same organization and adding new staff.
And in 18 july 2010, Fauna Urbana has also delivered a new service to the furry community, it has now turned into a social network like a mix of twitter and facebook and blog. This beta version code named Vincertid, due to the picture made by Strangefox that inspired the development team, now Fauna Urbana is grouped into a Network (FUN - Fauna Urbana Network) and let people create and manage their own personal social network "fur-net" so to speak, able to add friends, create personal blogs and customize the way one hearts desires.furries
Furries.com.br store[edit]
By november 22, 2010, the Fauna Urbana Network started a brazilian furry store[5], which will feature many products from the furry fandom like magazines, artwork, keyrings, mugs, t-shirts and fursuits. In the first days, it will collect information on what the brazilian fandom wants using a voting system and then build a supply chain.
For that, three new characters were created, as "brothers" to Caio, the official mascot. They are Carlos, Ana and Gui; each character have some preferences and will help anchor products and help the user to purchase depending on style. Carlos is a brown squirrel, geeky and like to live the internet life. Ana dragon thingy likes to hang around with friends and like more artistic stuff while Gui a white tiger is more fun and anime oriented.
The store will have as many as possible payments methods and shipping so it will help out people from using credit cards to direct bank payments, which in Brazil is a big deal.
English version[edit]
Fauna Urbana, launching its English-language version in Spring 2010, intends to be international and is looking for contributors to make it possible. Interested parties should contact Tanuki Gokuhi.
Simultaneously with the 2009 relaunch of Fauna Urbana came a new podcast, FaunaCast, which is the first podcast in Brazil that talks about furry. The team is the same as Fauna Urbana except for Jrrhack.
Focinho a Focinho[edit]
Focinho a Focinho (literally "Nose to Nose") is a podcast, hosted by Titus and HweiChow, which began on April 25, 2010.
Other multimedia[edit]
Fauna Urbana announced on April 23, 2010, that the site would begin hosting user-submitted "podcasts, comics, chronicles and blogs" in addition to allowing for multi-user collaboration and user comments on submissions and administrator news articles[6].
- ↑ "Jao", Artist Jao
- ↑ "Contest Winner", by Fauna Urbana writers
- ↑ "Blog do Caio", Caio Blog
- ↑ Fauna Urbana after 7 months, by Fauna Urbana writers
- ↑ Furry Store, by Fauna Urbana
- ↑ Fauna Urbana launches blogs and podcasts hosting, by Tanuki Gokuhi