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Public restrooms are oftentimes bacteria-ridden danger zones. This is mostly because they are either improperly sanitized, or because people using them are not being conscientious of their health habits. We can take care of the sanitizing part, as simply scrubbing the toilets, urinals and sinks as well as the floors with soap and water isn't enough to truly rid your restroom of its germs and bacteria. But patrons and employees using the restroom properly can also help aid in keeping your restroom in top shape. Read on for a few tips in restroom etiquette, so you can stay on top of your restroom hygiene.
1. Wash Your Hands
We've said it before and we'll say it again–washing your hands after using the restroom is a vital and necessary practice. Your hands are the vehicle between germs and surfaces, and there's no getting around it, no matter how careful you are. Properly washing your hands with soap and warm water is the best way to prevent the spread of germs, and helps to protect you and others from dangerous disease.
2. Clean Up After Yourself
Have you ever entered a stall, only to be greeted by a messy seat and an unflushed toilet? It's unpleasant for everyone involved, and often times, people avoid using that stall, which causes fecal matter to sit and fester. Gross. To prevent this, always flush after you go, and wipe the seat if you make a mess. It's not only courteous, but it also prevents the spread of germs.
3. Got a Lid? Use it.
If your restrooms have toilets with a lid, utilize it to promote maximum hygiene. When a toilet flushes, it pushes fecal matter and other bacteria into the air, which can linger for up to twenty minutes. Putting down a lid when you flush prevents that. Of course, this is rare for public restrooms. Keep yourself safe by leaving the stall immediately after you flush, which will prevent you from breathing in any of these harmful particles.
Enviro-Master of Mid-Atlantic is here to sanitize your restroom to perfection!
We have a product called the Enviro Master Smart Drain; it will protect, deodorize, and sanitize your drain for you! Enviro-Master of Mid-Atlantic is the hygiene solution you've been looking for.
Between deep cleaning and great products, we know exactly what you need to keep your bathroom sparkling. Don't waste time with weak cleaners or ineffective methods of sanitizing. We utilize our Sani Service and Sani Scrub programs to create a positive restroom experience for your employees and customers.
We're experts. Owner Neil Middleton is determined to promote great restroom hygiene. Enviro Master Services has been listed as one of the Top 50 New Franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine.
If you're looking for a solution to your dirty, nasty, odor filled-restrooms, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Twitter for more information and updates from Enviro-Master of Mid-Atlantic.


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Some American dental patients that choose dental care in Costa Rica, Guatemala or Mexico expect that their chosen dental clinic should be responsible for their airfare, hotel and even their meal expenses if they need to return for adjustments, repairs or additional treatments.
Is Dental Tourism a Smart Choice?
High-priced dental care at home is pushing some patients to seek dental care outside of the USA. This popular trend is called dental tourism.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Kaspersky Lab founder Eugene Kaspersky. Privacy & Security It's a short line from hacktivism to terrorism, says Eugene Kaspersky Jeff Jedras @jeffjedrasitw Published: February 12th, 2014PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – There are a lot of threats in the cyberworld but one that concerns Eugene Kaspersky the most is hacktivism.The founder of Russian IT security vendor Kaspersky Lab, told attendees last week at the company's North America partner conference that while cyber criminals get a lot of attention in IT threat reports, he believes hacktavists – people who use the tools of hacking and cyber crime for political gains – are a worse threat than cyber criminals to businesses large and small."Criminals don't want to kill you; they want your money. Hacktivists have a political motivation," said Kaspersky. "They want to damage your business, they want to kill your business, they want to disclose the data you don't want to be disclosed, they want to very badly damage your reputation, kill your network and damage your data." Related News Cyber-security best practices for a hack-free Sochi games Ten ways to minimize BYOD risks And that motivation, said Kaspersky, makes hacktivists much more dangerous than a run of the mill gang of cybercriminals driven solely by a desire for financial gain."It's a very short distance between cyber activists and terrorists," said Kaspersky.He pointed to the Internet blackout of Estonia in 2007 as an extreme example of the power of hacktivism. With no Internet for days, it didn't just mean no e-mail or Facebook. With so much critical infrastructure relying on the Internet today, such as financial transactions, business and commerce were essentially driven to a halt.The vendor is developing new vectors and technologies to respond to these emerging threats, said Steve Orenberg, president of Kaspersky Lab North America."The area right now where there's building awareness and concern is really at the infrastructure layer, protecting critical infrastructure," said Orenberg. "Much of the inquiries, discussions and briefings we've had (on this topic) have been with governments and federal agencies, which are really more aware of these types of threats, which aren't massively publicized."There is a growing concern about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to attack by both hacktavism and nation states at high levels, said Orenberg, and Kaspersky has established a government relations office in Washington, DC to work with government security agencies and the legislative branch to share threat research and intelligence, and hopefully help to see legislation enacted to help respond to the threat."Eugene likes to say our mission is to save the world," said Orenberg. "Right now there's nothing to sell. It's providing information. Because of this emerging threat that's targeted to critical state infrastructure, such as transportation, electricity and finance, we're developing a separate set of products geared towards protecting critical infrastructure. There's no specific timeline. It won't be this year, but it's something the company is working on."Would you reccomend this article?00 Related Download Sponsor: CanadianCIO Cybersecurity Conversations with your Board – A Survival Guide A SURVIVAL GUIDE BY CLAUDIO SILVESTRI, VICE-PRESIDENT AND CIO, NAV CANADA Download Now Privacy & Security denial-of-service, hackers, Kaspersky, malware, network security


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COVID-19 floor and wall decals and customer service plexiglass shields are now available in our online store for free pick-up at our office.
Click a category below to view a photo gallery of the options available.
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Your Sign is the most common First Impression of your company and you only have one chance to make a first impression. Make it a positive one, make it an Alley Kat Sign.
Our hi tech wide format printers and plotters are able to produce photo quality colours and details which were unavailable a few short years ago. Our in house print studio allows us to print on 54" wide media up to 150' long. We produce our own wraps and digital prints and outsource on printers up to 100" wide as needed.
Common Sense is doing what you do well and sourcing from other specialists what they do well. Some projects we produce in house from start to finish. Other times we purchase from preferred suppliers (Relationship) and assemble and install finished product.
Experience is something that has to be earned. You can't go to a store and buy it. That's part of the valuable relationship our valuable people have to offer. Obviously we couldn't have come this far without creating VALUABLE results for our VALUABLE customers.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Our philosophy of ``Valuable People, Valuable Relationships, Valuable Results`` are not just cliche words to us. They are the foundation we have built our 34 years of marriage upon and the guidelines by which we have raised our 3 sons. Barbara's 17 years as a stay at home mom have undoubtedly equipped her for customer service as much as John's over 40 years in sales, marketing and management with companies like Ingram Micro, Epson and the Pattison Automotive Group.
But don't take our word for it, check out our Google Reviews and see if we're the kind of company you want to do business with!
Chase has been part of the family business for 10 years. He enjoys designing (mostly tattoos), creating, and now wrapping cars, boats, utility boxes etc. As a certified vehicle wrap installer, Chase can take something average and ordinary and turn it into something truly ``One of a Kind!``
Email: [email protected]
Jamie joins us with over 10 years of sign & graphics experience and many more as an artist. She brings great flair and creativity to her projects. Her ability to visualize and sketch a concept with great attention to detail reduces project timelines and increase customer satisfaction.
``Bristol`` is an Aussiedoodle and is an integral part of our customer service and staff morale team.
Because of our "valuable relationships" philosophy, we have an extremely loyal clientele …one of our greatest assets!
We have procedures in place to expedite order completion as efficiently as possible.We provide written estimates for all of our projects.
Price changes due to materials or production variables will be communicated and require authorization before proceeding.
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Kazakhstan Flower Delivery is a full service online florist with master designers and the largest selection of flowers and gifts to send to Astana, Almaty and other cities of Kazakhstan. We deliver 7 days a week to most cities in Kazakhstan.
We offer a large selection of fresh-cut flower bouquets, house plants, gift baskets, soft toys and custom arrangements.
Our flowers are delivered to our shops daily ensuring the finest and freshest selection of products available.
Our parent company Eurasia Florist Ltd. is the only British-owned and managed flower delivery network in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
We are also happy to provide floral designs for arts and corporate events in Almaty, Astana and other cities in Kazakhstan.
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Every order is important to us and we don't want to just meet your expecations-we want to exceed them!
Allow our talented floral designers to make your flowers into a stunning, unique display and let our specialist floral couriers deliver to the doors of those close to you!


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Figure out how to program Android Where do I start?
It appears that evidently it is evident that Android programming would be the 1st ability sought while in the apps sector after the data thrown to the sector, and that we tell you in our article about the position with the Android Programmer's career . So if you still do not learn this functioning technique or need to have to understand since you are focused on other programming languages, this is your instant.
At this time it is rather straightforward to find out to program on Android for the reason that you will discover countless programs and guides totally free or pretty very low to get going in the development of purposes for this OS. On the other hand, from there to be an authority There exists a stretch, here so we wish to provide you with each of the feasible information about the lifetime of Android developers .
certified gurus
Why method on Android?
The answer to this question Now get more info we have answered time and again. That Android may be the undisputed check here king of the programs (Despite the fact that we must not undervalue iOS). To dedicate to create Android purposes, if accomplished nicely, is usually successful. And developer video games for Android, too.
Currently you can find greater than seven-hundred,000 apps uploaded towards the Google Participate in keep. By not counting the ones that won't have absent up to The shop. As an example, according to a handful of months in the past in our web site, 42% of developers have involving one particular and three purposes uploaded to merchants. And some more than 3. Only inside our System we have in excess of 2,000 builders who understand how to develop apps and online games for Android , either completely or together with other cell programming languages.
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Are You Looking For A Covenanter Church Or Are You Interested In Covenanter Worship (Along The Lines Of The Original Intent Of The Westminster Standards)? If So, Please Email Pastor Greg Price At email@example.com For More Information About How To Take Part In A Covenanter Service, From Your Location, Via Conference Call. Over 600 Free MP3 Sermons By Greg Price Are Also At https://ow.ly/NTvq30m3wuu.
To obtain free Reformation books, Puritan MP3s and Calvinistic videos, SWRB discount coupons, etc., add yourself to SWRB's Puritan and Reformed email list by using the form above.
"The Puritans were excellent covenant theologians. They lived covenant theology, covenanting themselves, their families, their churches, and their nations to God. Yet they did not fall into the error of hyper-covenantalism, in which the covenant of grace becomes a substitute for personal conversion. They promoted a comprehensive worldview, a total Christian philosophy, a holistic approach of bringing the whole gospel to bear on all of life, striving to bring every action in conformity with Christ, so that believers would mature and grow in faith. The Puritans wrote on practical subjects such as how to pray, how to develop genuine piety, how to conduct family worship, and how to raise children for Christ. In short, they taught how to develop a 'rational, resolute, passionate piety [that is] conscientious without becoming obsessive, law-oriented without lapsing into legalism, and expressive of Christian liberty without any shameful lurches into license.' Doctrinally, Puritanism was a kind of vigorous Calvinism; experientially, it was warm and contagious; evangelistically, it was aggressive, yet tender; ecclesiastically, it was theocentric and worshipful; politically, it aimed to be scriptural, balanced, and bound by conscience before God in the relationships of king, Parliament, and subjects; culturally, it had lasting impact throughout succeeding generations and centuries until today." - Dr. Joel Beeke, "Why You Should Read the Puritans."
Pastor Paul Washer Reviews and Recommends
the Puritan Hard Drive
"In the history of extra-biblical study and research tools there has never before been a resource as useful as the Puritan Hard Drive."
Pastor Paul Washer, HeartCry Missionary Society
With the Puritan Hard Drive I can now carry one of the largest Puritan and Reformed libraries in my pocket.
No matter where I am, as long as there is some form of power source to operate a computer, I have access to some of the best Puritan and Reformed literature available.
The Puritan Hard Drive is a tremendous blessing. I travel frequently to many parts of the globe. The Puritan Hard Drive allows me to continue my studies on the road with the same depth as when I am seated in my study at home.
The wonderful portability of this massive Puritan library (and remarkable research software) makes the Puritan Hard Drive ideal for missionaries, students, or anyone who needs instant access to the best Reformation study materials in a variety of locations.
There is much more to the Puritan Hard Drive than just convenience, portability and the exceptional quality and extraordinary number of Reformation resources it includes. Even if a minister owned the largest printed Puritan library in the world, he would not be able to properly research the material. However, the KnowledgeBase software on the Puritan Hard Drive provides an effective road map to access the material in ways that are easy-to-use, organized and highly productive. With the click of a button, you can easily do ten hours worth of research in just seconds!
Having the Puritan Hard Drive is like owning the largest Puritan and Reformed Library in the world along with a full time research assistant with his PhD in Puritan Studies from Oxford or Cambridge.
Imagine not only owning the largest Puritan and Reformed library, but having a full-time team of world-class research assistants at your beck and call.
The high level of educational and scholarly functionality, combined with a marvelous library of over 12,500 top Puritan and Reformed resources and an extremely reasonable price, really makes obtaining the Puritan Hard Drive a stewardship issue. It is almost as if God is saying, "Here is a tool that will lead you to more truth faster than ever before. Make the best possible use of it and bring much glory to My Name." (2 Timothy 2:15, Ephesians 5:16).
In the history of extra-biblical study and research tools there has never before been a resource as useful as the Puritan Hard Drive. The immense body of Reformation material (books, MP3s and videos) on the Puritan Hard Drive, along with the phenomenal proprietary software program that is included, makes the Puritan Hard Drive a valuable tool for Reformation in our day.
As a member of the HeartCry Missionary Society, I am witness to the great needs of Christians throughout the globe. Possibly the greatest need is sound Christian literature. Even though many Third World pastors read English, they have very few good books available to them. Even if we could afford to buy each indigenous minister a small library, the cost of shipping would be astronomical. With the Puritan Hard Drive we can provide pastors throughout the globe with one of the most complete Puritan and Reformed libraries at a fraction of the cost.
The Puritan Hard Drive is also ideal for situations where concealment is a priority in countries which are hostile to the Gospel. The Puritan Hard Drive is the most compact way to smuggle the light of over 12,500 Reformation resources (with powerful study software) into the spiritual darkness of those nations that are in most need of Gospel truth.
- Paul Washer - HeartCry Missionary Society https://www.heartcrymissionary.com/
Dr. Joel R. Beeke Reviews and Recommends
the Puritan Hard Drive
Dr. Joel R. Beeke, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
The Puritan Hard Drive is a massive collection of primary Puritan resources, dozens of which are very hard to find anywhere else in the world.
Any lover of Puritan literature, which, more than any other body of literature ever written, powerfully expands our minds, convicts our consciences, allures our hearts, and moves our hands, will find a treasure trove here.
- Dr. Joel R. Beeke, President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary https://puritanseminary.org/, Author of many important Reformed books (including the must read, Meet the Puritans: With A Guide to Modern Reprints, https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/Meet-the-Puritans.html), Editorial Director at Reformation Heritage Books, Editor of the Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth magazine and Pastor of Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
To obtain free Reformation books, Puritan MP3s and Calvinistic videos, SWRB discount coupons, etc., add yourself to SWRB's Puritan and Reformed email list by using the form above.


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Google is set to enable US customers of its Android Market to pay for apps through their monthly phone bill.
The search giant announced changes to its Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) that will introduce new methods of payment for buying applications, technology news website Softpedia has reported.
Writing on the Android blog last week, Tim Bray wrote: "Please note that we have updated the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA). This is in preparation for some work we're doing on introducing new payment options, which we think developers will like."
He added: "In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to highlight the changes:
- In Section 13.1, "authorised carriers" have been added as an indemnified party.
- Section 13.2 is new in its entirety, covering indemnity for payment processors for claims related to tax accrual."
The "authorised carriers" option will enable users to buy an application and pay for it through carrier billing.
The new payment option is expected to be made available by August and Google has offered its existing publishers "30 days to sign into the Android Market developer console to accept the new terms."
Currently, only T-Mobile USA has agreed to the changes.


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Yesterday we spoke to Dos Caminos chef Ivy Stark about her new cookbook, Dos Caminos Mexican Street Food, now available on Amazon (it officially hits stores next week). Today we shift gears somewhat as Ivy tells us what foods she'll be making for Day of the Dead and as she reveals her ideal New York City food crawl.
Many people still say you can't find good Mexican food in New York City. What would you say to them?
I would say that's absolutely not true. Lots of restaurants are doing great authentic food. Out West, there's been a longer tradition of Mexican cuisine because of the population, but New York City has come a long way in the past 10 to 15 years.
Do you think that's because the perception of Mexican cuisine has changed?
Absolutely. It's getting to be where Italian food was a while back. It started as red-sauce spaghetti joints with checkered tablecloths, and Mexican food is getting that way. People are also getting more adventurous and trying new things.
Day of the Dead is coming up soon and you're doing a cooking class at Dos Caminos Park Avenue. What are some of the dishes popular for the holiday?
Mexicans always make mole for celebrations because it's a long and complicated process. You prepare the favorite dishes of ones who's passed on. So we'll do mole negro and short ribs. Huitlacoche is in season now, too, so that, and tamales are a favorite. And candied pumpkin sundaes, because candied pumpkin is placed on the altar.
What do you do when you aren't working?
I watch baseball. I'm a big Yankee fan, so all summer long I'm at the stadium. Or hanging out with my dogs, and eating out and seeing friends. Or cooking.
What do you cook for your "home alone" dinner?
Home-alone dinner is usually pasta 'cause I can go to the grocery and find beautiful vegetables.
If you had a free day in New York City, what would your ideal food crawl be?
Wow, a full day free? That would be great! My food crawl … let's see. I'd go to Balthazar for breakfast and have a pain au chocolat and then a nice long lunch at Lupa with delicious wine and go back to my neighborhood in Brooklyn and have a lovely dinner at Vinegar Hill House.
This article from the Village Voice Archive was posted on October 19, 2011


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Someone who offers a coffee to the person next to me but doesn't offer me a coffee.
Someone who says hello to all attendees, except me.
Someone I know who ignores me when I encounter him in the street.
Do you sometimes feel like you are invisible?
Next time, I will firmly say: "I would gladly have a coffee". Even if I don't feel like having a cup of coffee. Just to make this churlish person understand his impoliteness and remind him that I exist.


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Balance Bikes
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Scare Up Some Deals: Steam's Halloween Sale
Are you ready to be SHOCKED? DISGUSTED? TERRIFIED? OK then, here goes: Steam is having a sale. Whoa, what was that? Lightning flashing? The dead rising? A flock of spoooooooky bats getting caught in a plane engine? Whatever just happened, I'm sure you never saw it coming – much like Valve's sales. Nobody ever knows precisely and exactly when or where they'll strike next, nor do they mark their calendars and preserve their piggy banks for it. It's all mystery, all unknown, all white-hot, gut-mashing fear. As soon as you finish recovering from your 666 simultaneous heart attacks, you might consider perusing the hacked, slashed, and bifurcated prices, which include the likes of Outlast, both Amnesias, DmC Devil May Cry, Natural Selection II, Dead Space(s), Don't Starve, and heaps of others.
It's a simpler sale than Steam's typical fare, with a massive pile of games discounted until November 1st. No rotating daily deals, no meta-games, no badges, no voting. Probably expect all of that to make a triumphant and predictable return sometime next month.
This sale's still pretty sizable, though. Over 150 games are discounted, and a few are even fairly recent releases. Standouts include those mentioned above, Rise of the Triad, Sleeping Dogs, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Ultimate Edition, Darksiders II (at 80 percent off), Brutal Legend, every FEAR game for hardly anything, and criminally underrated (probably due to its awful name) clone puzzler The Swapper.
Go have a look for yourself. It's not Steam's strongest effort by any means, but there are still a decent many treats nestled among the horrors. So then, what're ya boiyin'?


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How to get rid of them pesky fruit flies:
Ms Julie's Cootie Catcher*
Seems every time I bring in some 'maters, bananas, onions or mangoes into the kitchen, I find a whole gaggle of fruit flies buzzin' around. You, too?
Well, ya can try swattin'em but yer most likely just gonna pull somethin'. Ya can try sprayin' but yer probably just gonna choke the mule. So, here's a simple, cheap and effective way to git rid of them pesky buggers. Yeah, it really is this easy and really works!
1. Next time ya finish a jar of moonshine, fill about a quarter of the jar with APPLE CIDER VINEGAR.
2. Roll a piece of paper into a cone (make sure ya got about a penny size opening on the skinny end).
3. Place the cone in the jar (make sure the cone ain't dippin' into the vinegar).
4. Place the jar by yer fruits and vegetables (the eatin' kind, not yer cousins).
That's it. The flies like that vinegar and will crawl down the cone, into the jar, and can't get out! After ya caught yerself a mess of flies, carry the jar outside, pull out the cone and release'em back into the wild (just make sure ya closed the door so they don't go back inside).
Oh, make sure ya change the vinegar every day or two ta keep it fresh and fruity.
*Cooties may very by State. Not guaranteed to work on Boy Cooties, Girl Cooties, Bed Cooties, Couch Cooties, Shoe Cooties, or Cooties that enter the USA in foreign packing crates. Use only as directed. Member FDIC.


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Readers are loving the third volume in Linore's regency series from Harvest House Publishers,The Country House Courtship in which
a young regency miss runs into conflict when her heart's desires concerning a husband run counter to what her mind says is best.
It is 1818 and Miss Beatrice Forsythe is determined to marry well. After all, her sister married the Paragon, Mr. Phillip Mornay, five years earlier–which all but guarantees that she, Beatrice, can also make a famous match to a wealthy man.
But her sister and husband have disappeared from high society as they raise a family at their country estate.
Can Beatrice persuade them to chaperone her in London?
Meanwhile an old acquaintance, Mr. Peter O'Brien shows up at the house as the candidate for a vicarage to which Mr. Mornay holds the rights. Will old passions and jealousies be revived? Or can Mr. O'Brien and the Mornays ever live near each other as friends? And what about Beatrice's rash promise to marry the curate, made years earlier? At seventeen now, she has no wish to marry a mere clergyman–despite his agreeable countenance and winsome gentle ways.
When Mr. Tristan Barton comes on the scene as the tenant of the Manor House, Beatrice's hopes seem to have found their object. But when Ariana falls gravely ill, secrets come to light, motives are revealed, and the pretences that are easy to keep up in the sunlight begin to crumble. Hearts are bared, truths uncovered, and when all is said and done, a country house courtship like no other has occurred!


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It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh accomplishes nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63 ISV)
Do you notice that whenever the Spirit is mentioned the Spirit is related to Life? Life, then, is a matter of righteousness. The "ministration of righteousness" means the ministration of Life, or the standing in Life with an unveiled face, without fear of condemnation, or judgment. It is most important to recognize this truth. It is elementary. It is one of the first things of our faith. It may sound technical, but the Lord's people need instruction. It is good to have exhortation; it is good that we should have testimony; it is good that from time to time the Word of the Lord should come to us in the fullness of a proclamation, but as the Lord's people we also need sound instruction, foundation in the truth.
There are today a great number of the Lord's people who are finding it well nigh impossible to stand their ground because their foundation is not solid. After all, their relationship to the Lord has been very largely an emotional one, one of ecstasy, and when it comes to sounding the foundation of truth, they are not well grounded; when the enemy comes, and the storms beat upon them, they do not know where they are. When the ecstasies and the emotions and all the more superficial elements in our salvation are brought under the stress of terrific opposition; when in addition to that the enemy lays on his accusations, then the foundations are discovered, and many, many breakdown. It is not that they are lost, if they have trusted the Lord, but, so far as their enjoyment of their salvation is concerned, they lose it. So it is necessary for us to be thoroughly instructed in the Word, and this is one of the things about which we must be perfectly clear in heart and mind, and assured in spirit, that Life, with all that it means - the Life of an unveiled fellowship with the Lord, the Life which in itself sets forth victory over death and the abolishing of condemnation - that Life is rooted in righteousness, a ministration of righteousness. It must be possible for us to say with perfect assurance and confidence before God: "Lord, what I am as apart from Christ is one thing; what I am by faith's union with Christ is that I am righteous with Thine own righteousness; I cannot be destroyed, I cannot come under condemnation!" You can challenge God on that ground, if we may so speak. God invites us to test Him on that ground.
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Frisco's Rua Wins Texas League Home Run Derby
Ryan Rua, of the Frisco Rough Riders, did his best to dispel the reputation of Dickey-Stephens Park as a pitcher's park as he hit 16 home runs in winning the Home Run Derby prior to the 2014 Texas League All-Star game.
The first participant in the contest, Rua hit one ball off of the giant scoreboard in left field and three other balls onto Willow Street beyond the scoreboard.
"That was a good round to start the night," said former Major Leaguer and Arkansas Traveler Rick Ankiel, who served as the honorary captain for the North Team during the derby. "He really set the bar pretty high."
Harold Riggins, of the Tulsa Drillers, was the second contestant in the Derby. He finished with four home runs, but did have the longest ball of the night, as he blasted his third home run over the net above the center field wall. The blast was estimated to travel nearly 460 feet.
Midland's Max Muncy was the second member of the South Team and he tied Rua in the first round with eight home runs.
"I am real proud of both of these guys," said Ryan Klesko, the former Major League All-Star who served as the honorary captain for the South Team about Rua and Muncy. "I just tried to help them relax and slow things down. Don't be in a rush. One of the hardest things for all of these guys was hitting without the batting shell. They hit with that thing around them each night, and getting used to it not being there is tough. My first time in one of these things I think I hit one. I stunk. These guys did great."
Cody Stanley, the Springfield Cardinal who was the MVP of the Texas League All-Star Game, managed one long ball during the Home Run Derby. He had the only home run in the game itself, which proved to be the game-winner.
Ankiel and Klesko each also took a turn at the plate for their respective teams. Ankiel, who played for the Travelers in 1999, finished with six home runs, while Klesko hit four.
Rua's eight home runs in the finals topped Muncy who finished with four.
"This was a great night," said the Amherst, Ohio native. "I had fun. The weather was perfect. The wind was blowing out. I was trying not to embarrass myself. The fans and everybody here made it a perfect night."
There were a number of targets placed throughout the field, with dollar amounts on them. If hit during the derby, the Arkansas Travelers would have donated the specified amount to the United Way. None of the targets were hit, but the Travelers will still make a donation in the amount of $1,100.
- travs.com -


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If you wish to add an extra level of security for control of your Mevo, you can set a password to access it within the app. This would be in addition to setting a password for the hotspot.
Navigate to your settings, then tap the Mevo Settings menu.
Tap Password.
Toggle the Require Password switch on. You can also choose whether the mobile device you are using remembers the password so that you don't need to enter the password every time you attempt to connect to Mevo with the same mobile device.
Enter and re-enter your desired password. The password must be a minimum of eight characters. Then tap Set.
Now a password has been set. On the Mevo connection screen, you will notice a LOCKED message at the top of the connection card. When you tap Connect, you will need to enter the password you set to access your Mevo.


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So that was 2012, the year of the Dragon, a year of change. Well, the world didn't end, but for many including myself a new chapter of life began. Last year was certainly a busy, interesting and highly enjoyable journey! All that I hoped for happened and lots that I could never have anticipated.
My goal for 2012 was to build Moel Faban Suppers into a business with a good reputation and one that paid the bills. A simple wish really and something I have worked hard to make happen. It was a slow and inauspicious start. January was quiet and I worried that work wasn't coming in. Had I made a mistake believing I could build a business in a recession? I fretted a lot as we lived a very frugal family life. I hadn't anticipated how quiet the month would be and I cursed myself for not saving more the previous year.
There were odd moments of fun though as we hosted our first ever Sunday brunch which was a great success and I indulged in a bit of sausage making with my local butcher. I also had more time to cook and develop recipes and I had three summer wedding bookings to plan for.
By February and March things started to pick up. The local produce market and supper club restarted with a St. Patrick's Day dinner. I also had a few nice private chef jobs and demo's booked in. One was for nine very lovely firemen, while one of my demo's was in a local secondary school. Following on from this Big Ideas Wales contacted me and asked if I would like to join their list of Dynamo Role Models. I did and so now I go out to schools and colleges in the area to talk to students about entrepreneurship and starting a business.
I still had just about enough time to visit some of my local producers; The Mushroom Garden were kind enough to sponsor a competition.
April saw the arrival of lots of goodies in the post. It was like Christmas all over again as I spent the month creating recipes and reviewing products for the blog. From Montezuma and Green and Blacks chocolate to Rachel's Organic Yogurt and Clipper teas, my family and friends enjoyed being recipe testers. I also got out and about visiting various foodie destinations; a trip to Brixton Market and lunch with French and Grace and a visit to The Real Food Market at the South Bank.
By May the festival and wedding season arrived with a vengeance. I didn't know it at the time but the Spanish supper club held early in the month would be our last for the year, but all of a sudden weddings just took over. As well as the three bookings I already had, I received another two. One for last-minute canapes and another mercifully for later in the year.
I zoomed into another frenetic gear as the first of five weddings arrived. This was rather too closely followed by a food stall at Kaya Festival that coincided with the Jubilee weekend, a teaching trip to Germany and another three weddings on consecutive weekends. At the end I was fit to drop. It was a fantastic learning curve and I hope I did justice to each wedding despite my relative lack of experience. I know that at three of the weddings my team got a special thank you and round of applause for the food which totally made our day! This year I will remember that two weddings a month is more than enough for me!
I took no bookings for July as I intended to take a long family holiday. I did manage a week in Ireland but out of the blue I received an email from Kerstin Rogers (AKA ms marmite lover). She and Alex Haw of Latitudinal Cuisine had joined forces to host an event that coincided with the Olympics. Global Feast 2012 was a kind of food olympics, held over 20 consecutive nights and with a different chef/world cuisine each night and seated around an amazing world map table designed by Alex's Atmos design team.
Alex and Kerstin were looking for supper club hosts and up and coming chefs to cook on each night. They asked me to cook on British food night, serving dishes that represented the best of Wales. I made tiny tarts as canapes and crammed as many Welsh products into my dessert as I could manage!
This was one of my best experiences of the year. I was buzzing before, during and after it. Stressful as it was, I loved every minute of it. It gave me the opportunity to meet other supper club hosts and chefs and work on a unique collaborative project. I knew then that I wanted to do more pop-up events (and later in the year I did exactly that!)
I was back home a week before I hit the road again, this time to cook at The Green Man festival for the second year running. A new assistant accompanied me this year, lovely Lizzie, who became the fried egg queen and serial washer upper and we were all sad when our ten-day opening stint came to an end. On the out my sister Kate (freelance photographer and art blogger at exporingartinthecity) helped but this may well be her last year as she heads for new horizons.
As we headed into the Autumn more cookery demo's and my last wedding of the year awaited. Conwy Feast and Moelyci Harvest Festival were highlights, topped only by the five stars awarded me at my environmental health inspection. Its likely I am the only five-star domestic property in the vicinity!
My wish for more pop-up events came true in December with a three course, 1930's German themed cabaret supper. Tickets for the collaborative Weimar Productions event sold out. Guests came clad in their 1930's finery and we Charlestoned the night away to some absolutely fantastic music. It really did cap a wonderful year.
So now we are back in January and like last year it is quiet. This time I'm ready. I have jobs a plenty to keep me busy; lots of paperwork (yuk, but it has to be done!) and planning and organising for the rest of the year. It's nice to have a clear month to think about what I want to focus on and where I need some help. More weddings, festivals and more private jobs are on the horizon so there will probably be a few additions to the Moel Faban team, but I also want to get back to basics. Supper club is where I started and I don't want to let that go despite having a very quiet year.
Dinners will therefore restart on January 26th and we will return to small events for up to eight people at £25 a head. The last Saturday of the month will become a regular slot with the produce market taking place on the second Saturday of the month. I'm also hoping to make a return to selling jam and chutney as that has fallen by the wayside this year.
For now though all I can say is happy new year and I look forward to seeing some of you in my home, at the market or elsewhere….


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Socceroos remain quietly confident for World Cup chances
AS IF if facing 2010 World Cup finalists Spain and the Netherlands in Group B wasn't enough, Australia will open its campaign tomorrow morning in Brazil against a team rated by former Socceroos star Harry Kewell as the "dark horse" to win the tournament.
Under new coach Ange Postecoglou, the Socceroos were the first team to arrive in Brazil and have been put through an exhausting build-up to ensure they are not caught out in the opening game as they were four years ago in South Africa when humbled 4-0 by Germany.
Despite having a new-look line-up under the new boss, the Aussies showed they had improved significantly on disastrous back-to-back 6-0 defeats at the hands of Brazil and France late last year when they went down 1-0 to Croatia last weekend.
As well as a new coach, the team has a new captain, 25-year-old Crystal Palace skipper Mile Jedinak (pictured).
He admitted the team would go in to the tournament as heavy underdogs, but said he was confident of a strong showing.
"We've been working very hard over the last few weeks to better the understanding amongst us in the defence and midfield in particular," Jedinak said.
"Against Croatia there were a lot of good signs and I think the defensive structure is pretty good.
"We're going into these games as the underdogs and that's fine by us. Within the camp and the group there's still a lot of belief that we could go out there and surprise people."
The defence may have been good against Croatia, but creating opportunities for star striker Tim Cahill was a problem.
Australia's greatest international goal scorer said he was confident the inclusion of midfielder Mark Bresciano in the starting line-up against Chile would significantly improve the team's attack.
"The way Mark Bresciano has been training, I feel that he looks confident," he said.
Like Australia, Chile also ended its qualifying campaign with a different coach to the one it started with.
Argentine Claudio Borghi was dumped after three consecutive losses, replaced by compatriot Jorge Sampaoli who has brought a very attacking philosophy to the team, so much so that its 29-goal haul during qualification was bettered by only one other country.
On the other hand it has also conceded more goals (25) than any of South America's other automatic qualifiers, giving the Socceroos hope that they may be able to expose a perceived lack of pace at the back.
So while Australia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament at 62, is considered by many to be just making up the numbers, Jedinak had two words for the doubters: "We believe".
Possible Australia line-up: Mat Ryan, Ivan Franjic, Matthew Spiranovic, Alex Wilkinson, Jason Davidson, Mark Milligan, Mile Jedinak (c), Mark Bresciano, Ben Halloran, Tim Cahill, Tommy Oar.
Possible Chile line-up: Claudio Bravo (c), Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara, Eugenio Mena, Arturo Vidal, Jean Beausejour, Marcelo Diaz, Alexis Sanchez, Eduardo Vargas, Mauricio Pinilla.
Australia v Chile in Cuiaba, kick-off at 8am Saturday morning (AEST).


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It's the words ... "Right to Exist" is not an acceptable phrase.
Reader comment on item: Israel Does Not Need Palestinian Recognition?
Submitted by Sofa Sogood (United States), Dec 8, 2007 at 22:42
It's the words ... "Right to Exist" ...
I don't recall ever hearing this phrase used regarding any other nation -- whether in fact their existence was threatened or not. Certainly it was not demanded that Saddam recognize Kuwait's "Right to Exist."
Use of this phrase is demeaning and reflects onto the citizens themselves. It's too reminiscent of Shylock's pathetic pleading to be considered human -- "If you cut us do we not bleed?"
Nations exist or they don't. People exist or they don't. Those are facts not "rights," recognizable, acceptable or debatable. There is no need for the word "right" regarding "existence."
Recognition is the usual term. Palestinians must "recognize" the Nation of Israel -- as a Jewish State. Palestinians must "Accept" Israel as a Jewish State. Almost any other way of expressing the meaning of this would be ok.
"Right to Exist" is more than insulting.
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".
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Sales tax changes accelerated this year
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Hundreds of localities and one state made 335 changes in their standard sales tax rate in the first half of 2019, a 5 percent increase from the same period last year, according to a new report.
The report, from the tax technology provider Vertex, pointed out there have been 6,230 new and changed standard sales and use tax rates over the past 10 years. However, there was only change in a state sales tax rate this year. Starting April 1, Utah increased its rate from 4.700 percent to 4.850 percent.
Nevertheless, more states are re-examining their tax rates and tax laws in the wake of the 2017 tax overhaul and the Supreme Court's decision in the Wayfair case last year. "The notable increase in standard sales tax rates was primarily due to the addition of new district taxes in California, as well as the creation of seven new taxing counties in various other states," said Bernadette Pinamont, Vertex vice president of tax research, in a statement. "This surge in taxing jurisdictions is not surprising as more districts and counties continue to look for ways to increase tax revenue. The rise in rate changes, coupled with the states' enactment of sales tax nexus thresholds for remote sellers and marketplace facilitators, continues to add to the complexity of the U.S. indirect tax landscape."
The combined national sales tax rates average increased slightly to 10.0941 percent, from 10.0363 percent, for the same period in 2018, according to the report. Vertex also found that Puerto Rico maintains the highest state sales tax rate at 10.500 percent. Indiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Tennessee had the second highest state sales tax rates of 7.00 percent.
In terms of local taxes, Kodiak, Nome and Wrangell, all in Alaska, and Winter Park, Colorado, have the highest city sales tax rate at 7.000 percent. Hoonah, Klawock and Selawik, all in Alaska, have the second highest rate of 6.500 percent. All areas located within the Coconino County region of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona have the highest combined sales tax rate of 12.900 percent. This includes Tuba City (including the surrounding areas that are in the To'Nanees'Dizi local government).
The report also pointed to the changing tax rates across jurisdictions over the past decade. There have been 2,363 new standard sales and use taxes, an average of 225 per year; 3,867 standard sales and use tax changes, an average of 368 per year; and 6,230 standard new and changed sales and use tax rates, an average of 593 per year.


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Diego Maradona Signs with Belarus Football Team
Diego Maradona is widely believed to be one of the best football players ever. He helped lead Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup. But like many former star players of the sport known as soccer in the United States, he has not done as well as a coach.
Last month, the 57-year-old from Argentina stepped down as coach of a football team in the United Arab Emirates. He also coached the Argentina national team from 2008-2010.
Now, the 1986 World Cup champion has moved on to Belarus.
This week, Maradona joined the Dynamo Brest football club in the Belarusian Premier League. However, he serves as the club chairman and not as a coach.
In a statement on their website in May, the club said, "Diego Maradona will supervise areas of the club's strategic development and also cooperate with its structural departments, including the Academy of Dynamo Brest."
Maradona thanked the club in a post on the social media website Instagram. He published a photograph of himself with his new contract, seated on a white leather couch with a Belarusian flag over it.
Dynamo Brest has won the Belarus Cup twice in 2007 and 2017. They also won the country's Super Cup this year. The team placed fourth in last year's national championship.
Soccer observers were surprised by the former soccer great's decision.
Manuel Veth, editor in chief of the Futbolgrad website, expressed his surprise on Twitter.
Others on social media expressed surprise and happiness over the news.
Maradona is ours! one user from Brest wrote on Twitter.
Lost for words, Sergey Erm wrote on Facebook.
Sergey Erm在Facebook网站上写道:"无以言表。"
As a player, Maradona may be most remembered for his "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
He was thrown out of the 1994 World Cup in the United States after failing a drug test. Drug abuse and weight issues have troubled him since his playing days.
Maradona has befriended controversial leaders as well, including Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. In 2017, Maradona met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he said "can bring peace to many in this world."
马拉多纳和一些有争议的领袖成了好友,包括古巴的菲德尔·卡斯特罗和委内瑞拉的乌戈·查韦斯。 2017年,马拉多纳会见了俄罗斯总统普京,并称普京"能给这个世界上的很多人带来和平。"
I'm Jonathan Evans.


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Playing video games for a short amount of time each day could be good for children's social and psychological wellbeing, according to new research.
Although much negative media coverage has been given to the influence of the more violent aspects of computer games on the development of young people, scientists from the University of Oxford believe playing them for less than one hour every day could in fact have a positive effect on them.
To come to this conclusion, psychologists monitored the development of 5,000 ten to 15-year-olds - 75 per cent of whom played video games every day.
Participants were required to fill out a survey detailing how long they took part in such activities for on a daily basis, before attributing a number rating to a variety of factors, including how satisfied they were with their lives, how well they got on with other young people and whether or not they were likely to help others who were in difficulty. They were also asked about their attention and hyperactivity levels.
It was found those who played computer games for less than an hour each day were most satisfied with their lives and were confident interacting socially, while they also reported fewer emotional problems and lower levels of hyperactivity.
This was even the case when these young people were compared to those who played no video games, indicating it is better to enjoy them for a short time than not at all.
However, children who spent over three hours playing video games each day were nowhere near as well adjusted to life, showing the negative effect too much time spent on such activities can have on a young person's development.
Speaking to the BBC, experimental psychologist Dr Andrew Przybylski commented: 'In a research environment that is often polarised between those who believe games have an extremely beneficial role and those who link them to violent acts, this research could provide a new, more nuanced standpoint.
'Being engaged in video games may give children a common language - and for someone who is not part of this conversation, this might end up cutting the young person off.'
Read the abstract here


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Buying Guide for Purchasing Round Dining Table
Round dining table works well to create the atmosphere of togetherness in a dining room feels stronger. This kind of table also makes all people who are sitting around it can see each other comfortably. Then, you should know which one that fits you best. In order to get the best one, you should consider both the table size and dining room size carefully.
Then, round dining room tables will be better they can provide more about 60 up to 70 cm for each person. The number of the people also determines the proper dimension. Usually, for four people, the diameter of 0.9 to 1.2 m is recommended. Then for four to six people is 1.3 to 1.5 m, for six to eight people is 1.6 to 1.8 m, for eight to ten people is 1.9 to 2.1 m and for ten to twelve is 2.2 to 2.4 m.
Round dining table is also better with the proper and ideal height which is about 71 up to 76 cm. This is the range of ideal height which will allow the users to sit and relax their knees while enjoying their meals. Then, there are many design and style options which are offered so you should choose the suitable ones.
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AHRC Recommendations Response
Our response to the AHRC 'Change the Course' report recommendations
Here's how we're taking action on the nine recommendations made in the on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities.
Recommendation One: Establish an advisory committee
Chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, the Monash Respect. Now. Always Advisory Committee meets quarterly to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the AHRC 'Change the Course' report.
Recommendation Two: Address drivers of sexual assault and harassment
In consultation with students, experts and the community, we're developing and sharing education programs and resources about respectful behaviours and relationships, consent and 'violence supportive attitudes' and bystander intervention.
Recommendation Three: Awareness of support services and reporting processes
We're making sure that we have the right sexual assault and harassment support services in place and these services are clearly communicated to staff and students.
Recommendation Four: Independent review of policies and response pathways
We're commissioning an independent, expert-led review into our misconduct policy, procedures and disciplinary processes, as well as the response pathways in relation to sexual assault and harassment.
Recommendation Five: Training for people most likely to receive disclosures
We're identifying staff and student representatives who are likely to receive disclosures of sexual assault and sexual harassment, and training them in how to appropriately respond.
Recommendation Six: Reporting and continuous improvement of processes
We're reviewing and improving our processes so that appropriate action is taken once a report of sexual assault or sexual harassment is made.
Recommendation Seven: Audit of university counselling services
In 2017, KPMG undertook an audit of Monash's counselling services, and we are now implementing their recommendations.
Recommendation Eight: Regular reporting of sexual assault and sexual harassment
On behalf of all universities, Universities Australia will conduct a National university student survey of sexual assault and sexual harassment every three years.
Recommendation Nine: Review of contributing factors in university residences
We'll support an independent, expert-led review of the factors which contribute to sexual assault and sexual harassment in university residences and residential colleges.


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New York Times best-selling author Kevin Sullivan is featuring a number of extra excerpts that didn't make his "The WWE Championship" book over at Kevinsullivanbooks.com.
His latest features extra quotes with Sgt. Slaughter who talked about his run as WWE Champion being brought back and booked as a heel Iraqi sympathizer.
"It wasn't difficult for me to make the transition. I had left WWE to go work for Hasbro to be a GI Joe. When that contract was over, Vince McMahon called me and said "are you ready to go back to work?" Come to my home tomorrow; I have an idea for you. I was thinking that he was going to take the real American hero to all types of different avenues that have never been reached with Hasbro. I sat down with my family that night and told them it was going to be a big meeting and I'm sure when I get back, we will have all sorts of things to celebrate. When I got to his house, he had the complete opposite idea. He wanted to make me the worst bad guy of all time because he needed an opponent for Hogan for WrestleMania VII. So I listened to what he had to say. He said he wanted me to be an Iraqi sympathizer and side with Saddam and look at the Americans as weak.
Here we are the most powerful country in the world and here's a small country like Iraq pushing them around. It sounded good to me. The more he talked, the more I liked it. He told me to go home and talk to my family because it was going to be pretty rough. I talked to my family that night and they all thought I was crazy. They said it was impossible for Sgt. Slaughter to do that. I said that anything is possible in sports-entertainment. Plus Vince told me that the fans would always forgive you when you ask them to.
So we went for it … I didn't have any particular direction that I was going. Then all of a sudden the ultimate puke and Randy Savage were in a program and Randy was trying to get the title and Randy broke his arm or wrist or hand and so all of a sudden Vince came to me and said I hope you're ready."
Full blog post:


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Join MACOM at Mobile World Congress 2019 to Learn More About our 5G Portfolio
LOWELL, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MACOM
Technology Solutions Inc. ("MACOM") will attend Mobile
World Congress 2019, February 25th-28th at the
Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain.
To help carriers meet the explosive traffic demand for 5G
Communications, MACOM is enabling the next generation of 5G Wireless
Networking and Infrastructure Deployments with a broad portfolio
spanning RF power amplifiers, RF Switches and LNA's to a full suite of
millimeterwave components, optical and photonic semiconductors. MACOM is
helping carriers deliver not only their traffic growth requirements, but
also helping them to solve their size, weight, power and cost challenges.
MACOM is providing the requisite wideband performance, multiband
operation and spectral efficiency for the next generation of wireless
deployments. MACOM offers highly efficient and broadband RF Power
amplifiers, integrated Tx and Rx FEM modules and discrete products, plus
optical and photonic components for backhaul and fronthaul, leveraging
industry leading GaN-on-Silicon, AlGaAs, Indium Phosphide and Etched
Facet Technologies.
Make an appointment to meet with MACOM experts in Barcelona's premier
venue, the Fira Gran Via, Hall 8.1, Meeting Room #CC8.15 to learn
more about:
The Trusted Name in High-Performance RF Components: Showcasing
MACOM's high-performance portfolio serving diverse markets, including
wireless infrastructure and networking, radar, and high speed optical
Enabling the Next Generation of Wireless Basestations:
Cutting-edge GaN-on-Si Integrated Doherty Power Amplifiers for M-MIMO
and high-power Macro Basestations
Front-End Modules (FEMs): Delivering performance, size and
reliability for wireless networking leveraging proprietary switching
technology and integration
Application Support: MACOM's unparalleled customer support
leverages decades of experience to solve complex problems
Cross Reference Tools: MACOM's cross reference tools will
assist in finding MACOM products that are a substitute or alternate
replacement to other manufacturers
Members of MACOM's product management, engineering and applications
teams will be available by appointment throughout the show. To make an
appointment, please contact your local MACOM sales representative.
Show Information:
Location: Fira Gran Via, Barcelona
- Monday, February 25th: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Tuesday, February 26th: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Wednesday, February 27th: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Thursday, February 28th: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
For more information about Mobile World Congress, visit: https://www.mwcbarcelona.com
MACOM enables a better-connected and safer world by delivering
breakthrough semiconductor technologies for optical, wireless and
satellite networks that satisfy society's insatiable demand for
Today, MACOM powers the infrastructure that millions of lives and
livelihoods depend on every minute to communicate, transact business,
travel, stay informed and be entertained. Our technology increases the
speed and coverage of the mobile Internet and enables fiber optic
networks to carry previously unimaginable volumes of traffic to
businesses, homes and datacenters.
Keeping us all safe, MACOM technology enables next-generation radars for
air traffic control and weather forecasting, as well as mission success
on the modern networked battlefield. MACOM is the partner of choice to
the world's leading communications infrastructure, aerospace and defense
companies, helping solve their most complex challenges in areas
including network capacity, signal coverage, energy efficiency and field
reliability, through its best-in-class team and broad portfolio of
analog RF, microwave, millimeterwave and photonic semiconductor products.
MACOM is a pillar of the semiconductor industry, thriving for more than
60 years of daring to change the world for the better, through bold
technological strokes that deliver true competitive advantage to
customers and superior value to investors.
Headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, MACOM is certified to the
ISO9001 international quality standard and ISO14001 environmental
management standard. MACOM has design centers and sales offices
throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
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Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings
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Conditions for Quotation of Sale, a copy of which may be found at: http://www.macom.com/partner-login
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Ozzie Billimoria
MACOM Technology
Solutions Inc.
Rainier Communications
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embedded PR
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text:
At Settoon Towing, we recognize and appreciate the critical importance of responsible behavior in every facet of our operations, particularly in the areas of health, safety and environmental awareness. To this end, we have developed and put in place policies and procedures dedicated to the health and safety of our employees, the safeguarding of our customers' cargoes and protection of the environment.
With this in mind, our programs are designed and our employees trained to understand the importance of preventative measures needed to minimize, if not eliminate, any possibility of accidents. Our safety record is exemplary, and we proudly regard our employees, from the crewmen to the staff who support them, as among the most safety-minded in the industry.
Home | Site Map | Search Site | About Us | Services | Equipment | Safety & Environmental | Employment | Contact Us
© Copyright 2020, Settoon Towing LLC. All rights reserved.


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If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman's book American Gods and have started watching the new series on Starz, maybe you feel like you want even more (and you've already re-read American Gods and also Anansi Boys). We understand. We're here to feed your need.
If you love the subplots of American Gods, you might enjoy Saffron and Brimstone, a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Hand. Replete with angels of death, nightmares and supernatural tattoos, Hand's stories will transport you (or at the very least, make for some interesting reading). Saffron and Brimstone
Or perhaps you'd like The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson. Time traveling goddess with magical powers? Check. incredible storytelling and prose? Check. Award-winning author? Check! The Salt Roads
And, if you're really up for a book to turn your brain completely around, be bold and reach for Kraken by China Mieville. Doomsday cults, forgotten gods, and a missing giant squid (yes, you read that right). Mieville's rich use of language will have you reaching for your dictionary, but you can't deny that this is incredible (and incredibly creative) storytelling. Kraken
We also have plenty of books on mythology in the Library if you find yourself wondering just who Mr. Wednesday might be (or if you're just feeling inspired and want to learn as much as you can). Ask our friendly staff and we'll be happy to show you!


text: Home Theater & Entertainment TV & Displays 111 111 people found this article helpful What's the Difference Between Digital TV and HDTV? Sorting out the state of digital TV broadcasting by Robert Silva Writer Robert Silva has written about audio, video, and home theater topics since 1998. Robert has written for Dishinfo.com, and made appearances on the YouTube series Home Theater Geeks. our editorial process Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Robert Silva Updated on September 11, 2020 TV & Displays Samsung Projectors Antennas HDMI & Connections Remote Controls Tweet Share Email The implementation of DTV (digital television) and HDTV (high-definition television) broadcasting in 2009 via the DTV transition changed how television content is broadcast to and accessed by consumers in the U.S. It's also given rise to an alphabet soup of terms — among them, DTV and HDTV. All HDTV Broadcasting Is DTV, but Not All DTV Broadcasting Is HDTV The same bandwidth allocated for DTV broadcasting can be used to supply multiple standard resolution digital channels (SDTV) and other services, or to transmit one or two full HDTV signals. The Advanced Standards Television Committee (ATSC) made 18 different resolution formats available for digital TV broadcasting, and all built-in and external digital TV tuners are required to decode all 18 formats. The practical application of DTV broadcasting, however, has come down to just three resolutions: 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Courtesy of Walmart 480p (SDTV) The 480p resolution of SDTV (standard-definition television) is similar to that of analog broadcast TV but is transmitted digitally (DTV). The image is made up of 480 lines or pixel rows of resolution scanned progressively, rather than in alternate fields as in analog TV transmission. This provides a good picture, especially on smaller 19- to 29-inch screens. It's much more film-like than standard cable or even standard DVD output, but it provides only half the potential video quality of an HDTV picture. This means that its effectiveness is lessened on large screen sets (TVs with screen sizes 32 inches and up). Although 480p is part of the approved DTV broadcasting standards, it is not HDTV. It was included to give broadcasters the option of providing multiple channels of programming and services within the same channel bandwidth allocation as a single HDTV signal. It's similar to what you would see in an analog TV signal, with a slight increase in image quality. Image via Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain 720p Another DTV format, 720p (720 lines of resolution scanned progressively) is also considered HDTV. ABC and FOX use 720p as their HDTV broadcasting standard. This resolution provides a smooth, film-like image due to its progressive scan implementation, and image detail is at least 30 percent sharper than 480p. It provides an acceptable image upgrade for medium (32- to 39-inch) and larger screens. Also, even though 720p is considered high-definition, it takes up less bandwidth than 1080i, which is covered next. 1080i The most commonly used HDTV format for over-the-air TV broadcasting is1080i (1,080 lines of resolution scanned in alternate fields of 540 lines each). PBS, NBC, CBS, and CW (as well as satellite programmers TNT, Showtime, HBO, and other pay services) use it as their HDTV broadcast standard. Although there is still debate as to whether 1080i is that much better than 720p in actual viewer perception, 1080i technically provides the most detailed image of all the 18 approved DTV broadcast standards. The visual impact of 1080i, however, is lost on screen sets smaller than 32 inches. Here some additional 1080i facts: 1080i takes up the most bandwidth of all the DTV broadcast formats.1080i is an interlaced signal. The image signal is made up of alternating lines or pixel rows instead of progressive lines or rows as in 480p and 720p.1080i cannot be displayed in its real form on an LCD, OLED, Plasma, or DLP TV. To display 1080i signals, those types of sets have to convert the 1080i signal to 720p or 1080p. If you have a 1080p LCD, OLED, plasma, or DLP TV, it will deinterlace the 1080i signal and display it as a 1080p image. This process, if done well, removes all visible scan lines from the interlaced 1080i image, resulting in very smooth edges. By the same token, if you have a 720p HDTV, your TV will deinterlace and downscale the 1080i image to 720p for screen display. Here's what all those acronyms mean:LCD: liquid crystal displayOLED: organic light-emitting diodeDLP: digital light processingHDTV: high-definition televisionDTV: digital televisionSDTV: standard-definition television What About 1080p? Although 1080p is used for Blu-ray, cable, and Internet streaming, it is not used in over-the-air TV broadcasting. The reason is that, when DTV broadcast standards were approved, 1080p was not initially included. Image via Sony More to Come: 4K and 8K Although DTV broadcasting is the current standard, the next round of standards includes 4K resolution; farther down the road, we'll see 8K. Initially, the industry's position was that broadcasting 4K and 8K resolution over the air would not be possible because of the huge bandwidth requirements. Ongoing testing, however, has resulted in refined video compression and other technologies that work with a minimal increase in bandwidth. The new standards that will include 4K are referred to as ATSC 3.0 or NextGen TV broadcasting. As TV stations make the necessary equipment and transmission upgrades, and TV makers start incorporating new tuners into TVs and plug-in set-top boxes, consumers will be able to access 4K TV transmissions. However, unlike the hard date that was required to transition from analog to digital/HDTV broadcasting, the transition to 4K will be slow and is voluntary as of right now. The implementation of 4K TV broadcasting is definitely lagging behind other methods of accessing 4K content, such as through internet streaming services, including Netflix and Vudu, as well as via the physical Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc format. DirecTV also offers limited 4K satellite feeds. Meanwhile, although the major effort is to bring 4K to TV broadcasting, Japan is also pushing ahead with its 8K Super Hi-Vision TV Broadcasting format, which also includes up to 22.2-channel audio. Super Hi-Vision has been in testing for well over a decade and is expected to be fully ready for wide use by 2020, pending final standards approval. Just when 8K TV broadcasts will available on a wide basis, however, is anybody's guess. 4K TV broadcasting will still not be fully implemented in 2020, so making another jump to 8K is probably another decade away, The first 8K TVs are just beginning to be made available. Of course, there needs to 8K content to watch, and TV broadcasters would have to make major equipment investments.


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Although I am more of a September lover, I will not deny that February 14th is also a special day. With the help of some motivation I acquired from this special day, I prepared a scene where a bunch of heart-shaped 'valentine' cushions are hanging. I created four different cushion models using Marvelous Designer to avoid repetition (I did not want to lose the uniformity so the differences were actually quite subtle). I played with the pressure and elasticity options until I got my desired result.
After the modeling process, I imported the cushions as OBJ files and assigned UVW unwrap modifier for the textures to fit just fine. I created the stripes using Max's checker texture and the heart/bitten heart texture using Illustrator and Photoshop. I created several multi/sub-object materials which consisted of three velvet materials with falloff maps assigned to their diffuse slots.
For the background cushions I used MultiScatter, an extremely versatile tool in scattering objects both in 2D and 3D environments.
For the post production, I created a VRayZdepth map and added it to the alpha channel on the image in Photoshop to get the lens blur effect I desired.
Hope you'll enjoy it !


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Drafting changes the rules of the game at the weekly Saturday races!
Beta feature, will be enabled every weekend on Saturday DRAFTING SERIES!
Choose your team leader and set a right team strategy. It is no longer only about the power but about your tactical skills as well.
How to register to the race?
Ensure your spot on the starting line by registering to the race TODAY!
All of the ROUVY adventures start in your ROUVY profile.
Follow the steps to below to the best Augmented Reality experience:
Register for the race by using the link below
Make sure you DOWNLOAD the route ahead of the race - preferably 1 hour ahead of the race
Open the ROUVY AR App and go to ONLINE RACE Select MY RACES, if you have already registered as per the first step
Hit the START button and warm up before the race
Register here: https://my.rouvy.com/onlinerace/live/34113
The race will start automatically at the given time - please, make sure you are on the starting line ahead of the start! We wish you a lot of fun and good luck in the racing on ROUVY!


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Information retrieval (IR) is considered as the science of searching for relevant information including documents, images, video and other forms of media across databases, unstructured data and the World Wide Web. Nowadays information retrieval is widely known and used in the context of online web search engines. But Information has also many other fields of application domains, like biomedicine, social network, social science, genomic, geographic, etc. In this topic, we focus our research on: Contextual IR, Social IR, Temporal IR, Arabic IR and Testbeds for IR systems.
|Contextual IR
Information retrieval can benefit from contextual information to adapt the results to a user's current situation and personal preferences (profile). For example, performing the same query in different contexts often leads to different result rankings. Hence, semantics-based information retrieval is especially challenging because a change in context has an impact on the knowledge base content. In the context of information retrieval, the impact of a contextual aspect on the query results determines its relevance. In this sub-topic, we study the problem of identification of relevant contextual information and his effect (or influence) on the performance of an information retrieval system. Our goal is to achieve high recall and precision for a given user in a specific situation.
|Social IR
Recently, the fields of information retrieval and social network analysis have contributed to the emergence of a new category of information retrieval systems, namely the SIR systems (Social Information Retrieval). These systems extend conventional IR to incorporate the social context of search and recommendation. A particular aspect of SIR is the modeling of the social interaction between people (social ties), which is used for enhancing recommendation systems. Our goal in this topic is to see how information retrieval systems can be enriched by analyzing these social ties, and particularly the strong and weak ties that measure the strength of relationship between people.
|Distributed IR
|Arabic IR
Traditional information retrieval system was carried out essentially in English and fueled by the annual Text Retrieval Conferences (TREC) sponsored by NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology). NIST has accumulated large amounts of standard data (text collections, queries, and relevance judgments) so that IR researchers can compare their techniques on common data sets. More recently, IR researchers have found a real interest to study new languages other than English. Now, TREC includes multilingual data and other organizations sponsor similar annual evaluations for European languages (CLEF) and Asian languages (NTCIR) (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean). Arabic began to be included in the TREC cross-lingual track, and in the TDT (Topic Detection and Tracking) evaluations. The availability of standard Arabic data sets from the NIST and the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) has in turned spurred a huge acceleration in progress in information retrieval and other natural language processing involving Arabic language. Arabic is an interesting case to study in IR, because it is a highly inflected language. In this sub-topic, we study some problematic related to IR systems (lemmatization, morphological analysis, indexation) and we use the Hadith corpora as knowledge basis.
|Multilingual IR
|Temporal IR
Temporal Information Retrieval is an emerging research area in the field of Information Retrieval. It is a fact of modern life that an enormous volume of information is created, exchanged, and stored electronically on the Web. Much of the content of stored resources is strongly time-dependent. Hence, an electronic resource can be identifying not only by his content but also by some temporal features, like creation or update date. These temporal features can be used to increase precision of search in an information retrieval system. In fact, classical IR techniques based on topic similarity alone are not sufficient for the search in temporal document collections. To overcome this limit, temporal dimension available in electronic resources (like documents) should be incorporated with document ranking for efficient retrieval. Our objective in this sub-topic is twofold: (i) identifying the temporal characteristics of documents; (ii) incorporating these characteristics into information retrieval techniques in order to improve the retrieval effectiveness of an information retrieval system.
|Testbed for IR
The main and difficult problem of information retrieval (IR) is to find test collections. The existing data sets (like those provided by TREC) have played a key role to promote progress in the IR domain. However, given the significant increase of online content over the past few years and their diversity, and of the increasing rate of search queries, the current testbeds are either too small or not representative of the real applications of IR systems. A testbed for evaluating information retrieval systems requires three parts: a document collection, a list of query topics, and a set of relevance judgements. Evaluating information retrieval algorithms performance, in different contexts (distributed IR, P2P network, language-oriented IR, IR for specific domains, is already a challenging task caused by the lack of realistic testbeds. In this sub-topic, we focus our research on testbeds for distributed systems (included P2P networks) and arabic context.


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Switzerland's digital transformation
Huge progress has been made in the field of ICT over recent decades, which has also had an impact on the work of government and political institutions. They are making increasing use of the internet to make access to information for the public easier than before and to deliver services digitally.
These digital services include e-voting, for example. 21st-century technology is being deployed to maintain Switzerland's culture and tradition of exercising political rights. Groups with special requirements, such as the Swiss Abroad, benefit from this in particular. On 5 April 2017, the Federal Council agreed steps towards the nationwide introduction of electronic voting. It intends to submit an amendment to the legal basis to Parliament, thus establishing e-voting as a third official method of voting alongside postal voting and voting at the ballot box. Around 77,000 Swiss Abroad were able to cast their votes electronically on 24 September 2017 in the cantons of Berne, Lucerne, Fribourg, Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen, Aargau, Neuchâtel and Geneva. The cantons of Fribourg, Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen, Neuchâtel and Geneva also enabled around 103,000 eligible voters in Switzerland to use the e-voting system.
Another objective is E-ID – the introduction of the first official form of electronic identification. Parliament will discuss a draft bill over the course of the year. The Federal Act on Electronic Identification Services (E-ID Act) provides for a division of responsibilities between the state and market players. Federal government will perform the role of a regulatory and certification authority ensuring an optimal legal and organisational framework. E-ID will allow users to conveniently register with various electronic service providers at any time enabling them to obtain, for example, an extract from the judicial record or access to the online counter for the Swiss Abroad easily and securely. This will eliminate the need for expensive paper ID documents and the management of usernames and passwords for individual websites. E-ID will be a basic service on the basis of which other digital services can be developed and will therefore act as a catalyst on the road to comprehensive digital e-government.
Federal government, the cantons and the communes have drawn up a joint strategy for the implementation of e-government. It is made up of 12 strategic projects and services. The E-Government Switzerland Steering Committee will define the projects and services for four years, review them annually and amend them if required. A framework agreement on e-government cooperation will govern the joint approach of the three levels of government in implementing the strategy. Federal government and the cantons will each meet half the costs of the initiative.


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Canico's home!
Ray and Jane collected Canico from Manchester airport yesterday afternoon. Ray tells us: "Canico met his family at the airport and slept in the footwell on Jane's feet all the way home. Good as gold. Boy is he selectively deaf!!! A fair bit of training required me thinks. "He arrived to torrential and persistent rain — welcome to England. Jane is adjusting his coat to fit for the Yorkshire weather and he likes his flat cap, should blend in nicely with the locals."


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GHAMRO saga: Carlos Sakyi begs court to vacate its injunction
The Human Rights Court, presided over by Justice Essel Mensah, on July 11 ordered the board of the GHAMRO to step aside.
The Human Rights Court made the ruling following an action by legendary musician Nana Kwame Ampadu and the 99 musicians, composers, song writers, music producers and music rights owners accusing Carlos Sakyi, Chairman of GHAMRO, of embezzling funds collected on behalf of music rights owners in Ghana.
They filed the suit on Thursday, May 15, 2014. According to the writ of summons, Carlos Sakyi and other GHAMRO Board members including Amandzeba Nat Brew, K.K. Kabobo and Mark Okraku Mantey "have deliberately refused to organize even a single Annual General Meeting since May 2011 when they took office as interim Board Members.
The 12-member GHAMRO board also includes, Kojo Antwi, John Mensah Sarpong, Akwesi Agyepong, Ahmed Banda (Bandex), Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour), Daniel Adjei (Dan Ray), Abebe Kakraba, and Mary Ghansah
During the first hearing on June 2, counsel for the plaintiffs, Gary Nimako Marfo asked the court, presided over by Justice Essel Mensah, to place an interlocutory injunction on the GHAMRO restraining the board members from holding themselves as the board of the organization since their term has elapsed.
According to him, the interim board assumed office in May 2011 and was supposed to be in office for two years after which GHAMRO was to elect a permanent board through a general meeting. The court agreed and granted the reliefs of the plaintiffs.
The court said a new interim board, made up of Enoch Agyepong (a publisher), Nana Aboagye Dacosta (composer), and (Kwame Nsiah Apau – Okyeame Kwame (performer) should take over. The Attorney General's Department and the Copyright Office are also to nominate one person each to the interim GHAMRO board.
The board will operate for six months to ensure that structures are put in place for proper elections to be conducted to elect a permanent board for GHAMRO.
During Tuesday, July 22 appearance, Pappoe Robert, counsel for the respondents – Carlos Sakyi, Amandzeba Nat Brew, K.K. Kabobo, and Mark Okraku Mantey – filed two separate applications – one seeking the court to vacate the ruling and the other seeking a stay of execution.
The judge, Justice Essel Mensah, said Counsel for the respondents can only appeal the case and not to ask the court to vacate its ruling. According to the judge, the interlocutory injunction is not an executory order and therefore cannot be stayed.
Hearing has nevertheless been fixed for Friday, July 25.
SOURCE . MYjoyonline