text:
SWISHER– The Swisher American Legion will be hosting its Super Bowl Sunday Chili Cook Off Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, at the Legion. Entries must be to the Legion by 2 p.m. to be considered for first, second and third place prizes. One entry per person. The entry fee is $5.
After judging is complete, the public is welcome to an all-you-can-eat chili supper for $5.
All trips originate at Solon Recreation and Nature Area.
• Thursday, March 16: West Branch Hoover Museum, Route 66 Tour. $10.
• Wednesday, April 19: Rock Island, Circa 21; "Music Man." TBA. Sign up now – reservations are needed soon.
• Thursday, May 18: Kalona; Salina Bontrager, bakery, Stringtown, Country Store, Perry Bender greenhouse. $50.
• Thursday, June 22: Prairie City, Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge. $20.
• Thursday, July 20: Waterloo, John Deere Museum. $25.
NORTH LIBERTY– The fourth annual free Bald Eagle Watch and Expo will take place Saturday, Feb. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The event includes a live viewing at the Tailwater West Picnic Shelter downstream from the dam at Coralville Lake. Scopes and binoculars will be available for closer looks at the birds. Free hot chocolate and coffee will also be available.
2016 is over and we are already into February 2017. Time truly passes quickly when you are having fun. The year wasn't totally fun. We mourned the loss of several friends, Catherine Ahrendt, Milt Hunt, Peg Martinek, Bob Stinocher, Bob Steinbrech, Jack Beranek and Clara Herman. Others have been unable to come for numerous other reasons. We miss them all and they all continue to come to mind frequently.
NORTH LIBERTY– The ball is finally rolling.
In a 3-2 vote, the North Liberty City Council decided to appoint a new mayor, rather than hold a special election.
At a regularly scheduled Jan. 24 meeting, members Terry Donahue, Brian Wayson and Chris Hoffman voted for appointment, while Annie Pollock and Brian Sayre favored a special election.
The decision came after former mayor Amy Nielsen assumed her role as state legislator earlier this month. Council members had a 60-day window following Nielsen's Dec. 31 resignation date to come to a consensus.
NORTH LIBERTY– The North Liberty City Council is seeking applicants to fill the city's mayoral seat vacancy. An application is available to download off the city's website, or at City Hall, 3 Quail Creek Cir. Applications are due to the city clerk by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in person at City Hall or electronically to email@example.com.
The city council plans to consider candidates for appointment at its regular meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the city council chambers, 1 Quail Creek Cir. Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend.
NORTH LIBERTY– Need to park and warm up before taking the family to Fire and Ice Family Friday, Feb.3?
Hope Evangelical Church, 420 N. Front St., offers any space available in its lot for the convenience of those making their way to nearby Penn Meadows Park for the scheduled events there. Enjoy free hot cider and cookies on the way to and from the park from 4-6 p.m
SOLON– The Iowa Raptor Project invites the public to another Family Day on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
February's event features the Great Horned Owl, many of which are already nesting in the area.
Make your own owl baby out of cotton balls, pinecones, edible play dough and birdseed. Because they are edible for wildlife, kids can then put them out in the woods for the birds to munch on.
This free event takes place at 2095 Mehaffey Bridge Rd. NE, in Solon. The Iowa Raptor Project will have a fire going to help keep visitors warm.
NORTH LIBERTY– North Liberty Boy Scout Troop 216 will host its 37th annual Chili Supper from 4:30-7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the North Liberty Community Center.
Tickets are $5. Children 5 and under are admitted free. The dinner includes all-you-can-eat meat or vegetarian chili, bread, drinks and a variety of homemade desserts, including traditional Scout cobbler.
The dinner is the troop's primary annual fundraising event. Proceeds help cover the cost of high adventure trips, summer camp and other activities for the troop's 30 Scouts.
NORTH LIBERTY– Join the Iowa City Babywearers for its monthly meeting on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 10-11 a.m. at the North Liberty Community Library, 520 W. Cherry St., in meeting rooms C & D.
Those interested are invited to bring their own baby carriers or try some out at the meeting. There will be a large selection of carriers available to try. The meetings are casual and attendees may arrive and leave at their convenience. If you are curious about babywearing but don't have specific questions you are welcome to just hang out.
NORTH LIBERTY– The Johnson County EMS Association's (JCEMSA) EMS Saturday is an outstanding single-day event held in North Liberty, at the South Slope Community Center, 980 North Front St.
Registration and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 11. Registration is free for JCEMSA members and $60 for non-members, and includes lunch, continuing education registration, parking and conference materials.
NORTH LIBERTY– Garner Elementary will host a Waffle Breakfast with Class Basket Auction and Raffle on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 7:30-10:30 a.m. at the school.


text:
From a FoxNews story:
"Al-Kaseasbeh was carrying out air strikes against the militants when his warplane crashed near the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the Islamic State group's de facto capital. The group has executed captured Iraqi and Syrian Muslim soldiers in the past -- it follows an extremist version of Islam that considers rivals, even some Sunni Muslims, as apostates. Still, the group may want to negotiate a prisoner swap or other concessions from Jordan.
The pilot's father, Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh, made his plea while speaking to journalists in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
"I direct a message to our generous brothers of the Islamic State in Syria: to host my son, the pilot Mu'ath, with generous hospitality," he said. "I ask God that their hearts are gathered together with love, and that he is returned to his family, wife and mother."
"We are all Muslims," he added.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Chris Hills – Main stylist
So over the past two days…
I had experiences and received news that were almost LIFE changing for me..
Lucky For me, Talented Stylist Chris Hills asked me to assist him on a Photoshoot extravaganza called 'Boys By girls'.
…Now saying Extravaganza was absolutely NO exaggeration!! Over this two-day photoshoot, Chris Hills alongside AMAAAAZING Main stylists Sara Darling and Lloyd Scott as well as stylist assistants Daleya Abay, David Oscar, Leila Hartley and Camilla Ashworth all styled 40-50 Models From Modelling agencies such as; Elite, M&P, Oxygen, Premier, Storm and MANY MANY MORE!!..
I also Met amazingly Talented photographer Terry Whitaker who worked as part of the Directing team.. Like the rest of the team he was VERY funny and such a warm person to be around!! *mwah*
Apart from the naughty moments of the team gawping at the absolutely GORGEOUS Models *gasssp* especially m *cough*.. WE WORKED BLADDY HARD!!
The photoshoot was Photographed by amazing Photographers Cecile Harris who has had publications in:
Cosmopolitan Magazine Norway
Tunes Magazine
FART Magazine
OhLaLa Mag
Bello Magazine
Carbon Copy by Client
Design Scene
Client Magazine
Supplementaire Magazine
As well as Photographer India Hobson who has had publications in;
SUPPLEMENTAIRE Issue 2
OH COMELY Magazine Issue 2
COITUS Magazine
BOWENS Litebook
BALLAD OF Magazine
GLOSSY Mag Issue 6
W25 Mag
ARTBOX Mag
*well impressed I was*
It was an amazing experience to be able to talk to Real creatives and get as much advice as possible. Being at the shoot gave me life and a new drive to SERIOUSLY follow my passion for fashion #confessionsofafashionaddict
The shoot 'Boys By Girls' should be self released as a book by Cecile and india and reviewed by Carbon Copy 05 by Client Magazine *screams* So Keep your eyes peeled!!
What an amaaazing opportunity to get involved in… and hopefully just the start!!


text:
"The best way is to stay with the times. Listen to current music, watch current videos, and read current articles. Pretty easy, right? The key is to utilize the most popular modern marketing tool, which is social media networking…"
Check out the interview with Adam Hayman exclusively on Skilly Magazine Online.
SKILLY: How were you able to start your journey in the entertainment business? Where did this all start?
Adam: My parents were extremely musical. My mother and grandmother played piano and my father had a lot of successful projects; landing a song in the popular 80's movie Spring Break, and currently teaching guitar. He began teaching me guitar as soon as my fingers could fit around the guitar neck. I knew I would spend my life playing music. My parents guided me through how the business works, and I studied music business at Musicians Institute to further my knowledge.
What are some of the creative ways you use to promote your music?
In the bands I've been in, we've always created a page for all the main social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.) and we message tons of people everyday to share our product; whether it's a new music video or a new album. Not everyone will look, and not everyone will like it, but a surprising percentage will turn into your fans. As a producer, it's different. I've never cared too much about getting my name popular. I've focused a little more on building relationships with artists and labels and publishers. Because that's where the business is as a producer. It's not about getting Facebook likes because you aren't trying to promote your show or album. You're trying to get placements or songs to artists. Start small and build your way up.
What is the greatest challenge you face in today's entertainment business? How do you overcome them?
I try to do a bit of everything. I produce for other artists and television. I release music under my own name as an artist. I'm learning some songs right now to start playing guitar for a country singer, which I've never done before. I played in a metal band int the past. I never put all my eggs in one basket.
How is the music scene like in your hometown? What do you like about it and what don't you like?
Back in high school it seemed like everyone was a lot more willing to go out to the local shows and support the music scene. While there is still that community, it's significantly smaller. Sonoma County definitely has its own sound. The artists here are pretty unique, and definitely want to have that underground feel.
Where do you think the future of music is going to be? How do you feel artists can be more a part of it?
It's going to continue evolving and recycling old music with new sounds. The best way is to stay with the times. Listen to current music, watch current videos, and read current articles. Pretty easy, right? The key is to utilize the most popular modern marketing tool, which is social media networking!
What advice can you give to other upcoming artists and musicians trying to achieve success?
It's all about who you know. Make connections and use them. But don't make it all business. You need to be friends; 90% friendship and 10% business. When you're friends, they want to help you out.
What inspires you to write your next song?
Sometimes I just hear it in my head. Sometimes I just hear a song I love, and it gives me an idea. Sometimes I just sit down with a blank head and fiddle around until something comes out. Life events also bring on emotions that will create an idea.
What are the steps you take to make a song?
Definitely depends on the genre. Sometimes it's just my guitar and voice. Other times it starts with a synth, or drums. Sometimes I hear a vocal melody in my head and I'll find chords to go with it.
What do you think makes a great song?
A good structure and nice dynamics create the foundation. I'm a sucker for good chord changes. While some great songs are only one or two chords, those are usually great because of rhythm.
Where can we connect with you? Can you give us your social media links and where we can contact you?
My main site (adamhaymanmusic.tumblr.com) will always update on the current stuff I'm doing.


text:
I just learned that a couple of blogs I've read more or less since their inceptions are closing up shop — Dame Eleanor Hull (which Dame E began writing in 2007) and A Ianqui in the Village (Ianqui's been blogging for 10 years!) — and it got me thinking about time, beginnings, endings, and cycles in my life. No, I'm not closing up shop here — not yet anyway — but I am nearing my 8-year blogiversary (on September 5, at least by the old blog's first post), which makes this blog pretty long in the tooth! My dog and my blog are about the same age, but my dog is middle-aged, while my blog is elderly. ("Blog years" totally should be an idiom, just like "dog years.")
Meanwhile, in other markers of time, 10 years ago I just finished teaching my first week of classes here at Rust Belt University. My picture on my campus ID is still the picture from 10 years ago and I looked so damn *happy*. I had a tenure-track job! I was finally grown up! 11 years ago I was about to file my dissertation (which also made me happy, but there's no picture to go with it). 19 years ago I was just beginning graduate school (my pictured self on that ID also looks pretty happy). In the personal realm and also a subject of happiness: Bullock and I are looking forward to our 10-year relationship anniversary next month. (Yes, we started dating a month after I started working here. We met early after my arrival — my colleague Victoria had a little get-together to introduce everyone. So she kind of set us up without our knowing it. Smart lady.)
On the phone with Virgo Sis the other day, I realized that by my age, my mother was the mother of one college graduate (Virgo Sis — Ms V and Fizzy would follow after), and in three years she'd be a grandmother to Ms V's first born. Just thinking that I could have a college-age kid freaks me out. The idea that I could theoretically be a grandmother within a few years is just *crazy*. Also, thinking about the fact that my mom and Ms V both had their first kids at age 22 also makes me think "That's crazy!" Yes, people have kids even younger, but in no way would my 22-year-old self have been ready for it. And the guys I was with then…well, I'll just point out that they either only just started having kids in the last few years or also still don't have kids, so clearly they wouldn't have been ready back then, either. Or else we just all thought we weren't. But yeah, in a parallel universe, it's totally possible that I could have grown-up or nearly grown-up kids, and I get that my traditional-aged students sometimes look at me as parent-aged. But then some of them think I'm younger than I am, because I don't look/dress/act like their parents. (If I didn't dye my hair to cover the gray, they might think otherwise!) You know how in the media they say things like "40 is the new 30"? In Rust Belt, sometimes 40 is the old 50. Hard lives or growing up too fast can age you, and there's a lot of that around here. So can the sun, and people seem to still purposely get tan around here (and to still use the expression "to lay out" — meaning to lie purposely in the sun in order to get a tan — which I hadn't heard since I was a teen). But whether they think I'm closer in age to their parents or them, most of the younger students still grant me my authority. Most of the non-traditional ones do, too, but a couple have talked to me in their "mom" voices (so far I haven't gotten any "dad" voices, thank god). I want to say to them, "In academic years, I am *your* elder, thank you very much." And yet sometimes I feel like I just arrived out of graduate school.
Time seems very much elastic to me these days — wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, as The Doctor might say:
For that reason, I like to remind myself of its passing now and then. It's good to keep in mind that any of my students applying to a graduate program this year would be doing it 20 years after I did, and the world of those programs (whether academic or professional) is very different. (And yes, I do give them all the warnings.) That gap and difference is only going to get wider. And though it's fun to mock the Beloit Mindset List (and it deserves that mockery), it is sometimes a helpful reminder that what seems like a "current" pop-culture reference isn't. (Though just like I was into the 60s in the 80s, the kids today seem to be into the 90s. Well, some of them. And have you noticed that the whole boho, flippy, floral dress with combat boots look is back? Kelly from 90210 and Lisa Loeb would be so pleased!)
I know it's normal for time to blend together more as you get older, but I can't help but think it seems intensified for someone like me, who repeats seasonal/academic cycles — the students don't age! — and who doesn't have kids of her own to mark the time more obviously. Of course, at least we *have* seasons here (the weather kind, that is) — in LA I didn't notice time passing, either, but that's because the weather was always the same! Or that was my theory, anyway. Or maybe I should just blame graduate school. At any rate, while some things do seem emotionally/psychologically/experientially far back in time to me (applying to graduate school, for example), when I put a number to them (20 years ago), that's when it seems impossible. I think, also, having not really started my career until my 30s (unless you count graduate school, which I do in some ways and don't and others), I feel like I shouldn't yet have reached an age where anything I did as a grown-up could be 20 years ago. According to this Salon article, this may be a common feeling for a segment of "Generation X," since so many of us, regardless of profession, started our "grown-up" lives later than generations before us. (As my students would say, I found that article really "relatable." As they say on the interwebs, though, YMMV.) Or maybe it's just about being 40-something.
I have no idea what I'm trying to say here. Clearly this *post* has gone all wibbly-wobbly. To sum up: 10 years at Rust Belt University and 10 years with Bullock, 8 years as a presence on the intertoobs, and 19 years since I started the graduate program that made it all possible. Oh, and it's been 6 years since my first book came out and people are still reading it! W00t! Here's to many more years of successful professional activity and happiness in personal relationships! And maybe I have at least another year of blogging under my belt.
The end (but not really).


text:
See images clearly from a distance with 3,600 lumens of brightness. Even in bright rooms, your presentations will shine as brilliantly as your ideas.
The contrast ratio is up to a whopping 20,000:1. Dynamic Black improves image contrast by analyzing onscreen content frame-by-frame and then dynamically adjusting lamp power to optimize black levels. The black can be extremely black and white is brilliant white.
Acer ColorBoost3D presents true-to-life colors through an optimized 6-segment color-wheel design, advanced lamp illumination technology, and powerful TI image processing. It can reduce brightness decay and color shift while displaying 2D and 3D content through enhancing color brightness, while also compensating color saturation and color temperature.
Not quite found what you are looking for? You can find products which may be more suitable by simply checking the features that interest you and clicking the find button.
We use cookies to do things like remember what you've added to your shopping basket and show you content we think you'll be interested in.
If you're happy with the use of cookies by BT Business Direct and selected third parties, click OK to continue.
Some cookies are essential - we can't provide our services without them.
Other cookies can be turned off, although our website won't work as well without them.
Click OK to accept cookies and continue.
These cookies let us do things like remember your login details and settings and provide support using live chat.
We use these cookies to do things like show you content and promotions we think
you'll like while you're browsing BT Business Direct and other sites. They also let you share pages with social media sites.
You can change your cookies settings whenever you like by using the 'Cookie preferences' link at the bottom of every page on this website.
Here are your current cookie settings.


text:
Consolidating Credit Card Debt in Elberta, Alabama
Have you ever considered the most effective way you might consolidate personal credit card debt in Elberta, Alabama? Your finances and ability to pay are going to be critical components in picking the right solution for you. The aim of debt consolidation is always to help make your situation simpler by restructuring your credit card debt and your payment conditions to something that more effectively fits your needs.
|Loan Features
|Loan Amount
|More Info
|Min $10,000
|Read Review
|Apply NowVisit Site
|up to $40,000
|Read Review
|Apply NowVisit Site
|up to $100,000
|Read Review
|Apply NowVisit Site
Disclaimer: Some of the links on this site are affiliate links for which we get compensated.
How should you consolidate your consumer credit card debt in Elberta, Alabama?
Some people choose to use balance transfer cards for credit card debt consolidation, and it's important in these cases to benefit from the minimal or zero percent interest. It is not the method for anyone trying to get smaller payments. You'll need a reliable income to make it work. Because you will be attempting to ensure that more of your installment payments go to the principal than the interest charges, you want to send as much towards these installments as possible. This is a great solution for those who will be able to utilize it to repay a substantial amount towards the account balance.Read More
When you consider using a personal unsecured loan to consolidate your high-interest rate credit cards, a very good credit rating is needed to receive the lowest possible rate of interest. To optimize the cost savings that you can get, it is better to simply get a short term. If you blend the affordable-interest rate and the quick loan repayment period, you are able to minimize the interest amount that you have to pay over the loan terms. When you do this properly, you will save a significant amount of money by consolidating your credit card debt with a personal loan.
Conversely, if you are using a home equity loan, this naturally, will only do the job if you have an adequate amount of equity in the house. As far as possible, the equity should pay for all of your higher-interest credit debt. Plus, you have to come up with a strategy to assist you to pay off the home equity loan. Your property will be taken if you can't pay off this sort of loan.
Pros and cons of Elberta, Alabama debt consolidation
It makes sense to consider the benefits and drawbacks of consolidation before you make a decision.
We'll begin by studying the best things about debt consolidation.
It simplifies your payments. This credit card debt solution merges your multiple debts into one. Instead of following and tracking each of the credit card balances that you have, you only have to deal with one. Significantly less energy is required to manage the simple payment routine.KEN
It makes it possible for you to enjoy more desirable terms on your repayment agreement. Usually, debt consolidation entails transferring or reorientating your numerous credit accounts into a new one. You can aquire much better terms on your loan during this change. You might get a faster payment term or a much more accommodating plan. You could save money on interest with a smaller rate and faster repayment.
Reduced rates of interest! Because you're essentially taking on a brand new lending product or credit account, this can be your chance to choose a reduced rate of interest. You should never choose consolidation if a more affordable interest cannot be discovered. Getting the very same interest or higher interest charges undoes the benefits associated with debt consolidation.
Next are some of the downsides of deciding to consolidate your credit card debt.
It offers you a false feeling of debt freedom. Consolidation frees up your charge card balances. You have to know that the debt still exists, in a whole new account, and you've not finished paying it back. You continue to owe just what you owed before, only restructured.
It could lead you to additional debt. When you cave in to the false sensation of credit card debt relief, you will be tempted to use your credit card. This would result in higher credit card debt balances, and the very same scenario that you came from.
You will still have to look for a way to tackle the actual reason behind your financial debt issues. Consolidation can be something which will make your financial debt payments easier - though it will not actually resolve the situation that prompted you to be in financial debt. Just the symptoms of your financial debt are resolved.
According to the approach to debt consolidation you choose, your property might be in jeopardy. Many opt to put their homes up as collateral, placing their properties in jeopardy if they're not able to pay. Granted, you can find a fantastic minimal interest on a home equity loan. You simply must be aware of the possibility of sacrificing that house should you be not able to make payments.
Consolidation loan request in Elberta, Alabama
The application process for debt consolidation loans is dependent completely on how you would intend to consolidate.
If you'd like to consolidate via a personal loan, that will adhere to the system of any unsecured loan. You're going to send an application form (at least the essential loan info) and usually, the lender is going to conduct a short credit check to tell you if you are accepted for the loan. When you are accepted, you begin the next step in the application process and submit the details required. If you are submitting an application on the web, you may want to scan and send the electronic digital version of the paperwork via e-mail or the web site of the loan provider.
Following concluding the requirements, the lending company will carry out a more thorough underwriting procedure. After you finish the process and are accepted for the loan, you will receive the amount borrowed. If you start a new account with the loan company, the way many of them require, you will then get the funding in this manner.
Should you wish to use the equity on your property in the consolidation loan, then you'll stick to the operation of a common home loan application form. Further, this procedure is similar to the process of submitting an application for a personal unsecured loan to consolidate debt. However, the lender will also execute a valuation of the property that you'll offer as collateral. In comparison with an unsecured loan, this is more expensive.
Be aware that it's feasible for you to obtain the debt consolidation loan with your loan company or financial institution. This makes the application procedure shorter and less complicated.
If you have unfavorable credit ratings, can you still consolidate debt in Elberta, Alabama ?
A lot of people mistakenly assume it is not plausible to consolidate credit card debt with unfavorable credit ratings, but there are two solutions available.
One option is to submit an application for a secured or unsecured loan. You must expect that in either loan, you'll get a high rate of interest because you'll be presumed as being a high risk applicant. Your weak credit will demonstrate to the loan company that you do not exhibit very good tendencies with your previous balances. Unsecured personal loans generally have a larger interest rate than secured loans. The collateral that you'll set at stake with a secured loan could help you get a lower interest rate.
If you're not accepted for a personal loan or you don't have collateral for a secured personal loan, you may have another option to get debt consolidation loans. Credit card debt settlement is your next option. This is perfect for people that have weak credit and debt in arrears or unsettled status.
The theory is to bargain with the loan company so they can let you pay only a part of the credit card debt. It is easier with the assistance of a debt negotiation service which will manage the negotiations. If the creditor or lender agrees to your offer, the remainder of your credit card debt can be pardoned.
Learn how to consolidate credit card debt when you have a low credit score
You've got two primary solutions if you'd like a debt consolidation loan with a reduced rate of interest. The first approach is to possess an excellent credit score reputation. You will need to prove to the lender that you are a responsible borrower and you have displayed great payment patterns with all your prior credit accounts. That will just be established by your credit score.
Looking for a secured personal loan is your 2nd method for the minimum interest rate. Home equity loans would be the commonest illustration of this. Utilizing this method gives the lender some protection since your home is the collateral for the personal loan. Hence, the loan company could take your property if you go into default on your repayments.
Cost-free consolidation loan options
It is not possible to get a debt consolidation loan for free. Obviously, the loan will have to be repaid and it's along with interest. Next, there's the origination fees, although they normally are not very large. Naturally, the company pays the credit bureaus to check on your credit profile and additional professionals necessary to complete the personal loan application form. You'll fund these kinds of necessities with your application fees.
Though you can't get a cost-free consolidation loan in Elberta, Alabama, you can receive a free quote, so that you will know exactly how much the borrowed funds cost before making a choice.
Being smart about debt consolidation
The provider's accreditations can expose whether or not they are legitimate. These include the businesses or organizations that they're affiliated or colleagues of. Before a lender is recognized for credentials with another organization, they're normally investigated by that institution. It is beneficial to understand just what the organization's requirements are for acceptance.
Below, are some of the possible credentials that the company may have.
Better Business Bureau. The BBB Business Partner Code of Conduct is used to rank Partners of the Better Business Bureau. With their internet site, you will find the challenges that clients have with a consolidation company and exactly how the latter functioned to resolve them.
American Fair Credit Council. This is actually the foremost association of Consumer Credit Advocates to support credit card debt ridden consumers, enhance the industry's best methods, and advocate for just care of debtors.
National Foundation for Credit Counseling. The focus of this organization is on encouraging consumers and debt relief agencies to enhance economic circumstances. The Council on Accreditation approves debt consolidation services for the NFCC.
International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators. This agency makes sure that the debt arbitrators doing work for debt consolidation agencies are properly trained and registered to work on behalf of their customers.
It's also possible to consider other accrediting organizations to get more information. These kinds of institutions are careful concerning the affiliates and credentials they hand out, so that you can rest assured of a reputable business from their list.
What do the reviews say about the consolidation service?
One other way to ensure you are only transacting with a respectable and reliable service is with customer reviews. You can find client testimonials everywhere online, including web pages that are specifically designed for debt consolidation lender testimonials. Then, there's the web pages devoted to personal financial issues, which will showcase services worth exploring.
When you're studying these review articles, be sure to observe the price, debt relief approach, comments from customers and the other financial loans or services the lender offers. Try not to focus on the expense and fees. A debt consolidation lender should provide far more than only a minimal fee. You need to take into account the customer support and just how satisfied their past clients are with their expertise.
Next, you need to consider your particular needs for consolidation. Beware of getting fooled by low rates of interest and empty guarantees. They may charge you with high service fees and rigid payment programs. If the process and payment terms are more critical than a reduced-interest, then make sure the provider you're going to deal with can help you satisfy your debt relief requirements.
Could you consolidate debt with a nonprofit business in Elberta, Alabama?
Although you'll find non-profit credit counseling services, there aren't any debt consolidation lenders that are not in it for the financial gain. At least, the legitimate ones will never market that they are non-profit companies. Any business that offers a borrowing arrangement would require you to pay more than what you borrowed. The provider normally gets their profits from management costs and interest fees.
Rather than looking for non-profit services, it is best to concentrate on seeking those who will offer the lowest rate of interest and charges. When you add the cheaper interest rates with a good credit rating, you're sure to obtain a good bargain from the consolidation loan.
If a business is saying that they are a non-profit consolidation loan provider, you need to carry out a far more in depth investigation for them. There is a very good likelihood that this opportunity is a sham.
Highly rated consolidation resources
It's good to know that it is much easier to find the best consolidation loan providers now than in the past. The web has simplified the homework needed. Frankly, you don't need to spend a great deal of time exploring ten companies before making a decision. The main element is to know your finances before making a choice. The info on this site should be sufficient to get you rolling in the right path.
When you have a good credit record, you could take a look at Lightstream as a possibility. This is one lender which offers unsecured personal credit card debt consolidation loans. They offer the lowest interest charges in the market - but only because they will just approve your loan when you successfully pass an extremely rigid credit score prerequisite. You should have various types of consumer debt on your credit history and at least five years of credit history.
Those looking for rapid acceptance for a consolidation loan will be wise to look into Lending Club. The rapid turn-around time of this online loan company makes it a popular tool. You could be able to get financing within just two or three days. Everything will depend on the amount of money that you will receive and your credit history situation. You won't have to worry about the online process because your information is safeguarded by a advanced safety model.
For those who have a bad credit score and some of the loans you have to consolidate are in arrears, then National Debt Relief is the organization to get in touch with. The business is mainly a debt settlement business which will assist you to bargain with the loan provider, financial institution, or collector. The arrangement necessitates persuading them to allow you to pay just a percentage of your account balance through the settlement deal package. When they allow the offer, they will agree to forgive the remainder of your debts. You can minimize your debts and consolidate your credit card balances with this strategy.
If you want the best approach for debt consolidation loans in Elberta, Alabama, then you should not need to search further than these 3 leading companies.
Information on credit card consolidation loans in zip code(s): 36530


text:
DO-it-yourself ideas
Learn to create fun stuff at home, assorted by craft categories and more.Upload Your Own Creations
By Ami | Mumbai, Maharashtra
Material Needed:
Fevicryl Acrylic Colour - Orange 17,
Fevicol MR,
Bread Slice,
Vinegar or Lemon Juice,
Any Oil,
Measuring Spoons,
Plastic Bowl
Take one slice of bread and remove it's border.
Make very small pieces/crumbs of it with your hands and keep it in the plastic bowl..
Add one table spoon of Fevicol MR to it.
Add one and half spoon of Vinegar or Lemon juice to it.
Start mixing all the ingredients. Knead the dough properly, It might be a little sticky, but don't worry, keep on kneading it.
Knead it to form a small ball. Wash your hands after kneading. Wait for 3 to 4 minutes and start kneading the dough again.
Apply a drop of oil to your hands and knead the dough to form a small ball which is almost non-sticky and soft.
Add food colour or Acrylic Colour and mix it will. I have added Acrylic Orange colour to it.
Your soft Orange Bread clay is Ready !!!
Take a air tight plastic sealing bag, apply a drop of oil and spread it along the bag and store the Bread Clay in it for further use.
Fevicryl Acrylic Colour - Orange 17, Fevicol MR, Bread Slice, Vinegar or Lemon Juice, Any Oil, measuring Spoons, Plastic Bowl, Plastic Sealing Bag.


text:
Scotland and Northern Ireland have been clearing roads and re-opening schools after 120mph winds uprooted trees and damaged buildings.
Several people trapped by rising water had to be rescued from homes and cars.
Two people died on the roads in Londonderry and in Scotland and a man's body was found near a causeway linking two islands in the Outer Hebrides.
A search has begun for four of his relatives after a car was pulled out of the water at Benbecula.
A Spanish fishing boat which went missing off the Hebrides was rescued by the RAF - its 19 crew members were unharmed.
The BBC Weather Centre said the worst storms have passed but warned of swollen rivers and blizzards.
The Met Office said travel should be avoided because of fallen trees, damaged buildings and flooded roads.
The strongest winds were measured at 124mph on North Rona, in the Western Isles.
On South Uist, an 84-year-old woman was rescued from her home after being trapped by rising water.
And in Oban, on Scotland's west coast, six old people were rescued from their flooded housing complex by Fort William Coastguard.
Winds of at least 70mph have hit most of Scotland, along with rain, sleet, thunder and lightning.
Across Scotland roads are blocked, main bridges are closed, ferry services have been abandoned and rail routes suspended.
By Wednesday evening there were six flood warnings - indicated flooding was expected - in place in England and Wales. And there were 23 "flood watches" - where flooding is possible.
In Scotland there were four flood warnings and 13 flood watches.
Tuesday's storms came days after severe weather caused chaos throughout northern England.
Up to 10,000 homes in Hexham, Northumberland, are still without running water and there are 4,000 properties in Cumbria without electricity.
At 0030 GMT on Wednesday coastguards were called out to rescue a couple trapped in a car by floodwater near Easton, Cumbria.
Buildings at Sellafield nuclear plant suffered external damage and staff have been sent home until Thursday.
The clean-up operation in Carlisle has only just begun after the city suffered some of the most serious floods in its history.
Climate change 'reality'
Environment Minister Elliot Morley told the House of Commons that "detailed weather forecasts" had allowed public and private bodies to take steps to reduce the damage caused by storms, including cancelling train and ferry services.
Mr Morley told MPs unpredictable weather was something Britain now had to prepare for.
"Climate change is a reality," he said. "We have had the warmest 10 years on record, since the 1990s. "We have had double the extreme weather incidence in the last decade.
"And it does mean that we have to take all steps necessary in terms of reducing risks to people, bearing in mind that we cannot guarantee that extreme events won't happen."
The weather has hampered salvage efforts in Carlisle, where thousands of homes were evacuated due to flooding at the weekend.
Two people were killed and two went missing after torrential rain and gales swept north England and elsewhere.
Mr Morley has announced a review of the flood warning system as many people had not been alerted to the danger early enough.
Call the Environment Agency's Floodline for flood warnings on 0845 988 1188.
Do you have any pictures of your experiences? If so, you can send them to the BBC News website.
The best photos sent to us will be published, so please send us your name, where you live and some brief details about the picture you have sent, along with the topic subject in the email header.


text:
[Verse 1: Curren$y]
Spitta nigga any beat I get on I get off into my zone
Think we gotta 7 grams left of that zone
'bout to call my girl and tell her bring another one from home
I get it on like the power button on the television remote
So hold roll with us or you choke on that jet smoke
Niggas know the jet smoke, the best from both coasts
I got plugs like an extension cord cause
Spitta bring it back like you fucked up my
Order at the drive through can a nigga really rap
Homie, are the Devils from Duke, Blue?
Ride off the block bitches try to jump in the sunroof (it's so true)
And I ain't got no feathers in my seat but that's your chick in my coupe
Nothin' but a G thing baby, two East side niggas going crazy
FS is the set we made it
Laughing at them bitch niggas they hatin'
[Verse 2: Trademark Da Skydiver]
Trademark the force with me I'm dead eye
My flow priceless you can't cop it at Best Buy
And to the tech sign, ts just a test drive
Like a broke nigga trying to cop an X5
They waiting on me to drop, like the next live
I'm just smoking trine thinking of my next line
I'm so focused like professor x man
Kicks fire, wrist ice plus my neck shine
Yes I'm that fly, multiply 10 times
Divided by my swag and this is what you have
Foreign whips, chicks and a lotta cash
Big money sacks they looking like lotto bags
I'm blowing that fire weed we call it the hydro hash
Sports car trunk in the front two on the dash
I take off from run wheels and hella pass
Boat launch triggered ghost out like ??
Nothin' but a G thing baby, two East side niggas going crazy
FS is the set we made it
Samples Dr Dre ft. Snoop Dogg – Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang


text:
User Web
(20 Mar 2020,
rint version
Dr. Timo Baumann, Diplom-Informatiker
Researcher and instructor in speech and languate technology at Universität Hamburg. Former Systems Scientist at the Language Technologies Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
mail: baumannÄŦinformatik.uni-hamburg.de
skype: timobaumann
tel: +49 40 42883 2321 → during pandemia times try +49176 73568536 if it's urgent.
office: F-404, Stellingen
consultation hours: please make an appointment by e-mail (obviously, there's only skype meetings for the foreseeable future)
Recent News
2019-12: Our contribution for DhD 2020 Punctuation Reconstruction for Translation of Post-modern Poetry in Paderborn has been accepted, and likewise our related paper for ESSV 2020. Yay!
2019-10: I found that wikidata.org knows me as
. I'm an instance of human.
2019-09: Google once again awarded me 5k$ in cloud credits, this time for work on listener behaviour in dialog.
's and my proposal for the UHH idea and risk fonds is
getting some funding
. We propose to have a workshop on aspects of Cognitive Science in speech technology and NLP -- stay tuned!
2019-07: I'm planning to be at the Dagstuhl meeting on
spoken language interaction with virtual agents and robots
. Hope to see you there!
2019-06: I'll be at WMT 2019 with a paper on Dubbing-optimal MT (joint work with Ashutosh Saboo). Yay!
2019-04: I'll be speaking at the
tell-me days 2019
at HAW in June. Stay tuned!
2019-03: I'll be speaking at the
Dahlem Humanities Center
Digital Humanities im Gespräch
meeting in May, see you there!
2019-02: I'm back in Hamburg, yay!
older news
2018-07: I've been awarded a Google research award for cloud credits! I, the intern working on the project, and my laptop's fan are really thrilled about this.
2018-06: three papers accepted to Interspeech: syntax-prosody interface, attention in a HAN that classifies post-modern poetry, demo on DialogOS. See you in Hyderabad!
Scientific American
asked me about the implications of Google Duplex, the system that supposedly can make restaurant reserverations for you. Short version: why not build an engineering solution for scheduling instead of using AI?
2018-05: New paper with Vivian Tsai, Florian Pecune and Justince Cassell that shows faster responses are better responses
at IWSDS
. Great job, Vivian!
2018-05: Paper on style detection for free verse poetry accepted for Coling 2018. See you in Santa Fe! Addendum: we also have a related paper at LaTeCH-CLfL right after Coling.
Popular Science
interview about Amazon Alexa laughing out of the blue.
2018-03: I'll be judging at the
International Science and Engineering Fair
and look forward to engaging and inspiring conversations with the young inventors that will shape our future! 2018-05: it was fun!
2018-02: Two papers, on speech quality estimation and prosodic styles in post-modern poetry, have been accepted at Speech Prosody 2018. See you all in Poznań in June!
2018-01: Our article on the
Spoken Wikipedia Corpus
collection is
finally out
(consider the
if you don't like paywalls)!
2017-10: I'm giving a talk in the CS research colloquium at Boise State University (it has been
so don't worry if you didn't make it there)
and our trial study week students did it again: they won the competition! See last year's
amazing dialogue systems
2017-05: I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at Interspeech! Also, before that, please join us at IWSDS near Pittsburgh!
2017-04: Tagesspiegel has
a piece
on our Rhythmicalizer project.
2017-02: I'm leaving Hamburg heading for Pittsburgh!
, I'm looking forward to your application!
2016-12: Sven Barske of the local station Hamburg 90,3 (which is part of Norddeutscher Rundfunk) recently
interviewed me
on Adobe Voco.
2016-11: I'm running a listening/rating experiment and I sincerely appreciate your participation. For the moment this is
German only
2016-11: I'm looking forward to seeing you in Osaka, at Coling, LT4DH or
2016-10: My paper (together with
Burkhard Meyer-Sickendiek
) describing an application of speech technology to free verse poetry is accepted for
. (
: Volkswagenstiftung will fund a three-year project to further extend this research.)
2016-10: I'll attend a
Dagstuhl meeting on barking and meowing
in November, yay!
and I will host group in the
trial study week
for prospective students -- update: our group won the competition, see
the video
s and my
on incremental and predictive parsing for language modelling is accepted at COLING. Yay! We show how incremental parsing can improve LM perplexity on the Billion Word Corpus by ~6% with little compuational overhead and while allowing online decoding.
2016-08: I spoke at
WikiCon 2016
about the
Spoken Wikipedia Corpus
and we had really interesting discussions on integrating better reading capabilities into MediaWiki.
2016-07: Marcel Rohde's Bachelor work on navigating the Spoken Wikipedia resulted in a
. Yay! Update: also see the
2016-05: Kolja Kirsch's Bachelor work not only received the 1st prize in the Informatik EXPO 2015 but he also got it accepted as a
long paper
at Mensch und Computer 2016, Germany's most important HCI conference. Congratulation! (There's also a
and I will host a Girls' Day group next week on Spoken Dialogue Systems.
2016-03: I'll be at LREC in May presenting our paper on the
Spoken Wikipedia Corpus
2016-02: I'm teaching the
MSc course on speech processing
and co-teaching a
project on subtitling
this summer.
2015-11: Join us at the
Science Fair
in Hamburg!
2015-11: Casey's, Julian's, David's and my paper that compares incremental performance of ASR systems has been accepted at IWSDS. Yay!
2015-10: I'll be teaching an
course on Incremental Speech and Language Processing
for Interactive Systems together with
Arne Köhn
2015-09: Listen to
and me live-interviewed on
Interspeech Radio
on Monday morning (or tune into the
2015-02: I will be teaching two "Proseminare" next semester:
Speech Processing
Software Development Helpers
. Please follow the links for the full announcements.
2015-01: I attended a workshop on science journalism at the Klaus-Tschira-Foundation last week and learned how
press releases
lead to reports first in
, then
, and finally
public radio
. Too bad only my former supervisor is mentioned in the press release -- more details and authors in the
original research paper
2014-12: German Hackers are meeting in Hamburg between Christmas and New Year's. I'll give a talk on our student group project's results with sub-titling CCC talks.
2014-11: I'll be giving a talk at gipsa-lab in Grenoble on December 11th. Hope to see you there!
2014-09: I'll be in Singapore during Interspeech and then give an invited talk at a
small workshop
organized by Prof. Kai Yu in Shanghai afterwards. Hope to see you there!
2014-08: My stay in New York is great, and both AT&T and Yahoo!Labs seem to be very nice places to work in industry. However, I'm also looking forward to the calm atmosphere and cold weather back in Hamburg...
2014-06: My
Interspeech submission
has been accepted -- yay!
2014-06: I'll be speaking at the
TU Darmstadt colloquium
next Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing you there!
2014-05: I've booked my flight and will be staying in New York during all of August. Let me know if we should meet&greet there!
2014-04: Johannes Twiefel's (and my, as one of the supervisors)
AAAI 2014 submission
has been accepted -- we're going to revolutionize your Google ASR experience in limited domains (for now non-incrementally, but stay tuned).
2014-02: My paper on "Decision Tree Usage for Incremental Parametric Speech Synthesis" has been accepted for ICASSP 2014 -- yay, I get to travel to Florence!
2014-01: I have received one of 10 PostDoc awards by
for a project on
further developing incremental spoken dialogue processing systems
. Yay!
2014-01: The German
Science Year 2014
focuses on
Digital Society
and teachers and other educators can now
invite me as an expert
to speak at their school. I hope to raise broader interest in dialogue and computerized spoken language processing in high school students this way.
2013-12: I gave an InproTK hands-on programming tutorial in Bielefeld yesterday. Thanks to the DSG group for hosting me. The tutorial exercises, which give a good introduction to InproTK, are on
2013-11: I participated (together with Christine and Arne Köhn) in Hamburg's Science Night 2013. This was
one of our posters
2013-09: our tutorial on incremental processing at Interspeech 2013 was a huge success! Slides can be found
2013-07: Yay, David Schlangen's and my paper for the speech synthesis workshop has been accepted: "Interactional Adequacy as a Factor in the Perception of Synthesized Speech"
2013-06: Yay, David Schlangen's and my SigDial short-paper has been accepted: "Open-ended, Extensible System Utterances Are Preferred, Even If They Require Filled Pauses"
2013-05: what an exciting week: I defended
my thesis
on Thursday and got married on Saturday! Off to a week of vacation...
2013-04: I have
submitted my thesis
, at last!
2013-03: A poster describing our hybrid (incremental/non-incremental) prototype for playing Pentomino was presented last week at the DGfS computational linguistics poster session and will be presented in a talk next week at ESSV!
2013-02: David Schlangen and I will have an Interspeech Tutorial on Incremental Spoken Dialogue Processing (based on
, of course)
2012-11: Rabih Hamadeh has turned in his thesis on Machine Learning methods for incremental ASR smoothing. Well done!
2012-10: The workshop on
Architectures for Conversationally Competent SDS
which I organized on 5th/6th October was a tremendous success, both scientific as well as community-wise and culinary. I will (have to) write up a documentation of the workshop in the upcoming weeks, some results are linked to in the
2012-09: Last year's
SDS project
resulted in an exiting prototype for playing Pentomino using a hybrid system consisting of both standard techniques (using DialogOS) and incremental processing (using
); I made a
video out of some example interactions
to show some of its highligths
2012-06: The workshop on
Architectures for Conversationally Competent SDS
is starting to take shape: Kristinn Thórisson will be the keynote speaker and the event will take place 5th/6th October. More news are at the
2012-06: Our (David Schlangen's and my) paper on "Evaluating Prosodic Processing for Incremental Speech Synthesis" was accepted to be presented at Interspeech 2012 in Portland, USA. Yay! Now, all I have to do is win in the lottery...
2012-06: I've been awarded a DAAD travel grant to attend ACL in Korea where I'll be presenting my work on incremental speech synthesis. yay!
2012-05: Last week's Girl's Day was a full success, with 12 young ladies building dialogue systems that you can discuss your schoolday with or that counsel you on your homework.
2012-05: Our (Hendrik Buschmeier's, Benjamin Dosch's, David Schlangen's, Stefan Kopp's and my) paper on Adaptive Information Presentation Through Incremental Language Generation and Incremental Speech Synthesis was accepted to be presented at SIGdial 2012. This features my work on incremental speech synthesis which I'm really proud of
2012-04: Our (Kris Lohmann's and Ole Eichhorn's and my) paper on Generating Situated Assisting Utterances for Tactile Map Exploration was accepted to be presented at SLPAT 2012. We hope to get funding for Ole, who is a very bright Bacchelor student in Human Machine Interaction, to present the work in Montreal, CA.
2012-04: Our (David Schlangen and my) paper on incremental speech synthesis was accepted to be presented as a system demonstration at ACL 2012 in Korea. I hope this convinces DAAD to fund my travel to ACL/SIGdial/YRRSDS which are all co-located.
2012-03: I'm organizing a small workshop on Architectures for Conversationally Competent Dialogue Systems sponsored by the
Körber-Fonds for Young Scientists
, more information will become available shortly
2012-03: I'm now associated to the
CINACS graduate school
Research Interests
Why do we speak how we speak when we just speak to speak?
And how can we model systems to do the same?
A (slightly longer)
research statement
Professional Activities
I maintain
, the incremental dialogue processing toolkit, which is being used in multiple research labs around the world for building incremental spoken dialogue systems.
Together with David Schlangen, I gave an Interspeech tutorial on incremental processing in 2013 which was a great success. Slides can be found
. Exercises from a more recent introduction to InproTK are on
I've organized the
Workshop on Architectures for Conversationally Competent Spoken Dialogue Systems
2012 in Hamburg, Germany. The purpose of the workshop was to bring young researchers in the field together to talk about upcoming challenges in developing highly interactive and natural dialogue systems/virtual agents/conversational systems.
I've co-organized the
Young Researcher's Roundtable on Spoken Dialogue Systems 2012
in Seoul, Korea
I've been reviewing for LREC 2010-2016, IJCNLP 2011,2015, (E)ACL 2015-2017, EMNLP 2016, Coling 2016, AAAI 2012, SigDIal 2013-2016, SemDial 2014, BEA 2014-2016, ICMI 2013-2016, Interspeech 2015-2016, ICASSP 2017, HRI 2015-2016, AutomotiveUI 2014-2015, ACM TiiS, TALLIP, SoRo, KnoSys, CSL, LREV, and multiple smaller events
Winter term 2019
Vorlesung Sprachdialogsysteme
(Do 14-16)
Übungen Algorithmen und Datenstrukturen (Mi 14-16 und 16-18)
Previous Teaching
Summer term 2019
proseminar (BSc)
"Verarbeitung Gesprochener Sprache"
Übung Maschinelles Lernen
Winter term 2018:
Klausurverantwortung Algorithmen und Datenstrukturen
Winter term 2016
Logics Programming Exercises
Summer term 2016
Speech Technology
(MSc specialization module; 2SWS lecture, 2SWS seminar)
Project on
(BSc and MSc)
Fall/winter term 2015/16
two practical courses in
Logics Programming
: Wednesday 12-14 and 14-16 in G-210.
Summer term 2015
proseminar (BSc)
"Verarbeitung Gesprochener Sprache"
proseminar (BSc)
"Moderne Hilfsmittel der Softwareentwicklung"
Fall/winter term 2014/15
two practical courses in
Logics Programming
: Wednesday 12-14 and 14-16, both in D-129.
(BSc and MSc) developing an an open-source application for semi-automatic subtitling.
I did not have to teach in the summer term 2014
Fall/winter term 2013/2014
I'm taught two practical courses in
Logics Programming
: Wednesday 12-14 and 14-16, both in D-220.
Summer term 2013
Project Spoken Interaction with Teachable Agents
(2nd part)
Seminar on Spoken Dialog Systems
together with Prof. Habel
Lectures on Spoken Language Processing
in the course on Language and Speech in Multimodal Interaction with Prof. Habel
practical courses in formal methods
Fall/winter term 2012/2013
Project Spoken Interaction with Teachable Agents
: We're building a storytelling agent that you can argue about the story with.
Modul Logics Programming
: I supervise two exercise groups while they learn Prolog. Yay.
Summer term 2012
Project Spoken Dialogue Systems
(Bachelor of Informatics, Do. 14-17; 2nd part)
Lab on Logic Programming
(Bachelor of Informatics, compact course during spring break)
Fall/winter term 2011/2012
Seminar Spoken Dialogue Systems
(Master of Informatics, Mo. 14-16); together with Prof. Menzel's lectures on Spoken Language Processing this "Integriertes Seminar" forms the module Language Processing in the curriculum for master students
Project Spoken Dialogue Systems
(Bachelor of Informatics, Do. 14-17; 1st part); you'll need to attend the second part of this project next semester to get full credit
Student Supervision
Currently, I am supervising Jula Menck's BSc thesis on speech characteristics in the Spoken Wikipedia Corpus, Oskar Dörffler's BSc thesis on prosody and syntax of read speech in the Spoken Wikipedia Corpus, and Tim Krämer's MSc thesis which aims at bringing better Spoken Wikipedia browsing to the real Wikipedia.
I have previously co-supervised Alexandra Krah's BSc thesis on temporal elasticity of speech sounds in variable-rate speech, Alexander Grund's BSc thesis on incremental post-processing of Google's ASR results, Natalia Orlova's MSc thesis on the combination of multiple incremental speech recognizers, Marcel Rohde's BSc thesis on a Spoken Wikipedia Browser, Valentin Strauss' BSc thesis on incremental post-processing of Google's ASR results, Florian Stegen's BSc thesis on long audio alignment for the Spoken Wikipedia, Jonathan Werner's BSc thesis on keyword spotting in lecture transcriptions, Sven Zimmer's BSc thesis on build tools for scientific software development, Anne Rubruck's MSc thesis on decomposing semantic annotations into lexical semantics, Kolja Kirsch's BSc thesis on semi-automatic page-turning for piano sheet music, Jiyan Jonsdotter's BSc thesis on applying incremental spoken output to navigation systems, Engelke Eschner's diploma thesis on NLG for transit schedules, Sören Nykamp's BSc thesis on incremental processing in interactive storytelling, Johannes Twiefel's MSc thesis on improving Google's ASR using phonetic post-processing techniques given domain knowledge, Anita Eisenhaber's BSc thesis on sentiment analysis in social media statements (tweets, etc.), Svenja Neef's BSc thesis on analyzing the incremental properties of Android's ASR and integrating it with InproTK, Ole Eichhorn's BSc thesis on incremental speech synthesis integration into the VAVETaM system, and Rabih Hamadeh's MSc thesis on optimizing incremental ASR hypotheses.
I actively encourage students to go abroad! I successfully talked Maike Paetzel into visiting ICT as a summer intern in 2013 to work with David DeVault (which resulted in a publication at LREC 2014), and Arne Köhn is visiting ICT as a summer intern in 2014 to work with Kenji Sagae on incremental parsing. Sven Mutzl approached me regarding an internship opportunity in Shanghai which I helped to set up in collaboration with Kai Yu at Shanghai Technical University. Siva Meenakshi Renganathan from Anna University (Chennai) visited our lab as a summer intern in 2014 to work on exploiting Spoken Wikipedia data for speech research.
Under construction:
Timo's assessment criteria
for theses (and, to a lesser degree, seminar papers). See also:
Timo's advice on how to write a good thesis
Log In
RSS Feed
Copyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding Foswiki?
Send feedback


text:
Father Dougal: It's like a big tide of jam coming towards us, but jam made out of old women.
Eoin McLove: (shouting at a large crowd of elderly ladies) Go away! I don't want to catch the menopause!
Mrs. Doyle: And what do you say to a cup?
Jack: Feck off cup!
Ted: God I hate hospitals.
Dougal: Do you ever notice it's usually sick people who end up in hospitals?
Father Dougal: Our Father, who art in heaven…
Father Ted: Hallowed.
Father Dougal: Hallowed be thy..
Father Ted: Name.
Father Dougal: Papa don't preach…
Father Ted: Old women are closer to God than we'll ever be. They get to that age and they don't need the operator anymore. They've got the direct line.
Father Ted: Down with this sort of thing!
Dougal: Careful now!
Father Ted: Dougal, how did you get into the church? Was it like, "Collect twelve crisp packets and become a priest"?
Father Ted is demonstrating some plastic toy cows to Dougal.
Father Ted: …OK, one last time. These are small… but the ones out there are far away. Small… far away…
Father Dougal: God Ted, I've heard about those cults. Everyone dressing in black and saying our Lord's going to come back and judge us all.
Father Ted: No…no Dougal, that's us. That's Catholicism you're talking about there.
Bishop Brennan: You address me by my proper title, you little bollocks!
Niamh Conolly: The church in Ireland secretly had lots of potatoes during the famine, and they hid the potatoes in pillows and sold them abroad in potato fairs. And the Pope closed down a lot of the factories that were makin' the potatoes and turned them into prisons for children.
Father Ted: God almighty, she says that as if there's something sinister about it all! I mean, what is the problem with her?
Mrs Doyle: They were a bit obsessed with the old…S-E-X. God I'm glad I never think of that type of thing Father. That whole sexual world. God, when you think of it it's a dirty, filthy thing, isn't it Father? Can you imagine Father? Can you imagine Father, looking up at your husband, and him standing over you with his lad in his hand, wanting you to degrade yourself? God almighty can you imagine that Father? Can you picture it there Father? Oh get a good mental picture of it. Can you see him there? Ready to do the business?
Father Ted: Dougal! Have you been drinking?
Dougal: I have, Ted! I've been drinking like a mad eejit! Oh, wait! (gives a drawn-out wink to Father Fintan) No I haven't!
Father Jack: I love my brick!
Father Ted: Ah, that's nice. Perhaps we're seeing a new side to Father Jack? A more caring, considerate…
(Jack suddenly hurls the brick at Ted, knocking him out)
Father Jack: Ah, feck it! Fed up with brick!
Mrs. Doyle: Oh, Pat was wondering if he could put his massive tool in my box.
Father Ted: What! How dare you!
Pat (raising an enormous adjustable spanner): Yes, too big for the milk float.


text:
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard suffered a groin strain late in Wednesday's 111-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
He's expected to miss the 3-point contest during the NBA's All-Star Saturday festivities in addition to Sunday's All-Star game. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reports that Lillard underwent an MRI on Thursday that confirmed a groin strain. The recovery period is 1 to 2 weeks.
Dame, on missing All Star Weekend: Hopefully Devin Booker or somebody like that will get the spot. pic.twitter.com/Rv68AZJPMS— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) February 13, 2020
"Obviously that's something that you look forward to, those festivities and having fun. But my health is first," Lillard said. "I knew right away that wasn't going to happen. I'll still be there and be a part of it, but I'm not going to be able to play. Hopefully somebody who should've been there that didn't make it [will take my place], but unfortunately I had to be the fall guy."
Even though he won't be playing, Lillard will still be a part of the weekend.
Yahoo Sources: Dame D.O.L.L.A. (groin) still intends to perform on Saturday night at United Center during All-Star Weekend.— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 13, 2020
Lillard didn't hear a pop
Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reports that Lillard didn't hear a pop when he suffered the injury and plans to spend the All-Star weekend recovering.
Yahoo Sources: Damian Lillard didn't hear a pop when he injured his groin, which is a great sign. He'll spend All-Star Weekend recovering in preparation for a second-half playoff push.— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 13, 2020
Lillard is in the midst of a career season, averaging 29.7 points, 7.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds while hitting four 3-pointers per game at a 39.5 percent clip. He's been on a tear during the last month, averaging 38.4 points and 9.4 assists while hitting 5.5 3-pointers per game.
Portland needs Lillard back soon
The Trail Blazers are in a battle to make the playoffs, trailing the Grizzlies by four games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West following Wednesday's loss. They'll need Lillard to return to form soon after the All-Star break if they hope to make a postseason push.
Lillard's absence in the All-Star game opens up a roster spot that will likely to go to Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, who was widely considered the game's biggest snub in the midst of an outstanding season.
More from Yahoo Sports:


text:
My friend Greg Hutchins published this article in his newsletter, CERM (R) Risk Insights, this week. Take a look at his website to find out about his company's approach to enterprise risk management.
Back in the early 1980s, manufacturers in America woke up to the fact that Toyota and other Japanese companies were outperforming them on quality and efficiency. They looked across the Pacific and copied the first thing they could see — rapid delivery of parts to the plant. They called it Just-in-Time and mandated it from their suppliers.
JIT'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRETOEMs got their JIT, but the dirty little secret was that suppliers had 40-foot trailers parked around the assembly plant filled with parts. Cash, damage, shrinkage and obsolescence became the supplier's problem as long as materials didn't cross the OEM's threshhold. Suppliers produced to forecast, not actual demand. They couldn't respond fast enough to changes in their customers' scheduled production. To avoid ever stopping the OEM's line, they produced and held large inventories, or ate the cost of premium freight when they couldn't keep up with unexpected demand peaks or their own production system's problems caused parts shortages.
Meanwhile, defects remained high, production flow through both OEM's and suppliers' plants remained sluggish, changeovers of large and complicated equipment continued to take up to a day or more, and actual production rarely matched forecast or even daily scheduled production. (More instability was added because plant managers still got incentive bonuses for exceeding the plan.) When not addressed, these factors made JIT fail more often than not.
WHAT'S NEEDED TO MAKE JIT SUCCESSFULMeanwhile, JIT spread to other industries. Companies were told it was a business strategy and some still think that's true. By misunderstanding ideas like JIT and 'zero inventory,' companies do set themselves up for trouble. If flow and efficiency levels in their plants are not mature enough, JIT is not going to make any difference. And old supply chain management policies, like beating up suppliers on price to the point where they can't survive, will leave a supply chain weak and unable to consistently fulfill delivery expectations. With a lack of supply chain communication and partnership or single source procurement, companies are vulnerable to any interruption in the supplier's ability to fulfill orders.
Under these conditions, JIT will never work. Pursuing a single lean goal without understanding that it is part of a whole management system is like saying you can win a baseball game with a good catcher and eight other people who haven't played since high school. No matter how talented the catcher is, he's won't make up for poor hitting, pitching, or fielding.
WHY JIT WORKS IN TOYOTAWhy does JIT appear to work in companies like Toyota? Their supplier relationships and logistics systems are finely tuned after years of collaboration. The company and its suppliers work closely to match demand and supply. They electronically share forecasts and production schedules, as well as information on inventory at all points in the production and distribution system. They can do so because to them, the company and its supply chain is an extended lean enterprise able to optimize agile and flexible operations throughout.
SUPPLY RISK MANAGEMENTThe successful company also continuously monitors many risk factors for each supplier. It has contingency plans for flood, fire, tornado, strike, and other possible unplanned situations. Yes, the rare 100-year event can occur. When a tsunami plus an earthquake cause a nuclear disaster and a company experiences a supply chain failure, is JIT at fault? Should it tie up unnecessary cash and space in just-in-case inventory because someday something really bad might happen?
So when people say JIT doesn't work, they are absolutely right. JIT was never meant to be a standalone business strategy. Neither its evangelists or skeptics understand that JIT is only a fragment of a mature lean supply chain and manufacturing management system. The system produces JIT as part of its successful performance. A focus on JIT alone does not produce success.


text:
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain - Carved Pumpkin
or 4 payments of $1.11 with Info
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain - Carved Pumpkin (October 2015 Colour of the Month)
The same fluid, water reactive formula crafters have come to love in the Distress Stains is now available in a spray format.
The bottle features a quality mist sprayer.
Use for quick and easy ink coverage on porous surfaces.
Spray through stencils, layer colours, spritz with water and watch the colours mix and blend.
•1.9 fl. oz bottles with fine mist sprayer
•Water-based dye inks for paper and porous surfaces
Be The First To Review This Product!
Help other Papermaze Scrapbooking Supplies users shop smarter by writing reviews for products you have purchased.


text:
Summary: What is the Best Way to import Blu-ray files to Final Cut Studio especially FCP 7? Get the solid answer from this article.
Apple might not be ready to add Blu-ray to its computers yet, so how can I import Blu-ray movies to Apple Final Cut Studio to make my own masterpiece? Searched widely and I got some tech support for loading Blu-ray files into Final Cut Pro 7 correctly.
There are more than one people suggest to convert Blu-ray to a FCP 7 most compatible format Apple ProRes, which will ensures a perfect Blu-ray importing, playing and editing workflow with FCP 7.
Price: $44.95; Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9,10.10;
Here is the step-by-step guide on ripping Blu-ray to ProRes for Final Cut Pro 7 on Mac OS X with aPubSoft Blu-ray Ripper for Mac. This video app can help you change Blu-ray into a different format (prores 422, prores 422 hd, etc) with least quality loss. You should then be able to import the new file into Final Cut Pro 7 with smooth editing without any trouble. Below is how.
How to convert Blu-ray movies to ProRes 422 for Final Cut Pro 7 ?
1. Once successfully installed the best Blu-ray to FCP 7 Converter, run the program. Insert Blu-ray to disc drive, click the "Load disc" button to import source Blu-ray.
2. Choose output format. This Blu-ray converter offers optimized format preset for Final Cut Pro 7. Just click "Format" menu firstly and then follow "Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)" as output format.
Tip: If the default settings do not fit you requirement, you can click "Settings" icon to and enter "Profile Settings" panel to adjust video size, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channels.
3. Click "Convert" button to start encoding Blu-ray to ProRes .mov for FCP 7 on Mac OS X.
When the BD to Final Cut Studio conversion task is finished, click "Open" button to get the exported files for transferring to FCP 7 with easy playback or editing.
Additional Tips:
1. This Blu-ray to FCP 7 Converter not only can help you convert Blu-ray to FCP 7, but also enables anyone with Blu-ray files to use in any non-linear editor like FCP 6,FCP X,Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, FCE, Avid Media Composer, etc as long as rip Blu-ray to a recognizable format.


text:
Curry unveils new education lab at Bushrod Recreation Center
Oakland – Almost a year ago today, Stephen Curry along with Under Armour and Chase teamed up to refurbish a state of the art new gymnasium for the kids at Bushrod Recreation Center located in North Oakland, Ca.
The project was an opportunity for kids to play basketball in a brand new gym. Curry's main goal for the center is to help all kids grow personally, physically and mentally. Both Curry and Under Armour are committed to focusing on the mentor-ship, education and physical activity for all kids.
This year, Steph and his wife, Ayesha Curry teamed up with Under Armour, Chase and Heart of America to launch, the Stephen and Ayesha Curry Family Foundation Education Lab. A remodel of the learning center was designed to enhance education while having fun at the same time. Curry mentioned last year that he wants the best for the youth and he continues to do just that.
The new lab features quotes from several famous people including;
Barak Obama – We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent."
May Angelou – "Nothing can dim the light that shines within"
Stephen Curry – "Be the best version of your self in anything you do. You don't have to live anybody else's story."
The lab has brand new furniture, brand new laptop, headsets, printers, a gaming station for kids to take a break and unwind in a safe place. There's also enough space for children to do multiple things like watch programs on the new 65 inch flatscreen TV, read in a quiet place and eat lunch peacefully.
The ribbon cutting ceremony included words from Curry; Nicholas Williams, Director of Oakland Park, Recreation & Youth Development; Oakland District 1 Council member Dan Kalb; Jill Heath, President and CEO of Heart of America; and Frank Nakano, Managing Director of JPMorgan Chase Sports & Entertainment. Students in attendance were also gifted a suite of product from Stephen and Under Armour, including Curry 5 footwear. Students will be able to use the space immediately – for school projects, for creative outlets, for socializing and much more.
Curry also had some top high school guards who attended his camp to help with drills. Kids learned how to dribble, pass, do layups and get coached by the best in the league. The two-time MVP and three-time NBA Champion Steph Curry stayed on the court the entire time to assist with the drills.


text:
This past week I walked the trail of Bainbridge Island's Battle Point Park to have a close encounter with the dome shaped building that I'd wondered about while spending hours on the sidelines of my now adult son's soccer games so often played on the park's pristine fields.
Like many of the parks in Kitsap County, Battle Point was once the site of a military installation housing World War II structures used to facilitate communications to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The former Transmitter Building has been renovated for use as a building for the island's Park and Recreation District's various programs.
The local newspaper, The Bainbridge Review, published an excellent article on the history of Battle Point Park. Its name allegedly comes not from its use by the military but rather from a battle fought between the Suquamish Tribe and Canadian First Nation invaders. It was at this site that U.S. code breakers first intercepted a message indicating Japan was going to bomb Pearl Harbor.
But it was the domed building that piqued my curiosity. The building minus the dome was called the Helix Building and it was part of the military's complex that was donated to the Bainbridge Island parks by the Navy in 1972. It's now a planetarium housing a 27.5 inch telescope, the largest public access telescope in the area. How, I wondered did THAT happen?
After the Navy donated the Helix Building to Bainbridge it stood vacant for 21 years until John Rudolph, a local community activist and amateur astronomer proposed turning the building into a planetarium. Along with two other local enthusiasts and eventually a team of volunteers, the building was renovated to create a planetarium and observatory and a telescope was built. The planetarium is named after John Rudolph and the observatory and telescope after Edwin E Ritchie, one of the other early founders.
The Battle Point Astronomical Association was created to insure the building was used for the educational purposes as the founders envisioned. It's website contains considerable information about classes, children's activities, the current month's astronomical events, how to check out smaller telescopes and some amazing celestial photography by Stephen Ruhl.
Finding out about Bainbridge Island's organized night sky viewing led to more wondering. Where else in Kitsap County could one find enthusiasts? I turned to The Google.
Further south in Bremerton, a group of local astronomy educators have opened the Pacific Planetarium for May through August Friday and Sunday presentations. Their May, 2016 schedule has topics such as Hubble Space Telescope photos, audience suggestion Sundays and an over 18 years of age uncensored Greek and Roman Star Stories presentation.
Also based in Bremerton is the Olympic Astronomical Society. Begun in 1969 by a group of high school students passionate about star gazing, today the organization is open to anyone and it encourages family involvement. It sponsors a variety of activities including monthly meetings, potlucks, star gazing parties at Port Gamble and Hurricane Ridge and its popular Camp Delaney Star Party at Sun Lakes in Eastern Washington.
For anyone wanting a formal educational experience, Olympic College offers an Astronomy Program that prepares students for entry level work in the field. The college's popular astronomy instructor, David Fong teaches Introduction to Astronomy classes at all three of the college's campuses in Bremerton, Poulsbo and Shelton. He can sometimes be heard as a guest speaker at local astronomy events. I heard him speak at Bainbridge's John Rudolph Planetarium and can attest for his enthusiasm for his subject matter. In August, 2015, Olympic College sponsored Astronomy Talks, a series of lectures by nationally known astronomers and Astronomy Slam, short talks about astronomy subjects at art galleries, theatres and pubs in Bremerton. I'm bookmarking those two sites in hopes the college will repeat the events this summer.
What began as a close encounter with a dome shaped building revealed a galaxy of local possibilities for anyone interested in astronomy.
Make it so and you will live long and prosper.


text:
Program Description
Also in the catering business it makes a huge difference whether one is working on or unskilled, or has a vocational qualification!
To enable skilled and unskilled manpower vocational qualifications of Industry and Commerce as / -frau systems catering Chamber of Commerce, the Hotel Fernschule Poppe & Neumann offers unique in Germany the chance to catch up on this in part-time distance learning course and without loss of earnings.
With a distance learning course the hotel Fernschule Poppe & Neumann and the vocational qualification as a specialist / woman for the food CCI to offer wide-ranging opportunities in the labor market:
- An occupation degree (CCI certificate)
- More recognition at work
- Social rise
- Better earning potential
- Development and career opportunities in the food service industry
The assistants exam to / -frau systems catering CCI is at career changers often the first step towards further training objectives: A subsequent upgrading training for business administrator in the hospitality industry may be the next stop on the way up the career ladder even with you. Take advantage of this opportunity!
The course is aimed at buying and unskilled workers in the catering business with at least 34 months work experience.
course content
The state-certified and approved course to / for / -frau for the food CCI is characterized by the mature, based on the professional practice study documents. Like all Poppe & Neumann-distance learning is also the course / -frau systems catering CCI designed to employment and training can be optimally arrange.
Multidisciplinary part
- Dealing with guests, consulting and sales
- Equipment, machinery, consumer goods, working methods and hygiene
- kitchen area
- Service area
- Inventory management, office organization and communication
- Advertising, sales promotion and business service
Fold Specific Part
- System Organization
- Product presentation and consultation
- human Resources
They have the time of testing at least 4 ½ years relevant work experience This means that you can already start with 34 months' professional experience with distance learning, as you continue working while studying and thus have the time of testing the necessary professional experience.
Study duration and cost
Organization of time
Distance learning (20 months)
In this phase of your distance learning course you will receive monthly lesson. The course material prepares you for the examination to / for / -frau systems catering IHK.
Test (IHK)
After a successful distance learning course examination at the IHK takes place.
You can always sign up - of course starts every month on the 1st or 15th
Tuition and Fees
Tuition fees are € 85.00 per month (total cost € 1,700.00)
Normal period
The normal period for the course is 20 months.
Of course you can - at no extra cost - or shorten your distance learning individually and stretch. The only depends on how much time you have to learn and of course the fact that you meet the admission requirements at the time of testing.
Financing and promotion
Monthly payment
At Poppe & Neumann pay your tuition fees in the comfort of monthly course rates.
save taxes
You can make up to € 4,000.00 per year for your training at Poppe & Neumann tax as related expenses. For that you will get at the end of the calendar year a certificate for the payroll tax year compensation.
To counter the impending shortage of skilled workers, many states have launched their own funding from the European Social Fund. As a recognized educational institution, you can benefit from this special grant for the training costs.
About the School
Mit inzwischen über 120 Jahren Marktpräsenz ist die Hotelfernschule Poppe & Neumann die älteste Bildungseinrichtung für die Menschen im Hotel- und Gaststättengewerbe, in der Gemeinschaftsverpflegu ... Read More


text:
The Right Broadband for you
There are so many broadband providers out there at the moment, both on a fixed and a mobile basis.
On fixed you could choose from BE , Sky , Plusnet , Tesco , and even the Post Office . And on a mobile broadband basis you have EE, Three Mobile, Vodafone, and O2 just for starters.
Choosing the best provider really is a tricky decision. This article will look through how to choose the best fixed line and mobile broadband solutions, and some considerations you should take into account along the way.
Choosing a Fixed Line Solution
When choosing a fixed solution most people buy based on the download speed they can achieve in their area. After all we all want to do things faster and more efficiently. The best way to find out the kinds of speeds you can achieve are through online tools.
Many people do a speed test of their connection and this data is shared for all to see on certain websites. Services such as uSwitch provide the opportunity to do a postcode search of the various speed test results in your area. These results show you the upload speed, download speed, latency of internet service providers in you vicinity. This can be a great way to get actual results instead of the advertised results providers want us to believe in.
A Bit about Advertised Results
When you look at internet service providers, whether it's BE , O2 , or any other service, the 'up to' rates that are advertised will not be the actual rate that you're likely to get. Advertising has become a little bit more transparent recently but it still isn't very "honest" in most cases.
It's the case that the headline rate advertised is the actual rate you will receive. It tends to be the case that the 'up to' speeds that are headlining the magazines and internet advertisements are the speeds that at least 10% of consumers on a certain ISP can receive. This means that 90% of people will not receive this speed, or perhaps anywhere near it.
It's therefore important to read reviews and use these online comparison services in order to get the best provider for your location. It's also worth talking to friends and colleagues in your area to find out how their internet connectivity stability is as well. Some providers will shape traffic during peak periods in the evenings, and this can be a real problem for some people.
If you're not going for fibre optic broadband, then you are going to be on ADSL broadband, so ensure that you know your distance from a telephone exchange so that you can get a connection that is right for you.
If you are a long way from the telephone exchange it may be that the speed will degrade so much that you'll struggle to get a decent connection. It may be that ADSL 2 or ADSL 2+ is the only option to get any sort of speed.
There are around 166,000 homes in the UK that are in broadband black spots where they can't get decent connectivity through ADSL, or any other standard fixed line medium.
Choosing a Mobile Broadband Provider
When you're choosing a mobile broadband provider it's important to ensure that you get the coverage that you require. The signals for mobile broadband are very similar to telephone signals. So chances are if you can get a decent telephone signal, you can probably get a decent mobile signal.
It's well worth noting that the mobile technology is developing quickly and we're now looking at 4G connectivity.
What is 4G connectivity?
4G connectivity involves speeds that are faster and connections that are more stable. It is the fourth generation of mobile broadband technology. Essentially speeds should be up to around 14.4Mbps and more. And you should get better indoor as well as outside connectivity too because there are lower bands of the spectrum that are going to be better at penetrating brick walls.
There are similar services to help you check the coverage that you'll likely get in your area with mobile broadband as there are with fixed broadband. For example, you can do a postcode check and find out what connectivity different providers have in your area. You can also pop on to the network operator websites and do a check based on postcode.
If you're committing to a 24-month contract on mobile broadband, it may be worth buying a sim card and crediting it with £5 so that can check the mobile broadband coverage where you need to use it.
You could slip the sim card into your phone if it is sim free and therefore try the mobile broadband on your smartphone. Doing a bit of browsing and jumping on to Youtube could be enough to satisfy yourself that the connection will be sufficient for your purposes.
Some Other Considerations
Whether you're with BE , O2, Vodafone, Sky, Virgin, Plusnet, or any other company, it's critical that you don't only consider speed but also your download allowances. There are a variety of packages available for most providers and it's only a few of the providers, such as Tesco, that really are limited in their choice. Most providers will offer you an option for a light, a medium, or a heavy user package so that you can get the right amount of data for your particular needs.
If you spend a lot of time streaming and playing online games then you'll probably want a fixed line connection with a heavy user package. This will likely be unlimited and the best unlimited providers offer truly unlimited broadband without the imposition of a fair usage policy and traffic management.
Some of the providers that you could look at are Sky, Virgin Media on their top package, BE, and BT on some of their packages too.
Do watch out for fair usage caps. TalkTalk have a 40GB cap on some of their unlimited packages and the post office have 100GB, which is more generous, but still far from unlimited. If you are a media hungry home it's certainly worth considering the amount of data that you're going to consume.
If you spend a lot of time uploading as well then the upload speed may be important. This can be critical if you run a business where you upload images through e-mail or through some other platform, such as FTP. Home offices really should look at a business solution where you get better upload speed, prioritised traffic, a more consistent connection and better customer service.


text:
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Movie Review: The Year's Most Intense Movie Is Also One Of The Year's Best
Paul Greengrass has staked out a very specific place in the cinema world. His best films - and almost all of his films are his best films - are about people pushed into impossible situations, places where survival and politics and basic humanity all collide. His films take place in the real world, even fictional films like his masterful Bourne duology. His movies are impressed by the clockwork strength of military firepower but also constantly, totally mistrustful of it. Paul Greengrass is making the movies that will define the early 21st century for the generations that come after.
Captain Phillips comes closer to the United 93 side of his spectrum, but Greengrass' time with Bourne has given him an almost preternatural mastery of tension, suspense and action. The film is a real danger to those given to biting their nails during intense sequences; you'll be left with bloody stumps when the full two hours play out. Based on a true story, Captain Phillips procedurally walks us through the details of the hijacking of a cargo ship by Somali pirates. That procedural - already taught and often terrifying - ramps up as the hijacking turns into a hostage situation and the hostage situation turns into a total military clusterfuck, with the inevitability of violence looming ever larger.
Tom Hanks is Captain Rich Phillips, a decent family man who runs his boat in a no-nonsense way. The Maersk Alabama is rounding the Horn of Africa with food and water supplies for the starving, and Phillips knows he's headed into pirate seas. He keeps his men on alert and conducts drills, attempting to be ready should the worst case scenario happen.
And does it ever. During one of the drills the Maersk is buzzed by pirates in skiffs; while the ship gets away everyone knows the pirates will be back the next day. And they are, four skinny men armed with machine guns and a determination to get rich the only way they know how.
In Black Hawk Down Ridley Scott presented the Somalis as a force akin to zombies - a horde, a mob without humanity. That's not Greengrass' style, and the script by Billy Ray gives each of the four men their own individual humanity. At the head of the pirate group is Muse, played by Barkhad Abdi as a guy who, in other circumstances, could be the hero. Muse is so gaunt even the other thin Somalis call him skinny, but what he lacks in meat he has in willpower. Ordered by the local warlord to take a ship and make lots of money with it, Muse is unwilling to be deterred from his task, even as the situation spirals out of control. He won't give up, and as the movie goes on we begin to understand why - this is a small man from a country the rest of the world considers small. He wants to prove himself, he wants to make good with the bosses, and he wants to show that Somalis can't be pushed around. Muse would make an inspiring rebel leader if an invading force took over Somalia, but those same qualities make him an extraordinarily dangerous pirate.
Abdi is terrific, playing with simultaneous doubt and determination in every scene. He's naive enough to think he can visit New York after hijacking the Alabama but savvy enough to understand that every move made by the US is a trick (which makes his final decisions very fascinating). We see on Abdi's face the calculations he makes as his options grow ever narrower, as what had been a routine hijacking turns into a military incident involving the US Navy and a wrath-of-God level appearance by the SEALs.
He has to be terrific because he's constantly opposite Tom Hanks, who is doing possibly the best work of his career. Throughout the film Hanks is wonderful, embodying the adage that the brave man is someone who fights through his own fear. Rich Phillips is terrified, but he does what he must to keep his ship and his crew safe; as the situation grows ever tenser and tenser he begins to realize that he's not getting out of it alive, and Hanks brings us through the steps of that emotional journey without ever saying anything out loud. It's a powerful performance that gets tied up in his final scene, a shock-induced breakdown that is the best work Hanks has ever done. Hell, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's one of the best pieces of acting I have ever seen in a movie, a moment of pure realism and honesty and gaping emotional openness.
That emotional openness doesn't mean sentimentality. There's no sentimentality in Captain Phillips. Yes, Phillips has a family back home, but there are no cutaways to them. They barely get brought up until the very end. Muse's situation is presented starkly and honestly but without a condescending overreach. Instead of sentiment Greengrass packs his film with humanity - each of these men is a complex human being, driven by needs and fears, and the director is interested in how those colliding needs and fears escalates the situation far out of control.
What's remarkable is that Greengrass finds the space for humanity in the middle of what is surely the most intense movie of the year. I knew the true story of the Alabama hijacking walking in and I was still tense and shuddering throughout the entire third act, where Greengrass ratchets up the pressure, making everything even more claustrophobic. Throughout the film Greengrass' camera gets tighter and tighter on the characters, creating more urgency. By the end, when the pirates and Phillips are adrift in a tiny lifeboat, every shot - even medium ones - feels jammed directly in your face. You're in as tight as they are, as breathless as they are, as scared as they are. When the camera pulls back to show the Navy ships trailing the lifeboat you are smacked by the immensity of it all.
Dropped into this tenseness is the terrifying coldness of the Navy SEALs. Presented without comment, with almost no dialogue, they operate with icy professionalism that is far scarier than the worked-up freak-outs of the pirates. As the situation in the lifeboat falls apart the SEALs maintain absolute calmness. Where Muse and his men have identities, the SEALs are as anonymous as the waves that buffet the boats. Greengrass is clearly impressed by their professional precision, but also unwilling to lionize them. It's a tricky balance, and I suspect it's one the SEALs themselves would appreciate.
I found myself having actual physical reactions throughout Captain Phillips. I shook. I jerked. I may have let out a whimper. And I definitely choked up in Hanks' final scene. Paul Greengrass is, without a doubt, one of the finest filmmakers working today and when he finds a story like this - one that speaks directly to the struggle between power structures and classes and ideals and to the human beings caught in the middle of them - he is able to craft a movie that easily sits as one of the year's best. No other film I have seen this year has the sort of visceral gut-wrenching terror and deep, complex humanity that Greengrass brings to Captain Phillips. In a career littered with highlights, this is one of his best.


text:
The winners of Next Landmark 2013
Sport & Wellness, Bar, Residences,
Here are the names of the winners and the honourable mentions in the second Next Landmark international contest sponsored by Floornature, a portal about architecture, design and design culture in general. All the prize-winning projects will be on exhibit at SpazioFMG for Architecture in Milan from October 2 through 11, 2013.
In the "First Project" section, the top ranking project and winner of a trip to Helsinki is architect Shoko Murakaji for a home on the island of Iriomote in Japan. Special mentions went to Giorgi Khmaladze for his refuelling station in Batumi (Georgia) and Michiya Tsukano for "House T" in Miyazaki (Japan).
The top project in the "Research" category and winner of a 3-month on-the-job training programme at BNKR studio in Mexico City is Nataly Abramova (Russia), who presented a study of contemporary art centres (CAC). A special mention went to Aries Cheng (Hong Kong) for an alternative concept of development for the urban gaps created by the fall of the Berlin Wall and to Gabrielle Phillips for her study of the relationship between earth and sea and between identity and tradition in the facilities serving the port of Hobart (Australia), point of departure for the Antarctic routes.
The winner in the Photography section, a new category introduced in the 2013 contest, and winner of a trip to Helsinki for Helsinki Desing Weekend, is Hugo Soo, for his photographs taken in Canada and the United States investigating "Next" landmarks, reconsidering the relationship between time and architecture in the light of human emotions. The special mentions in this category went to Pedro Gabriel (Portugal) and Marco Fogarolo (Italy) for the interesting photographic research into the spaces, forms and volumes of the suburbs of Italy.http://contest.floornature.com/winners.php