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The principle of accountability is a cornerstone of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to the GDPR, a business/organisation is responsible for complying with all data protection principles and is also responsible for demonstrating compliance. The GDPR provides businesses/organisations with a set of tools to help demonstrate accountability, some of which have to be mandatorily put in place.
For example, in specific cases the establishment of a DPO or conducting data protection impact assessments (DPIA) may be mandatory. Data controllers can choose to use other tools such as codes of conduct and certification mechanisms to demonstrate compliance with data protection principles.
You may adhere to a Code of Conduct prepared by a business association which has been approved by a DPA. A Code of Conduct may be given EU-wide validity through an implementing act of the Commission.
You may adhere to a certification mechanism operated by one of the certification bodies that have received accreditation from a DPA or a national accreditation body or both, as decided in each EU Member State.
Both codes of conduct and certification are optional instruments and therefore it is up to your company/organisation to decide whether to adhere to a given code of conduct or to request certification. While your company/organisation still has to respect and comply with the GDPR, adherence to such instruments might be taken into consideration in the case of an enforcement measure against you for a breach of the GDPR.
The umbrella insurance body in the EU Member State of your company/organisation has had a Code of Conduct approved by the supervisory authority. A number of rival insurance firms have adhered to the Code. While adhering is voluntary, the adherence to the Code helps in demonstrating compliance with the GDPR.


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Smoothened hair
I have wild, wavy hair. It has been years now that whenever I go for a haircut, the hair cutter tells me to get my hair straightened. I love my hair as they are. Do I sometimes wish they were more manageable? Yes, of course.
I don't shy away from experimenting with my hair. After all its ghar ki kheti (I don't even know how to translate that). I have had red streaks, last year I got half my hair shorn. This year I thought it's high time I try smoothening and smooth over the heartburn of all the barbers who have ever handled my hair. It was on my agenda when I landed home. It still hasn't happened. Not that I haven't tried. I have gone across to half the beauty parlours in town and inquired about it.
- How much will it cost for my length and type of hair?
- How long will it take?
- So is swimming a no no after smoothening? (The thought of not being able to swim because my smoothened hair won't get along with chlorine horrifies me.)
- What if I get sweaty? Does sweat harm the smoothening? (I hardly sweat, but what if I do?)
- What special precautions will I have to take? (I am lazy when it comes to hair care. Case in point – once a dermatologist told me I have oily skin, so there is no need to oil my hair. Voila! I followed this advice to a T and haven't oiled my hair in years. Lesser the taam jhaam , the better!)
- What special hair products will I have to use? (I don't like using special hair care products either. When my shampoo is finished, I take mom and dad's)
The parlour people bear with me and it's clear they don't have a lot of customers with so many queries who still end up not availing the service in question.
I keep telling myself that my hair are a renewable resource – they will grow out. I still haven't been able to muster the courage.
All that may change. Winter is coming. The swimming season is over. I might take the plunge.
Getting laser
I have never been in favour of getting laser done for restoring my vision. It felt like an unnecessary intrusion into my eyes' personal space. But this year, I gave it a thought. It would be nice to be free of glasses. I got my eyes checked and inquired about laser.
My doubts didn't take long to come back. I was flooded with the thoughts of a flatmate in Bangalore who had got laser done. She used to avoid swimming because of her dry eyes. Just like with straightening the standard question I ask myself is, "Will I be able to swim after I get this procedure done?" (Somehow swimming is my benchmark for most dilemmas in my life. It would seem like I swim a lot."A lot" of swimming hasn't happened since a few years. It's just that I cannot bear the thought of not swimming if and when I wanted to.)
The doctor wasn't able to satisfy me on the vexing question of dry eyes. He went, "It's common but it goes away." It never went away for the said flatmate. So I passed on laser. I don't want to get weird medical conditions that I don't have now. I would rather prefer glasses. Also, swimming before everything!
I became interested in farming during my fellowship. Before that I had no exposure to it. Being a born and bred city girl, it never caught my fancy. My granddad tried hard to show me the beauty of growing things but I was always like,"Na, I am good. You carry on".
This time I had made up my mind to do some farming after getting back home. We have a plot near our home where we grow fruits and vegetables. It was my granddad's pet project. After him, my grandma took over it. I had a thought of helping out, looking after the plants and learning stuff. I had also thought of going to PAU (Punjab Agricultural University) to learn more about farming. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make much progress. The few times I have visited our farm, it warmed my heart to see nature at work. But I have not been able to keep up the momentum.
I hope to change that in the coming months. Now that winter is here, the idea of sitting in the sun on the farm is enticing.
Making organic manure from kitchen waste
I am very conscious of not generating much waste and managing as much of it as possible. Back in Bangalore, I religiously segregated my waste. In the village, I followed the same policy, albeit with a difference. I used to leave the kitchen waste in the vacant space beside my house every morning. Various animals – cows, crows, chickens, dogs, squirrels used to pick and choose from the menu. Within minutes, it used to be all gone. It was a thing of beauty.
I planned on carrying on the good work at home. The Bangalore model didn't fit – waste segregation at source has still not caught on in Ludhiana. The village model is not appropriate too – the variety of animals around my house is not as extensive as in the village and the waste is more. Plus I don't want to weird out our neighbours.
I had to come up with something else. I thought of collecting my kitchen waste everyday and dumping it in a pit on our plot to make manure. Since I haven't been able to go to the plot regularly, this plan hasn't panned out. I can't keep more than a day's waste at home. It starts smelling.
Also the ladies of my house didn't warm up to the idea of keeping two dustbins in the kitchen. My mom summed it up, "Tu inni vehli hain taan kar daya kar segregate". On the bright side, I shared this idea with my nanaji and he loved it. He asked my nanima to follow it with their kitchen waste.
I have started becoming more active now. We have orange trees on our plot. They bore fruit for the first time this season. I didn't want to throw away all the orange peels. Some online research showed that peels are edible. I gave that a thought but it didn't sound so appealing. Plus how many peels could I really eat? I passed on the idea to the family. Let's just say they didn't want anything to do with it.
Then I remembered this face scrub ad from when I was young – the USP was that it was made from orange peels. I started drying the peels in the sun and making a powder out of them. I don't really do face masks but now that I have made ample powder, I got to do something with it! Also thinking of passing some of it to relatives. If anyone had any doubts about how much time I have on my hands, this gives a clear idea!
Going to a meditation camp in Dharamshala
As I said before, I have been trying to build a meditation practise this year. I got to know about ten-day residential meditation camps in Dharamshala. They sounded inviting – ten straight days of meditation with like-minded individuals with no outside contact including no phones , laptops etc. The "no outside contact" sounded good on one level but was alarming to me on another. What if there were some creeps in the camp and I got stuck in a horror movie scenario?
I visited two of these camps to see what they were all about. They were on an isolated hilltop and that didn't help my Savdhaan India mindset. Surely I couldn't meditate while always being alert. I would really have appreciated being able to keep my phone. I decided to give it a pass.
I love the concept though. Maybe sometime in the future when either I become less cynical or they start allowing mobile phones.
Becoming a part of a community
This year, I am spending a lot of time home. I don't venture out much. Stephen Covey says in the chapter "Sharpening the saw" that one should sharpen the social saw by becoming a part of a community with an emphasis to serve. It made sense to me. So I set out thinking about organizations around me. My grandma is a member of Arya Samaj. Some of my relatives are into Art of living. Then there are all kinds of phony babas. Surely I didn't want to get caught in a sex cult.
I find Art of living followers too devoted for my comfort. I preferred Arya Samaj. So have I accompanied my grandma to the weekly discourses? No. The only thing I have done, repeatedly, is make a note in my diary to go.
I am thinking of starting by serving the vegetation on our farm. Hopefully I can start with plants and eventually make my way up to humans!
A trip to Europe/ Northeast
One of my close friends is based in Europe. He had been asking me to visit since long. This year I decided since I am free, this should happen.
It hasn't really panned out the way I thought. Something or the other kept coming up and just like that, the best months of summer in Europe are over. To be honest, I didn't take any concrete steps to make this trip happen except getting to know what a Schengen visa is and telling my parents multiple times of my plan. My mom's response,"Dip into your savings girl. We are only sponsoring it when you have a husband in toe."
It's not too bad though. I have seen so many European honeymoon pics of friends on Facebook, it almost feels like I have been there already!
I had my heart set on one other trip as well. Last year, I sat scanning the map of India. I realized that I have been to all the states at least once, except the North eastern states . This year I planned to correct that anomaly.
Every time I sit down to plan it, I put it off by a couple of months. The plan gets cancelled with reasons like , " It must be cold", "It must be raining too much", "Oh, it's flooded", "Is it safe?" I must say I haven't been able to muster the courage yet to undertake this trip. It's on my mind with all the other doomed trips waiting for their moment in the spotlight.
I did make it to Goa for the first time in my adulthood, so it's not all bad.
Working out anywhere except the gym!
I had taken a three-month gym membership which expired at the end of May. I didn't renew it because of multiple reasons – I needed a break since I was hitting a plateau, I wanted to try working out at home and I wanted to join a yoga class to work on my flexibility. Update : neither the working out at home nor the yoga class happened. The yoga class was at five in the morning. I just couldn't find it in me to wake up that early for yoga. My parents fared much better – they used to come back to greet a sleeping me with,"Asi jake vi aa gaye.Tu suti reh". (We are back from the class. You keep sleeping)
Working out at home was similarly doomed. I just couldn't get in the mindset of moving my limbs at home. It was like the house was telling me, "No! Not here. This is the sacred place where you lounge on bed all day. You can't defile it by exercising here!" I struggled with this for four months. Finally I gave up and rejoined a gym. House :1 , Mehak : 0.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Stacey Solomon is being praised by fans for sharing a proud bikini shot on Instagram, five months after giving birth to son Rex
- The Loose Women star is on holiday with her family, in the Maldives
- Commenters were quick to call her real, beautiful and inspirational
Stacey Solomon has been applauded for showing off her post-baby body in an Instagram post shared last night.
Enjoying a beach-y break while in the Maldives with children Zachary, 11, Leighton, seven, and Rex, five months, the mum-of-three was pictured in a white bandeau bikini whilst playing with her youngest.
Stacey, who welcomed her littlest into the world in May with boyfriend Joe Swash, was praised by her followers for being 'so real' and a good role model.
Alongside the images, captioned 'Beach babies', she wrote: 'I'm determined to get a picture of all of us while we are here but for now it's just me, Rexy and Leighton's butt. The boys are having far too much fun for pictures.'
'Feeling so lucky to spend precious time in what I can only describe as paradise, with them making memories.'
She ended her caption with a plea for her partner to head there and join them, writing: 'Hurry up and get here Joe Joe we miss you.'
Her followers were quick to pile on with the positive remarks.
'You seriously are an amazing example to young mums or any mums for that matter! Beautiful girl with a beautiful life' commented one fan.
Another added: 'So beautiful @staceysolomon love that you're not afraid to be who you are.'
With two more stating: 'Amazing. You look beautiful and so real' and 'You're Beautiful and inspirational'.
Like this article? SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER to receive your weekly dose of features.


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Out in the desert in the blinding sun, Alex hastily loads his gun, aiming and firing at an oncoming angel flying low above him. Dozens and dozens of shell casings on the ground tell a tale of the many rounds he's already fired. Merciless wings hit him and he drops to the ground. We recognize the attacking angel as Michael, who is teaching Alex a lesson, and Alex isn't doing so well.
Michael's lesson seems to be two-fold. Alex needs to learn to keep his emotions in check, and Michael tells him to watch the shadows, not the sun. Alex can only growl at him.
A glimpse into David Whele's past reveals that he lost his family in an Eight-ball attack. The whole family is hiding in their closet — David's wife, William as a toddler and an older brother and sister. Nevertheless, the Eight-balls discover them and ruthlessly kill the wife and older children, leaving David and his son the only survivors of the gruesome scene.
Back in the Archangel Corps dorm, Claire is waiting for Alex to tell him that her duty is to the city and that she is marrying William because it's the right thing to do. It's as much a break-up talk as it is a confession of her love to him.
When David comes to House Riesen to deliver an early wedding gift, he drops a pretty big bomb on Claire. Somehow word of Edward Riesen's heart condition got out, and the Senate is pushing for a vote of no confidence for the general to step down.
Disguised with sunglasses, Clementine is out shopping in the city when she sees an old family heirloom in a bric-a-brac shop window. She goes in to buy back the white music box, but the shop owner recognizes her Eight-ball eyes and sharp teeth. Before he can grab his gun to shoot her, she reaches over the counter and kills him with one swift motion without even realizing what she's doing.
Up in the Stratosphere tower, Michael is trying to teach Alex how to focus and channel another vision. It comes to him in the form of Bixby who tells him not to let them hurt anyone else.
The general visits Clementine again, and she confesses that we went into the city for urgent errands. Clementine is quite a unique creature, not quite Eight-ball, not quite human. She doesn't fit in, and she knows it. And she's scared that she can't live like that forever.
Out by the Chosen One statue, William preaches to his Church of the Savior congregation. Things get volatile when one of his Black Acolytes approaches him in public, threatening to call him on his duplicity. It's only Claire's sudden appearance that stops William from doing harm to his disciple. Claire wants William to discourage his father from dethroning the general.
In a moment of sentiment, Clementine sneaks into House Riesen and leaves the music box in Claire's room. Edward catches her doing it and sends her away. Meanwhile William sneaks into his father's office and deposits a Black Acolyte blindfold in one of his desk drawers.
General Riesen pays Michael a rare visit up in the tower, asking him to personally take care of Clementine — and to make sure he ends her life. But it's not Michael who finds Clementine first, it's Alex.
We may have underestimated William, because he's a lot slyer than one might think. He sends Claire to his father's room to look for what he says is his speech for the festivities that are going on. As she snoops through David's desk, she happens upon the blindfold that William hid there. And of course she will use it to extort David into keeping her father's seat on the Senate.
While Alex is trying to decide whether to kill Clementine or not — seeing how she's begging for her life when he trains his gun on her — Claire holds her opening speech for the marriage announcement festivities. As she raises her glass to toast her mother, she steps aside and reveals a family portrait. What becomes immediately clear is that the former Mrs. Riesen is now the Eight-ball we've come to know as Clementine.
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An Analysis of the Impact of Weather Variation on Monthly Water Demandby Ken C. Hall, CH2M HILL, United States,
David R. Maidment, CH2M HILL, United States,
Document Type: Proceeding Paper
Part of: Optimizing the Resources for Water Management
A methodology is utilized to analyze and model the impact of weather variation on monthly long distance water deliveries in Southern California. Monthly water demand is viewed as a combination of four components; trend, seasonal cycle, autocorrelation, and climatic variations. The model utilized allows variation of model coefficients from month to month throughout the year. Twenty-five member agencies of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are analyzed as case studies, lending insight into the water demand process and the applicability of the model to water supply planning.
Subject Headings: Water demand | Water supply | Case studies | Mathematical models | Light rail transit | Seasonal variations | Climate change | Hydrologic models | California | United States
Services: Buy this book/Buy this article
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You know how much I love my MAC Ruby Woo lipstick. A reminder.
It's my go-to when I dress up and it's also my burst of color for any casual outfit. I love it like crazy. But the thing is, I rarely wear my Ruby Woo when I head into the OK Corral, the 9-to-5, the day to day. One of my co-workers asked me if I even wear makeup. I was like, uh, yeah? But the question didn't really surprise me: the fact is, I feel like this place doesn't deserve me all made up, even if it's just lipstick and some eye shadow. Kinda intense, right? I'll tell you why: I feel like makeup is for having fun times, good times, dressy times, those sorts of things. Things that have nothing to do with reporting to the Man five days a week. It's extreme, but it also underscores how I feel about this place. Sigh. Working on a better attitude in 5,4,3,2…Anyway, so I resist putting my "face" on when I come in. Sure, I wear lip gloss or even the Woo once in a blue moon, and I definitely don't leave the house without my MAC Studio Fix powder plus foundation, but I largely steer clear of my favorite lipstick. But before you can shake your head and lecture me on the importance of looking good for myself, regardless of my environment, I have you beat. From now, I will Ruby Woo wherever I go. This includes the place of nightmares that I call work. What inspired me? My bestie. When we went to Vegas last week, I loved how, regardless of wherever we went, she put her lipstick on. This meant the grocery store, a donut run, so on and so forth. She was never without her lipstick. I thought that was awesome. It reminded me of what I said above: it's for me. Doesn't matter where I happen to be. So, my personal rule, which effectively began yesterday: wear your lipstick when you want to, wherever you're going, if you feel like it. Rather than letting my eager fingers bypass my Ruby Woo in favor of a boring shade of lip gloss, I'll wear it if I very well please. Not just for fall, of course, but year-round.
And because I love you, here are a few car selfies (celfies) from yesterday when the Ruby Woo Rule went into effect.
Did I mention that I decided to straighten the fro for a spell, as well? You like? We'll take it one day at a time as far as how it lasts, but I also want to giddily point out that when the stylist flat ironed it, before putting in some bouncy curls, it was down to my shoulders. Woohoo! It's my intent to have healthy hair, first and foremost, but I'm also growing it out, as well, so that was nice to see. The versatility of natural hair is really everything.
Do you wear makeup and/or lipstick to work? What beauty changes have you made for yourself lately?


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Fall Session Starts Sunday, September 8
School is back in session and so are we! Six-week classes run Sept. 8 – Oct. 13. Tuition is $180.00. Please contact us at (818) 903-7763 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com for more details or to register for classes.
Guitar 101 Sundays, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. The perfect class for absolute beginners. Girls will learn simple chords, strumming and melody playing songs they know and songs they create together. No prior experience necessary.
Guitar 102 Sundays, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. This class picks up where Guitar 101 left off, with more complex strumming, simple leads and introduction to reading music. Some prior experience with chords and strumming required.
Our classroom and private studio are located in Sherman Oaks, CA at 14534 Ventura Blvd. Limited private, Skype and semi-private lessons on guitar and ukulele also available year-round.
Did you know that practicing a musical instrument increases brain function and enhances learning? According to the Children's Music Workshop, "Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain's circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds." Click link to read more from the PBS article: The Benefits of Music Education .
Happy playing, we'll see you at the studio!
Upcoming Events:
Fall Session, September 8 – October 13 (see schedule above)
Free Intro Guitar Class
Sunday, October 20, 12:30 p.m. All ages welcome.
Sherman Oaks Street Fair – Strum Along and Performance
Sunday, October 20, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Join us for an afternoon of outdoor student performance and strum-along. We'll be outside of Baxter Northup Music playing our favorite female-created music and answering your questions about the GGS program. Come meet our students and make some music (or just learn more about what we do and how you can become involved).


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From pre-sales to installation, we're here to answer any questions you may have. Your feedback and comments are also important to us. Let us know what we can do to help or to be better. We're always looking for ways to serve you better. Please fill up the following form and send to us! We will get back to you soon.
Corporate Headquarters:
8142 S. March Point Road. Anacortes, WA. 98221 USA
Phone: 360-299-8266
Toll-Free: 866-790-7767
International: 360-299-8266
Fax: 360-588-9439
Hours of Operation:
Monday thru Friday: 7:00am to 4:00pm PST
Closed Saturday & Sunday
Order Online 24/7


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I've linked up at:
We're a Two Tree Family
I've linked up at:
7 comments:
Wow! It's gorgeous♥ReplyDelete
What a great compromise!ReplyDelete
Beautiful tree by the way. I love how the lights sparkle on the 1st shot (star filter??)
Always love your tree!ReplyDelete
Love the pics dosh! and thanks for the photo info!ReplyDelete
Beautiful tree!ReplyDelete
I have a feeling that we will be a two tree family once kids come along as well.
Thanks for linking up to my Holiday Open House.
It's so fun for the kids to get to do their own thing on the tree. We only have one tree so the kids get to have the bottom 1/3 . . . we compromise for now. Someday I'll probably get another little one just for them. :)ReplyDelete
My, what a beautiful tree! I love the gold and red.ReplyDelete
Thanks for joining my link up!
We're so glad you stopped by! We read ALL your comments because we LOVE to hear what you have to say!
If you have any questions please leave your email or link it to your comment & we'll get back to you as soon as we can.


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It's Day 8 of the Just Mommin Around 10 Days of Christmas!
Today we are giving away a Cape Cod Woven Wrap from Instinctive Parent!
Instinctive Parent carries baby carriers, amber necklaces, cloth diapers and natural, organic body products, in addition to offering the only cloth diaper service in the area. Their expertise and guidance in baby wearing and cloth diapering can help you make the best decision for you and your baby with confidence.
Check out more at: https://www.instinctiveparentshop.com/
Enter to Win: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4d251bdd13/?


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Martin Jol has dismissed concerns before Fulham's game at Liverpool tomorrow that his job is under threat, despite speculation that he could become the next Premier League manager to be sacked.
Jol and his side were booed by a large section of their support last weekend during Fulham's 3-1 defeat by Manchester United and although they secured successive victories against Stoke and Crystal Palace last month, a defeat at Anfield will mean they slip into the bottom three if Norwich City win at home to West Ham.
The Norwich manager, Chris Hughton, has also come in for criticism from his own fans but Jol, who claimed he felt "lonely" during the match against United, remains confident that Fulham are better than a number of sides in the Premier League.
"People asked me how I felt when we conceded three goals in the first half and I was more cynical, with a sense of humour, and said I was very lonely. No, I am quite happy here but in that 15 minutes I felt lonely," he said.
Jol revealed that the defender Sascha Riether was disciplined internally as well as receiving a three-match ban from the Football Association for his stamp on United's Adnan Januzaj.
He said that Hugo Rodallega will be out for five to six weeks with a groin injury but that Brede Hangeland is in contention to play at Liverpool. "I don't think you are under pressure against Liverpool or Man United," he said.
"You are under pressure in your home games against the teams who should lose points against us. We need a few surprise results and maybe we can start against Liverpool."
Guardian Service


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Wesley Schmit
Hi my name is Wesley Schmit I am 21 years old and I have been in foster care for 2 years and homeless for 2 years. I was placed in foster care because my parents were always moving around. I ended staying with my grandma and then my mom got me back for living with her for 8 months because I started stealing again, then I moved back with my grandma. Then stayed with some friends and after that I ended up in a covenant house. My mom also passed away 2 years ago so I have been on my own. I'm just looking for employment.
What is one important lesson learned while transitioning into adulthood?
Well one lesson I learned is you have more responsibilities to take care of but you also have freedom. You are taking on more obstacles than you were as a kid.
What are your goals for your adulthood?
I was thinking of working, saving to get my own apartment and get my own car.
What is one thing you would like Seed House Project's assistance in?
Possibly the Seed House Project could assist me in employment. I am very detail oriented, punctual and reliable. Maybe also some skills too.


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Celaya, L and Swift, JS 2006, 'Pre-departure cultural training: US managers in Mexico' , Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 13 (3) , pp. 230-243.Full text not available from this repository.
Purpose – The variety of differences encountered when interacting with people from other cultures can be daunting for foreign nationals operating in another country. Consequently, many companies send their managers on some form of cultural orientation training, before beginning their duties in a foreign country. The problem for companies is: "Which programme to choose?" This paper seeks to examine forms of cross-cultural training, and assess the relative effectiveness of each. Design/methodology/approach – Potential participants were identified using a stratified random sample of companies that do business in Mexico. Individuals received a personal e-mail, requesting their participation in the research. Those who agreed to participate completed a questionnaire and cultural understanding survey online. Findings – The data showed that meetings with experienced international staff were the most common type of training. The second was lecture training. Behaviour modification methods and field experiences were the methods that were the greatest help to US managers in understanding Mexican culture. Analysis of the data would seem to support the idea that there must be factors other than training that influence a US managers understanding of Mexican culture. A possible explanation is the level of psychic distance between the cultures of those involved in the interaction. Research limitations/implications – Some respondents felt that the scenarios were somewhat generalised and did not account for regional differences in Mexico, or for the great degree of cultural convergence that is occurring between the USA and Mexico, especially along the border between the two countries. However, another respondent uses very similar scenarios in her consulting and training practice. It appears, therefore, that the debates regarding generalised national cultures are as evident among business people as they are among academics. Practical implications – Companies should use meetings with experienced expatriates as a central part of their training programme. Field experience, despite its obvious resource implications, should be considered as a key element of training for those preparing to work in Mexico. Companies should place greater emphasis on cross-cultural skills for expatriates, both in terms of their initial selection, and their subsequent training. There is also the issue of the length of time spent in training: 20 of the 29 participants surveyed either had no training, or had less than one week's training. Companies that claim to take the issue seriously must be prepared to devote a correspondingly serious level of resources to the issue. Originality/value – The paper shows how companies should look at cultural training not in terms of time-limited, task-specific, discrete chunks, but should seek to develop programmes that aim to educate the whole person.
|Item Type:
|Subjects / Themes > H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Subjects / Themes > L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Subjects / Themes > H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business
Subjects outside of the University Themes
|Schools > Salford Business School > Salford Business School Research Centre
|Journal or Publication Title:
|Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal
|Depositing User:
|H Kenna
|Date Deposited:
|16 Oct 2007 09:48
|Last Modified:
|27 Aug 2021 22:03
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Russ: Hi I'm Russ Capper and this is BusinessMakers USA Live, brought to you by Insperity, inspiring business performance. Coming to you today in Seattle in front of an audience of Seattle innovators and business people; welcome audience to the show. And we're very pleased to have as our guest today the Co-founder and CEO of Studio 216 Jamie Fleming; Jamie welcome to the show.
Jamie: Thank you. Thanks Russ, thanks for having me.
Russ: Tell us about Studio 216.
Jamie: Studio 216 is a technology that also provides services around the un-built environment. So we like to think of ourselves as future tellers because we are able to show people the future and dump them into immersive spaces where they can see what these built spaces are going to be like long before they exist.
Russ: So what you're talking about usually is – I think your sweet spot – are these skyscrapers, often residential skyscrapers, that need help making sales; is that right?
Jamie: That is certainly one use case but it's not limited to that. It's really anything that doesn't yet exist, that has physicality to it that people need to understand spatially. And so multifamily residential or a tower could be an example, but it could also be an airport, it could be a museum. We've done sports stadiums, we've done basically any building type out there – warehouses – we have built digitally before they actually exist and then have opened it up for people to experience then.
Russ: And so the technologies you use I know includes virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and maybe more too, right?
Jamie: More realities, right. So we're fortunate to live in a time when there has really been a boom in all of this interesting technology that's now available to us. It's not all perfectly new, virtual reality as a concept has been – and even a practice – has been around for many years, but really with this advent of Facebook acquiring Oculus that's what really got things off to the races and brought enough money into this market that attracted a lot of players and so it's really rapidly developing, lots of new people entering all the time with this technology. So now we have, as Russ stated, we have augmented reality, we've got virtual reality, we've got mixed reality, all kind of under this rubric of XR is kind of a generic term for that.
Russ: We've had probably 4 or 5 guests on the show that do XR but you guys are in a league of your own in my opinion because all of the others I always question whether these business models are viable and they're going to work; there's a lot of training stuff, there's a lot of gaming stuff, but you seem to have really hit the sweet spot too. Is your business growing or are you faking it?
Jamie: That's a tough question. We're super fortunate that this technology perfectly aligns with the problems that we're trying to solve where we need to immerse people in these spaces. And the technology is perfectly aligned for allowing different ways to engage either with headsets or even with all this mobile – tablets, phones – that now exist, there are lots of ways that we can engage with this content and engage people.
Russ: So how many employees do you have today?
Jamie: We've got about 50 employees who are spread between 3 offices. We're headquarters here in Seattle, Washington, we have an office down in San Francisco and then we have a larger office in Shanghai, China.
Russ: So tell us a little bit about China. What stimulated that and what's it like?
Jamie: It seems like if the technology here seems like it's moving quickly things in China seem to be on an accelerated pace. There's been so much building in China over the last decade, decade and a half, that we were really drawn to that as a place to have a presence. Because literally cities were being born seemingly overnight and so we were able to tap into that growth and also the talent that exists in China, we were able to get some really talented folks on our team that are aligned with that industry.
Russ: So tell us a little bit more about the specific products that you actually make.
Jamie: So our company is split between two main categories; we are a service business. From the beginning we've offered a service of working directly with architects or a building developer who need to visualize the space. We also, in service to those projects, we have developed software products that we offer that are really the containers or the ways that we can engage with this content that we're creating. So for example Boaz I believe has some interesting things to show us after where you can use an iPad and just leveraging the camera in the iPad and passing it across a 2D marker it's going to pop up and augment that marker and turn it into a 3 dimensional object. So we're really split between these two things and we are excited that we have this service business that really informs the products that we make. Because we've got real clients coming with real problems that we're solving and it's our job also to think deeply about those problems and figure out how to make those repeatable and turn that into a product that we can sell over and over again.
Russ: So when you said there's two categories, is there really just a category that's shown on a flat screen like an iPad or something that gives you a good idea but it's different, it's upgraded, if you actually are wearing a mask like I believe you brought here too today; is that true?
Jamie: Absolutely that's true. You can interact with the content as a 2D object, you can interact with it via an iPad which is also a 2D object but allows you a third dimension; you can also put on a headset and interact with the same content. So there are lots of different ways to interact with it.
Russ: The headset thing I really related to it, I built a home 25 years ago and I was really into it. I worked with the architect and I understood real well the floor plan and the facades and I had them all figured out, but when it started taking real shape I realized wow, there was a lot of surprises. And ultimately it made me think that what you really want to do is be able to look at every cubic foot from every other cubic foot, which is essentially what you do right?
Jamie: Right and whether you're an individual thinking about buying a home or you're a real estate developer thinking about developing a massive project likely that's the single largest investment you will ever make in your life; you're buying a home. And many people buy that home or make a remodel – you spend more time trying on tennis shoes in the store than sometimes you do when you're buying a house. You go, you see a house in a day and you decide whether or not it's going to be a good fit so there's a lot of risk there. And where there's a lot of risk there's a lot of opportunity. And our opportunity is that ability to mitigate that risk by putting you in these environments before they exist and obviously you make better informed decisions in doing so.
Russ: I always focus on the creations you make that are just coming out of the ground but you also get involved in kind of a remodeling opportunity at times as well?
Jamie: Yes, that is true. Oftentimes the finances that make our – in order to use our services require a substantial project budget, so that's often ground up development that we do, but certainly large DI projects we get involved in as well.
Russ: Ok, well in the discussion I had with you in the past you talked about there can be an open space in a building and it could serve as an IT company or maybe a restaurant and you have the ability to just change the view for whatever the owner of the building wanted to lease it to.
Jamie: Exactly, so you can look at various use cases and you can figure out what's your highest, best use case where you're going to have the best return by laying it out as a restaurant or laying it out as an IT company for example.
Russ: Okay, as a little bit deeper step into your world is that we found one of your customers.
Jamie: Uh oh
Russ: And he had a list of complaints that he wanted me to go through.
Jamie: Right, right.
Russ: I'm talking about Tony Giarratana in Nashville. And we spent time, we actually interviewed him and he told a great story when he went through the demo with you he just said he'd buy everything. And I think we have some examples of the piece of work that you built on the 505.
Jamie: Exactly. So that's some of this that's right here. Tony is fantastic, really a visionary and he has been inspiring for us to work with as well because he is very interested and embracive of this new technology. And he is constantly looking for ways to think outside of the box for his development projects, and he's trying things that have never been tried before, and so he was very drawn to this technology as a way to pre-sell his project. And he is going like gangbusters; his project was realized in Nashville a week or two ago, it's just topping out now; tons of interest in this. And the VR experiences that we've built have been really transformative for him to engage people and give them the confidence of what this project is going to be so they will put down their hard-earned money to reserve a space in this building.
Russ: Looks like there's real people waving at you when you go by that thing too. Well it's really impressive, your background though; if I walked into your office would I think I was in an architect's office?
Jamie: We are probably an interesting split that way between the architecture design world and the tech world. I have two partners that are with me and we all met in graduate school in the architecture department so we all come from that background and that idea of how we engage problems. We think a lot like architects do of kind of methodically thinking through a problem and finding solutions. We're also really passionate about design and aesthetics and so that has been an important part of our company as well and it's something that we try to imbue of all of our employees; we really care about design, design matters to us.
Russ: Could somebody actually come to you and say we bought this new piece of property and we have this vision for a 60 story skyscraper, start from scratch and design it instead of looking at their drawings?
Jamie: In the early days we actually did do design work and over the years we decided we're better visualizing spaces and letting designers design, but inevitably with our work we always need to fill in missing pieces. So we still tap into parts of our design background but we would not take a project from ground up and issue the floor plans and the technical drawings and do the construction administration. We're more focused on the technology.
Russ: When I see some of the samples too I'm always wondering sometimes do you go into great detail like the pile on the carpet and the doorknobs.
Jamie: Oh yes. Depending on the client but often people from the design world that we interact with, architects, they care about that ¼" Snap Cap on the mullion and that shade of grey is 3.2% too dark or too light. Oftentimes the building developers will have a broader view and they have kind of a different vision of ultimately what they're trying to achieve, but yes we have to be prepared to work at a very granular level with our work for sure.
Russ: This has always been in the back of my mind, Studio 216 – where did that come from?
Jamie: So many years ago when we were in graduate school at the University of Washington back then the university allowed us to use studio 216, which was one of the rooms, to set up an office for summer work. And so between the course work of the school year Boaz and Charlie and myself set up a little office in room 216 and did design work. And so years later when we started this company together we harkened back to the days of working in room 216 and that became the moniker – Studio 216 – that we've used ever since.
Russ: Are you sure you didn't actually start it there and you don't want the university to know?
Jamie: Right, they're still trying to get a cut.
Russ: So last question, we live in this age of disruption – you're kind of a disruptor although I think nobody was doing what you're doing. I assume though right now you probably are developing competitors, right?
Jamie: That's true. This is a vertical that companies like Microsoft developing for HoloLens are very, very interested in because the applicability of this technology for the design world, the construction world, commercial real estate world is huge; there's a lot of potential there. And so there will be a lot of new players on the block in the coming months and years.
Russ: Is that the kind of thing that causes you to lose sleep at night?
Jamie: Yes and no; there are no – maybe if there are blue oceans left I don't know of them. There are very few things that haven't been done before in some way or another and I'd like to think of it more as a validation that we're in a really great market that a lot of people are drawn to, so I try not to lose too much sleep over that.
Russ: Okay, so now you're really zooming; you're really doing well. Has it just been a smooth ride the whole way?
Jamie: I would love to paint that picture that we pre-thought everything and it's been a perfectly smooth ride. Of course I think with any business and any entrepreneur you are presented with challenges every single day and many throughout the day. And so for us and I think our work leading the company is trying to overcome those challenges. And those challenges can become road blocks if you have a certain mindset, but I really actually credit our training in architecture because the whole idea of architecture is solving problems; you've got a problem to solve and how are you going to attack that problem? And it's very much aligned with what entrepreneurs do; you solve problems all day long and it's one problem after another. So if you were hoping to get into a situation where you weren't having to solve problems you're probably not set up well for being an entrepreneur.
Russ: Great. Jamie, I really appreciate it.
Jamie: Thanks Russ, thanks for having me.
Russ: You bet. And that wraps up my discussion with Jamie Fleming and this is BusinessMakers USA.
brought to you by


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Riverside Experts
In today's real estate market, Experience Counts! The Ransom-McKenzie Team has the experience you're looking for to guide you through the complicated world of today's real estate environment. The following is a list of a few of our specialties:
- Riverside Realtor Regents (RRR): The Ransom-McKenzie Team are members of the inaugural class of the Riverside Realtor Regents Certificate Program. This program was implemented by the City of Riverside, along with the Inland Valley Association of Realtors recognizing us as ambassadors and the first point of contact for the City of Riverside.
- Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Specialists: The Previews Specialist designation is a demanding criterion which has only been awarded to the top 8 percent of Coldwell Banker sales associates nationwide. Coldwell Banker Previews International is a marketing effort designed specifically for marketing luxury residential properties to affluent buyers. Through completing the requirements for this designation, Charlotte & Connie have proven their skills as a high-end agents who are prepared to serve both buyers and sellers with informed and professional service.
- First Time Home Buyers: Guiding first time home buyers to their new home is something that we love doing. This is never more important than for a first time home buyer. When you have made the decision to take on what may be the most important purchase of your life, you want to know that you're in good hands. With the Ransom-McKenzie Team, you have a track record of success behind you. With over 40 years of experience in Riverside, we're ready to guide you through the City's diverse neighborhoods to find the best match to meet your needs.
- Short Sales: Both Connie and Charlotte are SFR Certified. Although the marketplace has settled down after the incredible downturn we experienced starting in 2007, there are still homeowners who are struggling with mortgages that are higher than their home value or are struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments. As Short Sale experts, we will be able to help you through the maze of programs, paperwork, and policies to help you and your family get to a better place. Short selling a home is not an easy process, but with the Ransom-McKenzie Team on your side, it just got a little easier.


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We've seen some over-pimped phones in our day, but this has got to be one of the ugliest. And, believe us, that's saying a lot.
It's not just the garishness that typically defines these monstrosities. In this case, the special-edition LG "Fusic" handset looks like it has some kind of disease, thanks to--what else?--an overabundance of Swarovski crystals.
We can't rag on this item too much, though, because it's been released for a charity event. MobileWhack says the special Fusic will be auctioned this June to raise funds for the Jermaine Dupri Foundation. We just wish that good taste and good causes didn't have to be mutually exclusive as often as they are.


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Added by Pat Williams on January 24, 2013
IronMan Cory Hill and IronWoman Devon Halligan have both been ruled out of competition for round three of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain IronMan Series and Telstra IronWoman Series due to health concerns.
The young aspiring athletes, coincidently both number 11, have been fighting ongoing health conditions and are advised not to compete in Portsea this Sunday.
IronMan Cory Hill from Northcliffe Surf Life Saving Club has been diagnosed with osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone or bone marrow, and is instructed to remain on a 24-hour intravenous drip.
"The doctors believe it is osteomyelitis, but my symptoms are a little different," Mr Hill said.
"The oral antibiotics didn't seem to be working so they have hooked me up to a 24-hour intravenous drip that pumps antibiotics into my arm and through to my heart.
"The nurse visits me every morning to refill the antibiotics, so I won't even be able to travel to Portsea to watch the round."
20-year-old IronWoman Devon Halligan is a first time absentee from the series due to an ongoing heart infection.
The Gold Coast local will be watching the series from home this weekend while she rests up in preparation for round 4 of the series at Surfers Paradise.
IronMan Series director Guy Leech said he was disappointed for the young athletes.
"They are both strong dedicated athletes, but their health is the number one priority and we hope to see them at round four."
Sunday's racing will be televised nationally on Network Ten from 2:00pm to 5:00pm AEDST, with replays on One HD (check local guides). Portsea on the Mornington Penninsula, is renowned as carnage central, producing the biggest waves in the coldest waters.
Sunday January 27
IronWoman race commences 12:30pm
IronMan race commences 2:15pm


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. . . The law of contradiction cannot be sinful. Quite the contrary, it is our violations of the law of contradiction that are sinful. Yet the strictures which some devotional writers place on "merely human logic" are amazing. Can such pious stupidity really mean that a syllogism which is valid for us is invalid for God? If two plus two is four in our arithmetic, does God have a different arithmetic in which two and two make three, or perhaps five?
The fact that the Son of God is God's reason, for Christ is the wisdom of God as well as the power of God, plus the fact that the image in man is the so-called "human reason," suffices to show that this so-called "human reason" is not so much human as divine.
Of course, the Scripture says that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways not our ways. But is it good exegesis to say that this means his logic, his arithmetic, his truth are not ours? If this were so, what would the consequences be? It would mean not only that our additions and subtractions are all wrong, but also that all our thoughts, in history as well as in arithmetic, are all wrong. If, for example, we think that David was King of Israel, and God's thoughts are not ours, then it follows that God does not think David was King of Israel. David in God's mind was perchance Prime Minister of Babylon.
To avoid this irrationalism, which of course is a denial of the divine image, we must insist that truth is the same for God and man. Naturally, we may not know the truth about some matters. But if we know anything at all, what we must know must be identical with what God knows. God knows all truth, and unless we know something God knows, our ideas are untrue. It is absolutely essential, therefore, to insist that there is an area of coincidence between God's mind and our mind. One example, as good as any, is the one already used, viz., David was King of Israel.
~ Gordon H. Clark – An Introduction to Christian Philosophy


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We want you to know Jesus! Jesus certainly knows about you and he loves you more than you will ever know! Jesus is God! He proved this by coming to earth and living a sinless life. Jesus died for our sins but he conquered death by resurrecting 3 days later! This is why we love Jesus and worship him. He is the center of everything we do!
As a disciple of Jesus, we grow by studying the Bible. Every word in the bible was written by men who were led by God through The Holy Spirit. The Bible is from God to teach us about himself. We firmly believe that the Bible is without mistakes or contradictions and should be trusted completely.
As we learn about Jesus, we become aware of his great love for us. We learn that he has a wonderful plan for each of our lives. The more we know of his goodness, the more we want to bring Him honor through what we say, how we act, and how we think. This is how we bring glory to God! We glorify God by acknowledging him as Lord in our lives and placing him above all things. We glorify God by telling others about him. We glorify God by placing our faith and trust in him. We glorify God by loving him and wanting to obey Him. It is our desire to bring glory to God!


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Donald L. Watson and Paul D. Watson. Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014. See here to buy the book.
Contagious Disciple Making is about how Christians can make disciples of Jesus Christ. It is not exactly a book about how individual Christians can go out and share their faith with individual non-Christians, though it does have stories about that. Its authors, David Watson and Paul Watson, think bigger. Their vision is the conversion of families, communities, tribes, and even nations. Their expectation is that people will come to Christian small groups and then be able to start their own small groups. They support discipleship: mature Christians mentoring people on how to obey Jesus, and the mentees mentoring others and passing on what they learn. Moreover, they share their experiences of their method actually succeeding.
In reading this book, I often felt as if I was reading about a factory producing cookie-cutter Christians. One could understandably respond that my impression is completely off-base. After all, do not the Watsons say that disciple-makers should respect the individuality of the communities they're reaching and allow them to use their own ways of worship (as long as they don't contradict the Bible)? Do they not say that disciple-makers should mentor the group leaders and then back off from the group and let the Holy Spirit do his work, rather than being heavy-handed teachers and builders of their own personal religious empires? Yes, they do say that. Their critiques of traditional methods of disciple-making are insightful.
Still, as I was reading the book, the thought that went through my mind was that I was too much of an individual and a free-thinker to participate in the sorts of things that they talk about, and that people I know are too independent and free-thinking for me to drag them along into a Christian small group. The section on discipleship had good insights, but it scared me a bit: it seemed to be suggesting that a discipler should have a say about everything in a disciplee's life, and that both should be pursuing perfection. I had mixed feelings about entire families and communities becoming evangelical Christians: how would this affect people in the family who do not exactly fit that paradigm, such as gay people? And what if a person in the Christian community just does not want to go along with what his discipler or small group is saying he should do?
Some of the book's advice was practical, but I was wondering if what we see in the Bible is always so practical. A key point that the book makes is that disciple-makers should go into communities and look for a Person of Peace: a Christian or one who is open to the Gospel, who can then help bring others in his or her community to Christ (or, more accurately, into a Christan small group, where they can fall in love with Jesus). In one place, the book says that the Person of Peace should have a good reputation within his or her community. Makes sense. But the book refers to the woman at the well in John 4 as a Person of Peace, and she did not exactly have a good reputation! And yet, contrary to what I may imply here, the book is rather critical of business models.
The book did have lots of good parts. Paul Watson talked about asking God's opinion about movies and ways to use Jesus' parables to pray for the needs of communities. The stories and anecdotes were excellent. On some level, the book did at least try to respect that people may be in different places spiritually, for it contrasted ways to teach non-believers in a small group to obey Christ with ways to teach believers to do so. Its section on small groups may be helpful for those looking for specifics, whereas its section on mentorship may not be so helpful, especially for people who struggle socially and may not know how to establish a mentoring relationship.
The book may be valuable for evangelicals who want the sort of thing that the Watsons talk about: more people becoming evangelicals. But even someone like me, who cringed a bit in reading the book, can find edifying insights in it.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book through the BookLook Bloggers (http://booklookbloggers.com/) program. The program does not require for my review to be positive, and my review reflects my honest reaction to the book.


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God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot lives with his daughters, Abraham lies to Abimelech about Sarah, and Isaac is born: Genesis 18–21
The prophet Amos tells us that the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets Amos 3:7, and we get to see some of the reasoning here in relation to the intended destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:
Genesis 18:17-19 Should I hide my plan from Abraham? … For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.
The idea of teaching Abraham about doing what is right and just was more than just a case of dealing with the sin itself, which was displayed openly, as is evident from the original narrative in Genesis and as Isaiah (3:9) said centuries later. God could have just destroyed those two cities, no one would have been any the wiser today.
The reason for telling Abraham was to show him and others the consequences of sin:
1 Peter 2:6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
But it was more than that, too.
It also about showing Abraham his own response to God's impending judgement on another. The response was impressive. Rather than rejoicing in their doom, Abraham sought their relief and bargained God down: would God spare the cities for the sake of only 50, then 45, then 30, then 20 and finally only ten righteous people? If ten had repented of their sin, would God have withheld judgement? The answer appears to be yes:
Genesis 18:32And the Lord replied, 'Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten [righteous people].'
Since only Lot and his immediate family were evacuated, most people assume they were the only righteous people to be found.


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VOID Festival Spotlights Iranian Animation
The Copenhagen animation fest (January 24-Feb. 2) will screen a program of "New Iranian Shorts" as well as playing Ashkan Rahgozar's epic feature film The Last Fiction in competition.
CALL FOR ENTRIES: ANIMAKOM Fest
The Bilbao Int'l Animation Community Festival is accepting submissions of shorts and students films for consideration in a number of awards categories. The third edition of the festival will be held in the northern Spanish city from April 2-8. Deadline: January 31, 2019.
Prague to Celebrate 30 Years of Pixar Animation
Opening February 15 at Krizik's Pavillions at the Holešovice Exhibition Grounds, Pixar – 30 Years of Animation is traveling exhibition offering visitors a peek under the hood of the renowned studio's creative methods via original drawings and a multimedia experience.
Animation Contracts and the BeastForbes' Adam Gaines explores the sketchy realm of animation writing and storyboarding, especially in the midst of Disney's live-action reboot avalanche. (See: Jorgen Klubien v. Lion King.)
WATCH: English-Dub Trailer for 'White Snake'
The Chinese folklore-inspired CG adventure from Light Chaser Animation (in a first co-production with Warner Bros.), directed by Amp Wong and Zhao Ji, launched in China Dec. 21. All Rights Ent. is the international rights representative for the film. H/T to Cartoon Brew!
WATCH: 'Goopi Gwaiyaa Bagha Bajaiyaa' Official Trailer
Billed as "India's first children's movie for adults," this new project from CFSI and Karadi Tales (animation by Paperboat Animation Studios) follows two inept musicians whose passion for creating an unbearable racket finds them shunned by their fellow humans and embraced by nefarious supernatural forces! The film has already won honors from AASIFA India, APSA Brisbane, Orbit Live Industry Awards and WIFTS Los Angeles. H/T to Animation Xpress!


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The folks over at the Live-Action Toy Story Project (Facebook link may only work for those in the U.S.) have been working hard at developing a shot-for-shot live-action re-enactment of the classic Pixar film that started it all. For a class project, the team filmed a live-action version of the final scene in Toy Story 3 – yes, the scene that left millions tearing up behind their 3D glasses. Considering the difficulties of working with plastic toys and a child actor, I think it came out really well. Take a look after the jump!
Obviously, this is a spoiler for those who have yet to see Toy Story 3. Check out the video below:
What did you think of the video?


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Sadness is a choice. So is happiness. If you are looking for reasons to be sad or happy, you will find many to choose from. I tried sadness. I didn't like it. It's a cage. Sadness has made many die wasteful deaths. It has made many blame God for their situation. It has destroyed the health and relationships of many. What's the use of being sad?
The shadows have come
The curtains are drawn
A long and gloomy night beckons
Choose sadness they said.
Humid weather, heavy heart
Noisy generator, biting mosquitos
Crying cats and crawling roaches
Choose sadness they said.
Watching movies full of tragedies
Reading dreary books
Listening to gloomy music
Choose sadness they said.
Ambushed by noisy neighbors
Grieved by screeching birds
Spending more than I earn
Choose sadness they said.
Drop something is on the road
Herdsmen, kidnappers in the bush
Traveling Poet is afraid to travel
Choose sadness they said.
Head is aching
Rice is as expensive
What will we do when Christmas comes
Choose sadness they said.
Levies and taxes
School fees and house rent
Seeing what I want but buying what I don't like
Choose sadness they said.
Frowning people on the streets
Angry people on the buses
Downcast men wooing joyless women
Choose sadness they said.
So I chose sadness
And I became sad as sadness itself
Till I realized the foolery in mad sadness
It changes nothing but worsens everything.
Therefore shall I embrace the joy in the Divine
I am done with the allure of sadness
When my time finally comes
I will laugh at Satan and praise God on my way out.
Reach out and help out if you see anyone looking sad. A nod of acknowledgment costs you nothing. A smile can heal a weary heart. A touch of assurance and a hug of encouragement can go a long way in saving another person's life. Everyone is passing through something even if they appear okay.
Many looked okay and suddenly committed suicide. Encourage your spouse. Appreciate those who have done so much for you. Encourage the children too as things affect them too.
What do you think? Talk to me in the comments section.
To read another poem press this link TIME
See you in the next post.


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This report reviews recent developments in the application of behavioural insights to encourage more sustainable consumption, investment and compliance decisions by individuals and firms.Read more
This project investigates how behavioural economics can inform the design of "norm-based" environmental policies and "behaviourally robust" markets for ecosystem services. This work is part of a broader effort of a project that seeks to identify areas where behavioural economics can have the greatest impact on environmental policy design.Read more
Key areas of work
MISSED THE RECENT GREEN talks ON Leveraging the smart grid to optimise energy consumption?
On 15 March, 蜂鸟电竞在线入口 Environment's visiting Senior Economist Nicholas Rivers (Professor, University of Ottawa) discussed 蜂鸟电竞在线入口 findings on the role of real-time electricity feedback in reducing consumption from the recently published Environment Working Paper "
Leveraging the Smart Grid: The Effect of Real-Time Information on Consumer Decisions
Watch the video recording of this webinar.
Households typically cannot observe the price or the amount of electricity that they consume in real-time, so that they do not have the basis to make well-informed decisions about their electricity consumption.
Can providing information help consumers to reduce their environmental footprint? The roll-out of smart electricity meters, which enable real-time feedback on electricity consumption to residential consumers, can help answer this question.
PUBLICATIONS and working paper
The Rebound Effect in Road Transport: A Meta-analysis of Empirical Studies
, Environment Working Paper
Greening Household Behaviour: Overview from the 2011 Survey
Developing growth strategies that promote greener lifestyles requires a good understanding of the factors that affect people's behaviour towards the environment. Recent 蜂鸟电竞在线入口 work based on periodic surveys of more than 10 000 households across a number of countries and areas represents a breakthrough by providing a common framework to collect unique empirical evidence for better policy design.
Energy and Climate Policy: Bending the Technological Trajectory
Technological innovation can lower the cost of achieving environmental objectives, so it is important to understand how environmental policy design and technological innovation are linked. This is particularly true in the area of climate change where the estimated future costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions are affected greatly by the technological trajectory of the economy. While we suspect that public policy can play an important role in accelerating the development and diffusion of climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies, empirical evidence in this area remains scant. This book presents a series of papers that explore the extent to which technological innovation can lower the cost of achieving climate change mitigation objectives.
Invention and transfer of environmental technologies
Inducing environmental innovation is a significant challenge to policy-makers. Efforts to design public policies that address these issues are motivated by the fact that innovations can allow for improved environmental quality at lower cost.
The work presented in this book is brought together in five substantive chapters: environmental policy design characteristics and their role in inducing innovation, the role of public policies (including multilateral agreements) in encouraging transfer of environmental technologies, followed by three 'sectoral' studies of innovation in alternative fuel vehicles, solid waste management and recycling, and green (sustainable) chemistry.
Greening Household Behaviour: The Role of Public Policy
This publication presents the main results and policy implications of an 蜂鸟电竞在线入口 survey of more than 10 000 households in 10 countries: Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. It offers new insight into what policy measures really work, looking at what factors affect people's behaviour towards the environment in five areas: water use, energy use, personal transport choices, organic food consumption, waste generation and recycling.


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As an agile coach with experience in the startup community, there is no greater way to learn than by just doing it. That was the advice Seth Godin gave me last December. The only way people will know you are an expert at something, he said, is if you tell them. It challenged me, because I wondered if I had what it took.
Mobile technology was not only my work, it fascinated me on a daily basis. It was lean by definition, which melded nicely with me being a scrum coach. I wondered if agile and mobile could be written about in the same space. So, off I went.
Over 200 posts later, both are experiencing growth in the technology industry, so it's been fun to watch it play out. I am not sure if I am an expert at either subject, but writing for a year, has taught me a ton.
I learned to lead with transparency. How often have you found yourself reading the thoughts of a person you hardly know anything about? Not that you have to personally know me to take my posts seriously, but your voice needs to contain pieces of who you are for your words to resonate with readers. The easiest way is to be transparent.
Granted, leading is the difficult part. When I coach my teams and peers, transparency is one of the most difficult and productive ways to lead. You must, of course, encourage others by first demonstrating it. When business leaders speak of "leading" transparency, they are referring to the fact that all great leaders demonstrate the trait. To do that, you must be the first to initiate transparency. I have found that the more I write with transparency, the more I lead with it.
I learned being an expert means collaborating with others. There have been many times in my career that I was all alone with my ideas. I was either the only person in my subject area at the time, or in a remote location where I couldn't easily discuss what was going on. In both situations, it was up to me to reach out to others for validation. When someone wanted to know how I felt about the field of mobile technology or agile development methodology, I simply pointed them to chrismurman.com and asked them to let me know what they thought.
Not only did it lead to a wealth of information in the form of conversations, but others got to know me in a unique way. My current boss at Bottle Rocket, who I met through LinkedIn, had access to all the information he needed on Chris Murman. When a spot opened up on his team, the relationship we had formed made his call simple. This post by Ryan Hoover emphasizes this point by stating a blog is the new resume.
I also learned my writing improves my work. There have been days where my wife wasn't happy about my blogging. Pesky things like "family time" and "connecting" were getting put aside because I needed to crank out one more post. Eventually, though, she learned that sacrifices just needed to be made. Hashtag sarcasm.
In all seriousness, it's hard to commit to writing every week. When I first started, I wanted to post every day. With this being my 213th post, I did not succeed, but what I established is a habit. There are some habits that are necessary, such as brushing your teeth. Others, like writing your thoughts on a regular basis, helps you to think. That translates to better thoughts on what I want to accomplish during work hours, and my conversations are structured well.
If I am willing to post the thought online, you can bet I have thought it out to the best of my ability. When the same subject comes up at work, I can easily articulate my point and seem more authoritative. Doing that about one subject per week is 52 well-established thoughts that can improve your work. Imagine if you did two or three a week!
Take the same challenge I took a year ago. It can improve your thought process personally and professionally. It's an effort well worth the sacrifice. What would you like a year of writing to teach you?


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dryrobe Advance - Product details
The Worlds most advanced outdoor change robe. #fact #dryrobe
Our Best Selling premium outdoor change robe™. The Dryrobe® Advance. Tri Series. The all weather change robe, featuring the essential chunky YKK® Zip front, external pockets, large internal storage pocket AND MP3 player pocket!, 100% Waterproof & windproof outer shell fabric. The warmest change robe on the planet!
Cold weather conditions present unique challenges. Large heat losses can have a detrimental impact on your performance. Your body will use valuable energy trying to stay warm. The Dryrobe Advance allows you to preserve this energy and maintain a healthy core temperature before, after and between transitions in your contest with full-body protection from the elements.
You can now wait to compete without feeling the cold & wasting energy. You can listen to your music while wearing your dryrobe too using the MP3 pocket on the inside to get yourself ready to compete. Additional storage pocket on the inside and warm fleece lined external pockets to keep your hands warm and carry your essentials.
Why is Dryrobe the Worlds best outdoor change robe.
The Research & Development
Here some of the many reasons why people choose dryrobe.
Dryrobe is all about warmth. Staying warm while changing outdoors or standing around in the harshest of elements.
We had to think about putting this information out there, but our confidence in continued innovation along with the fact that we have protected our designs from imitation, means that we feel the following information will help many trying to decide what product might best suit them.
We made huge inroads into the triathlon market in the last few years with team GB (Brownlee brothers included) wearing dryrobes at the ITU grand final and also many of the UK's top pro surfers wearing dryrobes through the winter which has gained us great exposure and raised our profile in the UK and overseas. Our dryrobes are used now in a huge number of outdoor sports involving including Surfing, Open Water Swimming, OCR, Mountain Biking, Diving, Running, Triathlons and so many more. We really are amazed with the vast variety of sports we have found our products used for.
Once you have a dryrobe you will not believe how many times you will use it. Just look at our reviews to see what we mean.
So what are the features that make it the world's most versatile outdoor change robe?
1. 100% Waterproof outer shell fabric:
The outer shell fabric is 100%water proof and completely windproof. With minimal double stitched seams. All the dryrobe® Advance seams are heat sealed.
2. Full length zip front:
We use a super strong chunky YKK Zipper.
Fast & easy entry & exit also you can simply wrap it around you & take it on or off easily. it is a very important point.
dryrobe uses a synthetic Lambswool which draws the water away from your skin, drying you instantly while insulating you and making you feel unbelievably warm. It does not absorb but wicks water off skin, so you can put it on a wet wetsuit & it wont get wet as it does not absorb water, then when you take the wetsuit off inside the dryrobe, or as soon as it touches wet skin, it will warm you by wicking any moisture away from the skin into the heat insulating pile of the lining & remove the moisture through the natural venting due to the garments construction. It NEVER feels cold against the skin even after repeated use throughout the day & Is super fast drying in ambient room temperature & outdoors.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Toweling is the worst fabric you can put on a cold wet person if you are trying to get them warm. You should never stand around in a towel robe outdoors if you are cold. The toweling absorbs water & keeps it close to your skin, combine this with a breeze & you are cooling down very quickly. They are great for drying yourself but get covered up after use if you are feeling cold or better yet use a dryrobe advance to avoid this altogether!
Innovative design
We have a long sleeve version which will suit users who want a more conventional look & intend to stand around in the dryrobe for long periods of time.
Our short, mid -3/4 length, sleeve design is a massive improvement to the more conventional, old style, square shape robe which provides no warmth for the arms & allows wind & cold air into the change space.The unique designs provide simple entry and exit of your arms whilst changing & the sleeve covers the opening when your arms are inside. This protects from the wind chill and rain. Once you are changed and your hands are buried in the deep outer 'warm lined' pockets your arms are almost completely covered too (for women it also stops you accidentally flashing your chest to the world).
The whole garment is made from one huge sheet of fabric, then the hood is added to keep the seams to a minimum & maximise strength & waterproofing. No shoulder seams!
This thing is one tough bit of kit, designed to last.
Please Check our reviews on our website, Facebook, Amazon, magic seaweed etc & search online to check.
Team GB kit for Swim, Kayak & triathlon.
Used by RLSS & great swim series (Europes biggest) for water safety crew.
Surfers: Andrew Cotton Alan stokes, Oli Adams, Taz knight, Lucy Campbell & more.
Speak to they people who have used them on social media.
Honestly there is no comparison. Try them out on a cold day.
Dryrobe is the Warmest most advanced & versatile change robe in the world. #fact
The World's most versatile & high spec change robe.
Simply the warmest & best change robe you can buy.
Features & benefits
SMALL DRYROBE: Size : Length : 900cm long from shoulder body change space 75cm wide. (Suitable from age 8-15 & small adults up to 5'2 approx).
XL DRYROBE Size : Length : 1.4m long from shoulder body change space 95cm wide to suit 6'3" & Oversize.
Our Lining is a synthetic Lambswool which draws the water away from your skin in to the pile of the lining fabric, drying you instantly, insulating you and making you feel unbelievably warm.


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Ok, so we lied. Well sorta. This isn't so much a review of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (libretto by Edwin DuBose Heyward from his 1925 novel, lyrics Ira Gershwin)* as it is a take on the whole experience of visiting Grange Park Opera.
Now this is not the The Grange Festival of opera in Hampshire. This is Grange Park Opera at West Horsley Surrey. The Hampshire location is where Grange Park Opera used to be but The Grange Festival which is now there has used the Grange moniker too. Confusing? Yes of course it is. You might imagine that people turn up at the wrong location on occasion. Of course they do. Read the rest of this entry »


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Accessories often help us make the most out of our tools – take a look at the roof bar accessories we have available below, and maximise the potential of your bar today.
Whether you need a locking kit, replacement bars or the tools to help you fix things securely in place, you'll find what you need in the Euro Car Parts range. We have a whole host of roof bar accessories to make those little tasks easy.
At Euro Car Parts, we pride ourselves on providing the most comprehensive range of products for our customers. As well as stocking over 130,000 different parts, we have a huge range of tool and accessories that help you get the job done.
You can browse our full range of roof bar accessories here, or take a look elsewhere to find what you need for your chosen task, whether you're mending, replacing or improving something on your car.
We also offer free UK delivery, or a free click and collect service if you need your items sooner than we can deliver them.


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Now, Texas is having traffic congestion on the highways because many residents are evacuating the area and heading towards the north. Hurricane Harvey is coming to Texas and it is expected to bring a large amount of rain.
The hurricane storm may be accompanied with up to 35 inches of rain and cause flooding in many places in Texas. The National Weather Service reports that Harvey has recently been intensified to a Category 2 storm and the wind has reached a maximum speed of 100 mph.
When the news reported that Harvey is intensified on Thursday, many residents have started to discuss whether they should leave or remain in their home. Many residents who choose to stay have already get ready their home against the hurricane such as stocking up supplies, board up windows and pilling up sandbags to block flood water from entering their homes.
Harvey is intensifying at a fast rate and it will soon upgrade to a Category 3 hurricane at the Texas coast which is a hurricane with the wind that can travel at a minimum speed of 111 mph. It is expected that Harvey can arrive on Texas coast on late Friday and early Saturday. The storm will pour down heavy rain all over Texas after it impacts the Houston region.
Mayor Joe McComb has already made an announcement that urge the residents to evacuate. The voluntary evacuation order has caused supermarket stores to run out of stock of supplies. The city has canceled the handing out of dockets and supply self-serve sandbags instead.
Hurricane Harvey is strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico and meteorologist forecast that it is possible that it will bring a big flood to Texas.
According to the National Weather Service, Harvey will bring a number of dangers including heavy rain, and rising of the sea level. Texas coast will be most affected by the hurricane storm when it arrives on Friday.
John Cangialosi, a hurricane specialist, told the reporters on Thursday afternoon that the storm can also affect areas that are located far away from the coast.
He advised the residents to pay attention to what the local authorities said instead of avoiding the area where the hurricane will arrive on the coast. He told the people to be prepared for heavy rain that will continue until next week.
Tom Sater, a meterologist for CNN, said it looks like the local authorities will have to send out the emergency team a lot in Texas.