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I'm interested in social media in the business environment and the effect it's having on brands and companies.
Large organisations are under much pressure to engage customers via social media that they often launch Facebook pages and Twitter accounts before they have a roadmap
Using social media to "join the conversation," "create engagement," "foster dialogue," "connect with people," "reveal real personalities behind the brand," and "show their authenticity and transparency."
All of the above are virtually impossible to quantify, because they aren't real business goals; they're marketing strategies.
CEOs and stakeholders do not want their company be "more engaging" or "conversational." They want growth and profit with demonstrable ROI. Yet many corporate marketeers are still diving into social media without any direct link to their organizations' bottom lines.
Social media types talk about monitoring the number of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, RSS subscribers, retweets, @replies, blog comments, video views, etc. You may be able to calculate engagement by measuring these things (in reality, these stats are usually dismal for most institutions), but what does this engagement lead to? What are the results? What about sales? Revenue? Customer acquisition? Even if you claim "customer retention" is the goal, how are you measuring and quantifying it?
No doubt social media is where it's at. Yet corporate marketing is somewhat dull. Marketeers are bombarded with articles and blog posts reminding them how awesome institutions that are actively using social media are. They see peers celebrated and respected for being innovative, so the pressure to "do something" in social media increases.
But in reality what this means is that many start with the tool, and then look for some way to use it. "We've got to incorporate social media into our next campaign." But you wouldn't pick up a saw and roam through your home looking for something to do with it would you? You only use tools as and when they are specific to what you want to accomplish.
Though many brands pay lip service to their social media being one strand in their communications many are not still joining the dots when it comes to brand reputation management as BP, Eurostar and Nestle et al have found to their costs in the recent months. But how do you get round it? Simples: involve everyone in that needs to be there in your strategy planning meeting, from the CEO, PR internal and external teams, HR and anyone else who is important to your business, perhaps a couple of stakeholders might not go amiss? Just like you would in an offline crisis management situation.
According to recent CIPD research Engaged employees generate 43% more revenue than their disengaged colleagues. So the benefits of using social networking for internal communications purposes are becoming clearer to more companies. Whether the objective is to boost efficiency, engage staff and/or improve reputation, before embarking on such a course companies should have a clear strategy in place. They should seek out suppliers who understand business process and can offer the products and services specifically designed to meet corporate objectives - whether the ultimate goal is to save money or to achieve a competitive edge.
Over the last three years Webjam has responded to our customer's needs by developing a suite of packages that meet specific customer requirements. So after an initial consultancy phase, we can rapidly build an enterprise social networking platform (supported by managed services) that match customer needs. It enables them to capitalise on social networking by encouraging employee engagement and ultimately, provides a competitive edge by creating 'brand advocates.'
Package 1- Enterprise: an internal network built around individual employee experience
Package 2 – Group Creation: a network channel, that enables community members to create groups
Package 3 – Endorsement Flows: to generate ideas, endorse and launch new products
Package 4 – Knowledge Centre for capturing and sharing of insights, leading to new project initiations
Package 5 – Community Hub: branded community channel integrated with other social networks
Package 6 – Discovery and Recognition: reputation builder for users and networks
Package 7 – Mirror Network: social media environment linking internal and external networks
Despite BPs best efforts to turn the backlash of public opinion against it in the US, they have to date, been just about as successful as they have in their attempts to stop the torrent of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. However this plays out, will the fact they have been open and timely in updating all of their social media channels make a blind bit of difference?
The plain fact is that social media is but one part of how a company presents its brands to the outside world. But this must also be supported by 'living the brand'. In other words, not having a corporate social responsibility that pays lip service to *authenticity*, but is actually believed and lived by employees at every level and location.
Leaving the BP's woes aside, an excellent way of getting employees to think and act responsibly is to implement an open internal communications policy and to employ the mindset of social media ie open and transparent in a bespoke solution that suits your business needs. Despite company's and people's fears about being exposed, the benefits are manifold. Shared knowledge, learning, innovative thinking. People who would not normally come into contact communicating. And the business benefits are clear: cost savings in areas such as less face to face meetings and increased profitability through innovative working and creative thought leadership. As the saying goes, a great idea doesn't mind who owns it. Perhaps BP should be employing its social media channels to ask the public for solutions...
Several recent high profile news stories have highlighted the pitfalls of using Twitter such as: former MP Kerry McCarthy's (aka Labour's Twitter tsar) illegal revelation about Bristol East's results prior to the poll closing; shamed Labour hopeful Stuart MacLennan, sacked after posting a string of X-rated rants about political colleagues and rivals, and this weekend, union giant Unite's Derek Simpson attracting BA's fury with his tweets from their supposedly confidential negotiations. All highlight the importance of having a social media strategy to avoid such calamities.
Webjam helps clients to define their social media strategy through our engagement programme, one of the three pillars of our service. A good way for clients to dip their toe in the water is to utilise social media in their internal communications via enterprise social networking; thus giving people at all levels of the organisation an opportunity to get used to trying out social media within a private environment.
Last week I was asked if Webjam has a widget that would enable a publisher to 'nick' forum members from a popular blogging site for their commercial community. If only it were that simple. The reason why the popular blogs are attracting thousands of users is that they offer relevant and original content that users find useful. And they have been built up over time, discovered by people following links when searching for information that interests them and peer recommendation.
But this view fundamentally misses the point of social media. Rather than thinking in terms of old media - i.e. pure e-commerce and ad-funded models, brands that are having success in the social space are thinking longer-term. Rather than simply starting from the position of how to increase their CPM rates, they are thinking about building brand loyalty by engaging with customers to find out what they like or dislike and then using this information to develop totally new lines of products and services; thus creating opportunities for new, never-before realised revenue streams. Going with the political theme, brands should now be asking 'what can I do for my customers, rather than what can my customers do for me'.
Last week I was asked if 'there is a widget that would get members from existing communities to join our new, commercially published community?'
Apart from obviously 'missing the point' of social media - ie the reason why blogs become popular in the first place is because they are relevant to their community members - so unless you are offering cash incentives or other tenable benefits, you are unlikely to be able to steal someone else community.
What many businesses are still not buying into is the value that social media offers for building brand awareness and customer engagement. Until you can get beyond the 'can it increase my CPM' mantra and look at the longer term benefits: ie building up brand loyalty to provided an invaluable source of customer insight that can inform new product and service development, I would hazard a guess that they are not going to succeed in the social media environment. Taking a political view, they need to ask themselves what they can do for their customers, not what their customers can do for them.
A group holiday planner that lets friends to coordinate vacations via their social networking sites is a brilliant example of what social networking does best. Yet this week's announcement by Easyjet that the budget carrier plans to add e-commerce functionality to its Facebook page illustrates a paradigm shift in how social media is now viewed by mainstream marketeers.
Many brands have long since abandoned campaign sites for their Facebook pages. The strategy is obvious – why not talk to loyal customers who know your brand and like your product, rather than start from scratch each time and it certainly makes marketing budgets stretch farther.
But how do you bring all of your social marketing efforts together, to manage, measure and evaluate return on investment more successfully? Webjam's social networking platform is a perfect 'hub' that enables you to do just that. Intended to complement all other social networking channels; it enables you push messages from a variety of sources spanning: corporate blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and specialist channels in a branded environment. It also provides a perfect 'single point of contact' for Comms, Marketing and HR directors to find out what team members are saying in a single 'console' – illustrating an important other benefit of Webjam, time saving.
This week, Facebook and Twitter were awash with people voicing their disgust with Nestlé who Greenpeace accused of sourcing palm oil for its Kitkat brand from a company charged with illegal deforestation. Greenpeace drew attention to its message by posting videos of activists in Orangutan suits at the company's HQ - which it distributed widely to broadcast and social media channels.
But wherever you stand on the politics, there is no getting away from the fact that Greenpeace has the upper hand when it comes to getting its message across loud and clear on all of its marketing channels including social media; whilst the conglomerate seems to have a somewhat shakey social media strategy, which according to PR Week, 'quickly became a social media crisis'.
Whatever your point of view, this is a clear lesson of the dangers of embarking on social media without first giving any thought to a strategy, putting the strategy into a plan which is then clearly disseminated to employees who are responsible for social media; and ensuring that it is in agreement with all other marketing and brand messages. After all you wouldn't let a junior address the press would you?
For companies who are scared of dipping their toe in the water as far as social media is concerned. A good way to start is to deploy an enterprise social network - such as Webjam - within the comfort of your own environment, so employees throughout the company can get used to using social media. Its also a great way of opening up conversations and you never know where it might lead ...
At the imedia summit this week in Brighton, speakers from brands like: Asos, Dell, Lego, Love Film and Unilever and agency folk, generally agreed that as social media is now main stream, it should be referred no longer be referred to as social media - just 'what we do'.
Wherever you stand on what social media should be called, most would agree that few other channels present opportunities for engagement as well.
Not only that, but Social Media is saving brands big money. Severalspeakers said that they have made cost savings on product development, by directly engaging with customers via their social networks and asking them to be 'super users' who actively in-put into R&D.
Perhaps the most well known advocate of this is Lego who went so far as signing NDAs with super users, some of whom flew at their own expense to the Lego HQ in Denmark to take part in workshops, the results of which were then fed back into new Lego Mindstorms products.
According to the Harvard Business Review, P&G now attributes 50% savings in R&D to discovery and innovation made outside the company - ie talking to consumers.
Webjam's social networking provides the ideal platform for companies to develop such strategies as it enables them to create fully brandable social network environments that allow customers to engage directly. Customers can create their own profiles and groups, and can be rewarded for participation by the brand.
For example, Lonely Planet, in addition to posting popular bloggers entries onto its site, is now including (with permission and having paid) contributions into its printed products. The circle is being competed ...


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We´re here for you in times of crisis
Our first priority is to save lives. Our philosophy is to provide total care of the patient and to always be available when needed.
In times of crisis, we care for acutely and critically ill patients of all ages and diagnoses with complex assessment and high intensity interventions, and sophisticated technology. We provide expertise in trauma, critical care and urgent care management, with dedicated specialists available 24 hours a day.
The Emergency Department open 24 hours a day / 365 days a year, is staffed by Emergency Medicine physicians, residents and nurses.
The Intensive Care Unit is a state-of-the-art unit that was fully renovated in 2005, and is specially designed and equipped to provide specialized care for patients who need intensive and continuous nursing supervision and medical care.
The Urgent Care Centre is a new concept for Bermuda. The first Centre opened April 1, 2009 and is designed to take care of those non-life threatening but urgent conditions, such as minor accidents or sudden illness, that happen unexpectedly.

subset: commoncrawl


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Jan 24, 2012
Instructors: Sensei Beate Genko Stolte |
Description: A day-long pilgrimage to the wondrous archeological site Chaco Canyon. We are only able to offer this day trip to Chaco Canyon to those guests participating in either Study Period or Sesshin, which is prior to or after this day trip. The fee covers your meals, transportation and exploration. Please contact email@example.com for detail and to register. |
More about the instructors: |
Tuition (Members): $100.00 |
Be sure to check out our Guide For Participants! Click here to email Upaya's registrar with questions. |


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Just yesterday, Thomas Gold released his Free Bootleg EP which one can either stream on soundcloud, or download via his Facebook page. The package features artists such as Fedde Le Grand, Florence & The Machine, David Jones, Eurythmics, Swanky Tunes, Hard Rock Sofa, and RHCP. Thomas says these are "3 tracks from me for you! I've been playing them out this Summer at all my sets and wanted to share them with you all!". Well, thank you Thomas- these tracks are phenomenal.
Thomas Gold – Bootleg EP | Free Download


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To be part of the experience, download the registration form below.
Every year 3.4 million people around the world die from water-related diseases, approximately 4,000 people a day. Most of these deaths are children throughout the developing world. The greatest need comes from the 788 million people populating sub-Saharan Africa. By drinking from proper safe water sources and education in sanitation awareness, this shocking statistic can be significantly decreased. Throughout Africa, water sources are inconveniently located out of reach of many villages; often a 30 minute walk over mountains and through valleys. Women and children bear the burden of fetching water and often the children's education is disrupted when leaving school early to gather water before sunset.
Helping2Overcome Water Project 2010 - Kanungu, Uganda from Helping2Overcome on Vimeo.


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Elvis Presley collection due for 40th anniversary of New York City performances
Elvis Presley fans will get a treat this fall when a double-disc set of two 1972 New York City performances hits retailers, along with previously-unreleased video footage from the events.
"Prince From Another Planet: 40th Anniversary Edition" will hit shelves Oct. 30 via RCA/Legacy. The two-disc collection includes two sold-out Madison Square Garden performances from June 10, 1972: a 23-song Saturday afternoon performance and the 20-song evening show the same night, which was originally released on LP just eight days after the concert.
The 40th-anniversary set has been newly remastered by engineer Michael Brauer and includes a 5,000-word essay written by Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, then the music editor of Cavalier magazine. A DVD is also part of the package, on which fans will find unseen footage recorded on a handheld camera by a fan at the Saturday afternoon show, as well as a 20-minute press conference that preceded the weekend performances.
The setlists for the two recorded performances contain an array of hits, including "Proud Mary," "Love Me Tender," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Heartbreak Hotel" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," among others.


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by Muzaffar Deshmukh
Kuwait: Indian Muslim Association (IMA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs organized a public lecture on the subject of the importance of the holy month of Ramadan for the people of Indian subcontinent at Masjid Yousuf Al-Adsani, Kuwait City.
Maulana Mohammad Taher Madani, one of the leading Islamic Scholar from Indian sub-continent in his best oratory explained what the holy month of Ramadan expects from us. He explained that� the holy book �Qur�an� is central of this month & therefore the implementation of the Qur�anic teachings is vital in every walks of human endeavor. He stressed on the learning of holy Qur�an, and the way we give importance to the holy book in our daily lives.
He further added that The Almighty Allah draws our attention and said in the Holy Qur�an, �O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those who were before you, in order that you may learn taqwa (piety) (Al-Baqarah 2:183).
While explaining about taqwa he lamented, �taqwa is a very important spiritual and ethical term of the Qur�an. It is the total sum of all Islamic spirituality and ethics. It is a quality in a believer�s life that keeps him/her awareness of Allah all the time. A person who has taqwa loves to do well and to avoid evil for the sake of Allah. Taqwa is a piety, righteousness and consciousness of Allah. Taqwa requires patience and perseverance. Fasting teaches patience, and with patience one can rise to the high position of taqwa.� The Prophet (PBUH) said that fasting is a shield. It protects a person from sin and lustful desires.��
A well-known scholar Dr. Khalil-Ur-Rahman Chishti in his speech on the subject of �Ramadan � A pre-curser for ones� personality growth� said that it is a month of patience. �Indeed it is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased, whoever fasts during Ramadan out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, and then all his past sins will be forgiven,� he said. He meticulously explains how this month trains every Muslim individual about their behavior towards their brethren & countrymen. Explaining the celebrated night of the holy month of Ramadan �Lailatul-Qadr� he added, �Its excellence is great, since in this night the Noble Qur'an was sent down, which leads one who clings to it, to the path of honour and nobility, and raises him to the summit of distinction and everlasting life.�
He further added �The month of Ramadan provides an opportunity for forgiveness from Allah and emancipation from our sins. It is the month for performing good deeds. It is the month when the gates of the heavens are opened and the rewards for our deeds are magnified many times over and the status of the worshipper is elevated�.
The Programme started with the recitation of the Holy Qur�an. Abu Abdur-Rahman a representative of Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic affairs along with Naif Al-Mutairi and Majidi Abu Anas from Jamayya Noorie were the chief guests. IMA president Mohammed Aslam was present on the dais. The programme was convened by Masood Shehab. Huge number of expatriates participated during the occasion with their families. Dinner kits were arranged for all the participants at the end.


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Let this Winged Gruesome Greeter Decoration welcome your trick-or-treaters and party guests this Halloween! This 6-foot winged skeleton prop can guard the entryway of your haunted house, or stand outdoors to spread that Halloween mood to your yard. This frightening fallen angel will greet your guests with scares.
- Gauze Demon with Wings Decoration stands 72" tall
- Shipping measurements 10" x 15" x 10"
- Weight 12 lbs
- Easy to assemble
- Comes boxed
- Indoor or outdoor
Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
Comments about Winged Gruesome Greeter Decoration:
I love this, my friends and neighbors compliment on this alot. It is light weight so I hammered some rebar into the ground and slid the rod onto the rebar. I added a little more creepy fabric to the wings and highlighted some area's with glow in the dark paint. It look's awesome in my graveyard. I have it standing over a old worn out late 40's black baby carriage.
Comments about Winged Gruesome Greeter Decoration:
This is a must have for Halloween. Glow perfectly with a black light. If you never bought something like this before but want to, I totally recommend it. This is my second time buying this same Skeleton Angel. I moved and had to sell a lot of my decor and was happy to see they still had it in stock.
Comments about Winged Gruesome Greeter Decoration:
This is a very cool product. It is of course just styrofoam so not very durable - but for the price the size of the thing makes up for it. Really a cool addition to any haunted house.
Comments about Winged Gruesome Greeter Decoration:
This is really cool looking. I will put it on my lawn with a strobe light flashing on it. The winged gruesome greeter is very lightweight and a bit delicate, so make sure it's not in wind or bad weather.
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
Comments about Winged Gruesome Greeter Decoration:
This was very easy to put together. It looks great. I love the fact that its 6 feet tall. I'm going to put this in my front yard and have a white strobe light on it. Be forewarned, this prop is super lightweight and can easily blow over if there is any wind.


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Offering access to real-time and historical data from NYSE Euronext markets via the internet
A centralized, hosted database offering direct access to historical data from NYSE Euronext markets
NYSE Technologies low latency, fully normalized market data vendor feed
Tools for managing compliance, controlling costs, and facilitating reporting
Analysis and reporting solutions designed to manage and reduce your market data spending
Automate exchange and vendor reporting including MISU reporting of exchange market data
Manage compliance. A fully open system helps vendors, exchanges and clients avoid non-compliance fines often associated with improper controls and unfulfilled reporting obligations for exchange fee-liable market data. DART easily manages these vendor and exchange data obligations on any platform. It ensures that end users only have access to the data to which they are entitled.
Control costs. Control and monitor user and application access to any number of market data feeds and internal data publishers. Market data costs can be reduced by identifying unused or underused market data services. The Open Entitlements API library extends entitlements control throughout the enterprise.
Extensive reporting. Exchange and vendor reporting requirements are simplified with Audit Trail, Data-feed Access Declarations (DAD), VRXML, and Bloomberg B-Pipe/BPOD reports out-of the-box. Optimization reports rapidly identify underused exchange subscriptions by analyzing actual data usage, providing cost optimization and on-going cost avoidance.
"[NYSE Technologies'] Entitlements provides a solid entitlement system for B-Pipe™ / BPOD™, direct exchange feeds, as well as entitlements for databases. Companies will now have an 'out-of-the-box' entitlement solution for their ticker plants as well as their algorithmic and trading servers. Client compliance groups will be pleased to see a tamper-proof system that has intuitive and comprehensive reporting tools."


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Miami, FL Metro >
Aventura >
Restaurants >
17901 Biscayne Blvd, Aventura, FL | Directions 33160
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Great pizza that tates like real Italian one. Pizza guy makes pizza like in Italy: perfect crust, perfect sauce ( not too spicy, not too sweet). You must ask for extra cheese if you like it cheesy. Some toppings are delicious, like the sweet onion one. They deliver in Aventura, fasta and warm. The only con: if you go to the restaurant, they have devided the salon in two restaurants. If you want pizza, you must sit down in the cheap are: paper blankets and no candles. If your girlfriend wants food and you want pizza: You are in a problem...you will be splitted!
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30 Web Designs Featuring Vintage Style Typography.
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@DennisJerz Wanting to invoke 19th-century typography and design is like wanting to invoke 12th-century hygiene and medicine.
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Not many toddlers can say that they've on an arena stage with their superstar momma. During her latest show at London's O2 Arena, Beyoncé performed an upbeat rendition of "Irreplaceable," and near the end of the... Read more »
As far as movie soundtracks are concerned, it doesn't get much bigger than this. It was announced late last year that Jay-Z had signed on to executive produce The Great Gatsby movie album. Ever since we've... Read more »
MVP of the year (thus far) goes to Pharrell Williams, for being one of the most diligent producers out there right now. After his collaborations with Robin Thicke on "Blurred Lines," Tyler, the Creator on "IFHY,"... Read more »
Earlier today we got the full version of Lana Del Rey's contribution to the soundtrack for the upcoming The Great Gatsby film, and now we get a few more previews of the highly anticipated album. Thanks... Read more »
It's another one of those mash-ups that just had to be made, and North Carolina's JAYBeatz stepped up to give us a little taste of what it might sound like if Drake and Beyoncé got together... Read more »
Baz Luhrman's forthcoming adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is set to be quite some musical event. We recently learnt that Beyoncé and André 3000 will be covering the late Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black," and now we can... Read more »
Apparently, drag races are still a thing people do to settle arguments, or at least that's the case in The-Dream's latest visuals. Alongside Fabulous, "Slow It Down" features the singer/songwriter in a 1950s inspired storyline where... Read more »
According to E! Online, Beyoncé and André 3000 will be covering the late Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" for the forthcoming adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. While Winehouse's original is great, a record... Read more »
Beyoncé pays tribute to Houston in her latest single, "I Been On," and it's spawned one heavy official remix. Featuring verses from Willie D, Bun B, Slim Thug, Scarface, Z-Ro, and Lil Keke, the Texas natives... Read more »
It's always interesting when artists give us the opportunity look into their private lives, especially when those artists lead an especially guarded life. Last night, HBO premiered Beyoncé's new documentary, Life Is But A Dream, and... Read more »
If you weren't already feeling the romance this Valentine's Day, The xx have gone and covered Beyonce's emotional "I Miss You." Ugh, can my heart just get a minute to breathe today! The soulful ballad (which... Read more »
There was some controversy over her lip-syncing the national anthem at the 2013 inauguration, but Beyoncé took on the Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show with full force. Performing a number of her hits including "Crazy In... Read more »
It's standard procedure for artists to record studio versions of songs before big live performances, but according to The London Times, Beyoncé decided "shortly before her performance" that she'd use that studio version instead of actually... Read more »
Here's Beyoncé singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the inauguration of Barack Obama today. She was backed by the U.S. Marine Band and delivered a solid rendition, sticking faithfully to the anthem before letting loose a little... Read more »
In their ongoing efforts to combat view count manipulators, YouTube has stripped major labels of more than two billion views across various channels. In addition, the online video juggernaut has taken down videos that are in... Read more »


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3. | vodafone | ||
A horrible mobile phone company that mainly targets their advertising at businesses because they know their prices are too high
they have also done the following evil things >> Took over Eircell, a perfectly good Irish owned phone company, put up the prices, flooded all of ireland with horrible red advertising which hurts my eyes. When vodafone took over I noticed the company's service go down the tube. Eircell had free texts on xmas day, good customer service, had a nice website where you could download free ringtones and such but this was all ended when the evil bastards vodafone took over. >> For some reason SFR is till called SFR even though vodafone owns it, every other company they take over they change the name, except for SFR cause the French know their scumbags :) >> Hand out locked, vodafone-branded 3G datacards which are only for businesses. >> Have recently discovered DRM like many other large companies >> Decided they would put an extra fee on texting abroad, then started advertising it was "only 25 cent" while all along it was 14, like other texts which was also a rip off. >> Have almost completely given up on the prepaid teenybopper market because their prices are too high >> Only supply 3G to businesses?? WTF is with this? some guy: I tried to call you 10 times yesterday but your phone was off
other guy: Sorry mate, I got a new number, I was sick of getting ripped off by vodafone |
1. | Vodafone | ||
12p a text, 12 fuckin pence, i hate them vodafone are twats
2. | Vodafone | ||
A shit mobile phone company whoring its unworthy wares like an eastern european prostitute. Welcome to Vodafone. We have your bank details now, so be prepared to lose a lot of money.
4. | vodafone | ||
Complete ineptitude at providing a product suitable for use in any way shape or form. Alternative meaning: Broadband at 64bps - 15kbps Mike: I'm stuck in a 2 year contract with a company that spends all their money on advertising products that they never actually develop. and sorry I didn't get that email you sent me last year because I'm still waiting on the hotmail sign in page to load.
Paul: Ah! You stupid fucker! You signed up with vodafone didn't you? Their idea of broadband is a piece of string with a tin can tied to each end. You'd be better of sending a letter via post to the internet company so they can send you a print out of the web page you're trying to view. You'd save yourself so much time. Mike: Useless fuckers |
5. | Vodafone | ||
A lame wireless carrier that: 1) Sells phones that have all the cool features disabled, like Bluetooth file transfer (so that you will use their MMS service instead and pay), ability to load your own ringtones and java apps (so that you will buy the ones from their vodafone live portal) and WiFi tethering (so that you will buy a seperate contract for your laptop). Vodafone-hijacked phones look exactly like the non-hijacked ones available from other carriers, so be aware. The trend has also expanded to Android smartphones. 2) Sells contracts and prepaid that have the highest rates among the industry, but thanks to clever advertising and special packages with too many fine print they occasionally offer, guilible people think they are the cheapest carrier or just as cheap as the other carriers. 3) Has branches in practically every European country, but for some reason they charge you with roaming fees as if those branches were independent carriers. So, roaming isn't an excuse for choosing Vodafone. Vodafone is the AT&T of Europe, 'nuff said.


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Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone
People who plan to participate in Kenton's electric aggregation program won't be able to take part in American Electric Power's monthly bill-budgeting plan for the generation of electricity.
Auditor John Moore and Chief Deputy Auditor Jayma Davis said they have learned AEP's system will not allow for the bill-budgeting option because the electric generation will be supplied by a different company.
Through the aggregation program, Kenton has selected IGS Energy to provide the electric generation at a cost guaranteed to be 15 percent below AEP's rate for the next three years. AEP will continue to provide transmission of the electricity and Davis and Moore believe AEP will continue to offer bill-budgeting on the transmission service.
That means the generation portion of the customer bill will be billed monthly based on charges for the actual kilowatt hours used.
"We want to be upfront with people," Davis said. "This won't be as smooth as we thought."
Davis said people who want to continue to have the bill-budgeting option can opt out of the aggregation program at any time at no charge and return to AEP as their electric generation supplier.
Also at the meeting, council:
– Suspended rules requiring three readings and approved ordinances to allow the Ohio Department of Transportation to make improvements to three bridges in the city this year. On South Main Street there will be a new concrete deck overlay. Other projects are on South Detroit Street and Espy Street. There is no cost to the city.
– Adopted a resolution to sell two vehicles no longer needed by the city.
– Used rules suspension to adopt additional appropriations of $5,775 and transfers of $1,800.
– Had the initial reading of a resolution for the acquisition and installation of a new lime slaker for the water treatment plant.
– Gave first reading to legislation to vacate an east-west alley in John Pfeiffer's Western Addition. The petitioner, Tim Newland, is the owner of all the property that abuts the alley.
– Heard first reading of an ordinance that allows part-time employers working between 25 and 35 hours per week to participate in the city's health insurance program. They would be required to pay 100 percent of the cost.
– Had the first reading on legislation to advertise for bids for rock salt.
By TIM THOMAS
Times editor
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Each shark will be made to order.
Great outdoors or in.
The shark in the picture is not the one you'll get. Don't worry. It'll be very similar. Each piece will be made to order. My wood supply is ever changing. Therefore, the wood used will be the main difference. All the wood I use is old, discarded, naturally aged, and sun bleached. If you want to know what my current wood looks like, feel free to ask. I'd be happy to send you a pic of my current options.
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You should use floating point precision and radian.
It might have been wise 10 years ago to use integer instead of float for CPU saving but you shouldn't bother now. Floating point calculation are really fast now and so much more natural to use.
Some useful angle functions:
GetAngle: Returns the angle between point x,y - x2,y2 (360º = 360000)
GetDist: Returns euclidian distance between 2 points
GetDistX: X increment for given angle in given distance
GetDistY: Same for GetDistX, but for Y.
The only issue i'm having is that GetAngle gives a slightly incorrect angle, anyone trigonometric-wise can give me some advice about this?
EDIT: Removed some useless casting o_O i dont know what the heck was i thinking...Code:int GetAngle(int x, int y, int x2, int y2) { int distx = x2 - x; int disty = y2 - y; int ang; if ( distx == 0 ) { if (disty < 0) ang = 270000; else ang = 90000; return ang; } else { ang = ( int )( atan( disty / distx ) * 180000 / M_PI); if (distx > 0) ang = -ang + 180000; else ang = -ang; return ang; } } int GetDist(int x, int y, int x2, int y2) { int distx = x2 - x; int disty = y2 - y; return ( int )sqrt( ( distx * distx ) + ( disty * disty ) ); } float GetDistX(int angle, float distance) { return (float)(cos(angle * M_PI / 180000) * distance); } float GetDistY(int angle, float distance) { return (float)(-sin(angle * M_PI / 180000) * distance); }
EDIT2: Added this function
NearAngle: Does a smooth transition between 2 angles, returning the next logical angle in the transition, given the proper "smoothness" (i.e.: 10 is a good number)
Code:int NearAngle(int angle, int dest, int smoothness) { if (smoothness < 1) smoothness = 1; int temp; if (angle < dest && dest-angle > 180000) { angle += 360000; } if (angle > dest && angle-dest > 180000) { angle -= 360000; } if (angle < dest) { temp = dest-angle; angle += temp / smoothness; if (angle > dest) angle = dest; } else { temp = angle-dest; angle -= temp / smoothness; if (angle < dest) angle = dest; } if (angle < 0) return angle + 360000 ; if (angle >= 360000) return angle - 360000 ; return angle ; }
Hope someone finds this useful...
If you find a bug don't hesitate to tell me!
Last edited by Therion; 04-18-2007 at 08:34 AM.
You should use floating point precision and radian.
It might have been wise 10 years ago to use integer instead of float for CPU saving but you shouldn't bother now. Floating point calculation are really fast now and so much more natural to use.
Thanks for the advice!... I tend to make these useless optimizations often, i think i should start thinking the fact that my code will run in something faster than a 486 .
Another useful function is a function to return the distance between two angles.
For instance, what's the distance between 5 degrees and 355 degrees? 10 degrees. The way I figured out (which seems to work, although it's probably not the simplest way) is:
angle_difference = abs((angle1 mod 360) - (angle2 mod 360));
if (angle_difference > 180)
then angle_difference = 360 - angle_difference;
return (angle_difference);
Paul Eres - Radical Poesis Games & Creations | http://immortaldefense.com
it's also kinda dangerous to be dividing ints, passing ints into functions that take floats/doubles, etc... at any moment the compiler could round your values to integers and you'd lose precision (which would cause errors)
for example: atan( disty / distx ) is going to have problems if disty and distx are integers and the compiler passes an int into atan() -- imagine what happens when distx and disty are small
Depends on what you're doing actually. If you do lots of muls and divs, using floating point is faster, but if you do subs and adds using fixed point arithmetic is not only faster but more precise. You might have more precise results using doubles or long doubles instead of floats -and internally the CPU converts all floating point numbers to 80bit anyway- but moving doubles and long doubles around in memory is slower than moving floats and from experiments i've found that although computationally they might be the same in cycles, due to the memory bottleneck they're slower.
The ideal method is to break your operations in batches of integers and floats where needed, and convert between these between the batches.
Of course you have to worry about all these only if you experience slowdowns in your game because of the CPU usage and only if you cannot manage to figure out a better algorithm :-).
God yeah, the trouble I remember having trying to figure this one out with no conditionals! Gave up in the end and have something very similar looking to yours now. It's one of those bits of code I make sure to never lose!Another useful function is a function to return the distance between two angles.
Right, but a float is the same size as an int... it's fairly rare to have to use doubles unless there is an explicit need for super-precision (i.e. physics engines)
In general, I couldn't imagine that there's any reason to go through the hassle of fixed point these days unless you are SERIOUSLY cpu-bound. The algorithm itself should always be the first place to look for speedup. For these sorts of simple 2D math functions, unless you're calling them 100000000 times a second, there's not much point in making your life difficult...
Also, you're probably losing more time doing float to int casts than the actual math takes... (with code like: x = (int) atan2(some_int / some_int2)).
Does anyone know of code that can approximate tangents? I use a simplified language that doesn't have any trig functions. It doesn't need to be very precise, it's just used for situations like "is ego standing close to X." Right now I just use a long series of "if" statements but there must surely be a better way?
I think it's the best approach to make or get a 2d Vector library and put all this things in-there (distances, angles, inclusions, addition, scalar, rotate...) and move it from the core up. Working with vectors to move, accelerate, position..... stuff is so much neat than allways changing x and y to me. I had such library in c++ that I got on net and then added my stuff. I can post it if anyone wishes...
Yeah, that's why i said that the ideal case (if you really need this sort of optimization) is to split the operations in int and float batches.
But really, with the emerge of multi-core CPUs, it's much better to find parallelizing algorithms and work with threads than try to get yet another cycle. At the future, the CPU speed won't be measured in how many operations per sec a single thread can do, but how many cores it will have any how many operations can per second can be performed in all these cores. So the ideal code in such systems will be the code that takes advantage of the multicore environment.
Isn't something like abs((ego.x - other.x)*(ego.x - other.x) + (ego.y - other.y)*(ego.y*other.y)) < min_distance*min_distance enough?
That's more or less what I'd use, though I'd modify it to (ego.x-other.x)*(ego.x-other.x) + (ego.y-other.y)*(ego.y-other.y) < min_distance*min_distance. (You had a multiplication instead of a subtraction, and the absolute value isn't necessary since the LHS will always be positive anyway, assuming there are no complex numbers involved.)
Our engine is all fixed point based very useful if your not just targeting desktop computers
That's good for distances, but something I forgot to mention (sorry!) is that this is a 2D game with a different sprite for each direction that ego might face. So the angle is important. Using real trig (or at least a fake version) is not essential for my game, but would just be more elegant and would avoid those irritating "face the wrong way" or "spin around" bugs.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but if you mean that you want to test "is ego facing the object?" as well as "is ego close to the object?", then look into the dot product. You need to obtain two vectors: One that points from ego to the object (I'll call it A) and one that has the direction that the ego is facing (I'll call it B). The length of these vectors is not important.
Then compute: A_x*B_x + A_y*B_y. If the result is zero, then the vectors are perpendicular (so ego is facing exactly 90 degrees to the left or the right of the object). If the result is positive, then ego is facing more-or-less towards the object (within a 180-degree arc). If it's negative, then ego is facing away from the object.
Note that the X component of A is just (object.x-ego.x), and similarly the Y component of A is (object.y-ego.y). So the above is equivalent to (object.x-ego.x)*B_x + (object.y-ego.y)*B_y. How you calculate the vector B will depend on how you're encoding the sprite's direction.
This happens because the dot product of two vectors is closely related to the cosine between those two vectors. The MathWorld page I linked to above has further explanation (if you don't mind that it's a bit technical).
Thanks, that's interesting. I'll have to experiment. Ego can face in eight possible directions, and usually being one direction off is not a huge problem. But occasionally, in close-up shots, facing 45 degrees to the wrong direction looks completely wrong. I'll have a look at dot product stuff. Thanks again.
My schtuphh: http://iki.fi/sol/
this is the library I said... it has dot product amongst things.. it's very simple but gives a lot of power.
Code:#ifndef NVECTOR_NOMIND_TECH_001_INCLUDED_ #define NVECTOR_NOMIND_TECH_001_INCLUDED_ /* The author of this Vector class in Olivier renault who made exceptionaly great polycolly tutorial/demo. I (janko metelko) used this lib and changed it to what I needed / renamed it and stuff... but the 99.9% of thanks is to **Olivier Renault**. This NVector is made to work with PTK (phelios) */ #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <math.h> #include "NMath.h" #include "KInput.h" #define PI 3.141592f // the venerable pi #define PITIMES2 6.283185f // 2 * pi #define PIOVER2 1.570796f // pi / 2 #define E 2.718282f // the venerable e #define SQRT2 1.414214f // sqrt(2) #define SQRT3 1.732051f // sqrt(3) #define GOLDEN 1.618034f // the golden ratio #define DEGTORAD 0.017453f // convert degrees to radians #define RADTODEG 57.29578f // convert radians to degrees typedef unsigned char u_char; typedef unsigned short u_short; typedef unsigned int u_int; typedef unsigned long u_long; //#define for if(0); else for #define for if(0){} else for class NMatrix; class NVector { public: float x,y; static const NVector& Blank() { static const NVector V(0, 0); return V; } public: inline NVector(void) {} inline NVector(float Ix,float Iy) : x(Ix) , y(Iy) {} inline NVector &operator /=(const float Scalar) { x /= Scalar; y /= Scalar; return *this; } inline NVector &operator *=(const float Scalar) { x *= Scalar; y *= Scalar; return *this; } inline NVector &operator +=(const NVector &Other) { x += Other.x; y += Other.y; return *this; } inline NVector &operator -=(const NVector &Other) { x -= Other.x; y -= Other.y; return *this; } inline float operator ^ (const NVector &V) const { return (x * V.y) - (y * V.x); } // cross product inline float operator * (const NVector &V) const { return (x*V.x) + (y*V.y); } // dot product inline NVector operator * (float s) const { return NVector(x*s, y*s); } inline NVector operator / (float s) const { return NVector(x/s, y/s); } inline NVector operator + (const NVector &V) const { return NVector(x+V.x, y+V.y); } inline NVector operator - (const NVector &V) const { return NVector(x-V.x, y-V.y); } friend NVector operator * (float k, const NVector& V) { return NVector(V.x*k, V.y*k); } NVector operator * (const NMatrix& M) const; NVector operator ^ (const NMatrix& M) const; NVector& operator *=(const NMatrix& M); NVector& operator ^=(const NMatrix& M); inline NVector operator -(void) const { return NVector(-x, -y); } inline float Length(void) const { return (float) sqrt(x*x + y*y); } float Normalise(void) { float fLength = Length(); if (fLength == 0.0f) return 0.0f; (*this) *= (1.0f / fLength); return fLength; } NVector Direction(void) const { NVector Temp(*this); Temp.Normalise(); return Temp; } float Angle(const NVector& xE) { float dot = (*this) * xE; float cross = (*this) ^ xE; // angle between segments float angle = (float) atan2(cross, dot); return angle; } NVector& Rotate(float angle) { float tx = x; x = (float)x * (float)cos(angle) - y * (float)sin(angle); y = (float)tx * (float)sin(angle) + y * (float)cos(angle); return *this; } NVector& Rotate(const NVector& xCentre, float fAngle) { NVector D = *this - xCentre; D.Rotate(fAngle); *this = xCentre + D; return *this; } void Clamp(const NVector& min, const NVector& max) { x = (x < min.x)? min.x : (x > max.x)? max.x : x; y = (y < min.y)? min.y : (y > max.y)? max.y : y; } void Randomise(const NVector& xMin, const NVector& xMax) { x = NMath::frand(xMax.x - xMin.x) + xMin.x; y = NMath::frand(xMax.y - xMin.y) + xMin.y; } static NVector getRandom(const NVector& xMin, const NVector& xMax){ NVector Temp(0, 0); Temp.Randomise(xMin, xMax); return Temp; } static NVector getMouse(){ //i return mouse pos as NVector (this func is bind with PTK) return NVector(KInput::getMouseX(), KInput::getMouseY()); } bool isInRect(NVector edge, NVector size){ //i return mouse pos as NVector (this func is bind with PTK) if (x > edge.x && y > edge.y){ //in two steps so it is a little faster if (x < edge.x + size.x && y < edge.y + size.y) return true; } return false; } /*void Render(void) const //TODO: make it render with PTK { glColor3f(1.0f, 1.0f, 0.1f); glPointSize(3.0f); glBegin(GL_POINTS); glVertex2f(x, y); glEnd(); }*/ }; #endif
You know you don't need all those inline keywords if the function is defined in the class (like the operators)
99.9% thanks fo to Olivier Renault... so does the blame . I stopped programing in c++ since then and went to java. I wasn't too good in c++. The language was quite ok, but I hated the compiler "bureaucracy".
Now I remember what I got stuck on, coz I'm here again.Quote:
Another useful function is a function to return the distance between two angles.
God yeah, the trouble I remember having trying to figure this one out with no conditionals! Gave up in the end and have something very similar looking to yours now. It's one of those bits of code I make sure to never lose!
What I'd kill for is for someone to post code that actually gives the shortest direction to move in, to get to a given angle.
My actual problem: I want to rotate from a given angle to another one in the correct (shortest) direction, ie by determining to add on some scalar or subtract it, to reach my desired angle, iyswim.
This is my angle class, it keeps all the values beetween -pi and pi.
The function your are looking for is interpolate, it will interpolate beetween 2 angles and the result is what you expect: the shortess direction.
class Angle
static const float NOTANANGLE;
float value;
float SetBounds(float f)
if (f>0)
float k = float(int(f/(2*PI)));
f = (f-k*2*PI);
if (f>PI)
f = f-2*PI;
return f;
f = -f;
float k = float(int(f/(2*PI)));
f = (f-k*2*PI);
if (f>PI)
f = f-2*PI;
return -f;
Angle(float f) {value = SetBounds(f);};
operator float () const {return value;};
void operator+=(const Angle &a) {value = SetBounds(value+a.value);};
static Angle Interpolate(Angle aa1, Angle aa2, float k)
float a1 = aa1;
float a2 = aa2;
if (fabsf(a1-a2)>=PI)
if (a1<a2) a2-=2*PI;
else a1-=2*PI;
float angle = a1*(1-k)+a2*k;
return angle;
But I still can't get my hack and slash of that to work.
I'm working in degrees and I can't seem to port it. This seems like it should be so damned easy, but I just get a mental block.
My angles are also any-sized, so I call a clip routine to get them back into 0-360 range beforehand. It's really sophisticated, not!
Code:tF32 CMath::KeepAnglePositive (tF32 Angle) { while (Angle<0) Angle+=360; return Mod(Angle,360.0F); } tF32 CMath::AngleInterpolate (tF32 Angle1,tF32 Angle2,tF32 Scalar) { Angle1=KeepAnglePositive(Angle1); Angle2=KeepAnglePositive(Angle2); return Angle1*(1-Scalar)+Angle2*Scalar; }
to works, it has to be between -PI and PI,
so I guess it need to be beetween -180 and 180 degrees not 0 and 360
Take off 180 from your angle and use my function : just change PI into 180.
In theroy, it should work. Then put it back into your units [0-360].
D'oh, thanks again. Now I look again I see I trimmed off to much stuff - thought it was all bounds checking.
This is damned handy, thanks. The solution I came up with wayback was nothing like as elegant as this iirc.
On a related note, something I find very useful is to have a separate 'degrees' and 'radians' class, rather than one 'angle'. That way you can have comprehensible angles in your data, the system libraries can take their radians, opengl can take its degrees, and the compiler type checking handles any converting that needs to take place.
I'm coming around to that way of thinking myself tbh. All my engine is classed up with this exception as I don't really use angles much - I'm more of a vector man at heart.
Doing what I'm doing now though, I'm starting to feel the need.


text:
Mapping and monitoring carbon stocks in forested regions of the world, particularly the tropics, has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as deforestation and forest degradation account for up to 30% of anthropogenic carbon emissions, and are now included in climate change negotiations. We review the potential for satellites to measure carbon stocks, specifically
Epidemiological study on effect of air pollution on human health (adults) in Delhi
How green is green?
Accessing Asia
Doha: inaction in the face of urgency
Coal mines to get automatic nod for first expansion


text:
Mexico Day of the Dead in Oaxaca (CMDO)
One of the great festivals of the world, the Day of the Dead is at once a celebration of ancestors and a huge party. From candy skulls and colourful parades to family picnics in historic cemeteries, the Day of the Dead is a party like no other and this tour is your backstage pass. If you're culturally curious or slightly ghoulish, join us in Oaxaca—Mexico's artistic heartland—for a truly different perspective of the country at its most exciting. And with incredible ruins and fantastic landscapes all around, you don't need to be Wednesday Addams to get into the macabre spirit of this incredible celebration.
Highlights: Following the seas of flowers and flickering candles of cemetery vigils, Watching the painted faces and street dances during Day of the Dead parades, Enjoying beautiful colonial Oaxaca, Bartering for macabre skeleton dolls at the market
Croatia Truffle Festival (ECTF)
Prized by epicureans for their flavour and scarcity, the elusive truffle is the rock star of the fungus world. And nobody celebrates this most exalted of tubers quite like Croatia, home to the annual Truffle Days Festival. Beginning on the island of Cres, our adventure here will introduce you to the idyllic seaside communities of Croatia's Adriatic Coast and let you partake in a genuine truffle hunt with a professional tartufalo before delivering you to the culinary tuberpalooza itself in Livade. Don't forget to pack your appetite. (In fact, pack a spare, just in case.)
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Croatia Truffle Festival (ECTF) | 5 days | Classic | Standard |
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text:
Dear Nadine,
I am a 21-year-old girl, currently teaching in a private school. I was involved with a guy, D, for almost three years. He is my maternal cousin, who had come to stay with us from his village to pursue his education in Lahore about six years ago. D is about 25 years of age. He was a very intelligent and hard working student, but his family is not well off. My parents paid for his education and other living expenses. In the beginning, we even had to groom him but now you cannot tell him apart form any city born guy. I always had a soft corner for this less affluent relative, and often helped him financially, without letting my parents know. He told me one day that he loved me and wanted to marry me, but realised the disparity between the financial status of his family and mine. I knew even then that he was right and my father would not agree to this match, but I couldn't help myself, Nadine; I also fell in love with him. Some time back, he told me that if he went to do his masters from either the UK or Australia, he would stand a better chance of being accepted by my parents, but the problem was that his family did not have the money to make his wish come true. He told me that his father had promised to generate Rs12 lac, but he needed Rs eight lac more. I was so madly in love with him that I told him I would try to get him the amount. He refused initially by saying that he could not take money from me, but eventually accepted on the condition that he would return the money once he would settle. I thought I was doing a good deed and that the end would justify the means, so I stole the bonds and some gold from my mother's cupboard. D told me that he managed to get a little over Rs eight lacs by selling the gold and bonds. He went to Australia, promising me to return after completing his degree. I cannot tell you the anguish my family went through at the loss of the gold and bonds. They suspected the house maid and terminated her. I felt guilty, but thought that the maid would get another job in no time.
Last month, I learnt from a friend whose brother is also in Australia that my cousin D is doing well and has a good part-time job. He also disclosed that D has a girlfriend, too, and is living with her. I called D and asked him about it and he said that he would marry his Australian girlfriend, and settle there only. He asked me how he could marry a girl who had betrayed her own parents for a man. I was so angry that I threatened to expose him to his girlfriend. Nadine, he only laughed and said that it didn't matter! He also said that if I did anything stupid, he would tell my parents that I had stolen the gold and bonds. Nadine, what I did was for him, because I loved him so much. I helped him when no one else would, and this is how he pays me! I feel angry, depressed and humiliated. I want to get back at him for deceiving me so badly. I hate him now and realise he was not worth my love. What do you think I should do?
Betrayed Lover
Dear Betrayed Lover,
Helping a poor relative is a noble act, so I commend your kindness to your poor cousin from the village, because at that time you had no ulterior motive and whatever you did was out of the kindness of your heart. It is quite natural to develop feelings for someone you admire and with whom you are thrown together by circumstances, so I can understand why you wanted to help him, but your parents were already looking after his needs, so D should never have accepted your help. D was not in love with you; he was just using you. Any decent guy who loves a girl does not encourage her to cheat her parents, or commit a crime. You shouldn't have offered to get him money in the first place, and D must have known that you would steal from your parents, but did nothing to deter you. Did this not show you his true colours? So, you broke your parents' trust by stealing from them, and you even let them accuse the maid of theft! You assuaged your conscience by thinking that the maid would get another job, but what about the trauma she must have suffered when she was falsely accused of theft? My dear, don't you think you have come by your just deserts? D has some justification for thinking you would deceive him, for a girl who can betray her parents can certainly betray anyone else if she wants. You realised he was not worthy of your love only after he had jilted you? Instead of plotting revenge upon him, it's time you did some introspection. Admit to yourself that you made a mistake when you deceived your loving parents. You should gather courage and confess to your parents what you did. Or at least tell your mother. They will be angry with you, of course, but will ultimately forgive you. They will probably not be able to trust you for a long time. You really should forget this guy, apologise to your parents and pray that you get a good husband. Good luck!
Problems that need a solution? You can e mail Prof. Nadine Khan at email@example.com


text:
Starting with a '61 Flareside out of a junkyard, Perry called on Russ Cowart's Restorations by Russ, deep in the heart of Ford country in Dawsonville, Georgia, to do the construction. The frame was boxed from the front cab mounts forward, and from the back of the cab to the rear crossmember. The suspension was upgraded with a Fatman independent front suspension and a Ford 9-inch rear on four bars out back, and coilovers all the way around. Stopping power is generated at all four corners by Wilwood disc brakes.
Although it's impossible to tell now, the truck's cab was as rough as a cob. To make it perfect, parts from two others were required-one donated its cowl section while the other gave up its cab corners. Then a new floor from LMC was added. Russ smoothed the firewall and cleaned off the door handles. With the exterior surface perfect it was covered in black cherry basecoat/clearcoat from Matrix Systems in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Since completion, Perry's truck has collected some prestigious trophies including a number of Best in Shows-in fact, in 19 shows he's come home with an equal number of awards-at this rate he may have to build another truck just to haul them all.