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Rated 4.3 out of 5 by 116
Rated 5 out of 5 by Eddie212 What a great stay
I cannot find anything negative to say about the Le Meridian. I have stayed in many holiday resorts and hotels and this is by far the most amazing stay. I will definitely be back next year.
July 1, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Andee Best Hotel
It is the best places in the area
August 7, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Theboua3234 A true vacation resort
First class resort with the amenities to match it.
Staff was truly awesome and quick to address your needs or request.
The private setting of this resort is a blessing after dealing with the overwhelming Patong scene.
December 26, 2011
Rated 5 out of 5 by pasnow13 Great Hotel
Hotel was very nice. Private beach was great.
July 22, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by Kevin Not Quite the Experience We Hoped For
Let's start with the good:
1. The beach is beautiful, well kept and surprisingly secluded. Probably the best feature of the hotel.
2. The staff is extraordinarily friendly and were very helpful during our stay.
But . . .
1. This hotel is big -- very big. As a result, it seems that most rooms tend to be filled on the basis of large travel groups. It's not a quiet hotel for couples, but is better suited for families with kids. The layout of the hotel seems to accentuate its tremendous size, which is not necessarily a good thing.
2. The evening shows on the stage near the center of the pool can be a bit much. I think it detracts from the ambiance of an otherwise ideal location that could be peaceful and serene. Granted, we stayed during the Easter holidays and festivities are to be expected, but I found it difficult to "get away" and find the peace and quiet I had hoped for. Again, this is probably better with kids.
3. The room was well kept and clean, but small and the air conditioning never seemed to be quite as cold as I wanted.
4. The breakfast buffet was not spectacular, but more disappointing was the Thai food in the evenings. I suspect the flavors were toned down a bit for western tourists and lacked the authentic bite of Thai cuisine.
In all, I'm afraid that I would not recommend this hotel for couples, but it would probably be OK for a family with children. In all, it seems just a bit too big and a bit too loud for my tastes.
April 5, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Atul06 Perfect Destination for Families
There is something for everyone at this property. Centrally located, the property offers multiple recreational facilities for guests across all age groups backed by efficient and hospitable service and great F&B.
November 20, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by Fiona Unforgettable stay, wonderful beach
Our family spent 8 days and 7 nights in Phuket, all in Le Meridien. My choice was right, from the very beginning everything was just so comfortable and pleasing. The pick up was very decently arranged. The resort is just breathtaking beautiful, cannot believe is was built in the 80s. The beach is definitely a delight and the selling point, very exclusive, clean, and tranquil. Unlike all the other beaches (Patong, Karon, Kata we all went, but non can compare to this one).
The room was just fine, nothing surprising, furniture was old and no decorations. Just like any normal room with a TV, view is messy mountain trees, if you lean out you can see part of the ocean.
Only one thing a little annoy, the toilet smells like sewer especially at night, we called every day to complain, and they gave us some essential oil to remove the smell, but doesn't work really well. And later they sent a fruit basket, thank you, but it doesn't help to get the smell away. The room isn't well sound-proof either with loud neighbours in the isle. And don't even get me started with the toilet door. It is a quiet door in day time, but at night it will suddenly turn into a noisy door, I mean a really noisy door whenever you open or shut it, it cracked like some old bad furniture and woke up my baby. But in the day time it doesn't make noise at all, so odd and freaking.
Despite the smelly toilet and noisy door, it was a very pleasant stay. Staff were nice and smiling. pool and beach was fantastic! If I come to Phuket again, I will definitely stay here.
March 11, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Hote1Inspector Great activity facilities, lovely beach but getting old and dated…
This hotel ticks all the boxes if you're looking for a middle of the road, fully self-contained family holiday. The activities on offer at this hotel are possibly the largest available at any hotel we have ever seen… not just your usual facilities either for example, Archery, Wall Climbing, golf, basketball, football, watersports etc… The beach is sufficiently large to feel secluded and yet not give the impression of a crowded nature. The vast scope of the complex is actually quite remarkable and the pool alone stretches for the majority of it so great for kids to play around in. The rooms are bright and airy and generally everything you need is catered for…
On the negative side there were several issues… upon arrival the check-in desk failed to really even note the fact I was a Platinum guest, nor that I had stayed before and there was no room upgrade (apparently full?!?!). There was very little personal attentiveness here and the general dated feel of the hotel seemed to be reflected in the staff. Everybody was extremely polite and friendly it just all seemed like it needs a lift in all aspects. The feel to the place is old and perhaps it's overdue a face lift and a refurbishment required. The gymnasium is full of very antiquated equipment, some of which I dare say is over 30 years old!!! Like other guests who have reviewed this hotel, our room was also extremely pungent in terms of a vile odor emanating from the bathroom area… there are some significant drainage issues it seems in one or two of the rooms. In addition we got the distinct aroma of cigarette smoke pumping through the air conditioning unit into the room… it was almost as if our room was above a staffroom of some description and everyone smoking below was having their cigarette smoke being filtered up into our room…
To conclude, Le Meridien Phuket is a decent hotel and certainly worth a visit if you feel the price reflects what is on offer… I've been to this hotel 3 times now and every visit appears to be the same… it's got great activities, it ticks most of the boxes but be prepared for a dated experience with some slight annoyances along the way.
March 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by NSquared Our stay at Le Meridien Phuket
We stayed at this hotel for six nights with my wife and 12 year old daughter. We had a fantastic stay. I cannot recommend this hotel enough. Everything was excellent. The food at the restaurants was excellent. The service from the staff impeccable. We will be back and recommend staying here to everyone.
October 28, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Soccer05 TOP Hotel in Phuket
We arrived to Phuket and our driver picked us up and took us to hotel - our room was ready for us with amazing flower petals and welcome gift as it was our anniversary -Staff took very good care of us - Bedding was superior, air conditioning perfect
and the hotel was AMAZING. HUGE swimming pool and very private beach with visits from local elephant baby daily. Diving lessons on site
with daily excursions with PADI certifications and snorkeling - reasonable transportation to and from local towns - Professional Tennis Instruction excellent.
Truly a 5 Plus star hotel.
August 15, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Bow19 Great Experience
I had a pleasant and memorable stay with you. Food and Beverage were fantastic. All activities were excellent. Especially, all talents/staff are perform such a good hospitality since welcome until farewell.
October 28, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Kylie18 Wonderful experience
This was our fourth stay at Le Meridien Phuket Beach and while there has been some lovely upgrades to facilities and rooms have had a makeover the service is second to none. The reason we have been back each time we visit Phuket is due to this service. The facilities exceed all the requirements for a wonderful holiday! It was our first time taking our young child overseas and I couldn't have thought of somewhere I felt more safe and he was treated like a king. Thank you again for another wonderful experience, we will be back without a doubt. Kylie
July 13, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Pthomo Great Beach and Great Room
Very good customer service from SPG price match much better than another large chain that I recently attempted the same with. The beach really made the holiday it had none of the craziness of other Phuket beaches. The room was very good. Food was good without being exceptional. My wife had occasion to speak with a supervisor "teirrey" I believe about a short cook and how he treated the guests hopefully this has been attended to as he was the only staff member we encountered that was less than great in customer service. All in all was a great experience
November 22, 2011
Rated 5 out of 5 by hotagt Overall Experience
We simply loved this resort and couldn't fault it in any way. 2nd visit to Phuket and cannot wait to make it a third although this time once again will choose Le Meridien.
Loved the fact that you could swim in both ocean and pools and plenty of good food options. Really didn't want to leave there! and I am always ready for home - was a stopover on the way back from Europe holiday.
September 30, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by kimlisa never been anywhere like it AAA+++
First time travellers, we were blown away with this resort,
October 19, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by Hillsboro67 Hotel review
The le meridian hotel is well placed on a private beach near to shopping ,bars and restaurants .The room in which we stayed was clean and tidy,but it could do with modernising ie the furniture. when the shower was used
there was little air extraction and so the bathroom filled with steam.The glass shower screen leaked so the floor was constantly wet.
October 3, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Ryno05 Perfect place to relax
A great experience with attentive and friendly staff. Plenty of space from other guests around all the facilities.
October 14, 2014
Rated 1 out of 5 by sumanlai fraud fraud fraud hotel!
First email contact said early check in is subject to the room availability. At check in, they would like to charge 1000 THB, which i confirmed 3 times because this was too cheap to me. The receptionist confirmed 3 times 1000 was correct. At check out, they charged me 8000 THB!! The receptionist changed his word to 8000! And I have a corporate rate which was rejected by the duty manager which was very impolite. My corporate rate was cheaper than 8000 THB! unbelievale fraud! never go there! Rooms are small and , taxi expensive.
May 9, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Neha This hotel is an experience
This was our third stay at the hotel. Ambience and food are excellent. Service is very good. Honesty of staff always pleases. Only a tiny problem with ants in the room.
October 9, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by Giolivanni Nice location and facilities but some improvements need to be done
We arrived at 4.00 p.m and our room was not yet ready, due to a not well specified "problem with the staff"...at least this what we were told at the moment of the Check-In. Unfortunately we had to wait another hour and a half before being able to access the room, and that was quite annoying, also considering the fact that we were traveling with two kids.
On the next day, at 2.00 p.m, our room was not yet cleaned…After I complained, the situation improved. Apart for these inconveniences, it was a nice staying.
May 6, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Maxy422 Very nice hotel
I use to stay in this hotel since 1995. very nice hotel with private beach (ideal for family and kids)
October 8, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by Julie2x1 Beachfront break
Very pleasant break , the resort was clean, friendly and easy to get around.
Staff were friendly and helpful
Breakfast and dinner buffet excellent food
Plenty of choice with ten restaurants to choose from
Free wifi is only available in the public areas, which is a bit poor in a 5 star resort
The booking site I used advertised that it was free in the room and when I complained that it wasn't was comped the fee for wifi in the room, happy about that.
Overall a great place to stay
July 28, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by Jacqs Great for Privacy and Relaxation
Beautiful private beach (no hawkers!!) and pools. Staff were great and attentive, food really lovely.
Internet was intermittent and frustrating as you kept having to log on rather than automatically connecting. Kids club was very good, altho kids under 4 needed parent or babysitter present which either adds expense or you end up being in the kids club yourself. Hotel provided transport was efficient and good value to get to and from the town. Overall a wonderful experience!
August 1, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Paddy007 Our Home away from home"
This Resort is ideally located and superbly maintained, with numerous amenities. All areas within the Resort are beautifully and tastefully appointed. All staff are efficient and courteous providing prompt service delivery at all times. Total security at the Resort is always in evidence. Especially appreciated were the birthday cake presentation to our daughter, and the farewell by senior Management upon our departure. As usual, it was a great pleasure to stay at this Resort.
July 24, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Jeffsoh78 Great Services
This is my first time staying in Le Meridien Phuket for my business trip. I am impressed with the nice location and services provided by the hotel. Especially to Sales Specialist Khun Yaowaluk(Bambi) who has provided us with excellent customer services with a personal touch which made our stay comfortable. Will definitely recommend to stay in Le Meridien Phuket hotel on my quarterly visit to Phuket.
September 1, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by ms19 Good hotel in a good location
The hotel is nice and well maintained. We loved our stay here for the beach, the pool is very nice and it is located close to Patong Beach and also Karon Beach. We tried Mai Tais and Pina Coladas and were extremely disappointed, and the lunch/dinner options are also average at most. However, breakfast is good and the hotel is a short cab/tuktuk ride (or you can also walk) from many other dining options.
August 28, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Condor702 Another Great Stay at Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort
This was our third trip to Phuket and our third stay at Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort. As was the case with our previous stays, we had a great time. The staff were generally very friendly, attentive, and helpful. The facilities were well maintained, the rooms clean and tidy, and, the restaurants offer a great range and choice of food. We appreciated the room upgrade afforded to us due to my SPG Gold status.
We have traveled enough to know no holiday is perfect; things go wrong. We don't judge a hotel because things go wrong, but rather on how they respond to the problem. During our stay we had cause to make a complaint. We are more than pleased with how the issue was handled by the staff, and that it was rectified to our total satisfaction. Well done.
We're looking forward to our 4th visit.
May 2, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by MR1212 very impressed in our stay in Le Meridien
the staffs are friendly & helpful! the beach is fantastic, clean, beautiful view, with long shore, the swimming pool is spacious! the food is excellent & with lots variety of choice! kids loves the activities, and the baby elephant makes lots of fun for kids & adults! it is my husband birthday during our stay in the hotel, we felt so warm by hand drawn birthday card & the cake!! we are very impressed by staying in your hotel
August 13, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Coppo Great hotel and staff
Stayed in the hussle and bussle of a hotel in Patong for 7nights and still felt like we needed a holiday.
Le Meridien did the trick!!
Love the feeling of being in your own special exclusive hidaway with the 5 star service and accomodation.
Pools , beach, rooms and service all fantastic.
Worth paying the little extra for the overall benefits.
Will be back.
September 4, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Georgie25 Fantastic Hotel
Absolutely loved this hotel!
When we arrived we were lucky enough to be upgraded to an amazing room with a fantastic pool and ocean view, which was stunning.
The staff were all friendly and helpful.
The rooms were modern and clean.
The facilities were great: stunning pools, beach and other activities such as tennis, golf etc.
The buffet breakfast had extensive choice and was really good.
Would definitely come back here again.
August 3, 2014


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Cover | Book | Actions |
The Hostage Bargain (Taken H...Annika Martin
Average wait: 107d, 21h
When small town girl Melinda Prescott is taken hostage by three hot bank robbers, she quickly discovers that a life of bank heists, luxury hotels, and kinky menages is way more exciting than working on the family sheep farm. She should be s… more |
The Hostage Bargain (Taken Hostage by Kinky Bank Robbers Book 1) |
Make Me: Twelve Tales of Dar...Skye Warren, CJ Roberts, Ale...A New York Times and USA Today Bestseller!Take a trip to the dark side with 12 full-length books by the hottest names in edgy romance, including USA Today Bestselling authors CJ Roberts, Eliza Gayle, and Aleatha Romig! These heroes know wha… more |
Make Me: Twelve Tales of Dark Desire |
Petals and ThornsJeffe Kennedy
Average wait: < 1h
In exchange for her father's life, Amarantha agrees to marry the dreadful Beast and be his wife for seven days. Though the Beast cannot take Amarantha's virginity unless she begs him to, he can and does take her in every other way. From the… more |
Petals and Thorns |
The Wrong Turn (Taken Hostag...Annika Martin
Average wait: 1d, 17h
When Isis consented to letting three hot, dominating bank robbers use her for their every delicious whim and pleasure, she was thinking about forbidden thrills. Dangerous fun. What she never expected was the deep bond the four of them might… more |
The Wrong Turn (Taken Hostage by Kinky Bank Robbers Book 2) |
Halloween Submission (Sizzli...Bonnie Bliss
Average wait: 5h
Halloween has arrived and Tom Newton is stressed with his job as a fireman. His best friend Rob, a submissives' wet dream, is having a play party on Halloween night. Lucy, a nurse who has secretly been crushing on Tom, has decided to go to … more |
Halloween Submission (Sizzling Shorts, #10) (Holiday Doms Book 2) |
The Deeper Game (Taken Hosta...Annika Martin
Average wait: N/A
Q: Who would stalk Isis? A: Somebody with a deathwish. Isis always knew her bank robbers were ruthless, dangerous, and brilliant. After all, they take their names from gods. They've eluded law enforcement agencies across the globe. And with… more |
The Deeper Game (Taken Hostage by Kinky Bank Robbers Book 3) |
Taken Hostage by Kinky Bank ...Annika Martin
Average wait: N/A
The complete three-book bundle! Includes The Hostage Bargain, The Wrong Turn, & The Deeper Game When small town girl Melinda Prescott is taken hostage by three hot bank robbers, she quickly discovers that a life of bank heists, luxur… more |
Taken Hostage by Kinky Bank Robbers: The 3-book bundle! |
Prisoner (Criminals & Captiv...Skye Warren, Annika Martin
Average wait: N/A
"Dark, sexy, and intense, Prisoner is an emotional ride that does not let go until the end. I loved it!" HE SEETHES WITH RAW POWER THE FIRST TIME I SEE HIM—pure menace and rippling muscl… more |
Prisoner (Criminals & Captives Book 1) |

subset: commoncrawl


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When my previous magic shop started giving me trouble, I looked for a new shop to buy from. MJM is all I could wish for, orders are shipped real fast...Read More ->
All I can say is, #1 They are for REAL, unlike some other 'Ellusions.' #2 - they are not 'BIRDING' around like the penguins. #3 BEST customer...Read More ->


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I am looking for about 80 lily bulbs that will ship now. I would like them for a baby shower on Feb. 3rd, but every place I contact won't ship until March. My mom is the gardner in the family and she would know what she has to trade. More specifically, what would someone want from us for 80 lily bulbs? Can you help me? I am in Michigan.
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Young's Literal Translation (YLT) | New International Version (NIV) |
2 `Take ye up the sum of all the company of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names -- every male by their polls; | 2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. |
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain. (Young's Literal Translation - The Bible Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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May 27, 2010
This is a great organization that directly benefits area Foster Children and Adoptive Children. All donated funds are used to pay for activities for the children. During 2009 the families were treated to an Easter Luncheon and egghunt; Lunch with the firedept including fire safety training; a swim and BBQ party; and a Christmas carnival which included bouncy houses, cotton candy, cartoon characters, and lunch. In addition, this organization collects children's clothes and toys and distributes them to the foster children. There are no paid members in this organization. All funds are used for the children's activities. Make a difference in a child's life - Donate today.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
seeing the smiles on the childrens faces as they play during these sponsored activities.
More feedback
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
Board Member & I organize the activities for the children.
Review from Guidestar


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Senior Member
Thanks for doing this Hippalus! I was wondering though is there a chance for players who've spent a large amount of money on this game receiving some kind of thank you gift? Maybe just a special skin? Not to be greedy but it'd be a cool gift for having spent a lot of money on this game. Not that i regretted any of it! :3
Holy cow, a guy in the pricing department actually talking to us. Thanks for finally getting around to that, and addressing some of the concerns we have. That having been said, here are my thoughts on pricing and League: The two-currency system is a good one, and I think that having to save up IP through play does wonders at introducing people to the game: it rewards you for playing by letting you play more of what you like more often, which is the best way to do the free-to-play model. That having been said, RP is currently a mess IMO. There aren't enough options, and the options that are available don't feel cost-efficient in the grand scheme of things outside of those two $30 champion bundles, especially as more and more champions/skins are added to the game. It's nice to see that you're working on new RP metrics/bundle options, and have resumed champion price reductions - this is a good place to start, and it's made me feel a lot better about the future of this game. Another thing I'm happy to see you talking about are global IP boosts. It feels like these days the only time we get a double IP weekend is because of some silly social media function (the facebook hitting a certain number of likes, for instance). It used to be that double IP weekends were handed out more frequently to the community - I hope that you start to resume this trend. IP is fun to earn, but we don't have enough things to spend it on. This is the one area that I feel other MOBA games like HoN have League beat: with their version of IP you can get all kinds of stuff, such as extra profile icons, announcer voice packs, and even champion skins! In fact, earning skins isn't that hard to do in HoN: I would like to see League move in that direction, and make IP able to purchase skins. I'd also like it to be fairly easy (say, 4800 for a normal skin), since skins are a fun way to customize your champion in League. I'd be okay with having some skins be RP-only though, such as Pulsefire Ez or Legendary skins, as those are pretty big money-earners for you guys. (Speaking of Legendary skins, nag someone to rework Magnificent Twisted Fate already - a lot of people are still annoyed about that skin and how it was made a Legacy Skin even though it wasn't that good from a Legendary standpoint.) Most importantly though, I'd like to see you continue to discuss things with the community. I feel that lot of the frustration on the boards here (the "Chinese overlords" variety) stems from a lack of communication from the commerce department, and it has caused issues in the past, particularly regarding the plans you guys have about Legacy skins - see examples like this for details: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/...php?p=18728103 Hopefully you find some of this useful. EDIT: Oh, and it would be nice to see you guys establish a general percentage of how many champions you want to be at each tier of IP/RP (say, X percent will be 450, Y will be 1350, and so on), with older champions being reduced over time as new ones are added. This would do a great deal to ease the annoyance of how every champ is 6300 these days.
Thank you for addressing so many of these issues and being open about it. I agree that some of the legacy skins should make a comeback, and that rune page costs should scale as you buy them. Also any word on the price points of runes? It's just that buying some niche runes [spell vamp I'm looking at you] can cost as much as buying a champion. I believe they could use some adjustment... although Im not sure.
Junior Member
Welcome to RIOT Hippalus ^_^ I've read through your posts and I'm all for the changes that seem to be in the works. GOOD LUCK!
Have some legacy skin sales, especially some of the themed ones like the olympics or soccer ones or even some of the retired skins. I understand that its supposed to be limited but to be honest I haven't seen those skins at all during games. It kind of defeats the purpose of them being special if in a solid year of playing I haven't come across more than 1? Besides people who just started this game recently would like something special to have as well. I know you mentioned having some of the legacy skins come out of the vault to be sold again for a special amount of time but I haven't seen such a sale happen ever.
Two questions. 1) When I worked for less popular companies doing F2P services but also having things you can pay for (same as Riot) we had a "sale" where the prices dropped (similar to how you get an RP boost) and we noticed that during the first few weeks, there was an increased incoming, so we left the prices as they are, and the sale lasted forever. Well I guess it's not a sale at that point... but I digress. We noticed (after crunching some numbers) that even 2 months after the sale was announced and prices changed for good, our overall income per month was greater than it was PRIOR to the sale. Example, we made 400$ before the sale, 600$ during, and 500$ every month afterwords. The question: Would it be possible for you to increase the boosted RP time to see if people actually buy more RP for it? Like, do it for a month or two and see if sales generally increase and not just for a short period of time. I might be rambling here, and I'm pretty sure you understand what I'm asking. 2) Do you play Dominion?


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Iraq Primary Health Care Learning Management System Now Online by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist January 8, 2015 USAID/ PHCPI helped the Iraqi Ministry of Health (MOH) update over 30 managerial and clinical guidelines to current international standards; the free e-courses, which are being implemented across Iraq through the MOH and departments of health, help ensure the sustainability and continued impact of primary health care interventions. |
How the Health Equity Funds System helps Cambodia's poorest citizens by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist January 7, 2015 In Cambodia, extreme poverty includes those who are reasonably certain of their food supply for a single day and those who are not. A family might have only a single meal all day. Imagine, then, the terrible burden that any expense—let alone a large medical bill—would impose upon such a family. For Svay Phalla, the tragic loss of his wife did not trigger financial disaster, thanks to the Social Health Protection Project and the Health Equity Fund System. |
URC Places Top Ten in USAID Global Competition by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist December 23, 2014 Two of URC's projects – SUSTAIN and HCI – have been selected as among the top ten cases of health systems strengthening by the USAID Global Health Bureau Office of Health Systems (GH/OHS) – out of 145 submitted candidates! |
Putting it in Context: URC 2014 Photography Contest Winners by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist December 16, 2014 Jessica Ziegler, Knowledge Management Specialist for URC/Headquarters, submitted the winning photo in the "Photographer's Choice" category of URC's 2014 Photography Contest. |
In Haiti, USAID's SSQH-Nord Project Addresses Gender-Based Violence by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist and Christine Ortiz, Senior Advisor, HSS December 5, 2014 The USAID-funded Services de Santé de Qualité pour Haïti
(SSQH) Nord project focuses on quality health service delivery in the
departments of Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest and Artibonite. In Year 2, SSQH-Nord strategies will address gender-based
violence (GBV) and child protection (CP). |
Putting it in Context: URC 2014 Photography Contest Winners by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist December 5, 2014 Sanjay Rai, District Improvement Coordinator for the USAID ASSIST Project in India, submitted the winning photo in the "Family Portrait" category of URC's 2014 Photography Contest. |
ASSIST Project Leads Chat on Gender-Based Violence by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist December 5, 2014 Join the USAID ASSIST Project, Knowledge for Health
(K4Health), The Asia Foundation, Promundo, Chemonics, The TOPS Program, and
World Vision, and the Gender and Development Networking Group for an all-day Twitter chat, "Innovative Approaches to Respond
to Gender-Based Violence," on December 10, 2014. |
TRAction Project: GBV in the health system by URC Staff December 3, 2014 The TRAction Project's Nevia Pavletic weighs in with some thoughts on the importance of respectful maternal care in efforts to eliminate gender-based violence as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. |
USAID Diagnosis and Management of Severe Febrile Illness Project making a difference in the lives of children under five by By Sekela Kyomo, Knowledge Management and Communication Specialist, USAID Tibu Homa December 2, 2014 The USAID Tibu Homa Project recently hosted a two day workshop in the Lake Zone Regions of Tanzania. Speakers included the Acting Director of Reproductive and Child Health Services from the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The workshop focused on sharing findings on managing fever in children under five and revealed opportunities for improvement in the health sector. |
Reflecting on the History of HIV/AIDS by Pamela Marks, Senior Advisor for HIV/AIDS, TB & Infectious Diseases December 1, 2014 Today is World AIDS Day. It is time for us to reflect on the history of the HIV virus and how it has affected and changed our lives over the past three decades. |
No health on G20 agenda prompts leaders to host international Health 20 by Tana Wuliji, Senior Improvement Advisor and Health Workforce Development Unit Lead November 25, 2014 Concerned by the absence of a discussion around health as an enabler of economic growth and an important part of the economy as "the greatest social capital a nation can have," the World Medical Association, the Australian Medical Association, and the Australian Medical Association Victoria hosted the first international Health 20 Summit – the H20 (#H20Melb on Twitter). URC's Tana Wuliji served as the summit's raporteur and presented the H20's conclusions on the final day of the summit. |
URC supports 16 Days of activism against GBV by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist November 25, 2014 URC and CHS join with our partners and stakeholders around
the world to mark 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. |
Putting it in Context: URC 2014 Photography Contest Winners by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist November 20, 2014 Bernadeta Nagita, Executive/Communications Assistant for the Strengthening Uganda's Systems for Treating AIDS Nationally (SUSTAIN) Project in Uganda, submitted the winning photo in the "Closer Look" category of URC's 2014 Photography Contest. |
Religious Leaders in Ghana Unite Against Ebola Virus Disease by Systems for Health Team November 19, 2014 Religious leaders from across Ghana convened on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa |
Women and Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision - WEBINAR November 18, 2014 Women play a key role in the success of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) programs. Join this PEPFAR webinar to learn more. |
URC-CHS supports Universal Health Coverage Day by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist November 18, 2014 Health inequities occur when health services are not accessible to or utilized by certain groups of people because of their gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, geographic residence, or other characteristics. This lack of access puts disadvantaged populations at a much higher risk for adverse health outcomes. URC-CHS has pledged its support for Universal Health Coverage Day on December 12th and join us as we work towards health for all. |
Putting it in Context: URC 2014 Photography Contest Winners by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist November 14, 2014 Boran Mao, Graphic Designer for the Quality Health Services Project in Cambodia, submitted the winning photo in the "Learning and Teaching" category of URC's 2014 Photography Contest. |
Research on Disrespect and Abuse during Childbirth: Experts Discuss Advancements and Challenges by Nevia Pavletic, Implementation Science Intern, TRAction Project November 14, 2014 On November 11, 2014, a webinar hosted by the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) about disrespect and abuse (D&A) during childbirth brought together three panelists to discuss cutting-edge research on D&A while opening a dialogue on how this research can shape policy advocacy. The panelists stressed the complex nature of D&A, and suggested that an effective response must be systemic. |
Putting it in Context: URC 2014 Photography Contest Winners by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist November 6, 2014 Mizeal Shanta, Outreach Advisor for the USAID Primary Health Care Project in Iraq (PHCPI), submitted the Grand Prize-winning photo in URC's 2014 Photography Contest. |
Maternal and Newborn Care Sees Vast Improvements in Niger and Mali by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist November 6, 2014 Closing the "know-do" gap between interventions and reliable implementation at scale is no easy task, especially in resource-poor countries with some of the worst indicators in the world. In Niger and Mali, two countries with some of the highest maternal and newborn mortality rates worldwide, URC's work has driven some remarkable improvements. |
URC-CHS Participates at TropMed 2014 by Colleen Longacre, Senior Program Officer November 5, 2014 URC-CHS is happy to announce its participation at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 63rd Annual Meeting (#TropMed2014) November 2–6, 2014 in New Orleans, LA. |
URC at the World Lung Conference 2014 by Colleen Longacre, Senior Program Officer October 27, 2014 As in past years, URC will have a strong presence at the 45th Union World Conference on Lung Health, held this year in Barcelona, Spain. Join us at our symposia, presentations, and workshops or drop by the marketplace, booth #27, and say hello. |
Mass Media Campaign in Iraq Helping Mothers and Children by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist October 23, 2014 The USAID-funded Primary Health Care Project Iraq launched a national, mass media campaign in behavior-change communication (BCC) that ran July 13 through August 31, 2014. The campaign consisted of three TV spots, animated songs, and a seven-episode information series. Some of those spots are now available on URC's YouTube channel on specific topics such as pre-natal care for women, breastfeeding, preventing diarrhea in infants, and vaccination for children. |
USAID and URC Celebrate Seven Years of HCI Project Accomplishments by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist October 17, 2014 Download and read "Improving Healthcare: The Results and Legacy of the USAID Health Care Improvement Project", the final report from an important seven-year effort that advanced the state of the art of health care quality. |
URC Endorses WHO Statement on Preventing and Eliminating Disrespect and Abuse During Childbirth September 30, 2014 University Research Co., LLC (URC) is pleased to announce its endorsement of the World Health Organization's statement "The prevention and elimination of disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth". The statement is being announced today at the Third Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, in Cape Town, South Africa. |
Ceremony Celebrates Handover of National Standards, Honors CEO by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist September 19, 2014 The National Standards for Improving the Lives of Vulnerable Children in Nigeria, developed by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMWASD) and implementing partners in Nigeria and with technical assistance from USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) Project, were officially handed over in a ceremony August 27. At the ceremony, the Ministry honored the late Mr. Melvyn Estrin, URC's former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, by dedicating the standards in his memory. |
Global Reading Network Initiates Online Awareness Campaign by Reading within Reach Staff August 29, 2014 The Global Reading Network wants to know: Why is reading important to you? According to the 2013/2014 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, an estimated 250 million children around the world--130 million of whom have spent at least four years in school--are not learning foundational reading skills. Advocates for early reading around the world are invited to include their own, personal messages about why reading is important and post it to their social media accounts in the days leading up to and including September 8th, International Literacy Day. |
Making a Difference in the Lives of Mothers and Babies in Uganda by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist August 29, 2014 Affordable. Applicable. Simple. This is how Dr. Jesca Nsungwa Sabiiti, Assistant Commissioner for Child Health with Uganda's Ministry of Health, described the models for maternal and newborn health care introduced by USAID's Health Care Improvement (HCI) project in Uganda. Watch village healthcare workers, nurses, and officials share the difference HCI has made in the lives of mothers and children in Uganda. |
Nutri-Salud Supports the Revitalization of Guatemala's National Commission to Promote Breastfeeding by Elena Hurtado, Senior Technical Advisor, and Jessica Ziegler, Knowledge Management Specialist August 7, 2014 In pursuit of their commitment to reduce chronic malnutrition in children under five, the Guatemalan Ministry of Health turned to breastfeeding. The Nutri-Salud project recently made recommendations on Guatemala's strategic plan to revive the National Commission for the Promotion of Breastfeeding (CONAPLAM). When implemented, CONAPLAM will provide a stable platform to ensure that all Guatemalan babies receive the very best start in their first 1000 days of life. |
A Personal Testimony: The Brand Is Mother's Milk by Gabriela Salazar, Nutritionist, Nutri-Salud August 4, 2014 What brand of milk is best for our children? Gabriela Salazar, a nutritionist working on the Nutri-Salud project in Quiché, Guatemala, shares her experience breastfeeding her own daughter, who is now nine months old. Gabriela is committed to giving her daughter, and all the mothers and babies in Quiché, the very best start during the critical 1000 Days window of opportunity for improved health.
Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week in El Quiché, Guatemala: Cultural and Gender Perspectives by Elena Hurtado, Senior Technical Advisor August 1, 2014 The Health Area of El Quiché, with support from the Nutri-Salud project, is celebrating World Breastfeeding Week with a one-day conference for health workers. Breastfeeding and complementary feeding are the conference's main topics, but issues of gender and Mayan culture will be infused throughout the discussions: breastfeeding as a beneficial Mayan practice, as an equalizer that gives every child the best start in life, and as the right of every woman. |
Everyday Knowledge Management by Lani Marquez July 30, 2014 On USAID's Learning Lab: What use is knowledge if it stays inside someone's head? At the Food Security and Nutrition Knowledge Sharing Meeting held in DC early this month, URC's Lani Marquez and CARE's Alyssa Lowe challenged the assembled group to examine how knowledge is managed and shared. |
A Streamlined System for Mother and Baby Care HIV Care Management by USAID/SUSTAIN project staff July 23, 2014 "Because my baby and I are treated at different clinics within the same hospital, I always receive separate appointments. Each time, when I arrive at the hospital, I have to wait a long time to get the medicine. One day, I waited for eight hours." -- Evaline, a client at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital ART Clinic, Eastern Uganda HIV-positive mothers in Uganda often face difficult decisions concerning HIV treatment for themselves and their infants: A disconnect between clinics can cause long waits and even force a mother to choose between her own treatment and her child's.Could something as simple as synchronizing appointments for both mother and baby help achieve the goal of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015? The USAID Strengthening Uganda's Systems for Treating AIDS Nationally project is supporting the establishment and functioning of mother-baby care points in hospitals to help improve retention of mother-baby pairs and the provision of HIV services. |
Looking To a Bright Future in Rwanda by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist July 11, 2014 Twenty years after the most horrific genocide in living memory, the people of Rwanda have risen above the devastation and made vast social, political and economic improvements in their lives. URC is proud to have made some small contribution to its remarkable recovery. |
PEPFAR-funded Project Helps Swaziland Labs Earn Their Stars by By Manith Hang, Project Coordinator, and Christina Zola, Communications Specialist June 30, 2014 Five
Swaziland laboratories have been awarded stars of accreditation by the African
Society for Laboratory Medicine. This is good news for URC's Laboratory Support Project, which has been working since 2009 to strengthen lab quality assurance and management systems while expanding HIV/AIDS and TB diagnostic services at all levels of the Swaziland health system. |
URC VP Dr. Refiloe Matji Featured in "USA Today" Special Issue by Rebecca Oser, Director of Communications June 27, 2014 URC Vice President Dr. Refiloe Matji is featured in the June 27th issue of the USA Today newspaper, in an interview entitled, "A Blueprint for Defeating Tuberculosis". |
Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell: Listening, Learning and Adapting to Drive QI in Kenya by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist June 25, 2014 Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell hit the ground running when she joined the USAID ASSIST Project in Kenya as Chief of Party (COP) in August 2013. The project had been underway for several months, and while joining a project mid-stream – especially in a leadership role – is often difficult, she says she was welcomed by the USAID ASSIST Kenya team with "not only open arms but also an open mind."
Increasing Access to Healthcare Services in the Karamoja Sub-region, Uganda June 24, 2014 This brief provides an overview of USAID/SUSTAIN's work in Karamoja in HIV prevention, care and treatment, laboratory services and human resources for health. Karamoja, in northeastern Uganda, is considered by many a "hard to reach" and "hard to live in" sub-region. The HIV prevalence rate in Karamoja has risen in the last decade from 3.5 percent to 5.3 percent. In 2010, the USAID/SUSTAIN project, working closely with the Ministry of Health, started implementing interventions to improve public healthcare systems to provide quality HIV prevention, care and treatment services in seven districts of the sub-region. |
Translating Research into Action (TRAction) Project Leads Research to Provide Care to Hard-to-Reach Children by Tiffany Clark, Research Analyst and Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist June 18, 2014 Integrated
Community Case Management (iCCM) is a strategy that extends the reach of health
care services for childhood illnesses beyond health facilities to provide
services to children in isolated areas. URC's TRAction Project is active in iCCM research, outreach and advocacy. |
URC Joins USAID's Campaign to End Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths by Christina Zola and Sabina Behague, Communications Specialists June 17, 2014 URC is a proud member of the Advisory Group for USAID's Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths initiative, and of the host committee supporting the 5th Birthday and Beyond campaign. |
Sharing What Works: International Collaboration Helps Belize Reduce Its Maternal Mortality Rate by 62% by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist June 13, 2014 In Belize, the country's maternal mortality rate fell from 88 in 100,000 live births in 2004–2008 to 33 in 2009–2013. The Ministry of Health [MOH] attributes the drop to the quality improvement technical assistance that USAID's Health Care Improvement (HCI) project provided. How has the MOH made such great strides in reducing maternal mortality? Their story is a model of innovation and economy, knowledge sharing and best practices, with great implications for development projects all over the world. |
Success Story: URC Project Training Saves a Mother's Life by Kevin Embrey, Senior Program Officer, Bárbara Yurrita, Communication and Knowledge Management Consultant, and Christina Zola, Communications Specialist June 13, 2014 Nutri-Salud: Community Nutrition and Health Care Project, in coordination with the Guatemalan Ministry of Health and
a local NGO, provided training in the active management of the third stage of
labor to professional and auxiliary nurses. That timely training helped Nurse Pedro to save a mother's life. |
Kangaroo Mother Care: A Low-Tech, High Impact Strategy for Saving Babies' Lives by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist June 9, 2014 URC's USAID ASSIST project recently hosted a webinar entitled, "Perspectives on the expansion of the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) method in Latin America: the past, present, and future," to present and discuss the expansion of the lifesaving method of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC). KMC, in which a parent holds their newborn in contact with their own skin, is helping thousands of premature babies survive and thrive all over Latin America. To see and hear the webinar in its entirety (in Spanish), please click here. |
Successful Kick-offs Held for Town Hall Meetings to Prevent Underage Drinking by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist June 5, 2014 Every two years URC manages the US Department of Health and Human Service's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Town Hall Meeting events to help educate communities about underage drinking and mobilize them around its prevention. The national launch of Town Hall Meetings and the kick-off meeting for Massachusetts' Town Hall Meetings were held in April. |
Clean Air and Cooking: Making the Connection in India and Uganda by Sabina Behague, Communications Specialist June 4, 2014 Household air pollution is estimated to kill 3.9 million people annually, making exposure to it one of the top three risk factors for death and illness worldwide. One way to address the problem is to promote the purchase and correct use of lower-emission cookstoves in developing countries. |
How Much Would You Pay to Stop the Pain? by Christina Zola and Sabina Behague, Communications Specialists June 4, 2014 The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) invited Dr. Edward Broughton, Director of Research and Evaluation for the USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems and Health Care Improvement projects at URC, to present the basics of how to conduct a cost-benefit analysis and understand the data. The resulting webinar took place on May 21 and was well attended by participants all over the world. |
Better Living in the Western Highlands of Guatemala May 30, 2014 Nutri-Salud's "Programa de la Rueda de Prácticas para Virir Mejor," or Wheel of Practices for Better Living Program, was adopted April 22 by the Guatemalan Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance as part of its national strategy. |
URC Expert Contributes to USAID FRONTLINES with Article on Reducing the Risks of Pregnancy and Childbirth in Cambodia May 30, 2014 USAID FRONTLINES has published this compelling article on the reduction of Cambodian maternal deaths by URC's Chief of Party Christophe Grundmann. |
Request for Concept Papers for Small Grants to Support the Tibu Homa Project (THP) May 16, 2014 Request for Concept Papers for Small Grants to Support the Tibu Homa Project (THP) in improving the Diagnosis and Management of Severe Febrile Illness in Lake Zone The THP is USAID-funded project (2011-2016) managed and implemented by University Research CO., LLC working to contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality in children under-five years of age in the Lake Zone of Tanzania. The THP has designed Small Grants Program for the purpose of supporting Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) working to mobilize and support health facilities to improve case management due to febrile illness in children under-fives year of age including orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The project covers six regions of the Lake Zone (Mwanza, Geita, Kagera, Shinyanga, Simiyu and Mara). |
Message from a Senior Midwife for International Day of the Midwife by Annie Clark,Senior QI Advisor MNCH and Evelyn Kamgang, Improvement Associate May 5, 2014 Words of inspiration and wisdom from URC's own Annie Clark, whose career in midwifery spans forty years: "The value and versatility of midwives cannot be overstated. . . . I am heartened by the fact that after many years of too little progress in reducing global maternal mortality, the estimated number of maternal deaths has finally fallen from 500,000 annually to 290,000. I hope that, with renewed commitment and effort, the number will further be halved in the next 10 years." Please read her story. |
Webinar Wednesday, May 7, 2014: Behavior change approaches to enable uptake and use of clean stoves and fuels: Lessons from the field on what works, what doesn't, and what's next? May 1, 2014 Webinar Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Speakers: Marc Jeuland, Assistant Professor, Duke University Theresa Beltramo, Applied Micro-Economist, Impact Carbon Allen Namagembe, Epidemiologist/Biostatistician, PATH |
USAID Selects URC to Lead New Social Health Protection Project in Cambodia by Elizabeth Hendrickson, URC Program Officer April 18, 2014 Cambodia has made significant progress on a range of health indicators over the past decade and has demonstrated a strong commitment to pro-poor health policies, most notably with the development and expansion of health equity funds. The Social Health Protection Project, which builds on the work of the recently-ended Better Health Services project, aims to support the Royal Government of Cambodia's goal of achieving universal health coverage by expanding health equity funds and other social health protection mechanisms throughout the country. |
Webinar Tuesday, April 22, 2014: Perspectivas para la expansión del Método Canguro en América Latina: de dónde venimos, en dónde estamos y a dónde vamos by Elizabeth Silva, Improvement Specialist for Gender and Knowledge Management April 18, 2014 Spanish-language webinar: Perspectives on the expansion of the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) method in Latin America: the past, present, and future. Presenter: Dr. Nathalie Charpak, founder, researcher, and director of the Kangaroo Foundation in Bogota,
Columbia. |
Request for Proposals: Solicitation Number FY14-RFP03-6012 April 11, 2014 The SSQH-Nord Project anticipates issuing a fixed-price subcontract to facilitate the sustainable delivery of health services by the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) at the primary care and community level via the verification and payment of contracted service providers and operational costs of the Departmental Health Directorates (DDS) and the Zone Ciblée (ZC). |
USAID FRONTLINES Highlights Social Health Protection Project's Work to Alleviate Poverty with Health Insurance by URC Communications Team April 9, 2014 USAID's FRONTLINES magazine featured an article by Tapley Jordanwood, URC's Chief of Party in Cambodia for the USAID Social Health Protection Project. In "Lifting Cambodia's Poorest Out of Poverty with Health Insurance," Mr. Jordanwood introduces families whose participation in the Health Equity Fund insurance program has saved money--and lives. |
URC to Lead Quality Health Services Project in Cambodia, Continue Improving Systems for Maternal and Newborn Health by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist March 25, 2014 Through the USAID Quality Health Services project, URC will build on more than a decade of work in Cambodia to strengthen reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition care and systems. The URC-led project team will draw on and scale up successful initiatives started under USAID Cambodia's recently ended Better Health Services (BHS) project, which was also managed by URC. In addition, the team will apply the knowledge and systems built during BHS to create new capacity-building activities in areas where critical gaps remain. |
URC Programs Recognize World TB Day 2014 by URC Staff March 24, 2014 URC programs participated in World TB Day, March 24, 2014, to raise awareness of TB. URC program activities spanned the weeks leading up to World TB Day and, in some cases, extended to the end of the month. The following is a summary of URC's participation in TB awareness-raising events, with links to additional information. |
A New Path Forward for Haiti's Vulnerable Children: Partners Unite in Effort to Help Haiti's Children in Need by By Daniel Joseph, Orphans and Vulnerable Children Quality Improvement Advisor, and Christina Zola, Communications Specialist March 14, 2014 Representatives from Haitian
Ministries and national and international partner organizations convened recently in Port-au-Prince to sign a significant memorandum of understanding that will foster
cooperation in their efforts to improve the conditions of children's lives in
Haiti. URC urged the assembled organizations to participate in this open initiative, led by IBESR. |
International Women's Day 2014: Equality for Women Is Progress for All by Christina Zola, communications specialist March 7, 2014 March 8th marks International
Women's Day, a day to celebrate women's achievements and advocate for
equality in health, home and career, with dignity and respect. URC
is proud to highlight two of its key programs that ensure that women can access
health services that are both cost-effective and patient centered: TRAction and ASSIST |
The Value of Midwives: CHS Program Selected by Ecuadorean Government for National Scale-up by Yvette Castro-Green, Program Development Consultant and Rebecca Oser, Director of Communications March 4, 2014 Maternal and infant mortality is a serious problem in
Ecuador. In 2011 alone, 241 women died from pregnancy complications and 3,046
children died before their first birthday, according to figures from Ecuador's National
Institute of Statistics and Census, The Center for Human Services' Essential Obstetric and Newborn Care Network in Cotopaxi trains traditional birth attendants and skilled providers in home- and facility-based care immediately following childbirth. |
Request for Proposals: Solicitation Number FY14-RFP02-6012 February 28, 2014 The SSQH-Nord Project anticipates issuing a fixed-price subcontract to support the development, introduction and management of mobile health (mHealth) and technology solutions designed to improve management of community health worker performance, use of data for quality improvement, patient referrals, community mobilization, and commodity tracking. |
URC Affiliate Launches New English Literacy Instruction Program in Pennsylvania February 14, 2014 Building on its long-standing history of offering English literacy instruction, URC's non-profit affiliate, the Center for Human Services (CHS), has launched a new fee-based English-as-a-second-language (ESL) program in Pennsylvania. The program will offer customized ESL instruction to companies wanting to give their employees an opportunity to improve their English in closed groups on-site. All aspects of the program, including content, timing, group size and location, will be tailor-made to meet the company's requirements. |
Nutri-Salud Contributes Article to USAID "Learning in Action" Series February 11, 2014 The Nutri-Salud: Community Nutrition and Health project recently contributed an article to USAID Learning Lab's "Learning in Action" series, which intends to paint a more detailed picture of what learning looks like in practice. Following a previous article written by the USAID Mission in Guatemala, the Nutri-Salud article offers insights from the implementing partner perspective. In an engaging question-and-answer format, Nutri-Salud Chief of Party Elena Hurtado discusses how the project has embedded collaboration and learning within its implementation as it seeks to expand coverage of quality, integrated primary health care services and engage communities and local government in improved health and nutrition. |
URC to Provide Research Advisory Services to Australian Aid Program February 5, 2014 URC has entered into an agreement with Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to provide research advisory services to DFAT and other Australian Government organizations. With this agreement, URC joins a panel of other organizations and individuals that provide services to the Australian Aid Program. |
URC to Lead USAID TRANSFORM IQC by Christina Zola, Communications Specialist February 3, 2014 USAID has awarded
the Translating Effective Practices from Research, Marketing and Design
(TRANSFORM) indefinite quantity contract (IQC) to URC. The TRANSFORM IQC will positively impact USAID health programs, bringing technical advances to the field of health communication and behavior change to Missions around the world. |


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More courses will be added to the Summer Session 2015 roster over the coming weeks. Visit often to see the latest information.
AEM 2190 Introduction to Applied Portfolio Management
Course description
This course is only offered in the Summer Session.
Topics include capital markets, the impact of the economy and the Federal Reserve System, recent stock market history, regulation, investment banking, and management principles of both institutional and individual portfolios. Industry guest speakers provide unique perspectives.
The next offering of this course is undetermined at this time.
Related websites
- College website: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Department website: Applied Economics and Management


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Sun, Feb 27, 11 at 20:24
When we first moved here on the farm, we had a large supply of used fence pickets and decided to see if we could use a few to frame some wall calendar pictures that we liked. DH used the full-size pickets vertically and cut the horizontal pieces to frame 9 of the calendar page pictures. We left the pickets natural and weathered, but they could also be painted and this would work well with matted photos as well. |
Follow-Up Postings:
Looks very nice! Great recycling! Nice color on pickets, gray color would be nice too. TFS Jan |
- Posted by laurastheme (My Page) on Mon, Feb 28, 11 at 21:50
I love it! Where do you have it hanging? I'm thinking it would look good over a headboard. |
- Posted by marylee_2010 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 1, 11 at 0:33
What a great idea! I really like it. Very creative. - Marylee |
- Posted by lady_alicia (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Tue, Mar 1, 11 at 22:33
That's a great recycling job you did! Thanks for sharing. Now if I see fencing, I'll know what to do with it! :) Alicia |
- Posted by concretenprimroses (My Page) on Wed, Mar 2, 11 at 7:08
Wonderful idea. And I really enjoy the flower prints that you chose. I Love love love those old botanical prints. Kathy |
- Posted by txcountrygal (My Page) on Mon, Mar 14, 11 at 22:40
When we moved into our current home, it didn't really fit in any longer with our decor, so I gave it to a relative. In our former home, we had it hanging in our living room above a buffet, and at one time, above the fireplace mantel. |
I almost burned my wood yesterday- decided to hang onto it for a little longer- thank you! now I know what to do with it! |
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Greg Abbott
Obama executive action on immigration sparks controversy
Obama's executive action largely provides "small, little fixes" on immigration with nothing that is "big or dramatic," says Attorney David Grunblatt
Supreme Court reaffirms EPA authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions – with warnings
Power plants, as well as some other stationary sources, are subject to review about pollutants into the air now, anyway. Another piece has to be analyzed with this decision.
Texas AG blocks dating site sale over privacy concerns
It's hard to love the release of privacy data for over 10 million customers, including criminal and divorce histories.
Texas' deal in Risperdal case finalized
A judge in Texas has finalized the $158 million settlement Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reached with the state in January over the marketing of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
Johnson & Johnson heads back to court in Risperdal suit
J&J will head back to a Texas courtroom to further discuss the $158 million settlement it had reached with the state in January.
20 top news stories of 2011
A slideshow of the events, people and stories that affected the in-house bar this year.
Texas sues EPA over air pollution rules
Texas has filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over new rules that would limit air pollution.


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Calling all Web design agencies!
Posted by Vidya Drego on April 20, 2010
Forrester is conducting a survey of agencies that offer Web design and development services in North America. We've invited a long list of agencies to complete our survey, but if we've missed you, here's your chance!
The survey covers topics regarding the organizational structure and services your firm offers. Your responses as well as those of other respondents will be published in an upcoming Forrester report unless otherwise noted – questions for internal use only and those that will be reported only in aggregate are specifically noted in the survey. Last year's survey yielded the report Where To Find Help For Web Design Projects, 2009. The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. For participating, you will receive a complimentary copy of the report in which your responses are published. Please use the link below to complete the survey:
We are hoping to have all surveys completed by Fridya, April 23rd. If you need additional time for any reason or have any questions, please just let me and my colleague, Rachel, know. You can find us at: Vidya Drego firstname.lastname@example.com, Rachel Zinser email@example.com.
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New Brunswick's Minister of Public Safety, Bruce Northrup, has said that damage from spring flooding to businesses, homes and public infrastructure in the region now stands at an estimated $16.9 million Canadian ($15.7 million), CBC.ca reported.
The estimate has increased from around CAD 12 million in early May. Mr. Northrup said around 920 reports of damage have been filed so far.


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Reviewed roasted brussels sprouts
Mar 5, 2014 on FoodNetwork.com
Reviewed Shells with Crispy Pancetta and Spinach
Feb 22, 2013 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"I doubled the sauce based on other reviews and it was good that I did, because I doubt we would have had enough if I hadn't. Unfortunately, none of us cared for it. The leftovers were tossed.""
Reviewed Chicken Pie
Feb 13, 2013 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"This is a very easy recipe and my family loved it. I did add some frozen vegetables: corn, green beans, and cauliflower, but you could add your favorites. I also increased the ingredients for the crust by 1/2 to have more crust!""


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Gochujang -- Staple at our House When we first moved to Shanghai, we ate Bibimbap at least once or even twice every week. It was our go-to comfort (Cali) food until our food sources diversified and expanded with the help of other expats and finding reliable organic/local/non-GMO purveyors. Gochujang (which contains soil-based Firmicutes, B. subtilis, etc) is good for HEAT and tummies . The one on the right is a traditional product which I brought (eg smuggled) in from California (refridgerated area of the Korean shop in Albany, north of Berzerkeley). Both are Korean products but unfortunately the red one on the left is ubiquitious and popular in markets both in America and Shanghai, China. (BTW neither are gluten-free.) The first ingredient of the modern, processed version (red box) is guess? Prior to 2008, apparently Korea didn't open its doors to GMO corn but that changed when the price of non-GMO corn went up to $400usd per ton (from $150); GMO corn was only $50usd per ton (source: ENN ). Money talks and the grind of multinational corporations continues..? Did this trump the price of cane sugar?!? GMO corn infiltrates internationally... Why does our food continue to become more and more perverted and unrecognizable (AND SUPRATASTY, ADDICTIVE, AND UNSUBTLE). Source : Amazon 'Seed Malt' (?Arsenic, Heavy metals) in Modern Processed Gochujang The tastiest ingredient is perhaps the most vile, seed malt. Even the traditionally prepared one contains malt syrup which is likely to come from gluten-containing barley malt. I had to look up what seed malt is. In many Asian countries, the unami flavor is so desired and favored but hard to achieve from a food science perspective without time-consuming aging processes and fermentation. Seed malt is the short cut. Fast, cheap and full of nasties. The starch that it is all germinated and cultured in is not specified but the food industry generally uses: corn, wheat, barley or the like. Definition of seed malt (source: KFDA Korean Food Additives Code ) There are crude seed maltand powdered seed malt. Crude seed malt is obtained from a culture where starter of Aspergillus kawachii, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus usamii, Aspergillus shirousamii, Aspergillus awamori or Rhizopus genus are separately or mixedly inoculated so that spores are inserted into a pasteurized raw material containing starch. Powdered seed malt is obtained by collecting pure spawn spores by a special method. Lot of fungal species...(but Aspergillus at least contains xylanases which break down gluten) To eliminate the fungal species and 'clarify' I believe production of 'seed malt' uses an absorber which contains heavy metals and/or arsenic. This is a problem in German beer. Kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) is used in beer processing to filter and remove yeasts, hops and particles (source: sciencedaily.com ). How heavy metals and arsenic otherwise can test positive in a starch malt, I don't know. Fungicide-contaminated rice sources? HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) due to mercury containing chlor-alkali processing ( Dufault et al, EH 2009 )? Right: list of arsenic food contaminants (source: Codex Committee 2011 ). Science Behind Ancestrally/Traditionally Fermented Gochujang Being in Asia has certainly given me an appreciation of the variety of fermented foods in countries outside of the USA. We have always been fans of Korean food which has one of the most easily accessible sources because typically in the USA, every good Korean restaurant ferments their own variety of fermented tofu, beans, radishes, green beans, cabbage and raw crab/seafood... (as each family does in traditional homes that adhere to the old way... and after making our own hot pink sauerkraut HOT D**MN THIS IS A PART TIME JOB) Good news, it is all worth it. Fermented foods are packed with cheap prebiotics and even cheaper soil based organisms that make the gue microbiota a friendlier and happier place, crowding out overgrowths of yeast, parasites, worms and other un-friendlies and promoting growth of healthier gut epithelium and immunity (70-80% of our immune system is in the gut). Brand Spanking New Study...And Request? Guess what? This clever study verifies many things that we know already. Eating the poop/probiotics from healthy, lean people is perhaps not harmful for you... It can make a mouse leaner, thinner and move from a fat phenotype to a leaner, less body fat profile. Clostridia (Firmicutes) from Ln (lean) types invaded the guts' microbiota of Ob (obese) cagemates via copraphagia (eating of poo). Recall, I like coprophagia ... [cough cough] for B12-deficient vegans. It's like a fecal transplant... (DIY fecal transplant: Silverman et al, 2010 ). New Study: 'Kochujang [KCJ], fermented soybean-based red pepper paste, decreases visceral fat and improves blood lipid profiles in overweight adults' (Cha et al, 2013) [PDF HERE ] "The KCJ is produced by fermenting powder red peppers Summary
Thoughts? I don't agree with their conclusions entirely. Yes 'capsaicin in red pepper, isoflavon aglycones, and peptides from fermented soy' all are good things, but the placebo group probably ate these as well in small amounts (because they lost subcu body fat). In fact, researchers admit they really are clueless stating 'However, the mechanisms responsible for these observed effects are yet to be elucidated.' Evolution, Interspecies Guts, Soil-Based Organisms and Achieving Leanness Discounting eating disorders and celebrity/model fanatics, most normal people can achieve leanness by normal lifestyle habits, balanced diets, fixing nutritional deficiencies, avoiding being 'germ-free' and broad spectrum antibiotics/antifungals, avoiding nutritional pitfalls (excess n6 pufa, excess refined starches, mercury, arsenic, PCB/pesticides/BPA/plastics and other estrogen-mimics), detoxing environmental toxins, avoiding stupid excesses (alcohol binges, brownie binges, sleep deprivation, chronic endurance sports, etc) and balancing hormones. All the above also fix the gut microbiota according to emerging pubmed data. This study exemplifies it... though the research authors fail to identify the role of the gut, immune system, and microanimalia found in fermented kochujang. Kim chee: The biome structure of kochujang's counterpart kim chee has been more deeply profiled. Kim chee has been massively PCR microarrayed, and it does indeed also contain as one would expect (from dirt) archaebacteria and good yeasts (like Saccharomyces) . I cannot find in this article if the species S. boulardii -- one of my favorite yeasts -- is listed but fermenting rice bran with S. boulardii yields bioactive candidate metabolites that reduce B lymphoma growth in vitro. Kim chee in most studies is characterized by 3 main genera Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Weissella. Particular species that are speculated to be found in kim chee cultures are: Leuconostoc species-- Le. mesenteroides, Le. kimchii, Le. citreum, Le. gasicomitatum, and Le. gelidum, the Lactobacillus species -- Lb. brevis, Lb. curvatus, Lb. plantarum, and Lb. sakei, Lactococcus lactis, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Weissella confusa, Weissella kimchii, and Weissella koreensis. Human intestines are part-carnivore and part-frugivore. The curious thing is that we are not really frugivores having lost the capacity to synthesize Vitamin C and must find and outsource this to dietary Vitamin C. The length, volume and capacity to produce low pH and secretions are more akin to carnivores. We have medium sized small intestines for exceptional digestive capacities and efficient absorptive surfaces synonymous with carnivores, not herbivores (3-5X our height, not 10X as in herbivores). However, our hindgut is efficient at fermentation, but yet we do not produce heaps and heaps of dung like our four-legged herbivore friends all day post-digestion without anal control. Kochujang is special. Maybe it is because it is fermented in high carb, high protein/fat environment (rice? soybeans which are fatty and proteinous like many legumes). Why it sounds... so oddly... OMNIVOROUS... Our gut microbiota in the large intestines has the ability to produce enormous supplies of butyrate, a short chain fatty acid, imperative for regulating and controlling inflammation. It is mostly produced by Firmicutes species. Butyrate not only enhances the integrity of the gut by inducing mucin synthesis but also is the main energy source for colonic epithelia. By lowering inflammation, I believe, butyrate and gut microbiota synergism/cross-talk with immune system lymphocytes and gut epithelia produced the lowering of the (minor) visceral fat compartment and improvements in metabolic flux in the test subjects with Kochujang supplements. Previous animal pharm Burn Body Fat Loss with Saturated Fat (Butyrate and MCT Oil) Kochujang Contains Mostly SBO, Soil Based Organisms (YEAH FROM DIRT) Kochujang has been analyzed it contains more soil-based organisms (SBO) Bacillus versus kim chee's Lactobacillus genera. The bacteria in Kochujang is predominantly Firmicutes (93.1%) species, simliar to the SFB (segmented filamentous bacteria) discussed in the last post. "Through the analysis of 13524 bacterial pyrosequences, 223 bacterial species were identified, most of which converged on the phylum Firmicutes (average 93.1%). All of the kochujang samples were largely populated (90.9% of abundance) by 12 bacterial families, and Bacillaceae showed the highest abundance in all but one sample. Bacillus subtilis and B. licheniformis were the most dominant bacterial species and were broadly distributed among the kochujang samples. Each sample contained a high abundance of region-specific bacterial species, such as B. sonorensis, B. pumilus, Weissella salipiscis, and diverse unidentified Bacillus species. Phylotype- and phylogeny-based community comparison analysis showed that the microbial communities of the two commercial brands were different from those of the local brands. Moreover, each local brand kochujang sample had region-specific microbial community reflecting the manufacturing environment [e.g. probably not SunChang, Inc]." Source : Nam et al, J of Food Science, 2012 . Please Pass Your Good Cuddies/Firmicutes -- SBO Also Breakdown Gluten The two most dominating species found in this study of Kochujang are soil based organisms -- B subtilis and B. licheniformis. In experiments, B subtilis and B. licheniformis, digest gluten; they're frequently found in sourdough ferments, naturally-occurring on rice straw , Japanese traditional natto , Chinese fermented black bean sauce, Nigerian fermented soy 'Daddawa ', Thai fermented foods, Indian fermented soy Hawaijar , fermented shrimp heads , Korean fermented black soybean Chungkookjang , and raw dairy . The undigested gluten peptide, that is most toxic to celiacs and induces immuno-triggering damage to the small intestine, is broken down by enzymes from either B. subtilis * or B. licheniformis *. HLA DQ2/8 on APCs have extremely attractive binding affinity ('epitope') to undigested gluten (for example, 33-mer alpha-gliadin ). Consequently, APCs will present undigested gluten to CD4+ T-cells as invaders, thus setting off the cascade of TH1, Th17 and Treg hyperimmune responses. Celiac is actually an autoimmune disease of the DQ2/8-gluten complex (IC, immune complex) in the small intestines and other affected organs. At least 60 immunogenic gluten peptide sequences exist in wheat. Conclusion In gluten intolerant folks, TH17 is usually slightly or entirely j**cked up. TH17 may lack training/regulation, and intestinal hyperpermeability is likely present. Food antigen intolerances consequently pop up secondary to hyperpermeability. The commensals in the gut microbiota shape immunity and prime and promote the proper differentiation of TH17 and other cell subsets. Is this one of the primary differences between the obese and the lean? The gluten intolerant and the gluten tolerant? The celiac HLA DQ2/8 and the non-celiac HLA DQ2/8? What gut toxins prevent seeding of commensals? Bt GMO corn? Mercury and other DPP-IV inhibitors (microvilli DPP-IV digests gluten)? SBO and their molecular components appear to play a great part in re-balancing the distribution between arms of the vast immune system: TH1 v. TH2 v. TH17 v. Treg. When the gut barrier becomes tight and competent again, food intolerances reverse or disappear. Undigested gluten won't pass through. The gut epithelium is but one cell layer thick. Permeability perhaps is the bane of advanced hominids. We diverged from primates with zonulin, the gate keeper of intestinal permeability. Why? For the the continuation of post-natal growth of the gigantic human brain? For the extended longevity and flexibility of advanced hominids? I'm not certain but I suspect it has to do with ontogeny and how our premature babies require maternal immunoglobulins, IgM in breastmilk, for 18 months to 3 years old of age for the immunoprotection until their own immune systems mature, interact with the environment and develop. For some individuals, soil-transmitted hookworms are solutions and the key... together, SBO/dirt, kochujang, coprophagia, and 'kraut may be fine, and problematic pathogenic (microbial/yeast) overgrowth and parasites can perish. SBO Related Sources These are all shelf-stable because SBO are spore-forming and don't require refridgeration. In immunocompromised and susceptible individuals, probiotics can exacerbate the root problem. Introduction of lactobacillus organisms, bifida, SBO or other probiotics may increase gas and bloating if SIBO (small intestinal bowel overgrowth) is severe, just as introduction of fiber/inulin/FODMAPs can induce gas and bloating until gut initation and adaptation has gradually occurred. Probiotic that includes B. licheniformis: Body Biotic Protiotics that include SBO Prescript Assist (B subtilis, etc) FloraBalance, Bacillus Laterosporus BOD Ultimate Acidophilus with Bacillus Coagulans Thorne Bacillus Coagulans Threelac (B subtilis, etc) Primal Flora (B coagulans, etc) Primal Defense (B subtilis etc) [the wildly successful original formulation had both, ~ + B licheniformis] Gluten-digesting Digestive Enzymes Devigest (B subtilis + enzymes from B licheniformis, etc) Sources: ASSESS and CNSweb.com Catch This: Making Gluten-Free Korean Chili Paste Gochujang (CriticalMas blog) |
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That's why people are even ready to cling to their misery; nobody is ready to drop his misery easily. That's my experience of working with thousands of people. All their problems can be reduced to one problem, that they cling to their misery. It is very difficult for them to drop their miseries because their miseries keep them occupied. Their miseries help them to avoid themselves and their inner hollowness, emptiness, meaninglessness. Their miseries are nothing but a way to escape. Of course those miseries are hurting; hence they talk about how to get rid of them, but they cannot drop them because dropping them means they will be left empty.
So they are in a double bind: they don't want to be miserable and yet they cannot drop their miseries. Miseries are not clinging to you, remember - you are clinging to your miseries.
You can drop your miseries only when some inner meaning starts flowering in you. Miseries can be dropped only when meditation starts blooming in you because then you start enjoying your emptiness, it is no longer empty. Emptiness itself starts having a positive fragrance; it isn't negative anymore. That's the whole magic of meditation: it transforms your emptiness into a positive fulfillment, into something overwhelming. Emptiness becomes silence, emptiness becomes peace, and emptiness becomes divine, it becomes godliness.
There is no greater magic than meditation. To transform the negative into the positive, to transform darkness into light, that is the miracle of meditation. To transform a trembling person into a fearless soul, to transform a person who was clinging to every stupid thing into a nonclinger, into a nonpossessor, that is what happens through meditation.
Buddha used to call meditation a great sword, it cuts your problems at the very root. It makes you aware that you need not be afraid of your inner abyss. It is beautiful, it is blissful. You have not experienced its bliss and beauty because you have never gone into it, you have always been escaping. You have not tasted of it; it is nectar, it is not poison. But how are you going to know without tasting it? You are running away from something which can become your life's fulfillment. You are running away from something which is the only thing worth achieving. You are running away from yourself.
Possessing nothing, wanting nothing.. Buddha says that's where meditation brings the master. He is no longer interested in possessing and he is no longer desiring anything. All desires have left him because he has found the ultimate beyond which there is nothing else. He has found the inexhaustible treasure of joy, of bliss, of ecstasy. What else can he desire? He has found a mine of diamonds; now he cannot go on collecting colored stones and seashells on the sea beach. Now that whole activity is stupid - not that he renounces it.
That is one of the most significant things to be remembered: the real sannyasin never renounces anything, he simply understands his own inner world - its beauty, its benediction, its blissfulness. And understanding it, great renunciation happens of its own accord. All that is futile slips out of his hands, he cannot cling to it anymore. He becomes nonpossessive. Nothing is so important to cling to anymore. Everything of this world becomes just a toy to play with, good for those who are not yet grown up - but a meditator has become adult.


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Up to a quarter of computers on the net may be used by cyber criminals in so-called "botnets", according to Vint Cerf, one of the internet's founders.
Cerf is one of the co-developers of the TCP/IP standard underling all internet traffic. He likened the spread of botnets to a pandemic.
I don't think so...
MY PC's in various forms have been online 24/7 since 1980 and the only time I was ever infected was the one and only time I lost my mind and clicked on something in an email, even when I knew it smelled bad. Reloaded Windows, was back online clean within 2 hours, never had a problem since.
If the AV people were involved with viruses after all these years it would eventually hit the fan, the FTC and/or Attorney Generals would step in an those people would be in jail.
I don't think all AV's are equally good, but most of them protect you from most of the junk which is good enough most of the time, if you're lucky. It's not worse than being vaccinated by the doctor and still catching a different strain, only so much you can protect yourself against.
However, I find it hard to believe 1 in 4 machines are infected as I have several machines here, all clean, my wife's IT dept. keeps their network clean, even my 70 something mom keeps her machine clean. Can you believe at her age she's up on AV, Spyware, and Adware? Scans the machine and keeps it clean as heck, go figure, age obviously isn't the issue.
People such as yourself constitute a tiny minority of Internet users. Most people aren't at all vigilant about security. They buy PCs preloaded with AV tools, etc., but don't enable them (because they don't know how or even why they should). Worse, they click on phishing emails, load untrusted third-party software onto their machines, etc. Thus, their computers become breeding grounds for all sorts of fraudulent activity.
As with other things discussed here (such as click fraud), how would we know? There's really nothing stopping anyone working for an AV company from operating a botnet or some other fraud generation tool. If it's not operated from corporate resources, who would be able to associate it with them? As security experts, they are perfectly capable of covering their tracks.
Assuming the system is infected (but the user does not know this), it limits the spread of infection (assuming the user isn't transmitting malware, etc. in other ways, e.g. via portable media). This is also something even the most naive users can be trained to do, because they are used to switching the TV or radio off.
My resolution was two send the following at least twice a week, for more than two years.
"I don't care if the mail comes from God, Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, your dead Grandma or your long lost lover! DON'T OPEN UNSOLICITED FILE ATTACHMENTS in emails."
In more than 10-years of heavy internet activity, I've never used AV software. I have installed and tested different softwares' however they were almost immediately removed.
I do relaize that I'm an ecxeption and that it's best for most users to utilize AV software.
One two occassions in the 10-year-period did I contrac something. One instance, I changed both computers and OS in the same day, a worm was contracted on one of the first emails and the computer was shut down immediately (most folks just don't pay attention to what their computer does).
In Sept of 2006, I was chasing website log referrals, while still using IE (however with many options turned off, one which was Java). I went to the referal and my screen began filling with icons. Disconnected my internet connection immediately and Shut the computer down. Bye Bue IE. Hello Fire Fox.
Take a look around, very interesting stuff.
That would be if you include Mr Cerfs new colleagues at Google Corp. ;)
Apparently, at Davos they also discussed some silly 3D chat web site with only about 3 million users worldwide. Some of what I hear from that Davos forum is so incredibly stupid it hurts - especially considering that some of the people there are taking pretty complicated decisions on a daily basis.
That an employeee of the world's greatest botnet warns agains "unauthorized competition" is plain stupid. but it's also a convenient smokescreen. The greatest danger to (independent) internet (infrastructure) today is Google. Plain and simple.


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i everybody, I need help converting my AutoCad (.dwg) file to a format that my production company can use (only .iges) and there is no software that I can find that will do so, and tomorrow I'll have to present my work. I would really appreciate your help, thanks in advance.
I opened your file in AutoCAD 2012 and typed IGESOUT at the command line. Attached is the result. I hope this helps.
biancaguiso wrote:...there is no software that I can find that will do so,
Free Inventor Fusion http://labs.autodesk.com
Would you be kind enough to convert my dwg to IGS too?
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May 29, 2013 - Simsbury Bank is pleased to announce that David Donofrio has joined its team as Vice President of Secondary Marketing. In this role, Mr. Donofrio leads the Bank's efforts in mortgage and consumer loan pricing, engaging loan investors and managing the Bank's mortgage and consumer product offerings.
Michael T. Sheahan, Senior Vice President and Chief Mortgage and Consumer Lending Officer at Simsbury Bank, said, "We are very pleased to have Dave join our team. His addition places Simsbury Bank in a stronger position to help consumers with a broad array of consumer financing options that are competitively priced. Dave's expertise will help us continue to expand our lending products and services to consumers throughout Southern New England." Mr. Donofrio said, "I am delighted to join the Simsbury Bank team. I am excited to be a part of an organization that is actively growing and expanding to meet consumer needs. I share the Bank's personalized and consultative approach, and will ensure that our product set and pricing can help as many consumers as possible."
Mr. Donofrio has over 25 years in banking and consumer lending experience. Prior to joining Simsbury Bank, Mr. Donofrio has held consumer lending roles in New England including New England Moves Mortgage (Coldwell Banker affiliate), Mortgage Master, Everbank and Shawmut Mortgage Company. He is a graduate of Post University.
Simsbury Bank is an independent, publicly owned community bank for consumers and businesses. Simsbury Bank's parent company is SBT Bancorp, Inc. whose stock is traded under the ticker symbol OTCBB: SBTB. The Bank serves customers locally through branches in Greater Hartford and regionally through mortgage and commercial bankers active throughout Southern New England. Simsbury Bank customers enjoy internet banking and mortgage services at, respectively, www.simsburybank.com and www.simsburybank.com/mortgages. Bank customers have free ATM access at thousands of machines across the country through the SUM program. The Bank offers financial planning, investment and insurance products through LPL Financial and its affiliates, member FINRA/SIPC.