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Re: For those anywhere near Southampton...
If you like brewdog and live near soton you need to try vibrant forest beers.
Just be prepared to have your taste buds assaulted!!!
63 posts • joined 29 Jan 2013
If you like brewdog and live near soton you need to try vibrant forest beers.
Just be prepared to have your taste buds assaulted!!!
The time travel dial sounds a lot like pebble time to me.
No issues with the phones, happy z10 user here. They are just no very fashionable or readily available on the high Street.
What would they need to include in their phones to make them more desirable to you?
If you go to all the trouble of mapping the brand new hq instead of having to admit you lost the plans!
If this is accessible by any one, then it would not take to much for go through it looking for your own personal information, and then at least you know when you're information has been compromised and can take the appropriate action.
Why use the gui install instead of cli?
For me at least it saves on Google time.
Want to do lots of different unit conversions & don't know the name of a decent one available in your repos then launch the software centre and search for converter, read some reviews and install. Now try that using apt get. Time to finding out how many pints in a hectolitre increased meaning less time drinking said pints.
For us a family of four £28 food budget is not too far from our normal spend. Maybe it should reduce as you add more members to the group...
and if the owner of the CD listens to it ten times it looks like spotify gets rights owner a better return on investment.
Where? Could only find it for £120.00 unlocked
Whereas the ZTE Open C is £69.99 from ebay which makes it over 40% cheaper.
No because a new washing machine motor was cira £150 last time I looked and I can get a new machine for near that.
Have replaced pumps on dishwashers as it is economically viable to do so.
If I could up the spin on a cheaper 1400 spin washer to 2000 then I would as it would halve the initial price of the machine but I would fear for my silk undies in a machine not designed to go that fast.
"Seeing as those are both by miles the market leaders in their fields, the answer would undoubtedly be very few extra ones on Linux...And why would you want to - all those extra Linux security patches to integration test - not fun."
Sounds like an excuse looking for an issue. Cross platform support is part of what has made many open source projects so popular, Apache, OO, mySQL, to name but a few.
If a person gets windows so they can run MS office they may feel strong armed into the deal. If they get windows because they already use ms office and like the professionalism of it against the backdrop of the other programs available the OS they are currently using then it is a bigger win for MS in the hearts and minds of their users.
Don't get me wrong here I am using linux mint and would not install windows unless absolutely necessary. It's just I think this strategy is sound.
I think you may have misunderstood their intentions. If they can sell 365 @ £75/ per annum on an ipad device and then get the next purchase of a fondle slab to be a ms one, on the basis that it will be more integrated to the 365 system that they are already paying for, instead of a new ipad. Then this would be a short term and long term win for them. as opposed to them just ignoring a whole market segment that does not run the ms os.
This is a strategy they should have taken years ago. imagine the amount of exchange servers and ms office licences they could have sold if it ran on Linux..
@Roj Blake
you will still be british...
Enjoy -------------------->
'If you hold their hand every time they cross the road, they will get run over the first time you don't.'
Completely agree! My son is three and we live near a very busy road, through constant 'parenting' from before he was one. Only ever crossing the road how I would expect him to cross, not just glancing over my shoulder and wandering across the road EVERY TIME we cross. He will now walk upto the kerb side (a foot back) and wait for me, telling me when it is safe to cross. He is not ready to do this on his own but he may by the time he is five. This then will so engrained that he will not break the rules even when he is 12 and all his mates are dashing across the road.
Each part of the world that he gets introduced to needs a different approach for instance he is allowed to run amock around our lounge, where nothing is baby proofed, he gets one warning 'if you continue doing that you will hurt yourself' then when he falls over he will learn not to run so fast, that falling over hurts, and hopefully that daddy doesn't just say these thing for the fun of it. It is not an instant lesson but one learnt over time.
Each one of these things I do, I do because his life and well being is ultimately my (and my wifes) responsibility. This will extend to the internet once he has tired of the cbeebies web site. I do not need nor want the gov. to intervene. If we had followed their advice on baby proofing the room, he would not know that it hurts when you fall, and those corners are kinda ouchie. This was evident at a birthday party, a year ago, where he fell down three steps, whilst falling he put out he hands to break his fall. Other parents at the party could not believe that he had done that as their children had not shown this skill (for want of a better word).
I want my son's to grow up a little bit street wise, so when they do venture out into the big wide world they are as prepared for it as possible, if this means introducing them to the dangers they face in a controlled way, then that is what will happen and is my prerogative.
Not sure that's how I would look at it. If a process/function/service can operate without the state sponsoring it, then it removes the dependancy of the aforementioned process/function/service on peoples hard earned tax dollars. Which can only be a good thing?
Whether this sould be applied to auntie or not is another topic for another day.
From the time of the dinosaurs and still running through some jigery pokery and my 6 year old synology NAS.
As said before my IT kit is in desperate need of upgrade but as it just keeps working I can't justify it.
Yeah my DS-106j is stuck on DSM 2.1 :( but it was made 5-6 years ago. My IT kit is getting very long in the tooth!
Was going to write the only thing holding me back to upgrading to a DS214+ was the lack of linux client for the cloud station but just been back to their site and they now have one -
Change Log
Linux Cloud Station client is now available and has been verified on Ubuntu and Fedora.
Yeah! Now where's my christmas letter to santa I need to add something.
yep screen size followed by 'phone' if you can make calls from it and 'tablet' if you can't
Press shift at the same time as right click and it will appear. plus some other options.
(from memory not used a win box in anger for nearly 5yrs)
the lappy belonged to the school and not me so not really able to do much/anything about back ups. It would be their responsibility not mine to implement an off site back up policy and procedure. Also as with most data losses hindsight is a wonderful thing...
I'll let you tell an overworked school teacher to throw away the first copy of anything she does :)
Yeah the risk of getting access to and replicating data I should not have access would have been a necessary evil in this case. Out of six or seven drives that failed in the past I was not able to get any dat from one of them YMMV. However none of them suffered a ball being bounced on them, so more than likely would not have been able to recover the data. It would have been nice just to put my mind at rest.
see post from @hoe for confirmation that this has happened elsewhere.
above post aimed at @Hoe and @PJI
Was not able to justify the money on the fact that I could possibly restore the data. Also not my machine but belongs to the school so really was dependant on what their IT dept. would allow.
Only ever seen 1 HD that I could not get any data at all from. Though it has been some time since I done any work like that.
As for the poster stating that I should educate my wife in simple back up proceedures, as mentioned in the OP her machine was backed at work, it happened in school hols. All our own machines are backed up to a NAS drive. Not really the done thing to store info on school pupils on your own private equipment.
As it was a school machine there is only so much sticking my nose in I could've done.
Yeah this didn't work for my wife MacBook.
Son dropped ball onto laptop. Unable to boot due to bad sectors on HD.
Took Laptop to Apple (one hour drive there and back) no on-site warranty available. They school where she works spends enough cash with them to warrant a on-site service contract.
Apple (we don't)care replaced old HD and said they were unable to read data from old drive.
There was lots of work my wife had not backed up as it was summer hols and she was away from school so I asked for the old drive to see if I could access any of the data using a few tools I have.
'yes certainly sir' came the response that'll be £349.00.
Don't know if it's because they don't want me to show up their genii or because they just don't care.
If I had done the same thing at a independent PC repair centre I am sure they would have just given me the drive.
As expensive as a scalextric digital?
Probably around the same money
My major bug bear with them is they (witnessed in both sainsburys and tescos) are too slow and will forget to add any multi buy discounts. you need to go back to select payment twice before it has added the discounts.
btw I recall a time and motion study stating that it is far quicker to go through a manned till but we all knew that anyway.
I only use them when no on is at the till or the queues look too long or full of people who need to chat to the cashier.
Does this mean they will be unlocking the bootloader on RT so we can put android or another linux distro on it?
Thought not.
Obviously the CEO of HTC does not allow such petty things to enter into negotiations, but it would be funny if they said yes only if we can sell win rt tabs with dual boot android or ubuntu and an unlocked bootloader.
You say MS Beer but did you see the mac in the video and I bet that board is not running a version of embedded MS software!
That is a nice bit of kit, if you had watched the vid you would see that all the hops etc are added automatically.
A lot of the brewing process was left out of the video and description but they do look like they know what they are doing, also there is a massive micro/home brewing foloowing in the US.
My problem is the price for nearly $1500 you could make your own with a greater capacity and control. The problem being if I were to try out home brewing to see if it was for me, that is too much and I could get away with a bucket and a large pot for £50.00 then if I thought it was for me the next step would be to upgrade my kit. Now do I spend $1500 on an automagical one with a low yeild or do I go the whole hog and get a propper full grain set up now I know what I am doing? http://www.ebay.com/bhp/all-grain-brewing (an american site to give a better price comparision)
Don't get me wrong if someone gave me one for keeps the shed would be used for storing stuff as it should be and I would be watching the TV as my beer brewed.
Think of it coming out of their advertising budget.
Next time someone not clued up on the various different offerings in carphone warehouse (other mob pushers are available) and see a blackberry phone and think 'ah yes I use that for my messaging' that must be the phone I need. sold.
Well I think that's the plan anyway.
That was my first thought when I saw the pic of all those bits.
Also if you are running your tank down to near empty each time over five years expect some crud to get into your engine.
You're probably best to only useing the top 70% of your tank after five years just to be on the safe side :)
it's a 'soil pipe' I assume waste stack is an americanism.
This - I too have had finger print enabled security kit for some time - it's all been shit. If this works, it would be pretty neat.
it would need to work alongside the existing lock - press and hold to scan finger, tap to bring up lock screen. otherwise same old problems, gloves, loss of fingerprint through wear and tear, what if I'm driving and want the wife to make/answer a call.
You know when we have more money than sense, just before the recession hit we were buying more BMW M3's than Ford Mondeo's!
That is some pretty kick ass tinkering!
Have a pint!
yeah, looks like that, as with all my ideas a quick google and it shows that someone has beaten me to the punch, some times only by weeks, sometimes years, more often than not decades!
Back to the menial low paid job for me then...
yep I was thinking along these lines the other day. But a little more drastic. take a £200 synology NAS, (any nas that has a LAMP install) pop this next to your router, config the IP for it.
load on my 'never been created but the packages are out there so shouldn't be too hard for someone who knows what they're doing' messaging centre software and you instantly have the following services;
Cloud Storage (synology has this already init but may need tweaking)
Email (pop 3 and web based)
Photo hosting
online back up (point this one at one set up at a family members and mirror between the two or more if you want)
Social network (add friends IP's to see their stuff on your wall 'rss' could do this)
radio play (see synology web site)
music streaming in the home but also off line
All info in your own home backed up at a friends in your control.
It only popped in my head last night and could do with a lot of polishing.
would you pay the £200.00 to be part of the next big thing?
Would you pay £200.00 to know who has your data and what was being done with it?
as a open source project it would just be as easy to install on any old PC you can chuck LAMP on just with the NAS boxes it would all be auto-magical.
2. I've always preferred my idea (only done a small search to see if anyone else is developing it) instead of having two reservoirs you only need one with some massive air filled tanks. drag them underwater to store energy and slowly release them to expel the energy. it could even be placed doughnut like round offshore windmills. As far as my back of fag packet calculations go displacement is better than depth when storing energy in this way is concerned.
it's HTML5test.com and not HMTLtest.com as in the article.
I got 448 in chrome if anyone cares.
Lower cable from copter with digi keypad on it, type in your ticket number and price of beer is charged to your account and a cold beer is abseiled down the line to you. pass cable to the next person so they too can acquire a beer. make thumbs up gesture to send cable back up. Wear a hat with the outline of a beer glass on the top to alert copter to your immediate need.
Getting beer to the people is my day job!
I called the local plod after someone saw fit to steal a £120.00 bottle of plonk. Whilst on the phone they play a message asking you to fill in an on-line form if the issue is not urgent. So off I went and filled in the form, they emailed me back asking to call the 0845 number...
What if you have lost your thumb in an accident? or any part of your body for that matter?
What if two people in the room had eye patches? how much would you have to pay then.
What would happen if you pointed the TV at a Mirror and played a vid of gestures?
What's wrong with a remote control?
Glad to know I'm not going insane, yet...
OK probably going to get flamed here, but I don't think this is the worlds oldest experiment. I remember watching something on the History channel years ago where a scientist set up two large glass tubes filled with a liquid mixture in a church lobby and left them to see how long it would take for them to separate. I have had a quick google but can't find anything on it. Also the church thing may be a red herring but it was an old building and in the UK.
As far as I can remember it's still going.
Anyone know anything about this?
Let the debunking begin!
Yeah I do that every time I use a mac!
Very capable of working it all out, but still like to complain the @ is in the wrong place, That ctrl + C doesn't work, that finder is probably the worst FM I have ever seen, that there is no HDMI port to connect to the TV, plus any other little niggle I can find. When really there are ways round it, and it's the same learning curve for my wife when she sits down in front of my laptop.
Probably something of an anti-apple mindset I have developed...
This type of thing can't always anonymised. They may be able to remove the user ID but if the query is write email to jane bloggs, meet me in the highland hotel for some naughty stuff. Signed your very naughty boy.
this along with a date stamp would make it easier to work out who the composer was.
Also as it uses the spoken word matching key phases and such like would also enable you to match more than one message together.
All lots of work but all possible with enough power and that buzz word Big Data.
@uselesspigs if you don't get your shit together and arrest this thief i'm gunna blow your station up!
That might get them round it works for airports!
Their manifesto states 'TCP should be used before dressing the wound.'
I too considered a joke icon but then I think I may be pushing my luck a bit with this one!
I said it would work not that it was a good idea...
The mirror would only ever be able to show you events from the time (or close to the time) it was placed. Furthermore you would only be able to watch events at a specific time lapse. So if you needed to check whether the ball had crossed the line or not you would need to wait until that event was beamed back from the mirror.
All of this can be done with a video camera, and those guys at hawkeye don't have to worry about their jobs just yet!
In fact there are so many weaknesses with this idea that it would take to long to list them all! But this does not mean it wouldn't work just that are better ways to get the desired outcome!.
Beer because it's Friday and time for frivolous ideas.


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relaxdaily N°047
Posted by Michael in music on April 22, 2012
Listen, watch and download relaxdaily N°047 here.
Hope you enjoy this little piano melody! I embedded some really calm and relaxing elements into this tune. Hope you enjoy it!
N°047 download: This tune became part of the album "Season 2″ e.g. on iTunes.
Have a great time,
Michael (relaxdaily)
© 2011-2015, relaxdaily

subset: commoncrawl


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Arlington -- Kenny Chesney and his No Shoes Nation commandeered Cowboys Stadium and grounds with a Pirate Flag on Saturday, the first bona fide suntan-and-suds concert event of the 2013 season.
There were a few people there. Like, the entire population of my hometown.
The stadium holds about 80,000 people for a game, and there werent many empty seats by the time Chesney came on after 9 p.m.
I know some of you have been here since 9 a.m. (tailgating), and I love you for that, Chesney shouted from the stage.
It was one of Chesneys most island-themed shows yet, due to the set list that was heavy on material from his new album, Life on a Rock.
There was Beer in Mexico, You & Tequila, and Summertime.
A few Chesney favorites made it into the mix, including Young, I Go Back and Reality.
The mantra of the night was, as always, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem.
Chesneys style of island escapism is, and always has been, less parrothead and more beach volleyball, with the tan and hard-bodied Tennessean, now 45, prowling the stage and slapping hands.
He recalled how hed first appeared in the metroplex years ago, singing on a flatbed truck in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
At Cowboys Stadium, he was across the street from a Wal-Mart parking lot, but what a difference.
Last night, I sat here staring at this place for two hours, he said. Its a honor to play here.
Eric Church opened for Chesney. More of a whiskey and grit kind of guy, Church has found a strong audience in country music as a hardline traditionalist.
There is Pledge Allegiance to the Hag, a contrast to the redemptive quality of She Loves Me Like Jesus.
Church is an admirable instrumentalist, beginning his set with a banjo, switching to acoustic guitar and finishing on keyboards.
Melodies and memories connect with each other, he said before launching into Springsteen. Its all about right now, who youre with, and what youre listening to.
His take on Hank Williams Jr.s A Country Boy Can Survive was as visceral as the original.
Dentons own Eli Young Band was earlier on the bill, fresh off their breakthrough hit Crazy Girl earlier this year.
Though that infectious singalong song can stay with you for days, their other work, Say Goodnight, When It Rains and Even If It Breaks Your Heart says more about their versatility as a band.
They included a new song, Drunk Last Night, which set an imbibing theme for the rest of the evening.
Mineolas own Kacey Musgraves opened the show at 5 p.m., while tailgaters sauntered into the stadium and newcomers arrived from the parking lots.
Musgraves new album Same Trailer, Different Park is a strong collection, named for its free-spirited The Trailer Song and My House. Its situational songs speak to the disenfranchised; both those down and out and those who are happy despite it.
She sings with a clear, unaffected voice that points up the lyrics of Merry Go Round and Follow Your Arrow.


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141 MPH Serve Helps Murray Advance At U.S. OpenThe U.S. Open's serve-speed readout board told the world that Andy Murray smacked a serve at 141 mph. He had his doubts. "I think that was lucky," he said. "I only did it once. So I'm not expecting to do it again."
Rain Pelts Roof As Murray Tops Granollers At U.S. OpenWhen rain began pelting the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Andy Murray couldn't pick up the usual sounds of tennis. Most importantly, he said, the thwack of the ball coming off of his opponent's racket was completely indiscernible.
Anderson Stuns Murray At U.S. OpenAndy Murray watched a 130 mph ace zoom by to create a two-set deficit at the U.S. Open, and then sat in his changeover chair and cursed at himself, over and over and over.
Defending Champ Djokovic Receives Favorable Draw At WimbledonDefending champion Novak Djokovic was handed a favorable draw for Wimbledon on Friday as the other three members of tennis' ``Big Four'' were all placed on the opposite side.
Djokovic Ousts Murray From U.S. OpenThrough a pair of back-and-forth sets, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray put on a display befitting a matchup of past U.S. Open champions.
Murray Wins In 3 Long Sets At U.S. OpenAn hour-and-a-half into his stay at the U.S. Open, Andy Murray had to wonder whether it would end quickly.
Murray Easily Moves To U.S. Open's 3rd RoundCramp-free on a cool summer's night, Andy Murray moved easily into the third round of the U.S. Open on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Matthias Bachinger.
Murray, Djokovic, Sharapova Win At U.S. OpenSpinning in 70 mph second serves, grabbing at his hamstring during points, Andy Murray gritted his way through head-to-toe cramps to win at the U.S. Open.
Djokovic, Federer Among Favorites To Win U.S. OpenThe 2014 U.S. Open draw will be revealed on Thursday, and a familiar name will be absent. Here are the favorites heading into the 134th U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows.
Murray Beats Federer To Reach Australian FinalAndy Murray has beaten Roger Federer for the first time in a Grand Slam event to advance to the Australian Open final against top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
Murray Wins U.S. Open For 1st Grand Slam TitleBritish star Andy Murray outlasted defending champion Novak Djokovic in five sets to capture his first-ever Grand Slam title in Monday's epic men's final at the U.S. Open.
Djokovic & Murray Meet In U.S. Open FinalBorn a week apart and brought up as tennis prodigies who later turned into stars, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have crossed the globe together, growing familiar with each other.


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Jambox Stories December 17, 2014
Jambox Stories July 8, 2014
Update (7/10 9:00am): Looks like the store got pretty popular this week. It has been updated with the following message: "More inventory coming in on Friday – We are currently replenishing our inventory for our Factory Certified store, please check back soon!"
In late 2012 we uncovered an eBay store that was selling Apple certified refurbished products (iPad, MacBook, iPod, more). Though never officially confirmed by Apple itself, this storefront had all the makings of being officially tied to Apple in some capacity. This store is still live on eBay, but has not offered an item for sale since March of 2013. We speculated that Apple outsourced the sales to a 3rd party middle-company which allowed it to sell its wares without tax in many states even though eBay told us exclusively that they were dealing with Apple on the project.
It now appears that Apple is once again testing an eBay store, but this time is only offering iPhones for sale. Presently, there are six different pre-owned iPhone 5 configurations available with prices starting at $449 with free shipping. The store layout and verbiage is extremely reminiscent of the previous Apple eBay store. All items include a 1-year warranty, receive a complete burn-in, and final quality inspection is performed by Apple. Up until now, Apple has never sold pre-owned or refurbished iPhones so it's possible that this eBay store is even more temporary than the first.
Jambox Stories January 6, 2014
Jambox Stories September 29, 2013
We've had a lot of experience reviewing the best portable Bluetooth speakers on the market but what haven't yet covered speakers so small, you can actually wear them, put them on your bike, or listen to them in the shower. We have two for you today.
The first of these is the $30 Divoom Bean, a small, durable little Bluetooth speaker that looks a little like a 'smurf lock' and is the size of a large egg with a carabiner attached (blue above). It weighs almost nothing and it charges via a micro-USB port on the bottom. It only has 2 buttons on it, a power button and 'phone' button. You'll need to change volume from your phone or other A2DP Bluetooth device and this device seems to automatically switch off after a few minutes of inactivity. It also functions as a speakerphone.
How did it fare in our tests? expand full story
The best 4K & 5K displays for Mac
Jambox Stories May 1, 2012
The main gripe we had in our original Jambox review was that sound is not as big as other (bigger) portable Bluetooth speakers.
While both of these products sound great at low volumes, the Logitech has much bigger speakers and simply blows past the Jambox at higher volumes. At its loudest, the Jambox hits about four to 10 levels of the Logitech—it is really no comparison.
The Jambox produces the kind of sound that can be the background music at a dinner party, run a conference call or office presentation in a small conference room, or just listen to your music in a hotel room. I would even recommend it for sitting on a porch or terrace and reading a book. However, you will want more on windy day at the beach or when using it in the kitchen while the dishwasher is running. At 30 feet away, the Bluetooth can tether and you will definitely feel lacking.
Jambox, as if it were listening, introduced the new "Big Jambox" today, which has a bigger sound, longer battery life, and more buttons. As you can see below, you can now control the play/pause and moving forward/backward tracks right from the Jambox. On the downside, it appears that charging the Big Jambox requires a dedicated power cable. The previous version charged via micro-USB, which still exists to set up the MyTalk smart apps.
We are in line to get our hands on one of these when it launches May 15 for $299. We will hopefully have a review shortly. The gallery follows: expand full story


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stamped concrete
I just had my courtyard refinished with a stamped concrete. My contractor mixed the base color (lighter color) in the concrete - the darker color was a powder on top. I am so disappointed!! I expected the darker color to be very minimal and to just add contrast in some of the grooved areas. The overall look is MUCH darker then I wanted. Q. is there an acid (or other product/method) tht can be used to lighten the darkness? I would first have to strip the sealant.
Sugar, I would rule out acids, as they will probably only darken the surface.
Check out waterbourne concrete stains, as they may be an option. As you mentioned, the sealer WILL have to be stripped first to make it effective. This is not easily accomplished.
You may want to check out a few companies websites such as Schofield, Elitecrete, Soloman, Butterfield, etc.. to see if they have more options.
Colored sealers are also available, but will be opaque, showing the release color below, & generally only darken the concrete.
BTW, being this is in the project showcase heading, where's the pictures?!
why didn't you get a sample of the expected end result prior to the project? This would have at least put the burden on the contractor to get it the way you wanted. Only thing you can do now is use a pressure washer to remove the sealer and a lighter color stain. Still will be hard to get the effect you want, especially if you do not even know what this is.
Hey Bob, a bit harsh...FYI, I have done some research on concrete stains. Am warming up to the results of my courtyard,
4 Attachment(s)
what u probably wanted was dark colour mixed in & light colour powder. then only the groves would be dark?
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|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Feb 23, 2010
|Filing date
|Apr 7, 2009
|Priority date
|Feb 18, 2005
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Michael Parks, John Karsner, John Bednarz, John Bamforth, James Gamm
|Original Assignee
|Virgin Mobile Usa, L.P.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (8), Classifications (10), Legal Events (2)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/062,194, filed Feb. 18, 2005, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
This invention relates to the fields of communications and computer systems. More particularly, a scalable communications management network architecture is provided for managing subscriber communication sessions.
As mobile communications become more widely accepted, providers are offering an ever-increasing variety of services, including prepaid services. With prepaid services, a customer purchases a predetermined number of wireless communication credits or minutes. Because the customer has prepaid for the services, he or she does not need to enter into a credit agreement with the service provider or demonstrate an acceptable credit history. Prepaid wireless communication services are especially attractive to young adults who are unable or unwilling to enter into long-term credit commitments of the kind required for traditional mobile communication service arrangements.
Providers of prepaid communication services naturally wish to ensure that their customers' service usage does not exceed their prepaid credits. Therefore, providers generally automate the process of tracking their customers' service usage, maintaining their credit balances and managing their communication sessions. As more and more subscribers join a provider, the burden placed on the provider's management network or system increases commensurately. In addition to the tasks associated with enabling and controlling individual communication sessions, the provider's management network may also be responsible for tasks such as provisioning new customers' accounts, routing SMS (Short Message Service) messages, monitoring network statuses, etc.
However, computer systems employed by the provider to manage customer accounts and credit balances have (mite processing limits. Traditionally, when such a processing limit was approached, the provider would replace or reconfigure the computer system. This could entail significant expense and labor costs, in addition to a possible loss of service availability for some period of time.
Therefore, there is a need for a communications management network architecture that is easily scalable to support increasing numbers of customers, without the costs and risk of service outage inherent in traditional architectures.
In addition, with prepaid communication services a customer must replenish his or her account in a timely manner in order to avoid service termination. However, it is very easy for a customer to forget to perform such replenishment. And, if the customer is very active, he or she may have to replenish frequently, especially if replenishing with small sums. Depending on how often the customer must replenish, the complexity of replenishment and any fees that may assessed the customer, repeated replenishment may become onerous.
Thus, there is also a need for a method of automatically replenishing a customer's prepaid communication services balance.
In one embodiment of the invention, a communications management network is provided for managing subscribers' communication sessions. The management network includes multiple sets of session management modules or servers (e.g., ISCPs or Intelligent Service Control Points), a services hub and a data warehouse. The network may also include a gateway for routing text messages. The communications management network is configured to manage communication sessions (e.g., telephone calls, text messages) established or placed with a communications switching network that is coupled to the communications management network.
Each set of session management modules includes a plurality of modules, and each subscriber is assigned to a specific module set, with one of the modules serving as a primary module and another as a secondary or backup module. Subscribers are grouped according to geographical area (e.g., by zip code, by area code), service area or other criteria, with all subscribers within a group assigned to the same primary and secondary modules. Each module tracks account statuses (e.g., prepaid communication services balances) for its assigned subscribers, and may allow or reject a communication session based on the subscriber's account status.
The services hub is configured to provision the communications switching network using codes or identities of the session management modules to which a subscriber is assigned. The data warehouse may include subscriber account and activity information, network statuses, and other data for use in managing subscriber sessions. The data warehouse may be maintained by the services hub, but may share data with the session management modules.
Subscribers' communication traffic can be easily managed by reassigning groups of subscribers to different sets of session management modules and re-provisioning the communications switching network. For example, when a new set of modules is brought online, selected groups (e.g., customer areas) of users may be moved to the new modules, and corresponding updates made to records in the data warehouse.
In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for automatically replenishing a subscriber's prepaid communication services balance. When the subscriber's balance falls below a threshold, a warning message is generated and transmitted to the subscriber. Instead, the subscriber's account is automatically replenished using the subscriber's specified source (e.g., credit card, debit card). The user is then notified of the replenishment (e.g., via text message). Replenishment may be accomplished using any fund source (e.g., credit card, debit card).
The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications of the invention and their requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
In one embodiment of the invention, a scalable communications management network is provided. In this embodiment, the network is scaled (e.g., expanded) as needed to accommodate additional subscribers. In particular, as network capacity is consumed by new subscribers or by increasing subscriber activity, additional resources may be brought online to increase capacity. In addition, subscriber activity and management of subscribers' communication sessions can easily be load balanced across the management network. An implementation of this embodiment of the invention may be suited for management of prepaid communication services, wherein each subscriber's prepaid credit balance is monitored and updated in real time.
In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for automatically adding credits or minutes to a subscriber's account before her prepaid credits are exhausted.
In one embodiment, the communication switching network is an SS7 (Signaling System 7) network, and is configured to establish and switch calls between communication subscribers using virtually any type of communication devices (e.g., mobile telephone, traditional wired handset, text message device). The switching network may also provide services such as call waiting, caller identification, voice mail, text messaging, ring tones, Internet access, etc. In different implementations, the communications switching network comprises any number of Mobile Switching Centers (MSC) and communication links.
As one skilled in the art will recognize, the communications switching network includes a Home Location Register (HLR), which is a database for storing service profiles and other information regarding communication service subscribers. Other entities that perform the same functions as an HLR may be implemented instead, but the term HLR is used herein to refer to any such entity performing these functions.
In one embodiment of the invention, when a new call is received from a subscriber, a switching center within the communications switching network identifies the subscriber (e.g., by an Electronic Serial Number (ESN) of the subscriber's handset) and queries the HLR to determine where the call should be managed or controlled. The HLR responds by identifying the appropriate ISCP (Intelligent Service Control Point) module or similar device operated by the provider of the subscriber's communication services. The switching center then queries the ISCP module to determine how the call request should be handled. The switching center also informs the ISCP module when the call is completed; this allows the ISCP module to charge the subscriber or decrement his or her prepaid balance correctly.
In the illustrated embodiment, the call itself need not be switched or trunked to the ISCP module. As may be appreciated, text messages received in the switching network may be routed to the appropriate provider's management network in a similar fashion.
Management network 102 comprises one or more mated pairs 104 of ISCP modules, services hub 106, SMS (Short Message Service) gateway 108 and data warehouse 110. In alternative embodiments of the invention, management network 102 may comprise more or fewer components than are depicted in
The ISCP modules of mated pairs 104 may be provided by Telcordia Technologies Inc., and are configured according to the requirements of the management network operator to provide intelligent network services. The ISCP modules, alone or in combination with other components of the management network, provide management services such as rate metering, Internet access, credit allocation and so on. Some services may be configurable by subscribers (e.g., without involving human agents of the management network).
For example, an ISCP module may be configured for web-based management and provisioning of subscriber services, and may allow self-provisioning by subscribers. Because they are capable of managing subscriber communication sessions (e.g., to ensure subscribers possess sufficient credits or minutes), ISCP modules may be termed session management modules or servers.
The ISCP modules are compatible with switching devices deployed in the communication switching network, and may therefore be configured to operate under any of a plurality of communication or signaling protocols. In particular, ISCP modules may be assigned SS7 point codes to make them addressable through the switching network.
Each mated pair 104 includes two or more ISCP modules for redundancy, so that if one module fails, its processing load is assumed by the remaining module(s). The ISCP modules within a mated pair may share local storage (e.g., a database) and/or each may be configured with its own storage. As described below, each subscriber is allocated to a mated pair 104, which maintains the subscriber's prepaid services balance and manages his or her communication sessions (e.g., calls, text messages). One of the modules in the assigned mated pair serves as the primary module for managing the subscriber's activity, and another is a secondary or backup module. ISCP modules are also able to access other data stored in the management network such as that stored in data warehouse 110.
Services hub 106 comprises one or more computer servers or systems configured to facilitate provisioning of subscriber accounts and services, load balancing of subscribers across mated pairs 104, maintenance of management data (e.g., some or all of data warehouse 110), and other functions. In one embodiment of the invention, a computer system deployed as part of services hub 106 is configured with web services or application software provided by BEA Systems, Inc.
In the embodiment of the invention depicted in
In this embodiment, the services hub does not provision the HLR directly. Instead, services hub 106 provisions a provisioning hub for the switching network, and the provisioning hub provisions the HLR. The interface between services hub 106 and the provisioning hub may be developed by or in conjunction with the operator of management network 102.
SMS (Short Message Service) gateway 108 routes SMS or other text messages toward their intended recipients. In the embodiment of the invention depicted in
Data warehouse 110 stores data for facilitating the operation of management network 102, tracking subscriber activity, maintaining subscriber accounts and provisioning subscribers' services. The data may be divided into any number of databases provided by Oracle Corporation, Siebel Systems Inc., or other sources, and may be stored on any number or type of computing devices. Thus, data warehouse 110 may include multiple computer systems distributed throughout management network 102. Contents of data warehouse 110 may be maintained by services hub 106, ISCP modules or other components of the management network.
When a new subscriber's prepaid communication services are provisioned within management network 102, the subscriber's telephone handset identifier is associated with a particular ISCP module (or mated pair) 104, by reference to the point code, network address or other identity of the ISCP module. A backup module may also be assigned. For example, in
When the subscriber places a call, management of the call is routed through the primary ISCP module (or the secondary if the primary is unavailable). The call is completed to the called party only if the ISCP module verifies that the subscriber has not exhausted all prepaid credits or minutes. If verification fails, the ISCP module instructs the communications switching network (i.e., the switch that is handling the call) to drop the call. In one embodiment, the subscriber's credit balance is maintained in real time on the assigned ISCP modules. Illustratively, the switching network notifies the ISCP module when the call is completed.
In an embodiment of the invention, one of the databases or data collections of data warehouse 110 maps zip codes (or other defined areas or collections of subscribers) to specific ISCP modules (e.g., a primary and a secondary). In this embodiment, all subscribers within a particular area are therefore associated or provisioned with the same primary and secondary modules. To load balance subscribers among the various mated pairs in this embodiment of the invention, entire zip codes can be reassigned from one mated pair to another. Thus, when a new mated pair is brought online, subscribers in selected geographical regions may be moved to the new pair. In other embodiments of the invention, subscribers are grouped in a manner other than geographical area (e.g., area code, prefix of their telephone number, service plan).
In operation 202, a new subscriber requests or signs up for prepaid communication services. This may be accomplished in various ways, including via the service provider's website or via telephone.
In operation 204, the provider may receive various subscriber details, such as name, address, telephone identification (e.g., telephone number, type or model of handset, handset identifier) and the rate or service plan desired by the subscriber.
In operation 206, the provider's management network is employed to determine which ISCP module or modules (e.g., primary and secondary) in a mated pair of modules the new subscriber should be assigned to. In this embodiment of the invention, the provider maintains a data warehouse that includes data for facilitating this determination. For example, the data may identify customer service areas (CSA) for subscribers, which may be based on a zip code, area code, address or other information regarding the subscribers. The data may also identify the ISCP modules or mated pair that subscribers in a particular CSA should be assigned to.
In operation 208, a service plan for provisioning the new subscriber's service is identified or selected. The service plan comprises a set of service order codes (SOC) configured to identify the assigned ISCP module(s), the services to be provided to the subscriber, the applicable rate plan and any other information necessary for provisioning the subscriber's communication services.
In operation 210, the communications switching network is provisioned with the service plan. In the illustrated method, the services hub of the management network transmits the service plan to the switching network's provisioning hub. The provisioning hub then uses the service plan to provision the switching network's HLR.
One SOC in the service plan comprises a trigger variable identifying the primary and secondary ISCP modules selected for the subscriber. For example, in the embodiment of the invention depicted in
As one skilled in the art may appreciate, traditionally a telephone service subscriber would be provisioned, in the communications network, with point codes identifying specific ISCP modules of the service provider's management network. These point codes were called a trigger set. The management network identified a set of modules by their point codes or network addresses, not a variable that could be dynamically redefined. Once the, management network provisioned the switching network and the switching network configured the subscriber's trigger set, the management network generally could not change the trigger set.
In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, however, the management network (services hub 106 of
Thus, by connecting to the switching network's provisioning hub or asynchronously submitting an activation request with the appropriate SOCs, the service hub can provision a subscriber with desired services (e.g., voice mail, call waiting, caller identification, text messaging) and associate the subscriber with a set of ISCP modules for managing the subscriber's activity. As a result, changing a subscriber's managing ISCP modules is as easy as adding or dropping a service (i.e., by issuing a new service plan containing the appropriate SOC).
When a subscriber places a telephone call, the call setup request is received in a communications switching network at an MSC or other switching device. The MSC identifies the subscriber's handset from data accompanying the call, and broadcasts a message asking for the manager or "owner" of the subscriber. An HLR responds and identifies the subscriber's primary ISCP module (and possibly the secondary module).
The MSC then contacts the primary ISCP module (or the secondary if the primary is down) and identifies the subscriber (or the subscriber's handset) and the call destination (i.e., the called number). The ISCP module verifies that the identified subscriber is a valid subscriber and has sufficient prepaid service credits to pay for the call. The ISCP module may also determine from the subscriber's rate plan the rate at which the call should be charged. The ISCP module then responds to the MSC and indicates that the call should be completed. If, however, the subscriber or handset is invalid or the subscriber has no credits, the ISCP module would instruct the MSC to drop the call. A suitable voice or text message may be played or transmitted to the subscriber to inform him that his credits have been exhausted.
When a subscriber transmits a text message, it is also received by an MSC or other component of the communications switching network. The MSC determines who manages the subscriber or transmitting device and forwards the message to the assigned ISCP module(s). If the message is destined for another subscriber of the management network, after the sender's identity and service status (e.g., credit balance) are verified, the message is forwarded through an SMS gateway and the same communications switching network to the indicated recipient. If the message is addressed to a subscriber of a different service provider, or some other switching network must be traversed, the message is forwarded to an inter-service carrier.
In one embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for automatically replenishing a subscriber's prepaid communication services before his or her prepaid service credits or minutes are exhausted. Implementations of this embodiment discussed herein are suitable for use with a communications management network such as the one described in conjunction with
In this embodiment, automatic replenishment is initiated when the Management network detects that a subscriber's prepaid services balance has fallen below a-predetermined threshold, as measured by credits, minutes, monetary value or other indicia. Different thresholds may be established for different subscribers (e.g., based on their rate plan).
The diminished balance may be detected by an ISCP module (e.g., the primary or secondary module to which the subscriber is assigned), the services hub, or another component of the management network. In this embodiment, replenishment is performed automatically and possibly without prior notification to the subscriber.
In operation 304, the ISCP module automatically generates a text (e.g., SMS) message or other communication directed to the subscriber, to notify the subscriber of a low balance. The message is forwarded to a gateway (e.g., SMS gateway 108 of
In operation 306, the gateway determines whether the subscriber has requested or approved automatic replenishment. This determination may be made by accessing data stored in a data warehouse or by querying the services hub. Illustratively, the subscriber's profile is maintained in the data warehouse or by the services hub, and reveals this information. If the subscriber has approved automatic replenishment, the illustrated method continues at operation 310. Otherwise, in operation 308, the low balance warning message is forwarded toward the subscriber and the method ends. The subscriber will therefore need to replenish his or her account by direct interaction with the system in order to prevent service termination.
In operation 310, the subscriber has approved automatic replenishment. Therefore, instead of forwarding the warning message, the gateway discards the message and initiates automatic replenishment. In this implementation, automatic replenishment is executed by the services hub, which maintains or has access to data (e.g., in the data warehouse) describing the subscriber's default means for replenishment. Making a payment or transferring money may be employed using credit card, debit card or ACH (Automated Clearing House) transaction. The services hub may contact a third-party payment facilitator to make the necessary charge, debit or transfer of funds.
In operation 312, the subscriber is informed of the automatic replenishment. In the illustrated method, after the automatic replenishment is verified, the services hub notifies the gateway, which then forwards a text message to the subscriber. After operation 312, the method ends.
In alternative implementations, the various actions described above may be performed by other components of the management network without exceeding the scope of the invention. For example, when an ISCP module detects a low prepaid services balance it may notify the services hub. The services hub may then determine whether to initiate automatic replenishment (e.g., if approved by the subscriber), and will generate/forward the appropriate message via the gateway.
In another alternative implementation, the ISCP module possesses or accesses information indicating whether a subscriber has approved automatic replenishment. The ISCP module therefore separately instructs the services hub to initiate automatic replenishment, if appropriate, and forwards the appropriate message to the gateway for delivery to the subscriber.
The program environment in which an embodiment of the invention is executed illustratively incorporates a general-purpose computer or a special purpose device such as computing device configured for a specific communications management function. Details of such devices (e.g., processor, memory, data storage, display) were omitted for the sake of clarity.
It should also be understood that the techniques of the present invention may be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented in software executing on a computer system, or implemented in hardware utilizing either a combination of microprocessors or other specially designed application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, or various combinations thereof. In particular, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer-executable instructions residing on a suitable computer-readable medium. Suitable computer-readable media may include volatile (e.g., RAM) and/or non-volatile (e.g., ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media (e.g., copper wire, coaxial cable, fiber optic media). Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data streams along a local network, a publicly accessible network such as the Internet or some other communication link.
The foregoing embodiments of the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the forms disclosed. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, not the preceding disclosure.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Oct 14, 1994
|Aug 27, 1996
|At & T Corp.
|International toll-free calling process
|Oct 10, 1995
|Sep 8, 1998
|U.S. West Advanced Technologies, Inc.
|Automated system and method for call handling
|Feb 17, 2000
|Aug 6, 2002
|Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd.
|Credit information in a mobile phone
|Feb 11, 2003
|Feb 24, 2004
|Sbc Technology Resources, Inc.
|Advanced intelligent signal telephone number routing
|Jan 11, 2001
|Nov 2, 2004
|Traq Wireless, Inc.
|System and method for determining optimal wireless communication service plans based on spectrum licenses
|Oct 18, 2002
|Apr 22, 2004
|Aviram Dahari
|Method and system for integrating multi services for intelligent networks
|Jan 31, 2003
|Aug 5, 2004
|Larsen David J.
|Prepaid and postpaid subscriber telephony platform
|Oct 13, 2004
|Mar 24, 2005
|Wheeler David F.
|Services control point selection in an advanced intelligent network
|U.S. Classification
|455/405, 379/229, 370/352, 455/453, 379/221.08
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Mar 8, 2013
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Mar 3, 2017
Owner name: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, NEW YORK
Free format text: GRANT OF FIRST PRIORITY AND JUNIOR PRIORITY SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS;ASSIGNOR:VIRGIN MOBILE USA, L.P.;REEL/FRAME:041880/0042
Effective date: 20170203


text:
How do I estimate cost of painting house
My friend wants me to paint the exterior of her house for her. I think about $25/hour equivalent would be fair but I do not know how long it will take and she wants to know the total before agreeing. How can I provide her a "bid" for the job. I tried the free Planswift trial software but that only works if you have the house plans in a file like PDF.
Have a professional do it. They know what and why.
Prices are figured by knowing ones production rate, prep involved, cost of materials, what one needs to make as wage, and to a pro with a real biz- overhead and profit.
Other than real info- a case of beer and a buck 2 eighty sounds about right.
There are some great paint job estimating software products so search around. Believe it or not, your real paint store will help you.
I am finishing a couple bids this morning and use one software product I like. I was also in the business for decades. I have actually seen the jobs I am bidding and hope I can guess what can go wrong.
I am offering a complete estimate with usual nuances. Shmucks that are actually going to do the work are going to get more than $25 an hour though. I am thinking of flying one in from Maryland who paints wearing no pants. I know he will work for chimp change.
Painting is really all about the prep. Have you looked carefully at what you might be in for with this exterior? I actually did exterior work only when I had too do so. I am not afraid of heights but as I have aged, ladders scare me. I find no pleasure at all climbing three stories to pimp out the third story of a gingerbread Queen Anne.
Do you have nice safe ladders or scaffolding lined up for this? They are rather important for exterior work?
Your friend is well within her rights asking for a job bid. If you come up with a number that works be prepared for all kinds of things. I've painted for family and lovers at times. I still love them all but they top the list of my worst clients.
$85,000 should cover it.
Well, some of that would depend on where it is:whistling2:
As you already know, there is no way to give a legit answer. None of us knows your skill level, how fast you move with a brush, if you are spraying or not, I mean there is literally a hundred variables that could affect an hourly rate. If she pays you $25 an hour and it takes you an hour to paint one board 8 ft. long, well, that's not much of a deal for her. Now, if you paint a whole side in an hour, it's not much of a deal for you. Then, what if the quality is not what she desires, then what? My suggestion would be to pick a small area that could be painted in about a day.........time yourself........let her inspect the work......then you both would have a better idea of what is fair.
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text:
I Want Two Birthdays!
€ 13,49
Lieferbar innert 2 Wochen
Juli 2008
BeschreibungThe Little Princess wants to have two birthdays, just like the Queen, which means twice as many presents every year! When she realises how much fun two birthdays are, she decides she wants three, then four. But the more birthdays she has, the less special they are. Perhaps having one birthday a year isn't so boring after all...
PortraitTony Ross was born in London and trained at the Liverpool School of Art. He has worked as a cartoonist, graphic designer, and art director of an advertising agency. He is now considered to be one of the finest children's illustrators in the country.
Untertitel: 'Little Princess'. chiefly col. ill. Sprache: Englisch.
Verlag: Andersen Press Ltd
Erscheinungsdatum: Juli 2008
Seitenanzahl: 32 Seiten
Format: gebunden


text: My apoligies if this was already answered, but what type of injury did Canty have? Any reference to his knee surgery in the news seems vague at best. Also extremely vague is a timetable for his return. During the offseason he was very confident he would be a full participant in training camp. As training camp has drawn to a close, his availability for the season opener is now in doubt. Whats the deal?


text:
Xbox One/PlayStation 4 Pre-Orders are "Double" the Previous Generation
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says that next-generation consoles are doing just fine.
With the Wii U's poor sales performance and the rise of tablets and smartphones as gaming platforms, some are wondering if the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be as successful as their predececssors. In an Ubisoft earnings call today, CEO Yves Guillemot revealed that next-gen pre-orders are well ahead of their last-generation counterparts.
"Some retailers - not all of them - are saying pre-orders two times than what they saw in the last generation launch," he said. "They're getting more pre-orders than what they saw before. We think we will have positive growth from the twelve months from launch. We should see more than double-digit increase of the market in calendar 2014."
Another Ubisoft representative said that the company believes the holiday 2013 install base for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 "will be double" the previous consoles. Guillemot added that Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch Dogs are in the "top five for most pre-ordered games" for next-gen.
Backing up some of Guillemot's claims, Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hyrb (known to many as Major Nelson) tweeted that, "Xbox One preorders are trending ahead of Xbox 360 preorders during the same time period" and are "sold out at most U.S. retailers."
In our pre-order confessional article two weeks ago, the USgamer team already told you what consoles we're planning on getting at launch. In those two weeks has anything changed your mind? What consoles are you planning on getting this holiday?
This article may contain links to online retail stores. If you click on one and buy the product we may receive a small commission. For more information, go here.


text:
Passive House is a worldwide organisation promoting sustainable energy-efficient buildings.
The secret to Passive House's success is that "the houses are airtight". Passive homes have an air-to-air heat exchanger which controls the ventilation and "recovers" warmth from the exhausted stale air.
It is all rather cool, and requires good design, good engineering, and great attention to detail in the building process. Think about all of the possible leaks in a home, and then think about sealing every one of them.
For a builder, it requires a great understanding of how homes work, and the patience to ensure that all the detail work is properly done.
A whole bunch of little things can add up to something big. That's exactly what I have been saying during the first 50 free home energy audits I've carried out over the past two months. It's also how we were able to convert a draughty, cold villa into a warm, cosy home.
The biggest difference between our home and most of the homes I've audited and a Passive House is the level of thoughtfulness of design, and the level of attention to detail in the construction.
This is why, according to a University of Otago study, 75 per cent of New Zealand homes fail to meet new energy standards, and unhealthy homes contribute to 1600 deaths each year and cost millions in lost productivity.
Many of the same principles that go into a Passive House went into renovating our villa.
In its most basic form, the secret to comfortable, energy efficient homes comes down to this: good insulation and great draught-proofing. But, as with things from vege gardens to wastewater treatment plants, it's easier to do things properly in the first place than to go back and correct mistakes later.
Dollar-for-dollar, draught-proofing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to slow the loss of heat from a home.
A good way to find draughts in a home is to perform a blower door test. I made a blower door out of two fans, some coated fabric, and a bit of timber. I fitted this unit into our front door and turned both fans on high, pushing air outside.
This created low pressure within the structure and "pulled" air in through every little gap. Identifying the gaps can be done with a burning candle or incense. Plugging the gaps can be done with a variety of products. Until the day we all live in Passive Houses, this is about the best we can do.


text:
Whogohost has been ranked the 2nd largest domain name and web hosting company in Nigeria with over 2,600 domain names hosted on its servers, according to WebHosting.Info, as at February 18, 2013.
The company which was founded in 2006 claims to have over 5,000 domain names under management to date, although it seems that half of that number host their domain names elsewhere.
According to its founder, Opeyemi Awoyemi, the company moved from an 11th position last year, thanks to its partnership with Google and the GNBO project, and now has an 11% market share of the web hosting industry.
Meanwhile, Syskay continues to be the leading web domain and hosting company in Nigeria with over 7,000 domain names with 30% market share.


text:
Women's Metallic Swarovski Zirconia Bridal Set In Sterling Silver
Sparkle that stuns. This bridal set flaunts round-cut Swarovski zirconia (4-3/8 ct. T. W. Set in sterling silver. Size 7. Custom ring sizing is not available for this item. Almost all gemstones have been treated to enhance their beauty and require special care. Color: metallic


text:
Opportunity Project, Inc. was founded in 1993 by families whose sons had sustained serious brain injuries. Their goal was to fill a very significant gap in community services for individuals with brain injury. These families discovered that while excellent acute medical care and rehabilitation services were available, there was an absence of effective transitional and reintegration services within the community. Their extensive research resulted in the identification of a nationally recognized program – the Clubhouse model of community support. In 1993 Opportunity Project served 5 members. Since then it has served over 500 individuals affected by traumatic brain injury and their families. The demand for this community ...
The Clubhouse
Since 1993, OP's primary focus has been the continued development of a creative and supportive environment that would meet the unique and varied needs of adults with brain injuries. The program founders identified the National Clubhouse Program Model of community reintegration. OP was the first and is still the only service delivery system of its kind in New Jersey. Each year the Clubhouse has been expanded and modified to meet the abilities and needs of our members, Empowering people with brain injury on a daily basis, our programs continue to enrich the lives of the thousands of supporters, families, friends, and members. ...
As a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, we rely on the support of donations to insure that people affected by brain injury have access to resources and services. Your contributions enable us to provide programs, prevention and awareness for people with brain injury. Learn about how you can contribute here. Please click here to donate now online. Thank you.
Why teach our children to buckle up and wear helmets? Each year, over two million people in the United States are affected by brain injury. The statistics are startling and prove there is a desperate need for organizations like Opportunity Project. Unfortunately, with ongoing wars overseas, since 9/11 more Americans return home with brain injury and nowhere to turn. An estimated 5.3 million Americans, a little more than 2% of the United States population, currently live with disabilities from brain injury. A volunteer is a helper. There are many ways you can get involved around the Clubhouse… Cook or bake with members in ...
Opportunity Project in the Community
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Bill Swinson, Director of Millburn Library and OP Members"][/caption] Opportunity Project has become an integral part of the community, and the community has become an integral part of the Clubhouse. Members enrich the lives of others by either volunteering or working for local businesses such as Whole Foods, Sam's Clothing, La Strada, Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care and the Montclair Art Museum… [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="OP member Tan To building a chair at his volunteer site, Sage Eldercare."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="OP member Lisa Parinello sorting mail at her volunteer site, Investors Savings Bank."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250" ...
Opportunity Project, Inc. 60 East Willow Street, Millburn, NJ 07041 Tel 973-921-1000 Fax 973- 921-2007 Directions For Clubhouse information: Contact Melissa Wish, LMSW at 973-921-1000 x 108 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com. For Vocational Program information: Contact Tara Kapleau at 973-921-1000 x 107 or by email at email@example.com. To contact Executive Director, Carol Albanese: Please send all inquiries to email@example.com or contact her by phone at 973-921-1000 x 101. For donations, tributes or event information: Contact Julie London at 973-921-1000 x 105 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com. For all other inquiries kindly call the Clubhouse at 973-921-1000 GuideStar nonprofit reports and Forms 990 for donors, grantmakers and businesses GoodSearch - Search the web ...
Opportunity Project News & Events
Opportunity Project Tees off for Annual Golf Classic!
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The Dumbbell's Dictionary HTML version
Zeitgeist, n. The spirit of the age. What Obama and confederates have not the slightest
hope of ever understanding. You see, it takes an intellect of at least average power, to
understand such things.
Zigurrat, n. Non-filtered Tower built by Babylonians.
Zoology, n. The study of zoos.
And finally, Gentle Reader, you have my sincere thanks for bearing with me to the extent
that you have. I sincerely hope that you received as much pleasure in the reading as I did
in the writing. Well prior to this point you will have realized that this dictionary is a
thinly-veiled diatribe (albeit with bits of whimsy thrown in from time to time) against
everything having to do with the left, both leftist people and leftist programs, in this
country. The left has assumed many titles over the years: liberal, progressive, and even
radical. They are all anti-human and evil incarnate. If you attempt to call them on their
personnel, programs, and policies, you will inevitably be put off, if not downright lied to,
for liberalism itself has become, over the years, a touchy subject for those of the left.
April-July, in this year of our Lord, 2011.


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With our current contest on our Fstoppers Facebook Group coming to a close, we aren't wasting any time launching the next contest for everyone! With our pals over at AlienSkin, we want to pimp out your post production software with a free copy of Alien Skin's full Photo Bundle (worth $500)!
AlienSkin makes a great product called Exposure 3 that gives your photos a unique "look" and style. Exposure happens to be a favorite of Lee Morris and Patrick Hall. Remember the iPhone Fashion Shoot? Well the results from that shoot were good, but Alien Skin made them great.
We are giving away the full Alien Skin line of plugins (you can view them all here) and all you have to do is impress us with your post production skills using Alien Skin's Exposure 3 software. Here's how it works:
1) Use Alien Skin's Exposure plugin to enhance any portrait in your portfolio. If you already own Exposure, you're set. Don't have it yet? That's ok! You can download the free trial here. You MUST use Exposure in your entry. No other plugin software will be accepted.
2) Upload your entry to the Fstoppers Facebook Group. Make sure you give it the caption "This is my entry to the Fstoppers Alien Skin contest." so we don't miss it. We would also love to see the before and after images but this is not required.
3) Contest is open until February 21, so you all have two weeks to put together your entry. The winner will be voted on by Patrick, Lee, and myself and crowned on February 22.
Patrick Hall sent me a few of his wedding and editorial images to show how he uses the software. Patrick explains,
"As a full time photographer, I have very little time to play around in Photoshop, but I can't let my images look like they are straight out of the camera either. Alien Skin rocks because it not only emulates hundreds of film styles with the click of a button but it also allows me to adjust individual parameters like Grain, Tone Curve, and Overall Intensity. It can even output the effect on a separate layer for more sublte blending options. If you need something more flexible than standard actions, you gotta give Exposure a try."
Just like Lee's iPhone photos above, the first image is straight out of the camera and the second image has been processed with Exposure 3.
We're excited to see what you all can do with the Exposure software. Head on over to the Fstoppers Facebook Group and show us what you got!
18 Comments
I've been using Alien Skin for years now and I cannot say enough good things about this plugin. If you don't have time to Photoshop every single image for hours you can use this program to give an image a professional "look" in about 5 seconds.
I'll download the trial and test it out because I can get to that result in photoshop, by adjusting contrasts, gradient map adjustment layer etc. but if with only one plugin, one preset I can get there and save a few minutes all the time? Hey why not :)
you should give some "backstage" from that 5min editing, thx :)
backstage from what?
Assuming his eastern european heritage, I think he meant Behind the Scenes.
Yeah, not a born english speaker :D I meant some video tutorial on how you use alienskin in the real world :)
That is a sweet plugin even though.... the Film looks are not that great. VSCO does a way better job.
Isn't this what we use presets for in Lightroom or Aperture? Those filters above are easily replicated and simply saved. I'll give it a go but i'm not convinced.
One question: can these filters be applied to a RAW file (like a preset) or does it have to generate a TIFF/PSD/JPG to work it's magic?
I've never tried these in Lightroom...and honestly most of the time I shoot jpeg :( I just like that there are a ton of filters to go through so when I'm indecisive about what I'm wanting I can scroll through. The idea of having to tweak highpass filter, film grain, cross processing colors, tone curves, sharpening, etc etc manually in lightroom to create my own preset sounds like it would take too much time for me. If I need a look that specific I will just send it out to the retoucher.
That's fair enough, i can certainly see the appeal for wedding, sports and event photographers and the presentation for choice is good. I shoot predominantly close up beauty so a trip through photoshop is is still unavoidable for me as i retouch my own work.
I use Alien Skin with LR3. I also shoot raw. What the plugin does is create a second tiff file when you go into the editing window and then saves it as a tiff in LR. It doesn't manipulate the original raw file. Just the duplicate tiff file it creates. Pretty slick.
Yeah i know, the same as NIK plugins.. Creating humungous TIF files at 80MB or more alongside the original RAW rather than a LR preset at about 8kb. Again if i'm not liquifying or healing i don't see the point over customised presets apart from the initial time it takes to create them.
didnt know that this tool is sooo good... curves contrast cross process. is reeeally good!
Do I need to upload it to Facebook, or could I just post a link to the photo (let's say Flickr)?
Facebook quality is terrible, and their copyrights seems to be constantly changing.
Oh, and by the way - I LOVE exposure 3. Best BW conversions I've done. Also great at colors, once you've learned all the little tips and tricks - to give it your personal look.
must be posted to Facebook...that's where the contest is being held.
I've always been kinda sceptical to plug ins in general but Patrick vouched for it in one of the earlier posts so I had a go with it and it's awesome! It doesnt really let me do anything i couldn't do before, BUT it lets me get there so much faster, and everything is fully customizable so for me and my workflow it's a winner!
so does this mean no other adjustments are allowed to be made using photoshop?? like liquify and such??
It's a plugin for PS (and LR), when you edit the image in Alien Skin it outputs the edit in a new layer. You're allowed to do whatever you'd like at that point on.


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campaign Stories June 26, 2015
campaign Stories May 11, 2015
campaign Stories April 24, 2015
In coordination with the Watch's worldwide release, Apple has ramped its marketing campaign further with three new ads that are airing starting today. The ads titled 'Rise', 'Up' and 'Us' focus on everyday activities being enhanced by the Watch. Unlike some of Apple's product-focused marketing, this is more in the style of iPad commercials.
The 'Rise' ad focuses on morning activities, such as using the Watch to wake you up or answer text messages in the breakfast queue. 'Up' is focused on the Workout and Activity apps, highlighting the 'Stand' notifications and related fitness features. 'Us' focuses on communication highlighting Digital Touch sketch, tap and heartbeat sharing features as well as the controversial animated emoji.
All three videos are embedded after the break …
campaign Stories November 23, 2014
Apple has just announced a significant campaign to support World AIDS Day 2014 as part of its long-running (RED) program. The company will donate to the Global Fund to fight AIDS based on proceeds from its new Apps for (RED) section on the App Store, as well as a portion of online and retail sales made on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. expand full story
The best 4K & 5K displays for Mac
campaign Stories June 27, 2013
Bloomberg reports that a survey by ad effectiveness specialist Ace Metrix Inc showed that Apple's new 'mission statement' ad campaign has been far less effective than its traditional product-focused ads.
The company's latest ad, which began airing June 10, has earned the lowest score of 26 Apple TV ads in the past year, according to Ace Metrix Inc., a consulting firm that analyzes the effectiveness of TV ads through surveys of at least 500 TV viewers. The ad scored 489 on the company's scoring system, below an industry average of 542 and far below past iconic Apple campaigns that often topped 700. expand full story
campaign Stories June 25, 2013
Update, June 29: Apple is running different full two-page ads in the Toronto Star and other Canadian newspapers today. The ads includes the same text and "Designed by Apple in California" tagline as the one above, but use alternate images that have also appeared on Apple's "Designed by Apple" web page. Check out the other ads below.
We previously reported that Apple was starting a brand new ad campaign that focuses on its ecosystem and the people that use it rather than specific products, and today a reader notes that it has also brought the campaign to print with a full two-page ad in the Toronto Star (pictured above). We'd expect this to be the tone of its ads in the coming months, and the ad above (alongside its latest TV commercial), is also currently running on Apple's "Designed by Apple" web page on Apple.com. expand full story


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There may be a thread on this - but maybe not.
I'm not interested in write speeds (where parity comes in), but in READ speeds. Shouldn't I get my data from whichever disk delivers first? (mirrored)
I would think Windows own software RAID setup would be ideal for this. But, ??
Anybody know or have tried this?


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Andersen's Fairy Tales HTML version
The Leap-Frog
A Flea, a Grasshopper, and a Leap-frog once wanted to see which could jump highest; and
they invited the whole world, and everybody else besides who chose to come to see the
festival. Three famous jumpers were they, as everyone would say, when they all met
together in the room.
"I will give my daughter to him who jumps highest," exclaimed the King; "for it is not so
amusing where there is no prize to jump for."
The Flea was the first to step forward. He had exquisite manners, and bowed to the
company on all sides; for he had noble blood, and was, moreover, accustomed to the
society of man alone; and that makes a great difference.
Then came the Grasshopper. He was considerably heavier, but he was well-mannered, and
wore a green uniform, which he had by right of birth; he said, moreover, that he belonged
to a very ancient Egyptian family, and that in the house where he then was, he was thought
much of. The fact was, he had been just brought out of the fields, and put in a pasteboard
house, three stories high, all made of court-cards, with the colored side inwards; and doors
and windows cut out of the body of the Queen of Hearts. "I sing so well," said he, "that
sixteen native grasshoppers who have chirped from infancy, and yet got no house built of
cards to live in, grew thinner than they were before for sheer vexation when they heard
It was thus that the Flea and the Grasshopper gave an account of themselves, and thought
they were quite good enough to marry a Princess.
The Leap-frog said nothing; but people gave it as their opinion, that he therefore thought
the more; and when the housedog snuffed at him with his nose, he confessed the Leap-frog
was of good family. The old councillor, who had had three orders given him to make him
hold his tongue, asserted that the Leap-frog was a prophet; for that one could see on his
back, if there would be a severe or mild winter, and that was what one could not see even
on the back of the man who writes the almanac.
"I say nothing, it is true," exclaimed the King; "but I have my own opinion,
Now the trial was to take place. The Flea jumped so high that nobody could see where he
went to; so they all asserted he had not jumped at all; and that was dishonorable.
The Grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he leaped into the King's face, who said
that was ill-mannered.
The Leap-frog stood still for a long time lost in thought; it was believed at last he would
not jump at all.


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Jump to:Page Content
Home > News & Events > News > Articles > The Terrorist Attack: What Response? A Kennedy School Community Conversation
The terrorists who attacked the United States last Tuesday were part of an organization capable of violating all moral restraints according to Jessica Stern, a Kennedy School lecturer and expert on terrorists. Few organizations in the world fit such a profile, said Stern, a panelist at event last evening to discuss Tuesday's tragedy.
Stern cautioned against the temptation for immediate revenge. More information is needed, she said, before the United States should strike back. Only when the perpetrators have been identified, can there be a military response. "If we rush to retaliate, we will repent at leisure," Stern said.
Panelist John White, lecturer in public policy and former deputy secretary of defense, also cautioned against moving too quickly. U.S. military capabilities, he said, were built for different kinds of threats than what the United States now faces. The challenges confronting us today are not military ones, he said, but ones with deep roots in biological, chemical, and cyber warfare.
The United States, he said, now has the opportunity to build long-term, multi-agency strategies, which could include reorganizing government agencies, increasing the power and resources of the embassy system, and raising the question of how we deal with countries who harbor terrorists.
"Use of the military puts in the shadow the good solid use of police work," said Michael Ignatieff, director of the Carr Center, who also expressed frustration at the dilemma the United States now faces.
"There are aspects of U.S. policy that need to be reviewed," said Ignatieff, and "sound policy reasons why people hate the United States, but we can't change these policies under duress and that's a real problem," he said. The horror of this event for me, Ignatieff said was the severance that it has created between what the United States now faces and thoughtful discussion.
"In light of the crisis the United States is now suffering," said Ignatieff, "a shift in political policy is impossible under duress, although in the long term it will be essential for the United States to reassess middle eastern policy."
Fred Schauer, academic dean at the Kennedy School and the evening's host, discussed the issue of using the U.S. court system to seek justice against the terrorists. Our system, said Schauer, is designed to protect the innocent, and, as a result, guilty people sometimes go free. U.S. citizens must not be willing to use our system, unless they are able to accept the results, he said. Last evening's event was one of a series of ongoing discussions organized by the Kennedy School to attempt to put Tuesday's attack in perspective.


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Dizzy Gillespie began introducing high-caliber musicians to the world back in the '40s, so it's easy to see why this alumni group contains several generations' worth of stellar talent. Roy Hargrove steers a star-studded cadre, and on Oct 21 extra guests like Jimmy Heath will be on hand to acknowledge what would have been Diz's 96th birthday.
|Event website:
To improve this listing email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts invites pre-K-12 schools within Los Angeles County to apply to our School Partners Program. Our goal is to provide multiple opportunities for students, teachers, and families to learn in and through the arts.
Based on applications, up to ten schools will be selected. Each will receive:
Required financial match from selected schools: $5,000.
Participation limited to 10 schools.
Wallis Partner Schools


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Cassini photo puts Earth in perspective
Probe captures planet from 1.4 billion kilometers away
By Andrew Grant, 16:10 PM July 25, 2013
It's more of a bright blue blotch than a pale blue dot, but Earth still looks awfully insignificant in this July 19 photograph. It was taken by NASA's Cassini probe, which is more than 1.4 billion kilometers away in orbit around Saturn.
Earth is just right of center in the photo, while the moon is barely visible as a protrusion off Earth's right side. Saturn dominates the upper left of the image and the planet's rings are brightly illuminated.
Twenty-three years ago, unbeknownst to all but a ha...
Source URL: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cassini-photo-puts-earth-perspective


text: While passing Joint Base Lewis-McChord last night my odometer passed 200K; without any major engine issues. I know this may not be unusual for other GM drivers but it tickled me to have my little, import driving, brother in the "burb". None of the vehicles he has ever owned has ever turned over even once without major issues. I just laughed and pointed while he caught an attitude and sulked; loved it!.:glasses:


text:
ED Magedson – Founder
Ripoff Report
Lifestyles Hacienda In Dominican RepublicPuerto Confresi Nationwide U.S.A.
Does your business have a bad reputation?
Fix it the right way.
Corporate Advocacy Program™
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/08/2009 11:12 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/lifestyles-hacienda-in-dominican-republic/nationwide/lifestyles-hacienda-in-dominican-republic-scam-and-lies-puerto-plata-dominican-republic-449956. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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st: panel data: problem with time-series operator
Eymann Annina <email@example.com>
"firstname.lastname@example.com" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
st: panel data: problem with time-series operator
Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:42:43 +0200
Dear Statalisters
I am having trouble when using time-series operators on my panel data set. The data set is tsset id year, yet the panel is unbalanced. Each individual is observed 1 to 5 times. The years cover a time span of 13 years.
I am interested in the change of labor market status, thus I want to be able to follow individuals from time (t) to time (t+1) or more. Since many users strongly suggest to use the time-series operators instead of [_n-1] etc, I would like to apply the second way of coding.
Here are my two versions:
Version 1
sort id year
gen change=0 if id==id[_n-1] & status==status[_n-1]
replace change=1 if id==id[_n-1] & status!=status[_n-1]
Version 2
tsset id year
by id: gen change=0 if status==L.status
by id: replace change=1 if status!=L.status
The problem is that the result of the second version is quite different to the first one. What is wrong? In version 2, individuals who were only observed once also get a 1 instead of the desired missing. Why? I seem to miss an important point...
Note that I do not want to create something like - by id: gen leadstatus=F.status -.
Thank you very much for your help, suggestions, ect.
Best regards, Annina
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Your Attitude - Your Self-Esteem HTML version
Your Attitude - Your Self-Esteem
Chapter 1 Attitude and Conditioning
I would like to simply clarify what attitude really is:
Attitude is:
What you think
What you do
How you feel
All situations require that you think about what is happening. You have to
decide what to do, then work on your emotions on how you feel about what
you think and do. That is the simplicity of attitude.
You can be struggling with a problem with your teenager. Your teen's new
friends are not the kind of friends you want him to have. You think the problem
is a tough one, you know you have to do something about it. You might want to
do whatever your decision is in a positive way. However, your emotions on how
you feel may want to dictate to him and yell and scream to get those low life
friends away from the house.
Your attitude will be the essence of how you find the solution to the problem.
A negative attitude will be one of, "Why does that kid always upset me, seems a
day can't go by without problems, why did I ever have kids anyway? All I have
been doing is trying to do the best I can, feeding, clothing, sheltering and
working overtime so he can have his name brand shoes, and now he brings punks
home that will influence him and turn him into a druggie and cigarette smoker."
With a positive attitude, your solution will come with positive emotions.
"I love my teenager and find the challenges of raising one quite stimulating.
Let's see if I can settle this problem without creating mountains out of molehills.
Copyright © 2003 Teresa King
Page 5 of 110


text: Sports Decorations > Danica Patrick Flag Danica Patrick 9x24 Inch Pennant View All Danica Patrick Flag ITEMS Quantity $6.95 Out of Stock Add to Cart IN STOCK Standard & Express Shipping Available Order by 2pm CST (M-F) — Ships Same Day Item ID#: PR-PennantPR-DPAT-Medium Tweet Wish Share Our Danica Patrick 9x24 Inch Pennant is 9 x 24 inches in size, features single-sided screen printed logos, and is made of a soft felt and wool blend. Each Danica Patrick 9x24 Inch Pennant is NASCAR Officially Licensed which insures quality construction, correct colors, and authentic logos.Find our recommended Pennant accessories with our Pennant Sticks, Standard-Size Pennant Frames, or buy one of your favorite Sports Pennant Sets. Customers Also Bought... Flag & Pennant Accessories Pennant Stick 6 Pack $6.95 Out of Stock Add To Cart


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Yogam Saranam: Yoga Diary
Om shakti, om shakti, om shakti, om!
If you've stumbled upon this blog, you're likely interested in Hindu mythology, stories of the origins of yoga asanas, or you may even be a bhakti yogi(ni).
"let it all go -- willingly and with positive acceptance"
For those many yoga teacher training grads who found no place for themselves as hundreds of new yoga teachers flooded the scene at once, I offer Charlotte Bell's blog post, "Living Gracefully With the Financial Challenges of Teaching Yoga." ...
"bakasana effect"
Once upon a time, I taught a very small yoga class, and each week, we would work on performing the pose bakasana, or crane pose, as a way to overcome fear. In trying to find ways to get students to "go for it," the practice ended up being about, ...


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Steve McQueen, a British director of West Indian descent, came to the movies from a distinguished career as a visual artist - he won the Turner Prize in 1999, the year all the press attention was devoted to Tracey Emin's unmade bed.
His principal medium has been film (although Queen and Country in 2007 commemorated British soldiers who had died in Iraq by using their portraits on sheets of stamps) and his two feature films so far, Hunger and Shame, were intense, masterful, challenging and original works that didn't make a dollar.
Here, adapting the 1855 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, whose story it tells, McQueen is painting on a much larger canvas: his film is a hot favourite for the best-picture Oscar (it's already nailed the Golden Globe) and it tells its story with a profound and impressive reverence for historical accuracy (a Harvard history professor was a consultant). The antique, slightly syncopated style of the dialogue adds to the authenticity.
Put another way, it's a historical costume drama on a grand scale, but the film's problem is that McQueen's characteristic aesthetic sensibility - the studied and slightly abstract artistry that he deployed in the earlier films - keeps getting in the way. This makes for moments of sublime, even mesmerising, power, but they sit uncomfortably in the context of a film that is, by and large, conventional and at times almost banal.
Northup (Ejiofor), the son of a freed slave, is a prosperous farmer in upstate New York, who is taken in by confidence men and sold into slavery. Shipped to Louisiana and renamed Platt, he is sold to kindly plantation owner William Ford (Cumberbatch) who treasures him as "an exceptional n*****". But he is later onsold to Edwin Epps (Fassbender), a sadistic alcoholic who believes the Bible authorises his abuses.
It is worth mentioning that the indignities visited on Solomon and his fellow slaves, particularly the diminutive Patsey (Nyong'o), are depicted with an unblinking explicitness that is often hard to take. McQueen would rightly counter any criticism with the observation that modern cinemagoers' discomfort is not to be compared with the slaves', but underlying that truth is an austere didacticism: it's too much to say that McQueen wants to rub our nose in the brutality, but amid all the sprays of blood from the flaying floggings, all the beatings and lynchings and rapes, the film has the feel of an R-rated history lesson. And the deliberately flat ending makes plain that McQueen never intended to assuage the horrors with either redemption or catharsis.
None of this is to deny that the film achieves many moments of mastery: an unbearably long scene in which Northup is left noosed and on tiptoe for hours as plantation life goes on around him leaves us feeling both drained and incandescent with rage. In another, which tips a hat to Terrence Malick, we watch the slave's face as he allows himself to contemplate the possibility of rescue.
Technically, the film certainly has it all: fantastic production values and superb performances. Its uncertainty of tone stops it from being a great film, but it is a very good one indeed.
Stars: 4/5
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard, Michael K. Williams, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, Lupita Nyong'o
Director: Steve McQueen
Running time: 134 mins
Verdict: Brutal, brilliant and faintly didactic
- TimeOut