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Hawks general manager Danny Ferry gave a simple explanation why he turned down the chance to trade Josh Smith on Thursday.
"We value Josh," Ferry said.
It wasn't the only time Ferry used those words. Smith, 6-foot-9 forward who leads the team in scoring, is an important defender with his steals and blocks, contributes big in assists and rebounds but will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Ferry confirmed the Hawks entertained offers for Smith leading up to Thursday's trade deadline. Ferry preferred to keep Smith even while accepting the risk he could lose the forward in free agency with no return for the team.
"We weighed the positives and negatives of each of our opportunities and at the end of the day we felt like the best decision was to stand pat based off some of the things we were looking at," Ferry said.
The Hawks made two other moves. The team traded guard Anthony Morrow to the Dallas Mavericks for guard-forward Dahntay Jones. Atlanta also acquired backup center Jeremy Tyler from Golden State as the Warriors moved to escape the luxury tax.
"I'm playing my dream job," Smith said. "I'm just blessed with the opportunity to be able to be a part of a special time. A lot of guys came through this league and played for the Hawks and other teams that I grew up idolizing, so it's definitely a blessing just to be here."
Smith leads Atlanta with his averages of 17.1 points and 2.1 blocks per game.
Deadline day resulted in only minor deals to the disappointment of those hoping for a frenzy.
J.J. Redick was the biggest name to be traded. Orlando traded the guard, center Gustavo Ayon and reserve point guard Ish Smith to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for guards Doron Lamb and Beno Udrih, as well as forward Tobias Harris.


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Semi-homemade Vegan: Arrabiata Quinoa with Cannellini & Asparagus
Here I combined cooked quinoa with steamed finely chopped kale (I added a bit more water than required to cook the quinoa and threw a couple of handfuls of the kale in while it was cooking) with Trader Joe's Arrabiata sauce and topped each serving with stir-fried asparagus and broccoli, chopped roasted red peppers, olive oil and white cannellini beans. The whole meal took about 30-minutes to prepare (only about 15-minutes of that required hands-on time).
Baking Inspiration from Non-vegan Sources
|This recipe is so great, that even when I have made it gluten free, the result was awesome!
|Get a load of Mrs. Fields' do!
Do you have any favorite non-vegetarian cookbooks that inspire you and that you use often?
Asian-style Rice Salad with Creamy Ginger Dressing (Vegan)
- 1/3 cup Veganaise
- 2 TB soy sauce
- 2 TB rice wine vinegar
- 1 TB Hoison sauce (Optional. If you don't use, you may want to add 1 tsp of sweetener.)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- pinch red pepper flakes
- Blend all with a whisk or small food processor. Refrigerate.
- 1 cup of cooked and cooled rice
- 1 cup small broccoli florets, blanched and cooled
- 4 cups shredded cabbage
- 1.5 cups shredded carrots
- 2-3 ribs of diced celery
- 1/2 English cucumber (with skin, cubed)
- 1 diced red pepper
- 7 ounces diced, pre-baked tofu
- peanuts for garnish
- Combine chopped ingredients in a large bowl and toss with prepared dressing. Garnish with chopped peanuts.
Tip: Fresh chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime would also nice way to finish each serving. Fancy!
Peach Cobbler Ice Cream Sandwich, Heirlooms, & Bacon Fries
Your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe (add a bit more brown sugar) + diced fresh peaches + pecans x 2 + soycreamery = messy fun vegan summer dessert.
Alexia House Cut fries + oven = cooked + smoked paprika + smoked sea salt + splash of apple cider vinegar = the taste of bacon minus the piggies
Can of chickpeas + jarred cherry peppers + tons of fresh basil + fresh thyme + a tomato + garlic + sea salt + fresh crushed black pepper + lots of Spanish olive oil x food processor = Mediterranean chickpea puree + grilled Trader Joe's Tuscan Pane + heirloom tomatoes = easy handheld vegan lunch.
Alexia House Cut fries + oven = cooked + smoked paprika + smoked sea salt + splash of apple cider vinegar = the taste of bacon minus the piggies
Vegan Tapas! Catalonian Romesco Sauce Recipe
|Romesco sauce atop crusty bread and topped with spicy baby arugula. Simple summer dinner!
When we were in Barcelona, we had a very late and delightful dinner with friends (hello, midnight!) and were encouraged by our more experienced tapas-partakers that romesco sauce is "very tasty." Taking their word for it, we ordered escalivada drizzled with a romesco sauce. It is a red pepper, tomato, nut, and bread based sauce used for everything from coating bread to dipping long, Spanish onions in before consuming them whole. I fell in love at first bite and decided I had to try to recreate it at home.
The key ingredient, I was told, is a dried, small sweet pepper called a ñora. Though not readily available in the United States, you can find them online easily.
|Red pepper, roasted over and open flame and then "sweated" in a paper bag. The skin comes right off.
I wanted to recreate the smoky flavor of the first romesco we had--and we had several--for it was the most flavorful. Most of the ingredients in my recipe were thoroughly roasted, and I even added a bit of smoked paprika and smoked sea salt (both available at Trader Joe's. Use the regular versions if you can't find them.) I also tried using various nuts to capture the flavor of the model sauce. A combination of hazlenuts and almonds seemed to capture it.
There are tons of recipes out there and all use the same basic principals, so experiment with the flavors (like I didn't use garlic or onions in my sauce because I don't like them, but I will include garlic in the recipe below since I know most people do like it!). Use the romesco sauce recipe below as a starting point and make it your own!
|Toasting a combination of almond and hazelnuts for the sauce.
Note for my GF friends: If you want to make the sauce gluten-free, either use gluten-free bread, or just add a few extra nuts. The bread is more about texture; the sauce has a great flavor without it. You can even leave out the bread and use the romesco, chilled of course, as a salad dressing or dip. It will last several days in the refrigerator.
makes about 2.5-3 cups
- 3 dried ñora peppers (or in the UK, order here)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for coating pan (Use Spanish if you can find it!)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 4 juicy, red tomatoes (about 2 cups if chopped), quartered
- 1 clove garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 of a sweet onion, sliced
- 1/8 cup almonds
- 1/8 cup hazelnuts
- 1 slice of crusty bread (Use more if you want a thicker sauce, leave out if you want a thin one.)
- 1 TB red wine vinegar
- 2-3 tsp smoked sea salt (Available at Trader Joe's)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (Available at Trader Joe's)
- dash of freshly crushed black pepper
- dash red pepper flakes (optional)
- Soak noras (or other sweet dried pepper) in water for at least 30 minutes or over night. When done, remove seeds.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Drizzle a baking dish with olive oil, add tomatoes, garlic and onions. Bake for about 45 minutes. Remove when done and let cool.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, roast the red pepper, using tongs over an open gas flame. BE CAREFUL! Don't burn your kitchen down or hurt yourself, kay? When the pepper is blackened, toss into a paper bag and let it sweat. Once cooled, the skin will peel off easily. Remove seeds and chop into pieces. (If you don't want to do this, use the jared kind or throw a chopped red pepper in with the tomatoes.)
- While your pepper is sweating in the bag, roast hazelnuts in a pan over low-medium hear for a few minutes, then add almonds until both nuts are toasted (about 5-10 minutes/or when they start to become lightly browned and fragrant). Set aside to cool.
- When the tomatoes are done, and all ingredients are cooled off, add all ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until everything is combined, and then keep on until the ingredients are pureed. If it seems dry, add a bit of olive oil. If it seems too thin, add another slice of bread. Serve over roasted veggies, on crusty grilled bread, over penne pasta, or leave it thin, chill it, and use as a salad dressing.
Street Art in Barcelona
Here are a collection of pictures I took of graffiti in Barcelona. My favorite is that very dapper little daschund and I love the texture created the layered levels of various pasted pictures, stencils, and tags.
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The Air We Breathe
Defeating: Thank you for printing the story "A Quiet Hell" [by Chris Vogel, December 17]. It is sad and a shame that more is not done to control the chemical releases they spew into our air that we breathe.
This has been an ignored problem since these plants were built. Talk to anyone who has worked for any one of them, and they will tell you what the companies get away with.
Houston air pollution
Ask any doctor in our area and they will tell you that the respiratory and asthma incidents are higher in Houston.
I thought some strides were going to be made by the mayor's office in Houston and the federal government to control this problem. Seems like they pay attention for a little while, and then have a short attention span when it comes to enforcement.
It is deflating that more isn't done to put a cap on the horrible chemicals that are in the air we breathe.
Guess folks forget that air is one of the basic human needs for survival.
Nancy Lauritsen
Critiquing the Critics
Online readers respond to "The AP's Year-End Album List Proves What We Already Knew: Rock Critics Are Assholes," By John Seaborn Gray, Rocks Off blog, December 15:
Wow, you are retarded: Animal Collective is quiet and whimsical? I don't think you listened to the album. And really nice to brush aside the entire continent of Africa's contributions to music.
No presence: I have never heard of any of these bands, except Wilco (and have not listened to it). To rock, you must have presence, and none of these bands have that, obviously.
And the Animal Collective album is freaking my eyeballs out.
Rock out: Let's all imagine for a moment that the word "rock" doesn't appear in the title of the AP's year-end best-of list. Now this article has no reason to exist.
Am I missing something? Why don't you put your list up instead of (or in addition to) slamming other people's?
Jason Smith
Lazy word: Am I the only one who thinks the overuse of the adjective "fucking" quickly becomes tiresome? To me, it's a crutch used by lazy writers to show how much they really mean it, maaaan. I get it: You're fucking upset that these fucking nonrock albums are on some fucking AP List that nobody fucking cares about. Fucking fuckfuck, boo hoo hoo.
Jim Cotter
Good article: I enjoyed it. The cover art from these albums alone is enough to turn me away from these bands. This must be the shit that pretentious assholes listen to in Starbucks while writing their novel on their MacBook.
Go elsewhere: I have very little to complain about this list. Although I don't like most of the records on it, I understand that it's not my list to curate, and if it were, none of those who seem to garner so much enjoyment out of guffawing at it would be nearly as interested in doing so.
As a piece of satire, this article does well pointing out that the AP should not be the place anyone goes to for information about music.
Fuck. Fucking. Fucked.
Excellent piece: I hate this neo-easy listening garbage. But I'd like to make fun of Animal Collective whilst not hearing more of Animal Collective — where's your list of top albums so I can go buy them?
Dad rock? While in some cases there is probably a bit too much whining and less simple explanation of why the AP clearly doesn't know what the genre of "rock music" should include, I still believe the article definitely gets its point across quite clearly. Someone used the term "dad rock." If that is what is being deemed what I have long since known as "rock," then what is wrong with the world and how can I find it again?
There is so much genre confusion these days. I go to a record store and I see things listed in rock that clearly aren't; things listed in jazz that are pop-vocalist crap that isn't jazz at all, etc. There's so many people trying to be a certain genre and failing. No one knows what the genres are anymore!
Wow: This has to be one of the worst year-end lists I have read so far. So, why don't you let us know what albums you think "rock"? Before you do that, please define the word "rock." It appears that you think rock music is something you can easily define with a few choice words. That seems pretty restricting when you are discussing an art form. Not that I agree with granting every unique sound its own subgenre, but with your restrictions on what can be considered rock music, it seems like we may need them.
Some of these albums may not be a start-to-finish, in-your-face assault of aggressive tunes, but who really needs that all the time? Let's take a look at a quote from Trent Reznor (I think he makes/made music you would consider rock), discussing Grizzly Bear: "The band Grizzly Bear, I think they're excellent. There's a beauty and a musicality there that I wish would have been in vogue in the late '80s, when I was forming bands. The aesthetic I was tuned into was a more dumbed-down kind of thing. Sometimes listening to stuff like they're doing makes me feel irrelevant. That's a nice, healthy kick in the ass. And it's interesting to see there's room for that in what's considered hip these days."
Notice his use of "dumbed-down" describing the late-'80s rock aesthetic, but "beauty" and "musicality" when describing Grizzly Bear making him feel irrelevant? Why is this important? Well, Mr. Gray, because you are a journalist, just like the AP guys you rip on. I doubt you are an actual longstanding, successful musician who is humble and enough of a realist to notice the music he made is no longer relevant to where rock music is headed. That the art form has evolved to include other characteristics. Which is why you write about music, and others make it.
No good rock: I haven't heard a good new song on the radio in over a decade. All the music that gets promoted by the record industry is trendy, poppy crap that I will never listen to. I'm really lost in the music world. I've been exploring hip-hop because as far as I can tell, rock is dead. Either that, or the record industry is doing a piss-poor job promoting anything resembling good rock music.
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Interesting article: I don't understand the problem, though. The music you prefer still sounds the same regardless of what the reviews say about it or whether it's on a year-end list. If it sounds good to you, enjoy. If it doesn't, then try something else.
I don't really dig heavy/hard rock; the National's Boxer is about as rockish as I get (and that's not saying much). Mellow music just appeals to me, whereas more energetic stuff doesn't. It's all about taste. You have yours, I have mine, each critic has their own and every commenter has theirs.


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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jason Kidd's series-long slump ended, and the New Jersey Nets evened things up with the Detroit Pistons in yet another lopsided game.
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Kidd had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his seventh career postseason triple-double, scoring nine straight third-quarter points when the Nets broke the game open for a 94-79 victory in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal Tuesday night.
Kidd was shooting an abysmal 23 percent in the first three games of the series, all of which were decided by double-digit margins. He shot 8-for-15 in Game 4 and got plenty of support from his teammates
The home team has won every game in this series, which is tied 2-2 and resumes Friday night at Detroit. The Pistons dominated the first two games with their defense, but the Nets showed in Games 3 and 4 that they can look to more players than Detroit can for offense.
New Jersey's defense was not too shabby, either, with Martin showing the most aggression while outplaying opposing power forward Rasheed Wallace, who aggravated a foot injury in the first half.
Detroit was a one-man show on offense, getting 30 points from Richard Hamilton and no more than eight from anyone else. Kittles shut down point guard Chauncey Billups (2-for-7, six points) for the second straight game, while the Nets' centers were able to contain Ben Wallace, holding him to 15 rebounds following his 24-rebound performance in Game 3.
Kenyon Martin had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Richard Jefferson scored 19.
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Washington, Aug 17 (IANS) To develop the next generation of exploratory space robots, the US space agency has turned to geckos for "ultimate stickiness".
After studying the way geckos use their physical property to hang upside down, engineer Aaron Parness from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California has made a material that uses tiny hairs like lizards to grip the surface.
In a zero-gravity test, the prototype technology was able to stick to and manipulate a 10 kg cube and a person weighing 100 kg, wired.com reported.
The tests have revealed over 30,000 stick-and-unstick repetitions with no loss of effectiveness.
The new material can soon be used on the International Space Station (ISS).
Geckos use thousands of very small hairs on their feet to hang upside down and on walls.
The effect is known as "van der Waals force" that manipulates electrical fields to get "ultimate stickiness".
The sticky effect persists at different temperatures, pressures and under intense radiation and can be reused endlessly.
The US space agency is also reportedly working on a "Lemur 3" climbing robot.
It will use the gecko-inspired technology to climb on the outside of spacecraft, performing inspections with more efficiency, even grab satellites to repair them and service them.


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For over a decade, Apple has pushed OS X as the better, more secure alternative to Windows — but are underlying problems rotting the OS's usefulness for professional applications?
Sitting in front of your seemingly turned-off webcam or staying in an unfamiliar hotel for the night, you occasionally have a fleeting thought even though it's not very likely, someone might be watching you or listening in without your knowledge. As it turns out, a new hack that targets Cisco phones turns your regular office phone into a bugging device, making all your workplace fears come true.
Most design flaws are more annoying than harmful, but over the years some have caused major disasters or changed the course of an industry. We look at a few of the most memorable and the lessons learned from them.
300,000 Ford and Lincoln owners get up update to enhance or fix (take you pick) Sync and MyFord Touch.
Over the last several years Android has exploded in popularity. With this massive growth came a few notable bugs in software and hardware. Here are some of the most unusual.
Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.
We have updated our PRIVACY POLICY and encourage you to read it by clicking here.


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We hope the boys at Allpar will excuse our neglect (geek excuse: we switched RSS readers, and dropped their feed somehow). But just because we're a few days late doesn't mean we can ignore a shot of what may be the next-generation Dodge Avenger, looking very Dodge-like in new grill and redesigned body. One of the site's readers spotted this shot in a Chrysler video presentation, and froze it (there's also a rear view). Mopar experts believe it's the next Avenger due (along with the Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring) for the 2007 model year. Oh yes, it's quite an improvement.
The next generation Dodge Stratus / Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring [Allpar]
Dodge: Stratus Out Avenger (Back) In; Spy Photos: Dodge Avenger?


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USD/JPY (a 4-hour chart)
General overview
The Japanese monetary regulator again made clear to the market that the yen devaluation was not a threat to the economy. The US and Japan stock markets growth will support the dollar/yen demand – the high-technology index Nasdaq was again the growth leader, that provides a solid foundation for the bulls in the American market.
The price is finding the support at 107.10, the next one is at 106.70. The price is finding the first resistance at 107.60, the next one is at 108.00.
There is a confirmed and a strong buy signal. The price is above the Cloud and it is above the Chinkou Span. The Tenkan-sen and the Kijun-sen show an upward movement. The upward movement will be until the price is above the Cloud.
The MACD indicator is in a positive territory. The price is growing.
Trading recommendations
After the level of 108.00 breakthrough upward the way to the resistance 108.50 will be opened


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This product is no longer available.
You can try these similar gifts instead.
Natural Peanut Butter Maker
For a fresh batch of natural peanut butter, add shelled nuts to the top bin, drizzle with a little oil, and watch as they are ground into creamy but butter. Use any nuts you like from cashews and almonds to sunflower seeds.


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New Hampshire Republicans are warming to Rick Santorum, but he has a long way to go to catch up with GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney, according to Suffolk University's latest tracking poll of likely GOP voters.
The Suffolk poll showed Mr. Romney at 40%, down from 43% at the start of the week, while Mr. Santorum climbed to 11% from just 3% before his near-win in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses. Ron Paul stands at 17%, Newt Gingrich, 9%, Jon Huntsman, 8%, and Rick Perry, who is betting on a solid showing in the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary, at 1%.
Four days before New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, 15% remain undecided, the poll shows.
"Rick Santorum is the only Republican candidate moving up in New Hampshire," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. "He has cleared the Gingrich and Huntsman hurdles for third place and is only 6 points away from second place. Watch out Ron Paul."
The Suffolk survey of 500 likely GOP voters in the Granite State was conducted Jan. 4 and 5 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.


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Jean-Marie Dufour (Lynda Khalaf (
Cahiers de recherche from GREEN
In this paper, we propose finite and large sample likelihood based test procedures for possibly non-linear hypotheses on the coefficients of SURE systems. Two complementary approaches are described. First, we propose an exact Monte Carlo bounds test based on the standard likelihood ratio criterion. Second, we consider alternative Monte Carlo tests which can be run whenever the bounds are not conclusive. These include, in particular, quasi-likelihood ratio criteria based on non-maximum-likelihood estimators. Illustrative Monte Carlo experiments show that: (i) the bounds are sufficiently tight to yield conclusive results in a large proportion of cases, and (ii) the randomized procedures correct all the usual size distortions in such contexts. The procedures proposed are finally applied to test restrictions on a factor demand model.
Keywords: Multivariate Linear Regression; Seemingly Unrelated Regressions; Monte Carlo Test; Bounds Tests; Nonlinear Hypothesis; Finite-Sample Test; Exact Test; Bootstrap; Factor Demand; Cost Function (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C3 C12 C33 C15 O4 O5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc Citations View citations in EconPapers (1) Track citations by RSS feed
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why i cant install any game there ?:/ in the newest version, in the older aslo
Can those who have damaged sd cards state what cards they are using in detail? Thx
Sandisk 16GB class 2 from t-mobile
i think new version maybe need more speed of sd card
because of this rom my hd2 was broken.
This rom's incall voice is toooooooo louder, after 1 day incall speaker was broken.
So i try another rom to be sure but it's same. Now i use hd2 with bluetooth headphones.
be carefull
developer have to fix it.
XDA Developers was founded by developers, for developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.
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US crime fiction is a big hit with North-East readers according to a study of the region's favourite library books.
Eight of the top ten most borrowed library books between July 2011 and June 2012 were by US crime authors, with James Patterson's Private London topping the chart.
The author also scooped second place for 10th Anniversary – a collaboration with Maxine Paetro.
Loading article content
Josephine Cox's Midnight came in third, followed by Those in Peril by Wilbur Smith and Tick Tock by Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.
Revealed on the eve of National Libraries Day (Saturday, February 9), the list was compiled using data from Stockton-based Public Lending Right.
Other favourites included: Live Wire by Harlan Coben, Worth Dying For by Lee Child, The Postcard Killers: A Novel by Patterson and Liza Marklund, Toys by Patterson and Neil McMahon and 44 Charles Street: A Novel by Danielle Steele.
Patterson also enjoyed success on a national level – topping the most borrowed author list for the sixth year running.


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As FinXL Managing Director, Tracy Thomson, told iTWire, the family-owned and run Australian business was initially set-up, with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, in 2003 "to plug what we perceived as a gap in the market sitting comfortably between the large tier 1 vendors and the contract labour hire market."
"The timing was right and this strategy paid off, supporting a few large corporate clients initially.
"Market challenges quickly made us realise that we too had to evolve our service offerings, opting to concentrate on our key niche technical specialties, building our bench of permanent technical resources, and taking on more end to end project delivery on an 'at risk' basis."
"The business is very different today than it was two year's ago, five year's ago and 10 years ago. I suppose we have matured and grown arms and legs in the process.
"Our in-house technical capability has mushroomed and we are a much more experienced business today. Our ever increasing client base is also providing us with more interesting, diverse and challenging work. I am still often amazed when I learn about some of the great project outcomes the teams have delivered and the excellent client feedback they have received."
Now, in its 10th year in business, FinXL has spread nationally from the two start-up offices in Sydney and Melbourne to a national service capability including offices in Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide.
According to Thomson, not many ICT service companies can claim "ten years of growth and profitability with a loyal, motivated and highly energised team," but she says that's what's been achieved – and much more – in the decade.
Now delivering specialist services to what Thomson claims is a growing national client base comprising of many leading telco's, banks, corporations and government departments, she attributes much of the success to always focusing on 'word of mouth' reputation "and ensuring we have really good technical delivery capability to carry out the work we win."
And, in one significant win just over two months ago, FinXL was appointed as an approved contractor to New South Wales Local Government, with inclusion in a new panel for the next three years. NSW councils and approved Not-for-Profit organisations can use the panel to request quotations for proposed IT and Communications Professional Services and associated products for contracts up to $500,000 in value.
As Thomson noted when FinXL was appointed to the panel in March: "FinXL has a formidable track record of proven project delivery and consulting expertise within the Government sector and this opportunity will enable it to extend its high value service offering to NSW Local Councils for the first time.
"We are all very excited about this new opportunity, which comes on the back of increased market demand for our services generally, in this our special 10th birthday celebration year!"
And, 10 years on, how does Thomson see the next 10 years unfolding for FinXL?
According to Thomson, who started her ICT career in the UK selling solutions for Norsk Data, "it's a really exciting time for FinXL, we continue to attract some great new talent into the business as technical leads, key consultants, account managers, who are again transforming our ICT project capability and capacity."
Thomson says FinXL's client base is also continuing to expand, reflecting the firm's current revenue growth of 70% year-on-year "in what is after all a fairly flat market."
"Our solutions provide our customers with good 'value for money' with relatively 'low risk' delivery outcomes, which make our services attractive. We are not planning to change this!"
Looking to the future, Thomson maintains the key factor she sees continuing to drive success for FinXL is the team of professionals employed by the firm.
"It's this new generation of highly energised professionals that are leading the way and mapping out our next phase of evolution. As with any ICT services company, we are only as good as the talent that we employ.
"Thankfully, we have some great people in our business that understand client needs, are capable of driving change and developing our cost-effective, 'go to market' solutions for the next chapter in FinXL's success story."


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After ski boots; Apres-ski shoes; Boots; Footwear; Footwear for men and women; Leather boots; Leather shoes; Slippers; Snow boots
Business in Huatan Tp, Changhua Co, TW


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The International Development Club, Columbia Investment Management Association, and the Club of Emerging Europe at Columbia Business School recently invited Bill Browder to give a talk on "The Perils and Rewards of Emerging Markets".
Also feature in the talk is Professor Bruce Greenwald, who asked some very relevant questions and
For those who do not know who Bill Browder is (myself included), here is a passage from his entry at Wikipedia:
Bill Browder and Edmond Safra founded Hermitage Capital Management in 1996 for the purpose of investing initial seed capital of $25 million in Russia. The business was very successful, profiting from the wave of privatizations occurring in Russia at that time, and increased its investor base substantially. Following the Russian financial crisis of 1998 Browder continued the business of Hermitage investing in Russia, despite significant outflows from the fund. His fund became a prominent activist shareholder in the Russian gas giant Gazprom, the large oil company Surgutneftegaz, Unified Energy Systems and Sberbank. Browder exposed management corruption and corporate malfeasance in these partly state-owned companies. He has been quoted as saying: "You had to become a shareholder activist if you didn't want everything stolen from you".
And I assume you should know who Bruce Greenwald is.
The video can be watched by clicking here.
And here is the transcript:
Bill Brower Bruce Greenwald2010 11 Columbia Heilbrunn


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Emeryville, CA (AFP) April 20, 2008
Computer buff Will Wright created a multi-billion-dollar franchise with "The Sims" video games that let people play at real life affairs such as dating, working and raising children.
Now from September, Wright will let people play god with his latest brainchild "Spore."
"The big hook with 'Spore' is that practically the entire game is user created," said Shane Satterfield, editor-in-chief at GameTrailers website. "'Spore' is really the first game that pretty much puts all the power in the hands of the player."
Players start as microscopic life forms competing for survival in primordial ooze and work their way onto land, where they evolve into creatures that build civilizations and rocket into space.
"It is still probably the most interesting question for scientists and five-year-olds: What is life?" Wright said, giving AFP an advance peek at the game, which hits US and European markets in September.
"It starts out as single-cell organisms and then you are eventually flying around the galaxy exploring new worlds, meeting other creatures and creating federations."
"Spore" is marked by Wright's loves for biology, learning, science, and science fiction.
A microscope, a moon rover model and a necklace of magnetic nuggets are among the knickknacks in his office at Electronic Arts-owned Maxis in Emeryville, California.
"I see a lot of games with a science fiction back story, but that is different than having science as their DNA," Wright said.
Players dictate how their animated characters evolve. Creatures can have scales, fins, wings, claws, extra appendages, additional eyes, or body parts in unexpected places.
The online game's programming gives characters artificial intelligence and figures out how they should walk, laugh, dance, fight or do other things based on what they look like.
For example, a creature given fangs will be more hostile than one with teeth for grazing.
"How they play the game has a lot to do with how they evolve their character," Write said. "My engineers have the tough job of figuring out how something will move before they get to see what it is."
Creatures pass on virtual genes to their progeny and build civilizations with cities, governments and economies.
"It is more of a social experiment," Wright said. "Science, economics, sociology, things like that are very fun to simulate in the computer."
In order to avoid what Wright sees as "inconsistencies" in online games in which characters interact in common virtual worlds, "Spore" provides players personal universes with copies of planets and creatures made by others.
The game culminates with what Wright describes as a "toy galaxy" for players to explore.
"We want players excited about creative, free-form play," Wright said. "Anyone can make the creative process part of the fun, much the way Lego is."
With the release of the original "Sims" title in early 2000, Wright lured women and other "casual gamers" into a video game market long considered a bastion of "hardcore gamers," mainly young men.
Electronic Arts announced this month it has sold more than 100 million copies of "The Sims", the world's best selling computer game.
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Washington DC (SPX) Apr 18, 2008
Is fairness simply a ruse, something we adopt only when we secretly see an advantage in it for ourselves? Many psychologists have in recent years moved away from this purely utilitarian view, dismissing it as too simplistic. Recent advances in both cognitive science and neuroscience now allow psychologists to approach this question in some different ways, and they are getting some intriguing results.
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London-based Standard Chartered is facing charges that it "schemed" with Iranian banks to skirt international sanctions.
This story is based on a radio interview. Listen to the full interview.
Tom Braithwaite, the US Banking Editor for the Financial Times says regulators accuse the bank of hiding more than 60,000 transactions.
"They're essentially saying that over a period of years, Standard Chartered conducted $250 billion of transactions with Iranian entities. And to avoid detection from American authorities, they stripped out the codes from the money transfers that would have identified Iranian banks," says Braithwaite.
He says such cases are usually settled when the bank agrees to pay a fine. But he notes that regulator's accusations of money-laundering could cost the London-based Standard Chartered its New York banking license.
"This really is an escalation of the threat level to banks, saying we could even kick you out of New York," Braithwaite adds.


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Blue Warlord
From Erfwiki
Revision as of 22:42, 16 June 2009 by HistoricAccount Muzzafar (Talk | contribs) (Confirmed by Rob to belong to Hobbittm)
Faction: Unknown
Class: Warlord
Faction: Unknown
Class: Warlord
During the Battle for Gobwin Knob, the Blue Warlord was a female commander clad in blue livery and a member of the war coucil of the Royal Crown Coalition.Erf-b1-p49
She represented Hobbittm in the Coalition.
Member of the RCC Council. She was one of only four warlords at Ansom's table on the penultimate night of the siege; Erf-b1-p101 - the others being Duke Nozzle, Scarlet, and the Superfluous Warlord.
She and Duke Nozzle were shocked and crapped by Sizemore during the battle for the garrison walls.Erf-b1-p126 Even if she survived that she was croaked in the Volcano Uncroaking. However, she might have been decrypted by Wanda using the Arkenpliers.


text: On Sat, Nov 04, 2000 at 08:07:35PM -0600, Gavin Scott wrote: > Hi, > > I am a brand-new Debian user but have used other dists for several years. I > just installed potato and dist-upgraded to woody. Welcome aboard. > > I'm trying to get sound to work on my laptop with ESS maestro-2. I've had it > configured for me automatically by Redhat 6.2 and Redhat 7.0 before. > > When I run alsaconf and select ESS-Maestro2 I answer a bunch of questions > (Max. dac frame size in kB, etc.) which I have no idea what the answers are > so I select middles in the given ranges. First, is my problem related to > these answers & if so any ideas where to find them? > > On finishing I get: > Loading driver: > Starting sound driver: es1968. > Setting the PCM volume to 100% and the Master output volume to 50% > The ALSA sound driver was not detected in this system. > Could not initialize the mixer, the card was probably > not detected correctly. > > Do I not have the ALSA sound driver? lsmod reveals a bunch of sound-related > modules -- looks okay. > > When I try to play a sound I get nothing -- wavp appears to play wav files, > but no sound comes out (volume is up). Running amixer I get: > The ALSA sound driver was not detected in this system. > > I read a similar question on this list and the response was the alsa was beta > software and to try OSS. I can't find deb's for that with dselect. Wouldn't > OSS also be kernel sound modules, i.e. under /lib/modules/2.2.17/sound? Are > there deb's for these modules (which are different from the alsa modules I > have under there now) or will I need to compile the kernel myself to go that > route? > > Any help will be greatly appreciated! > > Gavin Scott > firstname.lastname@example.com I have an ESS maestro-2 on my laptop, also. I simply needed to recompile my kernel with support for the right driver. Using kernel version 2.2.17pre6, just say yes to sound support, and then select the meastro 2 driver. Once finished with the "make menuconfig" step, the relevant part of my /usr/src/linux/.config file looks like: # # Sound # CONFIG_SOUND=y # CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_ES1370 is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_ES1371 is not set CONFIG_SOUND_MAESTRO=y # CONFIG_SOUND_ESSSOLO1 is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_ICH is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_SONICVIBES is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_TRIDENT is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDCLAS is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDPIN is not set # CONFIG_SOUND_OSS is not set I'm not an expert with this sound stuff by anyone's measure, so there may be quite a bit more tweaking to make things work optimally. This should get you going, though. -Al


text:
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text:
CHICAGO — Nothing is said by any Republican these days about the fact that our aging, perhaps ailing, president has retained as his potential successor a man who also avoided military service in Vietnam. But there is this critical difference: the president`s running mate and his influential publishing family, as enthusiastic cheerleaders for the Vietnam War, were quite eager to send other American young men to fight and die over there.
I gather that Gov. Clinton`s situation today is much closer to that of Secretary of Defense Cheney, who likewise has been revealed as having skillfully avoided military service during the Vietnam War, a war he too evidently detested. Why are not the president and other Republicans calling for their Defense Secretary`s scalp as a draft-dodger?


text:
Today's column starts with two questions, whose answers turn out to be similar.
Q My father found this bronze statue at a flea market some years ago. He was told that it had been broken during the Loma Prieta earthquake and the owner could not get it properly repaired. My father has undertaken this restoration and is close to completing the work on the body of the statue.
While working on the project we have gotten very curious about the probable age of the statue and its history. The more he works, the more we are falling in love with her! The signature on the base of the statue is L (or E?) Guillemin.
Q I saw your column in the newspaper and decided to send descriptions of this piece, to see what you think of its validity and/or value. A client gave this statue of a seated Indian to my dad, a CPA, in the 1960s. Dad always called it Chief Joseph; the figure is almost 12 inches tall.
A At nearly every auction-appraisal event, someone brings a metal or bronze figure. Many of these people have seen similar statues sell for thousands of dollars, and they are surprised by our low evaluations. The difference between an "original" bronze and a reproduction can be difficult to understand. Both use similar techniques in an exacting and multistep production process.
Charles Marion Russell (United States, 1864-1926) and Emile Guillemin (France, 1841-1907) were both successful and prolific artists. While Russell is commonly known as "the cowboy artist," Guillemin is noted for his depictions of classic subjects. Original artwork by either can sell for thousands of dollars. Both artists have been copied and reproduced almost since the moment their originals were unveiled.
Making a bronze statue is labor-intensive and costly. The most common technique is called "lost wax" or cire perdue. Here's an outline:
1. The artist makes an original sculpture of wood or clay. This statue is not intended to be a finished product.
2. The original is secured in a bed of soft clay to keep it motionless. Craftsmen cover the exposed side with silicon rubber. When the rubber dries, it is covered with a plaster shell to keep the rubber intact.
3. When hardened, the plaster is broken off, leaving half of a rubber "negative."
4. The process is repeated on the other side. This two-part rubber negative is used as the master mold.
5. A second positive is created by painting the interiors of the rubber molds with a molten wax; then the two halves are secured together. Several layers of hot liquid wax are poured into the mold. When the wax hardens, the rubber mold is removed, and a second "positive" is revealed.
6. If multiples are to be made, the rubber mold is kept for future use. If it is a one-time casting, the mold is destroyed.
7. At this stage, the artist again gets involved, checking the wax positive for errors and/or adding details. The artist incises a signature and edition number.
8. The wax positive is then dipped into a series of liquid clay coatings and rolled in sand; through the buildup of many of these layers, a strong negative mold is created.
9. The whole thing is heated again. The internal positive wax melts, and is poured away, leaving a ceramic mold.
10. Molten bronze is then poured into the ceramic-and-sand mold. As the metal cools, it solidifies. The ceramic shell is cracked open and removed, and imperfections in the cast are polished or sanded off.
11. A final patina is applied using a combination of heat and chemicals to produce colors and textures.
A bronze created with this method is considered an "original."
By contrast, bronzes produced by using the finished original sculptures as molds are considered "after." The artist has no direct involvement with the final product in this scenario, and these pieces can be reproduced any number of times, at any scale.
The detail on "after" pieces is often very good, but not as fine as on the "originals." You can buy these bronzes in museum gift shops. The reproductions are beautiful items, but they have minimal value compared to an original.
These two figures up for appraisal here can be marketed as sand, lost-wax or investment casts.
The C.M. Russell figure of a seated Indian would sell in the $100-$200 range. The lovely sprite is made of a white metal, rather than bronze. That fact, combined with her damage and careful restoration, mean that her value is as a decorative item only.
Jane Alexiadis is an appraiser with Michaan's Auctions. Send questions, a brief description and measurements to firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
- Circuit news
Gascoyne slams 'boring' desert circuits
- Drivers:
- Mike Gascoyne
- Circuits:
- Bahrain International Circuit
- |
- Yas Marina Circuit
Lotus boss Mike Gascoyne has urged Formula One's bosses to keep striving to make the sport a better spectacle, and has slammed the construction of "boring" desert circuits in the Middle East.
Speaking to Reuters, Gascoyne said the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix were dull, something that an otherwise superb season served to gloss over.
"You can make an argument that says, 'we had a cracking season last year and why would you want to change anything?'" he told the agency. "Then you could say, 'yes, but we had three or four incredibly boring races'. If on certain circuits you have cracking races every year then why don't we stop going to boring racing circuits?
"The shame is that, Monaco apart, a lot of the races now that are really boring are all the purpose-designed tracks built in deserts where you could have done absolutely anything that you want.
"It's pretty disappointing that you've got two massively boring races on circuits where you had literally carte blanche to do anything you liked. You could have had elevation change or moved sand wherever you wanted it."


text:
Tuesday tip: Turn a granny skirt into a cute dress!
I'm always a fan of easy ways to modify clothes without having to get the sewing machine out (See exhibit A, B, C and D!).
Remember that midi skirt I wore for my wardrobe wakeup project? Tonight I shall reveal how to turn a granny skirt into a cute dress in one move!
Yep, just pull it up, pop a belt on and you have a cute a-line strapless dress!
Ta-da!!! A short and sweet tip. Well, it had to be. Alex is hassling me to walk to Tesco with him and buy some sweets! We're watching the final instalment of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy tonight. Really enjoying it so far!
Until tomorrow,
PS - Amy just commented and reminded me that this idea works well for using skirts as tops too! H&M's £2.99 bodycon skirts work particularly well! x
Babbled by Gem at 8:19 PM 28 comments: Links to this post
Friday night's outfit
I am seriously frazzled after my afternoon at work! It was so busy, I feel like a zombie now. I staggered home, chucked a pizza in the oven and am now in a carb-coma, watching Big Brother! I wanted to post my outfit from last night so I haven't been a completely useless blimp tonight!
I had a really nice night. I went out for a couple of drinks with my work buddies. I didn't stay out too long as I don't really have much money to be wasting on booze! AND I realised I'd forgotten to use the Models Own 50% off voucher code, so had to be home by midnight before it ran out. Sort of like a modern day nail-art-obsessed Cinderella story!
I can't wait for my new shades to arrive! I picked 5 lovely colours and it all came to about £12.50 including P&P! I know I said I was skint, but I seriously need to top up my nail varnish collection. Nail varnish > Booze. Eyeko sent me a few nail varnishes to try out today, so I'm going to be on a nail art mission trying all these bad boys out in the coming weeks!
Anywho, here's what I wore out. I resurrected my Christopher Kane lacey meshy Topshop dress, and wore it with my vintage desert boots (which might as well be surgically attached to my feet), my kitten locket from Claire's, a h&m scarf in my hair and a plait Primark belt.
Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!
Babbled by Gem at 10:40 PM 24 comments: Links to this post
A quick video blog!
Hey y'all!
I broke my camera so decided to do a quick video blog, which turned into a long-winded and random rant, so I have edited most of the crap out very quickly (am on the way out) and here it is. The editing looks like it was quite literally done by a monkey, please forgive me! Oh, and sorry about my language. Can't help it!
[Love this freezeframe!! Oh haiiii!]
Sorry I say 'so anyway' a lot! And also, my brother kindly pointed out on iChat the other night 'you've got a grey tooth'. I don't. I have a cap on half of my front tooth from a childhood handstand accident (lolz), and for some reason it looks really dull in front of the camera! Just wanted to clear up grey-tooth-gate.
Back ASAP for a decent blog post!
Babbled by Gem at 5:54 PM 31 comments: Links to this post
Tuesday Tip: How to prevent GFS (Gappy Fringe Syndrome)!
The gappy fringe... Destroyer of otherwise nice Facebook photos and the bane of Emo's lives the world over. It's a condition that blighted my confidence for much of my adolescence. Over the years, I've grown to accept it as a fact of life, up there with periods and exercise aversion. Until now.
A recent procrastination session led me to googling 'how to prevent a gappy fringe', and I found the answer I'd been waiting for here. It seems so simple, I just wish I'd tried it sooner!
You have to hold your fringe up and spray hairspray underneath it. I use a strong Tresemme one, and have found it works really well. Spraying it underneath prevents it going all solidified. I spray underneath the fringe and then a little spritz on top and that's it. It's a two pronged attack on gaps. It makes sense really... I was just spraying hairspray on top of my fringe before, which would only serve to weigh it down and make it more gappy!
This method doesn't always hold all day, but it's a vast improvement on my instant-gapping fringe of yesteryear!
So there we go. From gappy to happy in a few squirts of hairspray!!
Babbled by Gem at 11:51 AM 38 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: double bill finale! Day 7 & 8!
Ahoy there!
Thanks for all of your great comments on the wardrobe wakeup posts. Even though I haven't replied personally to all of your comments just yet (it takes me ages because I get sooo distracted reading your various blogs!) I just want you to know I love your feedback! Glad some of you have been inspired to try some new things too!
Yesterday I was inspired by that cute 80's chick from X Factor, so decided to go to the pub quiz in 80's getup! It's a look I never try, and I though it might be our lucky charm, but we didn't do very well in the quiz at all. I guess you can't win 'em all... Speaking of winning, I bought Boggle in a charity shop earlier! Can't wait to kick Alex's butt, but am slightly worried it might be our undoing. (We're both rather competitive!)
(dress - a vintage shop in paris, jacket - topshop, headscarf - h&m, beads - boot sale, pumps - topshop, ring - topshop)
Today, I was theoretically free to slouch about in a t-shirt and leggings, as it has now been over a week since I started my little wardrobe experiment, but I inadvertently wore something unusual. I bought the midi length skirt recently in a charity shop. It feels so unusual wearing a skirt this length, and looks pretty weird too, but at least I can say I've tried it! Sorry for being a mega garment-repeater, but I love my new jacket so much.
(tee - ebay, belt - primark, jacket - heaven, skirt - oxfam, socks - h&m, lace-ups - charity shop)
I've had such fun dressing up differently this week. It's been quite time consuming and a bit stressful having to actually use my imagination rather than wear the same old thing. Thanks for sharing the adventure with me!
Babbled by Gem at 9:15 PM 36 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: Day 6!
Morning all!
How's your weekend going?
I had my friend Katie over, who I haven't seen in 8 months, so that was lovely. We did some shopping (well, I played personal shopper to Katie as I had no pennies of my own!) and had a gorgeous lunch at Boho café in town. Then Katie went home and Alex and I watched X Factor... Erm, LET DOWN! I couldn't get over the autotune they'd used in post production to try and make the contestants sound better! It was so blatant. I think they're going to get in quite hot water for trying to deceive us viewers! If you liked last night's X Factor, you'll love this... (even if you didn't, just click the link. Watch bottom video first!)
I tried to do head to toe polka dots yesterday, but I am not sure I'm feeling it. Some of my favourite spotty things are in the laundry basket, so I was a bit limited. But I do quite like how it's a bit 'wacky' but quite subtle.
Even when my outfits haven't looked that good this week, I'm still glad I've been trying them out. It is still more interesting that sticking on an h&m t-shirt and denim shorts! I've got something special planned for today's look, so I need to go and get on with sorting that out... All will be revealed!
Oh yeah, I tried to ombre my nails last night, inspired by Kylie from Nice & Shiny. I tried to do it a few weeks ago using this tutorial but it didn't work. I tried it again last night though and it did work better, but is by no means perfect! Will finetune the method and if I can work out how to do it perfectly, I'll do a tutorial for it.
Babbled by Gem at 10:29 AM 34 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: Day 5!
Today's WWU was a bit of a fail on two counts. Firstly, I had a mega lie-in and had hardly any time to think about my outfit before going out with my friend Jen. Secondly, after deciding on the below outfit, I opened the curtains and realised that summer had decided to change the habit of a lifetime and actually occur. So I ended up wearing my maxi with sandals in the end!
For all of ten minutes, here was the Autumnal roughed-up maxi look I was attempting:
(Jacket - from my dreams, dress - dorothy perkins, boots - charity shop, pendant - h&m)
This hottie was my inspiration. I found her on Style Sightings, where there are loads of themed street style posts (maxi's, polka dots, denim, etc). A truly amazing site!
So my outfit was a bit of a rush job, but I still really liked it. Will definitely be rocking the winter maxi to the, erm, max!
I want to go gothic tomorrow but am meeting an old friend for a possible fun outing to a farm, so don't want to frighten any children, or indeed animals! I already frighten animals with my desperation to be loved by them (they sense it and always walk away from me), so grim reaper chic will probably just add insult to injury!
I'm off to watch Big Brother now! GET JOHN JAMES OUT.
PS - Thanks to those that have stood up for me regarding some of the beef-esque comments on the Asos page. I am really touched. I don't deal with negativity very well and I don't want to waste my energy by retaliating. But I'm not gonna lie, seeing you guys retaliate is another matter. LOVING it! Ha! x
Babbled by Gem at 8:09 PM 24 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: Day 4!
Bonjour amigos!
For today's look I busted out my brand spanking new aviator jacket from Topshop! I got it with my quarterly uniform discount (we get 60% of a few items), and had a few old vouchers to use up, so it only cost about £13 in the end! An epic win, I'm sure you'll agree.
I was going for a grungey Alice Dellal look:
(pics from ASOS and TFS)
I layered up my outfit just like Alice does, and
The top was in a goodie bag from F&F at Tesco which I've never worn, the flannel shirt is an old car boot sale find which I've not worn in ages, and the shorts are Topshop. I'm really glad I set myself this challenge because I am being forced to rediscover loads of old clothes and try new things. If you're in a rut, I definitely recommend this challenge!
I even did that crackwhore copper eye makeup all the cool kids do! Not the best picture of it... I made it look even more cracky after this photo! I used my Models Own eyeshadow duo in Woodland (that's the name of the eyeshadow, I don't mean I ventured to the woods to apply it!)
Well, the washing up is calling me, so I'd better get on with it! It's all go at Maison de Gem!
Do you have any cool plans tonight? Let me know so I can live vicariously through your exciting lives!
Babbled by Gem at 8:35 PM 39 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: Day 3!
Did you hear the goss yet?! I won the ASOS Battle of the Bloggers! Thanks so much to all of you that voted for me. I won with 31% of the votes! I never thought my article would get picked for the final 10, let alone voted the winner, so I am thrilled! The prize is a HP Vivien Tam netbook (omg!) and a little stint as an ASOS street style blogger. They'll give me fashion assignments for the next few months and I will report back with my stylish findings. The first assignment will be street style snapping at London Fashion Week with the ASOS team, which I'm looking forward to! I am so glad I've won, and so flattered by the judges' words on the ASOS site. I'm dreading returning to uni and I've really been needing something to look forward to and this more than fills that void. Thanks again for your support, can't wait to snap some inspirational babes for your (and my) perusal!
Anywho, here's today's outfit! Sorry the pic isn't very sharp, it was just a quick snap Alex took on my way out earlier. I was going for quite a cutesy look, but I think the outfit called for more makeup than I had time to apply. Some pink lippy or something!
The dress is an old charity shop find, and one of the first Topshop items I ever owned. The kitty locket was a very naughty buy from Claire's the other day (I'm bordering on poverty, but it was only a fiver!). I'm wearing my Moheda clogs (courtesy of Sarenza) with Topshop socks and an H&M cardi.
What do you reckon? I'm thinking of going for a punky/grunge Alice Dellal look tomorrow. Cut off hotpants, a baggy flannel shirt and boots, perhaps. Will see how I feel tomorrow!
Have you had a nice week so far?
Babbled by Gem at 8:23 PM 44 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: Day 2!
Just a quickie because I'm in the middle of watching Big Brother, and things are getting pretty tense! Don't forget to check out my latest yummy Tuesday tip!
On the advice of some of you lovelies from my last outfit post, I tried nautical today! I rummaged in the forgotten corners of my wardrobe and found this super cute oversized t-shirt I got at a car boot sale a few years ago and have worn once! I wore it with some boat shoes I got in paris last year, and my new Topshop jeggings! I got a few compliments at work, which was lovely and I enjoyed dressing in a 'theme'! There must have been something in the air as we all had stripes on at Topshop today!
It's a bit of a simple outfit, but I'd definitely wear it again! Sorry I look like some kind of wax-work. My current foundation is a bit glowy, but that translates in photos as 'sweaty betty chic', unfortunately!
I'm meeting my friend Emily for lunch and a massive catch up tomorrow so feel free to give me more ideas of what to wear! I found a very cute little navy polka dot strappy dress which would be good for a cutesy socks & clogs kind of look. Hmmm!
How's your week going so far?
Babbled by Gem at 11:15 PM 26 comments: Links to this post
Tuesday tip: Delicious, easy, swirly sponge cake!
This week's tip is a recipe for the delicious birthday cake I made our friend William the other day! His mum described it as 'beautiful', and what she says goes!
This recipe is the simplest sponge recipe ever, and has been served up on every birthday me and my
siblings have ever had, in various multi-coloured incarnations! This version is a bit boring as I only have blue and pink food colouring, and the cake is for a boy! But there is potential to create a masterpiece! This recipe also works perfectly for cupcakes.
You will need:
3 x medium eggs
self-raising flour
caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
food colouring
icing sugar
♥ Weigh the 3 eggs. Then measure out the same weight in butter, flour and sugar.
♥ Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. If you're doing this by hand, stop when the sugar stops feeling crunchy as you mix it. Technical terminology here, folks!
♥ Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat the mixture very quickly after you add each egg to prevent it curdling.
♥ Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture gradually, folding it in with a metal spoon to let air in (to help it rise).
♥ Divide the mixture into 2 separate bowls, and add whatever colour food dye you want the sponge to be a combination of! Add the food colouring carefully. If the mixture goes a bit runny, stick a bit more flour in.
♥ Grease your baking tins, and stick blobs of each colour mixture into the tins. Swirl it about a bit and pop in the oven at 180c.
♥ Don't check on the cake for at least 20 minutes. If you open the oven before then, your cake will quite literally be a flop! 25 mins is usually enough time for the centre of the cake to spring back when you touch it. If you press the cake and it stays pressed, give it a little longer! Hope this makes sense!
♥ Whilst you're waiting, mix up your icing sugar. I just mix up a few tbsps of butter until soft and add heaps of icing sugar (sieved) until I think I have enough!
♥ Separate your icing sugar into bowls and add food colouring according to how you'd like to decorate the cake!
♥ Remove cake tins from oven and carefully up-end the cakes onto cooling racks or plates. Sometimes a bit of cake might stick to the tins a bit, but just scrape it out and stick it back in the gap (see below!) It'll be sandwiched together with icing, so it doesn't matter!
♥ Once cool, ice the cake however you like! I went with a mint green topping and filling, with an injoke written (with piping bag, £1.30 ish in Wilkinsons) in turquoise and red. I won't confuse you by posting the FINAL product!
♥ And here's how the swirly pattern looks inside. Imagine if it was mint green and pastel purple or something. Gorgeous!
Happy Tuesday, everybody!
Babbled by Gem at 9:06 PM 14 comments: Links to this post
Wardrobe wake up: Day 1!
If you caught my post yesterday, you'll have witnessed the exact moment I decided to challenge myself to make more of an effort with my outfits. Every day this week, I'm going to dress in a different style, using only the clothes I currently have. I feel like I wear the same type outfits, day in day out, so I really want to wake up my wardrobe and start wearing more of it! I think this will be quite a hard challenge because very recently I chucked loads of clothes away or up in the loft. So I don't actually have many clothes to hand! But I'm going to give it a go anyway :)
Today I went for a flirty 50's look. It put such a spring in my step at work being all dressed up, and I had a really nice day as a result!
(playsuit - miss selfridge, belt - new look, cardi - primark, pumps - primark)
Im trying to think of what to wear tomorrow... perhaps sporty... but I really would be scraping the barrel, wardrobe-wise! Do comment me any style suggestions and I will raid the wardrobe and see what I can create!
PS - Just noticed I'm a kitten's whisker away from 600 followers! Bloody heck! Thanks so much to all of you that follow the blog. I think you're quite literally the shit... Just realised that's actually an insult. You're just awesome, okay? x
Babbled by Gem at 7:26 PM 56 comments: Links to this post
Lazy Day
Are you having a lovely weekend? Mine has been a chilled affair. Yesterday I baked a cake for our friend William's birthday, and then we went to his house and hung out. And ate the cake. It was amazing (Pics and recipe to come on Tuesday!).
Rather than show you my boring old outfit (t-shirt and shorts, if you must know!), I thought I'd show you some much more interesting ones from the interweb, found during my last hour of blog-trawling. A lot of the outfits I like are so unlike my usual laid-back style. It's hard to pull off certain looks with my hairstyle, I think. But after seeing some of the cool outfits below, I am feeling really inspired to try some new things. I used to be really experimental but am in a bit of a funk at the moment. A comfy, casual funk. I really want to mix it up a bit more.
Okay, this is total stream of thought blogging happening right now, but I've just had an idea! I am going to challenge myself to wear a different 'style' every day this week. Grunge, ladylike, androgynous, 50's... I'm going to do it all! It's time I mixed things up a bit more, and even if things don't suit me, at least I can say I tried! Feel free to comment and leave me ideas of looks to try? I'm all excited now!
Bugger, this post wasn't meant to be all about me! Onto the cool dudes: (click to enlarge)
(Top to Bottom: glamcanyon, gademode, facehunter, hipster musings, yeye style blog, work it berk, style sightings, I can't remember, hedvig)
Ps - Another pub quiz tonight... We came joint 3rd last week! Hoping to better our score this week... Wish us luck!
[EDIT: We WON the pub quiz! Woohoo!! We won a crate of beer, some vouchers for the milkshake shop in town and some packs of sweets! Tempted to rename the blog Genius Fatale!]
Babbled by Gem at 4:07 PM 26 comments: Links to this post
Beside the seaside!
Alex and I went to Whitstable with his parents today. I love Whitstable, it's where I spent my birthday. I didn't take many pics because it was raining a lot of the time and I didn't want to damage my cam! I have quickly edited these in Picnik, trying out different levels of sepia and vignette, so excuse the inconsistency! Feel free to tell me which effect you like best or give me any Picnik pointers!
Here's what I wore:
Here's what I saw:
Woolly Bicycles outside a cute indie/DIY type gift shop!!
Flower filled ornamental bike and a floral wheelie bin! Too cute!
Here's what I bought:
(Address book and 5 packs of Frosties for us and our friends to scoff during Big Brother tonight!)
Oh and here's my new mobile phone! It's a Nokia C6. I'd been holding out for the Xperia Mini Pro (it's adorbs) but the T-mobile lady cajoled me into getting this one instead because the Xperia got recalled due to signal probs... I'm disappointed I didn't get the phone I truly wanted but I've been making it mine all evening with apps and things. I love the keyboard on it. I'll be a tweet and text machine! So I guess that's all that matters.
Off for my nightly date with Big brother! Hope you're having a lovely Friday night!
Babbled by Gem at 8:30 PM 22 comments: Links to this post
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Note: rough earlier versions of this post briefly appeared for some reason. I take full responsibility for that which I did not cause and cannot control.
Karl Payne is a certified demonologist, whatever that means. We can safely assume it means he deeply believes, or claims to deeply believe, in super-natural critters the rest of us can't see or hear and science has never been able to detect. Apparently Halloween is a busy night for demonologists, kinda like New Year's Eve in an ER. Karl Payne is deeply concerned that this Halloween will intentionally or unintentionally open the door for demons to swarm through from the pit of hell or nearest parallel dimension.
But you probably won't be surprised to learn that back when Karl was trick or treating, it was all innocent fun and games, a harmless quest for candy undertaken by wholesome kids facilitated by red-blooded American neighbors. It's only lately, when Karl is older and no longer participates, that Halloween has taken such a dark turn. Beyond that it just gets hilarious:
RW Watch — Why am I concerned about the way Halloween, the media and our current culture encourage the celebration and trivialization of spiritism, occultism, Satanism, hedonism, witches, zombies and walking on the dark side with demons? Because the supernatural world is real, and no one is immune to it regardless of their education or worldview. God is real. Angels are real. Satan is real. Demons are real. Real gladiators and real Christians died in the Colosseum and circus even though many Roman leaders and citizens just considered their destruction an evening of entertainment.… I have witnessed the reality of demonic bondage hundreds and hundreds of times. I have also witnessed individuals being set free through deliverance from demonic bondage hundreds and hundreds of times. Christian missionaries who live in the midst of this reality have thanked me many times for writing this book. Religious academics as well as atheistic secularists are more inclined to ridicule or ignore the subject.
As a semi-professional atheist materialist secularist satirist smartass … I don't think I can ridicule Karl much more than he's already done.
But on a serious note, we ignore con artists like Payne at our peril. I always thought the reason fundies loved the idea of Satanic churches so much that they begin fabricating more and more extravagant stories about them, is because a Satanic church, or a coven of people who think they are witches, or people who worship demons, etc., these are all things that have really existed. Since Payne and his fellow conmen haven't been able to produce a single real demon or demonstrate one instance of successful witchcraft, and since it's a lot easier to scare people into buying snake oil when you can brandish a real item for all to see and touch and fear, the handful of poorly attended Satanic churches run by aging antisocial weirdos that have existed in recent times suddenly explodes into a vast underground network. With evil tentacles into every profession, political office, and school in the world. All obsessed with breeding children to serve as live sacrifices, porn actors, and child brides for Lucifer. At least according to Christian grifters.
But for whatever reason, maybe it was watching movies like the The Omen and The Exorcist at an impressionable age while growing up around fundamentalist influences, that idea of wide-spread ritual Satanic abuse got loose in mental health and law enforcement communities across the nation. I witnessed this first-hand in two completely different contexts. In the mid to late 80s I was a substitute math and science teacher while in college at a treatment facility for adolescents. As teaching gigs go this was premo: it paid well for a college job, and if a kid acted up real bad I could call big burly men to come put them in a strait jacket and lock them in a padded room for the rest of the class. How would you like that option these days teach?
At first I didn't understand what the hell some of the kids were telling me, when they said the reason they were messed up was because they were raised in a Satanic cult to be exploited and horribly abused. It alarmed me enough that I finally mentioned it to one of the therapists during a break in a staff meeting, "did you know some of these patients honestly think they were raised in a Satanic cult?" to which she replied "Of course, and most of them were." Her self-confident answer chilled me to the bone, but not in the way grifters like our demonologist friend above believe. It scared me because I instinctively knew, even at age 22 without the benefit of a single class in psychology, that that sounded like complete and total bullshit.
On a side note, the kids in that center had long since figured out this Satanic deal scared a lot of adults, so they used it all the time to try and manipulate staff. When one kid tried that on me I got to laugh at him and challenge him to bring down a demon on me in front of the entire class or admit he was lying his ass off. No demon appeared. Not one kid ever tried that ruse on me again, either. Atheist 1; Fakers 0.
At the same time, a family member was being treated for clinical depression and briefly flirted with the idea. Fortunately, the therapist in that case waved away that crazy diagnosis and got to the real heart of the problem. It could have easily gone the other way, and it did for thousands of patients in the late 80s. Some of whom now permanently suffer false memory syndrome of horrible events as if they really happened to this day, others certianly didn't receive any help with their condition if their therapist was chasing demon cults. So yeah, we don't ignore you Karl.
As a reader blow notes, check out the McMartin preschool hysteria, which destroyed the lives of innocent kids and teachers alike. Indeed, Karl, we are worried your particular brand of snake-oil can poison the minds of people far removed from the usual victims you prey on. With tragic consequences in some cases.


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UPDATED, 5:57: The stand ended just after 5:45 p.m., when police used chemical munitions to flush the suspect out of the home.
No one was injured, and police are not releasing his name until he has been formally charged. Residents will be allowed back into their homes once police have cleared the residence, Smith said.
UPDATE, 5:23 p.m.: The standoff continues. Smith said that it is not known if the suspect is armed, but some of his warrants did involve weapons.
Police evaluated homes in the neighborhood, leaving many nearby residents to wait while the situation plays out.
Killeen High School student Trevell Holgate lives on Sunset, and said he met the suspect on a few occasions.
"I ran into him a couple times, and he seemed off," said Holgate. "I wasn't surprised."
Holgate didn't know the man's name, but said the police had been to the home before.
Killeen police and SWAT officers are engaged in a standoff with a suspect who barricaded himself in his home Tuesday afternoon.
The indecent began just after 1 p.m., when Killeen police were assisting another agency in serving multiple felony warrants on the suspect, described as a 29-year-old male. The man refused to come out of the home.
Killeen Police Department Spokesperson Carroll Smith said the man refused to come out of the home, located in the 1800 block of Sunset Drive. The department called its tactical response team to the scene around 2:30 p.m.
Currently the man is still in the home, Smith said. Police do not believe there is anyone else inside the residence with him.


text: Original Type 3A Speedometer Driven Gear, Orange 16-Tooth Nylon for 4-Speed Top Loader.Matching your gear's color does not guarantee correct replacement. Please confirm teeth count and direction of teeth. This part fits on the transmission end of the speedometer housing & cable assembly. Multiple applications & variables.*4-speed Toploaders have reversed tooth direction. Gear has left-hand rotation.


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STARmeterSEE RANK
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Rachel Norris (I)
Rachel Norris was born on January 22, 1983 in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA as Rachel Ann Norris. She is known for her work on Norbit (2007), Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (2005) and 2005 MTV Movie Awards (2005). See full bio »
Born:in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
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Planning a vacation?
The Friends of the Los Gatos Library Bookstore that's located in the old library at 110 E. Main St. is having a 50 percent off sale on travel books, including guide books and in-depth books on particular locales. The sale runs through May.
The bookstore also recently received a large donation of spiritual books.
The store is open Tuesdays 1 to 7 p.m., Thursdays 2 to 6 p.m., Fridays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays noon to 5 p.m.
Call 408.438.0699 or visit friendsoflglibrary.org.
'Caregivers Count' group
The Caregivers Count Support Group meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 2:30 -4 p.m. at the Los Gatos Adult Recreation Center, 208 E. Main St.
People who are caring for a spouse, parent, grandparent or client are welcome to attend sessions, which are free.
Call 408.354.1514 for more information.
Water contest for local youth
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is accepting video and poster entries for its youth media contest, with entries due by midnight on May 12. Youths are asked to create a poster or video depicting water-saving tips. The contest is designed to increase awareness about the drought.
Youths will compete in two age groups: 14-18 and 19-24. Entries may be a team or individual effort, and contestants must live in Santa Clara County.
Visit valleywater.org/youthcontest for details.


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Here at Review Centre we work hard to make sure we are the best place on the internet for honest, unbiased consumer reviews - we are grateful for your help in keeping us that way!
Written on: 12/12/2012
(1 review written)
Same old service as usual..........i.e BRILLIANT!!!!!Good comms, quick delivery, products as described, can't ask for more!


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Here are a few sample Pastoral Prayers. If you know of a good example of a Pastor Prayers, please share it at the bottom of this page.
Below are several prayers for pastors to use as examples for praying with their congregation. They include prayers for guidance, healing, strength for our leaders, and overcoming life's difficulties.
God of light, we have heard your message, proclaimed of old, that in you there is no dark cloud at all; nothing exists that can hide the light of your presence. Forgive us when we cling to the shadows, failing to heed your call to wake up and join the work of your reign. Send us to do your deeds of mercy and peace: to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, touch the sick with your healing balm, console the sorrowing, visit the prisoners, welcome the stranger.
Guide us in this time of shadows. Keep us from despair when we see that there is no peace in our cities and no security in our places of higher learning. Lift our eyes toward you that we may see your face shining on us and walk in your light. Comfort with your presence those who are living in the shadow of grief, shattered by the loss of children, parents, spouses, friends, and colleagues. Give assurance to all who are missing loved ones that the living and the dead are in your care, certain of being joined again in the unbroken circle that will sing your praise forever. Amen
Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we come to you today in the name of Jesus. It's good to be able to come into your house and have this time to put aside the cares of life and the busyness of living. We're hurrying about, planning, preparing, fixing, organizing and worrying about how everything is going to turn out.
Even while we're here in church those thoughts tend to drown out your voice and what you want to say to us. We DO want to hear from you because we need to know again and anew today that you're there and that you know us and where we are in our walk with you.
For some here today this present moment is filled with disappointment or impairment or heartache and their circumstances may be dreadful and filled with reasons for sadness or sorrow, they need you and they need us and the comfort of being in fellowship with you and with each other. We do receive uplift and encouragement from being here in your house. Help us to be sensitive to the needs of our brothers and sisters and speak a word of encouragement or even give a sincere smile or handshake. We do care about each other and we want to show it.
We pray for the leaders of our nation today and the many important and critical situations they face. Give wisdom to our president and the cabinet members and the men and women in congress. We pray for our military personnel stationed around the world and especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know they face dangers and the possibility of death day after day.
We pray for the defeat of the insurgents and the terrorists there and around the world that are plotting evil and wicked schemes. Please give wisdom and unusual ability to those that are working to counter these diabolical plans. We live in a dangerous and uncertain world, but we pray for your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray for our church and for all of our leaders as new plans and programs are finalized. We need your guidance and your direction for us as a church. We want to be faithful to the sacred trust you've given to us. It's both a privilege and an awesome responsibility.
There are many among us today with special needs in their own lives and need your special touch and reassurance right now. There are numerous physical problems and we don't understand why these things come in our lives and we're tempted to question you and our faith is tested, sometimes to the limit.
We pray that their faith will not fail during these days. Some have family and relationship problems, they need special grace to see them through. Bring healing and reconciliation to them
Want to organize a mission for your church? Check out these Bible Verses for Missions
Post your Pastoral Prayer below.
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Thank you Lord for your healing hand upon her life
Little sister needs healing of her body. Lupus, arthritis and pnemonia. Thank you Lord for your healing hand upon her life.
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We pray for all orphanage like PCO mission CEO thanks God for his hands work with the kids ,Ebola crisis orphans need better future through education agenda …
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He sent his word and healed us...ps.107:20... HEAVENLY FATHER! I thank you for all the promises of your Word, which proclaimed healing to those …
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Give the intruments to preach the word of god and let every enemy that trysto come up against me be scattered. let every evil tongue that speack up against …
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Dear God, I ask you for courage. in facing life specially in times of trouble,. when shadow of doubt comes in my way. As I accompany the vulnerable …
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Dear Lord, I ask you kindly please help my Pastor today, She is in need of immediate financial help. Please give her and her group to find a place …
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Denali Alaskan FCU New Matching Program Raises Funds for CMN
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union has donated some $6,000 to the Children's Miracle Network. Children's Miracle Network helps Alaska Children's Hospital offer critical health services to children from all over the state. The majority of the funds were raised through "Twice the Help," a matching program Denali Alaskan FCU developed this year. For every donation members made, the credit union contributed the same amount, doubling the members' donation. Nine credit union staffers also manned the CMN phone bank during a recent telethon, helping raise the remaining funds. "Supporting the health and well-being of Alaska's children was the logical next step," said Denali Alaskan FCU President/CEO Robert Teachworth.


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Photos courtesy Tampa Bay Auto Museum. It may not be a Harrah-size collection, but the exhibits inside the Tampa Bay Auto Museum are flatly astounding. They range from a Darl'Mat Peugeot to a Ruxton and an NSU RO 80, with a Hanomag Kommissbrot. Off the wall, for sure. The museum's two l ... Read more
Photos by Michael Furman, courtesy AACA Museum It may not look like an example of cutting-edge technology, but the 1930 Rauch and Lang pictured above has an intriguing secret under its skin. Based on a Stearns-Knight, the sedan was one of three cars commissioned by Colonel Edward Howland Robinson & ... Read more
* Okay, so I got a little stupid for six-wheelers this past week. Believe me, I could have dug much deeper into the topic, as the folks behind oto6.fr have done. Their only objective: To collect as many photos and as much information possible on six-wheeled cars and trucks. To them, we say, good lu ... Read more


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Betty Edwards is the author of the best-selling non-fiction books Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (latest edition: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) and Drawing on the Artist Within, Color and The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook.
Her work has reached well over 3 million worldwide. Dr Edwards books are now drawing classics and used as text books in schools and colleges internationally.
The Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain story begins in the late 1960s where art teacher, Betty Edwards, was puzzling over the fact that many of her students struggled to learn to draw when they were mastering new skills in other disciplines.
Another puzzle was that students, who had struggled, suddenly seemed to learn how to draw from one week to the next but could not explain why this was so.
Betty Edwards began to explore what happens when she was drawing. Her work with her students was illuminated by research published in 1968 by Roger Sperry and colleagues. Betty Edwards developed her theories into a doctoral thesis that later formed the basis of her book, The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, first published in 1979. You can read about the development of her theories in this book which is still in print and has been revised and updated several times since.
After the book was published, Dr Edwards had another 'aha' moment. She realised that drawing is made up of just five perceptual skills and that together, to form a global skill.
What does a global skill mean? Other global skills are reading, driving, learning to ride a bicycle etc. Can you remember how difficult it was learning these skills? But now, I bet you read a newspaper, ride a bike or drive your car without even thinking about it.
Learning to draw follows the same process. Just as once you had to learn the alphabet and how a sentence was constructed before you could learn to read… with drawing, if you learn the component perceptual skills of drawing you will be able to draw a perceived object ie. something you can see 'out there'.
Dr Edwards also realised that you can actually learn these perceptual skills pretty quickly – in fact, in as little as five days. Once these skills are learned you simply need to practise them and improve them – and of course, master the specific techniques of other media that you might want to try.
Dr Edwards developed the 5-day Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain course to teach these perceptual skills. The course has been refined and developed over the years by Betty Edwards and her son, Brian Bomeisler. Brian Bomeisler continues the work his mother started and you can find out more about his work
Dr Edwards' argues that the right brain's strengths are undervalued and under-trained in our left-brain oriented culture, with its emphasis on the "3Rs". She also believes that by training the right brain we can learn to use both sides of the brain more effectively and more efficiently according to their strengths.
Dr Edwards' has presented hundreds of workshops, seminars and lectures for public schools, art associations, university students, technical and scientific staffs and corporate groups. She has presented seminars in creative problem solving to corporations such as The Walt Disney Company, Digital Equipment Corporation, Apple Computer Company, IBM, Polaroid, AT&T Bell Labs, American Advertising Associations, Saatchi & Saatchi, GE, American Dental Association, and the American Institute of Architecture.
Dr. Edwards is Professor Emeritus, California State University, Long Beach. Although now retired, through her books, workshops and seminars Betty Edwards continues to make a huge impact upon the fields of art education and creative problem-solving.
click here
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Release Notes: A new Web UI with increased compatibility with more Web browsers. Improved tape drive support (up to LTO5 and AIT5). Improved tape library support. Extensible reporting: customizable HTML email reports. Customized profiles for reports in the Web UI. CLI reporting options for integration into your environment. The ability to export reports from the UI in easy to parse text. Custom Restore Objects allow the administrator to grant /deny access to restore files/objects at any level via a Web UI or CLI. VSS support for all Windows plus 64-bit.
Release Notes: This is the first release of the Arkeia free backup server for Ubuntu. It was released into the Canonical partner repository and is available to be installed via apt-get.


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Welcome to Tacoma World!You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.
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Az Geek Talk
Discussion in 'Arizona' started by Aw9d, Dec 11, 2012.
Page 29 of 239
Page 29 of 239
Products Discussed in
Google Pixel Case, Maxboost mSnap Thin Cases [Perfect Fit] [Black] EXTREME Smooth Surface with Anti-Slip Matte Coating for Excellent Grip Hard Protective PC Covers For Google Pixel 2016
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC GAMING ACX 3.0, 8GB GDDR5X, LED, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC) Graphics Card 08G-P4-6183-KR
RioRand 2-Piece Waterproof Aluminum High Power 6W 6000K Xenon Slim COB LED Daytime Running Light (White)
iSaddle Super Mini Bluetooth OBD2 OBDII Scan Tool Check Engine Light & CAN-BUS Auto Diagnostic Tool for Windows & Android Torque (Blue Color, Super Mini)
Portta HDMI Mini Switch/Switcher 3 Port 3x1 v1.3 with IR Remote and Key-Press-Switching support Full HD 1080p
Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure – USB 3.0 & eSATA Support SATA 3 6.0Gbps HDD transfer speed
G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS


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From the amazon web site:
….ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book…..
For some back ground and discussion, see this earlier post and links among the comments that describe the situation.
I gave the specific quote because I love how Amazon notes that Macmillan has "a monopoly" over their own titles. This absurd statement and the overall situation tells me something: The decisions being made … first to cut out Macmillan titles then to end the standoff with this particular announcement … are coming some guy who seems to act like a teenager who got mad at his teacher or something. Not a major corporation with lawyers and a marketing department and brand management and stuff.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just sayin'
So, Amazon tried to control pricing on a major product in two ways: 1) Keep it low to be nice to the user (I assume) and 2) keep a higher percentage of the proffit. Now, they have benen forced to let publishers, who are providing the product, set the wholesale price. So Amazon is screaming "They are forcing us to have a free market! They are forcing us to have a free market!"
I for one will pick a non Macmillan title over a Macmillan title next time I decide to buy a new best seller novel or something, just to show solidarity with lower priced books. But this whole event has reified, in my mind, the original proposition (see link above) that Amazon is indeed something different, even when it comes to just selling books.


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- Obsidian Miner
- Join Date: 2/4/2012
- Posts: 1,216
- Minecraft: creeperbait123
- Member Details
I play on the offline version of MineCraft because it is free and I don't have a credit card. Yes, I do have muti-player experince by playing on servers on my friends account. But recently I noticed that when I download MineCraft onto another computer, the offline play is not working. I believe this is an update, and now I am scared to update further. Anyway, can you post the further limitations of its offline mode? No, don't tell me to buy it. I do not have a credit card and my parents are unwilling to buy it. I have a PayPal, but I can't put money into it. Yes I checked, no store in a 50-mile radius has a money-pak card or prepaid visa. Even if they did, I can't drive a car there to buy it. So I want to know if you an download mods or texture packs, if not, can you tell me how to pay it in cash? Yes, I know it might be illegal. .


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MP tops Ottumwa
OTTUMWA — The Mt. Pleasant volleyball team defeated Ottumwa in four sets on the road Thursday night.
The Panthers fell in the first game, 25-18, but came back to win the next three, getting better in every set: 27-25, 25-14 and 25-13.
"It was a different environment," Coach Jeff Schulz said. "Usually, Ottumwa is raucous with a great crowd, but there was little atmosphere."
The Panthers were a little different, too, early in the match.
"We allowed a lot of balls to hit the ground, which is atypical for us," Schulz said. "But in the third and fourth sets our attitudes starting picking up and we began to play to expectations."
Taryne Shull led the team with 11 kills and Kelsi Phipps added nine. Ashley Loving and Hannah Becker had 19 assists apiece.
Brianne Potts was a perfect 22-for-22 serving with four of the Panthers' 17 aces, and also led the team with 28 digs. Brianne Holtkamp added 18.
Schulz takes responsibility for the Panthers' lackluster play in the first set.
"I need to do a better job preparing the athletes for matches," he said. "In five of our last seven matches, we have needlessly dropped sets early. We have a long way to go, so we will work on that."
Mt. Pleasant will be back in Ottumwa this weekend.
"We return on Saturday for what should be a very competitive tournament," Schulz said. "We have our work cut out for us."