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Well I've been back at work now for two and a half weeks and what an emotional rollercoaster ride it has been. I'm not going to lie, I was feeling very apprehensive about returning after being off for a little over 11 months. All I had been was: Mummy. Job description: look after one small … Continue reading The emotional rollercoaster that is being a working Mama Bear (only 2 weeks in)
Happy Halloween
Just a few pictures to mark Little Bear's First Halloween.
Our last month
October was a bitter sweet month for me as it was the last month I spent on maternity leave with Little Bear. It has also been a very tricky month full of troubles and toils for us all as Little Bear picked up his first sickness bug and spread it through the family. Nothing quite … Continue reading Our last month
Rainbow Egg Cups
This recipe came about because I had a lot of eggs that needed using and left over bits of veg that needed to be eaten after a family dinner party. They are a great source of protein and way of disguising healthy veggies for little ones (and their Papa Bear's too)! They can be made … Continue reading Rainbow Egg Cups
Weaning: 6 months on
I realised today that little Bear has been eating solids now for 6 months! Where has the time gone?! Weaning hasn't always been plain sailing for us, and unfortunately it didn't help little Bear to gain the weight I hoped he would when he started to drop down the percentiles. I've mentioned before that, because … Continue reading Weaning: 6 months on
Midnight woes
The pain is real- that can see - Those little pegs fight to be free. Your gums are hard and just so sore A mouth turned red and feeling raw. I wish there was more I could do to help As all through the night you inconsolably yelp. You refuse to nurse your pain away … Continue reading Midnight woes
A Letter to Little Bear at 10 months old
Dear Little Bear, This week you hit double digits! You are 10 months old and boy you have come along so much in the last 31 days. Last month you were pulling yourself up on anything and everything and starting to show signs of crawling and cruising, and then a week into being 9 months … Continue reading A Letter to Little Bear at 10 months old


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Four Free Agent Defencemen The Edmonton Oilers Could Pursue Next Summer
If the Edmonton Oilers are not able to address their defensive weaknesses through trade or the development of internal candidates in the short term, there are a number of possibilities who might fit the bill via free agency next summer. Unfortunately, it's not a very long list.
The team had hoped to add a blueliner to the roster during free agency this summer, but found themselves unable to land one at a price they considered reasonable. Part of the reason was the weak crop of available rearguards; another part of the reason was a steep demand, as many teams across the league discovered they needed help on the back end.
Next summer's crop looks even weaker, with few candidates available who can reasonably step in and play top-four minutes. The best of the bunch from a long-term Oilers perspective is likely this group of four:
Alexander Edler. The offensive defenceman hit career highs last year in goals (11) assists (38) points (49) and shots (228). The Canucks leaned on Edler heavily in an offensive role to make up for the departure of Christian Ehrhoff – he got power play time, tons of offensive starts and typically managed to duck the toughest assignments (which went to the Hamhuis/Bieksa pairing). Despitep laying those sorts of minutes for the powerhouse Canucks, Edler finished with a disappointing plus/minus (even) and struggled mightily in the post-season. Still, as a 6'3", 27-year old offensive defenceman playing top-four minutes on a contender, he's going to get paid.
Rob Scuderi. The no-nonsense defensive defender was overshadowed by regular partner Drew Doughty's transcendent play en route to Los Angeles' Stanley cup victory, but even so he logged heavy minutes on the Kings' blue line and offers major value to any team as a shutdown defender. At 34, he's in the tail end of his career yet is still young compared to much of 2013's free agent class.
Ian White. Last summer, the Detroit Red Wings paid him less than $3 million/season on a two-year deal. He's likely to get both more money and term this time around. The 29-year old White found success in a top-pairing role in Detroit (he actually led the Red Wings blue line in time on ice at even-strength last year). Now, he'll need to prove he can be successful without Lidstrom – a partner who seemed to help him significantly last year.
Jordan Leopold. A regular member of the Buffalo Sabres' top four last season, Leopold's the sort of cheaper option some team will be forced to settle for next summer. The 32-year old isn't a high-end offensive option but is capable in both zones and with or without the puck.
As far as top-four options under the age of 35 go, that's basically the list. There's also a bevy of over-35 defenders that might be of interest to the Oilers – or at the very least, offer other options for contending teams looking for a quick stopgap. Kimmo Timonen, Mark Streit, Lubomir Visnovsky, Toni Lydman and Sergei Gonchar will all be eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2013.
Of course, the Oilers also need to do some work on the home front. Three current defenders are slated to be free agents, and two of them are significant ones: Ladislav Smid, Ryan Whitney and Andy Sutton. This is a critical year for Whitney – if he can show himself both healthy and effective than some team will snap him up as a top-four guy (possibly even Edmonton). As for Smid, the Oilers would be well-advised to get him under contract soon: the list of impact defenders on the free agent market is going to be small, and if I were running a team looking for a long-term fix Smid would be near the top of my list. Losing him would be a major blow to the Oilers' blue line.
If there's one other thing the list above shows, it's this: the free agent market is not likely to be the long-term solution to Edmonton's defensive woes. An immediate fix will likely involve a trade, while a short-term signing might allow time for an internal candidate to grow into responsibility.
Closing note: all ages as of July 1, 2013.
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
– Once again, the Oilers are betting heavily on Ryan Whitney
– The Penner signing remains the only successful RFA poaching of the 21st century
– Predicting the point totals of Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins
– It's unfortunate, but the odds are not on Taylor Fedun's side
– The Oilers re-sign Jordan Eberle
– Edmonton Oilers Prospect List, 2012 Edition

subset: commoncrawl


text: Terms of Use Privacy Policy Hide TOP 10 Top 10 Entertainment Ultra-Complicated Watches Share Tweet Flip 0 Shares 6. Greubel Forsey Invention GMT Greubel Forsey Why have a boring old dial displaying separate time zones when you can have an entire globe spinning around in the face of your watch? Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey's watches are dizzyingly inventive examples of technological wizardry, made in small numbers for clients prepared to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. The company specializes in ultra-high-spec tourbillon mechanisms, but in this watch, it goes a stage or 10 further, with the globe spinning once every 24 hours in accordance with the planet's actual rotation. Next Page TOP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Show comments Comments Share your opinion Your name Recommended Reading Watch Snob® Watch Snob: Should You Ever Buy In A Boutique? Watch Snob® Watch Snob: Expensive Taste On A Small Budget Watch Snob® Watch Snob: Watches For The Common Man Watch Snob® Watch Snob: The Perfect Power Watch Watches The World's Most Popular Perpetual Calendars


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Enjoy live music and delicious BBQ by Booker Crab Shack while you mix and mingle at this year's Neighbour Day at 5th Street Square! There will be special screenings of the Stories from The River's Edge documentary and community tours led by Fort Calgary and our very own EV Ambassadors. Hosted by East Village Neighbourhood Association.
EV Experience Tours
Location: East Village Tent, 5th Street Square
Destination: Tour ends at East Village Experience Centre
Tour 1: 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Tour 2: 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm


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My sister would have been 58 years old today.
We didn't always get along, and you certainly couldn't describe our relationship as close.
Yet I feel a huge hole in my heart.
She was my baby sister.
She told me I abandoned her when I left home at age 16 (I was afraid of our father's anger; and I made him angry).
She's about 5 in this picture taken at Echo Park in Los Angeles, CA around 1962.


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Rotating globes and spheres have become a recurring element in the world of motion graphics, whether we are showing the connectivity of a device, the range of a device or transporting goods across the world. In this tutorial, check out how to create a globe using after effects and a couple effects to add some roundness to your globe and also how to add in some location trackers.
Tag Archives: vfx
Text Along Paths and Animation
Type in After Effects has a lot of options even when using masks and paths, not only for static designs but also options for animation. From creating smooth animations to using hold frames and replicating a stop motion effect too.
Extending an Image Sequence in After Effects
Extending an image sequence is something that can be useful when needing to add some time to shots if needed, in this video you can see how to extend image sequences in after effects using time remapping. You can use this technique with render passes from various 3D programs as well.
Keyframing in After Effects
It has been a while, but Reanimated Fallout is back for 2014. In this tutorial we are going to take a quick look at keyframing in After Effects, types of keyframes and look at spatial and temporal interpolation as well.
Mattes, Masks, and Wipes
In After Effects there are several ways for you to reveal, wipe and animate text, logos and various elements. In this tutorial, I go through some of the ways you animate text and objects on and some of the pros and cons of each way and how they behave if you need to complete revisions.
Utilizing Trapcode Horizon
Plug ins are part of our everyday tool set. Trapcode has developed a plug in that gives you similar effects as a reflection dome or sky object in 3D programs. In this video we will take a look at this plug in and see how it works and how it can fit into your workflow. You can check out more of Red Giants plug ins at their website redgiant.com
Linking Source Text for Layered Text
Working with layered type can be tricky sometimes, especially if you want to create more custom and interesting looks. By linking up the source text attribute, you can control layered text with one master text layer. Check out the video to learn more and to also see some of the pitfalls when working with this set up to avoid them in your project.
Camera Shake Expression that has Falloff
Camera Shakes are a great way to add some impact to your scenes and give not only your scene but objects a sense of weight as well. Learn how to combine the wiggle expression with sliders to gain control of your camera.
Creating Double-Sided Blinds
Piggy-backing off of our last After Effects video, we combine the double sided card with multiple panels to create a blind effect without using the Venetian Blinds Effect within After Effects.
Color Coding in Premiere
When working in Premiere there are multiple instances where you are working with multiple files, adding motion graphics and even sound effects. Help stay organized by using a color coding system and know exactly where files are located and which ones need to be changed out.


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Obama, Dewhurst and a climate change musical figured into readers' favorite April fact checks
A flammable David Dewhurst claim by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst topped our online readers' favorite fact checks in April.
Dewhurst, who faces state Sen. Dan Patrick in a May runoff for the 2014 Republican lieutenant governor nomination, said Patrick changed his name to hide his debts. Pants on Fire, we concluded, noting a time gap between Patrick's financial troubles and his legal name change as well as the absence of other back-up information coming from Dewhurst.
A gassy oldie placed second among readers. U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, said last July that President Barack Obama's policies contributed to gas prices rising from $1.89 in January 2009 to $3.51 today. Mostly False, we said. Williams got the prices correct, but presidents don't generally have the ability to make them rise or fall and experts didn't see that reversing various policies would have necessarily kept prices from rising as much. Also, gas prices collapsed right before Obama took office--a wrinkle unnoted by Williams.
Our check of a claim by the U.S. Census Bureau landed No. 3. Austin radio personality Bob Cole wondered if the bureau was correct when it told him federal law requires residents to participate in the government's American Community Survey. Mostly True. The law has that mandate, but the bureau doesn't seek to penalize individuals who resist.
Obama saluted President Lyndon B. Johnson at a summit on civil rights. Still, he said that Johnson opposed every civil rights measure that came up for a vote in his first 20 years in Congress. That's True, per research by Johnson biographer Robert Caro and research undertaken at our request by a Senate official. Readers made this the No. 4 favorite fact check in April.
No. 5 among the April favorites: Our look into a claim by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, that the National Science Foundation awarded $700,000 to fund a climate change musical. It did. True.
Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Kesha Rogers touched off our No. 6 hit when she said Obama was responsible for the assassination of at least four U.S. citizens in drone strikes. Half True: U.S. drone strikes reportedly carried out on Obama's authority killed the citizens listed by Rogers. But three deaths were evidently not intended, while it's debated -- unsettled at best -- whether one killing was an assassination.
Rounding out our 10 most-viewed fact checks of the month:
--Our Mostly False rating of a claim by Democrat Wendy Davis that Republican Greg Abbott said expanding pre-kindergarten to all students would be a "waste." Abbott actually said it would be a waste to offer pre-k to more students without addressing quality.
--Another chestnut; our Pants on Fire for a chain email spotted in 2012 stating 11 states had more residents on welfare than on the job.
--More flames flew when we checked if U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said "English was good enough for Jesus when he wrote the Bible." She didn't.
--Our False bestowed on a leading Democrat's claim that Rogers, in a May runoff with Dallas investor David Alameel for the party's Senate nomination, is not a Democrat. Rogers has anti-Obama views; she wants him impeached. But she's twice won primaries to become the party's nominee for a House seat. Under state law, too, a voter affiliates with a party by voting in its primary, which Rogers has repeatedly done.
Happy May. What do you hear that makes you wonder?


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A few years ago a dear friend of mine came back from studying abroad, in Kraków, and showed me this superb vodka that she found in all her crazy parties.
It was quite revealing the flavor when I first tasted it, I did't knew that a Vodka could have that kind of complexity with so diverse notes of wood, sweet vanilla, herbs and coconut with spices that remain impregnated in your mouth -among others yet to be decifrated by my tonge!-.
Zubrowka comes from the distillation of rye grains and its enhanced with bison grass, this one is the reason of the characteristic sweet notes and the color of the distillate.
I think that this vodka is the perfect way to start the design of a drink, desserts, petite fours or anything that comes to mind. Personally I have tasted it in a friend's italian sweet arborio rice with coconut vanilla pod and mexican ataulfo mango, as a chocolate ganache with Barry Callebaut's Alto El Sol chocolate, in a layered chocolate and rice cake and as a straight mega shot!, impregnated with diverse spices. The later is a must in your tricks bag an the main inspiration of this post.
Boosting Zubrowka!
Manu, a dear friend, came these week with a new bottle of Zubrowka and after thinking what to do with it he decided to infuse it with spices à la masala chai but without the black tea leafs because he didn't want the bitter notes in the drink. So after infusing for a couple of days with cardamom, star anise, red pepper, vanilla pod, lavender flowers and cloves he ended up with an ultra boosted Zubrowka! for his birthday party.
Having infused distillates or liquors is a useful tool for any crazy invention and remember Zubrowka has a history that goes back to the XIV century, so when you drink or cook with it remember all the tradition behind it.


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Good morning! We've been super busy at the Party Girl headquarters working on some pretty major announcements. We're hoping to have those to you by the end of the month, but until then we are still in full summer mode, which means BBQs, campfires, and of course, baking and crafting to share our projects with you guys!
In honour of my favourite summer meal (do burgers and fries even count as a meal? Probably not…) we made these adorable (if we do say so ourselves) hamburger and french fry cookies. I insisted we make these because I'm a freak and obsessed with burger themed desserts, but I'm actually so glad because they turned out super fun!
And now you can make them for your next BBQ!
After you make your sugar cookies, use a circle cutter to make the "burgers". We experimented (okay, I experimented, Fernanda was all for cutting them in the first place) with different ways to make the french fry shapes, but we [Fernanda] decided a knife was the best bet. And it probably was. We weren't too concerned with making them straight because french fries aren't perfect in the first place. We cut different shapes and let the oven make them more unique.
After your cookies have cooled, it's time to decorate! Put down wax paper if you're a messy decorator (like me). Draw an outline around your cookie and let the icing harden (about 10 minutes). After the icing is a bit stiff to the touch, you can come back and "flood" the rest of the cookie, filling in the outline and using a small knife to spread it around. The outline should be firm enough to hold the new icing.
Once I filled in the french fries, I sprinkled them with some granulated sugar (don't judge, it was barely any, and what do you think sugar cookies are made of anyways?) to look like salt.
When you're doing your burgers, its sort of up to you how you want to do them. I started in the centre because I figured if I started with a bun I'd misjudge my space. I also mixed a ton of colours to get that dark a brown because the only brown dye I had was very light and that wasn't good enough. Just as a side note.
Also, be patient. You can clearly tell which cookie I started with and which one was last. If you find your icing is too runny, mix in some more white, or pop it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken a bit.
I tried not to be too linear with my "toppings", but I think they turned out cute even if they are mostly straight lines. You could go another route, getting more detailed with the cheese or drawing tomatoes if you're artistic, but for a simple design just the colours still managed to tie it all together.
It was really hard to get a good relish colour. I opted for a brighter green one mostly because I ran out of white to tone it down, but also because the dark green took away from the colourful aspect which bothered me. I'm neurotic though. Do what makes you happy.
For the buns I sprinkled some chocolate sprinkles to add dimension, but clearly got a little heavy handed with them and they ended up all over the cookie. The goal was to keep them on the bun. I don't know I was probably multitasking.
Can we just take a second to admire how frigging cute those burgers are on the cooling rack? It's like a BBQ grill! I had this whole styled shot laid out with BBQ tongs and stuff but Justin said it was too far. I was considering lighting a small fire for atmosphere, so maybe he was right.
And that's that! Give it a try and make your own BBQ themed cookies, they make a great conversation starter!


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Tel: 0114 272 2757
Collection tins are a great way to raise funds for SRSB and also to raise awareness of our charity. If you would like to display one in your business, please contact Sue Coggin or Jane Peach from our fundraising team on 0114 272 2757. We will deliver a tin to you and ring on a regular basis to see if it needs changing. We pick up the tin when required and always send a thank you letter and certificate for you to display so that your customers can see how much has been raised.
We have a choice of two styles of collection tin and both are available with security locks.
Our Community Engagement Team visit organisations and events across Sheffield and South Yorkshire to promote awareness about our services and about eye health
An exclusive event at the private estate of our Patron, the Earl of Scarbrough
© Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind 2019. Website
fundraisers friend & shift


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Day 2: Discover the Beijing. Firstly, you'll see Beijing��s famous iconic sights ,Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City . After have lunch at a local restaurant, take a rickshaw to explore Beijing��s charming lanes, you will have a chance to visit a local family in the Hotong, let you experience the Beijing's Hotong life.
Day 3: The Great Wall. The best section of the wall is called Mutianyu, this part is less crowds . After 90 km drive, you will arrive the hills, and have an option to choose take a cable car to appreciate the spectacular views.Afterwards, let's have a rest at a local restaurant with delicious food. Last but not least is the Temple of Heaven. The Altar, Echo Wall.
Day 4: Beijing Departure. Before your departure, relax yourself by walk in the The Summer Palace,or taking a large dragon boat tour on Lake Kunming. Then enjoy the Sichuan food at a traditional restaurant. Your guide will transfer you to the airport after the tour.
|Map Legend
|4-Day Beijing Essence Tour:Mutianyu Great Wall, Te
NO11.Binjiang Road,Guilin, Guilin, China
|From Nov.1 - Mar. 31
|per person, no extra price
|FromApr.1 - Oct.31
|per person, no extra price


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The Indian government will reportedly bring together top engineers to design what is tentatively being called the "India microprocessor."Read more »
India to Create New Chip: Guess Which OS it's Using?
http://www.computerworlduk.com –
HeresJohnny 9 years 44 weeks ago – Made popular 9 years 43 weeks ago
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Free Linux Microprocessor*
http://www.embeddedtechjournal.com –
In keeping with our theme of free stuff (see Embedded Technology Journal, January 27, 2009) we proudly chronicle the newest free alternative for embedded developers: a free Linux-compatible microprocessor. Never has so much been offered to so many for so little. Or something like that.Read more »
GadgetGeek 10 years 8 weeks ago – Made popular 10 years 8 weeks ago
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Work - 'The innocence of radium' by Lavinia Greenlaw and 'Nine to five' by Roger McGoughJulie Blake
This lesson (or couple of lessons) is designed to explore two quite different poems on the theme of the world of work. Roger McGough's poem appears quite simple and jaunty, but is more amenable to darker interpretations than the tinkly piano accompaniment on the recording might initially suggest. The activity suggested provides a creative approach to exploring its split structure and what the re-sequenced phrases might signify. Lavinia Greenlaw's poem perhaps makes more demands, but these are richly rewarded by memorable images such as the female factory worker painting her teeth and nails with (poisonous) luminous paint for a laugh, and the chemist's body pumped full of radium taking its own x-ray. Both invite serious consideration of work.
For students to: Encounter different experiences and attitudes towards the world of work as expressed in some contemporary poems Experience poetry aurally in the high-octane form of the two poets' recordings Explore interpretations of the poems' meaning and form through critical, creative and collaborative activity with others
Resources needed
Poetry Archive recordings of Lavinia Greenlaw reading 'The Innocence of Radium', and Roger McGough reading 'Nine to Five' Copies of the two poems for each student, as well as copies of just the first four stanzas of McGough's poem A data projector and internet connected computer
Teaching sequence of activities
'Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need' (Voltaire, Candide). Invite students to consider the extent to which this is true. Some questions for discussion might include: Does work save us from boredom? If not, why not? Does it save us from vice? Does it save us from need? Does it save us from anything else? Saving us from our worst selves is one thing, but does work have any wholly positive benefits? Does work damage us in any way? If students are struggling to relate to the world of work, try substituting the word 'school'. You could close by inviting students to write their own pithy quotation on what work does to us, and sharing some of these out loud.
The Innocence of Radium Start with a pre-reading group activity to get students exploring some of the poem's key words. Each group is given one of the clusters of ten words below: Cluster 1 - adjectives: alone, candlelit, dangerous, dark, delicate, green, kind, luminous, perfect, proud Cluster 2 - nouns: blood, chemist, doctors, faith, ghost, innocence, job, moonlight, radium, skeleton Cluster 3 - nouns: brush, clockface, factory, fingertips, infidelity, jaw, joke, paint, secret, x-ray Cluster 4 - verbs: blamed, broke, checked, dared, developed, diagnosing, drained, exposed, fixed, jumped Cluster 5 - verbs: laughed, measured, painted, pronounced, removed, snapped, stolen, stroked, struggled, watched Encourage students to think about what these words suggest about mood, situation, speaker and story. Invite predictions about the poem under these headings. Then listen to the recording a couple of times with copies of the poem too, inviting immediate responses and closer exploration of the poem. You could discuss any surprises, or gaps between predictions and poem. Nine to Five Do not give out the poem to start with, but build up to it. Start with the title 'nine to five' and give students a minute to jot individual written responses, then share with a partner. Then read the first line only and invite pairs to jot responses, before joining up with another pair to share responses. At this point, read and show the first part of the poem, just the first four stanzas. Model annotating the first stanza to explore the advantages the speaker lists of the nine to five job and what these tell us about the speaker, e.g. 'biscuits in the right hand drawer' suggests a desire for order, knowing where everything is, and also a desire for ordinariness in the plainness of 'biscuits'. Invite students to annotate as many of the rest of the reasons as they can, starting with the ones they find most interesting/curious/funny/weird. In a whole class plenary, share some responses and discuss what impression they have formed of the speaker and his/her fantasy. Next invite students to cut the first four stanzas up into words and phrases (you could prepare this for them), and mix them around to create a poem that starts with the same line, but explores the idea of the nine to five differently. Share readings of student poems and then listen to the recording of McGough reading his poem (complete with tinkly piano accompaniment). How do their poems compare with his?
Listen again to the recordings of the two poems. What do these poems invite us to think or feel about the world of work, and to what extent do students agree?
Extension Activities
Build out from the McGough poem to creative writing in any form that starts with the phrase 'what I wouldn't give for…' and focusing on students' hopes, dreams and fantasies for the future. Or take a contemporary news story about industrial injury or factory conditions and transform into poems.
Further Reading
Build outwards from the Greenlaw poem to David Copperfield's stint in the blacking factory in Dickens' novel. Go further and invite students to compile an anthology of literature about the world of work.


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Status: Open
Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Froelich Engineers, Inc. specializes in providing structural engineering design and consulting services. The firm has been doing business continuously since 1983. Offices are located in Portland and Bend, Oregon.
Services provided include structural analysis and design, preparation of construction drawings and specifications, investigations, reports and construction services. Seismic...
Be the first OregonLive.com user to add photos or videos of Froelich Consulting Engineers
Froelich Consulting Engineers can be found at Sw Hampton St 6969. The following is offered: Science Engineers. The entry is present with us since Sep 9, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Portland there are 26 other Science Engineers. An overview can be found here.
Alice Sandlin Interior Designs can be found at Sw Hampton St 6950. The following is offered: Interior Design. The entry is present with us since Sep 9, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Portland there are 17 other Interior Design. An overview can be found here.


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|You are here: Home > Dive Into Python > Native Datatypes > Summary
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Dive Into Python
Python from novice to pro
The odbchelper.py program and its output should now make perfect sense.
def buildConnectionString(params): """Build a connection string from a dictionary of parameters. Returns string.""" return ";".join(["%s=%s" % (k, v) for k, v in params.items()]) if __name__ == "__main__": myParams = {"server":"mpilgrim", \ "database":"master", \ "uid":"sa", \ "pwd":"secret" \ } print buildConnectionString(myParams)
Here is the output of odbchelper.py:
Before diving into the next chapter, make sure you're comfortable doing all of these things:
- Using the Python IDE to test expressions interactively
- Writing Python programs and running them from within your IDE, or from the command line
- Importing modules and calling their functions
- Declaring functions and using doc strings, local variables, and proper indentation
- Defining dictionaries, tuples, and lists
- Accessing attributes and methods of any object, including strings, lists, dictionaries, functions, and modules
- Concatenating values through string formatting
- Mapping lists into other lists using list comprehensions
- Splitting strings into lists and joining lists into strings
<< Joining Lists and Splitting Strings
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
The Power Of Introspection >>


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View Fifth Harmony tour dates 2019
Fifth Harmony Tickets
Fifth Harmony has exploded onto the pop music scene with their 2016 album 7/27 that included multiple chart-topping radio hits. Fifth Harmony is performing at select events going into 2017, so catch the girl group while you still can! Get your tickets at GuruTicket.
About Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony formed during the 2012 The X Factor. Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato helped put together the solo artists, and their success grew from there. The group went through multiple names; originally LYLAS and then 1432. The group finished 3rd, but they moved on to a record contract with Cowell. Fifth Harmony released their first studio album in 2015 titled Reflection. This contained hits such as "Worth It" and "Sledgehammer." Their next album 7/27 created even more of a roar. "Work from Home" is a a fire hit that has constantly played on mainstream radio. "All in my Head (Flex)" and "That's My Girl" are two other big hits off the album.
The five diverse women who make up Fifth Harmony contribute to a barrier breaker of girl group norms. Whether it's on the charts or in person, Fifth Harmony performs at an excellent level that satisfies any concertgoer. Fifth Harmony just confirmed their third album that's already in the works, so look out for new music and maybe a tour later in 2017.
Fifth Harmony Discography
Reflection (2015)
7/27 (2016)


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Dress in '50s or '60s attire. Features hors d'oeuvres and 1960's inspired cocktails.
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A not-for-profit institution dedicated to the collection, care and display of a diverse array of artifacts, including natural history, science and fine arts. The museum also contains a library with books pertaining to areas of interest covered by the collection. The changing exhibit schedule features a range of visual artworks- historic and contemporary- as well as exhibitions on loan from other prominent institutions.
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The Nissan Rogue is a small SUV/crossover, offering a more car-like driving experience than the hard-core Nissan Xterra. This puts the Rogue in direct competition with the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, two vehicles with several generations and years of success under their belts. To remain competitive, Nissan has equipped the Rogue with a bevy of features and some very reasonable base prices. The Rogue starts at just under $25,000, while even the top trim model with all-wheel drive can be had for under $32,000. With available 3-row seating, the Rogue is possibly one of the most versatile vehicles available at its price point.
Compare the 2018 Nissan Rogue against similar models
The Nissan Rogue enters 2018 as Nissan's best-selling vehicle. Not resting on their laurels, the Rogue now comes standard with NissanConnectSM, which features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Also new for this year is an available ProPILOT Assist system, which includes intelligent cruise control with steering assist and an electronic parking brake.
A vehicle's warranty can significant impact your maintenance costs after you drive off the dealer's lot, and it's important to understand the different parts. Typically, a new car warranty includes a Basic warranty, which covers everything except the wear items such as brakes and tires; and a Drivetrain warranty, that covers all the parts that make the car move, such as the engine and transmission
The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) provides consumers with vehicle safety information based on independent testing, primarily front and side crash rating results, and more recently rollover ratings, to aid consumers in their vehicle purchase decisions.
Below are pictures of the 2018 Nissan Rogue. Select the picture you want to view below
Below are the available colors for the 2018 Nissan Rogue. Select the color to see a close-up view.
Nissan Rogue is a small crossover. Now in its fifth year of production, the Nissan Rogue has tough competition with updated rivals like the Honda CR-V, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape and Mazda CX-5.
Rogue is comfortable and has all-wheel drive available, but its powertrain and handling are unexciting compared to those others. For 2018, the optional third-seat has been dropped. It was very small.
The 2018 Rogue SL model can be optioned with Nissan's new ProPilot Assist technology, a step closer to autonomous driving. With ProPilot Assist, the Rogue can automatically accelerate, brake, and maintain the distance from other vehicles with no driver input, in certain situations.
Also for 2018, the standard infotainment system has been updated to include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the entry-level Rogue S gets a nice 7.0-inch touchscreen, and there are two new colors. For 2018, all but the base model get standard liftback opening with a wave of the foot under the rear bumper.
It's hard to put the Rogue in a box, because the smaller Nissan Juke is deemed a compact, and the larger Pathfinder a midsize. Rogue is a big compact or a small midsize, closer to the Pathfinder in size. Nissan sells a smaller, less-powerful crossover called the Rogue Sport that's cheaper but certainly not sportier.
Rogue comes standard with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder mated to a continuously variable transmission, making 170 horsepower with 175 foot-pounds of torque, delivering mediocre acceleration and a strong 29 EPA Combined miles per gallon with front-wheel drive, 27 mpg with all-wheel drive.
The cargo area is handy for cargo, but unsecured floor panels make the Rogue a terrible choice for dog owners.
Rogue has earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS, with mostly top Good scores, an Acceptable headlamp rating, and Superior front crash prevention. The NHTSA gives it four stars. It's a rare discrepancy, for a vehicle that gets the top rating from IIHS not to get five stars from NHTSA. It appears that it's the SL model with LED headlamps that earns the top score from IIHS.
Rogue S ($24,680), Rogue SV ($25,900), and Rogue SL ($31,060) come with the 2.5-liter engine. (Prices are MSRP and do not include destination charge.)
Rogue S includes climate control; Bluetooth with audio streaming; rearview camera; 17-inch wheels and all-season tires; tire pressure monitor; and an AM/FM/XM/CD audio with a USB port and four speakers. Options include blind-spot monitors, a lane-departure warning system, and a forward-collision warning system with emergency automatic braking for the SL Premium.
Rogue SV adds satellite radio; alloy wheels; automatic headlights; a power driver's seat; keyless ignition, and NissanConnect, which enables the use of smartphone apps like Pandora. A Premium Package for the SV comes with a 7.0-inch touchscreen; voice-activated navigation; real-time traffic and weather data; a surround-view camera system; a power liftgate; heated cloth seats; blind-spot monitors; and a lane-departure warning system.
Rogue SL gets leather upholstery, heated front seats, Bose audio, NissanConnect, Siri Eyes Free, navigation, power tailgate, surround-view camera, 18-inch wheels. A Premium Package for the SL adds a panoramic sunroof, LED headlights, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, blind-spot warning, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. Options include that ProPilot Assist, plus run-flat tires, a panoramic sunroof, those advanced-safety features, and LED headlamps to go with the standard LED running lights and taillamps.
The Rogue got a light tweak for 2017, including a V-neck grille with LED running lamps in front and LED taillamps in back.
The shape is handsome and proportions good, but the styling is conservative and benign. It's almost un-Nissan-like. There's no wild sculpting like on the Nissan Juke. It looks like any other similar-sized SUV.
The interior is handsomely finished with high-quality materials, low-gloss plastics and metallic trim. It's simply laid out with round knobs and a centerstack with LCD monitor. There's a cowl over the gauges and slim vents in the center.
Like the Altima sedan, the front seats are very comfortable, with dense foam and great shaping. Manual adjustment standard in the S model, power in the rest; heating is optional. The driving position is good, although the non-adjustable steering wheel (reshaped in 2017) is raked a bit flat, like a bus.
One excellent feature is the flat-folding front passenger seat, increasing cargo versatility. And the cabin is fairly quiet, with more sound insulation added in 2017.
The second row slides on a nine-inch track to expand the legroom, reclining for long-distance comfort, and tucking behind the front seats for cargo. When the rear is folded, there's a sizeable 70 cubic feet of cargo space.
In the back, where the optional third row used to be, there are panels with stowage boxes and bins in the back. They're great for things like tools, coolers, or muddy boots.
They've turned the Rogue into a terrible car for transporting large dogs, however. When the dog steps on one of the panels forming the cargo floor, the panel flips up and the dog falls into the bin, which could cause an injury to the dog.
The rearward visibility is obstructed a bit by the pillars, so we like the surround-view camera that's standard on the SL and optional (in a package) on the SV. It presents a composite 360-degree view from four cameras and provides great security when parking not only in reverse, but in tight side and even forward spaces.
The Rogue accelerates from zero to sixty in about eight seconds, a long time nowadays. It's noisy and hits an end to progress in the acceleration too soon, meaning it gets even slower from 60 to 80 mph. And that's not even in the Eco mode, which dulls the throttle and keeps the engine from revving high.
The Rogue is blown away by the turbocharged fours of the Ford Escape EcoBoost, and Hyundai Santa Fe.
The CVT is programmed to imitate an automatic transmission with gears, and it's quick and smooth, although nothing like that of the outstanding Subaru Forester.
The Rogue's ride is calm and composed, quite comfortable on the independent suspension, not too firm, as the tall all-season tires absorb freeway roughness.
The Rogue doesn't wander over grooved concrete, and it responds smoothly, but it's kind of slow and not very communicative. It would be an understatement to say the steering and handling lacks the vivid feedback of a Mazda CX-5 or Ford Escape.
Nissan is clever in how the Rogue uses its stability control, by cutting the throttle to smooth bumps (preventing surging over them, like coasting over speed bumps), and braking the inside front wheel to sharpen cornering lines by rotating the car. You can't consciously feel these things, but you can feel the more comfortable results.
The Rogue is a dated product and competition is strong. The engine is weak. The CVT is fairly quick, but not nearly as sharp as that of the Subaru Forester. Nice ride, but soft handling. Look for deals.
Sam Moses contributed to this review, with New Car Test Drive editor Mitch McCullough reporting from New Jersey, and staff reports.
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It's hard to find the words for this ultra luxury crossover. Without a doubt, this is one of the types at the moment on the market. This incredibly glamorous model came a few years ago, and it seems that the 2018 Bentley Bentayga will present new things. In addition to the already known amazing qualities, such as the high quality and incredible craftsmanship, the dramatic efficiency and style of the identifiable Bentley Bentayga brand. The current model comes with only one engine in the offer, while the new one will have four. In addition to standard gasoline engines, it will also be available in diesel and hybrid versions. In addition to new engines, this crossover must continue in practice in the same way. We are waiting for your arrival somewhere at the end of the year.
Exterior and Interior
Bentley surprised some when he pulled the veil on his first SUV, the 2018 Bentley Bentayga adopting a relatively classic SUV design, instead of the more swoopy plate many manufacturers are opting for. This approach has been called by some critics, but in our opinion is appropriate for a vehicle that can really handle serious off-road driving. The vertical grid, massive air intakes and broad shoulders emphasize the power of 600 B12 Bentayga horsepower and the dramatic capabilities of the unit.
Close your eyes and let us help you slip into the 2018 Bentley Bentayga. Now open them. You would never imagine that you were in an SUV. The first SUV of the British brand has more traditional sedans, coupes and cabriolets. Equipped with 4, 5 or 7 seats, it wraps in soft leather, available in 15 different colors, as well as four different sheet metal moldings. The Bentayga gets Bentley's newest infotainment system. Options include a rear refrigerator, a 3-compartment picnic basket in the back and the $ 170,000 Breitling Tourbillon automatic winding watch.
As already noted, the 2018 Bentley Bentayga will receive the new power train options. However, existing models will continue to be the best and the fastest. He already knows the 6.0-liter twin-turbo engine that offers more than 600 horsepower and 660 pounds of torque. This amount of power provides definitely dazzling performance. This crossover only requires 4 seconds for a sprint of 0-60, while the maximum speed is around 190 miles per hour. As for the new power train, we'll see another V8 engine fuel and diesel and hybrid variants, but the exact specs are still unknown.
Release and Price
2018 Bentley Bentayga starts with a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $ 231.825, the best equipped Bentayga W12 First Edition pushing $ 300.125, including $ 2725 in postage costs. The British manufacturer allows a wide range of customization, in order to add features such as the $ 1,700 Breitling Tourbillon watch, the Mulliner banne and special paints and $ 500,000 nudge. There is really no direct competition yet. Luxury SUV currently on the market like Porsche Cayenne, the new Maserati Lift game in niches significantly cheaper. Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce. Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce.
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Infinite Starlight: A Thought ExperimentPosted on May 5th, 2011 2 comments
Albert Einstein, a patent clerk in Bern, performed what are now called "Thought Experiments". He was born in 1879 and received the Nobel Price in Physics in 1922. So, he was just 42. What makes Einstein's story so unique is that he wasn't classically trained in physics.
Like Einstein, I'm also not an astrophysicist, but the topic of stars, space and astronomy has always intrigued me. I've always thought it would be interesting to come up with my own thought experiment, and I think I finally have one.
When I look around at the world around me, I find the level of detail in the cosmos utterly mind boggling. The farther you zoom in, the more and more detail you see. It's almost infinite.
Most of us with even a basic science or astronomy class know what a star is: a gigantic ball of burning hydrogen in the void of space. Carl Sagan described the universe most simply and profoundly: 100 billion galaxies each with 100 billion stars. That's an incredibly large number of stars to be sure, but it's not infinite, I think we could all agree on that.
My theory is that the amount of energy a star has is infinite, and it gives off an infinite amount of energy at all times. I know that sounds crazy. Impossible. There must be a limit, although very large. But nothing is truly infinite, right? So this brings about a paradox then, and I would love to understand it fully.
For this thought experiment, though, let's talk about just one star, any star. Look up in the night sky and pick a star, and gaze at it. Which star you pick is irrelevant.
How about Betelgeuse, a red supergiant, Orian's shoulder in the constellation of Orion. You see that bright star, one of the brightest in the heavens? Good. Walk around your back yard (be careful in the dark) and pause and look up again. Still see the Orion's shoulder? Yep. Go down the street a ways. Yep, you can still see Betelgeuse. No matter where you walk, and look up, you can still see that star. Go to the other side of the world (stick to the same hemisphere, consult a star map, etc.) — somewhere and sometime that Orion is visible. Arizona in the spring, for example.
The point is, no matter where you look, there's Orion and Betelgeuse. No matter where you go, light from that star is hitting your retina. If the moon ever goes in front of Orion, the light that would've hit your retina is instead going to hit the dark side of the moon. Technically, Betelgeuse casts a shadow on earth when the moon passes in front of it (when the moon casts a shadow on earth from our own star, it's an eclipse.) Still, had the moon not been in the way, you could've seen the light that was destined for your retina.
Theoretically, you could travel to another star in a different constellation, and assuming you could keep track of where you are in relation to Betelgeuse, you could land on an earth-like planet orbiting around a different star, and look up, and see Betelgeuse from that vantage point, too.
The point of all of this is to visualize more clearly the way that light expands outward from a star.
Time divides infitely. How many moments are in between the start of the big bang and now? How many nanoseconds are inside of a second? We use the term nanosecond today because that's the thinnest sliver of time we can measure with modern technology. But any mathematical scholar will tell you that you can always take half of something, or a quarter, or an eighth or sixteenth – we can increase the denominator all the way to ∞. So how many 1/∞ths of a second are in a minute? ∞. How many 1/∞ths of a nanosecond are in a billion years? ∞ of them.
Angles divide infinitely, too. How many angles are in between 0° and 90°? For example, an arcsecond is 1/3600th of a degree. But how many photons fit into an arcsecond? The farther away you go from the origin of the angle, the easier that is to measure, right, because the angle is getting wider. But how can it work that way? If you think about it for a moment, you'll have to realize that there are ∞ angles which are each 1/∞th of one degree in size, in between any two other vectors that converge at a point.
We can describe this expansion of light from a star as an ever-enlarging spherical volume. You can think of a sun as a huge beachball factory releasing an ∞ number of beachballs every 1/∞th of a moment. The edge of each beachball is a photon ready to hit any eyeball that might be gazing upward to see it.
We proffered before that angles are infinitely divisible. To think about this some more, lets say you had a Sharpie marker and a beach ball, and you started drawing black dots on the beach ball and counting up how many dots it took to color the beach ball 100% black, at some point way in the future, the ball would be totally black and you would have a number of dots recorded which represented how many sharpie marker dots fit on the surface of the sphere. Now switch to a razor fine-point pen. Obviously it would take a lot more fine-point dots to cover the ball than the larger dots made by the sharpie marker, but it should still be possible to turn the ball black and record the number of fine-point razor dots it took to color the ball completely black.
How does that apply to starlight? Well, we described before the way light expands out from the source star as being an expanding sphere. If we imagine the light expansion edge-horizon as a huge beachball, then we can imagine that for every photon-width point on the edge of the light-sphere, as as well as for every place inside the volume of the light sphere, at any moment in time there has to be at least one photon there, had our eye been in that exact spot to observe it. In other words, if you could have ∞ eyeballs from ∞ imaginary people all forming a circle (sphere) around Betelgeuse, then every single one of the ∞ eyeballs would get hit by a photon.
That brings us to the width of a photon. If a photon has a width, which I'm fairly sure it does, then there should be a finite number of photons required to draw the light sphere. Or, if the width and height of a photon is 0, then it would take ∞ photons to cover the edge of an arbitrary light sphere some time/distance from the star. So let's call the width of a photon, ƒ. I'm not sure what the equation would be, but I think we would all agree that if ƒ is > 0 then some finite quantity of photons would be required to ensure that any eyeball pointed towards the source would receive a photon.
The farther away you go from the star, the wider the ∞ angles become. In other words, if you go 1 billion light years away from the source, then you're on the edge of a light sphere whose radius is 1 billion light years. We can focus on two arbitrary photons next together at this distance. If a photon has a width, ƒ, and we choose two photons π and ∂ which are next together, their combined width is 2ƒ.
What happens if we go another 1 billion light years farther away to 2 billion light years away from the source, parallel to π's original trajectory. At twice the distance, isn't the number of ƒ-width photons needed to cover the light-sphere equal to twice the number of photons required to cover the light sphere at 1 billion light years? If photons have a width ƒ > 0 then would it be correct or incorrect to assume that only a finite number of photos could fit around the edge of the star, during every 1/∞th moment in time since the star started burning?
So, either stars have an infinite amount of energy, or something special about the speed of light (faster than light communication?) enables photons to be a wave (no energy required?) until they are observed (photon created at moment of observation). Since I think any sane person would argue that there is no possible way for a star to possess infinite energy, then there are clearly some things I am missing.
2 responses to "Infinite Starlight: A Thought Experiment"
Think for a moment why it is that it hurts to stare directly at the sun but not at Sirius. Also, time does not divide infinitely.
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This page follows the one I posted on June 14, Things Worth Noting. A lot is going on in my life, which has made it hard to find time for art. I started this more than a week ago and I can hardly keep up– the daisies are now open; the iris unfurled; my son is leaving again. I need to paint faster!
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Lighten up!
Though I work outdoors using a portable set of watercolors all the time, I realize that many people work almost exclusively indoors from photographs and a much larger set up. People often ask me how to get started working outside. Figuring out how to lighten the load is key; and once done, it opens all sorts of great possibilities for painting.
In preparation for my upcoming workshop, Arts and Birding, in Maine, I have been making a few small watercolor boxes for people to try. Here are a variety I've put together or revamped using standard half and full pans:
Clockwise from left:
Windsor and Newton Cotman box, small mint tins in various stages of transformation (inside spray painted white and outside spray painted red), Prang watercolor tin revamped with full and half pans (this is my current box).
Do it yourself:
I ordered the plastic pans online for about .69 cents.They're held in place with Scotch restickable strips for mounting. Figure about $10 to configure a box of 12, plus paint. I use Windsor and Newton and Daniel Smith tube paints to fill them. To really travel light, I bring just a waterproof pen, a waterbrush, and a couple of paper towels or a bandana to clean the tray and wipe the brush between colors.
Let's go!
Things Worth Noting
It's been quiet on my blog and in my journal lately– these pages explain why. Big changes are in store as my husband and I not only become empty nesters, but give up the nest altogether and move from upstate New York to Connecticut. Amidst all the big things going on, I wanted to capture a few smaller things, too. Comings and goings; things that seem lasting, but, in the end, are ephemeral.
Expect some turbulence in the months ahead, along with new adventures and new places to explore. Thanks for being along for the ride.


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A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world
Amelia stars Hillary Swank, Richard Gere, and Ewan McGregor, and is obviously the story of Amelia Earhart. The problem is, I don't know how they take such an interesting story — she was apparently bisexual, she was certainly the first woman to fly solo, she disappeared under mysterious circumstances — and the only real sort of little frisson that you get from watching this movie is understand that the reason she probably died is some hapless sailor left the transmitter on all night. It ran out of power, so they couldn't track her. Richard Gere is surprisingly tender and lovely in this. Hillary Swank has really not much to do except you notice her freckles. I don't know, this movie somehow went very wrong and took all of the juice and spice — maybe they were trying to do family version of Amelia Earhart, and I don't think she was PC. One star, never gets off the ground.


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IRS Filing Requirements for US Sections
New Requirements for Sections Located in the United States
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) added a new requirement for tax-exempt organizations with annual gross receipts less than $25,000. They must now file a return with the IRS. (Sections with receipts greater than $25,000 must file Form 990 or Form 990EZ as was previously required.) The new filing is done electronically on a form called the 990-N or e-Postcard and it is fairly simple to complete.
Information You Will Need To File the e-Postcard
Since the main purpose of the new filing requirement is to provide the IRS and potential donors current information about your organization, it is primarily contact information that you are required to provide. Below is the information you'll need to successfully file.
- Employer identification number (EIN), also known as a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). If you are not sure what your Section's EIN or TIN number, click here for EIN for suggestions by the IRS to locate your Section's number.
- Tax year – Choose July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.
- Legal name and mailing address – Legal name is the Section's Name used when filed for their exempt purpose or EIN and the mailing address is the address of a current officer, either the president or the treasurer.
- Any other business names that your section uses
- Name and address of a principal officer – Name and address of current section president.
- Web site address if your section has one
- Confirmation that the organization's annual gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less
- If applicable, a statement that the organization has terminated or is terminating (going out of business) – Only to be used if your section has disbanded and no longer meeting.
Due Date of the e-Postcard
The e-Postcards for the year ending 30 June 2009 are due no later than 15 November 2009. You will be filing for the fiscal year 1 July 2008 through 30 June 2009.
It Is Important to File
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization that fails to meet its annual filing requirement for three consecutive years. Therefore, organizations that do not file a Form 990-N, Form 990-EZ, or Form 990 for three consecutive years will have their tax-exempt status revoked as of the filing due date of the third year. Your Section will need to start all over and file again for exempt status with the IRS.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- First download our step-by-step instructions document.
- Then go to epostcard.form990.org. You are being taken to a non-IRS Web page of the Urban Institute. The Urban Institute is a trusted IRS partner.
Need Assistance?
If you need further help please e-mail: Mary Potter, Chief Financial Officer at firstname.lastname@example.com or go to e-Postcard Frequently Asked Questions.
If you would like ASNT Headquarters to file your annual 990N for your Section, please contact Mary Potter at email@example.com and ask for assistance. If your Section would like to file their own 990N, please follow our step-by-step instructions, above. We request that you send a copy of your filing to ASNT Headquarters for our records, to firstname.lastname@example.com.
If you attempt to file and receive a message that the IRS does not recognize your EIN or your section name, please contact the IRS office in Ogden, UT at 1-877-829-5500. This office is dedicated to tax exempt organizations. They may be to reactivate your EIN, find your EIN or obtain the name of your section that they have on file.


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GVS Filter Technology UK
•GVS Group is among the world's leading manufacturers of filters and components for applications in the Healthcare, Life Sciences, Automotive, Appliance, Safety, and Commercial & Industrial Filtration sectors.
•The Group's clear strategy towards internationalization, has led to the opening of 15 production facilities located in Italy, UK, Brazil, the United States, China and Romania, as well as offices in Germany, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, Japan, Korea and India. GVS currently have a workforce of over 2,300 people globally.
•For more than 35 years, GVS has focused on innovation in its products range and production processes, constantly improving its development capacity to provide the best service and support for its clients
01524 847600


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Full Backcover Description
Kristin hold certifications from ACE and AFAA. She is a Star 3 Spinning Instructor, ViPR Trainer, TRX Instructor, and holds a certificate in perinatal fitness. She also teaches Les Mills and Silver Sneakers programs, as well as various dance classes. While her passion lies with choreography, her company – Program Fit, Inc – has found its greatest success facilitating outdoor fitness boot camps since 2000.
Dressed Up Drills with Kristin Dowell
Level: Beg/Int/Adv
Beginner: Just starting out, very overweight or haven't exercised in over six months.
Intermediate: Active in sports, dance or any regular exercise (2 to 3 times per week).
Advanced: Very active in sports or consistently work out four or more times per week.
Aerobics Impact: Higher
Lower Impact: Both feet never leave the ground at the same time. This minimizes stress on your knees.
Higher Impact: Includes movements like jumps, hops and skips. Very high-impact is called plyometrics.
Mixed Impact: This alternates or combines the above styles.
Toning Emphasis: Total Body
Upper body: Arms, chest and back.
Lower Body: Legs, thighs, hips and buttocks.
Abs: Abdominals (stomach), core and sometimes lower back.
Total body: Tones all three of the above muscle groups.
Instructor: Kristin Dowell (Instructor Profile)
Runtime: 83 min.
Region: 1
Street Date: 2014
Certified instructor description:
What happens when you combine the intensity and focus you love about drill-based workouts, with the creativity of choreographed workouts? You get Dressed Up Drills!
Dressed Up Drills delivers cardio, core, and flexibility training in a versatile format that will give you plenty of mileage in your workout library: Composed of separate blocks, you have the option to complete it in one marathon challenge, or enjoy any of the numerous mixes that suit your daily goals and time frame.3 levels of impact and intensity are demonstrated (high, low, and in-between). Strategically designed to accommodate those who prefer more basic moves and those who crave more choreography by offering both a "just drills" and a "dressed up" pre-mix menu.
The cardio training is packed with straight forward, athletic moves (no grapevines or mambos in sight) that are repeated long enough to drive intensity, but change quickly enough to keep things interesting and fun! Once the basic "just drills" are mastered and layered in simple movement patterns, they are then "dressed up" in final 32 count combinations.
Core-focused body-weight training (both on and off the mat) follows the same formula by introducing various strengthening, lengthening, and balance components before piecing them together into continuous flowing patterns. Even the stretches get dressy!
A yoga-inspired sequence provides the perfect finish, and an optional faster version offers an even greater athletic challenge and gain in flexibility.


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Ariana Grande has passed the most important Big Sean dating test -- she's got the public approval of his mother ... much to the dismay of her son.
Big Sean and his adorable mom were at LAX on Sunday when our photog warmed them up with a few questions ... before slipping in one on Ariana.
Before the rapper could deflect, mom was singing Ariana's praises ... and Sean couldn't stop her.
Wonder if she felt the same about Naya Rivera?


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Melone, previously a school superintendent, offers a game plan for achieving a meaningful life.
Melone's easy-to-read debut self-help book packs a lot into its 135 pages. Most chapters end with detailed exercises for readers to further explore the topics structured around eight values, some leaning toward the Christian faith. Ranging from forgiveness to perseverance, the values, Melone says, have evolved from his experiences as a husband, a father, an educator and in transportation management. Though much of the material isn't groundbreaking, the author brings a seasoned voice to it, and his easy writing style clearly suggests a path but doesn't demand strict adherence. As examples, Melone shares the things that have helped him lead a happy, meaningful life, but he also makes a point of encouraging readers to come up with their own sets of values, which the exercises can help develop. For instance, in the "Integrity" chapter, Melone offers seven tips for developing that trait, and one of the exercises invites readers to invest their emotional, spiritual and financial resources to help achieve their own ideas of integrity. Elsewhere, in the "Relationships" chapter, Melone encourages readers to forgive friends and see past human mistakes. No particular value stands taller than the rest, and readers will appreciate the ability to focus on whatever traits matter most on a personal level. Melone's Christian faith has played a big role in developing his life code, and Scripture passages are sprinkled throughout the book, but that shouldn't put off non-Christian readers.
A book rich in wisdom that provides an approachable path toward achieving something more out of life.


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The latest colorway of the Nike Kobe 11 Elite Low hits stores tomorrow.
Known as the "Last Emperor" edition, this Nike Kobe 11 Elite Low comes in a white, black and court purple colorway. Featuring a white an black upper with reflective 3M detailing and a full translucent outsole. A general release, look out for them at select Nike accounts worldwide on Thursday, February 4th, 2016. Retail is set at, $200.
Enjoy the official images below of the "Last Emperor" Nike Kobe 11 Elite Low in white, black and court purple. If you're interested in picking these up when they release, check in with your local spots to see if they will be receiving them. Those of you looking for a pair now can, grab them from eBay here.


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Not According to Plan
When things do not go according to plan I always tend to overthink some things. I used to sit up at night and overthink and over stress everything. Or when something happened that was not part of my plan I would froze. In the past year I learned that action needs to be taken and… Read More Not According to Plan


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Today's sketch started out with a blue ball point pen at the park. When I got home I decided to add some gouache over the sketch while still keeping it somewhat monochromatic.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
26th Annual Los Gatos Art Association Juried Show 2010
One of my plein air paintings from this past summer was accepted to a state-wide open juried show running from March 25th - April 23rd. It will be on display with other artworks at The Museums of Los Gatos in collaboration with the Los Gatos Art Association.
Posted by Cameron Chun at 7:46 PM 4 comments:
Labels: exhibitions, landscape, oils
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You're back from a fantastic learning experience abroad! What's next? Here are some exciting opportunities for you to continue your experience on Elon's campus.
Participate in pre-departure meetings to help other students prepare for a semester/year abroad
Become a Phoenix Pal to international students on campus.
Submit photos to the annual photo contest with the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center (GEC).
Write about your experience and submit an entry to various publications.
If you did research during your time abroad, present your research at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF)
Start your own research with faculty/staff on campus!
Join one of the internationally focused Student Organizations at Elon.
Apply through Residence Life to live in the International Pavilion with international students or one of the Language Learning Communities.
Contact the Kernodle Center about international service opportunities.
Sign up for a Transitions course, such as Go Global, to learn about other international opportunities before or after graduation.
Visit the Student Professional Development Center for assistance with future opportunities. Check out their resources such as Going Global (a resource that can assist you in finding internships and jobs both in the US and abroad).
Visit Elon's National and International Fellowships webpage for more information about international opportunities after Elon.
For opportunities beyond Elon, visit the Future Opportunities Abroad page.


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BioBridges Annual Appreciation Event
BioBridges celebrated their 13th anniversary with an annual appreciation event for Cambridge area clients, professionals and vendors. The purpose of the annual event is to celebrate members inspiration for and focus on the work, while recognizing the impact being made on the BioBridges community and the life sciences industry as a whole. The sense of a strong community was palpable throughout the room at Catalyst Restaurant, as hundreds of attendees reconnected with old friends and fostered new relationships with colleagues. Thank you to all of our community members for your loyalty and constant commitment to communicating the BioBridges message.


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Stockerau (Austria): Leading curator and artist Jitish Kallat has unveiled his mammoth public sculpture 'Here After Here After Here' in this cultural centre in Lower Austria, making him the first contemporary Indian artist to have a permanent outdoor display internationally.
The project was conceived in 2012, when the regional consortium of 10 municipalities '10 vor Wien', (10 near Vienna) had launched an initiative for large-scale public artworks to be installed on three selected roundabouts state to promote the independent development of the region.
Kallat was one of the three artists invited and he chose the site at Stockerau town, 20 km from Vienna, where the roundabout acts as a nodal point on the expressway and a gateway to several towns.
"Somehow more than revisiting the many photographs and videos I made at the roundabout while I was there, I was drawn to repeatedly view the site via Google Earth, as if to make sense of the place from above and afar. While making this virtual expedition a cascade of interrelations unfolded between the circular form of the roundabout and the spheroid of the globe, the form of the highway signage and the endless loop.
"It felt as if the whole artwork had developed a self-organising principle from the convergence of these diverse ideas," said Kallat.
The six-metre high and 17 metres in diameter, the sculpture created in a "traffic blue" appears like a mammoth loop of infinitely stretched traffic signage.
Kallat, who earlier served as the curator and artistic director of the 2014 edition of Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB), has had solo exhibitions at museums and institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Bhau Daji Lad Museum (Mumbai), the Ian Potter Museum of Art (Melbourne) and the San Jose Museum of Art (San Francisco).
The artist said he drew the inspiration from many references to arrive at the compelling form, amongst them the mythic symbol of ouroboros, ancient eternal knots, alchemical diagrams and sacred geometry.
Kallat currently has a solo show at Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris and is exhibiting as part of the Dallas Arts District.
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Roberto's philosophy takes place in harmony with nature, creating what is known today as "The New Yucatecan Cuisine". The fundamentals of this cuisine are the ingredients of the region, transforming the yucatecan cuisine with fresh plates, incorporating flowers, herbs, and local species such as: Venado (local deer), peccary and cerdo pelón (Suckling Pig). Creating a perfect balance to invoke the pallet, so the guest can obtain an experience that exceeds his expectation. All of this is possible thanks to the avant-garde techniques and the upper technology that he uses in every plate, taking the guest to explore the real taste of the yucatecan peninsula. .
Roberto Solís
Some time after working in hotel kitchens, Roberto finally found his true passion. With 27 years and a clear vision of what he was looking for, Roberto decided to open "Néctar" in November of 2003.
Roberto's cuisine comes mainly from his personal experiences traveling the world. In the summer of 2005 he decided to travel to "The Fat Duck Restaurant" in England, to learn about Molecular cuisine.
Later in the summer of 2006 he traveled to Denmark and worked in a renowned restaurant ,"Noma" where he was able to face "The New Scandinavian Cuisine" under the command of the well-known Chef Rene Redzepi, with whom he still has a great friendship with to this day. In 2006 the two chefs decided to cook together in Mérida at "Néctar" and then in Mexico City.
Roberto had the opportunity to participate as a guest in the "Festival del Sabor" in San Miguel Allende, México, an event that brings together the 10 best chefs in the country. During this event Roberto had the opportunity to host dinners at two restaurants.
In the summer of 2008 the hunger for knowledge led him to the claim restaurant "Per Se" property of the Multi-Michelin Star Chef, Thomas Keller. It was there he had the privilege to experiment face-to-face with "The New American/French Cuisine". He then traveled to Tokyo, where he did a stage at "Les Créations de NARISAWA" working side by side with Chef Narisawa, learning about the "Japanese minimalism"


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Muck FM Schedule
Here are our upcoming live broadcasts. When we are on air you can tune in by clicking the links on the homepage, or on the "Listen to Muck FM" page. If you miss any of our shows, you can listen or download them by using our exclusive Red eye media player (pop-up)!
Muck FM Streams
If you're having problems listening to our streams, send us a message and we'll set Exotic Technical Boy to the rescue. You can contact Muck FM from the contact Muck FM page.
Muck FM Red Eye Player
Missed your favourite shows? Fear not, the Muck FM red eye player allows you to listen or download past shows and exclusive DJ mixes- just click on the links below. Please leave your feedback once you have had a listen Click here to browse through all our exclusive Red Eye Player mixes.
- Handy's Expressions
- Doctor Muck- Late Night Mix
- Stubbs, Ray Von and Doctor Muck Live From Muckingham Palace 8th November 2014
- Peterrabbit 12th August 2014
- Beans And El Diablo 12th August 2014
- Doctor Muck – Solace
- Doctor Muck- "Yazzy- Made In Portugal"
- JP Grim Friday 2013
- Stubbs Grim Friday 2013
- Doctor Muck Grim Friday 2013
- Ecaked's 63rd Birthday Special 16th February 2013
- JP Mucky Times 2nd March 2013
- Peterrabbit and Beans 1st March 2013
- Peterrabbit Valentines Mess Aboot 14th February 2013
- Peterrabbit Highland Hidehole Sessions 12th January 2013
- JP Big Beats 1st February 2013
- Doctor Muck's All Nighter 5th January 2013
- JP Happy New Year 4th January 2013
- Doctor Muck's Hard House Mash Up 8th December 2012
- Ash Styles Debut Mix
- Doctor Muck- Italo Muck
- Ray_Von: Cozy Gazebo 3rd November 2012
- Festival Weather & Phatdrop presents Honest Jon- 20th October 2012
- Stubbs Wednesday Wobble 5th September 2012
- Hooker Barbie Highland Hidehole Sessions 17th August 2012
- Peterrabbit Highland Hidehole Sessions 17th August 2012
- Doctor Muck and Ray_Von Live From Muckingham Palace 21st July 2012
- JP Wonky 20th July 2012
- Stubbs Wednesday Wobble 16th May 2012
- Stubbs Wednesday Wobble May 2nd 2012
- Peterrabbit and Beans 7th April 2012
- Grim Saturday Surprise 10th October 2010: the lost mix
- Grim Friday 2012
- JP Wetting The Babies' Heads 16th March 2012
- Ray_Von Badman n Ting 25th February 2012
- Chuck's Old Skool Madness 25th February 2012
- Stubbs Wednesday Wobble 22nd February 2012
- Stubbs Wednesday Wobble 8th February 2012
- Doctor Muck's Love Hour February 17th 2012
- Muckingham Palace Debut Show 3rd February 2012
- JP's Final Countdown 27th January 2012
- Peterrabbit & Beans 23rd December 2011
- Stubbs Tribal Sounds 21st December 2011
- Peterrabbit with Strap & Bint 16th December 2011
- Ray_Von Boner Jams 30th September 2011
- Ray_Von FullStop BludClaart 8th July 2011
- JP's Push The Button 25th November 2011
- Festival Weather Show 19th November 2011: Honest Jon
- Funkfreak House Party feat Nasty Biscuit 18th November 2011
- Stubbs Wednesday Wobble 16th November 2011


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Local owner Lorenda Tiscornia is putting the final touches on her new Great Harvest Bread Company bakery, which is set to open in Jacksonville on Jan. 15. The new bakery will be located at 11526 Lake Mead Ave., just off of Baymeadows and Gate Parkway near Atlantic Coast High School and in front of the new Mayo Clinic by I-295. It will offer local residents a great lunch location with freshly made sandwiches and a hot spot for daily baked breads and goodies.
The locally owned, whole grain family bakery will provide high quality, made from scratch products. Great Harvest bakeries grind premium Montana wheat berries using a classic stone mill into whole-wheat flour daily to ensure freshness, nutrition, and flavor. Great Harvest's breads are also made without preservatives, additives or dough conditioners.
"My mission is to educate consumers about the joys of bread making and phenomenal tasting products," says Tiscornia. "We believe it is all about the customer experience and we want to provide a comfortable social gathering place away from home and work, a neighborhood spot.
Tiscornia has lived in Jacksonville for 11 years. She has worked mostly in education with roles including classroom teacher and even school superintendent. She believes opening her own whole grain bakery will allow her to connect with the community in another meaningful way.
The opening day menu will include delicious bread like Honey Whole Wheat, a signature bread crafted from five simple ingredients: water, honey, salt, fresh yeast, and wheat flour. Also included will be a rotating selection of specialty breads: Cinnamon Chip, Cheddar Garlic, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, Coconut Chip, and Rosemary Bleu among others. They will also offer a variety of other items including granola, oatmeal and pancake mixes, and an assortment of cookies, muffins and scones with seasonal berries. Each day, she plans to offer between six and 10 varieties of bread.
"It is my goal to make a difference in our community by helping people make a more conscientious effort to reject artificial ingredients for authentic high quality-freshly milled wheat products," adds Tiscornia. "Every morning we will mill wheat berries that will allow us to bake phenomenal bread and sweet treats that will 'knock your flip flops' off."
A fresh, made-to-order sandwich menu will be available daily offering many choices including Baja Chipotle Turkey, Italian, Three Seed Veggie Hummus, Roast Beef Chimichurri, and Big Sky Chicken Salad, among others. Breakfast biscuits, scones prepared with seasonal berries or fruit, and a special blend of coffee that the bakery is roasting in-house will be available each day.
Tiscornia wants to be involved in the community and plans to hold special monthly events by partnering with local businesses. The bakery also wants to work with area non-profits and schools to help raise money for important community services.
Originally founded in 1976 in Great Falls, Mont., Great Harvest has more than 200 bakeries located throughout the nation including Alaska and Hawaii. All bakeries are individually owned and operated, and no two are alike. Great Harvest is known for handcrafted breads made with freshly ground whole wheat purchased from family-owned farms. The neighborhood bakeries create an array of legendary fresh-baked breads and treats, as well as specialty items during the holidays. Great Harvest mills its whole wheat daily. The fresh flour is used to guarantee the best taste and nutritional value.
The bakery will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. For more information, follow the family-owned bakery on Facebook at "Great Harvest Jacksonville" or visit www.GreatHarvestJacksonville.


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Creating brand cheerleaders
There are some companies that seem to successfully attract a loyal army of brand advocates, customers who will happily share their experiences and champion the brand at every opportunity. But how do these brands effectively engage advocates and what motivates them?
In an age where consumers often complain about long wait times for customer service calls or long contracts from their mobile network provider, Giff Gaff has managed to forge strong customer relationships. When the company was set up, the founders saw an opportunity to build an online business; they decided that customers didn't necessarily need or care about the retail experience of a traditional high street business dealing with customers face-to-face. Giff Gaff talk about members rather than customers, which positions them as one of the team rather than just the provider. Members are incentivised to get involved with product development and problem solving, they're also happy to answer questions in the forum or submit ideas to the Giff Gaff Labs platform. Giff Gaff has built a community. This is a platform that not only works, but appears to be outperforming some of the other providers who offer a more traditional service.
Beauty emporium Sephora launched a members' forum back in 2010, which actually boosted sales thanks to member customer recommendations. Online makeup tutorials and beauty product reviews have become a big thing on social media and video platforms. Bloggers and reviewers will always state which products they are using, often providing detailed product information so viewers can easily make a purchase. Sephora recognised the power of influence and created a members' area on their website. This provided a place where satisfied customers can share their experiences and offer recommendations — new customers are only a click away from a purchase, and there's nothing more powerful than a personal recommendation.
In the case of both brands what's really important is authenticity. The Sephora Beauty Talk forum does contain some posts complaining about the customer experience, but they have not been removed or edited. Sephora understands the importance of an authentic brand experience, which ultimately builds trust and loyalty. Giff Gaff knows that by encouraging conversations they are building a space where members could post negative reviews, but if they didn't allow negative feedback they couldn't address those issues effectively and improve the service they provide.
What does this mean for your brand? By being open, inviting genuine feedback and providing customers with a space to communicate their experience, you begin to cultivate a natural pool of brand ambassadors. This might mean you experience some negative feedback, and it may take a little trial and error to get the balance right, but this is the age of the consumer so it's important to cultivate and nurture customer relations. If you deliver an authentic customer experience, your brand advocates will take to the many digital communication platforms; forums, social media channels and champion your brand — and as we all know, peer to peer recommendations are priceless.


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Rugada was founded in 2012, with a vision of supplying our customers with the finest home furnishings and the dedication to offer personalized customer service. We're based in Georgia. We sell all of our products via our web store, and have additional items on Amazon and an eBay store.
We offer a wide range of rugs and accessories for almost any room in your home. Within each category, you will find numerous options for you to choose from. That way, we make it easy to find the style, size and color that suit your space and personality.
We are committed to making decorating your home easy, affordable and fun. We also know that home stuff often don't fit in your car, so we offer free shipping on most big stuff and most other stuff, too. Ordering is a breeze with our easy-to-follow online instructions and our knowledgeable call center staff that is on hand to answer questions or take orders any time, day or night, seven days a week.
So when you shop on our website you can be sure you will always find top-quality merchandise for your home at the very best prices.
Contact Us
Rugada, LLC
3162 Johnson Ferry Rd
Marietta, GA 30062
Phone: 1-404-424-9987


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Killer's Kiss
A nowhere boxer gets mixed up with a bad-luck dame and inherits her troubles. Stanley Kubrick's undistinguished original film-noir gives little inkling of the genius to come. Short on dialogue, this 1955 movie set on the tough streets of New York is blissfully short (only 67 minutes), but still manages to try the patience. Kubrick seems more interested in experimenting with oddball montage sequences than in his characters. The film is saved by a terrific, bizarre fight sequence in a mannequin warehouse. Nothing else that occurs is of any great interest or consequence. Starring Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, and Frank Silvera, all of whom come off well, if a bit dull. Presented in its original standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 1.0 mono from a clean source print. Trailer, keep-case.
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Naked Body Stands in for Humanity
Her Naked Body Stands In For Vulnerable Humanity
4th Annual Human Body Project
At the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
August 13-23, 2009
At the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
August 13-23, 2009
Click link below to watch the Human Body Project video (2 min.)
Barack Obama observes that the global empathy deficit is far more serious than the financial one. As a mother, it feels intensely urgent to me that we humans address this issue. This project, me volunteering as a "sample human," is my way to do whatever I can do to move humanity forward.
I am an artist. For ten years I lived on the edge trying to make it as a painter. I am also a longtime yoga practitioner, a college instructor, and a former journalist. My events reflect who I am, my wisdom, and my depth. Rather than a separate public persona, I show up as a real, struggling human. The events are in the moment, workshop-like, contemplative. One participant said it was like a new religion, sacred.
I use my 47-year-old naked body (no plastic surgeries, two babies, flabby, not what you'd call titillating) to create a felt, visceral experience of shared vulnerability. I also write about my life, as authentically as I am able to, on my blog.
It's hard! I am not comfortable without my defenses. Who I am is a heartful person. Or, at least, this is what I want to own as a human being and what I want all of us to own as human beings. This is the most vulnerable thing to be. I have learned that being naked is way easier than being openhearted.
Sacredness, authenticity, heartfulness, these attitudes or qualities are mostly missing from how we live. For instance, I often feel painfully disconnected when I participate in or am complicit in the many superficialities and detachments from heartfulness that life presents. But how do we create or deal with or engage with heartfulness? I certainly haven't been taught how. In fact, I learned quite the opposite: not to deal with these qualities, not to "go there."
It is a profoundly difficult dilemma that must be understood in a visceral sense, beyond intellect and cognition. Our separation from sacredness has led to everything from individual health problems (such as my own, which I sometimes write about) to global issues like climate change and poverty. It's mine, but it's yours too.
When I conceived this project in 2006 I decided to commit to do at least one annual public event until I die, partly as a chronicle of my sample human body and the changes that take place in it over the years. I also hope to continue to provoke a serious consideration of vulnerability, our own, as humans in a body, and, by extension, the troubled planet's.
Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." By choosing to use my own body and life experience, I have chosen to "be" and represent that which we all share: physicality, mortality, fragility, and vulnerability. It may be mine you're looking at, but it's yours too.
Location at the Edmonton Fringe
Venue #3
Acacia Hall
10433-83 Ave.
Dates and Times at the Edmonton Fringe
August 14 10:45pm-12:15am
August 16 2:15pm-3:45pm
August 17 6:00pm-7:30pm
August 19 12:30pm-2:00pm
August 20 4:00pm-5:30pm
August 22 8:15pm-9:45pm
$12 regular
$10 for students and seniors
(18 and over)
About the Artist
Tasha Diamant has paintings in hundreds of corporate and private collections. She has been a journalist for national newsmagazines including Maclean's and Australia's Who Weekly. She has also been a yoga instructor and experiential workshop facilitator at the largest holistic health facilities in the US, Kripalu Center and the Omega Institute. She now teaches public speaking at Lethbridge College. Tasha lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, with her husband and two daughters.


text: The essence of Aikido technique is spherical motion around a stable, energized center. As in a tornado or whirlpool, the forces created not only deflect the force of the attack, but draw the attacker into the control of the aikidoist. Aikido is known for its graceful techniques, swift, seemingly effortless movements which propel an attacker through the air. Also, by means of subtle pressure applied to joints puts an opponent into painful submission and control. Ultimately it is the attack that brings down the attacker.