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The global automotive industry is facing change on two fronts: a shifting industry landscape (such as emerging markets and increasing environment regulations) and evolving consumer behavior and expectations.
The number of touchpoints to between brands and consumers is increasing at an unprecedented rate. Consumers are seeking richer retail experiences, rather than simply acquiring new products. There is also an intense competition for loyalty.
The increasing global energy demand, volatile energy prices and regulatory frameworks are a key challenge for the energy industry – as are the global transition to renewable energy and customers expecting a transparent dialogue at all times.
The Fashion and Lifestyle industry faces just about every challenge going: from demand driven omni-channel retailing that puts customer loyalty under pressure, through how to optimize distribution, to improving the 'stickiness' of your promotions and customer experiences.
The competitive landscape has broadened significantly for the financial services industry. The trust factor is gone. Consumers have fast access to online user reviews, financial product comparisons and easy switching, making them savvier and more demanding.
Innovation is driving the change and opportunities in the manufacturing and industrial goods markets. Global demand is shifting, leading to an increased complexity for B2B companies as new markets spring up and existing markets change rapidly.
The media and entertainment industry is experiencing rapid transformation. This offers significant opportunities for those broadcasters, publishers, agencies, content owners and digital platforms that can better understand the impact of this change.
The pace of change in the retail environment is driven by digital: more touchpoints, more product reviews and comparisons for consumers to access anytime, anywhere – and more variety in shopper paths-to-purchase.
In today's connected society, technology impacts all industries - driving opportunities and accelerating the speed of innovation.
Travel companies are facing intense competition for customers, intensified by oversupply, an increasingly fragmented market and consumer demand for services to be provided across every channel.
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Featured Products
Don't see a class listed that you like?
Gather 3 friends, tell us what you want and you can even choose from the teachers and then email us! Have something specific in mind? Let us know and will have an instructor call you to arrange a private lesson!
You can now sign up for classes online! For Class Descriptions, and a list of all of our classes currently being offered, visit our Classes page!

subset: commoncrawl


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Iran remained one of the most censored countries in the world. In the lead-up to the June 2013 presidential elections, then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government pre-emptively arrested journalists, banned publications, harassed family members of exiled journalists, and brought the Internet to a slow crawl. Reformist journalists were not the only targets, as various regime factions fought among themselves and attempted to silence their rivals. International journalists had difficulty acquiring visas, and those who did were often subject to strict supervision on the ground. The government said its crackdown on the press was necessary to unravel a foreign conspiracy led by the BBC to undermine the Islamic Republic. But Iranian citizens began to voice hope that a new era of reform would begin with the election of a more moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, and his apparent support from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was not clear in late year whether that hope would manifest into greater press freedom in the country, and the revolving doors of Iran's prisons continued to turn.
At least 82 Iranian journalists sought exile in the past five years, according to CPJ research. CPJ documented more journalists as having fled into exile in recent years from Iran than from any other country in the world. Iranian journalists often seek refuge in Turkey or Malaysia.
Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claimed in March that 600 Iranian journalists were part of an anti-state spy ring associated with the BBC, and that their arrests were an attempt to "prevent the emergence of sedition prior to the elections."
|Authorities arrested at least 20 journalists between January 26 and March 6 in a broad crackdown aimed at stifling dissent before Iran's presidential election, according to CPJ research.
|At least 24 family members of BBC and Radio Farda journalists were subjected to harassment and intimidation by authorities, the outlets reported.
Online restrictions
|Beyond its normal censorship of the Internet, the government took extraordinary measures to restrict online speech by using more stringent deep-packet inspection and blocking Virtual Private Networks. These measures caused the number of Iranian users of Tor, a tool to use the Internet anonymously, to plummet by 90 percent before the election, according to the Tor Project.
Iran remains the second largest jailer of journalists in the world, behind only Turkey. It is not clear whether the election of President Rouhani has had an impact on the imprisonment of journalists in the country. While several journalists have been released, many of those journalists were at the end of their prison sentences and other journalists have been arrested.
Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are blocked in Iran, even though multiple regime officials have semi-official and even official accounts.
In what the government called a "technical glitch," the sites were unblocked temporarily on September 16, causing much excitement among Iranians. Thomas Erdbrink, a New York Times reporter, received at least 893 retweets when he tweeted, "Hello world, we are tweeting without restrictions from Iran."
|With more than 163,000 followers, this Twitter account supposedly belongs to Iran's newly elected president, Hassan Rouhani. Although the account is not verified by Twitter, Rouhani staffers have said this is the president's official account. Some of its tweets strongly suggest it is operated by a staff member close to the president, including breaking details about a direct phone call with President Barack Obama in September. A tweet on September 18 said the president "backs social media," but does not "personally sit and pen #tweets." A sister Farsi-language account, @Rouhani_ir, has more than 48,000 followers.
|Twitter has verified that this account belongs to Iran's new foreign minister, Javad Zarif. Since the account was opened on September 4 this year, over 112,000 people have signed on to follow Zarif's English-language tweets. In his first few posts, Zarif caused a buzz by wishing his followers a "Happy Rosh Hashanah" and telling Christine Pelosi, daughter of U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, that Iran has never denied the Holocaust. Zarif has also confirmed that he maintains a Facebook page that has more than 800,000 likes.
|It is unclear whether this Twitter account, with nearly 37,000 followers, is operated directly by the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The user tweets in a combination of Farsi and English about the supreme leader's activities, Iranian policy, and culture, but does not engage in conversations like @HassanRouhani and @JZarif. A sister Facebook page launched in December 2012 has more than 69,000 likes, but its authenticity has also been questioned. Khamenei's official website, which is offered in 13 different languages, does not link directly to either social media account.


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Kevin Daniels is at it again. Fresh off of a heralded engagement as Magic Johnson on Broadway, Daniel is right back on a Los Angeles stage, portraying another African American hero. Rogue Machine's latest production One Night in Miami…, tells the story of the little known gathering of a quartet of iconic Black men on the eve of Cassius Clay converting to Islam. In between performances, Kevin took a little time to answer question for LA SPLASH, to learn more about this raising talent.
Congratulations on the great success of One Night In Miami... at Rogue Machine and your new series Sirens, that was just picked up by the USA Network. Similar roles?
Thank You! I feel very lucky to get a chance to work back to back on such exciting projects. The roles are very different but there are a lot of similar themes. Hank, like Jim Brown, doesn't really hold his tongue. He is great at his job and has, shall we say, a hedonistic lifestyle that he enjoys. All good buddy comedy stuff.
Are you "the artist" in the family, or did the arts thrive in your household as a child?
I don't know if I was the artist per se in my family considering how much music prevailed in our lives. My sister and I used to sing our favorite gospel songs around the house Ad Nauseam. We grew up in the baptist church where our Grandfather was pastor. So at an early age we did all of the church plays and pageants and readings and solos. My sister and my mother are both Incredible Singers. Me not so much.
How did theatre/acting find you?
I grew in up in Texas in a predominately sports oriented household. One day I went to see a school play and decided I wanted to try and do that. I joined the drama club, took some speech and debate class and starting competing with other kids across the state. I kinda never looked back. To the dismay of my football coach.
After starring on Broadway last year as "Magic Johnson" in the play Magic/Bird, you chose to play another sports icon, "Jim Brown," in One Night in Miami... here in Los Angeles. Are you a big sports fan, or is it just a coincidence that these roles come back to back?
It's been a little amazing that I got to play two living sports icons back to back. Both men who dominated their sport. both sporting the number 32. When i first read the script I knew right away this a role I'd love to play.
Since this is the World Premiere production, was there continued development of the play during rehearsals?
Absolutely. Our director Carl Cofield really set up an open and collaborative room. Kemp would come in with new pages to suit our strengths as actors as well as clarifying the story. I've worked on a lot of new pieces in the initial stages and thats always where some of the best work gets done when you're creating and shaping the play. again so lucky to be in a room with such talented folks across the board.
How was that process for you as an actor, working with the Playwright Kemp Powers?
It was fantastic working with Kemp. He was so knowledgeable about all of these guys and so open to sharing his baby with us. Allowing us to play without ever becoming over bearing, which can sometimes happen on a new piece. He's an incredible talent. Can't wait to read what comes next. He's currently working on a new play called The Two Reds, and his writing has been selected for publication in The Moth's first ever book of collected works. I think Hyperion Books will release it in September.
Do you think this play has a future in New York? If so, would you want to be a part of it again?
Yes. and Yes. You know any great producers?
What roles are on your wish list for the future?
You hiring?
One Night in Miami... is now playing through July 28th, 2013 at The Rogue Machine in Los Angeles. Go Check out Kevin's brilliant work.


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The Persistence of Memories: Art as PortkeyCategories: Prose
We humans have a habit of storing memories and feelings just about everywhere. The house, the car, the cat, articles of clothing, coffee mugs, lost teeth, and locks of hair. Really, anything will do as a repository for the moments … Continue reading
Tags: art, death, Eight Bells, etching, horcrux, memory, ocean, portkey, sea, Winslow Homer


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Easter Basket Cupcakes
My mother and I would make these when I was growing up, and I had just as much fun sharing the same experience with my own children when they were young. —Kathy Kittell, Lenexa, Kansas
Total TimePrep: 35 min. Bake: 20 min. + cooling
Makes2-1/2 dozen
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 pound carrots, grated
- 2 cups chopped California Walnuts, toasted
- 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon water
- 2 to 4 drops food coloring
- 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- Optional candies: jelly beans, bunny Peeps candy and Sour Punch straws
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 30 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla until well blended. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ginger and nutmeg; add to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Stir in carrots, walnuts, pineapple and coconut.
- Fill prepared cups three-fourths full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until blended. Beat in orange zest and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Frost cupcakes.
- In a large resealable plastic bag, mix water and food coloring; add coconut. Seal bag and shake until coconut is evenly tinted. Sprinkle over cupcakes. Decorate with candies, as desired. Refrigerate until serving.
Editor's NoteTo toast nuts, bake in a shallow pan in a 350° oven for 5-10 minutes or cook in a skillet over low heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
Nutrition Facts1 cupcake (calculated without candies): 420 calories, 24g fat (9g saturated fat), 45mg cholesterol, 253mg sodium, 50g carbohydrate (36g sugars, 2g fiber), 5g protein.
Recommended Video
Apr 19, 2015
Recipe for the carrot cake itself was very tasty and resulted in a moist cake. Everyone thought they were good and very cute. And the frosting was also very good; however, I would recommend only assembling what you think everyone will eat and leave the rest of the cupcakes plain with icing; otherwise the basket handles (the sour straws) come undone and/or melt making a sort of gooey mess.


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CaseProgression necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 142 diseños de 27 diseñadores freelance.
Case Progression
We are a startup software development company that will be marketing a web application, Case Progression, to law firms around the country.
Case Progression is a unique web application that allows law firms' clients to monitor the status of their cases online. This allows the clients to always know what is going on with their cases without having to constantly be calling the law firm for an update.
Law Firms, Attorneys, Clients, Web Users
We would like an eye catching logo that can be used on websites, email, business cards, letterhead, brochures and presentations.
We want the logo to be modern, but not too busy. We also don't want it to be too plain or boring.
Colors: Feel free to experiment, but please don't use more than 3. The logo should still be effective without color. We generally prefer shades of blues and grays, but are open to your creativity.
Please, No: Cartoons, animals, stock photos, clip art, cheesy fonts.
Case Progression can be with or without a space between the two words.
We would like to see some options where the C from Case and the P from Progression are incorporating into the graphic but are open to all other options as well.
Logos we like: (please don't copy... be somewhat original):
We have also uploaded a couple of logos that we were playing around with. We are sure that designers can come up with ideas that are far better than these but wanted to give an idea of what we liked.
We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Massachusetts has closed a lottery loophole that virtually assured big spending gamblers of a profit.
Savvy professional gamblers figured out that if they bought more than $100,000 worth of Cash WinFall tickets at certain times of the year, they were sure to win, the Boston Globe reported Sunday. That prompted the state to restrict stores to selling just $5,000 worth of the tickets per day.
The game is based on a half-dozen randomly chosen numbers, with odds of getting all six 1 in 9,366,819. If nobody won for three months and the jackpot topped $2 million, but no one picked all six numbers, the money would go to players who picked only four or five. These periods, known as "rolldown weeks," saw prizes up to 10 times larger than normal, The Globe reported.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Gamblers figured out that if they bought more than $100,000 of the two-dollar tickets during rolldown weeks, their odds of winning went up dramatically — and they won a bigger prize. The Globe said the payoff for five matching numbers might rise from $4,000 to as much as $134,767.
Lottery officials first noticed in 2005 that a few groups who had formed gambling companies were pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into Cash WinFall. The five biggest winners were earning back the cost of their tickets plus up to $6 million a year during the rolldowns without ever hitting the jackpot, according to Canadian statistician Mohan Srivastava. In May, during a rolldown week, there were 1,605 prizes awarded, 1,105 of which went to just three winners.


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The campaign drill down report (the report you can up pull up by clicking Reports –> Overview –> name of a campaign) previously had one lonely chart on it (new visitors and prospects created over the past 30 days). We have changed the report to now pull in other relevant stats from marketing items associated with the campaign. You can now see the same chart (though a more stylish version) and also have your relevant prospects (prospects tagged with this campaign), landing pages, custom redirects, forms, and more all in one place.
2 thoughts on "More tables / new chart added to campaign drill down report"
That's great. Before I wondered why I even tagged everything with a campaign. Now I know why!
Comments are closed.


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Extension Family & Consumer Sciences
Welcome to the Department of Extension Family & Consumer Sciences home page.
We hope you will take a few minutes to see what we have to offer.
New Mexico's families make choices and decisions every day about time, money, child rearing, nutrition, and health. To make the best decisions, they need practical, accurate, unbiased information.
New Mexico State University Extension Family & Consumer Sciences, who serve every county in the state, work in partnership with NMSU campus faculty to provide research-based, up-to-date information on important topics that affect families.
Major areas of focus for programming in Extension Family & Consumer Sciences include: Diabetes, Disaster Preparedness, Family Health and Wellness, Family Life and Child Development, Family Resource Management, Nutrition and Wellness, and Food Technology. To learn more about our programming in these areas, click on their respective links found under "Programs" in the navigation frame found on the left side of this page.
New Mexico State University
Extension Family & Consumer Sciences
Gerald Thomas Hall, Room 309
MSC 3AE, P.O. Box 30003
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003
Phone: (575) 646-5426
Fax: (575) 646-1889
Email: email@example.com


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Why Pipeline Politics in Central Asia are a Boon for U.S. Investors
Right now there's major pipeline battle going on – one that will have a profound impact on the future of American energy production.
And I'm not talking about the Keystone Pipeline.
In fact, this underreported story is happening in a place that few Americans energy investors would be able to locate on a world map.
But what happens there will have a real impact on their investment portfolios – for the better.
You see, recent moves by Russia, Iran, and especially China have just improved U.S.-based energy prospects. That's why today we're going to focus on one country many people haven't heard much about before: Turkmenistan.
And we're ready to capture some profits from it.
Land-Locked and Loaded With Fuel
These developments center on the Caspian Sea basin and the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, in particular.
The Caspian Sea is one of the two last major new sources of oil and gas on the globe. The other (the Arctic Circle) is less accessible and much costlier to develop. So this is an important oil and gas center. (As you can see on the map below, the hub of the activity is just north of Iran.)
Five countries land-lock the sea (the so-called "littoral," or shore, states): Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.
When access to the Caspian was last the subject of a treaty in the 1940s, only two countries took part in the process – the first four current states were then all part of the Soviet Union.
Much has changed.
Aside from politics, the discovery of huge hydrocarbon reserves has fueled new international interest in this part of the world.
A New King in Natural Gas
Located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan has one of the top four reserves of conventional (i.e., free standing, not shale) natural gas in the world.
Of course, if it is going to sell all this natural gas, the country needs pipeline access to the major consumer markets.
And that brings the intense political nature of these matters into view.
Throughout the Soviet period, and until very recently, Russia provided that access, with a bit of creative accounting on their part.
What actually happened was that Gazprom, Russia's dominant company and the largest gas outfit in the world, bought Turkmen production at a discount for local use. This would free up Russian-produced gas for export (mainly to Europe), which they sold at a higher price than the gas they had purchased.
Clever, huh?
Now, the Turkmen government in Ashgabat (led by a president with an unpronounceable name – Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov) has sought to diversify its export corridors, making the country less dependent on Moscow for its entry into the world market.
Matters reached a head almost two years ago – on April 9, 2009.
On that day, an explosion rocked the major pipeline crossing Turkmenistan. This was the primary gas conduit in the entire region, and despite being inside the country, it was run by Russian Gazprom.
Turkmenistan accused Gazprom and Russian engineers of purposefully creating this pipeline explosion in order to disrupt gas exports. Russian experts, in turn, blamed Turkmen negligence and the country's worn-down infrastructure. Tensions only escalated from there.
In response, Turkmenistan suspended all sales to Russia and then immediately began making earnest moves to send its gas elsewhere.
The result was a huge pipeline project stretching from major fields in the eastern part of the country, across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, to… China.
The Turkmens have also committed additional exports to neighboring Iran (despite having huge natural gas reserves of its own, the northern portion of Iran is not connected to the main fields in the south), to source a new pipeline moving through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India, while also saying they will provide volume directly to Europe.
This last ingredient has stoked the fires of politics in the region. To supply the highly desired European market, Turkmen gas must connect to pipelines in Azerbaijan, and then on to Turkey. And to do this, a new pipeline must be laid on the Caspian seabed (the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, or TCGP).
Now the legal status of the Caspian, along with how the individual states can access its open waters and raw materials, has been the single biggest disagreement among the five littoral states.
The proposed pipeline would connect Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, and it has the approval of both countries, as well as support from the U.S. and the European Union (EU).
These two countries claim they need only their own approval for a project involving only them.
Yet Russia, Iran, and, now, Kazakhstan adamantly oppose the TCGP. These three argue that no pipelines should be allowed under the Caspian without the consent of all five countries that border the sea.
And matters have heated up even more now that China is involved.
China Opposes the Caspian Pipeline
Late last year, Ashgabat and Beijing signed a new agreement to increase the flow of Turkmen gas to China. The new amount, to be phased in after pipeline upgrades, would reach 65 billion cubic meters a year, only slightly less than what Turkmenistan has agreed to sell Russia (68 billion annually).
The last thing China wants is for Turkmenistan to sell its gas independently to Europe.
The price there is considerably higher, and that would allow Ashgabat to claim a prevailing higher rate in negotiations over prices with China.
China, therefore, is now supporting the Russian-Iranian-Kazakh position on TCGP.
This puts the E.U. in a difficult spot. It cannot simply entice the Turkmens with higher prices because it may well cost Ashgabat strained relations with a rising dominant trading partner (China).
Turkmenistan must also concern itself with a possible Russian naval response. The other four Caspian littoral states have the all-too-recent example of Russia's military move into neighboring Georgia on August 8, 2008, to remind them of the country's strength.
For them, it is an all too recent example that could be repeated in their backyard.
Turkmenistan, therefore, needs to tread carefully. This means a likely delay in supplying the European markets.
It means something else, too…
A Boon for American Investors
As I noted on Friday, the prospects of exporting U.S. shale gas to the European market as liquefied natural gas (LNG) is extremely promising.
Europe requires new sources of natural gas in order to offset its primary energy security concern – over reliance on Russian pipeline gas.
Europe had hoped to acquire some of that Caspian production. Now, the alliance between China and Russia against the TCGP makes this more difficult.
It also furthers the likelihood that Europe will be accepting accelerating steams of LNG from the U.S. as a ready alternative…
Which is great news here in the United States.
So, thank you, Moscow and Beijing!
Your gracious assistance has improved the bottom line prospects of U.S. shale gas producers… and their happy investors.


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Thank you for visiting the James Thomas Renovations, Inc. website! We are a full service interior and exterior custom remodeling and renovation company. James Thomas specializes in all phases of remodeling projects including planning, designing, and installing.
When it comes to getting the best value for the dollar, James Thomas is always the answer, whether you're taking on a windows, siding project or a kitchen, bathroom or basement remodel! Please take a moment to browse our website. You'll be glad you did.


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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the dense galaxy cluster SDSS J1531+3414 in the northern constellation Corona Borealis. Made up primarily of giant elliptical galaxies with a few spirals and irregular galaxies thrown in for good measure, the cluster's powerful gravity warps the image of background galaxies into blue streaks and arcs.
At the center of the bull's-eye of blue, gravitationally lensed filaments lies a pair of elliptical galaxies that are also exhibiting some interesting features. A 100,000-light-year-long structure that looks like a string of pearls twisted into a corkscrew shape winds around the cores of the two massive galaxies. The "pearls" are superclusters of blazing, blue-white, newly born stars. These super star clusters are evenly spaced along the chain at separations of 3,000 light-years from one another.
Astronomers first hypothesized that the string of pearls was actually a lensed image of one of the background galaxies. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the two elliptical galaxies are in the process of interacting and are beginning to share material between themselves.
The underlying physics behind the "beads on a string" structure is related to describing the behavior of self-gravitating clumps of gas. It's analogous to the process where rain falls in drops rather than in continuous filaments from clouds. It's called the Jeans instability, and it can play out on distance scales of enormous orders of magnitude. The whole assembly must result from the gravitational tidal forces present in the galaxy collision.
The cluster was first cataloged in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, hence the name, SDSS J1531+3414. The sharp view of Hubble was used to image the cluster in May of 2013. The Wide Field Camera 3 instrument imaged the cluster in visible and infrared filters.
Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Tremblay (ESO), M. Gladders and M. Florian (University of Chicago), S. Baum, C. O'Dea, K. Cooke (RIT), M. Bayliss (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), H. Dahle (University of Oslo), T. Davis (ESO), J. Rigby (NASA/GSFC), K. Sharon (University of Michigan), E. Soto (Catholic University of America), and E. Wuyts (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics)
Acknowledgment: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration


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Rejoice! Billy Corgan has finally come back to his senses.
With a new crop of budding musicians devoid of emotional baggage, bruised egos and rock star meltdowns, the Smashing Pumpkins sounds like a band reborn. Tapping into the youthful vitality of guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino like a thristy vampire making a monthly withdrawal at a blood bank, Billy Corgan sounds like he has a renewed sense of vigor and purpose to go along with his seemingly inexhaustible creative spark.
If this is the sound of a band allegedly on its last leg, God help us all if the Smashing Pumpkins is ever restored to full power again.
Being billed as an �album within an album,� �Oceania� is the next 13-song cycle in Corgan�s ongoing 44-song �Teargarden by Kaleidyscope� saga. That ambitious but overwhelming project to us mere mortals is allegedly inspired by the four phases of �The Fool�s Journey� version of the tarot, which begs the question: Why is Corgan spending so much time examining a fool�s journey, when every career move after �Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness� (up to this point) has been a fool�s journey of epic proportions?
Corgan�s on fire. Not only does he sound like the Great Pumpkin of yore, Corgan sounds like he has been shot out of an erupting volcano on the adrenaline-pumping, arena rock anthem for the Almighty up above, �Quasar.� In the guise of a chrome-domed deliverer for post-911 times, Corgan boldly proclaims, �God, right on!/Krishna, right on!/Mark, right on!� What makes this song a behemoth is not its inspiring message but the invigorating and uncompromising rock �n� roll music that is so hot, it�s guaranteed to singe your ear hairs. Guitars unmercifully roar like dinosaurs on a feeding frenzy while quaking drums sound like they have the power to knock the earth off its axis. With shades of �Cherub Rock� being dissolved in this sonic big-bang, Corgan sounds like he has a date with destiny, where his glorious past, questionable mid-period and uncertain (but from the sounds of things, promising) future collide like hurtling planets and become one.
Announcing the arrival of amour like it�s a royal guest, Corgan orders, �Rise! Love is here� on �Panopticon.� As it starts off drearily but ending gloriously, the listener actually can hear Corgan slowly rise up from the muck and the mire of his troubled existence and break free from the stranglehold of the past. Surrounded by shredding guitar riffs and cascading drumbeats, Corgan lifts himself up and reclaims his righteous place as an alternative-rock god (and guitar god) by song�s end.
On �The Celestial,� Corgan claims, �I�m gonna love you 101 percent.� While this sentiment might look hokey on paper, it sounds honest coming out of Corgan�s mouth. With shades of �Disarm,� a lovesick Corgan pours his guts out while he strums away at his acoustic guitar. While this opus starts off sounding intimate, unguarded, tranquil and pretty, it gradually builds to a stark and riveting rocker and ends with an unforgiving bath of dissonance and feedback.
On the muscular and meaty, heart-in-the-ringer rocker �Violet Rays,� Corgan pleads, �Babe, don�t leave me, please believe me/�Cause I�m so easy to know.� Whether he�s singing to an estranged lover, ex-band members or his over-inflated ego is anybody�s guess. Then again, with a claustrophobic mix of crashing drums and crying guitars, the disillusioned romantic and impassioned rocker captures the sense of utter dread and desperation that comes when one realizes that strong feelings and good intentions aren�t always enough.
If Kristen Stewart was smart, the two-timing �Twilight� trollop would have commissioned Corgan to ghost-write her public apology. Rather than her sniffling confession of guilt to her blood-sucking pretty boy Robert Pattinson, she should have remarked, �There is love enough for the both of us/There is more than prayers made to be with you/My love is lost� � as Corgan does in on the Gothic Hallmark set to music, �My Love Is Winter.�
The soul-searching and the solitude continue on the nine-minute epic, �Oceania.� �I�m so alone, so alone,� Corgan bemoans but concludes, �But better than I ever was.� Unfolding in three, interlocking parts (and concluding with a trippy jam), Corgan reveals his broken dreams and extent of his heartbreak but, at the same time, the upside of only answering to his inner muse. In addition to showcasing his diverse musical talents, Corgan gives his new bandmates ample room to shine. Corgan might not reach his lover in the end, but he certainly reaches the listener.
Corgan would rather be a misunderstood, violent, mood-swinging basket case than a heavily medicated zombie on the poignant and potent �Pale Horses.� With creepy, Cure-like synths and crashing cymbals accenting the end of each crushing verse, Corgan poetically rallies against prescribed drugs that may ease the pain but eliminate one�s personality and uniqueness in the end. Sounding like he�s serenading a ghostly woman named Thora Zine (get it?), Corgan chillingly ponders, �If I was to listen, I�d turn back/Give up on my reasons/Forgive up the past/You think I�d swallow that?�
Corgan is looking for love in all the weird and esoteric places on �The Chimera.� While it has taken most of his life to find the light that shines within, Corgan is willing now to bask in this inner light as he marvels a �love forever strange.� Corgan conceives the capricious, charming mantra, �Summertime�s the only child this night/You want to brace the golden fool/Let�s make this right.� With its share of histrionic guitar riffs combined with the singer�s endearing whine, the �golden fool� that is Corgan has not only made things right again, he has easily won us over.


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Modern thrillers are typically bogged down with fantastical plots, unnecessary twists and red herrings. Gone avoids most of these pitfalls with a simple thriller plotline that's easy to follow. In doing so, it becomes a boring potboiler.
Waitress Jill (Amanda Seyfried: In Time) comes home from an overnight shift to find her sister Molly (Emily Wicker: I Am Number Four) gone. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that a year ago, Jill was abducted from her bed and held in a dank pit filled with bones.
Even worse, the police didn't believe Jill's report of her miraculous escape from certain death and sent her to a psych ward. Undeterred, she gets herself out of the mental hospital and divides her days between searching the woods for her place of captivity and harassing the police whenever a missing girl is reported.
At night, Jill trains in hand-to-hand combat and waits tables in a greasy spoon. She's one handful of anti-anxiety pills away from a total breakdown.
So you can imagine how well she takes the sudden disappearance of her sister. Convinced the serial killer is back to exact revenge on the one that got away, Jill believes her sister has only hours to live.
The police force is so laughably incompetent that they won't listen to Jill's fears. Even given ample evidence that Molly has indeed met with foul play, they are too busy drinking coffee to be bothered.
Being of not-so-sound mind, Jill resorts to tracking down her former captor, intending to force him to reveal her sister's location and kill him. Easy enough, especially considering Jill's been training for this very opportunity.
So like Jack Bauer with flowing blonde locks, Jill searches for answers, using only tenacity and a gun. When the police learn that their favorite mental patient is running around town armed, they aren't thrilled. They still don't care about the sister, but they dread the paperwork required if Jill shoots someone.
So now Jill must duck the cops and track down the serial killer before the moon rises and her sister dies. Trouble is, this overwhelming-sounding task is fairly easy in Gone.
And that's the problem. We all love it when a plan comes together, but there's very little drama if everything works out perfectly. It's nice that Jill is such a competent lead, but by never challenging any of her plans, the film makes you think she's either a clairvoyant or crazy — just like the cops said.
This isn't totally Siegfried's fault, as Jill is just a tough victim with very little to flesh out her character. Gone is never more than a pale imitation of the Ashley Judd revenge films of the mid 1990s.
Seyfried tries to infuse tension and grit into her character, but Jill seems to only have two modes: hysteria and Death Wish.
The movie also stereotypes police. There's the tough yet understanding cop who wants to believe her. The creepy cop with rapey eyes who disappears at odd times. The tough female cop who doesn't care about brushing her hair or Jill …
Lacking a complex script, we're given red herrings, with characters suspiciously disappearing or sinking into shadowy corners.
All together, this movie has about as many genuine shocks and twists as an episode of Dateline.


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Best of 20132013.December.31
I am by no means an exhaustive consumer of media, but this year had some gems that I feel compelled share. Simply put, this list comprises things I experienced that helped me grow & love better in 2013. No rank or order is implied; "Honorable Mentions" are older but were new to me in 2013.
Favorite Concept: "self-othering"
To self-other is to claim narratives of the powerless for oneself with little or no authentic claim to such levels of powerlessness. Examples might include the concept of "reverse racism", equating being "broke" with actual poverty, exoticism, framing "language police" as equally oppressive to the use of offensive terminology, borrowing from an unfinished struggle to promote a contemporary one (e.g., "gay is the new black"), and the claim that polyamory is a queer and/or oppressed status — but most instances are actually far more subtle. By its privileged nature, self-othering is far more pernicious in educated, hetero, white, cismen [friendly wave]; it is not usually a conscious co-option, which makes it difficult to recognize in oneself, but I suspect anyone who examines zir own social power will struggle with it at some point. Perhaps even those with very little social privilege could benefit from remembering that actual physical and societal oppression feels different for every person and every circumstance. This concept needs to be contemplated and discussed widely, so we might all better catch ourselves exercising the power of naming and the privilege of inclusion; try not to water it down too fast, Internet.
Honorable Mention: Intersectionality
The Grand Unified Theory of social activism, where those deconstructing sexism, racism, classism, and countless other systemic power disparities compare notes. In a few more years, the Internet may relegate it just another dialectal buzzword, but for now it has teeth as a thoughtful and dynamic post-social-justice outlook.
Favorite Discussion Piece: Orange Is the New Black
I cannot say I exactly love this show, but I absolutely love to watch and participation in its deconstruction. I dare anyone to read White Chick Behind Bars and not feel personally challenged somewhere. Some friends have begun to shy away from discussing OITNB publicly because the critiques made them feel like bad (white) people, but to let call-out critiques of such a complicated, try-hard show brand it irredeemable would be just as short-sighted as to review it purely for cinematographic and storytelling qualities. In these discussions, there is the opportunity to examine where poetic license and politics collide, to ask which is making us feel uncomfortable this week (and whether it was the show's intent), and to celebrate the heretofore overlooked perspectives now receiving thoughtful screen time. Until perfect art comes along, let us continue to be motivated by imperfect art that keeps us talking, introduces us to new situations, and makes us check our assumptions about what a titty-shot really conveys.
Favorite Blogger: Ferrett Steinmetz
I discovered Ferrett shortly before his earth-shaking Dear Daughter: I Hope You Have Some Fucking Awesome Sex went viral, but he's been posting all over for a while. In Ferrett, I found a rare straight guy who could not only educate but inspire me: atypically male, relatable, passionately self-aware, sex-positive, polyamorous (but kind of relaxed about it), thoughtful about the creative process, AND prolific. Every time I approached one of his posts expecting a mere oasis from the kind of entitlement narratives that poison me against my fellow white guys, Ferrett transports me levels beyond by finishing thoughts I hadn't even started yet. His approach is to excise common misperception from reality with quick, deft text grounded in everyday experience — and he owns it when he messes up! The man writes about anything without wasting a word; I can trust that if I don't find a particular post profound, SOMEONE ELSE WILL. Not that I'm saying you should idolize him (or anyone else).
Favorite Music: Janelle Monáe, The Electric Lady
A late arrival in my year; I was slow to pick up this album because I was afraid it couldn't live up to my first impressions of the hottest android-impersonator in music, but I was wrong. So very wrong. I'm just starting to dig into the mythos she's created and the funked out fusion she's worked into the tracks, but I know this album will be getting a lot of play in 2014.
Honorable Mention (album): Black Snake Moan Soundtrack
I could spend the rest of my life debating where the movie sits on the line between "problematic" and "irredeemable", but its highest point was the filmmakers' engrossing love letter to Delta blues.
Honorable Mention (song): Lupe Fiasco (with Guy Sebastian), "Battle Scars"
The conscious rapper dropped this crossover hit — questioning the battle-like nature of relationship discord — and went platinum. Yes. This.
Favorite Movie: Gravity
Another item I feared couldn't possibly live up to the hype. I was left breathless the first time I saw the two-minute trailer, and the movie theater experience was basically 90 minutes of the same. I won't say it's the best story ever (and I really think I would have liked Robert Downey, Jr., to have kept the part that eventually went to George Clooney), but its telling is gripping and its visual achievements should do to space what Jurassic Park did to dinosaurs: raise the bar to impossible heights and dare every movie that follows to choose between pitiful homage or pointless improvisation. Along the way, it instilled for me a dread of what happens down here on Earth should our skies ever receive such a disaster.
Honorable Mention: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Another visual spectacle, Beasts is carried by a six-year-old thriving in Southern myth-making — and yet I can't watch it without cross-referencing myth-like places and people I've known. The stories from behind the scenes are just as breathtaking.
Favorite Parody: Pretty much anything riffing on Blurred Lines
The horror of the original song/video/message isn't the kind of thing you can rectify with academic deconstruction or even conscious indignation — you need a good genderfucking parody or two.
Favorite Reads: Parenting on the Internet
Perhaps even more than Ferrett's piece above, this piece showed how parenting can provoke individuals to look within for change. The RenegadeMama sees the greatness in her son's gentle nature and, going against her won inclinations, decides to let it stand. It's impossible to encapsulate its brilliance without lifting swaths of text (which you should go read for yourself), but I can say this: it made me appreciate parents and parenting a little more, and it even fostered forgiveness for the ways my own family had tried to socialize me against my gentler inclinations. That's powerful wordsmithing right there.
Honorable Mention: Cat's Cradle
My lover put this book in my hands and told me to read it; she is wise, and there will be celebratory tattoos. The legacy of a dead scientist draws a listless writer to a banana republic with an outlaw religion and a captivating woman. Sardonic wisdom and global change ensue.
Favorite Introspection: Defining Allies and Their Role
I should note that this conversation is far from over, so rather than trying to encapsulate it how about I share a tiny sample and you go join the conversation yourself?
Growing Up Online: Why & How I Care About the Comments
8 Ways Not To Be An Ally — A Non-Comprehensive List
For Whites (Like Me): On White Kids
Holy Gender Politics, Batman! How a D.C. Punk's Music Video Sparked an Identity Controversy
Honorable Mention: Call-Out Culture
Another unfinished debate, is "calling out" the Internet's greatest act of justice, a stalled strategy that's keeping allies from necessary reflection, or flat-out liberal bullying? Is anger and vitriol on another person's behalf ever justified, even helpful? What are our assumptions about people who call out? about people who don't? Is there something better they could be doing? Reply hazy, try again.
Favorite Polyamory Topic: All Good Right?
Alan from Poly in the Media shares a few thoughts from himself and several other long-time poly writers on the assumptions that can slip into nonmonogamy and how rapid growth of the identity has made it harder to check such foundational misunderstandings.
Favorite Cracked Article: 5 Mind-blowing Facts Nobody Told You About Guns
Just read it; you won't be disappointed.
There! You get ten. But here's one to grow on, my favorite piece that I've written this year. Feel free to add it to your Best of list!


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The memorial is a project of the City of Blanding. Appropriately, it is set to be dedicated on Memorial Day in May, 2013.
The Veterans Memorial is designed to honor military and law enforcement veterans that are affiliated with San Juan County.
The memorial building will feature photographs of those who were combat deaths. In addition, a book will profile those who served, including those killed in the service, Purple Heart recipients and Prisoners of War.
Organizers ask for community help to locate information and photographs, of the Veterans featured in the memorial.
They are Denton Burrell Carroll, Dick Hooten Christensen, Marlin Clyde Dalton, Emil Enander Fincher, Benjamin L. Fitzgerald, Hernan Garcia, Jed Elwyn Harris, Karl Lloyd Hunt, Amasa Lyman Jones III, Weston K. Keen, John Paul Kimmerle, Alma Robert Mangum, Leroy Marshall Pullman, and Jimmie Charles Scrogum.
Anyone with information is asked to call 435-678-2791 or email email@example.com.
Blanding Mayor Toni Turk stressed the need for correct information to improve the records.
Turk announced to the Blanding City Council on January 8 that law enforcement personnel will be added to the memorial effort, in addition to military service members.
Turk said anyone who served in law enforcement is invited to submit information. Current active duty lofficials must submit their own data.
So far, volunteers have donated $32,000 toward the $50,000 project, with a host of pledges of in-kind donations.
"We are close enough to move ahead with construction," said Turk. "But to do everything we need to do at the level that we need to do it, we need more money or donations."
Donors will be recognized in the facility for contributions of $500, $1,000 and $5,000.


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This chapter describes Oracle Business Process Management Process Spaces, how to start and log in to it, and how to navigate its interface, including the modeling space and the process instance space.
To help you get started with Process Spaces, this chapter contains these topics:
Process Spaces is a workspace built on top of Oracle WebCenter Portal: Spaces. It enables greater collaboration by combining the content from the panels in Process Workspace with an additional workspace in which you can collaborate in the development of process models.
WebCenter Portal provides group spaces that support discrete communities of any size that are organized around an area of interest or a common goal. WebCenter Portal also provides various collaborative services enabling document sharing, discussions, wikis, lists, links, tagging, and real-time collaboration services such as presence and instant messaging.
As a combination of WebCenter Portal and Process Workspace functionalities, Process Spaces provides WebCenter group spaces that are designed specifically for modeling and executing business processes. In addition to these, Process Spaces also uses the collaborative services of WebCenter Portal.
For information about Oracle WebCenter Portal, see Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal: Spaces.
Process Spaces provides these WebCenter Portal group spaces specifically for business process management:
A process workspace—For process participants to collaborate on relevant processes and instances based on their roles. This enables, for example, a group of sales representatives within a given region to share documents and information about various customers, the products they are buying, their requirements and history.
A process modeling space—For domain analysts to collaborate on various aspects of modeling business processes. This enables, for example, experts from various departments to jointly develop processes that reflect the needs of their various departments.
A process instance space—Created on an ad hoc basis for long-running instances, it displays specific instances that require a high level of collaboration over time.
You can customize these group spaces based on functional teams, granting access only to a relevant set of users with the appropriate roles. After you specify these user sets, only the relevant processes are included in the space.
To start Process Spaces, you must have installed Oracle SOA Suite and the Service Integration server must be running. See Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite for more information.
To start and log in to Process Spaces:
Go to
host_name is the name of the host computer on which Oracle WebCenter Portal is installed.
port_number is the one used at installation.
Enter the user name and password.
You can use the preseeded user to log in as an administrator. If you have loaded the demonstration user community in the identity store, then you can use other users such as jstein or jcooper.
The user name and password must exist in the user community provided to JAZN.
Click Login.
Tabs in Process Spaces are customizable depending on your roles—for example, an administrator can add or remove panels in any given page.
This section contains these topics:
Section 12.3.1, "About the Process Spaces Process Workspace"
Section 12.3.3, "The Process Instance Space in Process Spaces"
The Process Spaces Process Workspace includes a Home page and a Process Tracking page.
After a user logs in, depending on the user's roles and privileges, the Process Spaces Home page displays the user's tasks and related panels, as shown in Figure 12-1.
Figure 12-1 Process Spaces Home Page
Included in the various panels of the Home page is the Available Processes panel, which displays the processes the user is authorized to execute. The Home page also displays the task inbox and dashboards (charts), and several standard panels of WebCenter Portal.
Selecting the Process Tracking page provides process-related information, as shown in Figure 12-2. Depending on the user's roles and privileges, this page displays the process instance list and various other panels including available processes and dashboards. It also includes a number of standard WebCenter Portal panels.
Figure 12-2 Process Spaces Process Tracking Page
The Process Spaces Modeling Space page enables users to collaborate on process definition. In this page users can, for example, on potential bottlenecks of a deployed process and discuss improvements. Figure 12-3 shows a Process Spaces Modeling Space page.
Figure 12-3 Process Spaces Modeling Space Page
This page includes the Process Catalog, which graphically displays the various processes in the project. Each process is represented by a square. Navigation arrows within a given square enable you to find more information about the process it represents. The page also includes a number of panels that are standard to WebCenter Portal.
The Process Instance Space allows users to collaborate on a process instance. Usually the process instance space is used for a long-running process instance that involves many ad hoc activities and collaboration.
Figure 12-4 shows a process instance page showing the stakeholders of the process instance, audit trail of the instance, and the process instance calendar.
Figure 12-4 Process Spaces Process Instance Page


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Home › Professional Development › Strategy Guides
Strategy Guide
Introducing New Content with Seed Discussions
|5 – 12
Urbana, Illinois
|Strategy Guide Series
|Reading in the Content Areas
In this strategy guide, you'll learn how to elicit ideas and conversation about new concepts or content by effectively holding a Seed Discussion in your classroom.
Research Basis
Often times, introducing new content or new concepts can be overwhelming for students and teachers alike. Through the use of Seed Discussions, students are able to preview the new content or concepts for things that they can relate to. They seek out information that looks familiar to them, things they dont quite understand, and things that look interesting to them, including new vocabulary. Seed Discussions allow students to identify and develop topics important to their own thinking.
After previewing the new content or concepts and filling out their Seed Discussion Organizer, students are able to have a discussion with their peers about new information coming their way and exiting information that they already hold. According to Project CRISS, effective seeds grow into dynamic discussions, driving the interest in new content and reaffirming their existing knowledge so that the new content doesnt seem so intimidating.
Strategy in Practice
- Pick a new piece of content or a new concept that you will be introducing to your students. This may be a new unit in your science textbook, a new chapter in a novel, or a magazine article on a current event, among other things.
- Put up four pieces of chart paper around the classroom; one each with the given prompts on the Seed Discussion Organizer. Students will use these pieces of chart paper to record their responses after they fill out their individual Seed Discussion Organizer.
- Give each student access to the new content, as well as a copy of the Seed Discussion Organizer. Discuss with students the four categories that make up the Seed Discussion Organizer and give them examples of things that they might write in each of the areas as they go through the new content. You may wish to model this process and do a think-aloud for your students on a whole-class Seed Discussion Organizer, projected where the students can see it and give feedback.
- After students fully understand what is expected of them as they explore the new content, allow them about 10-15 minutes to peruse the new content and fill out their Seed Discussion Organizer with questions and thoughts that they have, specific to each area of the organizer.
- Once all students have completed the different areas of the organizer (aim for at least three questions/thoughts per box), allow them to discuss their findings with a partner or group.
- Ask each group to decide on their top three responses for each box. Ask one member of each group to be the recorder and write the three responses on the appropriate piece of chart paper for each prompt. To save time, you may ask each student in the group to each choose one prompt and be the recorder on the chart paper for that specific prompt.
- Once all groups have recorded their top three group responses on the chart paper, hold a class discussion about the class findings. Discuss each prompt and the students findings one at a time, and allow for other students to provide additional prior knowledge they may have.
- Talk about the process that students just completed. Ask students questions such as :
- How did you feel after completing your Seed Discussion Organizer and discussing it with your group?
- How might your Seed Discussion Organizer and our class conversations help you to become a better reader and thinker?
- How does this strategy help you become actively engaged in the new concept we are studying?
- Leave the chart paper up in a visible area for students to refer to often during the study of the new content or concept. You may wish to allow students to add to the information as they learn new things and/or answer questions that students had when originally exploring the new content.
- To summarize the new concept or content at the end of the study, revisit the chart paper and individual Seed Discussion Organizer at the end of the unit, chapter, etc. to ensure that all questions were answered and the content was thoroughly understood. Allow time for students to go back and look for information if it is not readily accessible by memory.
Related Resources
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Textmasters: Shaking Up Textbook Reading in Science Classrooms
Engage students in content area reading with the Textmasters strategy, which allows students to collaborate with their peers in different roles that enable better understanding of the content.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Minilesson
Using the Check and Line Method to Enhance Reading Comprehension
Do your students skim assigned text material without even engaging their brains? The Check and Line method encourages students to think about what they are reading and monitor their own comprehension of the information.


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deburca brauchte ein neues Website Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 59 Designs von 13 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Startup company "FD North East" is looking for a website design (no coding) for a new "Portfolio FD" business. For background on what a Portfolio FD business offers see http://www.fduk.co.uk and http://www.fdyl.co.uk as two of the largest offering multiple associates.
FD North East Tagline: Flexible Finance Director Solutions
FD North East is a professional services company in the North East ofEngland employing only the owner, and is developing website to provide contentand image portraying a professional image of a larger company.
Content within the website would typically include: general informationsuch as an overview of what FD North East offers, case studies, articles, ablog and a login facility for an Intranet and Extranet.
A separate layout option for homepage is preferred in addition to contentpage
Main menu navigation should include the following:
- Home
- About Us
- Case Studies
- Links
- Downloads
- Contact UsFooter menu navigation should include:
- Copyright Statement
- Privacy Statement
- Terms & Conditions
- Data ProtectionA copy of the FD North East logo is available here
The website designshould include a "Passionate about Finance" logo as per these examples/guidelines and a "North EastEngland" logo as shown here.
Crisp, clear modern Web 2.0 style
Plenty of whitespace (like http://www.bc.co.uk/news) with little clutter but with clearly defined areas that add structure to the page
Space for photographic images, diagrams, logos etc. - if you can show example stock photography then it would be much appreciated
Professional "understated" look and feel that will appeal to other business owners and other professionals
Fixed page width, preferably viewable on a 800x600 resolution
No preference for horizontal or vertical menus but do like pull down / pull out menus
Typeface: like Tahoma font but open to other ideas
Home page to have a different "feel" to the other pages – it is likely that we will have a flash animation on the home page
- Clutter
- A "busy" looking website
- A website design that won't appeal to the corporate market


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The recently concluded Singapore International Water Week 2010 (June 28 to July 2) announced projects, tenders, and investments and R&D memoranda of understanding (MOUs) valued at more than S$2.8 billion, up by 27 percent from last year's S$2.2 billion, and more than 14,000 trade attendees from 85 countries/regions.
"Despite the uncertain global economic recovery, water remains a key focus area for governments and industries as cities around the world continue to grow at an unprecedented rate with rapid urbanization," said Michael Toh, managing director of the event.
Some of the more significant deals closed during the Water Week are the combined S$69 million contract clinched by home-grown water company, Moya Dayen Limited, from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority in Cambodia for Phase 1 of the Niroth Water Production Facilities Project. Awarded in two contracts, Moya Dayen will undertake the supply, delivery, and construction of a 25 meter's high intake tower located in the Mekong River, a raw water pumping station and a raw water transmission main as well as other ancillary works.
Under the second contract, Moya Dayen will construct a water treatment plant that includes treated water tanks, a treated water transmission main and other ancillary buildings. When completed, the Niroth Water Production Facilities - Phase I will be one of the largest water treatment facilities, producing 130,000m3/d of potable water, to serve the greater Phnom Penh population.
Sembcorp also signed an MOU, worth S$280 million, to expand seawater desalination capacity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A local subsidiary of Boustead, the global infrastructure engineering company, was awarded a S$21 million contract for the first new water recycling plant in UAE.
Several collaborative agreements were also signed during the week including the joint development of Optiqua's real time sensor technology by Optiqua Technologies, a subsidiary of Dutch optical sensor company Optisense and national water agency PUB, as well as a joint research and technology testing program to further develop energy-efficient water and wastewater treatment solutions by ITT Corporation and PUB.
The sensor technology is based on a patented Lab-on-Chip platform that can continuously monitor a full spectrum of potential contamination in drinking water. As a low-cost, online solution, it allows for an economically viable network to be implemented throughout a water distribution grid. Such a high density network of sensors provides an effective early warning system that can dramatically reduce incident response times and recovery costs.
Norit X-Flow and its local affiliate Norit Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and PUB are embarking on a comprehensive co-operation aimed at performing knowledge-intensive R&D programs and test-bedding projects. The two signed an MOU that outlines plans for cooperation on several water technologies, such as a Norit Airlif Membrane BioReactor Megablock validation plant. Norit X-Flow, based in Enschede, the Netherlands, has developed a new compact membrane bioreactor (MBR) system based on its Airlift ultrafiltration technology. The new Megablock establishes a new order of magnitude in municipal wastewater treatment and reuse by delivering 50-100 percent more cubic meter output per square meter.
Siemens Water Technologies Corp. and Aramco Overseas Company, B.V., a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, signed an exclusive patent and technology license agreement for the commercialization of the EcoRight MBR, a new wastewater treatment and water reuse system. The agreement grants Siemens the right to market and sell the first-of-its-kind system, which integrates MBR technology with additional purification processes to treat highly organic wastewaters, ensuring the cost-effective reuse of difficult-to-treat wastewater. The system is currently under final technical evaluation and is anticipated to be commercially available in early 2011.
The number of high-level delegates at the Water Leaders Summit jumped 22 percent to 379, including participation by board members of UN Secretary-General Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, the Prince of Orange from The Netherlands, President of the Republic of Maldives, Vice President of World Bank, the Water and Environment Ministers of Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates as well as chief executive officers of leading international global water companies and water organizations.
In all, 26 new products and technologies made their regional and international debut at the Water Expo's Innovation Corner.


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We've all been tempted at one point or another by one of H&M's recently celebrity designer collaboration. Whether you were clamouring for the Maison Martin Margiela collaboration, or desperately needed to get your hands on the Versace edition- the collaborations caught your attention.
With this in mind we were surprised to see the Swedish mega retailer move away from collaborative work and open up it's archives to piece together a new collection. Inspired by Mauritz Widfross' (one of the founders) days as a Swedish outdoors clothier, this collection brings us back to H&M's early days. The collection features a plethora of of heritage staples, from outerwear, to jeans to outdoor-ready accessories.
Look for the collection at select H&M retailers starting September 19th, or you can find it on the webstore on the same date.


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The Go standard library includes a large number of packages that provide a wide range of functionality. The overview provided here is highly selective and very brief. The contents of the library are likely to continue to grow after this article is published, so it is best to look at the library APIs online or locally using godoc (in the Go distribution) to get the most up-to-date information and get a comprehensive overview of what is available in each package.
exp (experimental) package is where packages that might potentially be added to the standard library begin life, so these packages should not be used unless you want to participate in their development (by testing, commenting, or submitting patches). The
exp package is normally available when pulling Go from Google's Go source tree, but it may not be included in prebuilt packages. The other packages are OK to use, although at the time of this writing, some are still incomplete.
Archive and Compression Packages
Go can read and write tarballs and .zip files. The relevant packages are
archive/tar and
archive/zip; and for compressed tarballs,
compress/gzip and
Other compression formats are also supported; for example, Lempel-Ziv-Welch (
compress/lzw), which is used for TIFF images and PDF files.
Bytes and String-Related Packages
bytes and
strings packages have many functions in common, but the former operates on
[]byte values and the latter on
string values. The
strings package provides all the most useful utilities to find substrings, replace substrings, split strings, trim strings, and change case. The
strconv package provides conversions from numbers and Booleans to strings and vice versa.
fmt package provides a variety of extremely useful print and scan functions, which were shown in the first and second installments of this series.
unicode package provides functions for determining character properties, such as whether a character is printable, or whether it is a digit. The
unicode/utf8 and
unicode/utf16 packages provide functions for decoding and encoding runes (that is, Unicode code points/characters).
text/template and
html/template packages can be used to create templates that can then be used to generate textual output (such as HTML), based on data that is fed into them. Here is a tiny and very simple example of the text/template package in use.
type GiniIndex struct { Country string Index float64 } gini := []GiniIndex{{"Japan", 54.7}, {"China", 55.0}, {"U.S.A.", 80.1}} giniTable := template.New("giniTable") giniTable.Parse( '
' + '{{range .}}' + '{{printf "
%s	%.1f%%
"' + '.Country .Index}}'+ '{{end}}' + '
') err := giniTable.Execute(os.Stdout, gini)
This outputs

Japan	54.7%

China	55.0%

U.S.A.	80.1%

template.New() function creates a new
*template.Template with the given name. Template names are useful to identify templates that are, in effect, nested inside other templates. The
template.Template.Parse() function parses a template (typically from an .html file), which is then ready for use. The
template.Template.Execute() function executes the template sending the resultant output to the given
io.Writer, and reading the data that should be used to populate the template from its second argument. In this example, I have output to
os.Stdout and passed the
gini slice of
structs as the data. (I've have split the output over several lines to make it clearer.)
Inside a template, actions are enclosed in double braces (
{{ and
}}). The
{{range}} … {{end}} action can be used to iterate over every item in a slice. Here, I have set each
GiniIndex in the slice to the dot (
.); that is, to be the current item. We can access a
struct's exported fields using their names, preceded, of course, with the dot to signify the current item. The
{{printf}} action works just like the
fmt.Printf() function, but with spaces replacing the parentheses and argument-separating commas.
text/template and
html/template packages support a sophisticated templating language in their own right, with many actions, including iteration and conditional branching, support for variables and method calls, and much else besides. In addition, the
html/template package is safe against code injection.
Collections Packages
Slices are the most efficient collection type provided by Go, but sometimes it is useful or necessary to use a more specialized collection type. For many situations, the built-in
map type is sufficient, but the Go standard library also provides the
container package, which contains various collection packages.
container/heap package provides functions for manipulating a heap, where the heap must be a value of a custom type that satisfies the
heap.Interface defined in the
heap package. A heap (strictly speaking, a min-heap) maintains its values in an order such that the first element is always the smallest (or largest for a max-heap) this is known as the
heap property. The
heap.Interface embeds the
sort.Interface and adds
Push() and
Pop() methods.
It is easy to create a simple custom
heap type that satisfies the
heap.Interface. Here is an example of such a heap in use.
ints := &IntHeap{5, 1, 6, 7, 9, 8, 2, 4} heap.Init(ints) // Heapify ints.Push(9) // IntHeap.Push() doesn't preserve the heap property ints.Push(7) ints.Push(3) heap.Init(ints) // Must reheapify after heap-breaking changes for ints.Len() > 0 { fmt.Printf("%v ", heap.Pop(ints)) } fmt.Println() // prints: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 9
Here is the complete custom heap implementation.
type IntHeap []int func (ints *IntHeap) Less(i, j int) bool { return (*ints)[i] < (*ints)[j] } func (ints *IntHeap) Swap(i, j int) { (*ints)[i], (*ints)[j] = (*ints)[j], (*ints)[i] } func (ints *IntHeap) Len() int { return len(*ints) } func (ints *IntHeap) Pop() interface{} { x := (*ints)[ints.Len()-1] *ints = (*ints)[:ints.Len()-1] return x } func (ints *IntHeap) Push(x interface{}) { *ints = append(*ints, x.(int)) }
This implementation is sufficient for many situations. We could make the code slightly nicer to read by specifying the type as type
IntHeap struct { ints []int }, since then we could refer to
ints.ints rather than
*ints inside the methods.
container/list package provides a doubly linked list. Items added to the list are added as
interface{} values. Items retrieved from the list have type
list.Element, with the original value accessible as
items := list.New() for _, x := range strings.Split("ABCDEFGH", "") { items.PushFront(x) } items.PushBack(9) for element := items.Front(); element != nil; element = element.Next() { switch value := element.Value.(type) { case string: fmt.Printf("%s ", value) case int: fmt.Printf("%d ", value) } } fmt.Println() // prints: H G F E D B A 9
In this example, we push eight single-letter strings onto the front of a new list and then push an
int onto the end. We then iterate over the list's elements and print each element's value. We don't really need the type switch because we could have printed using
fmt.Printf("%v ", element.Value), but if we weren't merely printing, we'd need the type switch if the list contained elements of different types. Of course, if all the elements had the same type, we could use a type assertion for example,
element.Value.(string) for string elements.
In addition to the methods shown in the aforementioned snippet, the
list.List type provides many other methods, including
Init() (to clear the list),
PushBackList() (to push one list onto the end of another), and
The standard library also provides the
container/ring package, which implements a circular list.
While all the collection types hold their data in memory, Go also has a
database/sql package that provides a generic interface for SQL databases. To work with actual databases, separate database-specific driver packages must be installed. These, along with many other collection packages, are available from the Go Dashboard.


text:
Welcome to Welsh Brew Tea!
Welsh Brew Tea is an iconic Welsh brand, creating a unique blend of African and Indian teas, specifically blended to perfectly complement Welsh water.
We're a family owned company, established in 1993, located on the beautiful Gower peninsula in Mumbles, South Wales. Read our story…
We love tea. It's virtually the national drink. We celebrate with a cup of tea. It makes bad news seem less, well, bad. And we think once you've tried Welsh Brew, you'll never go back. Why not try our Welsh Brew Gold… a pure indulgence! Or our range of Loose Leaf Teas?
And we don't just do tea. We do coffee, too. Coffee to wake up to. Coffee to come home to. Coffee to enjoy your favourite breakfast with.
Oh, and there's the luxury drinking chocolate. Add a squirt of cream. Some marshmallows. You deserve it, right?
And if you're a fan of the life-affirming qualities of herbal teas & green teas… why not try our brand new Tea Birds range of speciality teas.
All our products are listed here, but can also be found in major retail outlets across Wales. Try them. And let us know what you think. Tweet us. Facebook us. Email us. Or just pick up the phone. We'd love to hear from you.
Stirring Stuff!
Our Story
Welsh Brew Tea is a true family business. For the last ten years, Alan, James & Sarah have worked on establishing our tea as an iconic Welsh brand, and we've grown for one simple reason – those who try Welsh Brew, keep buying it!
And now we're growing again. Bringing you a range of exciting new products… including our Green Teas. There's also our Welsh Brew Decaf and our premium Welsh Gold, a blend of the finest teas, sourced from around the world.
We're also proud to introduce our new range of Filter Coffees, as well as our coffee beans, for those who prefer to work up an appetite grinding their own! And don't forget our comforting, indulgent Hot Chocolate, as well as, hot off the press, our range of Speciality Herbal Teas… Read More


text:
- Page 1 Samsung Series 9 900X3B Review
- Page 2 Usability, Screen and Audio Review
- Page 3 Performance, Value and Verdict Review
- Best screen we've ever seen on a portable laptop
- Thinnest and lightest 13in laptop in the world
- Gorgeous design
- Good connectivity and audio
- Great backlit keyboard
- Average battery life
- Average performance
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £1199.00
- 1600 x 900 matt PLS screen
- Sandblasted metal unibody chassis
- Backlit keyboard
- Super slim design
The Samsung Series 9 900X3B is the most attractive and premium-feeling 13-inch ultraportable we've seen since the 2011 Macbook Air. Have Ultrabooks finally come of age? Well, no, because Samsung doesn't class the Series 9 900X3B as an Ultrabook, despite it meeting or exceeding every 'requirement'. Frankly, this is because the company feels Ultrabooks have become too mainstream, and its new Series 9 is a premium ultraportable for which you pay a premium price. But does it do enough to elevate it above the norm? Yes, and then some.
We've already mentioned that the Samsung Series 9 900X3B is an amazing looking laptop, but it's also incredibly thin, with its sub-13mm profile making it the slimmest 13-inch laptop we've seen. But merely being the thinnest isn't enough; it's also the lightest, weighing a mere 1.15kg. It has the best screen of any ultrabook we've seen, and isn't far off being the best we've seen on any laptop ever.
It's a 13.3-inch matt-finish panel with a high 1,600 x 900 resolution and near-flawless viewing angles resultant of it using PLS technology. MacBook Air aside, it even has the best speakers. Its backlit keyboard is great to type on and its touchpad easily matches up. And to top it all off, Samsung claims the Series 9 900X3B has up to 10-hours battery life!
Unlike many ultrabooks that use several bolted together panels, the Series 9 900X3B comes packaged in a true unibody chassis, like that of the MacBook Air. The entirety is anodised gunmetal blue/grey, aside from the edges which have been left bare aluminium, making for a nice contrast and further emphasising that incredible thinness.
Build quality matches its design. Far more so than other, already-impressive unibody ultrabooks like the Asus Zenbook UX31, the Samsung 900X3B really is rock-solid. There's not a hint of flex or creak, and it just exudes quality. Even the hinge has a far more deliberate action than we're used to from thin laptops.
Finally then we have a Windows PC laptop that matches the best Apple has to offer not just in looks but in feel too. Thankfully, the new Series 9's finish also picks up far fewer fingerprints than its brushed black duraluminum predecessor.
Despite being the thinnest Ultrab… – sorry, we mean ultraportable – we've seen, Samsung hasn't compromised on the Series 9's connectivity, which is an impressive feat in itself. On the left you'll find the laptop's single USB 3.0 port for hooking up fast storage, followed by a microHDMI port for outputting digital video. Samsung does not supply a regular-size HDMI adapter but then microHDMI cables are cheap and plentiful. The next port is microGigabit Ethernet, which uses a supplied adapter to plug into conventional wired networks.
On the right there's a full-size SDXC card slot, microVGA port (again with included adapter), a 3.5mm headphone and microphone combi jack, and a USB 2.0 port. For wireless there's Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi N. That pretty much covers every possible requirement, and the only absentee on the Samsung Series 9 900X3B we would have liked to have seen is ThunderBolt.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We'll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.


text:
Velcro closure, adjustable bow tie adds a little pizzazz to any cat's wardrobe. This is an accessory, and is not meant to be worn as a collar. We recommend that your cat be supervised while wearing this and any other accessory. Neck band adjusts from approximately 8 - 12 inches.
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