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|Thoughts on ICFs (insulated concrete forms)
We continue to field discussions from various parts of the world on Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) so I thought I'd blog about them. I wouldn't say there is a lot of misinformation out there - perhaps just a lot of misunderstanding. As with any advanced building material, the foundation (no pun intended) of the concept lies in the science behind the product. Sometimes the science is misdirected, or mis-applied, and expectations therefore often fall short of what yields from reality.An ICF - or insulated concrete form - is pretty much what the name implies - two sidings of insulation sandwiching a core of concrete. The idea is generally that you are building with "thermal mass" (concrete) and it is insulated (which is always good, right?) and therefore the combination of insulation and thermal mass must be a great thing. Couple that with the inherent strength, fire resistance and longevity of most grades of concrete and it is often touted as a building product with no equal.
I believe the problem with this entire premise is that the way the ICF is constructed is actually contrary to the intended science behind it. To get an idea of the way a homeowner would take advantage of thermal mass in a traditional sense, picture a house (northern hemisphere) with a southern exposure and glass windows that will allow certain levels of solar radiation to pass through the window panes unfiltered. A massive stone floor or a large stone fireplace that is warmed by this solar radiation during the day would then re-radiate the sun's solar energy (hopefully) long into the cool evening. This effect basically helps to level out the temperature swings associated with the diurnal cycle (night-day-night-day, etc.) and helps to reduce a homeowner's energy bills by supplementing a mechanical heat source with a passive heat source. In order for a homeowner to take advantage of the thermal mass of the concrete in a structural wall that concrete must be allowed to do two things - 1) absorb thermal energy (like solar radiation) and 2) re-radiate that energy into the living environment of the homeowner. Because an ICF typically has several inches of insulation on BOTH sides of the concrete (thermal mass), then by design an ICF is significantly retarding the concrete's ability to absorb and re-radiate thermal energy. Ideally you would actually have lots of insulation on the exterior of the building envelope and zero insulation on the interior of your concrete wall - that way your concrete wall could absorb the thermal energy of your mechanical HVAC system - say 72degrees F - without influence from the hot or cold outside and then re-radiate that thermal energy at night when your thermostat is lowered to say 64degrees F or similar.
Think about this - even if your concrete wall was exposed to the exterior warmth of the sun, how many walls are exposed for any extended period of time? Odds are ONE to TWO. That leaves at least TWO to THREE walls of your home in the shade most of the time - receiving virtually no benefit from solar radiation and only little impact from ambient air temperatures.
A local salesman for an EPS sip company out of Kentucky once told me that their R17 EPS panel actually performed like R26. After some additional quizzing from my side he finally relented that it performed like an R26 fiberglass insulated stud wall (which will traditionally perform at an insulating value much less than the stated fiberglass insulation rating). Unfortunately some ICF installers tout a similar claim of dubious origin - that ICF walls perform at better than R50. Again, this is taking an old test and comparing ICFs against an "R50" fiberglass wall. By definition concrete is a CONDUCTOR of thermal energy - with a specific heat capacity similar to glass or marble - and the only insulator is the EPS foam that is on both sides of the concrete. Technically the insulation value of the ICF is only equal to the insulating R value of the sandwiching EPS foam on either side of the concrete - if you have 2.5in of EPS foam on either side then you're probably looking at about R19. All the concrete does in this thermal insulation equation is slow down the conductance of thermal energy flowing between the EPS insulation by virtue of it's ability to retain thermal energy for typically short periods of time.
Here is a great write-up from a nationwide ICF installer that helps to debunk the R-value myth of ICFs (so definitely an impartial source): http://www.icfhomes.com/DYKpages/dykTRUTHmyth7.htm
And here are some wonderful resources from the Australian government regarding thermal mass: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs49.html
In summary I believe an ICF is a fine product that will provide a strong, durable foundation or building envelope. But as a play on thermal mass, the effects will be greatly impacted by the insulation on both the interior and exterior of the building envelope. In fact the primary source for thermal energy for an ICF wall will be the earth below where typically the concrete is often in direct contact. In North Carolina the temperature of the soil in contact with most dug foundations is around 55-60deg F. This will be the primary tune that wall will be singing - not one of re-radiating the sun's or your home's interior thermal energy because those are protected against by the EPS insulation skin. Thermal mass is not typically a primary comfort strategy (except in the desert southwest, for example) - rather a secondary one.


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Go preorder your own copy of the 30 Minute Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: Click here
Do you need a boost in meal ideas? How about a boost in HEALTHY meal ideas? Do you want to be a part of what is going to be the newest diet trend? Well, I have some good news for you. You get a chance to win the newest Mediterranean Diet cookbook that will be released on October 30th.
While Mediterranean eating, or plant based eating, is not new to me or many foodies around the world, it's catching on all over the United States. From professional football players and elite athletes, plant based eating is now considered the premier way to fuel your body for health. It doesn't matter if you are gaining, losing, or maintaining weight – this eating pattern works for everyone.
I am so lucky to know the authors of this cookbook. Serena and Deana are smart, creative, humble, and just downright good dietitians.
This is a cookbook for everyday meals, it's a cookbook for ideas, it's a cookbook your friends will want to borrow —–and you get a chance to win it.
Here's all you have to do:
Here are your links:
Find the post on my Salubrious RD facebook page and tell me what Mediterranean country you would like to visit!
I will announce a winner on Monday! Good luck!

subset: commoncrawl


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Apple & Cheese Sweet Potato Pancakes
Published on March 8, 2016 | In Away From Home Cooking Contest, Cooking Contest | By Extended Stay America |0 Comments
- Cook Time
- Minutes
- Yield
- 6
Recipe Rating
- (4 /5)
- 1 rating
- 16 oz frozen Sweet Potato Tots/Round
- 1/2 cup grated apple, with skin
- 1 cup Colby-Jack Shredded Cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon BBQ Rub/Seasoning Mix
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons flour, optional (used to help bind the mixture better)
- 3 tablespoons Honey (reserve 1 tablespoon for dipping sauce)
- 1/3 cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
- 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
- In a medium mixing bowl, crumble sweet potato tots directly into bowl. Add apple, cheese, 1/2 t BBQ seasoning, salt, honey, and eggs. Mix until combined. Optional, add flour to help bind the mixture together.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet. While at medium heat, add enough oil to almost coat the bottom of the skillet.
- Take 2 tablespoon size of the potato mixture and spoon into hands. Squeeze into a tight meatball. Flatten the ball into a small disc. Place about 4-5 in the skillet and cook about 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on plate tented with aluminum foil. You will be making 5-6 batches. Continue adding additional oil after each batch.
- Dipping sauce: While the sweet potato cakes are cooking, combine the mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1/8 teaspoon BBQ seasoning. Mix until well combined. Set aside until ready to serve.
- Once all the sweet potato cakes are cooked, serve warm with dipping sauce. You can also sprinkle a little of the BBQ seasoning for an added kick.
- Can be served as a side dish to any meal or even as an appetizer.
- Course : Side
- Recipe Type : Breakfast, Lunch
- Ingredient : Vegetarian
Rate this recipe
1 People Rated This Recipe
Average Rating
- (4 / 5)
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Carlotta Offshore orders PSV from Vard
Vard Holdings Limited has secured another contract for the design and construction of one Platform Supply Vessel ("PSV") for Carlotta Offshore Ltd.
The vessel is a multifunctional PSV of VARD 1 08 design with a total length of 81 meters, beam of 18 meters and a cargo deck area of 830 m2. The vessel will be prepared for standby, rescue, firefighting and oil recovery operations.
Delivery is scheduled from Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam in 3Q 2015. With this newbuilding, VARD has three vessels under construction for Carlotta Offshore.
The VARD 1-SERIES comprises a wide range of Platform Supply Vessels designed by Vard Design in Ålesund, Norway. According to Vard, the vessels are designed with high focus on cargo capacity and excellent maneuvering capabilities combined with low fuel consumption.


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Covering the Front and Back Pages of the Newspaper
November 9, 2008
POLITICS/WAR: Joe Biden Was Right
...for the first time in decades, in fact, on foreign policy: within the first day after the election, Russia and Iran both rattled their sabers to start testing President-Elect Obama. And an Obama foreign policy adviser reacted immediately by backing down in the face of the Russian statement. (It will be good to have Obama start getting his advisers confirmed so we don't have to keep sifting through his hundreds of foreign policy and economic "advisers" trying to figure out which ones speak for him).
Welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Obama. The rest of us have been given no choice but to depend on you.
Posted by Baseball Crank at 5:03 PM | Politics 2008 | War 2007-14 | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)
Isn't Bush still the President? Isn't it his reponse that is relevant? It's nice to see the blame game going on in spades on this site -- McCain wasnt conservative enough to articulate an opposition to Obama, it was the media's fault for being in the tank, blacks only voted for Obama b/c of race (nevermind the fact that they always vote overwhelmingly for the Dem). It's time for conservatives to take a long look in the mirror and take some ownership for the defeat. YOu put Bush in office and you're reaping the whirlwind. You campaigned on Ayres not the economy and you got, justifiably, spanked. You championed Palin and she energized the Dem base and buried you with independents. I know I know you claim the country to still be center-right, its not your fault. Anything but your fault eh?Posted by: robert at November 9, 2008 5:27 PM
Lowry at NRO basically says the same thing as Robert above.Posted by: dante at November 9, 2008 5:43 PM
B O is the great unknown. He has shown absolute allegiance to no-one and to almost no ideas, though he tilted far left, radical, and black nationalist in his public career until the campaign. But now he has skidded to the center, propelled by the need to reassure "independent" voters, and as a result many pundits are choosing to believe he will rule from the mainstream. This is wishful thinking on their parts.
Fact is, we don't know. Because he is almost completely internally-guided, we can't be sure whether we will see a centrist, a short-sighted pragmatist, or a cautious leftist. We can't be certain whether he'll be bold enough to use American power in the foreign scene or withdraw in order to spend his political capital reordering society. We can't even be sure he won't decide it advantageous to become a conventional American patriot, striving for his place in the history books as more than a successful black politician.
I have my doubts about the latter, and intend to observe with a skeptical eye, looking for long-term signals rather than taking immediate events as a guide. Note, though, that his comments on the economy have so far favored safe and conventional leftward policies.Posted by: Dai Alanye at November 9, 2008 6:25 PM
Bush can do all he likes to set out a short-term response, but these guys are playing the long game, and everyone knows Bush can't set policy beyond January 20. I mean, if you are Poland's government, how much stock will you put in a long-term security guarantee from George W. Bush?Posted by: The Crank at November 9, 2008 6:32 PM
May 10, 2005 would seem to have been enough time for a long-term security guarantee. Though the Russians did not seem too scared of Bush's security guarantee that he made on that day to the people of Georgia.
To say that the Russians are now starting to rattle their sabres because of the election is to so willfully ignore what they have been building towards over the past 18-24 months it is absurd.
These are the kind of twisted partisan posts that I just do not get. You know very well that Russia has been playing this game for quite some time. To think that Russia would have stopped this had McCain been elected is outrageous and severly underestimates the arrogance of the top of the Russian government.Posted by: CW at November 9, 2008 7:01 PM
Obama's not even in Office and already the 24/7 sniping at every decision/comment/event has begun.
Crank, if Obama had personally stepped up and commented, you would've complained about him usurping Bush...Let's face it, Obama can't, and won't win with you, we get it already...
With Russia, the people of Poland will be allowed to vote on whether they want the missile shield (which STILL doesn't work, just like Reagan's dream). They will obviously vote it down, and Obama will oblige. No need to cause a stir over a system that DOES NOT WORK.
Once again, I'm waiting for your summation of the Bush Years. I assume that absolutely NONE of the problems facing Obama were caused by Bush/Cheney/Rove's decade-long ineptitude, right?
No you had a choice, and you exercised it, Crank. You voted for McCain. More people voted for Obama.
Aren't you tired of the prospect of damning every move Obama will make even before he makes it?
This dichotomy is what makes your blog essentially useless...Posted by: FUQCRANK at November 9, 2008 7:14 PM
Is dissent no longer patriotic?Posted by: dave at November 9, 2008 7:37 PM
who is dissenting to what?Posted by: CW at November 9, 2008 7:39 PM
Yea it sucks when your guy immediately starts getting shots at him before he even has chance to get over the post-election hangover. Tough isn't it? Well get used to it because he (and because of you) are in the big time now. It is not going to get any easier. Crying uncle will not get you anywhere with Russia, Iran, China, Cuba, North Korea, and the terrorists.
So stop whining and tell your guy to grow a pair!Posted by: Lee at November 9, 2008 7:45 PM
George Bush is gone in 70+ days and all the real security problems that the Left has wanted to ignore, or even better, has attacked Bush 24/7/365/8 for acknowledging and dealing with are still going to be there after January 21st. What do the enemies of this country see coming in 2009-an executive with no experience in defense matters, intelligence matters and foreign affairs who based a large part of his campaign on slashing military spending and appeasment and a Dem Congress with people already talking about slashing military spending 25%. The lessons of the Carter Admin and Clinton Admin regarding cuts in military spending and a passive approach to our enemies is totally lost on Dems. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what will happen...again...if a Dem President takes the same approach.Posted by: dch at November 9, 2008 9:59 PM
Even assuming for the moment that this has anything to do with Obama, while "The Decider," Mr. "Bring It On" is still President . . .
. . . and even assuming that Crank and Lee and the fellas at Redstate are actually interested in seeing Obama "grow a pair" and talk some tough 'Mercan sense into those no-good Ruskies . . .
. . . what, exactly, is the problem with what Obama's press guy said?:
"President Kaczynski raised missile defense, but President-elect Obama made no commitment on it. His position is as it was throughout the campaign -- that he supports deploying a missile defense system when the technology is proved to be workable.
He didn't say, "no, Obama will not deploy the missile shield, he'd rather talk and negotiate cause he's a wimpy librul'."
He said -- correctly, one would presume -- that Obama did not confirm anything. Would you have preferred that he make up a tough-guy Obama comment that he never made? Are you guys hoping for a continuation of the "Lie and Bluster" school of foreign policy that's served us so well for the last 8 years?
Anyhow, he said Obama would support the missile shield, assuming it works. What's the problem here, fellas? Care to explain?Posted by: Mike at November 10, 2008 7:46 AM
The lessons of the . . . Clinton Admin
And what, pray tell, are those "lessons," dch? That bombing Sudan and Iraq and intervening in Bosnia can prevent the terrible terror attack that occurred on Bush's watch?Posted by: Mike at November 10, 2008 7:50 AM
Mike, this time, it's my turn. They aren't listening. It's too easy to simply blame Obama for something that is occurring while the guy they've supported through thick and thin (well, until his incompetence was so transparent they deserted him like rats on a sinking ship), is still in charge, than to face the truth.Posted by: Daryl Rosenblatt at November 10, 2008 9:17 AM
I guess this is what we get for the next 4 years (at least). Empty excuses that don't understand the issue at all, and blame Bush for anything Obama does wrong. Oh the joy.
Look, the statement "that he supports deploying a missile defense system when the technology is proved to be workable" is all nice in a campaign, but it doesn't say anything, and leaders of countries know this. Has the technology proved to be workable in Obama's estimation? The question is will he deploy it now. That answer says: "I'm not telling you." It transfers the question to "workable." At least recognize that it is evasive.
Second, Poland is claiming that Obama assured them of support. He may have done the same kind of verbal gymnastics, but unlike in a campaign, where the only standard is "was he outright lying?" in international relations if you mislead people, they don't trust you, and they won't work with you. It doesn't matter if you lied, obfuscated, gave them the wrong impression, whatever.
The spokesperson backed down from that support. Now it could be the Polish side is lying, but that isn't the most obvious explanation.
You can live in denial about the fact that international players see Obama's election as an opening, but don't complain if the rest of us don't buy it. They are positioning themselves. For them, Obama is the only one in the position to make long term commitments, and it is his opinion that counts now.
I certainly hope that Obama passes these tests, for all our sakes, but if we put on blinders about what is going on, it isn't helping.Posted by: Nobody at November 10, 2008 10:17 AM
CW: agreed.Posted by: MVH at November 10, 2008 11:42 AM
Crank, based on you logic can we play poker or chess for money? So in the world of diplomacy this was a test for Obama. The Russians toss this out to see if he undermines the current President during a transition period. Seems to me like he toed the current administrations line forcing the Russians to either double down, back away or let this whole matter just fade away till another day. They gambled now they are on record with a plan to move missiles. Hmmm, once again explain how Obama looks bad when he failed to take the bait?Posted by: javaman at November 10, 2008 11:56 AM
We all do have to depend on him, and the entire left-wing illuminati. We can not afford to back down to these countries. It's not good for America.Posted by: Ms. Know at November 13, 2008 10:08 AM


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2017 has already been filled with so many adventures in changes! A few days into the new year we decided to put in our 30 days notice for the room we were renting in an old house in NY even though we didn't have another place lined up to live.
We'd lived there 4.5 months and we had a few strange things happen during our time there but when we nearly got smoked out of the house we decided enough was enough. We figured we had been in worse scraps before and we'd find somewhere else to live...and WE DID!!! We can't wait to share more about that soon but first click the link below to take a tour of the first place we lived in NY plus see how we managed it and hear the crazy stories!
Even though our time there sure had it's ups and downs, we'll always look back with a smile when we think about eating out of tupperware, squirrels in the ceiling, and our sweet neighbor who helped us so much.
Though, most of January for us was filled with working and trying to sort out a new place to live, we did get to have a few little adventures like exploring Lasdon Park.
Jonas had 2 of his art prints as apart of a black & white winter gala exhibit in Newburgh, New York!
We realized how we have had many life changing things happen to us this time of year. February 2015, Jonas' greencard was approved in Stockholm and in February 2016 we moved from California to Georgia!
Now, February 2017, after being homeless/wandering/traveling/volunteering/working hard for a year we finally have a home of OUR OWN and we simply can't wait to share more about that soon when we have settle in more! We're thrilled to have good things to share and thank you to all who have been there with us through all the ups and downs of our adventures. Here's to a new exciting chapter of our married life tales!
-Tales of Sheaves


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Part of the reason it's been a bit since I posted is that I have been doing some research. Research on blog moving options.
As part of a forum, the RabbitTalk blogs are very much in a security lockdown. They present a vulnerability to the forum that doesn't exist with a regular blog hosted elsewhere, and linked in your forum signature.
When I started this blog, I strained against the restrictions placed on it. Once I understood why they were there, I settled down. Our amazing webmaster told me that if I ever outgrew the setup, he'd be happy to help me move it.
Outgrow? Move? Nah, this is safe. I'll stay here.
Well, okay, I've outgrown it. I want to stretch my wings. I want to fly. I want a live updating blogroll that's easier to deal with. I want an editable theme. I want… lots of things!
So I'm going to be moving soon. When it happens, I will post my new address. Don't worry, MidnightCoder has offered me a redirect, so you can still come here, and you'll be taken there. :)
Please bear with me!


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Finland WRC: Tanak pulls away as Latvala reels in Ostberg
Toyota World Rally Championship driver Ott Tanak will take a lead of nearly 40 seconds into the final day of Rally Finland.
A controlled run through the Saturday afternoon stages meant he extended his advantage to 39.9s despite a minor power steering worry.
Tanak's escape was helped by erstwhile lead rival Mads Ostberg struggling with the tyre wear on his Citroen.
Even though he took two spare tyres compared to most others' one, Ostberg still felt he had run out of rubber by the start of the day's final stage.
That encouraged Jari-Matti Latvala to push to give Toyota a one-two, and he closed the gap to Ostberg from 20s to 5.4s by the end of the leg.
Toyota now has three cars in the top four, as last year's Finland winner Esapekka Lappi continued his charge and grabbed fourth from lead Hyundai runner Hayden Paddon.
Lappi, who had fallen to 10th when his car stalled on Friday's opener, was fastest on three of the afternoon's four stages.
Behind Paddon, M-Sport Ford still holds sixth, seventh and eighth with Teemu Suninen, Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans.
WRC title contender Ogier has not been able to make up any ground during Saturday and said M-Sport's new aero package - fitted just to his car - is simply not working yet, lamenting the fact he had only one day of testing with it.
But Ogier is still on course to outscore championship leader Thierry Neuville, who is a distant 10th behind Craig Breen.
The third Hyundai of Andreas Mikkelsen is back up to 11th after crashing on Friday, but is four and a half minutes away from the points.
Kalle Rovanpera had dominated WRC2 for Skoda until the day's penultimate stage, when he hit a rock and sustained suspension damage.
Initially fearing he would be out, Rovanpera managed to effect a makeshift repair so he could limp to the end of the day - which he managed despite having to drive most of the final stage with the Fabia's bonnet obscuring his windscreen after it flew up.
Eerik Pietarinen has now picked up the WRC2 lead in a Skoda run by ex-WRC driver Toni Gardemeister's TGS Worldwide team.
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|Rally Finland
|Jari-Matti Latvala , Mads Ostberg , Ott Tanak
|Toyota Racing
|Matt Beer
Finland WRC: Tanak pulls away as Latvala reels in Ostberg
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Mail the answers to email@example.com. Answers will be put up in a week
1. United States Patent 6152797. In the 'Object and advantages section' of the patent:
It is an object of the present invention to provide tetrahedral or octahedral modules that snap together at adjoining faces so that the octahedral or tetrahedral modules won't slide relative to each other.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide tetrahedral or octahedral modules would be durable and reusable.
It is still yet a further object of the present invention to provide tetrahedral and octahedral modules that come in contact with each other over a maximal amount of surface area, thus distributing stress more evenly and resulting in a stronger structure.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide modules not based on the 90° angles of most modules. In the modules of the present invention can be found these angles: 600°, 120°, arc cosine(1/3)--approximately 70.5°, and arc cosine(-1/3)--approximately 109.5°.
What am I talking about?
2. A study was conducted by the Pontificate Centre for Culture in 1992. After the study published its results, the then Pope John Paul II expressed regret at how things had been till that date and carried out a major decision. What was the study about and what did the Pope do?
3. Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement. Jackson Pollock has commented: "...look passively and try to receive what the painting has to offer and not bring a subject matter or preconceived idea of what they are to be looking for."
This is the reason for a practice that Pollock follows. What?
4. The Conquered Lorikeet is a species of parrot that became extinct 700-1300 years ago. It was named by David Steadman, as a wordplay on ___________. Its range was from the Cook Islands to the Society and Marquesas Islands.
What was its scientific name?
5. The word X (as used in Y) a language puzzle that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity. Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the X's social nature.
One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word _____, which means "a prayer" or "a favor" . In England, a dialectal form of this word, referred to "voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task .
6. X was the first service uniform registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The tight costume forced Y to bend at the knees, not the waist, when serving drinks in a manoeuvre known as Z. There was usually a seamstress for each Club to maintain the fit. To avoid rumors, the Club Manager had only two responsibilities for the Y, floor service and weigh in. Before every shift the Manager would weigh in each Y as they could not gain or lose more than one pound.
Genuine X in good condition have sold for over $10,000. The only two on public display are in the collections of The Smithsonian and the Chicago History Museum.
7. X, Chief __________to the Cabinet Office (c. 1988 – March 2006) served under the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair, but retired a few months after the Blairs moved in to Downing Street.
At a cost of about £100 a, X was said to be of considerably great value. In June 1995, X went missing. On 25 September 1995, the Prime Minister's press office announced his apparent death. Upon his return, X issued a statement through the civil service stating, "I have had a wonderful holiday at the Royal Army Medical College, but it is nice to be back and I am looking forward to the new parliamentary session."
8. The origin of the band name was described by Brian Downey in an interview in the 2007 DVD Live and Dangerous: The band's lead guitarist Eric Bell, who was a fan of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, bought a copy of The Dandy comic after seeing Eric Clapton depicted reading a copy of its sister publication The Beano. Bell suggested ________, the name of a robot character from the comic which was in turn named after the nick for _________. Lynott liked the idea, but while arranging a gig at a Dublin venue over the telephone, the venue owner assumed that '_____' was actually '______' due to Phil's strong Dublin accent. The band turned up to find themselves advertised outside the club as '_______' and the name stuck.Identify the band.
9. X went on to solve the Sphinx's riddle: "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?" To this X answered "Man." Distraught that her riddle had been answered correctly, the Sphinx threw herself off the side of the wall. His reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from the Sphinx's curse was kingship and the hand of the queen, Jocasta.
10. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a waistline of 33 feet, and is about 800-1000 years old. In February 1998, a local company took cuttings from the Major Oak and began cultivating clones of the tree with the intention of sending saplings to be planted in major cities around the world. The purpose was to provide a focal point for an Internet-based study of the Major Oak, its history.
What is it famous for?


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This free online course provides a practical experience with a laboratory component (utilizing the VistA for Education program) that will address approaches to assessing, selecting, and configuring EHRs to meet the specific needs of customers and end-users.
This course is designed for IT professionals with little or no experience of healthcare.
The course is comprised of 16 online lectures and 15 lab exercises and takes about 30 hours to complete.
This course was authored by Oregon Health and Science University and funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT - see credits for more details.


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A new Titanium Alloys Assessment has been released by the eQualified Heat Treating Review Board. This Planner level assessment will assess knowledge of industry best practices of titanium alloy heat treatment. This includes specific requirements related to the heat treatment of titanium and titanium alloy mill products (raw material), including wrought and cast products.
"Through my role as Chair for the eQualified Heat Treating Review Board, I have been directly involved with the creation of eQualified Titanium Alloy Planner Assessment. The assessment was developed via the collaborative effort of industry experts from multiple companies, and it also underwent a robust beta testing process to ensure it adequately evaluates a test taker at the appropriate level." Mark Emerson, eQualified Heat Treating Review Board Chair, Rolls-Royce
eQualified assessments are based on the eQualified Bodies of Knowledge, which are documents that detail the baseline knowledge and experience required to be considered competent for a targeted skill level for a specified process.
eQualified assessments are developed for use by aerospace organizations to be flexible and to fit the unique needs of each of them, including:
For more information about the Titanium Alloys Planner Heat Treating Assessment, visit https://p-r-i.org/professional-development/qualifications/examinations/


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Have you discovered UK criminal records relating to someone in your family tree?
Don't fret about it – almost everyone finds someone in their family tree, sooner or later, with a criminal past!
The more you search, and the broader your tree becomes (with extended family such as cousins, etc.), the more likely you are to find someone who ran afoul of the law in olden times - or perhaps even more recently.
Having found a few with UK criminal records in my own tree, I can say that it is somewhat of a humbling experience! However, it helps to keep in mind that, in the course of browsing through this type of record, I have seen many examples of individuals tried and convicted, and sentenced to death, for things for which we would not even prosecute today.
An example: a child was found guilty of stealing an apple from an orchard, and was hanged for it.
In my own family, one distant relative back in the 1800s was tried for, and found guilty of, the crime of 'theft in a dwelling house', in the amount of GBP 5. She served a prison sentence of 9 months.
While admittedly, 5 pounds was worth much more then than it is
now, one would think that this sort of thing could have been dealt with
privately. It seems to me that there is more to this story than meets
the eye!
At the time, she was working as a domestic servant/cook in a
boarding house, and was 'with child' without benefit of marriage. She
was eight months pregnant at the time of sentencing. So, I have a
distant relative with the somewhat dubious distinction of having been
born in a British prison!
Since she would have had little free time outside of her working duties, some family members I discussed it with have surmised that it is likely that the father of her son was someone within the household.
Was the owner of the boarding house (a married man with young children in the house) the father? Was this his way of getting rid of her - or perhaps the wife's method of dispensing with her, and getting back at her by saddling her with a UK criminal record? A pending y-DNA test, courtesy of one of the descendants of the son born in prison, should tell the tale!
Believe it or not, finding UK criminal records pertaining to someone in your tree has its upsides: you can discover all sorts of information about the person and his or her family that you would not otherwise find easily!
Things like a physical description (height, weight, hair and eye color, distinguishing marks, etc.), names of parents, address and occupation at the time of arrest, next of kin, and so on, all were recorded on the documentation related to their detention.
Remember, also, that even though a person may have been exonerated, and therefore did not actually end up with a UK criminal record, s/he may still have spent time in jail – or gaol, as it used to be spelled – awaiting trial, or they may have had a bail hearing, which could yield further information about them.
And, if the person was apprehended during or after 1871 in England, there likely will even be a 'mugshot' of them, as it became mandatory as of that year to photograph all accused persons.
How do you go about finding out if an ancestor, or a member of your extended family, had a UK criminal record? What sort of clues should you look for in the existing records concerning them and their families?
One great clue is a family member who is missing from a census document, while the spouse and children are listed. The spouse may be listed as 'married', although I have seen examples of spouses who said they were 'widowed', in order to avoid having to tell the enumerator that they were married to a convict!
I found one fellow this way; it turned out that he was serving a three-month sentence for assault, and the sentence happened to overlap with the census enumeration. His wife and two children were living at the same address as they were in the previous census, and she was listed as 'married'.
When I searched specifically for him in the census
documents, apart from his family, I located him in the local prison. The related UK criminal records indicated that he was there for about 90 days, for assault.
Another clue is to look at the birth dates of the children. Generally speaking, up until the early 1900s, children were born about every two years in a marriage.
Gaps in the record could indicate the death of one of the spouses, and the subsequent remarriage of the surviving spouse; they could also indicate that one of the spouses was away for a period of time.
Reasons for the gap could include (among other explanations) military service, serving jail time, or hospitalization during the gap period. Gaps followed by a family migration to another part of the country (or to one of the colonies) could also indicate a desire for a 'fresh start', where no-one knows about their UK criminal record.
If you suspect that your ancestor had a UK criminal record, one of the best places to look for information about it is in the newspapers in the area where your ancestors lived. If you can access a database of online British newspapers, you can search for your ancestor by name.
If not, then a search of newspapers during the 'gap period' may prove fruitful.
Most newspapers of the day provided full coverage of the criminal proceedings as they occurred, and thus can provide an excellent starting point in determining where and when your ancestor was tried, and whether or not he was convicted.
For detailed information regarding what is available, in terms of UK criminal records concerning accused persons, prisoners, and convicts, see my
individual pages regarding England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland -
coming soon.
Go to 'Criminal Records in England'
Go from 'UK Criminal Records and Your Family Tree' to FamilyHistoryAlive Home Page
Click here for upcoming webinars, courtesy of Geneawebinars.
Heard the buzz about the new Flip-Pal scanner? See my review, here, or click on the ad, below, to go directly to their website.
Looking into DNA testing for genealogy purposes?
Try 23andMe, or FTDNA (click the links below).


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It's not you.It's me. I'm going away. I know.I should have said something.
I'm going to the UK to puruse a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship.At the University of Essex to be exact. For one year.This is my last week here. Yeah! Cat's out of the damn bag. But at this point it feels more like an elephant.And I think the elephant tore the damn bag. I've wanted to tell you since December but I wanted to make sure that I actually had a visa.Otherwise I would be like that classmate who told you they were transferring schools…For the whole 4 years in High School.I didn't want to jinx it.
It's kinda terryfying to be honest. Making new friends, learning how to use the public transport system all over again,new food…Horrible UK weather. Not to mention no ugali and nyama choma for a few months.Nooo! Not the nyama choma.But it's a new phase that is necessary for many of us. Hopefully one that makes us better. I promise I won't come back with an accent.It's only a year. 😀 But I will try and keep blogging. I can't just hang you guys out to dry! Who else will be giving you your weekly dose of sarcasm and fashion combined?
So go ahead and follow me on Instagram @winniethefashionista for 'Keeping up with Winnie' since I'm not famous and I can't afford to have a whole reality tv camera crew follow me around haha. 😀
Now that that's out of the way.Back to your regularly scheduled program. 🙂
Urs Truly Grace is the Kenyan designer behind this grey crop top. The jeans are from Levi's here. I got the back pack from Forever 21 when I was in the States last year. The boots are also from Forever 21 but I've included similar options for the boots and backpack below.
Huge shoutout to Onehundred Years Kenya for letting us shoot at their store. They stock quality 'Made in Kenya' shirts for men. Check them out and tell them I sent you.
Photography by Gerald Masolia.
TOP : Urs Truly Grace
JEANS : Here(I'm wearing a size 28)
BOOTS :Alternatives here
BACKPACK : Here, here, here here and here


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Microbenchmarking with Java
Last modified: August 4, 2019
1. Introduction
This quick article is focused on JMH (the Java Microbenchmark Harness). This has been added to the JDK starting with JDK 12; for earlier versions, we have to add the dependencies explicitly to our projects.
Simply put, JMH takes care of the things like JVM warm-up and code-optimization paths, making benchmarking as simple as possible.
2. Getting Started
To get started, we can actually keep working with Java 8 and simply define the dependencies:
<dependency> <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId> <artifactId>jmh-core</artifactId> <version>1.19</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId> <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId> <version>1.19</version> </dependency>
The latest versions of the JMH Core and JMH Annotation Processor can be found in Maven Central.
Next, create a simple benchmark by utilizing @Benchmark annotation (in any public class):
@Benchmark public void init() { // Do nothing }
Then we add the main class that starts the benchmarking process:
public class BenchmarkRunner { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { org.openjdk.jmh.Main.main(args); } }
Now running BenchmarkRunner will execute our arguably somewhat useless benchmark. Once the run is complete, a summary table is presented:
# Run complete. Total time: 00:06:45 Benchmark Mode Cnt Score Error Units BenchMark.init thrpt 200 3099210741.962 ± 17510507.589 ops/s
3. Types of Benchmarks
JMH supports some possible benchmarks: Throughput, AverageTime, SampleTime, and SingleShotTime. These can be configured via @BenchmarkMode annotation:
@Benchmark @BenchmarkMode(Mode.AverageTime) public void init() { // Do nothing }
The resulting table will have an average time metric (instead of throughput):
# Run complete. Total time: 00:00:40 Benchmark Mode Cnt Score Error Units BenchMark.init avgt 20 ≈ 10⁻⁹ s/op
4. Configuring Warmup and Execution
By using the @Fork annotation, we can set up how benchmark execution happens: the value parameter controls how many times the benchmark will be executed, and the warmup parameter controls how many times a benchmark will dry run before results are collected, for example:
@Benchmark @Fork(value = 1, warmups = 2) @BenchmarkMode(Mode.Throughput) public void init() { // Do nothing }
This instructs JMH to run two warm-up forks and discard results before moving onto real timed benchmarking.
Also, the @Warmup annotation can be used to control the number of warmup iterations. For example, @Warmup(iterations = 5) tells JMH that five warm-up iterations will suffice, as opposed to the default 20.
5. State
Let's now examine how a less trivial and more indicative task of benchmarking a hashing algorithm can be performed by utilizing State. Suppose we decide to add extra protection from dictionary attacks on a password database by hashing the password a few hundred times.
We can explore performance impact by using a State object:
@State(Scope.Benchmark) public class ExecutionPlan { @Param({ "100", "200", "300", "500", "1000" }) public int iterations; public Hasher murmur3; public String password = "4v3rys3kur3p455w0rd"; @Setup(Level.Invocation) public void setUp() { murmur3 = Hashing.murmur3_128().newHasher(); } }
Our benchmark method then will look like:
@Fork(value = 1, warmups = 1) @Benchmark @BenchmarkMode(Mode.Throughput) public void benchMurmur3_128(ExecutionPlan plan) { for (int i = plan.iterations; i > 0; i--) { plan.murmur3.putString(plan.password, Charset.defaultCharset()); } plan.murmur3.hash(); }
Here, the field iterations will be populated with appropriate values from the @Param annotation by the JMH when it is passed to the benchmark method. The @Setup annotated method is invoked before each invocation of the benchmark and creates a new Hasher ensuring isolation.
When the execution is finished, we'll get a result similar to the one below:
# Run complete. Total time: 00:06:47 Benchmark (iterations) Mode Cnt Score Error Units BenchMark.benchMurmur3_128 100 thrpt 20 92463.622 ± 1672.227 ops/s BenchMark.benchMurmur3_128 200 thrpt 20 39737.532 ± 5294.200 ops/s BenchMark.benchMurmur3_128 300 thrpt 20 30381.144 ± 614.500 ops/s BenchMark.benchMurmur3_128 500 thrpt 20 18315.211 ± 222.534 ops/s BenchMark.benchMurmur3_128 1000 thrpt 20 8960.008 ± 658.524 ops/s
5. Conclusion
This tutorial focused on and showcased Java's micro benchmarking harness.
As always, code examples can be found on GitHub.


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Tom Kidd has announced an exhibition of his work at the Center for the Arts in Homer, NY. He has thirty-nine paintings on display. The paintings are split into four categories: book covers, illustrations for The War of the Worlds, The Three Musketeers, and Gnemo.
Tom Kidd:
Oct. 16th - Dec. 31st
The Center for the Arts is very pleased to announce an exhibit of works by fantasy artist Tom Kidd. There will be an opening reception for Mr. Kidd October 27th from 7 - 9pm. Also books and prints of Mr. Kidd's work is available.


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People belong to all different types of hairs and hair troubles as well. It is, however, not conceivable for everyone to afford the time and cost of pertaining a hair repair mask in the beauty salons. But you can easily flip over an all homemade mask to get the strength back in the damaged hair at the comfort of home.
Honey and banana hair repair mask
- The honey-banana mask is favorable for repairing dry hair.
- Ripe banana – 1
- Coconut Oil/Almond Oil – 2 table spoon
- Essential Oil (Lavender/Rosemary/Argan) – 3 to 4 drops. (Increase the amount of each ingredient according to the length of your hair.)
Mix all preferably in a blender. Apply evenly from the root to strands of hair. Cover the hair with a shower cap (it will protect the masked hair from attracting dirt and also the heat inside the cap help to sit the mask on hair).
Leave the mask in hair for minimum 30 minutes to maximum an hour. Rinse thoroughly.
If you have time in hand, massage oil in the next day of applying mask and shampoo – it will eventually add more glows to hair.
Egg and mayonnaise hair mask
The mayonnaise and egg mask would be a glorious for the one who possess curly locks.
- Egg – 1
- Mayonnaise – 1 ½ to 2 teaspoonful
- Honey – 1 teaspoon
- Whisk the ingredients until ends to a fine blend of mixture. Leave the mask for at least 30 minutes and shampoo. If you have curly hairs that are dry as well, add 2 teaspoon of olive oil or coconut oil in the mask. Apply the mask once in a week for best results.
Treat your precious eyelashes locks with latisse and good conditioner after shampooing. Choose the conditioner according to your hair type.
If you go for naturals, Apple Cider Vinegar or simple lemon juice serve as good and handy natural conditioners.


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But I really do love the mosaic print blouse, as well as the floral print cardigan on the gal on the right. And in the front row--stripes, plaid, and a ruffly-collared blouse with cardigan!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
washington d.c. school trip, 1962
But I really do love the mosaic print blouse, as well as the floral print cardigan on the gal on the right. And in the front row--stripes, plaid, and a ruffly-collared blouse with cardigan!
7 comments:
You are not being too harsh! I agree completely. That said, can I just squeal with delight at this picture? Your mother's blouse is fabulous! {If it was me, I would be a tiny bit mad that she didn't save it for me.} Or perhaps she did?ReplyDelete
Thanks for sharing!
You look so much like your mom!!! And I LOVE all the coats in this photo. I think I like the little bows on the collars best.ReplyDelete
Just love so much that your mom is the one in the leopard print blouse! Meow! And I completely agree w/ you about the teenagers of today. I have many, many young cousins who dress the same ALWAYS and though I love high waisted old 80s denim shorts, my recent least favorite look on teen girls is the super teeny tiny jean shorts with pockets hanging out. Just not cute at all in my book.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 24, 2011 at 11:08 PM
Awwww... LOOK at all the cute peter pan collars! This photo is amazing! Thanks for sharing it Karen.ReplyDelete
I'm off to go practice sitting properly on grass in my skirts. :D
- AnonymousAugust 25, 2011 at 6:47 PM
Super photo!ReplyDelete
What I love most is that looking presentable was important. There is absolutely nothing sloppy about these young women!
Okay, the bouffant did not flatter everyone, but it didn't take long for girls to figure that out and to move on to shapes that were sleeker and prettier!
I love a pointy-toed flat. I started wearing them to get around campus in college and I haven't gone back to heels! Yes, most teenagers do dress horribly! There's hope, though. In the nearly ten years that I've been out of high school, people my age have started dressed themselves a little better. I got really tired of seeing my contemporaries' midriffs.ReplyDelete
Hi Karen,ReplyDelete
I'm with you 100% when it comes to disliking the way the majority of teens (and really, by extension, people of all ages) dress these days. Sadly, the word "style" simply does not hold the same merit it once did.
Thank you very much for your visit and comment over at Chronically Vintage. I'm tickled pink to know how much you enjoyed those great 40s styled shoes. It was immensely sweet of you to mention me as the source by which you found them when placing your order, thank you for doing so.
And thank you for sharing these delightful early 60s snaps with us, I really enjoyed reading your comments and picking my favourite garments and hairstyles from each as I did so, too.
Cheerful weekend wishes,


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Facebook offers a unique tool for artists, writers, businesses, and anyone looking for an audience. This is the feature of a 'Page'. The difference between your personal timeline and a Facebook page is, you don't have to be friends with everyone on your page in order for them to see the content you put out. They 'Like' your page, and poof! They're part of your audience. You can post whatever you want without worrying about what others may say or think because, honestly, there isn't much interaction on the pages. People who've liked your page are your captive audience until they decide to unlike it.
Now, of course, there's always a catch, and the catch here is that you can have 500+ likes, but only 25 of those people will ever see your content on their News Feed. Why? Because Facebook is like that. Facebook tries to encourage more interaction by telling people, "If you like, comment, or share posts from the pages you're on, you will see more content from those pages." Otherwise, you, as the creator of the page, can pay to have your content boasted in order to reach a wider audience.
So, why all this talk about Facebook Pages here on my blog? Because a lot of writers ask, "I'm not published yet. Should I create a Facebook Page?" Despite all its flaws and inconsistencies, my answer would be, "Yes." Why? Consider a Page as the first steppingstone in building your online presence. It's easy. It's relatively simple, and you don't have to worry about breaking some kind of rule (as you might in a group or so) when posting your content. Consider this as your place to discover who you are online, how you like to present yourself, and how you're going to promote yourself. It's like the playground to marketing. Yeah, whatever you post, real people will see, and some might respond. You get to learn how to flex your marketing muscles, "Okay, this works…and that doesn't work. People like this, so I should do more of it." And so forth.
Not only that, but a lot of times publishers these days will ask you if you've established a platform (aka fan base). If they see your page with over five hundred or a few thousand Likes, that will make you look better to them because they can see that even before you finish your book, you were working the market.
Okay, so you got yourself a page now, and you're probably staring at it asking a few questions:
- What am I supposed to post?
- How often am I supposed to post?
- How do I get people to like my page?
To answer the first question, "What am I supposed to post?" you need to determine what the Page is specifically about. Is it about you and your journey as a writer, or is it about a specific book you're writing? I highly recommend you make the page about You as a writer because in that way it will be all-encompassing of your work, so you won't have to host multiple Pages to cover all your books.
Now, once you've decided what it is about, you can begin posting. You have a captive audience, but you want to keep it in mind with the general theme of your page. Here are common things people post on their Pages:
- Photos (things that inspire)
- Quotes
- Snippets from your story
- Tidbits of your day regarding writing (e.g. "My characters have go COMPLETELY off the outline!!!")
- Share other people's work to promote and help them
- If you have a blog, post link to the blog posts
- If you're posting a story online, post links to the story
- Do giveaways
- Ask questions
- Share your accomplishments, fears, and tears with your followers
- And so much more.
Now, on to the second question, "How often should I post?" The answer is simple: every day—multiple times a day if you can. You see, the more you post, the more visible you are to your followers, and the more chances they have to interact with you, and that, in turn, can bring you even more followers. But don't stress out if you can't find a lot to post about. Post as things come to you, and try to make it natural.
The third question asks, "How do I get people to like my page?" First off, make sure your page is attractive to people. Give your page a unique, eye-catching banner (sometimes called a 'cover'). Make sure the banner is something that will catch people's attention rather than deter them. Once I saw a banner that was covered in roaches, and I'm sorry, but no–I don't do bugs. Just seeing that banner guaranteed that I wouldn't click 'Like' on that page. So make sure your banner is something a bit more warm and inviting.
How do you create a banner? If you know an artist who'd create one for you, approach them with the request, but be willing to pay because that's the courteous thing to do. If you want to try creating a simple one yourself, try this link: Timeline Cover. It's nothing fancy, but it's free, it has all the right dimensions, and they don't include a watermark on the final product. I always click on 'Start Designing a Facebook cover' (upper right hand corner), and then select the blank background option, so I can just work from scratch although you can use whatever they have to offer. Just know you're not going to get absolutely high quality work from this because it's extremely limited with tools, but it's an affordable alternative when you don't have the personal artistic skills and can't afford an artist to create it for you. When creating your own banner though, be sure you have the rights to the pictures just to be safe. To do this, look up stock photos.
So, you've made your page attractive with a brilliant banner, but how do you get people to your page to like it? The easiest way to get likes is to announce to your FB friends and family that you have a page, and that you'd appreciate anyone and everyone who heads over to it and gives it a like. Outside of that, you shouldn't go to someone else's page and say, "I liked your page, so go like mine." That is rude, and 99.9% of people won't return the favor.
Now, a tactic some people have used with me is private messaging me a sincere, personalized note in which they really appreciate the content of my page, and they've liked it, and they ask that I take a look at theirs. They may or may not ask me to return the like. However, because they're sincere and took the time to really look at my page to see what it was about in order to craft a personalized message, I'm more prone to go to their page and like it. This only works if it's an honest message and not something vague like, "Hey, I like your page a lot. Would you mind liking mine?" While that's nice (because you didn't demand a like), taking a moment longer on the person's page to discover what it's really about and putting that in the message goes a lot further: "Hey, I just love the pictures you share on your page! Very inspirational! I've given your page a like. Would you mind checking out my page? <insert link>" This is one way to get some likes.
Another way to get more likes is to join groups that are related to your craft (if you're a writer, writing groups, artist—artist groups, etc). There may be some marketing or promotional groups you can join as well. Remember: always follow the rules of the groups because you don't want to spam and get kicked out. If you're uncertain of the rules, contact an admin and ask for permission to share your page. Many groups will have a specific day set aside for such promotion because they don't want the group spammed all the time by people constantly sharing their work.
Now, once you find these groups, if you jump out and say, "Hey! Like my page!", don't expect many likes. Why? They don't know you. You need to establish a presence within the groups before expecting anyone to follow you. To find out more of how to do this, take a look at my earlier blog post about The Etiquette of Self-Promotion.
Remember though, your page is nor your personal Facebook Timeline. The page is not where you post pictures of your pets, children, or anything personal—unless it's directly related to your craft. Keep your private life private…unless you want everyone to know about every element of your life.
So, should you create a Facebook Page right now even if you've never published a book and haven't even completed the book you want to publish? If you want to create one, then yes—go ahead. Even if you're unsure, remember that you don't have to share your page immediately. It's not like people all over the internet will see it as soon as you create it. You can take your time molding it into what you want before inviting anyone to view it.
Creating a Page is easy. Building a following takes more time, so you need to be patient and dedicated to it. Might as well start now.
If you'd like to see my Facebook Page, you may find it here: www.facebook.com/AuthorKellyBlanchard. I post a lot of pictures that could inspire settings or characters for stories. Occasionally I post quotes as I come across them, and I talk about my own writing experience when something thought-provoking or humorous or exciting happens. It would be good to see you there!


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The busy season is just around the corner.
Soon our "up north" friends will be with us, beading around the same table, having fun together.
Lois Manza – has offered me the last Thursday or Friday of the month for my classes at her store "Creations by L" – in Anna Maria Island.
I have prepared a program and kits to offer our already popular classes and I also plan to add a new project every month.
- The program and the time are flexible. You can choose one project to work with.
- They will be 3-hour classes that can start anytime from 11am through 5pm. Last class starts at 2pm.
- To sign up for a class, you can either contact me by email firstname.lastname@example.com or call Lois at #941-779-0779.
- Lois' store is open from 10am through 5pm Monday through Saturday.
July 30th – projects available
Moulin Rouge, Lavish Barrel, Sea Star, Pumpkin Bracelet, Lazy Morning on the Beach, and the newest "mini B".
Fatima Mensen-Potter #(941)704-5732
Lois Manza #(941)779-0779
5500 Marina Dr #2
Holmes Beach, FL 34217


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^ my wardrobe at the end of last term
as much as i envy the unending wardrobes of such fashionistas as blair waldorf and carrie bradshaw, such is not reality (the above = university living.). but i have come to embrace (and sort of become obsessed with) the challenge. with confined space comes the burden of choice, and when viewed with an accepting mind, this burden is a blessing, a reminder, to focus on the essentials. when there is only space for a few items, it is my mission to make those items as perfectly me as possible. ★


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Last month, we hit the 1 million active users on Owler. And last night, we celebrated our growing progress with 135 friends of Owler at Sparky's Hot Rod Garage in San Carlos.
Since it isn't every day that a company hits 1 million active users, we marked the milestone with live acoustic music, carnival games, and lots and lots of food. We sipped Owler Collins (Tom Collins) surrounded by plenty of owl puns. You could say we partied owl night long.
But most importantly, we had the opportunity to celebrate our success alongside the people who helped us make it happen. We were happy to see so many friends of Owler, including Owler HOT In City awardees and employees from companies across the Bay Area: from Apple, to Oracle, to Salesforce, to eBay, and more.
So whether you were one of the 135 people at our party, or one of the 1 million on our platform, we thank you sincerely, deeply, and wholeheartedly for your support and for trusting us to help you be your best in business.
Take a look at photos from our owltastic party:


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It's nice when strangers like my photos.
In October 2009 I told you about one of my photos (showing motorbikes on their way to Phillip Island for the Grand Prix) appearing on the blog site A PHOTO A DAY FROM PLANET EARTH.
From time-to-time I will add photos to their flickr group, and this week they chose my photo of the Cape Schanck Lighthouse to publish on the site.
This post was originally published on simonsays.smjbk.com


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National Recognition
U.S. News & World Report recognized the University of Dayton for offering one of the best online graduate education programs in the nation.
The University ranked 15th among more than 200 programs. The magazine highlighted the School of Education and Health Sciences programs for small class sizes and individualized attention for students, easy access to technical assistance and faculty accessibility outside the course, among other factors.
"Online education is our means of extending graduate degree programs to professional educators and adult students," said Dean Kevin Kelly. "This recognition is a validation of the quality of our faculty and the care they have taken to develop engaging curricula and programs."
The ranking is based on accreditation, admissions standards and academic and career support services offered to students, according to U.S. News.
"Additionally, we are recognized for taking a systematic approach to developing our courses in-house, following evidence-based best practices established by Quality Matters, a nonprofit organization that works to guarantee the quality of a course," said C. Jayne Brahler, director of distance education. "Our faculty are experienced in online course delivery as well as face-to-face delivery, which also contributes to our success."
The School of Education and Health Sciences offers online degree programs for early childhood leadership and advocacy; interdisciplinary educational studies; literacy; music education; teacher as leader; technology-enhanced learning; transdisciplinary early childhood education; educational leadership; and education leadership with a Catholic school leadership concentration. More information is available at udayton.edu/education.
Recognition of the School of Education and Health Science's national reputation is nothing new; in January College Choice, an independent online publication, ranked the School's online master's in education degree among the 50 best in the nation. And, recently the National Council on Teacher Quality named the University of Dayton's elementary education program among the best in the nation.


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Velvet Grenadine Clutch
Indian Summer Keepsake Wristlet Clutch
♦♦ Edwin Way Teale
Sweet Serenity Mini Clutch
... and all the sweet serenity of books
♦. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
It's the very best time of the year, I believe. Love all the wristlets, especially Indian Summer ~ you do such beautiful work, Lisa!
I love this time of year, too.
LOVE your work!
All lovely, but your Indian Summer clutch is really awesome, so rich in texture, just wonderful!
Enjoy fall Lisa! :-)
You have been busy! They are all lovely. I hope you are enjoying autumn x
lovely lisa!! i have to tell you i thought i had lost the clutch you sent me, and so for the last two days i have been tracing my steps..calling around town and today there it was under an armchair in my room...I screamed i was so happy.....okay so i am a tad attached to it:)
a true fan of your creations!
xo katy


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In February, 2013 I was in Pennsylvania at my daughter's house in the Pocono mountains waiting for the "emergence" of my grandson Dylan. Her mother-in-law was also present – we were having fun with our other little grandchild Alina. The evening my daughter and hubby were in the hospital in Scranton, I excused myself to retire early to my room as a sharp pain in my chest seemed to be developing. I declared Truth as learned in Christian Science since childhood and was calm and unafraid. The strong message came not to let anyone catch wind of this – just keep working in the Christian Science way. The pain increased to the point it was difficult to breathe. I had a practitioner in our church in my phone on speed dial and called her. I could not speak much but conveyed who I was and the error that was presenting. She lovingly helped me right in the moment with positivity and strong assurance all was well. Total relief, relaxation and peace pushed away any concerns. I sat up in bed all night feeling loved and grateful, secure in God's great love. Breathing became easier right away and by morning there were no remnants of this experience. I was healed in full. That day, mother-in-law and I tugged two big garbage cans through the snow to the roadside and no one was the wiser! That day was filled with beauty, gratitude, love and joy in the arrival of Dylan. There has been no return of these symptoms and I remain immensely grateful for Christian Science and our loving practitioners. There was and is no need to determine what the belief was. Christian Science heals regardless in Jesus' way. I am also grateful for our wonderful hymns. The words, "Everlasting arms of Love are beneath, around, above" from Hymn 53 were not only in my thought at this time but felt so deeply I knew all was well no matter what seemed to be the suggestion fighting for life. Thanks to the practice of Christian Science healing, human chaos was totally avoided. One can only imagine the turmoil that would have resulted otherwise! Love is the liberator.
Love, Helene


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(visited by Rainer Mautz)
10-Apr-2016 -- This is the second out of four reports reaching confluence points in Southern France. The story continues from 43°N 0°EW.
At 6 AM in the morning I started cycling from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, which is 40 km away as the crows fly. After climbing and descending a couple of minor hills, I reached the Saison River (also known as Gave de Mauléon) and followed it upstream. The road along the river starts going up steeper and steeper as one approaches the confluence. At the village
Larrau the 600 m contour line is crossed. From the village, a lonely road serpentines upwards towards the mountain pass Port de Larrau, which was still closed for the winter. In general I had the impression that this area, part of the French Basque Country, is at the end of the world. To the south there is the border to Spain (1.3 km from the CP) and the Pyrenees. No car would pass me for the whole morning. I guess that the remoteness is also the reason why this confluence point has had just one visit so far.
I left the road at a distance of 950 m in a hairpin curve of the road. The walk along a decayed forest track was wet and muddy with melting snow on the ground. From a distance of 300 m, I left the track and began my direct attack to the confluence through a steep deciduous forest. The climb was not too easy with partially snow covered ground. The confluence itself is also in the forest, but enjoys a great view to Larrau and beyond towards the North.
On the way back, a thunderstorm came up. Sudden wind gusts almost blew me from my bicycle. But as I got down into the Saison River Valley, the wind became surprisingly hot. This was clearly a Foehn wind. I used this phenomenon as tailwind for unexpectedly reaching the 44th degree latitude in the evening of the same day!
CP Visit Details:
The story continues at 44°N 1°W.


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Saturday, June 16, 2007
For the record
Poetry.com is bad. It is a scam. This is not news—I could have told you years ago—but now people seem to be noticing.
Posted by (who else?) Matt Walker at 4:19 AM
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Something I've always wondered
How is it that animals can eat raw meat without getting sick, but we humans have to cook it first? Please inform me.
Posted by (who else?) Matt Walker at 2:06 AM
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text: Sinbad is a 12-episode family adventure series, a new re-telling of the adventures of the famous character from The Arabian Nights stories. Sinbad, along with his elder brother and an assorted band of companions, sets sail from Baghdad in search of adventure and riches. Along the way the voyagers encounter strange tribes, evil wizards and giant sea monsters intent on making an appetiser of their ship. Produced for Sky Television and BBC World Wide.


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Operator guidance regarding affiliate marketing arrangements
- This document sets out good practice in relation to operator relationships with marketing affiliates.
- The document addresses the core issues where affiliate activity has to be in line with the social responsibility duties operators have.
Contacts for media enquiries:
Eterna Partners
Nigel Fairbrass: +44 (0)20 3911 0351 or +44 (0)7799 894 265
Notes to editors
About the Senet Group
The Senet Group seeks to raise standards in the gambling sector through best practice and other partnership initiatives and to promote responsible gambling through a campaign of broadcast, print and digital advertising and player messaging.
The most recent survey of the reach and impact of the "When the Fun stops, Stop" campaign can be found at: http://senetgroup.org.uk/responsible-gambling-campaigning-works-sustained-consistent-tuned-audience/


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Lets begin by defining what "watch time" actually is. According to YouTube, watch time is: "The amount of time that a viewer has watched a video. This gives you a sense of what content viewers actually watch (as opposed to videos that they click on and then abandon)." Now why is watch time so important? Because YouTube uses it as part of its algorithm for suggesting videos (in terms of rankings).
According to Margin Media, in the past, the algorithm YouTube used for ranking videos in search results was based off how many views a video had. However, that is no longer the case. YouTube now gives priority to videos that will lead to longer watch times, versus videos that get more clicks. So what does this mean for you? It is imperative you now optimize your videos for watch time to increase your chances of ranking well, and this is how you can achieve that:
Create Quality Content
This is a no-brainer, but it still needs to be said. YouTube is full of average content. Don't produce content that adds to that never-ending library. This stat is pretty mind blowing - every minute, there are 300 hours of video uploaded to YouTube. That tells you how fierce the competition is for watch time, so if you aren't producing quality content, scratch that, EPIC content, why bother at all? The old adage, "content is king", doesn't just apply to written content, such as blogs or articles, it applies to videos, too. So your goal when producing content for YouTube should be to put yourself in the shoes of your viewers and think "what would make me want to stick around and watch this entire video?"
It doesn't matter what your interests are - it matters what the interests of your target audience are, so always design your content for them, and ensure they will find it both relevant and engaging, otherwise your watch time is going to suffer dearly. If you aren't delivering value to your viewers on YouTube, your time is best spent on other marketing activities that are going to produce better results. You want content that is going to teach your viewers something, content that is so great they won't think twice about wanting to share it with their friends and family. The kind of content that stands out from the crowd that is going to boost your watch time and ultimately help boost your rankings in whatever niche you're targeting.
Maximize On The First 15 Seconds
If you don't capture your viewers attention right off the bat, they are going to lose interest in what you have to say pretty quickly. High bounce rates are bad for business, and will drive your watch time down big time. According to Your Social Voice, on average, the first 30% of videos do a subpar job at capturing the attention of viewers, and that is not a statistic you want your video to fall into. The first 15 seconds of your video need to be engaging, interesting, to the point, and inform your viewers of what they can expect from the rest of your video.
This isn't the time for long-winded introductions (short and sweet is the best rule of thumb to follow), to talk about yourself, all of your accomplishments, or your business in detail (keep the branding at the end of the video if it's going to be more than a few seconds long). Remember this video is for your viewers, and if it doesn't provide value to them, they will have zero interest in it, so you need to stick with that mindset with every video you make. All of your videos should maintain the same overall message and tone of your channel for consistency. If you can hook your audience within the first 15 seconds, your watch time is going to benefit.
Have Relevant Titles & Thumbnails That Aren't Misleading
When people are searching for videos on YouTube, the first thing they are going to see for any video is the title and thumbnail. So it is critical both are relevant and compelling, otherwise what reason do people have to click on your video, versus all of your extremely fierce competition? You need something that is going to entice them, something that is going to pull them in, but also something that isn't misleading at the same time. The absolute worst thing you can do is trick people into watching your YouTube videos. A high click rate means nothing if you also have a high bounce rate to go with it, especially considering you are likely to be reported by the viewer for misleading content.
Consider this fact - there are 1 billion mobile video views on YouTube every single day, with the average time per mobile session spanning a whopping 40 minutes. So the thumbnail you choose for your video should be responsive on both desktop and mobile devices to ensure you're capturing as much of that mobile traffic as possible. In addition to having a relevant and compelling title and an engaging thumbnail, don't forget to write a description, which will be displayed directly underneath your video in search results. Here is a good example from Margin Media of titles and thumbnails that match up perfectly with the actual content of the videos:
Keep A Close Eye On Your Analytics
You need to keep a close eye on the Audience Retention report for every video you upload to your YouTube channel. This will enable you to see if there are any trends as to what point of time your audience is dropping off from the videos you are uploading so you can make adjustments as necessary, versus operating in the blind, so to speak. You can access the Audience Retention report by logging into your YouTube account, selecting your account in the top right and clicking on Creator Studio, then on the left selecting Analytics then Audience Retention. To view the Audience Retention report for individual videos you have uploaded, simply click on the name of the video then play the video to see how different parts are performing. For more information on this report, visit: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1715160?hl=en.
In the below example of an Audience Retention report from Vidooly, you can see most of the audience is dropping off between 0 and 45 seconds and at around the 3 minute 44 second mark.
So what does all of this mean? As discussed above, if you have a misleading title and/or thumbnail, you are going to have a high bounce rate, and that appears to be exactly what is happening with this video. People click on this video expecting one thing, find out the video has nothing to do with that topic, and quickly leave the video. That is why it is absolutely critical you do not mislead your viewers. The second issue is people are losing interest in the video as it goes on. It is good that people are sticking around and watching the video, but with the goal here being to extend your watch time, Vidooly suggests adding an annotation to a related video or another playlist of your channel.
Use Long-Tail Keywords To Help You Create Content
One way to help drive more traffic to your videos (and increase your watch time if you are putting the other tips into action at the same time) instead of your competitors is by targeting long-tail YouTube keywords. While there are many possible avenues for identifying long-tail keywords to use for your content, one of the rather easy ways is to use YouTube itself. In the below example, we typed "facebook marketing" into the search bar, and got some valuable long-tail keyword ideas from YouTube we could use for content. This enables us to create more targeted content, as opposed to simply creating content with the keyword "facebook marketing", which is going to have much more competition, and reduce our chances of coming up in the search rankings.
Keep in mind you are not just getting random suggestions on long-tail keywords from YouTube. These are video topics based on what viewers are actually interested in, and will assist with your videos being found and seen. In addition to creating content based off long-tail keywords as a means of increasing your watch time, you can also check out what kind of content your competition is producing, and mainly what keywords they are using, to use in the future for your own content.


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By Eve Broughton
Although finding a scorpion in your woodpile may startle you, it may only be an imposter, the pseudoscorpion, both of which make their homes here in the Lost Coast Region of Northern California. I found a scorpion on the floor of my dining room the other night. It must have hitched a ride inside with the firewood. Since it was upside down, I figured it was dead, a victim of my faithful feline friends.
While the cats are courageous, the scorpions are not. When threatened, they hide their faces with their pincers and play dead. That didn't work for this scorpion. Running away is the second strategy of defense. Rarely do they sting, and the venom is not dangerous with only mild effects, but the sting does hurt.
Both the scorpion, Uroctonus mordax, and the pseudoscorpion are arthropods, meaning an invertebrate animal with an external skeleton, segmented body, and jointed appendages; both are in the class of Arachnida, but in different order.
The scorpion is a forest dweller, native to northern California, western Oregon, and southern Washington. They prefer humid settings, and probably burrow during hot, dry weather. Around here, I've seen them most often under pieces of wood on the ground, or lurking beneath the bark of firewood. They are night-hunters, and use their pincers to seize the prey (spider or large insect), and their poisonous stinger to kill it.
Males can be distinguished from females (when you have them both to compare) because the males are duller. (No comment.) You Tube has interesting videos of scorpions seeking mates and mating. The couples join pincers and "dance." The female can give birth to a brood of 26 pale, miniature scorpions. This usually happens in August, September or October. They hang around Mom, riding on her back, for two weeks. At 10 days of age, the young undergo their first molt, and begin to forage on their own. Five molts and two years later, they reach maturity. The California Forest Scorpion may live as long as four to six years.
Pseudoscorpions may resemble scorpions, in having large pincers, but are more closely related to spiders. They have a rounded abdomen and no tail and no stinger. They do have poison glands, but these are in the movable "finger" of the pincer. This poison is used to inactivate the prey, which includes small insects such as springtails, flies, ants, moths, beetle larvae, and mites. Are they to be feared? No. They are small, less than one-quarter of an inch and not aggressive.
Most species have simple eyes, some don't. This makes sense, as the habitat for pseudoscorpions is often in forests, lurking among moss or under loose bark, leaves or stones. They are active in the warm months.
Like spiders, they have silk glands, but these are on the jaws and are used to spin cocoons, in which they mate, molt, or over-winter. It may take the young several years to mature, and adults live up to four years.
So be curious, not frightened, the next time you see one. And if you go exploring at night, take a black light: scorpions will glow blue under its ultraviolet rays.
Whitethorn resident, Eve Broughton is a biologist, nature enthusiast and a board member of the Lost Coast Interpretive Association
This article is part of a series about Natural Life of the Lost Coast, a project of the Lost Coast Interpretive Association. If you are interested in contributing an article to this bi-weekly column about the plants, animals and human history of the Lost Coast Region, contact Cathy Miller at firstname.lastname@example.com.
photo caption:
This scorpion was found inside a Southern Humboldt residence.


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Heteronormative times call for homoabnormative measures.
Month: September 2017
My first BG East Wrestling Gutbash video
Remember the cryptic video I posted a few months ago called Doing you know what with you don't know whom? As promised, now all can be disclosed. I was in Fort Lauderdale filming my first BG East Wrestling video, Gutbash 13: Kid Vicious vs. Devon Britt-Darby. One of the things that was so great about […]More
A roundup of my Folsom Street Fair weekend in San Francisco, including a meetup that was filmed and one that wasn't. Video of me and my nemesis with 15 years of sexual tension that got brutally released this weekend is on the way (the unlisted mini-preview is here). The solo video of me in the […]More
Decompressing with a friend | Realities of the road
The blog's very first collaborator was back in Houston for a quick visit, so we hung out and caught up New videos referenced in this clip include: Midwestern midsection medley (When Devon met Shane) Muscle worship, body squeezing, nipple play and jacking off with Ricar and Devon Muscle worship during a naked yoga warm-up Naked […]More


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Product: New Antiques
Designer: Marcel Wanders
Designers Website: http://www.marcelwanders.nl
Material: Wood & Leather
Maker: Capellini
Yummy Factor: Sweet !
MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011
Iván Meade is the principal designer of Meade Design Group Inc., a multi-disciplinary interior and graphic design studio in Victoria, BC, Canada that creates interiors and graphics to elegantly reflect the needs and style of their clients.
Meade Design Group 2007-2014 ©
MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011
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Posted by MEADE DESIGN GROUP at 18:08
Labels: Capellini, eye candy, Marcel Wanders, New Antiques
very cool, he always has unique peices!


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Search Schedule
Founder and Principal
MindOpen Learning Strategies LLC
Connect Online with this Speaker
Elizabeth Speck is the founder and principal of MindOpen Learning Strategies, a training, consulting, and coaching firm that helps people and organizations learn new ways to work in order to better serve social justice. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Development from Fielding Graduate University and an M.A. in Drama Therapy from New York University, and is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. She uses her unique background to create truly engaging, transformative adult learning experiences that lead to measurable business results and social impact.
Elizabeth has helped thousands of employees work better together over her 25-year career as a trainer, consultant, manager, and direct service professional in settings including prisons, jails, hospitals, shelters, schools, and universities. Prior to founding MindOpen, Elizabeth most recently led large-scale organizational and systemic change efforts as Chief Learning Officer for the Workforce Professionals Training Institute in New York City, and Senior Training Director for Safe Horizon, the nation's largest victim assistance organization.
Elizabeth's doctoral research studied the workforce entry and advancement experiences of formerly incarcerated professionals, and identified unique strengths that this diverse population brings to the workplace. She is currently a Social Innovation Fellow with both the StartingBloc Institute and the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University. Learn more at www.mindopenlearning.com


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Adventurous, curious, welcoming, inclusive
To live global at heart is to pursue an adventurous, curious, inspired, and inclusive life, even when you can't travel as often as you like. It's a way of looking at the world, embracing different cultures and new experiences, and finding ways to make your travels more impactful in the day-to-day.
This post was never intended to be a political message, but a human one. I started writing it before the shocking (but, frankly, not all that surprising) outcome of the 2016 American presidential election. However, the message of inclusiveness is that much more important now. Today more than ever, people need reassurance that this spirit still exists in the world.
Let's open our hearts, minds, and arms to welcome and be welcomed wherever we may roam.
We need to continue, and even double down on our efforts, to show the traveler's spirit, to be open to new and different ways of looking at the world, and to make a conscious effort to be global at heart. This especially important when we are in our own local environment and interacting with our neighbors. Let's open our hearts, minds, and arms to welcome and be welcomed wherever we may roam.
So how can we be "global at heart"? Below are some qualities I had in mind when I named my site, my business, and my personal outlook.
At home in the world
To be global at heart means that, though we are deeply connected to our homes, we are at home in the world. We revel in difference and are energized by the slight discomfort of the unfamiliar. We have an innate curiosity about our surroundings – both far away and close to home.
Adventurous and curious
We constantly seek out new, meaningful experiences and live like adventurers. We might enjoy the adrenaline rush of a physical challenge, but we also delight in the simple pleasures of tasting new foods, listening to new music, or considering a new point of view. Seeking out the less-traveled path, we might turn left when the map says tells us to turn right, just to see what's around the corner (if we even use a map). As we know, adventure doesn't just happen on the road, so we constantly change the angle from which we view our daily surroundings.
Welcoming and inclusive
People, not just post cards, matter. Sharing and exploration have the power to strengthen the bonds between people the world over. A strong sense of empathy and inclusion for those around us means that we enjoy others' experiences as much as our own. We genuinely want to learn about cultures different from our own, and we want to share ours. We "go local" when abroad, and we share our own country, city, neighborhood, and possibly even our homes openly with visitors.
Open-minded and sincere
We also love the exchange of ideas. Seeking out new perspectives, we go out of our way to ask questions and learn, and we have meaningful conversations without judgement. We are willing to consider outlooks and practices different from our own, even if we don't agree with them.
Though we stay true to ourselves, we are able to appreciate difference, to change, and to grow from our experiences.
Growing and changing
We allow our travels and interactions with other to change us. Though we stay true to ourselves, we are able to appreciate difference, to change, and to grow from our experiences. We are collectors of meaningful experiences and artifacts that we weave into our lives, ensuring the joy of traveling is not subsumed by the daily grind after we return home (see my post Ending the Vacation Hangover for ways to weave your travels into daily life).
Responsible and purposeful
While travel and exploration should be, above all, fun, we recognize that we have responsibilities. We must be both good guests and good hosts. These include respecting other people and their customs, protecting the environment, being adventurous without overstepping, treating the places we visit as we would our own homes, and (respectfully, patiently) helping others understand our ways. We travel and welcome people with a purpose – to be good global neighbors, to share, to grow together, and to make lives better the world over, even in small ways.
Onward global hearts
What else might you add? What does "global at heart" mean to you? How do you live this idea?
Want more about what it means live "global at heart"? Check out my short dispatches from the field: Global at Heart Moments.
Inspired to travel and want your own personalized itinerary? Check out what it's like to work with me.
Follow my blog (and all your other favorites, too) with Bloglovin'!


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If you're suffering from a serious bout of March Madness bracket blues, we're here to help. No, we won't go talk to your bookie and beg for an extension—that's between your knees and Tony's tire iron. What we will do, though, is distract you from that dime you dropped on Xavier with some new automotive accessories. Dig this:
Classic Accessories Camo Kennel Jacket—Hugh Hefner made the smoking jacket the "it" garment for millionaire smut moguls, and Classic Accessories is making the Camo Kennel Jacket the "it" garment for hundredaire varmint hunters. They come in two styles: one with extra storage pockets and one without the pockets.
Classic Accessories Camo Rear Seat Protector—Now you don't have to make that hard ethical choice between protecting your auto's upholstery or leaving your beloved pooch at the beach because her paws got all sandy. This universal dog seat cover fits the back seat of just about any car, truck or SUV.
Classic Accessories Hitch Ball Tote—Sheathe your tri-point hitch ball in the coziest home for a bar and balls.
Classic Accessories Winter Windshield Cover—While San Diego is enjoying 70-degree weather, the rest of the states are still getting dusted with heavenly dandruff. Luckily, this windshield cover from Classic Accessories helps keep your front glass ice-free.
Heritage Vehicle Gun Case—Some states believe having your shotguns and rifles within arm's reach while driving is a good idea, and we're not going to argue with the armed. Instead, we'll just suggest that you keep your boom sticks organized with this deluxe gun case from Heritage.
Classic Accessories Seat Back Gun Case—Because you can get this back-of-the seat gun rack in camouflage, it'll be totally invisible to any deer chilling in the backseat of your SUV.
Classic Accessories Seat Back Gun Rack—Why bother covering them up—this gun rack from Classic Accessories reveals the heat you're packing and probably cuts down on the number of people willing to honk when you blatantly cut them off.
Advantage Hitch Extension—Finally, your hitch mount bike rack can clear your spare tire with the added 2.5" to 11" of length from this Advantage SportsRack adjustable hitch extension. Now, you just need to figure out a way to get your name cleared of those charges.
Vision X Superwhite Headlight Bulbs—Meet the Edgar Winter of headlight bulbs. These almost albino-white headlight bulbs from Vision X not only burn almost 30% brighter than stock halogen headlight bulbs, but they're also backed by a Lifetime Warranty.


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Stunning and Magnificent Printed Charmeuse Halter Neckline Flare Long Gown by Studio 17 Style 12137
Hearts will stop when you enter the party in Studio 17 Style 12137. This stunning evening dress features a halter top, a slimming silhouette complemented by a slight flare and slit up the side, a pleated bust, printed spin paint charmeuse and shimmering beaded straps that will get everyone's heart pumping. This Studio 17 dress is perfect for promising to tie the knot at your engagement, capturing the crown at your next pageant, attending a party, making prom unforgettable, making an appearance at a reception, celebrating a friend's wedding, or any once in a lifetime event you may be attending.
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Fabric: Printed Charmeuse
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- Neckline: Halter Neckline
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- Item #: 12137 HOW
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