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If you live in Australia, you've probably seen the furore whizzing around social media in the past two days.
The Courier Mail, 16 January 2013 reports:
"A mother of three has been forced to leave a public pool in tears after staff insisted she stop breastfeeding her 11-month-old baby..."A staff member came up to me and told me I wasn't allowed to feed there, that I had to refrain from feeding out in the open,'' Ms Webster said."Can you believe this is still happening? Right here in Australia, in 2013. For crying out loud!
"I said I was sure it was illegal to tell me to do that but she said it was a grey area...and had to insist I didn't feed there.''"Grey area" my ... elbow. What that staff member did? Absolutely illegal in Australia.
Australian law states:
In Australian Federal Law breastfeeding is a right, not a privilege.
Under the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984 it is illegal in Australia to discriminate against a person either directly or indirectly on the grounds of breastfeeding. Direct discrimination happens when a person treats someone less favourably than another person.
Yesterday morning, David 'Kochie' Koch, a presenter on Australia's leading breakfast television programme, Channel 7's Sunrise, had this to say following an interview with the mother in question:
Koch: "I think that's fair enough, to say, hey, can you be a bit discreeter, sorta go up on the grass or something like that..."
Co-presenter Samantha Armytage: "Really? ... I think if you want to breastfeed on the side of the pool you should be allowed."
Koch: "Well, no, not in high traffic areas, I know my daughters are really discreet and things like that, would go to a quieter area, that's a high traffic area on the side of the pool in the middle of summer on a hot day..."
Later that same program, Koch went on to say:
Although he tried to backtrack and cover his words with a half-hearted attempt at safety concerns, clearly, his main point was that a breastfeeding woman should do so out of the public eye."Ladies I wonder whether she should have been more discreet. I totally agree with breastfeeding in public, but I think you've gotta be a bit classy about it, that feet on the edge of the pool, isn't discreet enough.... but I'm concerned for the safety if the baby wriggled and fell in the pool...I think there's a safety issue there... I think, theres, em, like, that's why you have mothers—or move back that's a high traffic area, I can understand how people were uncomfortable with it in such a high profile place."
Social media is aflame with emotions and opinions from all sides of the fence. Overwhelmingly, most commenters are in support of breastfeeding mothers. But there are plenty that have taken Kochie's comments and run with them. And not in a good way for breastfeeding women the world over. There is always the negative minority, clinging to their almost clichéd ignorance in comment threads (for example here and here and here).
Here's the first problem with what Kochie said:Stating that a woman needs to exercise discretion when breastfeeding confirms the misguided belief that breastfeeding is something that needs to be hidden.
Breastfeeding is breastfeeding. Nothing more, nothing less. Breastfeeding is simply a baby taking in nourishment and comfort from his or her mother.
However, to suggest a woman needs to be "discreet" about breastfeeding implies that breastfeeding is, somehow, a naturally exhibitionist act—it isn't. Breastfeeding only becomes explicit when someone else views it that way. And how does someone become offended by breastfeeding? By having an unnatural view of what breasts are actually for.
Despite what they'll tell you, those narrow-minded neanderthals who have a problem with the sight of a woman breastfeeding her baby don't have a problem with a bit of a flash of breast skin. Lets face it—breasts are everywhere.
The reason that those narrow-minded neanderthals get so uppity about the sight of a woman breastfeeding is because they believe the baby is committing an adult act. They cannot see breasts as anything other than sexual.
For far too long, there has remained a patriarchal assumption that a woman's body is, first and foremost, for the purposes of a man's sexual pleasure. Breasts are seen as sex objects before their primary mammalian function. So for a vocal few, the prospect of a baby sucking on a nipple causes all kinds of cognitive dissonance.
In my opinion, the only time that breastfeeding stops being a naturally discreet act is when woman believe they should cover up—because then it's like a freaking neon sign pointing to something they are doing, that they are purposely covering up.
The only way that breastfeeding will become as uncontroversial as it should be is by seeing it happening. Breastfeeding is not a big deal. A breastfeeding mother is not 'flopping' her boob out, or 'flashing', or trying to prove some kind of political point. She is simply feeding her child.
Here's the second problem with what Kochie said:
A celebrity stating that a breastfeeding woman needs to be "discreet" enables the continued oppression-via-ignorance of breastfeeding women.
It doesn't matter how well-intentioned or benign Kochie's comments were in his own mind. Outwardly, what he said was critical of breastfeeding in public. His suggestions that a woman be "discreet" or "a bit classy" confirm the misguided viewpoint that breastfeeding should be hidden. So, for those with a problem seeing a breastfeeding dyad, it's a very slippery slope from Kochie's personal 'opinion' of: "I totally agree with breastfeeding in public, BUT..." to this:
|Or this:
|Yes, because excreting bodily waste is totally the same as providing life-giving sustenance to a child.
I hope these people don't operate heavy machinery with that mindset.
Implying that a woman needs to be respectful of others when breastfeeding her child is a little bit like victim blaming. The problem with someone's sensitivity to public breastfeeding does not lie with the breastfeeding mother — it lies with the person who finds it offensive. In those instances, that person has a right to exercise that thing that holds their head up, and look away. Or move. And then, get some therapy.
Breastfeeding rates in Australia are depressing enough without having prominent public figures, such as Kochie, adding to a mother's burden. Breastfeeding mothers face enough roadblocks without having to worry about what a few other
Oh okay, Ryan, if you have to.


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The Miami Dolphins and prospective free agent Jake Long face an admittedly complicated contract negotiation in the coming months.
I don't think it's that complicated from the outside. It would be very, very surprising if the Dolphins were willing to pay Long more money than any other NFL team.
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reported Wednesday that the Dolphins presented their left tackle with "something of a lowball" contract offer during the season. The Dolphins know Long did not play like a top-10 offensive tackle in 2012, and his injury concerns are serious long-term. He will need to take a pay cut to stay in Miami and yet ...
"He's one of those guys that likes the idea of being the best at what he does, and one way he proves to everyone that he is is by being the highest paid at what he does," one Dolphins source told Salguero. "Yeah, there's a considerable amount of professional ego there."
Asked Wednesday if Long still was elite, Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland responded: "I think Jake can still play in this league for sure."
These are not quotes that come from a team that expects to keep a player. When a prospective free agent gets this close to free agency, the expected outcome is that he leaves. Once Long hits the market, he should be willing to find a team ready to take a big chance on him.
It sounds like the Dolphins know too much to take that chance.Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.

subset: commoncrawl


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Discussion forum for electric scale aircraft
I got this SIG CUB at the Garden Ridge Swapfest
It had previously been set up as Glow powered, but was gutted.
Perfect recipient for my Eflite 160...
I want to build this!
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Manufacturing growth in the region continued in January, according to firms responding to this month's Business Outlook Survey. The survey's broadest indicators for general activity, new orders, shipments, and employment were positive, signifying continued moderate growth. The survey's indicators of future activity moderated but continue to suggest general optimism about growth over the next six months.
The survey's broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, increased from a revised reading of 6.4 in December to 9.4 this month (see Chart).* The index has now been positive for eight consecutive months.
The current shipments and new orders indexes remained positive but moved in opposite directions compared with December. The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, decreased from a revised reading of 12.9 to 5.1 this month. Shipments continued to expand, and its index edged slightly higher to a reading of 12.1.
Labor market indicators showed some improvement this month. The current employment index increased 6 points from its revised reading in December. Twenty-three percent of the firms reported increases in employment in January, which is slightly higher than the 18 percent that reported increased employment last month. Firms reported reduced work hours, with the average workweek index falling from 4.8 to -5.3.
Cost pressures were slightly more widespread this month among reporting firms: The prices paid index increased 2 points, to 18.7. But with respect to firms' own manufactured goods, price increases were less widespread this month: The prices received index decreased 6 points, to 5.1.
The survey's future indicators have recently shown moderating optimism about growth in manufacturing. This month, the future general activity index fell 10 points, from a revised reading of 44.8 in December to 34.4 this month (see Chart). Still, nearly 48 percent of the firms expect increases in activity over the next six months; 13 percent of the firms indicated that they expect decreases. The indexes for future new orders and shipments also remained at relatively high levels but fell 7 points and 9 points, respectively. The future employment index was virtually unchanged at 17.5, with nearly 25 percent of the firms expecting to increase employment over the next six months.
In this month's special questions, firms were asked about the factors that are influencing their hiring plans over a longer horizon of 12 months (see Special Questions). The percentage of firms that indicated they expect employment growth over the next year (41 percent) exceeded the percentage expecting decreased employment growth (10 percent) by a significant margin. Nearly all firms responded to a question about the factors that were restraining hiring. The most frequently cited factors restraining hiring were the need to keep operating costs low and low expectations for sales growth. Expected slow sales growth was the most frequently cited "most important" factor restraining hiring. Difficulty finding workers with appropriate skills and uncertainty about the cost of health-care insurance also ranked high.
The January Business Outlook Survey suggests that activity in the region's manufacturing sector increased moderately this month. Firms reported increases in overall activity, new orders, and employment in January. Price increases for firms' own manufactured goods were less widespread this month. The survey's future activity indexes suggest that firms expect growth over the first half of 2014.
* The survey's annual historical revisions, which incorporate new seasonal adjustment factors, were released on January 9, 2014. View the full set of revised historical data.
Return to the main page for the Business Outlook Survey.


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(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)
You wantKeith Urban and Tim McGraw to sing at your wedding? Well, who doesn't?
Jana Kramer recently shared her wedding singer wish list with InTouch Weekly magazine, saying that her upcoming wedding to Brantley Gilbert will be a "sweet, Southern, country, chill, fun, backyard party," and that, "I would die if Keith Urban or Tim McGraw sang at the wedding."
Maybe Gilbert has some pull with McGraw since they're out on tour together. And since Kramer is about to head out on tour with Blake Shelton, she's hoping she can get some advice from him about being married to a fellow country singer.
"I'm really excited to sit down with Blake and Miranda together and be like, 'All right, how do you do it? When you get upset, how do you deal with it?' It's hard with the business and us being gone," Kramer said, "and of course, girls vying for him and vice versa, so keeping that trust is a really important thing."


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I had to share the latest little hardware hack I did in the hope that it will be useful to others.
I have a laptop that, like many, gets a fairly warm hard drive with consistent (i.e. large build execution) utilization. Since I do a lot of that, I splurged on a targus laptop cooler like the one to the left.
The cooler is powered by USB, just plugs in and runs, and blows cold air over the bottom of the laptop. It works like a charm, bringing the temperature of both the HD and CPU way down to a very comfortable operating temperature even under extreme and consistent load. However, there were a couple of things I didn't like about it.
The primary one was the noise. Targus claims about 23 dB for the cooler - I am not sure if that is accurate, but either way it is still annoyingly loud when using it on your lap. Secondly it pumps out a lot of air, which is the point, but I wondered if it might be too much. Finally it does take its toll on the battery - driving 2 fans at full speed will do that. I appreciate the cooling, but not the fact that it appears to be taking more power than needed and turning it into noise. So I set about trying to hack it and fix the problems.
I thought about stepping down the voltage in a fairly efficient way, with some kind of clever electronic wizardry and even pulled an electronic engineer friend of mine into the problem, before I hit an embarrassingly simple solution.
Note: if you decide to try this for yourself, you are at the very least voiding your warranty on the cooling pad, reducing the cooling potential of the laptop cooler, and risking the whole thing not working at all afterwards. I point this out because I really don't want any messages along the lines of "I broke my laptop cooler and you owe me a new one" or worse "I broke my laptop when it overheated and now you owe me a new one". Assuming we have an accord, please read on.
So, what do you need for this hack?
You will need - a philips head screwdriver, a large flat head screwdriver, wire cutters/strippers, optionally a soldering iron, and some electricians tape. Also recommended is a multi-meter to make sure you have the right wires.
The principle (I warned you it was simple) is to re-wire the fans in series rather than in parallel. In the standard cooler, both fans are wired in parallel. This means both fans get 5v potential difference, running them at full speed, drawing twice the power of running just one fan, and making a fair amount of noise (including the occasional "fan mooing").
By connecting the fans in series, you are effectively changing the potential difference across each one to 2.5v. The eagle eyed among you will quickly note that the impedance of the fans might be different, resulting in one fan getting slightly higher voltage than the other when run in series, and I have no doubt that this is true - however for me at least they seem to spin at the same speed as each other after the hack, and the cooling is almost as effective as with both fans running at full speed. Also, the cooler is whisper quiet after the modification, and uses less power (approx half) as well.
Here are the steps:
- Peel off the 4 rubber spacers on the top side of the cooler. Under each you will find a philips screw.
- Unscrew all 4 of the screws, then use the large flat head screwdriver to gently prise apart the case. The top of the cooler is a little more reluctant to separate, so just work it gently on each side until it clicks apart.
- You will see two fans with black stickers in the center. Carefully remove the black stickers from each (be careful not to damage the delicate coil wires in the fan when you do this).
- When you peel off the stickers, you will see little solder points where the power comes into the fan. Grab the multimeter and work out on each fan which is +5v and which is common. In all likelihood the right contact (with the top of the cooler away from you) will be +5v and the left will be common on each fan, but it's a good idea to verify with a multimeter (if you don't have a multimeter, that's likely a sign that you should not be attempting this hack).
- Trace the common wire out from the fan on the left, and cut it about half way along its length to the switch.
- Trace the +5v wire from the fan on the right and cut it about half way along its length to the switch.
- Tuck the two cut wires from the switch safely out of the way inside the cooler case, You can cap them off with some electrical tape for extra safety, but most of all make sure they will not tangle in the fans.
- With the two cut wires from the fans, strip about half an inch at the end of each, twist them together and optionally solder them, then wrap them in electricians tape.
- Test the cooler - connect the USB power and both fans should spin. Hold your hand above each to make sure they are both blowing air upwards. If they are not both blowing, you have isolated and connected the wrong wires. Either try and find the right wires, or if this has scared you, reconnect them to the old wires running to the switch, put it all back together in the old configuration and pretend none of this ever happened.
- Assuming both fans are blowing upwards, you are done. Congratulations. Re-assemble the cooler taking care to route the wires internally so they won't tangle the fans or get trapped when you re-attach the top. You can choose to stick the black stickers back over the top of the fans, or leave them off like I did (I like the look, but now I have to be careful not to drop a staple or something in there that might cause a short). Stick the rubber separators back over the screws.
- Try it out.


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Page Title, Social Icons for page template
Appointing a Representative
Appointing a Representative
You may name a relative, friend, advocate, doctor, or anyone else to act for you. Other persons may already be authorized under State law to act for you. If you want someone to act for you who is not already authorized under State law, then you and that person must sign and date a statement that gives the person legal permission to be your appointed representative. To learn how to name your appointed representative, you may call Customer Care at 1-800-671-6081 (TTY/TDD 1-800-421-1220), Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. From October 1 to March 31, representatives are also available weekends from 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
You also have the right to have a lawyer act for you. You may contact your own lawyer, or get the name of a lawyer from your local bar association or other referral service. There are also groups that will give you free legal services if you qualify.
The representative statement must include your name and Medicare number. You may use Medicare's Form for Appointment of a Representative (CMS1696) (PDF). You may also use an equivalent notice which satisfies the requirements in Form CMS-1696. Unless otherwise stated, your appointed representative will have all the rights and responsibilities of you.


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Cantor's one-way ticket to Wall St.?
NEW YORK — Eric Cantor made it clear to potential Wall Street employers that he wants to return to political life. But given where Wall Street currently stands in the regard of the American people, that may be an impossible fantasy, experts say.
The corridor between Wall Street and Washington once allowed bankers and politicians to move relatively easily back and forth, filling up on cash in the financial world then shuttling back to positions of power and influence. Now it is much more of a one-way street.
Story Continued Below
Leave for the lucrative world of investment banking and you may never be able to go home again. Just ask Mitt Romney, whose millions from Bain Capital helped derail what many viewed as a potentially winning presidential campaign against a vulnerable incumbent running in a very weak economy.
( Also on POLITICO: Beltway big shot to Wall St. titan?)
The nation is very much in the grip of a populist, anti-Wall Street sentiment that runs deeply through both political parties — much the way it did after the crash of 1929. And it makes moving between the two worlds extremely difficult, if not impossible, historians say.
"In the 1920s, the House of Morgan had enormous influence in Washington and basically ran economic policy," said Charles Geisst, a Wall Street historian at Manhattan College. "After the crash, you did not see that kind of influence again for at least 30 years. That is what is happening now. If you go and you take Wall Street money, that can be the end for you."
Larry Summers found this out in a very painful way when his candidacy to lead the Federal Reserve fell victim to a campaign by liberal Democrats enraged by his work for and close ties to Wall Street. Among Hillary Clinton's biggest headaches are her ties to New York financiers and the millions she has earned in speaking fees from the likes of Goldman Sachs and other big banks.
( Also on POLITICO: Cantor joins Wall Street bank)
Clinton keeps trying to come up with ways to talk about her wealth, and how she earned it, without turning people off. She has not found a way. And that may be because there isn't one. Clinton supporters now say her best bet is to not talk about her money at all. And while Wall Street cash may not keep the former secretary of state out of the White House, it will make getting there much harder.
The difficulties extend from elective to appointed office.
When Tim Geithner left the Treasury Department to join private equity firm Warburg Pincus, he endured taunts that he was cashing in on his government experience and connections. Geithner, viewed as a potential future candidate for chairman of the Fed, felt compelled to say when he left government service that he had absolutely no plans to return.
Even current Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, a career government worker who spent a brief period in largely noncontroversial positions at Citigroup, found his Wall Street tenure a subject of intense derision during his confirmation process. And Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, one of the most respected central bankers in the world, came in for heavy criticism after his nomination last year over his tenure at Citigroup. Ruth Porat, the highly respected chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley and among the most powerful women on Wall Street, withdrew her name from consideration for the No. 2 job at Treasury when it became clear her confirmation process could turn into a nightmare.
( Also on POLITICO: Why Cantor really resigned)
All this is the result of a financial crisis that wiped out trillions in wealth, drove unemployment up to 10 percent and crushed the value of Americans' most prized possession: their homes.
Every crisis that comes out of the housing sector leaves much more lasting scars than other downturns, economic historians say. The big stock market crash of 1987 quickly vanished from memory because it did not deeply punish most Americans. That meant that in the 1990s, the likes of Goldman Sachs' Robert Rubin could become stars of the Bill Clinton White House and part of Time magazine's famous "Committee to Save the World" cover spread, along with Alan Greenspan and Larry Summers.
But the 2008 crisis struck much deeper. And the public lays blame right at the feet of Wall Street banks that packaged up piles of risky mortgages bought with borrowed money and sold in complex securities that failed with devastating impact.
Couple that with the lack of prosecution of any senior bankers and the general perception that Wall Street reform has done little to change the industry and you have a clear explanation for why having "banker" on your résumé right now can be a political career killer.
According to a Harris poll in 2012, four years after the crisis, 70 percent of Americans believed people on Wall Street would be "willing to break the law" if it meant they could make more money. More recent surveys have not shown much improvement in perceptions of Wall Street, according to Karlyn Bowman, who follows public opinion for the American Enterprise Institute. In an NBC News/Wall Street journal poll conducted in July and August of this year, 21 percent had a positive impression of Wall Street.


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Quick looks & pleasing everybody
Mark Kwak
I was tossing and turning in bed the other day, unable to fall sleep. In situations like this, most normal people would read a book, count sheep, or just idly lay in their beds till the inevitable sleep haze engulfed their conscience.
Well, I'm a bit weird, and probably not very normal. Thus, as a sleep remedy, I decided to go into my closet and start randomly taking pieces out, just to put them together in different combinations that I thought might work out. Also, I felt compelled to add ties to the mix as well.
It kind of worked, as I was so tired of putting on and taking off clothes that I eventually plopped on my bed and immediately fell asleep.
The outcome is below. And yes, I am actually wearing pants.
The hunter's look.
Jacket: Barbour | Vest: Barbour | Tie: Ovadia & Sons | Shirt: Brooks Brothers
The formal look.
Jacket: Black Fleece | Pocket Square: Nordstrom | Shirt: Brooks Brothers | Tie Bar: Thetiebar | Tie: Theory
The ultra-hyperextended neck look.
Jacket: John Varvatos Collection | Shirt: Black Fleece | Tie: Drake's
The cold day layering look.
Coat: Hugo Boss | Knitwear: Banana Republic | Shirt: Black Fleece | Tie: Theory
The overcoat with suit look... or as I like to call it: blue steel look.
Coat: Banana Republic | Jacket: John Varvatos Collection | Shirt: Ben Sherman | Tie: Ben Sherman
The Looper-ish look.
Jacket: Theory | Shirt: Armani Collezioni | Tie: Thetiebar
The blue, blue, blue, and blue layer look.
Coat: Black Fleece | Jacket: Levi's | Shirt: Brooks Brothers | Tie: Ovadia & Sons
My first thought was to put these photos on reddit, mainly because I was curious to see which outfits vibed well with the huge crowd over there, and which didn't. I put the album up on reddit in the morning, walked away from the computer for about an hour, and then revisited its status shortly afterward.
Apparently the album became quite popular in that hour, ultimately hitting the first spot on /r/malefashionadvice, receiving thousands of up-votes, and getting more comments than I could read.
Turns out that pretty much every single look was simultaneously criticized and praised, showing how incredibly different peoples' tastes are. Some people said my Barbour look was the best, while others thought it was the worst. Some argued that leather jackets should never go with ties, others said leather jackets looked best with ties. Let's just say there was a lot of noise, and it taught me a valuable lesson.
The lesson is that you aren't going to please everybody with your look, no matter how great it is. Sure there are rules that you should follow to look better overall (for example, getting things that are more fitted to your body), but even then, you just aren't going to win everyone's approval, as everyone's tastes are different.
I put together 7 very different outfits, and for each outfit I got hundreds of different reactions. At first, I took each comment constructively, learning from what people had to say. Later on though, all I ended up really caring about was my own opinion, especially after seeing how much contradiction there was about what people thought was right and what people thought was wrong.
I think the best thing is for you to feel confident in the clothes that you wear, and present your unique style to the world expecting nothing in return. Sure, positive reinforcement may help you feel better, but ultimately, I think the most attractive thing about someone's style is how they own their look. The swagger and confidence they have in wearing what they are wearing. The great thing is that no one can help you own your look, only you can.
Anyhow, sorry to go on a rant there, but I hope I was able to at least provide you with some ideas for outfits. Oh, and just kidding about the pants comment I made above. Commando all the way.


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Tension in the nanoworld: Infrared light visualizes nanoscale strain fields
(PhysOrg.com) -- A joint team of researchers at CIC nanoGUNE (San Sebastian, Spain) and the Max Planck Institutes of Biochemistry and Plasma Physics (Munich, Germany) report the non-invasive and nanoscale resolved infrared mapping of strain fields in semiconductors. The method, which is based on near-field microscopy, opens new avenues for analyzing mechanical properties of high-performance materials or for contact-free mapping of local conductivity in strain-engineered electronic devices (Nature Nanotechnology, advanced online publication, 11 Jan. 2009).
Visualizing strain at length scales below 100 nm is a key requirement in modern measurement because strain determines the mechanical and electrical properties of high-performance ceramics or modern electronic devices, respectively. The non-invasive mapping of strain with nanoscale spatial resolution, however, is still a challenge.
A promising route for highly sensitive and non-invasive mapping of nanoscale material properties is scattering-type Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (s-SNOM). Part of the team had pioneered this technique over the last decade, enabling chemical recognition of nanostructures and mapping of local conductivity in industrial semiconductor nanodevices. The technique makes use of extreme light concentration at the sharp tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), yielding nanoscale resolved images at visible, infrared and terahertz frequencies. The s-SNOM thus breaks the diffraction barrier throughout the electromagnetic spectrum and with its 20 nm resolving power matches the needs of modern nanoscience and technology.
Now, the research team has provided first experimental evidence that the microscopy technique is capable of mapping local strain and cracks of nanoscale dimensions. This was demonstrated by pressing a sharp diamond tip into the surface of a Silicon Carbide crystal. With the near-field microscope the researchers were able to visualize the nanoscopic strain field around the depression and the generation of nanocracks.
"Compared to other methods such as electron microscopy, the technique offers the advantage of non-invasive imaging without the need of special sample preparation" says Andreas Huber who performed the experiments as part of his Ph.D. project. "Specific applications of technological interest could be the detection of nanocracks before they reach critical dimensions, e.g. in ceramics or Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), and the study of crack propagation", says Alexander Ziegler.
The researchers also demonstrated that s-SNOM offers the intriguing possibility of mapping free-carrier properties such as density and mobility in strained silicon. By controlled straining of silicon, the properties of the free carriers can be designed, which is essential to further shrink and speed-up future computer chips. For both development and quality control, the quantitative and reliable mapping of the carrier mobility is strongly demanded but until now no tool has been available.
"Our results promise interesting applications of s-SNOM in semiconductor science and technology such as the quantitative analysis of the local carrier properties in strain-engineered electronic nanodevices" says Rainer Hillenbrand, leader of the Nano-Photonics Group at MPI and the Nanooptics Laboratory at nanoGUNE.
Article: A. J. Huber, A. Ziegler, T. Köck, and R. Hillenbrand, Infrared nanoscopy of strained semiconductors, Nat. Nanotech., advanced online publication, January 11th, 2008, DOI 10.1038/NNANO.2008.399.
Provided by Max Planck Society
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Thank you for visiting J Walking . This blog is no longer being updated. Please enjoy the archives. Here is another blog you may also enjoy:
Inspiration Report
Happy Reading!!!
I am not even sure that I know how to do a link anymore. I'm giving it a shot though so, three readers, please forgive me if I mess this up.
So Rod Dreher's sister is battling cancer. It is nasty. Their faith is extraordinary. Here's his latest post (I think)
There are 8 comments on it.
As I scrolled down on his blog I noticed he had another post about buying wine in Pennsylvania. I don't think he enjoys it.
There are 85 comments on it.
That's a stomping.
Does it mean anything? Maybe not. Rod's been documenting his sister's battle with cancer for a couple weeks now. The response has been beautiful.
But still…. 85-8?
It is kind of akin to rearranging the chairs on the Titanic isn't it? Facing mortality should be a required course for us all… life is better if we live with the reality of our own deaths at the front of our mind.
I'm back here at JWalking after a bit of time because I just want someplace to record thoughts from time to time. I doubt that many of the thoughts will be political – there are plenty upon plenty of people offering their opinions on everything political and I doubt that I have much to add that will make any substantive difference anyway.
What is fascinating to me these days is story. It hit me at some point in the past year that I didn't really know how to tell a story – at least not to my kids who are bottomless pits of story consumption.
A year or so ago I had the bright idea that we should tell them original stories every night before bed. I felt so good about the thought. We would be teaching them creativity, originality, and other good things too. Why they would probably become story tellers themselves.
So we embarked… well, first my wife bailed. After a day or two it became, "Ok, here's Daddy with the story." Then my children turned into NY Times book reviewers. "Uh, Dad, is that really the best you've got? I mean, really?" I felt like someone working for Henry Kissinger.
Then the became demanding. Night after night my daughter would order, "Brand new Daddy and Livvy [said daughter] story as silly as you can make it. Totally new. New. Got it?" She was 3.
And so I told stories. They sucked. Truly. There were panda bears and talking animals and even, on one disastrous night, an ice cream store I had opened for the animals. Actually that wasn't the worst.
While I was doing this I began work on my screenplay. The two things worked together to teach me a bit about what a story needs.
First – there has to be an actual story. Not just a 'chase' – not just "A happened and then B and then C and then D. The end." Characters have to want something. They have to change. There has to be a purpose – and an occasional porpoise – to the story.
Second – there has to be tension, conflict. Now my bedtime stories don't typically have much blood or gore but for them to work Livvy and Aidan have to be emotionally rung out just a bit… they have to feel it.
Now all of these things got me thinking about God, of course. "The author and finisher of our faith."
What a story he has created on this blue ball in space. Our story has it all. Humor and drama. Sacrifice and betrayal. Hero(es) and Villain(s). And an ending too. There are the micro endings – our own individual deaths for instance. But then there is a macro ending too. At some point this whole story comes to a close.
But wait! That is just the end of Act Two. There is always a third act – or should be anyway. The third act is where it all comes together. Where all of the previous plot points get resolved. The third act is the completion. God has that one planned too. it will be a brand new story indeed.
And so, for my three readers… if indeed there are that many… thanks for reading.
For the last ten months or so I've been engaged in a completely different world – the world of screenwriting. It began as a writing project – probably the 21st Century version of a yen to write the great American novel – a shot at a screenplay. I knew that I knew nothing about the art but was inspired by a thought I'd been having over and over… were I to die my regrets would swirl around the stories I never told… stories that only I could tell.
Isn't that a stirring thought? My stories. Roll the symphony music.
Ten months later I am no less convinced that I want to tell these stories. I am, however, daily humbled by the incredible art known as screenwriting. While I may be able to learn the skills needed, every day shows me how very, very little I know.
When I was growing up my father always said that true geniuses are those who know how much they don't know. I was too far from genius to comprehend what he was saying. I don't think I'm that much closer now to be a genius but I am at least not so stupid as to miss his point – being humbled by what we do not know is a first step to learning what we need to know and if things turn out just right maybe we will stumble upon genius in the process… or maybe not!


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Skip to Content
Please join the University of Washington Bothell as we celebrate the launch of our new School of Nursing and Health Studies at a luncheon with special guest speaker Dr. Heather Young, Associate Vice Chancellor for Nursing at UC Davis. Dr. Young will discuss emerging opportunities from the recent report "Better Health Care and Lower Costs: Accelerating Improvement through Systems Engineering."
Dr. Young's presentation will be followed by 3 respondents: Kim Williams, COO at Providence Health & Services Everett; Mayumi Wilgerodt, Professor in Nursing & Health Studies; and Robin Fenn, Research Manager at Snohomish County Human Services.
Date: Thursday, December 4
Time: 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m.
Location: Husky Hall, Room 11160, UW Bothell Campus
RSVP:Please RSVP by Nov. 26; Space is limited
P.S. If you are unable to attend, please consider making a contribution honoring the newly named School of Nursing and Health Studies!
This Research in Progress event is hosted by UW Bothell Office of Research and Office of Advancement


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He said what he did was take all of his clothes off, and he stood naked in front of the mirror. I said, 'That's a damn good diet.' I think I could lose weight, too, if I saw Barry White naked, huh? Like, 'You hungry?' 'No man, I just saw Barry White naked. I don't want nothin'.'
© 2019 Comedy Partners. All Rights Reserved. Comedy Central and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of comedy partners.


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Rangers rally from early deficit to beat Athletics
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) A day after a 14-run defeat, the Texas Rangers rallied from an early deficit against the defending division champions.
Manager Ron Washington expects to know plenty about his club following this early test facing Oakland.
Donnie Murphy lined a go-ahead single up the middle with one out in the eighth inning, and the Rangers came from behind to beat the Athletics 4-3 on Monday night.
"They're the division champs, it goes through them," Washington said.
Sean Doolittle (0-1) allowed a leadoff double to Kevin Kouzmanoff and Mitch Moreland sacrificed him to third before Murphy's hit. Murphy and Kouzmanoff are both former A's players.
Neal Cotts (1-1) pitched one inning for the win, then gave way to Alexi Ogando before Joakim Soria finished for his fourth save.
Brandon Moss homered and Coco Crisp hit a two-run single as the A's went ahead 3-1 in the second, but they couldn't hold the lead.
Oakland swept a weekend series against Houston and lost for only the second time in nine games and third time in 14.
"I don't think too many times you'll see Doolittle give it up," Washington said. "He's only human."
Kouzmanoff also singled in a run for the Rangers, who had their season-best five-game winning streak snapped in Sunday's 16-2 home loss to the White Sox.
Yu Darvish needed 29 pitches to get through the second inning, when he allowed Moss' leadoff homer and the single by Crisp. Darvish allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings, struck out six and walked four on 116 pitches.
"I'm kind of surprised I was able to pitch through the sixth inning," he said. "After the third, I told Wash that no matter the pitch count I was going to pitch through six innings."
The right-hander hasn't beaten Oakland since May 16, 2012, and is still looking for his first victory at the Coliseum – one of three ballparks where he has multiple losses. Darvish is 0-6 in his last seven starts against the A's. He saw the end of his streak of eight straight outings allowing two or fewer runs, dating to last season.
Shin-Soo Choo led off the game with a home run. He later left the game in the seventh after landing awkwardly on his left ankle extending his leg to beat out what was ruled an infield single. X-rays were negative, but Choo was expected to have an MRI exam Tuesday to determine the severity of his sprain.
"We have a long season, it's April," Choo said. "I don't want to make it worse."
A's manager Bob Melvin challenged the call that Choo was safe, and it was then overturned in 3 minutes, 45 seconds, on review.
"I heard that he was out. Based on the replay I was seeing I wasn't sure about it but they said that there was one replay that showed that he was out," Melvin said. "That was one I challenge either way."
Oakland starter Dan Straily struck out six in five innings, but left with a no-decision after the Rangers tied the game at 3 on Prince Fielder's RBI single in the top of the fifth.
Crisp landed hard on his ribcage trying to make a diving catch in the sixth, but stayed in center field after a trainer and Melvin hustled out to check on him. Crisp singled for his third hit in the bottom half, then made a leaping catch in the seventh.
A's left fielder Yoenis Cespedes was held out of the starting lineup with a sore heel, though he reported feeling better. Cespedes flied out to the warning track in center as a pinch-hitter in the seventh then stayed in the game as left fielder.
NOTES: Crisp stole his 146th base for with the A's, tying him with Carney Lansford for fourth place in Oakland history. … Rangers LHP Matt Harrison threw a bullpen and is scheduled for another Tuesday before being re-evaluated. He is recovering from back surgery – and the hope is he could make his season debut and first start in more than a year this weekend at Seattle. … Former A's prospect Michael Choice, traded during the offseason, entered on defense for Choo in the seventh and singled and stole a base in the ninth. … Oakland claimed INF Andy Parrino off waivers from Texas and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento. … Texas improved to 6-2 against the AL West.


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This Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) compatible VoIP phone from 3Com is probably not targeted toward a mainstream audience. Sure, SIP is the de-facto open source VoIP protocol used in VoIP projects like Asterisk, but how many "regular people" do you know are willing to go and set up an Asterisk system in their house? Sure, I've done it, but I'm no regular person—so the answer to that question is probably zero.
Nevertheless, the 802.11b/g compatible 3Com 3108 looks like a clamshell cellphone but works over WiFi so you can talk all your buddies like you were using an actual cellphone. It's also capable of being used on VoIP providers like Gizmo Project, which at least gives some functionality to people who aren't avid VoIP Do-It-Yourselfers.
FCC [via Mobile Whack]


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The La Trobe is a 4 bedroom home with plenty of space for the family to enjoy activities.
The large open plan living area is a large space allowing the whole family to come together plus with 3 separate living areas there is plenty of space to enjoy individual activities. The kitchen area with a walk in pantry adds a touch of luxury.
The 3 bedrooms in the children's wing has a study and activity room centrally located, creating a separate environment for a children's play area. The master bedroom located at the rear of the home is tucked away from other bedrooms creating a quiet retreat.
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BBB are probably best known for their helmets thanks to pro team sponsorship, but they have a vast range of products including these rather fine cycling glasses.
Sports eyewear often comes with interchangeable lenses, but you don't need any here because the Impulse's lenses are photochromic: they go darker when the sun is strong, and then back to almost clear in dim light.
One test ride was my club's regular Saturday chain gang. It was a grey and gloomy morning at first so the lenses were just very slightly tinted, meaning vision was perfect. On the ride, we did our usual rotation so everyone takes a turn at the front, and the glasses did the job of keeping mud out of my eyes when following 20 wheels - though the rest of my face got a smattering of Belgian freckles.
Then out came the sun, low in the sky but surprisingly bright, with a bit of glare off the wet roads too. The lenses did their stuff, and got darker, meaning no need to squint. Very good indeed. You'll never have to worry again about what lenses to fit before going out for a ride.
As with any photochromic item, the change isn't instant, so if the sun goes behind a cloud, or you suddenly find yourself riding under trees, the lenses take about 10 seconds to get clearer, and a bit longer to go from completely dark to completely clear.
But overall, the ability to change automatically from virtually clear to dark lenses and back again is a great benefit for riding in the winter, especially as photochromic lenses tend to work better in cold conditions. And, of course, they'll work in the summer too.
The rest of the glasses are very good too. They're light and comfortable, and we had absolutely no slipping on the nose or ears. The packaging says the lenses are shatterproof, and they certainly don't break when you twist them, though I didn't test them to destruction. The frame and arms have a bit of flex too, meaning they're less likely to snap in an accident. You also get a soft pouch and a couple of cleaning cloths in the box.
This is a good piece of kit, but £80 price tag may put some people off. With standard lenses they're £50.
Excellent cycling glasses, ideal for British winter (or summer) riding, but the photochromic lenses mean they're not cheap
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: BBB Impulse glasses
Size tested: White
Did you enjoy using the product? yes
Would you consider buying the product? yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? yes
About the tester
Age: 49 Height: 5ft 10 / 178cm Weight: 11 stone / 70kg
I usually ride: an old Marin Alp My best bike is: an old Giant Cadex
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: A few times a week I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: touring, club rides, sportives, mtb,


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Symphony of Southeast Texas celebrates 60th season
Wow! Some things only get better with over time. Organizers and planners of the 60th gala season of the Symphony of Southeast Texas (SOST) believe that the remarkable music that has been delivered by this outstanding group of citizens, friends, relatives, and perhaps coworkers provide some of the choicest memories of the now six decades in Southeast Texas rich history.
And it continues with this year's entertaining performances. The Symphony of Southeast Texas is kicking off its 60th season at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Julie Rogers Theatre with "Simple Gifts from the Symphony of Southeast Texas," a concert filled with celebration and recognition of the milestone year for the orchestra.
The inaugural performance of the Beaumont Symphony Orchestra took place on May 12, 1953, under the direction of Jay Dietzer, and the music continues to this day. Dietzer recruited musicians from all walks of life to form the symphony. A quote from a local news source on the day following the premiere concert in 1953 said, "The event represents a milestone in Beaumont's civic progress whose value cannot be overestimated."
Actually, the desire to have a symphony orchestra in Beaumont was evidenced long before it came to fruition. The Beaumont Music Commission, at its founding in 1923, stated as one of its objectives, to create and support a local symphony orchestra. In 1950, following a performance in Beaumont by the Houston Symphony, it was determined that Beaumont indeed wanted and needed its own orchestra. The Beaumont Symphony Society organized that year and worked diligently to gain supporters. They began by sponsoring performances by other out-of-town symphonies, which worked to further spark interest.
In 1992, the orchestra changed its formal name to the Symphony of Southeast Texas in order to serve the entire region. One of the keys to the rich success of the symphony throughout the years has been the unfailing support of the Symphony League of Beaumont, originally organized in 1955.
"Sixty years of continuous music is unique," said SOST Music Director Chelsea Tipton. "So many orchestras have breaks throughout time, and so many communities don't even have orchestras any longer. The quality of music we are able to generate here is fantastic. It is a high level, not just for a town the size of Beaumont, but for any community."
"To still have a symphony after 60 years is impressive," said SOST Board of Directors President Melanie Dishman. "It shows that they are worthy of support into the future."
SOST Executive Director Craig Escamilla said that the organization has much more forward growth still going. "Sixty years is definitely a milestone, and we want to savor the moment and share it with the community," he said, "but we are still going strong into the future. Every concert is a new opportunity to build on that."
The first event is Master Series 1 and will include "Fanfare and Celebration," piece composed by SOST Principal Timpanist Gary Parks especially for this milestone occasion. Also on the program is Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring," perhaps better known for the theme "Simple Gifts," based on a Shaker melody of the same name. The music has a very American feel that Tipton said fits this region well and demonstrates the gift that the symphony has been to the community over the years.
The audience will be taken back to that inaugural concert of May 12, 1953, as the orchestra performs Rimsky Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol," which the Beaumont Symphony Orchestra performed that historic evening. Based on Spanish melodies seen through the eyes of one of Russia's most important composers in 1887, the piece features the orchestra prominently and has a grand, celebratory feel.
Closing out the premiere concert of the 60th season will be Arturo Marquez's "Danzon No. 2," a popular, significant piece from the Mexican composer.
"One notable point about this concert is that there is not a featured soloist," Tipton said. "The 'soloist' is the entire orchestra, and we want to showcase their great talent in this momentous performance."
Maestro Tipton also invites all guests to arrive early at 6:30 p.m. for a pre-concert talk. The performance will then begin at 7:30 p.m. Single ticket prices range from $15 to $36; senior, student and group discounts are available.
This concert is sponsored by Rosine McFaddin Wilson.
An added "sparkling" attraction for the four Master Series concerts during this milestone season includes a diamond jewelry piece give away. A representative will draw one ticket from the subs submitted upon entrance to the theatre on concert night. The winning concert-goer holding that ticket will be presented with a beautiful piece of diamond jewelry. The winner must be present to claim the wonderful prize. The jewelry for Sept. 15 is generously donated by Nederland Jewelers.
The Master Series 2 concert on Nov. 3 continues to build the ability of the orchestra with "A Taste of Italy," featuring musical selection with Italian elements, but not necessarily by Italian composers. Pieces featured in the concert include Puccini's "I Crisantemi," Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante E-flat major" featuring SOST soloists Whitney Bullock on viola and Matt Detrick on violin, and Mendelssohn's "Symphony No. 4," also known as the Italian Symphony.
Sunday, Dec. 16, the symphony celebrates the festivity of the holiday season with "Home for the Holidays," featuring such popular works as "White Christmas," "Carol of the Bells," "The Hallelujah Chorus," "Sleigh Ride" and a holiday sing-a-long. Guests will enjoy these popular and recognizable Christmas songs performed in grand style by the orchestra.
This concert is a great way to start a tradition for families. Tickets to the holiday concert are $20 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.
For the annual Pops Concert on Jan. 19, 2013, Tipton invites the community to "come get their sway on" with the Symphony and the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church Choir at "A Gospel Celebration." Selections include: "ride on, King Jesus," "Amazing Grace," "Hallelujah!" and more.
Feb. 23, 2013, the Master Series 3 concert will be the trifecta of perfection with "Three Score and More!" As the Symphony celebrates its three score anniversary, they will perform three scores of music including Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No. 1," and the Beethoven "Triple Concerto," which features three soloists. The concert will be a treat for guests because it's not often performed by a full orchestra, and it's not often performed because of the highly demanding aspect of having three soloists. The piece will feature guest soloists Frank Huang on violin, Brinton Averil Smith on cello and Jon Kimura Parker on piano, who all perform together in the Houston Symphony and at Rice University.
Closing out the season April 6, 2013, will be the Master Series 4 concert "Symphonic Story Celebration," featuring pieces that tell a story. Music selections include Richard Strauss' "Don Juan," and Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," which will include soprano soloist Jeanine Thames, who also performed in this capacity at the SOST 50th Season Finale. The Symphony of Southeast Texas Chorus and the Southeast Texas Children's Chorus will also contribute to this magnificent finale to the big 60th season. The events promise "to be good to the very last note."
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of the holiday concert Dec. 16, which begins at 3 p.m. Now is the time to purchase season tickets, with prices ranging from $67 to $133. For additional information, go to www.sost.org,or contact the Symphony office at (409) 892-2257.
Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at (409) 781-8788 or at brendacannonhenley [at] yahoo [dot] com.


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Having recently completed a model in Master Data Services (MDS), I needed to move the model from a development environment to a QA environment. Below is some helpful tips if you need to do the same, along with details on a bug I ran across.
Use the Model Deployment wizard or the MDSModelDeploy tool to move models and data from dev to QA (see Deploying Models (Master Data Services). Note the model deployment wizard does not copy master data, but the MDSModelDeploy tool will. From Create a Model Deployment Package by Using MDSModelDeploy, if you want to move data, use "-includedata" when creating the package, otherwise, leave that switch off to copy just the model objects, business rules, and subscription views.
When using MDSModelDeploy, note that when entering the model name for the "-model" switch, it is case-sensitive.
There is a point of confusion with MDSModelDeploy with the "deploynew" command line option: the MUID (the internal model ID in table mdm.tblModel) from the source, which is stored in the package file when you create it, is not copied into the destinations mdm.tblModel table when you use "deploynew". Instead, a new MUID is created, but the model name stays the same. This will result in the following two problems when trying to do an update of a model that had its MUID changed:
- When using MDSModelDeploy with the "deployupdate" option (see Deploy a Model Deployment Package by Using MDSModelDeploy), you will get the message "The xxx model cannot be updated. There is no match for a model with the same name and MUID", which means the model on the server you are trying to update has a different MUID from the source. In that case you will need to delete the model on the destination and use MDSModelDeploy with the "deploynew" option.
- When using the model deployment wizard and trying to update an existing model by following the instructions at Deploy a Model Deployment Package by Using the Wizard, if you try to use the same model name, and the model's have a different MUID, you get "A model with this name already exists. Type a different name". So you will need to either delete the existing model and then run the wizard and add the model, or use a different model name.
This does not happen if you use the model deployment wizard (it will use the same MUID from the source in the destination).
So, to prevent this problem, you should use the "deployclone" command line option instead of "deploynew", as "deployclone" will create a clone of the model and use the same MUID. The difference between these two options was not very clear to me and I wasted a bit of time finding out the hard way.
Note that on the page Deploy a Model Deployment Package by Using the Wizard there is an error in saying the model deployment wizard will also copy the master data ("Master data is populated" under "Notes"), but it will not copy data.
Also, on pages Deploy a Model Deployment Package by Using MDSModelDeploy, Create a Model Deployment Package by Using MDSModelDeploy, Create a Model Deployment Package by Using the Wizard, and Deploy a Model Deployment Package by Using the Wizard, the spots where it says "model objects only" should really say "model objects/business rules/subscription views only", as the model deployment wizard deploys all three, not just model objects. Microsoft has said their intent has been for the term "model objects" to include those things (business rules, subscription views) and not just entities, so hopefully they will clear up the documentation for that.
I have created a Connect item about this: Master Data Services 2012 deploy
Be aware this is another bug in MDSModelDeploy where you can get an out of memory error when deploying models with large tables. There is a fix for it:
FIX: SystemOutOfMemory error when you try to deploy a model deployment package that contains more than 100,000 rows by using the MDSModelDeploy tool in SQL Server 2012
Here are sample MDSModelDeploy commands:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Master Data Services\Configuration>MDSModelDeploy createpackage -model FMD -service mds1 -package FMD
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Master Data Services\Configuration>MDSModelDeploy deployclone -service MDS1 -package FMD.pkg -model FMD
More info:
Deploying MDS Samples in SQL Server 2012
SQL 2012 Master Data Services – Model migration across environments and MDS upgrade


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Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail
The Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail is one of the 23 Great Rides under Nga Haerenga, The New Zealand Cycle Trail.
Status: Sections Open
Grade: Easy (2) - Intermediate (3)
Duration: 6 days
Total Length: 310km
The Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail is distinctive as it showcases a unique selection of New Zealand's iconic geological, geographic and historic highlights.
The 310km trail begins in the Southern Alps at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, descends 780m through the Mackenzie basin, and down the Waitaki Valley to Oamaru and the Pacific Ocean. The trail includes multiple access points to begin or end a ride or to ride local sections only.
The full trail has eight logical stages. It is recommended that cyclists ride "downhill' from Mount Cook to Oamaru with the prevailing north-westerly wind behind them. The route is generally well serviced by established accommodation, food outlets and amenities and can easily cater to both multi and single day cyclists.
Highlights include Aoraki/Mt Cook, the Ben Ohau and Ohau mountain ranges, Lakes Pukaki, Ruataniwha, Ohau, Benmore, Aviemore and Waitaki, the Pukaki, Benmore, Aviemore and Waitaki hydro dams, the Elephant Rocks and Vanished World limestone wonderland, and the historic Tokarahi Branch rail line containing the limestone block lined Rakis and Tapui tunnels. The trail also passes Maori Rock Art, traverses elements of the Te Araroa Trail, Mahinga Kai (food gathering) sites and parts of the greenstone trail to the West Coast along the shores of Lake Ohau.
Sections Open
A small 2.3km section of trail is now open and runs along State Highway 8 past Twizel, offering views of Southern Alps. This is the first step in the local leg of the trail that will eventually run from Mt Cook, through Twizel down to Oamaru. It links two existing tracks, the Te Araroa tramping trail and the Twizel River Trail. A further section from Mount Cook to Omarara (via Twizel & Lake Ohau) is expected to be opened by summer 2011.
Best time to ride
Late spring to view the alpine flowers including the indigenous Mount Cook Lily (Ranunculus lyallii) and the famous Mackenzie Basin lupins. Summer brings out the majestic colours of the Mackenzie and Waitaki valleys and during summer swimming can be enjoyed in lakes and rivers. Early autumn sees the change of season colours and the mountain ranges get a dusting of snow sometimes, which adds to the beauty.
Getting there
The main start point is Aoraki Mount Cook and the finish point is Oamaru but there are multiple access points along the route. For location based cyclists, or trail riders looking for side trips along the way. The trail is also ideally placed to combine with existing trails in the region.
Trail partners
The trail is a joint initiative of Waitaki and Mackenzie District Councils and the New Zealand Cycle Trail project.
Click here for more information, photos and maps.


text: Abu Dhabi / Rome, 24 March 2015 – Alitalia has launched a comprehensive new graduate management program in collaboration with Etihad Airways, providing a unique opportunity for graduates from Italy's leading universities to develop into future leaders of the airline. A total of 400 candidates applied for the program this year, out of which 24 were selected for enrolment. The first group commenced the program at Etihad Airways' Abu Dhabi hub today with a 'discovery' phase that identifies their core strengths and career aspirations. A range of bespoke classroom-based training and work placements will be offered for two or more years, depending on their interests and career goals. Focus areas can include revenue management, engineering, airport operations, customer service, finance, network planning, pricing and ticketing, sales and marketing, and human resources. The graduates will complete the program with the creation of a business-based project focused on improving operations in their chosen field at Alitalia. Upon graduation, they will return to Alitalia as specialists in their chosen field and with unrivalled international experience working in a dynamic environment with colleagues from over 140 nationalities. Prior to travelling to Abu Dhabi, the students attended a recent welcome at Alitalia's headquarters in Rome, hosted by Chief Executive Officer Silvano Cassano and other senior executives from the airline. Mr Cassano said: "Our vision for Alitalia is clear. We want to provide Italian travellers with improved global connections, drive increased inbound tourism into the country, and support Italy's economic growth. Through our revitalised product and service offering, Italy will once again have a premium national carrier that is recognised around the world. "The launch of our graduate management program is an important step towards achieving our ambitious vision and pursuing a radical cultural change. The program structure is a proven one, as it has been successfully operated by our shareholder Etihad Airways and a number of its partner airlines for years. We are therefore confident our graduate managers will return to Alitalia with in-depth knowledge of industry best practice gained from a high performing and multicultural global business." Ray Gammell, Chief People and Performance at Etihad Airways said: "We are delighted to partner with Alitalia on the launch of this graduate management program, which is another great example of the benefits that are being derived from the Etihad Airways and Alitalia partnership. At Etihad Airways, we have built an award winning learning academy with over 1,400 students in our development programs at any one time, offering talented individuals the opportunity to become specialists in aviation management. After completing the programs, the world really is their oyster. Our first graduates have already progressed into senior management positions and I am delighted to see their careers continue to flourish." Francesco Schena, one of the new graduates to join the program, said: "Applying for the Alitalia graduate management program was a little nerve-racking for me, because this type of opportunity is very unique and exciting, and I knew there would be a lot of competition amongst the candidates. Being selected to join the program in its first year is a dream come true and I look forward to developing my skills and experience at a world-class airline such as Etihad Airways, before returning to serve my national carrier in Italy." Last year, Etihad Airways invested €560 million investment to acquire a 49 per cent shareholding in New Alitalia and a 75 per cent interest in Alitalia Loyalty, which operates the MilleMiglia frequent flier program. Vind ons leuk Bezoek onze Facebookpagina! Bekijk ons Bekijk ons YouTube-kanaal! Volg ons Etihad Airways | Etihad Aanbiedingen | Etihad Help | Etihad Rewards


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The 2009-2010 Orlando Magic's season set to B.o.B featuring Rivers Cuomo and "MAGIC"... Which is what it will take to keep the Orlando Magic from winning the NBA Title
Bobby ray if you are reading this im not a crazy fan as u would probably think of other people. But i never listened to real music, like yours i never felt so amased about how your voice sounded like when i heard your song Magic. i just wanted to say that your my favorite singer. that kind of sounds wierd coming from a 12 year old kid. you are #1 bobby ray #1


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HGTV HOME: Products for Your Home
Bring it all home – the ideas, the inspiration and the designer.
HGTV HOME Design Director Nancy Fire now travels the globe, discovering emerging trends and translating them into HGTV HOME style. Her spot-on sensibility curates collections of home products around a design philosophy that make it easy for HGTV enthusiasts to create smart, stylish, inspired spaces. Nancy works directly with trusted brands like Bassett Furniture and Sherwin-Williams to bring you the highest quality, on-trend home products that live up to your expectations and the HGTV name.
The HGTV HOME Design Studio by Bassett is the place to design custom furniture and get that HGTV HOME makeover experience you always dreamed about. With 1,000 fabrics to choose from and delivery in just 30 Days, it's easier and quicker than ever to get a custom look you'll love.
Transform your nursery with fresh, beautiful furniture that grows with your child. HGTV HOME Baby gives you exactly what you're looking for—smart, stylish home products from the experts at HGTV.
Take the guesswork out of coordinating colors and wallpaper throughout your home. Use one of the color collections from HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams. Each collection highlights 20 colors that are designed to work beautifully together in any combination. All you have to do is choose the designer-inspired look you want to achieve from 16 palettes. It's a foolproof way to create a cohesive look in any one room or room-to-room.
Get inspired by the style, beauty and color of our exciting HGTV HOME Plants collection. Want to know more about choosing the right plants? How to care for them? Which plants go together? HGTV HOME Plant Collection takes the guesswork out with KNOWHOW! — Tips and advice from the experts at HGTV.


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All our proxies and VPNs are hosted on extremely fast dedicated Dual Intel® Xeon® servers with +16GB RAM, 1000Mpbps internet connections, 99.99% Up time, Multiple subnets and prefixes with over 120,000 dedicated IP addresses in management and counting, Multiple locations with 34 North America major cities (United States & Canada) Seattle WA, Chicago IL, Los Angeles CA, Phoenix AZ, Dallas TX, Miami FL, Scranton PA, Denver CO, New York NY, Southfield MI, Kansas City MO, Atlanta GA, Greensboro NC, Columbus OH, San Jose CA, Buffalo NY, Oklahoma City OK, Nashville TN, Portland OR, Albuquerque NM, Salt Lake City UT, Minneapolis MN, Indianapolis IN, Salem NH, Detroit MI, Boston MA, Philadelphia PA, Jacksonville FL, Herndon VA, Oakland CA, Boca Raton FL, Charlotte NC, Washington DC, Toronto ON Canada and many others to come.
From Europe we have the following 5 locations: London – United Kingdom, Madrid – Spain, Amsterdam – Netherlands, Frankfurt Hessen – Deutschland, Velizy Villacoublay Île-de-France – France
View a complete map with our Private Proxies Locations.
If you are looking for a high anonymity proxy to allow you to surf in private and protect your identity online then we are the solution.
We offer quality dedicated proxies and Virtual Private Networks for anonymity and security on Internet. Your IP will be hidden from people and websites who might want to geographically locate your city, country and real Internet Service Provider information.
Dedicated IP addresses
A dedicated IP address is a unique Internet address dedicated exclusively to a single user account. No one else shares your IP address with you.
High anonymous HTTP/HTTPS proxies
All the proxies are anonymous, support both HTTP and HTTPS protocol.
Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
All the VPNs use encryption and support PPTP and OpenVPN protocols. You have the possibility to choose your VPN IPs locations in the order time.
High performance connections
We offer 1000 gigabit connections and we guarantee that all the proxies are ready for operation 24/7.
SSLPrivateProxy Affiliate Program
Join our affiliate program and start earning money for every sale you send our way! Simply create your account, place your linking code into your website and watch your account balance grow as your visitors become our customers. You will earn 30% commission when you refer visitors to our site who then purchase one or more of our services.
When You Order
Orders are processed instantly and your proxies/VPNs will be activated within 1 hour after payment is received, usually much sooner. An activation email will be sent with all of the necessary information.
Need A Custom Order? Questions?
If you need a custom order or have any questions please contact our Pre Sale Department will be happy to help you.
Powerful and Scalable
All our proxies are anonymous, support both HTTP and HTTPS protocol and require authentication so they can be used only by you with unlimited bandwidth on 1Gbps and ready for operation 24/7/365.
Friendly and Rapid Support
Fast ticket response time, knowledgebase, how to videos and phone support for high value orders. We have it all, and will provide the best customer service experience 24/7/365 with fast response time.
Secure and Reliable
Enjoy complete security and prevent websites you visit targeting you with manipulative prices and messages. We use the latest in firewall technology to keep your private proxy experience private and secure.
Green, Save the Planet
We have servers all over the world that run on purchased wind power. We plan to increase our green energy efforts by adding servers that runs with solar energy.
What can I say? I just can't have enough of your extraordinary service – The Best there is on the Net and I've tried them all!— , Testimonials
Thank you very much for the availability of all proxy servers. Your servers are really and technical support is awesome. No other provider stand near by for this services.— , Testimonials
SSL Private Proxy the only VPN provider I have tried for 1 month now, but you can't really go wrong with them. I have never gotten delays or speed capped, and I have used the VPN for browsing Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. The support team is great, and you also get VPN for your smartphone wich I found that is great. In top of that the prices are great and you can save more on quarterly accounts. What more could you possibly want from a VPN provider? I'm very satisfied with your services— , Testimonials
Very fast and helpful customer service. Thank you !— , Testimonials
I have placed an order of 10 dedicated private proxies 2 months ago, Got them and they work perfectly for my needs. Last month I have upgraded to 200 private proxies and believe me, these are the best tweet adder proxies I have ever used.— , Testimonials
Great service, I'm using this services since 3 weeks ago and this guys are providing the best Tweet Adder proxies and honestly they have the best customer service I have ever experienced, with any company. If you need a proxy, give these guys a go, quick, easy and cheap.— , Testimonials
These people go out of their way to give best service.— , Testimonials
Very professional. I highly recommend them!
Honestly, this is the best customer service/support I've ever receive! I'm unbelievably satisfy with the amount of professionalism and service since day one. SSLPrivateProxy is definitely the best proxy service providers out there. Keep up the good work! Thank you so much.— , Testimonials
These guys provide great service, they are very fast and prompt! I recommend them for anyone looking for proxy services!— , Testimonials
I am amazed at the outstanding customer support I received. Talk about lightning fast response. I bought 10 proxies all of which worked and were surprisingly fast. Definitely spreading the word.— , Testimonials
Fantastic service. I'll be using SSL Private Proxy only.— , Testimonials
Great proxy service, amazing customer support, fast response times. Used service for 6 months with no problem. Will use in the future.— , Testimonials
Extremely good service. Fast, helpful and pleasant support. I guess this is the best proxy service provider that I have ever met.— , Testimonials
best proxy provider i have seen, great ips. great admins, and great website. if u read this message, do not hesitate any second, and use this site, u wont regret it i can Ensure you.— , Testimonials
thanks alot!
I have been using services from SPP for roughly 3 months without an issue. The proxies speed and response time are awesome, doubtfully you can find better quality private proxies. Scraping search engines, Facebook and Twitter posting/analyzing and general "hide my IP" functionality is top notch. I wish to thank you for the services during our 3 months partnership.— , Testimonials
I highly recommend SSLPrivateProxy!!!Awesome service,very serious,prompt and super quick! The best one so far! Keep up the good work. Thank u for the good services! Will def stick with it.— , Testimonials
I'm using a private proxy from these guys and the service is flawless. They ain`t the cheapest but I wouldn`t recommend anyone to pay less for a private proxy, actually the price is really justified here because the product is HQ :— , Testimonials
* I noticed absolutely 0 differences regarding speed (I`m in EU and using US proxy)
* It never went Offline (otherwise I would know)
* I`m sure it`s private and not semi-almost-quasi-ifurlucky-simili-pseudo-private
Thank you !
I thought of being cheap at first and thinking I could use those unsafe free proxies. With slow net and such. Then a friend told me about SSLPriateProxy.com— , Testimonials
Really, no regrets here. The proxies worked really good.
For anything, for browsing, for saving/sending and also for gaming.
The customer service was really good as well. Whenever Imma use proxies again, I'm definitely going to use them from this company again.
Thanks alot for everything.
– Ramon
Very good service and very fast proxies. I even cancelled proxies from other provider even though they are much cheaper. My proxies have never been banned so far!!! The support is also pretty quick in replying my emails, even on Christmas Eve!! You guys rock!! Keep up the good work. As long as you maintain the quality service, more customers will definitely come.— , Testimonials
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!!!
incredible. the proxies are amazing, and the service is absolutely amazing. never experienced customer service like this.— , Testimonials
No issues and very easy to setup. Not only that but great response from support, highly recommend it!— , Testimonials
Just bought the SPP-5 and received my proxies within minutes. Before the purchase I had a couple of questions and support didn't mind helping me out. He even gave me great tips on how to properly use the proxies for my intended purposes to get the best out of them.— , Testimonials
Highly recommended.
Extremely fast onboarding, extremely fast setup. 10/10 would use again. Good job!— , Testimonials
GREAT SERVICE . THIS IS THE BEST PROXY SERVICE PROVIDER THAT I HAVE EVER MET / VERY PLEASED ****** FIVE STAR RATING ***** PLEASE STAY IN BUSINESS .— , Testimonials
Would just like to say thank you for the quickest and most friendly customer support I have yet to find… in the last 6 months. Besides that, I have yet to see downtime on any of the proxies. You still have my vote.— , Testimonials
I've been using SSL proxies for a few months for YouTube. The proxies have worked great and the customer service is excellent. A few times I received proxies that functioned at a speed too slow for my needs (due to my location and other factors). Each time they were quick to respond to support tickets and immediately replaced them with proxies that worked at the speed I needed. When I needed to replace my YT proxies with FB proxies a couple weeks ago they were more than happy to accommodate within less than half a day. Thanks for the great service.— , Testimonials
excellent product and excellent customer service, the proxies are great and the staff is extremely helpful— , Testimonials
I would recommend sslprivateproxy to anyone in need of proxies!
Just wanted to throw in a quick testimonial for the proxy provided on Invoice #81957— , Testimonials
I was blown away when I ran a speed test and saw that the up/down speeds are identical to my main internet connection – virtually no difference whatsoever. Having dealt with super-slow proxies in the past, I really appreciate how much more enjoyable it's going to be to work with this one. Thank you so much !
I've been using these guys for a couple months now and haven't had a single issue. Can't recommend enough. Order ID's: ID:9366, ID:8474— , Testimonials
I want to give big vouch sslprivateproxy excellent service, great support and price is reasonable too.— , Testimonials
Even though their proxies might look a bit expensive, they are by far the best I have tested in my 3 years of Internet Marketing. I prefer paying more for a better quality service and choose quality over quantity instead of risking months of work because of using cheap but bad proxies (I work on Instagram, they are very strict nowadays).— , Testimonials
Plus, it's a stress reliever. It feels so bad when you create Instagram accounts with cheap-a$$ proxies and work 4-5 hours for that, just to see them banned within minutes. You feel like giving up when this happens several days in a row.
I've been using SSL since September 2013 I think, and I only had minor issues with them, but the support promptly responded and helped me out everytime. I highly recommend them.
We use sslprivateproxy for quite some time now with currently 100 proxies. The matter of our business is that from time to time proxies get blocked. The team at sslprivateproxies is very fast in exchanging the blocked proxies. In general they are very open and always reachable. We provided a script to check if the proxy is blocked for our service to use and now they run this script before providing us with new proxies.— , Testimonials
This is great.
I highly recommend sslprivateproxy. Their service is an important part of delivering our service to our customers.
Excellent customer service with extremely prompt replies for support tickets.— , Testimonials
Would recommend to friends.
Fast and reliable Proxies .. the end 🙂— , Testimonials
I have been using sslprivateproxy for over 2 years and i have to say they are super awesome. their proxies are high quality, but their customer service is even better. I click submit ticket and 2 min later i have a response from support. That is enough for me to stay with them forever. THank you everyone at sslprivateproxy for making my experience this awesome.— , Testimonials
i am new to sslprivateproxy.com, but they have great speedy proxies that work on multiple devices simultaneously without a noticable loss in internet speeds. they're customer service is phenomenal. very quick with responses from they're support team. replies within 10 minutes. once a proxy is paid for, your account with your proxy is ready to go and emailed to you much quicker than any other site i've used. only took 8 minutes for my account to be active after paying. they're a pleasure to work with and i will be continuing my business with proxies with them solely. and my friends and family are all switching from they're normal proxy providers to them. keep being awesome guys. you all have my business for life. keep being awesome guys— , Testimonials
sslprivateproxy is great. The speed is good, and I can always connect, which hasn't always been the case with others. The customer service is good too; even when what I'm asking about is something small they respond quickly and are helpful.— , Testimonials
I also like that when you look up the IP address, the ISP doesn't show up as anything proxy or VPN related (which is infuriating), and that different cities show up as different ISPs.
I use shared proxy pack, and that work really good.— , Testimonials
Purchased 10 proxies and everything went fine. I bought them for general browsing and so far, I am really impressed with the speed & reliability of these proxies.— , Testimonials
I've used proxies from 4 other providers over the last couple years, this one has always been the best. I stray to others now and then when money is tight, because these are pricier than the rest of the sites. However, it is true that you get what you pay for. There is never downtime or lag with these proxies and there frequently is with everywhere else.— , Testimonials
I've just caught a good proxy pack on the Black Friday 50% recurring discount and I'll never need venture to another site again for lower prices. Yay for me!
I'm using SSL Private Proxies from last 2 months. They are good actually. So, sometimes, I feel that they are slow enough but support is good.— , Testimonials
Been using SSL for quite some time now for instagram, roughly 60-70 proxies and never had an account banned from using their proxies, they are top quality and support is fast and awesome.— , Testimonials
I have been using you for a while and love your proxies. I have used a few for IG without any issues so far— , Testimonials
I started with a package of 3 instagram proxies then 5 then 10 then 25, and now 50. they're pricey compared to the rest, but I've never, not once, had a problem – i.e., my 100 accounts have grown to 200K in 3 months and aren't being banned.— , Testimonials
Thanks for fast activation… they work great…. thank you sooooo much guys— , Testimonials
Hello. Wanted to add my take after swapping to ssl proxies and having such a great time. It was like the marriage that was in waiting, between myself and this provider. The proxies seriously kicks butt.— , Testimonials
What keeps me awake at night that they one day will run out of proxies when I need more to order, so far I have tested multiple providers for multiple purposes but have never Come across a 100% service like this one.
I hope they even up their game as time goes by. I also have admin and support on Skype almost 24/7 if I need them they are not faar away, I like that a lot.
Their experience reaches faar beyond just being a proxy provider, extensive knowledge and super advice for your questions!
I will just keep buying that is how good they are. Really recommended.
Wish they could share more about their setup, squid and soft stuff. Someone With a big Brain is making this stuff spinn like a cat. I have My ideas Of WHO is running this, but Will keep that one for food thoughts! Haha
I want to take this opportunity to thank Chris from SSL Proxies for his wonderful and unbiased advise. Very knowledgeable and helpful person. Will definitely go to him the day I require proxies. Keep up the good work mate.— , Testimonials
I've had only good experiences using SSL Private Proxy.— , Testimonials
When I started making instagram accounts myself with MultiLoginApp (no fingerprints) and SSLPrivateProxy virgin Instagram proxies (yes, the expensive ones) I started getting results. yes it's true I had to do 50 following maximum per day at the beginning, and 2-3 accounts per proxy, but do you want quick growth or do you want CONSISTENT, long term growth? SSL is a boss, props on running this business.
if you don't want your Instagram accounts banned, ditch those low quality tier 3 countries proxies and accounts, and take one day to just configure your SSL Private Proxies and make the accounts yourself on a US/Canada/UK IP and never have to fear bans.
Amazing that support appears on a Sunday and fixes within 15 minutes, top class— , Testimonials
Thanks sslprivateproxy— , Testimonials
+ Best support
+ Fast response than other sites
+ Best quality proxy than other sites
I've bought at several sites, 4-5 sites but your proxy have best quality.
I reached out too a lot of proxy services and chose for SSL based on reviews and the replies I got on my initials questions. I have been using over 125 instagram and pinterest proxies for the last 9 months and they have been really good. There is no reason why I would consider using the services of other proxy companies.— , Testimonials
Their interface is user friendly and you can export a csv file of all the proxies, these are in the right format to use. This makes it really easy to work with.
What really stands out is the support. At any time I received immediate quality help.
Their billing system is automated and they are providing valid professional invoices.
Can only recommend.


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Hey all,
so here's some tube theory. I'm learning about triodes at the moment, in lieu to building an awesome boosterdrive. Anyway, i've read a few articles about using triodes instead of MOSFETS, but at 9V, i can't seem to get any levels of gain/clipping/overdrive/whatever close to the likes of a J201 or a 2N2222 etc etc. So first question is, can this even be done with 1 triode at 9V???
Second question is, can you use a triode as other types of transistor? whatabout a normal NPN like a 2n3904 or something?


text: 03 Feb 2014 11:00 Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has appointed Vincent Frascogna as Manager Western Australia, based in Perth. The appointment comes as the airline prepares for the launch of daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Perth on July 15, 2014. Vincent takes on the role after five years based in Etihad Airways' headquarters in Abu Dhabi - four of which have seen him managing the airline's sales operations as Head of Commercial Development. This role included responsibility for the commercial integration of new partnerships and worldwide roll-out of the airline's SME loyalty scheme BusinessConnect. Prior to this, Vincent managed the Abu Dhabi-based airline's Global Contact Centres and UAE retail operations after nine years in commercial roles at British Airways. Etihad Airways' Chief Commercial Officer Peter Baumgartner said the airline was delighted with Vincent's appointment to Australia in time to launch the airline's new Perth services. "Perth is an important market for Etihad Airways and Vincent has a wealth of commercial management experience and the right credentials to accelerate the growth of our business there." Vincent said: "I'm excited about the opportunity to move to Perth for the launch of our services and to work with our industry and community partners there to raise the profile of Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi." Get in touch with us. Contact us Let us know what you think Send feedback Join our community Etihad Facebook Watch our latest videos Etihad YouTube Follow us Etihad Airways


text:
Summer Time Blackberry Hand Pie's
One of our favorite things about summer is picking wild blackberries also called Pacific's. They usually are ready around the first week of July and can be picked through the end of the month, depending on the weather. They like to grow on stumps and logs, it's always a challenge to find a good patch.
We used some of our berries to make 8 mini blackberry hand pies and baked them in vintage baking tins. You can find vintage baking tins in all different sizes, the ones we used were about 2 1/2 inches around.
We used 2 cups of blackberries, added 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of flour just to lightly coat the berries. Pre-made pie crust is a big time saver. Just lay your tins on the pie crust dough, cut around them with a small sharp knife leaving about a 1/4 inch of excess dough around the edge of the tin. Place the round pieces of dough in the tins forming the dough so there are no holes in the bottom of the tins.
Scoop in the berries and mound them up a bit in the middle.
We made lattice tops but you can also do a solid top, be sure to slice in a few air holes if you decide to use a solid crust top. Lightly sprinkle each one with sugar and be sure to crimp on your top all around the tin so the juice stays in the pies. Put them directly on your backing rack in the middle of the oven at 350 degrees. I lay a piece of foil over the top of all of the pies for about the first 10 to 12 minutes then remove for the last 10 minutes, this prevents the tops from getting too brown.
They are done when they are bubbling and golden brown on top.
We recently took 4 of our wild blackberry hand pie's with us on a hike to Monte Cristo which is in The Mt. Baker National Forest just outside of Granite Falls, Washington. We enjoyed them with our friends Angie and Brady Blankenship....they tasted like pure summer and the hike was beautiful!
Happy summer!
John and Brenda


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BISSKL 402 provides students with experience in teaching and facilitation. The course is designed to offer advanced students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member on how courses are designed and taught. Students deepen their understanding of subject material along with training in pedagogical techniques and facilitation approaches. Peer facilitators WILL NOT grade.
Most students who act as Peer Facilitators in IAS courses are invited to do so by the faculty member teaching the course. Students have generally developed a working relationship with the faculty member through prior coursework or other means.
BISSKL 402 Peer Facilitation is a Variable Credit course (2-5 credits). Students may complete up to 10 credits total under the BISSKL 402 course number as Peer Facilitators. BISSKL 402 is a C/NC course (no numeric grade is possible).
Peer Facilitation requires the consent of the instructor and must comply with the following standards:
It is the responsibility of the student to complete the Peer Facilitation Form (Word doc). Once completed, the form needs to be submitted to the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) office for the entry code. The IAS Office is located in UW1 room 390. Do not leave the Peer Facilitation form with the instructor.
BISSKL 402 Peer Facilitation Request for Entry Code (Word doc)