text:
Happy Long Weekend! I am writing to you from Hawaii, where I have just had a lovely meetup with Minties Laura Hankins, Charis Derry, Melissa Rota, and Allison Richardson. We toasted each other at Brasserie du Vin in Honolulu, and discussed ways in which the designers felt we could improve Minted. Thank you, ladies, for a really nice afternoon!
On another note, we've finally finished our art selections at Minted, and we look forward to a launch by early April. We're thrilled to see the emergence of an entirely new category, which will evolve and grow to further and further heights as time passes.
We received over 1,600 submissions and set very loose guidelines as to the types of art we were looking for. Here are Minted's editorial team's choices for the best art from the challenge. One thing to note is that if you examine the rating distribution for each individual piece of art (located at the top right of each design rating page), you'll find that votes seem to be distributed further from the mean than the average stationery submissions. Put another way, people seem to agree more on their ratings of stationery designs and less on their ratings of art. What constitutes "art", it seems, is truly in the eye of the beholder.
So, Minted design community, thank you for bravely trying and succeeding in this new category at Minted, and take with a grain of salt that the picks below are simply Minted's editorial team's subjective selections. We look forward to seeing in which new directions you lead us.
All the designs selected below, both winners and runners up, will be launched for sale at Minted.
Rule of Two Award for the best set of 2 art prints
Winner: glink glunk and e is for elephant by ERAY
Eric truly knocked it out of the park in our first art challenge. His color combinations are unexpected and amazing, and we love the way his sense of humor shines through in every piece. The cityscape in "Glink Glunk" complements the characters in "E is for Elephant" like a charm. We'd love to live in the quirky world he has imagined.
Runner Ups (clockwise from top left): "Jazz Duet #1" and "Jazz Duet #2 by Moglea | "Below Ravello" and "Ligurian Houses" by kelli hall | "Lots of Hearts" and "Woodgrain Hearts" by Max and Bunny | "Two Villages and the Little Bear" and "Restless" by Kayla King
Loft Living Award for the best art print suited to a modern, urban home
Winner: Metropolitan by Susan Asbill
Every time we visit New York City, we dream of setting up camp in a super chic loft. Susan channels loft dwellers perfectly with her geometric skyline and mod color blocks in "Metropolitan." We love her sophisticated use of negative space.
Runner Ups (clockwise from top left): "Type Study: New York" by pottsdesign | "Chevy Chevron" by SimpleTe Design | "Highway Wildflowers" by kelli hall | "b&w ode 6" by koshi | "Rectangles" by carly reed
Avant-Garde Award for the best edgy or boundary pushing art print
Winner: quiet places by Annada Hypes
The truth is we hang things on our walls because they either consciously or subconsciously move us in some way. Annada Hypes has captured the wonder and awe that we all have towards that which is much bigger than ourselves. She couldn't have picked a better saying—it's a new one to us—and she couldn't have paired it with a more perfectly executed, gentle giant.
Runner Ups (from left): "Deer Flirtation" by SimpleTe Design | "Goners" by Ryan De La Hoz | "Parceled-Out" by Jessica Kleinman
Best personalizable children's art print
Winner: More than a village by Cadence Paige Design
Paige has taken a sweet, bucolic saying and image and made it both fresh and modern. We love her combination of bright and subdued colors that all really work together. While perfect as is, Paige has designed this so that family members or loved ones can each sign a leaf, thereby completing the village. We can't imagine a cuter baby shower activity / souvenir for a mom-to-be. Take note, designers who are entering the current children's art challenge – we wanted to give you a sense here of the balance between whimsy and modernity that we are looking for in the children's/nursery category.
Runner Ups: "Summer Picked Poppies" by kelli hall | "Family Circle" by Wondercloud Design | "A Family of Oranges" by Christine Loo | "Happiness is…" by ERAY
Best non-personalizable art print
Winner: bumble bee by ERAY
Inspired by Richard Diebenkorn, Eric has created his own piece of wonder-filled abstract art. We see an endless number of things happening in this collage of textures, some known like the school paper and book text, and some quite unknown. We see fish colliding, we see helicopters taking off, we see balancing birthday candles… but mostly we see unrelated shapes that combine to form something both extremely interesting and very complete.
Runner Ups: "Autumn" by Tin Ornament | "Ojo" by Maddy Nye | "Muted Bouquet" by Moglea | "Glink Glunk" by ERAY
Best art print using only black and white
Winner: constellation by annie clark
Fear, vastness, and emptiness have been taken out of the galaxy in this print, leaving sweetness and intimacy. The texture from the watercolor paper creating the background is beautiful and we love the brush stroke on the side, which suggests continuation.
Runner Ups: "Emerson Love" by Wondercloud Design | "Little Prince" by Linda and Harriett | "Change" by Sydney Newsom | "Woods" by j.bartyn design
Best hand-illustration or painting to be made into a print
Winner: stargazers by Maria Gromek
These girls may be the two very sweetest in the whole world. Maria has such command over textures and details. We love the lined wall, the cross-hatched bench, the checkered skirt, the striped scarves and the dimples in the sky. Wouldn't every mother hope her daughters were just like this? Perhaps looking at life from a different angle and maybe one prefers books and the other animals, but still delighting to be in one another's company? A story is waiting to be written around this picture.
Runner Ups (clockwise from top left): "Friendly Forest" by Wondercloud Design | "Lucky Girl" by krista messer | "Love Birds + 1" by rene mijares | "Treetop" by Unless Someone Like You | "Map of Paris" by angel b lee | "Longing for Sutro" by Wilka Design
Best typography-based art print
Winner: heaven by j. bartyn design
Now this is practically our company motto. We can barely resist printing it a million times and tacking it up everywhere. With her perfectly justified choice of typeface, Cambria has illustrated her point brilliantly. And we love how the cold, hard truth is the small afterthought at the bottom.
Runner Ups: "God is Love" by VOSS | "Little Prince" by Linda and Harriett
Best art print using only black, white, and one other color
Winner: You and Me by rose eckford
Rose's "You and Me" has a quirky personality that we love. The contrasting letter weights between "you" and "me" create a certain tension, while the organic shapes of the imperfect circle and the swirling ampersand add character. The de-saturated pink provides a modern, unusual pop of color that would jump off any wall.
Runner ups: "Love is in the Air!" by ERAY | "Stone" by annie clark | "City" by Todd Jones | "More than Coffee" by lehan paper design | "Jazz Duet #1" by Moglea
Best personalizable nursery art print
Winner: raindrops keep falling by Stacey Meacham
Now this is personalized art at its pinnacle. With a lovely color palette and liberal use of white space, Stacey has made a truly lovely piece of nursery art. The idea of a new baby coming down from above in such a miraculous way is quite touching. The script of the child's name with the birth date in a block below make the piece feel very complete.
Runner Ups (clockwise from left): "Quiet Places" by Annada Hypes | "Frolic" by nocciola design | "prairie tale" by Moglea | "Family Circle" by Wondercloud Design
Best personalizable wedding art print
Winner: Je t'aime by chocomocacino
Gerrie's "je t'aime" is the very definition of 'sweet simplicity.' What better way to say 'I love you' than with this modern, yet pretty art print? We love the texture of the pink bubble; from the rounded shadows to the slightly heathered background, the print feels so inviting. And of course we're suckers for a bit of romantic French.
Runner Ups: "Surname" by Yolanda Mariak Chendak | "Shot Through the Heart" by Anna Elder
Customer's Choice Award
Winner: prairie tale by Moglea
While Meg Gleason's design is not new to us (we've loved it since Meg first entered it as a baby shower invitation), we couldn't be happier to see it as art print as it's always been just that; a true piece of fine art. There just isn't much one can't not love about these whimsical little creatures and we all know how much little ones love animals. Meg has gone with a retro shade of green, which we feel makes the design slightly more edgy and art-like.15 COMMENTS


text: The Monday Madness team will be talking about breast cancer awareness tomorrow, Oct. 27 at 10am on Monday Madness: The Health and Fitness Show on the Stovall and Hoggard Communications Network on Blogtalk Radio. Check out this episode at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sandhcn. If you're a survivor and want to share your journey, give us a call at 1-914-338-1541.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bob Shannon
WCBS.FM 101.1 New York
To me, the oldies are more than just a music that I Love, they were the "TOP 40s" of my youth. Many of the artist are people who I spent plenty of time with while on tour. This is why Bob Shannon's Site is for me one of the best. Quite a bit of good and accurate info. Nicely put together and easy to navigate with plenty more great links.
Sundazed Records specializes in re-issues of original albums on CD. You can even get my original release "The Toys sing A Lovers Concerto and Attack" with two bonus tracks. Neither track has ever been released before. "May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone" would have been a sure smash.
Soul Patrol: Great Black Music From The Ancient To The Future Soul Music on top of Soul Music on top of more Soul Music. Very nice site complete with WAV's, Midi, Real Audio
The Girl Groups Photo Gallery and Girl Group History of Rock and Roll
Soul Music R&B Radio: Felix Hernandez' Rhythm Revue
Hold on to your hats. Many of you in the New York Metropolitan area know of this gentleman. His name is Felix Hernadez. He has the best R&B Oldie Show on Radio. (Bar Non!) When you listen to his show, you find yourself saying, over and over again, "Oh man! I haven't heard that one in years. He also has periodically, Rhythm Revue Dances. Felix himself DJ's the night away with the best oldies R&B. I don't know anyone who has been to one of these dances that has only been once. Many artist themselves stop in. Its just great. Plenty of Sweat. (and that's from personal experience).
Next on my list of favorites is The R&B Music Pages. If you like R&B this is a must. Interviews, facts, CDs of Favorite Artist and more. Bookmark this one cause you'll be back for more.
I was never a big fan of Science Fiction until my husband turned me on to . Give me a chance and Ill talk for days about this one. Every day at 6:00PM, the entire family is glued to TNT. The links to this show are too numerous to mention so here's a link rich page. From here, you can surf for a million years, right on out past the rim of the Galaxy.
We have two computers in the house. Ken's sweetheart is his Amiga.
The biggest part of my life goes to my family.
Martha Stewarts site is great.
Now that I am an Independent Recording Artist, (not signed to a major label) with my own "Indie Label" I have found an entire world of resources for the "Indie Artist". Not only is there much help, but now like never before, the music of the unsigned artist is available to the entire world via the internet. So here are some links for artist and listeners alike. As time goes on I hope to constantly add to this list.
you concentrate on the quality of your product
and your service to the people,
the people will fill your cash register.
Derek Sivers and his brainchild CDBaby is a living example of this truth. I have been with CDBaby for several years now and I could write a book about this site, starting with what it started as to where it is today. Derek has never ceased to find every way he can to increase the potential of Indie music and its artists. They not only offer probably the very best place to sell your music, but also to host your website. They do most of the work for you so you can concentrate on your art. Several sites have hosted my web page and there is nothing better for the Indie musician than HOSTBABY.COM. Dereks Hostbaby.com offers everything I could need. You get more than enough space, permanent email with unlimited addresses, guest book, concert calendar, mp3 and real audio streaming and more. All for a very modest price. I recommend this site very strongly.
The company will, (for a very, very modest fee), put your CD in their catalogue for sales on the net. They will also get it on Amazon.com, and CDNow. WOW!!!
The Internet Underground
Music Archive
This just might the granddaddy of the Indie sites. It has been around longer than any other site I know. That in itself says something. And it hasn't just sat back and rested on its laurels. It has constantly been upgraded to be able to offer its artist the best and most up to date features. It has recently forged some partnerships with several other influential sites. All in all, it has much to offer.
*I highly recommend those sites for any "Indie" artist*
Guitar Nine Records - basically for guitar music but a wealth of info about starting your own record company, music copyrights, publishing, recording tips, etc.
The Ultimate Band List, is also an excellent place to help get yourself out there.
Lady Slipper Records features music by women. Many of these extremely gifted artist would never have their music available if it were not for the internet.
Worldwide Records Limited is a great Search engine for Music and the Arts
U.S. Copyright Office Home Page Don't half-step with your music...
Speaking of search engines All in One is a search engine for search engines. It list well over 400 different search engines and their links. Some of these engines are really quite unique.
Rounding things our a bit I like News Radio88 and CNN for news.
Updated 11/23/2001


text:
Rating: 6/10
Title: A Change of Pace
Author: Tielle St. Clare
Genre: M/M Romance
URL: Amazon
Price: US $1.49
Summary [from the publisher]:
Aiden has a few simple goals in life—teach his students well, find a stable lover and stop lusting after the sexy local sheriff. He's pretty sure the guy is straight, after all, his son is one of Aiden's students. It's best for everyone if he keeps his eyes (and hands) to himself.
But Knox has other plans. The prickly little tutor who teaches his son is pretty damn sexy and so easy to tease. When they find themselves alone for the evening, he decides he's only going to get one chance to see if Aiden is always that uptight or if he lets loose when he's in bed.
My review: Continue reading A Change of Pace by Tielle St. Clare


text:
"Through Love all that is bitter will sweeten.
Through Love all that is copper will be gold.
Through Love all dregs will turn to purest wine.
Through Love all pain will turn to medicine.
Through Love the dead will all become alive.
Through Love the king will turn into a slave!"
Mawlana Jalal-Al-Din Rumi, 13th century poet and Sufi mystic


text:
Recently I work on WPF-XBAP application that will run from intranet website:
This application must have unrestricted access to client's OS resources (that is unusual for XBAP projects):
I publish it on local website by using "Click-Once" deployment mechanism:
User can launch the application from deployment page (also can run application setup):
I get security error ("User has refused to grant required permissions to the application"):
Means that application tried to perform some restricted action, beyond of XBAP sandbox. Actually it tried to read local video file:
(It reads video file from local source, for preview option before uploading it to FTP server)
After some research I found how to fix that:
(1) Project must be signed with "Click-Once" manifest (security certificate file):
(If project doesn't contain "Test Certificate" click on rounded button to create a new one)
(2) After temporary certificate was created we'll save it into file (click on "More Details"):
File export wizard (step A):
File export wizard (step B):
File export wizard (step C):
(Enter username and password, only if you did so while "Test Certificate" creation in par. 1)
File export wizard (step D):
File export wizard (step E):
File export wizard (step F):
(Now project certificate is saved as external file)
(3) Now we'll go to Internet Explorer and will register this certificate:
(Open "Internet Options" from "Tools" menu)
Click on "Certificates" in "Content" tab:
Import certificate file from "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" tab:
File import wizard (step A):
File import wizard (step B):
File import wizard (step C):
File import wizard (step D):
Confirm importing:
If succeed you'll get this window:
And will see certificate here:
Do same in "Trusted Publishers" tab:
Close IE options:
(6) No we'll go to "Signing" tab in project options and will select registered certificate:
Select registered certificate from local store:
(5) Republish the application:
Now XBAP can run in "Full Trusted" mode:
Hope this post was helpful 😉
PS: see this post about certificate extraction for XBAP applications.


text:
Reports, live coverage, results, images, video and messages of support for all European and World Championships.
Previous Squad Event
54th EKF Senior Championships, Guadalajara, Spain, March 28-31 2019
More information »
Reports, live coverage, results, images, video and messages of support for all European and World Championships.
Previous Squad Event
54th EKF Senior Championships, Guadalajara, Spain, March 28-31 2019
More information »
Greece 2010
After a week of hard training out in the sticks, the England Squad come out of pre training a close team and ready to take on Europe.
After being pushed all the way by Wayne Otto and Ian Cole, we all came out both feeling very "SORE" and but extremely sharp. Though at times you felt pushed beyond your own limits having the clear goal of being European Champions a possibility, you always had the extra bit of something to give.
The three big memories of pre training:
1) Chris Riggs Pad Session!!!!!
2) Ian "Iron Man" Cole Vs Sonny "The Bear" Roberts
3) The Iranian Michael Jackson Tribute Night
We have all now returned to our homes and families to rest for a few days before we fly out to Athens on Tuesday morning ready to take on the cream of European Karate.
Well it's less than a week before the Senior squad take off for Athens for the Senior Championships. The squad are hard at work training at Shindo kai, Paul Newby's Olympik Dream Dojo under the watchful eye of Wayne Otto and his assistants.
The squad have a couple of more days training before they fly on Tuesday to Athens, where they will compete against the best of the best in Europe at this WKF event.
We hope to be able to bring you photos and results of these championships. Please feel free to email your messages of support and best wishes for the squad to email@example.com
With the Senior Europeans just around the corner the Senior Squad traveled from all areas of the country to meet up for Pre training at The Olympik Dream Training Centre which can be best described as the Emmerdale Village under the ever stern eye of Mr Otto. Training began at 8 and finished at 9:30, before they all traveled to their accommodation.
The next two days, the real work began!!! Three sessions a day, with a short 2 hour break inbetween. With 4days of training left, Wayne has decreased the amount of training sessions but without doubt the intensity is coming!!!!
The whole squad would like to thank Mr Newby for allowing us to use and train at his very impressive training facility and arranging accommodation for us all. Each day that passes brings us closer to the Greek arena with squad moral high and everyone pushing each other all the way. England is ready to heard again at the Senior Stage.
Sonny Roberts
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text: William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American college football coach. He is currently in his second stint as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina, where he coached from 1988 until departing in 1997 to become coach at the University of Texas. He was recently a college football commentator for ESPN. In January 2018, Brown was selected to enter the College Football Hall of Fame. In November 2018, Brown took the vacant job at North Carolina, replacing Larry Fedora.


text:
The Concept of Conception
The conception process is complex and very microscopic, but the single most huge event in human life. This animation details the journey of more than three million sperm across the birth canal, through the cervix, to the fallopian tubes, and finally implantation. Share in the intrigues of three million sperm, all hoping to be the chosen one through tough tides and gruelling obstacles to finally develop into a foetus from the one lucky sperm.


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Journal Article
Situated robot learning for multi-modal instruction and imitation of grasping. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. 47:129–141.. 2004.
Solving the distal reward problem with rare correlations. Neural Computation. 25:940–978.. 2013.
Static Sliding Mode Phenomena in Dynamical Systems. IEEE Trans. Automatic Control. 48:680–686.. 2003.
Stiffness Adaptation in physical HRI Based on the Human Arm's Manipulability. ACM Transactions on Human Robotics Interaction.. Submitted.
Time Series Classification in Reservoir- and Model-Space. Neural Processing Letters. 48(3):789–809.. 2017.
Trends in Neurocomputing at ESANN 2004. Neurocomputing. 64:1–4.. 2005.
A User Study on Kinesthetic Teaching of Redundant Robots in Task and Configuration Space. Journal of Human-Robot Interaction. 2:56–81.. 2013.
A user study on personalized stiffness control and task specificity in physical Human-Robot Interaction. Frontiers in Robotics and AI -- Humanoid Robotics.. 2017.
Where to Look Next? Combining Static and Dynamic Proto-objects in a TVA-based Model of Visual Attention Cognitive Computation. 2:326–343.. 2010.
Magazine Article
Maschinelles Lernen und lernende Assistenzsysteme - Neue Tätigkeiten, Rollen und Anforderungen für Beschäftigte? Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis – BWP. 3:14-18.. 2019.
Assessment of human-likeness and naturalness of interceptive arm reaching movement accomplished by a humanoid robot. ECVP 2014 Abstracts. 43:107–107.. 2014.
Online planning and control of ball throwing by the humanoid robot COMAN and validation exploiting VR in rehabilitation scenarios with ataxia patients.. 2019.
Robot with automatic selection of task-specific representations for imitation learning. European Patent Office.. 2011.
An Analysis of the Dual-Complex Unit Circle with Applications to Line Geometry. Conference on Geometry: Theory and Applications.. 2019.
Assistive systems for quality assurance by context-aware user interfaces in health care and production. :159.. 2014.
Path planning and trajectory optimization of delta parallel robot. Department of Mechanical Engineering. PhD Thesis. 2015.


text:
Finding new clients! That's the #1 challenge reported by coaches. I can relate—I got certified as a coach to help people. The problem was, how to find the people? If finding new clients is your challenge too, here are seven ways to get new coaching clients.
Sometimes everyone needs a little help. Doing anything great requires more than your current reserves. To conquer a harrowing habit, to master a new skill, to break through in any important way requires more than you presently have.
Let's say you've applied to post your coach services on the Munyay Marketplace. And you've been approved as a Munyay Approved Coach. Now what? It's time to create your coach listings. You'll want to optimize your coach listings in three ways: audience, images, and different kinds of sessions.
A popular question we've received about our professional coach marketplace is this—what makes a marketplace different than a directory? It's a great question because there are dozens of coach directories, so why does the world need a coach marketplace? Isn't it crowded enough?
Eight months ago we set out on a mission—to make professional coaching affordable and accessible to anyone who wants it.
I never set out to start a company.


text:
Bicycle and plants at the window of Sarastro Restaurant, in Drury Lane with Kremble Street, London, United Kingdom.
Sarastro restaurant, named after a character in Mozart's "Magic Flute", first opened its doors in August 1996. Housed in what was once a public house on 19th Century gin soaked Drury Lane and latterly part of Peabody Housing, Sarastro quickly established itself as one of London's most unique and must see restaurants.
Prints/greeting cards – RicardMN Photograpy's Facebook Page – RicardMN Photography's Pinterest


text:
In case you were wondering about Chris Christie's favorite snack, it's potatoes. Not frozen babies.
It took a couple weeks, but the Bad Lip Reading of the first Republican debate is here. As you might expect it's full of all sorts of nonsense and somehow makes the GOP presidential candidates sound less crazy.
We still have 15 months of this circus ahead, so get ready for presumably a lot more nonsense to follow. The Bad Lip Reading people are going to be busy.
On a serious note, the GOP should really consider adding the "closing statement song" portion to their next debate.


text: The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration announced an agreement that could lead to the first LNG ships registered in the United States in almost ten years, potentially creating almost 200 jobs for U.S. mariners. Officials from Woodside Natural Gas, Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., committed to Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton and representatives from seafaring trade unions that Woodside will create a U.S. presence in the rapidly growing international liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleet. The company agreed to the employment of U.S. mariners in Woodside's operation of the proposed OceanWay deepwater port located 28 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, and to register its two new LNG regasification vessels under the U.S. flag. Although the global LNG fleet has been growing rapidly—from 194 ships at the beginning of 2006 to an estimated 373 at the end of 2007—there are currently no LNG ships of American registry. Woodside's proposed OceanWay facility will use trading LNG carriers to transfer LNG to the U.S.-flagged regasification vessels, which will then convert the liquefied natural gas into natural gas for injection into Southern California's existing onshore pipeline system. More than 90 American officers and crew will be employed on each of the vessels. OceanWay Secure Energy (Woodside Natural Gas, Inc.) filed an application with the Maritime Administration for a license under the Deepwater Port Act, to build, own, and operate an LNG facility. The Maritime Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the City of Los Angeles are reviewing the revised application for completeness. The company's application to build the OceanWay terminal must be approved by the Maritime Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the City of Los Angeles, and the Governor of California. If approved, the specifics of this agreement will become conditions of the deepwater port license.


text:
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Tasty Dutch Oven Green Bean Casserole
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, so I figured I better get busy and put some recipes on the blog. I have been busy getting settled in Salt Lake. If you look back at some of the old recipes you will fine some good Holiday dishes I think you will enjoy. I have done this one many times out at The Butte Creek Mill in Eagle Point, Oregon.
2 15 oz. cans green beans, cut or french style
1 8 oz. con sliced water chestnuts
½ cup sliced almonds
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can French fried onions
In a well greased 10" Dutch oven, combine first four ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle top with French fried onions. Place oven over 7 charcoals and place 13 to 15 charcoals on top. Cook 30 to 45 minutes or until onions are crisp and a little browned and soup is a little bubbly. Makes 5 servings. This can be doubled and done in a 12" oven. 9 charcoals on the bottom and 15 on top.
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text:
Connex EMU to make a return to Kent…
We are delighted to announce that 76398, 70904, 62385 and 76397 as Unit 3905 have found a new home at the East Kent Railway, Shepherdswell where it will be restored to operating condition.
The unit will arrive over the coming weeks along with a considerable spares float to keep it operational for many years to come.
An enormous amount of time and funding has gone into just the preparation work and transportation of the unit to its new home.
We are looking forward to working in conjunction with the East Kent Railway to return this unique unit to service and we hope all our followers will continue to support us in our future endeavours.


text:
Adepoju expresses satisfaction over S'Eagles performance
I am not happy with the result, says Onigbinde
Former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, has expressed satisfaction over Eagles performance against the Pharaohs of Egypt in Friday's AFCON qualifier that ended in a disappointing draw played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.
The Eagles had given the nation hope with a goal scored by Oghenekaro Etebo in the 59th minute, which was cancelled in a stoppage time by AS Roma striker, Mohammed Salah, thereby making the task of a qualification for the AFCON, scheduled for Gabon next year a difficult one.
Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Adepoju said he was impressed with what he saw in the Eagles against the Pharaohs, especially in the second half. "The second half was a nice one, an improvement over the first half. It was very good because we created several chances. If we had scored in the few chances that we had there would have been no point talking about the match in Kaduna, rather concentration would have shifted to the one in Alexandra."
When asked what might have gone wrong in a match everyone expected the Eagles to have won, he said: "If not for the defence that went to sleep in the dying minutes of the match, we would have been celebrating now. We need to have a stronger defence if we are to succeed in Egypt. Concentration was also lacking in the defence; I believe we have the players that can do it and make us qualify for the Nations Cup," he said.
Also giving his opinion was former coach of the team, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde. The former CAF and FIFA instructor expressed his displeasure over the draw the Eagles played with the Egyptians. "I am not happy with the draw we played with the Pharaohs. I am not happy at all," he said.
Asked to point out the grey areas the coach Siasia-led Eagles need to work on for a better result in Alexandra, the Modakeke High chief declined comments, saying "Why would I proffer solution when NFF have not asked me to do so. My opinion does not matter here when I have not been asked," he concluded.
The team is expected to leave for Egypt tomorrow for the make or mar tie on Tuesday schedule for Alexandra. The Pharaohs currently sit on top of Group G with seven points, while Nigeria is second with five points. A defeat in Egypt may signal an end of qualification for AFCON, which the Eagles failed to qualify for at last edition in Equatorial Guinea.
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text:
Jungle made their US TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, performing two songs.
The band, who will release their debut album in July, performed both 'Busy Earnin" and 'Time' on the show.
Jungle are signed to XL Recordings (Jack White, The Horrors, Adele) and will release their self-titled effort on July 14 in the UK. It features both 'Busy Earnin' and 'Time' as well as 'The Heat' and 'Platoon.'
Jungle tour the UK later this year and will also perform at Latitude and Reading and Leeds festivals. Jungle will play:
Leeds, Metropolitan University (October 23)
Manchester, Ritz (24)
Glasgow, Arches (25)
Birmingham, Institute (27)
Cambridge, Junction (28)
London, Shepherd's Bush Empire (30)
Brighton, Concorde 2 (November 3)
Bristol, Anson Rooms (4)
To check the availability of Jungle tickets and get all the latest listings, head to NME.COM/tickets.


text:
Parkinson's Disease
Gordon Research Conference
June 23-28, 2019
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Culture Transformation for M&As
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How to change organizational culture to create a harassment free workplace!
This is the second in a two-part series. Click on this link to read part one.
In the first part, we explored the reasons why it's time for business leaders and HR professionals to take a new approach to prevent workplace harassment. Research shows that traditional anti-harassment training programs have not been effective at preventing workplace harassment and do not affect lasting behavior changes on the part of actual and would-be harassers.
A more effective approach is to change the culture, which includes the behavioral norms and expectations for all employees, in order to create a more constructive organizational culture. The importance of having a more constructive culture cannot be overstated. To begin with, a culture that tolerates bad behavior of any kind is more likely to experience problems with harassment. On the positive side, research shows that an organization with a predominately constructive culture has better business performance and consistently
better business results.
A constructive organizational culture has been proven to improve sustained business performance and profitability.
© 2017 Human Synergistics International.
The construct of organizational culture is a prominent topic these days. There is much written about culture in the business, human resources, and talent management literature. However, what is often ignored, overlooked or glossed over is how to measure culture. Using an accepted and valid culture assessment is important to objectively quantify the current culture and have a base-line measurement to identify both the strengths and the challenges of your culture. A good culture assessment serves as your starting point as well as a comparative yard-stick measurement against "best of breed" organizations. Lastly, and most importantly, the Current State culture assessment has to be held up against the "Preferred" culture that employees and leaders have identified as the ideal culture that would allow them to perform at their best. It is the gaps between the Current State and Preferred cultures that make up the foundation for a culture change initiative.
The culture assessment tool most often used by the Path Forward team is the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) from Human Synergistics, International (HS). The suite of assessment tools from HS provides a visual model, called the Circumplex, for developing Constructive styles in individuals, managers, leaders, teams, and organizations. The Circumplex breaks down the behavioral norms proven to drive performance effectiveness according to 12 behaviors or styles. These styles are further grouped according to three general clusters:
The styles are measured by their strength or intensity by how far out they extend from the center of the Circumplex. For the Current State measurements, the extensions represent the degree to which organization members are required to demonstrate those behaviors in order to succeed or be in alignment with the cultural expectations of that organization. For the Preferred Culture, the extensions represent the view of members in terms of the "ideal" culture that would empower them to perform to the best of their ability. The differences between the Current State and Preferred Cultures represents the opportunity for improvement for the organization, both from an organizational "fit" at the employee level and for the overall performance of the organization.
Using these examples; in the Current State Culture (the circumplex on the left), the predominance of the Aggressive/Defensive (red) and Passive/Defensive (green) behaviors indicate the dominate leadership style relies heavily on the Aggressive behaviors (i.e.; a high need for control and power) while employees react by becoming more Passive and complacent (i.e.; a high need for security). When leaders have an expectation to "get things done" with a sense of urgency, it often leads to Aggressive behaviors by people in positions of authority. These Aggressive behaviors, in turn, create an environment where control and power are the dominant force of motivation. Employees then typically respond by being more Passive and complacent, which creates the conditions where harassment is most likely to occur, and least likely to be reported or acted upon when reported.
This type of Aggressive and Passive dynamic can easily create an environment where people in power feel they have the right and privilege to dominate those not in power. When that happens, the result is a culture where victims of harassment are afraid to speak out, and when they do are often punished or experience other types of retribution. This helps to explain part of the reason why studies consistently show that 70-75% of workplace harassment goes unreported. That is why we call this type of profile a "Toxic Culture," one that is defined by excessive use of fear and power. With this type of culture, sexual harassment training will have little or no impact and most likely will be considered a joke by the participants. The reason is the cultural dissonance that exists when corporate policy and training programs say one thing, but the accepted behaviors are something very different.
Looking at the Preferred Culture (the Circumplex on the right), the Constructive (blue) behaviors are all above the 75th percentile, with the Achievement and Humanistic-Encouraging behaviors close to the 90th percentile. The Aggressive/Defensive (red) behaviors are all reduced to around the middle (the 50th percentile) and the Passive/Defensive (green) behaviors are even lower (around the 25th percentile). The strong Constructive behaviors in the Preferred Culture are all achievement-oriented behaviors and indicate a high-performing organization. We call this type of profile a "Constructive Culture," one that is defined by high levels of trust and collaboration and sustained business performance.
Transforming an organization's culture can be a daunting challenge and is often easier said than done. It's commonly reported that three out of four business transformation initiatives fail, either outright or fail to live up to all the expected outcomes. The literature on this topic is replete with stories and examples of why culture transformation initiatives fail. Rather than focus on the reasons for failure, let's look at what it takes for a successful culture transformation.
Through experience leading, facilitating, and coaching many transformation initiatives, the Path Forward to Business Transformation team has developed this graphic to visualize the critical components for a transformation initiative to be successful.
Some of the important principles to follow to ensure the success of a change initiative;
1) Articulate the "compelling reason" for the change.
The case for transforming from a "Toxic Culture" to a "Constructive Culture" is very compelling on many levels. Our focus here is on how a shift in culture can help an organization prevent workplace harassment. Other benefits of being a more Constructive Culture include being a more innovative and adaptive organization, improved employee engagement, improved ability to attract and retain top talent, outstanding and respected leaders, and maximized business performance. Lastly, once you start on a culture transformation journey, be sure to apply change management best practices to improve your odds of sustainable success.
If you're interested in learning more about this topic, please check out the information at the Path Forward to Business Transformation website or contact me directly at firstname.lastname@example.com.
This is the first in a two-part series. Click on this link to read part two
Before you can answer that, we need to understand the objectives, or expected outcomes, of the training. Is the goal of the training to reduce or prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment in the workplace? If that is the case, then research indicates it's not a very good investment.
According to a 2016 report from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), "much of the training done over the last 30 years has not worked as a prevention tool – it's been too focused on simply avoiding legal liability." Annual sexual harassment training programs can reduce legal liability by making employees aware of the issue and the company's anti-harassment policies. But, overall, research indicates these programs have not been effective at changing attitudes or behaviors.
It's not just sexual harassment. Any type of harassment that creates a "hostile work environment" can cost a business in fines, settlement costs, legal fees, and lost productivity. While these tangible costs are easy to calculate, there are many hidden costs that are just as real, such as damage to a company's brand and reputation, lost customers, lower employee engagement, employee turnover, cost of hiring replacements, etc. According to the EEOC report, in 2015 they recovered $164.5 million for workers alleging workplace harassment – and these direct costs are "just the tip of the iceberg." Proactively dealing with the challenge of harassment in a holistic way can save a company money and save the company's brand and reputation.
As an HR Leader, I have updated company policies on harassment, conducted sexual harassment training, reviewed sexual harassment concerns, and investigated complaints. I have recommended dismissals, as well as other disciplinary actions, for violations of the sexual harassment policy. In each of these cases, the offender had been through the required training and was aware of the company policy. So how did they not know that violating company policy on harassment would get them in trouble? It comes down to their expectation of what would happen if their behavior was found out. In other words, it was related to the organizational culture and the behavioral norms that were accepted or tolerated, regardless of any policy in place.
It's time to look beyond annual harassment training to provide a safe workplace for all employees. Recent high-profile harassment scandals and the "Me too" movement highlight the fact that harassment in the workplace is a significant problem. For business leaders and HR professionals, it's time to take a holistic approach to understand and reshape your organization's culture.
Business leaders and HR professionals must look deeper to understand their organizations' culture and inspect which behaviors are encouraged, allowed, or just plain tolerated. Often, the behaviors that are prevalent reflect leadership expectations to "get things done" with a sense of urgency, which leads to aggressive behaviors by people in positions of authority. These aggressive behaviors, in turn, create an environment where control and power are the dominant force of motivation. This creates the conditions where harassment is most likely to occur and least likely to be reported.
When you look at the elements of culture as measured by the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) from Human Synergistics International, you find that aggressive behaviors from people in positions of power lead to passive behaviors from people not in power. This creates a situation where people in power feel they have the right and privilege to dominate those not in power. The result is a culture where victims of harassment are afraid to speak out and when they do are often punished or experience other types of retribution. In this type of culture, sexual harassment training will have no impact and most likely will be considered a joke by the participants. The reason is that of the cultural dissidence that exists when corporate policy and training programs say one thing, but the accepted behaviors are something very different.
What's needed is a new approach! A more effective approach is to assess the overall culture with both quantitative and qualitative data to understand what the cultural norms are, map the gaps between the current state culture and the preferred culture, as described both by leaders and employees, and then embark upon a culture change initiative to close those gaps.
Here you're probably thinking, ok, everyone is jumping on the "change the culture" bandwagon. And you would be correct. In fact, an article in Bloomberg BNA late last year led with the headline, "When Anti-Harassment Policy Isn't Enough, Fix Corporate Culture." What I find lacking in this and many similar articles is a clear grasp of what it really takes to change organizational culture. For example, most of the articles I have read that suggest changing culture simple talk about doing more training. That is too simplistic, does not lead to sustainable behavior change and really does not help the people in the trenches charged with creating a harassment free culture.
In my next blog, I will share insights that I have learned from successful culture change initiatives and provide practical tips to consider when starting an organizational culture change initiative; such as the critical success factors necessary to gain buy-in from everyone in the organization, and what it takes to create and sustain a positive organizational culture.
If you're interested in learning more about this topic now, please check out the information in Path Forward to Business Transformation website or contact me directly at email@example.com.


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I spent years saying that I shouldn't have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I never rated a combat action ribbon (CAR) and I never engaged in a firefight. I ignored my mental health and allowed others to say I was fine because I was a girl and girls weren't on the front lines, even if they didn't know my story. My husband told me for many years to read a certain book that he thought would help me immensely. He became dedicated to understanding PTSD after experiencing my nightmares and stories and questions and after seeing so many of his Marines commit suicide and suffer daily. The book is called "On Killing" by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman of the United States Army. He was an Army ranger and a psychologist and used his experiences in both fields, as well as multiple scientific studies, to write about the way humans process killing and how America trains her military to kill.
I avoided reading the book until two years ago and read half of it rapidly before I couldn't handle the ideas I had to think about when I read it. Now that I'm writing the Afghanistan story and coming to grips with my experiences, I was able to pick it back up and finish it. At the very end of the book, there is a section on "What Have We Done To Our Soldiers?" which has shone light, and almost a sense of validation, on why I, without the firefight and without the CAR, have PTSD. Comparing my story with the multiple points Lt. Col Grossman makes about current American warfare, I am blown away by what I realize wasn't "normal" about
my the current American warfighter experiences. We are trained to kill, to normalize ending another human's life. The human psyche is fragile and we, the warfighters, suffer immensely to become killers.
To those veterans who are reading this and are thinking "Stop being a fucking pussy about it. Those who suffer remorse and self-disgust are fucking pussies who shouldn't be in the military. Our grandfathers stormed the beaches and didn't come back complaining about their precious mental health.", I give you this:
In World War II, only 15-20 percent of weapons were fired. By Vietnam, the figures rose to over 95 percent. America adapted their training to increase this number and did so successfully at the cost of our troops.
Why are today's troops suffering so much PTSD? Here are some of the bullet points that I found EXTREMELY enlightening:
Troops are young.
Most of the American military is recruited at 18 and during the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, saw combat before their 19th birthday. This is an extremely vulnerable time in a human's emotional and mental development and the experiences of war impact young adults more deeply than an older adult because their brain is still forming.
There is no decompression time.
In WWII and prior, troops spent months and years traveling back home by foot or on troop carrier ships. The war would be over and they could spend this time readapting to civilian lifestyle before seeing non-military friends and family. This transport time was typically filled with discussions with fellow troops that allowed time to process, decompress, mourn, and heal. In the current military wars, it takes less than 30 hours to go from being in a firefight to being back with non-military friends and family. Think about that for a second. Think about it. Fighting for your life one second and hugging a flag waving Susan hours later, if you even have someone there to welcome you back.
There is no training with the whole units before combat.
Of course we train. Of course. But AS A UNIT? No, the American military changes and adapts so rapidly that troops are typically sent to a new unit in combat with no prior training with new guys with no warning. As seen by my story, I knew no one and I had trained with none of my fellow Marines. Unlike prior to Vietnam, my story wasn't atypical of an American troop. You enter a unit as the fucking new guy and have to work to integrate into the camaraderie and trust of the unit. This is lonesome in a combat zone.
Deployment rotations disintegrate the unit.
Deployment rotations of 7-14 months drastically reduces the number of psychotic injuries on the battlefield because the troops can count down to when they will leave the war. However, combine this with the troops entering and exiting the units at different times, this leads to a further breakdown in comradery and troop cohesion. The troops aren't fighting to the end of the war like they did back in WWII, they are fighting for 45 days and a wake up while their fellow troops are fighting for 120, or 30 more. There is no common end goal.
There is no end of the war.
There can be no signed armistice of peace because there is no defined enemy on one side of a front line. When troops leave a combat zone, they leave with no resolution and sometimes see all of their hard work gone to shit, like when Ramadi fell to ISIS in 2015. They see their sacrifices and their friends' deaths as not being worth it because we will never win the new warfront.
There is no front line.
Everywhere is a battlefield, including the American bases, which means there is no demarcation point of safety. No front line also means no forward movement or visible progress for troop morale. This also means the lines for possible enemy combatants are blurred. Women and children are dangerous now, which affects our troops more than they realize. When I aimed my weapon at a child, a part of my humanity broke.
The book discusses so much more than the points I've talked about here. The science and psyche of mental health and combat is a vastly understudied area, especially for a country that has been at war for 93% of its existence.