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Sunday School – 10:00 am
Worship Service – 11:00 am
Bible Study – 12:15 pm
Wednesday Bible Study - 6:30 pm
12859 Martin Road Spur
Northport, AL 35473
Watering the Tulips
March 2, 2016
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me." –1 Corinthians 15:3-8
The resurrection of Jesus is a fact without question. If ever there was a place where such a supposed falsehood could have been quickly snuffed out, it was Israel. If Jesus wasn't Whom He claimed to be and didn't do the things He claimed to do, the Jews would have immediately dismissed it as fantasy and moved on with the status quo. Yet Peter told these very people on Pentecost, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know" (Acts 2:22). The works of Jesus were "attested to [them]", done "in [their] midst" and they knew them to be the truth. The same can be said of the resurrection.
"But no, they would have believed if they knew a man was raised from the dead", one might well say. This is not true, however, for Jesus recounted a conversation between a dead rich man in torments as he spoke with Abraham. In response to the rich man's plea that Lazarus be allowed to return from the dead to warn his family, Abraham said, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31). The resurrection of Jesus proves this to be true.
One would also think that the chief priests upon hearing the witness of those guarding Jesus' tomb would have changed their minds concerning Jesus. As the guards detailed how the angel came with an earthquake and rolled the stone away, logic would lead us to believe the chief priests would have immediately seen their error and repented. However, that is not what occured. "And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, 'Tell people, "His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep"'" (Matthew 28:12-13). Having heard this grand account, they immediately sought to cover it up much like they sought to cover up the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 12:9-11).
Today's world is much the same. History teaches us that all of the apostles died still professing to have seen the risen Jesus. Now, this might not be so amazing except that history informs us that 11 of them died a martyr's death. And even that 12th one was supposedly boiled in oil in the Colosseum. But in the midst of these tortures, not one of them recanted. In fact, none of the 500 that saw Jesus alive recanted. Surely, the Jews would have loved a witness that did just that. But they never found one. If they had, they would have put him out there for all the world to see.
The world has been turned upside down as a result of the resurrection of Jesus. Unlike a plethora of religious people, followers of Jesus have remained firmly committed to Him for 2000 years – because He is surely risen from the dead. Friend, what is your opinion of Jesus today? Do you believe the Bible? Do you believe the witnesses? Even the facts if weighed fairly point to Him being raised from the dead. And your eternity weighs on it – "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
Watering the Tulips is brought to you by Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Northport, AL. For more information, please visit www.sovereigngrace.net . "Your App to the Gospel" can be downloaded at iTunes for iPhone, iPad and IPod Touch, Google Play for Android, the Windows Phone Marketplace, and the Windows Store for Windows 8/8.1 based tablets and computers. Please download it today!


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BOULDER — Head coach Bob Smartt dubbed it the "silver anniversary" as the Fairview girls swim team posted its 25th consecutive dual-meet victory against rival Boulder on Thursday.
It is an impressive feat, and one that certainly did not come easily for the Knights despite a 191-124 final score. Yet afterward the celebration was somewhat muted as Smartt and his powerhouse Fairview program pondered the sudden reality of possibly missing senior Abbie Houck for a second consecutive state meet.
Houck, who won the 2010 Class 5A state championship in the 500 freestyle, missed the cross-town showdown at the North Boulder Recreation Center due to a partially-torn left rotator cuff she suffered during a training session with her club team early last week.
Houck, a Louisville recruit, opted to not defend her 500 freestyle crown last year at state in order to focus on her training for last summer's U.S. Olympic Trials. Houck is planning to test the shoulder in the water next week, yet with the state meet only three weeks away, her availability remains up in the air.
"As much as she wants to swim at state, she has to think about the long-term health of her shoulder," said Houck's mother, Jane Houck. "This has been pretty devastating for her. She's still hopeful she can help the team at state, maybe even in shorter events or something like that."
Fairview's state title hopes were dashed a year ago when Houck opted to not compete at state, with the Knights ultimately finishing sixth. Yet a talented freshman class has improved Fairview's depth, giving the Knights a better chance of successfully offsetting Houck's potential absence from state this year.
For instance, Lacey Smith, normally a sprint specialist, qualified for state in the 200 freestyle Thursday while finishing second to Boulder's Amanda Richey. Smith, who has signed with Northwestern, could replace Houck in at least one of her signature distance events.
"This is the type of injury where a small amount of pain might be necessary to (Houck's) rehabilitation, but too much pain and she'll be out of the water for months," Smartt said. "Lacey swims a very good 200 free. She has placed at U.S. junior nationals in the 200 free. She and Abbie are good friends and they haven't wanted to collide. But that would be a strong event for (Smith) at state. We have more overall depth this year. If we're sans Abbie, we should still do better than the sixth-place we did last year."
Even without Houck, Fairview proved too powerful for Boulder on Thursday. The Knights swept all three relay events while getting individual victories from Smith (100 freestyle), Jessie Li (50 freestyle), Julia Box (100 butterfly) and Janaye Monica (100 breaststroke).
Fairview also added two more individual state qualifiers in freshman butterfly swimmers Michaela Mullison and Lauren Adler, allowing the Knights to reach their goal of 21 individual state qualifiers with several swimmers on the cusp of joining that club.
Richey and sophomore Haley Rowley each won a pair of individual events for Boulder, which also received a victory from senior diver Sophie Gordon.
"Fairview is always fun to swim against," Richey said. "Both teams did very well. Me and Haley just both strive to do our best. It's not always about winning, but that's always nice too."
Follow Pat on Twitter: @prooney07
Fairview 191, Boulder 124
At North Boulder Recreational Center
200 medley relay — 1. Fairview A (Julia Box, Janaye Monica, Taylor Bissert, Jessie Lie), 1:54.41*; 2. Boulder A, 1:54.57*; Fairview B, 1:58.15*.
200 freestyle — 1. Amanda Richey, Boulder, 1:56.22*; 2. Lacey Smith, Fairview, 1:57.05*; 3. Adee Weller, Fairview, 2:01.19*.
200 IM — 1. Haley Rowley, Boulder, 2:10.04*; 2. Sandra Freeman, Fairview, 2:14.41*; 3. Sidney Andrew, Fairview, 2:16.70*.
50 freestyle — 1. Jessie Li, Fairview, 25.42*; 2. Josiane Valette, Boulder, 25.53*; 3. Logan Tidstrom, Fairview, 26.12.
Diving — 1. Sophie Gordon, Boulder, 210.90*; 2. Rachel Ryan, Fairview, 182.70; 3. Grace McCarthy, Boulder, 168.45.
100 butterfly — 1. Julia Box, Fairview, 59.71*; 2. Michaela Mullison, Fairview, 1:00.84*; 3. Lauren Adler, Fairview, 1:03.37*.
100 freestyle — 1. Lacey Smith, Fairview, 54.44*; 2. Josiane Valette, Boulder, 55.86*; 3. Sidney Andrew, Fairview, 56.67*.
500 freestyle — 1. Amanda Richey, Boulder, 5:01.82*; 2. Sandra Freeman, Fairview, 5:25.18*; 3. Catherine Kuhn, Fairview, 5:27.87*.
200 free relay — 1. Fairview A (Jessie Li, Sienna Stonesmith, Sidney Andrew, Lacey Smith), 1:43.39*; 2. Boulder A, 1:44.66*; 3. Fairview B, 1:45.95*.
100 backstroke — 1. Haley Rowley, Boulder, 59.70*; 2. Julia Box, Fairview, 1:02.14*; 3. Kyla Dickerson, Boulder, 1:06.34*.
100 breaststroke — 1. Janaye Monica, Fairview, 1:12.19; 2. Caitlin Reck, Fairview, 1:12.55*; 3. Cori Orr, Boulder, 1:13.58.
400 free relay — 1. Fairview A (Sidney Andrew, Adee Weller, Lacey Smith, Julia Box), 3:42.58*; 2. Boulder A, 3:44.52; 3. Fairview B, 3:52.60*.
* — Denote state-qualifying mark.

subset: commoncrawl


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Web 2.0 is improving governance, with or without the help of the government in question, and irrespective of whether the country is developed or not.
Throwing traditional wisdom to the winds, the Web 2.0 story is continuing to unfold in a way that was not predicted by researchers and experts of the development community and outside. Recently there have been more than a few examples related to the citizen-fueled proliferation of news, occurring independently of the Government, (and in some countries, even inspite of the opposition of the Government).
From Egypt to Syria, with the very start of the situation, social networks played a role in disseminating news across the world. Twitter, Facebook and blogs providing fascinating live coverage of the various uprisings across the world. Citizens are managing to circumvent any attempts to block Twitter, and often flood the site with their versions of the breaking stories. All major social networking tools are in full use, with Twitter leading the attack. Facebook (status updates and groups), Flickr (photographs), YouTube (videos), Blogger.com, and others communicating the ongoing events. (Of course, this is if you accept that democracy and good governance are highly correlated)
Going beyond the issue of the "how", namely the different ways that Web 2.0 is being used for improved transparency and governance, it is also important to look at the "why" i.e. what is it about Web 2.0 that is making it so successful in improving governance.
To understand the role of Web 2.0 in improving governance, it may be helpful to look at the factors behind the success of Web 2.0 in tackling governance issues. These factors are, in fact, derived from the fundamental attributes of the web, and for the most part, have simply been amplified with Web 2.0. This amplification has been, to a large extent, responsible for the fast uptake of Web 2.0 to improve transparency and governance.
- A fundamental characteristic of the Web is that it is democratic and decentralized. Web 2.0 tools make it even more so. In this environment it is possible for any Joe Blow to "tweet", or "Digg" content in the web. If the content is appealing to a large number of people, Joe will be able to drive the trend, whatever it may be. The democratization of the web, meaning anyone can create content without much trouble, means that there is a high amount of granularity of information or opinion on a diverse range of topics.
- Secondly, with the advent of mobile technology, and the accompanying fall in computing costs, computing ability has become ubiquitous. Whether it is cell phone use in the poorest African or Bangladeshi village, or the Amazon, more and more people have the ability to communicate their thoughts, photographs and news. Mobile technology is being used for public health programs (Aftercare for HIV AIDS in South Africa), local dialogue (post-election in Kenya), humanitarian assistance (food to Iraqi refugees), environment/wildlife monitoring and conservation (Kenyan elephant tracking). Go here to download pdf with more about these examples.
- Thirdly, the Web is the modern equivalent of the Wild West – it cannot be governed by any central authority. The nature of Web technology is that any information that is suppressed cannot stay that way for long. Most recently, for example, whenever their are crackdowns on Twitter (China or India), people immediately found workarounds and continued to communicate.
- It is also extremely difficult to track Web activity of millions of people. So repressive governments or even companies find that they cannot monitor what people do. To demonstrate – Microsoft is one of the biggest companies in the world. When Bing, their search engine came out, if you set your country as "India" or any Middle Eastern country, you could not perform searches with the word "sex" in it. However if you changed your country to USA (regardless of where you were actually located), you could do the search without any problems. If even Microsoft's efforts at censorship are so easily overcome, governments face a much tougher challenge.
- Finally, and this is not a characteristic of the web, but a Web 2.0 innovation, the "push" technology which, forces or pushes information to the members of the social network, as opposed to requiring users to go to the web pages that they are interested in. For instance if three of my friends think that PSY is the best thing in the world, whether I like it or not, I will be "notified" of it through Facebook notification. If I "follow" someone on Twitter, I will get their opinions or news whether I agree or not. This innovation drives more information out faster than it would otherwise have achieved in the pre-Web 2.0 days. The push technology thus accelerates the impact of the three factors mentioned.
So, when you combine the democratization of the web, mobile technology/falling costs of computing, the decentralized nature – and hence the independence of the Web, with the push technology, it creates the perfect storm for increased transparency. It can be as simple as - every Joe Blow has a cell phone and can tell the world how he or she feels without much fear of exposure, and if every citizen did this, you would have the transparency you wanted, and through it, improved governance.
In the rush to celebrate Web 2.0 tools, it is easy to forget to acknowledge the risks that go hand in hand with the advantages of social networking. If mobile technology, low costs and a widely dispersed and decentralized web can translate into citizens communicating and receiving information as they never did before, it can also mean that there is a lot more information out there that is not relevant or accurate. The "trust" factor becomes all the more important, and this is an issue that the social networking tools have not, as a collective unit, resolved. This could potentially be the single biggest challenge that Web 2.0 will have to overcome, along with a host of other issues such as access to all, security/privacy, the use of web 2.0 to propagate hate/criminal behavior, etc.
Nevertheless Web 2.0 continues to be a tool in advancing governance, and in the best manner possible, with the thrust coming from the bottom rung (citizens) to drive change at the top (government), taking academics and development professionals by surprise with every new turn.
Photo Credit: Sherif9282/Creative Commons
great post, very informative.
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don't understand this. You should continue your writing.
I'm confident, you have a huge readers' base already!


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Your shopping cart is empty!
Item Dimensions: L52x W28x H8
Weight: 1lb.
A quality baby bedding set is essential in making your nursery warm and inviting. All Cotton Tale patterns are made using the finest quality materials and are uniquely designed to create an elegant and sophisticated nursery. Gypsy crib sheet is 300 count cotton percale in gold dot. Standard crib sheet measures 52 x 28 inches. Machine wash, separately on a gentle cycle, cold water. Tumble dry low or hang dry. Perfect sheet for your little girl.


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Saturday, August 18, 2012
OIS Announces Economical Small Company Sales Force Automation Software
OIS iMobile was professionally developed by Orders In Seconds to make tracking sales and customers easy and efficient. Customer orders are instantly processed and stored simply by making a few entries into the system. These entries can be done on essentially any Apple or Android platform that has internet connectivity. It works in conjunction with Google Maps to store customer location as well, helping boost sales force efficiency.
OIS iMobile is an application currently being used by companies with one sales representative to hundreds of sales reps, and is available in the Apple Store and Android Market. The application helps automate the sales process by keeping open database connectivity. Essentially, anything that happens in the field can be immediately documented and seen from headquarters. This is essential in terms of getting a mobile sales force up and running. Not only does this save time – and time is money, after all – but it also makes other key elements of business like merchandising much, much easier to keep track of.
The software makes the accounting process much more effective by tracking not only field sales, but also in-store audits. This will allow your business the ability to cut down personnel numbers and will even save time in the process. No longer does your business need to hire someone to track every sale – it's done for you and with 100% accuracy.
Orders In Seconds also provides training and support for the application. So, you can easily train your sales force in the use of the application and any problems can be quickly rectified. They also have a team of experts that will help you easily integrate the application.
If you aren't sure whether the software is what you need for your business, there's a 30-day free trial available. So, you can take a look at it yourself and make sure that it really is as useful and effective as promised.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Back to School Time: Disney Dreams/Thomas Kinkaid Print Sale - $7
***$7.00 each with regular price normally $14.50 – OVER 50% OFF!!***
High Quality Prints, Done on Heavy Matte Paper Stock
Sample Titles Include:
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and The Beast
The Princess and the Frog
Tinkerbell and Peter Pan
Snow White discovers the cottage
Sleeping Beauty
and plenty more…
$3.50 flat rate shipping - purchase all you want for only $3.50!!
Please visit our website HERE for more details.
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Maid Of Honor Duties
• Maid of honor duties commence from the moment one gets a confirmation from the bride that she is going to be the maid of honor or matron of honor. The first few maid of honor duties would be to work with the bride and her family to get the list of invitees' right. Making suggestions, pinpointing those who have been missed and also trying to organize the entire exercise are integral to maid of honor duties.
• Shopping with the bride is mandatory for a matron of honor. Not only would shopping for the bride or herself be one of the maid of honor duties but also ensuring that the dresses, jewelry and all accessories are in place for all the bridesmaids and the entire bridal gang.
• Playing an active role during the phases when the cake is being ordered, the cards are being selected, the invitations are being sent out and all such activities are significant maid of honor duties.
• One of the most important maid of honor duties is to organize a bridal shower. Now, a matron of honor can organize it herself or one can team up with a few bridesmaids to do the same. The latter is less hassle and most maids of honor opt for that.
• Throwing a bachelorette party is also one of the maid of honor duties. A matron of honor may or may not be obligated to do the same but if one has a perception that because of being married, a matron of honor cannot organize a bachelorette party then you can rest assured that it is perfectly alright.
• Handling logistics is often a part of maid of honor duties. A matron of honor may have to be completely available during the pre wedding days when guests are arriving and putting up at hotels or at the house of the bride and attending to all of them are also among the maid of honor duties.
• Attending all pre wedding parties are also integral to maid of honor duties.
Writing The Ideal Maid Of Honor Speech
Writing the ideal maid of honor speech or that of matron of honor requires four important steps.
• The moment you get to know that you would have to prepare the maid of honor speech, you must start working on it. A matron of honor or maid of honor speech must never be left for the last minute. If you think you can be spontaneous on the big day or night and pull things off then it's a different story otherwise you have to start working.
• A maid of honor speech or that of matron of honor has the sole purpose of honoring the couple and talking about good things. You must make a list of everything that you may or may not want to include. Details such as how the couple met, what they like in each other, what their collective wishes are and things like that would certainly make it to the final maid of honor speech.
• Speaking with the bride is a great idea. She might have some suggestions or reservations and knowing that would ensure that the maid of honor speech makes the most special person happy on her day.
• It is not unwise for the matron of honor to speak with the best mate on his speech. If a maid of honor speech complements that of the best mate's, the collective impact will be profuse.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Electronic Cigarette Review: E-Cigarettes are here to stay
A recent electronic cigarette review by the web site WebMD asks the rhetorical question, "Are E-Cigarettes Here to Stay?" The author makes a rather clever point that "Electronic cigarettes are picking up steam..." She refers to a recent study in the American Journal of Public Health" that highlights a growing public awareness of electronic cigarettes among the American public (about 40%, according to their survey).
Stating the obvious
Who are more likely to use e-cigarettes? Wouldn't that be existing smokers? That is what the study found, and yet the piece seems to express a surprised curiosity over that fact. Of course existing smokers would want to use electronic cigarettes, which contain about 3,998 fewer ingredients than burning tobacco. A novice smoker (say a teenager) doing an impromptu electronic cigarette review, would probably rather light up and blow real smoke than the wimpy steam e-cigarettes emit and would probably not "graduate" to e-cigarettes until hooked on nicotine.
Perhaps the author has never smoked and gone through the difficult withdrawal from nicotine, and like so many antismoking advocates just does not understand how difficult it is to stop puffing on toxic cancer sticks. Now that e-cigarettes are on the market to throw a lifeline to both the poor smokers and nonsmokers harmed by secondhand smoke, it seems that antismoking forces are (ironically) opposing a product that doesn't foul the air and has proven to be a smoking cessation tool.
Not marketed that way, though
The article says that e-cigarettes aren't regulated by the FDA "as a drug delivery device because they are not marketed as quit-smoking aids." That is a somewhat misleading statement. The FDA actually tried to regulate e-cigarettes as a drug delivery device but lost their case in court. It wasn't the FDA who decided that e-cigarettes are not marketed as quit-smoking aids. The court ruled that e-cigarettes were, similar to cigarettes, nicotine delivery devices and should be regulated like cigarettes. The FDA still has not come out with definitive regulations on electronic cigarettes – perhaps because they should not be regulated exactly like real cigarettes?
Specious "unknowns"
Then the article cites several "unanswered questions" about the safety of e-cigarettes, which any smoker could readily answer:
• Do e-cigarettes encourage former smokers to take up smoking again and "re-ignite their nicotine addiction?" Any ex-smoker knows the danger and undesirability of resurrecting a habit that was so very tough to defeat. The existence of electronic cigarettes would not factor into a decision to get re-addicted to a drug they worked so hard to kick.
• Are people who smoke now using electronic cigarettes to quit or to get around indoor smoking laws? So what? Whichever reason applies, quitting or keeping the air free of harmful cigarette smoke would both be good things. If the smoker is not interested in quitting but wants to keep smoke out of the air, that's one less cigarette inhaled into the lungs and one less butt discharged into the environment. Besides, strictly speaking, electronic cigarette reviews need to take into account something very important about their nature: e-cigarettes are harm reduction devices that, at the very least, mitigate the harm of smoking, and, at best, could be used to stop altogether.
• Finally, how are electronic cigarettes affecting nonsmokers who have never smoked? Are they "gateway products?" The answers are undoubtedly: (1) not at all, given the minute traces of stuff in the steam exhaled by e-cigarette smokers, and (2) the "gateway" to cigarette smoking would more likely be the single cigarette from the $5.00 cigarette pack and not the costlier electronic cigarette kit or disposable kind.
FDA, et. al, want a perfect world with lousy options.
So antismoking advocates continue to urge "greater regulation of these products until these questions are answered." In the meantime, the FDA continues to urge people wanting to quit use approved "smoking cessation tools" (nicotine gum, patches, lozenges), which, unfortunately have about a 90% failure rate.
One voice of reason
The article ends on a more balanced note citing one voice of reason: physician, Michael Siegel (associate chairman of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health) who points out the obvious fact that if electronic cigarettes were taken off the market "smokers would be forced to go back to cigarette smoking."
The real question about FDA's electronic cigarette review
Do the FDA and their antismoking colleagues really want smokers to go back to blowing smoke? Or is the "smoke blowing" being done on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies who market "approved" smoking cessation devices?


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Little Brushes
I Wish I May
Sunday, December 17
per guest
Learn more
Class Details
In Ireland people tie their hopes and dreams on a Wishing Tree with ribbons and cards. The only limit is your imagination as you place your wishes, one by one on this enchanting painting!
ALL AGES CLASS - NO ALCOHOL SERVED. No Outside Drinks Allowed.
The Best Day Ever
Fun Atmosphere
From the moment you walk in, the mood is light, the music is fun and the conversation comes easy!
Easy to Do
You don't need to be a seasoned painter — we make it easy for everyone to find their inner artist!
Sit Together
You'll get seats with all your friends, even if you book separately. Just tell us your friends' names when you register.
Paint Your Way
There's no rule that says you have to follow the artist's steps. It's your art, so paint it however you like!
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out our FAQs to learn more about what to expect from your Pinot's Palette experience or feel free to call the studio to speak to a member of our staff.
Do I need a reservation?
Yes, advanced reservations are required. All guests must be registered for class prior to arrival to guarantee your reservation and special seating requests. Payment is due at the time of the reservation to guarantee your seat.
Is alcohol included in the event price?
No, the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control mandates the separate sale of alcohol. The class price includes all of your art supplies, professional instruction, and the experience of our fun and entertaining atmosphere.
What is your food and beverage policy?
It is illegal to BYOB in the state of Kentucky, but you can BYOFood. We do not provide food. We are a bar, so all beverages must be purchased in our studio, including non-alcoholic. Outside beverages of any kind are strictly prohibited and you will be asked to finish them or throw them out at the door before entry. Due to our bar license, everyone must be 21 or older and present valid ID at the bar if you plan to consume alcoholic beverages. We do have catering options available as well.
When do I need to arrive for class?
Doors open 30 minutes before class starts. We recommend you arrive at least 15-20 minutes before class time to allow yourself to get settled in and mingle before the painting begins. Please allow yourself up to an additional 30 minutes after the painting session is scheduled to end, if planning a ride home or have made other plans after class. LATE ARRIVALS: Class starts promptly at the designated scheduled time. Arrivals more than 15 minutes after the painting session has started are welcome to paint, but will need to catch up on their own. Depending on the number of reservations in class, there may be a Floor Artist to assist you.
What is the cancellation/reschedule policy?
Due to the custom nature of our classes, ALL SALES ARE FINAL! The cancellation policy is based on class start times. NO REFUNDS will be issued for reservations. However, if you cancel with at least 48 hours' notice, your payment will be turned into a studio credit that can ONLY be used for a future class within 30 days. Please email us (email@example.com) to cancel. You may also reschedule into another event on our current class calendar. If you no-show for a class that you have a reservation for, or don't give at least 48 hours' notice of your cancellation, you forfeit your reservation payment. Seats are transferable, but you will need to notify the studio prior to the class with the name change. CLASS MINIMUM: If a public class does not meet the minimum of 6 painters, we reserve the right to cancel class. In this instance, you will be notified via email or phone and we will issue you a studio credit valid for 60 days or reschedule you into an upcoming class on our calendar. Refunds will not be issued. By purchasing your seats, you confirm agreement with this policy.


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Prasat Preah Vihear, CambodiaKirsty Turner
Also known as Khao Phra Wiharn or Sacred Monastery, Prasat Preah Vihear is one of Cambodia's most striking monuments from the Angkorian period. This 800 meter temple is situated at an elevation of 730 meters and offers spectacular views across Cambodia to the scared mountain of Phnom Kulen.
Prasat Preah Vihear is an important pilgrimage site and was build to represent Mount Meru where many important deities are believed to reside. Climb the monumental stairway and pause to appreciate the detailed carvings that adorn the temple.
Look out for the Gopura on the third level, which displays an early rendition of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. The temple sits atop Pey Tadi, which is a rocky cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, providing interesting views into both countries.
Many people take a picnic with them so that they can enjoy the stunning views from the top while they eat. The large market place at the foot of Prasat Preah Vihear is a good place to buy freshly cooked food and snacks.
Prasat Preah Vihear is a great place to visit on the way into Cambodia from Thailand or just before you leave the country. For a really memorable adventure, travel to Prasat Preah Vihear by helicopter from Siem Reap.
The sunset is spectacular from the top of the temple and it is worth sticking around at the end of the day to see it. The nearest town to Prasat Preah Vihear is Kantharalak. Here you will find a number of basic guesthouses, restaurants and pretty places to explore, making this a good place to spend the night.


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May 22, 2020 9 No Comments
To play Movie Click on Play icon on Player 2-3 times until Movie Starts, During this Few Useless windows opened just close them they are ADS.
If the Movie keeps buffering, Just pause it for 5-10 minutes then continue playing!.
The Lodge (2019) Hindi Dubbed ORG Full Movie Watch Online HD Free Download


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Tagged: ken roberts
9-7-08 MLB & Dodgers Notes
A couple of MLBlogs have been updated. Andre Ethier has a new food review. Zack Hample made a visit to Dodger Stadium. I enjoy reading his blog. He has a passion of collecting baseballs. Alyssa Milano updated her blog too. Check them out.
Hot links
Manny is serious when he has to be
Dodgers Triple-A team leaving Vegas ?
Scully will return for 60th season
I got a e-mail from Ken Roberts. He created a "odds of making the playoffs" website. At this moment, according to his site the Dodgers have a 49.11 % to make the playoffs. Interesting stuff. Check it out if you're into numbers.
Video Time
Troy from West Virginia is not happy with Allegany County Community College.


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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination is recommended for all infants, older children and adolescents who were not vaccinated previously, and adults at risk for HBV infection.
Find Free, Fast, and Confidential Testing Near You
Not Sure What Test You Need?
Find Answers to Your Questions
Did You Know?
Hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for all children starting at age 1 year, travelers to certain countries, and others at risk.
CDC recommends that health care providers test everyone for HIV between the ages of 13 and 64 at least once as part of routine health care. Talk to a healthcare provider about getting tested.
HIV is spread through unprotected sex and drug-injecting behaviors, so people who engage in these behaviors should get tested more often.
You can arm yourself with basic information about STDs: How are these diseases spread? How can you protect yourself? What are the treatment options? Read these STD Fact Sheets to find out.
People born from 1945 through 1965 are 5x more likely to have Hepatitis C. While anyone can get Hepatitis C, more than 75% of people with Hepatitis C were born during these years. That's why CDC recommends that anyone born from 1945 through 1965 get tested for Hepatitis C.
Knowing you have Hepatitis C can help you make important decisions about your health. Successful treatments can eliminate the virus from the body and prevent liver damage, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer.
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Zoning Code Update Packet #137
Contents of Update Packet #137 (effective 03/05/10)
This Code update is the result of the amendment to allow Office uses at PGE Park and amendments to the South Waterfront Greenway regulations.
Code Update Packet: 137
Effective Date: March 5, 2010
Contact: Troy Doss (South Waterfront) at 503-823-5857 or Karl Lisle (PGE Park) 503-823-4286
Amends Chapters: 420, 510, 700, 720, 851
Substantive Changes:
This Code update is the result of Ordinance #183517 to amend the Zoning Code to allow a limited amount of office use at PGE Park; and Ordinance #183518 which amends the Zoning Code and South Waterfront Greenway Development Plan and updates and corrects several zoning provisions applicable to the South Waterfront District.
Click here to download Zoning Code Update Pages #137. Subsequent updates may have modified some of these pages. The links to chapters in the chart below will provide the current version of the chapter.
The official Title 33, Planning and Zoning (Zoning Code) is the printed copy in the Development Services Center. PDFs available on PortlandOnline are not the official text of Title 33, Planning and Zoning. Although every effort is made to ensure that the two texts are identical, errors or differences may remain. It is the user's responsibility to verify the legal accuracy of all provisions.
Click here to email the Bureau of Planning if you have suggestions about how to improve these notifications.


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Does anyone know of a low power server/pc that have 2 NIC's, so it can be used for a (OpenBSD) firewall?
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Does anyone know of a low power server/pc that have 2 NIC's, so it can be used for a (OpenBSD) firewall?
What sort of load do you need to handle and (if you plan on needing to NAT) how many states do you anticipate needing to track? If under 50Mbit and 20k states or so, I'd highly recommend using an ALIX embedded computer. I have many of these deployed as router/firewall/vpn devices, running PFSense. PFSense is based on FreeBSD, so it's likely getting OpenBSD running on it will be quite easy. All of the units like this I've deployed are using the ALIX 2d3 board, which has three network interfaces (can add as many VLAN interfaces as you want to any of these physical interfaces), a 500MHz processor, and 256 MB RAM. They're rock-solid stable, run very cool, and draw a max of 6 watts or so.
If you need something with a bit more horsepower, then follow Wesley's advice. HP rackmount servers are very good, as long as, like he said, you stay away from the very low-end servers which are really just desktop motherboards stuffed into a rackmount case.
Edit: Total cost for the ALIX 2d3 solution will be about $150 for the board, power supply, case, and CF card.
Really, you just need to pick out one of the lower-end servers offered by a major vender. Just determine if you need a desktop or rackmount form factor. For example, HP's ML/DL 100 series of tower/rackmount servers would be good. Just avoid the lowest of the low such as the ML 110/115. Lowest end servers usually have some important corners that have been cut like disk controllers, NICS and management features.
You could get a decent lower end server for under $1,000 easy.
How about something based on a mini-itx motherboard?
I am suprised that nobody mentioned the fit-PC2i that always seems to come up in this application area.
I 2nd the Alix + Pfsense.
I built one (http://tothelasttribe.com/blog/2009/04/building-a-firewall-pfsense-on-an-alix-2d3/), and have nothing but positive things to say about it.
Living outside of the US, the cost for one of those embedded systems no longer becomes an advantage once shipping is factored into.
For me, I run m0n0wall on an Atom 330 instead (http://perpetuallybored.com/2010/02/12/high-performance-and-affordable-router-with-m0n0wall-and-atom/). Not the most low powered solution, but it works.
As you've explicitly asked for a low power machine I suggest that any old PC will suffice. At work I'm using a PC that was replaced because it was too low spec for use as a workstation, with a pair of extra NICs thrown in (one for the DMZ). At home I'm using an old Celeron that was going to be thrown out by someone I know, also with an extra pair of NICs installed.


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Steve in Kentucky
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:02 pm
Post subject: Beer vs. Water Can Chicken
The original article was about determining whether using beer (instead of just water) makes a difference so I want to comment on that, not debate the author's beer choice*. I too have wondered how much it matters. But, I have used different liquids and achieved different results with the same spice recipe (Steven Raichlen's
"The One and Only Beer-Can Chicken"
), which by the way, is the beer can chicken recipe we always come back to after we have tried other spice rubs/methods. In his recipe, he states "You can also barbecue a chicken on a can of cola, lemon-lime soda, or root beer." We decided to try this and made two chickens for a family get-together. With two reformed alcoholics as in-laws, my wife would never let me serve "beer" can chicken. So, on one, we used a lemon lime soda (e.g. Sprite) and the other a root beer; otherwise, they were identical. Both worked well. They were slightly different but we couldn't tell which was which. *If you recall, the original author's beer choice was
driven by his desire to buy just a single can of beer. Remember, if you don't have a can, you can always pour your favorite beer into an empty soda pop can; I am yet to have a chicken complain!!! Enjoy!
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:04 am
Post subject: A lot of you missed the point here.
The reason the recipe for beer can chicken exists in the first place is because it was a recipe that depended on using a 16 ounce aluminum can. What was in the can was irrelevant. It's just that the only thing that came in 16 ounce cans was crappy mass market beer.
Beer that comes in 16 oz cans is generally not of the sort that have enough flavor to produce any discernible taste difference from water, nor was that an expectation of the original recipes. It was just a method of holding a chicken vertical and steaming the inside with spices.
Now that we have commercial versions of the beer can stand as well as a much broader access to beer varieties it's much easier to play around and try and use a strong enough beer to add some beer flavor. If beer flavor is what you're looking for, however, you'd be better off using it as a basting base.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 12:40 pm
Post subject:
I've tried a lot of different liquids including a vinegar based bbq sauce and can never tell that it makes a difference. So, I just drink the beer and put water in the can.
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Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:51 pm
Post subject: beer can chicken
great test, but I cook them on thrones on my smoker at about 250 degrees.
I have found that brining does change the taste but my chickens get rubbed under the skin with a mixture of herbs and a dry rub (commercial) on top of olive oil for the skin. The mixture in the thrones is about 50-50 dos equis dark and barbecue sauce. A woman I worked with recomends an inexpensive aromatic wine in the thrones, but I haven"t tried that yet. After cooking, we pull the chicken and serve with a light honey-mustard barbecue sauce and haven't had a dry chicken yet, even without the sauce. My experience has been that the thrones contain a mixture of barbecue sauce and chicken fat after cooking. I think the real advantage of cooking "beer can" is that you are cooking from the inside as well as the outside and the fact that you are introducing moisture to what is normally a "dry" cook process. I cannot discern any beer taste in the chickens.
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Rich Shewmaker
Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:04 am
Post subject: "Beer Can" Chicken
I have a couple of twists on this recipe. First, most well equipped kitchens already have what is needed to roast a chicken upright. I use the removable center section of an angel food cake pan, placed on a sheet pan. Second, all the recipes I've seen for upright roasted chicken mount the chicken legs down. I suggest putting the chicken on the device breast side down. The biggest problem with roasting a chicken is that the breast meat cooks faster than the thighs and legs, and tends to dry out. Placing the dark meat at the top exposes it to more radiant heat and allows it to cook faster while the Breast is protected by the pan. Also, gravity is on our side, pulling the juices down into the white meat and helping keep it juicy. I tie the tips of the drumsticks together and tuck the wingtips behind the back of the bird. No other trussing is necessary. I also like the Cook's Illustrated technique of drying the skin in the refrigerator for a day with a dusting of baking soda to ensure crispness.
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Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 3
Location: here at my desk
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:43 am
Post subject:
I have to agree choosing a Bud as "beer" pretty much negates the findings as Bud is closer to water than it is to beer. I have never noticed a beer can chicken recipe mention washing the can first, not ever. Certainly the heat of the oven would likely take care of the bacteria on the can, but really, isn't this just something you would want to do? The chicken itself has potentially vast more bacteria than a beer can, but most people at least rinse the chicken under running water, like that does anything. Anyway, cans are packaging that protect the contents, but nothing protects the outside of the can from anything; so wash your can.
My experience with beer can chicken produced tasty results, but issues with the chicken leaning over and falling during cooking. The up-righted chicken was wobbly, as if the beer was having the usual effect, and only after much manhandling would it stay upright in the cast iron pan.
Still, the results were no better than brining, though more adventurous.
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Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 3
Location: here at my desk
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:48 am
Post subject: Re: "Beer Can" Chicken
Rich Shewmaker wrote:
The biggest problem with roasting a chicken is that the breast meat cooks faster than the thighs and legs, and tends to dry out. Placing the dark meat at the top exposes it to more radiant heat and allows it to cook faster while the Breast is protected by the pan. Also, gravity is on our side, pulling the juices down into the white meat and helping keep it juicy. I tie the tips of the drumsticks together and tuck the wingtips behind the back of the bird.
Okay ...not sure about the baking soda bit, but here I sit impressed at genius.
I don't even want to try beer can chicken again, well maybe with wine this time, but definitely I am going to try this.
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1242
Location: central PA
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:56 pm
Post subject:
>>not sure about the baking soda bit
it's a desiccant, as is plain old salt and many other compounds.
the cited idea is for crispness - but I have also read a number of comments about baking soda "contributing / enhancing" browning with specific regard to baking.
which is actually something I'm playing with at the moment - I'm experimenting with a really good drop biscuit recipe - my complaint is that it does not brown well. I've been through some bake temp experiments, now working on more baking soda.....
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:35 pm
Post subject: beer can chicken
of course if you use butt-wip-er its not going to fast good, that stuff is made from the horse pee that pulls the carriage in the commercials you always see...
you need a good beer for a great tasting bird, and don't cook them in the same oven at the same time if your using two different recipes.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:25 pm
Post subject: Beer Can Chicken - my 2 cents
I use ginger ale and baste chicken in cherry wine, then pour the cherry wine into the ginger ale can (after I've removed about half the ginger ale). Have not done any experiments but this provides an excellent moist and tasty chicken.
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:56 pm
Post subject: beer can chicken - BUSTED
Most people don't cook chicken past 165 (175 for dark meat). How can the beer(water) possibly reach boiling temps inside a 165-175 degree chicken? Basic thermodynamics 101...
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1242
Location: central PA
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:46 pm
Post subject:
as the beer warms the aromatics are released. some alcohol.
I've never seen knock-off-yo-socks results - but it's a cute method.....
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PS - Painting in Photoshop CS5 (Part 2)
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[♪music♪] [ADOBE TV Presents] [The Complete Picture with Julieanne Kast] Hi and welcome. My name's Julieanne Kast and in today's episode of The Complete Picture, we're going to talk all about the different options for the Mixer Brush tool. This is a new tool to Photoshop CS5. In the last episode, Part 1 of Painting, we talked all about the new Natural Media Bristle Tips. Now we're going to focus on the Mixer Brush tool. You can see here that I have assigned a custom keyboard shortcut just using the keyboard editor so that my Brush tool is still accessed by the keyboard shortcut "b," but now my Mixer Brush tool can be accessed very quickly by just tapping the "h" key, so it makes it convenient for me to go back and forth between the two. All right--we're going to start with the Mixer Brush tool. However, I'm just going to pick one of these brushes, like say the Scatter Brush. So right now, I'm not using the Natural Media Bristle Tips-- and there's a reason for that-- and I'll tell you that in just a moment. We're going to start with the different options and figure out how these affect painting with the Mixer Brush. So there's 3 primary options: there's the wet option, the load option, and the mix option. Let's start off with the Load option/ I'm going to keep the Wet to 0% and therefore there's not going to be any Mix, and the Load is set to 10%. So the Load is just how much paint you have loaded in your brush. Now, I'll use my Layer comps to quickly move back and forth between this illustration and the canvas, so now I'm going to paint with this Spatter Brush. Let me just make it a little bit bigger to make sure we can see it. I have a low Load, so when I click and drag, the brush runs out of paint really quickly. Watch as I increase the Load and now brush again--you can see that I get paint a little bit further. And if we increase it to like 80%, I can brush even further. So the Load is simply how much paint is loaded in the brush. Okay--that's probably the easiest thing. Let's go back in time, clear off our palette there, and go back to the illustration. So when you paint with no wetness and no mix, obviously the Mixer brush isn't really mixing; it's not picking up anything and it's not blending any colors. In order to do that, we have to switch or increase the amount of wetness. Now, the amount of wetness is really the wetness of the canvas. So you can actually choose not to load your brush. You could have no paint in your brush and you could still move around and mix the colors on your canvas. So let's try that. I'm going to change here to maybe kind of a low wet percentage-- maybe around 20--and let's decrease the Load. We could either decrease the Load to 0 or I could just turn off the option here to load the brush--you can see there's no longer any paint in this swatch. So this is the icon to toggle on and off Loading of the brush. Now we'll go back to our canvas and take a look. When I click and drag now, you can see that when I took the brush and it went from the white into the green, because the canvas was wet, some of that white went into the green. Likewise, the green went back into the white. And if I increase the wetness value and we paint again, you can see that it's dragging more of it, so it's like the canvas is actually wetter. All right--let's move back to our third option, which is the Mix option. So the Mix option determines how much Mix, or how much blending there is, between the colors on your canvas and the color that's loaded in your brush. So let's move our wetness down a little bit, maybe to like 50% or so, we'll load up the brush--maybe 50% again-- and now I'll just increase the Mix a little bit, like 25% or so. I need to make sure that I'm loading my brush, so I'll click to Load it. I'm loading it with purple. We'll go back to our blank canvas and I will click and drag. You can see what's happening here-- it's starting with the brush fully loaded in purple over this transparent area but as I drag it through, it's starting to mix with that canvas because my canvas is wet and I'm mixing it. But I've still got a lot of purple in my stroke. If we increase the Mix, that's basically telling Photoshop to take more information from the canvas. So now you can see what happens is I don't have as much purple in my stroke because the brush is picking up more white from that canvas area. So those are really the 3 basic parameters that you need to pay attention to. Now, we have some Presets here so you can move back and forth really quickly between a dry brush--let's look at that--what's a dry brush going to do? Well, it's not going to mix with anything because there's no wetness value, therefore there's no mixing. If we go to a moist brush, it's a little bit wet, so it'll move around pixels a bit, and it will mix 50/50. You can go through the rest of these Presets and of course--don't forget--once you set up all these values here, you can always save your own tool Presets. We talked a little bit about the ability to Load paint using this icon right here to turn it on and off. The next icon right next to it is how you would clean your brush. So let's go back to the Mixer brush illustration here. Loading and Cleaning. We talked about Loading--you put paint in the brush. The Cleaning--if you drag along and your brush is picking up paint, you need to decide when you put the brush down the next time do you want to start with a clean brush or do you want to use that paint that's already loaded in there? And there's kind of a nice icon if we move back to our canvas here. When I decide not to clean the brush--let's say I start in the middle of the circle with my purple and I start painting-- when I let go, you can see right here in this icon that my brush is dirty. So if I start painting, it's not going to start painting with pure purple. It's going to start painting with the Mix that I picked up my brush and left off with. So as we start painting, there it is. If I want to Clean the brush, all I need to do is simply click that icon. Now of course, when you're really painting from scratch, you're going to be using the Load option as well as the Clean option quite often. So down here in our keyboard shortcuts, under Tools, you'll notice that you can actually assign keyboard shortcuts to the Load Mixer brush and the Clean Mixer Brush as well as toggle the Auto-Load and Auto-Clean on and off. All right. What I'd like to do is show you 2 keyboard shortcuts before we take a look at some sample paintings. These 2 keyboard shortcuts I think are going to help you a lot. Well, I'll show you 3 because 1 I already mentioned in the last version and that was just the fact that you can assign a keyboard shortcut to bring up the foreground color. So I assigned "n" to it. There's my foreground color--quite nice. I also mentioned that on the Mac you can use Control-Option-Command and on Windows that's going to be a right mouse click plus Alt and Shift and when you click, you're going to be able to see this new Color Picker right on screen. So we can select a different color using the outer color wheel. Right--so let's say I want a red. Now, I want to move inside to change the density or the luminosity as well as the saturation. But let's say I picked this color right here. It's just not quite right. I need to change my hue a little bit. So in order to do that, you can let go of the keyboard, you hold down the space bar and jump over to your hue wheel. Then let go of the space bar and you can move around the hue color wheel. When you want to jump back into the square in the center, you hold down the space bar, jump over, let go of the space bar, and then you can change your color. Now, if you prefer, you can go into the Photoshop preferences right here and you can choose whether or not you want to see a wheel or a strip-- totally up to you. One last shortcut--I'll just tap the "i" key. The "i" will give me the eyedropper. You should just notice that we now have this kind of nice little wheel that will show up whenever you're sampling colors. It also gives you the before and after, and it's surrounded with gray to kind of neutralize what it is that you're looking at, so you're not biased by a lot of different colors there. All right--excellent. Now, let's go ahead and show Mini Bridge. I'm just going to pop that up so that we can take a look at some of these examples. So this is actually just a scratch sheet that Mike Shaw--one of the painters at Adobe--has created. Kind of ironic that his scratch paper looks better than some of my paintings, but I just wanted to show you sort of the different options here. Look, he's done some more illustrative things-- you can see the paint splat that we did in the last episode. Here we've got a more surreal image, and all of these, of course, were created using the Mixer brush. This image happens to be from scratch as is this one. All right, excellent. Now, how do we go about doing this? Well, let's switch over to this image right here. I'm going to go ahead and hide Mini Bridge for now. Let's just close this. The thing that was exciting to me about the Mixer Brush tool is not the concept of painting from scratch, because I can't do that, but what excited me was the ability to actually turn a photograph into a painting. So here we can see I have an image; it's multi-layered. I've got an image of the background here; in fact, let's look at my layers panel. I've got my figure in the foreground which was just a mannequin, obviously, in a store window. I've got this mountain and I've got an ocean that we can see right down here. So for me, it's really interesting to actually make a painting out of these images because otherwise, I'm not sure that there's really anything I could do with this image. I mean, it's got the reflections in it, it's got the person down here walking by. But by using the new Mixer brush, I can go ahead and make some really cool changes, so let's set it up. I'm going to show my Brushes panel. I'm going to get off the Scatter brush and I'm actually going to choose one of the Natural Media Brush Tips, such as this one. I want thin bristles and I want a few of them, so let's grab about that many of them, and a little bit smaller of a brush, and now what we can do is simply start painting. And as I start painting here, you can see that I'm mixing these brushes together. I'm loading purple right now and I might not want to do that, so if I don't want to load it, I'll just turn off the icon here. The other thing that really helps is the ability to rotate my canvas. So all I did was I held down the "r" key there, and in order to rotate your canvas, as the "r" key is pressed, you can simply click and drag to rotate it. So that's going to help me, and because I've got the spring-loaded cursors, when I let go of the "r" key, it's going to automatically bring me back to the tool it is that I'm using. So because I'm not loading any colors here, all I'm really doing is I'm simply mixing the colors that are already there. But what that's going to do is it's going to allow me to form the fabric shape here without having all of those reflections in the background. All right, now I'm not going to bore you to death and actually paint this entire image. What I've done is I've actually done a time lapse image so what you're seeing on the screen right now is actually a sped-up version of actually painting this. So as you can see, I've painted on different layers. That's one of the huge benefits of Photoshop, right? Is having the ability to use layers and masking? I've actually painted the mountains, and now we can see that I'm painting the ocean there and I'm actually kind of accentuating it a little bit more just for the mood. I've kind of made it look like it's a little foggy there at the horizon, and then we can go ahead and mask out all that building and distraction from the original image of the wedding gown, and then we can go ahead and take out the little bicycle and just fill that in nicely. So obviously there are a lot of you that are going to be watching this video that have way better painting skills than I do, but I have to admit this is probably one of the most exciting new features in Photoshop CS5 for me. I'm just having a ton of fun with it and I'm sure you will, too. So thanks for joining me. My name's Julieann Kast. I'll see you next time on The Complete Picture. [♪music♪] [ADOBE TV PRODUCTIONS]
Video Details
Duration: 13 minutes and 25 seconds
Language: English
License: All rights reserved
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Views: 140
Posted by: adobetv on Oct 6, 2010
In this episode of The Complete Picture, Julieanne Kost covers the Mixer Brush, one of the new painting features in Adobe Photoshop CS5.
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With senators preparing to unveil a bipartisan bill following a weekend agreement between top business and labor groups, advocates for comprehensive immigration reform have a lot of reasons to believe that their long-held dream is finally in sight.
But the other side says: Not so fast.
While even the most vocal opponents of comprehensive reform acknowledge that the politics of immigration have changed – with 71 percent of Latino voters favoring Barack Obama in the last election – those gearing up to fight the legislation argue that the overall landscape hasn't shifted as dramatically as supporters might think.
"It's one thing to say 'we need to do this' at a 30,000 feet kind of level," says Dan Holler of Heritage Action for America, the Heritage Foundation's advocacy arm. "But once they start getting down to the details of the legislation, I don't think things have fundamentally changed for most of the public since 2007."
Reps. Adam Schiff, R-Calif., and Luke Messer, R-Ind., join The Daily Rundown to discuss the House's quiet move to its own version of immigration reform.
Among veterans of past immigration fights, "2007" is shorthand for the defeat of the comprehensive reform effort in June of that year. That bill – which, like the current proposal, included a path for illegal immigrants to pay penalties and eventually become eligible for citizenship – collapsed after furious outcry from opponents of "amnesty," delivering a stinging loss to backer President George W. Bush.
Many of the same arguments made by opponents of that legislation are being echoed this time: that legalization inherently rewards people who committed a crime by residing in the U.S. illegally; that undocumented immigrants are a drain on federal resources; and that amid a still-sluggish economy, an influx of work-authorized immigrants means fewer jobs for unemployed Americans.
"This is a matter that the whole country needs to be looking at, particularly when we've got low unemployment among our low-skilled workers already," Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, who worked to defeat the 2007 measure, told NBC News. "If you legalize 11 million, including seven or eight million workers, they will be free to compete more aggressively for the all the jobs. You've got a pretty serious double-whammy there."
Related: April's shower of activity on Capitol Hill
Over the Easter weekend, business and labor groups reached agreement on a framework for a temporary low-skilled worker program, which includes controls to keep recipients of a new "W visa" from depressing others' wages or taking positions that could be filled by American workers. But not all of the specifics of that proposal are clear.
While the compromise notched a major victory for proponents of reform, the optics of the deal may not sit well with the public, Sessions points out.
Susan Walsh / AP
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is seen during a committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Jan. 31, 2013.
"I do not believe that a deal should be reached between big labor and big business and everybody's just supposed to rubber stamp it," he said. "That is not the way legislation is supposed to be done in America."
Outside groups are focused on the economic argument as well.
"Everything other than the politics is worse now than it was in 2007," says Rosemary Jenks, a lobbyist for NumbersUSA, an immigration limitation group heavily involved in fighting the Bush-backed measure.
And according to Jenks, that includes, most importantly, the unemployment rate. It's improved in recent months to 7.7 percent, but is currently higher than the 4.5 percent recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the summer of 2007.
NumbersUSA – which works to strictly limit legal immigration in addition to opposing efforts to legalize undocumented immigrants – and other groups aim to again mobilize opponents of reform by arguing that the proposed legalization and guest-worker programs would hurt Americans already struggling to find work.
Along with the argument that legalization inherently rewards a criminal action, the economic consequences of immigration will be one of the primary messages underpinning events like the annual "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" radio broadcasting event scheduled for later this month, when conservative hosts will gather in Washington, D.C., to ramp up opposition to the comprehensive reform bill.
On the legalization question, public opinion appears to be trending in the direction of reform.
In January, a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found for the first time that a majority of Americans support granting legal status to some illegal immigrants, with 52 percent of respondents saying that they favor such plans and 46 percent opposing them.
Spokesman Jay Carney discusses reported immigration reform progress made by the group of eight senators on Capitol Hill.
In 2007, the same poll found 44 percent supporting legalization compared to 51 percent opposing it.
But, while the number has consistently decreased since 2006, there's still a significant minority of Americans who view immigrants as a drag on America's economy.
A Pew Research Center poll published last week showed that 41 percent of Americans agree with the statement that "immigrants today are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing and health care."
Proponents of reform say that they are ready for a rematch of the battle they lost six years ago, and no one is expecting an easy win.
"We're very, very optimistic," said Felipe Benitez of the Alliance for Citizenship, the umbrella group spearheading the pro-reform effort. "And we are ready for a big, big fight."
This story was originally published on Mon Apr 1, 2013 7:02 PM EDT


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Mariano 29 giugno 1916
Vi arriva il poeta
e poi torna alla luce con i suoi canti
e li disperde
Di questa poesia
mi resta quel nulla
d'inesauribile segreto
Mariano 29 June 1916
and then back to light with his songs
and scatters them
In this poem
that nothing remains to me
of an inexhaustible secret
Il porto sepolto (The Buried Harbour): Giuseppe Ungaretti, from Il porto sepolto, 1916, trans. TC
Alexandria, Egypt, 2 March 1990: photo by NASA
Alexandria from Quitbays Citadel: photo by Ahmed Dokmak, 2006
Winter in Alexandria: photo by Abdelrhman 1990, 2008
Sunset over Citadel of Quaitbay: photo by Ahmed Sherif, 2008
Ungaretti was born in Alexandria in 1888, the son of an Italian from Lucca who had come to Egypt to work on the building of the Suez Canal. It was not until his mid-twenties that the poet saw Italy for the first time. The poem he chooses in late 1916 as title piece for a selection from his ongoing fragmentary poetic self-examination of conscience -- composed during front line service with the Italian army in the trenches of World War I -- suggests that, as he would later state explicitly, he regards the sunken ancient port of Alexandria as a symbol of his poetry. With its mysterious silences and depths, the work inscribes a mythic history of presence within the irretrievably lost.


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A packed room full of youth, their families and notable DeKalb County leaders were on hand Saturday to hear 2012 summer Olympic gold medalist Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas speak.
Douglas was the featured guest for District 4 DeKalb County Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton's youth empowerment breakfast. The breakfast benefited Sutton's No. 1 project — the Youth Leadership Academy, which she founded several years ago.
"We're so proud to have her [Douglas] here this morning, and we're grateful that she's also committed to helping youth reach their fullest potential," said Sutton.
The Olympian gave special remarks to the academy students, who represent a variety of high schools in the county, as well as to youth there who were in gymnastics themselves.
Douglas touched on her family's past struggles and their determination to make sure she succeeded in her goals.
"My mom, siblings and my family keeps me grounded," said Douglas. "They have really been a blessing. You definitely need a support system, a foundation because that's what helped me. If I didn't have that I wouldn't have accomplished anything in life — they helped me through those tough times."
Perhaps a great example of perseverance, in last year's London Olympic games, Douglas cemented herself as the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion. She is also the first American gymnast to win gold in both the gymnastic individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympic games.
"I used to doubt myself, but people always told me to believe in myself," said Douglas. "Go out there and shine, smile and enjoy yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to and that's why I wanted to share my story."
Yahrasiel Colbert, executive director of the leadership academy, said the program seeks to demonstrate that youth, when given guidance and educational opportunities, are more likely to be productive citizens.
"We're here this morning to salute the work of the students, staff and their parents and I want to encourage everyone in this room to get involved with this worthy cause," she said. "We are truly changing the lives of our children and community."


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001. I have so much to talk about but so little time. Finally managed to get my post about Juicy Couture's Vogues Fashion Night Out! Which was really lovely! Now I've got to get my LFW stuff, Look Show and IFB Crystals and Crumpets event stuff up! Like a idiot I forgot my camera battery so ended up being camera-less during the whole thing. IPhone photos are fine (surprised about how many people used their iPhone's as cameras during shows!) but its just not the same! I've started drafting posts so Im sure they will go up sooner rather than later!
002. Going to see 30 minutes or Less with my friend Hannah tonight. Haven't been to the cinema in what feels like forever, Swear I use to go all the time as well! I'm no film enthusiast but there is something about going to the cinema that really excites me!
003. Sneakily bought this coat for my winter coat this year. Its incredibly pricey but I'm going to return it and then buy it back with the 20% off student discount that Topshop are doing as part of their SCVNGR (STOLE MY NO VOWEL THING ~ OMGZ ~) student discount thing. Woe as me not being a student anymore though! To justify it I'm telling myself that it will last me all winter, and its pretty classic being tweed and all... right!?...right...
004. Have so many emails to reply to as ive been so MIA this week, so sorry if I've not replied to anything yet, I'm a week behind right now, but I promise I'll reply as soon as I can! I know I've said this before but read my FAQ for the most commonly asked questions! I've answered most of the ones I've emailed before! Quick questions are best via Twitter too as I'll normally reply as I see them! Or leave your twitter @ reply in the comments as I can reply on there with answers! I wish blogger would just hurry up with a comment reply system!
005. Big hello to everyone who I met at Fashion Week! Met some wonderful people who read my blog as well as lovely lovely bloggers!


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Pre-dates Obama and his stupid EPA … It's been known for decades how to do this, just space out the gears for lower of-the-line grunt, then lower the cruise RPM with overdrive ratios for better fuel economy. The new Mercedes designed Chrysler built 3.6 liter six is the perfect engine for this match-up.
Jeep Grand Cherokee is set for the 8-speed up grade this coming January.
A 16% improvement in fuel efficiency is expected from nine-speed transmission
Automakers are pulling out all the stops and looking to squeeze every single mile per gallon out of their automobiles by any means necessary. Automakers are looking at more fuel-efficient engines with smaller displacements, but they're also looking at reducing the weight of vehicles and increasing the number of forward gears used in car/truck transmissions.
Adding forward gears to a transmission makes a lot of sense because the slower the engine spins, the less fuel it consumes. In years past automatic transmissions used in vehicles commonly had four or five forward gears. More recent vehicles are moving up to six-speed and in some cases even eight-speed automatic transmissions in luxury vehicles. Chrysler is eyeing even more gears inside with nine-speed gearboxes for more mainstream vehicles.
According to Mircea Gradu, vice president transmission powertrain driveline engineering, Chrysler will roll out its first nine-speed transmission by the first half of 2013. "I'm convinced that, sooner or later, others will come up with similar solutions," Gradu said in an interview from his office in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where Chrysler is based. "Hopefully, the time will be as long as possible until they catch up with the technology."
Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne believes that the automaker and its various brands will be able to meet looming fuel-efficiency standards by using technology that improves traditional gasoline engines combined with better transmissions rather than moving to plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles. CAFE standards will reach 54.5 mpg by 2025.
Michael Omotoso, a powertrain analyst at LMC Automotive, said, "They're [Chrysler] doing basically the bare minimum to satisfy government regulations. Their strategy is to meet the standards with minimum investment."
Bloomberg reports that the nine-speed transmission Chrysler is developing could boost fuel economy of certain models by as much as 16%. Chrysler has already scored a 15% boost in the highway fuel economy of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger by adding an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Source: Business Week


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Friday 6 and 8 pm; Saturday 5 pm; Sunday noon, 2 pm, and 4 pm
Nelson George's feature documentary about African American ballerina Misty Copeland examines her prodigious rise and her potentially career-ending injury alongside themes of race and body image in the elite ballet world.
85 minutes
Magnolia at the Modern is an ongoing series featuring critically acclaimed films. Tickets are $9; $7 for Modern members; $6 for Reel People. The Sunday noon show time is half price. Advance sales begin two hours prior to each show.


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Collection: Abstract Landscapes.
This pair of earrings is a one of a kind piece. Once sold, 100% of the proceeds is donated to support girls at risk at Dayspring HCSA Community Services. These yong women have suffer from mild so severe traumas in/outside home; by purchasing this piece, you will help them to re-integrate into a normal life. Programs ranges from psychological treatments to individualised tuition programs. You can find out about HCSA here as well as our non-profit initiative here. Thank you for support for the girls at Dayspring and for my hand-made art. Uniquely crafted for you! :-)
Material: hand-formed clay, surgical stainless steel post.Please note that very small imperfections are likely but this is part of the handmade charm!
If the workshop is fully booked, please drop me a line at email@example.com to join the wait-list. I will inform you if I can arrange a seat for you.
Group bookings as well as customised bookings , e.g. bachelorettes party etc. , please feel free to contact email@example.com for more details.
Our workshops take place in different locations in Katong.Either at our luminous home studio or at creative space at MOX. Upon your registration, you will receive an email with details of location for the workshop date.
The class sizes is cosy and it is conducted in a very relaxing and conductive environment. Fun, therapeutic and inspirational at the same time: it's the perfect get-away with friends and your loved ones and a nice occasion to pick up a new skill. Empower yourself with an awesome skill like other previous participants. Read their testimonies to learn more about how they benefit from the workshop.
The class includes all the materials (from US, Japan and South Korea) needed to create your own necklaces and earrings to take home. Besides, you will be given a manual booklet with all fundamental information about polymer clay and content treated during the workshop you have booked for. Yummy snacks and light refreshments is also included in the sessions.
Please note that there are strictly no refunds or exchanges for other classes upon confirmation of slot. In case you can't make it to a class, you're welcome to send someone in your place. Workshop will be postponed/cancelled and fees refunded if we don't meet the min. number of participants.


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It's, um, not quite as slick as the official HBO version. It's definitely not as well lit. But the combination of craftsmanship and charm still makes this worth a watch.
Just remember, dudes building LEGO with a stop-motion camera are a little slower than fancy computer graphics.
I love the soundtrack. It's like Game of Thrones: a Super Nintendo Role-Playing Game.
GoT - A Clash of LEGO [YouTube]


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The Ponemon Institute issued a supplemental report to its 2012 Encryption in the Cloud Study published in February, identifying additional cloud data security trends. The study, sponsored by data protection vendor Thales e-Security, contacted more than 4,000 people in seven countries about their company's ongoing encryption projects. Trust in cloud providers is on the rise, but Ponemon noted that survey responses indicate additional education is needed on data protection measures and responsibilities.
Here are the survey's 10 top cloud data security trends.


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Chester (Pennsylvania)
Chester is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Chester is a suburb of the city of Philadelphia. The current population estimate is 30,409. The city is predominantly made up of African Americans, making up 79% of the population. Chester is known for poverty and high crime, as almost 40% of residents live below the poverty line.
Get in[edit]
By Car[edit]
Chester is located at the junction of Interstate 476 (the Blue Route) and Interstate 95.
By Public Transit[edit]
SEPTA R2 Line (Regional Rail) stops at the Chester Transportation Center [1]
Get around[edit]
Chester is a compact city with an excellent public transport system (SEPTA buses and Regional Rail).
See[edit][add listing]
Do[edit][add listing]
Buy[edit][add listing]
Eat[edit][add listing]
OB's Jamaican Restaurant- 1000 W 2nd St. Quality, affordable Jamaican cuisine a few blocks from PPL Park and the Commodore Barry Bridge. A good place to stop for a pre-game meal.
Drink[edit][add listing]
Sleep[edit][add listing]
Stay safe[edit]
This area is extremely dangerous. Avoid on foot especially at night. Keep in mind that this area is one of the most dangerous cities in Pennsylvania
Get out[edit]


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It's show time! Two major conferences will take place this fall. The new Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) hosts its first conference, COMPASS '99 (http://www.sqlpass.org) in Chicago, September 29 through October 2, with more than 70 sessions promised. Another new conference is SQL DevCon99 (http://www.sqldevcon.com). It will take place in Phoenix the following week, October 3 through October 6.
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The crowd was fat and happy in ways that can only be explained by two weeks on a cruise ship. During all that time, the worst inconvenience was waiting for the pool butler — that's what it said on the shirts — to rearrange the deck chairs.
The crowd was fat and happy in ways that can only be explained by two weeks on a cruise ship. During all that time, the worst inconvenience was waiting for the pool butler — that's what it said on the shirts — to rearrange the deck chairs.
So when it came time to disembark, the news coming over the loudspeaker in five different languages was all that they had come to expect. Things were going smoothly and they could count on getting off with no delay.
Then the unthinkable happened. There were delays and they were building. The cause? The sequester.
Because the Customs staff was short a few workers, the lines were backing up and what had promised to be a speedy process turned into something else. Give those fat and happy passengers the chance to dwell on their inconveniences and they will grasp at the opportunity. So that's what they did.
A scientific survey — OK, it was really just a guy from Wisconsin in the line next to me, but I'm sure he was speaking for the majority — revealed two distinct opinions:
If the government was going to cut some expenses, as it surely must, it could find a better way. There were vague allusions to waste in the Pentagon but nothing more specific.
And if those people in Congress could not do their jobs, they should pay the price. It's a sentiment that comes up often and it usually involves the perception that if we could cut the salaries and benefits of elected officials our overspending woes would disappear.
If you do the math, you'll realize that as satisfying as it might be to trim those expenditures, they have almost no effect. Force senators and others to go on furlough for a few weeks and neither the national debt nor the tax bill would change. Those salaries are very small drops in very large seas.
But there is another way to satisfy that very understandable urge to make these politicians feel the effects of their votes. We could make them fill in for some of the workers they are so quick to send on unpaid vacations. And I have the perfect job — border security.
As the call for immigration reform picks up, no serious proposal stands a chance unless it contains a provision to secure our borders. And nothing would make those borders more secure than the kind of surge that so many were so quick to embrace as the best way to win the war in Iraq.
The House and Senate are full of lawyers so they have some familiarity with law enforcement. And the recent focus on gun control has most members of Congress rushing to demonstrate their proficiency with firearms. Even the president shoots skeet.
So let's close Congress for a few weeks and send the members to California, New Mexico or wherever they are most needed. In the spirit of the Second Amendment, they can form a well-regulated militia and supply their own weapons.


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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas enjoyed an emotional high with its memorable 87-85 overtime win against Kentucky in Bud Walton Arena.
Coach Mike Anderson said it was well deserved. The Razorbacks went toe-to-toe with the talented Wildcats, survived some frustrating moments, then delivered the knockout blow on guard Michael Qualls' game-winning dunk.
But Anderson stressed something else as his team returned to practice Thursday.
"That game's over with," Anderson said. "We've got to make sure our guys understand. … You've got to have short-term memory in this line of work.
"Even as a player, Kentucky game has nothing to do with the Georgia game."
Arkansas basketball spent most of Wednesday in the sports spotlight because of the dramatic finish against the Wildcats. While the attention was nice, the Razorbacks didn't waste any time turning their thoughts to the next test at Georgia.
Anderson said it's vital his team concentrates on changing the road woes — not thinking about Kentucky — as it takes to the road. Georgia may not be ranked like Arkansas' previous two opponents, but opened Southeastern Conference play with wins against Missouri and Alabama before Tuesday's loss at Florida.
So Anderson is reminding his team of the flaws that plagued them during the SEC opener against Texas A&M and wants the Razorbacks to fix them.
"My biggest point to our guys is going to be, 'Did we learn something from on the road the last time?'" Anderson said. "That's, to me, the taste I've still got in my mouth is we missed 14 layups (at Texas A&M). I thought we played with … nerves were going. And so, now, how do we go out and perform this time?"
Arkansas guard Fred Gulley said moving on to the next challenge won't be difficult.
The Razorbacks just did it after what he said was "such a low" moment following the Florida loss. The motivation to avoid another stumble hasn't disappeared.
"Just because we came out and beat Kentucky, that didn't erase this bad taste we have in our mouths," Gulley said. "We're still hungry. We're still wanting to go out and prove everybody wrong."
Arkansas took Wednesday off, which came in handy considering the Kentucky game was the longest of the season. The Razorbacks also played consecutive overtime games for the first time since 1995 and both came over the span of four days.
Guard Ky Madden said Arkansas was a little sluggish when practice resumed Thursday, but wasn't alarmed coming back from the day off. He said the back-to-back overtime games shouldn't have affect the Razorbacks as they go on the road.
Overconfidence could, though. Anderson said it may have been Arkansas' biggest downfall in its first road game at Texas A&M. The Razorbacks entered the game by winning seven straight and were convinced the run would continue at Texas A&M.
Madden believes Arkansas has learned plenty of important lessons after the disappointing performance. And in its home games. So he's confident the Razorbacks will be ready even though their road woes are well known.
"I feel like we're a different team," said Madden, who is averaging 17.7 points a game in SEC play. "We're going to fight hard and we're going to play hard and we're going to come together and we're going to try to get this win."
There's renewed life after Arkansas avoided an 0-3 hole in SEC play.
Anderson said that's good news. But building on the win is the only thing that matters now as Arkansas prepares to play at Georgia on Saturday.
"I think this team's hungry," Anderson said. "I think our guys are hungry, but we're also going to be playing against a team that just lost a game to a Florida team that's playing well, too. You're going to have two teams that are hungry and get after each other. … I think our guys will be ready to play."


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Connie Hicks: "I can't wait to get away from my redneck family to come to town and feel cultured. I am looking for good films, seminars, and to see the work of the directors of photography."
Alex Baldus: "I am looking forward to not getting into the events I really want to see. Oh well, at least I have Nick Cage."
Matthew S. Farrell: "Principally, underground films shot in Charlottesville by Charlottesville filmmakers like Johnny St. Ours, and James Ford etc.... I'm disappointed that Cameron Diaz backed out."


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joefahrner necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 55 diseños de 17 diseñadores freelance.
We are a Q&A search engine that matches people who have questions with answers and experts.
Our audience is very broad and ranges across demographic and geographic borders. Our goal is to portray a professional image, but also show that we have a fun and unique personality.
We would like to develop a unique mascot for our site. Since we want to convey intelligence and accuracy as well as fun, we thought there would be nothing better than a robotic elephant!
We'd like a graphic illustration of a robotic elephant that we can use as part of the branding of our site. Our preference is that this mascot is full-bodied.
Here are some examples of mascots that we really like:
The seesmic raccoon:
The squid chef squid:
The hipmunk chipmunk:
The plancast penguin:
Feel free to use your creativity and take the idea of a robotic elephant in whatever direction you like. The work should be totally original and appropriate for web, print and marketing materials (tshirts, stickers, etc).
Please visit our site at http://bit.ly/3i2b2w to see our color palette as our new mascot should fit in with our existing scheme.
We'll need eps, jpg and gif versions of the final design.


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The idea of sharing personal stories and emotions can be scary, especially if you're still feeling hurt or vulnerable from a breakup. Delving into these difficult feelings can ultimately be one of the most helpful ways to cope and move on. That's where counseling comes in. Talking with someone one-on-one in a safe space is a great option for anyone who may need support.
To learn more about the process of starting counseling, we met up with licensed clinical psychologist and motivational speaker Martha Ramos Duffer whose work is centered on trauma treatment, empowerment and personal growth. She provided us with incredibly helpful information on how to choose a counselor.
What are the differences between a counselor, therapist, psychologist and psychiatrist? Who would you suggest for someone who has left an abusive relationship?
That's an important place to start. The words psychotherapist, therapist and counselor are all used interchangeably. These are people who have received master's degrees in counseling, social work or psychology. Psychologists have more training because they are doctorate level therapists. Any of these professionals can do a great job providing therapy.
On the other hand, psychiatrists have a doctorate in medicine. In most states they are the only ones who can prescribe medicine and most don't provide therapy. What most often happens is that somebody who needs medication will see a psychologist or other licensed counselor for therapy and see a psychiatrist for medication.
It's important to make sure the professional you decide to speak with is a licensed mental health professional. Terms like "licensed professional counselor" are legally regulated, so not just anybody can call themselves that. Words like "counselor" or "coach" are not regulated, so anybody can call themselves that.
What are the steps to take in order to find the right counselor?
The first thing to think about is financial access. Will you try to use insurance to pay? If not, will you pay out of pocket and do you need sliding scale fees? Some therapists offer varying prices based on the client's income level.
Some communities also have local mental health centers with low fees. If you're just leaving an abusive relationship and you don't have access to funds or insurance, see if one of these exists in your area.
If you have insurance, call and request a list of mental health care providers. After you have a list, you can begin to ask around to see which of these professionals are recommended by others. If you're coming out of a shelter, ask the people who work there for recommendations. Ask friends and family if anybody has seen a mental health professional who has worked well for them.
If your friends and family members haven't used mental health professionals, there are other options. Ask for recommendations from other health professionals in the community, like your physician or even other psychologists. Psychology Today is also a useful site where many mental health professionals advertise, allowing you to read doctors' bios and research more options in your area.
Call several different therapists and talk with them before setting up an appointment. This lets you determine how comfortable you feel and how responsive they are. Ask if they have expertise working with clients who have experienced trauma and domestic violence.
What are some red flags that indicate that a therapist may not understand domestic violence or aren't a good fit for you?
If a therapist gets defensive when you ask them if they have experience with trauma and domestic violence, then it is likely that they are not well trained in that area.
Another huge red flag is if a therapist wants to begin by looking at your role in the relationship and treats the abuse as a mutual-fault issue. That doesn't mean that in complex ways we don't all play a role in every dynamic but that's not how to treat a survivor of domestic violence. If they start to discuss the situation as if it was a traditional marriage or relationship issue and try to explore your own role in triggering or participating in the abuse, this is a clear sign they don't understand domestic violence.
If a counselor recommends couples therapy or marriage therapy, this is also a red flag. This is not recommended when there's battering and violence in a relationship.
How do you know a counselor is a good fit for you?
A good match between therapist and client is one of the most powerful healing factors in a therapeutic relationship. Look for someone who makes you feel heard, understood, safe and comfortable.
If you don't feel this way, it makes sense to look for someone else. However, it's important to first ask yourself what is making you uncomfortable. Is your discomfort coming from how difficult it is to talk about this? Of course you're going to feel badly as you start to talk about what happened. There are all kinds of things that can make a first session not feel good, and you need to discern if your discomfort is because starting the process is difficult, or because you don't feel heard and understood by the counselor.
Check the blog on Wednesday for the second part of our interview with Martha.


text: Introduction to Cloud Identity serves as the starting place for any new Cloud Identity, Identity/Access Management/Mobile Device Management admins as they begin their journey of managing and establishing security and access management best practices for their organization. This 15-30 hour accelerated, one-week course will leave you feeling confident to utilize the basic functions of the Admin Console to manage users, control access to services, configure common security settings, and much more. Through a series of introductory lessons, step-by-step hands-on exercises, Google knowledge resources, and knowledge checks, learners can expect to leave this training with all of the skills they need to get started as new Cloud Identity Administrators. Learning Objectives By the end of this course participants will be able to: • Establish a Cloud Identity domain for their organization or personal domain. • Add users in order to practice user lifecycle management. • Modify user permissions to gain an understanding of core Cloud Identity features. • Add mobile devices within the Google Mobile Management module. • Modify mobile management policy sets to gain familiarity with product options. • Navigate the Reports module, and practice running reports. • Explore and apply different security protocols to the domain. Prerequisites To get the most out of this training course, learners should be prepared to: • Sign up for a free 14 day trial of Cloud Identity. You will need to enter payment method information. We will show you step-by-step how to cancel your account if you wish to end your Cloud Identity instance at the end of training and avoid being charged. • Use an existing domain or purchase a new domain through (if you do not have an existing domain, we will walk you through purchasing a domain through Google).