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Read Time:4 Minute, 22 Second
BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen abducted six Red Cross workers and a Syrian Red Crescent volunteer after stopping their convoy early Sunday in northwestern Syria, a spokesman said, in the latest high-profile kidnapping in the country's civil war.
Simon Schorno, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, said the assailants snatched the seven aid workers from their convoy near the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province around 11:30 a.m. local time as the team was returning to Damascus. He declined to provide the nationalities of the six ICRC employees, and said it was not clear who was behind the attack
Syria's state news agency, quoting an anonymous official, said the gunmen opened fire on the ICRC team's four vehicles before seizing the Red Cross workers. The news agency blamed "terrorists," a term the government uses to refer to those opposed to President Bashar Assad.
Schorno said the team of seven had been in the field since Oct. 10 to assess the medical situation in the area and to look at how to provide medical aid. He said the part of northern Syria where they were seized "by definition is a difficult area to go in," and the team was traveling with armed guards.
Much of the countryside in Idlib province, as well as the rest of northern Syria, has fallen over the past year into the hands of rebels, many of them Islamic extremists, and kidnappings have become rife, particularly of aid workers and foreign journalists.
Press freedom advocate Reporters without Borders calls Syria "the most dangerous country in the world" for journalists, with 25 reporters killed and at least 33 imprisoned since the anti-Assad uprising began in March 2011.
The conflict also has taken a toll on the aid community. The ICRC said in August that 22 Syrian Red Crescent volunteers have been killed in the country since the conflict began. Some were deliberately targeted, while others killed in crossfire, the group said.
Syria's bloody conflict has killed more than 100,000 people, forced more than 2 million Syrians to flee the country and caused untold suffering — psychological, emotional and physical — across the nation.
Outside Damascus, hundreds of civilians, some carried on stretchers, fled the besieged rebel-held suburb of Moadamiyeh on Saturday and Sunday following a temporary cease-fire in the area, activists and officials said.
It was not immediately clear who brokered the halt in fighting between rebels and government forces, but the temporary truce marked a rare case of coordination between the opposing sides in Syria's civil war.
"It's (been) an area of military operations for months, so to see this halt of fire, and to see this exodus of people, means there's a high level cooperation — not regular cooperation," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Neither Syrian officials nor activists close to rebels would discuss the coordination.
Syria's state news agency SANA said Saturday that 2,000 women and children left the suburb for temporary housing in the nearby suburb of Qudsaya.
An official with the Syrian Red Crescent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said another 1,000 people were evacuated Sunday. Those figures could not be independently verified.
For the thousands of people trapped in Moadamiyeh, the humanitarian situation has been deteriorating for months. In a bid to squeeze rebels there, Syrian forces blocked food and supplies from entering the district on the western edge of Damascus.
The suburb's residents have been hit hard. Activists from the Moadamiyeh Media Center reported six people died of starvation in September: two women and four children. One woman described how her 18-month-old daughter lost half her weight as she struggled to nourish her on boiled lentil water.
It's not clear how many people still live in the area. A Moadamiyeh Media Center activist who only identified himself as Mahmoud out of security concerns estimated some 12,000 people likely remain.
In Damascus itself, a double car bombing targeted the state TV building in central Umayyad Square, Syria's official news agency said. The blast caused minor damage to the building, the agency said.
State TV said several pedestrians were wounded in the attack, but there was no further immediate word on casualties. State TV aided video of the blazing wreckage of a car in front of the building.
Also Sunday, Islamic extremists blew up a shrine of a mystic Muslim saint, Issa Abdul-Qader al-Rafai, in the northern town of Busaira, the Observatory said. A shrine belonging to the mystic's brother was destroyed in September.
Islamic extremists, who form some of the most powerful armed factions in the rebel ranks, also have burnt churches, smashed statues, and desecrated shrines belonging to Islam's minority Muslim sects, and those belonging to mystic Sufi branches of Islam.


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The most brilliant of the Useful Idiots?
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Link: Amazon.co.uk: Man Who Loved China, THE: Simon Winchester: Books.
One reason I have posted so little in recent days is that I have been lost in this splendid biography. Joseph Needham, Companion of Honour, Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the British Academy and holder of the Chinese Order of the Brilliant Star was the sort of magnificent eccentric that England occasionally produces. He will be remembered for the Needham Question; for writing almost single-handedly the encyclopaedic 17-volume work Science and Civilisation in China and for the institute that bears his name at Cambridge University. In his day however he was rightly scorned as a Communist stooge (having led a scientific delegation which was fooled by Chinese and Russians intelligence agencies into believing America was dropping infected small mammals onto the enemy during the Korean War). As his biographer drily notes;
Needham was intellectually in love with communism; and yet communist spymasters and agents, it turned out, had pitilessly duped him
He was a nudist, a Morris Dancer, a pre-hippy proponent of free love and "open marriage" and an uncritical supporter of every left-wing cause. As Master of Gonville & Caius College, he once passed a note out of the window of his office to the '68ers "sitting-in" outside, in which he simply said that he agreed with all their aims. He was also a close friend of Zhou Enlai and an acquaintance and admirer of history's greatest mass-murderer, Mao Zedung. Politically, the man was a startling idiot - a total naif. Yet he was also an undoubted genius.
A biochemist by training, he became fascinated by China when he fell in love with his lifelong mistress Lu-Gwei-djen who shared a menage a trois with Needham and his wife and whom he married when the latter died. He learned to speak and write Chinese fluently, so that he was able to research his monumental work from the original sources. A visiting Russian academic, disturbing him at his labours, enquired if Needham knew who had translated one of his academic books into English. Only when he consulted the book, did Needham remember that he had done it himself when he was an undergraduate. He was perfectly capable of such feats in German, French, Greek, Italian and of course Chinese. The book is a sobering reminder that it is never safe to assume a man a fool in all respects because he is in one.
Needham may seem, from the above, to be hardly the sort of chap I might admire. And yet, having read this well-written biography by Simon Winchester, I most certainly do. To be fair, almost all of us are fools in some respects yet very few are as brilliant as Needham was in others. As the Royal Society wrote when he was made a Companion of Honour ("About time!" he is said to have remarked just out of the Queen's hearing at the ceremony);
Joseph Needham, CH, FRS, FBA ... one can count the number of living holders of those three titles on one finger of one hand
Winchester's account of Needham's tireless energy in almost completing a work which, in the end, he had to accept was too great for one man, puts the stresses of lesser mortals into context. His fluency in so many languages (not taxi/restaurant "fluency" but a grasp of a language so great as to permit serious study of its ancient texts) puts our faltering steps across language barriers in the shade. it is impossible not to admire such a man, however annoying one might have found him in person.
The Needham Question or Needham's Grand Question asks why China, which led the world in science for centuries, suddenly stopped inventing in about 1500. Up until that point, the country's intellectuals were (Needham estimated) averaging 15 major scientific discoveries a century. The first outline of his 17-volume masterpiece was simply a long list of Chinese innovations, most previously thought to have originated in the West. Needham explained the effect of Confucianism and Taoism in promoting scientific development, but could never explain why the effect stopped working to the extent that China was overtaken by a Europe where religion was much more inclined to impede science. Some say it is a stupid question. China's progress didn't stop; that of Europe simply speeded up. Others have sought to answer it in a variety of ways.
By 1500, China was secure and at peace, whereas Europe's warring statelets were in constant contention. Perhaps European technological advances were driven by military needs, rather as 20th Century space technology was driven by the Cold War? Others speculate that China's political stability was to blame. The brightest young people took the examinations that led them into the Imperial bureaucracy. Life as a mandarin was better than life as a scientist and thus the springs of creativity were dammed and diverted. †French Enarques might like to give that theory some thought.
Whatever the truth it is a fascinating question that needs an answer, for the good of all mankind. I am ashamed that I never heard of this man while he was alive. He died in 1995, which is not so long ago and so was still pottering around Cambridge when I lived there. He transformed the West's arrogant view of China as irretrievably poor and backward. He also explained China's arrogant attitude, even at her poorest and weakest, to the West; an attitude exemplified by Emperor Qianlong's observation to Lord Macartney, leading a British delegation in 1792;
We possess all things ... I have no use for your country's manufactures
Few men have changed Europe's view of history as much as this eccentric leftist naif. His life reminds us that no man's ability to contribute should be lightly dismissed, however mad he may seem in some respects! It should also remind us, by way of corollary, that no man's views on a given topic should be given more weight because of his undoubted brilliance in other fields. Those inclined to be influenced by the political or religious views of actors, singers and other celebrities - however talented - would do well to bear that in mind.

subset: commoncrawl


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Family Dollar Kidgets Wipes & Diapers
Like most baby showers, our showers when Bubbles was born presented us with a number of diapers. Most of them were for a specific national brand and they worked well, so we stuck with them. Along the way we did try a few other store brands but just didn't get the performance from them that the other diaper brand provided. We also purchased the brand's matching wipes as they had a gentle variety that I thought would benefit a tiny baby's bottom.
Buying diapers and wipes month after month, however, can really add up and you start looking for ways to reduce those costs: coupons, buying in bulk, subscribe and save. One thing I didn't look for, though, was another store brand to try. Recently, though, I discovered that our town has a Family Dollar which I hadn't shopped in since I lived in Maine years ago. They have their own line of diapers – the Kidgets brand – and also just recently added wipes. At $6.50 for 31 diapers (size 4) and $2 for a 72-count package of wipes I thought it might be worth it to give them a try – especially considering we had recently been experience some leaking issues with Bubbles' regular brand. Continue reading »


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BillboardIn its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends. |
Common terms and phrases
album April artist Asian Assn audio band band's Billboard broadcasters cassettes catalog CD-ROM Chan Channel chart China Chinese club compilation concert Continued creative dance debut director disc distribution Distributor Entertainment featured film HDCD Home Video Hong Kong HoriPro IFPI Jacky Cheung Japan jewel box label Latin Music launch licensing Malaysia manager MIDEM Asia million movie multimedia Music Publishing music video Nashville Nintendo Open Heart Symphony package Patty Griffin piracy play PlayStation PolyGram promotion Q-Pack radio record companies Recording Industry RECORDS ROCK RECORDS region release repertoire retail ROCK RECORDS ROCK says sell senior VP showcase Singapore songs songwriters Sony Music soundtrack STAR studio surf surf music Taiwan Tata Young television tie-ins tion titles tour tracks Warner Bros Warner Music Canada week WQQK year's


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Skincare Benefits of Oxygen
Cells need oxygen to survive, and skin cells are no different. The unfortunate effects of smothering skin under layers of makeup– or, even worse, sleeping with makeup on– are well known, but it turns out that topically applying skin can help it stay fresh, youthful, and healthy.
Oxygen was first found to help heal people with severe burns. Oxygen gas, which is naturally present in a stable, bonded form, helps increase cell turnover and speeds up cellular metabolism. This makes it helpful for anyone that wants to maintain healthy skin.
Oxygen Therapy vs. Oxidative Damage
Oxygen isn't always friendly to skin. Oxidative stress, an imbalance between reactive forms of oxygen and the body's ability to neutralize them, leads to free radical damage. This damage is partially associated with signs of aging, including dull, sagging, and wrinkled skin. Oxygen therapy doesn't contribute to this kind of skin damage, since is uses stable diatomic oxygen molecules rather than unstable, unpaired oxygen atoms.
How Oxygen Is Delivered to Skin
Hospitals have access to oxygen tents and gas tanks, but these aren't remotely practical for home use. Fortunately there are skincare products containing oxygen on the market that offer it in a stabilized liquid form, which converts to oxygen gas once the product is applied. This lets users get the benefit of fresh, oxygenated skin without having to resort to gas tanks and expensive trips to specialty spas.
Antioxidants and Oxygen
Much has been made of antioxidants when it comes to fighting aging and preventing free radical damage. One of the benefits of using skincare products that contain oxygen is that they can be combined with antioxidants like vitamin E, botanical ingredients, or other compounds that have their own skin-saving virtues. In the end, it's possible to get the best of both worlds– improved skin health with oxygen, and prevention of free radical damage.
Maintaining healthy skin means protecting it from damage and providing all of the nutrients it needs, including oxygen. By thoroughly cleansing skin every night to remove oxygen-blocking debris and clear out pores, and applying oxygen-containing skincare products afterward, you can have a brighter, clearer, more youthful complexion.


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Title: Kola
Author: Kiru Taye
Series: An Essien Trilogy Spinoff
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic,
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Cover Model: Allan
Photography: Yuri Arcurs
Cover design: Love Bites and Silk
When sassy heiress with a heart of gold,
Tari Essien, needs a place to escape the pressures of the hounding press, she
turns to Kola Banks, a deeply scarred ex-soldier who's also the Essien chief of
security. Kola can't offer Tari anything more than his protection. She's family
for goodness sake, even if they share no blood ties.
It's a weekend of lessons for both of
them. Together they can't avoid the explosive heat that sizzles between them,
nor help pushing each others' boundaries physically as well as emotionally.
But when the weekend ends and Tari's
life is in danger, Kola will put his body as well as his heart in the line of
fire to keep her safe.
she even sensed half of the things he wanted to do to her, she'd run a mile.
jumped into the pool. When he came up for air, she was gone from the window. He
swam a few laps before the skin on his nape prickled and he lifted his head.
stood at the edge of the pool, wearing what he could only describe as a very
skimpy emerald bikini set, her hourglass curves barely tamed by the scraps of
fabric, her flawless caramel skin tempting him to touch and taste her.
was he supposed to keep his hands off her if she walked around his house with
next to nothing on?
Follow her blog for latest news and
giveaways: http://kirutayewrites.blogspot.com
Read book excerpts and free short
stories on her website: http://www.kirutaye.com
Check out her author page on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Kiru-Taye/e/B00723TSDI/
You can also reach her on
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/KiruTaye
Google+ https://www.google.com/+Kirutaye
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/kirutaye/
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Advisory Board
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Holger Kalthoff, Founding Director of the Institute for Experimental Cancer Research.
He represents research groups active in clinical aspects of the development
of anti-cancer drugs in the AB and contributes the position of end user and
clinical perspective.
Dr. Eckhard G. Günther, Head of Drug Discovery at Zentaris AG since January 2001.
Dr. Günther has more than 15 years of experience in the biotechnology and
biopharmaceutical industries, as a researcher as well as a manager. He
represents members of pharmaceutical companies in the AB.
Dr. Ronald Frank, coordinator of EU-OPENSCREEN.
EU-OPENSCREEN, the European Infrastructure of Open Screening Platforms
for Chemical Biology. Dr. Frank represents European screening activities and
therefore players active in the search and development of anti-cancer drugs
in the AB. He provides European aspects and assay issues.
Dr. Peter Hylands, his special research interest was always in natural products in medicine.
He joined the commercial world in 1988 as Director of Chemistry and then
Research Director of biopharmaceutical companies in the UK and the USA.
He has consulted for the United Nations and Commonwealth Science Council.
He is currently Head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London.
His current research emphasises the application of chemometrics and emerging
biotechnologies to the problems of standardisation and quality control of plant medicines.


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Autism Is Not a Condition of Childhood
Guest post by Merope Pavlides, editor of AutismAfter16.com, author of Animal-assisted Interventions for Individuals with Autism and mom to two sons, one of whom is on the autism spectrum.
Autism is not a condition of childhood. Autism follows the person. It follows the person into the workplace, the community, adult relationships and health care. Until recently, however, little attention has been paid to issues surrounding adulthood with autism. Fortunately, we have now begun a national dialogue, and Autism Speaks is bringing its voice—and resources—to the discussion in a big way.
On January 26th, Autism Speaks held a research summit entitled, "Adults with Autism: Sharing Ideas, Filling the Gaps," in Chapel Hill, NC. The event was co-hosted by Extraordinary Ventures, a model employer of adults with autism. Extraordinary Ventures was founded by Autism Speaks supporters and parents Lori and Gregg Ireland.
The meeting brought together many premier scholars on adult autism issues, as well as Autism Speaks representatives, autism service providers, parents and donors. My husband, Peter Emch, and I were invited to participate as parents and long-time supporters of Autism Speaks. The very fact that Autism Speaks included parents in an event like this is hugely meaningful, because it grounds the research agenda in real-world experience and need.
Moderated by Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer, Geri Dawson, Ph.D., the meeting provided the opportunity for investigators to present overviews of current research projects funded by Autism Speaks and for all participants to ask questions and share ideas. The morning session showcased studies aimed at describing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults, while we spent the afternoon with prescriptive research involving topics such as how to improve interventions.
Morning keynote speaker Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin's Waisman Center, outlined "Trajectories of Development in Adolescents and Adults with ASD." Afternoon headliner Paul Shattuck, Ph.D., of Washington University, discussed "Service Use and Outcomes among Youth with ASD." I found it interesting that both Seltzer and Shattuck noted that, despite few published studies on adults with autism, there is an abundance of data awaiting analysis. This means that we need to be investing resources in finding the meaning in the information that's already available.
As a parent of a young adult with autism, it's gratifying to sit in a room with so many smart, energetic people and learn that they want to bring their talent and enthusiasm to bear on the same issues that worry me as a parent. I'm also a special educator. As such, I'm so glad to see researchers demonstrating concern for how academic findings translate into real-life practice. While it's crucial that we continue to deepen our understanding of what life is like for adults with autism, it's just as important to make immediate progress in improving their lives.
I was especially excited to hear so much conversation on the topic of our adults as learners. As a society, we tend to think about the autism service system for adults as involved exclusively in care giving. Rather we need to develop dynamic supports that provide ongoing opportunities for personal growth and development. The summit allowed those who are studying adult needs to connect with those who are examining skill-building models. It's this type of collaboration that fosters new programs that not only look good on paper, but also work in the real world.
Finally, participating in an event like this reminds me of how important it is for families to understand that they are integral to the research process. Sometimes we feel as though investigators go about their work in ivory towers without understanding the real needs of those on the ground. As families, we must be active participants in the research process. Not only in the sense of filling out questionnaires and providing information, but in terms of actively making use of the knowledge emerging from this research. That doesn't mean we need to bury our noses in scholarly journals. It does mean that we need to enter into thoughtful discussion with scientists about how to incorporate what they are learning into what we need from adult service providers. Good scholarship is being conducted through Autism Speaks funding. As a community, let's not allow it to happen in a vacuum.


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It's sort of the same as Shake n Bake, but I also like using oats in other places where breadcrumbs would be used, like in veggie burger recipes.
After months of waiting, oatmeal season has finally arrived. It's a fall and winter breakfast staple at our house, and the sight of pumpkins on porches heralds the coming of maple-and-brown-sugar madness. But there are also scores of amazing and unexpected uses for this cereal grain. Here's a look at a few. (See also: 21 Uses for Salt)
Oats can serve as an interesting foundation for a host of foods.
A couple of years ago, longtime New York Times food writer Mark Bittman put foodies on a high alert when he suggested using oats in an Asian-style porridge dish known as congee. Cooked oats, scallions, and soy sauce may not sound like an ideal combination, but the reviews are mostly favorable, if not glowing.
Oats can also work as a flour substitute, a thickening agent, and even as a healthier version of Shake 'N Bake.
I spent one of my grade school spring breaks immersed in an oatmeal bath, courtesy of the chicken pox. A couple decades later, oatmeal has become increasingly visible in skin care products.
Bath and body aisles are lined with creams and cleansers that capitalize on the soothing power of oats. Consumers can skip the beauty section and head to the baking section to make their own oatmeal-based skin treatments. You can also stuff an old sock or pantyhose with ground oatmeal and toss it into a hot bath for a full-body experience.
Many acne and poison ivy sufferers tout the healing power of oats. Pulverized oats can serve as a key ingredient in facial masks and treatments to relieve dry skin.
The same oatmeal treatments that can help people with problematic skin often work wonders for dogs. Applying a simple oatmeal-and-water mixture to your pet's itchy parts can bring quick relief. Some pets can have an oat allergy, though. The problem is that it typically manifests as a skin condition, which can be masked by the other issues plaguing your pooch, so use some caution and common sense.
Much like baking soda, oatmeal is pretty effective when it comes to neutralizing odors. Put a bowl of uncooked oats in your refrigerator, and forget about smells. Some consumers swear by oatmeal's ability to counteract cigarette smoke, too. Smokers may want to try lining their ashtrays with oats.
Let's go beyond the kitchen and the bathroom and into the playroom. Oatmeal, combined with flour and water, can be used to create a nontoxic modeling clay. Children can enhance the concoction with food coloring. It's best to let their sculptures air dry overnight before making a place on the shelf.
Have more unexpected uses for oats? Please share your additions below.
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
It's sort of the same as Shake n Bake, but I also like using oats in other places where breadcrumbs would be used, like in veggie burger recipes.


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Some TV series march proudly and knowingly into relevance.
"M*A*S*H" was designed to be an allegory of the Vietnam War, which was still raging when the show premiered in 1972. "Homeland" was created to ask big questions about American involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq while we were engaged in those countries. "Will & Grace" deliberately entered the post-"Ellen" cultural conversation about sexual orientation, which was getting louder both in American society and in American courtrooms.
And "The Good Wife" was built to play off the constant flow of front-page news of yet another sloppy politician — Anthony Weiner, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford — who gets caught betraying his spouse. Given the nature of men for whom power is an aphrodisiac, the show is evergreen. "The Wire" and "The West Wing," they too were intended to mingle somehow with the recurring news events of their moment.
But some TV series seem to play off the headlines purely by accident. They stumble into timeliness. To wit, "The Americans," the extremely entertaining and smart show currently in its second season on FX.
When it premiered last year, "The Americans," which airs Wednesday nights at 10, was meant to be a period drama — with phone booths and tube TVs — about the Cold War in the early 1980s. It was a history of how the newly elected President Reagan had set his sights against the Soviet Union, joined together with the juicy story of communist sleeper agents near D.C. in a marriage arranged by the KGB during the Khrushchev era. It was a political recollection of the 20th century and a vibrant spy-genre piece at the same time.
But now, articles speculating about a Cold War 2.0 — and asking us not to speculate about a Cold War 2.0 — are everywhere. Every day, the news regarding Russia is dire, with Western countries urging President Vladimir Putin to change course in Crimea, and President Obama vowing to "stand with Ukraine." Edward Snowden is still releasing damning material out of Moscow. And issues involving the imprisonment of the band Pussy Riot, violence against gays, and the killing of stray dogs before the Sochi Olympics continue to stir negative reactions and anti-Putin feeling.
Suddenly, in only a few months, "The Americans" has gone from being a record of a dark time in our relations with Russia to something a lot more germane and fraught. The show is now charged with all kinds of complex subtext about the present tense, about how brutal and hate-filled a Cold War can actually be beneath the icy attitudes. Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, played by Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, are at times more committed to Mother Russia than they are to their own two children. With our post- 9/11 understanding of terrorist sleeper cells, the violent loathing of America by the Russian agents in "The Americans" is only too believable.
Rather than only offering titillating suspense about spies, undercover ruses, and (it must be said) bad wigs, "The Americans" provides insight into how cultural differences, misunderstood information, and paranoia can lead to overreactions and escalations. It shows how a country we might support against our enemy, such as Reagan's support of Afghanistan against the Soviets, might wind up becoming our enemy someday.
"Person of Interest," too, has taken on added meanings of late, in light of the Snowden revelations about the NSA. The show is about how a computer genius played by Michael Emerson used e-mail, phone calls, and surveillance footage to predict crimes. When the show premiered in 2011, it had a strong air of science fiction about it; now mainstream America is realizing that it's far more truth-filled — and scary. We are constantly generating data, and it is definitely being monitored and used.
The most dramatic stumble into timeliness, though, might be "24," a counterterrorism drama that was set to premiere — complete with an exploding airplane — in October of 2001. The series was put together before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but it became one of TV's most incendiary shows overnight. It abruptly had its finger on the fearful pulse of our nation.
The contextual shift that's changing the significance of "The Americans" is less sudden than that of "24." But it nonetheless makes the show even more fascinating than it was last season. We still don't know what will happen in Philip and Elizabeth's marriage, as they actually begin to fall in love with each other many years after they took on the roles of husband and wife. Part of the joy and mystery of the show is hoping that they're becoming more human — and less like automatons — the longer they're in America.
But we do know what will happen to the KGB and the Soviet Union in the years to come, and knowledge of the end of the Cold War added pathos to the Jennings' drive and conviction throughout the first season. Does the looming question of Cold War 2.0 somehow make their doomed undercover battle less poignant?
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.


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AWR Corp. announces its European phase of its ADF 2012 tour. ADF is an open event for designers of microwave and RF circuits and systems such as MMIC, RFIC, RF PCB, modules, and communication systems to come together to learn about AWR's latest products and technologies and how they can help solve today's and tomorrow's design problems.
Confirmed European locations and dates presently include:
- Eindhoven, The Netherlands – September 19
- Horsholm, Denmark - October 4 (in conjunction with NI Days)
- Madrid, Spain - October 4
- Stockholm, Sweden - October 10
- Gothenburg, Sweden - October 11
- Helsinki, Finland - October 31 (in conjunction with NI Days))
- Rome, Italy - November 6
- Milan, Italy - November 8
The AWR Design Forum also provides an opportunity for the presentation of interesting and informative papers from customers and partners working in the microwave & RF industry, as well as from research and educational institutions. It also provides an excellent opportunity to network and collaborate on industry issues and trends. Agenda topics are likely to include:
- Optimizing the Design and Verification of 4G RF Power Amplifiers
- Simulating an NXP Doherty Power Amplifier with Digital Pre-Distortion
- Design of a Novel Multi-Slot Antenna Featuring EM Parameterization and Optimization Techniques
- Electrical/Thermal Coupled Solutions for MMIC Designs
- Design and Simulation of Modern Radar Systems
- Fully Integrating 3D Electromagnetic (EM) Simulation into Circuit Simulation
- System Simulation Featuring Signal Processing Blocks
- RF Link Prediction - A New and Novel Approach
- Linking RF Design thru to Test
Call for Papers
The call for papers for all European locations is now open. To learn more and to submit a presentation, visit http://www.awrdesignforum.com/call-for-papers-europe.html.
Suggested topics include but are not limited to RFIC and MMIC design, EM analysis of planar components and 3D passive interconnect, and LTE communication system and radar applications, as well as microwave components, RF and microwave circuit boards, and RF SoCs, SiPs, and module design. All presentations will be made available for download from the AWR web site after the event concludes. Additionally, prizes will be awarded for best paper/presentation per location.
Visit www.awrdesignforum.com for complete information and to check for additional venues.
See more from us in our Buyers Guide directory listing.


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"For the Strength of You," Ensign, Oct. 2007, 12–17
For the Strength of You
The Young Women general presidency—Susan W. Tanner (center), president; Julie B. Beck (left) , first counselor; and Elaine S. Dalton (right), second counselor—talk about ways parents and leaders can help youth increase their desire and resolve to live gospel standards. Since the conversation, Sister Beck has been called as the Relief Society general president, and Mary N. Cook has been called to the Young Women general presidency.
What might parents and leaders focus on when talking to youth about standards?
Sister Susan W. Tanner: As a presidency we have a motto: "I can do hard things." Our priesthood adviser, Elder John B. Dickson, suggested we change it to "When I know who I am, I can do anything He asks me to do." We feel strongly that if youth understand who they are as children of God, then they will keep standards. The sense of their identity gives them self-confidence.
Sister Elaine S. Dalton: Talking about standards is not about rules; standards are about qualifying for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Standards are about standing in holy places so you're worthy to have the companionship of the third member of the Godhead. He will be your guide along the path you entered at baptism and confirmation—the path that leads to the temple.
Sister Julie B. Beck: I remember a reporter who attacked our standards as restrictive. She had read the For the Strength of Youth book, and she felt that it was all about rules. So I talked to her about safety and choices, and I used the words liberate and free and protect. I said, for instance, if a young woman keeps our standard not to drink alcohol or take drugs, she will never be a slave to those habits. She'll be free, and her ability to make choices will be multiplied because she won't have the problem of addiction. The reporter started to nod her head when she understood that standards are not a fence to keep us in. Standards are what help us go out and function in a world full of choices. We can contribute in this world and live happy, productive lives because we are protected.
How can parents and leaders get standards into the hearts of youth?
Sister Tanner: Sometimes we look at the difficulties youth face and have an immediate instead of a long-range vision. It's interesting to read For the Strength of Youth looking for promises; it's interesting to read the scriptures looking for promises. Whenever we're admonished to do anything, generally it's followed by a promise. Parents and leaders who have lived standards are a great example. Youth can see that good things have happened in our lives, that we've been able to establish eternal families. Those are promises being fulfilled in our lives.
Sister Dalton: I have never met anyone who didn't want the promises in For the Strength of Youth: "You will be able to do your life's work with greater wisdom and skill," you will be able to "bear trials with greater courage," "you will have the help of the Holy Ghost," "you will feel good about yourself," you "will be a positive influence in the lives of others," and "you will be worthy to go to the temple" (pp. 2–3).
Sister Beck: If you're unapologetic about blessings, then you can't be apologetic about what gets you the blessings.
Sister Dalton: Sometimes parents think a standard is a small thing. They say, "I'm not going to fight that battle or die on that hill." But it's not about hills; it's about holiness. A standard is about understanding who you are as a son or daughter of God.
How can parents and leaders overcome the fear of offending or alienating youth?
Sister Beck: I think of some scriptures: "Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee" (Jeremiah 1:8) and "Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled" (Moses 6:32). The Lord expects His leaders—and every parent is a leader—to speak the truth.
Sister Tanner: Doctrine and Covenants section 121 says that when "reproving betimes with sharpness," you show "forth afterwards an increase of love" (v. 43). If youth know first that you love them, they're more willing to listen. And if you also follow up with your love, you can say the hard things.
Sister Beck: I think we underestimate youth. They're in a searching age—it's the "why" age. There's a reason for that: the Lord wants them to get their own testimonies. It's leaders' and parents' job to give them the doctrinal "whys" and to back up standards by teaching about the reasons for them. I remember some conversations I had with a daughter about Sunday dress. I explained how I felt she should dress to attend sacrament meeting. I also taught her about the sacrament and bore my testimony about why we go to church. It was done with love. She didn't change the way she dressed that Sunday or the week after. But very soon she adopted a more formal standard of dress for sacrament meeting. I was patient while she got her own confirmation. And she never went back to dressing the way she had before. She had been taught the doctrine, and her "why" question was answered.
How can For the Strength of Youth help parents and leaders answer the "why" questions?
Sister Tanner: I love For the Strength of Youth because it's based on doctrine. Doctrine is eternal truth, set from before the foundation of the world. And standards are based upon doctrine, so the standards aren't going to change either. They're not something out-of-touch adults made up just to make life difficult. For the Strength of Youth states doctrine and standards probably clearer than any other resource. It also talks about consequences. So you can see what the eternal truth is, what it is we should do or should not do, and why we should or should not do it. This book can be a huge help to parents. Sometimes when I think, "I want to explain this correctly in understandable terms," I go to that book, and the idea I need is encapsulated in a sentence.
What are other ways parents and leaders can use For the Strength of Youth?
Sister Beck: You can discuss it a standard at a time in family home evening and in each section mark the doctrine, the standards, and the consequences. As a Church teacher, you could use it in any lesson. It has helped me to memorize some key phrases that I really want to emphasize, and I find that when I'm talking to youth, those sentences just pop out.
Sister Dalton: For example, one key phrase is "Satan wants you to think that you cannot repent, but …"
Sister Dalton and Sister Beck, together: "… that is absolutely not true" (p. 30)!
Sister Tanner: Youth are often the best teachers of each other. One of the things we love to do when we speak to youth is hand a For the Strength of Youth book to some young people and say, "I'd like you to choose any one of these standards and in a few minutes give a little talk on it." I've had so many spontaneous talks fill the room with the Spirit. When youth share their experiences and bear their testimonies, they feel the Spirit and start learning the power of the book.
Sister Beck: Having a standards night once a year isn't enough. We can use For the Strength of Youth at camp; we can use it at youth conference and in formal and informal situations. It's a resource that has to be always in front of our youth. And parents and leaders have to live it. You can't be the leader who tells youth what movies to avoid, and then you go to those movies. You can't be the mother who says, "Don't wear that immodest dress," and then you're wearing one. You can't be the father who says, "Pay your tithing," but you don't.
Then does For the Strength of Youth have a role for people who aren't youth?
Sister Dalton: I call it For the Strength of "You." It applies to all of us.
Sister Beck: My copy has my name on it, and it's marked for me. The standards are not gender or age specific; they're for children of God.
What are some immediate blessings we receive by living the Lord's standards as taught in For the Strength of Youth?
Sister Dalton: Peace of mind.
Sister Beck: The companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Sister Dalton: And self-confidence. It ties with the 2007 Mutual theme: "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God" (D&C 121:45). Those immediate blessings are important because sometimes youth think, "If I choose this, I won't have any friends." Unfortunately, that could be true.
Sister Tanner: It was true for me in seventh grade. I was honest, going against what a popular group of girls wanted me to do. Because of that, I didn't have friends and I was sad, but I had confidence that what I had done was right. And I'm sure that's what sustained me through a period of time. I knew I could face whom I really needed to face—my Heavenly Father and my family. But even that knowledge doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
Sister Dalton: For the Strength of Youth doesn't promise you a life free of problems if you live standards, but it does say that "you will … bear trials with greater courage" (p. 2). Although I didn't realize it the night I walked out of a party and closed the door on my whole social future—the popular kids shunned me from that time on—I know now that living standards enables you to be a leader. One young woman or one young man with the courage to live these standards and walk out of an inappropriate situation gives others the courage to follow.
What are the long-term blessings of living the standards in For the Strength of Youth?
Sister Beck: Last week I was shopping with my granddaughters. I noticed a sales clerk watching our fun. Later I gave her a pass-along card. She told me, "I'm at a point in my life where I'm trying to take charge, and I don't know how." So we talked. My closing comment to her was, "If you want this when you're my age"—and I pointed to my little granddaughters—"you have to be really careful what you're choosing now. The choices I made at your age determined who I am now."
Sister Dalton: Long-term blessings ripple through generations, and one small thing you're doing right now can make a lot of difference in where you end up and where the generations that follow you end up. And we can't forget that generations before us sacrificed for us to have the gospel and to know about standards.
How can youth handle temptation and receive those immediate and long-term blessings?
Sister Dalton: When I ask youth, "What's the hardest thing you do?" many say, "It's going to parties and being offered a drink and not drinking it." So I ask, "Why are you at the party?" And they say, "I go to be a good example to others." Then I always respond, "You bring your friends to places where they can feel the Spirit. Don't ever walk into places where the Spirit won't go. Avoid them!"
Sister Beck: Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy has an analogy. He says that if you're on a non-chocolate-chip-cookie diet, yet you go into the kitchen just after the cookies have been baked—it smells delicious and you can picture the chocolate chips melting as you pull the cookie apart—how long is it going to be before you sample one? How strong are you really? That's resisting—or trying to resist. But if you're on a non-chocolate-chip-cookie diet and you don't go into the kitchen where they're baked and you don't bake them yourself, then you are avoiding temptation. That's easier!
What can youth who live these righteous standards accomplish?
Sister Beck: Satan is coming at our youth from all sides. But we have a defense, so we don't need to be afraid. We can trust in the Lord's promises. He says young men and women will dream dreams and see visions, that He will pour out His Spirit upon them in the last days and He will flood the earth with righteousness and truth (see Joel 2:28–32; Moses 7:62). There's nothing righteous youth can't do!
Sister Dalton: Our youth are major players in the winding-up scenes on the earth. We read about the calamities and things that will happen, but living the standards in For the Strength of Youth will preserve and protect and strengthen our youth in such a way that they'll be able to serve and do what nobody else will be able to do.
Sister Tanner: Today's youth are like the army of Helaman! Those youth were raised up to save the Nephite generation, and our youth are being raised up to save this generation.
Helping Youth Find Strength
One way to begin making the teachings in For the Strength of Youth (item no. 36550) part of our lives—and to get them into the hearts of youth—is to identify the doctrines, the standards, and the consequences in each section of this book. For example, consider the "Sexual Purity" section.
Doctrine answers the question "Why do we live these standards?": "Physical intimacy between husband and wife is beautiful and sacred. It is ordained of God for the creation of children and for the expression of love between husband and wife. God has commanded that sexual intimacy be reserved for marriage" (p. 26).
Standards teach us what we should and should not do: "Do not have any sexual relations before marriage, and be completely faithful to your spouse after marriage" (p. 26).
Consequences are the positive and negative results of living standards: "When you obey God's commandment to be sexually pure, you prepare yourself to make and keep sacred covenants in the temple. You prepare yourself to build a strong marriage and to bring children into the world as part of a loving family. You protect yourself from the emotional damage that always comes from sharing physical intimacies with someone outside of marriage" (p. 26).
Sharing Standards
A young woman I know was a little frustrated with friends questioning her standards: "Why can't you date before 16?" "Why don't you drink?" When she prayed about how to handle this situation, this idea came to her mind: "I'm going to put a For the Strength of Youth booklet in my jeans pocket. When people question me about, for example, dating, I'll give them the book and tell them to read the section on dating."
It turned out to be a great idea! In three months she gave out 52 copies of For the Strength of Youth. And three new friends started attending church with her.
This young woman was bold in a friendly way and didn't apologize for her standards. When youth live standards clearly and without apology, others will respect them and look to their example.
Mary N. Cook, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency
Photographs by Ruth Sipus, posed by models


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News and Events
Broadway, TV and film star Charles Dutton comes to campus
Charles S. Dutton did prison time for manslaughter. During those seven years, he fell in love with playwriting, acting and theater. He started a drama group while incarcerated and, after his release, won a scholarship to Yale School of Drama and graduated.
The story of how he defied low expectations and pursued his dream to become a Broadway luminary and Emmy Award-winning actor and director is the basis of Dutton's one-man show From Jail to Yale: Serving Time on Stage.
The African American Studies program and U.S. Dream Academy have partnered to bring Dutton to Cullen Performance Hall for a one-night-only performance at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26. Dutton will also participate in a moderated conversation with students from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25 in the Honors College lounge in the M.D. Anderson Library.
"This program will provide a structural analysis of culture, race, class, and gender," said Dr. James Conyers, chair of the African American Studies program. "Charles Dutton has a history of developing committed art with an emphasis on Africana life and customs."
The theater event is a fundraiser benefitting U.S. Dream Academy, a national afterschool and mentoring program that motivates children with relatives in prison to break the cycle of incarceration in their families. Tickets are $45.
"We are very pleased for this opportunity to partner with the University of Houston's Department of African American Studies to bring this riveting stage presentation to campus," said Wintley Phipps, founder and chief executive officer of the U.S. Dream Academy. "Charles Dutton is a consummate master of acting and we are grateful for his willingness to share his time and talent to raise much needed funds for our after school program in Houston."
The Houston Dream Academy Learning Center is located at Foster Elementary School at the intersection of Yellowstone and Scott streets. It serves more than 60 students daily between the ages of 8-13 through skill building, character building and dream building activities, including cultivating their appreciation for the arts.
Read more about the Charles Dutton event on the website for the U.S. Dream Academy, or buy tickets.
Read more about the African American Studies program.
—Shannon Buggs


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About Us
The Brea Gallery strives to provide ambitious contemporary art exhibitions for Brea and beyond. The Gallery aims to enrich and engage our community though educational, aesthetic, and intellectual experiences, all while cultivating meaningful relationships with artists.
The Brea Gallery is a 6,500 square foot contemporary art space that presents four major exhibitions per year. Located in the Brea Civic and Cultural Center, the Gallery has been offering meaningful exhibitions, workshops for all ages, artist lectures, live art demonstrations, a gift shop, and unique artistic opportunities for the community since it opened in 1980.
The Brea Gallery is a community-based arts space, working with upcoming and established artists in a variety of ways. However, the Gallery does not represent artists, have a permanent collection, or offer art appraisals. Please visit our opportunities page for information on how you can be a part of what we do here.
Be sure to experience all of Brea's arts programs. The intimate 200-seat Curtis Theatre is located just across the plaza from the Gallery and offers a year-round schedule of stunning performances. As well, Brea is widely known for it's Art in Public Places Program, featuring over 185 sculptures throughout the city.
Gallery Staff
Katie Chidester, Gallery Director
Kathleen Fenstermaker, Gallery Specialist
Kennelyn Deloach, Gallery Coordinator
Emily Jara, Senior Lead Gallery Assistant
Contact Us
Brea Gallery
1 Civic Circle Brea, CA 92821
(714) 990-7731
breaartgallery.com [blog]
Instagram and Twitter: @breagallery


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A pair of new studies by computer scientists, biologists, and cognitive psychologists at Harvard, Northwestern, Wellesley, and Tufts suggest that collaborative touch-screen games have value beyond just play.
Two games, developed with the goal of teaching important evolutionary concepts, were tested on families in a busy museum environment and on pairs of college students. In both cases, the educational games succeeded at making the process of learning difficult material engaging and collaborative.
The findings were presented at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) conference in May.
The games take advantage of the multi-touch-screen tabletop, which is essentially a desk-sized tablet computer. In a classroom or a museum, several users can gather around the table and use it simultaneously, either working on independent problems in the same space, or collaborating on a single project. The table accommodates multiple users and can also interact with physical objects like cards or blocks that are placed onto its surface.
The new research moves beyond the novelty of the system, however, and investigates the actual learning outcomes of educational games in both formal and informal settings.
"Do we know what the users are actually learning from this? That question is a step beyond the research of the past 10 years, where we've been seeing research publications that assess how well the system is performing, but not addressing how well it's accomplishing what it's really designed for," says principal investigator Chia Shen, a Senior Research Fellow in Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Director of the Scientists' Discovery Room Lab.
The two collaborative games that have been developed for the system, Phylo-Genie and Build-a-Tree, are designed to help people understand phylogeny -- specifically, the tree diagrams that evolutionary biologists use to indicate the evolutionary history of related species. Learners new to the discipline sometimes think of evolution as a linear progression, from the simple to the complex, with humans as the end point.
"What people are used to typically is geospatial data, like a map," explains Shen. "In phylogeny, however, the students need to understand that the relationship between species really depends on when they diverged. That's represented by the position of the internal nodes of the tree, not by counting across the top of the tree, which is how many people intuitively do it."
The Phylo-Genie game, developed by researchers at Harvard, Wellesley, and Tufts, attempts to address the misconceptions that students hold even at the college level. Designed for a formal classroom setting, the game walks students through a scenario in which they have been bitten by an unusual species of snake and must identify its closest relatives in order to choose the correct anti-venom.
The researchers tested Phylo-Genie on pairs of undergraduate students who had not yet taken a course in evolutionary biology. Other pairs of students were given the same exercise, but in a pen-and-paper format. In comparison to the paper version, the electronic game produced statistically significantly higher scores on a post-test (an exam borrowed from a Harvard course), as well as higher participant ratings for engagement and collaboration.
Both of the phylogeny games were designed and evaluated in accordance with accepted principles of cognitive psychology and learning sciences.
The Build-a-Tree game was designed with an informal museum environment in mind. Researchers on this project, directed by lead author Michael S. Horn at Northwestern University and Shen at Harvard, observed 80 families and other social groups interacting with the Build-a-Tree game at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
The game asks users to construct phylogenetic trees by dragging icons -- for example, a bat, a bird, and a butterfly -- toward one another in the correct order. As the user progresses through several levels, the problems become more challenging.
The idea, Shen says, is to encourage what museum science educators call "active prolonged engagement," as opposed to "planned discovery." The former allows learners to explore information independently and to interact with it in an open-ended manner; the latter approach, common in natural history museums, guides the user toward a particular set of facts.
"Natural history museums have always been a place where the exhibits are behind glass in the gallery," explains Shen. "You come here to see things that you just don't see anywhere else -- fossils millions of years old -- and you come here to learn. You see school groups and parents coming in with a serious mind, and we're breaking into that culture."
The Build-a-Tree game performed well against established measures of active prolonged engagement and social learning.
Even in the most high-tech exhibit hall, where visitors are engaged at every turn, it takes a great deal of creative thinking to demonstrate a phenomenon that is essentially imperceptible in real time.
"Evolution is a process that takes millions of years, whereas in chemistry or physics there are all sorts of phenomena that you can experiment with, like the tornado exhibit where you can go in and interrupt the air," says Shen. "This is our experiment: can we build something that is not as phenomenon-driven but can still engage them? I think we've succeeded in that."
The work on Build-a-Tree was supported by the National Science Foundation, with research evaluation conducted in the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Horn (lead author) and Shen worked with Zeina Atrash Leong (Northwestern University), Florian Block (a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS), Judy Diamond (University of Nebraska State Museum), E. Margaret Evans (University of Michigan), and Brenda Phillips (a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS).
The work on Phylo-Genie was supported by the Encyclopedia of Life Learning and Education group and by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. Shen's collaborators were lead author Bertrand Schneider (a graduate student at Stanford University, who completed the work as a visiting student at Harvard), Megan Strait (Tufts University), Laurence Muller (a visiting student at Harvard), Sarah Elfenbein (a recent Wellesley graduate, now at Yale University), and Orit Shaer (Wellesley College).
Story Source:
Materials provided by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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Learn how to build killer chords, progressions, melodies, rhythms, bass lines & arrangements in ANY genre of electronic dance music, and stand out from the rest!
Actionable techniques
This course provided me invaluable lessons on the key aspects of putting together a song. It gave me actionable techniques to improve my drum programming, melody / harmony writing, and chord progression construction - and most importantly, it taught me how to put them all together to make an interesting idea and turn it into a full song!
"How do you actually come up with your own original ideas? Do you have to have some god-given talent?"
"How do chords work? What sounds good with what?"
"The biggest struggle for me is taking a 4-Bar loop and making it into a full arrangement before I get sick of it."
"I am getting increasingly frustrated by the fact that i can't seem to come up with any nice, original chord progressions. How can i overcome this?"
These are actual questions I've received from EDMtips subscribers and readers...
In fact, I get more questions about coming up with melodies and chords than anything else.
Now let me ask you a question (or two…
- What if you never had to play hit & miss in your piano roll editor… ever?
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That would make writing your own tracks a whole lot easier right? (trust me, the answer is YES…)
That's EXACTLY Why I Created
"Music Theory for EDM Producers"
Believe it or not, the knowledge in this course is the same that pretty much every world-class producer has used to write the greatest dance tracks ever written…some of them wouldn't even be aware of that fact that they were doing it!
Once you understand these fundamentals, this knowledge can be used quickly and easily, without having any previous experience of music theory or playing a musical instrument!
I walk you through the 4 key areas of EDM music theory (tailored specifically for dance music production of all genres), and break down the exact process in step-by-step guides, giving you the ultimate track-writing "masterplan."
But this isn't just watching videos; the course guides you through REAL EXERCISES so you can truly internalise and understand the material, enabling you to get the most of it time and time again in every track you make!
(Don't worry, these techniques are easy to understand and quick to implement, so you can get started putting them into action almost immediately.)
When you've completed the
"Music Theory for EDM Producers"
course, you'll know:
- How to program killer drums in ANY genre of electronic dance music (Future bass, Trap, Progressive House, Trance, Drum 'n' Bass, Big Room EDM, etc.).
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- The "secret" key of dance music.
- How to create ANY chord from scratch.
- How to write your own epic chord progressions, FOR ANY GENRE, AND IN ANY KEY.
- How to write your own melodies and bass lines from scratch, and have them work perfectly with your chords.
- How to take your 4 or 8 bar loop to a full arrangement (THAT'S PROVEN TO IGNITE THE DANCEFLOOR) in record time.
- Plus much more!!
And you won't have to guess, you'll have a complete understanding!
The videos will show you EXACTLY what you need to do…
And you don't have to worry about breaking the bank, either.
I know it's a leap of faith to invest in an online course. That's why this course doesn't cost $500, $400 or even $200.
And it's ALSO why I offer a full, 30 day money-back guarantee – just in case you decide it's not for you.
So how much does this training cost?
Lifetime instant access to ALL of this training and resources can be yours, today, for $147.
Yep, Just $147.
That's literally the price of a couple of 1-hour lessons with a decently proficient music teacher.
I spent YEARS learning classical piano and music theory, and I've spent the last 20 producing dance music. I've DJed in clubs around the world, and have had tracks supported by some of the biggest producers on the planet.
The foundations for these achievements is what I will teach you in this course.
...And the benefit is, I'VE CUT OUT ALL THE BORING THEORY THAT DOESN'T MATTER, by only laser-focusing on the core techniques that matter for writing and producing electronic dance music…the ones that get results! You don't need to waste months or years (and thousands of dollars) taking music theory lessons, learning a bunch of stuff you'll never use.
Yes, of course there is MUCH more to dance music production than music theory, but these are the fundamentals that the rest is built on – even mixing and mastering. Why waste any more time and energy with guesswork when it comes to writing your own original tracks, when you can know EXACTLY how to do it, with a step-by-step road map?
The choice is yours.
If you want to get started, click the "Buy Course" button below and finally have the secret tricks of the trade on your side...
I made my first track and it's all thanks to you!
I tried to produce for at least a year without success, but your course has helped me very much! I just wanted to say thank you...I made my first track and it's all thanks to you!
Just what I needed!
Just what I needed! The combination of graded topics from complete beginner to arranging complete songs using step-by step guides and video has inspired me to complete a number of 'stuck' projects and start work on new stuff with renewed confidence. Your enthusiasm and willingness to respond personally to student queries was especially appreciated. Thanks again and looking forward to your mixing course!
My passion is re-ignited
Just wanted to say AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! I've been producing on and off for years, and the thought of learning music theory bored me to death. This course quickly taught me some bang-on fundamentals, and my productions make so much more sense now. My passion is re-ignited. Thanks, man!
Well worth the money!
Well worth the money! Having joined a number of courses already, it looks like this is the one getting me started for real. If you're looking for an EDM course (that ISN'T just a guy showing what he can do himself), look no further. Will takes you through in a great and intuitive way, and the short videos (but plenty of them) got me started right away. I also enjoy the fact that Will adds more content all the time, and actually answers your questions!
This course definitely has been a big help
Will is a fantastic teacher and really goes into detail where it's needed but doesn't spend so long in the weeds that it drags on. This course definitely has been a big help to my knowledge of production and how to be a better producer overall.
Frequently Asked Questions
QUESTION: Is there a guarantee?
ANSWER: Yep…all of my courses have a 30-day, no-questions-asked guarantee.
In other words, if you aren't happy for any reason, just let me know and I'll give you your money back. I obviously don't think it'll come to that, but if you're even the least bit worried if this will work for you, then put your mind at ease.
You either get the results you want or you get your money back. It's as simple as that!
QUESTION: How long will it take to get access?
ANSWER: Immediate!
When you click "Buy Course", you'll be sent your login details immediately to the email address you enter on the checkout page.
QUESTION: "How long will I have access to the digital version of the course?"
ANSWER: You get lifetime access! I understand that life happens, and that just because you grab your spot today that doesn't mean you'll be able to finish (or even start) the course this week. And that's ok! Take as long as you like. We aren't going anywhere, and neither is this course.
QUESTION: "Is your course iPad/iPhone friendly?"
ANSWER: YES! You can log in to the online version of the course and view all of the content on every mobile device, iOS and Android.
Get INSTANT Access To "Music Theory for EDM Producers" Now!
All of my courses have a 30-day, no-questions-asked guarantee.
In other words, if you aren't happy for any reason, just let me know and I'll give you your money back. I obviously don't think it'll come to that, but if you're even the least bit worried if this will work for you, then put your mind at ease.
You either get the results you want or you get your money back. It's as simple as that!


text:
此 App 專為 iPhone 和 iPad 設計
- 免費
- 分類: 遊戲
- 更新時間: 21 April 2012
- 版本: 2.1.1
- 語言: English, Italian
- 開發商: NETTuno s.r.l.
- © 2010 NETTuno Srl
兼容性: Requires iOS 4.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
PianoGame is a musical and memory game! The game plays a note and you have to guess and play it on the piano. If you guess right other notes will be added creating long melodies. Will you remember the whole sequence?
Challenge your friends, train your hear and discover always new tunes!
• Multiple game modes
You can freely play the piano, or you can challenge your friends by simple or advanced play modes.
• A never-ending game
Endless levels and melodies. How many notes will you be able to recognize and remember?
• Online Standings
Follow your ranking on the iPhone or online on our web site, beat all the records of other users and show your mnemonic-musical skills!
• Easy and intuitive
It takes just a few touches to start the game. And if you are in doubt take a look at the integrated help.
• Train yourself playing
– Educate your ear while having fun!
– Challenge your friends!
– Improve your memory!
• Arcade design
Play on an high definition arcade keyboard made with attention in every detail, both in front and on the back.
• Universal App
Runs on iPhone, iPod and also on iPad! Two apps in one.
• Worldwide Free!
You don't have to spend money thank's to the Ad support!
• High Res Graphic
The graphic is optimized for devices equipped with Retina Display.
Have fun!
If you don't like the advertising you can download the Ad-free version, PianoGame PRO!
What's New in Version 2.1.1
– HD graphic, now fully supports the Retina Display of the new iPad
– A bug with spaced usernames has been solved
– Minor bug fixes


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What is an Alternative energy supply system?
Alternative energy system means a system which generates electricity on the land the subject of the application, using an energy source other than the electricity supply grid, and includes a photovoltaic power system and a wind generator.
In multi-dwelling developments co-generation systems are also an alternative energy supply option.
The alternative energy system must be located on the same piece of land as the proposed development.


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In the background of MotoGP, a quiet battle has been raging since the Australian GP at Phillip Island. A venue always threatened with inclement weather, the Australian track always manages to muster sunshine on race Sundays, despite the fact that they have all the makings weather-wise for a good regatta, not a motorcycle race. Despite this reality, the issue of running the Australian GP earlier in the race season comes up every time MotoGP gets a whiff of rain, wind, or kangaroos that could threaten the coastal track, as the late scheduling of the GP has historically been during the country's rainy season.
Pressure to move the Australian GP to earlier in the season seemingly found its stride this past season, as Valentino Rossi and a number of other riders openly expressed their frustration with the circuit's weather, and the pending safety concerns it meant for the riders. Talking during last season's race, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta seemed all but certain that the venue would find an earlier slot in the calendar for 2011, despite the scheduling conflicts with WSBK and Formula 1 in the earlier months of this new year, and the nagging problem that Phillip Island doesn't want to move the venue date.
Fielding questions at the Ducati/Ferrari Wrooom event, Ezpeleta again was asked about the issue with Phillip Island, and his response to the track's position that its contract with Dorna prevents a change in the calendar positioning (PI is contracted until 2016). Talking to the assembled press, Ezpeleta fired a clear warning shot across the bow of the Australian track when he said the track's homologation could come into question if calendar changes aren't accepted. "We are talking with them. It's true, they have a contract, but their circuit is subject to homologation," said Ezpeleta. "If it (the Phillip Island track) is not homologated, the contract will be void."


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Instruction:Score points by typing the correct target letter shown on the screen. The faster you type the letters the more points you receive for each letter typed. If you type a certain amount of letters in a row correctly you receive a bonus multiplier for every letter typed correctly. If you type too slow you will lose your bonus. If you type a letter incorrectly you will lose your bonus, be deducted a certain amount of points and the sunrise will proceed backwards. When the sun has reached the top of the screen you will have won the level. Each level has fewer letters to achieve the sunrise with. If you run out of letters before the sun has risen you lose the game.
Description:Type fast and accurately to lift the sun into the sky. 10 levels of increasing difficulty improves your typing and concentration skills while treating you to a beautiful sunrise over striking landscapes as you progress.
Tags:Sunrise Typer, typing game, typing tutor, education


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LITA needs a system or process to gather, post, and share LITA sponsored programs presented at conferences and events online. Its time we do.
To explore and recommend a systematic approach to gather and post LITA programs presented at events such as ALA Annual Conference, LITA National Forum, LITA Camp, etc.
- Identify the types of programs that are presented and which are most appropriate for online posting
- Identify other organizations such as ACRL, PLA, WebJunction, etc, who are currently providing this service to learn about their experiences
- How should the content be delivered online i.e. live webcast, produced in a studio, screencast, etc.
- Identify, evaluate, and analyze available systems
- Identify which systems are best for delivering each type of program
- Determine who should have access to what types of programs and how. This should include:
- Identifying the appropriate delivery method
- Who should have access. Should it be available to all LITA members, available to everyone, etc.?,
- Should access be different for different user communities?
- Should their be a registration fee for certain types of programming
Task Force Members
The task force should include at least one member from each of the following LITA Committees:
- LITA Program Planning Committee
- LITA National Forum Committee 2009
- LITA National Forum Committee 2010
- LITA Web Coordinating Committee
- LITA Education Committee
The task force should submit their recommendations to the LITA Board of Directors no later then ALA Midwinter Conference 2010 and run a pilot project at the Annual Conference 2010.


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Hi guys, we have C.J. Baty popping in today with her new release Roaring Waves, we have a fantastic giveaway so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~
Roaring Waters
C.J. Baty
Damien Fitzgerald has lived through hell and is determined to never let anyone get close to him again. A fervent reporter, he throws his life into his work and doesn't care whose toes he steps on. But someone else does. He's got a stalker, and the messages are growing increasingly threatening. He turns to his best friend, Justin Warfield and his lover, Private Investigator Marcus Drummond. Seems like a good idea until Robert Wyler becomes part of the package.
Robert Wyler, the manager of the bar at the Warfield Inn, has always been misunderstood. Sure he takes care of his body, wears his hair long and likes tatts, but that doesn't mean he's domineering. A cold exterior hides the more passionate man inside. Men like Damien Fitzgerald get on his nerves. Too good looking. Too arrogant. But when Justin and Marcus needed his help to guard the man from a stalker, Robert couldn't say no.
Damien and Robert have a history. Whenever they are near each other sparks fly. Can Damien and Robert get past their prejudices to find the real men hiding underneath. Will they find love before the stalker gets to Damien and their chance at happiness is destroyed forever…
Amazon US | Amazon UK
About C.J.!
C.J. Baty lives in southwest Ohio. Her heart, however, lives in the mountains of Tennessee where she hopes to retire some day. The mountains have always provided her with inspiration and a soothing balm to the stresses of everyday life.
The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to fan fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.
She has a loving and supportive family who don't mind fixing their own meals when she is in the middle of a story, and a network of friends who have encouraged and cheered her on in her quest of being an author.
One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is: "You are never too old to follow your dream!"


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FeatureSMD diode
lo | VRRM | Chip Material | Chip Number | lr | Temperature |
5A | 40V~200V | Metal & silicon chip | 1 | 10ua | -40~+150℃ |
VF | IFSM | Chip Size | Lead Number | Trr | Package |
0.54V~0.92V | 100A | 88MIL | 2 | 5ns | 3Kpcs/T&R 6Kpcs/box |
●Adopts high-quality process chip, which has good sealing reliability and prevents electrical degradation
●Laser marking is not easy to fade and prevent refurbishment; epoxy resin grease has good stability
●Oxygen-free copper frame pins, bright tin plating to prevent oxidation, small internal resistance, good conductivity
●Adopt 5 layers of large corrugated kraft paper box, 4 layers of restraint belt protection
●The inner box is protected by moisture-proof plastic film, which is convenient for long-term storage in the warehouse
ASEMI brand MB6S,MBS series,it adopts high-quality process chip with high stability, highly consistent product dispersion etc features.This product is ASEMI original product, the quality is stable and reliable.Welcome to apply for free sample test.
ASEMI brand MB6S,MBS series,it adopts high-quality process chip with high stability, highly consistent product dispersion etc features.This product is ASEMI original product, the quality is stable and reliable.Welcome to apply for free sample test.
Adopts high-quality process chip, which has good sealing reliability and anti-electricity decline.
Laser marking, not easy to fade; epoxy resin molding, good insulation stability.
The frame pins are made of oxygen-free copper material, with small internal resistance, good conductivity.
Independent small package to prevent material backlog collision and scratch, product information clearly marked.
5 layers of large corrugated kraft paper box, 4 fastening belt protection, pressure and wear resistance can be reused.
3-layer small corrugated inner box + moisture-proof plastic film protection, convenient to store and easy to solder on the machine.
●laser marking is not easy to fade, to solve the ink screen printing easy fade
●high production efficiency of laser marking, short delivery time, solve the problem of long delivery time and low efficiency of ink printing
●disposable injection molding with epoxy resin material
●good flame retardant performance, high strength, high temperature resistance
●oxygen free copper, good electrical conductivity
●pin thickening design, thickness up to 0.9mm, can work for a long time without heating
●the LOGO of the original "ASEMI" brand
●A = advanced
●SEMI = semiconductor
●The three bars represent the positive poles
●Safety testing and identification authority
●Safety inspection product yield labeling
●[SS510F] represents the complete model of the product
●[SS] stands for the schottky diode
●[5] means its forward current is 5a
●[10] represents its reverse withstand voltage is 100V
●[F] represents it's belong to SMAF
Body Height :
4.75mmBody Width :
2.57mmLead Length :
0.63mmlead width :
0.097mmLead Spacing:
3.68mmLead Thickness:
Adopt high-quality process chip, the product continues to be stable
Accurate product quantity
Strict packaging inspection procedures to ensure that the product quantity is accurate, packaging without damage
One-step injection molding
Automated equipment supports injection molding in one step
Passed 6 quality checks
12 parameters such as Vb, Io, If, Vf, and Ir are detected through 6 channels, and ΔV is controlled within 80V to improve the consistency and reliability of 4 chips.
Interpersonal interaction
Reinforcement, cutting, separation, interpersonal interaction process
ASEMI adopts 88mil high-quality large chip, with good parameter consistency and stable and efficient output
Use inferior 78mil small chip,Inferior chip easy to heat after long-time working serious, and will damaged the machine
ASEMI uses laser marking is not easy to fade and prevents refurbishment
Inferior and easy to drop word will pullute PCB board,and also exist a problem of malicious renovation
ASEMI uses high-purity oxygen-free copper frame and pins, with good electrical conductivity and high strength of thickened pins
Ordinary steel is easy to be oxidize and virtual weld, the strength is low then easy to break
The ASEMI factory uses Jianding and Guankui high-precision equipment to test 18 key electrical data simultaneously
Other equipment has low precision, the electrical parameter detection is not strict, and the quality consistency is poor
Industrial equipment
Led lamps and lanterns
Induction cooker
Electric welding machine
Power adapter of laptop
Automobile industry
-40~+150℃SS510F electrical parameters: maximum forward average current 5A; maximum reverse peak voltage 100V
SS510F packaging method: 3Kpcs/reel, 6Kpcs/box, 60Kpcs/carton
The diodes is widely used in: power supplies, chargers, adapters, LED lighting, home appliances, civil and industrial equipment and other products
Welcome to apply for free sample test.Sales(1):0755-83235680
Overseas sales:(+86)0755-83231856
24-hour Phone:13530121177
400 Number:400-9929-667