text:
Search Results
Megacities and the Environment »
Source: Finance & Development, June 1993
Volume/Issue: 30/2
Series: Finance & Development
Author(s): International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Publication Date: 01 January 1993
Keywords: monetary policy, inflation, central bank, foreign exchange, monetary fund
SlNCE the dissolution of the Soviet Union, most of the former member states have retained the ruble as their national currency but have followed independent monetary policies. Such a combination is not sustainable....

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Who benefits: some practical applications
Satellite navigation systems are changing the way in which we travel from place to place whether by land, sea or air and whether in remote areas or through congested city streets. Within a few years, mobile phones will incorporate global positioning receivers as standard. The combination of being able to send a text message by mobile phone together with your precise location, will have far reaching implications.
Find your way - Location Based Services (LBS) and Personal Mobility
The day is almost here, for example, when you will be able to use your mobile phone equipped with satellite navigation receiver to find your way when entering an unfamiliar city. You will be able to send your requirements (for example, nearest parking space, pizza restaurant or whatever) via text message to a service provider, who will use your position to determine the nearest facility to you. The service provider will check on availability - perhaps even book a table or parking space for you - before automatically sending a map for display on your phone which shows your position and how to get to what you want.
Search and rescue and law enforcement
Satellite navigation is already widely used to locate life rafts lost at sea or to keep tabs on explorers heading for isolated and little-known parts. A mobile phone equipped with a standard satellite navigation receiver, however, could soon become an everyday item for the elderly or disabled. The knowledge that their precise location will be relayed automatically with an SOS phone message, will increase their confidence to get out and about.
Crisis and emergency situations require a joint, coordinated effort by several teams, sometimes in particularly severe environments. In major disasters like earthquakes, floods, landslides and forest fires, the transport and communications infrastructures are probably unavailable, while roads, power lines and water distribution may be damaged or even destroyed. The basic infrastructure itself often has to be restored before aid can be brought to the victims.
Successful relief operations rely on the co-ordination of real-time information on topography, hazard maps, and alternative sources of power, water and any other urgent need. This co-ordination would be provided by a relief organisation control centre, based on pre-disaster information, integrated with updates coming from position data and satellite images.
Travel by road
Satellite navigation will help regulate road use and minimise traffic jams. If all vehicles are fitted with a navigation satellite receiver and a data transmitter, their position can be relayed automatically every few seconds to a central station. This information can then be used in a number of ways to control road usage. It could, for example, be used to charge motorists for using a stretch of road, to restrict access to congested roads, or to inform drivers of congestion and suggest alternative, quieter routes.
Travel by air
When planning aircraft routes and landing schedules at busy airports, it is essential to ensure that aircraft are always a safe distance from each other. "The trouble is you don't always know where the planes are, so you have to leave a very large safety margin," says Hans Fromm, Deputy Head of the Navigation Department at the European Space Agency (ESA). "But if you could be confident of knowing precisely where the planes are, you could reduce the margins safely and increase capacity," he adds. Galileo, the satellite navigation system under development in Europe, will provide a guaranteed service with sufficient accuracy to allow airlines and pilots to know their position reliably and precisely enough to make substantial efficiency savings.
Satellite navigation can also help pilots to land planes safely, especially in poor weather. At present, this is possible only with differential satellite navigation in which an antenna close to the runway transmits a signal to the navigational satellites. Small airports are unlikely to invest in this technology, but when Galileo becomes operational the need for a differential antenna will reduce. Galileo's guaranteed service and use of dual frequencies will increase accuracy and reliability to such an extent that planes will be able to use its navigational signals for guidance using their on-board technology alone.
Due to ongoing developments with the European Geostationary Overlay Service(EGNOS) and Galileo, satellite navigation is about to become an interesting innovation for all modes of transport. One of them is the railways, which could profit considerably from the implementation of autonomous on-board positioning systems. There are various possible applications which could enable a cost-effective modernisation and increase of efficiency, especially for local and regional railway lines.
However, train control poses high demands on positioning with respect to availability, reliability and integrity. These requirements can only be fulfilled by means of integrated positioning systems which combine GNSS with other sensors.
The sea and waterways are the most widely used mode for transporting goods worldwide. A wide variety of vessels move around the world each day. The efficiency, safety and optimization of marine transportation are key issues. EGNOS and Galileo will be a fundamental tool for bringing innovation and progress in navigation and many other marine activities such as fishing, oceanography and oil and gas exploitation.
Satellite navigation benefits all maritime applications, including leisure boats, commercial vessels, and unregulated and SOLAS-regulated ships. Each application will take advantage of the new characteristics offered by EGNOS and GALILEO: increased accuracy and integrity, certified services and high availability.
EGNOS and Galileo will be used in every phase of marine navigation: ocean, coastal, port approach and port manoeuvres, under all weather conditions.
Multi-modal Transport and Remote Asset Tracking
Applications concerned with multi-modal transport and remote asset tracking deal with the possibility of managing fleets or keep track of dangerous goods in many different domains (e.g. aviation, road, maritime, and rail).
The key advantage of the Fleet Management Solution is that the end user reduces costs and improves customer service.
Indoor Positioning
GPS has become an emerging and important positioning source for a wide range of applications; many of which go far beyond the traditional transport sector, i.e. personal mobility including dense urban, indoor, and outdoor applications. Practically all of the current applications rely on the GPS signals, sometimes also exploiting regional or local augmentations to increase accuracy. As applications also move into safety-critical areas where service reliability is of concern, users and services providers alike are becoming aware of the importance of service qualities and ultimately service guarantees.
Although GNSS is capable of providing accurate location information in areas where the satellite signals are available, this is unlikely to be the case inside buildings, hence if exploited, indoor navigation is not only a promising market but could also be seen as an essential local area augmentation for GPS, EGNOS, and Galileo.
Technology and Facilities Development
Applications regarding technology and facilities development are concerned with the broad concept of providing aid and exploiting tools for other applications. For example, data collections can be performed and broadcast in various formats to be made available to different positioning technologies.


text:
The TV show Leverage may be a hit for TNT, but over the last couple of weeks, it was in a heated battle for ratings with a certain popular sporting event (the 30th Olympic Games). Despite the gigantic ratings around the country for the Olympics, Leverage hung in there quite well, according to Christian Kane, country singer/songwriter and star of the TNT hit show.
"You know we've been very fortunate," Kane tells WYCD's Dr. Don Show with Rachael and Grunwald. "We've been battling the Olympics the whole time and that's a horrible thing just because I love the Olympics, rooting for America, but, we've also kinda been rooting for us. We've been good. We've got loyal fans man, were very fortunate."
On the show, Christian's character, Eliot, is quite the cook and knows a thing or two about fine wine. When asked how much of that is really Christian Kane, he says, "The cooking is actually me. I come up with all that stuff. Well, they write for me, and then I get to put in my own two cents. The wine, not so much, but the cooking, definitely me."
Leverage Stars (L-R) Actors Beth Riesgraf, Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge and Christian Kane (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
As an actor, Kane has gained a strong following thanks to Leverage. Some of his fans, though, wonder if he was trained or if he's just a natural. It's a question Christian often ducks–but not this time. "Some people can go to acting class and it's really good for them. Especially if you happen to not be working at the time, it keeps you honed. I grew up with the best teachers in the world, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise, the guys I was watching on TV, that was my acting class."
"But," he continues, "I gotta be honest, I'm not gonna come out to Los Angeles and pay somebody $400 a freaking week when it's already hard enough to live in this city. And I'm not gonna pay somebody who couldn't hack it in the business anyways."
Kane also has a world of fans, dubbed "Kaniacs," who go crazy for his country music. He leads the band Kane, who've released three albums to date. Their 2010 album The House Rules made the Billboard Top 30, and they've cracked the charts a couple of times with the singles "Let Me Go" and "The House Rules."
Sometimes, Kane's acting and music worlds do come together, such as in this clip below from Leverage (Season Three, Episode 6). In it he performs "Thinking of You," a song he penned with Blair Daly.
Listen to the full Christian Kane interview on WYCD.
– Jason the 300lb Cowboy/99.5 WYCD and Nanci Haskin/99.5 WYCD


text:
Pearson stowaway hid in aircraft overhead bin
Greater Toronto Airports Authority reviewing security procedures after breach
An attempted stowaway at Toronto's Pearson airport slipped past security and hid inside a COPA Airlines flight, Peel Regional police said Tuesday, after a canine unit found the man in a compartment on the Panamanian aircraft.
Police say a suspect managed to sneak past security checkpoints on Monday, prompting a search that lasted several hours. A team of dogs found him inside the plane, which was due to fly to Panama City later that morning.
Transport Canada confirmed in an email that the stowaway was found in an overhead bin on board, but offered no further details.
In a statement, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said the suspect was located at 8:30 a.m. ET
The COPA airplane was "isolated in a remote area of the airport" and a canine team searched the area and found no explosives, the GTAA said.
The GTAA added that it is reviewing its security procedures following the breach, but would not release specific details about Monday's incident.
Trevor Kendall, 33, was arrested and charged with mischief, endangering the safety of an aircraft, break and enter to a plane and obstructing police. He was to appear in a Brampton, Ont., court Tuesday.
Pearson International Airport is Canada's largest and busiest. Last year, 33.4 million passengers travelled through the airport.


text:
Research News
Researchers Hunt Down Antarctic Microbes
Scientists from Louisiana State University look for signs of microbial life in Antarctica's glaciers
June 3, 2010
Antarctica is just about as far away from Louisiana State University's (LSU) hot and humid home state as you can get. But despite the extreme temperatures and frozen landscape, that's just where doctoral student and Louisiana native Shawn Doyle, along with his adviser, Brent Christner, spends a great deal of time doing fieldwork.
"Shawn's project focuses on providing evidence that metabolically active microbes exist in ice," said Christner, assistant professor of biology at LSU. "So traveling to Antarctica is really just part of the job description."
Doyle started working in Christner's lab as an undergraduate student at the university. It was through this research experience that he was able to travel to Antarctica for the first time.
"I never thought I'd end up traveling to Antarctica in my lifetime," Doyle said. "After I took a job in Dr. Christner's research lab during my senior year, I soon found myself standing on the coldest, windiest and highest continent on the planet. I got to visit the frozen continent for the first time back in 2007, and I just returned recently from my second trip this last December [2009]."
The microbes Doyle and Christner study are significant because scientists previously believed that no life could inhabit the world's glaciers and ice sheets. Researchers assumed that any microorganisms in these permanently frozen environments would be dead or metabolically dormant, and thus have no significant impact on their environment.
"Microbes live beneath the ice sheets of Antarctica, for example, in subglacial lakes with no access to sunlight," Christner said. "If we are successful in showing that these microscopic creatures have the potential to metabolize and persist within glaciers, this would support notions of microbial life existing on other icy planets or moons in the solar system."
Of course, just getting to Antarctica is an adventure in itself. After an overnight flight from Los Angeles, the researchers stop in Christchurch, New Zealand, to acquire their extreme cold weather, or ECW, gear from the clothing distribution center run by the U.S. Antarctic Program, which is managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Weather permitting, the following morning, the team boards an Air Force C-17 for a five-hour flight due south to the ice runway at NSF's McMurdo Station.
All further transport from McMurdo to Christner and Doyle's field camp in Taylor Valley is by helicopter. These services are provided by Petroleum Helicopters Inc., or PHI, which is, coincidentally, also located in Louisiana.
Once the researchers have arrived and settled in, it's time to get to work. In order to access the glacial ice they wish to sample, Christner, Doyle and their colleagues use chainsaws, demolition hammers and ice picks to literally carve ice caves into the sides of glaciers.
"All participants are trained to use the equipment safely, so it's not as dangerous as it sounds, plus it's the best way to collect very large samples for analysis," Christner said. "I'll admit, chainsaws aren't exactly typical tools used in microbiological fieldwork."
While the research is compelling and the fieldwork exciting, living conditions at base camp aren't quite up to hotel standards.
"We each have our own one-person mountaineering tent to sleep in," Doyle said. "We're supplied with heavy, cold-weather sleeping bags, as well as a pile liner and camping mattress to sleep on. It's not luxurious or anything, but it does keep you warm."
But how do the scientists stay comfortable when they're working?
"It's all about being properly equipped," Christner said. "NSF provides us with excellent extreme-weather gear and equipment. Conducting research in this environment would be extremely difficult without this high level of support."
"The worst part is the heavy, steel-toed Baffin boots we have to wear to the tunnel-site," Doyle said. "I'd imagine, since I grew up in Louisiana, it's a little more difficult for me; but some of the other guys from Montana who are used to the cold weather are probably a little more comfortable with all the heavy equipment we have to wear."
Aside from the cold, one of the most challenging issues Doyle and Christner face while acclimating to life on the continent is the constant presence of sunlight.
"In the field, we start our days around 8 a.m., just like any workplace. This can take a little getting used to at first, because remember, during the austral summer in Antarctica, the sun never sets! It's daytime, all the time," Doyle said.
A surprising revelation about life in the Antarctic field camps is that, well, the food isn't half bad.
"This is the most popular question I get asked about Antarctica field-camp life," Doyle said. "Surprisingly, we eat very well in the field. We have lots of frozen meats, vegetables and canned goods from which we can cook just about whatever we want. Some members of the team are actually very good cooks. We've cooked meals ranging from vegetable stir fry to pork roasts with mashed potatoes. Nevertheless, there are some things we can't get in the field, like fresh dairy products and produce."
No matter what the conditions, doing research in Antarctica is the opportunity of a lifetime for these two biologists.
"This is the fantastic part about science," Doyle said. "It's not all lab coats and test-tubes. You have to go out in the field and explore, find samples to test your hypotheses and use the most amazing technology available to get to the bottom of these biological mysteries. It's really an exciting field of study."
In fact, Doyle is so taken with this research that he developed an outreach program to expose high-school students at his alma mater, Sulphur High School in Sulphur, La., to the opportunities a career in biological sciences can bring. He also created a blog, so that the students could follow his fieldwork in Antarctica.
"Reaching out to my old high school has been a very fulfilling experience," Doyle said. "I just think it's so important for kids to know that scientific careers bring great options, and the earlier they understand this, the better for their futures."
"It is incredibly rewarding to watch how students develop and are inspired by conducting research and field work," Christner said. "The pathway to becoming a scientist seems like a long road, but there is a huge payoff in the end. You get to travel to places most people only dream of and delve into questions that have never been asked. It involves long hours and dedication, but it sure beats working for a living!"
For more information, visit Christner's website.
-- Ashley Berthelot, Louisiana State University, email@example.com
This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
View Video
Initial scouting and selection of safe sites for tunneling into Taylor Glacier.
Credit and Larger Version
View Video
Time-lapse video of research team packing and staging tools and supplies for fieldwork.
Credit and Larger Version
The LSU Flag on the shore of Lake Bonney, Antarctica.
Credit and Larger Version
LSU graduate student Shawn Doyle carries a demolition hammer used to excavate the sampling tunnel.
Credit and Larger Version
An A-Star helicopter overhead at Blood Falls camp shortly after dropping fuel and supplies.
Credit and Larger Version
Shawn Doyle (left) and Tim Brox use chainsaws to excavate sampling chamber inside Taylor Glacier.
Credit and Larger Version
Brent Christner
Shawn Doyle
Related Institutions/Organizations
Louisiana State University
Related Programs
Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Workshop Opportunities (EPS)
Related Awards
#0636828 Collaborative Research: Biogeochemistry and Geomicrobiology of Taylor Glacier Basal Ice
#0636770 Collaborative Research: Biogeochemistry and Geomicrobiology of Taylor Glacier Basal Ice
Total Grants
Related Websites
LiveScience.com: Behind the Scenes: Researchers Hunt Down Antarctic Microbes: http://www.livescience.com/environment/antarctice-microbes-bts-100521.html
United States Antarctic Program: http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/antarct/usap.jsp
Glacial Microbes - Shawn Doyle: http://glacialmicrobes.blogspot.com/
Christner Research Group: http://brent.xner.net/


text: VasoCT, a feature of XperCT, helps you identify and assess the size and extent of an occlusion in the case of an ischemic stroke. It helps you carry out treatment as quickly as possible, thus enhancing patient care and quality of life for stroke patients. VasoCT is based on a 3D rotational scan and an intravenous contrast injection, which can be less invasive.


text:
In perhaps his most provocative post, advisor and investment thought leader Eric Nelson measures Warren Buffett, Jeremy Grantham and John Bogle and finds them all wanting in comparison with his own favored DFA approach to investing.
Nelson, a CFA and registered investment advisor with Servo Wealth Management, regularly analyzes the relative merits of asset-class investing, most particularly with the value-based and small-cap tilt associated with Dimensional Fund Advisors' funds.
His current post in his "Servo Thoughts" series compares asset-class investing — combining assets with low or negative correlations — by setting up the best known proxies for various approaches.
To stand in for active management, Nelson hauls in Warren Buffett, specifically his Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares (NYSE:BRK.B).
As a proxy for tactical management, Nelson brings in Jeremy Grantham's GMO Global Asset Allocation Fund III (GMWAX).
Representing an indexing approach is the Vanguard Balanced Index Admiral Shares (VBIAX), the 60-40 U.S. stock-bond portfolio that John Bogle recommends for his own family.
And for the asset-class approach, Nelson used a globally diversified 60-40 stock-bond portfolio made up of seven DFA funds (DFUSX; DFLVX; DFSVX; DFIVX; DISVX; DFEVX; DFGBX), whose stocks tilt toward small value and whose bonds are short-term, high-quality and global.
Over 10 years through February 2014, Buffett's returns were lowest (6.3%) and BRK.B's performance in the market mayhem of 2008 was the worst of the four approaches (-31.8%).
(Notably, in his annual letter to shareholders released Saturday the Sage of Omaha recommended his heirs invest in a Vanguard index fund.)
Meanwhile, Nelson notes that in a 10-year period witnessing two bull markets and the worst bear market since the Depression — in other words, an ostensibly "fruitful environment for tactical management" — Grantham's GMO fund took risks and produced returns (7%) that merely matched the index fund (6.9%); their 2008 results were similar, losing 19.4% and 22.1% respectively.
The DFA portfolio, on the other hand, bested the bunch, with 7.8% returns — nearly a percentage point above GMO and Vanguard and 1.5 points above Buffett, with similar 2008 losses to the index fund (22.9%).
Nelson notes that this superior performance came during a decade not particularly favorable for asset class investing since global diversification offered little benefit and was a drag on performance in 2008, and because short-term quality bonds underperformed in a falling-rate environment.
"And that is probably the greatest testament to an asset class approach — it still 'worked' despite the fact that not all of its central tenets were 'working,'" Nelson writes.
The asset class investing proponent concludes that "what has worked in investing is what works in investing."
Asked by ThinkAdvisor if asset-class investing's superior approach in a less favorable environment implies a likelihood of an even better results in the next 10 years (when, through mean reversion, a more favorable environment is likely), Nelson quipped:
"There might be something that's gonna work better, but you're not gonna be able to find it in advance."
– Related ThinkAdvisor stories:


text:
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
Josh, a typical teenager in most respects, differed from his friends in at least one quite noticeable way—he had a large birthmark that covered much of his face. His unusual appearance, however, didn't seem to affect him. Josh related well with his peers and didn't act at all self-conscious.
A family friend eventually put his curiosity about this into words. "Josh, you must be aware of the large birthmark on your face," he said. "Can you tell me why it doesn't seem to bother you in the slightest?"
Josh smiled and said, "When I was very young, my father started telling me that my birthmark was there for two reasons: one, it was where the angel kissed me; two, the angel had done that so my father could always find me easily in a crowd. My dad told me this so many times that as I grew up, I began to feel sorry for the other kids who weren't kissed by the angel."
Words are an extremely potent tool, and those spoken by the people we love carry the most weight of all. Let's heed the instruction of Scripture—"encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today" (Hebrews 3:13)—and use the power of words to bless our children at every opportunity.
Do you consistently encourage your children through your words and actions?
How could you be even more effective?
How can you model encouragement to each other so your kids will see it in action?
Father, show us how to use the power of words to bring encouragement, comfort, and confidence into our children's lives. Restrain us from words that hurt and guide our tongues to bring words of light and lasting hope into our home. Amen.
- From Night Light For Parents, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.
Illustration adapted from What Kids Need Most in a Dad by Tim Hansel (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1984).


text:
34th ESA Parabolic Flight Campaign Day Three: peaceful skies and a flying carpet
The skies above France fell quiet on Thursday due to a national air traffic controllers' strike. Hearing of it the night before, some microgravity experimenters worried the 34th ESA Parabolic Flight Campaign might lose its final flight. In the event the 'Zero-G' A300 Airbus lifted off right on time at 10:00 CEST, having received exceptional clearance to fly.
"A beautiful day," was one comment at the post-flight briefing. The day's 31 microgravity parabolas had been turbulence free. And in the final couple of parabolas some researchers tried out a new experiment for fun - and had a go riding a genuine flying carpet.
The Campaign was over but the experimenters couldn't relax yet – they had to pack up their experiments and associated gear. Ahead waits analysis of data and eventual publication of findings, and, often in many cases, follow-up parabolic and even space flights.
Professor Andre Aubert of Belgium's University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven is already a 'frequent flier'. This was his third parabolic flight campaign. He and his team have been measuring how heart rate and blood pressure changes during gravity shifts (from normal 1g to Og microgravity and 1.8g hypergravity) with four test subjects either standing up and lying down during the flight - including Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne).
"We're interested in how the cardiovascular system responds to changes in gravity," said Aubert. "Posture is important to this because, for instance, in hypergravity, a person standing will have a lot of blood drain out of his upper body into his legs.
"So we see his heart beating faster because there's less resistance to it – it's like you cycling faster after adjusting the settings on your exercise bike. But the same person lying down won't show such a reaction."
The experiment has applications for returning astronauts but also life on Earth: "About 500 people have flown into space and about two thirds of them have some problem with falling over after returning, as their bodies readjust to gravity. There is also a common related illness called syncope, where people faint as they get up from a chair because of low blood pressure in their heads. Our research teaches us more about both of these."
Aubert plans to carry out a follow-up parabolic flight but he'll be busy during ESA's October Parabolic Flight Campaign as his experiment is due to fly on a Soyuz mission (for the second time following last year's Odissea flight).
Philips engineer Marco Haverlag already has a berth assigned on next October's Campaign for the experiment he's been working on with Eindhoven University of Technology. It concerns the workings of super-bright High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps.
"Philips has used parabolic flights once before to examine how halogen lamps function in microgravity," said Marco. "This time we've been looking at HID lamps, in an attempt to understand de-mixing instabilities which can take place inside them.
"The middle of the lamp burns at 5000 degrees while the sides are cold. In gravity this produces upward and downward convection currents of particles and gas and makes a complicated interactive process involving diffusion and electrical effects more difficult still to understand.
"Removing gravity makes it easier: the exciting thing about the flights is we actually saw with our own eyes that the lamps change their characteristics as gravity changed."
A different HID lamp experiment will be flown in October. This will actually be testing a flight-model due to go into orbit by Soyuz taxi flight in spring next year. The experiment will be operated by Dutch ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers, who took part in this week's parabolic flights.
Another experiment tested this week might hopefully launch into orbit before it. The joint ESA-NASA Pulmonary Function System is due to be deployed aboard ISS once Shuttle flights resume as part of the station's Human Research Facility. The hardware was receiving its microgravity flight-test this week: although experimenters uncovered a few software bugs overall the equipment worked as planned.
It analyses the gas content of astronauts' breath using a novel technique called 'photoacoustics'. Infrared light is filtered by holes in a fast-spinning wheel into distinctive wavelengths – chosen as 'signatures' of various gases. Each signature infrared wavelength heats up one particular gas within a test cell – but as the wheel spins round to a different filter that gas cools again. The resulting rapid expansion and contraction can be detected by a microphone as sound – which is decoded and measured to reveal the gases present.
"My formal retirement date from ESA actually came midway through this week's flight campaign," said ESA PFS Project Manager John Ives. "I started work on the first predecessor to PFS back in 1985, so it was great to finish up seeing it working as it will when it's used for real."


text:
Needless to say, I check his blog quite regularly.
I can't get over what he posted last Sunday.
And, at the same time, I can't quite wrap my head around it.
I've been entertaining the idea of printing it out. Highlighting. Writing in the margins.
But, quite honestly, I'm somewhat afraid of what I'll write.
Stomping on the accelerator can be a daunting task.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
I've been thinking about something lately.
Imagine this:
You're on an airplane, sleeping with your head against the window, your heart set on being home this time three hours from now. All of a sudden, something goes very wrong. The plane stops moving across the air and instead starts falling through it. The lights are flickering and the movie is skipping. The plane dips hundreds of feet in seconds, and the yellow cups fall from the ceiling. They're a brighter shade of yellow than you remember, because unlike the demonstration, these cups have never been handled before. "Flight attendants take your seats now", you hear, the pilot's voice trembling over a cacophony of alert tones. You get that smell in the bridge of your nose like you've just been hit with a football. That's what the fear smells like. The plane is going down.
Four more drastic drops in under a minute. People are crying. For all the folklore about how your life flashes before your eyes, you're remarkably fixed on one vision - your parents. They're sleeping at this very moment, in a bedroom so quiet they can hear the clock in the kitchen. And you can see them, clear as can be. You wish you could see a playground or a first kiss, but all you can see is your parents sleeping. Huh. Well, that's that.
Several long minutes go by. Then, all at once, the lights come back on and the plane somehow rights itself. Some people cheer, but most people cry harder. The plane lands about an hour later, and as soon as you feel that touch down - hell, even when you were within 50 feet of the ground and could still technically survive a fall - you realize that however you brokered the deal between you and God worked; you've just been granted life in overtime.
Here's the question: what do you change? Whom do you call that you haven't spoken to in years? Whom do you realize has been toxic to your heart and drop with surprising ease? What trips do you cancel, and what trips do you book? What can't you be bothered with anymore? What's the new you like?
Think about that, and then ask one more question. Why not just change it all right now?
(Working on it...)
I'm glad I didn't write this.
Ending with (Thinking about it...) would've ruined it.


text:
Gallery for week 6 of Creative Coding
The weekly gallery showcases artwork created by learners participating in Creative Coding.
The gallery is curated by the lead-educators and moderators, and at the end of each week they'll select a small number of pieces that have been shared by learners with the Monash Creative Coding group on Flickr that best reflects the week's theme or topic in interesting ways. We hope the gallery inspires your own creative coding.
Sharing your images on Flickr
If you'd like your artwork to be considered for the weekly gallery, you'll need to post it to the Monash Creative Coding group on Flickr. If you haven't already, you'll need to register with Flickr. If you're not sure how to do this, review Signing in to Flickr and How to join a Flickr group.
If you are uploading your artwork to the Monash Creative coding group on Flickr and would like it to be considered for the weekly gallery, please specify the image viewing permissions to 'Public'.
Share your thoughts on this week's gallery
In the Comments, share with other learners your thoughts on the artwork that's been included in the gallery for this week. You might like to ask other learners about the coding that may have been used.
You can also share with other learners your thoughts on the week, making sure you mention what has excited you the most or what challenges with your coding you have overcome.
© Monash University 2017. CRICOS No. 00008C


text:
Get Help Quitting Tobacco
Quitting smoking is not easy, but you can do it. To have the best chance of quitting and staying quit, you need to know what you're up against, what your options are, and where to go for help.
Great American Smokeout
The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout is held on the third Thursday in November each year. People who smoke are encouraged to use the date to take an important step toward a healthier life by making a plan to quit, or by planning in advance and quitting smoking that day.
Tobacco and Cancer
Find out what we know about the risks of smoking and other tobacco products.
Smoke-free Communities
Find out what's being done to curb tobacco use, and how you can help.
Keeping Your Kids Tobacco Free
Concerned parents may have more power over whether their children start using tobacco than they think they do. Find out what you can do to help keep your kids away from tobacco.
Interactive Tools
Use these interactive tools to understand how you use tobacco and what might help you quit successfully.


text:
Electronics Engineering and Technologies
Some Electrical and Mechanical pages closely related to Electronic Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering are also listed here. delabs lists more than 10K EE Companies & Resources in the Web.
Categories of EE Websites of Firms and Resources
- Circuit Diagrams Archives Reference
- Embedded Microcontroller Resource
- EDA CAD Circuit Design Software Tools
- Electronic Engineering Magazines
- ASIC, SOC, CPLD, DSP and FPGA
- Electronics Resources and Tutorials
- Industrial Automation & Process Control
- Sensors, Actuators and Analytical
- Test & Measurement, Instrumentation
- Semiconductor and IC Application Notes
- Datasheets, Standards & Service Manuals
- Components Parts Kits and Materials
- Power Electronics & Solar Energy


text:
One of the problems with traditional turbine generators is that they are only really efficient and cost-effective at large scales. They may be great for feeding the grid, but an efficient, cheap, and portable device to power your cell phone or charge a radio a wind turbine will never be. Shawn Frayne's invention, the Windbelt, does not have this problem, and its mechanical simplicity makes you smack your head and wonder why this hadn't been thought of before.
There's no gearbox — just a thin belt strip stretched taught with a button magnet at one end. When the wind blows, the belt begins to oscillate, moving the magnet in and out of a coil to generate an AC current.
Shawn's Windbelt was one of the award winners in Popular Mechanics' 2007 Breakthrough Awards. They have a video of him discussing his invention and using the prototype and a few dollars worth of electronics to power some LEDs and a clock. He hopes that cheap Windbelt-powered LED lighting will eventually be able to provide an environmentally sound and easily serviceable home-lighting alternative in developing nations. It's such a brilliantly simple design. You can probably build one yourself before the weekend is through.
Windbelt, Cheap Generator Alternative, Set to Power Third World – Link


text:
Did you know that 1.42 million miles (i.e. more than one-third of all road miles in the U.S.) are still unpaved gravel or dirt roads? Want to ride them all? Well, the Horizon is here to explore the rugged backcountry where getting out there has never been more fun.
The Horizon handcycle is the first of its kind. This shaft-driven Horizon handcycle paired with our powerful electric drivetrain allows riders with various ability levels the opporunity to reach new heights and explore new territory.
We designed a robust, independent front and rear air-shock suspension and paired it with our industry leading electric drive system. The base model comes standard with one battery pack totaling 1kWh with a range of 25-40 miles per charge, and the option of adding up to 3 more modular battery packs for an astounding 100-160 miles of range. Taking it one step further, we developed a set of key adaptive components, offering a wider range of physical abilities a new way to ride the trails or quite possibly, the opportunity to ride again. The Horizon was designed from the ground up to be modular. That means you can pick which adaptive components work for you and leave out the others to create the perfect ride for you.
Note: Although our Electric Adventure Vehicles (EAV) appeal to and can accommodate a wide variety of ability levels, it is the sole responsibility of the customer to determine whether the Horizon is the best fit for them. Outrider will provide information about the functionality of its products, but we are not trained professionally to make medical evaluations and recommendations. For this information, please consult your medical professional.
Create your own adventure exploring millions of backcountry and primative roads
Ride on local dirt or gravel trails with the comfort and stability of full-suspension
Ride during the day and power your camp at night with larger capacity battery options
Gain endurance and extend ride distance at yoru own pace because you determine how much to supplement your physical input with the independent electric throttle (GREAT for PT and Rec Therapy following an injury!)
Conquer that mountain or trail you've been dreaming about
Ride with friends on local mountain bike trails (where permitted)
Recovering from an injury? By utilizing the electric drive, you can begin riding again quicker, which will build confidence and strength in a novel and exciting manner
Cruise around the neighborhood with friends and/or family
The list is as long as your imagination for adventure!
Optional ultrabright 1000 Lumen LED headlight for clear sight when riding at night or for mild road riding
2-Series: 750W, 1400W, 2000W
78"- 90" x 32" x 33-36"
Standard Wheels: Steel J-Bend
Optional Wheels: Aluminum straight-pull (industry 9)
Front Tires: Maxxis Maxx Daddy's (20", 20")
Rear Tires: Maxxis Holy Roller (26")
NuVinci N380 CRV
Independent A-Arm Front, Rear Shock custom designed by Outrider USA
Low range: 13 mph*
High range: 25 mph*
*The Horizon is primarily intended for off road use. It is the express and sole responsibility of the rider to know and respect the laws and regulations in any location in which they ride.
American Made Brushless 93% Efficient
Rider plus gear = 250 Lbs
Battery Chemistry: Lithium Polymer
Battery Capacity: 1-2kWH
Dual Shimano Hydraulic 180 mm Disc Brakes
Chromolly / Aluminum
Onboard 1200 Watt 110V Charger standard, 2400 Watt 110V fast charger available as upgrade (220V Charger Available upon request)
We stand behind what we build. Every Outrider is assembled by hand in Fletcher, NC by our highly skilled assembly team. Before we bring a product to the market we prototype it extensively, and then take those prototypes and torture test them in the most grueling and brutal scenarios possible to make sure they're going to stand up to serious use. And when we say warranty, we mean it - in the unlikely scenario you do need to warranty a part all you need to do is call us at 828-654-7555 where you'll speak with one of our team members at the shop. We'll pinpoint the issue, request proof of issue, and then do whatever needs to happen to fix that part and get you back out there riding.
2 Year Limited Warranty - Includes All Non-Wear Items
Example: Tires, tubes, brake pads and similar wear items are not covered under the warranty
Example: Batteries, motor, frame and similar non-wear items are covered under the warranty
DISCLAIMER: ALL OUTRIDER USA TRIKES AND FRAMESETS SHOULD BE PERIODICALLY CHECKED for indicators of stress and/or potential failure, including cracks, deformation, corrosion, paint peeling, dents, and any other indicators of potential problems, inappropriate use, or abuse. These are important safety checks and very important to help prevent accidents, bodily injury to the rider, and shortened useful product life cycle of a Outrider USA bicycle or frameset. Failure to follow this warning may result in catastrophic failure of the component or tricycle, which may lead to serious personal injury or death.
All other remedies, obligations, liabilities, rights, warranties, express or implied, arising from law or otherwise, including but not limited to, any claimed implied warranty of merchantability, any claimed implied warranty arising from course of performance, course of dealing or usage of trade, and any claimed implied warranty of fitness, are disclaimed by Outrider USA and waived by the original owner. If any provision is found unenforceable, only that provision shall be stricken and all others shall apply.
Not every component is designed for every conceivable use. Broken parts resulting from riding performed on surfaces or locations not intended for the particular model can shorten the useful product life cycle of the trike and invalidate warranty of certain parts. Broken parts resulting from performing jumps, tricks, riding down stairs, aggressive riding, riding in severe climate, riding with excessively heavy loads, commercial riding and all other types of nonstandard use will also shorted the useful product life cycle and invalidate warranty of certain parts.
This warranty is void if the trike is subjected to abuse, neglect, improper repair, improper maintenance, alteration, an accident, or other abnormal excessive or improper use. Additionally, this warranty applies only to the original owner of the trike and is not transferrable to subsequent owners.
Every Outrider ships fully assembled in a custom crate. Within the USA, transit time is usually 5 business days or less. Please be aware that this is shipping time, not including build time. We customize each build per the customer's request, so this shipping time is in addition to current build times. Most often, your Outrider will be shipped LTL "Less Than Truckload", which means it will arrive on an 18 wheeler. If your delivery location is inaccessible by an 18 wheeler it is your responsibility to notify us prior to shipment so that we can make alternate delivery arrangements. Scissors and/or wire cutters are recommended to disassmble the crate, and remove your Outrider from the crate.
To secure your spot, a 50% deposit is required. This deposit is refundable up to 60 days prior to the date at which we go to production, minus a 500 dollar restocking fee. After placing your deposit, you will be notified 2 weeks prior to the that 60 day cut-off, to verify that the Outrider is everything you want it to be! Final balance and shipping costs are due no fewer than days before shipping. Once that final payment is received, your Outrider will be shipped out or delivered. Deposits may be made via check, wire transfer or card*, for one or multiple Outriders .
*There is a 3% service charge added for payments made with a credit card
"It is one of the most revolutionary concepts to ever hit the world of mountain biking." -- The Active Times
"For the past few years, Outrider has been earning praise and breaking records with its pedal-assisted electric trikes, but its latest design is gearing up to be its most rewarding endeavor yet." -- Gizmag
"It's a great design that would give more freedom of mobility to people who don't have full function of their limbs, but who would want to experience the great outdoors like anyone else." -- TreeHugger
The Horizon was brought to life through an amazingly successful Kickstarter campaign. The Kickstarter campaign filled the first production run that is set to ship in December of 2014. We are now accepting down payments for the second production run that is set to ship in April of 2015.
Sign up to follow Outrider's innovations.
© 2020 Outrider USA
Designed by Out of the Sandbox.
Shopping Cart by Shopify


text:
The morality of the American people now resides, insecurely, in the Presbyterian Church. Every other institution of American society–the evangelical churches, the bought-and-paid-for American media, both houses of Congress, the executive branch, both political parties, the corporations, the financial sector, the universities–all support Israel's genocide against the Palestinians. Only the Presbyterians dissent.
The genocide is cloaked behind the propaganda that no Palestinians lived in Palestine until after the Israelis arrived, that all Palestinians are terrorists who want to murder innocent peace-loving Israelis, and that the terrorist Palestinians are armed by the few remaining Muslim governments that so far have escaped becoming American puppet states.
The solution, of course, is for the few remaining independent countries in the Middle East to be brought by force under US and Israeli hegemony.
The Presbyterian Church, as it is the only US organization that is not under the Israel Lobby's suzerainty, is included among the independent institutions that must be brought to heel.
The Presbyterian Church, which alone in America has a moral conscience, has been disturbed for some time by the Israeli/American policy of Palestinian extermination. In violation of international law and under the protection of US diplomacy and America's UN veto, Israel has evicted Palestinians from their homes and villages since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967 and even before. The remaining small parts of the West Bank in which Palestinians still reside have been turned by Israel into ghettos cut off from the rest of Palestine.
The Presbyterians, being meek Christians, have only mild criticisms of Israel which are packaged together in the church's Middle East Study Committee's report with the Presbyterians' commitment to Israel's continued existence and to "our American Jewish Friends." The Presbyterian report even disavows divestment from Caterpillar, the US company that supplies Israel with the machines that destroy Palestinian homes, thus driving Palestinians from their lands so that Zionist settlers can confiscate their properties. It was a Caterpillar bulldozer that killed the American Rachel Corrie who was protesting Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes.
The Presbyterian report expresses concern that "the window of opportunity for an end to the occupation and the viability of a two-state solution is rapidly closing." The Presbyterians fear that violence begets violence, and that the two sides are sliding into wanton willful murder of one another in violation of God's commandments.
The Presbyterian document states: "We do affirm the legitimacy of Israel as a state, but consider the continuing occupation of Palestine (West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem) to be illegitimate, illegal under international law, and an enduring threat to peace in the region. Furthermore, we recognize that any support for that occupation weakens the moral standing of our nation internationally and our security."
For Israel and the vast media and American political apparatus that Israel controls, this was too much. Israel is never guilty of anything. Only Palestinians are guilty. Anyone who criticizes Israel is anti-semitic and aligned with terrorists who want a second Holocaust.
The extreme Zionist Jerusalem Post, the moderate American Jewish newspaper, the Forward, and even a Mormon blog declared war on the Presbyterian Christians.
Israel, of course, denies that there is any illegal occupation of Palestine despite this being the finding of every country, the UN, and even Israel's American protector, the US government. The Jerusalem Post accuses the Presbyterians of expressing "contempt for Israel" attempting "to delegitimize Israel" and justifying "Palestinian terror against the Jewish state."
And there you have it. Any person or organization that is not all apologies for Israel's dispossession of Palestinians from their homes, villages, and lands, any person or organization that does not accept that 5-year old Palestinian children shot down in the streets by Israeli soldiers or Zionist settlers were terrorists about to bring down the Israeli state, anyone who does not genuflect before the Israeli line on everything is an anti-Semite who wants to renew the Holocaust and exterminate the Jewish people.
The Rabbis in every American community will buttonhole the Presbyterian ministers and ask them to explain why they are anti-Semites and beat their wives. The Presbyterian General Assembly, which meets in July, will again be intimidated, as it was previously, and vote down the recommendations in the church's report on the Israeli/Palestinian issue.
The weak forces of morality will again be defeated by the Israelis, and the extermination of the Palestinians will continue.


text:
College Tours: Where to Eat Near U.C. Berkeley
Berkeley, California is a fantastic place to fall in love with food. I should know—over five years of study at the University of California, I left the collegiate confines of canned chili, terrible pizza, and too many trips to the "Asian Ghetto" for the greener pastures of one of the best food towns in the state.
Berkeley's flavor quotient isn't necessarily a measure of diversity or "authenticity." Its advantage is accessibility. Even when a Berkeley restaurant isn't stellar, it's likely to offer good value with few frills. The community's appreciation for quality ingredients and affordable dining options makes Berkeley a comfortable spot for serious eating, even if it's not a destination as vast or storied as Los Angeles, Chicago or New York.
Coffee Shop
For a solid Americano, an occasionally available patio seat and one of the nicer places for an off-campus chat, the south side's Strada is tried and true. Au Coquelet, just a short walk from the West Gate and open later than any other cafe in the city, has made vast improvements over the years—namely, the addition of outlets, free wifi, and a Trumer Pils tap with stupid-good happy hour prices.
For serious cafe time, take a short bus ride to Local 123 on San Pablo. It's a great place to get some work done with the aid of single-origin beans, snacks, ample seating, and wifi. On the north stretch of Shattuck, the Berkeley outpost of Philz offers much of the same, plus a dizzying variety of house blends.
Berkeley-bound pizza lovers are advised to read from the pages of Slice's own David Kover for up-to-date reporting on the slice situation. As long as I've been acquainted with both pizza and Berkeley, they've shared two essential intersections.
The Cheeseboard Collective serves the best California pizza I've tasted, devoting each day of operation to a different blend of cheeses and seasonal ingredients. The workers regularly give customers "mini slices" with their pizza for free, and sitting on the median with your Cheeseboard slices is a time-honored Berkeley tradition.
Downtown Berkeley's Arinell, on the other hand, offers the Bay Area's essential thin-crust slice. Not quite New York but quintessentially no-nonsense, this is pizza for any occasion. And if you get as excited as I do about folding a slice to Hüsker Dü's "New Day Rising," get your ass downtown. Avoid Arinell's toppings, unless you like undercooked everything on your pizza.
If you feel like making the trek, Gioia meets our criteria for a slice worth the trouble.
I admittedly have very little at stake in the burger wars of America, and have a hard time remembering a single burger near campus that still exists. The pub burger at Triple Rock will do well in a pinch. If you have the time for an expedition, the Shake Shack tribute/clone known as True Burger near downtown Oakland is AHT-approved. Wherever you do your burgin', don't be fooled into eating at Smokehouse or Oscar's. They look like vintage winners from the outside, but aren't worth your time.
Two of the more memorable lunch breaks in my life have involved sandwiches near the University campus. The first is a stroll to Gregoire, a single-table takeout just north of campus with a rotating menu of Franco-Californian sandwiches. Always order a side of "potato puffs," deep-fried, bite-sized scoops of buttered mashed potato that are good enough to be their own meal.
The other is a between-classes rush to Cheese n Stuff. The deli-stuffed-into-a-corridor serves a Thanksgiving sandwich called the "Turkey Delight": gravy-smothered, roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, avocado, mustard and mayo on your choice of roll.
Also recommended: the weekly sandwich selection at The Local Butcher, along with a stop for falafel or chicken shawarma at Sunrise Deli. If you've got the time to take a longer bus ride down telegraph, Genova Deli in Temescal is well worth the trip.
A relative newcomer, Hamro Aangan on San Pablo has some of the best Indian food I've tasted—it's technically in Albany, but the bus to its door is a straight shot from campus. Aangan has a mostly northern bent, with filling, flavorful vindaloo and curry choices and one massive plate of biryani. The must-order dish, though, is sev batata puri—a vegetarian dish that gets everything about Indian snacks right in a single bite.
Much closer to campus, House of Curries is a fine go-to for Indo-Pakistani food.
Look away from the exotic fixtures of Thai House, and you'll find three affordable and dependable alternatives near campus. The best near-campus venue is Thai Noodle on Shattuck—be sure to try the duck noodle soup. Racha Cafe on Telegraph and Lucky House on University are also good go-tos with short waits and solid cooking. (warning: while Lucky House was one of my favorite Berkeley restaurants from 2003-2008, I've heard it may have gone downhill in recent years).
Chinese food options in Berkeley proper aren't much to write about, but there are two excellent options accessible by public transit. In Oakland Chinatown, the East Bay extension of San Fransisco's Spices! offers a no-holds-barred Sichuan menu. Try any of the hot pots—it's perfectly acceptable to choose purely based on decorative title, but good luck deciding between the "Cumin Spice Nomad Style" and "Gangsta Casserole Murder Style."
For Shanghai-style dim sum (including a solid xiaolongbao, excellent fried noodles, and wonderful bean sheet noodles), head to Shanghai Cafe in Oakland's Chinatown.
Closer to home, bookmark the URL for China Village, a North Berkeley favorite that recently caught on fire. Once it's up and running again, catch the bus over with a group of friends for the best family-style meal in town.
Conversations involving the words "best taco" or "best burrito" aren't a good match for "near UC Berkeley." But Taqueria Monte Cristo makes the best carnitas in Berkeley, by a fatty mile. Order anything with carnitas here (I'm a fan of the burrito), and you'll receive a payload of roast pork, given an extra fry to turn out a high ratio of crunchy bits. The flavor can be inconsistent, but the portion is always satisfying. If you're serious about Mexican food, catch a BART train out to Fruitvale and start exploring the taco trucks and shops of International Blvd.
The perennial local favorite for brunch is La Note, the downtown restaurant that epitomizes the meal with dishes like "Lemon Gingerbread Pancakes With Poached Pears," a full spread of egg dishes and omeletes with your choice of cheeses and sausages, and a side of "Provencales Tomatoes." Just as nice, albeit not as rustic, is Sunnyside Cafe, the Solano Ave. brunch destination that recently opened a branch in downtown Berkeley. Try one of the cafe's four types of eggs benedict, for starters.
For a truly memorable brunch, make the trek to Jodie's Restaurant, which I've repeatedly gone on record describing as my favorite place to eat in the world. On weekends the wait can be extreme (typically 30-40 minutes), but bring a friend, order Jodie's "Something Different" or "Charles' Grillled Cheese." You'll be a regular in minutes.
Everett & Jones on San Pablo. Racks of ribs in spicy sauce. Extra slices of white bread. Don't even think about getting sanctimonious on the "real" definition of barbecue—in the Bay Area, this is as true as it gets. E&J's Jack London Square location is better for a night out, but as long as it stands, the Berkeley smokehouse will be synonymous with the words, "rib run.:
Happy Hour
This is a category best vetted by you Serious Eaters, but I'll put in a good word for "Beat the Clock Friday" at the Bear's Lair. I wouldn't normally tell anybody to set foot in this overcrowded and generally noxious campus pub, but the craft beer selection at the Lair (curated by the owners of Triple Rock and Jupiter) is impressive.
More importantly: If you show up at 4pm on Friday, pitchers are ludicrously cheap. With each hour that passes, the price goes up, and your Friday night becomes significantly harder to remember.
Late Night
The wisdom of the crowd wins when it comes to Berkeley's late night eats. For a savory bite, head straight to Top Dog on Durant, the only gourmet sausage shop I can think of whose employees are simultaneously obsessed with Libertarianism and Star Trek: The Next Generation. You're likely to fight your way through a drunken mob, but for a butterflied Calebrese at 2:00 a.m., you should be prepared to overcome any obstacle. Pro-tip: all Top Dog sausages are available raw, at a discount price. Take home an armful of sausages if you're in a grilling mood, and don't forget to try the joint's unfiltered apple juice.
For dessert (or late breakfast), cross the street and get in line at Kingpin Donuts. The shop tends to do a lot of its cooking in the wee hours of the night, and its delivery requirements are everyone's gain. Show up past midnight and ask for whatever's fresh. Especially if the answer is "buttermilk," arguably Kingpin's best contribution to gluttony.
Date Night
For a reasonably priced, fairly tasteful dinner date, catch a bus to Elmwood, one of Berkeley's nicest residential enclaves. Enjoy anything wrapped in phyllo at La Mediterranee, or share a couple of generous Italian dishes at Trattoria La Siciliana. After dinner, you can stop off for a pricey but tasty treat at Ici, or one of several million varieties of tea at A 'Cuppa Tea.
For date night in the City, make a point of trying the $20 tasting menu at Mr. Pollo, a Latin-American hole-in-the-wall whose chef serves these four-course California cooking showcases at such an absurdly low price that I wonder how much longer it'll be possible to nab a table.
Date Day
Wat Mongkolratanaram, referred to by English speakers as "Thai Temple Brunch," takes place every Sunday morning from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It's the perfect sunshine date for two serious eaters: buy tokens with cash, then use them to feast on a variety of home-cooked Thai dishes in the garden of a Buddhist temple in South Berkeley.
Considerably further from campus, the Trumer Pils Brewery offers a free tour every weekday at 3:15pm. Learn about beer, try one of the best pilsners in the world at its source, and stumble over to the Berkeley Marina (or to the Pyramid Brewery) to keep the good times going.
Dive Bars (and Other Watering Holes)
The East Bay has no shortage of bars with personality, but try skipping past the downtown and near-campus standbys. Try heading to the Albatross(not really a dive), where the popcorn is free, the pub trivia is lively, board games are plentiful, and dogs are welcome. Further down San Pablo, the Hotsy Totsy is a classic dive that comes with the added bonus of a decent taco truck that regularly parks behind the bar.
Literally a house wedged between businesses on Solano is Pub. It's not a dive, but it's one of the best bars in Berkeley for buzzed lounging. Board games, a tobacco bar, and coffee make this an all-in-one favorite for the leisurely.
If you want to dive deep, BART over to Rockridge for a visit to The Kingfish, a near-centenarian Oakland bar on its way to landmark status. Good people, free popcorn, a ramshackle mini-shuffleboard table, bar food in house, and Ethiopian food across the street make this one a winner.
The Morning After the Dive Bar
To understand the true meaning of "home fries" (and for Berkeley's best hangover helper) bring five bucks and change to Ann's Ktichen on Telegraph. This constantly buzzing, no-frills breakfast-and-lunch spot churns out diner breakfasts with the crustiest, crunchiest, most golden-brown home fries I've ever had. There's no hair of the dog to speak of, but if you show up enough times the owners are sure to remember your favorite order. Don't forget the fresh-squeezed O.J.
When the Parents Are in Town
If your folks want to empty the bank, take 'em to town at the legendary Chez Panisse. My parents have never been in favor of emptying the bank, so you'll have to tell me how the food is— at the very least, lunch is a good compromise on cost for a fancy meal with the family.
On the other side of town, Kirala is the place to drag your parents for sushi and sashimi. There's typically a line when doors open for dinner, so show up early if you want to avoid a wait.
When Someone Has a Car
In-N-Out in
Hercules Pinole. I recommend the hamburgers.
When Someone Has a Car, but for Some Reason You Aren't Using It to Drive to In-N-Out
Grab a bundle of your favorite antacids and drive down to Vik's Chaat Corner for a feast of Indian snacks.
In the factory district of Berkeley, a car will give you access to an excellent brunch at 900 Grayson—try the "Demon Lover," a gussied-up plate of fried chicken tenders and waffles that is downright delicious. A few blocks away, Juan's Place serves a variety of large-portion Gringo-Mex fare, but the main reason for stopping in is to feed recklessly from the free bowls of freshly made flour tortilla chips that precede every meal.
Just past the Berkeley-Oakland boarder, you can pay a visit to Lois the Pie Queen; while their breakfasts are just fine, what really sets this place apart (aside from its history and amazing name) are the diner's sweet breakfast biscuits with fresh strawberry jam, and one mighty fine slice of lemon icebox pie.
Driving to San Francisco unlocks the Richmond and all of its Chinese food. You could also go on a Burmese food tour, or scarf down some excellent black bread, Russian dishes, and house-made kvass at the recently renovated Cinderella Cafe.
Further afield, the automotively enabled Berkeley student can make a ramen pilgrimage to San Jose's Ramen Halu. On the way back to Berkeley, double down on your food road trip with a meal at Fijian-Indian restaurant Curry Corner Takeaway in Hayward.
I'll never forget the time I schlepped over to Berkeley Bowl for pumpkins on the morning of Halloween. 10 minutes before opening, the supermarket that carries just about everything was already blockading a crowd of shoppers ambling out front, anxiously waiting for first crack at the bounty of cheap, fresh produce and international goods inside. When the doors opened for business, an old man pushed forcefully past me with a shopping cart and ran wildly down the first aisle, never to be seen again. Needless to say, the pumpkin selection was outstanding. Make your own trip for all kinds of delectable fruits and some truly terrible burritos.
Public goodbyes for notable Berkeley and Oakland eateries that are no longer with us:
Goodbye, The Patio. Your lamb burger, afternoon pitchers of craft beer, and eponymous patio will be missed. Your knack for attracting and retaining obnoxious gutter punks in the corner of said patio will not.
Goodbye, Pie in the Sky. You descended from Jersey to give Berkeley the best mom-and-pop pizzeria I've ever seen. May you continue to serve California-thin-crust of the highest order wherever you land.
Goodbye, Mario's La Fiesta. Every time I pass the Chipotle sandwiched between two American Apparels on Telegraph, I'll tear up about the sensible spot for chips, salsa, and Mexican comfort food that was once just a few blocks away.
Goodbye, The Parkway. Your child speakeasy theater in El Cerrito will never replace the rugged, historic, Lake Merritt theater where last season's movies, pitchers of beer, bowling alley pizza, and couches whose histories I probably don't want to think too hard about coalesced over the laziest of Saturday afternoons.
Goodbye, Chef Edwards. You gave me my first taste of serious barbecue, more Piggly Wiggly sandwiches than I deserved, and the worst food news I've ever received when I heard your doors had closed.
Goodbye, Cafe Intermezzo. I can't say a good word about sandwiches with sprouts in them, but having you in the neighborhood at least made me feel like I could, someday, pretend to be in the gravity field of a healthy lifestyle.
Goodbye, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory. Thanks for nothing, jerks at Hershey.
What Else?
In recalling some of my favorite Berkeley eats, I've harped on one strategy: For the love of all things tasty, do not limit yourself to a a few blocks from campus. With a few exceptions, eating directly near the university tends to be a joyless exercise, so grab a bus map, budget some extra time, bring a friend, and do whatever's needed to explore.
What about you, Serious Eaters? What does the community have to say about where to find good grub in the People's Republic of Berkeley? Add your thoughts in the comments!
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text:
Are you squeezing the most out of your training budget?
Training to make a difference
"Our staff came away from the course buzzing with ideas and enthusiasm"
"Zing totally understands our sector" - Paul Anscombe, James Hallam Insurance Brokers
Home /
Insurance Training /
Course outlines
The key objectives of this programme are to improve business revenues and up-selling opportunities and to achieve profitable growth on both premium and commission income. Brokers will increase their understanding of a proactive approach to business development and will build, and learn how to continuously develop, the skills required to develop their account effectively. The course also covers improving personal organisation, self & time management skills, new business meeting skills, assertiveness and influencing & communication skills.
This one day sales programme course has been designed exclusively for Insurance Brokers and those who are involved in generating new business opportunities and appointments within the organisation.
The provision of reliable and effective client care is the lifeblood of every broker and is even more important now with the FSA Treating Customers Fairly initiative, yet the issues which need to be addressed are extremely variable. This course aims to raise awareness of customer service and assist delegates in providing exceptional client care.
Leadership is changing and approaches focusing on flexibility, collaboration, crossing boundaries and collective leadership are expected to become high priority.
This full day workshop has been designed to enable you to understand the changing nature of leadership and how you need to adapt in this changing environment
Zing Associates 39 Alma Vale Road Clifton Bristol BS8 2HL
Tel: 0117 959 4135
Email Us


text:
Indiana Dunes Country Arts & Entertainment
See the arts come alive
Immerse yourself in creativity inspired by the spectacular natural surroundings of Indiana Dunes Country. Enter a whole new world during a performance by one of our many theatre companies. Tour a gallery featuring the stunning works of local artists, or try your hand at creating something yourself. Pack your family into the car and pull up in front of a giant drive-in movie screen. Or float away on the notes drifting to the treetops during an enchanting open-air concert.


text:
Exemptions (FOIA)
(b)(1) Applies to material which is properly classified pursuant to an Executive Order in the interest of national defense or foreign policy.
(b)(2) Applies to information which pertains solely to the internal rules and practices of the Agency.
(b)(3) Applies to the Director's statutory obligations to protect from disclosure intelligence sources and methods, as well as the organization, functions, names, official titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed by the Agency, in accord with the National Security Act of 1947 and the CIA Act of 1949, respectively.
(b)(4) Applies to information such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person on a privileged or confidential basis.
(b)(5) Applies to inter- and intra-agency memoranda which are advisory in nature.
(b)(6) Applies to information release of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of other individuals.
(b)(7) Applies to investigatory records, release of which could (C) constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of others, (D) disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) disclose investigative techniques and procedures, or (F) endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel.
Exemptions (Privacy Act)
The Privacy Act exempts certain information in whole or in part from its search and disclosure provisions (see Full Text of PA, CIA Information Act of 1984,):
- Records exempt in their entirety are polygraph records.
- Records exempt in part are those that contain classified information, information concerning intelligence sources and methods, or information concerning other persons.
- Records generally limited in their disclosure are those compiled in reasonable anticipation of civil litigation (exemption (d)(5).
- Under the seven specific exemptions in the PA, the CIA most commonly applies:
- Exemption (j)(1): information concerning polygraph records, sources and methods to gather intelligence -- including the facilities, organization, functions, names, officials titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed by the Agency -- and documents or information provided by foreign governments.
- Exemption (k)(1): classified information under an Executive Order in the interest of national defense or foreign policy.
- Exemption (k)(5): investigatory material used only to determine suitability, eligibility, or qualifications for federal civilian employment or access to classified information when the material comes from confidential sources.
- Exemption (k)(6): testing or examination material used to determine appointment or promotion of federal employees when disclosure would compromise the objectivity or fairness of the process.
Because the CIA processes Privacy Act requests under both the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), some information may also be exempt from release under the FOIA statute. For example, FOIA Exemption (b)(6) is commonly applied to information found in Privacy Act records concerning other individuals that may not be released without their written consent.


text:
King and Snohomish Counties Car Accident Attorneys
The Weyer Law Firm is a leading Washington law firm experienced in the representation of personal injury victims, including cases involving auto collisions, bicycle, pedestrian, watercraft accidents, and wrongful death cases. Here at the Weyer Law Firm, we pride ourselves on giving each client individualized attention and we aggressively pursue prompt, fair, and just compensation for injuries caused by the negligence or recklessness of others.
The Weyer Law Firm has successfully handled many personal injury cases, whether through negotiating a settlement with insurance companies and defense lawyers or before a judge and jury. We strive to deliver justice to those who have been injured by the wrongful acts of others.
If you or a loved one has suffered a personal injury through the fault of another individual or company, it is essential that you contact an attorney or firm with the skill to get you what you deserve. The Weyer Law Firm approaches every case with the mind to right wrongs and to help the injured and their families rebuild their lives.


text:
Barbecue meat loaf
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 20:00
Wed, 01/25/2012 - 7:35am
3 lbs. ground beef (or game)
2 cups cracker crumbs
Onion salt to taste
2 eggs
3 tablespoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 large cans Hunts tomato sauce
1 cup water
6 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons prepared mustard
4 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
Mix first six ingredients plus 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Press into a pan. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over meat loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours.
*This receipe from Madeline Mackey in 1962 can be doubled for a large family. It can be halved for a smaller loaf, or consider dividing it into two small loaves and freezing one.


text:
Forest Publishing
Present: Ryan, Jane, Jason and Nick (Shannon on minutes)
1. Updates
2. Future Promotion of Golden Hour book
- press
3. Future publications
4. Golden Hour September
- Morton says: we're on Amazon text and image - image not showing up on the listings, but on the page it does. Creepy. He will try to do something about it.
- Nick likes Shannon's outfit.
- Morton got letter from Scottish Book Trust - they may or may not help us out. Action: Jason will send them a copy of the book
- Jason has more generic letters to send out to reviewers & names of some of the reviewers
- There is an interview with Ryan on Textualities.net
- Ryan has sent a copy of the book to AK Press - hopefully we will make it into the January catalogue and they will distribute it nationally
- No money from Blackwells or Word Power yet - won't hear for a little while
- No word yet on the September reading at the university - probably not possible - Morton will push Jameson on it - Ryan has been invited to the induction day
- Ryan and Gareth have meeting with Scottish Arts Council on September 11th
- We are in Analog
2. Where to send copies of the book:
- The List
- Scotsman (firstname.lastname@example.com)
- The Herald
- Evening News
- Skinny
- National Poetry Library
- National Library Scotland
- Scottish Review of Books
- Chapman
- Magma
- more as we manage to think of them…
Shannon has left to take over from the scabies….
Jane and Jason will meet on Saturday noon to send out copies.
Add:: even if you can't review it, will you add a press release in your magazine please?
Website address for the book should be on the letter.
Jane will post this list on the BB and Ryan will let us know who he has personal details for. On those letters we will use the good name of Van Winkle.
Can we get people to review the book online?
Everyone get their friends and family to make us sound good.
Everyone will email their entire Facebook army and get them to buy the book.
Ryan will email everyone on the Forest Facebook.
Jane will talk to Cam about stocking in the shop/other Glasgow places
Nick will talk to Matthew about stocking in Bristol
Jane will talk to Aaron about Dundonia
Nick will talk to Dirk about Berlin
Oxford: they will give us 5 minutes in September or October, Ryan is going down. Maybe we will get some time in March, if he makes good friends.
3. Future Publication
Submit magazine.
The guy in Wordpower, called George-or-something, said Wordpower could get us some big names to go in our magazine. It would make us sellable.
ACTIONS: Nick will set up a meeting with them in early October when Ryan gets back from Oxford.
Jason will send another copy of that poster for proofing
Ryan will put the Submit subscriptions in the shop. £15 a year.
Jane will bump the manifesto.
Ryan will start begging for flash fiction postcards.
We'll have a meeting in October. We'll think about who we want to do things. This will be done on the Forest BB. http://www.theforest.org.uk/bb
Update….we have sold 41 copies, oh oh yes.
Records, publishing, shop etc.
Post Reply
2 posts • Page 1 of 1
- i know keir hind at the skinny
- the SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY is Stuart Kelly
- Joy Hendry runs Chapman
That's about all I kind of know.
I sent stuff to the edinbuirgh review already.
also, use my name with keir but my name isn't mud to stu kelly or joy... for what it's worth.
however, in the letter, i'd mention successfull events at word power and blackwells to make us sound less forest and more real.
- the SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY is Stuart Kelly
- Joy Hendry runs Chapman
That's about all I kind of know.
I sent stuff to the edinbuirgh review already.
also, use my name with keir but my name isn't mud to stu kelly or joy... for what it's worth.
however, in the letter, i'd mention successfull events at word power and blackwells to make us sound less forest and more real.
Post Reply
2 posts • Page 1 of 1


text:
Well here's a surprise! "Paranormal Activity 3" has officially been confirmed and will see a release on October 21st of next year. I don't think they've actually written a script yet so I'd like to suggest that they focus more on the pool cleaner this time. That thing's got big time Hollywood star written all over it.
Eli Roth is just going to keep doing what he's doing and be dreamy to boot. He's now confirmed to be producing two new horror films, "Clown" and "Aftershock". I'm pretty sure you can figure out what the movies will be about from the titles. One has a guy dressed up as a clown who goes nuts and one is about the aftermath of a large earthquake. Try to guess which is which!
Here's a new one sheet for the Natalie Portman flick "Black Swan". I've seen a few trailers for this one and I'm still a little confused but I'm 99% sure Portman actually turns into a swan in the movie and makes out with Mila Kunis. Before she turns into a swan that is, although that would be a lot creepier if it was after. Freaks!
Looks like "Friday the 13th: Part 2 3D" may in fact be moving forward so get excited kids. Or don't, I don't really care at this point. Of course this news is all based on some blog post so who knows. I announced my candidacy for President on my blog and it didn't come true. Don't think I didn't try though!


text:
Ossweil (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)
Ossweil, a town in the Markgroningen district of Württemberg, Germany. In 1559 the Anabaptist Simon Kraushaar of Neckargroningen confessed in cross-examination at Kirchheim-Teck that his baptized daughter Walburga was serving at Ossweil in the home of his brother's son Joseph Kraushaar. In 1570 the Wiedertäuferkalender appeared and named some recanting Anabaptists of Ossweil, including Godelburga, an old, ill, unteachable Anabaptist woman; in 1571 the Urfehde of Jakob Gantz of Ossweil, who promised diligent attendance at church; likewise Alexander Widmann, called Weber. In 1573 Ossweil is "still the same old nest. The known Anabaptists cannot be found, slip out and in secretly" in spite of all surveillance. In 1574 the pastor of Zuffenhausen announced, "In Ossweil several Anabaptists are staying," and the prelate of Maulbronn reported: "Last summer nearly all sectarian persons moved away." In 1575 he wrote that Maria Weber attended no church, much less communion, was unreachable. In 1576 the prelate named several others who disregarded communion; the dean had summoned them to the Rathaus and had received several promises to recant. Similarly in 1577 two women were still "stiff-necked"; in 1578 they were summoned to Stuttgart. In 1583 Maria Weber was attending no church; in 1586 after a term in prison she promised to reform. In 1608 she was again arrested, in 1609 likewise, in 1610 was given up as unteachable, in 1612 she finally recanted.
Bossert, Gustav. Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer I. Band, Herzogtum Württemberg. Leipzig: M. Heinsius, 1930.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 314.
|Eberhard Teufeld
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Teufeld, Eberhard. "Ossweil (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 28 Oct 2020. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ossweil_(Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg,_Germany)&oldid=144531.
APA style
Teufeld, Eberhard. (1959). Ossweil (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 28 October 2020, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ossweil_(Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg,_Germany)&oldid=144531.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 91. All rights reserved.
©1996-2020 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


text:
Mission RidgeNo Reviews Available | post a review
Get a chance to WIN ski lift tickets when you Post Public Snow Reports OR Post a Review
About Mission Ridge
|Family fun in the powder and sun. That's what Mission Ridge is known for. 300 days of sun. Highest base area in the state (so we get dry powder, not that Cascade concrete). Terrain for all levels. 12 miles from Wenatchee hotels, restaurants and wineries.
Skiing and Snowboarding at Mission Ridge
|Get more information about skiing and snowboarding at Mission Ridge, including lifts, trails, and terrain
Mission Ridge Deals, Discounts & Coupons
|1 deals, discounts, and coupons for Mission Ridge posted. See them all.
What's New This Season at Mission Ridge
|New Rental Equipment 2 New Runs New Cosmetic Upgrade and Outdoor BBQ to Midway Lodge
Mission Ridge Contact Information
Mission Ridge Website
Mission Ridge Address7500 Mission Ridge Rd
PO Box 1668
Wenatchee, WA US
Mission Ridge Phone Numbers(509) 663-6543


text:
Events Calendar
Fisher Thrift
Donate clothes and up-cycle t-shirts during Fisher Thrift!
Date: December 6, 2019 - December 6, 2019
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Campus Center Atrium
Hosted by the EcoReps and Center for Sustainability
Did you know? Each year, U.S. residents throw away 11 million tons of clothing. These garments release toxic chemicals into the air and have a huge carbon footprint. Fisher Thrift is hoping to reduce that environmental impact by creating less waste and lowering the demand for fast fashion.
Come shop for donated clothes and upcycle old shirts during Fisher Thrift. Enjoy a human-powered smoothie made on the Smoothie Bike, too!
For more information, email Erin Turpin at email@example.com or the Center for Sustainability at email@example.com.


text:
Page View
Alvares, Manuel, 1526-1583, et al. / Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone : (c. 1615)
Chapter 17: The state of the province after the conquest, and how the members of the Society of Jesus entered the province, pp. 1-3
Page 1
This material may by protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code).| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright


text:
Using Cordero in a 7-1 game after he pitched last night was pretty ignorant. Then again it is Dusty Baker.
Using Cordero in a 7-1 game after he pitched last night was pretty ignorant. Then again it is Dusty Baker.
Why do fans have to have whipping boys? Baker and Cordero are going to be named as lead culprits in Global Warming before the year's over.
Was at the game today.
Edison pitched very nicely, and it was good to see him not lose his mind after trading brush-backs with Loshe and hitting Lopez.
He also undressed Ankiel and Glaus during that tough spot (forget the inning...bases loaded and only 1 out). Serriously. He made them look silly. They are a couple of very tallented hitters and he just made them look dumb.
I am not pimping for Javy as a long-term solution to anything (except an endorsement deal from Old Country Buffett), but he ran out one infield hit and made a nice diving grab today. The diving grab was a real rocket-shot.
We actually stuck around for the game and paid attention to it. With a lot of these miserable performances we stick around through the scoreboard stumper and then bolt.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.


text: Welcome to the Moms Fucker porn site! If you are the one who love to get it on with older women then I can tell, you definitely found your porn site! Moms Fucker boasts sizzling hot categories carrying everything necessary to slake your mom fucking fetish! Here you'll find also dozens of free friendly sites that provide tons of free moms and teens fucking videos and picture galleries! So, join in now and start making the most out of your porn surfing with Moms Fucker! Enjoy!


text: I have joined other 3.5 games that have teetered off recently, and would like to become part of an ongoing or new group that is looking for a dedicated poster. I have come back to 3.5 after being away for a few years, so I don't have any bad habits or am too ingrained with any one type of character. I do prefer running Druids out the PHB, and if expanded, Binders out of the Tome of Magic, but I am open to any type of character you may be looking for to fill an open slot from a player who may have dropped out. Thanks in advance for any replies!


text:
I feel that I am way more understanding towards other parents now that I am one.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Mommy Mindset: How have your perceptions of others changed since becoming a mother?
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 7:32 AM 3 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The Mommy Mindset: Summer Bucket List
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 7:01 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Summer bucket list. What are some things that you're planning to do with your family this summer? Do you have any summer traditions?
Monday, July 16, 2012
Back 2 School Bloggie Boogie
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 11:01 PM 30 comments Links to this post
Help get your back-to-school shopping taken care of by entering the grand prize giveaway, sponsored by Save and Make Moola! Find the best coupon codes, savings, and deals to your favorite online stores at Save and Make Moola (SAMM). From back-to-school clothing to school supplies, you can save big with SAMM.
Sugarsticks Parties is a handmade stationery and paper decor business with the cutest stuff!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Step2 Roller Coaster Giveaway
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 3:43 PM 0 comments Links to this post
If you have small children you totally want one of these:
I wish they had an adult version for me!
I have joined with a group of bloggers to giveaway a Step2 Rollercoaster to a very lucky reader. This giveaway has been coordinated by Tales From the Nursery and Nap Time is My Time. It is sponsored by all of the participating bloggers as we all chipped in to bring this giveaway to you.
Friday, July 13, 2012
UNREAL Candy Giveaway
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 11:01 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Win a sample box of the new UNREAL candy! How exciting is that?
Head on over to A Dollar Saved to see the awesome review of this new product! Be sure to tell her that I sent you & comment below letting me know that you left her some love.
The Mommy Mindset: Swimming
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 7:31 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Now that warmer weather is here and we'll all be enjoying more time at the beach or the pool, let's talk about teaching our kiddos to swim! How old were your children when they first started swimming? Did you teach them yourself or enroll them in lessons?
Thursday, July 12, 2012
I See Me: My Very Happy Birthday
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 7:55 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Our mission is to increase self esteem in children through personalized books that celebrate the uniqueness of each child. The goal of our books is to show each child how absolutely unique and special he or she is, to teach the child how to spell his or her name, and to build vocabulary skills.
I was really excited to be able to review another book from I See Me. We love our first book, My Very Own Fairy Tale (read the review here).
This time we received My Very Happy Birthday. I had it personalized for my daughters 5th birthday. You can choose to specify which birthday and it will include this on the cover as well as 5 pages in the book. The cake would even have the correct number of candles. I chose not to so that it can be used for each birthday.
Monday, July 9, 2012
The Mommy Mindset: Protecting Family from Summer Heat
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 7:28 AM 0 comments Links to this post
As Moms we always wonder if we are doing this parenting thing the right way. The truth is there is no one right way, what works for one family may not work for yours and that goes both ways. I do think it is important to have other moms you can talk to, get opinions from and even bounce ideas off of. I am lucky enough to have that not only in real life but in the blogging world as well. This group of moms will get together every week and talk about a parenting topic. Once we've spent a little time "talking" we will bring the conversation to you. I would love it if you left your thoughts as well.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Skylighter Lighted Disc
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 4:52 PM 1 comments Links to this post
My girls love playing Frisbee and my 7 yr old has gotten really good at it. So we just had to try the Aerobie Skylighter Lighted Disc.
Downeast Basics Summer Style Kick Off
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 11:55 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I am really in love with DownEast Basics girl line. They offer trendy and stylish clothes for my girls. I wasn't prepared for all the cuteness they have or the great prices! After some thought I chose some kick back bermuda shorts and a pink tiered top for my 7 yr old.
Essential Swimwear Review
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 11:31 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Swimsuit shopping is definitely one of my least favorite activities. I want something that is stylish and fits well.
I also want something modest that I am not constantly readjusting particularly when running after the kids.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Play Poppit online with Pogo
Posted by Valerie's Reviews at 6:41 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced the launch of a new retirement guide designed to help advisors talk with clients about the challenges facing American retirees and the considerations they must weigh as they build their portfolios.
The free J.P. Morgan Funds Guide to Retirement, recently made available on JPAM's website, provides talking points for advisors in chart or graph format as they discuss issues with clients such as:
- How to track retirement savings checkpoints
- Spending behavior and the long-term impact of portfolio withdrawals
- The nuts and bolts of structuring a portfolio that balances income and return
This coming Friday, the guide will be launched in an interactive digital version.
In an interview last Friday, the two primary authors of the guide, Cathy Peterson (left) and Katherine Roy, spoke with AdvisorOne about how advisors and end-investors are using the content. They compared the guide to another regularly published JPAM free guide from chief market strategist David Kelly designed to help advisors talk with clients about asset allocation.
Advisors who are uncertain about how to start a conversation around sensitive issues can use the guide to show clients how their data and demographics fit into the larger retirement picture, said Roy, executive director and head of individual retirement at New York-based J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
"The guide to retirement has been really effective in taking the broad context of different topics that advisors talk about with their clients. It's a great resource that puts everything in one place," Roy (right) said. "As I show the guide to different types of advisors, the common thread is that they want to show a picture to clients that they can absorb and understand quickly."
Peterson, vice president and director of retirement insights, added that the demand for the guide has been so great that JPAM is printing many more than anticipated.
"When we rolled out the new guide in early March, we were out there talking with advisors, and we've gone through well over 17,000," Peterson said. "The demand is tremendous across all retirement channels, including RIAs, indie BDs and wirehouses."
Read J.P. Morgan Asset Management Publishes Free Q1 Market Guide for Advisors at AdvisorOne.


text:
Seared flank steak, bok choy, and rice noodles tossed with a Thai-inspired vinaigrette.
Seared steak and rice noodles benefit greatly from a coating of an assertive Thai-inspired vinaigrette. Acid from freshly squeezed lime juice, spice from the chile-garlic paste, and umami from the fish sauce are balanced out with a touch of sugar.... Read More
View Recipe


text:
"There are many ways you can build your child's listening, talking, reading, and writing skills."This brochure can be given to parents and caregivers to help them understand common developmental milestones and grade school expectations. It covers third grade to fifth grade literacy and communication, including listening, talking, reading, and writing. There are useful checklists to mark off the child's skills and help parents recognize when there might be a problem, and tips for building a child's communication skills. The brochure is written in easy-to-understand language and key concepts are illustrated with examples and photographs.
The booklet, Building Your Child's Listening, Talking, Reading, and Writing Skills: Kindergarten to Second Grade is also available.
Site Help | A—Z Topic Index | Privacy Notice | Terms of Use
© 1997-? American Speech-Language-Hearing Association


text:
Give wild rice a second chance in summer salad
Wild rice seemed to have its moment back in the 1990s. That's roughly when Americans first seemed to discover there was more to the rice world than long grain white.
Since then, wild rice (and yes, we know it's really a grass, not a true rice) seems to have lost its luster. People moved on to all the many other new and exciting grains that have come along since, things like quinoa and farro, not to mention the many designer and heirloom rices now lining grocers' shelves.
But we still have a soft spot for the tender, nutty chew of wild rice. So we created a cool, sweet summer salad to show off just how delicious it can be.
Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours (30 minutes active)
Servings: 6
1 cup wild rice
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Ground black pepper
2 fresh apricots, pitted and diced
1 cup blueberries
In a medium pot, combine the wild rice, a hefty pinch of salt and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 35 to 45 minutes, adding water as needed. When the rice is tender, strain through a mesh strainer and spread in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet to cool. To speed the process, you can set the baking sheet in the refrigerator.
Once the rice has cooled, in a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, chives, tarragon, thyme and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir in the wild rice, apricots and blueberries. Season with additional salt and black pepper as needed.
Nutrition information per serving: 190 calories; 60 calories from fat (32 percent of total calories); 7 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 4 g protein; 230 mg sodium.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Alison Ladman is a recipe developer for the AP. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CrustAndCrumbCo