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Must Apply By October 1 Deadline To Lock-In 85/15
JULY 31, 2009: State employees, who have not yet retired, should pay close attention to a proposal, contained in the outside sections of H4181 (supplemental budget), that dramatically increases the health insurance contributions paid by future retirees. H4181 was enacted and sent to the governor on Wednesday.
The proposal, which was devised by Governor Patrick, creates what the legislation calls a "Healthcare Contribution Plan", whereby active state employees can lock in the current 15% state retiree health insurance contribution. The catch – employees must announce their intention to retire by October 1, 2009 and then retire no later than January 31, 2010. Otherwise, the retiree insurance rate will jump to 20% for those active employees who do not take part in the plan (opting in by October 1) and retire by the end of January.
JULY 2009: Following on the coattails of a groundbreaking legislative report that aims to control municipal healthcare costs through sweeping changes in the local insurance law (Chapter 32B), the state Senate has passed a provision, within its version of the FY'10 state budget, that significantly alters the governance of local insurance plans.
In short, the proposal would force municipalities to bring their health insurance costs in line with those of the state, which are generally considered to be lower in many cases.
JULY 24, 2009: The Legislature's Joint Committee on Pubic Service is set to examine proposed changes to the state's disability retirement law - changes that could have a deep impact on some Association members.
The Association has filed four separate bills dealing with various aspects of disability retirement. Three of the four bills will receive a public hearing before the Public Service Committee on Monday, July.
Disability retirees are allowed to work in order to supplement their pension and are restricted in the amount they earn. This bill clearly defines earned income and creates an indexing feature that adjusts the permissible amount of a retiree's earnings for inflation.
Under this bill, a disability retiree could opt to convert their disability pension over to a reduced superannuation (regular) retirement allowance. Once a retiree converts, they would not be subject to the restrictions under Section 91A (see S1164 above). However, non disability pensions are subject to federal taxation.
Raises COLA base to $16,000 for state and teacher retirees, with a local option provision for members of local retirement systems. Costs associated with a new base would be absorbed by extending the state and local pension funding schedules.
The following bills have been filed by the Association for the 2009-2010 Massachusetts Legislative Session.
JULY 2009: Following on the coattails of a groundbreaking legislative report that aims to control municipal healthcare costs through sweeping changes in the local insurance law (Chapter 32B), the state Senate has passed a provision, within its version of the FY'10 state budget, that significantly alters the governance of local insurance plans.
JULY 2009: In a desperate rush to put together a FY'10 state budget in the face of a $2 billion revenue shortfall, triggering language for the state and teacher retirees 3% July COLA, was omitted from the Senate budget when that branch began budget debate on May 18.
JULY 2009: A June 18 email to members asking for opinions on Senate Bill 1929, filed by Senator Brian Joyce (D-Milton), which would require members 85 and over, to take a road test prior to being reissued a new license, has resulted in varied opinions.
As of July 6th, there were 118 replies from members age 85 or over. Twenty-one have already given up their license because of personal reasons, either physical or neurological. Of the remainder, 48 said they were in favor of a road test and felt they could pass such a test, 31 said they opposed such a test unless drivers of all ages were also tested, and 14 gave mixed answers, depending on driving records or cognitive tests.
June 20, 2009: On Friday, the Legislature approved the $27.4 billion Fiscal Year 2010 state budget, which is set to take effect on July 1. Despite the severe recession, that has resulted in deep budget cuts, the budget contains the full 3% COLA for state and teacher retirees. Nearly all local retirement systems have now approved the COLA for local retirees, which will also be paid in July.
While the Legislature opted to increase the insurance contribution rates for active state workers insured under the state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC), rates for retired state workers remain fixed at 90/10 (pre-7/1/94 retirees) or 85/15. Active state workers will now contribute 20% if they were hired prior to 7/1/03. Those hired after that date will contribute 25%.
JUNE 11, 2009: The Massachusetts Legislature has passed sweeping pension reform legislation that will not only impact the pension benefits of future public employees, but could also alter the benefits of current active employees as well. However, the debate surrounding pension reform and the legislation passed today does not impact the pension benefits now being received by current retirees. Changes could impact those retiring after June 30, 2009.
MAY 2008: Association members recently received a postcard announcing new Internet-based services being provided by the Association. These Members Only services are designed to enhance the Association's ability to keep you informed. If you have not done so already, please email us at the address provided on the postcard to have your name added to our email contact list. You can also contact us directly at the numbers listed on your membership card.
In the coming months, we will announce new online communication features, including a redesigned Association website. These are critical times for public retirees. We will continue to do our best to keep you informed on the lastest developments impacting your public retirement.
MAY 25, 2009: With the passage of a 3% COLA increase by the state Senate last week, state and teacher retirees are all but assured of a July 2009 increase in their monthly pension. COLAs for local retirees are the jurisdiction of local retirement systems, 95% of which have now approved the full 3% COLA that will take effect in July. The COLA is based on the first $12,000 of one's pension, for a maximum increase of $360 annually.
Now that the Senate has completed its work on the FY2010 Budget, the Legislature wil begin its conference process, whereby a final compromise budget will be approved by the House and Senate. It is expected that the budget will be sent to Governor Patrick by the end of June, on time for the start of the FY10 Fiscal Year on July 1.
MAY 19, 2009: The Massachusetts Senate is in the midst of debating the Fiscal Year 2010 budget. Paramount amongst the various issues being debating is how the state will grapple with the severe loss in tax revenue that is the result of the economic recession. Budget officials now project a FY10 deficit that could exceed $5 billion.
While the federal stimulus and state's reserve account have helped to close the budget gap, the worsening economy continues to cut deep into the Commonwealth's tax revenues. The Senate is now considering a 1.25% increase in the state sales tax, along with the creation of local option taxes (hotel, meals, etc) designed to help close the budget gap. However, severe spending cuts are expected to remain in effect, even if taxes are raised.
MAY 2009 VOICE: Leadership changes in the House and Senate have instituted two new chairmen and vice chairmen for the important Joint Committee on Public Service.
New House Speaker Robert DeLeo has appointed Robert Spellane (D-Worcester) to chair the Committee. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) will serve as the House vice chairman. The 39 year old Spellane and 50 year old Rodrigues are part of a new generation of leadership in the House.
MAY 2009 VOICE: In the midst of the worse economic conditions since the Great Depression, plans are underway in Washington, D.C. to act on Social Security reform early in 2010.
Despite having received overwhelming support in the past two Congresses for a full repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), it has become evident that any change in Social Security would take place as part of a larger "reform†of the system.
MAY 2009 VOICE: A glimmer of good news has come to public retirees and employees who are insured under the state-run Group Insurance Commission (GIC). Once again the GIC has come in with insurance rates that are well below state and national averages.
MAY 2009 VOICE: Despite suffering huge pension fund losses as a result of the 2008 market meltdown, members of the Commonwealth's 104 local retirement boards expressed faith that the market would recover by voting three percent July COLAs for their retirees.
MAY 8, 2009: A special legislative commission, charged with studying municipal reform measures and new local revenue sources, has issued a report that calls for changes in local health insurance plans.
If passed, each local community not currently enrolled in the GIC would be forced to conduct an analysis of their local insurance costs. If local costs are higher than the GIC, on a per enrollee basis, the coalition bargaining process would be triggered and benefits renegotiated in order to lower local insurance costs. Retirees would have a seat at the bargaining table under this proposal.
MAY 2009: Retirees insured under the state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC) and enrolled in the Medicare supplement plans will not be subject to the new $75 radiology copayment that takes effect on July 1. In addition, GIC officials have opted to maintain the current emergency room copayments for Medicare retirees, instead of the new $75 copayment being charged to enrollees of the non Medicare insurance plans
APRIL 27, 2009: The Massachusetts House of Representatives begins debate on the Fiscal Year 2010 state budget this week. While the budget does include a full 3% COLA for state and teacher retirees and does not change state retiree insurance contribution rates, our Association is closely monitoring developments on Beacon Hill.
Association officials are deeply concerned about a proposed 25% reduction in local aid, along with a $1.9 billion cut in overall state spending. Tax receipts have plummeted in the past six months as unemployment numbers worsen. What long-term impact the recession may have remains to be seen.
APRIL 15, 2009: The House Committee on Ways and Means has filed a Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal that contains a full 3% cost-of-living adjustment for retired state employees and teachers. Support for the COLA, which is scheduled to be paid in July, comes despite a looming $4 billion deficit for FY10.
House budget writers, led by Chairman Charles Murphy (D-Burlington), have proposed an increase in the health insurance contributions paid by active stare employees. Under the House proposal, active state workers would contribute 30% toward their insurance premiums. However, state retirees are held harmless, as our any municipal retirees/employees entering the GIC through coalition bargaining.
APRIL 13, 2009: Legislative leaders are quickly advancing legislation that will redefine some aspects of the Massachusetts defined benefit pension plan. Know as "pension reformâ€, this legislative action follows several year's worth of media expose' that allege pension abuse by a small number of individuals "gaming†the system.
While the proposed changes do not impact the pension benefits of any current retirees, some changes may impact current public employees. The Senate passed its version (S2026) of a pension reform bill on March 31 and the House is expected to debate a similar bill (H4054) on Tuesday, April 14.
APRIL 11, 2009: The state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC) is now holding its annual open enrollment period, during which retirees and employees are allowed to make changes in their insurance coverage (effective July 1, 2009). With nearly 300,000 state and local retirees and employees now insured under the state plan, a large portion of Association members are impacted.
During open enrollment, which runs from April 13 to May 15, 2009, the GIC will hold 18 health fairs across the state. The health fairs, attended by GIC and insurance company officials, provide an excellent opportunity for members seeking additional information about their insurance coverage to speak directly with the people responsible.
Since 1968 the Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association has been the leading voice for Massachusetts public retirees and their families. Join with our 52,000 members as we continue the fight.
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Apothedairy Progress
Posted on Wed Sep 21st 2005 at 10:00 AM by Eric
We've been very busy with infrastructure improvements this summer (and continuing into the fall). We are making progress on converting the barn into our Apothedairy. On the top is from back in June just before we poured the concrete floor; on the bottom is from today — all the wiring and concrete block sealing is done — ready for insulation and plywood.

subset: commoncrawl


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Remember the days when fancy desserts were the rage? Cherries Jubilee, Baked Alaska, Banana Flambe? if you don't know what I'm talking about, you've missed some good eating!
While I love Banana Flambe at a restaurant, I really am a wimp when it comes to trying flaming things in my own kitchen. While this recipe isn't flaming, it is a really decadent banana topping for french toast, pound cake, or creamy vanilla ice cream. And it easy enough that anyone could make it for a special treat for Mom.
Fried Bananas
1/4 cup butter
4 medium ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup (pure is best)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup whipped cream
Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced bananas, brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring to make sure sugar is completely dissolved.
Serve immediately over french toast, pound cake, or ice cream. Top with dollop of whipped cream.
Serves 6. Halve recipe if it's just 2 or 3 of you.
You have no rights to post comments


text: Resources Resources such as documents, research, data, and other tools related to the activities of the California Air Resources Board are available from this page. Use the following general categories or the search tool below. Resource DirectoriesExecutive OrdersPermits, Certifications, Verifications, and RegistrationsFormsDatabase ApplicationsResearchA-Z indexVapor RecoveryEducational Resources Keywords Climate ChangeOn-Road Heavy-Duty VehiclesResearchXFT-ClimateXFT-IncentivesAlternative Diesel FuelsCalifornia Climate InvestmentsCargo Tank Vapor RecoveryCarl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment ProgramCommercial Harbor Craft (-)Community Air Protection IncentivesCommunity Air Protection Program Composite Wood Products Airborne Toxic Control MeasureConsumer Products Enforcement Consumer Products ProgramDiesel FuelFARMER Program(-)Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards(-)Low Carbon Transportation Investments and Air Quality Improvement ProgramLower-Emission School Bus ProgramNatural Gas Transmission and DistributionOff-Road Compression-Ignition Certification ProgramOn-Road Heavy-Duty Certification ProgramPortable Equipment Registration Program (PERP)Quality AssuranceRefrigerant Management ProgramSchool Buses(-)SemiconductorStudy of Neighborhood Air near Petroleum SourcesSulfur Hexafluoride from Non-Electric Non-Semiconductor SourcesTransport Refrigeration Unit(-)Vapor Recovery(-)Community Air ProtectionFact Sheet(-)FormInformationLegal DocumentLinkNoticePresentationReportsResearchStudyTool(-)Video 6 results found for VideoRecording of Public Webinar to Discuss Assembly Bill 617 Community Air Protection Incentives 2019 Guidelines for Stationary Source and Community-Identified Projects FormISD/OGGMB-149 Semiconductor Operations Reporting Form, Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Section 95324 Community Air ProtectionProposed CAP Guidelines Chapter 6: Stationary Source and Community-Identified Projects FormMLD/VRFTB-067 Application for Bulk Loading Facility Vapor Recovery System Certification VideoThe Sacramento Electric School Bus Deployment FormHaagen-Smit Clean Air Awards 2019 Nomination Information FeaturedTruckStop Diesel Truck InformationDriveClean Buying guide for clean and efficient vehiclesBreathe Well Air quality in your neighborhood


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As the cow took the centrestage in an emotive political debate over beef ban and the sanctity of the animal in the Hindu way of life, a Haryana Minister added fuel to the fire by stating that it should be declared as the national animal in place of the majestic tiger.
The state's Health Minister Anil Vij's tweet today brought the focus back on a demand Indians have raised earlier -- make the cown the national animal.
Declare Cow as National Animal of India instead of Royal Bengal tiger
— ANIL VIJ Minister (@anilvijmantri) October 7, 2015
Vij told reporters that he will raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Most Hindus, who hold the cow sacred, refered to the animal as 'gau mata', giving it the same respectful stature as that of a mother.
Ever since the a Muslim man was lynched by a mob in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh on the suspicion of killing and eating a cow, several politicians have made incendiary statements on cow slaughter.
Union Minister Mahesh Sharma tried to play down the violence by implying that the lynching was "momentary" lapse of judgement. "Momentarily hai (It was momentary). Gaay ke maans par hum logon ka… andar se aatma hilne lagti hai (On beef… our soul starts shaking)," he told the Indian Express.
Cow killers in Uttar Pradesh would not be spared if BJP comes to power after the 2017 Assembly elections, BJP MLA Sangeet Som had said. "A strong law should be enacted against cow slaughter. Killers should be booked under section 302 of the IPC," he told Mail Today.
The Haryana Assembly in March had passed a Bill which clamps a complete ban on cow slaughter in the state and provides for a rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to ten years for killing the animal.
The Haryana 'Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan' Bill, 2015, which also provides for a fine from Rs 30,000 to Rs one lakh, was passed by the Assembly on March 16, reported PTI.
The Indian Express reported in May that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been flooded with requests from sadhus to make the cow the national animal. Many of these people have met also met Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. The ministry has refered the matter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Contact HuffPost India


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1st Day : We welcome you and we transfer you from the port or the airport to your hotel.
Afterwards, when you are ready it follows a unique tour in order to discover the beauties of Naxos island!
2nd Day : You could seize your day! You will have the great chance to wander in the picturesque narrow streets of the island, you could visit the traditional shops and you could also enjoy a lunch with great local dishes.
3rd Day : At the morning your day is free...
you could enjoy your breakfast or you could go for swimming by selecting one from the beautiful beaches of the island. After, it follows our visit to the castle of Naxos and the mansion house of "Karavia".
4th Day : At 10:00 a.m we are going to meet the host in order to visit the local market for provisions.
Our departure is at 12:00 a.m for the beautiful island of Paros. During our sailing excursion we are going to stop at Ovriokastro, there you will enjoy swimming in the transparent waters. We continue our cruise our next stop will be at Naousa of Paros. Overnight stay at Naousa.
5th Day : Departure from "Naousa" at 10:30 a.m., now we sail at the east side of the island.
Specifically, our next stop will be at Amara, this an islet which is located at the southwest of Naxos. You will have the unique opportunity to leave the adventure and explore by using the snorkelling equipment the famous shipwreck which happened there. Afterwards, it follows the small island of Iraklia. Overnight stay at Iraklia.
6th Day : Our departure is 10:30 a.m , our destination now is the bay "Rina",
which is located at the south side of Naxos. There we will enjoy swimming and also we are going to explore the sea cave which is there. We continue our journey, now our next stop is at the Kato Koufonisi of course we are going to enjoy the incredible sea and the sun and after if you wish we could have a great lunch at the only traditional tavern there. Overnight stay at Pano Koufonisi.
7th Day : Departure at 10:30 a.m , we sail at west side of "Iraklia" island.
There we will have a unique experience by exploring the location and take pictures from the airplane of the Second World War, which has sunk there. Now, we continue for the Maganari of Ios. Overnight stay there.
8th Day : Our dearer is at 10:30 a.m for the beautiful "Sikino".
There we are going to have around two hours in order to discover the island. At the afternoon we are going to open the sails in order to leave for the majestic Santorini. Overnight stay at Santorini.
9th Day : There the transfer by bus from the port to the hotel. Afterwards, it follows a unique 5hrs tour from a local guide in order to see the most incredible places of the island. The afternoon is free to spend your time as you wish.
10th Day : The day is free in order to explore and see all the beauties of the island.
11th Day : Depart for your own destination.


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I published the following review of THE LAND OF GREEN PLUMS in The Washington Times on November 17, 1996. It was one of very few reviews that book received. It was not quoted on the paperback version. When I called The Washington Times today (October 8, 2009) they can not access it as back issued are not available. One of course feels compassion for Herta Muller for by winning the Nobel Prize...
Of course, in the United States what passes for a novel has sunk even lower...
Finally, a book that describes in precisely hewn detail what it was like to live in Romania under communism. By paying careful attention to the slightest nuances of life in Romania the book also gives an accurate description of what it was like to be alive anywhere in Eastern Europe during the years of communism.
Author Herta Muller was born in 1953 into the large German-speaking minority in Romania, and like the narrator of her new novel, she was driven to leave Romania in 1987. In 1989, her short episodic novel The Passport" was published here in translation. But it only hints at the startling originality of "The Land of the Green Plums," which is seamlessly translated by poet Michael Hofmann. It faithfully follows the original German edition in terms of typography and spacing, which emphasize the poetic nature of the text and make it easier to follow the subtle shifts of mood and voice.
By tracing out the varied fates of five young persons who meet at a provincial college--- Lola, Edgar, Kurt, Georg and the narrator--- Miss Muller has constructed a devastating portrait of how ordinary lives were twisted and devoured by the fear that was purposefully created by the rulers of Eastern Europe, in this case, Nicolae Ceausescu.
The books of Czeslaw Milosz, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Nadezhda Mandelstam have prepared us for the the awfulness of that life, which distorted every aspect of the human personality. If I were to tell you of being arrested in Bulgaria in 1967 for writing on a table-cloth, "No communists. No capitalists. Only free people. All you need is love." you might think I was putting you on. (I am not) Similarly, one's first reaction is disbelief when Miss Muller describes what happens after Lola, a fellow student and friend of the narrator, hangs herself.
"Five girls stood by the entrance-way of the dormitory. Inside the glass display case was Lola's picture, the same as the one in her Party book. Under the picture was a piece of paper. Somoeone read out loud: This student has committed suicide. We abhor her crime and we despise her for it. She has brought disgrace upon the whole country... At four o'Clock in the afternoon, in the great hall, two days after she hanged herself, Lola was expelled from the party and exmatriculated from the university. Hundreds of people were there. Someone stood at the lectern and said, She deceived us all, she doesn't deserve to be a student in our country or a member of out party. Everybody applauded."
The horror is in the pronouns: us, we, our.
Miss Muller has construced a novel that violates every rule of what was expected of a novelist in communist Romania. It also might be said that the book goes against neary every expectation of what passes for a novel today in America. It eschews plot. What is happening line by line, page by page, outweighs any interest in what is going to happen next. We live within the head and central nervous system of the narrator. But it is not a claustrophobic place to be: The voice is alive to the world, defiantly alive in a determination to fail in the construction of positive, uplifting characters.
Miss Muller relies upon the sensibility and intelligence of her readers to understand that they are being asked to enter into the consciousness of the narrator, who makes her way through a life that offers nothing but suicide, exile and betrayal. Her narrator also undersands that, having survived that world and made it to Germany, one still has been irrevocably mutilated in spirit by this world where, "you could feel the dictator and his guards hovering over all the secret escape plans, you could feel them lurking and doling out fear."
The title of the book says much, but it needs a little explanation: "Plumsucker was a term of abuse. Upstarts, opportunists, sycophants and people who stepped over the dead bodies without remorse were caled that. The dictator was called a plumsucker, too."
In a country run by such people, it got you labeled as a dangerous dissident if you were even mildly lacking in enthusiasim for the communist future and wished to maintain some sense of ordinary decency and privacy. Once singled out, the characters in the novel can never escape the attentions of the police and their accomplices.
Miss Muller ranges across the whole of Romanian society, from the peasants ground down by hunger and casual brutalization to the industrial workers who work in dnagerous factories making useless articles no one wants. Her depiction of the degraded workewrs in a slaughterhouse is unequaled anywhere in the literature from Eastern Europe. The men drink the blood of the slaughtered animals and trade stolen raw animal parts for casual and violently demeaning sex while thinking they are getting back at the regime by so doing.
"The men staggered and yelled at one another before snashing each other over the head with empty bottles. They bled. If a tooth fell to the ground, they would laugh as if someone had lost a button. Someone would bend over, pick up the tooth and toss it into his glass. Because it brought good luck, the tooth was pased from glass to glass. Everyone wanted it"
The narrator, like the other voices she allows to enter her mind, learns that you cant trust anyone, whch is probably the most awful result of communism.
She becoems friends with Tereza whose father is a well-connected sculptor. When the narrator is finally living in Germany, Tereza comes to visit, but she comes as an agent of the police, to spy, since one of the narrator's friends has either jumped or been pushed from a window to his death. Tereza is meant to be sympathetic: She has cancer, no luck in love, and yet she betrays the narrator, who alone has been nice to her.
And of the man who has driven two of the narrator's friends to suicide and another into a miserable exile, representing thousands, probably, the author laments that there has been no retribution, no closure, no justice.
This is the horrifying and unblinking truth of this novel and why it has to live on. Miss Muller has triumphed in her honesty, and "The Land of the Green Plums" is her testimony.
PS: and to date, all those communists and fellow travelers for the most part got away with it and in many cases turned themselves into the so-called mafia--- but that is another tale waiting to be told as the former communists and their fellow travelers go about convincing the world that they are the only people who really suffered under the communism


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The power of social media influence #politics
There is something of a revolution going on in politics with major splits in the Tory ranks and now a big split in Labour between the moderates and the Corbyn supporters. MP's have left the major parties to join a new independent group and Labour councillors who have been deselected are talking of standing as independents. The extremists causing the divisions seem to forget that these councillors have influence and in particular social media influence.
April 3, 2019 | Categories: politics, social media | Tags: social media | Leave A Comment »
Words and pictures #social media
You can get quite a powerful message across to your audience with an image that is not just a picture but contains one or two words as well. Today's picture contains just one word and gets across a Victorian image for no particular purpose. I designed the image as an exercise just to see what I could do with a photograph. People make assumptions when they view photographs and although we see thousands of images in a year on television, in magazines, newspapers and online they all have some effect on us. Words and pictures combined have an even greater effect.
December 10, 2018 | Categories: Art, Christmas, social media | Tags: Words and pictures | Leave A Comment »
Social media publicity #ramble #photography
It is Sunday morning and so, as usual, I'll share my thoughts with you, such as they are. This week I had my hedge trimmed ready for the winter and next week I might run the lawnmower over the lawn. Autumn is here and the weather is changing quite quickly. On the 28th of October, the clocks will go back an hour so the nights will get dark earlier. I'm not looking forward to winter, last winter was a cruel one. I hope this winter will be milder. A historic local pub, Ye Olde Leathern Bottel reopened this week and I hope the new licensee does well. I designed a web banner to publicise it and posted it up on Facebook on our history page. I hope that helped. The effect of social media publicity isn't always immediate.
September 30, 2018 | Categories: Art, photography, rambling, social media | Tags: social media | Leave A Comment »
Talent town? #BlackCountry
I have talent on my mind this morning. Today's picture is my great niece Megan who will be on The Voice (BBC One) this evening. The programme has already been recorded and so I think she did well. This photo was taken at The Vine in Darlaston, but she has also sung at The Black Horse and Horse and Jockey in Wednesbury so I hope they remember her. (more…)
January 16, 2016 | Categories: culture, Life, photography, social media, television | Tags: Black Country, Megan Reece, The Voice, Wednesbury, Wednesbury's got talent, Wolverhampton | Leave A Comment »
Taking photos at Christmas #photography
You will probably be taking photos this Christmas and it can be tricky when we have low light and we only have one chance to get some decent pictures. (more…)
December 22, 2015 | Categories: Christmas, photography, social media | Tags: Captain Hook, ISO, long lens, Pantomime, Peter Pan, photography, taking pictures, wide aperture | Leave A Comment »
Santa on social media #Christmas
This week I've photographed a Christmas lunch for the elderly and when Santa's sleigh passed by my house, I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. The pictures of both events went out quickly on Facebook and helped promote the events. It raised awareness so people feel like it's Christmas. It has added to all the other Christmas promotions too. (more…)
December 9, 2015 | Categories: Blogging, Christmas, local, photography, social media | Tags: Christmas, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, social media, Twitter | Leave A Comment »
Imagine an image #ramble
I write a lot and post images of the town I live in and the Black Country. I try to promote the area in a positive way. I know it's shallow just to judge people and places by the way they look, but that is what many people do. First impressions are important as young people going out looking for a job know. (more…)
December 6, 2015 | Categories: Black Country, humour, local, philosophy, photography, psychology, rambling, social media | Tags: Black Country Wednesbury, childhood, Natural beauty, nature | Leave A Comment »
Images and stories
I designed a new banner for our Facebook history page this morning. Social media is all about engaging with members or fans and keeping interest alive. It's the same if you run a community group or a small business. (more…)
August 12, 2015 | Categories: Black Country, charity, culture, history, photography, self improvement, social media | Tags: Facebook, Pinterest, social media, Twitter, Wednesbury history | Leave A Comment »
Creating images
I designed this advertisement for a charity fun day event and tried to give it a fun look. Image is important for events, places and people. Even this website has an image and I try to make it colourful. (more…)
August 8, 2015 | Categories: culture, Life, philosophy, self improvement, social media | Tags: appearance, Charles Dickens, creating an image, dress, fiction, Victorian, writing | Leave A Comment »
Tipton Canal boat gathering #photography
The weather finally improved at Easter for a narrow-boat gathering at Easter. It was still cloudy which gave poor light, but I raised the ISO on my camera and took lots of pictures. It's a good idea to use a wide aperture and get quite close with narrow-boats. (more…)
April 8, 2015 | Categories: Black Country, culture, local, photography, social media | Tags: canals, narrow-boats, narrowboats, Pen Makers Boat, Tipton | 1 Comment »
Disruptive – change for the better?
Some technological changes disrupt what has gone before. My picture today is of the Midland Metro tram line, which is one of the latest ideas in travel. It looks very modern, but is really an old idea modernised; rather than disruptive. (more…)
January 15, 2015 | Categories: Black Country, culture, Life, social media | Tags: disruptive change, disruptive technology | Leave A Comment »
Life: diversity
Do you remember Christmas when you were a kid? I still remember the things associated with Christmas. We had tangerines at Christmas, now it's satumas. Whatever happened to tangerines? We had nativities at school and we learnt Christmas carols. Childhood is about learning, the knowledge we gain is the foundation of our lives. (more…)
December 1, 2014 | Categories: Blogging, culture, education, Life, photography, social media, technology | Tags: Christmas, diverse lifestyle, diversity, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter | Leave A Comment »
Photography: Charity Bike Ride
I photographed the charity bike ride from the Frying Pan in Darlaston to Bridgnorth. That's quite a way, I did that ride when I was a lot younger! In this picture you can see it was very sunny, which gave a lot of long shadows. (more…)
August 12, 2014 | Categories: Blogging, charity, culture, photography, social media | Tags: charity bike ride, The Frying Pan | Leave A Comment »
Neodigital Art: Editing for Art
When the weather is bad, I stay in and edit my images to produce something artistic. Last week I took this photo in the sunshine and this week I tried some different editing. Editing in PhotoScape isn't difficult, but you learn how different things work with experience.
November 19, 2013 | Categories: Art, Blogging, Christmas, culture, Neodigital Art, photography, social media | Tags: Christmas, Costa, editing for art, PhotoScape, West Bromwich | Leave A Comment »
In search of recognition
Yesterday I offered readers the opportunity to write for a Zillion Ideas. Most aspiring writers want some recognition. It's not just writers that need people to pay attention to what they do, but all artists. Whatever we do, whether it's performing, art or painting pictures with words, we all want recognition.
November 3, 2013 | Categories: Art, Blogging, culture, Neodigital Art, philosophy, rambling, social media | Tags: in search of recognition, philosophy. improvement, recognition | Leave A Comment »
Engaging people in the modern world
At one time it was enough to have colleagues and friends. Now we are expected to 'engage' people through social media and in other ways. We have LinkedIn for our professional profile and connections. Facebook for less formal 'friends' and there are various community groups we can join, rather than going down the pub. (more…)
August 28, 2013 | Categories: Blogging, culture, philosophy, social media, writing | Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, social engagement, social media, Twitter | Leave A Comment »
Engaging social media
Social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have become an important part of people's lives. The profiles on these sites are like your front garden, they say something about you. LinkedIn is like the office and having a professional looking profile sends out a message to others about your professionalism. Your Facebook Timeline also says a lot about you. You should be careful what you post there.
March 6, 2013 | Categories: culture, social media | Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Meet me, Meet up, Myspace, social media, social networking | 1 Comment »
How to become Internet famous
Writers, artists and photographers
If you are being creative either as a writer, artist or photographer, you want people to see what you do. Many of my friends are writers and trying to get people to buy your novel is about making a name for yourself. People buy books for many reasons. They like the look of the cover or the blurb on the back sounds good. The most important reason people buy a book though is they have heard of the author. So many of my friends are trying to make a name for themselves and what better way than on the internet? (more…)
March 12, 2012 | Categories: social media | Tags: Andy Warhol, Facebook, famous, LinkedIn, Pinterest, social media, social networking, Twitter | Leave A Comment »
International Friends
Sunday afternoon photography
I took this photograph yesterday afternoon, we tend to go out on a Sunday because the roads are quiet; in theory. Yesterday, I got caught in a traffic jam and again trying to come back because of road works. I can share this information using my blogs and when I got back yesterday, I edited the photos and shared the best on Facebook with friends around the world. To make friends on an international scale you do have to find common interests. (more…)
February 20, 2012 | Categories: Blogging, social media | Tags: Facebook, friends, global, International friends, internet | Leave A Comment »


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We see cracks every day—on the sidewalk, in a wall, or in a window. But just because they're common doesn't mean they're easy to study scientifically.
The science of cracking up. I'm Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
A small crack in a crucial part could crash a computer or even an airplane. Yet cracks of all kinds—from broken glass to faults in the earth—have been notoriously tough to understand. MIT engineering professor Markus Buehler says that's because the big picture of a crack depends on the behavior of individual atoms ripping apart.
So there's this challenge of coupling this large scale, which engineers are interested in, with the scale of a few atoms.
Using computer simulations, he and his colleagues found that right at the cracking point, the atomic bonds in the material radically change. Brittle materials actually soften, while flexible materials get stiffer. Understanding how that affects the whole fracture may lead to better models of everything from semiconductor failures to earthquakes. I'm Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the Science Society.
Making Sense of the Research
First of all, you might ask: Why are cracks so hard to understand? If you're wondering, find a couple cracks around you (in a window, a door, a desk, whatever) and take a close look at them. Are they perfectly straight? Probably not. Are they exactly the same thickness all along? Not likely. Now compare the two cracks. How are they alike? How are they different?
As you look, you'll notice that cracks are actually pretty complicated. They don't usually come in neat, straight lines. And predicting when they'll happen, and what they'll look like, is even harder. Exactly how much stress would you need to put on a plastic ruler to create a one-inch crack? Where would you have to bend it? What if you were just a little bit off? These questions may seem trivial when you're talking about a ruler, but when you're talking about ceramic parts in airplanes, cars, or the Space Shuttle, you're talking about life and death. The fact is that cracks behave in mathematically complicated ways, and even top scientists with sophisticated computers have had a hard time coming up with a model that can make cracking more predictable.
Using computer simulations, Buehler is zooming in on the very beginnings of cracks: the exact point where the atoms that make up the material start to separate. Why? First of all, it's easiest to study them at this point, since that's when the cracking process is simplest. And second, the way the crack behaves at the starting point turns out to affect where it goes from there. Buehler's work involves figuring out the motion of every single atom involved in this process, and analyzing how they affect each other.
Buehler's work focused on the material's hyperelastic properties. All materials have hyperelastic properties under the right conditions. If the material is very brittle to begin with, like glass, it becomes more flexible before it cracks. (Remember that this happens at a very tiny, microscopic point; it's not like an entire window becomes rubbery.) In other words, the bonds between the atoms stretch a little before they rip apart.
On the other hand, if the material is more flexible, like rubber, the opposite happens: it stiffens before it breaks. You can actually observe this by pulling a rubber band tight—it gets stiffer and stronger the more you pull on it. Once it breaks, the crack can travel at faster than the speed of sound.
Buehler found that these hyperelastic properties at the cracking point are absolutely critical to understanding how cracks spread. You may not think that in order to understand an earthquake, you have to look at individual atoms, but that's exactly what this research implies. And if mathematical models of cracking become more accurate, that could mean real results for everything from computers that rely on delicate parts to cities that sit on delicate faultlines.
Now try and answer these questions:
- Why are cracks hard to understand scientifically?
- What are "hyperelastic properties"? Why are they important in this research?
- Why did Buehler focus on the point where cracks begin?
- How could understanding how cracks form impact everyday life? Suggest possible examples not given in this story.
You may want to check out the March 10, 2006 Science Update Podcast to hear this Science Update and the other programs for that week. This podcast's topics include: what makes a song popular; spite in chimps; the up-side of parasites; the physics of cracking; fighting flesh-eating viruses; and tuberculosis.
To explore the physics of other everyday things, see The Physics of Baseball, by ThinkQuest, The Physics of Ice Skating, created by two Penn State astronomy students, or Skateboard Science, by San Francisco's Exploratorium.
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Market Publishers Invites to Join China AIR LOGISTICS Development Conference & Exhibition 2016!
23 Feb 2016 • by Natalie Aster
LONDON - Market Publishers Ltd., on behalf of Global Industry Connects Consultancy (GICC Group), is really pleased to call you for participation in China AIR LOGISTICS Development Conference & Exhibition, which is scheduled for March 30-31. Five-star rated hotel in Zhengzhou, JianGuo Hotel, was chosen as a conference venue.
On the basis of great success of the previous Events, China Airport Construction and Investment Forum 2015, GICC Group in cooperation with Henan Airport Group decided to co-organise the China Air Logistics Development Conference and Exhibition 2016.
China Air Logistics Development Conference and Exhibition 2016 will last for two days and will be focused on the top opportunities and challenges under China's 'One Belt, One Road' Strategy. Initiated in 2013, this strategy is developed to rejuvenate 2 ancient trade routes, further open up markets beyond and within the region, diversify trade, investment and bilateral ties with countries across the region, make domestic market access easier for foreign companies, and also create opportunities for airports and airlines in China and worldwide.
Conference Details:
China AIR LOGISTICS Development Conference & Exhibition 2016
When: March 30-31, 2016
Where: JianGuo Hotel Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou City, China
Topics on agenda include but are not limited to:
- recent trends in air cargo delivery services;
- regulatory framework;
- solutions for sustainable development of the air cargo industry;
- challenges of the air cargo industry growth;
- development of the air cargo security system;
- air cargo facilitation;
- air cargo hub and its value chain;
- etc.
China Air Logistics Development Conference and Exhibition 2016 will become unparalleled leading communication, networking and uniting platform for domestic and international air logistics industry participants! Don't hesitate and wait too long to book your tickets! Become a part of this forthcoming two-day conference right now!
The Market Publishers, Ltd.
Natalie Aster
Tel: +44 208 144 6009
Fax: +44 207 900 3970
[email protected]


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Drop us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com or give us a call on 0141 328 3942.


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A lire sur: http://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/feature/Hadoop-YARN-adds-more-application-threads-for-big-data-users
Jack Vaughan, Published: 07 Mar 2014
Jack Vaughan, Published: 07 Mar 2014
- This article is part of an Essential Guide, our editor-selected collection of our best articles, videos and other content on this topic. Explore more in this guide:1. - HADOOP 2 BREAKS AWAY FROM MAPREDUCE, INVITES BROADER USES: READ MORE IN THIS SECTION
- Big data users find more to do with Hadoop 2's YARN resource manager
- Will Hadoop 2 have wider appeal than the original version?
- Examining Hadoop 2's new features: Key questions answered
- Explore other sections in this guide:
Even Hadoop's most enthusiastic proponents might admit that its marriage to MapReduce has limited what the open source technology can do. But with the advent of Hadoop 2 and its key component, the Hadoop YARN resource manager, the distributed processing framework has become a kind of launch pad for new applications incorporating a variety of related tools.
You can still use MapReduce in batch ways. But now you can roll out other applications, too.Bryan Stone, Synapse Wireless Inc.
For example, Hadoop 2 is making real-time processing and analysis of streaming data possible for Synapse Wireless Inc., a Huntsville, Ala., maker of intelligent control and monitoring systems connected by a wireless mesh network. In present parlance, the company creates a "network of things" that uses the Internet to collect operational data from sensors and devices at customer sites. Some of the uses it supports are monitoring of healthcare operations and of large-scale commercial and residential lighting systems and solar panel fields.
Now, Synapse Wireless Inc. is looking to combine Hadoop 2 and Storm, an open source streaming data engine, to provide real-time business intelligence and analytics capabilities to its customers.
"Our systems can capture high-velocity data streams coming off all these remote devices," said Bryan Stone, a cloud architect and lead platform developer at the company. With the pairing of Hadoop 2 and Storm, he added, "we don't just capture the data. We're also able to act on it. We can present it in a meaningful way so it can affect our customers' business decisions."
Using data integration tools from software vendor Pentaho Corp., Stone and his colleagues at Synapse Wireless have created a pilot healthcare monitoring application that puts Storm on top of YARN in a Hadoop 2 cluster. The application is intended to ensure good hand-washing hygiene in hospitals, as an example of what can happen when big data meets cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
As part of the application, tags on the badges that nurses wear can track their movements around a hospital. Other tags collect data on the use of hand-cleanser dispensers. When a nurse enters a patient's room, a timer starts on the use of the dispenser there. If the application doesn't register that the dispenser has been used, Stone said, "We can send an alert down to the badge that the nurse is wearing as a reminder that she needs to wash her hands."
Hadoop YARN gives batch jobs some company
While the original MapReduce-dependent version of Hadoop allowed Synapse Wireless to gather and analyze hand-washing data, the company couldn't act upon it immediately. Stone still sees value in MapReduce-based batch processing and analytics. But YARN "makes Hadoop more of [a platform] that you can build applications on top of," he said. "You can still use MapReduce in batch ways. But now you can roll out other applications, too."
Yahoo Inc., the company where Hadoop first took seed, has been testing Hadoop 2 and YARN (which is short for Yet Another Resource Negotiator) since September 2012. Yahoo built a Storm-on-YARN application to enable faster processing of website user activity data after a MapReduce batch program became unable to handle the information fast enough to meet the company's analytics and reporting needs for serving up targeted ads to site visitors. It released the application as an open source technology last year.
Get the FAQs on Hadoop 2's key features
Learn how Hadoop and HBase deal with security data
Check out 2013's top enterprise Hadoop stories
Speaking at the Hadoop Summit 2013, Bruno Fernandez-Ruiz, a senior fellow and vice president of platforms at Hadoop, described YARN as a flexible cog in the Hadoop framework -- one that makes real-time processing inHadoop clusters much more feasible than it was when they could only run MapReduce applications.
"The problem with MapReduce computing is the batch window," Fernandez-Ruiz said, adding that users such as Yahoo can't afford to queue up data for processing while waiting for a three-hour batch job to finish running.
YARN's capabilities have even led the Apache Software Foundation, which manages the development of Hadoop, and vendors such as Yahoo spin-off Hortonworks Inc. to label it as an "operating system." That might be an overstatement, industry analysts said. But they agreed that YARN provides an opportunity to broaden the use -- and benefits -- of Hadoop applications.
Calling YARN an operating system "is generous," said Gartner Inc. analyst Nick Heudecker. He compared it more to an application server, pointing to the Java middleware engines that began to gain ground in the late 1990s. And that's a good thing for users, according to Heudecker. "Developers can slide in different frameworks, some of which can be tightly integrated into the overall Hadoop stack," he said.
Making more work for Hadoop clusters
Philip Russom, data management research director at The Data Warehousing Institute, said Hadoop YARN's ability to concurrently execute and manage multiple processing jobs is something that "any decent operating system" should be expected to handle. "The concurrency feature alone makes Hadoop far more palatable to many [organizations]," he said, "because it enables multiple users with multiple application types to work simultaneously in the Hadoop environment."
Heudecker said YARN should also allow users to consolidate multiple Hadoop clusters, set up to process jobs simultaneously, into one large system. Instead of having the Hadoop equivalents of data marts, IT managers can combine systems and better rationalize technology, processing and management costs, he said.
James Dixon, Pentaho's founder and chief technology officer, said YARN "will reduce the amount of MapReduce code people write," something he views as a step forward for users. Dixon minces few words in describing the limitations of MapReduce, claiming that it meets only a narrow set of processing needs.
"There are very few problems for which MapReduce is the right solution," he said. What YARN provides that MapReduce doesn't, he added, is the ability to "pick the right programming framework for individual problems."


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Ho-ho-honestly, I couldn't quite manage to put a festive jumper on the logo, so a hat will have to do!
I wish my colleagues from all over the globe a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!
I look forward to welcoming you back to the Proofreader's Parlour in 2017!
Louise Harnby is a professional proofreader and the curator of The Proofreader's Parlour. She is also the author of Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers, Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business, and Omnibus: Editorial Business Planning & Marketing Plus.
Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Proofreader, follow her on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, or connect via Facebook and LinkedIn.
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|Album Review: Odesza - In Return
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In Return
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Sometimes an album amazes you because you've never heard anything like it. But the opposite can also happen; an album blows you away because it seems to draw from lots of music you've heard and love, and combines the influences so perfectly it manages to transcend them altogether. Such is the case with Seattle-based duo Odesza's jaw-dropping new LP, In Return, released last week by Ninja Tune imprint Counter Records. Odesza are hardly alone in terms of genre, but In Return really feels like a seminal work that no one is going to top anytime soon.
Odesza are working in a crowded field of producers making sunny electronic-pop fusion, and their last album -- 2012's Summer's Gone -- was very decent but hardly stood out. They've clearly traveled lightyears since. In Return seems to combine the sounds of many esteemed artists - Purity Ring's vocal manipulations, Tycho's cinematic beauty, Bonobo's sleek synth tones - and then adds a new ingredient, a hand-picked group of up-and-coming vocalists. This inclusion, along with a few more years of experience seem to be what's elevated Odesza from mere mortals to peddlers of something very rare.
For much of the album, Odesza employ a pattern of alternating vocal and instrumental tracks. It's an effective structure, displaying Odesza's striking improvement on their own as well as their newfound penchant for crafting collaborative pop tunes that could blow up on the radio (if they weren't too good for it). Tracks 1 & 3, "Always This Late" and "Bloom" are gorgeous, golden-hour soundscapes, while 2 & 4, "Say My Name" and "All We Need" are the best pop music I've heard all year, songs that will force a big smile onto your face time after time.
Elsewhere, Odesza use guest vocalists for less pop-oriented affairs. "Echoes" and "It's Only" combine the voices of Py and Zyra with vocal samples and more of Odesza's sky-sized production. These songs and the ones that follow feel much less like singles than "Say My Name" and "All We Need," instead inhabiting a more contemplative headspace.
So much electronic music today is enslaved by trends and an attempt at being cool. Odesza seem like they're having way too much fun here to care, the sound is almost celebratory throughout. Nowhere is this adjective more fitting than on "Memories That You Call" which sounds like the soundtrack to the day where we all finally hold hands and achieve world peace. Interestingly, this song and the one following, "Sun Models" both have guest vocalists listed, but the contributions are heavily modified. This serves as a reminder of how much control Odesza has here. In Return is collaboration-heavy, but everyone and everything serves the purpose of one aesthetic vision.
I could go on and on, but In Return speaks for itself pretty damn well, I'd say. How two young producers sat down and came up with this really kinda boggles the mind. There isn't anything to criticize here, I could've given it a 10 but I wanted to leave some room for improvement. Odesza is just getting started.


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In Reply to: Can my eye get better? posted by Duke on April 22, 2000 at 12:16:38:
: I have a disease i guess you could call it. It is known as lazy eye.It is where my brain only sees out of one eye and doesnt use the other one unless it has to, like when i cover up my good eye. Well i am 14 and i know that my bad eye has improved from when i was 7 (first diagnosed with lazy eye) but the doctors say my eye cannot get any better. But i heard stories of how people did eye exercises to get their eye better. Is anything like this possible? Could anyone please give me advice. Thanks
I have had lazy eye all of my life. I had trouble in elementary school because of it, but I have overcome it and nobody knows I have a lazy eye unless I purposely show them or tell them about it. I was probably diagnosed with lazy eye just when I started school (5 or 6 years old). My eye doctor showed my mom a series of simple eye exercises to do every day, and we did them for probably a couple of years. She would take her finger and move it closer to my eyes, then farther away. My job was to keep both eyes focused on her finger tip, and force them to track together. She would do circles, move her finger closer, then far away, etc. etc. Any movement to force my eyes to track together. The only time my left eye wanders off now is when I'm tired, or reading fine print. I am 27 years old now, and it has never went back to the way it was. It takes alot of work, believe me. My mom forced me to do these exercies EVERY DAY, religiously, and I am so thankful that she did. Good Luck.
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Happy Earth Day! How are you planning to celebrate? Why not go check out the new Born In China movie from Disneynature? With adorable pandas, mischievous monkeys and fascinating snow leopards, this is the perfect way to celebrate this amazing planet we live on.
When I saw an advanced screening of Born In China recently, I totally fell in love with it! Director Lu Chaun takes us along to China as he follows three animal families in their native environment. The movie was both heartwarming and hilarious and filmmakers really seemed to capture the animals true personalities.
One main character was a giant panda named Ya Ya who had the most adorable baby panda you've ever seen. Like a human mommy, she adores her baby and wants nothing more than to snuggle and keep her safe. However, just like in our world, panda children can have a mind of their own and Ya Ya spends half of the movie worriedly following her baby around as she asserts her independence.
Fun fact: Filmmakers wore panda suits that looked and smelled like pandas in order to blend in. It obviously worked because the footage is amazing.
I also loved the story of the snub-nosed monkeys. While the baby panda is adorable, I think my girls are going to love the monkeys the most! This storyline centers around Tao Tao, who feels sad and ignored when a new baby sister is born. I dare you not to laugh hysterically as female monkeys fight to hold the new baby and Tao Tao and friends play silly games in the trees.
You'll also be taken in by the emotions that the filmmakers were able to capture in Tao Tao. His little face is so expressive and you can almost tell exactly what he's thinking. While they had to keep their distance from some animals, the camera crew had no problem getting close to the friendly monkeys.
Finally, filmmakers followed Dawa, a female snow leopard with two little ones to protect. It took three months for filmmakers to capture the elusive snow leopards on camera but it was worth the effort. They took fantastic footage of Dawa and her cubs as she fought off threats, hunted for food or just tried to sneak in a catnap.
If you have young children, you may want to have a quick talk with them before seeing the movie. I explained to my youngest that wild animals have to hunt for food and that sometimes in nature, animals die. This movie is suitable for all ages but if you have a sensitive child, the hunting scenes may bother them a little.
Whatever you do, don't leave when the credits start rolling…you'll want to stay for the outtakes. The monkeys really live up to their reputation and had a lot of fun "monkeying around" with the crew.
I dare you not to fall in love with these animals as you watch the movie. It will keep you entertained from start to finish and can't wait to take my girls to see it now. I have a feeling that when it's over, my five year old's going to be begging for a pet monkey!
See the movie opening weekend and Disneynature will contribute to the WWF to protect giant pandas and snow leopards in China.
Now you want a sneak peek, don't you?! Check out the official trailer for the Born In China movie here:
After you see the movie, you can go home and download this fun Born In China activity packet. Kids can learn more about the animals featured in the movie, solve secret codes based on the Chinese language, craft a snowflake, build a kite and more.
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Highlights From Worldwide ERC's 2011 U.S. Mobility Survey
What is a "traditional" family these days?
The make-up of a U.S. family has changed dramatically over the past century. The latest figures from the U.S. 2010 Census indicate that the average U.S. household consists of 2.6 people versus approximately 4.0 in 1940. Likewise, married couples with children make up only 20 percent of all U.S. households versus 40 percent in 1970. But while the look of a family may no longer be "traditional", the balancing act facing families is unchanged, with concerns ranging from child and elder care to spouse employment.
To take a closer look at the issues affecting domestic transferees and their families, in mid-2011 Worldwide ERC surveyed nearly 150 corporate, government and military relocation experts whose organizations were responsible for transferring more than 42,000 employees within the United States during 2011. The full survey results can be found in the 2011 U.S. Mobility Survey. Here are a few highlights from the study, which was sponsored exclusively by relocation specialists , TRC Global Mobility.


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Various Adresses Rome Italy
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Book online or call +39 041 8624040
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Downtown Navona offers accommodations throughout the area in Rome.
Make yourself at home in one of the 3 air-conditioned rooms featuring kitchens with refrigerators and stovetops. LCD televisions with digital programming provide entertainment, while complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected. Conveniences include separate sitting areas and coffee/tea makers.


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Switching OFF your Beseye Camera means that you will no longer be able to watch the live stream. However, you may still view video recordings of this Camera during the last 24 hours before it is switched off.
Refer to the Beseye Cloud Program:
How do I purchase a Beseye plan?


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Every Friday through December 18, we will be sharing RVC facts and photos from over the years right here on our blog and on social media. Be sure to check here every Friday and follow us on all of our social media platforms as we will be posting unique content across all media throughout the year!
We encourage you to use #RVC50 to share your memories and photos with us on social media all year long.
Today's 50th Friday covers the year 1995.
Ropp Receives Distinguished Honor
RVC Mathematics Professor Darrell Ropp was honored with the Distinguished Life Achievement Award by the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) in 1995. The award recognizes professors for distinguished and honorable service and significant contributions to the field of mathematics education in Illinois. Since 1963, the ICTM has honored just one person each year with this award and to this day Ropp is the only RVC professor to have received the award.
Leaving Their Mark
Before the dominance of the Misty Opat women's basketball era we now enjoy, RVC had its first taste of success at the NJCAA tournament in March of 1995 when Heidi Hutchison led her Trojans squad to a third place finish at the national tournament in Corning, NY. The Trojans won their tournament opener 63-43 over Suffolk Community College and then fell 73-59 to Montgomery College before winning the third place game 76-65 over Herkimer County Community College. Heidi Munz was named to the all-tournament team after scoring 27 points in the opener and 18 in the third place game. RVC also made history by winning the NJCAA Rose Bataglia Sportsmanship Award in its first year being awarded at the tournament. "A lot of people commented on how the girls played with heart and how well they represented their school," said Hutchison. "They turned a lot of heads with their play and left knowing they'd left their mark."
Prashar Named Outstanding Community College Faculty Member
RVC sociology professor Kanwal Prashar was named an Outstanding Community College Faculty Member by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA). He was one of 35 instructors statewide to receive the award. Winners were nominated by their colleges based on criteria including effectiveness in the classroom, knowledge of subject matter, and impact on students. Prashar received his award from ICCTA on June 16, 1995, in Itasca, IL. Prashar had earlier that year been named Rock Valley College Faculty Member of the Year. Professor Prashar began teaching sociology at RVC in 1972 and officially retired in 2007. He is a professor emeritus and still teaches sociology and philosophy as a part-time adjunct instructor at RVC.
Moses the Camel
The 1995 Starlight Theatre production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat featured a live camel, Moses the Camel, from Jeff Lyle of JK Animal Adventures in Grant City, MO. Moses went on to appear in the "Back by Popular Demand" Joseph in 1996 and again at the 2003 Starlight Theatre Roof Opening Gala and Starlight's most recent production of Joseph in 2006.
Mike Webb sits on Moses the Camel in Starlight Theatre's 1995 production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Virtual Reality
Yi Wu, a spring 1995 RVC graduate, was among a select group of students nationwide chosen to participate in one of seven science and engineering research projects through the U.S. Department of Energy. Wu was accepted for both projects he applied for, one on theoretical mathematics at Oak Ridge, TN, and the other on virtual reality at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. Wu chose to go to Argonne where in the fall of 1995 he had the opportunity to write computer programs to run simulated scientific experiments for CAVE, a three-dimensional virtual reality machine that allows scientists to surround themselves with complex chemical, industrial, and medical information. At the time there were only four such CAVE projects in the world. Wu graduated from RVC with a 4.0 GPA in math and science and a 3.96 overall GPA. Wu was quoted as saying, "I've always wanted to do something challenging, something exciting, something new, something adventurous."
Golden Eagles Era Begins
In the spring of 1995, the RVC Board of Trustees approved the changing of the school colors from yellow and brown to navy blue and gold, and the changing of the RVC nickname from Trojans to Golden Eagles. A committee was formed to decide on the new colors and it also recommended four suggestions for a new nickname: Golden Eagles, Rockets, Blue Jays, or Raptors. As part of the exciting new rollout, a new mascot was also established and a naming contest was held. RVC nursing student Marjorie Kropp won two free classes at RVC for submitting the winning mascot name: Reggie Reagle. Reggie made his debut on October 21, 1995, at the homecoming football game. Although his appearances were rarer as the years went on, Reggie remained the RVC mascot until 2013 when Arvee arrived on the scene. Stay tuned for that story in December!
The debut of Reggie Reagle the Golden Eagle at the homecoming football game on October 21, 1995.
Dumb Dinos?
On December 5, 1995, RVC professor of geology Tom Guensburg's First Tuesday lecture, The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs, set the record straight about the intelligence of dinosaurs. In short, Guensburg told his audience that what millions of movie-goers saw in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park was "beyond belief." He said dinosaurs would never stalk people because they simply were not smart enough. "Our best guess is that the most intelligent dinosaurs were about as smart as an ostrich," said Guensburg. He went on to say of the film's portrayal of velociraptors, "It's difficult to imagine these animals with conniving behaviors." In the film they are shown as highly intelligent and sophisticated animals even capable of opening doors. Believable or not, movie audiences haven't seemed to care. The Jurassic Park films have combined to gross over 3.5 billion dollars worldwide. The most recent installment released this summer, Jurassic World, has alone grossed over 1.5 billion dollars worldwide and is already the third highest grossing film of all-time behind only Avatar and Titanic.
Is it possible Hollywood embellished the intelligence of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park?
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Fly Your Own Flag: A Visit to New Era California
Last Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to have my roommate Vince invite me to join him for his meeting with his friend, Kimo from New Era. If there's any brand that I've been a long time supporter/wearer of, other than Nike, it would definitely have be New Era. As I wrote in my "essentials" post, New Era fitteds are a part of my daily essentials so of course I jumped at the opportunity. It's pretty awesome to see behind the scenes of brands you support. Thanks Vince for allowing me to join you!
Upon entering the building, the first thing you'll see is this custom Chopper built specifically for the California office. According to Kimo, each office has one built specifically for them.
Table inside the meeting room where New Era entertains their guests and clients. If I remember correctly, Kimo told us the California office deals with many of the lifestyle brands, including action sports. The table was filled with various hats from these brands.
I forget the name of this machine but it's basically a color correction machine that allows you to see how the colors of a particular hat looks in various types of lights. It allows New Era and their clients to determine if the color is right for their store or perhaps the stadium it will be worn at.
Another interesting machine. This machine allows them to bring any hat, no matter how worn, back to shape. I could definitely use this machine for a few of my hats.
As you can probably tell, this display was probably done for the recently ended NFL football season.
Upon walking into Kimo's area, the design area, I came across the biggest New Era fitted hat I have ever seen. Note the regular sized hats next to it.
Dope rug which is a replica of New Era's signature "59Fifty" tag. I would LOVE to have this in my "man cave"(if I had one)
Floating hats in the entertainment room
Even though my Lakers aren't having the greatest season so far, you know I had to show my support.
Vince(left) and Kimo talking shop.
More of New Era's Lifestyle brands. (Excuse the out of focus shot. I blame my iPhone 4s)
I must have missed this UNDFTD release because I don't remember seeing this before. I really liked it though. I wonder if I can find it on eBay.
Ping Pong table with a built in Pool Table underneath.
Their own bar? I definitely love their work environment.
Kimo: "This is where we put the surfboards we have. Sometimes the company will take us out to go surfing or we'll bring clients to go surfing…"
Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder if they have any openings for someone with an Engineering degree/experience
4 1/4…now this has got to be the smallest fitted I have ever come across.
"Fly Your Own Flag". Random fact I learned: New Era calls the athletes/people they sponsor, "Flag Bearers". Very clever.
I really like how skateboard decks have become a form of "art". I miss skating.
Dope backpack given to Vince.
The top flap had a place for you to put about 4 fitteds and would keep them from getting smashed. I could use one of these for traveling.
Thanks Kimo for the goodies! Not a 49er fan but I was rooting for them in the Super Bowl. lol
This is what the drive to New Era and back looked like:
Vince was determined to get a pair of those Air Jordan III White Cement '88s. Atleast he got one pair. I, on the other hand, failed miserably. I hope those who really wanted a pair were able to get one!


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The Silk Road
The Silk Road got its name from the 19th century scholar Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen from the main product that made its way through the trade routes, silk. A much sought after commodity in ancient Rome, it became the basis for the East-West trade.
Beginning in the Han Dynasty, around 200 BC, the Chinese began conquests to the west to stop invasions from the Xiongnu tribe, who later would be known as the Huns. News of other people who had been equally tormented by the Xiongnu made the empire hopeful to connect with their Western counterparts and join forces in defeating these invaders. During this, they came into contact with the growing Parthia Empire in Persia, which already had a fairly established trade route with the rest of Europe. In order to move the materials across the Silk Road, there were many tribes and cultures that contributed, many of which were not from the major empire (China, Rome, Parthia) involved in the actual trade.
Silk made a good percentage of the materials transported, however, it was not the only commerce exchanged. Ivory, gold, exotic animals, furs, jade, and spices were among the other things traded. In addition, the route became a means of sharing cultures and languages to overcome the need of communication between the traders. Religion was also passed along this route, bringing Buddhism into China.
The Silk Road started in the then capital of China, which resides near today's Xi'an. The route traced its way to the west, along the borders of the Taklimakan desert, one of the most hostile environments in the world. Some of the paths extended down into India, across into Baghdad and eventually across Turkey and into Rome. The path was treacherous, with the merchants either having to pass through the heat of the desert or up around steep mountains. One of the most important cities on the Chinese side along this route was Dunhuang, where the merchants would officially travel beyond the Great Wall and what little protection those forts and walls provided against bandits. Along the way, the merchants left many marks that remain today of their culture and their travels. Much of it has been buried under the sands of the desert, but some remain, such as the Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Caves, and give us insight into the cultures that existed at the time.
The activity of the trade route coincided with the rise and fall of the Empires in China. It reached its height during the Tang Dynasty. When that Dynasty fell around 900 AD, so too did the activity of the trade route. China would not reform into a unified empire until nearly 50 years later. The lands between were thrown into turmoil, seeing many conflicts that would delay and endanger travel long the corridors of travel. In Europe, Rome no longer was the center of the world and other countries were beginning to build their seafaring abilities. Voyagers from that land sought and found easier, faster and most cost-effective routes to the Far East by sea. Persians had developed their own means of creating silk and thus the need to travel to China was no longer necessary.
Use of the trade routes established continued in China as an important means of unifying empires. However, the uprising of the Muslim religion in the Middle East and the Crusades brought to an end much of the travel east by European countries.
As the Ming Dynasty took over in 1300's AD, after so many years of having foreign control by the Mongols and many invaders, the sentiment of isolationism took hold in China.
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A new red-band trailer for the horror parody Hell Baby has been released online. From writers/directors Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, the film follows a husband (Rob Corddry) and his pregnant wife (Leslie Bibb) who move into a haunted house in a crappy New Orleans neighborhood, and then need the help of a couple Italian exorcists (Lennon and Garant) when the wife becomes possessed. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to mixed reviews (read Matt's here), but this trailer shows that the film definitely has at least a few solid laughs. Unsurprisingly, Keegan Michael Key is the highlight.
Hit the jump to watch the red-band trailer. The film also stars Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, Kumail Nanjiani, and Michael Ian Black. Hell Baby will be available on iTunes on July 25th, and hits theaters on September 6th.
Click over to Yahoo! to watch in HD.
Here's the official synopsis for Hell Baby:
"Hell Baby," a comedy scripted by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Night at The Museum, Reno 911!: Miami) marks their co-directing debut. Jack (Rob Corddry) and Vanessa (Leslie Bibb) are an expectant couple that moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans — a house with a deadly demonic curse. Things soon spiral out of control for Jack and Vanessa, as well as their-not-so-helpful neighbor F'Resnel (Keegan-Michael Key), Vanessa's friendly psychiatrist (Michael Ian Black), Vanessa's Wiccan sister Marjorie (Riki Lindhome) and the detectives assigned to look into the rising body count (Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer). Only the Vatican's elite exorcism team (Garant and Lennon) san save them — or can they?


text: Shack News: "Having spent a day with SimCity, it's easy to leave some of the cynicism about the project at the door. The general impression is that the online-only integration stems in part from Maxis' desire to have as many tools at their disposal as possible, whether as a content delivery system or as a means for delivering on Quigley's vision of a global marketplace. Inevitably, it will rub some long-time fans the wrong way. But one leaves with the sense that we're only scratching the surface with what Maxis can do with SimCity over the next several years, and that online integration is a big part of that."


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What is MikeyRoxx to you, and what do you want your brand to mean your supporters?
MikeyRoxx to me, is everything. It's my everyday life expressed through clothing and designs. I want my brand to be versatile for anyone to wear throughout their everyday life and to make them feel like they are apart of something great. I want them to feel like they are connected to its culture by giving them a deeper and richer experience of what all my clothing line themes are.
From my knowledge MikeyRoxx is not a one-man show, how did you comprise such a successful team?
I found my team based on talents and loyalty. You come across many people in this field and will also work with many people, but there are always ones that stick around and those who do, I believe are there for a reason.
Carter our PR Specialist I grew up with and Jay is our PR & Marketing/Networking specialist. I met him when I was first starting the brand. He became a committed supporter of Mikey Roxx back when he was in high school and eventually, I brought him upon the team. Reggie is our video director/producer, I connected with him through his sibling. Alli is our Photographer whom I met at school. When i expressed my dreams and visions to them, they instantly became interested and became a committed supporter and team member.
You guys carry menswear and women's wear, but I noticed some children's wear from earlier collections. Will we be seeing any in this new collection for Spring/Summer 2015?
No we won't have any children's wear for the Summer, but we have aspirations of creating some for the future.
Where/Whom do you draw inspiration from?
Everyday life really, I couldn't make it any more simpler than that.
What was the inspiration behind the new collection?
Summer vibes inspired this collection which then drew inspiration in designing products with more thin materials. The Mikey Roxx team and I envisioned "The Summer Experience" collection to be just that.
What is your favorite piece(s) from the new collection?
They're all my favorite, all my pieces are like my kids. I put hard work and dedication into everything I design so its hard to choose; but if I absolutely had to choose I would say the Mikey Roxx Brand slides.
What advice do you have for someone who wishes to start their own clothing line?
Stay true to who you are and push for what you believe in. Practice your craft every chance you get. Research and connections are really important in this industry. Never give up no matter how hard things get and how much you may want to. I wanted to give up so many times and every time something or someone would remind me of the reason I want this in the first place.
What is your favorite part of the whole creation process, from selecting materials to finished product?
Seeing the thoughts and designs in your mind transferred to reality right in front of you. It's beautiful.


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Electrical Cabinet Fire Protection Made Easy
Our FirePro product range is aimed at making small enclosures (electrical cabinets, small vessel engine rooms etc) that have been previously deemed uneconomical to protect, protectable with an easy ready made affordable plug n play kit.
Autonomous, reliable and cost effective. FirePro ready made kits provide the perfect solution for electrical cabinet/small enclosure protection. 24/7 UL Listed fire protection. FirePro uses the latest FPC solid compound which once activated transforms into a rapidly expanding extremely effective fire extinguishing condensed aerosol.
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15 year life span
It's built in fail-safe activation system ensures operation of the units when required, even if everything else fails. At 300C the FPC block changes to a potassium based gas to extinguish the fire.
Cabinet Fire Test - With Obstacles
|The FPC solid compound, developed after many years of Research & Development, utilizes environmentally friendly, naturally occurring Potassium salts with no pyrotechnic materials involved. FirePro's dedication to sustainability is attested by the number and quality of EU and International Certificates, Listings and Approvals attained.


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With Singapore's longtime strongman now passed away, some expect the statelet's authoritarian political culture to follow him into the grave.
Regions / Singapore
Like Singapore's recently deceased Lee Kuan Yew and China's Deng Xiaoping, Vladimir Putin is establishing a political succession that ensures continuity for his brand of authoritarianism.
Driven by a rising China and arms exports from the United States, military spending in Asia is on the increase.
Thomas Friedman once said the hidden hand of the market needs the hidden fist of the military. The TPP and the Obama administration's Pacific Pivot pack both.
Is it possible to export the liberal arts to places that restrict civil liberties?
Postcard From ... Singapore
Development Muzak plays again in Singapore at annual meetings.


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Ribes and Queralbs rack railway stations can be accessed by car and train (RENFE). Vehicle access to Vall de Núria is not permitted. You can access there by the rack railway, which takes you into the valley, leaving bustle and noise behind you. For this reason there are free car parking areas available for the customers at the train stations Ribes Enllaç, Ribes-Vila and Queralbs.
|Ski Tren Adult fare
|Ski Tren Chidren fare
|36,00 €
|29,00 €
Including: Train ticket (round trip) from Barcelona to Ribes de Freser and Rack Railway round trip to Vall de Núria + Ski resort day pass . Does not include accident insurance .
Departure from the main railway stations on Barcelona Rodalies R3 line (L'Hospitalet - Puigcerdà).
Info & Bookings at 900.410.041 or on Rodalies website:
|Ski Bus transfers on Saturdays & Sundays
|Adult € 29,00
|Children € 22,00
Including: Bus and Vall de Núria's Rack Railway ticket + Day Ski pass.
There is a chance of travlling way back to Barcelona
More information by phonecall to 972 747 181 or on the website:
How long does it take to arrive at Vall de Núria?
Find out the time needed to go to Ribes de Freser by car. There you have to take the rack railway to go to Núria.
Combined with RENFE.
The access by plane must be complemented with other public or private transports.


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Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
Orlando attracts a lot of meetings and conventions, so it's full of upscale steakhouses, including Ruth's Chris, Morton's, The Palm and Fleming's. All offer extremely high-quality happy hour menus, but my favorite is found at Fleming's, which boasts two Orlando-area locations, including one on Restaurant Row. Their "5 for $6 'til 7 p.m." menu runs from 5 to 7 p.m. daily, offering craft cocktails, wine and beer, appetizers such as salt & pepper shrimp and my personal favorite, the Prime Burger.