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The Emperor's New Clothes Going further, Ponzano, the Veneto, 1992
For the new spring and summer campaign, Toscani had selected seven images conforming to a single theme: 'reality'.
The images included a Mafia killing in Palermo, a flood in Bangladesh, a boat full of refugees from Albania, a burning car in Sicily, a truck overrun by refugees in Liberia, and a Liberian soldier with a kalashnikov, holding a human thigh bone behind his back.
The single green and white rectangular logo on each bore the legend 'United Colors of Benetton'.
This time, however, none of these images had been taken by Toscani. The supreme egotist, who had first taken all the pictures and then taken all the clothes out of the pictures, had now stopped taking the pictures altogether.
The reaction to these images, used in the context of clothes retailing, was immediate; most of them were banned to various degrees in various countries.
Patrick Robert's picture of the Liberian soldier holding the human thigh bone was banned from publication by court injunction in France and by voluntary prohibition in Britain and Japan.
Robert, a photographer for the prestigious Sygma agency, who had also taken the picture of the truck overrun by Liberian refugees, commented:
'The absence of an explanatory caption on my photographs does not bother me . . . For me, the objective of the campaign is reached . . . to draw the public's attention to these victims.'
Likewise, Gian Luigi Bellini's picture of a burning car in Sicily was deemed by the Irish Advertising Board to be too realistic for a country divided by violent conflict, and was rejected by a French magazine.
Franco Zecchi's picture of a Mafia killing in Palermo met with resentment in Italy and was rejected by various publications.
The picture of a ship full of Albanian refugees, taken by an unknown photographer, was rejected by magazines in France and Denmark.
But it was the seventh image, however, that unleashed a reaction so strong that, for the first time, the controversy generated by a Benetton advertisement was brought home into the shops on a meaningful scale.
Oxford Circus, London, England, 1992
The art of folding and refolding woollen jumpers, sweatshirts and shirts all day long, perfectly, over and over again, without losing your self-control, was more easily acquired by some than by others, as the manageress of the Hampstead shop and others had discovered.
Each garment had to be retrieved from where the customer had discarded it, refolded in exactly the prescribed way and replaced in exactly the same place on the shelves.
Two tables stood in the middle of the shop in Oxford Circus expressly for this purpose; they were fully occupied all day, every day. When a discarded garment had to be replaced in a hurry and the two tables were busy, the process was done on the spot instead, in a manner known as 'air folding', which was only for the most advanced and self-controlled shop assistant. Saturday was the busiest day of the week in this, the busiest of the London shops.
This was why die group of gay rights activists from Act-Up, the international AIDS pressure group, had chosen precisely this time to demonstrate against Benetton on the pavement outside the shop.
Their plan, however, was not just to target the attention of the passing crowds but also the United Colors of Benetton shop itself and its customers.
After finishing on the pavement, the demonstrators paused for a moment to regroup.
Then, in a body, they rushed the entrance and fanned out inside the shop. Here, amid shouts of abuse and glee, muscular, tattooed arms sporting studded leather wrist bands pulled immaculately folded, brightly coloured jumpers by the score from the shelves and flung them high into the air.
As the customers and shop assistants scattered, a mountain of disorderly clothes landed on the floor of the shop. All these clothes would have to be picked up, refolded and replaced in the right position. The demonstrators then left as quickly as they had come. This visitation was just one effect of the seventh image in the series that Toscani had selected on the theme of 'reality' for the new Benetton spring and summer campaign.
The image, a picture originally published in Life magazine and taken by Therese Frare, was that of David Kirby, an American AIDS sufferer, with his family in the moments after his death. Frare, who would win the World Photo Award with this picture, had taken it with the family's consent and their consent had also been given for Benetton to use the image as part of the 'reality' campaign. The monochrome image had been coloured through an electronic process which had heightened the intensity of the composition and given the features of the recently deceased victim a Christ-like aura. Now, however, this carefully devised 'reality' was going out of control. For the first time, the handling of the brand was threatening to damage the image and even the sales of the company.
The Royal College of Art, Kensington, London, 1992 A British tabloid newspaper had shown the image in a scathing issue before its official presentation as part of the campaign. The resulting uproar among charities, politicians and interest groups had quickly been picked up and promulgated by the media around the world. Although many other newspapers also included a favourable comment from the public, unfavourable comment, including from Benetton store owners and staff, put the business on the defensive in a way that was harder to shake off than had been the case with the 'little devils' or baby Giusy. This was why Luciano and Toscani were at the Royal College, to explain and defend the use of the David Kirby picture. 'It is reality,' Luciano told the assembled press corps. 'Our company principally has the function of making people think. You can be more useful than selling a product,' he went on, clearly believing this, although it was equally clear that this belief was not shared by the audience. 'To improve the image of the company,' he said, 'we thought we could do something further. We wanted to have a spirit of sensitivity and care for others, as well as our own product.' Luciano was speaking, as usual, through an interpreter; this gave him more time to think, but sometimes created an unfavourable impression in the minds of hostile journalists. One questioner, with the current turnover of the business in mind, asked him the US$1.6 billion question: 'Would you abandon the campaign if it ceased to sell jumpers?' 'It's an academic question,' Luciano replied calmly, 'but certainly, I would think about it.'
Toscani, for his part, was defiant but careful not to antagonise the questioners, possibly because he sensed that he had lost them from the beginning. 'Why does reality make such a big controversy?' he said wearily. 'Traditional advertising pictures are a bunch of lies. What we show is the truth. If people want to censor it, I am sorry.' He went on, 'We are all in a business, and we all have to survive, we are not a charity.' 'No,' he and Luciano both replied, 'we have no plans to donate money from our profits to AIDS charities.' This remark, as it was quoted, and the mass-market newspaper coverage in question, belied the fact - unreported - that Benetton was already engaged in a series of initiatives with AIDS groups. In the United States, the company produced a guide to safe sex in conjunction with Gay Men's Health Crisis. Benetton was also starting to advertise in gay magazines, which were generally shunned by the big corporations. In Brazil, the safe sex guide was published in association with the Grupo de Apoio a Pronen,cao a AIDS, and run in the three biggest daily newspapers. In South Africa, Benetton funded the display of posters showing condoms in front of five hospitals in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria, in conjunction with the Medical Research Council. In Germany, Benetton participated in a massive fund raiser for AIDS awareness in the country's hundred largest discotheques. The company also donated copies of its posters by request to the International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam. In France, meanwhile, the Bureau de Verification de la Publicite took the unprecedented step before the advertisement was printed of threatening to exclude any publication that dared carry it, or carried the image of the Liberian soldier clutching the human thigh bone.
One French magazine, Ma~c, for young people, ignored this threat. The editor commented: Our readers, those between fifteen and thirty years old, are directly affected by this topic.
This campaign is one way of approaching the AIDS problem whilst avoiding the sociomedical aspect. Our readers' letters have shown that we were not wrong. Elsewhere in Europe, in Switzerland, Schweizer Illustnerte also ran the image, saying that it did not offend mass sensibility, but 'wounded only one thing: the rules of the game according to which the message must be dull, even stale'.
New York City, United States of America, 1992
Here in the country where it had been taken, Vogue magazine decided to run the AIDS picture. The family of David Kirby himself, meanwhile, reiterated their support for the use of the picture at a press conference, stating that this was a means of illustrating the dangers of AIDS and continuing the struggle against the disease. 'It's what he would have wanted,' said Kirby's father. 'We don't feel used. Benetton is not exploiting our grief to sell sweaters. Rather, it is we who are using Benetton. David is speaking louder now that he is dead than when he was alive.' Father Tom Cadder was a close friend of the Kirbys. Commenting on the Christ-like aura that some had attributed to the technical manipulation of the original picture, he said: 'Who has really seen a picture of Jesus?
I have copies of the original slides and prints, and, untouched, he looks the way many of us picture Jesus.'
Barb Cordle was the Columbus, Ohio hospice nurse who had cared for David Kirby for the last three years of his life. She knew how Kirby had been treated before he had come into her care; how he had been hounded in his small home town; how the contents of the ambulance that had taken him to hospital had been burned afterwards; how Kirby had fought back against the disease and fought for greater education about AIDS and its myths.
Ms Cordle could eventually no longer contain her feelings about the criticisms of Benetton's use of the image, and wrote: 'The picture in question has done more to soften people's hearts on the AIDS issue than any other I have ever seen. You can't look at that picture and hate a person with AIDS. You just can't.'
The New York Times summed up thus: The company estimates that between five hundred million and one billion people have seen the AIDS image, far more than ever saw it when it first came out in Life magazine. A public that is reading fewer newspapers and believing fewer broad casts, might begin to swallow tiny doses of information between the ads for liquor and lingerie. Elsewhere, meanwhile, there was an unexpected reaction to another of the 'reality' images in the place where the real event depicted took place.
Palermo, Sicily, 1992
They may have liked to kill there, but the 'men of honour' and their offspring did not, apparently, like to see pictures of the consequences. In a bizarre twist, the daughter of Benedetto Grado, the dead Sicilian in the Palermo murder picture, announced she was going to sue Benetton for damages for using the image in its 'reality' campaign. 'How does my father's death enter into publicity for sweaters?' complained Rosalia Grado. 'The picture is pasted up in Palermo for all to see, and-it has offended us.' Perhaps Ms Grado was being a little disingenuous, otherwise her statement would have fitted perfectly into an Italian adaptation of Through the Looking Glass.
The killing in question had in fact taken place nearly ten years earlier during a gangland war in the city between the Grado and the Corleone families. Benedetto Grado, the dead man, was a seventy-eight-year-old market garden supervisor who belonged to the former family and had served time in prison on the grounds of involvement with the Mafia. He was also related to a Mafia boss who had recently disappeared.
The civic authorities who tried to resist the grip of the Mafia on the area lived in fear of their lives and frequently ended up in the same position as the man in the picture, only, in their cases, innocent. Yet they went unmourned by the likes of Ms Grado, her mother and her sister-inlaw, who were the three women in the picture shown mourning over the corpse of Mr Grado.
In a further twist, the Magnum photographer who took the picture, Franco Zecchi, was suing the Italian Fascist Party for using it in their election publicity.
Meanwhile, it was good for the Catholic Church and other critics of Benetton to know that old-fashioned notions of decency and public morality were still alive and well in Sicily.
Ponzano, the Veneto, 1992 Colors issue number 2 featured as its cover picture the 'reality' image of 4,000 Albanian refugees crammed onto a ship, many of them spilling over the side. Inside, there were striking items on Russian people from all walks of life, with an examination of the phenomenon of fake Western consumer goods and national pride a expressed through the automobile; toys and gadgets made from recycled waste in different parts of the world; dever 'advertisements showing traditional competitors such as Pirelli and Goodyear united in an embrace; and designer chickens. Toscani's latest brainchild was even bigger and better in style and content than its predecessor.
This time, the print run was a million copies, again available free in five bilingual editions in 6,500 Benetton and Benetton-linked shops in a hundred countries.
One of these copies had landed on the desk of Aldo Palmeri. Palmeri had returned after two years at Citibank to his job as chief executive of Benetton Group. 'He was a very clever managing director,' Gilberto would say, 'and our relationship was so good that after he had been gone for some time, we decided to track him down and persuade him to come back.' Palmeri had looked at Colors and its contents: the Albanians, the Russians, the designer chickens. Then he looked at the costs.
Palmeri's return to the business had also enabled Luciano to fulfill the ambition he had been harboring for some time; indeed, it had been a factor in the return of the chief executive. Luciano had decided to go into politics. Palmeri's return was not the only reason for Luciano's decision, although many outside observers professed themselves surprised that Luciano had chosen to move into political life. The truth was that there were a number of reasons. Toscani was content merely to rail in a libertarian fashion against social injustice and hypocrisies without which his work would ultimately have had no meaning. Luciano, on the other hand, truly believed he could go further. The recent direction of the image of the brand had given it a greater political dimension than ever. The business was well into turnaround as the analysts had predicted, and safe in the hands of Palmeri. Luciano was also an indefatigable, world-class networker, known from the White House to the Kremlin. There were plenty of precedents for businessmen going into politics around the world. The country was undergoing a free-market revolution, in which greater privatization was seen by Luciano and many others as the key to a stabler and more prosperous future. He feared that the difficult economic situation in Italy, with its spiraling labour costs, might derail 9 this process and bring back the spectre of political and social unrest. 'I am very busy, but I've always wanted to go into politics,' he was misquoted as saying.
This was untrue, but here he was offering his services to the nation.
The secretary of the local Republican Party, for whom Luciano 9 had been accepted as a candidate in the coming election, was understandably thrilled to have the support of one of the richest and most powerful businessmen in the world. 'We are delighted to have him on our side,' he declared. At Benetton headquarters, staff in the company's press office fielded calls from journalists and wore Benetton-manufactured T-shirts featuring a blow-up of Luciano's face with the slogan 'Vote Benetton'. Across the country, candidates included the former pornographic movie star la Cicciolina, and the neo-fascist former model and granddaughter of the dictator, Alessandra Mussolini. The competition was stiff at national and local level. After a recount and by a narrow margin Luciano Benetton was elected to Parliament as republican senator for Treviso. Luciano had entered a world of terminal indvidualism, in which politics were seen by the majority merely as a plank to further financial self-interest. Luciano, however, was not entering politics for this reason. As one of the T-shirted press offfice staff of the time said later: 'He really believed he could make a contribution.' What made no difference to the voters was the latest twist in his personal life. Although only the briefest and most unexpected of reunions had taken place between Luciano and Marina, as a result of this, at the age of thirty-four, she had become pregnant and given birth to their first child, a son whom she named Brando. The issue of whether or not she should realise her wish to have a child had been resolved to her satisfaction, but not to Luciano's. This time he severed close relations with her once and for all. Toscani's images for the autumn and winter campaign pursued the 'reality' theme, albeit in a less shocking fashion, and provoked less shocked reactions as a result. The images, again taken by photographers around the world, were of an oil-covered sea bird in the Arabian Gulf; an albino Zulu woman, ostracised by the rest of her South African tribe; a grimy Salvadorean child lovingly clutching a dirty white doll; pigs recycling the contents of a rubbish heap in Peru; child labour at work on a building site in Colombia; Russian police arresting a suspect; and an unoccupied electric chair in an American jail. These were powerful images, yet they were somehow rendered less so, rather than more, by the presence of the United Colors of Benetton logo. If humankind could only bear so much reality, perhaps the effects of this particular manipulation of it were wearing off. Aldo Palmeri was looking at the costs of advertising and sponsorship which accounted for nearly 4 per cent of the total revenues of the business and amounted to around US$60 million. The Benetton Formula racing team, in spite of Luciano's fanatical opposition to smoking, enjoyed considerable tobacco sponsorship, but also consumed increasing amounts of money. All these and other areas came under the scrutiny of the chief executive.


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[Intro by Al] So do you remember our dear friend Celina (table refinish, valentine inspire designer)? She's amazing, wonderful, and I'm pretty sure was one of those people that was definitely my best friend in the pre-existence. Almost from the moment I met her I felt an instant bond of sisterhood. Beyond all that, she is incredibly talented. She was the genius that morphed Scary and my vision to create our incredible logo a few months ago (on the first try, she definitely did some designing between the lines). She has been working on a quiet book for her son for months and I knew we must share with you it since she hasn't quite caught the blogging bug yet to have it reach you.
Quiet in the Country {Quiet Book}
Some friends of mine came over recently to visit. I remember they, as my son was bashfully flirting with them and, admittedly, being a little quiet, asked: "does he say anything?" (Obviously we don't spend too much time together, because) in my head and, consequently, out loud, I laughed. MY kid? Say anything? He's a 13 month-old chatterbox! His vocabulary may be limited; but boy, does he use what he's got!
Any lucky exerciser who happens to share the morning track with us would know. His most choice word is "hi", and every walker/jogger we pass is greeted shamelessly, and often more than once, or twice. "HI! Hi! hi. hi. hi.." and so it goes til we either happen upon another poor sweating soul, or gain too much headway from the last.
Longer story made short: my kid makes his fair share of noise in the world.
…especially on Sunday. In our weekend worship services we do a good amount of singing, and the boy isn't afraid to join in. Notes or no, he'll sing his little heart out. Even after the song is long over. So laughing, and with good motivation, I decided it may be time for a "quiet book". We'll see if it holds up to it's title.
I'm an avid Pinterester, and with a determination for a packable and lasting distraction for the little, the boards were near first in my search for inspiration.
Who knew there were entire blogs dedicated just to quiet books? Pinned em!
After quite a bit of perusing, exploring, and freshly armed with plenty of ideas, I set out on my creative journey. I decided I wanted to try and carry some sort of theme throughout the book, because it seems far too many quiet book pages are a little scattered and eclectic. To each his own (and the littles probably don't care a bit one way or the other!), but this one's own is way too OCD (or whatever other blessed definition there might be for ME) for so much crazy if I get to design it myself! ..So my chosen theme: "Quiet in the Country". It might make a nice titled cover, if I ever get around to it, but for now we're going to jump right into the thick of it, since that's really all I've got to show for myself:
In the country there are farms. On farms, barns. In barns, animals. And farm-barn-animals, it would seem, are so very entertaining for a 1 year-old. So we had to have animals. And, hey! They fit on your finger. Fun.
Pretty close to the farm, and barn, and usually taking care of the animals there are cowboys. But contrary to popular belief, cowboys do wear clothes other than a hat and a pair of boots (though they may be a staple for most outfits). We've got a little cowboy and his wardrobe to prove it.
Boys love trucks, and mine is no exception. So of course we had to fit in our little cowboy's favorite ride! His tractor doesn't do many of the loud and exciting things that the real does, but it's sure got a nice pair of spinning wheels! And for 13 months, that's still pretty cool.
Country folk need food too! So we planted some carrots and it would seem they're ready for harvesting. Kid loves to uproot those suckers.
Some country food is better for playing with. Potatoes, for instance already come with eyes, why not make a whole face? And heck, why not one we all recognize? (and even a feminine counterpart, if you're feeling it..)
Another country delight is fresh produce! Right from the tree. We even brought a basket to collect em in, it should be a snap (ha! See what I did there..? ;))
"A penny saved is a penny earned", or in this case the kid will get reeeeal good at saving/earning his juice can tops! Anyone out there giving real money to their babies? Yeah, I've had better ideas. Pretty sure a penny given to my little guy is a penny lost or taking a trip to the hospital. Pass!
Shout-out to all the advanced seamstresses/seamstremisters that might happen upon my humble little venture: I'm very much a beginner, so hopefully you were able to enjoy the outcome beyond all the obvious "I-would-have-done-it-this-way"s. It was a fun project, and like many things I find with motherhood, I'm figuring things out as I go. But, hey, life as an experiment is always a little more exciting!

subset: commoncrawl


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GS Extra-Strength Cleaner Concentrate is a non-flammable, medium-sudsing, heavy-duty all-purpose cleaner and degreaser with a readily biodegradable surfactant system. Superior penetration and removal of greasy soils. Fast, safe removal of ink, coffee, graphite, greases, and oils on all surfaces, including most clothing. Unlike harsh caustics and volatile solvents, GS Extra-Strength Cleaner Concentrate cleans safely without hazardous fumes and toxic by-products. It is ideal for use in food service areas, garages, and machine shops. GS Extra-Strength Cleaner Concentrate is non-toxic, non-butyl, phosphate-free, and biodegradable.
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How Behance Reinvented the Online Portfolio
Long before the days of Pinterest, there were very few ways for creatives — designers, illustrators and animators — to show off their work to a wider audience (and perhaps their next potential employer). That all changed in 2006 with Behance, a showcase platform and social network that served as a launchpad for many creatives online.
"We felt like the creative community was very disorganized," says Behance CEO Scott Belsky. "When people put their work up on the Internet, it often didn't get the proper attribution and credit it deserved. The thought was, 'Let's make a platform for people to showcase and discover what's going on in the creative world.'"
Mashable spoke with Belsky on Behance's role in building the portfolio platform scene, new opportunities and a new merger with illustration and design powerhouse Adobe.
What do you think of Behance's acquisition? Let us know in the comments.
Behind Behance
According to Belsky, Behance was founded on a simple idea: To give designers and illustrators the power to showcase their work in a clean and sharable space.
"We realized that a portfolio is not just a series of images," Belsky explains. "We think that a portfolio is made up a series of projects — and each project tells a story."
The key to achieving this goal is, of course, the platform. With minimalistic design work and plenty of ways for users to interact with projects, Behance developed into a place where creatives in the same field can comment on each other's work — and nab jobs in the process. On Behance, users are able to showcase a wide range of multimedia projects, including but not limited to photography, design work and even video. While Belsky says that the Behance community — which incorporates every creative field from textile design to graffiti — is robust, the most concentrated communities live in web design. That's not to say that Behance isn't looking at the larger cross-section and collaborations happening within the community.
"Great ideas and innovation come from the intersection of creative disciplines," Belsky says. "We realized we wanted to intersect all of the creative disciplines on one central platform, so the follower mechanics and the way we boost engagement and network density was really important."
And that focus has paid off. Within six years, Behance's tightly knit network of creatives has grown into a worldwide exposure platform: Just in the past 30 days, more than 32 million projects have been viewed through Behance. What's more, Behance's synergistic Job Board platform has actually helped creatives convert their showcases into actual paying gigs. Belsky says that the job board platform has been an integral part of Behance's success because users are gaining value from their exposure.
"We started collecting all the stories we heard from people who were found or had a career transformation through Behance," Belsky says. "This is what really motivates us — seeing how many people really get jobs from this."
Behance and Adobe
Perhaps it's all of this value that made Behance noticeable, because the company just inked an acquisition deal with Adobe. Belsky says that joining the Adobe umbrella is a great step for the company at large, and he's most interested in merging Adobe's software — already a hit with creatives in all industries — with Behance's portfolio platforms and existing social network capabilities.
"Think about how many creatives use Adobe's tools every day to create stuff," Belsky says.
"The fact that there's no connection between the process of creation and how you showcase it is a major omission in the creative world right now. We want to solve that problem and I think someday we'll look back and think, 'Gosh, we used to create stuff and it wasn't connected to how you show it? That doesn't even make sense.'"
Belsky is more excited than apprehensive of the new merger, specifically because Behance has been given license to remain in its original office with its original team, rather than picking up stakes and moving out to Silicon Valley. What's more, Belsky views Adobe's support as a new step in making Behance bolder and stronger — especially with new funding and a larger corporate structure.
"For us, the stars really aligned on this opportunity," Belsky adds. "Keeping Behance somewhat independent was really important to us."
For now, though, Behance is taking small steps to solidify their new role with the Adobe team. Thankfully, that's not stopping the company from iterating new ideas and implementing tools for their users.
"We have an incredible pipeline of stuff we're working on right now, and I think the first thing people will see in the new year is a release of new discovery capabilities for Behance: Better ways for visitors to discover creative work made in certain fields, with certain tools and in a certain location," Belsky explains. "2012 was a lot about the showcase aspect, and 2013 will be a lot about the discovery side."
What the Future Holds
Six years later, Belsky's ambitions for Behance are still as lofty as Day One: "I hope that we can connect the entire creative world and help empower careers. That's our endgame here," Belsky says.
Now, it seems that the company is closer to its dream than ever before — and Belsky says that he can't wait for the new, more powerful Behance to emerge.
"Our thesis is: If you have a way for people to showcase their work more effectively and connect with each other, then they're going to have better careers as a result," Belsky explains. "There's all sorts of cool things we can do in the next few years that will help build upon that."
Image courtesy of Scott Belsky


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In the age of Big Data it is often assumed that the rational and analytical are the primary drivers of business decision making. However, the more complex decisions become, the more top executives are looking at emotional factors as their key catalysts.
In a report titled, Only Human: The Emotional Logic of Business Decisions, gyro collaborates with The Fortune Knowledge Group to survey over 720 business leaders and discovers that subjective factors such as company culture, values and reputation were at the forefront of decision-making. To learn more about these surprising results, download the entire executive summary below.


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It can be very excitiing to go away to college, and scary at the same time. It's a time to broaden your horizons in many ways. Going to school and being on your own can be very difficult, but that is the experience that college brings.
Be sure and stock yourself with enough toiletries before starting college. Their importance cannot be understated, and they can easily be used quickly. You can also save money by purchasing these items in bulk or economy packages.
Bring a bottle of water to school with you. It is important to stay hydrated throughout the day. This is particularly crucial if your schedule is crammed with classes and no meal times between them. Constantly drinking water is a great way to help you remain focused throughout the day. You can get more water from water fountains when necessary.
Avoid waiting for the last minute: apply for grants and scholarships early enough. If you find great resources for grants, you might not need many loans. Schedule deadlines and work hard on submissions.
You should never spread yourself too thin by taking on more than you can handle. If mornings are not your best time of day, starting a day with an early challenging class is just begging for trouble. Be aware of your body rhythms and build your schedule around that knowledge as much as you can.
Keep in mind that you should be eating healthy while in college. The freshman fifteen pounds is not urban legend. Take great care in monitoring your eating. Avoid eating too much fast food or pizza. It may be convenient, but it will leave you feeling sluggish and unable to concentrate in your classes.
Look into grants and scholarships to help you pay for college. There are many unique scholarships which can put a positive dent in your expenses. Scholarships and grants are things that don't have to be repaid.
Don't wait until the start of school to map out the locations of all your classes. Check how long it requires to get to each class, and arrange the route accordingly. You should also find other critical locations and plot them on a map.
The surrounding environment is critical in determining your propensity to study effectively. It's not a great idea to study in your dorm. Find a quiet area, like the library, to do your work. Libraries are an exceptional choice. Another good choice is to purchase headphones that cancel out the noise.
Your high school accomplishments or popularity means nothing at college, The people you meet in college won't really care about your past high school accomplishments. Push yourself to the limit, as this will help you to reach your potential.
Register for the classes you want very early in the selection process. You may not get into a class you need if you put it off. Sign up for a class the moment you know it's the one you want to take.
With luck, this article has prepared you for the challenges you are going to face in college. Use the tips given and you are sure to have an enjoyable and successful college experience.


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Body Style Search
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At Sames Red Barn Motors we work with over 30+ major lenders, banks and credit unions, we secure the best interest rates for your vehicle loan and also offer in-house financing if needed. Good, bad or no credit? We help everyone!
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It must seem magical.. this little box, a keyboard, a screen, a mouse, and it's a portal to all the worlds knowledge. It must seem so magical but perhaps I'm so accustomed to it after 25 years living on the Internet that I've forgotten that magic. Lately though I've been thinking about some of the unseen impact of the Internet. I've come to think that the teensy little box and the relatively small power use it takes creates an illusion that the Internet is "green", that it's "greener" to conduct commerce and other communication via the Internet than are other ways to communicate, Most of the cost and energy required to run the Internet is not at your home, it's not visible to most people and unless you've had the opportunity to walk around a datacenter you may not have an appreciation of the equipment required to run the Internet.
As a blogger writing about green technology this equation is important to me: Green businesses need green infrastructure and need green web hosting. The purpose I have for writing about sustainable green technology is to increase understanding of the issues, so we all can live in the garden paradise of our dreams. It's getting clearer to me every day that my business conduct as a blogger has to first come from my values. My values say to address every single last part of my life and business with sensible green sustainable solutions. Hence my web hosting needs to be green web hosting.
I've been doing some research regarding the greening of the web infrastructure and am heartened that others are doing some interesting research. There seems to be a growing number of green web hosting providers as each time I look for them I find more.
But let's get back to this disconnect between perception and reality.
The general principle I perceive is that understanding the impact of ones actions makes it easier for see the need to change ones actions. Like the research into the connection between cancer and smoking that makes clearer the need to stop smoking. Having more knowledge however is only the first step, there is still the need to take steps to change.
Let's take a little stroll through typical Internet infrastructure equipment. There is a lot more to running the Internet than your desktop computer. There is a communications infrastructure akin to the telephone system, and there is a lot of overlap between the telephone system and the Internet. In some cases telephone system traffic is carried over the Internet. In any case this communication infrastructure uses massive quantities of cables, either copper wires or fiber optic cables, strung along telephone poles and underground conduit and microwave relay stations. The focal points of the communications infrastructures are switching stations, some of which are scattered around each city, some of which are regional. These switching stations are generally owned by the local telephone company, and a little hunting around your city will turn up nondescript windowless buildings emblazoned with the name of your telephone company or other telecommunications companies. Each of these switching stations are stuffed full of electrical equipment, both general purpose and specialized computers, whose purpose is connecting data and voice circuits as Internet and voice traffic goes over the wires.
Stop and ponder for a moment if you will, all the people in your city, all the telephones and computers in your city, the frequency each of them are being used, hence the amount of activity that goes through these switching stations.
The communications infrastructure is only the first part of the journey. The communication infrastructure only communicates your data across the Internet, it does not provide the services you use on the Internet. The services are run by other specialized computers which are programmed to provide all the web pages and web services you're using.
A large web service like google.com could require a hundred thousand or more specialized web server computers.
Stop and ponder for a moment.. how many of the web sites you visit are large web services. Your bank, your favorite online e-commerce site, the news sites, etc etc... how many millions of computers are involved with running the sites you visit regularly?
A month or so ago some study was released trying to analyze the carbon footprint of a search on a service like google.com. It's a bit difficult to quantify but perhaps with what I just said it might give you an appreciation of the cost.
Another study came out recently trying to quantify the carbon footprint of SPAM. As the operator of an Internet server I'm seeing SPAM from a different angle than most. I see in the activity log a continuing stream of attempts to send SPAM into my server, at the least 3-4 of them per minute all day long every day of the year. The more traffic that exists on the Internet the more Internet infrastructure is required to handle that traffic. Hence the more SPAM that's sent over the Internet, the more infrastructure is required to handle that SPAM. It seems totally screwball that such useless traffic is being sent over the Internet, and there is a tremendous environmental cost associated with that useless traffic.


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The Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin saga has finally come to this: The more than 1,000 text messages exchanged by the pair have been obtained by the media and released onto the interwebs for all to peruse.
The texts, which are dated between October 2012 and November 2013, were posted by the Big Lead on Monday evening and seem to show that, at least in part, what Incognito has been saying -- that Martin wasn't the victim of bullying as he's been saying -- has been true all along.
Of course, that remains open to interpretation and conjecture. What remains certain, however, is that Incognito loves to razz Martin, loves to be a boisterous meathead, and loves the ladies.
(NSFW screen shots of the texts after the jump)
See also: Richie Incognito Claims Texts From Jonathan Martin Prove There Was No Bullying
Incognito and Martin exchange in conversations on par with your typical set of bros, talking about women, ribbing each other with off-putting humor, and talking about women.
Although we're not sure how many guys out there have texted things like, "I got the worst hand job ever! My wein is so chaffed right now," to their bros.
Then, in the texts dated November of 2013, the two begin to hash out what happened with Martin when he abruptly walked out on the team after an apparent lunch room prank went badly.
It would appear that Incognito was concerned for Martin, asking him if things were alright, and offering some humor to lighten things up.
Then there are the infamous Vegas text messages, where Incognito drops gay and racial slurs on Martin in a seemingly playful manner. There's also talk of getting themselves cocaine and hookers, although there is no way to tell for certain if this is a joke.
When reading through all 1,000-plus texts, the overall feeling is that Incognito is a loud obnoxious, albeit playful guy, while Martin is more reserved and introverted.
Whether Martin felt uncomfortable during every single exchange will remain up for debate.
Some people have made up their minds that Incognito is a mindless thug.
Other people have made up their minds that Martin is a wussy quitter.
So, in all likelihood, these texts won't change the conversation all that much.
Though some may walk away with their minds changed, others will walk away wishing they were friends with and would totally hang out with Incognito and Martin.
Send your story tips to the author, Chris Joseph. Follow Chris Joseph on Twitter
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N.C. forecaster offers unique 'Rain Alert'
Meteorologist Ted Phaeton has come up with a rather unique way to let folks know it's going to rain.
Phaeton, who works at WHNS-TV, Meredith's Fox affiliate in Greenville, S.C., posted a "Rain Alert" video clip to his Facebook page last week.
We're not even quite sure how to explain it, so here goes…
Don't forget those umbrellas today! Stay dry and stay safe my friends!Posted by Meteorologist Ted Phaeton on Saturday, November 7, 2015
Phaeton also posted a "behind the scenes" shot of the production of the clip:
CORRECTIONS: An earlier version of this story indicated the incorrect owner of WHNS-TV. While Meredith has announced a sale to Media General, the deal has not be finalized and the station is still owned by Meredith. An earlier version of this story also misidentified the state of Greenville.
H/T Eric and FTVLive


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Implications of diversity – diversity and security
Posted by picard578 on April 4, 2019
Human society is built on commonality. Greek ἔθνος (ethnos) comes from ἔθω (éthō, "I am accustomed, wont (to something)"), but its meaning is "group of people: tribe, family". Latin natio means "related to place of birth", and originates from nascor (to be born); it can mean "nation", "people", "race", "class". It can be seen that civic nationalism is thus an aberration; original, actual meaning of nationalism is exclusively ethnic one.
Consequences of dominance of civic nationalism can be seen above. While diversity of peoples, cultures, races etc. is extremely useful – it is one of main drivers of progress – it can also be damaging. The question is one of borders. Common culture, mentality and characteristics allow people to live together without having to walk on eggshells all the time. It allows society to direct its energies outwards, towards a common goal.
Conversely, a society that is internally heterogenous will divide itself into multiple subsocieties. It will spend its energies on internal friction instead of directing them externally. And if friction is significant enough – if society is diverse enough – then society will eventually destroy itself. This friction can take various forms, depending on nature and intensity: from people ignoring each other, to different groups forming their own exclusive communities, to members of particular group being pushed out of certain areas, to open conflict and even civil war. All except the last are in evidence in the Western Europe.
The only solution to this was one employed by the Roman Empire. Now, unlike what BBC would like to portray, the Empire was not racially diverse, being almost exclusively Caucasian, as can be seen from Septimius Severus' reaction to seeing a black soldier at Hadrian's wall:
"After inspecting the wall near the rampart in Britain… just as he [Severus] was wondering what omen would present itself, an Ethiopian from a military unit, who was famous among buffoons and always a notable joker, met him with a garland of cypress. And when Severus in a rage ordered that the man be removed from his sight, troubled as he was by the man's ominous colour and the ominous nature of the garland, [the Ethiopian] by way of jest cried, it is said, "You have been all things, you have conquered all things, now, O conqueror, be a god." "
(Post murum apud vallum visum in Brittannia… volvens animo quid ominis sibi occurreret, Aethiops quidam e numero militari, clarae inter scurras famae et celebratorum semper iocorum, cum corona e cupressu facta eidem occurrit. quem cum ille iratus removeri ab oculis praecepisset, et coloris eius tactus omine et coronae, dixisse ille dicitur ioci causa: Totum fuisti, totum vicisti, iam deus esto victor.)
(Historia Augusta, 'Septimius Severus', 22.4-5)
However, the Empire was culturally and ethnically diverse. The manner in which it dealt with the issue was twofold. First, it made certain to reduce cultural diversity to minimum. Latin was the official language, and peoples of the Empire were made to gradually accept certain tenets of Roman culture, such as religion. Second, along with common culture came the Roman identity – akin to what would today be called civic nationalism, but also much more than that. To be Roman was not to be a barbarian, and this sense of national and cultural superiority helped define and hold together the Roman Empire until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Third, diversity was strictly on the level of the Empire – individual communities were not diverse, and were given wide autonomy in return for loyalty.
Medieval Roman Empire – also called Byzantine Empire – proved even more resillient than Roman Empire of antiquity, in part because it added Christian faith to already existing common ground of Roman identity and Greek culture. It was also less diverse, especially after losing its African and Levant territories in the aftermath of the Battle of Yarmouk. More recent example are United States, which are based on common culture and belief in God. This is why Americans are often so religious – fervent nationalism and pronounced religiousness are used to compensate for the lack of common ethnic basis.
All of the above has significant military-security implications. Strength of the military is based largely on strength of the society. Strong society produces strong military, weak society produces weak one. Multicultural society is inherently fragile, and is thus easily subverted from within. Further, there had been cases in history where countries had been conquered without firing a shot, merely through mass immigration. This was the case in large areas of Roman Empire after the battle of Yarmouk, and later after the battle of Manzikert. In both cases, battles served as a trigger; but Battle of Manzikert in particular was not, on its own, necessarily catastrophic. What proved catastrophic was the dissolution of the thematic system during the previous century, but especially after the death of Basil II in 1025. Unlike the situation from 7th to 10th centuries, in late 11th century thematic system was in disarray, and people were unable to defend their lands without the presence of full-time professional army which had just been destroyed at Manzikert. As a result, within ten years after Manzikert, Seljuks had conquered – through war and immigration – 78 000 square kilometers of Roman territory.


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In similar fashion to a cartoon character, we clench our fists, grind our teeth, and turn lobster red when angered — without steam coming out of our ears. Although we know the external cause for our state of anger, what exactly happens to our bodies internally?
In Life Noggin's video "The Science of Anger," host Patrick Graziosi explains how the brain processes anger and the physical effects it has on our health. In the brain's medial temporal lobe, the amygdala, which responds to outside stimuli, coordinates the release of neurotransmitters — cathecholamine — that leads to a burst of energy which prepares us for physical action. During this process, hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine are also released, increasing our blood pressure. This causes the blood to rush to our extremities like the face.
Blood flow also rushes to the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that's over the left eye. This area controls our judgement and helps us suppress anger, so we don't act aggressively toward others. The neurological response is believed to last less than two seconds, which is why we're advised to count to 10 when we're angry.
Failure to rationalize and keep anger at bay can damage heart health. The release of epinephrine and norepinephrine during these bouts of anger constricts blood vessels and forces the heart to pump faster. This can damage artery walls and even speed up the process of atherosclerosis. The fatty plaque build-up begins to narrow the arteries and increase the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the body, which can lead to a heart attack, stroke, or death.
Next time someone cuts you off on the freeway, refrain from honking the horn and the not-so-nice hand gestures. Take a deep breath and count to 10 — for your heart's sake.


text: Celebrity / Russell Brand Pedestrian Sues Russell Brand: He Drove Into Me Alleged victim says he was injured in collision By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Oct 30, 2012 10:06 AM CDT Copied This June 30, 2012 file photo originally released by the David Lynch Foundation shows Russell Brand at David Lynch Foundation: A Night of Comedy honoring George Shapiro in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision for David Lynch Foundation, file) (Newser) – Back in January, Russell Brand was driving negligently and ran right into a pedestrian in LA, his alleged victim claims in a lawsuit filed yesterday. Victor Sneed is claiming personal injury, property damage, hospital bills, and lost wages, TMZ reports, and he wants upward of $25,000. In happier news for the comedian, he's apparently doing OK following his split from Katy Perry, as the Sun notes that he was spotted last week escorting a female guest from his house to a taxi wearing nothing but "white granddad pants." (Read more Russell Brand stories.)


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An American linden tree was planted at the mother house to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of Associate Relationship. It replaced a diseased tree and will provide food for butterflies, bees, and birds.
In our Blessed Sacrament Province, several associates have planted special bushes and flowers at their homes. The Associates of North Carolina are in the process of planting a 'Marguerite Prayer Garden' on their Church property. In Pensacola, the associates planted a lemon tree. Sr. Marilyn Doucette was with them for their renewal of commitment and lemon tree planting on June 12. Sr. Marilyn ministered in Pensacola before serving for six years as the Co-coordinator of Associate Relationship at the Central Office in Montreal. This is how Sr. Marilyn described the event.
Congratulations to Sr. Betty Kehoe who was honored by Catholic Charities of OKC as "religious of the year." The award was presented by Sister Donna Markham, O.P. Sister Donna is the first woman President and CEO of Catholic Charities, USA.
Thirty eight of Marie Eliane Lachance's friends gathered at Wilton for prayer and celebration to celebrate her 103rd birthday on Sunday, August 28. In our prayer many offered prayers of thanks especially for her fidelity in her friendships and her prayer. Others mentioned how influential she was in their early years in the CND. Marie Elaine was grateful that so many came not only to be with her, but to be with one another.


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Author(s): -
This is the fully adapted version of Version Originale level 1/A1 for English speakers. The text includes audio CD and DVD. Workbooks in English or French editions are also available to accompany the text. Version Originale is planned in 4 levels to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This English version will suit students from 16+, adults and university level beginners


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We are the Diocese of Leeds at the start of the day.....In this season of Lent, it seemed appropriate to remember the daily office, to remember that when we pray, there are millions of Christian people all around the world also praying; daily in churches, in their own homes, in their cars, at work and those prayers are joined to the prayers of the saints and angels in heaven. You might not hear them. You might feel very alone in your prayer; but you are not alone. There is no "my" prayer. It is, as the beginning of the Lord's Prayer states, "our".
We have around 1,000 bellringers across the diocese who regularly call worshippers to church every Sunday and who usually practise once or twice a week.
If you want to know more or are interested in bellringing, contact your local church to find your nearest group. Volunteers are always welcome.


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02 April 2018
Energy & Natural Resources United Kingdom
The recent Court of Appeal decision in Ogale Community & Ors v Royal Dutch Shell Plc ("RDS") and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd ("SPDC") [2018] EWCA Civ 191 has confirmed that a claim against an English-domiciled parent of a foreign oil and gas company may not proceed in the English Courts if the claimants are unable to prove that the parent owed them a duty of care.
In reaching its majority decision (Sales LJ dissenting), the Court of Appeal departed from the reasoning of the TCC at first instance. That decision had placed more emphasis on the nature of and relationship between RDS and SPDC as legal entities, than on the factual evidence as to how this worked in practice. Although ultimately dismissing the claim as the TCC had done, the Court of Appeal gave far greater scrutiny to the Shell Group's policies and procedures.
The decision highlights that while, generally, "corporate structure itself tends to militate against the requisite proximity" required for a duty of care, the Court will nevertheless look closely at the influence of group policies, and the extent of practical or shared control the parent has over the operations that are the subject of a claim.
The facts of the case are set out in more detail in our earlier Law-Now (Oil and Gas: In defence of corporate structure). In summary, members of the Ogale community in Nigeria commenced proceedings in the High Court for damages against parent company RDS and operating subsidiary SPDC, alleging serious ongoing pollution and environmental damage caused by oil spills from SPDC's pipelines.
The claim against Nigerian-domiciled SPDC could only proceed in England, however, if jurisdiction could be established with English-domiciled RDS qualifying as an 'anchor defendant'. The Claimants therefore had to prove that there was 'a real issue' between the Claimants and RDS 'which it is reasonable for the court to try'. To do so, they had to prove an arguable duty of care owed by RDS to the Claimants.
At first instance, Fraser J held that there was no such duty of care owed by RDS. The Claimants had not satisfied the tripartite Caparo test of reasonably foreseeable damage, proximity, and reasonableness (failing on the second and third limbs).
The key issue was the second Caparo limb, proximity. Fraser J applied the decision in Chandler v Cape Plc [2012] EWCA Civ 525, that merely holding shares in a subsidiary will not, by itself, give rise to a duty of care. Whilst there may be circumstances where a duty of care could arise, they did not apply in this case. Firstly, RDS did not conduct operations itself, in Nigeria or anywhere else; nor, in Nigeria, was it permitted to do so. It was not a party to the relevant joint venture agreement. Secondly, decisions taken by the Executive Committee ("ExCo") of the Shell Group were not decisions taken by RDS; the Shell Group and RDS were not the same legal entity and the executive officers of RDS who sat on the ExCo were in a minority. In dismissing the relevance of public statements relied on by the claimants, Fraser J found that the statements had been made in relation to the Shell Group generally, and did not weigh heavily when considering whether a duty of care existed. Policies merely starting with "all Shell companies must" were insufficient to prove a duty of care.
Could the Court of Appeal reconsider the TCC's decision?
The Court of Appeal decided that it was appropriate to reconsider the decision at first instance. Fraser J had made certain errors of principle in failing to consider factual evidence presented by the Claimants. He was also incorrect in his assessment of ExCo; there was an arguable case that the actions of ExCo were attributable to RDS.
The central question: proximity
The Court of Appeal agreed with the TCC, however, on the central question at issue. For the second Caparo limb of proximity to be met, it was necessary to establish that RDS had control (or joint control) over SPDC's operations.
The Claimants pointed to five factors, which they argued demonstrated such control by RDS:
Did RDS exercise a substantial degree of control (or joint control) over SPDC's operations?
As a preliminary matter, all three judges agreed that the Claimants could not simply point to the existence of policies and standards issued by RDS, intended to apply throughout the Shell company group, in order to establish a duty of care. Instead, a more substantial degree of control by RDS of SPDC's operations was needed.
By a majority of two to one, the Court of Appeal decided that the Claimants had failed to prove that the five factors identified amounted (together or separately) to a sufficient degree of control to establish the necessary degree of proximity.
Simon LJ found that the various policies, practices, and public statements relied on by the Claimants merely revealed "a centralised system based on industry standards and the Shell Group's own developed best practice" which applied to all Shell Companies. Such standardisation and sharing of best practice was to be expected in the context of a business operating internationally, and did not evidence a substantial degree of control over SPDC specifically. Whilst other evidence suggested that there were specific concerns about SPDC's operations in Nigeria, these were high-level business concerns. At its highest, RDS ensured that controls were in place, to be implemented by SPDC; it did not exercise control over SPDC's operations.
Sir Geoffrey Vos C was of the view that that the documents relied upon by the Claimants were of the sort to be expected, from a commercial perspective, in an international business. They were general ones, not 'tailored' specifically for SPDC. Such group standards were not enough to prove an "imposition" of mandatory practices, especially where there was no evidence that RDS "took upon itself the enforcement of the standards". Similarly, RDS wanting to be kept abreast of "significant issues" with operations by SPDC in Nigeria, a particularly risky region, was not the same as RDS assuming responsibility for, or controlling, the day-to-day operations of SPDC.
Sales LJ disagreed with the majority. He found that there was a good arguable case that RDS owed the Claimants a duty of care. Notably, he was also more willing than the majority to give weight to the evidence of so-called "whistleblower" witnesses for the Claimants. Based on this witness evidence, and on certain central policies – in particular, the "Shell Control Framework" – Sales LJ concluded that RDS had the means to assert executive power and control aspects of the management of operating group companies, like SPDC, if it wished to do so. In the case of SPDC, it was plausible that RDS had exercised this power.
On the one hand, the outcome of this case is positive for large international oil and gas companies. The decision confirms that a parent company will not normally be liable for the actions of an operating subsidiary by virtue of ownership or group corporate policies. As noted by Sir Geoffrey Vos C, "it would be surprising if a parent company were to go to the trouble of establishing a network of overseas subsidiaries with their own management structures if it intended itself to assume responsibility for the operations of each of those subsidiaries."
However, the Court of Appeal's approach – in considering whether, in fact, the parent had taken control of the operations of the subsidiary – showed a far greater willingness than the TCC to look beyond corporate structure alone, and investigate how a company group is managed in practice. As a consequence, companies should consider carefully the extent to which they are able, in fact, to direct the actions (or do, in fact, direct actions) of their operating subsidiaries, where this might give rise to claims in tort from third parties.
Oil and gas groups might also be well advised to consider whether any emergency response planning might have the unintended impact of spreading potential tortious liability to other group members and invoke the jurisdiction of the English courts.
For further information on this topic please contact Phillip Ashley or Robert Wilson at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP's London office by telephone (+44 20 7367 3000) or email (email@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com) Alternatively, please contact Eilidh Douglas at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP's Edinburgh office by telephone (+44 131 228 8000) or email (firstname.lastname@example.com). The CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP website can be accessed at cms.law.
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Now, we're going to jump in and look at a real Premier project just to kind of get our feet wet a little bit. We have this really cool project here, but we're missing a video clip from the beginning. We're going to be adding that video clip. First, let's go ahead and look at what we have. This project that we're going to be looking at in this chapter. It's about 14 seconds long or so. You'll notice that there is a distinct absence of video for the first three seconds. But that's okay. We'll get that video back and restore it by the end of this movie. (Music playing) (Male speaker: Beautiful scenery, plenty of places to ride, beautiful weather.) (Male speaker: It just doesn't get any better than this.) We're pretending this is going to be like a Web advertisement.
So what I'm looking for is a video clip to fit in this spot. I know it's in this Video folder. I can click these little arrows here and put things in the Video folder. You don't have to use these folders in the Project panel, but they really to help to keep things organized and I prefer to use them. I could open up the Video folder, but there is this handy search field here. And I know that the word train is in my footage. So I just simply start typing t-r, and look how live update this is. That's amazing. So as soon as I type t-r-a, I could see the clip that I'm looking for.
Again, it's a live update. To see all the rest of your footage, just go ahead and click this X to close out that Search result, but this is actually the clip that we what. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to click here, and I want to add this to my sequence. So to do that, I simply drag and drop. You can see that I could add this to different video layers essentially. I can also change where this goes in time. And if I put this clip over an existing clip, it will erase the content that's there. I don't want to do that. So I'm just gong to drag this all the way to the left, and there you have it.
That clip has been added to our timeline. So I'm going to press the Spacebar to preview this and look at the Program Monitor at what we have. (Music Playing) (Male speaker: Beautiful scenery, plenty of places to ride.) Fantastic! As we'll see as we go throughout this training series, there are several ways that you could add, clips to a Timeline, but that's as simple as it gets though. That's all you need to do is just simply drag and drop from the Project panel into the Timeline panel.
- Adding footage to the Timeline
- Creating dynamically linked content
- Making overlay and insert edits
- Moving edit points
- Playing a clip backwards
- Understanding pixel aspect ratio and frame rate
- Applying motion effects
- Cutting video to music
- Compositing with green screen and blend modes
- Correcting color
- Creating titles and lower thirds
- Exporting sequences
Skill Level Beginner
Q: When attempting to open the project exercise files into Premiere Pro CS5, an error message appears:
This project contained a sequence that could not be opened. No sequence preview preset file codec could be associated with this sequence type.
What could be causing the error, and how can the files be opened?
A: There are a few possible explanations.
Lastly, if the projects are not importing into Premiere, try importing the video footage by itself, rather than the entire project file.
Q: How does one perform internal edits within a piece of video in Adobe Premiere? For example, if I have a single clip of video, comprised of multiple segments strung together, how would I go about removing gaps and/or cleaning up each segment and then assembling the clips in a desired order? Most tutorials emphasize laying down multiple clips on the Sceneline or Timeline, but not editing one clip of video.
A: To remove footage from a single video clip:
- Drag the Current Time Indicator (CTI) to the first frame of the segment to be deleted, click the Split Clip button in the Monitor panel, drag the CTI to the last frame of the segment to be deleted, and then click the Split Clip button again.
- Delete the segment by clicking on the clip and either choosing Edit > Delete And Close Gap, or pressing the Delete or Backspace key. That will remove the segment and the rest of the projectwill slide over to the left to fill the gap.
Q: I can't view the exercise files.
A: Most of the video clips in the training were encoded using H.264. If you are on a PC, you may need to download the latest version of the free
QuickTime player from quicktime.com. Be sure to install QuickTime with your Adobe applications closed. QuickTime installs a series of codecs on your
machine, and many Adobe apps require QuickTime components to function properly.
Q: Why are many of the video files H.264 if some users must download additional components to view them?
A: This is one of the most common video formats in the world right now, certainly for distribution. This is because it is currently the most optimal
way to provide high quality video at the low files sizes that we need to be able to distribute these assets online. Even though it may require an extra
download for some users, this is the best way to be able to get you the highest quality exercise files. There isn't another video standard that is
cross platform that is free and that works as well as H.264.
Q: What is the most effective way to import a JPEG into Premiere Pro (i.e. best quality resolution, best playback speed)? When I import a photo as a JPEG and add it to a sequence, only a very small part of my photo is shown, because of the high resolution of these photos. Should they be resized in Photoshop first? Will changing it using effects provide the quality I am looking for?
A: Images can be scaled down using the Scale Transform in the Effect Controls panel as explained in the training. You can also scale down the images in Photoshop to match the size of your sequence in Premiere. But I prefer to use the Scale Transform as it gives me more flexibility and allows me to "zoom in" (aka scale up) photos without loss in quality. You'll probably want to make sure that the proportions of the image match the sequence though.
Q: Does Premiere Pro offer Z-axis editing like After Effects?
A: Premiere Pro does not offer 3D as After Effects does, but you can use the Basic 3D effect in Premiere to simulate that environment.
Q: The exercise files don't work for me. I get an error message stating the sequence(s) could not be loaded and it returns me to the Welcome screen. I am using the trial version of Premiere Pro and the correct codecs do not seem to be included.
A: All the required codecs are included in the trial version of Premiere. You just need to activate the trial with your Adobe ID. If you don't sign into Adobe, anything with MPEG compression will be unavailable. Signing resolves that issue and restores all MPEG-based support.
Q: I'm receiving the
following error message from Premiere Pro. "This project contained a
sequence that could not be opened. No sequence preview preset file or codec
could be associated with this sequence type." How do I resolve it?
Additionally, when I try
to create a project, I only have DV sequence presets available.
Q: When I tried to open the exercise files for this course, the following message popped up.
"This project was last used with Mercury Playback Engine GPU
Acceleration (CUDA), which is not available on this system. Mercury
Playback Engine Software only will be used?"
What do I have to do to solve the issue?
Q: After loading a project from the exercise files for this course, the media appears "offline" and cannot be used. How do I fix this?
A: This issue occurs because the project was not created in your copy of Premiere Pro, so your copy does not know where to look for the asset files. To fix this, please see the video "Relinking offline media."


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The Pros and Cons of training with a power meter, it's going to be really hard finding a con but if there is one, we'll find it.
The topic of power meters is something that has been discussed over and over again on the internet, one quick google search will show you the countless articles and videos that have been made explaining this training tool. Yet still, you find cyclists who have no idea how to properly train with one and therefore can't see the benefit of implementing it into their training regiment.
The power meter is a pacing tool, it's the best way to find out exactly how much work you're doing on the bike. There's other ways to get this data, but those other forms are subjective to other variables. Heart Rate for example can fluctuate depending on weather, food, wind etc…Therefore is not an exact way to measure work/power.
Pacing yourself with a heart rate monitor will have your numbers going up and down constantly, therefore not giving you an efficient workout. The power meter is completely unaffected by all those other variables and will consistently give you the exact number of the work you're doing, independent to wind, weather or food (specifically caffeine).
It's the perfect tool for those who have limited time on the bike or cyclists who want to train efficiently to have real gains.
So, now that you have a general idea of what a power meter does and what do to, well how do you use it? Once you have the unit installed on your bike, and we'll talk about the different types of units and installation on another article. You'll need to sync it to your cycling computer which can be Wahoo, Pioneer, Garmin and other types of GPS computers.
Once synced you'll have different options on viewing your power output, and if you did that google search we mentioned above you probably think your next step is to perform an FTP test. Actually, it's not. Training with power has a learning curve there are many functions and settings, if you don't set them right the first time you'll end up discouraged with your purchase. It's best to consult a professional.
We needed help and we wanted to work with someone experienced and not waste anymore time. We consulted with Patrick Sansburry From Pinnacle coaching. Simply put, he has 7 years of power training experience and a proven track record, we'll talk more about Pat on a later article.
The point we're trying to make is don't be shy or embarrassed to consult a coach. You already made the discussion on purchasing a power meter make sure to get your money's worth.


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News in Brief
Memphis Area Starts Year With Six Breakaway Districts
Six new districts opened their doors to students in Shelby County, Tenn., this month, after prolonged legal wrangling by suburban municipalities that sought to split from the Shelby County district after its merger with the schools in Memphis.
The Shelby County school system, which includes the city of Memphis and the Achievement School District—made up of poor-performing schools that have been taken over by the state—remains.
The suburban separation was set in motion beginning in 2011, when, because of financial issues, the Memphis school board and then later city residents voted to merge the predominantly black district with the smaller, suburban, and predominantly white county district. The result was the creation of one of the largest districts in the country, with more than 140,000 students.
Vol. 34, Issue 01, Page 4Published in Print: August 20, 2014, as Memphis Area Starts Year With Six Breakaway Districts
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3305 Ayr Avenue, North Vancouver Listing #: R2487022
West coast contemporary dream home on quiet cul-de-sac. Exemplary style & craftsmanship, bathed in light w/ picture windows & skylights. The dream kitchen has modern cabinetry, state-of-the-art Miele appliances & a stone island. Walkthrough pantry attached to laundry room. Rec room includes a bar, walk-in climate controlled wine cellar, french doors opening to the patio with gas firepit. Main floor features accordion doors opening onto a covered heated patio with a 2 way fireplace & 2nd covered patio overlooks the treed backyard, kids playground & low maintenance turf grass, perfect for family gatherings. Upstairs is where you'll find the serene bedrooms, w/ spa-inspired en-suites. Legal 2-bed suite. 5min walk to Highland Elementary & steps to Edgemont Villages newest shops & restaurants!
Taxes (2020): $11,856.94
- Garden
- Playground
- ClthWsh
- Dryr
- Frdg
- Stve
- Oven - Built In
- Pantry
- Sprinkler - Inground
- Vacuum - Built In
- Wet Bar
- Windows - Thermo
Site Influences
- Central Location
- Cul-de-Sac
- Private Yard
- Shopping Nearby
- Ski Hill Nearby
- Treed
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Listed By: Royal LePage Sussex
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Degrees and Certifications:
Ms. McElroy
Welcome to the study of World Religion. Over the course of this semester we will explore and learn about several religions that are practiced throughout the world such as Judiasm, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Aboriginal spirituality.
I am looking forward to being apart of your journey through this exciting and thought provoking course.
Ms. McElroy
Email Address: email@example.com


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Received yesterday. Downloaded the firmware 5.30 upgrade for my 2015 MBP. Got the magenta color indication for Tidal Master MQA. Perfect. No firmware issues. Loud with my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro, and Massdrop 6XX. Plenty of power for me. Love the volume dial. Hard to admit and, I have hard time saying so, but this DAC sounds better on both non MQA and MQA tracks on Tidal than the Meridian Explorer 2, and the Dragonfly Red. Ella and Basie sound great. So does Oscar Peterson. This is the best of the bunch. I wish the USB connector cable were a tad shorter as I use my MBP on my lap but I can definitely live with that. Very, very happy, and very, very impressed with this device. Excellent online reviews as well. Tops in my book!"
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Many thanks you ByRichardon for your review


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Venezuela's traditionally rich pharmaceutical industry, si now looking to expand beyond its borders to stay alive amidst that country's financial crisis.
At the forefront of this effort is a bold marketer who is connecting the demand with the supply of pharmaceutical manufacturers out of Venezuela. Yohana Santa Marta is an US educated pharmaceutical marketer who has created partnerships between Venezuelan based pharma companies with foreign counterparts in need of Venezuelan made products. She has connected some of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing entities of the world. Among Santa Marta's clients includes Unipharma, SM Pharma, Salvat Biotech, S.A and even Chemo Group an Italian based pharmaceutical company.
Unipharma is one of her greatest success stories. Santa Marta lead the plan to create an American based subsidiary of SM Pharma, a Venezuelan based pharmaceutical products manufacturing company. In just 6 years Unipharma, the American version of SM Pharma, has become a protagonist in the liquid and semi-solid Rx, over the counter and nutraceutical formulation industry. They are one of the fastest growing suppliers of sealed sterile vials all thanks to Yohana's market analysis capabilities and ability to create timely partnerships.
Had it not been for Santa Marta's intervention SM Pharma would have likely had to close their doors due to extreme inflation and devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar.
At a time when American pharmaceutical companies operating in Venezuela, like Pfizer ($PFE), are taking severe currency hits, Santa Marta's role of providing Venezuelan based pharmaceutical companies with foreign opportunities has made her a major player in the industry.
Santa Marta has become a specialist in helping Venezuelan pharmaceutical or pharmaceutical-related companies to expand their operation abroad or help them create significant partnerships abroad that help them weather that country's financial crisis.
Santa Marta is looking to reproduce the success of Unipharma with other companies.
"Life science companies like Unipharma are a powerful economic engine for the US' economy so the market is there," confirms Yohana.
Governor Scott said about Unipharma, "We are excited to announce that Unipharma has chosen to locate their pharmaceutical headquarters in Broward County. Florida's unemployment rate is below the national average and we've created more than 333,000 private-sector jobs since December 2010. The jobs being created by Unipharma are another example that IT'S WORKING in Florida."
Mayor Kristin Jacobs of Broward County, FL, where Unipharma is located, said, "This project will create significant economic impacts for our community, as the company is expected to occupy a 135,000-square foot facility, create 100 new high skill/high wage jobs, and make a capital investment of $50 million."
While Venezuela is going through their economic hemorrhage, it seems its pharmaceutical industry has found its doctor in Santa Marta.
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Stop the baby trade!
Help us raise awareness and change attitudes by taking part in our Animals Are Not Freight day of online action. Thousands of unwanted calves (and other animals of course) are sent off to markets, auctions or exported from the UK every year.
Animal transport is an inevitable part of animal farming but people often forget that dairy cows and calves suffer as much as animals raised for meat. Calves that are not raised to replenish the herd or killed at birth - about 150,000-200,000 male dairy calves yearly - are sold either to dairy or veal farmers. Calves may be sold when they are just one week old and this is an extremely stressful event, resulting in many health problems. 'Shipping fever' - a term used to describe a range of diseases caused by respiratory viruses – is one of the main causes of calf deaths. Calves less than two weeks old are particularly susceptible and more than one in five dies following transportation.
And if they survive this trauma, life is not rosy for any of these gentle animals. Female dairy calves are raised to be impregnated every year and have their calf taken away after birth so their milk can be sold. Male calves sold to veal farms in the UK are raised to produce 'rose veal'. These calves are fed a diet that just about allows normal development of their bodies, resulting in the natural pink flesh colour. Rose veal production means about eight weeks of solitary confinement for the calves at first, followed by group housing. Rose veal calves are slaughtered at around six to eight months of age.
The UK also exports calves to the EU where the majority are raised for white veal. White veal means that the calves are kept in solitary confinement for longer (16-20 weeks) and fed an insufficient diet so they become anaemic and their flesh is very pale in colour.
Whether raised on the farm, transported to markets or shipped overseas, lives of these animals are extremely stressful, full of fear, discomfort and confusion. Stop supporting this pointless suffering and cycle of death. Go vegan!
Change your social media cover image for the week of 29 August 2016 to show your support to the international initiative Animals Are Not Freight!
And why not pledge to go vegan to mark the occasion? Even if you already are vegan – show solidarity by adding your name: www.whitelies.org.uk/dairy-free-pledge
For inspiration go to www.viva.org.uk/30dayvegan and www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk


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Nov 26
25 Things That You Should Do To Get Prepared For The Coming Economic Collapse
Do you think that you know how to prepare for the collapse of the economy? If so, are you putting that knowledge into action? In America today, people are more concerned about the possibility of an economic collapse than ever … Continue reading