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According to the women leader, it will enhance the delivery of essential services to Nigerians.
She stated this at a public hearing organised by APC Committee on True Federalism on Thursday in Abuja.
Aliyu stressed the need for some of the items on the exclusive list to be transferred to the concurrent list.
This, she said was critical to fast-track the country´s development, adding that Nigerians had a lot to benefit if the country was restructured.
"As most of us will agree, there is the need for devolution of power from the centre to the federating unit.
"A few items of the exclusive legislative list should be transferred to the concurrent list to fast-track the development of the country and enhance the delivery of essential services to the Nigerian people,´´ she said.
She also said that it would not be out of place to transfer federal roads and similar infrastructure to states for continued derivation principle.
The women leader maintained that if all hands were on deck and the country´s development became the priority of all, its challenges would be surmounted in "harmony rather than acrimony''.
Speaking on ideal federating units, whether to adopt or not, or if there should be a merger or creation of more states, Aliyu said that the present statuesque should be maintained.
She also said that a return to the regional government format was not visible, as it would among other things fan the embers of suspicion of oppression by the minority.
According to her, many states of the federation as presently constituted are not economically viable and may not be able to pay workers salaries without allocation from federation accounts.
The women leader also said that there was the need for the Federal Government to revisit the country´s present land tenure system to ensure easy access to land.
She decried the practice in most communities in the country where people were discriminated against because there were not indigenes, saying that such practice should be of concern to the government.
"What is clear to us is that the present land tenure system needs to be revisited to make access to land for agriculture and development easy for the average Nigerian.
"What should matter in our nation today is where you reside and pay your taxes and not your state of origin.
"This will enable every Nigerian, irrespective of where you are from or live to enjoy the full rights and benefits guaranteed under our laws,'' the APC women leader said.
She, however, said that the country´s unity in diversity provided its citizens with limitless opportunities and urged women as mothers to "keep talking and encouraging our sons and husbands that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable.''
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that orgnaisations which submitted memorandum to the committee were given opportunity to make presentations at the event.
The APC Committee on True Federalism was constituted on Sept. 14, by its National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to articulate the party's position on restructuring Nigeria.
The committee which is headed by Gov. Nasir el-Rufia of Kaduna State, had earlier embarked on a tour of the country´s geo-political zones to get the people´s positions on the issue.
The committee´s mandate was to look into issues of states and state creation, devolution of power, federating units, fiscal federalism and revenue allocation among others (NAN)


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Court Hearing Update
This will be the official post for updates on the trial for when they come available:
Update #1 - 10:51 AM EST:
NTP has asked the court this morning for $126 million dollars in damages, in addition to undetermined royalties, and an immediate injunction of services in the US. There are about 3.2 million Blackberry users in the U.S. who could be affected by an enforced injunction.
Update #2 - 11:30 AM EST:
NTP has outlined its suggestions for a Blackberry injunction. An injunction would start 30 days after a ruling which would allow RIM and Blackberry users to implement the workaround. They also will grant an exemption to Federal, State, and City government workers. NTP would also want the injunction to become permanent even after the patents expire.
Nothing new here, NTP has already stated all of this before the hearing.
Update #3 - 12:10 PM EST:
RIM responds seeking a new trial, because of claims that were thrown out by a Federal court.
The obvious reason for RIM seeking a new trial is that the new trial will take into account the latest USPTO rulings that found the NTP patents invalid.
Update #4 - 12:51 PM EST:
RIM has announced that The USPTO has issued a 'Final Office Action' for all of the five disputed NTP patents. This basically means that the patents are now done for even though NTP may appeal. The final rejections were all based on multiple grounds, required unanimous agreement from a panel of 3 senior patent examiners and are expected to withstand all future appeals by NTP.
The new findings will not be factored into today's ruling, but will help if RIM gets its new trial.
Update #5 - 1:02 PM EST:
Judge Spencer stopped short of ordering an immediate shutdown of millions of Blackberrys.
But U.S. District Judge James Spencer said there was no escaping that RIM had been found to be infringing on NTP'a patents and he would issue a decision on an injunction "as soon as reasonably possible."
Update #6 - 1:05 PM EST:
RIMM surged to 11% immediately after the ruling and has leveled to about 7% but expect that number to wildly swing up and down.

subset: commoncrawl


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There have been a lot of questions regarding the announcement from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services about ICD-10. We at AppRev would like to take this time to address the issue and look at what we believe should continue to be the focus of your hospital's attention.
We at AppRev would like to reassure all of our customers that we will continue to work toward the goal of ICD-10 implementation, despite the delay.
We believe that it is in the best interest of the hospitals to continue to focus on the education of physicians, coders, and other support staff. This will ensure quality documentation through the implementation process and beyond. Solid, quality documentation and coding can only assist hospitals in capturing the true acuity of their patients, and it is never too early to begin that process. The change in time frame should not derail any attempts by a hospital to develop and/or proceed with current quality improvement processes.
Time and additional resources will continue to be a priority to make sure that a hospital's IT will be ready for a full implementation of ICD-10. We often think of this implementation as a purely coding and billing function, but often there are many departments in a hospital that currently utilize ICD-9 codes for statistics and reporting. These departments need to make sure that they too are ready for this change and not wait simply because of the delay.
And finally, one last area that hospitals should be aware of is the financial impact that ICD-10 will have to a hospital's case mix and reimbursement. When MS-DRG's began in 2007, we all heard that it would be revenue neutral to CMS although individual hospitals would see some shifting in their case mix and reimbursement. There were hospitals that won and those that lost in the MS-DRG transition. Knowing this, hospitals should make part of their action plan for ICD-10 implementation to know what their risk areas are and how to prepare or possibly prevent them.
AppRev is still committed to helping our clients make their transition to ICD-10 regardless of the change to CMS' time frame. For more information about our approach to the transformation visit our website.


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Wait Time / Stop Time
Cancellation and No Show Policy
In Car Technology
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2 Comments
Really? You're concerned that the habitually irreverent and purposefully controversial show South Park is giving the title of "Social Worker" a bad name? I am far more concerned about your hypersensitivity and lack of sense of humor giving those involved with the social work profession a bad name. If we can't laugh at ourselves (even blatantly unrepresentative caricatures of ourselves) I fear for as a profession and the individuals we are charged with helping.
Matthew, I read this differently. I thought Greg was pointing out that even though South Park used the correct title in their show, the media incorrectly identified the character as a social worker. This does not seem to be a critique of South Park. Rather, it points to a common problem of confusing child welfare case workers with social workers. Greg did a nice job of pointing out the differences between the two at the end of the article.


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Just your typical gentleman/adventurer. Eating seared scallops on a beach in Thailand , escargot in Paris or a last minute trip to Brazil for a caipirinha. I like tapas and drinks with friends as well as a fresh-pulled espresso.
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Man with black hair, with short hair, with black eyes, light brown, who never smokes, who never drinks
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Julia received her MBA from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and her B.A. in English Literature and International Economics from Trinity College, CT. Julia's diverse career has focused on the intersection of business and storytelling. She has worked as a film producer for the award-winning directors, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, and her films have been shown on HBO, the BBC, and at the Sundance Film Festival. Today Julia is the co-founder/CEO of Lancealot, a marketplace for content creators specializing in sports and lifestyle brands.
At Booth, Julia was the senior associate for the Chicago Media Angels Investment Group, a finalist in Booth's New Venture Challenge, and a teaching assistant for courses on startup investing. Julia also joined the Second Year Admissions Interview team, and interviewed full-time candidates throughout 2016-2017. She captured all of her MBA experiences and more in articles for the Financial Times. Julia brings her expertise in admissions interviewing and the power of good writing and storytelling to her Admitify clients.


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6 Items
Cosmonauts and Kings
German data-based political marketing company started in 2016. There isn't great detail about their methods online, but it sounds like they use fairly standard techniques for audience segmentation and targeting, and also offer support with communication and advertising strategy.
AggregateIQ makes campaign management software, including tools for managing outreach campaigns and voter databases. Most notably, they created Ripon as part of a contract with SCL Group, which was used as a database for Ted Cruz's campaign. They also built software for automating advertising campaigns. Upguard found AggregateIQ's Gitlab repository online in March 2018 and published a series of articles analyzing their software and clients.
Microtargeting, Door-to-Door, Telemarketing, Email, Facebook, Social Media, Advertisements, Geolocation Data, Contacts/Social Connections, Behavior
Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, John Bolton, Thom Tilllis, Vote Leave, BeLeave, Veterans for Britain, Democratic Unionist Party, Countryside Alliance, Todd Stone, Mike de Jong, Doug Clovechok, David Calder, Green Party of British Columbia, Andy Wells
Facebook allows targeting of advertisements based on interests, behaviors, location, and demographics. It also allows targeting groups like website visitors, app users, and audiences that look like existing audiences. It also provides a list of companies who can assist with advertising on Facebook. including data brokers who can augment custom audience lists. Additionally, data is available via the API and some app developers collect data from users via their apps, as Global Science Research did (and then sold it to Cambridge Analytica). Similar services are also offered on Instagram.
Advertisements, Social Media, Twitter, Mobile Apps, Website Visitors, Lookalike Audiences, Demographics
Social Media, Facebook, Campaign-Collected Data, Data Brokers, Browsing Data, Quantium, Experian, Epsilon, CCC, Geolocation Data, Data Brokers, Oracle Data Cloud, KBM Group, Acxiom
Revolution Messaging
Creates software for managing SMS, calling, and online advertising campaigns. They also offer a variety of services to campaigns ranging from advertising and social media management to fundraising. Mostly seems to work with progressive campaigns and causes, as well as some state agencies, in the US.
March for Racial Justice, Daily Action, Bernie Sanders, UltraViolet, Ohio Department of Education, Blackout for Human Rights, Teamsters, Maryland State Education Association
Adili Ailixier, Kyle Allen, Sheila Angelo, Carla Aronsohn, Kim Bariring, Elizabeth Bennett, Douglas Busk, Camilo Caffi, Sean Carlson, Arun Chaudhary, Shelby Cole, Andrea Cory, Annabel Cromwell, Claire Daisey, Jonathan Dauz, Alejandro Diaz, McKinley Doty, Jon Eitler, Eric Elofson, Esteban Fernandez, Madeline Fishburn, Alaina Gercak, Sami Ghani, Dianne Gillespie, Scott Goodstein, Keegan Goudiss, Fred Guerrier, Gabe Hammersmith, Hilary Hess, Morgan Hill, David Holtz, Arianna Jones, Oliver Larkin, Dae Levine, Sam Lozier, Aurea Martinez, Erin McCallum, Dana McDonough, Andrea Millman, Josh Minnich, Taramarie Mitravich, Heather Mytelka, Bianca Neptune, Michelle Ng, Alicia Oken, Jennifer Osias, Kate O'Connell, Ben Page-Gil, Joe Pahl, Anna Papazian, Cabot Lee Petoia, Virginia Purcell, Hina Razzaq, Willie Roberson, Sam Robertson, Laura Rodriguez, Matt Royer, Jeff Rummel, Eve Samborn, Sandra Sanchez, Greg Sensing, Chelsea Skovgaard, Becca Stevens, Maeve Stier, Robert Swanger, Matthew Uttendorf, Madeleine Valley, Kelly Vingelis, Eden Joyner White, Karima Williams, Daphne Zhang
Creates campaign management software with a focus on databases to help with fundraising and outreach. Their software also allows matching people in these databases to their social media profiles, and targeting the most influential of them. NGP VAN also creates tools for mobilizing volunteers using gamified campaign organization software. Mosty works with democrats in the US.
Stu Trevelyan, John Lee, Michelle Stephenson, Melissa Wyers, Mike Liddell, Tuvinh Vuong, Amanda Coulombe, Mark Puleo, Louis Levine, Bryan Whitaker
Twitter is a social media website that also sells data and advertisements. Companies and researchers can buy data from particular accounts, coming from certain geographic areas, or about certain topics. Continuous access to various quantities of data can be purchased, or historical data can be purchased one time. A subset of this data is available for free via Twitter's API.<br />Twitter allows companies to target advertisements based on lists of accounts/emails/phone numbers, audiences like known customers or followers of other accounts, website visitors or app users, search queries, interests, devices, geographic area, purchasing behaviors (based on data from data brokers), language, or gender. Users are then shown advertisements, usually in the form of tweets, and advertisers pay based on the number of impressions, clicks, engagements, followers, etc. Twitter operates its advertisement program and sells data in most countries.
Social Media, Twitter, Website Visitors, Mobile Apps, Lookalike Audiences, Purchasing Behavior, Geolocation Data, Contacts/Social Connections, Demographics, Search Terms
Social Media, Twitter, Campaign-Collected Data, Data Brokers, Browsing Data, Search Queries, Consumer Purchase Data, Acxiom, Datalogix


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The Competitors Edge
Tips for Developing Your "Winning Edge"
by Edie, The Salsa FREAK
With the overwhelming popularity of partner dancing lately, more and more dancers all over the world are busy looking, choosing, and quietly deciding who to partner with. This month, I'd like to discuss how to find (and keep) a good dance partner, and how to prepare for a dance competition.
Aside from our partner-search service, partners can be found in classified ads in the newspaper, in dance magazines, at dance studios, colleges, universities, at the gym, and in nightclubs.
The first thing you have to decide on, is what type of partnership commitment YOU, YOURSELF are willing to make on a personal level.
Can you honestly say "Yes" to the following?
- Are you willing to dedicate countless hours with someone, day in and day out, week after week, and possibly month after month?
- Do you have the physical energy left after your day job, to practice into the late hours of the night, very very hard?
- Are you willing to put up with the bruises, falls, accidental hits and physical demands placed on your body?
- Are you willing to adjust and move around your otherwise "normal" schedule to fit in the hours, days, and weeks of practice sessions?
- Are you willing to motivate and encourage the partner you choose when they just don't seem like they're with it, nor worth it anymore?
- Are you willing to pay the money for studio time, music, outfits, and sometimes needed professional instruction?
- Are you willing to withstand your partner's bad habits (ie smoking, smell, poor attitude, demanding personality, off-beat problem, farting or burping problem, jealous husband/girlfriend/wife problem, kid problem, dress problem, weight problem, hair problem, dance problem, acne problem, posture problem, lead problem, following problem, etc) during the weeks of preliminary rounds, then semi-final rounds, then final rounds?
- Are you willing to give up television?
- Are you willing to give up time with your loved ones for a few weeks or maybe even months?
- Are you willing to commit to hours and hours of grueling practice with your partner instead of going out and spending time with all your friends at your favorite nightclubs?
- [*=center]Are you willing to chance all this for little or no return?
These questions, my friends, are what you need to ask YOURSELF first. Once you've made the decision, and your desire to compete and perform is more powerful than your good sense, you're ready to find a partner.
Finding a Partner
Finding a partner with the EXACT same personal commitment and passion as yourself is a whole other issue. Not only do they need to have the above similar commitments, but must also live "geographically" close to you so you don't spend hours on the freeway commuting to get to each other. On an extreme case, professional ballroom dance competitors/instructors tell me that to show that type of commitment to the sport and to each other, most partners either live together, or marry each other, just for the mere convenience of the time required to train, instruct, and compete.
a good partner is like finding a good spouse. Sometimes it's just like a marriage. Some tell me "it's worse than a marriage". Well, being formerly married myself, and having had several dance partnerships over two decades, I'm here to tell you that the two relationships are EXTREMELY similar. There is a tremendous amount of commitment, perseverance, compromising, submission, and patience dealing with issues that must be worked out like two mature, rational adults. There may also be arguments, fights, and hurt feelings that only a marriage-like, loyal relationship can withstand and endure. Total commitment to a serious dance partner is not easy. Dance partnerships have all the issues of a marriage without the sexual benefits (see below).
Janette Valenzuela, Professional Los Angeles Salsa instructor, says "When you think you've found the right dance partner, both of you must sit down and set your goals together first, in the very beginning." I couldn't agree with her more.
Mutual Goal Setting
What I suggest is that both of you write down your ultimate goal - your ultimate objective for partnering. Would you like to just "Place in the Top Five", or do you want to "Go for the Gold" and do whatever it insanely takes, with a passion, obsession, and blood on your teeth, to win. If you're going to spend the time, energy, and resources to do this, then you've both GOT to write down your ultimate goals. If you don't, there is an incredibly slim chance you'll make it. You'll end up wasting your valuable time. I suggest you write down your goals very clearly, on a simple sheet of paper, with a defined date written on it, and paste them to your bathroom mirrors.
... my entire body went under his legs,
my nose was one inch off the floor before he whooshed me back up!
...with Tito Puente
I loved my first partner.
My first partner, Angel Galvan, and I did this when we were training for the Los Angeles Mayan competition. We wrote down, on a sheet of paper the words, "Win first place at the Mayan Competition, May 11, 1996". We taped up that sheet of paper in our practice area in clear view from day one of the preliminary rounds. It was so prominently placed in our practice area, and so etched in our minds, that if someone were to wake either of us up in the middle of the night, in the midst of a dead sleep, and yelled, "WHAT'S YOUR GOAL?" In a deep sleep, half stooper, eyelids half open, and complete daze, we would grumble back, "To Win first place at the Mayan Competition, May 11, 1996..."
Well, needless to say, we won the Mayan, on May 11, 1996, just as planned, and right on schedule. The power of the written word, and it's affect on the mind truly works. Having a clear, written, visible goal at all times in front of the both of you keeps you focused on your objective. It helps you to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and odds. It helps you to prevent strangling each other. It focuses the both of you, and helps you in naively believing that you actually can do the impossible.
Freak of Nature
the bumble bee should not be able to fly,
but it doesn't know that...
...so it flies anyway...
the bumble bee should not be able to fly,
but it doesn't know that...
...so it flies anyway...
Now the question we've all been waiting for...
"To Sleep with Your Partner, or Not Sleep with Your Partner..."
I KNOW this goes through everyone's mind. Some Salseros will only choose a partner they know they'll get to sleep with. In fact, they may even forego a perfectly great, less attractive dance partner that they could actually Win with, for another, more gorgeous beauty, they could eventually Sleep with.
I've seen this happen quite often. It's sad for very talented dancers who get overlooked and passed up for performing in shows and events because of their lack of physical beauty or age. This is unfortunately, just the way it is in our superficial, and sometimes painful world.
Getting back to dating your partner...
Unfortunately, in dance circles, it is ALWAYS assumed that you're more than just partners. I got asked CONSTANTLY if Angel was my boyfriend (he was not). I had people come up to me and ask if they could "dance with my husband" - referring to Angel, my dance partner - he was not my husband either. "Yea right. By all means!" I would say, "Please do! Take him, he's YOURS!" We practiced so often together that we got sick of even dancing together socially at times.
Having sex with your partner is a decision that you both have to make. I'm not saying, that in order for you to have a great partner you must sleep together, this is far from the truth. BUT, it is eventually something that may cross both of your minds at one point or another. Some people truly believe that having sex with your partner actually helps the chemistry in your partnership. I personally believe it actually hurts it - but then again, that's my own personal opinion that can be argued until the cows come home.
I highly recommend you NOT have a sexual relationship with your partner - unless of course you were dating first, and decided to be partners, or obviously if you are already married.
If you end up having problems with your personal, sexual relationship, those problems will flow into the dance partnership as well. If it gets to the point of being so bad that if you break up, your dance goals, and everything you've both worked so hard for will all have gone to waste.
Great Partnerships Withstand the Test of Time
You MUST be friends first and foremost.
If you're dating your partner, there must be a clear definition between the relationship and the partnership. If you argue with each other during practice, it will flow into your dating relationship and you'll have a terrible sex life. What may happen is that you break up the dating relationship, but choose to remain partners. This rarely happens, however I have actually witnessed this on a few occasions. The few times I've seen this work, is when the partnership is one of the best of the best in the city or country, and you're both making money performing and instructing together.
It was awful when one of my many dance partners year wanted to start a dating relationship with me. He wanted it so bad that it got to the point of where he (for some VERY STRANGE REASON) very rudely grabbed and caressed my breast in the middle of a song, in front of a group of people. I was so disgusted and so pissed off at him that I walked off the dance floor and broke up our partnership immediately.
This was so sad, because he was such a great dancer, and we danced SO WELL together. He just wanted more from me than what I was willing to give. Some people just assume you're their property if you're their partner. One of my other partners was King Fiti, Lord of the Internet Salsa Chatboard. He is a very dear long time friend of mine, and I've enjoyed dancing and competing with him immensely. He's a ton of laughs and sometimes puts me into hysterics on the dance floor. I have so much fun with him, that I wouldn't trade him for anyone. We have a unique agreement, in that if a contest comes up, we'll compete if we can. We're not TOTALLY committed to each other like glue.
We leave a lot of breathing room between us. We're NOT dating, we just love dancing together. We've only practiced once in my living room. We don't have the time to practice because of our hectic schedules. We come up with crazy moves just out of sheer creativity and screwing around at various nightclubs. We never compete with a routine. We just free-style and call out crazy moves / tricks. This wins a lot of contests this way. This proves you DO NOT have to have a routine to win! Some couples look BETTER social dancing than putting together a canned (fake) routine. If he wanted to compete / perform with someone else, that was fine with me, and visa-versa. This has been, to me, one of the most beautiful relaxing partnerships I've ever had.
Making Chicken Salad
Yes, you can turn something that looks completely disgusting into a beautiful work of art with enough imagination and hard work.
Been there, done that. .
What if both of you basically suck at this? Figure out what you are BOTH good at individually, and combine your strengths! One of my ex dance partners, Al, was great at Pop Locking and Hip Hop, and I was great at Salsa. We combined Chocolate (him) with Peanut Butter (me) and basically made Reeses!
Yes... there IS HOPE! YOU CAN MAKE CHICKEN SALAD OUT OF CHICKEN SH____***T!!!
We were so unique and "out of this world" with crazy routines that combined hip hop / locking and Salsa that we eventually became in demand worldwide. It was an amazing experience. However, there was one time, when a promoter PREFERRED our social dancing to our performances, and asked us to close the Innsbruck, Austrian Congress with a Freestyle performance to Ran Kan Kan by Tito Puente! We were stunned that he wanted our freestyle social dancing OVER our routine that we had worked so hard putting together! We got a standing ovation. I write more about this later on below under "Routine or no Routine".
Dancers can be insanely jealous. Believe me. ESPECIALLY SALSA DANCERS - OMG. Let's not beat around the bush here. You must be prepared to feel like your partner owns you for some crazy reason. Although you may not even have a dating relationship with them, they may still not want you to dance with certain men or women.
I wrote an article about jealousy here...
Believe me, even if they don't show it, if you look better dancing with someone else, or if there is a threat of them losing you, I can guarantee you the subject will come up in one form or another. Feelings of insecurity and domination may come out, and this may be something you must be prepared to deal with. I would make it very clear up front that when you're practicing together, you're together. But when you're in a nightclub dancing socially, it's FAIR GAME out there and there are NO CLAIMS on you, by your partner, or anyone.
Trust me, if you both agree to this all up front and in the beginning, it will save you a lot of mental stress, anxiety, jealousy, and pain later on. The dance relationship must remain a business and FUN relationship - with no personal, passionate feelings involved. Who cares if your partner looks great dancing with someone else? If you're both committed to each other, it shouldn't matter. You chose to work together, and that's it. Your partner chose YOU, so leave it at that. They know, that if they danced with someone else, they may not be able to get along. Remember, you are compatible, and they chose YOU as their partner for a reason. Trust in that, and respect them for it.
On the other hand, if your partner is a DOG, and in the middle of your partnership decides to DUMP you for someone else, well, consider it a lesson of life. Don't stress about it. You won't be the first one this happened to, and you won't be the last. Something terrible would have happened between you anyway, so consider the situation a savior of that forthcoming event. Don't show a long face, act sad or pissed, just brush it off, smile and wave, and MOVE ON. There is NO REASON to show your pain, to him/her, nor anyone else. If you do, YOU WILL LOOK BAD.
Not them. Remember, attitude is EVERYTHING. If you sulk, NO ONE will want to be your partner in the future. Remain happy - go - lucky, and always remember why you started dancing to begin with…
Respect Each Other
One of the most essential traits about a good partnership is that you honestly respect and admire the way the other person dances.
I like having a blast when I dance, so I always end up with partners that crack me up while we're dancing - even if they're not the best of the best. I hate being too serious. If my partner makes me laugh, then I have a better attitude, and it truly shines during a performance. King Don Fiti, one of my favorite partners of all time, was always impersonating other dancers (and a particular promoter) while we're dancing. Sometimes I would laugh so hard, I lose the step, and screw up - but that's only when we're dancing socially. I had another partner whom I did a number of shows with that danced so "funky groovy" that I was in constant amazement with him. Sometimes I would want to stop dancing just to watch his body move and start laughing! I always say, that if you can make me laugh, that means you are REALLY REALLY good!!! Trust me, I am not laughing AT you. I'm admiring your TALENT!!
Practice, Practice, Practice
During practice, you've got to be tolerant of each other. You should set out your goals for the session, and then build from there, the next session. I highly recommend purchasing or borrowing a video camera for your practice sessions as this speeds up the rehearsal / finding mistake process. You may even think, "Oh, I'm not ready to be videotaped yet..." but I can guarantee you, if you don't start RIGHT AWAY, a lot of effort and hours will be wasted from the beginning. I suggest videotaping how you both dance together in the very beginning, keep the tape, and then compare how you dance together in a few weeks. I'm hear to tell you, you will NOT BELIEVE the difference and improvement if you can hold out that long.
Practice Duration
Professional - 2 - 4 hours per day, 6 days a week.
Semi-Pro - 3 - 4 hours per day, 3 - 4 days a week.
Amateur - 2 - 4 hours per day, 2 - 3 days a week.
Professional - 2 - 4 hours per day, 6 days a week.
Semi-Pro - 3 - 4 hours per day, 3 - 4 days a week.
Amateur - 2 - 4 hours per day, 2 - 3 days a week.
The above are absolute minimum requirements. In Black Belt Salsa (BBS) Black Belt Competitive Training, we recommend professional time training at every level, at a minimum. My famous quote:
"It is NOT the QUALITY of time you spend together,
but the QUANTITY of time you spend together
that makes an excellent partnership, and performance. - Edie, The Salsa FREAK!!
but the QUANTITY of time you spend together
that makes an excellent partnership, and performance. - Edie, The Salsa FREAK!!
Preparing for an Audience
I also highly recommend getting a disinterested non-dancer, third party to occasionally come in and watch you not only perform, but rehearse as well. This will help you perform in front of an audience. If you've made it past the preliminary rounds, I suggest you also go to a popular dance studio and ask if you and your partner could do a show for one of their parties they usually hold for all their students on Friday nights.
Most dance studios have these types of social dance get-togethers" and are always delighted and consider it a treat to have an outsider, guest couple come in and perform a sexy Salsa or Mambo routine/exhibition for the "upcoming competition". This is INVALUABLE audience experience while preparing to be judged at the actual competition. You can even ask the studio instructors to video tape the performance, and ask their advice on where and how you can improve. They are always more than happy to help you in exchange for the free performance you just gave their students and patrons.
Seeking Professional Advice
Hiring a professional coach to help you out is very necessary. They will catch things that you may have missed, will help you with your choreography, and basically take you right up to the upper echelons of your fellow competitors. All winners of the world championship competitions seek professional advice and instruction. Having a 3rd party view your performance routine is invaluable and priceless. They can point out glitches or ambiguities in your choreography that you would never be able to see on your own, nor with a video camera. Your coach can provide ideas, insight, and save you hundreds of hours of wasted time. They can also buffer the both of you from fighting, as you will both be on your best behavior in front of a coach. I've heard of stories where some couples argue during rehearsal so much to the point of immobilization. They MUST have a coach during their rehearsals in order to get through them. Trust me, rehearsal time can get THAT stressful - especially at the professional levels where big money and your livelihood is at stake if you don't win.
Eye Contact
Connecting with your Partner, Audience, and the Judges...I can't tell you how much judges will DESTROY your score if you constantly look down at the floor while competing. I don't care how nervous you are, you HAVE to look up, at your partner, then at the audience with big smiles. Remember, the audience is LOOKING at what YOU"RE looking at! They are invited into YOUR WORLD, not the other way around!
I wrote another article here at Dancer Hangout about Beating Nervousness for Competitors that you should have a look at.
If you're nervous, practice more. Period.
Remember, it's the QUANTITY of time spent rehearsing, not the QUALITY of time... You need to get your moves and routine embedded in your muscle-memory and literally make them part of your DNA, FIRST AND FOREMOST - this comes with doing the routine over and over, at a minimum of 100 times before putting it on stage - with no stops in the middle. That's really not a lot. It's only ten times over a period of ten days. Some do it 1000 times without stopping in the middle. You should then do your routines with your full costumes at least 30 times before they are ready for the stage. The more you practice, the less you nervous you will be.
It is your JOB to burn a hole in that floor and tear it in HALF out for them out there. Rip it apart and TAKE NAMES LATER. You should completely care less what people think of you AT ALL TIMES when on stage. You should Absolutely CARE LESS.
THIS my friend, is Attitude and Confidence - A sure recipe of champions. I wrote another article on what it takes to be a Champion. It's pretty good, as I was in THE ZONE as I wrote it. It came directly from Source. .
Costumes / Outfits
Your outfits should match in color and fabric, or at least be similar. I suggest PRACTICING WITH THEM ON,and doing your entire routine while wearing them FIRST, before you compete. Don't just practice ONCE with them on, but several times. There is nothing more embarrassing and terrifying than when a crotch-snap on a bodysuit unsnaps open when you have on a flare skirt and NO UNDERWEAR.
There is also nothing more frustrating to watch than a strap on a woman's dress that keeps falling over her shoulders and getting in the way of her arm movements. That's one of the reasons why I suggest ALWAYS carrying at least THREE extra safety pins to every competition. Pin them on under your skirt in a hidden place in case there is an emergency on stage just minutes prior to your performance. Believe me, the audience gets COMPLETELY DISTRACTED when you try to pull your outfit back together in the middle of your routine.
I also suggest bringing an extra pair of dance shoes in case of an emergency. During the Mayan contest, the strap on my shoe broke off during the warm-up. I had no other shoes to wear! So I did the routine while dragging my right foot, and tried to hide the fact that I could not lift up my foot for fear of my shoe falling off! The ONLY reason we made it to the semi-finals was because we were the only professional couple competing that night at the Preliminaries! I could have danced barefoot, and it wouldn't have mattered.
Outfit problems DO NOT GO UNNOTICED in the middle of a performance. The audience notices EVERYTHING. Videotape yourself with your competition outfit on. Ladies, if your butt or breasts end up hanging half-way out after the first 30 seconds, don't wear it. Why? Because that's all the audience NOTICES. You can forget about a killer routine. If your body parts are falling out all over the place, TRUST ME, it looks bad. When this happens, I've seen guys look at the woman this is happening to, look at each other, look down in embarrassment, shake their heads, and cover their eyes. Believe me, you'll look sloppy, unprofessional, and unprepared. I am here to tell you, this is FAR FROM sexy.
If you like your outfit, and it's COMFORTABLE during competitive Salsa dancing, (ie., you can run a 100 yard dash with it on, do a few cartwheels, toe-touches, full-body twists, a back hand-spring, and 50 jumping jacks IN A BLOWING STORM WIND, without it falling off or apart), you'll be just fine.
You will be surprised at how many last minute outfit emergencies happen because of a strap too tight or loose, or dress too long or in the way. Don't wear outfits that are too flashy or gaudy, just something simple, slick, and in good taste. Ask several friends their opinions BEFORE you compete with them, and NOT your mother or family. Your friends will have a better and more accepting opinion.
Your Music
I cannot stress enough to you, how important your music selection is. I've seen COUNTLESS competitions where I knew the competitors were phenomenal, but they chose slow or drab music that completely MESSED IT UP for themselves.
Bad music will rob you of a win if you're not careful. Just because YOU like a song, doesn't mean that anyone else will. You've GOT to choose dance-able, up-beat music that will ROCK THE HOUSE just from people hearing it. You want to affect the crowd with the song, and for everyone to say "Wow!!! I love that song!" You can even mask a poor routine or tiny mistakes you make with the music your choose believe it or not. I've seen it happen.
Fellow Competitors
It's amazing how much everyone suddenly stops talking to each other, or hides moves in nightclubs because they don't want other competitors steeling their moves.
Well, it's true. If you show your best stuff before the competition, and in the Preliminary and Semi-final rounds, others will work harder to beat you, or even perfect/copy your moves for the finals - this has happened to my partner and I on countless occasions. You will be surprised at all the identical moves at final competitions. Uniqueness is important. Try not to duplicate. Save your BEST and most complicated moves for the Finals. You'll need them to have that "edge" in the end.
To Do a Routine, or Not Do a Routine
If your partner is an off-beater, do a routine. Reason? If they can't keep the rhythm, they'll be noticed, and the judges will see that. A very well-planned, thought-out routine to the peaks and valleys of pre-selected music will mask the off-beater's problem. On the other hand, if your partner dances very well to the rhythm, and this is a "street" Salsa/Mambo Nightclub dance competition, I would just dance normally, and throw in a few awesome moves during the peaks, valleys, and natural pauses in the music. The man should be familiar enough with the song and also be able to calculate when these will happen.
The chances of you screwing up a pre-planned routine are very high. If you dance well together in nightclubs, and you both are on beat, a routine is really not necessary - especially for street dancing (aka social dancing) nightclub competitions. I've seen professional couples put together a pre-planned choreographed routine for a competition, and NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO, they never look as good as when they're just dancing free style. I've tried telling performers and competitors this, but no one seems to believe me.
They just look at me like a Deer in Headlights, and think I'm crazy.
You have to fit a lot of cool moves into 2 minutes. To prevent forgetting to do them (and to avoid the WRATH of your partner reminding you of this afterward....), practice the tough moves and perform them in the first part of your performance. Plan what your entrance will be and that's basically it. Let her know in advance which set of moves you plan on doing. Name your moves, and call them out while you're dancing. Make it natural. It will look better and both of you will feel and look more natural, rather than the "all too familiar", wide-eyed, calculating, scared-out-of-your-mind look.
As I said earlier, a promoter wanted us to close their Congress with Freestyle performance on-stage over our canned routines. Now I simply perform Musicality "Freestyle" performances where we hit the breaks of the music, rather than try to put together a show. A Musicality performance dazzles the audience just as much as a pre-rehearsed routine - especially when they know in advance that it is un-rehearsed!
Finding Moves
Where do you find good moves? Lots of places. You can tailor your own moves just goofing around at a nightclub, you can watch other dancers, competitive Ballroom, Figure Skating, Swing, Jazz, Ballet, Cirque du Solei, Olympic gymnastics, Tango and Hustle videos, and you can also hire a professional to teach you moves. This is what ALL THE PROS DO. The Pros study videos, first and foremost.
There are thousands and thousands of dance moves. The chances of you "creating" a new move are very slim. One time we were watching "West Side Story" - a movie made in the 1950's. My danced partner, who had never seen it, suddenly burst out, "HEY! They STOLE MY MOVE!!!" I BUSTED up laughing. He really believed they put his dance move in the movie!!!
Remembering Moves
We used to write the names of the moves on pieces of 8 x 10 paper, and tape them up in our dance studio (his garage). We could then see them in plain view, call them out and practice each one while dancing. This prevented us from working on a routine. We would be able to see the name of the move as we were dancing, practicing calling it out in the middle of freestyle dancing, perfecting it, then moving on to the next, and next, and next, and not forgetting what move we had done weeks earlier!
We used to type up a list of all our moves on the computer, and bring them to practice so we could review them prior to dancing. Sometimes I would even bring my laptop to practice! We spent so much time together working on new moves, that it seemed we were ALWAYS forgetting to rehearse the moves and practice old stuff we had learned weeks before. The taped-up pages and list of moves proved invaluable for us. Facing the Audience
Don't forget to face your audience not just at the end, but in the middle of your routine! I can't tell you how many times I've seen the guy put the woman in what appeared to be a beautiful dip or drop, but all you saw was his back side!
Dealing with Losing
I wrote an article about this very topic here. Losing is part of winning. The worst thing you can do is blame your partner. Been there, done that.
If at first you don't succeed, try, and try again. Never, EVER quit. Especially on each other.
There's so much more...
There truly is so much more to talk about competing, and I will be adding more articles here at Dancer Hangout as I make the time.
I've revealed many secrets that have helped me win six local competitions, two international competitions, and place top three in four others - with many different partners. Best of luck to all of you. I know what you're going though, believe me. I'll be rooting for you!
Happy Practicing!!
- Edie, The Salsa FREAK!!


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Kazakhstan: Lonely Lenin of the Steppe
Somewhere on Kazakhstan's vast steppe, about halfway between Almaty and the new capital in Astana, a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin stands alone, staring at a vacant old military facility and the empty horizon. The forlorn monument is one of many Soviet relics at the Sary Shagan Polygon, a partially abandoned missile testing range on the west bank of Lake Balkhash.
Established in 1956, Sary Shagan hosted tens of thousands of Soviet military personnel and their families during the height of the Cold War, when Moscow and the United States raced to build anti-ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when the area lost most of its financial support, many residents, especially non-Kazakhs, left. Homes and military buildings were abandoned along the Balkhash lakeshore. The polygon remains active, though: Some of the territory is still leased to the Russian Army, and both Kazakh and Russian military personnel are stationed in the area.
Priozersk, Sary Shagan's administrative center, is technically closed to foreigners. Though visitors need permission to enter, on a recent visit the city gate stood open and unstaffed. Even local officials, unconcerned by the visit, were uncertain about what permits a visitor needs.
Like many former military towns throughout the former Soviet Union, the city is economically distressed, its infrastructure in dire need of maintenance. Last winter, for example, when temperatures dropped below -30 °C (-22°F), thousands of residents lost their central heating.
Kazakhstan's government is now trying to improve Priozersk's economy by pouring 12.6 billion tenge (about $86 million) into the city, according to local press reports, as part of a three-year social and economic development plan.
Even so, Lenin hangs on, for now. Residents have dismantled surrounding buildings in search of scrap metal, but have left Volodya untouched, perhaps out of a wayward respect for the old days.
Ikuru Kuwajima is a freelance photojournalist based in Almaty.
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I dreamt an entire non-existent episode of Miami Vice. At least the beginning and the end. It had Tubbs sneaking into a motel at night (armed with his stubby shotgun), and a ridiculously sappy ending that had me laughing in my sleep.
I found myself on Manhattan island. It was daytime. I ran through the streets, looking for a spot where I could see the Freedom tower. I reached a kind of square with a statue of a chariot in the middle.


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Hrithik Roshan's physique in Krrish 3 will blow people away, according to the actor's trainer.
The 39-year-old will once again take on the role of a superhero in the action franchise.
Trainer Kris Gethin told the Hindustan Times: "[Hrithik] is good as a student and I appreciate his hard work. It made my job easy. And no wonder why he is at the top as an actor as he is very dedicated towards his work.
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"[His body] is 110 per cent better than what he has done in the past. I am sure people will be blown away seeing him on screen. His physique is better... he is more muscular and athletic in Krrish 3."
Last week Roshan described himself as having the "best" body in the film industry.
He has also said that he enjoys everything about being famous in Bollywood.


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How to Set Out Tomato Transplants
Tomato plants can be purchased as small transplants from a nursery or started from seed indoors. They are ready to be set out after the last spring frost, which in warm climates, can occur as early as mid- to late-winter. You should also wait until the transplants are 6 to 8 inches tall before planting them in the garden.
Work the garden soil for your tomato transplants 8 to 10 inches deep adding 4 or 5 inches of rich organic matter, such as well-rotted manure, compost, humus or leaf mold. Incorporate 1 pound of 5-10-10 granular fertilizer for every 10 feet of row.
Harden off tomato transplants, taking them outdoors to a protected area, such as a covered porch, for one or two hours. The next day, place them in a slightly sunnier location and keep them outdoors for two or three hours. Over the next week, increase sunlight exposure and time spent outdoors so that the day before transplanting, they are in full sunlight for six hours.
Water the tomato transplants until the water comes out the pot's drainage holes. Do this two or three hours before setting them out into the garden.
Pinch off all but the top two or three sets of leaves if the transplants are tall and spindly. If they are full and healthy looking, you do not need to do this.
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Photo Credits
- Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images


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Robert A. Levine 1-13-16
Robots are coming. Greater numbers and different kinds are being developed to assist or take over every type of work in every field of human endeavor. At some point, computers and robots will be able to do virtually everything humans now do. It is just a matter of time. The world as we know it is changing and governments and people need to adapt. As this happens, there will also be a disconnect between work and wages, and productivity and income. This severing of the bond that has been present for ages will be difficult for many to accept, but it is the way things will be.
How will people derive income if they are unemployed or have a fifteen or twenty hour work week, or even less? Consumption is the backbone of capitalist democracy and people need money if they are going to spend. Will everyone be provided with a base income from government? How will people occupy their free time? And how long will it be before all this occurs, when computers and various sorts of robots replace humans, increase productivity, and reduce jobs. Perhaps the transformation has already started, but so stealthily that few people are aware of it. In Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford, the author noted that "the symbiotic relationship between increasing productivity and rising wages began to dissolve in the 1970s. As of 2013, a typical production or non-supervisory worker earned about 13 percent less than in 1973 (after adjusting for inflation) even as productivity rose 107 percent" …..In America in the first ten years of the 21st century, no new jobs were created when previously at least 20 percent had been generated in every decade after World War II.
There is no historical precedent for societies needing only a small percentage of its population having to work in order to maintain or advance its standard of living. In fact, an eight hour day and a forty hour week that are fairly standard in America for most workers is of relatively recent vintage. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many workers toiled twelve hours daily and six days a week to earn subsistence wages. In France now, and some other nations, a seven hour day and thirty-five hour week is the norm in many industries. Perhaps to keep unemployment at bay as computers and robotics improve, nations will gradually decrease to a twenty-hour work week or even less. And maybe there will be no choice other than having fewer people working.
However, considering man's evolutionary process, it may not be emotionally healthy for people to eschew productive labor and have no objectives or goals. Perhaps given this situation, more individuals will be involved in creative endeavors, with an explosion of artists, writers, musicians, and so forth. An increase in artisanal efforts could occur as well, with organic farming, small restaurants with innovative owner-chefs, handmade furniture makers, potters, and various other craftspeople. Unique handmade goods could become more valuable and in greater demand than those that are mass-produced in factories. Of course, this merely reinforces that work will no longer be necessary for a majority of citizens in order for a society to function. Many people will find things to do that they enjoy and perhaps make some money doing them. But others who are unemployed will not be capable of initiating stimulating individual activities themselves and will be dependent on private organizations or government to keep them occupied with some sort of tasks. (A New York Times article noted last year that handmade goods were in demand and considered chic, especially if they were produced locally. They represented upper-middle class values, were supportive of artisans and reduced one's carbon footprint.)
This metamorphosis will occur not only in western developed nations but over time will be a global phenomenon. Third-world countries will also become fully computerized and roboticized over the years, finding that cheaper than their once-cheap labor.
Perhaps some people will spend more time on their educations, then devote their lives to arcane areas of research that interests them and a small coterie of enthusiasts. Perhaps a devotion to games or to charitable efforts. Perhaps an obsession with sports, actively or passively. There will be time for everything. However, though people will be living longer and healthier lives, the world will need fewer of them for the fewer jobs that require human roles, and nations may institute mandatory birth control to curb their populations as China had previously done. One possible benefit of this is that global warming may be reduced as the total number of the earth's inhabitants drop.
Though the time-line is unclear, at some point all states will undergo major transformations that will eliminate a large percentage of work and jobs, and challenge concepts of democracy. Is a minimum living income for everyone an answer to the increased unemployment that lies ahead? Are mandatory national service or make-work jobs solutions for some countries? Or perhaps to reduce social unrest, nations will limit the use of robots and computers to keep their citizens working. Of course, that will make their products more expensive and less competitive.
Every nation needs to prepare for the changes that are coming. Think tanks, workshops, corporations, NGOs, and government agencies must delve into the problem and find ways to make life tolerable with work no longer necessary for most of the world's inhabitants. The Finish government is already considering a universal basic income (U.B.I.) for every adult and Switzerland will have a referendum on this concept this year. The Dutch city of Utrecht will try a pilot program of basic income and Canada's Liberal Party is also reflecting on a similar idea. Though unemployment has not yet reached a tipping point, it is only a matter of time before every nation will have to decide how to deal with fewer jobs and less work for their citizens in the years ahead.
Resurrecting Democracy


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by Misty
(Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Does anyone else experience extreme water retention after a long run or a race? I have ran 7 half marathons in the past 3 years and I have noticed that I bloat up really badly after the race (gain 3-4 lbs of water).
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The official results were reported today during the International Supercomputing Conference in Dresden, Germany, where the bi-annual listing of the World's TOP500 Supercomputer Sites was released. http://www.top500.org/
Built by IBM for the NNSA and housed at its Los Alamos National Laboratory, the petaflop-smashing system gets its world-leading power from 12,240 IBM PowerXCell 8i Cell Broadband Engine™ processors – derived from chips that power today's most popular videogame consoles. 6,562 AMD Opteron Dual-Core processors perform basic compute functions, freeing the IBM® PowerXCell 8i chips for the math-intensive calculations that are their specialty.
This "hybrid" architecture, which optimizes the strength of multiple types of processors, is an IBM hallmark. The design is analogous to that of a hybrid car with similar benefits. For example, if the NNSA supercomputer were built with standard x86 chips alone, the system would have been significantly larger and would have required much more power.
While the NNSA supercomputer will be used for ensuring the reliability and safety of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, it also sets the pace for future research in a variety of scientific and commercial fields including biotech, alternative energy, climate change and physics. IBM expects its hybrid design to lead the way to a commercial supercomputer platform that will support new scientific research and engineering workloads unthinkable just a decade ago.
IBM Sets the Pace for TOP500
IBM continued its pace-setting leadership of the TOP500 with a trifecta showing in the top three spots and a total of 210 systems on the list – the most of any supercomputer vendor. IBM also had the most aggregate performance on the list with 5.6 petaflops (48% of total); and the most systems in the top 10, top 50, and top 100.
The No.2 fastest computer in the world is an IBM® Blue Gene/L system at NNSA's Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California, which clocked in at 478 teraflops (478 trillion calculations per second.) Team Blue Gene also held the No.3 spot with a 450 teraflop performance from the Blue Gene/P system housed at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Lab in Chicago.
IBM also had the most power efficient systems: IBM QS22 PowerXCell 8i processor-based supercomputers at IBM Germany and Fraunhofer; and the NNSA system; and the fastest machine in Europe -- the Blue Gene/P at Juelich Research Centre in Germany.
The "TOP500 Supercomputer Sites" is compiled and published by supercomputing experts Jack Dongarra from the University of Tennessee; Erich Strohmaier and Horst Simon of the Department of Energy's NERSC/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and Hans Meuer of the University of Mannheim (Germany). The entire list can be viewed at www.top500.org.
For more information about IBM supercomputing, visit http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/deepcomputing/
Related resourcesSite links
Fact Sheet & Background: Roadrunner Smashes the Petaflop BarrierImages
Roadrunner Breaks Petaflop Milestone
Lead engineer Don Grice of IBM inspects the world's fastest computer in the company's Poughkeepsie, NY plant. The computer nicknamed "Roadrunner" was built for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration and will be housed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. IBM engineers in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Rochester, Minn., Austin, Texas and Yorktown Heights, N.Y., worked on the computer, the first to break a milestone known as a "petaflop" -- the ability to calculate 1,000-trillion operations every second. The computer packs the power of 100,000 laptops -- a stack 1.5 miles high. Roadrunner will primarily be used to ensure national security, but will also help scientists perform research into energy, astronomy, genetics and climate change.
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IBM, Bluegene, and IBM PowerXcell 8i are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
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Well, FantasyCon is almost here again—always one of the highlights of my year. It's a great opportunity to meet readers, and to hang out with some of the wonderful friends I have made in the world of writing and publishing. We get a little drunk, a little giggly, and we always have a wonderful time … and yeah, it's a wee bit sad when Sunday comes around and it's time to say goodbye.
FantasyCon is the British Fantasy Society's annual convention, held at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton, England, celebrating the very best in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Needless to say, it's taken very seriously (it's not all fun and games). Believe it or not, some of us even have work to do.
And with that, here's my alarmingly full schedule:
FRIDAY 28th SEPTEMBER:
20:00 – 21:30: Mass Signing.
SATURDAY 29th SEPTEMBER:
13:00 – 14:00: Panel: Culture Shock: Why are Britain and America so different when it comes to the genres?
14:30 – 15:00: Reading. (I'll be reading from WESTLAKE SOUL.)
17:00 – 18:00: PS Publishing Book Launch: A CARNIVÀLE OF HORROR: DARK TALES FROM THE FAIRGROUND.
20:00 – 21:00: ChiZine Book Launch: A belated British launch for WESTLAKE SOUL (along with a number of other ChiZine titles).
22:30 – ????: The Gollancz FantasyCon Disco. (I'm DJ-ing with Grandmaster Guy Adams, so get ready to dance your pretty little asses off.
SUNDAY 30th SEPTEMBER:
13:00 – 16:00: Banquet and British Fantasy Awards Ceremony. (I'll be co-presenting the award for Best Artist.)
After which, we'll all be dead dogs at the Dead Dog Party, and then it's home time.
If you're attending this year's FantasyCon, I'd love to see you at any one (or preferably all) of the above events. If not, I'll be around, doing my thing, so you're bound to bump into me at some point (particularly if you're in the vicinity of the bar). It's going to be another amazing weekend. For more information, click any one of the FantasyCon links in this post, or here … you can even click THIS ONE.


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Sharon is our Front Desk Manager. She has been a Veterinary Technician for over 25 years, and has been with Lakes Veterinary & Surgical Center since 2003. She combines her Business, Management and Vet Tech skills to keep things running smoothly at the front desk (no easy task!).
She graduated from the Medical Institute of Minnesota and completed a three month internship at the Minnesota Zoo. She has also worked in emergency medicine.
She is the proud parent of 3 cats, and a Chihuahua, named Carmella. In her spare time she enjoys watching movies, shopping and relaxing at home with her 'furry kids'.


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FuturePay App Loot
FuturePay App Loot – Download The App And Get Rs 100 For Shopping At BigBazaar, Ezone & Hometown. Future Pay App Loot- Get Rs 100 on Signup + 5% cashback on Add money. FuturePay App Is Offering A Loot Offer Where You Can Get Rs 100 On Downloading The FuturePay App. You Can Redeem For Shopping At BigBazaar, Ezone & Hometown. Future Pay is a digital wallet for shopping across Future Group stores such as Big Bazaar, Ezone and Home Town. So Hurry Up And Avail This Offer Now!!
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Feel free to ask the Columbine staff if you have any questions about places to go or things to do during your stay.
Hiking & Mountain Biking
Enjoy easy to challenging hikes in the national forest and state park lands convenient to Columbine. Columbine staff members are happy to offer suggestions.
Cross Country Skiing & Snowshoeing
Ski or snowshoe from your cabin door. If Columbine's one-mile loop is too tame for you, there are miles of groomed multi use trails easily accessible from Columbine. Or, ski or snowshoe off-trail on national forest land for a more tranquil experience. Steamboat Lake State Park has groomed non-motorized Nordic trails.
There are over 100 miles of groomed snowmobile trails accessible from Columbine. While we do not allow riding of your machines to directly to your cabin, we provide a staging area and convenient trail access. To check on the grooming status of our trails, click here.
If you don't have your own machines, try renting from Rocky Mountain Rentals located in the Steamboat Lake State Park or the Hahn's Peak Roadhouse.
Horseback or Dinner/Sleigh Rides & Dog Sledding
For horseback or dinner/sleigh rides, we recommend the Hahn's Peak Road House. For dog sled tours around Steamboat Lake or Hahns Peak, we recommend Mountain Paws.
Restaurants near Columbine include the Hahn's Peak Café, the Hahn's Peak Roadhouse, and the Clark Store (serving breakfast and lunch).
In Steamboat
Steamboat Springs has a lot going on year round. Especially popular are downhill skiing at the Steamboat Ski Area, special events like winter carnival and the hot air balloon festival, Old Town Hot Springs with modern hot spring-fed pool and water slide, and the Strawberry Park Hot Springs which provides a more natural setting.
Helicopter Tours
See Steamboat and surrounding mountains and valleys by air. View Mt. Werner, the Mount Zirkel wilderness area north of Steamboat, and the Flat Tops wilderness area to the south of Steamboat. Contact the Zephyr Helicopter Company for more information.


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Effect of Hubbard U on the construction of low-energy Hamiltonians for LaMnO(3) via maximally localized Wannier functions
File Type:PDF
Item Type:Journal Article
Citation:Kovacik, R. and Ederer, C., Effect of Hubbard U on the construction of low-energy Hamiltonians for LaMnO(3) via maximally localized Wannier functions, PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 84, 7, 075118, 2011
Download Item:
Effect of Hubbard U on the construction of low-energy Hamiltonians for LaMnO3 via maximally localized Wannier functions.pdf (Published (publisher's copy) - Peer Reviewed) 710.4Kb
We use maximally localized Wannier functions to construct tight-binding (TB) parametrizations for the e(g) bands of LaMnO(3) based on first-principles electronic structure calculations. We compare two different ways to represent the relevant bands around the Fermi level: (i) a d-p model that includes atomic-like orbitals corresponding to both Mn(d) and O(p) states in the TB basis, and (ii) an effective e(g) model that includes only two e(g)-like Wannier functions per Mn site. We first establish the effect of the Jahn-Teller distortion within the d-p model, and then compare the TB representations for both models obtained from GGA+U calculations with different values of the Hubbard parameter U. We find that in the case of the d-p model the TB parameters are rather independent of the specific value of U, if compared with the mean-field approximation of an appropriate multiband Hubbard Hamiltonian. In contrast, the U dependence of the TB parameters for the effective e(g) model cannot easily be related to a corresponding mean-field Hubbard model, and therefore these parameters depend critically on the specific value of U, and more generally on the specific exchange-correlation functional, used in the electronic structure calculation.
Grant Number
European Commission
Science Foundation Ireland
Author's Homepage:http://people.tcd.ie/kovacikr
Author: EDERER, CLAUDE; KOVACIK, ROMAN
Publisher:American Physical Society
Type of material:Journal Article
Series/Report no:PHYSICAL REVIEW B;
7, 075118;
Availability:Full text available


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Got kicked and ignored many times for applying MSP1-3
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Clean green cars move one step closer
A new generation of cheaper and more efficient hydrogen fuel cells may bring the environmentalists' dream of affordable, green cars one step closer to reality.
The cells are being developed by PolyFuel in Mountain View, California, US, using a type of membrane made from a hydrocarbon polymer instead of the traditional Teflon-based perfluorinated membrane.
The membrane is crucial in fuel cells as it serves the dual role of splitting hydrogen into protons and electrons, and then only allowing the protons to cross the membrane. The electrons are then sent through a wire to combust with oxygen and the newly separated protons, creating power and a single by-product: water.
"The membrane is the heart of the fuel cell," says Jim Balcom, CEO of PolyFuel, and accounts for a large proportion of its cost.
Cost factor
The cost of traditional membranes has been a major obstacle in reducing the price of fuel cells to a commercially viable level for cars. "Ideally, you would hope for a solution that yielded vehicles with costs, capabilities and performance similar to those on the road today," says Atakan Ozbek from ABI Research, Oyster Bay, New York.
The hydrocarbon membrane seems to edge the fuel cell closer to meeting these criteria and there is competition to produce them – Honda is also developing its own fuel cell with a hydrocarbon-based membrane.
Balcom says it is more efficient. Where the perfluorinated membrane is a jumble of fibres through which the protons have to travel, the hydrocarbon polymer offers a direct path through the membrane.
The PolyFuel membrane is expected to cost significantly less than traditional perfluorinated membranes and carries other practical benefits.
Stronger and stiffer
Balcom claims the new cell produces 10% to 15% more power, and is stronger and stiffer, adding to its durability. It can also operate over a wider range of temperatures, he says, having been tested from 2°C to 95°C.
But not everyone believes that being able to run at such high temperatures is necessarily a benefit. Scott Ehrenberg, of Dais-Analytic, Florida, told the New York Times that operating the membranes too close to water's boiling point risked turning it to steam, which could tear holes in the membrane.
And there are still large barriers to making fuel cells commercially viable. For example, hydrogen fuelling-points must be created. And the technology to allow safe storage of hydrogen in vehicles also needs improvement.
As more pressure to reduce emissions is placed on the transport industry, the potential for fuel cells is huge if these remaining barriers can be overcome. "We have been engaging with automotive manufacturers over the past few months," says Balcom. "They've all been very excited to see the data."
More on these topics:


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Social service have to have grounds to take your baby when they are born. If you have been concerned "Can I stop social services taking my baby?" the answer is yes, if you understand the circumstances under which your baby can be taken.
Social Services cannot simply walk in and have your newborn taken from hospital. The circumstances which would grant them the right to do this include:
- Where concerns exist regarding the mother's or father's ability to protect;
- Where alcohol or substance abuse is thought to be affecting the health of the expected baby, and is one concern amongst others;
- Where the expectant parent(s) are very young and a dual assessment of their own needs as well as their ability to meet the baby's needs is required;
- Where a previous child in the family has been removed because they have suffered harm or been at risk of suffering significant harm;
- Where a person who has been convicted of an offence against a child, or is believed by child protection professionals to have abused a child, has joined the family;
- Where there are acute professional concerns regarding parenting capacity, particularly where the parents have either severe mental health problems or learning disabilities;
- Where the child is believed to be at risk of significant harm due to domestic violence.
- Where an unborn baby has siblings subject to a Child Protection Plan.
Knowing these factors, then, your next question must be:
"How do I stop social services from taking my baby?"
The answer is very simply to make the needed changes in your life style so that these circumstances are no longer there.
Remember: you have a head start on social services because you know you are pregnant long before they will find out. And you have a whole nine months in which to get ready.
If you have a problem with drink or with drugs, get the help you need to get cleaned up.
If your house is a mess, get it cleaned up.
If your new boyfriend will never pass an assessment, then get rid of him – it's him or the baby!
Don't expect any help from the social services in these matters, however. They will not work with you, no matter what they say. They have their own agenda. Work with your solicitor or other groups to get your life back on track. Get a to-do list and do it. Make the changes you need to make so that you can show the court that you have changed.


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The time has finally come. You've found out what your PSAT scores are. Did you score well enough to make the cut?
The truth is that PSAT cutoff scores vary from state to state and change from year to year, so you can't be certain you made the cut until the fall, when the National Merit Scholarship Corporation officially notifies students of their National Merit status.
"What? A whole year! I can't wait that long!"
Relax, it won't actually be an entire year, but it will be at least nine or ten months. Most qualifying students will be notified of their status as a National Merit Semifinalist around September of their senior year. Before you give into despondent impatience, although the cutoff scores for each state vary from year to year, they are usually fairly consistent. If you found out what your PSAT score is yesterday, the first thing you should do is compare it to last year's cutoff score.
"OK. It looks like I would have been a National Merit Semifinalist using last year's cutoff. What now?"
Now nothing. Congratulations! Again, most states' cutoff scores tend to be fairly consistent; if you scored above your state's cut off score for last year, then you can be reasonably assured recognition as a National Merit Semifinalist, or at least a Commended Student. If you have scored well enough to be recognized as a Semifinalist, when you are officially notified next year, your high school guidance counselor will be sent an application for you to fill out. This application will determine whether you advance to Finalist status (you shouldn't overly concern yourself with this; 15,000 of the 16,000 Semifinalists will go on to become Finalists).
If you just must learn more about how to Be a National Merit Scholar! please refer to these previous posts:
Be a National Merit Scholar! Part I – Qualifications and Overview
Be a National Merit Scholar! Part II – What Does it Take to be a Finalist?
Be a National Merit Scholar! Part III – Scholarship & Opportunities
College Compass is sponsored by Test Masters, the nation's leading test preparation company. Every Test Masters prep course comes with a Score Increase Guarantee, find out why here.


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The Las Palmas collection is home to our classics with a twist, incorporating elevated detailing and fashion forward cuts. The silhouettes are driven by timeless vintage styles, updated with distinct signature features. The collection features a palette of earthy tones and shades, inspired by life and nature. Las Palmas cuts are perfect for endless summers, balmy nights and tropical escapes.
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I have a very good friend in Melbourne and she is always trying to entice me over there with promises of a visit to Koko Black, which is a very classy chocolate shop where the shop assistants wear silk gloves and dispense individual chocolates as if they were diamonds. Last week the man of the house (I really must think up a cute netname for him...) was in Melbourne training the blind foundation how to use some software (it talks) and he came home bearing the only thing I wanted in the world.... a 33 pack. Life... she is fabulous. I'm rationing them to one a day.. they arrived on Friday, there's 5 left. Time warp?
Sunday 22nd is the day and from now until then, my whole life revolves around preparing to leave my businesses for 5 whole weeks. I'll type that again and try not to break a nervy sweat this time... 35 days..better, just a little twitch that time. I've also been limping my way through my third nutrition assignment and finally got that finished today. Yesterday I had a very bad moment when I logged onto my online course and found the other students discussing how they thought they had done and when they might get their assignments back.. almost as if they had already sent them, you know, to get there by the 10th when they were due (!!!). I sent off a hasty email to my tutor trying to explain, in a way that I fear was completely lame-ass, that I somehow thought the assignment was due on the 18th and I'm an idiot and please don't penalise me too badly, please, please, I'm flagellating with my spiky butt ball on a string, forgive me? Very interesting assignment, however. I discovered that for a woman it is very difficult to obtain enough iron in your diet, especially if you are not eating over 2000 calories a day. It surprised me, given the amount of meat and greens that I eat, that my iron intake was still about 5mg a day lower than it should be for a pre-menopausal woman. I'd encourage all women to look into it. Low iron intake can make you lazy and lethargic when you should be peppy and bouncy and onto it.
Spare a thought all you mums (and dads) out there for my sister-in-law and brother whom are at any moment about to introduce a new soul to the world. World meet (new sproglet)! At this very moment it's all happening up there in a birthing pool in Wellington and going well so far, by all reports. New people are fun. I won't even get to see him/her until I get back and then I'll have to start the Aunty indoctrination process. "Who do you love the most? yes, that's right! Aunty Sara". It's best to start this before they can talk back. ;)