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How is it that you can plan something for 4 months, but find yourself so frantic in the last few weeks and days before departure, that you cant comprehend that very shortly, you'll be on a plane and in a whole and other country?
Well that was me. Somewhere along the way I'd lost sight of the fact that I was actually going to India. Yesterday, I discovered my body was heading there, but my brain didn't get the memo.
I had an 18 hour stopover in Singapore en route, during which time I ate, visited the botanical gardens, ate, hopped on and off a bus, shopped at UniClo (can you believe that Esme and T-giggles?) and nearly melted in to a puddle of hair and clothes as it was so hot and humid.
Can I recommend to future visitors to Singapore that you make use of the well priced shuttle bus, which drops you directly to your hotel for just S$9.00, and on the way back the MRT (train) for just S$2.40- clean and quick at around 20 minutes. (Sorry, can't help myself, I love a travel tip and bargain all in one!)
So in cracking good time, I alighted from the MRT at Changi and glided on the travelators to my departure lounge. Would it surprise you to know that, I was the only purple haired person there-and also the only non-Indian looking person? The latter was certainly a surprise to me, as at any given point in the known universe, there are 5 Aussies with southern cross tattoos and a group of 12 spanish tourists present.
The flight from Singapore to Ahmedabad is just under 6 hours, and was notable for only two things- it was remarkably quiet, despite the many families on board, and I had one of the most delectable curries of my life- I'll bet you don't hear that often about plane food! Thank you Singapore Airlines.
Before I knew it, (and 15 minutes before I finished watching the Man from U.N.C.L.E) it was wheels down in Ahmedabad! Palak had prepared me for a frenzy of Indians madly keen to disembark, but to my disappointment all were lovely and polite. At the bottom of the stairs there was a bus waiting to transport us to the terminal- everyone crowded cheerfully on, and off we went…for literally one minute before it stopped at the doors to the terminal. No one else seemed to think it odd…
Inside, there were lines and lines and lines of people as far as the eye could see… next to a very large empty space above which hung a lonely laminated sign saying "eTourist visa." I looked around but there was no one to ask, so I figured nothing ventured… and boldly made my way across the great divide to the counter on the other side, where sat a young man playing on his phone. Being careful not overstep the yellow line, I waited a few moments before calling "Hello" several times. I'm not sure whether he was engrossed in some porn or just playing candy crush saga, but he failed to register my presence at all.
So even more boldly, I crossed the line (not the first time, surely not the last) and went all the way to the edge of his desk, waved my hand in front of his faced and shouted some "Umm, EXCUSE me" near his ear. At which point he looked up, seemingly startled by my proximity.
He was a bit confused as me about what to do with the eTourist visa (who knows when anyone last crossed the divide?), and consequently, he was a little brusque. However, after getting the advice of 3 or 4 people, scrutinising the print out of my eVisa taken from my gmail, and flicking through every page of my passport, he livened up a little. He asked me my name, and when I replied, he said with a sudden unexpected smile "Oh, why that is a very lovely name". (Tina Sparkles IS a lovely if unusual name). After attempting to take my fingerprints 4 or 5 times, I was done and he waved me off to collect my bag.
Since the bag had been checked all the way through from BrisVegas, I was fairly convinced I would never see it again (see 'For the Love of Luggage' and you will understand what a double first world tragedy that would have been) and waited by the luggage conveyer with something approaching mild concern.
Here I must say Indians are like all human species… they don't understand how the luggage conveyer belt system works. As I am sure all MY enlightened readers already know, these work best when everyone stands about two feet back from the belt, then steps forward to retrieve their luggage, which of course you can actually see because people aren't leaning over the belts to see past the person beside them. Then of course, amazingly, you can remove your bag from the conveyer without smacking it into the person next to you (though I concede if they annoyed the bejinkles out of you on the plane, that could be cathartic.) Here endith the lecture.
Interestingly, many people walked up and literally stood right in front of me as if I didn't exist. Palak assures me this is normal and I should expect it everywhere (or possibly I am intermittently invisible). Despite possibly being see-thru and my quietly internalised luggage concerns, eventually my bag Sebastian Sojourn and I were reunited and, after he was scanned on the way OUT of the airport (I know not for what), I saw Palak and her Pappa among the many who had turned up to witness my arrival (they were staring at me so I guess I am moderately famous here too), and we took a cab to my hotel.
Everything from this point went extremely smoothly with the following exceptions:
- Finding the hotel was like looking for Wally at a convention of Waldos. (Tom, next year, Where's Wally for Melbourne Cup, we are ON). Not sure we DID find the right hotel (see #2).
- On spotting said Wally (the hotel the hotel try to keep up) they claimed no knowledge of my booking.
- When my booking was eventually located, it was for 3, not 10 days.
- Palak threatened to come back with a lawyer to make them honour the booking. Ten days was then assured, which may or may not be good (see #5) (Suckers, she was already with a lawyer!)
- The room looked NOTHING like it looked on the interweb (old, bit dirty, no hairdryer- even the notion!)
- The room came with that iconic clearly-not-been-washed towel (what visit to India would be complete without that, so lucky me so early on!)
Then, 3.30am Aussie time, I snuggled my ear plugs in to block out the sound of beep beep beeping from outside, lay my very sleepy head down on a dubiously clean pillow, cosied within my own sleeping bag liner…. and zzzzzzzzzzzzz. What would tomorrow bring?
Another view from my hotel


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Enter Hardtied Now!
We call this piece "Hogtied" as a tribute to one of our favorite bondage positions but for Claire Dames that will be just the beginning. She will be bound on her knees, belly, and back; around her legs, tits, arms, and face; and in every other way that Cyd Black can think of. Best of all this bondage is not just for show. It is designed to maximize his ability to torment her....
Read More
18 U.S.C. 2257 Compliance Statement

subset: commoncrawl


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I've always loved surprises. Receiving them, giving them – both make my heart skip an extra beat. Now that I'm a mom, I'm primarily the giver of surprises. I've had a lot of practice perfecting them. Especially when successful execution requires me to pretend I'm still a lawyer and keep a secret for eight long months.
I bought the tickets back in November, when I didn't yet know whether we'd be in town to use them. I kept the event under wraps because surprises are fun and also because if I told Sophie about it and we couldn't go after all, she'd hold a grudge for decades.
The day before the show, I started to prepare her.


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> So, what do you mean?
Hm, I mean..laugh, or atleast act somewhat amused for poor old Shadow. (????)
To lay it all out:
It was a joke, obviously(or, I'd hope). You said your bit about intelligence, and what not, so I made a silly comment, in the hopes of you registering the fact that I was complimenting your intelligence.


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This month, The Teacher's Magazine goes healthy with lesson plans and activities on Food and Nutrition.
For Very Young Learners and Young Learners, you will find a story called The Preference Race, in which a child has to choose between an apple and a chocolate bar. There is also a thematic unit called Nutrition with lots of ideas and activities to work on the topic.
For Teenagers, there is a lesson plan on healthy habits and another one on healthy eating. The Working with Videos section is about Food, featuring four short films: Fresh Guacamole, Western
Spaghetti, Submarine Sandwich and Fugu.
We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we do.
Propuestas exclusivas para docentes de Inglés.
The Teacher's Magazine es una publicación mensual ideada para docentes de Inglés como Lengua Extranjera o Segunda Lengua, que buscan material didáctico creativo para dinamizar sus clases. Una revista indispensable a la hora de desarrollar contenidos.
La revista ideal para los docentes de inglés que eligen trabajar eficazmente con alumnos de todos los niveles y edades.
Specially designed for English teachers.
The Teacher's Magazine is a monthly issue specially designed for teachers of English as Foreign or Second Language. It provides creative ready-to-go materials to make their classes more active and appealing to students.
The ideal magazine for English teachers that choose to work effectively with students of all levels and ages and an asset at the moment of developing contents.


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Leeds Birstall
Pokémon figures are ready for action! Your figures look ready for battle with realistic articulation so you can replicate some of your favourite moves! This bumper sized battle figure pack includes 8 cool Pokémon figures
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For full shipping and delivery information please visit Shipping & Delivery. For information on how to return items, please visit Returns Policy


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Finding new customers can be more time consuming and costly than retaining your existing clients. Bearing this in mind, care should be taken to invest resources in both the retention of your existing customers as well as finding new clients. We would like to share with you our top 5 tips which we found beneficial in our customer retention strategy.
Stay in Touch
In my opinion staying in touch with your customers is the single most important means of retaining customers. A scheduled phone call or a meeting in person twice or even once a year can ensure that you stay connected to your clients. Arranging such meetings helps you to focus on the provision of the service or products you supply to your clients. I have used these meetings as opportunities to present our clients with a summary of the number of calls we have handled on their behalf during the previous 6 months and in doing so provide some useful information in the process. Listening to your customer during your customer care meetings is really important. Valuable information can be gathered regarding the current events of your clients business. There may be opportunities to up-sell or to adapt the service you provide to make it more relevant or user friendly. Feedback from your customers is vital in the process of customer retention so you need to be prepared for comments which can be positive as well as negative. Acting on negative feedback should be welcomed and steps should be taken immediately to remedy the issue. This can result in an even better working relationship with your client as they recognise that you have listened to them and made the necessary corrections.
Keep your promise
A lot of companies use a by-line when advertising their products or services which incorporates superlatives such as 'the best, 'the fastest', 'the tastiest' etc. It is vital therefore that the company lives up to it's promise. A customer whether new or existing has bought in to this promise and will be quick to remind you if you are not true to your word. It is therefore critical that you continually remind all of your employees of the importance of their input in relation to delivering on that promise. Each contact your customer has with your company is an opportunity for you to re-inforce the USP of your company and your team need to understand the vital role this plays in the companies customer retention strategy.
Know your competitors
Keeping abreast of developments within your industry is also a very important aspect of customer retention. Knowing exactly what your competitors offer is crucial in retaining customers. By doing a regular competitive analysis, products or services which may be perceived by existing clients as cheaper elsewhere will be highlighted. Businesses often review the competitiveness of their suppliers within the market and you will need to be prepared to offer better service if you cannot afford to decrease your cost. Don't be tempted to reduce your price to match your competitors as price is not always the deciding factor when choosing suppliers. Work through your sales process from the very first call answered by your receptionist to your ongoing after-sales customer service and you may be surprised to see that you are offering a superior service to your competitors.
Suggestions for Improvement
We are all familiar with the customer satisfaction cards found in hotel bedrooms which invite guests to rate their stay. As part of your customer retention strategy, it is important to find a means by which you can incorporate this process in to your business. Web-based survey solutions such as Survey Monkey simplify this process and the feedback on graphs, pie-charts and percentages will give an instant indication of any trends. If you have an after-sales customer care helpline, your call answering staff have a great opportunity to ask for suggestions for improvement in your product or service.
Stick to 'The Plan'
Devise a concise plan for customer retention for your business and include achievable dates for completion of each step. Depending on the nature of your business, measuring the outcome will be the final step of the plan. In our business, where we provide a call answering service for clients who divert their phones to us, we can easily see how long they have been clients of ours, however, another useful metric may be to measure the increase year on year of your top 10 clients to find out if your customer retention strategy has resulted in increased volume or turnover.


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Our automatic and manual testing services help you to eliminate a bottle neck in releasing application features faster and match the industry competition. Automating software testing is the answer to increasing demands like scarcity of skilled software testers and limited time.
We test your software
Your reputation and your brand are critically dependent on quality – any failure to satisfy customer expectations can impact your brand, and your revenue.
DevLabs software testing and QA service enables your company to deliver a better product, shortens its time-to-market while maintaining your customer confidence and safeguarding your reputation.
Holistic testing is not a "maybe"
Software testing is no rocket science but it can be challenging. Who are you?
- A Company that needs to design and implement a streamlined QA strategy to launch high-quality software products in the shortest possible time?
- A Project that demands improved quality-related processes and strengthened internal software testing efforts?
- A Business that requires its products and internal networks and servers to be protected from hostile cyber attacks?
- A Brand that wishes to secure a reputation for excellence and deliver a positive customer experience?
Key Benefits of the Service
Different from inhouse QA services we allow you to own a Dedicated QA Team near-shore or to order On-Demand Testing. The main reasons for hiring us for your QA demands are:
- pay as you grow with zero invest
- reach skilled QA experts, instantly
- Expert use of Ranorex Test Automation tools
- transparent pricing (salary + tax + our fee)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the EU timezone
- rapid startup of the project
- opportunity to hire staff later
We share a similar western culture and values and have EU educated managers. DevLabs is owned by an Austrian private investor.
50% and more savings in labor fees alone compared to other countries.
10-25% savings compared to working with competitors in other Eastern European locations.
Based on the open-minded strategy of our Austrian owners we are maintaining a long-term strategy towards companies from different countries in Europe. Our employees have excellent written and spoken English.
Adaptation to your company policies and standards and acquisition of domain knowledge of your products and services – your nearshore team will function as an integral part of your company.
Ognjen Mandic
I'll help you start the right way with a customized plan to get your business moving forward.


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Life lately has been good but crazy which means that it's normal for us.
A few weeks ago we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. I know, we're old and we have the gray hairs to prove it. Our kids are way too happy to point that fact out to us every opportunity that they get.
But first let's back it up a bit.
13 years and some months ago we bought a house but I couldn't move in until after we were married. So naturally I suggested to Mr. Byrd that he get a dog to keep him company until I showed up and kept him fully entertained (because my antics tend to do that).
So 13+ years ago we adopted our constant companion, Snoopy. He was a funny sight from the beginning. He looked like a dalmatian that just got robbed in the legs department but truthfully he's a basset hound and dachshund mix. Except for some puppy issues, meaning he ate everything – spanish dictionaries included – he's been an amazing dog. He'll let the kids do anything to him and he just takes it with a wag of his tail. He truly has brought a lot of joy to our lives.
But he's 13+ years old and I need to let him go soon. He's having trouble getting up and has had a few seizures. I'm just not ready and we didn't want our other dog, Cooper, to be alone when Snoopy does leave us.
So…. because two cats, two rats, two dogs, and four kids in the house wasn't enough….
We welcomed Teddy Bear Byrd into our home. I'm going to let you guess what 7 year old got to name him.
We knew he was a puppy but didn't realize what a baby he was until he had to be carried everywhere the first 24 hours and potty training is like trying to train a 3 month old baby.
But he's become best friends with Cooper and for the first few weeks got old Snoopy up and moving some again.
But soon I have to let Snoopy go.
In the midst of all of the puppyness, our exchange student decided to go to homecoming with a group of friends.
We were so excited for her. She's here to experience America and there's nothing in Texas bigger than homecoming. We went with her to buy makeup and her and I went to get our nails done in preparation for the big day.
She was excited but I almost think in a way that Mr. Byrd and I were even fuller of nervous excitement for her.
Except that as my life goes, right before her friend arrived for them to start getting ready for the big dance, I was struck by a kidney stone. Mr. Byrd loaded me up and took me to the hospital while our exchange student rearranged plans so that another parent could take them to meet up with their friends for pictures.
We missed getting to see her get ready and going with her to take pictures before the big dance. It was hard for us.
But in truth, in some ways the horrible kidney stone, showed me how loved we are by some.
I didn't tell many people. Most of my friends still don't know. But I did text a friend asking if two of our kids could come over and she immediately dropped everything and came to pick them up. Then I texted my prayer group just to ask for prayers.
Their response not just that day but for days afterwards was so overwhelming and loving that it blew me away. I am blessed to be loved like that.
Since that day a friend has offered to keep the girls for every doctor appointment and the prayer group is still supporting me because this kidney stone loves me almost as much as they do and has decided to never leave my body.
Yet armed with some sweet pain killers last week Mr. Byrd and I got to do a mini escape to Austin to celebrate our anniversary.
We toured the LBJ Presidential Library which was simply and utterly amazing. I don't even agree with a lot of his politics but it reminded me that we're all in this together – working together for the good of America, even if we disagree in some ways.
Our goal now is to get to more presidential libraries.
We ended our mini vacation at The Oasis, which is where we also went on our honeymoon. It's a restaurant on the side of the cliffs overlooking Lake Travis. It's known for some of the best sunsets in Texas and it does not fail to disappoint. Which you guys know I'm crazy for pretty sunsets.
And then the best part….
You know those huge stand up flowers you've seen all over Pinterest?
I finally made them.
Now it's your turn. Go create something.


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Real Homemade Tamales
In this video, you'll see how to make real homemade tamales from scratch. There are a few steps in the process, but it's really not that difficult once you assemble all the ingredients. And the taste? It's oh-so-worth it! Get the recipe for SaddieCat's Real Homemade Tamales.
Patsy Leroe
This is so untraditional! Almost insulting.
These tamales have WAY too much Massa! I haven't had a decent tamale since I moved away from the Mexican Border (Laredo, TX, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico). Tamales should be small, with a thin layer of Massa and more filling. f you want a "real" tamale that is wonderful, look up Delia's Tamales on the internet. Delia's is located in he Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Now, they have REAL tamales.
Ms Jess
I am trying to make these today, getting ready to steam them, however I stood the packets on end for the steaming...my question is if not all of the tamales are eaten, can you store them in the husk,and covered for the next day or should the husk be removed?


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Have you experienced any of the following symptoms?
- Pounding or racing heartbeat
- Unable to concentrate
- Mind going blank
- Upset stomach
- Sudden on come of fear
These are but a few of the symptoms experienced by those who suffer from anxiety attacks. Anxiety attacks are also referred to as panic attacks and can range from mild to severe. This disorder comes in different forms as each person is different. People who suffer from anxiety tend to suffer from depression as well. Young and old are searching for help with panic attacks, although it appears that women tend to suffer from this disorder more than men.
For some people, this is a very serious matter as it has confined many to their homes and others have no social life because of fear. What can a person do to control or cure panic attacks? There are a few things a person can do at home to better help them cope with anxiety. Here are some basic steps you can start taking today?
- Engage in activities that you enjoy
- Have a couple of friends or family members that you can rely on for support
- Do not avoid the things that cause you to panic, but work with them so that you can lessen and overcome the fear of them
- Change your diet (certain foods or a lack of healthy foods can increase your chances of attacks)
Panic Attacks at Night
Some people experience these bouts at night, before going to bed or have their sleep interrupted by them. Nighttime panic or anxiety attacks are also called Nocturnal Panic Attacks. Often time panic attacks may arise in the nighttime because of high levels of stress. A lot of people tend to use the nighttime, when things are settled, to think about their problems. This in turn can increase your levels of stress at night.
If you experience attacks at night, why not try the following before bedtime: listen to calming music, read a funny book, watch a funny movie, and try not to think about your problems. Essential oils could be of great help too. Lavender has been known for its ability to help relax and calm the body. There is also an essential oil called Peace and Calming that help with relaxation, stress, and aid with sleeping.
Panic Attacks When Out In Public
Being in certain public places can spur on an anxiety attack for many. This is especially true if the places are crowded or if you previously experienced an attack there before. When you have had an attack in a particular place or while engaging in some sort of activity, you almost always will associate that activity or place with having an anxiety attack. This can cause you to fear having an attack every time you visit the place or thing. This can be quite uncomfortable and an inconvenience to the victim.
What can you do to control your panic attack or fear of having one in this situation? Try learning to breathe properly when you are out in public. Breathing properly can help calm and relax the body and a racing heart. You can also prepare yourself mentally by reassuring yourself that everything is alright. Having someone with you that you are comfortable around can help alleviate unwanted stress as well.
Before spending money on different medications, that claim to help with anxiety, you may want to consider speaking with a coach or therapist in this field. Persons in these fields can help you get to the root problem of your attacks and help you work to reduce or eliminate your anxiety attacks.
The statements made in this article are not intended to treat or cure any disorder, but people suffering from anxiety attacks should consult their physicians before trying any new treatments.


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Slayer will go down as one of the best, biggest, and most influential heavy metal bands in history. They have been at the top of the metal scene for over 30 years and have never slowed down. Slayer has always been a band of controversy from their aggressive lyrics, album art work or just overall stage presence since day #1.
Either way it never stopped Slayer from putting out some of the best metal music the world has ever heard. Over the last 30+ years Slayer has toured the world, released 12 studio albums, and won multiple awards including 2 Grammy's.
After 30+ years Slayer is finally calling the metal mayhem done. Slayer just announced that 2018 will be the host of their farewell from touring. They have brought metal to the masses and they will be going out with a world tour bang with special guests Lamb of God, Anthrax. Behemoth and Testament. Don't sit and wait because this will be your last chance to see Slayer live in concert. Buy tickets today to wish Slayer farewell on their last world tour from Rad.Tickets.
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Previous Project
Ivy Lane boosts scenic views of the Ormeau foothills to the west and Pimpama River to the east. Comprising of 17 designer townhomes in a secluded cul-de-sac, the smart design showcases quality finishes and craftsmanship throughout.
Winner of the 2013 Regional and State Award of The Building Designers Association of Queensland (BDAQ) for 'Best Multi-Residential Projects Over 6 Dwelling Units Up To 2 Residential Storeys'.
Featured in Winning Designs Magazine and Gold Coast Bulletin for design achievements.


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TUNE Dizraeli - Oi Oi
- Stream
Multifaceted artist Dizraeli is set to release 'Oi Oi', the second single from his upcoming album, 'The Unmaster', on 12th April, ahead of the first full live band show in London at Redon on 17th May. This follows heavy early support for the recent "Madness" single including Tom Robinson (BBC 6Music), John Kennedy (Radio X), BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio.
Throughout the explosive three-minute song, Dizraeli tears apart influences as diverse as trap, noise music, and the wonky richness of Rihanna's 'Consideration', taking us further into the unique musical world of the artist's upcoming new album.
Building the track's instruments himself, Dizraeli captured field recordings around London; the main marimba sound is a bollard played in the carpark of Tottenham Halfords, the drums are built from vocal noises and saucepans, while snatches of yells from school playgrounds and an anti-austerity protest are scattered around the track, 'Oi Oi' chaotic and fierce output is the perfect invocation of 2019 London.
Dizraeli's songwriting process is close to spoken word artists such as Kate Tempest, both basing their work on the kinetic agitation of hip-hop. The Bristol born poet and MC's fierce politicised narrative is often based on real life events, like in this single - a twisted love song to London - where the stabbing of a shopkeeper actually witnessed by the artist becomes the focus of his poignant delivery.
The striking visuals for the single, produced, directed and co-edited by Dizraeli himself, were born from a collaboration with choreographer-dancer Maeva Berthelot (Hofesh Shechter Company / Sadler's Wells); creating a tense visual metaphor for the hook of the song "Can anybody please explain what the f**k is happening?", the frenetic dance mirroring Dizraeli's lyrical urgency, uncompromisingly rejecting the vacuous instagram-candy of the music video form.
Anticipation has been building steadily for 'The Unmaster', Dizraeli's upcoming album, since he unveiled its first single 'Madness', which has seen support from the Likes of BBC 6' Tom Robinson, Radio X' John Kennedy, Subba-Cultcha, Amazing Radio, Worldwide FM, to name just a few. Recorded and completed over a period of two years, during which Dizraeli experienced a mental meltdown, and funded thanks to a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, it will be released in summer 2019.
Having composed the soundtrack for the E4 drama Tripped', won the BBC Poetry Slam Championship, Dizraeli is known for his work with spoken word artists Kate Tempest and Scroobius Pip. His music has seen support from the likes of The Skinny, Evening Standard, Songlines and Pop Matters, with plays across all BBC Radio stations. He is also rising radio presenter, hosting his own monthly show on Soho Radio, and recently interviewing Mongolia's hip-hop pioneers for a BBC World Service documentary.
'Oi Oi' confirms Dizraeli's prowess as a serious artist, and with a new album coming out in the summer, live performances confirmed at Knockengorroch Festival in Scotland, London's Woodburner, Boomtown Fair, Larmer Tree and Shambala over the summer, before a full live band tour in autumn 2019, the new release will establish him as one of the most interesting producers and songwriters of this generation.


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12 Days of Christmas, #12
Bubbly in a box.
12 Days of Christmas, #12.
Sugarfina Cheers 3 Piece Bento Box, $28. Say "Cheers" with this adorable sparkling gift box of Champagne-inspired candies. Includes three lucite cubes (approx 3.5oz each) of Champagne Bears, Champagne Bubbles and Baby Champagne Bears. Candies are made with vintage Dom Pérignon and are packaged in a chic aqua gift box with a shimmery gold foil sleeve that says "Cheers!" My absolute favorite candies.
Click here to buy.
#12DaysofChristmas #Champagne #GummieBear #Candy #Gift


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SummaryBy Mike Perkowski
Outsourcing 2001
A recent CIO Insight survey of CIOs and senior IT strategists does more than highlight the continuing popularity of outsourcing IT applications and functions. It also points to an even more significant trend: Companies are becoming increasingly comfortable with outsourcing the "family jewels"critical customer-facing and revenue-producing applications.
From a macro view, the study shows continued support for IT outsourcing, with 76 percent of respondents indicating they had hired outside IT specialists during the past 12 months and had spent more than $1 million, on average, on outsourced IT last year.
While just 57 percent plan to outsource this year, that figure can be attributed to uncertainty about the economy; fully 15 percent were unsure of their plans. Those who had outsourced were very satisfied with their partners; more than 80 percent would use them again.
When Leo Crawford joined the Orange County, Calif., IT department back in 1987, he noticed something unusual: dozens of non-county employees doing IT work for the county. For a red-blooded technical guy like Crawford, it didn't feel right. "I was somewhat dubious when I got there and saw the significant amount of outsourcing we were doing," recalls Crawford, now the assistant county executive officer for IT. "Why couldn't we do this in-house?" But it wasn't long before Crawford saw things differently. "It was apparent that users were getting better support through outsourcing than when we were doing it in-house," he says. Today, he's an enthusiastic supporter of IT outsourcing. And he's not alone.
Embracing Outsourcing
"We've got a small, but good, in-house staff, but our philosophy is that if we can outsource it, and it makes sense, we'll go ahead and hire an outsourcing partner," says Mark Sklenar, vice president and CIO of Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, Ill. "It has just become too difficult to hire not only enough good talent, but to retain them over the long term even if you're fortunate enough to land them."
UL has outsourced applications support for a wide variety of desktop and network applications, as well as significant numbers of Web development projects. Now it has embraced outsourcing for a key strategic initiative: teaming with Arthur Andersen to design and build UL's global technology architecture, which will take four years.
The Need for Speed
"There's always been this argument against outsourcing core functions and applications, but that's changing," says Frank Casale, CEO of The Outsourcing Institute, a Jericho, N.Y.-based industry group that tracks developments in outsourcing. "A lot depends on how you define 'core.' You might consider 'core' to be 'what I do better than anyone else,' in which case you probably wouldn't want to outsource it. But more companies are starting to define 'core' as 'what the customer comes to me for,' in which case you definitely want best-of-breed talent and capability."
What Casale calls "the need for speed" is clearly a two-headed monster. On the one hand, speed means coming up with new products and services to gain and hold a competitive advantage. On the other, the IT industry is moving faster than any in-house department's ability to keep up and still meet the daily needs of its business units and end users.
"Outsourcers are now being brought in early on to plan, develop and implement e-business systemsreal revenue-generation projects," notes Bruce Caldwell, an outsourcing analyst with Gartner/Dataquest. "In the past, you would have done those types of projects internally, but time compression and skills shortages puts you under more pressure than ever to get it done. That inevitably means using outside partners, even for systems with a lot of risk."
Playing to Strengths
Orange County's Crawford sees outsourcing as the inevitable acknowledgment of what a company and its partners do best, and then playing to everyone's strengths, rather than plowing more energy and money into trying to overcome an internal weakness. "It's hard for government, or even for a lot of businesses, to keep up with the pace of change in our industry," says Crawford. "If I decide I need Web programmers instead of COBOL programmers, I go to Lockheed-Martin [Orange County's lead outsourcing partner] and have them redo the contract. Within 30 days, I have the right people for the job."
"We usually don't find we actually reduce our hard-dollar expenses by outsourcing," says UL's Sklenar. "The main benefit is to provide a much higher level of service to our business units, and we need specialized expertise to do that."
For other companies, outsourcing can be an effective "bridge" strategy for resource development, allowing the company to fill immediate needs through hired guns while buying time to develop its own internal resources if it's going to be a recurring need.
"If we're starting a Java development project, for instance, we'll want to see if it's going to be a long-term need," says Guy Abramo, senior vice president and CIO of computer products distributor Ingram Micro Inc. in Santa Ana, Calif. "If we'll need that skill right away but it will be part of our long-term needs, we might hire a specialist now, but eventually hire and train people in-house."
Mike Perkowski, who heads up Ziff Davis Market Experts, is responsible for tracking such market segments as distribution channels and outsourcing, storage and Linux.
Research Results
Research Results
Who Outsources and Why? Changing Needs Budget Considerations The Outsourcers
Conclusion 01
Conclusion 01
The survey's findings show that more and more often, CIOs are looking to outsourcing partners for more than back-room operational management and building network plumbing.
Customer-facing and revenue-producing applications are increasingly likely to be outsourced, according to the respondents.
A number of outward-facing applications were cited by CIOs as being more likely to be outsourced this year than last yearand that's a significant response in research studies such as these, in which "plan to buy" responses for the coming year are almost always lower than the percentage of respondents who actually bought something in the prior year.
Among the likely candidates for increased outsourcing next year:
- Business-to-business e-commerce, which was outsourced by 22 percent of CIO respondents last year but cited by 32 percent of the CIOs as a likely candidate this year. B2B e-commerce was the application cited most often by CIOs to be outsourced this year;
- Customer relationship management, which increased from 22 percent last year to 30 percent this year;
- Supply-chain management, up from 8 percent last year to 14 percent in 2001; and
- Business-to-consumer e-commerce, which rose from 17 percent last year to an expected 22 percent this year.
Even human resources applicationsarguably the single most sensitive internal application for most companiescould be outsourced more this year. Outsourced by 14 percent of the CIOs last year, HR applications were cited by 20 percent of CIOs as a potential outsourced application for this year.
Conclusion 02
Conclusion 02
Yet another indication that CIOs are becoming comfortable with outsourcing critical tasks can be gleaned by looking at the types of IT functions, notably applications hosting and integration, that are more likely to be outsourced in the coming year.
It's been well documented that many companieslarger companies in particularhave been slow to adopt the application service provider model for hosting their critical applications. However, nearly 30 percent of the respondents in the survery said they are considering outsourcing applications hosting in the coming year, up from 26 percent who did so last year.
But by far the most significant increase among outsourced IT functions is in applications integration, which was outsourced by 30 percent of the respondents last year but cited by 44 percent as a likely candiate to be outsourced in 2001.
Conclusion 03
Conclusion 03
The proper deployment of skills is one of the most frequently cited reasons CIOs go to outsourcing in the first place.
Fully 35 percent of respondents said that "lack of internal staff" was the most important reason to use an outsourcing company, followed closely by "lack of internal expertise," at 29 percent.
Interestingly, "cost predictability" and "cost reduction"historically the two most important reasons to outsourcewere cited by only 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively, of CIOs as the top reason to outsource.
Information technology is moving to the center of the strategy of every business, and the role of outsourcing is moving in step with it. This trend should not be attributed to desperate measures for desperate times, but to the need to gain expertise in a variety of critical applications and functions.
How the survey was done: CIO Insight designed the outsourcing survey in partnership with Survey.com, a San Jose-based supplier of custom online research services. The study was e-mailed to CIOs,chief technology officers and vice presidents of information technology and services from a number of sources,including third-party lists and other Ziff Davis publications.The survey was posted on a password-protected Web site,and 432 people responded from March 3 to March 8.
's Guide to Successful Outsourcing">
A CIO's Guide to Successful Outsourcing
Assess the culture of your outsourcing partner. This is usually the single biggest reason outsourcing deals fail to achieve their full potential. At the end of the day, it's all about people, not technology or processes. If you can't trust the outsourcer's peopleor they can't trust yoursno proprietary project-management methodologies, cool technology or management support will help. Be sure that your culture and your partner's culture mesh.
Pick an outsourcing partner with a strong partner network. Outsourcing, particularly for customer-facing and supplier-facing applications, has become so complex today that even outsourcing giants like EDS and IBM can't do it all on their own. Superior subcontractors for technologies, services and support skills can make or break an engagement, so ask who they work with, how long they've worked together and on what kinds of deals. (Tip: Ask your product vendors who they partner with and why. Ask them which prime contractors are the best "managers.")
Don't be a guinea pig. One of the most important assets of an outsourcing company is its knowledge of your market. So, if you're in the health care field, be suspicious of any potential partner that can't tell the difference between an HMO and HBO. If they haven't done work in your industry before but you still like the company for whatever reason, at least be realistic in understanding that they'll have a much longer learning curve.
Ask for and check those references. But do not merely call them and do a phone interview. Get out of your office and into their shopsee the outsourcer's work in practice. Remember, they're trying to sell you, so they'll put their prior engagements and customer satisfaction in the best possible light. (Tip: Check out some of the customers who the outsourcing company doesn't give you. You can do a little research on that by reading industry publications, Web sites and market-research reports on deals that go down between the outsourcing company and its customers.)
Don't just get executive buy-inget their sponsorship. It's one thing to have the CEO and the board green-light your project and allocate the funding. Remember that things change, including financial conditions, corporate prioritieseven board members. Having your CEO, CFO or key board members actively promoting your project and sharing your vision is essential. Build coalitions early, and reinforce them often.
Don't be cheap. Translation: Don't be blinded by low bidders. After all, rarely is cost-reduction the primary goal of an outsourcing project, unless you're looking to clean up your balance sheet by taking IT assets off your books. And even then, you still want superior service and support, uninterrupted data availability and ironclad securityqualities not exactly compatible with the term "lowest bidder."
Open the kimono as much as possible. Until recently, the single biggest reason companies have been loathe to outsource mission-critical applications is fear of their corporate secrets falling into the wrong hands, even through inadvertent means. But again, think about why you're outsourcing in the first place. Is it to implement a limited-scope project, like applications development or network infrastructure build-out, or is it to develop new revenue streams, enhance your customer satisfaction or improve your competitiveness? If it's the latter, your outsourcing partner will need to know as much as possible about your strengths, weaknesses, corporate goals, competitive set, customers, suppliers and corporate culture.
Get it in writing. Specifically, you'll need well-defined contracts, service-level agreements and non-disclosure agreements. If you're like the American public at large, the idea of having lawyers in your IT planning probably is about as inviting as a root canal, but this is one place where lawyers are an essential player. (Tip: Unless you're a very large company with a significant in-house legal staff and you've done outsourcing in the past, don't just assume your in-house counsel can handle this. Get a specialist; this is a hot special practice in the legal profession, and there are more and more outside firms who know how to write SLAs and other documents that will protect your company.)
Evaluate multiple optionsboth suppliers and approaches. Don't just go with the outsourcer your CEO's golfing buddy used when his company went down that road. Even though your company's application might be sensitive enough that you won't want to publicly advertise it via a formal RFP, you should go out of your way to get proposals from at least two, and ideally three, viable companies. (Tip: Again, since you'll need to share potentially sensitive information, have your lawyers draw up NDAs for companies participating in this process.)
Metrics matter. Your CEO and the board will want some proof that this mulitmillion-dollar investment is, in fact, yielding dividends. However, keep in mind what you're measuring, if it's measurable, and if the measurements can be a realistic appraisal of the outsourcing project. For instance, if your goal is to achieve a 20 percent increase in customer satisfaction measured on an annual customer survey, don't blame the outsourcing project for failing to meet that goal if your sales organization turns over every six months. M.P.


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5 Takeaways From "The Best Mobile Ad Campaigns"
A trio of innovative ad industry leaders on how mobile advertising can be minimally intrusive and profit-maximizing.
On our first day on the scene at Austin's SXSW Interactive festival, we heard from a trio of innovative ad industry leaders on issues surrounding mobile advertising — where it has been, who has done it well and where it is headed.
Drew Neisser, CEO at the New York-based social media and content marketing agency Renegade moderated the panel, which included Webster Lewin, SVP and director of Mobility at Starcom MediaVest Group and Rob Griffin, EVP and global director of production development from Havas Media. Here are five lessons we learned about mobile ads from this session:
1. It's all about location, location, location
Targeting potential customers by location is no new concept, but Griffin said there are many more layers to this idea with mobile. It's not enough to just deliver mobile ads to users who are physically in the area where they might purchase a product — now, brands must provide some kind of "contextual relevance." Advertisers should ask themselves "'what is [the consumer] doing in that moment that would make them want to purchase [a particular product]?'" He pointed to an REI/Columbia campaign that carried out an advanced iteration of geo-targeting. The results? More clicks, more engagement and more revenue.
2. Mobile ads should be simple and functional
Griffin said it best: "mobile shouldn't be sexy." Despite the "mobile-first" attitudes of so many brands, agencies and publishers, Griffin said it's important that mobile is easily integrated into all of a brand's marketing efforts. If it doesn't add "real value to a consumer" and isn't functional on a basic level (functional meaning that it works seamlessly from start to finish, said Lewin), it isn't a good mobile ad. When it comes to fancy or overcomplicated mobile ad designs, "just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it," Griffin said Friday.
3. Responsive ads are on the rise, especially among publishers
While, as Lewin said, many brands are still figuring out to best monetize responsive ads, some have fully embraced responsive. Mashable's Motorola Motomaker responsive ad is a prime example of this welcoming attitude toward ads that fit across platforms. Using responsiveads.com, Forbes, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Digiday and others are experimenting with responsive. "The [ad] industry isn't ready [for responsive ads], but publishers are. Publishers are going directly to these solutions," Lewin said.
4. Social media + mobile ads = more traffic
Brands must tie their mobile ad presentation into social media efforts. The majority of mobile usage occurs within the home, said Lewin, and advertisers tend to target primetime television slots for social ad campaigns (think sponsored tweets). Why not use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Foursquare and others to drive traffic to your brand's mobile products (e.g. apps)? Lewin said that Mashable's social media traffic boosts its mobile traffic.
5. Ads on mobile are most effective when there's something to download
As Neisser noted, there will be 100 billion app downloads this year. Referring to his favorite mobile ad — Proctor & Gamble's Sit or Squat ad — he reminded us that it's actually an app. Charmin's clever approach toward creating an app that aids users in finding clean restrooms on-the-go underscores as a strong advertisement for the popular toilet paper brand.
The bottom line: Brands and publishers must learn to create mobile ads that are minimally intrusive but profit-maximizing. Neisser said the best strategy for doing this is ensuring the ad provides something of significant value to the consumer. "It's no longer an ad when it's of value to you," he said.
Coming up for tomorrow's dispatch from Austin: "The Form Factor Is the Message" featuring the CEO of Cheezburger Ben Huh, "It's Complicated: Teens' Social Media Practices" and "Beyond Unplugging: How to Stay Sane Online."


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Philadelphia Union vs. Vancouver Whitecaps | MLS Match Preview
PHILADELPHIA UNION vs VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
PPL PARK, Chester, Pa.
June 7, 2014 (WEEK 14, MLS Game #129) 7:30 p.m. ET (TSN; TCN-Phi)
Philadelphia Union return home to face a rolling Vancouver Whitecaps FC when the clubs meet in an interconference clash Saturday evening at PPL Park. Union concluded their two-game southern California tour last weekend with a 3-0 win against Chivas USA. Whitecaps FC are coming off a famous victory in extending their undefeated run to six games, following their 4-3 victory at the Portland Timbers last weekend.
REFEREE: Jose Carlos Rivero. AR1 (bench): Jeff Muschik; AR2 (opposite): Danny Thornberry; 4th: Mark Kadlecik
MLS Career: 25 games; FC/gm: 27.2; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 8; pens: 13
SUSPENDED: none
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: VAN: Matias Laba
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: PHI: Maurice Edu, Fabinho … VAN: Andy O'Brien
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: PHI: Michael Lahoud (Sierra Leone); Andre Blake (Jamaica) … VAN: Steven Beitashour (IRN); Carlyle Mitchell (TRI)
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): Union 2 wins, 2 goals … Whitecaps FC 1 win, 1 goal … Ties 1
AT PHILADELPHIA (4 meetings): Union 1 win, 1 goal … Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 0 goals … Ties 1
7/27: VAN 0, PHI 1 (Hoppenot 85)
- This is the only league meeting between the teams this season.
- Union won the only meeting between the teams a season ago, a 1-0 victory July 27 at BC Place. There has not been more than one goal scored in any of the four meetings all-time between the clubs.
- Whitecaps FC have not won at PPL Park, with Union taking a win and a draw in the two meetings in Chester.
- Coaches record: John Hackworth v VAN: P1 W1 L0 T0 … Carl Robinson vs. PHI: first game
Philadelphia Union put an end to their losing run after two matches, rolling to a 3-0 win against Chivas USA on Saturday evening at StubHub Center. Union are in a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 14 points from 15 games.
- Union took the lead in the 28th minute shortly after Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy was whistled for a rare delay of game infraction by referee Allen Chapman. Midfielder Martin Rivero was called for a handball inside the penalty area on the ensuing indirect free kick, and Conor Casey calmly converted from the spot.
- Union doubled their lead and Casey doubled his count in the 66th minute, as he headed home a well-timed cross from Cristián Maidana from the left flank.
- The result was complete 10 minutes later when Maidana drove the ball through Andrew Wenger's legs from the left side of the area as goalkeeper Kennedy pleaded with the referees for an offside call.
- Union manager John Hackworth made three changes to the team that suffered a 4-1 loss to the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center. Fred, Conor Casey and Cristian Maidana all came into the team, in place of Brian Carroll, Leo Fernandes and Antoine Hoppenot.
- PHILADELPHIA UNION (4-1-2-3): Zac MacMath - Raymon Gaddis, Amobi Okugo, Sheanon Williams, Fabinho - Maurice Edu - Fred, Vincent Nogueira - Danny Cruz (Zach Pfeffer 86), Conor Casey (Andrew Wenger 75), Cristian Maidana.
- Union concluded their two-game southern California trip with a win and a loss, ending a two-game losing run with the win vs. Chivas USA.
- After going the first 12 games of the season with no more than two goals scored in any game, Union have now scored three goals in two of their last four.
- Union kept a clean sheet for the first time since April 19, when they reached a scoreless draw with Houston. It was their third defensive shutout of the year.
- "Our performances all year have been better than our results show. So you got to get the results in order to get that confidence," said Union manager John Hackworth. "Reporters were asking me during the middle of the week what we need to do and I was saying 'look, we need to have a good game and we need to score a couple goals and we need to get a shutout.' Nothing I can do in training or anywhere is going to replace what that experience is going to be in a league game."
- Conor Casey scored his first two goals of 2014 – his ninth career multiple-goal game – in making his first start since May 10.
- "I've probably been a little tougher on him than I should have been, to be fair," Hackworth said. "He probably deserved a shot earlier in the season to have more minutes but we challenged him and he certainly answered those challenges for sure. … I think he still has the quality to be a goal-scorer in this league. And you saw that."
- Said Casey: "Hopefully we will be able to take the confidence with us this week. We need to follow this up with points at home too. We haven't played well at home. We know that we are behind, point-wise, this season. We have played a lot of games and haven't gotten a lot of points. We need to make sure, especially going into the break, that we follow this performance up with another good performance."
- Veteran midfielder Fred made his first league appearance of the season, playing the full match in central midfield. It was his first start in MLS since June 11, 2011, when he was playing for D.C. United.
- "Fred has been playing really well in training," Hackworth said. "We've wanted to try to get him into a game for the last several weeks but the situation didn't present itself. With Brian Carroll having a little hamstring injury at the end of the LA game, it just opened up a spot. We constantly talk to guys that when the opportunity arrives, you have to make the most of it, and that was great for Fred."
- Said Fred: "It's been a year that I didn't play the 90 minutes. Before the game, I was so excited to play, I felt like I was 20 years old. When I started playing, the football flowed in and I'm very happy. I feel a little bit older, they call me grandpa, but I [felt] great today on the field and I think I can help Philadelphia get to the top."
- Cristian Maidana returned to the starting lineup after a one-match ban and scored a goal and added an assist, the first time in his MLS career he's been involved in more than one goal in a single game.
- Hackworth said the experiment to try Aaron Wheeler at center back is over, and that he is now training again as a forward. Wheeler has made 11 appearances in central defense this season, eight as a starter.
- "I don't think it's fair to Aaron to have this conversation around whether he's going to be a center back or a forward. He is a good pro," Hackworth said. "He's played some really valuable minutes for this club this year … It's a fluid list right now because we honestly haven't had the consistent play out of our center backs that you would want or expect at this point in the year. We've tried a lot of guys back there and it's been a struggle."
Vancouver Whitecaps FC stretched their winning streak to six games in impressive fashion, coming away from Providence Park with a 4-3 win against Cascadia rivals Portland Timbers on Sunday evening. Whitecaps FC sit in fourth place in the Western Conference with 20 points from 12 games.
- The Timbers took the lead after just three minutes. From the right wing, Diego Valeri crossed to Maximiliano Urruti at the top of the area, and he unleashed a left-footed blast past Whitecaps FC goalkeeper David Ousted.
- But the visitors were ahead thanks to two penalty kicks. In the 16th minute, Erik Hurtado was tripped up by Diego Chara in front of the box, and referee Kevin Stott immediately whistled for a penalty kick, which was converted by Pedro Morales. Then in the 26th minute, Kekuta Manneh was clipped down by Pa Modou Kah, and Morales again coolly converted the spot kick.
- It was 3-1 for Whitecaps FC in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time when Hurtado collected a Morales cross and fired point-blank on Donovan Ricketts. The big Timbers 'keeper saved the first attempt, but Hurtado bundled home the rebound from close range. Then it was 4-0 four minutes into the second half when Jordan Harvey let fly a curling left-footed blast after collecting a Morales cross from across the penalty area.
- The Timbers finally pulled a goal back in the 77th minute from a Gaston Fernandez header off a Valeri cross. Then the margin was cut to one with a wonderful goal in the 86th minute, as Fanendo Adi juggled a long ball in the box and popped it over a defender, who scored from an outstanding volley of his own inside the right-hand post, but that was as close as Portland got.
- Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson made no changes to the team that reached a 2-2 draw with Seattle Sounders FC at BC Place.
- VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-2-3-1): David Ousted - Nigel Reo-Coker, Andy O'Brien, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey - Gershon Koffie, Matias Laba - Sebastian Fernandez (Omar Salgado 78), Pedro Morales, Kekuta Manneh (Russell Teibert 46) - Erik Hurtado (Darren Mattocks 66).
- Whitecaps FC extended their undefeated streak to six games, matching the club's longest ever since coming to MLS, also going six games without loss last June 15-July 14 (5-0-1).
- The win was Vancouver's first ever against Portland in MLS, after eight meetings between the clubs in the expansion class of 2011.
- Pedro Morales had a pair of goals and two assists, a pair of every Whitecaps FC goal. He has four goals andthree assists over the last four league matches, since missing the Real Salt Lake game on April 26 through injury, and five goals and four assists in the last five games over all competitions.
- "I brought him here to be a difference-maker and he certainly is a difference maker. Prior to [the Portland] match and certainly [then], he enjoyed the occasion," said Whitecaps FC manager Carl Robinson. "He slowed it down when we needed to. A bit like Diego Valeri. He runs the show for them. It's great to watch. As a young coach who wants to learn and wants to watch exciting players, there were a few exciting players on the pitch."
- Said Morales: "[It was] a lot to do with work ethic and a ridiculous amount of running opened up some space for me. I'm just really happy with the way the team performed."
- Erik Hurtado extended his goalscoring streak to three matches, his first three professional goals, all in his first three league starts of the season.
- "He's been superb. His confidence level is sky-high at the moment and his work rate is phenomenal. He's done that in front of his family," said Robinson. "I was a little worried before the game that he had a lot of family here. When you do that as a young player, you go away from the things you're good at. He didn't do that. I thought his movement was excellent. He got his reward with a goal. His holdup play was excellent."
- Jordan Harvey netted his second goal of the season, his first since hitting for the opener in the March 29 game vs. Houston.
- The three goals allowed by Whitecaps FC were a season-high. They have allowed multiple goals in five of their last six matches (13 goals in that time).
- "If you had said to me before the game would I take a 4-3, I would have. I know we're a team in there that can score goals. What I've got to work on is the defensive side of this group," Robinson said. "That'll take time. The goals are great. I've said all along that I'd like to win 4-3 rather than 1-0. We've got to tighten up defensively."


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Interview with Vicki Wells
Consultant and former Executive Pastry Chef
Magnolia Bakery
With Jeff Yoskowitz and Kathryn Gordon
Event theme table, a growing business for Magnolia Bakery
Kathryn: Hi Vicki! Can you tell us a bit about what Magnolia Bakery is up to, 17 years after it opened?
Vicki: Originally there was just the (Greenwich) Village location (the Sex in the City one...). Now we have 5 retail (brick and mortar) stores in Manhattan, one in Chicago and another in LA, and 4 franchised stores in the Middle East – with additional locations opening this year.
Jeff: Vicki, we're talking with you in the Magnolia Bakery centralized NY production kitchen for online orders and product development. You seem to be preparing a lot more than cupcakes in this location. Can you tell us about the product line?
Chef Vicki's baby hand-held cherry pie for Valentine's Day
Vicki: It has evolved over the years. Originally there were layer cakes, but cupcakes became popular, and essentially Magnolia was the first cupcake store – and cupcakes still account for 53% of sales. Now we offer wholesale, and more large cakes, cheesecakes, bar cookies, cookies and seasonal large and baby pies. We have been doing dessert tables for weddings and parties. Still, vanilla-vanilla and vanilla-chocolate cupcakes are the best sellers.
Kathryn: How would you describe the product line?
Vicki: Everything is homey-style and freshly produced. Our motto is American affordable luxury. Everything is appealing but simple – like "made by mom."
Looks sell first! So I work on product development – but one of the fun parts of my job is to develop seasonal décor for our cupcake specials.
Last Christmas elf hat meringue decor for a seasonal cupcake
Jeff: You started working for Magnolia about half a year ago. What's the rest of your job scope?
Vicki: Magnolia Bakery evolved from one simple store, and was sold in 2006 to an ownership group who has been rapidly expanding its locations. What worked in one location (measurement in volume) does not work for franchises and additional corporate owned stores. I have now converted all the cupcake recipes to measurement by weight, and standardized the yield (60 cupcakes per batch). The equipment in each location is still small, and not geared for production. Busy locations like Rockefeller Center work continuously baking fresh batches – no location has large industrial size equipment. I am now working on converting all the cupcake icings. Everything takes time, to make changes and implement controls.
Kathryn: And you said that one of those locations actually had converted your recipes (by grams) back to volume measurements, when you visited it…
Vicki: Unfortunately, yes! One issue has been that there has been a very decentralized structure in each store – no hierarchy. That means no central person to talk to, for me, when I have to make changes in the procedures or formulas. I am working now to have a head baker assigned to each bakery.
Jeff: What other issues have you encountered, as the original formulas have been replicated in each new location?
Vicki: It's interesting, I visited Chicago because they were having issues with a cupcake. I learned by going to Target and buying Arm & Hammer baking soda (which is available nationally) that the commercial baking soda in Chicago was different, and that was causing them issues with the recipe.
Kathryn: I'd always heard that chemical leaveners around the world were regional! Very interesting proof of that theory.
Commissary production kitchen in Manhattan
Vicki: Also, now that we have (franchise) locations in the Middle East – we cannot use traditional vanilla extract because it is alcohol based. So we have reformulated the recipes. Actually, all of the baking ingredients for those locations have to be shipped from NY, because the ingredients there are just different, or just not available (like in Dubai).
Kathryn: You have an enormous number of Styrofoam shipping components here.
Vicki: Everything that has to be shipped is test shipped. We send shipments to family and friends to ensure it all arrives with the quality intact. Everything is insulated in double boxes. In fact, we've determined that for cupcakes to be shipped – they have to be frozen over a 3 day period to be solid enough and ship intact. Temperature alone isn't enough.
3-day frozen cupcakes ready for internet order shipping, with signature frosted swirl
Jeff: What's your next project here at Magnolia Bakery?
Vicki: I am continuing to work on having a head baker in each store because I need someone who I can contact with a clear line of communication, and who understands new standards when we introduce them, and who will be responsible for training all their staff to produce new and existing products consistently. We have a great staff training program – but consistency is key as we get ready to open additional national locations.


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Photography Classes in Oden MI
Are you looking to learn about photography in Oden MI? Whether you are a beginner, hobbyist, or professional, the most effective approach to improving your photography skills is through hands-on training with professional instructors.
Michigan has many recognized and accredited photography schools. Topics covered in photography classes include digital capture, lighting techniques, exposure, composition, outdoor photography, and many other basic and advanced camera techniques. Being a skilled photographer can lead to a prosperous professional career or lifelong hobby.
There are numerous Photography Classes in Oden MI:
- Oden Studio Photography Classes
- Oden Photography 101
- Oden Digital Photography Classes
- Oden Nature Photography Classes
- Oden Editorial Photography Classes
Oden MI Photography Classes
Ferris State University
1201 S State St
Big Rapids, Michigan 49307-2251
Phone: (231) 591-2000
128.35 miles away
Central Michigan University
106 Warriner Hall
Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859
Phone: (989) 774-4000
130.13 miles away
Grand Rapids Community College
143 Bostwick Ave NE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503-3295
Phone: (616) 234-4722
178.75 miles away
Mott Community College
1401 E Court St
Flint, Michigan 48503-2089
Phone: (810) 762-0200
179.29 miles away
Grand Valley State University
1 Campus Dr
Allendale, Michigan 49401-9403
Phone: (616) 331-2020
181.99 miles away
Lansing Community College
419 N Capitol Ave
Lansing, Michigan 48901-7210
Phone: (517) 483-1957
189.95 miles away


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Research in Social Problems and Public Policy (RSPPP) is a peer-reviewed series devoted to the sharpening and reshaping of scientific discourse involving the intersection of social problems and public policy. In particular, it is interested in the analysis of the potential failure of public institutions to fulfil their obligations to the broader society.
Multidisciplinary in nature, Research in Social Problems and Public Policy presents important themes of: social/crime problems and their treatment; criminal justice; law and public policy; crime, deviance and social control; courts and diversion programs; therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice and alternative dispute resolution; law and society; substance use/abuse and treatment; health and society; and institutional interaction. The articles have a clear connection to the series' main focus, lying at the confluence of social problems and public policy.
The series emphasises the need to consider the organisationally - and institutionally - specific features, competencies and decision-making practices of social problems, whilst also providing a useful mix of theoretical, methodological, substantive and public policy issues. Additionally, it aids the establishment of working networks of academics and practitioners from across the globe.


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1.7.2 has been released to the launcher! If you're running CraftBukkit with plugins, we recommend waiting until they release a stable build before updating. If you don't mind playing vanilla for a while, or you're already running a vanilla Minecraft server, here's how you can update:
- Stop your server
- Delete the jar/minecraft_server.jar file from your server via FTP. (Be sure you don't have a custom JAR name, and be sure you're deleting from the "jar" folder)
- Make sure your JAR file in Multicraft is set to the correct version; this should be "Minecraft 1.7.2 (Vanilla)"
- Start your server!
If you're running CraftBukkit 1.6.4 and need to downgrade your client to play, follow these steps:
- Open Minecraft
- Click 'Edit Profile' in the launcher
- Select 'Release 1.6.4 in the 'Use Version' section
- Save and login!
**Update – CraftBukkit 1.7.2 dev has been released! **This is a very unstable and unsupported build. We recommend staying on vanilla 1.7.2, Spigot 1.7, or CraftBukkit 1.6.4 in the meantime. If you want to test the new 1.7.2 dev build out, here's how.
- Login to Multicraft
- Download StructureSaver
- Upload the StructureSaver jar file to your plugins folder via FTP
- Restart your server
- Run "/save-structures" (in-game) or "save-structures" from the console
- Go back to your Multicraft server page
- Select "CraftBukkit 1.7.2" from the JAR File dropdown menu
- Save (at the bottom)
- Restart your server
If you don't care about structures being saved, you can skip steps 2 – 5.
If you run into any trouble, just submit a support ticket and we'll get you set up.


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WILLIAMSTOWN – A stellar defensive performance helped the Williams Ephs (8-1) top the Springfield Pride (4-2) by a final score of 68-51. Springfield's 51 points marked the lowest total allowed by the Ephs this season.
"We have some veterans and versatility," said Williams Head Coach Kevin App. "When they play together with confidence on defensive end we can put a lot of pressure on other teams. The shots will come and go. I was very pleased with our defensive energy against a good offensive individual player and team."
In a matchup between two strong regional opponents, Williams and Springfield both hoped to add an important nonconference victory to their resumes before the start of conference play. The Ephs would once again be without leading scorer Kyle Scadlock, who will miss the rest of the season with an injury. But Williams responded well in their first game without Scadlock, having dismantled Fitchburg State by a 50-point margin on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Pride entered today's contest coming off an 18-point home loss to Trinity College.
Both teams dug in on defense, making easy baskets difficult to come by. Williams has allowed an average of just 63.5 points per game, while Springfield has allowed just 64.6. James Heskett proved to be the Ephs' most formidable offensive weapon early on. The junior battled his way to 15 first half points including 3-5 from deep.
The Ephs created some separation with an 11-2 run towards the end of the half. Cole Teal capped off the run with a three from the top of the arc that gave Williams its first double-digit lead of the game at 34-23 with 1:21 left. After a timeout, Springfield chipped away at the deficit, but Williams still led 34-28 at the half.
From the beginning, Williams looked determine to stop Jake Ross, a sophomore guard who has averaged 25 points per game so far this season. Multiple players drew the tough assignment, and together they held the d3hoops.com Preseason All-American to only 8 points on 4-13 shooting in the first half.
"We were able to throw a lot of different guys at him to prevent him from gettin in a rhythm," said Coach App. "We could put Cole [Teal] on him and he's more of a guard. We could put a bigger guy on him like James [Heskett]. Then Henry [Feinberg] could come in and be physical with him. With a guy like that, you can't let him go one on one. Our weak side defenders made it feel like he had less space."
Jolted by a strong finish to the first half, Williams emerged from the locker room reenergized and looking to attack. The Ephs put on an offensive clinic of unselfishness and quick ball movement that led to myriad wide-open looks. In the first ten minutes, Williams increased their 6-point half time lead to 20. Much of the run came with non-starters in the game. But the Ephs never relented on defense and Springfield never made a serious run to get back in the game.
"That's how we want to be and look," said Coach App. "We think one of our biggest strengths is our depth. We've seen the sophomore class have a jump in confidence this semester. It's been fun to watch them play."
Bobby Casey stole the show in the second half with a barrage of three-pointers. He finished with a game-high 20 points and 6 rebounds on 6-9 shooting from three. Heskett did not score in the second half, but still finished with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. As a team, the Ephs shot 13 of 32 (40.6 percent) from three.
Andy McNulty led the Pride with 12 points. Ross finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds on 5-17 shooting.
After a three-week break, Williams returns to action against Hamline on December 29th at 9 p.m.


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Villa Quintilii, located in the Appia Antica surrounding, was constructed…
Until 11 January 2015 on exhibit in Rome an original collection of works of art at Museum Carlo Bilotti (just inside Villa Borghese): "Imago Mundi". The out of average character of this art event lays in the works' origins and aims at one time. "Imago Mundi" has its roots in Luciano Benetton's foundation for the arts: it holds works gathered or commisioned by the stylist to emerging artists he happened to meet during his journeys around the world. Multiple ambitions are behind this operation, that is to say to provide emerging artists with an incubator of ideas and with a platform for visibility, and ultimately to create a visual map of humanity throughout the artistic expressions it produces. One basic rule: 10×12 cm sized images accepted only.
Free entrance!
Venue: Museum Carlo Bilotti, Aranciera di Villa Borghese – Villa Borghese.
Time: Tue-Fri 10am-4pm. Sat-Sun 10am-7pm. Mon closed.
From Hotel Des Artistes you just need to catch metro line A up to Flaminio.


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By NCRI Staff
NCRI – On Tuesday, September 5, 2017, people held rally in front of the Parliament of Iran to protest against the condition of a labor activist and a member of the boards of The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (SWTSBC) who have been imprisoned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REa6ONWNSqI" width="660″ height="370″ frameborder="0″ allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">
Reza Shahabi started his hunger strike 28 days ago to protest against his detainment. The hunger strike began when the labor activist realized that the Judiciary has not approved his medical leave and he has to remain in jail for other 968 days.
The Rally began in front of the parliament on Tuesday following a call by of Reza Shahabi's wife, Robabeh Rezaei. A group of people, students, labor activists, and drivers of Tehran Bus Company gathered in Baharestan Sq. demanding the release of Reza Shahabi. But the rally was prevented from the beginning by the security guards and plain clothes agents.
The SWTSBC published the news on its website. According to this organization, the armed forces attacked those rallied from the beginning and the protesters marched towards the parliament due to pressures from the security forces and the police. The protesters were chanting slogans such as "Student, Worker, Alliance, Union", "The imprisoned worker shall be released."," Worker, Student, Teacher, Alliance, Alliance", "We protest unless Shahabi be released." Some people on the street joined the rally as well. The protesters held the photographs of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in their hands.
Reza Shahabi who had been released on bail for medical treatment was summoned to the prison and according to the SWTSBC, he was imprisoned again since the prosecutor insisted on the seizure of the collateral's property.
The International Transport Workers' Federation and the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations have expressed concern over situation of Reza Shahabi who is a member of the board of the SWTSBC and Ismail Abdi who is a board member of Teachers' Association.


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THE HIGHER STATE - 'Same Title' (13 O'Clock Records 015) November 2013
This was England's very own The Higher State's fourth album and third for Austin, Texas label, 13 O'Clock Records. I'm uncertain as to any reason why the group decided not to give the album a title, maybe they just didn't want to, after all the band name alone is so killer, why detract from a Higher State?
Out of interest 13 O'Clock Records are a new label who've been busy recruiting talented groups and performers from around the globe, mostly European I may add. Their roster also includes Paul Messis, who is the new bass player for The Higher State, The Flight Reaction (from Sweden), Os Haxixins (from Brazil) and Arsene Obscene (from France).
They also reproduce wonderful thick card album sleeves and use heavy vinyl. Satisfaction is guaranteed for the purveyor of a quality record. If this wasn't enough, The Higher State have recorded their new long player in MONO and it all sounds sublime.
The album was officially released on the 12th November 2013 but I got a sneak preview of it's folk-rockin' greatness via a very limited edition promo CD that Higher State's drummer Mole kindly sent me during October. It's taken me nine months to get my act together and write a review!
In hindsight, the year 2013 was quite busy for The Higher State. They replaced bass player Ben Jones with Paul Messis. I have exchanged many emails with Paul over the years and I can say for certain that he was thrilled to be joining such an amazing group, after all, The Higher State are the U.K's foremost exponents of authentic folk-rock. Who wouldn't want to be associated with and part of such a class act?
With this album, Kent's finest have gone all out to create a purist '65/'66 Los Angeles / Sunset Strip folk rock masterpiece. It's a direction that they've hinted at ever since they began recording but in 2013 it seems that The Higher State focused their efforts wholly on this style of music.
The music is expertly recorded by Marty & Mole at Sandgate Sound Studio where they have custom built an 8 track recording facility. All twelve songs have beautiful multi-layered harmonies over the soundscapes of Rickenbacker jangle, tambourine splashes and drum patterns that are at the very least the equal of anything laid down at the 'epicentre of jangle' during mid 1965 to mid 1966.
It's difficult to pick my favourite cuts from the album as I dig them all, they really are stupendous and ooze a classy commercial folk beat. Back when The Byrds were having their hit records these boys would surely have also hit the big time. They have received rave reviews in the notable music magazines and fanzines as well as online blogs etc but underground critical acclaim aside, The Higher State have already hit the big time in my 'forever mid 60s' world....
Paul Messis provided one song in the set, the driving folk rocker 'Why Don't You Prove It' which adds clattering Keith Moon style stick work and stellar guitar tones. Marty's opening gambits 'Need To Shine' and 'Jagged Words' are sublime and so too is his mournful 'Sky Clears To Blue' which sounds like the same kind of 12 string moody trip Westchester, LA combo The Roosters were so adept at recording.
Side two opens with the exciting single 'Potentially (Everyone Is Your Enemy)' and continues on an unrelenting folk jangling trip until the powerful 'Try Slowing Down' where Marty spits out some insightful and thought provoking words seemingly about 'plastic people'.
"But look here comes another trend
Now you look just like your friend
Where will it end - where will it end.
You've laughed at me for all these years
It helps to divert from your fears.
Get the latest style from the salon
as the band wagon rolls along - rolls along."
Marty Ratcliffe (12 string guitar, harmonica, vocals)
Daniel Shaw (guitar, vocals)
Mole (drums, percussion, vocals)
Paul Messis (bass)
Prior to the release of this album in November 2013 The Higher State released a single on their own label State Records as part of their "Sandgate Sound Acetate Series" This came out in July 2013, limited to just 500 copies on super heavyweight vinyl.
'Potentially (Everyone Is Your Enemy)' was backed with the non album cut 'All Ties That Bind' written by Mole. This could easily have nestled on the album but the 60s purist creatures that they are could not have a thirteen song album. The classic 60s albums never had more than twelve songs.
The Higher State released one more song in 2013 when they provided a cover of the classic 'Don't Run And Hide' for the Fruits de Mer, Hollies tribute "Re-Evolution."
I wonder what 2014 holds for the group, we're already half way through the year without any offerings although I believe that they have been active in the studio last month cutting a couple of
13th Floor Elevators covers for a forthcoming Fruits de Mer 7" box set, "7 And 7 Is".
Where to buy The Higher State records:
13 O'Clock Records
State Records


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All main indexes on Vietnam's stock market closed lower on December 21.
On HSX, the VN-Index lost 7.45 points (0.78 per cent) and the VN30-Index 12.25 points (1.29 per cent).
On HNX, the HNX-Index lost 0.38 points (0.33 per cent), the HNX30-Index 1.66 points (0.75 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 0.06 points (0.11 per cent).
Liquidity on HSX reached VND4.3 trillion ($189.4 million), 2.2 per cent higher than yesterday, and on HNX was VND826.1 billion ($36.4 million), 7.7 per cent lower.
The VN-Index opened at 949.45 points and ended the morning at 954.33 points. It then closed the day at 946.06 points.
In food and beverages, TLG increased 4 per cent, VNM 0.9 per cent, and VCF 0.8 per cent, while BBC lost 1.1 per cent and KDC and TAC closed at their opening price.
In banking, BVH increased 1.2 per cent, MBB and VPB 0.2 per cent, and VCI 0.1 per cent, as MSN lost 3.8 per cent, STB 2 per cent, CTG 1.6 per cent, SSI 1.4 per cent, BID 1.2 per cent, and VCB 1 per cent. EIB closed at its opening price.
In energy, PPC rose 0.5 per cent and GAS 0.3 per cent, while PVD lost 3.8 per cent, NT2 1.5 per cent, and PLX 0.4 per cent. PGD and PVT closed at their opening price.
In construction and real estate, QCG gained 5.3 per cent and VRE 5.2 per cent, while ROS lost 4.3 per cent, HT1 3 per cent, REE 1.9 per cent, FLC 1.1 per cent, VIC 0.7 per cent, ITA 0.3 per cent, and NVL 0.2 per cent.
VNR was the largest net sold share on HNX, with VND3.2 billion ($140,000), followed by VGC (VND2.2 billion ($96,916)), NTP (VND1.1 billion ($48,458)), TTC (VND536.3 million ($23,635)), and PVE (VND346 million ($15,242)).
On UPCoM, foreign investors bought 826,930 shares worth VND29.62 billion ($1.3 million).
They net sold on HNX by VND1.3 billion ($57,268).