text:
Ah, fall is finally here! The temperature has cooled down and that means it's time for sweatshirts, pumpkin spice hot chocolate and Fantasy Football (Wish me luck — I'm a rookie!). It is also the period when we start mapping out marketing plans for next year.
In preparation for this blog, I reviewed what I outlined in last year's planning blog and soon realized that the 7 points that I highlighted for 2016 are more relevant than ever. Some are especially significant now that we are getting a better handle on Millennials' and Boomers' meat consumption habits through our recent research. So my advice here is simple: read and repeat! (Just think of that genius marketing phrase from the shampoo bottle: "Lather, Rinse, Repeat." If something is effective, do it again!)
Some of you have been working on these areas. I see it: in your advertising, in-store POS, social media posts, packaging, etc. As someone deeply invested in the meat industry, I am inspired when I observe these kinds of positive changes that move us forward. Now that you have started, keep the course. If you haven't embraced these ideas to up your marketing ante, pick one or two that could have the biggest impact on your business and get started.
If you have read this far and are not the "marketing guy," then please forward this blog to him/her and ask how these items can be incorporated into the marketing plan for next year.
Wondering how you should apply these to your company and/or brands? I welcome your questions and comments. And feel free to leave me a Fantasy Football tip – I can use all the help I can get!
Watch our "2017 Planning" Midan Minute Video


text:
The planet Venus is named for the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The Romans used the names of their most important gods and goddesses for the brightest objects in the sky.
Venus is the brightest visible planet and the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon. Since Venus appears brightly in the morning and evening, some people thought it was actually two separate bodies. For a time, Venus was called the "morning star," or Eosphorus, and the "evening star," or Hesperus. Some of the Romans also called its morning appearance "Lucifer," sharing the name with the Biblical character.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
My Dear sweet Heart,
I had the best dream ever. You and me, in beautiful colours of autumn, traversing by the paddy fields, climbing uphill's to reach the hill tops. We were hoisting prayer flags, holding hand in hand and running against the wind, your beautiful hair swept by the wind and touching my face, your fragrance entering my nostrils. I saw you and me sitting under the shade of huge juniper, me holding u in my arms, you gazing in my eyes from my lap, as I talk to you my immense feeling of love and joy, we sharing the dreams of our beautiful future. Simply I am sunken into your vines,
I love you and miss you every single moment. My perfect sweetheart, let's be the epitome of love for the remaining world.
-Missing you, my love.


text:
hi there!
1st - thanks for this fantastic forum an for all of travellers point people!
it's my firt post in this forum.
i'm planning a trip to iceland next summer, probably one week, can anyone give some advices?
what should i visit? i think i'm going alone, it's safe?
thanx a lot


text:
COLUMN: Military Careers Must Remain Viable
America is blessed by our Armed Forces.
They are the most effective military in history to achieve peace through strength. The men and women who wear U.S. uniforms are not only brave, they are volunteers who have made defending our freedom their life's work. Americans have long understood that to preserve our military we have to treat those willing to fight as well as we can.
President Barack Obama and Congress have already made serious cuts to the military budget. If the supercommittee fails this fall, defense appropriations will be slashed. This could reduce military funding to levels not seen since before World War II — with dire consequences our troops and their families.
These cuts keep me up at night. As the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, I have a special obligation to make sure our fighting men and women and their families are treated with the respect they deserve. We must keep faith with them.
As part of a military family, I know how stressful life in the armed forces can be. Minimizing that stress, and maintaining our fighting edge, is just as important as giving troops the best equipment.
We must also ensure that a military career is seen as a viable, even optimal, vocation for hundreds of thousands of Americans and their families. Service members must achieve fulfilling lives, to the highest of their potential. Potential cuts from the supercommittee put this at risk.
Historically, when the military budget is cut, the Defense Department reduces the number of people in our armed forces. We have done this after every war, and the process is already underway. The question is – how far will we go?
Armed Services Committee Republicans project that as a result of the $465 billion in cuts already passed, as well as the additional $500 billion cuts expected, DoD would likely have to lay off some 200,000 soldiers and Marines.
We are in the longest conflict our all-volunteer force has ever confronted. The Sept. 11 attack caught America by surprise and our military was not prepared to sustain the campaigns that followed. Our military forces were too small and not properly equipped.
Who paid the price? The men and women in our all-volunteer military and their families. The cost to them is not measured in dollars, but in more human terms: repeated deployments, mental and physical damage, families separated, strained and, in some cases, broken.
Have we learned nothing from their sacrifices over the last decade, which have successfully isolated terrorists overseas?
It seems not. Again, we appear bent on significantly reducing our forces as threats against America grow. With increasing global challenges and fewer forces to meet them, should anything beyond "peace" occur, our military men and women will be asked to deploy frequently, with less time between deployments to train, refit or spend time with their families.
In other words, the future for military personnel and their families could look like the past — with great strain on the warfighter and a greater strain on the warfighter's family.
On the home front, Armed Services Committee Republicans project that military benefits will also be cut. Given the staggering reductions contemplated, no family support program will likely be untouched. Support to military families, a factor that sustained the all-volunteer force in 10 years' of war, will be marginalized.
Keep in mind that deployment schedules; retirement and health plans, and day-to-day benefits are all part of a promise made by Americana to the men and women who defend us. Those are promises that Washington politicians must not break in the name of deficit reduction.
Defense spending as a portion of the budget has been on the decline recently. Our military budget is not driving America's debt crisis — it accounts for less than 20 percent of the budget. Indeed, while the Defense Department has sustained deeper cuts than any other part of discretionary spending, deficits and debt are still out of control.
Liberals are pushing for most budget cuts to come from defense spending — a disproportionate percent putting American families at risk.
Those in Washington who want to revisit Defense accounts must take a sober look at their actions' real consequences. Military life is tough, but so far we are blessed by those who choose to serve.
Moreover, we have come to learn that family readiness equals military readiness. "If mamma ain't happy," former Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton used to say, "ain't nobody happy."
Extending deployments while reducing benefits would put extra burdens on military personnel and their families. They have already sacrificed more for this nation than most other Americans. Breaking promises to these relatively few dedicated citizens will drive many of the best and brightest from our ranks.
Before we break faith with these men and women, we should ask ourselves how we are prepared to cope without them — especially when our freedoms and way of life are at risk.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R- S.C.) is the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel; Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey are due to testify Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee for the first time.


text:
Last night, I had the pleasure of watching a double feature of Godzilla vs. Space-Godzilla and Gojira vs. Destroyah. I preferred the latter (details later) but the first one had its merits, especially the cameo by the Cosmos. I only have three manga of Godzilla and this just happens to be one of them. I've gone through and picked out some of the more exciting pages and here they are for you...
First the cover and a few pages in colour and then it changes to Black and White. It loses none of its appeal in monochrome.
At the end of the story was this little two page bit about the inner-workings of Godzilla. Intriguing.
What follows is a post I wrote for Facebook after I watched the two movies.
here's the ultimate irony. We had decades of badly dubbed Godzilla
movies and that was our only way to view them growing up. Later, the
dubbing improved and eventually one can see them subtitled.
I have just spent the last few hours watching Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla and G vs. Destroyah with NO English whatsoever.
The next movie in the series to be shown is the Emmerich monstrosity
from America with Matthew Broderick. And it is being shown dubbed
(badly) into Japanese with NO option to hear the original voice-track.
So far, it's an improvement!
I gave up after a few minutes. I guess I never will watch that movie again (imho, not a terrible movie, just don't call it Godzilla!)
Someday, I hope to track down this book:
That's it for the Heisei era. Next up is Millenium.


text:
It is that time again. All the chips are stacked against me, nothing seems to be going my way and it seems like the hits just keep coming while my resources to handle those hits whether financial, social or spiritual continue to dwindle. A person gets to know a great deal about themselves in difficult situations when the totality of your person is stripped bare and there standing before you is you. It is not the artificial made up you that you pony around for the world to see, it's the true you in all it's cowardice, fear, self-loathing, heroic, loving and caring self. Difficult times truly do test the very fabric and nature of our souls and make you question everything about who you are and who you believe yourself to be.
On this journey of life and this road to fulfillment I have had to answer those questions many times, really who am I. Am I the hero that I believe myself to be or the coward that is afraid, worried and fragile in the face of adversity. Can I continue forward against these immeasurable odds that seem to grow moment by moment. Do I have the resolve to continue forward and the audacity to believe in myself when there is no visible evidence of why I should do so only my belief that I must. On the other side of this darkness and chaos will there be light or the cruel realization that everything I have believed my entire life has been wrong.
Sometimes I am scared, sometimes I want to give up, sometimes it hurts to continually try so hard and fall so far. Sometimes I look myself in the mirror and don't recognize who I truly am. Instead I see glimpses of my self staring me back, a shell of myself waffling in the mirror. Sometimes I want to hide away ashamed of how I have failed, of how I continue to struggle, of how I continue to hold on against all hope that through this darkness there is light and that somehow maybe just maybe that light is inside of me. And somehow I will learn to allow this light to shine.
Success does not make great men it is only a result of what has made us great. The internal fortitude the spiritual belief, the faith that has carried us like footsteps in the sand when our egos failed. Yes sometimes I am scared, sometimes I have doubts and sometimes I feel beaten. But still I carry on. In the face of adversity when all seems lost and I feel like I have taken all I can I still get up believing that maybe this will be the time. In the darkness of my despair I still search for the light to shine within me. And when all hope seems lost I continue to believe and move forward. It is not in spite of this but because of this that I am heroic.
Others can believe in me because I am of them, of their fears, their worries, their beliefs and their strength. It is not my lack of fear that makes me great it is my willingness to acknowledge, face, overcome and share it that does. The hardest part of success is to face not only what is before you, but what is within you, to acknowledge who you truly are and deal with it.


text:
Yeah, three posts on one day: cool, huh
Mostly this is just a sum up off the stuff I've done lately when I was not learning for my exams or have been to the Speicher. This time it's propably the most useless peace of software that has ever been written on this planet (but still fun though). It's filesystem using FUSE which allows you to mount the 512 bytes (yes, that half a kilobyte) of the ATmega168 of an Arduino in read-only.
That said, enjoy the code … play arround with it, or just shake your head and close this tab


text:
Watch Tom's story shown on Channel 10 news, Tuesday 7 June 2016 here.
The St Vincent de Paul Society (WA) is mourning the loss of one of its longest serving volunteers, Tom Fisher OAM, who passed at the weekend (Saturday 4 June), aged 95.
Only weeks after leaving the HMAS Sydney, Tom lost all his mates after it was sunk and lost in 1941 - one of Australia's greatest naval tragedies. It was only recovered in 2008 after renewed efforts to bring closure to the mystery.
Tom made a promise that if he survived the war he would dedicate the rest of his life in the service of others and that is exactly what he did.
St Vincent de Paul Society CEO Mark Fitzpatrick said the community had lost a loyal and selfless gentleman who had helped hundreds of people during his amazing life.
"Tom's commitment to the Society and the work we do cannot be overstated," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
"Whether as a member, Conference President, Regional President, State President, or Society archivist and historian, Tom never stopped giving.
"Tom was a loving, giving man who had a cheeky, brilliant and extremely funny sense of humour that made us all laugh and enjoy his company. There are not many people who we have come across that touch our spirit in such a beautiful way as Tom did.
"A homeless service named in Tom's honour is to be officially opened in August and we wish that he could have seen this project come to fruition, but we know his wife Shirley and his family will be proud to be part of the this significant occasion.
"Tom so chuffed to learn that a homeless shelter would be named in his honour and it will be a living testament to his life of kindness and generosity to the community he served so selflessly," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
He was the first to open a pantry in his home in 1980 to provide food and clothing to people in need.
"Tom Fisher was a State treasure and we will be forever grateful for all that he has done for the people of WA on behalf of the St Vincent de Paul Society," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
"His wife Shirley has been equally as generous, dedicating years of volunteer service to Vinnies and our thoughts are with her and the family at this sad time.
"The community has lost a true gentleman. We will make sure his legacy will live on through Tom Fisher House which helps rough sleeping individuals and couples," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
Photo: Tom Fisher collecting in his last Street Appeal for Vinnies.


text:
At the moment I am currently working on a program (for school) that saves and reads CD album information from a file (pre-made).
The information that can be saved (and read) is the album title, the artist, the recording group, the genre, the date purchased (in the DD/MM/YYYY format) and the price. The issue, however, is that whenever the user browses through the different files, the date purchased is not read correctly, and instead only displays the DD.
I've figured out that Visual Basic only reads the date correctly when the date (in the datafile) is in quoatation marks (""). So, my questions are: how can I save the data to the file in quoatation marks or how can I get Visual Basic to read the date from the file correctly?
I don't have my code on me right now, but I'll go by memory. (By the way, a horizontal scroll bar is used by the user to select which set of data they want to view).
Private Sub hsbRecord_Change()
Open "<filename>" For Input As #1
While tempCount <> hsbRecord.Value
tempCount = tempCount + 1
Input #1, tempCD
Input #1, tempArtist
Input #1, tempGroup
Input #1, tempGenre
Input #1, tempPurchase
Input #1, tempPrice
Close #1
txtTitle.Text = tempCD
txtArtist.Text = tempArtist
txtRecording.Text = tempGroup
txtType.Text = tempGenre
txtPurchase.Text = tempPurchase
txtPrice.Text = tempPrice
End Sub
Private Sub cmdSave_Click()
Open "<file name>" For Append As #1
Print #1, txtTitle.Text
Print #1, txtArtist.Text
Print #1, txtRecording.Text
Print #1, txtType.Text
Print #1, txtPurchase.Text
Print #1, txtPrice.Text
Close #1
End Sub


text:
Free Streaming Painkillers in HD FormatNow you can see Painkillers in high quality with duration 105 Min and has been aired on 2015-11-15 and MPAA rating is 1.
- Original Title : Painkillers
- Movie title in your country : Painkillers
- Year of movie : 2015
- Genres of movie : Thriller, Science Fiction, Action,
- Status of movie : Released
- Release date of movie : 2015-11-15
- Companies of movie : Badlands Features, Liberation Pictures, Ferns Entertainment,
- Countries of movie : Canada,
- Language of movie : English,
- Durationof movie : 105 Min
- Average vote of movie : 4
- Youtube ID of movie : 3ZH8Bjayetg
- Translation of movie : EN,
- Actors of movie :Tahmoh Penikett (Cafferty), Erica Durance (Trudy), Lesley-Ann Brandt (Guts), Colm Feore (Dr. Troutman), Julia Voth (Masters), Riza Santos (Madeline), Caroline Lindy (Sasha), Mandie Vredegoor (Nurse Keller), Joel Jackshaw (Stevens)
Movie synopsis of Painkillers :
Full Painkillers in Best Look with movie summary "Led by Major John Cafferty, a squad of US soldiers are sent on a mission,deep into the mountainous regions of Afghanistan with orders to extract a mysterious top secret package. Now they are back home in a military hospital because they have no memory of what happened to them, or even who they are. In time, they start to recall the strange events that occurred: apparitions that appeared, luring some of them to their deaths and readings of a powerful electromagnetic energy from a strange unearthly power source. But there is no time to dwell on the past, they need to face the bitter truth about how they ended up in Afghanistan to begin with and the betrayals that wiped out their minds and nearly destroyed their lives." in HD video. Free Painkillers in HD Video by push of the button above.
Streaming movie with title Painkillers full and free movie streaming in HD quality. Streaming movie with title Painkillers free an fun at here. Nowadays, you could see that hundreds a large number of people looking for free Painkillers movie and watch it on their sweat residence with connection to the web. Possibly be happy, you can certainly reach thousands of content members exactly who became sick and tired of waiting pertaining to dvds from the mail, and you will watch at no cost Painkillers. You can get new on-line movie, and obtain it free of charge in our site. It really is fast, quick, free and on top of that to attempt. Enjoy now Painkillers on the web movie without having downloading. You can watch online movie streaming inside HD quality in 105 Min length. Check out trailer movie and also full movie of Painkillers go through the button below to view these movie.
... Release Painkillers in HD Quality 720p ...
Director : Peter Winther, Screenplay : Jason Groce, Screenplay : kirk ross, Screenplay : Peter Winther, Music : Alec Harrison, Cinematography : Kamal Derkaoui, Editor : Kamal Derkaoui, Production Design : Michael J. Duthie, Art Direction : Alan McCullagh
Yes, now you can watch movie of Painkillers fully length and have the connection to this movie Painkillers in best video format.
Tags: amnesia, secret mission, military operation,


text:
we live in one of the fastest changing cities in the UK.
The builders are busy turning the site of the old New Street bus station into the centre of a new district of hotels, flats, offices, cafes and bars. Nearby, at either side of the Grassmarket, the India Buildings and old office blocks on King's Stables Road are set to undergo similar redevelopment. Altogether, around £300 million worth of regeneration work is under way or about to start in the Old Town.
Then there is the small matter of the £850m transformation of the St James Centre, not forgetting the redevelopment of the surrounding streets between there and St Andrew Square, where, guess what, more regeneration work is under way.
The pace of change can be dizzying. The benefits in terms of the new job opportunities alone that come with more than £1 billion of investment in our city are enormous. Our quality of life will be all the better too for the kind of shopping and leisure opportunities that the new St James will bring.
And there is no sign of any let-up. The city, as we reported yesterday, is set to press ahead with plans to attract investment to another 13 sites across the Capital. Granton Waterfront, Waverley Station, Leith Walk and Craigmillar are among the areas identified for further regeneration.
The warnings that a vote for Brexit in yesterday's Referendum would lead to a downturn in the economy has not discouraged the city from targeting further growth. We must hope that this optimism is well placed.
Investors are increasingly turning their eyes to Edinburgh, recognising everything the city has to offer from a beautiful environment to a fantastic quality of life. Successive referendums and elections have thrown up a lot of uncertainty. Regardless of that, the Capital is better placed than any in the UK outside of London to take advantage of any opportunities.


text:
An Elephant & Piggie Book
Piggie is so excited. it's Pig Day...that day set aside to celebrate pigs. Gerald gets quite upset. He's an elephant not a pig. But Piggie soon shows him that anyone can celebrate Pig Day.
What I thought: I've never read an Elephant & Piggie Book that I didn't like. This one was especially good. Gerald gets so sad. My favorite part and illustration was the reveal. (Read the book and you'll know what I'm talking about. I won't give it away!)
(Hyperion, 2011)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems
Posted by Bridget R. Wilson at 7:00 AM
Labels: book review, easy reader
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
As I supsected, during one update I added an extra target for each side, but forgot to update the counters. None of the sides would have been able to finish their objectives.
Mission has been fixed now as v2.0.
Moderator: SYN Exec
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


text:
Practice Areas
FDA Extends Comment Periods on Intentional Adulteration, High-Risk Foods
The Food and Drug Administration has extended from March 31 to June 30 the deadline for public comments on a proposed rule that would require the largest food businesses in the U.S. and abroad to take steps to prevent facilities from being the target of intentional attempts to contaminate the food supply. Under this proposal, a food facility would be required to have a written food defense plan that addresses significant vulnerabilities in its food production process. Facilities then would have to identify and implement strategies to address these vulnerabilities, establish monitoring procedures and corrective actions, verify that the system is working, ensure that personnel assigned to the vulnerable areas receive appropriate training and maintain certain records. With some exceptions, this rule would apply to both domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food and are required to register as a food facility.
The FDA is also extending from April 7 to May 22 the deadline for public comments and scientific data and information that will help it refine its draft approach to identifying high-risk foods for which additional recordkeeping requirements are appropriate and necessary to protect the public health, as required by the Food Safety Modernization Act.


text: Excuses like "the teacher never told me it was due" or "I didn't know we had a science fair project due next week" are history with the new Parent Internet Viewer (PIV) software program for high school and middle school families within the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. PIV is replacing the current Mighty Brain software, and will give parents even more capabilities to stay in touch with their children's education. "It's the electronic version of a small town," said Nancy Nimtz, assistant superintendent for instruction for the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. of this new software and how it will change things for families. "It opens up a whole new dimension of getting information when it's convenient for the consumer." Using the PIV, a parent can view a child's assignment, grades and attendance through the internet. One of the unique features of this particular software package is the capability to have automatic e-mails sent to the family when certain criteria are met. For example, when a grade drops below a certain level, an e-mail message will be sent to parents. Each student will get a user ID and PIN so everything will be kept confidential to the individual. "The Mighty Brain was a wonderful service to us and written by students, which was wonderful to us," said Nimtz, who noted it opened up the technological world for the school corporation which has now, unfortunately, outgrown it. "Mighty Brain was only reactionary, where as a parent I had to go and get information; but now parents will get updates and e-mails." Beth Raker, technology coordinator for the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation has been working on the project for quite some time. She researched various software programs, went to schools and looked at the technology they used and worked closely with Nimtz to develop a program that would work best for the families of the school corporation. "The teachers have been so happy about this," said Raker of the response she is getting from the faculty. Nimtz said "teachers can spend more time teaching than doing paperwork. It doesn't replace the face-to-face time, but it gives parents a resource they never had." One thing Nimtz and Raker especially like about having the online access to parents is the fact that so many people have such limited time in their daily schedules, and this computer software makes life just a little bit easier. Parents can settle down at 10 p.m. and view their child's progress online at a time when they are not rushed and can concentrate instead of trying to fit things in when the teacher is in the school building. Teachers and parents can communicate even more each day, and students will know exactly where they are on the grade scale instead of getting a big surprise at report card time. "From students' point of view, they can track their own achievement. It's a wonderful tool for our kids to manage their own work and own time," said Nimtz. "When I was in school, grades were a big secret. We never knew where we were." From 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Penn High School Instructional Technology Center Lab, there will be an open house where parents can learn how to use the system. They can sit down with a mentor and learn the ins and outs of the new software program. "It should only take about 15 minutes to use and learn the system," said Raker. The new software has lots of features that the corporation would like to utilize in the future. "Our goal is to improve our communication with our parents. We want to involve them in their student's life and to involve them in a greater degree," said Nimtz. "It gives the staff more knowledge, the parents more knowledge and the kids more knowledge."


text:
Zy*mom"e*ter (?), Zy`mo*sim"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. ferment, or fermentation + -meter: cf. F. zymosimetre.]
An instrument for ascertaining the degree of fermentation occasioned by the mixture of different liquids, and the degree of heat which they acquire in fermentation.
© Webster 1913.
Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.
Sign up
Need help? firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
There are certainly pros to having only one console, for one thing it would put an end to this ridiculous "console war" and may even bring gamers as a community closer together. Then again if console exclusivity were to become a thing of the past, and each and every console were capable of playing any game regardless of the publisher or developer, then consoles would become less about "content" and more about "features". In fact this is already happening to an extent due to multiplat AAA titles being the "driving force" of the industry right now, now more than ever we're seeing console developers attempting to differentiate their platform from the competitions by offering unique features, such as content sharing, access to social/media networks, the implementation of Skype and TV functionality. Eventually though one console would become the dominant force, most likely through becoming a "all-in-one entertainment system" if that were to happen then there would be very little reason for other consoles to exist since they'd effectively be inferior products, thus the dominant console developer would gain complete and total monopoly over the distribution of any and all videogames released on console. But is that really healthy for the industry? Remember when Microsoft tried to implement draconian DRM, attempting to block the sales of used games and dictate when and how we play our games? Well if a console company were to have complete control over what content is available and how we access it then what stops such disastrous policies from actually being forced upon us? I'm in no way trying to demonize Microsoft, it's just that most gamers know about the Xbox One policy debacle so that helps better illustrate my point.
|The Xbox One debacle taught us that a console made with a focus on restrictive policies and paywalls will never succeed while consumers still have a choice in what console they purchase
The quality of multiplat titles is also something that needs to taken into consideration because they are often held back from being quite as good as they could have been in order to perform well on each console. We know that certain exclusives like Uncharted or The Last Of Us wouldn't have been possible on a console with architecture inferior to that of the PS3, if these games were developed as multplat titles it's reasonable to assume they wouldn't have looked quite so good or played quite so well. It's the games that are developed with a single consoles architecture in mind that often perform better than those created to be multiplat titles.
When Sega first set about challenging Nintendo it was through their exclusive Sonic franchise that they were able to compete, but had Nintendo also had access to Sonic there would have been little reason if any for consumers to purchase a Sega genesis console. Games like The Last Of Us, Halo and Mario exist as proof that exclusive games are still viable in the current industry and can be incredibly successful if done well, but are these so called "system sellers" as necessary as they once were? for games like Mario or The Legend of Zelda is it even possible for them to remain unchanged if they were to appear on a non Nintendo system? Given the current industries obsession with mass appeal it's very likely that these franchises and many like them would undergo a drastic overhauls in order to make them more "appealing" and "accessible" this would probably be enough to bring a few newcomers to the franchise, but it would inevitably alienate many long time fans.
With the announcement of Valve's Steam Machine, and it's ability to play any and all games available on the Steam service through (SOS) aka the "Steam Operating System" many believe it has the potential to change the videogame console landscape, whether or not the Steam Machine will make a significant splash in the mainstream is debatable but in my opinion, due to it's PC like nature and digital content focus it's certainly worth taking notice of.
|Will the Steam Machine succeed? and if so what effect would that have on the videogame console landscape?
I agree with the statement above, and I'm pretty sure that if you really take the time to think about it mostly everyone would come to agree. But it is worth remembering why exclusive games became a thing in the first place. You see books and videogames do have some similarities, printed words much like games on a disc require a platform which they can be experienced through before they can be enjoyed, the pages in a book are as much a platform as a console. Although the key difference being that books are capable of displaying any text and any story, where as games require a console with compatible architecture before they can be played, the main difference being is there's no need for separate companies to develop multiple versions of books as a platform because printed text is compatible with every kind of book, where as certain games can't be played on certain consoles due to incompatibility architecture.
Personally I'm not completely apposed to having a single console that can play any game, there really isn't so much need for exclusionary exclusivity anymore, but is the industry really ready for that yet? I mean if there was such a console would there be any need for competitors to release their own seeing as how their console would perform practically the same with the only real differences being the features they offer? Also if there was to be only one console then who would the developer be? Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve? Heck it could even be from a completely new developer. But then who's to stop the company that develops the only console required to play games from implementing restrictive policies due to there being no direct competition?
|Would a "one console to rule them all" approach actually work, or would such power inevitably lead to corruption?
As always thanks for reading my blog.
Don't forget to follow The inner ramblings of a videogamer on Facebook, Twitter and Google +


text:
Current Articles
Leading IT service and support company Doherty Associate has appointed Richard Ruddlesden as Sales Director. He joins from core Microsoft infrastructure company Teksys.
Prior to this, Ruddlesden has held a number of senior sales management positions with Veritas, Seagate, Symantec and Pegasus. In his new role, he will spearhead Doherty's sales strategy with particular reference to the company's widely acclaimed CloudToo brand.
CloudToo is a low-cost alternative to the pain of funding the purchase and support of new IT. Aimed at SMEs with between 5 and 25 users, the CloudToo package combines the latest hardware, cloud software, security and unlimited support for a fixed monthly service fee.
Commenting on Ruddlesden's appointment, Terry Doherty CEO of Doherty Associates said, "Richard is an extremely experienced Sales Director with an impressive track record of building highly successful teams, especially in the core Microsoft infrastructure market. With Richard driving our sales operations I believe that we are well placed to expand our market penetration significantly, especially in the SME sector with our new CloudToo package. I welcome him aboard and I look forward to working with him."
For his part, Ruddlesden welcomed these comments adding, "Over two decades Doherty Associates has established itself as a leading supplier of IT support and specialist IT services. They have an excellent reputation and this has been boosted by the widespread acclaim they have received for CloudToo. I am delighted to be joining them and I am look forward to taking the success story to the next level."


text:
Sharp moves in bond and foreign exchange markets have underlined the challenge that Europe's top central bankers face as they prepare investors for the day when they will start to phase out policies that have supported the economy through financial crises and political uncertainty.
Continue Reading Below
European Central Bank head Mario Draghi's statements this week about a "firming and broadening" economic recovery and a "prudent" and "gradual" withdrawal of stimulus were taken as a sign the bank was going to phase out its measures faster than expected. It sent the euro and bond yields suddenly higher for two days, an indication investors expect higher rates.
Similar market jitters surrounded comments by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney the day after, and on Thursday the euro, pound and bond markets were still broadly buoyant.
The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.1401, the highest in 14 months and up more than 2 cents since the start of the week. The pound has gained almost 3 cents this week, to trade at $1.2977. And the yield on the 10-year German government bond at 0.44 percent is up sharply from 0.24 percent last week, though below levels seen in March.
The market volatility recalled the so-called "taper tantrum" of 2013, when markets reacted sharply to remarks by U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the eventual reduction, or tapering, of a stimulus program involving the purchase of government bonds using newly printed money. The Fed eventually did end its bond purchases and moved to raise its key interest rate. But that took a long time — the first hike came only in December, 2015, after which it waited an entire year before moving again, such was the market's sensitivity to higher rates.
The ECB's stimulus involves a similar program to that of the Fed, purchasing 60 billion euros ($68 billion) per month in bonds.
The market moves underline the wide-ranging effects that an eventual end to bond-buying by the ECB will have, as would an interest rate increase in the U.K. An end to bond purchases should send bond prices down, as a major buyer, the ECB, exits the market. Longer-term borrowing costs — for governments, for instance, or for people with new mortgages — would rise. Stocks and other riskier investments might become less attractive relative to safer holdings such as bank CDs.
Analyst Carsten Brzeski at ING-DiBa said Draghi's remarks did not contain a major shift in the bank's stance. "This is not a taper tantrum yet. I think markets got slightly carried away with themselves."
But he said the sudden euro jump was "a warning to the ECB that preparing markets is a hard job to do."
Analysts think that the ECB will give a clearer idea about its plans to ease off its bond-buying stimulus at its Sept. 7 meeting, start reducing the purchases in January, and end them before or at the end of 2018. They say the benchmark interest rate, which is at zero to help make lending cheap, will be raised only after that, meaning not until sometime in 2019.
Jane Foley, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Rabobank, said the sudden jump in the euro may also reflect more positive sentiment about the eurozone's political and economic prospects relative to the United States. Earlier in 2017, the euro was plagued by fears that anti-euro, right-wing populists such as France's Marine Le Pen might come to power, while the dollar was boosted by expectations that new U.S. President Donald Trump would engage in more infrastructure spending and tax cuts. Those expectations have shifted in the euro's favor after Le Pen was defeated for president by pro-euro Emmanuel Macron, and after hopes that Trump might act quickly have faded.
Draghi's remarks about a strengthening recovery "weren't in any way or form outwardly hawkish... and yet that was the markets interpretation. And that suggests to me there is a lot of bias out there for the euro... partly because of the improved political backdrop in Europe but it's also disappointment with the dollar."
Markets were already leaning in favor of the euro and "probably read a little more into Draghi's comments than he intended to say," she said.


text:
Inspections and Transitions at Navy OCS(00:28)
The Outpost program at Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) introduces students to the importance of both the Navy khaki uniform and routine personnel inspections. Candidates also transition from living in the indoctrination building to the officer candidate quarters to signify the next part of their education.
More from the Navy
More from Today's Military
Related Tags
Schedule a meeting with a recruiter and learn what to expect from your visit.
Get a complimentary DVD and magazine, plus additional information from each Service, sent to your home.
View answers to commonly asked questions about the Military.
FUTURES Magazine
Want to see even more of what life in the Military is really like? Check out our FUTURES magazine page! Order or download a complimentary magazine featuring an in-depth look into the lives of the people who make up today's Military, and be sure to check out the accompanying videos.
Chief Petty Officer Dawn Calhoun: The purpose of Outpost is to introduce the proper wearing of the khaki uniform to our students. This is the first time they are in their khaki uniform. This is their first introduction to a personnel inspection as well. Outpost also has the indoctrination candidates transition from the indoctrination wing to the officer candidate phase of officer candidate school training.closeX


text:
man person would do nothing if s/he waited
until s/he could do it so well that no one could
find fault."
- John Henry Newman
(the edits to make this apply to everyone are mine)
Many thanks to Brandie Kajino for this awesome quote on perfectionism. This is something I have made great strides in overcoming. Writing this blog has helped me tremendously with it as I have dared to post things that I've only reviewed a couple times before posting live. It hurts deep in my stomach every time I go back to an old post or look at the Free e-book I posted and see a typo. But I put it out there anyway and just keep fixing things as I see them or when I have time. I still fear that putting out writing with typos might hurt my reputation for doing high quality work but I also keep telling myself this: If I wait till I get it perfect, I'll never get it done. Better to err and help people who don't care if there are typos in it, than to be perfect and never help anyone.
10 Myths about Managing Your Time
How to Avoid Perfectionism without Becoming Careless or Sloppy From the Goals to Action blog by Roger Constandse


text:
Don Keating, of the Eastern Ohio Bigfoot organization just sent me a link to the Hunt TV website. They are not suggesting that the creature that was captured on the stealthcam is bigfoot, they are just puzzled as to what it is. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. Is this bigfoot?
Here is the website to view the video:


text:
The Concubine Saga - Lloyd Lofthouse
Author: Lloyd Lofthouse
Pages: 550
Published: 2012
Genre: Historical Fiction
Challenges: Historical Fiction challenge, Chunkster
Edition: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Description: The deeply intimate story of Robert Hart's loyalty and love for his adoptive land and the woman who captured his heart. (via Goodreads.com)
Thoughts: I had a tough time with this book. I felt that it was more of an obligation more than anything and didn't really enjoy it, except maybe for a few moments. I thought that the story was a little long at times, particularly in the waning moments of the book and I suppose it didn't help that I had scanned the book on Sunday and knew the ending of the book, which I won't spoil for you. I personally would have liked a map of China at least for reference in where particular cities in China were, but then I could have just looked online as to where these places were. I know for some readers that this isn't an issue, but for me it can be. While I enjoyed the book, I felt that at times, particularly towards the end, that things were a little too detailed.
Bottom line: I thought that it was ok, but it is definitely is something that was a little too dense for me.
Rating: 2.5/5
Pages for 2012: 12443


text:
Jack E. Hamman
Jack E. Hamman, 90, of Royalton, entered into eternal rest on Thursday, September 14, 2017 at home. He was the loving husband of Mary (Ziats) Hamman.
Jack was born on September 10, 1927 in Royalton, Pa. and was the son of the late Abram E. Jr. and Carrie M. (Eagle) Hamman.
He was a United States Army veteran and a retired Instrument Mechanic for New Cumberland Army Depot. Jack was a member of Royalton Emanuel United Methodist Church, American Legion Middletown, Post 594 and Rescue Fireman's Home Association. He also was an avid reader.
Surviving are his loving wife of 60 years, his daughter, Jacquelyn C. and husband Jim Jones, his granddaughter, Jaimee Lee Jones, his son, Clifford E. and wife Angela Bailey, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, all of Middletown.
Services will be held on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 at 11 a.m. at the Matinchek Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Inc., 260 East Main St., Middletown, Pa. Viewing will be from 10 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the funeral home.
Burial will be in Middletown Cemetery, Middletown, Pa.
Condolences may be sent online at www.matinchekfuneralhome.com.


text:
This is my twitter pic, and, as you can probably tell, I'm a Instagram fan.
I've mostly been using my blog for keeping track of the projects I've been involved with which has been fun but I've not really done much writing. I usually post when it's super late so have very little energy to type about anything but I'd like to do more writing on here. This year has actually been the first year I've not done very much writing at all in. I did actually spend the every year since I was 13, writing stories, poems and articles for myself or that were published. So I guess you could say i'm missing the attachment I had to my pens!
Plus there are loads of designers, musicians, artists and icons that i'm always hounding on about to my facebook friends; so I might as well share my <3 obsessions with the whoever comes onto this page. Who knows, you might have the same ones I do.


text:
Psalm 1:1-3
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
Colossians 1
We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
I want to be a woman who is like the tree planted by the water in Psalm 1. How does that happen? By meditating on His word to us. We grow as we learn to know God better and better. This is why the Psalm 1 tree can bear fruit in every season. It's also how we can be filled with joy and choose to be thankful every single day, because He has saved us from darkness. Do you remember the darkness He rescued you from?
Psalm 1:3 tells us the tree's leaves will never wither and will prosper in all they do. The word "prosper" is fascinating to me. It means "to advance, prosper, make progress, succeed, be profitable." Strong's Exhaustive Concordance adds "break out, come mightily, go over, be good, be meet, be profitable, cause to, effect."
I am so thankful He supplies our endurance and patience. Mine runs out. Sometimes I'm astounded by how quickly. Other times, I am reminded we are running a race...like a marathon. Just. Keep. Going. And when it's hard to keep going, trust Him to carry you.
Colossians 1:13 NKJ
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
As I started thinking about these two sections of scripture, I noticed the word "planted," in Psalm 1, which also means "transplanted." Then I looked at verse 13 in Colossians which tells us we have been "delivered," which means "to draw to oneself, to rescue," and we have been conveyed, or "transferred," into the kingdom of the Son, Jesus. I love that word picture. He has drawn us to Himself and rescued us. He scooped us up at just the right time, didn't He? Jesus' work of reconciliation with the Father was the payment for our being transferred into His kingdom. He has transplanted us from darkness into His light. That work has already been done. Yet it's the daily walking out of our faith, our choice to continue to allow ourselves to be drawn to Him, (to think about, rely, and wait on Him,) that is when we will be strengthened and become like the tree in Psalm 1:3, firmly planted along the riverbank – by the water, the Living Water Himself, Jesus! As we stay by the water (Him,) meditating on His words and ways, resting in His Spirit, we will naturally produce good fruit each season. We will have strong, healthy roots, free of bitterness and anything else that will ultimately bring death in our lives – our leaves will not be withered, and we will prosper in what He's called us to do, because it will be in His strength and timing.
Isaiah 26:3-4 tells us,
"You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."
Peace... what the world, and so often, we Christians, lack in our lives. This world is busy and spinning and everything around us calls us and beckons us and seeks to persuade us to keep ourselves busy, too busy for Jesus...too busy to spend time in His word, resting in His presence, sitting at His feet. I am convinced this is the enemy of a fruitful life in Christ. When trials attacks come (and they are PROMISED to come,) the LORD is the only One Who keeps us in perfect peace. "Keeps" means "to guard, watch, watch over, to preserve, to keep from danger, to guard with fidelity, watchman." "Perfect peace" means "completeness, soundness, welfare, health, prosperity, peace, safety, welfare, quiet, tranquillity, contentment." "Stayed" - to lean, lay, rest, support, put, uphold, lean upon, sustain, refresh, revive. As we lean on Him (keep our mind "stayed" on Him,) we rest in Him, let Him support, sustain, refresh, and uphold us, He keeps (guards and watches over) us in perfect peace (complete safety and contentment.) Isn't that amazing? When we choose to lean on Jesus, we are putting our trust in His ability to handle it. To "trust" is "to have confidence in, to be bold, be secure, to be safe and carefree." As one Hebrew lexicon explains, "to confide in, to set one's hope and confidence on...to be secure, to fear nothing for oneself."
...to fear nothing for oneself. When we're trusting in Him, we are relying on His everlasting, unwavering, unchanging, continuous strength. We don't need to fear.
Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."
Strength – rock, rock wall, block of stone, of course, Jesus is the rock....I knew a couple whose baby girl was injured during labor and delivery and she was born only to pass on a few hours after her birth. I remember watching them walk through that trial, leaning on Jesus and trusting in His goodness even when they didn't understand. Later on, the husband shared with us that after going through that trial, he's not afraid of anything anymore. He had been through the worst, and his faith in Christ had been strengthened through the testing of that fiery trial...he is a very dangerous man in the kingdom of God - one who fears Christ alone.
Isaiah 26: 12-13
Lord, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works in us.
O Lord our God, masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.
Psalm 46:10
"Be still and know that I am God. I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."
What does that mean, to be "still?" It means "to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, withdraw, idle, abandon, refrain, forsake, to let go, let alone, to be quiet, to show oneself slack." "Know" means "to learn to know, to learn by experience, perceive, be instructed."
Is this what a gentle and quiet spirit looks like? The stillness in this verse allows us to let go, to be quiet, and relax. As we do this, we learn by experience Who God is as we sit still, quiet our hearts and minds, and experience Him as we learn from Him. Thankfully, we can also rest in knowing that He will be exalted. We are blessed to exalt Him now as we look forward to the day when He will be exalted by all, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is LORD!
Jesus spoke to the storm and said, "Peace, be still," in Mark 4:26. "Peace," "to be silent, hold one's peace, metaph. of a calm, quiet sea, to close the mouth with a muzzle, to muzzle."
As we cast all our cares on Him, pouring our hearts out to Him, we can let it all go. Then we are able to sit quietly and listen, allowing His Spirit to work in our hearts and bring the peace, rest, and stillness we so desperately desire. Go to Him. Everything you need - your deepest, innermost heart's desires are only met in that deep place of intimacy with your maker. Pour out your heart. Let it go. Let Him carry it. It's not for you anymore! He will watch over you. Trade in your heart's hurts and longings for His gift of perfect peace and overflowing love. Let Him weave a beautiful work of peace and rest into your soul. He is the one doing all the work in you (Isaiah 26:12.) Let Him.


text:
- Transfer News
Trabzonspor 'agree terms' with Toure
Liverpool centre-back Kolo Toure is close to joining Trabzonspor, the Turkish club's president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu has claimed.
The 33-year-old arrived at Anfield on a free transfer in July 2013 after his contract at Manchester City expired.
But after featuring regularly during the early months of last season, he did not start any of Liverpool's final 11 league matches.
"We are building the type of squad which we promised to the fans. We have agreed terms with Kolo Toure and we will bring him to the club," Haciosmanoglu told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
Toure was a regular during the first three months of the season even as manager Brendan Rodgers reshuffled his defence frequently in a bid to find a successful combination at the back.
But a poor performance in a 3-1 defeat at Hull City on December 1 cost him his place, which he only regained when fellow centre-back Daniel Agger suffered a calf injury in early January.
Toure was then dropped again after a couple of significant errors that cost Liverpool goals in matches at West Brom and Fulham in February, and did not start another league game before the season's end.
With Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho the regular central defensive pairing over the final three months of last season, and Dejan Lovren arriving from Southampton in July, Toure's Anfield future has been the subject of increasing speculation.


text: I've been reading this forum for a while now and finally decided to start posting. It's great to know that there are local, like-minded people to keep our 2nd amendment rights active and not let them slip away. A bit about me....... I'm just another Engineering student, worked in the industry for a few years but now I'm back at school full time. Did a stint in the Army Reserve and I've been enjoying shooting since I was 5 years old (damn, it's really been 21 years?). So to everyone on here: Hi!


text:
The New Year brings with it plenty of promises, with new beginnings and fresh opportunities among them. In the wake of the worst economic downfall since the Great Depression, many people are looking forward to a better 2010.
My husband Ric and I are fortunate enough to have survived the worst of the blow. (We're positively hoping that the worst is indeed over. <g>) One of the best things about working together and owning our own businesses and magazines, including The Transperience Network, Small Business CEO Magazine and Healthy Wealthy nWise Magazine, is that we're in control of the decision making process.
We have each other to depend on and throw ideas back and forth with, and we tend to bring out the best in each other. Being imperfect individuals (yes, we do recognize our faults <g>), we also complement each other's shortcomings. When one of our business ventures fail, and we do have the occasional disaster just like everyone else <g>, we don't spend time or effort on blame. Instead, we assess where things went wrong, remedy the situation the best that we can and invest whatever lessons we learned in doing better on our next project. With this, we avoid most of the personal or professional conflicts that most business partners – especially those who are married to each other – encounter.
Now, I'll stop digressing and go back to the point I was trying to make earlier. <g> 2010 is a chance for everyone to start anew and reform whatever bad habits they dislike within themselves in order to achieve better and improved lives.
The blame stops here
Margie Warrell's Small Business CEO magazine article entitled Could Blame Be Holding You Back & Limiting Your Happiness? brought an often-taken-for-granted fact to my attention: people have a tendency to give in to blame.
A lot of people would rather blame others for the bad things that happen to them – from traffic mishaps, to property conflicts, to less than stellar product performances or even sibling rivalries and other every day, and sometimes trivial, problems. Instead of looking deep within themselves or being the bigger person and choosing the higher path (known to some as the road less travelled <g>) – involving patience, forgiveness, understanding and other good values – men and women with whatever age, race or background choose to point their fingers elsewhere, and it is just sad. This habit is so destructive that it has caused countless troubles since time immemorial.
How can anyone move forward and succeed if they don't even know how to accept their own faults and misgivings? In this world, no one is perfect, and those who say or think they are obviously need to get out more often. <g> Perhaps it's the fear of looking at ourselves and seeing our weaknesses that hinder us from taking the higher road – or maybe just plain stubbornness and bad attitude for some <g> – but refusing to join the blame game and learning to accept our own faults help us see things better. If you, yourself, have accepted your own misgivings, then no one and nothing can put you down. Trust me, the way to financial freedom, success, more interesting relationships and exciting adventures will become much more clear.
When we know our own imperfections and weaknesses, we learn to recognize our own strengths and talents. It's these new discoveries that will help us take personal responsibility and lead us towards accountability and self improvement. When we know what we're good at, what our limitations are and where our passions lie, it's easier to find that work you love or that life-changing experience. Paired with a positive outlook in life and a good attitude, nothing and no one can hinder your path to good times and success.
Invest your time and efforts wisely
Taking yourself out of the blame game and recognizing your own weaknesses and strengths in order to succeed will all be for naught if you don't leverage your time and efforts wisely. Neil Graber's article, How Well Do You Leverage Your Time and Effort?, in our Small Business CEO magazine illustrates this very well.
When you're a parent running your own businesses, like Ric and I with our boys Chandler and Stefan and our various businesses, you need to plan ahead. Knowing what you need to do and how to go about doing it saves a lot of time and effort, as well as your sanity and relationships. <g> You need not be obsessive about it, but keeping a planner or at least mapping up a calendar posted on your refrigerator would help you get around to fixing everyone's schedule and accomplishing a lot more within a day, a week or even a month. When you get to save some time, you get more chances to live more and spend time with your loved ones.
Don't be afraid to delegate while you multitask. Your spouse and children would probably appreciate your needing their help around the house, and your business partner would like your recognition of his talent and capabilities when you seek his assistance. Never be shy about asking for help. In case you haven't noticed, people aren't exactly born with superhuman powers like what movies lead you to believe. <g> Learn to relax a little and let go. It will make you enjoy and appreciate the things you need to do more, instead of just being pressured and harassed by them.
Choose your weapons wisely. In any task that you do, you will most definitely save time – and yourself from disappointment <g> – when you know how you'll go about approaching it and using the right tools in doing it. This will help you be more conscious of caring for any equipment you may use in your field and honing whatever talents you may have. Armed with the right resources, you will be able to face any obstacles in your path and move faster towards accomplishing the goals you've set for your business or yourself.
No one wants to waste their time and efforts, especially on petty things like blame and other destructive habits. If you realize that you've been falling victim to these unproductive things, it's not too late to change. This 2010, make an effort to look within yourself, accept your weaknesses and recognize your strengths. Learn to leverage your time and efforts and embrace the possibility of a better, more productive life with your business and loved ones.
Have you taken yourself out of the blame game? If yes, how has the practice changed your life? Do you believe you've used your time and efforts wisely in your business or your life? Share your thoughts and tips with us through the comments section below.
Until next time!


text:
2014 has been a year that has seen great milestones in our circle of influence. I'm thankful for having been entrusted with the duty to lead processes both locally and internationally for the increase of youth participation in implementing development oriented programs. I am also thankful for having been assigned teams of vibrant, calculating and diligent personnel who have in their heart a passion to build Africa.
It has been a great honour to have met great leaders in the ...youth field who are working tirelessly to develop their countries and the global village. We have a great year ahead of us
Next year our teams on the ground will be conducting programs under the following themes:
1. Skills development and integration into the work force
2. Women Empowerment
3. Local development and entrepreneurship
4. Leadership development.
We will be releasing a manifesto and Program of Action in the following week so as to unveil the blueprints for implementation in the year 2015.
I will also continue to represent South Africa on platforms focusing on the post-2015 development agenda, and thus will be open to engagement on pressing issues of which you may feel needs to be addressed at the negotiating table.
I urge you all to engage us in the new year and contribute to the lifting up our people. It takes all of us to reach the goal of a United and developed Africa.
I wish you all a great 2015
Let Africa be great
Views: 47


text:
MANILA-- The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday reminded penitents to take precautions against tetanus as they fulfill their religious vows in observance of the Holy Week.
Tetanus is a serious infection caused by Clostridium tetani which can be acquired via skin lesions, skin cut, or puncture wound.
It can seriously affect the brain and nervous system and irreversible, thus, can lead to death.
Its symptoms, which are muscle and jaw stiffness, bloody stools, diarrhea, fever, headache, and sore throat, usually emerge about seven to 10 days after initial infection.
We caution penitents to sterilize the nails and other sharp objects that will be used during flagellation. Tetanus can easily be contracted with the use of unsterilized or rusty nails, said DOH Secretary Dr. Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial.
She said that in order to avoid tetanus, the peninents should make sure that the whips or nails they shall be using are free from rusts and are sterilized with alcohol, while also having injected with anti-tetanus serum (ATS).
She also said that itvis improtant to clean the wounds with clean water and soap.
For many years, some Filipinos decides to undergo self-flagellation-- which is an act of hitting oneself with a whip, as a way to seek forgiveness for their sins in observance of Holy Week.
Some carry a cross, let themselves be nailed to a cross like Jesus to replay the suffering of Jesus in order to fulfil a vow or as way of paying for the sins committed..
These activities are commonly seen in some provinces like Pampanga where it is visisted as a tourist attractions during the Holy Week as local and foreign tourists try to to get a glimpse of the penitents.
Source: Philippines News Agency


text:
|IP Tutorial
|Subnet Masks and Subnetting
Subnetting in PracticeSubnetting works by applying the concept of extended network addresses to individual computer (and other network device) addresses.
An extended network address includes both a network address and additional bits that represent the subnet number... (see below)
|Together, these two data elements support a two-level addressing scheme recognized by standard implementations of IP. The network address and subnet number, when combined with thehost address, therefore support a three-level scheme.
Consider the following real-world example. A small business plans to use the 192.168.1.0 network for its internal (intranet) hosts. The human resources department wants their computers to be on a restricted part of this network because they store payroll information and other sensitive employee data. But because this is a Class C network, the default subnet mask of255.255.255.0 allows all computers on the network to be peers (to send messages directly to each other) by default.
The first four bits of 192.168.1.0 -1100place this network in the Class C range and also fix the length of the network address at 24 bits. To subnet this network, more than 24 bits must be set to '1' on the left side of the subnet mask. For instance, the 25-bit mask 255.255.255.128 creates a two-subnet network as follows.
For every additional bit set to '1' in the mask, another bit becomes available in the subnet number to index additional subnets. A two-bit subnet number can support up to four subnets, a three-bit number supports up to eight subnets, and so on.
Private Networks and SubnetsAs mentioned earlier in this tutorial, the governing bodies that administer Internet Protocol have reserved certain networks for internal uses. In general, intranets utilizing these networks gain more control over managing their IP configuration and Internet access. The default subnet masks associated with these private networks are listed below.
Consult RFC 1918 for more details about these special networks.
Subnetting Review
Subnetting allows network administrators some flexibility in defining relationships among network hosts. Hosts on different subnets can only "talk" to each other through specialized network gateway devices like routers. The ability to filter traffic between subnets can make more bandwidth available to applications and can limit access in desirable ways.


text:
Islamabad: Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar, who has won three consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011, has strongly backed the use of technology in cricket, and has called for its consistent utilization.
In an exclusive interview with PakPassion.net, Dar claimed consistent use of technology in cricket would make the task easier for umpires.
When asked whether he was in favor of the Decision Review System (DRS), Dar said: "Definitely. I'm strongly in favour of the DRS and I think it's very helpful to umpires sometimes."
"Some umpires do find it uncomfortable having to reverse a decision that they have made in front of thousands at the ground and millions on television. But umpires are human they will make mistakes too. One incorrect decision can change the whole scenario of a match and that's why I am in favour of the DRS," he added.
"However there has to be consistency though with the technology that is made available. In the recent Sri Lanka versus England series the hotspot technology was not being used. To have the use of consistent elements of technology at each match would make it easier for players, spectators and umpires alike. DRS ensures that most decisions can be corrected," he said.
When Dar was quizzed about his viewpoint whether the hotspot technology should be used in every cricket series, he replied: "Yes absolutely. That technology is being made available in series in Australia and England and it's definitely benefiting the decision making process."
"Also the super slow motion cameras - this type of technology definitely helps the umpires. If all this technology was available in every series then it would bring about consistency to the DRS process," he added.


text:
Quick Clicks
- Faculty
- Research Faculty
- Emeritus Faculty
- Research Associates (Academic)
- Research Scientists (Resident)
- Research Scientists (Non-resident)
- Post-Docs
- Graduate Students (B&W)
- Other Graduate Students
- Staff
- Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (AKCFWRU)
- Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (BNZ-LTER)
- Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR)
- IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)
- Toolik Field Station (TFS)
People of IAB
Quick Clicks: Click on a group name to the left to view the complete listing of that group.
Search: To search by name, enter a partial or complete first and/or last name. To search by phone number, enter the 4 digit extension. To search by email address, enter a full or partial email address. Search terms can be combined.
(Mouseover an image to see who it is...)
We need you to help keep this information up to date. Use the Submit Bio form to send us new, changed, or corrected information for this personnel listing.


text:
First-graders help tell the Easter Seal story
Augusta Bowers, youth representative for The Easter Seal Society of Franklin and Adams Counties Inc., takes her duties seriously.
Her mother told her recently that she would be meeting a newspaper reporter for an interview.
"She said 'Gee, Mom, I have a job now,' " mom Amy Bowers says.
The 6-year-old, also the daughter of Kevin Bowers of Mercersburg, Pa., will serve in the honorary position through August.
Youth representatives help tell the Easter Seal story by bringing publicity to the organization, says Robert S. Hoover, Easter Seal president.
"Our name doesn't give a clue as to what we really do," Hoover says.
The Easter Seal Society's mission is to help those with disabilities lead a more independent life, he says.
The society offers rehabilitation services to people of all ages who have speech, language or physical disabilities.


text:
This will be my attempt at documenting my work in progress, in various stages of development. Above, is what I started out with; a cradled birch board. A rigid support like this is ideal for encaustic work. Some people prime this board with encaustic compatible gesso; a traditional gesso made of rabbit skin glue and chalk/gypsum or a modern version made by R and F. The R and F version is apparently still a type of acrylic with more absorbent material added in. This is kind of surprising because the readily available acrylic gesso is not suitable. Acrylic is too slippery for encaustic, I've heard of an artist who had a painting slide right off at an exhibit. Basically, encaustics need something to 'grab onto'. Another method is to just coat the substrate in encaustic medium. This is what I do if the surface is suitable. In this case, the raw wood absorbs the heated wax quite well. After a couple of coats of wax medium have dried and cooled, you can start 'painting'. Subsequent layers have to be fused with the previous layer; this is very important for the structural integrity of the piece.
I've tried but I missed a couple of images to document progress this far. It's really difficult when you're in the middle of working on a piece and stopping to take pictures – my bad. The above piece was primed with couple of coats of medium. Then a layer of bisque colour was added on and cooled a bit. On top of the coloured encaustic, a photo transfer image was burnished onto it. Then the piece was heated with a heat gun to fuse the image and further heated to abstract the transferred image (the greyish pattern in the background). Afterwards, white encaustic paint was brushed on.
By the way, this piece is totally intuitive. I'm just working and experimenting on it and seeing what happens. Not all my work is like this, sometimes I have a clear idea of what I'm going to portray. But mostly, whether you have an idea or not, it's usually a process of pushing back, bringing forward, clarifying until you get it just right.


text:
about us
privacy policy
send email
site map
view cart
Gala Futons and Furniture
ON SALE contemporary futons, furniture, Platform beds
On sale coffee Tables TV stands shelves accent tables Coat Racks Mirrors furnitrue
Wooden TV stand, Metal TV stand
> Casual TV Console with Open Storage
Casual TV Console with Open Storage
Regular price: $310.00
Sale price:
Product Description
This item is an online promotion and not displayed in the store at this time. All of our products are sold exactly as described and sold with money back guaranty. Please note that the order time is 6-10 business days from the invoice date for either pick up in the store or for delivery if requested. Availability is a subject to change.
The breezy, open look of this TV console brings an instant update to your home décor. Simple and casual with a touch of sophisticated flair, this piece accommodates all your media needs without skimping on style. Five open compartments offer plenty of space for your DVD player, gaming components and other electronics, while the top panel fits a television set up to 44 inches in diameter.
TV stand size: 60 L * 27 H * 16 W
Thanks for shopping with us.
Customer Testimonials
Day Beds, trundel beds, storage bed coaster atlantic Furniture
Contemporary Platform Beds, Bedroom Furniture
Children bedroom Furniture & kids Loft Bunk beds storage platform beds Captains beds
Futons & Futon Frames the stores collection
Futons, Futon Mattresses
Futons, Futon Covers
Side chairs, accent Chairs, benches, Sette, Stools, Recliners, and loungers
Desks, Home Office Furniture, Office chair, Cabinets, wall units and Bookcases
Screens & Room Dividers
Dining Room Furniture tables & chairs
TV stands & Entertainment Furniture
Coffee table, End table, Sofa Table, Side table, Nesting table, Snake Table, Ottomans furniture collection
Bar Tables & Bar Stools
Accessories Home, Kitchen Furniture, Mirrors, Coat Racks, Curios, shoe cabinet, wine cabinet
Living room Furniture sofas, loveseat, sectionals, modulars & chairs
Lamps and Lights
Mattress & Box spring
ON SALE contemporary futons, furniture, Platform beds
Scott Living Collection
Donny Osmond Home
Patio Outdoor Furniture
Wall Art
Rugs, Area Rug, Carpet
about us
privacy policy
send email
site map
view cart
Copyright 2010 Gala Futons and Furniture. All rights reserved.


text:
In 1937, Walt Disney debuted the very first feature-length animated Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Now, more than 70 years later, Disney's name is everywhere in popular culture. What you might not know is that Disney's personality was as particular and mysterious as his films were lovable. It wasn't until 2013 Disney employees could wear facial hair (except for mustaches) at work, he served as a founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and the famous signature in the beginning of his cartoons was never actually written by him. What's more, Mr. Disney affiliated himself with the Nazi party and was paranoid of communism to the point he played a role in getting some people in Hollywood blacklisted.
Whatever you make of him, Disney's legacy can be seen everywhere and has undoubtedly touched the lives of millions around the world. Learn more about this pioneer of animation.


text:
After a typical American breakfast, I managed to get a $40 tour for $20 by talking to the old woman about her life. She explained to me all the places we would be going and by the time I had given my $20, I had already forgotten half of what she said, woops! But here are some pictures:
|Where it started
Some famous peoples houses but I have forgotten whose they are, but I remember we did go past Ellen Degenerates, Katy Perry's, Lady Gaga's, the Playboy Mansion, Johnny Depp's and a tonne of others.
|I remember that this was Snoop Dog's
|And this was Johnny Depp's front lawn
After the tour, I walked around Hollywood for awhile feeling a lot more confident in this big city. I realised that this was my last week of my Gap Year. The last chance to really explore, and to concentrate on everything this Gap Year was supposed to be about, so I vowed to make the absolute most of it all...
|Maybe this will have my name on it one day? Hehe
Then I climbed back down and decided to head to the LACMA and find those pretty lights that are in a lot of romantic films (to anyone who cares, totally take me on a date here one day hahaha)
Then it started getting dark and I decided I had achieved enough for one day and I didn't want to push my safety on the first night by being outside at dark. I got the bus back to Richie's house and made it to the door just as the sky went black.
The next day, after a breakfast brunch lunch at a popular cafe (which you can find in this edition of the Los Angeles pocket guide in the picture below) I went to Whimsical Alley to go and see American Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Dr Who - bit strange but also very cool, but nothing compared to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Experience just outside of London.
Then I took my dad's advice and walked down Rodeo Drive and wished I had worn a better outfit and had way more money than I've ever had because the stores here were all for the filthy rich! But it was a great place to see, so thanks Dad for suggesting it!
|Photoshoot going on in the middle of it all
|and wedding pictures too!
The next day, I went to Venice Beach but the weather wasn't that great so instead of sunbathing like I'd hoped, I walked along the coastal stretch and took in the sights to be seen. Including a basketball event going on with a small person and the tallest man I'd ever seen!
|Some graffiti artists celebrating their crews existence
|In America, even the mannequins have bigger butts ;)
|Tall man
|Short man
After spending most of the day in Venice, I went back to Hollywood for dinner where I found this star:
One of my favourite days was when I went to the Warner Brothers studio. I had previously booked a $250 5 hour Deluxe tour (compared to the $50, 2 hour VIP tour) - on my bus route from home to the studio, I met a Mexican girl who was also doing the tour but at a different time. We exchanged addresses and emails before departing and for me, it was a fabulous start to a fabulous day :D
|I got to hold an actual real life Oscar
|Trailers for the rich and famous
The houses above are all sets for different TV shows, a lot of the sets actually over lap so if you look closely you may see the same house in both The Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars etc.
|This is where the upside down Spiderman kiss happened!
And then we got to go and see the set up from Friends, and because our host was a bit sneaky and I think he had about three cocktails with his lunch, he allowed us to touch everything as long as we didn't move anything and as long as the door was shut behind us, brilliant!
After Friends, we got to see all sorts of different props used in all kinds of movies, commercials and TV programs. Near the end of our stay, we also had a look at all the famous cars:
On the 20th of August, I had tickets to see Taylor Swift live at the Staples Center. I had two tickets from Christmas as originally planned Abigail was supposed to meet me in Los Angeles, but because of lack of funding, this plan didn't end up actually happening. So I had an awkward ticket spare...
I tried selling it at first, but who really buys just one ticket? So in the end I used couchsurfing.com to advertise the ticket and to get someone to actually go with. In the end I had about 7 replies and I just picked the most enthusiastic person who turned out to be Joseph (who also turned out to be the niece of Angelina Jolie - not that I knew that when I picked him!)
It was SUCH a great night and I loved every moment of it. Even though I had been looking forward to it since I got the tickets at Christmas, it still exceeded my expectations and I even cried at one point, and for those of you who know me, you'll know that that really is insane!
More on coming home next time,
Lots of love and wish me luck for my first week at University,
Lucy xxo


text:
Search content on the EO website.
Forgot Username/Password
EO Korea
on Facebook
on Twitter
Speaker : Alexander Ng & Shaolin Master
Join us for a very special EO event, where we explore the dangers and issues surrounding mental health in our society. Sue Klebold, author of the New York Times best seller, A Mothers's Reckoning, describes the guilt, despair, shame that was part of being a parent of one of the Columbine shooters. She explores the reality of mental illness and how it affects those closest to us. Dan Radecki is the Chief Scientific Officer at the Academy of Brain-based Leadership, which offers a scientifically validated, brain-based approach for future-oriented leaders and organizations interested in optimizing their performance, relationships and health. Mental health is a condition that can affect our family members, our employees, and even ourselves. Learn what you can do to help, and to reduce the risks of it damaging lives.
Conditions of EO Membership Application and Renewal:
Every member who applies or renews their membership agrees to comply with the Policies and Procedures,
Bylaws and Code of Conduct of Entrepreneurs' Organization. Current members must complete the online renewal form
acknowledging review of the organization's Policies and Procedures, Bylaws and Code of Conduct.
Fill out the contact information below to receive EO's newsletter.


text:
There will be soon after the MP vyapam release its PAT 2016 exam answer key online. After that you all students also can check it form here.
Madhya Pradesh Entrance Examination Solved Answer Key | Expercted Merit List
As per the various numbers of examinations from the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board here was also invited lot of application. As per this board here were invited application forms for the pre agriculture test (PAT) 2016. For this test here was huge number of interested students was also fill them application form in this examination board. After that from this examination board here was also organize this entrance pre agriculture test (PAT) 2016 before the few weeks ago in the date of 15th may 2016. In this entrance exam here was lot of number of applicant's students was also get appeared. After this exam here now all these students also looking for them this exam different paper answer key. So for all these students this exam answer key will be also soon after release it online. After releasing this answer key you all students also can check it online forms here its official link at http://www.vyapam.nic.in/e_default.htm.
Download MP PAT Exam Official Answer Key 2016,
Paper Solution Of Madhya Pradesh PAT
The Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board is a Madhya Pradesh state government developed state level examination board. From this examination board here are also have to organize many number of different exam for all the students. As per other exam from this board here was also organized successfully for the PAT 2016. After this test here this examination board will be also declare this exam answer key online soon after. After that you all aspirant candidates also can be check this result online from here provided link. To get it any more related news and update from this examination board official website at http://www.vyapam.nic.in/.


text:
While I've been away some pretty cool things have happened.
1. We decided that after Japan our journey with the military would be coming to an end. The effects that Isaac's year away had on our family and Logan just weren't worth it for us anymore and having to do 10 more years of deployments, TDY's and moves just isn't what we would like to do. We think we have settled on a plan and a location for the big change but since its 2 years away we have a little time to really decide.
2. Logan started Karate!! My little guy started Karate and within a week they were sparring! It was waay to much for me to see him punching and kicking another kid at such a young age but he loves it and it is helping him to calm down a little and be more patient, well as patient as a 3 year old can be.
3. I got a part time job! For those that don't know before Isaac went to Korea and we moved to Japan I transitioned from the Air Force into a position as a Banking Center Manager. I really enjoyed my job and was so sad when I had to give it up because the hours weren't feasible for a single mom of a toddler. The opportunity presented itself to ease back into banking here on base so I applied for a Banking Center Service Representative position that was open and within 7 days I interviewed and was offered a position! It sure isn't the pay that I am used to but it is only 30 hours part time so it allows us a smooth transition from stay at home mom to working mom. I am hoping to get into a full time position within a year to help with the transition from Japan to the states and Isaac leaving the military
4. Logan got REALLY REALLY REALLY into board games. It started with Operation, which we already had, and he liked it so much that we put a family board game as a part of our wind down routine at the end of the night. We put out the call to our parents letting them know and in less than 2 weeks we had about 10 games for us to play. So now it is dinner, board game, bath time, book, bed. It's nice and I am actually really enjoying.
5. I tried Shabu Shabu which is basically thinly cut beef cooked tableside in boiled water. It was alright. I'm starting to think I wont find any Japanese food I like besides curry.
6. I wrecked our car. Nothing too major but I just got too far over right, hit a building and knocked our side mirror off the car. It was scary and Isaac and Logan were both in the car which I was upset about Logan being there but grateful that Isaac was. He has yet to fix it and we are now the family with the duct taped mirror. It's so embarrassing but obviously I need some more time to get used to driving on the other side of the road.
7. I got super into Dave Ramsey....again. I am always a Dave follower but sometimes I am more invested in it than others. I am FPU graduate and an occasional listener when I am not as into it. After we made the decision that we are for real getting out of the military I went all in full fledged Dave and Isaac hates it but he understands and likes the end results. I listen to him every day for the entire 3 hour show thanks to the app and even Logan knows who he is. We are still on baby step 2 but have paid off a ton of debt since starting between our savings and taxes...almost $10,000 to be exact....and I am extremely proud of us. I am not going to say exactly how much we have but I will say that we will be completely debt free before the end of the year and that is a good feeling. It sucks because tat means not as much traveling or exploring until next year but the sacrifice is so worth it and we have 2 more years to travel and explore after we are done.
8.We introduced Logan to tennis and he seemed to really enjoy it. he wasn't that great but hey, he's 3!
9. I became a key spouse to Isaac's squadron. I am hoping to be able to help spouses the way I have been helped along the way.
So hopefully that catches you up on the important parts of this month and I will def get back to blogging on a regular basis now!


text:
Bylaw No. 8912 The Heritage Holding BylawThe Heritage Holding Bylaw No. 8912 was established to authorize the City to deny any permit for alteration of demolition of property that the Council may wish to designate as...
Travellers Building FOI # 2018-033This is an access to information request for records from January 1, 2001 to July 9, 2018 in relation to the Travellers Building.
Heritage & Tourism Significance of Dewdney Ave.City of Regina, February 1995, Planning & Building Department Report on the heritage & tourism significance of Dewdney Avenue.
CemeteryOccupied cemetery plot listings for the Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery and the Regina Cemetery.
Boundary Alterations Over TimeCity Boundaries over the years - 1883 to 2014
Subdivision First ApprovedThis list contains the number of the subdivision, subdivision names and approximate approval or start of construction date for all Regina Subdivisions dating from 1912 to 2014.
Street Where You Live ListList of name origins for street and park names currently in use or approved for use within the City of Regina. This dataset is an update of the book "The Street Where You...


text: Everyone is familiar with electronic circuit boards that combine varieties of electronic components. They first were developed several decades ago and now find application everywhere. Today, an equivalent photonic circuit board is being realized for the first time. UK-based CIP Technologies has developed the HyBoard™ technology platform, which allows different photonic components to be integrated to create circuit boards for applications spanning telecommunications, avionics, sensors, terahertz generation and optical processing.The new platform brings together three main components — indium phosphide (InP) optoelectronic devices, single-mode planar silica waveguides and micromachined silicon submounts — and combines them cost-effectively to create a hybrid integrated photonic circuit board. It also is possible to extend the platform to add photonic elements such as optical isolators, thin-film filters and polarization elements. The versatility of the platform has been successfully demonstrated by the implementation of a range of complex integrated devices such as optical regenerators, optical flip-flops and optical pattern-matching circuits within research projects, and the technology now is becoming available for customer-driven commercial applications.Passive alignment is keyThe advantage of the hybrid integration approach relies on its not requiring all the photonic functions to be achieved in just one material system; e.g., InP. By balancing the photonic component technology requirements across various material systems (InP, silica and silicon), the required high-performance photonic circuit board function can be integrated with realistic and cost-effective device fabrication yields.Typically, the device consists of the following:• A planar silica single-mode waveguide motherboard that acts as the optical wiring and that can incorporate whatever passive function is required, such as interferometers, power splitters and arrayed waveguide gratings.• An optoelectronic semiconductor device array. In Figure 1, these are semiconductor optical amplifier arrays. Laser arrays, electroabsorption modulator arrays and detector arrays also are possible. These devices have optical mode expansion and precision-cleave features. Figure 1. Elements of the HyBoard™ platform for a typical design (top center) are depicted. The hybrid integrated device consists of a planar silica single-mode waveguide motherboard (bottom left), an optoelectronic semiconductor device array such as semiconductor optical amplifier arrays (bottom right) and a silicon submount — or daughterboard (bottom center). Arrays of optical fibres can be connected to the motherboard via a silicon arrowhead (top right).• The silicon submount — or daughterboard — used to mechanically align the optoelectronic and passive devices together.The flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the platform come from using passive alignment for the positioning and assembly of the individual components onto the integrated board. To achieve passive assembly with low optical loss — which is a prerequisite as the levels of integration increase — the optical mode diameters at the interfaces must be a multiple of 4 of the error in positional accuracy available with the employed alignment process. In this way, the minimum coupling loss error can be kept below 1 dB. The optical interface mode size used has, therefore, been designed to be close to standard single-mode fibre SMF-28. This value permits a relatively large misalignment error of between 2 and 3 μm in the lateral positioning of chips while maintaining low coupling loss. In addition, various optical component manufacturers already incorporate optical mode expansion for coupling discrete devices to optical fibre and will be able to reuse this knowledge in new devices they design for integration into the new platform. The alignment features used for lateral positioning are lithographically defined mechanical end stops patterned onto the daughterboards and motherboards using SU8 polymer. There are also precision-cleave features on the InP chips to align against these mechanical end stops. The vertical alignment reference frame is the top of the cladding of the silica motherboard. The difference in vertical heights between the active chip and the passive motherboard is compensated for by micromachining a terrace on the silicon daughterboard to the appropriate depth. The silicon submount also has precision edges, which are mechanically aligned to the end stops patterned onto the motherboard.Figure 2. An indium phosphide device is aligned on a silicon daughterboard against mechanical end stops. It is flip-chipped and pushed against the front stop (bottom center) and the side stops (bottom center and top center). The three wire bonds from the back of the chip are shown in the middle left-hand side of the electron micrograph. Realizing optical circuit boards that fit together well mechanically relies on sophisticated design of the whole hybrid integrated circuit. There is as much design involved in the "landing site" for the silicon submount on the motherboard as there is for the optical silica waveguide device itself. However, once established and standardized for a particular silicon submount, the same landing site can be reused for various planar silica motherboard optical designs as required. This key feature of reusability leads to much faster cycle times and to improved affordability compared with full monolithic integration.The economic argumentUsing integration to reduce size, increase functionality and reduce cost is one of the next key advances in photonics. For example, in telecommunications applications, there is currently much interest in lowering the cost of multiple transmitters and receivers by using integration. To implement a multifunction optical device such as a multichannel wavelength division multiplexing optical transmitter consisting of multiple lasers, modulators, variable optical attenuators, detectors and the multiplexer, three main approaches can be adopted: Splice together discrete packaged components, fabricate a full monolithic device or fabricate a hybrid device. CIP Technologies has performed its own cost analysis of all three methods using a "bottom up" approach from the perspective of a fabricator. It was carried out to assess the cost of producing the desired optical device as a function of individual element yield and showed that, for the discrete device case, costs almost were independent of device yield, as expected. This reflects the fact that packaging and testing costs dominate over chip fabrication costs for discrete devices. At the other extreme, the cost of producing the same transmitter function using a full monolithic chip was extremely sensitive to element yield.The analysis showed that yields of >95 per cent were required before the monolithic approach costed in against discrete devices. (The yield calculation used a simple power law function for defect density and errs on the pessimistic side). Significantly, the hybrid integration approach was found to be lower in cost compared with both discrete and monolithic options and was achievable at practical manufacturing fabrication yields (65 to 95 per cent). For the hybrid approach, smaller array sizes that were high-yield and cost-effective were used to build up the desired number of transmitter channels.The flexibility of the hybrid integration platform in creating a range of photonic circuit boards is expected to have a significant impact on many applications because they all share the common requirements of smaller size and reduced price and power needs.Contact: Graeme Maxwell, vice president of integration technologies, CIP Technologies; tel: +44 1473 663 247; e-mail: email@example.com.