text:
SYDNEY — Civil actions mounted by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft have forced three individuals who were selling pirated DVDs in online auctions in Australia to quit, and one to pay damages.
In the past six months, AFACT identified more than 100 auctions a month involving the attempted sale of illegal copies of movies; as a result of investigative and enforcement activity, the Motion Picture Assn.-backed org said the volume of discs being traded has dropped 50%.
In a separate Internet investigation referred to police, last week a man was fined $A10,000 ($7,500) plus court costs by Newcastle Court after pleading guilty to five counts of selling pirated DVDs on eBay.
This week AFACT issued a further 10 cease-and-desist letters to people trading in illegal DVD movies on Internet auction sites across Australia.


text:
Eric Dane Leaves 'Grey's Anatomy' - McSteamy Says Bye!
Eric Dane has announced that he will not be returning to Grey's Anatomy for the upcoming ninth season.
"I am extremely grateful to everyone at Grey's, ABC and Shondaland for the experience and memories I have had over the course of this run," the 39-year-old actor told TV Line. "It has been wonderful to work alongside and learn from a creative force such as [executive producer] Shonda Rhimes."
"[McSteamy is] one of the most beloved characters on Grey's Anatomy. [Eric] did not come to this decision lightly, but after much consideration and conversations, he and I have decided that this is the right time for his storyline to end," Shonda said. "We're a big family here at Grey's with a long history together and Eric will always remain an important part of our family. I wish him the best and I look forward to watching him as he continues to steam up the big and small screen."
ARE YOU SAD that Eric Dane is leaving Grey's Anatomy?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Accelerate Okanagan gives new and growing technology-driven businesses the mentorship, connections and community they need to thrive.
What does that mean? How do we do it? What makes us stand out from other accelerators?
These are all common questions.
Stop wondering and come see for yourself how we're leading the growth of the Okanagan technology industry by working with everyone from students to well established companies.
Aspiring entrepreneurs, startups, job seekers, career-changers, companies looking to expand and grow, and companies with proven track records come to Accelerate Okanagan to learn and foster their success. Our programs are designed to meet the ever-changing needs of our community.
This is a reoccurring session that happens twice a month - Sign up either for our morning or afternoon presentation. We hope to see you there!


text:
Cinergy Field
Cincinnati, OH
|Team: Cincinnati Reds
|Opening Day: June 30, 1970
|Capacity: 52,952 (1970) 39,000 (2002)
|Dimensions: LF 330 (1970) 325 (2002) CF 404 (1970) 393 (2002) RF 330 (1970) 325 (2002)
|Surface: AstroTurf 8 (1970-2000), grass (2001-2002)
|Closing Day: September 22, 2002
|Razed: December 29, 2002
|Cost: $48 million
|AKA: Riverfront Stadium (1970 - 1996)
Memorable Moments:
Although the Reds kept something the same by moving their home plate from Crosley Field to their new stadium on the Ohio River, a lot was about to change for them. This was the dawning of the Big Red Machine and they would go on to five World Series in twenty years, winning three of them. This was a big change from the intimate setting of their old haunt, moving into what writer Michael Gershman called a "Concrete Doughnut." These were the 1970s and a string of round, dual use (football and baseball) stadiums were being built in Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. It may not be so ironic that although these parks are less than 40 years old, the only one that will be in use during the 2004 season will be St. Louis, and that is set to be demolished in 2005.
Infielder Richie Hebner summed it up best when he said, "I stand at the plate in the Vet and I don't honestly know whether I'm in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, or Philly. They all look alike."
Even though this was the third "concrete doughnut" built, this park had a lot of firsts. It was the first park with an entirely artificial infield, except for the dirt patches where the bases and home plate are. It was the first park with metric measurements on the outfield walls. Game 1 of the 1970 World Series was the first game played on artificial turf. It is also the first, and only, ballpark to host the World Series and an All Star Game its inaugural year.
This park sat on top of its own parking garage. Second base was where Roy Rogers', the Singing Cowboy, house was. In 2001, in order to make room for the new Great American Ballpark, part of the outfield seating was removed and the AstroTurf was replaced with natural grass.
Reds retired numbers are (in numerical order and the years they were retired):
© 2003-17 Paul Healey. Pictures of structure © its owner.


text:
Lanham Man Sentenced To Over 3 Years In Prison For Using Stolen Personal Information To Buy Precious Metals
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Olusegun Adebiyi, age 42, of Lanham, Maryland, today to 39 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from a fraud scheme to obtain precious metals using stolen personal information of two victims. Judge Chasanow also entered an order that Adebiyi pay $122,500 in restitution.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George's County Police Department.
According to his plea, on July 3, 2013, Adebiyi and his co-schemers faxed a copy of a fraudulent Maryland driver's license in the name of a victim to Gold Bullion International (GBI) to complete the process of opening a trading account. Between July 23 and August 27, 2013, Adebiyi and his co-schemers fraudulently purchased precious metals from GBI worth $122,500 in the victim's name, and caused GBI to deliver those precious metals to an address in Washington, D.C. The payment was made by transferring money from the victim's bank account without his knowledge.
Similarly, on September 26, 2013, Adebiyi and his co-schemers faxed a copy of a fraudulent Maryland driver's license in the name of another victim to GBI to complete the process of opening a trading account in this second victim's name. The fax was sent from a store in College Park, Maryland and Adebiyi's activities were captured on video. Shortly thereafter, GBI requested that the documents be resubmitted. On October 9, 2013, Adebiyi sent the same information to GBI from the same store which was also captured on video. Thereafter, Adebiyi attempted to purchase precious metals worth $44,833.50 in the name of the second victim and attempted to cause GBI to deliver those items to an address in Washington, D.C.
On November 6, a controlled delivery of the precious metals to the Washington D.C. address was attempted through UPS. Law enforcement observed the defendant drive into the area shortly before the delivery was scheduled. The package was recalled because the delivery address was incomplete. Law enforcement saw Adebiyi leave the area approximately 15 minutes after the package was recalled. GBI, working with law enforcement, rescheduled the delivery for November 14, 2013. Law enforcement again observed Adebiyi drive into the area shortly before the delivery was scheduled. The UPS driver went into the apartment building carrying a package and was observed exiting the building carrying the same package. Law enforcement arrested Adebiyi as he was leaving and seized pieces of paper containing the UPS package tracking numbers for the November 14 delivery, the second victim's identifying information and the UPS tracking numbers for the November 6 delivery.
The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.
Today's announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys' offices and state and local partners, it's the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since the inception of FFETF in November 2009, the Justice Department has filed more than 12,841 financial fraud cases against nearly 18,737 defendants including nearly 3,500 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Prince George's County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan E. Foreman, who prosecuted the case.


text:
#Stocks2Watch: FOX Business rounds up the stocks you should watch before the opening bell rings on Wall Street. Tweet @adamsamson or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com and tell us what stocks you're watching -- your picks could appear online!
1. Macy's [M]
Continue Reading Below
Macy's said it will slash 2,500 jobs as part of a plan to cut costs by about $100 million a year. The retailer also posted a bullish full-year outlook. The shares are surging 7% in pre-market trading.
2. Family Dollar [FDO]
Family Dollar revealed fiscal first quarter results that narrowly missed analyst estimates, and projected a fiscal second-quarter profit that is considerably lower than the year prior. The shares are plunging 8% in pre-market action.
3. Costco [COST]
Costco said its same-store sales jumped 3% in December, widely topping estimates of a 1.8% increase. The shares are jumping 2% higher in the pre-market as traders cheer the strong results from the key holiday-shopping season.
4. Bed Bath & Beyond [BBBY]
All of those 20%-off coupons couldn't lure in the customers for Bed Bath & Beyond in the last quarter. The home goods chain posted profits, sales and a forward outlook that missed Wall Street's expectations. The shares are sliding almost 10% in pre-market action.
5. Ford [F]
Ford said it will increase its quarterly dividend by 25% to 12.5 cents per share beginning in the first quarter. The shares are trading higher by more than 1% in pre-market action.


text:
For this project I used: Bangle blank from DIY Bangles, Copper metallic acrylic paint, Distressed Inks - Forest Moss & Bundled Sage, Palette Ink - Noir, Happily Grateful Stamps from Red Rubber Designs, Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, Art Glitter Ultra Fine Opaque Gliter - #56 Pumpkin, Acrylic sealer.
Start by painting the inside of the bangle with copper acrylic paint.
Use a dauber or make-up sponge to sponge a mix of distressed ink on the outside of the bangle.
Use the same distressed inks to stamp leaves randomly around the bangle.
Use Black Palette ink to stamp butterflies around the bracelet in a random pattern.
Using a fine tip on the DDCA, fill the blank areas of the butterfly wings with adhesive.
Coat the adhesive with Ultrafine Glitter
Continue with the adhesive and glitter until all of the butterflies have been glittered.
Once the adhesive is dry, finish with a coat of acrylic sealer.
Please visit my blog for more glitter projects!


text:
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian and development network, with millions of volunteers in 190 member National Societies.
We are guided by Strategy 2020 – our collective plan of action to tackle the major humanitarian and development challenges of the present decade. We will continue 'saving lives and changing minds' by focusing our work in three key areas: 1) disaster response and recovery, 2) development and 3) promoting social inclusion and peace.
Disaster response and recovery
Promoting social inclusion and peace
We are already well known for our vital relief work in disasters and crises, and we remain committed to be the world's leading humanitarian actor.
Health and care activities in the IFRC include first aid and emergency response as well as epidemic control, programmes in health promotion and prevention, addressing stigma, providing psychosocial care and enabling community empowerment.
Migrants make up three per cent of the global population, meaning approximately one in 35 people in the world is a migrant.
To reduce disaster risk, the IFRC has three main strategies: to strengthen the preparedness and capacities; to promote activities and actions; and to protect development projects.
The shelter activities of the IFRC focus on particularly vulnerbale people who have lost their homes or whose homes are seriously damaged.
Recovery refers to programmes which assist those who have suffered the full impact of a disaster to rebuild their homes, lives and services and to strengthen their capacity to cope with future disasters.
Guiding and supporting the development of its member National Societies is one of the IFRC's fundamental tasks.
In this section you can find contents related to Gender, Non-violence, Non-discrimination and Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change.
Humanitarian diplomacy is persuading decision makers and opinion leaders to act, at all times, in the interests of vulnerable people, and with full respect for fundamental humanitarian principles.
We strive to ensure that a well-functioning, relevant global disaster management system is in place to address the needs of vulnerable people affected by disasters.
The facilitation of aid was the subject of a high-level meeting in Geneva this week, where leaders from across the economic, trade, development and humanitarian sectors gathered together with government representatives at the 2017 'Aid for Trade' event.
The basic task of humanitarian logistics is the acquisition and delivery of requested supplies and services, at the places and times they are needed, whilst ensuring best value for money.
Volunteers have been the backbone of our Movement since its birth in 1863. The Red Cross Red Crescent has currently more than 13 million active volunteers.
Beneficiary communications and accountability is about giving people a voice and empowering them to participate in their own recovery.
Young people are actively involved in the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent at all levels.
Addresses and contact information for National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, with 190 member National Societies . As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, our work is guided by seven fundamental principles; humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. About this site & copyright


text:
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 05, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TRACON Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TCON), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel targeted therapeutics for cancer, wet age-related macular degeneration and fibrotic diseases, today reported positive interim results from a clinical trial combining the Company's TRC105 with the approved VEGF inhibitor Votrient® (pazopanib) in patients with soft tissue sarcoma. The data were presented in an oral presentation at the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) 2015 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City.
The presentation reviewed the Phase 1b portion of a Phase 1b/2 study of TRC105 in combination with Votrient in 18 patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas. All patients in the Phase 1b portion had received at least one prior chemotherapy regimen (median = 2, range 1-7 prior therapies), and five patients received prior treatment with Votrient. All patients received a combination of TRC105 given once weekly (8 or 10 mg/kg) and Votrient at its approved dose of 800 mg per day. The combination was well-tolerated and dose limiting toxicity was not observed. Six of 18 patients (33%) had tumor reductions of greater than 10% by RECIST, of whom three patients remain on treatment, and median progression-free survival (PFS) to date is 5.5 months. A total of five patients with angiosarcoma, a sarcoma subtype known to express high levels of endoglin, have been evaluated for response in the Phase 1b/2 study. All five patients have had radiographic reductions in tumor volume, and two patients have demonstrated ongoing durable complete responses by RECIST, and remain on study for 62 and 31 weeks, respectively. The Phase 2 portion of the study, which is also evaluating the combination of TRC105 and Votrient, has enrolled 62 of 63 planned patients to date.
"Angiosarcoma is a tumor type that expresses high levels of endoglin, and we are very encouraged with the data that we have seen to date for TRC105 in combination with Votrient," said Charles Theuer, M.D., Ph.D, President and CEO of TRACON. "We expect to report PFS data in soft tissue sarcoma stratified by tumor endoglin expression from the ongoing Phase 1b/2 trial in the first half of 2016. Planning for the Phase 3 trial of TRC105 in combination with Votrient in angiosarcoma is currently underway, and we expect to initiate the trial in 2016."
About the Sarcoma Phase 1b/2 Clinical Trial
The Phase 1b/2 clinical trial is a multicenter, open-label, non-randomized clinical trial of TRC105 in combination with Votrient in patients with soft tissue sarcoma. The primary endpoint of the Phase 2 portion of the study is progression-free survival. TRACON aims to establish a correlation between progression-free survival and overall response rate with endoglin expression on sarcoma tissue in order to assess whether endoglin expression on sarcoma cells may serve as a biomarker that identifies responsive sarcoma subtypes. The company expects to enroll approximately 94 soft tissue sarcoma patients who have failed prior anthracycline chemotherapy, including 18 patients in the Phase 1b portion, 63 patients in the Phase 2 portion, and 13 patients into an angiosarcoma specific Phase 2 cohort. For additional information on this clinical trial, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT01975519.
About TRC105
TRC105 is a novel, clinical stage antibody to endoglin, a protein overexpressed on proliferating endothelial cells that is essential for angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation. TRC105 is currently being studied in clinical trials sponsored by both TRACON and the National Cancer Institute for the treatment of multiple solid tumor types in combination with VEGF inhibitors. TRC105 is also being developed in combination with VEGF inhibitor treatments in age‐related macular degeneration. For more information about the clinical trials, please visit TRACON's website at http://www.traconpharma.com/clinical_trials.php.
About TRACON
TRACON develops targeted therapies for cancer, ophthalmic and fibrotic diseases. TRACON's pipeline includes two clinical stage product candidates: TRC105, an endoglin antibody that is being developed for the treatment of multiple cancers and wet AMD through a collaboration with Santen Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., and TRC102, a small molecule that is being developed for the treatment of lung cancer and glioblastoma. To learn more about TRACON and its product candidates, visit TRACON's website at www.traconpharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the timing of data from the Phase 2 study of TRC105 and Votrient and initiation of a Phase 3 study of TRC105 and Votrient, further development plans for TRC105 in sarcoma, the possible correlation between clinical trial endpoints and endoglin expression on sarcoma tissue, and expected parameters of future clinical studies. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and TRACON does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and actual results may differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, the fact that results of subsequent studies may not be consistent with results of prior studies, potential delays in completing on-going Phase 2 studies and initiating new studies, whether TRC105 will be shown to be safe and effective in subsequent studies, whether TRACON will be able to establish a correlation between endoglin expression on sarcoma tissue and clinical endpoints, and TRACON's and NCI's ability and willingness to fund additional clinical development of TRC105. For a further description of these and other risks facing TRACON, please see the risk factors described in TRACON's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in those filings. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and TRACON undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law.
Company Contact:. Casey Logan Chief Business Officer (858) 550‐0780 ext. 236 firstname.lastname@example.com Investor Contact: Andrew McDonald LifeSci Advisors LLC 646-597-6987 firstname.lastname@example.com
Source:TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


text:
You are hereHome ›
Narrow Search
Now showing results 1-3 of 3
Become a crime scene investigator! Learners model Dawn Mission scientists, engineers, and technologists and how they use instrumentation to detect distant worlds. After a briefing to build context, students explore interactions between different... (View More) frequencies/wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum and matter as they investigate the different ways scientists gather and understand remote sensing data, using Dawn instruments as examples. This module is organized around a learning cycle, engaging students through several experiences to activate students' prior knowledge and assess conceptual understanding, informing next steps. (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students
In this lesson students investigate the effects of black carbon on arctic warming and are introduced to a mechanism of arctic warming that is not directly dependent on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere: black carbon deposition on Arctic snow and... (View More) ice. It can also be used to introduce the concept of albedo. Prerequisite knowledge: students understand the concepts of absorption and reflection of light energy. This lesson is designed to be used with either an Earth/environmental science or chemistry curriculum. It may also be used as an enrichment activity in physics or physical science during a unit on energy. Includes suggested modifications for students with special needs and low technology option. Requires advance preparation, including freezing ice samples overnight. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $10 - $20 per group of students
Learners will use water balloons to demonstrate meteorite impacts, use geography to assess various terrains for meteorite recovery, attempt to recover simulated meteorite fragments, make experimental predictions, graph the results, and draw... (View More) conclusions. This is lesson 3 of 19 in Exploring Meteorite Mysteries. (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students


text:
|By Andreas Grabner
Article Rating:
|March 18, 2010 03:29 PM EDT
Standard Load Testing Reports from Visual Studio 2010
While running a load-test Visual Studio 2010 is collecting all sorts of information. Starting from the response times of the executed requests, performance counters of the tested application infrastructure (like CPU, Memory, I/O, …) and also the health of your load-testing infrastructure (load controller and agents). In my scenario I run a 4 tier (2 JVMs, 2 CLRs) web application. The 4 tiers communicate via SOAP Web Services (Axis->ASMX). The frontend web application is implemented using Java Servlets. I run a 15 minute load test with increasing load. The test is structured into multiple different transactions, e.g.: Home Page, Search, Login, BuyDirect, … – While running my test I also monitor all relevant performance counters from the application server and the load testing infrastructure. Visual Studio 2010 allows me to monitor the current state of the Load Test via configurable graphs as shown here:
The graphs show that response times of some (not all) of my transactions increase with increasing user load. It also highlights that CPU usage on my application server became a problem (exceeds 80% with ~20 concurrent users). At the end of the load test a summary report highlights what load was executed against the application – which errors happened and which pages performed slowest:
Switching to the Tables view gives a detailed breakdown into individual result dimension, e.g.: Transactions, Pages, Errors, … :
From the table view we can make the following observations:
- 553 page requests exceeded my rule of 200ms per page
- the 553 pages were the menu.do, netpay.do and userlogin.do (you can see this when you look at the individual error requests)
- The LastMinute transaction was by far the slowest with 1.41s average response time and a max of 5.64s
What we don't know is WHY THESE TRANSACTIONS ARE SLOW: The performance counters indicate that CPU is a potential problem but it doesn't give us an indication what caused the CPU overhead and whether this is something that can be fixed or whether we are just running against our system performance boundaries.
Performance Reports by dynaTrace captured during Visual Studio 2010 Load Test
dynaTrace customers can download the Visual Studio 2010 plugin on the dynaTrace Community Portal. The package includes a Visual Studio Add-In and a Visual Studio Testing Plugin Library that extends its Web- and Load-Testing capabilities. We also offer the Automatic Session Analysis plugin that helps in analyzing data captured during longer load tests.
I used dynaTrace Test Center Edition on my 4 tier application while running the load test. The Visual Studio 2010 plugin made sure that dynaTrace automatically captured all server-side transactions (PurePath's) in a dynaTrace Session. It also made sure that the same transaction names used in the Web Test script were passed on to dynaTrace.
While running the load test the Load Testing Performance Dashboard that I've created for my application allows me to watch the requests that come in and the memory consumption on each of my JVMs and CLRs. I can also see which Layers of my application contribute to the performance – with layers being ADO.NET, ASP.NET, SharePoint, Servlets, JDBC, Web Services, RMI, .NET Remoting, … – dynaTrace automatically detects these layers and it helps me to understand which components/layers of my app actually consume most of the execution time and how increasing load is affecting these components individually. Besides that I also watch the number of SQL statements executed (whether via Java or .NET) and also the number of Exceptions that happen:
On the top left I see the individual transaction response times and the accumulated transaction counts underneath. These are the number of incoming requests were it is easy to see how VS2010 increased the load during my test.
On the top right I see the memory usage of my two JVMs and underneath the memory usage of my two CLRs (seems I have a nice memory leak in my 2nd JVM and one very "quiet" CLR.
The bottom left chart (titled with Layer Breakdown) now shows me what's going on within my application with increasing load. I can see that my application scales well until a certain user load – but then the Web Service Layer (dark gray color) starts performing much worse than all other involved application layers.
On the bottom right the number of database statements and number of exceptions show me that these counters increase linearly with increasing load – but – it seems we have quite a lot database queries (up to 350/second) and we also have quite a lot exceptions that we should investigate.
After the load test is finished the first report that I pull up is a report that shows me the slowest web transactions grouped by the transaction names used in Visual Studio:
I can see that the LastMinute is indeed the slowest transaction with a max of 5.6 seconds. The great thing about this report is that we get a detailed breakdown of these top transactions into application layers, database calls and method calls. We can immediately see that Java Web Services are the highest performance contributor to the Last Minute transaction. We also see that we have several thousand database queries for the 448 requests to this transaction and we also see which Java & .NET methods contributed to the execution time. A click on Slowest Page opens the PurePath Dashlet showing every individual transaction that got executed. Sorting it by duration shows the big variance between the execution times. The PurePath Hot Spot View makes it easy to spot the most contributing methods in the slowest transaction:
With the PurePath Comparison feature I go one step further to find out what the difference between two transactions that show a big execution time difference are:
Visually in the Chart as well as in the PurePath Comparison Tree we see that getting the SpecialOffer's and all calls in that context (creating the web service and calling it) make up most of the time difference. The difference table on the bottom lists all timing and structural differences between these two PurePaths giving even more insight into where else we have differences.
Show me the PurePath to individual failed Web Requests
In your VS2010 Run Configuration for your load test you can specify to store detailed response results in a SQL Database. This allows you to look up individual failed transactions including the actual HTTP traffic and all associated timings after the load test is finished. In my case I had another slow transaction type called BuyDirect. Via the VS2010 Load Testing Report I open individual failed transactions and analyze the individual requests that were slow:
The result view shows me that the request took 1.988s. The dynaTrace VS2010 Plugin adds a new tab in the Results Viewer allowing me to open the captured PurePath for that particular slow request by clicking on a PurePath link. Clicking on this link opens the PurePath in the dynaTrace Client:
We can easily spot where the time is spent in this transaction – it is the web service call from the 2nd JVM (GoSpaceBackend) to the CLR that hosts the Web Service (DotNetPayFrontend). One of the problems also seems to be related to the exceptions that happen when calling the web service. These are exceptions that didn't make it up to our own logging framework as they were handled internally by Axis but are caused by a configuration issue (we can look at the full exception stack trace here to find that out). With one further click I go ahead and look at the Sequence Diagram of this transaction. This diagram provides a better overview of the interactions between my 4 different servers:
The sequence diagram goes on beyond what's in the screenshot – but I guess you get the idea that we have a very chatty transaction here.
The dynaTrace VS2010 Plugin allows me to drill down to the problematic methods in a distributed heterogeneous transaction within a matter of seconds saving me a lot of time analyzing the problem based on the load testing report alone.
Share results with Developers and lookup problems in Source Code
Now we have all this great information and already found several hotspots that our developers should look into. Instead of giving my developers access to my test environment I simply export the captured data to a dynaTrace Session file and attach it to a JIRA issue (or whatever bug tracking tool you use) that I assign my dev. I can either export all captured data (PurePaths and performance counters) or be more specific and only export those PurePaths that have been identified as being problematic.
Development picks up the dynaTrace Session file, imports it into their local dynaTrace Client and analyzes the same granular data as we analyzed in our test environment. Having the dynaTrace Visual Studio 2010 Plugin installed allows the developer to Lookup individual methods in Visual Studio starting from the PurePath or Methods Dashlet in the dynaTrace Client:
The dynaTrace Plugin in Visual Studio – where you have to have your solution file opened – searches for the selected method, opens the source code file and sets the cursor to that method:
The data is easily shareable with anybody that needs to look at it. Within a matter of seconds the developer ends up at the source code line within Visual Studio 2010 that represents a problematic method in terms of performance. The dev also has all the contextual information on hand that shows why individual executions of the same transaction were faster than others, as the PurePath's include information like method arguments, HTTP parameters, SQL Statements with Bind Variables, Exception Stack Traces, … -> this is all information that developers will love you for
Identify Regressions across Test Runs
When running continuous load tests against different builds we expect performance to get better and better. But what if that is not the case? What has changed from the last build to the current? Which components don't perform as well as they did the build before? Has the way we access the database changed? Is it an algorithm in custom code that takes too much time or is it a new 3rd party library that was introduced with this build that slows everything down?
The Automatic Session Analysis plugin also analyzes data across two load testing sessions generating a report that highlights the differences between these two sessions. The following screenshot shows the result of a load testing regression analysis:
It shows us which transactions were actually executed in the latest (top left) and previous (top right) build. In the middle we get an overview about which layers/components contributed to the performance in each of the two sessions and also shows a side by-side comparison (center) where the bars tell us which components performed faster or slower. It seems we had some serious performance decrease in most of our components. On the bottom we additionally see a comparison between executed database statements and methods. Similar to what I showed in the previous sections we would drill into more details from this report to analyze more details.
In Summary
Visual Studio 2010 is a good tool for performing load tests against .NET or Java Web Applications. The Load Testing Reports have been improved in this version and allow you to get a better understanding about the performance of your application. For multi-tier or heterogeneous applications like the one I used in my scenario it is now easy to go beyond the standard load testing reports by using an Application Performance Management Solution like dynaTrace. The combination of a load testing solution and an APM solution helps you to not only know that you have a performance problem but it allows you to identify the problem faster and therefore reduce test cycles and time spent in the testing phase.
There is more to read if you are interesting in these topics: White Paper on how to Automate Load Testing and Problem Analysis, webinars with Novell and Zappos that use a combination of a Load Testing Solution and dynaTrace to speed up their testing process as well as and additional blog posts called 101 on Load-Testing.
Feedback is always welcome and appreciated – thanks for reading all the way to the end
Related reading :
- Getting ready for TechReady8: Load- and Web-Testing with VSTS and dynaTrace I've been invited by Microsoft to show dynaTrace's integration into...
- Visual Studio Team System for Unit-, Web- and Load-Testing with dynaTrace Last week I was given the opportunity to meet the...
- Performance Analysis: Identify GC bottlenecks in distributed heterogeneous environments Garbage Collection can have a major impact on application performance....
- Boston .NET User Group: Load and Performance Testing: How to do Transactional Root-Cause Analysis with Visual Studio Team System for Testers I am going to present at the next Boston .NET...
- How to extend Visual Studio 2010 Web- and Load-Testing with Transactional Tracing Microsoft recently published the first official beta build of Visual...
- JavaOne 2009 - Highlights Live from Day One
- I'm Not Scared of #DevOps | @DevOpsSummit #APM #CD #Docker #Monitoring
- Top Ten Performance Problems
- Open Source Selenium Web Application Testing System
- JavaOne 2009: Open Source Project Stonehenge
- Show Report: VMworld 2009 – Day One
- How to Monitor Oracle Database Performance
- Challenges of Running Apps in "The Cloud"
- Live from JavaOne - The Cloud Growing Up?
- Show Report: VMworld 2009 – Day Two


text:
Today I'm doing the Bedtime Book Tag. No one tagged me, but I saw it on Paper Fury and I liked the questions, so I'm doing it. So yeah, that's all there is to say really. On to the questions.
1. A Book That Kept You Up All Night
There's a lot of books that have kept me up until after midnight, which I am counting as all night. This is because I am a slow reader, and I have recently discovered that my reading becomes unstoppable once I'm up to the last 100 pages. When I get to that point, I'm not putting it down until it's finished. Books I most remember staying up late to finish include Clockwork Princess, Dangerous Girls, The Book Thief and Wonder.
The first one that comes to mind is 172 Hours on the Moon. I didn't love the book, but it sure succeeded in freaking me out!
3. A Book That Made You Go To Sleep
Vanishing Girls was way too slow for me and Splintered dragged on in parts for me too.
4. A Book That Left You Tossing And Turning All Night In Anticipation Of Its Release
Here is a small story for you about how my mind works. The other day, I noticed some strange marks on my arm* which hadn't been there the day before and they didn't look like bruises, so I was a little concerned. Actually, my brain went straight to "I've been poisoned and I'm going to die" and straight after that to "I'm going to have to write a letter to Maggie Stiefvater so she'll tell me what happens in The Raven King" - so, that's the book that keeping me up these days.
*They've disappeared now, so I guess everything is okay
Well, if I'm being realistic, Levi from Fangirl would be my dream boyfriend. He's adorable and super kind which is what I would go for in real life, as opposed to my previous other picks like Noah from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer or Will from The Infernal Devices - I may as well face it.
6. A Book That Would Be Your Worst Nightmare To Live In
Um, The Hunger Games.
Although I know rationally that not absolutely everything in Angelfall happens under the cover of darkness, that's how I see it in my head.
8. A Book That Had A Nightmarish Cliffhanger
Most recently, The Heir. But the one that had me on edge for the longest time was Insurgent (which, by the way, I loved).
9. A Book You Actually Dreamed About
I don't know that I've actually dreamed about a book. I've had many dreams that included various Harry Potter characters, but they weren't necessarily set in the wizarding world. And I've had dreams inspired by events from books. Does that count?
Where do I start? Those things from The Maze Runner, a blast-ended skrewt, those mantis things from Uprooted, the nightmare creatures from The Dream Thieves... I wouldn't even want to find Valentine from The Mortal Instruments under my bed. I don't even like the idea that spiders could be (and probably are) under my bed right now. Nothing under my bed please.
Do books scare you easily? Have you ever had a dream inspired by a book? I want to know!


text:
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Turn to the nation's most objective and informative daily environmental news resource to learn how the United States and key players around the world are responding to the environmental...
By Rachel Leven
Oct. 7 — Transparency requirements included in the Paris Agreement set to take effect in November may spur additional action and collaboration in battling climate change, federal and state officials said Oct. 7.
Reporting on efforts to tackle climate change will enable countries to learn from one another about what measures are most effective, officials agreed at the American Bar Association's environment and energy fall conference in Denver.
"I think it's going to improve the current system of greenhouse gas inventorying," said Conor Linehan, a partner at William Fry in Dublin. "Ideally it would be a very vigorous system of greenhouse gas accounting that, I agree, could achieve a lot."
Janet McCabe, assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air and Radiation, noted transparency also prompts action.
The blockbuster international climate agreement is aimed at keeping global temperatures from increasing by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) later this century compared to the pre-industrial era. On Oct. 5. it topped the necessary ratification benchmark—55 countries representing 55 percent of the world's emissions—and will enter into force Nov. 5.
McCabe and Matthew Rodriguez, California Secretary for Environmental Protection, said they have seen the success of environment pollution reporting and transparency while in their own agencies, separate from the Paris Agreement.
McCabe pointed to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, which requires certain industries' facilities to report releases and management of more than 650 toxic chemicals annually, as a tool where transparent data has helped.
"It's not just if you can't measure it, you can't manage it," McCabe said. "It's if you measure it, and it's made public, then you're going to want to do something about it."
Rodriguez, on the other hand, said people use public California environment information to make investment decisions. He also said meetings with Chinese officials showed him how making the state's data public allowed other entities to learn about emission reduction strategies.
"Some of them knew more about what was going on in California in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than I did," Rodriguez said. "I think there will just be a tremendous interest in getting the information out."
To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Leven in Denver at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Pearl at email@example.com
Copyright © 2016 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
All Bloomberg BNA treatises are available on standing order, which ensures you will always receive the most current edition of the book or supplement of the title you have ordered from Bloomberg BNA's book division. As soon as a new supplement or edition is published (usually annually) for a title you've previously purchased and requested to be placed on standing order, we'll ship it to you to review for 30 days without any obligation. During this period, you can either (a) honor the invoice and receive a 5% discount (in addition to any other discounts you may qualify for) off the then-current price of the update, plus shipping and handling or (b) return the book(s), in which case, your invoice will be cancelled upon receipt of the book(s). Call us for a prepaid UPS label for your return. It's as simple and easy as that. Most importantly, standing orders mean you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you're relying on. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.960.1220 or by sending an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Put me on standing order at a 5% discount off list price of all future updates, in addition to any other discounts I may quality for. (Returnable within 30 days.)
Notify me when updates are available (No standing order will be created).
This Bloomberg BNA report is available on standing order, which ensures you will all receive the latest edition. This report is updated annually and we will send you the latest edition once it has been published. By signing up for standing order you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you need. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.372.1033, option 5, or by sending us an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Put me on standing order
Notify me when new releases are available (no standing order will be created)


text:
Before I get to the fun of today, I must take a moment to say that I'm very sad to see two of my fabulous friends leave this design team – Isha Gupta and Taheerah Atchia. Ladies, I love your blogs and your creativity! Your bright, sunshiney personalities will be missed behind the scenes, but I'll be stopping by to say hi and see what new and exciting things await you!
Welcome to Day 1 of the October Release Hop for Lil' Inker Designs!! We have a whole bunch of fabulous new products we're introducing today! If you follow the Lil' Inker Designs blog, then you've been lucky enough to see some sneak peeks of these goodies!! We also have a fabulous guest designer joining us for this release, the one and only Tracey McNeely!
This is a hop so hopefully you've found your way here from Alicia's crafty cyberspace. If not, comment here first, and then bop on back to Laura's blog to get started off right! I'm going to start off with my favorite card that I made for this release using one of the two new cover up dies: Swirls.
I started off with this gorgeous paper pack Blink of an Eye by My Mind's Eye. The swirl plate is cut out of cream cardstock and layered on a subtle star patterned paper. I chose coordinating papers and cut banners, Stitched Flags, and the Mini Pinwheel. I also got to add some new to me wooden satrs…love those things!! So glad there are so many in a pack! A big loopy twine bow finished this card off.
What do you think? Not my usual style, but I'm happy with how it turned out! Thanks for sticking with me through this post! Head on over to Amy's fantastic blog! Don't forget to comment along the way for your chance at two $10 gift certificates to Lil' Inker Designs!! Thanks for stopping by!


text:
Well-designed logistics planning software for inbound travel which can
gain better operational insights and performance at a glance.
Completed logistics planning software for inbound travel that covers from operation overview, driver management, job dispatch to agent management.
This well-designed system improves resource efficiency by notifying your drivers with the user-friendly mobile app notification to reduce having complex communication.


text:
|Collection of plants from cooperi group
|Large comercial nursery in Holland
|Collection of plants from cooperi group
|Large comercial nursery in Holland
Thank you so much for the information on cultivation. I've been trying to find out what my succulent was(unlabeled--but fell in love with the little fellow) I saw a picture online where it was called "little warty" Gasteria. Will try pumice and watch the watering.
Your site rocks. i only just started taking plants seriously and my 7 haworthias survived the winter. Just the photos of these plants in their native habitat already contains a lot of information to clue me in on how to not kill them in cultivation.
Ginger Steele, Cornelius, Oregon USA
Thank you for creating this useful blog. Your photos are beautifully done.
Question, I heard that Gasterias MUST have a winter rest...is this so? I grow in an apartment in south Texas so I don't really get cold temps indoors ever...does that mean I can grow these?
Re insideout:
I grow my Gasteria collection same as other Haowrthias and other genera. I never give them winter rest, they can grow all year. In central Europe I water them in Winter less - but that´s because of lack of sunshine and low temperatures.
Thank you for all the wonderful information! I've recently switched to growing my Haworthias in pumice, sieved and washed before use. I watered them for the first time yesterday and parts of the top layer of pumice has turned orange, is this normal, should I be concerned?
Re: orange pumice - that's not normal, usually it's sign of using "wrong" water with too many minerals/salt... plant will be OK for some time in it, just you will need to repot it sooner (1-2yrs)
Thank you for replying Kuba! I've been using a high quality distilled water, so that shouldn't be the cause. Is there anything else it could be (I'm using 70% pumice, 30% coconut coir)?
Re: orange pumice - OK, may be it´s caused by coconut coir. try to use in one or two pots only pure pumice - if it will work or not.
how often do you have to repot your plants growing in Pumice
Re Mukesh:If plant is doing well, I repot them every 4-5yrs. In case it lost its roots or other problem appeared, I do it immediatelly.
What a super website! I've learned so much of interest. Thank you,


text:
As previously mentioned, our district has the fortunate opportunity to train teachers on the CCSS. In addition to discussing RICH problems and how they can be used in our own classrooms, we conduct Number Talks. We use the book Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies, Grades K-5, by Sherry Parrish as a resource. Number Talks were designed to improve students' mental computation skills and number sense. Inside Mathematics is another fantastic resource that shows how different teachers in varying grade levels apply Number Talks to their lessons. In fact, this is a wonderful website that allows you to see teachers in action applying the Common Core Practice Standards! Woo!
Anyway, we have been doing our best to introduce these talks into our classroom. In my room, students sit together right in front of the board. I tell them to summon their inner Kindergartner, which they giggle at. We have only had time for a couple "formal" Number Talks, but we are beginning to apply it in all aspects of our day when answering questions verbally. Here is an example of how my students were able to solve a basic addition problem using mental math and their process for doing so:
Are they stellar? Probably not. My students were looking at me like I was a crazy person that day. They didn't quite understand why understanding how to compose and decompose numbers is so important. Many said, "I put them on top of each other and added. I also carried the one." My point was that I wanted them to know what "carrying the one" actually meant. As we do more, they do improve, and I can see it translating in other areas of math. They are really starting to think about the VALUE of the numbers.
I plan on doing more complex problems as we go and seeing how they improve. I told them I would keep their original posters so we can compare them to how they are doing in a few months. They have already drastically improved! If you don't do Number Talks in your classroom, I highly recommend you look into incorporating them every now and then, especially in younger classrooms!


text:
Paragraph I. Of the Scriptures.
We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was verbally inspired and the product of Spirit controlled men, and therefore is truth without admixture of error for its matter. We believe that it is the tree center of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions. II Tim. 3:16,17; II Peter 1:19-21.
Paragraph II. Of the True God.
We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence, that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one in substance and equal in every divine perfection. Exodus 20:2,3; I Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7. We believe in the absolute Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no other man can be, being God Himself, existing from all eternity co-equal with the Father and the Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for one instance and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His Deity; that as a man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. I John 5:20; John 1:1,2; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:26-38. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with the Father and Son and of the same substance and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, bears witness to the truth, is the agent of the New Birth and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God. II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16,17; Romans 8:14-27; John 16:7-15.
Paragraph III. Of the Devil. or Satan.
We believe that Satan is a distinct personality, that he is the god of this age, author of all the powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. Matthew 4:1-3; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10.
Paragraph IV. Of the Creation.
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, "each after its own kind," by direct act and not by the process of evolution. Genesis 1, 2; Colossians 1:16, 17; John 1:3.
Paragraph V. Of the Fall of Man.
We believe that man was created, in innocence and true holiness, under the law of his maker and in the image of God, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state in Adam's sin, in consequence of which all men are found in a most helpless estate, totally depraved, wholly disposed toward evil, possessing neither the ability nor the inclination to seek God apart from the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit; that all are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse. Genesis 3:1-6; Ephesians 4:23; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Genesis 1:26; Romans 5:12; Romans 3:10-19; Genesis 6:5; Ephesians 2:l; Romans 1:8; Ezekiel 18:19,20; Romans 1:32; Romans 1:20; Galatians 3:22.
Paragraph VI. Of the Atonement for Sin.
We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the atonement wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin, and by His suffering, death and resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy. John 1:1-3, 14; 3: 16,17.
Paragraph VII. Of Grace and the New Birth.
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension by our Sovereign God, not by culture or the will of man, but solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Word of God, so as to irresistibly draw men to Himself and secure their voluntary obedience to the gospel; that the proper evidence of the new birth appears in the holy fruits wrought by it: repentance, saving faith, and newness of life. John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17; I John 5:1; John 3:6,7; Acts 16:20-33; II Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1; Galatians 5:22; II Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8; John 1:12,13; Ephesians 5:9. We believe that true believers in Christ are distinguished from mere professors by their persevering attachment to the Savior made evident as the Holy Spirit unfailingly brings to completion His work within them; that, moreover, the saints are eternally secure, kept by the power of God through faith unto ultimate redemption. John 8:31; Psalm 37:24,28; I John 3:9; 2:27; 5:18; Hebrews 3:14; I John 2:19; John 17:12; Romans 8:28-39; Luke 10:42; 22:31,32; John 6:37-40; 10:28-30; Romans 11:29; I Corinthians 1:8,9; II Corinthians 1:21,22; Philippians 1:6; 2:12,13; Jude 24,25; I John 4:4; II Timothy 1:12; 4:18; I Peter 1:4,5; John 4:14; 5:24; Ephesians 1:14; 4:30.
Paragraph VIII. Of the Church.
We believe that the Church, the Body of Christ, is a New Testament institution, established by Jesus Christ, Who is its sole Head; revealed through the holy Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit; composed of believers in Jesus Christ as Saviour, both Jew and Gentile, called out from the world and indwelt by the Holy Spirit; His "body" for service and His "bride" for glory. It began with the New Testament saints and will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the Rapture. Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8; 2:1-13; 2:4-47; I Corinthians 12:12- 28; Ephesians 1:22; 3:21, 5:23-33; I Thessalonians 4:13-18. We believe that the Church is manifest through the local Church which is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in it by His work; that its officers are bishops (pastors) and deacons: that it has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit and it is answerable only to Christ, and that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence the will of the local church is final. Matthew 18:15-17; I Corinthians 1:2, 5:4,5; 7:17; 11:16; I Timothy 3.
Paragraph IX. Of the Ordinances.
We believe that there are two church ordinances; Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water and is properly called "Believer's Baptism." It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effect in our lives of death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church relation. The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of our Lord's death until He comes, and our continual fellowship with Him; should be preceded by baptism and
always by careful self-examination. Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32. Paragraph X. Of the Righteous and Wicked. We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, are truly righteous in God's esteem; while all such who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34 41; Luke 6:23; Revelation 20:15.
Paragraph XI. Of the Return of Christ.
We believe in the bodily, personal, premillennial, return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven years tribulation period to catch away His church, coming only into the air, and that He will come with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His kingdom. I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 24:31-46; Revelation 19:11-21.
Paragraph XII. Of the Resurrection.
We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His church and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and that the unbelieving dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne judgment to receive their final doom. John 5:21-30; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17; 20:11-15.
Paragraph XIII. Separation of Church and State.
We believe that church and state must be completely independent of each other. Christ is the Head of the Church, which is a spiritual Body, without temporal power to rule in the world in a political sense. We believe the statement of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 22:21 put the church and state in two separate categories. The individual Christian has responsibility to each.
Paragraph XIV. Priesthood of all Believers.
In the New Testament order every born-again Christian is a priest unto God. (l Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:5,6). This position of being a believer-priest under our one great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, puts every Christian on the same level of priesthood. The believer-priest in the pew has just as ready access into the presence of God the Father as does the believer-priest in the pulpit.
Paragraph XV. Fellowship and Associations.
In as much as a New Testament Baptist Church cannot "Join" anything outside of itself, but only affiliate therewith on grounds of fellowship, this church may fellowship with such organizations or bodies of believers as are true to the Word of God and not contaminated by liberalism or apostasy. Such fellowship shall never be construed as a surrender of freedom or autonomy. Any attempt to dictate or coerce on the part of any fellowshipping body or its representatives shall immediately be sufficient cause for the severance of relationships. This church shall be answerable to no person, group, or organization for its decision to break or make fellowship. This church declares itself to be in fellowship with (upon meeting the requirements of such associations): The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches and the DELMARVA Regular Baptist Fellowship.
Paragraph XVI. Grace to the Church.
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles (such as healings, restoration of hearing, sight, etc., and raising from the dead) gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. I Corinthians 13:8-12; II Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; I Corinthians 14. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted. John 15:7; James 5:14-16; I John 5:14,15. Note: We do believe in divine healing without a subsequent belief in "divine healers" per se.
Paragraph XVII. The Home.
We believe that Jehovah God instituted the family unit and vested it with inviolate authority concerning the education, discipline, and welfare of its members. We further maintain that God created man and woman distinct in gender, purpose, and role within the home and that the relationship between man and wife is a most solemn picture of Christ and His church. We stand opposed to practices which violate the Biblical doctrine of the home, including: divorce, by which man puts asunder what God has joined together and corrupts a type of Christ; promiscuity and homosexuality, which substitute depraved and unnatural acts of lust for the holy and undefiled expression of marital love; the ordination of women, which denies the fulfillment of the woman within her divinely endowed role of helpmeet and supporter, and usurps the headship and authority of the man; abortion, which is the destruction of the fruit of the womb and indeed the taking of unborn life; and delinquency within the home, by which parents fail to exercise godly authority and discipline over the children whom God has entrusted them with.


text:
Earlier this week, Fun Electronics announced that they will be launching two new product categories. These new products will fall under the Emerson Radio Corp. branded name. Emerson will be producing and selling both unlocked GSM cell phones and E-Book readers. This new line of products will be debuted for the first time at CES 2010.
So far, we have no information about what we can expect out of these new Emerson products. The wording of the press release sounds like these will be unlocked GSM feature phones, not smart phones, but that's not yet 100% clear. We'll know more in January.
CES 2010 will start on January 7, 2010 and lasts until the 10th. Of course CES news is already pouring in. Read about it in our CES 2010 section.


text:
tags: Seattle Washington, wine tasting, photoessay
When I was in Seattle, several friends and I visited the Ballard Farmer's Market (part one and part two) in the morning and then went wine tasting at a nearby wine bar in the afternoon.
I was so fascinated by the Ballard Farmer's Market that Shannon could barely rip me (and my camera!) away. But the promise of free wine did the trick.
We walked down the street and went into a wine bar where Shannon knows a lot of people, and we sampled their wines, enjoyed interesting conversation.
If you look behind the owner, you see wooden racks holding literally thousands of wines.
As you can see, they sell thousands of wines here, but this very photogenic place was more than a wine store; it is also a very classy wine bar.
Seattle wine tasting. Doesn't this wine bar look wonderful?
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 September 2008 [larger view].
Seattle is really coming into its own with regards to style. It makes me miss my hometown even more -- if that's possible!
Anyway, after the wine tasting, Shannon decided to make a fancy dinner using the produce she purchased at the Farmer's Market and the wine that she purchased at this wine bar. I'll show you a few highlights of that dinner tomorrow.


text:
A very lovely building, that reminds me a bit of the Opera House, is the
The design was inspired, as the name indicates, by the lotus flower. (I suspect it was also inspired in part by Jorn Utzon's work!) The temple, surfaced in white marble, can seat up to 2.500 people. It is surrounded by nine ponds and 26 acres of gardens.
The spectacular Opera House in
From stately elegance to frivolity and fun … in
It belongs in Diagon Alley, the shopping street in the Harry Potter books! I like to imagine that inside there are curious shops like Flourish and Botts' Magic Book Shop and Ollivander's Fine Wands, but I suppose in reality it's all K-Mart and Target and those kiosks where they want to sell you a mobile phone that can play chess and launch a rocket ship.
As someone who has spent a large slice of my life in libraries (on both sides of the counter), my favourite unusual building has to be the Kansas City Public Library. The "community bookshelf" which runs along the south wall of the building, showcases 22 book spines, eight meters high and two wide. It clads the multistorey car park, so it is not obscuring any windows in the library itself.
The selected titles were voted for by the local community and provides an interesting view of what the good citizens of
The non-fiction includes the Journals of Lewis and
There are eight children's titles, among them Winnie the Pooh and The Wizard of Oz. Dr Seuss makes the cut, but Lewis Carroll doesn't.
I wonder what a WAS Community Bookshelf would look like? Let's find out! E-mail me your choice of three favourite adult and three children's books (fiction or non-fiction) and I'll compile a list. Get your friends and family to vote too: we need a lot of entries so we can be sure of getting it right before we start putting up the scaffolding round the Highway Gallery!


text:
Are you buying or selling a property and want everything inspected to know it's true value? Don't worry, we got you covered. Now with our Pros, you can have any part of a property inspected; from raised foundations and guest houses to swimming pools, nowhere is off limits for our SERVIZ Pros.
It is always important to have a property inspected before you buy or sell. A home inspector can investigate everything within your home and let you know any problems or areas for concern that will affect its overall value. After all, problems often lurk undetected until it is too late. There are always the obvious parts of the home that home inspectors look at, such as the heating and cooling system, roof and plumbing. But, there are also other parts of the home that are just as important to investigate where problems could exist. This includes the swimming pool. Now with our SERVIZ Pool inspection Pros, you can the pool inspected for any problems or anything that might need repairs. We can also look at raised foundation for issues, as well as inspect the guest house. What's more, we can get it all done in one day, so your daily routine is not interrupted.
At SERVIZ, we pride ourselves on offering fast, affordable and professional Pool inspection Pros right to your door. You can enjoy same-day appointments, as well as the lowest price guarantee on every home inspection add-on service. That's right; a professional and affordable service all in one. It doesn't get any better than SERVIZ!


text:
Stamford ends Ridgefield's winning streak
Against Stamford, which flaunts one of the state's preeminent softball programs, those kind of mistakes usually are costly.
Such was the case Monday when the Black Knights downed previously unbeaten Ridgefield 5-1 in a Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference game.
While Stamford played flawlessly in the field and executed at the plate, the Tigers did not.
Ridgefield, trailing 2-1 through six innings, made two errors in the seventh that allowed the Knights to score three insurance runs.
It was the culmination of a subpar performance.
The Tigers (4-1) also had a ball go through the legs of an outfielder; had a runner tagged out when she rounded second too far on a bunt; had another runner doubled off first base on a fly ball because the first-base coach lost track of the outs; and allowed several free bases due to missing the cutoff.
"Unfortunately, offensively we were a little flat, we made a couple of mental mistakes on the base paths and a few errors and that's a recipe for a loss," Ridgefield coach Angelo Formisano said.
Sophomore Ashley Higgins allowed 12 hits and hurt her cause with a throwing error in the seventh inning. However, she kept the Tigers close by working out of two jams.
Stamford (5-1) had runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, and had a runner on third with one out in the sixth. Higgins escaped unscathed both times.
Freshman Mia Savona 's two-out RBI single in the third put the Black Knights ahead 1-0.
Michelle Stabile's seeing eye single between first and second made it 2-0 in the fifth.
Both runs were set up by a sacrifice bunt, at which Stamford was successful five times in six tries.
Ridgefield got within 2-1 in the sixth when Aimee Moffat scored on the front end of a double steal while the Black Knights got an out during a rundown with the runner at first.
"They needed two to tie," Stamford coach Tony Esposito said. "It's tough to keep that girl from scoring (from third) so our strategy was to get the out. If we didn't get the out, then anything could hit the fan after that."
Instead, they tacked on three runs in the seventh. Savona smacked an RBI double and Stabile followed with an RBI single after a pair of Ridgefield errors.
"It was a close game. Fortunately we had that (seventh) inning where we scored some runs and it eases you up a little going into that last inning," Esposito said.
Stamford junior Brittany Stassano yielded only five singles and one walk with four strikeouts.
The Black Knights were coming off a 9-7 setback to Staples.
"We went to watch these guys play the other night so we got an idea of what we needed to do," Formisano said. "For the most part we did that. What we didn't do is come up with a plan at the plate and put the bat on the ball like we have been doing."
Or course, the quality of the girl in the circle presumably played a role in the Tigers' struggles at the plate.
"This was a measuring stick game. It's disappointing in the respect that we didn't win the game and I know we can play better than we did," Formisano said.
"But it's not disappointing in the overall scheme of things. It's over. It's not as devastating as you might think. Yeah, it hurts but tomorrow is a new day."
Stamford, the 2000 FCIAC and Class LL state champion under Esposito, edged Ridgefield to win the 2002 league final. It has remained formidable and fashioned a 20-0 regular season last spring.
Conversely, the Tigers weren't very competitive after making their first appearance in the FCIAC title game, compiling a 20-39 record over the next three years.
This season, however, they have regained respectability and are considered a contender.
"They can beat anyone in the league," Esposito said. "This is a close-knit league. You have your real strong teams - Trumbull, St. Joe's, Staples - but everyone competes in this league this year."
Stamford(5-1, 4-1) 001 010 3 - 5 12 0
Ridgefield(4-1, 4-1) 000 001 0 - 1 5 3
BATTERIE S: Stamford: Brittany Stassano and Meg Mammone . Ridgefield: Ashley Higgins and Tara Formisano. WP: Stassano (4-1). LP: Higgins (2-1). SO: Stassano 4, Higgins 2. BB: Stassano 1, Higgihns 1.
2 B: Nicky Robustelli (S) 2, Meg Mammone (S). RBI: Stamford: Mia Savona 2, Michelle Stabile 2.


text:
Never miss a deal, always be up to date -
get the most important deals, events and
product news with our E-Mail Newsletter!
Music Express Year 7 follows on from the award-winning Music Scheme for Primary Schools. Year 7 is published in six individual Book + CD + CD-ROM packs, each filled with all the resources a teacher could need and offering the flexibility to use acoustic instruments, electronic keyboards and ICT as suits the specific needs of any school! Each pack provides high quality, imaginative and inspirational music lessons for teaching a half term unit of work, and includes teaching activities, recordings, backing tracks, midi files, videoclips, assessment sheets, pupils' sheets, sample lesson plans and much much more...
Musical Cycles (West Africa) is the third of the six titles. An exciting, stimulating and lively unit on musical cycles, focusing on traditional and modern music from West Africa.


text:
Multiple Dates
Practicing Pedagogical Leadership Promoting "How Does Learning Happen?"
Presented by Athena Skliros, Faculty Trainer and Curriculum Development Coordinator at Mothercraft College.
Practicing Pedagogical Leadership Promoting "How Does Learning Happen?"
Join us for an interactive session, designed for leaders of all levels, to help you build effective and professional pedagogical practices!
- Leadership styles and strategies to promote collaborative, creative relationships
- Supporting other educators and working with diverse, multi-generational teams
- Emotional intelligence and interpersonal communication
- Promoting professional attitudes and approaches to pedagogical leadership


text:
Question: I wanted to start a butterfly garden but was told not to plant a butterfly bush. Why?
Answer: Buddleia or butterfly bush can be a nectar source for butterflies, but it has become invasive in some areas of the country and people fear it will do so here in Georgia. Invasive species are detrimental to the environment (harming butterfly populations in the long run) and to agriculture and forestry, too. Be on the safe side and plant something else.
Just because it is called "butterfly bush" does not mean it is the best or only choice for a butterfly garden. There are many other plants that are just as good or better and that you don't have to worry about becoming invasive. Here are some favorite nectar plants butterflies like: ironweed, native butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa, also a larval host plant for monarchs), joe-pye weed, summer phlox, thrift (Phlox subulata), buttonbush, abelia, lilac, liatris, native asters, goldenrod, sunflower, tithonia or Mexican sunflower, purple coneflower and single-flowered zinnias. Plant them instead of buddleia.
Also, if you want to have a successful butterfly garden concentrate on larval host plants instead of nectar plants. They are the ones butterflies lay their eggs on and that the caterpillars (larvae) eat. Most butterflies have specific needs and will only lay eggs on one type or family of plants. Monarchs, for example, only lay their eggs on milkweeds and related plants. Although adult butterflies will visit lots of flowers for nectar, they will pass over a garden overflowing with flowers to get to one of their larval host plants. These plants are essential for them to reproduce, and butterflies will travel long distances to get to them. It is a matter of survival. For more information: http://agr.georgia.gov/create-a-garden-to-attract-butterflies.aspx
Q: What exactly is turmeric? I see it in more restaurant dishes and things at the grocery store.
A: Turmeric is a spice valued for its peppery-ginger flavor, golden orange to saffron color and supposed health benefits. Turmeric is widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking and comes from the roots of Curcuma longa, a tropical plant related to ginger.
Turmeric seems to be growing in popularity and acceptance. People who know it only as the spice that adds flavor and color to bread-and-butter pickles are seeing it pop up in dishes at restaurants and products at the grocery store. However, there seems to be no agreement among cooks or dictionaries as to whether to pronounce the first r in turmeric.
Q: Are yellow watermelons sweeter than red watermelons?
A: No, but they are just as sweet. Add color and variety to picnics and fruit salads by serving both red and yellow.
Q: Is 'Autumn Minaret' a good daylily? I was given one recently.
A: You won't be disappointed with your new acquisition. 'Autumn Minaret' is a tall, late-bloomer that extends the daylily season through July and perhaps into August. (The main daylily month is June.) It is fragrant and has orange-yellow flowers with a darker eye. Despite its name, summer is still in force when 'Autumn Minaret' blooms here. Its blooms are not large, but at five and a half feet tall, you won't overlook them. It was introduced in 1951.
Q: What is the difference between a defoliant and a herbicide?
A: A defoliant is used to make the foliage (leaves) fall off of a plant. Defoliants have a very specialized use in agriculture. A defoliant may be used at the end of the season on cotton or soybeans or other crops to make harvesting easier. Herbicides are used to kill unwanted plants or prevent them from sprouting. Gardeners or farmers may use a herbicide to kill weeds. They would not use a defoliant.
Q: Who licenses and inspects restaurants?
A: County health departments inspect and license restaurants and similar food service establishments.
Q: What is avian influenza? I heard on the news earlier this year that it was killing chickens and turkeys. Is it safe to eat poultry and eggs?
A: Avian influenza is a viral respiratory disease of birds. There are many strains of avian influenza. What you saw on the news affecting poultry growers in other parts of the country is a strain of the virus categorized as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). "Highly pathogenic" means it is characterized as having a high (sometimes 100 percent) sickness and death rate in infected poultry flocks. It has not been found in Georgia.
No human cases of avian influenza have been confirmed in the U.S. The particular strain of the virus, H5N2, that you heard about on the news is not zoonotic, meaning it cannot pass between humans and animals. All commercially produced poultry is tested for avian influenza prior to being allowed to be processed. Poultry products and eggs are safe for human consumption. Avian influenza is an animal health issue, not a food safety or public health issue.
Avian influenza, like all types of influenza, is capable of frequent mutation. When one type of influenza comes into contact with another, changes are likely to occur. Therefore, safety precautions should always be taken. Backyard poultry is not tested prior to processing. Safe handling and cooking techniques should always be followed when handling raw poultry, meat and eggs.
For more information: http://agr.georgia.gov/avian-influenza.aspx
Q: Can I collect the water dripping out of my air conditioner to water my plants?
A: Yes, that will be a good way of recycling the water and giving your plants a free drink on hot days. One caveat: don't let the bucket or container become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Empty it daily or every other day.
Another option to make most of this water is to plant moisture-loving flowers and plants at or near the drip zone. A few possibilities include canna, swamp hibiscus, cardinal flower, jewelweed, turtlehead, joe-pye weed, ostrich fern, royal fern, cinnamon fern, Japanese iris, Louisiana iris, copper iris and swamp milkweed.
Q: Who determines when something is considered a weed?
A: You do. A weed is a plant growing where you don't want it. When a plant interferes with human endeavors (usually agricultural or horticultural endeavors), it is classified as a weed. An oak tree growing in the middle of your yard may be welcomed for its shade and beauty. An oak tree sprouting in a crack in the sidewalk is a weed because it will damage the sidewalk and eventually hinder or block pedestrians. A tomato plant in your vegetable garden is welcomed for the juicy tomatoes it produces. A tomato plant in the middle of a cotton field is a weed because it interferes with the growing and harvesting of the cotton.
What most people classify as weeds, however, are not the stray oak or tomato plant that sprouted in the wrong place. The plants we usually think of as weeds are those which sprout, thrive and spread in lots of places where lots of people don't want them. Besides the ability to reproduce readily and grow in lots of settings, the plants that qualify as the worst weedy offenders are also tenacious and difficult to eradicate.
Q: We're expecting more children than ever at our church's vacation Bible school program. I'm looking for information on food safety and preventing food poisoning in kids. Does the Georgia Department of Agriculture offer any simple tips or information that our kitchen volunteers can review?
A: The GDA and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension have developed a simple, straightforward training webinar that is available online for free at https://youtu.be/HEqUvd6WZYU, and covers the topic of "Preventing Foodborne Illness in Young Children: Safe Handling of Foods in Childcare Settings." In the webinar, you'll learn how foodborne illnesses can affect young children and the serious complications that can occur when children get sick from foods they eat. You'll find out what simple steps can be taken to prevent these illnesses from occurring, with interactive questions and scenarios to think about. This information is relevant for anyone working in a food service setting and can be scheduled as a live training for continuing education credits. If you would like to schedule a live webinar or in-person training sometime in the future, contact our Food Safety Division Outreach Coordinator at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Q: The lettuce I grew this spring is flowering now. I usually pull it up and plant something else but did not do that this year. This is the first time I have seen lettuce bloom. The flowers and the seed heads look like those of dandelions. Are they related?
A: Lettuce and dandelions are closely related members of the aster family. Their kinship is most noticeable when they bloom with their bright yellow flowers and when they go to seed and produce puffball seed heads.
Q: What are some herbs to grow for herbal tea?
A: There are numerous herbs to grow for tisanes or herbal teas. The various mints (peppermint, spearmint, orange mint and others) are, by far, the most popular. Other herbs to try include chamomile, rosemary, catnip, lemon grass, lemon balm, lemon basil, lemon verbena, lavender, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), monarda, mountain mints (Pycnanthemum spp.), stevia and pineapple sage.
Some herbs are used by themselves to make herbal tea. Some are combined with other herbs to make a blended herbal tea or brewed with true tea to give it a different flavor. Look for herb plants at nurseries and garden centers. Some can be grown from seed, too.
Q: Birds have built a nest my geranium hanging basket. The birds have a striped breast and one has a cranberry cast to its feathers. What kind of bird are they? Do they commonly do this? Can I still water my geranium?
A: It sounds like a pair of house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus). Some people mistakenly call these "purple finches," but the purple finch (Haemorhous purpureus) is a different species and does not breed in Georgia. The male house finch is the one that exhibits the colorful plumage.
You can still water your geranium but water it carefully on the side opposite the nest, preferably when you see the adults are away. House finches don't seem to mind living and feeding close to humans, but don't harass or disturb them unnecessarily or flood the nest, eggs or nestlings when you water.
Q: When is Georgia's next auction of rehabilitated horses? How many horses will be offered?
A: The Georgia Department of Agriculture will conduct a live auction on Saturday, August 15, at the Mansfield Impound Barn, 2834 Marben Farm Rd., Mansfield, Georgia 30055.
The exact number of horses to be auctioned will not be known until closer to the sale date, but at this time we estimate that 12 to 15 horses will be available for new and loving homes.
The horses may be inspected at the facility beginning at 10 a.m. The sale will start at 11 a.m. For more information, contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Equine Health Office at 404-656-3713. (M-F 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
Q: How can I get information about recalls of food (including pet food) here in Georgia? Do you send out announcements?
A: The Georgia Department of Agriculture Food Safety Division posts all recall information on our department website at http://agr.georgia.gov/recalls.aspx when the information indicates the recalled products may be in Georgia.
On this same website, people will find an "Email Alerts" option on the top right-hand side of the page where they can sign up to receive automatic email updates about recalls as they occur. Our recall outreach specialist sends the emails with a brief summary of the recall and a link to more information. She also posts the information on our Twitter account @GDAFoodSafety.
Q: Do you have a recipe for watermelon lemonade?
A: Here's a refreshing recipe from the Georgia Grown Test Kitchen:
Watermelon Lemonade
8 cups watermelon chunks, seeds removed
½ cup sugar
1 cup water
½ cup fresh lemon juice
Dissolve sugar in water over low heat. Set aside to cool. In a blender, combine watermelon and lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Add cooled sugar mixture and pulse to combine. Serve chilled. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint or rosemary from your garden. Watermelon lemonade can also be frozen in ice cube trays and added to regular lemonade or other drinks. Try freezing it in molds to make ice pop treats.
Q: What are the black nodules at the base of the leaves of my tiger lily? Are they seeds?
A: They are not seeds; they are mini-bulbs known as bulbils. The common tiger lily found in many gardens does not produce seeds. It reproduces by means of these bulbils.
If you want to increase your stock of tiger lilies, collect these bulbils and sow them in vermiculite, a seed-starting mix or directly in prepared ground. Leave the bulbils on the plant to allow them to get as large as possible before collecting and sowing. When they begin to fall off, you know it is time to harvest. Sow them immediately; do not wait until spring.
Q: Will cantaloupes ripen after they have been picked?
A: Once the melon is removed from the plant, the flesh will soften but the sugar content will never be higher than it was at harvest. For the best flavor, melons should be picked when fully ripe; that is when their sugar levels are at their peak.
Q: Can you tell me what is keeping my tomatoes from setting fruit? They were fine until recently.
A: Temperatures above 90 degrees or below 60 degrees will keep tomatoes, eggplants and peppers from setting fruit.
Q: Why have I been told never to put fresh tomatoes in the refrigerator?
A: Refrigerating a fresh tomato can give it a canned, processed flavor. Do not refrigerate fresh tomatoes except for food safety reasons such as saving sliced tomatoes for later use or marinating tomatoes overnight.
Q: I am concerned about my elderly parents working in the garden during this extreme heat. What can I do to make sure they don't have a heatstroke?
A: Talk with them and their doctor to make sure they are taking necessary precautions to protect themselves. Express your concerns and offer to help in the garden and with other outside chores, too!
Here are ways to help you and your family stay safe when temperatures climb:
Stay hydrated with water or other cool liquids. Hydration needs can vary based on health conditions and medications. Don't wait until your mouth feels dry before you drink. Keep in mind that alcohol and caffeine can contribute to dehydration and heat illness.
Save outdoor activities for the cooler morning or evening hours. If you must be out in the peak heat of the day, don't push yourself — especially if you're not used to it. If you feel overly hot or light-headed, get out of the heat to cool off and rest.
Choose lightweight, loose-fitting clothing that lets air circulate.
Sunburn affects the body's ability to cool itself. Wear a wide-brimmed hat and use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15.
If you don't have air conditioning, try a cool shower or bath. Head to a mall, library, cinema or other spot that does and stay there for a few hours.
Check on each other in person and over the phone. Take a cell phone to the garden to call for help if you need it.
Heatstroke is a medical emergency. It occurs when our natural cooling system gets completely overloaded. Normally, sweating helps protect us from overheating. But with heatstroke, a person's temperature can soar rapidly — above 103° F. And sweat doesn't evaporate fast enough to cool the body.
Heatstroke can be deadly. It can happen to anyone. Young children and older adults are especially vulnerable. Those with a chronic health condition or taking certain medications may be more heat sensitive.
Signs of heatstroke vary but may include: skin that is red, hot and dry - but not sweaty; rapid pulse; dizziness; labored breathing; confusion, hallucination or seizures; and unconsciousness.
If you think someone has heatstroke, call 911. While waiting for help to arrive, move the person to shade. Remove unneeded or tight clothing. Place cold compresses or cool, wet towels against the skin. Start with these hot spots: the head, neck, groin and armpits. Or fan while lightly spraying or sponging the person with water.
-- Arty Schronce
If you have questions about services or products regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, write Arty Schronce (email@example.com) or visit the department's website at www.agr.georgia.gov.


text:
A brand new map called Oasis is available to download for Overwatch players on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Oasis is a Control map set in the city of the Arabian Desert. The map features three unique control points as well as hazardous traffic. There's a view highlighting the epic new map below.
Blizzard's description with some background of Oasis os below:


text:
Best Mac Lipsticks for Fair Skin
So today I'm feeling super productive! I've been to the gym this afternoon, tidied and de-cluttered my room and now I'm writing a blog post, I'm basically super woman. But coming back to this post, this post will focus on what I think are some good shades in Mac lipsticks for people with fair/pale skin. If you don't live near a Mac counter (like me when I'm not at uni) it can be quite difficult to know which shade to choose so I've put together all the different shades I feel compliment fair skin!
I'm going to be focusing on seven different lipsticks.
Swatch from left to right: Lovelorn, Please Me, Plumful, New York Apple, Twig, Rebel, Girl About Town
PLEASE ME:- This is very similar to Lovelorn, it is however a matte finish and can be drying on the lips. However, it is a lovely pink nude shade. It is a bit more longer lasting and has a stronger colour I feel.
LOVELORN:- This is a lovely nude pink shade, in a lustre finish. It is perfect for just a simple daytime look and is the perfect 'your lips but better' shade.
PLUMFUL:- I love Plumful! It is a lustre finish, and is a lovely off red ish shade which I would personally wear for a day to night look as I feel red is more of a night time colour. Lovely lipstick but colour could be slightly brighter.
NEW YORK APPLE:- This is the only lipstick of which I own in a Frost finish. I personally think this lipstick would have been better in a matte shade HOWEVER I love this lipstick and is the perfect red shade for fair skin as it is not too bold.
TWIG:- A lovely Satin finish lipstick that resembles the famous Velvet Teddy. I wear this with the Spice lip liner and it is a lovely brown shade and is perfect for a daytime look. Overall, a lovely lipstick which is slightly out of my comfort zone but I still love it.
REBEL:- Another satin finish lipstick that is perfect for Autumn/Winter. I have only wore this lipstick once as finding the occasion for it is difficult! It is a lovely statement lip and doesn't dry my lips.
GIRL ABOUT TOWN:- I have definitely saved the best until last here.... I absolutely love this lipstick. It was one of the first Mac lipsticks I have ever purchased and I'm still in love. It is very bright but is very flattering on fair skin. This is my go to night time lipstick shade for a girls night out. Absolutely LOVE.
Three occasions of me wearing Girl About Town... that is maybe why I've used half of the lipstick within months.
As usual, feel free to leave any comments and also thank you for 100 followers on Bloglovin!


text:
After a bit of a drought, it is now raining blog challenge entries here in mINKs land! I spent a blissful day crafting (with some awesome company!) and managed to come up with a card to suit the Paper Players challenge #115 and the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #261
I used the ribbon, yellow & grey, and birthday combination from the Paper Players and chose basic grey with one of the 2012-2013 In Colours: Summer Starfruit. I must admit to now being overly attracted to it when the new colours first came out.... but it really grew on me after a while :)
Anyway, enough waffle... here is the card!
Hey Love Masculine Card
15 hours ago


text:
The ECOS Institute is staffed by veteran outdoor education, youth development and adventure camping staff.
ECOS instructors provide an unparalleled outdoor education experience for young minds, while promoting an atmosphere that ensures physical and emotional safety for all the students. ECOS delivers an outdoor classroom curriculum that emphasizes imaginative and creative lessons that utilize hands-on, experiential learning. Instructors provide education that meets California's Common Core State Standards and 21st century life skills.
Instructors stay on location with their cabin groups at night and spend time leading recreation and social activities that encourage and develop teamwork amongst the students.


text:
Remarkable Offers
Well-wrought, with a clear line and individually for you. Your meeting has no second chance. If you and your company are guests at the Falkenstein Grand Kempinski, everything must be right - ambience in the hotel, the rooms and meeting location in combination with the perfect service and passion to support you from every point of view. To do this, find here a compiled selection of conference packages, meeting and incentive options for your event in the Frankfurt region. The offers should give you a guideline - a first impression, the services included, up to the free internet and free parking.
For enquiries, please contact us at +49 (0) 6174 90 98 00 or via firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
While the cause of testicular pain cannot always be identified, it can be caused by an issue with the testicle, the tube and supportive tissue behind the testicle. It can also result from an issue that begins in the groin or abdomen, states Mayo Clinic.
Some possible conditions that cause pain in the testicle or testicles include diabetic neuropathy, gangrene, swelling of the scrotum from fluid buildup, testicular cancer and kidney stones, according to Mayo Clinic. Additionally, inflammation of the blood vessels, an inguinal hernia, urinary tract infection and testicle inflammation are all possible causes of testicular pain. A person who is experiencing pain in the testicles should work with his physician to determine the cause.
See a doctor for sudden or severe testicular pain as this can be a sign of a twisted testicle, explains Mayo Clinic. This condition disrupts blood supply to the testicle and requires prompt medical attention. Typically, it occurs more commonly among young adolescents and children, although it can occur at any age. Additionally, see a doctor immediately if testicular pain is present along with nausea, chills, fever or blood in the urine. Make an appointment to see a doctor for testicular pain that is mild in nature and persistent, or if a lump or swelling is detected.