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Ashes PHOTOS: Ruthless Australia march to 4-0 lead
Chris Rogers struck a sparkling century to fire Australia to a dominant eight-wicket win in the fourth Ashes Test on Sunday, leaving an insipid England staring down the barrel of a humiliating series whitewash.
The victory, completed before tea on day four, pushed Australia to a 4-0 series lead and the prospect of sweeping England in the fifth and final Test in Sydney seven years after Ricky Ponting's team whitewashed the tourists in 2006-07.
Image: England's captain Alastair Cook (right) reacts as Australia's captain Michael Clarke (third right) shakes hands with England's Kevin Pietersen (third left), after England lost their fourth Ashes Test
Photographs: David Gray/Reuters
Ashes PHOTOS: Ruthless Australia march to 4-0 lead
Needing quick wickets to have any chance of salvaging pride at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, England were let down badly by their captain Alastair Cook, who put down two catches at first slip in the first half-hour to reprieve Rogers on 19 and his opening partner David Warner for 22.
Though Warner lasted only three more runs, Rogers combined with number three batsman Shane Watson to flog a demoralised attack, their carefree partnership of 136 putting the hosts within 31 runs of victory before the opener succumbed for 116.
Image: Chris Rogers of Australia is congratulated by Shane Watson of Australia after reaching his century
Photographs: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Ashes PHOTOS: Ruthless Australia march to 4-0 lead
Having started the day needing 201 runs for victory, Rogers added only one run before nicking a Stuart Broad delivery behind but wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, replacement for the dropped Matt Prior, teamed up with Cook to make an absolute mess of the chance.
After Watson raised his second half-century of the series, Rogers was finally dismissed by spinner Monty Panesar for his highest score in Test cricket, slashing an edge to Bairstow.
"Doesn't get better than this to win a Boxing Day Test and get 100 on the last day. It's what dreams are made of," Rogers said in a pitchside interview after making his second test century in a late-blooming international career.
Image: Chris Rogers of Australia leaves the field after making 116 runs
Photographs: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Ashes PHOTOS: Ruthless Australia march to 4-0 lead
Australia captain Michael Clarke (six not out) joined Watson (83 not out) to administer the last rites for England, who played out the final sessions with a deflating weariness that allowed the hosts to mow through the 231 runs required for victory without breaking sweat.
Watson whipped a boundary square to secure the win in style, and charged down the sun-bathed pitch with arms raised as a crowd of more than 38,000 roared their approval.
Like Cook before him in the match, Clarke brought up his 8,000th Test run in his short innings, adding another milestone in a year in which he became the first player to reach 1,000 runs.
"We've had our ups and downs. There's no doubt that the winning feeling is back in our camp," Clarke told reporters after his team finished a tough year that started with nine straight Tests without a win on a high.
"Today could have went one or two ways.
"We could have just got over the line but I think because the boys just have so much confidence in their own ability and in the work that they've been putting in, we ended up winning quite convincing today."
Image: Shane Watson of Australia celebrates hitting the winning runs
Photographs: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
Ashes PHOTOS: Ruthless Australia march to 4-0 lead
England heads dropped further when Cook fluffed the simplest of chances shortly after, with Warner driving recklessly at a Ben Stokes delivery to send the nick straight into the skipper's lap.
Mercifully for Cook, Warner was out for 25 slashing at another Stokes ball to be snaffled by Bairstow, but Rogers marched on.
He rode his luck to his half-century, moving to 49 when an inside edge whistled past the stumps and beat the keeper to run for four, but brought up the milestone with a lovely cut through the covers for two.
He and Watson helped drive Australia past 100, and then opened their shoulders in the last 40 minutes before lunch to smack 113 runs in the morning session.
Image: Michael Clarke (left) and Shane Watson of Australia embrace as Australia win the match
Photographs: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Ashes PHOTOS: Ruthless Australia march to 4-0 lead
Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson, who took eight wickets and ran out Joe Root with a brilliant piece of fielding on day three, was named man-of-the-match for a third time in the series following his awards in the Brisbane and Adelaide Tests.
Cook's dropped catches will only add further pressure on the England skipper, who waited an hour and a half before introducing spinner Panesar in the morning, by which time Australia's batsmen were well on top.
In truth, England surrendered the match on day three when their batsmen collapsed to be all out for 179 after tea, having lost their last five wickets for six runs to hand the initiative straight back to the hosts.
"The good thing about this game is that we got an opportunity to win it," Cook said.
"In the first half-hour we created three chances. When it's a low run chase you need to take those chances. We didn't take them and we got punished for the rest of that.
"There's a lot of things we are struggling to explain."
Image: Mitchell Johnson of Australia walks to the change rooms with a stump after victory
Photographs: Michael Dodge/Getty Images


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Ford Motor Co. declared a first-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, double the quarterly dividend it paid last year.
The automaker had only reinstated paying dividends last year as preserved cash to survive the recession and U.S. auto industry restructuring of recent years.
"Our ability to double our dividend in one year is a testament to our One Ford plan, which has enabled us to maintain a solid balance sheet, while at the same time growing our business to provide our shareholders with more return on their investments," said Bob Shanks, Ford's chief financial officer.
Ford's move came about a year earlier than many analysts expected and is a good sign of the automakers fiscal health.

subset: commoncrawl


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SmartSites is New Jersey's leading online marketing company. We are a team of over a dozen designers, developers, writers, marketers, and problem solvers, who work together to make websites successful. - We plan websites based on what people are searching for.- We design websites that users love and share.- We promote websites and get them to the top of search engines.- We constantly analyze and optimize.We are rated top 2% by Google Partners and our typical SEO campaigns increase business by over 200%. Call (201) 870-6000 for a free consultation.Certification:Hootsuite Professional Certified, Inbound Marketing Certification, Gold SEMPO Member, Google Partner Certified, Accredited BBB Business, W3 Schools CertifiedServices Offered: >> Web design: website design, logo & branding, responsive design. >> Online marketing: search engine optimization, Adwords management, social media marketing, Google penalty recovery. >> Web development: custom development, Wordpress development, ecommerce development, page speed optimization.
Is this your company? Log in to update your information.


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This data set consists of apparent surface reflectance, subpixel snow-covered area and grain size inferred from data acquired by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS).
CLPX Airborne: Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) Data, Version 1
Get Data
An Earthdata Login account is required to access these data. Please visit the Earthdata Login registration page to register for an account. Once you have logged in, data can be downloaded via a Web browser, command line, or client. For help with downloading data, please see Options Available for Bulk Downloading Data from HTTPS with Earthdata Login.
Geographic Coverage
|Spatial Coverage:
|Spatial Resolution:
|Not Specified
|Temporal Coverage:
|Temporal Resolution:
|Not specified
|Data Format(s):
|Data Contributor(s):
|Thomas Painter
|Metadata XML:
|View Metadata Record
Data Citation
As a condition of using these data, you must cite the use of this data set using the following citation. For more information, see our Use and Copyright Web page.Painter, T. 2006. CLPX Airborne: Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) Data, Version 1. [Indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. doi: https://doi.org/10.5067/R92TRY26ZN2Q. [Date Accessed].
Detailed Data Description
AVIRIS data have the following characteristics:
- Spectral range: 400-2500 nm
- Spectral resolution: 10 nm
- Spatial resolution: 1.5 m (variable)
- Swath width: 1.0 km (variable)
- Processing level: apparent surface reflectance, subpixel snow-covered area and grain size
- Sampling: scene based (~ 815 samples, 512 lines)
- Temporal coverage: April 4-8, 2002; February 19-20, 2003; March 25-April 1, 2003
- Spatial coverage: [39.70N, 1070W] to [410N, 105.50W], not complete coverage
Apparent surface reflectance: binary, short integer
Subpixel snow-covered area: binary, floating point (data range N [0.0,1.0])
Subpixel snow grain radius: binary, floating point (data range N [0, 1100 micrometers])
Data are available on the HTTPS site in the
https://daacdata.apps.nsidc.org/pub/DATASETS/CLP/data/airborne/nsidc0154_aviris/ directory. Within this directory, there are three folders and a readme file. One folder contains data for the Intensive Observation Period 4 (IOP-4), one folder contains data for reflectances, and one folder contains data for radiances. Within the IOP folder, data files are organized by study area location.
The following codes are used in filenames:
File names include location names.
Reflectance files include ".
rfl" in the file name.
Radiance files include ".
img" in the file name.
Grain size files include ".
grnsz" in the file name.
Snow cover files include ".
snow" in the file name.
Vegitation cover files include ".
veg" in the file name.
Each file is named by its location and then a date of the form yymmdd.
File sizes range from 2 B to 242 MB.
Total data volume is 1.1 GB.
Southernmost Latitude: 39.70 N
Northernmost Latitude: 41.00 N
Westernmost Longitude: 107.00 W
Easternmost Longitude: 105.50 W
Coverage is not continuous.
Spatial Resolution
Spatial resolution is approximately 1.5 m.
AVIRIS measurements were made on 4-8 April 2002; 19-20 Februrary 2003; and 25 March-1 April 2003.
Apparent surface reflectance
Subpixel snow-covered area
Grain size
Parameter Description
AVIRIS measures calibrated radiance. The data include apparent surface reflectance, subpixel snow-covered area, and grain size.
For a complete description of parameters and measurements, please refer to the Measurements section of the CLPX Plan.
Data Acquisition and Processing
For complete information about data acquisition and processing regarding CLPX, please see the Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX) Plan Web Site.
For complete information about data acquisition and processing, please see JPL's AVIRIS Data Facility Web site.
References and Related Publications
Contacts and Acknowledgments
Thomas H. Painter
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Dr.
Pasadena, California USA 91109
Document Information
12 April 2006
NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Email: email@example.com


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Beautiful Analogue in the White Cold5 27 Share Tweet
The whole world may not experience it but we can not deny that snow is one the best blessings we can have every year!
Snow is a sign that winter is here and that Christmas is coming! Yes, it is cold but it is the kind of cold we enjoy and keep in our memories. Aside from these warm fuzzy feelngs, snow also let us bring our Lomographic cameras out and shoot that white beauty from nature!
That's why in this week's gallery post, we're giving you 50 lovely photos tagged under "snow." Grab your coats, make a cup of hot cocoa, and enjoy this Lomographic treat!
written by mayeemayee on 2012-12-16 #lifestyle #snow #white #holidays #community #christmas #gallery-post


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Reporting from Sacramento -- State lawmakers on Friday unveiled a bill that would expedite legal challenges to a football stadium proposed in downtown Los Angeles, setting off debate over whether legislators should fast-track special treatment for the project in the waning days of this year's session.
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Sen. Alex Padilla, both Democrats from Los Angeles, said their bill would balance the need to uphold environmental laws with the imperative to help the project by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which could create more than 10,000 jobs.
"It would pave the way for the most environmentally friendly sports stadium in the country, in addition to putting thousands of people to work," Padilla said at a Capitol news conference.
But with just four working days next week to act before the Legislature adjourns for the year, many lawmakers said they had yet to see the bill's language. Some said they were in no rush to make a decision by Friday, a deadline AEG has said is necessary to avoid jeopardizing the $1.2-billion project.


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Behind never sleeping design is Ben Chlapek, poster designer of course, this is the reason why he is here, but also author of small books and zines like the Ultimate Worrier for example, surely coming from his first works on "super hero characters that were overly muscular" …
Music is an essential part of my everyday life. It's good to have a solid soundtrack to work by, and for me that includes (usually) bands like Destroyer, Brian Eno, M83, Yo La Tengo, Cave, The War On Drugs, Crystal Castles, Jerusalem and the Starbaskets, The Radio Dept., The Strokes, My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500, etc.
Can you tell us more about yourself, who are you, where are you from, what do you do?
I'm from Kansas City, Missouri, USA, and have been living in Columbia, Missouri, for the past eight years. I came here for college, and ended up staying because it's pretty cheap to live here and do what you want. I have a tendency to be a bit of a hermit when there's lots of work to do, lock myself in my apartment and become nocturnal. It seems like I'm either constantly working or unable to put pen to paper. Once I get started, it's hard to stop, and once I stop it's hard to start again. That being said, I feel I have a pretty good work ethic. I play and write music as well, so when I'm not in the mood to draw I can usually turn to music.
When did you start drawing?
I suppose I started like everyone else, when I was a kid. I remember trying to make my own super hero characters that were overly muscular, and drawing lots of war scenes with bullets flying everywhere. I enjoyed it and tried to be good at it for a while, but never was.
I had very mediocre skill in high school. There were a few things I did that weren't terrible, but there were several people better than me. I didn't really have a "voice" or know what I liked. Then I went to school for graphic design, and still couldn't really draw in the beginning drawing classes (maybe still life scenes of boxes and fruit weren't inspiring enough). I slowly discovered other artists that maybe weren't technically "good," but who's work I really liked, and who made quite a career for themselves. I took a screenprinting class, which encouraged me to draw and get into concert posters. Hopefully I've slowly gotten better.
Today are you living from your art, or do you do something else for a living ?
I am fortunate enough to do art full time, as my only job. I barely make enough to make ends meet, and some months it's really close, but it seems like just when I'm about to run out of money something will come along. I feel extremely lucky to be my own boss. Bosses are terrible.
I make my own zines quite often, but no, I don't really have too many things I regularly contribute to. I would like to! I think I'm good in that way. Like, I can come up with multiple pieces that work separately and also would look good together. Anyway, it would be fun.
Where does your influence come from? Is there any artists/graphists you particularly like, what are your influences?
There are so many things that can influence art of all forms. Old movies, weather, awkward situations, disasters, music, outsider art/music, architecture, relationships, anything. Artists I really like are Saul Steinberg, Danny Gibson, Maurice Sendak, David Shrigley, and an infinite list of others.
What are the principal steps in your work ?
Always start with an idea. With any creative thing you do. Otherwise you'll just be scribbling on paper and wasting time. Sure, every now and then something good will come from just free drawing, but there's no use in pushing forward if you don't have a plan. At least that's how I feel. So usually there are a bunch of small thumbnail drawings to get an idea of the composition of the piece and how everything is going to shake out. From then there will be a bigger pencil drawing, then I'll ink it, then scan it into the computer and make it the right size/color.
Most of it is by hand, but after all of the drawing is done I scan it in so I can re-size it or correct any mistakes I made while Inking it. I use the computer to separate the colors for screen printing as well.
How long does it take you to do a poster?
It depends. I usually listen to the band's music for quite a while to get ideas, a feel for what it should look like, etc. Once I get an idea, it doesn't take more than a few hours or half a day to execute, then another day or half day to screen print. I like the instant gratification of it all.
You have a very distinctive style, are you doing only what you feel like or if tomorrow somebody asks you an oil painting with horses running out of water with a sunset backdrop, is it a problem or are you up for it ?
Well, usually people come to me for the specific type of work they've seen from me. That's nice. Sometimes though, yes, people will have odd requests completely out of my normal work style, and I usually turn them down. I can't use oils anyway, and I don't want to paint a horse. I think it's funny that so many people get hung up on styles, too, and ask how I developed mine. It's just my own handwriting and not-so-great drawing skills. The pieces usually come out pretty alright though, thankfully.
I mostly pick poster jobs based on bands I like (through the venue or promoter), so that's nice. I'll get commissions from the bands directly too, sometimes, like The Black Keys or Flight of the Conchords.
For which band would you love to work?
Too many to list. I would love to do another Destroyer poster, or M83. Or somehow something for Brian Eno.
Do you choose the artists yourself?
Yes! Mostly.
What is the most difficult part in designing a poster ?
Sometimes it is difficult to execute the idea, and get the final piece to look like the image I have in my head. It can be very frustrating when it doesn't work. Maybe if I was better I wouldn't have that problem.
There are tons of people doing hand drawn, screen printed posters. Jay Ryan, LandLand, Patent Pending, and many others. I don't know if I'm part of a scene per se, but I suppose you could view all of the current poster artist like that as a scene. Yeah.
A bit of self-promotion, take advantage of it, it's free, where can we see your work , on the web or in real life?
neversleeping.com is my main site. From there, you can find links to twitter and flickr and all of that stuff. In real life, well, I don't know that I have anything in galleries right now. I hope to do much more of that in the coming year.
The best praise you received lately?
The poster I did for Beirut was taped on to one of their amps onstage, so that's kind of cool. Also, I have a piece in something called The Indie Rock Poster book, alongside 29 other artists. The whole thing turned out great.
I don't ask for much, but maybe that people continue to pay me to make things for them, and that I don't destroyer myself while I'm trying to do so. I'll make things regardless, I suppose. Thanks!


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I couldn't let one little soul go without mention, Mama loves you..... xo, Sam
Monday, November 21, 2011
My own little crowd
I couldn't let one little soul go without mention, Mama loves you..... xo, Sam
12 comments:
- Enchanted Moments said...
You are a brave and sweet girl to share your pain and loss of your little babies...Im a week out of having surgery for the loss of our much wanted and already so loved little baby....its a life planned and a life hoped for and now, its the loss and the grief...I too have other children and hold them dear to my heart as each kiss and love from them helps put a little piece of my heart back together at a time....
- November 21, 2011 at 3:24 AM
Praying for you. Glad you find happiness and thankfulness during a time of greif. And, you are so brave!
- November 21, 2011 at 8:45 AM
I strongly agree, you are very brave and strong, even in difficult times. I'm very sorry for you.
- November 21, 2011 at 1:53 PM
- Dawn said...
I've been thinking about you....
- November 22, 2011 at 12:47 AM
- low cost payday loans said...
I salute you on that.
- November 22, 2011 at 5:28 AM
Thank you for sharing. I am so sorry for the loss of your little one. These last weeks have been full of memories of my own babes that went ahead as I minister to my sweet little momma, my third born in the loss of her first baby and my third grand baby. My heart aches for her but I am thankful that, like you, she is finding the mercy of the Lord to be her strength. God is so good to heal our hearts and show us His over abounding love.
Christy in Mississippi
- November 22, 2011 at 9:23 AM
- Brenda L said...
That is very similar to the words God gave me for a friend who has had five miscarriages--that she would have a wonderful welcome in Heaven as her little children rush to her to finally be able to hug their mama.
- November 22, 2011 at 7:36 PM
- namesofperfumes said...
Give you have happiness and successful. I will pray and give you success.
Thank you for your share
- November 23, 2011 at 3:08 AM
- Amy said...
Thinking of you
- November 23, 2011 at 12:09 PM
- Renata said...
Praying for you ((Hugs))
With not being able to conceive this last year I treasure my 4 so much more. You are brave & your words are a blessing
Renata XO
- November 24, 2011 at 9:02 PM
- K-Sue said...
When you go through a loss like this, isn't it amazing how many share your grief, becoming part of your comfort?
- December 2, 2011 at 5:59 AM
i have miscarried also 3 times before i had my baby girl. But it makes every milestone that much sweeter. thank you for sharing your story
- April 24, 2012 at 6:45 AM


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Submitted by stuart on Tue, 01/24/2017 - 14:29
The site is undergoing a large revamp while we prepare it for multiple languages. You might have seen multiple languages in recent time but the navigation has been shifted to a backup site while we complete the navigation. The new site will be available in arly April.


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Unlimited access to The African Business Fortune along with 5,000+ other digital magazines and premium articles
The African Business Fortune Limited is a limited liability company that positions itself as a pace-setter in the media industry through production of high quality publications and other printed materials. It is one of Africa's leading media consultancy firms with unparalleled public relation services that include print & online publishing and advertising (including billboards, neon signs and outdoor screen advertising); educational books & research materials publishing; editorial content development, publishing; event organization, product promotion, crisis management, market research and surveys; circulation of promotional & advertising content; designing & printing: magazines, newsletters, pamphlets, journals, books, diaries, calendars, brochures, fliers and branded promotional materials. The African Business Fortune Magazine is the company's lead publication and is the first ever comprehensive monthly business magazine that provides in-depth business reportage and analysis cutting across the borders of the 53 counties of the African content. The African Business Fortune Limited also publishes for a mixed breed of clients that include higher institutions of learning; government agencies; organisations and consortium of business firms in the private sector.
The African Business Fortune Magazine 2018 Edition features the Energy sector.


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I am the Graduate Chair for the Department of Mathematics, and am a Managing Editor of Homology, Homotopy and Applications.
My papers, preprints and talks.
Contact information is below.
My research interests include algebraic topology
(especially stable homotopy theory and model categories),
homotopy type theory and univalent foundations,
derived categories,
modular representation theory,
mathematical physics (quantum gravity),
algebraic and scientific computation,
and category theory (especially higher categories).
Research groupDan Christensen (faculty)
Zach Lindsey (postdoc, Sept 2018 until present)
Marco Vergura (Ph.D. student, Sept 2015 until present)
Luis Scoccola (Ph.D. student, Sept 2016 until present)
|What's this?
Chris Kapulkin and I are running the Homotopy Type Theory Electronic Seminar Talks.
I encourage eligible people apply for an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship, an NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (domestic and international applicants eligible), any other NSERC postdoc, an NSF PDF (e.g. a International Research Fellowship Program postdoc, or a Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships or a Distinguished International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship), or similar to be held at Western.
The Canadian Government has many scholarships and fellowships that are available for people from many different countries.
|Recent Teaching
|Winter 2019
|Algebraic Topology, Math 4152b/9052b.
|Summer 2018
|Representation Theory, Math 9140a.
SAGE is a wonderful program which interfaces to Magma, Maple, Mathematica and MATLAB, and the free programs Axiom, GAP, GP/PARI, Macaulay2, Maxima, Octave, and Singular. It is freely available and open source.
If you find math fun, consider becoming a math major. Talk to me or anyone else in the department if you're curious.
Here are some photos from trips I have been on.
I'm on Google+.
|Contact information
Dan Christensen
Department of Mathematics
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario N6A 5B7
Office: MC130
Office phone: (519) 661-2111 x86530
Fax: (519) 661-3610 (include my full name)


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Not sure what to wear tomorrow? I know, I know, it's early in the day, but I'm a HUGE fan of getting a jump on your wardrobe game whenever you can.
Use these inspirational pics pulled from The Outfit Blueprint Pin Boards HERE (they come in handy during Week 2 of The 30-Day Ultimate Closet Guide) and see if you can use what is already in your closet to update your look...
Get more Outfit Blueprint, Wear-to-Work Inspiration here.


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- slide 1 of 5
You are probably already familiar with Excel's copy and paste commands to copy data or formulas to different cells. By default, however, Excel 2013 copies everything, including formulas, values and formatting. In most cases, that is exactly what you want, but other times it can cause more problems than it's worth.
Say you had spent considerable time formatting a particular table. You decide to save time by copying that formatting to a new table. The problem is that the new table already contains important data. If you use the default copy method, the formatting would be copied, but so would the data. That means the data in the new table would be overwritten and need to be reentered.
Excel 2013, however, goes well beyond the default copy behavior by enabling you to choose what is actually copied. In this case, opting to only copy formats keeps the new table data and replaces only its formatting with that of the first table.
1. Select the cells whose formatting you want copied, right-click anywhere in the selection and choose Copy. Alternatively, select the cells and press Ctrl-C.


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My struggle with shin splints
I mentioned this in my introduction blog, but here's a little more detail about what I've been dealing with recently. Hopefully I can help prevent someone else from having the same issues!
Last spring I was really upping my game in the frequency and distance of my morning jog. I was doing 4 km Monday-Friday and 8 km on Saturday, with Sunday as my rest day. Around that time I had also bought new running shoes because my old ones were starting to fall apart. Because of my really wide feet, my options were limited and I ended up with a pair that did not have as much support as my old ones. So the intensity of my runs and the less than ideal shoes probably both contributed to me developing shin splints.
Old, falling apart running shoes on the right,
new, less supportive running shoes on the left.
Shin splints are a sharp pain on the front lower part of your legs, and a common ailment for runners and other athletes that do a lot of high impact training. The cure is to stop whatever it is that caused them, let them heal, and then slowly start exercising again and building up strength. Also, good shoes are a must.
At first I didn't know it was shin splints because I've never been much of a runner before. I thought I just had sore muscles, although it seemed like a weird place to get sore since as far as I could tell it was just bone. But I figured I'd keep stretching well and running, and it would get better, right? Wrong!
In July, my mom and step-dad came to visit, and by that time my legs were hurting almost constantly, even when just sitting. My step-dad is an experienced runner, able to do marathons, so I asked for his advice. And that's when I learned about shin splints.
I did not run at all in August and September, and scaled down my at-home exercise as well. I focused on low impact strength training and cardio, and after I started feeling better I would occasionally go for a walk. I also saw a specialist who did electrical muscle stimulation, acupuncture, and massage – serious deep muscle massage, ouch! Seems like my legs hurt more for a day or two after that, but hopefully they were healing.
As recommended by another marathon runner I know, I bought Superfeet inserts for my shoes, so hopefully those give me the support I need. I gradually starting to run in October. During the week I jogged 2 km only once or twice. Once on the weekend if I had time I alternate jogging for 10 minutes and walking for 10 minutes, and it took 4 rounds of that, an hour and twenty minutes, to do 8 km. I also carried hand weights and did arm raises while walking. This month I'll continue this, but move up to 12 minutes of jogging and 8 minutes of walking with arm raises.
I still find that my left leg hurts a bit if I run too fast or too far, or if I run and also do high impact exercises within the same couple of days. I really like to push myself when I exercise, and it's been hard to purposely hold back so that I don't hurt myself again. What's your favorite low impact workout? Let me know in the comments!
Help, I'm losing motivation!
On Wednesday I did well exercising, and did this super tough Jillian Michaels cardio workout in the evening even though I was feeling a bit lethargic. Those last few circuits, man! I ate well too, although I'm pretty sure the stew in school lunch had wheat flour and milk or cream in it to make it thicker and creamier.
On Thursday I started well with a short jog, and ate well too.
A good Japanese school lunch - fish, a cabbage dish,
hearty miso soup, and rice with brown rice mixed in.
After work I called the dentist to make an appointment (in Japanese) and figured that this was both challenging and was related to taking care of my health, so I gave myself a break and didn't do an evening workout. I was really craving sugary foods or snacks, but since there wasn't anything in my apartment like that I survived without.
On Friday I had no excuse to skip my evening workout. NO EXCUSE! But I did.
I also skipped a Halloween party, but that's mainly because it was ¥3500 to get in plus all-you-can-drink, but no food. I didn't want to spend that much on what would probably be just a few glasses of juice that I felt like drinking.
Anyway, I was totally lazy and unmotivated to do anything, and was really really craving bad food. But I didn't have bad food in my apartment. This is when things turned ugly. Even though I had a full, healthy dinner, I was desperate for something more to snack on while watching TV.
See, I should have exercised. I'm not sure the mechanics behind it, but I usually don't crave snack foods as much after I exercise. I also should have washed dishes after dinner and done other productive things to distract myself. But on Friday nights it's the beginning of the weekend, so I have no motivation to be productive because I'll have time the next day to do stuff. Friday nights are dangerous times to stay home.
So, I was getting desperate, and before I knew it I was sitting in front of my computer with a bag of sesame seeds and a spoon. Yes, that's how sad and pathetic my night became. I probably ate over 50 grams of sesame seeds. The whole bag. Just plain. Because that's what I could find. And some chia seeds. And a whole bag of frozen blueberries. It gets even worse... The only sugary thing in my kitchen was some molasses. Let's not even talk about what happened next, it's too shameful.
You're completely disgusted in me, aren't you? I am. "Lame, Laura! Gross, Laura! I don't want to be your friend anymore! How could you do that? Nobody else could possibly be that pathetic. This is a dirty, ugly secret, it better not go in the blog!" These are the things I told myself.
You're completely disgusted in me, aren't you? I am. "Lame, Laura! Gross, Laura! I don't want to be your friend anymore! How could you do that? Nobody else could possibly be that pathetic. This is a dirty, ugly secret, it better not go in the blog!" These are the things I told myself.
I went to bed that night feeling terrible - ashamed, disappointed in myself, and kind of bloated.
I'm sorry, me. We'll try better next time.
I'm sorry, me. We'll try better next time.
I woke up on Saturday motivated to make up for the night before. I did a quick workout, ate a big healthy breakfast, went to see my electrical muscle stimulation/acupuncture/massage doctor again, ran some errands, had no time for lunch, went to the dentist, had a late afternoon snack, and then met some friends for dinner. We went to an Indian place, and because I'm avoiding dairy and wheat all I could eat was just curry. No naan, no tandoori or other side dishes (yogurt was used in the preparation), no lassi or ice cream. But I had some delicious lamb saag, and it was actually all I really needed since I had had that late afternoon snack (which honestly wasn't that healthy, but it didn't break any of my rules).
So far today I'm doing well too. But Friday night still haunts me... Haha, haunts! That's funny because Friday was Halloween. But seriously, Fridays are often really hard. I never want to exercise and eat well and be productive at the end of the week, and often end up just lying around and binge eating, and then hating myself for it. I could really use some support! Any ideas, advice, etc?


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Thanks for reading!
A bit of fondue on the weekend
Winter means fondue time in Switzerland! It's such a nice feeling waking up and just having that feeling that it snowed. And when checking out the window, all it white. I also decided to play around a bit with photo editing... When the cold is here, i'm a little more reluctant to go out outside. So staying in with a a cup of tea in the warm editing photos, didn't seem to bad.
2 comments:
I like to stay indoor with a cup of coffee on a cold dayReplyDelete
I am inviting you to enter my $50 Persunmall giveaway.
awesome post dearReplyDelete
wanna follow each other via gfc and bloglovin
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Out of the Frying Pan While Avoiding the FirePublished March 10th, 2010 in Economy
This is a guest post by Tyler S. Lang:
The US and world economies are transitioning from the initial recovery phase (which usually lasts a few months) to the early upswing phase. Typically, this latter phase persists for at least a year and often several years if the output gap closes slowly. The textbooks tell us the early upswing phase is characterized by rising short term interest rates, stable long term interest rates and an upward trending stock market. In general, consumer confidence rises and unemployment starts to fall.
The two key questions are: is the recovery self-sustaining and, how long until inflation is a problem. Ideally, we want the recovery to walk the line of being strong enough to avoid a double dip recession (the frying pan), but not too strong, which has the nasty habit of resulting in inflation (the fire). In order to monitor this we need to look at indicators that give us timely insight into whether or not either of these pernicious scenarios is taking shape.
Accordingly, I've have compiled the following 11 economic and financial indicators to help provide this insight. Eight of the eleven indicators are positive, two are negative and one is neutral. Taken as a whole, we believe these indicators currently paint a picture of a sustainable recovery in the economy, which implies a continued upward trending stock market.
Consumer Confidence – Neutral (turning positive):
This indicator is important because it is correlated with consumer spending, which is a critical component to an economic recovery. Consumer confidence has improved, but only marginally from the extremely low reading of 55, seen at the end of 2008. A reading over 80 would turn this indicator to positive.
Personal income less transfer payments - Positive:
This is the value of income received from all sources stated in inflation-adjusted dollars to measure the real salaries and other earnings of all persons. It excludes government transfers, such as Social Security. Income levels are important because they help determine both aggregate spending and the general health of the economy. This indicator is currently positive because posted a gain for four months in a row.
Employees on Non-Agricultural Payrolls – Negative (turning neutral)
This series from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reflects actual net hiring and firing of all but agricultural establishments and the smallest businesses in the nation. It is one of the most closely watched series for gauging the health of the economy.
The rate of decent has slowed and another month of moving sideways (as opposed to down) turns it neutral. However, in order to turn positive we are waiting for two months of payroll growth.
Temporary Hiring – Positive
Temporary Hiring tends to precede growth in Payrolls and, consequently, improved employment. This has turned up sharply and that is positive.
Industrial Production - Positive
Although the industrial sectors (manufacturing, mining & utilities) contribute only a small portion of GDP, they are highly sensitive to interest rates and consumer demand. Thus, it is a good measure of the economy. This indicator has moved up strongly and that has positive implications for the sustainability of the recovery.
Manufacturing & Trade Sales - Positive
This data is released by the US Census Bureau and is intended to provide timely measures of changes in domestic retail trade, wholesale trade and manufacturer's activities. The rapid improvement in this indicator is positive and augurs well for domestic economic activity.
Commercial and Industrial Loans - Negative
This series measures the volume of business loans held by banks and commercial paper issued by non-financial companies. This is a lagging indicator because it tends to peak after an expansion peaks as declining profits increase the demand for loans. On the flip side, troughs are typically seen more than a year after a recession ends. Despite this being a lagging indicator, we are at a stage in the cycle where a turn in this indicator would be an important indication that the recovery is becoming broad based and sustainable. If the rate of change on this indicator moves above 0, that would turn this neutral.
Long Term Inflation Expectations – Positive
There is a lot of concern right now about runaway inflation or devastating deflation. We don't want either of these extremes as they both have negative effects on asset prices (particularly equities). Thus, in an ideal world we walk the line between solid real economic growth and low, stable price increases. Right now long term inflation expectations are in the sweet spot and this is positive for the stock market.
30 Year Mortgage Rates - Positive
This is Freddie Mac's national average on a 30 year fixed rate with 20% down. Low mortgage rates have numerous positive implications for the refinance market and for purchases. Additionally, low mortgage rates have important implications for the cost of other consumer loans. It is true that Mortgage purchases by the Federal Reserve are holding these rates artificially low and it doesn't tell the whole story because many banks have tightened lending standards, thus, making this low rate more difficult to obtain. Nonetheless, rates this low are on-balance positive.
S&P 500 Index – Positive
The direction and strength of the stock market is important as a leading economic indicator and because it has critical implications for the level of wealth. As the stock market rises from its March, 2009 bottom investment accounts are reflated, 401(k)'s are restored, and confidence slowly seeps back into the populace. All of these factors are important for consumer spending and the level of economic activity. Despite the relatively minor correction since mid-January the stock market is still positive. If it breaks down to make fresh lows, then that would flip this at least to neutral and perhaps negative.
South Korea stock market (KOSPI Index) – Positive
One of the best "canaries in the coal mine" is South Korea, because this economy is exposed to consumer demand in the US and infrastructure spending in China. This economy is on the pointy end of the economic cycle and, similar to our S&P 500, it is still holding up relatively well, which is positive.
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Specifically what we termed as 'European culture'. Or as our South African friend, who had just on that very day, returned from Paris, put it, "Where there is all this culture everywhere around you. Everywhere you turn there's something." He had been to the Louvre of course and seen the Mona Lisa, to Notre Dame, to Montmartre, to Champs Elysees, and to the Eiffel Tower.
He felt a little overwhelmed by it all, but desperately wanted to return right away, show everything he'd seen to his wife, and possibly even live in Europe. Except of course for the price of everything. That was the part he wasn't too fond of. But who is?
Also, he did narrow Europe down to the 'mid-part'. Naturally he wouldn't ever want to live in Finland, since "Finns are a strange bunch, aren't they?" and "Isn't Finland really more like a part of Russia than Europe?"
I got a chance to put my magnificent rendition of the stink-eye into action more than once. And I must say, I'm quite proud of my progress too in the area that covers all the different eyes: stink, evil, googly, rolled, red, you know, and I'm sure you would agree.
*stares at everyone convincingly, albeit slightly menacingly*
But as we chatted about Europe, and my and the Hubby's reasons for not wanting to ever again live in Europe if we can avoid it and instead can just keep alternating between Latin America, Africa and Asia, while the best explanation, even pre-tequila, from me went something like: "Europe is just so... European," accompanied by a self-imposed strangle hold on my throat and a less than ladylike flopping tongue, er, flopping out of the side of my mouth (a natural addition to me talkin' smart), I started to wonder about culture.
Why were we discussing white, European culture as the epitome of culture and not as white, European culture, or white, male, continental European, French, or Parisian culture?
Why is it that in so many minds Europe (the proper Europe that is, not the lake-y part attached to Russia) has ownership over highbrow culture, America of popular culture, and Africa is a continent somehow void of that mess of things that's the definition of culture, and the only pull of which are the wild, the animals, and the wide open spaces empty of traces of human touch? Or worse yet, something referred to as primitive culture.
After all, here in Johannesburg, we live within a very short distance from the place referred to as The Cradle of Humankind, where everything that we now refer to as culture sprung from. Where we, the makers of all culture and guilty of this thing we call civilization, very possibly can trace our existence back to. And all this while living in a highly urbanized area populated by millions of representatives of not only one, but several different cultures, each more elaborate and intricate than the next.
If anything, there is culture in Africa.
What is your take on this? I myself am a little cultured out now. I need you my dear readers. Gimme somthang goood!


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Computerized Alignment and Tire Rotation
Does your car have the shakes?
A vehicle with proper wheel alignment is easier to drive, gets better gas mileage and less tire wear.
To get the longest life possible out of your tires, be sure to have them checked regularly. Proper tire pressure and wheel alignment that is within the manufacturer's specifications is crucial to your car's tire and vehicle performance.
Every Auto-Lab location uses the latest technology to check and balance your tires and ensure their proper inflation. We can perform this service alone or with your next oil change.


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Product Description
SmartShake Lite. Less is More.
Designed for people on the go, SmartShake Lite offers a single container with our unique strainer and leak-proof lid. Simple – but still smart, solid and safe from leaks. Sometimes less is so much more.
Ideal for use as:
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On Monday night, I went to the O2 Academy, Islington to see Sophie Ellis Bextor, supported by Sinead and the Dawnbreakers. This is Sophie's first solo tour in over 3 years, so I was a little exited!
Sinead and the Dawnbreakers played an 8 song set including 'Just A Ring', 'What Would I Do?', 'Yes Woman' and their newest song 'Down Your Gun'. They also played a fantastic cover of 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?' which had everyone singing along and clicking their fingers!
Sophie opened the show with 'Dial My Number' from her upcoming album which instantly got everyone dancing. She kept the high tempo going, following this with 'Bittersweet', which sounds even more incredible live than on record.
This lead into 'Take Me Home', 'Me and My Imagination', 'Today The Sun's On Us' and we were treated to an outstanding performance 'What Have We Started?' which Sophie told us was her favorite track from her third album, 'Trip The Light Fantastic'.
She then played 'Starlight', another new track from her upcoming album (which is sounding really beautiful) followed by an excellent cover of 'Rebellion' by Arcade Fire.
She followed this up with rare track 'Can't Fight This Feeling', and her latest trance single 'Not Giving Up'.
We had a good bit of audience participation, singing the intro to 'Get Over You' and the chorus of her iconic anthem 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' which was interjected with the chorus of 'Sing It Back'.
She finished her main set with 'Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)', my soundtrack to summer 2009. The electrifying strobe lighting set the room alight, keeping everyone's hands in the air, clapping along.
As always a fantastic show left us wanting more. And more we got, with an encore of 'Revolution' – another brand new track – and classics 'Catch You' and 'Murder On The Dancefloor'.
What an amazing night! All of the new songs are sounding fabulous, the old ones are sounding better than ever and there was such a brilliant atmosphere. Great to have you back Sophie!
Speaking to Sophie after the show, she told me that her fourth studio album is due for release in the Spring and is again titled 'Make A Scene' after a brief name change to 'Straight To The Heart'.
Check out Sophie Ellis Bextor and Sinead and the Dawnbreakers' facebook pages, or follow @SophieEB and @thedawnbreakers on twitter.
(Photos courtesy of Tom Sharpe)


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Stay organized with this great weekly desk calendar! Great for your desk, kitchen or your office! Includes 52 (8.5x11) personalized tear off pages for each week for 1 year. These pads are handmade.
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The struggle is not between right and left but between the far right and the democratic majority. Communist Party leaders Joelle Fishman, Joe Sims and Mike Rubitz discuss the most effective ways to build a working class led coalition against the extreme right.
Image: Creative Commons 3.0
Comments (1)
We can not stand by with passive action. We need to get on the streets with peaceful marches to counter these hate filled rallies of the white supremacist.


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Katrina Kaif Before After Plastic Surgery Photos
|Katrina Kaif lips plastic Surgery
|Bollywood Actress Katrina Kaif Before After Plastic Surgery
|katrina kaif after rhinoplasty, fillers, botox surgeries
|Katrina Kaif Before After Plastic Surgery
Katrina Kaif Plastic Surgery 2013
Check out some before and after photos of Katrina Kaif which reveals the truth of Katrina Kaif's plastic surgery.
Aamir Khan and plastic surgery? You bet! His youthful appearance in 3 Idiots which made him look all of 22, our real life Benjamin Button, seem to have made wrinkles non-existent in his dictionary. But see his face in Fanna in 2006 and you know he has been toying with Botox, facelift and fillers. if you see 3 Idiots, even when he is talking animatedly, there is not even a hint of a wrinkle.
Bollywood Celebrities Before and After Surgery
Its an old trend that celebrities get plastic surgery make their faces moe beautiful.Some gets plastic surgery some gets cosmetic surgery. Some of the celebrities get good results of their plastic or cosmetic surgery but some get very very bad. One very famous Plastic Surgeon claimed that 80% of the Bollywood celebrities get their beautiful looks due to cosmetic surgery.
Katrina Kaif Before After Plastic Surgery Photos
Read More >>


text: Cops: Man Leaves Baby in Car to Get a Lap Dance He's been charged with child abuse By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Apr 5, 2016 6:10 PM CDT 22 comments Comments (Shutterstock) (Newser) – A Los Angeles man has been charged with child abuse for allegedly leaving his baby in the car while he went to a strip club, the AP reports. Authorities say 24-year-old Auwin Dargin left his 9-month-old daughter in the car for an hour last month during an afternoon visit to the club. Authorities say the baby was found by employees of the club and a neighboring business. According to the Los Angeles Times, Dargin would leave the club every 15 minutes to check on the baby. He was reportedly angry when the strip club's manager interrupted a lap dance to tell him they had found his baby in the car. Dargin pleaded not guilty to the charge on Monday. He could face up to six years in prison if convicted. (Read more child abuse stories.) My Take on This Story Report a story error Show results without voting | 12% Hilarious 1% Intriguing 23% Depressing 10% Brilliant 16% Scary 37% Ridiculous


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Many of you may have seen that T.V show "Extreme Couponing" (if you have Netflix they have it streaming on instant watch). I wondered how much stock to give couponing so I did some research on it. The extreme couponers were able to do what they do with store cards, coupon matching, and individual store policies. Here are somethings to knwo off the get go if you want to do some heavy couponing:
1. Know the stores policy for coupons. If you want to coupon at max savings find a store with a store card, coupon matching days, or other special discount days aimed at consumers and shop on those days.
2. Match sales with your coupons to maximize your savings. i.e you see Kellogs cereal 4/$10.00 and have a coupon for $1.00 off two boxes. With two coupons you are now paying $8.00 for 4 boxes of cereal vs. the sale of 10.00. The regular price would probably be near $12.00 for 4 boxes, so again you'd be paying $10.00 with no sale using the coupon.
3. Read the fine print on your coupon, if it doesn't specify a size, go for the smaller size. Almost all stores have a 1 coupon / item rule. Grab a few of these $ off one item that have no size specification, and usually you can come close to not paying anything or actually getting money back on the smaller items by buying more. Here is an example:
1 large stick deodorant 3.50
1 travel stick (1/4 the size) 1.0
Coupon: .25 off 1 deodorant (no size restriction)
Buy 1 large stick your cost is now 3.25
Buy 4 travel sticks (using 4 coupons) your cost is now 3.00
Couponing can be a very effective way to trim your grocery bill down by hundreds of dollars every year, allowing you to breathe more freely about other things like rising gas costs or your kids braces. I make a habit to always buy a Sunday paper, as essentially you are being paid to do it. You will always find more than $2.o0 worth of savings inside helping you more than double the value of that 1 paper.
Try sites like http://www.coupon.com – or google "coupons". Don't pay to join a site, or give your personal info out as mostly likely you could be signing up for a spam service.


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So-Gnar and Zeal Optics have teamed up on our first ever collab goggle!! We are proud to have teamed up with such an exciting and innovative company. Zeal Optics was generous enough to donate a free pair of these collab goggles to the first 25 people that sign up per stop. Registration is now open for the Snowboard Camp Tour. Visit http://www.so-gnarr.com/camptour/ to register!
Mike Lewis of Zeal Optics only had nice things to say:
"Zeal is stoked to be partnering up with one of the most creative groups in Colorado. So-Gnar's exciting and fun atmosphere helps everyone get pumped to go ride. This fits perfectly with us at Zeal. We make products for the fun days with friends and this is everyday with So-Gnar."


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On 8th March 2016, Gold Coast was officially endorsed as the 8th World Surfing Reserve, an area of 16 kilometres from Burleigh Beach to Snapper Rocks Qld/NSW border and the central breaks inbetween. A Dedication Ceremony was held at Point Danger on the Queensland border, attended by the Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk, her Government State Minister of Environment Dr Steve Miles, State MPs Mick de Brennin, Michael Hart and Jann Stuckey, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, together with GCWSR Patron Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, President of the International Surfing Association Fernando Aguerre and many other invited guests.
Despite the inclement weather, it was impossible to dampen the spirits of the local community who had worked so hard to achieve this fantastic result.
Photos by Luke Sorensen:
1. GCWSR Patron Rabbit Bartholomew, Qld Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and GCWSR Inc Chairman Andrew McKinnon
2. Save the Waves Executive Director Nik Strong Cvetich and GCWSR Inc Chairman Andrew McKinnon


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CHICAGO - Five relatively stress-free games in its renovated home gym to open the college basketball season let Notre Dame learn a little more about itself. But that process takes on a whole different dimension Friday against Northwestern (3-1) in the first of two games at the UIC Pavilion in the Chicago Invitational Challenge. For the first time this season, the Irish venture outside St. Joseph County for work. It's the first time the core rotation experiences the rigors of the road, something that will become commonplace in about four weeks when Big East play begins. How will this group handle pre-game meal? The routine in the hotel? Gameday shoot-around in a foreign building? The temptations - be it deep-dish pizza or the Magnificent Mile - that come with being in the big city on a holiday weekend? Can an Irish team that slipped into the national rankings at No. 23 this week, but one still figuring itself out, continue to do what got them to go 5-0 for the first time since 2001-02? "It's interesting, new territory," said coach Mike Brey. "Can we be mature enough to do what we do? Doesn't matter where we're playing. I think we're still learning that." As is Brey about his team. He knew going in that it would take a good chunk of the first two months to learn exactly what he had in this group. Five wins by an average of 20.2 points have been a confidence boost, but they have taken them no closer to a conclusion. This weekend might. "Still trying to figure it out," Brey said. "More than any team I've ever had, it's still kind of stepping back and evaluating who (are) we going to be and what are we going to hang our hat on? "I don't think the info's in, but we've got about a month to get the info in." In an odd way, Tuesday's 18-point victory over Kennesaw (Ga.) State may have been the perfect warm-up for what Notre Dame will have to work against in Northwestern. Like the Owls, the Wildcats look to shorten games by draining all 35 seconds out of the shot clock. The Princeton offense will feature constant movement. Back-door passes and cuts are consistent. Possessions and points will be at a premium. Focus has to override any frustration of playing a style similar to sitting in this city's rush-hour traffic. The Irish embraced that type of game earlier this week, but now have to do it against a more talented and veteran team that has its sights set on getting to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. "The veterans on this team realize what we have to do," said Irish power forward Luke Harangody, already in midseason form while averaging team-highs for points (27.2) and rebounds (10.4). "We can't play into what they want to do. If they want to slow us down, we just have to keep playing our game. "If it doesn't look pretty, who cares?" Certainly not the Irish, who continue to groom a whole bunch of new faces working in new places. Harangody and fellow senior Tory Jackson have been the most consistent contributors, but it's almost been a new guy every night. Junior Tim Abromaitis has delivered on the perimeter. Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough, hobbled the last three games by a sprained right ankle, has brought toughness and a determination to get to the basket. If it's not Jonathan Peoples' defense or Tyrone Nash in the low post offering a solid effort one night, it's Carleton Scott coming off the bench to keep it simple and also snatch 11 rebounds in 22 minutes as he did Tuesday. It's the Irish finally locking in and defending in a 2-3 zone that has often had too many holes to be effective. It's been staying patient with the plan on offense. It's been learning what everyone can do, a process that Jackson hopes to see continue in an atmosphere that might be far more hostile - and boisterous - than the first two weeks at home. He believes the Irish are ready. "Just play together and trust each other," Jackson said of the weekend goal. "And everything will fall into place."
- Worth noting: Northwestern and Notre Dame have met 87 times but this is the first game since Nov. 29, 1984…That was a 79-61 Irish victory, the 1,200th win in school history … Former Notre Dame associate athletic director Jim Phillips, whose duties included working with the Irish men's basketball team, is in his second year as athletic director at Northwestern … Former Tribune male athlete of the year Mitch Henderson, who attended Culver Academy, is an assistant on coach Bill Carmody's staff … Notre Dame will play Iowa State or Saint Louis at UIC Pavilion on Saturday.
- Worth quoting: "I'm proud of where we are and what we've done, but we've still got a lot of work to do." Irish senior point guard Tory Jackson on Notre Dame getting off to a 5-0 start for the first time since opening 7-0 in 2001-02.


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Jobs for an intern: make tea, edit references, keep your head down and do the grunt work. Perhaps, but not at the RSA – here they encourage you to speak up, to blog and to generally make your voice heard. It is both refreshing and a little intimidating.
So when I got invited to attend a meeting at the start of this week I managed to do what I perhaps should not have done: I took a lot of notes and kept my mouth shut, but my ears open. There is much to condemn this strategy but I tell you something, you tend to learn a lot that way. As one might expect from a meeting between think tanks, there was some general confusion as to who was meant to be facilitating who but if anything this seemed to lead to a very productive meeting. The subject of the meeting: How can local government help communities be more resilient despite devastating flooding in the UK - especially since the climate change models seem to suggest this is is going to be a more regular occurrence in the future.
How can local government help communities be more resilient despite devastating flooding in the UK - especially since the climate change models seem to suggest this is is going to be a more regular occurrence in the future.
There have been several situations like this since I started at the RSA: I enter a room with notepad in hand, I sit down (finding somewhere to balance my cheap coffee) and then I listen carefully, whilst scribbling furiously drawing mind maps. Some meetings have been illuminating, some have been exciting, some have soared very high over my head and the meeting in King Cross on Monday managed to do all three. The topic of conversation was the role that the RSA Connected Communities approach to network analysis may have on the issue of community resilience to floods. As is commonly known, the devastating flood damage that hit the UK is more likely to increase, than remain an historical blip. Interestingly, how a local community deals with such disturbances can differ greatly depending on how well connected they may be.
At the meeting Gaia Marcus presented some excellent examples of the social network analysis that she has undertaken as part of her work with the RSA. She was able to clearly demonstrate the methods and impacts that such information may have on health and general wellbeing. Importantly, the presentation was not suggesting that simply having more friends would solve every problem during an extreme flood, but instead that there certainly are times when just knowing more people (having a wider pool of resources) would increase your ability to respond quickly or get your life back to something like 'normal' afterwards. Gaia Marcus used her analogy of a heart attack to make it clear that whilst there were times when simply having people around to help you mop the floor, get some food inside your children or lend you their working phone, there were always going to be times when you needed to call in the army.
One of the most fascinating questions I found myself asking (if only in my own head) was 'Should we even be trying to prevent floods?' – I don't mean by this should we just leave people to their own when they are in need, but there must be a level in which we have to accept that such devastation can, and will, happen - regardless of how much we may dredge the rivers. After all, as one gentleman mentioned on Monday: "We have been having this problem since King Canute – we can't stop it flooding". Whilst there is an acceptance that prevention measures are required we must accept the reality of climate change and how the modelling suggests that these events are only going to continue, if not get worse. Further, that much work should be done to make sure that people who currently live on sites that are at risk to flooding are suitably informed; let alone the sites of new builds.
Alternatively, a systems theoretical approach to this subject might offer a fresh view on the issue. Instead of trying to prevent the impact we could try and understand what this sort of disturbance does to both at the local land and the community. Any disturbance to a system tests the functionality; it breaks down connections, drops redundant features and shortly afterwards makes new, novel, connections. These novel connections are key to the continued functioning of the system – it helps it adapt and make use of changing resources and avoid new dangers. The issue here is that local government want communities to remain 'resilient', to remain unchanging despite the disturbance, when really we need to facilitate change in those communities, when and where required. I would agree that to some degree it is part of the human condition to make stable (and enduring) out of what is inherently fluctuating, but to do so without adaptation leads to stagnation: a form of domestication, rather than evolution.
It is part of the human condition to make stable (and enduring) out of what is inherently fluctuating, but to do so without adaptation leads to stagnation: a form of domestication, rather than evolution.
Regardless, this does not mean that we sit idly by and watch devastation occur to those who need our help. Indeed, this is why the connected communities approach is so interesting: It highlights the importance of the connectivity of individuals and the impact that has both in times of significant need and in the more everyday concerns of health and support. Part of the concern of many around the table at the meeting was the feeling that when all the data is provided, to the people who hold the budgets, they would find it difficult to 'sign off' on the development of the project as it would not be the 'dam building' or 'river dredging action' that is so politically useful, and easy to sell – regardless of it actual use. Here, I was reminded of something John Major said that it is the role of the Politician to do what the electorate want in the moment (to act), but at the same time do what is needed to help them in the long term something much harder to explain, harder still to sell, but something that can be done in the background with timescales than span beyond the political term. The connected communities approach is one such possible project.
The connected communities approach is one such possible project.
Another barrier to starting such a project is that the benefits may not be directly observed. As Rowan Conway of the RSA noted, often the benefits of such a holistic approach appear in different areas of the system to where the project is being articulated. Interestingly, this barrier is also part of the reason why it can work so well - improving the connections between people will generate multiple benefits across a wide variety of social, economic and community health benefits. We can understand this sort of approach along the lines of distributed authority and agile organisations that work to increase adaptation rather than solidify structures. The question remains: where such distinctions between (environmental) cause and (political effect) are broken down can the action still be sold up and down the line?


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- Mass engineered, material : solid gold 18K
- Dimensions 43,50(width) x 53.00 (length) x 13.65mm (thickness)
- Outside finishing, polished. Back, satined
- Inside and arches sanded finish, arches titanium black PVD
- Bottom and inside visible parts, solid gold 18K satin finished 6-12h
- Stone decoration of blue aventurine
- Crystals in sapphire with anti-reflective coating
- Water resistance 3 ATM
- Base brass dial, black satin sun, black satin sun GMT
- Applied hour markers shape stick, diamond / polished, solid gold 18K
- Hands H & M, faceted, polished and gold plated with white SLN
- Hand GMT faceted, polished and blue PVD
- Black and blue alligator
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- Exclusive Extra module developed by VICENTERRA, 21 jewels
- Basic movement ETA 2892, automatic
- 28'000 vibrations per hour, 4Hz. 21 jewels
- Complete movement, 42 jewels
- Power reserve 42h
- Manufactured oscillating weight
- Face of tri-dimensional earth lit by median sun of the earth globe, globe Ø6.50mm (1 turn in 24 hours)
- Big Day/Night at 12H
- GMT dial at 7H, diameter 18.50mm
- Retrograde date at 2H
- Hours, Minutes, Seconds
- Diameter of display 31.80mm


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Finland At WW2 aims to provide a historically accurate mod about the three wars in Finland which were fought between 1939 and 1945. The mod gives you an oppurtunity to fight as Finland, Russia and Germany in both wintery and summer maps.
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If you're a Dexter fan, you're going to LOVE this video by Adam Ben Ezra, who delivers a one man show like you've never seen before. He gracefully combines virtuous playing into pop songs, morphing his double bass into a multi-useful instrument. With his hands, he'll tap percussion bits on the double bass's wood or strings, then straight after, will move into recording a new layer with the double bass's bow, then might go into a solo on the Clarinet, Guitar, Melodica, Piano or Oud. Keeping busy with all that, he'll approach the microphone (not this particular video) to add his voice. All is maintained into a flowing pop song structure. You just have to see it to believe it. Don't forget to to check out his Youtube channel for more videos.
Arranged and performed by Adam Ben Ezra: http://facebook.com/AdamBenEzra1
Director & editor – Guy Dayan – http://guydayan.com
Cinematographer – Sergey Maydin – firstname.lastname@example.com
Sound designer – Dan Zipori – http://youtube.com/user/danzipori
Assistant director – Alon Porat – http://lole.co.il


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|Pentland ferries
Cows. That's my lasting memory of Orkney. I was told there are more cattle on the islands than people and I believe it.
Every field is either full of graving bovine or grass being grown to feed them through the long, dark winter.
It's just as well the grass grows twenty-four hours a day during the long, light summer days.
The locally owned Pentland Ferries are cheaper and have a shorter crossing than Northlink Ferries.
Walking on the Orkney and Shetland Islands is a pretty good book, but don't try walk 12 unless you want an angry dog chasing you.
Walking on the Orkney and Shetland Islands is a pretty good book, but don't try walk 12 unless you want an angry dog chasing you.
Wild campsites for campervans are easy to find and there are showers at the travel centre, Stromness and Kirkwall sports centre.
|Ring of Brodgar
The Italian Chapel is worth a visit.
The ranger-led walks around the Ring of Brodgar are excellent and I appreciated the stones much more this time than on my two previous visits.
You have to book to be shown around Maeshowe Go for a latest 'twilight' tour and you might have the place to yourselves as we did.
Our second walk is on Hoy but this first one starts on the beach in front of the other big tourist attraction Skara Brae.
Every tourist who visits Orkney goes to Skara Brae, or so it seems.
The neolithic settlement is definitely worth a visit but don't expect to get it to yourself.
|Skara Brae
Orkney is a top destination for cruise ships and this place is number one on the 'must-do' list for their passengers.
A few miles from here along the coastal path lies the Broch of Borwich, which is far less spectacular but you'll probably be the only folk here.
The thickness of the walls in this ancient building will set you wondering about the people who lived there for a thousand years until 500AD.
You can see the coastal walk in the map at the end and it's pretty hard to get lost. Just keep the sea on your right.
|Stacks and Geos
The high cliffs, scarred with Geos and Stacks, gradually give way to the heather hill of Black Craig where a remote camera monitors the offshore wavefarm, part of the marine energy test centre here on Orkney.
You can continue around the coast, but we headed inland to Fletts (one of the most common names on Orkney), regaining the coast at Warebeth beach.
A little further along you'll find some of the best preserved ruins from the second world war, the defensive positions for searchlights and guns which guarded the entrance the vast enclosed natural harbour of Scapa Floe.
Many Arctic Convoys sailed from here and it was a prime target for U-boat attacks. The walk ends in the lovely town of Stromness, far more interesting a place visually than Kirkwall.
The walk is twelve miles long and just over 1300ft of ascent. A taxi from Stromness back to Skara Brae costs about £15. Our second walk coming Monday.


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Since beginning of 2010 I have been researching on how companies can incorporate sustainability in their business operations, within the OEPI project and several SAP-internal projects with LoB sustainability. In order to improve their operational efficiency and overall sustainability, companies rely on exchanging Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs), since internal measures are incomplete and often only display a fraction of a product's overall emissions . In our projects we have been investigating how to design inter-organizational Information Systems to exchange EPIs, Sustainable Business Networks (SBNs). SBNs, like their big counterparts in the consumer world (Facebook, Twitter & Co.) can only be successful if they attract a high volume of contributions from their participants. Unlike in social networks, the focus of these contributions is not on entertainment but on quality. But how can this quality be monitored, disseminated, and finally improved? Could the Wisdom of the Crowd, enabled by a crowdsourcing process be a solution to this problem?
The Expert Crowd
Crowdsourcing, as it is applied in Web 2.0 applications, is defined as "the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. " This definition already reveals the difference between classical crowdsourcing and expert crowdsourcing in Business Networks:
- Expert crowdsourcing in SBNs often enables new capabilities that a company did not have before and therefore only in few cases replaces jobs traditionally performed by employees.
- Expert crowdsourcing in SBNs does not address an undefined, generally large group of people but a specified group of experts. This limits the potential amount of task performers and to some extent also their diversity, but on the other hand increases their average competence and accuracy.
Some of the well-known examples of crowdsourcing in fact illustrate the potential of limiting the participation to experts: When the USS Scorpion, a US Navy nuclear submarine, went missing in 1968, the search continued without success for about 5 months. Since underwater listening systems had recorded several explosions, a radius of 20 miles for the location of the wreck could be determined. Dr. John Craven, who led the search for the U.S. Navy, finally selected a team of diverse marine experts, and made all information available to them. He then allowed the experts to bet on the parameters speed, direction, and angle of the submarine after the first explosion. The ship could finally be located only 220 yards from the position calculated by aggregation of these parameters.
In fact, in these cases, instead of talking about the "Wisdom of the Crowd", it would be more accurate to speak about the "Wisdom of the expert group". This fact is amplified by the requirement for efficiency in business tasks. Therefore it is logically consistent to restrict the access to business tasks to a group of experts. In the consumer world user contributions are often not paid or the monetary compensation is marginal.
Quality Aspects in Sustainable Business Networks
Quality, in any established definition, has many different aspects. The GHG Protocol, the most applied guideline for measuring carbon emissions, explicitly mentions the aspects relevance, completeness, consistency, and accuracy. Most relevant in the case of Sustainable Business Networks is the dimension of accuracy. In corporate reporting, the determination of an EPI follows a 5-step approach . In a first step the relevant sources have to be identified. Second, a calculation approach has to be determined. Third, the activity data (the data of the corresponding processes etc.) has to be collected. Fourth, the EPI can be calculated, and in a last fifth step the data can be rolled-up to corporate level. Consequently, information about each step should be provided so a significant judgment about the quality can be made. Most quality problems are related to the definition and collection of activity data. Specifically, activity data can be primary (collected from the company's operation or supply chain), secondary (such as industry-averages or environmental databases), extrapolated (adapted from similar process) or proxy (directly transferred from similar process) data. These aspects should also be transparent when providing it to the SBN.
Connecting the Pieces
Now, how do you solve a problem with an expert team, in particular in the case of data quality in Sustainable Business Networks? Again, the approach can be divided into 5 steps, of which the steps transparency and aggregation methodology are particular important in the case of SBNs:
- Formulate the problem and problem parameters: In our case, the main problem is to ensure the accuracy of the EPI data within the SBN – parameters of the accuracy are the data source, the calculation approach, the activity data collection process, the EPI calculation, and the roll-up to corporate level.
- Select the experts: The selection of the experts is key in Sustainable Business Networks and it can be done straightforward: transaction-based, meaning that the sustainability experts consuming the data rate it afterwards – this guarantees that the voting entity also has an actual reference to the particular content.
- Make the problem and its parameters transparent: In order to make all parameters of the problem transparent, all 5 steps of the EPI calculation process should be documented in the system and all activity data should have a "tag" describing the data type.
- Let experts apply their own methodology and calculation: The experts can now easily explore the data and its parameters, and there should be a "Web2.0-style" easy and fast possibility to rate the quality of the data.
- Aggregate results: Aggregation is a complex topic of its own. The aggregation inherits many elements of reputation systems. The overall score of the rating should lead to a "reliability" score for the data owner, while the degree of accordance with other votings should be used to calculate a "credibility" score. Suitable algorithms can be based on Bayesian statistics or the Page-rank algorithm . The reliability score can later on be used in supplier evaluations, in order to provide suppliers with a suitable incentivation to submit high quality data.
In our research we show how to work out such a mechanism for data quality in SBNs in detail – and discuss other related aspects such as the matter of critical mass in SBNs.
Hans Thies, SAP Research St. Gallen